Eric collapsed to the root-laden muddy ground, gazing at his rapidly budding foot in a daze, both stunned and hyper focused, somehow communing with a foot embracing the essence of Fire, Dominion and Wrath to regrow itself at a rate so fast as to be perfectly visible to the naked eye, while his attunement to the elements of Fire, Air, and Wood, assured metabolic rates and efficiencies beyond the absurd without generating the tiniest flicker of excess heat, synergistically enhancing his healing to a degree that he suspected was beyond profound.

He still had to bite his lip to keep from screaming with the sensation of every nerve ending in his foot springing to life, just as if he had set it ablaze. A quick command to his revenants surrounded him in tons of undead barriers as he lost himself for a full moment, shaking on the ground, distracting himself with the flood of interface messages he had too long put off, feeling further changes to his body as three additional levels of quantized potential suddenly became his own.

Congratulations!

You have embraced the Fortunes of War to the fullest!

You have earned three additional levels as an Adventurer daring the grimmest of sagas, participating in the slaughter of thousands.

And your bloody tale has just begun!

Primal Adventurer is now Level 30. - You have 27 points to spend, redefining your very existence!

Unified restoration is now Rank 3! 194 Vitality and a slice before thinking mentality means you’ve managed to neutralize microscopic traces of what should have been a storm of Bronze Tier poison that would have caused the complete neuronal collapse of any other White Tier Contender!

Smart thinking on the chopping block!

You’ve also managed to regenerate your entire foot in under a minute, with only a few extra toes!

Adept Find Weakness is now Rank 23!

Swordsmanship is now Rank 24!

Unified Perception is now Rank 22!

Gunnery is now Rank 11!

Sling is now Rank 12!

Arcane Weapons (Blaster Rifle) is now Rank 8!

You have learned the skill: Boar Riding!

Boar Riding is now Rank 5!

Eric spent several stunned moments just catching his breath as he gazed down at the decapitated corpse of the nearest goblin assassin as the distant sounds of battle washed over him, unable to believe that it was finally over. Savoring the wide-eyed look of surprise he had seen in his enemies’ eyes when then they abruptly realized that their cover was blown, Eric’s own triangulating revenants synergizing so well with his Tactical Interface Map, furiously blinking red lights over his unveiled opponent’s pieces flaring all the brighter when he had been struck by the sudden certainty that his sister had just made them out as well.

Eric had allowed his enemies a full horrific second to appreciate their end as Eric strove to become one with the soul-bound weapon in his hands as he slowly squeezed the trigger, finally bringing his foes the hot death they so richly deserved.

That the three humanoid corpses that Eric was now staring at, with their odd collage of serpentine and canine features on frames less than four feet in height, had come so close to killing him, repeatedly, and had proven the hidden ace in an orcish deck that had nearly butchered his sister, still struck him as surreal.

He shook his head, chilled by just how far specialization in a killing class could stretch the laws of physics and the rules of combat to the point that even at near 200 Vitality, and a Physical Resistance pretty near that of mechanized infantry armor, Eric still had to forever fear a single critical hit from one of the deadly oversized arcane weapons now at his feet.

Weapons that looked so like a special forces sniper class antimaterial rifle that it still sent shivers down his spine.

The same weapon he had used to deliver death to the foes before him.

A fitting end, he thought.

He shook his head, not hesitating to claim both the bodies and their equipment, a darkly bemused smile gracing his lips when he sensed the traps waiting for him… and how easy it was to best them in his own storage space, making particular note, at that moment, of only the most significant of his finds.

Congratulations! You have successfully seized 2 Mark II Deathblazes! Combined Charges between these two weapons is 96! NOTE possessing these OUTLAWED weapons is a CAPITAL OFFENSE within any newly integrated world!

Spoils of War in effect! You are free to capture and make use of any artifact seized from any opponent on the field of battle, or declared RED to your own faction!

Master Criminal Perk in effect! - You’re far too slippery a player with far too many connections to be bothered by regulations like these!

You have claimed 1 kris dagger coated with Bronze Tier Theta class venom! This venom will cause instant death in any White Ranked (below level 100) opponent or creature with a Vitality under 100! Higher Vitality extends the duration of survival (though opponent will suffer massive penalties until either cured or dead!) NOTE possessing this OUTLAWED toxin is a CAPITAL OFFENSE within any newly integrated world!

Spoils of War and Master Criminal Perk have LIMITED EFFECT. Bronze tier toxins can and will be seized and confiscated within this sector (at a minimum!) regardless of any and all extenuating circumstances.

You have successfully sprung 1 Trap with Bronze tier poison within your Storage Space. For you are the master of your own domain!

Eric winced at the distant sounds of battle, knowing his foes were perilously close to overrunning his sister’s position. But he had one final decision to make that might help turn the tide of battle, one that he had put off for far too long.

He quickly pulled up his interface, skimming through the myriad branching Master Necromancer perks available to him, eyes immediately locking on the handful that would be of immediate use to him, here and now.

For long precious seconds, Eric hovered over a select handful of perks, including Undead Legion Rank 6, which would double the number of revenants swearing service to him after every battle once more, a feat he forced himself to pass over before hovering for long moments over Feast of crows, which allowed Revenants to recover just from the death energies released by the battlefield all around them, effectively a constant effect. Eric quickly skimmed over perks that would enhance the speed and attack rates of his greater revenant tuskers and the handful of abomination-modifying perks that popped up maked it clear that Slurpy was filled with endless potential as well.

For long moments, he hovered over Mark of Resilience II which would double the resilience and toughness of his revenants yet again. It seemed both an extremely strong choice and a smart one, making his revenant legion that much tougher against the musket balls and bayonets of his enemies.

Yet his own troops were already so resistant to those attacks, that it was only the fact that his opponents would have enire regiments firing volleys in tandem and roving bands of orc berserkers, that put his own legion at risk of destruction that he wasn’t sure even Resilience II could handle.

He sighed and shook head, forced to acknowledge that, as fantastic a perk as it no doubt was, on this battlefield Resilience II would either be redundant, or hardly do any good at all.

What he needed was more men. More undead soldiers to fight under his banner and defend his sister’s final sanctum. So when his eyes skipped over a perk branching right off Undead Legion Tier 5, he knew he had found the one.

Even if it only brought back half the men he would normally earn after any battle, and at a massive base cost of 500 mana per use.

Eric’s eyes had bulged at the figure, before appreciating with a tight smile his own now considerable Mana Pool, and how steep a price he had paid in terms of his own sanity, or at least, his own perception of his sanity, to achieve that. It was skill dependent, meaning he’d also train up a key necromancy skill, and it was just what he needed to truly turn the tides of this battle.

Congratulations! You have learned the Master Necromancer Perk: Call to Battle! At a base cost of 500 mana, You may summon up to 800 Revenants, ½ that allowed by Undead Legion, (or the max number of fallen soldiers within clear sight of your location, whichever is less), to rise over a period of 1 minute and fight under your banner for eternity!

Note! Call to Battle may be used multiple times during any battle, but the maximum number of troops that may be raised to supplement your forces after the first call may not exceed the number of surviving enemies currently engaged with your forces!

Yet whatever excitement Eric felt about the incredible potential of the perk he had just claimed was drowned out by the distant screams of elves fighting and dying for their lives his 115 Perception made absolutely impossible to ignore as his mounts immediately pivoted around and raced back to the heart of the battlefield as fast as they could.

Because Eric saw less than a thousand green friendlies blinking on the far side of the breached barrier on his tactical interface map.

And over eight times that number of blinking reds were slowly approaching the massive breach in the wall shredded by cannon fire.

If they managed to successfully cross, then Eric already knew it was game over.

He only hoped that he could get there in time.