"The same message appeared in front of me as well." She chuckled weakly before going on. "So he spoke truly when telling me about the world he created. A world unlike any other, almost like a game."
As his life force left him, Kaden’s eyes closed as a storm of projectiles impaled them once more.
Would you like to view the skill tree before re-spawning? Yes/No?
"Yes," Kaden thought to himself, gasping for air. A new window appeared in front of him, filling the entirety of his view. To the right were three branches that went far down the screen. On the left side, there were numerous descriptions explaining what each of the skills would do.
To their side, there was some writing and complicated looking formulas that Kaden didn’t care about. Finally, coming to the skills themselves, he cursed as he had been given something he always hated in games.
Class: Elemental Magician (Path not chosen)
"I get to be an Elemental Magician? Why not a class like a warrior or an archer? Everything but a Mage!" Kaden yelled out enraged and despondent at the same time. This wasn't something he would have willingly chosen for his new life, where if someone hit you a little harder than intended it would probably kill you. The anguish of death and the pain suffered while getting impaled came back to him chillingly.
If you compared their two lives, the new one was nothing worse than the old, just replacing his emotional pain with the physical. No one really liked him, he had no family and no real friends. His job was horrible, and he hated it as well as most of his coworkers.
Perhaps he could give this a chance if he could get over the fact that being a magician was his only choice. He cried out in frustration for the second time.
Calming down some moments later, he observed the possible skills again, which were as basic as the elements. The left skill tree was fire, the middle was air and the right was water. For the fire tree, the first skill to choose from was [Fireball], from air it was a [Thunder Strike] and from the water branch it was [Ice Orb].
Kaden inspected all three skills which were basically identical in power, with different debuffing statuses added to them.
Each Fireball added one stack of burn damage for fifteen seconds up to ten stacks. Thunder Strike added Paralysis with a duration of three seconds while Ice Orb added one of two debuffs at random with up to ten stacks. Currently it was a Frostbite or Slow debuff with a duration of five seconds.
His biggest problem was the choice of only one of the skill trees. Maybe at a later date, he could choose multiple elements, but for now, it was only one.
Fire magic looked like it would do a lot of damage. Air magic did quite some damage as well and paralyzed while water seemed to do the least damage of all, but added two debuffs at a time.
Kaden sighed roaming over the skills. There was no right and wrong skill tree, but what if he lost Laney for one or the other reason and needed to fend for himself? The right choice would be self-sufficiency. If you didn’t rely on others too much, you would have an easier time after losing them.
Upon making the choice of Water and adding a skill point into [Ice Orb], his hair turned an icy white color. A chime alerted him to a new system message.
Congratulations. You have become an Elemental Magician.
You have learned a new skill: Ice Orb. Skill description: Launch an Ice Orb at the enemy inflicting 180 damage and add one of two debuffs, Frostbite or Slow. Use: 25 times.
A white aura appeared around Kaden for a moment and then entered his eyes, giving them a frosty glow. He shuddered for a long moment and then relaxed, letting the newfound power course through his body. The surrounding darkness disappeared and a bright white light took its place.
Taking everything in as fast as possible, he found himself to be in the same place as earlier, only further away from his attackers. The previous time he died, the distance between the monsters and him was about thirty metres open land. This time, he was reborn about thirty meters from the last place he had died. The same dull sand and scorched earth stretched as far as the eye could see, an occasional tree or rock obscuring the flat view.
His eyes found the Goblin Horde a mere heartbeat later just as Laney appeared beside him, crouching and looking around her. She shot up and sprinted toward their corpses for the second time. Kaden shook his head and ran after her.
The speed with which Laney ran was astonishing, and by the time he had made it to their corpses, she had picked up all the throwing spears into her arms while dodging incoming projectiles. Moments later, she threw them toward the enemy with great precision. As they struck the enemy line, each projectile killed at least one Goblin as a throwing spear made contact.
Chimes of incoming system messages distracted Kaden, but he closed them away automatically for the time being. He grabbed one spear while dodging an incoming arrow and without even realizing it, infused ice magic into the weapon.
Laney’s throwing skills were very impressive, and they kept increasing as she hurled her ninth spear towards the Goblins, impaling another one. A smile crept onto her face as she seemed to enjoy the killing.
Evading another two arrows, the tenth spear went back flying into the horde. It decapitated a Goblin archer and ended up skewering two more spear wielding Gobs. She chuckled at her prowess as time seemed to slow down to a halt and looked around for Kaden. He was standing beside her and infused magic into his weapon. Did he increase in level as well? Her good mood evaporated as she seemed to figure out what he was doing.
Kaden got up and hurled his spear straight into a group of six Goblins. Upon impact, the spear shattered and released an icy shock wave, freezing the surrounding Goblins. One tilted over, making the others topple like dominoes and shatter upon impact with the ground. The flying shards from the dead creatures damaged even more surrounding archers. They did not die, but they were out of the fight for now.
"That's what I'm talking about!" Kaden shouted joyfully, his fist pumping the air. More chimes followed. He frowned at them and willed for the chimes to stop as the sound was very irritating.
"Neat little trick you got there, magician," Laney hissed at him. Lost in his victory, Kaden was brought back to the battle by an arrow screaming down and piercing his arm.
Laney laughed and ran off to grab more spears to throw while Kaden grabbed hold of the arrow and pulled it out, screaming like a child. The pain was all so real, just as Bardos had promised it would be. Nausea gripped him and he lost self-control for a moment.
He didn’t like where this battle was going at all. The enemy Horde was getting smaller, but they would most likely die a few more times before the monsters would be defeated.
"Right, I guess it's time to do or die," he said to himself as his hand rose, palm extended toward the Goblins.
[Ice Orb]
You have inflicted 182 damage to Goblin.
A small white snowball formed at his palm and frosted over, spikes appearing on all sides. He grinned as the orb flew straight into the opposing line. The spell slammed into the shield of a Goblin and punched a hole right through it, embedding itself in its torso. The poor creature frosted over and exploded into shards of ice and meat, peppering the surrounding Goblins. The damage by the shrapnel was higher compared to the pure impact of the Ice Orb, which was a nice addition as a dozen of the green monsters got shredded by the flying debris.
A Goblin tried to throw his spear, but being slowed, the throw was slow and weak. The spear landed a metre in front of him, making Kaden chuckle. It was the right choice taking the water element, he thought.
The frostbitten Goblins were losing health, and with their low starting health, they died. Laney was doing her best to impale as many of the things as possible, but her power was dwindling fast, her speed and power almost back to normal. As he observed her, there was something odd about her. It looked like she was talking to herself, making strange faces. Then, she started crying as she ran over towards Kaden and hugged him in the middle of the battle.
"I'm sorry,
this is not your fault. I mean it is, but not totally. How about we try to survive this and have a heart-to-heart later?"
Kaden hugged her back awkwardly, surprised by her admission. It left a strange vibe between them. A moment later, he shoved her away as another volley of projectiles flew their way. Only through sheer luck, or maybe it was Bardos’ will that saved them, they survived. Getting up from all fours, Laney called over.
"Can you cast that magic thing of yours on a few more weapons?" she asked, nodding at the fresh batch of projectiles strewn around them. Kaden looked confused for a moment, but then his face brightened up as the impact of the spear he had thrown flashed before his eyes. It had been only minutes ago, but the reality of the attack slowly sunk in. Blood, guts and gore were something he did not like as it made him feel very weak, even the frozen kind.
"Yes, well, I can try." He grabbed hold of one spear with both of his hands and thought about pushing his magic into the weapon. For a long moment nothing happened, but then the magic seemed to flow like a river. A white glow formed in his hands and the short spear glowed with a frosty white hue. It found its way into Laney’s hands very quickly. She in turn cast her own magic spell [Massive] on herself.
Her muscles tensed and her breathing steadied, and eyesight improved together with her overall strength. Her magic was one that buffed the caster’s characteristics, thus improving their overall combat capability. Kaden made a funny sound as everything became easier and clearer for him as well, getting caught in the spell's area of effect.
"Thanks! I like this more than a cold vodka on a hot day!" he said cheerfully. They both chuckled as Laney grabbed a bundle of spears and circled to the Horde's right side, just as their attention was drawn by another small explosion, and Kaden casted another of his spells.
[Ice Orb]
You have inflicted 188 damage to Goblin.
A counter appeared before Kaden as he unleashed his second spell. It now showed twenty-three out of twenty-five, and besides the counter, his hand started hurting pretty badly as frost lingering on his skin. He cursed under his breath, slapping and rubbing it against his thigh as he tried to remove the ice.
The skill description hadn’t said anything about his limbs freezing over. This was going to be a bitch to deal with, Kaden thought, shaking the last droplets from his fingers. For now, he would have to alternate casting from his right hand to his left.
"They are down to about a quarter," Laney yelled from the Goblin group’s flank as she kept dodging any incoming projectiles and hurling the ice spears back at them with high precision. With each projectile throw, she managed to kill up to five of the creatures, but was down to only four spears.
Kaden sighed and pointed his finger at one of the creatures out of sheer frustration. He imagined a bullet flying out of it and killing the Goblin. Something similar happened a moment later, as a small bolt of energy hit a dancing Gob straight between its eyes. A chime rang out in his mind.
You have learned a new skill: Magic Bolt. Skill description: Fire a Magic Bolt at the enemy dealing 240 damage to target. Usable: Infinite. Cooldown: 15 seconds.
Shocked, Kaden looked around as if searching for someone who might have done the deed, but no one was there besides him and Laney. She gave him a glance as if asking ‘what the hell was that?’ before she was out of throwing spears.
A very narrow evasion later the young woman sprinted towards him. Along the way, every spear that wasn’t embedded too deeply into the soil found its way into Kaden’s capable hands. He sighed at the stack of short spears, but kneeled down and started imbuing them with ice magic.
Laney stood guard over him, holding up two of the sticks with which she planned to deflect the incoming projectiles. Not the smartest of ideas, but when you have nothing else, you make do with what you have.
"I’ll tell you, this can’t be the best way to attack them. It will take forever like this," she gasped. Laney found Kaden’s eyes, reflecting his determination to survive. Her brow was sweaty with her hair glistening in the bright sunlight. She was tired and couldn’t go on much longer. A buff is great, but it doesn’t make you a superhero.
Kaden took over for a few minutes, imbuing and throwing spears, arrows, even a rock, whatever was close at hand, accompanied with the occasional [Magic Bullet] which killed any of the creatures in one hit. By the time he got tired, Laney was partially rested and cast a renewed buff on them. Using the nine remaining weapons, the Goblins were wiped out.
"I don’t understand why they kept to the one patch of land and didn’t storm us, but I sure am grateful to our benevolent deity. Otherwise, it would have been a mess." Laney’s eyebrow rose at his comment.
"Benevolent? He put us here. How is that benevolent?" she asked in return, crossing her arms. She was covered in dust and blood, but remained the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Lost in her beauty, he missed what she said. With a huff she turned around and started walking towards the only remaining tree on all the plains. Kaden snapped back to the present and ran after her.
The breeze provided them with a much needed cooldown in this scorching heat. They lay next to each other, eyes closed, occasionally glancing about to ensure they were still alone. The rest was much deserved after dying two times and fighting what seemed like hours, so neither one hurried to get up.
"I do not understand why he did it like this. We are living in a game world where you feel all the pain that's inflicted on you. That sucks for a game. The stench of death, the taste and smell of blood. Then the chiming within my head, the messages popping up. All of this was so unnecessary. Would it have killed him to let us suffer in peace and quiet?" Laney murmured.
"Wait. The chimes are actually important from what I have seen so far. Let me check something," Kaden replied and opened his skill window. A wide grin appeared on his face at what he found there. Looking back at him were two new skills, but all he could make out was that they were greyed out until he put in four more skill points into [Ice Orb], which he did. The two new skills lit up, renewing his grin. [Frozen Land] and [Flood] were his new choices.
Ice Orb, Level 5: Launch an Ice Orb at the enemy inflicting 470 damage and add one of two debuffs, Frostbite or Slow. Use: 25 times.
His orb skill had become truly formidable when compared to the starting damage, though even that had been more than enough to kill the minor creatures. The description of the other two skills was basically the same. The damage inflicted was slightly higher in the water-based skill, while the ice-based one added better debuffs and shrapnel damage.
Kaden grinned and rubbed his hands together. Both skills could hit multiple targets, but which one would be better? Which one would serve him better, in this situation? The one would probably kill all the enemies that got hit, but the area of effect was better on the ice-based spell. He was in for a tough one now, as again, there was no telling how the skill would even work out.
Chapter 3
Kaden and Laney were heavily debating what skills to choose and how to proceed. Her opinion was to flood the area and see what would survive, while Kaden wanted to do it differently. He was afraid that the flood wouldn’t do the trick and wanted to have a backup plan just in case, the added explosion of [Frozen Land] being that backup.
You have learned a new skill: Frozen Land.
Skill description: Freeze everything in a 10 metre radius and inflict 320 damage upon explosion, 70 extra damage per ice shard and add one of two debuffs, Frostbite or Slow. Use: 3 times.
Laney’s skill tree expanded into three new branches. One gave them added offensive and defensive power. The second gave them increased pain tolerance and elemental resistance, while the third added speed and a health bonus.
Kaden was advocating for the speed and health bonus, while Laney was thinking purely linear. He let her choose whatever she wanted so she ended up getting [Empower], the offense and defense power buff.
Her main skill called [Massive] had leveled up to now last thirty minutes instead of
the five minutes at its initial cast, which would allow her to focus on the battle more than on casting buffs and tracking its usability.
[Frozen Land] had won out over [Flood] since Kaden felt that a two-stage skill would help them more. If nothing else, it would give them more time than a one-stage skill if they had to run. If they were lucky, it would additionally slow down the enemy. They argued about how to use it to no end when Kaden threw his hands up in exasperation, stood up and walked into the direction of what remained of the large Goblin horde. He brought up a hand and targeted their midst. With a mental command, he used the newly gained skill.
[Frozen Land]
You have inflicted 322 damage to Goblin
From underneath the Goblins’ feet, ice crept up their bodies, causing a panic-stricken jabbering to fill the air. It rolled up their legs and bodies, pinning a large group of the creatures to the ground. A strange and high-pitched crackling sound accompanied the freezing process and rose ever higher into a shriek as the skill built up in power. At its peak, the ice exploded, sending shards flying in all directions.
The jagged pieces impaled most of the Goblins in range of the spell and killed them outright. Another chime rang out in his head, which he ignored. Pieces of limbs dripping with blood covered the area.
Kaden dropped to his knees, throwing up everything that remained within him. Laney turned around, her face going pale, but she managed to keep it in. She had seen similar things more than once in her long life, though none as recently or as gory.
"See? I told you to take [Flood]," Laney said, breathing in and out. Kaden heaved one more time before he managed to get up and create some distance from the mess.
"This was just too much. Why the hell would he do something like this? He’s not a god, he is a demon!" Kaden replied, spitting out the sour residue within his mouth. ’This wasn’t what I expected at all,' he said, focusing on keeping his breathing steady.
Maelstrom Page 3