I came to just in time to see the end of the fight.
Rex hacked and slashed but the gnome simply refused to die, the lycanid was sure to run out of steam long before he killed the thing.
My head pounded and my eyelids felt heavy but I refused to succumb to the darkness, I had to see this through even if I couldn’t be the one to strike the finishing blow.
As team leader, it was my duty to be there for them.
Asmodeus had left me safely on the edge of the ridge overlooking the cesspit. He’d then flown back down and proceeded to back Rex up with bubble shields when he could.
Thrashing like a toddler throwing a tantrum, the proto-gnome smashed through bubble after bubble as my dragon and the lycanid worked tirelessly to end him.
I couldn’t see Bell; I hoped she was alright. Knowing her she was probably taking a nap; I’d have to ask Panda about it when I could move my mouth again. I saw him waddling towards me, with a concerned expression plastered on his face, in my peripheral vision.
Blacking out multiple times over the course of the fight, I was woken by screaming over and over again. Every time I opened my eyes I saw Rex and Asmodeus fighting for their lives, the gnome laying in a pool of blood but still as fierce as ever. It was horrifying.
Eventually, through one of my more lucid hazes, I saw vibrant violet light appear. Multiple portals sprang up all across the gnome’s body, he struggled even harder, and then they closed.
All that remained was bloodied rags and a large torso. No limbs, no head. His body had been split into pieces and teleported to God knows where.
“Let’s get them inside,” Freja command and my mind was eased knowing that my team was safe.
***
When I eventually came to I was in a medical tent laying on a stretcher, I had no idea how long it had been but I was surrounded by familiar faces.
Rex loomed over me, Panda and Asmodeus at either side. The lycanid smiled a fangy grin and a droplet of saliva crested my cheek. It was gross.
“How is everyone?” I croaked, my throat was parched and before they answered Panda offered me a drink of water which I gladly gulped down.
“Everyone’s alive, kid,” he began, refusing to look me in the eyes. “Bell is still knocked out but she’ll pull through, her wounds weren’t that bad. She took a nasty knock to the head when the gnome’s hammer took out her position. Sally though, she’s not looking so good…”
Working almost autonomously, my stomach muscles contracted powerfully and I found myself sitting up, twisting my head around to look for her.
“She’s not here,” Rex said in a soft growl, placing a warm, fluffy hand on my shoulder and firmly pushing me back down. “You can see her once you’ve healed, human, the healers are working on her right now.”
“I’m fine,” I protested, trying and failing to fight against the strength of his large paw. “My HP is full, what if she needs me?”
“She doesn’t,” he said more firmly, “she needs the healers and they’re working on her. You need to be patient.”
Patience was never my strong suit and I opened my mouth a few times to protest but I couldn’t find the words. Sally had always been so strong, a full two ranks above me, and my mentor. How could she be in such bad shape? It just wasn’t feasible.
“Check your notifications, it’ll take your mind off things,” Panda suggested.
Asmodeus stayed silent, watching me through discerning eyes like a guard dog.
Nodding, I opened my HUD and to my surprise there were dozens of notifications.
Achievement Unlocked:
Bubbles Are Da Bomb
You survived an explosion powerful enough to take out someone twice your level. Moreover, you did it in a freaking bubble. What the hell, this is not the sort of thing I expected to happen when I designed active skills.
I get why they say being a dev is so hard now; you players are idiots.
Reward: Stupid Fucking Loot Box
Well that’s bound to give me something completely useless and weird, I thought, moving on to the many kill notifications.
You have defeated: Lycanid (lvl 53)
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Bonus points awarded due to level disparity.
You have defeated: Catonid (lvl 32)
You have defeated: Catonid (lvl 45)
…
You have defeated: Proto-Gnome (lvl 100)
Bonus points awarded due to level disparity.
Bonus points negated due to not landing the killing blow.
You will receive partial credit for this kill.
The list of kill notifications went on for quite a while, I hadn’t realised just how many communists I’d cut down during the fight.
Most of them were a similar or lower level than I was, which made sense since we’d been outnumbered over ten to one.
I was under the impression that most people here were stronger than I was, hell, Cali Port even had its own level capper highway to prevent people like me from getting run over by those with vastly more power.
However, it seemed that even here level cappers were the minority, there was just a lot more of them than there had been in Havar.
On the island it had just been Director Lucas. He was the only one. Panda had explained that there were a lot more people in this part of the world and naturally that meant the monsters were at a much higher level.
I wondered how that effected adventuring contracts, I’d have to ask. But first, it was time to read some level up notifications.
Congratulations! You have reached level 47
Congratulations! You have reached level 48
Congratulations! You have reached level 49
Congratulations! You have reached level 50
Holy shit! I’ve just hit phase three!
At first I thought I’d gained four levels in a single fight, but it seemed more likely that I’d levelled up during the group fight and then levelled up more from helping to kill the proto-gnome.
Either way, I had a bunch of points to allocate and a question to ask.
“How come phase two level ups are so weird?” I asked no one in particular. “It’s like I don’t get any for ages then I get a bunch all at once.”
Rex laughed, patting my head like I was a small child. “Phase two is about the consolidation of power and experience,” he explained in a fatherly manner, continuing to pat my head. “It’s not a straight path up the ladder, it’s more like you fight lots of battles, storing up experience and then when you do something to push your limits properly, all that stored experience comes through all at once.”
“Kinda like when I save up my bamboo treats so I can have a snack party in the evening,” Panda added.
“Or when I save the souls of my victims to… actually I don’t think I’ve ever held off on devouring a soul, they’re simply too scrumptious,” Asmodeus said, scratching at his chin with his claw thoughtfully.
I didn’t really understand what Rex was trying to explain to me, but as long as there was a reason I guessed it didn’t really matter. Besides, halfway through his speech I’d zoned out and began allocating my free points.
I had twenty to play with, so I decided to split it up a bit and put five into intelligence to help with my armour’s stealth power, five into strength to aid in my stamina which affected both my soul shot strength and my perception of the apex predator time stopping power, as well as aiding my overall fighting strength.
Finally I placed ten points into vitality because I was pretty certain the fighting was only going to get harder from here on out and you can never have too much HP.
Maybe I’d have been better off min-maxing when I first got here…
Whilst I allocated points a new notification popped up that I’d completely forgotten about.
Welcome to phase three player, you’re halfway to being somewhat worth a damn.
As a reward for your lacklustre efforts, I guess you’re entitled to a new skill. I’m so God damn magnanimous I practically shit candy.
Choose ONE of the following:
Pest Control (common)
Exert more control over your soul bonded familiar(s). Extend your power over them by one extra levelling phase. For example, if you are at phase three, you can now control a soul bonded familiar who is at phase four. (Passive Skill)
Also:
You may make a permanent stamina sacrifice to force a soul bonded familiar who is higher than your current threshold to obey one command indefinitely. (Active Skill)
This skill is stackable, should you opt to take it again.
This is both a passive and active skill.
Passive control level: Phase 4
That was a pretty interesting skill. Having the insurance that I could control Asmodeus even if he outgrew me was massive.
Sally had warned me repeatedly that he was dangerous and he himself told me he wanted to devour my soul on a daily basis.
There was nothing sexy about it, but a bit of self-preservation seemed like the sensible option. I wasn’t keen on the active portion of the skill though. Being able to permanently prevent my dragon from eating me was enticing.
However, the skill left too much unsaid. How much stamina would I have to sacrifice? Not to mention stamina was my main stat when fighting. I needed it for literally everything, so I doubted that I’d ever use the active portion.
Grimacing as I struggled with my thoughts about what the new skill offered; I decided to read the next one.
Steroid Junky (rare)
Once in a 24-hour period increase all stats by 500 points for one minute.
Badass!
That sounded more like it, that was so damned OP. I wouldn’t be able to rely on it often but in cases like my run in with Clive the elder litch or the fight with the proto-gnome it could literally be a life saver.
Also, I was likely to encounter harder and higher levelled monsters once we left Cali Port and hit the trail. Using this skill to take out some level cappers could be a great way to level up quickly.
The downside was that once I reached the level cap myself this skill likely wouldn’t be as useful. From what I’d gathered, level cappers gained immense power when they crossed over into the soul levels and unlocked jade soul status.
At that point I doubted 500 points would add much. That made the choice harder, I was effectively getting a cheat code now in return for having a crappy skill later.
Acid Rain (uncommon)
Turn your bow into an entire battalion of archers and rain hundreds of acid infused arrows on your enemies like an old timey artillery strike.
This is a stamina-based skill.
This skill is only available to those with an Acid Weapons skill.
“That one! I choose that one!”