Eric jolted to his feet with a wheezing gasp. “Bunz!? Elly!?”
He toppled, momentarily dizzy, before stabilizing himself on feet more stable and sturdy than he could possibly have dreamed, less than a year ago.
For all that he could now sense the faintest tingle of plaque. Just a hairsbreadth away from the Pristine state he had been so close to, yet could now feel the acute lack of. An odd disconnect as if he was almost, but not quite, perfect. An itch he couldn’t quite scratch, before discarding all such petty concerns for what truly mattered.
Desperate eyes gazed in all directions yet saw only ruin… before realizing he was being an idiot and quickly rising above the shallow crater he was in, only to see his stalwart legions gazing at him with perfect focus and dedication while the howling wind whipped their hair and ruffled the fabric of their kit, though they didn’t even blink as they gazed upon their master.
Their Dread Lord.
“Elly! Bunz? Anyone!”
Eric squeezed his eyes tightly shut, hating the sting in his eyes that resistances alone couldn’t counter. Nor the ache in his heart.
Fists clenched, the air filled with a wailing keen, before the voice cut off, the moment Eric realized it was his own. Because it had been more than a dream. It HAD to have been.
He was almost certain that it was.
He closed his eyes as he calmed his racing heart.
“Okay, they’re not dead. Or maybe they are. But fuck it, they were more than dreams! And from what they implied… I can help. Somehow, I can help them.”
He gazed intently at his endless legions sarissaphoroi with their 25 foot long spears held ram-rod straight as he took in the howling wind-swept plains so rich in the sharp tangy spice of wild Mana that was even now groaning under the weight of a soon-to-be Black Tier ascension.
Eric grit his teeth, knowing what he had to do. Even with 3.21% Plaque and fearing the consequences of it getting any higher, he knew what he had to do.
And damn if he wouldn’t let himself enjoy every minute of the hunt he was about to embrace.
He LIVED for this!
“And if my dream was more than just a dream,” he whispered to himself. Because if there was even a chance that sanctuary here would help his friends… he would make that happen.
No matter the cost.
He gazed at the far off swarm of giant alligator-like lizards making their way through distant swamplands as the trees filled with screeching primates swinging from countless branches, twisting away from the shadowy forms swooping in for easy kills from above.
“Form up, men! It’s that time again!” He roared, as the air cracked and boomed with the sound of millions of revenants smashing fists to breastplates as Eric readied his troops in a massive row five men deep, stretching for a combined 80 miles. 400,000 men in total, the remainder returning to their rest as Eric readied his sarissophoroi once more, after making sure that absolutely no greens were in this wild and perilous territory.
He then rose ten feet in the air, picked his target, and Charged for all he was worth as the air cracked with the sonic boom—not of his and his army’s passage, for Speed Racer II eliminated the hindrance of air resistance for them all—but from the shockwave of spears plunging into the massive alligators and scaly primates at supersonic speeds.
Foes who were denied any chance to pound Eric or his soldiers with primitive yet devastating clubs or serrated teeth before their mangled corpses were sent flying on impact as cavalry withdrawal techniques freed essence-enhanced lancing spears from their targets while sending their mangled bodies cartwheeling through the air in sprays of viscera and blood before they crashed back to the ground long after the cavalry charge had passed, the air still echoing with the report of countless tree tops exploding as they were obliterated by the massive army screaming past at artillery speeds, avoiding the thick bottom trunks yet tearing through the tops of the trees and the beastial bloodthirsty denizens that would never hunt elf or man again.
You have critically struck Dimetradon!
You have critically struck Ascendant Crocodile!
You have successfully dodged Cleaving Bite!
Experience earned!
Finesse check made! You have successfully claimed your sarissa from spearing blow!
Eric could sense the growing shockwave behind him and his troops from the shatter and boom of exploding tree tops, less and less frequent, and prehistoric titans pierced by long spears that weren’t just going 4 times the speed of sound but had that boon enhanced a dozen-fold, thanks to Eric’s minute-long Charge bonus constantly renewing every few seconds as his spear plunged into one target after another.
You have FAILED a finesse check.
You have LOST your spear!
Psionic Wail obliterates 5 Bronze Tier Revenants!
Your Dense Neurons SUCCESSFULLY protect you!
You have taken 1 Medium Wound.
Soul-bound spear reclaimed in ES Space.
Soul-bound spear resummoned.
Eric flashed a hard smile as his spear tip jostled against the bone of a true giant hybrid abomination that looked a bit too close to ‘Zilla for comfort, basically a massive crocodile on upright legs with a Psionic scream that gave Eric a screaming headache an eyeblink before he rammed his spear into it’s eye socket, the weapon abruptly torn out of even his grip. But not before sending the entire 100 foot tall behemoth crashing to the ground, skull shattered, and his Sarissa resummoned into his throbbing hands that soon healed seconds later.
“Fuck, that would have been a great solo kill!”
But as much as Eric regretted it, it was a sacrifice he had to accept. Because right now, he had no time to fuck around.
Not if he was to keep this region from ascending.
Not if he was to have any hope at all of saving a handful of souls hanging on to spiritual bedrock that were probably no more than the fading wisps of his own panicked subconscious, so close he had come to death himself.
And the thought of stopping or slowing down…
He suppressed a shiver, knowing the real reason why he refused to separate himself from his troops, even as he lined his spear up for another kill and actually missing it, so fast they were moving, yet sensing its dying scream with the countless troops spearing absolutely everything behind him and tearing up the land something fierce as the massive plooming clouds of kicked up soil and exploding corpses struck by what amounted to multiple supersonic harpoons made clear… but it was a hell of a lot better than smashing through everything at ground level, that was for damned sure.
And then, coming up so fast it nearly caught even him off guard, was the barrier between territories.
He wanted to howl with exhilaration.
They had torn through the entire territory in just minutes!
But he wasn’t done yet. He knew that.
Not with stragglers that would of course be missed over an 80 by 80 mile region that was rapidly swelling to ten thousand square miles and more as it bloated to Black-Tier. Not to mention the shadowy fliers he sensed over head.
Still, his lips couldn’t help curving into a fiece smile as the distant shrieks of aerial superiority soon became plaintive howls of fear as a madly laughing Eric split his massive contingent of troops in half.
Half chasing for massive prey daring the heavens while hundreds of thousands of hungry-eyed revenants chased down the lingering survivors of a failed monster surge upon the land below.
His crimson blade flashed at full extension.
Once. Twice. Thrice.
Spending 300 Qi and 7.5 Soul Reserves with with each swing of his 400 foot-long weapon, before the Soul Reserves cost spiked with each use of Burst of Strength, dipping into his reserves something fierce.
But it was worth it.
In a cacophony of screeches and a shower of cleaved tentacles and crashing krakens, it was done, and two more skills were just a heartbeat from leveling up once more.
Most importantly, the last of the aerial titans had been slain, and the territory was now his to claim.
Congratulations! You have successfully cleared Binghamton Territory!
No one dares to contest your claim!
How do you wish to reshape your realm, Contender?
Eric felt a shiver of desperate hope as he finally dared to stop and close his eyes, protected by his swarm of revenants that eased the haunting specter of unseen Hunters lining up a kill shot at his back as he desperately pushed all distractions away, determined to embrace what it meant to be a Contender to the fullest.
Feeling the wonder of any dungeon master forging a world with pencil and graph paper, or any gamer building a beautiful city in the PC city builder or online game of their choice.
Only for him, it was real.
For a brief period of time he embraced the shockingly sweet power of transcendence, infused with the power to shape a tiny portion of the world to his whim.
You have 4 Lesser Boons (Elevated to Elite-tier ascending Black Realm potency perks!) with which to shape your territory.
And he could feel it. All of this territory’s glorious potential as he took but the gentlest of sips from its crimson chalice, granting himself a comparatively modest boon of +15 to Strength and Vitality, and +5 to Soul Reserves, before his absurd bonuses came into play. In truth, it was a the tiniest gusts pushing his own soul forward, compared to the whirlwind of wondrous potential he sensed swirling all around him.
He sensed the possibilities of endless lush fields full of crops… or an industrial mecca from which an economic power could be rebuilt anew.
The possibilities of ancient towers holding the secrets of lost arcane arts in a gentle land filled with docile villages and exciting mysteries.
A grand mining operation that would access precious crystals that would have Caliban swooning with desire, eager to export and sell an eternally renewing flood of treasures.
So many possibilities. And others, more exotic still.
Yet only one possibility called to him as he closed his eyes. One path forward that he prayed would ease his regrets and the screams of his heart, so recently punctured by killing tools... so recently torn by the loss of not one but several women he could so easily have fallen in love with.
So many paths to happiness and serenity had been torn from him.
Yet the gentle rustling of far off branches reaching for the very clouds soothed him with a different tale.
A tale of peace and comfort. A tale of horticultural marvels and joyful communities as the air filled with the echoes of distant songs ringing from the bowers so high overhead.
Eric smiled, ignoring the tears streaming from his eyes as a miracle swirled into being.
A miracle that had been here all along.
He didn’t need to open them to sense the wonders of exquisitely trained Green Mages hanging massive vines laden with countless varieties of exotic fruit smelling of citrus and sunshine from the bowers of the soaring trees they called home, all of them blooming under the wondrous infusion of Spiritual Energy, Mana, and green magic that infused so many of his reclaimed territories.
And the voices, singing in choir that sent shivers through his soul amongst the cathedral of branches and horticultural wonders soaring high above him. Eric didn’t open his eyes. Didn’t dare to, as a probability wave of hope and awe crash into beautiful existence all around him.
He merely choked back a sob as the golden notes of a handful of lost souls finding their way home became a chorus of an entire tribe lost to tragedy and mischance revealing themselves as found once more.
Found and embracing a home filled with hope and possibility as once certain destruction had, in fact, been the answer to an ancient plea cried out by a lost civilization awakening to find themselves upon massive bowers that reminded them so very much of home. Their final horrific memories of lives cut painfully short proved to be no more than the wisps of lingering nightmare. For the desperate hoped-for salvation their Druids and Seers had sought so desperately truly HAD come to pass.
Even if it had done so a century after their ceremony.
It had been a success, after all.
An entire civilization transported from a doomed world along mysterious shadowy paths they had been traveling along for light years and decades.
A journey of lost souls that had finally come home.
For a heartbeat, he could sense Lilly smiling at him with her tracksuit on still.
“You did good, Eric. Now please don’t forget about your awesomest perk!”
He quickly surrendered his territory, before he could truly register what he had done.
What he had hoped to do.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Unable to bear the emotional weight of his own forging.
Instead, he was soothed by his sister’s surprised acquiescence, breaking the connection before he was overwhelmed by the wonder he sensed in her soul. And the bittersweet sorrow as well.
A gift he had granted, without using the Dominion Interface Message Board at all.
You have successfully surrendered Binghamton Territory!
Binghamton Territory has been renamed Winterblossom!
The Sylvan Alliance has accepted Winterblossom as its protectorate!
Eric couldn’t hold back the tears as Bunbun’s gentle voice caressed his ear, feeling the memory of her touch upon his shoulder as he stumbled free of a territory filled with such hope and fragile wonder that he didn’t look back. Didn’t dare look back, for all that the bedrock would allow no touch of corruption to ever infect its deepest crevices or grandest tree tops.
Instead, he wiped the tears from his eyes, gazing upon lands he almost recognized, lips curling in a bemused smile as he found himself a single Orange Territory away from New York, in a region inhabited by exceedingly docile late Jurassic stegosauri quite comfortably sharing the region with he Cretaceous era ankylosauri with their shelled bodies and massive club tails they didn’t bother swinging any more than did their fellow herbivores that he could make out in the distance, all of them munching on giant ferns in the steamy wet jungle he was now surrounded by.
Though his danger sense didn’t tingle at all, he still whispered the words that would decide the fate of this realm, as it had so many others.
“Surge Centuria! Imperator Imperat, Tibi!”
A part of him was almost sorry for what he was about to do, though he was pleased when he got the notification that he did.
Local Delves have already been cleansed. NOTE. This hybridized territory needs only the elimination of reds to be claimed. Yellow and green targets may be safely ignored… or slaughtered as you choose!
Eric blinked at this message, never having heard of a hybridized territory, but if he could avoid a complete slaughterfest, he was actually happy with that.
But before he did anything else..
He took a hitched breath, filled with an odd mixture of trepidation and excitement as he finally took a few precious minutes to go over his character sheet in full. Awed, and just a bit dismayed by how far he had come and what steps he desperately needed to take before it was too late.
_______________________________________________________
Eric Silver Level 99 PRISTINE GOLDEN PHOENIX (Adventurer)
(3rd Tier Core Saturation at 91.31%!)
You and your progeny may now ascend to Light Gold without any planetary sacrifices needed at all!
Rank 60 DEATH’S DISCIPLE (Four Seasons Cultivator)
(You now have 3.42% Plaque upon your once PRISTINE Foundation! Fortunately, evolution ALWAYS finds away! But the wisest predator keeps to clean kills and occlusions BELOW 5% for as long as they can!!!)
Level 74 Master Necromancer
Physical Characteristics
Strength – 1412 (You can easily shatter tanks with your fists!)
Vitality – 1435 (Your Vitality is beyond monstrous.)
Finesse – 1029 (You’re almost as deadly as a Bronze-tier sniper. Even without all their perks!)
Quickness – 1717 (You’re over 80 times faster than any Olympic Fencer. ABSURD!)
Appearance – 36 (If this were pre-apocalypse, you would star in all your mother’s movies!)
Mental Characteristics
Scholarship – 35 (You’re still yourself, but your thoughts are clear and your memory is sharp!)
Perception – 1017 (A deadly marksman who always spots his prey. No one’s sneaking up on you!)
Willpower – 146 (You were forged in fire, and it shows!)
Charisma – 20 (No comment. This isn’t your path.)
Potency Pools
Arcane Potential – 1176 (An Archmage would be proud to make you his prodigy!)
(Mana Pool = 14114)
Spiritual Energy – 288 (You have paid an EXTREMELY steep price, maximizing your defenses, but no one can deny your incredible resilience!)
(Qi Pool = 3462)
Psionic Potency – 277 (Despite your flaws, you’re worthy of a Psion Knight’s regard.)
(Psion Pool = 3330)
Soul Reserves – 1180 (You could be a Master Necromancer... You ARE a Master Necromancer!)
Stamina – 14,356 Points
Health – 17,358 Points
Resistances & Recovery
Physical Resistance – 567 (Physical attacks aren’t getting through from anyone without the most elite and deadly perks in play! With Battletime? You’re ABSURD!)
Physical Regeneration – 143 health per second (After triple-heart shots, it’s clear you DO need this!)
Elemental Resistance – 450 (675) (Resistances this high means that no elemental master weaker than your future headmaster is stopping you, Hyperion Blazer!)
Qi Resistance – 520 (Shockingly high! You’re resistances continue to skyrocket, even as your base potency pool continues to dwindle! BE CAREFUL, Body Cultivator! The wise warrior balances resilience with bountiful reserves!)
Mental Resistance – 532 (No faerie enchantments, persuasion, or illusions from anyone below SILVER are effecting you!)
Psionic Resistance – 274 (Dense Neurons mean squid-brains won’t find you easy prey at all!)
--__________________________________________________--
Level 49 Golden Phoenix Powers.
- Modified Cost of all abilities using any primary essence: 50.25% multiplicative of all other factors.
- Damage Multiplier of all abilities using any primary essence: 199% multiplicative of all other factors.
(Core Enhancement) - Essence Fusion – Rank 11 (And once it was so much more!)
This is now a Legendary Tier Class related power. No Nodes have been used to anchor this power.
NODAL POWERS
1. Runic Lore - Rank 33 (Soul Infusion, Tier 3 Runic Spell Evolution, Runic Focus, Blood Runes.)
Greater runes known: Wood (Herbam), Wind (Ventus), Fire (Ignis), Wrath (Iram), Dominion. (Dicio), Freeze (Congelo), Impermeable (Impermeabilis)
Lesser runes known: One (unus) / Many (plures) / Now (hodie) / Sun Duration (dies) / Weaken (debilito) / Strengthen (roboro) / Resilience (mollet) / Fulmen (Lightning) / Torment (Cruciatus) / Sanguis (Blood)
Gravity (Gravitas) / bend/curve/warp (incurvo) / invert/reverse/turn upside down (inverto) / attentio (attention – concentration duration, in other words) / Resilient (mollet)
Fragor – Rupture (Psionic Explosion)
Animus – Soul / Creo – creation / Terra - earth
2. Unified Restoration – Rank 16
(NOTE! Crimson Orb now = 1/4 Soul Reserve Cost all spells and Qi abilities!)
3. Runic Spell Forger – Rank 9
- Inevitable Doom (105 Mana & Qi) - Rank 6
- Hell Vines (140 Mana & Qi) (You can direct this spell!) – Rank 8 (9)
- Lightning Bolt - Fulmen (30 Mana & Qi) – Rank 12
- Blood Lightning – Sanguis Fulmen (15 Mana & Qi, 1.5 SR) – Rank 15 (Efficency)
(This spell dispels/abjures/& can cut through soul wards & partially heal.(X2 heal baseline Bloodmastery Synergism!)
- Fire Bolt - Ignes Pilum (15 Mana & Qi) – Rank 8
- Psionic Rupture – Fragor (21 Mana / 21 Qi / 3 Psions / 42 Soul Reserve & 42 Health) – Rank 11 (Dense Neurons / Hit Them Where it Hurts! / Essence Attack (Wrath)
Essences Claimed:
Fire – Blazing – Rank 4
Cold – Freezing – Rank 4
Wrath – Rank 2
Dominion – Rank 4 (Now incorporates the lesser sphere of Impermeability! The physical manifestation of your inviolate will!)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Cultivation Affinities
Wind / Wood / Fire
Qi Skills
Fire Fist (10 Qi) – Rank (28) (10 Qi) - Transcendent Strike / Power Strike.
Windfire Strike (30 Qi & 3 SR) – Rank 28 – Bloodfire Strike (Power Blow, *Phoenix Reach)
Doom Strike (10 Qi & 2 SR) – Rank 9 (Cold & Dominion)
Phoenix Strike (30 Qi & 15 SR) – Rank 19 (All 4 Essences = Quarternary Harmony)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Necromancer Perks:
Basic Class Perks
All necromantic (and blood magic) skill use is modified by Master Necromancer Level.
All Summoned & Forged undead have their potency enhanced by Master Necromancer Level.
All spells conjuring forth any number of creatures have summoned total modified by Master Necromancer Level.
One additional enhanced class perk is earned every 2 Master Necromancer levels.
Enhanced Class Perks: (1 Perk Point Deferred)
1. Soul Orb: Tier 1
2. Undead Legion: Tier 11
3. Undead Tactical Interface map access.
4. Vampiric Restoration
5. Mixed Unit Tactics
6. Mark of Resilience II
7. Call to Battle
8. Death March II
9. Undying Phalanx II
10. Enhanced Legion
11. Crimson Orb: TIER 3
12. Rank 1 Underlord.
13. Recall Familiar
14. Mark of Pristine Flame
15. Dreadlord’s Wrath: Rank 5
16. Dreadlord’s Frenzy: Rank 2
17. Pocket Familiar - Familiar shares your ES Space.
18. Do No Harm - Your revenants do no harm to you no matter what! Not simply intent, physics won’t allow it!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Necromancer Affinities & Skills
Blood Mastery – Rank 36 (Blood Claimance, Lesser Healing, Essence Infusion, Vampiric Drain)
Spirit Mastery – Rank 38 (Tier II Path of Dominion, Forced Obeisance)
Rituals of Summoning and Binding – Rank 35 (Tier III Path of Dominion, Ritual of Greater Spirit Summoning, *Instant Transcription)
Flesh Sculptor – Rank 32(33) (Tier II Path of Dominion, Basic Revenant Preparation, Necromantic Armorer. Flesh Sculptor Rank = Armorer rank & Weaponsmithing rank for once living material esp. if soul-bound variant!)
Blood Ward – Rank 6
Potency Binding – Rank 7
Necromancer Spells
Unorthodox Abjuration – Rank 23
Transcendent Abjuration – Rank 7
Arcane Skills
Elemental Wands – Rank 11 (Insightful Caster)
Advanced Arcane Weapons (Blaster Rifle) – Rank 11 - (Power Transference. Can personally recharge any wand or blaster)
Essence Related Skills:
Burst of Strength – Rank 19 (Path of Mastery)
Dominion’s Resilience – Rank 3
Dominion’s Command – Rank 8
Heat Surge – Rank 13 (Path of Mastery)
Unified Perception Rank 24 (Sense Heat, Magic, & Qi Flow.)
Interface Recognized Skills
Acting – Rank 6
Bardiche (Unified) – Rank 21 (Cleaving Blow, Battleforged,*Piercing Strike)
Blade and Shield – Rank 11
Boar Riding – Rank 7
Bow (All Types) – Rank 21 (True Strike, Void Piercer)
Charge – Rank 21 (Troop Damage Bonus, Inertial Transference)
Crossbows – Rank 16 (True Strike)
Small Blades – Rank 4
Demolitions – Rank 14 (Path of Mastery)
ESS Manipulation – Rank 19 (Arcane Resonance Mastery)
Find Weakness – Rank 27 – (Spell Cleave, Qi Perception, Additional Magus/Cultivator Bonus, +5 Vs Dragons)
Flail – Rank 5
Identify – Rank 3
Gunnery – Rank 12 (Cautious Gunner)
Healer’s Aid – Rank 3
Iado (Fast-Draw) – Rank 20 (Doom Flurry II)
Javelin Throwing – Rank 21 (Piercing Strike, Void Piercer)
Negotiation – Rank 15 (Intimidation)
Repair – Rank 1
Sling – Rank 17 (Precise Shot Adv.)
Spear – Rank 29 (Piercing Strike, Battleforged)
Stealth – Rank 17 (Hunter’s Grace)
Swordsmanship – Rank 37 (Doom Slice, Battleforged, Cultivator’s Fury, *Piercing Strike *Cleaving Blow)
Swimming – Rank 2
Unarmed Combat – Rank 31 (Empty Fist) / (Cultivator’s Might – Legendary) / Cultivator’s Resilience (Legendary)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Interface Enhancements
Full Neuro-Linguistic capabilities
Extradimensional Storage Space
Path of Endless Bounty – Rank 18 (Crimson Balance, Evolution’s Crucible, Oblivion’s Mercy, Crimson Contender)
--________________________________________________________--
