The first volley landed at the hordes vanguard as the screams of the beasts echoed in our ears. The stench of blood in the air got my fired up my desire to kill. As I held myself back as I had to lead these sorry excuses for soldiers.
"Ready. Aim. Hold. Hold. Fire!"
The volley aimed at the barely advanced monsters who in their charge stumbled over their comrades corpses. Although, even if we keep this up the most we can whittle down before they reach the wall is a mere 1000. Although if worded a different way it is a lot. It is still only 10% of the enemies.
That is why I have now got two choices. Let the enemies reach the wall. Or intercept and delay.
Inaction may be safe, but it builds nothing.
- Dave Freudenthal
Iron rusts from disuse; water loses its purity from stagnation... even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind.
- Leonardo da Vinci
And oh so many others warn of inaction. I at least learned that in Secondary School (High School) History class.
I prepared myself. I had the Earth Mages prepare a ramp, before I went, one more time.
"Ready. Aim. Hold. Hold. Fire!"
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After that volley I launched myself after activating Berserk. Although this time I was left with my sanity and control. I can only thank the Heart Cleanse Meditation skill.
As the volley had just landed the front lines of the horde was in disarray. I quickly did a spin while swinging my staff. On the ground I saw an Axe. I quickly kicked it into my hand and tossed into the the skull of an oncoming troll. That is a fault of the staff. It is very hard to get a fatal hit without overwhelming strength. I quickly used both Aura Condensement and Bloodlust coating.
My strength was truly in the realms of bizarre for my level right now. With the 110% Boost to Strength, Agility and Dexterity, my Strength was 798. Add on Aura Condensement reached 998 just under 1000. This was what the staff a very suitable weapon for me. Compared to other weapons the staff is more suitable for exerting strength and unless your going from some extreme moves, doesn't require much dexterity thankfully. Although my Strength my other stats such as Dexterity and Intelligence pay for it. Haa, can't become too much of a cheat character.
As the enemies fell under my staff the blood began to pool around us. I smirked. Just as planned. I thought to myself.
I quickly jumped upwards and slammed my staff on the ground clearing the immediate surroundings of enemies. I quickly activated my Blood Magic. Although Blood Magic at it's current stage couldn't manipulate enemies, that was blood magic by itself. You could invoke a higher grade of your magic with a suitable offering. And clearly I am offering the blood of my fallen enemies. I began the chant.
"I Invoke The Red Ocean Of Shezmu, Lord of blood, Great slaughterer of the gods and he who dismembers bodies, I offer the blood of my enemies as the sacrifice for your great spell!"
As I finished the chant the blood below us began to rise while boiling, the monsters stupefied, went on their knees and began begging for the mercy of whatever God they believed I had called upon. The blood tide began to split around me, while the horde got dragged in. As they were consumed by the ocean of blood, they only added on to it's might. After 5 minutes of the blood roiling, I deactivated the spell, and collapsed on my ass panting. After 3 minutes of rest, I began to walk back to the fort. As the gates opened I was greeted with cheers and applause. Then I was notified.
For exceeding your limits in Blood Magic with a sacrifice your Blood Magic has raised in rank.For showing great aptitude in blood magic and slaughter, the God Shezmu has granted you his blessing.[???] has granted you her blessing for showing exceptional destruction.
Shezmu huh. Well that makes sense. He was the God I made the sacrifice to. He also fits me quite well. [???]. Why does everything have to be a mystery, why can't you just tell me who the fuck gave me their lesson, it's not like I'm some mythologist. I know a lot about Irish Legends cause I liked them, but If you ask me about Asian Gods with the exception of Amaterasu, I'd know squat, zip, nada. I'd read Journey to the West which is the only reason I knew about Sun Wukong. Moving on.
"Inspect Blessing of Shezmu."
Blessing of ShezmuFor showing great aptitude in blood magic and slaughter, the God Shezmu has granted you his blessing.Training in Blood Magic and fighting techniques is easier.
Unlocked variance for Qi - [Slaughter Qi]
I sorta forgot about my Qi, whoops. That would have made that fight easier. So what the Qi is more volatile or viscous?
Slaughter QiA variance of Qi focused on killing and maimingQi effectiveness for combat uses up by 50%
Qi effectiveness for non-combat uses down by 50%
Why do I feel my skills are trying to turn me into some battle maniac. All I wanna do is settle down and live my days out peacefully. I guess I do need strength for that though in this fuck up of a world.
Loading Next Scenario...Complete.
And so I was dragged through another scenario.
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I felt like years had passed, which wasn't surprising as some scenarios had me living entire lifetimes, that now this life just seems so fake.
After many scenario's (I lost count, It didn't help that they weren't numbered.) I was finally before Vör once again.
"How do you feel young child, though I guess mentally you're not so young anymore. Haha. Now I have viewed your progress in my trial and I must say I am surprised. Not many can claim to step past the barrier of inaction. In all your scenarios when presented with the choice of waiting for the result, you went and changed it."
"For example you're second scenario, you instead of waiting for the enemy to arrive at the walls chose to charge alone into a horde of enemies. Although from a spectators point of view they may say you were trying to prevent casualties among your troops, but I know better. If you were to you would slaughter them if it was a more effective solution. Although that is the trial we set you; to apply knowledge for the best result, not the morally correct one, you were unexpectedly brutal. In your 23rd scenario you chose to slaughter the entire royal court so that you could mobilize an army to fight the invading kingdom. It was effective and worked but very very brutal."
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
"Now don't mistake my words as admonishment, in fact I would say they are words of praise. In the world Earth has become kindness and mercy are causes of many deaths. You have also gained a lot from this trial. Now as you have guessed, you have passed the trial, but before you proceed to Fenrir, I would like to grant you a gift from a friend of mine."
As she said that she handed me a seed.
Acquired Heretical God Seed
In one scenario I was allowed to read to my hearts content, and judging the world mixing many formerly fictional stories I read many novels. One being Martial World that is how I knew what it was immediately. I also now knew what that marble was.
As the seed was handed to me I immediately swallowed it, causing Vör's eyes to bulge and call out.
"Oi, what are you doing you madman!"
Quickly the seed descended my esophagus, stopping at the center of my chest.
"You're gonna dig yourself an early grave you crazed lunatic!"
"Anyway I wish you luck in the world outside. Ah, don't worry outside only 3 hours has passed since the Trials beginning."
As she said that she was absorbed back into her book reading intently. She was correct earlier, I did gain a lot in those trials.
StatusNameThomas CroweAge20RaceHuman [Changing...]Level22GenderMaleClassBlood Demon KingTitlesDemon King, Naive, Heretic, Asura, DevilSub-TitlesImmortal Monkey's Succesor, Little Priestess' SuccessorHealth840/840Mana16680/16680Health Regen0.42/sMana Regen166.8Stamina7600/7600Stamina Regen3.8/sStrength380Agility81Dexterity21Intelligence231Wisdom834Luck9Vitality42Fortification88Tyranny340Bloodlust2130Madness1%Corruption1%Qi10(2130)Unused Stat Points0Skills [+]
SkillsSkill Points Available:0Demon King's Aura Lv 2 [91%] (P) [R2]
Demon King's Bloodline Lv 7 [70%] (P) [R2]
Discernment Lv 9 [21%] (P) [R2]
Weapon Mastery Lv 8 [66%] (P) [R3]
Berserk Lv 4 [9%] (A) [R3]
Axe Throw Lv7 [11%]
Demented King's Madness Lv 2 [88%] (P)
Blood Magic Lv 5 [52%] (A) [R2]
Authoritative Corruption Lv 8 [2%] (P/A)
72 Transformations [Partially Sealed] Lv 7 [34%] (A)
Golden Fiery Eyes Lv 8 [33%] (A) [R3]
Aura Condensement Lv 9 [91%] (A) [R2]
Bloodlust Coating Lv 8 [64%] (A) [R2]
Sense Danger Lv 6 [77%] (P) [R2]
Heart Cleanse Meditation Lv 8 [40%] [R2]
Heretical God Seed - Grade [Human]
Eidetic Memory Lv N/A
Memory Analysis Lv 3 [49%]
AffinitiesBlood35%Chaos20%Darkness17%Space5%Time11%
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A/N So power up central! Our MC has passed the trial. Banzai! Now for those confused as it states above he lived many lives during the trial, which caused his Wisdom, Bloodlust and Intelligence to go up but not his physical stats. Also Demonic attribute changed to Chaos Attribute. Anyway if you notice any mistakes please point them out. Or If you're confused about anything question below and unless it's a secret and you shall receive guidance in the Dao of Plot advancement.
Also if anyone can draw an art for the cover, I would be so so grateful, I can somewhat draw by hand but on computer I am crap.
Anyway this is adieu, my previous plans for tomorrow were cancelled so if I'm up early there will be two chapters tomorrow.
Ciaossu!