Deathlord Renno's Ring of Fire Magic
Legendary
Forged by Deathlord Renno after decades of study with the sole purpose of creating it, this ring is the envy of all fire magic users that know of its existence.
» +2 to all unlocked spells on The Flames skill-tree
This bonus is not applied to unlock new spells
The thin crown-looking circlet had been made with a kind of black crystal by the dwarves, so it thankfully was not as feminine as it could be. Not that I would not use it even if it was made of pink ribbons. The ring was designed as two black metal strips and a ruby strip interlaced with some space between each other. It was truly a masterfully crafted ring.
The items resistance to the fire, darkness and death waves of destruction was thanks to their legendary grade; legendary items were indestructible. They were also rare as hell, only below mythical in both awesomeness and rarity.
I could see the stupid advantages the ring would allow a fire magic user, especially as he unlocked better spells which took even longer to level up. But the circlet was kind of a letdown for a legendary item, particularly taking into account its impressive description.
The cave chamber was big and had a narrow tunnel opposite to where the prison had been. It was high enough for a tall human and wide enough for a broad shouldered dwarf to pass. A marching army would have trouble attacking through it. As soon as I got there, I opened the exclamation points.
Trait received: Scavenger
You just can't let go of stuff.
» Unowned or enemy owned items not on their living bodies will glow
» Glow intensity: 10%
Not bad, but not especially good, either.
Strength increased to 4 (+1)
Wrestling for dominance with another being and winning helped you grow stronger.
Agility increased to 7 (+1)
Not everyone can dodge triple speed spears thrown from a much stronger opponent.
Constitution increased to 6 (+2)
It is a miracle you are alive. Your body learned to suffer even more before you die.
» HP: 200 (+55)
» Stamina: 180 (+20)
Intelligence increased to 10 (+2)
No one would have thought of binding one of the most powerful beings in the Underworld and killing her the way you did.
It's a shame the max attribute points you can receive for fighting is two. Really.
» MP: 370 (+95)
Perception increased to 4 (+1)
Noticing how the High Lady had to move her hand to use magic and acting on it was very perceptive of you.
Willpower increased to 9 (+2)
Words cannot express your stubborn refusal to give up, even when facing one such as High Lady Renno or looking for items in a desolate place.
» Stamina: 190 (+10)
Level up!
Current level: 5
HP, MP and stamina restored
The intelligence message was weird, but I was getting used to it by now. I opened the third exclamation point, and it was unlike any other I had seen up until then:
Title received: Archmage
After your recent magical exploits, the gods have granted you a special title.
You must choose a magical element used in the exploit to bind it to your title.
You will become immune to the chosen element, including immunity to damage and healing.
Available elements:
» Darkness
» Death
Please, choose your element.
It was great! Of course, I would wait until I learned life magic, which did a hundred percent extra damage to the undead, and then do the whole explosion thing again so I could select life for the immunity. If I did that, I would become a kind of living legend.
When I tried to close the window, a system message popped, and my body froze midair.
You must select your element before moving on.
Well, it was too good to be true. Becoming immune to being healed by death magic was a no-go, which left me with only one choice.
I choose the darkness element, I thought, and the window content changed.
Title received: Archmage
An Archmage is a mage of incredible talent.
As such, you can choose one of the following traits to receive +10 levels:
» Controller
Will remove the necessity of doing hand gestures to attack with your magical spheres.
» Energizer
You will be able to create magical spheres even if you are running.
That was a tough one; both options were amazing. But after what had happened to Renno just because I had bound her hands, it was evident how important it was not to need to extend my hand to attack.
I choose controller.
Title updated: Dark Archmage
In Valia's history, many thought about putting big masses of magical spheres close to and touching each other.
But you're the first to use an Expert Antimage as a catalyst, destabilizing the magic energies and causing an explosive reaction.
Such a magical reaction will be named Thorn's Reaction in your honor and the gods have named you Archmage.
One of the elements used in the discovery has resonated with you, branding you a Dark Archmage.
» Immunity to darkness element
» +10 Mage
» +10 Controller
» +50% light element resistance
Mage increased to 11 (+10)
» +11% effectiveness to spells
Trait has evolved into Adept Mage:
» Can apply your will to unseen things
» +1% resistance to all magical elements, except divine
Controller increased to 11 (+10)
» Gesture required: None
» Targeting: Anything in view
» Max distance: 110 meters
Trait has evolved into Adept Controller:
» Can change spell paths midair
» Spell path max correction: 48 degrees
Level up!
Current level: 7
HP, MP and stamina restored
I closed the window dumbfounded. It was difficult as hell to level a trait up, and I had just received twenty free trait points because of a title. Also, I had just found out that some traits, if not all of them, would get better on level ten or eleven.
Excited, I quickly opened the fourth exclamation point, which also had a 'T' letter for 'title' on it.
Title received: Legendary Spotter
There is no limit to your item searches.
Finding a legendary item on the ground is proof of it.
» +1 Scavenger
» +1 Gold Digger
Scavenger increased to 2 (+1)
» Glow intensity: 20%
Gold Digger increased to 2 (+1)
» Glow intensity: 20%
Level up!
Current level: 8
HP, MP and stamina restored
Not what I had expected, but that's life for you, a big teaser. Only one exclamation point left, this one with the letter 'M'.
Dear player,
The Guardian, Valia's anti-cheat AI, has marked you as a possible cheater.
Our analysis of your actions to date was not conclusive.
You are now under strict observation, and we are required by law to inform you that your game related thoughts will become available to us.
Yours,
V-Soft anti-cheat team.
I actually... Liked it. It made me feel secure that they cared so much about cheaters. But no one should receive free reign on one's thoughts without some rebuke, obviously.
For five minutes straight, I just thought of committing impure acts, making sure to make them game related somehow.
I received another message.
Dear player,
We desire the same upon you.
Yours,
V-Soft anti-cheat team.
I laughed and felt my mo
od lighten. With all exclamation points taken care of, I moved on.
At the end of the tunnel was a small chamber with ten dead ghouls and big metal gates that had been torn apart and melted. If not for what I had just been through, I would have found it impressive. Now, I just wondered which prisoner had been the one responsible. Probably the elf.
I took the stuff from the ghouls and found myself once more clothed and a proud owner of a corroded sword and an old small corroded shield, plus loot.
As soon as I stepped out of the gates, two new exclamation points appeared.
Quest completed: Escape the Prison
Random primary attribute point received:
» +1 charisma
Quest: Find Help
E rank
You have escaped the bound deathlord's secret prison, but unless you find help you will not live long when they begin their hunt for you.
You have heard about the Resistance; it might be a good place to start.
The Resistance, huh? If I had known it would be like this, I might have asked for help from the rescued woman while she was still treating me as her master. Hell, if I knew what I would go through, I'd have chosen to burn in the sun instead!
Out of the gates, I found myself in a long corridor, wide enough for two cars and high enough for a giant. Metal pillars sustained its weight, and a metal sign was visible.
East:
Dakar
West:
Serharn
Kazomor
Ashsom
None of that meant anything to me, so I just went right.
To Dakar.
Jack Thorn
Unbound Deathlord
Legendary Spotter, Dark Archmage
Level 8
Hit Points:200 / 200
Mana Points:370 / 370
Stamina:190 / 190
Attributes:
Strength:4
Agility:7
Dexterity:5
Constitution:6
Intelligence:10
Perception:4 + 10 [Items]
Willpower:9
Charisma:3
Traits:
Adept Mage:11 + 10 [Items]
Adept Controller:11
Gold Digger:2
Scavenger:2
Antimage:1
Crafter:1
Energizer:1
Meditator:1
Mind Seer:1
Nitpicker:1
Shadow:1
Ter'nodril
Drow
Underworld – Corrupted – Darkness Touched
Most think of the drow as the evil twins of the elves. This is not completely wrong.
The drow were born in a lost age, created for an unknown reason. What is known, thanks to almost forgotten elven songs, is that exactly half of the living elves of the time chose to become drow, most of them either warriors or their companions.
The Devourer, god of darkness, touched those elves and made them his own. They became dark elves, living for their god in a closed, dictatorial and theocratic society, freedom a word without meaning to any of them.
"Why?" is the big mystery of the drow. While they are slightly stronger than their brothers who live under the sun, the difference is not significant enough to justify half of a people offering their lives to a fallen god and the darkness of the Underworld.
Still, the drow came to be.
They are divided into three main groups:
Priests, holding all political power;
Blackguards, holding all military power;
And serfs, the drow who fail to become either, becoming slaves in all but name.
-- Excerpt from "Species of Valia", by Amir, a Karr
6. Dry Fishing
'Any idiot can become rich. But only the smart can keep the money.'
- Father
It took me all of a single step for the world to change.
One moment, I was starting my walk; the other, I lost my body and found myself in complete darkness. Nothingness surrounded me for a few seconds, and then the developer logo appeared.
V-Soft presents...
Distant drums hit one time and the game company logo faded. Some seconds later, two more hits came to my nonexistent ears and the game logo appeared before me with an elevator music on the background.
Valia Online
A few more instants passed by, the music stopped, and the logo faded away. Everything stood like that for the better part of five minutes. I was wondering if I had encountered a bug when I heard a heartbeat. And another. Soon, it was constant. Then it was fast. Then it stopped.
"Death," said an angelic and ageless female voice, "comes to all."
I suddenly saw an enormous battlefield from above, all kinds of races and species fighting each other. Gigantic fireballs, big lighting arcs, ice explosions and other spells went everywhere. Warriors used swords in a way too fast for eyes to see, killing dozens in a second, like hurricanes. Giants swung enormous hammers and smashed enemies to a pulp. Screams, trumpets, drums, metal on metal, explosions; the sounds of war. A sight to behold.
It slowly faded away and was replaced by the aftermath, with thousands of dead bodies, absolute silence now reigning on the field. The camera focused on a bloodied halberd struck in the ground, a red string attached to it swaying with the wind. Everything slowly lost all color, until only the redness of the string and the blood remained. A sad slow music started to play.
"I birthed life," said the voice. "From my womb, the gods came to be."
Thirteen people appeared in a line, on an uneven ground; some were sitting and others were on their feet. Powerful drums began to beat as the song increased in tempo. They were all covered in impressive armors, wielding different weapons, their species and sex impossible to tell.
"They loved each other, brothers and sisters forever. They hated each other, enemies with eternity to fight and destroy. I wept to see what my children had wrought."
A sun exploded, and the music became epic. Galaxies were created and destroyed. An armored face screamed in rage. A tear rolled on an ebony cheek and dropped into nothingness. Darkness and silence enveloped me again.
"I birthed death. Something lower than the rest of my children, but also greater. I created it to give my children rest from their troubled lives. Because of death, I forgave myself. Because of death, the wars of the gods came to a halt. They feared my gift more than they hated each other. I was satisfied. After eons of peace, I gave them the spark of life and allowed them to create their children."
A blue and brown planet was seen from above, continents different from Earth's. The camera zoomed in at high speed until I could see the barren soil in details. Then a green sprout grew and bore a flower. The flower was picked by a beautiful elven lady wearing a diaphanous white garment, her blond hair blowing in the wind, her deep blue eyes reflecting the surrounding forest. She left the flower to her nose, inhaling its perfume, closing her eyes.
"Some lived in peace, like brothers and sisters. Others hated each other, like their creators before them."
A hiss slit the air and the elf opened her eyes in shock. An arrow had struck her from behind; blood flowed staining her pristine garb. An armored orc was shown in the woods, holding a crude bow, and screaming a savage howl, saliva strung between its sharp teeth.
"I pitied them, and also gifted them blissful eternal rest."
The image faded.
"But unlike my children, the mortals could breed. It was enough for them to see death differently. Instead of halting their killing, it led to family feuds that lasted as long as an heir lived." I heard a deep breath. "That was not all."
Again the music assumed a lethargic pace, and I saw a man just like me, but clearly still alive: his eyes were not completely black, and there was color in his cheeks. He was wearing blue mage robes in a forest, looking intently at a giant spider attacking an enormous rat. The animals battled each other, but in the end the rat was caught in the spider's web and couldn't move. The spider ki
lled it with its toxin.
A translucent energy left the rat's body, going upwards then slowly dissipating. The mage extended his hand and made a fist. The energy coalesced into a medium sized sphere, then slowly became dark gray. The mage got closer to it, the spider completely forgotten. The music became more urgent.
The spider was not as forgetful as the man and didn't like him approaching. It jumped at him and he ducked, sending the gray sphere at the insect by reflex. The sphere hit the giant arachnid and it immediately died with a shriek. The mage trapped the energy leaving the spider's corpse and examined it
"Some mages corrupted my gift of never-ending peace," the embittered voice continued. "They took it and remade themselves with it. They didn't want to rest; they wanted to become ageless like the gods."
The mage was in a laboratory, and the music was an agitated voiceless rock. Lots of dead animals were around him, inside strange symbols drawn in blood on the floor. Dark gray smoky energy was everywhere, like an evil mist.
He cut his wrists, spread his arms and the energy slowly began to spiral inwards. Then it became a gray tornado, the mage hidden in its center, his red blood mixing with the dark energy and his body floating just off the ground.
Suddenly, all the energy entered him, and he screamed in pain. He stood like that, awash in blood and magic with arms wide open for a moment, screaming until it ended, then he fell unconscious to the ground. Silence reigned as he seemingly lifeless face on the floor became the focus.
Unbound Deathlord: Challenge Page 10