My test glide is successful as I get much closer. I also deduce that the creature even with all of the eyes does not see very well if at all. I have a theory that I need to test. I target a minion at the limit of my casting range with an elemental orb. The range of that spell is impressive at this point. I can target minions on the other side of the island. I pick one of the slower minions and hit it right in the fungal cluster. The minion bursts into flame catching a few of its closest neighbors along with it. For its part, the beast segregates that section for a short time before aiming its minions in that direction. I watch and a few of the eyes on the stalks dim and burst.
I have figured out that the “eyes’ are not used to see. They are control nodes for each of the minions. The creeper does not see like normal. From what I can tell it uses a modified version of the senses that I have mostly tremor sense. My test confirmed it, if it could see it should have seen where the fire orb came from. Now to exploit its weakness.
I must say that I was a bad matchup for this thing. My GM hated me for this reason. I could take a situation and what I had and exploit the hell out of it. In this situation, I almost felt bad for this thing. But I had the real-life of a friend on the line here. Akurra was the only thing I knew in this world. Which meant I would go to extremes to save him.
Back to my GM hating me. I had had a habit of taking encounters that he had spent days setting up and trivializing them with weird combinations of spells and skills. That was with a hard rule book that said what I could and couldn’t do. Here I had none of those restrictions. It meant this thing was fucked so hard and didn’t know it.
This thing was set up to be maybe a mini-boss but has found itself in the main boss’s spot. Well, I was going to end it here and now. I came up with a plan and hoped it would work. I had a plan B just in case. I discovered while trying to figure out a plan that my wands not only improved the strength of my spells, they increased the range. From what I could see they increased the range by at least three times. The extension just barely covered the area where the Creeper was. I decided that it would have to be good enough. I also decided I was going to try to kick the fireballs up a notch. I didn’t know if it would work or even have an effect but I was going to try it. If it didn’t work my other plan was to use my bow to take out the stalks with the eyes. I was guessing that they would have to regrow, and during that time I would attack.
I steeled myself and creeped out to the edge of the branch I was on. I only went out as far as I was sure that it would hold my weight. The first thing I did was to cast minor elemental orb. I created all of the orbs as wind orbs. Normally I would use one of the more destructive elements. At this stage, the wind in these orbs was not enough to do much, outside of being a distraction. I now had twelve balls of wind swirling around me. I then drew the wand and targeted the hill from this point I was able to cover most of the creeper. I cast the fireball and watched as four golf ball-sized balls formed. As soon as they started forming, I added three of the wind balls to each of the fireballs. I could feel some resistance, as the two spells did not want to combine. I forced them together until it felt like if I pushed, they would become unstable. As soon as I was done, I released the spell. I did not realize that it would take more mana to combine the spells after casting them I was now sitting at about five percent of my total mana.
Warning user is at %5 of total mana.
MP 560/11200
I watched as the spell streaked towards its target. I decided that whatever was going to happen I had never cast a spell with that much mana before. I was initially going to watch it to see the effects but I decided against it and thought it might be a good idea to put the tree in between us and the spell. That turned out to be the right call. When the spell hit, it hit big turning the island into a giant flame tornado. We were at least fifteen hundred feet from the island and the heat was unbearable. I watch as the wood of the tree I was on started to blister. I decided I was still too close and backed off even further.
From my new vantage point, I could see just what was happening. The entire island and some of the surroundings were engulfed in a pillar of white-hot flame. I could not say if it was adding the air orbs or the highly flammable nature of the creature. But the results of the spell were energetic, to say the least. Even from my new vantage point, I could feel the heat. The pillar had to be forty feet high, and bright as a small star. If I had not been in a forest in the middle of nowhere, I would have been worried about someone else seeing this. If they did, they might think I was some kind of monster. That might not be bad depending on how they reacted to me.
The spell lasted for some time between three and five minutes. It was hard to judge due to my lack of a watch. I figured out that I could time the spell by the timer on the wand. It ended up being a little over three and a half minutes. It took almost thirty minutes for the island to cool off afterward.
The island was like a post-apocalyptic war zone. There were half-burned bodies scattered everywhere. When I say half-burned, I mean bodies where all that was left was a badly burned half. The other portions were just gone. I found out what was swimming around the island, by what was left. One had been a massive crocodilian. The other thing from what I could tell could have only been what was left of a three-headed hydra. I am glad I never got close to the water.
As you got closer to the body of the creeper if there was anything left it was just bones. A large bone here or there, some teeth in other places. All of what was left glowed inconspicuously. There were even some charred branches closer to the epicenter that glowed a bright purple along with some teeth. I also found some cores which was strange since none of the other beasts had them. I collected what I could and decided I would check the croc and the hydra remains on my way out.
After all the destruction you would have thought the beast dead. If you just went by sight you would have to say that nothing could have survived the flaming hell that was that island. I had checked Akurra and the timer was now gone. I had taken out the thing's ability to spread and control other beasts. But, I had not killed it, not completely anyway. I had not gotten any notifications or XP for the kill yet which means the thing was not dead. At least not yet but I would not make the mistake and not complete the job.
I learned this lesson at the gaming table. My group and I had been on a quest. We had let a side villain who we believed to be not important escape. Problem was that he came back two chapters later. He was stronger and he came upon us at a bad time when we were fighting another tough enemy. It had led to what gamers call a TPK. That’s a total party kill. After that we had all sworn never to leave a fight unfinished and, in this case, it meant I had more work to do.
When I got to the top of the hill, I could see the full effect of my spell. It had scoured the island down to its stony base. From what I could see, the island I now walked on had probably started as a cluster of boulders. Over time the leaves falling from the surrounding trees and other things had piled up to create a larger mass. My spell had burned this section down to the base stones. Those stones had weathered and become cracked over time. I could see something like a spore-based creature using those cracks to hide a part of itself. While the thing was not smart per se, it was devious and insidious. This would be just the type of thing that something like this would do. I had no intention of letting it be!
I drew Sky Cutter and used Violent Slice. The stone was cut into chunks and fell in on itself. I could see tendrils of plant fibers through the stone. I used Violent Slice again and was exposed even more. I could see a cluster of pulsing roots in a small wad.
Black Spore Creeper lvl 76.
This was all that was left of the fearsome beast. If it had just let me, be I would likely not have found itself in this position. That fact was that it was not a thinking beast it did what it did on instinct. I just happened to be its worst possible match-up. I stepped back and cast minor elemental orb and send the flame orbs into finish the beast off.
You have defeated Black Spore Creeper.
LEVEL UP! You have increased your level. You have attained level Thirty. You have received 16 attribute points you have 16 unspent attribute points.
LEVEL UP! You have increased your level. You have attained level Thirty-One. You have received 16 attribute points you have 32 unspent attribute points.
LEVEL UP! You have increased your level. You have attained level Thirty-Two. You have received 16 attribute points you have 48 unspent attribute points.
LEVEL UP! You have increased your level. You have attained level Thirty-Three. You have received 16 attribute points you have 64 unspent attribute points.
Hidden quest completed, The Black Plague: You have discovered a plague beast. This beast if it remains unchecked could take over the forgotten forest. This beast must be stopped! Quest difficulty/ Epic. Complete!
Calculating Quest rewards: Legendary crafting materials, +7 levels, Titles; Plague Breaker, One Against the Horde, Honored (Unknown Faction).
LEVEL UP! You have increased your level. You have attained level Forty. You have received 112 attribute points you have 176 unspent attribute points.
Wands lvl 5 < lvl 10.
The skill Wands has become Greater Wands.
The spell Minor Elemental Orb has become Elemental Orb.
Greater Wands lvl 0 < lvl 3.
Fireball lvl 0 < lvl 10.
You have learned the skill Spell Combination.
You have learned the spell Flame Strike.
You have created the spell Plasmatic Conflagration.
Familiar upgrades pending. Do you wish to initiate familiar upgrade Y/N?
It is a significant number of upgrades. I can tell my spells went up from my usage of them. The wands and the new skill tell me that it is good to try new things. But the spell I created is the true gem I had wanted to see what would happen if I combined two spells. The combination had been explosive, to say the least. I also got two new titles they both looked promising.
Plague Breaker:
You have found and defeated a plague beast. You find yourself enhanced against disease and illness. You can now ignore most sicknesses, plagues, or plague beasts. Any attempt to infect you must overcome 2x your CON value (1230). Before this Title to infect you it was ½ your CON value (307).
One against the Horde:
You have fought over 500 enemies at one and survived. You gain +10% to all stats this increases to +25% when facing over 50 opponents.
I had to admit the overall brokenness that I represented. I had read books with broken main characters before. Surviving things, they had no business surviving. I can admit in some of them, I even hated those guys even though I kept reading. Now that I was that guy fuck that! I will take and use every broken ability I can. Right now, the only thing I have is me. I like living and if I need to be a broken OP monster to do so, then that will be what I become.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Elemental Orb: Active Spell.
You create orbs of one of the listed elements Wind, Water, Fire, Ice, Lightning, Earth, and Acid. These orbs rotate around you and can be fired at one or many targets. The number of orbs created is 1/3 of your MR(12). These orbs do increased damage to the target. Additionally due to your title of Arch Magus these orbs do double damage. Cast time 10 sec. 150MP. Cooldown 75 sec.
Flame Strike lvl 5.
You call down a vertical pillar of fire. The pillar does increased damage to the target area. Additionally due to your title of Arch Magus the flame pillar does double damage. Cast time 120 sec. 750 MP. Cooldown 3 hrs.
Plasmatic Conflagration lvl 10. Master Spell!
You create a super-hot flame. This flame is different in that it is hotter than a normal flame and that it does not require air to burn. This spell can be cast in situations where a normal flame spell cannot be cast. This flame will destroy an area in proportion to the amount of mana used. You have created this spell and as such you are capable of teaching it to others. The spell also works differently for you. You are capable of deciding how much mana to use with the spell. This will determine the cast time. Additionally due to your title of Arch Magus the flame does double damage. Cast time Variable. Variable. Cooldown 24 hrs.
The spell upgrade and the first new spell would be helpful. I could not remember if I had Flame Strike in my spellbook or not. But to have created a spell is something else. The bonuses I get for having created the spell are well worth it. To be honest I wonder why this spell did not exist already. But that’s something to ponder on another day.
I grab the now exposed core from the creeper since it is the only thing left. The after-effects of my spell have begun. There is now a cloud of ash beginning to form. There are also rain clouds beginning to form above me. I walk around collecting anything that survived the spell. There were a lot of glowing remains. A tooth here a skull there. On the larger beasts, I was surprised to find cores. The croc yielded a very large core. The river hydra turned out to have four cores, one for each head as well as one in its main body. The body core was the largest of the four and was impressive. I also took the skulls of each beast. I was currently running low on space at this point and could not store the whole bodies.
Once I was done looting the hill I decided to move on. I did not want to get caught in this swamp in a rainstorm. I really wanted to rest but this place smelled like death. That was only going to get worse as the now unanimated bodies started to decompose further.
Not that he was cured Akurra was showing signs of recovery. He slid down and took his full size again. As always, he was hungry but he did not even think twice about eating any of what was left.
“We have to talk buddy. You can’t just go attacking everything. Just because that worked for you before does not mean that will work out here.” I say to him solemnly. “You almost didn’t make it there, and I can’t have that. You’re my only friend. So, wait until we can see what it is that’s attacking us. If I think you can take it you can attack but there might be things like the spider where we might need to run okay?
Akurra looked at me and nodded. From his demeanor, I could tell he understood what I was saying. I don’t know if it was our link but I felt some sorrow from him. I don’t know if this was because he was not able to attack everything or because of what just happened.
By the time night found us we were more than halfway through the swamp. It had taken us some time to find the pathway we were on before. Once we were on the path travel went relatively quick. Which was good since the rain had started shortly after we started looking. The only positive was it was a warm rain. Akurra did not seem to mind but, shortly after the rain started, I was soaked. I took to casting elemental orb and having wind orbs overhead. While this did not stop all the water it lessened it a bit.
We pushed through the night, as camping would have been a bad idea. The rain continued to get heavier as the night wore on and the water level of the swamp continued to rise. It did not take long for the ankle-deep water on the path to become knee-deep. Akurra again was nonplused, the environment did not seem to bother him much at all. Most people don’t know that most snakes swim quite well, and Akurra was no different even with his size. He moved along just fine while the longer it rained the more difficult it became for me to move. I end up casting Reduce gravity to help me move. My reduced weight allows me to reach the point of buoyancy. Which means that I am now walking on water. It’s not like I am God or anything more like one of the eastern video games. One I played for some time had skills called windwalk, and waterdash. That was more like what I was doing right now. While I was doing this I decided to watch how my mana was being used in my body. When I looked at my mana, I could see that the mana was being routed around my body. I could see the mana everywhere but my feet was being wasted. I took a lesson from Naruto of all things and focused my mana on my feet. I didn’t need the mana going to the rest of my body. It took a while and I was forced to stop walking for a while and concentrate on nothing but making my mana do what I wanted. I somehow knew this was the proper way though. After a few minutes, I had my mana running from my core to my feet. After that, I had my mana down to just a thin layer covering the bottom of my feet. I felt the breakthrough as it happened.
You have created the sub spell ???. The spell ??? is a sub spell of Reduce Gravity 2.
The sub spell ??? is unnamed. Would you like to name this spell or have one created?
It worked I did not expect it to, at least not like that. Of all things for Naruto to be right, that’s one hell of a thing. It’s not the first time through my spellbook, the runes something is going on here. I think there might be something behind our fantasy, and games. The screens the way things work here it’s just so similar. I don’t know what it is, maybe our game makers had dreams of this place. Or somewhere like it. I don’t know but it is worth thinking about when I am warm and dry. I name the sub spell after the one from the game and move on.
Waterdash / SUB Reduced Gravity 2: Active lvl 2.
This is a targeted effect, and directs mana only to the bottom of your feet. This effect allows you to reach Buoyancy and allows you to travel across a fluid surface. Cast time instant. 7 MP/Sec Cool Down N/A. Spell creation bonus! You will continue to regen MP while this spell is active.
While the bonus is meh since I regen MP anyway. But the nice thing is that this spell costs little to no MP now and my regen far outstrips the MP cost meaning I can run this spell all day if I wish. It also means I am no longer knee-deep in water nor will I ever be. This immediately improves my mood as my travel will be much easier going through this hell hole.
We continue for the rest of the day, and far into the morning before I realize that we are out of the swamp. I didn’t notice initially due to the rain, but once the sky started to clear I noticed. While I was not exhausted, I was far more tired than I knew. I found us a good spot used both stones and promptly zonked out.
When I woke up the following morning, I was ravenous. I realized that I had not eaten since before the whole ordeal with Akurra. He was also looking at me expectantly. He was fully capable of finding his meals but that would have required him to leave me exposed. So, he had waited for me to wake up. After seeing the variety of beasts on the hill I had no issue feeding him the last of the normal dire squirrels and rats. I made myself a quick meal, wishing I had just one egg McMuffin with cheese. When I was done, I gathered all of my equipment and we moved out.
We had been walking for maybe an hour. When I noticed that we had picked up a tail. There was a dot that seemed to be watching us. It was staying out of visual range and was pacing us. This set my danger sense off. The fact that this thing knew how to tail us made it more dangerous. The fact that it was concerned about being sensed made it smarter than eighty percent of the other beasts I have come across.
“Hey buddy I don’t know if you noticed but we have a tail.”
Akurra looked at me and then flicked his tongue. I could tell he had zoned in on the beast as well.
“Hey, remember we identify before we attack. If you get infected again, I will let whatever it is have you this time.”
He huffs but I can tell he knows I am serious. I can also tell he does not want a repeat of the previous day’s events as well. We continue moving I am warier at this point. I keep an eye on my tail and it continues to shadow us for about a half-hour longer. Then it abruptly takes off in the opposite direction. I relax a bit but, something is still bothering me. Something tells me that it’s not going to be that easy. That feeling is confirmed fifteen minutes later when our shadow returns with forty of his friends.
I want to make a break for it but I see ten more dots in front of us on my map. Well, a fight it is then.
“We have incoming buddy.”
Akurra glows his spell casting is different than mine but I know he just used his elemental aura. That was smart I cast mine along with elemental orb. As we turn to wait for our foes the dots to our back don’t move, I can tell a trap when I see it whatever these things are they want to herd us into a trap. I can hear snarls and barking yips. They are not being subtle or quiet. When they come into sight, I can tell they did not expect to see us waiting for them. They react speedily and spread out to encircle us.
Dire Ferros Greyfang lvl 27.
Dire Ferros Greyfang lvl 27.
Dire Ferros Greyfang lvl 27.
Dire Ferros Greyfang Alpha lvl 19.
Seeing them I wonder if this planet has any normal-sized animals. I guessed what they were when I heard them and recognized their tactics. These things are giant wolves, basically dire wolves. The wolves are all grey in color their skin and fur seem to shimmer in the light. Other than being mostly grey all of the wolves had differences in their coats. The wolves circle us at a distance. The wolves noticed Akurra a first for all of the beasts so far.
When the alpha stops the wolves circling us stop in place. The alpha takes a leisurely seat. I can tell that a few members of the pack are getting ready to attack. Akurra looks at me and I nod at him. He curls up and rears standing to his full height. Akurra’s hooded head is standing at a full ten feet behind me.
I decide to get these beasts' attention! I step forward and cast sonic scream and do my best black canary impression. The scream that erupts from me tears a smaller tree from the ground as it rips toward the greyfangs. I see some shock on the face of the alpha right before the spell hits him. The spell blasts a few of the smaller wolves off their feet and knocks the alpha down. I see two of the wolves moving from the side when Akurra hits them with his stun and strikes. Some of the others start to move so I turn and hit them with a blast as well. I do this two more times and Akurra takes down two more before the alpha. Is back up, and snarling at me. I hit him in the mouth with a fire orb and watch him yelp as the fire burns his tongue.
Four of the pack, lunge at me. Only to be stunned by my stunning sight. I hate to do it, but they attacked me. I draw Sky Cutter and use spatial puncture. The skill bores a hole right into the targeted beast’s skull. I repeat the skill three more times. The alpha is back and is much warier now, I can tell he thought we would be easy prey. Now he is down eight of his pack, to that easy prey. The alpha is pacing in front of me. I just know I am going to have to kill this whole pack, I really don’t want to do that.
“Go on we are too much for you if you keep this up you will lose your whole pack!” I yell at the wolves. I also spread my spells out to look more intimidating.
Unfortunately, one of the other sides that has not lost members decides to get involved. I decided that I might have to go big to deter the rest of the wolves. I call down a flame strike on the six wolves charging at us. The spell catches the first four full-on and the last two only partially. The four in the spell die painfully I hate that I have to do this but they keep attacking me.
I hope that my show of force deters the rest of the wolves from wanting to attack. I look at the rest of the wolves. They are hesitating it has worked. I see the alpha looking as well I can tell he is a bit shocked. I can see that it is preparing to charge us. I prepare my next spell. Maybe if I kill the alpha the others will leave.
Then something strange happens. One moment the alpha is snarling and preparing to charge us. The next he stops and tilts his head. He looks at us and snarls, and then he tilts his head again. His ears fold back and he whines. He huffs, whines, and looks at us again, and snarls. Something big must have happened since he whines and rolls over. I can see the other wolves reacting as well. The alpha stands and snarls at us and, then turns and runs off. The rest of the pack takes off after him, I watch them on my map to make sure this is no trick.
Once they are off my map, I look in the direction the wolf was looking. I can see a glow coming from the area. I go around and collect the wolf corpses surprisingly Akurra only eats one. For the first time, I see a lump in his body. Normally when he eats it’s like his stomach is a bottomless pit of acid.
I turn and head for the glowing area. Whatever is there sent the wolves off. I would call that a sign. Anyway, the glow is coming from the direction I was heading anyway. It looks like the area I saw that surrounds the supertree.
The glow was a soft golden color. Even from this distance, it was soothing. We ended up walking the rest of the day and well into the evening. Until we hit the edge of the glowing area.
You have reached the Elder Glade! This glade is home to the Guardian Tree of the Forgotten Forest. This area is designated as a safe zone and no conflict is allowed. Any hostile action will be met with swift retribution!
A safe zone! Finally! This might mean there might be others here?
“Hey buddy no attacking in this place, it would be bad for both of us!”
Akurra looked at me as if I was stupid. He must have gotten a message as well at least in some way he could understand. I step across the border and am immediately hit with a soothing, safe feeling. The place is still part of the forest and there are still trees but there are fewer here. I can see the sky and the massive branches of the supertree. I can also tell that it is what is glowing. For the first time since my first arrival, I am walking without watching my map, and looking out for danger. I am still watching my surroundings, but I am doing it more out of habit. I can see some beasts and a lot of animals. I could see that Akurra was keeping himself in check. It was new for him to not try to eat something he saw as weaker than himself.
It took us the rest of the day to get closer to the now-massive tree. I had been wondering what the best way was to reach it. I needed not to worry about that though. No matter which way I would have walked I would have reached the tree. The base of the tree spanned most of the glade. If I had to guess the base of the tree as three-quarters of a mile long. While the tree looks huge from a distance it is nothing compared to it up close. The tree also seems to have a presence, a weight to it that seems unnatural.
As we get closer, I see movement on the tree itself. A tree man unfolds himself out of the trunk of the tree. It is a strange sight to see the wood move like that. Some bark falls off the tree in large pieces, as the body turns itself my direction.