Chapter 15
Chaosmonger
Monsters Defeated: 106/10,000
He’d only just started, and Asher was already feeling tired.
Just barely crossing the 1% completion and the mental fatigue of watching goblins burn up was too much. However, he discovered a rather neat trick--with the spawning of the goblin mages and their tossing of the fireballs, he was no longer able to simply be a stationary turret. This crippled his damage by quite a lot, but in a desperate bid to find out anything to keep him afloat, he figured that if he stood still and dashed to dodge, he wouldn’t break the ‘status’ of being ‘stationary’, meaning that he’d remain a turret even after repositioning.
The issue was, naturally, that the Dash had 10 seconds on its cooldown and that the goblin mages continued to fire. As such, every time he’d have Dash off cooldown, he'd wind hard to one end to bait the fireballs, stay still, and begin firing rapidly to clean up as many goblins as possible and use Dash as late as he could to buy as much time as possible as a turret. Though it wasn’t nearly as good as just being able to sit still, it helped him keep up somewhat with the spawn rate.
For the next few levels--6, 7, and 8 in particular--he unfortunately did not get any active upgrades, not to his weapon or to the Soul of Chaos, nor did he get offered another active ability. Instead, he picked up Nimble Footing, an Uncommon variant at that, increasing his movement speed by 0,4. It was now at a rather incredible 1,7, which made him nearly three times as fast as the goblins chasing him.
He also picked up Muscle Training, increasing his HP by 10, and a Strike Prowess where he got a rather lucky roll, getting it in Epic quality, increasing his damage by 4. This allowed him to start one-shotting the goblins, speeding up the clean-up considerably.
Dodging fireballs, keeping distance, and watching the motes of chaos appear and disappear at random intervals--it was repetitive, but repetitive was good. The world paused once again and the selection appeared. He was less interested in the selection itself and more into getting Level 10 and, hopefully, getting the Calling and massively improving his stats.
However, his attention was aptly dragged to the selection as he finally got offered another active ability. He groaned, though, as it was, once again, an ability similar to the Soul of Chaos. Furthermore, there weren’t any other active ones, just the passive ones to increase his stats.
Besotted by Chaos [Epic]
Level: 0
Effect [Toggle]: Toggling on the effect roots chains of chaos around you, slowing down your movement speed by 80%. While the effect is active, every one of your spells and attacks deals between -30% and 250% bonus damage, with a 10% chance to reduce their cooldown by between -15% and 50%. Furthermore, every one of your attacks and abilities is guaranteed to apply at least one Novice Debuff. In addition, all abilities/passives/blessings/bonuses/effects that require you to be stationary will be active while moving as long as the Effect is toggled.
Note: In the 'Myths of Damnation', Scholar Lao wrote of the forgotten legend of the Mad Queen--she was said to have surrendered herself to the opus of chaos, forever entranced by its bewitching gale. As a consequence, she required the nourishment of a thousand souls every year, young and pure, which enabled her to stir chaos within the Light of Creation. She was slain at the end of the Age of Holy Wars, beheaded by the Holy Hero Lucas, the Founder of the Myth Empire.
Asher sighed.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
He had to pick it, there was no other choice. It synergized with him, in effect, perfectly, as though it was an ability that was created just now, tailored perfectly for him. Becoming a mobile turret...
All he needed now was movement speed--a raw increase in the ability to move as quickly as possible. If he had the artifact boots from the last stage... he'd be a ball of lightning flitting about the battlefield and raining fire upon all of creation. Alas, he only had 1 point in Luck, not a hundred.
As the world unpaused, he toggled the effect--he simply had to think it, and it happened. As promised, red-coated, rusty chains appeared from beneath the ground and wrapped around his calves, dragging him back. Moving was extremely slow and even exhausting in a sense--but what alleviated his spirits was seeing the balls of fire continue to flame out toward the goblins even as he walked.
His movement speed plummeted down to 0,3, and he was actually moving slower than the goblins. The trade-off, though, was more than worth it. At the current distance between him and the goblin mages, 0,3 movement speed was actually enough to keep dodging the fireballs without using Dash. This meant that he no longer had to sacrifice firepower for survival.
The issue, though, was with the Calling. He desperately wanted to become a Wizard once again, but from what he remembered, one of the downsides of becoming a Wizard was losing 0,4 movement speed. That would root him in place completely and spell his doom. If he only got offered the same Callings, he'd have to roll into the Battlemage. But Battlemage lowered his range to a measly 10 yards...
Sighing, he simply put it off until a Level-up. What was done was done--
“--no, wait, I’m a fuckin’ moron,” he spat out loud. “Can’t I just toggle the effect off until I get more movement speed?”
There was incompetence, but there was also temporary forgetfulness. He decided to chalk it up to the latter--life, after all, was not made of incompetent failures, but tiny, forgetful blunders that people can turn a blind eye to. If they try. Really hard.
Three hundred--that was how many suddenly appeared. Red, black, green, and yellow goblins--in their midst much taller humanoids, orc-like yet still with goblin features. There were three of them, and their speed was much faster. However, halfway to him, they were obliterated by the bombardment of fire and even the occasional spay of chaos. It was also then that reached Level 10 and, just as before, only two options, twilight-coated, appeared. However, only one of the previous two appeared--Novice Wizard--while the second... the second made him sigh in a rather strange way.
Novice Chaosmonger [Rare Calling]
-- Hidden from the world, the School of Chaos is small and almost inconsequential. However, many still wish to tap into its forbidden arrays, seeking power beyond compare, only to find themselves despairing. Chaos is Entropy--and Entropy favors no man. It does as it pleases, without guidance, without reason, without hope. Those trapped in its chains seek liberation from the Laws, failing to understand that Laws are what give man his power. In Chaos, power is unrestrained and free, not those who wield it.
The following Modifications will be applied for the remainder of the stage:
+33% chance to ‘Favorable’ rolls of Chaos School
+66% chance of incurring at least one ‘Favorable’ roll of Chaos School
+99% chance of halving at least one ‘Unfavorable’ roll of Chaos school
--The following Effects will be applied--
[Free Will] -- attacks and abilities no longer fire in the desired direction but entirely at random. Due to their wild nature, they will deal between 50% and 200% more damage but also have 10% chance of missing their target. All projectiles have their speed increased by 400%. Cooldown for attacks and abilities is increased between 15% and 50% per cast (every cast will yield a different cooldown)
[Chaos is the Mother of All Creation] -- your choices upon Level-up will be selected at random, prioritizing Chaos School spells, passives, and upgrades. There is a 99% chance that the selection's level will be upgraded by +1, 66% chance by +2, 33% chance by +3, 3% chance by +4, and 0,03% chance by +5. Can only upgrade up to 'Legendary' due to the limitation of the Calling.
[Vessel, not the Champion] -- you will no longer acquire any non-Chaos School active abilities. All your current non-Chaos School attacks and abilities will be converted to their Chaotic counterparts. If there is no Chaotic counterpart, that ability will be removed entirely from your arsenal. For every active Chaos School ability, gain a 10% chance of a 'Favorable' roll; for every passive Chaos School ability, gain a 10% increase to a random effect among your passives.
[Chaos is a Singularity, not a Study] -- your XP gain is lowered by 70%. Instead, all the XP lost is converted into Chaotic Energy, empowering you. Due to the limitations of your Calling, you only have access to one:
-- Harbinger of Entropy [Unlocked at 1,000 Chaotic Energy] -- Every time you Level-up, gain 3 random active abilities from non-Chaos School for 45 seconds. Their damage and effects will be restricted by 80% due to your Calling, but they can be affected by your % chance effects.
...
Note: Chaos is truly random. It gives and takes. Entropy is an eventual inevitability of all. If devoted to the study, you must forsake hope and simply deploy yourself in the service of Chaos. Whatever shall come, it may.