Battleforged: Book 1 - THE BILLION CREDIT HEIST - An Earth Apocalypse LitRPG Adventure

Eric’s thoughts were racing racing so fast he could hardly focus. It was an effort just to sit still long enough to drink his milk and eat his surprisingly delicious chocolate chip cookies, near overwhelmed by the desperate need to get out there and kill his foes, rescue his friends, and claim this city, this territory, and so many others before the endless night slowly faded to dawn once more as the poor fool forced to bind a Silver tier talisman to his soul finally expired after howling his agony before pitiless keepers for so many hours, with so many ruthless manipulators refusing the poor victim any sleep save death itself.

It was yet another one of those cynical conclusions that he had no real evidence for, but would nonetheless happily bet his entire fortune that he would probably never see again that it was true. His Know The Score perk made it damned clear that it was as sure thing.

But whether the poor sucker presently howling his agony had originally been a willing participant or a doomed patsy all along like Eric suspected, either way, the end result was the same. Eric had a hell of a lot to do, and very little time to do it. Especially if Morlekai and Drake were either missing, late, or in trouble, which was his growing fear, even if no one had said a word to that effect.

But still, far better to spend a few minutes going over his options here and now, than dying out there. Because sure as hell, none of his enemies were going to hesitate to burn every last development point they had before fighting for their lives in yet another battle.

So Eric closed his eyes, allowing his mind to flicker through all the battles he had fought both on his way to Freetown and fighting to Lord Grim’s gates.

A half dozen Bronze tier mercenaries, Over a score of level 80 to 91 beasts including a Level 131 Cave Lion Queen when he raced to Freetown, because even Orange territories had been flooded with so much potency this terrible night that it halfway felt that every unclaimed territory within the North American continent, Orange or even White tier, was all just a heartbeat from blinking over to Red. And he had cleaved and pounded his way through all resistance at what was effectively Level 38.

Even with a Legendary Class, that much slaughter would boost his level like no one’s business

Even so, taking a second look at the numbers… His eyes opened in surprised disbelief.

“Fuck. I gained that many levels? Seriously?”

He wanted to laugh at the sheer audacity of it all.

The incredible flood of points he had earned, the level he was now at, and what his next step absolutely had to be.

You have gained 11 Levels as a Golden Phoenix!

YOU ARE NOW ATTEMPTING TO FURTHER SATURATE YOUR CORE!

“Damn right, I am!” He said to himself with a fierce smile.

NOTE! You have already forged a GOLD-TIER ascension path with a LEGENDARY CLASS you yourself evolved into being! Further Saturation is unnecessary. Half-step Gold is GUARANTEED with no further sacrifices at all!

“But the better I prepare myself, the more lessons I learn, the more insights I glean, the more perfect my forging, the stronger a Gold I could ultimately become. Perhaps even more than a Gold. One day.” He quickly changed tack, knowing that the System was incredibly interested in the insights it gleaned when a brave few managed to ascend from Silver to Gold… and had absolutely no interest in anything beyond that.

“And who knows just how powerful a Silver I can become… and just how strongly that will catapult me to a Gold beyond anything the System has ever seen before, if I’m able to maximize my potential every step of the way?”

Eric felt a sudden odd stillness in the air. An awful pressure…

Had he dared too much?

Had he been too presumptuous? Gone to far?

He clenched his jaw, both awed and horrified to realize that slaughtering half a dozen Bronze-tier psychopaths and a score of near 100th level or higher monsters saturated with wild potency while still below 50th level had indeed earned him far more than 11 levels, and if that pressure continued to build without relief…

Core Condensation permitted.

Warning! You already have a PRISTINE GOLD PATH before you.

But who’s to say you can’t transcend your own perfection?

Carry on, Contender!

Core saturation is now at 5%!

You may cease saturation at any time for benefits before continuing your ascent as a Golden Phoenix!

Eric took a deep breath, doing his best to turn his awe and relief into calculated focus. He closed his eyes, visualizing the key physical characteristics and Potency Pools that so clearly defined his path.

Once more he saw them as tiny candles lit with endless potential, his class feeding each of those 9 key stats 1 point for every level grown. Those were the points that were automatically distributed, just as his cultivation level-up points had been. Yet he still had control in the placement of just as many points as he once had as a Primal adventurer. 9 free ones per level, and 11 levels worth of growth meant that he now had exactly 99 glorious points to place exactly where he wished. And as tempting as it was to go all in and flood Quickness which such sweet potential once more, since every battle was proving that reaction speed in combat truly was everything…

His eyes couldn’t help but fall to what was both one of the lowest of all his key battle stats, that unlike his Mana or Qi or even his Psion pool, had no 12 node multiplier giving him a huge boost, and it was the one potency pool that was absolutely vital for all his of Higher Order abilities and attacks.

Soul Reserves. The essence of himself. His being. That which he was particularly leery about having any well meaning ‘friends’ that happened to be in the shape of silvery worms, touch or alter in any way. All the more so after battling a Contender that used octopedian tendrils to take over his prey’s minds.

But what if that wasn’t the only way for him to enhance, to evolve?

He already knew that Earth’s title boons were free of that particular System-enhanced modality of growth, even if it all showed up on his character sheet. So there was clearly more than one path to evolving himself, even if the System’s standard method was perhaps the easiest for most Terran classers to endure. Those who had limited or imperfect configurations that needed a System brace of sorts.

His thoughts raced as he considered and discarded possibilities before his eyes wandered back to the braziers that had automatically claimed his mandatory points. The minimum 1 point in multiple characteristics, including all 4 of his Potency Pools… and he felt just the same as he always had before. No sense of any silvery worm enhancements whatsoever.

Eric’s eyes widened.

He ignored the shivery tingle racing down his spine as his world became those braziers consuming so much potential before infusing him with the power he’d need to survive and thrive.

Admittedly, the braziers were small. Barely able to fit a single point per brazier per level.

But who the hell said he couldn’t make them bigger?

Could he not take the brazier blazing white hot on the coals of his potency and nurture it into a pyre of glorious potential?

Slowly, with great care, Eric began adding additional packets of potential in the form of attribute points to the one pyre that, beyond all others, would shape and define his ability to embrace the attacks that had forged both him and his mother into Gold-tier Ascenders.

Even if he could rarely use the attacks without risking rift destruction while delving where his foes could detect nothing, and manipulative lawfare-wielding asshats moonlighting as assassins screaming for his head if he dared use them in plain sight, it was still his final ace. The attribute that was vital to both his deadliest attacks and those embracing any element of blood magic or the necromantic arts which he could publicly use as well.

Slowly, point by point, his Soul Reserves steadily grew.

Much to his awe and amazement, he felt no odd pressure, no silvery worms squirming around in his head, no unwanted transformation at all. Merely the long awaited enhancement of what was perhaps his most vital stat, finally allowed to come into its own.

Even with no specific stat title boon, Soul Reserves quickly hit the 200 mark. And with the 50% flat bonus Eric now earned with all his stats on top of attribute specific title bonuses… Eric knew he could enhance it even further.

He thought nothing of investing a steady stream of the points available to him upon the pyre of his long neglected potential until Soul Reserves actually shot past 250 and was still going strong before topping out at well over 300 as Eric invested every last free point he had into that vital stat.

Eric mentally howled with fierce triumph, as if he had just reforged his greatest class weakness into a considerable strength.

The only thing that struck him more profoundly than the sweet satisfaction of spiking up such a CRUCIAL stat that drained so quickly, now assuring that he had so much destructive love to give to his foes… was the knowledge that he had earned no additional titles for his remarkable achievement.

Which meant that even at 300 points, there was at least one other Contender out there who had achieved that number first.

Eric felt a cold shiver of apprehension, imagining some hideously potent killer with access to arts even he couldn’t fathom as he snapped back to himself in Grim’s study.

Yet the worry he felt was assuaged by the title he did successfully gain, which made it clear that in the physical realm at least, he was most definitely in a league of his own.

Congratulations! Your Strength has surpassed 500 Points!

You are now the highest ranking native-born Strength holder in the Northeast Quadrant!

You will now earn a 40% Top Rank Bonus (90% total bonus!) with all further strength points earned beyond 500!

Eric wanted to howl with fiercest exultation. Now having multiple attributes over 500 with multiple boons effectively giving him either an 80% or 90% combined bonus to all additional points earned in most of his stats, even the points he got from claiming territories along the Path of Endless Bounty, Clearing Delves, or decapitating his fellow Contenders Highlander style, was an incredible feat that made everything he had survived up to now SO WORTH IT!

He chuckled under his breath, realizing that, for all their differences and supernatural origin, Lillian truly was like her old man in her hunger for sweet sweet potency at all costs. As long as they could still be fighting for the alliance of cute elves and even cuter humans at the end of the day.

Eric took a shuddering breath, praying that the girl who had somehow become his cherished daughter of nearly 20 years in a single night was okay, quickly shaking away future worries for the deadly perils of the present, with an entire city full of survivors now in desperate need of a rescue.

With a final glance at his condensed character sheet, he snapped back into the moment and rang the bell-pull that Grim had pointed out.

There were unknown threats to face, thousands of citizens to rescue, and a city to claim under his banner.

It was time to get back to work.

_______________________________________________________

Eric Silver Level 49 GOLDEN PHOENIX (Adventurer)

(2nd Tier Core Saturation at 5%)

Rank 41 DEATH’S DISCIPLE (Four Seasons)

Level 31 Master Necromancer

Physical Characteristics

Strength – 506

Vitality – 553

Finesse – 440

Quickness – 754

Appearance – 29

Mental Characteristics

Scholarship – 27

Perception – 429

Willpower – 99

Charisma – 15

Potency Pools

Arcane Potential – 340

(Mana Pool = 4088)

Spiritual Energy – 410

(Qi Pool = 4924)

Psionic Potency – 69

(Psion Pool = 837)

Soul Reserves – 343

Stamina – 5536 Points

Health – 6942 Points

Resistances & Recovery

Physical Resistance – 107

Physical Regeneration – 55 health per second

Elemental Resistance – 65

Qi Resistance – 79

Mental Resistance – 82

Class & Cultivation Synergism

Essence Ability Cost 67%

Essence Damage Multiplier 149%

Unarmed Combat Rank 26

Cultivator’s Might Damage Multiplier 167%

Damage Bonus to all Essence Melee attacks: 248%

______________________________________

*****

“Eric! We had feared the worst. It’s damn good to see you,” said Morlekai the instant he entered the room, dressed in a form fitting black silk suit radiating multiple protective enchantments to Eric’s exquisitely acute Unified Perception. And it didn’t hurt that it looked so good hanging from his sleek, well-defined frame. Considerably more buff than when Eric had last truly focused on his friend when not caught up in his own problems. It was the least of the changes his friend had undergone, and Eric thought he looked good. Damn good. A shake of his hand confirmed what Eric already suspected.

Morlekai Bloodsworn – Class: Vampire Lord (Elite) / Level 51

St 105 / Vit 107 / Fin 112 / Qui 107 / Appearance (Handsome!)

Additional Characteristics Detected! - Arcane Potential 103 / Soul Reserves 121

Congratulations! Identify is now Rank 3!

Eric whistled, genuinely impressed. “Level 51 Vampire Lord! Okay, I admit it, I’m impressed as heck! Do I even want to know how you managed to go from Basic Conscript to jumping right over Standard, Advanced, and Adept tier class options all the way to Elite?”

Eric winced, only then registering Morlekai’s blink of surprise, looking almost flustered, if it was even possible for a very much living Vampire Lord to get flustered, before his features eased into a rueful grin, sanguin eyes twinkling merrily.

“Eric! Sometimes I forget just how… observant you can be.”

“And clueless,” Eric ruefully acknowledged, “Despite my Social Perception perk. Anyway, major apologies if I said something I shouldn’t, or sensed things you’d rather I didn’t.”

But Morlekai solemnly waved his concerns away. “No, Eric. For defending my sister, my home, my extended family… and for allowing us access to your Tier-2 Ascension Pods, all you have is my undying gratitude.”

Eric’s eyes positively twinkled. “Good. GOOD! I won’t even ask when, or how the heck you managed to retroactively claim what looks to be the entire point pool you would earn if your had been a young intergalactic scion achieving an Elite class from level 1… but Fuck it if I’m not happy for you! But I gotta ask… System shenanigans?”

For some reason, Morlekai’s cheeks were blazing, for all that both Drake and Louie were chuckling good-naturedly.

“You got that right, good buddy!” Drake said, looking like the epitome of a college jock who had gone on to play and absolutely crush professional sports, while still keeping that young prime-of-his life almost baby-faced glow. And now that Eric was looking for it, Louie held a similar presence, poise, and sheer power that made Eric think that very, very interesting things had been happening to his friends in the time that he was away. Good things, it seemed, despite the horrible circumstances of their original capture. Assuming…”

Eric grinned, bowing his head Louie’s way once more. “I’m sorry I didn’t register it before, with things being so crazy. But you’re the farthest thing from a straight-class Warrior now, aren’t you?”

Louie winked. “Tell you what, boy scout. You can call me a Warrior every day of the week, after sliding me that sweet ass Tier-2 plasma blaster.”

Alice, on her fully restored feet once more and kitted out in a reflective mesh, despite having received far less than an hour’s rest, was positively glowing. “It’s so damned good to see you, Eric! And yes. It’s the fucking crazy thin silver lining to this inconceivable fuck-up of a situation we now find ourselves in.”

She turned to her companions. “Should we tell him?”

Louie crossed his arms and snorted. “It will go right to his head.”

Morlekai bowed his own head to the master of their manor who chose that moment to enter the chamber before closing the door behind them.

“We are warded and sealed,” Grim declared.

Alice strutted right up to a nonplussed Eric, gently stroking his cheek before whispering sultrily into his ear. “It turns out that watching a close friend you had partied and fought beside actually ascend has benefits. Even if we were watching it on arcane-linked video screens and screaming our heads off at the time.”

Drake shivered. “That’s one thing I’ll never forget. All the blood.” His gaze turned solemn, gazing so intently at a suddenly speechless and frozen Eric. “We saw you, good buddy,” he said, voice filled with naked awe. “On the bridge of a battleship. Cutting the entire thing wide open.”

“An entire fleet, obliterated in ice and flame,” Morlekai said softly into the sudden reverential silence so profound that a pin drop would have rang painfully upon Eric’s ears.

“And then he returned,” Grim pronounced. “And the entire world could feel the weight of his soul. In judgment of us all.”

And that alone broke Eric’s horrified stupor as he quickly shook his head.

“No. Never judgment. Not me! Sure as hell not me,” he said with a shudder, cheeks blazing as his heart hammered, seeing so many questions in their eyes.

He swallowed his suddenly dry throat, feeling so dizzy he could puke, the feel of so many stares holding the opinions of so many people he cared about suddenly weighing down upon him. Which was absurd. He had stats and essence affinities that could laugh off lower order magic that could melt through steel. Why the hell was he crushed at the thought of their judging stares?

“Eric, we saw it.” Alice’s New York snark was nowhere to be heard as she gently rubbed her growing belly, soft amber eyes locking with his own. “You were something beyond my ability to describe. Transcendent beyond words. A living miracle! A miracle who could have ascended to heaven right then and there!”

“Leaving only ashes behind!” Alex choked out, horrified by the crack in his own voice. By the look in all their eyes. “Look. None of that matters!” He said desperately. “All that matters is that we did our best to protect this planet and we got rewarded with damn fine classes. Tell me it isn’t so!”

The tension instantly broke when Louie and Drake chuckled in good-natured agreement. “Damn right, good buddy! System said we were getting major boons, having supported an actual Ascender! Even if we don’t know quite what than means. But the agony of having fresh nodes bored into your soul…” He paled and shuddered. “Yeah. Receiving a boon of a pristine seven node configuration while earning eleven attribute points retroactively for every level we claimed is not something I ever want to go through again, but damn am I glad that I did!”

Even Alice was glowing with happiness and relief, her smile radiating such breathless beauty that he was shocked that her looks alone hadn’t stopped the assault on their manor. But then again, mind controlled Bronze-tier mercs and a psychotic idiot with tentacles out of his neck who liked to play puppetmaster might be some of the very few who could resist.

“We all got Classes, Eric. Scary good ones. And I’m so grateful that my baby slept through the whole thing!” Haunted eyes locked upon Louie’s own as he wordlessly held her close. “As much as I want to put this night behind me, and maybe never adventure again when I could be June Cleaver with a perfect little picket fence home… I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that the payoff we earned surviving this far, the System credit we got for being your ‘adventuring companions’ when you did whatever you did that made it so unbelievably fucking happy… was nothing short of incredible.”

Morlekai gave Eric a pointed look. “But don’t you dare get cocky, kid. We all got the snarky message making it clear that there’d by no hand-holding. No growth save through adversity and training under pressure. Which means that even if we all got golden tickets of one sort or another… there are no safety rails. We can still fall off this once-in-a-lifetime ride, if we don’t watch our steps at all times.”

“As we fucking found out just minutes ago,” Louie breathlessly said with a shudder.

Morlekai bowed his head. “And I should have been here.”

“You were needed exactly where you were,” Grim said, choosing that moment to speak. “And now we have the information we need and understand what our enemies are attempting. Both sets of foes that would see us either enslaved or obliterated. Now, I think it best that you tell our young friend here exactly what he should expect, should he choose to dare the madness that is Freetown this night. Though it must also be said that he will always be welcome here, and no one will begrudge you for sheathing your killing blade, Eric, after all you have already endured.”

Eric’s friends stiffened, bowing their heads in mutual accord. But he could sense the tension and worry behind all their gazes.

“With the Goblins having broken every single treaty under the sun, including bringing on board how many fucking Bronze tier mercenaries? And I don’t care if they’re low level. A level 10 Bronze can still obliterate pretty much any standard Level 99 White-tier classer. They never should have been allowed on Earth in the first place, and if they’re not cleared out by first light, it’s like they’re grandfathered in to stay, profiteer, exploit and slaughter us to their fucking heart’s content? Fuck that!”

Eric rocked the table with his knuckle, doing his best not to wince at the sound of a crack like a gunshot. “Point is, Freetown’s got a major sewage problem, and its about damned time that someone was willing to get their hands dirty and clean out all the shit.”

Morlekai gave an approving chuckle, melodic peels of his laughter sending shivers down Eric’s spine. ‘Jeezus. Just how high is this cat’s Charisma?’

“Very well then, my young friend. Best I brief you on the nature of our foes.” His mirth faded to a mask of grim determination as he gave Eric a lowdown that made it damned clear just how late the hour was… and how perilous the game had become.

Within less than two minutes, because Eric absolutely refused to waste another precious second beyond that, he was racing out the gate with a crimson crow upon his shoulders, his mind reeling with what had been revealed.

“There he is. The human Eric Orcbane! Kill him and the bounty will be ours!”

Of course he heard the excited whispers that the pair of Goblin spotters backing up a full half dozen snipers thought no more than breathless excitement, the minute Eric slipped past the barrier of Hell Vines and reinforced bloodwards that was now protecting the entirety of the compound.

And even if Eric’s mind was reeling with the troubling news that Freetown was in jeopardy both from some hidden puppetmaster and the twisted Shamans performing who knew what twisted rights for their own aggrandizement, he was still able to control the furious pounding of his heart to make the most of his crazy high perception.

Which meant that when he slowed by the entrance, as if getting his bearings, he was in perfect position for multiple goblins with Quickness and Finesse a hell of a lot higher than the typical Level 30 classer to draw a bead on him and unleash perk-infused attacks that would have utterly obliterated most adventurers in Freetown.

But to Eric, fully embracing Speed Racer and Battletime, had already slipped free of the first barrage and was now raising and firing his instantly summoned soul-linked plasma rifle, picking his perk in the blink of an eye.

A perk that he knew shouldn’t normally be there. Yet, thanks to soul binding multiple arcane weapons, truly becoming one with its construction and intuitively understanding how both it and Fire wands worked, meant that he understood how plasma charges were both constructed and used. Assuring that the one component his enemies had controlled so utterly and completely, access to ammo, they monopolized no more as Eric reached with his metaphoric hand through the mist and claimed the ethereal prize that seemed so desperate to slip right through his fingers, until he clasped the squirming fist of insights and made it his own.

Journeyman Tier Advanced Arcane Weapons Perk Chosen: Unlimited Ammo! You understand your weapon so intuitively that you no know precisely how to recharge the cartridges of any arcane weapon you bind to your soul without it blowing up in your face! Cost: 40 – Skill Rank in Mana for every charge restored!

Eric flashed a rueful smirk even as he slowly lifted and sighted with his weapon while leaping to the side as the cobblestones were melted to slag by his feet, caressing the trigger with what felt like relaxed fluidity at his current hyper speed, having no desire to strain his weapon even with the runes he had blood-forged to both barrel and handle.

The System, for all that it clearly approved of so much that he was doing, had also managed to limit him to weapons he had paid the price to bind to his soul, as well as putting a healthy recharge price tag that would drain most normal low level classers very, very quickly, assuring that each shot was still a treasured resource. But being a human hybrid with Arcane potential of 340 meant that he recovered Mana pretty damned quickly.

Still, he’d love to be using his weapon even faster, as he gently squeezed the trigger over and over again, turning the suddenly wide-eyed and panicking goblins to well-perforated corpses as the night lit up with his blaster fire. And how fiercely satisfying it was to watch one skull after another explode in flash-boiled brains and superheated plasma, even if Eric hadn’t gotten off quite as clean as he would have liked.

Because even if he was fiercely glad that standing still like an idiot for a calculated second had flushed out his prey, it was damned stupid to think he could poke a hornet’s nest and not get stung in turn. Especially when his final graceful dodge became a painful stumble, as if fate himself said the hell with his 440 Finesse, he was doomed to trip like a fool.

Multiple Assassin perks are in play! Your footing as been lost at a Perilous Moment!

Danger Sense detects Sudden Death from multiple angles!

You have suffered 4 coordinated plasma blasts!

NOTE! Plasma is a heat-based attack! You now enjoy extensive Class & Essence modifiers to Fire and Ice in all its forms! Goblin perks mitigate near invulnerability! Elemental Resistance of 65 STILL Mitigates Fatality to Serious Wound!

Unified Restoration engaged.

It was all Eric could do to choke back his agony as blaster fire streaked through the air with killing intent far beyond standard plasma that tore into his hip and scattered off the blood sigils covering his still naked torso, turning elite protective magics into smoking crusted blood and scorched flesh, made it clear just how elite, and deadly, his opponents truly were.

And the malevolent smirks the inner quartet of clearly high level goblins sneering at him as Eric’s return blaster fire bounced right off whatever high level energy wards they were using, even as their lesser brethen exploded in superheated plasma, made it damned clear just how much of a fool Eric was if he thought he could use a weapon that had nothing to do with his class against specialized killers who had infused their plasma blasters with abilities he couldn’t even guess at.

Though he was happy to return the favor, even as he crashed to the ground.

“FRAGOR”

And how satisfying it was to see the lead sniper’s snarling countenance, radiating the power of someone damn well higher than level 30, abruptly explode.

As did the skull of the high level goblin next to him, the final pair of survivors, not being fools, immediately turning around to flee the roof.

“Fragor!”

“Fragor, motherfuckers!” Eric screamed with furious satisfaction even as he crashed to the ground, covered in plasma burns, scorched runes, and self-inflicted damage he was surprised and dismayed to find that, unlike the plasma wounds healing at a now visible pace, his headache wasn’t going away.

And with the shouts having done a cumulative 32+64+96+128 damage since his first shout because leveling up had clearly not reset the clock or lessened the tole he would pay with cumulative essence-infused shouts before a full System reset… he had taken 320 damage in the form of a sharp spike of a headache that had him groaning and rubbing blood from his ears for a precious heartbeat to huddle on the chilly ground in searing pain, his interface screaming with perky notifications that, while embracing the height of high risk stupidity, he had still managed to achieve a most significant feat.

Congratulations! Using yourself as bait has actually managed to flush out every last high level mercenary goblin now in Freetown, all of them EAGER to collect what truly is a monumental prize! Your head is now worth fifty million credits to select parties, and nearly EVERYONE wants to collect!

Especially a certain faction of goblins!

CONGRATULATIONS! You have successfully PURGED Freetown of all Unlawful holders of high-tech weaponry that the accords have banned from Terra! (Isn’t it nice to know that Master Criminal perks and Spoils of War means you can share your high tech weapons with friends who were also under fire tonight without triggering automatic death warrants?)

You have earned the title – International Bounty Hunter! - The Bounty Hunter class is now open to you! Original Lesser tier boons have already been claimed.

You have earned an automatic Council reward of 1 million credits! (Even if most of that council wants you dead. Talk about delicious irony!)

And speaking of irony… you have JUST BEEN INFECTED BY AN ENEMY CONTENDER!

SAVING THROW VERSUS WILLPOWER MADE!

Success!

Your mind is still your own.

For now.