Chapter 53: The Story Quest III

{The top ten in the power stone donations this time around are GhostZero, ariqri, G0DSH4AD, DarknessKnight, Cdnv, world_tree, Denzel_theking, Creatureman, Inversedeath, and finally fanmy1. Thank you to all the people that have supported the story with power stones and know that I recognize all the people who regularly comment and give power stones. I spend a lot of time looking at comments new and old, I hope more would comment so I can talk to my fans more. I have no problem using a google translator figuring out what you say if you don't speak English.}

{I have decided that I will upload 2 chapters a week for The Pillars, if it ever does as good as The Ancients World I'll upload it daily. Once on Saturday and Sunday, hopefully this is acceptable.}

{If I get 15 reviews by Wednesday night, Thursday and Friday will have double uploads.}

I've been traveling for the last few hours and the sun is starting to set over the horizon. I have been though multiple forests at this point and I'm probably only a few more hours away. I have come across a problem though, an orc camp is standing in my way. I didn't think they would bring so many soldiers for a recon mission, I can use this to my advantage and start slaughtering these guys. I don't know how many there are though, so I'll hold off on that approach. An orc general is a powerful boss, and is above level 50. With all my active skills being used I can kill him, getting to him will be the problem. I inspect some of the common guards around the generals tent.

[Orc guard of Glu Lvl. 65 tier 1 Elite]

2,450,000/2,450,000 HP

[Description: Guard to the orc general Glu. This target is a much higher level than you and all enemies in the current area can kill you in 1 hit.]

I have 3 options here. The first is using the pride of orcs against them and challenge Glu to a one on one to the death, while that could work Glu would probably refuse. The second option is sneaking into his private tent that is being guarded and off him with a surprise attack with all my skills. My third and easiest option is using Fenrir's whistle and have Fenrir kill everything here, with that option I miss out on all the possible exp. I also don't want to abuse the item Fenrir gave me, he thinks very highly of me and if I use him to kill some orcs I will probably lose reputation with him.

I have a major disadvantage in that I don't know any lore about Glu. Thinking about it I just came up with a great idea. I open the player interface and go into the auction house, once in the tab I search for lore on Glu. Only 1 scroll pops up and its relatively cheap, I can use the rest of the gold I got from those players I killed. I purchase the scroll and it shows up in my inventory. I take it out and begin to read it.

"Recounts of the notable orc generals: Glu is a mastermind of combat and large battles. He earned his rank of general after killing the old general in combat, Glu will accept challenges from those that he deems worthy. For this is the way of the orcs, however only other orcs can challenge one another. If another of a different race wants to challenge a high ranking official then they need an orc to vouch for them. ~Article by Jasmine the royal witch."

This really puts a wrench into the first option, I doubt I could get him to accept my challenge. I also don't think any of the orcs in the camp would vouch for a stranger that is part of the race they have declared war on. So that really only leaves sneaking into his tent and killing him fast enough before reinforcements help him. If it comes down to a life or death situation then I will call Fenrir, I will not lose players levels in this critical stage of the game.

I have a plan now, although a major hole exists in my plans. I don't have a stealth skill, so that means I'll have to do a skill check and pick a number like when I was sneaking around in Joshua's pub. I wait until night and its dark enough for me to get around better. I slowly make my way through the camp and take my time making sure I don't get caught. I can see Glu's tent and the guards look to be sleeping while standing up. I slowly make my way over to the tent, but before I can make it a guard patrol gets in the way. Then I get a notification from the system.

[System skill check: Pick a number between 1 and 100 to pass this stealth check. If you are within 10 points of the actual number you will pass the stealth check.]

This one is more difficult than the last time I had to do this, there was a lack of security last time. I have a low percent to get this right, but its not zero. The system is using player data and probability. If I think like the system would, I can probably get really close to the answer. So taking that into account I can say that the most common numbers picked are the ones close to 50. Using that logic anything between 40 and 60 is eliminated, most players pick those numbers and the system knows this. That means 40 and lower are options as well as 60 and higher.

Players and humans in general don't like big numbers, its in our nature. So that means players would pick lower than 40 more often then higher than 60. So I won't pick any numbers below 60. That leaves me with 4 options now, and the closer you get to the end or beginning of the scale, the less likely a person is to pick a really high or low number. If I pick 70 then I'll probably miss the right score, so it really comes down to getting closer to 90 or getting closer to 60. I know I'm running out of time here so I'll just go with 78. I think 78 as my answer and I get a notification from the system.

[Calculating...]

[You have met the parameters set to pass this stealth check]

I watch the patrol of orcs move on and I breath a sigh of relief. I'm so close to that tent I can almost feel my actual heartbeat. I continue using the dark to sneak through the camp and I'm eventually behind the generals tent. I have 2 options here. I can try to pass the sleeping orcs out front or I can sneak under the tent by lifting it up a little. Going by those sleeping orc are a big risk so I'll just go under. I silently make my way up to the back of the tent and I lift it very slowly. I peek inside to see where the general is at. I see an orc bigger than the others and wearing better gear than the rest of the soldiers. I use inspect on him fast and drop the tent so he doesn't notice me. I read the information from the system and cant help having some doubt.

[General Glu Lvl.85 tier 1 Boss]

5,000,000/5,000,000 HP

[Description: Orc general Glu is one of the leading figures in the up coming war. His plans and information are key to the orcs winning. He is suspicious because he felt something inspect him, but didn't see the perpetrator in his private tent.]

5 million damage is doable, if I use all my skills and start attacking without holding off then he will die in time, the problem is how many I have to kill after him. Its more than enough time to call for back up, I have only so much time before my skills go into long cooldowns. So time to make a pivotal decision here, do I rush him now or wait till he sleeps to get in some bonus damage. Who knows when he'll sleep and I'm also getting very tired. I've made my decision and I'm going to attack now, I brace myself and prepare my mind to activate skills. I count down to myself, this is something I would have never done in my old future.

4

3

2

1

I lift the back of the tent fast and draw my legendary blade along with activating my skills. I can see the surprise on his face, but I unleash heavy damage as my powerful skills eat at his health as he try's to block and parry. However, all his retaliation is for naught since raging machine turns all incoming damage into health.

[General Glu Lvl.85 tier 1 boss]

5,000,000/5,000,000 HP

[Dismemberment failed because of level difference]

[You have ignored armor]

[You have struck 6 times with slash]

-716,297

[Dismemberment failed because of level difference]

[You have ignored armor]

[Curse of Decomposition has activated]

[Target will lose 3% health every second]

-716,297

[Dismemberment failed because of level difference]

[You have ignored armor]

-716,297

[Dismemberment failed because of level difference]

[You have ignored armor]

-716,297

[Dismemberment failed because of level difference]

[You have ignored armor]

-716,297

[Dismemberment failed because of level difference]

[You have ignored armor]

-716,297

[Dismemberment failed because of level difference]

[You have ignored armor]

Double strike really did an amazing job. This is the first time I get to see curse of decomposition and I'm sure that its the strongest DOT I've ever seen. I used every single active skill I had except parry. I did 4,297,782 damage putting out all the power I currently have. General Glu looks worse for wear right now and is covered in blood. I watch him run out of the tent and call for help. "Soldiers we have *COUGH!* an intruder!!!" He is near death from the curse eating him alive. I still have a lot more time so I can probably annihilate this entire camp with all this power.

I rush out of the tent and the whole camp is here and ready to fight. I see the rotting form of the general and watch has he dies from the DOT. I get a system notification, but I ignore it for now. I also didn't get any exp for killing him so that means he doesn't drop exp since the rewards are so good from the quest. Now I got some pigs to slaughter, I hate orcs almost as much as I hate goblins. I begin to slice and dice until it is done. I kill every single orc in the camp a minute before heavens light runs out.

I got no exp for any of the kills. So that means all of these enemies where counted towards something regarding the reward. With the ringing of my ears gone and clearing of my eyes and face of blood, I hear the on going system announcement.

[World-wide system announcement: The Son of Arch-Angel Michael has slayed the orc general Glu! The orc forces have been severally weakened!]

[World-wide announcement: The Son of Arch-Angel Michael is the first player to defeat a boss of a higher tier! All players will receive a 2x exp boost to use at anytime!]

[World Mission Announcement: The church of light has increased its search by 5x and massively increased the rewards for any information on The Son of Arch-Angel Michael!]

[World Mission Announcement: The church of the dark ones have increased its search by 10x and will reward a legendary class for the capture of The Son of Arch-Angel Michael!]

[World Mission Announcement: Anyone who brings The Son of Arch-Angel Michael to the leaders of the orcs will receive a legendary chest piece!]

Its late now and I cant help the mental and psychical exhaustion from happening. I fall on my back and look up at the stars as my body aches from using so much power. I have never had a challenge like this in my entire time playing Ancients World, and now I understand why Blue Chaos grew so fast. He got missions like this and went through things of similar nature. I'm sad that I couldn't fully stop the war, but I made some serious damage. I think about my rewards, but I'm to tired to even move. I slowly close my eyes and begin to sleep, the system automatically logs me off and I sleep in my gaming pod for the night.

As Cera sleeps in the real world a familiar hermit is looking at the bloody camp that is covered in guts and organs. I cant help but be impressed by the young man, he hasn't even begun to scratch his power and he can face such a challenge with courage unseen before. "He really has unlimited potential. I can see why he didn't hesitate to take the quest." I must admit that I was hesitant to allow such circumstances, but I trusted my gut and now I'm certain that he will succeed. I walk over to the sleeping boy and pick him up. His legendary sword is quick to try and defend him, but I put it to sleep and place it in its sheath. "I'll make sure you sleep somewhere safe tonight." I teleport us close to his current destination that is the Flower Forest and I place a protective barrier around him so nothing attacks him while he sleeps. My work is done here and now its time for me to focus on my mission.