End of an Era (Project Chrysalis Book 2), John Gold [ebook reader online txt] 📗

to use meteors, since the recoil does 10000000 damage. Another 10000 and I wouldn’t have to deal with the trip back to Radaam. There aren’t any respawn points in Ferengar.

Damage received: 120520 (ignored: 96810)

5420640/11520150

Resistance to cold: +0.01%

Cold damage ignored: 97418/second

 

Right by the mountains, there’s a strong wind blowing, though the constant battles with the mammoths keep us warm and distract us from the bitter cold. The mountains actually look like the cliffs in Hashan Desert. They also appear more the result of a powerful explosion than an act of nature.

As soon as we adapt to the cold, we head from west to east along the mountains. There’s no way we can up and cross them. For that, we’d need special equipment, skills, and, most importantly, even more resistance to cold.

Also, we don’t see any bots in the sky, meaning that we wouldn’t be able to perform the ritual to unite our health pools.

On the second day, we find a pass in the mountains and cross it to make our way deeper into the continent.

Just like in Hashan Desert, the mountains are tall, though the range isn’t very wide. Just six kilometers later, we’re on the other side. In fact, the deeper we go, the warmer it gets. Snow turns to rain, the ice disappears, and we start to see grass underfoot. The air is filled with the scent of flowers. I’ve never noticed the smell before, but the change is so sudden that I can even catch the aroma of the soil and air.

When we step out of the pass, we see a bright light that doesn’t come from the sun. A small star is hanging above the earth. It’s really high up there, but I can see it well even from the foothills. The climate is completely different. It’s all supported by this “sun.” The kind of grass, large trees, and other plants you see here are actually unique to the area. All along the valley, which is the crater left after the ancient explosion, it’s green. There are even lakes. What a view!

We have to leave our sled behind. On the other hand, I have a porter: Fem.

Greater place of power

Mana restoration speed: 200%

 

It’s our own miniature sun! I didn’t know things like this were even possible in Project Chrysalis. Curiouser and curiouser… Everybody says there’s only one place with this kind of concentrated magic space: Tanatos, the island of the gods. Portals don’t work here, and the density of beasts in the astral is so high that respawn points don’t work either. The only players capable of making it this far have to be above Level 1000…or they can be wonder kids like Fem and me. I start to realize why the quest pays 20 million.

Animal, Balar Miur, Level 1551, local boss

 

An enormous feline is looking at us. So strong! He’s far and away beyond all the monsters we’ve come across.

“Fem, this is the strongest opponent we’ve had to deal with yet. You remember that flying whale? He’s on that level.”

“But he’s a local boss, not a raid boss. How can that be?”

Balar hurls itself at Fem. A fraction of a second later, he’s already doing damage. Fem’s maximum shield shatters, leaving her to have to block the cat with her sword. Another split-second later, and her armor is activated and filling with blood. I heal her constantly. Femida slashes three times, and Balar backs off. Damn, look at that agility!

“Hold it.”

Understood. The next second, Balar starts working his way around Fem’s left in an attempt to get at me. Dwarf hammer, maximum. It’s just half a second, but that’s enough for Fem to move left and block the blow. She’s sent flying across the ground, and Balar backs off to prepare for another attack.

“Distract it and keep it busy.”

My heart thumps twice. Balar is almost moving too fast for me to keep track, though I cut loose dragon breath in a semicircle around me. Phew, magic is way weaker here than out in the big world. I have to push myself up against Fem’s back so I can keep healing her, while I reach out in front of me to maximize my attack distance. Standing like that, I can both heal and attack at the same time. Balar flies in from the right and instantly dissolves. A mirage! With her shield at maximum, Fem blocks a strike from the right and deflects it down. With a quick movement, she slashes at Balar’s eye with her sword’s guard. Critical hit!

“Dissection!”

The battle’s been going on for less than a minute, and I already have enough adrenaline to last me a lifetime. Balar is covered in blood, his left ear in tatters. He takes a ten-meter leap to the side without attacking. Wait, what? His ear is growing back! The blood stops flowing from his eye. Look at that regeneration speed!

“Hold him… I’m going to try something.”

“Swamp, maximum! Dwarf hammer, maximum!” Balar, expecting the hammer, tries to leap away, though he slips and falls on his side in the dirt. Femida jumps away from me, closing in on him as her now-dirty armor buzzes.

“Dissection!”

There it is, the fatal blow! She chops his head clean off. What kind of mutants do they have around here? The cat was so fast I could barely keep track of where it was, and that was not to mention the mirage, the heightened regeneration, and the enormous intellect. Just one mistake, and that would’ve been it. What a fight!

Femida sits down on the ground and starts laughing. She takes off her helmet, though she doesn’t let go of her sword.

“And there I was trying to figure out why they’d possibly be prepared to pay 20 million. There isn’t a single player in the entire world capable of taking on that