Chapter 124: The Return of the King (2/2)
[Claimed by Seng]: When you level up, you have an additional 10 percent chance to gain a Skill or Agility point. You can breathe and survive underwater, and you always benefit from aquatic terrains’ bonuses; you are immune to the negative health effects of alcohol, but you can still get drunk.
Damn it. He had become a professional lackey.
“Your first mission will be to oversee Kia Bekele’s redemption, according to the tenets of my faith,” Seng said, trying to sound like a dignified, forgiving deity, but utterly failing at it. “And then you will remind everyone that I am a great and caring goddess, until I believe it myself.”
“I will,” Victor said, taking it as the price to lift Kia’s curse.
Someone knocked on the TV room’s door. It was Camilla, from the voice. “Victor!”
“Yes, vampire Mom?”
“We’re leaving!” She must have finally stopped arguing with Mithras.
“Can I come back to this place?” Victor asked Seng. He wouldn’t mind hanging out with the mermaid more often; she was a lot of fun, and she had a TV.
“Anytime!” Seng replied, before switching channels.
Victor walked to the door, finding Camilla and Mithras waiting on the other side. While the god of justice remained still like a statue, the [Reaper]’s patron had her arms crossed and looked ready to murder someone on the spot.
“Have you made progress on your [Paladin] friend’s case?” she asked Victor.
“Yes,” he said. “I’ve got the authority to solve the case.”
“Good,” Camilla replied, glaring at Mithras. “At least my chosen is pulling his weight.”
Victor sincerely hoped his friendship with Kia would never follow the same path as these two.
“Thank you,” the god of justice told Victor, ignoring Camilla. “I am grateful for your good deed.”
“Do I get a Perk out of it?” the Vizier asked, pushing his luck.
“You already received one,” Mithras replied, before teleporting away. “Do not get greedy for doing the right thing.”
Well, Victor was half-dragon now. Greed was part of the package.
“And he wonders why I dumped him,” Camilla replied angrily, before waving her hand. In the blink of an eye, Victor found himself back in his pocket dimension’s laboratory, where his [Fetch] was busy tinkering with the Soulcrest.
“Are you okay?” the Vizier asked the dark elf goddess, sensing her anger and frustration.
“No,” she replied, quickly changing the subject. “Victor, have you Grandrake and Chilled with Seng?”
“We watched a documentary, but no, we didn’t chill that way.”
“Good, because even if I appreciate you, I won't tread anywhere Seng has gone first. I have standards, and I need to blow off steam right now.”
The Vizier froze. “What does that mean?”
Camilla looked at Victor, then at the lab’s undead operation table, then back at him.
[Herpes], [Syphilis], and [Succurus Warts] negated by [Claimed by Cybele]. Warning: you have taken super-effective damage from the blood loss! You have fallen below one-third of your HP!
Congratulations! For your charming ways and deeds, you have earned four levels in [Fiendish Rake]! You earned the [Curse of Diarmuid] and [Emotion Magic I] Perks.
+ 120 HP, +10 SP, +4 VIT, + 2 SKI, +4 AGI, +3 INT, +8 CHA, +1 LCK.
[Curse of Diarmuid]: technique, 60 SP. You can cause your naked face to become cursed for five minutes, which manifests as a spot on your cheek. During this duration, anyone looking at your visage must succeed on a Charisma check or become obsessed with your face, dropping everything to gaze at it. This is an [Curse] effect that will affect the victim until it is magically lifted.
[Emotion Magic I]: You can learn and cast tier I spells; additionally, you can learn spells with the [Mind] or [Emotion] descriptors, even if you do not have access to their relevant specialized school. This stacks with other tier access perks that you may have from other classes.
The night had long fallen and the cursed Moooon risen in the skies, when Vainqueur unleashed his magic for the… hundredth time?
In truth, he had lost count.
“[Terraform: Landmass]!”
Once more, the desert bent to his will, all the way to the stone coast separating it from the sea. A layer of moss-covered the sand, while giant mushrooms the size of trees and houses grew all around them.
You changed the [Desert] field into a [Fungi Forest] field!
[Plant] creatures will gain a boost to all stats, while [Plant] and [Poison] effects will be greatly strengthened. Physical ailments will last twice as long.
“Next,” Vainqueur declared, unhappy that he had yet to create a [Gold Farm] field.
“Yer Majesty, there is no next,” Rolo the golem replied.
“I have plenty of energy left,” the dragon argued proudly.
“Yer Majesty, there is no next,” the tinfoil creature repeated. “That was the last patch of desert in Ishfania. We reached the frontier.”
His dryad friend looked at the ocean with a strange, serene face. “It is done,” she said, the weight of her words heavy on her. “It is done.”
Vainqueur gathered his breath, raised his arms, and shouted the following truth to the sea.
“VAINQUEUR BEST DRAGON!”
Congratulations! For reshaping ALL of Ishfania on your own, in one go, you earned four levels in [Geomancer]! You earned the [Terraform: Non-Magical Terrains] and [Nature Wonder] class perks.
+120 HP, +80 SP, +3 SKI, +2 AGI, +4 INT, +3 CHA, +1 LCK.
[Terraform: Non-Magical Terrains]: 50 SP per fifty meters radius. You can permanently terraform an area around you into the following [Fields]: [Forest], [Marsh], [Desert], [Hill], [Snowland], [Plains], [Tundra], [Rock Mountain], [Ice Mountain], [Volcano], [Beach], [Lake], [Flower Garden], [Canyon], and [Oasis]. You need to be grounded to activate this effect. This replaces [Terraform: Landmass].
[Nature Wonder]: Technique, 100 SP. You can draw upon ambient natural energies to boost all your stats by two stages, and cure any physical-based ailment affecting you. You need to be grounded on natural soil to activate this technique.
Thanks to your levels in [Geomancer] and [Dungeon Breeder], you can combine both classes into the prestigious [Fisher King] class!
“Where are my other minions?” the dragon asked since the ghoul and the fiend were missing. It irked him that only two of his lackeys witnessed his triumph.
“Malfy went to sleep, and Jules is updating the country’s map,” Allison replied. “He has a lot of work ahead of him.”
“The work of Akhenapep is undone in Ishfania,” Rolo said, looking at the distant landmass beyond the sea. “Other countries remain covered in Sablar's sand, but today? Today, we served the goddess well.”
“I was reincarnated to repair you and this land, Rolo, and half of the work is done,” Untasty Allison replied, a tear in her eye. “I am sorry, this… this is really an emotional moment for me.”
“Cry tears of joy, my servant,” Vainqueur gave her his imperial permission. “Today, I have granted your wish. For I am good and generous.”
At long last, he had spat in the eye of this worm Sablar, and molded his empire into a place where all creatures could live to serve him.
As if to ruin his mood though, a storm gathered on the horizon, covering the sea. The dragon prepared to boast again, when he realized that the clouds were flying straight at him.
“This is not a natural storm,” Vainqueur realized, as the pressure in the air grew stronger. He immediately understood the situation. “Minions, hide.”
“But—”
“Hide,” the dragon replied more firmly, the golem and the dryad retreating away. Untasty Allison fused with a giant mushroom, hiding within the plant, while Rolo moved behind it. Vainqueur refused to allocate funds to revive more minions.
Soon afterward, a flock of winged, false princesses surrounded the dragon, announcing their gigantic leader’s arrival. A fomor titan looked down on the dragon from atop his flying horse.
“Dragonsbane.” Vainqueur glared back.
“Knightsbane,” King Wotan replied, his spear crackling with wild lightning. “You have ten minutes.”