by Baron Sord
SigurdDärksvärd cast Force of Law on you. +15 to all Attributes. +5 levels to all skill levels. +15% to Health, Stamina, Mana, and Mind, and each recharges at 10x normal rate. Damage taken from Agents of Chaos reduced by 50%. Attack damage against Agents of Chaos increased by 100%. Duration: 1 hour.
I glanced over at Layna. Damn. She was hotter than usual and I’d thought that was impossible. It literally hurt to look at her. All I could think about was tearing off what little clothes she had on.
Now was not the time.
KingFarthurT:> Hey, Layna?
Layna:> Yes, blue eyes?
She was blushing. Probably because my Beauty had also jumped by 15.
KingFarthurT:> Hey, um, what’s your Beauty attribute right now?
Layna:> Does it matter?
The look in her eyes said: If I ever sleep with you, you will instantly forget the existence of all other women and not care one bit.
KingFarthurT:> If you don’t wanna tell me, that’s cool
She shook her head, smirking. That smirk was liquid sex. I wanted to dine on her luscious lips. And every last inch of her.
Layna:> What?
She said it coyly, like she didn’t know what I was thinking.
I pretended not to care.
KingFarthurT:> Nothing.
She rolled her eyes.
Layna:> Fine. It’s 65. But only for the next hour.
KingFarthurT:> An hour isn’t nearly long enough.
Layna:> Would you stop! You’re such a caveman, Logan.
She loved it. I could hear the girlish giggle in her chat voice.
KingFarthurT:> What can I say? Look at you.
Layna:> Focus on the battle, blue eyes. If you can live through the next hour, we’ll talk.
KingFarthurT:> We won’t be talking, I can promise you that. Unless you like dirty talk? I’m down with that.
Finally, she laughed out loud.
I was literally twitching to be inside this woman.
What was I doing? She was fake. Not real. Not the most gorgeous woman to ever live.
As painful as it was, I tore my eyes away from her perfection.
Curious and looking for distraction, I took a moment to glance over my own inflated stats while ignoring the inflation Layna was causing in my pants.
King FarthurT
Human | Male
Level: 9.0
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>>> Luck: 4 <<<
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Health | Stamina: 1240* | 930*
Mana | Mind: 2700* | 3150*
Attacks per Second: 3*
Armor: 222*
====================
Fame | Infamy: 12 | -
Good | Evil: 23 | 2
Law | Chaos: 25 | 7
====================
-: 30* :- Strength
-: 32* :- Speed
-: 27* :- Accuracy
-: 42* :- Endurance
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-: 25* :- Intelligence
-: 43* :- Creativity
-: 26* :- Wisdom
-: 30* :- Willpower
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-: 36* :- Beauty
-: 26* :- Charm
-: 25* :- Respect
-: 27* :- Leadership
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MAGIC SPELLS
• None
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MENTAL POWERS
• Flirtation: Level 6.4*
• Resist Charm: Level 7.0*
• Suggestion: Level 6.5*
• Word of Power: Level 6.0*
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WILD TALENTS
• None
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COMBAT SKILLS
• Backstab: 7.1*
• Basic Swordplay: 12.0*
• Disarm: Level 9.0*
• Dodge: Level 12.0*
• Fight Dirty: Level 10.0*
• Grappling: Level 7.2*
• Short Spear: Level 8.5*
• Stalking: Level 8.2*
• Stun: Level 7.7*
• Surprise Attack: Level 9.1*
• Tactics Level 8.0*
• POWER ATTACK: Deadly Disembowel. Level 6.1*
• POWER ATTACK: Snake Strike. Level 7.3*
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GENERAL SKILLS
• Basic Jungle Survival: Level 6.0*
• Climbing: Level 6.1*
• Examination: Level 8.3*
===============
Wow.
My skills were through the roof.
And my theory about escalating bonuses when you reached 25 attribute points in any one score was holding strong. My Health and Stamina had doubled. So had my Armor. But my Mana and Mind had tripled. There were several multipliers in there somewhere I didn’t have time to figure out. Too bad these bonus points only lasted for an hour.
JusticeSoldierCraig:> Dude, talk about OP. All my stats are epic buffed right now.
KingFarthurT:> What and what?
JusticeSoldierCraig:> Over-powered. Buff means bonus. We’re gonna murder these fools.
KingFarthurT:> No doubt.
JusticeSoldierCraig:> Wait’ll I activate my power attacks…
Jason suddenly cut into the conversation.
SigurdDärksvärd:> Don’t get cocky, Craig. You have no idea what’s coming at us.
JusticeSoldierCraig:> Yeah, yeah, Han Solo.
KingFarthurT:> Jay, since you’re listening, can I ask how much Mana you spent casting Force of the Law?
SigurdDärksvärd:> Sure. For the entire group it cost about 40,000.
KingFarthurT:> Did I hear you right? 40K?
SigurdDärksvärd:> Yeah, why?
KingFarthurT:> Just checking, thanks.
Talk about OP. The fact that Jason even had that much Mana to begin with blew my mind. But I vaguely recalled when I’d first met him he had 260,000 or so. Even with his spell boosting my stats, he still had 100x more Mana than me. Unless he cast it on himself too, so his was even higher? And he had mentioned his chariot was a Mana amplifier. It was reasonable to think he had over a million Mana. Easily.
KingFarthurT:> Hey, Jay?
SigurdDärksvärd:> Yeah?
KingFarthurT:> How much total Mana do you have right now?
SigurdDärksvärd:> Don’t ask.
KingFarthurT:> Are we talking Fist of the Northstar numbers?
He turned and grinned at me. His grin said yes.
I chuckled and shook my head as the army approached through the thick fog.
The ground shook harder. Deep voices growled and roared as they closed the distance, now definitely charging at us.
My adrenalin started to pump and my heart rate climbed. Knowing this was fake didn’t make a damn bit of difference. An unseen army was rushing toward us and I could feel it in my bones. Any minute, they’d erupt from the fog and try to steamroller over us.
“Somebody’s gotta say it,” I muttered to myself. “Hey, everybody!” I was shouting now. “Remember! Hold the fucking line!”
Jason chuckled under his breath.
“SCREEEEE-OOOOOOAAAAR!” Jason’s dragons screamed a tandem battle cry high in the sky as the dark army exploded into view.
Hundreds and hundreds of them. Possibly thousands.
Dark Orken. Dark Skeletons. What looked like human-sized ghouls. And wart-covered toad humans. I examined the ghouls and toad men.
Plague-borne Human
Level: 15
Health | Stamina: 620 | 475
Mana | Mind: 700 | -
Size: Medium
Armor: 45
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Good | Evil: - | 207
Law | Chaos: - | 150
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Toadax Rager
Level: 17
Health | Stamina: 850 | 800
Mana | Mind: 400 | 220
Size: Medium+
Armor: 135
============
===
Good | Evil: - | 180
Law | Chaos: - | 170
===============
They and all the other mobs carried wicked looking swords, spears, axes, poleaxes. Spiked wooden clubs of every shape and size. Spiked steel warhammers. They were all armored in a mish-mash of soot-stained plate or rusty chain or black leather. Some had shields, all of which were spiked or had bolted on blades.
Overall, a giant surging mass of razor sharp and deadly danger.
The Toadax were hopping ahead of the horde at high speed, covering 20-30 feet per leap. They would be the first to reach us. Less than 30 yards to go.
I gripped my saber tightly, charging it to maximum.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
“ROOOOOOAAAAAR!”
Still hidden by the fog, something gigantic rumbled up through the middle of the dark troops, scattering them aside and crushing several underfoot.
I got its stats a second before it blasted out of the fog.
Plague Behemoth
Level: 51
Health | Stamina: 4875 | 3275
Mana | Mind: 2700 | 40
Size: Gigantic
Armor: 375
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Good | Evil: - | 500
Law | Chaos: - | 500
===============
“Holy shit!” Craig gasped.
The thing was 30 feet tall or more. Must’ve weighed hundreds of tons. A huge fat naked giant hunchbacked beast with rotting skin. Had a giant 100 foot rusty chain wrapped around one gauntleted fist, links the size you’d see attached to an oil tanker anchor, each corroded loop as big as your rib cage. A single link must’ve weighed 150 pounds or more. A massive chunk of ragged steel was attached to the end like a deadly wrecking ball.
The Plague Behemoth swung the chain high over its head in a wild arc that came crashing down 10 feet in front of us. The protective shield Jason had cast shimmered white then black. Although the spiked chunk of steel hadn’t struck the shield, it still shook the earth like a 9.0 Richter quake. All of us except Jason fell on our asses. He stood tall and strong.
Enraged, the Plague Behemoth roared impossibly loud, like battleship guns. If not for Jason’s shield, all our ears would’ve been ringing. The Behemoth arched its back. Two translucent sacks hanging under its jaw glowed dirty purple. The beast lurched forward and vomited a thick spew of some black purplish mass that crashed down on Jason’s shield like a 50 foot wave, completely blocking our vision.
KingFarthurT:> What kind of magic is purple?
Layna:> Life force. In this case, the opposite.
KingFarthurT:> Death force?
Layna:> And disease.
Jason said loudly, “That purple-black mess is highly poisonous, people. Don’t let it touch you. I’m going to take the shield down once it finishes rolling off. We can’t stay in here all day. That would give them the advantage. When I give the word, attack.”
The rest of us were back on our feet after the mini-quake. We murmured our agreement.
The oily purple mass dribbled down the sides of the invisible shield. When the mess was mostly gone, it permitted a greasy blurred view of the evil horde crowding around us, already in prime position, glaring their evil eyes while flashing fangs and banging their swords against their shields.
“We go on one!” Jason shouted. “Five!”
I grit my teeth, ready to kill.
“Four!”
Layna drew back her bow to full draw, two arrows knocked and fizzing with golden energy.
“Three!”
JusticeSoldierCraig:> Anybody else in the mood for murder?
“Two!”
The Dark Orken closest to the shield shouted their hatred.
Dad hissed venomously, “Come to papa, you dirty Orken scum.”
“ATTACK!”
Jason’s shield dropped and our army charged, roaring war cries. The evil horde erupted with their own roars of rage as we clashed together in cataclysmic explosion of metal and crunching bone.
Ba-BOOM!
The Behemoth’s swinging chunk of demonic destruction flattened one of Jason’s soldiers instantly. He’d stood only a few paces away from me. I panicked.
KingFarthurT:> Craig! Dude, Craig! Are you okay?
JusticeSoldierCraig:> Still here.
KingFarthurT:> I thought you were… never mind.
A Toadax leaped 30 feet through the air, sailing right toward me, leading with a massive spear that would undoubtedly cave a hole in my chest right before it exploded out my back. Not wanting that to happen, I unleashed a full-force lightning bolt, striking the Toadax in midair. It exploded blue-white, hurling toad guts in every direction.
That Toadax couldn’t hold it together! You earned 1850 XP!
I didn’t have time to celebrate because a Plague-borne Human came running right at me, decrepit jaws wide and purple-black teeth gnashing. Purple-black goo similar to that of the Behemoth dripped down its chin.
“Skaaaaaaath!”
Layna:> Don’t let that thing bite you! It has the same plague as the Behemoth! It will drain your levels!
KingFarthurT:> Now you tell me?
I charged my saber as fast as I could with mana and popped the Plague-borne in the chest.
Ka-CHACK!!
White sparks burst out of its mouth and from between individual ribs as the bolt lit up its ribcage from within.
Plague-borne Human go fry-fry! You earned 1700 XP!
A group of Dark Orken charged me like a stampede of red-eyed wild bulls, their huge blades rippling with red Mana. There were too many for me to take down with one thunder bolt, and I didn’t have time to recharge anyway. Worse, these Dark Orken had over 900 Health and Stamina apiece, 300 more than the ones who’d almost killed me back at Keslak’s mana cannon. I may’ve been buffed to the max by Jason’s spell, but I wasn’t invulnerable. My only chance for survival was to pour on the speed and stay out of harm’s way. So I activated Snake Strike.
You temporarily unlocked: POWER ATTACK: Snake Strike. Level 7. Cost: 315 Stamina. Duration: 35 seconds. Effect: +70 Speed, +35 Accuracy, and +35 damage per attack. 7x Attacks per Second. 40% chance of scoring a Critical Hit with each attack.
Time stopped.
Well, it slowed down by a factor of 7, if I had to guess. More of a crawling snail’s pace. Everything around me moved extremely slowly and the battlefield became very quiet and the sounds were all low-frequency and bassy. With sound traveling at a mere 110mph or so, it took forever to reach my ears, and I was usually gone by the time it got where I’d been.
I had plenty of time to reflect on the fact that my Speed was now somewhere north of 100, and my Accuracy was hanging out at a cool 62. Did I mention I now had 21 Attacks per Second?
Yeah, I was fuckin’ dangerous.
Oh, and lest I forget, my Armor had jumped from 222 to 6240. Was that right? If it was, it was the highest Armor rating I’d ever seen in Reternity, and that meant The Flash from DC Comics had nothing on me. 6240 was even higher than Jason’s 3600, unless his was boosted too. I’d have to ask him about it after the battle. For now, I’d have to enjoy being King Badass for the next 35 seconds instead of King Fart Hurt. Make that 34. I’d wasted an entire second basking in my newfound heroic glory.
The Dark Orken charging me in slow motion didn’t stand a chance. For every two swings of a Dark Orken’s blade, I fired off 21 saber cuts, and because my Armor was officially ridiculous they could not hit me. Even better, nearly half my attacks landed Critical Hits and all of them were Surprise Attacks. The status messages popped up too fast to read.
Several Dark Orken soldiers are dead!
You earned 1250 XP!
You earned 1250 XP!
You earned 1250 XP!
You earned 1250 XP!
You earned 1250 XP!
Couple limitations on my recent godhood.
I saw that my mana was only charging my saber in super slow-mo. No biggy. I’d make up for it with extra st
abbing. The timer was only down to 29 seconds. Talk about over-powered. Craig and I could compare OP notes later.
While I sliced up more mobs, I couldn’t help but tally my total kills to the tune of The 12 Days of Christmas. Five Daaaark Or-keeeen, 4 Skeletons, 3 Toadax, 2 Plague-Borne, and a Plague-Bo-orne Be-he-mooo-ooooooth.
I hadn’t engaged with the Behemoth yet, but a guy could dream.
Anyway, the total haul on XP after only 30 seconds of battle?
25,000 XP.
And did I mention I leveled up in Basic Swordplay, Dodge, and Surprise Attack? Yeah, it turned out every attack I made while I was running Snake Strike Level 7 automatically counted as a surprise attack. And, with my added level in Dodge, my Armor had jumped to 6760.
Not bad for less than half a minute’s work.
At this rate, I’d level up to 10 in no time.
I activated Snake Strike again and went back to work. I turned my attention to my comrades and got busy Backstabbing whoever they were fighting. I helped Layna, who had bowshot dozens of monsters to death and was working on more. I helped Dad, who had gone green grizzly and was gleefully tearing Orken and Toadax heads off with his energized green claws. More foes fell dead as I helped. I racked up another 20,000 XP, bringing my total to 45,000 since the battle started.
Oh, and I made sure to kill at least two beasts battering away at Craig so he could accuse me of kill stealing over beers when this was all over. I considered messaging him now, but for some reason I imagined he’d hear me talking at 7x speed and I’d be a distraction more than anything.
I didn’t help Jason because he clearly didn’t need it. He was a walking onslaught of sudden death for anything that had a Chaos rating. There he was, surrounded by dozens of opponents, all of their weapons banging ineffectively off his personal force field while he cut them down.
When my Snake Strike ran out, I messaged him.
KingFarthurT:> You’re a one man army, Jay. I’m impressed.
SigurdDärksvärd:>
