Anton was brought out of Battle Meditation as Notifications filled his mind.
SYSTEM Experience Award Complete upon transference to new SYSTEM Environment.
One Error Noted
Error due to Divine Alteration of Award Source.
Experience award of 9,164,000 for killing Vincent Woodrow, a Level 9,164 Shadow Rogue, was altered by the God Anubis.
The God Anubis has been Censured. A Fine in Divine Energy equal to double the Experience Points diverted from you has been levied. The SYSTEM will confiscate all Divine Energy earned to repay this debt from Anubis.
The true award of 34,995,025,00, which includes the “XP award, one-time multiplier: x10,” is now awarded.
34,985,861,000 Experience has been awarded to the Class Vampiric, Pseudo-Specter
Vampiric Pseudo-Specter Vampire has increased in level from level 442 to Level 2,989
Anton’s mind froze as he sat up in the bed rapidly. He had time to verbalize the beginning of a thought as he said, “What the he…”
A moment later, his Manifested body vaporized as the SYSTEM filled him with Experience Points. The sudden influx of attributes and levels was more then his body could bear; it evaporated. His Spectral form was surrounded by a blinding white light, which didn’t hurt but was bright enough that the light was visible through the walls of the room he was in. He felt the energy rush into him and watched as every base attribute increased from almost 3,000 to over 13,000 in a moment. With his efficiency bonuses, all of his attributes ended up being over 40,000.
“Whoa,” Anton said as the light faded, and he found himself floating above the bed.
Anton heard steps rushing toward his room before he heard the receptionist's voice: “Sir! Sir! Are you okay?”
Anton was still getting used to the difference between his Specter form and his Manifest form from before to now, but it was so nice to be able to hear people while they couldn’t normally see him. Anton activated Manifest to recreate his physical form. A moment later, his new body solidified around him, and he called out in a hollow voice, “I’m Fine. Give me a moment.”
Anton realized that it was taking a bit longer than he expected for his body to solidify in the world entirely. He opened his Status screen and checked to see why.
Hit Points: 23,979 of 158,856
-Health Regeneration: 7
Stamina: 501,525
-Stamina Regeneration: 12,804
Psychic Energy Reservoir: 568,860
Psychic Energy: 171, 986
-Psychic Regeneration: 1,707
Strength: 42,689
Agility: 42,692
Dexterity: 42,367
Endurance: 42,680
Constitution: 56,091
Perception: 42,692
Intelligence: 42,670
Wisdom: 42,360
Willpower: 56,886
Charisma: 42,670
Luck: 194,253
Anton looked over his Resource Pools and his Attributes and then remembered what Manifest did when initially formed or reformed. His True form would represent his current form. The increase in attributes had increased his maximum Hit Points, but his body still had to acquire those Hit Points at his normal regeneration rate. However, the influx of energy had filled his Psychic Energy Reservoir.
That meant….
With a thought, Anton activated Assimilation and converted Psychic Energy from his Reservoir into the missing 134,877 Hit Points. Immediately, his body filled out, and he felt much more substantial as his body manifested fully. Anton checked to make sure he was clothed as he floated down to the ground before he opened the door and found the Receptionist looking into the room.
“Sir, are you all right?”
“Just a little SYSTEM update that just took effect,” Anton offered.
“A little SYSTEM update,” The Receptionist asked hesitantly, “Is it over?”
“Looks like it,” Anton said.
There was a commotion at the stairway as three fully armored and armed men raced up. Each wore a symbol on their chest that looked like an upside-down V with a small circle above it. It took Anton a moment to place it, but he was sure it looked almost identical to the symbol for Earth on Stargate in the same movie and series. He couldn’t help himself as he called out, “S G One?”
Three men were so focused on getting to him that the leader stumbled before he asked, “What?”
“The Symbol on your chest, Are you S G One?”
“Um, no. We are city guards; the symbol on our chest represents Haven. That’s beside the point. What is going on here?”
Anton smiled, “Well, as one of my favorite authors might describe it, ‘System Fuckery.’”
“Are you implying that the SYSTEM created and generated the blinding white light that everyone with a half mile just saw?”
“Well, it wasn’t me?” Anton said honestly
“Is he lying?” The leader asked the man to his left.
“I can’t tell. My spell isn’t working on him.”
“There are serious consequences for using higher-tier magic within the city. I need you to come with us so that we can find out if you’re telling the truth.”
“And if I say no?” Anton asked politely.
“We will convince you,” The third guard said menacingly as he pulled a wand from his belt.
“Whatever,” Anton said flippantly. Lead the way. I wouldn’t want to cause a ruckus here,” Anton stated. As he stepped through the door, he turned to the receptionist, pulled a gold coin from his inventory, and handed it to him: “Once this is all cleared up, I’d like to be able to stay here for another night; please hold this room for me.”
“Of course, Sir,” The Receptionist said as he accepted the gold coin.
“Please lead the way,” Anton said.
The lead guard turned and headed down the stairs with Anton behind him and the two remaining city guards following. Once outside Braxx’s Inn, they headed further east into the city. Anton could have ignored them. He could have overpowered them. But he was in a new world and didn’t have the lay of the land yet, so he’d play along for a bit longer unless they went stupid.
Anton followed the city guard while the other two followed behind until they came up to a three-story building that looked to be made of marble and kind of reminded him of one of the government buildings in the bigger cities back on Earth.
The building was huge and looked to take up six city blocks, maybe more on the on the backside. From the street, he could see a main entrance where people of various races were walking into and out of the building. Anton was led around to a side entrance where the majority of people entering and exiting the building had the Symbol of Haven sewn on their clothes somewhere.
“We’re going to step inside. The exam rooms are on the right. We’ll enter the first one with an open door,” the guard in front said back to him and the guards behind him.
Anton followed the lead guard as they walked inside and entered the third door on the right. As he stepped inside, a woman sat behind a desk to his right. Anton watched as the City Guard, who had led him there, pointed to a piece of paper on her desk. “That one,” he said.
The woman picked up the paper, read it over quickly, and smiled as she looked at Anton. “My name is Alice. I am one of the many investigators for the city. May I have your name, please?”
“Anton.”
“Just Anton?” she asked leadingly.
“Names have power. Anton is the name I go by,” Anton said.
Alice wrote his name in common on the paper the City Guard had pointed at and then continued, “Very well, Anton. If you would please step to your left into the rune circle in the middle of the room.”
“Can I ask what you’re going to do?”
“We are going to make sure that whatever happened in Braxx’s Inn did not change you or make you a danger to Haven?”
“It was the SYSTEM,” Anton said.
“Then this should take any time at all. Please step into the rune circle.”
Anton moved to his left and stepped into the circle. As he did so, he felt nothing, which probably meant that whatever magic was being used to power the rune wasn’t one of the higher spheres of magic. He looked over at Alice, “It might just be better if you asked me what you were looking for.”
Alice pulled a wand and pointed it at the rune circle. A cylinder of light sprung up around Anton, and she smiled. “We don’t really need your permission,” she said as the wand glowed.
“Yeah, you probably do, and No, that’s not going to work,” Anton said.
Alice ignored Anton as the three City Guards watched from just inside the door. Her brow furrowed as she concentrated, then she closed her eyes and seemed to try to push even more of her will into the wand.
“As I said, that’s not going to work on me,” Anton said with a smug smile.
The wand in Alice’s hand stopped glowing as Alice redirected her attention to Anton, “You are currently inside a ward where only sound and visible light can enter and exit. For some reason, I cannot access your Status Page or Notification window, even though I should be able to access it easily. You will remove any defenses you have, or you will not be allowed to leave that warded circle until you do.”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“So, you’re going to go stupid then,” Anton said, shaking his head in an obvious ‘I’m very disappointed with you’ fashion. See, that’s not going to work for me.”
“You will stand there until I say you…”
Anton stepped through the magically warded rune, “Yeah, See, here’s the thing…
Anton’s words were interrupted when the leader of the City guard rushed forward and tried to shove his Longsword through Anton’s chest directly over his heart. The blade stopped dead and then bent and snapped as the full strength of the city guard force came to bear on the weapon.
Everyone in the room froze
“Damn man, I’m sorry about your…,” Anton started to say as the second City Guard pointed his hand at him and stated, “Sleep. " The third guard summoned a spear into his hand and thrust it at Anton’s head. Anton casually reached up, caught the spear, and released his aura. The effect was immediate and devastating. All four people in the room dropped to the ground, unconscious.
“Oops,” Anton said as he dropped the spear beside its owner before he retracted his Aura. Next, he went to the open door and looked out into the hallway. Everyone within 30 feet of him was on the ground. With no idea how long it would take everyone to wake up, Anton exited the room and continued down the hallway away from the doors he’d entered through and made his way deeper into the building. At the end of the corridor was another door, which he stepped through. As he opened the door, a group of guards was rushing toward the door.
The City Guard at the head of the group called out, “Halt!”
“Alright,” Anton said as he waited for them to get to him. Once they were directly in front of him, he said, “My name’s Anton; I’m new to the city. I was asked to come in here by the City Guard so they could test something. Unfortunately, I am completely immune to magic, and they took that poorly. I released my aura, which was a lot more powerful than I expected. Everyone down the hallway behind me is unconscious, as far as I can tell. If any of you attack me, I’m going to release my Aura again and then go find whoever the city leaders are and have a talk, or you can escort me to said leaders so we can have a chat, and you can…”
One of the City Guards at the back of the group called out, “Silence!”
Before the Guard who had tried to cut him off could say another word, Anton released his Aura again. Everyone within 30 feet of him dropped to the ground again.
Hey, he’d tried to be nice about this, but these asshats were being complete assholes. He retracted his aura and then began looking around. This time, he ignored the guards unless they tried to stop him, at which point he released his Aura and dropped them to the ground again. Eventually, people ignored him as they rushed to the various groups of people who were lying on the ground unconscious. While he wasn’t sure about exactly what his aura was doing to the people who dropped unconscious, he noticed that they weren’t waking up, but they weren’t dying, so he considered that a win. Using his Aura was a really convenient way to defend himself from attack, and now, with his insanely high attributes, his Aura had a bit of a sting to it, even if its range was limited. It seemed that the levels he’d earned had increased his personal power by quite a bit.
After about 10 minutes of walking around, he determined where the council chamber was and walked up to the giant wooden doors. Two guards stood beside a large double door. A man in a regal black robe looked at Anton before he asked, “May I help you?”
“I’d like to see the council members?”
“I am the Lead Council Assistant. May I ask who wishes to present himself?”
“I am Anton. I arrived from Earth yesterday.”
“From Earth, you say? Weren’t you to be brought here by the City Guard after the display of magic at Braxx’s Inn?” the Lead Council Assistant asked.
“You are well informed. Yes, the City Guard escorted me here, and then they attacked me. They are currently unconscious, as is everyone else in the building who attacked me.”
“You attacked them? You are the person that has been putting everyone to sleep in the building for the last twenty minutes.” the Lead Council Assistant said, shock evident on his face.
“I did not. I did release my Aura, however, which did put them to sleep. If I have to release my Aura again, I’m quite sure everyone within 30 feet will be rendered unconscious. So, if you don’t mind, I’d like to speak to the City Council and find out what they want to know before I leave the area.”
“Guards, Seize him!”
As the guards moved, Anton had grown tired of the horse shit he’d been putting up with since he’d arrived. The first guard who tried to grab him was thrown down the hall behind him at a velocity that was significant enough that he didn’t hit the ground for 100 feet before continuing to slide down the hall until he slammed into and through the wall to the left of the double doors that led outside.
The second guard drew his weapon and brought it down in a broad slash. Anton caught the blade with his right hand before his left hand reached out, grabbed the full plate armor he was wearing by the chest piece, which did live finger indentions in the metal and flung him after his friend. It was very obvious when he let go that the armor had been bent and broken around a single hand before he was released to fly about the same distance before he slid into and tore through the wall on the opposite side of the double doors to the outside of the building.
Before the Lead Council Assistant could utter a word, Anton reached up, put a hand on each door, and activated Assimilate. Both doors vanished as they were converted into Psychic Energy and 20 points was added to Anton’s Psychic Energy Reservoir.
“Who dares interrupt the…
Anton ignored the man, who was rendered speechless as Anton strode into the chamber. When he reached the center of the room, four spells fizzled as they almost touched his body. Additionally, four bullets hit his chest, and two sniper rounds flattened against his head. Damn, his new Physical Damage Resistance of 561 was no joke. He also noted that the impacts hadn’t caused him to shift or move at all. The bullets hit his body and stopped.
Anton activated the Sigil of Keres, which solidified into existence above his head as he announced, “You asked that I come to talk to you and answer some questions. This is me presenting myself to answer said questions. The next person that attacks me, however, dies in the Name of the Goddess Keres. This is your only war….”
Another sniper round flattened against his skull. Anton looked at the guard with the sniper rifle and cast Mind Bolt at the Archer. The Bolt made a small hole going through his chest and a huge bloody mess, which exploded out of his back against the wall behind him.
Congratulations! You have defeated a Level 425 City Guard.
5,657,813 Experience Awarded.
You have been awarded 425 Gold from the SYSTEM
You have earned 4,250 Conviction.
Congratulations! You have reached Vampiric Pseudo-Specter Level 2,990
Of course, the other soldiers attacked, which only increased the simmering rage that was building within him. He’d been cast into this place pretty much against his will, and now he was being attacked repeatedly. Why the fuck should he put up with this nonsense? Why indeed?
Anton moved. Within one Combat Turn, the remaining five City Guards joined the first in death. He didn’t use a Mind Bolt for those attacks. Instead, he moved around the room in a flash, striking each attacker just once with his fist before returning to his starting point in the middle of the room. He noted that the four mages that had cast spells at him initially had not attacked since he issued his warning and had instead cast spells to defend the five council members seated at the raised seats in front of him.
Anton quickly skimmed the notifications while he waited for one of the councilors to respond. He noted that all the soldiers he had just killed had been above level 400. For each kill, the SYSTEM had awarded him gold, and he’d gained another level. Anton’s attention was brought to the man in the middle of Dias as he cleared his throat.
“Whoever you are, the punishment for killing a City Guard is Death. You just killed six. You are hereby sentenced to Death!” he declared as he brought his hand down on an Orb mounted to the desk in front of him.
Anton was pretty sure an Artifact had just been used against him when a field of deathly pale energy surrounded him. It did nothing to him, of course. The SYSTEM didn’t even dignify the attack with a notification. So, Anton ignored the sphere of death energy that surrounded him and strode forward.
With a steady stride, Anton walked toward the Councilor in a straight line. To the other Councilors watching him, it appeared that he was walking on air as he came level with the Councilors and stood opposite the Councilor who had just sentenced him to death. Caught off guard, the Councilor left his hand on the artifact and watched Anton like a deer in headlights. Before the Councilor could speak or move, Anton’s hand lashed out and rested atop the Councilor’s hand on the Artifact as he activated Assimilate.
Everyone watched in horror as Anton drained the 86 Psychic Energy, 1,887 Mana, 5,366 Stamina, and finally the 4,231 Hit Points out of Councilor. Once all of the energy had been sucked dry from the councilor, he assimilated the corpse for the final 10 Psychic Energy. This was represented by the body of the Councilor deflating until only a very thin and fragile husk was left, which evaporated as Anton assimilated the body.
How quickly he’d assimilated, the Councilor had surprised him. With his higher Willpower, he was able to absorb the entire body of the level 497 Councilor and convert him into 11,580 Psychic Energy in only one turn. The Councilor's body had deflated and vanished before he could so much as scream.
Anton looked to his left, to his right and then to the Lead Council Assistant behind him, “I believe that I have made myself abundantly clear. If you attack me, you die. Now, who would like to ask their questions, or should I be going?
For a few moments, Anton’s question was met with silence until the female Councilor immediately to the left of the seat he was standing in front of cleared her throat as she said, “Guards, Stand down. Marcus, who is this before us?”
The Lead Council Assistant looked up and said, “Unto the Esteemed Council of Haven, may I present Anton, who recently arrived from Earth.”
Anton nodded as he tapped the orb with his finger a couple of times before returning to the middle of the room and looking back at the remaining four councilors.
“I am Anton, and I am from Earth. I was informed that you might have questions.”
“I have to ask, Why did you kill them?” The male Councilor to the left of the female councilor asked.
“I was polite to Alice and the City Guards and the various groups of guards that tried to attack me repeatedly as I made my way to this room. You will find that they are all still alive. I remained restrained repeatedly, even though that is not my nature normally. Then, after I gave my warning, six of your guards attacked me again. As you can see from the Mark above my head, I follow Keres, a goddess of violent death. If someone wishes to issue a violent death unto me, I feel it only fair that I reciprocate. Besides, Why wouldn’t I kill each and every person who attacks me?”
The Councilor looked exasperated as he said, “But you will make enemies everywhere you go?”
Anton didn’t bother to answer the point. If someone was attacking him, they were already his enemy.
The female counselor must have picked up on Anton’s thoughts by reading his body language as she cleared her throat and asked, “Did you cause the blinding white light that emanated from Braxx’s Inn earlier today?” The Councilor on the far right asked.
“No, that was the SYSTEM, as I explained to the City Guards that came to Braxx’s Inn.”
“What did the SYSTEM do,”
“It would seem that I pissed off the God Anubis back on Earth enough for him to try to prevent an Experience reward I earned. Upon arriving here, the SYSTEM performed an Audit and found the discrepancy. The white light was the SYSTEM giving me the reward I’d earned.”
“Then why didn’t you just let Alice look at your Status and Notification list with her ritual? If what you say is true, that would have been the end of it,” The female Councilor said heatedly.
“Because it won’t work on me.”
“That ritual works on everyone, no matter their level.”
“Will it work on someone immune to magic?”
“No one is immune to magic?”
“Which I assumed was the default answer Alice was going to stick with, so I stepped through her “impenetrable” ward, just like I stepped through the wards that were protecting the five of you and ignored all the spells that were thrown at me by your mages. I am immune to magic.”
“If you are immune to magic, that still doesn’t explain why the bullets that hit you had no effect. If you’re immune to magic, You can’t use magic to protect yourself, can you? So, how are you immune to physical attacks?
“I’m sure you all have heard of Physical Damage Resistance, being level 400 or higher, My resistance is higher than yours.
“No one is sent here with a level lower than 400 or higher than 499,” the Councilor said adamantly.
“You are quite correct. When I arrived west of Haven, I was level 442. As I stated, a god in the previous Universe I was in tried to limit a reward I received, and that bit of tampering was corrected this morning.”
“I see,” the Councilor on the far right said, “Then, If I might ask, what level are you?”
“I am now over level 1,000,” Anton said truthfully.
“Truly,” The female Councilor who had assumed the role of the Council Speaker.
“Truly,” Anton Confirmed.
“Anton, you’ve only been in the city for a single day, but let me ask you, what levels do you think the people of Haven are?”
“Everyone I’ve had combat today was over 400, so I would venture to say level 400.”
“And what level were the people back on your homeworld?”
“Except for a few exceptional cases, most were under level 100 as far as I could tell.”
“Haven is a city where people are born and die, but it is a city that was created by those of us who were sent here from elsewhere. The people in charge and the veteran guards might all be over level 400, but the majority of the citizens of Haven are under level 100 because most of them were born here. New arrivals such as yourself are normally between levels 400 and 499. When someone could pose a threat to the majority of our citizens, we usually remove them from the city if possible or destroy them if necessary,” She explained.
“Hey, I have no guilt over what happened here. I was attacked repeatedly, and I gave out warnings. They were ignored, and people died.”
“And if I were to tell you that someone is on their way here that can do to you what you did to others, what would you say to that?”
“I would say that you did a very good job stalling me, even though I had no intention of attacking anyone that does not attack me first,” Anton said matter-of-factly.
Pop
“No one that is truly evil ever does,” a voice said from directly behind Anton said.
Anton turned to see a twelve-foot male Celestial, complete with a giant two-handed flaming sword and a holy Aura, standing behind him.
“Only the Righteous can withstand my might!” The celestial declared as he swung a giant two-handed sword faster than anyone in the room, save Anton, could follow. The sword was brought around in an arch to cleave Anton in two. Anton reached up with his left hand and caught the blade with two fingers as he simultaneously punched the Celestial in the center of his chest. The Celestial stopped moving as time seemed to freeze, and notifications filled Anton’s vision.
Combat Log
Divine Strike for 795 points of damage Blocked by your Unarmed Defense of 9,849. No damage taken.
Basic Melee Punch Successful, Critical Strick Noted
64,074 Damage (21,358 Base with a x3 Multiplier) Inflicted
Celestial Soldier Hit Points reduced to -50,399
Celestial Soldier has been disincorporated and returned to his Plane of origin.
You have destroyed a Celestial Soldier of a God Abhorrent to your Goddess. The Conviction award is doubled.
You have received 28,700 Conviction.
Celestial Soldiers are constructs. Basic Monster Experience Awards are utilized.
You have received 143,500 Experience Points
You have received 2,870 Gold
You have looted a Celestial Great Sword
Celestial Great Sword. Base Damage 12: In the hands of a Celestial, this sword is imbued with the divinity of their God. All Damage Considered Fire and Divine based and doubled after the Strength Bonus is applied.
Anton had no idea why his perception had sped up to the point where he could review his notification in the middle of combat but he was very appreciative of the fact that it had. He now knew exactly what had happened to the Celestial and why. He’d punched it hard enough to send it back to its plane of existence. If the rules of disincorporation for Celestials were anything like his, it would be days, if not weeks, before he returned.
Anton brought his attention back to the room as he turned to face the four councilors and noticed that their look of shock mirrored the look he’d seen on the Celestial's face before he popped like a balloon. Anton made eye contact with each councilor before a slightly manic glint entered his eyes, and he said, “I do believe I was quite clear about my feeling about being continuously attacked.”
Anton had reached his tipping point. The simmering rage within him bubbled to the surface and before anyone in the room could respond, Anton attacked.