Macronomicon
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Chapter 40: Sparring
🕑 Added 2024-08-30 17:35:08 +0000 UTCWilliam Oh once fought a giant atop a mountain on its sickly brother’s behalf, to regain his honor.
He buzzed like a gnat in the giant’s ear, effortlessly evading the Giant’s clutches. The giant’s wrath made his hair catch flame, and his wild swings shattered the mountainside, pelting William Oh with shards of stone that threatened to tear him to pieces, but William Oh tugged himself back together and turned into a lightning bolt, descending from on high to pierce the skull of the giant, smiting him back to the valley below, sending shock waves through the surrounding lands that let all who heard it know that the giant had been defeated.
As one, the surrounding people flocked to the mountain to get their hands on the Giant’s treasure, but the giants sickly brother and William Oh had already claimed the lion’s share of the Giant’s wealth.
- Jason Salazar
‘It mentions a giant and a brother. Who has William Oh had contact with who is male and has a giant sibling?’
I believe ‘flaming’ is a hint. The Oilton family is-
‘Yes…Roger Oilton.’
‘William Oh is in The Ring, at or near the Oilton residence…send the extraction team.’
William Oh
Resourceful Climber Level 12
13+ 25 Strength
36 + 4 Kinesthetics
39 + 19 Resistance
24 + 5 Focus
37 Acuity
Charges: 29/29
Free Points: 7
Item Abilities: Gravity Charge, +25% Charge/Kick potency, +15% movement speed, Fire Tracers, Acid Bolt, +greater acid Damage. Homefield Advantage (ice). 20% fire resistance.
Primary Abilities: Aspect of the Goat, Phantom Hand
Secondary Abilities: Sourdough
Ability Upgrade Available!
Should I dump my free points into Strength? Will thought, staring down the massive brute that had challenged him to a fight to prove his worthiness.
Will wasn’t buying that crap. He was fairly certain the guy just liked fighting.
Nah, it wouldn’t make a difference. And I wanna save my stats for when I know what my final Build will be.
Will didn’t plan on wearing platforms and a goat mask forever, regardless of how awesome it was to be able to fly on command.
Roger Oilton was slightly better than him in every stat save Strength, which he had twice as much as Will.
This was including stat bonuses from Relics.
With no gear on, Will didn’t even stand a chance.
Let’s see, with his strength, he can probably jump fifteen feet in the air, so…
“You ready?” Roger Oilton asked, rubbing the dirt of the courtyard between his hands like chalk. The tittering young women who had been playing tag earlier were now assembled around them, watching in fascination as their big brother was about to lay down some newbie punk.
The words ‘level twelve’ and ‘doomed’ were being bandied about.
“I’m not sure why this is a one-on-one, isn’t this supposed to be a test of our Party?” Will asked.
“A Party is only as strong as it’s leader, William Oh,” Roger said. “Plus it’ll give the kobold time to prepare his traps.”
“Nonsense,” Loth lied from where he stood in the circle of spectators. “I wouldn’t miss this.”
Will was absolutely sure his insects were setting up traps even as he spoke.
“So. Are you ready?”
Will sighed. “Sur-“
Roger launched forward at a speed that defied his sheer bulk.
Will started running.
He broke through the circle of onlookers and sprinted straight for the mansion, his speed barely keeping even with Roger’s thanks to his Relics.
Will grabbed a tiny crack in the paint and hauled himself up to the overhang, kicking off a pane of glass before flipping up and over, onto the roof.
I just need to get a height advantage, Will thought as he ran along the tiles.
CRACK!
Roger landed on the tiles in front of him, forcing Will to skid to a halt.
Amulet of the Homefield Advantage.
28/29 Charges remaining.
The sloped roof turned into ice and Roger’s feet flew out from underneath him.
The Rustic Brawler’s eyes went wide for a moment before his arm flickered down and stabbed his fingers into the ice, regaining his stability long enough to yank his boots off with his other hand.
The Rustic Brawler’s gross toenails bit down into the ice and secured his footing, and the chase was back on.
Will did gain some ground with that, though.
He sprinted up onto the frozen chimney, nimbly scaling the sheer ice-surface.
That’s about eight feet above him, Will thought, leaping up and off the chimney, directing his fall towards the Rusting Brawler, boot first.
Roger grinned, and tensed his legs beneath him, launching himself straight up to meet Will in mid-air, arm cocked for a knock-out punch.
Gravity Charge
27/29 Charges Remaining.
Will targeted the Phantom Hand floating directly above him.
Roger’s eyes widened as Will began falling up, drawing him out of the Brawler’s reach.
Sourdough
26/29
Will Snatched the Clay Idol off his waist and smashed it against his knee.
Because the Miasma outside The Tower was so thin, all he got was an eight-foot-long snake with a malicious awareness to its gaze.
Good enough.
“Distract him,” Will said, throwing the snake down at Roger.
“Gah!” Roger shouted in surprise as the snake bit down into his shoulder and deliberately wrapped its bulk around his face.
All I need to do now is-
A bloom of pain shot through Will’s body as Roger caught a piece of clay midair and threw it through Will’s torso.
Sourdough
25/29
Will’s hand shook as he retrieved the Potion of Greater Healing and downed it while simultaneously moving the Phantom hand, causing him to fall to the side.
Three more pieces of clay cut the air where he’d just been as Roger threw them, completely blinded by the snake wrapped around his face.
I thought this was a SPAR!? Will thought sourly, pulling out the Potion of Fury and yanking the cap off with his teeth.
Might as well win, then.
Sourdough
24/29
Will felt a surge of white-hot strength flood his body as he downed the potion, boosting all of his physical stats by ten and raising the speed of his Charge Ability significantly.
Will slipped the starter back in his pocket along with the others before reorienting on the Rustic Brawler, who had just hit the roof and was tumbling down the slope, nearly out of control, the intelligent snake deliberately foiling any attempt at gaining a foothold.
Will swooped back down towards the edge of the roof, and through some unspoken agreement, the Immortal Serpent oriented Roger so that he was falling head-first.
“Godsdamned snake, You-“ Roger grunted as his calloused fingers tore massive chunks out of the snake which proceeded to heal in a matter of seconds.
Will straightened his body like a javelin. The Immortal serpent moved out of the way the instant before he hit the Brawler in the jaw with his feet, just as aforementioned jaw was completely free-floating above the air.
Will rode Roger’s face all the way down into the marble courtyard, cracking the pristine stone outside the mansion as they slammed into it.
A moment later, Amulet of the Homefield Advantage caught up and the floor turned to ice, causing many of the spectators to fall to the ground, flailing.
Loth gave him a thumbs-up among the slipping and sliding onlookers.
Well, he hasn’t given up yet, Will thought, pulling out his Tomahawk.
One good shot to the spine, heart or lungs should-
“I give up!” Roger shouted, raising a hand, his face a beaming, bloody mess.
Will briefly considered not accepting Roger’s surrender. Not when he’d come that close to accidentally killing him. If one of those chunks of clay had hit the wrong spot…it could’ve been lights-out.
Will’s hand tightened around the handle.
“Well done, Will!” Loth interrupted Will’s murderous thoughts, patting him on the back.
“You’re a slick son of a bitch who doesn’t fight fair and I love it,” Roger said, grinning annoyingly through the blood covering his face.
“You owe me a Potion of Greater Healing,” Will growled as he dismissed Homefield Advantage.
“Oh,” Roger said with false concern as he inspected the holes in Will’s shirt and the puckered wound beneath them. “Oh my. Sorry, you surprised me and it kind of slipped out. I’ll give you three.”
Score.
“Also, you’re gonna wanna take those tiles out of you, relax, take it easy and listen to some soothing music…you are doped to the gills right now.” Roger said, irritatingly peering into Will’s eyes. “When did that happen?”
“After you put a hole through me.”
“May, can you play him something? He’s on some serious performance enhancing drugs.”
One of the nearby girls nodded and fetched some kind of stupid guitar, strumming relaxing chords beside him that were almost as irritating as they were soothing. Almost.
Will dimly caught up with the beginning of Roger’s sentence and glanced down, spotting a piece of roof tile embedded in his shoulder.
When did that get there? During the fall? Will thought, trying to reach up and remove it, but it was in his right shoulder, making it awkward. Some of the surrounding spectators shooed him away from the tile, instead plucking it out themselves.
Strangely it didn’t hurt one bit, despite going several inches into his shoulder. It barely even bled.
Will felt like he was thinking through a fog.
“Raise your leg, Mr. Oh.” One of Travis’s young siblings said, a moment before there was a weird scraping sensation as they tugged another roof tile out of his leg.
Again, it didn’t hurt.
The only thing that really hurt was watching them pour expensive healing potions over the wounds without Will using Sourdough to potentially get them back in the future.
He only thought of it moments after they’d already done the deed, his thoughts swimming through syrup.
The eight-foot Immortal Serpent slithered up beside him, staring at him with those malicious eyes.
Is there anything more you require? The serpent seemed to ask.
“Can you get me the Relic fermentation keg?” Will asked, fishing the starter nodules out of his pocket.
The snake glanced down at the nodules then nodded and retrieved the keg from their luggage.
Will leaned over, popped the top off the keg and poked each of the starters into the iridescent Relic dust, spacing them as evenly as he could.
He was pleased to note that the smoke bomb had regained roughly a fourth of its size over the week of travel.
Meanwhile, Roger got a heal from an on-call priest, which restored the state of his jaw and teeth. Then the Brawler took a warm towel and wiped the blood off his face before facing off against Loth.
He spotted Loth watching him poke his starters into the Relic dust like a farmer with his seeds. Will gave the kobold a thumbs-up and a grin through the haze of the Potion of Fury.
“I’m afraid this will be unpleasant for you,” Loth said turning back to Roger. “I hope that the brutalizing that you are about to receive does not color your perception of my character.”
“Bahahaha!” Roger laughed merrily.
“It’s okay, Big Brother, it didn’t set up any traps! We were watching it this entire time.” One of the more foolish youths shouted.
Loth stood with her hands clasped behind her back.
“Whenever you’re ready.” she said.
Roger took one step forward and the paper-thin, insect-hollowed marble crumbled under him, allowing his foot to plummet into the inward facing spikes on a hinge, designed to lock his foot in place.
Roger’s eyes widened a moment before a spider-silk snare whipped out from the surrounding tiles, cleverly concealed in the seams of the marble.
The snare cinched around his head and wrist, then flung him up high, the punji trap tearing away most of Roger’s foot.
Will averted his eyes for the rest of the ‘fight’, but it sounded like a big brawler getting dragged all around the confines of the mansion, the clattering of concealed steel against marble, and lots of bugs boring holes through flesh.
Long story short: Roger’s heart stopped for two minutes, he racked up quite the debt to Andover for a ‘spar’…And he gained an irrational fear of Loth. Which made no sense, because she was a sweetheart.
“Oh my,” Loth said shortly after the spar had been called, leaning over the wide-eyed Brawler as the irritating glow of Andover’s light brought his foot back. “You surprised me, and the traps just…slipped out.”
“She’s mad.” Travis said, nodding, arms crossed. “He made her mad.”
“No shit,” Will said.
“Nobody step on the tiles filled with insects,” Loth said, turning to address the onlookers. “Or you will die. I am currently filling most of them back in, but better safe than sorry.”
‘Most’ of them? She’s definitely mad.
Will scanned the grounds, finding a dozen or so marble tiles black with swarming insects from the 3rd floor, and nearly fifty young men and women scared to move a single step.
Roger tested his restored foot, forced a strained laugh and gave Loth a wide berth as he approached Travis and Will, carefully testing the ground as he moved.
“Well, Travis,” Roger said, nervously glancing back at Loth. “I can honestly say that you are way out of your league and if anything, you’re not good enough for them.”
“So…” Travis said, head cocked.
“So you’ve got our support. I think your Party is gonna go…” He glanced back again, keeping an eye on Loth. “Far. Really, really far.”
They went inside to discuss terms.
The Oilton family’s ‘support’ amounted to:
1: Roger’s guidance through the fourth Floor
2: Thea’s assistance on the fifth Floor.
3: Lots and lots of money. A war chest large enough to fund a small army once it became necessary.
The older Oiltons didn’t have any Climbers around their level that they thought wouldn’t get killed trying to keep up, so they didn’t bother to suggest any blood-related support staff, but they did imply that after the 5th Floor, support staff would become much more necessary.
Thea promised to go up to the 5th floor ahead of them and arrange for some assistance of that nature.
All that was left was for the three of them to actually do the Climb.
The three of them said their goodbyes and headed to a nearby inn.
It caused Will physical pain seeing Travis pay an ivory coin for their room in the fancy inn, but Travis pointed out that they could stay in the lush in for several years before they even made a dent in the war-chest the Oilton family had provided them.
Still…
Then Will tried the bed and all his reservations vanished as he sank into the down mattress.
He was so comfortable, so relaxed, they had such a successful negotiation with Travis’s family…That it made him highly paranoid.
Something bad has to happen now. This is too easy, Will thought, eyes popping open.
He scanned the lush room, filled with weird thick fabrics with bright colors and soft rugs that felt heavenly on his bare toes. It was all foreign to him. The luxury that should’ve comforted him instead filled him with unease.
Will grabbed a pillow and climbed under the bed, much more comfortable once he was out of line of sight.
Comments
Gavriel
That Will didn't manage to get another 4 point sacrifice bugs me so much, if a 3 point advantage is big, what about 4? 😂 Fairly sure his parents could have provided the other sacrifices if they gave him a primordial Uru Drake.
Patryk Rys
Poor William Oh. His own prophet works against him now
Apotheosis
Oh so that kinda prophet, nice
0xFFF1
Makes it real believable then. The pace William is readjusting is perfectly realistic... because it's the same rate the author is adjusting
Macronomicon
mistake
1234
In the start of the chapter, the status sheet shows will has only 1 ability upgrade available. Is it by design or a mistake?
Jeff Wells
Remember that seers traditionally see a version of the future that is not perfectly literal and must be interpreted to some degree. Jason's hyper exaggerations fall in line with that perfectly well.
Jeff Wells
Loth just needs to learn to bake and Will is on board.
Jeff Wells
I believe it's a mistake on Macro's part. Loth wasn't designed to be a girl from the beginning, and Macro said earlier he has trouble shifting the mindset. It will have to be cleaned up in later edits. Though I think it reasonably COULD be turned into an 'unreliable narrator' situation, where the gender shifts as William isn't being mindful that Loth is female. It would be a bit of a cop out when the real issue is the author forgetting Loth is female, not William, but it could work.
austin kutz
Loth is also a scaly little midget lizard person. I don't think Will wants to put himself anywhere near her chamber pot. It's probably trapped anyway
EDMANGO
I feel like it's more recent than that, but if the story goes the way it's implying I think it would be hilarious if they were wrong about William being the potential apocalypse and instead it's Loth who just got really lucky with will paying jason
Fleisch
When it comes to combat classes, is the only way to get xp by killing monsters? If you are a non combat class. Do you get xp from using your skill?
Patrick Chang
Thanks for the chapter! Just a note, you used 'he' to refer to Loth a few times near the start of the chapter: [“Nonsense,” Loth lied from where he stood in the circle of spectators. “I wouldn’t miss this.” Will was absolutely sure his insects were setting up traps even as he spoke] since Will is the focal perspective here it should be 'she', since he knows her gender
Kronos
Tftc! Damn I love this story haha “they could stay in the lush in for several years” in -> inn
Ryan Naquin
Anyone ever see the episode of Married with Children where Al explains the Bundy curse? Nothing good can ever happen to a Bundy and if something seemingly good does happen its only because something worse is about to happen.
Cyrus McEnnis
So, we know that Loth traps her bed before sleeping like a good kobold child. The question becomes then does she trap Wills' bed as well? If she does, a retrieval team might be getting mulched very soon.
TheLost
Can we get a page that updats all their current abilities and artifacts since they have so many its hard to keep track
BelligerentGnu
Snake to the face! An excellent distraction. Shades of critical role.
Cyrus McEnnis
One could definitely argue that Loth is a princess. So as long as William breaks her chamber-pot sometime, that prophecy will be true >.>
Eric Sweeney
Most people still think of Loth as "he" and the author often narrates from this unreliable point of view.
Dee
This could also be revisionist and after the fact. Maybe Jason is fudging the story a bit. Maybe he’s telling it weeks or months after he actually “saw” something.
Josiah Elliott
It seems more like the legends he tells are about exaggerations of his current, soon to be, or recently completed actions.
Josiah Elliott
William just thinks Snakes are cool, so cool that he's considering how much creative thinking is needed to consider trap maker only a step from baker as he wins Loth's affection.
Quex
I can't believe we are already at chapter 40. This has been amazing and so quick! Love the story so far and hope it's been the palate cleanser that macro was going for.
tobias merz
I don’t think it’s meta. We don’t know the timeline and Jason might be more of a classically seer/ prophet.
D2FU
Should be a typo. She’s already established she’s female
Daxo Lune
I fuck with the idea of Will having a charisma buff to malicious reptiles. Loth’s actions were cute and I’m sure that communication with future immortal serpent summons will have just as much of a cool factor. Lastly, Will’s paranoia is in character and his impish tendencies are amusing.
Red Viking
I love how rationally paranoid Will is. It's very comforting, as a reader, to have him actively working not to get ganked/screwed.
Andrew
Thank you!
austin kutz
Loth is objectively the better combatant, strategist, and logistics officer all rolled into one. Why is Will more than the hype? If anything, he hasn't caught up to the hype at all until he can eat lighting and fart thunder to defeat his enemies
Melody Haren Anderson
It's rough when your own family has decided "Yes, this party is what we need, but honestly, our family members kinda drag down the average." and say it to your face.
Red Viking
Is Loth being referred to as "he" by the narrator a typo or do they identify as male?
Mondred
He should notify Loth about his instincts
Baines
when will the MC party realize he’s more than hype lol
austin kutz
Meta prophet confirmed?
