As I moved forward, I reminded myself that I had one Ultimate ability to pick and I would be a fool to go to battle without it. Begging forgiveness from my other selves, I chose what I needed to win this fight.
* Sword Aura (U): Sheathe your blades with an invisible blade of Force. Increase durability by (P), hardness by (P/5), Base damage by (P/20), and reach by (P/10) centimeters. Your blades now affect incorporeal or ethereal enemies. You gain (P/100) Strength, Dexterity, and Magic. All other effects remain the same.
I unsheathed my weapons and checked. The Sword Aura wasn't visible, which meant I had an advantage. My enemy wouldn't know my blades were now sixty centimeters longer than what they seemed.
On the other side of the arena, a literal abomination walked out.
> > Level 78 abomination [Abominable Gladiator]
It stood four meters tall. Stitched from several corpses together, It had six unpaired arms in different parts of his bloated body. Each arm held a different weapon.
> > [Sickle of Pain]
>
> > [Dullahan Sword]
>
> > [Flail of Flagellation]
>
> > [Ax of Dismemberment]
>
> > [Cestus of Jaw-Cracking]
>
> > [Barbed Pilum of Forced Intrusion]
>
> > Insufficient Appraisal Score.
>
> > You gained 2 points in Appraise [ 314 ].
I didn't want to know what these weapons did. I was afraid I would find out.
The [Abominable Gladiator] walked to the middle while the crowd cheered his name. "Ignatius, Ignatius!"
The monster bellowed. On the eighth pillar balcony, another abomination bigger than Ignatius shook the colosseum as he cheered with the roar of the crowd. Then he pointed at Kel'Caldor and slowly ran a finger over his own throat. Great.
Ignatius waited for the crowd's cheers to die down. "Better back down, little girl. You're in my domain now! I got the whole crowd screaming out my name!"
I knew I would come back to life. I just wished to avoid all the pain and humiliation in between. But I felt Kel'Caldor's honor was on the line. How would I face the lich if I just gave up here? What would they do to me if I backed down now? I had fifty-six HP when I woke up. Now I had eighty-one thousand, not to mention twenty damage reduction. It had to count for something.
But Ignatius the Abomination wasn't done with his taunts, "It'll be a blowout! I'll blow you out of this arena like a hurricane, lil' girl! It shall be over before you know it! Why are you shaking?"
I had to gain some sway with the crowd or I would be defeated just by the cheers. "I'm [Princess] Raina! I belong to an ancient dynasty! I'm Royalty and now I'll break you down. Move over or die!"
He licked his weapons, cutting his tongue and drooling blood on the sand. "I'm going to enjoy this! I'm going to kill you and take your head over!"
"You are all talk, little Abomination. I bet I can cut those stitches. And I don't fear your rusty weapons! Take a swing, I can take a hit! If I die it's fine because I live for this!"
The crowd liked my speech. I felt their energy empowering me. Riding the momentum, I continued, "I'm gonna stand on top with my hands in the sky, I'm going to raise my cup in this stadium lights. For the glory!"
The crowd echoed, "For the Glory!"
My heart pumped no blood but beat at three hundred per minute. "I'm winning this! I'll celebrate in the city tonight! Hear the Necropolis cheer, it's the ultimate high! For Glory! I'll do it for the Glory! You may have size and have six weapons! Yet you cannot win!"
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Author's Note: Now playing, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBUx6zTxr98
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Ignatius didn't like that I'd stolen the crowd from him. I almost felt like singing. I felt an energy like nothing else from the roar. It didn't matter who they cheered for anymore, just that nobody was on their seat in the grandstands. The roar of the crowd, the limelight. I had not an ounce of fear in me.
He roared, blowing a gust of humid fetid hot air my way. The sand rippled and tiny clouds of dust rose as he bellowed. "{Wicked Charge}!" He shouted and the battle had begun.
I was almost floating as the vibrations reached me. The massive abomination drew furrows in the sand as he dashed my way. His weapons stretched, ready to catch me in any direction I tried to evade him. My eyes were glued to his. Though he had six arms, he still needed to look where he would strike. As he approached, his foot kicked a swath of sand my way and I closed my eyes.
I held my sword in front of me and kicked the ground as he made his final move. As I put every fiber of my being in this attack, I seized the initiative and struck first as he basically impaled himself in my blade.
> > You stabbed Abomination for 92,865 HP of damage (Base [19d10+162] [259 -30 Abomination flesh] x2.22 Strength x13.04 Skill x1,5 enchantment x1.6 Duelist x1.6 Dual Weapon x4.8 Critical x0.76 Disgustingly Resilient [reduced]).
Then a slash with my offhand dagger as I dashed to the left. My sword came out of his flesh easily as I deactivated momentarily the {Sword Aura}.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
> > You slashed Abomination for 9,648 HP of damage (Base [2d6+5+17d10+150] [247 -30 Abomination flesh] x2.22 Strength x13.04 Skill x1.6 Duelist x1.6 Dual Weapon x0.6 Disgustingly Resilient).
>
> > You gained 3 points in Blades [ 605 / 633 ].
This opening altercation shaved a bit more than two percent of his HP pool. Do the math please, because I was too afraid to even think how much HP he had (spoiler alert, north of five million).
He chopped down with the [Ax of Dismemberment] as I moved around him. I set my sword at an angle and deflected his weapon to the side, {Riposte} triggering and cutting his arm for another twenty-two thousand damage. I spun to evade the [Flail of Flagellation] as I considered I couldn't parry that wild weapon adequately. My offhand dagger became a blur as I delivered five slashes in quick succession, each a flesh wound for another eight thousand each.
He tried to kick me but I dodged that easily. I bet this abomination weakness was that he could turn his bloated body only so fast, and I could move around him faster than he could turn.
He proved me mistaken. "Ha! You're not the first one who tried this, lil' gal! {Bouncy Blubber}!"
He literally jumped down on his butt. His folds of fat warbled as he struck the ground, sending a shockwave that dealt me ten thousand damage and pushed me back, making me land on my butt. Then he bounced up and landed on his feet, facing me. I saw with terror in my heart as he jumped on me like a wrestler trying to smother me between the sand and his blubbery belly.
I roared and tucked my feet beneath me shifting to a crouch. Then I jumped up to meet him, blade first. The System believed I had parried his bouncy attack and struck.
> > You impaled Abomination for 778,333 HP of damage (Base [19d10+163] [289 -30 Abomination flesh] x2.22 Strength x13.04 Skill x1,5 enchantment x1.6 Duelist x1.6 Dual Weapon x1.6 Riposte x4.8 Critical x4 Size x0.88 Disgustingly Resilient [reduced x2]).
>
> > You are engulfed. You do not breathe. Choking canceled.
>
> > Abomination is stunned for 0.75 seconds (Base 5 x0.15)
>
> > You are being crushed. You are taking 1,296 HP of damage every 5 seconds (Base 150 -20 x3,6 Strength x3 Devouring Blubber)
Despite me shaving fifteen percent of his maximum HP in a single blow, he stood up and my legs went up in the air. I could hear him chortling from the inside. Each laugh crushed me a bit more. He would kill me in a bit more than one minute if I did nothing.
Then an idea came to my mind. I flickered my {Sword Aura} on and off, each time moving the sword a bit to one side or the other. Each time the sheath of force shoved itself another sixty centimeters cutting a bit more of his flesh. The System considered it a stunted attack and dealt some damage, but not enough to finish him faster than he could literally chew me with his belly muscles.
Yeah, I've waited for my time to come, calculated everything I've done, upgraded all I could. It seemed I couldn't outrun a champion. All For The Glory.
> > You gained 1 point in Physical Mastery
>
> > ERROR: User already has this Proficiency.
Physical Mastery [ 675 ]. Gain (P/5) extra base HP.
* Accelerated Regeneration: Increase your HP regeneration rate by (Endurance x P/20)%.
* Instant Healing: When HP under (P/20)% of the maximum, recover (P/30)% of the maximum. Cooldown (100-P/10) minutes.
* Regeneration Boost (Automatic conditions): Increase HP regeneration by (P/10)%
* Precision Movements: Increase Dexterity by (P/75). Add (P/15)% to stealth, evasion, attack, and critical hit chance.
* Perfect Physique: Gain (P/50) to all Physical Attributes.
* Body, Mind, and Soul (U): Gain (P/75) on all Mental, Spiritual, and Physical Attributes.
Red Error Ex Machina! Another of my Proficiencies unlocked and granted me… A fuck-ton of Attribute Points [1] and some HP regeneration. A lot of HP regeneration. And twenty thousand maximum HP on top of it all. Since the System tracked damage only, it put me that much further from dying. Which was good.
Ignatius saved me from death by mastication by grabbing my leg and pulling me out of his belly. I dangled in the air as my skirt flipped. My petticoats tangled and my pumpkin panties were exposed to the delight of the cheering crowd. Such humiliation. Who was an idiot to fight in the arena wearing a lady's dress? Guilty as charged, your Honor.
I swung up and down, trying to break free. Or break a leg. His other five arms had no compunction about pummeling me down to a pulp while I was in his firm grasp.
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Nenandil had New Windemere in her firm grasp.
The people were ready to go out and colonize a new kingdom. Rebuild it from scratch. She knew how to bring them back to the surface. Haru's [Tree Portal] embedded in the rusty fig's trunk still worked but it wasn't synched to anything on the surface as the other portals were destroyed in the Moonfall Cataclysm. She had the [Enchanter] proficiency and she could attune the portal with a tree on the surface.
The problem was, people could use it to move back to the surface but not move back down. Once someone used the enchanted portal to go out, that's it. They couldn't return unless they had the {Tree Stride} Perk. Which was just a little hard to get. No shit, it was nigh impossible. Worse, the tree wouldn't allow just anyone to come down here, unless they were sent by a [Priest] of the Matriarch or better.
She laid out the full predicament to the people. A lush valley awaited them if they wanted to live under Galbarar's Sun but they would be stuck up there. Someone could bring resources to the surface but it was also a one-way trip. Unless they waited for people to breed down here and take stuff up, it would run dry someday.
That's when the whole cave shook. Nenandil sensed the magic powering the mini-Dungeons vanish at once and she connected the dots. Someone stole the Dungeon Core, a feat that was supposed to be impossible.
She dashed toward the huge emanation of magic. A live Dungeon Core was a crystalline creature with a soul and couldn't go in a storage ring or any storage, for that matter. The thief was running away toward one of the Labyrinth tunnels. He blasted the guard station as the fairy accelerated after him. She reached his back as he crossed out of New Windemere and into the Labyrinth.
The Dungeon Core and the enchanted barriers were all that kept the Labyrinth energy and the soul fragments from entering the cavern. Without it, the cave became part of the Labyrinth and monsters could spawn anywhere.
Sensing the fairy behind him, the thief decided to do a hideous crime as Nenandil {Appraised} him.
> > [Hero] Level 67 male elf [Starfall Warrior]
The Core flew down on the hard stone and shattered into a million shards. The soul wailed as it was sucked by the Labyrinth, merged with the magical pulse released by the shattered Core along with its shards who grew into jagged blades and instantly spawned a monster.
> > Level 100 Shattered Core Fractal Shardling
>
> > You are unable to discern more detail.
>
> > You gained 3 points in Appraise [ 298 ].
The Shardling was huge, barely fitting inside the massive tunnel. It looked like a shapeless fractal of sharp shards. To the fairy, it was a titanic monstrosity. The creature had its vengeance as it swung a bladed "arm" and decapitated the [Hero of Starfall] immediately.
It set its eyes on the city. Nenandil used {Instant Bank} on her [Mobility] Proficiency to instantly shift her momentum in the other direction and accelerate away. The "Boss Monster" careened and stumbled behind her, awkwardly moving its shard-limbs. The sharp and slick appendages skittered and slid on the stone, unable to find purchase for its massive crystal-body.
"TO THE TREE! EVERYONE TO THE TREE! EVACUATE, EVERYONE! NEW WINDEMERE IS DOOMED!" She shouted.
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I was doomed as Ignatius shouted his taunts. He was playing with me, swinging me around and slamming me on the ground back and forth. For some reason I expected him to say something in the lines of "Ignatius Smash" or "Puny princess" like the moron he was.
On one of these swings, I stabbed his eye as the {Sword Aura} extended the blade into his ocular globe. It dealt a million damage and caused him to swing the [Ax of Dismemberment] at my leg, scoring a critical hit and, well, dismembering me. As I winced in pain and rolled on the ground to try to stand and stumble on one leg, he recovered.
Then he grinned and ate my foot, boot, and all because he was an asshole. Irrational anger took over me as my Revenant nature took over. I screamed with fury and outrage and hop-charged at him.
Ignatius swung the [Dullahan Sword]. I attacked his blade with mine, sheathed in Force. The two weapons clashed and dealt damage to one another. The [Dullahan Sword] lost the altercation because Force magic rox but the {Sword Aura} faltered from the sheer power behind Ignatius' swing. The [Barbed Sword of Torment] breathed its last as the flimsy weapon shattered as the pommel of the [Dullahan Sword] smashed the sword.
Then the blade of the Dullahan Sword spun and met my neck at, well, breakneck speeds. Buh-bye.
I mean, heads are so last season, right?
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[1] 22 Strength, 31 Dexterity, 22 Endurance, 9 on all other six. 129 points in total. Damn.