Changing World- The Beginning

by Sergei Katz

  The world congratulates Trickster, the first to receive the status of a Lesser Deity.

  — Great Yagmourt, — Trickster's voice grew cold. — I accept your challenge.

  The mountain of leaves shifted uncertainly. It appeared that Yagmourt felt that he was trapped, but still didn’t understand what that actually meant. To be honest, I was glad that my patron received the status of a deity and especially since he was the first patron to do so, he obviously got a bonus. However, I still didn’t understand why he had waited to receive this message. Apparently, we were about to find out.

  — As the party summoned to this duel, it’s my prerogative to assign the time and place. The time of the Divine Duel is here and now.

  We didn’t even have time to fully understand what was being said. Another gong sounded.

  Each patron came to this world to become a god. And they will all fight to become the supreme deity of this world. It's time for Divine Duel. Good luck everyone!

  The mountain of leaves trembled. It seemed that the divine duel wasn’t a part of its plans. Feeling that something was about to happen, I gave a sign to Little Morph before the second gong, to become invisible and quietly sit on my shoulder. Just at the end of the message, I felt a weight on my shoulder. Literally a second later the whole glade was covered with a dome of milk colored walls.

  Rules of the Divine Duel:

  1. The patron and / or the chosen one who has come may participate in the battle.

  2. You can use all kinds of attacks, weapons, magic and any other resources that the participants have at hand.

  3. The losing patron and all of his followers will leave this world.

  4. The winning patron receives an increase in one of the abilities from the defeated one, or choose one of the abilities from the defeated one.

  5. The winning Newcomer gets an increase in one of the abilities to the level of the defeated one or one ability from the defeated one.

  Your Divine Duel will begin in 5 minutes.

  As usual, immediately after the message about the countdown was received, my body clock moved to the upper right corner of my vision.

  Trickster, as usual, created two log chairs, and we sat down.

  — First of all, —my patron smiled, — you're doing just fine. Your progress is simply phenomenal: you now have a Vorto, a relationship of trust with the Traveling Spirit, you helped the Satyr and now you are on friendly terms with the two Grand Masters. On top of that you are now a friend of the Orcs and have received an excellent training.

  The Trickster’s attitude towards you has improved: +850 points. At the moment: Good – 3,000 points. To reach a level of Friendship requires another 2,000 points.

  For some reason, it seemed to me that my patron was somewhat embarrassed, and I immediately asked him what was going on.

  Damn it, you noticed, — Trickster grinned. — Well, okay, I took advantage of you a little, or more precisely, I used you for my own purposes. But there was no other option. By becoming the first Lesser Deity, I received an incredible advantage over the others.

  I gave a confused look to my Patron, who, during his tirade, was quickly flipping the coins around his fingers.

  — You see ... It was important for me to build a temple in the clearing. — Trickster turned to see if our opponents had heard what he had just said. After making sure that they hadn’t, he continued: — The Gods would have never let me do this, and they demanded that I find another place. So, I remembered what you said about the true names on the initiation list, and told them that you have a photographic memory and you remember them all, and that if they allow me to build a temple, I will order you to forget them and never mention them again, not even to me.

  I already understood the essence of this scam. If I had needed to then I would have used this trump card for sure. The Trickster knew that he owed me one after this. My patron looked me in the eye:

  — I know, I owe you now. As soon as there is something worthy, you will receive it, but for the moment, — the foxy grin returned to his face, — we need to win the first Divine Duel. There is no discussion about this; you don’t want to leave this world today, do you?

  I shook my head.

  — Now, I come to a very important point: during the Divine Duel, neither I nor this rotten herbarium can attack you, Newcomers, until I defeat the other patron. This means that as soon as you have killed your opponent, you can help me finish off this stinking hill of leaves. I'm counting on you. Whatever I may say, Yagmourt is a strong opponent, and he just gained energy by drinking it from the two Newcomers. Also, — the expression on the face of the newly-declared Lesser Deity became pensive. — can you defeat him? — He nodded at the warrior next to Yagmourt.

  — Actually, I have no doubt about it for a second. After two months of daily training with the Orcs, I've made big headway as a swordsman, and it's unlikely that the guy with two swords can beat me. Also, my magical arts are pretty good, and all of this put together with my other class skills make me pretty lethal, — I nodded confidently.

  — I think so, too, — Trickster smiled, — but the fact is, you have to defeat him without using manna, can you do that?

  I thought about this. I had a good arsenal of skills even without magic, but without manna, I wasn’t going to be allowed to use my class skills either.

  — I'm not sure, — I said, sharing my thoughts with the patron.

  — You underestimate yourself, believe me, — Trickster seemed to be sure that I would deal with whatever would come at me.

  The divine quest is “Victory without Magic”: you and your patron must win in the first Divine duel. During this duel you are forbidden to spend manna.

  Reward: The Trickster will award you the agility of “Divine Blade”.

  — It's our time, — said Trickster, jumping off the log, and at the same time both logs disappeared. I could hardly resist falling over. Trickster winked at me and turned abruptly toward our opponents.

  “Bleep! My patron couldn’t do without his tricks!” — I snatched up my sword and made a sign with my other hand, and my Phasm jumped into my hand and became a sword. I looked around for my Totem, but sadly he appeared to be stuck outside of the dome.

  The Divine Duel will begin in 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1.

  As soon as the countdown was over, Trickster quickly attacked his opponent. Yagmourt, too, wasn’t particularly ceremonious: many tentacles collided with a flurry of flying coins. I saw all of this at the edge of my vision, but at this point my attention was focused on my silent adversary.

  We approached each other cautiously. Judging by the way he was moving the fighter knew what he was doing. How could I defeat him without using the magic and abilities of my class, while he himself could use everything he had? My thoughts were all over the place, and I needed to calm down as soon as possible. I took a deep breath, breathed out, and began to check out my enemy’s defenses, inflicting quick, but not very strong blows. My opponent followed a similar tactic. Gradually, we began to put more force into the strikes. The speed of the battle became almost a dozen times faster than when we had started.

  Eventually, my opponent started using magic and special techniques. This greatly compromised my health, and my life points fell into the middle of the yellow zone. Compensating for the lack of magic and special techniques, I had to give my best in speed and skill. Once again, we became more or less equal, and I was even able to reduce my opponent’s life points to the beginning of the yellow zone.

  — You’re not using manna, — the warrior's voice was dry and calm. — Do you really think that you can defeat me only with swords? —A grin flashed across the warrior's face, but his eyes were cold, and the speed of the attacks remained the same. Talking during the fight wasn’t distracting him at all. — Now you’re fighting at the limit of your abilities, — as he said this, a streak of black lightning flashed into my chest. I wasn’t able to evade it, so I had to try and block it with my sword. Unfortunately, I a
ccidentally blocked with the wrong hand, and the blow struck Little Morph. My Phasm cried out and melted into the air.

  — Bleep! — The warrior lost his temper for the first time. — You fools are lucky! If you had tried to block this strike with a conventional weapon you would already be dead. What the hell was that? Was that your pet?

  — Yeah, — I grinned, but in fact, I wasn’t happy at all: at this point it was one sword against two, and my opponent was really capable, so this was a case of win or lose: mutually assured destruction, if you like.

  — Okay, — my opponent calmed down. — I’ll finish you off. You're good with one sword, but not good enough.

  Then I fell under a hail of blows, and my life points immediately went into the red zone. If I couldn’t immediately find a way to fight off this onslaught, then I would be toast. The first thing that came to mind was to start using magic and special abilities, but I remembered how Trickster insisted on winning without magic. Then I remembered how I started fighting in this world: my left hand darted to my bag, and a fistful of needle thistles flew into my opponent’s eyes. The warrior, who had been silent before, yelled out in pain, punctuated by a series of “Bleeps”. It appeared that I could still make him angry.

  Quickly putting together a series of strikes, I brought his life points to the red zone. Then the warrior pulled himself together. Thanks to the fact that I had scratched the top of his left eye and completely ripped off the eyelid from the right eye, my opponent couldn’t fight at full strength any longer. Every now and then I managed to break through his defense, and gradually his life points fell to zero.

  — You seem to have defeated me, — the warrior's voice was calm and to the point. — and this is despite the fact that you used only ordinary attacks and techniques. I don’t know where you managed to learn so much, but I admire your ability. — The warrior suddenly pulled back and bowed to me. — My name is Ice, and I thank you for the fight.

  I bowed back quickly:

  — I’m Alder. You also fight well, so let's finish this quickly.

  Ice chuckled.

  — Do not think that I have given up. This is a fight that I have to win. I will simply apply an illegal technique now, and you will not have a chance to defend yourself despite all your skill.

  I was surprised. I didn’t expect to hear this from him, but he hadn’t finished yet.

  — I would never have used such a technique in an honest duel, but this is an order that I cannot disobey.

  Then Ice cried something out, and his body got covered with a black aura, after which he stuck the first sword, and then the other one into his chest. I thought that he was crazy, and then I felt a great pain in my chest. My life points started declining at an alarming rate. I looked at my opponent, and his life points were also ebbing away. There was no time to think: I needed to kill this moron before he killed both of us. I rushed forward and started to strike blow after blow. Nothing! All my blows were absorbed by the black aura that was surrounding the warrior. Two or three more seconds ... It would all be over for me.

  But I continued attacking like a madman, despite the fact that my attacks weren’t inflicting any damage. I had to spend manna, but the main thing was to be quick about it. “The Hidden Shield” ability would do. I almost activated it, when suddenly my sword struck deep into Ice’s body. I was surprised to see how my opponent's life was reset. Ice also stared unbelievingly at his chest, in which three blades were now embedded.

  — How can this be? I must have one life point left, and you must die!

  Carefully, so as not to cause more pain, I pulled out my sword:

  — Sorry, my clothes absorb one percent of any damage.

  The warrior grinned through the pain.

  — Not bad. I hope that when I return to this world, we will become friends.

  — I would be happy with that, — I replied. I'm not sure that Ice heard me, as his eyes closed, and his body melted in the air. I looked at my life points - there were only 4 points left. Any blow, even a weak one, and he would have killed me.

  But there was no time to reflect. I quickly moved to where the patrons were fighting. I could hardly keep track of what was happening. All I could perceive was the constant impact of blows, with coins and tentacles flying in all directions. The whole area was covered with the black dirt-like blood of Yagmourt, and Trickster’s purple blood. Both of their lives were in the red zone.

  I carefully came up behind the back of the Great One. He couldn’t attack me directly, but if an attack intended for Trickster struck me instead then I would be finished instantly. My blows tore off small pieces of Yagmourt’s body, but his life points weren’t diminishing.

  Then Trickster whispered in my ears:

  — You're just in time. Your blows cause almost no damage, but they distract this hill of leaves, so I can finish it off.

  Suddenly, Yagmourt released hundreds of tentacles. Trickster was able to block almost all of them with his coins, but some still got through, and my patron’s life points fell to half of what they had been before.

  — We’re doomed, — the whisper was barely audible. — It’s soaking up my energy and this is potentially fatal for me. If you have something in your Arsenal of Wonders, apply it immediately, otherwise we'll leave this world in no time.

  “Arsenal of Wonders! He's still cracking jokes even at a time like this!”

  — I attacked with everything I had, but of course, I have a lot more in store. But everything else requires manna, and you forbade me to use it.

  I felt Trickster's doubts. He really didn’t want to let me use manna, but I couldn’t see any other option. As fast as possible, my mind ran through the possibilities that I had in my arsenal and planed a strategy of attacks. To finish off this mountain of leaves quickly and for certain, I could use “Slaughter Slash”, or “Crippling Blow With a Roll” and then a series of “Penetrating Blows”. There were a lot of options, but none of them seemed to be the course of action, so fire was the best option. This pile of leaves would quickly burn out, if I brought a match to it.

  — Do it, — Trickster whispered cold and confident - he had made a decision.

  It was at that moment that I realized what I had to do. The decision was simple and could be the ideal approach in the given situation, but the truth was that I was by no means certain that it would work. So, I decided to take a chance and activate the “Scarlet Shine”, my Totem’s new ability, and my sword immediately burst into flames. Fantastic! There was no time left to lose, as Trickster’s life points had almost disappeared. His movements slowed down, and he was barely breathing.

  — Use everything that you’ve got. Two more hits and I'm dead...

  I didn’t even realize at first that it was Trickster speaking. The sword got stuck in Yagmourt's body, and he flushed. My sword didn’t want to leave the body of the Great One. It had finally reached the patron’s blood and was currently choking on it.

  Yagmourt’s heart-rending scream swept across the clearing, quite literally hurting my ears until they bled. The Great One’s entire body was blazing in flames, and his life points began to rapidly melt away.

  — Finish it. — Trickster, staggering, fell back and stopped attacking.

  Yagmourt could no longer attack; he was just screaming and rolling on the ground, trying to put out the fire. Trickster seemed to believe that if I could finish it off, then I would receive a reward, since there had been no Divine Duels before and this would be a first. Well, I was up for that. I started hitting Yagmourt with one blow after another. All of a sudden, the whole body of Yagmourt exploded, and he fell to the ground like a lifeless heap of ashes. The dome surrounding us, disappeared.

  — You did a great job. — Trickster told me and sank to the ground, completely exhausted.

  Then the messages started pouring down:

  You were victorious in the “Divine Duel”. You now have the ability of “Duelist”. In the event of a “Critical Strike” on a deity, damage is
increased by 10%. This achievement can be improved upon: win in 5 more Divine Duels.

  You inflicted the final blow that killed the patron. You have obtained the ability of “Assassin of the Gods”. The damage done to the deities is increased by 10%. This achievement can be improved upon: kill 5 more Divine Beings.

  You are the first to receive the ability of “Assassin of the Gods”, and your achievement can be improved upon. Additional bonus: 1% to the chance of evading an attack by a deity.

  The “Salvation of the Forest” quest was completed. The death of Yagmourt the Great One destroyed the magic that keeps the Forest Guardian in captivity.

  Reward - the number of rare resources in the surrounding forest will increase by 10%. The popularity of the city of Tavsmithy will increase by 50%.

  The “Victory without Magic” quest was completed. You have received the ability of “Divine Blade”.

  You were victorious in the Divine Duel, using live weapons and not using manna. You have obtained the “Exceptional Warrior” ability. Physical damage with living weapons is increased by 10%; each strike has an additional chance of 1% of depriving the opponent of coordination of movements for 1 second. This achievement is an integral part of the legendary achievement and can be improved upon.

  Well, Trickster either knew, or just guessed that this would be the case. There were still some outstanding messages from during the battle, and I decided to review them.

  — Oh crap! — Trickster cried out.

  I could hear Yagmourt’s laughter: — You idiot! You've just replaced this heap of leaves, and now you will spend an eternity with no way out! — A wave of stench swept across the clearing.

  After killing Yagmourt the Great One, you are under the influence of a divine curse. You will be imprisoned in a place that no deity can escape from.

  And then I saw it: the ashes of Yagmourt rose into the air and began to grow in size, absorbing space. It took a second, after which, like a swarm of midges, a cloud rushed over me.

  The light went out, and I found myself in total darkness.