The Land: Monsters

by Aleron Kong

  Cost

  1000 mana

  Duration

  7 seconds

  Range

  40 yards

  Cast Time

  10 seconds

  Cooldown

  1 year

  The chaos seed blew out an astonished breath. It was a killer! Seven waves of pure power. With this, he could destroy an army with a literal wave of his hand. He thought about the times when the spell could have come in handy. Destroying a particular lair of dickipedes came to mind. It certainly would have felt good to wipe them out. There was a time when he might have balked at the sheer damage this spell would deliver. When he would have been bothered by causing such wanton destruction to other living beings. All he felt now was excitement.

  The spell wasn’t all-powerful, of course. The cost and cast time were both high. Like his other unique spells, he could only use it once a year. Basically, it was a silver bullet and there were no quick reloads. In the times to come, he resolved to put it to good use. Richter read the details of the final spell.

  Gloom Portal

  This spell binds the translocation of Air with the sucking eternity of Dark to assault a single point of space. Gloom Portal creates a microscopic black hole. The singularity does not last long, but it is sufficient to pull an enemy through this pinprick in space. Damage 1000-2500. There is a possibility that the enemy may be completely consumed.

  Cost

  1000 mana

  Duration

  25 seconds

  Range

  50 yards

  Cast Time

  9 seconds

  Cooldown

  1 year

  All four of the spells were massively powerful. One was a resurrect, another a complete heal, the third an AoE damager and the fourth an assassination spell. They weren’t the same as Hisako’s unique spells, but she’d told him each Place of Power had its own particular character. He’d seen her make a wall that could stop an entire army. Her magic had also been able to bind the most powerful creature he’d seen since coming to The Land. Richter realized that he’d seriously underestimated the power of Mastery. As long as a Master was willing to pay the price, they were a walking nuclear weapon.

  Richter scanned the rest of the village upgrade prompts, hoping for an increase of the village’s mana pool or maybe a new defensive Settlement spell. Sadly, neither of those had popped up. All he could think was that for either one to happen he’d have to actually upgrade his Settlement. That would require him conquering the first three floors of the Catacombs. Seeing as how one of them was populated with over a hundred thousand kobolds living in a warren of deadly traps… he had no idea how he was going to pull that off. An irritated and high-pitched voice interrupted his thoughts.

  “Human! I am tired of waiting. I am here to collect my Favor!”

  “I’m not done yet, you flying rat,” Richter snapped back. “If you wanted more attention, maybe you shouldn’t have left me for dead in a fucking monster lair!” He was shouting at the end with his fist clenched.

  A red light glowed behind the imp’s eye, evidence of the demon’s ire. When he looked at the disrespectful human, however, he saw something that he hadn’t expected. A literal light was swirling in Richter’s eyes as well. Each pupil had the faintest speck of energy in its depths. The flash of color was there and gone so fast that it could have been taken for a trick of the light. It would have been missed by almost anyone else, but the demon was old, far older than Richter could possibly conceive. He knew what he had seen.

  The threatening words Xuetrix had been about to spit out dried on his forked tongue. How, in the name of the Sacred Demons, had this paltry human started to form a Power Core? He’d only been in The Land for a few months! Xuetrix still didn’t actually think that Richter posed any real danger, but he didn’t understand what was happening. That made him uneasy.

  The imp didn’t let any of that show on his face of course, so he just harrumphed and said, “Hurry up, then. Unless you want to break your contract with me and suffer the consequences.”

  Richter continued to glare at him, completely unaware of the demon’s thoughts. Nonetheless, Xuetrix’s mention of the Favor reigned in the chaos seed’s anger. He’d done a lot of questionable things since coming to The Land. He could admit that he’d earned his title of gyoti at least a couple times in the past. The one thing he hadn’t done, that he hadn’t even heard of anyone doing, was break an Oath, Vow or Favor. The penalties started at losing reputation with almost every sapient being and ramped up from there. It wasn’t something he was willing to risk willie nillie. Before he made that kind of decision, he wanted all the information he could get. At the very least, that meant understanding the perks he’d gotten from the battle.

  The next prompt banished at least some of his anger.

  Congratulations! Your familiar has reached levels 44, 45, 46 and 47!

  His baby was growing up! Richter was surprised that Alma had gained so much experience. He wondered if she’d used Brain Drain on a high-level monster when he wasn’t looking. Playing back his combat log though, he saw that almost all of the experience points came from destroying the statue of the Exile. It said that she had destroyed the “Personification of the Enemy,” the Statue of Liberty-sized monument that had stood behind the Mausoleum.

  Her level ups meant she had gained 4.2 new Ability Points. The remainder was due to her eating the celestial fruit of the Quickening. Every point would make her that much more deadly, increasing her psychic abilities. None of that was as impressive as the next single line of text though.

  Your familiar has evolved.

  That was it. There wasn’t any other information. It was like a cruel joke, giving so little information about a loved one. Richter frantically tried to access the icon of his soul familiar, but was punished with a red prompt of warning.

  You are too far from your familiar to access her current information.

  He could have screamed in frustration. His Alma, his love, the other part of his soul had evolved and he wasn’t able to know anything about it? Richter really, really wanted to hurt something. He’d been trying to keep his frustration and anger to a low simmer, but he was reaching his breaking point. The tunnel he was in now was big enough that he didn’t feel trapped, but his claustrophobia was still alive and well, gnawing at the walls of his psyche. The only thing working for him was not thinking about it. When his anger flared though, his mind wandered and the fear could come creeping in.

  Richter slammed his mind shut, using every technique he’d learned from Alma. He fortified his mind’s defenses and felt the panic and nervous feeling ebb. They weren’t completely gone, but he could pretend they weren’t there. To focus his mind somewhere else, he read the last notification from the lich battle.

  It was his leveling sheet. He’d gained five whole levels from the battle. His ability points had been distributed, but he still had Talent Points, Chaos Points and skill percentage points to allocate. The skill points went into Enchanting, his highest-level skill. Putting them in a lower level skill would have been a waste. Even with his Limitless and Fast Learner abilities, it could take more than a week to advance a single percentage point once they advanced high enough. He was also starting to find out that just practicing a skill wasn’t by itself enough to earn him any progression at higher levels. You had to push yourself and try new things. That wasn’t as easy as it sounded. For a skill like Smithing, for instance, Krom needed to not only make higher quality arms and armor, he might need to work with higher level Schematics or use higher level metals. Neither of those things were cheap or easily accessible even if you had the coin. 125% of skills progression advanced him an entire skill level and saved probably a year’s worth of hard work.

  Congratulations! You have reached skill level 50 in Enchanting. All enchantments are now +50% more effective, and you have an increased chance of enchantments taking hold.

  It was his first skill to reach level fifty! He wouldn�
��t advance in rank and become an adept until he reached level seventy, but it was definitely a milestone. He also earned himself some more sweet experience.

  You have received 10,000 bonus experience for reaching level 50 in the skill: Enchanting

  Richter looked at the prompt with slightly mixed feelings. It was the first time in a long time that he didn’t get the 25% XP bonus from drinking a Potion of Clarity. It was a reminder of just how alone and underequipped he was. The ten thousand was still helpful though. It should make a sizeable dent in however much XP he needed to level up again. That thought made him realize he hadn’t actually checked what his next experience threshold was since the battle. If the overall pattern continued, he should need about two hundred thousand points. The chaos seed looked at the experience bar and received yet another shock. It seemed like everything had changed!

  2,893,011/3,845,000 XP to Level 46

  He needed nearly a million experience to level up again! It had only taken him a thousand points to level up the first time. That was 0.1% of what he needed now. Richter checked quickly. Even going from level forty-four to forty-five had only taken two hundred and five thousand points. The level before that had only needed one hundred and ninety-five. Why the hell had the overall amount quintupled? How was anyone even supposed to earn that?

  Alma’s Brain Drain had power leveled him a great deal in the past. It gave a percentage of a slain creature’s total accumulated XP. This meant that if she kept absorbing low level monsters, the XP gained would be only a drop in the ever-deepening bucket of what they both needed. Of course, the problem with higher level creatures was that they were dangerous. Brain Drain would still let him level faster than anyone else he’d heard of, but higher-level monsters weren’t only harder to find, she took a huge risk every time she used the ability. It rendered her helpless. Richter just didn’t think he could rely on her to reach these new experience milestones. He was sure he didn’t want her risking her life against high level monsters.

  So how the hell was he supposed to get a million XP? Did everyone that reached level forty-five go through this? Was this another of The Land’s goddamned checks and balances? How the hell was this balanced? Richter tried to keep his nostrils from flaring, but they definitely got bigger. What the hell!

  He had wondered why Randolphus was only forty-seven despite being over one hundred years old. This huge leap in required experience would definitely explain it. While that was interesting and all though, it didn’t fix the problem that the points he’d just gained might be the last ones he got for a while.

  Richter took some deeps breaths and forced himself to be calm. This was a problem. It was a serious problem. He needed the points that came from leveling and not just the Attribute Points. This million-point barrier seemed liked it basically promised him that he was stuck at his current level. That everything he had was all he was going to get. This was a serious problem, but… he exhaled slowly, every problem could be overcome. It was time to work the problem.

  He had met people with levels higher than forty-five. If they could advance, then he could too. Now, the most common way to gain levels was to battle. If you fought creatures that were lower level than you though, the XP you gained was heavily penalized. If there was too great a gap, you would get no XP at all. You could also gain experience from increasing your skills. But most people in The Land only had a few skills they developed. Definitely less than ten in most cases, and it would be rare for more than one to reach apprentice rank. There was no way the couple-thousand XP they got through that method could cross this million-point canyon. It certainly wouldn’t cover it twice to get to the level after that, or three times to reach the level after that. So how the hell did people keep progressing?

  Richter racked his mind, not coming up with anything. That was until he remembered the prompt he’d auto-minimized right before assigning his Strength points. It was understandable that he’d forgotten about it, seeing as how he’d had a giant bug trying to eat his face. Because he’d dismissed it, it had gone to the bottom of the stack. He’d gained more alerts since being in the tunnel system, so he hadn’t read it yet. It was the work of a moment though to retrieve it now.

  Know This! You have reached a Threshold! The points from reaching level 45 will be locked until an Evolution branch is determined.

  Further leveling blocked until an Evolution branch is determined.

  There had been more to the message, but as he’d been fighting for his life, he hadn’t had a chance to read it. Now that he did, his shock went from “whoa” to “god damn!”

  Know This! Every creature is born with a finite potential. This is mirrored by the Threshold, a severe plateau of their leveling speed. This occurs because lower-tiered beings are constrained by the small amount of energy they can contain. After this point, while leveling is not impossible, it is substantially more difficult. Your race, human, has a Threshold of forty-five, one of the lowest among mortal sapient races.

  That answered a couple questions. The XP jump was because of this thing called the “Threshold.” It was indeed one of The Land’s checks and balances, keeping certain races from climbing past certain levels. It also meant humans hit that point faster. Seemed like a fair helping of BS so far as he could see. Humans already got less Attribute Points per level compared to other races. Now they couldn’t even level as high? Where the hell was his balance? Why was it all checks? And what did the prompt mean by “lower-tiered?”

  The next prompt both answered his last question and showed that “threshold” was not the same thing as “stopping point.” Not even close.

  Your situation is different than most mortals, however. While most believe the Threshold the end of their journey, the truth is far more complex. It should be understood that every level adds power to an individual. The tangible effects of adding Attribute Points and other bonuses are only side effects of that growing power. Each level adds to your cohesive being. You are not merely a collection of body, mind and soul. You are also intent, consciousness and many other aspects. Increasing your level allows these various elements to coalesce into a Power Core. This powerful yet intangible focus provides the opportunity to ascend past your Threshold to a higher tier of existence.

  Know This! Few ever reach their Threshold. Of those who do, even less form a Core strong enough to ascend past this hidden goal, but you have done so. Your potential will not be limited! Instead, it now has the possibility of being unlocked. For the few who actualize their Core, even fewer can use it for its true purpose: Ascendance!

  At this point, Richter blinked and then reread everything carefully. It was rare for a notification to give this much information. It was basically hidden Lore. Once he was sure he’d internalized the information he had gotten so far, he moved on.

  To evolve, one must not only form a Core, but also possess the Potential to achieve a higher form. Potential can be created by pursuing any number of paths, but most beings lack a true avenue upon reaching their Threshold. Learn this truth of The Land and all reality: it is the application of Power, not Power itself, which matters. Pity those who increased their level without consideration for their Potential!

  In a greater surprise than Richter had experienced yet, he heard a voice speak the final words of the prompt. It was androgynous, but filled with intent. Someone, something, was speaking to him through the notification.

  You are most fortunate, Richter from Earth, as your ability Limitless seems to have been prophetic. While many reaching their Threshold lack even one path of Potential, you have earned yourself many. Now you must choose whether to evolve or continue on as you are. Be warned, the consequences of failing your Ascension can be dire.

  Watch well, human, and choose your path.

  CHAPTER 10 – Day 151 – Juren 2, 0 AoC

  The prompt darkened in front of Richter’s vision, going from translucent to pitch black in an instant. That darkness spread out to every corner of his vision. Before he could even curse or pan
ic, he was falling. He could feel the adrenaline inject into his heart, like a spike of electricity. His heart rate leaped to two hundred beats a minute, and he flailed his arms and legs. A second later though, he realized something strange.

  Even though he heard air whistling in his ears, he felt like he was being pulled upward, rather than falling downward. As neither he nor anyone else he’d ever heard of had experienced anything like this, he was understandably confused. What it really felt like was that he was falling up. Then he realized something even more strange; he didn’t have a body. For a second, he wondered how he’d possibly been flailing around without arms and legs, but that just seemed to be another mystery.

  Richter tried to move again, hoping he was just blind and had lost his ability to sense his body. It occurred to him that you were really screwed when being senseless was the better option, but he knew that wasn’t the case. Somehow, the only thing he seemed to consist of right now was his consciousness. Of course, that raised other questions.

  Like how could his “ears” hear the wind whistling past? Or how did he “feel” like he was falling? A part of him wondered at the metaphysics of what was happening. A larger part of him was screaming at that first part, “We’re falling! We’re falling! Bitch! Is you crazy? We’re falling!” Even after countless battles, this feeling of being nothing and something at the same time was threatening his sanity. He felt panic bloom, and it was only through his strong will that he kept it at bay.

  There is nothing I can do, he thought to himself. That was the truth. He couldn’t even shout in frustration. Long ago, he’d learned that there were times in life that you had no control. This was one of those times. While it was easy to panic, from another point of view it was the one time in life that you didn’t need to feel fear. Whatever would come, would come. Instead of panicking, he tried to pay attention to what he could hear. For a long moment, there was only blackness, the sound of whistling wind and the perception of movement. That might change though. If it did, he’d be ready.