HC:Pacifist | Ch. 157 - Stat Prodigy

Greetings, awesome people!

Thank you all for your generous support. I can't thank you enough.

If you have a Goodreads account, could I please ask you to leave a sincere rating/review for my novels there?

Thank you!

**********************

Roth was back at the colony's heart, in the Queen’s chambers. Drake was adamant that he needed to tackle [Vanquish the Darkness] immediately, but he couldn't until he found a way out of Antioch, and for that, he needed to unmask the caterpillar. Being bossed around the game by Drake annoyed Roth deeply. Not a month ago, Drake didn’t even know what a quest was!

Finally, his racial skills were off cooldown, and he had everything needed to set his plan in motion. He had thought long and hard about his plan. It wasn’t like he had much else to do. It was either complaining about Drake or following the news on the forums about the event. After simulating the operation several times in his mind, he felt confident in his success.

Roth passed the soldiers guarding the entrance to the chambers and walked around like he had before. He was going for the look of an innocent, harmless tourist, letting out some ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ as he went sightseeing around the Queen's Chambers.

Roth looked in every direction but the caterpillar, careful not to draw its attention before he was close enough. The last thing he needed was for the caterpillar to notice he was on to it. If he showed his hand too soon, the intruder would probably start accusing him of betraying the colony and would ask the ant soldiers to attack him. He couldn’t risk getting drawn into a shouting contest. Most likely, he’d lose it.

Steadily but surely, he approached the caterpillar. He could feel it wiggling uncomfortably out of the corner of his eyes. But, perhaps for fear of drawing attention from the ant queens and the many thousands of soldiers and workers surrounding it, it stayed its ground. Roth sighed in relief, seeing the caterpillar sit still. It probably thought that if its illusion had worked against millions of the city’s inhabitants, it would also work on him.

Roth zig-zagged, drawing farther from the caterpillar before approaching it again, hoping it to get used to his presence and not strike him preemptively. Once he was close enough, he closed his eyes. As he used his mind’s eye, all he saw was an ant queen, just like the others. Step by step, he approached the illusion. His heart was racing. Once he was near enough, he made his move. He turned, opened his eyes, looked squarely into one of the caterpillar’s many eyes, and introduced himself.

“Hello, caterpillar.”

This is your first time meeting the blue caterpillar race. Charisma bonus activated.

Seeing that the bonus from his [Discoverer of Species] title triggered, he grinned. The stage was set. His charisma had to be as high as possible for his plan to work. The caterpillar’s eyes widened, and its relaxed form stiffened. Before the caterpillar could react, Roth sprung his trap.

Fox Form!

Congratulations! Your charisma has reached 650.

You’ve unlocked a new title: [Stat Prodigy].

Stat Prodigy (Legendary)

Description: Your magnificent skills are without equal in all the land. By practicing your skills to perfection, you become even more skilled.

Skill effects:

Gain an extra 10% to your highest stat.

Conditions to unlock [Stat Prodigy]:

To be the player with the highest of one stat in all the game.

Congratulations! Your charisma has reached 700.

[Well Spoken] has been upgraded to [Grand Persuader].

Grand Persuader (Stat Bonus)

Bonus description: You can convince merchants that stone is gold and kings that wars are games.

Bonus effects:

It’s dramatically easier to increase reputation;

There’s a chance of reputation with factions spontaneously increasing;

You’ll receive spontaneous invitations from high-ranking NPCs for rare and above quests;

If you don’t antagonize a faction you have a negative reputation with, you’ll recover your reputation with them over time.

Restrictions: 650+ charisma.

[Charm] has been upgraded to [Irresistible].

Irresistible (Bonus Stat)

Bonus description: Your listeners hang on to your every word, and your audience follows your every gesture.

Bonus effects:

Dramatically increases favor with NPCs. Even monarchs defer to you;

Enemies are much less likely to attack unless provoked;

Vocal skills are greatly enhanced.

Restrictions: 700+ charisma.

Your strength is under 50.

You’ve lost [Healthy Bones].

Your wisdom is under 100.

You’ve lost [Strategic Thinking].

Your intelligence is under 50.

You’ve lost [Inner Calm].

Your dexterity is under 50.

You’ve lost [Fast Hands].

Your endurance is under 150.

[Horse’s Gallop] has been downgraded to [Cat’s Sprint].

[Stone Skin] has been downgraded to [Bark Skin].

The amount of notifications dizzied Roth. All of a sudden, he had 716 charisma. [Fox Form] coupled with the bonuses from the [Discoverer of Species], [First of a Kind], and his new title, had produced an overwhelming charisma stat. He hadn’t counted on having this much! Hopefully, that would power his skills more than enough to make this work.

Roth closed his eyes again. From now on, it was important to see what the other ants saw. He was met with the perfect illusion of an ant queen.

Screeching Terror!

Roth’s scream was so loud that even he was startled. The whole camera shook, and cracks spread on the walls and ceiling. His charisma had taken [Screeching Terror] to a whole other level.

After visiting the flock, Roth remembered that when he escorted them here, their mental connection suffered whenever the sheep panicked. That’s when Roth came up with his plan. Maybe, if he scared the ants enough, he could disrupt the caterpillar’s illusion and expose it as the colony’s enemy.

The best way to cause a fear debuff was [Screeching Terror]. Since he and the ants were allies, [Screeching Terror] would not affect them. But the caterpillar wasn’t his ally, and the fear debuff would target it. The only issue was that the caterpillar had an almost 20-level advantage over him. It was unlikely that the skill would cause a fear debuff strong enough to dispel the illusion.

Even if it didn’t work, though, he had a plan B. It would be a last resort, but he would risk it if it came down to it. As the otherworldly scream echoed in the chamber, the caterpillar’s illusion shimmered, revealing signs of breaking. Unfortunately, despite his overwhelming charisma, the illusion still held. Roth gulped. His best efforts hadn’t been enough.

-100 reputation with the blue caterpillars.

A sharp, chilling wind blew past him, and the voice of the Lord of the Woods addressed him urgently. There was no warmth in the Lord's voice. “What's the meaning of this, human? You're waking up all the babies! Why would you start screaming like that in the middle of our nursery?”

“Lord! Look! I found the enemy of the colony! It’s a blue caterpillar. It’s casting an illusion on you all. Look closely. This ant queen is no queen at all. It's eating all the food that should go to the babies. That’s why-”

“LIES! The human lies!” The caterpillar had recovered from the surprise attack.

Even though, in his mental perception, it appeared as an outraged queen, Roth opened his eyes and found the caterpillar shaking uncomfortably.

“Help! The human has attacked me! Help!”

The ants around Roth grew restless. Sensing the coming conflict, workers picked up the eggs and larvae and evacuated them. Soldiers entered the chambers and encircled Roth.

“Martyr, is it true that you attacked one of the queens?” The Lord sounded conflicted. “What's wrong with you? We thought you were our friend!”

Roth ground his teeth. “Lord, the caterpillar lies! Think about it. When have I ever harmed you? You asked me to locate the source of the blight killing your young. It's here. It's a predator. This caterpillar can cast an illusion so perfect that it can fool even you. Your workers think they’re feeding the colony's babies, but the caterpillar just hogs all the food and lets the babies starve.”

“He lies! He's after the queens. This is an attack on our sovereignty. He’s spitting on our kindness. Soldiers! Help! Soldiers!” Roth had to divide his attention between hearing the caterpillar’s accusations and making his case to the Lord, who was conflicted at the sudden turn of events. Roth had no doubt that they would have jumped on him already if it weren’t for his high charisma.

The Lord hadn’t issued an attack. Even the collective mind of hundreds of millions of ants wasn't enough to process the possibility that one of the queens was lying to the rest of the colony. Even the thought of the human lying to them was proving too much. It was supposedly impossible to lie telepathically. All of a sudden, the caterpillar went quiet.

Roth opened his eyes to find the reason for its sudden silence and found the caterpillar tense and shivering. It was under tremendous strain. What was it doing? He closed his eyes and looked in horror as he saw a doppelganger of him attacking the illusion of the queen. The caterpillar was making an illusionary movie to fit its narrative. 

You’ve lost 1000 reputation with the treeants.

You’re now disliked by the treeants.

The colony went berserk. Countless soldiers waiting for the order to attack rushed toward him. As he feared, they had chosen to believe in the phony queen instead of him. Just before the soldiers reached him, Roth used his life-saving skill.

Peace Decree!

As the black and white field spread out from his location, all the damage the soldiers’ powerful mandibles dealt was negated. The animation wasn’t anything spectacular compared to [Screeching Terror]. In the darkness around him, he could only see in black and white, anyway.

“Human, why are you doing this? We don't understand. The monarchs of the woods think so highly of you!”

Roth ignored the Lord’s whining. He had to buy some time until [Screeching Terror] came off cooldown. Roth stayed his ground under the pile of soldier ants swarming him. As soon as [Screeching Terror] reset, Roth took a deep breath and reached into his inventory. What he was about to do was incredibly risky.

He hadn't taken this out in the first place because of how strongly other NPCs reacted to it. Additionally, taking this out in a nursery filled with babies felt wrong, but he had no choice. Roth pulled the black egg from his inventory. The result was immediate.

As soon as he did, the gentle breeze that represented the thoughts of the Lord became a powerful whirlwind. As he closed his eyes and tried to see the colony through his telepathic perception, he saw how the usually organized synapses were now accompanied by little sparks, as if hinting at an overload. Even the caterpillar’s flawless illusion gave signs of wavering.

It was now or never. All he had to do was to push everyone over the edge. Holding the black egg high, he screamed with all his strength.

Screeching Terror!

The animation was the same as before, but the impact of the second [Screeching Terror] was abysmal. On the first try, only the caterpillar had been targeted by [Screeching Terror]. But once the treeants became Roth’s enemies, they were all affected by his skill. Before, he had struck only a nerve; now, he was messing with the whole brain.

All around Roth, there was a deafening mental explosion coming from the ant babies. They were all sobbing and crying, terrified. He had scared them for real. He felt awful for doing this to the poor children, but it was for their own good. If he didn’t do anything, this caterpillar would keep mooching off the colony, and they would go hungry and maybe die.

The fear spread from the babies to the workers and then from the workers to the soldiers. The perfect symphony of order was disrupted as each of them was sent running by the debuff. His plan had worked.

Adult treeant mental defenses were incredible. But it looked like the ant babies were comparatively vulnerable to [Screeching Terror]. They were the chink in the armor, through which fear spread to the whole colony.

Roth saw how the perfect illusion of a bright ant queen slowly melted, revealing the disgusting fat caterpillar, full of all the food that should have gone to the babies. The ants sensed the caterpillar’s presence, too. Roth quickly put the black egg away in his inventory and screamed as loud as he could with his mind.

“It's the caterpillar, just as I told you. It’s what has been killing the colony’s babies!” Even though the lord's collective consciousness had still not recovered, the treeants' instincts took over. All the soldiers rushed toward the caterpillar.

Sensing that its disguise had failed, the caterpillar tried to drag itself away toward the exit, but in the meantime, the duration of [Peace Decree] ended. Damage values started appearing as the ant soldiers attacked the caterpillar.

“Wait! Don’t kill it! All you have to do is trap it.” Even though Roth had wished to unmask the caterpillar, he didn’t want it to die. “Stop! Please!”

You feel compassion even for the most wicked enemy.

+20 righteousness.

More and more soldiers swarmed the caterpillar, and even its long hp bar couldn’t take the assault for long. Despite the caterpillar’s efforts to fight, it had no chance against the millions of ants geared in the finest chitin and mineral armor that the colony had to offer. In a matter of seconds, the caterpillar was torn to shreds. The caterpillar dissolved into motes of lights, and loot fell to the ground.

Ch. 156 - Mr. Shark

INDEX

Ch. 158 - Increased Discount