Lox and Gurren’s picks stopped working. The sudden quiet made everyone tense. They were now just a few meters from what Steve had termed the Danger Zone! in a high-pitched squeal.
Dave took out circular devices from his space of holding, placing them against the wall that had been ahead of Lox and Gurren. He made an octagon of them, and then eight more inside and then one more in the center of it all. “Ready?” Dave looked to everyone.
Weapons appeared in hands; they tilted their bodies forward, ready to charge.
“Ready.” Deia held her bow that lit up her body and face with flickering red flames. The magical runes readied themselves but waited; thankfully, magical tools wouldn’t release Mana until they were used.
Dave pressed the activation button on the circular device on the wall in front of him.
Mana lines shot out from the devices and connected them together. A powerful light shot out from the devices as they raced forward.
Traps were activated and all hell ensued. The passage in front of Party Zero turned into chaos as the mining lasers tore through the ground. Suddenly they were stopped, hitting the bottom of Earth’s hall.
They waited as explosions rippled through the tunnel that had just formed.
Dave had his eyes closed. Now that they knew they would be found out by the traps around Earth’s hall, they were all circulating their Mana, ready to fight and move forward.
Dave was using his Touch of the Land spell, watching all of the traps and looking for any threat of pushing forward. “Go.”
His one word set them all off as they charged forward. Jung Lee and Malsour led, taking but a moment before they reached where the mining lasers had melted away a good chunk of the materials the hall was made of. But they were quickly losing power as their internal power supplies were being used up in the process.
Malsour called out a spell, as power welled around Jung Lee before settling on his sword; it glowed with power as he waited for Malsour.
A complicated black spell formation of Dark Mana appeared in front of Malsour’s hand. Even in the low light, it was easy to see it floating around his hand. He pressed his hand upward. The spell formation sunk into the base of the hall that lay above them.
The mining lasers started to cut through the ground faster as noises could be heard and the hall started to shake.
Dave could see that the slumbering beasts and creatures were now awake and rushing toward the divine well room.
Jung Lee didn’t wait as he stabbed upward between the mining lasers. The material that the hall was made from was not simple, but with Malsour’s powerful spell that weakened it, Jung Lee’s attack was even more powerful.
The attack shattered the material and green light shone down. A volcano of debris shot upward, with some of it coming down back on Party Zero, who charged upward into the breach.
They entered a room covered in different powerful plants that grew along the walls and over the three green divine wells that rested in the room. These plants were not simple. As soon as Jung Lee entered the room, they attacked.
His sword made blurry afterimages as the incoming vines and limbs were cut back.
Malsour unleashed a dark gas, which corroded anything living that it touched.
Gurren and Lox went to work with their shields and axes.
Steve jumped out of the hole and swung his axe. The broom head that was still attached exploded as Steve cut off a half dozen limbs. “I liked that broom!” Steve yelled, charging forward, his axe moving faster and faster. “C’mere! I’m a fucking lumberjack, you stupid trees!” Steve yelled.
One of the trees actually tried to run away on its roots as Steve rushed forward.
Dave moved for the nearest divine well. Finding his path blocked, he raised his hands. Mana bolts rushed forward. The different plants continued to make a living wall to stop the attacks as orbs appeared and started to attack as well.
Dave twisted his hands to the side and back before he pushed them forward again, changing the settings on his armbands as the Mana bolts from his hands turned into flamethrowers.
Arrows shot from Deia’s bow. The plants that were struck exploded with the sudden heat that cooked them from the inside.
Induca shot flames from her mouth. Her face had altered slightly, looking closer to her dragon heritage.
Suzy’s creations held off what they could, shoring up their defenses.
Dave forced his way closer to the divine well.
They were holding off the plants in the room but they could feel the creatures smashing through the different doors of the hall.
They burst into the divine well room, myriad creatures with murder in their eyes as they rushed forth. There was no way that Party Zero would be able to hold them back while being impeded by the plants.
This was a god’s hall. It might have lost some of its power and a number of creatures had died without the Earth Lord’s power sustaining them. However, those who remained were not weak.
Dave made it to the divine well and cleared out a tree that had grown over a pedestal. Behind the divine well there were two others, making a triangle in the middle of the room.
Dave tore off his glove, cut his finger with a dagger he produced and pushed it against the pedestal. The divine wells shook as power roared through the hall. Green light covered Dave as he felt it entering his body. It felt itchy and uncomfortable as his body changed, becoming stronger and more powerful. The creatures and plants in the room, feeling the aura that Dave was giving off, retreated or simply laid down in submission toward their new master.
A flood of screens filled Dave’s vision as his body shifted and changed rapidly.
“Come on. Seriously need to stop doing this,” Dave said, not fighting the impending darkness, knowing if he stopped it then the aftereffects would only feel worse.
Dave collapsed to the floor as the rest of Party Zero looked to one another.
“You think I’m bad? Every time he gets stat points, he faints!” Steve rested the end of his axe on the ground, half a destroyed broom head still attached to his axe. A section of it fell off.
All of them closed their mouths, keeping their thoughts to themselves as Malsour waved his hands. A stretcher appeared under Dave.
“Okay, well, I guess we should go and see what loot there is to be had,” Suzy said.
“If you don’t mind, I think I’m going to check out that garden.” In a flash, Jung Lee was down the hall and headed toward the garden. If anyone saw him, they’d see the eager look, an almost crazed smile on his face as he pulled out a bottle to preserve picked plants and a magically runed trowel that he used with a level of ease that surpassed his swordsmanship.
“You know, when we were running over here, he said that he was looking for threats but he had the same expression on his face and I think his trowel was a little cleaner,” Gurren said.
“I wonder what would happen if people knew how we really acted.” Lox sighed and started walking through the hall.
Deia didn’t even know what to say or do, seeing the eccentric and varying personalities of the people within Party Zero.
“Well, I think this was a success, other than your fiancé passing out. How does it feel being engaged to the god of Earth?” Induca elbowed Deia, giving her a saucy smile and nodding.
“I really hope he doesn’t go all rocks and tree roots,” Deia said after a moment.
Induca snorted and then started to laugh.
Deia could do nothing but laugh as well.
Chapter 21: Five Days and Five Nights
Light let out a scream of pure anger as she smashed her hand against the screen that showed yet another group of Alturarans dropping toward Markolm.
There were now no more Alturarans marching across Emerilia. It seemed that had been a ruse by Dark in order to build up his forces in Emerilia before launching his first attack.
Light had given up on fighting Dark’s clouds that continued to fight Markolm’s shields. She had already mov
ed from a massive shield that covered all of Markolm to one that protected only the cities of the faithful.
Now she wasn’t even trying to act or get the people’s support. Her forces were all across Markolm, trying to deal with the Alturarans that seemed to have infected Markolm, following their worms through the ground or their mutated leaders through battles.
The Markolm army were stronger than the Alturarans and where they found them, they could defeat them. However, the problem was the Alturarans who were making it into the population centers, killing off anything and everyone in sight.
Light didn’t care about losing these people, but each person who died was losing another devotee who could increase Light’s power.
She was still growing her reserves but it was now clear to her that Dark had much more power than her. He could probably defeat her easily. However, if he did so, then he would lose his power reserves and might have to fight any of the other three remaining members of the Pantheon from a disadvantage.
“We will move to where Per’ush was, converting as we go. I will crack open the cities that don’t devote and we will destroy the portal that the Alturarans are coming through.” Light’s voice revealed a seething anger that made the angels around her bow their heads in fear.
As the fighting had gone on, she had shown her true personality more and more, shaking those in the room. Some of them agreed; others didn’t. It wasn’t a clear, visible divide but there was clearly a rising tension.
“Drain those who won’t devote more than eighty percent of their power of the civilian populations and fifty for those in the armies,” Light said.
Those around the table might be shocked but they didn’t show it. They knew that Light was going to collect as much power as possible to lash out at the Dark Lord. However, such a high amount of Mana devotion would make it much harder for the armies to fight and the people in the cities to defend themselves in a potentially fatal position.
The draining that she was talking about was using large arrays that had been created, and turning people into nothing but batteries. They would be hooked up and pumped for all of their Mana and Strength possible, being converted into energy and then pushed into Light’s divine wells. It was a state worse than death as they could do nothing, weak to the extreme and only watch as days would go by with them unable to die, move or do anything.
These angels were bathed in the blood of innocents and tempered in the fires of “righteous” crusades. However, now hearing Light’s words, they no longer saw the loving and caring woman who was like a mother to them. She was the tyrant who ruled over them and if they didn’t wish to obey, she had created them with internal runes that would destroy their minds and their free will, making them nothing but slaves.
She had already done it to one of the generals who had gone against her orders. The thought of it sent shivers up their spines as their wings moved awkwardly.
And although some of them were starting to see the true Lady of Light, others, the ones who enjoyed fighting and living on the edge, had come to love her even more. Becoming true tyrants, they cared not for their image but only about defeating the enemy.
“It will be done.” Daeundra bowed.
She was another change that put a few ill at ease. She was a fallen angel, and one they had thought died a long time ago. She was the sister of Khanundra, but she looked like a human, without wings and the glow of other angels. Many in the legions weren’t happy having her as their leader.
Light disappeared in an angry wave of her hand. The pressure in the room came down as soon as she left.
The angels raced out to pass on their orders and move their forces. They had been fighting for five days and nights. The Alturarans were a hellish species, killing anything they could. In some places, they erected massive crystal totems that could birth more of them or kill everything in the area, sucking it of energy.
Angel units flew all around the capital Maphrol. The power of the legion grew with every day; wherever they met the Alturarans, they left nothing behind.
The Alturarans weren’t strong enough to defeat the angel legions face-to-face, but they were undermining their power in a big way. The Alturarans could defeat them in sheer numbers but they would take massive casualties. The angels seemed almost unstoppable. They hadn’t lost that many of their fighting force and being champions of Light, they were some of the strongest people in existence.
***
Dave woke up. It had been a day since he’d put his finger on the divine well’s console. He was propped up on a sleeping cot next to the throne that the Earth Lord had sat on.
In the hall, an ono spit out automated carts that hauled away treasures, materials, and different items in the halls.
A number of people walked around admiring the place; included were members of the Stone Raiders and Terra Alliance leadership. Party Zero were talking to a few people here and there.
As he moved, he heard footsteps from the other side.
“Seems you’re finally awake. How are you feeling?” Deia’s voice was filled with concern as she squatted down next to him.
Dave gave her a lecherous look, trailing up her body and meeting her eyes.
Her lips pressed together, trying to look severe but the corners of her mouth betrayed her as they pulled upward.
“Pretty damn good.” Dave gave his clinical opinion with a thoughtful look before he laughed and pulled her close, making her fall against him and his cot. The cot couldn’t support the movement and fell over, with Dave falling on the ground and pulling Deia over him.
“The floor is better with a view like this,” Dave said, a massive smile on his face as Deia’s hair fell down like curtains, cutting them off from the world.
“What are you doing,” she hissed, an embarrassed glow to her face, which Dave found irresistibly cute.
“Admiring mah gurl,” Dave said in a terrible Southern drawl.
“Must’ve hit your head too hard when you fell down.” Deia’s smile widened as her blush deepened.
“Get a room!” Dwayne called out.
“It’s my hall!” Dave yelled back.
“Where did we get this guy from? You’d think he’s the damn guild leader,” Dwayne complained to those around him with a deeply hurt look.
“I heard that!” Dave yelled.
“What are you, an elf! Stop eavesdropping!” Dwayne retorted.
“Seems like he’s in high spirits,” Dave said to Deia.
“Are you going to let me up?” Deia asked.
“No!” Dave said in a childish manner, frowning.
She poked his ribs, making him twitch.
“You’re Dave Grahslagg.” She gave him a meaningful look.
“Sooo, pretty lady, you free tonight?” Dave asked.
Deia could only press her lips together into a white line before she sighed. “I wish I was, but seems like we’re going to do missions—steal from the gods tomorrow.”
“Oh.” Dave’s eyes lit up in excitement. “I’ve always wondered if the Dark Lord’s pad was more cemetery or deathly swamp vibe.”
Deia shook her head, a look of love on her face as she kissed Dave. She made to get up and Dave pulled her back down into a kiss. She did it a few more times, Dave doing the same again and again.
“Check your notifications.” She poked him in the ribs again.
“You know I’m ticklish there!” Dave complained, frowning.
Deia gave him another kiss and he released her.
“Tease,” he muttered so only she could hear him.
She shot him a look as she got up and walked away, adding a bit more movement to her hips as Dave took in the glorious sight.
“Ah, sometimes it’s good to be me.” Dave propped himself up and opened his notifications.
New Class: Lord of Earth
You have replaced the Lord of Earth. As such, you gain control over his hall and all he controls. Wait, what? How? Are you kidding me? Is this real? I just pinched myself, so it
must be. All right, so somehow, I didn’t even know this was possible, you managed to become the head honcho of all things green and growing. Bit strange, but seems like just your sort of thing. Now, go forward and I don’t know—grow things! Oh, and you get bonuses—they’re below.
Status:
Level 1
Effects:
+100 to all stats
Access to all of previous Earth Lord’s items.
Ability to use magical aid to create any spell possible as long as you have sufficient power (see divine wells power levels).
Quest: Champion Slayer Level 4
Kill 100 Champions (93/100)
Rewards: Unlock Level 5 Quest
Increase to stats
Increased/Decreased reputation with Affinities
Your Affinity has increased!
For becoming the Earth Lord your affinity to Earth has increased.
Affinity Levels
Dark
584
Light
345
Fire
384
Water
413
Earth
875
Air
376
Dave had come to learn that there was an upper limit to the affinity levels, once one reached 1000 then there was no way to progress anymore. There were records of those that had attained a level 1000 Affinity. However, they were incredibly rare, not appearing for thousands of years. When they did they brought incredible changes, however once their ties to the world were cut off they would live reclusive lives within their elements. Most were thought to have become crazy, not coming to learn the element but being embodiments of it.
His notifications weren’t over yet.
Your Standing with the Earth Lord’s Faction has changed!
Becoming the Earth Lord, it would only be natural that the Earth Lord Faction would come to accept you rather than despise you. Now you can expect creatures with a high affinity to the Earth to leave you alone more often and for them to be weaker when they attack you.
The Pantheon Moves Page 30
