Dingy little alleyways.
And one was very near him.
Smiling slightly, he used his enhanced speed to jump toward the alley while simultaneously leaving behind a clone of himself, clad in his newly created super-solid shadow armor, looking as if ‘he’ was ready to tank the incoming conflagration.
He had maybe a second to watch as the inferno consumed the spot where his clone stood, plus the good part of a food cart left behind by one of the fleeing people before he heard a voice behind him.
“Did you think we would allow you to flee?” The voice was very proud sounding and dripped with smugness.
His own mana sense told him that it was only one person who instantly launched himself at him, weapon dripping with poison and malaise. Only to be tackled from the side by an enthusiastic Lucky.
There was a crash, much cursing, then a simple crunch, and the mana presence vanished while Lucky simply jumped into the nearest shadow.
“Good boy…” he murmured before refocusing on the situation.
He looked at the blazing inferno out in the open and made a quick decision. Looking up, he searched for points on the building he could use, then with expedient movement began to scale it.
Arriving at the roof of the building, he laid low, melding into the shadows generated by chimneys and other odds and ends.
Once again, he watched as the hellfire scorching the street slowed down, and then began to sputter before vanishing fully, leaving behind soot and destruction.
Casting his mana sense wide, he could sense a bubble of magic surrounding the area, with several dozen indistinct mana signatures running around, converging and separating in the area, like some macabre dance to silent music.
The group responsible for the fire also seemed to be regrouping, the mana around them beginning to sizzle with even more heat.
As he watched the situation, Sam had a choice to make.
Show them who is the boss, or…
Make it funny.
It took him a second to make a decision.
He sent a quick message to Tim, then began to focus.
Slowly, but surely, clones began to appear around him. And as soon as a clone made of shadows appeared, they took his form and began to run away, blending into the shadows, following his murmured directions.
Which were pretty simple: Run around and avoid people.
As the last clone ran off, he took a deep breath and began to alter the illusion attached to his solid shadow armor while pulling all his mana into his body to make sure to prevent any sensors or artifacts from finding him.
Then, using his sneaking skills he began skulking in the shadows, avoiding all the people running around like chickens trying to nail one of his clones, heading directly to the boundary of the bubble of magic that seemed to be keeping people, and most importantly, backup and the guilds away.
Reaching it, he hunkered down a little and started to examine the magical creation.
It was simple but powerful. He could see it was supported by several artifacts placed around the area equidistant from each other. It was a magical shield that could be bought from several places.
The upside was it was very reliable and sturdy.
The downside?
The places that sold it had to keep a list of customers by law. So, if somebody used it for nefarious purposes, then they could be caught very fast. Naturally, this created a secondary gray-slash-black market where people could buy it without getting their name on a list. However, that also came with some caveats.
Black markets didn’t sell the best or most reliable ones…
Though, to Sam’s senses, eyes, and knowledge, this bubble of magic that was in front of him looked like the ones he saw in the equipment storage back at the company. They bought several just in case, and he took some time to examine them for any insight into their development.
And once more, he simply reached down with his hand, touched the roughly paved ground, and began channeling mana into it.
He watched as the stone began to shift, creating a small hole right under the ward.
Sam climbed down then with a small hop he was out of the ‘danger zone’, the hole filling up behind him after a small flex of his mana.
Then he straightened his jacket, looked around, and began walking away.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
A few seconds later, a figure joined him.
“Go and sell the fact that the ward doesn’t go underground to anyone willing to buy it. After today somebody will figure it out…”
Tim nodded. “Favor?”
Sam thought about it for a second. “Sure, if it is worth it. Any info about the group?”
His in-house assassin (and standard anime harem hero) seemed to mull over things before answering.
“Didn’t have much time, but I found at least three groups who allied with each other to get as much money from the hits put out on you. However, they visibly didn’t really agree on the plan. They just planned to kill you and then… duke it out, I guess.”
“And you managed to figure this out this fast?”
“They discussed all this on an open forum. I have alerts for your name, so I watched the planning from the start.”
Sam sometimes was thankful that people on the internet didn’t change between dimensions. It made his life much easier.
“So, this was some kind of probing attack from a bigger group?”
Tim nodded in agreement. “Most likely. Did you use any new skills?”
He just grinned mischievously.
They reconvened in Lucy’s office after Sam dropped off his loot and drugs he gained during his short journey and Tim did some of his mysterious things.
Lucy was sitting behind her desk. Tim was leaning against the wall – dramatically, half his face covered by shadows – Claire, in her maid outfit, sitting primly in a chair with occasional glances at Tim, was representing Isabella and Katie. Finally, Adam was trying to fit into one of the plush armchairs with his giant body.
“So, we all heard that you managed to reach Level 101. Anything we need to know?” Lucy asked without any preamble as the raven on her shoulder glared at Sam. Instantly, all eyes were on him.
He nodded. “Yes. I’m already putting together a document about it and my experience. So expect it within a day or two.”
Lucy looked equal parts relieved and excited. “We’re keeping it a secret?”
Sam nodded. “For now. After the biggest guilds reach the threshold, we can release parts of it.”
“Why just parts of it?” Adam asked curiously.
“Because, if my theory is right, you need extremely good mana control, or some highly specialized help, maybe even rituals to achieve what I did…”
Immediately, he was the center of several suspicious stares.
Lucy just sighed. “Seriously, Sam…”
Following that, silence enveloped the room as Sam wondered what the others were thinking before he cleared his throat.
“Any news from the world?”
Adam was the first one to speak. “We have been getting inquiries about people trying to purchase shares in the guild.”
Sam and Lucy scoffed at the same time while her raven let out a caw of derision.
“Over my dead body!” she exclaimed. “They have been trying that with me since the beginning.”
“Anything that you can’t handle?” he asked Adam as Lucy continued to grumble about pushy salespeople.
Adam shook his head. “No. I’ve dealt with these kinds of people in other games.”
“Still… Tim, take a look and make sure nobody tries anything stupid,” Sam spoke, glancing at the leaning assassin, who simply nodded.
“Sure…”
“Anything else?” Sam asked.
Adam thought about it a little before speaking. “Guarding the corpse is slowly being taken over by the government, so we don’t have to deal with people trying to steal things. The mining equipment is almost ready and from what I heard from the representatives they are planning to mine the corpse hard and fast.”
“What about the fortress? Any issue with Lara?”
This time, Lucy was the one who spoke up. “All according to plans. Some people were sniffing around, but so far, the guild has been able to thwart them.”
“Money? Resources?”
She gave him a thumbs up. “We are good, Sam. Practically rolling in gold.”
“Heavenly Forest still going strong, eh?”
“That’s an understatement. With the expanded services, food, and drinks we are raking in so much money…”
“The branch in the capitol?”
“Almost ready to open.”
“Cool.”
Before they could continue, Tim stopped leaning and spoke up.
“Before you start talking business, I want to mention something.”
The satisfied smile on Lucy’s face vanished and was replaced by a serious look.
Sam motioned toward the middle of the room. “Go ahead, Tim!”
He stepped forward into the light – Sam ignored Claire biting her lip for a moment – and began talking.
“I have been collecting information and I heard that in the south a lot of guilds have started consolidating powers and groups.”
“One of the bigger ones started swallowing the smaller ones?” Adam asked.
Tim shook his head. “No. That’s why the information is important. One of the smaller guilds managed to force several other guilds to submit to them and then went on to conquer other, bigger guilds.”
“Let me guess… They are moving northward?” Lucy interjected with a knowing look.
Tim nodded. “Yes. From what I have found and gathered from contracts, the guilds were around or in a desert and they want more fertile grounds.”
Sam had to wonder. He changed a lot of things with his actions. The butterfly had long since flapped their wings and the storm had already swept over the world of Magic Unbound, but this news was familiar for some reason.
“What is the name of the guild?”
Tim’s answer came instantly. “Blood Brothers.”
Sam had to fight incredibly hard so that his reaction didn’t give anything away. Even then, he could see that the others saw that he reacted somewhat.
“Saaam… Do you know something?” Lucy asked with an accusing tone while she was running her fingers through her raven’s feathers to the pleasure of the corvid.
Adam was also staring at him while Claire was glancing around the room.
He took a moment to consolidate his thoughts, choosing his words very carefully.
“Any information about their preferred tactics, skills, or spells?”
Tim frowned and opened a screen to read something.
“From what I found; they seem to prefer to use…blood-based spells. Pretty useful in a desert where water is rare and you need a cheap liquid.”
Sam nodded; his theory was confirmed. He looked into Lucy’s eyes and began to talk.
“You know how I told you to avoid the Life of Blood skill?”
Her eyes widened as Adam let out a small gasp.
“You really think?”
“It’s basically blood magic. Used by people who are not masters of blood magic. It was always a theory based on what I figured out about magic in this game…”
“Er, I have it,” Adam stated as he was clearly scrolling through his screens.
“Me too,” added Tim quietly.
Sam just smiled. “Don’t worry, there is a ritual I can set up for you that will remove the skill. You will lose some experience points, maybe even levels, but the end result will be worth it.”
Lucy instantly changed into business mode.
“Can we sell the ritual?”
“Sadly, the price of reagents would be too much for most people. Not to mention some of them are pretty rare…”
As the group descended into talking about who would be offered the option to take the ritual to get rid of the Life of Blood spell, and how to get more information about these blood magic users his thoughts wandered to the event that happened in an alternate reality.
The whole desert invasion was a small footnote of the entire cataclysmic event. One of the brothers’ patsies decided to go ahead and start a crusade with their ‘incredible’ skills, which in turn would accelerate the brothers’ plans as they kept pushing all sorts of blood-magic related spells for those who weren’t masters of blood-magic while setting up future battlefields.
Apparently, the time has come for the blood to surge and flood the world…
He couldn’t wait!
Owed bonus chapters: One (1)
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.]
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 weaved 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 unshakable. 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.]