AleronKong

Chapter 3 Mafiaaaaa!!!!!!

Added 2017-07-10 01:35:00 +0000 UTC

I hear some people wanted to see the prompts from the last battle... that just might be Right HEA!!!!! lol

Enjoy my wonderful patrons :0)

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

CHAPTER 3 – Day 141 – Kuborn 31, 0 AoC

Richter left the village immediately, leading his small army through the forest and mist. They moved at a fast clip. His War Leader Badge, Movement Speed IV, provided a 40% boost to their travel as long as they remained in the trees. He was anxious to reconnect with the survivors of the goblin raid. The allied forces of the Mist Village and Hearth Tree had crushed their enemies entirely. Still, Richter wouldn’t feel comfortable until everyone was safely behind the village walls. The goblins might not be able to follow them into the mists, but dangerous monsters still prowled his domain.

Alma flew ahead with a message in her claws. The last thing he needed was to be attacked by his own forces. Richter had to imagine the nerves of both armies were frayed. If they saw another force speeding towards them they might panicked. He would not allow a simple mistake to result in further loss of life.

While they passed through the forest, Richter felt like something was off. It took a while, but he realized that it was the first time in a great while that he was in a combat situation without either Alma or the shale adder by his side. Caulder and Sion were both still with him, but the chaos seed had come to rely on his pet and familiar more than he had realized. It felt… strange to be without them. He pressed on.

It wasn’t long before he also wished there had been time to clean off the blood and gore. Even to him, he smelled like a day old slaughterhouse. Richter could only imagine how his aroma was offending other, but he wouldn’t relax until his people were safely home. Even though the sun was up, his domain was full of dangers. The chaos seed had considered jumping in the river. Then he’d figured the only thing worse than wearing armor covered in blood, was wearing wet armor, that was still mostly covered in blood.

He distracted himself from the stink and itch by addressing the prompts still waiting for him since the battle. As he read the first notifications, his eyes grew wide.

Congratulations! By slaying 100 goblins, you have advanced your Title to Goblin Slayer II.

+8% attack and defense bonus when fighting goblins.

Kill a total of 250 goblins to reach next level.

Goblins will feel that your aura is soaked with the blood of their brethren.

+5% chance for goblins to mistrust, dislike or attack you.

+5% chance to intimidate goblins.

Congratulations! By slaying 250 goblins, you have advanced your Title to Goblin Slayer III.

+15% attack and defense bonus when fighting goblins.

Kill a total of 500 goblins to reach next level.

Goblins can sense the hundreds of their kind you have slaughtered.

+10% chance for goblins to mistrust, dislike or attack you.

+10% chance to intimidate goblins.

Congratulations! By slaying 500 goblins, you have advanced your Title to Goblin Slayer IV.

+24% attack and defense bonus when fighting goblins.

Kill a total of 1000 goblins to reach next level.

Your soul has been bathed in the black blood of goblins. How could they not recognize a mass murderer of their kind.

+20% chance for goblins to mistrust, dislike or attack you.

+20% chance to intimidate goblins.

Congratulations! By slaying 1,000 goblins, you have advanced your Title to Goblin Slayer V.

+35% attack and defense bonus when fighting goblins.

Kill a total of 2500 goblins to reach next level.

Your name will be whispered in fear, loathing and respect by goblins. That one person could have butchered so many is something even a black hearted goblin could admire.

+30% chance for goblins to mistrust, dislike or attack you.

+30% chance to intimidate goblins.

Had he really killed so many? The chaos seed had to search feelings as he jogged through the trees. Richter had had no issues with taking lives during the last battle, but now, seeing it on the blood red prompt… The sheer number of lives he had taken was numbing.

The analytical part of him knew that he had only earned these titles because of the Bloodstone. While he had been possessed by the sentient item, the relic had harvested the blood of an entire army. Controlled or not, Richter couldn’t help but wonder exactly how many lives he had taken.

He didn’t have to wonder long. In response to his internal musings, another prompt appeared.

Slayer Count

Goblins: 1,134 killed. Title: Goblin Slayer V

Bugbears: 42 killed. Title: Bugbear Slayer I

Richter almost cursed. His time in The Land was even bloodier than he’d thought. He had forgotten about the bugbears! It was true that they had attacked his village, and they deserved exactly what they’d gotten. It was also true however, that more than half of bugbears he had killed had not been in battle. After the mists had returned, the invaders had been more or less helpless. The fighting had turned into a slaughter. Even once the bugbears had been in full retreat, that had not been enough. He, along with Yoshi, Sion and Daniella, had killed dozens more. When they had finally returned to the village, all four of them had been drenched in blood, and looked like monsters themselves. He looked down as his gore covered form. In fact, he’d looked exactly like this. Was this what he was? A “Slayer?”

The chaos seed kept looking at the prompt. It was only a three by three grid, but it said so much. It did not even include all of the enemies he had killed. The humans, undead, monsters and beasts he had destroyed apparently did not merit being counted on the list. Richter wondered what that said about The Land, if anything. He was fairly sure what it said about him, however. He was a killer.

Richter looked at his hands. They were dirty, but they weren’t stained black with the blood of his enemies like the prompt seemed to suggest. He had to hope that the prompt was just being poetic about his soul being “bathed in black blood.” A nagging part of himself said that was not something that could be taken for granted in The Land, though.

He paused for a moment, letting the warband catch its breath. Richter closed his eyes and visualized his magical field, his aura, as Hisako had taught him. It still looked the same to him. With his eyes closed however, memories of screaming, pleading and crying enemies were summoned to his mind. Many of the goblins had not died well, and his blades had cut through countless hands that had been outstretched in futile pleas for mercy.

Richter firmed his will. He opened his eyes and dismissed the prompts. After a few deep breaths, he started to feel better. He was able to force the images of battle to the back of his mind and examine them analytically. He didn’t take any real joy in the slaughter, but it also didn’t bother him overly much. What was done was done. He would kill again, and probably would before long. As he centered himself, he realized that was what was really bothering him. The fact that all the lives he had taken didn’t actually make him feel bad. His internal questions felt almost vestigial. They were remnants from his earlier life on Earth and didn’t serve a real purpose for who he was becoming. He had killed hundreds, literally hundreds, of sentient creatures. All he was really thinking though, was that the boost to his attack and defense would make it much easier for him to advance his Title to “Slayer VI.” A small part of him was screaming from the dark that it wasn’t okay for him to be so cold, so apathetic. But then, it was a very, very small part of him.

Richter decided to just move on. It was done. Guilt and self-doubt were only useful if you intended to let them change your behavior. Good or bad, right or wrong, he planned to protect his village. He would forge a kingdom that was a beacon of light in The Land. He pushed aside existential musing. There was work to be done.

The chaos seed got the war party moving again and started thinking about the practical implications of his new prompts. The increased likelihood to be mistrusted or attacked by goblins was somewhat problematic. On the other hand, it was a percentage boost. If he was able to form a positive relationship with a goblin, the base likelihood for being attacked would probably be quite low. Though with goblins he couldn’t be sure. Also, he had only met one goblin so far that hadn’t tried to kill him on sight so maybe it wasn’t a big deal. He also had a fairly high Charisma thanks to the pixies, so it might make up for it. All in all, the 35% bump to attack and defense against goblins was worth any drop in sex appeal as far as he was concerned. Richter had a feeling that he’d be putting his new slayer title to work all too soon.

The warband was moving through forest as quickly as possible. Caulder jogged along beside his liege, and he had kitted the guards for quick movement. Everyone was wearing leather armor. The metal had left their metal armor behind. The reason for that was not simply because the metal weighed more. The chainmail was considered medium armor while the leather was considered light. In addition to the extra energy it would take to move around in metal, the natural laws of The Land decreed that anyone wearing medium armor would have their speed decreased by 5% per piece. That meant that anyone wearing a full set of armor would be 30% slower than if they were completely unencumbered. Wearing the light armor only slowed them down by 3% per piece, even less if they had moved past novice rank in the Light Armor skill. It meant they were making good time, but of course the trade off was less defense. Richter just hoped they wouldn’t run into anything… big.

Even though they weren’t sprinting, they moving at a steady jog. Richter was impressed that his guards were able to keep up. The training they were doing with the sergeant each day was clearly starting to pay off. The chaos seed turned his attention back towards his prompts.

For slaying 432 Goblin Scouts, you have been awarded 864 War Points!

For slaying 372 Goblin Fighters, you have been awarded 1116 War Points!

For slaying 169 Goblin Grinders, you have been awarded 676 War Points!

For slaying 38 Professional Goblin Grinders, you have been awarded 760 War Points! (War Points multiplied by 5 for slaying a Professional)

For slaying 1 Specialist Goblin Grinder, you have been awarded 40 War Points! (War Points multiplied by 10 for slaying a Specialist)

For slaying 3 Specialist Goblin Rikkers, you have been awarded 150 War Points! (War Points multiplied by 10 for slaying a Specialist)

For slaying 11 Professional Goblin Ortai, you have been awarded 660 War Points! (War Points multiplied by 10 for slaying a Specialist)

Total War Points Gained: 3150

Richter’s mouth fell slightly open as he saw the War Points stack up. He was on cloud nine again! Any concerns he had about slaughtering his enemies faded away when compared to the sweet point spendage he was about to do. That feeling lasted right up until he read his next prompt. Scheisse!

Know This! As a Battle Sergeant serving beneath a Battle Leader, you are only entitled to keep 50% of the total War Points earned. Total War Points Gained (Adjusted): 1,575

Know This! At your initiate rank in War Leader, War Points gained in a given engagement is capped at 1,000. Total War Points Gained (Adjusted): 1,000

Total War Points: 1001

The cap was a pain, but he still had another thousand to spend. Definitely nothing to sneeze at. Richter planned to put them to good use soon, but for now, there were still prompts to deal with.

Congratulations! For killing 1023 enemies that were a lower level than you in a single battle, your Promotion: Weakness Equals Death I has advanced to Weakness Equals Death V. Champions in your War Party have +25% attack and defense vs lower level opponents.

Congratulations! For butchering 128 enemy noncombatants in a single battle, your Promotion: Slaughter the Innocent I has advanced to Slaughter the Innocent II. Killing noncombatants will increase the Fighting Spirit of your War Party for one hour. +10 Fighting Spirit for each life claimed.

Bile rose in Richter’s throat. Noncombatants? He remembered from history class that every army had support staff. Before that moment though, it hadn’t occurred to him that the Bloodstone’s spell had harvested goblins that weren’t even fighters or casters. Despite his earlier resolve, this did bother him a bit. He spat to the side in an attempt to remove the taste from his mouth. Unconsciously, the chaos seed’s speed picked up as if he could outrun the past. Caulder asked if anything was amiss, but the Richter just motioned curtly with one hand for the rest of the warband to keep up.

The next series of prompts dealt with field promotions. Since he had gotten to the rank of initiate in his War Leader skill, those serving beneath him could earn perks if they distinguished themselves in battle. It was limited unfortunately by the fact that Richter’s war party could only include eleven people, not counting his Companions. It was nothing compared to the thousand people Yoshi could lead as a journeyman war leader, but every little bit helped.

In the last phase of the battle, while the rest of his army was fighting off goblins, trolls, and two gigantic monsters, Richter had formed his war party. It had included Terrod, Sion, Caulder and nine other allied soldiers. Four of them had died, something else that hung heavily upon him. He was pleased and surprised, though, that the remain six had earned field advancements. Rushing through the forest, he couldn’t administer the advancements, but he had already thought of a good moment to do so in the future.

His next prompts showed that there were clear benefits to butchering hundreds of people. The Land did not judge apparently.

Know This! In this new Age of Chaos, all beings of Chaos will be awarded Chaos Points as they level commensurate to their alignment.

A cascade of prompts appeared before him showing his leveling from the last battle. Even to Richter, it looked jumbled. To his surprise, right after he had that thought, the information realigned into table format. Why didn’t I do this before, he bemoaned. The sadness only lasted for a split second though. He had more points to spend!

TRING! TRING! TRING!

You have reached levels 33, 34 and 35! Through hard work you have moved forward along your path. As a Chaos Seed you gain 6 Stat Points to distribute to characteristics instead of the usual 4. You also receive 15 Talent Points instead of the usual 10. You receive an additional 15 Talent Points from your Profession and Specialty for having a 100% affinity in Enchanting. You also get 25% advancement to the skill of your choice. You now receive Chaos Points commensurate to your Chaotic Alignment. You receive 8 Chaos Points due to your blessings by the Lords of Chaos. Crush your enemies, honor your allies, LIVE!

You have 18 Unused Characteristic Points, 75% of Unused Skill Growth to allocate. Now that you have progressed again, you must allocate your points within the next week or they will randomly be assigned for you.

Talent Points Remaining: 151 Talent Points.

Chaos Points Remaining: 122.

Crush your enemies, honor your allies, LIVE!

Now that you have progressed again, you must allocate your Stat and Skill Percentage points within the next week or they will randomly be assigned for you.

Seeing the advancements in his level brought a small smile to his face. It was also satisfying to know that he was earning Chaos points. Whatever the hell those were. And just who were the Lords of Chaos and what “blessing” had they bestowed. Were they gods? He had ended the previous age that was called the “Epoch of Banished Gods,” after all.

Richter shook his head. Leveling was wonderful, but it was more than slightly irritating to once again be confronted with something new. The Land seemed determined to throw his ignorance in his face. What the hell was he supposed to do with Chaos points? A slight, ever so small, facet of himself rejoiced in the increase of his level. He dismissed that thought a second later as he remembered what he had done to earn the boost. The fact that he forgot so easily, even for a moment, disturbed him most of all. Scowling now, he focused on what to do with his points. Anything to shut up the small voice inside of him.

As he and his guards continued to run, Richter brought up his status page.

Name: Richter
Age: 24
Level: 35, 28%
Health: 664    Mana: 504        Stamina: 350
Strength: 33 (base: 25 +   items: 8)
Agility: 32
Dexterity: 38 (base: 23 +   items: 15)
Constitution: 56
Endurance: 35
Intelligence: 46
Wisdom: 45
Charisma: 34
Luck: 22
Abilities:
              Limitless
              Gift of   Tongues
              Fast   Learner
              Bounty of   Life
              Psi Bond
Qualities:
Resolute
              Honorable   II
              Implacable
Skills:
...
  Marks:
              Master of   the Mist Village
              Blood Oath   of Vengeance
              Forge of   Heavens
              Dragonkin
              Adventurer
Blood and Chaos
Resistances:
              Air 50%
              Earth 25%
              Fire 10%
              Life 50%
              Mental 65%
              Spiritual   5%
              Blood 5%
Race: Human (Chaos Seed)
Reputation: Lvl 5 “You are a man worth following.”
Alignment: Chaotic (2) Neutral
Languages: All

Before he even thought about anything else, Richter dumped his 75% skill bonus into Enchanting. It wasn’t enough to get him to a new skill level, but it got him most of the way there. He also put three of his Characteristic points into Luck. It might just be a strange quirk, but he believed in good fortune. Always had.

That still left the question of what to do with his remaining fifteen points. Strength was an option, but as short blades were his weapon of choice, speed and precision mattered just as much in regards to his combat damage. The points were probably better used elsewhere. Agility and Dexterity were both tempting, but the chaos seed wanted something that translated into better secondary stats, health, mana and stamina. That left Constitution, Endurance and Intelligence.

More health was always a good thing, but he was already fairly high with six hundred and sixty points. He also had several rings that augmented that. Endurance, on the other hand, was something he was lacking in. During the battle, he had burned through stamina at a prodigious rate. Time and again his green bar had come close to bottoming out. Richter had learned that when his stamina ran dry, his reaction time turned to garbage. He didn’t completely lose consciousness every time, but even with his high level, he became easy pickings for any enemy with hard on and a need to use it.

It wasn’t an insurmountable problem, though. Having a bag full of stamina potions had been a good work around for that. As long as the Dragon’s Cauldron could keep him supplied, it wasn’t a huge issue yet. What he really needed was the ability to cast more spells in the heat of battle. Of course, the easiest fix for that was…

Richter nodded to himself as he ran. If his Intelligence was a cock meat sandwich, he was bout to add some bacon! He placed all fifteen points into that stat and the hue of his mana bar shifted to a deeper blue. The warband kept running.

His next prompts dealt with his skills.

Congratulations! You have reached skill level 13, 14 and 15 in Analyze! For reaching level 15, you have unlocked a new facet of your skill. In addition to the information you already received you will also be provided with a list of the target’s skills! This will also show you the special abilities of nonsentient creatures!

Hell yeah! Fighting new monsters was always potentially deadly. Even a small creature could have some insane capability that could knock you on your ass. If he could know what monsters would do before engaging it would be clutch! The slow leveling of his Analyze skill was one of the main downsides of living in the sticks. He didn’t get any skill progress for analyzing the same person over and over. If he was in a major city, it would probably already be skill level thirty or forty. Still, he was happy he’d finally unlocked a new facet of the skill! Richter dismissed the prompt and went on to the next.

Congratulations! You have reached skill level 23, 24 and 25 in Traps. All traps +50% more effective. +50% less likely to be found.

Congratulations! You have advanced from Initiate to Apprentice in: Traps. Your skill in this field has advanced to the point that you can now store known spells to your traps. Use this new rank bonus with caution. The materials of your trap must be up to the task of containing the magical energy you expend.

Richter’s eyes widened. What? He could make magical traps now? The possibilities seemed endless. He could tie a sleep spell to a dart trap. Or better yet a fireball! The only problem he had was that he barely had any traps left. In fact, he only had one, the shrink trap. He had to hope that someone in his village had the expertise to build more. Still, the fact that he could tie his magic into traps now was very interesting…

More notifications awaited.

Congratulations! You have reached skill level 13 in Small Blades. +26% attack speed while using small blades. +26% bonus to damage while using small blades.

Congratulations! You have reached skill level 10 in Dual Wield. Base accuracy penalty in primary hand reduced to 15% and in offhand by 40%. Dual attack speed increased by 10%.

Congratulations! You have advanced from Novice to Initiate in: Dual Wield. You may now use a normal sized weapon in conjunction with a small blade without any extra penalty.

You have received 2,500 (base 2,000 x 1.25) bonus experience for reaching level 10 in the skill: Dual Wield.

The progression in dual wield was welcome as well. He had gotten used to fighting with two weapons at once, but he still felt off balance as he fought. His initiate rank in Small Blades helped by decreasing the penalty in both hands by 5%, but he had still completely whiffed some of his swings during the last battle. The goblins had been so closely packed that he had still struck home most of the time, but time and again his blades struck armor instead of the gaps that would have let him strike vital areas instead. He would actually probably be deadlier with only one weapon and increased accuracy, but once he leveled Dual Wield up, the extra combat speed would make him a real beast. He was planning for the future, and hoping he didn’t get his ass kicked too bad in the now. Which pretty much summed up both his gaming style and general approach to life.

Besides, compared to most of the opponent’s he faced, his gear was top notch and his stats were strong. His accuracy penalty didn’t matter too much when he was wielding an elementum blade against fur wearing goblin scouts. Richter made sure not to lose sight of the fact that there were incredibly powerful foes waiting out there for him though. He had accomplished amazing things, but much of his success was because he’d been smart enough and lucky enough to cultivate strong friends and allies. It hadn’t been Richter of the Mist Village that killed the goblin commander after. It had been Yoshi of the Hearth Tree.

He went back to his prompts. He’d advanced in even more skills. Whatever else could be said about the battle, it had advanced him on all fronts.

Congratulations! You have reached skill level 16 in Light Armor. +32% to defense of all light armor.

Congratulations! You have reached subskill level 14 in Grace in Combat. Dodge increased by 28% while wearing all Light Armor.

Congratulations! You have reached skill level 11 and 12 in Dual Casting. Chance of spell miscast decreased by increasing this skill. This number is affected directly by spell level and caster’s proficiency in that branch of magic. Specific changes:

Spell Power by 4% per level: +148%

Mana Cost decreases by 2% per level from base +300%: +276%

Congratulations! You have reached skill level 5, 6, 7 and 8 in Beast Bonding. +8% effectiveness to Tame. +8% attack and defense of bonded creatures.

Congratulations! You have reached skill level 15 in Air Magic. New spells are now available.

Congratulations! You have reached skill level 11 in Life Magic. New spells are now available.

Congratulations! You have reached skill level 11 in Earth Magic. New spells are now available.

Congratulations! You have reached skill levels 12, 13, 14, and 15 in War Leader. Sphere of Influence +15% larger. +15% attack and defense for all allies within your Sphere of Influence.

Congratulations! You have reached subskill levels 10 and 11 in Beacon. +110 to the Fighting Spirit of war party.

Congratulations! You have advanced from Novice to Initiate in: Beacon. Killing an enemy Champion will now give +2 Strength to everyone in your War Party for one hour.

You have received 1,250 (base 1,000 x 1.25) bonus experience for reaching level 10 in the subskill: Beacon.

Congratulations! You have reached subskill levels 5, 6, 7 and 8 in Inspiring Leadership! +40% to chance of war party members earning Field Advancements. +8% to the power of Field Advancements of any party members under your command or the command of your subordinates.

One final prompt awaited him. Something that had taken entirely too long.

Congratulations! You have completed a Quest: Protect the Forest I. Bugbears and goblins have been invading the Forest of Nadria and disrupting the balance of the Forest. You have struck a massive blow against the goblin invaders, but have also revealed that the forces arrayed against you are more powerful than anyone imagined. The battle has been won, but the war is far from over. Grow your strength young Master, your life will depend upon it. See the Hearth Mother for your reward.

Know This! You have failed the optional condition of the Quest: Protect the Forest I. You have not discovered why the invaders are coming into the forest. As the Quest is much larger than even Hisako intended, she may give you an extension to this condition if you speak with her.

Richter closed the last prompt. Months, that felt like years, had passed since he had obtained the quest. He had not even unlocked his second power when the Hearth Mother had charged him with destroying an enemy camp. It seemed like forever ago that Sion had given him a cocky grin and said, “This is what we do brother.” Richter thought back to his best friend’s prophetic words. The sprite had been right. Death and warfare was what they did, but it came at a cost. The losses his people had suffered weighed heavily on the chaos seed.

He pushed off such dark thoughts. Turning his head, he stole a glance at his men. More than a few were red faced and sweating buckets, but not one of them asked to stop. If his soldiers could push themselves without complaint, then he sure as hell could as well! If the price to protect his people was an ocean of blood, then he would pay it gladly.

Richter realized that over the past hour he had increased the speed of the warband from a jog to a run as he dealt with his own inner turmoil. Well he was done with all that. At least for now. The chaos seed raised a hand and called a halt. His soldiers slowed down and then came to a grateful stop. One or two looked longingly at the ground, just wanting to lay down, but Caulder was the perfect sergeant. He walked around, speaking to his soldiers in his barking voice. He handed out claps on the back and kicks in the ass with equal measure, giving each man and woman exactly what they needed to stay strong and alert. While his warband recovered their stamina, the chaos seed looked off through the mist and wondered what waited for him.

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

I hope ya’ll enjoyed Chapter 3!

I wanted Book 7 out at the end of the month, but life and work intervened.

I'm happy to tell you Book 7 will be my LONGEST book by a good margin :)

Though, as usual, I hope you love it so much that it FEELS crazy short lol

That's relativity folks!

I'm hoping and praying to have it out by the end of the month

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

Stuff you might want to know, I'm doing a SMITE, Paladins, Clash of Clans and League of Legends giveaway this month.

If you're interested you can find it here

https://www.litrpg.com/litrpg-contest/

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

Last but not least, I'm doing another contest on Goodreads (DIFFERENT than the one at the end of Chapter 2 lol)