Sam could feel that his body was more durable now and more able to take the wear and tear of battle. He felt something else as well, a comforting solidity that came from his elemental energy. He had forged a deeper connection with his element by using it to upgrade his body, and it showed.
You have reached 4% mastery of your Meridian of Earth.
He had gone up an entire percentage point, despite having not contemplated his element in quite some time. Sam didn't really know how he had brought the energy of Earth into his threshold trial, but the results showed. His actual multiplier was probably higher than the additional 50% that it was supposed to be, judging by how his body felt.
Sam walked over to a nearby tree, and punched it full force with his hand. It shattered the wood with ease, and he didn't feel anything, save for the momentary resistance of the wood. There was no pain, only normal sensation. Sam grinned and thought of all the possibilities that this would unlock. The only thing he had left to do before reaching F Rank was to reach his Dexterity Threshold as well. Doing so would require the deaths of many monsters, but that was fine with him. As well as that, he would have to get to the bottom of the mystery behind the undead arboreal defender. There was something evil lurking in this forest, and it was resurrecting the dead.
He was watching his time carefully, and he would have to start heading back to the compound soon. Sam had wanted to check on the quest anyway, and it had a handy timer on it as well. He opened up his notification log, and found the Engines of the End Times quest.
Engines of the End Times
Difficulty:S
You have formed a faction and have begun to take over the surface of your planet, but there are three things that stand in your way. These are divided into the subquests below.
The Seven Seals
Seven weapons of great power, based on the mythologies and legends of your world, have been created around the world. They reside in locations that match their origins. Claim all seven of them to create the greatest weapon that your planet has ever seen. The possessor of this weapon will be able to exert dominance over all others.
Ultimate Goal:Find all the weapons below.
Mjolnir(0/1)
Excalibur(0/1)
The Spear of Longinus(0/1)
The Sickle of Cronos(0/1)
Sun Wukong’s Staff(0/1)
Gungnir(0/1)
The Thunderbolt of Zeus(0/1)
The Legion
In the time since the initialization started, there has been a curious absence of anyone who has been a soldier before the System arrived. This is because of the actions of one man. General Hugo Mar chanced upon the beginning of the path to the Dao of Legion. In doing so, he laid claim to every soldier to live on the planet through a unique form of Dao resonance, subsuming them into his hive mind. They now exist as the ultimate monster of your planet, a many headed monstrosity of fused will. This force lives only to spread itself, an anarchic terror of pure self propagation.
Ultimate Goal:Eradicate the Legion
Invaders from Beyond the Stars
Malefactors from other universes will seek to use your universe as a source of power. You must show them the error of that desire by forcing them off your planet. Some of the alien species will be benevolent, but most will be hostile.
Ultimate Goal:Remove any threats from other universes.
Ultimate Goal:Complete all three quests.
Rewards:Planetary Dominance
85:35:29 hours remaining until the quest begins.
Last time, Sam had only glanced over the quest notification, in order to get a better idea of them, but this time he actually studied them, and began to make inferences about what he would have to do for them based on the descriptions. Firstly, he had already considered the Seven Seals quest a few times, and now that he knew of the existence of the canyon, that one would require more effort than the others. For the Legion quest, the name of the general in question, Hugo Mar, sounded western in origin, and if he had not been taken away to the tournament, then he was likely still in wherever he had been before it had begun. Sam was hoping that he was in America, but he could easily be in Europe. As well as that, the armies were probably spread around the world too. Killing the main threat would be the wisest plan of action however.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Finally, the last quest looked like something that would be resolved as it happened. He had no way to find random aliens invading the planet, and the only real option was to fight a defensive war. That involved reinforcing their base until it was utterly impregnable, and having enough power to resist the overtures of the invaders. Either they would be stratified to an appropriate rank for the planet, and they would be mostly fine, or else some random E Rank alien or something would show up, and they would all be dead. Sam doubted that it would be the last one, but there was always a possibility.
He walked over to the corpse of the arboreal defender, and looked it over. Sam wanted to see how exactly being raised from the dead had impacted the creature, and it was quite clear from a quick inspection. Its veins and sap were all a gray color, one that could not be described by just decay. It had been corrupted by some outside force, and Sam wanted to find it. Something that powerful would be a grievous threat in the future, if it ever decided to attack the faction. For now, it appeared to be neutral, only turning random creatures into undead.
Sam left the clearing, and started hunting for more monsters again. His goal was to pass his final threshold before he had to return to the faction headquarters. Three days and thirteen hours was not that much time, but Sam would, no had, to make it work. It was time to start working smarter, not harder. The presence of this corpse would draw in monsters, if not for food, then out of interest. It was not every day that such a titan of the forest fell after all, and the local ecosystem would be impacted by that. Other monsters would see this as an opportunity for them to rise up from their current stations, if they could leverage this to their advantage.
Sam secreted himself in the top of a nearby tree, and waited patiently for his quarry to come. He was going to give it three hours, and if by then nothing came around, he would give up. Shifting to get comfortable, Sam got ready to pounce.
About an hour later, the undergrowth shook, and a massive boar trundled out from behind the bushes. It was at least ten feet tall, and its hooves were coated in flames. Two curling horns crowned its head, and it snorted angrily as it plodded heavily across the ground. Each footstep left a deep and blackened dent in the ground, and each snort expelled a small burst of fire. It sniffed at the air, and started to make its way over to the corpse of the arboreal defender. As it moved, it passed directly underneath Sam’s tree.
When it was directly below him, he made his move. Sam raised his mace above his head and packed it with power, before leaping off the branch and towards the boar. It snapped its head up, but it was too late. Sam brought the mace down on the monster’s head like a wrecking ball, shattering its horns, and driving the fragments into its skull. Thick and steaming hot blood coursed out of the beast, and it roared in pain. However, it was not dead. Instead, it opened its mouth and breathed out a flamethrower like stream of fire that blasted Sam off of its back, searing his skin. It would have done a lot worse to him if not for his recent threshold, and he was glad that he had chosen to do Resilience before Dexterity.
He crashed into a tree, and snarled as he pushed himself off, refusing to lose any momentum to the attack. The boar stamped its foot, and a crackling fissure of molten rock raced across the ground towards Sam. He leaped to the side, and felt a blast of furnace like heat strike his skin. It dried it out, but not much else.
Sam smiled with a wild look on his face as he ran, and snapped his mace out to the side, in order to get the most leverage with his next attack. The boar roared out loud, its ruined horns falling off its head and clattering to the ground. With an evil glint in its eyes, it charged Sam, accelerating to speeds that far belied its size. Sam did not cower, and he met its charge with one of his own, whirling his mace around himself before battering the boar in the side of the head. The creature, all 20 feet of it, went tumbling end over end, rolling in the acidic pool left by the arboreal defender. It shrieked in agony as the liquid seared its skin away, and it raced out of the pool, snorting and pawing at the ground. That had not been what Sam had intended, but it was a welcome bonus.
The boar rolled its eyes in bestial rage, and slammed its front legs into the ground. The earth shook, and a surge of molten rock exploded out of the area around it. A large clump of lava landed on Sam’s arm, and he screamed as it burnt his skin and bone away. He scooped it off with his mace, and lobbed it back at the boar. Nothing happened, as it was immune to fire, but at least the momentum of the attack staggered it.
Sam closed in on the boar, and carefully made his way around the piles of lava. The heat from them scorched his skin, but he ignored it. Standing in the middle of this all was the boar, grunting and groaning as it waited for Sam to advance. Sam clenched his jaw as he gripped his mace, the motion sending a spike of pain through his burnt arm. He locked his grip in with Girdings of the Arbiter, and channeled his power into his mace, preparing to use his finisher. Breaking into a run, Sam ducked underneath the boar’s fiery breath and then caught it below the jaw.
“Justice!” The boar was tossed off its feet and into the air. “Is!” Sam swung his mace into the boar’s stomach, and lifted it up higher. “Best!” He leaped into the air, and swatted it aside with his mace. “Served!” Sam landed and then jumped over to the boar’s falling body. “COLD!” He swung his mace down into the boar, and its entire body detonated, sending it down into the ground like a meteor. Its body splattered from the impact, and Sam was showered by its boiling blood. Luckily it was just that, boiling, and his skin was easily able to withstand liquids of that temperature now. Essence poured into him, and coupled with the overflow from the arboreal defender, it was enough to push him up a level.
You have killed a Juvenile Inferno Boar!
You have leveled up!