Magic Murder Cube Marine

If a grunt is forced to experience the universe by accidentally gaining understanding of all Magic, and tries to take it out on the first god they see, how big is the resulting explosion?

Well, that was tricky. System mostly operated in an intuitive manner. If a user wanted to do something they first visualized their intention. Then System decided if it was possible, calculated the cost, and assigned an outcome.

Francis was angry and wanted to destroy something. It was Hades’ bad luck he had been scrying on Francis when the Marine accidentally gave himself third eye surgery.

Calculating mana usage for combat magic was simple. MP Cost = Distance in meters to furthest target + (Targets or Cubic Meters • Effect 1 • Effect 2 • Duration in Rounds)

Distance in this case was technically infinite, but the cost maxed out at 1000 for a target on the same plane of existence with line of sight. Not having line of sight doubled the cost. 2000 would hit anything anywhere. Francis had 6,300 Mana on tap and was about to use all of it.

Hades had come unprepared for battle and was in the equivalent of sweat pants, so he was at his base Deflection of 8. Francis had an Attack Magical Skill of 10. He auto succeeded.

System did not like letting Francis get what he wanted. A series of unlikely events had made this possible within the rules. But System thought that was bullshit. Eventually it relented and let the situation play out.

Hades was blasted out of his sandals by 4,300 points of Magical Damage. He landed on his ass and broke his tailbone. His hair was on fire and his robes were smoking as he painfully got back to his feet.

The lord of the underworld reached up and patted out the flames on top of his head. He looked over at his wife Persephone. Her expression was a mix of concern and amusement.

Normally she only spent a few months out of the year living with him. But lately they were doing pretty good. The marriage counseling was really working out for them, this time.

“I'm going to kill that guy, even if it's the last thing I ever do.” He said.

***

Francis had very mixed feelings about what just happened. On the one hand, blasting a god with his amazing magical powers was pretty cool. On the other hand, he didn't like being tuned in to the secret frequencies of the universe.

It was already close to sunset and he needed to get to the Adventure Guild before they closed. Having a staff was important to looking like a proper wizard. So he would keep it, for now.

Eventually Francis figured out that if he started feeling too spiritual he could ground himself by thinking of his favorite weapons. He got as far as the M3 grease gun before he found the right building.

His mana was recharging at thirty points per minute so he wasn't feeling too drained as he approached the front desk. “I'm here to see about becoming an adventurer.” Francis said.

An hour later Francis was officially part of the guild and even had a horse. Technically he needed to make payments to keep the horse. But when they told him he could qualify for his very own war horse if he signed today, he figured he'd be a fool not to.

There was a job board on the wall listing different creatures that needed killing, or magical plants that needed gathering, or magical plants that needed killing so they could be gathered. It was made up of hand sized ceramic tiles.

Whenever he touched one of the special tiles the details of the quest etched themselves into his brain like a Taylor Swift lyric. He wouldn't be able to forget until the mission was completed or canceled. But it only worked if the quest hadn't already been claimed. Francis didn't like that most of the good quests were already taken.

The blue tiles were available quests, the gray quests had already been claimed, and the green ones were completed. He watched as a tile went from gray to red.

“What's with that?” He asked a short man with an epic beard and an equally magnificent great ax.

“Someone bit off more than they could chew.” The dwarf said. “It means either a solo or a whole party just bit the dust.”

Francis walked over to the red tile. If a whole party got wiped out, and he could get to them quickly, maybe he could take all of their stuff. He didn't feel like reading so he accepted the quest without checking the details.

Apparently there was a Lich in the dark forest that needed its head kicked in.

***

Francis didn't have a place to stay for the night. He also didn't have any money or friends with a couch to crash on, so he decided to be proactive and go after the lich immediately.

It was called the dark forest. He figured it didn't matter what time of day he arrived, it would be dark inside anyway. Francis made sure to inspect his new horse before setting off though, he wasn't a complete moron.

The stallion was going to need new shoes soon and the leather of the saddle had seen better days. But the real surprise came when the horse started talking.

“Hi, you must be Francis. I'm Chuck.” The white horse said.

“Holy fuck! You can talk?” Francis thought about the situation for a second. “Or can I talk to animals? Which of us is special here?”

“Oh, I'm betting you are pretty special, Francis. But no, I can speak to anyone. You must have bought the navigation package.” Chuck looked around. “So, what interest rate did they give you?”

“Twenty-eight percent, the same as usual. But I made sure to get the guaranteed asset protection.” Francis replied. This wasn't his first time buying a five year old charger.

Chuck looked over at his new owner in surprise. “Wait, you actually bought the GAP? Nobody gets GAP.”

Francis laughed. “Chuck, I just bought you at twenty-eight percent interest with no money down. Of course I have GAP. What do you think I am, an idiot?”