…
So maybe these aren’t just regular goblins any more-
[Observe] (39/100)
Goblin Warrior, lvl 40
Goblin Crossbower, lvl 48
Goblin Warrior, lvl 39
Goblin Crossbower, lvl 43
Goblin Praetorian, lvl 139
Goblin Assassin, lvl 69
Goblin King, lvl 220
Goblin Praetorian, lvl 141
Goblin Shaman, lvl 56
Hobgoblin Champion, lvl 152
Goblin Rider, lvl 51
Wolf Cavalry, lvl 48
Goblin Warrior, lvl 39
Hobgoblin Witch Doctor, lvl 136
Elite Goblin Warrior, lvl 77
Goblin Alchemist, lvl 75
Goblin Assassin, lvl 71
Goblin Warrior, lvl 41
Goblin Rider, lvl 57
Wolf Cavalry, lvl 43
Goblin Crossbower, lvl 46
Goblin Warrior, lvl 26
-Scroll down? (271 Entries)-
Before me was a stone fortress absolutely covered in small green forms, hundreds of goblins moving in formations, wearing proper armor and even patrolling the walls… not to mention the several bosses. Even being so far up in the clouds… It was a rather daunting sight. I thought back on my short, yet very rushed slaughter that led me here…
Upon starting my little leveling binge, I’d set myself 2 restrictions- No levels. No Distractions. It went unsaid that I’d also have no rest since, well, I didn’t need it.
I wanted to actually learn instead of waving my metaphorical dick around to solve my problems. I’d gotten by so far with powers I’d barely scratched the surface of… And I didn’t just want the number to get higher… okay maybe I did want them to be higher, but I mainly wanted to diversify my arsenal!
If you’re a one-trick pony, all it takes is a single person countering the trick and you’re screwed. So until the grinding was over, those levels and notifications were on the backburner as I developed new skills and tested different approaches. It wouldn’t be completely mind numbing though, since I’d be able to use mana siphon as much as I wanted, and it should keep me motivated through what was likely going to be a slog… I mean it’s not like I’d need more strength than I currently had for fighting Goblins right?
…Which led me to where I’m at now.
At first I had been fighting regular goblins, little bastards who were small and scrawny, wearing loincloths and wielding primitive wooden weapons at best. It was basically the same as the tutorial minus the Hobgoblin Chief and Golem (The former were now just rare enemies).
Unlike the tutorial, the further in I went, the stronger the goblins would become… And I very creatively called every such instance of strength increase a ‘cycle’. The first time it happened, the goblins were only a bit bigger, wore hemp clothing and wielded stone-tipped weaponry. They were still far beneath me and died just as fast.
After 8 cycles though, I finally encountered my first bit of trouble- where instead of encountering a Hobgoblin Chief, I instead encountered a Goblin Shaman. It was obviously older than any other goblin I’d seen- with wrinkled skin, a hunched posture, and a walking stick all under a hooded cloak. Admittedly, I could still kill it reasonably fast, but I’d let my curiosity get the best of me upon my first sighting of one.
I wanted to see how it would use its magic, yet unlike the rest of the goblins who were relatively stupid, the shaman was smart enough to notice the gap in our abilities and instead decided to hold nothing back. I could tell its mana was moving, but only realized the danger a moment before a bolt of lightning was released from the goblin and hit me square in the stomach.
Now it wasn’t enough to kill me, far from it. I’d had a shield ready the entire time I’d been grinding, and boosted it expecting an attack… it just wasn’t enough. It held for all of a few milliseconds before shattering, letting the inch-wide bolt through.
Admittedly, it barely took a quarter of my MP, and I didn’t have a nervous system for it to paralyze or burn… but try staying calm after getting hit by lightning! Directly afterward, I tried to crush the goblins throat, only to find it panting on the ground with a bloodied dagger and a cut on its hand.
Observe let me fill in the blanks, with it having both ‘mana exhaustion’, and a new status called ‘rebound’, which Ridley informed me to be the price of using blood magic. From that point on, the few I encountered were killed long before they got the chance to cast anything. Good news is that tanking their attacks let me figure out a bit about lightning generation… And also, their mana was especially tasty.
14 cycles later and I hit another snag- Alchemists. Weaker than the first goblins I’d encountered, they made up for it with a combination of enhancement potions which drastically boosted the capabilities of any goblin who took them, acids capable of exploding and eating through stone, or poisons that expanded into a fog and caused damage over time. They were similar to the shaman’s in age, yet the opposite in apparel- wearing only a loincloth, belt of potions, backpack larger than themselves and were covered in painted runes all over their body.
Ironically the first one I encountered died from its own attack, since it threw an acid potion at me which hit my shield and sent the payload straight back. The ensuing explosion of every flask and bottle it carried however… That left a massive crater of melted dirt and a cloud of poison which lingered for over an hour. By the time I could float back down and look for any spoils (or just because I wanted to see the aftermath), about 40 meters worth of vegetation had died or melted. I made sure to endure some time in the fog- getting both poison resistance, and a spell to remove the poisoned status effect just in case, before moving on.
Needless to say, the alchemists got the same treatment as shamans, yet were much harder to deal with since occasionally I’d need to face them after they’d boosted another goblin, and surprise surprise, breaking necks or crushing throats took more mana when the being in question was roided out and in a state where they couldn’t feel pain, especially if the boosted goblin was another boss. Good news is that whenever I killed one without it exploding, I’d get my hands on a random assortment of potions!
Second to last, pain in my ass, was the goblin riders. They couldn’t deal as much upfront damage as the previous 2, yet had the uncanny knack for dodging telekinesis through what I assume was some form of danger sense. On top of that, they were fast… fast enough that they were able to get near me pretty regularly without taking any damage… of course that lack of damage was their undoing, as even if they could get near me, they couldn’t break the shield faster than I could tag and kill them. It made me a bit sad to kill the wolf they rode, but any who survived after their rider died, entered an enraged state that wiped away any thoughts of possible domestication. I ended up creating a shotgun-like attack specifically for hitting the speedy buggers.
The final, and easily most annoying new addition, was the goblin assassins. Little shits that were adept at stealth and could get right up to the shield without me even knowing! The only reason one hadn’t slit my throat, was due to the new bubble shield I’d always kept active. I first encountered them in the 40th cycle, and only managed to kill them off after narrowing down their positions using scan. Even then, the scan worked like a radar, so I had to spam it to get accurate readings of their location!
Oh and did I mention? Assassins aren’t a rare mob. They’re not as common as regular goblins… but they’re also not as rare as bosses. So it made them an ever-present threat that I had to be aware of, and made any drop of my shield a scary affair with the constant thought of attack. I’d changed tactics a bit simply due to their presence, now choosing to hover above the treeline and create dirt golems, before sniping any opponents that got near them with telekinesis instead. Sure it greatly slowed my offensive speed by having to maintain a shield, golems, scans, telekinesis and juggling random new spells… but better to slow down, than have a knife in my ass.
This led to my current circumstances… After about 200 or so hours of nonstop grinding, I’d gotten to the 50th cycle, and was now floating above this fortress. Kind of annoying really, since before the assassins appeared, I spent less than half of that time getting to 40. By now, the boss mobs that used to be rare were starting to get fairly common, and while I could still kill them, it was finally reaching the stage of being genuinely dangerous.
But I’d still made it to what I was sure was the end… and while it would’ve been impossible to take on everything in it when I first started, I’d gotten strong enough that I knew it was possible now. I mean… theoretically? No way in hell was I just busting in guns blazing. That witch doctor was a new mob, as was the king and champion… I’d place a bet on the witch doctor being able to heal other goblins, and the king or champion either being the strongest of them all, or giving something like a morale buff to the rest. Which would be a pain in the ass to fight. Not to mention the clusterfuck it could turn into if they were boosted by alchemists. And unless they died first, it was practically guaranteed that’s exactly what would happen. Add in the fact I was low on time so I either couldn’t wait to methodically hunt every alchemist down, or lure mobs out of the castle, I wasn’t going to be able to deal with them all today…
…If I didn’t cheat my way to victory that is.
I pulled out several bundles of grenades I’d bought from the store in preparation for this, likewise, I also pulled out 5 750 pound M117 demolition bombs. They were large, expensive… and exactly what I needed! buying them had cost me the big book of dwarven insults… and surprisingly, my patches companion token (Apparently Patches was rather sought after due to… disgruntled individuals he’d screwed over), but I considered it worth it to avoid possibly having to be in a situation like with the golem way back.
Anyway, I separated the bombs from one another in their own claw-like mana construct- aiming for the 4 corners and center of the fortress below. I wouldn’t be able to keep up my new illusion skill for much longer, so with a smile on my face and a pull of some pins, the bombs, grenades and several bottles of alchemist acid and poison gas dropped 50 or so meters directly into the base.
The moment they were away, I stopped hiding and flew upward as fast as I could, while also layering my new interlocking barriers around myself. Looking down, I made eye contact with the goblin king, who looked absolutely furious, as several shamans were erecting an earthen barrier above his head to block the bombs.
A split second later and, even while being considerably higher up, I still felt the bombs go off as 2 out of 5 layers of shields shattered, and I was launched even further away. After slowing my momentum and making sure I wasn’t upside-down, I looked down at what remained of the fortress. I was able to make out the giant plume of smoke and dust in its previous location, as well as the pieces of stone and dirt which were raining down in a several-hundred meter area.
The walls, which had looked so imposing beforehand, were collapsed outward in the few areas that were lucky enough to still have them. Meanwhile, I just floated there, looking on in awe and contemplation while realizing that I’d have to figure out a way to not be so susceptible to such attacks myself.
If I could do this… Jack could too…
I looked at the flood of notifications telling me I’d killed some goblin or another, but I knew I wasn’t out of the danger zone yet. After getting close enough and re-enabling the illusion to hide, a wide scan of the wrecked base beneath me revealed a single living organism still active.
From the smoke emerged the goblin king. Burnt, bloodied, armor melted to slag and lips frothing blood… yet not down for the count.
[Observe] (40/100)
Goblin King, lvl 220 (Boosted, Boosted+, Enraged, Monarchs Aura, Bloodlusted, Crippled, Burning, Suffocating, Poisoned, Blinded, Deafened, Bleeding, Internal Bleeding)
HP- 12,108
Thoughts- Rage “KILL!”
Damn, that's a lot of status effects.
…and not something I want to test out. I hovered above him and brought out a giant boulder from my inventory, before dropping it from several dozen meters above him. I’ve seen enough movies to know this is usually the part where the underdog makes a triumphant comeback and smears me across the ground, so if this doesn’t kill him… I’m booking it out of here until he bleeds out.
Luckily for me, being blind and deaf made it so he couldn’t stop himself from being crushed… However, I froze when I noticed how his bloodied eye sockets swiveled toward my location, even through the illusion… just before he was killed. I couldn’t physically sweat… but that feeling of being watched by a being I now realize could have very easily killed me had it had more time… Scared me. I didn’t even notice that I'd stopped my habit of emulating biological functions until a few minutes later when I unfroze from where I was floating, and released the breath I’d been holding.
Even after calming down and receiving the notification of his death, I still waited an extra few minutes before deeming it safe, and lowering myself to the ground. Okay, new rule… no shortcuts either.
This was followed by the feeling of all the levels I’d delayed finally rushing in as per my instructions to Ridley-
[Level Up x 24]
HP, MP, and SP restored.
It felt like a rush of power and clarity hitting me all at once, like I was on top of the world!
…Then I blacked out.
An indeterminate amount of time later~
Everything… feels so… hazy…
Where… Where am I?
My body felt so… tingly? Similar to when someone moves an arm that's had the blood flow restored… except it was everywhere.
And that’s when it hit me… I can feel my body!? Even when kissing the ice after the train crash… It was little more painful than a slap. Right now it felt like the old sensations I had undergone were muted… distant.
And now I was slowly being reconnected…
I was actually getting a bit freaked out.
…Ridley? Are you there?
[Welcome back sleeping beauty]
Having Ridley around gave me no small sense of relief. I’d had the slight fear that everything I’d been through recently may have just been a hallucination.
I don’t have a heartbeat, yet I’m sure whatever my equivalent was calmed down immensely.
Thanks Ridley… What happened? Where am I?
[Currently, you’re undergoing an… upgrade of sorts to your body. You’re basically in a magic coma while it’s occurring]
Coma?! Upgrade?
What caused this?
[You did… inadvertently]
Explain please
[Well, you know how an Anodites body is made of Mana?]
Yes?
[Well, they always have a limit on the amount that constitutes their body. Any excess can be absorbed/released harmlessly back into their environment or spent on a spell… but you have a static pool of mana that continuously increases and regenerates. This leads to the problem of density, think of your body like a container to be filled… and then imagine it’s already full and you keep trying to pour more mana in.]
…Either the container gets bigger-
[Or the contents get compressed]
…
Do other Gamers have to deal with this?
[Not really. Others simply increase the size of their mana pool with little visible effects, yours is different solely because it’s also your body… think of it like puberty. Minus the embarrassing points of course. After this, any increase in mana shouldn’t require another change. Also, you completed the dungeon, and you’re not at any risk of being attacked]
…The dungeon? Right.
I didn’t get to see any of the rewards or stats from before, if you would Ridley?
[Behold]
Samus Cole
Level 46
Class - Healer, lvl 46/100 (31%)
Unique Class - Pure Mage lvl 46/100 (25%)
Production Class - Engineer lvl 1/100 (16%)
Race - Protean (Prismatic True Form)
Alignment- True Neutral
HP- 600 [120 per minute]
MP - 11240 [100.4 (301.2) per second]
SP - 600 [120 per 30 seconds]
STR - 10
DEX - 100
END - 60
INT - 1004
WIS - 1004
CHA - 10
LUK - 255
Stat Points - 293
Money - $383446
[Mana Manipulation] (24/100) -> (39/100)
[Telekinesis] (10/100) -> (12/100)
[Heal] (20/100) -> (73/100)
[Mana Whips] (22/100) -> (65/100)
[Golem Creation] (1/100) -> (42/100)
[Mana Siphon] (3/100) -> (41/100)
[Scan] (31/100) -> (91/100)
[Mana Constructs] (40/100) -> (62/100)
[Mental Enhancement] (12/100) -> (27/100)
[Physical Enhancement] (15/100) -> (39/100)
[Combustion] (6/100) -> (47/100)
[Levitation] (5/100) -> (89/100)
[Observe] (40/100) -> (41/100)
[Glamor] (56/100) -> (Max)
[Illusion] (13/100) New!
[Bubble Shield] (26/100) New!
[Flash] (12/100) New!
[Poison Resistance] (16/100) New!
[Mana Beam] (7/100) New!
[Mana Flechette] (22/100) New!
[Deflect] (31/100) New!
[Emit Force] (9/100) New!
[Mana Saw] (4/100) New!
[Imbue] (37/100) New!
[Remedy] (26/100) New!
[Minor Lightning Manipulation] (2/100) New!
[Regeneration] (45/100) New!
[Soothe] (12/100) New!
[Mana Burn] (3/100) New!
[Overload] (1/100) New!
[Light] (29/100) New!
[Mana Bomb] (5/100) New!
[Mana Tracker] (69/100) New!
[Interlocking Barrier] (17/100) New!
[Mana Lance] (23/100) New!
[Mana Scalpel] (8/100) New!
[Due to an action, your Race has been Updated]
[Anodite] -> [Protean]
-While rare, occasionally an Anodite will appear whose thirst for mana is nigh unquenchable. Seen as the greatest taboo, they will consume and consume until their very body cannot hold the mana at bay, forcing them to undergo a metamorphosis into a crystalline being of compressed mana, beautiful as it is destructive. No Anodite has ever survived the transformation, instead always leaving a massive portion of land void of mana, and a single crystalline statue at its center.
…I’m not gonna run out of mana right?
[You have absurd mana regeneration compared to the average Anodite. You’re fine]
[Due to an action, a Perk has been Upgraded]
[True Form] -> [Prismatic True Form]
-While in your Prismatic true form, MP is used as a substitute for HP. While in your Prismatic true form, double HP before converting it into MP. While in your Prismatic true form, MP recovery speed triples. While in your Prismatic true form, gain 50% Resistance to Magic based Attacks. While in your Prismatic true form, mana manipulation can be used with far greater ease.
Due to Intelligence reaching 600, a Perk was earned
[Specialist] Active
-Receive the ability to narrow down a single blueprint draw to a universe of your choice, once per month.
Due to Intelligence reaching 700, a Perk was earned
[Knowledge Sponge] Passive
-You crave knowledge, and can learn a previously unknown skill in half the usual time.
Due to Intelligence reaching 800, a Perk was earned
[Mad(Lad) Scientist] Passive
-Gain 1 additional random blueprint per week.
Due to Intelligence reaching 900, a Perk was earned
[Savant] Passive
-Choose one specialization, you will now have an almost instinctive understanding of how certain aspects of this specialization work.
Specialization? Could I use this for engineering or medicine?
[Yes and no. You can select a specialization that falls under either category, yet not the category as a whole. For instance, you could specialize in robotics for engineering, or possibly synthesis for medicine.]
What about specializing in magic?
[Same thing, you can’t select it all… but I will say that if you did choose a magic specialization? Paired with your race bonus and perks, you’d be an arcane juggernaut. Well… moreso.]
Tempting…
Due to Intelligence reaching 1000, a Perk was earned
[Machine] Passive
-Calculations are significantly easier, and you can do them much, MUCH faster. Can process things 10x faster.
Due to Wisdom reaching 600, a Perk was earned
[Critical Eye]
-The more you fight an opponent, the more you understand their weaknesses. Gain the Assess skill
Due to Wisdom reaching 700, a Perk was earned
[It’s Quiet… Too Quiet] Passive
-While others remain ignorant, you alone understand the danger that approaches. Gain the skill - Danger sense.
Due to Wisdom reaching 800, a Perk was earned
[Mind Palace] Passive
-Replaces Organized Mind, grants perfect recollection.
Due to Wisdom reaching 900, a Perk was earned
[Fool Me Not] Passive
-Gain the ability to discern people's intent with far greater clarity- especially if they hold ill intent toward you.
Due to Wisdom reaching 1000, a Perk was earned
[Preparation is Key] Active
-Wise is the one who looks to the future. Wiser still, is the one who prepares for it regardless. Gain the ability to store a single spell once per day, which will cast instantly upon use.
Due to Luck reaching 200, a Perk was earned
[Gambler] Active
-receive one free common gacha draw per week
[Loot Gained] (Page 1 of 13)
103x Lesser Mana Crystal (Common)
49x Intermediate Mana Crystal (Uncommon)
11x Greater Mana Crystal (Rare)
1x Superior Mana Crystal (Epic)
30x Gold Bar (Rare)
1x Goblin King's Scepter (Epic)
1x Bracelet of Servitude (Legendary) (Cursed)
27x Common Gacha
16x Uncommon Gacha
5x Rare Gacha
2x Epic Gacha
1x Legendary Gacha
$201,371
Holy… That’s a lot to go through.
[Believe it or not, but this is what it looked like after narrowing it down to only the more important parts. You didn’t even have to sort through the hundreds of random goblin weapons or armor.]
Would anyone even buy that crap if I put it up for sale?
[Not for any amount of money that’d make listing them worth the time… at least not in the gamer shop. Depending on the world you get later, they may be worth a lot to someone who only has stone or bronze weaponry.]
So basically worthless?
[At the moment? Very nearly.]
I guess they’ll sit in the inventory then… maybe I’ll figure out weapon fighting sometime in future. For now… how long will it be till I’m outta the microwave?
[Not long. About 10 more minutes miss pizza pocket]
You reckon I could convince someone that’s my full legal name?
[No.]
Bet.
~9 minutes later
The tingles of numbness had fully subsided by now, instead being replaced with an escalating feeling of rightness, fullness… power.
With a final push, I felt as the last piece of the puzzle that constituted ‘me’ slipped into place, and I was finally able to wake up from the foggy state I had been stuck in.
My eyes shot open, to be greeted with a pearl-white cocoon of crystal surrounding me. What the…
I reached out a hand to touch its surface, only to falter as my sight was drawn towards my arm… now a shining scarlet crystal, similar in texture to the rest of the crystal around me.
I grinned. Eat your heart out Jack. You don’t have the only living crystals around!
While still smiling, I punched toward the cocoon- shattering it as I was released into the air.
I felt giddy at my new state, at the power I could feel running through my new form. With a yell of excitement, I released a chaotic stream of mana into my surroundings- manifesting as powerful beams that refracted through my body to further devastated the already heavily damaged fortress.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
When it was done, there were hundreds of small burned lines in the surrounding dirt… yet I didn’t feel tired in the slightest. As if such a powerful attack had been done with as much ease as one would have to breathe.
My mind was clear, my body was strong… it’s time I returned to reality.
Instead of having to rely on glamor, my crystalline body was able to shift in such a way as to make me look identical to my prior self. Without stepping on a scale (Crystal was heavy alright!), nobody should be able to tell the difference.
I was not-so pleasantly surprised to realize I’d stayed a bit longer than intended, the original 24 hours I told everyone I’d be gone for, turned into a bit over 26. Well… not like it should matter… hopefully.
I emerged in one of the alleyways of Sanctuary, and after making sure nobody noticed me, checked my ECHO to see if I’d missed anything. Turns out I did.
Roland was gone, and apparently the rest had been given access to the command center to receive a message he’d left for us just in case he ever went missing… that and Scooter had tried to make Sanctuary fly, yet had failed (How would being in the air without shields help them?).
Whatever. Another ECHO hidden in his safe directed blame at the bandit leader known as the Firehawk… which in actuality was just Lilith’s cover. Seems the rest were at Scooters right now to pick up the refitted bandit truck we’d arrived in yesterday. I sent the others a message saying I’d be there in under a minute.
Shooting into the air, I headed for Scooters garage while also creating a pair of wings out of mana on my back so as to imitate the look of other sirens. Getting near, I saw as the rest were piling into the truck to, no doubt, attempt a rescue on Roland.
Krieg was the only one who spotted me in the air, and he gave me a wave with his buzzaxe. I smiled while creating a buzzaxe of my own out of mana and waving back to him. I then brought a finger to my lips motioning for him to be quiet as I lowered myself into the truck bed- startling everyone else.
“Did somebody order a siren?”
“””“...””””
“Oh oh, me!”
Salvador quickly jumped out of the turret before lifting his shirt and showing me a barely patched stab wound on his ass…
“...”
“How the hell did that happen?”
In typical Salvador fashion- “I won a bet!” he proudly proclaimed with a smile on his face.
“Ya reckon you could…?”
“...Fine”
Sal stole my moment, but I still sat down and healed his ass… literally.
From there we left to make our way to Frostburn Canyon, all the while having to deal with bandits, deadly wildlife, crappy road conditions and the occasional earthquake caused by Jack's mining operations. Oh! And it was dark… and it’d stay that way for a while cos of Pandora's annoying 90 hour day cycle.
…Great.
Perspective shift - Jack~
Aboard the massive Hyperion station in orbit, and in the most luxurious office in perhaps the whole galaxy, a cocky man with slicked back brown hair and a mask set upon his face, sat at his desk going through mining reports and progress updates from across the planet. “Alright Angel, what have you got on her?”
“Not much I’m afraid. We couldn’t find any evidence of the town she supposedly grew up in, likewise we couldn’t get any records of her existence before she boarded the train.”
“Nothing? Angel sweetie, she couldn’t have just appeared out of thin air. There's always a trail… still, just in case, treat her the same as that creepy assassin in black. Besides that, what info do we have?”
“Her ability appears to be minor matter manipulation… which seems to have diversified mainly into healing, something akin to telekinesis, and hardlight generation. However, all 3 show inconsistencies or limitations, her healing for instance, appears to only be good for minor flesh wounds-”
A blurry clip appeared on a screen nearby of this new siren healing several of her bandit buddies cuts and scratches.
“-Unless used on herself”
Another clip played a sped up video of her leg regenerating.
Jack seriously watched the video while asking- “So she can’t heal anything we’d care about?”
“Not so far as we’ve seen. Though she may get stronger if supplied with eridium. Moving on to her telekinesis, she for whatever reason can’t seem to use it through other forms of matter… by that, I mean that if someone is covered in heavy armor, she’d have to get through that before she could harm them-”
Yet another clip played of her fight with Captain Flynt, and focused particularly on the slight dent she’d made on his helmet at the beginning, followed by several other clips of bandits' shields being cracked very obviously near the throat.
Jack sneered- “...She’s lying… If she could manipulate matter, armor wouldn’t mean a damn thing!”
“All evidence points to such, yes.”
The final clip played several different instances of her creating weapons, shields and platforms out of a glowing red, transparent material.
“She wouldn’t be the first siren to have multiple abilities, though what they are exactly, is still unknown.”
Jack leaned back and just thought it over for a bit- “Is she even a siren? I could see another corporation funding an android that might be able to do some or all of what I’ve seen… Atlas figured out decent hardlight weaponry decades ago, nanomachines distributing stimpacks could account for the healing and regeneration… and the telekinesis might be a piece of Eridian tech.”
“Possibly, there's still the chance she may just have the ability to manipulate technology and is using nanotech for everything we’ve seen. That or, if she really is a matter manipulator… it would be incredibly restricted.”
“Not much of a threat then… Keep me updated on her activities anyway… Now, tell me about the other siren.”
Back with Samus and crew~
I wiped the blood and bits of brain off of my shotgun. Damn psycho twits always wanting to get close. We’d arrived at the entrance to Frostburn Canyon, and were immediately thrust between the war of the Bloodshots and the Children of the Firehawk. Not that we took sides at all… but it did make it easier to kill them off.
In my infinite wisdom, I decided to stick to using guns so that I could get some marksmanship levels… something that worked but was more… bloody than movies had implied. Especially when I was using a torgue shotgun that I’d sto- *Cough* -Liberated from some enemies earlier.
With my now relatively large pool of mana and mana regen, I could safely keep up a shield capable of absorbing a decent amount of gunfire per second, and ended up becoming the de-facto tank of the group- with several of the others (Mainly Gaige) using me as a wall between them and the bandits.
Not that I minded, I just added the stipulation that since I was trying to learn to shoot, they better not steal my targets- something they were more than happy to agree to. So we kept moving through the camp, with my main source of marksmanship experience coming from the several psychos who saw me leading the group and thought it was a great idea to try and rush me.
There was the occasional break in my shield, or bandit with a rocket which I’d dodge (Thank you Danger sense!). But aside from that, it was fairly smooth sailing, we even let a goliath rampage and rank up in strength before leading it further into the bandit camp and setting it loose.
It actually upgraded similarly to the game, with the only difference so far being the amount of kills needed for it to ‘upgrade’, and no glowy lightshow when it did... well at least until-
[Observe] (41/100)
Badass GOD-liath, lvl 300 (Enraged, Killing empowerment)
HP- 155,000
Thoughts- Enraged, In Pain “I’M SO GODDAMN ANGRY!!!”
It can get higher than GOD-liath!?
Haha nope. I used telekinesis to yank its flailing spinal column out and killed it on the spot. I’m all for exploiting these murder hungry monsters, but I’m not risking having one of these things turn into an invincible. Not right now at least, and thankfully we didn’t need it anymore, since we had arrived at the boobytrapped entrance to Lilith’s lair.
Getting through the flame traps wasn’t particularly hard, especially not with me providing shields to everyone else- allowing them to focus on avoiding the drops into spiked pits or fighting the occasional badass psycho.
When we finally got to a non-trapped room after the prior gauntlet, we all noticed a flash of purple and shouts coming from around the corner.
After stocking up from the rather conveniently placed Marcus munitions vendor, we walked towards a base suspended from the ceiling of the nearby under hanging cliff. We were then treated to the sight of 4 particularly muscular bandits being literally vaporized as Lilith phaseshifted into the center of the platform with glowing orange tattoos, wings and eyes-
[Observe]
Lilith, lvl 370 (Withdrawal Symptoms)
Siren, Phoenix, Firehawk, Phasewalker
Thoughts- Curious, Agony. “Okay Lilith, time to look cool for the newbies”
“Sup?”
-Before collapsing to the ground in exhaustion as the light show ended.
“How ya doing’. The bandits call me the Firehawk, but the names Lilith. I’m with the Raiders, like you. I keep the bandits in line so Roland can focus on taking down Jack. Anyway, long story, lots of internal bleeding.”
She started asking for the eridium in a nearby strongbox- which I just ignored in favor of healing her up myself, much to her annoyance and insistence otherwise. Though once it started kicking in I noticed her calm down a lot more.
I also took the chance to scan her and see how the eridium had affected her system. Similar to Maya, I noticed how (for lack of a better term) Tasty she seemed… No! Focus! The eridium seems to have… supercharged her? I guess that fits. But it also seems to have not been fully absorbed by her body. Sure some of it has been permanently consumed and increased her base power… but the majority of it hasn’t- simply increasing her power pool temporarily, making it so she has to keep absorbing it or else risk causing her body to be starved of energy.
From what I can tell… she should be able to wean herself off of it, but she’s getting awfully close to the point of no return…
At the same time as I was checking her system, I was also spamming scans into the surroundings- instantly noticing the mass of bandits swarming to our location. I made sure to start constructing a few surprises for them.
Once Lilith's healing was done she went and got the eridium herself… addict. I pulled Maya aside while Lilith was absorbing it so I could give her the abbreviated version of why following in Lilith’s footsteps was absolutely moronic-
“It’s basically alien meth, except it’ll kill you even faster. Do yourself a favor and don’t become an addict like her.”
I kinda felt like I was Momming her a bit… but I actually enjoy Maya’s company. And I’m not letting her touch this crap till I can be sure of healing her from its side effects.
Maya (thankfully) took my advice seriously and thanked me for the info. By this time Lilith was done getting her fix and started talking with the rest about rescuing Roland… which was interrupted by a shout from nearby-
“They’re in here! GET EM!”
The Bloodshots had discovered the nearby chutes leading directly into the command center, and I could sense multiple of them diving in, while others scaled down the nearby cliff face.
Everyone looked toward the chutes- expecting a bandit to drop through… only for screams to echo down, shortly followed by the sliced and diced remains of the idiots dumb enough to have taken the chute down.
The primary trap I’d set up had been in the chutes- simply filling them with mana saws at multiple points along the way. I could feel that some of them had broken while (likely) trying to cut through a bandit's shield… yet there were enough so that when one broke, many more would be up next, and rarely did any bandit survive more than one anyway.
The ones scaling the cliff face didn’t fare much better, as a moment after the chute bandit smoothie was presented, more screams were heard as bandits fell from the cliff and past the suspended base. They didn’t even use ropes or harnesses when scaling the cliff, which made a touch of telekinesis all that was needed to make them fall.
Not a single bandit actually made it close enough to launch an attack, and everyone just ended up listening to their screams for about a minute straight… and also seeing more falling bandits and bandit giblets.
I could sense that all the psychos had been disposed of by now, with only a few of the smarter bandits hesitating near the cliff and chute entrance. I used a combination of flash to blind all of them before using telekinesis to throw them off of the edge.
After hearing them scream while falling past us, the bandit attack was officially repelled. Lilith was the most confused by this “What? What the hell just happened?”
“Siren shenanigans” I replied. “But now that that’s over with, where's Roland at again?”
“Huh, uh… right.” She just looked back and forth between me and the dead bandits “He’s in the Bloodshot stronghold a little ways away. I’d join you but I have to head back to Sanctuary to keep everyone in line. Do me a solid and get him out of there will you? They’re pretty tough customers… but if you can do spooky shit like this, then I think you’ll be fine.”
She marked it on our ECHO’s before teleporting us over a gorge and seeing us off. I got plenty of questions from the rest about the horror show I’d just initiated, but once I told them about how I just turned the entrance into a blender, and the cliff face into a slippery mess, they (Salvador and Krieg) had a good laugh at the bandits expense.
An hour later and we were nearing the entrance to the dam the Bloodshots had turned into a base. Unlike the game where the player lacked a bandit technical to be allowed entrance, we were currently driving in a (albeit much cleaner) bandit truck, causing the idiot manning the gate to allow us entry.
In game, the entrance was guarded by 2 massive mounted turrets. Now, it was more like 12, add in that 2 of them shot rockets instead of bullets… and it was now genuinely intimidating.
…At least until the gunners were dragged out of their seats before they could actually do anything.
…And especially not so when I dropped everyone from our truck into a turret of their own. Suffice to say the tables had officially been turned.
After making quick work of the surrounding bandits, the bridge opened enough to let Bad Maw drop in to face us himself… and he didn’t get to fire a single bullet before he was minced by our combined fire regardless of his massive shield and merry midgets.
It was harder to fish the keys for the bridge out of his remains than the actual ‘boss’ fight.
Now, navigating through the bandit stronghold while trying to find their prison block was turning into the hardest part of this whole mess. Sure there were bandits everywhere… but we (By which I mean me) had come up with the amazing idea of using a combination of mana platforms and telekinesis to simply hover the turrets from the entrance throughout the base- allowing for me to just focus on keeping them airborne and stable long enough to get in the rooms, while they focused on shredding any opposition.
It was rather funny when we came across any smaller doors and all the turrets had to line up to get through… it reminded me of a line of ducklings a bit… minus the metal and gunpowdery smell.
The bandits even had more turrets further in, which had more ammo and were in better condition… so we didn’t even have to slow down due to wear and tear or worry about our own dwindling ammo. So kind of the Bloodshots to donate them to us.
We’d already passed the cell block, with Roland nowhere in sight… which made sense I guess. Canonically the player has to head to the dust, which takes hours if not a day or more to acquire a bandit truck from Ellie… not to mention driving back. We’d skipped that part and were way ahead of schedule.
After Salvador ‘interviewed’ some bandits, we had a new path- a heavily fortified location deep in the heart of the dam. Apparently he was with their leader at the moment, probably gloating about his new captive… or torture. Could be either or both honestly.
Along the way we faced more turrets, badass enemies and even a few more nomad bandits similar to Bad Maw. Unluckily for them, this may have actually proved challenging… if their own turrets didn’t just keep falling into our hands and making the way forward that much easier.
We slaughtered our way right up to a heavy vault (not that kind) door, which would have been a pain in the ass to get through if the idiot inside didn’t open it up and walk out while using Roland as a meat shield while pointing a gun at his head- “DROP THE WEAPONS SKAGLICKS! OR YOUR FRIEND HERE GETS IT!”
The weaselly looking man holding Roland wore a spiked half mask obscuring the top of his head, with the mark of the bloodshots at its center. His teeth were filed to points and the mask was painted a (probably literally) blood red color to match his beard. He was… Flanksteak? The fuck? What’s with all these shitty names?
To his left stood a tall and lanky man holding a heavily modified Vladof E-tech sniper rifle, with most of his body except his hands with sharpened nails being hidden beneath a brown armored cloak and mask with glowing orange eyes. Annoyingly, his name was Righty.
To his right was a bandit psycho of monstrous proportions (Likely a head and a half over Flynt) who was covered in slabs of metal bolted into his bare flesh, and wielded a giant pipe with what looked like mortars welded to the end. Appropriately, his name was Fighty.
[Observe] (44/100)
Flanksteak, Bandit Leader of the Bloodshots, lvl 47
HP- 7350
Thoughts- Angry, Wary, Desperate “How the FUCK did they get past all my boys?! And how the hell did they get turrets in here?!”
Righty, lvl 152
HP- 22,000
Thoughts- Wary “Thee reddd oneee loookkkkssss tassssttyyyy”
Fighty, lvl 179
HP- 84,000
Thoughts- Excited “EAT.MURDER.FIGHT.KILL.FOOD!”
The other Vault Hunters obviously weren’t gonna be getting out of the turrets. We may be here to save Roland, but he’s not worth dying for. Though he wouldn’t be a captive for long.
Perks Activated
[Preparation is Key]
[Machine]
[Advanced Mind Partition]
The world didn’t exactly slow down… I just felt like any thought I had was just instantly completed. The spell I’d stored in [Preparation is Key] was a 6-layer thick interlocking barrier utilizing most of my mana… this shield sprung up around Roland a second after I’d used telekinesis to yank Flanksteak and his gun away, and best of all, since it was a stored spell, I only had to pay the mana cost of its upkeep, not what was needed for its creation!
I was confident it could tank several rockets… which is why I was so surprised when a green beam pierced through 3 layers, and nearly pierced a fourth. How the hell!? I could see the rapidly fading green trail leading to Righty’s rifle. Holy shit…
Now in a real hurry, I made Rolands hamster ball head for the ceiling while taking evasive maneuvers. Seems E-tech was OP as fuck, because I couldn’t afford to leave him idle anymore, not with a threat like that around. But I also couldn’t wait for everyone else to catch up and shoot him… Or even worse, switch targets to one of us. I can’t just leave an insta-kill weapon hovering over our heads like a goddamn guillotine.
The Vault Hunters and Fighty were just beginning to move, and I was focused on trying to use telekinesis to kill the sniper. After seeing one shot, in my mind, Righty became overwhelmingly more dangerous than his muscular friend Fighty. He had to die. Now.
He was tall, lanky, and covered in armor… so I wasn’t going to risk my chance to kill him by skimping out, which is why I used a hefty dose of telekinesis to apply force to his body- Immediately pushing his head into his torso, before they were forced into his legs, before finally pancaking him into the cement with a clear round indentation about a foot in diameter where he had been standing. A second later and what remained of his arms and legs shot out to his (former) sides.
[Due to an action, a Skill has been generated]
[Hydraulic Press] - Active (1/100)
It may have been overkill with 5000 MP… but I’m not gambling with my life. Flanksteak was busy getting back up from where he’d been flung, Fighty was on his way to crush/eat us, and Roland was vomiting inside his hamster ball that was erratically flying near the ceiling… woops, I should probably stop that.
I stabilized Roland on a rectangular platform before turning to face Fighty… and promptly gave up any idea of stopping him- at least Flynt had normal-ish human proportions aside from his size, this guy would probably still have as much muscle as Brick if you lowered his height to match Gaige. And I’d bet on him being able to bulldoze through anything I made to try and stop him.
Though he wasn’t a concern for long as everyone else who was in a turret opened up on him- pelting him with thousands of rounds and quite a few rockets. Credit where it’s due, he actually lasted more than a few seconds worth of the barrage, and were it not for the rockets, I’m sure he would’ve been a far bigger pain in the ass.
When he did go down, we were all able to see Flanksteak frantically fiddling with his ECHO device while crawling towards a nearby door. A moment of silence though, caused him to turn around and see all of us looking down at him with amusement. He froze, also noticing the giant smoking corpse of Fighty, and the several turrets which were now aimed at him.
“Hey l-listen, don’t shoot me alright! What do you want? Money? Eridium? Men? Women? Whatever it is, I’ll get it for you! But if I’m dead, you’ll never get past their security!”
Before anyone could shoot the little rat, Roland appeared Batman-style behind him, but where the dark knight might have kicked his ass before shipping him off to jail, Roland instead leaned down to press Flanksteaks own gun to the back of his head, before pulling the trigger and painting the ground between us and him red. He then looked back up at us-
“So… you’re the Vault Hunters I heard so much about? Helluva a job fighting through those Bloodshots. I appreciate the rescue-”
[Observe]
Roland, lvl 140
Commando, Leader of the Resistance, Gentlemen
Thoughts- Nauseous, Curious “Damn I feel sick.”
“-I have no idea how you got the turrets in here… but I noticed this idiot-
He kicked Flanksteaks corpse.
“-Contacting his men through his ECHO. So whatever plan you have for getting out of here, we’ll have to do it fast. Because I’m not sure they’ll let you move the turrets so easily this time.”
Everyone just grinned at him as I floated the turrets in the air.
“...”
“Well damn. Maybe they will. Lead the way.”
Before making our way out, we spent a solid hour just looting everything valuable from Flanksteaks stash. He had several dozen bricks of eridium, a few hundred thousand dollars, enough guns to arm half of Sanctuary, and unsurprisingly… The idiot was wrong about them being inaccessible! The few things that were in a locked vault or chest, were easily circumvented by the use of Zer0’s sword, or my new mana scalpel skill.
I chose to take my split in the form of most of the eridium, and the E-tech rifle. Nobody had any issue since I’d killed the idiot using the rifle, and they wanted the money more than the glowing alien rocks. Also, you know… I’d made this raid far easier than it had any right to be. I dare one of them to deny me my spoils.
When nobody was looking, I also made sure to stuff a few juicy finds into my inventory- like that mortar stick Fighty had been using, and also the surprisingly intact goggles of Righty. Throughout our battles in this place, I’d also been getting pretty crappy loot from killing the regular bandits… or facilitating it I guess? Anyway, I’d gotten a steady stream of money and weapons showing up after every instance of battle.
Not a lot mind you, but assume every bandit on average had about $300, and 1 in 6 would loot me a weapon… and we’d killed a thousand or more. It was adding up nicely. Now add in the loot from killing Flanksteak and his 2 goons…
[Loot]
1x Flanksteaks Mask (Uncommon)(Trophy)
32x Eridium (Rare)
1x The Negotiator (Rare)(Unique)
5x Gacha Token (Common)
2x Gacha Token (Uncommon)
$127,000
Another unique gun?
[The Negotiator] Jakobs Pistol
50% chance to not consume ammo upon use. 50% chance to double ammo consumption upon use.
“Did I fire six shots or only five? Seriously, how many was it?”
It was a big chunky magnum with a black handle and blood-red metallic sheen… kinda edgy, and it’d probably break a normal person's arm… I loved it! Feeling happy about my gains, I just waited for the rest to finish their respective loot spree.
The trip out was actually rather uneventful. The few bandits that did face us were only psychos, as the rest were smart enough to know it was basically suicide to get in our way… that and their boss was dead and they were busy fighting each other for the position of top dog.
Roland was on edge the entire way, and was quite surprised to see the amount of carnage we’d wrought on our way toward him. We obviously didn’t clean up after our murder spree… and the place was beginning to smell to high heaven.
Aside from myself, Zer0 and Roland, the rest were comfortable enough to just excitedly chat about the loot they’d received. I couldn’t blame them since, with me around, they were warned in advance of any enemy presence… and well, there just wasn’t any after a certain point.
On the way out, we ended up taking another bandit car since everyone (Roland) wanted to keep the 2 rocket turrets- leading to them being secured to both trucks' flatbeds before we drove off. Sadly I couldn’t stuff the rest into my inventory since I had to stay with the group to load up.
~A short drive while reading Gray’s anatomy later~
When we entered Sanctuary again, we were greeted far more warmly than last time. With Roland dismounting and telling us to meet him in the command center as soon as possible… which turned out to be not so fast, not when we had to deal with one of the Crimson Raiders officers charged with negotiating a price for the rocket turrets.
They were trying to lower the price by guilting us with the knowledge on how it could be used in Sanctuary’s defense… a technique that was sadly working on Maya. Everyone else, even Krieg, could smell the bullshit every time the idiot opened his mouth. It’s not like we wanted a lot, hell, we were willing to sell it for just over half of its actual worth! This asshat just wouldn’t do even that!
I wasn’t personally very invested in the money selling it would bring… but like hell I’d allow someone to screw us over! Luckily, all it took for a good price to be offered was threatening to sell it to Marcus instead… and considering we had around 200 extra guns we’d be selling to him anyway, it was a threat with some actual weight.
After paying up and leaving us with some not so subtle threats, we unloaded the turrets for the weasel before deciding to stop off at Marcus’ shop (I swear I could see dollar signs in the man's eyes when he saw us carting everything in). I ended up with a third of the money from selling the guns due to being the reason we were even able to haul this many away from the Dam.
And finally… we went to the command center to meet Roland and Lilith… and Tannis. Gotta see if I can hire the crazy scientist lady later. Anywho… Roland reveals that Jack isn’t trying to open the vault for any old reason, but instead to control the eridian warrior that’s contained within it instead, and that we have to get to it first.
He also tries to send us off to find the informant, which I know is Mordecai… but I’ve had enough of this minion nonsense.
“Yeahhh… I’m… not doing that. I’ve got my own plans, best of luck with the informant though.” Roland and Lilith look surprised that (presumably) I’m not jumping to go do the task they’ve assigned.
I ignore them. Instead I go around to the other Vault Hunters and assure them that it won’t be the last time we work together, just that I have my own ways to get things done. I also make sure to heal them to tip-top condition, and tell them that they can contact me if and when they need assistance. I also have to sheepishly tell Gaige that the lessons I asked for will have to be delayed again. Then, after a hug to Maya and Krieg (Maya was right, those muscles are nice…), I levitated my way out of the command center.
I’m now floating over some houses in Sanctuary, going over my options. I know that if I wait somewhere between a week and a month, Sanctuary should be airborne and allow me entry to the Caustic Caverns… or, and hear me out… I can just make my own way down there right now.
Especially since I received a certain upgrade not too long ago…
[Mana Constructs] (MAX) -> [Mana Creation] (1/100)
I grinned. With this, I was now capable of building/copying more complex items out of mana! Meaning I can make a giant jackhammer… or drill… perhaps something that would be handy if I’d, oh I don’t know… done a massive scan of Sanctuary and pinpointed a pathway to follow deeper into the city, with there only being a single reinforced wall between me and the giant hollowed out area beneath.
So anyway, my scan gave me 3 hits. 2 of which were non-viable- the first being near Marcus’ vault, and the other being near what I assumed was the city's generators. So that left me with one path…
There's just one problem... It’s not due to being unable to get into the secret areas beneath the bar… Illusions go brrr. It was a problem since the area I’d have to drill through was the hull of a goddamn mining ship… battleships probably had worse armor than this thing would!
Walking into moxxi’s bar and passing through a hidden trapdoor (She had a neat shotgun waiting to shoot anyone who opened it without knowing about the secret disarm button beneath the bar… emphasis on ‘had’), I spent the next 10 minutes walking through a winding passageway of maintenance tunnels and storage rooms, gradually getting farther and deeper into the vessel.
[That was mean]
What?
[You didn’t have to take her gun]
It’s Moxxi though? The same lady who made a giant blood sport arena? I’d shoot her if I knew nobody would care… or blame it on me. Hell… the only person I like aside from the others from the train, is Brick and Tina.
[Well that’s… fair. But you know Brick is also a mass murderer right?]
Yeah… but at least he’d look me in the eye if he wanted to kill me. She just seems like the conniving and scheming sort who’d use everyone around her as disposable pawns. I hate that sort.
[Sounds like you just don’t like not being in control]
That too! But you gotta admit, if you have the choice of having Brick or Moxxi as a friend, which one is more likely to stab you in the back or dive into hell to help you?
[Hmm… I see your point. In that case you just like genuine people, which is understandable]
Mhm. I’ll send Brick a gift basket with Jack's girlfriend's head later. Oh! We’ve arrived.
I’d reached the very bottom of Sanctuary, with over 10 meters of… whatever this thing's hull was made of, and the hole into the caverns below. Welp, diggy diggy hole.
Over the course of a few minutes, I began testing out the toughness of the hull using various methods- Saws, drills, jackhammers… but turns out this was going to be easier than I thought. Eventually I ended up scrapping the idea of using a drill construct in favor of (surprisingly) my mana lance.
The mana lance was just a far larger (and far briefer) version of the mana scalpel- which in itself was basically something akin to a plasma scalpel… which was absurdly effective against this material.
Kinda annoying how the hype I felt at having made a new skill went to waste since I didn’t end up needing it. But whatever, it works.
So… I just started spamming mana lances at the wall. They generated a lot of light and heat… but not nearly as much noise as a drill the size of a car would’ve. They took a buttload of mana though, so it took over half an hour before I’d gotten all the way through… and another hour before the gap was wide enough for me to fit through.
I could feel how the air from the other side slightly burned my crystalline skin- not enough to be considered a status effect… but no doubt enough to leave burns on anyone who stood near it for a bit, since the hole caused all of it to flow through here at a gale pace.
~Meanwhile at a Crimson Lance Engineering post~
What the fuck? There's… a hole in the hull?
When did this happen?! Shit shit shit! Reiss’ll tear me a new one if he finds out I let it degrade this much!
The little tech expert suppressed the system alarms and diverted them to make it look like another bandit attack on the walls, before frantically trying to make the breach look like something that had been present for years… and not his own fault.
Hole in the hull? What hole? Oh that one? It’s been there since Dahl left… yeah… that could work...
~Back with Samus~
I dived through the hole, passing by the central behemoth of a mining drill. It was big in the game… but now it was easily larger than a stadium. Flying my way down, I could already see the acidic lakes and mostly intact Dahl equipment. Perfect!
I stopped near where the player initially enters- using multiple scans (Damn that’s a lot of Varkids…) to check the nearby side rooms, and, after finding a few which were locked and cleared of life, made my way to them after breaking through the rusted doors.
It was dark, musty and had the occasional bloodstain… but I now had somewhere Jack couldn’t touch me! Now… I just had to get something to heal/put Angel on ice, and get/create a way to reach her… and also get her back here.
Well… I’m feeling lucky!
END - 60 -> 100
LUK - 255 -> 500
Stat Points - 293 -> 8
Due to Endurance reaching 100, a Perk was earned
[Superhuman] Passive
-Doubles SP
Due to Luck reaching 300, a Perk was earned
[Experienced Gambler] Passive
-receive one free uncommon gacha draw per week.
Due to Luck reaching 400, a Perk was earned
[Friend Of Fate] Passive
-Things just have a habit of going your way. Fate itself may occasionally lend a hand.
Due to Luck reaching 500, a Perk was earned
[Rigged] Passive
-Receive the ability to guarantee that one token of Rare quality or under will roll 1 grade higher per month.
Gacha don’t fail me now!
[Invulnerability Artifact] (Epic)
[The Duke's Archives Challenge Token] (Epic)
I’M COMING FOR YOU SEATH!
[Wall-A Robot] (Rare)
[World War Z Infected blood vial] (Rare) (Biohazard)
*Nervous Laughter*
[Aerospatiale SA-2 Samson] (Rare)
[Necron Warscythe] (Epic)
[Predator Folding Shield] (Rare)
[Spray on Shoes] (Rare)
[Enchanted Golden Apple] (Epic)
[Telekinesis Plasmid] (Rare)
[Stormlord Super-Heavy Battle Tank] (Epic)
[Senzu Bean] (Epic)
[Rod of Harmony] (Mythic)
YESSSSSSS!!!!
[$250,000] (Rare)
[Gauss Sabot Gun] (Rare)
[Caduceus Staff] (Rare)
HahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHA YESSSS! It’d cost me my single Legendary gacha, and all of my rare and epics… But it was worth it!
I made the Rod appear in my hand, before teleporting from one side of the room to another, increasing the speed until I looked like I was occupying multiple areas at the same time. Could I take it further?
I tried using scan and focusing on a spot a few rooms over… it teleports to places I’m aware of right? I wonder…
With a flash of pink particles, I appeared in the room I’d scanned.
…
IT WORKS!
What’s the range? With line of sight could I teleport to another planet? Could I do the same using Scan?
I used a ton of mana to see just how far scan (and by extension the Rod of Harmony) could reach. A second and it reached the ceiling of the caverns, another and it hit the bottom of Sanctuary, and finally it stopped just beneath the shield covering the city.
With a thought, I appeared in one of the abandoned alleyways of Sanctuary.
…Well holy shit. Another minute and scan later and I was back in the caverns. I still didn’t know if I could teleport massive distances based on sight… but this was easily good enough to get me into Angel’s control core.
Shame about only getting the Rod of Harmony now though… I could’ve just teleported down here if I had it earlier! But better late than never. And with the Senzu Bean, Caduceus Staff, Enchanted Golden Apple and Invulnerability Artifact, I have a chance of actually being able to heal her.
…
Oi Ridley, what happens if I use the Telekinesis Plasmid?
[You’d just gain some extra levels]
…Could be a good idea since it levels so damn slow. Why is that?
[Every 10 levels makes Telekinesis another order of magnitude stronger. Level 95 would make you nearly as strong as Tatsumaki.]
Hmm… I’ll either wait to use it or trade it to someone else then. Can you bring up the shop and show me a list of items capable of either possibly healing Angel or putting her on ice? I’ll still need it just in case.
[Coming up-]
[Shiny Stone] $1,500,000
[Mana Crystal] $100,000
[Active Healing Potion] $3,000,000
[Omega Healing Potion] $1,000,000
[Purified Jam] $50,000,000
[Yharic Delight] $7,000,000,000
[Miracle Berry] $10,000,000
[Lum Berry] $9,000,000
[Sacred Ash] $12,000,000
[Senzu Bean] $8,000,000
[Full Restore] $25,000,000
[1 x SCP 500] $200,000,000,000
[Cup of SCP 006] $2,000,000
[Phoenix Tears] $37,000,000
[Scroll of True Resurrection] $1,000,000,000,000
[1 Liter Citadel Guardian Blood] $25,000,000
[Fountain of Youth] $142,000,000
[Divine Blessing] $500,000
[Panacea] $385,000,000,000
[Fix-It Felix Jr’s Magic Hammer] $2,000,000,000,000
[1-Up Mushroom] $700,000,000
[Stasis Pod] $20,000,000
[Carbonite Pod] $11,000,000
Wow… Never thought I’d feel poor as a millionaire…
Any tips on which of these would absolutely work?
[Anything over $10 million is basically guaranteed to work, anything under is a toss up… or only a temporary solution. I’d recommend the Carbonite Pod though, since once something is frozen in it, it then counts as an item which you can put in your inventory.]
The solution is good… but I’m too damn poor! Hmmm… thinking a bit, I brought up 2 items descriptions from my inventory-
[Bracelet Of Servitude] Cursed Magic Item
Once equipped, the bracelet can be used to force loyalty in any number of beings with under 50 Wisdom. However it will consume 50hp per being enslaved- and only return that HP upon the slaves death.
[Goblin King's Scepter]
Goblins will be neutral towards you at minimum. Grants the skill Green King.
[Green King] Passive
-Gain 1% increase in stats per goblin ally within 10km2. Gain 2% increase in stats per goblin that dies within 10km2 (Lasts 30 mins).
Ridley… How much would these go for in the shop?
[The Bracelet should be around $40 Million, and the scepter should be anywhere from $5-20 Million.]
Well… perhaps I’m not as poor as I thought. I put them both on the market. While waiting for them to sell, I started cleaning the surrounding rooms to get ready for a certain guest.
Everything's coming together…