CHAPTER XXXXXIII: BIRDS OF A FEATHER
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{12:08 LOCAL TIME 2ND JULY 1ME}
UNCOMMON PERIOD
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FORT CHAVEZ NOBLE ROAD
SUGAR
Sugar looked to the skies to the west. She could almost smell the ocean water from where she stood. She closed her eyes as she centered herself. She brought up her character sheet to see what she was working with.
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< CHARACTER SHEET >
TOP PAGE
TITLES:
Team wipe survivor, Hero, Undead Bane.
PLAYER NAME: Sugar
LEVEL: 50 EXP to next level 0/11,000,000
Free EXP: 11,176,300
CASTE:Commoner(Classer) TRUE CLASS: Void Warlock
BASE CLASS: Void Druid(Mage)
RACE: Enhanced Human(T5)
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POOLS:
HP 260/260 regen 64HP per day
MP 1250/1250 regen 71MP per hour
DR 35/35 regen 5 per minute.
Vitality:~500 years
-Will-: 100, generation 5 per day
Perk Points: 10
RESISTANCES
Physical: 1% Magical: 10% Willpower: 3%
ATTRIBUTES:
Strength:703 Dexterity:765 Constitution:769 Magic:2.50 Intelligence:1720 Charisma:1599 Wisdom 5 Luck:1180
Free Attributes: 30
Current attribute gain per level:
True Class: +120 INT & CHA, +60 LUCK, +30 Free stats.
Class:+6 INT,+4 CHA,+2 LUCK
Title:+2 LUCK,+1 CON & DEX
Title: +1 per tier to Mental Stats(5)
Title: +3 to Physical Stats (5)
Combined: +131INT, +129 CHA, +69 LUCK, +16 CON & DEX +15 STR
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EFFECTS PAGE:
Leveling high
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SKILLS PAGE:
General:
Void Manipulation Mastery(N-1)
Spells:
Summon void familiar, Void bolt, Void Firebolt, Void shard, Void Long Gun, Void Bullets, Void gas ward, Void rain of fire, Void shield, Void Smite.
Trade:
Void Bomb style(3)
Title:
Danger sense.(N-7)
Skill points: 39
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ABILITY PAGE:
Specialist Abilities:
Mana sight, Mage Mana Shield(2)
Class Abilities:
Identify Humanoid, Limited Idiosyncratic Manipulation.
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ACTIVE PAGE
Quest:
STOP THE OUTBREAK V, The Void II, Cultivation I.
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PROFESSION PAGE:
Choose one
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MARKS:
Undead bane, Evolved Mark
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End of CS}
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She was Tier 5 and her power had gone up in leaps and bounds, she looked at her Spells again getting an idea of what she was working with. Her staff needed to be leveled up now.
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{Weapon Name: Void Staff
Weapon Type: Staff
Weapon Rank:(Platinum)(Upgradable)
Weapon Level: 1/4 EXP to next level 0/2500
Description: A black staff made by a dark cultivator who was trying to gain a mod that could give her a movement power. Staff eliminates the hand sign portion of casting.
Spell cost reduction: 20% per level
Weapon Damage: Base Damage: 40 Critical hit times 4 bonus damage to light-based combatants. Penalty to dark and death-based combatants. Damage doubles per level.
Bound to: Sugar
Rare Staff Mod: Utility Bonus; Void Slow
Platinum Staff Mod: LOCKED}
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Void Smite(Summon/Buff): The Void walker can call on the power of the Void above, when the call is answered a beam of shiny black light will descend and bath the area around the Void walker in Void light. While in this light, the Void walker cooldowns reset faster, and all Void spells are free and instant to cast. Afterward, all spells cost double for an hour.
Cast time: 100 seconds. Cost: 1000 mana & 10 -Will-. Damage increase: 25%. Cool down reset: 100%. Duration: 25 seconds. Cool down: 90 minutes. Requirements: Chant.
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Sugar’s plan started and ended with this Spell. She heard gasps and opened her eyes to see a flock of birds so big they covered a huge part of the western skies. She closed her eyes. She didn’t have much time. She started to cast Void Smite. A hundred seconds of casting was going to take the whole time the flock would take to make it to them. The energy built around her, and everyone on the overpass instinctually took a step back.
Sugar opened her eyes and chanted the last words of her empowering Spell, “Void Smite!” She was glad she kept her eyes closed because she was shocked at what she was looking at when she finally did look. As black light descended on her, empowering her, she assessed the situation quickly.
Each bird had a wing span of a World War I fighter plane, and they were as loud as one. They made a constant buzzing sound that was probably some mental attack, but they were too far away to affect the party yet. They were a condor of some kind with gray skin that would blend in with a cloudy sky. Her party was lucky; it was clear blue skies. Sugar didn’t take in the sight for to long, as others gawked at the flock, she deployed two formally prepared black cannons.
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{Major Void Long Gun (Conjured): A construct of a large-caliber gun classified as artillery, which launches Void projectiles using the Mana of the Void Warlock.
Cast time: 15 minutes. Deployment time: 3 seconds. Cost: 100 mana/10MP per shot. Duration: 3 hours. Damage: 2500 + I where I is intelligence. Projectile damage/10% knock-back. Effective Range: 500 meters. Cool down: 30 minutes. Requirements: chant, hand signs.}
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Just as the cannons hit the ground, Sugar gave them a mental command, and they swivel on target. She heard the first round fire, and she went to work on her other Spells. The cannons weren’t going to be enough.
“Void Rain of fire!” A rip in space opened up above the flock, and raindrops of black fire fell on the middle of the flock, causing catastrophic damage to their formation. Most die instantly because of weaknesses and her high intelligence fueling the Spell, but quite a few were just clipped and fell to their deaths due to their wings being useless from burning that lingered.
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Minor Void Rain of Fire (Active/Summon): A magic ward that opens an unstable portal to the void forest where it constantly rains Void fire. The portal explodes after it drops its payload of burning rain, doing additional damage.
Cast Time: 35 seconds. Cost: 75 mana. Damage: Variable + I where I is intelligence + Burn damage; variable. AOE: 200 meter radius. Range: 150-1000 meters. Cool down: 15 minutes. Requirements: chant and hand signs
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“Void bullets!” Not having to say the full spell chant was going to allow Sugar to get off all the spells at least once, she went with the one with the longest cool-downs first. Sugar pushed her palms out, and hundreds of bullets flew true after materializing in front of her.
The flock was in the process of regrouping when the barrage of black bullets ripped through them.
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Minor Void Bullets (Active): A barrage of concentrated void mana that can either chase the nearest enemies or fly straight for more damage. The speed of the bullets is the speed of sound.
Cast Time: 15 seconds. Cost: 30 mana & 1 mana per bullet. Damage: Minimum 55 + I where I is Intelligence, a 15% chance of bleeding, 10% Chance of poison, & 1% chance of necrosis. Range: 200 meters. Cool down: 5 minutes. Requirements: chant, hand gesture.
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The next three spells she could spam until her AOE spell was off of cool down.
“Void Firebolt!”
“Void Shard!”
“Void Bolt!”
She just kept shooting the closest birds with those three spells.
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{Minor Void Firebolt (Active) A piece of concentrated Void fire the size of a cricket ball.
Cast Time: Instant, Cost: 19-45 mana. Damage 700-2000 + I where I is intelligence. Range: 400 meters. Cool down: 5 seconds. Requirements: chant and hand gesture
Major Void Shard (Active): A short sword-sized piece of hardened Void shards.
Cast Time: 2 seconds Cost:21-52 mana. Damage: 680-1880 + I where I is intelligence and 50% chance of slow. Range: 600 meters. Cool down: N/A. Requirements: chant and hand gesture
Greater Void Bolt: A bowling ball-sized bolt of concentrated dark and death mana. Targets hit by bolts have their health regen Majorly slowed.
Cast Time: Instant. Cost:29-50 Mana. Damage:350-900 + I where I is intelligence. Range: 400 meters. Cool down: 3 seconds. Requirements: chant and hand signs.}
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It took one fire bolt and shard to kill one instantly, but anyone hit fell from the sky, and they were not tough enough to survive that.
The autocannons started firing at that point, and Sugar got another idea.
“Johnny, come here.” She said after the buff ran out, the weakness started to creep in.
Johnny ran up to her. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Let me see your magazine.”
“No magazine, ma’am. My mana creates and fires the round.” Johnny said.
“Well, let me try this.” She cast a spell for 45 seconds and touched Johnny’s rifle. “Void Gas ward!” She chanted. “Shot at the center of the flock.”
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{Minor Void gas ward (Active) A Mana script that can be placed on any surface. When triggered, an explosion of Void mana blasts out. After the explosion, the area around the ward is pumped full of void gas, afflicting anything nearby for 30 seconds.
Cast Time: 15 seconds Cost: 35 mana. Damage: 1000 + I where I is intelligence + environmental damage; variable. AOE: 10-100 meter radius. Range: 900 meters. Cool down: 75 seconds. Requirements: chant, hand signs, surface.}
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“Yes, ma’am.” Johnny turned to the flock, aimed, and fired into it. The sigil of the rifle dissolved once he fired the first round, and the effects were impossible to miss. A bird just became a puff of feathers, then a black explosion peppered the middle of the flock any birds that made it through fell to their deaths so after with no feathers. Johnny admired his handy work.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Good shot, Sergeant.” Sugar praised him. She then started to chant her Empower spell again.
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{SKILL NAME: Grand Void Manipulation Mastery(Passive)
SKILL LEVEL: Novice 1
DESCRIPTION: The void is not just a place but also an energy source. Mastery adds bonuses and proficiency to the particular power. Void Manipulation mastery adds a percentage to the damage of all void skills and other powers, as well as control per level. Mastery also allows the Player to evolve their Void powers over time.
SKILL EFFECT: +1% to all damage and accuracy of all void powers per Skill Level.
STUDENT EFFECT: When an enemy is killed by a Void attack or is killed while under a Void debuff, the Player and her teammates regain a slight amount of HP, MP, and DR.(-Will- if the target is over Tier 5)
NOVICE EFFECT: Player can reset one void skill per tier of Skill.}
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She used the Novice effect to reset her Void Smite, and for the second time in five minutes, darkness descended from the sky.
Rinse and repeat, and the flock of birds were only down to two massive condors that weren’t doing so well. Their grey-green bodies were covered in black void mana, eating away at their regen and slowing them. The beast didn’t seem to be in a position to retreat, so they both limped closer, hoping to kill the enemy responsible for wiping out their entire flock.
Johnny looked at them. Then, a tattoo flashed to life next to his eyes.
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{CREATION NAME: Identify Style
CREATION RANK: Peak Rare
CREATION DURABILITY: 900
CREATION TYPE: Spell(Active)
CREATION DURATION: 2 uses left.
Cool down: 1 hour.
RECHARGE COST & TIME: 3000MP & 90 minutes.
Description: By feeding mana into this tattoo, the player can identify objects and entities of Tier 5 and below fully and get basic information on Tier 6.
Cost: 58MP per use
RARE EFFECT: Map Mark; Anything identified will appear on the player’s map for an hour.}
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Johnny smiled and sent the prompt to his leader. I think we can handle the rest, ma’am.
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< IDENTIFY >
{Beast Name: Sky Condor Lord(Elite Flock leader)
Beast type: Bird
Level:59
HP:83,760/1,000,000
MP:153/500
DR:0/32000
A male bird of prey
EFFECTS: Semi Cripple. Bleeding, Burning, Enraged}
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< IDENTIFY >
{Beast Name: Sky Condor Lady(Horde Boss)
Beast type: Bird
Level:60
HP:800/1,300,000
MP:0/650
DR:0/40000
Description: A female bird of prey and leader of the wide beast horde.
EFFECTS: Semi Cripple. Bleeding, Burning, Enraged.}
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Sugar let out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding. The sheer destruction of her Spells while empowered was draining, but looking at her EXP gains, she thought it was well worth the fatigue. She looked back at her parents and found that they had stepped away from her, and her excitement faded. Her father did look sheepish, but her mother had a look of horror on her face.
“Oh, we definitely can take them down. I got this.” Valor said, not reading Sugar’s feelings at all. She pulled out her two swords, cocked them back, and threw them so fast that air kicked up and pushed everyone on the overpass back a few centimeters. Changing her parents' reactions to the woman built more like a model than an athlete.
The swords flew true and obliterated the heads of the majestic beasts in an instant, leaving behind bus-size, headless bodies falling to the ground. With a massive thud that could be heard even from a distance, they fell. The road went quiet.
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< ZONE EVENT COMPLETE >
EVENT NAME: Wild Beast Horde
DESCRIPTION: The continuous horde kept the beast population at bay at night, but now that it is done, the Beast has come out to play. A wild beast horde is forming, they will converge on population dense areas but prefer to go after groups in the wide. These are the biggest threats to Noble Road's integrity. The sheer number of Beast destroys anything in its way
Objective: Survive the Wild Beast horde.(1/1)
Objective: Save at least 51% of the group stuck in the Horde. (100%)(Complete)
Rewards: 700,000 EXP and free Noble road route(Choose from map ability or table).
{Way to Live Well}
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“Nice shot, Valor Damn! That is some good ass EXP.” Johnny broke the silence.
Sugar’s mouth was wide open. She looked back to her parents and mouthed ‘What the fuck?” They both chuckled and walked back to her with smiles, but then they sent their old, wary look at Valor. As a matter of fact, everyone was looking at Valor cautiously.
“Oh crap,” She realized, “I have no way of getting those swords back... for a bit at least. Good thing they are soul-bound.” She shrugged, oblivious to all of the looks around her. “I used my -Will- more than I needed to and threw them out of my range.”
“That was very impressive, baby girl.” Jack Sugar said, hugging his daughter.
“Brittney baby, what have you been through in these pass six months?” Mickie said as she looked over to Valor, “Better question: what has she seen in the last six months?”
Sugar had to agree. That was incredible. But power like that had to come with so many crazy experiences.
“I had my powers before the Breaking, actually,” Valor said from next to them all of a sudden.
Mickie yelped and fell back from the action. Valor's hands moved so fast that they blurred and caught her before Jack could react.
“If there was one thing the new world changed, it was gender did not determine strength. As a matter of fact, while size was often helpful in a strength build, most smaller people go with a dexterity build. The smartest people just go with their gut; you see, what does a two-meter-tall player who can move like the wind may not be the best build unless they have a high constitution? But a tiny girl with strength will always get the jump on their enemies.” Valor smiled as she pulled Mickie to her feet like she was a feather.
“Alright, let's pack it up and head home.” Sugar said to Johnny.
“Umm honey,” Mickie said a little shaken still.
“What's up, Mom?” Sugar said.
“Don’t you want all of the loot?” A flash of something crossed her mother’s face, but then it was gone.
Sugar almost answered right away but then paused. “Johnny?”
“Ma’am, we don’t have the manpower to collect, but these players are part of the nation, so I believe they fall under our loot rules,” Johnny said, looking at the area where the two bosses fell. “We can check those out.”
“Loot rules? Your stronghold had Loot rules? What kind?” Mickie said.
“You will have to become official citizens,” Johnny said with a cheeky smile.
“Of course we will. She is our daughter, and we won’t be leaving her at all ever again.” Jack said seriously.
Mickie glared at Jack, and Sugar figured out that she was just pretending earlier. ‘For a better negotiation position, really, mom?’ She thought.
Mickie’s attitude deflated after a second of awkward stares. “Well, of course, I support my daughter.” She got a bunch of deadpan stares. “What? I was trying to get a little extra crystals. I am a merchant.” It wasn’t an apology. Mickie Sugar doesn’t make apologies.
“Okay, Mom, these are the base nation rules.” Sugar shared the prompt with them.
She watched as her mother nodded slowly at the first few rules, she could see when her mom got to Taxes part of the document.
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< UNITED GAIAN NATION RULES MORTAL REALM >
Nation Rules
*No free labor(Force or otherwise).
*No forced sexual labor.
*Players can move freely through charter city-states/nations during nonhorde periods.
*All noble Classers must serve in the Military or Hunters at least 50 years(100 if they become officers), or until Tier 5(Tier 6 if they become an officers).
*All other Classers must serve at least 25 years(50 year if an Officer) or Tier 5(Tier 6 if an Officer)
*All Tier 5s and above can volunteer for service but must serve a minimum of 10 years at a time.(25 years for Officers)
< TAXES >
*50% base tax on all base profits on all transactions within the AOC and, to a limited extent, the AOI of the Stronghold. (Based on fair magical value calculated by the Game.) The percent will drop by 10% for every continent conquered by the Leader of the Military all the way down to a minimum of 10%.
*25% of all military loot is spread out back across the nation equally.
*25% of all tax revenue funds go towards bettering life and increasing opportunity for equal advancement for all citizens.
*25% of all tax revenue funds go to leadership who is responsible for maintaining the security of the city or nation-state through guards and the military.
*50% of tax funds will be sent higher.
*Healthcare and education will be paid for by the military loot and will be offered to every citizen as universal care.
< INDIVIDUAL >
*Oaths can not be sworn on a player’s life. Any such Oath can be broken by a noble Job holder.
*Oaths of service must have a maximum date of 10 years outside of the military.
Personal healers must make a reasonable attempt to offer aid to any mortally wounded players while in AOC.
Murder/Rape/statutory rape against any players on lands controlled by the United Gaian Nation is punishable by Death or Exile (after a fair trial).
Assault/armed Robbery/hate crimes against citizens are punishable by Exile(after a fair trial).
The nation will buy all Dungeon rewards not bound to any diver over the Peak Rare Tier. (Based on fair magical value calculated by the Game.)}
< WAR >
*Never starve out civilians or noncombatants; if it can be done safely, offer food and shelter outside of the City being sieged.
*All refugees that swear Oaths on their progression will be given citizenship after an Uncommon period as long as they help out with hordes.
< NOTE >
{These rules will be magically enforced fully within the AOC, partially in the AOI, and not at all anywhere else. Enforcement still requires players to execute arrests unless Golems are available in Stronghold.}
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“Fifty percent?” Mickie yelled. “Jack pack up your things, this cannot be our daughter, this woman is clearly a communist. We would have never raised that.” Mickie said dramatically.
Jack ignored her and asked his daughter, “How many players are in the stronghold, sweetheart?”
Sugar was a daddy’s girl, always was always will be, she wouldn’t lie to him. “Just over ten thousand one hundred, Daddy.”
“Oh, so we would be doubling your stronghold. Does that mean we don’t have a say?” Jack asked.
”No, without your ten thousand, we are just over one hundred.” Sugar said sheepishly.
“Wait,” Jack looked at the party with them. “Did you bring half of your fighting force to save us?”
Sugar loved it when her dad set her up for success. “Of course, you are my people.”
“Can we talk about this tax? Family discount.” Mickie shamelessly said.
“It will fall as we conquer more land,” Johnny said with confidence.
“Are you an idiot?”
“Mickie.”
“Mom!”
“No, seriously, it has been six months, and no one has conquered a continent, and they are growing; it will take decades to conquer one, let alone the four it would take to get down to a reasonable tax rate,” Mickie said.
“The spoils are shared with everyone,” Jack said
“I do admit that is good, but... but wait, did you say we were the ten thousand?”
Sugar nodded.
“Ohh, it is all good, Jack. Can you have your guards escort our loot extraction teams, please?” Mickie said calmly and in charge.
“Yes, dear!” Jack turned to his second when he heard Valor laugh.
“What?” Mickie said, feeling a little self-conscious around the powerful woman.
“You don’t get it. My Uncle Clyde is no ordinary leader. He leads the JTF, and he will conquer all the continents, and he will do it in no time, I have no doubt.” Valor said excitedly. “Be very glad he is on our side.”
“You work with the Colonel?” Jack asked.
“We are certainly birds of a feather.” Valor said in a singsong voice.
***
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TRIAL TIME 07:23:29
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IMPERIAL BAY
COLONEL
Colonel was heavily breathing on his back on the shore of the island. He had to swim the entire way to the island, and he really wished he had a swimming skill or trade, even with his stats the swim almost broke him mental and physically. Kekere flew lazily above him; he wanted to glare at her, but he knew through their bond that she had her own struggle getting to the island. The world itself was pushing them back mentally, physically, and spiritually somehow.
His chest rose and fell in long, heavy, and deep gulps of air. Even having a constitution and dexterity in the four-digit range didn’t help him at all. He had wondered why the Matriarch had struggled to swim herself. Now he knew the water actively pushed against the player, it was like swimming up stream in a white water rafting course. The only blessing was nothing attacking him during his long swim. To be honest, he probably would have let whatever had attacked him to kill him he was so damn tired. He laughed dryly at that.
After about an hour of recovery, he rolled over and sat up. He checked out the island. It wasn’t very big, about a small city block. It had three structures on it. A house that glowed in Colonel’s mana sight, almost blinding him, he often forgot he had it toggled on, and the cost kept going up.
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< ABILITY TIER UP >
+25 INT, +15 CON, +10 LUCK
{ABILITY NAME: Mana Sight(Toggle)
ABILITY LEVEL: Journeyman 0
ABILITY DESCRIPTION: The ability to see the flow of mana in the world, which includes creatures and beings. Seeing the flow of mana gives the Specialist a better understanding of their environment. Levels when seeing new types and uses of Mana.
Cost: 100 MP per hour
STUDENT EFFECT: See high concentrations of all Mana types.
NOVICE EFFECT: Get a basic idea of what the Mana is being used for.
APPRENTICE EFFECT: See lingering Mana residue. Tracking Mana signatures offers a Greater deal of information.
JOURNEYMAN EFFECT: See elemental affinities in the Mana and Essence.}
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He had Tier it up twice in the last week, and he wasn’t very impressed with the effects at first, but after asking Peck Joy about the meaning of the Mana tracking, he found out how rare it was. Most players have to get a spell or tracking skill to track entities in the GREAT GAME. But mana tracking and being able to see Mana residue meant that Colonel just needed time, and he could get a ton of information on anything with Mana, which was everything now. It was also a Significant deal of information before it Tiered up, so that meant he would need less and less information as it continued to level up.
The problem was filtering out that information. His brain almost exploded by looking at the house, but the Tier-up saved him a ton of pain and possibly his life; he wasn’t sure if his high constitution was high enough to prevent him from dying from an exploding brain; he doubted it.
The house was made of Essence, and that surprised Colonel, but it shouldn’t have. He was in a cultivator trial. Yet he was still in awe. Mana has many states, but it falls into four categories.
The base form was just Mana. It was everywhere in the universe and was similar to a gas state if matter was used as a reference.
The next state of Mana was Tier 5 energies internal Mana, or the liquid state, as a player gained -Will-, -Intent-, -Growth-, -Stamina-, -Inspiration- etc., their hearts pump it through their body slowly changing the player into a better version of themselves, Liquid is the easiest of the states to manipulate.
The third state was Essence the plasma state, Essence was Mana in its most concentrated form while still being flexible. Essence always attracted more Essence, the higher the concentration of Essence the more entities will try to control it.
Essence is the most abundant state of Mana in the multiverse; it just was mostly concentrated outside of the Mortal realm of each Celestial body's Spirit, which was why he was so surprised that an entire house was made out of it. Not only was it supposed to be impossible it seemed to be deliberately suppressing the zone by converting the ambient Mana into Essence to fuel the Cultivator’s power.
“Colonel had just figured out another secret of the world because of his cheat abilities and bonuses.” The Narrator said, allowing all the pieces to fall into place.
His Presence filled in information he wouldn’t have known without it being active, and Glimpse made the hidden information understandable when combined with his other observation powers.
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{Ability NAME: Active Presence(Active/Triggered)
Ability Level: MAX
Everything in the GREAT GAME has a Presence. A Presence is a part of all matter, from a grain of sand to an Elder Dragon. The Presence is the magic within everything and how it all connects. A Player's Presence grows denser as they age and grow in power. For all things in the multiverse the Presence is a constant, while there are skills and Abilities to read them, and hide them, they are just a constant representation of ones power. The higher a player’s power, the heavier their fully relaxed Presence is. Most have some control over the weight they can and would not exert on others and the world around them.
You are a different case, Prime Legacy. For creating a Nascent race, the first ever created in the GREAT GAME, you have full control over your Presence. While a player's Presence is more like a muscle to most Players, yours is an Ability to quantify its powers and mastery.
All information that enters your Presence helps you perceive your surroundings without using any of your conventional senses. The player can manipulate their presence any way they like as long as the total size stays the same.
Active Cost: 100 mana per second per tier.
Passive cost: 10 -WILL- a day
MAX EFFECTS:
Significant control over your Presence
Chance of instantly gaining information from anything that enters his Presence.
You can read the Tier and Level of any Presence below Tier 13
Your Presence grows with Tier.}
< GAME FIRST NOTE >
{Game First rewards are broken, period. Find ways to exploit them to make the game more fun for us all and LIVE WELL or don’t, and DIE FREE.}
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DIAMOND BONUS: Utility; Glimpse: 99% chance to see through subterfuge}
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All in all the information he got had him come to one conclusion. “This house is the reason this island is a capped zone on a Runic world,” Colonel said under his breath. That was when his still-tired mind exploded with prompts.
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< SECRET QUEST COMPLETE >
{Quest Name: Zone Suppression I
Quest Type: Secret Chain
Description: The Mortal realm of every Celestial has many secrets, but the most hurtful one is zone suppression. When an outside entity enters the Mortal realm of any Celestial body with too much power, the Zone will cap itself in order to force the powerful entity to Ascend or be limited in growth. This usually has mixed results but almost always forces the hand of the entity.
Requirements: Find the Source of the suppression. (Complete)
Objective: Find clues on why players were so weak in the zone. (Complete)
Rewards: 13,000,000 EXP, 13,000 Pure Essence, 100 Perfect Diamond Mana stones, Quest: Zone Suppression II.
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A huge grin formed on Colonel’s face. Good EXP. I'm not sure how good the Essence was, but another quest was something he was looking forward to. Still catching his breath, he opened the next chain in the quest.
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< SECRET QUEST COMPLETE >
{Quest Name: Zone Suppression II
Quest Type: Secret Chain
Description: Zone Suppression both protects the denizen of a zone, but also hurts their growth and denies them critical information and protections.
Requirements: Destroy the Source of the suppression.
Objective: Find a way to destroy the house.
Rewards: EXP, Essence, Your People’s Freedom, 2 Free Technique Arts slots, Zone Suppression III.
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‘Nice and easy.’ Colonel thought before wincing, he didn’t want to jinx himself.
He caught his breath and stood up. He walked over to the house and saw a tendril of Essence snaking off the house and connecting to the other two structures on the island. One was a cage the size of a two-car garage, and the other was the vault the size of a bedroom.
The cage had a female Mermaid in it looking at Colonel like he had the last bottle of water in the desert and had used it to wash his hands instead of giving it to the clearly dehydrated lady.
The vault, on the other hand, was sucking in Essence from the house at a prodigious rate, and it was doing it faster now that Colonel was here. As a matter of fact, as he got closer, the flow of the Essence increased even to the point that the house started to dim noticeably.
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< QUEST UPDATED >
{Quest Name: The Queen’s Vault II
Quest Type: Secret Chain
Description: When The Imperium came to Serenity for balance, the Game gave the Mermaid Queen a Vault. Whoever shall open this vault will be given a great power that will expel the enemy. In classic GREAT GAME style, however, the Queen and that Vault were captured by the Imperium, and for the last few centuries, they have been trying to open it. Where they have failed, you have succeeded.
Requirements: Open the vault
Objective 1: Use the key to unlock the vault. (Touch the vault)
Rewards: EXP, Essence, Stronghold upgrade mark.
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Colonel ignored the woman who was glaring at him and walked over to the glowing vault. Kekere landed on his shoulder, tired but alert. He patted her head with his left hand and reached out for the vault with his right. The vault seemed to sense it and sucked his hand in so quickly that Colonel couldn’t react.
“Fuck!” He cursed as his HP, MP, DR, -Will- and even his Free EXP started to fall at a ridiculous rate. “Shit, shit, shit! Good job, Clyde. Now you are going to die because you just wanted to touch a shiny thing. What, are you, a damn goblin.” He complained.
His DR was the first to empty, and the island suppression hit him like a truck. He fell to his knees, Kekere falling with him with a squawk. He looked at her and saw her DR pool was empty as well. He firmed his mind as it was being assaulted by whatever the suppression was. He gritted his teeth and stood up. Then his MP bottomed out, and he blacked out for a second. He hadn’t even made it to his knees when he caught himself and stood. HP stopped at 1, which made him sweat for Kekere. He was sure he would respawn, but his bird companion, he had no idea. His -Will- started to tick down with the thought. A billion EXP was lost in this entire time and Colonel absently wondered if he would get any of that back. The Free EXP stopped falling at 2 billion even he deadpanned his HUD, it had taken over six billion EXP he had accumulated over the last week.
His -Will- going down was taking the burden off of the other pools, but once it was gone, all the Essence he had earned evaporated in an instant, and while he didn’t know what it was, or what it did, or even how much was a lot, he was pissed. Somehow he knew that the game had taken a lot from him.
“This is some bullshit,” Colonel said with a chuckle as he gritted his teeth. The power draw stopped, but he still couldn’t remove his hand. He sat there with his hand stuck to the vault for a full hour before anything happened.
The silence was broken by the woman finally. “Who are you, and what are you doing? That elf has been trying to open up that vault for over three centuries.”
“I am your Progenitor Queen. I will free you soon, and I’ll let you out.” Colonel said, not looking at the mermaid.
“No need.” She said from right next to him. “When the power of the house was siphoned off, the cage lock broke. Thank you, human.”
“My name is Colonel Clyde Jacob, my Queen; give me a second to free myself, and we can work on getting off this island before the owner returns.” Colonel tried to pull his hand away from the vault, but it was still stuck.
“Why would I do that?” The queen said. “I thank you for freeing me as inadvertently as that may have been, but I refused to be caught again. I have been in that cage for centuries. I will pass on your last words. I can do you this one favor.” She said seriously.
“Okay,” Colonel was not one to argue with a survivalist even if they were going to leave him high and dry. He had never counted on her anyway. ”Tell Peck Joy and Felicia their Queen just left her savior to die, please, and thank you.” He said without looking at her. He wasn’t going to argue with her, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to be annoyed. He could feel her in his Presence as her mood changed rapidly becoming hostile.
The Queen’s teal-colored skin and emaciated body shook with anger. “You expect me to get caught again helping you break into something beings much more powerful than you have tried and failed to do? Do you think you can even open that? You’re barely a Tier 5-”
CRACK!
...HISS...
The Vault opened with a hiss. As the house behind Colonel crumbled to dust.
“Yes. Yes, I do.” Colonel said with small smirk, he turned to her, only to see that she didn’t even have anything to say, she just stared at him with fear, spun on her heels, and took off in a flat sprint towards the water.
“Seriously!” Colonel complained. “Nobles, am I right?” He sighed, then his hand was released from the Vault, and prompts hit everyone on the island of Serendipity.