Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior Reborn: A LitRPG/Wuxia Novel - Book 1

by M. H. Johnson

  You have taken an additional 4 points of damage from Crimson Parsnip Exposure. Crimson Parsnip Immunity is now at 60%.

  But Alex was taking no chances as the gasping mage continued to spit out incomprehensible words, charging forward and slamming the heel of his palm into the brilliant sapphire in the center of his enemy's forehead, hoping that if it had been surgically implanted, smashing the hard gemstone against weakened bone would leave his foe speechless with pain.

  The results were beyond anything Alex could have expected.

  Lesser Ice Mage Relic has been exposed! Do you wish to claim Lesser Ice Mage’s potency?

  Yes! Alex mentally shouted at the prompt in his mind, and the mage's eyes widened with something beyond pain, though only the faintest whisper escaped the rapidly closing throat of the dying mage as Alex seemed to suck in the man's very soul. A sudden rush of power and potency crackled through every fiber of his being as the mage before him crumpled to dust, the pale blue sapphire now in Alex's palm all that remained.

  You presently have no class. Do you wish to take on the class of Lesser Ice Mage?

  And Alex froze.

  He sensed the trap he had almost fallen into, panic and adrenaline and a mad fight for his life all flooding his system, emphasizing split-second decisions.

  But the decision he made now might be permanent.

  He could just imagine starting any new game, the careful research he would do to find not only the best class but the best combination of skills and powers he could possibly come up with, no matter how unorthodox it would be for classic dungeon running, so as to forge himself the best PvP build that he possibly could. Because no matter how hard a weird build was to level up in the early game grind, end game player versus player was the only thing that mattered. Nothing beat the rush he got taking on other challengers who stuck with the classic cookie-cutter builds. Because as easy as they had it while ranking up to max level, their orthodox, predictable strategies couldn't do crap against Alex's skill chains that left his enemies in the dust and he himself ranking in the top 10 of every killboard he had ever bothered posting on.

  And anything less than the best possible combination just marked him as a fool, wasting his precious time.

  His family had made him feel ashamed enough of his choices, not spending every waking moment studying their economic empire. So, if he was going to waste his time playing games, he’d use the best damn build he possibly could.

  And for all he knew, AI construct or no, especially if that’s all he was, the character build he chose now was forever, and any foolish choices he made now would haunt him for the rest of his life. However many hours or centuries that might be.

  And ‘Lesser Ice Mage' certainly didn't have any sort of elite ring to it.

  After all, he, a level zero noob, had just taken one out by tearing free his gem.

  An unforgivable weakness he refused to incorporate into his own build.

  "No," he said calmly, forcefully, out loud as well as in his head, to make sure there would be no misunderstanding. "I do NOT accept that class as my build."

  Lesser Ice Mage archetype reserved. No class chosen at this time.

  Alex sighed with relief. If he managed to stumble across any sleeping Master Arch Mages or anything like that? He might choose differently. He smirked at the thought, still wincing from very real pain, surprised to see that he was down almost 40 health in all. Most of that was due to poison exposure, if the prompt in his interface were anything to go by.

  Crimson Parsnip now at 100% Immunity. Poison has been mastered. Correlating differences between multiple toxin spectrums. Biochemical Mastery is now at Rank 2.

  Alex blinked, pleased to find his skin was no longer stinging, grateful as hell that his flesh hadn't melted off with the exposure to the other poison that had splashed all over the Ice Mage and him both. Deathwort. That was it. And contact with it didn't seem to bother him at all. It was same poison, he suspected, that had been within the container he had come to life within, probably where he had gotten his original Deathwort poison immunity.

  His brows furrowed then as he heard another man's voice calling out through the door.

  "Sven! Is all well? We heard barrels knocking over."

  Alex blinked, realizing he could now understand his foe's language perfectly. As if he had absorbed it along with whatever life force potential he had claimed from his first target. And why the hell was this ship filled with barrels full of poison in any case?

  A quick look around spied a number of other containers of glass or clay, also containing what looked to be dangerous substances of one sort or another, perhaps too caustic to be placed in wooden barrels.

  "Sven! Answer me!"

  Alex winced as the door handle was forced open, realizing he was still in jeopardy, immediately thinking of a plan of action.

  Two quick exhalations and the room was pitch dark.

  "Sven?"

  Heart hammering, Alex positioned himself where he thought best and stood absolutely still as the door slowly opened, revealing the silhouette of a large man outlined by the flickering lanterns hung on hooks within the narrow wooden hallway of the ship. Otherwise, the hallway seemed empty.

  And Alex hesitated not a second longer as his eyes picked up the soft green glow of another gem in his foe's forehead, instantly acting.

  You have successfully struck your foe from shadow for 5 Health and no significant Wound damage. Foe is jostled and momentarily stunned.

  Even as Alex's heart pounded and the man before him lurched back, roaring in surprise and fury, Alex got the prompt his life depended upon.

  Lesser Earth Mage Relic has been exposed! Do you wish to claim Lesser Earth Mage’s potency?

  "Yes!” Alex shouted aloud as his foe shuddered and crumpled to the ground, dying at Alex’s feet.

  You presently have no class. Do you wish to take on the class of Lesser Earth Mage?

  "No!” Alex said aloud. “No, I certainly do not!”

  He wasted no time, quickly dragging in the now desiccated body as soon as the sweet rush of power flooding his soul faded to an almost languorous sense of repletion, before he was jolted back to a state of near panic, realizing he was naked and in the bowels of a ship held by nefarious men who were trucking in poison and homicidal mages.

  And the pain he had felt so far had been as visceral and real as any he had ever experienced before.

  He frowned then, surprised anew by just how good he felt now.

  After spending a few quick seconds dealing with the remains of his most recent target, Alex found himself in possession of a brilliant green gem glittering prettily alongside the blue one, placing both in a small pouch that had been strung around the neck of his latest victim. He thought it kind of stupid to wear in a fight, but he guessed it was more secure against cutpurses than a belt pouch.

  Alex quickly changed into the earth mage's attire, finding the linen tunic and leggings not nearly as scratchy and uncomfortable as he had feared they would be. The pants were secured by looped strings around the thigh, as opposed to the waist, which he found himself spending far too long figuring out how to adjust so his pants didn't fall around his ankles before darting back into the hallway, grabbing a hanging lantern, and using it to relight the lanterns back in the storeroom. Only then did he make a careful inspection of what exactly was being stored.

  He took cautious sniffs of each container, chilled to the quick when their contents emblazoned themselves in his mind’s eye via a voice that reminded him very much of his favorite game show host, the one that had taken almost as much delight in his contestant's misfortunes as he did their successes. Kind of twisted, now that Alex thought about it, but it had been wildly popular at the time.

  You have discovered Eldritch Hogweed. Zero damage taken. Eldritch Hogweed Immunity now at 1%.

  You have discovered Foolsbane. You have discovered Jazmin Berries. You have discovered Magebane. You have discovered Toxic Tapinella. You have discovered
Deathberries.

  After forcing open numerous casks, glass jugs, and clay urns and taking careful sniffs of the contents of each, he was surprised to find so much toxic death in the heart of this ship, chilled to think of what horrific acts the wielders of these poisonous brews might be capable of.

  A sudden wave of panic flooded through him. He could sense a powerful presence from elsewhere in the ship suddenly focusing upon him.

  His heart began to race, and he desperately looked for an exit, knowing he was running out of time.

  Frantic eyes darted to the end of the hallway, feeling a sudden surge of relief as he noted that the door was both reinforced with iron and padlocked shut.

  Then he heard the angry calls as forceful blows pounded against the door.

  Shit!

  His eyes frantically searched the hallway, noting the pair of doors nearby, and he quickly darted into first one, then the other, finding them both full of clay pots that gave off a caustic stink that made his eyes burn.

  Not poison, though certainly toxic. Pitch, lye, and whatever else was making his eyes water.

  And just as he breathed a sigh of relief, seeing a small trapdoor he thought led to the bilge and perhaps a way to hide… and if he was lucky, another opening further down he could use to slip past his enemies and perhaps find a way off the ship… his interface’s most recent message froze him solid.

  Naphtha detected. Quicklime detected. 1% immunity to caustic effects of compounds achieved. (Warning! No immunity to exothermic heat damage is possible at this time!)

  Alex froze as the implications of all he had seen clicked into place. He was forced to ask himself, what if this wasn’t just a simulated universe? What if he really died here? He already knew it would hurt. Would he come back? Was this all, somehow, real?

  Even though he knew he was technically just a simulation, had to be, he had never felt more real or alive than he did at that moment. And he was just as uncomfortable with the thought of someone telling him it was okay to die right then as he would be if some fanatic had snuck into his father's old mansion and handed Alex a glass of strange-smelling liquid, assuring him he’d wake up just fine in the next life.

  Either way, he'd politely pass.

  Scratch that. Either way, he'd fight like hell to take out the psychopath trying to kill him.

  He'd treat this all as real until he was proven wrong. Viscerally, it was too intense for him not to. And real or not, suffering the agony of death was just as bad as, well, death, if the pain he had experienced up to now was anything to go by.

  Which meant he was about to be rolled on by a bunch of extremely hostile mages who would be all too eager to show him exactly what death felt like, simulation or no, unless he thought of something damn quick.

  The trapdoor called invitingly out to him, and he darted for it gladly.

  That was when the cry of seagulls and the excited squeals of children assaulted his ears.

  Sounds made by no one on board this ship, the thuds now distant as he had instinctively shut this door.

  The cries had been a distance off to his left.

  As if he was near city docks or a port.

  And this ship was near bursting with containers filled with death.

  Alex forced himself to stand as his thoughts raced, realizing he didn't dare flee.

  Not when those bastards had enough poison to taint an entire city's water supply, to say nothing of incendiaries sufficient to burn down a fleet of ancient sailing vessels.

  Because right now, this all felt very, very real. And if there was even a chance that city was filled with anything other than AI constructs… perhaps actual living people, or even terminally ill deep-sixed suckers desperate to hold onto this second shot at life just like he was, either way, he'd never forgive himself if his cowardice led to countless deaths.

  Alex sighed and shook his head, squelching his panic, racing back to the poison room after checking to make sure that yes, the trap door did indeed lead to a bilge, upon which he quickly shoved a crateful of clay pots filled with Greek fire before darting back to poison central.

  The hammering on the reinforced door turned to powerful blows. Alex's eyes widened to see shimmering blue runes on the surface of the doorway, figuring that was the only thing holding the guards back for now.

  Tier 1 Nordic Doorward Rune learned. School of Earth magic. Rune can only be accessed if Arcane class with Earth magic affinities is chosen.

  Alex blinked at that, but refused to let himself get distracted, struck by a crazy idea, but determined to give it a shot.

  Each and every poison-filled container he had investigated earlier he now rubbed a small portion on his skin, hissing as sudden sharp pain spiraled out of control.

  You have taken 12 damage from combined poison exposure. You now have 20% immunity to Eldritch Hogweed, Foolsbane, Jazmin Berries, Magebane, Toxic Tapinella and Deathberries.

  Alex paled. Even though he had just wiped streaks of each poison on his abdomen, he had dared too much… his skin was hissing and blistering and would no doubt soon infect his blood, the way it ate through him.

  He stumbled to the ground, sitting in a pool of caustic Crimson Parsnip he was thankfully now 100% immune to, quickly checking his Health Points bar.

  He gave a surprised chuckle of relief to find that the poison damage from earlier, unlike the frost-burn to his hand which was still sore, had already healed, at least for the most part. As if his body, upon achieving immunity, could now automatically generate compounds that would neutralize whatever adverse effect had struck him, not only giving him immunity but healing whatever damage the poison had already caused.

  Apparently gross physical injuries, like the frost burns and the initial caustic injury before his skin generated compounds to automatically neutralize those irritants, would not instantly heal. But at least he would be immune to further damage from those acids and poisons he had developed invulnerability to.

  He could only hope his immunity would catch up to his rapidly dwindling health pool as he was overwhelmed with sudden dizziness.

  You have suffered 10 damage from combined poison exposure.

  You have suffered 9 damage from combined poison exposure.

  You have suffered 8 damage from combined poison exposure.

  His resistance was not boosting as fast as it had at first. Perhaps because he had lathered everything on himself, perhaps because his interface-boosted immune system was overwhelmed with it all. Either way, he was only at a third of his original Health pool when he finally received the messages he had been desperately praying for.

  You now have 100% Immunity to Eldritch Hogweed, Foolsbane, Jazmin Berries, Magebane, Toxic Tapinella, Deathberries, Crimson Parsnip, and Deathwort. These poisons are now Mastered.

  Biochemical Mastery is now Rank 3

  You may now synthesize balms to any poison mastered. Saliva or compounds made with various ingredients may both be used. Sense of smell is now sufficient to detect needed compounds within any mineral or botanical you have access to.

  Poison induced damage is now regenerating.

  Alex blinked in surprise. He could generate poison cures?

  And just thinking of Crimson Parsnip left his tongue tingling, images of a number of flowers he used to love sniffing as a young child within his mother's arboretum flashed across his mind's eye. He was somehow certain that if he had access to the right equipment, he'd know just what to do to generate a cure to the poisons he had been exposed to so far.

  He couldn't help grinning in wonder.

  He might not have a class yet, but damn if he didn't have a powerful ability he could skill up already.

  Perception check made!

  He shivered then, feeling the potency of what he could only guess was the head mage now before the door, and surmised that the Earth Mage's protective runes wouldn't last long.

  2

  Heart racing, Alex wasted no time forcing open every single massive barrel of poison that he coul
d, racing for the end of the corridor towards the door now warping before his eyes, his panicked fingers shattering jug after jug of deadly toxin as guttural chanting could be heard just beyond the doorway.

  "Damn it, I have to be faster!" Alex berated himself aloud.

  Finesse check failed!

  He fell to the ground after grabbing a single jug of what could only be Greek fire as the warded door at the end of the hall finally crashed to the ground with a titanic boom.

  "Find the intruder and kill him!" Roared a baritone voice, and Alex's guts twisted in panicked knots.

  But he refused to let it affect him as he lurched for the door, flask in one hand, lantern in the other.

  Arcane emanations successfully sensed.

  And when he dared to peep around, seeing the handful of robed figures with thick, bushy beards and glittering gems upon their foreheads, each of them surrounded by a shimmering shield of force that Alex was somehow certain would ward the mage against any crossbow bolt or spear thrust. The perfect tools for a ship siege, and luck alone explained how a classless Alex had survived not one but two encounters so far.

  Good thing he had neither crossbow nor spear, he thought grimly, tossing his packages even as the largest figure, dressed in shimmering black robes, pointed a black wand at Alex.

  Alex froze, knowing he was looking at the equivalent of the barrel of a gun.

  "You won’t find us as easy to take down as our fellows, spy!” The head mage roared before bending over and coughing under the effects of the fumes that the caustic mess of compounds bubbling and hissing and now eating into the floor were releasing, a blast of lightning tearing a massive chunk of the planks just inches from Alex’s feet.

  It seemed the shimmering field surrounding the mage did nothing to block gases, which made perfect sense, as any field lacking a certain amount of permeability would asphyxiate the practitioner.