There was only one task that I could do that nobody else could; I could face down an uber. After sending a couple of undead with the crown gear to find Hell and Lethe, I dedicated myself to that task. It was a daunting one indeed. Ubers were end-game content. We were nowhere near that level yet. In order to bridge the gap I needed a flawless plan.
Ideally, I'd get a dragon. Or two. They were solitary, capable of flight, and widely renowned as being incomparably powerful, but each one was level four hundred. That level of monster could level Zezhria, let alone a city without a wall of weaker ubers. I could defeat one, in theory, but practice was another thing entirely. There were weaker ones in dungeons, but I didn't know where any of those were. Not that I knew where any of the regular ones were either.
I left the bank and headed for the keep. Where would I find a weak dragon? Or…could I lure one here? Weak or strong, I'd need to lure it first. Even an army of pets wasn't good enough to kill a dragon in its roost. I used a levitation spell to climb to the top branch of the giant crystal building that they called a keep. It looked like a frozen deciduous tree, complete with icicles and crystalline glory. The only difference was that the icicles went up, down, and everywhere else. The very tip of the tallest spike was flattened. I'd been planning to do that anyway, but it seemed like I wasn't the first one to decide that it was a good idea to have a nice little seat at the top of the keep so I could overlook the whole city. I sat down on top and started considering how to work this. I pulled out my map. Shaltyr was at the very center of the continent. I grabbed control of all the undead in the city and commanded them to find a mountain. Dungeons could be anywhere, but mountains were much easier to know that you'd found them. I started building spells as I waited for them to exit the pasture. They moved in loops as they crossed the ground, searching in tandem like they all had the same mind.
I was very glad that my mp refilled a thousand times as fast while I was up here. Dragons were resistant to magic. I'd need a massive amount to bring one to heel. I even had to deactivate my aura to be able to build the bigger spells. I could only use the torture spells because I wasn't sure how powerful it would be. I didn't want to kill it by accident. I added spatial binding and mp drain spells to the mix, hoping that I'd be able to hold it once the torture spells weakened it to the point that I could kill it. I also had to remember that a dragon's hp regeneration rate was beyond powerful. It was ridiculous, how powerful dragons could become. One maxed out dragon could destroy my whole empire. Easily. The most powerful dragons we'd fought in the beta would be nothing but chaff before a level four hundred monstrosity. Ten thousand of them wouldn't be worth a single max-level uber. The Darkwood might be able to resist a dragon, assuming the ubers I'd seen were weak for their kind, but it would be close, even with the thousands of ubers that dwelled within. Such was the difference between level two or three hundred and four hundred.
It was also ridiculous how powerful I was on the top of my keep. I could feel the power of the spells I was building. It was beyond anything I'd done before. So much that the spells were starting to manifest on their own. Arcane circles filled the air around me, glowing brighter and brighter as I added more power to them. Each spell gained twenty rings of arcane script, maximizing the damage while making sure the beast wouldn't die. The magic grew so powerful I noticed the black crystal I was sitting on start to glow. Was there a maximum to how much magic I could hold on to in this amplified state? I hoped not. I checked my staff for damage, but it didn't look like it was being harmed. Rather…it looked energized. The crystal was the brightest I'd ever seen it.
I kept one eye on the map, so I noticed when one of my undead found a mountain peak. I shifted my view and ordered all of my pets to climb that mountain. Most of them were too far out to climb it, but they started running for it. The finder of the mountain started climbing immediately. The map let me zoom and change angles, so it was like being a bird circling over my pets. Maps in this world were amazing! I watched as it climbed higher and higher up the slope. The peak appeared faster than I'd have expected. It was a plateau. The zombie rushed toward the center, and I could suddenly see a giant crater. As my skeleton got closer, the details became clear. It wasn't a crater. It was a nest. With a dozen eggs inside. Each one was larger than the zombie scorpion that made a horse look small. "Bring them to me." I was so focused on the map I hadn't realized I'd spoken aloud at first. The map didn't show any dragons, so maybe it was out hunting. If I had captured the eggs, it would definitely track them back. I had a dozen undead on the plateau, so I ordered the rest to return to Shaltyr. I could only hope that it was a single dragon and not a mating pair.
Then I let myself relax and look around. I felt like I was sitting at the center of the sun. If I could remain at the center of a star and have my eyes remain intact, anyway. I had been building the magic in the back of my mind, so I hadn't noticed the increasing glow as I built more and more spells. It was so bright even my sigil's light dimmed in comparison. I glanced down at the keep to make sure it wasn't about to break.
It looked like the opposite. The dark light coming from the crystal seemed to destroy the imperfections in the structure. I was perfecting the building. The same seemed to be true of my staff. Looked deeper into it, I could see the experience of the the weapon increasing. It would take holding this state for a decade before it leveled up, but I could see the progress if I was paying attention. Awesome! I'd need to see what happened when I did something like this in my other cities as well. I doubted the black stone and steel of Zezhria would start glowing. Or the mud constructions the orcs liked to call their buildings. I could be wrong though.
I saw the undead rush back into the city carrying the massive eggs. They carried them right into the main hall of the keep. I expected the dragon to descend from the heavens at any second. I waited.
The magic started to glow so bright I could see it doing constant damage to the npcs in town. They started hiding in their homes as much as possible to avoid the raw power I was displaying.
The spells started to strain against me after I'd been building them for a year. I could feel the power it took to maintain the massive power. The black crystal of the keep looked more like polished obsidian now. It had the color of obsidian, but still gleamed like diamonds. At this point all of the crystal buildings in Shaltyr were starting to resonate with the keep. And still the dragon didn't come. Had we gotten the wrong nest? Was it some other monster that didn't know how to track?
Then I heard it. The unmistakable roar of a fully grown dragon. It reverberated through the earth like a quake. A crushing wind ripped through the grass, knocking the weak scorpions into the air and crushing them before they even hit the ground. A second pulse blasted through the meadow, leaving nothing but black corpses. Dragons weren't meant for such weak areas. A newborn dragon was too powerful to get any real experience fighting pasture creatures, let alone a monster like the one I'd provoked.
Suddenly I had a thought. Would I respawn if I died here? It was dying in a keep, in a respawn point. Could I die here, or did I have to die in Zezhria to die permanently? I shoved the thought aside, though. I could think about all of that afterwards. Right now, I had a problem that needed my full focus.
I forced a grin as I waited for the monstrous beast to enter my line of sight. I had all of my undead pets waiting on the walls, leap abilities ready. Another pulse hammered the walls, almost knocking my pets off. It was close. The barrier from the gates being closed shattered under the pressure. Even resonating with the keep wasn't enough to keep them intact. Then I saw the massive head appear in midair. It wasn't flying, as I'd expected.
The black-scaled reptile head swayed into view as the long neck followed. It was massive. The beasts I'd fought in the beta had been about the size of a house when they were curled up in sleep. This monster was a walking city! The head alone was larger than the dragons I'd fought before. Each step sent shockwaves through the pasture, leaving miles of carnage as it slowly drew closer. Its eyes were level with mine. Even from miles away, it knew I was the enemy. Pupils bigger than houses were locked on my position. I'd had pets outside of the walls to increase my vision, but the nose was almost to the walls before the tips of its wings entered my vision. Titan didn't feel like the right word. It felt too small for such a beast.
Could I really humble this monster? No way to know unless I found out. Launch. The undead felt no fear. They flew at the monster like gnats. It didn't even bother swatting them. The forelegs entered my view and the talons gouged the earth like siege engines wished they could, making deep mines with every step. The weight alone made every step create a crater. If I could enslave this beast…nobody would ever dare resist me.
It roared again and the crystal wall shattered once again. I'd broken through, but it had taken me effort. Walls weren't even an obstacle for this beast. It hadn't even needed a sonic attack. All it did was roar. I could see the body of the beast now. It was the classic dragon. Scales glinting like they were made of the same crystal I was sitting on. The purity of the color was beautiful. My undead continued to attack, and finally managed to breach the scales. The monster looked down and black smoke started falling from its mouth. It wasn't even enough to count as a breath weapon, barely a cough.
My undead never stood a chance. The cloud of death magic that blasted into them when it finally exhaled would have destroyed any number of them. The cloud was so big it obscured the entire beast for a full minute. Common monsters were useless against this monstrosity. It turned to look directly at me. I could tell that it wasn't even slightly blinded by all of the spells I'd made. All of their light was insignificant to this beast. It was the king of darkness. My undead started reforming in the keep, but I told them to stand down. They hadn't done any real good anyway. This was a battle between me and an uber, they couldn't even keep up with his regeneration.
I stood up as I aligned all of the spells I'd made against it. I only had one shot. If it was still strong after that…I was a corpse. Maybe a permanent one. And he would raze Shaltyr. An entire city destroyed by a single monstrosity. I shook my head, removing all doubts as all of the spells I had managed to keep hidden were added to the massive wall of magical energy. The light produced by that mass made what had been look like a candle next to the sun. "Serve me!" I released all of it at once except for the torture spells I'd need to keep it weak if it didn't surrender immediately. I'd designed them to last as well as vary their expenditure rate according to the target.
All of the spells converged into one massive bolt of black lightning. The force of its passage ripped buildings to shreds, their residents included. The dragon didn't have time to dodge. And it was just too big. It didn't need to be fast, it was so powerful. The bolt smashed right into its head. I'd thought my plan was flawless, but looking at it in the face made me think I should have spent a lot more time preparing.
The bolt was so strong it didn't dissipate after hitting. Arcs ripped through the scales as the energy was converted into damage. A sound ripped through my eardrums like solid agony. The roar had been terrifying. I didn't think I'd ever heard a dragon scream in agony before. Had it worked? I released the rest of my torture spells. I wasn't about to give it a spare second to recover.
Red clouds formed over the dragon and started raining bolts of crimson lightning on it so fast the peal of thunder was constant. "Serve me!" I hoped that was enough. The only spell I had left was an emergency destruction spell. I could see how helpless the dragon was. Even that much power could be laid low by a mage with infinite capabilities that had been waiting for it all year. If it had come faster, I would be dead and my city destroyed. I seriously hoped that I didn't have to kill this magnificent beast, though. That would be a terrible tragedy. I leapt from the keep to the face of the helpless monster. "Serve me! Don't make me destroy you!"
My torture spell could only keep it helpless for one more minute. I was running out of time. "Kill me, Emperor Void. I will not serve." The voice shook the earth. He didn't need power to be impressive. Even as he was, nearly dead and helpless, I was awed by the sheer power it displayed with every breath.
No! I hadn't sat around for a full year so this beast could deny me. He would be mine. How could I make him mine? I was out of magic. He wouldn't bow. How?
Could I raise an undead dragon? No. No Necromancer could create an uber-monster undead slave. Even with a full twenty rings of arcane script, all I ever got was a level two hundred monster. How did raising work? Was it really just enslaving the soul and forcing it back into the body? A corpse had no soul to enslave, so it was easy. Could I raise a dragon that hadn't died yet? It was worth a shot. I still had twenty seconds. I leapt back onto the keep as I shoved all of my mp into a single simple Raise Dead spell and released it at the dragon. It was at one hp, as weak as it could be without dying. It was a black, so it was as close to a dragon of death as any of them came. I was buffed by the keep. If this didn't work, it wouldn't work on any dragon. I still had the eggs, so it wouldn't be a total loss.
His eyes burned with hatred as the spell hit him, but he was still helpless. No health and no mana. The shining black of his scales shattered. I jumped backward. Had I killed it? No. It was working! The flesh rotted off of him in a second as the black bones were revealed. Only the heart remained. A beating hunk of red flesh in the middle of the giant black skeleton that remained prone. My lightning wore off. If he could regenerate from just his heart and the spell hadn't worked…I was doomed.
Blood ripped through the heart, spraying me with the black, sticky liquid. The muscle was consumed within black fire. I watched in awe as the dark fire spread across all of the bones. The black flame formed in the places where muscle had been, smoldering with dark power as it replaced flesh, muscle, and sinews around the bone. When the flame reached the eyes, they blazed to life. Then the skeleton started smoking. Ink-black smoke poured off of it so thick I was soon lost completely in the dark cloud.
The smoke cleared to show the burning black skeleton standing, glaring down at me. The dark fire was contained within an obsidian exoskeleton that was perfectly transparent. I couldn't imagine a more impressive monster. "What have you done, Emperor? I'm an abomination!" wrath filled his voice. I almost feared for my life, but then a purple band of fire jumped from his forehead to my hand. The pain of accepting such a powerful servant was excruciating, but I had a new mental inventory! Necro-Dragon. I couldn't help the little jig I danced as I realized it had actually worked. The feedback was like nothing I'd felt before, but that didn't matter! I had an uber as a pet! "What is your will, Master?"
Monsters were infinite. That meant I'd have a baby dragon in my keep. I launched myself to the gate, but I missed. I crashed through the crystal doors like they weren't even there. I almost expected to go rolling across the ground, but my leap held true. I landed on my feet among the shattered remnants of the door. The twelve eggs were set in the middle of the room. One was shaking.
My normal undead filled the space behind me as I watched the dragon whelp break free of the egg. His scales glinted crimson as he rolled free of the gray shell. He had a pair of horns that curved behind his head where my Black had forward curving horns. I didn't have time to glory in the beautiful creature, though. "Bow to me." I commanded. It growled weakly. I grabbed the face that was already as large as mine. "Bow to my will!" It was a baby. It should be easy to command. It held my gaze. I activated a pair of red-lightning spells. I grabbed both horns, forcing it to look me in the eye directly and activated another pair of torture spells. It screamed like a cat being roasted. "Bow to me!"
The whelp dropped its eyes. I had a second pet with the purple cursor! I started giggling as the next egg started shaking. I claimed all twelve as mine. First the red, followed by the black, blue, green, pink, teal, white, and shadow. I some were repeats, but those were the species. Each one was different. The spines on their backs differed in length and width, as well as different shapes of their horns, wings, and bodies. There was more about them that was different than just the horn shape and color, like I'd expected. Some had spikes that were connected by frills or webbed membranes while others had different styles of wings from five fingers like bats to a single finger like a bird. I'd only ever fought the red dragons in the beta, so it surprised me. Everything from my Necro-dragon that had horns that curved down towards his snout, to the white that had no horns. I couldn't believe I'd done it. The babies might have been level one, but they were already more powerful than the average level fifty. And they could become monstrosities like the black I'd turned into an undead. Probably even better, because the ease of undead always came with tradeoffs. My laughter rang through the cavernous room as I felt the totality of my victory. I could never be beaten. Not like this. Not anymore! Let the central continent come! I had thirteen dragons to destroy them!
I sniggered as I ordered the whelps to join with the rest of my pets in becoming the strongest beasts around. I leapt to my newest undead recruit. "You remember your old hunting grounds, I presume?"
"Yes." The will that the monster had had was gone. It was a slave, now. Completely bound to my will and my will alone. It couldn't even want freedom. Hopefully, not all of my dragons were like that. Mindless slaves had their uses, but intelligent and free slaves could be a weapon of impossible proportions. Especially with power like that of a dragon backing it. Would it be happy to be surpassed by its children?
I opened my map and found that almost all of the northern half of the continent was explored. There were a few blank areas. I assumed that they were the home territory of other dragons. "How many classes do you know?" that was a major issue. If he could learn all the magic I had to offer…he'd be unstoppable by anything. Not even uber-monsters had multiple classes. They had abilities that could cause cataclysms, but they were limited. Classes made you so much more versatile.
"I know every class you do, just like any other pet. Should you become an Oracle, I will know that magic as well. Some of the magic could even be taught to me by your Oracle." I gaped at it. This thing was amazing! Unstoppable. It had taken all of the beta testers days of constant battle to bring down a level sixty Oracle dragon. What could a level four hundred Oracle dragon do? Would it ever die? I doubted it. At least it would be able to use my power before it learned Shyndyn's class as well. The combination…in a dragon…if I still had a body that needed to piss, it would be running down my leg. I was so excited! The fact that it was weakened by becoming undead wasn't enough to kill my buzz. It was strengthened by my classes, so it would still be a difficult fight for a natural dragon to kill it. The young ones would also become monsters that were unrivaled across all dragons!
"What about armor? Weapons?" that would be the icing on the top of the cake. If I could craft armor to fit a dragon, every blow would be dampened. Every strike would be slightly redirected. And the bonuses given by the armor itself…some were devastating without the might of a dragon behind them. My ability to stack spells combined with the deadly force of his breath…unstoppable. Completely unstoppable! The great skeletal head nodded! I actually jumped into the air as I realized what I'd made. It was impossible. It was absurd. It was marvelous! The whole world would fall before me. They'd beg for the privilege to bow!
Once I managed to make armor specifically for a dragon. I imagined that required considerable skill, and probably a bit of magic so it wouldn't weigh the beast down to the point that it was landlocked. I needed to enchant something so my pets could learn to do it in their sleep.
But first, that plateau was now a fountain of eternal dragon production. I'd have to level them up from one, but that was a small price to pay. I ordered ten of my undead skeletons to wait at the nest for the next dragon to wake up, and make it a new pet of mine. I'd have an army of them before long. Or maybe there was a time lapse without eggs on hand…oh well. Wouldn't know until I tried.
I rushed back into the main city of Shaltyr. I stopped at the first vendor I saw. He had a level two rare blade. "Where's the nearest enchanting block?" he pointed to the south without speaking. I noticed he was a zombie when he turned his head and I could see the other half of his face. Or, I would have been able to see it if it had existed. "What happens if I give you armor to equip?" could I give all of my pets armor? That would be convenient. The zombie cocked its head as it considered how to reply without speaking, since the tongue was clearly missing. He shrugged and pointed to the black steel helmet that covered what head he had left. Then he closed his hand and opened it rapidly.
"The natural armor is absorbed into the skin, leaving the revolting mess completely revealed. The armor is equipped as it would be on one of us." This one was still alive. And one of mine. He bowed as I turned to look at him. "I must say it is wonderful to see that the world is united. We have never been very good at ruling ourselves. Perhaps you will do better."
"And you are talking to me…why?" the npcs generally avoided me at all costs. Vassals more so than the natural ones. They seemed to know that I could make them do whatever I wanted, so they wanted to give me as little chance to do so as possible. At least, the ones I'd tortured or scared into being vassals behaved that way.
"I wished to gain your favor by giving you some information. Many of the pixies fled the city when you breached the walls. They abandoned their hosts, so the corpses would still rise and no bodies would be missing. They will be gathering with all those who have yet to swear to you. They will, eventually pose a very real threat to your reign. I sent one of mine to accompany them. She hasn't sworn fealty to you, that would mark her quite obviously, but I will bet my life she reports the locations of rebel camps with excessively thorough precision." I had a spy. Was this man applying to be the master of all my spies? "I would like to offer my services. You are a ruthless man, capable of ruling this empire with the iron fist it needs. I can help keep the annoyances to a minimum. At the very least, I can tell you where the annoyances are. If you will grant me leave." I took a closer look. His eyes glowed purple with magenta veins glowing beneath them. The host body was very pale with dark hair. It seemed a common thread among my familiars. I grinned as I realized I'd already accepted him, subconsciously, into my employ.
I drew my heavy sword and dug the tip into the ground. It sank a good six inches through the stone. "Abandon your host and mark your real face with my scar as you swear fealty to me again." The human collapsed to leave a tiny version of himself standing over the corpse. I could feel the dead beginning to rise already. The little man completed his vow and I felt the feeling of ownership shift from a first column vassal to incomplete familiar. Eventually he'd join Delfina and Shyndyn as one of my complete familiars. "When your agent comes through, you will gain your status. Until then, pray she pulls it off. Inhabit your old body." The pixy returned to the corpse, now a pet of mine. It was a strange combination. A level two hundred body with a level sixty inside pulling the strings.
The zombie screamed as the dull white eyes were burned out by the violet ones belonging to my new spy master. The veins burned themselves into the face, leaving scars instead of the pulsing veins that they usually had. And the eyes were different. They looked like they were made out of obsidian with a glowing violet core. I glanced at the cursor and found that he had two. One was my pet. The other belonged to Vyktor. "Master! You've taught me skills. I didn't think it was possible." That was nice. Now Vyktor would add to my ability to gain skill points. And he was a familiar, so he could learn skills.
"Learn the basis for every skill. I want every skill that this world has to offer." I taught him to be a Druid, Saint, Warlord, Necromancer, Shadow, Assassin, Cultist, Conjurer, and Shifter. He gaped at me as the classes settled on him like a blanket of agony. "And make sure you know everything. Anyone with more information than you becomes more valuable than you." The Shadow had an odd level one hundred ability. It could animate the shadow of the caster. Mixing in a few Conjurer and Necromancer spells, I managed to pull off what I wanted. I activated the spell and our shadows stood up next to us. They were almost pets, but they had a few major differences. "It can do whatever you can. When you have something to report, use this. They can move anywhere instantly. I've already given our shadows mental links. It will know where to find me." Or, it would know where my shadow was. And that was all I needed from this city.
No. I still needed to enchant something. I headed in that direction as I considered what I'd just done. I'd made a new ability. It hadn't simply been a rune with surrounding arcane script in circles. I'd overlapped runes in the center, dispelling the possibility of ever opening up the arcane circles surrounding it. The base spell was a simple declaration of fact. Indisputable and without need of amplifying, or altering, script. I'd created something new. Games weren't meant to do that. I had to accept the fact that this was becoming less like War World Online the longer the world remained active. It was as Ryne had said. The world was alive. If I could find a way to communicate with it…but I had other things to do at the moment.
I shook my head as I stopped at the enchanting block. It was just a square area of ground coated in arcane script. Circles and lines connecting all over the place, with script burned directly into the ground, glowing softly. As I stared at the hideously complex construction…I realized I could understand some of it. This was an entirely different kind of spell construction! If I could use this to build a spell…I wouldn't need the arcane circles. I could build an infinitely powerful spell with a single arcane circle! Unfortunately, this level of spell was still far beyond my skills. Maybe when I hit level five hundred.
I stopped thinking about it as I walked to one of the pedestals located on one of the ten arcane circles on the outside of the configuration. I placed the rare blade on the pedestal and noticed the arcane circle it created was similar to the one on the ground. This was different. I pulled out a dragon scale and placed it on one of the twelve peripheral circles. The scale dissolved and was replaced with a rune. Five of the other circles were full, as well. Every special ability an item had was in one of those circles. As I studied the patterns in the construction I realized that the script was all about utilization. The rune was the ability. The configuration of the lines and circles must have been the power level. The script turned the raw defense rune into a durability buff on the weapon. I turned to my animate shadow. "Go tell Vyktor that he needs to go to Delfina immediately. Have her make enchanting a priority for my pets before he starts setting up his intelligence network."
It vanished in response. What was the buff I'd gain when I reached level one hundred at enchanting? Could I understand that script? Could I work that into magic? The enchanting block had hundreds of rune circles. What could I do with so much power? I shivered in euphoria at the very idea. Dragons for offense, these new spells for defense, everything would bow. And I could do it without needing to sacrifice anything in return.