《Transmigrated by Accident》 -2 Prologue In a common high school in the US, Eldrid entered as a freshmen, hoping to start off the first year of high school well. He was dressed in black shorts and an orange T-shirt, as he entered he bumped into a student of the same height, with an adolescent face with red hair, and blue eyes. "Sorry." Eldrid said. "No biggie." Replied the stranger. The bell rang and both proceeded to go to the school orientation. Eldrid zoned out. It''s a school orientation, it''s boring as hell. After the orientation, all students shambled to their first period classes. ***First period class*** After arriving the students noticed a seating chart and proceeded to find their seats. As Eldrid took his seat, he noticed that the kid he had bumped into was right next to him. "Hi, I''m Eldrid, what''s your name?" Eldrid said full of freshmen enthusiasm. "Adrian." "Hey mind if we compare schedules?" Adrian proceeds to hand Eldrid his schedule sheet. After seeing the sheet, his face is full of surprise. "You have the exact same schedule as me!" Adrian stares at him in surprise. ---3 months later--- ***Fencing club meeting*** Two figures were embroiled in an intense fight in the middle of a crowd of people; each person decked out in well worn fencing gear. The two in the center were going back-and-forth. Eldrid was parrying each strike from the fighter on the right. Suddenly, Eldrid made a lunge, striking the figure on the right. "Point! 1-2." The two figures began to fight again. Eldrid was forced into defending himself from an onslaught of jabs and lunges. He parried each strike at the last second. The fighter on the right suddenly stopped, causing Eldrid to expose an opening. The fighter on the right lunged into the opening. "Point! Adrian wins!" "HAHA! Eldrid you need to work on your offense." "Adrian, I''ve told you I''d rather be learning how to use a broadsword or bastard sword. I''m more apt at slashing than stabbing." "Any excuse am I right?" "Yeah yeah. Keep telling yourself that Adrian." "Sucks that Devan couldn''t make it. You''re still making excuses." "I wish Devan was here too, I wonder what kept him from coming. Anyways I would kick your ass with a normal sword." The two continued to argue while taking off their gear, both unable to continue as their gear had been soaked through with sweat. ---2 years later--- Three figures were gathered around a graphed white board. The sound of dice rolling on a hardwood table was heard as they moved their paper figures. Two of the figures were laid on their sides, representing the fact they were dead. The man behind the game master''s cover moved the giant figure of a tarrasque. The other two figures were on each side of the tarrasque. "Roll a dexterity check" -DM "19" -Eldrid "17" -Adrian "You both managed to dodge the tarrasque''s attack. What will you do now?" -DM "I attack, the same as before." -Eldrid "You have 2 more turns for Unstoppable Blade, and you want to use 2 lightning type Elemental Sword to raise your accuracy, 3 ice type Elemental Sword to lower it''s Armor Class, 2 fire type Elemental Sword for extra 2 damage, since you''re using your 7 sword style correct?" -DM "Yes." -Eldrid "Roll to see if you hit." -DM "18, 19, 19, 10, 15, 16, 7, plus proficiency." "Since you''ve severely slowed it down, and damaged its hide, all of them hit, hmm... just roll one dice for damage this time to make it faster." -DM "20." -Eldrid "You have successfully killed the tarrasque. We''ll continue next week, I still have homework to do. See ya next week guys" -DM Adrian and Eldrid said goodbye to their friend as they left. ***Local park*** "I told you the blade-master was strong! The attacks are even enough to take down a tarrasque!" "Dude, if I had luckier rolls than you tonight, I would have done all the damage." "Maybe. Usually you have better rolls than me. It''s like I stole your luck tonight." "You wish." At this comment Eldrid sighed, as Adrian usually had amazing luck. Adrian had the hottest girl in school crush on him, though he doesn''t even know. Also, even if he didn''t know the answer to a test question, he''d usually guess right. "You''re right. I wish I had your luck. You always have things so easy. It''s like you struck the jackpot of the lottery of life." As Adrian and Eldrid were talking, a dog started running towards them. Its mouth foamed as it barred its teeth. As the dog was about to bite Eldrid, Adrian threw himself in front of the dog. He managed to punch the dog and stop it from biting Eldrid. However, the dog managed to scratch his face. It left a glaring gash from the middle of Adrian''s forehead down to the middle of his cheek, blinding him in his right eye. "ADRIAN!!!" As Adrian fell, Eldrid froze. His mind raced as the adrenaline started pumping. Eldrid lunged at Adrian, catching him. The dog charged towards him. His mind in overdrive, Eldrid managed to kick it square in the jaw. Then he sprinted towards his house. Eldrid burst through the door, running toward the living room. He laid Adrian on the couch. Then he ran into the bathroom to grab a towel. Upon returning to the living room, he took the towel and pressed it against Adrian''s wound. While he did this, he screamed "Hey Google. Call 911!!!". He spent several minutes listening to the beating drum of his own heart as it thundered in his ears. Then he heard the wailing sounds of sirens resounding throughout the neighborhood. When the paramedics arrived, they found two teenagers. One in shock. The other had a gash stretching from the middle of his forehead all the way down to the middle of his cheek. The paramedics tried to treat each of them for their respective ailments before arriving at the emergency room. While all this was going on, the last 2 years flashed before Eldrid''s eyes. The first day of school. Their first day of fencing club. The first time they played D&D with a group of acquaintances. When they got jobs to buy blacksmithing equipment Their first attempt at forging a sword. Reading books on Webnovel together. Arguing over whether one true love is better or harems. He recalled countless memories of both good and bad. As he woke up from his state of shock, he realized he was in a hospital room, next to his friend Adrian. His friend was still in bad shape, but his wound had been cleaned up. Upon realizing his friend was safe, he began looking around. They were in a plain hospital room, with a window overlooking the local lake. The room was pretty modern. The sounds of machines beeping and droning calmed him. A few minutes later, a nurse entered. Upon noticing Eldrid looking around, she exclaimed, "Oh, you''re finally out of that daze. Let me get the doctor for you." A few minutes later, the nurse walked in followed by a female doctor, both of which looked around 30. They were both tall for women but shorter than Eldrid and Adrian. The doctor had tan skin and a figure that would put models to shame. The nurse had less lustrous curves, but her chest made Mt. Everest look like a hill. ''Good grief. Even his luck extends to getting a hot doctor and nurse'' Eldrid thought. "What happened for both of you to end up like this?" the doctor inquired. Eldrid explained, while trying to keep his focus on her face. "We were walking home when a rabid dog attacked us out of nowhere. The dog tried to bite me, but Adrian saved me. I carried him to his home and tried to stop the bleeding. Then I called 911 and waited for the ambulance to arrive." "Quite an adventure you had. I hate to have to tell you this, but your friend will never be able to use his right eye again. We could try to take it out and replace it with a glass eye, but the damage done is so severe, the process could be life threatening." ---1 year later--- "Hmm... I need someone to take care of my unfinished business when I ascend.'' -1 Authors pledge I EldridSmith, here do by swear to never go premium, and follow this novel through to completion(1). 1 Summoned Author''s pledge has been moved to auxiliary along with Eldrid and Adrian''s backstory. ----------------------- The Immortal lord Malthael, Lord of Golkindarr, grew tired of mortal affairs and sought out an heir to take care of all his unfinished business from all of his realms. He saw a promising choice on the lowest mortal plane, on the least advanced of his territories, The Laniakea Universe, in the smallest galaxy, the milky way, on the least advanced planet, Earth. His name was Adrian Ardvel. He was 6''0" tall, slightly tan with an athletic build, his eyes a shade of deep blue, his hair a light red, and his face like a Greek sculpture. He would have qualified to be a supermodel if he didn''t have one glaring flaw, a scar running down over his right eye, leaving him with only one good eye. An ancient and powerful bloodline could be sensed from him, though none of the mortals could feel it, else they would run in terror. While Malthael was summoning him, his friend, Eldrid Sverd noticed him across the street and ran over to greet him. Eldrid wasn''t too handsome. He was the same height as Adrian, had a stocky build, his face was more rounded than Adrian''s as he was slightly overweight. He had a friendly aura around him, making him be the first person to be friend zoned by all the girls in school. His eyes and hair were golden brown, his skin was slightly tan, his face had traces of his Cherokee ancestry, but not too noticeable. Right as Eldrid reached Adrian, the portal opened to Golkindarr. In the great hall of Malthael, both Eldrid and Adrian appeared. Both of them were shocked by not being where they were a second ago, Eldrid thought they were on some prank show for a second but discarded the thought as it was way too elaborate. Both Eldrid and Adrian suddenly thought, this is extremely similar to those stories I read online. As the duo began looking around to figure what was going on, the grandeur of the great hall stunned them. Gemstones of all colors inlaid in the ceiling, creating images impressive feats and stories. The walls were made of some azure gold material, the pillars wrought from an unknown azure purple material, the floor hewn of a purple gold stone like material. The hall transcended human understanding as there appeared to be entire universes in the tapestries. As the two were trying to take in all the sights of the hall an indescribable sound brought them out of their trance. They looked behind them to see a throne of colors. The colors were presumably composed of their own distinct elements, the sea of colors was blinding to the two of them. The figure on the throne rose, as he did, the swords all began to revolve around his right palm, and shrink while doing so, until they disappeared. His figure was incorporeal, only a silhouette of a man was before them. "It appears I have gotten rusty in my space manipulation, as only one of you was supposed to arrive." He turned to Adrian. "You boy, what is your name?" "Adrian, sir." "Adrian, you will be my heir, I will give you power if you take care of my unfinished business when I ascend, I am almost out of time to do so, hence I am unable to take care of my own affairs. Do you accept?" "What of my family sir?" "They will be fine, however you will have to bring them here on your own power." This caused Adrian to pause and think for a while before responding. "May I know the name of my benefactor?" "I am Malthael, lord of the Or-Furor cosmo." Malthael then turns to Eldrid "You boy, what is your name?" "Eldrid Sverd, sir!" "Eldrid? Fiery-spirited sword in... Norse was it? A good name! Now tell me, as I have accidentally summoned you, do you desire to go back to your world?" "No!" "Oh? why not?" "I have nothing there, other than my parents, considering how powerful you are, you probably wiped our existences off of the face of the earth. Seeing as I can experience the adventures in a world like the stories of old, I would much rather do that!" "So you chose the life of hardship and adventure over peace and comfort?" "Yes, there are too many things to do and not enough time in a mortals life, seeing as that can be changed, why not experience all there is to offer?" "You are amusing mortal, seeing as it is my mistake I shall grant you a wish." "My request is that my parents live out the rest of their lives peacefully and happily!" "Your filial piety impresses me, you thought of them before yourself, this shall be granted without using your request." "May I first know the paths to power, and the world I will live in?" "Smart boy, fair enough. This world is the Center of this cosmo, this is not a normal planet, it has the purest mana in the cosmo, due to it being the very center of the cosmos. We are at the core of the world, far underground. You will be sent to a remote location on the surface. There are many species of your ''fantasy'' stories that exist commonly in this realm. Every person in the realm has a chance to summon a spirit from the spirit realm on their 18th birthday. These spirits range from weapons to beasts to water itself. You temper your spirit and body to advance in cultivation. There are four main types of spirits: Weapons, Beasts, mage spirits, and body spirits. Weapon spirits: They peruse the perfection in their martial art to gain power, however they are usually unable to fight at long range, save a few exceptions. Beasts: You summon a spirit which does your bidding, the variety of the ability of these spirits varies greatly. Mage spirits: Spirits that allow you to manipulate the element they have power over, they have long range capabilities, but are usually severely lacking in body strength and close range defense. Body spirits: Spirits who enhance a specific part of the body or all of the body during combat. There is a fifth type which is uncommon, but not unheard of. Hybrid: A mix of any 2 or more spirit types above. However all draw upon mana to cultivate their spirits. The spirit you awaken depends upon your bodily aptitude, soul aptitude, mana aptitude, and bloodline. Have no fear about your aptitudes, I shall reform your body and soul with perfect aptitude in all paths, however I cannot give you a powerful bloodline. Since you will have perfect aptitude for all paths, you will comprehend something heaven defying, so fear not. So boy, what do you wish for?" At this, Eldrid paused and thought about for a while. "I wish for a system to help me gain power, resources, assist with my other miscellaneous needs." "Hmm. An interesting request, there just so happens to be an artifact in my possession that fills the requirements mentioned, it was originally meant for Adrian, however I can find one again if need be. I will rebuild your body and soul, your mortal self will have great troubles trying to withstand the sheer level of pain that comes with this process. Adrian prepare yourself as well, yours will last longer and be less painful however, as I sense your friends day of awakening is drawing near." As Malthael said this, both of them passed out. 2 Waking up Adrian woke up and looked around. He was in a large bedroom, which was lavishly decorated. A few seconds passed, when he realized he could see from his right eye again. Upon this realization, he scrambled to look at himself in the mirror. His face was the same, except his eye was healed. He was also glad the scar remained, as in the past year it had become a part of him. When he stayed in the hospital, his pride surfaced and he treated it like a trophy of valor, this caused him to reject any treatment that would cause the scar to be removed. "You have a great attachment to that scar my successor." Adrian was startled and turned around to find his new master standing behind him, his figure was no longer a hazy apparition. He was 6''5", wearing violet robes, laced with golden patterns, and at his side was a plain sword. His face was handsome and smooth, featuring violet hair, and azure eyes. "Oh, it''s you. How long was I out?" "Three months, your body had just finished transforming an hour ago, a servant brought you here. How does your new body feel?" "Great, how''s Eldrid?" "Eldrid has long since left. Let''s get you ready for dinner though, first of all get some clothes on." Adrian''s face flushed bright red, he had been too engrossed in his scar to notice that he was only wearing underwear. ---2 months earlier--- Eldrid woke up to a grumbling stomach, a cold sensation, and a smell that could kill. He was sitting in a pool of black liquid, which barely came up to his stomach, the smell was radiating from the liquid he was in. The smell was so bad, he passed out. ---1 hour later--- Eldrid was roused by the smell of food, he felt cold and realized he wasn''t wearing any clothes. He also realized he didn''t smell that awful smell and was laying on a soft bed in a rather lavishly decorated room. He walked up to the dresser and of the large amount of clothes of all colors he chose black pants and an orange shirt, while he was putting his clothes on he realized he was no longer fat, once he had finished he walked to the mirror. His body was still stocky, however there wasn''t even an ounce of extra body fat on him. Upon seeing this a smile crept over his face, he hated being fat, but was too lazy to actually exercise other than fencing. While he was thinking about everything that had happened a servant entered. "Guest, please follow me." As they walked out the door Eldrid noticed he was in the middle of a giant courtyard. The courtyard had luxurious ponds filled with many strange and beautiful fish, trees that looked like something straight out of myth and legend. Birds'' whose descriptions matched those from cultivation stories back on earth were perched on the trees. The most eye catching was a tree that looked as if it was made entirely of fire, and what he could only assume were phoenix''s were perched on its branches. After a minute of walking, they reached an archway. "Please step through the gate, it will take you straight to the master''s study," Upon stepping through he arrived right in the middle of a traditional study. "Welcome my boy, we have much to discuss." "How''s Adrian?" "He''s still having his body and soul being rebuilt, however he also has to have his bloodline purified." "He has a bloodline?!" "Yes, some ancient existences that dwelt in your realm many millennia ago must have sired his ancestors." "There were the supposed Greek and roman gods, the Norse gods, many many gods." "Many are still alive, though something happened in your world ages ago that I am forbidden to speak of by those ascendant powers." Malthael said with a frown. "What''s going to happen now?" "You will awaken here, as there are several factors that play in a person''s awakening. First is the person''s aptitudes, second is the quality of the awakening alter, third is a person''s will and desire, fourth is fate, and the final one is if one has an inheritance left to them or not. The first has been made perfect, the second is also perfect, the third depends on you, and the fourth is beyond my powers, and you don''t have an inheritance, and I doubt you would desire one, as your path would be set and unchangeable." "Sir, does that mean you are going to have Adrian take on your inheritance?" "Goodness no! I chose him because of his bloodline, it''s the strongest bloodline I have ever encountered, it would be a waste making him manage the realm." "Sir, What''s today''s date?" "You will awaken tomorrow, I can sense it." 3 Spirit Summoning Ceremony The day of Eldrid''s spirit summoning, he woke up early and got dressed in his typical orange and black, and went outside. Malthael was standing before him, but not the silhouette, he was 6''5", wearing violet robes, laced with golden patterns. At his side was a plain warhammer. His face was handsome, with a red tattoo running from under his hair, down past his eye, featuring violet hair and beard, and azure eyes. "Follow me." Eldrid followed behind Malthael through countless gardens with many exotic plants and animals. After walking through several gardens, they arrived at a large black and white shrine which was surround by 100 semi-transparent crystal obelisks. On the inside lining the black walls were countless white runes and symbols each shimmering. In the center of the room was an alter, it had every color imaginable on it, the altar''s shape was amorphous and ever changing, though each shape it formed was far too profound for Eldrid to understand, however at the center a core could be seen. "Step up to the altar and place your hand onto it''s core." Eldrid reached through the ever changing form of the altar around the core, it felt like he was reaching through a thick, silky, jello. Once his hand reached the core he felt that it was sucked into something, and his whole body seemed to follow. He found himself staring into a darkness, while standing on gray ground, the whole world seemed void of life. He looked at his hands, only to realize his body wasn''t there. He assumed that this was just his "consciousness" based off of the books he read back on earth. He tried moving, and was able to do so with great difficulty. After much experimentation with his form, he realized the easiest way to move around was to send tendrils of his consciousness to search around. He suddenly felt like things around him were being drawn to him, he finally saw a trace of life, and it was a mosquito, a mighty mosquito with countless colors inside it. ''There''s no way I''m accepting a d**n bug as my spirit!'' After his rejection of the bug, it disappeared, and he felt his consciousness drifting back towards the altar. ''I WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS!!! I WILL MASTER ALL THE ELEMENTS I READ ABOUT AND WIELD A BADASS SWORD!!!'' His will tore the veil of darkness, revealing countless spirits, and he saw the one he desired. A king was standing among all of them. His consciousness reached out and grabbed the hilt of the sword, which tried to resist. ''YOU WILL BE MINE!!!'' Through the sheer power of his will, he finally accepted by the sword after wrestling with it for what felt like millennia. With this his consciousness returned to the physical world. "What did you get boy?" Eldrid summoned his spirit, the majestic form appeared as a 4'' hand and a half sword appeared in his hand, it had a crystalline near-transparent blade and guard, the edge was clear but shimmering colors of every kind could be seen on it, a silver handle, and a clear crystal pommel in the shape of a crown. The sword had the aura of an arrogant overlord, looking down on all other swords. The elements around seemed to submit to the sword, solidifying around it to form a sheath. This caused Malthael to be stunned, as he recognized this sword, in fact every person who knew of sword spirits knew this spirit had NEVER acknowledged someone as it''s master. Only those who reached the ascendant realm of cultivation could gain a second spirit, and tear through the veil. Many sought after this sword, none succeeded. "Boy, tell me everything that just happened." Malthael said with a solemn tone. Eldrid explained the whole process of him rejecting his original spirit, which caused Malthael to think he was insane, until he realized that the boy had no knowledge about spirits, and that rejecting the original spirit spelled for a crippled cultivation in most cases. Eldrid noticed Malthael''s incredulous expression, but still continued on about how he tore the veil of darkness and wrestled with the sword for what felt like an eternity. "Boy, you have no idea how you completely defied common sense." "Thank you!" "THAT''S NOT A COMPLIMENT BOY!!!" Eldrid was confused at what part of common sense he defied. "Rejecting your spirit usually cripples your due to the stress on a person''s will and soul. The fact you felt nothing when you rejected your original spirit is a rare case on its own. The second thing is the sword you fought with has been sought after by many people far more powerful than you or I, none of them succeeded. This sword only have a few rivals among the spirits, they have never chosen anyone to wield them. They are called the council of hybrid kings, they all consist of weapons, except the spirit beast king. They all are a fusion of weapon spirits, mage spirits, and body spirits (Except the spirit beast king). Your spirit is considered the strongest among them." Eldrid was stunned by this revelation. "So I have the strongest spirit?" "In this realm, yes you do boy. However don''t become arrogant from this, there are many who could kill you. Boy, enough boy this for now, here''s the artifact, bind it by blood to make it your System." In his hand appeared what looked like a clear rubik''s cube, but the corner pieces were replaced with symmetrical octagonal crystals, which ended in a conical and helical shell shaped points. Eldrid took the unexpectedly light artifact in hand, and used one of it''s sharp points to draw blood from his hand. The point of the artifact drew in his blood, and within seconds the whole artifact was blood red. The artifact then began to turn into a liquid, which seeped into his skin and he felt his soul trembled as the artifact fused itself to it. 4 System and Cultivation [Welcome to the system, please name your personal assistant] ''Dave'' [Select a personality] ''Something interesting.'' [Severe mood swings selected.] ''What have I done?!'' A few seconds after Eldrid''s mental ranting ended the assistant started talking. [Hello master! Welcome to the system network! Do you want me to tell you the first realm of cultivation?] ''Yes'' >Rain realm Mana gathering: Gather mana through the spirit until it forms a gas Mana mist: Expand the amount of gaseous mana until it forms a mist Mana cloud: Expand the mist till it forms a cloud Mana condensation: The mana cloud will "rain" forming liquid mana Mana pool expansion: Expand your mana pool to as large as your spirit can handle. [After the Rain stage comes the real beginning of cultivation, the spirit metal stage] ''Why didn''t you give me info on that?'' [You don''t need to know yet.] ''Fair enough. So how do I start cultivating?'' [First try using your soul like when you summoned your spirit to try feeling mana] Eldrid''s soul could feel the mana, but was unable to move it. [Talk to your spirit, it will help you cultivate.] Eldrid began using his soul to feel his spirit, and tried telling it how he wanted to gather mana to cultivate. The spirit understood his intentions, and began forming a vortex, the mana in the entire courtyard surrounding the shrine submitted and voluntarily moved into the vortex, which was a portal between Eldrid''s soul and the world around him. This Caused Malthael shock once again, as the submission the mana itself showed was a feat that was normally only an ascended person would be able to achieve. However their was too much for Eldrid''s soul to handle all at once, so his spirit dispersed the mana that wasn''t split between them. Eldrid''s soul rapidly grew as mana poured into it, breaking through stage after stage. [Mana gathering reached] [Mana mist reached] [Mana cloud reached] [System stopping cultivation due to risk of damaging the soul.] Suddenly his spirit told all the mana to stop, as it could feel (like the system) that any more would pose far too much risk. "Boy, what realm have you reached?" "The mana cloud stage." ''SO FAST?!'' Malthael though to himself. "Boy, summon your spirit." Eldrid did so, and he noticed the "energy blade" on his sword, was many times brighter than before. Threads of mana could visibly be seen entering into the blade. Malthael laughed, causing Eldrid to display a confused expression. "Boy, normal spirits have to use the wielder''s energy to stay in their summoned states, but yours does not. The mana around it voluntarily supplies it with this energy. You have a large advantage over other spirit wielders especially in drawn out fights." Malthael then led him to a courtyard full of training dummies and constructs, archery targets, weights, and medicinal vats. "Test your strength on a cloud stage construct." "How?" Malthael realized that he had, once again, forgot that Eldrid was severely lacking in common knowledge. So he just activated it for him. The construct was 6''0", made of a brown metal, and looked like a human statue with lots of strange energy connections at it''s joints. Eldrid dashed forward, spirit in hand... and sliced the construct in half at a joint. The top and bottom halves fell to the ground with a thud. Malthael was, at this point, numb to Eldrid''s surprises. "Let''s see how you fair against one by pure swordplay, stop your spirit from using the energy blade." Eldrid willed it to do as instructed, and it complied. However he could feel the spirit wasn''t happy about it. While Eldrid did that Malthael sneakily replaced the construct with a beginning stage mana pool construct. Eldrid one again charged the construct, but this time he struggled with it. Eldrid had greater talent for a slashing sword style than the stabbing sword style from fencing, however he hadn''t received proper training in either. He had just created his own fencing style based off the instructions given, however it was much more suitable for slashing. The construct picked up a sword made of some black material, and charged Eldrid. Eldrid responded by parrying the blade and slashing at it''s arm joint, but the sword quickly knocked his own blade. Eldrid began to enter a state of fury, and he began to slash out with wild and unpredictable slashing. Malthael was able to see that Eldrid was managing to grasp on some profound style that he was slowly developing. The unpredictable slashes were actually part of some mysterious pattern that even Malthael was unable to understand due to their primal and ancient nature. Eldrid''s sword began to vibrate with excitement, sensing the primal style he was displaying, it too gave off a primal aura, and the aura''s of the two seemed to fuse. With a roar Eldrid began to speed up, his blurred figure was only able to be followed by the construct due to it''s domain ability, however it was unable to block every slash. Many slashes managed to hit it''s armored body, however the joints were well covered, until Eldrid went all out, and used all his strength to knock the sword from the construct''s hand. The next second every major joint had been split apart by Eldrid, leaving a very apathetic Malthael, surprised, as the construct was far beyond the normal ability of a mana cloud cultivator. 5 The Guild After defeating the construct Eldrid turned towards Malthael. "Are all mana cloud cultivators that strong?" This caused Malthael to start laughing at the irony. "You boy, are the strong one! That was an elite tier mana pool construct." Malthael said. After calming down he continued: "You''ll be staying here till you''ve had enough training. To have a foothold in this world you need power. My name and Influence only go so far." Eldrid had a questioning gaze at his last statement, as he claimed to be the ruler of the entire realm. "My title as ruler of the cosmo? While I was given the title, it''s honestly just a joke! It''s more like Janitor of the realms, however at least they are keeping their promise to stop my enemy from ascending." Eldrid was about to ask what this was all about but decided against it. "Let''s get you properly trained." During the next month Eldrid trained nonstop. For an entire month, Malthael had him training 24-7 as he used his power to make 10 hours worth of sleep pass in a mere instant, and heal muscles to make him keep going. The training regime was gruesome, even training maniacs back on earth would shrink back in fear at it, some ascendant realm cultivators would shrink back in fear(1). During this time Eldrid let his hair grow a little bit longer, as it made him look like a badass. "Tell Adrian to come see me when he gets the chance." "Of course, here''s a spatial ring with food and supplies, and a token that may help you on your way. Good luck on your journey boy." "Thanks, I''ll be seeing you in the Ascended realm!" This caused a bout of hearty laughter to erupt from Malthael as he sent Eldrid off to the frontier. Eldrid found himself in the forest, however he was on the outskirts and was able to see a town ahead. However (from the outside) the town looked more like a fortress, as it had 50 foot walls. Eldrid walked across the road, which didn''t have a single traveler on it other than Eldrid. As Eldrid was about to enter the city he was stopped by two guards. "Entry will cost you 5 copper." Eldrid took out the token Malthael gave him, and the guards suddenly knelt down. "Forgive this lowly one for not recognizing a friend of the realm lord." A startled Eldrid replied: "Get up, I have no desire to see people lower themselves before me." The guards breathed sighs of relief, as some nobles were petty and got revenge for even the slightest grievances. Eldrid walked into town and looked for a place to earn some money, as he remembered from boy scouts (2) that it''s best to be prepared. He found the adventurers guild and entered. "Welcome to the adventurers guild! How may I help you?" A chipper young receptionist asked. "I''d like to inquire about some information about the guild to see if I want to join." "Ask away!" "Are there any other guilds?" She replied giving him the information that there is only the adventurers guild, but there are 5 factions in it: The Beast Spirit Faction The Mage spirit Faction The Body spirit Faction The Weapon Faction The Hybrid Faction "Any more info on the factions?" "The four single spirit factions had almost equal amounts of people, while the hybrid faction only had a mere fraction in comparison. However the Hybrid faction is considered the strongest due to their quality being much higher than the quantity." "How are resources spread? Especially to how the hybrid faction distributes theirs." "Each faction receives an equal amount of resources, and since the Hybrid faction has the fewest members they are able to groom all of their faction members much better, regardless of talent." "What are a factions restrictions?" "It varies, however the less freedom you have the more benefits you get." "What If I want total freedom, or want to help for a few years then have total freedom afterwards?" "You can have total freedom, but you will only receive basic rewards." "What about missions?" "The entire point of the guild is to take missions and earn rewards, joining a faction is only an option for the ambitious." "How far does the guild''s reach spread?" "Across the entire cosmo." "Now I''m curious why hasn''t the guild taken over?" "There are only 2 things keeping the guild from taking over the cosmo: Malthael and factional strife." "What if I want to take over a faction?" To this the girl laughed hysterically. "Please, there are rules to prevent uprisings in the factions. To be honest a free spirited youth like you has no place in the factions. Only those that are tired of Adventuring, and power hungry join factions." "Thanks! Now how do I register with the guild!" "Drop your blood on this token, and swear on your spirit that you aren''t a criminal." Eldrid did so, and felt a connection to the token, which basically told the guild if he was alive or not. ''Now lets pick a task!'' [Mission: Take a quest] [Rewards: Depend upon the difficulty of the quest taken.] Eldrid noticed a quest on the board that caught his eye and made his blood boil in excitement. 6 First Ques Eldrid noticed a quest on the board that caught his eye and made his blood boil in excitement: Wyvern Removal, it a minimum requirement of low tier mana pool realm. Eldrid had always been fascinated with dragons, and wanted to tame one and ride it into battle like a badass. A poster next to the quest caught his attention, it was a wanted poster. Wanted: Leonard Welser Reason: Abuse of power, and use of the cruel methods of the dark arts. Reward: Honorary core member in your faction Suggested minimum cultivation: SSS tier mana pool ''Perfect! A challenge!'' During Eldrid''s training, his foundation stabilized, allowing him to reach the realm surpassing the SSS tier. SSS tier can be called a mana sea or ocean, Eldrid reached a mana universe, and his mana pool was still growing. Eldrid grabbed both papers and went to the receptionist. "I''d like to take both of these." "I''ll have to get my boss..." she nervously replied. "I can wait." "I''ll be right back." After about a minute a buff man followed behind the receptionist. "So you''re the young punk daring enough to take on an SSS tier mission in their level." the man said with a condescending tone. "I wanted a challenge." "You''re not even after the reward?" "Nope, can I trade it for an artifact or some useful gadget?" "..." "Can I?" "You''ll have to talk the leader of your faction." "I didn''t join one." "You''re assigned one by your spirit, you don''t have a choice on which to join." "Ok then... Can I still take the quest?" "If you can beat an SSS construct in the training facility." "Sure, lead the way." The man was stunned by the nonchalance of this kid about defeating an SSS grade construct. "Do you even understand you may die?" "There''s no risk with a mere SSS tier." The man was stunned by Eldrid''s ''arrogance'', however Eldrid was just being honest and didn''t think it was a big deal, as SSS tier constructs of the mana pool realm were cannon fodder to him during Malthael''s training. "Let''s see if you can live up to your arrogance kid." "I was arrogant? I didn''t mean to." The man was once again stunned by this kid. The two arrived at a large courtyard with a large amount of constructs, racks full of armor and weapons, and an assortment of training equipment. The man walked up and messed around with one of the constructs, which was a golden color. The construct got up and adjusted it''s shaped to be the exact same as Eldrid. "Let the fight begin." Eldrid dashed at the construct and used his bare hands to separate all the joints before it could even react, which left the man staring, mouth gaping at the scene. "Are you convinced?" Eldrid asked with his head tilted. The man dumbly nodded at this, and after a little while recomposed himself and had the receptionist officially assign him the two quests. "Oh can I get a map for the area, I''m not that familiar with the area." "Sure." [Map function unlocked] ''I forgot about you Dave.'' [I''m hurt.] ''Can it psycho.'' [Y-yes master] Dave seemed to be in a submissive mood at the moment, hopefully the severe mood swings wouldn''t be too bad, as he hated certain personalities. ''Can I teleport there?'' [Unless you have the coordinates or have been there before, no] ''Dang it.'' [Have fun walking] ''Fun... yeah right.'' And with that Eldrid walked off on the designated path. After several hours of running he completed a 3 day trip, arriving in the right outside of a small medieval style village. The quest had said to go to the village chief, so he asked a nearby villager for directions. "The village chief is currently at his home, the largest one in town." "Thanks." "Glad I could help!" Eldrid then walked to the house, where there were two guards at the entrance. Eldrid held up the request from the guild. "The chief just posted that yesterday! How can you have it already? It is a three day trip after all."(1) The guard on the left inquired "A three day trip? I ran here in 4 hours." "Prove it!" the guard on the right yelled, obviously in disbelief. "Fine." Eldrid sprinted to the edge of the village and back in mere seconds, a gust blowing in the face of the guards. "You''re certainly fast boy, thanks for coming to our aid so quickly. Most of our livestock has been eaten by that dreadful beast. Please follow me inside. The guard took him to a decent sized office where a middle aged man greeted him. "Welcome to the village of Aiken. Thank you for coming to our aid so quickly. Do you need to rest or are you ready to kill the wyvern?" "I''m perfectly fine, however I came to tame the beast." The village chief stared at him. "As long as you get rid of it I don''t care how you do it." "Of course, please lead the way." 7 The Wyvern The village chief led him to a large cave hidden at the base of the local mountain, Mt. Ierrech, which the village chief didn''t dare go down, as the wyvern was much stronger than him. Eldrid went into the cave to find the wyvern right in front of him, eye''s glowing. The beast was around 35 feet long (the tail is 20 ft), with a wingspan of 20 ft, and it''s scales were bright orange and black, like the ember''s of a fire. The beast had spikes going across it''s back, with gaps in between that could fit a person. It''s eyes were glowing orange, and gaping maw ready to strike at any moment. Eldrid wanted to fight the beast without using teleportation or his spirit, as they made things far too easy. Eldrid lashed out with a wave of water attributed qi, which was dodged by the wyvern. While the beast was dodging his strikes Eldrid moved closer and left several shallow wounds on the tail. The beast was annoyed by this and began spewing flame all over, which had no effect on Eldrid. Eldrid danced back and forth with the beast, dodging strikes, attacking, using his chaotic style of fighting. The wyvern swatted at him with it''s tail, at which Eldrid jumped and flipped over it while leaving a shallow wound, being careful to not leaving any lasting damage. "You will be my mount!" Eldrid roared, entering his enraged state Eldrid used his bare hands to punch the wyvern all over it''s body, which caused the beast to think of escaping this strong opponent. As the wyvern was trying to leave Eldrid grabbed the wyvern by it''s tail, spun it over his head, and smashed it against the floor. The wyvern entered it''s berserk state, which caused Eldrid to smile. "Let''s get this party started." Eldrid jumped backwards blasted off of the wall punching it in the gut, laying the beast flat on it''s back. The wyvern used it''s clawed feet to slash at Eldrid, which missed, however Eldrid now noticed that the talons were covered in poison, along with the teeth. Eldrid waited for the beast to get up, but it never did. "Did I accidentally kill it?" The sentient beast shuddered at this. Eldrid walked up to it, summoned his sword and began poking it with the pommel (A spirit can''t harm their wielder), it didn''t move. Eldrid began healing the beast, which startled it. "Be my mount or become my armor." The wyvern bowed his head to Eldrid. [Wyven has chosen to submit. Accept? Y/N] ''Yes'' [Congratulations on receiving your first subordinate.] [Received 1 bloodline rebirth ticket] ''Stats: Wyvern'' [Cultivation: SSS mana pool equivalent] [Bloodlines: Fire wyvern 73%, Poison wyvern 15%, Fire dragon 7.5%, True dragon 2.5%, Dragon king 1%, Dragon emperor .1%, miscellaneous bloodlines .899%, Primordial dragon .001%] ''Which bloodline is the strongest?" [Primordial dragon: Born alongside the multiverse and magic as the first dragon, it''s body is tempered by the elements, space, and the aging of time. At adulthood they are immortal, able to use magic as easily as moving a limb.] ''What''s the difference between the Primordial dragon and the dragon emperor?'' [The Primordial dragon has a stronger body and doesn''t have to cultivate to reach immortality.] ''Use bloodline rebirth ticket on the Primordial dragon bloodline'' [Warning this will cause the wyvern to turn into an egg and be unusable for 1 month and will completely restart its cultivation, and it will lose it''s memeories other than it''s loyalty to you. Proceed? Y/N?] ''Do it'' The wyvern began howling, in anguish at the extreme pain of the process of losing it''s cultivation and having all the cells in it''s body being changed. After several minutes of agonizing pain from it''s body shrinking, it turned into an egg as tall as Eldrid. Eldrid walked out with the egg in hand, which stunned the man. "What of the wyvern?" The village chief asked with worried eyes. "The wyvern faught to the death because of this egg, it''s likely it was consuming more due to it." Eldrid said with a straight face. "That makes sense, sorry that you couldn''t tame it, however at least you still have a tamed beast for the future. Once again thanks for removing the threat." The village chief said with an earnest expression. After this he gave his soul seal, marking it approved. "It''s no problem, glad I could help!" With that Eldrid headed back to the guild to turn in the request. On the way: ''Can I store the egg somewhere?'' [In the System storage yes, however nothing sentient can be put in storage. However the egg won''t mature in storage as time is frozen there.] ''Thanks, can I get a section of storage with accelerated time?'' [All frozen or nothing frozen.] ''For now everything is in the storage ring from Malthael, so for now let time be accelerated I''m my storage.'' [Time will run the same as normal. I''m not accelerating time.] ''Fine...'' Eldrid returned to the guild and turned the quest in without any issues. On his way out to the next quest... 8 Killing Spree Eldrid was in his way to hunt down Leonard Welser in Nine Life forest. When he was about 50 miles from the nearest outpost or armed colony, he saw a thick black smoke on the horizon. Eldrid used his spirit to enhance his leg muscles, he sprinted towards the smoke to prevent any potential disasters. Instead of a forest fire he found a burnt village, hidden by a concealing array. There were hundreds of corpses on the ground, all men, the bodies of elderly, adults and children were burnt, charred, or completely mutilated. Only a tenth of the corpses were women, most of which were elderly. One women was still alive, barely. She grabbed Eldrid''s leg and stared into his eyes, while coughing blood. "P-Please *cough* save my baby..." The women said before all strength in her was gone, the light in here eyes vanished, her arm falling limp, and pointing the way to the perpetrators. Eldrid roared in anger, the fires of righteous anger began burning within him, his eyes turning a bloody orange, with fiery white and gold pupils. Blazing golden white flames erupted around his body, making him look like the harbinger of justice''s anger. [Righteous fires unlocked: An extremely powerful fire that won''t burn the righteous or truly repentant. ] Eldrid ignored the notification in his state of fury, teleporting towards the horizon. He reached a group of bandits, most of which are on horseback, with cages full of women and young girls on carts behind them. However the higher ranking bandits were already ''playing'' with their captives. Screaming, crying, and wailing could be heard from the cages and the victims being ''played'' with, while laughter could be heard from the bandits. Eldrid teleported into the midst of the bandits, summoning his newly unlocked fire, engulfing the nearest bandits in the golden white flame, leaving only ashes that flew away in the wind. Eldrid began teleporting behind the band''s individually. The one bandit who appeared to be the leader was ''playing'' with a young girl of about 10. Eldrid abhorred rapists, predators, and slave traders, and in front of him was a combination of the three. Eldrid summoned his spirit and sliced the man''s flesh on his arms and legs to ribbons, leaving him in agony and rendering him unable to escape. Eldrid repeated that on the bandits who ''played'' with children, while decapitating the others. At this point the caravan was in chaos, half the bandits were running for their lives. To those who ran he teleported to, one was covered in acid, another frozen, every element was used to kill the bandits. The smell of rancid meat, rotting flesh, blood, and burnt meat spread throughout the caravan. The women were praying that this person was their savior, they however noticed he made the predators feel a lot more pain than the rest which meant even if he wasn''t their savior he hated the abuse of young girls. Eldrid had slaughtered around 280 bandits including 30 leaders and 250 escaping bandits. Eldrid glared at the rest with red eyes which showed his fury. Around 50 bandits kneeled on the ground, dropping their weapons. The other two hundred charged Eldrid, only to be cut down in waves as Eldrid lashed out with waves of sword energy. The bandits fell like stalks of wheat under a sickle. Once all of them had either died, surrendered, or been maimed and passed out, Eldrid''s rage subsided and he found himself in a field of corpses. The world seemed to have gone silent, everything was still, the blood pools reflected the afternoon sunshine, a lone figure soaked in blood standing in the center of it all, the corpses before him in waves. He felt no remorse, he didn''t kill human, but demons and devils masquerading as humans. Suddenly Eldrid remembered his original purpose for coming here was to save the women. "Are any of you hurt?" A woman who appeared to be the leader of the victims stood up in her cage. "Nothing but some bruises and cuts." "Good, I''m sorry I didn''t arrive sooner..." Eldrid trialed off, feels upset he couldn''t stop the bandits in the first place. "Sir, you have done more than enough. If not for you we would have been made into sex slaves or worse. Thank you for everything." Other women began thanking Eldrid, which made him feel better. Eldrid walked up to the first person he maimed, picking him up by the collar. "Who are you working for?" "I-I-I don''t know." The man stuttered in fear. "Why don''t you?" Eldrid inquired feeling his desire to kill this man increasing. "I-I struck a deal with a robed man. His features were covered, and his voice so soft it was unrecognizable. I was only told to bring 500 female slaves to him." The man confessed. "How many have you captured so far?" Eldrid interrogated. "This was the first village." The man said. "Anything else?" Eldrid asked bot so politely. "He said he would find me once I filled the quota." The man said. Eldrid could feel the mana around moving, something was about to happen, it was likely the contractor was watching and listening through this bandit. "I don''t know who you are. I don''t know what you want. I will look for you, I will find you and I will kill you." With that the bandit leader fell dead like a puppet with it''s strings cut. Eldrid interrogated the other bandit leaders under the threat of a painful death, but they didn''t have anything useful, after which he beheaded them. Eldrid then turned to the bandits who surrendered. "My fire will judge you, they are the flames of righteous anger. The innocent and repentant will live, the guilty will die. I have no reason to lie to you." A wave of righteous fire swept over them, 48 cried out in pain as they were consumed. "You two have passed, go live good lives to repent for your misdeeds." The two turned and left. "Now what to do with you all..." Eldrid said after turning to the women. 9 Escort mission "Now what to do with you all..." Eldrid said after turning to the women. He couldn''t take them with him on his quest, but he wouldn''t leave them to fend for themselves, leaving him in a dilemma. However Eldrid remembered something suspicious about the village. "First of all, why was your village hidden by an array?" "We were hiding from cultists..." The leader said. "Hold up, cultists? How are you involved with those psychos?" "Our family has a special bloodline that they are after." "Why would they want your blood?" "It''s related to the Cosmo hydra..." ''System, what''s a Cosmo hydra?'' [Cosmo hydra: Descendant of Primordial snake and dragon''s lineage, starts of with one head which has a cosmo fragment, and with each new stage in cultivation it grows a head. The advancement looks like this: fire->water->earth->wind->lightning->light->dark->space->time After growing surpassing the ninth stage of cultivation itmerges it''s heads and cosmo fragments together to forms it''s own cosmo(1)] ''How does that even work?'' [Do you want a lecture on space time theory that''s longer and more boring than all boring lectures from earth combined?] ''I''ll pass.'' "What does this bloodline have to do with it?" "It''s the bloodline of the cosmo hydra''s descendant, the Lernaean Hydra." ''Isn''t that from Greek mythology?'' [Yes, it has had many references in the cultures of your old world, not just Greek.] ''Hmm...'' "Where do you want me to take you?" "We don''t have anywhere else to go." ''What have I gotten myself into?'' [So the plot thickens...] ''Shut up, it''s not like we''re in some book like the ones I read on webnovel." [Host does not have access to this information.] ''Very funny Dave.'' "Ok ladies, do you have a place to go?" "No." "Well that makes things harder..." "We''re sorry for troubling you, however can you take us to the nearest teleportation pad? After that we can probably find refuge in the capitol." "That I can do." As Eldrid led the way, he realized that something was wrong with the bandit leaders testimony, as they shouldn''t have been able to find the village if they didn''t know where it was. "How did they find your village?" "What do you mean? They were just bandits." "That''s my point, how would bandits find a hidden village without directions?" "They couldn''t have." "I think the memories of the bandit were likely altered..." "The cult found us again..." "Does this have any affects on your plans?" "We have nowhere to go..." ''Dave! I need suggestions here!!!'' [Turn them into your harem.] ''DAVE. NOT. FUNNY." [Quest: Escort the survivors] [Description: Escort the survivors to the portal to the next universe in the middle of the forest. Portal closes in: 1 week] [Location marked on your map] [Reward: Varies on how many survive.] "There''s one way out of this... but I can''t tell you how I know about it." "Anything will help!" "We have to go to the middle of the forest." "I''d rather risk the cultists!" "You can''t be serious?!" "The middle of the forest is where the most dangerous ones live!" "I can take care of them! We have to hurry to the portal before it closes!" "Portal?!" "Yes! A portal to another universe! You won''t be hunted down again!" "Fine! We''ll risk it." Two days passed without any major incidents, other than Eldrid dealing with a pack of wolves, and learning the girls name was Liz. They reached the edges of the middle territory of the forest. Eldrid was thankful the map chartered where the territorial beasts stayed, but his intuition told him that he couldn''t avoid a big fight. Eldrid heard low rumbles, which started to pick up, the ground began to tremor, and Eldrid''s intuition flared up again. On the horizon a hulking figure could be seen approaching them, it was 100 feet tall and 300 feet long, with spikes covering it''s back and tail, horns in front of it''s eyes, and a mouth full of jagged teeth. "IT''S A FREAKING TARRASQUE?!?!" Eldrid declared in shock. "What''s that?" "It''s the strongest creature from a game on my home world." "This was from a game?" "Please don''t ask, the cosmos are a strange thing, and we don''t have the luxury of time right now." "Fair enough." "I''m going to take the risk and face it head on." "Are you insane?!" "No, however I don''t want any of you to die." Liz was silent at this, she knew they would die to the monster if they were there during the fight. Eldrid bounded off towards the tarrasque with his spirit summoned. "Hey lizard!" The tarrasque turned towards him, raising it''s head. The beast roared at Eldrid, the sound boomed like thunder, scaring away everything in the vicinity. "I killed you once, and I''ll kill you again!!!" Eldrid roared while charging at the beast. 10 Tarrasque "I killed you once, and I''ll kill you again!!!" Eldrid roared while charging at the beast. The tarrasque roared in return, the thunderous roar could be heard all across the forest. Eldrid reached the beast, and jumped towards it''s leg, stabbing his sword spirit into it. Eldrid leveraged himself into the air, to stab the sword into the beast''s leg again, however this time before he could pierce the tough hide he was swatted away by it''s claws before it began charging at him. Eldrid flew through the air, before smacking into a tree with a loud thud. Using his spirit to form lances of ice jutting out from the ground he managed to stop the charging beast, however the hide completely crushed the ice pillars, not even a bit of damage was left behind. Eldrid got up and charged towards the beast again, he dodged the gaping maw that was closing in on him, and attempted to cut the beast''s throat. The beast swatted at him again, forcing him to abandon the idea of attacking the front. Eldrid tried to teleport onto the beast''s back but couldn''t for some reason, so he used his control of the air to get onto the back of the beast, only to be shaken off, as he couldn''t stabilize himself, the beast''s hide repelled mana to a degree. Eldrid ran behind it''s legs and tried to cut it''s tendons, but he only cut a few inches in before being trapped by the thick muscle. Eldrid tried channeling cold energy to freeze the cut, but it didn''t freeze, neither did fire burn it, however lightning did manage to do some damage to the area. As the beast began to lift up the leg that he had cut into, Eldrid yanked out his sword, drawing a large amount of blood, though it was minuscule considering the tarrasque''s size. Eldrid teleported right behind the giant beast, just to have to teleport away from the tail that was flying at him. ''I can''t do anything to it''s hide Dave.'' [Remember that movie?] ''Please don''t make me do that, there has to be another way.'' [You can use up the reward from your first mission, you completely ignored the notification during your glee at having a pet dragon.] ''What was the reward?'' [You get to spin the wheel of prizes] ''Really? Better than THAT anyways.'' [You received: Spirit slot] ''DAMMIT DAVE!!! THAT''S NOT USEFUL RIGHT NOW.'' [Not my choice.] Eldrid had no choice, he had to do THAT. What is that you might ask? That is where you get inside the beast''s mouth or intestines and wreck havoc. ''Screw it.'' "LEEEEEEEROYYY JENKINS!!!" Eldrid shouted before teleporting into the beast''s mouth. Eldrid got a whiff of it''s breath, and he almost passed out. The smell was similar to everything rotten that he''d ever smelled, skunk, and sewage, but worse. Eldrid stabbed the sword into the roof of the beasts mouth, which was no where near as hard as it''s hide. He channeled every single type of magic he knew into the blade, making the mana around him tremble, and the roof of the beasts mouth began to turn into dust. The sword kept going, and after a half hour of trying to avoid being crushed by the beast''s insane bite force, he finally managed to pierce the beast''s brain, and turn it to dust. Eldrid quickly fled the beast''s wretched mouth, rejoicing at the fact he was now breathing fresh air. ''Dave, can you turn this into pieces like in a RPG and store it?'' [Yes.] ''Thanks.'' A wave of notifications went off in his head, which he ignored. Eldrid ran back to the group of women. "I took care of the beast." Eldrid noticed that they could smell the tarrasque breath on his body, and were repulsed by it. "Let''s go then." Liz said while holding her nose. "Hold on." Eldrid completely drenched himself with magic, not much change happened. He repeated using the spell over and over and over. The total number of times he used the spell before the smell went away totaled up to be several hundred, however he ended up creating a small pond in the process. "Now lets go." 11 Armor Spiri The group was moving steadily, not a single beast was in sight, which Eldrid hoped was caused by the fight he had with the tarrasque, however he was still on guard in cased something big happened. While the group took a break Eldrid checked out the reward from the wheel of prizes. [Second spirit slot: Room to gain another spirit from the spirit realm. Limit to 2 spirits in total for the rain realm] ''Do I need an altar again?'' [Not this time, the system will provide you with a random spirit if you don''t have an available alter] ''Will it be as good as my current spirit?'' [Yes] ''Then go for it'' [Received: armor spirit] ''Nice! Is it any different from my current spirit?'' [Yes, you can give it metals and it can turn itself into that material, so if you have an unbreakable metal for example, you''d have an unbreakable set of armor.] ''This is gonna be amazing! How strong is it on its own?'' [Useless] ''Ok then... Which is stronger tarrasque bone or hide?'' [The bone is significantly stronger than hide. However the hide is more flexible and better for joints of the armor.] ''Can I use those for the armor spirit?'' [Yes.] ''Can I make it orange?'' [Yes] ''So I just summon the spirit and give it the materials?'' [Yes, you can give it extra materials to compact it into a stronger set of armor] ''Can you just give the armor all the materials in my soul space?'' [Yes] ''Do it.'' [Fine...] After a few seconds Eldrid saw the armor spirit go from a set of phantasmal armor to a solid form. Just as Eldrid equipped the armor several darts, throwing knives, and shurikens bounce off of it. Eldrid looked around, but he couldn''t see any of the attackers. "Everyone group together, otherwise you might be hurt!" All the girls huddled together at his command, the older girls and women were on the outside and the younger girls were on the inside. Once he saw they were safely huddled together, he jumped above them and completely obliterated the surrounding forest with a large wave of fire. A hundred camouflaged figures could now be seen, half of them burnt to a crisp. "Smart move, but now you don''t have much mana left!" A camouflaged figure said, while shedding his disguise, revealing blood red cultist robes with the figure of a black nine headed hydra turning into a it''s final stage. "What are you talking about? The king of the forest didn''t even drain a tenth of my mana!" "Quit boasting boy, like you''d be able to do so on your own!" Eldrid deduced from this that they only recently arrived, and also had some way to track the girls. "So you''re those crazy cultists worshiping a beast, huh?" "BEAST?! DON"T INSULT THE GREAT HYDRA!!!" "And now he''s pissed off." Eldrid muttered under his breath. "I WILL KILL YOU!!!" The man charged along with the other surviving cultists. "CAN''T I GET A BREAK?!?!" Eldrid yelled. The nearest cultist teleported behind Eldrid and landed a blow on him, though the armor protected him. "Second time I''ve been hit after training. Interesting." Eldrid summoned his sword spirit, right through his attackers head. ''Though I feel bad for Han Solo, the move his son pulled was pretty d*mn effective.'' Eldrid''s blood began to boil in excitement, and he headed teleported to each cultist and dueled them. First one he dueled was a water mage, needless to say the he was quickly dispatched. Second was a swordsman, who managed to last 3 hits before being sliced in half. Third... Thirty eighth was a hybrid, who had an earth attributed mage hammer. He made countless pillars try and skewer Eldrid, use sink holes, after stalling Eldrid thirty seconds Eldrid just teleported to him and decapitated him, as he keep using the same boring moves. The final man was the first person to speak. "Let''s dance cultist freak." "I WILL KILL YOU!!!" The mean screamed, his eyes pitch black eyes were bloodshot, his hair blood red, his features sharp and animalistic, his nose like a hawk''s beak. The man''s spirit was summoned, it was a large pitch black scythe with a blood red edge. Eldrid limited his own power and traded blows with the man, each stepping backwards and forwards in a dance of death, it was graceful, savage, primal, chaotic, and orderly all at once, this is what man''s blood boiled for, a true fight to the death, though Eldrid was having fun, he really couldn''t go all out. "Show me your final move or I''ll kill you right here and now." "Such boasts! FINE! PREPARE TO DIE!!!" The man coated his scythe in a pitch black flame, and ran towards Eldrid. Eldrid blocked the fiery strike that would have killed a normal mana pool cultivator with ease. "If that''s all you have, then goodbye." The cultist was stunned at this, and his head separated from his body with that exact expression. "In the name of justice, you met your end." 12 Just a flesh wound After having killed all the cultists, Eldrid used his control over the air to move the fly the whole group to the portal, it drained his mana a great deal, however he had plenty to spare. ''What are the limitations of my armor spirit?'' [If your armor breaks you have to get more materials to replace it. If you run out of materials you run out of armor. However you can use your armor spirit over any armor you own.] ''Nifty. You''ve been pretty cooperative lately, and I feel something''s up.'' [Nothing''s up, but now you mention it...] ''I shouldn''t have said anything'' [You shouldn''t have] ''Sigh, by the way is the portal completely safe for them to cross?'' [Yes] At this point Eldrid and the group arrived at the portal, which was a white and blue spiral (with a radius of two and a half feet) rotating at high speeds. "Good luck on the other side." "Thanks, good luck with your quests and goals." The group lined up single file and went through the small portal''s entrance. As the last person went through a person tried to rush past him to enter the portal as well. [Mission: Stall the cultist leader] [Info: The leader of the regional cosmo hydra cult is trying to capture the survivors, stop him at all costs] [Bonus mission: Kill the cultist leader] [Rewards: Double rewards for the previous mission] [Rewards for bonus quest: Increasing the max capacity of the mana pool to perfect grade] [Penalty for failure: No rewards and no help for the amount of villagers captured in years] ''Dave, why you gotta add the penalty?'' [Hehe, I was being too cooperative you said.] ''I regret saying that.'' Eldrid summoned his spirits and stopped the intruder. "I WILL DO ANYTHING FOR LORD HYDRA!!! DO NOT STOP ME!!!" "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!!" Eldrid yelled, and as a lord of the rings fan, he always loved doing that. "PUNY MANA POOL PAGAN I WILL KILL YOU!!!" ''Please tell me you have a scan function.'' [Since my life is tied to yours, I''ll let you use it before earning it this once.] ''Thanks.'' [Name: ???] [Rank: Copper metal spirit] [Spirit type: Hybrid of Body spirit and death mage] ''What are the realms in the spirit metal tier?'' [Spirit tier: Copper spirit: Bronze spirit Iron spirit Steel spirit Titanium spirit] ''That''s it?'' [No, however you don''t need to know the rest for now, as you''re in the middle of a battle, but please note that an average copper spirit metal cultivator is 10x stronger than an SSS tier mana pool warrior.] ''Thanks.'' All this happened in a fraction of a second, and Eldrid was able to teleport behind the cultist, however he found out the man was able to block his strike. "DIE PAGAN!!!" The man roared before trying to punch Eldrid, the attack missed but a blast of black energy blew past Eldrid. Eldrid was using up mana much faster than he wanted to, and he only had half left from flying the entire group to the portal. ''If I don''t end this quick I''m done for.'' Eldrid dashed towards the man, entering his rage mode, slashing towards him. The man punched Eldrid''s armor, completely obliterating the first few layers of compressed Tarrasque bone. "WHAT?!?" The man yelled in surprise for two reasons, first is that his death energy normally passes through armor, and secondly that the armor was able to block his punch. Eldrid used this moment of surprise to cut off the man''s right arm. The cultist was incised by this, he had never been hurt by a puny pagan mana pool cultivator, he was so mad in fact, he threw away all face and decided to go out. Eldrid noticed the man was building up death energy around his fist, and a lot of it at that. "I WILL END YOU AND SACRIFICE THOSE GIRLS TO LORD HYDRA!!!" Eldrid teleported behind the man once again, but this time the mana completely destroyed the armor he had. Luckily for Eldrid the death energy was dispersed by the armor, however he still had to deal with the amount left behind. Eldrid quickly decapitated the Cultist leader, but not before having his right arm blown off. "ARGH!!!!" Eldrid yelled, which turned into a roar, the whole forest quaked in fear. [It''s just a flesh wound...] ''ARGH!!!!'' [Taking emergency action 3...2...1...] Eldrid fell to the ground, unconscious. 13 To the kindom of death! "D*mn my arm hurts!" After saying this Eldrid looked at his arm, shocked. ''How come I still have my arm?'' [You arm was regrown as I traded half of your rewards for to get advanced regeneration.] ''Thanks Dave! What about the rest of my rewards?'' [You can spin the wheel of prizes 3 times] ''Do it'' [Received: Imperial gold ingot, pet storage function.] [You also received your mission reward for killing the cultist leader, perfect mana capacity: Multiverse level] [Do you wish to advance to the spirit metal realm? Y/N?] ''Yes'' [Congratulations you advanced to the Copper spirit stage.] ''What are the stages in the spirit metal realm?'' [Copper spirit Bronze spirit Iron spirit Titanium spirit Sovereign Silver spirit Imperial Gold spirit Potentate Platinum spirit Orichalcum spirit Adamantium spirit Mithril spirit] ''Can I make my armor spirit as strong as my king spirit?'' [No] ''What about my plot armor?'' [...] ''It was a joke.'' [...] ''Are you giving me the silent treatment?'' [...] ''I''ll take that as a yes.'' Eldrid stretched and heard his muscles crackling and rumbling, he felt much stronger than before. [Host is advised to learn to control his strength on his way to hunt down Leonard Welser, as you may hurt innocents or destroy property on accident.] ''Thanks Dave'' [You''re welcome] Eldrid turned around, and was shocked to see the aftermath of his battle. The forest behind the corpse of the cultist leader had been cut down, each tree having a perfectly smooth top. The trees were cut all the way to the horizon, stopping at the forbidden jungle, a tier 2 danger zone. ''What on earth happened?'' [You used all of the mana you had in you for your final strike, of course it''s going to destroy everything.] ''Normal mana isn''t that strong though.'' [In your life and death battle you managed to subconsciously comprehend how to use sword energy] ''Oh nice!'' [Yes, but quit cutting up and keep going.] ''Was that a pun?'' [You''re pretty sharp.] ''...'' Eldrid used the imperial gold ingot to replace his broke tarrasque armor in his armor spirit, and he looked like he was in expensive armor. After heading back to the path Eldrid began his trek to hunt down Leonard Welser. Leonard was last seen on the plane of death, which was only accessible through one teleportation pad, the one stationed in the kingdom of death. The kingdom of death was hated by many due to the twisted personalities people had from self experimentation of necromancy. The kingdom was full of criminals, corpses, thieves and the unruly. The king was a fearsome expert, he turned into a lich many millennia ago, and was slowly gaining power. He didn''t ascend due to the fact he was already immortal, and he had made too many enemies when he was younger. The only reason Eldrid dared go there was due to the factthat he had a note authorizing him to use the teleportation pad, which was secured only due to the overwhelming influence of the guild. Upon arriving on the kingdom''s borders Eldrid was greeted by a ghastly smell. The smell of rotting flesh was so strong it was almost as bad as the tarrasque''s breath. The land around him abruptly went from a lush forest to a dead one, the trees were some sort of undead tree, which Eldrid didn''t even want to try understanding the stuff behind. The dead forest had a pitch black grass, ashen grey trees, strange dark purple mosses, and toxic green glowing mushrooms around him, it was quite an eerie sight. By the time he saw a wall on the horizon, he had incinerated several hundred zombies and skeletons, which dropped black crystals, which he picked up. Upon coming closer to the wall he noticed it was a whitish yellow and had countless protrusions coming out from it that looked like deformed skulls. Once he came to the end of the road he was in front of a large black gate guarded by some unruly looking guards. "You need to pay 25 gold to enter." One guard said. Eldrid didn''t know the value of this world''s money, nor did he know that he''d be charged extra due to his flashy armor. However Eldrid flashed his badge that Malthael gave him, causing the guards to kneel like last time. Eldrid wasn''t willing to fund some crazy lich king''s kingdom with his own money, and he was being lazy. "Please forgive this one for his insolence!" "Get up, and not a word of this to anyone. I''m here on official business." "Yes my lord!" With that Eldrid entered into the kingdom of death. ---------------------- Please look at the author''s note today ^_^ 14 Behind the Walls The scene the greeted Eldrid upon entering the kingdom''s walls was appalling, countless children were skinny and hungry, beggars lined the streets, and women were selling their bodies for food. Eldrid went up to one of the children. The kingdom of Death was full of the scum of humanity, however not everyone in the kingdom was like that, most of the commoners were normal people who had been given a bad lot in life to be born in the kingdom. "Why is everyone in such dire need?" The boy scoffed at Eldrid. "The rich like you wouldn''t understand the sufferings of the poor." "Why do you think I''m rich?" "You''re wearing armor of Imperial gold, of course you''re rich. You may not be super rich compared to other cultivators, but compared to us mortals, you''re rich." "Again, why is everyone here in such poor condition?" "Our king cares nothing for us, he let''s the cultivator''s run free. Some are nice, but most enslave us, abuse us, the women are forced to *Censored*, everyone is in dire straits. Kids have learned to kill for food. Now tell me, AREN''T YOU RICH?!?! WITH ALL YOUR CULTIVATION RESOURCES AND ENERGY COINS!!!" Eldrid was stunned by the child''s outburst, he realized the child was right. Anger and self loathing rose up in his chest, he wanted to help all these people get out of this place, but he wasn''t strong enough to defy the king of this place. His money wasn''t enough to interest cultivators either, it was just mortal money. However Eldrid remembered he had a the leftovers of the tarrasque corpse, and no matter the taste of the meat, it''s still food. "Take me to a large open area." "Why would I?" "Because if you do, I''ll cook some food for you." The child looked at him in surprise. "This way." The child led Eldrid through several alleyways full of trash, rats, and sleeping people to a fourty foot square of empty land in them middle of a bunch of shacks made of trash. Eldrid brought out a large slab of meet that was about the size of the square, and cooked it in the air by using his spirit to have the air hold the meat up and combust to cook it. After a few minutes the meat was fully cooked, and swarms of people were headed towards them. "This should be enough to last you all a few days, right?" "With all the people in the kingdom like us, if each person only got a handful this would only last us one meal." Eldrid used his powers to turn the square into a mass of tables with meat on it for the people. Suddenly a man came flying over, and began eying the meat. "I am hereby confiscating this meat for our supreme ruler. This meat is too good for you lowly peasants." Eldrid glared at the man in fury. "WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO DO THIS TO PEOPLE?! WHAT SORT OF SCUM ARE YOU?!" "YOU DARE?!" "I DARE YOU GREEDY SACK OF CRAP!!! JUST BECAUSE THIS MEAT IS TARRASQUE MEAT YOU COVET IT!!!" In fury Eldrid flashed the token Malthael gave him, causing the man to laugh. "SO WHAT IF YOU KNOW THAT OLD BASTARD?! HE CAN''T SAVE YOU NOW!!! THE KING''S THE RULER HERE!" "YOU WANT THE MEAT?! OVER MY DEAD BODY!!!" "SO BE IT BOY!!!" Eldrid summoned his spirit and sent a wave of sword energy at the man, which cut his head off. The man''s body grabbed his head before it fell from his body "NOW I''M ANGRY!!!" Eldrid teleported behind the man, incinerating him with righteous fire. "HOW CAN YOU WIELD THESE ACCURSED FLAMES?!?!" The man yelled. A final scream of agony so inhuman emitted from the man''s mouth before he turned into ashes in the wind. The masses quickly began to eat the meat before it could be taken away or trouble came. Eldrid began to have a lot of mixed feelings at the scene before him, sadness, anger, self loathing, pity, he swore to himself that he would become strong enough to free these people from their oppressive ruler. [You should probably hurry on your quest] ''Thanks'' With that Eldrid left for the capital. 15 Sasha Eldrid was in a sour mood after leaving the slums, he hated the fact he was unable to do more. [Don''t keep beating yourself up over it, if you gave them mana stones it would cause them to be robbed.] ''It still makes my blood boil Dave.'' [Any person with a sense of righteousness would feel the same way.] ''Can you give me the location of the capitol cities teleporting pad?'' [Yes] Eldrid materialized in the center of a dimly lit room, surrounded by guards. "Papers please." a man said in a thick accent, which on earth would be considered a blend of Russian and German. Eldrid took out the papers from the guild and showed him to the man. "Sasha, please take this man to the dimensional gate." The man said before muttering something into Sasha''s ear. Sasha looked like a large barbarian, she was 6''6". dark gray eyes and hair and was wearing plain gray armor, and she had a giant blood red battle axe on her back. She had arms as thick as a mans leg, while her legs were as thick as a man''s torso, and torso was a s big as a barrel. She looked similar to Zarya from Overwatch. "This way. Keep up outsider." Sasha said with unconcealed contempt before leading Eldrid outside. The sky was covered by green, black, and purple clouds. The city smelled of rotten flesh, blood, and filth. The streets were made of a glowing green stone, the buildings made of a material colored with the same purple as a bruise. Countless zombies and skeletons were walking in the streets, most of the mindless ones were commanded not to attack people, and the sentient ones knew better. However every single lich stared at him with eye sockets filled only with a intense green fire, as they sensed something withing him that defied their very existences. The crooks and scum of society also had the same feeling, and began looking at Eldrid with hostility. Tensions were rising, each fighter had their hands on their receptive weapons, the mages had spells prepared, ready to shoot at Eldrid at any moment. Eldrid was about to summon his righteous fire, but Sasha suddenly glared at the crowd. "I hate his guts as much as you, but don''t get in my way." Hearing her saying this caused them to disperse, but not before each shooting one last glare at Eldrid. [You''re righteous fire is very harmful to most people in this city, so be careful.] ''Got it.'' Sasha began leading Eldrid towards the king''s palace, much to Eldrid''s displeasure. "I have been told that you the honor of being able see the king outsider, though I think this honor is beneath you." "I have no interest nor desire to see your tyrant of a king, I only desire to hunt down the fugitive Leonard Welser." "You damn outsider..." She spat venomously, while seething with rage. "You''re kingdom is full of the worst scum of humanity, you''re people are starving. I have no reason to treat a king who permits this sort of thing within his borders with respect." "The weak have to claw their way up and the strong rule. This is the law of our kingdom." "THEN TO HELL WITH YOUR LAWS!!!" "If the commander hadn''t given me a direct order, I would have killed you already." "Just take me to the portal so I can get out of here." "With pleasure." After several minutes of walking at a brisk pace they arrived at a bone white archway, in it was a portal black as onyx. "Go through the portal, I can''t stand the sight of outsiders, especially ones like you." Sasha said vehemently. "Good riddance to you and your city." Eldrid replied before stepping through the portal. ---In the castle--- While the entire scene played out from Eldrid entering and leaving, another event was going on." A skeleton like with a pitch black core where it''s heart used to be was standing in front a vast army of undead. It was in pitch black robes, with golden trim, inlaid with many blood red crystals, and a dark mist emitting from underneath. On it''s head was a crown made of the teeth of vipers, and on the front was the symbol of a reaper, wielding dual sickle swords crossed over it''s chest. It''s eye sockets filled with a black flame. "So at last, the time has come, the righteous flame has chosen a champion, the evil ice has selected an heir. Let the chaos ensue..." 16 Realm of the Dead After passing through the portal Eldrid found himself atop a tall tower, from from which he could see several different sections of the realm. To the far north was an icy frozen plain(1), a misty fog entirely covered the mid north(2), and to the near north was what Eldrid could see a golden city on one side, and on the other side was a large field, both had food and drink (3). To the near northwest was a field and forest filled with music, merrymaking, food and drink (4), in the mid northwest were plains full of wandering phantasmal figures(5), and to the far northwest was a place shrouded in a mist of blood, the sound of screams were audible even to Eldrid, however that area was surrounded by a wall of bronze and it''s gate guarded by a hundred handed giant(6). The west was entirely dominated by a vast sea, stretching all the way into the horizon, however many vague shapes could be seen under the water(7). The southwest was a giant forest filled with all sorts of creatures. In the near south was a man holding a feather who had a jackal''s head, he was standing in front of a large scale. Behind him was a creature with behind of a hippopotamus, the chest, and forelegs of a lion, and the head of a crocodile. Behind them stood a large bark, and far southwest was a house of the dead(8). To the far southeast was a burning wasteland with many lakes of lava (9), while the near south was a palace of epic proportions with a gate guarded by many majestic and holy angels (10). To the near east was an old lady with a bowl of soup, to the mid east was a long path leading to the far east where there were six large gates(11). The northeast was entirely shrouded by a veil of mist, phantasmal shapes danced would be visible for mere fractions of a second before sinking back into obscurity. Eldrid couldn''t see beyond this, but he could feel there were more sections of this ream that were out of his view or too small to notice from how far up he was. Eldrid then looked around to find that there was no portal behind him. ''Dave, what''s going on?'' [An outside force has switched where you would come out of the portal.] ''****. You have any info on this place?'' [All of them are heavily tied to the mythology from earth.] ''I guessed as much, anything else that can help? Such as a map?'' [I don''t have a map of this area, I only had the info about the world of Golkindarr and some of the major it''s planets in this universe due to Malthael passing them on to me.] ''So we''re flying blind.'' [Yes, but don''t crash.] ''That was a horrible joke.'' [Blame the author.] ''Very funny Dave, but we don''t have time for bad jokes.'' [Says the one who makes puns in the midst of battle.] ''...'' [Hehe, got ya there.] Eldrid looked at the long spiraling staircase which was circling the outside of the tower. ''No fun going down this way.'' Dave didn''t even have a chance to protest before Eldrid jumped off of the tower and began using his powers to materialize a pair of wings. "WOOHOOO!!!" [You''re insane!!!] Eldrid failed to notice Dave''s protests as he was having too much fun gliding northward. Eldrid did all sorts of aerial maneuvers, and Dave began swearing like a sailor, as he thought Eldrid was going to get them killed. What Eldrid didn''t realize was how far it actually was between the different sections of the realm, but the time he landed he was only in the "near north" section. [I suggest you visit Valhalla, you Likely have a Norse background and would be accepted more easily. You may even be able to get some information on Leonard''s location.] ''Sure why not, I''ve heard nothing but good things about it from mythology.'' ---Elsewhere in the realm--- A man strange man stood in the middle of an army of skeletons, draugar, and zombies each wielding weapons made of ice. He was wielding a scythe of ice in one hand and a black and green flame in the other. The man had white hair, black eyes with red iris, pale blue skin that looked frozen. He was wearing a white vest and gray pants over a a set of coal black armor. He had a crazed expression on his face while his arms were raised. "Rise my minions!!! Rise for your master!!!" Which was followed by a cold and evil cackling. An icy mist shrouded their figures from view, letting only the occasional flash of light pass through the misty veil. ---Unknown--- An ancient figure who''s skin and clothes were stone gray, who would easily be mistaken as a statue of a an old monk, suddenly began chanting. "As the prophecy foretold By the elders it was enscrolled That their destinies would unfold By an adventurer bold And a sorcerer of cold Wielding powers aeons old Their might uncontrolled Destined to fight at the realm''s stronghold" The figure repeated this over and over, before finally opening their eyelids, revealing a pair of glowing purple eyes. --------------- Happy Thanksgiving!!! (It''s not yet Thursday for me but apparently it is in other countries) 17 Valhalla Eldrid finally landed after several hours of enjoying himself in front of the great golden city on one side of a vast field. On the other side was a great white hall(1). In front of the great hall were a crowd of men and women partying. Beyond them stood a large army prepared for battle. No men stood on the golden cities side of the field. Despite this, five hundred and forty doors were present, each of them were wide enough to allow an eight hundred man wide stream to exit. ''Dave where do I go in?'' [Pick one, as long as a battle doesn''t start...] As soon as Dave mentioned the word battle, a loud trumpet sounded out and men started pouring out of the golden city. ''I feel that you did this Dave.'' [Nope, but one suggestion: Don''t die.] ''Thanks, that''s helpful.'' [Also, don''t run away or you won''t get anything from these people, I suggest you slaughter people on both sides.] ''Won''t that just make me stand out more?'' [No, it''s literally a free for all. Just look at them.] Eldrid looked at the stream of warriors to see that some of them were already dead, having killed each other. [Old grudges were still able to carry over to the afterlife, as there is eternal slaughter. It''s not surprising to see them kill each other.] ''Fair point. Well, time to get noticed.'' [Wait till later in the...] Dave was once again cut off by Eldrid, as he charged out into the middle of the battle screaming, "LEEEEEEROYYY JENKINS!!!!" However, something unexpected happened. A warrior behind him replied with a shout. "What do you want? I''m kinda bus-URGH!!" The warrior had been skewered mid-sentence by a large brute of a man over seven feet (2.2 meters) tall and shoulders 3 feet (1 meter) across. [You need to change your battle cry.] ''It appears so.'' The brute turned towards Eldrid. "HAHA! You''re not even in the first soul realm and you wanted to fight a soul palace warrior!!!" He roared with laughter. "I''m not like you who have already died." This caused the fighting around him to pause, earning him many incredulous glances. Some of the people on the outside of the circle were killed but no one paid them any attention. "Boy, don''t lie to us. No-one has come here alive since the days of old." A tall and lanky man said. Eldrid proceeded to send a wave of sword energy at the brute. The man blocked it with his shield and the strike cut deep into the shield before dissipating back into mana. "Convinced?" Eldrid asked with a smirk. "Yes. If you can survive the battle, I''ll take you back to the hall to see Odin." "Challenge accepted," Eldrid said before roaring and charging back into battle. Only half of the crowd was left after Eldrid''s short conversation. However, those that were still alive rejoined the battle and began their own rampages. Eldrid let out large area of effect attacks, decimating hordes of the warriors, but still none of them backed down. "STOP!!!" A powerful voice roared across the battlefield, causing the battle to come to a standstill. A strong looking old man with white hair was seen, two ravens on his shoulders and an eye patch covering his right eye. He stood with the posture of a king and aura of a warrior as he began to speak. "You never died, so why have you come here? Why are you meddling with our fight?" Eldrid smiled with a relaxed expression on his face and answered casually, "One of your warriors promised me that I could meet you if I survived the battle." "Which warrior did?" Eldrid pointed at the brutish man. "Ah, so it was Sigurd¡­ I should have guessed as much¡­" The mighty and broad-shouldered man shook his head as he sighed. "Very well, come with me young warrior." The old man began flying away, bringing Eldrid with him. But suddenly, he stopped and began to speak in a deep sage-like voice. "Young warrior, I have a strong feeling I have met your spirit before." Odin said with a serious face. Eldrid blinked once, then on a whim decided to summon his sword, thinking that nothing bad could come out of it. But the moment he did, his action caused Odin to lose his composure as he sucked in a deep breath of air in shock. "Gram... So you have met your wielder''s descendant after all..." Odin said in a reminiscent tone. "Wait, MY sword is THE Gram, from the saga?!" "Young warrior, you are descended from Sigurd the Dragon Slayer, one of the great heroes of your world." "How come the sword is a spirit?" "When your ancestor died, the sword''s spirit left its metal shell behind, so that if it ever met a worthy descendant of Sigurd, it would follow them. Young warrior, you managed to show yourself worthy to it. Now, young warrior, tell me your name." "I am Eldrid Sverd." "Fiery-spirited sword... Truly a fitting name. Now what great quest has brought you to my domain?" "I am here to hunt down a man named Leonard Welser, a necromancer." "That''s... Less heroic than I was expecting." Suddenly, Odin turned his head toward a flying fortress that only those who had a domain in the laws of death could see, that is, the ''gods'' of the realm. At that moment, each and every one of the ''gods'' heard the sound of an ancient voice chanting. "I take that back... However, I know nothing about this necromancer''s whereabouts. However, I can aid you by giving you a way to strengthen your body." The great god of Valhalla smiled kindly and patted Eldrid on the shoulder. At that moment, with his amiable expression, he looked just like an old warrior greeting a dear friend''s son. "That would be greatly appreciated." Eldrid smiled and nodded in gratitude at Odin''s words. Odin then materialized a scroll and handed it to Eldrid. But before he released Eldrid, a serious expression crossed his face and he gave a stern reminder to the boy. "Beware of the far reaches of this plane, and don''t enter the lower planes. It''s far too early for you, even stronger beings reside there." At those words, Eldrid looked surprised. It appeared that, despite his great increase in power, he was still not unbeatable. "Thank you. I shall be on my way then. Eldrid''s figure left the fields of battle and he headed towards the mists of the mid north. 18 Niflheim Part 1 As Eldrid was leaving the battlefield some scantly dressed and beautiful women rode up to him on golden haired horses to invite him to Freya''s court, however he declined saying that he was only interested in finding the fugitive Leonard Welser. The women left somewhat surprised that he resisted their charms, but they had no clue he was relying on the system to stay calm. [If it wasn''t for me you would have been charmed and probably been turned into one of Freya''s debauchees. and don''t think I didn''t know you were about to get a (author censored this for the MC''s pride.)] ''I can''t deny that were super hot. However I do have plenty of willpower.'' [Not when it comes to women it appears.] ''Shut up Dave!'' After leaving the battlefield Eldrid found that the area he was in now had numerous snakes and vipers. He ended up having to use his teleportation constantly(1), as he had a pet snake back on earth he wouldn''t kill them unless they were dangerously close to killing him, which none of them were. After several hours of dodging snakes, lizards, and breath attacks, Eldrid arrived in front of a large frozen river. Eldrid made it half way across the frozen river before he heard a low rumble. The snakes suddenly and lizards began backing away like loyal subordinates. Eldrid had an ominous feeling and had the sudden urge to check on his dragon egg, which had incubated for 30 days already, which meant it was almost ready to hatch. Upon summoning the egg, a strange draconic energy began rushing out from the river towards the egg, causing it to burst open, a little lizard with wings began to chirp, click, and squeak at him. The little dragon was black and orange, like a fire''s embers. A glyph of a sword was visible on the forehead of the little dragon. ''I know you translated everything back at Valhalla but can you translate what it''s saying?'' [Yes, I can translate almost every single language, whether it''s human based or not.] ''Well what did it say? Wait can it even talk yet? Human babies can''t talk for months.'' [Don''t underestimate the primordial dragon bloodline. I was only able to purify it''s bloodline to 1% however, but I was able to change it''s base bloodline to that of the dragon emperor.] ''But I used the bloodline rebirth ticket to completely change the bloodline to the specified one.'' [You didn''t read the fine print.] ''...'' [It''s because it was too thin a trace and the bloodline itself is too powerful.] ''Well, It''s something we can fix later. Now what did It say.'' "Hiya chief!" ''...'' "Hi there, what would your name be?" "I ain''t got one." ''Dave, why is my dragon so... southern?'' [Beats me] "Since you don''t have a name how does Magmus sound?" The little dragon nodded in approval before releasing a cloud of fiery and chaotic energy. A few seconds passed before a large black dragon head broke the icy surface of the river to stare down Eldrid. The dragon proceeded to speak in a deep and ancient voice, "Why have you come here human?" "To seek out my enemy," Eldrid said with a serious expression. The dragon scanned Eldrid with it''s aura, before a confused expression was noticeable in it''s eyes. "You confuse me human, you have the spirit of a weapon which slew dragons, the blood of a dragon slayer, yet you didn''t harm a single one of my offspring on the way here and even have a dragon as your contracted beast." "I love you and your kind especially dragons. I had a pet snake on my old world. I have no enmity with you or your kind." "I can''t sense that you are lying... fine you may cross the river." The dragon sank back into the river, leaving Eldrid and Magmus alone. Eldrid made it across the river safely arriving in front of wall of mist. [I won''t be able to help you find your way in that mist, you need your willpower to make it through.] ''Thanks Dave.'' 19 Niflheim Part 2 Eldrid could feel the chill seeping into his bones from the wall of fog in front of him, causing him to hesitate about entering. He took half a step in and tried to disperse the fog with a gale of wind. It had absolutely no effect, as the fog was an ascendant''s domain. Eldrid sighed before stepping forward into the fog, and much to his surprise the only thing that changed was the visibility, as everything was shrouded in darkness. Suddenly the outline of a person flashed bin front of him before slinking back into the mist, putting him on edge. Eldrid at this point jumped backwards, attempting to leave the fog, but he found himself further into the chilly mists. ''This doesn''t bode well...'' Suddenly a wave of tiredness passed through his body, all the way down to his soul. He became groggy and sluggish, the urge to sleep welled up within him. However Magmus''s snoring brought Eldrid back to reality. Eldrid woke Magmus up and continued wandering in the mist, for what felt like days. Every "day" he battled the urge to sleep but his willpower kept him going. After what felt like months (but was only a week) Eldrid arrived at a place where the mist thinned, revealing an old man in rags. "Young hero, why do you venture so far into the mist? This place is the gateway to Hel, where evil resides." "I seek a necromancer who may have passed through here, Leonard Welser." "Another man came through here a month ago, he was riding an skeletal horse with eyes of green fire. Would this be who you''re after?" "Yes, which direction did he go?" "There are no directions within the mist, only destiny will guide you." So Eldrid began wandering once again, however this time he ended up fighting off the lost souls of the fog, those who were neither good nor bad. After an unknown amount of time Eldrid arrived blundered out of niflheim, finding himself in front of a frozen river(1). Eldrid stepped onto the frozen waters, but his leg turned blue, a ghostly frost turning his leg blue. Eldrid quickly cut off his leg at the knee before it could spread any further, leading him to remember the manual Odin had given him. While Eldrid''s leg regrew, he read the manual which showed him how to guide mana through his body and strengthen the cells through the process of rebirth. There number of stages were unknown, as only after completing the previous stage would the next be revealed. Eldrid looked at all the diagrams on how to revitalize the cells with a look of agony. "**** now I need to practice my spiritual control... but how?" [You forget about me?] ''Yes.'' [My feelings are hurt...] ''Get over it, I was in that mist... how long exactly?'' [Only a week.] "WHAT?!?!?" Eldrid exclaimed in surprise. ''It felt like years!'' [It was boring as hell waiting for you to get out, I risked spiritual corrosion to talk to you as to relieve the boredom. Didn''t work though.] ''Wait if you''re bonded to my soul...'' [Don''t worry about it.] After if several seconds of silence Eldrid responded by saying: ''You owe me a lesson on how to control mana better.'' [Fine.] 20 Training A bright orange figure stood before the shores of an icy river with a dense fog only several yards away from him. Eldrid had to spend a month to try and learn the fine control of mana, which much to his dismay only gained him a rudimentary control of mana. What Eldrid didn''t know is that there were only two ways to advance to the spirit metal realm, rudimentary control of mana slowly transforming the spirit into the next realm or by sheer quantity of mana bursting through all at once. Needless to say Eldrid used the method of sheer quantity of mana, however most people had to spend at least a year to even gain the level of rough control over mana. Eldrid may seem like the perfect cultivator, however each plane of the multiverse had it''s own supreme talents like him, and many of them have the advantage of a bloodline, such as Adrian. Eldrid''s bloodline was that of a normal human who slew a dragon, which improved his strength and constitution compared to normal humans, but was too thin to help much. In fact it was an extremely weak bloodline compared to most, however the perk of his bloodline was that you weren''t shackled by it when reaching the ascendant realm. In fact Eldrid''s bloodline was still mysterious, he only knew he gained it from Sigurd the legendary warrior, but nothing else. What puzzled Eldrid even more so was that Malthael couldn''t sense it but that Odin could. What he didn''t know was that it was a hidden bloodline that only people of Norse heritage could see, only Dave noticed this. When Eldrid first began training his sword spirit had to had to guide him through the entire process, making him feel the entire process to form the energy version of muscle memory. After several weeks of training he was forced to perform mana control while doing various motions such as dodging, slashing, punching, running and other other exercises. During the entire process both Dave and his sword spirit were coaching him. By the end of basic training he could guide mana through his body to an cellular level, which was what was required to strengthen his cells by using Odin''s manual. However he wasn''t able to control mana as precisely outside his body yet, and was still wasting about thirty percent of the mana he used during combat. Eldrid''s cells had been their regeneration enhanced greatly by Dave when he lost his limb allowing it to regrow, however they were just as "soft" as before, which was at the level of steel. Eldrid began guiding mana through his cells in the complex manor shown in the manual. "AAAAAAH!!!" Eldrid screamed in pain before swearing profusely enough to make a sailor blush. After calming down Eldrid tried again, this time he was able to withstand it, barely. His cells felt like they were being torn apart and burnt by hot coals and acid before being frozen back together. Needless to say it was an unpleasant experience. After an hour of practicing he knew if he practiced anymore it would cause irreparable damage, mostly because Dave told him that he had to wait a full day before using the method again. After training for a month Eldrid had finally strengthened himself enough to earn the second part of the manual. ''The first level of completion should be enough to deal with the river right?'' [Probably, however you''ll need to adjust yourself to your new strength as you don''t have enough control of your body now.] ''Combat?'' [Combat.] Eldrid began looking forward to finding Adrian, as necromancers had plenty of minions for him to test his strength on. Eldrid walked over to the river and took a step, instead of losing feeling in his leg, it only felt cold to him this time. Eldrid had, prior to training, attempted to both fly and teleport past the river. When he tried to fly over the air pressure increased so greatly around him he was shot back to shore fast enough to break the speed of sound. When he tried to teleport, the was some sort of barrier preventing him from doing so. Eldrid began to walk across the river, however with his now greatly enhanced eyesight he noticed that there were many strange things darting around under the ice, and since he was constantly met with random encounters he summoned his sword spirit expecting a fight, however nothing happened during his journey across the frozen waters. This made him wonder what those shadows were, however he knew that if he broke the ice, the saying "all hell broke loose" would likely apply. After crossing to the other shore Eldrid''s curiosity got the best of him, and made a giant stone sword and hurled it at the ice. However the sword did nothing, not even a scratch was left behind on the ice. [You''re not going to break that, it''s both unbreakable and unmeltable. It''s a connected to the river you passed before, however this is it''s source. This is the ¨¦liv¨¢gar, it''s tied to your ancestry, leave it alone.] Cold sweat broke covered his body as the realization dawned upon him. He was trying to mess with one of the two primal forces that existed even in the chaos of the void and overcame it, ¨¦liv¨¢gar. Eldrid quickly retreated towards the realm of Hel. Unbeknownst to him, all the ascendants of the realm had sucked in a cold breath as the primal of force of ¨¦liv¨¢gar retreated into it''s icy depths. 21 Hel Upon entering the realm of hel, Eldrid tried teleporting but found that it seemed an almost impossible feat. This was likely caused by the influence of Hel. As she suppressed the ability of those under her domain from escaping. While walking Eldrid felt the temperature was almost as cold as the frozen river he had crossed. There was also the feeling as though the air was several times heavier than before. The sight that was before him was an unpleasant one. As scenes of frozen bodies were strewn about the ground with signs of each being mutilated by the birds and beasts. Further along it was entirely white, the ground was covered in layers of snow and bones. Also within his view was a strange skeletal plants with leaves of ice that grew from the ground. It was cold enough for energy waves to form in the sky. Similarly to Aurora borealis or better known as the northern lights. However, unlike the northern lights this energy is deadly to the touch due to the extreme cold(1). The Aurora in the sky was the only thing providing light to the dark land of Hel. In its own way it offered the only thing pleasing to the eyes, as even the falling snow seemed to bleach the land of all traces of life. The air grew colder as he walked further into Hel''s depths, the landscape more bleak and depressing. Whatever scenery there may have been was blocked out by the relentless blizzard. As Eldrid finally arrived at the gate of ¨¦lj¨²enir, Hel''s home there he find a wolf laying down blocking his way to the gate. The wolf''s neck was bound by strange chains that seemed to flicker in and out of reality. They rattled and clanked as the giant wolf rose up and howled before laying back down. "Fenrir(2) son of Loki I presume." Eldrid stated. "I do not sense the smell of death upon you, it appears my sister will have to deal with you." Eldrid kept silent as the mere sight of Fenrir''s eyes made him nervous, as they were darker and blacker than anything he had ever seen, betraying Fenrir''s desire to devour everything. "Devourer, has anyone living passed through these gates recently?" A female voice was heard aloud "Yes, but what of it?" Eldrid looked behind Fenrir to see an average looking women with a grim and fierce expression displaying her unpleasant personality, she was half black and half white. He then went on with his usual speech of seeking out Leonard Welser. However Hel stated, "What I do in my realm is none of your business. Unless you come with gifts or would you perhaps offer something to barter. This in itself is highly unlikely, you can leave." However a sooty red rooster dashed through the walls a quarter mile away from the gate, leaving a gaping hole. "I see you have a rooster problem... If I can catch it would you let me know what I seek about my bounty?" Hel laughed at this before saying "Good luck boy." ''Dave you haven''t been much help other than translating languages you know, can I get some sort of heavenly chicken feed or something?" [Fine... I guess I owe you some rewards...] [Item obtained: Heavenly chicken feed] [Description: All chicken''s, even those in the ascendant realm, will immediately come running for this feed.] Eldrid proudly stated to Hel, "How much are you willing to bet the food I have will lure back your rooster?" "The food of a mere mortal? PAH! I''ll give you whatever you want if your food can do it, HOWEVER this food can''t have come from within the realm of the dead or been given to you by an ascendant. However, if you lose you will serve me for eternity." Hel stated with a cruel and greedy smile. "Deal, however swear on your divinity, I''m well aware of the fact you''re almost as tricky as your father." Eldrid said. Hel frowned but obliged, at which Eldrid pulled out the bag of seed. "You said it couldn''t be given by a transcendent, you said nothing about a system." "There''s no guarantee the rooster will come for it..." Hel said before trailing off as the rooster came running back even faster than it had run away. ''Trickery has it''s uses, I have to love the fact I always used wordplay to trick friends back on earth.'' Eldrid said to himself in an internal monologue. "I''ll hold onto this favor for now... however I do believe you also owe me some info on Leonard Welser''s location." "He left a while ago, heading westwards." "That wasn''t so hard, now was it?" "Don''t be so proud mortal." "I need a way to contact you to cash in the favor." Hel frowned while tossing Eldrid a small bone before fading into the snow behind her gates. 22 Hiatus @@ I''ve been trying to write and I can''t think of anything, but I''ve been spending around 2 hours a day trying so far, however some of the more important things in life have suffered as a result such as my grades and social life. Until I set everything straight I''ll be putting this book on Hiatus.@@ 23 Update @@ Good news: 1) I''m not dead 2) I''m still planning on continuing so no worries about that Bad news: 1) I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea, which makes it hard for me to function properly 2) It''s still going to be a while before I can continue Thanks to you all for being patient, I''ll be back at it asap.@@ 24 Im Back!! I severely apologize for the long hiatus, but now I''m feeling much better and finally have the inspiration and experience to properly continue thr story! I will begin on the next character tomorrow and post it as soon as I have finished. I thank you all for sticking with me even after my hiatus and am grateful for your support. Sincerely, EldridSmith 25 Delay I apologize for the delay on the chapter release, I''ve had little inspiration and finals for my college class are upon me so I will post as soon as I can. ; In the mean time I shall make a poll on which you would prefer: ; 1) Continue this book ; 2) Start a new one based off of a roleplay I am in ; 26 The end It''s been a long time since I''ve written this book, and I''m no longer able to write in the same style. the various challenges of life have dulled that humor you have all come to life. I cannot finish this story, and for that I am sorry. I promised something I couldn''t fulfill, and I lied to you all in doing so. I once again apologize for that. I appreciate all the love and support, but I cannot continue. ; Sincerely, ; EldridSmith ;