CHAPTER XXX: THE FIRST CULTIVATOR
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{03:19 LOCAL TIME 1TH JULY 1ME}
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LONG BEACH
PRIME
Clyde woke up a few minutes later feeling the phantom pains of his head burning, but no actual physical pain. As a matter of fact, he felt better than he had ever felt in his life. The few remaining barrel fires still lit the area, and an unnatural ethereal light led a path to the Church exit, but other than that, the rest of the Dungeon was pitch black beyond a few meters outside the fire light. It gave him the shivers.
“Wait they treated people differently because of the color of their skin that's ridiculous.” He heard Bour say incredulously. “Did they know that it is just a difference in melanin-based on where your ancestors hailed from?” He asked confused.
“Not originally, but for at least a few hundred years now. Yes, we know.” Soto answered. “It didn’t stop us from making up stereotypes that some of us still live up to every day, unfortunately.”
“Humans are weird like that, I told you that before Bour,” Adia added with a knowing smile. “I think it's their high birth rate and short lives. They need purpose, and what is the best way to give yourself purpose?” She asked.
“By creating a monster so that you can claim the moral high ground,” Bour said.
“It makes them feel superior. You see, Bour grew up on a Game system planet, so monsters were always real to him. When you are fighting to survive, you don’t care who was fighting next to you.” Adia explained.
“And you?” Sugar asked, Kuma sitting next to her in her base form with her eyes closed content.
“Well, I grew up on a planet that slowly became magical. Breakings are supposed to be rare. Most universes have the magic grow over time, as more and more people gain magical interfaces as you call it. The Legacies are the first thirteen they usually choose trusted people to give classes, professions, or skills to until they grow strong enough that others around them start to gain random classes or professions. Fortunately, or in some cases, unfortunately, the animals and environment also change to accommodate the new magical individuals.” Adia looked sadly at Bour.
“My planet’s Legacies built up too fast, and our people were not ready to fight the creatures who had evolved. By the time I was born, there were only three major cities left, and they were under attack constantly by beast and monster hordes. Each city had to be ruled by four Legacies with a roving Legacy for tie-breaking votes.” Bour explained sadly. “I was the student to the roving Legacy, he was my father. Because of this I was constantly fighting and clearing Dungeons. It took a few thousand years, but we endured. Well, we did until we became RUNIC. We didn’t win against the invading forces, and our planet fell in a few centuries. I was a guild member so I was offered asylum for service. Most just perished.”
“That's awful.” Sugar said sadly.
“That is the game we play las. We know the stakes, and there is no one who will give up the power we’ve gained. We either live well or we die free.” Bour stated.
“My planet won our invasion. The Legacies lead our people to victory against the environment, Our Nobles were powerhouses and believed in helping the people, and our Professionals built great things from war machines to farms that can feed billions, even art that could teach history with one glance. But it's the Cultivators that turned the tide. They left the planet and conquered the other planets in our solar system to make more Experts and then the galaxy to make more Masters. The invaders never even made it to our home system with the amount of Sages we could bring to bear.” She smiled.
“A single planet civilization cannot win in the GREAT GAME. My people were an example of that.” Bour added
“Wait, we get to go to out of space?” Soto asked a little too excitedly.
“If you conquer most of the Mortal realm, and make it to the Sky realm, yes, the Heavenly realm is shared by the Gods and as you conquer more planets it also expands. Each individual planet has a Mortal realm and a Sky realm to conquer.” Adia said mentoring. "You can't send players of a certain tier to Mortal realms, but you can send any tier to the Sky realm, and from the Sky realm you can get to their planet's Heavenly realm if they have one, most don't. When executed correctly, it is poetry in motion you move to another planet, you conquer the skies you send down your brightest young Players to the Mortal realm, and have them conquer it. rinse and repeat."
“But only point zero zero zero one percent actually accomplishes that. The rest are fed on for a few millennia and given another chance afterward, the cycle of Celestials. so no space for the vast majority.” Bour added bursting Soto’s bubble.
“It's like learning about a possible game expansion, but they are reserving the right to not put it out,” Soto said shaking her head.
“Bruh, this isn’t a game. You can’t be this dense.” Sugar scowled.
“Yes, he can,” Clyde said hoarsely. “We are soldiers, dense is in the job description.”
“You see...wait? I think you just insulted us.”
“See what I mean?” Clyde smiled.
Bour walked over and offered a calloused hand to Clyde who took it happily. “How are you feeling? The first magic stat increase is always the worst.” He looked at him with concern.
“You all have advanced pretty quickly. But that is natural in a breaking.” Adia said. “You should take your time, and consolidate your power before going into another Dungeon though, you may not have a choice. As you can see they can be very dangerous, and as Sugar has found out, you only have one life right now.”
“Right now?” Colonel and Soto asked at the same time.
“If and when you become RUNIC and defend yourself from the invasion. Your entire planet and ally planets are put in the respawn system. You still age normally, but death isn’t the end anymore. You get to play the game without fear of permanent death, it's a cool deal, especially for people like me.” Adia answered.
“What do you mean?” Sugar asks
“She means immortals.” Bour smiled “That is what every being seeks, but very few accomplish. Only LAW-level beings are guaranteed it, and they have to embody their particular law to even get the lowest level of immortality. But once you are ascended if you have it, the whole multiverse is at your fingertips.”
“That's awesome!” Soto said. “I want that. That is the plan now Jake. We have a new mission immortality.”
“The only mission I have is going to my memory foam bed after this long ass night,” Colonel said. “After sleeping we can talk about other stuff, like exploring space, immortality and most importantly preventing an invasion.”
“Facts, I can’t wait to try out that famous bed you got.” Soto teased. "Pause!"
Adia’s eyebrow raised.
“You are not kicking me out of my own bed after I got you into the biggest game ever,” Colonel said flatly.
“You will have that bed for three hundred and sixty-four days, you can’t give it up for one day. That couch looked comfortable.” Soto said
“Oh it is super comfortable, that's why I don’t mind you sleeping on it.”
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“What happened to that Trinidadian hospitality.”
“It went away the minute I was throwing up Roscoe chicken and waffles a few minutes into this damn game.”
Soto winced. “True dat, I’ll sleep on the couch then. You think in-and-out burger is going to be open.”
Johnny walked up to the Colonel and saluted. Clyde returned it naturally. “What’s up corporal?”
“I still don’t know how you knew I was in the military sir, but I am glad you came along when you did. We are all ready to leave when you are Colonel.” Johnny said standing relaxed.
“I guess we should head out. Johnny, what is your last name? Also, did you all get the quest?” Colonel asked looking at the formation.
“Torres sir, this is my wife Yazmin.” He said pointing at a short Mexican woman who looked at him with love. “We were just here helping out when we got caught up in the party before the breaking a few of the homeless were guys we served with who fell on hard times and didn’t want to ask for help..." He looked back at NPCs in formation, "Some didn't make it. but most did, thank you we are in your debt. Are you talking about the leave the Dungeon quest?” Johnny asked.
“Yeah.”
“Yes sir and everyone has Tiered up and used their skill tome as well, some even got free levels in their new Skill and ranks in their Trades,” Johnny added.
“Oh shit I didn’t use mine. Give me five then, march them over to the exit. Soto take the lead, and Sugar stay somewhere in the middle. Once we exit I don’t know what the game is going to throw at us, and we know it is going to throw something at us.” Colonel ordered.
“Sugar I know you believe this game is real, and you don’t think we do. But we always play games for keeps, so we won’t let civilians die for no reason, and you are part of our team so we got you.” Soto said with a confident smirk.
“That's the best I can ask for I guess, I can’t wait to get home.” Sugar said tiredly.
“I doubt your home will be around, it's been six months since you have entered this Dungeon,” Adia added.
“Well, at least all my bills were on auto-pay.” Colonel joked.
“Why would it not be there?” Soto asked eyebrow raised.
“Mana is harsh, and unless something is built by a professional the increased Mana in the air will surely destroy all of what you know. The world outside will look very different from what you will expect.” Bour said.
“Okay, well we will see. We complete this quest, and try to log out again.” Colonel said.
“No logging out. You either live the game or die to it. It is your life now.” Adia said.
Colonel was looking through his inventory and selected his Skill tome quest reward not paying attention to what the desert elf had said.
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< YOU HAVE EARNED A SKILL TOME >
{Calculating Skill...}
< GENERAL SKILL LEARNED >
{SKILL NAME: Grand Kinetic Shield
SKILL LEVEL: Student 0
DESCRIPTION: The Legacy can make a shield originating on his off-hand that can stop physical damage.
SKILL EFFECT: Create a circular shield.
Cost: 50 mana + 50 MP per hour regen minimum. Defense: 500 damage minimum. Size: up to 1 meter in diameter per Skill level.
STUDENT EFFECT: Adjust the opacity of the shield.}
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< CHARACTER SHEET >
TITLES:
(7/13)
Legacy(Ru), Retired War Veteran+(D), War Hero+(D), Soul Bound(D), Legendary+(L+), Forger(L), Undead Bane(P).
PLAYER NAME:
Colonel
LEVEL: 9, EXP to the first specialization: 0/20000-100000
Free EXP:433400
CASTE: Legacy. CLASS: Legacy.
RACE: Gaian Human(Legacy)(Tier 2).
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POOLS:
HP 2800/2800 regen 527HP per day
MP 620/620 regen 494MP per hour
Defensive Rating (DR): 39/39 regen 2 per second
RESISTANCES:
Physical: 0% Magical: 0% Willpower: 0%
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CULTIVATOR LEVEL:
N/A(Seek Sponsor or find another path.)
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ATTRIBUTES:
Strength:179 Dexterity:165 Constitution:280 Magic:6.2 Intelligence:214 Charisma:201 Luck:247
Free Attributes:66
Current attribute gain per level:
Class: +2 to all except for magic
Title: +6 CON (RWV+), +4 CHA, CON, LUCK(WH+), +6 to all except magic(L+)
Stats Legacy gains per level: +18 CON, +12 CHA & LUCK, +8 STR, DEX, INT.
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EFFECTS:
Leveling high I
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SKILLS LIST:
Class:
Bulwark(N-9), Increased Accuracy(S-9),Ice Shard(N-0), Meteorite strike(N-0)
Trades:
Wall forging(6), Siege weapon forging(5)
Trees(5/13);
Find weakness(A-0), Defensive Stance(N-9), Legacy style melee(N-0),Disassemble(N-0), Grand Kinetic shield(S-0)
Skill Points: 2
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ABILITY LIST:
Combat:
Legacy Perception(A-0)
Non Combat:
World map(MAX) Soul Storage(MAX) Analyze(A7) Speech-craft(MAX):-English(MAX)
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ACTIVE QUEST
Stop the outbreak V
The Adventurers Guild I
The SOURCE
Road to RUNIC
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PROFESSIONS:
Forger(A-2nd)
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MARKS:
Undead Bane, Raid Boss
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End of CS}
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Colonel smiled at the new Skill. He lifted his left arm and said “Kinetic Shield.” A circular shield that was semi-transparent pulsed to life on his arm. He could mentally adjust its size. He did so up to as big as his body, then to as small as a few inches across. It adjusted really quickly, and he could see it being very useful in combat.
Soto saw it and smiled. “Okay Colonel America, or is it, Colonel Trinidad? Now you got the tank role down.”
“Neither, and I still can’t wear armor. But it seems like I can bypass that handicap with Skills.” Clyde grinned thinking about the workaround. Adia looked at Bour he nodded. “Let's get out of here.” Colonel shrunk the shield to a buckler size and made it invisible.
“Why take it off?” Sugar asked looking at the shield. “Does it cost a lot?”
“Not particularly, the initial cost isn’t much at all and it is only 50 MP per hour to maintain, but it's just invisible so no one can see it. I can see the outline, but not much more. I can change it on the fly so may as well keep it active and invisible so that we don’t show our cards.” Colonel answered.
“Smart. What rank is that Skill lad?” Bour asked.” I have never seen a Skill react like that.
“Skills like those are sought after by casters, and front-line fighters as well. Not knowing that you have a shield up is a huge advantage for you. Every shield has some type of visual component. You are very, very lucky.” Adia added.
“How do I know the rank?” Colonel asked as Johnny and Soto had a conversation off to the side.
“It's the prefix before the Skill name. Should be Basic or no name, Lesser, Minor, Major, Greater, Grand, or Primordial. It is usually the age and power of the Skill. Yours looks like at least a Minor rank.” Bour observed.
“Grand I think.” The legacy said looking at his Skill. He missed the look Adia and Bour gave each other.
Johnny started to lead over one hundred NPCs to the exit of the church. As the sun finally started to light the pre-dawn morning.
Soto took the lead. Sugar fell in the center of their loose formation, and Clyde looked around at the rest of the space as the barrel fires started to finally burn out. The darkness from the rest of the Dungeon crept in. He wasn’t going to wait and see what happens when the light went out completely.
In a bright flash of light, Soto left the Dungeon, and then groups of former homeless disappeared as well, flashing brighter as they left. Sugar looked back at Colonel and nodded, and then she was gone in a flash. Johnny and his wife held hands as they and the last of the party left the Dungeon. Adia and Bour turn to him and smirk before they leave, there wasn’t any noticeable flash from them.
“And the cheese stands alone.” A familiar voice said from right behind Clydel. He immediately jumped, rolled to the side, and maximized his Kinetic Shield.
“FREEZE!”
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{YOU HAVE BEEN AFFECTED BY A WORD OF POWER}
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“We meet again my very interesting friend.” A black-skinned Asian man walked up to a frozen Legacy who was mid-roll. He looked at the ridiculous position the Legacy was in and grimaced. “Sorry about that, but time is already a little unstable so I had to freeze it so you wouldn’t be days behind your party. I am thrilled you survived, but we have to talk. Not just about the state of affairs in the outside world, but more importantly. You have a choice to make as the first cultivator of your iteration.”