Congratulations, Sub-Lieutenant. Your linked skill Frost Storm has been upgraded to Major Frost Storm.
Congratulations, Sub-Lieutenant. Your linked skill Fire Storm has been upgraded to Major Fire Storm.
Storm’s radius had increased by two meters. It had also upgraded damage to high. However, the bonuses from completing a linked chain, and for being in a named constellation, boosted that to what must be the next stage of damage, ample. The linked skills had likewise increased. In fact, fireball, cone of frost, and all the linked abilities looked like they all jumped two levels of damage. Which meant that each level of damage must have been double the previous level.
Lightning bolt was another amazing upgrade. With a 5m boost in range, it was quickly shoring up the major flaws that it had as a close-range attack spell. It’s quick cooldown and newly extended range was only diminished by its relatively low damage modifier. He had the feeling that most of his spells were going to be a bit overkill for most things anyway, especially the ones in Elemental Tempest.
He had leveled up and gotten additional interface options; a quick glance told him that he could now get a status report for each of his teammates. It consisted of: a general health status including how tired they were and how hurt they were, consciousness status, and something called mana fatigue level. There was another window that represented his own status and pulling it up gave him more detailed information.
Sub-Lieutenant Drew Michalik-3’s status
Physicaclass="underline" Intermediate.
Resistance: Common.
Pain Threshold: Intermediate.
Speed: Undeveloped.
Mentaclass="underline" Advanced.
Mana Receptivity: Intermediate.
Mana Discharge: Rare.
Mana Charge: Advanced.
He wasn’t entirely positive, but he was pretty sure both his physical and resistance stats had been one stage lower during his initial evaluation, although the other stats hadn’t changed. The last function of his new interface was the ability to designate positions under his command that looked like they would provide bonuses to those individuals in them.
Drew was pulled from his examinations of his new interface options when someone cleared their throat behind him. Turning back again, he saw that Major Hoffecker had returned. She reached out a hand to shake Drew’s, “I just wanted to personally thank you, IT2. I know you’ve put yourself in harm’s way to rescue us. I also know the captain isn’t handling this whole thing very well. He wasn’t exactly prepared for this kind of thing. Hell, I don’t know if any of us are prepared for this, except you. I don’t know how you do everything you’ve been doing but keep it up.” She then saluted him.
Drew felt weird. He’d never had an officer saluting him first before. He returned the salute. “Of course, Ma’am, that’s the coast guard’s unofficial motto. You always have to go out, but you don’t have to come back.”
She shook her head, “I think we need you to stick around for a bit. I imagine there will be a good deal of fighting left to do before all is said and done, and we’re all counting on you.”
With a nod of his head, Drew accepted the rebuttal, “Of course, ma’am.” Hoffecker smiled and turned away, immediately shouting orders to her people to keep everyone moving. He watched her leave and shook his head. The world that he had known before was clearly gone. The new world wasn’t anywhere near as safe as the previous one, but it wasn’t all bad.
Epilogue
Aboard the Tartarus in the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way
The bridge was quiet, and dimly lit, just the way he preferred, his people quietly going about their tasks in whispered conversations. The bridge was calm, despite the battle being waged outside. Battle was hardly the correct term for it. A Tuatha ship had landed on some backwoods planet. Hopefully, it was young enough that his men could kill it and bring its xatherite back. Otherwise, he’d be forced to obliterate the planet. The other pantheons would complain if he did that, even if it was only in class five space, and then he would be forced to make an accounting.
One of the Eumenides appeared at his side. Turning to look at her, he raised an eyebrow.
“Pardon Lord, but we have detected a use of divine mana in the Sol system of the Orion-Cygnus arm,” she said with deference.
“Ares?” he asked, knowing that the Eumenides wouldn’t have brought this to his attention if it was.
“Negative, Lord. It was unattuned.” That caused both eyebrows to be raised, and he turned to give the Eumenides his full attention.
“Typed?” he asked.
“Yes, Lord, Retribution,” she answered, anticipating his next question.
“Assets in Sol?” He asked.
“None, it’s a class nine space, but only recently activated. The detection originated from the third slice.”
He pursed his lips and with a thought brought up the display for Sol. He frowned, “The third slice is only a few weeks old.”
“Affirmative sir, I queried HP-ONI, but all information about the third slice was listed as restricted to the Enclave of the Dragon.”
The man leaned back in his chair and considered the system before him. As he did, he mused aloud, “What has my brother been up to?” After a moment of consideration, he turned back to the view screen. “Command all troops to disengage and return to the fleet. Prepare the fleet to travel to the nearest sustainable system to Sol and have Tisephone meet me in my ready room. Alert me when all troops have departed and prepare for planetary dissolution.”
“As you wish, Lord Hades.”
Afterword
We hope you enjoyed Advent! Since reviews are the lifeblood of indie publishing, we’d love it if you could leave a positive review on Amazon! If you scroll through to the end of this book, not only will you be able to read bonus side stories set in the same universe as Advent, but you’ll easily be able to leave a review at the end as well. Otherwise, follow this link to be redirected to the Red Mage: Advent Amazon product page to leave your review: http://geni.us/Advent.
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About Xander Boyce
Xander is a USCG veteran and lifelong scifi/fantasy reader. Having begun creating worlds for his pen and paper roleplaying games more than a decade ago, he has always been fascinated by what can be done when people are pushed beyond normal boundaries. He was drawn to Science Fiction as a way to explore the human condition, and his debut book, Advent, is an extension of that desire.
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About Mountaindale Press
Dakota and Danielle Krout, a husband and wife team, strive to create as well as publish excellent fantasy and science fiction novels. Self-publishing The Divine Dungeon: Dungeon Born in 2016 transformed their careers from Dakota’s military and programming background and Danielle’s Ph.D. in pharmacology to President and CEO, respectively, of a small press. Their goal is to share their success with other authors and provide captivating fiction to readers with the purpose of solidifying Mountaindale Press as the place ‘Where Fantasy Transforms Reality’.
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