CHAPTER XVII: PRETTY BIRD
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{08:58 LOCAL TIME 1TH JULY 1ME}
UNCOMMON PERIOD
MORTAL REALM
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LONG BEACH
PRIME
“So Dungeon Sickness is a debilitating sickness that players get if they are in Dungeons for an extended period of time. Your team has some resistance to it. But I would say you have less than a day before it hits you hard. Once it does hit you, however, it will hit you like a metal brick to the balls.” Bour said
“He isn’t lying,” Adia added. “Dungeon sickness affects everyone differently, but one thing is always the same. It hurts when you use powers. For people with mostly passive powers, it is tougher on their pools than the active power users, but it is the pain and lower resistances that make Dungeon Sickness problematic.”
“Wait, more pain, no, no, no, how do we prevent it.” Soto panics.
“For the record,” Sugar began. “I was absolutely going to freak out like that at the information, by the way.” She pointed at Soto.
Clyde chuckled at them. He turned to Kekere who stood proud on her tiny legs next to the map table. “I think we will be fine.”
“Yeah, if you don’t use your tier 5 and above powers for a common period,” Adia said. “Is that why you were using your profession only?”
“Well, I have a quest and didn’t want to cut into the Raid party EXP,” The Colonel answered, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Keep doing that for a common period, and you should avoid Dungeon sickness. If not, however, you can be stuck with the debuff for three to four common periods if not an Uncommon period,” Bour said.
“You still haven’t said how to prevent it in us.” Soto looked at the Colonel with curiosity.
“Getting impatient there, mister.” Adia teased the archer of the team but continued. “The amount of time you spend in a Dungeon directly affects your sickness. But going back into a Dungeon into a Dungeon can reset it. But as you can imagine, that is only a temporary fix. The only way to avoid the sickness is 100% completion of the Dungeon. So most go into a lower-tier Dungeon to clear them so they can get out of the sickness.”
“But that has its challenges as well.” Bour continued, “If you don’t get the 100% completion bonus, your Dungeon sickness stacks, and worst, if you go to a Dungeon too much below you, the Dungeon could call for high tier helper, which, if you don’t defeat then you can’t get 100%, it also upgrades the Dungeon artificially, it is kind of ugly.” Bour finished.
Clyde looked at Johnny and analyzed him.
_____________________________________________________________
{PLAYER: Commoner(NPC)}
{PLAYER NAME: Johnny Torres
Tier 2
HP 178/180
MP 94/100
EFFECTS: Dungeon Sickness}
_____________________________________________________________
< TOOL TIP >
{DEBUFF NAME: Dungeon Sickness
DEBUFF TYPE: Physical/debilitating
DEBUFF DURATION: 2 days
DESCRIPTION: Dungeon Sickness is a debuff that causes the user physical pain to use any power. The pools of the player are slowly reduced until the debuff is removed or runs its course. The Defenses of the player is reduced Significantly.}
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Soto read the prompt, his face grimacing. “I see why you couldn’t use that shield skill correctly if you had this debuff.”
“What debuff?” Johnny and his wife said at the same time looking at Soto.
“You have the Dungeon sickness debuff,” Clyde said.
“I do?” His eyes unfocus and then refocus. “I don’t have anything under my effects tab.
“It doesn’t show up on most people's character sheet until they are in the final stage of the debilitating pain.” Bour amended his statement.
“Oh,” Soto said
“Oh,” Sugar added.
“Oh no,” Johnny said as he saw the Debuff appear on his character sheet.
“What is the matter?” Clyde asked.
“I see the debuff now, two days?” Johnny answered.
“That is pretty good for such a high-tier Dungeon at your low tier. Being in a Legacy’s party must have reduced the debuff somehow.” Adia said.
“Well...” Soto began when everyone got a zone alert.
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{09:00 LOCAL TIME 1TH JULY 1ME}
UNCOMMON PERIOD
MORTAL REALM
_____________________________________________________________
< UNCOMMON BEAST HORDE >
{WAVES COMPLETE 2/5
WAVE 3 begins now! Prepare.}
_____________________________________________________________
“Alright, let’s get everyone ready...” Clyde began.
_____________________________________________________________
< WAVE COMPLETE >
< NOTE >
{Total EXP Deferred! 122,400}
_____________________________________________________________
{09:00 LOCAL TIME 1TH JULY 1ME}
UNCOMMON PERIOD
MORTAL REALM
_____________________________________________________________
< UNCOMMON BEAST HORDE >
{WAVES COMPLETE 3/5
Time until next wave 2H:59M:43s}
_____________________________________________________________
“Okay...” Soto said, looking at their mentors.
They both shrug. “You are too powerful to even try I guess,” Adia said with confidence. ”It happens a lot in the Mortal realm as people get strong enough right before the Period changes again and becomes more challenging."
“Not unheard of for lower tier Hordes, huge cities usually have to send out parties to help out their Hamlets, Villages, and Towns because unless a Tier 5 or above monster is attacking the Cities, they are usually not great targets. That only happens early on. Once you hit the Rare Period, Monsters and Beasts will be even stronger, so Elites will try and attack the major Cities.” Bour said.
“We don’t have a city, though.” Soto pointed out.
“You have a powerful entity protecting your fort, whether he is using his powers or not. Your use of an active Presence and control over it would scare any sane being away,” Bour said with a chuckle.
“Yeah, when did you learn that trick? When we left you, your top skill was Apprentice, how are you a Master Tier Skill artist now? Not to mention do I sense Essence in your soul? Are you a Cultivator now?” Adia asked.
“Yes, but I can’t use my COREs yet. I still have to attach techniques to them,” Clyde began. “But I will wait to attach them so I can level up my Profession.”
“Oh, really, I have never heard of that before. Now tell me about the impossibility of you having a fully controllable Presence. No one should have that. Even Auras shouldn’t be that precise, and you are a long way from Aura techniques. Though as a Master Skill...” Her words trailed off.
“Yeah, that is another story I can tell you later,” Clyde responded curtly.
“That’s fair,” Bour said, looking around at all of the players in the room. Player's builds should be shared with just anyone.
Soto shrugged. “What are we going to do about the Hamlet then, sir?”
Clyde brought up a minimized prompt.
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< ALERT >
{You are attempting to build a Stronghold in the Area of Influence of another Stronghold. Usually this is prohibited, but since you have built a Stronghold more advanced than the current Hamlet Leader that controls this area, you may put down a CAMP. Be advised this CAMP and Hamlet will be in conflict at the end of the Uncommon horde. Your CAMP has been upgraded to a Fort. Seek out the Hamlet's leader if you want to become allies, as your Fort is better defended than the Hamlet's.
Time until the end of uncommon horde: 8H:58M:21s.
Live Well Legacy}
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“We will help them, but only to take any overwhelming pressure off of them. We will not be fighting others’ battle without help,” The Colonel said after everyone read over the prompt. “But if we bring them under our protection, they will become our subordinates no negotiations. Is that clear with everyone?”
“Crystal, but what if they don’t want to bend the knee?” Soto asked.
“We make them understand why they should. If they don’t, then we give them rules to abide by so that we don’t have to worry about them backstabbing us or our neighbors.” Clyde thought about the answer.
“And what if they don’t want to follow those rules?” Sugar asked warily.
“We kill them, Sugar. We intend to keep the same charter rules of the JTF. Basically no slavery, no segregation, no special treatment based on relationships sponsored by the government, no sex trafficking, and a true merit-based charter based on your contributions. If anyone doesn’t want to follow those basic rules, I have no problem killing them.” Clyde answered. Kekere chirped. “No, I won’t kill people for special treatment, well, not unless they killed someone else to get that treatment.” The bird chirped again. “No, I don’t want to kill everyone like before. That was mostly dumb luck and bad...” Clyde paused and looked up at everyone’s look of confusion.
“You can understand what she is saying?” Soto said skeptically.
“We will talk about it later,” Clyde said, looking back at everyone. “Sorry about that.” He glared at Soto. “So we will help them and get them to join us afterward. Any problems that may or may not occur can be dealt with in real time. It makes no sense to speculate without any information.” He turned to Sugar. “Sugar, since you will be staying behind, you can come up with a better system to get Strongholds to join us outside of brute force. Okay?”
Sugar looked at the Colonel, expecting a cold look, but the Legacy was really expecting something from her. “I will try.”
She said.
“Do Lady Sugar, why try when you can do.” The Colonel met her eyes.
“I will do, sir.”
_____________________________________________________________
< NOBLE JOB OFFERED >
{You have offered a teammate a Job title. This is not a Caste change.}
_____________________________________________________________
“Oh, that’s cool.” Clyde looked at the full prompt.
_____________________________________________________________
< NOBLE JOBS >
{Noble Jobs or Jobs are secondary semi-permanent classes that level up with EXP. Noble jobs allow a Noble of Lord and above to offer a certain amount of jobs. Knights, Stewards, and Noble Guild leaders are just some of the jobs Nobles can offer. Legacies can make any Noble job as long as they have the correct Tier to do so.}
{You have offered your teammate Sugar a Ladyship Job. A Ladyship is the first leadership branch of nobility. A Lady can start and upgrade Strongholds. Unlike the Noble caste which can upgrade based on Tier, a Ladyship Job can only be promoted by the Job giver based on accomplishments of them both. The Ladyship Job gives +1 to all stats except magic per level times tier.}
_____________________________________________________________
“Well that is convenient, I would take it Sugar. If we are teammates for life, I would rather you have some political power. Because believe me, we will be dealing with a ton of politics when we meet more people.” Clyde said to her.
“Facts. I should be able to give out some Jobs too. We should do that before we leave to check out the Hamlet. Agreed?” Soto added.
“Agreed.” He looked at his Noble Job HUD. “I can make three Initiate knights or their equivalent in military rank, and double that of Squire Knights and double that of Page Knights,” Clyde said.
“Same. We shouldn’t use up all our slots, though. We should use the Noble Jobs as rewards for a job well done in promotion ceremonies.” Soto said, smirking.
“The prize for doing your job well is more work. I like it.” The Colonel chuckled and looked at a new icon in his HUD.
_____________________________________________________________
< MOTTO FOUND >
{” Why try when you can do!” When you doubt yourself in your darkest of moments when something must be done, when an evil enemy must be vanquished, don’t try because “Why try when you can do.” Do what must be done, Do what can be done, and one day we will all do what can’t be done.
“Do the impossible.”}
< ALERT >
{For creating a Motto, Players of the Nation level faster while defending the Nation.}
_____________________________________________________________
“I’m not going to lie to you,” Sugar began. “But I’m not entirely sure if the game didn’t just tell us that what you are asking of me is impossible.”
“I was just thinking the same thing.” Soto agreed, rereading the prompt. “Also which one is the actual motto of the nation?”
“Both. You can use one to start the Rally call and the other to finish it.” Adia said, smiling. “A Camp Fort never gets their own motto, that usually is reserved for City Forts and higher.”
“They usually don’t do anything without accomplishments anyway. So they are just words.” Bour said. “As you defend your lands, it will grow in power. But for now, the words mean nothing much.”
“No they are not.” All of prime team said in unison, the magic of the world placing power on their words.
Bour looked at Adia, who just shrugged. “Uhh, I stand corrected.”
The trio nod in unison. Clyde looked at the Map. “Yazmin hope you enjoy running the hospital because I have you tasked with that duty.” Another Job prompt and the Stronghold got its first Head Medic.
“Quick question, is everyone going to ignore this pretty little birdie- Ouch!” Soto baby talked to Kekere when she bit him, drawing blood.
“Keke,” Clyde admonished, “Be gentle. He is a ranger class, not as tough as me... What do you mean you know?... Oh,” Clyde looked at Soto warily.
“What?” Soto asked.
“Oh, it’s nothing. She just doesn’t like being called pretty.” The bird nodded approvingly.
***
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TRIAL TIME 09:00
_
_____________________________________________________________
THE DEAD PLAINS
CLYDE
Clyde woke up over an hour later, looking at his pools with a smile.
_____________________________________________________________
POOLS:
HP 27,840/27,840 regen 5322HP per day
MP 1620/1620 regen 5210MP per hour
DR: 100/100 regen 2 per second
SP: 20,010/20,010 regen 2001 per second(LOCKED)
Growth: 2001 generation 200 per day(LOCKED)
_____________________________________________________________
His Mana Pool had double in an instant, and his head still felt hot from it. He felt like he was moving in some kind of horizontal surface. He looked around and saw he was on a floating platform of Mana. He sat up and looked at his escort of four monks, as they pulled him on a magical gurney. He analyzed them scanning the area they were moving through.
_____________________________________________________________
< ANALYZE >
{PLAYER NAME: Davin Moe
LEVEL: 33
CASTE: Commoner(Classer) CLASS: Monk RACE: Nascent Mermaid
POOLS:
HP 27,600/27,600 regen 1,306HP per day
MP 1,960/1,960 regen 869MP per hour
DR:650/650
AR:100/100
ATTRIBUTES:
Strength:348 Dexterity:616 Constitution:690 Magic:4.9
Intelligence:179 Charisma:579 Luck:275
EFFECTS: Collared}
_____________________________________________________________
< ANALYZE >
{PLAYER NAME: Sheela Moe
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
LEVEL: 33
CASTE: Commoner(Classer) CLASS: Monk RACE: Nascent Mermaid
POOLS:
HP 27,600/27,600 regen 1,317HP per day
MP 2720/2720 regen 909MP per hour
DR:550/550
AR:100/100
ATTRIBUTES:
Strength:256 Dexterity:571 Constitution:690 Magic:6.8 Intelligence:219 Charisma:627 Luck:154
EFFECTS: Collared}
_____________________________________________________________
< ANALYZE >
{PLAYER NAME: Oprah Samson
LEVEL: 40
CASTE: Commoner(Classer) CLASS: Monk RACE: Nascent Mermaid
POOLS:
HP 21,760/21,760 regen 850HP per day
MP 1560/1560 regen 1178MP per hour
DR:550/550
AR:98/100
ATTRIBUTES:
Strength:289 Dexterity:526 Constitution:544 Magic:3.9
Intelligence:256 Charisma:634 Luck:153
EFFECTS: Collared}
_____________________________________________________________
< ANALYZE >
{PLAYER NAME: Peck Joy
LEVEL: 33
CASTE: Commoner(Classer) CLASS: Cleric RACE: Half Nascent Mermaid/Half-Elf
POOLS:
HP10,000/10,000 regen 850HP per hour
MP 1071/1071 regen 1073MP per hour
DR:350/350
AR:79/100
ATTRIBUTES:
Strength:157 Dexterity:110 Constitution:250 Magic:4.9
Intelligence:544 Charisma:527 Luck:110
EFFECTS: Collared}
_____________________________________________________________
“Allyuh levels fell a lot,” Clyde said, startling the quartet with a catch in his dry mouth.
“My lord.” Peck started.
“None of that lord shit. Just my rank or title, Colonel, would do.” He stopped any more niceties. “Where are we headed?” He looked around and saw nothing but burnt fields. “Did I do all of this?” The fires were all gone, but the devastation was undeniable.
“Yes, my lord,” Oprah said.
“No honorific needed, please.”
“Yes, my Lord,” Oprah said again.
Clyde shook his head. “Whatever,” He gave up. Clyde had learned a long time ago when people wanted to venerate someone, you can’t stop them, you either live up to their vision of you or you become a cautionary tale. “Where to?” He sat up as the gurney came to a halt. A sky-blue egg appeared in his lap as he swung his feet off the edge. “Oh nice, I had almost forgotten about you.” He smiled at the cracked, shiny blue egg as it slowly started to crack some more now that he was up. “Hmm.”
“It was waiting on you, My lord,” Davin said.
“Yes, we lost at least a tier each once we had our race changed. We got a whisper message from our top Ranger, and we are heading to the rendezvous point to meet up with the mermaid leadership.” Peck Joy began.
“Politics,” Sheela complained.
“Whisper message? I think I got that ability when I specialized. It didn’t have that long of a range. How come it's taking us this long to get to them?” He looked at Sheela, “What do you mean Politics?”
“Our high-Classers are on average more powerful than the elves of the Imperium, it is why we have been able to hold out for so long. But the Elves of the Imperium are always playing the long game, and the Gnomes are formable artificers. Their constructs and power armors are powerful force multipliers.” Peak Joy said. “Sheela means now that you have been made Progenitor, and we have had our race change, some of our older traditions may change. Our leadership is stubborn and short-sighted. One of the reasons why we didn’t simply leave Serendipity is because it is our ancient birth place/mating home, and we refused to give it up.” He sighed tiredly.
“And now it will be even harder to leave.” Davin begins but is cut off by Clyde jumping off the gurney. “My Lord!”
“I know!” Clyde said coldly.
“Know what?” Davin asked, wary.
“I know why it is hard to leave.”
“Oh?” Oprah asked.
“Yes. It’s because I won’t let us go. We were both reborn here, and it will forever be sacred ground for our people.” Clyde felt a pull from the ground, and he couldn’t explain it.
“Oh great, you will fit right in with the council,” Sheela said, disappointed.
“No Council for me. I am not going to govern. I’ll lead,” The Colonel said when a page of prompts appeared in mid-air in front of his face causing him to stumble forward. “Okay,” He sat back on the gurney. He had some reading as a tiny marble-sized egg plops into his hand when the rest of the big egg dissolves.
_____________________________________________________________
< LOOT LIST >
{7000 Perfect Common Mana Stones(Equal to 7 Billion common Mana Crystals)(1/1)}
{700 Perfect Uncommon Mana Stones(Equal to 700 million Uncommon Mana Crystals (1/10)}
{70 Perfect Rare Mana Stones(Equal to 70,000,000 Rare Mana Crystal (1/100)
Rare Bonus: Times 3 for mental attributes.}
{7 Perfect Platinum Mana Stones(Equal to 7,000,000 Platinum mana Crystal (1/1,000)
Rare Bonus: Times 3 for mental Attributes
Platinum Bonus: Adds plus 4% per level to any skill that uses Mental Stats.}
{7 Greater Diamond Mana Stones(Equal to 700,000 Diamond Mana Crystal(1/10,000)
Rare Bonus: Times 3 for mental Attributes
Platinum Bonus: Adds plus 4% per level to any skill and element.
Diamond Bonus: 50% increase effect of any creation.}
{7 Lesser Mana Stones(Equal to 70,000 Epic mana Crystal (1/100,000)
Rare Bonus: Times 3 for mental Attributes
Platinum Bonus: Adds plus 4% per level to any skill and element.
Diamond Bonus: 50% increase effect of any creation.
Epic Bonus: 6% chance of random positive effect.}
{7 Legendary Mana Stones(Equal to 7,000 Legendary Mana Crystal(1/1,000,000)
Rare Bonus: Times 3 for mental Attributes
Platinum Bonus: Adds plus 4% per level to any skill and element.
Diamond Bonus: 50% increase effect of any creation.
Epic Bonus: 6% chance of random positive effect.
Legendary Bonus: Locked}
{700 Runic mana Crystals (1/50,000,000)
Rare Bonus: Times 30 for mental Attributes
Platinum Bonus: Adds plus 40% per level to any skill and element.
Diamond Bonus: 500% increase effect of any creation.
Epic Bonus: 60% chance of random positive effect.
Legendary Bonus: Locked
Runic Bonus: Locked}
{70 Mystic Mana Crystals(1/500,000,000)
Rare Bonus: Times 30 for mental Attributes
Platinum Bonus: Adds plus 40% per level to any skill and element.
Diamond Bonus: 500% increase effect of any creation.
Epic Bonus: 60% chance of random positive effect.
Legendary Bonus: Locked
Runic Bonus: Locked
Mystic Bonus: Locked}
{7 Ancient mana Crystals (1/10B)
Rare Bonus: Times 30 for mental Attributes
Platinum Bonus: Adds plus 40% per level to any skill and element.
Diamond Bonus: 500% increase effect of any creation.
Epic Bonus: 60% chance of random positive effect.
Legendary Bonus: Locked
Runic Bonus: Locked
Mystic Bonus: Locked
Ancient Bonus: Locked}
{1 Eternal Mana Crystals(1/5T)
Rare Bonus: Times 60 for mental Attributes
Platinum Bonus: Adds plus 80% per level to any skill and element.
Diamond Bonus: 1000% increase effect of any creation.
Epic Bonus: 120% chance of random positive effect.
Legendary Bonus: Locked
Runic Bonus: Locked
Mystic Bonus: Locked
Ancient Bonus: Locked
Eternal Bonus: Locked}
{7 million myriad beast and monster cores of varying tiers from common rat to Ancient Vile Wyvern.}
{70,000 upgrade tokens of varying Tiers and types.}
{Two Armies worth of provisions. Include potions, rations, blueprints, schematics, recipes, and spell scrolls.}
{1000+ skill Tomes of varying types}
{Rare Collar keys}
{Cloak of Power (Runic)}
{Land Deed: Dead Plains (Ancient)}
{Baby Rukh Egg: Imprinted (Eternal)}
{Skill Tome: Totem Magic (TRANSCENDENT)}
_____________________________________________________________
{Item Name: Common Mana Crystal
Item Type: Consumable, ingredient
1/1 ratio on Mana Pool; 10 uses daily
1000/1 ratio on XP; 10 uses per level
100000/1 ratio on Attributes; 10 uses per attribute per level
Mana crystal can be used by a player for many different rituals, Activities, and Skills. It can be used to refill your Mana Pool, but that is the most basic use of Mana Crystals and has major debuffs if overused. They are the currency of The GREAT GAME.}
_____________________________________________________________
“I’m pretty sure I just looted a bank,” Clyde said, brow furrowed. “Is a Wyvern what I think it is?”
“If you think it’s a two-hundred-mete r-long behemoth with scaled wings and flammable breath, then you are right,” Sheela said, looking up in the air.
“Correction, I didn’t loot a bank. I looted a Dragon’s lair,” Clyde said, starting to look at the tooltips for the prompts. He didn’t know about most, but he really wanted to know what the egg was first and foremost.”
“What?” All of the monks said in unison. “A dragon where?” They said in a panic
“I killed a Vile Wyvern and got an ancient Tier beast or monster core for it,” Clyde said not aware of the mood change of the monks.
Peak Joy thought he understood. “Oh right, the Wyverns are far removed decedents of Dragons, but they are not true Dragons. Wait, what do you mean killed?” The words finally registered.
“You killed the Vile Wyvern?” Sheela asked looking at Clyde like he was a portal to oblivion.
Colonel finally looked up at them and smiled. “Yes, Ms Moe.”
Sheela’s eyes widen, “That’s impossible...” Peck Joy put his hand on her shoulder.
“Nothing can be done.” Peck Joy calmed her.
“Am I missing something? I feel like I am missing a lot of some things, but what is the matter?”
“The Vile Wyvern is technically the landowner of most of the island. With him gone, there will be a mad rush to claim the land. The war was only on the beachfront, where we had an advantage, but now they can come across the land more easily. I guess that is why the Vile Debuff disappeared.”
“I have the deed to the land,” Clyde said nonchalantly.
“That doesn’t mean much if we can’t hold it,” Sheela said curtly.
“Ms Moe, what is your problem with me?” The Colonel asked calmly but firmly, looking at the woman. He was the youngest of his siblings and cousins, so he always knew when someone was annoyed by him because he was annoying in his youth.
“She is fine, just a little shaken up, Progenitor,” Davin emphasizes the last word while stepping up to his sister.
“Speak freely Ms Moe, Mr Moe please let her be,” The Legacy said.
“Oh no, you shouldn’t have done that,” Davin said as he stepped away from his sister.
“You have saved our lives and given us a new path in life.” Sheela began. “But the sheer amount of killing you had to do for it would haunt anyone near you, let alone you.” She looked at the Colonel defiantly. “You don’t have any remorse even though you wiped out half of an Island.”
Peck Joy opened his mouth to say something, but Clyde put his hand up to stop him.
Sheela either didn’t see the gesture or didn’t care because she continued undeterred. “How could you even do all of that anyway? What are you? A level 10 nobody, from another universe. What kind of Abilities and Skills do you have to overpower not one but two Elves five tiers above you? That is impossible. I am not even going to talk about the Army you wiped out and now a fucking Wyvern.” She threw her hands up in the air.
“I seem to be doing the impossible a lot lately,” Clyde said sadly. “I feel like you have a lot going on, that I need context for, and that may be true, it is also unfair to me that you would hold me to a standard that you yourself are aware I can’t live up to.” He sighed. “I came to your world discombobulated, and the first thing I saw was my summoning quest and my summoners about to be killed by a pride of beasts. I have fought ghouls in level 40s in hand-to-hand combat and even got a chance to punch a level 50 in the face. So when two level 60s, one weak from the summoning me, and the other was angry and had a debuff of Dungeon sickness and wanted to fight in their conditions, I won. I won’t apologize for that. I honestly had no idea there was no upper limit to my Spell. But I do know it had a lot to do with the Runic Mana in the air it empowered my attack more than it would be able to on my own planet. I was more surprised at the devastation than you think.”
The Progenitor jumped off the gurney. “Eighty thousand.” He said.
“Huh?” Sheela asked, confused by the change in demeanor.
“There is a place in the history of my world called Hiroshima. Eighty thousand people died in seconds, and ten to hundreds of thousands died afterward, and that wasn’t enough for either side to call it quits. My country did the same thing to another city, Nagasaki, just three days afterward to prove a point.” He looked Sheela in the eye.
“What point?” Sheela asked with a gulp.
“That our resolve is just as strong as theirs, but ours only requires a few bombers, but yours requires the lives of tens of thousands each bomb.”
“Did your enemy surrender?” Davin asked, with Sheela too busy covering her mouth in horror.
“Yes, six days later, their emperor told the nation they would. Funnily enough, it really wasn’t because of the bombs, well, not only the bombs.”
“They must hate you forever,” Sheela said
“I am sure some do. But the smart ones moved on. Friend and foe alike. The leadership of both nations was to blame, but the winners tell the stories in every world, so the enemy was stripped of any right to have their own Army for a while.” Clyde laughed dryly. “It worked out pretty well in the long run objectively for them. My country’s biggest budget item was military spending from that day forward, and they spent the least on their military. It allowed them to spread their culture throughout the world, and they strived. But they were a little too xenophobic sometimes.” He shrugged.
“Humans,” Oprah said.
“We aren’t perfect. We love hard until we can’t love anymore, then we fight hard for control we will never see. Hope is our biggest superpower and our biggest flaw, that is being human.” Clyde said. “I will feel those lives lost one day, Ms Moe. Right now, I can justify killing them, but if the conflict is going to be resolved, then we will have to take even more lives. I will not let my people suffer under rulers like the Imperium, slavers always rubbed me a real wrong way because of the history of my world. Probably had something to do with my ancestors being enslaved for centuries as well.”
Tapping his collar. “Us too. If my stepmother had Dungeon sickness, I understand why she was defeated by someone like you. She is accustomed to dominating others, but fighting hand to hand, she was never good at that. My father should not have been that easy to take down. However, you are way too low of a level to be able to damage him at all. True classers have a massive damage negation from non True classes.”
“I am a Warlord, which I believe is a true class, so that is probably why the damage negation was eliminated. Among other things. Here you go, try these for your collars.” Clyde tossed the rare collar keys to Peck Joy as he thought about why he was so effective against those Imperium goons. His Title gave him some answers.
_____________________________________________________________
< TITLE UPDATED** >
{TITLE Name: Legacy (UNIQUE/UPGRADABLE)
TITLE TIER: RUNIC
DESCRIPTION: Legacies are Gaia seeds. They represent pure potential. Because of this, Celestial Bodies are only allowed to have 13 active at a time, usually reincarnating them immediately after they perish. You have been reincarnated countless times, Legacy, and with anything with mana, there is a cost. You will have to relearn all of your powers, but since you should have already learned them, you will gain an understanding of them at a faster pace. This title has many passive benefits that you will also have to figure out. *11/13 Class upgrades for teammates/Your Leveling speed for all skills is 10X faster/Raid Party upgrades are free/Free Stronghold upgrades/knowledge of the magical world.*
LIVE WELL, DIE WELL!
TITLE EFFECT: Ability gain+: At every Tier after Tier 5, the Legacy can gain a unique Legacy Ability.
RARE BONUS: Utility Bonus; TOOL-TIP+
Unique Bonus: Natural Armor+
Platinum Bonus: *Slight Transcendent Damage.
Unique Bonus: Stacks Platinum Bonus*
Diamond Bonus: *Minor Adaptive Defense(LOCKED for Trial)
Unique Bonus: Enhance all Bonuses*
Epic Bonus: LOCKED(prerequisites not met)
Unique Bonus: LOCKED
Legendary Bonus: LOCKED(Unlock EPIC Bonus: incomplete, Create at least an epic level skill: Complete)
Unique Bonus: LOCKED
RUNIC Bonus: LOCKED(Create at least a unique legendary skill-set: Complete, Other prerequisites still not met)
Unique Bonus: LOCKED}
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< TOOL TIP >
{Platinum Bonus:
Offensive Bonus; Slight Transcendent Damage
The player ignores 10% of all AR, DR, defensive skills, mods bonuses and Abilities, causing true damage and preventing regeneration for 4 times CL seconds this bonus ignores more damage on anything higher tier than the player..
Unique Bonus:
Utility Bonus; Stacks Platinum Bonus
Every consecutive attack added a stack is formed. Each stack adds 10% ignore.
Diamond Bonus:
Defensive Bonus; Minor Adaptive Defense Every time the legacy takes damage, your body takes 50% less damage for 5 seconds for the same type of damage.
Unique Bonus: Utility Bonus; Enhance all Bonuses
All former and future Bonuses are Minutely more potent.}
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‘Now I know why I can punch above my weight class so easily.’ He mused, since he had specialized he had upgraded the Title. The Colonel used his tooltip to figure out what the items he looted were.
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< TOOL TIP >
{Item name: Cloak of Power
Item Tier: Runic
Item description: When this cloak is worn, the environment empowers the player.
Soul bound
ITEM EFFECT: All pools recover Greatly faster.
RARE ITEM MOD: +30 to Strength times level, +10% bonus to stat.
PLATINUM ITEM MOD: +40 Intelligence to times level, +10% bonus to stat
DIAMOND ITEM MOD: +50 to Luck times level, +10% bonus to stat.
EPIC ITEM MOD: Reactive shield.
LEGENDARY ITEM MOD: LOCKED
RUNIC ITEM MOD: LOCKED
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Clyde was thrilled to get extra stats from equipment. It was a no-brainer. All of his gear so far gave him physical stats, but now he was getting more mental ones. The Epic mod was the only thing he needed more information on, so he brought up the tool tip on it.
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< TOOL TIP >
{EPIC ITEM MOD:
Defensive item Mod; Reactive shield
A shield that sends one incoming attack damage back to the attacker with more damage, and as an AOE.
Cool down: 10 minus Tier minutes.
Stacks with all retributive damage powers.}
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The Legacy smiled at Mod. It was perfect for a tank without armor. Opening attacks that were powerful or couldn’t be blocked and or dodged, like a sneak or stealth attack, were sent back to the attacker doing AOE damage to them. That would reveal their friends as well if not all out kill them, but the Colonel was guessing killing higher tier beings instantly was not going to be happening very often, if at all.
He even thought back to Lisette. The sheer amount of damage she had taken from her Bane, no less, was frankly unreal. The elves he killed had been debuffed and still took time, even with surprise, stacking damage, and bonus effects. No, higher Tier fights would be tougher moving forward, which meant he needed to not only get stronger, but he had to get tougher too.
The Item Effect would allow him to use his spells much more often. He either needed more Spells or to reduce the cool down faster. He had ways, but they were random and or not noticeable.
Satisfied with his new cloak, he equipped it. The cloak appeared on him perfectly fitting over his Legacy BDU-style outfit. Clyde had made his bonded set piece look like the late 90s, early 2000s Army green camouflage uniform. They were always his favorite set of uniforms. His boots were black tanker boots and were spit-shined. The trousers and blouse were both starch-pressed sharp. He wore black gloves and Aviator glasses with a transitioning lens that got darker as the sun rose in the sky.
It was getting hot, and even though the Mermaids had taken off their collars, it seemed they had served the function of keeping them cool in the island heat. But none of them even gave that thought a second thought as they rubbed their necks for the first time in decades for a few, over centuries for the others.
“What is the life span for a Mermaid?” Clyde asked.
All of the mermaids turn to him like they had forgotten he was there. They got to one knee and put their heads down. “Progenitor. You have removed a burden from us that none of us ever thought truly could happen.” Peck Joy began only to pass on to Sheela.
“We really thought this would have brought our Peak Classers time, we expected to die on this mission instead we were reborn. That is because of you.” Sheela passed on to her brother Davin.
Davin looked up at their Progenitor. His eyes met lightly shaded glasses. “We can feel the changing of seasons in the air, not just on the island, but through fate itself. You not only changed our fate, but you may have changed the fate of the multiverse. We thank you.” Davin looked to Oprah.
The beautiful dark skin mermaid who was confident in her ability, showed a little vulnerability. “We will do more than thank you. We will venerate you for what you have done this day. Today is the first day of your multiverse-spanning Khanate.”
The four stand and put their hands over their heart in a salute. The Colonel almost, yes, almost teary-eyed, jumped off the gurney and returned the salute. “Now, can someone answer my question?” He chuckled as they dropped their salute with smiles.
“An NPC of our race who doesn’t make it to Tier 5 in any path will live about one Legendary period, but most can prolong their lives to about 1000 years. About ten times more than Human NPCs.” Peck Joy informed.
“Now that you are a Nascent, has that changed?” Colonel asked.
The four all unfocused their eyes and Clyde looked at the next item while taking out four different dimensional water skins and tossing them to his little team of misfits. He knew he would have to go through the Army supplies at one point, just not this point.
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{Item Name: Land Deed: Dead Plains
Item Rank: Ancient
Item Type: Land ownership scroll.
Description: The old Vile Lands have died because the Ancient Wyvern that was its namesake has perished. Since you were responsible for its death, you have been given ownership of the land. Use the scroll before building or capturing a Stronghold to take ownership.
USE Land Deed? YES/NO}
< NOTE >
{With the Vile Wyvern dead the Dead Lands will continue to grow in death mana until your Stronghold is formed, creatures that spawn will be death creatures and grow in power to the level cap. The more death creatures, the faster this happens.}
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‘That’s not good.’ Clyde thought. The level cap was level 70, and while he felt confident in his ability to kill death creatures that high, especially as he tiered up, his confidence wasn’t high for his Mermaid people if they all lost one or two tiers.
“It looked like our Vitality pool has doubled. No respawns anymore, though.”
“Not that it matters. The Imperium converted our last Cathedral outside of the Mist, and the Mist’s Cathedral are all full,” Sheela said, salty. She started to drink water as she was sweating profusely.
The heat looked like it was taking a lot out of all of them. They had been drinking from the water skins for five straight minutes while Clyde processed everything. “Are y’all alright? He asked concerned.
“The collar passively pulled in water from the air to keep us hydrated,” Peck Joy said pulling his lips away from the water skin. “Without it, we would need a constant water source. This is why we are headed to our territory.”
“Wanchi! The city of waterfalls. There is a constant mist in the air. That not only hydrates us, it empowers us, it even slowly levels us.” Oprah said.
“Sounds like it will be amazing,” Clyde said.
“And dangerous,” Sheela added.
“Sheela is right. We aren’t the only creatures that are empowered by the mist. We will have to be careful. But they should be sending escorts. We must hurry because we don’t have unlimited water.” Peak added.
“Okay, I can walk and talk now. Let me just check out this egg,” Clyde said, then looked at the egg prompt mouth agape.
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{Item Name: Baby Rukh Egg(Imprinted)
Item Rank: Eternal
Item Type: Companion creature egg
Description: Rukhs are creatures of myth on most celestial bodies. They are apex birds of prey that can grow in power over time as they stay in their environment. A rukh’s size is a good indicator of its relative strength. Unlike many birds who depend on speed and magic, a rukh is a strength base bird, that isn’t to say they aren’t fast or don’t use magic, it is just not their main focus. Baby Rukhs choose their element based on their parentage and abundance of Mana in the environment. Once the egg hatches the baby Rukh will begin absorbing local mana, after a few tiers the baby Rukh will become an adolescent in whatever element they choose or grow up in. This Rukh is imprinted to you, the Legacy is permanently bonded to the baby Rukh. Baby Rukh has a permanent boost to HP (times 2) and damage(times 1.5). At Level 0 they gain +3 STR, LUCK, DEX & CON, 2 INT & CHA per level.
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“Yeah, we should get out of here. The Death Mana is rising fast in the area,” Clyde said, rereading the prompt. As cool as a death rukh sounds, it also felt like a pain in the ass to control.
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{Item name: Skill Tome: Totem Magic
Item Rank: PEAK TRANSCENDENT
Item Type: Magical Tome
Description: Totem magic has been lost to the multiverse since the death of the Alpha Phoenix and the Phoenix Elder race. With no one to maintain them, they have become long-lasting monuments to the power of the Phoenix Elder race. Totem magic doesn’t just bend the laws of physics. It flat-out ignores them. Totem Magic is the ultimate space controller, allowing instant travel throughout the entire multiverse while passively locking down teleportation anywhere near the totem. Totem Magic is straightforward but is not simple. It will make travel across vast empires child’s play, as well as empowering your people.
Totem Magic has many passive benefits that must be learned and exploited.
Would you like to use Skill Tome Totem Magic
YES/NO?}
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“The Colonel’s mouth was dry from it being open for a full minute reading the prompt. Totem magic was perfect for his class. As he continued to expand his lands, he would have the means to travel across it quickly. Every great empire had transport and communication mastered at the time. Its Rank was the highest rank in the GREAT GAME and while that was scary it wasn’t so scary that he would turn it down, he was raised better than that. Great power must be held by great people, or that greatness is lost.” The narrator said in his mind. Clyde closed his mouth and swallowed hard.
The egg began to hatch, and a tiny bird started to peck its way out of its shell. The bird’s beak was long, yellow, and skinny, while its body was as blue as a clear day sky. It took the bird an hour to carefully break out of its egg. The bird and Colonel lock eyes and he knew that she would be with him for all his life and beyond. But he couldn’t help but pet the bird. “You are so pretty,” Clyde said innocently. The cute bird turned malevolent eyes on the Colonel, then proceeded to woodpecker attack his hand drawing blood. “Ouch! You little shit!” The bird looked at him defiantly, then tweeted at him. For some reason probably their imprint, he understood her. “Alright, alright, you are tiny and cute, not a pretty bird at all.” The legacy said with a little mirth, the bird nodding its approval. “Let’s give you a name then.”
The bird tweeted again.
“Kekere, that is beautiful. I love it, tiny bird,” Clyde said to the proud bird. She puffed out her little chest as she stood in his hand.
The monks look at their Progenitor warily and the baby Rukh with confusion. Rukhs are rare mythical creatures that were even more rarely tamed, let alone made companions. The fact that this human had killed a tamed one and now had one as a companion wasn’t as unexpected as one would have thought. The GREAT GAME was very straightforward with loot, other times it was all over the place. IE the Skill Tome that was the Game being random at its best.
Kekere jumped unsteadily to the Colonel’s shoulder, and he had to stop her from falling off. She thanked him and leaned her soft face into Clyde’s neck then started to purr like a satisfied cat.
“Oh, we will be good friends Kekere,” Clyde said as the tiny Rukh gained a level.
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< COMPANION SHEET >
{ Titles: Primogenitor
Companion Name: Kekere(Beast)(Imprinted)(Elite)
Companion Race: Baby Rukh
Companion Class: Undetermined
Level:1
POOLS:
HP:290/290 regen 159HP per day
MP:94/100 regen 148HP per hour
DR:11/11 regen DR per second
RESISTANCES:
Physical: 1% Magical: 1% Willpower: 1%
ATTRIBUTES:
Strength:19 Dexterity:17 Constitution:29 Intelligence:18
Magic:1 Charisma:10 Luck: 130
EFFECTS:
SKILLS LIST:
None
ABILITY LIST:
Combat:
Body hardening
Non-Combat:
Soul Storage(MAX) Growth(MAX) Analyze(S-1)
ACTIVE QUEST:
Companion quest
PROFESSIONS:
NA
End of CS}
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“Really good friends.” He pats Kekere on her fluffy little head. She was already more powerful than him and Soto at level 1 and she didn’t do anything but attack his hand. “You little shit.” He smiled, then jumped back on the gurney. “Forward my people, I have some reading I have to do.” He joked.