Axe met flesh, blood squirting from the wound.
Mason rolled to the side, dodging the retaliating blow Jack had made in response. He raised his left arm up, blocking a weakened laser. The beast raised a clawed hand, ready to slam down on Mason before a large chain of ice wrapped around the limb and held it in place.
Taking advantage of the beast's opening, he leapt up to its core and slammed his axe into it. Flames burned the flesh surrounding it, cooking it like meat as the blade of the axe dug into the core.
The large orb cracked a bit more, energy leaking from it as Jack grew just a bit weaker. A stray claw struck Mason, tossing him to the ground as his body bounced across the soul sand.
He stood up, panting as sand began to whip across his face as the unnatural winds picked up. They were just on the outskirts of The Wither Storm, their chances of survival halving with every moment spent within it.
Jack growled, pulling free from the ice chain and diving towards Mason, jaw wide open as several rows of blade-like teeth were revealed. Mason's legs tensed as he jumped to the side, placing his shield on his back and slamming his axe into the beast's scaled hide.
His arm jerked as he was pulled along with the beast's momentum, clinging to its side. Twisting his body, he laid his stomach on the beast and dug his fingers into its scales, managing to grip the side of the beast.
Noticing Mason's presence on its side, Jack began to try and buck him off. Mason held on, clinging onto the beast as his body was thrown up and down.
More chains of ice wrapped around Jack's limbs, holding him in place as stakes of ice pierced his hide and chained him to the ground. He roared, struggling against the frozen prison, breaking through several chains only for dozens more to take their place.
Mason let go of his axe, taking a deep breath in as he focused on his admittedly poor control over his power. Flames licked at his hands, coalescing into smoldering chains of his own as they wrapped around his arms.
He swung them around, getting a few for their weight before throwing them to his sides. The chains caught on Jack's wings, wrapping around them tightly. Giving them an experimental tug, he nodded in satisfaction at their strong hold.
The flames on his arms grew brighter and hotter, spreading down the chains and igniting them. Jack roared once again, this time in agony as Nether Flames seared his flesh and cooked his wings.
Mason's arms tensed, muscles bulging as he began to pull back on the chains. The wings were pulled together but held firm against his incredible strength. They pulled away from him, fighting against him in a crude version of tug of war.
It was straining, pulling against the might of a Nether Lord, no matter how weakened it was. But Mason wasn't going to falter now. He felt rage bubble inside him, a familiar sensation, and one that he had long since gotten used to suppressing. Anger was something that he had let consume him in his youth, and it had led to death and destruction.
Which was just what he needed.
He let the rage fester, growling as he tugged on his chains even harder. His flames burned hotter and brighter, their red color slowly being beaten out by a light blue. His anger began to reach critical mass, and with one final tug on his chains, it exploded.
"RAAAAAGH!"
Soul flames burst from within him, spreading throughout his body and across his chains. His muscles bulged again, growing in size as his fists made contact with one another. The wings snapped back, ripping out of the beast's back as it screamed in agony. Blood spurted from the wound, before the soul flames cauterized them.
The beast pulled free of the chains in its rage, forcing Mason to grab his axe and leap off its back. His boots hit the sand with a muted thud, his soul flames preventing the lost souls stuck within the soul sand from reaching out.
"Mason… you are blue."
Evetta slid over to him, a trail of ice behind her as she stepped closer to him. Her hands reached out, firm in her resolve to touch the light blue flames. Her fingers made contact with his armor, and she gasped as no steam came from their contact. "It does not burn."
Mason grunted, unsure of how to feel at the sudden revelation. He wasn't given the chance to figure that out, as the ground beneath them shuddered. Jack stood on his hind legs, reptilian eyes glowing an angry crimson as he snarled. "I have entertained this for long enough. If I am to die here, then I will make sure that I am not alone!"
He slammed a fist into the ground, soul sand exploding outward from the impact. The shockwave sent Mason and Evetta flying back, both of them hitting a jagged pillar of soul rock.
The large core began to spin rapidly, its crimson glow brightening as energy began to cocoon around it. The core began to pulse, almost like a heart would beat, the cracks that had already been present on it growing larger. "I will erase your existence from this hellhole! To the point that even your souls will- "
A large sword flew by then, whistling as it cut through the air. The sharp blade pierced the core like an arrow, only instead of exploding like Mason had assumed it would, the sword began to absorb the energy, delaying the blast.
"The absorption blade should keep the core from exploding, though not for long."
Darius rode next to them, sliding off of Horse and landing with a soft thud. He walked towards them, a slight limp in his step as he waved. "Hey guys, how's it going?"
Getting up to his feet, Mason sighed at the boy's unflappable demeanor. "You are injured, and we are trapped within the outskirts of The Wither Storm. Now is not the time to be relaxed."
Darius tilted his head, earning a chuckle from Evetta as he shrugged. "Today has been a very eventful day. To be honest, I think I've just accepted it. Besides… "
He stepped forward, reaching toward his back and grabbing one of his exploding sticks. Lifting it up, he gripped the end of it and gave it a good pump. "I think I've found what I was looking for."
…
I twisted my shotgun, watching as it shifted from a pump action into an automatic. Even with that, I was still the weakest participant in this fight by far. I didn't have access to any of my powers or inventory, only able to use what had been equipped on me. Which was just my guns and absorption blade. My armor was also only working at just over fifty percent efficiency, with my grapples only hurt coming back online. But that didn't matter.
Time Left: Five Minutes
I just needed to stall for a few more minutes.
Sprinting forward towards Jack, I sent a grapple onto one of his flailing arms. My arm was yanked forward, and I held in a wince as my wounds began to bleed anew.
Jack's enhanced strength had managed to pull my heavy armor up into the air, which was what I had hoped for. Without the several enchantments that I had applied to lessen the weight of my suit, I couldn't pull myself up with my grapples anymore.
My shotgun was pointed ahead of me, aimed right at Jack's stupid dragon face. Finger pressed down on the trigger, I grunted as the gun pushed back against my shoulder.
The shells shot from the barrel rapidly, hitting Jack in the face as he growled and raised a hand up. Unfortunately, the hand he raised up was the same one my grapples had pierced, so he ended up flinging me upwards as my grapples detached from his arm.
"Mother's non-existent ass!"
I spiraled out of control through the air, unable to activate my jetpack as it was still offline. My arms and legs spread out as I tried to balance myself, controlling my fall somewhat. Stretching my arm out, I threw a grapple towards a soul rock pillar, gripping the line as I tried to swing around it and slow my fall.
And then the line broke.
I tumbled to the ground, hitting the sand and bouncing a few times before I dug my hand into the ground. I laid there on my back, panting as my muscles ached. "Fuuuuck, there's sand in my wooouunds!"
A loud cracking sound caught my attention, and I froze as I saw the soul stone pillar begin to fall down right where I was laying. I flipped over to my stomach, abandoning my shotgun and getting to my hands and knees before rolling out of the way just in time, the large pillar crashing down beside me.
My hand gripped the fallen pillar, pulling myself to my feet. Mason and Evetta had managed to pick up the slack, bringing Jack to his knees and beginning to tear the core out of him. Good to see that they didn't need my help all that much.
And that was when a loud cry rang out. "RRAAAUUGH!"
My eyes narrowed as I looked into the distance, gritting my teeth as I saw a figure flying towards us. Its bones were black, withered through what had to be necromantic power. Bloodied meat hung loosely on its ribs, leaking blood down it's spine. In the center of its rib cage, was a large purple sphere, glowing an ominous purple.
The phylactery.
It's three skull heads were barren of flesh, teeth sharp as it continued to scream. All three pairs of eye sockets glowed the same purple as the phylactery and were completely zeroed in on me.
Time Left: Three Minutes and fifty Seconds
The winds around me picked up as the ground rumbled, dozens of black skeletal hands erupting from the ground. I took a step back, bumping into the fallen pillar as the wither skeletons pulled themselves up from the ground, soul stone swords glowing with necromantic energy.
"Well… there goes my good mood."
I reached back and pulled out my super shotgun, pointing it towards the incoming wave of skeletons and firing. The closest dozen or so were dusted as the shot hit them, swords falling to the ground.
I prepared to fire another shot, but the horde was already upon me. Dropping the shotgun, I slammed my fist into the skull of a nearby skeleton, shattering it.
Snagging his fallen sword, I disengaged my remaining grapple and shoved it into the pommel of the sword. Gripping the handle, I swing the blade down, bisecting several more skeletons.
A sword hit my back, sending me forward as I stumbled. My head swung on a swivel, and I quickly realized that I had my back against the wall. Both metaphorically, and very literally.
I let my borrowed sword go, grabbing onto the grapple line and swinging the blade over my head. Throwing it forward, the sword cut through several more skeletons before competing its arc and coming back to me. I kept up the momentum, swinging the blade around before throwing it back out.
"Raagh!"
My eyes widened as a skeleton leapt up into the air, sword aimed down as it stabbed into my open guard. Growling, I ripped it off me and tore the sword out of my shoulder, but the damage had been done. The other skeletons took advantage of my distracted state, rushing me blade first.
Grabbing the grapple line with both hands, I caught the first attack and wrapped the line around the blade. Twisting the line, I snapped the blade in two, catching the end of it and throwing it at another skeleton after I kicked the other one's chest in.
Another sword hit my shoulder, bouncing off my armor but tucking up my rhythm. I turned on my heel, ready to crush its skull before another sword hit me, digging a groove into my chest armor.
I yanked my hand back, punching a skeleton's skull in and catching my sword right after. Digging my heel in, I slashed at another few skeletons, stopping as my sword met another. They clashed for a moment, before mine cracked and shattered, leaving me with only a stone hilt.
Rolling back, I snatched my super shotgun from the floor and blasted another few skeletons. I took another step back, touching the stone pillar as neither side moved.
"BOY!"
Mason's voice echoed out, catching my attention just as a large sword stabbed itself on top of the broken pillar. I looked back towards the skeletons, watching as they just stared at me.
My legs tensed, and they screamed.
I tossed the shotgun on top of the pillar, digging my clawed fingers into the stone and throwing myself up it. Several skeletal hands tried to pull me down, but they lacked the strength to pull me down as I climbed up to the top.
Pulling myself over the crest, I found half a dozen skeletons trying to pull the absorption blade out of the stone, freezing as they saw me.
Then they screamed, rushing toward me weaponless.
Reaching out, I grabbed two of them by the skull, crushing their heads and grabbing their spines. Lifting my right arm, I battered two skeletons off the pillar with the body of their comrade, before tossing the other one into two more, throwing them off the side.
I slid towards the blade, picking up my super shotgun and catching myself by the sword's handle. Spinning around it, I got up to my feet and gripped the handle, using my free hand to shoot off a few skeletons with my shotgun.
The sword pulled free of the stone, and I sheathed my super shotgun as I gripped the handle with two hands. Taking a deep breath in, I twisted the sword's handle, activating Overdrive Mode for the first time.
Nether Energy danced along the blade, glowing a bright crimson. I rested my arms back, tensing my legs as I leapt up a few dozen feet in the air. Through the storm, I could faintly see Mason's new soul flames and Evetta's icy constructs near Jack's body, the Nether Lord's core laying down next to them, shattered.
I was still far away from them when I began to descend, falling towards the ground rapidly. Pulling the sword hilt off, I sent my grapple towards the ground, pulling me in even faster as I lifted my sword up.
Time Left: One Minute
I thrust my sword just as I was about to hit the ground, a shockwave of Nether Energy atomizing the nearby wither skeletons and stopping my descent for a moment, before I fell and hit the ground.
Twirling my blade, I dashed forward and thrust the sword into a skeleton, tearing my arm back and jabbing forward again several more times. Each thrust forward pierced another skeleton, their bodies exploding as the Nether Energy pushed into them.
Jumping back, I used my free hand to pull out my rifle, switching it to fire bullets as I sprayed into the crowd. The magic bullets hit the first line of skeletons, exploding into flames as they sent a few skeletons back. A few bullets pierced a couple skeletons' heads, exploding outwards and sending bone shards flying into the other skeletons.
The rifle soon stopped firing, making a few clicking sounds instead.
Yeah, those elemental rounds are way more expensive power wise than the normal rounds. Folding the gun back up, I connected it back to the charging unit on my back. Swinging my blade in a downward arc, it kicked up even more sand as a blast of Nether Energy shot off from it, killing a few more skeletons and exploding.
All I needed to do was hold out for like forty more seconds and-
Something hit my back, sending me flying through the air before I managed to stab my sword into the ground and slow myself down. In front of me stood a large, armored wither skeleton, easily twice my height wearing stone armor, bones sticking out of it like it had been fused to the armor. In its hands was a large greatsword, glowing with necromantic power.
It growled, forcing the other skeletons back as they formed a tight circle around us. It twirled it's greatsword, running forward with its sword at its side. I held my own blade, twisting my body out the way as I lifted my foot and stomped on his sword, sending it into the soul sand.
I swung my sword, cutting through his armor and bisecting him from the chest up. The rest of him fell forward, hitting the sand with a satisfying thump. Looking back at the crowd of skeletons, I frowned as three more armored ones came forward, surrounding me on all sides and forcing me back onto the defensive.
They circled around me, posture relaxed as they waited to attack. Which was fine, since I just needed another thirty seconds before-
The one on my left attacked, swinging its sword down towards me. I lifted my own blade up, deflecting his attack just in time to twist out of the way of the right armored one's attack. Brandishing my sword, I spun around on my heel to-
A blade ran its way through my chest.
"Hrrgh!"
I grunted, dropping my sword as I grabbed part of the blade in front of me. This was fine, I just needed to snap this sword and-
The armored skeleton began to lift me up with his sword, sliding me down the rest of the blade. A pained gasp escaped my lips, my hands grasping at anything as I struggled to try and pull myself off it.
It reared its arms back, throwing me off its sword as it swung down. I landed on the edge of the circle, fingers digging into the sand as I tried to push myself up and on my feet.
An armored foot kicked my side, pushing me onto my back. I tried to roll over, but a sword pierced the side of my chest, pinning me to the ground. A second sword joined the first, stabbing me through the other side of my chest.
My back tensed as I tried to lift myself off the blades, the armored skeletons just standing there as I snapped the stone swords and got to my feet, part of the blades still in my chest. I just needed more time. Just a little bit longer.
The normal skeletons behind me began to chatter, before several more swords were pushed into my back.
"Argh!"
All feeling left my body below the neck as I fell face forward, unable to move as a sword managed to sever my spine. I tried to breathe, but my lungs must've been punctured by the several swords sticking out of me.
This is like, the second time in the last hour that I've come to the point where I'm dying. Huh. I thought I'd be more panicked. Though that could just be the blood loss.
My sight was completely unreliable at this point, as the only things I could see were several black and brown blobs with some purple bits. My ears were ringing, to the point that it was only when the armored skeleton was right in front of me that I noticed it.
Its blobby form stood in front of me, standing still for a moment before it began to walk away, certain of the fact that I was dying. Which was fair l, since even my insane survivability had its limits. Fucking… limits man. They suck. And word stuff. English.
Time Left: Three Seconds
Time Left: Two Seconds
Time Left: One Second
The Awakening Update has been successfully installed.
ERROR! User's body has died. Strange, the soul continues to cling onto it. Oh well.
System Shutdown initiating…
20%…
40%…
60%…
80%…
100%…
99%…
ERROR! User's soul is refusing to leave. User, please do not resist. You have died, it is only natural for you to pass on.
…
Please stop thrashing. You are making this- oh? Ah, very clever User. I had completely neglected that. Very well, make the roll.
Death's Door!
Well now, how about that? Welcome back to the land of the living, Unbound Limits.
My heart began to beat, and my fingers twitched.
Digging into the sand, I pushed myself up, the swords in my back being pushed out as my body rapidly healed. Panting, I got to my feet, stumbling forward as I ripped out the two greatsword pieces stuck in my chest.
User, do not die again! I was just about to erase our existence! If you hadn't pulled that stunt, we'd be dead! Permanently!
Well, maybe don't do that next time. You know, just resurrect me or something.
I would love to. However, with you just about dead, our connection was borderline nonexistent. Meaning, your emotions had stopped affecting me, and I no longer cared about our death. I was simply following the natural order of things.
Oh… well it's a good thing Death's Door worked then. A god damn sixty-seven percent chance to just not die whenever you dealt a killing blow. Fucking clutch.
Indeed. Speaking of which:
Due to pushing Death's Door to its absolute limit and resurrecting yourself, the Perk has evolved!
Resurrection
Once per day, you may resurrect yourself from the dead at 50% health with zero cost. From there, any further resurrections will cost ten mortal souls, the cost increasing by five for each resurrection before the day is up. Spending souls for resurrections will add 12 hours to the cooldown for your free resurrection.
You have used your free resurrection.
Well, that was handy. Too bad it cost mortal souls though, since I have a shit ton of these Damned Souls. Ah well, I can't exactly complain. I mean, I've literally just gotten a Get Out of Death Free card.
Rolling my shoulders, I Repaired my armor back up to one hundred percent efficiency, grabbing the absorption blade and vanishing it to my inventory as I strode forward. "Status."
Darius Artifice
Title: The Anomaly
Race: Aspect of Destruction
Influence: Limits
Age: 24
Health: 30/30
Mana: 300/300
Levels: 0
Experience: 0/7
Uh, the fuck?
In order:
The title was assigned based on your abnormal traits and behavior amongst all the other Aspects.
Your Influence is the destruction of limits, hence the whole Unbound moniker from earlier.
Your health was buffed due to the increase in your physical might.
The Magic - Mana part is the most complex:
After going through the system and redefining some variables, I have managed to successfully differentiate between Magic and mana.
Magic is denser, each unit ten times more powerful than that of Mana. However, it is impossible to truly control in a manner outside of runes/sigils. Mana on the other hand is much weaker but flows far smoother. If Magic is a stone, then Mana is like water.
This of course brings us to the Affinity System!
Affinities
Destruction: 100%
Mind: 75%
Electricity: 50%
Fire: 50%
Ice: 30%
Soul Flame: 20%
Nether Energy: 10%
Affinity Percents represent your skill and control with the associated element, of which there are many. At 100%, you have complete control over that element, no Sorceries required!
At 50%, all Sorceries of that element are half as expensive.
Holy fuck, I can use Sorcery now?!
Indeed, though that will come later. For now, we have more pressing matters to attend to.
Hm? Oh, right, the skeletons.
My hand glowed red as I pushed destruction mana into it, the energy flailing wildly before it calmed down and cooled into a deep navy. My eyes locked onto an armored skeleton, using my opposite hand to catch the incoming thrust and pull it closer to me. I grabbed its helmet, pushing my mana into its body. It began to melt, dissolving into mud until nothing was left.
So, that was cool. A bit small in scale, but still pretty damn cool.
Mana: 250/300
Hm, and what's my regen rate?
2 Mana/s
Fucking hell, that's kind of slow, but it'll have to do. I guess magic is very much not a main weapon, at least, with this regen rate anyway. Then again, a maximum Reinforcement should bring that to about… carry the one… like five per second. Still pathetic, but it's something I guess. Though I'd still end up draining all of my mana for it. Actually, show me the Magic skill.
Mana
Allows the use of mystical energies to bend the world to your will. Recharges at (RANK X10) amount per fifteen seconds.
RANK 3 – You have 300 Mana Points and can increase any skill's efficiency by 3% per 10 points. Can imbue Man into Rare items.
Okay, so it was basically just the Magic skill but with a few bumpers tweaked. The exchange rate for Mana Infusion into skills looks to be roughly the same, though I have a bit more control with it now.
Lazily stretching my hand out, I caught another sword, this time one being held by a normal skeleton. Tensing my hand, I snapped the sword in two before slowly moving my fist in front of its face. Placing my middle finger and thumb together, I flicked it in the skull, watching as it shattered.
Right, so going by that, and my sudden max health boost, I'm gonna guess I'm about fifty percent stronger than I was before this. Not a huge difference but considering how many effects I've been stacking to get fucking swole, it's gonna mean a massive difference later.
Going through my inventory, I smirked as I saw a favorite of mine. I held my hands out, catching my Fuck You Flame Laser and casually aimed it towards the skeletons, holding down the trigger.
They screamed, naturally, before evaporating into nothingness as the superheated flame tore through them. At this point, calling it fire was almost disingenuous, since it was hot enough to become plasma.
Wave upon wave of skeletons tried to escape the laser, only to vanish as it burned them so efficiently that nothing remained. The heat coming from the laser was hot enough to easily move past the fiery orange color that normal fire had, instead becoming a blue plasma that scorched the sand below it, creating what I dubbed soul glass.
The laser began to die, slowly darkening into an orange color as the plasma faded into fire. Guess the power on this thing was done for, leaving me with an ordinary flame thrower. And while I could pump some more power into it the old-fashioned way, why? I have too many weapons to count, so why just use this one?
Vanishing the Fuck You Flame Laser, I whistled a jaunty tune was I walked over towards where Jack's corpse was. My boots crunched against the soul glass beneath me as I reveled in the fruits of my labor. That laser is great for those weak ass skeletons, though anything stronger and it would drastically diminish in effectiveness. These Damned Souls have some insane durability against heat.
Bending over slightly, I tapped my finger against the two torn Nether Lord wings, vanishing them to my inventory as I walked over to the rest of the corpse. The body had long since stopped regenerating, and it was only a matter of time before it actually decomposed. Or at least, It would have had I not tossed it in my inventory.
And finally, the core. Still shattered of course, but a creature with that much power? It would take time for said power to leak out of the core and reform it. Grabbing up the shards, I shoved it in my inventory, grinning at the possibilities.
But first…
I popped my helmet off, grimacing at the intense odor this place gave off. Taking an experimental breath in, I nodded in satisfaction. Looks like either this place is breathable, unlikely, or I've managed to adapt to it somehow. Either way, it means I can do this.
Licking my lips, I summoned a chunk of cheese to my hand, shoving it in my mouth. Giving it a good few chews, I swallowed it and summoned another, repeating the process with all the different foods I brought along with me.
Topping it all off with a bottle of wine, I let out a content sigh. That definitely hit the spot, god damn was I hungry. I haven't eaten in like, four days. Or was it six?
Letting out a burp, I put my helmet back on and looked over towards the horizon. The Wither was just about here, the storm having calmed as the eye of it came closer. On the ground, I could still see what looked to be hundreds of skeletons still walking about, though Mason and Evetta looked to be holding their own rather well. Hell, if anything those two are going to town on those skeletons. I almost feel bad.
Still, I had actually had some time to spare for once. I mean, the phylactery is right there, these skeletons are an absolute joke now that my powers are back and better than before. So, I may as well try and get an idea on what this update added. If you would be so kind, System.
May as well.
Due to awakening you Influence, you have gained a Skill!
Unbound
Allows access to a series of proses that grant different buffs. Proses can be said in any order, with two exceptions. The first Prose must always be recited first, and the fifth Prose must have all other Proses activated in sequential order to use.
RANK 1 - You can use the First Prose. Next RANK Costs 20 LEVELS
Prose 1
I am Unbound.
(Allows access to catalyst-less Sorcery casting and increases REINFORCEMENT efficiency by 2X. Can access Classes)
Prose 2
LOCKED
Prose 3
LOCKED
Prose 4
LOCKED
Prose 5
LOCKED
Proses, huh? That's an odd name for it, but I'm not gonna complain. Plus, classes. So that's cool.
Indeed. Classes are the most stable way to increase your power temporarily, as they each focus on specific aspects of your power.
Here is your list of unlocked Classes:
Craftsman
Huh, that's pretty-
The ground next to me exploded, throwing me through the air and tumbling across the soul glass and into some sand. Looking back up, I frowned as I saw The Wither, its hateful purple eyes glaring at me as it floated right about where I stood. I readied myself, summoning Master and Pupil to my hands as I-
The ground shook once again, and necromantic energy began to rise up from the soul sand. It surrounded The Wither, rising up as it expanded and began to darken. Black tendrils coalesced, writhing as three heads emerged from the black and purple mass. Each one had a large purple eye, glowing as sharp teeth grew from their jaws. The hulking behemoth growled, staring me down as it roared once more.
The Wither Storm
A construct of pure Necromantic Energy created by The Infant Death God Withered Through Strife, also known simply as, The Wither. So long as The Wither is alive, so too will the storm that surrounds it.
Mother's nonexistent ass.
More skeletal hands pushed through the ground, pulling up glowing wither skeletons. Their jaws were already broken, hanging loosely onto the rest of their head as they all turned to look at me, and screamed.
I wasted no more time, sprinting forward and cutting down several skeletons with my blades. The skeletons' remains floated in the air, before they began to repair and reassemble themselves. Right, so I can either spend time trying to kill these assholes, or book it to Mason and Evetta.
Honestly, it wasn't even a fair choice.
My jetpack roared to life as I rocketed over to them, deactivating it as soon as I saw them. Evetta had erected a wall of ice, keeping the wither skeletons back as Mason tore through them with his axe. It seems that his soul flames were keeping the skeletons down. Unlike the spikes of ice shot through the air, downing a few of them before they would end up standing back up.
I angled my fall perfectly, waiting till the last moment before reactivating my jetpack to slow my fall. Landing on top of the ice wall, I shifted my falchions to their hand cannon forms, blasting a few skeletons off the wall as Horse kicked another few with his hind legs.
I went to shoot another skeleton to my left, only for a thin blade of ice to pierce its skull. Evetta landed to my side, creating another ice saber as she turned to me. "Darius, glad to see you are well. You were not in the best of conditions last time I saw you."
Shrugging my shoulders, I shot another skeleton off the wall. "Yeah, I accidentally kind of screwed up my powers. Who knew burning your soul would do that to a guy?"
She laughed, sending forth a wave of frost to freeze another bunch of skeletons climbing the wall. A flaming chain of ash punched into the wall, miraculously not melting the ice as Mason launched himself next to us. The soul flames around him died down as he turned to me, grimacing. "Boy, unless you have several trucks left up your sleeve, we will not last long."
Hmm, well I did have several ideas stuck in my brain. I tilted my head, eyeing Horse as an interesting idea came to mind. "I have a rough outline of a plan. So, that Wither Storm is just an energy construct, meaning that it's technically immortal so long as The Wither is alive. Meaning, we'll need to get inside that thing and kill The Wither. Simple really."
They both stared at me, trying to assess if I was joking or not before Evetta finally spoke up. "And how do we do that?"
I took a few steps back, aiming myself towards The Wither Storm. "I'm gonna blow a hole in it, and we're gonna jump in. Now, Mason, the reason Horse follows you even though he's a skeleton is because he was too loyal, right?"
He shook himself out of his mild shock, nodding his head as he readied his axe. "Indeed. Why do you ask?"
My legs tensed as I shifted Master and Pupil back into their falchion forms. "A theory. Now then, Reinforcement!"
Health: 75/75
Mana: 0/756
My lips quirked upwards, grinning as I sprinted towards the end of the wall and leapt upwards. The sounds of the battle below grew almost quiet as I gained height, before reaching the peak of my arc and falling down towards the ground.
My body rocketed towards the horde of wither skeletons, their glowing eyes staring up as they realized I was about to land. They scrambled out of the way, eager to avoid the shockwave from my crash.
I took a deep breath in and whistled.
"Neeeiighhh!"
Something erupted from the soul sand, rising up through the air and catching me on it's back as we began to stabilize ourselves. I looked down, grinning as I saw a familiar looking horse armor.
Champ looked fucking badass, the horse armor having seemingly melted onto his bony form. The metallic bones were pitch black, shining as it reflected the ambient light here. His eyes glowed a dark blue, the energy I had used to power the old horse armor infusing itself into him. The gliders that used to be there were now stretched over his bone wings, energy leaking from them as they boosted us forward.
My hand ran down his neck, an auto tuned whinny escaping him. "Thanks Champ. Hey, see if you can land us somewhere near that giant monster, okay?"
Another neigh before he zoomed down towards the ground, completely eviscerating several wither skeletons that got too close. We landed atop a small stone pillar, several hundred feet away from the Wither Storm as it began to slowly creep closer.
Sliding off of Champ, I rolled my shoulders as I readied myself for the next step. Next to me, Champ neighed again, before leaping off the pillar and shooting a laser out of his mouth. Because of course he can.
For what you have planned, I recommend using the Class system and changing into the Craftsman Class.
Hm, I may as well.
I emptied my mind the best I could, suffocating my self perceived shortcomings and taking a deep breath in. The distraction down below meant nothing, the incoming beast of death was but an obstacle. I will not be restrained. I will break all chains that seek to hold me. Because…
"I am Unbound."
Master and Pupil sparked, power lashing out and scorching the top of the soul stone pillar. The absorption blade and Finis Atrium shimmered to life on either side of me, glowing alongside my falchions.
All four blades began to melt into Primordial Mud, circling around me. The Mud began to coalesce into two new swords, each one curved like a falchion but longer and thicker like a katana and greatsword respectively.
The blades began to smoothen, finer details making their presence known as the swords flashed through a variety of colors, eventually landing on my favored shade of navy. A gold trim formed on the outside of the blades and hilts, alongside a triangular covering over the ricasso of the blades. The coverings were made of a mixture between emeralds and diamond gemstones, several ender pearls shining within it. The coverings wrapped tightly around the beginning of the guardless hilts, which were wrapped with a comfortable leather grip.
The Artificer Blades
Legendary
The evolved form of Master and Pupil, they've absorbed all of the capabilities of Finis Atrium and the absorption blade, as well as mutating a few abilities of their own.
New Abilities:
The blades can shift form to better suit the User's need.
The User can imbue the blades with any of His affinities.
The Artificer Blades have gained the symbiotic nature of Netherite, allowing The User to absorb the blades into His body at will.
I didn't have much time to appreciate my new swords, as more of the Primordial Mud began to creep up my arms and over my armor. It swam up my body, covering me from head to toe and a new screen appeared.
Class Auto-Selected:
Craftsman
I could feel the mud surge around me, expanding rapidly as my armor melted into it. It writhed, squirming as it began to compress itself over my body. The Mud receded from my face, leaving it bare as I was finally able to see it shift.
It smoothened out to a familiar black leather, covering my whole body as the back of my coat grew from my waist, forming into the typical storm shield and ending at the middle of my shins. The leather split at the middle of my chest, the collar extending up to my cheek and silver fur growing at the trim of the coat.
Black metal expanded out from the leather, forming machinery as it began to mimic parts of my armor. My fingers sharpened into claws as gauntlets formed on my arms, trailing up to my shoulders as they formed shoulder pads. My boots hardened as armor formed on them, climbing up my waist, creating a belt and swimming onto the coats storm shield.
The metal finished its climb at my chest, armor covering it as it flowed into the gap left behind by my collar. It sank into my chest, presumably creating an invisible armor on what amounted to a male boob window, only instead of boobs it was my pectorals.
Feeling a sudden shift on my back, I looked over my shoulder to find two small thrusters growing out of my shoulder blades, settling down as the armor flashed through several colors before landing on a design.
The majority of the armor stood black, silver trimmings appearing on the metal. Shimmering into existence, navy lines appeared on the border of my color, going across my chest and two my shoulder pads as they also shifted from black to navy alongside my boots, belt, and gauntlets.
Standing atop the soul stone pillar, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Power coursed through my veins, and I grinned as I looked over my armor. "Holy fuck… that's a lot of power all at once."
Indeed. While initially creating this system, I was working within the limitations of your weakened form. As we were split, you would not be able to handle much raw power, so instead I focused on control and skill. However, now that we bound our souls together, this latest Update was designed with raw power in mind.
I nodded, looking over my body and how the new armor clung to it like a second skin, before noticing something strange about it. "Why do I look so much more buff than I usually do?"
Ah, that. Your leaner physique was perfect for your more agile fighting style, as your musculature was compact and firm. However, in order to properly harness the increased Reinforcement strength of your Unbound Form, your body has increased in muscle mass to accommodate it.
Do not worry, it should not hinder your speed and agility in the slightest, as Reinforcement increases everything equally when used like this.
God damn, if that's the case, then imagine my schlong with that much Reinforcement. Emery's gonna be thrilled. "Combat Status."
Health: 121
Mana: 898/1,212
Mana Regen: 8/s
Even better. Now then, show me the description for the Craftsman Class.
Class: Craftsman
Don the garb of a Master Craftsman, becoming one with your creations.
The Garb comes with Three slots, an attack slot, defense slot, and movement slot. Each slot can be filled with a technology/device for each corresponding type. The Garb will then manifest this technology on it, as well as strengthening any exposed flesh to the same strength as the defense slot.
The Garb increases the User's skill with Soul Artifacts, allowing you to combine up to two Soul Artifacts into one.
The user can telekinetically manipulate his creations with his mind, to some degree.
Slots:
Attack – Empty
Defense – Mark II Quartermaster Armor
Movement – Mark II Quartermaster Jetpack
Upgrades:
Double Slots
Increase each of the user's slot types by one. (50 LEVELS)
Technomancy
Grants the user technomancy. (100 LEVELS)
Drones
Summon two small drones to your side, each with their own slots. (70 LEVELS)
Damn, that's a lot of shit. Still, no time to be stuck in awe, I've wasted enough time as is.
Going through my inventory, I grinned as I saw my Fuck You Flame Laser. I quickly attached it to my attack slot, watching as my gauntlets bulged before settling down, a glass-like covering going over the center of my palms as a circular opening appeared under it.
Just before I closed my inventory, I noticed that my scarf had somehow managed to appear there during the transformation. Pulling it out, I wrapped it around my neck and let it fall around my shoulders, sighing as the comfortable scarf settled on my frame.
Now then, to blow some shit up.
Grabbing my swords, I slammed the bottom of their hilts together, watching as it shifted into a longbow. Mud dropped from the tips of the blades, connecting to each other and forming a bowstring.
Readying myself, I looked up towards The Wither Storm, smiling proudly as I saw Champ flying around it. The horse had managed to steal its attention away from me, distracting it while I prepared myself.
I held my bow out, falling into form as easily as I breathed. My hand touched the top of the bow, sliding down the string before stopping in the middle and slowly pulling it back. Gold energy began to form within the bow, the basic outline of a sword arrow taking place within it.
My brow furrowed as I pumped as much destruction mana into the arrow as I could, watching as a wild red energy flared within it before calming down into a navy. The sword arrow began to solidify, the energy condensing into a physical form as the familiar bright silver and gold blade made its presence known.
I let out a breath, feeling the stone beneath me crack as gold energy swirled. My eyes glowed as I spoke, voice deep as I summoned the full might of the weapon. "Spada, Edge of Twilight."
And the sword flew.
It shot through the air, booming as it broke the sound barrier. Energy spiraled around it, gold and navy swirling but never mixing as they converged at the tip of the sword arrow. Soul sand was ripped up from the ground, a deep groove within the ground revealing the path the arrow took.
The arrow collided with The Wither Storm, all of its energy collapsing into a single ball, before exploding outwards. The construct wailed in agony as its upper half was atomized, revealing the central chamber where The Wither was housed.
Panting heavily, I reverted my bow back into the twin blades, vanishing them to my inventory as I checked my Mana.
Mana: 150/1,212
That was a little over seven hundred points of Mana all dumped into one attack, god damn.
Glancing back, I saw Evetta and Mason race towards The Wither Storm, tearing their way through the hundred of wither skeletons between them and the construct. Which I should also be doing.
Taking a few steps back, I marveled at how light I felt. Probably because this armor was more compact than my base one. Tensing my legs, I leapt off the pillar, eyes wide as I basically flew forwards, the pillar destroyed by the pressure from my jump.
The wind whipped across my face, pushing my hair back as my eyes met those of The Wither's. Its purple orbs of light brightened in anger, before more skeletons began to emerge from the construct. Only this time, they had wings.
The Artificer Blades shimmered into existence, my hands tightening on their handles. I brought my arms up, digging my blades into the first skeleton as I crashed into it. We began to plummet towards the ground, the skeleton dissolving as the energy keeping it together was absorbed into my blades.
I kicked off what remained of the skeleton, activating my thrusters as I shot upwards. Locking onto another flying skeleton, I willed a spectral blade next to me, shooting it into the skeleton and teleporting to it. My blade cut through it like a hot knife through butter, cutting it in half as I continued moving towards The Wither Storm.
A deep purple tendril lashed out in my direction, intent on slapping me out of the air and into the ground. Flipping my grip on my left sword, I twisted out of the way and dug the blade into the tendril. Using my already established momentum, I turned my body around and yanked my sword out, running along the side of the tendril.
Two more flying skeletons appeared on my sides, following me as they began to fly closer. I spun my blades, holding them out to my sides and tossing them through both skeletons. The swords began to arc back to me, just as I leapt off the tendril and grappled onto another one on the rapidly regenerating construct.
Several tendrils began to pool together, a head forming as it thrust towards me, teeth bared and ready to chew me up. I quickly abandoned the grapple, instead cupping my hands together and pushing Mana into the gauntlets. My palms glowed for a moment, orange flames swirling as they grew hotter and hotter, eventually turning blue as they turned into pure plasma. The head's mouth gaped, wickedly sharp teeth ready to chomp down just as I released the attack and activated my thrusters.
The blue laser beam shot straight into its mouth, exploding as it made contact with even more energy. The head blew up, chunks of construct falling down, dissolving before they hit the ground.
I shut off my thrusters just as the beam ended, turning in the air as I shot out another grapple and swung around the construct. At this point, several tendrils had reached upwards to prevent me from getting inside, trying their damndest to slow me down long enough for it to fully heal.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw chains of ice and fire dig their way into the construct, pulling their owners up. Evetta danced around the attacking tendrils and skeletons, grace and agility on display. Mason on the other hand, just brute forced his way through, cutting done both tendril and skeleton alike with his axe.
Catching my swords, I vanished them to my inventory as my boots hit the side of The Wither Storm. My boot spikes stuck out, digging into the construct as my thrusters pulsed to life, my body blurring as I ran up The Wither Storm.
The construct shuddered, before a swarm of winged skeletons poured out of it, all of them grouping together as they flew towards me. Growling slightly, I focused on a Soul Artifact that I had yet to actually summon. "Aegis, Universal Protection."
A silver and bronze buckler shield manifested in front of me, separated into four quarters as a thin film of energy connected them. It was a useful item, orbiting around me and taking a bit of damage before going on cooldown for a few seconds. But that wasn't what I needed it for.
"Spada, Edge of Twilight."
Spada appeared in my hand, glowing gold as Aegis floated in front of me. The buckler began to spin, and my grip on Spada tightened as I thrust the glowing blade into the shield. The sword sank into the shield, fusing with the buckler as it began to take on a brand-new form. "Aeda, Universal Twilight!"
What emerged was a large circular silver shield, a rotating blade around its border as it glowed with a golden light. The shield hovered next to me, before flying off into the swarm of skeletons and decimating them.
I ran through the carnage, dismissing the combined Soul Artifact before it could put too much strain on my Mana. It wasn't long before I reached the top of the construct, leaping off the edge and diving into the central chamber.
The room I landed in was made entirely of solidified necromantic energy, so everything was the same shade of purple. It was kind of an eyesore, though not as much of an eyesore as the three-headed spine and ribcage glaring at me.
Two thuds rang out behind me, Mason and Evetta walking forward and stopping either side of me. They both looked towards me, silently questioning me on my new look. "I went Super Saiyan, or Avatar State, or whatever. Either way, I'm stronger, and this ugly thing in front of us is transforming."
True to my word, The Wither had begun to shift its form. Mana coalesced around its body, forming new bony limbs. Its shoulders cracked, before the two side heads separated from the main one, new spines connecting them to the body as they moved around like snakes.
Two skeletal arms grew from the shoulders, ending in sharpened bony fingers. The right side grew a spine between its hand and arm, Mana swirling around it as tendrils wrapped around it, forming a large mass of solidified necromantic energy, almost like a club.
It stood on its two bone legs, hunching over as it dragged the large club behind it. It stopped, standing up straight as it let out a loud, shrill scream.
Armored skeletons erupted from the ground, greatswords dragging behind them. Purple Mana swirled around the heads, almost like fire as they all lifted their swords, rushing forward.
Glancing towards Evetta and Mason, I jerked my head towards the incoming wave. "You guys mind taking out those guys while I have some fun with the head honcho?"
They looked at each other, Mason brandishing his axe as Evetta formed a saber and dagger made of ice. Evetta took a step forward, taking the saber and dagger combo and fusing the hilts together. "It will be our pleasure, Darius."
Right on.
I sprinted forward, diving towards the ground as I stuck my hand out and caught myself. Bringing my head down low, I pushed off the ground and over the horde, summoning my Artificer Blades to my hands.
The Wither screamed, the two heads on his sides shooting forth two blasts of necromantic energy in the shape of a skull. Twisting my body around, I continued to shoot forward between the blasts as I dodged them, blades reared back as I threw them forward.
It leapt to the side, falling on all fours before charging forwards where I was just about to land. Boots hitting the floor, I threw my hands forward and fired a beam of hot plasma at the incoming beast. It raised its Mana club up in front of the beam, blocking it as its feet dug into the floor.
Eventually, I had to stop the beam, if only because at this point, I was just wasting Mana. The Wither pulled its club back, a fist sized hole in its side before more of its Mana began to fill in the hole, restoring the club to pristine condition. Another cry escaped its three heads as it charged forward once again.
I ran to meet it head on, my hands twitching as I threw my right one forward, summoning one of my blades to me as I met its clawed hand. My Mana flared as purified destruction energy was pushed into my sword, the blade glowing navy as it cut through the skeletal hand.
The two side heads began to glow, so I raised my sword up to absorb the energy, only for the club to blindside me and knock me into the wall.
Health: 101/121
Shaking it off, I raised my empty hand up and blocked a stray armored skeleton's attack. Clenching my hand, I broke the blade before picking up the skeleton and throwing it towards The Wither.
The beast didn't even hesitate to crush the incoming skeleton, slamming its club down onto the body. Its broken arm twitched violently, before several skeletal arms erupted from its shoulder and wrapped around the broken one, forming a stronger and larger arm.
It ran forward again, this time both hands on its club as it used only its two feet. I widened my stance, my second Artificer Blade shimmering into existence in my grip as I shot a spectral blade at The Wither. It tanked the hit, the blade sticking out of its shoulder as it leaped into the air and raising its club to slam it down.
My knees bent as I leapt into the air, arms rearing back as the distance between us was quickly covered. The Wither lifted its club, raising it above its head as it prepared to hit me out of the air. Just before it was able to bring the club down, I teleported behind it, blades glowing navy as I swung them at The Wither's right head.
The head flew off, landing in my hand as I snatched it out of the air and kicked off The Wither's back. Flipping through the air, I watched as the head's glowing eyes dimmed until nothing remained, leaving me with a black skull.
Landing on my feet, I vanished the skull to my inventory and readied myself, blades at my sides as I kept my eyes on The Wither. The right half of its body began to dissolve, the club disintegrating as The Wither fell to the floor. Though I didn't once believe this to be a sign of weakness.
Sure enough, its left leg and arm picked the rest of it up, several more limbs popping out of that left side as the two remaining heads twisted to better suit their new orientation. It looked almost like a spider, with two legs and six arms making a total of eight limbs. The front two arms were longer and thicker than the other four, each hand having seven fingers rather than five.
Its two larger arms slammed into the ground, a sickening wail echoing out from the creature as I suddenly found myself falling.
I wasn't the only one, as both Mason and Evetta were forced to use their chains to swing towards where the ground now was. The wither skeletons weren't so lucky, all of them crashing towards the ground. The Wither itself meanwhile stood on the side of the cube room, claws digging into the wall.
I adjusted, sprinting towards it as soon as my boots touched the floor. My arms stood at my sides as I ran up the wall, a spectral blade shooting out from my side and towards the spider-like monster.
Its eyes flashed in recognition, limbs tensing as it leapt off the wall in order to avoid the sword. I frowned slightly, a bit frustrated that it actually had enough intelligence to figure out what the spectral blade did. Guess it wasn't as stupid as I had thought.
Kicking off the wall, I used my jetpack to speed towards The Wither before it could before it could try any other weird tricks. I threw my right blade, purposefully missing it as I slashed downward with my left one, cutting into one of its front arms.
Smirking, I reached my free hand out and clenched my fist. The sword I had thrown came rocketing back, digging itself into the other arm and cutting through it as I caught the sword by the hilt. I followed the blade's momentum, turning around as I aimed my falchions towards The Wither's center head-
Only to fall up as gravity flipped again.
My back hit the ground, and I groaned as quickly got back up to my feet. This thing was strong as hell, but its skill and control over its own power was lacking considerably. It definitely didn't know how to actually fight, if the wild flailing of its limbs were any indication, but it definitely was fucking hard to permanently damage. Or damage in any way that mattered for more than a few seconds before it healed.
Going for the heads seemed to work though.
The Wither landed, limbs repairing themselves in seconds. Deciding that I didn't need to give it any time to attack, I charged forward. It snarled, realizing what I was planning and trying to jump back, but I was able to shoot a grapple into its arm and pull myself in.
Sliding under its front two arms, I sliced off one of the smaller middle arms, spinning around and doing the same to another two. Grinding my foot against the floor, I dashed out from under it and jumped backwards, flipping midair over so that I could face it.
My arms were raised above my head, unable to move fast enough to stop the two large hands from grabbing me out of the air. My swords fell out of my grip as the hands squeezed, crushing my ribs as I tried to pry them off me.
Health: 85/121
My arms were tense as I slowly managed to push The Wither's large hands off my body, grunting as it fought against me. I grit my teeth as my arms shook from the effort, sliding lower as I freed enough space for my legs to help too.
Unfortunately, that was when several more hands erupted from its shoulder, wrapping around me and assisting the other two arms in crushing me. My body squished into itself, my efforts being the only thing stopping me from being crushed into a baseball.
Alright, so I was kind of fucked. This thing could heal from any damage I do to it, so I couldn't count on just hurting it enough to let me go. I also didn't want to try and move my limbs around, as they were the only things keeping me alive. So how could I-
The pressure around me lessened dramatically, allowing me to stick a hand out and recall one of my swords. Finding a random armored skeleton in between the cracks of The Wither's many fingers, I shot a spectral blade at it and teleported out.
The skeleton jumped up in surprise, fumbling slightly as it tried to react to my sudden appearance. Not that I gave it the time, as I simply cut it down and reoriented myself. Over by The Wither were Mason and Evetta, chains pulling on its arms as they began to attack it.
My mind raced as I sought to take advantage of the situation. First of all, I needed to take out basically all of its limbs at once and then attack one of the heads. And I needed to do that within a few seconds of each other.
I glanced down to my swords. Blades in general really aren't made for the type of large-scale damage I'm looking for, and I can't shoot a sword arrow in here because this is an enclosed room. I'd end up hurting myself and the others, possibly even killing us.
However, while a single sword usually can't cause large scale damage, I'm not exactly limited by that. Master and Pupil's main thing was that they weren't bound by the limits of my skills, in a sense. So, I could freely change their shape and function fairly easily on the fly, and in theory, make as many copies as I wanted without much cost other than a little bit of magic, or in this case Mana.
Not that I ever really tried, since I only used at most like two swords at a time. However, if I really can telekinetically manipulate my creations, then why not see if The Artificer Blades can take it.
I sprinted forward, getting a running start before I leapt up into the air. Vanishing my swords back to my inventory, I clapped my hands together and focused my mind. First, an understanding of the basic shape of an individual blade. Second, a keen awareness of its finer features. Third, become one with the blade's power, manifesting it within myself. Fourth, bring all of that together into one weapon.
Blueprint complete.
My hands separated, energy connecting them as Artificer Blades were speed Crafted and immediately sent to my inventory for storage. My Mana stores began to drop at a rapid pace, ten points of Mana being lost for every sword created.
I was right above The Wither by the time I was done, eyes blazing as I yelled out to Mason and Evetta. "Guys, get back!"
They leapt back immediately, leaving The Wither confused for a moment before it looked up, eyes widening as it saw me. It was then that I brought my hands back, blades being summoned from my inventory all around me as I began to control each individual one. Tensing my arms, I threw my hands forward and watched as each and every blade flew into The Wither.
It raised its arms up, Mana growing along its bones as the swords began to dig into it. It worked against some of the swords, but the constant barrage of weapons eventually got through its defenses, severing its limbs and cutting them into tiny chunks.
I landed right next to it, summoning the original Artificer Blades to my hand as I ran forward. The Wither had collapsed to the ground, the stubs of his limbs that remained pushing against the ground as they tried to regenerate. The swords began to dissolve, the Mana holding them together loosening as it was exposed to the world.
My sword glowed navy as I stepped on one of the stubs, forcing the monster down to my level. I didn't waste time rearing my arm back, instead just slashing its head off and taking it into my inventory.
I went to go for the final head, but The Wither wailed once again, a blast of energy sending me back as I dug my sword into the ground. Looking forward, I saw the left side of its body begin to disintegrate, leaving only a single head, spine, and ribcage. It glared at me, body floating upwards as it glowed.
Before it turned tail and began to fly away.
Fucking what?!
I gave chase, running up the side of a nearby wall and throwing my blades at it. The Wither turned mid air, dodging them both as a hole formed in the side of the construct. Letting out a quiet growl, I jumped off the wall and sent a grapple out, smirking as it latched onto its ribcage.
I pulled myself towards it, grabbing onto its ribs and climbing up towards its shoulders. The Wither began to fly around the room, trying to shake me off as I climbed up it and reached its skull. Gripping the skull in my hand, I turned its head to me, looking into its eyes.
Fear. It was afraid of what was going to happen. The description of The Wither Storm came to mind, and how it had described The Wither itself as an Infant God. The thought gave me pause for a moment, as I held its skull in my hands ready to kill it.
But it didn't matter. I needed the phylactery, and this "Infant God" had it. My hands tensed as I pulled them upwards, ripping off its skull and shoving it in my inventory.
I began to fall alongside what remained of The Wither, the bones dissolving as the only thing that remained was the spherical purple phylactery. Landing on the floor, I shoved the phylactery into my inventory, looking over towards Mason and Evetta as the ground beneath us began to dissolve as well.
Giving them a nod, I let myself fall towards the soul sand floor as The Wither Storm construct began to dissipate. Wind whipped across my face, but I didn't move whatsoever. I just fell, watching as Champ flew over and caught me.
Laying down on his back, I rested my head on his neck and let out a sigh. Looking off into the distance idly, I raised an eyebrow as a screen popped up in front of me.
You have permanently killed The Infant Wither God, it's soul too weak and mind too young to reform properly.
A portion of its soul has been transformed into LEVELS for The User!
You have gained 150 LEVELS!
Darius Artifice
Title: The Anomaly
Race: Aspect of Destruction
Influence: Limits
Age: 24
Health: 96/121
Mana: 78/1,212
Levels: 150
Experience: 0/307
You have gained a Class!
Grim Reaper
Tap into the power of The Wither, granting immense necromantic power.
The User gains access to The Reaper's Scythe, a Legendary Soul Artifact that can steal souls and use them to strengthen The User's Necromancy.
The undead will follow your command, and you can summon Skeletal Constructs.
Upgrades:
The Reaper's Scythe – Allows the User to wield this fearsome weapon outside of the Class, though it is dramatically weaker. (50 LEVELS)
Lich Form – The Grim Reaper class grows stronger, transforming The User into a Lich and boosting all abilities. (100 LEVELS)
Constructor – Allows the User to make more complex necromantic constructs. (70 LEVELS)
Huh… neat.
We landed on the sand, and I rolled off Champ. I walked forward, waving towards Mason and Evetta as they made their way over. Mason's shoulders were heaving as he breathed heavily, his flames having died down to their normal color. Evetta was leaning on him, eyes partially lidded as the strain from the day's events finally caught up to her.
Out of all of us, I was probably in the best condition. Though my body did rejuvenate itself right after I, well, died and came back. So, I did have that unfair advantage along with many others.
I spread my arms out wide, wrapping them around the two and patting them on the back. "We kicked that thing's ass!"
Pulling away, I grinned as Mason placed a hand on my shoulder, a ghost of a smile on his face. "That we did."
I looked past them, staring off into the never-ending desert of soul sand. It was almost anticlimactic really, the way everything was just erased, leaving nothing but the sand in its place. No one will even really know what had happened, at least, not for a while anyway.
Not that it mattered to me. I had what I needed, so now, I just had to deliver it. I was in the final stretch of my mission.
And damn does it feel good.
…
Fucking hell this took some time. Not only was writing/coming up with the scene an absolute challenge, but I also had to do a complete overhaul of the system because of several new features I introduced in the update. A lot of those were just features that I had thought of once before deciding against, and then finding them again now and deciding, "Fuck it, send it through." So now we have Classes (Originally called Transformations), Sorcery (To be delved into at a later date), A literal fucking Avatar state, and even more god damn math.
And don't get me started on how ball busting some of these fight scenes were. Took fucking ages, but I think I managed to find a good balance of using the environment to my advantage and actual fighting.
At first, I was going to cut this chapter in half and release it earlier, but I was convinced by the Discord to make a beefy chapter, and boy is it. Fucking 11.5k words.
Now onto our review of the chapter, which will be a double bill since it's been so long:
"*The system:" you must destroy your humanity and emotional ties to continue"
Darius: " never gonna give you up! Never gonna let you down! Never gonna run around and desert you" as he moonwalks his way out of the primordial mud*
I just made a parody of what was my favorite scene so far becyi had no idea what else to say since a simple "this is awesome" didn't feel good enough. Hope it gives you a chuckle :D"
I will admit, this did give me quite the "kek" as you nihilistic zoomers would say. So good on ya.
"This is hilarious, the only reason this isn't more popular is because they would see Minecraft and think "What? Why?""
I'm well aware of this to be honest, and I really don't think I care too much. I enjoy writing for this, and I know that you guys enjoy this too. So, it doesn't matter if it isn't as popular as it could be, so long as I can continue to entertain you all and maybe even inspire one or two of you to try and write for yourself. If you're a lunatic that is.
This has been A Decent Hoonter, and yes, this chapter will probably have another song lyric as the title.