Perhaps there would be some enjoyment to be found this day, though Duke was doubtful as even the magically inclined elves didn’t normally present much of a challenge. Still, perhaps he would be surprised, and some fledgling archmage may be nearby. Duke had no cause to attack the tree city of Quarris, other than for some sport and the off chance something worthwhile would appear, but such moralities never stopped Duke in his quest for true power. Since reaching the maximum level for his prime world, a partly thirty levels, he had really only a singular objective. He needed to ascend.
Ascension was the elusive goal every Hunter sought, though rarely accomplished. Only the strongest of their kind achieved what trillions of people could only dream of. Or, at the very least, live vicariously through Hunters like Duke through the Universal Game broadcast. Based on his reputation numbers, trillions did watch Duke and had been following him tirelessly through the years. All to watch Duke rise above the masses. With a successful ascension rate of roughly twenty-five percent, most of the rich elites brave enough to enter the Games would fine only ruin and death. The greater the risk, the greater the reward, and Duke had some damned grand aspirations for his future.
Duke had already been a quadrillionaire before electing to become a Hunter, having inherited enough wealth from his tyrant of a father at an early age. Duke could have done absolutely nothing and would have been able to enjoy the so-called ‘good life. Living in complete luxury didn’t sway him as it did with so many people. His father had owned several worlds at the time of his death and everything was passed down to his sole heir. Looking back at those dark days, his inheritance had been the only good thing Duke’s father had ever done for him.
Duke’s childhood had been a living torture compared to most. It was only in his adulthood that Duke had come to recognize his father’s brilliance. Being beaten daily, ridiculed, taunted, and everything in between turned Duke into the prosperous man he was today. Back then, his father, in between the painful lashes, said he was only trying, “to turn Duke into a man, a man of influence.” At the time, Duke had hated the cruel bastard and was thrilled the day he received the news when his father’s heart finally gave out.
Before the child, Xander, had earned his Dukedom, his life of constant pain and struggle had given him the firm willpower and grit to do what was necessary to succeed. When Xander Marth became Duke Xander Marth, he took his first step in righting the injustices of his humble origins. Born only to wealthy parents, the nobility his destiny demanded had finally been taken at the tip of a sword. With his blade still drenched in the royal lifeblood, Duke earned his moniker and wore it proudly from that day forward. It had been a glorious day, and still brought a shiver of pleasure whenever the particularly bloody memory came to mind.
Born into a life of plenty, after his father’s death, where every possible want or need was at his fingertips, Duke knew he was destined for so much more. He was destined for greatness, to have his name spoken in awe by the most powerful people in the universe. It was an easy decision for him to become a Hunter. forfeiting a significant portion of his inheritance was something he knew he would never regret.
Only those few Hunters who survived and ascended earned citizenship among the empire. Duke held a Dukedom, yes, but in the greater universe, he was thought of as nothing more than a simpleton fortunate enough to own several middling planets. Ascending guaranteed his took his rightful place among the true nobility of the wider cosmos. It only took a single ascension to earn full citizenship, and was something most Hunters immediately grabbed hold off as they elected to retire from the Universal Games instead of progressing onward. Duke had grander plans than most.
With each new world a Hunter ascended, they unlocked new benefits, new titles, new powers, and greater nobility within the universe spanning empire. One of the most successful Hunter, a woman named Tyrania the Fearless, had ascended eleven times in her extraordinarily long career. By the time she finally retired, her accomplishments had placed her only a few steps shy of becoming an empress herself. The power her contained at the time of her last ascension rivaled an entire fleet of dreadnaughts. She was a one-woman armada.
Duke was destined to surpass Tyrania’s legendary accomplishments. One day his name would be spoken with the same absolute reverence across the thousands of interlinked galaxies. And woe anyone who got in his way. In his five years on this miserable planet, Duke eliminated over fifty Hunters which earned him his current in-game title. Duke was proud of his accomplishments as a Hunter, most notably the achievement of reaching the maximum level in less than a year’s time. Normally, this took Hunters upwards of three to five years, considering most Hunters carefully bided their time as they explored their starter worlds.
Frustratingly, Duke had been stuck at his current level for the past four years. Most of the weak Hunters he slaughtered nowadays barely netted him anything of value, let alone any worthwhile System rewards. His earliest Hunter vs. Hunter kills had netted him rewards beyond his original estimations he would earn in his first year as an initiate Hunter. Before paying the exuberant sums necessary to join the Universal Games, Duke hoped he would amass even half of his current arsenal. His synergistic abilities, skills, and spells would travel with Duke beyond retirement, one day far off in the distant, very distant, future. Only Hunters, through trials and tribulations in the Games, were allowed such talents outside of System worlds. When Duke finally did retire, he would have power to rival even the emperor himself. He was sure of it.
Back to the present, Duke had slain a few dozen elves as he steadily marched upon the elven tree city. While he was certain he wouldn’t find anything of note, other than some satisfying kills, there was a slim hope that his actions would perhaps garner the attention of whatever Hunter was fortunate enough to possess the world’s only ‘Prime Accelerator.’ Such a unique AI was more myth than legend, but Duke’s long years assured him there was such a thing hidden somewhere on this planet. If he could only find the elusive AI, his Hunter career would be catapulted beyond even his loftiest ambitions! The long, arduous journey it would be worth it in the end.
There were, of course, dozens, if not hundreds, of ways to ascend beyond a prime world. Some were more complicated than others but were all ripe for the taking. You simply needed to find them. Yet, Duke only had eyes for one, the ascension that brought the greatest power. With the unique Accelerator under his command, he would instantly be granted the ability to ascend, or so he had believed through his often- voracious studies into the matter, which was unusual in its one right. Even better, once he reached the next world, and each ascension after that, the Prime Accelerator would grant powers beyond what a normal AI could. He had, of course, ‘replaced’ his Accelerators over these many long years, but he had only eyes for the best. He had always been on the hunt.
His latest AI, which took the form of an obsidian bird, was only rare-tiered. It was an insult he had to settle for such a weak Accelerator, but it did have an innate special property he wasn’t even aware was a possibility until the later worlds. Each Accelerator had a secret, though not many Hunters were skillful enough to figure them out. Duke had, because of course he did.
Duke had thought the Hunter, Stouter the Fortunate, had been in possession of the world’s prime AI but, even after torturing the man, Duke came to learn he likely never did. Sure, Stouter had been able to accomplish some pretty impressive feats in an short amount of time, but it must have been through luck than any amount of skill the man possessed.
Then, Duke had believed another Hunter, whose name he couldn’t recall from the capital city, may have somehow acquired it. No, only disappointment again, which was something Duke was experiencing all too often for his liking. One day though, Duke would find his treasure. He would not settle for any lesser ascension. If needed, he would burn the entire world with his infernal talents to obtain what was rightfully his.
So, in reality, attacking the elves in the High Thicket was more of a simple distraction than anything else for Duke’s keen and penetrating mind. The excuse it could bring out the Hunter who held the Prime Accelerator was probably just another pipe dream. From what Duke had learned through his research, this supreme AI would only willingly bind itself with a Hunter of a certain ‘temperament.’ That temperament was what many fools called a positive alignment. Duke would never debase himself to being ‘positively aligned.’ In his mind, only weak-willed Hunters did things for the greater good.
The hell with that, Duke mused internally. A Hunter could, and should, do anything he damn well pleased. There was no other way to earn greatness, and Duke ensured he did exactly that from the very first moment he appeared on this world. After slaying whoever owned his ultimate treasure, Duke would force the AI to capitulate to his will. The artificial mind may resist at first but, eventually, it would break. Then, Duke would ascend and begin anew on a higher tiered world. Duke would be a force to be reckoned with.
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Having worked his way through the tree city’s perimeter guards, with relative ease he might add, Duke found himself standing under the magnificent architecture of multi-tiered platforms spanning the city of Quarris. Duke could admit the elves had talent, and none would deny it. Being able to create something so majestic was commendable. Unfortunately for them, Duke was bored.
For as glorious as the city appeared, the damnable elves, cowards all, were too gutless to come down to face him on even ground. In that case, Duke had more than enough spells under his command to bring their entire city to ruin. They couldn’t stand atop their mighty platforms if they were burnt to tinder. It would only take time.
Still, the frequent bolts of lightning, shattering ice spears, and plentiful hail of arrows were making some small dent in his formidable mana barrier. He had more than enough power to withstand the city’s meager counter-offensive. Yet, Duke knew he would not be able to stay more than a quarter day as his actions would bring down a hornet’s nest of elves from all across the High Thicket.
While he could fight a small city entirely on his own, an entire nation’s worth of spell casters, archers, and fighters would press him hard. The gains wouldn’t be worth it, so Duke planned to eliminate as many elves as he could, especially their city elders who were likely near level thirty themselves. NPCs could surpass the maximum level, unlike Hunters, but it was rarely seen except with leaders of a nation or the like. After defeating as many of the elves he could reach with his fast arsenal of spells, Duke would continue on to his personal settlement where he would plan where to next look for the elusive Accelerator.
Looking up at the nimble elves and their redwood platforms, Duke was annoyed he had yet to acquire any spell which would enable him to fly. One way or another though, he would manage to kill whoever flitted up there. The thought of the giant wooden platforms crashing to the thicket floor was an entertaining notion.
The thoughtless elves were predictable with their counter bursts of magic and unending slew of piercing arrows. Duke’s protective mana barrier could stop nearly any spell or physical attack, even those from highly enchanted weapons. Only spells targeting his flesh or body directly would bypass his shield. His particular mana barrier had that often-seen weakness, so Duke was surprised the elves didn’t change their tactics when they failed to penetrate his shield. Their spells do little more than flash brilliantly as they discharged against his mana barrier. If they had any brains, they would switch to different spell types, such as damage over time spells, which could bypassed his protection. If Duke had been in their shows, he would have done exactly that long ago, though the man rarely used anything but direct damage spells whenever possible. He had a small collection of DoTs, but since the damage ramped slowly it held little interest for him.
Continuing to launch powerful blasts of varying arcane energy, necrotic bolts which immediately desiccated flesh, and other similarly impressive spell casts, Duke was reminded of his home planet as even more broken bodies slammed into the forest floor. When he was growing up, he had always been fascinated by the massive hailstorms which frequently ravaged outside his home. He had never been in any danger from the boulder-sized chunks of ice as his father’s personal residences had powerful enough shield domes that protected his lands. Seeing such ferocity had instilled a desire deep within his younger self, a desire to be able to control power of that magnitude. With each crashing body, Duke smiled all the more.
“Sir,” a familiar robotic voice sounded from his shoulder. It was Duke's Accelerator, Felix. “Several damage over time effects have taken hold on your persons.”
At last, Duke thought. An elder had finally taken enough notice to join the magical show. More experienced spell casters would instantly recognize Duke’s magical protections and discern the appropriate counter, a feat a city elder should be able to easily perform. No matter, Duke said to himself internally. He had the health and other resources at his disposal to ensure he could weather the assault. He long ago decided to balance his health and mana for this very situation.
While DoTs could manifest into a legitimate concern, enough spells could overpower even his stout health pool, Duke could always fall back upon his infernal surge ability to instantly restore him to full health.
“Find the mage casting those spells and highlight him for me,” Duke commanded nonchalantly without turning his attention from the colony of ants scrambling above him. Once his AI located whichever elder had finally deigned to show himself, he would focus all his considerable magical talent on the galling fool.
Duke felt a slight added pressure as each subsequent DoTs landed on him. First was a feeling of something foreign invading his body, then a slight pressure in his veins, followed by necrotic, poison, fire, or similar sensations. Duke smiled to himself as his AI notified him how many of the spell caster DoTs where either partially or mostly resisted. This only confirmed his suspicion the mage was nothing of note.
Seconds passed as the mage stubbornly reapplied those partically resisted spells. On his second attempt, Duke felt additional pressure building in his body, indicating the mage had put more mana into his spell. It was a common enough skill, dual casting, so Duke was not overly worried. Any mage worth his salt could do such a thing. Still, as soon as Felix located the fool, Duke would wipe the DoTs off his body with a simple exertion of his will.
“Sir…” Felix began to say but cut off abruptly. The AI had been spinning a circuit around Duke, but was out of eye sight at the moment.
Duke waited for his AI to finish the statement, though nothing additional was forthcoming for several long seconds. Duke fumed internally, was nothing in this accursed world competent? He was about to turn and grab hold of his worthless Accelerator when two more spells landed upon his person in quick succession. The first enveloped Duke in a cloud of tightly burning ash, with the second sending an intensely cold blizzard spiraling as if he were in the middle of a tornado. Duke’s keen mind quickly realized only a mage using quick cast could have cast those obviously average tier spells as swiftly as they had. Such a skill was uncommonly rare among NPCs, but not so with his fellow Hunters.
“…behind! Health… warning!” Felix voice finally sputtered out, straining as if the AI was being crushed by a great force. As Duke whirled around, his eyes shot up to his health bar in the top left corner of his vision. There hadn’t been a need to look at the useless information in over a year, so Duke had prompted Felix to shrink it down. There was no reason to see his health, stamina, or mana when all were nearly always entirely full. With a thought, he magnified his resource pools to their normal size.
Duke’s eyes widened. His health was below fifty percent! “What in the infernal blazes?!”
Why hadn’t he felt anything when over ten thousand health had been carved from his body? It was a mystery for another day, for sure. Duke instantly realized he needed to finish off the enemy mage sooner, rather than later. As he spun, his mind formed the necessary connections to cause his infernal ability to manifest in reality. It would restore his body to his normal maximum health, and significantly reduce any detrimental effects affecting his body.
A loud crack resounded across the area, through the many redwood trees to create an curious echo as the sound rebounded. Near instantaneously, a projectile pierced his mana barrier as if it wasn’t there before slamming into his armored shoulder.
That Duke felt. It was like a dagger skewering just below his clavicle. Unless Duke missed his guess, the mage had an incredibly enchanted pistol because nothing physical should have been able to penetrate his mana barrier, let alone his scourge-steel pauldron.
As Duke completed his one-hundred and eight degree turn, he had enough time to see a bubbling globe of living vines as it slammed into his magical protection. Such a snaring spell had no hope of bypassing his shield, but it obstructed Duke’s vision of whoever had managed to injure him. Duke flexed his will as the mass of writhing plants sloshed off the dome of energy, commanding his wellspring of infernal energy to wash through his body.
Near instantly, as if Duke’s core erupted like a supervolcano, ecstasy rushed through every fiber of his being and restore him to pristine health. At the same time, the pressure inside his body from the numerous DoTs there, either significantly lessened or where removed entirely as his ability washed him clean from the inside out. With his best live-saving ability now on cool down, something that he hadn’t needed to use in over two years, Duke’s fury raged. He would see his assailant pay for the affront.
As the gangly ball of twisting roots landed harmlessly on the forest floor, Duke could finally see his opponent. Correction, multiple opponents. Arrayed against him was a small force of four individuals. Duke thought he recognized the half-human as the Hunter who attacked him as Duke was teleporting away from the capital, an impressively armored skeletal minion bearing an enchanted blade and shield, a massive hunting cat with odd wriggling appendages sprouting from its shoulders, and a relatively bland elf archer. Duke took in everything about the force arrayed against him in a split second.
Then, Duke’s eyes locked onto the Hunter’s Accelerator hovering over his shoulder.
The AI resembled a small canine, no bigger than a pup really. It… she, Duke corrected himself, had flowing black hair, a relatively short snout, and intelligent eyes. She was the Prime Accelerator! Duke was sure of it without a doubt. His day of victory had finally arrived!
Seeing the Hunter with the world’s most powerful Accelerator, it was no stretch of the imagination to explain how this seemingly new Hunter had been able to harm him so grievously. The bastard likely didn’t know how lucky he was to have an Accelerator even the top tier ascenders could only hope to one day possess. Who knew what kind of benefits this unique Accelerator could bestow upon her Hunter?
No matter, Duke was confident, this AI was soon to be his and would allow him to take the most important step necessary in his bid for supreme glory.