Guy0fV4lor

From the weakest goblin to the Strongest god

@Jangel13 I'll have a post tonight

I, the Demon King, Will Summon My Own Damned Heroes!

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@Zeroth

Though it felt good to have mana back once again, and to be freed from the pull of the other side, the fact that his attempts to drain the rat's mana merely broke even was quite frustrating. However, this had perhaps given him better insight on how the assimilation function of the dungeon worked, as it seemed to be shuffling the souls of dead creatures into bodies that were not theirs. Right now, if he were to disengage from the dire rat, it would no doubt come after him, and he'd have no way to fight back. Unless.......

Jason looked back at his body; the dire rat was getting further and further from his corpse, and his only means of fighting back. If he was going to possess his own corpse, he needed to stun the rat while he closed the distance. Suddenly, an idea came into being. It was risky, but it just might work!

Activating [Transparency I] on the tip of a pseudopod, Jason clipped the ethereal tendril directly into the rat's head, and deactivated the skill. Wincing in pain at the backlash, Jason launched himself toward his body without a moment to waste. Attempting to sweep up as much of his spilled fluids back into the gash of his membrane as he could whilst entering his hollow shell.

With all his will, Jason tried to puppeteer his former body, attempting to take a defensive position in anticipation of the rat's counterattack.

Ascension: Monster Farm

I'll jump back into this later this week

I, the Demon King, Will Summon My Own Damned Heroes!

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@Zeroth

Despite Bonie's less than helpful input, the old goblin did have a point... Was it wrong for a creature to eat? Perhaps. But perhaps not... Despite his reservations about devouring souls, it appeared as if Jason didn't have a choice, as any other means of mana regeneration was unavailable to him.

However, just as Jason was about to give up on hope, the spirits seemingly answered his plea, and revealed to him a buried nest of unhatched fanged lizard eggs, each housing the bud of a soul. Swallowing, Jason reached forward to consume the tiny motes of light, for him to eat these blank slates was mercy compared to the fate that would await them in the dungeon.

Pulling back from his small meal, thoroughly disgusted with himself, Jason turned his attention to the dire rat, the one that was starting to follow the scent trail of Ardur and Asura. Strangely enough, the rat had yet to notice his presence as he crept up behind it.

Without warning he launched himself into the rat with [Levitate]! With all his might, he focused on the assimilated dire rat's mana, trying to pull it into himself without fully consuming its soul, similar to what he had seen Asteria use on Ardur earlier.

I, the Demon King, Will Summon My Own Damned Heroes!

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@Zeroth

Jason was in shock, where was Bonie? Had he absorbed her??? His spiritual body quivered as he was branded with the Taboo, marking him with his crime. Yet, for some reason, her sacrifice still wasnt enough, as some voice in the back of his mind spurred him to devour more souls.

NO.

He was stronger than this. His will was unyielding. He would return Bonie's soul, and he would take no more souls to maintain his existence. He was better than that. Deactivating [Levitate], he floated down to the ground, quickly putting a point into [Meditation], and eight into [Guidance], he knew he needed help, there had to be another way. Focusing with all his might, and "shutting off" his sight, Jason pulled at the mana around him, trying to draw it into himself. With what little mana he could gather, he sent a plea into the earth calling for it's aid, "Spirits of the earth... I ask for your guidance, must I truly subsist off souls in this form? Or is there another way? Please, help me.... I beg you!"

I, the Demon King, Will Summon My Own Damned Heroes!

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@Zeroth

"Da Core don't need ya no moar. Ya spirit free...if ya got da strength to BE free." She looked out towards the cave entrance, and sighed. "Ya lucky, Ja-Soon. Ya only had to hold yaself for a short bit. Bonie die long time ago. All da Old Gobs dies, too. Udda gobs too busy fightin' and not dyin' to tell da old stories. And now dey leavin'. And Bonie can't go wif 'em. Not strong enuff no more."

She pointed again. Back in the Nesting Area, there was...a tiny, golden glimmer?

"Betta hurry. Won't stay lucky foreva."

But behind Jason, the Dungeon Core was still pulling at him. And he had said himself that it needed to be dealt with. Something was different about this place, wasn't it? Didn't he want to see the Core, see how it was different in this place? Didn't he want to know what was happening to Rattleskull and the others? Maybe he could fix it. Bonie had just said she didn't have much strength anymore--HE had the power. Only he could do it. Only him...

Glancing back at the mass of souls, as they were slowly pulled toward the core, Jason knew that despite what the core wanted him to think, he couldnt save their souls. They had already been lost. He just wasnt strong enough to save them all. He looked forward once more, at Bonie. Maybe, just maybe, he had the strength to save at least one. "I do have the strength to be free... You may not be strong enough, but I am... Maybe even strong enough for both of us. You're coming with me." Before the elderly goblin had a chance to protest, the warlord's misty form quickly swept her up, and threw her into his shoulder, holding her tightly in place. Without a moment's hesitation, Jason charged for the nesting area, determined to reach the glimmering exit as he fought against the dungeon's pull. Drawing nearer and nearer to the exit; which was only about the size of a rock, he pushed harder, attempting to charge both him and Bonie through the small breach, and back into the world of the living.

I, the Demon King, Will Summon My Own Damned Heroes!

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@Zeroth

Jason slowly bent his fingers one by one as he stared at his hand; once again in his human form. Despite the lack of feeling, he could definitely tell that was HIS hand. As he hurtled back toward what he assumed was the world of the living, the voice spoke once more, it's attitude towards the reincarnate made clear.

"Yes, power is just a tool to you. It's just a necessary tool, so you wanted more of it. It'd be best if you could have all of it. Only you should have it, right? Your requests were always reasonable, weren't they? The others are simply foolish and arrogant. They don't understand anything. They don't know anything. You know best. Your reasoning is the best. You're the only one who knows everything--you didn't know if Asteria or Ed had any magic at all, but you did have magic, so therefore that was all that mattered, right? There was no other use for the Magic Crystals but to be your fuel. Everything in this world exists for you...right?"

Jason scoffed, "I never once claimed I needed ALL the power, nor have I insinuated as much. Clearly, you also seem to think that I'm quite unreasonable with my demands, yet I fail to see how that is; like I said, by keeping my MP up, I could more adequately protect those around me... Besides, did I not say I would teach the others mgaic so the crystals would be of use to them as well? If there is indeed uses for mana crystals to be beneficial to non-magic users, please let me know, as that's quite new information to me. I don't know everything, and clearly, neither do you if you think of me as you've described.... Do trees exist that men can build houses? Do animals exist only to be food for their predators? Nothing exists for anyone in any world, only what you make for yourself exists for you."

Slowly, Jason drifted toward the passage on the right.

I, the Demon King, Will Summon My Own Damned Heroes!

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@Zeroth

Jason reached out to tap the box filled with undulating static. He noticed as he did so that he touched it with a green pseudopod.

"Your only goal was to kick ass and take names. To be stronger than before." The voice was...monotonous? Female? Distorted. Robotic? Masculine. Powerful? Faint. A whisper. A recording? "You assumed to be like the apex predator. To find water, to find prey. But your rashness showed you your limits." Jason would remember in a flash of insight how he paddled helplessly in the water after assuming he could swim like a crocodile. Had it not been for some quick and creative thinking, would he have ended up food for...whatever was in the pool?

"You witnessed the nature of this world, survival of the strong. You saw an opportunity to make an ally. You withdrew from a threat you knew you could not handle...and immediately began plotting their future demise. You trained to become stronger. Joined forces with a brother. Your first thought upon finding other "heroes" such as yourself was to secure alliances for survival. You wanted power. To survive? To rule?"

The memories of his previous life played out somewhat distantly. It had been only days, yet somehow felt like months had passed.

"Eliminate the threats. Your first and only plans for those who oppose you. Betrayal, your greatest fear and unavoidable fate. You had to be the first one to set the terms for an alliance. They owed you the Mana Crystals, and the other resources. You had to be the one in control. You had magic. You had power. Why did Asteria have to skew everything to her twisted point of view? They should have had faith in you. You didn't know them, so you had to be in charge to make sure they could be trusted. They just had to have faith in you, because you can be trusted. You're in control."

Jason couldn't figure out, from the distorted, digitized tone of voice, whether it was just stating his thoughts or mocking him. After all, it felt like...a really long time...since some of those things had happened. This new world had changed him, hadn't it?

"You knew you had to go. Something was happening. You had to be part of it. It can't happen without you. It won't be right. You have to be there to guide it. They found the cache, they drove the Goblins from the Bonfire. Now it was your time. Your time to swoop in and turn this rabble into a real army. The goblins were going to come back. You could protect them all. You were the seasoned commander. They needed to be good soldiers."

"Mourningstar. She didn't want to listen from the start, did she? No wonder she betrayed you later. How furious did that make you? Why? Why didn't she listen? But you protected them. You kept the filth away from your comrades.

You proved that you were strong. You transformed, became greater. This was only the beginning. You could grow stronger, be better...better than before. Stronger than the Old Life. You defeated Rattleskull--you were the one to end his wretched life.

And you were chosen.

You became the boss because no one else could. It had to be you, of course. The core picked you. All you wanted was to learn, to understand, and to become stronger. To do that you had to use the core. To do that you had to protect the cave. You had to protect your soldiers. But the core was trying to influence you. You didn't want it to, you knew it was trying to subvert your will. You had to be in control. You had to be the strong one. But you wanted some of the same things the core wanted. That was okay, wasn't it? Gathering the undead, that was okay. You were putting them to a purpose. You were going to free their souls. Using them as labor and as soldiers was just part of the process. A means to an end. They were yours to do with as you pleased anyway, weren't they? It was only right. You were the Boss. You had the power. You had control.

But the others didn't understand. They were fools! They were traitors! They were sickening! Destroying what you created! Destroying what you built! The Core wanted them gone--but you weren't being controlled by the core! You wanted them gone! Because you were in control. Not the core. Right?"

All these images playing through his head, Jason could see them from a completely different perspective. Right now he was outside looking in. Right now he was completely tranquil and clear. Right now he was uninfluenced, he was pure, he was truly in control of himself.

Did everything still look right to him?

No. Whatever was speaking to him, in narration of his life in this world, clearly had a few things oddly wrong, or skewed in some way. "Firstly, it's never truly been about power... Power is nothing more than a tool with which I can achieve my goals, and protect that which I care about." he called into the void. "Beyond that, I never claimed I was owed anything from my allies, the reason I wanted to be given the crystals, was simply because I was the only individual among us that had any practical use for them... Despite the arrogant foolishness of some of the others, the only individual that betrayed me up to this point was Mourningstar, which was before the core became a part of me..." a slow realization crept into Jason's mind.

"How much of the Core was in you, Jason? How much of Jason was in the Core? Do you submit to death? Is this the end of your story? Are there no more chapters?" The voice asked one last question.

"Who and What are You?"

"I am Jason, former Warlord of the band of Valk, but now a budding mage in a new world. It looks to me that despite the fact I once was a man... I'm a slime in this world, one that still has hopes, dreams, and ambitions to fulfill... Thank you. You have opened my eyes."

Without hesitation, Jason hit the slime button on the menu, ready to re-enter the world.

The core needed to be dealt with.

I, the Demon King, Will Summon My Own Damned Heroes!

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@Zeroth

Jason roared with fervor as the wave crashed down on him, biting, kicking and punching everything he could, violently fighting against the tide pulling at him from every angle. And then, there was nothing. He had been here before. Here in the endless void, he could see, hear, and feel nothing. It was enough to nearly dive a man mad.

He could no longer feel his hands. Or his membrane. Or his fur. Or his magic. Or his wings. Or his skin. Or his scars.

Who was he?

He had been a man, yet was no longer.

He had been a slime, yet was no more.

He had lived and died twice now.

And now, he was here again....

Just like before, a screen appeared, but it wasn't quite the same... Some things were missing, and new choices were there. A Wisp. A Goblin. A Slime. A Pixie. A black screen split by a line of undulating static, like a clip of sound waves. A screen filled with a warm, comforting red glow that made him feel sleepy.

As he was about to select slime, he hesitated, could he go back? Or.... Was it a trick? As his gaze drifted across the other choices, the red light beckoned, trying to pull him in. Like a moth he began to be drawn into its hypnotic light, pulling himself away at the last moment. Finally, he made his choice, a blank slate; the box with a staticy line. He was Jason, and he was going to change this world.

I, the Demon King, Will Summon My Own Damned Heroes!

@King Cosmos hes already talked to Z, I think he just wanted to introduce himself to everybody on here before he joined the discord