Battleforged
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Chapter 424 - Wonders forged from the tears of my foes.
🕑 Added 2024-05-24 04:00:02 +0000 UTCEric glared at the Contender smirking at him without a shred of mercy or regret, choking back the agony of perforated bowels and the specter of near inescapable death in the form of a mithril blade infused with an actual element of the void.
Absolute destruction was promised in the mocking laughter of his foe, waving his blade in deadly moulinets as he taunted Eric one last time.
“And here is where your story ends, and mine finally begins!”
Leonide roared his triumph as his sword crackled with obsidian lightning, his blond locks floated in howling winds as his eyes glowed with eldritch might.
Eric’s Danger Sense screamed warning as his foe channeled his Qi into what would be a devastating attack, this time with a transcendent blade, even as Eric’s ears rang with the awful message that made it clear that all his efforts have been for naught.
Higher Order attacks have been recorded on the Surface of Terra!
Bloodtear Syndicate calls for immediate lifting of all immigration bans!
Eric wanted to howl with bitter fury at how well he had been played, how utterly pointless all his struggles so far had been.
Instead he roared, now holding absolutely nothing back.
“Repudio!” He screamed, 4 ranks of Dominion tearing through the exquisitely complex meshwork of energy ablating, projectile deflecting, Strength enhancing and Quickness inducing boosts and enchantments that had buffed Leonide’s frame like the masterwork concoction it no doubt was. An exquisitely calibrated cocktail forged by masterminds who had been planning for this moment probably from the instant Eric had first found success against the monster surge, the cold eye he had felt having been a harbinger far more malevolent and deadly than even he had suspected.
Yet like a masterwork concerto abruptly cut off with a baseball bat to the offending instruments, Loenide’s poise and stride were shattered. The backlash of all his cocktails going inert and all his protective wards ruptured caused him to lurch back with an agonized cry, his Deadly Cleave weapon feat instantly disrupted.
Find Weakness Skillcheck made!
In the time it took Leonide to lurch single step back, his eyes were bulging in agony as his formfitting armor abruptly bulged about the waist.
“FRAGOR!”
You have Critically Struck your foe with a Transcendant attack!
Psionic Rupture shatters all defenses!
Yet before his enemy could even scream when the waist seams of his armor spurted out his bloody manhood, Eric filled Leonide’s world with the essence of fury and flame. A fire so bitter cold with Wrath and hate that he would freeze for an eternity before erupting in oblivion once more.
Eric’s blade became the blindingly hot core of a neutron star, surrounded by roaring blue fire so bitterly cold it was beyond the simple cessation of heat transfer, transcending to something far more terrible as it tore through the air, effortlessly rupturing the extra-dimensional hand compelled by Leonide’s father to thwart him.
Not even the Silver-tier monster himself, suddenly manifesting before Eric, glaring such hate as to freeze still a lesser man’s soul, could do anything to stop the inevitability of what was to come.
“You will surrender my son, and you will do so NOW!”
Eric paid the projection no heed at all as he tore through the furious tyrant’s desperate image, no matter the distant screams of fury and pain, just an instant before his blade encountered a desperately parrying Leonide whose former disdainful sneer had been utterly replaced by agony exceeded only by the terror of his own imminent death.
Yet for just a split second, Leonide’s mithril blade, infused with concepts of the void itself, managed to stay Eric’s assault.
Before shattering like glass and a dying man’s scream as Eric tore right through his prey, the desperately raised Silver-tier Shield of Pristine Warding staying the Phoenix’s wrath no more than a towel would stop the torrential downpour of a hurricane.
“No. Please. ANYTHING!”
Meaningless words echoed through Eric’s soul.
Because it was already too late.
The phoenix had struck, Leonide’s frozen soul able to appreciate its agony for an endless instant before the shockwave of transcendent heat rippling through a body countless thousands of degrees colder than pre-apocalypse physicists could possibly comprehend utterly obliterated the frozen figurine, leaving nothing but countless thousands of icy shards raining down upon the desert in all directions save Eric’s own.
You have catastrophically struck your foe with a Transcendant Attack!
You have successfully slain a fellow Contender!
Crimson Contender evolution in effect.
Consume the power of your foes and grow beyond all limits!
(50% Bonus to Attributes consumed!)
You have successfully DEVOURED the potency of a Bronze-tier Contender!
You have successfully torn free 22 Strength, 21 Quickness, 15 Vitality, 15 Finesse, 15 perception, and 15 Arcane reserves from your foe!
This boon of potency may be further enhanced by any and all applicable attribute boon modifiers.
Eve approves of this battle.
You are now a Level 48 Cultivator!
Eric had no words for the sheer rush of potency and euphoria roaring into his soul.
Enough to drown out the shrieks and wails and dire threats of a Silver-tier monster who had been so utterly confident of his own success that he had dared to wager his own son on a bet that had paid off only with the most bitter of harvests. Enough to drown out the troubles of an entire world resting so firmly on his shoulders as Eric howled and shook with the sweetest rush of power as he had claimed from any foe so far. 103 Baseline attribute points, nearly doubled with the multiple attribute modifiers that were now forever his own.
And that was just the tiniest sliver of the potency that was suddenly reforging him anew as two fresh Bronze-tier titles infused his soul, force-evolving him once more.
CONGRATULATIONS! ERNEST SLAUGHTER IS THE FIRST CONTENDER TO QUELL A MONSTER SURGE ON THIS PLANET! - THIS IS A BRONZE TIER FEAT! - TERRA ITSELF RECOGNIZES THIS ACCOMPLISHMENT!
YOU HAVE EARNED A 5% BONUS TO ALL BASELINE CHARACTERISTICS!
YOU WILL ADDITIONALLY RECEIVE A PERMANENT 5% MULTIPLIER TO ALL FUTURE STAT GAINS ON OR OFF OF TERRA!
ANOMALY DETECTED
BRONZE TIER FEAT EARNED AS WHITE-TIER CONTENDER.
ALL BOONS HAVE BEEN DOUBLED!
NOTE!! - ONE SILVER TRUMP CARD HAS BEEN PUT INTO PLAY!
YOUR BOONS ARE NOW IN DISPUTE!
Transcendent Heritage Detected.
Golden Heritage Detected.
Gold-tier Ascendants are FORBIDDEN from engaging in games of ascension!
Silver Trump holder LORD Augustus requests immediate extermination of Rogue Player. With the message: “You will pay for what you did to my son! I will hunt down your people and exterminate you all!”
Yet before Eric could even howl with the phoenix’s furious roar, a part of him so EAGER to ignite transcendent wings of Fire and Ice and Wrath and furious retribution… the interface, or perhaps it was Conceptio himself, continuing to take an extended personal interest in Eric’s forging and ascension, mitigated his foe’s attempts to destroy him.
VIP STATUS DETECTED.
TALISMAN STATUS DETECTED.
ALL WRITS OF EXTERMINATION ARE RENDERED NUL AND VOID.
BRONZE TIER BOONS HAVE BEEN STANDARDIZED.
Congratulations! You are the first Contender to quell a monster surge on this planet!
This is a Bronze Tier Feat that you have accomplished SINGLEHANDEDLY!
Terra herself recognizes your accomplishment!
You have earned a 5% bonus to all baseline characteristics!
You will additionally receive a +5% multiplier to all future stat gains on or off Terra!
You have earned the title: HERO II! - Note! Your title has been modified to: Noble Necromancer!
All the world will now know of the heroism and utility of necromancers, those who would dare challenge death itself to help preserve and protect the world they call home!
ALL Censures and strictures against Necromancy upon the face of Terra are now NUL and VOID!
All Contracts, Codicils, and Treaties that would restrict, persecute, eliminate, or disenfranchise necromancers and necromancy have been rendered NUL and VOID! (Said contracts have been retroactively System-modified to eliminate said passages. All further contracts introducing said strictures will result in same alignment & potency penalties as writs of slavery & genocide).
Necromancy has been ELEVATED to FAVORED CLASS status within this world!
Galactic Policies of lawful necromantic extermination have been MITIGATED to EXILE!
All Terran Necromancers who dare to practice their arts off-world shall face EXILE instead of summary execution.
CONGRATULATIONS! Your NOBLE use of Necromancy has altered galactic legal policy!
Emperor Exalt is ambivalent about this alteration.
Empress Evelyn Death (your master) is amused by this alteration.
NOTE! This Galactic Title Boon has used a Silver-tier Title Boon held in reserve!
You have gained the adulation (+8 to all reaction rolls and social skill checks) of all those who practice heritage arts (most specifically Necromancy) everywhere!
Eric was stunned by the messages as much as by the rush of indescribably sweet power flooding his soul, suddenly feeling faster, stronger, more alert and more ALIVE than he had ever felt before. As much as it would have been easy to bemoan the sacrifice of a Silver-tier perk, to think that he had just forced the hands of countless power brokers so eager to crush and disenfranchise his kind… not only on a global front but on the galactic stage as well… that truly was a boon worthy of a Silver title.
Yet before he could dwell on it any further, he was struck by the sheer magnitude of what he had just accomplished, clearing out an entire Black-tier territory.
A territory he could now shape and transform however he so desired.
For a heartbeat, he trembled before the sheer potential to shape this magnificent 10,000+ square mile tract of land in ways that would be nothing short of breathtaking, recalling so viscerally how the underlying potency of Orange tier Hope territory had been sufficient for him to shape even so-called Lesser Bounties with what would have been considered Epic tier bounties on a White-tier territory. And this Black tier territory implied that his triple Lesser Bounty transformation along the path of Crimson Balance would be nothing short of legendary.
For a single moment, he savored the fantasy of a territory filled with extremely wealthy tier dungeons that could take countless adventurers all the way to the lesser reaches of Bronze, or rich veins absolutely filled with deposits of jewels and silver and outright magical ores, maybe even with a dreamed up clan of dwarves to mine them. Or perhaps a fresh grove of mystic fruit, Mystic Plumbs to go with his wondrous grove of spirit peaches!
There were so many incredible boons that he could shape this land with. He sensed it all so clearly, so viscerally. Yet what truly humbled him was the potential for it to become so much more than one hungry youth’s power fantasy.
It could instead become a home to the countless thousands… no… in that awful moment of pristine clarity, he sensed the 6.66 million tormented souls that had once trapped in black goblin steel and their hideous soul forges that could now finally be set free, reincarnated into blessed lives… their agony forgotten, eternal torments forever eased. Reborn into beautiful lives of joy, wisdom and happiness, with all the lessons that so many of them had learned in so many classes and professions helping to forge the most beautiful and wonderful kingdom imaginable.
Eric shivered with awe as he sensed it all manifesting before his eyes, not needing his will to shape it at all. He simply allowed reality to shape itself as it most yearned to be.
Perhaps, had always been.
A magnificent capital city in a kingdom now the size of Belgium, covered in glorious forests filled with gentle magic and wonder, and fields filled with impossibly lush crops tended by experienced professional farmers who knew how to coax free nature’s most glorious bounties.
The air rang with laughter from countless cozy villages and prosperous trading towns. Everyone’s belly full and their hearts content as they enjoyed beautiful sunsets after a hard day’s work where the air seemed almost alive with magic and wonder, as if a gentle destiny blessed everyone’s path through life, be they humble or grand.
And at the heart of it all was the capital city, so rich with history and wonder. E
ric laughed with sheer delight as his spirit glided along picturesque brick-lined thoroughfares, admiring soaring towers of marble and bronze, grand manors graced with tiled verandas and lush terraced gardens filled with colorful profusions of countless myriad blossoms perfuming the entire city with their glorious scents.
It was a breathtaking sight, gazing down upon the lake where the fishermen pulled bountiful catches every day, and one needed only to tilt their head to see the grand ruins where a magnificent arcane academy had once stood, where whispered rumors held that within the forgotten alcoves one might find the secrets to arcane lore that could allow one to ascend as an Elementalist, Evoker, or Conjurer, all the way up to the cusp of…
Thanks to your sister’s communion, you are aware of Stony’s proclamation!
But all Eric had to do was rub his eyes to let a child’s fanciful tale, guiding him along the city by his magister parent’s sides, to be replaced by a vision of TRUE wonder. A fully intact mages college beyond anything he could have conceived of, the massive structure of marble and rose-colored quartz a beacon of grace and towering elegance as the multistory marvel seemed to reach for the very heavens sent his heart to racing!
He could all but sense the ancient elven Arch Magus in the heart of his glorious sanctuary quietly reading a tome before a magical light, who was indeed perceptive enough to sense the gentle guardian spirit watching over them all. A magus so wise with his gentle, grandfatherly eyes, that he seemed to understand the nature of the floating spirit so very well. A magus who solemnly swore to serve his eternally sleeping queen that the fates themselves declared would soon awaken with eternal vigilance and care. As both adviser and instructor.
The ancient elf and his staff of exactly 100 scholars and mages with a talent for magic and a love of teaching were here to instruct all those with even the tiniest spark of magic as to what it truly meant to be a mage… so long as said students took their duties seriously, respecting themselves, their fellow men and women in craft, and of course, swore fealty to their eternal queen.
You have sacrificed one Half-step Silver World Eater! - Congratulations! Your territory now contains a Legendary Arcane Academy overseen by a Silver-tier Archmage who has kept the school’s teaching facilities in pristine condition! Your magical college is blessed with multiple enchantments taking care of all your students and staff’s needs, with more than enough room to accommodate the facilities and families of five score Bronze-tier magisters capable of instructing any aspirant with even a single node and the slightest nudge of magical affinity into an Advanced-tier magic class or better!
Truly talented Classers can now be assured a solid path all the way to the depths of Bronze!
Note! This academy can easily benefit over 2000 students at a time, and will allow for the Study of arcane arts as both Class and Profession, facilitating the study and mastery of spells and the advancement of levels without necessarily needing to claim the potency of fresh kills. Of course, significant synergism does apply if one both studies AND adventures!
Note! You yourself are capable of attending this Legendary Academy as both instructor and student! For you have done more than shape the power and potential of a realm with your own dreams. You have brought back to life the souls of 6.66 million lost members of your tribes and all the wisdom and knowledge they had to bear!
In just a single semester, you could make Runic Magic a core offering of the class curriculum!
It was all Eric could do not to break down in tears at the marvelous realm coming to life all around him. He held nothing back, investing the full power of a Tier-1 Black territory to infuse this realm with all the blessings and bounties that could be had.
The air was vibrant with magic and spiritual energy and wonder. The flowers were bright with the bounties of nature, golden sunlight, and gentle faeries serving as caretakers of the entire region.
And Eric was totally okay with one prized killer after another that had served him so well in a handful of days of glorious savagery and unbridled violence fading to gentler dreams of master craftsmen and staunch defenders. Future knights, paladins, and seneschals... administrators and craftsmen of this precious realm that was now home to nearly seven million souls.
Yet it was only because so much of the land was so shockingly fertile with so many skilled farmers and craftsmen that not a single soul needed to fear deprivation or starvation with the lands serviced by literal hundreds of Master Farmers that were as much nature mage as Professional, channeling their arts into one bumper crop after another. And all of them were more than happy to share their lore and wisdom with worthy students, whether they be elven or native Terran, as they harvested such a flood of produce and grain that the region might one day be able to serve as a bread basket for the entire country.
With one slow meditative breath after another, Eric felt his beautiful realm come to life. Or perhaps it was always here, a magnificent pocket realm lost between overlapping dreams of entropy and possibility, and all it had taken was the slightest of nudges for the world to remember the magical Sylvan realm that had somehow always been here, just a single forgotten memory away.
Smiling away the tears in his eyes, Eric and BunBun gazed at the final hundred plus revenants who had yet to by subsumed and reborn as a master craftsman, magus, farmer, or hero.
Wormy rumbled softly, and Eric couldn’t help but sigh. He had held such dreams of riding across the world on a mount like that too.
BunBun gently patted Eric’s shoulder. “It’s alright if you keep him.”
“Sure. But if I use him even once, and the orcs or ogres, or gnolls, or any other enemy faction catches sight of it, that’s all the pretext they need to open the doors to a flood of high level monsters that will destroy us all and probably butcher everyone who dares even look at them wrong.”
His familiar didn’t deny it, merely doing flips on Eric’s shoulder, before chuckling evilly.
“Yup! That’s right. Per Caliban’s notes, if we use even a single Bronze tier revenant to fuck with Stony and his lickboots, everything goes. But that does leave out a very, very important point.”
Eric gazed at his familiar as he sent his mental farewell to his mount.
“And that would be?”
“Eric?”
“Yes?”
“Eric….”
Eric gave her a look. Before it suddenly clicked, a rueful grin coming over his features.
“All the orcs and the other assholes looking to take over my Sister’s territory. ALL of them. White tier. Just like the massive army of Sarissophoroi I had used to tear through so many fucking territories, not that long ago. All of them were White tier, boosted by my Necromancer level and so many sweet perks that have only grown in power since then. They will be more than enough to purge every last fucking humanoid asshole who thinks that New York is anyone’s but mine.”
BunBun happily applauded before flashing a positively wicked smile. “Damn right! And with your absolutely ABSURD stats, you’re still winning! Totally and completely. Let no one tell you differently! Best of all, so long as you avoid the Bronze baddies, our enemies are obligated not to say a word when we charge their asses and cut them down to size! We didn’t lose anything we didn’t have 3 days ago, and we just SAVED ourselves from having to worry about someone swinging the door wide open to let every asshole through when we FLOOD their territories with our future armies of glorious pikemen! Which, with your insane speed and Call to Battle perk, will be even deadlier than the ancient charging knights of Charlemagne!”
Eric nodded, bracing himself for what he was about to do. “You know, Bun, I just had a thought.”
His rabbit quirked an ear his way. “Do tell.”
“It occurs to me that that only holds in the White-tier humanoid territory around here. Once we reclaim our shit around Ashland, then go south to smash the fuck out of New York and clean house in the east coast, those assholes and their strictures will be out of our hair. Hopefully for good.”
“True…”
“And nothing says I can’t ride my Wormy in style through Orange regions, then keep him for the purposes of forming the best fucking arena imaginable!”
BunBun blinked, eyes widening. “Wait… WAIT! You’re right. Totally right! Essence of Impermeability Rank 2 means we can have Wormy emerge all sneakily around us and whatever asshole we’re fighting, let him wrap his massive coils around the battle zone, then BAM! Suddenly the goblin seers can’t see shit!”
Eric winked. “Exactly.”
“DUUDE! This will let you practice your Transcendent Attacks without having to risk dungeon rupture! We just have Wormy circle a handful of beasties wherever we are! Then the walls rise up, the battle-dome clamps on top, and you jump in from the coil-rafters and fucking have at it!”
Eric and his familiar shared a gleeful chuckle.
Bunny gave a satisfied nod. “AWESOME! So, are we still going to use the final 100 Velociraptors to forge you-know-who a sweet, sweet army of Sylvan Defenders?”
“Of course we are.”
Bunny sighed. “I’m going to miss their snippy snappy crunchy jaws.”
“Me too. But since they’re not Underlords, it isn’t like I can’t make a fuck ton more. We’ve claimed Orange-territory Velociraptors and Utahraptors before. And now we can do so again, and no one can say SHIT about it!”
Bunny nodded her agreement while Wormy purred with contentment, apparently more than happy to go on existing just as before while its twin became a very insightful and self-aware Archmage that might or might not feel a bit uncomfortable if it ever saw a Blue-sanctioned copy of the awesome Desert-Dune series.
Eric’s final hundred velociraptors then bowed as one before lifting themselves upright once more as Paladins kitted in shining plate and mail with enchanted halberds in hand that they slammed the butts of upon ivory white tiles in salute before returning to their palatial duties, now infused with both the might, memory, and power of countless Sylvan heroes that had come before.
Congratulations! You are the first Terran Contender to Claim a Black Tier territory (and forge a legendary wonder: The Lost City of Arcadia!)
2nd Tier Core Saturation is now at 85%!!!
This is a Bronze Tier Feat that you have accomplished SINGLEHANDEDLY!
Terra herself recognizes your accomplishment!
You have earned a 5% bonus to all baseline characteristics!
You will additionally receive a +5% multiplier to all future stat gains on or off Terra!
You have earned the Title: Elite Contender! You may now grant one additional Lesser Boon with every territory you claim, no matter the Path you Walk!
ANOMALY DETECTED
BRONZE TIER FEAT EARNED AS WHITE-TIER CONTENDER.
ALL BOONS HAVE BEEN DOUBLED!
No enemy cards have been put into play! Your boons have been consolidated!
Eric’s eyes widened in shock. “I don’t believe it. I earned another fucking title with that territory transformation!”
BunBun nodded, ears bobbing as if it made perfect sense. “Well of course! Caliban himself made it clear that taming Black tier territories before they can go completely wild and generate endless monster surges that will overrun our entire fucking planet will one day be the primary key to our survival. So it makes sense that we get a Bronze tier reward for managing a feat that I don’t think anyone was expecting to happen for, well, years at least.”
Eric grinned. “But it’s even better than that! I actually got the full 10% multiplier, just like before! Maybe it’s because Conceptio was nice enough to stop broadcasting the nature of this title, at least. Maybe it’s because he knows it’s for Elonia’s sake, and broadcasting it would put a huge target on her back? Or maybe I’m giving him too much credit? Regardless, the System did declare the anomaly, but still, no one contested it!”
Eric’s familiar butted his head, sensing his euphoria. He would have howled with sheer delight, if not forced to accept that his earlier penalties hadn’t just been because of his class evolution. He really had been denied the full boon of 3 Bronze titles, because assholes were willing to waste their own fate cards trying to destroy what they recognized as a threat.
“Fuck! How powerful would I now be if those petty shitheads hadn’t burned so many cards trying to stop me over the last week?”
BunBun chuckled. “Who the fuck knows? But look at the bright side. All the mad fools so eager to destroy you have either run out of cards, cards that they might have used against us to far more devastating effect in another place and time, or finally understand that they are hurting themselves more than you! Because now that it’s obvious that the System isn’t going to destroy you, merely standardize your boons? Ha! Even Lord Augustus himself, seething with hate in his last fuck you System-sent letter to you, didn’t think it was worth wasting another card! In other words, hoss, I think you’re seriously winning! So many cards wasted by powerful players who didn’t get that way by being fools! Even if those powerful opponents are spaced apart enough that they might not be able to communicate with eachother, or they wouldn’t have burned multiple cards at once during those earlier rounds, they’ve got to be smart enough to know that cutting their own noses to give you a paper cut isn’t doing them any favors!”
Eric gave a frustrated shake of his head. “I’m just one White-tier Contender. I think way too much attention was getting focused on me.”
BunBun grinned. “That’s because they fear you now, Eric. And rightly so. Your attributes are now fucking absurd! Glorious, don’t get me wrong, but fucking absurd. As far as a certain screaming Silver-tier asshole is concerned, his hatred isn’t for you alone. Even I can sense a dark force trying to smash through whatever inviolate barrier is keeping him at bay. Even if he’s still able to overtake the Dominion message boards sufficient to threaten pretty much every humanoid faction here in the Northeast!” Bunbun gave an evil chuckle. “It’s good to be an all-knowing, all-powerful Revenant familiar!”
“You’re hardly all-knowing,” Eric teased, rubbing his purring bunny’s ears.
“Posh!” BunBun butted his hand. “Even I can sense the slow blossoming of the fiery golden phoenix that will one day change the fate of the entire sector. And with all the chaos you’re causing before you even hit Bronze… just imagine what a thorn you’ll be in so many corrupt councils’ and clans’ backsides by the time you actually hit Silver. Or how many asshole factions you’ll OBLITERATE when you finally hit Gold... and chase after mommy dearest!”
Eric winced. “Yeah, I kind of have serious mixed feelings about what I… you know.”
BunBun gave him a look. “Mixed feelings about saving the entire Sylvan Alliance and Blue Federation and your girlfriends and their bebes from being obliterated by goblin hellfire dreadnoughts?”
Eric clenched his jaw. “Destroying their fleets was righteous.”
“As was destroying the planets and foundries where those fleets were made, Eric. Don’t get it twisted. It was either your progeny and all the billions of elves that will be entwined in their lives over the last two thousand years they had evolved in this timeline, or the goblins would have obliterated them entirely, had you and Mother Dearest not destroyed Malice’s power base. NO two ways about it.”
Eric blinked. Stunned. “Wait, you mean my…”
“Your children? A hundred generations, if they’re randy like you?” BunBun shrugged. “Probably, Eric. I don’t think you truly understand just how powerful that Silver talisman was that Malice, the eternal fuckhead, placed on the soul of an angel, his own daughter, your sister, to bear. That’s some high level divine tragic paradigm stuff right there. The Emperor and the Empress are the only ones who rode that through. For everyone else who lack talismans? Everything’s grandfathered in. Two thousand years worth of grandfathering. So yeah, maybe your cute little Rica is a happy mommy twice over now, with faint dreams of a wild half-elf hero in her life and she is now contentedly raising your daughter in an elven commune. Or maybe that really did happen two thousand years ago and there are like a million elves out there that have just a bit of Eric Silver, Rica Lightfoot, and Susie Sue in their veins.”
Eric crashed to his knees, feeling hot tears streaming down his cheeks, and he didn’t even know why, as the System gave him one final message.
The Cup of Crimson Bounty means you take but the gentlest of sips as your Legendary Territory grows like never before, blossoming under your touch!
Vitality and Strength have increased by 15 points! (Exclusive of all modifiers). You have elected NOT to claim your Soul Reserve boon within this territory with so many trapped souls! (Paladin tendencies acknowledged!)
NOTE! You are presently Walking the Path of Consumption! You must surrender this territory before leaving, lest you’d walk the Path of Rulers instead!
Strength and Vitality now BOTH exceed 800! You now enjoy a 50% bonus to all additional points invested in either these attributes (In addition to all other title modifiers & boons!)
CONGRATULATIONS! You have achieved Rank 1 in Strength and Vitality on the Global Rankings! All know to fear (and envy) Ernest ‘Edgelord’ Slaughter now!
Chapter 425 - Queen's Gambit
Comments
Antony Haynes
Overall, I like the current direction of the story. This current chapter was thrilling. Also, thank you, dear author, for getting rid of the anti-necromancy strictures--it has been a constant source of frustration as a reader rooting for Eric to have them limiting his growth. One source of confusion: does "on the soul of an angel, his own daughter, your sister" all refer to Aurelia only or to the combination of Aurelia, BunBun's Clone, and Elonia? Finally, It’s clear the goblins want to commit genocide against humanity. Why? This has never really been sufficiently motivated. The story suggests that it might be because humans have the ability to use necromancy to destroy goblin soul forges, but this power is not unique to humans (right?). More importantly, why doesn’t anyone else beside the elves care that the goblins are enslaving/ genociding the humans? Even if the non-human factions will commit genocide just at the goblins' say-so, there should be a number of factions standing in opposition. Where are humanity’s non-Sylvan/non-Blue Faction allies?
Silver Beard
Idk...a lot of misery leading up to this.
Silver Beard
There was that Lich from before he pissed off. Not sure on timelines but not every Necromancer will be a good guy. Pretty sure some will be a definite problem.
ouroboros
Yes, nicely done! What you took away, you transformed instead. Much better. TYFTC.
Trevayne
Enjoying the triumph while it lasts. Getting curious about what is left on Earth that can challenge Eric/Ernest now. Looking forward to seeing if he starts playing a bigger role on Earth. It is amusing to contemplate that he has been to other stars, destroyed space fleets and wrecked planets, but IIRC he still hasn't crossed the Atlantic or Pacific on Earth.
Grant lee merrifield
Woot
