Five wooden barrels, each carrying 500 kilograms of gunpowder stood before the incredulous group. Bread and Goulash were curious and tried to taste it. Both of them grimaced as they were smacked by Sular, like kids eating candies before dinner.

“Where is the best area to… let it fly?” Vlad asked with sheer happiness; not often does one get the opportunity to explode something. His inner pyromaniac was just tethering in joy.

“How powerful is it?” Aelathane took a handful and sniffed it. It was a weird mixture, but she could tell it held a certain level of power.

“Hmm… A lot?” Vlad pensively answered as he realized he did not know how powerful spells or skills were. “What can a fireball do? Let’s say, apprentice-grade,” Vlad wanted to have some kind of benchmark.

“It can obliterate a 2nd-tier warrior orc with ease. Unless he has some direct protection or too much of ki,” Aelathane shared. As an apprentice herself, she was fairly knowledgeable.

“Can it melt through alchemical steel?”

“Yes, without much of a problem… But that is due to magic. However, an adept fireball can melt alchemical steel with heat alone.”

“What about brass or normal steel?”

“Apprentice-grade fireball is enough.”

“Hmm… Gunpowder is much weaker, but it can explode a lot. I could have made thermite which could melt through the steel and brass, but… It would not make a big boom,” Vlad gazed at his creation with a proud tint in his eyes. Half a ton in just under 26 hours from which most of the time was wasted on a shopping spree.

“No wonder explosives are forbidden… Just a few normal ingredients and you have a weapon powerful as a basic spell…” Sular muttered. She never delved into sciences as she was a priestess so for her it was something inconceivable.

“So, where do we put it?” Goulash flatly asked. For him, this did not matter… He was already angry that he had to run. He was angry about the situation with Bread. For that fucking human nearby. And Za’Dek who took a bit more than he could chew and let himself be killed. He just wanted… To destroy something.

“Near the armoury? They would not expect anything like this… I could go there and tell them it’s a seized contraband. I have one more unused transformation just for these situations. How quickly will it explode if I would ignite it directly?” Aelathane was full of surprises.

“Almost immediately; you won’t have a chance to run. Can we light it from a distance?” Vlad asked with exasperation. So many problems for such a simple thing...

“A simple crystal of heat should suffice. Bread, Goulash!” Sular shout-whispered at the two silent goblins who suddenly sprang up like soldiers yelled at by a sergeant. “Find one crystal of heat,” Sular ordered.

Twenty minutes later, after Aelathane melted again and transformed into some random orcette warrior, she procured a simple cart and they loaded it. The crystal of heat was skillfully commandeered from an unguarded automobile. The noble owning it would have to go afoot.

The journey into the armoury near the docks was trouble-free. The guard-goblin accepted the barrels, with an overcharged crystal of heat hidden in the middle that served as a timer. Hopefully, it would get them some time to escape, before it burned through the metal.

Then they retreated into the initial alley from yesterday and waited for the soon-to-come explosion.

The chaos that ensued after the blazing ball of orange fire and smoke demolished the whole building was hard to describe as it was enhanced by the steam batteries. Everyone kinda forgot the crystals of heat and fire were there too.

First, the explosion came as expected. The blast had to be heard everywhere in the bustling harbour. Half-a-ton of gunpowder can and will flatten even sturdy buildings like these. What was left was just smoking rubble with some smouldered pieces of barely recognizable equipment and even surrounding buildings were damaged. No known survivors either.

Second, every single kill was counted to Vladimir as it was his weapon, his idea and his ‘last’ strike. He put the crystal there.

Third, of course, an alarm sounded right after; horns with a deep, rich tone. When it reverberated in the air, Vlad got chills; it was a kind of mesmerizing sound. Aelathane said something about an adept-grade explosion spell while gaping at the rising smoke with the rest of the group. Even a wide-grinning Goulash sent him thumbs up and in Sou’Rek’s eyes appeared a new level of understanding. Of what, Vlad did not know.

At that moment, Vlad understood that fireballs and explosions were very different things. A fireball spell was simply a bad benchmark.

Fourth, Vlad felt an incredible amount of EN pouring into him. The screens started to flash one after another.

[You have gained 678.31% Essence]

[You are overloaded with Essence!]

[Forcefull level up!]

[Congratulations! You have levelled up to level 10 without class!]

[You cannot advance further without a class]

[Your ailments flared up due to overload]

As they slowly moved towards their slim steamboat, Ssirze the White Bastard, came. He just suddenly appeared above the city. Vlad could not tell if it was teleportation, just his pure speed, or he was just nearby. He started casting some kind of spell and his immense magic encompassed the whole city. Vlad could see as black tentacles slowly stretched to all sides from his white-winged back.

Their boat itself had two paddle wheels on the sides. There were no sails or even a flag. It was slim, painted white and otherwise discreet steamboat. Just the type a person would use to escape.

Problem was that the docks were still guarded, even if, by confused and sort of fearful goblin-guards, as the orcs ran to ground zero.

“Shit! I did not expect him to come…” Sular swore as she hatefully stared at the white devilish wizard. “Aelathane, lead them!” She ordered with a firm, determined voice. Then she started to chant,

“God Staumaz, I, Sular of Steam, pray to ye! I implore ye to make me Avatar to vanquish thy enemy! Send thy power through me and vanquish them! I pray to ye!”

The orcette priest of steam rose up. As she swiftly flew towards the devil, hot steam condensated from thin air around her. Her green skin turned white and her legs completely disappeared; only a whirl of rotating steam was left. Vlad even saw a few bolts of energy crackling around her.

“Sular!” Bread shouted, tears dripping down her cheeks; she was hastily silenced by the elven wizard apprentice.

“Bread, we cannot do anything. We must run! To the boat!” Aelathane grabbed the crying Bread and began to run. Vlad, Sou’Rek and Goulash were following after her. Sou’Rek, as the person with the highest attributes, was swinging his spear at the surprised guard-goblins, instantly killing or at least crippling them.

The battle in the air was insane. Vladimir could not even follow the movements and only heard thunders and echoes of explosions. He did not know Sular could be so powerful and hoped she would survive. However, a small voice inside his head told him she would lose. In the end, turning to the avatar of her god… There had to be a price.

They reached their slim steamboat, which was rocking left and right on the raging sea. During the way, they were hit by several waves, only their strong bodies allowed them to stand their ground. However, Vladimir’s disguise was gone.

There were a lot of orcs and their slaves trying to secure and dock their ships so nobody found them strange in the chaos. Vlad had to hide inside the boat, as his skin was too conspicuous, so they assigned him as a steam-boy. Someone, who has to take care of the engine, fire it up and take care of the pressure.

Soon, Vlad felt the ship shudder as they started to move. “Off to the sea then,” he grinned big-time as he pulled some random crank he hoped to be a steam flow controller. He just could not help himself. Yes, they were running. Yes, Sular’s survival was essentially impossible. However! They had a clear destination, thanks to Aelathane! Plus… STEAMBOATS! Beautiful steamboats… The craftsmanship was impeccable. The pipes, engine, valves, the whole wood-steel architecture…

The boat suddenly rocked, heavily, and he lost his balance. He stumbled and directly hit his head on one of the valves. The lovely Orpheus kidnapped him to his land of dreams.

⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬

Dream

“This is Sandra. She is from America. Say ‘Hello’, Vlad!” Adele introduced him to a girl before him. She had curly, blonde hair, big blue eyes and was wearing a smirk on her impeccable face.

“Hello…” The 6-year old Vlad said, clearly embarrassed. He was red as a tomato and gazing down with an occasional, ‘secretive’ glance at the girl.

“Heh, daddy told me you are some kind of genius! So? What can you do? Turn yourself into an even bigger douche?” The girl, Sandra, mocked him.

“That was not very nice, Sandra…” Her father softly reprimanded her, plainly only because his mother was there. He had a strange glint when he watched the boy before him. She pouted a little bit, but her smirk did not leave her.

“Well, let them play and let’s talk. We have many things to discuss,” the man said to Adele.

“Yes, master Dalibor,” she said with a slight bow. Then they left them in the room. Vladimir did not even see how they left. The room itself was plain. Only four white walls and a few toys in the middle of the room.

“So? What are you going to do?” The girl asked. This time she had an empty face and she asked with a deep, masculine voice.

“What am I going to do?” The boy suddenly rose up in the air. “I. AM. GOING. TO…!”

⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬

Vlad woke up in a bed. That dream… It was already leaving him, even though he had eidetic memory. However, he felt something… Good. Like he had just made an important decision.

He slowly sat up and immediately regretted it. The whole world was swaying around him. He forcefully subdued his swimming stomach.

“Ahh, look! Knighty-boy finally woke up!” The Loony Voice came back with its classical merry, annoying, slightly pitched voice.

Vlad halted in movement. Then groaned. Then slumped back into the bed.

“You again?” Vlad weakly sighed.

“Is this how you welcome your friend? Do you know how hard it was to break through that resistance? And by the way; thanks for your help! If you did not pull off that last stunt I would be locked away forever!” The Loony Voice happily blathered on; and on; and on…

“Shut up!” Vlad yelled, regretting it again as his head was pounding. “Really? Ugh, just what I need right now… What the heck happened?” He muttered to himself and opened the log. There was nothing much of interest. However, his status, especially level and ailments… One bad, one good.

Vladimir D. Svoboda

Age: 229

Race: Homo Sapiens Sapiens - Earth origin

Level: 10

Essence: 66.76%

VIT: 2.95 (decr 0.21/day) / 25.00

CAC: 2.50 / 12

ISS: 2.50 / 12

NSS: 2.50 / 12

MPA: 16.5

Ailments:

Dissociative identity disorder T2 (mind)

Pancreatic cancer (4th stage - 15 days left) (body)

Magic-less/Ki-less (body/soul)

DID ‘upgraded’. How? The only way was through the immense amount of energy. Nonetheless, he was able to leap in level. The MPA was off the charts. Over-Level simply meant there was too big disparage between his level and attributes and that it could have some detriments or perks. Mattered by the situation. He did not feel much smarter either but noticed that he could think… faster. Much, much faster.

“Wait… how long was I out? ONYX!” Vlad panicked in his mind.

[80 days]

“Holy shit… I was in a coma for that long?” Vlad exclaimed as he could not believe it. He was superhuman! He just hit his head! How?

“Try to guess, moron… You were completely drained. Stress, immensely brutal training, not enough sleep, bad food… You should have taken better care of our body!” The Loony would deadpan if only he would have a face.

“... Fuck. Now… where the hell am I?” He slowly stood up and examined his simple surroundings while ignoring the rambling of the Loony. Vlad knew he was right… And the Loony knew he knew.

He was still feeling extremely sick, but now he did not know if it was because of the cancer or because he was so long ‘offline’.

His 6x6x6 room contained only his bed with sweat-drenched cloth sheets. The bed was big and sturdy; enough to hold an opulent orc. There was also a simple, empty table. Above his bed was a circular window. Only now he noticed it was deep night, three moons shining on the clear sky with densely packed stars. They were in the sea, with no land as far as the eye could see.

They were moving. Probably. He actually could not feel a single tremor from the engine. He guessed that, over thousands of years of engineering, the orcs and goblins had come to perfect the technology, especially with advancements of magical enchantments.

The hallway was empty with three other doors. One on his side, two opposite of him.

He supported himself on the wall and slowly walked to the stairs leading up.

The smell of sea hit him as he slowly emerged, heavily breathing. The cancer was taking its toll already; he had coughed up a little bit of blood on the way.

The sea was… simply beautiful.