by Tao Wong
“You can’t be a Champion, boy-o, but the General is available,” Ali sends to me urgently.
“I can’t be a Champion—” I start.
“Quiet, Spirit. Speak again and we will banish you,” Ayuri hisses to where Ali is, flicking a glance backward to one of the Honor Guards. That Guard fixes her gaze on the Spirit, whose mocha skin loses color. “And how are we to believe that, Redeemer? You have already stolen the honor of our Empire once.”
“I—”
“Once a thief, always a thief, I say.” The voice that emanates from the last Honor Guard member is droll, bored as a Yukon summer day is long and deep.
“Enough,” I growl, my temper flaring after getting interrupted so damn often. Interrupted and subtly threatened. “Either let me answer in peace or fight me, because this lack of manners is getting damn tiring.”
“He barks.” The woman—Unilo—chuckles softly. “Perhaps I shall stop its whistling.”
“Whistling?” Lana mutters, uncertain.
“Do your dogs not whistle while they bark?” Unilo says, tilting her head.
“Uhhh, no,” Lana says firmly.
“Har. What weird creatures.”
Ignoring the pair, Ayuri stares at me till I break and speak. “What?”
“You have not answered my question. What Class do you intend to take now?”
“Well…” I say softly, playing for time as my mind spins. There’s something here, something nagging me about this entire encounter. “What does it matter to you?”
“About two moves,” Ayuri says with a smile.
“You’re threatening me.” I state that flatly, my hand to the side as I get ready to call my sword.
“Stating a fact. If you were to choose a Class that besmirches our honor, we would have to resolve the matter. Immediately.”
“I see.” I give in finally to the lead-in. “And what Class wouldn’t?”
“Why, none of them that you have now,” Ayuri states. When she gets no reaction from me, she turns toward the man. “Mayaya, you won the bet.”
“Yay,” Mayaya intones, still in that same bored tone. “I shall drink in pleasure.”
“So. Class?” I say again while Ali spins in a circle, obviously aching to speak but unable or unwilling to do so.
Lana looks perturbed, but I shake my head to her and she lets me lead this conversation. For now.
“You understand our position, of course. You cannot be a General. That would compromise too many things. And any Class below that is well, insulting,” Ayuri says, shaking her head. “So now we must kill you. Unless…”
“Go on,” I growl softly, getting tired of her playing this game and letting my impatience run through my voice. Now that we’ve been talking for a bit, I can sense her damn glee underneath all the threats. She’s having fun, and it’s pissing me off. Dangerous as she might be, I’ve just been through an entire war. Having her continue to play is testing what little patience I have.
“Unless you choose to take up a Class Quest. One that is only open to certain members of the Erethran Empire.”
“I see. And the catch is…?” I say.
“It’s a good Class Quest. Very powerful. Very popular to try. But somewhat lethal.”
“Somewhat?”
“Always!” Ali shouts, shaking his head as he finally can’t hold it in anymore. “No one’s succeeded in the last two hundred years.”
“Two hundred twenty-three years. Galactic standard,” Unilo says flatly then waves her hand.
The next moment, Ali disappears with a scream as he’s banished. Lana and I stare at Unilo, who shrugs as if that display of power was a minor thing. Which, I guess, for her it is.
“I see.” I hold up my hands as if weighing the two options. “So. Death by your hands or an impossible quest.”
“Yes,” Ayuri says with a wide smile, baring too-sharp teeth.
“John…” Lana says softly, her eyes doing murder arithmetic as she judges the trio.
“It’s fine,” I say to Lana, holding a finger up to the three while turning to the redhead and giving her a quick kiss. “Looks like I’m going on trip.”
“You’re not leaving me.”
“Sorry, human, but this is a single-person Quest,” Ayuri says.
“I’m not happy about this,” Lana says, gripping my shirt tightly. Tears form at her eyes, her fists clenched white. “We can beat them.”
“No. No, we can’t,” I whisper, placing a hand over hers. I meet Lana’s violet eyes, which swim with unshed tears, my own vision growing slightly blurry. “And even if we could, we shouldn’t. I need to do this.”
“Why?” Lana says, her voice heartbroken.
“You know why.” As she shakes her head in denial, I continue. “I need more strength. More power. And all the other choices, they aren’t good enough. If it’s impossible, it’s definitely a powerful Class.”
“And you could die.”
“And that matters?” I shake my head, realizing those are the wrong words. “No. It matters. But I could die here too. I nearly did. This way, I have a chance. A chance…” I can’t say the rest. Can’t. Won’t. Not here, not with them beside me.
“I know,” Lana says, burying her face in my shirt as tears flow. “I can’t lose you. Not again.”
In her voice, I hear all the pain, all the losses she’s suffered. Her puppies, Richard, Anna. Friends who fell in Whitehorse and others on the way. It kills me to do this to her, but I have no choice.
“I’ll be back. I promise.”
She half laughs, half sobs at my answer. Before we can say anything else, Ayuri harrumphs. Bored by our goodbyes, the Champion grabs my shoulder, pulling me away from Lana and leaving the redhead clutching the shreds of my shirt.
“Mayaya!” Ayuri calls, hoisting me up in the air as Mayaya opens a Portal.
Lana steps forward and is blocked by a Soul Shield, one warped to block her movements. “John!”
With a single flick of her hand, Ayuri tosses me through the black oval of space. I spin around in the air, watching the intimidating blackness approach at speed, offering me no clue of what is to come.
“Glad you agreed. Don’t die. I bet on you this time!” Ayuri calls as I enter the Portal.
My atoms rip apart, the transition wreathing me in pain I’ve never experienced before. Even as I land, I hear the last words Ayuri says as the Portal shrinks.
“Right then. Take me to your leaders!”
And then the Portal snaps shut, stranding me in darkness. Alone.
###
The End of Book 5 of the System Apocalypse
John will be back in Book 6!
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading Book 5 and I hope you enjoyed it. This book included a lot more interactions with the US military and I have to thank all the beta readers who helped me correct issues. Any errors or issues with the way the military work / talk / interact is entirely my fault. For those who serve, I hope you enjoyed the book and I stayed true to them. I’ll admit, we are lacking a large amount of cursing ??.
If you enjoyed reading the book, please do leave a review and rating. It helps sales and yes, that’s the reason I write!
In addition, please check out my other series, the Adventures on Brad (a more traditional LitRPG fantasy) and the Hidden Wishes (an urban fantasy GameLit series_. Book one of each series follow:
A Healer’s Gift (Book 1 of the Adventures on Brad)
A Gamer’s Wish (Book 1 of the Hidden Wishes series)
To support me directly, please go to my Patreon account:
- https://www.patreon.com/taowong
For more great information about LitRPG series, check out the Facebook groups:
- GameLit Society
- LitRPG Books
About the Author
Tao Wong is an avid fantasy and sci-fi reader who spends his time working and writing in the North of Canada. He’s spent way too many years doing martial arts of many forms, and hav
ing broken himself too often, he now spends his time writing about fantasy worlds.
For updates on the series and my other books (and special one-shot stories), please visit my website: http://www.mylifemytao.com
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Glossary
Erethran Honor Guard Skill Tree
Mana Imbue
Two are One
Thousand Steps
Blade Strike
The Body’s
Resolve
Greater
Detection
Altered Space
A Thousand
Blades
Shield Transference
Soul Shield
Blink Step
Army of One
Sanctum
Body Swap
Portal
John’s Skills
Mana Imbue (Level 3)
Soulbound weapon now permanently imbued with mana to deal more damage on each hit. +20 Base Damage (Mana). Will ignore armor and resistances. Mana regeneration reduced by 10 Mana per minute permanently.
Blade Strike (Level 3)
By projecting additional Mana and stamina into a strike, the Erethran Honor Guard’s Soulbound weapon may project a strike up to 30 feet away.
Cost: 30 Stamina + 30 Mana
Thousand Steps (Level 1)
Movement speed for the Honor Guard and allies are increased by 5% while skill is active. This ability is stackable with other movement-related skills.
Cost: 20 Stamina + 20 Mana per minute
Altered Space (Level 2)
The Honor Guard now has access to an extra-dimensional storage location of 30 cubic feet. Items stored must be touched to be willed in and may not include living creatures or items currently affected by auras that are not the Honor Guard’s. Mana regeneration reduced by 10 Mana per minute permanently.
Two are One (Level 1)
Effect: Transfer 10% of all damage from Target to Self.
Cost: 5 Mana per second
The Body’s Resolve (Level 3)
Effect: Increase natural health regeneration by 35%. On-going health status effects reduced by 33%. Honor Guard may now regenerate lost limbs. Mana regeneration reduced by 15 Mana per minute permanently.
Greater Detection (Level 1)
Effect: User may now detect System creatures up to 1 kilometer away. General information about strength level is provided on detection. Stealth skills, Class skills, and ambient mana density will influence the effectiveness of this skill. Mana regeneration reduced by 5 Mana per minute permanently.
A Thousand Blades (Level 3)
Creates four duplicate copies of the user’s designated weapon. Duplicate copies deal base damage of copied items. May be combined with Mana Imbue and Shield Transference. Mana Cost: 3 Mana per second.
Soul Shield (Level 2)
Effect: Creates a manipulable shield to cover the caster’s or target’s body. Shield has 1,000 Hit Points.
Cost: 250 Mana
Blink Step (Level 2)
Effect: Instantaneous teleportation via line-of-sight. May include Spirit’s line of sight. Maximum range—500 meters.
Cost: 100 Mana
Frenzy (Level 1)
Effect: When activated, pain is reduced by 80%, damage increased by 30%, stamina regeneration rate increased by 20%. Mana regeneration rate decreased by 10%.
Frenzy will not deactivate until all enemies have been slain. User may not retreat while Frenzy is active.
Cleave (Level 2)
Effect: Physical attacks deal 60% more base damage. Effect may be combined with other Class Skills.
Cost: 25 Mana
Elemental Strike (Level 1 - Ice)
Effect: Used to imbue a weapon with freezing damage. Adds +5 Base Damage to attacks and a 10% chance of reducing speed by 5% upon contact. Lasts for 30 seconds.
Cost: 50 Mana
Instantaneous Inventory (Maxed)
Allows user to place or remove any System-recognized item from Inventory if space allows. Includes the automatic arrangement of space in the inventory. User must be touching item.
Cost: 5 Mana per item
Portal (Level 5)
Effect: Creates a 5-meter by 5-meter portal which can connect to a previously traveled location by user. May be used by others. Maximum distance range of portals is 25,000 kilometers.
Cost: 250 Mana + 100 Mana per minute (minimum cost 350 Mana)
Army of One (Level 2)
The Honor Guard’s feared penultimate combat ability, Army of One builds upon previous Skills, allowing the user to unleash an awe-inspiring attack to deal with their enemies. Attack may now be guided around minor obstacles.
Effect: Army of One allows the projection of (Number of Thousand Blades conjured weapons * 3) Blade Strike attacks up to 300 meters away from user. Each attack deals 3 * Blade Strike Level damage (inclusive of Mana Imbue and Soulbound weapon bonus).
Cost: 750 Mana
Sanctum (Level 2)
An Erethran Honor Guard’s ultimate trump card in safeguarding their target, Sanctum creates a flexible shield that blocks all incoming attacks, hostile teleportations and Skills. At this Level of Skill, the user must specify dimensions of the Sanctum upon use of the Skill. The Sanctum cannot be moved while the Skill is activated.
Dimensions: Maximum 15 cubic meters.
Cost: 1,000 Mana
Duration: 2 minute and 7 seconds
Shrunken Footprints (Level 1)
Reduces System presence of user, increasing the chance of the user evading detection of System-assisted sensing Skills and equipment. Also increases cost of information purchased about user. Reduces Mana Regeneration by 5 permanently.
Tech Link (Level 2)
Effect: Tech Link allows user to increase their skill level in using a technological item, increasing input and versatility in usage of said items. Effects vary depending on item. General increase in efficiency of 10%. Mana regeneration rate decreased by 10%.
Designated Technological Items: Neural Link, Sabre
Spells
Improved Minor Healing (III)
Effect: Heals 35 Health per casting. Target must be in contact during healing. Cooldown 60 seconds.
Cost: 20 Mana
Improved Mana Dart (IV)
Effect: Creates four darts out of pure Mana, which can be directed to damage a target. Each dart does 15 damage. Cooldown 10 seconds.
Cost: 25 Mana
Enhanced Lightning Strike
Effect: Call forth the power of the gods, casting lightning. Lightning strike may affect additional targets depending on proximity, charge and other conductive materials on-hand. Does 100 points of electrical damage.
Lightning Strike may be continuously channeled to increase damage for 10 additional damage per second.
Cost: 75 Mana.
Continuous cast cost: 5 Mana / second
Lightning Strike may be enhanced by using the Elemental Affinity of Electromagnetic Force. Damage increased by 20% per level of affinity.
Greater Regeneration
Effect: Increases natural health regeneration of target by 5%. Only single use of spell effective on a target at a time.
Duration: 10 minutes
Cost: 100 Mana
Fireball
Effect: Create an exploding sphere of fire. Deals 150 points of fire damage to those caught within. Sphere of fire expands to 3 meters radius (on average). Cooldown 60 seconds.
Cost: 100 Mana
Polar Zone
Effect: Create a thirty meter diameter blizzard that freezes all targets within one. Does 10 points of freezing damage per minute plus reduces effected individuals speed by 5%. Cooldown 60 seconds.
Cost: 200 Mana
Greater Healing
Effect: Heals 75 Health per casting. Target does not require contact during healing. Cooldown 60 seconds per target.
Cost: 50 Mana
Mana Drip
Effect: Increases natural health regeneration of target by 5%. Only single use of spell effective on a target at a time.
Duration: 10 minutes
Cost: 100 Mana
Freezing Blade
Effect: Enchants weapon with a slowing effect. A 5% slowing effect is applied on a successful strike. This effect is cumulative and lasts for 1 minute. Cooldown 3 minutes
Spell Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 150 Mana
Inferno Beam
A beam of heat raised to the levels of an inferno, able to melt steel and earth on contact! The perfect spell for those looking to do a lot of damage in a short period of time.
Effect: Does 150 Points of Heat Damage
Cost: 125 Mana
Mud Walls
Unlike its more common counterpart Earthen Walls, Mud Walls focus is more on dealing slow, suffocating damage and restricting movement on the battlefield.
Effect: Does 20 Points of Suffocating Damage. -30% Movement Speed
Duration: 2 Minutes
Cost: 75 Mana