As soon as the monster came into view, the guards on the wall sprung into action. A volley of arrows and crossbow bolts arced over the wall to slam into the skorvok. They all deflected harmlessly off its scales, not even scratching its scaly hide. It didn’t even seem to notice them, continuing its course towards the city. Eleisa flew a little closer to get a better look and see if she could find any weak points.
As it came closer to the light, she was able to get her first good look at it. It was long and thin, with lithe muscles covered in thick alabaster scales. Its three pairs of legs propelled it smoothly along the ground at a surprising speed, and though its belly was close to the ground, the sheer size of the monster meant that the top of its body was nearly even with the top of the palisade.
Each of its feet ended in four long, wickedly sharp claws, and its saurian mouth was filled with similarly sized teeth, with some larger fangs near the end of its snout. It had two eyes; large, burning red orbs, but they were clouded over with a milky substance, indicating its lack of vision. But the most striking feature was its massive, frilled ears.
They radiated out from the sides of the beast’s head like rays of a bloodred sun, crimson sheets of flesh suspended between meter long spines. The meager light sparkled off an opalescent sheen that covered them, giving the illusion of an open wound.
A thunderous boom shook the air, coming from further into town, slightly preceded by a burning line streaking through the air faster than the eye could see, impacting the skorvok with terrible force. It stumbled slightly, but kept going, minimally affected.
Eleisa traced the still faintly glowing smoke trail back to the church’s belltower. She saw a glint of something, then another bright flash, glowing streak, and thunderous boom. The skorvok stumbled again as frost and flame exploded around it, and this time seemed to take umbrage at the projectiles hitting it. Its frills flattened against the sides of its head, and its chest inflated as it breathed in, stretching grotesquely far.
A moment later, the world seemed to shatter as an impossibly loud roar shook the town. Eleisa clamped her hands over her ears as she heard a faint crackling, then felt a sharp pain. Immediately, the sound of the roar lessened considerably, and she felt something hot and wet leak through her fingers.
After several seconds, the skorvok seemed to run out of breath and the roar faded, leaving only a high-pitched ringing in Eleisa’s ears. Without the monster’s scream overwhelming her senses, she now realized that she was lying on the ground just outside the palisade, crumpled in a ball.
As her attention turned to the rest of her body, a myriad of smaller aches and pains brought themselves to her attention, each vying for prominence. She pushed them aside, regaining her feet. Or at least, she tried to. As she made to stand, the ground seemed to lurch beneath her, and she collapsed once more.
She kept trying, but her body utterly refused to stand. Just once, she tried to take to the air, but that was met with an even worse result, as she went careening into the palisade. She could do little more than watch helplessly as the monster closed in on the scarcely defended walls.
Jared, Naomi, it is up to you. Save Fangsguard.
Jared was just finishing another bullet when a tap from Mimi made him look up, spotting the big white lizard emerging from the trees. He had asked her to keep watch for him, so he could focus on crafting. He quickly wrapped up, taking up a firing position as Mimi jumped into his arms, shifting to her gun form.
“It’s bigger than I thought. Let’s start with something small, just to see how it takes it.”
He selected the first bullet he had crafted, loading it into Mimi’s action and slammed the bolt forward. He looked through the scope, which helpfully switched to night vision to give him a better view.
“That is one ugly mother.” It mostly looked like a giant six-legged crocodile, but those frills were just… unnatural.
He quickly sighted in, aiming for the beast’s shoulder. As he did so, two small pseudopods erupted from the sides of the gun and plunged into his ears. He had a moment of panic, then he felt the small appendages change, softening and swelling to comfortably fill his outer ear canal. The sounds of the night quieted until he could only hear the rushing of blood and beating of his heart.
“Thanks for the earplugs, Mimi.”
He refocused on the skorvok, estimated its speed, then aimed a little ahead of it, squeezing the trigger. A much muted, but still very loud boom sounded out, and Mimi slammed back into his shoulder painfully. He ignored the pain, watching for the creature’s reaction. It seemed mostly unharmed, with only a couple cracked scales where he had hit it.
“Alright, let’s go bigger.”
He instructed Mimi to chamber one of the larger frost fire bullets he had made back in Nameless. She swelled to accommodate the bullet size, her barrel lengthening as well. He aimed for the same spot on its shoulder and fired again. Another boom shook the tower, and the recoil pushed him back a couple of inches.
That’s going to get really annoying if it keeps up.
“Hey Mimi, can you do something to cushion the recoil? It would really help if I moved as little as possible.”
She buzzed, and he felt the stock shift slightly, becoming a bit softer, and something about the composition of the metal changed, making it much heavier. The muzzle break at the end of the barrel also grew, taking a form similar to the Barrett M82 he had previously tried to get her to emulate.
He assessed the damage he had done, finding a small bleeding hole in its shoulder, and superficial frost and charring across some of its scales. A bit more damage, but not nearly enough. He was chambering one of his new bullets when an earsplitting roar shook the town. It hurt his ears, even with Mimi plugging them, and the tower beneath him vibrated dangerously.
He quickly panned around the nearest portions of the palisade to the skorvok, and his heart sank. All over, people were kneeling, hands over their ears, and some were sprawled out, either unconscious or worse. In small sections, the palisade had shaken itself apart, leaving worrisome gaps in the defenses and adding to the injuries sustained.
He looked around to try to find Eleisa, but she wasn’t flying where she had been before. A jolt of fear shot through him, and he scanned the ground for several moments before finding her collapsed at the base of the palisade. She tried to get up but wasn’t able to get even halfway before falling again.
That roar must have done a number on her at such close range. I guess it’s up to me.
He slammed the bolt forwards, taking aim again. This time, instead of its shoulder, he aimed a little higher. He took a deep breath and held it as he finished exhaling to steady his aim. Just to make sure he hit where he wanted, he activated Sniper’s Focus, and time seemed to slow. He squeezed the trigger.
Another boom echoed out, now seeming quiet in comparison to the noise the skorvok had produced. Mimi blasted back into his shoulder, but this time the impact was greatly lessened. It still hurt like hell as it pounded into him, but he wasn’t physically pushed back much by the force.
He hit exactly on target, his bullet shredding through the webbing of the skorvok’s left ear and impacting its head. It reared back, letting out a shriek of pain. This cry, while still loud, was a volume one would expect. Jared pulled the action back, ejecting the spent casing, and loaded another large bullet. He fired again, this time mangling the creature’s right ear. It stumbled, swinging its head around wildly.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
Shot after shot buried themselves in the skorvok’s scaled hide leaving bleeding holes, but Jared couldn’t seem to deal much meaningful damage. It lashed out with its claws and teeth, trying to find its assailant, but seemed to be disoriented.
“This isn’t working. Mimi, how big can you get?” In answer, she swelled in size until her barrel was about thirty-five millimeters in diameter. At that size, she was similar to the anti-air guns on small tanks. He grabbed a couple brass ingots, forming them into a similarly sized bullet casing.
Without enough time for precision work, he just slammed a red mana crystal that seemed about the right size and shape in for the primer, then poured the rest of his mana sand in. He quickly glanced through his available fangs and claws, choosing a few of the biggest from the Osseous Ghost Wolf. He used his magic to form them into the correct shape, then rammed it home.
The new bullet clicked and flashed, but Jared ignored the system’s prompts, loading the massive bullet into the chamber. He took aim at the creature’s shoulder where his first two shots had hit it, and where several scales were cracked, broken, or missing. He once again activated Sniper’s focus, and right before he squeezed the trigger, he remembered a conversation he had had with Eleisa a few days earlier.
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“Jared, I am curious why you do not have any active Skills aside from your creation Skill.”
“The system just hasn’t given me any. Actually, I do have one that slows down my perception of time to help me aim better. It’s just really tiring, so I don’t use it unless I need to.”
“That may be, but almost all ranged fighters, such as archers, have an active Skill to empower their projectiles or give them other effects. You say the system hasn’t given you any, but the GEAS doesn’t give anything for free; you must show it you are capable of something before it gives you a Skill.”
Back then, he hadn’t been able to do anything with his mana aside from craft bullets, but in his fight against the ghost wolves, he had been able to use it to attack. What if he could do something similar here?
He reached within himself for his magic, which he pictured as a ball of thread or string. He grasped the loose end of the string, pulling it up through his body, out his arms, and into Mimi. It resisted for a moment, then gave way, flowing through her to the bullet. He envisioned wrapping the bullet in string from base to tip, until the whole thing was covered. At that point he cut off the string, rewrapping it around the ball in his gut.
The massive bullet in Mimi’s chamber glowed with orange light and had started humming softly. He recentered his aim, which had drifted somewhat, and squeezed the trigger. A flash of light like the momentary birth of a star flashed, accompanied by a boom that rivaled the skorvok’s roar from earlier. Jared was thrown bodily back into tower, slamming into the bell. He instantly knew his shoulder was dislocated, and he felt something in his upper back give way, probably a few ribs breaking.
“Not… doing…that… again…anytime…soon.” He lay where he was, the bell’s soft metal having deformed around him with the force of his impact. But he couldn’t repress a smile at what he saw next.
[Skorvok Albino {Terror of the Azure Forest}] (lvl 33) Slain!
You have gained EXP!
Level Up!
Level Up!
Level Up!
Level Up!
Your party members Level Up!
You have free stat points to assign.
Skill Unlocked! Empowered Shot (Unskilled I)
Empowered Shot (Unskilled I) – Empower your next shot with mana, increasing its damage based on amount of mana used. Mana cost decreases and control increases per level in the Skill.
Skill Empowered Shot upgraded from (Unskilled I) to (Unskilled II)
Skill Empowered Shot upgraded from (Unskilled II) to (Unskilled III)
Skill Empowered Shot upgraded from (Unskilled III) to (Unskilled IV)
Skill Sniper’s Marksmanship Upgraded from (Excellent IX) to (Masterful I)
Skill Sniper’s Focus Upgraded from (Proficient II) to (Proficient III)
Skill Sniper’s Focus Upgraded from (Proficient III) to (Proficient IV)
Skill Sniper’s Fieldcraft Upgraded from (Proficient VIII) to (Proficient IX)
Title: Offensive Powerhouse Upgraded!
Offensive Powerhouse(++) - Granted for defeating 10 or more creatures more than 10 levels higher than yourself. Upgraded for doing this while avoiding any mortal or crippling injuries. Upgraded for single-handedly killing a creature at least one full Ascension higher than you
When Title is active: +15% damage dealt to creatures of a higher level than you, -2.5% damage dealt to creatures of a lower level than you
When Title is inactive: +15% damage dealt to creatures of a lower level than you, -2.5% damage dealt to creatures of a higher level than you
May you topple giants and slaughter armies.
Congratulations, you have completed the GEAS Quest: Prove Your Metal!
Assigning rewards…
Skill Gained! Strip Effect (Unskilled I)
Skill Gained! Store Effect (Unskilled I)
Skills Empowered Shot, Strip Effect, and Store Effect have combined to create Afflicting Shot (Unskilled II)
Afflicting Shot (Unskilled II) - You can strip a material or item you would use in bullet crafting to remove its magical effects, destroying the item in the process. When you do so, you may choose one effect, which is then stored in this Skill. The number of effects you may store this way is equal to Skill level.
You can magically empower your next shot at the cost of mana, increasing its damage. When you do so, you may apply one effect stored in this Skill to the shot as well. Damage increases and mana cost decreases per level of the Skill. The number of effects you may apply increases per every ten levels of the Skill.
Title Gained: Self-Supplied
Self-Supplied – Granted for completion of the GEAS Quest Prove Your Metal. You have proven that you can supply yourself with everything you need to be a formidable combatant.
Effects when active: When using ammunition that you have created, your damage is increased by 10%. When using ammunition that you have not created, your damage is reduced by 5%.
Effects when inactive: When using ammunition that you have created, your damage is increased by 2.5%
Skill Create Ammunition has been upgraded from (Exceptional I) to (Exceptional II)
Skill Create Ammunition has been upgraded from (Exceptional II) to (Exceptional III)
He immediately activated Self-Supplied, setting Spelljammer to inactive. At the end of his immediate notifications were the prompts he had received after finishing the big bullet.
You have crafted Beast Buster (Unique, Excellent)
You have gained EXP!
Level Up!
You gain 1 PRO
You have free stat points to assign
Auxiliary Class Ascension Threshold reached! You may begin your Ascension!
You must Ascend to receive the remaining EXP.
Assessing his stats, he placed his free points the same way he had been recently.
He was worried about Eleisa, but currently he was in no shape to try to find her. Assuming it would help with his physical condition, Jared initiated his Ascension.
He found himself once again in that pristine white room, his options spelling themselves out in blue text before him.
Ascension started.
Please choose an Auxiliary Class Ascension
Prolific Ammunition Mage – Skilled with the magical fabrication of ammunition, Prolific Ammunition Mages specialize in creating ammunition in bulk, slightly sacrificing quality to do so. They also gain Skills relating to manipulating quantities of ammunition during combat.
Provides 2 PRO and 1 mental ALA per level
An interesting choice, but more suited to someone with an assault rifle, who would go through a lot of bullets really quickly. I prefer quality over quantity.
Maybe one of the next options would be better suited to him.
Dedicated Ammunition Mage – Skilled with the magical fabrication of ammunition, Dedicated Ammunition Mages put all of their skill into every craft, producing incredibly high-quality ammunition, sacrificing quantity to do so. They also gain Skills relating to manipulating specific properties of ammunition during combat.
Provides 2 PRO and 1 magical PHY per level
That’s more like it. Although with how similar the descriptions are, these are probably the most basic two options. Still, I like this one. Not sure what it means with the last part, but I’m sure it would be super useful. Looks like there’s one more option. Let’s see what else the system is offering.
High Caliber Ammunition Mage – Skilled with the magical fabrication of ammunition, High Caliber Ammunition Mages specialize in creating ammunition with the greatest possible destructive potential. This is usually, though not always through making bigger projectiles to shoot. They also gain Skills to improve damage potential and mitigate negative effects of using large caliber weapons during combat.
Provides 1 magical PHY, 1 mental ALA, and 1 PRO per level
Jared had been sure he would go with Dedicated, but now he was torn. He had been making bigger and bigger bullets, and if things kept progressing the way they were, he would need more and more firepower to take creatures down as he leveled up. The stats were also more spread out, providing one to each every level.
He was interested in the Skills relating to manipulating properties of ammo, but there could be a lot of overlap with his new Skill, Afflicting Shot. On the other hand, if he went with High Caliber, he could be locking himself out of ever being able to make smaller ammunition, like for his barely-used sidearm.
The thing that made the decision for him was that last line of High Caliber Ammunition Mage: he would get Skills to help deal with things like recoil, if he read the prompt right. After what had happened when he fired that giant bullet, he definitely needed something like that if he was going to be using bigger, more powerful ammo.
Auxiliary Class Ascension Chosen: Ammunition Maker(Magical) Ascends to High Caliber Ammunition Mage!
Level Up!
Level Up!
You gain 3 magical PHY, 3 mental ALA, and 3 PRO
You have free stat points to assign
Skill Create Ammunition Ascends to Improved Create Ammunition (Exceptional III) – Having proved yourself adept with creating ammunition, you now can pack more power into each projectile you produce.
Skill Gained! High Caliber Resilience (Unskilled I)
High Caliber Resilience (Unskilled I) – Having created a variety of projectiles, including some with devastating potential, you have become acclimated to higher power weapons. When shooting ammunition you have created, recoil and other negative effects are reduced by 1%. Additionally, you may expend a large amount of mana to brace yourself, temporarily increasing this bonus to 10%.
These bonuses increase by 1% per level of the Skill.
He threw his stat points into evocation, mostly because it had been left so far behind. Satisfied with his Ascension, he looked over his newly improved profile.
Name: Jared Moore
Primary Class: Big Game Sniper Lv. 20
Auxiliary Class: High Caliber Ammunition Mage Lv. 12
Ascension: Improved
Stats:
Free points:
Physique: 20
* Physical: 12
* Magical: 8
Alacrity: 38
* Physical: 18
* Mental: 20
Projection: 21
* Evocation: 7
* Manipulation: 15
Skills:
Primary Class (5/10)
* Sniper’s Marksmanship (Masterful I)
* Sniper’s Focus (Proficient III)
* Crude Imbuement (Unskilled III)
* Sniper’s Fieldcraft (Proficient IX)
* Afflicting Shot (Unskilled II)
Auxiliary Class (2/5)
* Improved Create Ammunition (Exceptional III)
* High Caliber Resilience (Unskilled I)
General (2/10)
* Polyglot (Skilled I)
* Basic Spearmanship (Proficient V)
Titles:
* Spelljammer
* Offensive Powerhouse(++)[Active]
* Eye Hunter
* Naomi’s Savior
* Self-Supplied[Active]