~~~Jake~~~
Jake landed on the brick wall, bare feet gripping easily as he sprinted soundlessly along the top of it in the darkness.
He made no more noise when he stepped off into the air, or when he landed on dusty cement behind the man staring at a fire. His blade slid silently and quickly between the ribs, his free hand lowering the body softly onto the ground.
The sleeping men around the fire never stirred as they died. All but one. The last one lived. Not out of any sense of mercy, but to spread word of what happened. To send a message.
No one was safe from the hunter.
Jake bounded back over the wall, spinning and launching an arrow as he fell out of sight of the fire. He liked his messages loud, and the howling scream in his wake was perfect.
It was just the natural reaction of a man to getting his member removed by an arrow in the night. A perfect message for the scum here.
He was fighting a guerilla war against an army and it wasn't that he couldn't eventually kill all of them; it was just getting tedious.
Most of the enemy soldiers were not dedicated and loyal troops, not like that one screaming up a storm. They were conscripts and opportunists. Threat of emasculation was working wonders on driving desertion numbers up.
That helped the growing resistance to lord dickwad.
Plus, killing nearly endless waves of weak F-grades just wasn't fun. He wanted a real fight.
Luckily, one such fight was heading his way.
An arrow exploded in the man's face the moment it appeared around the corner. Jake was already gone when the retaliatory spear strike landed where he'd been standing.
A dark arrow snaked out as he moved.
It only stuck an inch into the man's face, glancing off a cheek bone when he dodged aside. That was good. Jake would hate it if his opponent died too quickly...
Ghostly spears appeared and stabbed millimeters from his flesh as Jake ducked and weaved over the rooftops. He sent back arrows, bright exploding ones, and the sneakier dark variants in between.
After one such shot, Jake activated a skill and shifted through the night to appear directly behind his assailant. His knife, a normal non-runed blade, punched through armor and flesh to dig deeply into the man's side.
Jake vanished just ahead of the ten exploding spears that filled the space he'd occupied only an instant before. He blinked into and out of real space as he traveled across the city, launching arrows each time he appeared until over a dozen were in flight when he stopped running.
He funneled mana into the arrow on the string, letting it build to blinding luminescence before launching it toward the charging spearman.
Spears rained down, obliterating the area he'd stood in, and Jake stabbed the other man clean through his right knee.
His E-grade opponent didn't slow despite the crippling wound, and the striking spear forced Jake to retreat again. He sent his own arrows raining down as he went and saw the injured knee heal in a burst of red light.
So this might be a long fight.
Jake didn't have a problem with that, except he knew what was coming if he stuck around too long.
He activated another skill and used the fresh burst of power to reverse course in a blast of dirt and wind. The street cracked under each footstep as he launched himself after the other man.
Spears materialized out of thin air, stabbing at him before exploding into clouds of magical shrapnel.
Jake dodged the spears themselves and tanked the smaller hits from the explosions. Arrows still flew as he ran, his boosted stats letting him dump more mana into each shot and letting him do it faster.
He didn't charge straight toward his opponent. Instead, blinking repeatedly back and forth across the street and occasionally onto the rooftops. Each step still brought him inexorably closer to his target.
His mana pool plummeted from the unsustainable expenditure, but then he didn't need to keep it going very long.
This time, he took the leg clean off.
The next blow stabbed between the ribs, then his runed knife plunged sideways straight through the ridiculously tough skull and into the man's brain.
No need to fight fair when his opponents broke the rules first. Though it was a shame. They were taking all the fun out of it.
He took off, sprinting down the street with the body in his arms. Carrying it until the core appeared. Then he vanished.
Night turned to day as an entire city block flared with blinding magic... and then exploded.
Jake was long gone. Slipping underground into his latest hiding spot.
He didn't need the light that illuminated his space when the core emerged from his pocket, but he did like seeing it. Looks like our little game is almost over.
All Base Attributes have reached the E-grade Threshold.
Evolution to E-grade Begun.
~~~Lee~~~
You do not hold Full Dominion over your Twin-Soul. All involved parties must agree.
Lee had a lot of notifications when he came back out of the dark. The most important and most recent one involved a feeling coming from a far away, but very much alive, Stanley. They'd survived another impossible day. And now his brother wanted... something. Something Lee had to allow.
He agreed... and nothing else happened. Though Stanley felt... pleased.
Closer to home, some people were standing around... His Mana Mind was working better than ever, and he saw the two children near their mother.
Seeing them, or rather, detecting them, was a weight off his shoulders. They were playing together, small voices babbling back and forth in a surprisingly soothing background. They were okay. Safe. No longer scared.
That was all he needed to know. It meant he hadn't failed.
Of course, the notifications confirmed the same thing, but he liked what he was hearing in his apartment as a confirmation far more than an emotionless system notification.
Invaders Defeated. Dungeon: [Greenfield's Last Stand] Successfully Defended. Contributions Earned. Dungeon Area Protected from Targeted Invasion.
Rebuild. Rearm. Prepare to Defend the Dungeon.
Area Buff Earned: [Victory](6:16:45:16)
They'd won. Obviously.
Lee could feel his runes all over the place. Some near, some very far, and the majority spread out in between. Going by his memories of the night before, he suspected most were currently being carried by people walking back and forth atop the wall.
Last night...
He had a lot of memories... some of them were extremely... bright. Those he couldn't remember clearly, but the evidence of what happened surrounded him. The apartment building's floor, walls, ceiling. All of it had changed. Windows, doors, railings, even the roof tiles. All changed. All now held a blinding web of radiant light in his Mana Mind.
Runes filled the building. Millions of them. All linked and bound into something he would have thought impossible only yesterday. Because... technically, it was a single... enchant. Like a toughened and sharpened machete, where he bound two runes into something more. Only this was on a scale he couldn't comprehend.
Lee knew he'd made it. He had created this. He remembered doing it. And he didn't know how.
Looking at it now, in the light of a new day, versus that brightness last night... nothing was the same. It was impossible to make something like this... he wasn't even sure what it was supposed to do... but he liked it.
More than liked it.
Despite feeling like the sight alone would burn his eyes for looking upon it, Lee loved it. The whole glittering web of impossibility was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. It made him feel... safe.
With that feeling of safety surrounding him, and the sound of innocent, happy voices, Lee checked back through the rest of his notifications.
There were some disjointed memories of fighting on the wall, and notifications to go with them. He'd been reckless, taken terrible injuries, and got saved by the others more than once.
None of that compared to what followed...
Source is burning your body and mind: -100 All Base Attributes per second.(+90 from Source Nexus)
-100% Health per second from Source
+100% Health per second from Source Regeneration.
That one stood out. More than a few times. He knew what it meant, sort of. Source surrounded him, after all. His building was full of the stuff. It was what filled the runes instead of... or maybe... alongside the liquid mana. It was hard to see the liquid mana past the blinding source, but he knew there was some in there. Or at least his Mana Mind knew.
The source was akin to the mana; they were both a power that could fuel magic, and they were alike in the same way a candle was to the sun.
As to what it actually was... that he didn't know. How could he? Just touching it had almost killed him the night before...
Vitality Attribute at 0.9 Death Imminent.
Soul-Bonded Beast(Caff Caffeine) has sacrificed -40 All Base Attributes
You gain +20 All Base Attributes
Caffeine... Lee wished he could hug that wonderful little dog. You better be spoiling him rotten, Stanley! Especially when that message repeated more than once. Caffeine had saved their lives, and in more ways than one.
Lee remembered at the end there, when Stanley didn't want to let go of the power... Caffeine had done... something. He didn't know what the pug did exactly, but he knew Caffeine made it stop. He better be fat with all the treats when you get back, Stanley.
He'd earned a few things himself for almost dying. With one such reward standing out more than anything else.
You have created a Soul-Bound Runic Structure: Building 3 (Legendary)
Buff Upgraded: [Building 3]
Lee pulled up the new effect.
[Building 3]
Resident Effects:
+20 All Base Attributes
+200% Effectiveness of All Base Attributes
+200% Health regeneration
+400% - 10000% Mana regeneration (Requires Additional Mana Access)
He'd seen mana access mentioned somewhere... shortly after the source.
Multiple Invaders Defeated. Contributions Earned. Defeat the Remaining Invaders to Claim Contribution Rewards.
Trait Earned: [Source Burned]
Debuff: [Ravenous]
Debuff: [Feeble]
Debuff: [Frail]
Debuff: [Emaciated]
Debuff: [Negative Attributes]
You are losing -10% health per second.(+9% from Source Nexus)
Buff: [Improved Regeneration]
Buff: [Improved Regeneration]x2
(Building 3) Emergency Protocol. Granting Temporary Mana Access(Maria Morales)
Buff: [Improved Regeneration]x3
Buff: [Improved Regeneration]x4
Buff: [Improved Regeneration]x5
It went all the way to times ten... and stayed there until his hunger debuffs abruptly disappeared. The only one he knew who could do that was Saira... so she must have survived. Lee felt a little more weight vanish from his chest.
As for the whole mana access and emergency protocol... thing. Thanks, Three. I'm glad you...
Change Structure Designation of (Building 3) to (Three): Y/N?
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Lee felt a strange sensation at that moment. A hopeful, uplifting... almost nostalgic feeling. Yes.
Structure Designation Changed.
Buff Renamed: [Building 3] = [Three]
It was right. Meant to be...
Then he checked his status, because something was obviously very wrong still.
Status
Name: Lee Cascade
Race: [Mana Conduit](F-Grade Human)
Titles: [F-grade Source] [First Time?]
Traits: [Adaptable] [Source Nexus] [Conduit] [Ley Line Attuned] [Runic Resonance] [Runic Augmentation] [Source Burned]
Class: Runic (Legendary) - Level 24 (Basic)
Class Skills: Artistic Rune Shaping (Epic) - Level 45 (Intermediate)
Attributes:
Strength: 10 [-10 Base +20] (+251%)26
Vitality: 6 [-14 Base +20] (+252%)15
Dexterity: 6 [-14 Base +20] (+250%)15
Wisdom: 19 [-1 Base +20] (+799%)169
Intelligence: 25 [5 Base +20] (+796%)223
Willpower: 18 [-2 Base +20] (+795%)160
Twin-Soul ???
Non-Class Skills(2/3):
Liquid Mana Blast (Rare) - Level 1 (Novice) | Liquid Mana Inferno (Rare) - Level 1 (Novice) | Mana Mind (Epic) - Level 35 (Intermediate)
Buffs: [Three] [Victory] [Improved Regeneration]x4
Debuffs: [Negative Attributes] [Frail] [Feeble]
It looked better than he felt it should... because something was changing the numbers. He already knew what that was from. It was Three keeping him alive... despite a new debuff he'd never seen before.
[Negative Attributes]
Your base attributes have fallen below zero. You only live now due to an outside effect granting bonus attributes. This is not sustainable and you are deteriorating. Increase your base attributes before your soul collapses or you will die.
Effects:
-1% Health per second(+0.9% from Source Nexus)
Soul Collapse(?3:?7:5?)
That explained why he felt so bad... but the soul collapse timer looked weird... and it kept twitching up and down. His intelligence was the only positive because he'd earned points even as he burned all his attributes away. Luckily, he had something of a solution already at hand.
+0.1 Strength
+0.1 Vitality
...
There were a lot of cores all piled up on his hands, where they lay beside him. Lee absorbed them all. Alejandro must have been looking out... how he knew what Lee needed... Oh, that might be it.
Mana Mind was pretty fantastic, but it wasn't like normal vision. He couldn't see in the same way his eyes did. It was still enough to feel his face, though, to sense the lines and contours. To touch the slack skin and wispy hair.
He must look like a mummy...
Unfortunately, there weren't nearly enough cores. "Maria," Lee rasped, his voice weak and barely a whisper.
Mana Mind saw her spin and rush to him, then he opened his eyes and looked up to meet her own gaze. She looked so serious and worried. Was that for him? She also touched him and added another stack of her regeneration. He hadn't known she could do that before today... Going off the wince on her face and the twitch in her hand when she cast it, she might have earned some mana burn for the relentless casting she'd been doing...
"I'm... so... glad... you're... okay," Lee said, but with a new worry eating at him. "Is Alejandro..."
"He is good." She glanced at his hands. "More cores?"
Lee smiled up at her in relief. He wanted to ask about everyone... but his body was just too weak. He couldn't even force a nod. "Yes..." he whispered.
"I get." She spun away. "Stay with uncle Lee." Then she was out the door and he heard her shouting something in Spanish before the door clicked shut.
Still the uncle? Lee thought... and she'd left her kids behind. With him. Lee remembered last night... remembered the terror on her face as she snatched the children and fled from him...
Yet now she not only kept them nearby but also left them here... she knew he was helpless, right? He couldn't do any...
Then two wide-eyed little faces were peering down at him.
"Why are you old now?" Gabriel asked, crouching and reaching out to touch Lee's face. Anita watched her brother poking Lee's cheek... then copied him.
Lee laughed. Or tried to. It came out as a wheeze, but he managed a smile along with it. It took a bit, but he got the words out. "I... played... with... fire..."
"You did," Gabriel said. "I saw you. It was scary... for sister."
"Not scare!" Anita scowled at her brother.
"Mommy says not to play with fire," Gabriel supplied helpfully.
"She's... right." Lee smiled at them, and didn't say that it was totally worth it. Not out loud. Luckily, Gabriel got bored with poking him, and Lee closed his eyes to check more notifications while he waited for the cores.
Skill: Rune Artist (Rare) has reached the Threshold of Level 25. Upgrade Available. Evolution Available.
Evolution Forcibly Enacted by User's Actions.
Class Skill Evolved: Artistic Rune Shaping (Epic) - Level 25 (Intermediate)
Artistic Rune Shaping (Epic) - Level 45 (Intermediate)
Intent creates art. Art creates power.
Allows the runic to place runes with a single touch, removing the need to physically draw the requisite symbols, provided the user maintains the necessary focus.
Level Effects (Intermediate)
+3% All Effective Mind Attributes
+3% All Effective Mind Attributes while rune shaping.
Lee knew what the skill evolution would let him do. It was something he'd done last night. He wanted to experiment right now... but he could wait. No need to rush when his attributes were so terrible. Though it almost felt wrong that he didn't have Mana Burn after making... Three. He smiled at the name. It just felt so right. Then he went to the next notification. It was a good one.
Class: Runic has reached the Threshold of Level 10
No Class Evolutions Available. Ranking Runic up to Level 10 (Basic)
For reaching (Basic) rank in your class, you may choose a new Class Skill.
He'd known about new class skills from other people, but hadn't ever quite managed to level his own class enough. Until now. Maybe because it was a legendary class? Or because he sucked at using it the right way? Whatever. New skills!
Runic Well (Uncommon)
The runic always needs more Liquid Mana.
Level Effects (Novice)
+1% Effective Intelligence
+10% Mana Pool
Okay. So that one wasn't very appealing. Though he wondered if that mana increase would double like that stat boosts did... that would be a lot of mana. Probably unnecessary for him, too. So long as he had the Well... and Three. He was never leaving his creation behind. Lee knew that with absolute certainty. So next!
Rune Boost (Rare)
Allows the runic to inject extra mana into any rune to increase the effect.
Boost dependent on mana injected, and will require additional Soul reserved to compensate for the increase.
Level Effects (Novice)
+1% Effective Inteligence
-1% Required Soul Reserve
Not bad... but it seemed... also unnecessary. His runes already kicked ass, and he could already make them better through his... traits. Lee shivered. He didn't want to think about what had happened to him... how he'd died... almost died.
Something had happened in that instant. When the explosion hit... something that he couldn't really remember... he'd dumped mana into his runes as he... died. It had been almost enough... he could remember the mana burn... or was that from when his armor melted... and he wasn't sure if it melting was from the mana or the explosion...
The runes in his bones became the deciding factor after that... His skull had withstood most of the damage that made it past the helmet, but not all of it. He'd lost something...
Stanley had been there... screaming...
Saira saved him before it was too late... somehow... he needed to find some way to thank her for that. She must have moved so fast... he couldn't have survived long like that... he remembered organs disintegrating in the blast... or burning away under molten metal...
Next!
Runic Soul Storage (Epic)
The runic understands where all true power originates.
Allows the runic to store runes inside their soul, both charged and uncharged.
Runic may place charged runes instantly, but it will remove the rune from the storage.
Runic may place uncharged runes instantly, then charge them, and it will not remove the rune from the storage. Allowing repeated use.
Storage capacity dependent on Soul Attribute and Skill Level.
Level Effects (Novice)
+1% All Effective Mind Attributes
+1% Effective Soul
+1% Soul Storage Capacity
Easy choice. The last one gave the best stats and if he was reading it right, would be very useful. Even if he still didn't know what his soul attribute was...
You do not hold Full Dominion over your Twin-Soul. All involved parties must agree.
The same message from earlier...
All parties agreed.
New Class Skill: Runic Soul Storage (Epic) - Level 1 (Novice)
Stanley must have learned a... soul skill? That was the only thing that made sense.
He really wanted to test it... but he could wait. Because he saw Maria coming back, and she wasn't alone. Saira was with her, Lee could recognize her mana. They both carried cores, little bright clusters in his Mana Mind.
The door opened as they approached... with no one touching it.
Lee knew what it was after only a moment of thought. Three... thanks!
It closed behind them. Is that why Maria was okay leaving the kids alone?
"Lee!" Saira stopped beside him where Lee could see her without lifting his head, which was good because he didn't think he could lift it. She dumped the cores over his hands, and Lee started in on them.
"I'm so glad I held off on using these," she said, beaming at him. "I knew you would wake up again. I just knew it!"
Lee hesitated. "These... are... your... cores?"
"Take them," Saira said as she knelt beside him and sent her green magic into him. It was just a trickle, but Lee finally noticed that she wasn't wearing a green sari, it was a plant. A vine-like thing that wrapped all around her over her dress. It was where the light came from. "Everyone owes you more cores than we will ever collect. So absorb them and don't be foolish about this."
"Okay."
It wasn't quite enough, and Lee wanted to tell them about his trait. To explain that he wasn't just greedy... there was no point in hiding the truth from these people. They were his friends. Maybe even family... They'd done so much for him...
"More will come," Saira said, waving away his weak attempts to explain. "Rest. We will see you restored."
"How... did... you... know?" Lee asked. "About... the... cores?"
"Maria got a diagnosing skill. She saw your debuff and told us. Alejandro is hunting for more as we speak."
Lee closed his eyes to hide the threatening moisture. Instead, he checked more notifications. Some of the later ones... as well as what the victory buff was.
[Victory](6:16:45:16)
Area Effects:
Prevent's Targeted Invasion.
+100% Mana Regeneration
+100% Local Lair Growth
+100% Local Resource Regeneration
+100% Non-Combat Class and Skill Growth
Interesting... it gave us a little boost to help prepare for the next battle... because, of course it would do that. He had one more to check.
Distributing Contribution Rewards.
Title Awarded: [First Time?]
[First Time?]
You have successfully defended your lair from an invading force.
Effects:
+10% Effect of All Base Attributes while within an active dungeon.
One Random Skill Shard. Epic or lower rarity. Claim? Y/N
Fort Resident Wilson Chambers has exceeded your contributions and replaced you as Fort Commander.
Soul Bound Structure [Three] cannot be removed from your control and is no longer designated as a Fort Controlled Structure. Pending your approval...
Do you wish to rejoin [Greenfield Fort] with [Three]? (Structure will remain under your control, but will add to Fort-wide Effects.) Y/N?
Lee felt only a little salty at losing his Fort Commander gig. A weird way to handle leadership. Though, he supposed it made things more merit based. Meritocratic? But he'd made the damn thing... and how the hell did Wilson pull that off? Had the guy really stepped up since last time?
As for rejoining... it looked like he wouldn't lose anything, and he wanted to help, so it was an easy decision. Yes.
[Greenfield Fort] has gained a Legendary Structure: [Three]
Contributions earned for adding [Three].
Lee Cascade Promoted to Vice Commander.
Buff: [Greenfield Fort] Overridden by [Three]
[Greenfield Fort](F-grade)
100% Conception Rate
Reduced Offspring Incubation Duration(Dependent on Mana Density)
Accelerated Offspring Growth Rate(Dependent on Mana Density)
+10 All Base Attributes
+100% All Effective Attributes
+2% Defense against All Damage
+200% Health Regeneration
+400% Mana Regeneration
Lee opened his eyes. "Wilson... how?"
"Apparently, he got one of them to surrender and it let him kill all of them. It was timely..." Saira shook her head. "There were many of those creatures. Hundreds. We lost good fighters... and would have lost more."
"I'm... glad," Lee said, and he meant it. However Wilson pulled that off... the man had definitely earned his right to lead. Sadly, the fort buff didn't stack with Three...
Debuff Removed: [Negative Attributes]
He felt drastically better the moment his base stats climbed out of the negatives. More than well enough to sit up and look around his apartment. "Why'd you put me in here?" Last time he'd been in Maria's apartment...
"Bradley," Maria said. "Fight start, he say here stronger for protect." Her eyes slid to the children. "Strong windows."
"We couldn't move you afterward," Saira added. "The door wouldn't open if we tried to carry you out. Wouldn't even let me in until Maria opened the door. I think her healing you made the building trust her more..."
The building... Lee could feel a kind of... attention coming from it. The way it opened the door for them... could it see them? Or did it have something like his Mana Mind? Lee really wished he could remember more of... static...
"What happened?" Lee asked. "After I... finished Three?" He'd had other priorities then, like trying to get Stanley to stop killing them.
"It killed every invader still inside. A shame so many ran out before that..."
That sounded great. The part about his building being able to kill enemies, not that some escaped. "How did it kill them?" The web of runes surrounding him gave him no clues...
"I didn't see it myself. Maria said the walls came to life and tore the monsters apart... I think I would have liked to witness it."
"I saw." Maria nodded.
Both women watched him throughout the conversation, and there was something in their expressions... Lee wasn't sure what it was, but he could feel it. A tension... a fear.
Then Lee felt a cluster of runes racing closer. His normal runes, on the armor and weapons. It felt like a small army, and they were booking it...
Only one of that group actually came inside the building, went into the courtyard, then shot up onto the balcony and into Lee's Mana Mind. It was Alejandro.
The door flew open ahead of his clanking charge, and the man slid to a stop in the apartment. His eyes went wide, and then his face lit up. "Lee! You're awake!"
Alejandro bounded across the room, arms going wide as he came in for a hug. A heavy metal hug... Thankfully, he came to his senses and stopped before slamming into Lee's much more fragile body. He still put a hand on Lee's arm, gently, and with a beaming smile. The smile slipped as he looked for something on Lee's face.
"How are you? How's your…" He touched the side of his head.
Right... Lee flinched at the memory and shook his head to drive it away. "I'm better," Lee said. At least regarding his brain damage... "Burning myself into..." He didn't get to finish his explanation.
Alejandro beamed, eyes glistening dangerously, then threw his arms around Lee and crushed him into a hug. "Thank you, Lee! I don't know if you could hear me before... but thank you so much!" Then he burst into tears while still crushing Lee.
"You're... welcome," Lee wheezed while patting the man's armored back. "But it's really not a big..."
"No!" Saira exclaimed, right in his ear. "We all witnessed what you did! All of us lived because of your actions! Hundreds of lives! Fathers, mothers… and children. All living because of what you did! Do not dismiss that!"
"I... had the best chance... to survive..." Lee protested until the memory crashed back into him and he choked on his words. "I... had no choice... it was too strong..."
The flash of light... the burning… his... death.
Lee broke. It was too much. The pain, fear, and confusion... the despair he’d felt in that void. He sobbed into Alejandro's metal clad shoulder and his arms hugged the man right back as all the horror of the last few days finally overflowed.