Ch 171 - I Get to Play King

The huge wooden rafts supporting Lake Town had settled onto the bottom of the lake at a bit of an angle, with one side propped up on rubble from the broken giant stone array. By the time I arrived, people were already packing up their Base Camp tents and the other buildings constructed over the past few days.

Paul the mayor, one of the few who withstood the sleep spell thanks to a protective talisman he’d purchased from the system store, was busy trying to calm one rowdy group down and answer a barrage of questions. Apparently some folks didn’t respond well to waking up from an unexpected nap to find they’d missed the most important battle of the stage.

Others were celebrating. They’d awakened to tons of new levels, some pushing above the critical level 50. Those folks must have helped Burns set the bombs on the zombie ships. Talk about easy leveling.

Of course, that made the folks who totally missed out even angrier. Why did some folks get levels while they didn’t? Worse, Paul and those who remained awake had also gained several levels from the heroic defense of Lake Town.

Paul had jumped all the way to level 51. I bet they got a ton of great loot boxes too. They were smart enough to keep those to themselves. I arrived in time to hear the end of one exchange.

“Why don’t the rest of us get a cool potion to boost our Constitution by 5 points?” an angry warrior shouted.

“Probably because you didn’t just survive the fight of your life against a horde of zombies while protecting the lives of ungrateful sleepyheads,” responded a big guy with thinning hair.

Hey, I recognized him. He was that tatermancer. So he’d remained awake and used his epic potato powers to defend the town? I would have paid good money to see that.

That’s when Paul spotted me and excused himself to run over. “Lucas! Am I happy to see you. How did you get Noctarus to agree to leave?”

The tatermancer followed.

“Evan Burrows. Baby human level 50. Team Lord of the Rings. Class: Tatermancer. One of the more unique classes, Evan has doubled down on his unusual build. Keep an eye on this one. If he makes the right choices, he’ll grow into something truly unique.”

Huh. I needed to find some time to chat with him. Amazingly, even he had reached level 50. Hopefully he’d get options to adjust his class, or even add a new vegetable to the mix?

I winced. As funny as the thought was, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. Hopefully he’d get something good. He’d been lucky to survive so long wielding potatoes.

Evan said, “Yeah, the zombies were just about to overrun us. If you’d taken even a few more seconds, we’d all be dead.”

“Glad it worked out. I didn’t exactly give Noctarus a choice. Well done you guys keeping the town safe. It got crazy out there for a while.”

Shouting turned us around in time to see my team and Tony’s arrive on the far side of town. The arrival of the popular Tony and Burns helped quell the lingering sour mood and soon everyone focused more on celebrating the win.

Jane skidded to a halt next to me, riding double with Ruby on the back of Switchblade. Ruby jumped off and nearly tackled me with a very welcome hug. Jane piled on, hugging me hard too. They both looked battered, but whole.

“I was so worried for you,” Ruby said, scanning me up and down, then cocking her head to one side and giving me that little smile that melted me on the inside. “You look totally untouched. Not even Laundry Day leaves you looking that good.”

“You’re finally admitting he’s a hunky stud, eh?” Steve asked, suddenly there, as if he’d borrowed Tomas’s teleport spell. He too looked battered, but happy.

“You know what I mean. He looks like he just bought that whole set of gear,” Ruby retorted.

Steve leaned closer and whispered really loudly. “Should have changed into those Silkspinner Leggings, my man. They’re her favorite.”

“Oh, shut up,” she groaned, swatting at him.

He smoothly sidestepped, then turned in time to catch Susan, who hurtled into his arms, wrapping herself around him with her normal exuberant passion. The long nap during the fight seemed to have refreshed her energy levels. Not sure Steve would survive her enthusiastic attention, but he made a valiant effort to keep up.

“I got a refresh token that restored everything,” I told Ruby. “Good thing, because I was kind of a mess.”

“That was insane. You’re insane,” Jane told me with a laugh. “Thanks for loaning me Switchblade, though. Even with it, we barely got out of that mess.”

Tomas and the others jogged up and I fist-bumped my brother. He looked battered and they were all covered in zombie gore. I shared Laundry Day potions all around.

Burns shook my hand, and even Tony waved from the crowd of admirers swarming him. From the stories already spreading, his new adaptive armor had performed brilliantly. He’d even added thrusters in the feet and hands from those energy rifle parts I’d given him. Managed to fly short distances and really push the whole Iron Man persona to whole new levels.

I couldn’t wait to see what new gear he’d made for me from all that ore I’d given him to make that fancy suit. We spent a few minutes catching up and sharing our stories. The battle had been crazy and between all of us, over a dozen people died, but thankfully none of my team. The big group Tony led from town had been the most exposed and they lost 8, with the rest falling in the defense of Lake Town.

As much as I hated hearing about so many people dying, it was a miracle we hadn’t lost hundreds. We’d dodged a bullet on that one. When I checked the survivor counter for the first time in a while, I grimaced. It had dropped all the way to 381. We’d mostly beaten stage 2, but we’d lost more than 60% of our total population since arriving on Arasha. The mortality rate was slowing, but we could easily die out before even reaching Marisara.

About 50 of the folks who had slept through the fight formed into a big hunting party and headed out to finish off the scattered zombie survivors who hadn’t made it to the ships. Should be a simple fight. The zombies were disorganized, most had thrown aside their weapons in their mad dash for the ships, and many had looked wounded.

The rest of us packed up what remained of Lake Town. In moments, everything was dismantled and everyone prepared for the long trek back to Midmount Vale. No one wanted to spend the night on the lake.

Nigel jumped up to my shoulder, purring loudly, happy to let me carry him. Ruby sighed, shoulders drooping. “Even with my endurance so high, I don’t relish the long walk back. I’m beat.”

I flashed her a smile. “Maybe we don’t have to.”

My floating hover platform appeared in front of me, empty but for the geometric tile floor. I willed it to expand to its full 20 yard diameter to many cries of wonder.

I jumped aboard and shouted, “Who wants a ride back to Midmount Vale?”

Easy answer. Everyone not joining the final zombie hunt leaped aboard. It was a bit tight for about 250 people, but no one complained. More than a few asked how I got such an amazing item. I didn’t miss the whispered grumbling of ‘AI pet’ and the like. I nearly tossed those blockheads over the side to walk, but I didn’t want to waste the energy on folks who couldn’t see past their own jealousy.

On a good note, I didn’t have to summon my depleted Switchblade to get us moving. Robin and 2 other people with flight classes volunteered to tow us. Robin looked battered from her zombie laser roasting, but had survived the ordeal and gained a bunch of levels, also pushing up over 50.

Once we got moving, Robin landed and said it took almost no energy to keep us going, so the fliers planned to rotate shifts between them. I raised some walls around a couple sides so people didn’t feel like they had to stay back from the edges. Then I added a few chairs and some glowing pedestals for ambiance lighting.

“Hey, Lucas, can you fashion a bar?” Sam called.

Of course a high-end noble elite monster lord’s floating pleasure platform would include a bar. I even pulled up a few kegs of fancy, high-end beer, much to Sam’s delight. As soon as I raised a couple walls in one corner, with the bar nearby, Sam set up shop and the party started hopping.

All of my team also received at least 5 levels. Steve managed to hit level 50. Apparently he gained some experience through his clones, and they’d fought bravely in Lake Town.

“Permanent spell time!” he chortled, rubbing his hands together.

“Remember what happened to Edmund,” Ruby said.

“Don’t worry. I plan to double down on my current build,” Steve promised, but held off selecting the spell until after he got some rest. With the way Susan was clinging to him, it would be a while.

Both Burns and Tony hit level 51, as did several other people. Both of the town leaders knew about Edmund’s predicament, so no doubt they’d warn everyone to be careful with their spell selections.

Some of the folks who slept through the whole thing started griping again, berating the town leaders for conning them into going to Lake Town. The fact that they’d all gained many levels over the past few days didn’t seem to matter.

To help the party really get rocking, I authorized Sam to sell every single person a full bottle of the good stuff for a severely discounted price. Sam nearly fainted when he heard that until I told him I would take it out of my stock, not the tavern’s fast-dwindling supply.

The discounted drinks finally helped set a happy mood across the entire floating platform, at least for the moment, and the party picked up steam. Sam added discounts for sandwiches and pastries and did brisk business.

Nigel required 25 elephant steaks, plus an assortment of pork and beef steaks before he finally admitted he felt like he was about to pop. The stuffed murder kitty draped over my shoulder like a limp sack of shaggy fur, snoring softly.

Nearby, Ruby inspected the cool Constitution-boosting potion the defenders of Lake Town had all received. She tried replicating it, but failed. Too bad, but not surprising.

“I had to try,” she said with a sigh before handing the potion back to the crafter she’d borrowed it from.

“Yeah. If it had worked, every person in town could end up with an unkillable constitution.”

“Maybe even get as much as you,” she teased.

“Nah, that would be insane.”

I pulled the entire team who had participated in the fight against Noctarus to the corner opposite Sam’s impromptu tavern. Sally summoned her Base Camp tent and we all crammed inside for a bit of privacy.

“What’s this all about?” Burns asked between swigs of bourbon.

“Loot sharing, of course,” I said after finishing a chocolate chip cookie the size of my head.

“We all got quite a bit,” Ruby interjected.

Steve said, “That’s okay, Ruby. If Lucas somehow gathered buckets full of diamonds again, I’m happy to take your share.”

“Diamonds?” Sally asked, eyes glittering. “Again?”

“If Lucas asks you to join him for a dungeon dive, do it. They’re very dangerous, though,” Jane said.

“For diamonds, I’m in,” Sally responded.

“Not this time, unfortunately, but what I did get might be even better.”

That piqued their interest, as did the golden scepter when I pulled it from my inventory.

“No offense, Lucas, but I’m not voting to anoint you emperor, or anything,” Burns said to a round of laughter.

“On the contrary, this is a gift for all of you.”

“Titles!” Steve gasped, reading the Identify description before the others. I explained it to Ruby and the few without the utility skill.

“I’ve never heard of anything like it,” Ruby breathed.

“I haven’t gotten a title yet,” Hector said with a grin. “They’re super hard to get.”

“The trick is doing something before other people do. Preferably something difficult and dangerous.”

“Is that why you have golden eyes?” Sally asked.

“Yeah. I’ve gotten a couple titles.”

Burns, who had received several titles already and whose golden eye ring was still far from thick enough to cover his entire eyes, didn’t say anything. Good. I wasn’t about to go into details about all my titles. I got enough weird looks from folks, and too many people were already envious or resentful of some of my successes.

They didn’t understand what I’d done to get those perks, but just saw the gap widening between us. We might have been transported to an alien death battle world, but human nature didn’t change that fast, even with superhuman stats.

“Who’s first?” I asked, hefting the scepter.

“Me!” Steve cried just before Hector.

The older duelist scowled but I said, “I’ve got enough charges in it to give everyone a title, so relax.”

“Could you give some of us more than one title if people volunteered to let them have theirs?” Robin asked.

Wow. Great question. I’d never thought to ask it.

“Are you saying you want to give your title to someone else?”

She shook her head quickly. “No. Just a thought.”

“Does anyone want to sacrifice their title?”

When no one answered, I shrugged. “Then it’s a moot point, right?”

Focusing on the scepter, I touched it to Steve’s shoulder and said, “I dub thee Sir Stephen!”

“Hey,” Steve protested, but a rush of energy poured through the item and golden light flared around him, then poured into his eyes. He gasped, then laughed.

“It worked! New title! Legolas. Plus 10% to Agility. Plus 10% to Constitution. Once per fight, double all stats to unleash a single awe-inspiring move worthy of a ninja elf.”

“That’s perfect for you,” Ruby laughed and gave him a hug. Steve looked so happy, he nearly rushed out of the tent to go find Susan and celebrate. She’d joined the party outside to drown her disappointment in missing out of the big level boost.

Steve’s title sounded amazing, although it was a bit more vague than most of mine. Knowing Steve, he’d find a way to push it to its limits.

Hector came next. He fixed me with a warning stare and said, “No dubbing nonsense.”

“It’s part of the spell.”

“It is not,” he objected.

I shrugged. “I don’t make the rules. Want a title or not?”

He sighed, and I couldn’t help adding, “It works better if you take a knee.”

“Don’t push it.”

“Fine.” I touched the scepter to him and added in my best Sean Connery voice, “I dub thee Sir Drizzt.” Of course, I wasn’t 100% sure how to pronounce the famously confusing name, but didn’t let that stop me.

“Who?” Hector demanded.

“You don’t know Drizzt, the famous drow elf in R.A. Salvatore’s books? What kind of duelist are you? When you get home, read every one of them. You’ll thank me.”

Hector sighed. “Title?”

“Fine. Be that way.” Cyrus was right. Hector was kind of a stick in the mud. As soon as I focused, the Scepter again pulsed with power.

I half feared he’d get a very similar title to Steve’s, even though the scepter’s description said titles would be unique. It proved accurate. Hector’s title gave him a similar boost to Agility and Constitution, but his special ability was a speed boost that also created a sphere of slicing blades all around him when facing more than 3 to 1 odds.

It also promised an unnamed bonus perk if he permanented a more interesting spell. He’d reached level 50 like many, so would be choosing a permanent spell soon.

That was the second time Cyrus urged him to branch out. I hoped he followed the AI’s advice. Cyrus loved to manipulate us and cast us into deadly trials, but also tried to help us excel. The benefits for me had taken a long time to appear, but now they were pushing me to a level of power way above anyone else. Cyrus liked to make the game more interesting for his nameless viewers. Ticking him off could get Hector into trouble.

One by one, the rest of the team received unique titles too. Most took my dorky attempts at making the knighting process fun with stoic good humor. Jane even asked that I dub her Lady Gwenevere, so of course, I had to dub Tomas Sir Lancelot to keep things spicy.

I enjoyed the moment to the fullest. Who hadn’t wanted to play King Arthur knighting Sir Lancelot growing up?

Every title contained the same boost to Agility and Constitution as well as a really powerful unique perk. Burns’s surrounded him in a sphere of ball lightning for 10 seconds, Robin’s doubled her firepower for a single burst while also deflecting inbound attacks, Sally’s gave her a new Galadriel ability that strengthened her control over glimpses into the future while fighting.

She broke down and cried with joy when she got the title. Apparently she hadn’t been kidding when she said the ability that helped her gain those glimpses into the future that verged on precognition had strained her mind to the limits. She’d felt on the brink of going crazy. The new ability quite literally threw her a lifeline. She promised to still dump all her free points into Intelligence for a while.

Jerry’s title gave him an explosive energy burst he could trigger once per minute to knock all nearby enemies flying. Teleporting into the middle of a big crowd could now unleash total pandemonium in a single hit. Tomas unlocked a time-frozen mind space he could step in to craft his Haphazard Guardian constructs.

He planned to see if he could pre-craft some of those constructs in that space for faster future deployment when needed. He hadn’t used those skills enough, but focused more on teleporting and dealing quick damage. Now the title rekindled his excitement for his unique class abilities.

Still, I caught him frowning, deep in thought. Hopefully he wasn’t still second-guessing his class direction. Making a drastic change could break his class. I’d talk with Jane about it.

For her part, she got an ability to transform a portion of incoming damage into added Mental energy to boost her telekinesis. Ruby’s title instead dealt damage to any enemy who hit her while she was healing, impaling them with ethereal darts that drained life force equal to the damage they dealt to her and applied it to healing her patient.

That was amazing, but she’d still have to take the damage up front. She seemed thrilled with it, but I wish she’d gotten pure defense.

“Wait, there’s one left,” Steve said, looking between everyone. “You said you got 10 uses.”

“One use left. One party member left.” I pointed the scepter at Nigel.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” exclaimed Sally. “Your pet tiger gets a title?”

Nigel jumped onto her shoulder in full adorable murder kitty mode and nuzzled the surprised woman’s cheek, purring loudly. Then he asked in a hurt little voice. “You don’t like me?”

When I translated, she melted and giggled, hugging him close. “You’re a lot more clever than I thought.”

“Steaks are good for the mind.”

He jumped over to me and swelled to full Mammoth Lion size. He’d fought quite literally like a lion against the zombies, tearing through many of the monsters and taking a lot of damage in the process. “You saved lives today, Bud. Good job. You deserve a title.”

I pressed the scepter to the white patch on his shoulder and willed it to activate. A final golden flash, and Nigel got a title.

“Simba. Protector and fierce defender of the pride. Double skin toughness. Once per minute, trigger Mufasa’s Claws. Rend enemies with ethereal claws that extend up to 20 feet and slice through both flesh and spirit.”

“Wow!” Ruby exclaimed, scooping up Nigel and hugging him. He purred loudly, looking extremely pleased with himself.

“Those were some really epic titles. I’ve gotten a few titles, and some are definitely better than others. Those are extremely good.”

“Thanks for sharing them with us,” Burns said, shaking my hand with a firm grip.

“Now, come on! Epic titles deserve an epic party!” Steve cried and led the way out of the tent.

We all followed, and the party got so wild even my unshakable platform started shaking. We were alive and we’d cleared stage 2. Whatever came next, we’d tackle it together.