Apocalypse unleashed a l.., p.10
Apocalypse Unleashed: A LitRPG Adventure, page 10
Simple math. Forty-five minus twenty-five.
Twenty. Twenty more Essence Orbs awaited him next time. Their harvest made him wonder just how many Isaac and Anna had collected and how many they’d used.
Irrelevant. They were allies as far as he could tell. Competent allies too.
The notification flashed at him, garnering his attention again. Focusing became hard under the influence of the Essence. Doing the best he could, he mentally prodded “yes.”
The Orrery flashed before him, his mind cleared of all ill effects caused by his Essence Orb consumption. “That’s neat, but I imagine it’s only temporary.”
His gaze meandered upward, and he stared in awe. Twenty-five Essence Orbs, and it barely even filled the translucent container. If he compared it to the time he had eight Essence to spend, he could barely tell the difference. Despite being triple the amount, it looked nearly the same.
“Interesting.” Twenty-five didn’t matter to the Orrery. How many had the godlike beings consumed? How much Essence did they give the Shadowborn monsters when they were devoured or converted? “Too much, for sure.”
Focusing, he turned his attention toward the Essence Map on his Central Node. The Attribute Nodes shone brightly in a star shape around the representation of the Central Node on the Map. The Nodes afterwards were dull, lesser things.
“Makes sense,” he muttered to himself. The Attribute Nodes were inherently significant, since they unlocked the system. They were the root of the paths beyond. The smaller ones were only stepping stones along a massive plan that hadn’t revealed itself to him.
Yet.
He would get there, he promised himself.
Turning to his three skills, he contemplated them, pulling up the notification again.
Ability Node
Icy Touch: Imbues a surface with ice.
Cost: 3 Essence
Arctic Gale: Shards of ice surround you.
Cost: 5 Essence
Hoarspike: A spear of ice.
Cost: 10 essence
Seven.
If he got all three, he’d have seven Essence left.
The descriptions were lackluster and made him hesitant to go all in on any of them. With the spawner, he could probably get away with one of the skills. If he focused the rest of his Essence into more Attributes, his Pen, or his Disciplines…
The options were endless, and it left him frustrated. Despite having a total of forty-five, it still didn’t feel like enough.
Choosing between Hoarspike and Icy Touch felt impossible, so he picked them both.
With his Pen-knife, he needed to be fairly close to fight. Depending on the effects of Icy Touch, he could mix it into his melee fighting. Hoarspike was expensive…that meant it had to be good, right?
Watching thirteen of his twenty-five Essence fade away into the Ability Node felt bitter, similar to buyer’s remorse, but he knew he had to choose something.
Icy Touch
Imbues a surface with ice.
Rarity: Common I
Upgrade Cost: 3 Essence
Cooldown: 3 Seconds
Hoarspike
A spear of ice.
Rarity: Uncommon I
Upgrade Cost: 10 Essence
Cooldown: 20 Seconds
Wow, that…
He had to resist the urge to leave the Orrery to test both abilities immediately. However, he calmed himself. There were too many other things left to do—Essence to be spent and upgrades to be had before he could depart.
He considered his other two Disciplines, waiting to slot any more Essence into his Ice Discipline.
His brain blanked—he had no idea which to choose. Optimally, he would upgrade water to better synergize with his ice. However, he didn’t want to split his focus too soon. He wanted to make sure his Ice Discipline could pull its weight going forward; that would be more important than playing with magic.
Verdict: he’d come back to those.
“Let’s check Durability. See if there’s anything useful there first.” His Secondary Attribute supposedly synergized with his Primary and offered much-needed defensive options.
Also, as far as he could tell, the system had yet to lie to him.
There needed to be a healthy balance between attack and defense. Being a glass cannon would ensure a quick death in this new Essence-filled world. He didn’t like to entertain the idea of dying, but he also wasn’t sure if it was time to start investing into the Secondary Attribute.
To be fair, the Shadowborn monsters wouldn’t have the ability to eat his face off if they were dead…
Whether to focus on advancing his lethality or ensuring his survivability? But that was like saying toe-may-toe and tuh-mah-toe. Both options made him stronger and more capable. It was a nasty circular thought process. More attack meant less required defense, but in the case something did get to him, defense would keep him alive.
Looking back at Arctic Gale, he also knew that more offense would keep him alive. From what the skill’s description said, it seemed as though it worked two-fold as attack and defense. When he got it, there would be some testing to do.
Really, it came down to justifying the steep price attached to the Durability. He was bad at math, sure, but he wasn’t bad with money. Thinking of Essence as money made things significantly easier.
One Essence for one Arcana, or two Essence for one Durability. Their purposes varied, but he rationalized that they both had the same weighted effect. Well, if anything, the Arcana carried a higher weight due to it being his Primary Attribute.
That made it even harder to choose.
Looking over, he bitterly noticed the other three. The Miscellaneous Attributes weren’t even a consideration. Their returns were so abysmal that he wouldn’t be looking at them anywhere in the near future.
And depending on how much supply of Essence there was, maybe there would never be a time when those three were a priority.
Especially considering the lack of synergies they shared with Arcana and Durability. Like, if he got abilities from those three, would they even have his Disciplines applied?
He wished for a better instruction manual, looking around hopefully.
Nothing came.
“Of course not. Back to the drawing board, I guess.” Grumbling to himself, he considered the cost of gaining a single Durability. “Not worth it just yet. Too heavy a commitment.”
As nice as a defensive skill sounded, he hadn’t run into anything that gave him serious struggle. With the spawner under their control, he didn’t need to worry about a lack of Essence.
Aiden never thought the day would come where he complained about having too much freedom in his roleplaying games. In all seriousness, the wisest choice was to focus on punching out of the dungeon.
Definitely an Arcana investment then.
It only cost ten Essence to upgrade his wind and water Disciplines to Common V. If the pattern remained the same, that would unlock three new abilities for both.
At this point, he couldn’t say for sure whether the pattern did continue. Hopeful? Absolutely. Certain? Not a chance.
As cool as it would be to have six more options, he didn’t have the Essence for that. More reasonably, he should focus on one of his Disciplines. Whenever he progressed far enough, he could return to another.
Maybe he could focus on the synergy between water and ice first, upgrading the latter for his offense and defense options. Water had a lot of versatility, sure, but in a way that was too versatile.
Ice was hard and cold. It could freeze or be made sharp. It could be refined to pierce through stuff, right? Magic worked in mysterious ways, and making things stronger was one of those things it did well.
He wondered if enchanting was possible, but that was an interest for another time. Having to make choices with limited information sucked. “Options, options, options. So many options.”
Idly, he pondered the Orrery. He knew time paused outside when he was within. Was there a hard limit on how long he could visit each time? Or could he spend all of eternity locked up here with his thoughts and indecision?
Because the longer he looked at the Essence above, the more it felt impossible.
Tick-tock, tick-tock!
Even though time didn’t pass, he felt pressured to make a choice.
“When in doubt, Arcana.” That would resolve any future struggles he found himself in too.
Advancing his Primary Attribute seemed like it would almost always be a good choice. Everything he upgraded fed off its growth.
That is, once again, assuming the game functions as it previously stated.
He crossed his fingers, hoping and praying to whoever would listen that he wasn’t completely wrong.
Twelve.
It was only twelve.
No more indecision.
Twelve.
Spend them, and do it quickly.
Seven of the Essence Orbs descended into the Attribute Node. Its size increased, a perfect replica of the first Arcana Node.
Status Updated!
+7 Arcana
Throughout the enhancement process, silver light radiated off the Node in waves.
Once the Node stopped shifting and expanding, it underwent further metamorphosis. Three of its corners shot out with white lines, revealing three new paths.
Mystery shrouded them, obfuscating any details Aiden tried to parse from the new options. Specks of silver and baby blue danced around in the dim light. They combined in a way that endeared him, but he turned away before getting too invested in exploring the new toys.
New Mastery selection observed!
Minimum requirements not met.
Requirements:
Discipline: Ice: Uncommon I
Ice Abilities Unlocked: 5
Cost: ???
Okay then...
The Nodes stemmed from the Ice Discipline’s path, so reasonably, they would relate.
In his next run of Essence, he promised himself to get at least water to Common V and his Durability up a point or two. The investment required would be slow going for the Secondary Attribute.
So, with five Essence left, he slotted them all into the Water Discipline’s Arcana Node.
Status Updated!
+5 Arcana
No remaining Essence.
Depart Orrery?
Yes. No.
“That took way too long.” Quickly he prompted the notification, reappearing against the wall.
But he wasn’t done yet. His Pen was at Common IV after the last time he upgraded it, and he had a feeling it would go through some kind of qualitative change at Common V.
Hopefully.
Clicking the Pen, the ice condensed into the Arcana Channel core. In the bag, he had more than enough to upgrade his trusty weapon. Poking it in, he watched one disappear, but nothing happened.
Raising a brow, he poked another.
Then another.
It took five total Essence before he received a notification.
Name: Aiden
(M)Power: 1
(S)Durability: 1
(M)Alacrity: 1
(P)Arcana: 15 (+2)
(M)Spirit: 1
Boosts: Arcana Channel V, +2 Arcana, Dagger Proficiency I
First Discipline: Ice
Level: Common V
Second Discipline: Water
Level: Common I
Third Discipline: Wind
Level: Common I
Abilities:
Icy Touch, Hoarspike, Dagger Proficiency
Last he checked, ten plus five didn’t equal seventeen.
The Pen’s Status blinked in front of him.
Name: Pen
Rarity: Common V
Attack: Magical, Piercing
Boost: Arcana Channel V, +2 Arcana, Dagger Proficiency I
“That’s new.” Looking at his significantly inflated Arcana Attribute and his Abilities, he could barely stop himself from jumping in place. “From three to seventeen…”
Another oddity was the addition of Dagger Proficiency to the Boosts. It… qualified itself as a dagger?
“Huh, the more you know…” He’d been using it like a dagger so far, so maybe intent played a factor in the creation of the Proficiency. There was no way to know for sure, so he thanked the system for the addition and moved on.
“Hoarspike!” He cast his new skill, thrusting his palm forward. The ability felt natural, instinctive.
A foot long spear of ice flew forward through the air, its sharp point glistening in the dim light. It arced across the room, embedding itself into the wall. An aura of ice emanated from the shaft, freezing the thin layer of drywall.
“Twenty second cooldown…?” He couldn’t help but stare in awe as the frost continued to creep outward. As the frost spread, the spear shrank until nothing remained. “Just in time to cast another one. That’s nifty, for sure.”
When he cast Hoarspike, he felt a cold deep in his chest, and it flowed up his shoulder, into his arm, and out of his palm. It felt like he could also direct it through the ground, but it would be far harder to do.
Thinking of the synergy between water and ice, it probably had something to do with the lack of an immediate medium. Water on the ground may make casting the skill at range easier, but he wouldn’t do so now.
Mainly because he lacked a water ability.
Now, his second skill. The one he thought would be much less cool than Hoarspike. “Icy Touch!”
His hands rested against the floor. A creeping energy turned his fingers blue and purple as it passed through him and into the ground. Then the skill ended, leaving behind a small circle of frost.
Despite its lackluster performance, the skill could already be used again. “Maybe something interesting will come of it? Doesn’t seem all that great right now.”
14
JUST A LITTLE LONGER?
“Ai, are you okay?” Olivia stuck her head through the doorway, her eyes affixing to the nearby spawner instantly.
“Never been better.”
She spotted the large radius of frost on the other wall and grinned at him. “I have some pretty cool stuff myself, but it’s all about making me faster.”
“Any abilities?” he asked excitedly.
She checked behind her. When she knew the coast was clear for certain, she stepped into the room and grabbed his hand. “I got two! They both seem really neat, and I’m super excited to test them against the...”
Her eyes flitted to the spawner, narrowing.
Aiden watched as her shoulder slumped and her eyes lost their sparkle.
“Hey,” he interrupted her spiraling mood. “It’s okay to be excited. These powers will allow us to beat the monsters and make them pay for the lives they’ve stolen. It’s okay.”
“Really?” she asked hesitantly, tapping the desk legs against her own leg.
He nodded.
“Okay,” she muttered, shaking her head. “Okay.” She repeated the word more confidently. “Okay! So, I got one that lasts for some time. It increases my Alacrity the longer I fight. There are lots of rules on how to make it work, but it seems really, really cool. The other one is a similar boost, but it’s focused on my Wind Discipline. My slashes and stabs send out windy attacks at a slightly extended range.”
He smiled as her jubilance returned. “That’s awesome! Sounds like you’ve got an interesting skill set forming.”
“Yeah,” she agreed. She looked at the frost by his side and across the room, raising a brow. “So?”
“The one over there is Hoarspike,” he said, pointing. “The one on the ground near me is Icy Touch. They’re interesting, sure, but I think I’ll still be relying on my Pen.”
“Weird weapon,” she giggled.
“It’s super good for magic, surprisingly. It has an ability—”
“The one that lets you make a small knife.”
“Right. Once I got the Pen to Common V, it gave me some Attributes and another ability.” He stood, holding the magicked Pen in his hand. Testily, he gave it a few swings. His actions felt guided slightly, as though there were some kind of autocorrect function working on him.
His angles were tighter when he stabbed and his slashes faster. His grip even adjusted on the weapon slightly, making it feel more natural. Giving the Pen a long look, he realized it wafted wisps of ice. His fingers were completely numb to it, but it made him wonder.
“Oli, can you touch the side of the knife, please? I wanna test something.” He tilted it so that the side faced her. She shrugged, poking it. When she took her finger away, it had noticeably gained a light sheen of ice. “I wonder what upgrade caused that.”
There were only two options. Since he hadn’t upgraded his Ice Discipline at all, it could only be Arcana or the Pen itself.
He stood from the floor. “What next?”
“Good question. We should probably check on the others.”
He really wanted to see how their new abilities would fare, but being hasty would only lead to more trouble than would prove worthwhile.
“Do you think we should use the spawner before we search the rest of the school?” She looked at it excitedly.
“Without a doubt. Before we leave, we should see if there’s some way to destroy it. I don’t want someone else to stumble onto it and…” They’d already seen enough death and the potential horde that could form if not careful.
Together, they stepped into the hall. Aiden crawled through the hole in the large vines, curious as to how Anna had made such a strong attack already. It filled the halls. If it weren’t for the Lesser-Evil sized holes, he’d have to chop through after the duo.
Passing through too many viney brambles to count, they finally exited the other side.
