CHAPTER VIII: TELEPORTATION BONUS
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{01:57 LOCAL TIME 1ST JANUARY 1ME}
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LONG BEACH
PRIME
“As long as it's not a teleportation bonus I should be good.” Colonel laughed at Soto’s face as he scowled at the memory of getting teleported here.
“Yeah, that would really suck, like straight ass.” Soto agreed and Colonel watched him as his eyes unfocused to look at a few pop-ups. It was a little weird looking, but it also made sense who would just want someone staring out into space always having to wave your hand in front of people’s eyes to see if they were watching you, or their HUD?
“Damn, I guess I am on my own,” Colonel said softly with a slight frustration with his teammates.
Looking at his mini-map only confirmed that their time was short. About twenty or so more level nine feral ghouls were slowly, but inevitably heading to them.
Speaking of disappointing teammates, it was almost time to wake Sugar and Kuma up, loot the Loot Point, and move to a better location. But Colonel wanted to make sure he knew all he could about his new capabilities before moving forward. “It was prudent to always be prudent.” That is what his father used to say.
‘I’ll wake her up when it's time to go.’ He thought. ‘We can take on ghouls ourselves.’ He shrugged, ‘I’m pretty sure moving on to the next area might be tougher since everything seemed to be leveling up.’ They had decided to set up the stronghold in a better defendable position during their leadership AAR.
‘We got a few minutes at the speed they are moving towards us, so I’ll just go ahead, and finish up. I feel like I should go with my gut, this game seemed like it knew what we want... it almost feels like it was really reading you as a person.’ Clyde couldn’t think of another way to say what he was thinking.
Yeah, Clyde felt that it was best to get his shit together first. He felt the drive to get stronger building inside of him. It pulled him slightly in a direction. Instinctually he wanted to go in that direction. Like a leatherback turtle always knowing where to go lay her eggs, or how birds knew to fly south for the winter (at least in the northern hemisphere), or how big cats knew to go to for the neck of any animal. The role his instincts pushed him to was one that he preferred to play. The role of the father; is to provide a physically safe home for his family, the role of the best friend; is to provide a mentally safe space for your friends, the role of the solider; is to provide a safe country for your countrymates, and the role of the defender; is to provide a safe place for the bullied. All of that added up in his mind to push him towards defense.
He also thought he should go with something that helped out the team role he was currently playing. He was a team’s tank, at least until someone else took up the role.
But not a sword and shield tank. Nah, Colonel wanted to be a tank, tank, like the Patton M2A1 Main Battle hover tank, with its mini gun blazing at three thousand rounds per minute, to the great white shark of all weapons; a browning fifty cal machine gun that still took names unapologetically, and we can’t forget the one twenty millimeter smooth bore High Explosive Anti Tank main gun sending souls to rest on every battlefield across the globe, and even one on the moon and mars.
Yeah, Colonel was all in on being THAT kind of tank. The tank that ended conventional warfare as we know it. Its armor wasn’t the best, but its antigravity hovering ability made its mobility devastating, and mobility of the battlefield was king in armored vehicles, and the Patton tank was no exception.
He thought he had the potential to be that kind of tank and he wanted to, between the damage output of Soto, Sugar, and Kuma, he felt confident that he should be able to absorb damage enough for them to kill everything. So he thought over his choice a couple of times, and every time he even thought about something else it just didn’t feel right, defense just felt... right.
Decision made, he spoke out loud because thinking the answer didn’t work, he was happy about that, and would have to investigate that aspect of the game later. “Defensive bonus.” He loved protecting his friends and family, so this role fit him well, and now he just had to commit to it, committing he would for the GREAT GAME was a ton of fun, and he could admit that now.
The next prompt made him smile, and then frown. He liked that he didn’t have to look through every option and select a specific bonus. Choosing the type was something he didn’t mind doing.
Looking at the prompt again, it was worth it because he would have probably not taken this bonus if he had the choice. Actually, he knew without a shadow of a doubt, he wouldn’t have taken it, especially after reading the description a few times. But this game kept throwing curveballs at him, shit this one was a circle curve because it circle right back to the beginning. Clyde was more of a fastball hitter, but adapting and overcoming was what a real soldier was always capable of.
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< TITLE UPDATED >
{TITLE NAME: Retired War Veteran+
TITLE TIERS: Diamond(UPGRADABLE)
DESCRIPTION: When asked what is more important Memorial Day or Veterans Day most would say Memorial Day, and they would be right, for those who serve being veterans isn’t something they want to be celebrated just appreciated.
Thank you for your service.
For serving your country honorably in combat multiple times you have earned this Title. Since your government is in EXTREME turmoil you have been retired since you have fulfilled all your obligations.
CONGRATULATIONS!
For giving up your ability bonus to create a skill set your title has been upgraded.
Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!
TITLE EFFECT: Your interface is unreadable by peak diamond skills or items. The player can project to anyone who tries to scan them whatever they want their information to read to anyone who can’t identify the player level-wise.
Current settings: Same as CS
RARE BONUS: Stat gain; +6 Constitution per level times Tier
PLATINUM BONUS: Defensive; Rally here: Any ally within 4m per PL(Where PL is Power level the combined level of all paths)can request your help, and you will either be transported to them or swap places with the requester. Damage must overcome your DR before it can do damage to either of the players involved, and will reverse damage on the player saved transferring that damage to you. Can be triggered per target once every 4 minutes. The base range doubles every Class level. This bonus cool-down is reduced in every tier.
DIAMOND BONUS: Utility; Glimpse: 50% chance to see through subterfuge}
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Colonel shook his head at the teleportation bonus, of course, it's a teleportation bonus, the game seemed to be taking a lot of pleasure in their pain. He groaned at his HUD. He read it over again, not feeling any better about it the second time around.
“Rally here is not what he expected, but the more he read it the happier he got about it.” The Narrator spoke. “The range was currently negligible, but that would go up in time, and levels. His Defensive Stance skill will be even more effective with this bonus, and he loved the synergy the game was making for himself. The fact that he could stand in one place, and have his allies request his help while he built up hit points was going to be their core winning strategy, Colonel already saw that. The randomness of how the rally happened was not necessarily ideal, but you worked with what you got, not what you wanted to have at the time. Adapting was what made humans at the top of the food chain on Earth. What most people will never understand is that if you are on top of the food chain, it usually means you are the first to eat and last to be eaten. That being said you are still part of the cycle. That means that every once in a while humans are eaten first and never get a chance to eat. This bonus allowed him and his team a chance to adapt in a poorly developing situation. Then he thought about his first teleportation experience and had to really wonder was a blessing or a curse.” The Narrator narrated.
He ultimately came to the conclusion that it was indeed a curse, but also a blessing. He hadn’t taken damage yet, but he felt like the pain was going to be awful based on the pain level they were dealing with so far.
It would suck, it was going to suck, but he would suck it up, he was a Jacob and suffering was not something a Jacob shied away from.
Colonel had no doubt he could take more damage than his teammates, considering one was a mage, the other was a ranger, and the last was a cute, and cuddly dog. So he was building himself to take as much damage as possible, like a proper tank. He was just about to look at his other updates to his title, and the vow when he got a MAP ALERT.
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< MAP ALERT >
{A hostile target has entered your Soul brother’s aggro zone prepare to defend him, cause if he dies so do you...}
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‘That is not great information,’ is the first thought that comes to Colonel’s mind, his first action was to yell contact, but he looked up to where Soto was standing, unfocused reading his prompts with zero situational awareness. He knew he didn’t hear him, he yelled it again. Still no reaction. Clyde thought ‘shit’ as his feet started to move towards him.
Soto was about seventeen meters away, and while Colonel didn’t know how he knew that measurement, he also knew he was not close enough for his new bonus effect to work, and that was more important to figure out. Then he finally saw what the alert was talking about.
“CONTACT!” Colonel yelled at his absentminded friend again, this time he got a response, but a little too late. The hostile target had arrived.
A ghoul, this one smaller, clearly female, did something that the others hadn’t done before. A sound of a bell came out of her, and her body glowed yellow for an instant, then she moved faster, and boy was she fast now. Clyde was barely able to analyze her right before she arrived at Soto’s three o'clock.
Soto’s eyes widened as he was upended by a clothesline of WWE epic proportions. He was lifted off his feet and flipped three times before hitting the ground with a bone-breaking...
CRUNCH!
A big red -198 critical hit and a stun icon appeared over his thumbnail for one minute and fifty-nine seconds on Colonel’s HUD. The ghoul sat on top of Soto removing the two daggers he had managed to stab her with in the from her chest. She didn’t even grunt or anything, she just pulled the silver blades out of her like they were pins in a pincushion. After discarding the minor nuisances she turned to her feast. Colonel let the analysis wash over him.
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< ANALYZE >
{Name: Feral Ghoul(Undead)
Level:10
HP:293/350
MP:25
DR:30
Highest Stat
Physical: Strength
Mental: Luck
Bane: Fire
Weaknesses: Light magic and Life magic. Decapitation = True Death.
Description:Ghouls come in many varieties, the one constant between them all is their insatiable appetite for living flesh. Undead Ghouls appetite is seconded by their strength and constitution. For their level they will always be stronger and tougher than their frame suggests. Feral ghouls are mindless creatures seeking out food, as they level they gain +1 to strength and constitution. At first specialization(Level 10) the Feral ghoul gains an additional +1 to either strength, or constitution, +1 to luck, and the active skill Sprint that doubles their physical stats for 10 seconds.
EFFECTS: Insatiable Hunger, Sprint, Undead regeneration}
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The fact that the information was both more and less was not lost on the team leader. While his Analyze ability gave him the information, he was analyzing their situation. More than two-thirds of his battle buddies Hit Points was just gone in one attack, and the stun debuff made it so that he couldn’t defend himself. Colonel reacted as soon as he got the next pop-up. ‘I guess I’ll have to save you like old days brother.’
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< RALLY HERE >
{Help requested by Soto. Would you like to help him?}
{If yes say Rally here!}
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“Rally here!” Colonel yelled at the top of his lungs, and then his whole world slowed down to a snail's crawl. The sound began to quickly fade away, and Colonel’s body was yanked into a portal that just appeared in front of him, and disappeared right afterward. Leaving the Dungeon quiet in his absence.
***
DUNGEON CORE ROOM
VAMPIRE LORD
“What the fuck was that? Was that some type of spacial disturbance?” The Vampire Lord looked to the screen that Aldo was looking at intensely. He had felt something through his bond with the Dungeon.
“I believe so sir,” Aldo said far too calmly for the Vampire’s liking.
“Okay... I will be leaving an avatar here for now, I will be moving to a backup Dungeon post haste.” He said in a slight panic. He wasn’t powerful enough to deal with being with space powers yet, they are always more difficult to fight even when you out-tier them.
“Of course my lord I will start packing.” Aldo already was moving away to do just that.
“NO!” He yelled before taking down his voice a few octaves looking around frenzied. “No, I will be going solo hold down the Dungeon, I will call for you in a few months if we are lucky to survive whatever that was.” He didn’t feel like they would. Only really powerful beings had time-manipulating powers that could affect a Dungeon. He looked at Lisette. “And High Ghoul.”
“Yes, Lord?” She said still looking at screens.
“Kill them all, use everything you can, and send all of the extra out into the world as often as the Mana allows. That is an order.”
“Already implemented my lord.” Lizette smiled. “I have been doing that from the very beginning.
The Vampire looked at her for a few seconds knowing he should move, but he wasn’t sure if she was working for him or herself. He decided to take the win as a win. She will never be more powerful than him, so even if she grew in strength faster than any other ghoul he had ever raised, she would always be weaker than him. “Excellent. See you once I have revived the rest of my pantheon and linked up with our human plants.” It never hurts to hide your power from your subordinates. “Oh and Aldo.”
“Yes, my Lord?” He gave his full attention to his Vampire Lord.
The Vampire smiled. “Remove the floor and zone restrictions once I am gone. Let us see how they handle it. Be advised once I leave time will be a little weird, but don’t worry just keep fighting. Or Die Free.”
“It shall be done, my lord. But we intend to Live Well.” Aldo said.
“Excellent.” The Vampire’s dead heart wasn’t so cruel to tell them that they would never live again, and if he had his way the rest of the world would suffer the same fate.