Tsurra felt the power growing at the tip of his dagger with the pronouncement of each mystical syllable. His connection to the sacrificial spell was absolute, the words written onto his very Core. He had cast the spell so frequently, that concentration on his part was barely required. Still, it was essential for each arcane phrase to be uttered correctly, so he gave the spell his full attention. As the power built, his blade began thrusting for blood with an animalistic need. It demanded a killing stroke.
It had taken Tsurra weeks and countless forays above ground to finally lure enough of the local population into the Forsaken Tomb. Oh, how his power would be amplified countless times over once the work was done! Tsurra’s eyes were wide with bloodlust as he continued to chant, each word growing in volume. He knew if he held a mirror to his face, the gleam in his normally midnight eyes would now be shining the same sanguine color of his most beloved treasure; the Dread Hecatomb Jewel. How fortune had favored him the day he uncovered the legendary artifact. After reading its description, he knew his prayers had been answered. He would finally, after nearly a year of searching, gain the ability to ascend past this world. He would finally leave this rabble behind.
It was all beneath him. Everything and everyone in this world was nothing but fodder to Tsurra. Any Hunter to come before him could only have dreamt of possessing even a fragment of the power soon to be coursing through his veins. Oh, how great it would be. His quest was nearly complete.
Tsurra knew, of course, that thousands of other Hunters had ascended past this world before him. Sure, those other weaklings had amassed enough experience and located powerful enough magic to be able to cross the prime threshold, but such concern no longer held sway over him. No, Tsurra would be the first, he was sure of it, to ascend without first reaching the level cap locked into the very coding of this world.
So, when his Accelerator sounded a warning in his mind, Tsurra did not worry. Worry was beneath him. Before enacting the final component of his grand work, he had used spells to ensure no Hunter was around who possessed the strength necessary to challenge him. Those spells had alerted Tsurra many hours ago that the Nemesis Hunter, known casually as Duke to those unfortunate enough to cross words with him, was nearby. So, Tsurra had laid low, enclosing this ancient place of worship in dampening magic. The Nemesis Hunter’s Accelerator may have sensed something was building within the ambient magic, but Tsurra knew this alone would not keep his attention for long. Had the Nemesis Hunter found out about what he was about to do, Tsurra would have paid for the mistake with his life. Duke would have taken the power for his own, as he too was searching for a way to ascend. All Hunters were.
Through the use of one of his many abilities as a Death Sire, Tsurra found it child’s play to hide himself from those preying eyes. Once he was assured Duke was beyond the range of his grand work, Tsurra continued onwards with the sacrificial component of this ultimate quest. The ritual would soon be completed.
Through the grapevine, for even Tsurra himself would occasionally converse with other Hunters, he had learned Duke endeavored to find this World’s ‘Prime Accelerator,’ but the man’s hopes would never bear fruit. Tsurra had chuckled at the thought for he had long since uncovered the truth. Duke’s dreams were based on nothing more than myth and fantasy. Only weak-willed Hunters would place their hopes on smoke and mirrors.
Before deciding to become a Hunter, Tsurra had ruled over a defunct world. Life was only barely sustained by the vast fortune he had inherited from his father. When he finally decided to end such a tedious life, Tsurra scoured every database he could regarding the Prime Worlds soon available to him as an Initiate Hunter. Sure, the entire process had cost him his entire fortune, but Tsurra knew he would earn it back tenfold. Perhaps a hundred-fold! He needed only to ascend. Then all of his dreams, anything he desired, would open up before him like dominos.
Tsurra chose Prime World ‘Echo’ for the simple fact it had the largest ratio of successful ascensions. Upon his arrival, Tsurra himself had sought out this mysterious Prime Accelerator. Like many before him, it had sparked his imagination. He was confident he would be the one to find it. Then his name would be spoken with reverence by every single sentient being across the universe. This truly was the greatest Game ever devised. His fame, fortune, and power would become vast and endless. But, alas, even if the legends held some modicum of truth, Tsurra knew no one would ever find the unique Accelerator. He was sure of it.
So, he turned his attention to what could help him achieve his goal. When he finally found the Hecatomb, after a thrilling victory over a Juggernaut Fiend, Tsurra knew his time had finally arrived. Through it, his defining quest has been laid out before him. In the weeks to follow, slowly but inexorably, Tsurra had sacrificed ninety-one of the one hundred and one souls required. And, within a few minutes time, he would complete this seemingly impossible task. It took a great deal of planning, with ample expenditure of his in-game wealth, but he proved capable of following the painstaking steps necessary to reach this point.
The only obstruction to his grand work had been how damnable hard it was to keep these non-player characters alive. Well, if he was honest with himself, Tsurra was far too eager to maim and murder without any real provocation. Worry not, he often chided himself, for Tsurra knew whenever an NPC reached the end of his pitiful life, the Game itself would reach across the stars to grab another witless victim to restock the recently deceased.
It was only in recent days that Tsurra finally had enough entranced souls in his grasp to complete his task. With the sacrifice of exactly one hundred and one souls, the first prime number beyond one hundred, the jewel would be empowered and Tsurra would be able to call upon its power to ascend.
No one could stop him now. Duke would never retrace his steps. The man was too proud of that. He would continue only in a singular direction. He was one to never look back over his shoulder. So, when yet another warning sounded from his Accelerator, Tsurra was momentarily startled. Perhaps it was some noble villager, who came to rescue his beloved or some other such nonsense.
“Leave now,” Tsurra croaked to whatever hero had arrived, not bothering to turn around. His incantation allowed for slight pauses, so he wasn’t concerned. “You will only find your blood quickly cooling on the stonework if you continue to bother me.”
Tsurra wasn’t one to give long-winded speeches. It was better to be direct and if the misguided fool wouldn’t heed his word, then his formidable magic would finish the dross off. It had happened countless times before and would again. Though, such an occurrence would soon take place on the surface of another world! A smile creased his cruel lips.
An intense flare from his magical protection caused Tsurra no small irritation. “Fine…” But, before he could continue, his aegis flared brightly as a coating of frost formed over it, disappearing quickly thereafter. Tsurra pondered the cause for an instant. His potent aegis had saved Tsurra’s life numerous times. Its resilience was rooted in the strength of his formidable mana pool.
If he allowed the interloper to continue, if Tsurra’s mana became depleted, the ritual magic would fail and count for nothing. He could start over, of course, though a part of him wondered if the raging magic in the gem wouldn’t destroy itself first. No matter, it wasn’t going to happen.
Nothing short of a catastrophic physical blow or brutal spell attack could hope to breech his empowered aegis. Not while he had a drop of mana coursing through him. Tsurra had ensured those reserves would never empty, pouring nearly every point into his intelligence and wisdom attributes as he leveled. Seeing his mana bar dip notably from whatever had struck his shield, a tiny inkling of fear inched up his spine. It quickly evaporated; such was Tsurra’s confidence in himself. Instead of an actual threat to him, what was happening likely had a far simpler explanation. This intrusion was probably nothing more than some worthless villager who brought some weapon of significance to bear. A useless gesture, though it did elevate his annoyance, nonetheless.
Tsurra sighed before turning to face whatever peon had dared challenge him in his time of greatness. He would need to pause his ritual, sure, but after a glance at his quest timer, he had plenty to spare. As long as he continued to sacrifice one soul every five minutes at this point, Tsurra had nothing to worry about.
Like a beast turning to swat a fly, Tsurra began gathering magical energy on his fingertips. Perhaps seeing a mouse torn apart by one of his ravaging undead would bring a smile to his cruel lips. “Yes,” Tsurra thought aloud. “Let’s show this fool the cost of drawing my ire.”
[Lesser Raise Undead Thralls] (*Specialized*) Death energy empowers up to ten recently defeated foes, creating undead thralls that follow your every command. The thralls last until destroyed or up to a maximum of 1 hour. Additionally, thralls will always match your Hunter level, though it can only reach a maximum level of 20 at this time. Cost: 1000 mana. Cast Time: 5 seconds. Cool down: 1 hour. Plus 2 Strength, plus 1 Dexterity, and plus 2 Constitution per spell level for the minion. Additionally, for every two levels of the spell, the thrall’s maximum level is increased by plus 1. Specialized Effect added, ‘Empowered Minion’ buffed.
‘Empowered Minion’ – Greatly enhances the base strength, constitution and fighting potential of each thrall.
The words to his raise undead thralls froze in his throat as Tsurra gasped. When he had turned, Tsurra expected to see some young pup grasping his father’s sword. Instead, what greeted his bloodshot eyes was an impossibility. Whoever had attacked him was a Hunter! The nameplate confirmed this in an instant.
“…Hunter Killer,” Tsurra read aloud, his mind only then catching up to what he saw before him. But, how could this be?! Tsurra had scoured the surface with his practiced divination magic and he was sure only Duke had been nearby. How did he miss what was clearly an initiate Hunter?
At the other end of the chamber, opposite Tsurra, stood a man. No, a half-elf Tsurra identified after briefly inspecting the Hunter. This pompous fool was barely the age of maturity, so how had he acquired the funds necessary to enter a Prime World? The half-elf child wore a dark cloak which cast his body in shadow, though the gleam of magical armor hinted on his chest. Tsurra didn’t dwell on it for more than a moment, however. Whatever this fool carried would soon become Tsurra’s. He knew the rewards attainable by PvP combat. He had once earned such prize himself. He would do so again, it seemed.
The next oddity to catch Tsurra’s attention was the dual-headed battle axe stuck fast in his aegis. It confused him why the fool would throw away what was obviously a powerfully enchanted weapon. Still, even an intensely empower weapon should have bounced right off his shield. Yet, the magic contained within the battle axe, lightning mixed with a hint of frost by the look of it, had actually penetrated the barrier. Not entirely though. If not for his aegis, such a mighty blow may have landed squarely in Tsurra’s back. The lack of awareness of Tsurra’s potent defense could explain why the fool had tossed away something so powerful.
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The third marvel Tsurra noticed was the giant skeleton fearlessly charging towards him, a great sword held high. It was no ordinary undead too, Tsurra deduced quickly considering the wealth of knowledge he had from his undead minions. The tendrils of dark energy binding the minion’s bones together were obviously top-tier. Tsurra smiled inwardly, for the Hunter’s minion had reminded him of his original intent at the start of this battle. So, without concern, Tsurra restarted his casting.
It was clear the man behind the imposing skeleton warrior was in the process of casting his spell, but Tsurra had nothing to fear. Not as long as his aegis held. Even with the small hole the magical axe had created, nothing would be able to harm him. The breach was too narrow and a Hunter this new wouldn’t yet know how to adjust his spell’s trajectory. Still, any Hunter worth his salt shouldn’t be underestimated. Grinning wickedly, Tsurra regained his composure and confidence. Let’s see how this fool handles Tsurra’s undead charging him down.
Fight fire with fire, as it were, Tsurra thought to himself as his incantation neared completion.
The challenger completed his spell first, a bolt of dark energy twisting towards Tsurra and faster than a diving hawk. To Tsurra’s utter amazement, the spell changed its angled as if by its own accord, to fly through the meager hole the Hunter’s battle axe had created. Only years of practice enabled Tsurra to maintain his concentration on his spellcasting.
A debuff appeared in the corner of Tsurra’s vision. ‘Decaying Scent,’ it read and with it a five-minute timer counting down. Whatever the spell did would have to wait, Tsurra needed to complete his own spell-casting. As the towering skeleton began slashing at the magical barrier, Tsurra completed his thrall spell. Dark vines of necrotic energy reached out from his fingers and wormed into the bodies of the ten nearest corpses. Tsurra arched his back in pleasure as the connection completed, mana pouring out of him to bring undeath to those recently deceased. His mana dropped by over a thousand points, but he was more than enough to end this fool and complete his ritual. With sudden, twitching movements, ten animated thralls rose to their feet. The power of the spell would grant them inhuman strength and constitution, as well as talons capable of rending steel.
“Let’s see how you manage these,” Tsurra said with well-founded arrogance. This Hunter’s doom had arrived, he simply didn’t know it yet.
Then the final peculiarity appeared, acutely pressing into Tsurra’s awareness. Like a hammer blow from a thrown boulder, something crashed into his aegis protecting his flank. In the past, his empowered aegis would have allowed the force of the impact to transfer into him, though the actual damage would only drain away some of his mana. Realizing this glaring weakness for what it was, Tsurra had long ago mended the vulnerability. Still, the force of the impact was enough to stagger the normally immovable Aegis.
Turning to see what had caused the mighty blow, Tsurra witnessed black-talon fury tearing through the protective field with three separate pairs of legs. Taking a second to comprehend what he was seeing, Tsurra stared in amazement as a thickly muscled beast latched itself onto his Aegis. It hung there like it was on the back of a bewilder beast. The beast’s jaw was firmly clamped down, holding it in place, as the creature raked viciously over and over. At the same time, a pair of tentacles attached to the feline’s shoulders slammed down, again and again.
Tsurra eyed his rapidly falling mana bar and, for the first time, felt true fear. The sheer amount of damage the cat was capable of doling out was staggering. How had this Hunter not only acquired a powerful skeletal minion, but also a six-legged monstrosity? It was obvious his foe was a newly initiated Hunter, likely only a few ‘game days old’ by the look of him but, still, this shouldn’t be possible. Not even Tsurra himself had advanced so quickly. With both the skeletal minion and the beast attacking his shield, it wouldn’t take long to bring it down, even considering his ample mana pool.
Tsurra was prepared for such eventualities, however. With a thought, a peerless mana potion appeared in his hand and he downed it quickly. The sugary sweet liquid caused his mana pool to refill instantly, thereby repairing any damage his opponents had caused thus far. He had several of those potions at the ready, though he couldn’t use them in quick succession. As the potency of the potion soaked into him, Tsurra’s aegis expelled the magical axe to fall harmlessly to the ground. It vanished shortly thereafter, but Tsurra cared little. He had a Hunter to kill and rewards to harvest.
In his time, Tsurra had only defeated a single Hunter. True player versus player was something of a rarity, though the rare achievement was incredibly rewarding. Like any sane Hunter, it came down to risk versus reward. Each Hunter received wondrous new powers when they paid for the right to live in the Universal Games. The spells and abilities Hunters received during their initiation were mostly random, and it was impossible to tell beforehand how fortunate, or unfortunate, a Hunter would become when the System took over.
It wasn’t unheard of for Hunters to be granted fantastic and, sometimes, overpowered abilities. Tsurra had been fortunate enough to earn one himself. Since the System rewarded Hunters in so many other ways, it was usually too much of a risk for PvP to run rampant. In Tsurra’s case, he had only killed another Hunter after a perfectly planned and executed ambush.
Here though, there was no choice in the matter. Only one of them was going to walk out of here alive, and Tsurra was determined it would be him. He was owed for the trillions he had spent to get to this point. His entire inheritance had been depleted, but it was worth it. This fool didn’t know who he was dealing with, but he would soon regret the intrusion.
“Die,” Tsurra uttered, the simple word commanded his thralls to destroy the interlopers. With guttural screams, they rushed to do his bidding. At his mental bidding, three thralls each went to the skeletal minion and the great cat, with the remaining four barreling toward the opposing Hunter. Tsurra wasn’t content enough to stop there. This cretin had challenged him, in his place of glory, and he would die screaming!
Tsurra called upon his Infernal Blessing and prepared another spellcasting. Hellfire would soon fall. There would receive no mercy this day. Death had come and this paltry Hunter was doomed.
As he was about to intone his spell from the ether, Tsurra amended his previous command, connecting to an individual thrall telepathically. The Hunter was the greatest threat, he recognized, put him down and his minions would soon follow. So, Tsurra diverted an additional thrall originally tasked to the Hunter’s skeletal minion to its master instead. Five unrelenting minions should be more than enough to finish him.
Confident in his tactics, Tsurra completed his most powerful spell, unending hellscape, targeting the foe posing the biggest threat to his aegis. The large beast was doing the most damage to his aegis, so it would be wise to bring this particular foe down before it had the chance to disturb him further. A three-foot-wide blast of fiery energy rocketed out from Tsurra and engulfed the obsidian cat.
[Lesser Unending Hellscape] A thick beam of hellfire shoots from your hand to engulf any target in the path of its destruction, causing 3,000 plus 10n spell damage, where ‘n’ equals intelligence. Range: 20 feet. Cost: 750 mana. Cast Time: 5 seconds. Cool down: 2 days. Plus 1 foot maximum range, plus 50 base damage, and 2% chance to disintegrate the target per spell level.
One down, two to go, Tsurra thought to himself. Ever confident, this particular spell was powerful enough that there was no need to confirm the kill. It always snuffed out the life of lower-level foes. The oversized feline would be no different. Tsurra turned back around, and to his amusement, found he had underestimated the Hunter’s skeletal minion. The impressive creature had made swift work of the pair of thralls sent its way. Both now sat motionless on the ground where they had fallen, their heads cleanly severed.
“Fine,” Tsurra blurted out with clear frustration. “Take three more then!” With a simple mental command, Tsurra ordered the three thralls previously assigned to the cat to engage with the skeleton. Three inhuman growls escaped from their cadaverous lips as the thralls charged their new target. Two quickly approached the warrior minion, talons poised, while the third lagged behind as it limped forward. It had a long furrow down its leg, likely destroying the muscle underneath. It also bore several of those nasty-looking barbs on its face. Apparently, the feline beast had done some considerable damage before it had been incinerated. No matter.
As Tsurra prepared a new beam of destructive magic, the skeleton once more showed the fortitude it possessed. Whatever spell or skill had summoned it must have been quite powerful. Tsurra would inquire further when its master was dead. In rapid fashion, one of the newly assigned thralls had already been cleaved in half, right down from shoulder to groin. It had cost the warrior somewhat though, for the other thrall was taking great chunks out of its back dealing considerable damage in its own right.
From the corner of his eye, Tsurra spotted the Hunter fending off his thralls with swipes of the powerfully enchanted axe before he lost sight of him behind one of the wide columns. The Hunter shouted out an arcane word so powerful it shook the air around him. One of his skills no doubt, but it was all for naught. No matter his tricks, no one could defend themselves from five simultaneous attackers. Hell, even Tsurra himself would be hard-pressed. Though, perhaps not when he considered his empowered aegis.
Hopefully, the thralls would leave enough of a corpse to allow Tsurra to reanimate the meddlesome Hunter’s body. Grinning, Tsurra took aim once more at the warrior minion. Arcane phrases were pronounced with the utmost confidence while his hands shifted through complicated movements.
An explosion of light and fire raced outwards from behind the pillars at the far end of the underground sanctuary. A fireball-like spell, Tsurra knew. The impudent Hunter detonated the spell so close to himself, meaning it likely damaged him more than the thralls! What a fool. He was about to bring true death to the minion when something unimaginable, impossible really, happened. An all too familiar shadow landed atop his aegis. Massive claws tearing ribbons into the protective dome once more.
The cat, Tsurra screamed in his mind. That’s impossible!
Tsurra glanced upwards in disbelief and unbridled rage. Nothing should have been able to survive his apocalyptic blast. At least, nothing short of a demi-god. The spell’s cool down was measured in days, not minutes, due to its sheer potency. How had the cat survived his only legendary rarity spell? It made no sense. Thankfully, Tsurra’s keen eyes swiftly identified the beast had not gone unscathed. A quarter of its body showed the effects of the baleful immolation. Tsurra was sure his aim hadn’t been off, he saw the spell land with his own eyes!
Anger within Tsurra boiled away his disbelief, even as he witnessed the cat’s tentacles slamming repeatedly against his aegis, leaving rows of glistening barbs behind. All the while, the damned beast raked furiously with those wickedly sharp claws. He had time enough though to eradicate this irritating foe. Tsurra’s raptor gaze locked onto the beast as he began chanting another spell.
As he neared the completion of his spell, a great crack resounded from behind but Tsurra, ever the professional, did not allow the distraction to ruin his concentration. Mana rushed out of him as his magic took shape in reality. A thick stream of molten hot lava shot from his outstretched hand, slamming into the underbelly of the great cat. He had to turn his head from the extreme heat and blinding brilliance, but the work was done. The annoying beast was surely dead this time.
Tsurra turned in time to see the Hunter’s skeletal minion’s great sword tear through the only standing thrall. Like the felling of a tree, snapping bones created a cacophony of sound. Tsurra’s mind whirled! How was the minion still alive when its master was surely dead by now? As the thought crossed his mind, eruptions similar to the breaking of a dam blasted from the end of the room. Showering out in all directions, concentrated jets of boiling liquid thundered outwards. Wherever the liquid landed, the stone sizzled.
Then Tsurra saw him.
Torn and bleeding from a dozen wounds, the Hunter walked confidently down the middle of the room. Even as Tsurra appraised the status of his enemy, the hemorrhaging wounds began to close. With a shout, the Hunter threw his battle axe with all his might.
Tsurra knew he needed to stop the flight of the powerful weapon, his Accelerator was screaming a warning about how low his defenses were from the punishing onslaught it had been enduring. He needed time enough to drink another potion. All of this passed through his mind in an instant, time being his greatest advisory now. In a flash, he enacted his only instantaneous spell. A beam of destructive magic, like twin fire serpents coiled around each other, lanced forward to meet the approaching projectile. The two collided, flames engulfing the tumbling axe. The beam struck – and was overpowered.
Tsurra stared in disbelief as the axe shattered what remained of his aegis before landing with a sickening thud. “No,” the word barely escaping his trembling lips as a cold embrace began to shroud his senses.
“You deserve no less,” were the last words Tsurra heard before darkness claimed him.