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Chapter 184- A Wanted Man
🕑 Added 2024-12-17 23:59:01 +0000 UTCThis is the final chapter of book 4.
Chapter begin->
Iris' departure had left Arthur stranded in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean with no land in sight. He had no idea which direction to travel in and the fake land he was currently standing on was minutes away from dissolving away. It hadn't lasted anywhere near its predicted lifetime, which Arthur chalked up to the damage caused by the intense battle that had taken place.
Unfortunately, Frankenstein's corpse didn't turn up any monster core. The Dire Orc had shrivelled up and turned to ash minutes after the skinwalker's death, whatever magic that was used to keep it fresh for so long had departed along with the monster's demise. Wherever the creature had stored his many stolen bodies, they remained still, either destroyed or forever lost. Arthur did, however, manage to loot a single grey gemstone from the Ghoulish Skinwalker. He didn't know what it was- Homunculi's Eye didn't tell him much- but judging by its rarity, it had to be something good.
Space Stone (Epic+)- ??? Great for Alchemical uses and Inscriptions
Arthur didn't know how to feel about everything Iris had told him. There was so much to it that he had somehow skipped past being overwhelmed straight to acceptance, He'd known that what he'd done was unique, even suspected that he'd been the first to refine himself with two apocalypse cores and a pseudo-divine one.
What Arthur had never expected, though, was that doing so was such a big deal. And then there was the whole thing with Iris' mother being one of the thirty-nine queens of hell, which happened to be an actual place. The System was created to give us a fighting chance against a fallen realm and all the help that we've been getting is about to disappear.
On second thought, maybe he was a little overwhelmed.
Taking a deep breath, Arthur tried to centre himself. Come what may, all Arthur could do was make sure he'd prepared his best to face it. Everything else, he'd have to leave up to fate. Reframing the way he looked at things- even if he wasn't entirely successful- was oddly freeing. Finally, when the ground beneath his feet started turning the mush, Arthur pulled out the object Iris had thrown at him before teleporting away. It was a small silver ring, nondescript and completely mundane. At least at first glance. Iris had given the ring to him for a reason, though, so he used Homunculi's Eye to identify it.
Arandales Lockbox- (Soulbound), Unranked- Arandale was a notorious space pirate, his heists legendary feats of deception and misdirection. Some say his treasures could buy a tier-2 planet outright. Who'd have suspected he carried it all on his finger?
Soulbound- None
This is a unique spacial ring that becomes a soulbound item once significant ether is fed into it. The size of the inner space on the strength and quality of the owner's soul. Whilst this may prove a limiting factor to many, this spacial ring boasts the greatest security known to sapient kind. The spacial ring's space is protected by the lower middle layer of the owner's soul, impervious to all but the most powerful of soul mages.
Establish Link: 0/ 10,000 Ether
Arthur didn't need to think about it. Everything that made it a limitation for others only worked off his strengths. Across the vast universe, there were probably a handful of spacial rings more suited for him and he doubted they'd be soulbound items. He was in the middle of the ocean with little to no ether and less than half health. Even so, Arthur directed his energy into the ring, spending thirty thousand health to make it his right away. Immediately, he felt a connection with it, much like the one he had with the Greaves of Achilles, only this connection felt even deeper.
Arthur suspected it was because of how closely linked it was with his soul, even when compared to other soulbound items.
Soulbound- Arthur Ward
Area- 27m³
Twenty-seven cubic metres was more space than Arthur knew what to do with. Accessing the area was as easy as breathing and felt like an action he'd done all his life as opposed to the usual difficulty people had when using a spacial storage for the first time. Arthur guessed it was because the item was soulbound. It had resized itself to fit on his finger more comfortably and much like his greaves, he could dismiss it from sight if he wanted to.
Thinking about the greaves, I seriously need to get used to using them more often. Off the top of my head, I can think of twenty situations where they would have helped a ton.
There was no use crying over missed opportunities, though, so Arthur promised he'd incorporate them into his training regimen; whenever he got around to designing and using one, that was.
With the novelty of his new ring wearing off, Arthur finally took a look at the items that had come pre-stored in the soulbound tool. There was a piece of paper with writing on it- Arthur guessed it was a letter- a jade token and a small crystal vial filled with colourless liquid. Arthur started with the letter.
[Hey Art,
I've wanted to call you that for a while now but never managed to work up the courage. I guess I'll have to do it in writing.]
Arthur smiled when he read that. The only people who called him Art were Elizabeth and Mat, and he hadn't seen either of them in a while. Liz had gone off to her academy and Mat... I have no idea what he's been up to. Damn, I've been a shitty friend. It didn't escape him that Mathew hadn't reached out either.
[If you're reading this, it means that my worst predictions came true and I'm no longer on Earth. The spacial ring is part of the reward we received for slaying the Ascended Bloodbeast and is by right yours. The vial is, too. It's a stat potion that I mixed with other stuff to make it more potent. I'd much rather have given you all this in hand, along with all the other things I know you'll need in the coming months. Unfortunately, System law prevents me from doing as I wish. Only under the effects of an off-world teleportation did I feel it was safe enough to give you the soulbound ring. It's weird talking about things I know I'm going to do as if I've already done them. Being a Mythical seer can be difficult at times.]
I knew it.
[The items I left in your new ring pushed the limits of what I could place within it without binding the thing myself. Without a partner, it wasn't too hard to get through its defences. Anything more though, and I'd risk destroying whatever I placed inside. Also, whenever I'm inevitably caught for my smuggling crimes, I can claim they were yours by right of your contributions facing the Bloodbeasts. I feel like a fraud, coming up with all these excuses why I can't give you things. I'm basically a princess. Dating me should come with some perks.]
Arthur smiled at that.
[As for the jade token. Well, I couldn't help but notice that you're stuck in the middle of the ocean. And last I checked, you don't have a house anymore.]
This time, he laughed out loud.
[Since you obviously can't move in with me- I don't know how you humans do your courting- the jade token will teleport you to a safe house I set up in England, on the border of a quaint little village called Mossley. I think it's about time you travel the world a bit and get outside the US. That's the first place people will think to look for you. The jade token is a permanent teleport link to the safe house and will last years so long as you don't use it more than five times a week. Wherever you are on Earth, it will take you to your destination.]
Arthur pulled said token out of the ring and analysed it.
Jade Return Token, (Rare)- A token connected to a teleportation ritual set up in England, UK.
Charge: 5/5
Recharge time: 27 Hours/Charge
Arthur's brows furrowed in contemplation. He had an important decision to make. A few minutes ago, he'd been prepared to swim back to land and make his way home from there. Now he had the opportunity to go to England. Arthur had mixed feelings about that. His mother's family lived there, British Koreans. He'd visited once before as a child, the year Rize had been born.
It had taken that long for his grandmother to accept that her daughter had married a white American man. All that goodwill had disappeared the moment his parents had died in a car crash and so they'd been placed into the foster system. If Arthur's memory served correctly, they lived somewhere near Manchester. Arthur wasn't so sure if he wanted to be so close to them. That and he was leery about travelling to a country he knew little to nothing about.
Before he could come to a decision, however, the pale blue sky suddenly turned a vivid shade of green, as if the Aurelia Borealis had suddenly become visible, only it spanned the entire horizon. The ambient ether in the atmosphere began to move chaotically and he could feel his personal reserves go into flux. Something big was about to go down.
Citizens of Earth!
Congratulations on completing the first phase of System Integration. You rank in the 71st percentile of successfully integrated planets.
We have watched as your world changed, from the days man struggled to mould metal to the great industrial revolution. We have witnessed your finest moments and your greatest failures and watched proudly as mankind rose to the occasion to defend their world from the threats brought on by the world's evolution.
You are ready!
Arthur read through the System message with rising trepidation. Across the globe, everyone was looking at the same message with varying degrees of emotion. There were some who knew what was coming, many who viewed the System as a saviour and others who hated it more than anything. Those who were asleep were woken up, the injured were healed and the men and women across the world in the middle of combat were teleported to the nearest towns and cities. Every member of humanity, be they young and healthy or old and infirm was looking at the same message.
Those who have distinguished themselves above all others should be acknowledged. The System believes in rewarding those who excel. As such, those who have contributed the most to Earth's continued survival have been placed on a global tier list. The higher within it you rank, the more System credits you will be assigned every day, with the top ten positions receiving a large stipend immediately.
Arthur's heart dropped when he read those words. He'd have to be an idiot not to realise what was about to happen.
Number 1- Arthur Ward, Level 103
Number 2- Natasha Sarkis, Level 123
Number 3- Prime Kazi Alukai, Level 172
Number 4- Prime Mortem, Level 145
Number 5- Prime Rajesh Chakravarti, Level 119
Number 6- Lily Karens, Level 137
Number 7- Kade Addams, Level 141
Number 8- Sam Whittiker, Level 99
Number 9- Jessica Rylin, Level 166
Number 10- Prime Patricia Heart, Level 143
The list continued for a while, naming the top thousand contributors to mankind's continued survival on Earth. That wasn't the only list made visible to the public. There was one for the greatest leaders, the strongest fighters, the best healers. In total, there were fifteen lists and Arthur ranked number one for three of them; he'd contributed the most to Earth, was classified as the strongest fighter despite being a lower level than everyone else on the list and was of course the greatest healer around. Unfortunately, primes had been excluded from ranking in the strength category so he didn't know how he measured up to Kazi Alukai.
Being revealed to the rest of the world in such a manner was the last thing Arthur wanted, but it wasn't the end of the world. That was what came next.
As the world moves into the second phase of integration, the universal currency, System credits, has been made available alongside the System store where you can purchase and sell things at your leisure. All your actions till now as well as your placements on tier lists have contributed to the number of Credits you've accumulated.
System Credits (SC): 2,347,194
Arthur didn't know how he measured up to others, but that was a lot of Credits.
Now that the first phase of integration has come to an end, The System's Army will no longer protect the planet from outer realm invasion. Invasion points will be set up across the globe and must be routinely cleared to prevent invaders from stepping onto the planet.
Should the inhabitants of Earth fail to defend their world, then the nearest tier-2 planet Feyton will deploy soldiers to take control of the situation and will gain access to planetary rights.
Note that Earth's borders will be opened up to visitation within five days.
Good luck and may you prosper.
It was then, right after the final System message came to an end, that the message that would make Arthur's life so much more difficult came crashing down to ruin Arthur's day.
Sector Wide Bounty Notice!
Human Native of planet Earth, subsidiary of The Argar Collective has been found guilty of violating [Redacted] Empire law. The target is extremely dangerous and suspected of illegal experimentation with monstrous DNA, including but not limited to a Shadow Panthers, an Augmented Turtle and a Draconic Liverthion.
The target is suspected to have spliced his DNA with an Apocalypse beasts. For the reward to be claimed, he must be brought in alive.
This is a Timed Bounty and will only be active for 55 days.
Reward: 1,000,000,000 System Credits + One Legendary skill of your choice
Well, shit.
End of book 4
If you lot are curious where each book cuts off, book 2 is everything up to the Locus of Power, book 3 is The Locus, book 4 is after it till this point and book five is about to start. Thank you everyone for sticking with my story for this long.
This AN is going to get old very fast so you don't have to read it if you don't want to. It's copy pasted from before. Feel free to ignore it.
Author Note:
Thank you everyone for all the support during my stories launch. Things turned out better than I expected but worse than I had hoped. Self-publishing means my story is only as successful as I am capable in marketing it, and I have never before in my life marketed anything. It's been an interesting learning experience to say the least.
This will be getting old very soon, but once again, I make an appeal to everyone to please go and check out my books release. Leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads, posting it on anywhere you think people might be interested, telling friends and family. Every little bit helps so much more than you could know.
On a side note, if hypothetically, all my readers went and got a KU trial for free for one month (RR says its around 5,000), and read my story Etherious: Fresh Beginnings, entirely for free, all within 24 hours of reading this, a LitRPG story, could hypothetically break into the top ten ranks on Amazon Books.
Day dreaming aside, my book has currently passed 800 sales so far, calculated via copies sold and KU pages read. If by the end of December, my novel passes 1,500 sales, I will start releasing 3 chapters a week starting from January.
The official release date of Etherious, book 2 is set for the 26th of December, the day after Christmas, when everyone needs a good read to wind down from the chaos of visiting family. Thank you everyone for making all of this possible.
Book 2 link available for pre-order: Etherious: Power's Price
For every 100 pre-orders I get, I'll release one bonus chapter. (Please don't just pre-order and then cancel for the numbers to go up)
Comments
Goose18
Book 4 was amazing! I will be impatiently waiting for book 5
Niko
Good book loved the ending
bcd051
Well, shit...perfect end to the book!
