Chapter 4
Demacia Part 3
After my incredibly sinful night with Garen, I wandered off back to my own room. When I opened it, only C.A.C.A. was awake to greet me. The girls were still sleeping under a cover of soft blankets and pillows.
I wonder if I gained some level from my adventures. "Status!" I said aloud. The hologram appeared before me promptly.
•
Adriel
Level 6
Experience: 1472/6000
Health: 100/100 (Regeneration: 10/min.)
Mana: 5300/5300 (Regeneration: 130/min.)
Fatigue: 300/300 (Regeneration: 5/min.)
Encumbrance: 20/100
Title:
• The Beginner (Experience gain increased by 40%)
• Chosen of The Supreme Beings (When killed, transport Chosen to Heaven and transport killer/killers to Hell)
• The Explorer (Immersing in the mysteries of this world and mingling with its denizens fill up the Wanderlust Meter. Upon maxing it, Chosen granted a leveled amount of Experience)
• The Scholar (Immersing in the culture of civilizations of this world fill up the Learner's Meter. Upon maxing it, Chosen is granted a leveled amount of Experience)
• The Dominatrix (Immersing in sexual acts fill up the Lustful's Meter. Upon maxing it, Chosen is granted a leveled amount of Experience)
• Truly Favored (If the Chosen's actions please the Supreme Beings, the Favor Meter fills up. Upon maxing it, Chosen is granted an ability by the Supreme Beings)
Class: Summoner
Spells:
• Lessest Demonic Wish-Granting (Set a price and make a pact to grant a wish to a supplicant. Limited by spell level)
• Succubus Seduction (Take control of a target's emotions and memories for 1 hr.)
Abilities: PENDING
Greater Power:
• Gift of The Supreme Beings I (Defy the world's supernatural and supernormal limits. Draw power from the Supreme Beings. Usable once a day)
• Gift of The Supreme Beings II (Defy the world's supernatural and supernormal limits. Call upon the Supreme Beings to bless an object. Usable once a day)
Lesser Power:
• Touch of The Supreme Beings (Defy the world's supernatural and supernormal limits. Increase a target's Disposition towards you to 500% for 5 min. and down to 100% after 24 hrs. thereafter)
• Voice of The Supreme Beings (Defy the world's supernatural and supernormal limits. Command the world to do your bidding for 60 sec.)
• Will of The Supreme Beings (Defy the world's supernatural and supernormal limits. Allows the use of an Innate Power by sacrificing your Health and Mana and thereby gain a curse that will ban any form of healing or recovery for three days. 50% of maximum Health and Mana) (Unusable until LEVEL 10)
Innate Power:
• Dragon, Lotus, Serpent, Wolf (Summon creatures from this universe)
• Nirn and Sanctuary (Summon objects and creatures from this universe)
• God Powers and Card Magic (Summon magic, objects and creatures from this universe)
•
My eyes widened at this. WTF?! I got three levels from my sex marathon with Garen?! Wait. That can't be right. I think it had to do with all the experience-giving titles I picked along the way. But still, three levels? That's pretty big already.
And I got a new Lesser Power. Damn. Will of the Supreme Beings (Defy the world's supernatural and supernormal limits. Allows the use of an Innate Power by draining your Health and Mana and thereby gain a curse that will ban any form of healing or recovery for three days. 50% of maximum Health and Mana). I think the cost of this might be high considering what it's supposed to do.
Maybe I'll check it out today if I can get my level to 10, that is.
•
Skill Points: 3
Attribute Points: 3
Create Points: 0
Customization Points: 0
Premium Points: 0
•
SKILLS:
Light Affinity
Darkness Affinity
Water Affinity
Air Affinity
Earth Affinity
Fire Affinity
Life Affinity
Death Affinity
Divine Affinity
Unholy Affinity UNLOCKED!
•
ATTRIBUTES:
Strength
Intelligence +3
Willpower
Agility
Speed
Endurance
Personality
Luck
Health
Mana
Fatigue
Encumbrance
•
"All on Intelligence!" I said. I was bathed in light as my choice was applied to my psyche. I wondered if I should open up another affinity skill set or continue down my unlocked one? "Lemme see the Unholy." I said. The screen switched to the Unholy skill tree.
•
SKILL POINTS: 3
UNHOLY AFFINITY
UPGRADE: Lesser Demonic Wish-Granting (2 points) (Set a price and make a pact to grant a wish to a supplicant. Limited by spell level)
UPGRADE: Succubus Domination (2 points) (Take control of a target's emotions and memories for 1 hr.)
Lessest Mass Demonic Summoning (2 points) (Call forth a rift that spawns uncontrollable demons after a delay. Limited by spell level)
Black Plague (2 points) (Inflict a virulent disease on a target. If the victim dies, the plague is passed unto nearby targets)
Darksight (1 point) (Implant a thought or impulse into a target's mind. You can banish the effects anytime)
Lessest Dark Summoning (2 points) (Summon a creature of this world. Limited by spell level)
Lessest Shadow Demon (1 point) (Summon a controllable demon of shadows. Limited by spell level)
Corruption (2 points) (Force a demonic transformation of a target)
Darkblight (2 points) (Force an undead activity on an area)
Hell Affinity (5 points) (Open the gates of Hell for more Unholy spells)
Lesser Demonic Affinity (5 points) (Attune further with the lesser demon hordes of Hell for more Unholy spells)
Greater Demonic Affinity (5 points) (Attune further with the greater demon hordes of Hell for more Unholy spells)
*Choose this to view past Unholy choices*
•
My mouth and eyes looked like saucers by the time I was finished reading all that. UNHOLY AFFINITY BANZAI! BANZAI! BANZAI!
Forbidden is strong magic! No matter what game you'd play out there, forbidden magic always has that unfair edge that would entice you to pick it up! Nurufufufu~! The only thing I'm frustrated with is the small amount skill points I could spend.
"I'll take Lessest Mass Demonic Summoning and Darksight!" I said. Two new Unholy spells join my repertoire. What dark deeds can I pull from this? I was laughing darkly.
Actually, I was very interested in Lessest Mass Demonic Summoning. I opened information about the skill and it told me that once cast successfully, it randomly summons four rifts in a distance around me. From these rifts, feral demons will emerge, their numbers will depend on how much Mana I have sacrificed to the spell. Further sacrifice of Mana will allow me to control the time of which these demons will spawn and how many more rifts will appear.
Is there any harm to using this skill right in the heart of Demacia? The demons are not allied with me so I think no one would really know I did it. Yeah, right. Wait. Back to my former interest. Will of The Supreme Beings. I wonder how it functioned exactly. "By the power of Hades, I summon thee!" I intoned. I summoned the God Power all the way back to the Dragon's Coast. In my ethereal vision, I could see Sentinels rising on the Wolf base. That's a God Power down.
Now for Elder Scrolls. I want to give a gift to the Crownguards. I was thinking along the lines of wines from Oblivion's Fighter's Stronghold and Wizard's Tower and the main game. I closed my eyes and summoned the power.
"Supreme Beings, I humbly call upon your endless might to aid me. Bless me with your grace that all of creation might aid my purpose. With this plea, I give you praise and gratitude endlessly though unworthy I am." I intoned. The state of blessed hallowedness and contentment filled me again. The immemorial forces that composed the universe and its many variations flowed the power into me. I directed it to my Nirn power and summoned forth the objects I desire.
7 Argonian Bloodwine.
7 Colovian Battlecry.
7 Daedric Lava Whiskey.
7 Frostdew Blanc.
7 Julianos Firebelly.
7 Numbskin Mead.
7 Sparkling Honeydew.
7 Stumblefoot's Reserve.
7 Shadowbanish Wine.
The power left me and I gave my endless thanks and gratitude for the Supreme Beings for their generosity. Okay. The prince will get two of each. The Crownguards will get two of each. Ezreal gets one of each. The rest we'll imbibe later. I didn't know a thing about decorum in this world so I think this is a good start. What could be better than giving your hosts vintage wines that don't exist in this world? Mwahahaha. I'd also love to see the face on Marcus Crownguard when he tastes this.
On that note, I began to sweat. What if they don't like it? What if the tastes of this world are different? OMFG. I might end up embarrassed. Wait. Even if the wines don't taste good, they're still otherworldly mementos, right? That sounds about good enough. And I will also hand out relics to the prince just in case. I did promise him.
I summoned the power. "What to give him?" I thought. An idea sparked inside my head. I summoned the Ship of Fingernails and the Ankh of Ra. The Ship of Fingernails provides a trickle of Food. The Ankh of Ra provides a trickle of Favor. I'm quite interested in the Ankh of Ra. Will it grant someone who has accumulated sufficient favor a Myth unit? If it can, which God's Myth unit will that be? A celestial portal dropped the relics to the floor. And my eyes went wide.
There was a massive bang as gold lamps the size of a statue dropped on the floor. "WTF?!" I screeched. The girls burst from their sleep, looking battle ready. "What? What happened?" Fan Geisha demanded. The girls looked at the relics and at me. "Could those be God relics?!" Channeler asked. All six of her faces fell and was overwhelmed by an ecstatic sensation. Me and the others backed away slowly.
The relics looked like giant golden lamps that contained a suspended golden liquid that shone like the sun. All six of Channeler's copy hugged them. She was overwhelmed with religious ecstasy. "You can let those go now, girl. I plan to give them to the prince." I said. Channeler's eyes flared. "What?! These treasures from the gods?! To that brat?! To this lowly city?! To this lowly race?! Preposterous!" all six of her screeched angrily. I sighed. "When we get back to the Dragon's Coast, I plan to summon more. And I will put all of you girls in charge of its maintenance!" I said. Channeler fainted with joy right on cue. Damnit.
Before anything else, I'd like to point out that Pawn Cards in Card Wars are categorized into Major and Minor. Major Pawn Cards are those who can muster a large number of TOKENS in your turn. Nessie from the Cryptid family is considered a Major Pawn Card because she can fill up all 16 TOKENS slots instantly. Minor Pawn Cards are any Pawn Cards that can't do what Major Pawn Cards can, explicitly mass summoning TOKENS. But as a all-important niche, Pawn Cards fulfill the general role of sacrificial material and have special effects that could rival Magic and Plot Cards.
"C.A.C.A. special effect: activate!" I said. C.A.C.A. glowed as their power came to effect. "Special Summon! Four times! Cinderella's Assistants!" I said. The summoned Pawn Cards appeared in a cute puff of smoke. Cinderella's Assistants are Pawn Cards from the Dreamworlders Card family. They were just like Disney's Cinderella's mice and bird assistants who wore cute tiny clothes. Because there are four versions of them, their clothes differed in color from the other. One group wore red, the other blue, the other green and the last yellow. They look mighty cute, alright, but they have the irritating skill to either special summon Legendary Princess Cinderella (Who, like all the other Legendary Princesses, has the special privilege to special summon any Cards with her name on it) into the field or sacrificially prevent a Plot Card or Magic Card from affecting a target Monster, Plot or Magic Card.
"C.A.C.A. special effect: activate!" I said. C.A.C.A. glowed as their power came to effect. "Special Summon! Four times! Borometz Trio!" I said. The Borometz Trio Card in my hand glowed brightly then disappeared. Four versions of the Borometz Trio appeared in a cute puff of smoke. Pawn Cards from the Cryptid family, they were a trio bipedal cute leafy sheep accompanied a pot of what looked like a miniature oak tree moving itself by its roots. Floating spores that glowed surrounded them. Since there were four of the same type of Pawn Card, the first had green leaves and spores, the second had red leaves and spores, the third had yellow leaves and spores and the fourth had blue leaves and spores. If one were to remove one of the Borometz out of the glowing spores' range, it would slowly die. The Borometz Trio is a favorite Card of a Cryptid player. When deployed, Borometz Trio split into three Borometz and a corresponding Mother Plant. Anytime an associated Borometz is removed, the Mother Plant can simply bring it back. Destroying the Mother Plant is the only way to permanently remove all of them from the field. Add up their special effect that any amount of sacrificed Borometz can heal all of the player's Monster, Plot and Magic Card means they have to be dealt with the moment they appear.
"Okay, help us wrap up these gifts!" I said. The Cards nodded. They had a "Hey, look at me, I'm working!" expression on their faces as they started on the task. Cinderella's Assistants summoned wrappings out of thin air to wrap up the gifts. "The Crownguards and the prince get two of each wine and Ezreal gets one of each. The rest we'll be toasting with later." I said. We sat down with them to help with the wrapping but mostly, we wanted to watch these cuties at work. They were a soothing balm to the soul.
•
"I haven't got any sleep last night." Marcus Crownguard said to his wife and everyone else on the table. "So did I." Garen thought mischievously. His member twitched at the memory. He just grinned as he ate. Lilia, Lux, Ezreal, Xin and Jarvan looked at the Crownguard patriarch and made a conclusion. "Is it the boy?" the prince asked. Marcus sighed. "Indeed, Your Highness. If indeed he can shape such things from imagination alone and project it into the real world, I believe he will be a dangerous asset if he falls to Noxus." the man said.
"I don't think that's a possibility." the prince said confidently. The other people at the table looked at him in surprise. There was a confidence in the prince's voice that told them he knew something the others didn't. "Spill." Garen barked at his childhood friend. The prince just grinned in an infuriating manner. "I don't want to betray Lord Adriel's trust. Unlike two people I know." the prince said. Garen and Ezreal looked thunderstruck. "Addressing him as Lord, Your Highness?" Lilia asked. The prince nodded.
"We believe that Lord Adriel may be a High Priest to whatever nation he is aligned with." Xin offered. There was silence in the room. High Priests were a caste that wielded tremendous political and military power of their own. In Runeterra, they were men and women who are thought to be agents of the gods. Though they were respected and feared, their lives aren't easy. To continually prove that the gods was with them, they would be tasked to perform miracles from time to time. It was the source and price of their office. And since miracles have their own brand of eldritch energy, you can't fake it. Anyone who would think they can abuse that power are woefully and pitifully dead. A High Priest answers to both men and gods over the course of their lifetime. "If he is a High Priest, he must be from Evarran then." Lux said.
Evarran is an isolated nation that sat well beyond the borders of the supercontinent of Valoran. Evarran was a totalitarian utopia and a very powerful nation that was very advanced than all the other races of Runeterra. A huge factor of this was because the Six Bloodborne Emperors, its ironfisted rulers, hoarded High Priests and bound them to the nation's service. Though they were not actively waging war against other countries, there was bloodshed whenever the Dark Hour was at hand. The Everranites called the time where a High Priest emerges the Dark Hour. Bloodhounds of the nation would come hunting the chosen High Priest. Anyone who stands in their way is destroyed. If the High Priest is judged worthy, they will be brought back for a life of servitude to Evarran. If they fail, they will be killed to ensure they will never be a threat to their nation. That's how merciless and ruthless Evarranites are.
There was silence in the room as the Demacians pondered on this. The nation had an encounter with the Evarranites before. It was recorded in Demacian history as the Everblue Incident. The Dark Hour had come and Lucianna Everblue had emerged as a High Priest. It was a three-way battle as Demacia, Evarran and Noxus fought to claim the girl. In the end, the girl had invoked the power of the death god to curse the battlefield. It had cost her life but left behind a testament of her unending hatred: the Black Maw.
A looming dark abyss was where the battlefield once stood, an unfathomable depths that continually screamed with the fallen High Priest's hatred. In the form of undead armies that crawled from the darkness to assault Noxus or Demacia in inconsistent and wholly unpredictable basis or the dark swirling storm that carried terrible demons that surge from the pits and make its grisly procession towards Evarran, it was a thing of terror. As if Runeterrans haven't suffered enough from the undead incursions of the Harrowing.
"What's this Evarran you speak of?" I asked. "Ah, that annoying country over the seas that keeps invading Valoran every once in a while. Bunch of supremacist religious freaks with a messiah complex." Lux said angrily. "Sounds like Hitler and his merry band of Nazis then." I said nonchalantly "Yeah…" Lux said. Then her eyes widened. She realized then spat her juice all over me. Everyone else at the table jerked when I spoke out of nowhere. "What is with you, woman?!" I exclaimed as my clothes were soaking wet.
Cinderella's Assistants picked me up from the chair and gave a quick cleaning and placed me back shining and sparkling clean. Lux's mouth gaped open as the three Borometz Trios, stacking on top of each other, poured juice for her. She forgot her calm and shrieked. She scooped up all of the Borometz Trios and hugged them like her life depended on it. "Calm down, Luxanna!" her mother chastised. Lux lapsed back to reality and went quiet. "It's alright, Lady Crownguard. My darling pets are harmless." I said. Lilia Crownguard's eyes sharpened. "Animals are not welcome in this table, Lord Adriel. There are certain manners that must be maintained the house of your host." Lilia said heatedly.
I sighed. "Your obsession with etiquette, Lady Crownguard, in face of such creatures is proof of how little you know of the world outside this walled city of yours. You're like a caged bird." I said with a disdainful tone. She stiffened at the insult. I butted in before she could say anything edgewise. "These creatures I brought with me are sacred beasts." I said. Ezreal perked up upon hearing this. He teleported near Lux's chair to inspect them. "Sacred beasts?" Marcus asked. "Indeed." Channeler said as she and the others came in, bearing the wrapped gifts and carrying the relics.
"The sea creature called Nessie my master brought to Demacia days ago and this trio creature called the Borometz are Cryptids under the protection of the "Slumbering God At The Bottom Of The Black Ocean". He who opens their doors and welcomes their visit wholeheartedly will earn that terrible god's favor and he will move to avert a single calamity from befalling the host's family. These clothed mice and birds are friends of the Legendary Princess Cinderella. He who opens their doors and welcomes their visit wholeheartedly will earn her favor and she will safeguard the well-being of the host's family for a year." Channeler said.
"VISIT MY HOUSE!" Ezreal yelled brightly. "Damnit! You could have made them visit the palace instead! We could use those damn blessings!" Jarvan yelled at the same time, slamming a fist on the table. Mind you. I am not bullshitting my way through this. They're based on Card Wars lore and the Card Lexicanum. Marcus and Lilia's mouths dropped open. "These?!" they chorused in disbelief. I nodded. "Visit my house!" Ezreal insisted, pulling on my shirtsleeve like a child. "Palace! All or nothing!" Jarvan demanded. "I'm starting to regret summoning them here." I said.
"Very well. We'll make an exception but only for today!" Marcus said hastily. What ya freaking gonna do but make an exception for some god's messengers? Duh. "Also. I appreciate your hospitality so much that I've decided to give some special vintage I made. I hope it is to your liking." I said. The girls presented the wines from Cyrodiil. I just freaking hope they like it. Which reminds me. "Are you of age?" I asked Ezreal. He blushed at the question. "Of course I am!" he said. I raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Are you sure?" I asked suspiciously. He blushed even further. "Of course! What do you want? My birth certificate?" he said indignantly.
Cinderella's Assistants summoned wineglasses out of thin air. Argonian Bloodwine. Colovian Battlecry. Daedric Lava Whiskey. Frostdew Blanc. Julianos Firebelly. Numbskin Mead. Sparkling Honeydew. Stumblefoot's Reserve. Shadowbanish Wine. They all paraded the tables. The girls, my cute little Cards and me hung back as they tasted and took in the wine with the slow and deliberate grace of a connoisseur.
The fact that only Ezreal was the vocal one as he tasted one wine after the other made me break out in sweat.
Argonian Bloodwine. The boy praised the beverage's magical ability to resist disease and poison and confer on the drinker the power to breathe underwater for a time.
Colovian Battlecry. The boy praised the beverage's magical ability to shield the drinker from physical harm and giving them enhanced endurance for a time.
Daedric Lava Whiskey. The boy praised the beverage's literally paralyzing and searing allure and its ability to summon an otherworldly Dremora Lord like a guard of honor for a time.
Frostdew Blanc. The boy praised the beverage's magical ability to restore health and fatigue over time upon the drinker.
Julianos Firebelly. The boy praised the beverage's magical ability to resist against the forces of cold and confer on the drinker enhanced constitution for a time.
Numbskin Mead. The boy praised the beverage's magical ability to resist against the forces of heat and confer on the drinker enhanced constitution for a time.
Sparkling Honeydew. The boy praised the beverage's magical ability to grant drinker a boon in personality and way of words for a time.
Stumblefoot's Reserve. The boy praised the beverage's magical ability to lighten the load of the drinker and fortify their strength for a time.
Shadowbanish Wine. The boy praised the beverage's magical ability to allow the drinker to see even in the darkest of night even though it clouded one's intelligence and agility for a time.
"Dish ish da bomhb! *hic*" Ezreal slurred as he finished the last batch. Garen crouched on a corner, his shoulders shaking violently with mirth as he fought to keep down his laughter. The girls and the Cards were laughing openly, holding their stomachs for support. Lux looked like she wanted to dig a hole and hide in it. The remaining people looked on disapprovingly. "*hic* Tayshted dayum gewd, Addy~! *hic*" Ezreal slurred at me. God. Why am I and the critters the only one attending to him?
"You couldn't hold your drink and you had the guts to down all these alcohol?" I chastised him. "Guys, please make this kid a ginger and pepper tea, will you?" I said to Cinderella's Assistants. The critters conjured the necessary ingredients and began cooking up. "I must say, Lord Adriel, these vintage are the best I've ever had the honor of sampling! They're exquisite!" Jarvan said. He dropped a little. My eyes widened and I rubbed my eyes to be sure. The prince was sparkling. Like literally sparkling. "You can't hold your drink too?" I asked.
I looked around the table and I saw that the buzz was starting to get to them. One by one their faces fell on the table and they began to snore loudly. Nothing like getting your hosts drunk so early in the morning, right? Cinderella's Assistants came to me and handed seven cups of steaming aromatic tea. I sighed. I spent the next hour reviving the downed Demacians. God. And an hour later… "Alright, now that all of you bozos are up. Here. Gifts. Take it." I said moodily. They had the sense to look sheepish, their hands around a steaming mug of ginger and pepper tea. I handed the wrapped gifts to them. "18 for the Crownguards. 18 for the prince. 9 for Ezreal." I said. "Why do I get nine only?" the explorer asked. "Be thankful I'm giving you any at all after that." I snapped at him. He have me a boy's smile.
"I hope my gift's been to your liking." I said sincerely. Although I said that quite easily, I was worried that the Demacians found it average or less than average. "They were excellent if I do say so myself." Lilia said. The Crownguard matriarch looked away as I gave her an incredulous look. "What? They were. You're looking at Demacia's greatest alcoholic beverage connoisseur. They were nothing short of magnificent." she said elegantly. I looked at the Crownguard siblings and they just shrugged. "Anyway, prince, I make good of my promise today. I'm giving you these treasures in memory of our passing." I said in a mysterious tone I always use when I'm about to give a gift. The girls hefted the relics and placed them with great care on the ground.
"What are those?" Jarvan asked, rising from his chair and approaching the glowing objects. Ezreal had teleported over as well. "God relics, prince. Why my master thunk of enshrining these at your pitiful nation is beyond me." Channeler said in a cold voice. The prince looked at me. I was smirking proudly. "I'll explain them later, prince, but for now I need you to carry them to the temple of your choice." I said. Jarvan was silent for a bit. He was thinking. Well, at least he doesn't act brashly like his lore suggest he does.
"Our Lady of Stalwart Protection." Jarvan said softly. "An excellent suggestion, Your Highness." Xin and Garen piped in together. "Very well. Now we start the procession. Carry these to the temple." I said, pointing at the two objects. The Demacians just gaped at me. "Now?" I said in an assertive tone.
•
"Wow. Is this the Demacian brand of chivalry? Letting fragile women carry such a heavy burden?" I sighed for the seventeenth time. "Like hell!" Jarvan, Garen, Ezreal and Xin yelled from behind me for the seventeenth time as well. They were covered in scratches from head to foot. 5 minutes ago…
The girls flocked protectively around the relics like a mother bear would her cub, hissing and snarling like angry cats. "Ladies, please, let the men handle this. It's not like women such as yourselves can carry weight such as this to begin with." Xin said. Ladies and gentlemen, he had good intentions with this sentence. He was stating fact. Then the girls descended on the men like crazed eagles. Back to the present…
I found it funny that Xin lost his passive expression. He always had that perfect poker face but now he was openly wearing his emotions on his face. "You guys are just sore a bunch of girls kicked your ass." I said. The response I got was a murderous aura. "They are my idols." Lux said dreamily. She was like that since she saw the fight. "And here we have, folks, is the dawn of feminism." I said. She rolled her eyes at me. "I have no idea what you just said but I think it's a bad one." she said tartly. I laughed. "Don't they have feminism here? The strong independent unyielding woman spirit that cannot be silenced or crushed?" I asked.
"Pride is the root of all sin. All things must be taken in moderation, no more and no less." Lux said as-a-matter-of-factly. "But isn't Fiora Laurent quite a strong candidate for a feminist spirit?" I asked. Lux snorted. "And also one of Demacia's social outcasts and has one of the lowest standing." she said through gritted teeth. "Good things come to those who seize opportunity rather than wait for it to present itself." I said. Damn. That was my I-know-what-I'm-talking-about voice. "It's difficult to do that in a place like this. Demacia has strong patriarchal standards and we're not known for being flexible. Traditionally, men hold more power and influence than women and most of the seats of any power here are predominantly male." Lux said. "Such Neanderthal thinking. No wonder Runeterra is so backwards." I said airily. Pretty high and mighty from someone who just got here and seen no deep shit yet. Mwehehehe.
"You sound like you're not from this world at all." Lux said suspiciously. I smiled at her. "That might be true. Who knows?" I said mysteriously. She narrowed her eyes at me. "If you're a High Priest, ally with Demacia and reshape the society system. That would be a fat ton of help." she said. I smiled at her mysteriously. "I don't even need to do that. Something cataclysmic is gonna happen in the future, Lux. The goddess Demacia will rely on the younger generation in the near future. You're among the brightest. Lead them well." I said.
Whoa. Where did that come from? Lux was wondering about the same thing. "An omen?" she asked. "Sounds like it. I don't have control over these things. If a storm is coming, then you better prepare for it." I said. I was quiet along the way. I was wondering what that meant. Am I in danger or something? If something bad is gonna happen, what am I supposed to do? I separated from the rest and went to my girls. "Girls, my mouth just spouted some really deep words. What does that mean?" I asked. The women looked at me and chuckled. "That your brain is working?" Fan Geisha said sarcastically. I gave her a look. "Lady Persephone would know what it would be. She will tell you as soon as she gets back." Druidess said.
Wow. I never thought I'd miss Persephone and her nosiness. She was like my Jiminy Cricket. Who is invisible, knows a whole lot more than I do and enjoys annoying me to no end. "Either something bad is going to happen to Demacia or something bad is going to happen to me. I don't know which. So do I prepare my defenses like a paranoid or wait until the storm's visible and build my house upon a rock?" I said to myself. "Needless worries. We will protect you from whatever this danger is. What dangers can this world offer to amount to a care against deathless ones like us?" Channeler said. "That's some devotion you got there, girl. We don't even have any idea what's coming at me." I said. The girls just huffed proudly. The critters did the same.
•
By the time we reached the Our Lady of Stalwart Protection, there was a venerable crowd of spectators following us. Any male who had tried to take away the girls' burdens from them, to either show off or just being courteous, got the same treatment as the boys. Cats have claws and, boy, do these felines have them. That's so true. "What on earth are you girls wishing for?" I had asked them. "Men! Status! Money! Power!" Fan Geisha said without any trace of embarrassment. "World peace! The end of world hunger!" Geisha said. "Swift and complete recovery of Mother Nature!" Druidess declared. "The secrets of the gods and the Unknown!" Channeler said. Their wishes, except Fan Geisha's, nearly made me weep. It made me cry a tear though.
"Don't worry, girls. When I get my Demonic Wish-Granting to the appropriate level, I'll definitely grant your wishes." I said. "You're gonna be an old man by that time." the girls chorused as one. "I hate you!" I yelled indignantly. They laughed a little. I let C.A.C.A. bear me back to the prince. "Is this the place?" I asked. There was a tender look on the Jarvan's face as he gazed upon the historic building.
"My mother took me here to mass every morning when she was still alive. If these relics would be enshrined somewhere, I would prefer for it to be in this place. She would say the same if she was here." Jarvan said. There was a far-off look in his eyes like he was reliving the distant and fond past. So it was because of sentimental reasons that he chose this. Well, if a love of a son for his deceased mother is the reason for placing the relics here, the gods would not frown on this. "Do people still come here every day, prince?" I asked. "Yes. This church has one of the biggest number of parishioners in all of Demacia." he replied. "This is gonna a problem." I said.
"Why?" the prince asked. "If the one who is judged unworthy or is found guilty in the eyes of the gods were to stand before it, the gods will smite them. That could be disastrous to anyone who is within range." I said. In truth, I wanted no one touching or scrutinizing the relics. And I want assurance that it stays that way. "Guards will be posted then." the prince said. Apparently, he's not going to say he's going to close the church. Damnit. "I'll take your words for it then, prince. Just know the ramifications of crossing the gods. Let us begin the ceremony." I said.
The girls placed the relics on an elevated pedestal that was quite unused (At least it looked like that to us). "C.A.C.A., do the honors please!" I said. C.A.C.A. glowed brightly as their power came into effect. "Come forth, sixteen children of the Heavenly Hosts! Show us divine guidance! Soul-Guide Cherubims!" I said. I am so bullshitting my way here.
I'm summoning sixteen Soul-Guide Cherubims from the Heavenly Hosts family. Sixteen versions of Soul-Guide Cherubims appeared in a cute puff of smoke. They were different breeds of dogs standing upright, wearing angel costumes and sporting real wings and dazzling halos on them. They glowed with divine light and looked incredibly cute. They were powerful Pawn Cards that allowed the player to special summon TOKENS (Worthy Souls) which are necessary to muster Faith points as quickly as possible for the Acts of Faith mechanic.
"They're so cute!" Lux said as she petted a snow-white Akita Cherubim. She lapsed into baby-talk as she nose-to-nosed with the dog-angel. "In all my years, I have never seen Luxanna like that." Xin commented as he watched. "Our parents never allowed pets. I'm not surprised if she's always wanted a pet all these years." Garen said. He said it quite nonchalantly but he was happy for his sister. Here was a side Lux never really showed to anyone. "When I save enough money to distance myself off from my family and Demacia, I'm gonna have a pet as cute as you are! Yes, cute as you are!" Lux said. "That's some plan your sister has." Jarvan said. Garen began to sweat. He didn't say that he was planning the same thing in the future.
"Lux, you can let go of the angel now." I said. She looked at me with watery eyes. I rolled my eyes and pulled the Cherubim off her. "NNNOOOOOOOOO!" she wailed, latching on the angel's tail. Now, there a wail. I can't tell the difference between a cry and wail but that's definitely a wail. "Lux, don't be overdramatic! Let go!" I insisted. I successfully pried the angel away from her with a little help from Garen. We began the "ritual".
The angels hummed a song that lingered in the air like fragrant perfume. The hall immediately filled with many Worthy Souls. They looked like wisps with faces of men and women and they were singing in joyous celebration. The church filled with their hymns and their presence filled with the air with luminous firefly-like lights. C.A.C.A., Borometz Trios and Cinderella's Assistants joined the choir. The Demacians were awed by the sight. I didn't even knowing what I was doing. As the girls placed the relics on the pedestal, I was bathed in a strange but radiant light.
"Oh, Lady Demacia, refuge of the meek and the helpless, protectress of the brave, patron of heroes and champions, mother of the righteous, house of justice, rose of order and maiden eternal of contemplation and humility, goddess of strongholds and fortresses, I humbly call upon you to bless and gather here in this place. Bless it and sanctify it that your Grace would flow through here eternally to all your worthy children, we pray." my mouth was moving on its own. The words just flowed through me uncontrollably. It was filled with a burning conviction I didn't know where I got it from.
The Soul-Guide Cherubims and Worthy Souls filled their air with their mystical singing. Then to my wonder, a strange power filled the church. It was wondrous feeling. The entire place disappeared, filled with a powerful shower of light and I saw a tall and intimidating sight. It was a statue of a beautiful woman. She looked human but she was also something else. She was an alien one, I was sure. Then the statue's eyes opened and there was a searing light from it. Behind her, ten massive rings rose into the air. Within each ring was like a portal to a different dimension, a glimpse of another world was seen through each. "Thou hast summoned me, mortal. A feat none of the living hast done so in nearly a thousand years. But thine blood is not mine and thou hails not from this world. Who art thou?" the woman said.
I was literally trembling. Here was something I don't know but I knew that was greater than me. She was powerful to be sure. "Hi." I managed to squeak. The woman smiled. I don't know if she was being friendly or just plain patronizing. "Thou need not fear me, child. Thou stand before Demacia." the woman said. I was positively sweating by then. "Uh, hello. I'm Adriel and I'm not from here. I gave Jarvan some relics as a gift and suddenly I'm standing before you." I said tentatively. "I look upon thy memories and I find it hard to pierce, stronger than armor and magic. Thy mind is protected by something far stronger than Demacia. Child, I find thee a mystery but thine plea shalt not fall upon deaf ears. In thee, I have found a champion for mine cause." she said.
I DID NOT SIGN UP FOR BEING A CHAMPION OF SOME GOD I JUST RECENTLY MET! WHY DID IT TURN OUT LIKE THIS?! I was screaming in my head. I was rioting. "You are most generous, milady, but I'm afraid I must turn down your offer. I'm not fit to be a champion for you. I've seen Demacians and they're all heroic and righteous and- and- and- shiny! I'm not! I'm not close to being anything close to that!" I said with all seriousness. She just smiled. "I know more of what thou speak of. I have seen mine children grow. Bathed in light and yet cast in shadows, I have lamented for years that none of them hast reach mine Light. Mine plea to thee, child, cleanse mine children of the impure and the wicked. For they prevent those reach who to me from ever finding me. Do this for Demacia and she will be grateful." the woman said. She raised both her hands and there was a blinding light.
I was zapped back to where I was moments before. My sight slowly returned and I found myself rooted in place. The girls flocked around me in concern. "Oh, he's back! He's back, girls!" Fan Geisha said as she noticed that my eyes returned to normal. They were flooded with searing light before. My Cards and the girls came to me in an instant. "What happened?" I asked. They looked at me in disbelief. "You went blinding on us, that's what!" Fan Geisha barked. I gasped as I remembered what happened. "You won't believe what just happened to me. But I'm sworn never to disclose anything so I'm not telling any of you." I said in a voice that only they can hear. They nodded in understanding. The Cards and the girls parted and I saw a congregation had respectfully stayed in the back. I think the suspicion that I was a High Priest had become fact. I ignored them and extended a hand on the relics. I activated them. This minor extra skill came with all my Innate Powers. It allowed me to control the activity of something I gave to another.
"Okay, people. You have a minute to vacate this place before something crazy happens. You can stay if you want but I won't be liable to any loss of limb, sanity or life, hear?" I declared loudly. I pointed a finger at Jarvan. "Stay." I said. The rest of them disappeared in an instant. "Girls, I think you should stay outside too." I said. They pouted but complied anyway. Jarvan looked at me with an uncertain expression. "Prince, these are the gifts I will give you. They are relics, each made by a long-forgotten civilization in honor of the gods that watched over them. Each one has a power from that god and they will unfailingly aid you in their own way." I explained to the prince. He walked up to me as I presented him the gifts.
"One is the legendary Ship of Fingernails. A trickle of Food will enrich you for as long as it is in your possession." I said. On cue, several articles of food phased into existence on the ground. Fruits, vegetables, rootcrops and all sorts of meats. They were freaking assorted. I was shocked inwardly to be honest. I didn't freaking expect a trickle from the game of Age of Mythology would translate into a small pile of food into this world! Wait. Did I just say small pile? Yes. It's a small pile of overlarge food! OMFG! I have no words for what I was feeling. "And the second one?" the prince asked. I smiled. I linked my hands through his hand and led him outside. I also felt the iron strength of his biceps. I was blushing inwardly.
Outside, people were looking at the sky at the rays of light cascaded down above the church. I was also shocked. What the hell? It was mid-morning when we started for the church and I think it was around 1:00 that we carried and 1:20 when I started the ritual. Why was it nighttime already? How much time passed when I was talking with Demacia? "The other one, prince, is the divine Ankh of Ra. Each ray of light symbolizes a favor you have earned to the gods. Once you have earned enough of their trust, call upon them, prince, and their aid will come to you." I said.
The prince looked reverently at the gifts I gave him. His eyes were moist. "There is no need of doubt, prince. I shall aid you when your time comes. I believe you have what it takes to be a legendary monarch someday. You're just plagued with insecurity, self-doubt and the chains your family and your people have placed on your soul. Prince, you are not another link in the long line of a chain. You are special. Believe in the me who believes in you." I said to him. I was earnest. I remember Marshal in him. They had so much in common. Well, maybe not much. But the bit about the insecurity was spot on.
"There is a storm coming, prince. I won't be there when that happens because I'm not allowed to interfere. I just wish the best for you. Remember what I said about the sacred beasts, prince? You being there was no coincidence. You have their blessing. I just wish it's enough." I said. The prince's eyes widened at what I just said. I looked over his shoulder and walked over to the Crownguards, Xin and Ezreal. "I ask this of you as his friends. Stand by him in the near future. He is going to need your help." I said. And now for an amazing exit. "By the power of Helios, I summon thee!" I intoned. We were spirited away by the God Power, leaving behind mortals who were very much in awe.
Chapter 5
Adriel's Plan Part 1
•
Demacia
•
Four days after my exit from Demacia...
The Great Halls of Justice was the Demacian title for the massive building that was held the epicenter of Demacian politics that would decide the fate of the nation. Here the House of Nobles, the House of the Commons, the House of Artificers, the House of Justicars and the House of Royals come together to discuss the matters that require the urgent attention of the nation. Today, the crown prince was at the center of the discussion.
The House of Nobles was comprised of the nobility, high class, politicians and heroes and saints and clergy of Demacia.
The House of Commons was comprised of the common folk, leaders of the masses, rulers of the Demacian Holds, the low class and middle class, the peasantry and the ordinary citizens of Demacia.
The House of Artificers was comprised of craftsmen, artsmen, Merchants Guild, Adventurers Guild, Workers Guild, Mages Guild, Fighters Guild and Agents Guild.
The House of Justicars was comprised of top-ranking personnel and agents of Demacia, those who the king had chosen to represent a logical and reasonable point in the discussions and the military of Demacia.
The House of Royals was comprised of the immediate royal family of Demacia and any High Priests allied with the nation.
"From the reports that landed on my desk from the last three days, I've never come across a more ridiculous story. I'm afraid I've just wasted my time coming all the way to the capital. A bunch of nonsense made by fools and liars." Segiras Starfire said in his usual tone that incited anyone who heard it a sore temptation to bash his teeth in. He was from the House of Nobles which was, in general opinion, the most detested House in all of Demacia mainly because of the nobles themselves. Nobles, however, were too stuffed to notice the disdain they were given. The Houses of Commons, Artificers and Justicars united to bash the aforementioned House. As usual, he got angry looks from nearly everyone in the hall.
In Demacia, majority always decided the rulings. It wasn't important whether the decision was good or bad for Demacia, the majority is the majority. Jarvan wasn't particularly pleased with this but like all the members of the House of Royals before him, he kept his mouth shut. In most cases with every kind of government, the one on top doesn't have the absolute power. Most cases, there will be someone or something that will stop them. It was the same here. "I'm sure if you do something worthwhile for once in your life, Lord Starfire, you'd check out the Our Lady of Stalwart Protection, you'd find for yourself that the 50% of the report would be true and the remaining 50% were accounts from all individuals who witnessed Lord Adriel's feats. One of those witnesses would be me. Are you calling me a fool and liar, sir?" Jarvan asked in a tone that he didn't know he could and didn't even use before.
Segiras sputtered. During all the sessions, the members of the House of Royals were the most quiet. All they did was absorb the opinions and advice of others and the king was supposed to derive a sound judgment from all of it. "Forgive me, my prince. I did not mean to insult you." he said though his every action told everyone else that he wasn't. "Well, consider this, an insult to Lord Adriel is an insult to me. You were right about one thing though. This is a waste of time. Why have we gathered here so something so trivial? This is not a matter to be attended by the ruling bodies of Demacia. I will say what I said to the media every day from the day of his disappearance, Lord Adriel does not pose any harm to Demacia and is not likely to be a threat to us. Any concern about any possible involvement with Evarran in the near future is implausible. All this is nothing more but paranoia of each House. You are all afraid of a High Priest's appearance would sway the power from your grasp. Demacia has not seen or allied with a High Priest for nearly a thousand years but I maintain my stance on behalf of Lord Adriel." Jarvan said. Though they were not supposed to do it in public, Xin, Luxanna and Garen nodded their approval. There a moment of silence as the prince's words were spot on.
"I have doubts with him. Could this be a ploy to infiltrate and take over our systems from within? By slowly gaining favor among the common folk and shifting much power to our crown prince, he may want to upset the balance of the political power in Demacia. He may be plotting to overthrow the king and replace it with the prince who backs him up. We will be running under a puppet government." Morathi of the House of Artificers said. She was the leader of the Merchants Guild from the time she was young and still possessed the esteemed title in her old age. There were murmurs of agreement with her. The prince fumed but knew the old woman's heart was in the right place. She was a decent person albeit a bit paranoid. "That would be quite believable if it were not for the massive power the person in question holds. I believe he still has many secrets we may have yet discovered. Frankly, if you ask me, Demacia does not have enough merit to warrant its conquer." Lord Silas of House of Justicars said. He was a captain of the Sunspire Battlemages, a special taskforce comprised of the most talented mages in all of Demacia, as well as the Headmaster of the Arcane University. There was silence about that. Many agreed with him and many disagreed with him. But they kept their opinions to themselves. Lord Silas had a terrible reputation. "I think our only choice in this matter is to await future developments. We only need to keep our eyes open. Besides, I think I like this Lord Adriel already." he continued. He sounded like he met the person before.
"I have no interest in this petty politics but I am very much interested in the nature of the subject being discussed. This Lord Adriel may indeed be a High Priest. I have checked the relics myself and found them to possess tremendous divine power. That rules out any of Lord Adriel's involvement with dark forces. If Lord Adriel may indeed be a High Priest, though I may suspect he is something more, his alliance with Demacia may be a good thing after all." a grim and cold voice supported the prince's cause. It came from Shauna Vayne of the noble house of Vayne. The legendary Night Hunter and elite exorcist of Demacia, she commanded a lot of respect, awe and fear through her reputation alone.
"You address this stranger as Lord as well, Lady Shauna?" Morann from the House of Artificers asked. She secretly supplied Vayne's armaments for her battles against the dark forces. It was a surprise that Vayne would acknowledge someone so openly. "I was there during the cleansing of the Fallen Martyrs Cemetery though I did not participate in the open. I witnessed firsthand the account that Lord Adriel had indeed summoned a divine power to cleanse the land. I have not seen such miracle of a large scale in all my life. I have seen High Priests before but a caliber of Lord Adriel's is new to me. The power from the relics was the same kind as the power he invoked that day. It was otherworldly and alien but it was no doubt divine in nature." she said.
There was a veritable silence in the air. "And this Lord Adriel has my vote for giving such treasure to Demacia." another female voice piped in. It was tinged with a thick accent that highlighted the pride and stubbornness of the woman herself. It was another member of the House of Nobles, Fiora Laurent of House Laurent. "We second that!" chorused the triplets S'rassi, S'vasta and S'iuron. They were from the House of Commons and each of them is a mayor of a Demacian Hold. S'rassi ruled Whitefeather, S'vasta ruled Ebonheart and S'iuron ruled Stormcall. It was the three most prosperous Holds of Demacia and hosted the most adventurer groups in all of Demacia. "Have you seen the wonder of the gifts, Lady Laurent? It's positively amazing!" the triplets chorused. It was something everyone got used to: the triplets making the same statements at the same time when they're together.
"The Ship of Fingernails summons food out of nothing and the Ankh of Ra grants us the favor of the gods. Each of which would be very useful in dire situations. Although the fact that both gifts can only be tapped on by the prince is very interesting. I think know why he is so confident today." Fiora said in a playful tone. Imagine her surprise when the prince met her gaze steadily. "Lord Adriel is truly amazing, milady. Just the memory of him saying he supports me fills me up with courage." he said. He gazed upwards and literally sparkled at the memory. "Indeed, indeed, my prince. We support you in the now and in the future as we have done so in the past!" the triplets chorused. Before anyone could cut in edgewise, they started talking again. "We must say that the food produced by the treasures were extremely high quality and in bigger portions that what we could produce. We have never seen fruits, vegetables and meats the size of a table! Such gifts will be most appreciated by poor families. They will be morally supported to rise above their challenges!" the triplets said.
The hall exploded into chaos. The self-serving people from every House made their demands. "Such high-quality food to be given to the peasants?! Outrageous!" one noble said angrily. His opinion opened the floodgates and the hall exploded into violent reactions. "My master has foreseen such things to happen. That's why I'm here." a calm voice said, ringing over the tumult with shocking clarity. Literally out of nowhere, a rail-thin old man appeared. His weird-looking black clothes clung tight into his bone-thin body and star-like lights shimmered and phased all around him. There was silence in the room. The hall was protected by the most advanced hextech and magical wards. Demacia has taken every inch of precaution to protect those inside and prevent outsiders from entering and yet, a strange man had appeared out of nowhere and he had done so without effort.
"Greetings, people of Demacia and to you as well, dear prince. I am Koril of the Lotus clan and the Scholar of Space. Our master, Adriel, sent us here. He has come to realization, after our counsel, that the bounties given to Demacia might be abused by the insufferable." Koril said. He greeted everyone with apparent disinterest but he gave the prince a semblance of warmth. His words stabbed at those who were truly insufferable, making them make sounds of infuriation. "The audacity! You dare stand before the ruling body of Demacia brazenly and insult us?! Guards, remove this man! Throw him into the dungeons!" Kirathin Justious from the House of Royals demanded. Before Koril could say something, there was a massive bang. All eyes went to the King, Jarvan III, and they saw that his eyes demanded silence. "That is not your call, dear lady. You are an emissary of Lord Adriel, honored guest?" the king said.
"Indeed, mortal king. Your son has taken Adriel's interest. He wishes to invest in the young pup's future. You must forgive my master. Once he put his mind into it, there's simply no stopping him." Koril said. His voice was filled with unnerving calm. It filled the hall with infectious passiveness. Jarvan had taken a trip to dreamland again when he heard Adriel's supporting him. He sparkled again. "Please send my best regards to Lord Adriel for his generosity. Is he allied with Evarran or any other country? Please allay our fears that Lord Adriel would not focus his considerable power in harming Demacia." the king said with a very dignified voice that made Koril give a semblance of a smile. "My master has no intention of annexing your country, king. Why, the very suggestion is an insult. My master would not lay his hands on a fragile and malleable race such as yours. He would rather set his sights on more powerful beings. Why, the Targonians and the monsters of the Shadow Isles and the Void would be more to his taste. My master craves for a challenge, you see. And in that, I'm afraid you don't pose much of it." Koril said.
His words made everyone's ears burn but Koril continued regardless. "I don't know for how long this fancy my master has taken to your son will last. He might see him as a student in dire need of a competent teacher or perhaps a puppy in dire need of an affectionate owner, I don't know. I suggest you make the most while my master is under that spell." he said. People were about to say something again but Koril drowned their outbursts with just his voice. "Dear prince, my master has been brought to notice that the bounties of the relics might be abused and you might be swayed by their words. Given your current mentality, he foresees it happening. My master has only this to say to you. STAND YOU GROUND, JARVAN, OR ELSE I'M TAKING BACK THOSE RELICS AND MAKE IT RAIN PISS AND SHIT ON DEMACIA! LITERALLY! DON'T LET THEM MISUSE IT! THOSE ARE GOD RELICS, YOU UNDERSTAND?! THEY'RE NOT TOYS AND YOU RISK DEMACIA BEING WIPED FROM THE FACE OF RUNETERRA BY THE ENRAGED GODS!" Koril said. His voice changing into a vicious scream made everyone jump. He coughed as he cleared his throat and resumed his normal voice. "He sent you his aid as well." he said. The Soul-Guide Cherubims made a comeback and appeared out of nowhere and flooded the hall with their inspiring presence.
"Well then, dear prince, I will take my leave. Remember that Adriel supports you from the bottom of his heart. Please reflect on the weight of these words." Koril said. With but a gesture, he simply vanished without a trace. The moment he did, the hall exploded into verbal chaos. It was promptly drowned out by Lux squealing on top of her voice and jumping unto the Cherubims. "Are you worried, sire?" Xin asked the king who was silent. The king smiled. "I do not know if this Adriel is truly trusworthy or not but I have never seen my son so ecstatic by someone's support." the king said. Indeed, the prince was all sparkly. The king watched his son come to his senses. "It is not my place to deny you the bounty of the gods as such I have come to the decision that 30% of the bounty will be divided among all the Houses and 70% will go to the common people, prioritizing the poor. Does anyone have any problem with this?" Jarvan asked, squaring his shoulders. There were people who did not agree with this but their opinions were drowned by the moment they saw their prince with fire in his eyes they have never seen before.
When he was a child, there was the fiery gleam of pride and self-satisfaction that beset him but it was reduced to nothing on the fateful day he was captured by the forces of the Master Tactician of Noxus. He was never the same again. Haunted by his failure and the disappointment he felt to himself as well as that of others, the prince had become a changed man. The him they saw now was an awakening of a sleeping lion. His roar was a declaration of change. The leaders of Demacia felt that the prince would no longer be impassive figure he once had been. He had a powerful backing now. They didn't know what made him trust this ally so much but he did very deeply.
"Well said, prince. Addy will be very pleased with your decision." a regal female voice declared. Everyone looked around for the source of the voice. "Over here, prince." the voice said again. All eyes settled on the Soul-Guide Cherubims. "Well done, prince." the voice said again. Eyes went wide and mouths dropped. The voice had come from one of the Cherubims, the snow-white Akita Cherubim. "You can talk?!" Lux exclaimed. She let go of the Cherubims she was hugging tightly as if she touched live coals. "Not in a traditional sense, young one. We're transferring our thoughts to you." the Akita Cherubim said. "Thereby bypassing any kind of language barrier." the Dalmatian Cherubim said. "They're so cuteeeeeeeee!" Lux screeched at the top of her voice. She launched herself on the Cherubims again.
One of them was able to break free long enough to express their support. "Please allow us humble guides to aid your cause. We will ferry the bounty intended for those who need it the most and we will guard it these gifts with our lives until they reach their destination." the Labrador Retriever Cherubim said. He was seized back to Lux's embrace a second later.
•
When the meeting was finished, Jarvan, Lux and Garen Cownguard, Xin, S'rassi, S'Vasta and S'iuron walked together. Present were the firmest supporters of the crown prince. They stood by him since the beginning and remained even through the time where his failure had removed a significant favor from the courts. The Soul-Guide Cherubims went their separate way to the church and oversee the distribution.
"Prince, we might have said things that will lead you to believe that we trust this Lord Adriel fully but we cannot help but question." the triplets said. "Trust me on this. Lord Adriel has no intention of harming Demacia. He strikes me as a man who never acts. He just reacts. As long as Demacia doesn't do anything to earn his ire, I believe we'll all benefit from his generosity." the prince said. "What makes you so sure he won't pose a threat?" Xin asked. "He's not interested." Garen piped in.
He was known for being a man of few words. It was a surprise of him talking about this kind of topic. Everyone looked at him. "He said to me if given the choice to take whether a puppy or a dragon as a pet, he'd choose the dragon. He said dragons would make a much interesting pet because raising it would be full of surprises. But he would also take in the puppy and help it stand on its own feet." Garen said. Adriel said that to him after the steamy tryst. Garen's member thickened in remembrance and the man grinned inwardly.
"We're the puppy, I guess as much?" Xin said. Every warrior who evaluated Adriel gave off the feeling that the guy was really weak. He didn't give off the air of a warrior or a mage or any kind of martial or magical profession. But the fact he could perform such kind of magic from the gods made them question their own ability. It could be that Adriel existed on another level entirely or, worse, he inspired this kind of conclusion to anyone he meets so they would drop their guard around him. "Would be nice if he conquers Noxus." Lux said. "Then Noxus would have his full guidance and access to his knowledge and treasures. Noxians may develop in an unexpected speed. Won't we grit our teeth if the Noxian empire becomes the greatest human civilization by the end of the century?" Vayne said easily as she stepped out of invisibility.
"Lady Vayne!" the triplets shrieked indignantly. The Night Hunter merely nodded at them. She pretended nothing happened. "That could happen." Lux agreed. Jarvan didn't think of that. He paled at the possibility. "And knowing the Master Tactician of Noxus, he could prove to be an interesting venture for Lord Adriel. He may take that old coot under his wing." Vayne continued. The prince reddened in rage at the prospect.
•
You might be wondering where the hell is the main character in all this. Well, I'm starting to narrate again, am I? But really. This night is getting more and more exciting. It all started when the girls were trying to haul the relics downstairs. They dropped it suddenly, their faces were glowing with pride and celebration. "Did something happen?" I asked.
The girls just looked at me and suddenly jumped on me. "We did it! We did it! We did it!" they yelled cheerfully. Even Channeler looked extremely happy for once. They hugged me tight and jumped around me in circles. "I don't follow." I said tentatively. That's when I received the notice. A hologram window appeared in front of me.
"Congratulations! You have completed your first quest!"
"In celebration of your first completed quest, the Supreme Beings have granted you a one-time reward. You have received the following rewards: 10 levels, 1,000 gold, 10 Skill Points, 10 Attribute Points, 10 Create Points, 10 Customization Points, 10 Premium Points. All your current Innate Powers has been improved."
My eyes widened like saucers. OMFG! OMFG! OMFG! "What the hell happened? I don't know what happened but I AM HYPED UP!" I screeched. I joined the girls jumping out. "Quest!" I said. A hologram window appeared to show my Quest Log.
•
COMPLETED QUESTS:
Conquering Ratharbor- 100/100- COMPLETED!
•
My eyes widened again. I screeched with joy. They did it! They really did it! They conquered Ratharbor for me! MWAHAHAHA! My plans for world domination is finally starting!
•
Adriel
Level 16
Experience: 0/16000
Health: 100/100 (Regeneration: 10/min.)
Mana: 5600/5600 (Regeneration: 160/min.)
Fatigue: 300/300 (Regeneration: 5/min.)
Encumbrance: 20/100
Title:
• The Beginner (Experience gain increased by 40%)
• Chosen of The Supreme Beings (When killed, transport Chosen to Heaven and transport killer/killers to Hell)
• The Explorer (Immersing in the mysteries of this world and mingling with its denizens fill up the Wanderlust Meter. Upon maxing it, Chosen granted a leveled amount of Experience)
• The Scholar (Immersing in the culture of civilizations of this world fill up the Learner's Meter. Upon maxing it, Chosen is granted a leveled amount of Experience)
• The Dominatrix (Immersing in sexual acts fill up the Lustful's Meter. Upon maxing it, Chosen is granted a leveled amount of Experience)
• Truly Favored (If the Chosen's actions please the Supreme Beings, the Favor Meter fills up. Upon maxing it, Chosen is granted an ability by the Supreme Beings)
Class: Summoner
Spells:
• Lessest Demonic Wish-Granting (Set a price and make a pact to grant a wish to a supplicant. Limited by spell level)
• Succubus Seduction (Take control of a target's emotions and memories for 1 hr.)
Abilities: PENDING
Greater Power:
• Gift of The Supreme Beings I (Defy the world's supernatural and supernormal limits. Draw power from the Supreme Beings. Usable once a day)
• Gift of The Supreme Beings II (Defy the world's supernatural and supernormal limits. Call upon the Supreme Beings to bless an object. Usable once a day)
• Gift of The Supreme Beings III (Defy the world's supernatural and supernormal limits. Call upon the Supreme Beings to bring into existence a powerful phenomenon. Usuable once a day)
Lesser Power:
• Touch of The Supreme Beings (Defy the world's supernatural and supernormal limits. Increase a target's Disposition towards you to 500% for 5 min. and down to 100% after 24 hrs. thereafter)
• Voice of The Supreme Beings (Defy the world's supernatural and supernormal limits. Command the world to do your bidding for 60 sec.)
• Will of The Supreme Beings (Defy the world's supernatural and supernormal limits. Allows the use of an Innate Power by sacrificing your Health and Mana and thereby gain a curse that will ban any form of healing or recovery for three days. 50% of maximum Health and Mana)
• Defiance of The Supreme Beings (Defy the world's supernatural and supernormal limits. Allows the use of an Innate Power by sacrificing levels. The number of uses equals twice the number of levels sacrificed.)
Innate Power:
• Dragon, Lotus, Serpent, Wolf (Summon creatures from this universe)
• Nirn and Sanctuary (Summon objects and creatures from this universe)
• God Powers and Card Magic (Summon magic, objects and creatures from this universe)
•
Whoa. NOW THIS IS A MAJOR LEVEL-UP! Mwahahahahahaha! I can feel the evil oozing from me. The Dark Side awaits me! "OMG. I can't thank you enough guys! This is amazing!" I squealed on top of my voice. "Status!" I said. The hologram changed.
•
Skill Points: 20
Attribute Points: 10
Create Points: 10
Customization Points: 10
Premium Points: 10
•
SKILLS:
Light Affinity
Darkness Affinity
Water Affinity
Air Affinity
Earth Affinity
Fire Affinity
Life Affinity
Death Affinity
Divine Affinity
Unholy Affinity UNLOCKED!
•
ATTRIBUTES:
Strength
Intelligence +6
Willpower
Agility
Speed
Endurance
Personality
Luck
Health
Mana
Fatigue
Encumbrance
•
I decided to relocate some of my Attribute Points somewhere else. I mean, look at that 100 Health. Basically, I'm just one-hit-one-kill then? "5 points on Health, 5 on Intelligence, 5 on Personality and 5 on Luck." I said. The screen flickered for a moment to apply the new changes. I'm not really aiming for a overpowered character here who can take on entire armies on his own. Hell, he can even challenge a celestial being or the like and emerge unscathed. I'm going to be a ruler. I'm gonna rule and all that shit. I ain't gonna be doing anything because I have my minions to do that for me. I scrolled over to my new spell list.
•
SKILLS:
Light Affinity
Darkness Affinity
Water Affinity
Air Affinity
Earth Affinity
Fire Affinity
Life Affinity
Death Affinity
Divine Affinity
Unholy Affinity UNLOCKED!
•
SKILL POINTS: 20
UNHOLY AFFINITY
UPGRADE: Lesser Demonic Wish-Granting (2 points) (Set a price and make a pact to grant a wish to a supplicant. Limited by spell level)
UPGRADE: Succubus Domination (2 points) (Take control of a target's emotions and memories for 1 hr.)
UPGRADE: Lesser Mass Demonic Summoning (2 points) (Call forth a rift that spawns uncontrollable demons after a delay. Limited by spell level)
Lessest Greater Demonic Summoning (2 points) (Call forth a greater demonic creature after a delay. Limited by spell level)
Lessest Possession (2 points) (Permanently take control of a target without their knowledge of your domination. Limited by spell level)
Essence of The Damned (2 points) (Enchant an object with a curse or a dark power)
Blood Sacrifice (2 points) (Sacrifice a helpless target to empower your spells for a moment)
Shadow Serpent (1 point) (Create a serpent from each shadow nearby to attack your enemies)
Lessest Create Undead (2 points) (Consume a corpse to permanently raise an undead available to that race's species. Limited by spell level)
Lessest Create Demon (2 points) (Consume a soul to permanently raise a demon available to that race's species. Limited by spell level)
Dark Ascension (10 points) (Bless a supplicant with the power of the forces of darkness who will become your faithful servant)
Felfire Inferno (10 points) (Summon a rain of felfire over a large area. This has a 50% chance to summon demons alongside it)
Witches Sabbath (10 points) (Aura. All spellcasting followers have increased Mana reserves and regeneration. If their karma is evil-based, their dark spells will be stronger and will cost less)
Dark Flight (10 points) (Aura. All followers with evil-based karma deal more damage against enemies with good-based karma)
Hell Affinity (5 points) (Open the gates of Hell for more Unholy spells)
Lesser Demonic Affinity (5 points) (Attune further with the lesser demon hordes of Hell for more Unholy spells)
Greater Demonic Affinity (5 points) (Attune further with the greater demon hordes of Hell for more Unholy spells)
*Choose this to view past Unholy choices*
•
Holy shit. This is a hard choice. How the hell do they expect me to choose when all of it are so good? Damnit. I sighed. I promised myself to pick the ones I'm aiming for. "I'll take Lesser Demonic Wish-Granting, Lesser Mass Demonic Summoning, Lessest Shadow Demon, Darkblight and Shadow Serpent." I said. The change was applied. 8 points down, 12 to go. I wanted to open another Affinity and that's what I'm gonna do. The question was: what Affinity do I open?
If Persephone was here, she'd tell me more on what should I choose. Okay. I think I'm going for Life, Earth and Divine. Well, you gotta balance the evil with the good, right? It's all about harmony. Yeah, right. I have twelve points. Why not unlock all three and see what they're all about? "Unlock Life, Earth and Divine Affinities." I declared. The screen flickered and show me the results of my choice.
•
SKILL POINTS: 9
LIFE AFFINITY
Sacred Touch (1 point) (Continually drain Mana to banish non-magical ailments of a target with a touch. Use on non-living objects to repair them) (Starts with 90% chance to cast successfully)
Healing Wave (2 points) (Conjure a wave of healing energy that bounces from target to target) (Starts with 40% chance to cast successfully)
Consecration (2 points) (Protect a target from malign influences for its duration) (Starts with 40% chance to cast successfully)
Sanctuary (2 points) (Summon a protective area that prevents enemies from entering and heals all allies inside) (Starts with 20% chance to cast successfully)
Sacred Rain (2 points) (Summon a rain of healing energies over a large area. Will heal allies only) (Starts with 20% chance to cast successfully)
Construct Firefly (2 points) (Summon healing magic in the shape of fireflies. Its numbers depend on the amount of sacrificed Mana) (Starts with 100% chance to cast successfully)
Blessing: Inspiration (1 point) (Instill an emotion or drive into a target) (Starts with 50% chance to cast successfully)
Blessing: Talent (1 point) (Instill a non-magical talent or skill into a target) (Starts with 50% chance to cast successfully)
Blessing: Power (2 points) (Instill a magical talent or skill into a target) (Starts with 30% chance to cast successfully)
Blessing: Fate (2 points) (Instill a destination or goal into a target) (Starts with 30% chance to cast successfully)
•
(0_0) - My literal reaction. THIS IS LIFE AFFINITY?! WHAT THE HELL?! IT'S TOTALLY OVERPOWERED! IT'S MORE OVERPOWERED THAN UNHOLY IN ITS OWN WAY, OF COURSE! This is an absolute manipulation of Life! Of course! That means I have access to things that can manipulate it beyond a superficial level! Those Blessings are amazing. "Imma take all the Blessings!" I said. My new skills joined me. 6 points gone in an instant. This is why nobody lets me go to the market. Something gets my attention and BAM! Next thing I know my money's all gone.
•
SKILL POINTS: 3
EARTH AFFINITY
Seedling (1 point) (Produce magical seeds that you can manipulate into growing into various plants) (Starts with 100% chance to cast successfully)
Grow I (2 points) (Control the evolution or mutation of your plants. Requires Seedling ability) (Starts with 100% chance to cast successfully)
Grow II (2 points) (Control the magical or non-magical properties of your plants. Requires Seedling ability) (Starts with 100% chance to cast successfully)
Grow III (2 points) (Control the sentience or intelligence of your plants) Requires Seedling ability) (Starts with 100% chance to cast successfully)
Spirits of Stones (2 points) (Summon the spirits of stones to assist your purpose) (Starts with 10% chance to cast successfully)
Spirits of Rocks (2 points) (Summon the spirits of rocks to assist your purpose) (Starts with 10% chance to cast successfully)
Spirits of Lands (2 points) (Summon the spirits of lands to assist your purpose) (Starts with 10% chance to cast successfully)
Essentia Malevolis (2 points) (Summon the earth's wrath that grows stronger for each plant or animal life near you) (Starts with 10% chance to cast successfully)
Essentia Gracia (2 points) (Summon the earth's kindness that grows stronger for each plant or animal life near you) (Starts with 10% chance to cast successfully)
Sanctification (2 points) (Fully restore the area around you and prevent malign influences) (Starts with 20% chance to cast successfully)
Beautification (2 points) (Summon the power of the earth to protect the area around you) (Starts with 20% chance to cast successfully)
•
SKILL POINTS: 3
DIVINE AFFINITY
Lessest Apotheosis (1 point) (Take the form of a god and bring the faithful as your supplicants. Limited by spell level)
Lessest Divine Providence I (2 points) (Endow upon a supplicant an enhanced attribute. Requires Apotheosis. Limited by spell level)
Lessest Divine Providence II (2 points) (Endow upon a supplicant a magical power. Requires Apotheosis. Limited by spell level)
Lessest Divine Providence III (2 points) (Endow upon a supplicant a non-magical power. Requires Apotheosis. Limited by spell level)
Lessest Divine Providence IV (2 points) (Endow upon a supplicant a magical skill. Requires Apotheosis. Limited by spell level)
Lessest Divine Providence V (2 points) (Endow upon a supplicant a non-magical skill. Requires Apotheosis. Limited by spell level)
Rest In Peace (2 points) (Cleanses all forms of undeath around you. Requires Apotheosis)
Divine Intervention (2 points) (Shield a supplicant from all harm and malign influences. Requires Apotheosis)
Religion (2 points) (When you have enough supplicants, their faith will empower your god form and charge up the Acts of Faith Meter. Requires Apotheosis)
Acts of Faith (2 points) (As enough of the Acts of Faith Meter fills, you can perform a miracle equal to the meter's power. Requires Religion and Apotheosis)
Sacred Relics (2 points) (Create an object blessed with your power but is subjected to your current state. Requires Apotheosis.)
Lessest Resurrection (2 points) (Bring a supplicant back from the dead. Requires Apotheosis. Limited by spell level)
•
(0_0) - My literal reaction. AGAIN. OMFG. My skills are so OP. It's OPier than OP! WWWAAAAAAAAAHHH! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! This is going to be great! But I regret spending too many points with Life when Divine had the similar things. I checked out the difference between the two. Okay, so here's what I learned. The Affinities Unholy and Divine are the only two to have their spells work successfully every time it's used. The other affinities need to be practiced. With each successful cast, the overall spellcast success rate of a spell increases. The drawback to the Unholy and Divine affinities is that it has a large Mana costs and most of the spells of the higher tier have curses built into them. Meaning the more I unlock spells from the Unholy and Divine trees, I'll come up with that kind of spells.
Life and Death trees have other requirements as well. Life spells can only be used on natural objects and beings, the stronger spells of the tree can work on anything. Death spells can only be used on the deceased, the stronger spells of the tree can work on the living too. Also, both trees magnify their effects based on how many living or dead things are around it. Life draws power from the living and death does the same with the dead, meaning if I use Life spells while surrounded by living things it gets more powerful while Death spells are stronger on how many things are dead around me. The remaining Earth, Water, Fire and Air Affinities don't seem to have other complicated mechanics except that they are heavily dependent on the user's imagination for its application. Imagination, eh? I got that covered. I got an obscene excess of that resource.
•
"Let's go see Ratharbor now!" Geisha said excitedly. She pulled on me insistently. "Let's go zip it once we finish here!" I said just as excitedly. The girls cheered and we threw our hands into the air and did a little victory dance.
That was several hours ago... If I had known I would waste that much time after my run-in with the goddess Demacia, I would've picked something else entirely on my schedule.
To the present...
"DRAW!" I yelled. A new set of Cards Wars Cards flew to my hands.
School of Pain- The Populars: The Born Nun- Monster Card
School of Pain- Ghostbusters- Monster Card
Dreamworlders- Legendary Princess: Snow White-Monster Card
Inquisition- Sister Slaughter- Monster Card
Inquisition- Sister Torture- Monster Card
Authurian Empire- Lady of The Lake- Pawn Card
Underworld- Graveyard of Ships- Magic Card
Cosmonauts- Spy Satellite- Magic Card
Farmlandia- Cow King- Monster Card
Farmlandia- Golden Goose- Plot Card
Not bad. Not bad at all. I just hate the fact that I didn't get that much Plot or Magic Cards. At least I got one of the Populars and a Legendary Princess. Oh, yeah. I haven't been using C.A.C.A. to the fullest but that's only because I really don't feel the need for it. Well, that excuse has officially gone down the drain, folks. With Ratharbor under my grasp, I'll need as much manpower I can get. I can get the production of forces from Battle Realms started again. I need to summon more Myth Units.
I'm not being paranoid here but better safe than sorry. That's always been my motto. I ain't ashamed of it. Not one bit. I joined the new Cards to the old Cards in my hands.
School of Pain- Flower Power- Pawn Card
Arthurian Empire- Vision of Aurora- Magic Card
Underworld- Zombie Balladeer- Monster Card
Underworld- Phantom Priestess- Monster Card
School of Pain- Outreach Program- Plot Card
Inquisition- Revelations- Plot Card
School of Pain- The Populars: The Born Nun- Monster Card
School of Pain- Ghostbusters- Monster Card
Dreamworlders- Legendary Princess: Snow White- Monster Card
Inquisition- Sister Slaughter- Monster Card
Inquisition- Sister Torture- Monster Card
Authurian Empire- Lady of The Lake- Pawn Card
Underworld- Graveyard of Ships- Magic Card
Cosmonauts- Spy Satellite- Magic Card
Farmlandia- Cow King- Monster Card
Farmlandia- Golden Goose- Plot Card
If I have to decide for myself, this is a bad hand. Most of the Monster Cards in my hand don't have that high of Attack, Defense and Health. They're Cards with valuable special effects. Because the difference between a Pawn Card and a Monster Card don't lie with just their stats but also their special effects. Pawn Cards can activate their special effects at will while Monster Cards depend on dice roll. That means if you want a Monster Card's special effect, you have to be a damn genius with the dice. Fat chance of that.
I only thank that dice rolls is completely gone in this world or else I'm going to have a really unfortunate set of events. I set my Cards on the air where they floated unassisted and revolved around me like solar system. I had teleported us back to the Dragon's Coast. When we appeared, Nessie, the Krakens, the Pheonixes and the Nidhogg welcomed us back. They mauled me with their eager tongues and appendages. The remaining forces on standby on the Dragon's Coast were there was well. They all grinned victoriously. I guess in it's in their blood. "By the power of Apollo, I summon thee!" I intoned. The earth rumbled as the God Power came into effect. A massive fissure of rocks had boomed up from the ground. It was an Underworld Passage. It would ferry us quickly all the way to Ratharbor in a second. A win-win for my side.
I became aware of the disapproving gazes of the other clan members. Look, we're in the Wolf's base this time. I sighed. "I plan to summon Underworld Passages for each of the other clans." I said. They accepted it and dropped their looks. "What's with you guys anyway? What's with the heavy competition?" I asked. "The clan with the most achievements will get more rewards from you." Channeler said. I stiffened. "Who the hell said that?!" I screeched. "Lady Persephone!" they all chorused. I should have seen it coming. Way to go, Persephone. You gave me a headache even though you're not here. "You'll get rewards, darlings, but favoritism isn't in my vocabulary. I believe in fairness. But those who perform exceptionally will indeed get better rewards." I said. They all exploded into cheers.
"BUT! That will apply only after Persephone returns because I have no way of telling who performed above the others. Okay?" I said. I was answered with a ringing number of boos. I rolled my eyes. "C.A.C.A special effect: activate!" I said. C.A.C.A. glowed as their power came to effect. "Special Summon! Twelve times! Boy Wannabes! Girl Wannabes!" I said. A total of twenty-four versions of the Pawn Cards appeared in a cute puff of smoke. Boy Wannabes and Girl Wannabes. They're two of the only three Pawn Cards from the School of Pain family. Boy Wannabes have the special effect of special summoning a Plot or Magic Card from your Graveyard back to the field. Girl Wannabes have the special effect of special summoning a Monster Card from your Graveyard back to the field. They looked like plain-looking high schoolers who gave off the definite vibe of someone who desperately wanted to fit in with the popular kids. They all wore uniforms that they accented with cartoon animal accessories: stuffed toys, toys, headgear, pins, shoes, gloves, brooches and anything you can name as long as it is in the shape of a cartoon animal, they have it all. It looked cute to me but it may come across as cringe-worthy in the social jungles of high school. They took one look at me and their eyes turned star-shaped.
Whoa. "C.A.C.A special effect: activate!" I said. C.A.C.A. glowed as their power came to effect. "Special Summon! Four times! Flower Power!" I said. Four versions of the Pawn Cards appeared in a cute puff of smoke. Flower Power was a literal hovering cloud of flowers with smiling and singing doodle faces. Four kinds of the same Pawn Cards meant four different species of flowers. They were Pawn Cards from the same family as the Wannabes. Their special effect was to move a Card of any player's from the hand, the deck or the field to any of those three destinations. It was annoying especially for Celestials players to spend so much effort summoning Onmicards only to have it sent back by a lowly Pawn Card.
"C.A.C.A special effect: activate!" I said. C.A.C.A. glowed as their power came to effect. "Special Summon! Four times! Lady of The Lake!" I said. Four versions of the Pawn Cards appeared in a cute puff of smoke. The Lady of The Lake was a mermaid-like spirit with faerie wings and she was attended by creatures of the water. One was guarded by all sorts of jellyfishes, another by all sorts of fishes, another by sharks and another by dolphins. She sat upon a hippocampus that bore her floating upon land. She was a Major Pawn Cards that can mass special summon TOKENS (Verdant Knights). She should've been one of those Cards limited by one on the battlefield but recognizing the need of she fulfills in the Arthurian Empire, she was recently retconned as one powerful spirit manifesting in many avatars in the Card Lexicanum.
12 Boy Wannabes.
12 Girl Wannabes.
4 Flower Power.
4 Lady of The Lake.
1 C.A.C.A..
16 Soul-Guide Cherubims.
1 Nessie.
4 Borometz Trios.
4 Cinderella's Assistants.
Current number of Pawn Cards. Dafuq do I do with them? I summoned them without thinking about what they're supposed to do. They're looking at me expectantly. "What am I suppose to do with them?" I leaned over and asked Druidess. She was silent for a moment. "Do you not plan to summon more relics of the gods? Why not task them with building a temple to enshrine it?" she replied. I squealed and hugged Druidess tightly. "Okay, everyone. Here's the plan. Task all Peasants to build the temples posthaste. Each clan must have at least two temples to house the amount of relics I plan to summon." I declared. Just like magic, everyone disappeared. Everyone from Battle Realms, that is. No doubt cooking up something to outdo each other again. The only ones remaining were the Cards. My cute little allies.
"Status!" I said. The hologram appeared before me again. I have 10 Create Points, 10 Customization Points and 10 Premium Points. Hhhmmmmmm... Should I spend it now? Or later? Ah, what the heck?
•
Create Points: 10
Create Points allows you to create features for your Innate Powers or create entirely new features of from another design.
Customization Points: 10
Customization Points allow you to change, upgrade or create new features for your existing Innate Powers.
Premium Points: 10
Premium Points feature powerful bonuses and new features for your Innate Powers and adventure as a whole.
NOTE: As additional rewards for your first tenth level-up, all prices For Create, Customization and Premium shops has been reduced greatly. Prices are reverted when you exit the shop. Please check your Innate Powers as they have been upgraded as well. The Supreme Beings send their best wishes. You have pleased them immensely.
•
Create Points: 10
Create Minion 1: 3: Call forth a minion from a cartoon you have ever watched. You are allowed specific customization for that minion.
Create Minion 2: 3: Call forth a minion from a game you have ever played. You are allowed specific customization for that minion.
Create Minion 3: 3: Call forth a minion from a book you have ever read. you are allowed specific customization for that minion.
Create Minion 4: 3: Call forth a minion from an anime you have ever watched. You are allowed specific customization for that minion.
New Map 1: 3: Call forth a dominion from Battle Realms universe.
New Map 2: 3: Call forth a dominion from Diablo universe.
New Map 3: 3: Call forth a dominion from Elder Scrolls universe.
New Map 4: 3: Call forth a dominion from Age of Mythology universe.
•
Customization Points: 10
Limit Release 1: 3: Release the limits for all Zen Masters from Battle Realms.
Limit Release 2: 3: Release the limits for all Dragon non-Zen Master units from Battle Realms.
Limit Release 3: 3: Release the limits for all Serpent non-Zen Master units from Battle Realms.
Limit Release 4: 3: Release the limits for all Wolf non-Zen Master units from Battle Realms.
Limit Release 5: 3: Release the limits for all Lotus non-Zen Master units from Battle Realms.
Configure Battle Gear: 3: Improve the Battle Gear of one of any units from Battle Realms
Create Battle Gear: 3: Create a Battle Gear for one of any units from Battle Realms.
Improved Summoning 1: 3: You can now control selected units summoned from Diablo universe.
Improved Summoning 2: 3: You can now summon two objects from Diablo universe with each use.
Improved Summoning 3: 3: You can now control selected units summoned from Elder Scrolls universe.
Improved Summoning 4: 3: You can now summon two objects from Elder Scrolls universe with each use.
Improved Summoning 5: 3: You can now summon five Myth Units from Age of Mythology with each use.
Improved Summoning 6: 3: You can now summon five relics from Age of Mythology with each use.
Improved Summoning 7: 3: You can now use a God Power from Age of Mythology three times a day.
Improved Summoning 8: 3: You can now summon a Card you want to your hand twice a day.
Improved Summoning 9: 3: You can now draw fifteen Cards with each draw.
Card Attunement 1: 3: Pawn Cards can now attack your enemies more effectively and become stronger.
Card Attunement 2: 3: Monster Cards have increased potency when summoned.
Card Attunement 3: 3: Plot Cards and Magic Cards are stronger for each member of their Card family active.
•
Premium Points: 10
Experience Hoarder 1: 3: Passively generates 100 + (10 x Current Level) worth of Experience once a day.
Experience Hoarder 2: 3: Passively generates 100 + (10 x Current Level) worth of Experience once a day.
Regeneration Hoarder: 3: Passively increase the regeneration of your Health, Mana and Stamina by 100.
Skill Hoarder: 3: Get an extra 1 Skill Point from all instances of Skill Point gain.
Atrribute Hoarder: 3: Get an extra 1 Attribute Point from all instances of Attribute Point gain.
Customization Hoarder: 3: Get an extra 1 Customization Point from all instances of Customization Point gain.
Premium Hoarder: 3: Get an extra 1 Premium Point from all instances of Premium Point gain.
Master Hoarder: 3: Get an extra 1 point for Skill, Create, Customization and Premium for every quest completed and level-up.
New Innate Power 1: 3: Gain a new Innate Power.
New Innate Power 2: 3: Gain a new Innate Power.
New Innate Power 3: 3: Gain a new Innate Power.
Glorious 1: 3: Aura. Allies, subordinates and minions are more resistant against damage.
Glorious 2: 3: Aura. Allies, subordinates and minions attack and move faster.
Glorious 3: 3: Aura. Allies, subordinates and minions heal and regenerate faster.
•
...
Okay. I admit. This is going to be fucking hard. What the hell?! How am I suppose to decide when they're all so good? Oh. It also says that picking a choice does not eliminate that from the list. It's only for Create but it's not the same for Customization and Premium. But Create is already hard enough. It's random. I have no control what shit will come out. As long as it's under that category, that's it. What am I even complaining about? It's not like it's gonna affect me bigtime. It's a boon. "Adriel, you're a cheat character already. What have you to lose?" I said to myself.
"I would go for anime, games and books but I feel kinda daring today so I'm picking two Create Minion 1 and New Map 2." I said.
RESULTS:
Create Minion:
• Scooby Doo series
• Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir
New Map:
• Diablo 2: Act 1: The Sightless Eye
WOW. Create Minion really blew up on my face BUT WHO CARES?! I GOT DIABLO 2: ACT 1 AS THE NEW MAP! WOO-HOO! NURUFUFUFU~!
Create Minion:
• Scooby Doo series:
Minion: Mystery Inc.
Skill: Summon Villains to do your bidding. Villains each possess special powers.
• Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir
Minion: Hawk Moth
Skill: Possess a supplicant with an Akuma to change them into superhumans.
"FATE SHINES UPON ME EVERLASTING! THE PATH TO THE DESTRUCTION OF THIS WORLD LOOMS EVER CLOSER! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" I laughed maniacally. I love you God for giving me this insane luck of mine. I swear upon the Supreme Beings I will use this good fortune for the service of evil! Mwahahahahahaha! I can't believe it. I know there are other more awesome cartoons I've watched before BUT, MAN, I AM NOT COMPLAINING. They gave me Scooby Doo! And who could've thunk that the main villain of a show I just watched very recently would make an appearance to my army?! Who knew, right?!
New Map:
• Diablo 2: Act 1: The Sightless Eye
Features: areas, dungeons, mini-dungeons, quests, items, quest rewards, NPCs, enemies and bosses from Diablo 2: Act 1.
General: Manually control the difficulty level. Higher difficulty means better loot and better rewards. Higher difficulty level causes enemies from other Acts to spawn randomly. Areas, dungeons and mini-dungeons respawn when left. NPCs are allied with Adriel. Items sold by NPCs scale with level. Units scale with level.
Miscellaneous: Units will not attack Adriel unless provoked. Everyone else will be aggroed automatically. Adriel cannot build structures in this area. When threatened by a non-Diablo unit, Diablo units nearby will assist Adriel. Adriel can organize Diablo unit attack patterns and strategy.
"Well, this is better than I imagined." I thought to myself as I saw the results. Not bad at all. Maybe I can use this to my advantage. EXPLORE AN UNKNOWN REALM! AID A THREATENED SISTERHOOD! FAME, FORTUNE AND GLORY AWAITS! DANGER LURKS FOR THE ADVENTUROUS! BUT PRIZES AWAIT THE PREPARED! FALL THE FORCES OF EVIL! Yup. It sounds definitely exciting. I wonder how many adventurers and fortune-hunters would bite that offer. I mean, if they really played right and hard, why, killing the Countess alone would be enough to set them up for life! All Diablo 2 players would understand that pleasure when you kill the Countess for the first time and saw the amount of loot she dropped.
"I choose Limit Release 1, Improved Summoning 1 and Improved Summoning 8." I said as I picked my choices. It flickered for a moment then displayed my choices.
RESULTS:
Limit Release 1:
All Zen Masters have their Battle Gears improved!
All Zen Masters have their Innates improved!
All Zen Masters are stronger!
All Zen Masters have an extra Battle Gear you can create!
All Zen Masters have an extra Innate you can create!
Improved Summoning 1:
You can now summon and control any creature from Diablo 2: Act 1!
Improved Summoning 8:
You can now name and summon a Card to your hand twice a day!
Oh, yeah. This would definitely help me get what I want. This would definitely help me a whole lot. I love myself and I love my new bonuses. I was just wondering though. It said the prices for the shops are not this usually low. I should expect the next time I open this, the items would've returned to their eye-popping price tags. Damn. I gotta save up those points. Or maybe I should buy the bonuses the give extra points. That would definitely make my day easier. I turned my focus on my other Innate Powers.
•
Innate Power 1: Dragon, Lotus, Serpent, Wolf:
Battle Realms: Dragon, Lotus, Serpent and Wolf: Summon creatures from this universe
PASSIVE: Stay too long in one place and rice fields and bodies of water of varying shapes and sizes will start appearing as well as horses, wolves, shale spiders and hordelings. Horses, wolves, shale spiders and hordelings are allied with Adriel.
PASSIVE: Generate one Yin and one Yang point once per day. Increases rate by which Adriel acquires Yin and Yang points by 30%.
Yin Points: 10. Yang Points: 10.
PASSIVE: When dangerously low on Health or in imminent danger, a swarm of wolves, shale spiders, hordelings and horses appear to defend Adriel.
PASSIVE: Battle Realms Battle Gears are improved greatly.
TEMPERING: Limit Release 1.
Innate Power 2: Nirn and Sanctuary:
Elder Scrolls: Nirn: Summon objects and creatures from this universe
Diablo: Sanctuary: Summon objects and creatures from this universe
PASSIVE: Summoned creatures can be controlled by continually sacrificing Mana. Effectiveness of control depends on the difference between the creature's level and Adriel's level.
PASSIVE: Summoned objects have their level limitations and requirements removed. Consumable objects may be summoned in quintets.
PASSIVE: Summoned objects fully recharge their magic after twelve hours.
PASSIVE: Summoned objects can be summoned in pairs.
TEMPERING: Improved Summoning 1.
Innate Power 3: God Powers and Card Magic:
Age of Mythology: God Powers, Relics and Myth Units: Summon magic, objects and creatures from this universe
PASSIVE: God Powers and relics may be used beyond their intended effects.
PASSIVE: Two kinds of Myth Units can be summoned in pairs.
PASSIVE: Relics can be summoned in trios.
PASSIVE: God Powers are further improved and strengthened.
Cards Wars: Card Magic: Summon magic from this universe
PASSIVE: Card Wars Cards may be used beyond their intended effects.
PASSIVE: Special effects work at 100% success rate.
PASSIVE: Card Wars Cards become stronger the more of them are active. Pawn Cards can physically attack enemies. Monster Cards are tougher and more durable. Plot Cards and Magic Cards can be manually activated or deactivated. Omnicards become impervious to non-magical attacks and more resistant to magical attacks below a certain threshold.
TEMPERING: Improved Summoning 8.
•
Wow. That buff on Omnicards. As if the horror of successfully summoning one into the field wasn't enough for your sorry enemy. Only veteran Celestials players can understand the joy of watching your enemy fall into despair as you simultaneously summon three Omnicards into the field because you accidentally triggered the Celestials' Apocalypse mechanic.
I have ten Yin and Yang points each. That means I have enough to summon Zen Masters. "Serpent, summon Utara, Vetkin and Shinja. Dragon, summon Arah, Otomo and Tao. Lotus, summon Zymeth, Koril and Soban. Wolf, summon Gaihla, Wildeye and the Shale Lord" I telepathically ordered to all Battle Realms units. They scrambled to my order. With a sacrifice of rice, water and Yin and Yang Points, the Zen Masters of each clan I called appeared. In my ethereal vision, the Zen Masters exited their clan's Keep and made a beeline to where I was. The first I saw was Wolf Zen Masters because I'm in their freaking base already.
Okay. I know that Wolf men and women were tall, taller than a tall person. There was the beautiful forest nymph Gaihla, the rugged Packmaster Wildeye and the giant of stone the Shale Lord. "Welcome to Runeterra." I said as they approached. They nodded to acknowledge me and remained silent which made me uneasy. A minute or two passed before the other Zen Masters arrived. There was the handsome womanizer Vetkin, the beautiful but demented geisha Utara, the treacherous ambitious warlord Shinja, the stoic and quiet archer Utara, the loyal old retainer Otomo, the intriguing man of riddles Tao, the lord of the Lotus Zymeth, the Scholar of Space Koril and the master inventor Soban. Seeing them in person gave me nostalgia of the days I played Battle Realms.
"Four clans! Pledge your loyalty to Lord Adriel!" Zymeth said in a thunderous voice that rung above everything else. Like they rehearsed it, the Zen Masters bent their knees and bowed deeply to me. I was sweating madly. "That won't be necessary! Get up, you guys, you're embarrassing me!" I screeched. They didn't listen.
"The Wolf pledges their loyalty. We will serve you until our last breath." the Shale Lord, Wildeye and Gaihla chorused.
"The Serpent pledges their loyalty. We will visit ruination upon your foes." Vetkin, Shinja and Utara chorused.
"The Lotus pledges their loyalty. We will serve you in this world and beyond." Zymeth, Soban and Koril chorused.
"The Dragon pledges their loyalty. We will be your fangs, claws and talons." Arah, Otomo and Tao chorused.
"Was that really necessary?" I asked them at last after a moment of silence. "Of course, Lord Adriel. You are a Chosen One and we, Existences, are bound to serve you." Zymeth replied. That gave me an idea. "Very well. This is an order. From now on, you will address me as Adriel and nothing more. No one greater than me and no one is lesser than me. We're all equals here and I will be depending on you very much and you can very much depend on me. That applies to everyone, understood?" I declared dramatically. Wow. The silence was so intense I could almost hear the sound of my own bloodstream. "As you wish!" the Zen Masters announced after some time. They dropped the whole worship-the-ground-you-walk-on thing and conversed casually with me. "The victory at Ratharbor is one of the first gifts we give to you, Adriel. The Lotus will strive to give you better gifts in the near future." Zymeth said.
Yep. That's what I call casually. They just dialed down their ass-kissing but it still reeks of ass-kissing. "Yeah. Okay. About that. Let's go to Ratharbor already. What're we waiting for? Drop it, Zymeth, seriously. It's getting on my nerves. The all-mighty ruler of the Lotus clan is acting goody-goody to me. It creeps me out." I said. Zymeth's eyes sharpened at that instant. Gone were all the trace of warmth from him and it was replaced by an oppressive aura of domination. "Very well. I hope you don't regret it later. It's not my forte to follow instructions. I'm used to giving them, after all." he said in a cold, cold voice. Yay. What the hell did I do?
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. Let's go." I said, waving him aside easily. That was just an act though. I'm really scared of him right now. "Hyperion, Helios, I beseech thee! Send me thy aid!" I intoned. The Myth units appeared out of a celestial portal. Two of Hyperion's Nereids and two of Helios' Man O'War swam on the waters. That's an Innate down.
"Well, guys, how about instead of being cooped up here, why don't you go exploring? Huh? Waddaya say?" I crooned at my darling monsters. They all nodded feverishly. Well, that what you get for making them sit here and do nothing. "Okay. You're all free to explore for the next two days but no engaging enemies. I want you to run away when you encounter hostiles, okay?" I said. They readily agreed. Every Myth unit scrambled to flee before I change my mind. With the Cards and the Zen Masters accompanying me, we stepped into the Underworld Passage and were transported to Ratharbor in a moment's notice.
•
Nigel Lurke seethed inwardly as the Ratharbor survivors were herded to the main plaza. He was a tall, lanky man wanted in several kingdoms. He was cunning and had a silver tongue. He used those gifts to be a successful thief and conman. Ratharbor was the perfect place for outlaws hungry for wealth and glory but didn't like the dictatorship of Bilgewater. Bilgewater was the ultimate outlaw heaven 'til Gangplank and Sarah Fortune decided to turn it into their personal battleground.
Yep. Those two hellspawns turned a perfect haven upside down with their stupid battles. Ratharbor was a tiny pirate town before it became what it was now. It wasn't even enough to be a spot of a map but it's gained fame to all who fled from the law. All good things must come to an end. Some wisecrack said that once. Hell, if it ain't the truth.
They appeared suddenly, these weird folks. They were mighty strong on their own. If Nigel had to decide, they were mediocre at best. If one were to take them down one by one then, by the gods, Ratharbor wouldn't lose. But the invaders worked with a frightening display of coordination. It seemed like they were clockwork. Their actions flowed with one another, not a single iota of energy wasted on imperfect movement. They were one-trick ponies, Nigel thought when the assault began, and he was right. But their tricks were powerful. It took its toll.
How the hell are you supposed to survive from a synchronized attack from ten directions? Ratharbor lost. It's a shame. Nigel looked at the old woman beside him, Lemuru Shasha. The woman was a collector of weird items but she sold an impressive inventory of enchanted objects. He came to Ratharbor for her. The underbelly of Noxus spoke her name in reverence. In addition to that clever brain of hers, she was gifted with the appearance of a harmless old dear. "It looks like they're gonna end us, laddie." Lemuru said in a voice that totally clashed with her appearance. Nigel grinned grimly. They were all too scared to say something else. All eyes looked away from one individual.
A garish creature that had the appearance of a withered and unusually tall man whose body was as if skin taped on bone. The Necromancer, that's what they called him. He single-handedly led the assault. It started out with just three of those spectral warriors of his. They were just three but he kept raising them when they were killed. They charged blindly, glided over the walls and began cutting those stupid enough to be nearby. And as he passed by the corpses, they rose again as the living dead. Those who dared attack him met their demise in a particularly torturous manner. They were castrated, disemboweled and toyed with a child's utter delight. It was horrid. Soon Ratharbor teemed with zombies. Nigel didn't know why they were spared though.
He himself nearly met his end on the hands of the Necromancer. But he took one look at Nigel then shrugged and moved on. Nigel couldn't believe his luck. Then he realized that they must have something horrible in mind. He shook uncontrollably at the thought. He watched as the rest of the battle unfold. Hordes of giant werewolves with each leading a pack of wolves, mounted veteran warriors that reminded Nigel of Ionia's own soldiers and those cursed things... It looked like it used to be a human but it was all changed now. Cursed bone that was blackened with dark magic. Its lower body was gone, replaced by a fountain of cold water-like energy, its upper body was a black skeleton with what looked to be a spirit trapped within its ribs, a skull that gleamed with malignant energies and bones with some bits of flesh still clinging on it for dear life. Master Warlocks, they called it, a fusion of a corpse and an undying corrupt spirit.
It was one-sided. Ratharbor was a solid black market outlet but its denizens were no match against an organized force this big. Many were killed but many were also spared. If Nigel had to decide, they were sparing the people who had a bit of their humanity left in them. He grinned insultingly at himself. That was peachy. Had he a bit of humanity left in him? Most of those who were killed were the rotten ones. Those who were criminals and lawbreakers to the core. It was almost like a cleansing. He looked towards another person. This man was like their leader. He had the bearing of an honorable person but he was also ruthless and relentless. Ying and Yang combined. They called him Lord Kenji and he was instructing the healers.
Nigel was entranced by the sight of the women. There were four of them but they had many bodies. It was like someone cloned this perfect woman into countless copies. Nigel didn't begrudge that kind of thinking. Women with a beauty of this caliber deserved to be immortalized for her loveliness must be preserved throughout the ages. The healers tended to the wounded. Their healing arts was powerful too. They regrew limbs and brought back the dying with just a gesture. Nigel had the feeling they were strong in warfare as well.
Nigel's thoughts were interrupted when the leader called Kenji began to make his speech. "Citizens of Ratharbor, in the name of my Lord Adriel, I hereby claim this outlaw city as part of my lord's territory. You might wonder why you have been spared. I will answer to that. Lord Adriel specifically ordered us to spare the good people and I have taken it to myself to also spare those who can be of service to my lord. So if you question why you're still alive, you fall into either of those two. Do not resist or else I will be forced to raise my blade." Kenji declared.
"You come here and destroy this city and you expect us to thank you for it?! Who gave you the right to go on conquering us like we're some sort of commodity?!" one man screamed from behind. Nigel looked back and saw it was Sirus Bloodwell. Nigel knew there was no humanity left in the man and his mercenaries so he must fall into the other part of the Kenji's reason of sparing him. "The strong rule over the weak. Has it not been this world's way ever since the dawn of civilization? You're nothing more but whining of a loser dog. I spared you because I thought you and your hoodlums will be of use to my lord. But in the event you prove to be otherwise, I will personally end you and your men. Or would you rather have a rerun of your previous defeat?" Kenji said. Bloodwell sputtered and his eyes went down. Back in the fighting, Kenji looked down on them so much that he tasked Geisha and her copies to deal with them. Bloodwell and his men underestimated the delicate flower. But when the women came at them wreathed in a circle of dancing fire of her Fire Shield Battle Gear, they scrambled.
They fought hard against Geisha but their efforts proved ultimately futile. Geisha's wounds were healed by her other copies and she overpowered them with superior stamina and finesse. Bloodwell and his men were defeated by fatigue and shame. Nigel looked around and saw, much to his surprise, that many people were present. Didn't the man said he spared those he thought would be of use to his master? The number was a lot higher than what Nigel expected. Nigel looked around and saw familiar faces. Many of them were the ones he thought were timid or weak-willed. They certainly fill up the "good people" part, Nigel smirked. But what kind of master what this man's lord? And for him to command an army and have it deploy in an instant, he must be very powerful. That caliber of teleportation magic was a mighty display of power alone.
"Are you Ionian?" Nigel heard himself ask. Kenji looked at him. "No, I am not." he said without any trace of denial or trickery. Nigel was surprised. He had thought the man was Ionian. Many of his forces looked like they were Ionian. He also came with a sinister-looking white-haired people who looked far too grim and gray to be alive and some giant savages of men and women with rock-hewn physiques and striking red hair. "What do you plan to do with us?" Nigel asked again. Kenji looked at him for a moment then answered. "That will be up to you. My master has offered you a secure position in the new Ratharbor he's going to rebuild. Should you accept or not, you will be given money and resources to help you stand on your feet but for those of you who will accept, my master is unusual and weird but he is not like other rulers who care not for his people. My master will revive all of you who will accept into a fate greater than you imagined you could be." he said.
Nigel's eyes widened at the small sack of gold Kenji showed them. It was filled with gold. It was equivalent to a fortune. "Each of you will receive this if you choose to walk away. My master will let you keep your lives and your possessions." Kenji said. Interesting. Nigel was piqued by this master Kenji spoke of. He looked over to Lemuru and saw that she too was interested. All eyes looked over to the strange fissure that rose from the earth minutes ago. Kenji said it was made by his master. A portal to move here in an instant. A venerable parade of people exited the fissure.
There was an unusually tall and beautiful nymph who equaled the beauty of the healers. She wore an ornate see-through dress and a thorned crown and her bodice was as exquisite as the rest of her.
There was a giant made of stone. He looked fearsome, brutish and violent but he stood patiently and filed under a line like a good little soldier.
There was rugged giant of a man with great flowing red beard and a body that was like granite. He carried with him a huge drum and he was surrounded by a pack of shining snow-white wolf spirits.
There was a white-haired man with a bone-thin body. His suit clung to his rail-thin physique and shimmering lights phased in and out around him.
There was an old man with a strange claw-like contraption on his back. He looked too frail to be carrying something too big but he carried it with a firm confidence and the aid of golems of stone.
There was a white-haired man whose dress writhed around him like tentacles and he was afloat with shimmering energies. His face was cold and cruel and heartless.
There was a well-built man of average height who thought all should worship his muscular body. His arrogant grin made everyone around him want to attack him but his easygoing wielding of twin sai made them pause.
There was a tall and muscular man with two longswords at his hips. He looked old but there was a fierce and ruthless gleam in his eyes.
There was a sultry and exotic seductress who wielded a double-edged blade. Her beauty was stunning, dark and dangerous all mixed together.
There was a tall handsome woman who looked like to be an archer. There was an air of startling confidence around her that told anyone who looked at her that her aim was true and swift.
There was a monk who wore clothes with a side that was white and another that was black. All who looked upon him knew he was a mystery but couldn't deny the wisdom that shone in his eyes.
There was an old man with a stalwart and devoted impression of a vassal. He had greatsword with him but his movements and his gaze was alert and ready for combat at the slightest hint.
Then the beasts and other visions surfaced from the fissure. Winged dogs with pure-white dresses, halos and auras of holy light about them. Plant-sheep that was accompanied by a potted tree that moved by its roots and a company of glowing spores. A mighty beast of the sea that bore itself ashore by a magical pool of water. Clothed mice and birds. Strange-looking miniature glowing animals that bore written signs. Singing and floating flowers with strange faces. Young men and women who looked out of place with their strange overdecorated outfits. Four regal water faeries attended by creatures of the waters. There was a costumed man with a cane and a swarm of white butterflies surrounding him. There was a quartet of normal-looking teens and their dog. Nigel wasn't sure if he was dreaming or not. The creatures were a sight altogether he never saw before and he knew he'd never forget about it.
Finally a boy exited the fissure. He looked very... WEAK AND UNIMPRESSIVE. That was something Nigel could say confidently. He must be the master's assistant. He looked pampered, Nigel thought. The dress the boy wore looked strange to Nigel's eyes but he knew they fetched a jaw-dropping price and were, of no doubt, powerfully enchanted. Nigel saw the boy's accessories and deduced the same thing can be said of it. Is he the master's bed toy then? The boy certainly looked like it. If he was wearing that kind of price, he must be the master's favorite bed toy. Nigel looked enviously at the boy's riches. He would be all too willing to spread his legs for this master if it meant basking in the same wealth and gifts. Despite the boy looked like nothing special, he must be skilled in the bedroom arts to have this master lavish him grandly.
"Master, we present to you Ratharbor." Kenji said. All of the intimidating warriors that conquered their town fell on their knees and bowed deeply. AT. THE. WEAK-LOOKING. UNIMPRESSIVE-LOOKING. BOY. Nigel's eyes and mouth widened. "WHATTTTTTTTT?!" there was an eruption of sound as all of the captives voice their apparent disbelief. "Silence!" the man with the tentacle-clothes boomed, his eyes fiery and blazing. The skies above them crackled with wrath at his voice. "That's enough, Zymeth, really. No harm done. Let it go and chill out, sweetie." the boy said to the one called Zymeth. Zymeth bowed in apology but his eyes looked at the offenders. There was a palpable anger in them.
"Whoa, Nelly. You guys really did a number here." the boy said as the glowing animals bore him up to survey his newly-acquired territory. Everyone looked proud at this accomplishment. "And did a great job reducing the whole place to ruins." the boy added. The warriors flinched at this comment. The boy sighed and beamed brightly. He looked cute and pleasant with that smile on his face. "Good work, guys! As promised, a great celebration will be prepared for all of you when you return!" the boy said. A mighty cheer rose into the air. Nigel's mouth was still hanging open. How can this weak boy command such power? How can he command such loyalty from beings far stronger than he is?
His question was answered at the action the boy did. "By the power of Athena, I summon thee!"the boy intoned. There was an otherworldly but divine power that surged from all around them. The heavens opened and light cascaded from above. The divine light washed away wounds and all manners of impurity from all that it fell upon. The radiance was unforgettable and terrifying but it was at the same time marvelous and awe-inspiring. The heavens closed again after a moment and all eyes looked around. Ratharbor was revived! Every destroyed object was restored! It wasn't the old dingy and dirty Ratharbor though. The wood gleamed with vitality, youth and strength and plants grew in glorious beauty and raced up the structures, making them beautiful as it sought for life. Ratharbor was not a fitting name anymore. It didn't look like an pirate town anymore. It looked like a glorious Demacian Hold with the pristine beauty of Ionian scenery.
"High Priest." there was a clamor of awe-filled voices. "Who are they calling High Priest?" the boy asked, leaning to the forest nymph and the seductress. "The angel-dogs." the seductress said sarcastically. The boy made an expression of understanding and nodded his head. The forest nymph giggled and the seductress slapped her face with a hand. "They meant you." she amended quickly. The boy grinned at her mischievously. The seductress realized it, chuckled and lightly punched the boy's shoulder. "Citizens of Ratharbor, I am Adriel and it's my fault that you've lost friends and family this day. I admit that my reasons for conquering this town are selfish and self-serving but I don't want to butcher everything in sight. We spared you because either because you are good of heart or you can be of use to me. We will let you walk away with your life and we will give you a gift to help you start on your own again. But for those who wish to stay, I promise you that I will rule Ratharbor fairly and competently. What say you?" the boy said.
There was silence. "Please do not be afraid. I will not harm you, you have my word on that. Those who wish to leave, please stand and make it known. I will give you time to mourn and rest and we will give you gifts and send you on your way." the boy said. Again, there was silence. "Anyone?" the boy said again. His tone was easy and reluctant. "You are all outcasts of society, trash of civilization thrown aside. I am here to offer you a second life. You need not fear the law for you will abide with it. You will work hard, you will work smart and I will make sure your efforts bear good fruit. What say you?" the boy said.
•
FAK! Why aren't these people replying? Are they too scared? "We submit." an old woman said. I looked at her in surprise. After she said those words, there was a chorus of the same words from the people numbering somewhere around a hundred. "Are you sure this was a town? I'm looking at around a hundred people and these are the survivors. Just how many people they managed to squeeze in this shanty town?" I asked to Kenji. "They were many. You have been here the moment we started the attack. Most of them were homeless." he replied nonchalantly. "Are you sure you killed off the bad ones? Maybe you accidentally killed someone who could be saved." I said. Kenji gave me a look. "Master, with all due respect, I think I do possess a good sense of judgment and I can tell a character of a man with just a look." he said. I smiled apologetically.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to doubt your abilities. And any of yours for that matter." I said to Kenji and then to the other warriors who were listening intently. Kenji huffed. "I just didn't expect them to be this many." I said. "They'll be very useful. You'll thank me later on." Kenji assured. I shrugged. He stepped forward and addressed the crowd. "You have made your choice. From now on and forever, you shall be subjects of Lord Adriel. Ratharbor is no more. From this day onward, this town shall be called New Adriel." Kenji declared. OMFG! He went and did it. I was redder than red. I wanted to crawl into a hole and stay there until I die. It's so embarrassing! "New Adriel, my ass! Ratharbor sounds nice. It has a rustic sound to it, doesn't it?" I protested. Nobody agreed.
I glared at my Cards. They pretended to flee in terror, squealing away in every direction. "New Adriel it is then." Kenji said. No one came to my aid. It's so embarrassing. New Adriel. If Marshal, Rick and Magnus were here, they'd laugh their asses off. No, they'll probably die with laughter. "Rest In Peace. Magnus Stein. Rick Walford. Marshal Black. Laughed themselves to death. New Adriel~ Pffft~!" the gravestone would say. I looked at the watching people and sighed. "I accept the honor of this town renamed in my bearing. People of New Adriel, a new dawn awaits you. You need not hide in the shadows anymore, cursed and unwanted. you can join the light, in my light, and bask in the glory of the favored child of the gods. So join me citizens! Grant me your allegiance and I shall lift you!" I declared grandly. Am I great bullshitter or what?
"Ratharbor is gone yet the danger lurks still. There will be those who will seek to spread discord among your ranks. I know this because the path of this place is headed towards prosperity. It's just like what they say where the good goes, the bad soon follows. Where there is light, there is always darkness. Worry not for you shall be safe!" I said. I raised my hands into the heavens. When you have immense power at your disposal, you can freaking bullshit your way through almost anything.
"Once there was a lowly chicken who was born into a life of slavery. He, his kind, and many more others were fated to live and die to make an ungrateful race prosperous and strong. This chicken did not understand why it had to be that way so he rebelled. He gathered like-minded beasts like himself and started a rebellion that would shake the human empire to its core. In the end, their rebellion was crushed, their spirit vanquished and its leaders were executed as a warning against all. But The Fates, who ruled over time and tide and decided all existences, was delighted by this. Those nine leaders of the rebellion they raised back from the dead and ascended them into godhood. This beast was the first and The Fates gave him power and dominion over the world of death. He came to be the Chicken God of The Dead and The Underworld and his plague over humanity was dreadful. He raised hosts of the dead and set them to the mortal world where they would plague humanity." I said in a fairytale-like voice. I use this one to captivate little kids and old people when I'm trying to calm them or get them to behave.
"I summon that god today, not as a destroyer but a protector. He will safeguard you as my people. He will make sure that no harm will fall upon you." I said. People were looking at me with expressions ranging from awe to fear. "Chicken God of The Dead and The Underworld, I pray your hear my humble plea and come forth! I ask of your grace in my time of need! Let all under your domain come to my aid!" I chanted. On cue, my Cards assisted me with the act. "I send to you, Great One, the little angels I have with me! May they assure your swift and sure journey to my side!" I said. The sixteen Soul-Guide Cherubims shone brightly and then shattered into countless pieces of light. I looked at C.A.C.A. and they glowed promptly and revived the Cherubims back in an instant.
Black liquid began to form into the air and coalesced into an orb that bubbled and hissed. It began to grow and grow into a huge blob then it sizzled and began to collapse in on itself until it was just a small sphere. The liquid exploded into nothingness and out came an overgrown rooster that had feathers that was as black as night and its eyes were fiery red. It sat upon a nest of swirling souls. "OMFG. It's cute." I couldn't help saying. "To call such a magnificent creature cute." Channeler said indignantly. I hushed her. I picked up the chicken god and stroked its feathers. It huffed a bit but allowed me to do so. "IT'S SO CCCUUUTTTEEEEEEEEE!" I yelled as I hugged it out. "A chicken? How is that suppose to make us safe?" a tall man asked. He and an old woman were the two stood in the front of the crowd. I gave this my most haughty look. "'Tis no mere chicken I hold but a real living god! Great One, show us your might!" I said to the chicken god.
The rooster raised its neck and crowed a loud sound that echoed across the air and land. There was a mighty crackle and then a loud thunder. All of a sudden, many undead-type Monster Cards from the Underworld family appeared.
10 Lich-Knights.
10 Liches of Flesh.
10 Liches of Spirit.
10 Liches of Bone.
10 Master Liches.
10 Lich Kings.
10 Holy Spirits.
10 Spirits of Sin.
10 Gravekeepers.
10 Ghoul Lords.
10 Ghoul Generals.
10 Ghoul Kings.
10 Judges of The Dead.
10 Manifestations of Death.
10 Zombie Balladeers.
10 Phantom Priestesses.
1 Traveler.
1 Zombie Maker.
1 Ghost Zone: Ghost Boy- King of Ghosts.
The crowd gasped as the hosts of the dead appeared without as much as a hint of an effort on the chicken god's behalf.
"Ohohohohohoho! Witness the power of a god! Tremble and marvel! Pledge your allegiance lest he smites you!" I said haughtily. Then I saw their expressions. "Just kidding. They'll not harm you as long as you don't do anything bad. Think of them as city guards and officials from now on. Ratharbor will become a famous town in the future. I plan to develop it further. We will be the biggest host for all of adventurers to come!" I declared. The people looked at me with a doubtful expression at my grand plan. "These guys will get you started." I said, gesturing to the undead.
"Guys, take over here, will you? Give them everything they need. Assign them their roles. You know the drill. We'll make our big opening soon!" I said to the Monster Cards. "Everyone from Battle Realms, please go back to the Dragon's Coast and prepare for the feast and your well-earned vacations!" I said. Man, they disappeared real quick. All that's left were the Cards, Hawk Moth and Mystery Inc. "There's absolutely no need to fear." I said. I was talking to Shaggy and Scooby here because they're literally petrified with fear. "Can we count on that, High Priest?" the same tall man asked. I softened my expression that everyone's unease disappeared, including that of Shaggy and Scooby.
"Of course but please call me Adriel just like everyone does. I hate flattery. I have this grand plan and you're all part of it. Every single one of my subjects are a part of it. For the next weeks, we will begin preparation." I said as my plan finally took shape. "Like, we'll help too!" Shaggy piped in. The rest of Mystery Inc. wagged their heads excitedly. The Cards Wars Cards nodded as well as Hawk Moth.
•
Over the duration of the following days, I promised I would begin trying to win their trust on me but first I had to prepare the feast I promised to the loyal soldiers who made sure Ratharbor would be mine. That very evening...
"Supreme Beings, I humbly call upon your endless might to aid me. Bless me with your grace that all of creation might aid my purpose. With this plea, I give you praise and gratitude endlessly though unworthy I am." I intoned. The state of blessed hallowedness and contentment filled me again. The immemorial forces that composed the universe and its many variations flowed the power into me. I directed the endless power to my Innate Powers.
This is gonna take an army. I summoned a battalion of food from Elder Scrolls. Argonian Bloodwine, Colovian Battlecry, Daedric Lava Whiskey, Frostdew Blanc, Julianos Firebelly, Numbskin Mead, Sparkling Honeydew, Stumblefoot's Reserve, Shadowbanish Wine, Shepherd's Pie and S'jirra's Famous Potato Bread from Oblivion. Homecooked Meal, Honeynut Treat, Long Taffy Treat, Apple Cabbage Stew, Beef Stew, Cabbage Potato Soup, Cabbage Soup, Clam Chowder, Cooked Beef, Elsweyr Fondue, Grilled Chicken Breast, Horker and Ash Yam Stew, Hoarker Loaf, Horker Stew, Horse Haunch, Leg of Goat Roast, Mammoth Steak, Pheasant Roast, Potato Soup, Rabbit Haunch, Salmon Steak, Steamed Mudcrab Legs, Tomato Soup, Vegetable Soup, Venison Chop, Venison Stew, Apple Dumpling, Apple Pie, Braided Bread, Bread, Chicken Dumpling, Garlic Bread, Jazbay Crostata, Juniper Berry Crostata, Lavender Dumpling, Potato Bread, Snowberry Crostata and Sweet Roll from Skyrim. With the power still ebbing, I summoned five dozen of each and increased their size, making them as gigantic as possible. Now there was a literal avalanche of food right before me.
My stomache grumbled as I remembered I haven't eaten anything at all today. I was feeding on excitement and sheer OP-ness. The food looked, smelled and tasted divine. I had to hold myself back. "There are for the victors. These are for the victors. These are for the victors. These are for the victors." it became my mantra as me, Mystery Inc. and my little Cards set up the banquet (I left Hawk Moth to supervise the new changes at Ratharbor). Of course, I admit that Shaggy and Scooby helped us by devouring the food to help lighten our load. And when we couldn't endure, we dug in as well. There was another fight where the feast would be so I decided that it should be on Ratharbor (I won't accept New Adriel). It really shocked me the first time I took a good look at what really happened during the conquest of Ratharbor.
Each of the four clans had made two forward base. Ratharbor was a cove with a wall of a cliff connecting it to the main land and a moon-shaped rocky shoreline with a small but heavily-guarded opening that was wide enough to allow several ships to enter at the same time. They pinned Ratharbor, turning the advantageous shoreline into a liability. I don't know how they managed to stop them from fleeing since they have no naval power. Then that's when I realized. They didn't begin the assault the moment I teleported them there. They captured the waterline first and focused their Watchtowers on that small opening.
Any ships trying to escape was routed, destroyed by Lotus Watchtowers, blinded by Serpent Watchtowers, stunned by Dragon Watchtowers and slowed by Wolf Watchtowers. That was overkill. What made it more overkill was that Druidess manned the Wolf Watchtowers. She entangled anyone who wanted to flee for their lives, setting up their immediate demise. Kenji made up that strategy this fast?
But then again, they were Existences. Shaped into countless corporeal vessels, they were deathless and moved with an unparalleled coordination. Mortals fought cautiously because they know they only have one life. Existences were different. They didn't care how many of their puppet-bodies were destroyed. They had no qualms of acting suicidal if it meant raising the chances of victory. It was something that shocked the outlaws of Ratharbor. When mortals die, they die unless with an unnatural intervention. When puppet-bodies of Existences die, it turns into dust. The only difference is, the Existence didn't really die. It'll just wait to be reformed or it has many other puppet-bodies it can use.
•
The moment the sun disappeared over the horizon, the Underworld Passage began to pour Battle Realms soldiers. I noticed that they were sporting their usual equipment but the difference was that it shone brightly and they looked freshly bathed and well-dressed for the occasion. And here I thought I'd never live to see the day they look so shiny. For the first time, Dragon, Serpent, Lotus and Wolf weren't actually going for each other's throat. The thrill of the victory put everyone in a good mood and made them forget about their ancient hatreds.
It was only a good grace that I should invite the people of Ratharbor. After all, it was the beginning of something new and good for them. So here was the celebration. Myth units, Card Wars units and Battle Realms units all joined in the celebration. Everyone was dancing, cheering, and boasting their feats in the battle. Dragon, Serpent, Lotus and Wolf mingled with each other amicably. I went over to the Ratharbor group. They looked quite stupefied with the sight. I got closer with some of the people over the course of the night. Nigel Lurke. Lemuru Shasha. Sirus Bloodwell. Fravis Urne. Stemis. Black Boyd. Little Kirk. Stephanos Uradyne. Marlene St. Eves. Beardwall. Kenji said to me that they were the most useful people he could find in this rathole. Leniana Marvis, Sthatolm Purge and Ester Light, on the other hand, Kenji told me I would find interesting.
Nigel Lurke was the tall man in front of the crowd. Kenji told me he was a master thief and a well-known conman. His tricks might serve me well. I could use him as an agent if I manage to gain his loyalty. According to Kenji, he knows a lot of unique potion recipes which he plied to aid his trade. I admit I was a little doubtful when Kenji told me because he looked nothing like what a thief should be. He sounded cultured and educated and was a good sport. I guess you really can't judge a book by its cover.
Lemuru Sasha was the old woman beside Nigel in the crowd when we first met. Kenji told me she might look harmless but she's actually a one-woman black market of her own. She had a talent of procuring an item you ask of her. The more danger and diffulty involved, the heavier the price but it's guaranteed that she'll have it in the end. She had a habit of maintaining her defenseless old woman act and her house was an adorable place filled with cats, flowers, baked goods and handicrafts. Under that pink dress of hers though was body filled with enchanted tattoos. Tattoos of beasts and monsters that were enchanted to come alive and project in the material world to defend their mistress.
Sirus Bloodwell is the leader of a gang of mercenaries called the Bloodletters. They were infamous once but their ranks were decimated during the Ionian War. Sirus and his men hid in Ratharbor. Kenji told me that Sirus required all of his men to have magical affinities. In other words, the Bloodletters were also mages in addition to them being warriors. It was an ideal set-up. A towering man who looked like a veritable map of scars, he dabbled on demonic magic and his body had transfigured enough to tell anyone of his dark passion. Elongated claws and horns littered his body. How the hell did Geisha able to beat him? Kenji said she worn him down. I guess there's a lot of maintenance for a body like that.
Fravis Urne managed the cemetery of Ratharbor. He lived peacefully but his work has tripled when my forces arrived. There were simply too many dead to bury. A hunchback with a very solid build, he hid another secret. He was a master enchanter. Man, the moment I looked at him I thought he'd be a necromancer with a serious case of necrophilia. He had an affinity for enchanting items with poisonous effects and was mainly the reason why Ratharbor hosted an unusually large plethora of poison-enchanted weapons and armors. He looked fierce but was actually soft-spoken.
Stemis is a famous mercenary and serial killer wanted in seven nations. Stemis was the name the conjoined triplets used. From what I know, Stemis is a figure in Ionian myth who was born with with serpentine dragons for hair and a ring of gnashing dogs around her waist. They're not as ugly as the real Stemis but they're close enough. The predominant of the trio was the one acting as the three's legs, his left arm was born deformed but practice made it a grotesque painting of muscle and flesh and his right was swollen to host another sibling who looked like he sprouted off the side and last sibling was nothing more but a fetus-like growth of the predominant one's head. They were quiet. I call the predominant as Legs, the one on the right hand as Hands and the one on the head as Heads. Am I rotten or am I rotten? Legs was focused on defense and his hideous muscular left hand wielded a massive tower shield that breathed fire. Hands was the one who attacked with ranged weapons of unlimited ammunition and he had a preference of using weapons bolts, bullets or arrows that would explode the moment they are embedded on flesh. Heads used telekinesis and magic to support their assault and he was in charge of overall defense and employed many wands of unlimited charges as his weapons.
Black Boyd, Little Kirk, Stephanos Uradyne and Marlene St. Eves comprised the gang of mercenaries called Poison's Touch. They were a genius lot who used their brains for criminal activities. Poison's Touch specialized in creating weaponized artificial beasts and homunculi. They put their products on the black market as eye-popping expensive soldiers. Their talents were so great that the High Command of Noxus made multiple attempts at annexing the group into their monopolized service. They've seen little success in it but it caused the group to flee to Ratharbor. They thought they escaped the clutches of Noxus, only to fall into my claws. I think I see the reason why Poison's Touch fell on the wrong path. They were half-breeds. Black Boyd had skin that looked like the scales of an underwater race and he had no nose which reminded me of Voldemort from Harry Potter movies. Little Kirk's eyes were too big and luminous with the absence of iris, two pairs of antenna coming out of his head and he had glittery faerie wings on his back. Stephanos Uradyne's head and feet was that of a horse and he had a serpentine tail as well and his skin was black as night and his eyes were glowing red. Marlene St. Eves had the look of a pig, literally, from the body to the face and her voice was shrill and snorting.
Beardwall was legendary during his heyday. Sadly retired, he was a former Demacian knight commander who was kicked out of the military because of a quarrel with a noble. He left Demacia without a word and used his experience and skills as a trainer for those who had the gold. Beardwall still had a lot of honor in him but he was cynical and expected treachery at every corner. Even when he was old, he had become pretty much dangerous than when compared during his Demacian days. Kenji said he had a talent with throwing weapons and obtained the Duplicating Belt, one piece of seven of a legendary item set. It had the ability to create copies of a vial-type potions placed on its six pockets. Beardwall filled all six with either damaging or disrupting potions and he had panoply of powerfully enchanted equipment. In fact, Kenji was conflicted whether he should kill Beardwall and just loot his items or the other way around.
Leniana Marvis is a single mother with seven young kids. Her husband was killed saving his family from bandits attacking their farm. To me, her background was pretty much typical of a tragedy. I'm not being insensitive here but these kinds of sobstories were nearly the same with each other. She fled here to try her luck and Lemuru took her in and discovered that she had the aptitude for enchanting even though her Mana reserves and regeneration was pretty terrible. Leniana was a pastry chef and the breads she make are enchanted with magical effects or limited sentience. Kenji thought I would love her gingerbread soldiers, candy horses and other pastry creatures. What can I say? I do. I really do.
Sthatolm Purge is an eccentric fat man with a jovial and cheerful personality. He quite the harmless person but he made up for it with sheer powers of persuasion and the ability to enduringly endear himself to others. He had in intensive collection of odd and weird things and hosted a museum here in Ratharbor. He paid good money for people who can bring him odd and weird things. Kenji saw things in the museum that he said would capture my imagination and would delight me. It makes me wonder where he get his money though. He seem to never run out of it.
Ester Light is the leader of a gang of prostitutes. I can't say I was surprised to see that kind of thing here. I mean, what would you expect from a town of outlaws? But Kenji insisted on sparing her and her group simply because he sensed that they had undying loyalty for the whomever wins their trust. They were not warriors or mages and probably had no talent as an agent or infiltrator but Kenji said they had a deep knowledge of human psychology and knew how to soothe egos and flatter people. Personally, I think Kenji spared them because he felt pity to them. I won't hold it against him.
•
"Hey, guys, how you doing? Why are you just standing there with your mouths open?" I asked the moment I came within range of the Ratharbor citizens. They were to busy gawking to notice me. Mystery Inc. joined me. "Jinkies! I think they haven't seen a crowd of monsters this big!" Velma said. "What you said." I agreed with her. "Although I'm quite surprised that Shaggy and Scooby aren't fleeing at the sight." I added. "The desire to eat is, like, greater than the desire to flee." Shaggy said, posing in a Buddha stance. We laughed at that. "Reah!" Scooby seconded. We laughed at that.
"All these work for you?" Lemuru asked, her voice was parched and rasp. "Last time I check they do." I said easily. They all looked at me. "All of those?!" Lemuru asked again. I nodded. "Hey, guys, they're asking if you work for me!" I yelled over to the crowd. They stopped for a moment to think about it. "When you say work, there's some sort of compensation involved! We're just slaves!" Utara yelled back. She was quite drunk. There were yells of agreement from everyone. From Myth units to Battle Realms units to Card Wars units, they all agreed. "FINE! I'LL DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT REAL SOON!" I yelled back. And there was an eruption of celebration. They resumed dancing and singing with greater excitement and joy. "Yeah, I think they all work for me." I said.
"Just how powerful are you?" Ester Light asked. She and her girls looked at me incredulously. "I'm not. I'm weak. Really weak. It just happens the gods took a fancy on me and gave me all these." I replied. AIN'T THAT THE TRUTH?! Remove all my Innate Powers and I'll be useless. AIN'T THAT THE TRUTH?! They looked at me in disbelief. Wait, that's not disbelief. They looked like they have mixed feelings with what to believe in. "A ruler need not be strong in body nor mighty in spirit but it is imperative that these qualities are in his servants." I said wisely. It made them make grim smiles. "You must enjoy this night for this is your last night as citizens of Ratharbor and the first night as subjects of New Adriel." I said.
The newly-acquired subjects gave me a sincere smile for the first time. For the rest of the night, I was dragged back and forth from the Ratharbor people and my own peepz. We drank and ate to our heart's content and partied all night. The promise of a new dawn gave them the strength to stay up all night.
When morning did come, we stopped the party there. I ordered everyone to rest. My warriors departed for the Dragon's Coast for well-deserved rest. I told them they would be relaxing for three days before I sent them out again for missions. I used my Lesser (Not Lessest anymore) Demonic Wish-Granting to summon magical parchments for every single one of my loyal is during the night. I made each of them sign. In return for the success, they would receive all manners of gifts from me. That means I can just keep heaping lots of tender loving care on them. Man, my skills are really cheats and I love every second using them. Funny thing about Demonic Wish-Granting, loopholes exist everywhere and on both sides. It's a skill full of treachery and deceit. You must never let your supplicant know that they have the final say.
There was still a lot of food left from the feast. I guess they weren't able to finish off eating all those gigantic food. I had a force of townspeople, four clans (The Wolves had the biggest appetites), several monstrous Myth units, Shaggy and Scooby and Cards who came down on that feast and there's still a big amount left. My fatigue disappeared as the first rays of sunshine broke the dark horizon. It's really something. Beautiful and majestic at the same time. "Okay, guys, help me pack up these up!" I said. The Cards gamely nodded. We cut up the giant food into many smaller pieces. 80% of what was left I saved up for ourselves, 10% would go to the townspeople and the remaining 10% I planned to give to the Demacians. I magically enchanted the food with preservation and freshness. Where did I get that you might ask? I used Blessing: Power on myself. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Blessing: Power has the power to give someone either a magical or non-magical affinity but it can be used to copy and paste someone's ability to another person. This part is way more difficult and only has a 5% chance of actually being pulled off correctly. But you know me anyway. My insane luck gave me Leniana's ability to enchant her baked products. Nurufufufu~! The ability is called Living Bread and it's the first one to join my abilities list. I gotta tell you though. It's not really good an ability. First of all, it copied its strengths and weaknesses. That includes the totally-not-worth-it Mana costs and the enchantment options that frankly wasn't attractive at all. The only upside to this is that I can refine the ability to become stronger in the future with each use.
I practiced by borrowing Scooby Snacks from Mystery Inc. (They were delicious, by the way. I was always curious what would they taste like). I practiced with each piece. I enchanted them to become bigger (To Shaggy and Scooby's delight). I hope I don't need to bother the Supreme Beings in the future for food problems. In fact, I was getting more and more embarrassed with using that power. OMFG. What would the Infinite Ones think of me? Anyhoo. I got the ability to level 3. And I can say that some really good enchanting choices showed up. Primarily because I also used Blessing: Power to give myself Enchanter's Talent and it improves my overall enchanting performance and affinity.
My Cards dutifully helped me pack up. The chicken god huffed at the thought and forbade his summons from helping me. Instead, they cleaned up the rest (Which was a lot more work than the packing). Cinderella's Assistants produced baskets out of thin air and we used it to put the food. We divided the work and I tackled alone a mountain while others each had their own to deal with. God, what a job it was. I activated my Wisp Projector for the first time to summon an Oak Sage, an Spirit of Barbs and a Wolverine Heart. I had the indecency to order these spirits to help me out. God, I'm so shameless.
I looked over my shoulder to see what the others were doing.
Girl and Boy Wannabes overdecorated their baskets with overly cute things.
Borometz Trio stuffed seed packets into the baskets and instructions how to grow them.
Soul-Guide Cherubims put religious talismans and seals into theirs.
Cinderella's Assistants put Cinderella merchandise into theirs.
Nessie put a number of TOKENS (Fish) into hers.
C.A.C.A. put environmental awareness information sheets into theirs.
Flower Power sprayed their baskets until it smelled like a garden.
Lady of The Lake had put a likeness of Excalibur on theirs.
Hawk Moth stuffed as many Akuma as he could into his.
Mystery Inc. gone through theirs the fastest mainly because two gluttons got rid of the food hastily.
"Well, better get these delivered." I said. We split the food into three. Hawk Moth, the chicken god and his undead would be in charge of distributing to Ratharbor, all other Pawn Cards would be the ones to deliver to the Dragon's Coast and Mystery Inc. and I would be the ones in charge for Demacia. I sent everyone on their way but the chicken god hung back. He demanded someone must be in charge of my safety if I want to leave the vicinity of either Ratharbor or Dragon's Coast. So I took him with me. "Lesser Demonic Wish-Granting." I intoned. Wisps of dark smoke zoomed off of me. Several articles of clothing appeared out of thin air and floated into my hands. "Fine. I'll got get changed." I said.
I came back out several minutes later and I was dressed in a long black cloak. I wore normal clothes for the first time. "By the power of Hades, I summon thee!" I intoned. I summoned the Sentinels of the God Power over to the Serpent base. "By the power of Apollo, I summon thee!" I intoned. I summoned an Underworld Passage linking the Serpent base to Ratharbor. "By the power of Hephaestus, I summon thee!" I intoned. I activated the Plenty God Power. The Vault of Plenty appeared out of thin air. I summoned it a little bit outside of Ratharbor because it was so damn huge. The chicken god immediately set the Liches of Flesh, Bone and Spirit to guard it. I could see the Vault making its magic. It began to generate gold, wood and food out of thin air. Ratharbor is going to be very prosperous in the future.
"Hey, guys, you ready?" I said. Mystery Inc. gamely nodded. The chicken god puffed. "Osiris, Hathor, I beseech thee! Send me thy aid!" I intoned. Two pairs of Mummies and Rocs appeared out of a celestial portal. "By the power of Theia, I summon thee!" I intoned. I activated the Hesperides God Power and directed all the way back to the Dragon's Coast. In my ethereal vision, I saw the Hesperides rise from the ground as a massive holy tree that could summon Dryads and protect against malignant forces. Fittingly, I summoned it on the Wolf base since they are the most nature-attuned clan. I ordered the Mummies to station at the Dragon's Coast. We rode on the massive carriages carried by the Rocs and the two great beasts bore us to where we need to be.
•
Travelling to Demacia on the Rocs was a lot amazing than going there instantly via a God Power. The sight from above was nothing short of amazing. We passed over Demacian towns, villages and Holds that scattered all over its territory. There aren't many places left in the modern world from where I come from. This place had nature and civilization living side by side but it had none of the pollution or the constant urbanization. I love it. I had used Lesser Demonic Wish-Granting a while ago to give myself ten rings, six bracelets, two earrings and a necklace. Each item had a spell contained in them. The spell in them varied meaning the more there are of the items, the weaker the spell they contained. I used the necklace that contained a Lesser Invisibility spell. It had a duration of a day so the Rocs could drop us off at Demacia then fly back to Ratharbor.
Now that I think about it. How the hell am I supposed to enter while not attracting any attention? Mystery Inc. will definitely attract attention. Their clothes are weird. I used Lesser Demonic Wish-Granting again and black smoke came off from me and enveloped the kids their dog. They yelped as they were rudely interrupted from their sightseeing. The smoke changed their clothes, gave them normal-looking clothes. Now instead of looking like people from another planet, they looked like people on vacation. AND HOW IS THAT HELPFUL?! I wanted to yell at the spell.
"What's with the wardrobe change?" Velma asked, raising an eyebrow at me. I looked smug. "We need to blend in with the people, you know. What better disguise than wearing the clothes of this world?" I explained smartly. "That sounds like a good plan!" Fred agreed with me. "I couldn't agree more." Daphne said. Her new dress made her look like a noble's daughter and everyone else looked like they were her servants. They looked gave her a look. Daphne looked apologetic. I snapped my fingers again and their clothes changed. We all looked like adventurers now. Fred was the Knight, Daphne the Priest, Velma the Mage, Shaggy the Rogue and Scooby looked like a pack mule with mini-wagon he was dragging behind him. "They didn't do you justice!" I yelled as I hugged Scooby. The dog bawled along with me.
"Well, we'll definitely fit in with this." Velma said. "And Scooby's costume is excellent. We can let him carry the food for us." I said. "Ruh?!" the dog exclaimed, took one look at the mountain of food then fell in despair. There was absolutely no way he could carry those on his own. "Don't worry. I'll shrink them all." I said, winking at him. "And a Scooby Snack?" Shaggy said hopefully, rubbing his hands together. "Three boxes for each of you." I said. Can I bribe or what? The two of them puffed out their chest to look strong. Velma, Daphne and Fred just shook their heads.
•
We arrived at the capital an hour later. I had the Rocs drop us off a bit farther from the gates so we could show up normally on the checkpoint. We departed and I gave the Rocs giant Scooby Snacks as a reward. We heard their mighty wings flap as they took to the skies and returned home.
Man, walking is super tiring. This is why I ride C.A.C.A. wherever I go. I shrunk all the food we were going to deliver into the size of grapes but there were so many that there was still a considerable pile on Scooby's wagon. I used Lesser Demonic Wish-Granting and summoned weapons for myself and Mystery Inc. An enchanted orb for Velma, an enchanted sword and shield for Fred, an enchanted wand for Daphne, enchanted cards for Shaggy, an enchanted collar for Scooby and an enchanted book for myself. We reached the gates and saw there was a freaking long line. "What the hell?" I said. "Language!" Velma hissed. OMFG. A fictional character just chastised me. It's from Mystery Inc. who are my childhood idols so I'll take it to heart. "Sorry." I said. She gave me a look sternly. "What is going on?" Daphne asked a nearby man.
The person looked to be part of an adventurer group. There were many of them and other people. Adventurers, civilians and all other part of the lot. "We're here to pay tribute. The prince announced his plans to invest on adventurers. We're here to pay respects to the sacred relics given by a High Priest to the prince and gave him the courage to make the right actions over the last days." the man said. "Days? I just left Demacia yesterday." I whispered over to my companions. "The party lasted for two days, remember?" Fred said. "Yeah, like, two days of non-stop eating!" Shaggy said cheerfully. He and Scooby rubbed their stomachs. WHAT?!
I couldn't help but scream. Everyone looked at me. Mystery Inc. erupted into a series of excuses for everyone who was listening. "Two days?! What?! I counted only one!" I hissed to myself. "No. You kept sleeping then waking up and catering to everyone. You must be super tired, Addy. You should rest." Fred explained. They all looked at me in concern. I waved it aside. Holy shit. It's been two days?! I didn't realize it one bit. More importantly, what the hell are they doing with the relics?! I was sorely tempted to cut the line and go towards the beginning but I didn't want to stand out. I merely waited. We waited. "This line is so looooooooong!" I wailed. "It's a given. A church is housing sacred relics of the gods. People all over the land are extremely excited. There hasn't been a High Priest to grace a nation since Evarran. People all over Runeterra are coming over. They want to witness these sacred relics. It's a memory of a lifetime. Naturally, security has been quintupled." the man we asked earlier replied.
"Who's you new friend?" a companion of the man piped in. The man was an oriental-looking man who looked like he came from Ionia but his companion looked bigger with a distinctly Freljordian heritage. An Ionian, a Freljordian, two yordles with shocking golden fur and looked like twins and a man of mystery who looked like Shuriman. "I'm Bael, by the way." the Ionian said. "This is Simon (The Freljordian), Lucre (the Shuriman) and Misty and Maze (The yordles)." Bael said, introducing us. We introduced ourselves but Scooby couldn't help but give a good licking on new friends. I wasn't really listening on the conversation. I had a lot of things in my mind.
I could almost imagine the chaos inside there. Too many faithful means too many opportunists. This could lead to a cult rising and Demacians will look down on me. I'd be a troublemaker and I'd lose my Garen! Wait, where the hell did that come from?! It's all too familiar. The faithful who seek spiritual guidance and refuge come in hopes of enlightenment then some sick and dark sonofabitch decides to build his own religion because he's too much of a loser to empathize with the innocent folk. Plus there's the fact that the Ship of Fingernails produces food and the Ankh of Ra produces Favor. Self-serving and self-entitled people would flock there so they could boost their egos with the delusion that they're set higher apart from their less unfortunate counterparts. YUCK!
How do I know this? Cartoons, animes, mangas, comics and every single written or animated work! And, of course, there's the thing on the real world. God, the world is broken and rotten. There is no need to plant more weeds when too many weeds are already choking what few productive plants remain. This is going to be a massive drama between the rich and the poor! Okay, I admit I'm a more than a little paranoid. I'm full-fledged paranoid but still. It's better safe than sorry. I mentally communicated with my other subordinates. "Lessest Shadow Demon." I intoned.
I summoned several Shadow Demons at the same time. My shadow became blacker and liquid in nature. Numerous sinister-looking shadows spread off of mine. It reminded me of the demons of shadow from Disney's Princess and The Frog. The adventurers stopped, so did everyone else who could notice it, and gawked at me. "Do you have pen and paper?" I asked casually. The yordles handed me what I needed. "Thanks." I said. I quickly began to jot down what I had in mind. I addressed the problem to all the Zen Masters. It wasn't an urgent one but it needs deliberation. I told them what I had in mind and I told them to tell me what they think I should do. I finished with a flourish. "Please get these to the Zen Masters." I said. One of the shadows solidified and reached out to take the parchment. They bowed to me with deep respect and zoomed off with a quickness I couldn't take in.
"Were those demons?" Simon asked suspiciously. They didn't regard me as someone who was an important target but what I did just made him amend that thinking. "They're harmless." I replied easily. He cocked his eyebrow. "You're strong a mage if you're able to control such beings. Say, what rank are you guys?" Bael asked.
We looked at each other. Mystery Inc. looked at me in question. I looked at them in question. How the hell are we suppose to know such things? "We're, like, new." Shaggy finally admitted. "Reah!" Scooby said, wagging his head vigorously. The adventurers gaped at us. "Really? What've you been doing? Practicing all your life?" Simon said. "Probably. That spell isn't something you learn from adventuring. You gotta pour many hours of study on it." Lucre said. He and his friends nodded. "We're the adventurer team Silent Marchers. Nice to meet you." Lucre said, extending a hand. We shook hands. "Are you recruiting us?" Velma speculated. The man blushed. Right on.
"If you're so inclined, maybe we can join forces this once. Go on a quest, see for yourselves what we can do and be the judge if you like it or not." Velma added. I brightened. That's actually a good plan. "Yeah, like, as long it's not on something scary." Shaggy said. "Reah! Rand rith rots rof rood!" Scooby said. Both of them giggled madly. I smiled. "That's too much to ask for, guys. You know we're gonna end up in some dungeon or tomb filled with restless spirits and lethal traps, seeking out treasure and facing unknown dangers. That sort of quest." I said. Shaggy and Scooby's faces dropped. "Well, that's a deal then." Bael said and we shook hands. "How do we split the loot?" Maze asked. That's where everyone went silent. "You can keep it." Daphne offered. Their eyes widened. "Are you crazy? You don't need gold or the treasures or the magic items we're gonna come across?" Maze asked incredulously. Shaggy snorted. "Like, in that department we have it all covered." he said. "Yeah! Raddy's rot rus rovered!" Scooby seconded. Mystery Inc. gave me knowing looks.
The adventurers looked at me questioningly. Maybe I could make Silent Marchers spread the word about me turning Ratharbor into the adventurer capital of the world. I grinned slyly. "I have a lot of tricks up my sleeve." I said. They looked like they wanted to back away slowly.
Suddenly, someone caught my attention. I brightened up. There's our ticket inside. "LUX! LUX! LUX! LUX! LUX! LUX!" I called out at the top of my voice. Luxanna Crownguard looked my way with an extremely disinterested expression on her face. Her face turned into different shades of emotions. She ran up to me, panting and sweating profusely. "ADDY! I mean, Lord Adriel! What're you doing here?! You could've gotten in an instant if you just identified yourself!" she said. I put a hand on her mouth. I quickly introduced Mystery Inc. to her. She stared longingly at Scooby. "I wanna keep a low profile. Is that too much to ask? Anyway, it's a blessing from the gods that you showed up. What's happening?" I asked her. Lux dragged me out of the line and into a corner. "What did you expect? Everyone's making a pilgrimage to Demacia, that's what! The other nations heard about it! The news about the sacred relics is all over the Blitznet! Everyone's coming to pay their respects! It's a hassle! Plus there are Noxians coming here too so we have to be very careful about it." she explained hastily.
"Who told everyone?" I asked. She rolled her eyes. "I told you a High Priest showing up is a really big deal. I'm just scared it'll start another war with Evarran." she said. I snorted. "Sweetie, that ain't happening. They'll have to answer to me if that happened." I said. Lux looked a little relieved with what I said. Actually, the thought of Demacia going to war with Evarran might be the perfect cover to complete the quest the goddess gave me. Demacia goes to war and who the hell gets the blame if some corrupt and incompetent officials of the government get assassinated? Will they point their fingers at me? No, sire, Evarran's gonna take the blame. It's almost too perfect to pass up.
"So what are they doing? Are they touching the relics or not?" I asked. Lux looked aghast. "Of course not! We took your warning seriously! We're not about to be obliterated off the map because of one mistake." Lux said. We continued to chat all the way to noon. Shaggy and Scooby pulled on my cloak, looking at me with big round puppy eyes. "How about some food, everyone?" I offered. "Well, if you're offering..." Misty said. I took five baskets from Scooby's wagon and zapped them. With the enchantment gone, they reverted to their bountiful sizes. The smell of the food wafted through the air. Several stomachs grumbled. "It smells divine." Lux said. We dug in. I admit I was more than a bit hungry.
"Are all these people here for the pilgrimage?" I asked. Lux didn't reply. I looked at her and saw her stuffing her face with the food. "It's so delicious! I haven't tasted anything like this my whole life!" she said. "They're just homecooked meals, you know. You're exaggerating." I said. Lux looked at me. "They're literally bursting with love! It's not the same as high-class foods are. These make you feel they're made especially for you. It's like giving your stomach a love letter!" she said in between bites. "WHAT SHE SAID!" Mystery Inc. and Silent Marchers chorused. I'll be damned. "Well, I guess we should go show some love to others then." I said, standing up. "Wanna help me?" I asked the chicken god. He huffed and ruffled his feathers. He elegantly returned to pecking into his food. I shrugged and enchanted one basket so it would duplicate the food inside it to never run out. In case you're wondering, this is a worthwhile result from leveling Living Bread to level 3. It's called Endless Feast. The spell doesn't last much (Only an hour, I believe) and the Mana cost is high but it's very worthwhile when you compare it to the previous choices. I sacrificed more Mana than I should so I could extend its duration.
"What?" I asked as the Silent Marchers stared at me. "Food problems solved." Lucre, Bael and Simon said at the same time. "I'm not a living vending machine." I snapped at them then moved to share the food. "Vending machine?" Maze asked. "It's a electronic gadget that dispenses food." Velma explained. "Reah! Rots rand rots rof rood!" Scooby barked. I just noticed that the chicken god was nesting on my head, skull-faced Ghost-Wisps fed it food like the monarch it is. It huffed when I looked up at it questioningly. Great. A tsundere chicken god. Who could've thunk? "Food, ma'am? Food, sir? It's a gift!" I would say to everyone I come across the line.
They would look at me in question. A cloaked kid offering them food is definitely suspicious. And a strange-looking rooster with several undead servants was on top of my head. It definitely reeks of suspicious. But the smell of food overrode their suspicions. They gingerly took some and took a bite. Their eyes widened as their mouths were bombarded with flavor and fullness. I handed them some more then moved on. I kept repeating and rinsing the same thing over and over again until someone spread the news that I'm such a generous person and was giving away a full meal and everyone gave me an easy time after that. It wasn't long before I got to the main gate. "Where the hell did the officer go?" I demanded as I saw the empty booth. "Out to eat." replied the man nearest me between bites of the food I just gave him. I stomped my foot impatiently.
I spotted someone over to the parapets. "YOU! Why is this line not moving? We're wasting daylight here!" I demanded. The man looked at me in surprise. He looked like a battlemage but his armor looked far more magically powerful compared to the standard ones. Several staves were strapped to his back. Wands were all over his belt and twin glaives sat snugly about his hips. He had a long flowing hair that couldn't decide whether to be blonde or ginger. He looked kinda pretty too with the harshness of a veteran. He smirked at me and moved on. I was too mad to care. Too mad to notice that people were backing away from me and from the man himself. I didn't even know I was picking a fight with a person of terrible repute.
I angrily plucked a Ghost-Wisp who had the misfortune of sitting in my line of fire and hurled it at the man. The undead bounced harmlessly on his head and came rushing back to the chicken god. The man stopped in his tracks. He looked back and walked over to me. Now there was a sizable empty space behind me. "Sir, there is a noon break for all officers. You might not know it but all of Demacia's gates are packed with people. We have the manpower but security is still our top priority. We can't allow people of ill-intent pass by protocol. Also, what you did can be considered a crime. Assaulting an officer of the law, assaulting a member of the city watch, assaulting a member of the Representatives, assaulting the Headmaster of the Arcane University. I could go on with the list." he said to me patronizingly. He said it in an easy tone but his intent was clear and his face was the opposite of forgiving. "You look so hot when you're pissed." I couldn't help but say. "Huh?" he stammered as if he didn't quite get that. "Gotcha." I said, laughing. "Buddy, I can provide you with a fucking solution right here right now. And you can bet your sexy, hot body that it'll make things easier for you and your goons for the rest of the day and the day after tomorrow." I offered.
He looked at me and raised an eyebrow. I used Lesser Demonic Wish-Granting to summon the magical parchment that certainly made my life easier than before. "They sign this thing and they're bound to adhere to Demacian law whether they like it or not once they enter this fucking gate. If they break it, there's gonna be some major punishment coming their way and it's gonna come in the moment they step out of line. What say you?" I offered in my best this-is-a-freaking-good-deal voice. "Just say yes." Lux said as she jogged towards us with Mystery Inc. and Silent Marchers in tow. "Lady Luxanna. you're vouching for this stranger?" the man asked. Lux came over to him and whispered something in his ear. The man's eyes widened.
"So you're that person, eh? Well, good to know. Okay, lord, let's see what you can do." the man said. There was a gleam in his eyes that I couldn't tell what emotion it was. I smiled at him. The chicken god ordered his Ghost-Wisps to bear me up. I used Living Bread to summon a special cookie of my own invention. The Cookie of Vocal Clarity. I ate it with gusto. There's the added part of it being a decadent chocolate chip cookie. My favorite! I felt the magic come into effect. "Okay, people! Who's damn tired of waiting?" I asked, my voice carried over to all I wanted to reach. They all heard loud and clear and they had no choice but to understand these words of mine. Nearly all of them raised their hands at the same time. Others were reluctant but they raised up eventually. "Now here's the stitch. We're all gonna go inside and the waiting's history. This is what we're gonna do. I have in my hand a magical parchment. All of you who want to enter will simply put your signatures here. Once you do, you're magically bound to obey this here city's laws. If you break it, you can bet you're gonna get punished so hard you'll regret it for the rest of your life. Okay?" I said. Of course, the prospect of going inside without all the legal drama was great so there was a ringing cry of approval.
"Don't think for a moment that this is a joke. This thing is the real deal. So if you have sinister plans in mind I suggest you walk outta here and get lost. Here's the punishment. In the event of breaking a law while inside, all lawbreakers are compelled surrender themselves whether they like it or not. Lawbreakers will be afflicted with massive guilt! Any complaints?" I asked. There was a silence. Then they all agreed. Told you so.
"Okay, that's settled. Let me be the first to sign." I said. They watched as I put name on the parchment. The ink of the pen came off as a searing light. As my name was jotted down into ink, it disappeared into the writing. A dark shadow of myself rose from the paper and glided into me, disappearing into the depths of my body.
"There. I'm bound." I said. "Proceed." the man said. Mystery Inc. followed me after writing their names then Silent Marchers. Then the long line began to steadily go down. It just took several minutes to reduce it to half. "One hour should make this line disappear for good." I said proudly. "I'm impressed. What kind of magic made this?" he asked, holding up the parchment which now possessed so many names. It shimmered and glittered like diamonds. I shrugged. "It's a secret." I winked secretively. "Don't tell anyone I showed up today. I'm just playing civilian." I said to Lux and the man. I remembered what I promised. I gave the man several more magic parchments then I dragged Mystery Inc. away and decided to drop a visit on that church.
Chapter 6
Adriel's Plan Part 2
•
Demacia
•
They weren't kidding when they said people were coming to take a look on the sacred relics. There was a freaking long line. Way longer than that gate we just left from. People literally flocked to the church. A veritable pilgrimage. "Whoa. Like, now that's a crowd!" Shaggy exclaimed when he saw the line. "All these people... Coming here just to see the relics you made, Addy!" Daphne said excitedly. Inwardly, I was seething. I didn't expect it to be some sort of tourist attraction. This is insanity! I'm not a High Priest and I'm sure as hell don't plan to be one.
"Addy? Addy? Adriel!" Fred snapped me out of my frustration. I used Lessest Shadow Demon to summon another set of them. This time, however, I specifically told them to remain hidden. Shadow Demons are weak demonic beings who can blend in the shadows to become impossible to detect. Lessest Shadow Demon summons the basic form of Shadow Demons but higher ranks of the spell will summon unusual or special cases of their kind. Usually they should only be limited to intelligence-gathering. "Please ask Koril to take a message for me and tell the Soul-Guide Cherubims to manage the use of the relics. Tell them to make sure nobody exploits the relics or use them wrongly or selfishly." I told the demons. They nodded and zoomed off to deliver my latest order.
Usually the spell summons only one Shadow Demon but a sacrifice of even more Mana means a larger number, up to a cap of six Shadow Demons per spell usage. There's also a maintenance for them. That would also mean that any spell from any of the Affinities that summons a controllable being into existence require a constant sacrifice of Mana per day to maintain the summoned being's life. 10 Mana per Shadow Demon per day. 120 Mana spent per day. Not bad. If I wear the Manald Heal Ring from Diablo 2, I can recover from the cost like a breeze.
I would love to hang out with the Crownguards and Ezreal but I think they're quite busy this time of day. Maybe some other time. Besides, we have a date with Silent Marchers. I summoned another batch of Shadow Demons and ordered them to take the food to the Crownguards, Ezreal and the palace. And I also changed the enchantment on the food. They would resume their original size after an hour. "Also, make a note that it's from me." I said as the last of the Shadow Demons sunk into the darkness. Travelling by shadow. Hhhmmm, nice.
"Who wants to go shopping?" I asked. Mystery Inc. beamed at that.
•
At the Merchants District...
"GODDAMNIT! WHY IS IT SO CROWDED TODAY?!" I finally screeched. OMFG. DID EVERYONE FROM ALL OVER RUNETERRA COME TO DEMACIA TODAY?! "Calm down, Addy!" Velma and Daphne tried to stop me from rioting. "Yeah. It's just probably today. Tomorrow will be a lot clearer. I think." Fed said hesitantly. "Fat chance at that." a boy's voice joined us. We looked to see Ezreal swaggering towards us. "Oh, hey, Ezzy. Guys, this is Ezreal. Ezreal, this is Fred, Velma, Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby." I said. They were acquainted. I'm surprised Ezreal wasn't drooling over Daphne or Velma. I think the two girls are more beautiful than the healers. Thank you, God, that they're not here to hear my backstabbing. LMAO. "It's quite a crowd. Do you think it'll clear off?" Daphne asked.
"No way. It's been like this since word got out. It's a security nightmare. People are working overtime already. People keep coming at every hour. It doesn't matter if it's in the middle of the freaking night or not." Ezreal said. "I started a chain reaction." I said to myself in horror. "You started a HUGE chain reaction." Velma corrected. I began to shrink at that. "Ron't rorry, Raddy! Rit's ronna re ralright!" Scooby said, comforting me. Dear Lord, my favorite character is comforting me. I can say my life is complete.
"Hey, it's not a bad thing. These people came here because they still hope. They still believe. The gods finally sent a High Priest in Runeterra. A High Priest that hasn't been claimed by Evarran yet. You can't blame them for wanting a piece of spiritual guidance." Ezreal said. FIRST BLOOD! I sunk on my butt. Damnit. He had to say it. "Gee, thanks, Ez. Now I feel guilty." I said. The Piltovian grinned boyishly. He grinned widely at something he just remembered. "Hey, you got a place to stay? You holing up at the Crownguards again?" he asked. I snorted. "I plan to stay in a hotel or an inn or something. I'd feel bad if I keep exploiting their kindness." I said honestly. "I know this real swanky place." Ezreal said. We shared looks and turned at the overcrowded market then at Ezreal. What choice did we have?
•
The Silver Palace Hotel
•
"Wow. He wasn't kidding when he said swanky." Daphne commented as we entered the lobby. "Reah! Rit rooks real rexpensive!" Scooby said as he eyed and backed away from the ornaments that looked like it was carved out of jewels. "Addy, do you have the money to stay here?" Velma asked in concern. "Summoned gold counts, right?" I asked. Mystery Inc. looked at me with wide eyes. God, I'm so shameless. "Well, technically, it's still gold as long it doesn't disappear after a time." Fed concurred. Oh, I love you, Fred Jones. Ezreal led us to the reception. "Hey, sweetie, my friends wanna stay here. You got an available room?" Ezreal said.
The receptionist looked starstruck at him. I guess Ezreal is really a celebrity in Valoran. She took a look at her hextech equivalent of a computer and sorted through. I saw her steal lovestruck looks at Ezreal when he wasn't watching. "Are the adventurer hotels full, sir?" the receptionist asked politely. Oh, don't think you can cover up your intent with politeness, darling. I know what you really mean is that if we can afford this place. "Yes, ma'am." I said with equal politeness and with the same underlying meaning. The receptionist blushed. She went back to stare at her device. "Are you guys with Addy?" Ezreal asked Mystery Inc. "Reah!" Scooby barked. Ezreal perked up at that. If he had a tail, he'd be wagging it madly by now. "Did Addy make those?" he asked, pointing at their equipment. "Like, that's right." Shaggy said, holding up his enchanted cards.
"Can I borrow those later?" Ezreal asked excitedly. He was so sparkly that Mystery Inc. had no choice but to agree. "We have an available room here. It's the Saint Agnes royal suite." the receptionist said. Again, there was that mocking politeness. She looked stunned when I didn't budge. "We're checking in?" I said innocently. Yep, I ruffled her feathers real good. "Are you sure you could afford to stay here? This is a high-class hotel. We only cater to dignitaries, the influential and the powerful." the receptionist finally said in a frosty tone. Mystery Inc. gasped. Ezreal looked aghast. "Hey. watch your-" Ezreal began but I stopped him. "It's okay, Ezzy. No harm done. Calm down. guys." I said easily. I took a bag of gold and put it in front of her. I'm not gonna do something bratty like throw a fit or make a scene. I'm used to this kind of scene anyway. Hell, I lived with it all my time with Magnus, Marshal and Rick. What's someone like me playing buddy-buddy with famous and talented people?
"It's 500 gold a day, isn't it? And 300 additional gold for special amenities and service? There's 4,000 gold in there. Five days, please." I said with a sweetness I have learned to use throughout the years I've been bullied. The receptionist gritted her teeth. I continued to smile sweetly. "Whoa. Have you got some fangs, dude!" Ezreal said. He was looking at me with a new light. "Sweetie, you won't make it through life if you don't have the nerve to bare your fangs every once in a while." I said to him wisely.
"Rawesome!" Scooby agreed. "You didn't take the bait. I'm proud of you, Addy." Velma whispered to me. I beamed at her comment. That really mattered to me. The receptionist took the gold and gave us the key. "Well played." she said. There was a grudging respect in her eyes. I merely smiled. "Where is your restaurant?" I asked. She directed me to a hallway. "Walk straight and turn to the left." she said. Shaggy and Scooby led the way. We found the restaurant to be empty. I guess people are really busy with the sacred relic madness. "Guys, you ready to empty this place?" I asked. Shaggy and Scooby yelled brightly.
Waddaya know? We really did empty the whole place. Except for me, Fred, Velma and Daphne, everyone else was horrified with Shaggy and Scooby's appetites. I paid for the bill and gave each waiter a tip equivalent to a small fortune. We stayed and chatted for a bit while we waited as our resident gluttons devoured a pile of pies in an astounding speed. "So, Ezzy, how did you find us? Lux told you about my arrival?" I asked. Ezreal shook his head. "Demons appeared in my room and I thought I was a goner. Then they told me they come bearing gifts from you. They gave me the food which turned gigantic the moment I touched it. I asked them where you were and they told me." he explained, chuckling at the memory. The Shadow Demons returned to me after their work was done. The others that I sent to Dragon's Coast also came back. All eighteen Shadow Demons lurked in my shadow, waiting for my next command.
"So you can command demons too?" Ezreal asked. I sighed. Ain't he curious? "Only Shadow Demons for now." I replied. He was shocked that I answered without hesitation. "Shadow Demons, eh? That's what those things were? I admit I was real scared that I wasn't able to detect them until they showed themselves." he said. Is it wrong that he looked like a kid to me? I feel like he's a kid. I reached out and ruffled his hair. "Big bad Ezreal afraid of Shadow Demons? Unthinkable!" I said in mock disbelief. He grinned. "By the way, Addy, like, what time are we hanging out with Silent Marchers. Man, I don't want to keep them waiting for us to show up." Shaggy said as he and his dog devoured the last of the food.
Well, that certainly reminded me. I looked at the grandfather clock that stood nearby. It was nearly the time to meet up. "Hey, Ezzy, wanna join us?" I offered. Ezreal perked up. "Where to?" he asked. "Spelunking." Velma said. "Adventuring." Fred added. "Danger-seeking." Daphne piped in. Shaggy and Scooby gulped then dived under the table. It shook wildly. "Come on, you chickens." I said as we dragged them with us. "We're dungeon-delving with an adventurer team called Silent Marchers. For fun." I said. I could tell that Ezreal was up for it.
•
Bael, Lucre, Simon, Misty and Maze arrived three minutes later. "Sorry. We're late. The line's a killer." Lucre said as they ran towards us. They made a double take as they looked at Ezreal. "Yo." the Piltovian said easily. "We brought the little kid with us." I said. Ezreal gave me a look. I grinned back. "Like, how did you ever survive that long line?" Shaggy asked. Good question. I'm interested in that too. The adventurers grinned. "There's a shorter line for people who just want to pay their respects. The long line's for the parishioners who have a lot to say to and ask from the gods." Simon said. DAMNIT. I didn't know that. "So, are we gonna go now?" Daphne asked.
"Not yet. We need to pick up some equipment along the way." Simon said. "You have a way to squeeze through that crowd in the marketplace?" I asked. They grinned. "Addy, Addy, you're like a country bumpkin. Didn't you learn anything when I played tour guide?" Ezreal said smugly. I gave him a look. "Weren't you too busy drooling over my girls to function properly?" I said back. Ezreal blushed. Daphne and Velma clapped their hands. "Oh, so you're that guy." Daphne said. "The one who looked like he saw water for the first time after a long drought." Velma added. Ezreal blushed further. "Guys, quit picking on the kid." I said. We tried in vain to hide our grins. Ezreal stomped ahead of us.
There was a part of the market that catered only to adventurer needs. Even though they too were flocked with people, there were several secret shops that sold quality items. We happened to enter from the back on one of those. "Isn't this the Best Deals?" I asked to Ezreal. He winked mischievously back at me. So, that old woman had quite the sideline. The adventurers and Ezreal looked around to see if the coast was clear then motioned us to move quickly. They parted the wall of morning glories that hung on the wall of the back of the building, revealing a heavy door. They opened it and beckoned us inside first. Mystery Inc. and I fled inside quickly. The adventurers followed then Ezreal. They closed the door shut.
Inside looked like an underground smaller version of the marketplace. There were stalls and booths that sold various items. There were many people there too but it's nothing compared to the crowd above. "Welcome to Underside, guys, the only premium adventurer-only bazaar in Demacia." Ezreal said. "Whoa. Is this even legal?" Fred asked. The others grinned. "Of course, it is. It's a well-known secret among adventurers and it's one we guard very closely. The market above has lots of quality stocks for adventurers but the really strong and exceptional ones are all here." Ezreal explained. I was impressed. Truly. "Of course, the prices here skyrocket compared to the prices above." he added.
"Show us around, Ezzy. Let's meet up after five minutes, okay? We'll find you!" I said as I grabbed his hand and dragged him away. We browsed through the shops. "I was wondering if they have something here enchanted items for food and water and the like?" I asked. Ezreal beamed. He led us to a stall on the other end of the market. The shopkeeper was a violet-furred yordle with an emo-like look. She looked up at us and sighed. "You here to buy or sell?" she asked. "Hey, Kadma. Guys, this is Kadma. She's got the best goods you're looking for." Ezreal said. Kadma sighed again and pressed a button. Compartments began slipping out from every nook and cranny of her stall until it looked like a marketplace of its own. Enchanted items hung on every case but none of them were weapons or armor or accessories.
Picnic baskets, plates, bowls, goblets, pitchers, tablecloths and picnic cloths were predominant in her merchandise. Maybe that's why she's so sad-looking. People don't buy much from her. "All of my items are enchanted with either Create Food or Create Beverage. The price is according to the quality of food or beverage made, the selection of food or beverage produced and the number of charges the item holds." Kadma said. I think she was expecting us to walk away. "What's the priciest thing you have?" I asked. She looked over to three picnic baskets on the top shelf. "Those are the Feast series. The green basket makes fifty choices of high-quality baked goods and it has one hundred charges. 10,000 gold. The blue one makes twenty-eight choices of high-quality full meals and it has one hundred charges. 15,000 gold. The red one makes ten choices each of enchanted high-quality food and beverage and has fifty charges. 20,000 gold." she said like she was bored or something. "I'll take all three." I said. Kadma's face turned into a series of jumble expressions that Ezreal laughed. "Are you serious?" she asked. I put a bag of 45,000 gold in front of her.
She looked like the spirit in her was knocked out. She moved like a zombie and took the three baskets and placed it in front of me. I took the three and put it on Scooby's wagon. "Don't touch." I warned the guys. They reverted into making puppy eyes at me. I rolled my eyes and magically summoned a giant-sized box of Scooby Snacks. They devoured it in minutes. "What else do you sell? Do you have any more of these?" I asked. Kadma still looked starstruck then she snapped back. "Yes! Yes!" she said in a voice that sounded like she just woke up for the first time. She took an overlarge tome and laid it on the counter. "This is the Book of Gluttony. Each picture of a food inside can come to life. Each picture has one hundred charges and you can change its size for free. There's about five hundred pictures in here. They're divided by Food, Beverage, Meal and Enchanted. 2,000,000 gold." she said. BOOM. A sack of 2,000,000 gold was on top of the counter. She fainted on cue.
Even Ezreal looked stunned. "Dude, you just spent 2,045,000 gold on things that other people would think of as junk." he said. He was hyperventilating. Mystery Inc. giggled. "Addy's got no problem with money." Fred supplied. Yeah, tell that to Lesser Demonic Wish-Granting, Plenty God Power, Dwarven Mine God Power, Prosperity God Power and I can summon Ring of The Nibelung and some Pixiu if I want for the overkill. Sweetie, I'm so rich I make the filthy rich look poor. "As to be expected of a-" Ezreal said then I casually stuffed a Scooby Snack into his mouth. He chewed tentatively while giving me a look. Then he decided he liked the taste and asked for more.
"Here, don't use all of it up." I said as I handed the Book of Gluttony to Shaggy and Scooby. "Do you still have some stock of exceptional items?" I asked. Kadma was up in an instant. She sparkled. She found a customer with bottomless pockets. "I don't have anymore but I can stock up some the next time you visit." she said. She fumbled with her dress and took a shiny card. "Thank you for your patronage! Please return soon! And please take these as a gift!" she said. She handed me three red candles then she bowed deeply. Whoa. Watta change in attitude. "What're these?" I asked. "Oh. They're Date Candles! You light one of them up and it summons a perfect set-up for an intimate dinner! It's a one-time use item but it makes high-quality courses of food and beverages!" she said. I looked impressed and I was definitely impressed.
We thanked her and walked away. I am definitely returning here. "If you have any more of those Feasts and the Book, I'll gladly take them off your hands." I yelled back. Kadma fainted again on cue. "How many days does it usually take for people to complete a dungeon?" I asked. Ezreal thought for a moment. "It usually depends on the dungeon. Some could go one for years, others you could finish in a day." he said. I hope it would something you could finish in a day. "You wanna buy some potions?" he asked. I grinned at him slyly. "I got that part covered." I said. I looked down at my own shadow and it bubbled as if it was liquid. "Shadow Demons, where are they?" I asked.
The Shadow Demons moved from the darkness of my shadow and surged into different directions. They were back to me in thirty seconds. They told where they were. "Damnit. I didn't sense them at all!" Ezreal said. "You didn't? Like, we felt it." Shaggy pointed out. "Thank you..." Ezreal said sarcastically. "Anyone working for me can sense them. It's just common courtesy. Unless I tell the Shadow Demons otherwise." I said to Ezreal. "Well, let's going." Daphne said. We walked to the certain direction the Shadow Demons told us. We passed by stores that had an impressive inventory of enchanted items and alchemical ingredients. I was particularly interested in some furniture we came across. "Wonder what those are. They're so eye-catching." Fred commented. We had to drag Daphne away from every stall that had shiny accessories and jewelry. "There's no stall that, like, sells food." Shaggy said. We gave him and Scooby a look as they were steadily emptying the Book of Gluttony. The total charges of the item was 50,000. Now, it was 44,000. Wow, 6,000 down. "Your gluttony knows no bounds." I said to the pair. They smiled sheepishly at me.
"OMFG. I AM SO RETURNING HERE." I declared after we passed by some really interesting things. Me and Mystery Inc. were really dazzled. Ezreal grinned like a cat. "I think I have the spare time to play chaperon for you." he said. He said that easily but he looked like he really wanted to do it. "Shouldn't you be digging through ruins somewhere? You have a lot of free time in your hands, Ezzy." I said. "I'm actually on leave. I promised my family I wouldn't go dungeon-delving for three months." he admitted. Mystery Inc. was quiet.
"Then by following Addy around, you actually have a pretty good excuse in case you're dragged into something dangerous." Fred said. Ezreal flinched.
"Judging by the way your family reacted, I guess you suffered a wound or two and had to be hospitalized for some time." Daphne added. Ezreal began to sweat.
"And you're pretty laidback for someone grounded. You're here because your family deliberately assigned your healthcare here. That would mean they've pretty much given up on taming you and keeping you in line. You're here because only your girlfriend can tie you down but it's not because of your affection of her. It's more like you can't do anything to calm her down when she goes ballistic." Velma added. Ezreal looked thunderstruck.
"Like, they also limited your funds so you can't get anywhere far, man. You're, like, holed up here whether you like it or not. Like, I'll go as far as to say that your family is forwarding money to your girlfriend instead. And there's, like, some sort of limit on your magic gauntlet." Shaggy said. Ezreal had his mouth hanging open by the time they were finished.
"Rand rou're retty rired ralready! Rou rant ro ret raway!" Scooby said. He and Shaggy changed into detective outfits in mere seconds and aimed a magnifying glass at Ezreal suspiciously.
"I didn't get that." Ezreal admitted. "Scooby said you're pretty tired and you want to get away badly." Fred supplied. Ezreal clapped his hands slowly.
"Well done. You laid it out beautifully." he said with grudging respect. Hhhmmm... There's a limitation on blondie's weapon, eh? Well, we can't have that. "There's a limitation on that?" I asked. Ezreal looked sheepish. "Yeah. I can't use it as much as I want to." he admitted, rubbing the back of his head with a hand. "What? Why? That's unacceptable. You're supposed to be our damage-dealer and meatshield." I said. "WHAT?!" Ezreal screeched angrily. Shaggy, Scooby and me looked at him with puppy eyes.
"We need a big, brave man to save from the perils of unknown and shield us from danger lurking in dark corners!" I said dramatically. Ezreal looked like he really wanted to slap me bad. I grinned at him. I grabbed his gauntlet. "Enchant! Third Party-Limiter Immunity!" I said. Glowing light gathered into his artifact and synchronized into a new and powerful magic within. Now this weapon of his will be immune to limitations imposed by any third party. Who's this third party you might ask? Anyone but him and me. Ezreal's eyes were wide as saucers. "Am I amazing or am I amazing?" I asked. There was an excited gleam in Ezreal's eyes. It was like someone who was imprisoned so long then suddenly thrust into complete freedom. He began teleporting around us like crazy. "What have you done?" Velma said in mock seriousness. "The beast has been unleashed." I said in an equal mood. "No one will survive. We're all gonna die down here." Daphne added.
"Haha." Ezreal said sarcastically but I could tell he was real glad his mojo was fully back on. We found Silent Marchers on a stall. We stood behind them and quietly watched as they haggled with the price. "What's going on?" I asked. "Duh. They're haggling with the prices. Despite what you think, adventurers don't pull down that much money. Sure, they're paid bigger compared to standard jobs but they spend much of it to buying or repairing equipment and buying whatever they're gonna need for their next life-threatening quest. Or spending it on medical attention." Ezreal replied. Damn. It's a tough life then. Not like the adventures you play in any RPG where your character seems strong enough to handle whatever the cruel world throws at them.
"They don't have a patron?" I asked. Ezreal shook his head negatively. "It's hard to find a patron who won't reduce you to hired goons. I heard Queen Ashe of Freljord is wooing adventurers but her campaign is proceeding slowly. It's tough to make a living in Freljord." he said. Hhhmmm... I was correct then. Ratharbor would be the biggest adventurer city the whole of Runeterra would ever see. Mwehehehe. "Stop making that scary laugh." Daphne said. Shaggy and Scooby hid behind her and the others. "Nothing. I just had an idea." I said. I sailed ahead and interrupted the haggling. "Oh, hey. Sorry. Took us a bit longer than expected." Bael said apologetically. I smiled. "Silent Marchers, I'm gonna make you a deal." I declared grandly.
I clapped my hands and Mystery Inc. promptly launched into explaining. "Addy's, like, gonna build an adventurer city but he doesn't know much about that profession. He knows only what he's heard from other people, man." Shaggy said. "So he's here in Demacia to spy on what adventurers really do. If he finds out a lot in Demacia, he'll proceed to Phase 2 of the plan." Daphne added. "The best part of this is that Addy's taking adventuring to a whole new level. He'll be training adventurers, taking them in and rearing them." Fred added. "And there will be compensation, of course. You will be rewarded by your performance and Addy's gonna make sure your labors will bear good fruit." Velma concluded. Ezreal and Silent Marchers looked at me like I was crazy. I rolled my eyes. I paid for their tab and grinned in a Cheshire Cat-grin. "So show me what adventurers do." I said mysteriously. I sailed away from the scene. Silent Marchers and the merchant of the stall still couldn't believe that I handed that much money in mere moments.
•
"So you're the High Priest everyone's talking about, huh? I guessed as much why Lady Crownguard would come running to you and why you're friends with the Prodigal Explorer." Simon said. They finally digested it along the way where Mystery Inc. and Ezreal took turns explaining the whole story. "So, Addy, why the hell do you want to build an adventurer city for? What do you need adventurers for?" Ezreal asked. That was the question everyone was wondering about. Mystery Inc. and I swerved in perfect sync, raised our hand and replied. "FOR FUN!" we chorused. Well, that was anticlimactic. "I figured as much. I mean, what kind of person hands out sacred relics to someone they just met?" Ezreal said as if his expectations just got crushed.
"Well, I'm sorry if I didn't meet your standards but that's just that. I want to see some legends come to life. You're pretty much legendary on your own, Ezreal, but I want to see legends rise and live right before my very eyes. I wanna see them reach the peak of their potential and make this world acknowledge their existence. I wanna see that day happening and I wanna be there when that happens. And, most importantly, I can proudly say I had a hand in molding this amazing person." I said. "That sounds about a good a reason enough." Velma said.
Of course, on my hidden agenda, I want to be dear to these people when the time comes so they'll come under my banner on their own will. It's better to conquer people with love than with strength. I will be a person they would bleed for, they'll kill for and would support me to the very last breath and will continue to support me even in the afterlife. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
We exited the gates and I saw the same battlemage I had a rumble with. I saw him and he saw me. I grinned brightly and waved at him. He raised an eyebrow but gave a small wave in return after some time. Well, waddaya know? No line! No long damnable line! Praise the Emperor! "So where to?" I asked. Silent Marchers looked at each other then regained their composure. Their proud and defiant looks were back. Yay! They dropped their guard! "The request we got says the temples need someone to cleanse the Vale Crypts again. This ain't gonna be easy." Maze said as he read the request paper. Lucre took out something from his backpack. It was one of the things they wanted to buy and I paid for. It looked like an oversized carpet. He threw the carpet but it unraveled in the air and remained suspended.
HOLYMOTHEROFGOD! A FLYING CARPET! A REAL FLYING CARPET! OMFG! I was squealing on top of my voice as I saw the item. "It's beautiful! I never saw a flying carpet my whole life! It's amazing!" I was squeaking like a chipmunk on helium. As I fawned on the item, the other looked at me with incredulous expressions. Mystery Inc. had the look of someone who wanted to flee and hide somewhere. "He's never seen one before." Velma said apologetically. We rode on the magic carpet and it soared a medium distance on top of the ground. Well, that's one fantasy down. I had this expectation that it would be like that Whole New World from Disney's Aladdin scene. It turns out that magic carpets used to be able to soar really high but it was banned after it was used for criminal activities and made it difficult for authorities to track down. They told me also that magic carpets of the highest quality can still do that and so much more but their prices are astronomical.
But still, to be able to fly several feet above the ground was amazing. I like flying really. it makes you feel ungrounded, free from earthly limitations. They told me that prices in this world was ranked according to its effects, usage and quality. The ones with the great enchantments and infinite uses were super rare and commanded obscene prices. Only the powerful and the filthy rich could afford them. They did a double take when they saw the Book of Gluttony but didn't seem surprised that I was able to buy it. "Man, if we had that thing, we'd never have to worry about food again. Our expenses would drop down considerably and we could sell some of the food it makes for extra income." Simon said enviously as Shaggy and Scooby continued to empty it. "I plan to give items like these to the top performing adventurers of my city." I said.
Silent Marchers gaped at my words. They clearly couldn't believe what they just said. "Where's this city of yours anyway?" Ezreal asked. "It's New Adriel, formerly Ratharbor." Velma said. The adventurers and Ezreal sputtered. "RATHARBOR?! THE RATHARBOR?! LITTLE BILGEWATER?!" Ezreal said in disbelief. "Like, it's under new management since two days ago. Addy owns it now, man." Shaggy said. "And a lot of weed-cutting too." I said. The adventurers whistled. "I haven't got a solid plan yet but the prototype is still workable. I think if people started coming over there, we can accommodate them." I said. "Addy, I've been meaning to ask and I can't keep it shut anymore. What's that thing on your head?" Ezreal asked. The chicken god was nesting on my head but he was asleep now. I think he got bored somewhere along the way and decided sleeping would be better. "Rall rail rhe Rhicken Rod rof Rhe Read rand Rhe Runderworld!" Scooby introduced grandly. He and Shaggy had changed into herald costumes in a second. "What?" Ezreal echoed. "It's the Chicken God of The Dead and The Underworld!" Daphne supplied. The adventurers and Ezreal burst into hilarious laughter.
"Guys, stop laughing. You're gonna piss him off." I warned. Mystery Inc. nodded feverishly. "Yeah! Like, bad things happen when he's angry!" Shaggy begged. "Reah!" Scooby whined. "Chicken god! Oh, me tummy! Oh, me tummy!" Ezreal laughed, holding his stomach. "Sorry but that's too much to believe!" Misty said in between laughs. The chicken god came awake. It deliberately opened its eyes slowly and let loose the power inside it. We felt it too. Shaggy and Scooby jumped and hid into a Feast basket. How they managed to contort into something small was beyond me. All laughter died down as the divine and terrible power of the chicken god washed over all of us. "Holy-! You weren't joking?!" Ezreal said.
The chicken god screeched and what looked like an instant Harrowing to the Runeterrans appeared out of thin air. They looked ready to kill.
10 Spectral Legions.
10 Corpsefire Warriors.
10 Corpsefire Archers.
10 Corpsefire Mages.
10 Monster Houses.
10 Abominations.
10 Desecrators.
10 Phantom Processions.
10 Plague Pit Dwellers.
1 Skull King.
1 Ghost Zone- Three Watchers.
1 Ghost Zone- Desiree.
"Ooohhh... More servants for moi?" I crooned. The chicken god looked down on me and huffed. I picked him up and stroked his feathers. "Don't be mad, chicken god. They haven't seen you kind here. They're not just used to it." I said. The chicken god looked at me then at them then at me again. It huffed and puffed its feathers. It lifted a wing and elegantly waved it aside. "He says he'll let it pass just this once. Don't do it again." I warned. "Holy crap." Ezreal said as the Underworld family Monster Cards still hovered around us. They were waiting for orders. "Guys, go back to Ratharbor. Tell Hawk Moth to assign you your roles." I ordered the Cards. They bowed low and sped away into the night, looking no different from a dark cloud of the Harrowing. "Can you summon Ghost Boy here?" I asked. The chicken god waved a wing and Ghost Boy appeared out of thin air.
He looked surprised a bit but he saw Mystery Inc. and me and stood ready to serve. "Can I bother you on a little adventure?" I asked. Ghost Boy nodded excitedly. "Is- is- is that really a god?" Ezreal asked. "You have a death wish, don't you?" Maze snapped at him. "Yep. The Chicken God of The Dead and The Underworld. One of the founding gods of Farmlandia where the enslaved flora and fauna united to stand against the abusive mortal races. Of the gods of Farmlandia, he is the most vindictive and passionate. It is he who summoned Underworld into the mortal realm and unleashed the horrors of the dead unto humanity, the prime evils in his eyes." I said in a mysterious voice. You can tell how much I love Card Wars when I can clearly recall the chicken god's lore. "That makes us feel a bit safe." Misty said. She and Maze were yordles and they whistled innocently when Bael gave them a look.
Simon clapped his hands, rubbed them together tightly and bowed his head before the chicken god. He saying some sort of prayer and ended by clapping his hands with a force that made us jump. The chicken god huffed haughtily at this. "Like, how much longer will we wait to get there?" Shaggy asked. "Not for long. The Sendean Arc's there. We'll be crossing the Aganan River soon and the crypts won't be far from that." Maze explained. He pointed at an unnatural arc of rock that rose from the earth like a human spine. "Whoa. That's not natural." I said. Ezreal nodded. "It's a souvenir from the Rune Wars. Only gods know how many battles this land watched over." he said.
As Ezreal launched into an explanation, the adventurers were temporarily distracted from the fact that I was toting a god with me. The chicken god paid no heed to any of it and returned to roost and sleep on my head. Moments later, when came across a massive winding river. Like the arc before, it the river itself looked unnatural. The pattern of the body of water was more twisted than a spider's web and its currents were irregularly shifting from low tide to high tide on its own. That must be Aganan River. Then beyond it was a series of hills that jutted off the ground. There was a total of seven of the hills and I can say this must be the Vale Crypts they were talking about.
"Why do they call it Vale Crypts?" Velma had asked. Good job, girl! It's like you read my mind. "The legend goes that there is a pocket dimension there that led to a wondrous woodland. There are many accounts of worthy people walking into that land. The people who made it were called the Snow Elves. We can say they were an ancient race with really advanced mystic knowledge. The same rune that decorates all of the seven crypts translates as Vale in the old language. Hence the name." Ezreal said. Fred, Daphne and Velma nodded in understanding and looked like they really looked forward to it. Shaggy and Scooby, on the other hand, had hidden behind me in an instant.
The hills looked similar to the burial mounds seen all over Europe and the ones used by Native Americans. The only difference is that the architecture of this sites were more complex in design. Someone had painstakingly put so much effort in making sure the tombs looked grandiose and alien to anyone who beheld it. Carvings of foreign creatures and humanoid figures doing battles, flourishing side-by-side and worshiping strange-looking gods was carved everywhere. I don't really understand the runes that decked these ancient stones but they were brimming with power. It was like wallowing in invisible waters. As the magic carpet landed on the central square, that power that was only fleeting when I was in the air fell full surge on me. I felt both weak and strong at the same time. The chicken god clucked loudly. He was telling me that a local god once graced this place. There is a lingering influence of that god and it's the one that makes this place holy. Unfortunately, dark and terrible creatures sought to defile it. It's rapidly deteriorating.
"Be careful. Something wicked is here. It's been tainting this holy ground." I warned them. The adventurers took me seriously and unsheathed their weapons. "I don't know about holy but, Addy, this place has been haunted ever since I was a kid." Ezreal said. "No. This place was once holy. Something or someone has been working hard to dispel that. I think the perpetrator is the one making the hauntings here." I said. "What're we supposed to do here again?" Fred asked. Misty took out the request form. "Cleanse the tombs of any monster present." she said. "So which way?" Daphne asked. Bael took out a book from his backpack and opened it. Scanning through the ancient pages, he found what he was looking for and chanted the spell. A ghostly ball of fire appeared out of nowhere. It began to glide towards an entrance. "This is our guide. It'll help us find out way through the tombs via the safest path." he explained. "Groovy!" Shaggy and Scooby chorused. They changed into adventurer costumes in a heartbeat.
"That's really something, you guys." I admitted. Along the way, Bael told me that the book was called Mormin's Tome. It's one of nine magical tomes which contained a number of unique spells in it. The best part of the item is that while its spells can be used on a limited number per day, it's basically unlimited as a whole. The weakest spell in it can be used up to ten times a day while the strongest would go for one use a day. It's really useful. "Remember back then where we kinda hesitated when we talked about loot-splitting?" Lucre said. Oh, yeah, I remember that but I just brushed it aside. "The truth is there's a rumor that one of the Tomes were sighted here. Lessina's Tome, to be exact." Maze admitted. Hhhmmm... So that what it was. "Oh. You're going for the set?" Ezreal asked.
Silent Marchers nodded vigorously. "I'm sure Addy will let you have it. He's usually attracted to weird things only." Daphne said. Shaggy and Scooby looked at me. "Rou rhink ris Rook ris reird?" the dog asked, hold the Book of Gluttony up. I grinned. Hell, yeah, I do! "Not just weird things though. Cute, odd and unconventional. I like things like that." I declared proudly. I suddenly jerked. "Something's coming!" I said fearfully. "But I don't feel any-" Misty said then stopped as a ringing howl filled every direction. It came from all around us. It was seriously enough to make me want to run away screaming on top of my voice. Figures were slowly closing in on us. "Are those zombies?" Daphne asked. She, Velma and Fred closed around me like a wall. Shaggy and Scooby hid behind me, trembling.
A deafening whistle filled the air as several bolts of light flurried from Ezreal. Each one sung through the air and pierced their target. Even with huge chunks of their bodies seared off, the figures continued to come towards us. "Great. Flesh Sappers. This got a whole lot harder." Bael said. "What're Flesh Sappers?" I asked. There was a grim look on every Runeterran present. "One of three Sapper-type zombies. Flesh Sappers are walking bombs. They're hard to kill without fire." Ezreal explained. "Fire?" Mystery Inc. echoed. Velma took out her enchanted orb, Fred took out his enchanted sword and shield, Daphne took out her enchanted wand, Shaggy took out his enchanted cards and Scooby took out his enchanted collar. "CHARGE!" Fred yelled as the meddling kids and their dumb dog rushed into the fray.
"Now, that's dedication." Simon said. He laughed heartily and brandished two massive longswords that glowed in cruel rainbow colors. He made a terrible wolf howl and charged into the fight. Bael had taken out what looked to be floating swords that formed a pair of wing-like pattern on his back. Misty was busy chanting, a huge pentagram was underneath her. Maze mentally commanded several floating wands that blasted magic on his targets. Amazing coordination, I must say. This is a result of working together for so long that their actions were so fluid and clockwork. I'm surprised that Shaggy and Scooby had charged in as well. Mystery Inc. worked terribly but they ganged up on one enemy at a time and they watched each other's back.
"Use your weapons, guys! They're enchanted to give you what you need!" I called to them. Look at me, just sitting pretty here. "Exalted champions of the Light and Life, hear our humble plea and grant us you aid! We stand against your ancient nemesis, send your favor that we might slay them in your name! DIAMOND SKIN!" Misty yelled beside me that I jumped back. After her incantation, she recited this prayer-like spell and the pentagram beneath her collapsed and shattered into a thousand pieces. The Silent Marchers suddenly enveloped into an armor of magical diamond. I guess it enhances their defenses. Misty began to channel another spell immediately. "Shadow Demons, go!" I said. My shadow began to bubble and the creatures surged like a dark tide. They covered the earth in a carpet of unnatural darkness and tendrils of shadow erupted on the Flesh Sappers, impaling them and sending them exploding high above the air.
Bits of flesh and viscera began to rain down. Did I mention I have a weak stomach? I can't stand the sight of gore but I'll have to do my best. They said Shadow Demons are weak demons. What kind of standard was that? Are Shadow Demons weak by demon standards or human? "Oh, Mistress who watches over all the forces of the natural world, I call upon you in my time of need! Grant us the strength to weather this darkness, we ask of you! CHANT OF LIFE!" Misty yelled again. FUCK! Why does she do that?! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?! Silent Marchers was suddenly bathed in a green pulsing aura of healing energy. There was a bright light behind me and I looked to see Ezreal channeling a massive wave of light. Ooohhh! It's his ultimate! Uh, what it's name again? Trueshot Barrage? He unleashed a barrage toward where the Sappers were coming. They were wiped out in a instant. I clapped appreciatively. Look at me, sitting pretty here. "Fred, activate you item's Regalia. Daphne, yours has Ward. Velma, you have Inferno. Shaggy, yours is Wave. Scooby, you have Wheel." I mentally communicated with them.
That instant, they activated their item's magic. Fred erupted in an armor of lashing fire. Daphne's hair turned into serpentine lava-like tentacles. Velma yelped as she was forced to start channeling magic. Shaggy's card started flinging in one direction like bullets. Scooby summoned a moving sphere of fire. It took them less then thirty seconds to realize what their magical equipment was supposed to do. They rode the flow amazingly. Once they got it, they functioned again seamlessly, though it was not comparable to Silent Marchers. Ezreal was behind us, acting as an artillery as he fired one barrage after another. Me? I just stood there, grinning like an idiot. Hhhmmm... I like what I'm seeing. Investing in adventurers may prove to be a fruitful venture then.
Suddenly, a chill got down my spine. I sensed something else. My ethereal vision suddenly got into high gear and my mind wandered quickly into the halls of the crypt opposite to where we were supposed to enter. My mind wandered through the dark corners, through winding paths and into a sealed chamber. Inside were many corpses coming to life and desperately banging on the door while screaming for help were what looked to be five very young newbie adventurers. I remember that time when I got sent to the hospital for pushing three kids out of the way of a speeding truck. My body just acted on its own. I saved the kids but I was bedridden for three months (My three bestfriends played nurse the whole time. It was very erotic). Well, the same thing happened. My body went on auto-pilot and I rushed into it.
"WWWHHHOOOAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Velma yelped as her orb had already created a sphere of fire so great, it would no doubt damage severely the entire area. Then the sphere collapsed and formed into a fast-moving expanding wall of energy. It moved and consumed every Sapper coming into contact with it. And there were none. "Rice rob, Relma!" Scooby barked happily as he bathed Velma with doggy drool. She laughed as she pushed the dog off of her. "Well, that was something." Ezreal said as he panted for breath. Silent Marchers joined up with them. They were covered in sweat. Misty's magic had expired and they were back to normal forms. "Let's take a breather!" Daphne suggested. "YEAH!" everyone else chorused. "Addy, I didn't see you helping enough." Ezreal panted playfully. "Addy? Addy?" he said then looked around for me. I wasn't there.
•
I zoomed through the hallways. It was lit by Phantom Fireball TOKENS the chicken god created. Shadow Demons and Ghost Boy blasted anything that tried to stop us. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Why bother with that when all the monsters here could just be banished by a wave of the chicken god's wing? Well, the answer would be no. Because the chicken god is a unique Omnicard Monster Card with an Attack of NONE and a Defense of 10. That means despite its impressive Defense, you can't do anything about his Attack. Attack ratings of 0 can be raised repeatedly but an Attack rating of NONE can't be raised, like, ever. That means the chicken god is just a summoning platform for special summoning other Monster Cards from Underworld and Farmlandia into the field. Why do think it's been summoning other Cards just to get the job done?
Many Cards are limited to Rule 15 of Card Wars Lexicanum which prohibits the existence of more than one kind of the same Card on the field. Example of this is Nessie (For good reason. Imagine Cryptid players piling their Card-killers on you in an instant) and all Omnicards. So even thought all my Cards seem OP in their own way, they're still bound to the rules of the Lexicanum which makes me extra careful on how I should use them. You can tell if a Card is only limited to one on the field if its special effects have names in it instead of the usual standard text. Ghost Boy, for example, has three named special effects: Weather Control, Fiery/Frosty Breath and King of Ghosts. Weather Control lets him remove up three Cards of the enemy's, Fiery/Frosty Breath lets him attack up to three times per turn and King of Ghosts lets him special summon any Card with Ghost Zone in its name.
Why am I babbling about this? Because I'm so damn nervous! What the hell am I doing? Ghost Boy is doing overtime trying to defend me but how long can he keep up with that? Shadow Demons can defend me for how long too? I should've taken more points in offensive spells! I took deep breaths and tried to calm down. I summoned several special cookies using Living Bread. Boom Cookies. They explode with flavor in your mouth and literally explode like a grenade if you want it to. I threw several of it to the incoming crowd and it exploded. Debris, bone and bits of flesh rained on me but I didn't care. Those kids could die by the time I arrive if I slow down. I could hear their screams now. It's louder. Then that means I'm closer.
A sealed door! I can hear banging on the other side alongside hysteric voices crying for help! "Kids, get clear of the door!" I screamed from the other side. "Okay! Please help us!" a boy's voice came from the other side. I threw ten Boom Cookies and watched as the door exploded open. Five kids staggered out of the door and unfortunately, so did a swarm of the living dead. Shadow Demons surged from the ground and shaped into shadow whips with a force that split open a corpse with one strike. "Get up! You're getting out of here alive!" I yelled at them. "Eat it!" I said as I threw several Cookies of Complete Recovery. It's another one of my own creation. Boosts natural regeneration considerably and applies a magical healing over time effect when consumed. It's also delicious and a comfort food in the making. The kids ate it without a word and I saw the magic taking effect as color began to return to their faces. Thank God, I got here just in time. "RUN!" I yelled. The kids ran indeed.
Ghost Boy summoned an indoor storm, raining deadly shards of ice, raging winds and lightning on foes. The progress was slow. Oh, God, I remember my Mana was ticking down. A fine time I chose not to wear my clothes from Elder Scrolls and Diablo. By the way, all that time the chicken god sat on my head, munching on some cookies like he was watching a really gripping movie. Stupid bird. But he did summon Ghost-Wisp and Phantom Fireball TOKENS to help us. I should tell you another Card Wars fact to distract you from the dilemma I'm currently facing. The chicken god has the special effect called Hosts of The Dead. Basically, the chicken god is the only Card in the entire game that can summon more than one type of TOKENS. He has Ghost-Wisps, Spooks, Hauntings, Phantom Fireballs, Lingering Presences, Lost Souls and Shadow Forms TOKENS. If enough number of the same type of TOKENS were sacrificed, a special effect would come into play for your next turn. OMFG. WHAT AM I SAYING?!
I need to focus getting out of here. Oh, Ghost Boy, I love you so much. You're my favorite Card from both Underworld and Superheroes! Hey, the chicken god appears in both Farmlandia and Underworld. Some Cards can appear in the deck of one card family even if those said cards belong to another family. It's one of the several intertwining complexity of Card Wars. School of Pain's The Populars: Born Nun can grant access to Heavenly Host's Acts of Faith Mechanic. Atlanteans' Theocracy can access Celestials' Apocalypse mechanic. And so on and so forth.
FOCUS, ADRIEL! GET A FUCKING GRIP! Ghost Boy did a good job keeping the horde in in the back. "Lesser Demonic Wish-Granting!" I intoned. Dark smoke appeared and took shape in my hands. Twelve marbles and each of them was enchanted with the divine spell Lesser Sanctify Ground. I threw one marble and it exploded. Like a growing plague, holy seals and symbols began to appear on the walls and spread in a slow but steady rate. As the dead stepped on the sanctified area, they were forced to rest. I could hear them mouthing "thank you" to me as they were freed.
It'll stop the weak undead from passing but the stronger ones can move through it albeit weakened and damaged considerably. It's a good thing I thought of it. Damnit. Why didn't I think of that ages ago?! I was furious with myself. The spell lasts for an hour. Is an hour enough to cleanse all the dead from this corner? I don't know and I don't wanna find out. We ran and ran. Funny, I don't remember taking this long to find the damn exit. Then I saw a landmark. An undead pinned to the wall. Yeah, I did that. It'll be easy to find the exit with this. "Let's go! We're almost there!" I yelled. I threw another marble at the wave coming out of the left wing of the hall as we swerved to the right. Again, it was filled with holy magic.
Damnit. How many people are buried here? This number is way too many. Are there necromancers here? If that's the case, then it's understandable. Thank God most of them were weak. They were the standard zombies that were difficult to kill. The difference between zombies made by a virus or an outbreak and zombes that are plain corpses coming back to unlife is that virus zombies can be killed by taking out the head, reanimated corpses had to be reduced to ashes to force it down permanently. The exit! Boy, am I glad to see it! I threw another marble back to the horde behind us and holy magic exploded again. We burst through the exit and slammed the doors behind us. I threw another marble inside just in case.
Well, out of the frying pan AND INTO THE MICROWAVE! Sappers were everywhere! Ezreal, Silent Marchers and Mystery Inc. were nowhere in sight! They must've thought I entered through the other crypt! "This fuckery ends now." I hissed angrily. "By the power of Athena, I summon thee!" I intoned. Summoning the God Power Restoration, the heavens above opened and rained eternal heavenly light upon all around us. The undead dissipated, their cheering voices rose into the skies as they were free to move on to the afterlife for good. Black smoke sizzled and hissed from the accursed ground. Holy light flooded into the crypts, opening doors as the mighty will of the goddess Athena searched for more desecrated dead to free. The ancient burial grounds around us began to rearrange themselves as time and tide's ravage against it waned. Gradually, the haggard and abandoned look was washed away to reveal a pristine panorama.
The kids looked at me with a look between awe and disbelief. "Are you the High Priest that visited Demacia a while ago?" one of them asked. I glared at them. "My friends are lost because I came to rescue you. Either you plan to head home this instant or help me search this place top to bottom." I demanded angrily. The kids looked lost. "We want to help. You saved our lives but what can we do? We left all our items back at the crypt. There's no way to get it back now." one of them said. I sighed. Dark smoke swirled from me again and launched into black-colored wisps at the kids. It formed into new armor and weapons, durable quality items with useful enchantments on them. The kids' eyes widened again.
I saw a trail of Scooby Snacks to follow. Must be Velma's idea if I ever return here, I'd have something to lead me to them. "Come on! It's dangerous to be alone. The undead may have been taken care of but not the perpetrators. Let's go!" I said. Shadow Demons surged underneath like a tidal wave and carried us where the Scooby Snacks led.
•
"When I see Adriel, I'm gonna wring his neck!" Daphne said as she scrambled to dodge several fireballs. When they entered the crypt they were supposed to enter in the first place, they thought Adriel had been there but he's not and they were trapped between waves of the undead. Skeletal undead poured from hidden doors and passages. "We've been here ten times already and the numbers is nothing like what we cleansed before." Bael complained. Velma had completed another channeling and an expanding wall of holy energy pulsed outward, destroying every undead it came into contact.
"This is no joke. It'll be our heads if something happens to Addy. We'll be dead for sure!" Fred said. Shaggy and Scooby shivered at the thought. "We forfeit the contract. We surrender its fruit and accept its venom." Mystery Inc. chorused. The weapons Adriel gave them dissipated into nothingness. This elicited a gasp from Ezreal and Silent Marchers. They abandoned the contract that gave them those enchanted weapons but they didn't abandon the contract that gave them the costumes to blend in. The kids linked hands together and summoned forth a terrible Villain. A sinister-looking book appeared out of thin air and dropped on Scooby's waiting hands.
Mystery Inc. has the power to summon a unique Villain, each of which has special abilities of its own. While the Villains they call are not outstandingly powerful, en masse they are a threat you should really consider.
"Let the evil from the past breathe again with fiery blast!" they chorused. An unnatural wind filled the chamber and a rising malevolent force was felt. The wind formed into an unnatural congregation of clouds that rounded over the ceiling.
"Let the dark winds whip the night to blow away the force of light!"A green bolt of magic snaked from the book, rose into the air then struck Mystery Inc., empowering them with black magic.
"Dreadful darkness, hear my cry, bring back one who cannot die! Let the witch who perished here live again and reappear!" they cried. Black smoke crackling with green energies rose from the book. Howling winds joined in and the earth shook at the imminent arrival of a Villain. Smoke and wind joined together, forming evil images in the air and swirled into a globe. It dissipated, leaving behind a pale woman who carried with her an aura of a witch. It was Sara Ravencroft.
"What dost thou need?" she asked as she floated down. Mystery Inc. did a dogeza bow on the floor. "ADDY'S MISSING! WE'LL BE BITING THE DUST IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO HIM!" they bawled desperately. "Thou art dead for sure." she said. "You sound pretty calm for a situation so desperate." Daphne commented. Sara snorted.
"Art thou jesting? Lord Adriel is far safer than thee. Thou entered the wrong crypt and Lord Adriel now seeks thee. Survive until our lord arrives." she said simply. Mystery Inc. was back on their feet in a second. They sheepishly patted dust off their clothes and pretended nothing embarrassing happened. "How did you know Addy's safe?" Velma asked. "Dost thou not feel the holy power? Adriel's miracle cleansed the dead and they art free. But within this cursed labyrinth is a creature neither undead nor living. We must seek it lest they raise more of the dead to send above. Adriel will be pleased with this." Sara said decisively. Finally, someone was taking command.
"Well, you heard the lady." Ezreal said. He quite surprised with himself that he wasn't amazed by what just happened. The boy thought he was already getting used to it but wondered what other dark servants Adriel kept in his retinue. Mystery Inc., Sara, Silent Marchers and Ezreal moved swiftly through the halls. True to Sara's words, it was empty. The masses of undead were gone. "When did this place become a den for necromancers?" Misty said. There was a fiery gleam in her eyes. Necromancy was frowned upon in all of Valoran with the exception of Noxus and Zaun. It's an art that desecrates the dead. A huge contributor to the hate of that specific forbidden art was the steady incursions of the Black Mist. When the Harrowing arrives, many people die but they don't find any rest. Instead, they are doomed to wander the Black Mist as twisted parodies of life.
"If they could raise this many undead, I think it could be a whole cult down there." Simon said. Shaggy and Scooby shook fearfully at that. "I don't think they're gonna pay us extra for this." Bael complained. The rest of Silent Marchers nodded. "But Addy is more likely going to give you a reward." Ezreal said. At this prospect, Silent Marchers seem to revive instantly. "Adriel is sure generous." Sara said sarcastically. Mystery Inc. gave her a reprimanding look. Maze stopped and raised a small paw. Everyone froze. He sensed something, closing his eyes to focus his sense of hearing. "What is it?" Fred asked. "Chanting. Many voices. Around twelve people." he said. Mystery Inc. called upon the magic bestowed upon them by Sara's spellbook. They levitated off the ground, with fireballs on each hand. They were ready to storm. Sara touched the wall of the crypt and vicious roots and pumpkin minions grew out of it instantly.
"I think they're restarting the ritual. Lord Adriel's power just interrupted their ceremony. Let's strike." Maze said. Silent Marchers prepared. "Blood is life and life is blood! For blood flows in the veins of men and sustain life, I call upon the One who stands in the pools of life! Grant us blood that we may outlive the horrors! PRESENCE OF THE LEECH!" Misty intoned softly. Silent Marchers' armor suddenly bathed in vampiric energies. They would use it to sap the energies of the living and the dead to heal their wounds and hasten their opponents' demise. They hugged the walls and silent crept forward. They came upon a lit chamber and took a peek inside. Inside were indeed cloaked men and women, twelve in number.
They were chanting a foreign language that the Runeterrans didn't understand. "What are they doing?" Lucre asked. "Like, they're trying to reinstate the rotten mojo back in this place. I think they need that mojo make it easier for them to, like, make those clambering corpses!" Shaggy said in utter fear. "Reah! Rey're rin rhe riddle rart!" Scooby said. "Not for long." Sara said. With a gesture, her pumpkin minions rolled to the floor and quietly crept where the necromancers were. With a snap of her fingers, the pumpkins exploded with a force that send them victims crashing against the walls. Mystery Inc. charged forward with their eyes closed and began hurling fireballs randomly everywhere. Sara, Silent Marchers and Ezreal stayed behind as mighty explosions racked the chamber next to them.
When it stopped, they peeked inside and the room was black as smoke. No trace of the necromancers was left, just smoldering ash. "Whoa. Courage of the cowards." Maze said, nudging Misty. The two yordles giggled at that. "I was so scared. I thought we'd be done for." Velma panted. "Do you have, like, a Scooby Snack?" Shaggy said. The two were sorely tempted to start snacking this instant but they knew Adriel wasn't around. It won't be fair. Maze jumped on the platform where the necromancers and gasped. Silent Marchers and Ezreal ran to where he was. On the circular platform was a pentagram of ornate design and in its center, decked with sacrificial offerings of both fresh and rotten bodies like some sort of gruesome shrine was an orb of dark purple color. It glowed menacingly in the dark. "How they hell did they get their hands on a Soul Furnace?!" Ezreal yelled in horror.
"Rat's rat?" Scooby asked, sniffing the dark orb suspiciously. He snapped back and shook behind Shaggy when he felt the unholy power. "It's a Soul Furnace. It's a product of unholy alchemy and there's only one thing this object is used for. It's to summon a Harrowing where its ritual is completed." Ezreal explained. He was pale and panting. And so did the Silent Marchers. "Why dost thou waste time then? Make haste. Peril approaches." Sara said. She summoned more of her pumpkin minions. "Wait." Ezreal said. He began to rummage through his pockets and took out a worn out map. He opened it and chanted. "Leave no secrets untold." he said. The map began to glow and it revealed a new layout. It was the map of the current level of the dungeon! "Is that a Dungeon Diver?" Bael asked as he recognized it.
The Dungeon Diver was an enchanted map that scoured its immediate location and displayed it on the paper with a 90% accuracy. Usually for enchanted maps to work, one needs a scrying spell to reveal the surroundings then show on the map. The Dungeon Diver is different in a sense that it combines both functions seamlessly. It was made by Nadine Strom who happened to be the aunt of Ezreal. She got the little explorer this gift when he was still a kid. Ezreal rarely used it but he kept it with him all the time because it was his lucky charm. "Detect all Soul Furnaces nearby." he said. Seven glowing spots appeared on different places in the map. "Holy Freljord! Are they trying to summon a Level 5 Harrowing?!" Simon cursed.
Level 5 Harrowing meant complete annihilation of a region. It would mean summoning the Black Mist to a degree that the horrors of the undead could overwhelm an area over the span of minutes. Usually, level 5 was designated when more than five Dark Lords of the Shadow Isles led the Harrowing. But guess what? Though the Dark Lords won't answer to the summons, the many lesser creatures of the Black Mist would still be enough to annihilate this whole area. "Is this the heart?" Lucre asked as he pointed to a particularly big spot. It was larger than the others and was located two floors down. "It's a possibility." Ezreal said. Their attention snapped back on the map. Two of the smaller spots were snuffed out instantly. "Wha-?" Maze exclaimed. "Could that be Addy?" Daphne asked. Mystery Inc. and Sara looked at one another. They were very much concerned. "Let's split and take care of the others." Ezreal said.
•
I whistled as I skipped by one room after another. Using Lesser Demonic Wish-Granting, I summoned a bottomless bag of marbles enchanted with Lesser Sanctuary plus I enchanted those same marbles with Amplify Effect and Elevate Enchantment. Wherever I threw the marbles, there would be an explosion of divine magic. When I used Restoration, it did clean out most of the undead. The ones it didn't manage to take were the really powerful ones. Although they were damaged, I didn't want to get close to find out for myself. I would just throw a marble and KA-BOOOOOOM!
The kid I saved were right behind me. They didn't do much because there was almost nothing for them to kill here. I weakened some of the stronger undead for them and had them deal the killing blow. Rinse and repeat. They were brave enough to attack on their own but their coordination was terrible. You could really tell they were beginners. "Aren't you too young to be delving through life-threatening dungeons like this?" I asked them. I got to know their names too. There was Ash (He's the leader. A Squire with degrees in Summoning. Bad combo), Karin (She's a competent Druid but susceptible to panic attacks), Josh (Both an Enchanter and Blacksmith. What the hell's he doing here?), Dinkey (The Mage who had the nasty habit of firing her spell point-blank range) and Shayne (Ranger who had lots of traps that were weak but he's aiming for spamming them). Yep. I know it's sad. These kids could've died if I wasn't there to save their butts.
"Oh. We have no choice. Heh. Besides, it's just the five of us now." Ash said meekly. I raised an eyebrow. "We're orphans. Our parents died from the famine six years ago. We're from the same village. We were transferred to an Ionian orphanage. Got big dreams, ran away, never looked back and scraped for a living." Shayne said. OMFG. That's a sad way for a kid to grow up. My heart ached for them. "I'm so sorry." I said lamely. The kids smiled instead. "No worries, mister. We owe you big time." Ash said. "How did you get your jobs?" I asked. They didn't have the money to pay for a trainer so there must be someone who pitied them. "Lady Akali. She bought some Skill Tomes for us, got us our jobs and trained us. She's our Sensei. She believed in our inner strength. When the Shinobi Wars started, we saw little of her from then on. When we ran away, we promised we'd return someday and pay her back." Dinkey said. OMFG. DOUBLE HEARTACHE. WHO KNEW THE FIST OF SHADOWS WAS SO KIND TO KIDS?! TEARS, DON'T YOU DARE FALL! TEARS, DON'T FAIL ME NOW! Okay. I'll distract myself. I suppose I should start explaining things about them.
Ash has both Squire and Summoner jobs. In my opinion, that's a big no-no. Squire required you to speck in strength and physical fitness while Summoner required the academics, intelligence and willpower. How's a kid suppose to cope with that? As a result, Ash was paper (Really paper) and he had the role of the frontman. Imagine that. He made up for his squishy-ness with summoning supernatural allies (His summons are tankier than him).
Karin is okay. By far in this group, she's the most okay in my point of view. She had little in the way of offense but she made up for it by spending so much time with healing spells and disrupting spells. She had an area-of-effect healing spell that could've decimated the undead in the chamber where they were trapped. That's when they told me that Karin freezes like a deer on the headlights and it's like someone cast a perma-silence on her. As I said, she's competent BUT...
Josh is an Enchanter and a Blacksmith. Again, the big mistake of picking two jobs to level-up simultaneously as a beginner. Very slow progress. He's got non-combative jobs and yet he's here in the middle of the fight. He acted as some sort of walking hospital slash ammunition bay. He has the rare spell Factory that duplicates items but for this kid, it's on a level that the only thing it can duplicate are low-quality items. He sits on the back and throws healing potions to friends, offensive potions to enemies, arrows to Shayne and, if he's lucky, gain a magical scroll.
Dinkey is the group's Mage. I think this girl should've been given a non-magical role because all she does is charge at the enemy and release her spells right on their faces. I couldn't tell you how many times she nearly killed herself. To make matters worse, Dinkey's spells are all poison. That meant that even if she unloaded her spells on someone's face, there is no way it would result to an instant death BECAUSE POISONS ARE DAMAGE-OVER-TIME EFFECTS! YOU'RE TOO YOUNG TO HAVE A DEATH WISH!
Shayne is semi-decent for a Ranger but he was inflexible when it came to combat. The kid's got enough know-how to operate ranged weapons but the problem was his aim. His accuracy was less them impressive but the true flaw lay in his traps. Rangers are supposed to deal in subterfuge, sneak attacks and overall indirect combat. Shayne's focused on traps but the damage they deal is abysmal. I saw one zombie walk through a hallway rigged by his traps and it didn't suffer as much as a scratch by the time it finished. That's when I realized that Shayne's traps are made to inhibit enemy movement and apply on them CCs.
I had a headache just from that. First, it's not a wise move to take two jobs at the same time because your progress is gonna be damn slow. Second, CC is nice but damage is indispensable. Third, MITIGATE THE DAMAGE YOU TAKE. Fourth, don't do anything stupid. These are the cardinal rules at playing RPGs. It's the same in one game, it's the same in every game. Overall, they were a challenge to raise as adventurers and that made me excited. This uniqueness of theirs can be used to their advantage. If I can find out what they're good at, I can bring out their potential.
We walked again into another chamber full of necromancers. I thought they were undead the first time I saw them so I wasted nothing and hurled a dozen of the marbles. Imagine my surprise when they were obliterated. It turned out that divine magic purged the necromantic energies they take into themselves and in so doing, killed the necromancers in the process. Personally, I don't think they were much of a fighter. They rely on their curses and undead servants to make up the huge gap between them and melee-oriented specialists.
I should mention that the bottomless bag of marbles containing holy magic wasn't just the one I summoned. I created several other versions of these marbles, each of them containing a disrupting spell. The holy-enchanted marbles were color white. I have other marbles the color of green, blue and red. Green marbles were enchanted with paralyzing and weakening magic. Blue marbles were enchanted with silencing and draining magic. Red marbles were enchanted with elemental and harmful magic. I took three marbles and casually threw it into the room. The necromancers would've been able to sense us easily but they were to occupied with their ritual. I had just purified this place in seconds where they tried corrupting for weeks or months. The marbles exploded and the necromancers looked stunned as my magic took effect.
Their movements became sluggish and each movement made them feel fatigue. "Get them!" I said to the kids. They yelled a battlecry and charged inside. They looked so cute and at the same time you'd think that they're gonna be so dead.
Dinkey ran ahead of the others. What did I tell ya? She charges headfirst. Dear God, she's gonna get herself killed. "Poison Nova!" she yelled. A circular eruption of poisonous energy exploded around her. Well, at least she opens with a high-damage spell. "Mud Golems!" Ash yelled. Liquid earth rose both on his left and right side, coalesced into golems of mud. They were slow apprentice-level golems but they were long-lasting and were immune to normal weapons. The golems clambered towards the enemies. "Triple Shield!" Karin yelled. A magical bubble that shielded them swallowed Ash, Shayne and Dinkey. Oh, so she only freezes when things turn bad. That's good to know. Josh tossed several low-quality exploding potions at one necromancer. It wasn't even enough to kill him. Shayne let loose a literal rain of bolts and yelled for Josh to throw him a quiver. WTF?! One attack then reload?! Did I mention he took out just one enemy from that attack? "Poison Shower!" Dinkey yelled, waving her wand. A corrosive clump of clouds appeared on the ceiling. Everyone dove for cover as the acid rain fell.
So the kid had friendly fire spells on her repertoire? And she casts it regardless of her allies' safety? I think I might provide them with poison immunity. Ash's Mud Golems were too slow to escape and they reduced to ashes by the corrosive rain. Josh threw low-quality regeneration potions to everyone. I think they got this part memorized. Once Dinkey unleashes a devastating poison spell, they would take cover and use the time to replenish. I saw Josh throw low-quality bolts to Shayne who loaded it immediately. Took seconds for the kid to reload. He's good, at the reloading part at least. You might ask why I'm just sitting here doing nothing. Actually, I'm very paying attention to how they're functioning. These kids do have potential. I just don't know how they're channeling it.
Ash's good with predicting his allies' actions and he barked orders in precise and calm efficiency. His friends looked at him every once in a while but instead of correcting their mistakes, he takes it into himself to make sure the team adapts to it. That's something great in a leader but something difficult to maintain especially if you're also the one in charge of taking the blows. I noticed his summoning spells were all focused on minions that absorbed attacks like a sponge.
Karin's spells were very cost-efficient. While she was just a beginner, she had the expertise of a master. She had this precognitive ability to anticipate an enemy's move and cast a spell that would reduce the damage beforehand. I saw her shield Josh when I thought she should have used a warding spell, only to find that a lethal attack was coming from another undead outside of my field of vision. If she only could find a way to be courageous when things take a turn for a worse, she could help a lot turning that around.
Josh's absolutely divine. Not only was this kid dedicated to catering the immediate needs in the battlefield but he's also got to put up with being the rearguard. Shayne was completely dependent on him for ammo so Josh had to choose whether to stay close to Karin or Shayne. Did I mention hat Josh really had a good throwing distance and accuracy? I was wondering how Josh is leveling his Enchanter and Blacksmith jobs. Those jobs are non-combative. In order to level up a job, you have to spend so much time practicing the art. I would go as far as to say he's doing it in his spare time.
Dinkey's spells were deadly, I'll be the first to admit that. I would like to amend my first impressions about her spells. Although it would not result in an instant death, if you manage to get hit by one, you can expect your HP bar to drop down significantly. She had the added bonus of her spells being able to affect a large area at once. While it sounded good on paper, that would mean her allies would be in danger too if she were to unleash it. Woe to the unprepared. And I should also note that most, if not all, of the friendly fire was coming from her.
Shayne's either got no attack plan or that horrible waste of ammo is his attack plan. It's like he's using his crossbow as a shotgun and firing it from a distance. The result? An entire hallway would be covered in bolts and the first person in line would look like a pincushion. And a many other ammo wasted when it could've been used properly. You only use a shotgun in short range. It's not something reliable to use in long range. I did see something great choices of CC in Shayne's traps though. I saw a trap that can polymorph, a trap that can slow, a trap that can freeze and a trap that can stun. That shotgun gameplay might be useful after all.
"Wood Puppets!" Ash yelled. The earth rose on Ash's two sides and formed into a pair of overlarge weapon-wielding puppets of wood. He yelled again and charged in with his summons. Dinkey's spells made sure the remaining necromancers were half-dead. The kids picked off the unfortunate who remained. After killing the lot, the kids sunk to the ground, panting and smiling proudly. "Well done, kids." I said. I levitated some Mini-Cakes of Complete Recovery to them. The difference between a Cookie of Complete Recovery and a Mini-Cake of Complete Recovery is only the flavor and the duration of the effects, mini-cakes last longer. The strongest of the Complete Recovery set were the cakes. Theirs lasted two days straight. The kids devoured it in seconds, relishing the heavenly flavors attacking their taste buds. Then I passed around some grape-flavored potions.
Where did I get these, you ask? Mystery Inc. and Ezreal talked me into buying some while we were in Underside. And I also discovered something about Living Bread. It's limited only to pastries and bread-based food. The only reason I can bypass that rule is because of Enchanter's Talent. It allows me to push Living Bread past its limits up to five times a day. Would you know I used up the five already? Changing food size, manipulating food nature and others that downed it. The last charge I used to enchant the potions with flavor and enhanced effects. That's the problem with these skills. Every time I try to enchant a food, it uses Living Bread as its main reference then Enchanter's Talent as a booster. When it's off, it costs more Mana than I would want to spend.
We came across three of these rituals being performed in three different places. I wiped two joint rituals in a large chamber with Boom Cookies and the magical marbles. I think I'm turning into a pervert, deriving pleasure of seeing explosions claiming the lives of these dark practitioners. "Let's move on." I said. The kids nodded and followed my lead. I was pretty worried about my Mana dropping down so I summoned Meatbuns of Spiritual Resilience. These decadent breads are enchanted to greatly increase Mana regeneration while out of combat and gave me an aura that stole Mana from Mana-wielding enemies when they are damaged by me or my allies. The effects last for a day and was pretty OP considering its duration alone. Living Bread got to level 8 from this success.
•
"Sssoooooo... Lord Ezreal, do you really think Lord Adriel is a High Priest? What kind of god is his patron?" Maze asked as the Silent Marchers and the Prodigal Explorer happened to finish obliterating another set of ritual-conducting necromancers. Ezreal thought about it for a moment. "I don't know really. I see him toting dark creatures as his servants. Those teens and their dog can summon dark creatures too. I could say a dark god but the prince and Xin say that he could summon divine miracles and he has sacred beasts and relics with him, I would say it would be a benign god. I pretty much think Adriel's got an entire pantheon of gods with him." the Piltovian said. Silent Marchers went silent.
"It's a shame then. An amazing High Priest and the next thing we know, Evarran grabs him from underneath our noses." Simon said. Ezreal grinned. "I don't think Evarran would do something like that. They don't fully comprehend the number of creatures that serve Lord Adriel. And I don't think we've begun to see anything other than the tip of the iceberg. Hell, I don't know what tricks Addy's got up his sleeve." he said. Ezreal suddenly bolted. He felt a terrifying presence. "Did you feel that?" he asked. The Silent Marchers looked at each other in askance. They didn't feel it but Ezreal did. It was something he would never forget 'til the day he would die.
He remembered his harebrained idea to poach a relic from the Shadow Isles and he met face-to-face with one of its Dark Lords. Though he escaped from the Iron Revenant's grasp, the terror Ezreal felt that day haunted him and he sometimes would dream of Mordekaiser. He would return to that helpless position while the undead overlord pried his soul off his body piece by piece. Ezreal never told this to anyone and each time he remembered, he would thank the gods for his narrow escape. But whenever a Harrowing was coming, the boy could sense the rolling darkness of the Black Mist approaching. It seems that today, he would come to face another Dark Lord. He had no idea who it would be but he was sure it wasn't Mordekaiser this time. Take your pick. Karthus, Hecarim or Thresh. Either way, your soul's good as gone.
Ezreal ran ahead, teleporting repeatedly while trying to calm his shaking heart and his shakier legs. Silent Marchers felt the rolling darkness. They knew that a darker creature lurked in the crypts. They prayed that nothing would befall on them. But it would be too much to ask. "So, why aren't we running away again?" Misty asked. Her friends just shrugged. "I don't know but I think this is the right thing to do. Even we die, we'll be embraced by the gods. Lord Adriel would make sure our soul gets to afterlife safe and sound." Bael said. "Well, that's reassuring." Simon said sarcastically. They shared a chuckle and continued to run ahead. Ezreal fired one barrage after another. Even though it was taxing him, the boy pushed through. He was sweating and shaking.
A massive shriek pierced the silence of the tomb. Blood ran cold on their veins. They knew that voice. It was Adriel's voice. He's in deep trouble.
•
"Greetings and salutations, mortals. Welcome to the festivity." Sara said as she saw Ezreal and the Silent Marchers run towards her. She looked pretty disinterested on what was going on. Beside her, Ghost Boy held the chicken god in his arms. He nodded when he saw the others. Ezreal and Silent Marchers peered into the chamber were a huge fight broke out. Their mouths dropped open. Inside was the biggest congregation of necromancers ever seen by the adventurers and Ezreal but their numbers were swallowed by a greater number of rampaging giant spiders, shadowy demon-like monsters, wolf packs and horses. On a raised pedestal, a smaller fight was breaking on. Ezreal and Silent Marchers watched as Adriel and Mystery Inc. ganged on a Dark Lord from the Shadow Isles.
Their blood ran cold when they recognized who it was. It was the Chain Warden Thresh. It wasn't an epic fight of steel or magic. It looked like a fight between two women over an unfaithful man. Lots of hair-pulling, clawing and slapping. It would be funny if it weren't for the fact that a real-life monster was the one they're ganging on.
"Whoa. Lord Adriel's so brave." a group of kids chorused in awe. Ezreal's head swerved to them and found five kids. They looked like beginners and definitely had the air of a beginner. "What happened here?" Bael asked. Boy, is it a story...
Ten minutes ago... "ADDY!" Mystery Inc. yelled in joy and relief as we accidentally stumbled to each other. Okay, let's just ignore the fact that they had fireballs on their hands and we had weapons drawn. We hugged each other in relief. "You're a sight for sore eyes, Addy!" Fred said. We broke up and laughed. "Where are the others?" I asked. Fred, Velma and Daphne took turns explaining. They explained to me the situation. Apparently, someone was crazy enough to try to summon a Harrowing here. I think Demacia would be caught in the area-of-effect.
Whoa. Are these necromancers that fanatical about death? I wouldn't be surprised if they were. I mean, people are pretty crazy on their own way. It's like what they said in Disney's Zootopia. "My child, we may be evolved but deep down, we are still animals." said Mr. Big. Ain't that the harsh truth? I think I gotta go do my good deeds. As we walked through the halls, Scooby was tracking the similar scent that the necromancers shared. The dog said it smelled pretty horrible. I think it was tainted by dark magic of a high degree. We didn't know what we would find out but it's gonna be, no doubt, very dangerous.
We walked into another chamber but this one had huge winding stairs that led down to another level below. Ezreal said some dungeons would take months to complete. I really prayed this is not one of those. We don't have months to complete this. If they manage to complete their ritual, we'll all be dead. No exceptions. I can teleport myself, the kids and Mystery Inc. out of here but I don't want to leave behind Silent Marchers and Ezreal. This would look very bad in my competency sheet. As we neared the stairs, we heard some wailing sounds and the floor began to shake. "Something draws near!" Sara said as she pushed me behind her and summoned her pumpkin minions.
That's when we saw it. A solid amalgamation of tortured souls, screaming and crying, black as their tar-like skins and their eyes were blood red and they wore a permanent look of torture on their faces. They overwhelmed us like a tidal wave and dragged us. That's when I screamed like crazy. We were drowning in the anguish of the souls. We could hear their demented emotions. Poor things. They were in pain for so long that nothing else but the prospect of someone else joining them in their damnation could give them a semblance of joy. The souls freed us finally from their grasp. They brought us to the biggest chamber we have yet to come across in the crypts.
"Welcome, little ones." a hollow voice that sent definite chills down my spine. Shaggy and Scooby hid behind me, their shaking was twice more than their usual shaking. We looked at the raised pedestal of the chamber and saw a cloaked skeleton decked in grisly green light. He had a wicked lantern-sickle and I should mention his lantern echoed with throes of suffering from the souls within. "Oh, look. The weakest bitch from the Shadow Isles." my voice came from my throat. HOLY SHIT. Where did that come from? Did my mouth just move on its own? Necromancers around us snarled at my insult. Thresh laughed. "Ooohhh... This one has spirit. I'll enjoy breaking. I'll definitely enjoy breaking it piece by piece." he chuckled heartily. I gave back his laugh.
OMFG. I'm bluffing my way out of here. "Oh, I know you, Thresh. From your first launch to the lore rework to the many nerfs they hammered on you. You don't scare me. You're not scary enough. Sure, the people around here would be scared of a psychotic ghost running around and torturing them for the fun of it. But if we scrape off that one redeeming feature, you're less than mediocre. You're not fit to be in ranks of The Exorcist, The Ring, The Grudge, The Shining and the likes." I said in the tone I knew Fan Geisha would use right now. The Black Mist rolled violently. I guess I pressed a button. Man, I pressed it real good. Nurufufufu~!
"You think you outnumber us. You think you're superior to us. Guess again, bitch, because you're the one who closed in here. You made the perfect mousetrap for yourselves." I said. He didn't know it was past 12:00. That meant I can use Restoration again. "By the power of Athena, Nephthys, Aphrodite, Dionysus, Hyperion and Bragi, I summon thee!" I intoned. Activating the God Powers Restoration, Ancestors, Curse, Bronze, Chaos and Flaming Weapons respectively at the same time. Our skins turned into armor the color of deepest gold and our weapons were bathed in flame. Undead minions of my own rose from the floor to do my bidding and necromancers fell to the floor and began to change into pigs. Others were afflicted with madness and savage bloodlust and they sought to kill their former allies. All the way to the earth above, the heavens opened and the crypts were once again bathed in holy light of the gods.
My Battle Realms Innate Power triggered and shale spiders, hordelings, wolves and horses, all affected with Bronze and Flaming Weapons, appeared out of nowhere. Thresh and the remaining necromancers looked stunned at this sudden turn of events. The Black Mist darkened and coiled. He summoned a swarm of undead within the murky darkness. A black wave of faceless monsters that resembled mangled human bodies. Their maws were huge and slobbering, tongues sharp and lashing like whips. I'm not even scared against them. They weren't the intangible monsters that haunted my dreams when I was a child. They were not the monsters in my closet or under my bed. These were things I can kill and they were solid. I had the chance to win.
You would fear them the same way you would fear when you come across a mad dog. These undead were bestial at best. For me, the standard zombies or animated corpses would be more scary. And I'd be more likely to flee from the standard ghost. Green and black might be scary in this world but I'm not scared by it. I think it's a horrible combination. Unless I come across this in my own world, I'll be screaming my head off. The Black Mist rolled into a smoke screen around us. "CHARGE!" I yelled. We all screamed like madmen and jumped into the fight. Necromancers, undead and their overlord surged forward. I gave Mystery Inc. the bottomless bag of marbles and we threw it around us. The room was alight with holy magic. The undead sizzled and smoked as the magic forcefully removed the dark essence of the accursed Black Mist. Thresh screamed, clearly not expecting the amount of holy magic we could muster.
The divine light seared the undead wherever it landed. Thresh flailed his weapon wildly but it only scraped the armor of bronze. He raised spectral walls of screaming souls but he certainly didn't expect us to charge right through it without heed of our lives. We wildly attacked Thresh with all we got, abandoning any weaponry and relying on pure catfight. "YOU'RE NOT TAKING MY SOUL OR MY BODY, YOU TRIEHARD HORROR MOVIE SPOOK WANNABE! MY BODY AND SOUL BELONGS TO MARSHAL! YOU HEAR?! IT BELONGS TO MARSHAL AND MARSHAL ONLY!" I screamed into Thresh's ear (Or where his ear was supposed to be). While battering at him, we continued to throw the enchanted marbles. The entire chamber shook with divine power. We neglected to notice that the holy seals and symbols had completely overtaken the entire chamber and began to spread elsewhere. Its magic would eventually work its way to the heart of the crypts and revive a sleeping divine.
The undead and the necromancers didn't stand a chance against the onslaught of the neutral units from Battle Realms. Hordelings, wolves, shale spiders and even horses took part in the slaughter of the wrongdoers. Whether they were torn apart or trampled on, they didn't stand a chance especially if you take into account that their numbers are already halved. I told you that Battle Realms units, like all the other minions under my command, would be weaker in the grand scheme of things when you put them in this world. Their advantage was numbers, the ability to override several very important limitations and their nature as Existences.
That was enough to more than even the odds. It was an overpowering factor for us. I was in the glorious process of stuffing enchanted marbles down Thresh's spectral butt when I was rudely interrupted by horrible wailings. A divine power was awakening. It's the same kind of feeling I got from standing before the goddess Demacia. This was a local god. And it's getting up from its long nightmare. It's rising and fighting back.
Faces of tormented spirits rose from the ground. It became inhabitable for them as the divine magic filled the desecrated land to full. Their screaming became louder. The spirits started to smoke like it would catch fire any moment. "NNNOOO!" Thresh screamed. I guess he was more concerned with the spirits. I had stuffed marbles down his butt. I'm sure one of them zinged him. Mwehehehe. With a strength of a desperate loser, he hurled me and Mystery Inc. off of him and rushed to the wailing spirits. Summoning what's left of the rapidly dwindling Black Mist, he made a break for it.
"COME BACK HERE, YOU COWARD!" Velma yelled. We all looked at her in surprise. She caught herself and smiled sheepishly. "I got carried away." she said apologetically. We grinned and rushed after the retreating undead. Everyone who was blocking the exit quickly vacated to make way for the undead. Time slowed down, Thresh's eyes widened with horror and disbelief as he made eye contact with the chicken god. I didn't know that the all-powerful animal promised him the Shadow Isles' demise in the near future. They stood back a second later to make way for us. How we managed to catch up with them is beyond me (Horses gave us a ride). It must have something to do with the fact that the walls of the crypt started glowing like crazy. I didn't notice the holy force rising.
"Shadow Demons!" I said. They rose from my shadows and whipped the retreating forms, cutting those slow enough not to avoid. The spirits that bore Thresh slowly got smaller and smaller with each of the Shadow Demons' attacks. After what seemed to be hours of catching up, we thundered through the main exit of the crypts. A literal flood of hordelings, wolves, shale spiders and horses burst through the opening. I noticed there was a sizable army waiting to storm the crypts but they hung back. The moment those things and us poured out, they scrambled for cover. I must've looked silly, screaming myself hoarse. I took an unenchanted marble, one of the few I kept in case I needed a different kind of enchantment, and began to chant. "Enchant! Enchant! Enchant! Enchant! Enchant! Enchant! Enchant! Enchant! Enchant! Enchant!" I kept saying. I was pushing as much holy magic as I can into this one little marble. The cracking of the object in my hand told me the marble couldn't bear another enchantment. "Okay, who here has a reliable aim?" I asked. Josh wasn't here. Ezreal wasn't here. None of Silent Marches were here.
Daphne grabbed the marble from me, slid off her mounted horse to the ground and did a pose like she was pitching a ball. With an aim and an expertise I didn't know she possessed, she threw the marble. It didn't hit Thresh as I thought it would but it struck something better. The marble touched Thresh's lantern and molded into it. There was a hissing explosion as the lantern was ripped apart. Half of it was blown away and the souls of those enslaved within the lantern poured out. Expecting the lantern to recover from my attack, Thresh howled with rage and madness as his lantern appeared to be permanently damaged. The countless souls within would finally slip off his grasp. Serves you right!
"I will return! And I will make you pay!" he swore. "YOU'RE A BILLION YEARS TOO EARLY! ANY HORROR MOVIE YOU'LL BE IN WOULD TURN INTO A COMEDY WITH YOU AROUND!" I yelled back. I'm giving him two reasons not to take me lightly. One: he'll see what God Powers can do. Two: I'll see him coming. "By the power of Zeus and Loki, I summon thee!" I intoned. Using the God Powers Bolt and Spy respectively, I'll be his nightmare from now on. You'll be my eyes to the Shadow Isles. You'll be the harbinger of their misery. The skies shook above and lightning flashed violently in a display of power fit for the king of the gods of the Greek pantheon. A single massive lightning cascaded down from above and consumed the spirit Thresh was trying to save. Not even ashes remained of his undead beast and the Chain Warden fled on what remained on the Black Mist, not even knowing that the Norse trickster god had marked him.
"You missed." Lux said as she jogged towards us. Sensing there was no danger nearby, the neutral units from Battle Realms looked at me and bowed deeply before disappearing. "That was, like, on purpose." Shaggy said. I was making my trademark scary laughter then I snapped out of it. "Lux?!" I said, finally noticing her. "What're you doing here?" I screeched. I looked back and saw what looked to be a small army, comprising of battlemages and adventurers. "Did you think we'd miss a manifestation of the power of the gods? We felt it all the way back to Demacia. Any Mana-wielder could tell from just the ripples the miracle made. So we got nosy and came here to investigate." Lux said. "Why bring the entire cavalry?" I whispered to her ear.
"There's only one person we know who can call upon the power of the gods of this caliber. It's lucky they only sent me and these guys. The prince wanted to send everything Demacia has." she replied. I gave her two thumbs up. "Good thing you came late. You wouldn't believe the things we went through." Daphne said. Lux eyed my new friends and nodded approvingly. I knew she appreciated the fact that I didn't bring the divinely beautiful healers with me. "I didn't bring them so you have the chance to salvage your pride as a woman." I said. Lux opened her mouth, looking offended, then punched me on the shoulder. Mystery Inc. and I laughed at that.
Everything after seemed fine. Silent Marchers, Ezreal, the kids, Sara, Ghost Boy and the chicken god came up soon after. When Ezreal spotted Lux, he unloaded what he saw in the crypts to her immediately. Under a gattling gun of Ezreal's words, Lux had no choice but to listen. Lux assigned the battlemages to magically scan the entire area for remaining threats. Of course, there was none. My enchanted marbles and God Powers made sure of that. The battlemages seemed relieved at this but the adventurers looked a little disappointed. They expected some action when they arrived and came only to find out that they missed it. I made an announcement. I told them that I was sorry for this fuss and everything was back in order. I told them that they had nothing to fear about that we managed to stop whatever devious plan the necromancer cult was pulling here. In return for their trouble, I used Lesser Demonic Wish-Granting to summon slips of red paper and gave it to everyone.
I told them to keep the paper and tomorrow, a token of my sincerest appreciation would arrive. They looked forward to it and I knew that Lux had already blown to everyone who they were fetching here, otherwise how else she could muster this force. I also announced that adventurers should come to the Church of Our Lady of Stalwart Protection the day after tomorrow evening as I will make a very big announcement.
I knew the Vale Crypts were cleansed of the taint of undeath and whatever god was in there was probably okay now. Just to be sure nothing desecrates this resting place again, I used Lesser Demonic Wish-Granting to make a trap for interlopers. Anyone who enters with malign intent will set off the trap, unleashing nightmarish creatures upon them. When that happens, I get a warning and I can assist if I want to. "By the power of Ptah, I summon thee!" I intoned. A huge sandstorm consumed us all and we disappeared with it.
Chapter 7
Adriel's Plan Part 3
We arrived on the gates of Demacia. The sandstorm dissipated as soon as it accomplished what it was supposed to do. I spotted someone and squeaked, hiding behind Mystery Inc. "Hide me from evil!" I said to them dramatically. And who was waiting at the gates, you ask? It's just all of my Pawn Cards. They looked pretty mad about something and I had a hunch that something was about the Vale Crypts. I looked at the chicken god and the animal began to whistle innocently. I didn't even know chickens could whistle. Omnicards can communicate with other Onmicards. Monster Cards can communicate with other Monster Cards. TOKENS can communicate with other TOKENS. The chicken god must've contacted C.A.C.A. in case everything goes south and C.A.C.A. came down with the entire Pawn Card retinue.
They looked so cute, posing there with mad expressions. Nessie wagged her tail and let down her tongue, panting. Soul-Guide Cherubims next to her nudged her. The Cryptid went back to the exaggerated expression of frowning. Like I said, they looked mighty cute. "Lux, attack them quick! Hold them long enough for me to make my escape!" I said to her. Luxanna gave me a look. "I'd rather throw you at them. The angel-dogs opened a portal and let them through. There was a big commotion but it became apparent they weren't here to hurt anyone. Plus the relics began shining like crazy, like blinding crazy, and we knew you were in trouble." she said. She looked like she wanted to thank me but I waved it aside.
"Hey, guys. Sorry I made you worry." I said as I walked to the Pawn Cards. They attacked me alright. With soft paws and tickling tongues. I guess they couldn't hold on to their anger. They were so cute! Inwardly, I was wondering where the Soul-Guide Cherubims got their portal-making powers. Then I remembered about the one of the Acts of Faith mechanic of the Heavenly Host: Pilgrimage. Allows the player to move their own Cards from field, deck, graveyard or hand to any of those destinations. Because Acts of Faith can only be used at full bar, Heavenly Host players need to decide which miracle to activate.
We parted ways with Lux and her soldiers, Ezreal and the Silent Marchers. I took my friends and the kids with me back to the Silver Palace Hotel. I summoned biscuits enchanted with shrinking magic. It'll make it easier for some of my bigger Pawn Cards to fit right into my hotel room. The spell lasts for a day and can be manually deactivated by the person affected by it. I think it was around 2:00 a.m. when we arrived. It took that much time to clear a dungeon and a freaking quest that dangerous. I was exhausted.
But then again, I guess so was everyone else. Sara had retreated to her spellbook and warned us not to disturb her sleep. So I got Mystery Inc., the Cards, the kids and myself to the room. "Gee. It's nice of you to share us your room, mister." Dinkey said. I smiled as I unlocked the door. "Well, I guess I'm taking you kids in. I'll be training you to first-class adventurers." I said. The kids looked excited at the prospect. No sooner as Mystery Inc. and the kids landed on the fat cushions of the massive sofa, they began to snore loudly. I guess they that tired. I didn't even get to tell them to clean up first. The Cards went for my bed and slept on it until it looked like someone dumped a tray of stuffed toys on it.
I too out an unenchanted marble placed a cleaning spell in it and threw it at the kids and Mystery Inc. The magic dispelled the items I gave to them and replaced it with normal clothes that were clean and comfortable. I opened my Quest Log.
•
CURRENT QUESTS:
CLEANSING THE VALES- 80/100
WILL OF THE GODDESS- 20/100
RISE OF NEW ADRIEL- 60/100
THE LITTLE ADVENTURERS- 60/100
•
WHATTTTTTTTT? I didn't finish the quest yet? What could possibly be missing? I expanded the Cleasing The Vales window.
•
Cleansing The Vales
"Purify a desecrated ground and return the Vales to their rightful owner!"
• Hear about the Vale Crypts from a source- COMPLETED
• Discover Vale Crypts- COMPLETED
• OPTIONAL: Rescue some beginners in distress- COMPLETED
• OPTIONAL: Discover the Vale Portals- PENDING
• Cleanse the undead in the Crypts- 1928/1928- COMPLETED
• Cleanse the necromancers in the Crypts- 67/67- COMPLETED
• OPTIONAL: Claim the Tomes of Lessina, Valk and Kruin- PENDING
• Destroy the Corruptors- 5/7- PENDING
• Use a massive source of divine magic to cleanse the Vale Crypts- COMPLETED
• Free the god Vale- PENDING
•
OHMYGOD! The quest isn't finished yet? And there are other features I haven't even embarked on. OMFG. I switch to the Completed Quests and looked at the Conquering Ratharbor log. I sighed a massive one in relief. Kenji really did a good job. All the features were marked with COMPLETED. I sighed in relief. I really need to pay attention to this. This isn't a feature in any RPG I know. The amount of spoilers on this one is high. I collapsed on the bed. C.A.C.A. moved to blanket me sleepily. I didn't even close the Quest Log yet and sleep claimed me.
I slept for only three hours when I woke up again. Excitement rolled down my veins. "Guys, wake up! Wake up!" I said insistently, pummeling the Cards with pillows. They threw me out the moment I did. Are they that really sleepy? I should that before we departed, I placed six Shadow Demons to watch on Silent Marchers and Ezreal. I communicated with them and asked if they could rouse the adventurers or the explorer from sleep. The Shadow Demons asked whether they should employ force in doing so. I told them no and forget about it. I couldn't sleep at all. My mind is to awake to fall asleep. I started this quest with Silent Marchers and I think it would only be fair I finish with them. "Do we really have to wait tomorrow?" I asked myself aloud. "Shadow Demons! Take them and their equipments! Make sure they're still asleep while you do that. Take them to the Vale Crypts. You know the way." I instructed them. The remaining Shadow Demons with me flew off to abduct Silent Marchers and Ezreal.
I tapped C.A.C.A. and told them we have an unfinished business. The cartoon animals sleepily rose and began rousing the others. Now I have an army of sleepy Cards. I roused Mystery Inc. and the kids. "We have unfinished business." I said simply. They woke up reluctantly then rose with double the reluctance. They were soon prepared to leave. Mystery Inc. and the kids seem not surprised of the change of clothes. "By the power of Helios, I summon thee!" I intoned. We were spirited away by the portal.
•
Vale Crypts
•
We appeared on the Vale Crypts seconds later. Already, a globe of Shadow Demons were there waiting for us. "Addy, couldn't this wait 'til morning? We're super tired!" Velma complained. Every Card agreed. I sighed. I summoned a pastry construct of mine. It's a small snowglobe-designed treat that looked like a miniature town with several houses, community buildings, parks, gardens and pastry animals that really moved around. I threw the treat on the ground and it grew into a full-sized version of it. I call it Gingerbread Town and it's not really made entirely of gingerbread. Hehehe. But it had a nice ring to it, don't you think?
"You can go ahead and sleep." I said. The Shadow Demons moved Ezreal and Silent Marchers into two houses. The houses look small but they're large inside, able to accommodate several people at once. While everything is made of food and could technically still be eaten, the insides of the buildings were not and had functioning amenities such as beds and the like. Everything here in enchanted to stay fresh and clean all the time.
The Cards went into the only pastry mansion of the town (Because the chicken god said so and he was a god so...) and went to sleep there. Mystery Inc. dragged the kids to another house to sleep in while they bunkered in another. I think the kids were wide awake already. Their eyes were wide with wonder. I looked around the little town. I was the only one left. The Shadow Demons spread across the radius of the town to safeguard it. So how do I spend the rest of the night?
Lemme explain to you the full features of the Gingerbread Town. It has:
One mansion (Features the biggest sleeping area plus wardrobes, indoor pool, a wealth of vending machines and an entertainment center),
Seven inhabitable houses (Features sleeping area and storage),
Four police stations (Spawns pastry policemen, mounted policemen, police cars and police helicopters. Yep, they're fragile but ever-respawning defense units),
Thirty non-inhabitable houses (Spawns pastry citizens that wander the town. For aesthetic purpose only),
Three shopping districts (Sells food and potions and several random stuff),
Two cemeteries (Sinfully delicious pastry undead live here. They are a danger to your both diet and slimming chances),
Four churches (The pastry priest can bless you),
Three hospitals (The pastry healthcare workers can heal you),
One sprawling park (Lots of pastry plants. Spawns wandering pastry animals that wander the town),
Three community gardens (Useful alchemical or medicinal plants),
Two schools (Pastry teachers can help you store tomes, scrolls, books and other educational materials),
One town hall (Allows you to toggle on and off several hidden features),
Forty community buildings (They're only there for ornamental design and added realism and they're super delicious),
One zoo (Spawns pastry animals that live here. Pastry animals grant unique bonuses when eaten),
Twenty food outlets (They give away free food here) and
One Halloween-theme subdivision (Because I love that holiday. Period. There are enchanted Halloween treats here).
AM I GOOD OR WHAT? And I will also mention that if any of the features here are reduced or emptied, it will completely restock with each passing hour. Well, check my Skill List.
•
SPELLS:
• Lesser Demonic Wish-Granting
• Lesser Mass Demonic Summoning
• Lessest Shadow Demon
• Darkblight
• Shadow Serpent
• Succubus Seduction
• Darksight
• Blessing: Inspiration
• Blessing: Talent
• Blessing: Power
• Blessing: Fate
ABILITIES:
• Living Bread Level 11
• Enchanter's Talent Level 9
•
Living Bread got to Level 11. That's why I got to make the OP Gingerbread Town. Soon, I'm gonna make a Gingerbread City! Mwahahahahaha! I'm so, so, so happy with these results. It's amazing what you can do just by spamming it. The difference between Spells and Abilities is that Spells have to be unlocked with Skill Points while Abilities must be learned and acquired in some sort of way. In other words, my Spells are given from the different Affinites I unlock while Abilities must be obtained from my environment or circumstance.
I think I'm gonna spend the rest of the night practicing my skills. I remember promising some battlemages and adventurers that I would show them my favor. I began to work my imagination. A key difference between Leniana's Living Bread and my Living Bread is that mine doesn't actually require me to bake something. Once I got Living Bread to level 3, I got Imaginary Baking and I can just summon baked goods that possess the enchantments I want them to.
It's time to work my imagination.
Firebreath Meatpies. Health and Mana Restore over time. 20% Speed bonus for an hour. Resist Fire 30%. Grant "Fire Breath" use for an hour.
Frostbreath Meatpies. Health and Mana Restore over time. 20% Speed bonus for an hour. Resist Frost 30%. Grant "Frost Breath" use for an hour.
Vilebreath Meatpies. Health and Mana Restore over time. 20% Speed for an hour. Resist Poison 30%. Grant "Poison Breath" use for an hour.
Stormbreath Meatpies. Health and Mana Restore over time. 20% Speed for an hour, Resist Shock 30%. Grant "Lightning Breath" use for an hour.
Skywarmth Pie. Health and Mana Restore over time to nearby allies. 20% Shield for an hour. Grant "Mercy's Touch" use for an hour.
Earthveil Pie. 20% Reflect Spell, 20% Reflect Damage, 10% Spell Absorption for an hour. Grant "Blight" use for an hour.
Angel Cake. Constant "Levitation" for 2 hours.
Devil Cake. Constant "Pyromancy" for 2 hours.
Gingerbread Man Army. Health and Mana Restore over time. 30 charges. Stores one charge every hour.
Weird Cookies. Cure Common Disease. Invisibility for an hour.
Super Weird Cookies. Cure Common Disease. Cure Unnatural Disease. 100% Chameleon for an hour.
Heaven's Biscuit. Revives bearer upon death with 30% Health.
Hell's Biscuit. Transfer 40% of damage received to target enemy for an hour.
Yep. I definitely think this will be enough. I summoned cute containers via my Lesser Demonic Wish-Granting. I whistled for the Shadow Demons to help me pack the huge number of food summoned. My Living Bread rose up by three more levels and Enchanter's Talent rose by one. The reason mainly I can get it on higher levels so fast is because of my freaking huge Mana reserves. I opened my character screen.
•
Adriel
Level 20
Experience: 100/20000
Health: 600/600 (Regeneration: 60/min.)
Mana: 510/6100 (Regeneration: 210/min.)
Fatigue: 120/300 (Regeneration: 5/min.)
Encumbrance: 20/100
Title:
• The Beginner (Experience gain increased by 40%)
• Chosen of The Supreme Beings (When killed, transport Chosen to Heaven and transport killer/killers to Hell)
• The Explorer (Immersing in the mysteries of this world and mingling with its denizens fill up the Wanderlust Meter. Upon maxing it, Chosen granted a leveled amount of Experience)
• The Scholar (Immersing in the culture of civilizations of this world fill up the Learner's Meter. Upon maxing it, Chosen is granted a leveled amount of Experience)
• The Dominatrix (Immersing in sexual acts fill up the Lustful's Meter. Upon maxing it, Chosen is granted a leveled amount of Experience)
• Truly Favored (If the Chosen's actions please the Supreme Beings, the Favor Meter fills up. Upon maxing it, Chosen is granted an ability by the Supreme Beings)
• The High Priest (The gods of this world can commune and interact with the Chosen. Derive favor and power from each god allied with)
Class: Summoner
Spells:
• Lesser Demonic Wish-Granting
• Lesser Mass Demonic Summoning
• Lessest Shadow Demon
• Darkblight
• Shadow Serpent
• Succubus Seduction
• Darksight
• Blessing: Inspiration
• Blessing: Talent
• Blessing: Power
• Blessing: Fate
Abilities:
• Blessing: Power: Living Bread Level 14
• Blessing: Power: Enchanter's Talent Level 10
• Vale's Favor: PASSIVE: Natural Regeneration (Restores 50 Health, Mana and Fatigue per minute)
• Demacia's Favor: PASSIVE: Alliance (Increases Chosen's Personality and Disposition to characters with good-based karma by 10 and characters with evil-based karma by 5)
Greater Power:
• Gift of The Supreme Beings I (Defy the world's supernatural and supernormal limits. Draw power from the Supreme Beings. Usable once a day)
• Gift of The Supreme Beings II (Defy the world's supernatural and supernormal limits. Call upon the Supreme Beings to bless an object. Usable once a day)
• Gift of The Supreme Beings III (Defy the world's supernatural and supernormal limits. Call upon the Supreme Beings to bring into existence a powerful phenomenon. Usuable once a day)
Lesser Power:
• Touch of The Supreme Beings (Defy the world's supernatural and supernormal limits. Increase a target's Disposition towards you to 500% for 5 min. and down to 100% after 24 hrs. thereafter)
• Voice of The Supreme Beings (Defy the world's supernatural and supernormal limits. Command the world to do your bidding for 60 sec.)
• Will of The Supreme Beings (Defy the world's supernatural and supernormal limits. Allows the use of an Innate Power by sacrificing your Health and Mana and thereby gain a curse that will ban any form of healing or recovery for three days. 50% of maximum Health and Mana)
• Defiance of The Supreme Beings (Defy the world's supernatural and supernormal limits. Allows the use of an Innate Power by sacrificing levels. The number of uses equals twice the number of levels sacrificed.)
Innate Power:
• Dragon, Lotus, Serpent, Wolf (Summon creatures from this universe)
• Nirn and Sanctuary (Summon objects and creatures from this universe)
• God Powers and Card Magic (Summon magic, objects and creatures from this universe)
•
I don't think I will open the Skills List for now. I only have 4 Skill Points to spend and frankly. there are too many temptations there. I noticed that the Quest Log was flashing. I opened it again.
•
Cleansing The Vales
"Purify a desecrated ground and return the Vales to their rightful owner!"
• Hear about the Vale Crypts from a source- COMPLETED
• Discover Vale Crypts- COMPLETED
• OPTIONAL: Rescue some beginners in distress- COMPLETED
• OPTIONAL: Discover the Vale Portals- The Portals are being corrupted! Prevent this from happpening!
• Cleanse the undead in the Crypts- 1928/1928- COMPLETED
• Cleanse the necromancers in the Crypts- 67/67- COMPLETED
• OPTIONAL: Claim the Tomes of Lessina, Valk and Kruin- PENDING
• Destroy the Corruptors- 5/7- Corruptors are attempting corruption! Prevent this from happening!
• Use a massive source of divine magic to cleanse the Vale Crypts- COMPLETED
• Free the god Vale- The god Vale is in danger! Protect him!
•
13 MINUTES AND 48 SECONDS UNTIL MISSION FAILURE...
OHMYHOLYMOTHEROFGOD! It's a fucking red alert and it's ticking down fast! OMFG. I gotta do something. "Search. Upgrade for Lesser Demonic Wish-Granting." I said. The screen flickered for a moment and displayed it.
UPGRADE: Less Demonic Wish-Granting (2 points) (Set a price and make a pact to grant a wish to a supplicant. Limited by spell level)
"I'll take it! And Lessest Apotheosis too!" I said. The changes applied to me and Less Demonic Wish-Granting and Lessest Apotheosis was applied. I ran to the pastry mansion in a panic and burst inside. "Cards! We have an emergency! Quick!" I yelled. The Card immediately sprang up ready. I showed them the flashing and the Card went up. C.A.C.A. and Flower Power rose and bore all of us up. I used Less Demonic Wish-Granting to show us the way. The path to the dire situation was illuminated with a ghostly glow. We sped away.
The path led us away from the main area from where Thresh and his necromancer goons have been performing. The pact I placed on the Crypts didn't work because they were placed only on the entrances. I would have to spend more Mana to cover the Crypt itself. I'm going to change that pact later, make it cover a level instead. I think Thresh had no idea what he was trying to do here. While he was busy trying to accomplish a Harrowing, he had no idea that a weakened god was inside all along. If he had focused on corrupting the weakened god, he would have a force to be reckoned with.
The ghostly path led to a dead end but the wall slid open. How the fuck are we suppose to know that? There was a freaking secret area here all along but then again, it's to be expected of an ancient burial site. We came across a chamber far bigger than the one Thresh and his goons were performing the ritual. Dominating this chamber was a spiraling edifice that looked like massive weeds rising from the ground and entwining around air like a solid sphere.
Vale Portals discovered!
The Quest Log blared loudly. I forgot to close it in my panic. I closed it and looked around but we saw nothing. There was nothing here at all except for the fact that the portals were smoking as if something was prying it apart and forcing it to open. I summoned more bottomless marble bags that contained divine power. The Cards abandoned their shrunken forms. I gave each of the Cards one bag and we begun hurling it randomly around.
Holy power exploded everywhere and divine seals and talismans begun to dominate the chamber. I didn't know that the divine power began to back up the god behind the portals, empowering him with each second passing. There was a mighty wail as spirits rose from the ground. They flooded the chamber despite its massive size. I knew this was the Corruptors the Quest was referring to. Too bad for them, the seals and talismans had already crept too far and wide. There was no escape for them. "ATTACK!" I yelled as we charged headfirst. There was a massive screeching as the creatures tried to defend themselves.
Boy and Girl Wannabes picked up toy-like deadly weapons from their backpacks and attacked with an unexpected brutality. I remembered from the Lexicanum that Wannabes were the most ruthless from the School of Pain family. They would literally do anything to fit in with the popular crowd.
Flower Power surged like a tidal wave and send spirits crashing into its concussive wave or slamming them against the wall, floor and ceiling.
Lady of The Lake, with her fangs bared, attacked with the mighty beasts of the waters, ripping spirits nearby into shreds. She summoned her Verdant Knight TOKENS to lend her a hand.
C.A.C.A. had formed into weaponized shapes like a massive hammer and a mecha with rocket arrays to attack the enemy.
Soul-Guide Cherubims breathed heavenfire from their mouths, looking nowhere near the cute dogs they usually are. In the Lexicanum, they were the guides of the souls of children, the elderly, the handicapped, animals and plants and guarded their wards with frightening ardor. When a Soul-Guide Cherubim is soul-guiding, you might want to stay out of its way.
Nessie roared as she ripped one spirit into another, hurling those survived into her pool and the feeding frenzy of her Fish TOKENS in its depths.
Borometz Trios utilized suicide attacks and detonated themselves to their enemies with a force of a bomb. Mother Plants used its endless roots to make sure targets didn't escape. Since the special effect of the Borometz Trio came when they died, they used their healing magic to further damage enemies and ensure no one on our side got hurt.
Cinderella's Assistants rained a barrage of kitchen utensils. That in itself wasn't really useful and looked comedic but nothing's stopping their fellow Cards from catching falling sharp objects and using it to stab a spirit nearby.
Ghost Boy summoned an indoor storm and attacked with the worst the weather has to offer.
"YOU SHALL NOT PASS! BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!" I kept yelling senseless battlecries all throughout the fight, hurling enchanted marbles everywhere. Man, are these Corruptors durable! The spirits suddenly wailed louder and coalesced into a single entity. It was a massive sphere of tar-like substance with Black Mist oozing from it and tortured faces surfacing then sinking again into its depths. "Holy-" I said. I didn't get to finish it as TOKENS Ghost-Wisps, Spooks, Hauntings, Phantom Fireballs, Lingering Presences, Lost Souls and Shadow Forms shot like missiles and detonated themselves on the creature. I looked at the chicken god who huffed and puffed proudly.
He hung back and waited for the boss to appear and stole it right under our noses. KS-ing chicken god. He looked at me expectantly. He wanted to be praised. I held up my hands and he came flying to me. I hugged him tight. He crowed happily at this. The monster was still alive and roared defiantly. Its protest was drowned out by another barrage of the chicken god's TOKENS. Whoa. No mercy. I closed my eyes and focused on my ethereal vision. My sight went as far as into the Shadow Isles by tapping the Spy God Power I placed on Thresh. I saw the Chain Warden focusing on something. Like he was communicating with something. Is it this thing?
"By the power of Hera and Chang'e, I summon thee!" I intoned. I summoned the Lightning Storm and Barrage God Power respectively all the way to the Shadow Isles. A sudden freak storm clouded the skies of the cursed land and rained merciless bolts of lightning. It was accompanied by a hail of arrows that appeared out of nowhere. I watched in pleasure as the monsters of the Shadow Isles scrambled to escape but were obliterated by the attack. I didn't want to kill Thresh. Hell, he's my eyes to the Shadow Isles. I can wake up every day and cast God Powers there. Just to make their lives extra miserable. I saw Thresh break his concentration to flee from the attack. I pulled back and opened my eyes.
The monster suffered from the second barrage of the chicken god's attack. A third finally ended the fight in it. In perfect sync, we all took a marble and threw it at the creature. Holy magic bathed it and the procession of souls used to make this demented creature rise and seek peace in the afterlife. The chamber was quiet again but the portals burst into power. It began to hungrily suck the divine magic that was in the hall. We tried to flee but the sucking winds were too strong. We were all sucked into the dimension that lay beyond the portal.
I opened my eyes and we saw a different place all around us. There was an exact replica of the portal that lay on the other side. I guess this one leads back to where we came from. We saw an unnatural but beautiful place. The trees had trunks of lavender color and the leaves were deep purple. The grass was crystalline and glimmered in the light. Above us was a small sun and moon that circled one another. We were beckoned as the grass parted a path for us. Me and my Cards moved. We were led to a small island in the middle of a great lake. The chicken god said that I must proceed alone and help this god.
I stepped on the waters and found that it carried me the same way earth would. I crossed the waters with haste. The small island was overrun with trees and other plants. I guess whoever this god of the Vales is might be one who governs nature. There was a small grotto on the island that housed a dais. Upon this ornately designed dais was a lying figure. It was a man but he had the feet and head of an eagle. His hands were clawed like they were talons and he wore only a loincloth. I appreciated his perfect body. I'm so sinful~! Wisps of Black Mist rose from this lying figure and I thought of how long was he able to endure the attack against him by the Black Mist. This was a god. Maybe only a god can help him. "Lessest Apotheosis." I intoned. Then time went into a standstill.
A hologram screen appeared in front of me.
•
"Greetings. Apotheosis will ascend you into godhood. Be warned that this transformation is permanent. When using spells from the Divine Affinity, it is required that you shift into your god form. Please name a totem creature and a domain you wish to rule. Once you have chosen, this god form will be assigned to you permanently."
•
How many cheat characters out there get to be a god this early in the story, huh? How many? Mwahahaha! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! What should I rule? Hhhmmm... I'm not the kind who will search for brute strength or magical might. I'm the kind who will wear someone out first then close in for the kill. Hhhmmm... Decisions, decisions.
"My totem creature is the cat and my domain is creation." I declared. Why not? Cats are my favorite animals and creation will let me make all kinds of things. I can make living things, objects, places and so much more. I mean it's kind like that or something. Isn't that what creation is supposed to do? Light bathed me and I transformed. Divine power surged into me and I felt the very nature of my being change. I was being remade into something more. I was ascending.
I opened my eyes again and I found that I transformed into a furry. Great. Rick wasn't here and if he was, he'd faint from seeing me like this. He had a thing for furries. I had turned into a humanoid cat with fur as white as snow, claws that sparkled like jewels and eyes that glowed like full moon. There's nothing special about my form but I could feel that the power flowed into me the size of an ocean. My tail was fluffy and reached all the way to the ground and I was still at the same height I was in human form. I like this form. I knelt on the ground and touched the god's chest and closed my eyes. "I am a god, true, endless and pure. Do as I command, forces of this world, and assist me in my purpose." I intoned. I began pouring divine magic back into this weakened creature.
Come to think of it, I'm pouring my own power into this god. Would that make me weaker in the process? Bah. I don't care. I just want to finish this and get the rewards. An hour must have passed and I was still nowhere reviving this one. Aaarrrggghhh! I felt warmth coursing through the heart of the god. I begun to pour more power into him. After several minutes, he finally stirred. I felt his eyes on me questioningly but he saw that I was the one who healing him and decided to trust me. "A little more, old one." I assured him. He nodded weakly. I poured power into him and after five minutes, I stopped and rose. The god weakly rose to his feet. I helped him up. "How long were you fighting the Black Mist?" I asked.
He looked at me and nodded wisely. "For long that I lost count. I had guarded my people but never had I come across the danger posed by the Shadow Isles. Its dark magic corrupts, twists you into a mockery of your former self. I fell to this darkness ages ago and my people interred me here in my land. I sense that a fraction of my people survived but I grieve for the countless who perished. Those I could not save..." he said.
I can't tell if he's really sad or not. He looked at me in question. "You are the strange child that wandered into the outer sanctums. I sensed you but I found you beyond my own power. You are mortal and yet you stand before me a god, one of my kind. I sensed the holy power you unleashed and I could not help but feel hope that I may break free from my nightmare. I greedily absorbed your power. Forgive me." he said. "It's okay." I said easily. You can be endlessly generous when you're a cheat character.
The god sighed. "I am Vale. Father of the Elusians and God of The Wilds. You have revived me for that I am endlessly grateful. I am still too weak to repay you but my power will return to me one day and I swear upon my name and my people that I will return to you this favor." the god known as Vale said. Is this the fucking reward? His fucking gratitude? "From this day forward, I will serve you until I repay my debt. I only ask that you allow me to spend time with my people when time allows it." Vale continued. 0_0 - My literal reaction.
Did he just say what I think he said? "What?" I echoed in disbelief. Vale met my eyes with his steady ones. "I will serve you, my lord. From this day forth, this foolish god will serve your cause. I shall be beside you wherever the waters of your fate may take us." Vale declared. OMFG. If this is the reward, a god as your own follower, this is one major prize. "I humbly accept then, my lord. I shall help you revive your people." I said graciously. And in the process, you might end up in my bed. MWAHAHAHA...
"Perhaps we may mate in the future." Vale said. OMFG. He read my mind?! "I'm not as weak as not to be able to read your mind but it is strange that I can only read your mind after I have submitted to you fully." Vale admitted. OMFG. Can they do that?! Are all my subordinates able to read my mind like it was written on paper?! "I suppose so." Vale said, his tone was neutral but he was secretly enjoying it. "Fine. Come along now." I said. I shifted back to my human form. Damn. My Mana's all gone. I guess Apotheosis consumes all your Mana for that purpose. Gotta remember that in the future.
Vale had taken into his eagle form and flew beside me, his mighty wings creating gusts that blew my hair sideways. Then suddenly, I felt something familiar. It was a presence that left me a long while ago and it's coming back with a bang. A massive presence came down to this world and immediately sought me out.
"I'M BACKKKKKKKKKKKK!"
"Persephone, you're back!" I said with equal excitement. "If you only have a body, I could hug you!" I squealed hard.
"It has been long, Adriel! Persephone did as you asked! Is it the right time to discuss this? Should we talk about this somewhere else private?"
I cast a look at Vale who roosted on my shoulder. His eyes darted everywhere, trying to locate Persephone. He found none, of course. "I don't think you'll be able to perceive her." I said. "Persephone, meet Vale the local god. Vale, meet Persephone the Existence Guide." I added. Vale continued to look around. "What matter of creature is she? She does not have presence nor does she have detectable signs." Vale said, looking very disturbed.
"Greetings, local god. This one is called Persephone-04. She is the Existence assigned to function as guide and guardian for Adriel. Persephone pleased to meet you."
Vale settled himself to talking to thin air. "Existence? What kind of being is that? What kind of creator made you, a being that is there but isn't there at all?" Vale asked. Okay. I think this is going to be a long, long discussion.
"Existences are living concepts and ideals of lives created by the sentient races of the world. We are both real and unreal, both true and false at the same time. We are the embodiment of imagination and the unreachable land beyond the workings of fantasy is our domain. We serve the Supreme Beings who made and unmade the infinite onmiverse."
"Well, that was as enlightening as reading in total darkness. Let's go before this discussion extends." I said as I dragged the eagle with me.
"Killjoy. Persephone was about to launch into our glorious history of service to the Supreme Beings."
"By the time you're finished, I've long since been dust." I said tartly. Persephone made a "tsk" sound. We crossed the lake again to where the Cards waited for me. They must've sensed Persephone as they respectfully bowed at something invisible behind me. Even the chicken god joined in bowing. Persephone must be someone pretty powerful among the Existences for even the chicken god to bow to. "I can't wait to tell you what you missed, Persephone!" I said.
"Persephone knows what happened at the time she was absent. The Supreme Beings watch your every move. Including the less savory parts. Among the four of you, Their Inevitabilities are more likely to watch your adventures."
OMFG. My life is televised and the Supreme Beings watch it?! HOLEHFAK! They watched the sex romp with Garen?! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I screamed in terror while running in circles. C.A.C.A. sighed and picked me up. They walked towards where the exit should be. The place was already beautiful even with Vale under attack from the Black Mist. With Vale revived, the place was doubly beautiful. Everything looked dreamy. It was as if you were traversing a dreamworld where the beauty was indescribable. Plants were everywhere in sight but I can't help but notice that there was no animal life in sight. "Where are the cute little critters here? And the people?" I asked.
Vale's eyes held great sorrow. "Gone but I hope their deaths happened here. If they did, I can bring them back if I grow strong again. In my realm, I am absolute master but I am too weak to defend myself even. If you did not arrive, I fear my nightmare would not have ended and the accursed corruption might have claimed me fully." he said. OMG. You ask this guy a simple question, you get an editorial of an answer. "Don't worry, V. I'll help you. We can get through this together." I said half-jokingly but he knew I meant it. "Now, we'd be off to a great start of you can help us find those Lessina, Valk and Kruin Tomes. The Quest Log said it's somewhere in the crypts." I said. Vale nodded.
We exited the portal and I used a combination of Less Demonic Wish-Granting and Lessest Apotheosis again to seal it with a powerful lock that only Vale and I had the key and I created an overgrowth of crystals that emanated holy magic. While the crystals stand guard, the Vale Crypts would not run out of divine essence to drive away the threat of undeath and necromancy. I reinforced the pacts that protected the entrances of the crypts. It would summon stronger horrors when it's triggered. No one would ever call the Vale Crypts haunted and unholy anymore. It'll be a pilgrimage area. The prayers of pilgrims would feed Vale. It's a win-win situation.
By the time we exited the crypts, it was already 9:00 a.m. and Vale and Persephone chatted like old friends. Since there was no danger in the burial grounds anymore, I sent the Cards back to the Gingerbread Town to get some well-deserved rest. They fled the moment I said those words, never looking back even once. I guess they're pretty tired. Vale, Persephone and me were the only ones who looked for the Tomes.
"You have spoiled them. Persephone is conflicted. Existences are not supposed to deny their Chosen Ones and yet their loyalty to you has skyrocketed the last time I was around."
"Oh, come on, Persephone. Lighten up, girl. Your kind are my only friends in this world when I arrived here. I will always treasure you in my heart and I will never go prima donna on your asses." I said.
"You already have a long, long time ago."
"See? Even you're doing it." I said. She didn't reply right away.
"It is different. Persephone is of high rank. Persephone is entitled to some free will and speech."
"Sure, you are. Anyhoo, Persephone, you and I are talking later and I want all that you found out about Rick, Marshal and Magnus." I said.
"Persephone had planned that right from the beginning. Persephone cannot wait to tell you everything."
"Morning, guys!" I yelled brightly as I descended down the rejuvenated steps of the crypts. Restoration God Power had restored the crypts to its former glory and adorned it with so much more. It was new, shining and definitely reeked of holy aura. "Thank you, my lord." Vale said. His eyes were misty as he looked at the crypt his people built. "I will help you look for your people when the time comes, V. Doncha worry." I said, petting the eagle.
"Did you abduct us?" Bael muttered as he pieced parts of the puzzle. Silent Marchers must've woken up a little earlier and were surprised they were no longer in their sleeping quarters. They shouldn't complain about that because the Shadow Demons told me their rooms in the Gingerbread Town was a lot bigger and more comfortable. The Shadow Demons also mentioned that staying in that inn for 30 gold a night was like a robbery. "Whoa. Is this real?" Misty said as she picked a pastry citizen and inspected it. It waved its fists at her, causing the yordle to put it back. "Why did you abduct us anyway and brought us back here?" Bael asked. I was distracted by his scratching his stomach, showing those rock-hard prominent abs.
"Well, I found out the quest wasn't finished yet. And this guys was in grave danger. And I hopped to it and brought you guys here but it looked like you're too tired so I went ahead and did it myself." I said. Silent Marchers wasn't listening. They inspected the Gingerbread Town in wonder and childish awe. "It's a pastry town. Now get over it and listen to this." I said . "Uh-huh." Lucre said as they still kept inspecting. Simon had plucked one pastry tree and stuffed into his mouth.
Of course, the flavor and texture was far superior to any sweet he's tasted before. In its very long and glorious list of stats, the Gingerbread Town has five stacks of Superior Quality enchantment and three stacks of Utter Deliciousness. "This is delicious!" five young voices chorused. I saw the kids poke their heads over the tall pastry buildings. OMG. They were devouring the pastry undead.
They called Silent Marchers over and told them to take a taste. It wasn't long before they were stuffing their mouths with delicious and sinfully decadent pastry undead. I'm sure they're venting their anger on undead creatures on the treats. "It's sssooooooooo delicious!" Misty squealed in pure delight. She sparkled from just eating the pastry undead. "Guys, it's bad for eating that on an empty stomach. Come on, guys. Let's go." I said. I pried them from the sweets especially the kids. How long have they been stuffing their faces like that? I herded them to the mansion. It has a huge selection of vending machines that churn out food. They're gonna doubly love it.
Ezreal wasn't awake yet. The Shadow Demons told me that he slept like a baby. I was reminded of the other treats I made last night and had the Shadow Demons pack everything. I ordered them to give the packages for every person who possessed the red slips I gave them. The battlemages and adventurers who have those slips would have a really good day today. I sent the Shadow Demons on their way. I entered the house Ezreal slept in for the night. The accommodations looked pretty great to me.
No wonder Silent Marchers slept comfortably. It's not on the scale of the mansion but it was cozy and comfortable. And the furniture, appliances and thingamajigs in here are not from this world. They're all from my world. It's literally everything you would expect of a personal room from Earth. I marveled at my own enchantment. The secret to it lie with Living Bread's "Refine Enchantment On Pastries" and "Unusual Pastry Enchantments" and Enchanter's Talent's "Exceptional Miniature Dimension" and "Complete Imagine".
They worked their magic together to make this wonderful feature of Gingerbread Town. If I level up the skill more, I think I can make more of these awesome constructs. I sat on the bed where Ezreal slept. Each inhabitable house can be configured to accomodate up to eight people. I specifically enchanted it to a humanoid's needs, anything outside the humanoid form would have difficulties settling here. "Aaahhhhhh!" I purred as I sank into the bed. It's so comfortable.
It's seducing me to take a sleep here for a while. BUT! I can't sleep now. I have a lot of things to do. I can survive on coffee and some warm treats. "Ezzy, wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" I shook him. Ezreal groaned, tried to kick me away and covered his head with a pillow. "Wake up, Ezreal! Lux is under attack! A perverted woman is doing indecent things to her! Right now! OH, MY GOODNESS! SHE'S NAKED! SHE'S TIED UP! THE WOMAN'S DOING SCANDALOUS THINGS TO HER! OH, MY GOODNESS, I CAN'T LOOK!" I said.
With a roar, the boy jumped off the bed and ready for action. His eyes searched this sinful act. Then he noticed he wasn't in his room anymore and he noticed that the room he was in was strange but somehow familiar. "Welcome back to the world of the living, bub." I said. He looked at me and blushed. "ADDY! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?! WHERE AM I?! MORE IMPORTANTLY, WHERE MY FANTASY AT?!" he screeched indignantly. He grabbed the blankets and covered his body. He was only wearing what could pass for boxers. "Don't worry, Ezzy! I saw all of it already!" I said serenely.
His face reddened with a new shade of red. Well, it's true. I saw all of it. I like big and built men but Ezreal was lithe and supple like a snake. He was lean but not thin and he would definitely look good naked but he's not my type. I can use him as an eye candy but I wouldn't imagine him as a sex partner. Height and build turns me on. He had nice solid pecs, abs, biceps and overall musculature but he didn't have the height. I was delighted to know that he too was packing. IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.
"The bathroom's over there. You turn the knob to turn on the shower and the same thing you do to the faucet. Towels are over here." I explained to him. He looked at me with an insulted expression. "I know! I know! I'm not a bumpkin! We have these things in Piltover, you know!" he barked. He took a towel from the service cabinet and ran to the bathroom. He stuck his tongue out at me while closing the door. He's just a kid.
I went to the next house to wake up Mystery Inc. I opened the door to find that they were sleeping soundly too. "Shaggy! Scooby! Wake up! Food time!" I said. Whoa. That was their cue. They rose from their beds vampire-style and made a dash to the bathroom. Boy and dog pushed one another aside to be the first to use it. Their commotion woke up Fred, Velma and Daphne. "What time is it, Addy?" Daphne asked then yawned. "It's noon, sweetie." I said. The three of them yawned and moved. I left them to get ready. "We're at the mansion. Drop by when you're ready then we'll be moving out." I said. I saw Velma's head fall to Daphne's shoulder and she began to snore softly.
As I exited the house, I turned around to see Ezreal standing beside the door. He looked at me with a displeased expression. "You might be a High Priest, Addy, but that doesn't mean you should abuse your position. I'm pretty mad at you." he said to me. I listened to him babble for minutes long. "I had a pretty good reason, Ezzy. Look at this." I said. I summoned the Quest Log and showed him. His eyes bulged with curiosity at the alien technology. Apparently, Piltover had developed the magical equivalent of holograms but this is the first time that he'd seen one that isn't remotely magical in nature. He read the what the screen said and I scrolled to the Red Alert moment.
"The Tomes of Lessina, Valk and Kruin are here? That's three of the nine Sorcerer Tomes! And there are remaining undead here? Corruptors? What're those? The legend of the Vale Portals is real? There's a god here? Have you seen it? Have you, have you?" Ezreal bombarded me again. Damn. He literally sparkled with curiosity. I grinned weakly. Is he always like this when he's excited? I proudly took out three old books that looked very ancient but they radiated a powerful magical aura. Whoever the fuck said that these things were lying around here is a godforsaken liar. These books were guarded by dangerous traps that, unfortunately, was repaired by Restoration when it was healing the building to its core.
Ezreal nearly sprouted dog ears and a wagging tail. He looked at me with his trademark puppy eyes. I gave the books to him but took it back when he reached for them. "So, in exchange of letting you study these, Ezzy, you'll be my tour guide several months more?" I said. He stopped and thought about it for a moment. "By tour guide, you mean someone you can drag along to some life-threatening situation?" he asked. "When you put it that way, sure." I answered easily. "Where do you want to go next anyway?" Ezreal asked. "Piltover." I said simply. He grabbed the books and nodded vigorously. Of course, I said I would go to Piltover, I didn't say anything about not stopping somewhere along the way. "I also brought another god with me." I said. Ezreal nearly dropped the books but he let his mouth go.
"Really?!" he exclaimed. He sparkled again. I swear this blonde mastered the art of sparkling on command. "Yep. He's over there." I said, pointing at the pastry mansion. Ezreal teleported away. At that exact same moment, the door of Mystery Inc.'s house opened suddenly. It banged against me and send me crashing on the ground. I looked up at Shaggy and Scooby. They smiled sheepishly on me. Daphne and Velma helped me up. "By the way, I think I should warn you that Persephone returned already." I said. Mystery Inc. jerked as if they were shocked. "Oh. Even you guys. Is Persephone really that high in your system?" I asked. "We only know that the Supreme Beings value her greatly and Lady Persephone's reputation is legendary." Velma said.
"Reah! Rhe's really rool!" Scooby said. Hhhmmmmmm... Is that so? Then I guess I know now why Persephone's more inclined to question me than follow. But then again, she's my Jiminy Cricket and I need her to tell me what's left from right and right from left. I wonder why did someone as legendary as her was assigned to me. If we're talking about legendary, won't Rick, Marshal and Magnus be better candidates? I mean, they're pretty much overachieving at anything they set their minds to. God, I struggle to keep my mediocre grades mediocre. I'm mediocre in every aspect of a human. Physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, I'm mediocre. Why me? We walked to the mansion and entered it.
OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. This place is the bomb. It's huge. A bit bigger than the suite I had in that swanky Demacian hotel! "If you told us we'd be dining with two gods, we could've worn better clothes." Lucre complained to me the moment I sat down at the table. "Then you should know that gods care not for outward appearances but the heart. And if hearts are clothes, you'll be the best dressed people here." I pointed out. Silent Marchers looked at me with their mouths open.
Shaggy and Scooby began emptying the tower of vending machines that gave out food of all sorts. Any food you can name, there's a dozen versions of that here! 200 vending machines, stacking on top of each other lined the walls of the dining area like a square tower rising. You can choose which food you want and the vending machine will provide it to you. You can freely levitate to which vending machine you want and levitate that amount of food you chose anywhere in the mansion. You can definitely live the rest of your life here.
Living Bread and Enchanter's Talent went up by one level when I designed this part. That's how much Experience I got from overdesigning this place. The Cards were permanently stationed where the vending machines served only sweets and treats of all kinds. I saw Nessie chugging down fat streams of three kinds of ice cream at the same time. She noticed me staring and winked. I think the Boy and Girl Wannabes could give Shaggy and Scooby a run for their money with the way they devoured doughnuts and cakes.
I floated up to the vending machine that produced a full meal. I chose two plates of fries, double-decker cheeseburgers, mashed potatoes and milkshake. I am that hungry. I floated down with my meal, only to find that Silent Marchers took bigger piles than I did. "Sorry. We never had this kind of food until you came along." Bael said in between bites. "You two look buddy-buddies now." I commented. "I am in awe of your capabilities, my lord. Lady Persephone has told me a lot about you." Vale said. I choked on my milkshake. "Was it good or bad?" I asked in alarm.
"Both, of course."
"But then again, most of them would be so true the remaining false ones would look real as well." I said.
"What you said."
"Addy, where's that voice coming from? Isn't that the same voice from Best Buys? I heard it once but I remember that tone anywhere." Ezreal asked. I was silent for a moment then I shrugged. "Persephone, would you like to introduce yourself to them?" I asked.
"Greetings, mortals of Runeterra. I am Persephone-04, guardian and guide of Adriel here. I am pleased to meet you. We would be in your debt if you would aid Adriel in his time of need."
"Are you some sort of god or celestial being?" Ezreal asked.
"Neither, little one. I am both true and false, both real and unreal. I am Existence."
"You're not gonna get any straight answers from her. She talks in riddles to strangers." I said. "Indeed. She exists in a level even I cannot reach." Vale said. This is a very humbling situation for him. "Excuse me but... Who are you again?" Simon asked. Vale proudly spread his mighty wings. Shaggy and Scooby wasted no time finding, turning on and aiming a flashlight and an electric fan to make Vale look more intimidating. The bird-god sportingly played along.
"You have wandered the halls of my sanctum, child. You have assisted Lord Adriel in cleansing the darkness that has chained me. You have assisted Lord Adriel in freeing me from my bondage." he declared grandly. Shaggy and Scooby played a thunderous and catchy tune after that. Ezreal spat the contents of his mouth.
"You're the Lord of Vale?! The creature from the myth?! The god the Snow Elves worshiped?!" Ezreal twittered. As if on cue, Silent Marchers spat their own mouthfuls as well. Cinderella's Assistants flew down and cleaned their messes. "Valeus Thhe're Mrathi! Valeus Thhe're Mrahi! Valeus Thhe're Mrahi!" Misty and Maze chanted in a tongue I didn't recognize. "Like, what's going?" Shaggy asked. Good question. I've been wondering the same thing.
"The Lord of Vale is the god of the Snow Elves. They're the race that created the Vale Crypts. And according to songs and legends, it was the Lord of Vale that first resisted the march of the Black Mist. Though the god was said to fall before the Black Mist, his defiance inspired the other races of Valoran to rise against the undead curse. You could say he's the indirect father of anti-undead movement in Runeterra." Ezreal said.
I raised an eyebrow as I looked at the bird. No wonder he's got creeps like Thresh shitting on his tomb. He's got some undying grudges after him! "No wonder." Me, Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby chorused. Vale looked stunned at our comment. "But how did you survive? Don't the tales say the Ruined King drove his blade into your heart himself?" Simon said incredulously.
"The tales are true, my child. I died when the Black King took his blade to my heart. My people sacrificed themselves to recover my body. They built the sanctums and interred my body there along with the last of my power. But I rule over nature. It is the course of nature to bloom, wither, die and be reborn. I dreamed the suffering of my people. Though I could not save their bodies from death, I rescued their souls from undeath. I pray that with the passage of time, I would strong enough to recall all of my people's souls. And I will lead them to a glorious war against the Dark Tide." Vale declared.
"He's reviving his people so he could lead them to their deaths again?" Daphne whispered. We giggled secretly at this. "The Black Mist is no joke here, Daphne. If Vale would succeed in that, the other races of this world surely unite against a common enemy." Velma said. "Rhat's ra rong rong rime rin rhe ruture!" Scooby said. "Like, what Scoob said." Shaggy agreed. "Then I guess we should find a book on how to revive weakened gods." I said. "Don't do the evil laugh." Velma warned sharply. Dang. I was about to launch to it. "I wish to thank you for your role in saving me." Vale said. My ears elongated at his words. Vale raised his wings and summoned six wispy orbs of light. It flew towards the six people and merged with them, granting them the gift. "It's a Greater Power." I said. Vale nodded.
I gained Vale and Demacia's Favor through my High Priest title but I was still envious of what he gave them, whatever it was. Ezreal and Silent Marchers cheered as they discovered their gifts. "A shapeshifting gift!" Lucre said. Shapeshifting? This should be interesting.
Bael turned into a giant dire wolf. Lucre turned into a giant six-winged bird. Simon turned into a beast that resembled a rhino with some dinosaur in there. Maze turned into a giant bat. Misty turned into a swarm of insects. Ezreal turned into a giant sea serpent. Okay, I take that back. They can keep it. The adventurers shifted back into their forms. They would get to use that power once a day. Their eyes misty and smiles truly grateful, they clapped with a thunderous force, rubbed their palms together and bowed deep. "Thank you, Your Holiness." they chorused.
"Also, I would like to extend my gratitude to you." I said. Silent Marchers looked at me in surprise. "You've given us enough, Lord Adriel." Simon said tentatively. His teammates nodded in agreement. I made a mock sigh and the best fake sorrow I could muster. "Then I guess I would have to give these to Ezreal instead." I said. I showed them the Tomes of Lessina, Valk and Kruin. "WHAT?!" Bael and Lucre yelled in disbelief. Maze had accidentally swallowed his spoon and Misty was trying to squeeze it out of him. Simon just stared in disbelief. "This is what I wanted to bring you here for but you were so damn tired, I let you sleep away a golden opportunity!" I said dramatically. Actually, it might have been safer before I used Restoration. As I said before, it also revived the traps guarding these three treasures. "Were they used by the necromancers?" Lucre asked.
I wagged my head negatively. They sighed in relief. "It would be useless to us if they managed to corrupt those." Simon said. Silent Marchers looked enviously at the tomes. "Do you want it? I'll give it to you if you say so." I offered. They looked at me incredulously. "Just like that?" Bael asked. I nodded. "There's something in it for me though. I want you guys to spread the word about me establishing an adventurer city far and wide. I want every adventurer you come across to hear about this unbelievable offer." I said. The adventurers looked at each other. "We were planning to do that whether you give us those or not." Bael pointed out. "After Ezreal tinkers with them, you can have them. I want a big group of adventurers for the opening day of Ratharbor." I said. "Rew Radriel!" Scooby corrected. I gave the mutt a look. Persephone broke into laughing.
"NEW ADRIEL! PFFFT~!"
She broke into a bout of hilarious laughter as if the whole thing was funny. "See? I told you it's funny!" I said. "Lady Persephone is just teasing you." Velma said. "New Adriel sounds okay to us." Lucre said helpfully. I facepalmed. That's when my attention was diverted on the kids who were floating near a vending machine. "You kids take it easy on the sugar, okay?" I warned. They flinched and nodded obediently, trying to hide traces of ice cream on their faces. "This is luxurious, Addy. You overdid it again." Velma said as she and Daphne floated to the desserts vending machines. "Hohohohohoho..." I laughed haughtily.
"This is actually just an experiment. I was wondering if I could create portable accommodations. Like a portable house you can carry around. I'm thinking about a unique reward system for adventurers. I'm thinking for each quest they accomplish, they'd get the standard rewards but they'll also get points depending on their overall performance and teamwork. If they save enough of those points for a unique item in the reward system, they can claim it for themselves. I'm thinking of individual points. Each person gets points instead of applying it to the whole team because that would certainly cause an argument. I have already neat ideas for the items. I'm planning on making the items myself." I said brightly. Mystery Inc. and the Cards clapped when I was finished.
"Let us name it the Adriel System because you conceptualized it and would make the reward items yourself. Also, split it into several categories. There should be one for beginners, one for experienced, one for experts and one for masters. Better yet, make a tier system for the adventurers."
"Excellent idea, Persephone! Let us begin our plans for world domination!" I boomed dramatically. Me, Shaggy, Scooby and Persephone launched into maniacal laughter. "This'll be, like, a lot of work." Shaggy said. "Reah! Rut rit's ralso run!" Scooby barked. "Oh, there's a separate reward system for you guys." I said. At these words, Ghost Boy communicated with his fellow Monster Cards. Those Monster Cards would, no doubt, spread the news and by the time I arrive on Dragon's Coast, there'll be ruckus waiting for me. "Has anyone ever told you that your ideas and excitement are infectious?" Misty said. I stopped and pointed at myself. "Me?" I echoed. "Yeah! It got us excited too!" Misty said. I gave her a doubtful look and carried on anyways. "Persephone, we'll be very busy discussing about ideas for the reward system." I declared.
"Wait there. Persephone will go on silent mode for a moment. She will make a list of suggestions. On second thought, Persephone will take your leave for a moment. She will return to the Dragon's Coast and discuss ideas with the others."
"You do that, Persephone. Leave the paperwork to me." I said. We suddenly felt Persephone's presence leaving us. "I just felt her. I sense that her presence is tremendous." Vale commented. "Will you guys quit it? It's not like it's the first time you came across something like this." I said. "It is." Vale, Ezreal and Silent Marchers chorused. Mystery Inc. giggled at my stunned expression. "Anyhoo. Let's leave now. I have lots of people to visit and a lot of paperwork to do." I declared. We rose and began to clear up and exited a minute after.
I gave time for Silent Marchers, the kids and Ezreal to pack up their stuff. When they were finished, they up to me. I snapped my fingers and the Gingerbread Town shrunk as if it was a balloon deflating. It returned to its original snowglobe form and floated towards my hand. I tucked it back into my cloak. I gave back Mystery Inc.'s original clothes and let them wear it. They're not blending well enough anyway. "By the power of Helios, I summon thee!" I intoned. The warping rift opened and we were all spirited away back to Demacia.
•
Demacia
•
We appeared in Demacia a moment later as the portal opened to the familiar Sunspire Gate. "You guys know what to do?" I asked. "We're gonna spread the word about your offer. We'll be heading to the guild hall to turn in the results of the quest anyway." Maze answered, grinning. "And I'm gonna do a research on these books before I give it to these guys." Ezreal said, grinning while holding up the ancient tomes. I looked at my shadow and it bubbled and spread outward. The Shadow Demons would gather the House of Artificers and request an audience with its leaders. Mystery Inc. would do the same to the House of Commons. The Cards and Vale would prepare the church of Our Lady of Stalwart Protection for another miracle and my big announcement later. We entered the gates and went our separate paths. I spotted a familiar figure.
There's a lot of changes on her know. She looked like an actual living person. "Kadma! Kadma! Kadma!" I called as I made my way to her. The yordle looked back in question. Then she remembered why the voice sounded familiar. She beamed hugely. She smiled to wide that the sunlight reflected on her perfect white teeth. "Oh, goodness! It's good to see you again, uh, sir-" Kadma said then she remembered she didn't know my name. "Adriel, just call me Adriel. Anyway, are you a member of the House of Artificers?" I asked. Kadma nodded.
"Yes, my lord. I happen to have a seat on the Underside Council. May I ask why?" she asked. I grinned. "I'm gonna need your help. Some creatures would come looking for leaders for your House. Can you help me make it easier for them to agree to a meeting?" I asked. Kadma looked curious as what it would be. "It's a business venture. Just tell them the same person who spent an obscene amount of gold on your shop wants to meet up with the rest of you." I said. Kadma grinned like she was recalling a precious memory.
"Also. Here." I said. I gave her a piece of paper. She took it and her eyes bulged. It was an order form. I'm ordering 100 of each of the Feast series and 100 of the Book of Gluttony. "What? You look like you'll have a heart attack any moment now." I asked. "My lord, this is terribly too much an order. The costs and time would take a lot. Would you give me two years to comply, I simply could not meet that deadline." she said sadly. Her sorrow was palpable. I grinned. "I know. That's why I'm giving you these." I said, giving to her six Chinese fortune cookies.
I explained to her that these cookies are called Laborer's Wishes. They were enchanted so that the holder can make a wish in their heart then break one and their wishes will appear before their very eyes. I knew that it would be abused easily so I told her that I placed limitations on it. It can only grant ingredients and components for something you need to actually build. It can help her get started. Kadma's eyes glowed as she appraised the items on her hand and found them to be truly enchanted as I told her.
"Thank you, my lord! I will strive to meet your standards!" she said happily. "Okay! Thanks a lot! Gotta run! Bye!" I said as I made for the Royal Palace. I saw a group of five guards and ran towards them. They spotted me and since I'm sure they looked like they were going to bow, I stopped them. They hastily responded to my order. "No need! No need! Do you know where Garen is?" I asked. "The Captain's at the Evergreen Tower, my lord. He's busy with paperwork. Perhaps we can assist you instead?" one of the guards said. They're calling me lord now. "Who spread the news?" I asked. I think he got what I'm referring to. "Only the knights, battlemages and city guards know about your identity, my lord. We have sworn to keep it a secret. The general populace is just speculating but they're not into you." he replied. I smiled. "Blessing on the gods upon you!" I said. Multi-colored butterflies of light flew off the men.
It's a blessing. Where did I get this? Blessing: Power, of course. I enchanted myself with it. Minor Blessings of The Gods. They're super-spammable cost-efficient divine blessings. I just gave the men magical stamina so they can carry out their jobs with ease for a day. The men smiled gratefully. They told me where the Evergreen Tower is and I thanked them before speeding away.
I found the Evergreen Tower after asking several guards along the way and blessing them. There were seven of these towers in Demacia. They spanned the city in equal distances apart. This is where the armed forces of the capital lived and trained. Each tower had its own courtyard, training grounds and other amenities that allowed the peacekeeping forces to move between districts with ease. Kadma told me that enchantment prices soared through the roof mainly because of its duration. An object that has strong enchantments as well as a long duration had unbelievable price tags. Only nations could afford it. This made Enchanters, Smiths and Engineers invaluable anywhere in Valoran.
The king apparently had paid a fortune to have these towers enchanted. Not only do they host a spatial distortion that makes its courtyard and the tower itself bigger than it's supposed to be, it also possesses magical wards and increased the healing rate of Demacians who are within its vicinity. Before entering, I used Less Demonic Wish-Granting grant me those very useful one-time-use-only rings. The rings containing Less Invisibility, Less Intangibility and Less Levitation I used immediately. I floated inside. I sensed the magical wards they placed here but it didn't bother me. It was letting me pass through. I glided through the halls of the spiraling tower.
I poked through many rooms but I didn't see any Garen. I used a ring containing Less Search Target but it came back negative and told me the Garen was not in the building. He must've gone. A waste. I sighed. I was planning on having a sinful fornication with him. I poked my head through a locked door. Instead of Garen, I saw Xin with his nose buried in a mountain of paper. He locked the door so no one can disturb him. What an industrious man. He could some relaxation. He'll be my victim. I grinned evilly.
Sexy time, dead ahead! Skip to the next Chapter if you're not into yaoi! Flee! Save your soul! GO ON WITHOUT ME!
