CHAPTER XXVIII: UNTIL TODAY
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TRIAL TIME 09:38
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GREEN ZONE
COLONEL
“So the Gnomes and Elves gave you two different engagement rules?” The Colonel asked as he punched Gunther in the face, sending the big man sprawling.
The princess looked on in horror as she watched her Progenitor beat up one of her top guards easily. She just couldn’t wrap her head around it. Everyone knew humans were trouble. They didn’t live long compared to other races, and with a predisposition to the fighter caste, most of their Classers were close-range fighters. But the reason why they were feared was because their Defensive Rating was percentage base, but that only came into play when they were higher tier. 1% of 100 HP is still only 1, after all. She had no idea how much HP he had, but it was enough to make him damn near unkillable for her duelist.
This man if you can call him a man, was scary because of something else. The Colonel’s Presence was not normal. A normal Presence sat around a player and became more dense with levels, tiers, stats, and damage taken. Since humans can take more damage than most sapient races, their Presence was always denser than players in their Tier, especially in the later tiers. The monster in front of the princess, however, was not a normal human whatsoever. His Presence was fluid. It was like a bubble of energy around him that moved with his body. She hadn’t even heard of anything so absurd in her life. Stronger beings could suppress others with their Presence, but that required them to be in close proximity to their target Presence.
This Colonel fella could smoothly move his presence around like it was a limb. It was absurd to everything thing she knew about the GREAT GAME. His control of the Presence seemed to have more perks.
Every punch did a little more damage because of this phenomenon. Gunter’s DR was bypassed over fifty percent of the hits. Gunther had used all of his trump cards as soon as the duel started, but the Colonel just jumped out of the way. He had even leveled up his Feather Fall Spell.
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< SPELL LEVEL UP >
{CLASS G-SPELL NAME: Grand Feather Fall (Passive/Active)
SPELL LEVEL: Apprentice 9
Skill Quest: Kick Jump 100 times while above 100 meters in combat.(3/100)
SPELL EFFECT: When the player is jumping from any height they can control their fall up to as slow as a feather for a short period of time. The player’s control of the direction of travel and period of time grows Moderately as the Spell levels up and scales with LUCK.
STUDENT EFFECT: By spending Mana, the player can kick off the air 1-time jump per tier.
Cost 25 mana
Kick per jump:(5)3 for trial
NOVICE EFFECT: Build momentum depending on the length of the fall. Momentum is based on how much speed the player would have built up if they weren’t feather-falling.
APPRENTICE EFFECT: When hitting the ground after a long fall, the player can use the momentum of the fall to transfer into a powerful concussive attack.}
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A few times, the Colonel had jumped away only to come back down with an AOE attack that blew Gunther across the patchwork green grass.
“I didn’t know that either.” Peck Joy said, ignoring Gunther’s cries of pain.
The princess shook her head and looked at the torn-up grass around them and the heavily breathing Gunther. “Yes, Colonel.” She started hesitantly. “When the Imperium first transferred to this planet, our race got a Quest to fight them. Apparently, they are some multiversal magical organization that is notorious for conquering Celestial Bodies. The GREAT GAME rules prevented them from sending their higher Tier combatants as the only way to enter without fighting the heavenly realm Cultivators was to enter a Capped zone like our island.”
“That is pretty cool of the Game. If an organization is multiversal, it would have more resources than a single planet could muster.” Colonel said.
“I believe that was the Game’s logic.” The princess agreed.
“Wait, what? The Game is alive?” Clyde asked incredulously.
Everyone in the clearing paused and looked at him like he was an idiot.
“Of course it is, sir. How do you think we get the prompts and access to true power? It has to come from a source and this source has to be growing in order for it to not be exhausted after billions of years. The only things that grow are living things, Colonel.” Peck Joy answered knowing that his Progenitor was a little behind on his GREAT GAME knowledge.
“Black holes grow, and I am pretty sure they are devoid of life.”
“The Void is still alive.” Peck Joy said confused, everyone knew that.
“Not the Void... you know what? Never mind. You were saying, princess.” Clyde gave up.
“Right, when the Imperium got here, they had seven Armies. Their first Army came to our lands and were wiped out. Most of them died away from their cathedral so the Imperium was down to six armies three full elf and three gnome armies. A few weeks later a Gnome automaton showed up with letter that gave all of the leadership or nobility a Quest.”
“I am leadership. Can you share the quest?” The Colonel asked, curious.
“I don’t...” the princess started before she got a prompt. “I guess I can.” She looked at the Colonel seriously. “I am trusting you with a huge secret of our people, Colonel Jacob.”
He nodded seriously in return. He had a top-secret clearance at one point in his life. He understood the assignment. “You are my people, and I protect my own.” And he always will, as he punched Gunter again, this time breaking his jaw. The mermaid grabbed his jaw. “This is just a lesson, not just for him, but also... everyone.” He looked them in the face. “We are not the same anymore.” Colonel jumped and quick-stepped to Gunter. Using the built-up momentum, he clotheslined the mermaid, then bent down and put him in a rare naked choke. After a few seconds of kicking, Gunter went limp. The Colonel then slowly broke his neck using a surprising amount of strength, and Loot globe started to form.
“No!” The princess’ hand shot out to attack him, but the Colonel was right in front of her in an instant grabbing her wrist.
“No, princess, don’t do that. Everything will be all right.” He calmly said.
Indecision was written all over her face. The Colonel had just told the truth again, which was impossible. Nothing was all right. But how? He had just killed a person she had known and trusted, even loved for three centuries. ‘Is he a sociopath?’ She wondered. ‘Is that why he is fooling my lie detector Skill.'
Clyde was looking at his Progenitor prompt.
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< PROGENITORS BLESSING REVIVE ALERT >
{One of your people has died in a no respawn zone. As long as his team lives on for a Common Period, he will revive or use you can a Rare Mana stone to revive him immediately.
Revive now YES/NO?}
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“Is he worth a Rare Mana stone? Or can we wait for the common period? However long that is.” The Colonel asked the shocked contingent. They all look at him like he was growing another head out of the side of his head. “I’m guessing yes.” The Progenitor of the Nascent Mermaids took out a Rare Mana Stone from his Soul Storage. The brown glowing tennis ball-sized stone of pure Rare condensed Mana. He analyzed it, happy that he could pull this off.
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< ANALYZE >
{Perfect Rare Mana Stone(Equal to 1,000,000 Rare Mana Crystal (1/100)
Rare Bonus: Times 3 for mental attributes.}
{Item Name: Rare Mana Crystal
Item Type: Consumable, Ingredient
1/100 ratio on Mana Pool 10 uses daily.
10/1 ratio on XP 10 uses per level.
1000/1 ratio on Attributes 10 uses per attribute per level
Mana crystal can be used by Any Path and 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.}
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“Well, that is not cheap. Wow, this is worth 1 million Rare Mana crystals.” He said, reading the prompt. “This is a hundred million Mana. Who needs a hundred million Mana? And then need it nine more times.”
“That is a Rare Mana stone, sir; it should be one hundred thousand Mana.” Peck Joy tried to clarify.
Clyde shared his analyze with Peck Joy and the Princess. They seemed confused as their eyes unfocused to read the unfamiliar prompt.
“A P-p-perfect Rare Mana Stone. I have never heard of that,” the princess said, mouth agape.
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“I have.” Peck Joy said with a sore look.
“What?!” Both the Colonel and the Princess exclaimed, looking at the Cleric.
“When I was younger, my father told and showed me a lot of things when he was in his bottle. One of those stories I would always remember was the Progenitor of the Imperium forces here.” Peck Joy looked at the Colonel with light in his eyes before looking away sadly.
“I keep hearing about the Imperium coming here. So, is this Progenitor the reason they are here now?” the Colonel asked.
“Yes. He is at the absolute peak of power for the zone and found a vault that can release the cap on the area. unfortunately for him, it requires more Mana than even a Peak entity could muster. But with the Perfect Mana crystal, you have a million-to-one exchange rate. But only a few have been found in the centuries since the invasion. It is why the Imperium was content with letting the mermaids exist. If the progenitor of the Imperium is able to unlock this vault, what the Imperium could send back could wipe us out in a generation.” He looked at the Princess. “The council knows this and chooses to keep it a secret.”
“I have like seventy of them,” Colonel said.
“I wouldn’t say that out loud again. The Progenitor may not be able to enter the Land of the Waterfalls because of the Councilors, but the Council members are not able to leave the AOI of the nation without losing their power to fight the Progenitor. They can’t protect you until we are back.” Peck Joy quickly said.
“Do you really think that the Imperium progenitor can hear me talking from anywhere on the island?” Clyde asked incredulously.
“Never underestimate magic. The more power a being has, the wider the range of their powers usually are. Assume your enemy knows your plan if you have loose lips in your units. Most battles in the Game came down to top end power of the fighting forces, not strategy. But when all things are equal, which they rarely are, not having a strategy will send your whole army to respawn. The Imperium solved that problem with their phylacteries. They can be back in days or weeks for some. We have the wait the months it takes to respawn someone. So holding the land for that amount of time was not only important for the success of the war, but to make sure we don’t lose people permanently, and we have lost every battle outside of the land of waterfalls.”
“Until today.” Clyde smiled.
“Until today.” Peck Joy smiled back, proud that he was responsible for summoning their new champion.
“Well, you have waited long enough for your lover Princess,” The Colonel said to the now flushed cheeks of the Princess as the brown mana stone in his hands started to glow as he acknowledged the revival prompt.
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< PROGENITORS BLESSING REVIVE ALERT >
{One of your people has died in a no respawn zone. You Have opted to use a Prefect Rare Mana stone to revive them. The excess energy will be retained but only this once the perfect mana stone will no longer be perfect.
Revive now YES/NO?}
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“Yes.” He had enough to experiment with.
The glow grew, and Gunther’s Loot globe shrunk. The brown light started to become too bright to see.
Gunter fell out of nowhere, hitting the ground with a loud cry of surprise.
The princess left all decorum behind and ran over to him to hug him and kiss him.
Peck Joy and the Colonel shrug at each other, and Clyde analyzed the new glowing brown Mana stone in his hand.
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< ANALYZE >
{Greater Rare Mana Stone(Equal to 900,000 Rare Mana Crystal (1/100)
Rare Bonus: Times 3 for mental attributes.}
{Item Name: Rare Mana Crystal
Item Type: Consumable, Ingredient
1/100 ratio on Mana Pool 10 uses daily.
10/1 ratio on XP 10 uses per level.
1000/1 ratio on Attributes 10 uses per attribute per level
Mana crystal can be used by Any Path and 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.}
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“Fascinating. Usually, a mana stone loses more, a lot more of its excess power after it is used. There is always leakage. I believe that didn’t happen with the perfect one,” Peck Joy said academically.
“Yes, but it was only one time. How come you took Gunter’s death so easily?” Clyde asked.
“We live in a violent world, my lord. As a cleric, I work tirelessly to keep people alive, but I have seen more death because I have failed many times.” Peck Joy answered somberly. “Also, he deserved it for challenging you without setting the rules correctly. I would not have let him surrender if he had tried I noticed his oversight right away. I have administered many duels in the past, and he was just too arrogant.”
“Are duels common among your people?” The Colonel asked as he stood and dusted himself off. He mentally made his legacy set pieces that were visible to change. His boots, pants, and shirt turn to a black cargo style.
“Oh yes, they are. Even in the Imperium, it is very common. Most disputes between similar-tier individuals are almost always decided by duel. We can’t afford wars between factions when we have a real enemy outside our shores.” The Cleric said, almost proud.
“I am assuming I will have to duel others,” The Colonel asked, already knowing the answer but hoping for another. He didn’t quite get it.
“Probably, the entire Council will more than likely challenge you. I recommend you Tier up again if you can. They will smell blood when they see your lower level. Old habits die hard, especially for the old. And our council is very old, ancient even.”
Clyde scanned Gunter while nodding at Peck Joy.
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< ANALYZE >
{PLAYER NAME: Gunter Finn
LEVEL: 50
CASTE: Commoner(Classer) CLASS: Cavalier RACE: Nascent Mermaid
POOLS:
HP 7000/7000 regen 850HP per day
MP 1350/1350 regen 1073MP per hour
DR:3000/3000
AR:3/100
Highest ATTRIBUTES:
Physical: Dexterity
Mental: LUCK
EFFECTS: Revival sickness, Devout.}
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< TOOL TIP >
{DEBUFF NAME: Revival Sickness
DEBUFF TYPE: Physical/debilitating
DEBUFF DURATION: 6D:23H:58M:17S
DESCRIPTION: Revival Sickness takes the player back to the bottom of their Tier. The EXP required to get back to their previous level is doubled until the Sickness has run its cost. All stats are reduced, but grow back to the new normal over the sickness duration.}
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{BUFF NAME: Devout
BUFF TYPE: Mental
BUFF DURATION: N/A
DESCRIPTION: Devotion comes in many forms. But it all starts with -Faith-. Faith in your leader, your savior, or your god. The more faithful a player is the more beneficial the buff. The benefits of the buff also grow as the player being deified grows.
1st Benefit: Access to higher tier Spells, Trades, and Skills in their skill store.}
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He shared it with Peck Joy, who winced. ”The debuff looks terrible.”
“Better than being dead,” the Colonel said matter of factly.
“Very valid point my lord, indeed it is much better than being dead.” Peck Joy quickly agreed. “The second one is a very common buff, but its benefits are different for every devotee.”
Peck Joy went to one knee in front of the Colonel, surprising the old soldier.
“A whole new tab was added to the Colonel’s Character sheet as he looked up to see the entire contingent of Mermaids kneeling in front of him.” The Narrator said in his mind confirming this was an important moment.
Clyde was surprised and was more than a little afraid of what he would find when he opened his character sheet. He looked at them all as they kneeled in front of him, making him feel uncomfortable.
“Raise, now that you are my people, you will stand with me or behind me. You will never have to kneel again if I have a say about it.” The Colonel stated.
They all slowly stood up and nodded approvingly.
“Now take me to your Council. I may as well get all of the conflict out of the way sooner rather than later. The party began to walk towards the floating waterfalls. Kekere landed on his shoulder, already having flown around the Green zone. Clyde brought up his Character Sheet and cursed at the changes. “FUBAR.”
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TITLES:
(9/13)
Legacy(Ru), Retired War Veteran+(D), War Hero+(D), Soul Bound(D), Legendary+(L+), Forger(L), Undead bane(D), Progenitor(Et), Immortal(U).
PLAYER NAME:
Colonel Clyde Jacob
LEVEL:20, EXP to next level: 0/84000
Free EXP:3,006,503,200
CASTE: Legacy. CLASS: Legacy.
SPEC 1: Warlord+(MAX)
SPEC 2: Advance Warlord+(1/10)
RACE: Human(Legacy)(Tier 5)(Tier 3 for trial).
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POOLS:
HP 28,730/28,730 regen 5479HP per day
MP 1720/1720 regen 5345MP per hour
DR: 300/300 regen 3 per second
SP: 20570/20570 regen 2057 per second(LOCKED)
GP: 2002 generation 2057 per day(LOCKED)
Faith:1 generation 13 per day(LOCKED)
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RESISTANCES:
Physical: 0% Magical: 0% Willpower: 0%
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CULTIVATOR LEVEL:
(SPACE in Trial)
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ATTRIBUTES:
Strength:2556 Dexterity:2551 Endurance:2057 Constitution:2873 Magic:17.2 Intelligence:2472 Charisma:2569 Wisdom:2057 Luck:2606
Free Attributes:10
Current attribute gain per level:
Class: +6 to all except for magic
Spec 1: +3 to all but Magic +2 Free
Spec 2: +8 to all except Magic, +8 Free
Title: +18 CON (RWV+), +12 CHA, CON, LUCK(WH+), +18 to all except magic(L+), +9 STR, DEX, CON(UB), +18 to all except magic & +1 magic per tier(Pro)
Stats Legacy gains per level: +92 CON, +65 CHA & LUCK, +62 STR, DEX, +53 INT, END, WIS, +10 Free.
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EFFECTS:
Soul leveling
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SKILLS LIST:
Class-Path:
Increased Accuracy(A-2),Ice Shard(A-0),Meteorite strike(A-0), Death Halo(S-9), Feather Fall(A-7), Regeneration Halo(S-9), Slow Halo(S-0), Bombardment(S-0)
Trade-Path:
(2/3 0/1 free)
Wall forging(5), Siege weapon forging(6),
General-Path:
(5/13);LOCKED
Bulwark(E-9);Lesser Rebound, Lesser Deflect, Find weakness(A-0), Defensive Stance(N-9),Legacy style melee(N-0), Disassemble(N-7), Kinetic shield(S-0)
Skill Points: 43
skill store available...
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ABILITY LIST:
Combat:
Legacy Perception(A-8)
Profession: LOCKED
Trade sight(A-1)
Non Combat:
Solar system map(MAX) Soul Storage(MAX) Analyze(A-9), Expert Sight(S-0)Locked, Mana Sight(N-2) Speech-craft(MAX):-English(MAX)
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ACTIVE QUEST
Immortality I
Stop the outbreak V
Cultivation I
The Adventurers Guild I
The SOURCE
Road to RUNIC
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PROFESSIONS:
Forger(A-1st)LOCKED
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FAITH:(Locked)
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MARKS:
Undead bane, Raid boss
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End of CS}
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Clyde groaned at the new Faith tab. His Character sheet was already becoming monstrous, and he kept adding tab after tab.
He looked at the scenery around him and relaxed. He was on another planet, a new world. It felt like Earth but bigger, not just in size but in scope and power. The fact that he could see waterfalls flowing in a circle was enough to make him smile about helping these people. They seemed like really good people.
He would eat those thoughts in less than a day.