Sanctum

by Matthew Powell

  A sustained ability made a player stronger either by sealing away a portion of their maximum energy, or a portion of their maximum energy generation. Running out of Pestilence was supposed to kill him, so locking away a portion of it might not be a good idea. Joshua chose to try the second approach and permanently allocate some of his Pestilence generation to a single task.

  Joshua currently created 35 Pestilence per minute, which gave him plenty to work with. He used 10 Pestilence to create a small, hazy cloud around his knife. It wasn’t much, barely enough to see, but it was there. After repeating this process every minute for a few minutes, Joshua could feel a small tug on his Pestilence. It was there, but he knew this wasn’t enough. He upped the amount used to 20, and the tug became stronger. 25, and the ability formed.

  Skill Learned! Virulent Aura

  A cloud of Pestilence surrounds the user’s weaponry, adding extra damage and applying a damage over time effect to all attacks. Damage increases with the amount of Pestilence used, minimum 25P/min.

  Congratulations on learning your first sustained skill! Sustained skills are not very powerful but can be left active permanently if the user has enough energy to feed them. Due to the unique nature of some classes’ energy generation, active sustained skills are limited to one per Class Tier.

  Joshua felt like that last line was aimed at him personally. Since he could gain an infinite amount of Pestilence with time and effort, the limit on sustained skills meant he couldn’t just stack hundreds of them at once and become invincible. That was probably a good thing, and definitely a good design choice by the developers, but it was still unfortunate.

  The Virulent Aura took the form of a dark-brown cloud hanging around the Pestilence Knife. It wasn’t thick enough to cover the knife itself but could plainly be seen. Good thing that enemies like the Brutes weren’t smart enough to recognize something as dangerous as the aura and dodge it.

  Joshua approached a Brute that was relatively far from the main fighting and attacked it, wanting to end the fight as fast as possible. He rushed at the monster from the side, stabbing his knife towards its neck. The Brute noticed him at the last second and brought its arm up to defend itself. The knife stabbed deep into the monster’s arm, and the Virulent Aura visibly flowed into the Brute’s wound.

  Joshua pulled the knife out and jumped back, wanting to watch the effects of his new power. The skin around the stab wound started rotting and turning black as thick, darkened veins pulsed under the monster’s skin, traveling up its arm. The infection was similar to what the bullets from his Tainted Pistol caused but much more potent.

  Zombie Brute has taken 203 damage

  Zombie brute has taken 155 damage

  Zombie Brute has taken 170 damage

  After a few seconds, the spread of damage started to slow. The aura caused a damage-over-time effect on the enemy, but it quickly faded once the knife left the wound. Despite the short time that the attack lasted, the aftermath was devastating. A large portion of the Brute’s right arm had shriveled into a blackened husk. The Brute could barely make it twitch, let alone attack with it.

  With one of its arms down, the fight was as good as over. The Brute threw a punch with its good arm, desperate to kill the enemy that had crippled it. Joshua ducked under the punch and stabbed the knife into the Brute’s side, digging it in and causing as much damage as possible. Once the skin around the wound started to blacken from the Virulent Aura, Joshua backed off to let the Brute weaken.

  The infection spread through the monster’s waist and torso, causing it to collapse onto the ground. Amazingly it was still alive. The Brute thrashed around on the ground, trying to pick itself up. The poisonous aura had destroyed most of its torso at this point, leaving it unable to move its legs. All that the Brute could do was use its one good arm to drag itself towards Joshua in a desperate attempt to fight back. Joshua put the monster down, stabbing his knife through its skull, killing it instantly.

  Level 9 Zombie Brute had died!

  Zandrius gains 300 EXP!

  Joshua stared, wide-eyed, at the EXP notification. 300 for a single kill was absurd, even if it was the strongest enemy yet. It had even raised his Pestilence cap by 10 on its own! A quick glance around the fighting told him that this Brute was the highest-level enemy in the dungeon. That explained why it was standing off to the side, on its own, observing the battle. It was probably smart enough to look for an opportunity instead of charging head first.

  Now that Joshua was confident in his ability to kill a Brute on his own, the rest of the dungeon was just cleanup. The Plague Eyes were making quick work of the Defaced, and he thinned the Brutes out any time they started winning. Joshua lost track of time during the fighting, but it started to die down as the corpses piled up. When the fighting was almost over, a new notification appeared.

  More than two-thirds of the monsters in the dungeon have been killed!

  Event: War of the Fallen has ended!

  More than 90% of the monsters in the dungeon have been killed!

  A special reward has been earned! Please choose one.

  Choice 1: High-Quality Magic-Iron Breastplate

  Choice 2: Superior Low-Quality Health Potion

  Choice 3: Lesser Permanent Pestilence Boost

  The rewards for butchering the dungeon’s inhabitants were unexpected, but a nice touch. It made sense for there to be a reward somewhere in the dungeon, given that Joshua had not spotted any treasure chests or special enemy spawns. There must have just not been enough dead zombies during the first war to trigger the rewards.

  Before choosing a reward, Joshua had the Plague Eyes gather up all the Pestilence from the piles of zombies. The massacre, plus the massive EXP from killing the Brutes, had pushed him up into level 10 and given him enough EXP to evolve once more. There was a chance that a new blessing from Filth could make his second evolution stronger, as it had the first, so he waited until the eyes were done.

  The massacre brought with it great gains, massively increasing Joshua’s Pestilence, but it wasn’t enough. He needed 500 in total for the next blessing, and the slaughter had only brought him up to 492. Just as he was afraid would happen, weaker monsters were starting to give less Pestilence as his total climbed higher. Thankfully, there was a Pestilence boost from the dungeon rewards just waiting to be chosen.

  Another corked vial appeared in his hand, much like the first time. What were dark green sparks in the first vial now looked like a thin dark cloud. Without hesitation, Joshua uncorked the vial and watched as the cloud spread into the air and entered him through his skin.

  Pestilence: 192/502

  The vial had given 10 Pestilence, just enough to trigger the next blessing.

  Total Pestilence has crossed the third threshold!

  For reaching 500 total Pestilence, Filth has granted you a minor blessing of your choice. You may choose one permanent bonus, only changeable by dropping your maximum Pestilence back below the threshold and re-earning it.

  -Efficiency: Requires slightly less Pestilence for all abilities.

  -Power: Slightly increases the effectiveness of all combat-related abilities.

  -Growth: Slightly increases the amount of Pestilence absorbed from slain enemies, slightly increases the learning rate of all Pestilence skills. Stacks with previous bonus.

  The choices, disappointingly, were still unchanged. Joshua selected growth as he had before, stacking the bonus further.

  Minor Blessing of Growth received!

  3x Minor Blessings of Growth have fused into Lesser Blessing of Growth!

  All effects have been greatly enhanced, bonuses now apply to EXP

  Next Blessing: 2000 Maximum Pestilence

  The Lesser Blessing was exactly what Joshua was hoping he would get, even if it didn’t come exactly as expected. As he was about to open his status screen and evolve, one of the corpses from the war stood up. It was the high-level Brute he had tested Virulence Aura on. The holes and blackened flesh were now occ
upied by swarms of flies.

  “Well, well, well. If it isn’t the little zombie, finally getting his first taste of power. I expected you to quit and change races, but you’ve actually surpassed my expectations.”

  Filth was back, and the Brute he was possessing’s face was split into an inhuman grin.

  “I’m not going to quit that easily, not when the potential of the zombie starting race is so high. So, why are you here?”

  “Why, you’ve earned a Lesser Blessing of mine. The first player to do so, as a matter of fact. That in and of itself is worthy of my attention. There are plenty of necromancers and dark magicians specializing in my sickness, but you have pulled ahead of all of them. That also means that you have a choice to make.”

  A new screen appeared in front of Joshua. All the previous screens had been a light blue color, even the ones dealing with Pestilence, but this one was a sickly green.

  A God-class entity has offered to ordain you!

  The Plague God Filth has offered to make you one of his priests, serving him and gaining appropriate bonuses. New evolutions with the -Priest- modifier have been added, selecting one of these will temporarily lock you into Filth’s service. These classes are much stronger than normal, but disobeying Filth’s commands can come with severe penalties. Choosing one of these will allow the player to change their race.

  Taking a quick look through his possible 3rd evolutions, Joshua quickly spotted the new ones.

  Initiate of Filth

  Unholy Warrior of Filth

  Two new classes, one focusing on his use of Pestilence magic and another focusing on close combat. They both looked incredibly powerful, but a Joshua spotted a few other classes on the evolution list that grabbed his attention.

  Interlude

  A single robed figure sat in a featureless room, leaning back in a floating chair with his eyes closed. His eyes snapped open when another robed figure appeared, entering through a door that opened from the blank wall.

  “How are the servers holding up?” The sitting figure asked.

  “They are stable. The new power source has proven itself above and beyond our wildest expectations. If this continues, we might even be able to skip the next resupply date.”

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We can’t afford any mistakes at this point. No matter how good things may seem, it is better to be prepared for the worst.”

  “Of course, sir.” The standing figure paced back and forth nervously, afraid of angering his superior. He breathed a sigh of relief when the sitting man broke the silence.

  “What about the people of interest? Give me a status update on their progress.”

  “Of course, sir! Of the 100 people marked as high-priority recruitment targets, 97 of them are proceeding through the early levels exactly as predicted. Three of them are ahead of schedule, and we are moving the plan forward to compensate. We will contact them shortly after they leave their starting worlds, pending your individual approval.”

  “Give me a rundown of their progress. I’ll decide after that.” The sitting figure said, noncommittally.

  “Yessir. The three exceptional cases currently hold the 2nd, 3rd and 4th place spot on the leveling leaderboards. In 2nd place is Egerius, a Battlemage who is aspiring to be an Omni-Mage. He is currently Tier 3 and level 12, with nearly four branches of magic already under his belt.

  “Hmm…” The sitting figure cupped his chin in his hand, adopting a thinking pose. “Don’t contact him until he had a basic mastery of at least ten branches of magic. Any earlier than that might stunt his growth.”

  “Understood. In 3rd place is Laureline, a Puppet Controller whose main goal seems to be controlling as many puppets as possible. She is Tier 3 and level 11, and currently controls over 20 puppets. She is, uh…a little obsessive about them.”

  A smile split the sitting man’s face under his shadowed hood. “Oh, that sounds like a fun one. Wait until she has a decent sized army under her command before contacting her. She could make a great villain if that obsession is allowed to grow.”

  “Lastly,” the standing man said, ignoring his superiors last comment, “is Sullivan. He is currently a Tier 3, level 11 Weaponsmith, only a little bit in EXP behind Laureline. He was one of the first players to figure out how to earn EXP by crafting, and he leveled without killing a single monster beyond the first few between him and a safe zone. To put it short, he is a workaholic who hasn’t left the crafting stations since launch.”

  “Oh…that’s boring. Contact him immediately, offer him the resources necessary to grow. Who knows, maybe he will design something we haven’t seen before. Now that that’s been handled, I need to get back in the game.” The sitting figure closed his eyes and leaned back, preparing to start Macrocosm up again.

  “Before you do that sir, we need your word on one last thing.”

  The man sighed before sitting back up. “Fine, let's hurry this along.”

  “Outside of the 100 high-priority players, there have been a few abnormals. Most of these we can handle ourselves, but one in specific has caught our attention and we need your input on how to proceed. The player is currently in 2097th place on the leaderboa-”

  “2097th? That’s hardly something worth my time.”

  “He’s playing a zombie, and he’s climbed nearly 300 spots in the last hour. Filth has already taken an interest in him beyond what he normally does.”

  “I see…you were right to bring this to my attention. Move this player into the high priority watchlist and keep an eye on him. Contact me again if he keeps climbing the ranks while loyal to Filth. I know we agreed to let that fat bastard into Macrocosm, but that doesn’t mean we have to let him poach potential recruits.”

  “Understood, sir. We will prepare another report for you soon.”

  Chapter 12

  There are a whole bunch of gods in Macrocosm, more than I care to keep track of. Players can fight against them, work with them, work for them, and more. Things like good and evil aren’t important; If a player wants to serve an evil god, that is up to them. For some classes and races, it might even be recommended. Playing as something like an assassin or a necromancer without a patron god supporting you can be difficult but comes with its own rewards. Gods will try to push players onto certain paths and being free of their influence allows players to grow unfettered by the god's demands. – On Gods, from the Chronicles of The Founder

  ◆◆◆

  Filth left shortly after giving his speech, leaving Joshua alone in the empty dungeon. Once the god realized that Joshua didn’t plan on picking one of the new classes, he quickly lost interest and dispelled his possession of the Brute. While the Priest classes were no doubt powerful, Joshua wasn’t comfortable putting himself any further into Filth’s servitude than he already had.

  The list of potential new classes was much shorter this time than before, showing seven choices not counting the Priest classes. Of the seven, one seemed to offer the best possible bonuses.

  Wight Guard

  A Wight that specializes in heavy armor and melee weaponry. Gains bonuses to strength and endurance, with a slight bonus to speed and Pestilence-related magic. All armor and weaponry weigh less while equipped. Choosing this will forcibly change your race from Zombie to Wight. Pestilence attribute and effects will be carried over.

  Plague Wight

  A Plague zombie that has grown stronger without specializing in any single way of fighting. Wights are an improvement over the basic zombie in every way. They are naturally stronger, faster, and better at magic, though not to the extent of more specialized race evolutions.

  It was perfect. A flat upgrade over everything Joshua had that also didn’t force him down any single path and came with a new race. Being a regular old zombie had been fun and all, but it was about time for a change. Joshua selected Wight Guard.

  Everything went dark for a second, and Joshua found himself back in the character creation room. In front of him was the body he had been inhab
iting for the last day, a dried-up corpse inside a suit of padded armor. It would have been a comical sight for another player to stumble onto him in the middle of a post-apocalyptic wasteland. The armor showed more like an outline, not truly present to impede the character modification process.

  The zombie body started morphing, filling out and growing slightly taller. The new Wight body appeared almost human, but several features were noticeably different. He was able to adjust things like hair length and skin tone, but the hair was always a stark white and every skin color was deathly pale. The eyes, once milky white with black pupils, were now sunken and glowing green.

  Other than that, the body didn’t have any overly zombie-esque features. None of the skin or muscles were rotting, none of the bones were showing, etc. Why, with enough armor covering it, this new body could pass as human!

  When he realized this, Joshua rushed through the rest of the process. The biggest problem with starting as a zombie, besides the obvious weakness, was that he couldn’t trade or accept quests from the human settlements. If this new body could actually manage that, it would be a massive weight off his shoulders.

  There were two major problems with this plan, the first of which Joshua found shortly after the creation process finished. Once it was over, everything went dark once again, and the newly created Wight found himself standing back in the alcove near the entrance of the dungeon. A few quick movements told him that, even with the armor equipped, this new body was much more agile than his previous had been. He knew that would be the case, but feeling it was a different story.