Part 1 – The Tea Party
“Please have this slice of cake Alexandra.” said Risene with a smile and a cake on hand.
“Whaaaa, I never had cake since forever!” Alexandra exclaimed in happiness as she accepted the cake.
I haven't either! I want to eat cake as well! Don't torment me like this!
“Al, can you please keep it down? You'll bother the others” criticised Viv though he had a smile on his face.
What others! I'm the only one spying on you guys!
“Too bad Eden couldn't come” said Risene though with a smile, her eyes were void of all emotion when she said this.
Hey, I would like as well! And I know you know I'm here! Why didn't you invite me?! You still hold a grudge against me right?!
Just for clearing up the confusion, I was really not in the same room as these three go getter with their delicious cakes...I mean outgoing conversations! You'll be surprised but these walls should be pretty thick but I can still hear sound coming through if I press my ear on it.
“Hey Alexandra....” started Risene
“Yeah?” said Alexandra while chewing on the cake.
“What's your relationship with Eden?”
“Pffffffffffffft!!!”
Alexandra and Viv both spat out the cake in their mouths in surprised. Now to explain another thing. Using Soul Scan which is me pretty much seeing raw souls, I can also see what people do to a certain extent within a limited range. It was pretty handy for avoiding ambushes in close quarters.
“Wh-what the hell is that question?!” stuttered Alexandra in shock.
Yes, I would like to know as well. Everyone knows that we have a special relationship. No, not in that way. We are each other's stress reliever. We fight and do stuff against each other to let out all of the stress we gathered. Though one thing will lead to another and we would often fight to the near death since Viv is usually nearby and will stop us when it gets to the climax.
“Well....” Risene placed her finger on her mouth, “I don't know what's with you two. At first I thought you were enemies, then friends, then enemies and so on. At one point I thought you two were flirting with each other. At least, that's what the rumours have been saying”
“...”
Hey...what the hell is this conversation....Does me and her trying to kill each other really look like flirting to everyone else? Also, how did these rumours get into the ears of Risene? Who has been speaking behind my back.
“Why...do you want to know Risene...?” asked Alexandra hesitantly while looking in my vague direction. At last she knows I'm here so she can't say anything too bad against me. If I wasn't here than I would probably be called....I don't want to think about it.
“Because....”
Risene looked down a bit depressed.
“Surely you know the best way to kill him!”
“...”
Okay, that was expected.....now I'm sad since her wanting to kill me is expected.....long story short, I kinda infiltrated a castle under the disguise of a new hired maid and she got...attached to me. Then I kinda killed her father in front of her eyes by mistake and then kidnapped her and made her go through assassin training under Thinny and the others. So she kinda hates me. Well....really hate me. Fine. She wants to grill my corpse and feed it to criminals.
“Well....” started Alexandra.
Wait, don't tell me you're really going to help her?! I mean, there's really no point since I'll just revive after a while! This is the main reason why I didn't let her kill me yet! I want her to feel like its impossible for her to kill me. You do know how many poison attempts she had in the last year right? That caused my 'Poison Purging' skill to go to the Advance Level.
“I think its impossible for you right now.” answered Alexandra which made me thank her in my heart.
Fo....that was lucky. Thank god Alexandra didn't betray me this way as well....well it would be understandable since what happened before with the monster invasion stuff. After that we were kinda distance from each other until she poured hot water on me when she said I stunk like hell and was forced by her to take a bath.
“But surely you two are able to face him! That is why I'm asking you two!” exclaimed Risene in flattery to the two.
“Well...”
Alexandra and Viv looked at each other and nodded. That was correct, only those two are able to take me on in single combat. Alexandra is a monster with her sword skills along and Viv is contracted to a powerful spirit though thankfully to only one at the time.
“If its close combat, I am way better at it than Eden by several tiers” said Alexandra confirming Risene's words.
“If its magic than I'm also better at it than Eden by several tiers as well” Viv also said along with Alexandra.
“Eh?” Risene was confused now.
Well....I gave the impression that I was on the same level as those two in those departments when I fight and plus, I don't think Risene fought with those two yet so she doesn't know that they're 'monsters' in their expert department.
“Unlike Eden who is a random character, both of us actually invested our stats wisely in order to bring the most out of things we specialise in. Eden has to invest in both sides of the coin which leaves him naturally weaker than us. His intelligence and Wisdom stats are around half of my one” said Viv naturally.
Wait, who the hell is a random character?! I didn't put my stats randomly! It was magic first and when my magic was sealed, it was physical and now I'm evening it with a focus more on magic.
“But what of the times I saw him completely dominating his enemies?! For such a person who is naturally weaker, how can Eden do all of that?!”
“Well...isn't it because of those stat boosting skills he has?” said Alexandra trying to confirm it with Viv.
“Yeah...I think with the first stage, Eden becomes around 50% stronger while at the second stage Eden becomes 2 times stronger than that stat wise” replied Viv confirming her words.
Risene was left speechless.
“And don't forget Magic King Drive as well. With that one as well, he becomes 1.5 times stronger even though he still didn't master the skill yet. I remember him saying that when llyfr took over, the skill made his body 5 times stronger in total or something like that” added Alexandra.
“...This couldn't get worse...” muttered Risene.
“Well, those buffs don't only affect his physical body. They also enchant his magic skills as well so....”
Risene fell into depression. Its not that surprising since the person you want to kill is as strong as he is already and then you learn that that same person can become up to 4 times stronger whenever he wants.
“When will I be able to kill her....” (*Note, Risene still believes Eden to be female)
Yes, I wonder as well.
“Also Viv, have you noticed when Eden uses Magic King Drive, his way of fighting changes?” asked Alexandra to Viv.
Hmm? This is news to me. Well not really since I kinda get a bit more energetic in that state like a child running about full with energy and a lot more to spare.
“Yeah, its like he's less.....incompetent when it comes to fighting” replied Viv thinking about it.
Third stake in my heart! I can't get more of this! I don't want to be called useless!
“Huh...? What does that mean?” asked Risene with her head on the table.
Alexandra smiled at this with a smirk and said, “Normally, you can tell what Eden will do next since his way of fighting is actually very predictable. Its not that hard to see through.”
Viv nodded and added his comment in as well, “Most of the spells Eden uses are actually simple. They just look complicated since Eden is boosting the strength of his spells with raw mana. The majority of his spells are geared towards taking out large amounts of enemies at once which leads him weaker in one on one combat since he tries to use the least amount of mana to take care of things.”
Alexandra nodded to this as Risene scribbled down notes at lightning fast speeds. I need to get rid of those notes later on....
But I'm more concern on why is it they are discussing my weaknesses now? They had months, even years to discuss it together but, with Risene? Really?
“Eden has a tendency to use Fire and Ice based spells but rarely use them at the same time unless combining them for one big attack since they usually affect each other negatively. His third favourite element is Lightning and he uses that more against single enemies more than against groups with Lightning Shower since it drains more mana than his other spells.” commented Alexandra on my preferences of magic.
“On the other hand, Eden has used the other elements but rarely compared to the first three. Wind and Water magic are usually used as support of his other spells while Earth magic is just used to get about and rarely used for attacks. Plus I think he forgot that he could use Light and Dark element attacks.” added Viv with his own advice.
“So he uses them for defence then?” asked Risene curious now.
“Nah, he has a skill called Mana Shield, his battle aura and the scales during Dragon Transformation which allows him to parry attacks using his arms since they're harder than steel. They're pretty much all the defence he needs. Last year when I fought him, his gained the ability to make claws from his hands during Dragon transformation. Plus I think he got some weird glare attack that debuffs you a lot when he uses it. Also you have to watch out for those golden weapons he use sometimes.” answered Alexandra once again.
“Golden Weapons? You mean the sword right?” Risene looked a bit confused when Alexandra mentioned the golden weapons.
Alexandra nodded and said, “Yeah, he also has the spear and bow as well. Problem is that he can replicate them at mass and fire them like missiles at you which is seriously like cheating. The only good thing is that they're actually not that durable and you can usually block or dodge them.”
Alexandra grinned before adding in some more information.
“They also have other characteristics. The spear can grow to any size and the bow can multiple projectiles fired. I think the sword has the power of sealing as well.”
Viv then stepped in to explain some more stuff about me.
“But despite all of that, Eden is weaker in single combat than group battles. Eden is more used to using the chaos in group battles to cover his weaknesses. Because of this, I just need to keep Eden away so he can't touch me with his melee attacks while Al has to only go close to prevent Eden from using strong magic attacks against her.”
“I see, I see. But didn't you lose to Eden last year?”
“Meh” Alexandra looked annoyed, “Both of us were not in perfect shape. I was just finished taking care of that monster army and was running out of mana and stamina when I fought Eden. Plus his mana absorption skill was pretty much so overpowered that I simply gave up using skills later on in the battle. Plus Eden didn't even transform into full Dragon form in the fight so I have no idea what will happen if that were to happen. But....”
“But....?”
Alexandra and Viv both looked at each other again and nodded with a smile. Why do I have a feeling that I will hear something very bad that I will charge in there without thinking much about the consequences.
““Eden is a simple-minded idiot””
Anger level has reached Critical Mass
“WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLED A SIMPLE-MINDED IDIOT?!”
I stormed my way into the room breaking the door.
While Alexandra and Viv both expected this, Risene was surprised with a shocked face.
However that face disappeared in an instance and was replaced with her smiling mask that she use with me.
“How do you do Eden? May I offer you a slice of cake to eat?”
“I rather not get poison again at this time of day with your cooking.” I commented harshly due when Risene first tried cooking.
I was the first victim. But her cooking really got better as time went on. Now she's on the level of professional chefs.
Still smiling Risene had anger veins on her forehead. Risene stormed out of the room in anger while Alexandra and Viv followed her to try and calm her down.
Geez...its been 2 years since I kidnap you and you still have that attitude against me? It was a joke for Gods sake....
That would mean it was....let me calculate now....almost 3 years since I started out in this game....wow.
Has it been that long? I mean, nothing happened much for 2 years in a row....well compared to the first year in this game which was beyond hectic.
The only major thing that happened was that monster invasion from last year and since then, I've been working on causing the rest of the Kingdoms in the western continent to collapse.
Does this seem like a weird time skip for anyone? Yeah....lots and lots of things happened during that year time skip though...
- Finding out that various facts about the Guild of Shadows including some of their hobbies. Mask collects Dolls for example.
- Alexandra forcing Eden to help her take care of a new church which just came about. Eden in the end trained them so strictly that they got about fine at the end
- Risene started cooking with Eden being the first taster (victim), with Eden almost dying. Eden finds out that Alexandra can actually cook and she teaches (saves everyone else) Risene.
- Viv is still trying to get contracts with other spirits but they still refuse to do so for some odd reason. He goes out and finds two equally powerful spirits, water and wind that tells him that there is a general rule of not allowing humans to get too much power at once via spirit contracts.
- Eden does a mission with others and fails it by blowing innocent people up....details on punishment later
- Risene is training with the Guild of Light helping her with Holy magic. She is apparently getting the hang of it faster than Alexandra. In which Alexandra quickly learns some high levelled spells to outmatch Risene.
- One night, Risene comes to Eden's bed and tries to kill him. Unknown to this Eden immediately disarms Risene and uses her as a hugging pillow for the rest of the night due to his much higher strength stat compared to her
- More Dungeon raiding. At one point, player begged the Trio not to Dungeon raid since it take the Dungeons weeks to respawn monster after the Trio is done with them.
- Viv wants to tell some new Dark magic spells but doesn't have anyone to test them out on. He gets Eden with high magic resistance and Alexandra who has high Dark magic resistance to help him. In the end where it somehow turned into a competition on who can endure the most, Viv decides that the new spells aren't effective enough. Later on he test it on some random bandits and they screamed to death as the curses Viv used killed them.
- Alexandra wishes to learn some new techniques involving footwork and goes to the Guild of Shadow to learn their quick movements. However she finds out that she is unsuited for their kind of movement since it require stealth in which Eden could not learn it as well.
- A certain city decides to celebrate a national holiday involving everyone having a large dance at the end. The Trio goes to this city and they are quickly dressed instantly by expert dress changers, while Alexandra is female, Eden and Viv are forced to cross dress for the rest of the day. To make things worse, a large number of men continue to hit on them which leads to Eden trying to kill them with Alexandra laughing her head off and Viv sighing before stopping him.
Yeah, those events were fun enough to pass the time. Be seriously, all I had to do was to kill a major church leader and an entire Kingdom fell but now I can't seem to find the other two major church leaders anymore.
Also the security at the Kingdoms of Mortem and Seisin increased dramatically as well which makes it VERY difficult to get in there in the first place. Thanks to my race, class and title together; I get attacked and an army is sent to kill me on sight.
As a result, I'm hiding in this chaos filled land where there are daily skirmished by people, NPCs and players alike that want to capture some land. I have to be even more careful than normal because of my high infamy as well.
“Eden, we have another request.” said a person dressed in black wearing a skull mask that just came into the room.
I should really give these guys names so I can remember them properly....hmm....this one will be called Mask I suppose and the other two will be called Claw and Bulk. I don't really care for names but this will do for now.
I took the note Mask gave me and read through it.
It was about the recently events where several player guilds are exploiting the towns that they've captured under the terms that they would protect them.
Ding
Take down the Player Guilds that are exploiting several towns under their rule
Orders have come in to take down the Guilds Starkin, Gheon and Weisest which are all medium sized player guilds. Make sure they never come back to do this again
Rank: C
Requirements: Part of Guild of Shadows
Restrictions: Do not kill the residents of these towns
Reward: Influence and Experience
“Hmm.....Starkin, Gheon and Weiest....aren't those all guilds from the central continent?” I asked Mask.
“Yes, it seems they came here after being kicked out my the Hermes Guild when their territory was taken.” replied Mask.
Hermes Guild....I heard lots of stuff about them.
The most well known thing was about Ray Bard, the supposed strongest player in the game with the highest level. Wasn't he sitting somewhere over level 370 last time the T.V station announced it? But that was a while ago so I think he would reach level 400 by now.
I think someone like Alexandra would like to fight him one day.
But....right now I need to focus on this. Its not like I'll ever face Ray Bard or something. I think there was another guy called Weed who was also called the strongest or something but was the Lord of Morata during my stay there.
Ah, I'm getting side track again...
“How strong are they?” I asked Mask.
“Information about them tells us that they are an average set of guilds. It was through luck that they grew to this size but they also have a few people over level 300. The rest average at around level 150.”
So not that bad and leaning towards kinda weak in some cases.
“Their locations right now?”
“To the East. They have united together but kept their guilds separate. They have around 3 small towns and 1 medium sized town under their control. The leaders of those 3 guilds are located in the medium sized town in what used to be the mayor's home.”
“I see, I accept the job.”
You have accepted the quest
Part 2 – Getting through Walls
“They seem to look fine to me” I said to Mask while travelling through one of the towns that were under the rule of those 3 guilds I have to get rid of.
“Eden, please check the insides of the house using the Soul Scan skill of yours” requested Mask.
“Yeah yeah...”
Activating Soul Scan, I analysed the various homes in this small town. There were a total of a dozen houses in this small town. If each house were the homes of 6 people, then there would be around 70 people in this town.
But there were easily a few dozen people in those homes at once pushing the number of people in this town to 200 or 300.
“Hey...how many people live in this place?” I asked.
“Approximately 80 people based on the last report we got.”
“I see....there's too many people here.”
“Then do we get rid of them now?” asked Mask.
“No, we may actually kill some people we shouldn't have.” I replied.
If it weren't for the restriction placed on the quest, I would easily level this town alone. But sometimes there needs to be a more quiet and less destructive method. Unfortunately, neither me nor the other two have those kinds of qualities, so you can imagine the difficulties I am facing.
“In that case, we'll leave the smaller towns to the others. We'll just head to the medium size town where the leaders are. I can use my magic to mask the loud noises during short battles so they won't notice as easily that we are attacking them.” said Mask.
I nodded and we headed for the place where the large prey stayed.
Later that night....
“Why the hell is there a tall wall here? Isn't this a medium sized town?! I looks more like a small city from here!” I complained.
“Perhaps the guilds used their resources to build a stable defence for their base. There seems to be regular patrols as well. We need to sneak over the wall, it looks like they won't allow anyone in....no they rob people when they get near the entrance” commented Mask on the situation.
Mask took out his staff and tapped it on the ground a couple of times.
“Mask of Darkness.”
Mask of Darkness is now active
- Visibility will decrease
- Able to sneak more easily
“Silent Steps”
Silent Steps is now active
- Sounds made by walking will decrease
- Sounds made by weapons will decrease
“Confusion Alter”
Confusion Alter is now active
- Enemies will be less likely to detect you
- Presence to enemies will decrease
“Now unless you do something very loud like make an explosion, the enemies won't even notice us. Also, try not to flare up like a light bulb as well.”
So....battle aura is out of the question here. That lights up more than you think it would.
After a few hours of sneaking about to the walls, we noticed that it was too tall to climb up without being noticed.
“It would take at most 20 seconds for us to get up there by any means. We would be completely detected by then” said Mask in a scrawl.
In that case, shouldn't I test flight magic out then. I mean, it has been a while since I could use it being over level 300 now and such.
“Flight Magic...”
Flight Magic is activating
Six bright golden wings appeared on my back.
“...”
It couldn't get any worse.
“ENEMIES!”
Fuck.
In a sprint, I deactivated Flight Magic and ran with Mask into the trees getting cut at several places on my body in the process.
After another hour where the guards and patrols lessened but was still on guard, Mask asked me angrily, “What the hell was that for?!”
“Hey, I didn't know that flight magic would make those wings! I thought it would be like all the other mages' one where its invisible and such.”
Mask swore under his breath and said, “Well its not like we could get in without being detect with you.”
I frowned, what the hell does that mean?
“Your presence alone is so strong that it would be strange that people did not notice you. Perhaps the only one who can beat you in that department is Alexandra. Learn how to conceal your presence!”
“Then teach me now!” I retorted.
My magic training lasted for a month and it was hell.
“Fine...there are generally two ways to conceal your presence. The first is reducing it into near nothing but that's impossible for someone like you. Even assassins have trouble with this way. The other is to expand your presence so thinly that your enemies won't detect you at all.” explained Mask.
“But won't the second way make me detectable from further away?”
“Not if you do it right. Now hurry up and master it in one go else we might be hunted down here.”
“Right right.”
I breathed in and out a couple of time before expanding my aura....no presence itself out in the surrounding world.
There seemed to be a slight pause in the world before....nothing happened?
Ding
You have generated the skill: Presence Concealment
Presence Concealment Beginner Level 1
The ability to fade yourself into the background making it harder for people to detect you. There is a legend that the most the few masters of this skill, the Cloud Knights are able to drift in and out of forts without anyone knowing to the point that even the strongest knights do no know where to swing.
When active:
- Presence is reduced to near zero
- Unable to use strong attacks
- Stats will be reduced by 80%
There was a strange feeling that my strength decreased quite a bit though I think its an illusion of the skill. Actually my stats were decrease...heavily as well. What the hell is with this 80% decrease in stats? Because of this, I'm no stronger than a level 100 player now!
“What the....” Mask's muttered aloud for some reason.
[p=center]xXx[/p]
Throughout the continent, those with great sensory powers all felt it for it spanned through the entire continent and in the deepest dungeons.
It was tiny but yet it was so distinct from everything else.
A power that would eventually consume this world into chaos and destruction.
What they felt was fear of this unknown power that just 'appeared'.
They could not do anything about it but they were cautious of it now.
The beings of this land all knew by instinct of what this feeling was. It was thousands, tens of thousands of years ago since this world felt this power but yet they understood it at once.
For the players however, they were in an even more shock for the game took the time to explain this feeling.
You have felt the presence of the Destroyer
And now the world knew the lost existence of this forbidden creature.
…
Elsewhere, in a certain place at a certain time, there was a Sage dressed in pitch black and red clothing.
“I see.....so you are that eh. How interesting, I should visit you.” said that Sage with a smile on his face. This would be the first time the Sage would meet this certain being.
[p=center]xXx[/p]
“What?” I nonchalantly asked.
“That skill would take normal people...no even experts months if not years to learn and you just did it? Also, what' with the range as well....”
“Yep, now let's go. You can actually do this as well right?”
“Yes, but first things first. You're not allowed to use magic since you might as well fail the quest that way. I chance of you killing someone unrelated is very high. The second thing is that you can't use the Divine Sword of yours, I'll teleport it back to base now so you don't have the chance to use it. The last thing is that you can't use those Dragonic skills of yours as well and the thing that releases gold particles in the air. They'll all cancel the presence concealment skill and that means everyone will come to find and kill you.”
“....”
Fine, I won't though that takes most of my skills away. This plan better go perfectly.
Part 3 – Plan goes wrong
“Move you you're dead!” shouted a person with a long black beard. He looked more like a pirate at sea than anyone else here. What the hell was this person thinking when he made that character?
Both me and Mask raised our hands in the air and dropped out weapons.
To explain how it got to this, I must go back from a minute ago.
“The one with the long beard that looks to be a pirate is one of the guild leaders. We need to take him and the two other guild leaders in order to meet the minimum requirement for the job” said Mask sneaking about in the shadows.
As I was following him on the roof I was being extra careful since one wrong step could lead to me falling in literally.
Step
Crack
Crack?
I looked down at my feet, the roof broke from under me. Crap....
“Wow!”
Falls
Thud
You took 10 damage
“Ouch...”
Something hard hit my butt. Is it me or I just fell into this place....and under me was the beard guy....?
“Get off me!”
I was flung off whoever was under me and onto the wall.
Thud
You took 10 damage
I stared at the group of men that I fell onto. They all had an intense look of wanting to kill me.
This could not get any worse. Hey I need some support here!
I took a glance up at Mask to order him to start attacking. But before that, the beard guy with his 5 henchmen drew their swords and attacked me.
I moved my hand to gave my sword.....crap I don't have it with me right now!
“Dragon Transformation!”
Covering my arms with scales, I tried to block the attacks as quickly as possible.
Clash
You took 651 damage
Clash
You took 788 damage
Clash
You took 451 damage
Unfortunately the defences from Dragon Transformation were incomplete with such a short time since I activated it. The scales aren't thick enough to block attack completely. Also, the fact remains that I am as strong as a level 100 player right now. I am really tempted to cancel this stupid skill and incinerate these assholes.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“Damnit, where the hell is my support?!” I shouted.
One of the henchmen, swung down at me with a longsword.
I rolled to the left to dodge it where another 2 blades came down at me. I blocked them both using my arms. The force of the two attacks with my weaken state was enough to push me down on my knees with the swords cutting into my arms.
But them I felt a heavy impact on my side.
WHACK
Critical Hit!
You took 27543 damage
I was smashed into the wall by a heavy war hammer.
“Cough.”
I spat out blood as I I tried to recover. Damn, if it weren't that I had an insane amount of mana to spare, I would be dead. Man, intentionally holding back is very very hard for me. I just want to make this place explode!
But then I remember what happened before when I failed a job due to this.
“Eden....kneel”
I was already on my knees here....why was there so much bloodlust in the room? Speaking of which, where am I? I remember drinking something.....no being forced to drink something and everything blacked out.
Another thing is that I can't see at all. Was there a bag over my head?
And the most disturbing thing is that I can't move at all! Why was I tied up?!
“For your failure....”
That voice was....Thinny....? Why did it seem even more cold than normal?
“You will be punished....”
Wait! I'm not a masochist! At most I'm a sadist! I don't like pain!
“First you will suffer....”
No, please have some mercy!
“Mmmmhmmmhmm”
Damnit, there was a gag-ball in my mouth!
Then Thinny took the bag off my head.
There were....clothes....fluffy pink and white clothes....for girls....and there next to them were....
Alexandra and Linda.....
Noooooooooooooooooo! Please! I won't fail another job, not thissssssssssssss!
“Double Impact!”
The same person with the war hammer was already swinging down at me again while I was off day dreaming. Man I can't believe I prefer reality than day dreaming 'that'.
“Dance of Water”
Dance of Water is now active
Using the skill to narrowly dodge the blow, I punched the man in the face with great force.
The man with the war hammer flew back....and did some back flips as he flew into the wall making a large dent on it.
“What was that sound.”
“Isn't that the room that leader is in?”
“Leader?”
Damn, that noise was enough to bring people here. Need to get out of this now.
But....there were 4 people stopping me from doing so.
Two were armed with swords. The other two were armed with daggers.
There were several exits, namely windows but there were already people outside so that wasn't a good option. The other way out was through the door but I'm pretty sure that's suicide. The last way out was....the way in.
The roof.
I looked around panicking by the fact that I was veeeery close to failing the quest. And then....punishment....
Damnit Mask, where are you?
“The rays of darkness fill the gap of light. Minds and logic begone as the night sky flies. Night Terror!”
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
From the outside of this building, there were screams of agony. Not the usual kinds that I would often hear in my trips but the more unsightly ones. People were holding their heads in pain as tears dripped from their eyes.
It was quite impressive on another standpoint.
Those people who were affected were ripping their eyes out or slitting their throats. While others were attacking anyone who got near. There were quite a few death matches happening right now thanks to that.
Eyes wide open with shock, the Leader beard guy pointed his over decorated sword at me and demanded, “What the hell did you do?!”
I smiled to his distress and said, “Nothing.”
“Eden, this spell will only affect who were near this place at the casting of the spell. The others are coming. Hurry up and kill them” said Mask from somewhere I don't know.
With this mysterious voice, the 4 people were alive in the room started to panic. It was as if a ghost came out of nowhere.
“There he is! Kill the spell caster!”
“Oh crap, they found me”
Break!
The wall next to me collapsed as Mask ran in the room with me. I looked into his eyes as he looked into mine.
“Why....” Mask looked sad, “Of all place I could crash into, why this one?”
I don't know! Bad luck I suppose?
“Get him!”
As voices overlapped over each other, 20 or so men surrounded me and Mask. Smiling with confidence, The beard guy said, “Surround him!”
With that, we are at this current situation.
“Do you have a way out of this Eden?” asked Mask.
I shook my head and replied, “Not unless you want me to blow this place up.”
Mask sighed and then gathered a lot of Dark element in his hands to the point that it was clear to the visible eye.
“Dark Blade”
With those words, Darkness spread and chop half the people in the room in half in an instance.
“Dark Spear”
With another set of words, the remaining people were about to be stabbed through with spears made of darkness.
But...things never seem to go right today.
“Holy Blessing!”
“Flame of Light”
Light and flames surrounded the room as the spells Mask used were rendered useless. I think I heard a small scream from his mouth covered by the mask as well. Smoke came out of Mask's body as well.
Realising that Mask was about to die, I grabbed him and ran the hell away.
It was beyond torture when I failed a job.
What would happen if someone in the guild died during mission die to me?
I don't even want to think about it.
By the time those thoughts ran though my mind, we were in a small alleyway with people searching for us.
“Wait here as I take care of those people.” I ordered.
“There are hundreds of people out there! They're also all the elite from all three guilds You couldn't possibly defeat them all without resorting to large scale damage!” Mask retorted to me.
“...”
Well....that was true....
“Damnit, say that you can do it at least or I'll dissect you while you sleep!”
Somehow I think this person is not buffing at all....I can actually see him trying to dissect me while I sleep.
Well time to do this....though I have no idea how to do this....
Part 4 – The Sage
BOOOOOOOOOOM
You took 50246 damage
The moment my eyes opened up again, that was the first message I saw.
You have sever bleeding
Some bones are Broken
You are dizzy from the blast
Damn, how much can this body take? I tried to move my right arm.
“Ow!”
It seems one of the broken bones was the one in my right arm. Also judging by the pain when I breath, some of my ribs were broken as well.
To be honest, I'm not that familiar with how bones heal in this game. If my mana caps out, will be bones recover as well? Or do I have to get to a priest to get it healed?
Anyway, what the hell was that blast? That wasn't me....why do I have a feeling that some people don't believe me.
I looked around and found that most of this town was destroyed with the rest being in flames. The night sky was lit red as something was taking down everyone in sight.
Whoever or whatever it was, it was definitely powerful.
Getting up, I walked around killing any of the players I saw since they were all probably part of the guild that I had to get rid of.
Eventually I got to the centre of this chaos.
There was a man.
An old man dressed in a red and black robe.
There were people following him, all whom were powerful.
But the most distressing thing was that he was on a completely higher level compared to the others.
“Who....are you?” I asked.
Ah...damn I shouldn't have said that out of nowhere. Now, they're going to try and kill me!
A big mistake on my part, I prepared myself to run away quickly.
Upon seeing me however, the old man smiled.
“I believe this is the first time we have met Eden.”
“...?”
I looked confusedly at the old man. Did I know him?
“I am otherwise known as the Magic Scholer but I am primary one of the 3 Sages that live in this contnent, me being the Sage of the Crimson Moon. I have lent my men to you several times in an act to make sure nothing toob ad happens to you.”
Okay....what the hell is this old man talking about? I don't remember anyone helping me in a while.
“Of course this help was when you were quite new to this world and therefore weaker than you are now....though I somehow feel that your presence is lacking to what I expect but I could feel you quite a distance away...”
The Old man pondered for a while while his men continued to hunt down those of the 3 guilds which was actually my job....well I won't stop them if they want to do my job for me.
“...”
“Yes....it is strange that it feels like you are normal.....”
Is it because of the presence concealment skill? Is it really working that well?
I checked the skill window for the skill.
Presence Concealment Beginner Level 8
Stats will be reduced by 50%
Wow! I just learnt it a while ago and its at this level already?! When the hell did it level up so much....
“Disappointing....”
Huh? Why was there killing intent screaming out of the old man's body? And why was it directed to me?
“Mana Burst!”
Blue mana burst out of the Sage's body and blasted everything including me away.
You took 14689 damage
Sliding back due to the force on the ground, I immediately got up and prepared to fight to the death against this Sage.
“Flight Magic!”
6 golden wings bursted out on my back as I flew up in the air. I lifted myself my several metres before shouting:
“Dragonic Release!”
Dragonic Release
A modified version of the outer seal which once allowed access to power above the norm. Upon changing to a lesser race, this ability was taken away. In exchange, this state will pushes the body's limit was created to replace that.
Improvements have been made so this state has more power and stability compared to the original.
- Spell Damage Increases by 100%
- Spell Range Increase by 60%
- Mana Absorption can be Activated
- Strength is Increased by 60%
- Agility in Increased by 60%
- Movement Speed Increases by 30%
- Defence Increases by 30%
- Resistance to Magic Increases by 20%
- Domination is twice as effective
- Fighting Spirit is increased by 150%
Time Limit: 12 Hours
“Mana Absorption....”
Mana Absorption is now active
Then, the felt that even more strength than normal came back into my body.
Presence Concealment deactivated
Hmm.....was it because presence concealment reduced my stats that much? Well either way, stealth is out of the question right now.
Fire Formation ? Ball Form ? Multicast(20) ? Homing Shot ? Fireball Barrage
Creating 20 fireballs in the air, I shot them all at once at the sage which seemed to be humoured by my magic skills.
Bang bang bang bang bang...
Before I realised it, the fireballs didn't hit the sage at all but were directed near him with flames still alive via some unknown means.
Then, 20 fireballs appeared around the Sage in the exact same manner as I did moments ago.
“...uh oh.”
In an instant, 20 fireballs came flying at me at once.
Using evasive moments, I managed to dodge most of the fireballs that exploded without hitting me.
“What the hell was that?”
Seriously, there was only one other time in which I had my own attack used againts me....and it was a very unpleasant experience to say.
The Sage smiled humourously at me as he drew a magic circle in the air using his hand with blue mana being very visible in the air. There was an unknown symbol on it that I did not recognise which was rare. Was it an original design?
“The chains of night descend as the crimson moon bleeds red.”
The blue mana circle turned red as chains flew out from it.
Neutral Formation ? Mana Shield
Reacting quickly, I created a mana shield around me as the chains got close. The red chains wrapped around the mana shield and dragged me to the ground at high speeds.
BANG
Mana Shield Broke
“Let the glow of light be arrows of steel!”
From his hands, the Sage fired mana arrows at me. I dodged them quickly by rolling out of the way. I looked back at where the mana arrows hit and there were pretty deep holes in the ground....I thought he said arrows of steel not arrows of light that pierce through things!
I braced myself for the next set of attack but they never came. All there was was an old man who seemed bored.
“Is that all? I thought better for the existence that even Gods feared. I fear at this rate the only thing I'm interested on you are those mana fragments you called them yes?”
Eh, how did he know about the mana fragments. I mean, I didn't exactly hide the fact that I had them but I not many people even asked me about it since they didn't know they existed in the first place. Even mages with their high magic sensing abilities didn't know I had them on me and they were objects that were literally leaking mana.
“I ask again, who the hell are you?”
This man was certainly dangerous, him being easily better than me with magic. Well....those two did say that my spells were quite simple, that's not the point! I have to concentrate in order to defeat him right now.
“My my, you're words don't have grace in them at all. Well I suppose I'll be pucking those mana fragments out of your dead body since you are a disappointment Destroyer.”
Destroyer? He even knows about that?! I thought that no one knew about them except for the Gods whom know naturally. I mean, llyfr at one point told me that my kind were almost literally extinct and we only occasionally appear once in a while.
“Swords!”
I summoned 10 Golden swords in the air around me hovering around. I made some mental space to make them react and defend me if I were to be attacked in any way.
“Ho....interesting skill. I suppose I can play with you some more to see if you are worth the effort.”
With a short chant, the Sage summoned more mana arrows and shot them at me in which the golden swords reacted to the attack and blocked it.
Bang Bang Bang
Three of the ten swords moved in front of me immediately to block the attack.
Ice Formation ? Spear Form ? Ice Spear
I summoned an ice spear and propelled it at the Sage. It was blocked with an exact attack that was perfectly the same as the ice spear.
“...”
So this Sage had the ability to....replicate attacks? Control Magic?
I took one of the swords in the air and shot at the Sage to test this theory of mine. The Sage immediately went out of his way to dodge the attack instead of replicating it. So he only can do that with magic....
That means bad news for me who is a magic character. Yes, I can also use melee attacks but you see I don't have my Divine sword on hand. Yes I do have these swords hovering about but they have relatively low damage and durability compared to other weapons. I would have to switch out a couple of times in battle against a good weapon user.
But I can't really complain right now since my opponent is a magic user as well.
Taking a sword at hand while using the other 8 swords as defence, I charged at the Sage who was using magic attacks against me. Even though my magic resistance at this point was at 60%, it still hurt like hell if I were to be hit by a spell.
“Burst Strike!”
The skill activating, my body was pushed forward with extreme burst of speed.
Bang!
What the! A magic barrier?!
The moment my sword got near the Sage, there was some sort of barrier in place. It suddenly appeared when my sword hit it. Did he put it up at that exact moment or was it presenet from the start? Or was it a time delay type spell? Damn I can't tell because this person has too many spells under his belt and all of them of different types!
“Unable to break a barrier of this level. Once more you diappoint me” said the Sage sighing.
At that moment, I felt something snap in me. That was a limit to how much you can look down on someone and if that someone happened to be me.
“Dragonic Overload!”
Dragonic Overload
A modified version of the inner seal which once allowed access to power beyond the norm. Upon changing to a lesser race, this ability was taken away. In exchange, this state will pushes beyond the body's limit was created to replace that.
Improvements have been made so this state has more power and stability compared to the original. Partly inspired by Balance Breaker.
- Mana Doubles
- Gives Rapid Natural Mana Regeneration of 150 mana/second
- All Skills rank up by 1
- All Skills in Beginner Levels rank up to Intermediate
- Spell Damage Increases by 150%
- Spell Range Increase by 80%
- Strength is Increased by 80%
- Agility is Increased by 80%
- Movement Speed Increases by 50%
- Defence Increases by 50%
- Resistance to Magic Increases by 30%
- Fighting Spirit is increased by 200%
Time Limit: 4 Hours
My body being strengthened by around 1.5 times, I smashed the golden sword at hand at the barrier again.
Bang!
Electricity or rather, mana being disperse that looked like electricity sparked out as I kept on attacking the barrier with the intent of destroying it.
“Mana Burst”
Another shockwave from the Sage appeared.
The golden swords immediately moved in to defend me but were immediately shattered into pieces as I was blasted away.
BOOOOM
You took 94217 damage
I hit the ground sliding away from the Sage as he continued to look down on me.
“Once, you were fascinating. A species that was ever there, nor will never exist. Something beyond what we mortals knew! But then, you turned into a mere Dragon, strong but shallow compared to what you once were! You’ve become weak!”
My heart skipped a beat thanks to those words.
Then, a voice appeared from the deeps of my soul.
Something that should have never been disturbed.
[Weak eh. Then let us show him what it means to be truly weak]
A voice that was not llyfr.
No.
It was llyfr but not the llyfr I knew.
It was a side that he had restrained himself. The hidden side that he had kept from me. A side that I am now beginning to understand.
[Let the carnage of Destroyers Begin!]
The voice resounded in my very being as power from within me desired to be unleashed.
[I to awaken am the Tyrant whom stole the throne of God]
I stood up from the ground broken and brittle.
[I devour the wisdom and rip apart the Knowledge]
My body immediately started to repair itself to the point that it seemed to be something not possible.
[I will become the Magic King that rules over all Creation]
A grin appeared on my face as the pressure around me increased to extreme limits.
[And I will show you true Despair!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]
It was as if the world was shaking before me.
[Magic King Drive!!!!!!!!]
Magic King Drive has been Activated
- Spell Damage Increase by 150%
- Spell Range Increase by 140%
- Freely able to use the Elements at Will
- Strength Increase by 140%
- Agility Increase by 150%
- Movement Speed Increase by 120%
- Defence Increase by 100%
- Able to use 'Golden Weapon Trio' Freely in this state
- Resistance to Magic Increases by 40% (Maximum Magic Resistance is 99%)
Time Limit: Until the Body breaks down and dies
Battle Aura activated
The golden aura appeared bursting from my skin as it covered the area around me as if it was trying to consume it.
[First off....to get rid of that barrier]
That voice that came from my mouth was not mine but yet the same voice that had always came out of my mouth.
My hand stretched out in a palm towards the Sage's barrier.
I saw it with my 'eyes'.
The barrier seemed to be crushed like a bubble under the pressure that originated from my body.
Realising something was very wrong, the Sage casted spells in order to attack me. Mana arrows, fireballs, ice bolts, wind blades; countless number of spells came about quickly and were casted at me. Even the current me could not do that. It was beyond me.
However I didn't fear at all against these attacks.
[Such simple things cannot be called Magic!]
The golden aura around me expanded like a hand and simply whacked these weak spells away. The very same spells that was once difficult to handle was handled this easily. The very same golden aura acted without me and exploded towards the Sage in a shockwave.
“The 4 corners of Gods, the north and south bisect!” the Sage quickly chanted.
Bang!
The Sage was blasted back a few metres but was not that effected compared to what I expected.
“Incredible! So you can do it when you want to!” the Sage shouted excitedly.
It was like seeing a child who was expecting big things to happen have only disappointment occur and then something interesting occurring at the last second when they have finally given up all hope.
While one part of me wanted to stop, another stronger part of me wanted to continue.
I raise my hands once again. A large number of combinations of spells appeared in my head. It was something that I only experienced in small burst at times. However it was like a tap running at full power compared to the small drops of water before.
Fire Formation ? Ball Form ? Enlarge factor ? Explode Factor ? Great Exploding Fireball
Fire Formation ? Ball Form ? Multicast(20) ? Homing Shot ? Fireball Barrage
Consecutive Casting ? Great Exploding Fireball + Fireball Barrage ? Destructive Fireball Barrage
A large number of screamed inside me shouted to kill this man immediately.
[Die]
20 large fireballs are were dangerously large were formed and shot as they appeared. The Sage drew some symbols in the air and started to try and control them as I continued to attack him without mercy.
Eventually, the Sage could not keep up with the attacks and was burnt in flames.
However then light appeared on his clothes which dispelled the fire.
But part of his body and face was scared with flames.
The voices faded away....
Magic King Drive Deactivated
Dragonic Overload Deactivated
Dragonic Release Deactivated
Battle Aura Deactivated
The Golden Aura faded away as my body was left exhausted for some reason. It was only a short amount of time since I used Magic King Drive and yet it drained me of this much in that time.
“Huff.....huff....”
I leaned on my knee for support as a large number of people appeared near the Sage healing him and whatnot.
“At the very end, you did not disappoint. A power that would even slay Gods! How interesting, and this is without the power of the mana fragments!” the Sage shouted excitedly disregarding the thoughts of his men whom were worried about him.
“Master, people are starting to gather.”
The Sage hearing this report sighed and said, “Time to retreat. Remember I will be watching you!” to me before using a magic circle to teleport the entire group away.
I was left alone in this burning town.
[Eden....]
Hmm, what is it llyfr? It's been a while since you talked to me. Lately compared to before, you're talking less and less to me.
[I will have to pound the basics of magic back into your head!]
Eh? Wh-what? Why would you want to make me do that?!
[To think that you would have this much difficulties with a mere magic user]
Wait a second, that man was a Sage! Plus he had all this complex things and such...
[But under my guidance, you easily broke them right?]
Yeah....
[Sigh....its my fault for not teaching you everything including how to fight as a Destroyer]
Fight as a destroyer....?
[Well I can teach you when you get back. I believe the last of those who need to die today is about to....]
Ding
Quest: Take down the Player Guilds has been completed
You have levelled up
Influence in Guild of Shadow increased by 500
Influence of Guild of Shadow increased by 600
Influence to residents increased
Ah....that quest. I actually forgot about it.
“Eden....” Mask came out of nowhere from the wreckage of one of the buildings, “What exactly happened here? I thought I told you to use stealth. I'm telling Thinny to pound in assassination training later.”
“...”
Now along with Magic Training, I have assassin training as well? Damn....
Continue Misfortune?PreviousExitNext
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Author's Notes:
- Word Count: 9500~
- Just finished this chapter.....started on since the last chapter was released. A bit shorter than the last chapter with 28 pages but it only spans over a few nights compared to months. Interesting fact, since the last chapter which was set at 1 Year 9 Months til 2 Years since Eden started, another 11 Months passed so in chapter 4, 2 Years and 11 Months passed since Eden started this game.
- First half basically discusses how Eden fights a bit while leading to the second part where Eden fails at being some sort of stealth character while learning a new skill which leads to part 3 with the Sage that didn't actually appear for a while. In the end everything turns out fine with Eden being given Hell Training again from two sides this time which will be very enjoyable to write later.
- Yeah, haven't actually properly proofread this yet. So tell me mistakes in the comments or something.
- So Magic + Assassin training....now I want to know what kind of skills Eden will get....tell me....I currently have no idea. Things that are small that eventually build up together. Those are the kinds of skills I want Eden to get.