Skill Increase: Dark Mana 57 → 86, Cost: 95,700 EP (X 10 for spell school skill)
Confirm: Yes/No
“What the hell?” I stared at the price. Apparently, as another side effect of Shiva’s spell consolidation, the cost to upgrade a spell governing skill had increased by a factor of ten. On the bright side, on top of improving all the spells under it, Dark Mana also increased overall spell effectiveness, the size of my mana pool, and mana regeneration rate.
I could afford it, of course, but I didn’t feel comfortable squandering a third of my clan’s remaining energy on myself. We still had a potentially high-casualty conflict ahead of us that might require costly resurrections. I declined the prompt and readjusted the skill level.
Skill Increase: Dark Mana 57 → 80, Cost: 73,140 EP (X 10 for spell school skill)
Confirm: Yes/No
The cost was still high, but I could live with it. I confirmed the prompt and felt a second rush of energy fill me. The overwhelming sense of power reached new heights as the jacked-up skill caused my mana pool to break into the five digits.
I knew time was running out, but I couldn’t resist bringing up my character sheet.
Title : Shadow Lord
Level : 61
Race : Goblin
Boss Tier: 4
Religion : The Cult of Nihilator
Attributes:
● Physical 5
● Mental 76
● Social 5
Pools & Resistances:
● Hit Points: 2,221
● Mana: 10,204
● Armor: 170
● Mental Resistance: 60%
● Lightning Resistance: 20%
● Magic Resistance: 40%
Skills :
● Lucky Bastard 53 Ⓑ
● Analyze 115
● Tracking 18
● War Party Leader 45 [+5]
● Runecraft 72
● Barter 14
● Governor 14 (99% capped)
Spells :
● Dark Mana 80 Ⓑ
○ Drilling Arrow
○ Mana Shield [+5]
○ Mana Drain
○ Direball
○ Mana Infusion
● Faith 40
○ Heal Followers
○ Shadow Web
○ Shadow Hound
○ Shadow Teleport
○ Dark Protection
● Soul 29
○ Blood Wrath [+5]
○ Touch of Decrepitude
Traits :
● Goblinoid (+1 Physical, -1 Social)
● Quick Learner (+20% XP)
● Boss Boon IV (20 HP & 40 MP per level; Nihilator’s Sanction ; Damage Reflection )
● Soul Companion: Vic
● Shadow-Touched
● Mind Over Body (-50% to pain, +50% Mental Resist)
● Noble (Cowering Presence, Boss Aura, Mana Multiplier X4)
Both my Soul and Faith governing spell skills were seriously behind. With the amount of energy my clan was now generating, I probably could have afforded to spend more, but I decided against that for now. Increasing them beyond level 51 would upgrade all the spells under them to Expert-ranked, and that would take time to master. Time I didn’t have. Pumping up Dark Mana was enough for now.
I felt powerful. It was almost too good to be true.
What? I asked, suddenly anxious, the ecstasy I experienced snuffed out. I had a feeling this was too good to be true. Players weren’t meant to wield boss monster powers, let alone that of a powerful raid boss. I had a sinking premonition that the game was going to slap me with some debilitating penalties to compensate. The last time it did that, it branded me a monster and disabled my ability to log out. And with Shiva now in control, things could turn even worse.
I was slowly coming to understand what he was talking about. Are you seriously worried about changing the name of that absurd TV channel you VIs use to keep tabs on me?
Vic! I clenched my teeth. You nearly gave me a heart attack!
I’m not going to!
I surrender.
That emotional rollercoaster had left me too drained to get back at him. I needed a break. “Lirian?” I said tiredly.
“Yes, Father?”
“Let’s go fight hordes of vicious elementals.”
She gave me an exhilarated smile. “Yes, Father!”
20 - Elementary
Lirian and I teleported into the small zone of influence projected by the army’s mobile shrine.
Storg’s walls stood before us, though at three meters, they were shorter than Whitebanner’s. Easy pickings for Ogres, who could pull themselves over the top without much effort.
Not that it was necessary. Large sections of the town’s walls were breached, and a tremendous battle was taking place in the rubble. Hobs, Ogres, kobolds, and goblins were waging war on hordes of elementals of all sizes: blobs of water elementals, giant earth elementals, and fire elementals that were walking infernos.
The last type looked to be a minority, as the fireproofed Infernal Ogres blasted them apart with their flaming weapons, but the other types proved to be problematic. The towering earth elementals blocked the wall breaches, holding our forces back, while the water elementals ignored weapon strikes and engulfed hobs, drowning them inside their watery bodies.
I looked around, finding the command group. Savol and Sullivan were standing on a small rise overlooking the battle not far from me, issuing orders to the army below.
“What the hell is going on?” I shouted over the noise of combat as Lirian and I approached. “You didn’t say it was this bad. How can one mage summon so many creatures?”
“About time you showed up,” Sullivan grunted, wiping sweat off his brow. “Our intel wasn’t complete. It’s not just the High Magus we’re fighting. It’s the whole damn mage’s guild. They have several decently leveled spellcasters that are giving us a run for our money. There seem to be a couple of earth mages keeping Swarm and Aidanriel from getting past their walls by somehow repelling their metal. And there’s another mind mage who got our Ettin gladiator all mixed up.” He pointed at Bonecruncher who was sitting idly a distance away from the fight, his two heads facing each other, arguing loudly.
“It’s not all that bad,” Sullivan continued. “With the other mages focused on countering our elites, the summoner has to hold back our entire army on his own. Our soldiers are mostly holding their own against the elementals, and the remaining town’s defenders have all retreated to avoid the collateral damage, but we’re not managing to push through. I kept expecting the High Magus to break under the strain, but somehow, no matter how many of those elementals we bring down, more come to replace them.”
I shook my head. “It doesn’t make any sense. The mana cost for summoning a horde this size would be incredible, even for me. It’d take a large group of high-level summoners to raise so many creatures.”
“Scouts say only one High Magus in town,” Savol said. The general’s eyes snapped toward a group of hobs that were being pushed back by a trio of earth elementals, and he made a small gesture with his hand. The squad instantly stopped giving ground, bracing themselves and holding back the elementals while some of our other troops rushed in to help them.
“We’ve been trying to conserve our stren
gth and fight defensively long enough for the summoner to run out of mana,” Sullivan said. “But we’ve been at it for two hours now with no end in sight. As I see it, we have three options.
“One: we throw our troops full force into the city, past the elementals, try to reach the streets and locate and kill the leaders. It has a good chance of success, but we’ll probably suffer heavy casualties.
“Two: we retreat a little, regroup and lay siege to the town, harrying them with catapults and ranged attacks until they’re too broken to offer real resistance. This plan has the advantage of conserving life, but if we take too long we risk Storg receiving reinforcements.
“Or three–”
“You call for me to go in and take out that summoner,” I finished.
He bobbed his head. “Exactly.”
“That’s not even a choice. I’ll take care of him.”
“Or her,” Lirian said.
“Or her,” I agreed.
“You might not be able to kill such a powerful spellcaster,” Sullivan cautioned. “But all you need to do is distract them. A summoning spell this powerful must require a lot of focus. Distracting him – or her – should do the trick.”
“Don’t worry.” I winked at him. “I’ve got some new surprises under the hood.”
“How will we get past the walls?” Lirian asked.
“You’re not coming with me for this one, kid. The stakes are too high this time.”
She opened her mouth to argue, but I raised my hand. “The mission is to get in and take out a specific mage at all costs. I may have to throw my life away to do that, which isn’t such a big deal for me, but if you’re around …”
She nodded reluctantly. “Then you won’t be able to go all-out.”
“Correct.” I scanned the field of battle, looking for the veteran soldiers. “I need someone who can help me cross the walls and those elementals; someone who’s not afraid to lose their life in the process, someone strong and–” I stopped when I pinpointed one specific hulking figure among my troops. “Tall.”
Rhyno was fighting along with three Infernal Ogres, happily smashing hulking earth elementals into piles of debris and splattering water elemental into puddles with their huge weapons. The tier 2 Ogre gladiator stood a head taller than all the others.
“Wait for my message,” I shouted as I jogged toward the battlefield.
“Will do,” Sullivan shouted behind me.
As I picked up speed, I added Rhyno to my war party so I could relay my orders to him telepathically. Listen up, big guy. I need you to help me over the walls. There’s an unguarded wall section to your right with a few water elementals at the front. Take your squad and squash them, then wait for me.
The Ogre group obeyed, abandoning the elementals they were fighting, and charged at a group of water elementals that formed a sort of shallow moat in front of the wall. The hulking brutes proved their worth as the liquid creatures tried climbing over their legs. The Infernal Ogres ignited their skin, instantly vaporizing the elementals, leaving only clouds of steam behind.
To the wall! I shouted mentally. I’d flushed a burst of mana into my legs, and it took me past the skirmishers before they registered my presence, though they definitely felt it. Everywhere I passed, my aura affected the fighters; boosting my soldiers’ morale and energy while simultaneously staggering their enemies. It was a great ability, but it couldn’t affect the entire battlefield.
Within seconds, I was past the center of the battle and closing in fast on the waiting Ogre. Rhyno was standing with his back to the wall, his head nearly flush with its top. He nodded at the next set of mental instructions I’d sent him. The gladiator’s fingers locked together in front of his body, palms up.
Still running, I jumped, landing with both feet in his gigantic hands, and the Ogre hurled me upward, adding to my already incredible momentum. I found myself flying through the air, high above the walls and over the town.
The combination of my speed and the Ogre’s strength made me soar much higher and farther than I had anticipated. From my high vantage point, I could see more elementals pouring through the town’s streets, funneling into the wall’s breaches, pushing to pass through. If Rhyno hadn’t flung me over, I’d have had a hell of a time fighting my way through them.
My trajectory reached its apex, and I plummeted toward a section of houses surrounded by iron fences. I didn’t fancy landing on one of those sharp bars. It was too far for me to use my magic to call for a cushioning layer of darkness, and by the time I got close, I wouldn’t have time to make it large enough to catch me. With my new boss tier upgrade, there was no way the fall was going to kill me, but I preferred to avoid it.
I spotted a structure that looked like a barn and teleported, mid-air, toward it. A moment later, I crashed straight through the roof, landing on a block of hay that somewhat cushioned my fall.
You have sustained 122 fall damage.
“Ouch.”
I looked up to see a brown horse tilting its head at me, unsure how his food had suddenly sprouted a goblin. I chuckled as I picked myself up from the scattered pile of hay. Being a tier 4 boss was great. The damage that would have instantly killed anyone below level 10 was only 5 percent of my total health. The pain was negligible and was quickly fading as my improved health regeneration kicked in.
I stretched and cracked my neck.
In the last second before I hit the barn, I’d glimpsed a large gathering around a bonfire at the center of town. I sensed a strong current of mana coming from that direction and figured whatever was going on was probably related.
Peeking cautiously out of the barn, I saw no one around. The streets were deserted, the civilians hiding in their homes hoping the evil monsters would be defeated.
I exited the building and headed toward the town’s center at a light jog.
***
Lirian was pouting. She didn’t like pouting. It was petty and unbecoming of a true warrior, and it made her feel like a spoiled princess, and that made her angry.
Her father, now a Shadow Lord, had ordered her to stay behind. She understood his reasoning, but she still couldn’t help pouting.
Across the battlefield, a squad of some of the lower-level hobs was being pressed hard by a trio of water elementals.
Father said nothing about helping the army. The thought had barely finished forming before the young goblin was running. She drew Fate Stealer from the decorated scabbard at her back and rushed in toward them.
A skirmish involving several Ogre Mages hammering a gigantic earth elemental crossed her path, but Lirian didn’t stop running. She summoned her mana, as her father had shown her, and teleported ahead, passing the group and instantly eating up half the distance to her destination. She kept on running, dodging, and tumbling away from other combatants that crossed her path.
The hobs were losing. Already, several of them were struggling futilely, engulfed inside the elementals’ watery bodies. Though she preferred honing her sword skills, Lirian could cast almost all of her father’s spells, and the situation called for faster action. While still running, she cast Mana Infusion on herself, adding a burst to her already impressive speed.
She appeared as a flash of green and black lightning, her huge, two-handed sword cleaving one water elemental in two without hurting the suffocating hob within. She whirled around, opened her mouth, and breathed . The jeweled choker on her neck, a trophy taken from the previous kobold chief, sparkled as fire gushed out of her mouth, engulfing three elementals. Their watery bodies hissed and evaporated.
Lirian closed her mouth as the hobs appeared, struggling out of the water. She helped pull one of them out of a half-destroyed elemental, and together, bashed the oversized puddles until all that was left was soaked ground.
She glanced at the troops. They were exhausted and their health was low, but none of them had died. She felt pride swell up in her chest. She had saved them. Closing her eyes, she concentrated, summoning her mana. Waves of
soothing black energy sprang out from her as she cast Heal Followers, revitalizing the weary soldiers around her.
The squad’s lieutenant bowed to her. “Thank you, my princess. We would have been killed without taking our enemies with us. You have given us a chance to redeem our honor.”
Her clan’s soldiers were fearless, more concerned about destroying their enemies than losing their own life. A trait her father had instilled in them. Lirian smiled at the lieutenant. “Happy to help … Orrq, right?”
The hob nodded.
Lirian raised her sword and shouted, “For the GreenPiece Clan!”
“For the GreenPiece Clan!” the rest of the squad roared behind her, their spirits renewed, and turned to meet the charge of the next batch of enemies.
Left alone, the goblinette suddenly realized she was standing beside the city walls. This section had been guarded by the puddles at her feet. For the moment she was in the clear. Lirian hesitated only briefly before teleporting away, appearing at the top of the wall. Her eyes widened at the view before her.
The area inside the walls was overflowing with hordes of elementals, all vying to funnel through the breaches and engage her clan.
A flash of darkness drew her eyes. A shadow inside the town was moving like a living thing, hurtling through the streets toward the center of town where a flame blazed brightly.
Her father.
Lirian clenched her fists and bit her lip as conflicting emotions coursed through her. She wanted to be a good daughter and obey the chief, but she wanted to earn his respect and approval even more.
She took a running jump off the wall, teleporting the rest of the distance to a nearby building’s rooftop. She continued running and teleporting, tracking the blob of darkness through the city.
She would make her father proud.
***
Shrouding myself with shadows and with mana rushing through my veins, I sprinted through the deserted streets. Despite the copious mana drain, my pool had barely dipped as my monstrous mana regeneration almost completely compensated for the expenditure. I loved being a raid boss.
Life Reset: Conquest (New Era Online Book 5) Page 37
