The Omnithaneum

by Matthew Powell

  Joshua moved through the forest slower, taking the time to drain everything he passed as his Pestilence grew. A few more wolves showed up, giving enough EXP to earn level 7, but they stopped shortly after. As his Pestilence total went higher and higher, the area that Virulence Aura covered grew larger. The animals, even the Dire animals, started to avoid him. He saw more than one wolf slink away into the trees when it saw him coming.

  Joshua considered turning off his aura for a while to draw more Dire animals but decided against it. Fighting the animals was an unnecessary risk, especially when there was so much free Pestilence just waiting to be absorbed. This continued for nearly half a mile, bring his Pestilence up to 30,000 before he was interrupted.

  In front of him, nearly 150 feet away at the edge of his newly empowered aura, stood a woman. Even from this distance, Joshua was able to make out her features: inhumanely beautiful, with a dress made of leaves and hair made of vines. He knew what she was even before reading her status screen.

  Forest Dryad

  Tier: 5

  Level: 72

  HP: 130,000/150,000

  A nature spirit that acts as a guardian of their respective forest. Forest Dryads are solitary beings; only one of them will inhabit any given forest. As a result, they are significantly more powerful than normal monsters. They possess low HP for their tier and level but are extremely difficult to damage and can use powerful nature magic. Destroying the forest they live in weakens them, but the sheer size of most forests makes this a poor plan of attack.

  In retrospect, carving a literal path of death and decay through a clearly magical forest might not have been the best idea.

  “What do you want?” Joshua called out. It was clear she was here to stop him but avoiding a fight with such a powerful creature was his best option.

  “Leave. Either turn around and follow the path you came from or stop destroying my forest in such a way. All will be forgiven if you stop.”

  Turn around? Did she realize he had spawned right in the middle of the forest? If he turned around, he would only end up cutting through a different section, killing just as many plants as before. Joshua considered turning off his Virulence aura when he noticed something strange. It was hard to tell from this distance, but the dryad seemed to be shaking. This could be due to several reasons: perhaps she was so angry she was shaking, maybe she was cold, or maybe it was something else.

  Maybe she was afraid.

  Instead of turning around or turning off his aura, Joshua continued to push forward. As predicted, rather than attack, the dryad kept moving back, staying just outside of his weakened aura. Her eyes widened at his actions, her face taking on a look of fear.

  “You can’t stop me, can you? Dryad magic mostly focuses on controlling plants, and none of yours can reach me without dying. Point me towards the nearest road and I promise to only destroy what is in my way, instead of draining this entire forest dry.” Joshua put on his best evil villain voice, getting a strange sense of satisfaction out of flexing his new powers.

  The dryad’s face quickly switched between different emotions. Anger at being found out, fear at what he might do, and finally sadness as she realized she had no choice. Eventually, she caved and pointed to her left, his right.

  “It’s a few minutes’ walk that way. Please do not destroy too much…it hurts.”

  With those words, the woman faded into the trees. Rather than simply hiding behind a tree, as Joshua first thought, she literally melded into a tree and vanished. Joshua lowered his Virulence Aura down to a 50-foot radius around himself, trying not to hurt the dryad too much while also gaining more Pestilence. Just as she said, he stumbled onto a dirt road cutting through the woods after just a few minutes. The walk had brought his new cap up to 35,000.

  Chapter 5

  Mid-level worlds are often more similar to each other compared to their starter counterparts. Starting worlds have monsters weak enough that civilization still controls most of the planet. Mid-level worlds are different and are mostly overrun by strong monsters. Civilization on these worlds is generally confined to a small number of well-defended cities, guarded by extremely powerful defenders. Exceptions to this rule include things like post-apocalyptic worlds, which from the very start have little-to-no civilization, and their mid-level counterparts often have none at all. – on The Varied Worlds of Macrocosm, from The Chronicles of The Founder

  Following the road for a few minutes led Joshua to the end of the forest, out into large open plains and rolling hills. In the distance was a massive stone wall, easily 50-feet tall, with a gate in the middle that led into a city. The city must have been massive, as the wall stretched out into the distance farther than even his enhanced eyesight could see.

  Even from this distance, the sentries on top of the wall had spotted him. They were much higher level than the ones back in Grace had been, and he was fairly easy to spot in the middle of the open fields. There seemed to be some commotion on top of the wall as he approached the city, but he couldn’t see what it was. Joshua had turned off his Virulence Aura once he found the road, so at least there wasn’t a path of dead trees behind him.

  As he got closer, Joshua noticed that there were several different roads leading towards the gate. Every other road had travelers on it, from traveling salesman with carts full of goods to armed and armored adventures. He even spotted a few mages wearing robes, and the bright red crystals that some had atop their staffs set him on edge.

  It would still take a few minutes for him to reach the gate, but several other people trying to enter the city had already spotted him. He could see them murmuring and whispering to eachother, and since he had spare time, set about trying to eavesdrop on them. A small flying eye would be too noticeable out in the open like this, so Joshua opted to try Pestilence Manipulation once again.

  A small tentacle of Pestilence flowed down the back of his leg, out of sight, into the ground. It snaked through the earth much faster than he was walking, emerging out from under one of the merchant’s carts. Once there, hidden behind the cart’s wheel, he formed an ear on the end of it and began to listen.

  “Is that guy really coming from the Dire Forest?”

  “There’s no way, right? If the animals didn’t kill him, the dryad would.”

  “I don’t know, he looks pretty tough. Think he fought his way through?”

  “No way. Only one of the royal guards could get through the Dire Forest unscathed, and none of them would come to a backwater like this. Even if one did, they’d have a lot more gold plating on them than him.”

  So, the forest had a name…an unoriginal one at that. Oh, gee, what should we call the forest full of Dire animals? Oh, I know, the Dire Forest! Joshua wanted to find whoever named that forest and strangle them. At least some of the information proved useful, like how strong the monsters in the forest were compared to the regular people here. If the soldiers here weren’t stronger than the Dire Wolves, then nothing in the city should be able to threaten him.

  The people stopped gossiping about him when he got close enough to hear them normally. There didn’t seem to be a line or anything, people were just entering and leaving the city at will, so Joshua tried to do the same. As expected and feared, one of the guards stopped him.

  “I’m afraid you’re going to have to come with me, sir. The guard captain wants to have a word with you.”

  A glance at the guard’s status told Joshua that he was tier 4. Theoretically, this meant that he was Joshua’s equal, but realistically Joshua didn’t buy it. The guard, being an NPC instead of a player, didn’t have any of the numerous skills and abilities that a player of the same level would have. Joshua could have refused and forced his way into the city but decided to play along so as not to cause a scene.

  The quick glimpse of the city that he got while the guard let him towards the guardhouse showed him enough, anyway. There were a bunch of storefronts along the main road, side roads that led into houses so that visitors wouldn’t
have to see them, and the farther down the road you went the wealthier it got. The poor lived at the edge, and the wealthy lived near the center. Joshua guessed there would be a similar sight at each of the massive city’s gateways, of which there had to be several given the enormous wall.

  The guardhouse was a quaint structure, two stories tall and made of the same stone bricks as the rest of the city. The inside wasn’t much better. The building was fairly spartan in design; there were virtually no decorations or furniture, just a barracks, training hall and the captain’s office.

  Joshua couldn’t see any other guards as he was led to the captain’s office, but that didn’t put him at ease. Either the guard was strapped for recruits, or this was a trap. The guard escorting him shut the door when he entered the captain’s office, and Joshua could hear the shuffle of armored feet outside. Trap it is, then.

  The captain himself was a middle-aged man, with a rough beard. There was a desk with paperwork on top, but the captain wasn’t sitting in it. Instead, he was standing in full armor, drawing his weapon as Joshua entered the room.

  Sigmund, Captain of the Guard

  Tier: 4

  Level: 26

  HP: 46,000/46,000

  “I don’t know what the Scourge wants,” Sigmund spoke with a rough voice, “but they aren’t going to get it here. Speak your peace, monster, before we kill you.”

  “You think…that someone sent me? I’m not working for anyone. I came here looking for work, actually.” Joshua was confused but understood the situation quickly enough. Of course, the fantasy world would have undead enemies. He had hoped to pick up some new quests here, but apparently, the NPCs had a different idea.

  “Don’t lie, monster. I’ve killed enough Scourge Blackguard’s to recognize one on sight. If all you have are these lies, then there’s nothing left to say. Men, kill him!”

  The door burst open revealing several new guards on the other side. They had been planning this from the moment they spotted him from atop the walls. Well, if this city wasn’t going to play nice with him, he wouldn’t play nice either.

  Virulence Aura spread through the room and the entire guardhouse, slowly draining the life from everyone inside. Joshua used Plague Manipulation to make a crude wall covering the door, keeping the other guards out while he dealt with the captain. It would only hold for a minute without reinforcement, but that would have to be enough.

  The guard captain lunged forward, and Joshua raised his shield to meet him. Sigmund’s sword swung down, digging several inches into the shield before stopping. That same swing would have cut right through his armor, Joshua thought, as he activated the shield’s Envelope ability.

  Brown tentacles lashed out of the shield, grabbing onto the captain’s sword arm. Without missing a beat, the captain drew a dagger from a hidden sheath and cut towards Joshua’s shield arm, seeking to cut it off and the shield with it. The man had experience fighting Blackguards, just as he had claimed, but Joshua had a few tricks up his sleeve.

  He had been covering the floor with Pestilence using Pestilence Manipulation from the beginning. The captain didn’t notice until he tried to stab forward with the dagger but was stuck in place by the sludge grabbing on to his feet. Joshua formed large spikes in the sludge, shooting them out to try and pierce the captain’s armor, but to no avail. Most of them broke against the armor and the ones that found openings weren’t strong enough to break Sigmund’s skin. As powerful as this new ability was, he wasn’t going to overpower the captain that easily.

  Three swords rose from the Pestilence, all copies of Joshua’s own. The recent fights from the Dire Forest had given him a lot more energy to work with, and he could make more swords if he wanted, but it was better to keep some cards hidden until they were needed. The captain was caught unaware, still struggling against the sludge and shield tentacles when the three swords stabbed into his back.

  Sigmund has taken 11,000 damage

  Sigmund has taken 12,000 damage

  Critical Hit! Lung Ruptured! Sigmund has taken 20,000 damage!

  Remaining HP: 3000/46,000

  The floating swords had done their work well, almost killing Sigmund outright. Joshua brought the real sword around to deliver the final blow, expected it to cut the captains arm off and kill him, but it bounced off of his flesh instead. At the same time, the three swords stuck in Sigmund’s back were pushed out and resumed their floating.

  Sigmund has activated the skill: Hold The Line

  -Makes the user immune to all damage, prevents the user from dealing any damage, prevents any nearby enemies from fleeing. Duration of Hold The Line is determined by the user’s willpower. Skill will fail if the target is two or more tiers above the user. The user will die if they do not receive immediate medical attention once skill ends.

  -Unique to Guardsman classes

  Joshua didn’t know skills that granted invulnerability existed, but he reacted quickly. He was still able to move but was pulled forward by an invisible force whenever he tried to back away. Further attempts to damage Sigmund proved equally pointless, as his skin proved impenetrable.

  Taking stock of the situation, Joshua realized Sigmund’s intent. He wanted to keep the Scourge Blackguard trapped here until the other guardsmen were able to break through the Pestilence barrier and finish the job. Joshua couldn’t turn his head to look, but he could feel that they had already managed to break away large chunks of it. A quick shot of Pestilence fixed the holes, but this just caused the guardsmen to redouble their efforts.

  Joshua could think of two options: constantly repair the wall until Sigmund gave up or use his Pestilence to kill everyone in the building. He had already spent more than 10,000 Pestilence just keeping the powerful Virulence Aura active over the entire building, and every strike against the wall drained a little more, so he needed to decide fast.

  Joshua decided on the second option, sending the three floating swords through the barrier and out into the hallway. The guard was everywhere, all wearing thin plate armor and equipped with various clearly magical weapons. The hallway was only large enough to fit two people at a time, so two guards with two-handed axes stood at the front, breaking the barrier a little with every swing. They never got a chance to see the attack coming before the three swords shot out of the black wall, one impaling each and the third shooting out into a random guard.

  The guards outside were all tier 4, but none of them were nearly as strong as their captain. The swords cut through them, sending limbs flying were they passed. The poor guards couldn’t even fight back as the sludge crept along the ground, trapping them in place and shooting spike into their legs. Just when Joshua started thinking he had won, the guard surprised him.

  Guardsmen have activated group skill: The Guard Doesn’t Break

  -When this skill is activated, guard-related classes receive a powerup for each nearby guardsman. The stress caused by this powerup will injure the guardsman involved, with the injury growing more severe depending on the number of guards and the time before deactivation.

  Turns out, the Scourge Blackguard class doesn’t actually count as being guard-related. Joshua didn’t have time to think about the reasons behind this as the guardsmen outside started pushing their way through, breaking the spikes and leaving trenches through the sludge. Even Sigmund was showing the signs of powerup, though thankfully his own skill stopped him from making use of it.

  Joshua responded by dipping into his main Pestilence store. He was disappointed at having to break his self-imposed limit almost immediately, but the situation certainly called for it. If the guardsmen outside broke through, they would cut him to pieces. Two more swords formed and flew through the wall, which he once again reinforced.

  While their new skill made the guards stronger, it didn’t serve to heal the wounds they had already suffered. Several of them had deep wounds from the swords flying about, and just as many were missing limbs entirely. Virulence Aura was doing good work, eating the guard away from the inside
while corroding their armor. They lasted longer than Joshua thought they would, but within two minutes every guard in the hallway was dead.

  Zandrius has killed 22 guardsmen!

  110,000 EXP rewarded

  …Was that it? Joshua had expected a lot more. Like, several times more. That many tier 4 enemies should have been worth close to a million EXP if the Dire Wolves were any indication. On closer inspection, there was a second notification underneath the first.

  City guards serve a special purpose, and a special reward is given for their death. They give a small fraction of the EXP that an equivalent monster would but are nearly endless in number and respawn quickly. Guard captains can drop unique rewards on death. They will continue to spawn and hunt the trespasser until either a deal is made, or the trespasser leaves the city. They will also issue a bounty for each guard killed in order to recruit other players into the hunt.

  Issued bounties will only be removed upon the target’s death at the hands of either a guard or another player, or in the case that a special deal is made. Named guards will remember their previous encounters upon respawn and will plan accordingly, regular guards will not remember specific encounters but will still improve with each fight.

  By Joshua’s count, the guards only gave 1000 EXP each, which was then multiplied by his Blessing. That really was a small fraction of the reward that something like a Dire Wolf gave, but the relatively low challenge plus the large numbers more than made up for it. Sigmund went limp and fell to the floor, causing another new notification.