by Aleron Kong
Looking at the imp’s evil grin, Richter had no doubt that Xuetrix knew exactly what was going through his head. The imp wanted to trap him. The chaos seed still had no idea who had sent the demon to help him when he first came to The Land, but it looked like that “helpful” phase had passed. The imp was practically salivating. Laugh it up, Richter thought, I’ve got plans of my own.
Staring defiantly into Xuetrix’s eyes, he selected “No” on the prompt.
Immediately, a shared notification appeared in both of their gazes. Xuetrix’s sneering smile turned into a predatory grin. Richter stared back and thought, bring it!
CHAPTER 18 – Day 151 – Juren 2, 0 AoC
A Favor has been DENIED!
A Battle of Wills will now begin between Richter, a Tier 1 Human, and Xuetrix, a Tier 2 Ashdark Imp. Xuetrix has reached ascended rank 6 out of 6. Judgement shall now be passed upon the two combatants.
The news was both good and bad insofar as Richter was concerned. It was good that Xuetrix was only one tier above him. When Nexus came through with his part of the plan, that would even out. What wasn’t so great were the ranks Xuetrix had reached. There were six, which meant the demon’s ascended form was a rare incarnation. Not only that, the demon had managed to maximize the power of his incarnation. He didn’t know what that would mean for the upcoming contest, but it couldn’t be good.
Another prompt appeared, followed by a slight pause.
Base Power of Richter is determined by the following factors:
The next prompts showed the calculations for Richter’s base power.
Body
Tier 1 Human
+1
Mind
Tier 1 Human
+1
Soul
Tier 1 Human
+1
Special
Chaos Seed
+2.5
Aura
Chaotic Gradient (Greater)
0.0
Total
5.5
Richter had no frame of reference, but seeing that he only amounted to a +1 as a tier 1 human in his body, mind and soul didn’t make him feel great. What was interesting was that his Chaos Seed increased his power almost as much as everything else combined. He was confused by the double zero next to his aura, but then he realized it made a kind of sense. Chaotic Gradient wasn’t there to help or hurt him. All it did was make things more likely to happen. Its effects were just as random as the name implied.
Unfortunately, there was no information regarding what Xuetrix’s power was. There was also no time to worry about it. As soon as he finished absorbing his own information another series of notifications appeared, and he had to focus on them.
The base Power of both combatants has been determined. The specifics of both the Favor and the situation have been calculated. The following Modifiers will be made to each contestant’s Power:
The next lines dealt with the specific Favor Xuetrix had requested. Richter was initially pleased by the description, but the lines after that felt like nails being driven into his coffin.
The Request has been deemed: General in Description, Stringent in Conditions and Reasonable.
The following Request Modifiers are applied to Xuetrix’s Power: -10%, -15%, and 0%.
A Tier difference of 1 to 2 increases Xuetrix’s Power by +25%
Xuetrix advancing his Tier 2 form to rank 6 of 6 further increases his Power by +25%
As Richter read the modifier breakdown, he cursed softly. It appeared the Universe did agree that the request was unreasonable. Unfortunately, the tier difference between them was enough to neutralize any benefit Richter would have received. The fact that the Universe had decided that asking Richter to murder someone was reasonable had also not escaped his attention. It also didn’t bother him overly much. He was what he was.
The bigger problem was that Richter had been right. The fact that the ashdark imp had maxed out the ranks of his incarnation was a problem. Starting at rank 1, each of the five progressions had increased Xuetrix’s power by another 5%. The rank modifier was even stronger than the tier difference. The demon was getting the same information and was more than happy with it. He stared at Richter with a leering grin. The chaos seed just firmed his jaw and stared back. The battle was going to begin soon. The time for regrets had passed.
Of course, the next line didn’t help his mood too much either.
A level difference of 34 has been detected.
Xuetrix’s Power to be modified by +17%
Richter was shocked to see just how many levels the demon had on him. Especially after the battle had catapulted him up to level forty-five. It was just one more thing he’d have to overcome. What did strike him was how much less important levels were than tiers. Xuetrix having ascended had given the imp a 25% bonus, but levels only offered a 0.5% modifier each. If nothing else, it underlined the power of tiers versus levels.
The next several lines showed the final modifiers. The first one hurt deeply.
The fact that Richter agreed to the Favor decreases Richter’s Power by -50%
It was made only slightly better by the next one.
The fact that Xuetrix tricked Richter into the Favor increases Richter’s Power by +25%
Xuetrix’s face was filled with glee. Of course, he already knew that a Favor he had tricked someone into would not be as strong as one willingly entered into, but the overall modifier was still heavily in his favor. The demon was confident he could win even if it was an even playing field. This was not false confidence. Being an ascended being had greatly increased the power of his mind, body and soul. Even the base power of a Tier 1 demon would be enough to defeat the average human. He was not so foolish as to consider Richter ‘average,’ but then again, he was not an average imp. “You will serve me for eternity!” the imp hissed with glee.
Right after that, which came as a surprise to both of them, a final modifier prompt appeared. It was especially shocking to Xuetrix. The demon had claimed many souls and won many battles of will. He had never seen this happen before.
Special modifier for Chaos Seed Nature triggers a random modifier change heavily affected by the main Primary Attribute of a Chaos Seed. 1-5% for every 10 points of Luck. Richter’s Power increased by +11%
Richter cheered slightly, but in the end, it made very little difference to the bottom line.
Total Modifier: -14% Richter, +42% Xuetrix
That was all of it. There was no complaining and there was no time for appeal.
The Battle of Wills will begin in 7, …
As horrible as the modifier was, especially knowing that Xuetrix’s base power was probably higher than his, Richter smiled.
For some reason, that irritated the imp to no end. “Why are you smiling, mortal? You cannot win.”
The chaos seed laughed in his face, savoring the fact that it was finally his turn to do so. “I’m laughing because I know something you don’t know. I, am not, left-handed!”
Then he thought, “Now, Nexus!”
4, 3…
Richter blinked in panic. He tried again, “Come on, man. Ascend me now!” His mental tone had a jokey-panic to it. He’d needed Xuetrix to start the Battle of Wills before he advanced his tier. If the imp had known it was going to be a more fair playing ground, he might have changed his request at the last minute, and the chaos seed needed the modifier. Of course, he hadn’t intended for Xuetrix to be nearly two whole tiers above him in power, but the modifier should improve as soon as Nexus came through on the second part of his promise.
That was entirely dependent on the Auditor not screwing him over.
2, 1… Battle Commencing.
Time ran out. The last thoughts Richter had as golden strands of force surrounded both him and Xuetrix was, “Inconceivable!” He’d been betrayed. Again!
CHAPTER 19 – Day 151 – Juren 2, 0 AoC
While Richter’s grin died, a prompt appeared.
As the injured party, Xuetrix the Ash Imp is gi
ven priority in determining initiative.
Initiative, Richter questioned in his mind. Like who could go first?
Xuetrix wasted no time answering the silent question.
The demon clenched both fists and shouted, “You goin’ pay me what you owe me!” He then sent an attack of pure will at Richter. The power of his resolve was magnified by 42% and the rings of golden force surrounding the chaos seed squeezed tighter.
“Aaaargghh!” Richter screamed. There was a flashing light in the corner of his vision, and for the first time he noticed that his health, mana and stamina bars had been replaced with a single golden bar called “power.” Even as agony lanced through his very essence, he accessed information about it.
Power – The sum of all that you are. Power is both attack and defense, health and the energy to attack. In a Battle of Wills, Power will fuel your attacks, but it will also determine your ability to survive the attacks of your opponent. Choose your strategy well.
Richter could see his own gold bar starting to decrease. To make matters worse, the end of his power bar was bright red. The number 14% was emblazoned on that section. It didn’t take a large mental leap to get that it indicated the disadvantage he had started at. That was bad enough, but he could also see Xuetrix’s power. What he saw made his stomach drop.
The demon’s power was represented by a gold bar as well. Way more important than the color though was the fact that it was about three times longer than Richter’s. Before the chaos seed could even recover from the attack, Xuetrix pointed at the two bars. His smug nod clearly communicated that he thought Richter didn’t measure up.
Richter couldn’t even be bothered to respond. That was because his eyes were glued to the long green extension at the end of Xuetrix’s power bar. His had the number 42% on it, representing the demon’s own modifier. All told, the imp had about five times more power than he did. All of this washed over Richter along with waves of pain from Xuetrix’s first attack.
The golden rings that surrounded him were not only compressing his body, they were damaging his mind and soul. Pain flashed through him, and his very thoughts became more sluggish. His desire to resist was attacked, and after only the imp’s first salvo he felt himself consider bowing to the demon’s will.
The chaos seed was no stranger to pain and doubt though. His strength was not a weak shell covering a craven person. Again and again, he had faced his internal doubts and come through the crucible. Despite the pain in his body, he made himself stand tall, and he banished the doubt from his soul. Even though the golden bands were still squeezing him, he forced his mind to think about Alma, Sion and all the people that relied on him. The pain did not vanish, but the first threat passed.
He took stock. He might be standing tall, but that single attack had decreased his total power by nearly 10%. Richter didn’t waste time worrying about it though. He just looked back at Xuetrix with anger in his heart and spat, “You are just a parasite who betrayed my trust and the trust of whoever hired you. Let me go!”
His denunciation of the imp carried his will and fury. Richter instinctually knew that he could have used his energy to relieve the pressure on himself. He also felt this would be a trap. Hisako had told him that combatants would take turns in a battle of wills. Each round would give them seventy-seven seconds to attack, but would first give them seven seconds to heal. Either action would drain their power.
The contest wasn’t only about power, but also about a person’s will to endure. If he wasted some of his power just to lessen his pain, he’d be in an even worse position overall. He wasn’t going to win this by playing defense. Also, it just wasn’t his style. He poured all of his anger into the attack and his power dropped by 5%.
Richter followed his instincts, and used his very will as a weapon. A feeling of extreme satisfaction spread through him when he saw the golden bands squeeze tighter on Xuetrix. The demon’s face twisted in pain and his wings quivered in distress. The imp’s first attack had used up about half of the demon’s green modifier. The chaos seed’s attack decreased it further. More of the green power drained away and Richter’s heart soared as he saw it decreasing bit by bit.
This was only the first time he had engaged in such a battle, however. How could his first strike, weakened by his modifier, do true damage to the imp? How could he expect to lay low a demon trained in subterfuge and the corruption of souls with only one strike? Too soon, Xuetrix stood tall again and smiled maliciously at Richter.
“Is that really all you have? You are weak. You are nothing, and you have failed your people again and again. How many of them have died under your command, your lordship?” Without Richter even noticing, the demon’s voice became melodic, enchanting. The cadence worked its way into his mind and spirit, eroding both like an insidious acid.
Whereas the demon’s first attack had been as strong and brutal as a hammer, the second was a silent dagger sliding into Richter’s ribs, searching for his heart. The battle of wills was nuanced in ways that the chaos seed had never expected, and the imp was accomplished in the art of corruption. This attack was focused on weakening the soul. The imp’s power bar smoothly emptied as the demon poured more energy into the assault. As powerful as the attack was, it was only the green modifier that was emptied. The length of Xuetrix’s base power bar remained untouched.
The golden bands began to tighten around Richter again. It was slower this time, and the physical pain was almost like an afterthought compared to the lashing his spirit was taking.
“No, no, no,” Richter breathed softly in denial of the demon’s words. Xuetrix kept speaking, showing the true power of words, each accusation eating away at his enemy. Killer, betrayer, weak, powerless, these and worse spilled from the demon’s lips. Richter’s face quickly shifted from sadness to doubt to despair. The rebuttals he initially declared quickly became a question, “No?”
Without realizing, he fell to one knee, staring at the imp’s smile which seemed to grow wider by the second. If felt like Xuetrix’s Cheshire-cat grin would swallow him whole. Accusations and insults flowed even faster from the demon’s lips. Seeing his attack was so effective, Xuetrix used some of his base power in hopes of wearing Richter down. He struggled to respond, but this attack was not as easy to resist. It was not a frontal assault; it focused on his weak spots and weakened them even more. Xuetrix’s plan was to have his prey crumble under the weight of his own insecurities. There was a reason the imp was smiling. The plan was working.
Richter was lost in a hell of his own mind. His power continued to fall. He would have already succumbed if not for the trials he’d survived and the blessing of the Quickening. The demon committed a great deal of his power to this attack, eating into his base power. Despite everything he had invested Xuetrix had plenty to spare, and Richter was in a sorry state. The chaos seed’s power had dropped below 15% and was continuing to fall. Xuetrix’s evil black heart thudded in excitement and he practically drooled over the thought of possessing a soul as strong as the chaos seed’s! He would have more than enough power left to permanently bind it into his service!
The imp’s plan would have worked if not for one thing: the bonus Richter had received from eating the First Fruit of the Quickening, the boost to the chaos seed’s Secondary Attribute, Resilience. In every life many trials arose, and many people would be overcome. Some could find buried strength within themselves. In The Land, this was not a poetic description. It was an Attribute, Resilience.
Resilience: In every life trials arise, and many fail their tests. This Attribute is a measure of your ability to withstand the worst of conditions before succumbing to death. You may cling to the mortal coil with spectral fingers, holding on to life for a scant few additional moments than should be allowed by gods and demons. You will be able to withstand the blows of fate, with your head held high, bleeding and bruised and pale.
As Richter’s consciousness was suppressed and forced deeper into the depths of his own soul, a pair of eyes looked
up out of the dark. They glared in equal parts anger and defiance. The eyes were his own, and they communicated a simple message: “No!” Unlike the soft denials that Richter had been muttering before, this voice was loud as thunder and strong as folded steel. “This far. No further!”
The bands of force that had been restricting the chaos seed loosened their grip and he locked eyes with the demon once again. To both of their surprise, Richter’s Resilience attribute refilled his power to nearly 50%. Xuetrix’s salacious smile slipped, and what was left in its place was a sneer of malevolence.
Despite Richter having triggered his Resilience attribute, this was not the first time the imp had corrupted and claimed a soul. It was also not the first time he had seen this happen. Xuetrix probably knew more about the attribute than the chaos seed did. Even though the imp was surprised at the strength of the human’s Resilience, he also knew that such reserves were finite and could only be relied upon once. That was why, in the last seconds he had left to attack, he poured even more of his power into the assault. More of the demon’s power disappeared as he tried to overcome Richter’s resurgence.
The demon was destined to be disappointed.
The last seconds of Xuetrix’s round elapsed, and Richter was still standing. He shook off the doubts and fears that Xuetrix had been able to infest his mind and soul with. With brutal efficiency he faced those uncertainties with a firm sense of self. The pain remained, but that was nothing new.
Glaring at the imp, he spat, “I am Richter. I am not perfect, but fuck you, I’m trying!” Even though the demon had given it his all, the chaos seed was still weathering the emotional and mental attacks faster than the imp could muster them. Even after Xuetrix’s last-ditch effort, the chaos seed’s power stabilized at 38%. The demon was left panting and glaring death at his foe. Richter had won a moral victory that round.
