Dan was still wound up from thinking his brother and all the people in his tutorial area were killed by a third Sortilege.
And talking to that big group of people before that. He knew he had come off foolishly. What he had worked out inside his head to say and what ended up coming out of his mouth didn’t match up all that well.
The whole time he stood in front of that group, his mind just kept screaming at him to get away. He knew it was impossible, but it always felt like people, especially strangers, knew all his sins and were judging him. Harshly. And he knew they were right to do so.
Still, he had a duty. He had an obligation. Those feelings he didn’t want and couldn’t control when he was around people didn’t change that.
And he had to focus more. He was accustomed to having a lot more mana and going a lot longer without his core emptying. He messed up twice so far. There wouldn’t be a third time.
Dan had really wanted to work on his revelation before doing the puzzle Trials. He needed more time to do everything, but there just wasn’t any. He had to ensure he got done all that needed doing first.
And things weren’t going as they should. The demons were breaking the rules. Or bending them to the limit.
At least my demon tech started talking to me already, thought Dan. He hated when they talked to him. But he needed to set things up. He needed to be owed that favor. That was part of his plan. He knew how they operated. He’d exploit that in ways he couldn’t last time.
He thought that it was kind of strange how being mean to a demon was hard for him. If he could, he’d kill Xotl and every other demon without an ounce of regret, but being purposefully mean was a different story. How it made him feel didn’t matter. It had to be done.
He wondered if Aphariel would talk to him sooner too. She hadn’t until a long while after everyone else died last time.
He hoped she did visit while wishing she never did. She mucked things up. She made his mind think things it shouldn’t and want things he couldn’t afford to want. And she was kind of mean sometimes, not that he didn’t deserve it.
Still, he owed her a lot. If not for her, the other angel, Geehel, would’ve never visited, and he wouldn’t be where he was now. This was all her doing.
He thought asking for help at the angel shrines would be useless. The demons said the angels never helped anyone, but Aphariel and Geehel helped him.
Neither of them was part of this whole mess, he thought. She’s too low rank and he’s from a higher Choir or Order than the guilty archangels. I reckon Aphariel isn’t old enough to have been around back then anyhow.
Dan would still ask. He had an obligation to try. An obligation to the rest of the people in the world and the Game, no matter how he felt about it. It would be on the high pantheon whether they helped or not.
Thinking of the angels made Dan think of Aphariel again. He couldn’t prevent his mind from wandering back to the last time he saw her.
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Void Barrage finished off the last of Asmodon the Lesser’s peons that had set up an ambush in the Crucible area. He prepared to recall to another bind point. He was almost positive where Asmodon was.
After all this time, he knew the demon well enough to guess his actions with some accuracy. He just wished he could kill him. He couldn’t. After all this time, he still couldn’t.
He was a little behind schedule on what he wanted to get done that day. It was all just routine now. He hadn’t found any more secrets, or even possible threads to pull on, in a long, long time. He was almost certain there was nothing left to find.
Methodically going through areas and Trials trying to find something and anything that would help him advance was all he could do. That and farming drops. But all the stuff he needed had such low drop rates he had little hope.
He did need more triggers. Getting those wasn’t impossible but it did require a ton of farming. There was always a chance he’d get lucky and get something else good.
First, he needed a small rest and to crack his back. Ascending tiers might drastically slow aging, but it didn’t stop it. He was starting to feel it too. He couldn’t help but notice all the grays in his long beard now.
When he was done cracking his back, he went to recall to another bind point but quickly cut the invocation off as Aphariel appeared in front of him. He groaned internally and wished she never came. His heart filled with joy at the sight of her.
“Greetings, Daniel.”
“Dan.”
Aphariel smiled brightly and said, “I’ll be less formal when you no longer look at me as you do.”
“I don’t mean nothing by it,” said Dan. “Just hard not looking for a second.”
“I’ve come to wish you a happy anniversary, Daniel. Sixty years. Congratulations.”
“Huh? It’s been that long?” Dan spun and set a high-tier creeper on fire. After three stacks of Drain Life went on two others, he turned back and said, “Sorry about the unkempt appearance. The only visitor I get is a demon tech.”
“That’s not true. I’ve heard Moloch and Lilith visited you again since last we spoke. Twice in Lilith’s case. Her beauty is too tempting. She never fails, so you should be proud to have resisted again. Before we speak further, let me pull up your status and see what’s changed.”
Name: Daniel “Dan” Branigan
Difficulty: Hell (Increase XP by 100% and drop chance by 30%)
Tier: Archfiend (12)
Level: 300
Soul: SS+++ Grade (6-Star)
Mana-type: Fire
Core: Pristine
Stats (capacity for and amplification of intrinsic qualities)
Agility, SS++ Grade (500 Max): 250
Mana, SS++++ Grade (700 Max): 300
Reaction, SS+++ Grade (600 Max): 300
Speed, SS++ Grade (500 Max): 300
Strength, SS++ Grade (500 Max): 118
Attributes (intrinsic qualities averaged)
Durability (physical and void resistance): 30
Health (disease and poison resistance): 36
Spirit (mental and primordial resistance): 31
Class:
Traveler (Pw/Pw/U/U/S/S. Rare 6-Star Class. Number of Slot Bonuses equal to 60% of Star Class)
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Class Restrictions:
Must have Utility Orbment Bind and Recall slotted
Must have Utility Orbment Blink slotted
Must have Support Orbment Teleport slotted
If any required Orbment is removed, all Orbments deactivate until it is slotted again.
Power Orbment slot will not accept any buff, combat summons, debuff, heal, or summons.
Support Orbment slot will not accept any Orbment with a vocal component.
Crown Orbments must be power Orbments.
Orbment Bonus (6 of 6)
With six Orbments slotted, Bind and Recall, Blink, and Teleport Orbments each gain the equivalent of 2 ranks.
(C) Void Barrage [Crown Orbment] (Power Orbment, Crown, unique-equipped, active): Crown Orbment of Hail of Mana, Meteorites, Void Bolt. Casting this invocation causes medium-high void damage to all enemies in a targeted area of 7.95 meters. High mana cost, 1.9s cast, 18s cooldown.
(C) Drain Life [Crown Orbment] (Power Orbment, Crown, unique-equipped, active): Crown Orbment of Bleed, Heal, and Void Bolt. Casting this invocation causes medium-low void damage per second to a visible enemy within 1.3 kilometers for a duration of 11s. Half of all damage caused by this invocation is returned as healing to you. Stacks up to three times on the same target. Low mana cost, .6s cast, no cooldown.
Blink [Fifth Rank. Effective Seventh Rank] (Utility Orbment, Uncommon, unique-equipped, active): Casting this invocation instantly teleports you to a visible location within 1.89 (13.23) meters. Higher ranks increase range by 1.89 meters, mana cost by a small amount, and decrease cooldown by 1.2s. Medium-low mana cost, instant cast, 17s (4.9s) cooldown.
Bind and Recall* [Fifth Rank. Effective Seventh Rank] (Utility Orbment, Epic, unique-equipped, active): Modified for Game. You can create one bind point at any normal area of the Game per rank (7) and recall yourself to any bind point within a range of 7.83 (46.98) kilometers per rank. Additional ranks lower cast time by .3s and cooldown by 1m:53s. Only one bind point can be removed per day. Medium mana cost, 2.7s (.9s) cast time, 56m (44m:41s) cooldown.
Teleport* [Fifth Rank. Effective Seventh Rank] (Support Orbment, Rare, unique-equipped, active): Modified for Game. Create a portal only you or members of your party can see and interact with. Can teleport to original start point or near the center of any previously visited area. Higher ranks lower mana cost and cooldown by 10% and cast time by 1.89s. High (medium-high) mana cost, 26s (14.67) cast time, 13h (5h:12m) cooldown.
MANA BATTERY [Fifth Rank] (Support Orbment, Legendary, stackable (3), passive): Your meditative and breathing techniques gather and refine 50% more qi per rank (currently 250%).
Set Bonus (3 of 3)
(1) Blink Field: Blink leaves a .8 meter round static field lasting 5s on the ground at point of invocation causing very low damage to enemies within the field.
(2) Blink Speed: After casting Blink, your Speed is increased by 100 for 5s and the next invocation with a cast time less than 15s is cast instantly if invoked while Blink Speed is active.
(3) Spatial Makeup: Invoking Blink, the recall of Bind and Recall, or Teleport heals you in proportion to its First Rank cooldown.
Crown Orbment Bonus (1 of 1)
Blink Field also stuns enemies caught in it for 2s. The cooldown of Blink is reduced by half. If any slotted Crown Orbment causes damage, its damage is increased by a small amount.
Traits (10)
(1) Mind Bastion: Negative mental effects are easier to negate for you.
(2) Stalwart Soul: Your Soul Stat is increased by one step (F to F+, F+ to C, etc.).
(3) Efficient: Reduce mana cost of all invocations by 15%
(4) Potent: All invocation damage increased
(5) Enduring: Any source of healing also creates a stacking absorb-shield equal to 10% of the healing you receive, even over-healing. Each individual absorb-shield lasts for 2m:23s each.
(6) Tester: Switching Orbments or Classes is less detrimental to long term growth.
(7) Heedless: The mental resistance aspects of the Spirit Attribute are increased for you.
(8) Intellection: Concepts, revelations, and epiphanies come a little easier for you.
(9) Diamond Channels: Your channels are hard as diamonds and can handle an extraordinary amount of mana usage without injury or damage.
(10) Heavenly Warrior (max): You’ve killed over 100,000 demons and devils at the Fiend or higher tier.
“Nothing has changed,” said Aphariel in an accusatory tone. “You haven’t even upgraded your Rare Class. Still level 300. Still stuck at Archfiend. It’s been 10 years, and you’ve still failed to upgrade your core. All you’ve done is replace a Crown Orbment and increase a few Stat-grades and Attributes.”
Dan lowered his eyes. “I know it.” He wished she listened when he told her he couldn’t change his Class. One of his bind points was the only thing keeping him alive. He couldn’t risk losing it.
Aphariel smiled brightly again. “Hey, that new Crown Orbment overcame your Class restriction of no healing Orbments. And Heavenly Warrior is a coveted Trait among my kind. Killing 100,000 is no small feat.”
Still looking downward, Dan said, “I still got to run from Asmodon before I even really hurt him. I had two Stat points drop. I put them right into my core. I just didn’t know enough back then. I would’ve done everything differently if I knew what I know now.”
“I’m proud of you Daniel,” replied Aphariel. “You never give up. Sixty years and you’ve never given up.”
“I’m only alive because I found a bug in the system. That spot I bound to makes a whole new instance of the Boneyard so I can always escape. I’d’ve died right along with everyone else if not.”
“But you’re alive.” Aphariel sighed before continuing. “Asmodon is much stronger than you are. He was probably born in the fifth layer of Hell with highly graded Stats. He most likely started with a 3 or 4-Star Class.
“If I remember correctly, until this tier and your core-rating, every prior bottleneck for you has been Soul-grade. You started with all F-grade Stats and have always gotten the absolute minimum number of Stat points per level for each tier.
“What you’ve done is a miracle. Standing toe-to-toe with Asmodon. Alone for almost 60 years. You’ve killed at least 100,000 demons and devils of the fourth and fifth layers. That relieves some pressure on those of us fighting on the front. We’re all proud of you.”
Dan shuffled his feet and continued to avoid looking at the angel. He killed a lot more of them than that. That Trait had maxed out a long time ago.
He said, “I still can’t kill Asmodon yet. Did you ever look into what we talked about? About me getting a tech from our side?”
Aphariel clucked her tongue and said, “I told you there was little hope of that. We’re not allowed our own techs in second or later Games.”
“I know it,” replied Dan, “but the demons say I can have one if the Game lasts over a year though.”
Aphariel sighed. “Demons say a lot, and everything that leaves one of their mouths is a lie. The truth is our side is spread too thin. We can barely staff a world’s first Game, the Games we have the best chance of winning. Would a tech of ours really help?
“I’m assuming you have a lot of XP saved up. Even if you do manage to ever increase your core to ‘Perfect’ rating and hit level 350, you have failed to improve upon your second revelation in almost 50 years. Only a step increase to Soul in all that time.
“How long would you be stuck at peak Absolute? Sixty more years? A hundred? You’re already getting old. Look at all the gray in your hair. And you still haven’t learned basic lessons. You haven’t upgraded your Class. With all that XP banked, you still have MANA BATTERY slotted.”
Dan had stopped shuffling his feet as Aphariel spoke. He hadn’t felt much in a long while, but he felt the stirrings of annoyance. He looked her dead in the eye and said, “They been trying to starve me of qi. I need MANA BATTERY to cultivate the beast and XP cores fast enough to stay alive. On slow days, I kill 20 of Asmodon’s guys. I kill about 50 of them most days. That ain’t even counting all the other stuff the Game throws at me. Or the rough days.”
As if to articulate the point, he spun and killed four creepers. He knew a big sneaker would come soon, accompanied by a couple dozen Hellhounds. He looked at the entourage of ghosts that followed him around everywhere, mocking and deriding him. He wished they weren’t so right about everything.
Dan knew Aphariel was right too. Another tier and 50 levels wouldn’t put him on even footing with Asmodon. He’d be able to kill more demons and devils every day, but he’d still have to run from Agares’ champion, even if he’d be able to fight him for longer before recalling away.
Aphariel spread her wings and said, “I’ll let that outburst pass, but mind your mouth, Daniel. I didn’t have to visit you. And as I said, we’re all proud of you, but we all know where this ends. It ends with Hell winning another Game.
“Do you even pray and ask for forgiveness and redemption? Would you last a day in the second phase if you did manage to kill Asmodon? No side wants this stalemate. It’s costing us both a fortune. Like a cockroach, you refuse to die. And like a cockroach, you will never do anything of significance with your life beyond being a pest and an annoyance.”
Dan’s heart sank. He wished her words weren’t true. He wished they were lies that caused him to feel anger, to feel anything but self-hatred and the crippling weight of responsibility. He said, “That might all be true, but I’ll keep trying. I’ll keep trying till I’m dead. Everyone on Earth dies if I don’t.”
Aphariel’s wings settled back behind her. “Daniel, they’re all going to die no matter what you do. This Game was lost before it began. You’re only prolonging the inevitable.”
“Maybe so, but I ain’t never quitting,” replied Dan. “So many good people died in this place. I have a responsibility.” In his mind, he also thought, Amanda’s watching me. My brother died coming here because of me. And I won’t disappoint my maw and paw more than I already done.
Since the angel didn’t reply, he added, “Maybe I ain’t nothing more than a cockroach. And maybe no one will have much good to say about me when I’m dead and gone, but they for damn sure ain’t going to call me no quitter.”
Aphariel’s perfect face creased in anger and her brows furrowed. Before she could reply, Dan’s demon tech appeared. He had had this one for longer than any of the others but couldn’t be bothered to remember its name.
The demon said, “Look at you two lovebirds. Are you going to fall in love and kiss and get married like a couple of gays?”
Aphariel sighed and said, “I’m female. Daniel is male.”
“So what? Want a prize? I know like a thousand females, you filthy prude idiot. That’s nothing special. And your face looks very stupid,” replied the demon.
Aphariel sighed again and turned her attention back to Dan. “Ignore this trash of the lowest layer of Hell. It’s little better than one of the damned. I wasn’t saying you should quit, Daniel.
“My boss has a friend he wants you to speak with from a higher Choir, possibly a higher Order. This friend could have a solution. He’s impressed by what you’ve managed to accomplish. Will you speak with him and consider his words?”
“I won’t quit no matter who visits me and no matter what they say,” replied Dan. “But I’ll hear him out. You should get going. I got killing to do and I’m behind schedule. A big sneaker’s fixing to attack along with a ton of Hellhounds. And a big wave’s fixing to hit right after that.”