Chapter 277 - More Titles For Me!

Eric finally let the more recent Interface messages wash over him, still in a horrified daze at just how close he had come to losing his familiar, doing all he could not to think too closely about the haunted gazes of a pair of women who had lost absolutely everything and everyone in just a handful of seconds.

You have successfully saved versus Fatal Stroke!

Congratulations! You have survived forced cognitive evolution in your lover’s arms! Because with hundreds of telepaths embracing your mind with their adoration, you will either learn to blossom under the lights of their affection, or die trying!

Psionic Potency is now 5!

You have successfully healed damage to multiple neuroclusters! Unified Restoration allows for smooth integration of your newly evolved prefrontal cortex!

You have pushed your second Primal Power in ways normally alien to your race!

Unified Restoration is now Rank 9!

Congratulations! You are the first Terran to successfully fuse the forbidden path of Psionics with the Arcane arts!

You have earned the title Psionics Arcanist!

Arcane Potential has been permanently increased by 5 points!

Psionic Potency has been permanently increased by 5 points!

You now receive a 20% bonus to successfully incorporate Arcane magics and Psionics Into one or more of your spells! Said spells have significantly reduced risk of critical failure. You will now learn spells incorporating said arts 20% faster than you otherwise would!

All Classes involving Psionics of Adept Tier or lower are now available to you! (You are still limited by natural biological predisposition! Your use of Psionics is an anomaly! You may invest no more points in Psionic Potency than the standard 3 points all applicable classes automatically invest in this stat per level!)

You are one of the first 5 Terrans to use the forbidden art of Psionics in the Northeast Sector!

You are one of the first 5 Terrans to kill a fellow native using Psionics in the Northeast Sector!

Eric said nothing for long moments as he raced for all he was worth, exhilarated to find that his perilous brush with death from the sweetest bliss imaginable, and his daring to unleash his ability upon the face of Terra had earned him incredible boons he feared would otherwise have been impossible for him to achieve at all. If he had a single regret, it was that he hadn’t had even more opportunity to train from a low stat to what he assumed was an average stat of ten in a stat pool so forbidden his interface refused even to fully translate it.

If anything, he was chilled to find that he wasn’t alone in walking this forbidden path in this corner of the globe, let alone all of Earth. Though he suspected whoever else was doing so was using arts far cleaner and focused than his own, where his use of this art was only in conjunction with Mana and Qi both in an attack so focused and direct that it struck his foe directly, without any elemental medium, like fire, ice, or lightning, needed to deliver his blow. It wasn’t really a proper mental attack at all. It was a physical one using the power of his mind directly.

“Not that it’s that much different from fucking with the pull of gravity on my opponent, but fuck if I can’t release this mental attack spell faster than any 20 or 30 second ritual. And how the hell are we moving so fast?” Eric said, more than a bit surprised to feel himself slipping through the grasslands at a speed he had never dared before… even utterly distracted, and without feeling any wind resistance at all. Even the foliage and undergrowth seemed to part effortlessly before him.

“It’s because of your mastery over Wind and Gravity… runically speaking. Of course, you’re hardly an expert, but when you’re fighting in combat time, or trying to escape your FEELINGZ! Like right now, it’s kind of automatic.”

Eric lurched to a stop, gazing up at the bunny on his shoulder, smiling so cheekily back at him.

“Bunbun! I… Jeeze, I thought you were dead, and...” Eric stopped and shook his head, furiously wiping away the sting in eyes that hadn’t felt any wind resistance at all.

Only to feel the gentle pat of a tiny paw. “It’s okay. I know you’re heart was breaking for your Little Lilly… cutest Exile’s Path streamer on the Twitcher channels, your secret crush, when you weren’t hitting all that Hollywood sweetness.”

Eric’s cheeks turned bright red. “I wasn’t hitting…” He winced under his familiar’s bemused stare. “Okay, maybe one or two cuties trying to get on my mother’s radar. Anyway, I’m just so glad you’re okay!”

“Only because you came when you did,” Lilly admitted softly. “I could feel myself drifting away to a very long sleep, and after I had tried to save all those goofballs… but then I felt it.”

Eric blinked. “Felt what?”

She shrugged, looking back at the sight of their miniature massacre. “My anchor.”

Eric swallowed, suddenly getting it. “The one who...”

“Yeah.”

Eric stroked his bunny’s ears, gently kissing her furry brow. “No more diplomacy heroing if I’m not around, okay, Buns? Especially if they’re using anti-material rifles or supposedly outlawed arcane blaster carbines.”

His bunny nodded, unable to suppress a shiver of her own. “Believe me, message received loud and clear!” She gazed up at him with her warm brown eyes. “Thanks, by the way.”

“You know I got your back.”

“No, I mean for sparing the girls. You heard as well as I did what they they were saying when we left.”

Eric furrowed his brow. “Yeah, I heard.”

His bunny nodded. “Leave it to the Snicklit tribe to turn what should have been a truly elite crew into their own personal kill squad. Because no matter who lives or dies, we all lose when any talented Terran dies, and I bet those fucking goblins are laughing their asses off, playing us all for suckers and fools.”

A glaring Eric ground his teeth, then finally relented. “I get it.”

“So, you don’t want to murderize them any more?”

Eric sighed and shook his head. “When that asshole shot you, when I woke up to your psyche screaming in my soul, all bets were off. But yeah, as soon as every asshole that dared point a weapon at you or me was taken off the board… seeing two girls begging for their lives… girls that could have been my Rica, had life taken a slightly different twist… yeah. Tearing out their hearts is one bitter memory I refuse to be burdened by in what I hope will be a very awesome fulfilling life.”

He mimed wiping his hands. “So, I’m done with them both. No guilt, no regret, no grudge. But if they ever come my way again, I will genocide both their fucking asses.”

His bunny snorted. “Well, you did strip them of everything they own, save their skivvies. All their high tech and magitech gear is now yours. Not to mention you actually messaged your mom.”

Eric nodded. “Damn right I did. Because there’s forgiveness, and then there’s being fucking stupid. They came to assassinate me, Bunbun. Right when I’m trying to change this tiny corner of the world for the better. A tool of the goblins and all their administrative lick-boots.”

Eric flashed a cold smile, thinking of the most recent additions to his growing army. “Well, if nothing else, we have a couple more deterrents our enemies get to think long and hard about before they try putting together any more hit squads again.”

Bunbun snorted. “Most especially the hit squads, lest they join their old friends under a new banner. For eternity.”

“Damn right about that!” Eric chuckled, before his gaze hardened once more. “And don’t think I totally forgot about your little cute burst of telepathy. How did you know I was thinking about how the hell I was going so fast, especially while fighting those knuckleheads, without generating any air friction at all? Or toppling off balance!”

His bunny gazed at him for long moments. “Boy, you really are tired, aren’t you?”

Eric blinked. “Come again?”

This earned a bemused snort. “Have you even checked your latest boon?”

Eric blinked. “You mean besides the one giving me a +5 bonus to Arcane Reserves and an equal amount to a stat that my System still refuses to actually acknowledge?”

Bunbun nodded. “I do. And with a ten in that forbidden reserve… you aren’t nearly as pathetic as you were at a score of just two, not that long ago.”

“But I can still never put points in it.”

Bunbun shrugged. “So boost it up the old fashioned way.”

Eric smirked. “What, titles? Like using it in my bloody campaign of conquest, to kill a hundred goblins or orcs or gnolls when I next try to take over a territory and see if I can boost it by a whopping ten or fifteen points with another Battlefield title?”

Eric and his familiar exchanged a long look before bursting out in laughter.

“Hell yeah we will!”

Bunbun nodded. “And now’s the perfect time, because even your Interface acknowledges there are only a handful of you mental killers in this corner of the world right now. And that beats the hell out of competing with literally thousands of adventures eager to power up however they can, whether or not they actually have what it takes to become Contenders. So go go SpeedRipper, and all that!”

Eric nodded. “That definitely sounds like a plan.”

His bunny winked. “And I see you messaged your mom A-OK even while trying to dodge administrator-tainted writs of summons and cursed e-mails.”

Eric blinked. “Come to think of it, yeah I did.”

Lilly patted his head. “Your loyal familiar is good for more than lightning blasts and snarky comments in combat, I’ll have you know.”

Eric all but squealed with joy. “Bunbun! Are you offering to be my System Mod?”

“Who’s offering? I already am, goofball. Those nasty e-mails were all flushed away.” She shrugged. “or at least, the ones that I could. Which is over 90%! And not even the most stubborn e-mail has permission to pop up on your Character Interface Sheet, after I was done with it. I was able to hardlock that command, fearless leader. Now go check out your latest title!”

With a bemused nod, Eric did just that, eyes widening at what he saw.

Congratulations! You have surpassed 300 in Quickness!

You are the first local Contender to achieve this feat!

You are now visible in the Top 10 Player Charts!

You have taken the Number 1 Spot for Quickness in the Top 10 Player Charts for the Northeast Sector!

Potency Boon is now in effect!

Terra takes note of her newest champion!

All additional boons, blessings, and Potency Points invested in Quickness while you reside on Earth OR one of her many pocket realms, will receive a 30% bonus from Mother Earth herself!

Multiple Synergistic Abilities Detected! - Additional Boon earned!

Speed Racer

For having forged yourself in a high gravity field with thicker than normal air pressure, while harmonizing yourself with the spiritual essence of Wind and Gravity, you have learned how to instinctively maneuver yourself without being overly hindered by wind resistance or air pressure at all! You additionally have limited ability to manipulate the g-forces inertia places upon your form!

You may now race across any Terrain in Terra or any of its pocket realms with only 1/(Runic Spell Mastery Skill Level) the normal degree of air resistance! A speed-modified skill check will also allow you to redirect your own inertia! Pivot on a dime, with your original momentum intact!

*Note! This boon applies to you (and your familiar, an extension of yourself) alone. This boon will have NO effect on Revenants effected by the Death March Necromancer Perk!

Eric gazed at his familiar for long moments. “I’m getting a +30% bonus to all points I put in Quickness for now on. Do you have any idea how insane that is?”

Bunbun dipped her ears. “Damn right I do. But the real kicker is your boon to speed! I’ll bet we can go 200, no, 300MPH easy now.”

“But not with my army,” Eric noted with a grin. Then his gaze turned thoughtful. "But weighed down with armor, leaning forward, at the levels they'll effectively be... I'll bet we can get damned close. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Necromantic Mastery opens up a path where I CAN do just that! Share my delicious boons with all my revenant friends.

His familiar rolled her eyes. “Can we please say no to extra cheese?”

Eric laughed, flipping between multiple soul linked weapons, sword, spear, and bardiche in the blink of an eye as he wove an intricate series of moulinets incorporating all his deadly toys, hooking imaginary weapons off-line with the axe-like blade of his polearm, before spearing his invisible opponent with a winding thrust, then stepping forward to rip them open with a dizzying series of underhanded slashes, before a fiery fist whipped through the air.

“Are you kidding me, girl? I’m all about the cheese! The more synergistic masteries I can get in play, the more likely we’re going to survive whatever the fuck’s left for us in that godless dungeon.”

“Well, there is that,” she conceded, and Eric could feel her tremble as they approached the obsidian stone gates and the fiery black portal leading to a realm very much like those populating one of his favorite games of all time.

Even if this realm was, in fact, considerably deadlier.

He swallowed, forcing a smile, turning to his rabbit. “Compared to what we’ve been facing...”

“Yeah, I know. Those goofballs were easy mode.”

Eric laughed. “You ready to rescue some settlers and earn some more hours playing Alien Exile’s Path, little buddy?”

“Hell yes! How about you?”

Eric laughed. “God no. Not when the girl I’m pretending isn’t real and doesn’t count as cheating opened herself up to me so utterly that she nearly fried my brain.”

Bunbun shrugged. “I was a freshman in college before life went to shit. Believe me, I know all about complicated relationships. Golden girl is pretty hot, though, and now you have a ten in Psionic Potency. Maybe there’s hope for you two crazy lovebirds yet.”

“True. And considering that I can now sense my mother’s prickly coldness even from here, and her spike of alarm because she knows exactly what I’m about to do… let’s get going before I find myself Elonia’s sworn bodyguard for life, however much I like to think I’m actually in charge of my own two feet.”

His bunny sighed and nodded. “That makes sense. Because galactic protocol and oaths given might be a thing, but your mom is a Silver.” Bunbun’s eyes widened in alarm. “Shit, she’s coming this way, with her captive birds. And she’s coming fast...”

Whatever else his familiar might have said was cut off in the hum and crackle of an orange tier rift, Eric realizing that he did indeed fear some things more than even the Shadow Raptors he had no fucking doubt would be waiting for them.

Only this time, he ready to face whatever might come his way.