Every bit of effort Tony put into moving sapped him of strength; he was stuck alright. The sky’s hue shifted from the murky orange to a blazing gold and pulsed with the words of Ignacious, the Mad King.

“Who is this? A fledgling human who comes to a far-off world in an attempt to gain power? My, what a splash you've made today.”

Tony’s left foot moved an inch and a buzz of annoyed static crackled across his vision.

“And if you are here, that could only mean that Auren is not far, perhaps in the fighter my scouts shot down? Did he really think that he'd outsmarted me? That taking his little resistance into space would hide them from my notice? He should have known better.”

Tony’s eyes darted to the crippled starcraft. Auren and D were sitting ducks now. Whatever spell Ignacious was using on Tony to root him in place probably wouldn't work on either of them.

Log out, Log out, Log out, Log out, LOG OUT! Tony thought. Why can’t I get out?

“Ah, so that is how they did it, clever,” boomed the sky. “You think this is a game?”

Tony’s heart skipped a beat. No way.

“This is no game, child, this is your life, a whole new adventure, and wonder, all about to come to a dazzling finale. What do you think?”

His mind went blank. Were Ignacious’s words part of his monologue? An anticipatory response to what the player would say? Or had he really been trapped in the “game world”? Tony tried to think outside of the game, to will his arms, the arms resting next to his body on his bed in his shitty little apartment, to move to his head and remove the headset.

Nothing.

“There is no headset to remove, no ‘Log Out’ function to execute, no escape. Didn't Auren tell you?”

That answers that. Tony pushed the building melancholy down deep within himself. There would be time to deal with that later, or he would die and it would cease to be his problem. His mind raced; he had to do something. A notification flashed, almost in response to his desperation.

You have unspent Specialization Points! Select a Specialization!

He focused on the notification as Ignacious continued to monologue, assumedly at Auren while Tony was locked down. The notification brought him immediately to the Specialization menu. That's convenient.

He had the option of forgoing a Specialization to continue gaining levels in Squire at an advanced rate. Now that more of the Squire Talents were visible, Tony decided against that route. Squire turned into a hybrid Support/Tank class, which he thought was interesting but didn't see a way to use that to his advantage at the moment.

The route he did decide on was to select an Advanced Class. The Advanced Classes he met the prerequisites for were Duelist, Brawler, and Knight.

Duelist: Utilize overwhelming speed and prowess to dominate single targets

Talents Gained on Selection: Challenge, Critical Lunge

Challenge: Enforce your posture with Mana to engage an enemy in single combat

Effect: Gain 10% Bonus to all combat skills and abilities, these bonuses double against your challenged foe if the duel is interrupted by their allies.

Cost: 30 Mana Duration: 5 minutes

Cooldown: 120 seconds

Special: If only one foe is in the area, this talent remains active until the duel is resolved

Critical Lunge: Attack your opponent with surprising reach, bypassing their defenses

Effect: Gain 10% additional reach for 1 Melee attack. Critical Chance is increased by 60%

Cost: 15 Mana Duration: Instant

Cooldown: 10 seconds Damage: Moderate to Extreme

Talent Synergy: Using this Talent against a Challenged foe increases the Critical Chance to 100%

Special: This Talent may only be activated when using a one-handed weapon.

So that's why Tolik was such a beast, Tony thought.

Duelist seemed like a strong selection, but Tony had the feeling that challenging Ignacious to single combat would just get him killed faster. He swiped the Advanced Class aside with his eyes and moved onto Brawler.

Brawler: Start on the road to savagery by beating the life from your enemies with your bare hands.

Talents Gained on Selection: Knuckle Duster, Primal Fighting

Knuckle Duster: Introduce your enemies to your fist, intimately

Effect: Increase Damage type with Natural Weapons up to 2 categories for 1 Attack

Cost: 5 Mana Duration: Instant

Cooldown: 3 seconds Damage: Up to Moderate

Note: When using Knuckle Duster against inanimate objects, damage category increases by another three factors to Extreme

Special: Upon activation, a Brawler may designate a Natural Weapon to receive Knuckle Duster. So long as the Brawler is engaged in combat, the Talent will not dissipate until a blow with the designated weapon is successful.

Primal Fighting: Lose yourself to the fury of combat

Effect: For the duration of Primal Fighting, the Brawler receives the following bonuses: Increased Damage, Increased Damage Resistance, Increased Pain Threshold, Temporary Hit Points, Unlimited Stamina

Cost: 50 Mana, 10% HP Duration: 5 Minutes

Cooldown: 2 Hours*

Bonuses: Damage 30%, Damage Resistance 30%, Pain Threshold 60%, Temporary Hit Points 40% of Max HP

Note: Cooldown is reduced by a factor of remaining Temporary HP, if any.

Special: For the duration of Primal Fighting, all Brawler Attack Talents have a Cooldown of 0 seconds and may be activated using HP when Mana is depleted.

The bonuses from Primal Fighting were tempting, but limiting his combat to "natural weapons" wouldn't make up for the potential drawbacks and certainly wouldn't get him skyward or do anything now. If he lived through this and got to pick up another specialization, Brawler could be a great choice.

Knight: Using honor and steel in equal measure, vanquish those that would oppose you

Talents Gained on Selection: Knight's Charge, Oath

Knight's Charge: Move toward a target or combat unit with extreme velocity

Cost: 20 Mana+ Duration: Instant Range: Varies

Cooldown: 7 seconds Damage: Special

Note: A Knight must attack the Target of Knight's Charge when using this Talent

Special: Damage to a target after using Knight's Charge is increased by 150%. A Knight may use Knight's Charge against any visible target, additional Mana will be consumed to fuel the Knight's advance.

Oath: The knight swears to the completion of a task. Until the requirements of the Oath are met the Knight receives Passive Bonuses, once the requirements of the Oath are satisfied the Knight gains additional benefits.

Effect: Gain a 20% Oath bonus to all Attributes related to the Sworn Task, reduce debuff durations by 30%

Cost: None Duration: Until Completes

Cooldown: None*

Completion Bonuses: 5 Attribute Points, 10 Skill Points, 2 Knight/Paladin/Dread Knight Talent Points

Note: A Knight may only have up to their (Essence) Oaths active at one time and is bound to each independently. Utilize Caution when activating this Talent.

Special: An Oath sworn to resolve a Saga will have its bonuses adjusted to scale with the Saga's Difficulty. Additionally, Oaths sworn as a Knight will persist when Specializing the Knight Class to Paladin or Dread Knight.

Note: Knights who Specialize to Anti-Paladin or Chaos Knight will have their Oaths inverted to Pacts as appropriate.

Despite the incredible strain on his body, Tony felt a smirk cross his lips. Knight seemed to be leading in the direction that he wanted to go to progress through-

His train of thought stopped there for a moment. This wasn't a game, this was his life now, and while "Respawn" was an option in the menus he couldn't be sure if that was real or just part of the facade to make him a willing participant in whatever scheme was at play. Tony brushed those notions aside and jammed them into the bottom of his chest with the despair waiting there. Now was not the time for feelings, now was the time for action, to find a way to win.

Tony confirmed his selection of the Knight Advanced Class. His menus wiped away and a system message boomed through the entirety of his being.

Stand with Honor

Defend the Defenseless

Pursue the Wicked that they may see the error of their ways

Purge the Profane, as their souls are lost

Mourn for the loss of innocence

Be humble in Victory

Above all else

Be Absolute in your Resolve

Tony toppled forward as "Gaze of the God-King" fell off his status bars. He regained his footing and drew Jorogu's Marital Blade from his shoulder, not quite sure how to fight the sky.

The garish gold sky flickered to a violent red. “You are a clever one, child, too clever to let live,” Ignacious interrupted. With a boom of thunder, the clouds parted as a barrage of golden light hurtled toward Tony. He made a mad dash in a serpentine pattern as the ground tore up around him from the assault. If he could move into the trees and far enough away from the downed fighter, D and Auren might have a chance to do something about Ignacious.

If the rest of his body had been able to move again, Tony was sure he would have whiplash as the familiar Gaze of the God-King debuff reappeared under his status bar.

Fuck, Tony thought.

"This is what I was talking about, child. Too clever to let live." The sky returned to the golden hue that Tony was starting to get very sick of seeing.

"Is that really all you've got? One pompous debuff and an orbital laser? Give me a break! You suck at this," Tony challenged; at least his mouth still worked this time. There was no answer from the sky, save for the immense boom that shook the whole planet and singular bolt of divine fury heading straight for Tony's face.

The sound of tearing metal drowned out all other sounds as D carved through the side of the fighter and burst through the hull, intercepting the blast with his armored frame.

Tony blinked.

The blast detonated, devastating the surrounding landscape. For a moment, Tony's mind wandered to Jorogu and her swarm. He hoped that they didn't get caught up in the blast.

When the smoke cleared D was standing in front of Tony, only five percent of his total HP missing from the attack. Tony could see the man shaking.

Why? He took that like a champ, his armor isn't even scorched!

"Can you hear me?" D's voice escaped his helmet, a whisper in Tony's ear.

"Yeah, are you okay? Did he hit you with some crazy debuff?"

"I'm... I'm fine, Antonious. I have to tell you something," D said.

Ignacious did not posture, monologue, or taunt. The Mad God responded with absolute force and fury, sending a blast immeasurably larger hurtling at the armored guardian. That son of a bitch, he knows exactly how much damage he needs to do to kill him!

“No!” Tony screamed, pulling with all his might against the magic holding him in place. It was useless. He couldn't do anything.

Had he not been rooted to the spot, the concussive force of the blast would have sent him into orbit. Shrapnel tore at his extremities, taking his health down by forty percent, D’s health dropped to a singular point, and an indicator appeared below D’s Status Bars.

Martyr's Charge: You have chosen to live. The Martyr will give their life in the protection of yours. Upon the Martyr's Final Death You will receive boons selected from the Afterlife. Welcome home, Noble Soul.

D turned to look at Tony, half of his face a smoldering mess, the other still covered by the remains of his helmet. “I am Demnas, First of the Ascended. You, Antonious, will be my vengeance. Don't just beat him, kid, kick his ass.” His voice did not waver, and the ferocity of his gaze shocked Tony, considering what incredible pain he had to be in.

"I don't... I can't..."

"It's okay, Tony, this is how it had to happen."

A second massive blast whistled toward the pair of them. Demnas turned to face it and let out a roar that shook the entire plane. His body shone white and opaque before unleashing a torrent of scarlet energy, countering Ignacious’ attack ultimately. A health bar appeared in the sky.

Ignacious' Avatar

Level: ??? HP: 17%

Status: Silenced, Rooted

Tony felt his teeth grind as the fury welling in his chest threatened to pop the cork on all of the repressed emotions he had bottled up. He knew that keeping all of that shit pent up was going to bite him later, that the toxic "Man Up" and "Real men don't cry" bludgeoned into him by his father would probably kill him someday. He didn't care.

Today was not that day.

Tony’s eyes flicked down to where D had been focusing on a pair of glowing white footprints, his last stand. Tony buried the tip of his blade into the ground at his side and knelt. He put his right fist over his heart and reached out with his left hand, leaving it just above the smoldering tracks.

"I swear that I will make Ignacious suffer, that I will become worthy of your vengeance. I'll chase him to the Abyss if I must. Ignacious. Will. Pay," Tony managed past the lump forming in his throat.

Oath's buff icon appeared in Tony's status. He looked up into the sky, to the health bar there, and thought Target.

A reticle appeared around the nameplate in his vision and the "In Combat" message flashed in his status bar. Tony stood and drew his weapon from the earth.

"What a waste," Ignacious's voice boomed from the avatar, "to think that Demnas gave his life to save a whelp like you. How disappointing."

"Yeah well fuck you too!"

Tony roared, his anger overtaking his rational thought as he burned eighty percent of his Mana and activated Knight's Charge. Tony launched into the air, rocketing toward the glowing avatar, sword trailing behind him. The blade sang as he bisected the humanoid construct in a spray of golden Essence.

As he plummeted toward the ground, Tony rolled over in the air to be looking back up to the fading gold in the sky and showed it the double freedom rockets. A few feet before impact Tony's descent slowed drastically, the glow of the burning footprints intensifying as he landed.

You have inherited an Artifact!

Name: Pauldron of Vengeance

Rarity: Legendary Quality: Exceptional

Defense Rating: +20 Slot: Shoulders

Effects: Unknown Activated Abilities: Unknown

Description: The shattered remains of Demnas's "Nemean Pride" Cuirass, the remaining Lion's Maw will easily grip and secure up to two Large-Size weapons. This piece of armor, with the addition of two leather straps, will function as armor and can be affixed to your left shoulder.

“Ignacious!” Auren’s voice boomed in concert with the detonation of the expired starcraft. Auren’s Battle Aura traced lines of golden fire into the earth to form a series of intricate seals and sigils. Tony’s eyes followed the lines for about five seconds before going wide in shock.

“That’s a summoning circle, what are you-”

“IGNACIOUS!” Auren screamed. Rage and magic propelled his voice into the sky, clearing it of all debris and cloud cover. Before Tony could blink the sky was back to its sickly orange hue and the lines of the summoning circle vanished in a puff of white smoke.

“I’m gonna kill him,” the God decreed.