----------------------------------------
Gray
Fallen Dominion (20%) Progress to Next Evolution
Level: 4* XP: 65% To Next Level Body Age: 29
Life: 12700/12700 Soul Energy 3360/3360
Strength: 2,950
Endurance: 3,175
Soul: 1,790
Agility: 613
Skills/Spells:
Age Stasis: Prime Human
Acid Resistance: 8/10
Perfect Mental Resistance 10/10 (World Boss)
Melee Mastery: 63/100
Ranged Mastery: 50/100
Appraisal: 10/10
White Nova: 16/20
Blast Nova: 17/20
War Mage: (1/1)
Greater Drain (1/1)
Awakened Senses (1/1)
Rapid Regeneration (4/5)
Soul Thief (1/1)
Bloodwalk (1/1)
Blood Gate (1/1)
Blood Frenzy (2/10)
Iron Belly (1/1)
Scavenger (1/1)
Mass Manipulation (1/1)
Royalty - Fallen Dominion (1/1)
Soul Brand (1/1) 5017/7160 Available Slots
Soul Union (1/1)
Shadow Wings (1/1)
Titan Flesh (1/1)
Fallen Dominion Form (1/1)
-Touch of Dominion (1/1)
-Retribution (1/1)
Buffs/Debuffs:
+1475 Spell Damage from Strength
+895 Attack Damage from Soul
+2540 Health Regenerated per Second
*Sharing (10%) of Total Stats with Soul Branded Allies
*Soulthirst: Gestation Complete (See Soul Birth)
-Soul Birth: Summon Ready
Stolen story; please report.
----------------------------------------
I was now back in my regular old mostly human looking form as I stood apart from the growing group of liberated mountain giants and bewildered celestial refugees for a few moments to inspect my stats. As expected my base stats had ballooned to an even greater level of absurdity after killing Zurg. I tapped the new additions as I noticed them to expand their descriptions.
----------------------------------------
Blood Gate: Open a stable portal up to (6) meters in diameter linked to any location that you could move to with Bloodwalk. (1) Portal per World Boss Level may be active at any given time. Available Portals 4/4.
----------------------------------------
Mass Manipulation: Alter the volume of your body. Reducing volume reduces Strength and increases Agility and vice versa.
----------------------------------------
Royalty - Fallen: As a former celestial ruler, your innate authority extends to lesser celestials and all but the highest ranking infernal beings. Causes attraction to both Infernal and Celestial Royalty.
----------------------------------------
Soul Union: Dynamically Share (10%) of your total Stats and gained experience with any Soul Branded being. This effect is cumulative with any bonuses gained upon initial Soul Branding.
----------------------------------------
Fallen Dominion Form: Assume the avatar of the mythic Fallen Dominion until canceled, gaining the Retribution and Touch of Dominion abilities. Fallen Dominion form is resistant to both celestial and infernal damage types including Holy and Soul damage.
----------------------------------------
-Touch of Dominion: Enemies you touch whom fail to resist are at your mercy. Their deepest thoughts and motivations are revealed to you and you may inflict whatever pain they fear most at will.
----------------------------------------
-Retribution: Any Damage taken in Fallen Dominion Form is added to any damage you deal.
----------------------------------------
Soul Birth: Summon Ready. Soul Thirst has consumed enough souls to manifest your Soul Familiar (Baelphegor: Prince of Sloth and Lost Technologies)
-**Warning this will permanently consume all stored Souls and remove Soulthirst from your Skill List.**
----------------------------------------
“Unholy shit.” I muttered. “This changes things.” I swiped the panel and it disappeared. The ticking clock of Soulthirst was gone. That was a relief but I wasn’t about to summon what sounded like an Exorcist level demon.
I controlled my pace as I rejoined the others. Walking at normal human speed in this body takes a crazy amount of coordination by the way. Ever seen a drag race where the cars sound like they’re going to die every second as they idle up to the line, like the engine is rebelling against going slow? That’s how walking feels for me.
Ignea had managed to put together a sort of two piece bikini made of donated cloaks from the celestials. Honestly now that she was recovering from her shock, I could appreciate her regal beauty. In order to distract her from her trauma I had given her the task of organizing her people as the celestials combed the area and guided them to us. She was currently chatting with Saet and a few other celestials in shiny plate armor. Saet noticed me first and gave a small wave.
“I believe we have found all of the surviving giants.” She spoke up. Her third eye was still open, and she was apparently using it to see everything her people saw. “They number nearly six hundred and will arrive within the hour.”
“That’s great!” I was surprised so many had managed to survive. Giants really were tough. “I have a plan to transport all of them back home safely, but I’ll need to fly to your territory first Ignea. I’ll leave Niiya here so you can contact me at any time if something happens.” I began to manifest my wings but Saet stopped me.
“About that.” She cleared her throat and looked sheepish for a second. “Nothing will happen. For now there are no threats in this land. I have a request, Count.” She still used my old title. “I would like to relocate my people to your land. I know of an intersection in the leylines in the forest there that could support a Celestial Oak. I know this is a huge request and I won’t rush your decision but please at least offer us temporary sanctuary while you-” I held up a hand to stop her.
“Go for it.” I said simply. “Once the giants go through the gate, Niiya will fly with you back to EDEN and introduce you to Tabula. Make yourselves at home until we can figure out the best spot for your new treehouse.”
She sputtered for a second, clearly unprepared for such a simple acceptance. She abandoned using words and settled for a sudden leap forward, planting a kiss on my cheek. The mouths of every celestial and Niiya fell open in unison.
“No fair!” Niiya shouted and suddenly I had a second set of lips on the other cheek.
I phased back a few feet, leaving them puckered up side by side kissing the air in awkward poses. I chuckled and took flight. I nicked my finger with a claw and allowed a drop of blood to fall to the field below as I ascended.
“When you see the portal open, send all the giants through!” I yelled to Ignea. “Take care of them, Niiya!” I finished with a wave. I could clearly see her fake pouting even from here. My eyes drank in the moonlight, allowing me to see the extent of the devastation in the valley. A crater the size of an inverted mountain marked Zurg’s resting place. The vegetation was a lifeless brown carpet, and the celestial oak was finally succumbing to its own great weight, its immense boughs were drooping low, beginning to crack.
What properties would lumber made from such a tree possess? I wondered to myself. How valuable would those materials be? What about Zurg’s body for that matter? Those red obsidian scales alone were made of incredibly hard material. I made a mental note to seek out some professional guidance in that area.
I flew north, noting the unnatural smoking pass that had been punched clean through several mountains by Zurg’s mouth cannon (as Saet had described it). That would have been a cool skill to steal, but I wasn’t unhappy about getting Mass Manipulation instead. Actually, that smooth corridor might make a useful path for transporting things like god tree wood and invincible monster parts. I thought as I soared over.
Thirty minutes later, I saw the first indications that I was entering mountain giant territory. I now knew the small village I had passed on my first trip through The Sea of Stone was but a small hunting outpost. The main city was on the western coast in a large sheltered cove. The air grew slightly warmer, and the smell of the sea triggered a strong nostalgic memory of a brief time living in California when my dad was stationed there in my previous life.
I descended below the heavy low clouds and got my first look at an ocean in this world. I had never really wanted anything to do with the ocean on earth. A few famous shark flicks had traumatized that desire right out of me at an early age. Now though, I couldn’t take my eyes away from it. It sparkled as moonlight punched through holes in the clouds, and danced with fifty foot swells. It made me feel tiny as only an ocean could, and I took a huge breath in.
I looked up the coast, and saw the glow of many distant bonfires. That must be the place. I was still a little early. Dawn wouldn’t come for another hour or so. I didn’t want to intrude before the city woke up, so I found a suitable high cliff overlooking the ocean and sat down for a nice long breather watching the hypnotic waves crash in far below.
I reflected on my time here so far, and could hardly believe all that had happened in such a short time. I then turned my thoughts forward. I was certainly building quite the collection of friends and allies. I would need to start thinking about expanding Ariel’s Gate or maybe even laying the foundation for a whole new town. First I needed to seal my alliance with these giants, then deal with the kingdom and break the siege on Grandring. If I could bring everybody together enough to get along, then I could take Raj to check on her people. Ugh this was one hell of a messy quest log now that I had the time to really look at it. What felt like minutes later, the first hint of dusty pink began to saturate the clouds in the east behind me.
“Guess it’s time to say hello.” I muttered as I stood up. I noticed something moving through the waves far below and smiled. A pod of light greenish whales was breaching, and geysers of water shot into the air as they exhaled. Cool, I always wanted to see something like that. For some reason I felt a little guilty that Niiya wasn’t here to see that with me. I reached up and touched the spot on my cheek she had kissed. I didn’t deserve this world, not even a little bit but holy shit was I ever grateful for it.
“Thanks again, my little poser!” I raised my voice as I manifested my wings once more and leaped into the sky in the direction of the city built by giants.