CHAPTER XXXXII: -WILL- OF THE PROGENITOR
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{11:01 LOCAL TIME 2ND JULY 1ME}
UNCOMMON PERIOD
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FORT CHAVEZ
SUGAR
[Leadership to the main tactical room now.] Sugar said in Fort chat that it should reach all the Job holders. The upgrade to their stronghold had small but not insignificant upgrades that weren't in the prompt. For instance, Stronghold chat was either an intercom that blasted out to everyone or one channel that a limited amount of leadership could be added to. A fort had double the channels that normal Stronghold had, and all Sugar had to do was assign them to who she would like. It was a power the leadership could leverage for more as the Stronghold grew, according to Adia.
“You should be able to send messages through your tactical table to the rest of the fort, as well,” Adia informed. “You just have to dedicate a channel for the fort. These tables usually only have a few channels per Rank or Level of Stronghold. So, there are even more channels to keep communication flowing.”
Sugar saw an intercom icon pop up and clicked it. She then spoke clearly and confidently. “Lock down the Fort. We have a Beast Horde forming to the south. I need any players with movement powers to report to the outside of the Command building. We will be moving out to help a ten thousand-player convoy who intend to join our nation, and for that, we will show them that we will never leave a citizen behind. We are leaving in ten minutes via the southern Noble Road. Everyone be ready by then. Hooah!”
Even in the building, she heard a loud “Hooah!” Echo in response.
“Hooah, ma’am,” Rice said, proud to be working for a good leader, or at least a decisive one; only time will tell if the decision was a good one.
Johnny and Yazmin followed Modeski, and then Buzbee rushed in with fire in their eyes as they heard the announcement over the intercom.
Buzbee didn’t wait. “I have a team of vehicle constructs Style-users ready to go, ma’am.”
“We can make those?” Sugar asked, taken aback.
“Styles can recreate any craft or power with enough levels and sufficient Mana,” Adia said cooly. “They have several combat and non-combat uses. Your group's current makeup is very construct-heavy, probably because of your overall leadership with Colonel. That is good to start but can become predictable over time. The more new Professions you add will help the construct creators because they will bring knowledge of the game with them, and the construct NPCs can copy the new creations in time.”
“Great, that solves one of our problems. Johnny, I need you to follow me and the other combatants behind me. We are going to have a little show of force.”
“Ma’am, you're not planning to go out there, are you?” Johnny asked tentatively. He wasn’t sure how far he could challenge her without Colonel and Sergeant Major here, however.
She was the highest-ranking Job holder, and he wanted to protect her, but at the same time, she was also the strongest or at least the most powerful. It was all a little weird. Levels and Tiers mattered more than position and rank. Johnny decided that it might be better to let her know his concerns. “I don’t like the risk of losing you, ma’am.”
“Wait, we are giving a show of force with twenty-five people to ten thousand?” Rice asked incredulously. “I mean...How?”
“Yes, I am going, Sergeant First Class Torres,” Lady of the Fort Sugar said his full rank so that he knew she was serious. Johnny’s back stiffened as he stood straighter. “Well, that is the easy part, Rice. You said that a force of almost four hundred fifty could cause them to react poorly and force them into a dead sprint, even with their guards and superior numbers. That can only mean. “She looked at Adia for confirmation.
Adia smiled beautifully at her, making Sugar blush a little. “Go on, sweetheart, you got it. Finish the thought, and if you miss anything, I’ll fill it in.”
“Who is she really?” Rice whispered to Johnny, who promptly ignored the redneck.
Adia’s ears twitched.
“It means that they are not very high-tiered, or at least their combatants aren’t.” Sugar continued pretending not to hear Rice.
“More than likely, no one is above level 41 in Class or Professions. Tier 5 is a dividing line in the Mortal realm of the GREAT GAME. True power starts at Tier 5. You gain the ability to sense Presences and -Will- -Intent- or -Growth- Tier 5 pool. These pools are special as they are unique to the player and their playing style. The Tier disparity jump is higher at every 5 tiers as well.” Adia added.
“Good, everyone who can get to Tier 5, we move out in five minutes.” Sugar said.
“The NPCs don’t have an easy path to Tier 5 of all of the caste subtypes. They are the least likely to get to tier 5, but when they do, they are very powerful Skillers. So unless they have a skill quest they can beat to get to Tier 5, they are stuck where they are.” Adia informed.
“Oh,” Sugar said, losing some steam. “What is the Tier of the NPCs, Johnny?”
Johnny looked at Yazmin with almost pleading eyes. His wife glared at him and looked to the sky, asking the good lord for patience. “I don’t know everyone’s exact Skill level, but I believe that our lowest Skiller’s Combat Skill is Apprentice 5, while most are in the Journeyman Tier, none higher than 5 or 6 though. Some have their Trade skill high enough that the Stronghold offered them a profession; about half have chosen it and got instant ranks for Trade skill levels. But none are over 30 yet.”
“So we lack the ability to advance our NPCs to Tier 5? I am not surprised, but worth a try.” Sugar asked,
“Not the ability, but the time. The speed at which your nation’s members are leveling is ridiculous. Even so, you have only been out of the dungeon for what two days? It takes weeks to consolidate your power after a big Dungeon dive. Pushing yourself will help you grow even more; it is the way of the GREAT GAME. That being said, one Tier 5 should be enough with the support you have. Diamond Tier gear can easily kill a Tier 5 being.” Adia replied.
“Good, I am going to Tier up then.” Sugar said. “Then we will head out. Yazmin, you will have my Fort, Rice’s Squad, and Modeski’s gunners will be at your disposal. Be prepared to accommodate causalities; we will bring them right back to the Fort with no delay. Let's go crush this beast horde. Hooah!” She chanted the last few words.
“Hooah!” Was the reply of the troops in the room.
“Then you better step outside,” Adia chuckled, “the damage you are going to do with that -Will- at Tier 5,” She shook her head, smiling. “This poor building would be repairing itself for months if you stay here, and since this is my home for the foreseeable future, I would advise Tiering up outside.”
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
***
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TRIAL TIME 2:18:22
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FORT REVENGE
INQUISITOR JORDON
Inquisitor Jordan had carried his father’s surname, as did all of the matriarch’s children. They would only get to take their mother’s name and royal title when they maxed out their Classes. Jordan had just done that a week ago after centuries of research, dungeon diving, and fighting.
But during his naming ceremony, not one, but two Eleven armies were wiped out, and not just beaten, they were perma-death.
He didn’t even know that could happen in a Runic world, but then he was told the secret of the Zone. Because of where it was located, the nearest Cathedral was just too far away to keep them in the cycle of life, so if a local Cathedral was conquered or destroyed, both of which were supposed to be impossible, then they died forever.
This was both a protection and a deterrent to outside forces entering a Runic world without invasion protocol.
When the Inquisitor heard about the death of the Armies he was livid, he had family in those armies. He changed the name of his fort to Fort Revenge in the name of the two armies. He pushed his people to the max and used monster cores and Mana Stones to eke out a few more levels. He had planned to take the war to the heart of the Mermaids in a few weeks. It was time to show them that they were purposely holding back so that their younger elves could Level Up in a relatively safe and controlled environment. That was the Imperial way.
In the early morning twilight, Jordan walked around his Fort, watching the skill training going on proudly. The Elves under him were the best of the best of the best, and they jumped at the chance to avenge their comrades.
Jordan walked up to the outer wall of the Fort and peered out into the surrounding area. He felt wet and slimy. His eyes narrowed at the trees. He turned around and walked away after a few seconds. As he stepped down from the wall, he addressed his staff. “Do it silently, but wake up the fort we are being suppressed. It is subtle but definitely there. Make it look like a change of guard, but have the old guard stay in place for a few hours. Get the shield powered up; they are using high-tier gear against us. This is not a drill.” Jordan ordered his decades of fighting the Mermaids, which had taught him about their underhanded tricks and tactics. The staff member began to send messages out. The Fort came to life slowly but surely.
“Good morning, Fort Revenge!” The Narrator began in a booming voice over the Fort, startling everyone.
“A narrator, we got someone troublesome coming. Drop the subterfuge and get everyone to the wall. NOW!” Jordan yelled. Narrators follow powerful players or high-potential players. He wasn’t too worried after all. He was at the peak of power for the zone. Worst case, he could escape, though he had no plan to do that. His siblings were in those Armies that were killed. He would avenge them. If his enemy wanted to come to him that was an even better scenario.
“Today, you will bear witness to the birth of a true monster.” The narrator continued. “If you look to the north northeast, you will see my namesake, Colonel Clyde S Jacob Jr.”
The Inquisitor ran back up the wall, rushing to the edge. He looked in the direction. One thing that is true about narrators is that they do not lie. Sometimes, they leave clues to help the enemy defeat you to give you more of a challenge, but that was just a rumor, as far as Jordan knew. As he looked to the north, he activated a Zoom Style and saw a figure on a cliffside over ten miles away. The Inquisitor was aware of siege powers, but even for a cap Tier magic user like him, ten miles was a bit much to attack a fort, at least. “He is a distraction, so don’t mind him,” Jordan said confidently. “Find the others.”
“While Colonel may look like a decoy, he is just the opening attack of the battle. What he doesn’t know is the limit of his own power.”
Jordan was confused by that statement. “Why is he attacking from there? Is he some type of sniper class?” He mussed out loud.” They were dangerous but not as hazardous as some seige classes, but even then, one player ten miles away against a Fort Shield wasn't worried at all.
The Narrator continued, “As five tree-trunk thick ropes of -Will- lightning hits him, the tension began to rise in the Fort.” Five massive lightning bolts hit the man on the cliff; they were so big that a blind person would have been able to make it out of space.
“Bring up the shield now. The amount of -Will- in that specialization lightning was on par with some of the Peak level 70 class evolutions.” Jordan said, using the narrator's information to be more proactive.
And it was a good thing he did because as soon as the lightning finished, multiple armies revealed themselves on the east and west sides of the Fort. Water cannons fired at the fort, but Jordan had them put up a water absorption shield that got more powerful as more water-based attacks hit them. The thickness of the shield began to grow, and Jordan started to relax.
“The quick thinking of the fort commander saved many lives in the initial attack.” Jordan smiled at that. “But those attacks were just the distractions.” Jordan’s smile slipped, and he looked up at the shield, which was growing thick with defensive power. His Sight powers showed the rising Armor rating.
“Power comes in many ways in the GREAT GAME. Strategy, planning, and training are their own kind of power, and in most cases, those determine the winner of every conflict. But overwhelming power can never be beaten by tricks, training, or strategy. Skill levels can overcome overwhelming stats, but when someone has both skill levels and stats, they are walking weapons of mass destruction.”
Jordan looked back at the cliff to see the player glow with energy that rippled out of him in all directions. Ten ice swords appear around the man floating. “His ice sword spell must be very high rank.” The inquisitor mussed. “Even if it is ranked two water, it is still in the water school. That shouldn’t be enough to get here, let alone do dam...”
“His words stopped as an ethereal armor formed around Colonel, making him almost 12 feet tall. The whole Fort stared at him in awe. Any Classer who made it to Tier 5 knew that an Empower Spell is available at the Tier, but an Empower spell that doubles the player's size doesn’t bod well for the Fort.”
Jordan began to sweat. Something was seriously off. Nothing was making sense. Even with an empowered spell, the ice sword spell shouldn’t even have the range, let alone power to...
“The blades of jagged ice break in hundreds of pieces, then combust into white flames.”
“Impossible,” Jordan gawked, he wasn't the only one. “A meteorite spell with ice as the meteorite, that is preposterous!” The inquisitor knew magic like the back of his hand, and the Imperium had knowledge from multiple universes. They passed that knowledge on to their leadership to help them advance. Combining opposing magic was more than often dangerously combustible.
“Before most could register the impossibility of Colonel’s spells. He attacked.”
“Attack?” One of the Inquisitor’s staff members asked. “How can that mermaid hit us with a Ice Sword spell from sixteen kilometers away, it only has a hundred meter range at best, what a waste of a distraction.”
“Inquisitor Jordan is very much aware that is not true.” The narrator said, causing everyone to look at the fort commander. “Every leader in the Imperium is aware of branching paths.” Inquisitor Jordan blanched at hearing that statement. “Of course, when you combined that with a Tier 5 -Will- empowered Spell. Well, well you are about to see.” The Narrator finished smugly.
“What...” The same staff member was about to say something, but that was when everyone felt it.
“A wave of invisible energy which every Classer over Tier 5 could feel was a -Will- so thick, so tangible that it felt like they were thinking in slow motion. The wave was foreboding and an age-old lesson. ‘If you seek revenge, dig two graves. One for your enemy and one for yourself because when you consume yourself with that kind of anger and misguided purpose, you are bound to make mistakes. Like not anticipating that with two army advantage, the mermaids would commit all of their forces to crush you.” The narrator said as the whole fort physically slowed down.
The inquisitor never took his slowly widening eyes off the man on the cliff. The first few broken shards start to move slowly away from the man. In Jordan’s Mana Sight, he could make out five different types of spells around him at various ranges, like halos of energy.
“The GREAT GAME is about power, and while Tiers matter over most, synergy is still king.”
The first broken ice shard began its last journey slowly but quickly began to pick up speed. After about one hundred meters, the ice shard seemed to jump forward in speed by double moving at an average speed even in slow motion -Will-induced state of mind.
Jordan still couldn’t take his eyes off this man, and he was a man, a human man, but Jordan wasn’t a baby soldier. He reacted with decisiveness. “All tier 5 and above pore your -Will- into the shield. This player is dangerous. There is no way one player can overwhelm us all. Hurry.”
“Wrong again, Fort commander, but you are more than welcome to try. you are forgetting something, however.” The Narrator continued.
As the Ice shard reached a second threshold, it jumped forward, its speed doubling again. The player’s attributes would determine if they could even see the Ice shard as it passed the third threshold. Even the Inquisitor lost sight of the first shard after the fourth threshold. He found it after the fifth, however, because after the fifth threshold, the shard looked like it came out of a wormhole into the thick shield, cracking it with sheer power and speed.
The crack began to seal up almost immediately; unfortunately for the fort, it wasn’t instantly. Another shard arrived.
CRACK!
This shard took a house-sized chunk off of the shield.
“As the broken piece of shield fell and started to dissipate slowly, the Inquisitor remembered why narrators before a battle were never a very good thing; in fact, they were omens of destruction.” The Narrator started.
“Because when a narrator speaks, they speak in past tense, which means it has already happened, and that narrator’s namesake survived, which means...” Jordan remembered his mother's lessons.
“For the Imperium,” Jordan said under his Breath. “Looks like I’ll die free, mama.”
The entire retinue of meteorites looked like they were all coming out of hyperspace, so they slammed into and decimated the shield.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
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{YOU HAVE DIED!}
{Your Fort has fallen, Your army has been razed, your phylacteries compromised.
You have Died FREE.}
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The whole valley was quiet for a second when the second part of the meteorites arrived just as fast, wiping the Fort and anything else in its way off the face of the map.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Leaving behind a canyon that leads to the sea a few miles away. Water started to flow into the canyon slowly at first but much more quickly when the waves came back in. Not another sound could be heard outside of the rushing water.
***
Felicia Fish
“Thank you for your participation in this slaughter.” The Narrator said, and Felicia looked at her son in shock.
Felicia stared at the massive ravine where the fort used to be in awe. The sheer power that should have taken would be well beyond even her. She understood synergy, but god damn, that was a cheat power. She had never felt an attack so powerful in her long life, and his -Will- was so oppressive. Words finally came to her mouth. “What, the fuck, was that?”
Peck Joy walked up next to her, smiling. “That, that was and is the -Will- of our Progenitor. Aren’t you glad you didn’t fight him now? You would have lost.”
Felicia had to agree with the Cleric. She looked at the water rushing towards them and smiled. "Get the Mancers here. We can take advantage of our Progenitor’s blessing." Peck Joy nodded and walked away, sending messages.
Felicia looked back at the collapsed cliffside. She said under her breath. “The will of our Progenitor indeed.” Her serious visage broke for the first time in years, and she genuinely smiled.