CHAPTER XXI: DUEL
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{10:45 LOCAL TIME 1TH JULY 1ME}
UNCOMMON PERIOD
MORTAL REALM
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LONG BEACH
COLONEL
Bour stepped next to Keke as she flew above her massive Spell, and pat her on the head. “Well done Kekere, you have done well, trust in you teammates they will come through this stronger for it.” He said, as Kekere flew around his feet wondering how the dwarf could fly without wings.
“Very few Tier 10 players don’t know to fly in some way.” The dwarf said to the bird. “Yes, your human will one day,” He replied again. “You aren’t worried about him winning at all, are you?” Bour asked, curious.
The bird flew around lazily, tweeting. “I see,” Bour finally said. “He is strong but holding back because of a quest. He mentioned that, but how much could he be holding back at this Tier?” His eyes widen. “What?” He exclaimed. “That’s impossible, no, it is actually impossible, like rule-breaking impossible. I guess all is fair in a Breaking.” Bour looked down to the semi-burning Grove and watched the show he knew this pair was going to put on.
Down on the ground, Colonel and Soto were moving to the heart of the grove. The Blood Hunter was not making it easy as it constantly moved through its root system much faster than should be possible.
[I’ll push it back to you be ready.] Colonel said as he finally saw the heart with his eyes and not the senses he was using to track it.
[Copy that.] Soto replied.
Colonel’s boots could only be used on one target one time, which, to be fair, was more than enough for most engagements. The problem was that the grove was one whole target, so once he used the boot mod, it was going to be useless afterward. He looked up at the target he would use the mod on.
The Heart of the Grove was a house-sized semi-opaque tree that beat like a heart with veins, arteries, and all. The whole tree was like a slime monster. But it could flow through the root system fairly quickly.
Kekere’s storm was making it to hard for the grove to concentrate on Colonel, but that didn’t make it an easy target. It stopped moving it’s heart, and put up two barriers. One physical, a thick bark started to grow around the slimy Heart while dozens of trees spout up around it adding another layer of protection.
Clyde could also feel that by doing this, it lost some of its magical perception. That was why it was no longer attacking him or running from him. Colonel had to take advantage of this moment. He didn’t have many combat trade skills. Though any trade can be used in combat. He did have one slot available to unlock, and it looked like he would have to use it here.
But first, he retracted his Presence. If the Grove had eyes he would see him plain as day, but with his Presence retracted. The grove would have to probe a little longer to find him.
He had gone through his current trade skills after finishing the fort defenses, which had already gave him a few ideas which trade to take next.
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< TRADE RANK UP X2 >
{+17 CON & +10 INT}
{TRADE NAME: Wall forging(Active)
TRADE RANK: 10
DESCRIPTION: Manipulate the ground using mana to make a wall. Cost: Variable. Cast time: Variable. Cool down: none. Duration: 4 months per level of trade, Variable base of available materials
EFFECTS: The Legacy can build a Peak Platinum walls with time and resources at a 97% chance of completion rate, the higher the rank of the professional the better chances to make higher level walls.
COMMON Trade Benefit: Increased Durability.
UNCOMMON Trade Benefit: Increased Duration.
RARE Trade Benefit: Wall Spikes.
PLATINUM Trade Benefit: Defensive lightning.}
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< PROFESSION RANK UP X2 >
{+37 to all stats except magic}
{Forger is level 20
PROFESSION RANK: 20 (Amateur 2nd)
PROFESSION TYPE: Hybrid-Energy Creation
DESCRIPTION: A Forger is a unique profession as it needs no special materials, only the legacy’s mana and, in some cases, blood to fill in the blanks of what is being forged. The legacy can still use materials to augment and reduce the Mana cost, you can learn Trades but all of that is second to the Mana creation.
Initiate Benefit: Use mana with all trades to forge creations.
Amateur Benefit: Absorb Mana from kills within a controlled area for use in forging creations}
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The Platinum walls pushed his Trade to 10. The lightning would make for one hell of a deterrent and had given him Trade EXP for every kill made by them. The stats he got was nice, he was no long bleeding even though he was stabbed multiple times by -Will- sharpened vines and roots. Colonel grimaced, he would be bleeding plenty before the fight was over without his Bulwark skill, his Defensive stance and any of his Halos and spells. He sighed sadly, missing his true power.
When he was going over the Fort defense, he noticed the siege weapons would continue to slowly give him Trade EXP as they were used. But it was making all of the platinum cannons that really pushed the trade up.
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< TRADE RANK UP X 3 >
{+19 STR & INT, +11 CHA}
{TRADE NAME: Defensive siege weapon forging(Active)
TRADE RANK: 9
DESCRIPTION: Manipulate the resources around you using your mana to make defensive weapons of war.
Cost: Variable. Cast time: Variable. Cool down: None. Duration: 1 month per level of trade.
EFFECTS: The Legacy can forge High Platinum defensive siege weapons with time and resources at a 99% chance of completion rate, the higher the rank of the professional the better chances to make higher-level weapons.
COMMON Trade Benefit: Increased Durability.
UNCOMMON Trade Benefit: Increased Duration.
RARE Trade Benefit: Reduce cost for usage.
PLATINUM Trade Benefit: Escalating damage.}
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< PROFESSION RANK UP X3 >
{+63 to all stats except magic}
< PROFESSION HAS TIER UP >
{Free Trade option, +2 skill points, +200 free Stats.}
{PROFESSION NAME: Forger
PROFESSION RANK: 23 (Amateur 1st)
PROFESSION TYPE: Hybrid-Energy Creation
DESCRIPTION: A Forger is a unique profession as it needs no special materials, only the legacy’s mana and, in some cases, blood to fill in the blanks of what is being forged. The legacy can still use materials to augment, and reduce the Mana cost, you can learn Trades, but all of that is second to the Mana creation.
Initiate Benefit: Use mana with all Trades to forge creations.
Amateur Benefit: Absorb Mana from kills within a controlled area for use in forging creations.}
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Colonel had wondered how Professionals would keep up stat-wise with a classer, and now he knew. A lump of 200 free stats was insane, well, it would have been insane if he wasn’t getting so much from his Legendary and unique Profession, not to mention his feats and quest rewards, but he was practically doing insane shit. When he asked around, he had learned that most Trades didn’t give out the amount of stats per level he was getting. So 200 Free Stats would be a massive boon for any Professional that made it to the Rank of Amateur 1st class.
That Platinum Benefit would have to play a major role in the upcoming conclusion to their battle with the semi-sapient grove of trees. Colonel wasn’t sure if he should be excited or exasperated. He was a little of both, what was true, was the stats were more than welcomed. He was at a little of a handicap because of his quest, so every little bit counted.
Speaking of stats, he had leveled up one more Trade and was actually looking forward to more base-building when this beast horde was over.
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< PROFESSION TRADE LEVEL UP >
{+5 to all stats except Magic}
{TRADE NAME: Stronghold Structure forging(Active)
TRADE RANK: 6
DESCRIPTION: Manipulate the resources of a designated area while using your mana to make non-combat structures for any level of Stronghold.
Cost: Variable. Cast time: Variable. Cool down: None. Duration: 5 years.
EFFECTS: The Legacy can forge Peak Rare Structure with time, concentration, and resources at a 98% chance of completion rate, the higher the rank of the professional the better chance to make higher-level weapons.
Structures available: A ton.
COMMON Trade Benefit: Increased Durability.
UNCOMMON Trade Benefit: Increased Duration.
RARE Trade Benefit: Upkeep cost reduced.}
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< PROFESSION RANK UP >
{+23 to all stats except Magic}
{PROFESSION NAME: Forger
PROFESSION RANK: 24 (Amateur 1st)
PROFESSION TYPE: Hybrid-Energy Creation
DESCRIPTION: A Forger is a unique profession as it needs no special materials, only the legacy’s mana and, in some cases, blood to fill in the blanks of what is being forged. The legacy can still use materials to augment and reduce the Mana cost, you can learn Trades but all of that is second to the Mana creation.
Initiate Benefit: Use mana with all trades to forge creations.
Amateur Benefit: Absorb Mana from kills within a controlled area for use in forging creations}
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The last Trade couldn’t help him in the next battle, but knowing what he had was going to help with picking what came next.
At the time, Colonel was happy with his progress and figured he would have time to hone his Trade skills as he ranked his Profession to Tier 5, hand-picking the right Trade for the right job. Now, he wished he had planned his next Trade skill better. The Game wasn’t going to let him get through this week easily.
He thought back to his conversation with Peck Joy about the different paths of power.
***
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TRIAL TIME 09:13
_
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GREEN ZONE
COLONEL
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< YOU HAVE ENTERED A PLATINUM MANA ZONE >
{HP, MP, and Tier 5 pools have increased regeneration. Respawns are turned off in this Zone.}
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The Progenitor’s party stepped across a clearly delineated line where the Dead Lands stopped, and the new area began. The Green Zone was just that. Colonel pulled up his map and saw that it was a band of green that bordered the whole former vile lands. The grass was greener than any grass the Legacy had ever seen. The floating waterfalls in the distance took up most of his attention, though.
The Mermaids visibly relaxed once they had crossed the very obvious threshold. Peck Joy looked back, eyes scanning for something. “They won’t pursue us anymore. In the Green Zone, no one can respawn, but there are no monsters most of the time.”
Colonel looked back as well. He didn’t think anyone would pursue it. His meteorite spell had destroyed a city-size area, maybe even bigger, not to mention the apex predator for the Island, who would chase after the person who did that.
They had walked for a bit in quiet as Colonel played with his baby bird. Kekere flew off when they stepped into the green zone. A few minutes of silent walking later, Colonel got a feeling from her. “We have people surfing to us?” Colonel said.
“That must be our escort. We should stop and rest. They will come to us. How far, do you know?” Peck Joy asked, not even trying to understand how the Progenitor knew. “My lord.” He said after a bit.
“I’d say we got twenty to thirty minutes.” Colonel looked at his map and their current speed.
Sheela sat down on the soft green grass that seemed to cover all of the Green Zone. “I can’t wait to wash myself under the waterfalls of the Hunter groves.”
The others nodded as they joined her on the ground. Colonel looked at Peck Joy, who turned to his champion. “Is there something bothering you, my lord?”
“Your level is below everyone, but they still seem to default to you. Is it because of your elf heritage?” Colonel asked.
“It isn’t below yours, my lord, and you will be the highest-ranking member of our race.” Peck smiled.
“I think mine is a special case.”
“Very special,” Sheela said with a grin.
Peck Joy glared at her. She didn't look repentant.
“What? He said it.”
“My main path isn’t my class; I was forced to level it up because a Cleric Classer is better, in their opinion, than a Cleric Profession.” Peck Joy said, shaking his head at Sheela’s lack of decorum.
“Path? Like a path to power? Which one is your path?” Colonel asked.
“Yes, those paths. There are many paths to power in the GREAT GAME, but the main three are the Classer, the Professional, and the Skill Artist. My path is that of the Professional.”
“You’re a professional? How come my Analyze ability didn’t identify you as one?”
“Most abilities like that will give you information that is dangerous to you. Even with my profession at Tier 5, my Class had more offensive powers than my Profession, purely because the Cleric Profession had no attack Trade skills. It has long chanting, long cooldown trades, or fast heal over time Trades.” Peck Joy said academically.
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“Huh... so you have the same class and profession?” Colonel asked.
“Yes, though I got my class option from my Profession use.”
“Good,” Colonel began as they continued to wait in the grass for their escort. “What is the major difference between the paths?”
“Oh, that is easy to explain, really. First, you need to know the basic paths. The Classer path is the path of combat. The path of the Skill Arts is the path of self-improvement. The path of Professional, however, is the path of permanency.” Peck recited.
The other mermaids rolled their eyes behind their leader's back. Colonel caught the action in his peripheral vision and chuckled to himself.
Peck Joy continued, unaware. “Classers have spells that can affect the battlefield in their own way, but they are very direct. Skill Artist’s Skill-trees slowly grows in power and utility, depending on the branch Perks purchased, they may or may not have a direct effect of the battle. Professionals have Combat or non-combat options, as well as magical and/or magically infused mundane Trades. The choice of Trade is important not only for your growth as a Pro but as a part of the whole. Professionals are at their core combat support. Each Professional creation can be shared and used by others.” He looked at the rest of his monks. “For instance, I can heal Davin with my heal Spell, and it would do the trick, but with my Cleric profession, I can not only heal him when I am near him, I can create a Style that he can use in a pinch to heal himself, and others.”
Davin pulled up his right sleeve to reveal a red tattoo of what looked like a human heart, though there were some subtle differences. Colonel analyzed it.
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< ANALYZE >
{CREATION NAME: Healing Style
CREATION RANK: Rare
CREATION DURABILITY: 940
CREATION TYPE: Burst heal & Heal over time. Spell
CREATION DURATION: 3 uses. (Cooldown 60 seconds)
RECHARGE COST & TIME: 4000MP & 1 hour
Description: By feeding mana into this tattoo, the player can call on a boost of healing and then an ongoing healing effect for 30 seconds.
RARE EFFECT: Heal is proportional to the amount of life lost.}
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“That is really useful, Peck Joy,” Colonel said after reading the analyze prompt
“That is an understatement. Artisan Peck Joy has the best Styles on the island. They have brought a lot of Mermaids back from the brink of death. I also have this one.” Davin pulled up his other arm sleeve. Showing off another tattoo, this one was blue and red with five circles in the shape of a star surrounding a mana crystal.
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< ANALYZE >
{CREATION NAME: Group Pool Heal Style
CREATION RANK: Platinum
CREATION DURABILITY: 2740
CREATION TYPE: Burst heal & Burst Mana Spell
CREATION DURATION: 4 uses. (Cooldown 60 minutes)
RECHARGE COST & TIME: 10000MP & 5 hours
Description: By feeding mana into this tattoo, the player can call on a Significant boost of healing and a Major boost of Mana over a 10-meter area.
RARE EFFECT: The more allies in range, the higher the Burst Heal.
PLATINUM EFFECT: Mana regen is doubled for the next hour.}
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“Style creations are most normal players’s trump cards, but in a military, they are issued to most if not all combatants,” Oprah said.
“Most of us get to choose, but players land on one or two healing styles. Not me, though. I have this one.” She pulled up her sleeve, revealing a glowing tattoo of a launcher construct with a bipod.
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< ANALYZE >
{CREATION NAME: Water beam launcher Style
CREATION RANK: Platinum
CREATION DURABILITY: 3640
CREATION TYPE: Conjured weapon
CREATION DURATION: 2 uses. 5 minutes (Cool down 60 minutes)
RECHARGE COST & TIME: 13000MP & 2.5 hours
Description: By feeding mana into this tattoo, the player can deploy a conjured water beam launcher construct that does platinum damage.
RARE EFFECT: Penetration; the longer the player holds the beam on a target, the more damage the beam does, at the expense of duration.
PLATINUM EFFECT: If the launcher kills the target, the time duration of the style will rise by 10 seconds. (Capped at 4 players two or more tiers below the style user.)}
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“These are the combat multipliers that styles could add to a battle. These are usually the starters of battles. Everyone deploys their launchers and covers the enemy front lines with powerful water beams. Then,” Oprah looked at Sheela, who was pretending not to pay attention, though she was failing to look at them with the corner of her eyes.
Now caught, she sighed and rolled up her sleeve where a glowing lightning bolt sat on her forearm. “This is exactly what it looks like.”
“With everyone wet, you not only disorient them with the water beams, but you also made them superconductors for the lightning that would follow. Genius! Just genius. I like those tactics.” Colonel said in genuine awe of the seamless blending of magic, martial, and military tactics.
“Yeah,” Sheela said, a little confused. She looked at the others, and they shrugged. Yeah, but those kinds of tactics only work once or twice. The Imperium will come up with counters if you don’t wipe out the whole contingent.”
“Ahh, so you have to constantly keep changing up your Style combination?” Colonel asked.
“Yes,” Peck answered. “Healing, or healing over time, is a must, but building strategies around styles is the only reason we are still in this war. Our combatants are mostly Professionals, our Classers were devastated when the Imperium first got here centuries ago. It has been an uphill battle raising more. But that didn’t make us weak. It actually made fighting us more unpredictable.”
Clyde was once again fascinated with the Lore of the Game. He was a student of warfare in his world, so learning about its history and tactics would only be helpful as his world became more magical. “Why?”
Peck Joy smiled at his new student. ”Well, we have a much higher rate of magical Style creators. The Elves are mostly Classers' path with a few Skill-Tree users. The Gnomes are their professionals and they are more artificers, instead of summoned constructs they create power armors, and deployable weaponry. Their creations last longer and can be used by anyone, making them more versatile.”
“But also makes it stealable.” Colonel mused out loud as he Analyzed Sheela’s tattoo.
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< ANALYZE >
{CREATION NAME: Lightning Strike Style
CREATION RANK: Platinum
CREATION DURABILITY: 2650
CREATION TYPE: Attack spell
CREATION DURATION: 2 uses. (Cooldown 60 minutes)
RECHARGE COST & TIME: 11000MP & 1.9 hours
Description: By feeding mana into this tattoo, the player can cast a minor lightning bolt doing mid-Platinum damage.
RARE EFFECT: Double Damage on vulnerable enemies.
PLATINUM EFFECT: Every target affected will have Mana Regen powers turned off, and Mana Regen will be paused for 60 seconds.}
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“Exactly.” Peck Joy said, “That is one of the benefits of styles over items. Styles are always personally based on your tier, while items can be personal, but they are mostly made for sale to the highest bidder.”
“The Artisan is just salty that his Styles are being trumped by those very items,” Sheela said, getting a glare from Peck Joy.
“How so?” Colonel asked.
“The Gnomes had made a sonic emitter that whenever a mermaid used their style tattoos, they would burn through the mana within it faster. For healing, that wasn’t that bad, but for combat style, it was enough to cause spell backlash.” Peck Joy continued.
“So this is the so-called Progenitor of our race.” A gravelly voice said rudely, interrupting their discussion.
“Spell backlash sounds awful,” Colonel said, ignoring the voice.
“Gunther! That is not how we talk to the champion that way.” Peck Joy turned and stood up to the almost seven foot tall Mermaid that was staring daggers at Colonel.
“He isn’t my Champion. He is a Tier 2. How can he be anyone’s champion?”
“Why don’t you challenge him then? Since you are so callous with our etiquette.” Sheela said with a snare of her beautiful face.
Gunther looked at the Warlord sitting on the grass, thinking about whatever he was thinking about, and smirked at Sheela for the idea.
Sheela’s face paled. “Gunther, I was messing with you. Don’t do anything stupid...”
“I challenge you to a duel for your position, champion.” He said the last word like it was a curse.
“You are out of line,” Davin said.
“You can’t do that,” Oprah added
“You have gone and done it now.” Sheela shook her head at the dense Gunther.
“The challenge has been put forth.” Peck Joy began. “You don’t have to accept my lord.”
The Colonel finally turned and looked at Gunther as he analyzed him.
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< ANALYZE >
{PLAYER NAME: Gunter Finn
LEVEL: 53
CASTE: Commoner(Classer) CLASS: Cavalier RACE: Nascent Mermaid
POOLS:
HP 18,000/18,000 regen 1850HP per day
MP 1500/1500 regen 1073MP per hour
DR:3500/3500
AR:100/100
Highest ATTRIBUTES:
Physical: Dexterity
Mental: Luck
EFFECTS: Overconfident.}
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Colonel smiled at him as he stood up. "What are the terms of the challenge?” he asked, not taking his eyes off the nearly seven-foot-tall Mermaid. He hated bullies and rude people for no reason. A person could have a bad day, but this guy's problem was chronic, and chronic problems need to be addressed.
“The person being challenged decides on the terms of the duel.” Peck Joy answered. “But you do not have to accept my great and venerated progenitor.” He said, trying to placate his savior.
“I accept, and I will defer to you for terms with the right to veto one option, then I will agree,” Colonel said, still staring at the mermaid.
“To the first death, you can surrender anytime after first blood. I will even handicap myself,” Gunter stated with confidence. “I can’t surrender. I will die before I surrender to the likes of you anyway.” He ended with a snare.
“I accept!” There was a tightness in the air between them after he agreed to tell Colonel he couldn’t run or hide. He had to duel. He nodded, knowing Gunter had the same restrictions.
“My lord!” Oprah said, looking between Peck Joy, Gunter, and their champion.
“You should have never done that, Champion. There are many ways he can torture you.” Peck Joy added.
“Not to worry, half-breed, he will remember this day for a very, very long time,” Gunther said confidently.
“You know what Gunther, you are the perfect kind of person to prove a point on.” Colonel began. “There is always a person who values their part of the whole more than anyone else’s part. For a cohesive unit to continue to grow, a leader must find those types of people and retrain them. That retraining can come in any form. You look like you would need a hard lesson. I will gladly oblige you.” His killing intent snuck out of him.
Gunther took an involuntary step back away from the group with a snare. His anger rose even more when he caught himself. “You will pay for your words. You are a Tier 2 Classer. I have you by 3 Tiers and 40+ levels. you are way to weak to lead our people.”
Colonel walked away from Gunther to a piece of grass away from the monk party. “For now.” He said with a vicious grin unseen by the mermaids. He was a little worried about how the fight would go. He wasn’t quite equipped to take on a level 53 player without a sneak attack. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t close the gap a little. He was 19 now and had more than enough EXP to level to 70 or 80, probably. He wasn’t sure because his second specialization cost was expensive compared to his first one.
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LEVEL: 19 EXP to next specialization 0/100,000-500,000
{Would you like to Specialize?
YES/NO TOUCH ONE}
Free EXP: 3,007,003,200
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“This will be a three round challenge, after every round you will get a chance to recover. Only in between rounds can you surrender, you chose the length of rounds human.” Gunter spat with disdain.
“Colonel, that is my rank. You will address me as such moving forward or sir at the very least.” His face was a stone statue. His Presence was controlled. Colonel Jacob had had his authority challenged before, not for a long time, but he had. When that happens, a leader must first establish who they are and what is expected of their subordinates. He had just done that by telling Gunther his rank and asking to be addressed by said rank.
Gunther, seeing Colonel’s seriousness and dismissing it without a second thought, said. “Human, you will have to make me.”
Colonel Jacob wanted to smile, but this wasn’t the time for that. There were many ways subordinates could react to their leader after they had tried to reestablish authority, and Gunter skipped them all and went straight to insubordination. “You mean, Colonel, make me... you probably didn’t hear me before.” He said coldly.
“Oh, I heard you... human.”
Colonel Jacob nodded. He was annoyed that he had to play politics. He hated politics, especially when it affected organizational awareness and preparedness, like now. “Artisan Peck Joy, what is the typical length of a round in one of these duels?”
“It is usually 13 minutes, Colonel, but tier disparity is taken into consideration since the longer a fight goes on, the more likely the higher tier mermaid... eh combatant, would win. With a three-tier gap, the rounds should be one minute long.” Peck Joy answered right away as if he was waiting for that very question.
“And for two?”
“B-Beg, your pardon?” Peck Joy asked, confused. “Colonel?”
“I can specialize.”
“That would be a bad idea, Colonel. The round length will jump to five minutes. Believe me, you don’t want to be fighting against him that long, sir.” Peck Joy worried.
“Oh, but I do. I really, really do.” Colonel Jacob said. Once a subordinate becomes insubordinate in times of war, you are allowed to kill them. The Warlord wasn’t that stupid to waste assets, so he needed to teach him a lesson and bring him back into the fold, or at the very least, prove that he could take a beating.
“But I will try the three-tier gap first,” Colonel jacob said, looking back at Gunther, and a good thing he did because as soon as the words came out of his mouth, Gunther exploded into action.
A poleaxe was conjured into his right hand as he stepped forward onto a summoned sea house that flew directly at the Legacy at a surprising speed for a water animal on dry land. The shorter polearm was probably the only reason why Clyde wasn’t run through a second into the duel.
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< ABILITY LEVEL UP >
{Ability NAME: Legacy Perception(PASSIVE/TOGGLE/TRIGGERED)
Ability Level: Apprentice 4
The ability to see the legacy’s surroundings like never before. This perception allows the Legacy to know where all the pieces on the game board are as long as he has observed a similar type of enemy, ally, and neutral party. This Perception can be toggled on to see things he couldn’t see such as skills being used as well as a plethora of other applications.
Toggle Cost: 55 mana regen per minute.
STUDENT EFFECT: Instinctually feel the flow of battle beyond what the legacy can see with his eyes alone, synergizing all bonuses, skills, and senses, quantifying it in his HUD. Range: 10 meters per level of ability.
Current Base Range: 200 meters(6400 meters with items)
NOVICE EFFECT: Slows time once per thirty seconds when the ability triggers. How long the slowed time lasts is dependent on the level of ability & LUCK.
APPRENTICE EFFECT: You can look forward in time and see how your current actions will play out. (Be advised if you change one action the future could change as well.) Information can be shared with Teammates within 100 meters. (3200 meters with items)Cost 300MP. Cool down: 1 common period. (6D:16H:43m)}
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The poleaxe was just inches from his face when his Novice Effect kicked in. Colonel Jacob realized right away this guy was fast so dodging would be just a waste of a great effect, and it wouldn’t be able to trigger for another thirty seconds. So, instead of trying to create distance, The Colonel closed in and used his Legacy gloves mod.
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< ITEM UPDATED >
{ITEM NAME: Legacy gloves
ITEM TYPE: Gloves
ITEM RANK: LEGENDARY(set item)
ITEM DESCRIPTION: Fingerless gloves with hardened knuckles that are soul-bound to you. They are not considered armor and can be as opaque as you would like. These gloves CANNOT be identified by any skill, item, or ability under mid-legendary.
Bonded to Colonel
ITEM EFFECT: Double attack(ACTIVE) Once a target, the legacy can activate double attack which instantly hits the target two times with one punch per piece. All attacks while wearing gloves bypass DR.
Cost: 100 Mana -10 per piece.
Current cost: 50 mana
ITEM EFFECT: +20 to DR per piece
Current DR: +100 (Not displayed on CS)
RARE MOD: 10% increase to Strength per piece
Current%: 50% (Not displayed on CS)
PLATINUM MOD: Self-Cleaning & Self-Repair.
DIAMOND MOD: 10% increase to damage when using melee weapon (includes fist) per piece
Current%: 50%(Not displayed on CS) .
EPIC MOD: LOCKED
LEGENDARY MOD: LOCKED Fatal reset: If killed in combat, there is a 100% chance to reset the HP Pool to full & 70% chance to reset all skill cooldowns and pools. Cool down 1 week}
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“Double attack!” Ten blows hit Gunther’s face in under five seconds, breaking bone and teeth and spraying blue blood everywhere. The conjured poleaxe disappeared, and the seahorse continued past Colonel without a rider. Gunther was on the green grass, holding onto his ruined face as it squirted blue blood all around him. The mermaid’s mind didn’t even register the pain for a few seconds, not understanding what had happened.
Clyde saw that one attack had done 5500 damage to the poor mermaid, but that wasn’t enough to keep the true Classer down. The surprise attack was more jarring since every hit bypassed his DR, which was more than likely very surprising indeed, his ruined face telling the story.
Colonel stood over his fallen foe as he rolled around for a little too long, as he pretended to be hurt worse than he was actually. The Legacy wanted to roll his eyes, but he needed to make sure Gunther stayed engaged. He stomped on his leg, but Gunther moved it and tried to counterattack. Colonel dodged out of the way, expecting the choreographed attack. He was unsure of their difference in stats because of the tier disparity, but he felt like it was a lot. Even if their speed was close, he was way tougher than the Mermaid.
Gunther tried using his superior speed to pin down Colonel with a two-hit combo: a punch to the stomach and a kick to the face. The second hit sent him tumbling around the grassy ground like a penny falling on a countertop. Gunther continued to press his advantage, rushing the downed Legacy, his face still bleeding.
Colonel had gotten dirt in his eye and was keeping up with about a fifth of every attack, and that was because his perception ability was still feeding him information. Stats were not something a normal person could overcome easily. Good for Colonel, he wasn’t normal, and neither was his Legendary equipment.
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{ITEM NAME: Legacy Shirt
ITEM TYPE: Blouse
ITEM RANK: LEGENDARY(set item)
ITEM DESCRIPTION: Base black teeshirt that can be short or long sleeve. They are not considered armor, and can be as stylish as you like, you can change color when ever you like. This shirt CANNOT be identified by any skill, item, or ability under mid-legendary.
Bonded to Colonel
ITEM EFFECT: (TRIGGERED) Prevents instant kill from any power, weapon, or attack below Peak legendary
Cool down: 3 minutes
(Be wary of death by 1000 cuts)
RARE MOD: 100% increase to Constitution per piece
Current%: 500% (Not displayed on CS)
PLATINUM MOD: Self Cleaning & Self Repair.
DIAMOND MOD: 100% increase HP recovery per piece
Current%: 500%(Not displayed on CS)
EPIC MOD: LOCKED
LEGENDARY MOD: *Rebound: Transfer all damage taken back at an attacker amplified. Cool down: 1 hour}
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He felt the weight behind the attacks that Gunther kept up, but the Colonel didn’t feel any pain. As a matter of fact, the Mermaid hadn’t even lowered the legacy’s DR. But it was enough to keep him off balance. It took him a while to get the flow of the battle as his Presence was incorporated into his fighting style. He had felt it come alive as the duel went on. His massive influx of stats didn’t mean he could use them at full capacity right away, the best way to get use to them was fighting. He grinned.
Time slowed, not like an ability, but like a lesson finally sticking. That moment when you squeezed the trigger, and you knew it was going to hit the bullseye. That shot from outside the penalty box that ended up in the upper V. That time, you looked at your date and knew they were going to kiss you, and you wanted to kiss them. As soon as all these feelings came together, Colonel Clyde Jacob made his move.
He had genuinely tried to defend himself. But the tier, speed and duel experience difference was big. That was until Colonel rolled onto the uneven ground of the start of their fight where Gunther had swung his poleaxe chewing up the ground. Colonel stepped on the slightly raised earth and his body became more flexible, his grin grew.
Gunther’s face flushed bluer at the smile, and he rushed in, but Colonel surprised him by closing the distance quicker that before. Gunther was going for blood however so he went in for the kill by activating his tier 5 spell storm of blades.
The poleaxe returned to Gunther’s storage, and he replaced it with two ornate rapiers. They blurred at the now committed Colonel in his rush. Both men smiled. At the last second, Gunther’s smile faltered, his Danger sense warning him of impending doom. He pushed past the warning, knowing that sometimes you have to put yourself in danger in order to snatch victory, but he didn’t put the extra mana into the attack for the bonus damage the spell allowed, which probably saved Gunther’s life.
“The Storm of Blades spell was a sword user spell that almost every Tier 4 and above sword user Classer gets access to. While it is an instant attack it has a very long cool down, but it is meant to be a finisher. Each of the rapier strikes bypassed Colonel’s DR and did true damage to him. The storm of attacks only took two or three seconds, but in that time, Gunther landed over ten stabs with each sword. He snared at the weak human who dared to stand up to the second-best duelist in the land of waterfalls. Then he spit up blue blood staining his teeth.” The Narrator said.
“Rebound.” All of the damage that Colonel had taken all day was transferred back to Gunther as the Legacy touched his stomach, blowing a massive hole right through the tier 5 Cavalier and tearing up the ground behind him like a field had been plowed with a Spectre gunship. Gunther stumbled back in shock and physics.
“Time!” Peck Joy said loudly. “Gunther, use your healing style.” He added as he began to chant a spell.
A tattoo lit up next to Gunther’s heart, and his stomach started to rapidly repair itself. The injured mermaid fell over on his back as Peck Joy’s healing spell and style landed on him, healing him quickly.
Colonel walked up to Gunther's prone body. “Are you ready to quit? I had to use a legendary mod to defeat you. It’s on cool down now, so maybe you will have a better chance in the next round.” He squatted down next to the recovering man. “I mean, you did lose to a Tier 2 classer, so maybe you should quit,” he mocked.
Gunther’s face was full of rage. “I will be ready by the next round.” He said through gritted teeth.
“Good,” Colonel said, standing up. “How long is that, by the way?” He asked, looking at Peck Joy.
“The time between duel rounds is usually double the length of rounds, Colonel.” Peck Joy answered, giving Colonel an odd look.
Colonel noticed Sheela and Oprah giving him the ‘you look like a serial killer’ look. He sighed. “And if I specialize? Would that give him more time?”
Gunther sucked in a breath. Peck Joy looked at his progenitor, confused again. “It will give him a total of six minutes to recover.”
“Okay, I’ll do it, that way we can have a longer fight. You okay with that, Gunther?”
Gunther nodded seriously without a word as he tried to recover from the normally fatal attack.
Davin, who was quiet, finally built up the courage to ask a question to his Champion. “That was awesome. How did you get so fast all of a sudden? You just sped up at the end there.”
“A leader must have his secrets, Davin.” Colonel sat down and looked at one of the reasons.
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{ITEM NAME: Legacy Boots
ITEM TYPE: Footwear
ITEM RANK: LEGENDARY(set item)
ITEM DESCRIPTION: Black combat boots with reinforced heel and toe. They are not considered armor and can be as opaque and in any design as the wearer would like. These boots CANNOT be identified by any skill, item, or ability under mid-Legendary.
Bonded to Colonel Jacob
ITEM EFFECT: (ACTIVE)Once per target, the legacy can use Lesser Quick Step, which allows him to cover a distance of 10 meters per piece in one step.
Cost: 100 Mana -10 per piece.
Current cost: 50 mana
Current distance: 50 meters.
RARE MOD: 10% increase to Dexterity per piece
Current%: 50% (Not displayed on CS)
PLATINUM MOD: Self-cleaning & Self-Repair.
DIAMOND MOD: 10% increase in Dexterity on uneven terrain per piece
Current%: 50%(Not displayed on CS).
EPIC MOD: LOCKED
LEGENDARY MOD: LOCKED Earthquake: Once per week, you can stomp, creating an earthquake directed at any target you wish.}
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The Diamond Mod increased his Dexterity by 50%, which, even without using his stats to full capacity, had given him way more capacity, which was more than enough to surpass Gunther in pure speed. That wasn’t going to change as the fight went on, looking around he saw the ground was much more chewed up more than he had originally thought. That boded well for the next few rounds, he had a few more lessons he needed to teach the cocky mermaid.
To do that he needed the extra time as well, while in the pre-breaking world, a minute-long fight may seem like an hour, now, with all of the stat increases it wasn’t very long at all. Most specialists can take a beating from players a few tiers below them. The colonel was clearly different, and he wasn’t sure why, but he had a few ideas.
‘Time to test them out.’ He thought as he looked at his blaring HUD.
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LEVEL: 19 EXP to next specialization 0/100,000-500,000
{Would you like to specialize?
YES/NO TOUCH ONE}
Free EXP:3,007,003,200
_____________________________________________________________
Colonel smiled at the sheer amount of EXP he had. Then he looked at his options on the Specialization table. He only had five or so minutes to recover and tier up for the next round of fighting.