Too Stubborn to Die

Aaron stretched and flew back toward the wombat world guardian. As they clashed again, the wounded beast scuttled deeper into the cave, licking its injuries.

It had put up a good fight, but the outcome was now inevitable. Nonetheless, the hardy beast appeared to be ready to keep fighting as necessary, backing itself into a corner and snarling.

Aaron was starting to feel bad for the creature. It was a valiant warrior, brave and willing to fight to the bitter end, regardless of what it suffered. He didn’t want that. Not for a noble beast such as this. It was best to end its suffering quickly.

Let’s see what I can do, Aaron thought as he increased his energy supply.

Cycling his core harder and faster, it began to bubble with power. Mana started to flood through his body, and his brow bent as he focused on expanding his mana anchors so that they could expel the excessive mana as fast as possible.

It was a simple alteration, and he was surprised he hadn’t done it sooner. Willing his anchors to open wide as he swung a punch, he released epic proportions of mana into the most devastating haymaker he had ever thrown.

It was like the faucet had been opened wide, allowing all his mana to flow out. It wasn’t efficient in the slightest, and he felt his mana reserves drain scarily fast. But it was powerful.

Within seconds, he felt his mana dwindle, and the air around him shimmered and crackled mana seemed to radiate from his power-infused fist, and when it landed, it seemed to blast straight through the beast’s wavering defenses, sending shockwaves and dicing currents of air outward as it threw the giant beast across the chamber.

Not even a C-grade beast could handle such a blow. But it had been taxing. Aaron staggered, quickly eating something to regain his strength and kickstart his drained core, and his strength started to return.

Bonus Experience rewarded for killing a beast of a higher level than yourself!

[ Precise Bombardier Pugilist ] has LEVELED UP!

145 → 148

You have gained insight into a possible upgrade path for Mana Anchors. Current discovered upgrade paths:

Streamlined Mana Anchors (10%)

Partitioned Mana Anchors (45%)

Reverse Mana Anchors (5%)

Elemental Shift (Void) (10%)

Expanded Mana Anchors (5%)

He couldn’t complain about the notifications. It wasn’t a bad outcome at all. Gaining levels and the revelation of a new mana anchor. But as powerful as it was, Expanded Mana Anchors weren’t really his style. Although having such a powerful attack in his back pocket would be handy.

He stood over the beast corpse and said a few words of respect before pocketing it. It was no easy task stuffing the giant wombat in his storage, though. He had to push everything aside to make room, and was starting to think he needed a larger storage.

The wombat was the strongest thing he had killed, and unlike the undead worm that was corrupted, he had a feeling that this kill had both good meat and a good sturdy hide. Maybe even something for Zach and Marko to make into pants while he waited for a good blacksmith that could make good use of his aether rock.

I’ll have to be more direct about the style I want this time.

“Brother!” Came Terry’s booming voice as he led Zero and a few of his top Desert Pythons down into the chamber. “We felt that energy shock. What was that?”

“Oh, that was me. I was testing something out.”

Terry was only half listening, his gaze drifting past Aaron to the crumbled rock and blood stains of the wombat.

“You… you killed that big fucker?”

“I did. Old mate put up a good fight.”

“Damn! I knew you were one tough bastard.”

“Are you doing okay, master?” Zero said.

“Yeah, I’m fine. This was actually a good bit of training. But I’m much more curious about whatever the world guardian was protecting,” Aaron said, turning to look down the passage.

“You guys, secure the entrance and make sure nobody comes down here. Got it?” Terry said, ordering his people around. “Alright, let’s do this, brothers!”

The three of them followed the corridor down until they reached an inner chamber with a System barrier. For testing purposes, Aaron punched it with a good deal of power, and it didn’t even shimmer.

“That is a strong barrier.”

Terry joined Aaron and Zero’s party, as the System required them to if they wanted to enter as a group.

Inside, they found what looked like a sci-fi control center, with a massive holographic globe spinning at its center, and a control panel beside it.

“This is…” Terry muttered in disbelief.

Aaron didn’t say a word, and simply stepped up to the center console. And the moment he did, a System message appeared for all of them.

World: ???

This world is currently unclaimed.

WARNING!

No faction currently controls at least 80% of the planet; please secure more obelisks.

Planetary vassalization unavailable.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Secure at least 80% of this world by controlling obelisks to claim ownership of the world core.

“So, this is the world core,” Aaron said as he looked at the globe. It was not Earth, although not entirely different. He even saw a couple of continents that looked vaguely similar to ones from Earth.

“You've seen one of these before, bro?” Terry said as he stepped up beside him.

“Yeah, I own one, apparently.”

“You own a world? How the hell does that work?”

“It’s a long story. I can’t do anything with it since it is outside our universe, which currently has a barrier separating it from the multiverse. But I can say that this is definitely a world core.”

“What do we do with it, bro?”

That was a good question, and there were several thoughts running through Aaron’s head. Firstly, they needed to take control of the world. Aaron didn’t have ambitions to be a king, or emperor. But he knew powers were provided for controlling the world. He didn’t care if he were the leader or not, but it made sense to come together and form a single cohesive nation if they wanted to compete with the powers of their universe, let alone the multiverse.

But also, they had to keep Darius away. Even if he could beat the necromancer himself, he had to be cautious of such a powerful thing as a world core. After all, the man had legions of undead at his disposal, and Aaron couldn’t be everywhere at once. And who knew what kind of chaos he might be able to cause if he took control of it?

“We can’t use it until we unite 80% of the world. For now, we need to defend it. This area is off limits to anybody who hasn’t been granted access by either me or Julius.”

“Julius? Bro, what are you talking about? Chill out. Bro, I got this. Nobody is entering my Oasis without permission!” Terry thumped his chest.

“Thanks, Terry, but that’s not enough. Zero, for now, you should stay here. I’ll head back to Dober and get reinforcements to take your place.”

“Hang on, brother! You don’t trust us?”

Perhaps he could have been a little more diplomatic. But Aaron was already thinking about the consequences of the world core falling into the wrong hands. And he had too many things to do to sit around and guard it himself.

“Terry, this thing controls our entire world. It’s nothing against you. I don’t trust any one person with it. Also, you saw the System message, didn’t you? You should consider joining the United Front.”

Terry was taken off guard, but he didn’t argue. For all his chest beating, it seemed that he was well aware of the power difference between them. But he also didn’t respond immediately.

“I’m not gonna force you to join the United Front. But someone needs to take control of this thing. Your Desert Pythons are fine, but there’s not enough of them. You control only one obelisk, from the looks of things. We have many already. So unless you can think of someone better suited—”

“It’s fine, bro!” Terry raised a hand as he nodded, contemplating. “You’re right, brother. If this thing really is that powerful, we can’t just leave it here.”

Perhaps Aaron’s hands-off approach was helping defuse the tension, because Terry was lighting up by the second.

“Okay, okay. I wouldn’t trust any old weaklings, you know? But you’re different, brother. Fine. The Desert Pythons will join your United Front. I figure you’re better than one of those assholes from the dungeon taking control over our world. I definitely don’t want the goblin becoming some kind of queen. Or the squids. No way I’m gonna bow to that little witch, bro! At least you’re a real brother. But there is a condition. The Desert Pythons will remain in control here!”

“If by here you mean the Oasis up there, then yeah, not a problem. We’ll probably have to send guards and personnel down here into the world core, though. But mate, you’re entirely free to remain in control of the Oasis above. Honestly, I don’t care about managing you guys at all. Managing people is a pain in the ass. Besides, we’re constantly short on mayors for settlements anyway.”

“Then it’s a deal!” Terry shouted and extended a hand.

Aaron smiled and took his hand. “Welcome aboard,” he said as he sent the System prompt for vassalization.

After he was done saying his goodbyes, Aaron wasted no time returning to Dober and informing Julius of what had happened. Of course, he already knew half of it since Oasis had joined the United Front, and the area had been lit up on his map.

The weeks since he had been gone had led to some improvements around Dober. The defenses had almost entirely been rebuilt, and while farms were still bare, the last of the lingering corruption had drained out, and the soil had been turned and seeded.

The goblin palisades had also been taken down, and Aaron’s own cabin and farmlands were looking much nicer again.

Dober itself was quickly becoming a hub. Even though they were constantly short on manpower, with many obelisks still being manned by barely a squad or two. The town itself was gradually building into a city, as it was the center of the entire United Front.

Resource caravans all made their way through Dober, and if you wanted anything you couldn't get yourself, Julius was the man to see. Meaning that there was a constant stream of visitors from the other settlements making their way through.

Unfortunately, this had also led to some unplanned development, and quickly assembled favelas were forming around the Bellagio.

When Aaron told him what had happened, Julius quickly rounded up some reinforcements for the world core, but numbers were short. For all the new people pouring in, there were obelisks to man, and so it never really seemed like enough. And Talia and Soohyun were still busy helping get everything running properly.

There were visible strains on resources, but more importantly, powerful warriors they could rely on. In the end, it was decided Zero would stay with the world core for a while longer. At least with Zero and Terry nearby, it would be relatively safe, and they didn’t have anyone of similar power available.

There was still plenty of work to be done, too. And Aaron wasn’t about to let himself get bogged down. And the world core was easily their most valuable possession. It couldn’t simply be left without proper defenders, even if its power couldn’t easily be harnessed.

Aaron didn’t want to risk discovering that there was something he overlooked the hard way. It was much more sensible to expend a little manpower to keep it safe.

As he checked his map, trying to decide on his next move, he was reminded of Ernest.

The cowboy was no doubt dealing with Darius one way or another. And since he was still on the top ranker list, Aaron knew he wasn’t dead yet.

Where to next?

To the north, a great ocean separated his territory from another continent. But he could see on the map that Darius’ legion had already reached it and claimed multiple obelisks.

But there were also many that still remained free, belonging to different factions. Also, he spotted obelisks in the ocean itself.

More allies wouldn’t hurt, and more obelisks meant more opportunities to train his mana anchors, and Aaron got ready to set off once more.

Ernest Sheridan

Ernest took a deep breath, steadying his aim. The titanic undead frog’s head took up the entire crosshair, towering over the rest of the army like a small mountain. He made sure that the crosshair was right on its forehead, then exhaled. When there was no breath left in his lungs, he pulled the trigger.

The gunshot was deafening, and the recoil sent him sliding back across the stone, nearly falling off the back side of the wall. He slowly stood up, massaging his shoulder and looking down at the remains of the rifle he had just fired. It was originally a sniper rifle longer than he was tall, but the shot had absolutely shredded the barrel, turning it into scrap metal. It had cost more than half his entire mana pool, and there was no way he could do it again anytime soon. To Ernest, though, it was worth it, especially when he saw the hole in the frog’s head and the System notification in front of his face.

You killed: Undead Venom Spitter [ Level 198 ]

Bonus Experience rewarded for killing a beast of a higher level than yourself!

[ Cosmic Gunslinger ] has LEVELED UP!

156 → 159

“No!” said a voice beside him. “How?!”

A short man with a barrel chest and biceps the size of Ernest’s thighs collapsed to his knees beside the ruined rifle. He picked it up gingerly, on the verge of tears over the ruined metal.

“Looks like this one’s a dud too,” commented Ernest.

“‘A dud’ my ass!” said the man. “What the hell are you even doing? That was some of our best metal! I can make a more durable version, but it’ll only barely survive this, and it’ll need constant maintenance if you’re shooting it like that!”

Ernest glanced down at the second System notification he got after the kill.

“That ain’t gonna be good enough,” he said. “I expect the shots will only be gettin’ stronger from here.”

You have gained insight into a possible upgrade path for Mana Anchors. Current discovered upgrade paths:

Streamlined Mana Anchors (10%)

Imbuing Mana Anchors (60%)

“A lot stronger.”

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