Nexus Runner [EPIC Progression Fantasy litRPG]

"Title Scroll. New title: Elf Born."

"Elf Born. A unique title bestowed by the tier-4 Elaris elf clan. Grants honorary inner-clan rank. Plus 25% chance to achieve future perfect tier evolutions.

"Plus 1 level to all current spells."

"Plus 3 levels to all current tier-0 abilities below level 20."

"Instant evolution of your highest-leveled tier-0 spell to tier-1."

I laughed. "No way!"

My first spell evolution! Leveling up spells was proving way more difficult than leveling abilities. Getting a new level in every spell at once was nothing short of awesome. Of course, 3 more levels in every tier-0 ability was just as mind boggling.

Eva added, "Congratulations, Lucas! Your tier-0 utility spell Mystic Looter has evolved to the tier-1 utility spell Mystic Looter, level 1."

"Inventory space becomes unlimited for tier-0 items. New tier-1 inventory space unlocked with a capacity of 10 x 10. Hotlist still capped at 50.

40% chance for tier-0 loot to instantly upgrade to a higher grade when first dropped. All tier-0 loot will slowly improve in grade or quantity over time while in the inventory. 15% chance for loot with sufficient Potential to evolve to tier-1 over time at the cost of dropping a grade.

Transfer tier-0 loot to party members up to 1 mile."

I whistled as I read the description of my evolved utility spell. It was one of my most-used spells, and the inventory system was a vital component. Evolving to tier-1 definitely gave it a boost. I had no tier-1 items yet, but if I left stuff in my inventory long enough, they might auto-evolve. How cool was that? Or at least improve their grade or quantity. And it sounded like a lot of dropped loot would instantly upgrade to better grades. Sweet.

Eva interrupted again. "Congratulations, Lucas! For being the first Earth contestant to evolve a spell to tier-1, you receive a diamond Star Trek loot box."

"Boldly go where no man has gone before," I said through a smile as the huge, brightly-glowing diamond box appeared in the air in front of me. When I willed it open, it exploded into fireworks that thankfully didn't set Sythrak's room on fire.

The loot box dropped 1 scroll, 1 ring, and a familiar leather tome.

"Varrik's Intermediate Runes Part Four. Common. The fourth installment in Eldira Varrik's popular rune courses, this edition is the first for confirmed intermediate rune talents. It expands upon concepts introduced in the third tome and delves into deeper aspects of runesmithing not accessible before now."

That was encouraging. I loved runes, and this series of instructional tomes were each like taking an immersive 6-week training course. They expanded my understanding of rune theory and practice and were helping me advance my rune mastery at a blistering pace.

As soon as I focused on the leather tome, another flood of information stabbed into my eyes from golden beams formed from the letters pouring off every page. I swayed where I stood and Sythrak snapped his fingers. A comfortable chair appeared behind me and I sank into it, mind whirling as pure knowledge filled my thoughts.

"Whoa, that rush never gets old," I breathed after a moment when the rush of new knowledge slowed. Concepts and truths still percolated through my mind, seeping in and becoming part of me in a way so alien to any form of learning back on Earth.

"Direct learning is marvelous, but I encourage you to practice the principles taught. No matter how much they feel real, only by using that knowledge can you truly master it," Sythrak said.

"Thanks. Good idea." I'd learned a ton about runes, but hadn't practiced nearly enough. It was a good reminder. Runes represented a ton of potential power, and I'd used runes to save my life from the Ironwood Colossus and defeat Alpha, but needed to make time to practice.

The fact that the loot box contained 3 items instead of 4 was interesting. My new Elf Born title should have doubled the loot, but maybe it just improved the quality instead of just the quantity, as I'd assumed. I took a look at the other 2 items. The ring surprised me.

"Toe Ring of the Caster. Epic. Increase the remaining uses for any Temporary spell to 10 and refresh 1 use of the spell every day."

"Note: Cannot select a new target for the ring until all uses of the targeted spell are exhausted."

The last note was too bad, or I might have spammed its effect, switching from 1 spell to another. Nothing would ever be that easy, though.

"A toe ring? Why not a regular ring?"

Cyrus chuckled. "Another first! Your habit of unlocking rare circumstances to gain unique achievements is unrivaled, Lucas. Toe rings are less common, so usually offer fantastic abilities."

Weird, but fine. At least it wasn't a nose ring. I made sure not to say that out loud. "I'll take it."

"Should you choose not to use it, I could offer an extremely good rate to purchase that ring," Sythrak said, reptilian eyes locked greedily on it.

"I appreciate it, but I'll keep it for now."

I had a lot of temporary spells that I didn't want to lose. I scanned the list as I willed my boots and socks into my inventory and slipped the slender silver band around my right second toe. It fit perfectly, of course. It only took a second to make my choice.

"Congratulations, Lucas! Your harvested spell Shadow Walk now has 10 uses and will regenerate 1 use per day up to a maximum of 10. Spell is upgraded to a full temporary spell, freeing up one Harvested spell slot. Should you spend all remaining uses, the spell will be lost, like any temporary spell."

Excellent. I still couldn't spam my shadow-teleport spell too much, but 10 uses with a new one every day was perfect. I'd been tempted to make the spell my next permanent, but wasn't sure how well it fit my current build. This way I didn't have to worry about that.

Now I had 2 open Harvest slots. With our planned assault of the mermaid base, I should be able to fill those with some good ones. Smiling, I checked out the other scroll.

"Inventory Scroll. Rare. Quantity of all potions in inventory increased to 99. Plus 5 to quantity of all scrolls in inventory."

"Note: Contract scroll quantity cannot be upgraded."

"Note: Legendary weapon and armor upgrade scrolls cannot be upgraded.

"Note: Dawn Riders scroll quantity only upgraded by 2."

"Sweet!" I'd gotten a similar perk in that divine ruby loot box at the start of the second stage that increased all my potions to 99. This one was even better. Had to be a perk tied to evolving my inventory.

Too bad those legendary upgrade scrolls couldn't be upgraded, but I wasn't surprised. My smile widened when I confirmed my Ultimate Glamp potion count had actually increased this time like the others. Cyrus had blocked it last time, but those potions were what allowed me to move my castle, which wasn't an official Base Camp utility spell.

The additional uses of the rare Dawn Riders spell scroll was welcome, and now I had 5 more uses of some of my other favorite scrolls. Some of those had just about run out. That loot box was way better than it should have been just for being the first to evolve a spell to tier-1. Thank you elf clan.

Since I was on a roll, I pulled out the single-use legendary upgrade scrolls and considered my options. I'd get only 1 weapon and 1 armor upgrade. Which should I pick?

I actually had several great weapons now, and my armor situation had never been better.

My blades, Echo and Scalebiter were the obvious choices. I didn't love them like I had Soulrend, but they'd proven themselves great replacements. Then again, my Titanbreaker Warhammer and Earthshaker Maul were both also great options. When I had to go big, which was happening more and more often, they were already devastating. What could they do as legendary-grade weapons?

The Piercing Gale longsword I'd taken from Sixel was a great blade, and it already had the ability to evolve to higher tiers. If I applied the upgrade to it, I'd have a legendary blade ready to evolve along with me.

It was a tempting, but I didn't use that blade as much and it was already epic grade, so the scroll would only upgrade it 1 grade, while I'd get 2 full grade jumps if I used it on one of the other 4. Actually, Scalebiter was only Uncommon grade. I'd forgotten that. The blade had performed well above it's grade, in my opinion.

Echo could already channel my mana and other spells and then hit with Double Tap, making it the perfect weapon for unleashing synergized power. Scalebiter's stacking penetration had proven vital many times too. My heavy weapons were already devastating, so how much power could I bring to bear by upgrading them?

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

More importantly, which weapons would I use against Queen Marisara and her deadly marshal, Thalorian? I'd needed my blades to keep up with Sixel, but my maul had proved more decisive against Velexis. From what I'd seen, Thalorian was powerful and super fast. I'd need Agility and speed to face him, so that meant blades.

Sixel's power had allowed her to ignore Scalebiter's stacking penetration until that last mighty swing. What if Thalorian or Marisara could negate that effect too? Echo was my go-to weapon for stacking synergized spells and power, and that was the entire focus of my class, after all.

Thinking about it that way made the choice easy. Focusing my intent, I read the weapon upgrade scroll.

"Congratulations, Lucas! Your blade Echo has upgraded to legendary grade."

"Echo. Legendary. This nearly indestructible sword will resonate with any force applied through it, improving chances of melding multiple forces by 25% and magnifying their power by 30%. Will echo that force, unleashing a second blast at 80% of the original force, then double all damage again plus up to an additional 25% damage, depending on status of enemy's defenses."

Even better than I'd hoped. I pulled the weapon from my inventory and the double-edged, silvery blade glowed faintly. It had grown a few inches, making it almost as long as Piercing Gale. I hadn't noticed the change in the description from short sword to sword at first. Despite it's longer blade, it felt even more perfectly balanced than before, the pearlized hilt molding to my hand like an extension of my body.

That was a blade worthy to take on the final boss and her scary marshal. If only I had a second upgrade scroll for Scalebiter. It too was a great blade, but would its lower grade prove less effective as we moved up to the fourth stage?

I didn't want to replace it yet, but eventually I might have to. For now, I returned Echo to my inventory and considered my other legendary upgrade.

I had a lot of great armor to consider, from my eel hide under armor to my beloved Crash Test Dummy jacket, to all my recently acquired armor. Any of them might prove game-changing with a legendary upgrade. Which would give me the best bang for my buck, though?

The eel hide garments were amazing, but didn't do much against impact or crushing, so that made them and my other inner layers less of a priority. As I scanned the list, 2 options jumped to the top right away. My new Shadow Cuisse upper-leg armor already offered excellent defense and absorbed force to add to my own extra force bar.

That was tempting, but it only protected the legs, where I received fewer wounds. My new Overlord Chitin armor was already legendary grade, and the incredible Colossus Mantle that Tony made me was the other obvious choice. Then again, did I need 2 legendary-grade suits of armor?

Of course. As cool as the Overlord Chitin armor felt, I expected to wear the Colossus Mantle more. Then again, could I upgrade my Embersteel ethereal armor? It was already at rare grade and offered amazing protection for my head, neck, and shoulders. If I could collect the rest of the set, it would likely upgrade to legendary on its own. So would upgrading it allow me to boost it to divine tier, or would the upgrade become essentially useless?

Most of my best armor was new, so hadn't been thoroughly tested in battle, but the Colossus Mantle seemed like something I was going to love. The extreme defense, plus self-repair and that cool Adaptive Defense ability should offer unrivaled protection. I was about to tackle my first stage-3 boss, so I'd need better armor. Facing Thalorian and Marisara, I expected I'd need every advantage. So I made my choice.

"Congratulations, Lucas! Your Colossus Mantle has upgraded to legendary grade."

"Colossus Mantle. Legendary. Extreme defense against all tier-1 attacks. Will absorb 40% of all incoming damage as kinetic energy added to the pool created by your Treads of the Luscaan Explorer and an additional 10% to boost its own self-repair. Includes active self-repair, Adaptive Defense, and will auto-evolve to tier-1 upon entering a tier-1 environment.

Adaptive Defense. Allows the armor to actively adapt to repeated strikes from the same enemy, improving defense for each subsequent blow and increasing the percentage of force absorbed."

That was awesome. Tony used some top-quality materials in his build for it to upgrade so well. The armor didn't look different, but it felt far lighter. Even though it was still made out of many types of solid metal and rang when I tapped on it, from the inside it felt impossibly flexible and no longer impeded any movement whatsoever.

Sythrak gave the armor an appreciative look. "That is a truly remarkable piece, my lord. Even on integrated planets, that armor would fetch a princely sum."

"Glad to hear it. If we all survive this insanity, Tony might have a good future as a crafter."

"Indeed, sir. Let us hope he gets the chance."

Riding the high from those upgrades, I tried to access the information crystals I'd gotten from the clan, but they were grayed out in my inventory.

"Come on, Cyrus. Why block me again?"

"You don't need the distraction at this time, Lucas. Once you dive into those crystals, you could easily lose track of time."

Fair point. "So, give me a super time dilation room."

"I've scanned them for you, like I did the other information crystals in the vault. Add these to the pile and I'll create quests for unlocking them when the time is right."

Lame, but I wouldn't argue the point too much. Not when Cyrus was about to send a letter to my parents. I lounged in one of Sythrak's chairs again, considering what to write. I couldn't come out and say we'd been teleported to a death battle world, or anything about the multiverse.

I just wanted them to know we were okay. While I considered how to phrase the letter, I opened that platinum Fast-Talker loot box I got for negotiating a better deal. It dropped a single scroll.

"Upgrade scroll. Plus 2 to ability Crisis Management."

Sweet. That would boost the final calculation of the Efficiency of my Intelligence even more. On top of the 3 levels I just got, that pushed the Efficiency of my Intelligence up 25%!

I was kind of surprised I didn't receive a new ability called Negotiating, or something, but more levels in existing abilities were always welcome. I then opened the random platinum Lucky Stiff loot box for surviving that initial blast of Kaelor's charisma. It dropped a single scroll.

"Upgrade Scroll. Plus 25% to Mental Resistance."

Nice. I would always take more resistances. As soon as I read the scroll, I was surprised to receive another notification.

"Congratulations, Lucas! For increasing your Mental Resistance to above 100, you dramatically increase your ability to resist illusions or other mind-focused attacks as well as your ability to ignore pain. Unlock the new primary tier-0 ability Perception Pulse."

"Perception Pulse. Ability. Rare. Tier-0 Level 6. Release a pulse of your senses out to 1 foot per level of ability for every tier-0 point in Perception as if you were physically inspecting the entire space from up close."

"Note: Increase Mental Resistance further to improve ability to process the results, avoid sensory overload, and reduce mental strain."

That sounded awesome, although the final note made me pause. My Perception was already boosted by Wolf Sight, so had grown to 254 tier-1 points. That equated to 2,540 tier-0 points. Even with my efficiency still only at 60%, the effective number was about 1,500. So I could pulse my Perception out to study an area 9,000 feet in every direction? That was 3,000 yards, or about 2.7 kilometers.

I whistled softly as I considered the new ability. It should provide a huge advantage, assuming I could process all the information I'd get back. That was the first ability with a warning note included in the description, so that did worry me a bit. I was still going to try it out as soon as I got out of the store, but I'd try to take it easy the first time.

I looked up and asked, "So, why did my new ability start at level 6? I seem to be getting a lot of ability levels all of a sudden."

"I can make sure you don't," Cyrus responded.

"No. Of course, I love it. Just noting a new pattern."

"It's a good sign that you're starting to use your Perception for other things than just looking for monsters. You are correct. Now that you've unlocked more than 50% of your tier-1 Efficiency, you are more than halfway evolved to your full tier-1 potential. Once you unlock 100% of your current tier Efficiency, all new spells and abilities will default to tier-1. Naturally, your current spells and abilities will respond as you grow toward tier-1. You'll find the starting levels will more and more often default to much higher numbers to better fit your tier."

"I like that. Will all of my current spells and abilities evolve to tier-1 when I hit 100% Efficiency."

"They will attempt to do so. In the process, they will lose up to 10 levels, so any spells or abilities below level 10 might fail to evolve."

I grimaced. "That doesn't sound good."

"It is a common challenge. You either find ways to evolve them after the fact, or discard them as you acquire tier-1 replacements."

I didn't want to lose any of my spells or abilities. Not the important ones. It was a good reminded to make time to train in the new system Training Guild in town.

With that all out of the way, I spent the next few minutes crafting my letter. I finally produced something decent.

Dear Mom and Dad,

You've probably realized by now that Tomas and I never finished our ride. We're far from home, but we're okay. Jane is with us too. Please tell her family.

I wish I could explain exactly where we are, but honestly, I don't know. Life is crazy, and we have a very important mission. With luck, we'll succeed in the next couple weeks and can get back home. Whatever you might have imagined, the truth is a hundred times crazier.

Can you do me a favor in the meantime? Another person missing from Colorado is named Ruby Lopez. Find her family. They live in France. Please tell them that Ruby is with us. So are a lot of other people, including Steve McDonough, Andy Hobbs, Lana Ortiz, Susan Collins, and the actor Tony Waldau. There are more, but I can't list everyone. I wish I could explain more, but know that what we're doing is very important.

I miss you both more than I can say. No matter how far away we seem, don't worry too much. We've grown stronger than ever, and soon I hope we'll get back. We'll contact you as soon as we do.

With love,

Lucas.

I wanted to say so much more, but no way Cyrus would allow it. I was tempted to try throwing in some Latin, which my mother had forced us to learn when we were young. I hadn't thought about Latin in years, but with my perfect recall, I was better at it than ever. Or maybe a Narnia reference.

Unfortunately, Cyrus knew Latin and he was such a fan of Earth pop culture and media, he'd pick up on any references. I didn't want the letter blocked, so that would have to do.

"What do you think?" I asked, looking up.

"Good effort," Cyrus said. "I'm a little disappointed you didn't try sneaking more clues past me."

"I almost did," I admitted.

"But you know I'm too clever to miss them," Cyrus chortled.

"Something like that."

"Your Wisdom is really showing fruit."

I expected a loot box for making Cyrus feel so proud of himself, but got nothing.

"So, will you deliver this?"

"Consider it done."

Hopefully he did. I wouldn't have any way of knowing until we defeated Queen Marisara and returned to Earth. It wasn't much of a letter, but it would give them a little hope until we got back and could explain everything.

Cyrus added, "By the way, Lucas, great job! Arranging a clandestine meeting with the head of a major tier-4 organization and negotiating some sweet upgrades has played extremely well with your fans."

"Wait, I didn't think people could watch us in here." Had they seen Kaelor? Would anyone put the pieces together? A video clip of us meeting and me getting a big ruby loot box might alert the Shadrael demons.

"Relax," Cyrus said before I could get too worked up. "No one was allowed to see the specifics, but they'll see your new gear, so I had to give them something. Just hints, no details, and no visuals. Even that helped a ton."

I sank back into my chair and scanned my view counters. They had indeed ticked up farther, almost enough to get another follower added to my Loyalty Token.

"Keep up these numbers, and you'll unlock some great prizes," Cyrus added. "In fact, I was about to share some exciting news with you, but that will have to wait a bit because now you've got a better opportunity available."

"Like what?"

"You'll love it. I'll get back to you as soon as it's finalized."