Raganest du Ecte looked over the report the [Knight] of the Order of the Thirsting Veil had brought. The undead army had been defeated by an unknown attack.

What rubbish!

He should have the incompetent man drawn and quartered for such an unhelpful piece of intelligence!

That was why a [Spy] would've worked better.

Still... He drummed his fingers on his desk. It wasn't entirely bad news.

The flap to his tent was thrown aside as a giant among men entered. "Tell me you've read the report." Yerzhen bellowed.

"I have." Raganest rolled up the scroll and placed it to the side. "What of it?"

"An army destroyed in a matter of minutes. MINUTES!" The [General] paced back and forth as he ranted. "It must be the work of an [Archmage] or some monster! But what sort of creature could produce such raw power? A Dragon? An Djinn? Our enemies are stronger than we knew!"

Raganest raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying such a paltry number of undead are a match for Ailendamus? That we cannot defeat something that bested them?"

"What?" Yerzhen scowled. "That's not wha-"

"Dragons are a tale we tell to scare children." Raganest spoke over him. "Our supporters in Wistram would inform us if an [Archmage] were in Noelictus."

Yerzhen rose to his full height. "Then what, pray tell, do you think happened in Afiele?"

Raganest snorted. "A minor set back, that's all. If they had such power to spend freely, they would've used it long ago." He shook his head. "No. It was powerful magic, and that always has a price. Some ritual or artifact would be my guess."

"Aye. It was potent magic." Yerzhen frowned. "Potent magic that our army can not withstand."

"And it won't have to." Raganest leaned back in his chair. "There's always a cost to such things. Be it an artifact, spell, or skill - our foes won't be able to wield it again in such short notice."

Yerzhen glared at him. "So you still intend to proceed with the attack?"

Raganest laughed. "And you don't? I didn't know the Bear General of Ailendamus' back was yellow."

Yerzhen loomed over the other man. "You dare?"

Raganest stood up. He didn't come close to matching the other man's height or mass, but he didn't care. "I dare! I dare to seize the chance that has been presented to us! I dare to follow his majesty's command! Or do you not care for the resources that would be better used by Ailendamus? Do you not care for our people who have died due to the undead that Noelictus is incapable of containing itself? Make no mistake, [General], I am the person in charge of this operation! You answer to me!" He held the other man's gaze for a few seconds before sitting back down. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes. Sir." Yerzhen replied with clenched teeth.

"Then go." Raganest made a shooing motion with the back of his hand. "Nothing has changed. We'll maintain the same schedule. Ovela will be ours before the month ends."

"Yes, Sir." Yerzhen turned to leave, but paused. "Just tell me one thing."

"What's that?"

"This has nothing to do with your ex-fiancée, does it?"

"No." Raganest replied. "It has nothing at all to do with Seraphel du Marquin."

It was just a delightful bonus.


Here's Kevin's character sheet. He won't be encountering parahumans and thus won't be getting exp from Optimize. So this part is going to remain pretty static throughout the story.

Still, I thought it would be nice to show it in its entirety and let you see what sort of advancement Kevin's made while helping Dragon out.

Kevin Greenhouse (Pixel/Jagat/Bengal/Mega)
The Gamer

Gender: Male
Age: 17
Race: Human (Parahuman)
Faction: PRT Affiliate
Title: Murderer IV (+200% damage to helpless targets)
Title: Thief II (+100% to stealth checks)
Title: Mugger (+50% to intimidation checks)
Title: Orator II(+100% to communication checks)
Title: Pickpocket (+50% to Inventory range)
Title: Limit-Breaker (Removes limits at a cost)
Title: Healer III(+150% HP gain when healing others)
Level: 51 (7,000/51,000 Exp)
Mover: 10
Shaker: 10
Brute: 10
Breaker: 10
Master: 10
Tinker: 10
Blaster: 0
Thinker: 10
Striker: 0
Changer: 1
Trump: 10
Stranger: 10

HP: 690
MP: 295

Primary Attributes
STR: 100
AGI: 80
CON: 80
INT: 31
PER: 22
WIS: 20
CHA: 135
LUC: 100
Unspent Points: 36

Traits:
Gamer's Body lvl Max
Gamer's Mind lvl Max
Observe lvl 4
Inventory lvl 3
Party System
Transposition lvl 2
Multiplayer
Memories of Optimizing Performance and Allocation of Resources
Lucky Break
Deep Analysis
Crude
Teleportation Clone
Ephemeral
Administrator
Conversion

Unique Summons (8/8)
Riley's Zero Suit - 0 Str. 25 Dex. 10 Con. Lucky Fate lvl 5. Lucky Screen lvl 5. Observe lvl 4. Party. Malleable. Gamer's Mind.
Met Factory - Str 40. Dex 20. Con 40. Inventory. Summoning lvl 4.
Gray Fox - Thief II Str 10. Dex 50. Con 20. Stealth. Teleportation lvl 3. Summoning lvl 2.
Boo - Str 20. Dex 85. Con 20. Observe. Teleportation lvl 1. Summoning lvl 4.
Little Mac - Str 80. Dex 140. Con 80. Unarmed Combat. Damage Resistance (Physical).
Dhalsim - Str 80. Dex 25. Con 60. Unarmed Combat. Damage Resistance (Gravity). Meditation. Malleable. Teleportation lvl 1.
Legend's Zero-Suit - 0 Str. 40 Dex. 20 Con. Lucky Fate lvl 5. Lucky Screen lvl 5. Murderer IV. Gamer's Mind.
Accord's Business Suit - 0 Str. 20 Dex. 30 Con. Gamer's Mind. Lucky Screen lvl 4.

Unique Blueprints
Golden Gun

Perks Selected (14/14):
Rapid Regeneration lvl 5
The Siberian lvl Max
Lucky Fate lvl 5
Lucky Screen lvl 5
Power Drain lvl 5
Teleportation lvl 5
Threat Sense lvl 5
Crafting lvl 5 (Analysis, Surgery, Gourmet, Crude, Ephemeral, Conversion)
Expansion lvl 5
Ears of Babel
Tongue of Babel
Instant Dungeon lvl 5
Juggernaut
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ lvl 1

Perks Available:
Solid as a Rock
Fire Control
Silica Control
Strength Enhancement
Pain Control
Shaping
Debuff Control
Momentum
Speed of Thought
Metal Control
Emotion Control
Pure Strength
Energy Control
Water Control
Gravity Control

Biology Control
Artificial Intelligence Creation
Power Imbuing

Skills:
Acting: 93
Athletics: 31
Basic Academics: 82
Biology: 81
Computers: 93
Cooking: 100
Craft (Armor) 20
Damage Resistance (Acid): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Chemical Energy): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Cold): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Disease): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Disintegration): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Electricity): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Energy): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Gravity): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Heat): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Light): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Magnetism): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Nuclear): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Phasing): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Physical): 100 - 99.9999%
Damage Resistance (Poison): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Radiant): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Radiation): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Radio): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Sonic): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Strong): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Weak): 100 - 100%
Meditation: 100
Melee Weapon: 71
Pain Resistance: 100 - 99.9999%
Parahuman Lore: 49
Ranged Weapon: 22
Resistance (Agi Damage): 100 - 100%
Resistance (Con Damage): 100 - 100%
Resistance (Light): 100 - 100%
Resistance (Nullification): 100 - 100%
Resistance (Spacial): 100 - 100%
Resistance (Str Damage): 100 - 100%
Resistance (Sonic): 100 - 100%
Resistance (Temporal): 100 - 100%
Stealth: 100
Tailoring: 42
Unarmed Combat: 100
Video Games: 59

Ongoing Quests:
Dragonslaying
Investigate Iota

Debuffs:
None