System of a Down (6)
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* * * * *
(I think I'm going to be sick...) Sato groaned as he experienced harsh spinning while going through the portal.
He had expected to be like the scene from Chrono Trigger, when traveling through time rifts - like swimming through the void. Or maybe like in Star Trek lightspeed; where everything around was just a blur of light-lines.
Instead it felt like being compressed into a sheet of paper, then expanded into a planet - repeatedly.
Head pounding, he suddenly found himself on metallic ground, with numerous small footsteps of quasits thudding past him.
Looking up, he saw that he was in a large square room. It was bare; except for a red portal on one side and a signboard hanging that said, "Welcome to the waiting room! Have a nice trip!"
Confused, he watched the throngs of quasits materialising in mid-air, dropping down and rushing into the red portal. He approached; cautious of entering blindly.
Before entering, he did a quick recap of his stats - which were far more detailed than what the temples offered:
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DESCRIPTION
Name: Sato Adams
Race: Demonised Human
Rank: Captain
AFFINITY
Mana affinity 300
Divine affinity 0
Elemental affinity: Fire, Darkness
TALENTS:
Eyes of the Grand Voyeur
Insta-cast Spells
Innate Mana Shield
Spell & Resistances Pierce XI (equal to hosts mana rating level)
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CORE STATS[1]: Based on Elite stats
Level: N/A - level not applicable for demons
Strength: 506 kg/force (Level 1)
Vitality: 1,103 (Level 6)
Agility: 99 km/h max speed (Level 10)
Dexterity: 414 score (Level 15)
Close Combat Multiplier: 1
OVERALL PHYSICAL POWER[1]: 23,306 (Level 6)
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MANA RATING[1]: 276,480 (Level 11)
Mana manipulation: 300
Mana efficiency: 1,600 (37.5% reduction in mana cost)
Mana pool: 1,511
Spell amplification: 6 times
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SPELLS
Demonic Compendium of Fire and Darkness [Provides all fire and darkness spells up to user's level divided by 2, rounded up]
Minor Compendium of All-Magic [Provides all spells up to user's level divided by 3, rounded up]
Unique: Omega Dark Fireball
Secret Spell: Absolute End [Host has not met the usage conditions]
NOTE:
All above stats are based on host's understanding of an elite human's stats by levels.
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(Hmm... If I remember correctly, that Reeve was level 3 but could defeat level 9 monsters. But those would be normal monsters, not elites... So he could probably only beat level 4 or 5 elites? And as a mage, I'm a level 11 elite...)
Very surprised at his cheat-like stats, Sato then looked at his talents descriptions, starting with the incredibly silly Eyes of the Grand Voyeur...
[Eyes of the Grand Voyeur: Perfect immunity to all illusion, confusion or misleading effects. Able to see through all types of powers, items, materials, spells or stats. Does not prevent confusion arising from hosts own stupidity.]
(...See through???) Sato immediately tested it... Then began to puke a little, as the only things around him were grimy and ugly quasits...
Calming himself, he realised it worked as a map, and a heads-up display or HUD. He could see stats of almost anything within his view; and also see indicators on his map nearby.
(What's this...?) He looked and saw a quest marker; and a big red circle drawing near it.
BOOM!!
The square room shook; and he saw the flashing of his quest status:
[Time remaining until Demon Duke's summoning: 2 minutes 31 seconds. Portal HP: 23%]
[Reminder to host: Try harder. Or be tortured ^_^]
!!!
As he was already standing near the portal, Sato desperately stuck his hand through the portal in the direction of the red dot.
(Omega Dark Fire Ball!) He insta-casted it instead of chanting the long name.
He felt a crazy amount of mana and force channeling through his fingers, and absorbed from the environment around him - a force that felt more powerful than those battleships cannons he saw on animes.
He saw countless system logs flash past him; so fast he couldn't even read them.
[Ding! Sato Adams has killed quasit. 0 XP gained!]
[Ding! Sato Adams has killed quasit. 0 XP gained!]
[Ding! Sato Adams has killed quasit. 0 XP gained!]
[Ding! Sato Adams has killed quasit. 0 XP gained!]...
Checking his mana remaining, he was pleasantly surprised when hi pool only dropped by 312. (Such a powerful spell and only that much mana...? Oh, it has a cooldown of 2 minutes... Well that makes more sense; only a dragon could survive a direct hit from that... Even I would feel I'm too OP if it didn't have any restrictions...)
Sato withdrew his hand as he estimated that the spell was equivalent to almost a max level spell in destructive power; if his memory did not fail him, probably as powerful as a level 7 or 8 spell - one that would require him to be above level 20 to cast.
(In the first place, my mana pool is 6 times higher than what a level 11 elite mage should have... Mmm... I'm pretty OP aren't I?) He smiled smugly.
Checking his map, he froze - the red dot hadn't disappeared.
Heart pounding, Sato leaped through the portal as the system began to flash red in warning that his quest was at jeopardy.
Thus, the stage for a colossal battle was fully set.
* * * * *
Sam watched as the black robed young man stepped out of the portal.
He was beautiful. More beautiful than her. If not for his red pupils, he would look exactly like a normal human. But he smelled different; like something repulsive, ashes and cinders...
And yet she found herself drooling... (Why does this demon smell so tasty...?)
Casting aside her appetite, Sam readied herself for a clash, wary in case the demon used that hair-raising fire again.
To her surprise, the demon looked like he had seen a ghost when he saw her. He opened his mouth, paused then spoke.
"Tbnvfm! Ju't nf!" He raised his hand, eliciting Sam to leap aside in caution.
But nothing happened.
She circled around him, waiting for any further signs of actions - vowing not to be fooled again.
3 seconds... 5 seconds... The demon boy just stood there looking distracted.
Impatient and embarrassed at being startled, then made to stand around and ignored by the demon, Sam decided.
She would beat him up and cook him.
"Die, demon! For food....!" Sam tossed her backpack (and Snowie within) aside.
Snowie covered her face with her little paws as Sam charged over to take on the pretty-boy demon.
(Can't you at least try to hide your gluttonous intentions? Or mask it as a quest for justice?)
* * * * *
Frowning, Sato wondered why the "boy" Samuel couldn't understand him. He opened his stats and looked for languages:
LANGUAGES
Demon's tongue
(Curse) Gibberish
He had a bad feeling as he expanded the description for gibberish. It was self explanatory:
[Moves hosts letters to the next letter of the alphabet. E.g. a becomes b, b becomes c. Affects speech as well. Example for slower hosts: ]
[Samuel -> Tbnvfm]
[S -> T
a -> b
m -> n
u -> v
e -> f
l -> m]
(%@*$%@!!!) Sato cursed. (I thought I could avoid a fight... Dammit! At least he hasn't attacked yet. Oh right, know your enemy... What are his stats?)
[Ding! Eyes of the Grand Voyeur used! You pervert! Hentai! P-Peeping on a girl's stats like this...]
(Girl...?)
[Some stats hidden. Overall Physical Power computed based on attack on Planar Portal]
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CORE STATS[1]
Level: 1
Strength: 6,672 kg/force (Level 13)
Vitality: 3,871 (Level 6)
Agility: 162 km/h max speed (Level 10)
Dexterity: 409 score (Level 14)
Close Combat Multiplier: 10
OVERALL PHYSICAL POWER[1]: 42,587 (Level 7)
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MANA RATING: -0.001
Resistances Rating: ????
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(Hmm... Physically he's slightly above me... But it doesn't matter.)
He raised multiple shields as he saw Sam start to approach; darting left and right to avoid him locking onto her.
(I have the system!)
He fired 5 level 1 Magic Missile spells; each spell splitting into 9 flashing orbs of arcane mana. He smiled as her face changed to one of shock.
She tried to dodge swiftly to the side; but there was no way she could dodge the homing spell once it began its flight. In less than half a second, the barrage of arcane missiles were about to hit her.
He felt tempted to laugh maniacally as he enjoyed the feeling of power, and he declared (mentally):
(I. AM. OP!)
Then it was his turn to be shocked; as she decisively charged straight at him; forging through the wall of spells and causing 40 of the missiles to fly past her and explode on the ground instead.
(Her HP barely decreased? How, how high is her magic resistance? I even have Spell & Resistances Piercing XI that reduces resistance by 4% per level!)
Frantic, Sato tried to trigger his trump card Omega Dark Fireball--
[Sato Adams casts Omega Dark Fireball! Casting failed! Cooldown time remaining: 1 minute 28 seconds]
"!!"
Caught up in the thick of battle and lacking combat experience, he fell victim to his panic.
In a blink of the eye, the girl was before him; and slammed a world-shaking fist into his face.
(Arghh!!... Huh?)
His eyes widened as he felt tremors pass through his mana shield. The girl was equally surprised that her spinning right-hook couldn't one-shot the flimsy looking demon boy.
No, it didn't even budge him.
[Ding! Damage absorbed by Mana Shield; mana remaining: 1,164]
[Ding! Talent Innate Mana Shield level up to level 6! Damage absorbed per mana point increased from 5 to 10!]
Confidence restored, Sato roared as he triggered 3 spells simultaneously:
[Level 4: Breach]
[Level 4: Greater Malison (reduces other resistances)]
[Level 4: Lower Magic Resistance]
The insta-casted spells landed on Sam who was unable to dodge at point blank range.
Sato saw the spells take effect; reading the system log to confirm they were effective to lower Sam's resistances. Then he launched the finisher:
[Level 6 (Amplification 6x): Ray of Disintegration]
A focused red beam of destruction shot from his hands, striking the "boy" in his chest; knocking the wind out of the "boy" and burning "his" chest badly.
The beam continued for 2 seconds, sending Sam flying 200m away.
[Ding! Target has resisted! Damage reduced by 83%!]
[Sato Adams has dealt 653 damage to Sam!]
[Sato Adams has dealt 653 damage to Sam!]
[Sato Adams has dealt 653 damage to Sam!]
[Sato Adams has dealt 653 damage to Sam!]
Even as Sam panted and struggled to recover from her heavy burns; Sato was wide-eyed and agape that she could survive a direct hit; even after all his "softener" spells!
(No! She must be critically injured by now!) Spooked, he checked their statuses:
[SATO ADAMS]
HP: 1,103/1,103
Mana: 747/1,511[Recovery of 10 mana/sec]
[SAM @ SAMUEL @ SAMIRHAMEDICH EPANASTASI]
HP: 788/3,871
Mana: 0/0
(Yes... Just 1 more clean hit and she'll be down!!)
The intense battle resumed as the opponents squared off; one cautious and wounded; the other brimming with confidence.
* * * * *
[Time remaining until Demon Duke's summoning: 1 minute 49 seconds. Portal HP: 23%]
[Omega Dark Fireball cooldown time remaining: 1 minute 18 seconds]