“Huh?” Sam grunted as he was trying to fit one of the screws into the hole while the offending piece of metal refused to cooperate.
“I mean, you’re walking around without any disguise or protection while there are several hundreds of bounties for your head.”
Sam couldn’t help but chuckle. Partially about the question, but partially because he finally managed to finagle the stupid screw into the proper position.
“Oh, that’s simple. We leaked that we were expecting a giant assassination attempt. So, people stood back and waited to see who would do it and to see what they could learn from it.”
“And that’s worked?” Clarissa asked agog at the gullibility of people.
“They wanted to kill me and they expect that a lot of other people want to kill me. We played on their assumption,” he explained proudly. “I expect it would work a few more times before they wise up.” He looked back at Clarissa. “You know, like the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.”
“Profound. But you know, sooner or later people will realize that you’re always playing mind games. Like the boy who cried wolf. Then it won’t work.”
“Good. If we’re careful and watch for the moment, it can be used…”
“You mean you’re also planning for when people realize how you do things?” Clarissa asked, surprised.
“Well… I’m more like the idea guy. Lucy and Tim make those ideas a reality,” he told her. “I freely admit that without them I wouldn’t be here…”
“That’s rare…”
“What?”
“Admitting that your success is because of other people…” Clarissa said with a sarcastic tilt of her head. “Most of my… acquaintances that I have gotten to know during my gaming days start to brag about the smallest thing they achieved. Even if it only happened with the support of their group or guild.” She looked rather bothered by it. “Hell, when I look on the net, there is always some bozo bragging about their fantastic skills or items they got after their guild carried them through the fracture.”
Sam just simply listened.
“Then I simply compare the skill or the item to something I got while doing something fucking insane with you and have to wonder what’s wrong with you.”
“Huh?”
“With the amount of stuff you know and have, you could have the hottest thing on the net! Why are you not capitalizing on it? A few months of that and you would be set for life!” she exclaimed, panting slightly.
Sam just shook his head.
“Clarissa, I was set money-wise the moment the game came out. I bought the shares…”
“But the power… If I had that… I would…” she retorted, floundering slightly.
“Look, I get it. It’s awesome to think about what you could do with that power, but most people forget the darker side of fame. Especially in an, let’s call it industry, where things change very fast. One day, you’re the king, but as soon as somebody finds a spell or item that defeats you, you’re nothing. Instead of that, I just cruise along, having a stable life… much safer and less stressful,” he told her with a small smile. “Yes, I could have been really famous, but that’s not the life I want. I simply want to play the game and, more importantly, have fun!”
“That’s it?”
“Why? Why do you play the game?”
“To get money, of course!” she instantly responded.
He couldn’t help but sigh. “Clarissa, you’re already rich.”
She looked at him bewildered, tilting her head to the side as if she was thinking really hard about what he said.
“When was the last time you or your family worried about money?” he asked with a challenging look.
“Huh…” she murmured, then shook her head and simply wandered off in a daze.
Sam watched her go and shrugged. Maybe she needed it to be spelled out like that… Even so, he shot a message to Lucy so that she could watch out for the team’s healer. Then he turned back to the shelving unit, once again taking up the unending battle against the uncooperative screws and other odds and ends.
Sam stood in a remote area of their still unnamed town, with his team watching from the side and Lucky standing next to him.
Katie and Isabella were leaning against a fence, not unlike someone from a ranch dealing with cattle would, watching him eagerly. Dan was sitting on the ground, grooming Hawky with his fingers to the absolute joy of the bird. Clarissa was standing not far from him, arms crossed and simply watching.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
It was time for the debuff to run out.
He watched the timer count down as Lucky began to recreationally chase his own tail around.
[Duration: 0 minutes 45 seconds]
Making sure to warm up he went through a few stretches.
[Duration: 0 minutes 3 seconds]
[Duration: 0 minutes 2 seconds]
[Duration: 0 minutes 1 seconds]
Sam instantly felt when the debuff vanished. His mana felt like an enormous weight had been removed from his body. He flexed his mana and watched as the world around him wavered, the mana trying to change it, but without directions achieving nothing.
It was time to try out his new skills.
“Lucky! Shadow!” he called out to his familiar who gave up catching his own tail and without hesitating upon hearing the order jumped into the nearest shadow, vanishing, only to reappear in Sam’s shadow.
He smiled as he felt the warm presence in his shadow and called out.
“Transformation! Armor form!” He did this mostly to make sure that the system knew for sure what he was doing, and because, like most of his peers, he always wanted to be one of those young people who gained the ability to instantly change into armor and fight the enemy of the weak.
Immediately, the shadows around his legs thickened, turning into a syrupy consistency, and began to flow up on his leg, until the liquid substance covered his entire body. Then the moment it covered everything, it seized and within a brief instant it took shape, solidifying into a material that looked like metal and leather, revealing his face with a massive grin.
The armor was part metal and part leather, at least from its looks. It covered his chest with a piece decorated with a stylized face of the wolf. He was also wearing a sleek-looking shoulder pad, bracers made of shadowy black metal, and gloves covered in metal around the knuckles. All of this was connected by a leather-like material that oddly looked a little like scales covered it. His legs similarly were covered by metal in vital areas with greaves decorated like a wolf’s jaws and the boots looked somewhat like an abstract representation of the clawed feet of a wolf.
“Badass…” he whispered, grin still on his face as his friends were politely clapping. He flicked his hand and his sword appeared in his hand with a flash of darkness as the Living Armory skill allowed him to summon it.
He did a few practice swings, then went through a few movements, trying to find how his new armor worked with his skills and preferred fighting style. To his happiness, it didn’t change anything. He could feel the power coursing through him, the new skills he and Lucky got empowering him even further.
‘Can’t wait to see what it is like to use it in a real fight…’ he mused as he finished a strike aimed at an imaginary enemy.
He didn’t have to wait long as Katie was on him with her greatsword sizzling with dangerous magic, her eldritch aura undulating enough that he was pretty sure his anti-chaos skill was steadily going up.
“How about a little practice fight, boss?” she asked with a bloodthirsty grin which told Sam that saying no wasn’t in the cards.
He smiled at her. “Come at me…”
She let out joyous laughter and instantly pounced forward, intent on cleaving Sam in twain.
In turn, Sam had to activate his own enhancing spells and danced out of the way. Only to have to continue to move as Isabella joined, her swords trying to decapitate him. He parried the sword strikes, only to have to summon a shield to protect himself from being fried by a simple fireball fired by a grinning Dan. Then Clarissa joined by pelting him with simple bullets made of mana as if it was fired from a rifle.
He also let out a brief laugh, but then he was quickly shut up by his team, and for a while, he could only focus on surviving.
“How were the new skills?” Lucy asked absently as she was working on a document, the tide of which was seemingly unending. Though, apparently, she was enjoying herself.
“Simply badass!” he answered happily, still a little high on success. Some of the skills he got were a surprise, but overall, his plan came together very well. He couldn’t wait to see where these skills went.
The concept of such skill structuring was still in its infancy, being played around with by researchers around the world. In the future, there were several basic skill structures, or ‘classes’ that people put together. They were mostly the basic ‘classes’ making sure that there was at least some standardization around the game, making life easier for those who ran fractures regularly. It allowed regular people to be somewhat competitive. Naturally, the meta of the game changed almost instantly, so if you relied on an in-vogue ‘class’ to dominate, you would be ill-prepared to react to the changes.
Thus, making sure, that while these meta ‘classes’ were easy to achieve thanks to the countless guides, having a ‘class’ that you worked on and developed on your own, and thus knew about all the ins and outs was always superior.
Naturally, there were always guilds hunting for the one meta ‘class’ that would be able to beat everything and would have no weaknesses, but by the time the other Sam died, nobody officially managed to do it.
Sam’s current build was based on a guy’s build who developed skills to merge with spirits as a necromancer and gain incredible melee powers. If that guy could do it with spirits, why not with a spirit familiar that was raised from level one just for this?
Far superior in his opinion…
He had already begun to work on a few ‘classes’ they could hand out to the guild, but he wanted to wait until the first rumors surfaced on the forums. He was already starting arms races practically every time he fought somebody. He didn’t want to personally start this one.
Plus, it made his life a little easier…
“That’s great. Happy for you. Bless you and whatever. What about the blood crazies?” she asked as she moved the finished document from the middle of the desk to an out tray. Sam could feel the mana settling on the paper as Lucy’s skill encrypted the contents.
“Do you want me to check it out?”
“Please. Tim has been going crazy trying to keep all those idiots back from trying to kill you. He and everybody need a break. If you could drag all those crazies with you, I would be forever thankful…” she told him with an accusatory tone.
“Alone or with a team?”
“Clarissa is tapped to train the healers. Lara wants to party with Dan a little, go on a few fracture runs just to experience it.”
“What about the Trouble Twins?”
“Isabella said something about showing her cousins who was the best. I assume Katie will be there, making things worse and chaotic.”
Sam hummed and hawed a little, throwing around his plans in his head, trying to fit the new information and also trying to figure out a solution to the Blood Dance. ‘Maybe taking a look personally would help?’ he mused before nodding and watching Lucy let out a relieved sigh. “I’ll go. I always wanted to check out the beaches. Maybe we could build a proper beach-side Heavenly Forest…”
“Thank you… I’m really worried about the blood magic thing.”
“Don’t worry. I have…”
“… a plan,” she finished for him with a small glare. “I know. You always have one. But I have been putting out feelers and I think I have something with one of the replies.”
That caused Sam to sit up. From what the other Sam saw, most of the resistance against the Blood Brothers was unorganized and chaotic as nobody really expected the angle of attack. It took some time until they found things that would help them.
“Anything actionable?”
She shook her head. “We’re still…feeling each other out. But soon I think I can make an offer…”
“Ugh, politics…”
“Indeed.”
Owed bonus chapters: Three (3)
Titles:
[Apprentice: You are an apprentice learning under a master. Increased experience point gain in the key skill of the apprenticeship.]
Magical Items:
[Ring of Minor Health Regeneration: A small ring, made from subpar materials, with a low-quality magical gem. As long as the gem holds mana, it aids with health regeneration. Can hold 100 Mana Points, and regenerates 10 Health Points for every point of mana consumed. Current Mana: 100/100.]
[High-quality Troll Leather Armor: Created by a journeyman crafter employed by your own company. They worked extra hard to make sure to return your goodwill. Excellent quality, given the materials and the crafter. Enchanted to decrease the sound it makes during movement, as well as has increased durability. Thanks to the substance it was impregnated with the troll leather it lacks its customary weakness to fire.]
*Not actually bottomless.]
[Ring of the Shadow Fang: Made from shadow metal and accented with white moon-silver, this ring allows the wearer to summon a dagger made from shadow. The strength of the dagger depends on the wearer’s shadow mana control. The distance the dagger can move from the wearer depends on the mana control of the individual.]
Quests:
Active quests:
[Just walk in there!]
[Prove yourself!]
[Peaceful land, peaceful mind]
Finished quests:
[Monster Parade!]
[Topping the tree!]
[Reap what you sow!]
[Seaside opportunity]
[Another seaside opportunity]
[The booty of mystery!]
[Demonic demonstration!]
[The Test of the Survivor!]
[To the city you go!]
[Eternal Vigilance!]
[Returning Champion]
[Volatile Valley]
[Ride forward to be not killed in nasty ways!]
[Location, location, location!]
Skills:
Mana Skills:
[Mana Body: Level 7/100 (21%) (Passive) Your mana permeates your body, enhancing and improving it. The better your control of your mana is, and the more mana you have, the bigger the effect is. For every 100 Mana Points, it grants you 1 Base Health gain. For every skill level, it increases the Health Regeneration by 0,1.]
[Mana Shield: Level 99 (99%) Using mana, you can form a simple shell around yourself, which decreases the damage you take. Damage decrease depends on the amount of mana invested. For every unit of Mana invested in the spell, the shield will protect you from 9,9 (physical) damage.]
[A/N: Currently: WIS: 55 / MAG: 50 = 1,1 --> +2,1 Mana Regeneration per skill level]
[A/N: Currently: WIS: 55 / MAG: 50 = 1,1 --> +3,1 Mana Regeneration per skill level]
Neutral Mage skills:
[Mana Unraveling: Level 14/25 (19%) (Active) You can spot even the smallest imperfection in the weave of the mana. If your control is better than the one who wove the spell, then you can attack those imperfections and unravel the spell or magic in front of you.]
[Spell Matrix: Level 40/100 (4%) (Passive) You mastered layering spells as very few have before. You can layer ( or connect any other way) together as many spells as you can. The cost of this action is increased by 5% (cumulative) for every two layers or spells.]
[Solid Spell Foundation: Level 5/5 (MAX%) (Passive) Your foundation is solid and unshakeable. The stability of layered spells is increased.]
[Mana Construct: Level 84/100 (22%) (Active/Passive) You can create mana constructs over your weapons. These constructs cannot be separated from your weapon. You have total control over their shape and size. For every level in the skill, the mana cost is decreased by 1% and the damage inflicted by the skill is increased by 1%]
[Simplicity: Level 5/5 (MAX%) (Passive) The simpler your creations, the less mana it costs.]
[Infusion: Level 5/5 (MAX%) (Passive) Infusing different mana types into your mana constructs becomes easier.]
[Complexity: Level 1/5 (11%) (Passive) The complexity of your creations doesn’t detract from it. Usually, mana cost would rise when the complexity of your creation increases. For every level of this skill this increase in mana cost becomes less and less.]
Elemental Mage Skills:
Wind Mage skills:
[Wind Blade III: Level 9/10 (99%) (Active) A spell that allows you to launch a blade of wind. The cutting power and speed of the blade are increased. You have greater control over its movement after creation. Allows you to slightly control its path after launching the wind blade.]
[Wind Blade Storm: Level 6/10 (7%) (Active) A spell that unleashes a storm of wind blades around you. The damage of the released Wind Blades depends on the Wind Blade spell and your mastery over it.]
[Wind Bullet III: Level 9/10 (99%) A spell that allows you to launch a bullet made of concentrated wind. You have excellent control over the projectile’s speed, size, and path.]
[Wind Explosion: Level 3/10 (21%) A spell that allows you to create a singular bullet of wind mana, and then fire it, which will, upon impact, detonate. The strength of the detonation depends on the amount of wind mana channeled into the bullet and your mastery over the Wind Bullet spell!]
[Wind Movement: 39/100 (19%) (Active) You can use your mastery over wind to move in any direction you wish. Your movement speed is increased significantly. This speed boost is increased by 1% for each skill level.]
[Wind Edge III: Level 9/10 (99%) (Passive) A spell that allows you to enhance the edge of any bladed weapon you wield with the wind. Thanks to the spell, the speed of your strikes will greatly increase. The power and reach of the blade will be greatly increased further.]
[Wind Affinity: Level 61/100 (17%) (Passive) You have a good affinity for the wind. Beings born of the wind will be more favorable to you. The cost of the Wind-type spells and skills is reduced and their power is increased by 0,5% for each skill level.]
- Wind Flurry
- Wind Bullet Barrage
- Healing Wind
- Wind Jump
- Wind Drill
- Wind Blade I-III
- Wind Blade Storm
- Wind Bullet I-III
- Wind Explosion
- Wind Movement
- Wind Edge I-III!
Utility skills:
Companion skills:
Shadow skills:
(Shadow Cloak triggers this benefit.)]
[Shadow Affinity: Level 30/100 (14%) (Passive) You have a good affinity with the shadows. Beings born of the shadows will be more favorable to you. The cost of the Shadow-type spells and skills is reduced and their power is increased by 0,5% for each skill level.]
Physical skills:
[Basic Armor Mastery: Level 91/100 (6%) (Passive) You learned the basics of wearing armor. Decreases the Stamina consumption slightly while wearing any kind of armor.]
[Clean Armor: Level MAX (MAX%) (Passive) Your mana got used to a certain spell, so the waste mana radiating from you will, over time, permeate and clean your armor.]
[Resistant Armor: Level 5/5 (MAX%) (Passive) Thanks to your practice, you can fully utilize everything that your armor provides, granting you increased resistance against the environment. Grants 2% increased environmental resistance per skill level. Environmental resistance protects against environmental effects only.]
[Durable Armor: Level 0/5 (0%) (Passive) You learned how to roll with the punches. This includes knowing when your armor can take a hit and when it can’t. Increased durability for any armor you wear from incoming damage from non-environmental sources.]
[Epic Breathing Technique: Level 9/10 (99%) (Passive) You breathe, and the world breathes with you. You move along your own rhythm. Decreases stamina consumption even more during any activity and further increases stamina regeneration when not in a fight. Gain +2 Stamina Regeneration for every skill level.]
[Tranquil Heart: Level 11/100 (54%) (Passive) Your heart beats to the same rhythm as your body. It’s efficient and harmonious. You have an even easier time resisting mind-altering effects and a portion of of those effects are reflected back to the source. The portion is 1% per skill level. You also radiate an aura of tranquility that confers the resistance portion of the skill to your allies near you.]
[Flow: Level 77/100 (9%) (Passive) Thanks to being a natural sensor, you can read the flow of the mana. Increases your stability and the bonuses any movement or martial art skill provides by 1% per level in the skill.]
[Focused Flow: Level 5/5 (MAX%) (Passive) When focusing on any enemy beyond what is normal, your ability to read their flow becomes clearer and more precise.]
[Controlled Flow: Level 5/5 (MAX%) (Passive) Your read of the flow is more controlled, allowing you to see the flow much better. Increases the flow visibility by 20% for every skill level.]
[Immersed Flow: Level 0/5 (0%) (Passive) When you start reading the flow a counter starts. After every ten seconds, the effect of the Flow skill increases by 1% for each skill level. Maximum 600 seconds.]
Parry: Level 24/100 (13%) (Passive) Decreases the stamina consumption of defensive weapon movements. It allows you to more efficiently and accurately parry incoming attacks. Decreases the damage of the blocked attack by 0,5% for each skill level at the moment of blocking.]
[Cleansed Body: Level MAX (MAX%) (Passive) Your body has been cleansed of impurities, giving you a more charming aura. NPCs and players will treat you slightly differently depending on their tastes. Gives a flat increase of +3 to STR, AGI, END. You can upgrade this skill by further cleansing your body.]
Resistance skills:
General skills:
[Dwarven Language: Level 5/10 (1%) (Passive) You managed to learn the basics of the Dwarven language.]
[Elven Language: Level 7/10 (8%) (Passive) You managed to learn the basics of the Elven language.]
[Dark Elven Language: Level 5/10 (1%) (Passive) You managed to learn the basics of the Dark Elven language.]
[Sarkan Language: Level 3/10 (42%) (Passive) You managed to learn the basics of the Sarkan language.]
Crafting skills:
Pet skills:
[Strong Jaw: Level Max (Passive) The jaw of the wolf is strengthened.]
[Lucky Aura: Level Max (Passive) Those who are in the same party as the wolf receive a buff to their luck. It depends on their luck how big the increase is.]
[Animalistic Mana Control: Level Max (Passive) The wolf controls the mana inside him based on animalistic instinct.]
[Animalistic Shadow Control: Level Max (Passive) The wolf controls the shadows around him just as easily as it breathes.]
[Shadow Spirit Body: Level Max (Passive) The body of the wolf is part shadows and part spirit, which makes it much more malleable.]
[Shadow Strike: Level Max (Active/Passive) All attacks started from the shadows receive bonus damage, and the wolf can clad itself in shadows, making its entire body into a weapon, while striking at an enemy increasing its range of attack.]
[Shadow Jump: Level 20/20 (MAX%) (Active) The wolf gains the capability to dive into your shadow and emerge from a different shadow. Range: 200 meters. Cooldown: 30 seconds.]
[Shadow Dash: Level 20/20 (MAX%) (Active/Passive) Wherever the wolf steps, he can leave small pools of shadows that the wolf can use to jump into. When diving into the shadows, the wolf can travel at an even greater distance with his speed increased by 2% for each skill level.]
[Shadow Claws: Level 20/20 (MAX%) (Active/Passive) Your companion’s claws are infused with the shadows. There is a low chance to leave behind shadow mana with each attack of their claws. Alternatively, they can actively increase this infusion of shadow mana and strike at their enemies with giant shadow claws.]
[Shadow Bite: Level 20/20 (MAX%) (Active) Your companion enhances their bite with shadow mana, increasing the area and strength of the bite.]
[Shadow Steed: Level 21/50 (3%) (Passive) Your companion has learned how to run while being ridden. Stamina consumption is decreased when being ridden and can carry bigger loads.]
[Shadow Bleed: Level 41/50 (8%) (Passive) Your companion’s claw has been enhanced by a chaotic shadow field which rends the area where the claws strike, causing extra bleeding.]
[Weakening Strike: Level 15/50 (21%) (Passive) Every strike of your companion's claw weakens the enemy's armor. The maximum stack of the effects is 3+1 per 5 skill level.]
[Shadow Heal: Level 21/50 (37%) (Active) Your companion can absorb the shadows hiding them to heal itself.]
[Runic Weapon: Level Max (Passive) The wolf’s claws and teeth are clad in runes that grant him a certain amount of ability to pierce through the impenetrable. Grants a 13% chance to do True Damage with the claws and teeth.]
[Runic Strike: Level 20/20 (Active) Lucky gains the ability to channel mana into the runes of his claws and teeth to enhance the damage theydo. The damage type depends on the type of mana he channels into it. Current natures are available to use: no attribute, shadow, or spirit.]