The Systemic Lands

Chapter LXXIV – Day ? – Sword of Ascalon Round 3

“DIE!” I killed the level 7 boss monster with a roar, and driving the enchanted spear through its head. The Hellcat of Speed and Confusion had been a tough foe. It struggled a bit. The bolts from my crossbow had wounded it heavily, slowing it down enough for me to engage.

It finally turned to dust as I dropped onto the ground. The swirling clouds of ash and energy made breathing, seeing, and just thinking hard. Still the monster glowed quite brilliantly in this type of terrain. The moltenlands and the lavalands were much harder to fight in, with a lack of stable footing.

A diamond skill crystal appeared, and a point crystal. Just as I was about to advance and pick them a floating golden cube appeared in front of me. Finally, after all this time. I had got the first of these power points fighting on my own, and now I had got my second.

“Gregorovich!” a deep male voice roared. I spun around and dodged as a massive glowing golden sword swept through my position. I wanted to scream in rage. Now?! You come now? The sheer amount of rage within me grew to epic proportions.

The cursed silence eventually wore off, but my demons had been killed off by that time and the Indian Sultanate was pushing forth across the land. I had only killed a few of their rulers over the last few years. Whenever I went back to a city to cash in my crystals. It was amusing and allowed me to vent the hatred in my heart.

“Ascalon, why bother coming out here?” I spat to the side. My spit quickly evaporated in the oppressing heat of the zone.

“You are a terrorist. A force of evil. And I have sworn to defeat all evil as a hero,” the male sword wielder said.

“Even with your stat boost, you will never beat me. I see the old men have been empowering you, but it won’t be enough against me,” I said with a heavy sigh.

“I will never relent,” the man said as he advanced through the swirling ash. I was tired from the battle I just had. This man had clearly waited for the end, the asshole. But I wasn’t going to die here.

The battle started once again, as the man rushed me. Weak, far too weak. While I had only grown in strength and understanding while fighting under hellish conditions. I moved in close, timing my feet and hand movements. “Null Shield Disperse Angled Reinforce Null.”

I struck out, my hand moving forward. I couldn’t take my time, I needed to kill these idiots in a single strike, so they didn’t have time for a special move. Slicing Plane. Boil Blood. My left hand grazed an outstretched arm. It separated from his body, and he began to scream.

My right hand spun my spear around to impale him through the head, but I was blasted back by a wave of golden energy that overpowered my shield. I went tumbling across the ground. I didn’t lose my grip on my weapon, even from the tumble. I quickly got back up to my feet.

“Ascalon, the hour has come!” I quickly put up another shield. Dammit! I hadn’t been strong enough to end this in a single attack. The man was bleeding from all his orifices as smoke rose up from his body, but he was going to use what little life he had left to try and kill me.

“Null Shield Disperse Angled Reinforce Null.” Hopefully, whatever I was hit with could be resisted, or I could recover from.

“LIFE LINK!” My eyes went wide in surprise, as golden chains of energy appeared around me and began to dig into my body.

“NO!” I roared and focused on fighting them off. I refused to give in. I absolutely refused to. The chains stopped partway into my body, and then the pain hit. The man turned to dust, and the sword flew away once more. Parts of my body began to turn to dust, my blood began to heat up, rage and fury engulfed my mind.

I slowly dragged myself across the burning landscape to the cubic beacon of golden hope. Revenge, that was what I wanted. All I wanted. After working so hard, I refused to be put down any longer. Pulling my body upright, more from will than anything else. I reached out a hand and touched the golden cube.

Ask For Three Things, Choose One

Revenge.

1. Seal the Sword of Ascalon

Seal it? Not destroy such a thing? No, a seal could be broken. I wanted people to scream and cry. Revenge was done with blood, not with sealing. Revenge, I asked once more.

2. Unique Skill: Death Curse

Whatever you are, I don’t want a unique skill that would curse my enemies in pain and suffering, even if I got a small portion of their power afterwards. The limitations I felt on the skill were too much. I needed to be unbounded. Powerful. And revenge. No matter what I wanted revenge, for all that had been taken from me.

3. Unique Skill: Hunter Seeker

Yes. This was that I wanted. No matter the cost. Something that would allow me to kill all those who had threatened me and done me wrong. No one would be stronger than me, and revenge would be mine. I picked the skill and the golden cube disappeared.

I began to go through the hand signs carefully while chanting. “Hunter Seeker Target Strength Death,” word after word. Hand sign after hand sign. Step after step. I spoke over a hundred words, and over two hundred hand signs. My movements flowed from one stance to the next.

There was a sense of joy in my heart, since I had always kept a skill slot open. Just in case I ran into something useful, or got another power-point. The energy gathered around me, more and more. There was no hesitation in my mind. If you wanted to keep hounding me to death, then I would do the same. Never piss a Russian off, since we have ice in our veins. I didn’t care if my body was falling apart, I would take revenge and win no matter what.

The energy coalesced. My armor shattered. I am Gregorovich! A man of a hundred battles. A man who would never give up. If they wanted a monster, then they would get a monster, and all would perish. My conscious thought faded away.

***-***

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: Stay Alive

SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: Kill all targets

TERITARY OBJECTIVE: Maintain operational area to area designated Indian Sultanate

My primary motivator considered the objectives assigned to me by the Controller. Knowledge was extracted from the underlying energy portions of the body. The operational area was quickly defined. All physical beings within target area must be killed before to complete the secondary objective.

My probability and calculation motivator quickly determined the probability distributions of targets and the estimated time frame. I manipulated my internal knowledge motivator to create a probability map. I then tapped into the underlying Controller energy field to assess probability accuracy. Accuracy acceptable at 88.3% based on cross comparison. I then created a secondary overlay on my probability map, highlighting specific areas.

The math continued to calculate the estimated timeframe based on optimal routing. It quickly completed as I finished laying out the map and planned route in full. Time frame estimated to be infinite. That was illogical and I quickly traced down why I ended up with such a time frame from my probability and calculation motivator.

The input of new physical beings into the operational area, combined with my maximum speed and operational time. Chances of targets hiding in dungeons or other remote areas, made this problem even worse by several orders of magnitude.

My primary motivator considered the objectives assigned to me by the Controller. The timeframe was needed to evaluate efficiency of achieving the required objectives. Efficiency was not an objective, but a desired trait to limit operational cost and risk.

That was unacceptable. A resolution was impossible. Objectives could not be altered, but objectives could not be achieved. I accessed the energy based local memories that resided in this body. Holistic approach to objectives required. Combat motivator was not suited to such operations. Energy deprivation was also high. Cannot interfere with primary objective.

Sending request for greater operational authority to Controller.

Request Approved

The response was instant and acceptable, since my objectives were a high priority of the Controller. My combat motivator quickly adjusted to the influx of information. Reassessing objectives using new contextual understanding and my upgraded combat motivator. A solution was determined, even if it was sub-optimal based on evaluation metrics. Solution feasible long term. Objectives supersede evaluation metrics. Initiating long term combat operations.

I approached the skill crystal and the point crystal. Accessing the underlying energy field, I separated the skill crystal from it. I picked them as I quickly reformed my physical aspects. The point crystal would be used as fuel to extend operational time in low energy areas. The skill crystal would allow greater combat options. I slotted both into my physical body.

Pausing, I reassessed using my combat motivator based on the information from the local knowledge that was stored. Primary motivator assessing knowledge. Evaluating holistically and in context of long-term objectives. Adjusting combat priority with future evaluations to assess efficiency against metrics.

Local resources secured. Local knowledge evaluated. No further objectives in local area. Moving to complete secondary objective. I set off at a brisk base, but not my max pace, to limit my consumption of energy.

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