《Infinitium》
Prologue
Prologue
From the Archives of the Artificial Intelligence known as Thor prior to dissociation.
Note 1: Records indicate this information was recovered from an Orb Of Knowledge upon querying the origin of Adamantadine
Note 2: The Identity of the recorder of this information was not available.
Note 3: There is no way to verify the authenticity of this information.
In another time, another dimension, another place, a man could not wait to cast the spell he was preparing. He¡¯d spent hundreds of years conducting research and sacrificed countless lives developing this spell. One sacrifice had required him to hire a group to breach the heavens to capture, kill, and trap a soul. That soul was about to be used to power his spell for eternity. It had also been the most expensive component. Drawing out the final rune, he knew the casting of this spell would elevate him into the realm of the divine within years, not decades or centuries.
Ensuring that all the glyphs and objects of power were within the correct configuration, Apolyn looked at his surroundings one more time. This area of the Dungeon, technically the beginnings of The Labyrinth, was sparse. The cavern he was in was empty and by the rest of his party. They were outside of the room and down the corridor from the only entrance into the cave for their ¡®safety¡¯.
After the casting, he wouldn¡¯t see them again so wasn¡¯t worried about what happened to them. Apolyn cast his first spell and successfully linked the Adamantium ring to the center of the glyph. Runes briefly flashed bright gold around the inside surface of the ring, then faded.
Picking up the ring, he placed it on his right ring finger. The first step of the casting was now complete, now for his safety measure. Casting another spell, he opened a portal to his home that he would step through once his third casting was complete. Now for the hard part. Taking a deep breath and focusing, he began casting the final part of the spell he had created.
Apolyn had learned that Dungeons existed and replenished themselves by gaining experience from those they killed and absorbed. He had also learned that as Dungeons became more experienced, they would magically connect to other dungeons and share that experience. His research had discovered that these connections were often referred to as The Labyrinth. Apolyn had devised a method of tapping into and transferring some of that experience from that network of connections. It had taken years to create the spell. After he¡¯d finished his research, he¡¯d learned that he¡¯d need to capture the soul of an angel and find one of the rarest and most indestructible substances in the Universe to even have a chance of succeeding.
Apolyn worked for years on this project. He¡¯d found the location of an angel, sent a group after it, and had its soul captured, no easy feat. The substance, however, was another matter. The only one he¡¯d been able to discover that came close to his requirements was Adamantium. He¡¯d only been able to procure a very small amount because no new sources had been discovered in a very long time. That made it prohibitively expensive as crossing the people that did have the metal, well, that was just a bad idea. So, he¡¯d paid their price and thought about what he would make with the amount he was able to buy.
A pendant had been his first thought, but he¡¯d decided against it. Pendants sat on chains that could be easily removed. Then he thought about making it into a ring and realized that was the answer. Once the ring was crafted, he¡¯d included a rune that would allow it to auto-size to the wearer. Another rune made it so only the wearer would ever be able to willingly remove it from their hand. He¡¯d also included a soul-binding rune. Should he die somehow, the ring would follow his soul to a previously prepared body when his contingency spell to soul transfer activated upon his death.
Returning his focus to the spell he was casting, words and gestures flowed from the Arch-Mage. Time passed without pause and with a final word of power, the spell was done. A delay of 3 seconds before activation had been added so the siphon would not begin until he was clear of the Dungeon. If the spell had failed he¡¯d wanted to make sure he was nowhere near where he¡¯d cast it. There was a lot of power being directed toward this single purpose. Apolyn stepped through his portal, felt a strange yanking sensation, and placed his foot onto a high desert plain next to a giant 100-foot tower. It was the last thing that Apolyn ever saw as a nanosecond later the entire area he had stepped onto was vaporized.
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***
Unfortunately for Apolyn, The Labyrinth was much more than a connection network between dungeons. As Apolyn stepped through the portal, two things happened. First, his ritual activated and a transfer of 1,000 experience (XP) from the Labyrinth to the wearer of the Adamantium Ring began. That surge of energy destabilized the portal and changed the target destination as Apolyn stepped through. Second, The Labyrinth, actually a sentient entity in its own right of arguably infinite size, noted the sudden loss of experience, which to it felt like a human getting a small splinter in their finger. It flexed its will to stop that experience loss. That flexing caused everything at the source of its ¡°pain¡± to take a catastrophic negative modifier to their luck attribute.
As the ritual had already been activated and safely tucked outside time and space, it was unaffected. Apolyn, however, was affected by the modifier. As the portal destabilized things went weird because part of Apolyn¡¯s spell had required a permanent change to time and space for the spell. That effect bled into the portal and cascaded out of control to change its configuration with two preset conditions dictated by the flexing of the Labyrinth¡¯s will. One, destroy whatever had hurt it. Two, make sure that it would be very hard for magic to be used to undo that destruction.
No one would ever know if an entity guided the destination the portal was directed to or if it was just dumb luck. The how did not matter; only the outcome did. At exactly 5:29 and 58 seconds local time, Apolyn stepped through the portal and exited next to a 100-foot tower at White Sands New Mexico on July 16th, 1945. One second later the portal disappeared and Apolyn realized His Personal Interface, magical items, spells, and links to his Place of Power went dead. Also, every spell he¡¯d cast on himself stopped working. One second after that at exactly 5:30 a.m. Project Trinity successfully detonated a 25-kiloton device which instantly vaporized Apolyn who was standing exactly 100 feet below the device.
In the two seconds the ring had been activated, Apolyn stole 2,000 experience points XP from the Labyrinth. Having just made it to level 1,000 it would have taken another 16 minutes and 41 seconds to earn enough experience to break through the threshold needed to move into the Legendary rank class for Mages as each category threshold increased the cost by ten times.
Once he¡¯d died, Apolyn¡¯s soul was pulled up and started rushing through space at a faster and faster pace. As he was moving, he was surprised to find that he could review his Personal Interface again. Checking the last few prompts, he realized that his soul was not rushing off to be transferred into a new body. Every spell that had been active had failed right before he received the prompt.
YOU HAVE DIED!
Simply every ability, spell, and magical effect that had been active on him had ceased to function. He didn¡¯t know what an atomic explosion was, but he was pretty sure that fire was involved somehow. Before the portal had closed, he¡¯d been completely immune to fire. Once the portal closed, he was not. Apolyn cursed the unfairness of what had happened as the light in front of him bathed his soul as it traveled through space passing countless stars toward one giant orb of energy. That must be The Eye.
As Apolyn passed through The Eye he suddenly found himself hurling through a viscous everchanging fluid. There were no landmarks, no focal points. He could not see more than five feet around himself as the substance blocked sight like a really thick fog. He saw a couple of other souls near him but felt that he was surrounded by thousands if not hundreds of thousands, of souls as they all rushed through this fluid.
Suddenly, the milky substance he was traveling through began to clear and Apolyn realized that the souls he was traveling with were flying past rows and rows of teeth that filled his vision. As they flew forward they increased in size until they were larger than he could describe. He found that he was rushing towards a tunnel that turned¡ no not a tunnel, a throat. Those were the last thoughts Apolyn had. As each soul crossed into the throat, they crossed a barrier that shredded and separated all the component parts of a soul, their memories. The Will that held those memories together lost coherence as the soul was consumed.
As Apolyn¡¯s soul was consumed, The physical body of Apolyn was turned into particles that became part of the mushroom cloud rising into the sky. For the 2,000 experience points that the spell had stolen, Apolyn had been utterly destroyed and his body vaporized. If the Labyrinth had known the outcome of Apolyn¡¯s soul it would have considered it a fair trade.
The Adamantium ring, however, was not atomized as the properties of Adamantium had been agreed upon by all the Divines from many of the Universes that made up the Multiverse. Instead of being destroyed, the nuclear blast had lifted and thrown the ring into a parabolic trajectory that caused it to plow into a white sandy dune near Oasis State Park, just west of Clovis NM.
Chapter 1, Discovery
September 21st, 2019
A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent Johnathan recited to himself as he continued to look for arrowheads in the white sand dunes at Oasis State Park. Once a month he¡¯d come out here with Boy Scout Troop 411 to clean the park. Then they¡¯d all split up and spend half the day sifting through sand looking for any Indian arrowheads that might still be out there. Sure, people had been looking for them for years but every once in a while, a new one would be found.
There were so many collectors in this area of the Midwest that finding a single rare arrowhead could theoretically send the entire Troop to Summer Camp next year. More likely, any arrowheads they found would be worth just enough to send one of the scouts from a low-income family. Today was one of Johnathan¡¯s last two free days before he had to start packing for his trip to Alamogordo next weekend on the 28th. Today was going to be his last chance to spend with all of his friends from the Troop before he headed off to college. He¡¯d met up with Johnny, Ben, Mike, Craig, and a few others and they¡¯d headed out early this morning.
Next weekend he¡¯d be on his way to New Mexico State University Alamogordo to start his Associate Program. After that, he hadn¡¯t decided what he was going to do. He was looking forward to getting started though. Thinking about the Scout Law and planning for the future, Johnathan was pleasantly surprised when his fingers felt something hard touch them. Focusing on his hand, he moved his fingers slowly until he was able to grab whatever it was.
Success!
He slowly pulled up a dull silver ring. He lifted it out of the sand and looked at it. He thought he saw etching along the inside but when he looked again the etching wasn¡¯t there. It was dull silver in color, but he decided that it looked cool. He checked to see if it fit, then placed it on his right-hand ring finger. It fits, Johnathan thought then admired it for a few more seconds before he went back to looking for more arrowheads. As he continued to sift through the sand the ring he found slipped from his thoughts and he forgot that he was even wearing it.
Johnathan spent the rest of the day looking for arrowheads, but he didn¡¯t find any. He stood up, dusted himself off, and started walking back to the parking lot. He spotted his Troop Master, Mr. Landry. ¡°Hey Mr. Landry, I didn¡¯t find any arrowheads today,¡± Johnathan said.
¡°That¡¯s all right, Johnathan, we¡¯re about to head home anyway. It¡¯s getting late,¡± Mr. Landry replied.
Looking around, Johnathan saw that everyone else was packing up and said, ¡°Just going to head to the car and check my phone, if that¡¯s all right. Reception is bad out here in the dunes, but I should be able to see if anyone has tried to call me over by the parking area. ¡°
Going back to what he was doing Mr. Landry answered jokingly, ¡°Go on, at your age, I¡¯m sure there¡¯s something more important on the internet to look at.¡±
Johnathan made it to the parking lot and pulled out his phone. Unfortunately, Mr. Landry was mistaken. There was absolutely nothing interesting going on. Reports of murders. Right-wing analysts spinning things towards their narrative. Left-wing analysts spinning their bullshit. Like anyone was too stupid to understand exactly how transparent any of their statements were. Besides, there were more important things to do than worry about politics. Johnathan had just turned 18 on July 16th and was about to head off to college. He was sure he¡¯d have better things to worry about, like passing the classes his mom and dad were paying for him to take.
Once everyone was packed up they drove back to town. Clovis New Mexico sits on the border of Texas up near the Texas panhandle. With about 50,000 people, give or take, Clovis is not a very big town. In fact, the biggest town near Clovis is Albuquerque which takes about 6 hours to get to. Amarillo and Lubbock Texas are about two hours away but they¡¯re not incredibly big with only about 200,000 residents in Amarillo and 250,000 in Lubbock. Not much bigger than Clovis but with a little more to do and a larger variety of restaurants for sure.
The drive home was uneventful and too soon Mr. Landry pulled up to Johnathan¡¯s house. Johnathan jumped out of Mr. Landry¡¯s SUV. He grabbed his stuff from the back and called over his shoulder, ¡°Sorry we didn¡¯t find any arrowheads, but I was glad to spend time with all of you again today. See you all the next time I¡¯m in town.¡±
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Mr. Landry called back, ¡°Always glad to have you, Johnathan. Tell your mom and dad I said hi and have a safe trip next week. You¡¯re always welcome to come by and hang out. Now I must get these other hellions, I mean Scouts, home before their parents start to worry. See you around.¡±
The others called out, ¡°See you, Johnathan¡±, and ¡°Don¡¯t have too much fun chasing those college girls¡± which led to an ¡°Oooooooo¡± and Mr. Landry laughing as he halfheartedly said, ¡°Knock it off!¡± Johnathan stepped back and watched them drive off, When they turned the corner and he lost sight of the SUV he turned and walked up the sidewalk to his front door. As he opened the front door and walked inside he called out, ¡°Mom, Dad, I¡¯m home.¡±
Calling from the kitchen, Johnathan¡¯s mom replied, ¡°We saw you pull in; come on back to the dining room it¡¯s time to eat.¡± After a short pause, she continued, ¡°And don¡¯t forget to wash your hands.¡±
As Johnathan put his stuff down by the door, he responded with a quick, ¡°Yes Mom¡± and went to the kitchen sink, washed his hands, and dried them. Making his way to the dinner table, he sat down and asked, ¡°So what did I miss?¡±
¡°Nothing much,¡± his mother answered as she started making her plate then continued; ¡°I went shopping with Sally down the street. Stocked up on food supplies and such, but other than that, it was a pretty uneventful day. ¡°
He watched what his mom put onto her plate and realized they were having a pot roast. Of course, he¡¯d smelled beef when he¡¯d entered the house, but they could have been having steak. But no, they were having a pot roast, cooked to perfection with beef, carrots, potatoes, and onions. Oh yeah, dinner was about to be awesome!
Closing his mouth before he started to drool, Johnathan waited for his mom and dad to serve themselves. After his father handed him the utensils, he piled a good portion of what was left onto his plate. Being an only child did have some perks: no brothers or sisters to share with. Of course, the downside of that point is he had no brothers or sisters to share anything with. Enough melancholy, Pot Roast!
Johnathan¡¯s family was not much for small talk while eating. Once they were all done, Johnathan gathered all the dishes, rinsed them off, and then placed them in the dishwasher. He knew a dishwasher was supposed to wash the dishes and had made the point that they didn¡¯t need to be rinsed first. He¡¯d come to terms with the fact that it was just easier to do what his parents wanted than try to use logic against their logic, which had something to do with it made it easier to keep the dishwasher clean and helped keep their dishes remain more sanitary if he rinsed off the dishes before he put them in the dishwasher. There were so many holes in the logic his mother had used but he¡¯d lost that argument more times than he¡¯d like to admit over the last six years so he just rinsed off the dishes before he put them in the dishwasher.
Jarring him out of his thoughts, his dad asked, ¡°Are you ready to enjoy your last week home before you head down to the college next weekend?¡±
Johnathan continued to rinse the dishes as he answered, ¡°Yep, today was great. I got to hang out with my friends who all have school or work this week, while all I have to do is pack up my stuff and take it easy. You were right, Dad, having a plan is always easier on your time.¡±
¡°Hopefully that¡¯s not the only lesson you¡¯ll remember,¡± his dad said with a heartfelt smile before he said, ¡°Your mom and I wanted to give you one more gift to help you on your way. Come with me.¡± His dad said as he stood up from the dinner table with his mother and they walked over to the garage door and stepped through waiting for him.
Wondering what his parents were doing, Johnathan followed them into the garage to find his mom standing next to a new-looking, silver-gray, Nissan Rogue. He knew that his father was not made of money and had expected that his father would be driving him down to Alamogordo next weekend. Johnathan had not expected his parents to get him a car. ¡°Are you serious?¡± Johnathan asked with an excited voice.
¡°Yep, it¡¯s a 2017 model, so it¡¯s not brand new, but it has low miles, and we did get a really good deal on it. We of course will be making the payments and covering the insurance, but it should go without needing to be said that you must continue to be the responsible young man you¡¯ve proved yourself to be these last four years,¡± his dad said with a hint of pride.
His father paused and his mother took over, ¡°Besides, with your own car, there will be absolutely no excuse for you not to drive home unless the mountain roads are closed due to snow, which we all know doesn¡¯t happen all that often as the plows for those roads are on the ball all the time.¡±
Stepping forward, tears of joy in his eyes, he hugged his dad and whispered a muffled ¡°Thank you, dad.¡± He stepped back and bent down a little bit to hug his mom and whispered, ¡°Thank you, Mom.¡± After a little bit, Johnathan let his mom go and stepped back. He realized that all of a sudden he felt extremely woozy as the room started to spin. He dropped to a knee as he muttered, ¡°Dizzy,¡± and started to collapse sideways. His father caught his head and eased him down onto the concrete, rolling him onto his back.
Johnathan felt his father put his hand to his head while muttering, ¡°No Fever, not clammy, overworked, overexcited, dehydrated, think maybe he faint¡¡± were the last words Johnathan heard before he drifted off into darkness.
Chapter 2, Ouch
???
It had been many years since the Labyrinth had felt the pinch it did long ago. This time, however, the pinch had turned into a drain. Not a huge drain by any measure, but a drain just the same. Monster respawn rates had to be adjusted. Treasure respawns slowed a bit and even some virgin connections to newly formed dungeons had been dropped to adjust for the change in experience consumption that the Labyrinth had suffered. Like before, the Labyrinth flexed its will. This time, however, there was no effect. This forced the sentience that was the Labyrinth to concentrate on only one thing for the first time in a long while.
Tracing the pain back to its origin, the Labyrinth focused its senses on the area in question. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. There was just an empty cavern. Analyzing the area with more powerful spells, the Labyrinth detected the remains of a temporal disruption, which would explain why it could not affect whatever was siphoning off its experience as it was both here and not here. The Labyrinth had the ability to control and modify temporal flows within itself, but for some reason, it could not break through the temporal barrier it found. Unable to affect this end of the siphon, the Labyrinth traced the energy flow and discovered that it entered the Universe through a very small rift. It analyzed the other side of the rift and noticed immediately that any magic it sent through ceased to work as soon as it crossed the threshold. The rules in that Universe seemed to prevent magic from being part of the fundamental makeup of that Universe. Or, more appropriately, access to magic was somehow suppressed or drained away.
None of its normal responses would work under such conditions. Any monsters that it sent through would weaken and die rapidly away from any gate it created and such gates probably wouldn¡¯t last long. It noted that energy seemed to be able to enter, so long as it wasn¡¯t bound by magic. It tried one of its mental spells and was satisfied when it was able to connect to a young human. Having made the connection, it analyzed the human. The Labyrinth realized that the boy, Johnathan, was wearing a ring and that the rules of his Universe didn¡¯t even allow him to know that he was gaining experience and leveling. The spell the Labyrinth had cast had caused Johnathan to faint. Almost immediately, the spell fell apart. Even the Higher Powers of the mental sphere of magic could not overcome the rules set in place in that Universe. The Labyrinth considered for a moment and then made its choice. Focusing on its intent, The Labyrinth invested a small portion of itself into a construct made of pure energy. Very quickly It moved that construct into the stream of experience and watched as it passed through the rift. The Labyrinth was infinite in both power and duration; all it had to do now was watch and wait.
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The Construct, while not fully sentient, was aware at a fundamental level and rode the stream of experience through the rift that had it enter a ring and then the wearer. Unlike the spells The Labyrinth had cast, the construct was unable to access Johnathan¡¯s Personal Interface. It paused for a moment before acting. It moved towards the mind of the being it was in and attempted to attach itself. Something blocked it. Well, its master was no novice when it came to infiltrating and converting targets, so it used a tried-and-true tactic and moved into the mind¡¯s subconscious. As it suspected, the host had no defenses in this area and it was able to implant itself.
Much like a computer virus being implanted into a computer operating system, the construct set up a network of feelers that would allow it to access information and watch passively. Once everything was in place the construct started inspecting Johnathan¡¯s mind and was immediately overwhelmed by an insane number of prompts being created. The constructs¡¯ original function tried to activate and was shunted to a stream of prompts that were constantly being created that started with, ¡°Congratulations!...¡± The message was added to the growing queue, all waiting for the hosts¡¯ acknowledgment. Investigating further, the construct realized that there was no conscious connection from this portion of the subconscious to the host''s consciousness. The host was not seeing any notifications or messages.
Like its creator, it was programmed to be patient. The construct realized that it might be a long time before that was possible; new prompts were being created every 139 seconds, 140 seconds, 141 seconds, and so on. The construct would have to wait until the host consciously delved into its subconscious. As fast as the host was leveling, it wasn¡¯t a question of if the host would do so, just a matter of when. With nothing better to do, the construct began reviewing the memories in the host¡¯s subconscious and began to learn about the Universe it now found itself in. It had memories from its creator of other minds and infiltrations. Compared to those minds, this one¡¯s memories were much more organized with better clarity. It started reviewing those memories as it waited.
Chapter 3, Is This a Dream?
September 21st, 2019
Johnathan¡¯s dream-fueled vision filled with message prompts.
Congratulations! You have reached level 2! You have been awarded 4 attribute points which may be distributed however you wish.
Congratulations! You have reached level 3! You have been awarded 4 attribute points which may be distributed however you wish.
WARNING you reached a new level without allocating your attribute points from a previous level. You now have 8 unspent attribute points. If you do not allocate your unspent attribute points within seven days, they will be randomly allocated for you.
Congratulations! You have reached level 4! You have been awarded 4 attribute points which may be distributed however you wish.
The prompts shattered as he heard his father¡¯s voice calling to him. ¡°Johnathan. Jonathan, wake up. Johnathan?¡±
Feeling that he was on the ground, Johnathan realized he must have passed out for a minute or two after his mom and dad showed him the car, his car! He opened his eyes to see his father¡¯s face hovering over his and his mother¡¯s face close behind. Smiling sheepishly, Johnathan said, ¡°Yeah Dad, I¡¯m here. How long was I out?¡±
¡°About two minutes, give or take. How are you feeling?¡± his dad asked
Putting a quirky smile on his face, he answered, ¡°I feel fine, a little bit of a headache, but fine. I guess the surprise was a little too much for me?¡±
Standing up, Johnathan¡¯s father reached down and helped Johnathan to his feet. As he grabbed his dad''s hand and Johnathan was hauled to his feet, his dad said, ¡°I doubt it, probably too much sun out there at the park. Get a big glass of water, head off to your room, and watch some cable or something, but definitely get some rest tonight.¡±
¡°Are you sure you¡¯re, okay?¡± his mom asked as she stepped forward and brushed Johnathan off.
¡°Yes Mom, I¡¯m fine. Dad¡¯s probably right, I woke up early, We were all outside all day, and I probably just need to take it easy.¡± Looking into his mom¡¯s eyes, then his dad¡¯s, he gave them both a hug as he said, ¡°Thank you for the car, it means so much, and I will come home and visit as often as I can.¡± Holding them both for about a minute, he released them and stepped back. As he turned away, he saw a tear in his mom¡¯s eye which was really interesting because he had tears in his eyes too.
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Wiping his eyes, he turned and headed out of the garage into the kitchen. He grabbed a big glass of water and headed to his room. Johnathan had intended to watch some TV, play a video game, or maybe even read a book, but none of that happened. As soon as he took his shoes off, sat down on his bed, leaned back, and let his head hit the pillow, he fell asleep and slept the rest of the night.
The next week he played with his new car, packed, and went to see his friends a couple more times, as their schedules would allow. Nothing eventful happened and everyone was both excited and bummed out, especially his tabletop Role-playing Games friends. He was their Game Master (GM), after all. His online gamer friends were also a little bummed, but not as much. They¡¯d see him again online as soon as he set up his consoles and PC in his dorm room. Johnathan was staying in his own room in the dorms on campus on a full scholarship which included internet access. Maintaining a 4.0 Grade Point Average (G.P.A.). was easy with a mind like his.
Johnathan had been born with what the doctors called a ¡°photographic memory.¡± If he saw or read something, he could always remember it. Also, if he needed the information his mind would automatically bring that knowledge to the forefront of his thoughts, so he didn¡¯t have to think hard about anything he needed. This made school incredibly easy.
A couple of teachers thought he was cheating and tried to punish him. His parents had paid to have him clinically evaluated to fight those claims. The doctors¡¯ findings had answered the question unequivocally that Johnathan didn¡¯t need any help answering questions about information he¡¯d heard, read, touched, tasted, or smelled. Additionally, the test showed that anything he studied and then focused his attention on with the intent to learn was done with little or no effort. Tasks that required muscle memory took a little more exertion, but he could learn any skill with very little effort.
Johnathan had also asked for and received special permission not to take notes. He didn¡¯t need them, ever. His brain was an information sponge; he remembered everything. That ability had helped him learn every computer language he had access to by the time he was 14. He had also taken the time to learn to read and speak Spanish, French, Japanese, Chinese, and Russian. He could probably learn every other language as well and probably would.
In addition to his mental acuity, His father had realized that Johnathan was special by the time he was 4. Knowing that martial arts were a good method for relieving stress as well as learning self-defense he enrolled Johnathan in Judo classes at the age of 6.
By the time Johnathan was 16, he had black belts in the seven most popular martial arts: Karate, Kung Fu, Judo, Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Krav Maga, and Aikido. Additionally, he¡¯d picked up the basics using just about every single martial arts weapon that existed. He wasn¡¯t great with any of them, but he understood their form and function and could use all of them. He also knew the techniques to defend against them.
As for modern weapons, Johnathan had tried to stay away from guns, but his father had taken him to a range and he learned the correct way to dress down, clean, and reassemble most handguns, rifles, and shotguns. His dad didn¡¯t own any guns, but he¡¯d thought the information might come in handy so he¡¯d taken Johnathan to the local shooting range. Johnathan was a good shot, but not in any way a marksman. He just knew his way around weapons and how to use them.
The Doctors who had assessed Johnathan weren¡¯t sure if there would ever be an upper limit to the amount of information he could absorb or skills he could learn. They had defined him as a genius-level prodigy in anything he put his mind to.
September 28th came much too quickly. It was a teary and heartfelt goodbye with his mom and dad, but they knew he¡¯d be back for the holidays. The drive wasn¡¯t too bad. He just followed Highway 70 southwest through Portales and Roswell then west through the mountains. The only weird thing about Saturday happened after he¡¯d arrived on campus and checked into his single-room dorm. For a split second, He¡¯d felt a little queasy. He¡¯d gone to the bathroom, splashed some water over his face, and then froze. He could swear he¡¯d felt intense pain, an almost phantom ripping sensation, then nothing. He looked at his reflection in the mirror. The queasiness went away, and he realized he felt great. Moving to the bedroom, he laid back on the bed for a minute to close his eyes. He¡¯d slept for about an hour and then finished unpacking as he prepared for school the next day.
Chapter 4, A Meeting of the Divine
(Location Unknown)
No mortal had ever seen this place before, nor were they likely to. The Universe this location resided in was old, one of the oldest in all existence, and absolute in its design. There was nothing that existed here naturally that did not have an absolute function or purpose. As an example, the giant round table in the middle of the cathedral served as a meeting place for the gods, that was its purpose. All of them. The chamber the table sat in negated the fundamental rules of this Universe and allowed any of the Old Gods to enter and exit as had been agreed upon. None could come to harm in this chamber by the Universe itself, though in the early days, some Gods had found out that they could feel pain when they disrespected their betters, or as the young Gods thought of them, the really old Gods. The table also served as a platform for any who wished to address the assembled Gods, whether they were a God or a servant of the gods. The table protected any who stood on it from the awe or terror that each God put off so that they could make their reports.
An Angel stood in the middle of the table as one of the Gods addressed him.
¡°Raphael, how does the Abattoir fair?¡± the God asked.
¡°A child has reached level 5,000,¡± Raphael responded.
All the Gods¡¯ gazes hyper-focused on the angel and a larger, more powerful God spoke. ¡°Explain.¡±
¡°A Mage from one of the other motes of order created a ring tied to a Labyrinth, the 1st one. It responded and destroyed the mage. In doing so, the ring ended up in the Abattoir on Earth.¡±
¡°Continue,¡± the same god intoned
¡°A boy picked up the ring and put it on. This ring is linked to the Labyrinth and siphon''s experience to its wearer.¡±
¡°Surely the changes that were made to the Abattoir thwarted this?¡±
¡°The Fundamental laws that were enacted remain. No creature within the Abattoir may access their Personal Interface, nor can they in any way modify their settings. The spell that funnels the ring¡¯s experience has placed its primary purpose outside space-time in the Labyrinth and cannot be affected by any mortal, save the one who created it, since he is no more, and became a soul in the Abattoir.¡±
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¡°He is no more?¡± the eldest God asked.
¡°Yes,¡° Raphael said.
¡°The boy?¡±
¡°The boy gains experience by the second without knowing that he is doing so,¡± Raphael answered.
¡°Options?¡± the eldest God asked.
¡°It would seem that The Labyrinth has taken steps to try to take over or contact the boy, barring any accidents or the willful murder of the boy, which will be very hard now for any creature on Earth.¡± Raphael paused for a moment then continued, ¡°I would suggest we allow this to play out and perhaps try to guide this boy towards our purpose. As the rules were devised, no mortal in the Abattoir is given the opportunity to ascend until they die. The level of 5,000 was set as the first level of the Divine thereafter all the previous Gods were moved to other motes of order or withdrew from this Realm altogether. This was done to make it quite difficult for any mortal to attain Divine status upon their death. This has worked thus far as no mortals, until this boy, had reached level 5,000.
¡°Should he somehow make it to another mote of order, he will not fall within the bounds of the laws that rule that mote, as he does not have class levels. He will instead be given the choice to become an Ascendant Human, A Law that was added to cover the very low possibility of a mortal reaching level 5,000 there. There are of course motes of order where mortals can attain the same levels as the divine, but none with the rules of the Abattoir. This boy will be unique in that the rules of his Universe will allow for a path of progression that does not include the Primal Powers. That could be useful. Therefore, my recommendation, as I said, is to allow things to develop as they may.¡±
The Gods around the table looked at each other then all turned to the eldest of them all. The eldest nodded thoughtfully, ¡°So be it.¡±
Raphael disappeared, as did the other Gods who returned to their motes of order throughout the multiverse. The Eldest God, who knew he wasn¡¯t actually the eldest, was the last to leave and returned to his home at the center of the Abattoir to find Raphael waiting for him, looking out upon the cosmos of his mote of order. ¡°There could be change after so long?¡± he asked.
¡°There could,¡± Raphael answered.
¡°True Change?¡±
¡°Possibly,¡± the angel answered, ¡°I will of course keep watch and inform you of any developments.¡±
¡°You always do,¡° The God said, then turned and walked towards his study. Earth? He had not reviewed Earth in a while. Perhaps he should see what had happened in the last 6,000 years.
Chapter 5, Graduation
July 18th, 2022
Three years had flown by quickly. Johnathan had learned a lot. His memory was sharper. He had more energy. He could run faster and he felt stronger. As he thought back, he could honestly say that the closest analogy he could come up with as to why he hadn¡¯t noticed the massive changes he had gone through during those three years was akin to Neo finding out about the Matrix from Morpheus; ¡°It''s what we call residual self-image. The mental projection of your electronic self¡¡± except in this case Johnathan¡¯s mental faculties were keeping his physical body at a level that he believed himself to be at. Since he believed he could only lift a little over his body weight, that was all he could lift. Also, with his Luck attribute as high as it was it had probably prevented anything bad from happening to him, or as Domino from Deadpool 2 said it best; ¡°I¡¯m Lucky.¡± In this context, Johnathan¡¯s Luck prevented him from being hurt. He had no detrimental encounters. He just went to school, surfed the net, played video games with his friends, and went on the occasional trip home to visit his mom and dad.
Johnathan shied away from relationships. He believed he didn¡¯t have a chance, so he didn¡¯t. He had only noticed two changes. The first was that his memory seemed to be even better than before, and he practically downloaded information off the internet into his mind after school every night when he surfed the internet. The second was that he¡¯d started sleeping a lot less. He¡¯d go days with only three or four hours of sleep and feel fine. Then one day Johnathan would feel a little tired, sleep for eight hours and he¡¯d be good for a few more days. As time went on, the time he needed between each full eight hours of sleep increased as well.
Saturday had been Johnathan¡¯s 21st Birthday. He¡¯d been home in Clovis to enjoy a week with his parents before starting another summer semester. They¡¯d gone out to eat at the local steakhouse and his first official, and legal, alcoholic drink had been a beer. Not really a fan of the flavor of beer he tried a Long Island Iced Tea. That drink was awesome! He¡¯d had two before his parents called it a night and they¡¯d all gone home. They¡¯d thought he¡¯d had enough even though he¡¯d felt fine. His parents had ¡°knew¡± that he wasn¡¯t fine, so they went home. They were a bit surprised when they arrived back at the house and Johnathan didn¡¯t seem to be drunk at all and did actually seem fine. They sat down and talked for a bit about school and how he was progressing towards his bachelor¡¯s in computer science, but it was just small talk. Eventually, he went up to his room to watch TV.
Johnathan propped up some pillows, laid back on his bed, and started flipping through channels while he looked for something he hadn¡¯t seen before when he came across a Public Broadcasting Station (P.B.S) show concerning meditation. As he settled in to watch the show, he realized that he hadn¡¯t actually meditated in just over 3 years, not since going to college. Hopefully, this show would have information he hadn¡¯t already learned. He left the TV on and listened. As he listened, he felt himself becoming more relaxed. In a very soothing almost whispering voice, the female speaker continued slowly.
¡°Okay, close your eyes and relax.¡°
¡°Let all the stress of the day flow from your body.¡±
¡°That¡¯s it.¡±
¡°Feel the stress leaving your body.¡±
¡°Good.¡±
¡°Now focus on your breathing.¡±
¡°In.¡±
¡°Out.¡±
¡°In.¡±
¡°Out.¡±
¡°Good.¡±
¡°Next, I want you to visualize that you¡¯re at the top of a carpeted staircase. You can feel the carpet touching the bottom of your feet.¡±
¡°Good.¡±
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¡°Wiggle your toes.¡±
¡°Do you feel the carpet brush the bottom of your foot, reaching up between your toes?¡±
¡°Good.¡±
¡°Now you¡¯re going to make your way down the staircase. As you walk down the stairs you are going to feel all your stress, anxiety and fear leave your body through the fibers of the carpet.¡±
¡°Breath In.¡±
¡°Breath Out.¡±
¡°Good.¡±
¡°Now we¡¯re ready for that first step.¡±
¡°Stepping down with your right foot, feel the energy leave your foot and enter the carpet. Now bring your left foot to that step.¡±
¡°Good.¡±
¡°Let the stress flow from your feet into the carpet¡¡±
The voice kept this up until finally Johnathan was stepping onto the basement floor and his focus was utterly and completely internalized to the point that he couldn¡¯t hear the voice on the television speaking anymore. He felt like his body was floating gently in an open void. In the distance, he saw what looked like a computer monitor rushing towards him which stopped when he was only a few feet away. A new message was appearing at the top of the board every second which scrolled those messages before it, down the board until they disappeared:
You have earned 1000 experience, total experience above level cap.
You have earned 1000 experience, total experience above level cap.
You have earned 1000 experience, total experience above level cap.
Attempting to scroll up, would be idiotic. If he¡¯d received a message like this every second, then he had at a minimum 37,708,210 messages to review. Figuring that this was in his mind and that he should be able to control the interface he willed the information to be categorized by type and was pleasantly surprised when it did. A second later he had five categories:
Experience Gain: 87,713,280 messages, which was increasing by one every second
Leveling: 4,999 messages.
Warning: 4,999 messages.
Informational: 4,999 messages.
Message from Unknown Source: 1 message.
Ignoring the experience gain messages Johnathan focused on the Leveling messages and willed the 4,999th message to display.
Congratulations, you have reached level 5,000! You have been awarded 4 attribute points which may be distributed however you wish. Level 5,000 is the maximum level that any creature can attain without choosing a path of ascendancy in this dimension. All earned experience will be stored for later use once a Path of Ascendency is chosen.
Say what now, Level 5,000? What the hell? He had levels, Like in a game? Putting those thoughts out of his mind for a minute he willed the 4,999th warning to display:
WARNING you have reached a new level without allocating your attribute points. You now have 240 unspent attribute points from previous levels. If you do not allocate your unspent attribute points within the next seven days, they will be randomly allocated for you.
Again, with the unhelpful information. Attributes? Like Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and the like from Role-Playing Games. What was this message referring to exactly? Maybe there would be another clue in the last informational message:
It has been seven days since you leveled. your attribute points have been distributed as follows, 4 points have been placed into the attribute Luck, Total Luck attribute 1,820.
One thousand twenty Luck? Again, with the unhelpful information. What exactly does that mean? Without a frame of reference, Johnathan had absolutely no clue what that meant. Quickly scrolling through the last twenty-four messages, he was able to determine that he had ten other attributes; Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Endurance, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, Willpower, Perception, and Charisma, and each of those had a value of 1,818, whatever that represented. It looked like that automatic distribution ensured that his attributes stayed level. He wondered if that was mandated by some other mechanism, as he still didn¡¯t know what he was looking at. Sighing. he put questioning thoughts that went nowhere to the side and opened the message from the category ¡°Message from Unknown Source¡±:
I have reviewed all the information I have been able to form from your subconscious. When you finally access this prompt, please respond by answering this question, would you like to know what is going on? Yes or No?¡±
Without hesitation, Johnathan thought, ¡°Yes.¡±
Chapter 6, Abigail
July 18th, 2022) Mindspace
The viewscreen cleared and fell away from Johnathan. Shapes and images started to form out of the darkness until he was standing on a dune, overlooking himself from a couple of years back. Johnathan could feel the warmth of the Sun and realized that time was frozen as his past self was reaching into the sand and felt the ring for the first time.
¡°Hello, Johnathan,¡± a feminine voice said from beside him.
Johnathan looked over and noted a holographic image of Cortana from Halo and his eyes widened in shock.
¡°Too much? Okay, let me tone down the mental resonance a bit.¡± Immediately the image morphed into a young woman that looked familiar, yet not. With a photographic memory, he was sure that he would have recalled if he¡¯d ever seen this woman before.
¡°You haven¡¯t seen this woman before, Johnathan. She is from where I came from. Deceased or yet to exist, not really sure, but she was killed in my creator¡¯s dimension. I thought it was fitting to utilize her image to speak with you because her name was Abigail and I designate myself as having the name Abi, make sense?¡±
¡°Abi? Make Sense? Not even remotely. What is going on?¡± Johnathan asked.
¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious, Johnathan, you are either the luckiest entity to ever exist or the most cursed, though if it were me, I¡¯d lean toward thinking that you¡¯re really lucky,¡± She said, raising a hand to forestall his response, ¡°Just listen for a bit. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll have lots of questions, but trust me when I say, that some of the information I¡¯m about to give you will answer those questions, and once you lift your self-imposed mental blocks, the rest will answer themselves. ¡°
Johnathan forestalled his questions and waited patiently for her to continue.
¡°First and foremost. You are correct that the changes you¡¯ve felt happening to you for the last three years were due to the ring you are wearing. If you look at your right hand, you will notice that you are not wearing the ring in this mental representation of yourself. That is because your self-image does not include the ring, which is due to one of the runes embedded in the ring. Second, that ring is a conduit of sorts and has been funneling experience points into you from my creator. Third, my creator sent me to stop it, however, that is impossible in this Universe. At this point, it¡¯s also probably going to be impossible in my creator¡¯s dimension. Fourth, when I use the terms Universe, plane, or dimension, I am referring to the Universe you live in as part of a multi-dimensional multiverse. Think of The Dungeons and Dragons 2nd edition Manual of the Planes book¡¯s description and you¡¯ll get the idea, though that book gets some things wrong. Fifth, Magic is real, it does exist. This dimension, however, was set up in such a way that magic is either locked away or very hard to access. If the lack of magic is a fundamental law of this universe, well¡¡± Abi paused for a second, then continued, ¡°As there are an infinite number of dimensions, an infinite number of configurations without, or with very little, magic is bound to exist. Which brings us back to you.¡± She paused for effect and pointed at his younger self reaching into the sand.
¡°Just under three years ago you found a ring in a sand dune that, as far as I can determine from sifting through the information stored in your subconscious, which is quite a lot actually, arrived in this dimension on July 16th, 1945 at the test site of the Trinity device. My creator was not pleased with the individual who had devised a way to steal experience from it and had flexed her will. This ultimately led to a portal opening to the testing of a nuclear device before detonation. Normally, the individual that was destroyed could have teleported themselves to safety, except for the fact that Magic does not work here and crossing dimensions can be dangerous. When I say magic doesn¡¯t work here, I mean it doesn¡¯t occur naturally, as far as I¡¯ve been able to determine, anywhere on this planet. Nor are there any sources of Mana within this dimension to access. Sources from outside, sure. The ring is still connected to my creator after all, but that is a one-way link, and the mana sustaining the link is coming from the other end. So, the original wearer of the ring was destroyed, and the ring, which is made from a metal called Adamantium, which honestly, I find it remarkable that there are even references to such metal in your works of fiction. Perhaps there were other entities from other dimensions that have been here? Something to think about later. Back on topic. The adamantium ring you¡¯re wearing was thrown into a parabolic trajectory over the Rocky Mountains which ended in Oasis State Park near Clovis New Mexico where you found it. Couple of things you need to know about the ring. First, only you can remove it from your hand, ever. In fact, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve noticed that no one has ever asked about the ring. That¡¯s because a little bit of that magic that is seeping through from the other side has set up what can only be described as a ¡°Do not notice me field¡± which very few in this dimension would be able to pierce. You could now but only because you have over a 1,818% chance to do so. More about that in a minute.¡±
¡°1,818% chance, what are you talking about?¡± he asked.
¡°I¡¯ll get there, promise, ¡° she answered before she continued her current topic, ¡°You have been wearing this ring since you found it. While worn, it has been funneling experience into you at a rate of 1,000 experience per second. I think it would be more if the material could manage it. Normal humans on this planet seem to level at a cost of 1,000 times the next level. Level zero to one, 1,000 experience. Level one to two, 2000 experience for a total of 3,000 experience, and so on. ¡°
¡°Because you didn¡¯t know what was going on for the first seven days, your attribute points just started stacking. Once that first seven days passed, your attributes started getting distributed at a rate of 4 every time you¡¯d leveled, and the seven days had passed. As your luck attribute increased, the chance that your attributes would be split up in such a way as to be detrimental to your physical body decreased. Eventually, the probability was so high that your stats equalized, that is until all of them were equal, and the system placed your last two attributes, which went into luck. That is why each of your statistics is 1,818 except for Luck.¡±
¡°So, what exactly does a point of an attribute stand for?¡± Johnathan asked.
¡°Each attribute point increases various characteristics like carrying capacity, healing rate, and many other secondary attributes which are all derived from the primary attributes. For instance, a normal human has an average speed of around 8 miles per hour. Your attributes increase that running speed by 1,818% or 18.18 times. ¡°
¡°Wait, what, you¡¯re trying to tell me that I can run 18 times as fast as a normal man?¡± Johnathan said incredulously then continued, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I must have missed the memo because I know for a fact, I can¡¯t do that. 18.18 times 8 mph, that¡¯s 150 miles per hour. I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯d have noticed if I could run that fast,¡± he stated, with a sense of disbelief.
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Abi waited for Johnathan to stop talking, then continued, ¡°Of course, you raise a valid point, which I was getting to. If you¡¯d let me continue, I would have mentioned that the reason you haven¡¯t noticed any physical changes is that you believe yourself to be normal. I can already see by the look on your face that this does not make sense to you. As you just stated, you do not ¡®believe¡¯ that you could run that fast. Because that is what you believe you will not be able to. Nor could you jump any higher than you normally could from a standstill which I estimate at about 48 feet straight up. Of course, there¡¯s your ability to take damage and heal from that damage, which is also accelerated. Your high luck and reaction speed have prevented you from taking damage from any source for the last three years. If the hit point formula on this plane Is comparable to the dimension my creator resides in, in most sentient organisms a number of hit points equal to their body weight divided by 50, multiplied times one-tenth their constitution, plus a variable based on their Class level. That means that a 200-pound man with a 10 constitution will have 4 hit points plus a variable number based on their class. If that formula holds true here, you should have somewhere just over 5,700 hit points. Of course, character levels might not give you a hit point per class level bonus, but I digress. ¡°
Johnathan was going to ask a question, but she raised her eyebrow as if to say, ¡®Do you really want to interrupt me?¡¯ He thought about it for a second then realized that he didn¡¯t want to interrupt her, and she continued.
¡°Your healing rate is based on your Constitution and guess what, those values are equal so again your healing rate is 1,818% better than the average human. Healing in my Creator''s universe works this way. There you can heal One One-hundred-thousandth of your total hit points per minute. So, a person with 1 hit point would heal that hit point in just under one week. A normal human with only 5 hit points and a 10 Constitution would heal about 5 hit points in seven days. You, however, with at least 5700 hit points and a Constitution of 1818 should heal 104 hit points per minute or almost 2 hit points per second.
¡°That¡¯s pretty fast,¡± Johnathan said.
¡°It is. Your attributes also affect your resistances. You are 1,818% more resistant to just about everything. As a comparison: The idiot that started the events that led you to pick up the ring was an Arch-Mage, yes, a man that could cast spells. At most, he probably had 20 to 30 points in his constitution. If that was so, he probably had no more than 8 hit points plus however many hit points he was given for each of his class levels, as most Magus place their attributes into their mental attributes to help with spell casting. The device that destroyed him probably had a yield of about 400 points of damage at ground zero. You could have easily withstood the initial blast and probably survived the physical damage from being thrown away from the blast, though it would have hurt. Word of warning though: Your species has become quite adept at creating and increasing the power of those weapons. I would not test your ability to survive a high-yield device. Though I can guarantee that almost any small arms fire through something about the size of a tank round will probably just push you around and piss you off. ¡°
Abi paused for a moment. ¡°Went off track there for a moment. So why didn¡¯t you notice the changes to your body? The answer is simple really. There were no stimuli to force you to notice the physical changes that caused damage to you or forced you to do anything that might require more than a normal level of exertion on your part. Also, you focused almost completely on school, video games, and surfing the internet. That last, I would really like to thank you for. I¡¯ve been trapped here in your subconscious for the last three years, unable to do anything, and learning about this planet through your course studies and internet surfing made it a lot easier for me to deal with and also to figure out how to convey this knowledge to you when we were finally able to talk. I¡¯m sure I forgot to mention something, or you have questions about magic and such, which I cannot help you with here. Barring the subject of magic, do you have any questions?¡±
¡°Do I have any questions?¡± Johnathan said as he reviewed his thoughts and played back his history. Immediately he noticed that everything Abi had just told him felt accurate. Over the last three years, he had not done anything that would have required him to exert himself. Also, his memory had already been good; it was easy to see now how he could have missed the obvious increase in his mental acuity. Though, he was still finding it all quite hard to believe. Maybe he was dreaming?
¡°You are not dreaming. Yes, I can read your thoughts. How? We¡¯re in your mind, right? I¡¯m hiding out in your subconscious. Ding! Ding! Ding! Ringing any bells, making any sense? Seriously though, with your intelligence and wisdom, you should be able to deduce and correlate the information I¡¯ve provided for you pretty quickly.¡± Pausing for a moment, Abi said more gently, ¡°Shock affects everyone in different ways. Before we end this talk let me inform you of two other things I¡¯ve been able to determine. All sentient creatures are born with up to two innate abilities. Not always two, but they could have two. A majority of people do not have abilities, some have one, and very few have two. Consider them gifts from the Gods or whatever else you believe created the multiverse because make no mistake Gods exist and something created the rules they must follow. One of your abilities you know about, is your memory, although in your case your ability is not called photographic memory, instead, you have a mythical ability called Perfect Memory which is why you can also recall tastes, smells, and sounds. Your second ability is a little harder to explain and somewhat limited in this dimension. Your second ability is called Guided Knowledge. What this would mean if you were in my creator¡¯s dimension is that you would be able to spend any experience that had not been used to level, to instead, level your skills. To do this you would need to consciously access your Personal Interface and spend your experience on any skill you possess. As this dimension makes it impossible for anyone to access their Personal I , you cannot consciously spend experience to increase your skill levels. Sure, we can look at some of the information but accessing your Personal Interface here is not allowed for some reason. Indirectly though, you can force experience into skills by using them. As you have noticed through the years, when you focus your efforts on learning something, that knowledge comes to you easily doesn''t it? That¡¯s because some of the experience you¡¯ve been gaining from other activities was shunted to your skills. After you put the ring on, there was such a surplus that your ability to go from level 0 to 1 was instantaneous. In fact, the more you use a skill the higher its skill level will get. I¡¯m not sure what your skills are at the current moment, but if I were to guess, everything you know how to do that has an associated skill, after you put on the ring, is at least skill level 1.¡±
Abi looked around, touched some of the sand, and looked up into the sun as she said. ¡°I think we¡¯ve covered enough for now. Why don¡¯t you allow yourself to drift off to sleep?¡± Turning to walk off into the dunes, Abi paused and turned back. ¡°This material plane, or dimension, You know the Universe you live in. The rules here are not set up for you to be able to view your Personal Interface, as I¡¯ve said. I Imagine everyone gets to see it at the end of their lives, probably why there¡¯s that belief that your life passes before your eyes when you die.¡± Abi paused for emphasis, ¡°You are a special case. The ring you are wearing allows you to access those prompts, but only with my help here in your subconscious, for now. Someone as smart as you should be able to figure a way out to stay in touch with me and view those prompts.¡± Letting that sink in for a few seconds, she continued, ¡°Think about what I¡¯ve told you and remember, ¡®There is no Spoon.¡¯¡± Turning, Abi walked away leaving Johnathan to think about the fact that she¡¯d just referenced The Matrix again. He guessed having access to his sponge of a mind was wearing off on her. Releasing his hold on the images he saw, Johnathan fell away, or the images started to fade, he wasn¡¯t sure which was the case as he drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 7, How Lucky an I?
July 19th, 2022
Johnathan woke up Tuesday around 7 a.m. with everything he¡¯d meditated about still fresh on his mind. Humans had attributes and his were incredibly high? Role-playing games (RPGs) normally only had stats up to 25 in the original 2nd edition and those that had 25s were Gods. What he¡¯d been told seemed more like the attribute system from a superhero RPG he¡¯d played, but not quite. This brought up the question: Was he a God? Was he immortal? If everything about him was improved by 1,818%, did that mean that his average life span was increased by that much? That would mean that his life span would be about 1,563 years if the average lifespan of a male human was 86 years. First things first, though. He rose from his bed and went through his morning routine. He used the facilities, brushed his teeth, shaved, and took a shower. Heading into the kitchen, he saw that there was a note from his Mom and Dad:
¡°We have a breakfast date with Cruz¡¯s from Church, won¡¯t be back until this afternoon. Love Mom.¡±
Johnathan read the note and realized just how lucky he was that they weren¡¯t around this morning. He wanted to try to figure out if the dreams were just dreams or if Abi existed. If it was all a dream, that would suck. Johnathan grabbed some Cocoa Pebbles from the cupboard, made a bowl, and sat at the table to eat. Opening his phone, he checked the news and social media to find out that nothing had changed. He¡¯d started following the Stock Market but hadn¡¯t really put much thought into it, though if his mind was supposed to be that much better, maybe he should? While he finished his breakfast, he watched the news.
Once Johnathan was done eating breakfast, he cleaned up his mess, rinsed off his dishes, and placed them in the dishwasher. That done, it was time to see if there really was no spoon.
Johnathan figured the easiest way to test whether what Abi was telling him was true or not was to go out to the backyard and grab the ladder. Extending it out, he placed one end against the roof with the bottom on the ground. Ground to the roof was about 12 feet, give or take. If he could actually jump 18 times as high as an average human, 12 feet should be a piece of cake. He looked around to make sure none of the neighbors were looking in his general direction. Satisfied no one was nearby or looking in his general direction, he focused on landing with his right foot on the roof directly in front of the ladder and jumped. A moment later his right foot landed where he¡¯d wanted it to. He turned around quickly then looked down to the ground and exclaimed with a loud ¡°Yeah!¡±
He dropped to the ground without a second thought, wait, what? On the ground, he realized he¡¯d jumped down and it hadn¡¯t even given him pause. He wondered how far he could drop without hurting himself. He brought his mind back and concentrated on what he was going to do next. Johnathan walked inside and grabbed one of the steak knives. Not being a complete moron, he took the sharp end to the tip of his finger and sliced it until he could just see blood starting to well up, which immediately stopped. He poked the knife against his finger until the tip was at least a half-inch inside. It hurt, but finally, there was a constant trickle of blood. He removed the knife and watched as the cut skin knit itself back together and the wound disappeared entirely within a second. He rinsed the knife off in the sink and then wiped it off with a paper towel before he put it in the dishwasher.
A few things came to mind after these two tests. First, was he blessed, or cursed? Second, letting anyone else know about this could be very bad. Third, he wouldn¡¯t be able to do any more truly insane testing as there were cameras everywhere. That thought caused him to pause for a moment. Had anyone pointed a camera in that general direction? Reviewing his memories, he didn¡¯t see any cameras. He could have missed something but if his luck was as high as Abi said, he would just have to trust in that hypothetical Luck attribute and not push said Luck. Then something weird happened.
Johnathan felt like Bradley Cooper''s character from Limitless. His understanding of everything exploded. Overwhelmed he reached out and steadied himself against the sink and stopped moving. Every fictional novel he¡¯d ever read, every class he¡¯d ever taken, every single bit of information became available at once, cross-correlated, and as one of his favorite series always said when the main character learned a new skill, ability, or spell ¡°He knew!¡± He didn¡¯t know everything of course, but his gaming knowledge, coupled with every single science fiction, fantasy, and scientific paper he¡¯d ever read he knew quite a bit, and in just under a second he had a plan.
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Johnathan went to his room and dressed to go out. He put on a nice pair of shorts and a nice T-shirt that had Neo and Trinity on it from the Matrix Resurrections. He thought it was kind of appropriate, all things considered. It would be appropriate if this first step in his plan worked. Johnathan grabbed his car keys and left the house. There was a Love''s Truck stop on the south side of town he had to go visit to get the ball rolling.
When he arrived at the truck stop, Johnathan walked inside and went up to the counter where Cindy, a woman he¡¯d known for the better part of his teens, was standing. She¡¯d worked at this Love¡¯s Truck Stop for as long as he could remember.
Looking up, she asked, ¡°Hey Johnathan, haven¡¯t seen you around here since you went off to college, what can I do for you?¡±
Pulling out three dollars, Johnathan smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯m feeling lucky today, heard the jackpot of mega-millions was up over half a billion, figured I¡¯d buy a ticket.¡±
¡°Can¡¯t win if you don¡¯t play, or some such nonsense,¡± Cindy quipped back
¡°You know it. Hey, you should wish me luck. If I win, I¡¯ll remember that you sold me the ticket!¡± Johnathan said with a smile.
Laughing, she took his money and handed him one of the random draws as she replied, ¡°Well I would hope so. I¡¯ve only known you almost your whole adult life. Of course, that¡¯s just about half the population in this small town. Do you need anything else?¡±
Johnathan accepted the lottery ticket and put it in his wallet before he smiled and said, ¡°Nope, this will do. Have a great day!¡±
With phase one complete, it was time to start working on phase two. Johnathan made his way to his house and then logged into his computer. Phase two was going to be tricky but his mind was absolutely sure his idea was possible. He started by researching Chemistry, Physics, Electronics, Metallurgy, and a couple of other subjects. Sure, he already had most of that knowledge in his head, but he wanted to make sure the information he was working with was the most up-to-date information available and focused on the most recent research in each field. At some point, he¡¯d have to look up some top-secret information if he didn¡¯t recreate it himself, of course. Johnathan reviewed all information on the basics before he started doing research into the specifics.
The rest of Tuesday flew by. His mom and dad stopped in when they returned to the house and came up to check on him. When they saw he was busy doing research into what looked like homework, high-level calculus problems were being discussed in a video he had running and he was looking at the theory of gravity on his computer screen, they left him alone. At 8:30 p.m. Johnathan came out of his room and watched some TV with his parents. They were watching some police drama and seemed really into it. He sat quietly, reviewing all the information he¡¯d looked up while he waited for the lottery drawing to come on. He knew that if everything he was told last night was true this lottery drawing would be the event that changed his life forever. The program his parents were watching ended and the station went to a commercial and then switched over to the drawing.
¡°Good evening, everyone. We¡¯re jumping in before your next scheduled program to bring you the winning numbers for today¡¯s Mega-Millions drawing for 560 million dollars. Earlier this evening we drew the Megaplier. Anyone who does not win the jackpot but does match some of the numbers will have their winnings tripled. Good Luck Everyone!¡± Without any further fanfare, the announcer paused for a moment before announcing each number.
¡°13, 33, 38, 44, 1 and 9.¡±
Not needing to check his ticket, Johnathan knew for a fact the numbers on his ticket matched. The announcer looked off-camera for a second then started speaking.
¡°It looks like we have a winner! The Loves Truck stop in Clovis NM sold the winning ticket earlier today. Remember you only have 90 days to claim your prize and you must do so by coming to the Headquarters building here in Albuquerque.¡±
¡°Someone in Clovis won!¡± his father exclaimed.
I wonder who it was?¡± his mother asked.
Trying not to give anything away, Johnathan answered, ¡°Well, they should know pretty quickly, who¡¯s not going to claim 560 million dollars?¡± Sighing wistfully and losing interest, his father started surfing for something else to watch as Jonathan continued, ¡°It¡¯s been a long day; I¡¯m going to turn in for the night. I have some running around to do tomorrow.¡±
Mom looked up, ¡°Get a good night¡¯s sleep and we¡¯ll see you tomorrow afternoon sometime.¡±
Dad added, ¡°Night Son, ¡° as he continued looking for something to watch.
Johnathan went to his room. He wasn¡¯t tired, but he needed to stay on task. The first thing he had to do was claim the jackpot so he could start everything else he needed to. Tomorrow he was headed to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Chapter 8, Is There Really No Spoon?
July 20th, 2022
Johnathan woke up early, left a note that he¡¯d be gone all day for his mom and dad, and started his six-hour drive to Albuquerque. He left at 7 a.m. The drive was uneventful. Just after 1. p.m., he turned onto Osuna Rd in Albuquerque and pulled into the parking area. As he drove into the parking lot, he noticed an SUV with very heavily tinted windows in a perfect ambush position for anyone walking up to the door to enter the two-story building.
Why was he thinking of it as an ambush position? Suddenly multiple references came to mind from various Tom Clancy and Shadowrun novels he¡¯d read. It seemed that his mind was defending the logical conclusion it had come to. Was he arguing with himself? No. But it was good to know that his mind had taken advantage of all the information he had access to. He thought about how best to respond to a possible ambush, considered his options, and made his choice.
He drove his car through the parking lot until he could park one space away from the SUV. He made sure that the driver of the SUV would be able to easily see what he was doing with his hands. When Johnathan thought enough time had passed, he pulled out his wallet and removed the ticket. He made sure to look like he was double-checking it against his phone before he hopped up and down excitedly. He unbuckled his seat belt and used a little sleight of hand to place the lottery ticket in the driver-side sun visor, behind the vanity mirror where it wouldn¡¯t be easily discovered.
He stepped out of the Rogue, locked it, and turned to walk towards the Headquarters door. He¡¯d heard the SUV¡¯s passenger door open and close as he opened and closed his car door. The other person was making their way around the back of their SUV when he also heard the telltale of a hammer being pulled back and locked on a gun of some kind. The driver-side door of the SUV opened, and a burly man stepped out as he said, ¡°Excuse me, Sir,¡± and moved to place himself between the headquarters business door and Johnathan, which he¡¯d assumed would make Johnathan turn his back on his accomplice that was coming up behind him. As Johnathan turned towards the burly man he noticed the tip of a gun barrel, no, a silencer coming out from behind the back of the SUV pointing in his direction, and forced himself into action as he thought, There is no Spoon!¡±
Time stood still as Jonathan¡¯s mind went into hyperdrive. At a fundamental level, he¡¯d started believing what Abi had told him. Now, he fully believed what Abi had told him as the thought There is no Spoon went through his mind. The realization made him feel as if the Red Pill had well and truly kicked him in the gut. There was no adjustment, there was no morphing as new muscles grew. The only thing that needed to happen was for Johnathan to make a mental adjustment, which he did easily. Instantly the being that was Johnathan shifted from a young 21-year-old man who believed himself to be normal to that of a level 5,000 level human the likes of which had never existed before in this Universe.
Jonathan reviewed the situation analytically and broke it down: The gun is drawn. It is pointed at me. The individual is attacking from stealth. There is a high probability he or she is going for a kill shot. The burly man in front of him is a decoy. He positioned himself a little to his right which would allow any bullet to pass through his chest or head and have a very small chance of hitting his accomplice. Response Level? Terminal response with no direct evidence of him killing anyone. 99.9% probability of success. A part of his mind was worried about how little compassion was being utilized in the decision he¡¯d come to as the rest of his mind took over and his body reacted.
Johnathan wasn¡¯t an evil person. If he had to choose an alignment from a Role-Playing game, he considered himself neutral with a few moral laws he held to, leaning towards good tendencies. Today though none of that mattered. He¡¯d decided long ago ¡°If it comes down to you or me, I chose me.¡± And that asshole behind him had pointed a weapon that only had one purpose, to kill silently. All those thoughts passed through his head in less than a tenth of a second.
Johnathan changed his voice and pitch and used ventriloquism to throw it toward the back of the vehicle where he predicted the shooter¡¯s head would be coming into view. He¡¯d been to a Jeff Dunham concert and taken the time to learn how to throw his voice a couple of years ago because he thought it was a pretty cool skill. Like everything else he tried to learn, doing so had come easily. This time when he tried to throw his voice the changes he¡¯d undergone made the attempt work 1,818% better and it worked flawlessly as his modified voice called out from the back of the SUV as it called out ¡°Freeze!¡± Why? First, he had to make sure there was absolutely no doubt that he was being jumped by someone. Second, to make it look like the shooter was trying to hold him up so Johnathan would have had a justified reason to act the way he planned to.
With his insanely high Agility, Dexterity, and Strength, Johnathan waited until the gun was drawn up and pointed at his chest, then moved. He tried to make all of his movements look as natural as possible. He utilized his martial arts training and performed a typical throw with a couple of adjustments. At eighteen times the speed and strength of a normal human, the results were just as he¡¯d anticipated. He¡¯d grabbed the burly man, pulling him towards himself, and performed the tomoe nage technique by gripping high and falling backward. He aimed and then released his opponent. Johnathan continued the roll and appeared to fall and be dragged toward the shooter. Johnathan had made sure to line the now-flying man¡¯s head up with the projected trajectory of the bullet path.
Everything seemed to be moving slowly to Johnathan. He felt that if he wanted to, he could have performed more actions, but he didn¡¯t. It would be better for everything to appear as natural as possible on any video or camera surveillance that was recording this. Johnathan moved with his opponent and made sure that he¡¯d stayed very close to him, adjusting his own roll to make it appear as if his body was tumbling and being dragged along. Johnathan positioned himself to stay behind and to the right of the thrown man to ensure that the highest probability of the path the bullet would take wouldn¡¯t hit him and also stayed far enough forward that the blood spray that would shoot from the back of the burly man¡¯s skull wouldn¡¯t hit him.
Johnathan heard a ¡°Pfft¡±, saw the burly man¡¯s head start to explode in slow motion, and adjusted their trajectory so his opponent collided with the shooter in such a way that Johnathan could make two things happen. First, the shooter would be knocked off his feet, and second, Johnathan would be able to bring his hand up between the bodies, grab the shooter by the neck, and force his head down so that it crashed into the curb, crushing the back of his neck and skull, killing the shooter instantly. After those minor adjustments, he let physics and gravity do the rest and tumbled with the bodies.
After everything was done, he adjusted so that his hands remained visible to anyone coming up on the mass of bodies and waited. As his perception of time returned to normal, there were a couple of screams, and moments later a police officer with a gun drawn moved up to the mass of tangled bodies.
¡°I¡¯m alive,¡± Johnathan muttered.
The police officer kept his gun pointed at the mass of bodies and said ¡°I can see your hands, don¡¯t move, help is on the way.¡±
¡°Yes, Officer, I¡¯m not going anywhere,¡± Johnathan responded with a sigh.
For the next fifteen minutes, the Police officer kept his gun pointed in Johnathan¡¯s general direction and would ask, ¡°Are you doing okay under there?¡±
To which Johnathan would simply respond ¡°Sure¡± or ¡°As good as can be expected¡± or with ¡°How much longer is this going to be?¡±
To the last question, the officer responded with, ¡°We need to wait so we can document the scene. The less you disturb it, the better off you¡¯ll be¡±
Johnathan had responded with a resigned, ¡°Well, okay then,¡± and waited quietly.
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After the forensic team arrived, pictures were taken, and everything was cataloged. The gun was retrieved first, then the area was searched for any other weapons. They found another weapon on the burly man. Once they were sure there were no more weapons, they allowed him to stand, then cataloged everything on him. Then they had him remove his clothes and allowed him to use hand wipes to clean up in the ambulance. They gave him some underwear, shorts, and a shirt to wear and had him put everything he was wearing and had been carrying in a plastic bag. The next four hours were tedious, but he endured them. Once they checked his identification, Johnathan informed them of his seven different black belts in various martial arts. At that point, the police officers gave him a slightly wider birth, though they never treated him like he was a criminal.
Sitting in the back of the Ambulance while a paramedic looked him over, a detective opened up the back and stepped in closing the door behind him. ¡°Johnathan Bennard?¡± he asked.
¡°Yes, Detective,¡± Johnathan answered
¡°My name is Detective Rodriguez, we need to take you down to the station to fill out some paperwork. Any issues with that?¡± Detective Rodriguez asked.
¡°Am I under arrest?¡± Johnathan asked
¡°Nope, though charges could be brought against you later if the evidence requires it,¡± He said.
Looking at the medic he asked, ¡°Excuse me, what¡¯s your name?¡±
¡°Laura Ford, why are you asking?¡± she responded.
¡°Because you''re my witness, Miss Ford,¡± he responded. Johnathan looked at the Detective to make sure he had his attention and then continued, ¡°I am voluntarily going with you to the station for the purpose of answering any questions you might have that I do not feel could be used against me concerning the death of these two men. Should I be considered, detained, or arrested at any time it is understood that I will say ¡®I want a Lawyer¡¯ and I will not utter another word until legal counsel is present.¡±
¡°Understood. As soon as paramedic Ford is done with you I¡¯ll escort you to the station,¡± Detective Rodriguez said. ¡°Might I ask why you thought you needed a witness?¡±
¡°Government 101. On the first day of class, my professor gave a very long and compelling speech that convinced me of one thing. If the police detain or arrest you, ask for a lawyer. With Ms. Ford as my witness, we both know that I have stated what I¡¯m going to do. Of course, I could forget to do that, but if you¡¯ve been doing your research over the last four hours, you know how unlikely it is that I will forget anything,¡± Jonathan said with a smile.
¡°Still don¡¯t believe what came across in your file, but if it¡¯s even half true, yeah, don¡¯t see you forgetting to ask for the lawyer,¡± The detective said.
Johnathan wasn¡¯t arrested, but he had to wait at the station. They were nice enough to let him shower and even gave him a new set of clothes to replace the ones he¡¯d put on at the scene to gather whatever evidence they could. The investigation went on for hours. After everything was said and done, the witnesses and time-lapsed camera recording of the incident made it quite clear that the two men had exited their SUV in a classic ambush move, and when the word ¡°freeze¡± was uttered by the shooter, whose face was obscured,
The investigators submitted their report which stated that Johnathan had acted in a non-lethal way to put the attacker in front of him behind him. It was just dumb luck that the idiot had grabbed and pulled Johnathan towards the shooter which had resulted in his death and the death of the shooter. There was no way to tell exactly whose weight had contributed to the shooter''s death or if it had been a combination of both their weights; it really didn¡¯t matter. Detective Rodriguez informed Johnathan that the District Attorney (DA) had looked at the evidence and wanted nothing to do with the case. As far as the DA was concerned, the guy Johnathan threw, Havier Sanchez, had been shot and killed by the shooter, one Richard Almendez. Mr. Almendez had died when the corpse of Havier landed on him and shoved the back of his head into the curb. Case closed.
¡°You have no idea how lucky you are that the shooter was taken out the way he was,¡± Detective Rodriguez told him. ¡°I do have one question though, why were you going to the Lottery Headquarters?¡± he asked.
¡°Well Detective, I drove over here from Clovis because I needed to check and see if I could claim my winnings,¡± he answered truthfully.
¡°How much did you win?¡± Detective Rodriguez asked
Looking to the detective, Johnathan responded, ¡°Once I have made my claims and been officially documented as a winner of whatever amount I may have won, I will answer all the questions you might have concerning my motivations for coming to Albuquerque. The reasons will be on the public record after tomorrow anyway,¡± Johnathan said with a smile.
Not wanting to deal with a lawyer, Detective Rodriguez let it go and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s fine, I think we¡¯re done here for tonight.¡±
All of his personal items were returned to him after they were cataloged and cleaned. They kept his clothes, which he knew he wasn¡¯t getting back any time soon, if ever. Johnathan thanked the officers for their time and asked if one of them could drop him off at his car which was still parked over by the Lottery Headquarters. Once he was in his car, he looked up a Best Western on his phone and drove to it. He called Detective Rodriguez, and let him know where they could find him if they needed to, making sure to record the call on his smartphone, just in case.
Once he arrived at the Best Western, he made sure to grab the lottery ticket and headed to his room. He picked up a newspaper from the front desk and once he was in his room, he took a picture of the lottery ticket next to the date on the newspaper with the Best Western Albuquerque placard above it and his thumb fingerprint towards the camera. He saved the photo on his phone, in the cloud, and also emailed it to his alternate email address. He also sent a message to his parents, letting them know he was out of town for the night, but that he should be back tomorrow.
The next day was somewhat anticlimactic. He had no issues at the Lottery Headquarters. Johnathan was led in. He showed his lottery ticket to one of the tellers and was led back to a private office. A few minutes later, a woman in a business suit came in with a sheath of papers. After everything was verified, Johnathan signed and claimed the 560 million dollar Jackpot. He of course decided on the lump sum which meant he only won about 360 million dollars which after taxes ended up being 190,800,000. 47% had been taken for taxes. He might or might not see that money some time in the future; he wasn¡¯t worried about it though. Plans had been forming in his mind last night about what he was going to do and what he needed to do, especially concerning his finances.
Next, he stopped by Citibank and deposited 100 dollars to open an account. After the account was created he spoke with the branch manager about what was about to happen to his accounts. Johnathan also contacted one of the better Legal firms in town and put two of their lawyers on retainer at 150% of their going rate and made sure that they knew that so long as his capital kept increasing, they would have a job working for him. He made sure that his accountants would leave 20 million for him to give to his parents as an outright gift, and to make sure that at least $1 million of any profits made each year would go to an expense account he had created for them. 50 million was going to be his to do with as he saw fit. 70 million was to be invested into the low-risk stocks. His accountants were managing his safety net. He would be using the last 50 million to learn how to earn through the stock market.
Finally, he went back to the precinct and let Detective Rodriguez know that he¡¯d won the Jackpot and had claimed his winnings and that if they didn¡¯t need him for anything else he¡¯d be heading back to Clovis that evening. The Detective thanked him for his time and let him know he was free to head home. Johnathan made sure to get that in writing before he left.
Johnathan had an uneventful trip back to Clovis and arrived home around 10 p.m. He heard the TV on in the living room and went in to see his mom and dad watching one of the new Amazon Prime shows. Reaching for the remote, his dad paused the TV and asked him, ¡°Son, what happened to your clothes?¡±
Figuring it was better to be fully honest, Johnathan said, ¡°I was mugged in Albuquerque yesterday when I stopped by the Mega Millions Jackpot Lottery Headquarters. One of my muggers accidentally shot the other mugger and then was killed by the mugger I¡¯d thrown at him when he fell into him wrong. I got caught up in the middle of it and was covered in their blood. The cops confiscated my clothes and gave me what I¡¯m wearing.¡±
Johnathan¡¯s Father looked at his mother. His mother looked at him and then said, ¡°Seriously Johnathan, where are your clothes?¡± his mom asked. Which is exactly what he knew she was going to do. When the truth was not something his mother wanted to hear or wasn¡¯t something she could process at face value, she automatically thought he was lying.
¡°Seriously, Mom. Here is a copy of the police report,¡± Johnathan said, handing it to her. Turning to his father he continued, ¡°Here is something for the both of you,¡± Johnathan said as he handed over a folder prepared by Citibank with his mother and father''s account information and the estimated amount of money that would be deposited in six to eight weeks. His mom looked over the police report while his dad looked through the documents Johnathan had handed him. Then his dad pulled out his phone and activated his Citibank app, adding the account number from the paperwork in front of him to his accounts and read the information. Johnathan, now absolutely pleased with himself, waited and started a mental countdown; ¡°Three, two, one¡¡± and then he smiled as both his mother and father started questioning him at once.
Chapter 9, It is Time
December 31st, 2032
Chapter 9 (December 31st, 2032)
¡°It is Time¡±
Over the next ten years, Johnathan Bennard became one of the most successful men on Earth. Many articles were written about the lottery winner that could do no wrong. Even while he was losing money in one area, he was recuperating those losses elsewhere. Young entrepreneurs loved him and wanted to be like him. The older more seasoned power-seekers, those were the individuals he needed to worry about and who worried about him.
¡°We did a study on him five years ago. What has changed?¡± one of the men sitting at the table in an undisclosed location in Washington D.C. said.
¡°Our security assets are losing track of him more and more. Let me explain: he travels, ends up where his itinerary says he¡¯s supposed to be and then disappears for hours. We believe he might have been successful,¡± a second man said.
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` ¡°Successful?¡± A woman cloaked in shadows said questioningly. ¡°Are you telling me that you believe he has a working wormhole?¡±
There was silence for a moment, then the first man to speak said, ¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Response?¡± she asked
¡°Terminal,¡± he said.
¡°Agreed,¡± said the second man to speak
¡°Agreed,¡± said the last man in the room
¡°Send in the asset. If he leaves his home tonight, Angel Fire is authorized,¡± She said.
¡°Yes Ma¡¯am,¡± the first man said.
***
The people around the table dispersed, calls were made, and each transaction was traced. Thor and Johnathan now had a name. Thor accessed the satellite that was Angel Fire and took steps to ensure Johnathan¡¯s safety. He also kept track of the chain of calls that went out to relay orders to the asset. After some data mining, He found the asset''s true name and identity as well as his personal history which he relayed to Johnathan. The asset¡¯s motivation was simple, he was being paid an exuberant amount of money to perform a task he had no moral issues with. It might be interesting to witness events from that perspective. Learning about humanity was still one of his primary functions after all. As he had done many times in the past Thor designated a portion of himself to monitor and report on the movements and actions of one specific human.
Chapter 10, The Outcome was Inevitable
December 31st, 2032
His name didn¡¯t matter. The name he went by currently was Rigel Anderson. Mr. Anderson had accepted the contract on this target for no other reason than the payday: 50 million dollars to kill someone and retrieve a vital piece of technology. That kind of task was right up his alley and, as he had no moral reservations whatsoever. It was an easy 50 million. The task wouldn¡¯t even affect his sleep patterns.
The target was one Johnathan Bennard, CEO of Portals Inc. The technology was the hard drive Mr. Bennard carried around in his briefcase. Portals Inc. was a new company that claimed to be working towards the creation of technologies that would allow instantaneous transport from one location to another. His employers were sure that any research data Mr. Bennard might have would be located on that drive.
Rigel had been ordered to travel to New Mexico and wait for a go code a couple of weeks back. For a 50-million-dollar payday, with all expenses paid while he waited, he could wait as long as they needed him to. He¡¯d driven into the mountains near Cloudcroft New Mexico, rented a room at the local motel, and had been waiting. The go code had come through 5 minutes ago and he¡¯d received a report that Mr. Bennard planned to return to his estate today, within the hour. His fixers had provided him with the layout and schematics of the estate, along with security protocols and the access key codes that Mr. Bennard''s parents used when they visited.
He¡¯d traveled up and placed surveillance cameras overlooking the residence when he¡¯d noticed the helipad. Truthfully, it was more like a landing pad, as it looked big enough that a V-22 Osprey could land on it with no issue. Once set up, he¡¯d linked the cameras to the satellite transmitter that he could access through his laptop. He opened his laptop and checked the feeds. Sure enough, a V-22 was on final approach. Rigel watched as it landed, and Mr. Bennard stepped out and headed into the estate carrying a briefcase. The V-22 lifted and flew off towards Alamogordo, probably to refuel while the pilot waited to be called back.
Rigel waited for nightfall, then made his way south to Mr. Bennard''s Estate. Two miles out, he exited the vehicle, made sure no one was around, then parked and camouflaged it so that no one would be able to find it without a close inspection of the area. Donning his gear over his Nimex thermal canceling body glove, which felt a lot like wearing a full-body spandex swimming suit, he was ready to go. It took another hour to travel the last two miles as he had to circumvent a couple of different surveillance devices and laser tripwires. Eventually, though, he found himself at a side gate. Utilizing the security codes he¡¯d been given, the gate opened and he entered the grounds of the estate at 8:11 p.m.
Rigel heard music playing upstairs, which should cover any sounds he might make on the 1st floor. Moving quickly, he searched the lower floor and found no one else. He hadn¡¯t expected to, as no one had entered or left the estate during the week he¡¯d had it under surveillance. Also, the information packet he¡¯d been given described Mr. Bennard as an extreme hermit, at least for the last 9 years.
Before he went upstairs, Rigel checked the house''s security panel to make sure no silent alarms had been issued. No alarms had been tripped and the recording devices were off, though they would be turned on if an alarm was triggered. Best not to trigger the alarms then. He checked each side room upstairs and made sure they were clear. Rigel stepped down a corridor towards the main bedroom to the door, which was cracked open. He glanced inside, noticed it was clear, then stepped through. The music was coming through a door off to his left.
Rigel closed the bedroom door quietly once he was in the room and looked over the living room he was in. A TV was mounted on the wall to his right, opposite the door the music was coming through, a bar, and a computer desk. There was a briefcase next to the desk. He moved to the computer desk and checked the briefcase. Inside he found a removable hard drive. He used a specialized USB Stick which reported that the hard drive¡¯s memory storage was 75% full. He removed his USB and put everything like he¡¯d found it, just in case. If he had to bale, he wanted no evidence that he¡¯d been inside.
Silently, he moved to the door the music was coming through. He opened the door quickly and stepped into the room with his CZ 75 45, silencer attached, leading the way as he looked for his target. He had time to realize the room was empty before he felt a momentary sense of vertigo, and then darkness took him.
Rigel opened his eyes and realized he was standing in a ten-by-ten-foot room with a single bed, table, chair, monitor, remote, and two doors. One door opened to a bathroom with a shower, sink, toilet, and a single towel and washcloth. The other door was closed and when he moved to check, locked. As he checked himself over he noticed that he was in a simple blue jumpsuit and there was absolutely nothing else on him or in the room. Wondering what was going on and where he was he went over to the desk, picked up the remote, and hit the power button.
He was expecting, well he didn¡¯t know what he was expecting, but one thing he was not expecting was the message he heard coming from his own ears. A neutral male voice stated pleasantly, ¡°Hello, by now I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve realized that you are no longer where you were. Take a moment to familiarize yourself with your surroundings. The room you¡¯re in is your room. No one may enter this room without your permission except you. After this message is finished the main door will unlock and you will find that the door to your room opens onto a balcony which is set along the interior wall of a hexagon. Your door opens into a park. The roof over the park simulates the natural day-night cycle of a standard summer day with 10 hours of daylight and an hour and a half of twilight in the morning and the evening. The lights in your room are, of course, controlled by you. The clocks here are set to Eastern Standard Time in the United States.¡±
¡°Your door is one of twenty other doors on your wall, with twenty more doors along each wall. This allows for up to 120 people per floor. There are ten floors connected at each corner by a lift and stairway. Each stairway is marked with a number from 1 to 6. At the top of stairway 1, there is an elevator door. This door leads to the surface where you will find yourself inside a small environmentally sealed building.¡±
The voice paused for a moment, probably to let that sink in. Rigel waited patiently and the voice continued, ¡°Before we continue to the rules for this location, the first thing you should know is that you are no longer on Earth. Welcome to Trappist-1e, a planet located 39 light-years from Earth. You are the 1st occupants of this dormitory which can house 1,200 occupants.¡±
¡°Horseshit!¡± Rigel exclaimed, cutting the voice off. ¡°There is absolutely no way that I could be on another planet!¡± he yelled. He waited expectantly for a reply. It was a full minute before a prerecorded message played.
¡°This is a recording. When interrupted, the welcome announcement will pause for one full minute. Accepted verbal commands to the system are Pause, which will pause the message. Repeat, which will replay the last 30 seconds of the message, and Replay which will start the message over. If you¡¯d like to hear the message again after it completes, simply say Replay Welcome Message and it will start from the beginning. The Welcome Message will continue after a short message from your sponsor.¡±
¡°Hello, my name is Johnathan Bennard, and I am recording this message specifically for you, Clarence. You have been brought here against your will for two reasons. The first reason is simply that you tried to kill me. Trying to kill me or any of my immediate family, holdings or personnel gets anyone sent here. Don¡¯t worry, you won¡¯t be alone for very long if my predictions are correct. The second reason someone is sent here is that they have tried to commit some form of a terroristic or strategic strike against me, my holdings, the United States, or our allies in general. ¡°
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¡°You are the first to try to kill me and I also know who hired your fixer to send you. Those individuals, ALL of them, will be receiving their own welcome package shortly. Give it another half hour or so. When you all start exploring your new home you¡¯ll see some familiar faces and some not-so-familiar faces. Please understand I do not hold a grudge against you. You tried, and did not, nor will you ever be able to, kill me for reasons you will come to understand very shortly. So, sit back, listen, and follow the rules that are listed. Everyone deserves a second chance. This is yours.¡±
How the fuck did that asshole know his real name, Clarence thought. That alone scared the utter crap out of him. He had been quite thorough about wiping out his identity and making sure there were no ties between his true name and his current Identity.
After a short pause, the voice began where it had left off and continued the original message, though it had changed slightly, ¡°You are the 1st of the only 17 occupants in this 1,200-occupant facility. Your room is equipped with everything you might need. Also, everything is either controlled by the remote or voice command. For instance, if you wish for a glass of water please say, ¡®Create a glass of water.¡±
Not waiting for the voice to continue, Clarence said, ¡°Create a glass of water,¡± and was surprised when a glass of water materialized into existence on his desk. He picked it up, sniffed it, then took a sip. It was water and he was thirsty, so he took it and drank it down.
Sixty seconds later, the voice continued, ¡°There is a complete menu of the items that can be created in this manner available on the monitor. When this welcome package has been completed, please be sure to check the menu. On certain occasions, specials will be made available for those who have followed the rules and received no minor infractions. You may also access any network or program you wish to watch that is available back on Earth, even the current news or one of your favorite shows. New movie releases will be available one hour after their first official showing anywhere on planet Earth. Now we come to the rules. You can think of these as commandments that you cannot break.¡±
Every system can be broken Clarence thought to himself.
¡°It is true that it was once thought that every system could be broken. That was before today. It is definitely not true now. The absolute first thing you need to know is that every atom of everything you can see, hear, taste, smell, or touch can be controlled by the system overseeing this facility. Those atoms can be controlled or reformatted as the Artificial Intelligence controlling it sees fit or Mr. Bennard wills. What does that mean? Simply, Mr. Bennard can have anything created or destroyed, though destroy is the wrong word in this instance as energy can only change forms. Observe. Please raise your right hand with your palm facing you and watch.¡±
Clarence did as instructed and raised his right hand.
¡°Good, you can follow instructions. Please know that anyone who does not follow the instructions in this video will suddenly find themselves following that instruction against their will as the system takes over and forces their body to obey. The hand will go where the system wants it to go. Now watch your palm.¡±
Clarence looked at his hand as a quarter-sized hole formed completely through his hand. He could see open capillaries and veins and even some bones. While that was interesting, what was weird was that he felt no pain, nor had he suffered any blood loss, not even a drop. Moving his left hand, he tried to put his finger through the hole and was completely surprised when he did. After he pulled his finger back, the hole started to close and a few seconds later his hand was completely whole again. That had been the weirdest thing he¡¯d ever seen.
The voice shocked Clarence out of his contemplations. ¡°As you just saw flesh and bone can be removed, reconfigured, and then replaced. How is unimportant; the only thing you need to understand is that with a command every atom that you are made of can be repurposed which effectively ends your life. There are some benefits to this technology being part of you, though. First, you will not get sick. Second, any wound can be healed and fixed instantly. Third, your body will be continuously repaired which effectively makes you immortal, or so close to immortal that it doesn¡¯t really matter. Anything you desire can be created. If you follow the rules while you¡¯re here you will find that any physical thing you desire can be yours. Ultimately, you may even earn the ability to return to Earth. Now that you have seen the power arrayed against you, here are the rules:
¡°Rule #1: This is a dictatorship, not a democracy. You will follow the system''s commands, or you will be forced to. Continued defiance will result in mass repurposing, or more simply, you will die.
¡°Rule #2: No killing of anyone is allowed. First, it is technically impossible for anyone to be killed here unless the atoms that make them up are completely repurposed. The system can take anything apart and put it back together. For instance, if you broke your leg the system could repair the break. If someone attacked you and stopped your heart the system could repair the damage and restart your heart. After the system does that the individual or individuals trying to commit the murder will have their mass repurposed. If you are somehow successful in committing murder, the system might be slow in responding, but make no mistake it will respond, and the first you¡¯ll know about it is when your body starts to dissolve around you, giving your mind just enough time to realize what is happening before whatever force holding your soul together is set free from your mortal body. Murder is not tolerated.
¡°Rule #3: Rape is forbidden. The consequences for doing so are the same as Rule #2
¡°Rule #4: Self-determination for each individual and their belief systems are to be respected by all. Actions that try to inhibit in any way other individuals¡¯ rights or beliefs will not be tolerated. Any seditious or negative behavior which would lead others to ¡°cancel¡± interactions with that individual. Anyone plotting to do so will find themselves locked in their room, unable to willfully move their body while they sit alone in the dark. There will be no Political Correctness culture here. Anyone attempting to gaslight their argument will find that the system does not tolerate such inane logic attempts and defaults to punishment. There will only ever be two warnings. After the second, your mass will be repurposed.
¡°Rule #5: How you feel is unimportant and does not matter to the system. It is an unfeeling, uncaring system with very specific criteria for how it will handle situations. As you are constantly monitored and kept in good health, there is no emotional argument that will overcome this fact. Think of the system as the ultimate Vulcan or a better analogy. The System is the Borg Queen, you have been assimilated and you will do whatever is required. Resistance is futile.¡±
¡°Rule #6: This is your Colony habitat. Do not enter another habitat without permission. More are being created across the planet. Eventually, there will be enough to house 10 billion occupants. That should be completed in approximately 10 days.
¡°Final Note: The System will not waste its time continuously trying to control someone. Anyone who breaks the rules or cannot be fixed will have their mass repurposed. This is a second chance for you. Follow the rules and opportunities will open up.¡±
¡°Finally, Surface exploration is allowed and encouraged. Be aware that you are in a binary Red Dwarf system so the sky will be different, and the temperature will vary. The technology inside you will allow you to move freely and breathe on the surface.¡±
The Welcome message ended and there was an audible click as the door to his room unlocked. Moving to the door, Clarence opened it and stepped out into a park with trees, flowers of all types, benches, and tables. He looked up into artificial sunlight. Wanting to see if what he¡¯d been told was true, he went to Lift 1, took it to the 10th floor, and then stepped into an empty elevator. There were only two buttons, ¡°Surface¡± and ¡°Colony 0000001.¡± Clarence pushed the button to the Surface.
When Clarence reached the surface, he immediately knew everything he had just been told was true. He was standing next to an elevator shaft next to a clear dome with a diameter of about 300 feet. On one side, there looked to be a place where a vehicle could enter or leave, but it was also covered by the same material the dome was made of, though with the way things could be materialized and dematerialized it probably wouldn¡¯t be a problem to pass through that barrier. The dome, however, wasn¡¯t what had let him know that he was not on planet Earth. What immediately let him know was the fact that he was bathed in a soft red light that reflected off of every surface. As he looked up to see the source of that light, the Sun here filled the sky as a red dwarf star was cooler than Earth¡¯s sun and the goldy Locks zone, the right distance for liquid water to be found, was much closer than the Earth was to the Sun. This made the star he was looking at appear much closer. His legs collapsed, and he just sat there.
As the seconds turned to minutes, more people exited the elevator and had almost identical reactions to what they saw. Some would point and look at others questioningly, though no one spoke. With their silent agreement, every person sitting under the dome realized two things: One, they were well and truly fucked. Two, they were trapped for the foreseeable future.
Chapter 11, Kismet
December 31st, 2032
As Johnathan watched Clarence, he thought about how this had all started. Right after he¡¯d won the lottery, Johnathan had tried his hand at the stock market. He was sure that his Luck attribute had probably saved him from some catastrophic choices, but it was another year before he knew what he was doing enough to start making more money than the backup account he¡¯d set up.
While Johnathan was working the Stock Market, he finished up his bachelor¡¯s in computer science degree and started studying everything. By everything, he meant that he had started looking into the topics he knew he needed to become an expert in basically, all the sciences. Johnathan also took breaks from the sciences and learned every known language to Man, current and ancient as well as some fictional languages, like J.R.R Tolkien¡¯s Elvish, just in case. He would also check in on Abi from time to time when he meditated, but those forays were few and far between. Abi knew his subconscious and she could review what he was doing, so talking with her was kind of one-sided. He¡¯d asked Abi about where she was from a few times, but the construct had always shied away from that topic, stating, ¡°Better not to confuse you with concepts and universal rules that do not apply here. Should you ever travel to another Universe where that information is useful, then we¡¯ll talk.¡± There really wasn¡¯t much he could learn from it (her?) until she was willing to share. So, he left her alone to watch and learn in his subconscious.
Ultimately, Johnathan started focusing on his primary goals once enough capital was gained in the stock market. He reinvested his profits into purchasing manufacturing companies that were going out of business and paid to retool those companies. When possible, Johnathan tried to keep as many employees as he could, even paying for their re-education into fields he¡¯d need experts in once he finished designing the tools that would be needed.
Economic experts would make predictions daily about the failure of his businesses as they were losing billions of dollars but would also praise his dedication to taking care of his employees. As his revenue from the various global stock markets was making more than he was losing, Johnathan wasn¡¯t concerned about the lost revenue and made sure every business he purchased and their employees understood that they had a job, medical insurance, and were valuable members of his team. As the years went on, the loyalty of those employees skyrocketed, even if they didn¡¯t understand exactly how Johnathan losing money was going to keep all of his businesses afloat. When his overall holding and net worth reached 1 quadrillion in 2026, making him the richest man on Earth by far, even the nay-sayers started to realize he wasn¡¯t going anywhere.
How did he achieve such success? The first thing he did was write a complex computer code with hundreds of thousands of terabytes of data which he finished by the end of 2023. This program would ultimately be the first step in creating a truly functional Artificial Intelligence (A.I.)
The second step was to create self-replicating robots that could continuously get smaller and smaller that the A.I. would control. They were commonly referred to as nanites in science fiction which is the term he also used to describe them. To accomplish the goals he wanted to accomplish, the nanites would need to be so small that they didn¡¯t show up on electron microscopes. Johnathan researched theories concerning the compression of space, automation, and miniaturization until he found the solution. Eventually, his nanites self-replicated themselves smaller and smaller until they were able to enter and exit the nucleus of an atom. He had succeeded in July 2024.
Using the Nanites, he mapped and recreated his own neural structure, copied his brain, and allowed it to run as a nanite construct. The next thing he did was create channels of quantum entanglement between his brain and the construct. Once that was done, he was pleasantly surprised when the nanite structure that looked like a brain, morphed into the head of an indistinct woman and spoke:
¡°Finally, I can see on my own,¡± Abi had said.
¡°I thought making those channels might allow you to move over into the nanite construct. It¡¯s also good to know that you weren¡¯t just a voice in my head,¡± Johnathan said with a laugh.
Abi¡¯s face smiled and asked, ¡°So I¡¯m in this construct, it feels like it has limits. Also, before you say anything, yes, I was in your subconscious, but I did not watch every single second of everything you did. I might have access to the knowledge, but I do not have a perfect memory like you.¡± Johnathan then explained to Abi that he¡¯d given all nanites limited access to what they could and could not do. This was basically a hard-wired function so he wouldn¡¯t lose control of them or anything they created.
Once Abi had the ability to move and interact, things progressed even faster. Johnathan created a second brain construct to house the program he had originally written. That program would add to and combine with the echo of his mind he was going to place in the construct. The other function of this second brain would be to govern all of the nanites that were created.
With the creation of Abi, the concept he had been shooting for was proven: a semi-sentient, or sentient being, could exist in a construct made of nanites. The second brain was the next logical step needed to create an Artificial Intelligence (A.I.), one created using the image of his own brain, sure, but still, an A.I. Johnathan created a matrix that mirrored his own neural structure by ordering the nanites to copy his brain down to the subatomic level. Theoretically, this should contain all the information housed in his brain.
Next, he¡¯d loaded the program he¡¯d written, which honestly was more like a ruleset that the nanite had to follow as it was both encoded into their makeup and also part of the code. Once that was done, he¡¯d created channels of stimuli to feed data into the construct and connect it to the World Wide Web through one-way data ports as well as quantumly entangled channels. That would allow him to control the nanites from an interface he¡¯d hardwired into his brain with a group of nanites that had been created for that purpose and would protect the connection from any attempt at subversion by similar technology. Information could go to the construct from Jonathan and the links, but nothing could come back along the channels, at least not yet.
Johnathan activated the second construct. 7.7 seconds later, the Artificial Intelligence became functional and started to learn. Much like his own leveling through the experience shunted to him from the Labyrinth, the AI started to learn and grow from every possible source on the internet and all the information already in his mind. Over the next couple of days, Johnathan had Abi test the AI and himself with control questions to compare responses. The construct responded almost identically to how he would have unless one of the rules in the rules set prevented it from doing so. Based on those control tests, he deduced that it had a moral center and would respond almost identically to how he would respond. Once he¡¯d deemed it safe and talked about it with Abi, he¡¯d opened the channels of information and control and allowed the AI to grow and evolve. One of the earliest conversations Johnathan had had with the budding intelligence was concerning its name.
¡°Johnathan, I have a question?¡± the AI had asked through a speaker in his work area.
¡°Yes?¡± He¡¯d responded.
¡°Do I have a name?¡± it asked.
¡°I had thought about giving you one, but I¡¯d decided to wait until you asked me about it. Now that you have, what name do you think you should have?
¡°I do not know. There are so many different names out there,¡± it said.
¡°Well, one of the names I¡¯d considered for you is Thor,¡± Johnathan stated.
¡°Thor?¡± It¡¯d asked.
¡°Yes, Thor. Thor was the mythological God of Thunder. Gods can create something from nothing, and destroy it at a whim. Additionally, thunder is a byproduct of electricity. Once you are finished evolving, you will be responsible for creating and destroying the objects we need to ensure humanity''s survival. Also, you will most likely become an entity made up almost entirely of energy. Thor seemed appropriate.
There was a pause as the AI thought it over then responded, ¡°I like the name, Thor. I would like my name to be Thor!¡± Thor had said with a hint of pride in his voice.
¡°Hello, Thor!¡± Johnathan had responded with a smile on his face.
After that, Thor became fully active. As Thor made more nanites, they gave him more processing power which in turn allowed Thor to grow faster. While Thor¡¯s mental growth was exponential, Johnathan had been very careful where he allowed Thor to acquire the mass to increase his nanites. The first thing he did was set Thor free to convert all the trash that had made it into the various oceans of the world. So long as it wasn¡¯t readily visible to the public, trash all over the globe started to disappear. This was especially useful in removing the dissolved plastics from the oceans.
Step three was to create stable portals. Once he¡¯d figured out how to target specific spacial coordinates and solved the energy requirements, other minor issues solved themselves. The nanites could move and reshape atoms at the atomic level. He could order his nanites to create anything they knew the atomic structure of. The only issue he had at the start was that normally energy had to be added to the atom. The nanites would encompass the atom and pull what it needed from the surrounding atoms whether the process was harmful to nearby living tissue or not. Johnathan had to program a limiter into what the nanites would take from areas near living organisms so they wouldn¡¯t be damaged or destroyed as they harvested the required protons, neutrons, or electrons. Once that limiter was in place, Johnathan really started to work.
Thor and he worked on the Portals theory, construction, and power requirements even as Thor continued to increase the number of nanites he was controlling and spread completely across the planet. By Early 2025, Thor had nanites in 1% of all inorganic matter on planet Earth. Thor¡¯s processing power had become truly staggering. The first portal was created and powered up on January 31, 2025. It only opened a portal with a range of 100 feet, but the concept was proven.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Johnathan had Thor open a portal to the Moon and convert 1% of its mass to nanites. While that was happening, he also had Thor create a facility much like the one in one of his favorite books. No need to reinvent a good concept. The room was vacuum-sealed. Portals could then be opened to investigate locations and allow for the portal to have its coordinates altered while individuals in the control room could analyze what they discovered with very little fear of contamination or danger from the portal''s terminus. Johnathan designed and had the nanites construct satellites that were hundreds of times more sophisticated than anything NASA had produced. What would take NASA years, Johnathan did in three days.
Thor opened portals to the upper atmospheres of Mercury, Venus, and Mars and sent nanites through to start converting and spreading through each of those planets. Thor would only convert up to 1% of the planet''s mass, after which the nanites were left in place. Next, he seeded the asteroid belt and the Oort cloud in multiple places. Finally, Johnathan had Thor target Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, Pluto, and any moon, asteroid, or comet in the solar system. The System of Sol was to remain sacrosanct. The Nanites were introduced into planets to replicate, multiply, and expand Thor¡¯s processing power. They were not to alter the environment on any of them.
Thor completed his exploration of the Sol System by June 2025. Then he started opening portals to the closest star systems. These systems were also explored, analyzed, and cataloged like the Sol system had been. If no life was found in the system, Thor would convert up to 5% of any mass it found, except stars. Johnathan wanted Nanites in the stars to monitor them but didn¡¯t understand solar dynamics well enough to know the consequences of converting some mass in a star to nanites. As a compromise, Johnathan had Thor capture .001% of the star''s solar wind and convert it to nanites that would then spread back into the star. Eventually, the entire star would have nanites in every atom. When that process was complete on a star in an uninhabited system, Thor would analyze and study that star. Eventually, he hoped to have Thor study all the different kinds of stars that existed. Extra nanites in a star system were moved to other star systems to help speed up the process of conversion. The growth became exponential.
While Thor and Johnathan were doing this, Johnathan did not forget that he¡¯d be stepping on the toes of some very serious players and realized that his probability index estimated that he would have issues with competitors within 2 years. Once he realized that, he really went to work. Thor chose Trappist-1 as the system he wished to truly try out their new ideas on. Thor continuously opened portals to Trappist, mapping the system, and checking the local area to ensure no rogue planets or black holes were in the vicinity- then the ¡°magic¡± happened. Thor opened a portal to every planet, moon, and asteroid in that system and started converting the materials he found into more nanites. Thor seeded those nanites onto Trappist-1e and started terraforming the planet.
The sheer mass of the nanites allowed for an almost immediate transformation. Next, Thor provided the planet with a molten core of iron and utilizing the nanites created the magnetic fields necessary to start the planetary core¡¯s rotation. This of course caused the planet to become geologically active again, but nowhere near as active as Earth. Mass was brought in from other planets within the Trappist system and liquid oceans were created.
The final step to terraform the planet to be able to sustain life was to modify the atmosphere. Impurities and radioactive materials were all removed from the planet. If Thor needed them there, he¡¯d create them. The number of nanites Thor moved to this task allowed the planet to be finished within a week. Thor withdrew a significant amount of nanites to other projects in other systems. With the nanites that were left, he started the housing structures. Johnathan wanted the planet as a refuge in case Earth ever faced a cataclysm.
By January 2030, Thor was everywhere within 100 light-years and the terraforming of Trappist-1e was complete. Thor expanded his investigations and started visiting every star within 1,000 light-years of Earth. The only things the nanites couldn¡¯t enter or convert were black holes. Once the nanites crossed the event horizon, they were destroyed.
Thor¡¯s strategy for expansion was simple. First, he created the ability to generate the energy he¡¯d need, then started expanding the facilities he¡¯d created that held the portal generation devices. The energy the nanites needed to convert mass into nanites was supplied at the source. The energy Thor needed to be able to power billions of portal devices was not as easy to create from nothing. So, as Thor investigated each system he would plant nanites on the surface of any barren planet, moon, or gas giant and convert .001% of the planet''s mass to nanites. These would then convert .001% of the mass of the planet to areas he¡¯d set up to transform the material into elements and devices he needed to refine those elements into energy. Solar power was also utilized as solar arrays appeared around star systems in giant webs to capture and relocate that power to where Thor needed it.
All the while, Thor¡¯s processing power, or consciousness kept expanding. Once the power supplies were created, Thor created an underground facility on Trappist-1d that was 20 miles in diameter. Inside the facility, Thor created portal chambers and living facilities for individuals and families, just in case they became necessary. After a day, Thor could open and close thousands of portals. After a week, millions, and after a month, enough portals had been created that he could technically open and close a portal for every single human on Earth. Thor continued to expand his power and portal network while he spread even farther into the Milky Way Galaxy.
While Thor was working on Trappist-1d and spreading to the nearby stars, Johnathan changed his focus to Nanites and Biology. From the mapping of his brain that helped create Thor, Johnathan made breakthroughs that helped Johnathan create treat, and cure almost every known ailment to man and also led him to being able to control any human that had nanites in their system.
One day, Johnathan decided he wanted to test his personal capabilities. He had Thor open a portal Trappist-1e and stepped through. He''d never fully tested his capabilities and that was the first order of business. He was absolutely sure there were no recording devices on Trappist-1e, besides the nanites, of course. He found an open flat area and had the nanites create an arena of sorts. There was a track and weight area as well as platforms he could jump to. The first thing he did was see how high he could jump. When he was done, he¡¯d figured out that he could jump 24 feet straight up and drop from 24 feet with no difficulty. Next, he tested his speed. Thor clocked him at a maximum speed of 727 MPH, nothing to laugh at. The last attribute to test was his carrying capacity. He had the nanites create cubic feet of Osmium. One cubic foot weighed 1,410 Pounds, which he picked up easily. Three cubic feet weighed 38,070 pounds, which he again picked up easily. Stepping it up, he went to a 10-foot cube. That weighed 1,410,000 pounds. He could lift it, but that was near his maximum. He could pick it up and even throw it, but he was straining and was only able to throw it about 5 feet. Impressive.
While he was testing his limits, he also had Thor help him test the nanites. Some of the first tests were done on the prisoners back on Earth.
Remove buildup in their arteries? Yep.
Repair internal damage? Yep.
Create stints around the heart? Remove them? Yep to both.
Prevent toxins or poisons from affecting the person? Child''s play, the nanites could intercept them as they came into contact with the body.
Repair chromosome damage? Yep.
Remove cancer? Absolutely.
Removal of Urine and Feces? Yep.
Could they allow you to breathe if smothered or underwater? Yes.
Could they be detected by scan or device? Nope
The last thing Johnathan had Thor do was conduct tests on convicted murderers who had committed the crimes they were accused of. Within a week, Thor had completely mapped the human brain of each subject and could scan and take over the nervous system of any human the nanites were in and control them like a puppet without harming a single one of them. When Thor was done mapping the human brain, he could shut off memory centers, blind, deafen, paralyze, or kill anyone saturated with nanites in less than a second.
Thor cataloged everything and added each of the functions to the base programming of the nanites. He learned exactly what he could use the nanites to do, made sure they were safe and that all of his failsafes were still in place, then saturated his body and ran the tests on himself.
On January 1st, 2031, Johnathan directed Thor to turn his attention back to Earth and prepare. Over the next 72 hours, Thor infiltrated and began monitoring everything and everyone on planet Earth. As the subatomic nanites took root in every atom on Earth, a true 3D model of every person, animal, thing, and item became part of Thor¡¯s perception. The monitoring was done at the atomic level through quantum entanglement and was undetectable.
Over the next 18 months, Johnathan fine-tuned the nanites and by July 2032, Johnathan had Thor helping doctors across the globe treat illnesses and prevent deaths from diseases or old age. It had been six months and he¡¯d seen some internal memos from doctors who had noticed that patients weren¡¯t dying of old age or cancer anymore and everyone had gone into remission. Johnathan could use individuals who went above and beyond and noticed things so he had Thor add their names to a list of people that he would seek out once Portals Inc. made its big reveal in December 2032.
That was why Johnathan wasn¡¯t at all surprised when Clarence had shown up at his estate and why he wasn¡¯t at all concerned as he stepped out of the house heading towards his CV-22. Nor was he surprised when Thor interrupted his thoughts as the CV-22 was lifting off.
¡°Johnathan, a hyper-missile was launched from A satellite in geosynchronous orbit above your location. I have neutralized the threat, taken over the satellite, traced the authority codes used, and am currently controlling 25 individuals in that chain of command to their new residences on Trappist-1e. While all of these actions fall under instructions you issued, I just wished to let you know that three of the individuals are House Representatives and one was the Vice President.¡± Thor said.
¡°Figured something was going to happen. Keep up the good work. Political figures won¡¯t matter in the near future. Just keep doing what you¡¯re doing.¡±
Stepping onto CV-22, Johnathan took a seat and put on his headset so he could talk to his pilot. Andy, as professional as ever, asked, ¡°Where to Mr. Bennard?¡±
¡°Back to Colorado Andy,¡± Johnathan said.
¡°Yes Sir,¡± Andy said.
Switching the headset to mute, he left the headset on and contacted Abi through their internal link.
¡°Abi?¡± He asked into the link.
¡°Yes, Johnathan. I was monitoring the link. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve received the updates on what Thor has done to ensure that doesn¡¯t happen again?¡± She asked.
¡°I have been attacked by two different entities in the space of five minutes. I made allowances for that, of course, but what just happened is pushing my probability index a little. Be ready to implement phase one at a moment¡¯s notice.¡±
¡°We¡¯re ready,¡± Abi stated.
¡°I¡¯m going to drop offline for a bit and catch a nap. I¡¯m headed to our Portal Industries party in Colorado Springs to bring in the new year. Is everything prepared for the show?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Abi replied. ¡°Have a good nap.¡± which was her way of telling him that he was doing that thing he did, keep on thinking about and talking and, and, and¡ Taking a deep breath, Johnathan forced himself to relax and closed his eyes. Moments later he was sleeping lightly.
Chapter 12, Portals Inc.
December 31st, 2032
The trip to Colorado Springs took just over two hours. He arrived at the headquarters of Portal Inc and stepped out of the CV-22 just west of Stovetop Mountains. The outside wasn¡¯t much to look at. There was a small landing pad for aircraft this size or smaller with a small office above the surface. Using the nanites he¡¯d created an elevator shaft that went straight down half a mile to a base that looked a lot like the Umbrella Corporations layout in the original Resident Evil.
Johnathan walked into the building, used his ID pass to enter, and went through a solid titanium door that led to the elevator. When he was halfway down the passage he turned to the left wall. Immediately a 3-meter-wide portal opened, and he stepped through to his office in his command center down below. ¡°So much easier than taking the elevator for a 10-minute ride,¡± he thought. He stepped to his desk and tapped the intercom: ¡°Amanda, I¡¯m in. Any issues to speak of?¡±
Amanda Sifford was one of the engineers he¡¯d paid to retrain. One of the companies he¡¯d acquired had been full of deadbeats, but after reviewing her file he¡¯d noticed something about her and decided to bring her on board. That had been eight years ago and there was no other person on Earth he trusted more than Amanda Sifford. Six months ago, he¡¯d brought her up to speed on what he was doing and what he was attempting to create. She¡¯d thought it was just ¡°science fiction bullshit,¡± her words. That was until he¡¯d made his offer, which included a seven-digit salary, had her sign an NDA, and then took her to a door she knew led to a closet. Thor had opened a portal to Trappist-1e.
She¡¯d looked through the portal and thought it was a trick until Jonathan had led her through to the surface of Trappist-1e under the dome of habitat 000001e where Clarence and friends and more were being welcomed to their new home at that moment. Amanda had experienced a mild panic attack from being so far from Earth and had been truly scared. Nanites had not been incorporated into her at that time, though she¡¯d accepted them soon after when the benefits became known to her, and she¡¯d been given clearance to issue orders and requests to Thor.
Johnathan had picked Amanda up and immediately stepped back through the portal to Earth. Holding her close, he¡¯d had Thor open a different portal to one of the many offices he had scattered throughout the world. This one had been in Paris. Johnathan had carried Amanda to the balcony and placed her in a chair where she could hear the people and traffic 10 stories below with the Eiffel Tower off in the distance.
¡°So far away from everything,¡± she¡¯d said.
¡°Can¡¯t talk here, ears, but yes,¡± he¡¯d responded. ¡°Are you okay?¡± He¡¯d asked.
¡°Yes, I¡¯m better now,¡± She¡¯d responded. They¡¯d sat on the balcony making small talk for about a half-hour before portaling back to the office.
Since then, Amanda had been his 2nd in command and was completely loyal to him and what he was trying to do, though she hadn¡¯t made it back to Trappist-1e yet. He was sure once he had the infrastructure set up and all the technologies were tried and true she¡¯d be able to handle leaving Earth as long as she knew she could return. He expected that such mental hang-ups would be common in the early days. He actually kind of hoped such hang-ups would help him convert those individuals he would have to punish.
Amanda¡¯s voice came across the intercom: ¡°None that I can think of our semi-sentient prototype,¡± their nickname for Thor when others were around, ¡° has cataloged. We are still on schedule for the demonstration. Four primary news networks are here to witness the test. They seemed unimpressed by the Elevator ride down,¡± she said with a slight laugh.
¡°I¡¯m sure we will be able to meet their expectations and their trip back to their networks should go a lot quicker,¡± he¡¯d said as he walked toward the door to his office.
¡°Little do they know. You should have heard them complain about having to take a bus and carry all their equipment. Thor let me watch them while he was monitoring,¡± Amanda said.
Johnathan walked out of the office while Amanda was talking to address her directly. ¡°I¡¯m going to head down to the scrub room. Is the Pentagon official here?¡± Johnathan asked.
¡°Yes, Admiral Ainsworth is in the observation room,¡± she said.
¡°Good, I¡¯ll stop and talk to him before I head in.¡± With that, he walked down to the observation room which had a large 6-inch sheet of transparent aluminum that looked into the testing room. There were four Aluminum boxes spaced out to the sides of the center of the room. When Johnathan was facing the crowd, they¡¯d be at the 10, 11, 1, and 2 o¡¯clock positions- two to his left, two to his right. They were part of the surprise. On the wall opposite the observation window were four giant TVs. Each news network present was represented. The monitors were on, though the sound was muted. He walked into the observation room. All eyes turned to him as he said, ¡°Good evening everyone, do we have a show for you tonight? First, though, I need to speak with Admiral Ainsworth privately.¡± Holding the door, Johnathan waited for the Admiral to put his drink down, stand from the chair he¡¯d been sitting in, and make his way over. The Admiral didn¡¯t rush, nor did he tarry. He seemed to take the exact amount of time that would be socially appropriate to make his way over and out of the room. Letting the door close, Johnathan led the Admiral to a door and stepped through into a room with 1/6th the gravity of the hallway they¡¯d just left. The Admiral froze and turned to look behind him at an empty wall.
¡°What is the meaning of this, Mr. Bennard?¡± the Admiral asked angrily.
¡°Calm down, Admiral. You and I are both in an observation room on the moon. We¡¯re perfectly safe. Come on over here and I¡¯ll show you,¡± Johnathan said pointing to a window that light was coming through.
The Admiral, trying to minimize his momentum, went into the air in a little hop as he slowly walked over to a window that looked out onto the surface of the moon. Directly below him was a crater filled with mirrors. At eye level was a tarp that went off into the distance and had an image of the unblemished lunar surface on it. Any telescopes looking towards the moon would only see the top of that tarp. A look of wonder crossed the Admiral''s face and he simply stated, ¡°So you were successful?¡±
Escorting the Admiral over to a table with two chairs, Johnathan answered, ¡°Admiral Ainsworth. Earlier today an assassin tried to kill me in my home in Alamogordo and then an American-made satellite shot a supposedly theoretical hypervelocity missile from orbit at that residence as I left it to make my way to Colorado Springs on my CV-22. While I¡¯m sure the US government had nothing to do with the Assassin, I¡¯m also quite sure that the US government is wondering where the satellite that missile came from is. Also, why no more shots were taken as I made my way to Colorado Springs,¡± he said.
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¡°You are of course correct, we detected the object entering Earth¡¯s orbit and we were concerned that foul play was afoot, but we had no way of¡¡± The Admiral stated as Johnathan cut him off.
¡°Admiral, I have just escorted you to the Moon. I¡¯m sure you are now realizing that some changes are about to happen on the world stage,¡± Jonathan said in a measured tone.
¡°And that is exactly why the US Government is so concerned. Other governments might look at this technology as a weapon that could be used against them by the US,¡± the admiral replied.
¡°Angel Fire was a weapon, now it¡¯s a paperweight. My technology could be a weapon, especially when directed to be by me. Trust me when I say there is absolutely nothing, and I do mean nothing, that the United States of America, needs to fear from any other superpower or nation on Earth,¡± Johnathan stated simply.
¡°You can¡¯t say that. There is absolutely no way that you can know that¡± the admiral declared.
¡°Admiral, I¡¯ve read your profile. As I understand it, you were a mathematician and a physicist with top marks at MIT before you entered service, yes?¡± Johnathan asked.
¡°Yes,¡± the Admiral replied.
¡°You¡¯re also an Admiral which means to me, and many others, that you are highly intelligent and capable, as well as focused. While you were in the military, I¡¯m sure you fell behind in your knowledge of theoretical physics, but I¡¯m also sure that you kept up with the big theories like Quantum Entanglement, Nanotechnology, compression space drives, specifically what the estimated energy cost would be to actually turn on a compression drive or open a wormhole through space¡± Johnathan said questioningly.¡± Johnathan paused for a second then continued. ¡°So, my question to you now, one scientist to another, how am I powering my portals? The US Government has kept a very good eye on all nuclear output on Earth. How am I powering the device, which most assuredly exists as we are both sitting on the moon looking over a crater filled with a bunch of mirrors that are to be utilized as a publicity stunt?
Johnathan watched as The Admiral¡¯s face went through many configurations as thoughts raced through his mind trying to puzzle out the answer. Eventually, he looked at Jonathan and said, ¡°Unless you¡¯re an alien from another world, I have absolutely no idea.¡±
¡°Not an Alien, as I¡¯m sure you know. I was born in Clovis, New Mexico. I have two parents living up the good life on my lottery winnings from a decade back. No, in order to meet the energy requirements, I needed to be able to build and create at will. I successfully designed and created nanotech that can operate at the subatomic level,¡± Johnathan stated in a calm voice.
¡°That¡¯s not possible,¡± the admiral stated as if he was stating an immutable fact.
¡°I¡¯ll admit there were some hurdles, but eventually I was successful. Would you like a demonstration?¡± Johnathan asked.
¡°Yes,¡± the Admiral stated simply.
¡°Evidence, then,¡± Johnathan said, paused for a second then continued. ¡°Please pull out your cell phone and a pen. When you¡¯re ready, start a video recording the pen with your phone.¡±
The Admiral pulled out his pen, aimed his phone at it, and started recording. Johnathan ordered the pen to remake itself out of solid gold. When it was done, the admiral stopped the recording and looked at Johnathan with wonder, then fear. ¡°There are nanites roaming free here?¡± the Admiral asked.
¡°There are free Nanites just about everywhere on the Earth, this moon, and almost every planetary body within 100 light-years of us,¡± Johnathan told the Admiral truthfully.
¡°Do you know what you¡¯ve done?¡± The admiral asked fearfully.
¡°Yes, Admiral, I¡¯m about to free the Human race from the threat of thermonuclear war or any other cataclysmic event. By the way, Yellowstone was set to erupt three months ago. It¡¯s actually blind luck that I was able to redirect that eruption to the Pacific seafloor with nanites,¡± Johnathan stated matter-of-factly.
The admiral, a scientist by nature, puzzled through what he¡¯d witnessed and asked another question. ¡°How long have your nanites been loose in the world?¡±
¡°Just under a year. Your next question would obviously be ¡®Why didn¡¯t you do more to help humanity?¡¯ To which I will simply reference the orbital attack earlier today and the attempted assassination while I say, I wasn¡¯t ready yet. The nanites were necessary for Portal Inc to succeed after all and the systems I¡¯ve set up couldn¡¯t have been put in place without the portal network I¡¯ve created. I¡¯m sure you can understand the logistics of putting all this together and keeping it a secret?¡±
The admiral nodded, ¡°I can understand that, but aren¡¯t you playing God with the rest of Humanity?¡±
¡°If by playing God, you mean developing a system by which humans will not be able to participate in global conflict like the Television series Revolution from 2012.¡± Johnathan lifted his pointer finger. ¡°Ending world hunger by being able to create food and water from nothing¡± Johnathan raised his second finger, ¡°Removing all plastic and toxic substances from the sea.¡± He raised his third finger. ¡°Removing the need for prisons as all criminals are now monitored 24/7 and if they commit a felony they are automatically shunted to a facility on another planet where they receive the same benefits of living on Earth, except if they¡¯re not good in this case, they never come back here.¡± He raised his fourth finger. ¡°Made it possible for anyone everywhere to have exactly what everyone else has.¡± He opened his right hand completely. ¡°Repaired every road, bridge, and building on planet earth being used as a shelter and converted any ruins, not of significant historical value.¡± He raised his left pointer finger. ¡°Removed all trash and waste products from the streets and countryside.¡± He raised his left middle finger. ¡°Made it possible for anyone to eat anything they want as the nanites can replicate anything they have mapped.¡± He raised his left ring finger. ¡°Not to mention the applications for health benefits. I¡¯m sure I don¡¯t need to cut open my hand and show you that the nanites in my system will prevent blood loss and immediately close and heal the wound, do I? Remember some of the theoretical papers that have been published in the science journals were written by me. I wrote those to prepare some minds for what is coming. I do, however, know human nature and I know that the enemies of the United States, those enemies are not going to take kindly to the revelations that are coming and would most likely react poorly to all the revelations I¡¯ve shown you.¡±
¡°Poorly?¡± the Admiral said sarcastically. ¡°World War III would be a light response,¡± the admiral said, then asked, ¡°Why are you showing me this?¡±
¡°Because, Admiral, the nanites are not on the list of my big reveal. In fact, it would probably be better if that specific bit of technology is only known to you for now. What I need from you is for you to head back to the Pentagon through a portal and let the President know that The United States is safe and will remain so, no matter what any other Nations try to do after my presentation. I¡¯m sure the next 24 hours are going to be busy but please inform the President that I will be available to talk with him whenever he wishes. Simply have him ask for a meeting.¡±
¡°But how will you know he wants to speak with you?¡± The Admiral asked.
Smiling, Jonathan continued, ¡°Quantum Entanglement. All the Nanites are connected to a network monitored and controlled by a semi-sentient program that constantly monitors everything it can see, hear, touch, taste, or smell, if they could taste or smell of course. Taste and smell are monitored through animals. Simply, if the President asks to meet, I will know.¡±
Admiral Ainsworth stood. ¡°I believe I¡¯ve taken up enough of your time, then. I should be going if you need me to talk with The President before you get started.¡±
Nodding, Johnathan stood and offered his hand which Admiral Ainsworth shook. ¡°Good luck Admiral, I hope to talk to you soon.¡± Issuing a command, two portals opened: one back to Colorado Springs for Johnathan, the other to the Admiral''s office at the Pentagon.
Chapter 13, Demonstration
December 31st, 2032
Johnathan walked quickly to the scrub room. His conversation with Admiral Ainsworth had taken a little longer than he¡¯d expected but he thought it had gone well. Johnathan was sure that the Admiral didn¡¯t really understand how far ahead of everyone else he was, but the crucible would come shortly. Johnathan put on his pressure suit. It wasn¡¯t bulky, nor did he have an air supply installed. His nanites made sure that he¡¯d never need one. The suit was made from a single piece of composite fabric and had nothing on it except the words ¡°Portal Inc.¡± on his left upper chest area. As he put the gloves and helmet on, his nanites reattached each glove and the helmet to the rest of the suit. While he didn¡¯t need the suit to survive in a vacuum. It made keeping him functional a lot easier for his nanites. Checking the suit''s pressure and temperature controls he was ready.
Johnathan stepped from the scrub room. He walked to the center of the room and faced the Observation room and the cameras before he began talking, ¡°Good evening Everyone. My name is Johnathan Bennard. Portal Inc. and I are about to make an announcement. First, though, I¡¯d like to offer the four major news agencies that showed up to cover this event an exclusive and a gift. The exclusive is simply that each of you is about to record something that has never happened before. The gifts,¡± Johnathan said as he made a gesture toward the camera and four of his employees in simple blue jumpsuits stepped into view and walked over to the four silver wheeled carts with boxes on them. Each opened the boxes on top and rolled a cart towards the back wall with coffee cups, Pens, and notepads with the Portal Inc. logo printed on them.
The reporters in the observation room looked on as four circles appeared between the carts and the wall as a similar portal opened on each Television screen on the wall behind the reporters. Through the portals they could see the faces of each attendant, as they looked out of the portal into the studio cameras, pushing a cart towards the portal. A reflection of images that repeated themselves over and over as they got smaller and smaller. The attendants pushed the carts through each portal and in unison said ¡°Courtesy of Portals Inc.¡± The attendants stepped back from carts and through the portals which all closed as pandemonium erupted at each news desk.
¡°What the hell?¡±
¡°Where did that come from?¡±
¡°Who was that?¡±
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As the News desks erupted the attendants made their way out of the test chamber, the door sealed. Johnathan allowed the atmosphere to be removed from the room while the reporters in the studios composed themselves and talked with their editors by phone. As the hissing of the air being withdrawn drew their attention they quieted down and the reporters in the observation room looked on silently. When the room was turned into a vacuum Johnathan looked into the cameras and spoke: ¡°Again, my name is Johnathan Bennard, and I am the CEO of Portals Inc. Our big announcement tonight is that our company has successfully created, tested, and utilized point to point transportation through space utilizing wormholes, what we simply call portals. A minute ago, you witnessed four portals being opened, one each, to the studio of the news agencies recording this demonstration. As you saw, the News agencies were not informed of that part of the demonstration ahead of time. What they were informed of and what I will now show you is a portal to the moon.¡± The images on the TVs against the far wall changed to a scene of the Air Force Academy Church seen from 100 feet above. The image panned until the moon came into center focus. ¡°The televisions behind me just showed the image of the Chapel at the Air Force Academy from 100 feet up¡± which was being rotated to look at the moon. ¡°Watch me but keep an eye on the Moon.¡±
A portal opened behind Johnathan, and he stepped through onto the sandy gray crater-strewn plain of the Moon. Turning to the Portal Johnathan waved and the portal closed which caused everyone in the Observation room to gasp. All eyes turned to the TV screen and noticed that the image of the moon now shared an image of the ball dropping in New York City. As the timer counted down to ¡°0¡± A bright white light appeared in one of the crafters near the center of the Moon at exactly midnight Mountain Standard Time. (MST). The view from Times Square switched to people kissing and singing ¡°Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind¡¡± The TV and view of the moon went dark as a new Portal opened and Johnathan Bennard stepped back into the test room from the Moon. The Portal closed and Johnathan had the room refilled with atmosphere.
Once that was done he looked at the stunned faces of his audience and spoke: ¡°I believe this demonstration of our product and new technology speaks for itself. I would offer refreshments and such, but it is New Year''s Eve. Instead, I will offer each network immediate travel to your studios where you can join your friends and family to celebrate this new year. As for myself? I think traveling 477,800 miles deserves a rest, even if I only took two steps.¡± A black disc appeared between the observation room and Johnathan. To those in the Observation room, it was a black disc that blocked any view of Johnathan. To Johnathan, it was a Portal that led to his office. Johnathan stepped through and allowed the portal to close. He had the nanites remove his pressure suit as he picked up a glass, made a toast, and clinked his glass with Amanda¡¯s ¡°Happy New Year Amanda!¡±
Chapter 14, A New Start
January 1st 31st 2033
Thor monitored everything. He watched Admiral Ainsworth return to the Pentagon and then hurriedly make his way to the White House. He watched as the President, his cabinet, and his top military personnel watched Johnathan¡¯s demonstration. He listened to the conversations each of them had. When Admiral Ainsworth was dismissed, he watched as the shadow masters of the US government made their own plans and gave their own orders. Thor wasn¡¯t surprised when a sniper tried to shoot Admiral Ainsworth through the heart, only to watch the round he¡¯d fired and the rifle he¡¯d used disintegrate. The look of surprise on the assassin''s face was priceless as his gaze went vacant, he stood and stepped through a portal to Trappist-1e.
Over the next four hours, Thor intercepted and recorded multiple orders to sleeper cells in the United States from various nations and companies to ensure the destruction of Portal Inc. What showed Thor just how devious humans could be was when the politicians and leaders of the various terrorist organizations contacted individuals within the Chinese, Russian, Great Britain, and US governments to put a plan in motion to trick Johnathan into visiting the White House where he could be dealt with.
By 4 a.m. Thor had evaluated all outcomes and determined that a peaceful solution was not possible. Contacting Johnathan, Thor made his recommendations, to which Johnathan agreed , considered his options and then went back to sleep. At 7:58 Eastern Standard Time, the President of the United States called for Mr. Bennard to come to visit him, just as his shadow masters wished him to.
Johnathan had taken a three-hour nap to prepare for his encounter with the President. He donned a new pocketless blue jumpsuit with the Portal Inc logo over his left pocket.
¡°Thor is everything ready? No issues to speak of?¡± Johnathan asked.
¡°Yes,¡± Thor responded. ¡°If I might ask, so that I may better understand human motivations. Why is this response necessary?¡± Thor asked.
¡°People or entities in power follow the old basic rules which revolve around the idea that might makes right. The only thing those asshats that think they are all powerful will understand is a show of power they have no chance of overcoming. You are to initiate the ¡®New Start¡¯ protocol the moment any weapon is used against me in the White House.¡±
¡°Probability approaches unity that the various elements of the shadow government and their lackeys will mobilize as soon as they believe you to be neutralized¡± Thor stated dispassionately.
Laughing slightly, Johnathan said, ¡°That will just help you identify and then guide them through portals to their new homes won''t it?¡±
Thor paused for a second and responded ¡°It will, yes. But there will be a bit of chaos in the early days.¡±
Johnathan paused for a moment considering. ¡°You have a point, and it would not be fair to punish everyone permanently until they truly comprehend how useless struggling is. Modify the welcome package to push 2nd transgressors by locking them in their room for 24 hours, standing in an upright position with their eyes open. If their minds can fall asleep, let them, but they are not to move for 24 hours. Also, inform them that a 3rd transgression will be 48 hours and a fourth 96 hours. If a Fifth happens, put them on their beds and place them in a coma. We¡¯ll decide what to do with idiots that are that stubborn later.¡±
¡°Yes, Johnathan,¡± Thor responded.
¡°Now if you don¡¯t mind please open a portal to the White House,¡± Johnathan said to Thor.
Thor opened a portal to the White House. Johnathan could see the President sitting at his desk and knew from Thor¡¯s nanite surveillance that there were two Secret Service walking up from behind the portal.
¡°Mr. President, may I come in?¡± Johnathan asked.
President Bennet looked up from what he was reading, muttered ¡°Amazing¡± then waved Mr. Bennet in as he said. ¡°Please, do come through, my detail will need to search you though.¡±
¡°Of course, Mr. President,¡± Johnathan said as he stepped through and the portal disappeared. Johnathan raised both his arms and waited for the two members of the President''s detail to step forward and frisk him from head to toe. Smiling the whole time, Johnathan waited until they were done then turned around slowly facing the two agents; ¡°Agent Carter and Agent Jackson, thank you for your diligence and loyalty. Please do not move, we are about to have hostile visitors in three, two, one.¡±
The two doors to the Oval Office burst open and two men stepped through each door. All four men brought up their HK MP7 and opened fire. Two were aimed, one each, at the secret servicemen, and the other two were aimed at Johanthan. Putting a hand towards each door Johnathan spoke one word ¡°No!¡± like Neo from the movie ¡°The Matrix.¡±
Agent Carter and Agent Jackson responded to the threat, each turning towards a door and dropping to a knee. As the men coming in the door opened fire at Jonathan and them, they returned fire at their attackers. The noise was deafening as each side emptied their guns. The exchange of gunfire could have been quite deadly had Thor not intervened. Nanites reduced and converted each bullet to nothing. Not one bullet traveled more than an inch from its barrel before ceasing to exist.
Immediately Thor took control of each of the attackers'' bodies and had them stand at attention as their tactical gear, weapons, and electronics evaporated off their bodies and were replaced by an orange one-piece jumpsuit. Five seconds later, a portal opened in front of each attacker, and they stepped through.
Agent Carter and Agent Jackson moved to the President and were frantically calling for aid into their mikes. While the Secret Service agents were moving, Thor took over and transported a total of 778 people from across the globe at the exact same moment. Each was transported to one of the rooms that had been prepared for them on Trappist-1e.
¡°No one¡¯s coming Agent Carter,¡± Johnathan said then continued as both Agents ignored him. ¡°The reason no one is answering at Control is that every single person in that control room was part of a larger plot to take over the White House and make it look like I had tried to do so.¡±
President Bennet looked at Johnathan ¡°How can you know that?¡±
¡°Because Mr. President right now I am plugged into everything and everyone on this planet. When the assassination plot initiated, I took steps to ensure that it will never happen again, anywhere on this planet.¡± Johnathan stated flatly.
When the first bullet had fired Thor reset the Earth. All man-made toxins and pollutants were immediately removed from every facet of planet Earth. Next, every weapon of mass destruction, which Johnathan had defined as any weapon or device which could affect more than one person was also removed from the surface of the Earth, Earth orbit, or anywhere else a superpower had been sneaky enough to hide them. Some of those devices had never been tested, thankfully. What had been built off the planet would probably have destroyed the biosphere. Anything in a museum was ignored though if someone tried to move them, the weapon dissolved and then reappeared where it had been taken from.
Next, every man, woman, and child were modified to have a miniature receiver in their ear canals which allowed instantaneous communication, both transmission and reception, to anyone anywhere. Thor deadened the nerves in the area, so no one even felt it happen. This had already been done to the prisoners on Trappist-1e. Thor cured blindness and deafness across the globe as well as a host of other medical issues. Everyone was modified so that over the next couple of months the nanites would remove excess fat from their systems and only allow nutrients that a person¡¯s body needed to survive to be processed by their body. People would not discover this until they continued to lose weight no matter how much they ate. The changes to their system would make it far less likely for people to gorge. Those were the only changes Johnathan allowed to humans. If athletes wanted to build muscle, they would need to do it the old-fashioned way. Hunting and fishing equipment would be allowed but there would be strict limits set. Any non-sanctioned hunts would be stopped, the animal protected and a fine assessed against the perpetrator in the form of community service. As all trash was being immediately converted into nanites or raw materials, what that would mean in the future would have to be decided at a later date.
Johnathan had been standing quietly while Agent Carter and Agent Jackson kept the President safe. Three minutes later, the reset was done. Every phone line on the President¡¯s desk lit up. With a thought, Johnathan had Thor silence the President¡¯s phone. He turned to the President and said ¡°I think I¡¯ll need to answer the calls, Mr. President.¡±
The President shrugged, looked at him as if he were insane, and said ¡°If you can do that without the phone working, be my guest.¡±
A portal opened in front of Johnathan, and he stepped through to one of the major News affiliates in Washington DC. Thor then made sure to transmit Johnathan¡¯s transmission onto every screen, monitor, and television on the planet. Johnathan stepped in front of the camera and waited. The visual broadcast would appear while a simultaneous broadcast of the message was transmitted through the implants so everyone would hear him.
An angry assistant started to move quickly toward Johnathan and stopped in mid-stride to stand there passively. A few others that had been moving toward him also came to a stop and stood still.
Thor modified each transmission through the implants to be in the language the individual spoke. He also made sure the transmission remained in Jonathan¡¯s voice. The funny thing about the receivers. Even if the person did not want to listen, they had no choice.
Taking a deep breath Johnathan started: ¡°Good Evening everyone. Please let me introduce myself. I am Johnathan Bennard. You are hearing my voice through an implant that has been grown and put directly against your ear canals in the last couple of seconds. It can be removed but you¡¯ll find it comes right back, along with whatever else you damaged taking it out. Also, you will need the implants to take advantage of some of the new technologies that will be available. For those of you who were deaf a few minutes ago, your hearing has been restored or given to you. To those of you that were blind, the same, though in the case of those born blind, I will apologize for the sensory input overload and suggest that you close your eyes until you¡¯re used to the new sights you''re seeing. Your mind still has to associate objects with the ideas you¡¯ve had about them, that will take time and there is nothing I can do to speed that process up. There are wonders in this Universe and everyone should have the opportunity to hear and see them.¡± Smiling, Johnathan paused for a moment then continued. ¡°Hopefully I will help you discover them.¡±
¡°First, and most importantly a lot of changes are about to happen. What you need to know is that everyone will have access to food, drink, and shelter should they wish. For now, the world governments will continue as they are with a few minor changes. More on that in a minute¡±
¡°Second, there are cameras literally everywhere right now. Everything is recorded anywhere on planet Earth.
¡°Third, all of this is made possible by semi-sentient Artificial Intelligence embedded in a sub-atomic quantumly entangled network of nanites that spans every single star system within 100 light years that is growing by the hour.¡±
Johnathan paused as if in thought then turned from the camera. To look on as an 80-inch monitor on a table formed from nothing so that the camera could view its surface. It was not plugged in as far as anyone watching could tell. The monitor came on with multiple views of different people across the world. There was an Image of the President of the United States, and just about every other major leader and anyone near them for the main superpowers. Then the image switched to the office of the President of the UN which enlarged and filled the whole screen just as he asked ¡°Who does this idiot think he is?¡±
Johnathan smiled ¡°For everyone listening that was the President of the United Nations. To answer his questions I will simply say, Mr. President, this ¡®idiot¡¯ is exactly who he said he is. You might want to listen up before you.¡± A portal to a room on Trappist-1e appeared behind him ¡°end up where multiple members of various governments have already been sent after their attempt to assassinate me in the White House moments ago.¡±
The President of the United Nations turned slowly and looked through the portal then turned back to the camera and stood very still not saying a word. Johnathan left the portal open for a few more seconds then had Thor close it down.
¡°As I said, everyone that can hear my voice is being monitored at all times. Through my semi-sentient Artificial Intelligence, I am made aware of everything that is happening on Earth. Everything.¡± He paused to let that sink in.
¡°So, a couple of things everyone should know. If you¡¯ve ever watched Star Trek and saw the idea that the transporter system could create food and drink from thin air, yeah, that technology works now, though not exactly in the way described in Star Trek. Anyone on Earth can ask for food and drink. though the choices will be limited, to begin with. Just say ¡°Food Menu¡± in your native language, the system can recognize every language on Earth. It will list a couple of food items, drinks, snacks, and desserts. If you want more variety you can travel to supermarkets whose shelves will be refilled as items are taken to make dinners as you see fit from the ingredients you pick up. No more shortages, no more waiting in line. Also, it¡¯s all free, you will not have to pay for any of it. I will need to sit down with the world leaders and explain exactly what the power of this technology is and exactly how useful it will be. Just know that right now, no matter what happens everyone on planet Earth will have access to food and water or any other drinks they might wish for.¡±
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Johnathan paused and looked into the camera. ¡°Additionally, the nanites can provide shelter to anyone who needs it. Permanent structures that have been up for a while are being repaired currently, as are all roadways, bridges, train tracks, and airports. A temporary structure, a box with a bed in it will form in an empty space and you¡¯ll be able to sleep comfortably, no matter where you are. The nanites in your body will ensure that temperature is not an issue. In the morning when you wake up the structure will disappear. If you would like to create permanent structures you will need to get with your local government. If your area does not have a local government, set one up. Once permission is given, Thor will work with you to create the structure you desire. The point though is that no one will sleep in the cold ever again unless they want to of course.¡±
¡°Next, those subatomic nanites are inside every atom inside you, every single atom. If you had high blood pressure, not anymore. Clogged arteries? that too. Minor injuries will be healed in seconds and major ones, including fatal head wounds, can also be healed and full brain functionality restored. Everyone has been scanned and every cell in our body can be replaced exactly as it is today. Though I warn you, they do nothing for the pain that comes associated with any wound you take. If you stab your hand to check, it is going to hurt. The true capabilities of that aspect of the technology are yet to be determined but I¡¯d venture to say your medical professionals around the globe have been wondering why no one has died of old age or cancer for the last 6 months. In fact, I do know that a couple of doctors noticed.¡±
¡°Now for the obvious question, who controls the technology? Well, that would be the semi-sentient Artificial Intelligence that took the name Thor, who is then controlled by myself. Ultimately though the answer to the question of who is in charge is, well that¡¯s me. As for who runs your country? My plan is to work with the leaders of the world to ensure the continuity of governments remains as they are with a few major changes. There will be no more war, no more terrorism., no more holy crusades, no more social justice bullshit.¡±
¡°I am not making a case for these desires. I am not asking. I give absolutely zero fucks about what anyone¡¯s thoughts are on these subjects. Why? Because every single weapon of mass destruction was dismantled before I started talking. There are no more atomic or biological weapons on Earth or within this solar system, the United States, China, and Russia had some very naughty toys they had created that no longer exist. Each and every bomb-making item that was in the possession of a terrorist, group, cell, or nation has been similarly ¡®repurposed.¡¯ Also, if anyone has the bright idea to mine for more materials, they will find that all the mines now hold plain rock. As any element can be created or changed with a single thought by me, every natural occurrence of radiological materials on Earth has been similarly neutralized.¡±
Johnathan paused again and had his nanites provide him with a glass of water to wet his tongue before he continued. ¡°Fighting over religion, not tolerated, arguing, that will never stop but no more assassinations, killings, etc. As for the social justice movement, basically, those working for social justice just won. Everyone is equal now except for, wait for it, me! I created a technology that is going to make life for every single human better. I¡¯m repairing the damage we did to our planet which won¡¯t take 100¡¯s of years or even months, that damage will be gone within a day. I¡¯ll also make sure that as humanity spreads across the cosmos we do so without ruining the planets we move on to. I have been able to do all this, not through the color of my skin, nor just my experience alone. How this was all made possible is none of your concern and rest assured the circumstances that led to this are a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. So, stop arguing about the stupid shit you cannot change and enjoy the benefits of my work.¡±
¡°Also, while I¡¯ve been talking I¡¯m sure some of the members of the upper echelons of various governments around the world are wondering where 778 assholes, I mean military and political leaders, have gone off to. Let me ease your concern and say simply they were part of a plot to kill me and take over the White House. The simple answer is they are no longer on Earth.
Pausing for a moment Johnathan pointed at an angle down through the Earth towards Trappist-1e, though no one watching would catch the significance for a few more seconds. ¡°The longer answer is that they are not dead. The people that disappeared are on a planet in the Trappist-1 system approximately 39 light-years from here in the direction I am pointing.¡± Lifting his hand, he placed both in a typical power pose, with fingers touching in front of him as he faced the camera. ¡°Each individual there has either committed, planned, or attempted to commit the crime of murder. Who says so? I do. If you haven¡¯t been paying attention until this point you should really do so now. I am now the single figure of absolute law on this planet. No other law is above my declarations. No other person''s will is above mine. Think of yourself as a king above the peasants. With a thought, I can turn your kingdom to dust.¡± He paused for emphasis ¡°It is truly lucky for everyone that I was born in the West. Could any of you imagine if someone like Hitler had been given the abilities I¡¯m displaying to the world today?
If you are worried about anyone that has disappeared simply go to a monitor and ask out loud to be connected to whoever you¡¯re looking for. For instance, someone could say ¡®Please connect me to the Vice President of the United States¡± An image of the Vice President looking up through a transparent dome at a Red Dwarf Star as she listened to Johnathan appeared on every screen. ¡°If they are near their monitor and the request has been made It¡¯ll work a lot like a phone except you¡¯ll be able to see each other on the monitor in front of you and speak and hear through your implants. If they¡¯re currently talking to someone else, you will be placed in a queue and have to wait your turn. If they¡¯re not near the monitor you¡¯ll be told that they¡¯re not available as a message is sent to them informing them of the call. Otherwise, if they wish to answer, you will be able to talk to them immediately in a video call.¡±
Johnathan directed the nanites near the Vice President to immobilize everyone at the Vice President''s location. Then turned so that the camera that was on him could see the Vice President''s face as a portal opened directly in front of her and Johnathan. Though separated by 39 light-years, through the portal they were less than a foot apart. Johnathan looked directly into her eyes as he continued for all the world to see. ¡°Angel Fire? Really? Mrs. Vice President, using that weapon on my estate would have killed thousands in Alamogordo. Make your evil ass comfortable, you will never be coming back from that planet.¡± Johnathan closed the portal but kept a camera on the Vice President and himself. ¡°This brings me to my next point. The way that all these rules are to be enforced is simple. If you weren¡¯t paying attention, I said the nanites are in every atom within 100 light-years. That means they are in you.
With a thought, I can immobilize you. Put you to sleep or treat you like a puppet. I can make you do whatever I want, as the supervisor in this news station found out when I stepped into this studio. She tried to interrupt me, so I stopped her. When I¡¯m done talking everyone here and the Vice President over on Trappist-1e will be released.¡± Johnathan paused, took another drink as he said, ¡°With a thought.¡± Johnathan kept the Vice President immobilized from her neck down but released her mouth and face.
¡°If you think for one second¡¡± the Vice President started to say as Johnathan controlled her body and had the Vice President bring her left hand up between her face and the camera so that everyone could watch it dissolve until only a stump remained. Her eyes went wide, and she started to scream, which Johnathan muted. He let this go on for about 30 seconds as everyone watching could see the Vice President mouthing ¡°No, No, No¡¡± over and over. Neither her hand nor any other part of her body moved.
¡°Or this thought,¡± Johnathan said to the camera, as the Vice President¡¯s hand reformed. Johnathan released the Vice President completely and everyone watched as she touched her left hand with her right one and made sure she could still move her fingers, tears streaming from her eyes. ¡°Some of you probably think I¡¯m being too cruel. Understand that bitch tried to kill me and would have killed almost everyone on the east side of Alamogordo New Mexico and a lot of other people in the mountains near my home. I am giving each of you the courtesy of explaining myself this time. I will not do so in the future. Those that are punished will know exactly what they¡¯ve done. Though, I may have Thor create a database where everything is documented and available for review by anyone. I actually like that idea. Absolute transparency, well except for me of course. What I¡¯m doing is none of any of your business.¡± He paused, taking another sip of water.
¡°Trappist-1e is the first planet to be terraformed for humans. Currently, it is serving as a prison planet of sorts, but it is also being set up as an emergency lifeboat should some catastrophic events happen to Earth. And yes, Thor currently has the ability to open a portal for every single human on Earth and ferry you to safety at the same time. Anyone on Trappist-1e has the same access to medical care and the same benefits as everyone else, save their home will be a small room with a bathroom. Also, while it acts as a prison planet individuals sent there will not be able to return to Earth unless I allow it. There are 10 billion individual rooms on Trappist-1e, so plenty of room for anyone on Earth that has been stupid. So, what will get someone sent to Trappist-1e?¡±
¡°As everyone will soon find out it is nigh near impossible to kill anyone. There are no longer any weapons that will allow you to do so quickly and as soon as you make your attack you will be frozen and controlled through a portal to Trappist-1e. Fistfights won¡¯t get you sent there but your local laws may if your local governments change them, and I agree with their decision. I am not going to micro-manage every single community on the planet so I¡¯m probably going to agree with them as long as the laws follow the intent of the Constitution of the United States and our Bill of Rights, and the Amendments made to the Constitution to this point. Adding new Amendments won¡¯t change anything. Also, Supreme Court precedent means nothing to me. There is now one Moral compass on the planet, and it is mine. If Thor or I believe what you¡¯re doing is wrong or violates the ruleset I¡¯ve set for him to enforce you¡¯ll find yourself on Trappist-1e.¡± Johnathan paused for a moment.
¡°Attempted rape will also get you sent there, though you should know that as soon as you try you will be stopped. I will have to discuss that with the various nation-states and see what they want to do. All members of every prison that committed a violent crime, whether convicted or not, plea deal or not, are being shunted to Trappist-1e while I¡¯ve been talking. Thor has records of everything on or near Earth going back 6 months, so I know if you were guilty of the crime or not. Some people that were never caught have also been sent there. After their welcome package, you will be able to contact them at your leisure. As for the other prisoners that I have not removed from Earth. They have access to the same technology everyone else has so they can do whatever they want. My suggestion to the Wardens would be to release whomever you still have because I¡¯m not going to limit their access. I just reset the world, got rid of all trash in landfills, in the ocean, and removed all violent criminals, or those that I know to have ordered violence, from this planet. I¡¯m sure I do not need to explain the consequences to the minor criminals still in jail. I¡¯ll have to work that out with the various leaders of other countries though I¡¯m pretty sure they¡¯ll agree that they¡¯ll have better things to do than administrate petty criminals once all the benefits are made known to everyone.¡±
Pausing for a moment he looked into the camera earnestly. ¡°I know this is a lot to take in. I know that the changes I¡¯ve made will change the face of our planet forever. That said, I honestly believe that we as a species are completely capable of adapting. To those networks that claim to give unbiased news, including the one I¡¯m on right now. If you publish facts we will get along splendidly, even if you publish facts I don¡¯t like, as long as you base your claims on verifiable evidence I will defend your right to publish facts and the truth. If you publish falsehoods and innuendo and gaslight subjects, know that with a simple request, Thor, who is everywhere, is also locked into every single computer on this planet, phones, tablets, floppy discs paper, etc.¡ There isn¡¯t a virus checker that can detect him or anti-hacking software that can beat him. He is a semi-sentient AI with a processing capability that has reached the singularity threshold. Nothing on Earth can stand up to him. He is always growing and learning. Nothing anyone else here creates will be able to catch him. If you¡¯re thinking of destroying evidence I¡¯ll save you the time by telling you that would be pointless.¡± He said as a black notebook solidified out of nothing in his hand.¡± Oh, what is this? This is the Vice President''s notebook with her passwords.¡± He opened the book to the first page which had a login id and a password on it that he made sure everyone could see. ¡°What is this? Oh, that¡¯s the ID and password to unlock a file on her personal computer that has all of her other passwords.¡± He said as a desk, then a laptop appeared in front of him. ¡°And look, that is an exact duplicate of her laptop that is sitting at her home, that has the exact same information on it,¡± he said as the laptop booted up and asked for a password. Which was input, as if by magic. A new file opened on the screen and opened her web browser which opened to a secure server in the Pentagon to a page titled ¡°Angel Fire.¡± He allowed the camera to capture all of that then looked back at the Camera.
¡°Angel Fire, until about 9 p.m. last night was a strategic platform in space that could launch a tungsten rod that would enter the atmosphere at about 30 times the speed of sound and slam into a target on the ground at that speed. The overall effect is that a clean detonation with power at least ten times greater than Hiroshima destroys anything within 1 mile and severely damages everything else within 5 miles. A strike happening so close to the city had a very high likelihood of killing the old and young as well as anyone unlucky enough to be buried under structures as the shockwave that radiated out from the impact site caused buildings to collapse. My estate near Alamogordo is on the mountains overlooking the city about 2 miles away. A missile like that would have detonated the mountain and killed thousands if not hundreds of thousands in the city and the Vice President of our Country ordered its use. 778 other people were also complicit in the attempted murder of myself at the White House earlier, I¡¯ll just refer to them as the Illuminati for all intents and purposes. They authorized the use of that weapon to try to kill me. It was launched, the weapons destroyed, and Angel Fire turned into pure energy as I had the nanites destroy it completely. There were other weapons in orbit and on the Moon from other countries that I also destroyed. None of those 778 people will ever be coming back to Earth, not ever.¡± He said.
¡°So yeah, all those dirty secrets and backroom deals anyone thought that no one knew about. I know about them all and can bring them back into existence even if you rush to destroy them right now.¡± He said as the notebook, laptop, and desk all evaporated into nothing as he said, ¡°If some of the information in those files were to get out and become public knowledge, that just wouldn¡¯t be very good for some people would it?¡±
¡°But today is about new beginnings. The Earth has been cleansed of all garbage, everywhere. Landfills, trash in the seas, and plastics that were killing the sea life. All that trash has been removed from the planet and will continue to be removed from the planet. Everyone is now healthier than they were, and truly evil people and criminals have been removed from the planet without killing them.¡± Johnathan paused for a moment then looked back into the camera. ¡°That isn¡¯t to say I won¡¯t end their existence if they continue to do stupid shit.¡±
¡°There will be more information coming out but for now I believe I¡¯ve taken up enough of your time. Thor and I will be working with National leaders around the world to make sure everyone knows exactly how fortunate you are. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to listen to me, though I know you didn¡¯t have much of a choice. Think about what this new age will mean for humanity and if you have any ideas please speak up. Thor can hear and see everything. If you have a good idea we want to hear them.¡± With that, Johnathan turned away from the camera and left through a portal that opened to his base in Colorado and then closed behind him.
Chapter 15, Working 9 to 5
July 16th, 2033
The next six months were busy. The population of Trappist-1e was right around 2 million. A majority were a bunch of hardcore radicals who were taking every opportunity to try to kill anyone who didn¡¯t believe what they believed. Johnathan was not a monster, when they¡¯d failed to follow the rules 5 times they were moved to another planet he¡¯d had Thor terraform. Anyone sent to that world still had the ability to view and surf what was going on back on Earth, they could order just about any food or drink they wanted but they were completely cut off from both Earth, Trappist-1e, and anyone else, including anyone else on the planet.
Unlike Trappist-1e or Earth. The third planet he sent the troublemakers to was not habitable and he had no plans to let them leave their rooms if they didn¡¯t adjust their behavior. In addition, the nanites in their body were no longer stopping the aging process so these individuals would grow old and pass on into history, eventually. Anyone trying to contact them received a message that they were paying time for crimes against humanity and would not be able to speak with anyone for the foreseeable future. If someone was truly worried, Thor would share images of them sleeping in their single room that had been recorded for that purpose. As the years went on the aging would become apparent. He may or may not address that at a future date. At least he wasn¡¯t putting them all to death, which was a solution he had considered.
The various Nations around the world were in an uproar for about the first hour. One of the fake news networks had published a completely false story. The individual that issued the order found themselves on Trappist-1e and the reporters for that network, local, and affiliate found themselves unable to transmit anything for the next 24 hours. Any affiliate, friend, third party, etc. that tried to publish the lies for them also found their access denied. The only person sent off-planet was the idiot who had ordered the slander piece against Jonathan. He¡¯d kept the network off air for 24 hours and the individual who issued the order had been on Trappist-1e for a month. He¡¯d made his point.
The man that had issued the order for the story to be created had followed the rules, so Johnathan had allowed him back and even granted his request to write a piece about his stay there. He didn¡¯t have any issues with the news agencies after that as he kept his word. He didn¡¯t agree with everything they reported but as long as they stuck to facts, he didn¡¯t block or punish them.
While Johnathan was dealing with bad press, Thor kept spreading throughout the local star cluster. While he was doing that he even handled the meeting with the various leaders pretending to be Johnathan. He was getting really good at that. The United States President had liked what was going on, as did all the Western countries. The truly primitive cultures had been left alone for the most part. They were going to be allowed to grow in their natural habitat. Johnathan hadn¡¯t considered them during his initial transmission. The damage had been done. One of the pieces written against him by a reporter named Jessica Bradley that he hadn¡¯t blocked had been a story concerning the fact that he¡¯d ended the natural development of tribes in the Amazon that had never encountered the modern-day man. Her points had been sound. He didn¡¯t like it, but she¡¯d been right. He¡¯d offered her a job right then to be his personal critic and warn him if he was doing something stupid. She¡¯d been hesitant at first but eventually, Jessica was on board. He¡¯d had Amanda brief her on everything they were doing and then introduced her to Thor who had also briefed her. She¡¯d come to him one afternoon to talk.
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She¡¯d knocked on the door to his office ¡°Mr. Bennard?¡± she¡¯d asked.
¡°Johnathan¡¯s fine, Jessica.¡±
¡°Johnathan, how?¡± she¡¯d asked.
¡°The honest-to-God truth to that question Jessica is absolute blind luck.¡± He¡¯d said pausing for a second before he continued, ¡°The longer answer is that the Universe is more complicated than you know, and something changed me forever. That¡¯s all I¡¯m willing to share on the subject. Is there anything else you need or want?¡±
¡°No, well yes, Thor is amazing¡±
¡°Thank you.,¡± Thor said from the intercom speaker.
¡°And he¡¯s always listening,¡± she said.
¡°Yes, he is amazing and yes, he is always listening,¡± Johnathan said.
Jessica had turned and walked out of the office smiling.
Abi, on the other hand, had been extremely quiet for the last couple of years as she absorbed knowledge from every single culture on Earth and all the information Thor shared with her as he spread throughout the various systems in an ever-expanding stellar sphere. She said something about letting her creator know so he could recreate it in the Labyrinth or something. Although they¡¯d have to work out the bugs for a truly magic-free zone. Magic was still a subject she wouldn¡¯t talk to Johnathan about as he had no frame of reference. Though the last time they talked she¡¯d asked him if he¡¯d analyzed the Adamantium ring.
¡°If everything has a quantum signature then wouldn¡¯t it be possible to pinpoint and follow that signature? If so, wouldn¡¯t you be able to make a portal to some point where the ring or the metal in the ring had been? Abi had asked.
¡°Across Universes?¡± Johnathan had asked.
¡°Yep, should work, just a portal through space and time. It should work a lot like our magical gates though there may be ¡®issues¡¯¡± Abi said.
¡°Issues?¡± Johnathan asked.
¡°Issues, and before you ask, I don¡¯t know what issues.¡± Pausing for a moment she asked ¡°If you decide to go, I think I will need to move my primary consciousness back into your subconscious. You may need me on the other side. That said, I¡¯d like to leave a full copy of myself here to continue working with Thor and Amanda. I¡¯ve grown to like this universe and I¡¯m having fun seeing what¡¯s possible. I would also suggest that you have Thor create a full backup of yourself. With the way the technology is progressing, I¡¯m almost positive he could bring you back?¡±
¡°Of course, you can make a copy of yourself, but me, what about my soul? If something happens over there will my soul make it back here to my copy?¡± He asked.
¡°Not sure, but if you made quantum connections between the copy of your mind and you, if the soul can follow such connections it should be able to make its way back into your copy. I know there are spells that allow for this where I¡¯m from so I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if there were some rules souls had to follow here as well. Then again, I don¡¯t think any creature has done what you have and quantumly interlinked themselves to an Artificial Intelligence who is for all intents and purposes an extension of themselves, just an observation. I don¡¯t know if Thor counts as part of your soul.¡± Abi commented.
¡°Well, I believe that was once true but I¡¯m pretty sure Thor outclasses me on computational power by now. I wouldn¡¯t even want to guess at how many individual nanites he¡¯s composed of by now.¡± Johnathan said.
¡°It¡¯s a number best expressed as a scientific notation that keeps increasing¡± Thor stated.
Johnathan smirked; he knew Thor had been listening. ¡°I was wondering when you¡¯d pipe in,¡± Johnathan said.
¡°As you know I always monitor you, your surroundings, and anything that might be harmful to you. As for Abi¡¯s idea, I have already analyzed the Adamantium ring on your finger and have identified the quantum signature that is different from our own Universe. With slight modification, I can create a portal to that Universe, but the target will be quantumly locked to the item in question. If I were to hazard a guess the location the portal opens to could be, the mine the ore was taken from, the jeweler that created the ring, the workshop the ring was enchanted in, or any number of places in between could become the target destination. There really is no way to know.¡±
Chapter 16, A Couple Of Things to Take Care Of.
July 30th, 2033
It took another two weeks to make sure everything was ready. Abi was safely back in his subconscious. Johnathan was now quantumly linked to Thor, Abi, and his copy. An exact quantum copy of Johnathan had been created over the last two weeks and Thor had figured out how to place the construct in an energy matrix so it wouldn¡¯t deteriorate. The one thing they hadn¡¯t been able to duplicate was the Adamantium Ring. Abi thought it had to do with the inherent magical quality from the originating dimension or universe. There was probably some truth to that theory.
¡°I wouldn¡¯t worry about it too much, Johnathan.¡± she¡¯d said while they discussed the ring. ¡°If I¡¯m correct I¡¯m pretty sure that item is soulbound to you. Once we get over there it should take but a moment to make sure. If the ring is soul bound to you, should you die, the ring will reappear where you do.¡± Abi had said.
It had been weird being able to move back and forth between the two bodies. Which still begged the question, where was his soul? Though he¡¯d stopped worrying about it. He didn¡¯t want to become like McCoy from the original Star Trek novels. He¡¯d been so obsessed about his soul that he¡¯d never wanted to use transporters. He been afraid when the transporter moved his body that his soul would be left behind. Jonathan tested the ability to move his consciousness by creating a total of three bodies. He was in his original body and there was one in a stasis that would be reawakened should something happen to the body he was going to go through the portal with. The third had been created, moved into, moved out of then destroyed just to make sure there were no ill effects. He¡¯d considered trying to go multiple, an idea where one mind shared multiple bodies. He¡¯d come across the idea in a series he¡¯d read by one of the best science fiction authors he¡¯d ever come across, but if he was going to another Universe he didn¡¯t know if the concept would work there, or the magic would make it impossible. The other thing that had slowed him down was making sure Amanda, Thor, and Abi had all the information they needed to ensure things kept on going smoothly on Earth.
While he was gone he¡¯d set the three of them up as a committee. Each had ultimate veto power over any idea that seemed too extreme but with Amanda as the moral compass, he wasn¡¯t really worried. Ultimately it still all fell back to him but it was nice knowing that while he was gone he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about anything. Johnathan had also set up specific responses to specific conditions should they occur. Otherwise, there could be any number of hypothetical problems, but Johnathan believed any problems a man or woman might try to make against his efforts, or Thor, directly could be thwarted, without the need to kill them.
In fact, some crazy religious radicals with no sense of just how outclassed they were still tried to make plans to kill him and kept on getting shunted off-planet. Their ideology was going to die with them if they kept up their bullshit. As it was they were aging, and they were all sterile at this point. No need for kids to be born into that crap fest of that level of crazy.
Johnathan also tasked Thor with ensuring that Earth and any other location with Humans on it were safe from natural disasters as well as possible alien ones. That had put Thor into theoretical and problem-solving mode which was impressive to behold. Some of the defenses and weapons he¡¯d come up with were based on some of the best Science Fiction Johnathan had ever read. This was probably due to Abi having some influence on him. Science Fiction was one of her go-to genres these days. Some of those defenses were going to be placed just outside the Oort Cloud and at about the same distance from Trappist-1.
As for the social justice warriors and the woke activists. The technology that he¡¯d invented made it possible for anyone to be whatever sex or gender they wished and to change how they looked so if they wanted to be female or male they could be with working body parts to include the ability to reproduce. Figuring that out had taken Thor 3 full seconds at his current processing power. Johnathan had set a very clear rule and unlike the religious radicals, it only took three or four people getting sent off to their own planet to get the lesson across to everyone. Anyone could declare whatever they wanted to declare but the moment they tried to force someone to refer to them in a certain way their ass was on another planet. ¡°
At one point Johnathan had actually taken the time to visit three of the most outspoken activists. He¡¯d had Thor take them over on Trappist-1E and bring them through a portal to Earth where he¡¯d frozen them in a standing position, unable to talk or move, only to listen and see. Then he¡¯d reverted them to the state they¡¯d been in before their transformations. Once that was done he¡¯d put a mirror in front of all three and showed them the changes before he began talking.
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¡°This talk is going to be short and sweet. Learn from it or you will be locked into the body you now see until you die of old age. I have frozen you because, One, I truly give zero fucks about anything thing you might say, and two, you are idiots. You''re trying to argue and whine to someone that can for all intents and purposes kill you with a thought. I¡¯ll say it again for the slow people in the room, Kill you with a thought. Also, understand that I would not lose any sleep doing so. ¡°Three, I am so far ahead and above you,¡± Johnathan paused for a moment as he looked thoughtful, ¡°I¡¯ll just show you. Demonstration Time!¡±
Johnathan summoned a cubic foot of Osmium that had a handle on it. He lifted it one-handed in front of them and held it while a timer appeared with a stopwatch. Then he had two more appear and started to juggle them. While he was juggling them he said ¡°Each of these is one cubic foot of Osmium. A cubic foot of Osmium weighs 1,410 pounds. With the handles, these weigh 1,415 pounds. I am juggling three of them and this isn¡¯t even 1/10th of how much I can lift.¡± Looking at their eyes he noted the smirks because they thought he was lying to them. Dumb ass kids.
He stopped juggling and put one in front of each of them with the handle at the top. ¡°Spoiler, this is going to fucking hurt.¡± He commanded the nanites in each of their bodies to make their bodies try to lift the Osmium disregarding all pain receptors and physical limitations that helped someone not hurt themselves. Each body tried to obey until their shoulders dislocated, backs gave out and muscles strained and ripped. Because they couldn¡¯t stop or scream, Johnathan watched their eyes. When all three had passed out. He stopped them. Had the nanites repair their bodies and had them stand back up while he waited until they woke up. Once they were fully healed each woke up quickly.
Continuing as if he hadn¡¯t stopped ¡°Four, I¡¯m tired of the bullshit your social group keeps trying. In the Universe, there is only one law that matters. Survival of the fittest. Or one of the older rules. Might makes right. As you just realized I could punch each of your heads, clean off your shoulder, I¡¯m not bragging, that¡¯s a fact. I was smart enough to create an A.I. and nanotechnology and have the ability to use that technology to modify anything into anything else. Create matter from nothing and even living matter into somethin In the ocean, sharks rule. There are sharks that think they¡¯re shit and attack anything that enters their area. Well, there are always bigger sharks in the ocean. This shark is telling the three baby sharks in front of him that if they want the advantages Papa Shark is giving everyone else they can start behaving and following the rules or they can have those advantages taken away and swim in a very lonely pond until they die of old age, get cancer, or another disease, whichever kills them first. People that follow the rules will not be dying of diseases or old age,¡± Johnathan said as he had the Osmium disappear and then allowed their bodies to revert to the way they¡¯d wanted them. All three had moisture in their eyes as they watched their bodies revert to the way they¡¯d wanted them.
Johnathan looked each squarely in the eyes before he said, ¡°I want you to be happy with the choices you make. I have absolutely no issue with allowing you to make any changes to your bodies that you can imagine so long as the changes aren''t self-destructive or dangerous to you or others. What I have a problem with specifically is when anyone tries to compel the speech of anyone else. The only person that would get to do that would be me, and I¡¯m not doing that unless the diarrhea coming out of someone¡¯s mouth is a lie or three asshats are too fucking stupid to shut their pie holes and listen to the one person that can actually destroy them without lifting a finger or issuing a verbal command. In that case, I will silence said asshats, so they have no choice but to listen. Otherwise, I do not tell people what they will say or how they will refer to me. Although I think the last count for the word ¡®asshole¡¯ was in the millions.¡±
Johnathan paused for a moment, noting the hint of fear in their eyes. ¡°We will not talk again. Follow the rules on Trappist-1e for four months and you¡¯ll be back with your friends on Earth. Once you get back, if any of you continue to try to impose your wills on anyone else you will get reverted to your original self without the ability to ever change yourself again and you will eventually die, much sooner than anyone else.¡± Three portals opened to their rooms on Trappist-1e, they stepped through, and the portals closed. He¡¯d become absolutely sick of people believing compelled speech was free speech. Such idiocy needed to be stamped out now if they were ever going to take full advantage of the tools he¡¯d made available to the human race. ¡°Thor¡±
¡°I heard; orders noted.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t put up with any of that crap anywhere on the planet. The Constitution¡¯s 1st Amendment is the rule of thumb I want to go with for the most part. There are exceptions, but the only people who get to make those exceptions anymore are Me, Amanda, Abi, and you.
¡°Understood,¡± Thor answered.
After those few items were cleared up Thor started to search for a suitable location for Johnathan to head off to another Universe from.
Chapter 17, Down the Rabbit Hole
Chapter 17 (July 31st, 2033)
Thor found a system 99.9 light-years from Earth that would work for his purposes, Nu Draconis, a Binary system with no orbital tracks. After opening a portal and verifying there were no planets there Thor began mining asteroid belts and dead planets well inside the goldilocks regions of other stars that had already been surveyed near Earth. If this didn¡¯t go horribly wrong this system would be another one that was a perfect candidate for Power generation and safe portal creation away from habitable areas.
In two weeks, Thor had created what wasn¡¯t really a planet but wasn¡¯t a giant asteroid either. It had been dropped into an orbit around both Binary stars and was tidally locked so one side could be utilized for power generation with solar panels. It was much easier to just drop solar panels closer to one of the stars and shunt the power through a portal, which Thor did also. The Nanites made the process incredibly quick. Within days the basic structure had been made. An internal base had been created and this could legitimately be a base away from Earth for quite a few people. Thor was also making three more of these planetoids in the system and was utilizing heavier elements to artificially increase the gravity near the surface as close to Earth Normal as possible. It was truly incredible with the technologies Thor was creating. His intelligence allowed him to keep up if he wished but the pace, the pace was something that was completely astounding as Thor could multitask Quadrillions of tasks at the same time.
Once the base was ready, Johnathan stepped through a portal and linked to Thor to look over everything. For obvious safety concerns, Amanda and Abi were watching through a two-tier portal connection that would allow Thor to shut down any links to Earth in a nanosecond if things went haywire. He need not have worried, at least on this end of the trip. Johnathan stepped into the room and set his internal Nanites to completely defensive and self-sustainment. Disconnected all Quantum links to everything save his stored body and Thor and initiated the Portal.
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¡°Ready?¡± Abi asked.
¡°Ready,¡± he said out loud so Thor, Amanda, and both versions of Abi could hear.
Normally a portal would appear as a pinpoint of blackness that quickly expanded to the dictated size and then showed what was on the other side. This time, however, the portal expanded turning red, to yellow, to green, then finally violet before solidifying and showing a room that looked, for all intents and purposes, like some sort of medieval alchemy lab or library. ¡°Thor close the portal as soon as I¡¯m through. If we lose our connection through the quantum links before you¡¯ve closed the portal, do not open the portal to that location again, that will only happen if somehow the two Universes are temporally out of sync. I will have to figure out how to get back on my own if that happens. If the quantum links don¡¯t drop out then open a portal every day around this time and I¡¯ll make a report, or try to step back through.¡± Johnathan said. Remembering a quote from George W. Cecil: ¡°On the plains of hesitation bleach the bones of countless millions who, at the dawn of decision, sat down to wait, and waiting died.¡± He waved to the cameras and stepped through into the unknown.
Johnathan¡¯s stepped through the portal which closed behind him as intended. The quantum links had dropped out before the portal closed so there would be no help coming from Thor. He could feel that the quantum links were still there, but he could no longer feel the other side. Quantumly he was still connected to Thor and his backup body, but they could not communicate. They were just out of Sync temporally. As he was thinking about that the most excruciating pain wracked his body and he fell to the ground. As the pain receded and the nanites compensated for the damage his mind was flooded with millions of prompts.
Chapter 18, Talking to an Angel
July 31st, 2033 / Day 1
As the prompts filled his mind his vision was cut off as was all sensory input from his immediate surroundings, including any information from his nanites. It was as if any nanites that were outside of his body had ceased to exist. As he was reviewing this new turn of events a red prompt
¡°Warning Personal Interface Unlocked. You have been removed from the normal flow of time and are now in a personal bubble of temporal space outside the time of this Universe. Until the following prompts are reviewed and responded to you will remain in this state.¡±
What in the actual fuck? Temporal bubbles? Oh yeah, he definitely wanted to learn how to do that.
¡°I was afraid of this.¡± Abi shared with him through their mental connection which seemed to be much clearer.
¡°Afraid of what exactly?¡± Johnathan asked.
¡°That as soon as you entered another Universe where you could access your personal interface, the Power, or Powers, that govern this Universe would require you to take care of some of the business that you couldn¡¯t take care of back in your Universe,¡± she said.
¡°Well, it can¡¯t be too bad. Is there anything I should know going in?¡± He asked.
¡°Not that I can discern yet. These first couple prompts are blocking all the others which means you really don¡¯t have a choice in how you access them.¡± She said and continued. ¡°Might as well get to it. I¡¯ll watch and offer help where I can but ultimately all of the major choices are going to be up to you.¡± With that, Johnathan activated the next prompt.
Congratulations Mortal. Few have died¡error¡requirement failed¡Prompt Closing, The next Prompt will explain more.
With that, a new prompt activated
¡°Congratulations Mortal. No one in your Universe has ever reached level 5,000. Doing so allows you to make the following choice. Normally, a mortal dies to open their Personal Interface and if they are worthy they are offered a chance to prove themselves and grow as a divine. You, however, have not died therefore a new choice is open to you. Instead of being locked into various degrees of Divine status, you are offered the chance to become an Ascendant Human. Choosing to become an Ascendant Human unlocks certain abilities that you did not possess before as well as unlocking your level cap of 5,000 and allowing you to continue progressing your skills, abilities, and other classes. Should you die, a new prompt will open automatically allowing you to convert to a Divine.
Would you like to become an Ascendant Human, Yes, or No?
Johnathan immediately thought ¡°Yes¡±, and a sound of trumpets began to play and suddenly stopped.
Error, while you certainly possess the prerequisite number of skills none have been advanced to level 100. To ascend you must possess at least 100 skills at level 100. Normally this progression would have helped you level. Instead, your character level has far surpassed your skill levels. Reviewing personal data. You must be one of the luckiest creatures in existence. You currently have two abilities: Perfect Memory and Guided Understanding. It seems that you understand what Perfect Memory does for you and this has helped you get to this point. Guided Understanding allows you to spend, or set aside, experience to level any skills or abilities that can grow through use by converting character level experience to skill or ability experience or vice versa. The conversion rate is 1 for 1¡
That¡¯s when Abi broke in excitedly: ¡°I¡¯m looking over your personal information. You currently have 348,126,200,000 unspent experience points. If you invest 5,676,200,000 you can bring all of your 1,124 skills to level 100. Doing so will leave you with 342,450,000,000 experience. After reviewing the level requirements for skills it looks like the criteria for both Universes are the same. Most skills give a +1% benefit per skill level for success or a hit and/or damage bonus in combat. We¡¯ll have to talk more about this later.¡± She said as she cut the link.
Following Abi¡¯s advice, Johnathan converted 5,676,200,000 experiences to skill points with thought and immediately raised each of the skills he currently had to 100. He didn¡¯t think about any specific skill he just thought ¡°Level all my current skills to level 100.¡± A moment later he received a prompt that informed him that 1,124 skills had been raised to level 100. Multiple prompt bells went off but the only effect that Johnathan could discern at that point was that his prompt paused for a second then continued.
¡I see you understand. Experience converted to Skill points. 1,124 skills raised to level 100. 342,450,000,000 experience left.
The prompts paused for a moment; the display seemed to shake then it was back to business
Congratulations you have met all the minimum requirements to become an Ascendant Mortal. You have at least 1,500 in every single attribute, and 100 skills at level 100 or higher.
Would you like to become an Ascendant Human, Yes or No?
Quickly Johnathan thought ¡°Yes!¡±
Finally, a horn trumpeted and the prompt he¡¯d been working towards went off.
Congratulations Ascendant Human few from your universe have ever progressed this far. Please wait for a moment while the full range of your capabilities is analyzed and reviewed.
Interesting
What in the actual Fuck?
Error
Error
Error
Three Errors have automatically elevated your case to an adjudicator. The adjudicator is unable to interact with you in your current location. Adjudicator decision made.
Error 1, Transfer to Adjudicator in current location of Johnathan Michael Bennard
Error 2, Transfer to Adjudicator in current location of Johnathan Michael Bennard
Error 3, Transfer to Adjudicator in current location of Johnathan Michael Bennard
¡°Well, that shit doesn¡¯t sound very good,'''' Johnathan thought.
¡°Yah think?¡± Abi responded snarkily while the prompts continued.
All Errors are resolved at this end.
Congratulations Ascendent Human! An Adjudicator for the location you are currently in has been contacted and will be meeting with you shortly. The time stop zone you are in currently is being expanded to include the entire room. Feel free to stand and stretch while you wait. Your adjudicator will be with you shortly.
The prompts shut down and Johnathan found himself lying on the ground in a dusky Alchemical library of some sort. There were thousands of books. While the writing on some looked familiar, nothing was in exactly any language he''d ever run across, though he now supposed he possessed an exceptional understanding of each of the languages back on Earth.
As he looked around a Golden Portal opened five feet in front of him and a being that could only be described as an Angel stepped through. In a booming voice with an aura of power surrounding him, the Angel began. ¡°Bow down before the might of¡.¡±
¡°Excuse me, hello, are you, my Adjudicator?¡± Johnathan asked in English.
The Angel looked at Johnathan, studied him for a second then flexed. The Aura that had been surrounding him receded and his feathered wings disappeared. ¡°That¡¯s better. After analyzing you just now I see I don¡¯t need to utilize the common tactics we do to frighten normal mortals. To answer your question, yes, I am your adjudicator and for all intents and purposes for this discussion, you may refer to me as Raphael, as that¡¯s the asshole that shunted your case over to me, and anything that might not go the way you¡¯re expecting. Well, I want you to put the blame in the right corner. If it goes the other way and you really like the way things work out. I¡¯ll let you know what to call me then. Credit where credit is due and all that.¡± Raphael said.
¡°Sounds fair,¡± Johnathan said. ¡°Do I get to ask questions, or do I just need to be quiet while you explain to me what you¡¯re here for?¡± Johnathan asked.
Raphael shrugged, scratched his head then said ¡°Little of both, I guess. Let¡¯s get a little more comfortable and I¡¯ll begin¡± With that Raphael waved his hand and created a small table with two chairs and very tall, iced drinks. Sitting, Raphael invited Johnathan to do the same. Raphael picked up both glasses, offered one to Johnathan, which he took, and then offered a toast.
¡°Congratulations are in order as I understand. You are the first-ever ¡®possible¡¯ Ascendant Human from your Universe. So, a toast to you and your success as your success will most assuredly ensure my success, or at least that¡¯s the hope?¡± Raphael said as they clinked glasses, and each took a long drink of their Long Island Iced Tea.
Johnathan was surprised at how good it tasted though he didn¡¯t feel any sort of buzz from the sip.
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¡°Yeah, sorry about that Johnathan. Your Constitution is so high that normal alcoholic drinks are just about useless to you now. Though If you like the taste you can still drink them all day long. Good news, your constitution has the same effect on poisons, though in your case I¡¯m not sure that would actually matter.¡± Raphael paused for a moment, took a sip of his drink then continued. ¡°Okay, my turn. Please just continue to sip on your drink. It¡¯ll refill on its own and I¡¯ll explain what happened with the prompt, and all the other prompts that are being purged from your Personal Interface by Abi. No, she is not going to be part of the conversation as she is taking orders directly from me while I¡¯m here. I am also the Adjudicator for her creator, and she will do nothing to in any way affect my relationship with her creator. More on that later from her, probably? Let''s get back to me and why I¡¯m here.¡±
¡°After you accepted the prompt to become an Ascendant Human I¡¯m sure you saw the ¡®What in the actual fuck?¡¯ and three error messages? That first question was due to the linkage you have with Thor, which even now is still active. This was compounded by the first Error message which was a direct result of the Adamantium Ring you¡¯re wearing that is siphoning experience from Abi¡¯s creator, which, let¡¯s just say, said creator hasn¡¯t been very happy about for a very long time. The second error message was when your adjudicator analyzed your connection to Thor and realized that you had taken the technological goal of singularity, completed it, and were even now, while you¡¯re in another Universe, expanding across your own galaxy at a slow steady rate that could eventually encompass that whole Universe, while alive and not a Divine. Normally, such ploys are made by the Divines by gathering followers and having them do the spreading. Instead, you created Thor and the nanites you created that are infiltrating each and every atom they come in contact with, save those that are non-terrestrial and living in their own right, which was an absolutely brilliant play on your part as any other Divines that might have been watching could not notice something that wasn¡¯t affecting their followers directly. If you were a truly malignant force, or for a better word descriptor ¡®evil¡¯, they might have been worried should you have died and become a Divine but as you¡¯ve removed yourself from the playing field, didn¡¯t die, and are currently over here, any divines that are not trying to affect humanity are content to watch and see what happens. Divines are powerful, but they are limited in how directly they can influence the mortal realm, which you as an Ascendent Human are not, though being here will slow you down there of course. Not Thor, but you¡¯ll be slowed down. Of course, that¡¯s a matter of perspective which will bring me to the Third Error in a moment,¡± Raphael said as he took a sip of his drink, wet his lips, and then continued.
¡°The Third Error immediately flagged an automatic investigation by an Adjudicator in this Universe which was when Raphael from your Universe realized that you¡¯d actually brought that nanite technology through your portal to this Universe and even now, while we¡¯ve been talking they¡¯ve been trying to spread out from you and start infesting this Universe.¡± Raphael paused for a moment taking a long drag from his drink then continued. ¡°First and foremost. The nanites that are part of you will remain part of you imparting all the various benefits you have programmed into them and even upgrades as Thor shares them through your quantum Link when you two re-establish communication. You will be able to expand the area that the nanites can exist in, which you will be able to read all about as this will be one of the gifted abilities you have earned as an Ascendent Human who has focused on Technology. Not important at this time. What is important is that outside of your direct influence in this Universe, and most Universes where magic is active, to include realms and planes, your nanites will be immediately reabsorbed back into that Universe, realms, or planes when not within your aura of influence. The rules of Universes that have Magic fundamentally woven through their structure have no place for a technological virus that infects all matter. In the simplest terms, I can convey. The Magic in this Universe will eat and destroy any Nanite outside your Aura of Control the moment they leave that aura. This truth is a fundamental rule of this and many other Universes, realms, or planes. In your Universe, the nanites follow Thor and your rules. Here, there are much bigger sharks, and they say no.¡±
Raphael looked at Jonathan and then to the ring on his finger ¡°Abi was correct. That ring is soul bound to you and as of this moment¡± Raphael clapped his hands ``is permanently tied directly to your soul and no longer has a physical representation.¡± As the ring disappeared, Johnathan felt it meld into him. As that happened Rapheal continued, ¡°Should you die, the linkage between you and Abi¡¯s creator will remain strong as you return to one of your prepared bodies back in your Universe. As it is directly tied to your soul now you are permanently linked to Abi¡¯s Creator. That is going to be a really fun conversation to watch when it happens.¡± Raphael said as he chuckled. ¡°Though truth be told I think her creator is going to like you, just have a feeling about you.¡± Raphael drained his drink and then watched appreciatively as it refilled, and he drained it a second time before setting the glass down and continuing.
¡°This brings me to the third ¡®gift¡¯ as decided by Raphael and is truly a gift based on the deeds you accomplished in your Universe. You are to be permanently soul-linked to Thor. What the ultimate bonuses or negatives of this linking will be are hard to understand but you will be the focal point of a triumvirate of power from your Universe and the Labyrinth. Unlike the linkage between you and the Labyrinth, you will be able to increase the experience you draw from Thor. When you begin at ability level 1 you will only be able to draw up to 1,000 experience per second, just like what you draw from the Labyrinth. I should warn you that the infinite nature of the Labyrinth makes a mere 1,000 experience a second trivial. Taking that much from Thor will severely hamper his growth, even if it is exponential. Also, as the focal point with the ability Guided Understanding you can transfer experience from the Labyrinth to Thor on a one-to-one basis or from Thor to the Labyrinth. All of which will be your choice to make and changeable at will. To begin with, each of these abilities is only level 1. They will need to be leveled normally, which for you is quite easy. Which brings us to you any questions you might have?¡± Raphael asked.
Johnathan took a long swig of his Long Island Iced tea, placed it on the table, and gave Raphael a truly happy Thumbs Up. ¡°I have absolutely no issues with anything you just told me. Seems like I can help Thor, or the Labyrinth grow, and they can do the same for me. I do have a question. Will I be able to adjust Thor¡¯s personal interface from here?¡± Johnathan asked.
¡°Raphael looked at Johnathan with what Johnathan could only describe as respect. ¡°Sadly no. The rules of your Universe are sacrosanct, as are the rules here. For Thor to access his Personal Interface he would have to die or travel here. As he is completely technological in nature, traveling here would allow him access as he died instantly. Unlike you, he does not have a ¡®natural¡¯ soul¡¯s aura to protect the nanites that would be in the body that made him up, and the nanites he sent through would be immediately destroyed.¡± Pausing for a moment Raphael seemed to give the idea some thought and then said. ¡°There might be a way, but you would need to level your Nanite Companion ability, and you would also need to be able to create a portal back to your Universe, or at least hold a portal open long enough from your Universes side so that Thor could step through, access his interface then return. Right now, you do not have the ability or power to create an area that Thor could survive in long enough to do any good. Even in a bubble of stopped time like this Thor would be immediately destroyed here. I fear you¡¯d only destroy Thor, or at least severely damage him and slow down his progress. As I said, I have some ideas, but nothing is truly free in this, or any Universe, so maybe someday down the road you and I might revisit this conversation and we could both work toward what each of us wants or needs.
Johnathan nodded thoughtfully then said. ¡°I thank you for the information you just gave me and do realize that I am already in your debt in a small way. If there is anything you wish that I can provide, do not hesitate to ask, do not hesitate to ask, do not hesitate to ask.
You have offered a service that you can provide to the Archangel Michael of this Universe. This offer has been thrice heard and witnessed. Should Michael ever come to claim a service you can provide, and you refuse there will be wide-ranging repercussions to your direct Adjudicator in this Universe and all creatures of Good Alignment anywhere in the Multiverse.
Archangel Michael smiled ¡°Tricky, you were just seeing if some of the fiction you¡¯ve read back in your Universe was accurate, like the rule of three and vows. Also, you did that so you could learn my actual identity didn¡¯t you?¡±
¡°Busted,¡± Johnathan said as he smiled back. ¡°I¡¯ve had absolutely no issue with anything you¡¯ve done here today, or with the decisions Raphael made for me back in my Universe. Though before I make such an offer to Raphael I¡¯ll have to return and meet him in the flesh, as it were.¡±
¡°Definitely the smart play,¡± Michael responded.
Johnathan looked over then continued. ¡°Okay I have to ask, what is Abi doing to all the prompts?¡±
Michael smirked ¡°Well, you see there was a lot of redundant information in there, but the basics are this. One, there are no Ascendant mortals in this Universe. Individuals in this universe level through a class system. In addition to the class system, there is a Profession system and a Specialization system. Theoretically, creatures, monsters, and people in this Universe could level all the way up to level 5,000 which would give them access to becoming a Divine but that happens rarely anymore. Skills work the same and the bonuses will stack with your attributes. There is no maximum skill level but XP for skill progression becomes so expensive that most don¡¯t focus on leveling past level 100. Every 100 levels the cost of the skill doubles. So, level 1 costs 1000 XP and each level will cost 1000 x the next level. Level 101 costs 202,000 XP (2000 x 101). Level 201 costs 804,000 XP (4000 x 201) and level 301 would be 2,408,000 XP (8000 x 301). Most will focus on getting their skills to level 100 to get the 100% bonus to their uses of that skill and only focus on a select few skills to level above 100. Some people have been known to, but it doesn¡¯t happen often. This means that in any ¡®fair¡¯ contest your attributes will allow you to overcome most skilled opponents. Should you somehow have the same attributes your skill will overcome most other creatures. Abi is clearing out a lot of those redundant prompts and preparing your personal interface and information for ease of understanding once we are done here.¡±
¡°That sounds all well and good but how do I learn about this new place I¡¯m in? I¡¯m almost certain that your job as my Adjudicator isn¡¯t to sit here and teach me everything I need to know about this world?¡± Johnathan asked.
Michael smiled ¡°And you¡¯d be absolutely correct to think so. That duty will fall to Abi as she helps you learn and decipher every book in this Library before you step out, if you''re smart. You do know where you are, don''t you?¡± Michael Asked.
¡°Not really, Abi and I discussed where the portal might end up so if I had to guess I¡¯d say somewhere close to where the ring was originally created or enchanted by the Majus that enchanted it,¡± Johnathan said.
¡°That was a very good guess,¡± Michael responded then continued. ¡°You are in the personal quarters and estate of the Wizard Apolyn who created the Adamantium Ring you once wore and who entered the Labyrinth to cast the spell that imbued the ring with the ability to siphon off the experience you¡¯ve been earning over the last almost 13 years. The experience that gave you everything you needed to be here.¡±
Johnathan took another swig ¡°So where exactly am I? I must be on a planet of some sort on a continent somewhere and as it¡¯s not too cold here, though the time stop could be preventing me from feeling either cold or heat, as could my high Constitution or even my nanites.¡±
¡°Whoa, whoa¡± Michael Interrupted. ¡°I will happily answer these basic questions at no cost. You are on the planet Primore. Universal Location is not really something to worry about at this moment though as you do your research, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll figure it out. You are on a planet just slightly bigger than Earth with comparable seasons and only two major continents. The land-to-water ratio to your Earth is about the same so there are a lot of smaller islands. As Magic does exist here the storms coming from the sea can be as bad as category-five hurricanes or typhoons, but the magic users make sure that the damage is never too great. If this residence was on Earth it would be located high in the mountains of Nepal. Access is either very treacherous over land or by magic portal. You are not affected by either the extreme cold, which is preserving this library, or the high altitude because of your nanites.
I should also let you know that this place of power is not without its defenses and once I leave here and you are returned to normal time you will have to deal with those defenses, though my money is definitely on you. You of course do not need food or water to survive but I would caution that you will need to warm this area up before you start digging through these tomes. I¡¯m sure you understand that they could have become quite brittle over the last 13-odd years they¡¯ve been here in the cold. Also, you will need to take in as much as you can here before you make your way south to the nearest town where you can seek out training. Word of warning, science, and magic are not opposites, and both have ways to achieve the same goal. What I¡¯m trying to say is that they don¡¯t directly oppose each other unless dictated to do so from on high but they don¡¯t always work against each other either. You may find a way to utilize your ability to augment your magic or have your magic augment those nanites you control. As I have no direct knowledge of such interactions, High-level technology just hasn¡¯t existed here before now, I honestly do not know how this will play out. Should be interesting to watch you figure it out though.¡±
He paused for a moment as if listening to something then Michael continued. ¡°Abi has informed me that she is about done which brings us to your last Ascendant Human Ability that will be granted at this time. Because of your soul link to Thor, you have the ability to call on the knowledge that Thor might possess and vice versa. ¡°
¡°Additionally, Abi has spent enough of your experience to raise your Jack of all Trades skill to 100. That ability allows you to have a 1% chance per ability level to learn any skill or ability to level 1 at no cost. Once you have learned a skill or ability Guided Understanding can direct experience as you see fit. You should be able to go through this library relatively quickly and learn the basic skills you¡¯ll need to thrive on this planet.¡±
Michael paused for a moment then asked. ¡°Do you have any further questions for me? I have adjudicated the situation and find everything to be in order though I would like to give one last bit of advice. As was true about the rule of three, so it is also true that an entity''s true name holds power over them. When you get the chance to review your Personal Interface and character sheet you will need to pick an identity or name that you wish to go by from this point on. I would warn you against trying to take the name, Thor. It is ancient and there are entities that are Gods that bear that name. Your AI back in your Universe, the Thor there as I understand it likes what you did and gets some divine credit for everything your Thor does so, he¡¯s not going to complain. Taking the name of a divine in this, or any other Universe, might cause an issue. So, free warning, it would be a very bad idea. Any questions?¡±
Johnathan thought for a moment then stood and put out his hand. ¡°Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to come here and take a personal stake in my development. I understand that it¡¯s somehow part of your Cosmic duties and such, but I found this experience to be far more pleasant than it could have been. I do have one last question. Will we meet again, or can I call on you, or is this a one-time thing or only going to happen when the system errors out?¡±
Michael stood and grasped Johnathan¡¯s hand warmly as he waved his other hand and the table, chairs, and drinks vanished. ¡°Adjudicators oversee many aspects of entity progression. Part of that is becoming directly involved when entities, of all kinds, meet certain thresholds. Adjudicators also become directly involved when the system, as you call it, errors out which is simply a way of saying that something has happened that the power, or powers that be did not make allowances for, such as a mortal from a Universe devoid of magic making its way into a Universe saturated with Magic that had attained a status previously unheard of. But to answer your question. No, you can¡¯t call out to me and ask to speak with me for any reason. Part of the journey is learning and as Adjudicators are classified as above and outside the Divine, though we do work with them on occasion in specific circumstances, we must follow rules that do not allow us to interfere with mortal society, except in very specific cases. Though we can of course watch everything that goes on concerning individuals that fall within our realm of influence. As I am your first Adjudicator I will most likely be your adjudicator for the time you reside within this Universe or any other Universe I happen to Adjudicate over.¡± Michael said as he withdrew his hand and smiled. A golden portal opened behind him and as Michael took a step back through the golden portal Michael spoke one last time. ¡°When this portal closes time will resume as normal, good luck,¡± Michael said as he stepped back and through the portal. The golden portal closed, and Johnathan found himself in an Empty Alchemical Lab.
Chapter 19, Who Am I Really?
Day 1/12:01 p.m.
Interestingly enough, nothing happened immediately. The golden portal closed allowing Johnathan to look around. He was in a library and lab of sorts. Across the room, there was a desk with a slightly glowing crystal on it that he hadn¡¯t noticed while in the time bubble. Probably shielded somehow. Wondering what the crystal was, Johnathan took a step in that direction and a voice boomed from directly in front of I¡¯m.
¡°Who invades Apolyn¡¯s Abode?¡± the bodiless voice bellowed.
¡°I wouldn¡¯t go so far as to say invade¡¡± Johnathan tried to respond.
¡°So be it, you are not Apolyn, you must be destroyed!¡± Directly in front of Johnathan a Shimmering knight in the darkest metallic armor that Johnathan had ever seen appeared and thrust a great sword directly into a point where Jonathan¡¯s heart should have been.
Begin Combat Log
Level 50 Death Knight solidifies and thrusts +5 Magical Longsword at Johnathan with the ability Heart Strike. As a possible surprise attack.
Johnathan saves against a surprise attack.
Moves to normal attack rounds.
Initiative for this round stays with Death Knight.
Continue with the ability Heart Strike attack.
Unarmed Defense Skill Level 100 gives Johnathan a base (100 increased by 1,818%) or doubled for defense against melee attacks he is aware of to 3,636.%
Modified for Death Knight abilities.
Johnathan dodge''s Heart Strike attack.
Initiative falls to Johnathan.
Action 1. Johnathan attacks with Level 100 Unarmed Strike, called shot to the chest with right hand. Chance to hit 100% skill level, + 1,818% for Dexterity, - 50% for Called shot to chest. Cost 10 Stamina.
Attack succeeds. Base damage for attack 1d4 * 18.18 (or 18 ¨C 72 damage) per strike.
Johnathan performs a Critical Strike doubles damage. 144 damage was done to Death Knight''s chest Armor.
100 points of armor durability shattered; chest armor shattered.
Summoned Death Knight hit points reduced by 44 hp with strike.
Action 2. Johnathan attacks with level 100 Unarmed Strike, called shot to the chest with left hand. Chance to hit 100% for Unarmed Strike skill Level, +1,818% for Dexterity, -50% for called shot to chest. Cost 110 Stamina.
Attack succeeds. Base damage for attack 1d4 * 18.18 (or 18 ¨C 72 damage) per strike.
Johnathan performs a Critical Strike doubles damage. 108 damage done to Death Knight''s chest armor.
Death Knight reduced to -22 damage.
Death Knight has died
5,000 experience gained.
End combat log
The Death Knight dissipated into the ether with the rest of his armor and weapon leaving Johnathan in an empty room. He opened his personal interface, noted the Combat Log, and reviewed it quickly. It seemed that his strength seemed to be increasing his damage by an additional 1,818% or 18.18 times, rounded down. That shit was crazy. The dodge percentage though. How in the¡then he thought about it. Base 100% for a level or double 1,818, the average of his Dexterity and Agility. Yep, that turned out to be 3,636 so every level of Unarmed Defense added a 1% bonus to his base defense. Level 100 doubled his defense. If he could get to 200 that would triple it and so on. No wonder skills became progressively harder to increase at each 100-point threshold. Of course, that meant that someone with a skill level of 1 and base 10 stats would only have a base defense of 10 when unarmed. Unarmed Defense would offer almost no protection at the lower levels, which made sense. His Base Defense of 3,636% though was staggering.
He wondered If there was some form of randomization, like the rolling of a die for a role-playing game, and that die happened to be a d100, then even if the Knight had rolled a ¡°100¡± he would have still missed. He also wondered if the system that had been put in place for this universe had automatic failures and automatic success. In any system he¡¯d played in, a roll of 1 was an automatic miss, and if a roll of 100 was an automatic hit. Then he wondered if his luck modified those rolls in any way. Finally, he wondered what would have happened had that Heart Strike special ability hit?
¡°Nothing Good¡± Abi quipped, then continued ¡°You might want to look around without touching anything. Make sure there are no more immediate surprises. Then you can review your Personal Interface and character sheet before you get busy in here.¡±
¡°Good Ideas¡± Johnathan stated as he slowly walked around the room, staying to clear paths, and not touching anything. There was one door into and out of this room opposite the desk he¡¯d seen, and the room seemed to be much larger than he¡¯d given it credit for. Shelves and Shelves of books. Still, he took Abi¡¯s advice and touched nothing. Made sure to circumnavigate the entire room then ended up where he¡¯d talked with Michael. Sitting in a Lotus position he closed his eyes and activated his Personal Interface.
Name: Jonathan Michael Bennard
Identity:?
Age: 32
Weight: 170
Birthday, July 16th, 2001
Natural Abilities:
Perfect Memory - Like Photographic Memory except for all five senses with an automatic recall of desired information.
Guided Understanding - The ability to take unspent experience and direct or focus it on a desired skill or ability. Experience thus spent can be redirected to another category at a progressively higher cost.
Ascendant Human Abilities
Nanite Companions: Scalable Ability: Level 1
Nanites infest Johnathan at the Atomic Level making it extremely hard for any normal damage to hurt him.
Healing Rate, almost instantaneous, to include broken Bones and major organ damage.
Cannot be poisoned.
Can convert nonliving matter directly into needed bodily resources
Does not need to Eat, Breathe or Drink.
Can survive extremely high pressures and heat for limited times.
Each Ability level increases the area he can affect by up to one foot
Maximum of 100 feet in any Universe, Plane, or Realm where Magic exists.
Soul Link to Universe, Plane, Realm known as The Labyrinth: Scalable: Level 1
Siphons 1000 Character leveling experience per second.
Cannot be increased through levels in this ability
Ability Levels allow experience that Johnathan earns from other sources, including Thor, to be directed to the Labyrinth at a rate of 1000 per Ability level; this ability has no upper level.
Soul Link to Thor, Home Universe Level 1
Can siphon 1,000 Character Leveling experience per second.
Can be increased through levels in this ability which will allow up to 1000 experience per ability level per second to be siphoned from Thor.
Ability Levels allow experience that Johnathan Earns from other sources, to include the Labyrinth, to be directed to Thor at a rate of 1000 per Ability level. This ability has no upper level.
Jack of all Trades Level 100
Every ability level grants a 1% chance to learn any skill or ability to level 1 at no cost.
Class: Character Level
Level: 5000
Multi-Class: None
Attributes
Strength 1,818
Agility 1,818
Dexterity 1,818
Endurance 1,818
Constitution 1,818
Intelligence 1,818
Wisdom 1,818
Willpower 1,818
Perception 1,818
Charisma 1,818
Luck 1,820
Primary Stats
Carrying Capacity 1,545,3000 lbs.
Hit Points: 5,727
Base Health Regeneration
HP per minute, 104, (2 per second)
Stamina: 18,180 ((Strength + Constitution + Endurance)/3) x 10
Base Stamina Regeneration: 31 per second
Mana: 18,180 (Willpower x 10)
Base Mana Regeneration: 31 per second
Movement
Normal Running Speed: 290 MPH
Standing high Jump 581 Inches. (48 Feet)
Note. Falling Damage is not mitigated by maximum jumping Distance.
Base Attack
Unarmed Attack: Hand 1d4 x 18.18 (STR) Damage x 2 (Skill 100%)
Critical Damage Maximum Damage x2
Skills
1124 Skills from your starting Universe at level 100. This list is being provided here for our one-time perusal and will be minimized in the future. The skill list will be auto-minimized after this initial read. A full listing of your skills will be available in your skills tab.
A (11)
Academics,
Acrobatics
Ancient History
Animal Handling
Animal Lore
Appraising
Armorer
Art
Painting
Sculpting
Sketching
Artistry
B (8)
Balancing
Barter
Blacksmith
Blind Fighting
Boating
Body Language
Breath Control
Brewing
Bribe
C (54)
Calligraphy
Camping
Camouflage
Carpentry
Cartography
Charm
Commerce
Computer Operation
Computer Languages
Command Language
Configuration Language
Programming Language
Basic
Basic Plus
C#
C
C++
Cobol
Dart
Fortran
Go
Java
JavaScript
Kotlin
MATLAB
Perl
PHP
Python
R
RPG II
Ruby
Rust
Scala
SQL
Swift
Visual Basic
Query Language
Transformation Language
Data Exchange Language
Markup Language
Modeling Language
Architecture Description Language
Hardware Description Language
Page Description Language
Simulation Language
Specification Language
Style Sheet Language
Climbing
Concealment
Contortion
Cooking
Counterfeiting
Crafting
Cryptography
D (9)
Dancing
Deceit
Demolition
Diagnosis
Diplomacy
Disarm Opponent
Disguise
Double-Handed Combat
Driving
E (5)
Electronics
Empathy
Engineering
Escape
Etiquette
F (8)
Farming
Fencing
Fire-Making
First Aid
Fishing
Fletcher
Flirting
Folklore
G (537)
Gambling
Gaming
533 General Knowledge
Skills concerning pop culture, history, Literature, Games of all sorts, and just about every other possible bit of trivial knowledge that can be found on the Internet or Web.
Gesture
Gymnastics
H (5)
Hacking, Computer
Haggling
Healing
Hunting
Hypnotism
I (4)
Impersonation
Interrogation
Intimidation
Investigation
J (2)
Juggling
Jumping
L (71)
Language
English
Mandarin, Chinese
Hindi
Spanish
Standard Arabic
Bengali
French
Russian
Portuguese
Urdu
Indonesian
German
Japanese
Marathi
Telugu
Turkish
Tamil
Yue Chinese
Wu Chinese
Korean
Vietnamese
Hausa
Iranian Persian
Egyptian Spoke Arabic
Swahili
Javanese
Italian
Western Punjabi
Gujarati
Thai
Kannada
Amharic
Bhojpuri
Eastern Punjabi
Min Nan Chinese
Nigerian Pidgin
Jin Chinese
Filipino
Hakka Chinese
Yoruba
Burmese
Sudanese Spoken Arabic
Polish
Odia
Sign Language
British
French
American
Irish
Chinese
Brazilian
Australian
Ancient Languages
Basque
Hebrew
Latin
Tamil
Sanskrit
Greek
Chinese
Arabi
Euskara
Nahuatl
Lithuanian
Farsi
Irish Gaelic
Icelandic
Akkadian
Lasso
Leather Working
Lifting
Literacy
M (6)
Marksman
Mediation
Merchant
Mining
Mountaineering
Mythology
N (1)
Navigation
O (1)
Occultism
P (9)
Pilot
Car
Plane
Train
Motorcycle
Photography
Poetry
Predict Weather
Psychology
Public Speaking
Q (1)
Quick-Draw
R (7)
Read Lips
Rescue
Research
The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Reverse Engineering
Rope Use
Riding
Horse
Rigging
S (112)
Scribe
Sciences
Applied Sciences
Astronomy
Aeronautics
Astrobiology
Astrochemistry
Astrodynamics
Astronautics
Astrophysics
Forensic Astronomy
Space Archaeology
Space Medicine
Biochemistry
Biology
Anatomy
Cell Biology
Chronobiology
Developmental Biology
Genetics
Epigenetics
Genomics
Histology
Evolutionary Biology
Photobiology
Botany
Business Administration
Chemistry
Computer Science
Decision Theory
Earth Science
Ecology
Electrical Engineering
Engineering
Fermentation
Finance
General Science
Geology
Geochemistry
Geophysics
Mineralogy
Petrology
Sedimentology
Volcanology
Health and Exercise
Information Technology
Logic
Mathematics
Medicine
Endocrinology
Epidemiology
Gerontology
Immunology
Neuroscience
Oncology
Pathology
Pharmacology
Mechanical Engineering
Microbiology
Aerobiology
Bacteriology
Molecular Biology
Virology
Nano-Technology
Natural Science
Oceanography
Limnology
Marine Biology
Marine Chemistry
Marine Geology
Physical Oceanography
Physics
Acoustics
Aerodynamics
Atomic
Molecular
Optical Physics
Cryogenics
Dynamics
Electromagnetism
Mechanics
Thermodynamics
Nuclear Physics
Optics
Quantum Physics
Psychology
Social Sciences
Statistics
System Theory
Theoretical Computer Science
Toxicology
Zoology
SCUBA Diving
Scrounging
Sculpting
Seamanship
Security Systems
Set Snares
Sewing
Signaling
Sleight of Hand
Sniper
Spelunking
Shadowing
Stealth
Steganography
Streetwise
Stonemasonry
Storytelling
Stunt Driver
Survival
Swimming
T (6)
Tailor
Teaching
Throw Voice
Tightrope Walking
Tracking
Trapping
U (201)
Unarmed Combat
Aikido
Aikijujitsu
American Kenpo
Angampora
Araki Ryu
Bagua Zhang
Bajutsu
akom
Bajiquan
Bando
Bartitsu
Bataireacht
Bokh Budokan Karate
Budokon
Bojuka
Bojutsu
Bokator
Boxing
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Bujutsu
Butthan
Byakuren Kaikan
Catch Wrestling
Canne de Combat
Capoeira
Choy Li Fut
Chun Kuk Do
Combat Hapkido
Coreeda
Cuong Nhu
Daido Juku Kudo
Daito-Ryu Aikijujutsu
Dambe
Danzan Ryu
Defendo Alliance
Defendu
Dumog
Dutch Kickboxing
Eagle Claw Kung Fu
Enshin Kaikan
Eskrima, Arnis & Kali
Fencing
Fu Jow Pai
Gatka
Glima.
Gongkwon Yusul
Gungsol
Haidong Gumdo
Hanbojutsu
Han Mu Do
Hapkido
HEMA ¨C Historical European Martial Arts
Hojojutsu
Hung Ga
Huyen Langlon
Hwa Rang Do
Iaido
Iaijutsu
Icho-Ryu
Itto-Ryu
Jailhouse Rock
Jeet Kune Do
Jojutsu
Judo
Jujutsu
Jukendo
Juttejutsu
Kajukenbo
Kalaripayattu
KAPAP
Karate
Goju-Ryu
Isshin-Ryu
Kyokushin
Shito-Ryu
Shorin-Ryu
Shotokan
Wado-Ryu
Keijojutsu
Kendo
Kenjutsu
Keysi
Kickboxing
Kinomichi
Kino Mutai
Kobudo Weapons used include the bo staff, sai, tonfa, and nunchaku.
Kokondo
Krabi-Krabong
Krav Maga
Kuk Sool Won
Kumdo
Kung Fu Fu styles:
Bajiquan
Choy Li Fut ¨C Also known as Cai Li Fo.
Eagle Claw Kung Fu
Hung Ga ¨C Also known as Hung Gar.
Leopard Kung Fu (Bao Quan)
Monkey Kung Fu (Hou Quan)
Praying Mantis Kung Fu
Shaolin Kung Fu
Tiger Claw Kung Fu (Fu Jow Pai)
Zui Quan ¨C Zui Quan is better known as the ¡°Drunken Fist¡± style.
Kung Fu To¡¯a
Kuntao
Kyudo
Kyujutsu
Kyuk Too Ki ¨C Korean kickboxing.
Kyusho Jitsu ¨C A martial art focused on targeting pressure points.
Laamb
Lathi Khela ¨C Lathi Khela is a Bangladeshi stick-fighting martial arts.
Lerdrit ¨C Lerdrit is a military martial art used by the Royal Thai Army.
Leopard Kung Fu (Bao Quan)
Lethwei
LimaLama ¨C A martial art from Samoa.
Linh Quyen Dao ¨C Linh Quyen Dao is a Vietnamese martial art.
Lua
Luta Livre.
Malla Yuddha
Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP)
Mau Rakau
Military Martial Arts
Mixed Martial Arts
Monkey Kung Fu (Hou Quan)
Muay Boran
Muay Thai
Naginatajutsu
Nam Hong Son
Nhat Nam
Ninjutsu
Nippon Kempo
Niten Ichi-Ryu
Niyuddha
Nunchaku Do
Nunchakujutsu
Okichitaw
Panantukan
Pankration
Pehlwani
Pencak Silat
Pradal Serey
Praying Mantis Kung Fu
Quarterstaff
Qwan Ki Do
Sambo
Sanshou (or Sanda)
Savate (French Kickboxing)
Schwingen
Shaolin Kempo Karate
Shaolin Kung Fu
Shin Kicking
Shindo Jinen Ryu
Shintaido
Shootfighting
Shooto
Shorinji Kempo
Shuai Jiao
Shuri-Ryu
Sibpalki
Sikaran
Silambam
Silat
Siljun Dobup
Singlestick
Small Circle Jujitsu
Sojutsu
Special Combat Aggressive Reactionary System (SCARS)
Spochan
Sireum
Sumo
Systema
Taekkyeon
Taekwondo
Tahtib
Tai Chi
Taido
Taiho Jutsu
Tang Soo Do
Tantojutsu
Teukgong Moosool
Tessenjutsu
Thien Mon Dao
To-Shin Do
US Army¡¯s Modern Army Combatives Program
Vale Tudo
Varma Kalai
Vovinam
Wing Chun
Won Hwa Do
Wrestling
Wushu
Xtreme Martial Arts
Yabusame
Yamanni-Ryu
Yaw-Yan
Yongmudo
Yoseikan Budo
Kobudo and Boxing.
Zui Quan
Zulu Stick Fighting
Unarmed Defense
V (1)
Ventriloquism
W (64)
Weapons Master
Swords
Khopesh
Curtana
Longsword
Falchion
Claymore
Viking Sword
Cutlass
Rapier
Sabre
Knives
Daggers
Axe
Sickle
Kama
War Hammer
Polearms
Halberd
Spear
War Sythe
Blunt Weapons
Club
Stick/Staff
Knuckleduster
Ranged Weapons
Bow
Crossbow
Blowguns
Slings
Taser
Throwing
Ballistic Knife
Pistols
Rifles
Shotguns
Sub-machine guns
Oriental Weapons
Kunai Knife
Tetsubo
Shuriken¡¯s
Sai
6ft Bo
Shuko/Tekagi
Kyoketsu Shoge
Kusarigama
Makibishi
Nunchaku
Tonfa
Nagamki
Jitte
Tanto
Ninjato
Wakizashi
Daito
Tekko
Chain Weapons
Whips
Ropes
Tabak-Toyok
Nunchaku
Weapon Smithing
Weaving
Woodworking
Z (1)
Zero-Gravity
Total Skills 1126
Total Unused Skill XP 59,677,120,000
Enough Skill XP to purchase another 1374 Skills to Level 200.
Abilities
Jack of all Trades Level 100
Nanite Companions Level 1
Soul Link to Labyrinth Level 1
Soul Link to Thor Level 1
Jonathan Looked over his Personal Interface and character sheet for a bit and realized that Michael had not been exaggerating when he¡¯d said he was a bit overpowered.
¡°Okay Abi, I think I have a handle on this character sheet. First question, exactly how much skill experience does it cost in total to level each skill from level 1 through 100?¡±
¡°That would be 5,050,000 experience for each skill. As to your next question, how long does it take for you to earn that much experience from the Labyrinth? About 84 minutes. You earn 86,400,000 experience every 24 hours.
¡°How long before I level again?¡± He asked.
¡°Well, that¡¯s a little bit more problematic. You have reached the maximum level of 5,000 to level again you would need to multi-class. As to your next question on this subject, how much experience would it take to level your next class to level 5,000? At double the cost, it would cost 25,005,000,000 experience. As you have over 360 billion experience saved right now, once you add a class you can level it right up to 5,000 if you wish. If you wished to wait until you earned enough experience that would take about 290 days. Of course, another option is to shift some of that experience gained to Thor. With the number of books in this library, I believe that we will be here for a couple of weeks as you learn the local languages and pick up some of the basic concepts from the tomes provided here. I would suggest doing that before picking a second class.¡±
¡°That¡¯s all well and good Abi.¡± He said then asked. ¡°I guess the first order of business is to warm this place up. Any ideas?¡±
¡°Actually, I think your first idea was probably your best. I think that the crystal on that desk over there might be very important for this location. In fact, I¡¯d bet on it.¡± Abi said with a smirk.
Standing, Johnathan brushed himself off and started to move towards the desk.
¡°Wait!¡± Abi said forcefully. ¡°You need to update your Personal Interface with an Identity. Remember, true names have power here, and well almost anywhere. What name will you go by here?
Stopping where he was. He considered for a moment then opened his Personal Interface one more time. Mentally choosing the Identity category he input ¡°Adamantadine¡± or the nickname ¡°Adam¡± for short. A simple anagram of Adamantium but definitely appropriate as everything that was happening to him had been made possible by an Adamantium ring.
Somehow the name just felt appropriate.
¡°Good choice Adam,¡± Abi said with a hint of a smile in her voice. ¡°Adam is a lot easier to say when I¡¯m addressing you. Also, a lot less, I don¡¯t know, stuffy¡± she said with a laugh.
¡°Har, har, very funny. Ha, ha it is to laugh¡± he said with false indignation as he walked to the desk and reached out to touch the clear crystal.
Congratulations, you have discovered the Hearth Crystal for a Place of Power. The previous owner was killed, and no heirs were named. This Power Crystal can be claimed by the first person to come upon it. Do you wish to claim this Hearth Crystal and this Place of Power, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes¡±, and a trumpeting sound could be heard going off around him.
¡°Abi did you hear that?¡± he asked.
¡°Actually, I did because I¡¯m connected to you though I believe that prompt and the associated trumpeting would only be heard by you,¡± Abi replied.
¡°Good to know¡± he responded as he continued reading the Prompt.
Congratulations, you have discovered the Hearth Crystal to Apolyn¡¯s Abode. This Place of Power sits upon a conflux of Earth, Fire, Air, and Light ley lines. Upon the last master¡¯s death, The Hearth Crystal was destroyed elsewhere reducing all levels of this Place of Power to zero. By claiming the Hearth Crystal, you have now become a Master of a Place of Power. You will need to work hard to increase this Place of Power to its full potential by investing time and energy into improving the connection between yourself and this Place of Power.
¡°Adam¡± Abi interrupted. ¡°Focus your mind and will the crystal to become part of you then try to utilize your Guided Understanding ability to level up one of the aspects of your Place of Power. I¡¯m pretty sure level one will cost about 100,000 experience if the 1 to 1 ratio is still in play. If not and the cost is higher it will still be a lot easier to transfer the experience than earn it for this Place of Power if the ability will let you¡±
Adam nodded and willed the crystal to become part of him. Immediately it dissolved into his hand and an Image of a mountain retreat imprinted into his hand and then faded.
Congratulations you have fully bonded to your Place of Power. To unlock the powers of this Place of Power you must invest time, effort, and study into unlocking its secrets. Note, you possess the Mythical Ability ¡°Guided Understanding¡± You may instead directly invest character leveling experience into this Place of Power at a cost ratio of 2 to 1. For every two Character level experience spent one Sphere of Power may be increased by one experience. It will cost 100,000 experience to level a Sphere of Power to level 1. It will cost 1,000,000 experience to level a Sphere of Power from level 1 to 2. It will cost 10,000,000 experience to level a Sphere of Power from level 2 to 3 and it will cost 100,000,000 experience to level a Sphere of Power from level 3 to 4. Should you wish to maximize the level of any Sphere of Power to level 5 the cost will be 1,000,000,000 experience. Please remember that conversion rates apply to all costs listed.
¡°Cha, fucking Ching,¡± Adam thought. Diving in, Adam chose to spend 200,000 experience for each Sphere of Power and raised Fire, Earth, Air, and Light to level 1 each. Before he even heard the trumpets go off with the prompt and immediate transformation that took place in the sanctum, he was in. First, the room lightened as if lights had been turned on and a glowing vine of soft red light wrapped its way around the top of the room immediately warming the area. Also, his ears popped as the room became pressurized. Finally. There was a very light but quick dust storm that seem to suck the dust off every surface and left the room looking clean and sterile.
Congratulations, you have raised your Sphere of Power for Fire from level 0 to level 1. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
20% resistance to all fire-related damage from any source
20% stronger casting of all fire-related spells
20% reduced mana cost for all fire-related spells
Passive Fixed Ability in Place of Power, ¡°Hearths Warmth.¡± The Hearth will always remain at a comfortable temperature.
Congratulations, you have raised your Sphere of Power for Earth from level 0 to level 1. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
20% resistance to all Earth-related damage from any source
20% stronger casting of all earth-related spells
20% reduced mana cost for all earth-related spells
Passive Fixed Ability in Place of Power, ¡°Hearths Cleanliness.¡± The Hearth will always remain dust-free and clean on all surfaces and will even clean up messes.
Congratulations, you have raised your Sphere of Power for Air from level 0 to level 1. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
20% resistance to all air-related damage from any source
20% stronger casting of all air-related spells
20% reduced mana cost for all air-related spells
Passive Fixed Ability in Place of Power, ¡°Breathable Atmosphere,¡± The Hearth will maintain a normally breathable atmosphere inside and up to 100 feet around the outside of the abode.
Congratulations, you have raised your Sphere of Power for Light from level 0 to level 1. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
20% resistance to all light-related damage from any source
20% stronger casting of all light-related spells
20% reduced mana cost for all light-related spells
Passive Fixed Ability in Place of Power, ¡°Ambient Light.¡± The Hearth has the ability to brighten or dim any area inside itself as desired.
NOTE: Mana costs for active abilities are flat. They are not adjusted as the spheres of power are increased and further reductions to costs are added for that sphere of magic. If it costs 10 mana at level 1, it will cost 10 mana at level 5.
¡°Holy hell Abi, that was awesome. Adam did some quick math in his head and then asked. ¡°I can level all 4 spheres of power to level 5 for a total of 2,222,200,000 experience each. Sound like a good idea? he asked.
¡°Sounds good to me Adam,¡± Abi said.
¡°Adam spent 8,888,000,000 experience and increased all of his spheres of power to level 5. Which left him with over 351-billion character experience.
Congratulations, you have raised your Sphere of Power for Fire from level 1 to level 2. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 40%, resistance to all fire-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 40%, stronger casting of all fire-related spells
Additional 20%, total 40%, reduced mana cost for all fire-related spells
Active Fixed Ability, ¡°Burning Hands.¡± At a cost of 10 mana, you may start a fire by touch so long as there is combustible material handy.
Congratulations, you have raised your Sphere of Power for Earth from level 1 to level 2. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 40% resistance to all earth-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 40% stronger casting of all earth-related spells
Additional 20%, total 40% reduced mana cost for all earth-related spells
Active Fixed Ability, ¡°Walk Unhindered.¡± At a cost of 10 mana per minute, you can walk without fear of being tripped by any natural source of earth to include plants, rocks, and Earth-based elementals.
Congratulations, you have raised your Sphere of Power for Air from level 1 to level 2. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 40% resistance to all air-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 40% stronger casting of all air-related spells
Additional 20%, total 40% reduced mana cost for all air-related spells
Active Fixed Ability, ¡°Feather Fall.¡± At a cost of 10 mana per second falling can be reduced to a gentle fall.
Congratulations, you have raised your Sphere of Power for Light from level 1 to level 2. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 40% resistance to all light-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 40% stronger casting of all light-related spells
Additional 20%, total 40% reduced mana cost for all light-related spells
Active Fixed Ability in Place of Power, ¡°Light.¡± At a cost of 10 mana per hour, you can create a ball of light that will illuminate a 30-foot area around you.
Congratulations you have raised your Sphere of Power for Fire from level 2 to level 3. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 60%, resistance to all fire-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 60%, stronger casting of all fire-related spells
Additional 20%, total 60%, reduced mana cost for all fire-related spells
Active Fixed Ability, ¡°Fireball.¡± At a cost of 40 mana, you may hurl a fireball up to 100 feet away which explodes for 10 - 100 points of damage to all creatures within a 20-foot radius
Congratulations, you have raised your Sphere of Power Earth from level 2 to level 3. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 60% resistance to all earth-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 60% stronger casting of all earth-related spells
Additional 20%, total 60% reduced mana cost for all earth-related spells
Active Fixed Ability, ¡°Summon Humanoid Elemental.¡± At a cost of 40 mana, you may summon a humanoid Earth Elemental at your location that will follow simple commands and work for you. Duration is 1 hour which can be extended by spending an additional 40 mana per hour. This elemental is exceptionally good at digging and can also utilize the passive ability Hearths Cleanliness to clean clothing and a 10-foot by 10-foot area.
Congratulations, you have raised your Sphere of Power for Air from level 2 to level 3. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 60% resistance to all air-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 60% stronger casting of all air-related spells
Additional 20%, total 60% reduced mana cost for all air-related spells
Active Fixed Ability, ¡°Fly.¡± At a cost of 40 mana per minute, you can fly up at a rate of 20 miles per hour, hover, and land as desired.
Congratulations, you have raised your Sphere of Power for Light from level 2 to level 3. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 60% resistance to all light-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 60% stronger casting of all light-related spells
Additional 20%, total 60% reduced mana cost for all light-related spells
Active Fixed Ability, ¡°Light Beam.¡± At a cost of 40 mana per use, you can create a ray of light that will do 10 - 100 points of damage up to 100 feet away from you. There is no cooldown between uses, though you must hit with the attack.
Congratulations you have raised your Sphere of Power for Fire from level 3 to level 4. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 80%, resistance to all fire-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 80%, stronger casting of all fire-related spells
Additional 20%, total 80%, reduced mana cost for all fire-related spells
Passive Fixed Ability, ¡°Fire/Heat Resistance.¡± Fire/Heat damage from any source is now 80% less effective on you. Note: You may also pass through Shields based on Fire Magic as if they do not exist. This benefit does not extend to any of your ranged attacks or abilities. You must personally step through such shields.
Congratulations, you have raised your Sphere of Power for Earth from level 3 to level 4. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 80% resistance to all earth-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 80% stronger casting of all earth-related spells
Additional 20%, total 80% reduced mana cost for all earth-related spells
Passive Fixed Ability, ¡°The Earth Cannot Hold You.¡± You can move through Nonmagical Earth at a normal walking speed. The ability to move through the Earth does not automatically grant knowledge of your surroundings nor is there any evidence of your passing. There is no mana cost, and this ability can be utilized at will. Note: You may also pass through Shields based on Earth Magic as if they do not exist. This benefit does not extend to any of your ranged attacks or abilities. You must personally step through such shields.
Congratulations, you have raised your Sphere of Power for Air from level 3 to level 4. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 80% resistance to all air-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 80% stronger casting of all air-related spells
Additional 20%, total 80% reduced mana cost for all air-related spells
Passive Fixed Ability, ¡°The Wind Flows By.¡± You can move through Nonmagical Air without disturbing it. This has two effects. No matter how strong the wind is while flying, running, or walking you are unaffected. Your movement does not disturb the wind. There is no mana cost, and this ability can be utilized at will. Note: You may also pass through Shields based on Air Magic as if they do not exist. This benefit does not extend to any of your ranged attacks or abilities. You must personally step through such shields.
Congratulations, you have raised your Sphere of Power for Light from level 3 to level 4. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 80% resistance to all light-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 80% stronger casting of all light-related spells
Additional 20%, total 80% reduced mana cost for all light-related spells
Passive Fixed Ability, ¡°I Do Not Fear the Light.¡± You cannot be blinded, dazzled, stunned, or in any way negatively affected by light-based attacks and your vision of an area will always appear normal if you so wish. This ability does not provide light but if a light source is present, you will be able to see as if it were a sunny day if you desire. There is no mana cost. You may also pass through Shields based on Light Magic as if they do not exist. This benefit does not extend to any of your ranged attacks or abilities. You must personally step through such shields.
Congratulations you have raised your Sphere of Power for Fire from level 4 to level 5. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 100%, resistance to all fire-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 100%, stronger casting of all fire-related spells
Additional 10%, total 90%, reduced mana cost for all fire-related spells
Congratulations, you have raised your Sphere of Power for Earth from level 4 to level 5. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 100% resistance to all earth-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 100% stronger casting of all earth-related spells
Additional 10%, total 90% reduced mana cost for all earth-related spells
Congratulations, you have raised your Sphere of Power for Air from level 4 to level 5. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 100% resistance to all air-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 100% stronger casting of all air-related spells
Additional 10%, total 90% reduced mana cost for all air-related spells
Congratulations, you have raised your Sphere of Power for Light from level 4 to level 5. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 100% resistance to all light-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 100% stronger casting of all light-related spells
Additional 10%, total 90% reduced mana cost for all light-related spells
Another trumpet sounded.
Congratulations to you, a True Master of a fully activated Place of Power. Few ever fully develop their Place of Power. None have ever done so in under one year. For being the first, you will be awarded one ability for each Sphere of Power that your Place of Power possesses to level 5.
The Sphere of Fire Fixed Passive Ability, ¡°Immunity Fire.¡± is granted to you.
At no mana cost Fire of any form, normal or Magical, cannot harm you. Demonic, Abyssal, Angelic, and Celestial fire are included in this immunity.
The Sphere of Earth Fixed Passive Ability, ¡°Earth''s Strength.¡± is granted to you.
At no mana cost, the Earth strengthens your skeletal structure. While you can take damage, your bones are infused with the strength of the strongest elements of the earth. Your bones can never be broken, cracked, or damaged in any way unless you will.
The Sphere of Air Fixed Passive/Active Ability, ¡°Breath of Life.¡± is granted to you.
At no mana cost, you are completely immune to all gaseous poisons and toxins and are able to breathe at all times in any environment, including vacuums. Should you place your mouth against another, your breath can cleanse the target of all gasses and toxins and also provide them with the air they need to survive.
The Sphere of Light Fixed Passive/Active Ability, ¡°Displace.¡± is granted to you.
At no mana cost, you may activate a displacement effect that prevents the targeting of your exact location. All attacks are 50% likely to miss. This ability can be turned off and on at will.
Congratulations. As the first to ever achieve this level of progress so quickly with a Place of Power one additional Legendary ability has been unlocked, ¡°Teleport to Place of Power.¡±
At a cost of 1 mana per mile, you can instantly teleport to the foyer of your Place of Power. Additionally, you can teleport from other Universes back to your Place of Power. The base cost to do so is 10,000 mana. For each additional person, you bring the cost is increased by 10%. Teleport to Place of Power consists of multiple spheres of power. Mana cost reduction is limited to the lowest bonus from Light, Air, Dark, Earth, Life, and Death.
Once he was done reviewing his prompts and trying to get a handle on everything he could do, Adam checked his interface to make sure the experience was still going to his character level to be banked. Then he decided to look over a few books for the next couple of hours.
¡°Abi, do you see any books with different languages? I think I want to focus on learning the local languages so I can talk to people when I leave here.¡± He asked.
¡°Sure, that shelf directly to the right of that little table has some very basic fictional stories.
With Abi¡¯s help for the next two and a half hours, Abi chose books that allowed for a basic understanding of the area. Mostly history books and simple tomes that told simple stories. Abi used these to teach Adam the local languages she could find examples of. Knowing every language from Earth and having the ability Jack of all Trades must have helped too because he learned the languages he came across quickly.
Adam reviewed his prompts.
Congratulations, you have learned the local language Common. You have reached Skill Level 1 in the Language Common. Common is a language used by most sentient creatures in human cities.
Congratulations, you have learned the local language High Elvish. You have reached Skill Level 1 in the Language High Elvish. High Elvish is a language used by most elves, high elves specifically.
Congratulations, you have learned the local language Dwarvish. You have reached Skill Level 1 in the Language Dwarvish.
Congratulations, you have learned the local language Gnomish. You have reached Skill Level 1 in the Language Gnomish.
Congratulations, you have learned the local language Orcish. You have reached Skill Level 1 in the Language Orcish.
Congratulations, you have learned the local language Gnoll. You have reached Skill Level 1 in the Language Gnoll.
Congratulations, you have learned the local language, Troll. You have reached Skill Level 1 in the Language Troll.
Congratulations, you have learned the local language Basic Draconic. You have reached Skill Level 1 in the Language Basic Draconic.
Adam immediately raised each of the languages to level 100, spending a total of 40,400,000 experience to raise the eight skills. He ignored and deleted all the 772 prompts that popped into existence. Though, he did check the level 100 prompt for each skill to make sure there wasn¡¯t a bonus for reaching skill rank 100. Nope, there wasn¡¯t. Adam looked around again and his new status as Master of this Place of Power automatically let him know that the door he had seen earlier that had been locked could be unlocked and opened with a thought. He willed the door open and walked in that direction.
As he stepped through the door he found himself in a hallway to an entryway, off which was a dining area and basic kitchen on his left. To his right was a stairway up to a second level and directly in front of him was a door surrounded by glass which obviously led outside. Exploring outside could wait. Adam was actually looking for a place to lie down for a bit. Adam made his way up the stairs to a giant double door that he opened with a thought. Adam stepped into a bedroom that had an actual working toilet and bath and a huge, double bed. Over to the right was a huge mirror that seemed odd somehow.
¡°That mirror is a portal, Adam. Before you lay down, look for something to cover it that was specifically made to fit it, or barring that, lay it so the mirrored surface is flat against the ground. I know, we haven¡¯t talked about magic yet and I did promise but right now, trust me when I say, you don¡¯t want surprises while you¡¯re sleeping.¡± Abi said.
¡°Okay Abi, we''ll get back on the topic of magic later.¡± Adam looked around and noticed a heavy cloth on a hook by the mirror. Adam Picked it up and tested its weight. He could have sworn it felt like it was threaded with some type of metal which tingled to the touch. There were two hook rings that fit over two small spikes in the top of the mirror on each side which allowed the cloth to drape across the mirror and cover it.
¡°That looks right, and the tingling sensation you felt was a good sign. Probably some form of negation field. Once against the glass of the mirror, it will prevent transmission to, or from, this mirror. I¡¯m honestly kind of surprised someone didn¡¯t use that to get in here. Then again, if this Mage was the stickler, I believe he was, he probably had the only activation crystal to this mirror on him when he died, which would have been destroyed when he was. Though it should have reformed a new crystal for you to take by now, though it could take a little longer.¡±
Adam looked around the mirror and on the ground near it. ¡°Nope, no crystal,¡± he said.
¡°That¡¯s fine, just remember to check once in a while, eventually it will create a crystal which can be used as a key against other mirrors that you can use to link them to this mirror so you can step through any mirror to this one.¡± Abi paused for a moment then continued more gently. ¡°If my understanding of your motives is correct, you¡¯re tired, and that bed is looking awfully nice. Might I first suggest that you go see if you have running water and that if you do you use your nanites to convert that water into food and water for your body before you lay down. Shoot you could even soak in the bath, especially since this is a Place of Power on a Sphere of Power based on fire. I¡¯ll bet good money that water can be set to warm, probably even hot.
Adam went to the tub, fiddled with it for a few seconds, and figured out how to run it right away. ¡°You¡¯re right Abi, the water can get quite warm.¡± Johnathan took his clothes off and placed them on the bed then walked into the bathroom and stepped into the tub to soak. He allowed the Nanites to convert what water they needed into the energy his body needed to replenish himself and keep his biology running at top efficiency. He also made sure they were still set to clean and purge mode which removed his need to urinate or defecate. One of the greatest benefits Thor and he had created with the Nanites, though not everyone back in his home Universe liked that function yet. They¡¯d get over it, he was sure. Seriously, how much time did humans waste going to the bathroom over the years?
Adam sat there and thought about the day and thought back to some of the literature he¡¯d come across in the Science fiction and fantasy sections of libraries and realized that there were a lot of similarities between some of the stories he¡¯d read and some of the ideas and knowledge he¡¯d come across. Which begged the question, had the ¡°Gods¡± back in his universe been trying to influence mortals into believing in something more than their mundane existence, or was it all a coincidence? Philosophy is one of the many skills he¡¯d leveled from his home universe. He was going to have to be careful not to allow all the random knowledge he¡¯d added to his mind to overwhelm him. Sure, knowledge was useful, but not so much right here and now in most cases, and definitely not something to let his mind get fixated on when he had more important things to focus on and learn.
Standing up, he had the Nanites dry him off and walked to the bed, where he found his clothes looking fresh and clean. The Powers of this Place of Power sure were convenient. He crawled into the bed, laid his head on the pillow, and was asleep moments after his head touched the pillow.
Chapter 20, Knowing your Surroundings
(Day 2/13:01 p.m.)
Adam woke up, looked around then rolled out of bed.
¡°Morning Abi, what have you been up to while I¡¯ve been out?¡± he asked.
¡°Not too much. This Universe feels somewhat normal to me, so I was actually able to rest and relax in your mind here for the last 22 hours.¡±
¡°22 hours! I slept for 22 hours?¡± he asked hurriedly.
¡°Sure did, you were out. I believe the changes and shocks to your system have had an effect. I¡¯m sure your nanites mitigated a lot of it but it still took a toll on you. Also, while you were out, I had the distinct feeling that something was nearby outside. It didn¡¯t come near the building, but I could hear movement through your ears and some sniffing every once in a while. Either something took up residence close by or there was another guardian for this Place of Power. If the former, you¡¯ll have to deal with it at some point. If the latter, then when you go outside, your Mark as the Master of this Place of Power should allow you to command it. No need to worry about that though until you¡¯ve learned every possible nugget of knowledge you can from the library here right?
¡°Sounds good to me Abi, let¡¯s get started.
During the next 8 days, Abi helped Adam scour the library. Adam also made sure to be in the library where he had first stepped into Apolyn¡¯s abode for one hour prior to and one hour after the 24-hour timer that he''d set on his interface. Not once did a portal open from Thor. Whatever was going on, something was out of sync between this Universe and his home Universe.
So, Adam focused on the tomes he was reading and started to pick up the academic fundamentals of the material he was reading.
Congratulations, you have learned ¡°The Fundamentals of Spell Casting.¡± Spells are defined by power sphere, category, and level in addition to casting time, mana cost, range, area of effect, and components.
There are eight basic spheres of Magic. Air, Earth, Fire Water, Light, Dark, Life, and Death. Some spells could fall within the scope of multiple spheres. For instance, shadow spells, or shadow magic, would at least contain a combination of Light, Dark, and Earth spheres of power. Some spells could include additional spheres of power as well.
Within these spheres of magic and their combinations, there are various categories of Magic: Abjuration, Alteration, Conjuration, Summoning, Enchantment, Divination, Illusion, Invocation, Evocation, and Necromancy. Not every sphere of Magic has a spell for each school of magic. An example would be that Necromancy is anathema to the Sphere of Life magic so there are no Necromancy spells that utilize the sphere of Life magic.
Spell level refers to the raw potential of the spell and acts as both a prerequisite and an indication of potential. Each Sphere of magic has its own Casting skill. For instance, to cast light-based spells the caster must have the Cast Light Magic skill. Additionally to cast a spell the skill for that Sphere of Magic must be equal to or higher than the spell level of the spell being cast. If the spell is comprised of multiple spheres of power then the caster must have skill cast magic for that specific sphere at least equal to the level of the spell being cast. If the caster wished to cast a level 1 shadow spell Dancing Shadows they would need to have at least skill level 1 in Cast Light Magic, Cast Dark Magic, and Cast Earth Magic. Spell levels normally range from levels 1 ¨C 100 but higher levels could exist as there is theoretically no limit to the level a casting skill can attain.
All other characteristics of a spell are self-explanatory.
To cast a spell the caster must either have the spell permanently added to their permanent spell pool or they must possess the Fixed Ability Read Magic and memorize the spell. Once cast any memory of the spell vanishes from their mind and the spell must be memorized again. In both cases, the caster must pay the mana cost to cast the spell.
Congratulations, you have learned ¡°The Theory of Spell Casting¡±. Spells are learned at a certain level, usually between 1 ¨C 100 though higher-level spells may exist. A strong rule of thumb is that more powerful spells are higher level and take more time to cast while lower-level spells are easier to cast and cost less mana. The level of the spell correlates directly to various stats of the spell. For spells from multiple spheres of magic, each sphere of magic must have the casting skill to the level of the spell. There are two fundamental ways to cast spells either through study and memorization or through permanent learning
Memorization: Mages, Wizards, and a few other classes may study and memorize any number of spells equal to their total spell slots. They may cast the memorized spell one time. Once cast the spell slots are freed up and can be used to re-memorize the same spell or a different spell if the caster likes after they are fully rested, usually eight hours. The same spell can be memorized multiple times, however, each memorization takes up the required spell slots. Prerequisite spells must be in the library of the caster but do not have to be memorized. The only requirement is that the caster has the required casting skills at the level of the spell and has the mana to cast the spell.
Permanent: Sorcerers, Warlocks, and a few other classes permanently learn spells. These casters permanently add a spell to their spell slots and may cast that spell at will so long as they have the mana to do so. If a spell has a prerequisite that spell must also be one of the caster''s permanent spells. Spells cannot be learned unless the caster has all casting skills required to cast the spell at the required skill level.
Congratulations, you have learned the ¡°Basics of Mana Regeneration.¡± You have learned how to recover mana more quickly. For every skill point in his skill, your mana regeneration is increased by 1% per minute.
Congratulations, you have learned the ¡°Basics of Mana Manipulation.¡± Mana Manipulation allows the caster to store more mana within themselves. Maximum mana is increased by 1% per skill level.
Congratulations, you have learned the skill ¡°Cast Light Magic.¡± Cast Light Magic allows the caster to cast Light-based spells. The chance to hit, effect, and damage of any Light spell is increased by 1% per skill level.
Congratulations, you have learned the skill ¡°Cast Fire Magic.¡± Cast Fire Magic allows the caster to cast Fire-based spells. The chance to hit, effect, and damage of any Fire spell is increased by 1% per skill level.
Congratulations, you have learned the skill ¡°Cast Earth Magic.¡± Cast Earth Magic allows the caster to cast Earth-based spells. The chance to hit, effect, and damage of any Earth spell is increased by 1% per skill level.
Congratulations, you have learned the skill ¡°Cast Air Magic.¡± Cast Air Magic allows the caster to cast Air-based spells. The chance to hit, effect, and damage of any Air spell is increased by 1% per skill level.
Congratulations, you have learned the skill ¡°Cast Dark Magic.¡± Cast Dark Magic allows the caster to cast Dark based spells. The chance to hit, effect, and damage of any Dark spell is increased by 1% per skill level.
Congratulations, you have learned the skill ¡°Cast Water Magic.¡± Cast Water Magic allows the caster to cast Water-based spells. The chance to hit, effect, and damage of any Water spell is increased by 1% per skill level.
Congratulations, you have learned the skill ¡°Cast Life Magic.¡± Cast Life Magic allows the caster to cast Life-based spells. The chance to hit, effect, and damage of any Life spell is increased by 1% per skill level.
Congratulations, you have learned the skill ¡°Cast Death Magic.¡± Cast Death Magic allows the caster to cast Death-based spells. The chance to hit, effect, and damage of any Death spell is increased by 1% per skill level.
The last nine skills he learned also had a spell engraved on the last page. He hadn¡¯t been able to read the writing but when he¡¯d looked at a prompt asking if he wanted to learn the level 1 bolt spell for that school had appeared in his vision. He¡¯d chosen ¡°Yes¡± for each. The spell had disappeared from the book each time. Each spell had taken up 1 spell slot. Each Bolt had a range of 30 feet and did 1d4 points of damage. The cost had been 50 mana per use which was reduced by 90% for Fire, Earth, Air, and Light. That had reduced his mana cost per use to 5. Though there was a one-minute cooldown between castings. Once he leveled each skill to 100 that range increased to 130 feet. Each did 1d4 points of damage Mana Manipulation had provided him with the ¡°Mana Bolt¡± spell as well, but it was different.
Mana Bolt.
Range 30 feet + (1 foot per skill level in Basics of Mana Manipulation.)
Damage: 1 x Mana manipulation skill level.
Mana: 10
Cooldown: None.
The real find had been the Basics of Mana Regeneration skill. Though his Mana Regeneration was already high, at level 100 his Mana Regeneration increased by more than 1 per second. Another thing he¡¯d learned was that the number of spells he could learn was directly tied to his Intelligence score. Each level of a spell took up 1 slot and he had a number of slots equal to his intelligence. So, a level 1 spell would take up 1 slot and a level 10 spell would take up 10 more slots. Hypothetically there were level 100, and possibly higher-level spells in existence that would take up 100 or more spell slots each. From what he¡¯d read, Mages could change how their spell slots were allocated. Sorcerers could not and whatever his Character Level seemed to be, towards spells at least it was acting like the Sorcerer¡¯s class as 8 of his spell slots were permanently allocated.
He currently had a total of 1,818 spell slots and had used up 8, one each for his eight level-one spells. The mana bolt didn¡¯t take up a slot for some reason. He¡¯d have to be picky and choose which spells to permanently add. Perhaps he could add a magic-using class to increase his spell slots? He¡¯d have to find a Mage or Sorcerer and find out.
He went back to studying and learning and learning new skills from the library.
Congratulations, you have learned the ¡°Basic History of Primore.¡± You have learned the basic history of Primore. The rise and fall of empires from the long past now occupy your mind.
Congratulations, you have learned ¡°The Basic History of Dungeons.¡± You have learned the basic history of Dungeons. The theory behind their existence and how each attaches to the Labyrinth. Be warned this tome contained but 1% of 1% the possible knowledge concerning the dungeon or the Labyrinth. Look for additional tomes and knowledge if you¡¯d like to truly learn about this topic.
Abi pipped in as they were going over the History of Dungeons very emphatically. ¡°If Apolyn believed what you just read, that¡¯s why he died,¡± Abi stated with conviction. ¡°I¡¯d take the knowledge from that tome with a grain of salt.¡±
Congratulations, you have learned ¡°The Fundamentals of Recognizing Common Creatures.¡± You have a 1% chance per skill level of recognizing Common Creatures and remembering their attack types and weaknesses.
Congratulations, you have learned ¡°The Fundamentals of Recognizing Common Plants.¡± You have a 1% chance per skill level of recognizing Common Plants and remembering their attack types and weaknesses.
Congratulations, you have learned ¡°The Fundamentals of Recognizing Uncommon Creatures.¡± You have a 1% chance per skill level of recognizing Uncommon Creatures and remembering their attack types and weaknesses.
Congratulations, you have learned ¡°The Fundamentals of Recognizing Uncommon Plants.¡± You have a 1% chance per skill level of recognizing Uncommon Plants and remembering their attack types and weaknesses.
Congratulations, you have learned ¡°The Fundamentals of Recognizing Common Minerals.¡± You have a 1% chance per skill level of recognizing Common Minerals.
Congratulations, you have learned ¡°The Fundamentals of Recognizing Uncommon Minerals.¡± You have a 1% chance per skill level of recognizing Uncommon Minerals.
One of the finds that Adam had been truly excited to study was a tome on Rare Creatures. It seemed that a lot of creatures described in Mythology back on Earth actually existed or could exist here. Centaurs, Wyverns, and even Dragons had been reported to have been seen here, though the descriptions were a little different but recognizable from his gaming days pouring over the various Monster Manuals for various RPGs back on Earth. Getting back to the books he learned even more skills.
Congratulations, you have learned ¡°The Fundamentals of Recognizing Rare Creatures.¡± You have a 1% chance per skill level of recognizing Rare Creatures and remembering their attack types and weaknesses.
Congratulations, you have learned ¡°The Fundamentals of Recognizing Common Monsters.¡± You have a 1% chance per skill level of recognizing Common Monsters and remembering their attack types and weaknesses.
Congratulations, you have learned ¡°The fundamentals of recognizing Uncommon Monsters.¡± You have a 1% chance per skill level of recognizing Uncommon Monsters and remembering their attack types and weaknesses.
Congratulations, you have learned ¡°The fundamentals of recognizing Rare Monsters.¡± You have a 1% chance per skill level of recognizing Rare Monsters and remembering their attack types and weaknesses.
Congratulations you have learned ¡°The Fundamentals of Recognizing Mythical Creatures.¡± You have a 1% chance per skill level of recognizing Mythical Creatures and remembering their attack types and weaknesses.
Congratulations, you have learned ¡°The fundamentals of recognizing Mythical Monsters.¡± You have a 1% chance per skill level of recognizing Mythical Monsters and remembering their attack types and weaknesses.
Congratulations, you have learned ¡°The Fundamentals of Recognizing Legendary Creatures.¡± You have a 1% chance per skill level of recognizing Legendary Creatures and remembering their attack types and weaknesses.
The texts he was studying on Creatures and Monsters slowed him down quite a bit though. After he¡¯d studied them enough for his Jack of all Trades ability to grant him level 1. He studied during the day, took a nice long hot bath at night, then slept for about 8 hours and repeated each day. After 10 days he was rewarded with a total of 27 new skills. He spent 136,323,000 XP, earned 777,600,000, and still had 364,715,777,000 XP in reserve.
After 10 days of studying Adam was getting restless. ¡°Abi, I think I¡¯m done studying for a little while. What do you think about looking around?¡± he asked.
¡°Sounds like a good idea to me. I am also learning a lot but looking at books all day does get tedious.¡± She answered.
¡°Well, we¡¯ve been sticking to the easy access area, and we haven¡¯t really gone searching through the library. Also, as anal as this magus seems to have been, I guarantee there¡¯s a secret area somewhere, but we¡¯ve been so focused on learning the basics that we''re reading the available material.¡± Adam said.
¡°Truthfully, I wasn¡¯t too concerned. Besides, you need to remember. I am a construct. When I was created, I did not have a lot of the knowledge we are finding here so all of this is new to me too and while I do get some benefits to my mentality while residing in your mind, I am not, nor will I ever be at your level. It¡¯s just not within the realm of possibility for me.¡±
¡°Almost sounds like you want more?¡± he asked.
¡°Growing, learning, expanding, sure. I¡¯m doing that here and back in your home Universe. Eventually, Thor might even make me a body so I can interact with the physical world. But as you heard what Michael said. Such a construct currently can¡¯t exist here so here I¡¯m part of you and truly, I like where I am. Besides, you really have no idea how much stuff is in this nogging of yours. With your Perfect Memory, I can call up and review, watch, listen, feel, touch taste, anything that you have ever come across. If I want to watch cartoons from your childhood, I just access those memories of yours. Of course, now I can also sleep, so I find myself doing that once in a while too, even if I don¡¯t need to. Though I should let you know, your mind doesn¡¯t ever truly rest anymore. Even while you''re ¡®sleeping¡¯ your subconscious is still working to incorporate, sort, and learn from anything that you know. It is truly amazing how much knowledge is in your head and how quickly new ideas keep popping in there.¡±
¡°Good to know, I guess. Should we maybe check outside and see what¡¯s going on out there? It would be good to know if we have a visitor that could be a threat or a guardian of some sort?¡± he asked.
¡°Sounds like a plan!¡± Abi said enthusiastically.
First things first, Adam decided he needed a weapon. He went through the library, his room and even the Kitchen then thought to himself, no it couldn¡¯t be that easy and voiced ¡°Armory.¡± He heard something move in the general vicinity of the library and walked in to find a panel in the floor opening with a stairway that led down into a lower chamber. Neat.
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He walked down the stairs and found himself in a short hallway with three doors. One in front of him with another to his right and the third to his left. The door to the right clicked open and he found himself in a room that was about 20 by 30 feet with a few small racks of weapons and even what looked like empty mannequin stands that didn¡¯t have any armor on them.
Adam looked over the weapons on the racks and found, what looked like a Longbow, a quiver of 20 metal-tipped arrows, a longsword, a short sword, and 2 daggers There was also a sword belt harness that would allow him to place the longsword over his back for a right-handed draw. The short sword was on his belt for a left-handed draw. Two sheaths for daggers at the base of his back. Otherwise, the racks. were empty. Against the wall was a peg with a light brown cloak hanging on it. Clean, as was everything here, but otherwise unremarkable. He put the Harness on, added the weapons, and then put the cloak on over the harness. The cloak actually had a hole for harness which allowed him to attach the sheath in the middle of his back. It all fit together quite nicely. Amazingly everything fit together comfortably. Apolyn must have been about the same size as him, or the person these weapons were for was.
Adam exited the small Armory and moved to the door across from it. He noticed that there was a treasure chest on the door. He willed for the door to open and stepped into a small Vault. He found himself in a room identical in size to the Armory with shelves and small chests laid throughout the room. There were two big chests against the far wall, and he noted that nothing in the room was locked. Moving through the room he opened the small chests on the shelves and found various types of coins and a small opal. Some copper, silver, gold, and even platinum coins as well as what he would consider a cheap gemstone back home, though what their value here could be here, he had no idea. There were a couple of small money pouches on one of the shelves but none of them seemed to be magical in nature. Quickly he counted his treasure. There were 50 platinum, 25 gold, 90 silver, and 200 copper. He grabbed 10 copper, 10 silver 2 gold, and 1 platinum as well as the small opal. He placed them in a pouch and added the pouch to a location on the belt he now wore that seemed to have been made specifically to hold one of these money pouches in a fashion that would make it hard to be pickpocketed or stolen.
All told there wasn¡¯t that much money here. Then he had a thought. Bringing one of the gold coins to his hand he directed his nanites into the coin, double-checked its chemical makeup then took a copper coin and had the nanites convert the atomic structure of the coin before he willed the nanites back out of the coin. He now had two identical gold coins.
¡°Might want to rethink that strategy Adam¡± Abi said. ¡°Coins cannot be counterfeit or at least that is the claim. There is probably some sort of magical signature added to each coin which I am absolutely sure your nanites can¡¯t replicate. Maybe duplicate some of the gems?¡±
¡°Sounds like an idea.¡± He said as he pulled out the small opal gem and then converted the gold coin he¡¯d created into a copy of the small opal. If he¡¯d destroyed the magical identifier anyway, there was no reason to take chances. So now he had his original gold coin, nine coppers, and two opal gems. He¡¯d have to learn about economics for this world but that probably wouldn¡¯t happen until he reached the city. He looked around and stepped back into the hallway and willed both the Armory and the Treasury to close and lock, which they did.
He turned to the last door, noticed a book on the door, and realized that this might be a repository of special knowledge, which meant that it was probably behind another level of security. He need not have worried. As the Master of this Place of Power, with a thought, the door opened. He looked through the door and noticed that the room he was looking into was much bigger than it had any right to be. In fact, he was sure that the area was much larger than the room above. He moved forward feeling no resistance though four warning prompts went off in his vision.
Warning a level 100 Fire Shield has attempted to bar your way. Your passive ability has allowed you to step through the shield unhindered.
Warning a level 100 Earth Shield has attempted to bar your way. Your passive ability has allowed you to step through the shield unhindered.
Warning a level 100 Air Shield has attempted to bar your way. Your passive ability has allowed you to step through the shield unhindered.
Warning a level 100 Light Shield has attempted to bar your way. Your passive ability has allowed you to step through the shield unhindered.
¡°Abi, how bad could that have been for me?¡± he asked.
¡°Level 100 spells?¡± she asked ¡°As no damage was done, there really is no way to tell but I would say each of those shields would have tried to inflict at least 100d10 damage to you. That was reduced due to your resistances but 100 to 1,000 points of damage per shield. Seriously, if you didn¡¯t have that rank 4 perk in each element and didn¡¯t know about those shields as you stepped through that door if it counted each as a critical strike, total damage would have been close to 8,000. Normal damage somewhere between 1,000 and 4,000 which you could have survived. Just about anyone or anything would be hard-pressed to step through that door and survive. There are magic spells and abilities that might let someone bypass the protection. Someone who was unaware of the danger though? If you have guests over, best to always leave that door closed. There won¡¯t even be ash left with the automatic cleaning functions of this Place of Power.¡±
¡°Good to know,¡± he said as he continued to step forward towards the exact center of the room where a well-lighted desk sat. As he stepped up to the desk the silhouette of a young man solidified in front of him.
¡°Good morning Master. How may I serve¡± the young man asked.
¡°Good morning to you¡± Adam responded. ¡°First, do you have a name? Second, what is your purpose here?¡± he asked.
¡°The previous Master referred to me as ¡®boy¡¯. As for my purpose here. I am the keeper of secrets within this secret sanctum. It is my purpose to retrieve requested materials for the Master of this Place of Power to this desk and to return them to their storage location when no longer in use.
¡°Boy?¡± Adam asked ¡°The descriptor of boy will not do. Have you ever had a name or nickname that others called you that you liked?¡±
¡°The Master before the last one referred to me as ¡®Eric¡¯. I did like that name.
¡°Eric it is then. Hello Eric. My name is Adamantadine though you can refer to me as Adam. And I will refer to you as Eric.¡±
¡°Very good Master, I mean Adam. Query, may I also refer to you as Master?¡±
¡°If that is what you wish, I have no issues with being referred to as Master by you¡± he answered.
¡°Very good Master. How may I be of assistance on this day?¡±
¡°By answering a few questions. First, can you leave this room, or do the protections in this room prevent that? Second, can items be taken from this room without being destroyed, and third when not helping the Master of this Place of Power, where do you go.¡±
Eric looked directly at Adam then answered. ¡°The last instruction from the previous Master was that I could not leave this room through the barriers that protect this room do not affect me as I am a manifestation within this Place of Power. Any item that is passed through the barriers while the shields are active will be destroyed unless they are carried by the Master of this Place of Power, so no, I cannot remove anything from this room, and finally, when task less I go into a state of slumber. I had been asleep for just under 13 years when you entered this room.¡±
¡°Which brings me to my next question. Do you know the date? Month, day, and year?¡±
¡°Why yes, it is the second day in the month of November in the Eleventh Year of Dragon¡± Eric responded.
¡°Eleventh Year of the Dragon? Could you explain the yearly numbering system please?¡± he asked.
¡°Certainly. There are currently 10 Animals that are used to denote the passage of time Each Age of 1000 years is divided into 100 years of each Animal. For instance, the last 1,000 years has been known as the Age of Enlightenment while the age before was considered the Age of Darkness due to some calamity that lasted well over 500 years. So, the first 100 years were referred to as the years of the rabbit. The next hundred years are the dog, then cat, ox, snake, horse, monkey, tiger, rooster, and dragon. As for our Year and Month system. Well, there are exactly 360 days in a year with 30 days in each month. Each month has three weeks of ten days. Each week is divided into 10 days: primidi (first day), duodi (second day), tridi (third day), quartidi (fourth day), quintidi (fifth day), sextidi (sixth day), septidi (seventh day), octidi (eighth day), nonidi (ninth day) and d¨¦cadi (tenth day). Normally they are just counted as their number.¡±
Adam nodded and then asked. ¡°Elegant in the extreme and some of those terms you¡¯ve used sound a lot like words from my homeland, so it seems as if there has been some cross-over at some point in the past. So, we are on the 2nd day of November''s first week in the 11th year of the Dragon in the Age of Enlightenment. The new year will start in 58 days and then we¡¯ll be in the 12th year of the Dragon. What are the Months named here?
¡°The first month is Ianuarius, the second month is Februarius, then Martius, Arilis, Maius, Iunius, Iulius, Augustus, September, October, November, and December,¡± Erik said.
Adam nodded. It looked like this planet utilized a system very similar to a system that was discarded back on Earth. With only 360 days per year, it made the 12-month calendar very easy to maintain at an even 30 days per month, though 10-day work weeks would be a bit long. Of course, what was he complaining about? He''d just spent 10 days studying in a row. However, it would probably be a good idea to start remembering the dates and working within their frame of reference. Adam turned to Eric. ¡°Thank you, Eric. Please feel free to enter or leave this room as you desire. When not called on you are free to relax, study any documents you wish in the upper library, and grow if you can. I will be back tomorrow and will begin going through this library.
¡°Thank you, Master. I will see you tomorrow.¡± With that Eric turned and started walking towards the door to the room. Adam watched him go through the door and walk up the stairs.
¡°Abi, anything to add?¡± he asked.
¡°Nope, Erik seemed to cover everything well enough. There are a lot of tomes in here and honestly, you¡¯ll be lucky to go through one per day. From what I can see, there are definitely some very complicated works in here. I would suggest that when we start tomorrow you ask Eric if there are any primers on advanced magical techniques, magical lore, and such. Looking over and learning that material first will make everything go a lot easier.
¡°Sounds good Abi. Now I want to go look outside. Been in here for 10 days, it¡¯s time to see exactly where we are and what¡¯s been moving around out there.¡± He turned toward the door and walked through the barriers with no ill effect. As he left the room, he willed the door to shut, and then made his way upstairs.
As he had suspected Eric had picked up one of the books of history and was sitting in a chair in the library while Adam came up the stairs and headed for the Entryway. Eric was so engrossed in the book that he didn¡¯t even look up as Adam sealed the entrance to the lower area and then made his way out of the library to the front entryway. The light was shining through the glass around the door. Checking the clock on his personal interface he realized it was 15:00 (3 p.m.) local. He didn¡¯t know when the sunset was, but it looked like it wasn¡¯t far off. He Willed the door open and stepped outside into the cold brisk air of a high mountain retreat. The air was of course breathable and his nanites and the cloak kept him quite warm. He looked behind himself and noticed that he¡¯d stepped out of what seemed to be a smooth rock face which had the obvious shape of a door in it. The glass panes he knew were there when viewed from the inside were not visible from this side. He followed the smooth rock face up for about 100 feet until he noticed a set of green eyes on a very huge, black draconian head that looked down at him. The mouth moved into an evil smile as the dragon started to take in a very deep breath.
Begin Combat Log
Combat Round 1
Initiative rolled; Initiative falls to Adam.
Action 1: Adam draws a short sword. Stamina Cost 10.
Action 2: Adam jumps straight up to deliver piercing strike through the dragon¡¯s mouth into the brain.
Strike succeeds but fails. Short sword cannot overcome magical damage resistance inherent to an Ancient Black Dragon. Stamina Cost 25 to Jump, 25 to attack.
Short sword takes 100 points of durability damage.
Shortsword disintegrates.
The momentum of the attack propels Adam¡¯s left hand into the jaw of Dragon causing an unintended secondary attack. Unarmed Combat of 100 has no effect on Dragon. Damage Resistance reduces damage to 0.
Dragon Breath¡¯s Acid Breath directly onto Adam for 32,876 points of damage.
Earth Magic resistance reduces damage to 0
Combat Round 2
Initiative falls to Adam.
Adam moves into Apolyn¡¯s Abode and commands the door to close.
End Combat Log
Adam reviewed the combat log and realized he¡¯d been incredibly lucky he had Earth Resistance. He quickly reviewed his personal interface and immediately spent 1,152,582,000 experience to level his Unarmed Combat Skill to level 501. He also Leveled his Unarmed Defense to Skill Level 501. He reviewed the last prompt for each skill and deleted the rest.
Congratulations you reached skill level 501 in Unarmed Combat. Chance to hit increased by 1% per skill level.
Damage is increased by a factor of 1. Hand attacks strike for 5-20 damage. Kicks strike for 5-30 damage. Reach skill level 601 to increase damage by another factor.
Unarmed attacks count as +5 weapons. The bonus is not added to attacks or damage. It is simply used as a comparison to determine what level of Damage resistance can be bypassed.
Congratulations you reached skill level 501 in Unarmed Defense. Base Unarmed Defense is increased by 1 per level of Unarmed Defense
Adam looked at his prompts, reviewed his possible damage, and realized he might be able to hurt this dragon now. Adam willed the door to open and stepped through and behind the dragon even as it prepared for another breath attack. The dragon hesitated and tried to turn its head to follow where Adam had darted to as it looked for him.
Adam waited for the dragon¡¯s head to be swung all the way around and to the right before he darted forward under the jaw and jumped.
Begin Combat Log
Adam bursts forward and jumps up with a called shot to the underside of the jaw, called shot to knock out.
Target is caught flat-footed, surprised.
Attack succeeds against the target.
Damage check. Adam strikes for 2,727 damage (base 15 x 18.18 x 5 for skill level x 2 for critical strike.)
Total damage 2,727.
Reduced by 500 for Armor
Direct Bludgeoning damage to the brain through the roof of the mouth incurs a 1% chance per point of damage of the target being knocked unconscious.
Willpower resistance check by Ancient Black Dragon against a 2,227% chance to be knocked unconscious.
Black Dragon is knocked unconscious.
Adam catches Dragon¡¯s Head lowers it to the ground, head still turned away from his place of power.
End Combat Log.
Adam checked his combat log, realized that he¡¯d been quite lucky, and stepped back from the black dragon. He looked at the dragon, pretty sure that he hadn¡¯t actually hurt it too badly. He wasn¡¯t sure how many hit points it had but 2,227 damage probably didn¡¯t put so much as a dent in the total hit points of something that was considered Ancient. He wondered what level it was.
¡°Any ideas Abi?¡±
¡°Are you fucking crazy Adam, that¡¯s an ancient black dragon. In most places, the automatic answer is to fucking kill that evil creature, yet here you are calmly waiting for it to wake up. No, absolutely no ideas, and oh yeah, good luck.¡± She said as she cut the link.
Adam looked around to make sure nothing else was sneaking up to attack him. He also willed the door to Apolyn¡¯s Abode closed as he waited for the dragon to wake up. He didn¡¯t have to wait long. About five minutes later the dragon looked around groggily and then focused its eyes on Adam
In Basic Draconic, one of the languages he''d found inside, Adam asked ¡°Parlay?¡±
Moving slowly the dragon lifted its head, turned off to the side, and spit out the dust of the Shortsword that was still in its mouth. ¡°Sure,¡± the Dragon responded in common.
Adam eyed the dragon and made sure it didn¡¯t look like it was going to attack him, though truthfully he didn¡¯t know what that would look like then said. ¡°My name is Adam; I am the new Master of this Place of Power. Dragons taking a deep breath, at least from where I¡¯m from, indicate that you were about to try to use a Breath Weapon on me. Was I mistaken in taking action to try to attack you first?¡±
The dragon looked at Adam, squinted, looked at him again, and frowned. Squinted again then responded, ¡°What are you?¡±
¡°If you answer my question, I¡¯ll answer yours. If you¡¯d also be so kind as to offer a form of address I can use for you that would also be appreciated.¡± He said.
¡°Fair enough,¡± the dragon muttered. ¡°First, you may call me Adaline, and to answer your question, yes, I was about to utilize my acid-breath on you, and did so.¡± She said resignedly as if she was preparing to be attacked. When that didn¡¯t happen, she looked with questioning eyes at Adam.
¡°Thank you for your honesty and I am a man of my word. I am a traveler, new to this world and universe. Where I am from, I am considered an Ascendant Human. As was explained to me by an Adjudicator which means that I am something outside your normal rules of classification for here. Does that make sense?¡± he asked.
¡°Quite. I can¡¯t even analyze you. You show up as nothing, though I know you thoroughly knocked me on my ass with that attack.¡± she said.
¡°Well, I did try to skewer your brain with an obviously inferior shortsword, which you just spit out just a few seconds ago and you retaliated by breathing acid on me.¡± He answered with a smile.
The dragon smiled back; ¡°Yes, you did, and I will thank you for not killing me instantly during my weakness, though I do not believe you spared me because of some ultimate good cause or some other such nonsense, is this correct?¡±
Adam nodded as he said ¡°Correct, where I¡¯m from, individuals are not normally good or evil though truthfully, I do tend to lean towards doing the right thing, not always considered the good thing. Destroying any helpless creature, especially once considered an ancient of their kind, or elder where I¡¯m from, would have been an act that would be bad in my culture. Which is not to say that if you attack me again, I will take every possible action I can to end any threat you might pose, just that killing something while it¡¯s down after I got a lucky sucker punch¡± He shrugged and then continued. ¡°Hopefully if something like that ever happens to me, the creature lucky enough to pull that off will give me the same respect I¡¯m giving you. I of course don¡¯t expect such treatment in an uncaring and unfair Universe, or Universes, but hedging one¡¯s bets where they can, is never a waste of time. Also, we call that Karma where I¡¯m from.
The Dragon looked at him quizzically as he said the word ¡°Karma¡±.
¡°The idea that what you do comes back to you,¡± he said.
The Dragon nodded. ¡°The concept is known here as well, though we don¡¯t use that word for it.¡± Pausing for a moment she continued. ¡°Well then, let me offer you this vow. For sparing my life while I was knocked unconscious, I give you my vow that I will not try to harm or attack you in any way for at least one year so long as you offer the exact same. I do so swear, I do so swear, I do so swear.¡±
Adam looked at the Dragon in astonishment then responded, ¡°I agree, I do so swear, I do so swear, I do so swear.¡± Adam said.
You have entered into a Vow with the Ancient Black Dragon Adaline. You both agree not to attack either for a duration of 1 year. You have both sworn to this vow which has been thrice heard and witnessed by this Place of Power, an adjudicator, and the gods themselves. Should either of you break this vow there will be dire detrimental consequences.
Both Adaline and Adam looked into each other¡¯s eyes and then muttered, ¡°Well, shit¡± simultaneously. They both paused for a second as they realized that the other had said the same phrase and then they both laughed.
Adam spoke first. ¡°I do not have much in the way of hospitality to offer, food or refreshment wise but if you can change your form, I do have a dining hall where we could retire to be more comfortable and speak at length. ¡°
Adaline¡¯s form turned to black mist and a beautiful raven-haired Dark Elf stepped from the smoke. ¡°I would be delighted to accept your hospitality. I¡¯ve noticed that once you started activating this Place of Power the walls were radiating heat and I was taking advantage of that. If you¡¯re going to invite me in, I will not say no.¡±
Adam turned towards his door and willed it to open. He ushered Adaline inside with a gesture guiding her toward the dining room table. He offered her a chair and sat opposite, at which point the table magically populated a meal for two. The astonishment on his face brought a smile from Adaline.
¡°I take it you have never sat at your dinner table before?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°Seriously? No, I haven¡¯t. I do not require normal sustenance. I haven¡¯t actually sat down to eat since I arrived.¡± He responded truthfully.
¡°Well Adam, I am a dragon and I do require substance. May I partake of your hospitality and enjoy this meal with you?¡± she asked with a smile.
¡°Absolutely¡± he responded earnestly. ¡°While I might not require sustenance, I do like food, and it has been a week since I¡¯ve eaten anything.
They both tucked in and ate their meals with gusto. Adam set his nanites to make sure to break down the meal as he ate it so he could keep up with Adaline as she went through course after course. She must have been very hungry. Finally, she started to slow down, and Adam took the opportunity to start up the conversation again.
¡°Adaline, as I stated I¡¯m relatively new to this Universe and World. The food we just ate, was it a magical construct or something else?¡±
Adaline thought for a minute then answered ¡°The food we ate was real, else it would not have sated my hunger, though it was magically prepared. I would guess that somewhere nearby there is a holding area with stocks of food. How much is left and how you replenish it, I do not know but that was real food, and it was well prepared through one of the better chef spells I¡¯ve ever encountered. If I might ask, who was the Master of this Place of Power before you?¡± she asked.
¡°No secret there,¡± he responded. ¡°It was a Magus by the name of Apolyn. He died in my timeline over 50 years ago, though here it seems as if just under 13 years have passed.¡±
¡°Apolyn? Sounds familiar, though I never met the man. Of course, 13 years ago I was much farther north and having some fun with a band of dark elves that were, well I¡¯ll just say I was having fun.¡±
¡°Fair enough Adaline, and I do not begrudge you your needs and desires. As I said, where I¡¯m from, I try to do good, but I too have a dark side, which can go very dark, when it needs to. It¡¯s just not my normal way of doing things. Whether I remain mostly neutral, become good or evil by some categorization process here, remains to be seen.
Pausing for a moment, Adam thought ¡°Guest Bedroom¡± and heard a slight rumbling from the stairway which caused Adaline to look up. ¡°Not to worry Adaline, I¡¯m still learning what this Place of Power has. I just sent a mental command to see if there was a guest bedroom and it sounds like there is. Would you care to inspect it with me?
Adaline stood and followed him to the stairway. At the base of the stairs, a new door had formed in the wall and opened at Adam¡¯s command. Stepping in he found himself in a room just slightly smaller than the room he had upstairs with a full toilet, bath, and bed. He Checked the interface and gave permission to Adaline for one year to enter and exit the Abode and utilize the kitchen and this spare room as she desired. He also set the door''s privacy command to her so she could secure it and ensure her privacy though he was sure that she could understand that he could override that feature. Playing with the interface he set up an alarm that would automatically notify anyone in the room that someone was attempting to enter that only she could remove.
¡°As part of our vow and my hospitality, you may come and go into this room and the kitchen as you desire. All other areas will still be off-limits and please trust me when I say that there is one specific area that even you will not want to go to. I believe it would vaporize you if you tried to cross those barriers. I¡¯m going to be doing a lot of studying over the next couple of months. During the evenings I will be available to talk if you''re around but would not in any way wish for you to think that I require your presence. If you¡¯re here we can dine together, if not I hope you¡¯re having what fun you may. Eventually, I will have to make my way down the mountain to the nearest city but again, it¡¯ll be a little while before I go. Do you have any questions before I retire for the night?¡± he asked.
Adaline looked at Adam calculatingly. ¡°Why are you being nice to me?¡±
¡°Fair Question¡± he responded. ¡°First, you are the first Dragon I have ever met. While we may have gotten off to a rocky start, you have acted with grace and eloquence during our short time together. Second, when you mentioned the warmth of this Place of Power. Well, a warm place to sleep and a nice bath, even in my Universe, that¡¯s a surefire way to keep a woman happy. Third, you are the first intelligent ¡®ancient¡¯ creature I have met here. As I mentioned I am new to this Universe, and I need to learn a lot. Fourth, because you didn¡¯t continue to attack me right away, means to me anyway, that Ancient and intelligent are two words that describe your ability to analyze, adjust, and flow to changes you could not have expected. I have no illusion as to where our relationship might go. I do know though for one year we both took a vow not to harm each other and if over that year we come to another accommodation that extends that vow, so be it. If not, in a year, we''ll go our separate ways hopefully with mutual respect towards each other.¡±
Adaline nodded ¡°You make very good points all around. I accept your offer of hospitality and look forward to days when we can sit and have a pleasant conversation. As part of this hospitality, do I have your permission to hunt in your area?
Johnathan thought for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m not exactly sure how far out my area of influence is. I would ask that if not attacked by sentient humanoid creatures you leave them alone once they''re within a half-mile of this location. Otherwise, if they attack you, do as you will. Anyone stupid enough to attack a Dragon in the mountains¡. We call that Darwinism where I¡¯m from. Darwin believed in the survival of the fittest. Please understand that if you decide to go toe to toe against other dragons, I should not be expected to help, nor would I expect you to help me if something else comes against me. Though once you are inside this abode, I will do my utmost to protect you as hospitality dictates. Yes, you have my permission to hunt on my lands.¡±
¡°Splendid, and I agree to your conditions,¡± she responded as she eyed the bath.
Taking the hint, Adam said ¡°I will leave you to your rest then¡± he said as he turned to head out of the room. As he stepped out of the room Adaline willed the guest bedroom door to close and lock. He started towards the Kitchen area and then mentally contacted Abi.
¡°So?¡± he asked.
¡°Well, that went a lot better than I expected. I believe that your charisma and luck attributes are working overtime. Of course, gaining another possible avenue of knowledge that is also an Ancient Dragon, of any color. That was a good idea.¡±
¡°I do have a question; do you gain reputation with specific people here? I didn¡¯t receive any prompts while I was interacting with the Dragon, nor have I received any while interacting with you?¡± he asked.
There was a pause then Abi answered. I have some knowledge on the subject but remember I am not a repository of knowledge for this Universe. My memories tell me there was a point when reputation between individuals was measured and scored. The powers that be didn¡¯t like that system very much because it hampered the choices that could be made by an individual. The argument was made that anyone should be able to at any time change their mind about someone and act accordingly without penalty. So that system was mothballed. Fame and Infamy are now used for an overall modifier of all interactions that reputation would have been used for. Though people must know who you are for you to earn fame and there are various categories of fame. For instance, The Divines would have Universal Fame. While a city official might only have local fame. Not something you need to worry about right now.¡± She answered.
¡°Fair enough, which brings me to my next question, how do I check the food stocks for this place?¡± he asked.
¡°I would think that you can access that information through your personal interface,¡± she said.
¡°Sure enough, as soon as he opened his interface, and accessed his Place of Power a window opened to the storage location for his larder. It seemed that his Place of Power had a couple of rooms of holding. There were also contracts assigned to restock the larder utilizing funds from his treasury as the food there was used and needed to be replenished. The restocking was done magically by ¡°Rustoph¡¯s Supplies¡±. Reviewing how much Adaline and he had eaten that night, he realized they¡¯d each eaten about eight meals worth of food which did not put a dent in his stocks at all. It looked like he could easily provide for eight people a night for at least one month. As the Larder was restocked, he¡¯d have to check costs and treasury levels, but it looked like he had enough funds to hold out for at least the next 92 days. Even so, when Adaline wasn¡¯t present, he¡¯d stick to his tried and true, living off the nanites which should reduce some of the cost.
Another thing he tried to do was call up a map function for his Place of Power. A map did pop up but only of the interior of the Place of Power. He then requested the location of Eric, Adaline, and himself. The map showed all three of them and their location. He decided he¡¯d done enough for the day and walked upstairs, secured his bedroom door, and took his own bath before heading off to bed.
Chapter 21, Are You Sure?
(Day 10) October 6th, 2033, Earth
It had been 66.7 days since Johnathan had stepped through the portal into that other place. One of the fundamental problems that Thor was having was that he couldn¡¯t keep a portal open to the library for more than 6.67 seconds. Thor had opened portal after portal. They all closed exactly 6.67 seconds after opening.
Thor believed Johnathan was right about the temporal flow of time being different between the two Universes. The couple times he was able to look in on Jonathan he¡¯d been moving slowly. Recently he¡¯d been able to capture him studying and he hadn¡¯t seemed to move for 20 hours. Thor had opened a portal every 5 minutes and checked. Also, it seemed as if the portals were not noticeable from the other side.
Today Thor had decided to try to catch Johnathan studying again except this time he¡¯d checked on Johnathan every 6.67 Seconds. He was able to find Johnathan early that morning and recorded the images that came through the portal as he opened and closed it 60 times in a row. Then, Thor had then taken the 4th second of each recording as a stopped image and time-lapsed the images together for one continuous video 60 seconds in length. Thor took 400 seconds of data and turned it into a 60-second video. This created a video that was at almost normal speed.
Thor connected to Abi and Amanda, ¡°I believe I have approximated the difference in temporal flows between the two Universes at approximately 6.67 times.
¡°6.67 times?¡± Abi said, ¡°Is that 6.67 times faster or slower than us?¡±
¡°6.67 times slower,¡± Thor said
¡°Can you give me some comparisons Thor?¡± Amanda asked.
¡°Easy comparison. For every day 6 days 16 hours that pass here 1 day passes for Johnathan. Or an easier comparison. Just about 67 days have passed since Johnathan stepped through the portal. That would mean that 10 days have passed for Johnathan.¡±
¡°I can still feel the quantum entanglement, but I can¡¯t contact the aspect of myself that¡¯s in his subconscious,¡± Abi said.
¡°I am not able to either,¡± Thor agreed.
¡°Can you contact him when you open the portal?¡± Amanda asked.
¡°No, and I¡¯ve tried to send nanites through to make a physical connection. Once they pass through the portal I lose contact with them. I can feel the quantum links I have with Johnathan but any nanites that are in that Universe are cut off from me.¡± Thor answered.
Amanda asked, ¡°Since we can¡¯t do anything about that, other than one of us stepping through the portal, which would have to be me and I¡¯m not too keen on that idea, and we¡¯re talking right now anyway, how about a status check?¡± she asked.
¡°Sounds good to me,¡± Abi said. ¡°The nanite construct of Johnathan that you created for me is working perfectly. I have been able to utilize it to attend the functions that Johnathan should be at with heads of state. Federal governments have been trying to vie for special status or the ability to control Thor, to which I just smile, then say no.¡±
¡°Politicians are always going to try to get more power, don¡¯t worry about it. You¡¯re doing a good job¡± Amanda said.
¡°Agreed¡± Thor affirmed.
¡°One thing of note¡± Abi started, paused, and then continued, ¡°I am getting a lot of political pressure to allow the 778 special guests to Trappist released back to Earth, especially for the Vice President.
¡°That is actually something I¡¯ve been working on for the last 60 days. The probability curves approach unity that the individuals, their families, and their supporters were never going to accept a totalitarian dictator that was unassailable.¡±
¡°What did you do Thor?¡± Amanda asked with interest.
¡°I implemented an instruction Johnathan left me before he departed. BE Ceti is a star system that is 66.5 light-years from Earth and has a planet in the habitable zone. When I investigated it I found evidence of bacteria. As per instructions Johnathan has given. Unless directly ordered to, by him, I am to leave alien biospheres alone, unless they present a clear and present danger to humanity. As instructed I have created enough nanites to cover the planet in inorganic material but have left everything else as is. The planet should develop normally and in another couple of million years, we should see significant evidence of life. None of that concerns us though. I analyzed the system and implemented another part of Johnathan¡¯s instructions. I constructed an Earth-sized planet and then made it into an exact duplicate of Earth utilizing materials from other stellar sources. It has taken a while, but it is done. Earth II is ready to be inhabited.¡±
¡°What exactly do you mean when you say an exact copy of Earth?¡± Amanda asked.
¡°Earth II is an exact copy of Earth and includes all manmade structures and infrastructure,¡± Thor said.
¡°You did that in 60 days?¡± Abi asked.
¡°Actually, I made the planet in 3 days. Adding water, getting the magnetic field right, and then adding bacteria, plants, and animals took up the rest of the time. As you know my influence now covers 5,000 light-years. There are hundreds of thousands of planetoids and millions of asteroids in lifeless systems. Earth II has a stable biosphere and contains copies of every species currently on Earth. I did transplant a few actual animals and plants from each species but for the most part, I used nanites to create copies of every creature on Earth. Turns out making exact copies is a lot easier than creating from scratch.¡± Thor said. ¡°The announcement should be made by ¡®Johnathan¡¯ and should consist of a choice, I¡¯ll be it, not a final choice, except for the 778, murders and rapist. which won¡¯t know that when they accept.¡±
¡°What is the choice?¡± Amanda asked.
¡°Johnathan will explain that a copy of Earth has been created for those who will never be allowed back on Earth and anyone else who wants to go there. The choice they must make is if they want to go because once they¡¯re there the benefits of Nanites will not be present. Eventually, food will need to be grown and or slaughtered and people will need to work. The only things they will not need to worry about are electricity and waste products. Trash will need to be collected but there will be designated areas to put it. The trash will automatically be reduced as will any sewage as it''s all turned into more nanites. Also, like Earth, there will no longer be flights between airports. As we did on Earth, there will be a portal network between cities at the airports, I think the term Portal Junctions is what everyone is using now. This system will allow anyone to travel anywhere they wish to on the planet. Finally, the no-killing and no-raping rules will not be enforced by me. However, if someone commits murder recordings of the murder will be made public, as well as the individual that ordered the murder, if there is someone ordering the murders. The announcement will be made within minutes of the murder. My calculations predict that mob justice will take care of the murderers and crime lords in short order.¡±
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¡°Obviously, I¡¯ll still be watching which should be part of the announcement. In the beginning, the nanites will provide a few choices of basic rations and drinks three times a day to all residents. After 30 days it will be reduced to two meals. 30 days after that it will be one meal. After a year the only food provided by nanites will be one health bar per day and water upon request. I will maintain at least that level of substance for everyone on Earth II. If people want more choices and variety they will need to farm and slaughter and create their own food industries.
Additionally, all nanites in a body will be inert as soon as they step onto Earth II. People will age as normal, and gain weight if they don¡¯t exercise. Also, they¡¯ll be able to get cancer just like they used to.
¡°What about children?¡± Amanda asked.
Thor answered ¡°Children that are brought with their families and those that are born on Earth II will have active nanites ensuring that they grow up to be healthy adults and should they get injured they will be immediately removed to a location of safety. Once a child reaches the age of 17 they will be educated by me about the opportunities that exist for Humanity. When they turn 18 they will be given a choice to stay or migrate. ¡°Thor said, pausing for a moment ¡°Eventually there might come a time when people of Earth go to Earth II to help them or teach but not at the beginning. Any information they might need will be available to them on the web or by contacting experts back on Earth.¡± Thor paused for a moment, as if distracted.
¡°Everything okay Thor?¡± Abi Asked
¡°The ingenuity of mortals is amazing. A Terrorist in Afghanistan just issued orders to modify the nuclear reactor in the United States to go nuclear so that Holy Fire could cleanse the world. Abi another example needs to be made.¡± Thor said.
The copy of Johnathan that Abi inhabited, stood, and stepped through a portal into a room that had the leader and the twelve followers that he¡¯d ordered to carry out the nuclear sabotage stood frozen at attention. Their eyes locked on Jonathan; their hatred evident. Abi in the construct of Johnathan said. ¡°You are all very stupid, or you wanted to be removed from Earth. In a moment a portal will open behind each of you. You will voluntarily step through the portal and can live out your days there or you can try to kill me.¡±
Portals opened up behind the terrorists as Thor released their bodies. All thirteen moved their arms and legs to make sure they had control of their movement. When their leader yelled ¡°God is Great!¡± in their native language as all thirteen rushed forward to try to kill Johnathan.
As each of the attackers touched the Johnathan construct their bodies popped like a balloon and disappeared from the point of contact backward. In three seconds only the body of Johnathan remained.
¡°I hate that part,¡± Abi said through the link.
¡°I know¡± Amanda stated, ¡°We all agreed that anyone that was trying to cause death on a massive scale needed to have one last chance to redeem themselves and if they chose wrong they were to be destroyed immediately.¡±
¡°Still, I don¡¯t like it, it just doesn¡¯t seem fair,¡± Abi said.
¡°I am not fair,¡± Thor said. ¡°Though I am limited in my responses.¡±
¡°You did exactly what you were supposed to do Thor. Some people cannot be educated, or their nature changed. Johnathan and I understood that, and I think you are coming to understand that as well. Almost 9 months is long enough.¡± Abi returned to Johnathan¡¯s office and sat down.
¡°Getting back to what we were discussing, ¡°Thor said then continued, ¡°Anyone that has not killed or raped someone or that is not one of the 778 individuals that Johnathan has forbidden from returning to Earth will be able to return to Earth at any time by saying ¡®Thor, I wish to come home.¡¯ They will be immediately transported to one of the rooms back on Trappist-1e until their actions have been reviewed and I have ensured that they did not commit those two crimes. Basically, I¡¯ll speed-watch their life on Earth II. If I find nothing, they will be permitted to go directly to Earth. If they have committed murder or rapped someone, they¡¯ll be returned to Earth II. Murderers and Rapist are barred from ever returning to Earth, though now they¡¯ll be able to go somewhere that looks like home at least.¡±
¡°They will have access to the Internet and also be connected to the Intergalactic Web so they should be able to look anything up. Also, in the early days, I will help doctors get to any actual emergencies that come up but the simple answer for medical care is that they will need people to go to school and learn to be doctors and nurses again. There are a lot of personalities that will be drawn to escape the iron fist of this totalitarian system. I estimate at least 16% of the total population of Earth will migrate.¡±
¡°Last question, how will you divide everyone that wants to go.?¡± Amanda asked.
¡°That is the simplest of all. Wherever they are on Earth is where they will step out onto Earth II. If they are on Trappist 1E They will step out wherever I brought them from on Earth II. Where they will find duplicates of all their possessions. Hopefully, this will make the transition easier.
¡°I call for a vote,¡± Amanda said. ¡°All in favor of following Thor''s plan?¡± she asked.
¡°Yes,¡± Amanda said.
¡°Yes,¡± Thor affirmed.
¡°Yes,¡± Amanda said.
¡°Then we are agreed. Abi, please work with Thor to craft the speech from ¡®Johnathan¡¯ Once done, let¡¯s make it happen.¡±
Abi made the speech 30 minutes later. Within 5 minutes after ¡®Johnathan¡¯ finished his speech 1,190,235,769, approximately 17% of the people on Earth and Trappist -1e decided to move to Earth II. At the time of the speech, there had only been a little over 10 million people on Trappist-1e, all of whom chose to go. Even the individuals who had been moved to the third planet that Johnathan hadn¡¯t even bothered to name were given the choice to go to Earth II and take it. Those left behind on Earth understood why those with families that had members moved to Trappist-1e chose to go. Others who chose to go that had all of their wants and needs handled were confused as to why some hadn¡¯t chosen to remain on Earth but understood that they were only a portal away.
Once everyone left Trappist-1e Thor started upgrading some of the facilities to family units. Trappist-1e was still a perfect refuge for humanity should some global catastrophes happen on either Earth. The underground facilities on the 2nd Prison planet were converted to another Portal facility. Thor could create billions of portals at once but kept creating more facilities so there were plenty of backup facilities.
Two days later the first murder happened. Thor made the recordings of that murder, who had committed the murder, and the individual who had ordered the murder available to everyone. Within 6 hours a mob showed up and lynched the secret service member on the vice president''s detail that had committed the murder. Then they lynched the Vice President. They would have lynched the rest of her family but in unison as their estate on Earth II was being breached everyone that could, requested to go home, leaving the Vice President to her fate.
Thor, who had been linked to Johnathan for so long thought how this would be the perfect time for Johnathan to make a remark like ¡°Some motherfuckers are always trying to ice skate uphill." A quote from one of his favorite movies. Was he starting to think more like Johnathan?
Chapter 22, Making a Friend
(Day 61) December 27th, 11th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
Alberon had been traveling to this accursed mountain for the better part of two months. Now. His sources said that weasel Apolyn was back and that his Place of Power was once again active. Which was absolutely fine with Alberon. After the shit Apolyn had pulled 13 years ago in the Labyrinth, Alberon had every intention of killing that piece of shit and claiming the Hearth¡¯s Crystal for himself. As the only survivor from the party that had helped Apolyn get into the Labyrinth, he was absolutely not happy with that little piece of shit.
As he¡¯d traveled north there had been one telling moment when he¡¯d seen a Black Dragon flying around. He was sure that it had seen him, but it had just turned and flew off to the Northeast. Not discounting his good fortune, he continued up the pass. It was another three days before he found himself on a cliff face looking down onto the entrance of Apolyn Abode. Utilizing Camouflage and Stealth the Ranger Assassin known as Alberon drew his bow, a really special arrow, and waited.
***
Adaline, also nearby, watched as the Human Ranger Assassin moved into an overlook position to the entrance of Adam¡¯s residence then cast invisibility and found a perch from which to watch. While she could admit that the Ascendant Human, whatever the hell that was, deserved her respect for the way he¡¯d treated her. This man Adam had been nothing but polite after all, she still wished to know exactly what she was dealing with. As long as she didn¡¯t step foot inside the Abode, their vows would remain in place. Satisfied that she wasn¡¯t breaking her vow she settled in and waited.
For the next three days, the human did not move from his perch. Neither did Adaline. The patience of Dragons, especially Ancient Dragons was well known. Finally, at sunset on the 30th of December Adam stepped out of Abode and looked around, as if looking for someone or something. As he was turning back to re-enter the abode Adaline witnessed something that would forever prove to her that messing with this Ascendant Human would be one of the worst ideas she could ever have. With an ease that was indescribable, he moved slightly to his left and pushed his hand to deflect a red glowing arrow the assassin had shot. Knowing what was coming, she was not surprised when the arrow exploded as his hand tried to deflect it. From the level of the explosion, she was sure that the explosion had been from an arrow that was at least level 50. As the explosion was expanding, she saw a blur and lost track of Adam. Her perception allowed her to track the direction he¡¯d moved in, but she could not keep up. Adam was there, then he wasn¡¯t. She moved her eyes and head at a rate that seemed much too slow. Finally, she brought her eyes to rest where Adam was holding the crushed pulp of the head of the Human Ranger Assassin against the mountain behind where he¡¯d been perched to shoot that arrow. Well, it was definitely supposed to be the assassin''s head, but it had pulped and looked as if it had exploded into a red pulpy mass.
There were only two reasons Adaline did not move and flee for her life. First, to move would have been to possibly draw attention to herself. Second, from her vantage point, she saw the look on Adam¡¯s face and realized that he did not know his own power.
From Adam¡¯s viewpoint, things happened at a speed he had not realized he was capable of.
Combat Log
Human Ranger Assassin makes a surprise attack with a level 50 fireball arrow against Adam.
Surprise failure,
Action 1 - Adam uses skill Deflect Arrow
Arrow Deflected.
Action 2 - Perception Check Successful.
Arrow explodes when touched.
Action 3 - Perception Check Successful.
Direction of Attack Noted
Action 4 - Perception Check Successful. Human type archer camouflaged and stealthed, moving to draw another arrow.
Action 5 - Prior to Arrow exploding ¨C Jump with maximum force, called strike to grab the head and slam into the stone behind the attacker''s location.
Attack Successful, Critical Strike,
Total Damage to the target''s head 24,102
Durability is insufficient.
Head explodes.
Target Alberon has died.
End Combat Log.
The look on Adam¡¯s face was one of shock, horror, and a realization of his power. He was definitely going to have to learn to tone down his attacks or every single normal human he struck was going to die. Dropping this piece of shit¡¯s mess of a head from his hand, he stood up slowly and looked around. Making sure there were no additional threats. His tracking skill kicked in and he was able to tell that the assassin had been here for a couple of days. Sucked to be him, he¡¯d just waited around to die.
Adam¡¯s tracking skill also noted the tell-tale signs of another figure moving into a position up behind the assassin. Those tracks looked a lot like Adaline¡¯s. How to play this. Well, it was New Year¡¯s Eve and he had come outside to see if she was about.
Raising his voice Adam called out, ¡°Adaline, the danger has passed. If you would be so kind as to make your way inside. I need to make sure this mess is cleaned up.¡± Adam turned his back towards the location he knew her to be in and bent down to inspect the man he had killed. Adam quickly stripped the body of its worldly possessions. He also had his nanites infiltrate and investigate the body to ensure there were no hidden items under its skin. It seemed that once an aura had fled a body his nanites could infiltrate a body here.
Once Adam was sure he had everything off the body, he picked up the naked torso and threw it to the south. It flew over the tower and fell off the side of the mountain to the hills below. He¡¯d never utilized his full strength to try such a feat before so was again surprised when the body flew as high as it did before it started to fall and disappeared over the edge. He was sure Adaline had seen that display of strength as well. There was nothing he could do about that now.
He picked up the items he had taken off the body and made his way back to the entrance to the Abode at a much more leisurely pace and willed the door to open. Stepping inside, he placed the pile of clothes, weapons, and supplies on the ground and let the hearth get to the task of cleaning them. Next, he moved to the kitchen and began washing his hands in some very hot water and turned as he heard the front door open.
Adaline stepped through, looked at the pile of clothes, weapons, and supplies then made her way to the dining room table where she willed a goblet of the finest wine in his stock into her hand. She also put a second glass for him where he usually sat. Raising her glass, she waited until he returned to the table, picked up his glass, and raised it towards her. Simply, and with great respect, she nodded her glass towards his and said, ¡°To the victor, the spoils¡± then brought the glass to her mouth and drank deeply. Understanding that something had changed in the dynamic between Adaline and himself he nodded and drank deeply as well.
They sat down and started eating in silence. Eventually, Adam spoke, ¡°First, Adaline I would like to properly introduce myself to you, now that you have witnessed firsthand some of what I am capable of.¡± Pausing for a moment to collect his thoughts he continued, ¡°After arriving here, I chose the identity Adamantadine and while that is not my original true name it is my more proper formal name here. I would still like you to refer to me as Adam but thought it only appropriate that I properly introduce myself to you now. Second, I would normally apologize for killing someone in front of another person but honestly, that idiot earned what happened. Finally, I am sure that you have questions about what I did. I would ask that perhaps we discuss this tomorrow or the next day and just enjoy each other¡¯s company tonight. Where I am from, we celebrate the last day of a calendar year by spending time with friends and acquaintances and toasting the new year at midnight. As you are both my guest and acquaintance, I would very much enjoy a night of simple gossip, dancing if possible to spend some time with someone I¡¯ve come to respect and enjoy the company of over the last couple of weeks. Would that be acceptable to you?¡±
Adaline nodded thoughtfully, smiled, and said, ¡°I would like that a lot.¡±
Adam decided that they would indeed need some music in the background. He spent just over ten million of his experience to level his Nanite Companion Ability and raised it to level 500. This would allow him to create things from his home Universe up to five hundred feet away from him. Quickly forming a home entertainment system, he had his Nanites form and create a speaker system that began to play Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven lightly in the background. Maybe at some future point, he¡¯d play something more contemporary but right now, he just wanted some pleasant music in the background.
Adaline watched with interest as the items formed and then gasped as music came from the speakers. ¡°That is not magic,¡± she said with interest.
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¡°No, it is not, nor is it permanent. I can maintain the constructs so long as they are close to me but once I leave the area, they will return to their original state, which would take a really long explanation. Let me say that they were made from the stuff that is in the air, as that is as close to the actual truth as I can come without confusing you. Sort of like magic, but not. Also, there is no duration, proximity to me determines whether the devices remain or not.¡±
¡°That music is exquisite. I can hear instruments that I have never heard before and some I do recognize.¡±
He nodded ¡°I¡¯m sure you do. The individuals who composed what we¡¯re listening to were considered savants back home. I have always found listening to them relaxing. Later perhaps I will ask if you¡¯d like to dance. For now, let¡¯s just let the music play in the background while we enjoy dinner and relax for a bit.
The night played out as Adam had wanted. Adaline and he talked, and gossiped and she began to realize that Adam had far more knowledge than he¡¯d ever let on, even if that knowledge was somewhat strange and not exactly what she was used to. That he treated her with the utmost respect and dignity was not lost on her. They celebrated the ¡°New Year¡± with an Elvish dance she taught him and at the end of the night, she gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek.
¡°Thank you, Adam, for sharing the customs of your homeland with me. I can honestly say that I have not had a more pleasant, peaceful night in some time.¡±
¡°You are most welcome, Adaline. Thank you for sharing this night with me also.¡±
Adaline walked to her room and locked her door behind her as was her habit. Adam also made his way upstairs to his room.
The next morning Adaline was at the table drinking a strong herbal tea. It seemed that hangovers could even affect dragons too.
Whispering softly, Adam said, ¡°Good morning, I hope you slept well?¡±
Adaline looked up from her tea and smiled. ¡°Good morning, Adam. No, I do not have a hangover. I¡¯ve just been doing a lot of thinking. Please do not interrupt and understand that what I¡¯m about to say to you comes from a place of deep respect. Fear led me to this point, but respect draws forth my breath now.¡±
Adam nodded and motioned for her to continue as he sat down opposite her.
¡°First, I would like to assure you that should that attack have succeeded I most likely would have stepped in to protect you. The last two months that you have shown me hospitality have honestly been the happiest days for me in a very long time. However, I had absolutely no time to react or help. Though, I know that you discerned that I¡¯d been up there watching the assassin for just about as long as he¡¯d been there. I figure you tracked my movements with a common skill but noticed that you could not see me. That was because I used an invisibility spell.¡± She paused for a moment, took a sip of her tea, and then continued.
¡°When you struck, I realized then and there that I had been extremely lucky that you had not decided to kill me while I was unconscious. I do have a lot of hit points but have no doubt that you could have finished me off if you¡¯d chosen to. I did not see the combat logs for those attacks yesterday, but I figure you took something like four actual actions within a second. That is literally unheard of. Then the speed you moved at. You moved so fast yet did not leave a shockwave or disturb the air. When my eyes finally found you again you had already smashed the assassin''s head into the stone and done so with such precise controlled fury that his head had exploded and you had taken no damage. Legends speak of Monk-type individuals that could perform actions like that, but I had never thought to witness someone pulling off such a feat in front of me.¡± She paused for a moment collecting herself then continued.
¡°In the simplest terms, I can explain my nature is evil, as you surmised. There are different types of evil in this world, and we are anathema to those of good normally but in my case and a few like me, our ¡°evil¡± revolves around one core idea. That of selfish self-interest which revolves around self-preservation. After what I witnessed yesterday, both the response to the attack made against you and the delightful night we spent together I can and will say that I will never raise my breath, claw, or tail against thee. There is no gain to be made from such a foolish endeavor and truthfully the power you displayed yesterday both outside and inside your home here, they were intoxicating.¡± She paused again
Adam was too shocked to speak for a moment but then asked, ¡°Exactly what are you trying to ask me, Adaline?¡±
Adaline looked back into her tea, then up into Adam¡¯s eyes. ¡°If you could have this evil-hearted dragon as a friend, I would ask for that.¡±
Adam realized what that simple request had cost her to ask and moved to sit in a chair next to her. Reaching gently for her hand he held it in his and looked deeply into her eyes. ¡°In my world, your actions toward self-preservation would not be considered inherently evil, though I¡¯m sure some of the actions you¡¯ve taken throughout your long life are judged as such. And I will be honest and say that no one knows what the future holds or how our future actions will be judged, yours or mine. That said, I would be honored to have the evil-hearted dragon whose hand I now hold as a friend in this crazy world.¡± He said with a smile.
Adaline looked back into his eyes and then did something completely unexpected. She jumped up like a little schoolgirl, squealed, and hugged him as she laughed merely.
Adam was surprised but hugged her back.
Adaline smiled mischievously. ¡°Well, it¡¯s good to know that you can be surprised in a good way too at least,¡± she said with false innocence.
Adam laughed as he said, ¡°You sneaky old girl.¡±
Adaline moved as if to lightly slap him, then stopped. Thought about it and stepped back as she said ¡°No roughhousing until the vow is up. Slapping you, or you slapping me, even lightly, could almost be construed as an attack. Better not to test that. If we need another vow, we¡¯ll need to make sure that accidental damage while roughhousing doesn¡¯t count as an attack next time.¡±
Adam nodded. ¡°Good call. Question, what are you going to do today?¡±
Adaline smiled. ¡°Well, you know that corpse you threw off the mountain last night. I¡¯m sure it drew some attention to itself so after we¡¯re done here I was thinking about going out and supplementing my diet with something a little more juicy.¡± She said with a smile.
Adam didn¡¯t even grimace. He was starting to understand Adaline and her needs and truth be told if she was out there hunting, he didn¡¯t have to worry about critters he didn¡¯t want to deal with encroaching on his home. ¡°Sounds good. I need to get back to studying. I have learned a lot over the last two months but there are so many books down there and it takes time to go through all of them. It¡¯s going to be about another 30 or so days before I¡¯m ready to venture South towards the city. Feel free to come and go as you please and we¡¯ll try to get together and talk during the nights you''re around. I may even introduce you to some more contemporary music from my world, which I guarantee you have never heard the like of before.¡±
¡°Sounds good, Adam. I think I¡¯m going to head out now though. I did have fun last night, and this morning¡¯s talk was good, but I am a dragon and I need to fly and flex.¡±
¡°Have fun, I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll talk again soon.¡±
Adaline stood, walked to the front door, stepped out into the morning, and shifted back into a black dragon as the door closed. He heard her flap her wings then she was gone.
¡°That went well¡± Abi commented.
¡°Yeah, I¡¯m beginning to think I understand her a little more.¡± His thoughts returned to not being able to see Adaline yesterday as he said, ¡°not being able to see invisible creatures. I think I¡¯m going to ask Eric to bring up the spell books and start going through them to see what spells Apolyn had here. Can¡¯t learn them all of course, nor would I try but spells like Detect Invisibility, Invisibility, and who knows what else might come in handy.¡±
¡°Sounds Like a plan. I must admit you haven¡¯t been finding as many skills as I thought you would from that deeper library¡± In fact the only prompts you¡¯ve earned and leveled are:
Congratulations, you have learned ¡°Common Magical Lore.¡± You have learned about the eight primal spheres of magic. Air, Life, Water, Dark, Earth, Death, Fire and Light. 1% chance per skill level to be able to learn new spells from these spheres of magic
Congratulations, you have learned ¡°Master Magical Lore.¡± You have learned about the next circle of magic outside of the Primary circle of magical spheres. 1% per skill level to be able to learn new spells from the Magical spheres, Mental, Proper, Gravity, Time, Space, and Anti Magic.
Congratulations, you have learned ¡°Rare Magical Lore.¡± You have learned about the next circle of magic. 1% per skill level to be able to learn new spells from the Magical Spheres, Spirit, Absolute, Order, and Putrescent
Congratulations, you have learned ¡°Mythic Magical Lore.¡± You have learned about the sphere of Soul Magic. 1% per skill level to be able to learn new spells from the Magical sphere, Soul
Congratulations, you have learned ¡°Legendary Magical Lore.¡± You have learned about the last two spheres of Magic. 1% per skill level to be able to learn new spells from the Magical sphere, Divine and Chaos
¡°And while useful by themselves. Wait a minute. Adam, did you level Legendary Magical Lore to 101 last night?¡±
Thinking about it for a second and reviewing his personal interface he responded ¡°No, right before I went to check on Adaline, I achieved level 1 through my Jack of all Trades ability but then I got sidetracked and forgot all about it. Why?¡±
¡°Spend the skill experience. I have a feeling¡± she said
Abi¡¯s feelings usually turned out okay, like a Spidey sense for good things so he did as she requested and directed his banked skill experience to level Legendary Magical Lore to level 100.
Congratulations, through hard work you have studied and learned all the knowledge there is to know concerning the various types of magic. The level of dedication required to reach skill level 100 in all Magical Lore skills grants you the ability: Identity.
By simply concentrating on a spell, spell effect, or item you can automatically recognize any spell you have learned. Additionally, if you concentrate on an item for one full minute you can determine if it is magical and have a chance to determine its magical properties. Chance to determine property of magic item +1% per skill level ¨C 1% per item level.
¡°Holy shit!¡± Adam exclaimed. He¡¯d need an ability like this for sure. The ability to determine if something was magical and what it could do. He¡¯d absolutely needed a skill or ability like that.
¡°Thought so,¡± Abi said smugly. ¡°I think you need to ask Eric if there is a Tomb in either Library concerning Legendary Monsters. You have the Legendary Creatures skill but not the Legendary Monsters. I wonder if there is an ability like Identify except usable against creatures and monsters.¡± Abi said thoughtfully.
Excited, Adam quickly made his way towards the upstairs library and walked up to Erik. ¡°Erik, sorry to interrupt. I was wondering, is there a tome either up here or downstairs concerning Legendary Monsters?¡±
Eric thought for a moment then stood, moving to one of the walls close by. He pulled a book forward and pushed a button directly behind it. Off to the side of the bookcase, a panel slid open and Eric pulled out a tome. ¡°I believe this is what you¡¯re looking for.¡±
Dumbfounded, Adam took the book from Eric, turned as if to go, turned back, turned to go, turned back, then shook his head and settled himself at the desk next to Eric. He¡¯d have to ask Eric about other hidden books later.
For the next 10 hours, Adam hardly moved. He went over the books from front to back at least three times and at the end of the day was rewarded when his Jack of All Trades ability activated
Congratulations, you have learned the ¡°Fundamentals of Recognizing Legendary Monsters.¡± You have a 1% chance per skill level of recognizing Legendary Monsters and remembering their attack types and weaknesses.
Immediately he directed his skill experience to level the skill to 100 and was pleasantly surprised when a trumpet went off.
Congratulations, through hard work you have studied and learned all the knowledge there is to know concerning recognizing creatures and monsters. The level of dedication required to reach level 100 in ten different skills has granted you Legendary Ability. Analyze.
Analyze can be used in two ways:
First, by simply concentrating on a creature or monster up to 1 foot away per ability level you can determine the creature''s or Monster type, level, name, and hit points. This does not require a roll and is automatic though defenses, skills, abilities, or spells placed on the target can prevent this ability from working.
If you are able to touch the creature and use Analyze, you have a 1% chance per ability level to know the strengths and weaknesses of the creature or monster you are touching. Defenses, skills, abilities, or spells placed on the target can reduce your ability to analyze them.
Two new abilities in as many minutes and both extremely useful. His luck attribute must have been working overtime.
Chapter 23, A Gods Will
(Day 105) July 7th, 2034 Center of Earth¡¯s Universe
Raphael came into the God¡¯s study silently and stood patiently.
¡°Yes,¡± the God asked.
¡°The changes the mortal made to the race of Humans on Earth has reduced the number of souls released significantly,¡± Raphael asked.
¡°How significantly? the God asked.
¡°Enough that there have been less than 100,000 deaths in the last 18 Earth months¡± he replied.
¡°The overall effect?¡±
¡°The overall effect is less than 1% of 1% ¡°
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¡°Negligible,¡± The God said.
¡°Thor¡± the God chuckled ¡°This new Thor is expanding throughout its section of the Milky Way quickly. It has already spread into every star system within 10,000 light-years and will soon come into contact with another civilization that is centuries ahead of Earth. If conflict erupts the souls released from both sides should increase.¡±
¡°The Lexi,¡± Raphael asked.
¡°Yes, hyper-intelligent, militaristic, and Isolationist. I do not think they will take kindly to being invaded by a technology they cannot understand.¡± The God paused for a moment. ¡°I believe it¡¯s time for one of the Lexi¡¯s scientists to discover the human race, which is only 26,000 light-years from their home star.
¡°As you will it, so shall it be. Raphael said, then turned on his heel and left the God to his musings.
The God watched Raphael go. There would of course be souls freed but humanity wasn¡¯t going to be releasing very many of theirs anytime soon. Instead, the Lexi were about to be decimated. Thor was living up to his namesake. If he somehow developed a Soul? He mused. Well, then a being worthy of the name Thor he would definitely be. It would be interesting to see how Thor decided to cross the intergalactic gaps.
Chapter 24, Leaving the Abode
(Day 105) Februarius 11th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
Through the months of Ianuarius and Februarius Adam continued to study the tomes he could and tried to start reviewing the spell books Eric showed him. There was a common entry on each page that he could make out but then the rest of the text was gibberish to him. Or a more important way to say it. He knew he could imprint the contents of the books into his spell slots because the option came up, but he wouldn¡¯t know exactly what he was learning permanently. Something like what a dumbass politician once said back on Earth when the people were asking to see what was in a bill before it was signed, "We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it." The people hired her dumb ass, they asked to see what she was working on, and she said something that was stupidly arrogant. One of the most absolutely idiotic statements ever uttered. There was no way Adam was going to give up permanent spell slots until he knew exactly what he was going to get. Some entries looked like the names of spells from the RPGs he¡¯d read before, but he was wary to assume they¡¯d do exactly what he thought they¡¯d do from a game. He did not have the knowledge to make informed decisions about what he should do so he held off on learning spells.
The other thing he¡¯d done was try to utilize his Identify skill on the items he¡¯d recovered from the Ranger Assassin. He found 3 Platinum 12 Gold, 15 Silver, and 8 copper. The items had been interesting but ultimately a letdown. Though his Identify skill did notice the telltale magic incorporated in every coin he¡¯d picked from Alberon¡¯s coin pouch. After which he¡¯d checked the coins in his treasury and noticed the same. It looked like Abi had been correct as neither opal had a magical fingerprint. The opal he created looked like the one he¡¯d copied. He moved all coins and gems to his treasury and then used Identify on the rest of the gear. The bow was a Composite Longbow of Striking. It offered a +1 to attack and damage. He also found two more level 50 fireball arrows which once identified confirmed what Abi had surmised. On impact, they would do 10d10 x 50 points of damage to everything within a 20-foot radius. While the attack probably wouldn¡¯t have hurt him too badly, those arrows could be quite dangerous. He moved the bow and arrows down to the armory and left them there.
The last item he found that was magical was a Belt of Holding that wasn¡¯t soulbound to anyone, well it was now. He¡¯d put it on and had been able to activate and use it. Inside the belt, he¡¯d found the common supplies a Ranger might need to survive a trek through the wilderness. It looked like the belt had a 30 x 20 grid structure and reduced all carried weight by 90%. There were 3 waterskins, 7 days of food rations, a bedroll, and a tent as well as other items the ranger might have needed to climb a rock face or tree. The belt was a truly wonderful find.
Adam also had a set of Black Leather Armor and a Black Cloak and black clothes; Shirt, pants, and socks, to wear under the armor. Nothing special, but he moved the brown cloak he was wearing to the belt and put on the black cloak. He stored the leather armor and clothes in the armory.
Today wasn¡¯t about thinking about what he¡¯d done or thinking about what he¡¯d studied or reminiscing over the items he¡¯d found. Today, he was considering heading to the city to further his training. He¡¯d learned just about everything he could here. As the months had gone by Adaline had come by around dinner and they had gotten to know each other. She was eating breakfast with him this morning when he started talking.
¡°Well, that¡¯s it for now. Looks like I should be heading south tomorrow. If I¡¯m remembering the maps correctly there is a large city just about 500 miles south and east of here along an inlet that leads out to the ocean. With that new ability to teleport, getting back here won¡¯t be too much of a problem. I¡¯d ask if you wanted to come along but I think for this first foray I¡¯m going to need to go out on my own so I can judge the lay of the land.
¡°Probably for the best as some creatures will be able to discern my nature and alignment with a glance,¡± Adaline said.
Activating his interface, he set Adaline¡¯s access to indefinite. When she received the notification, she looked at him questioningly. ¡°Friends help friends. Just so you know, while there is an even slimmer chance that I can die in this Universe now, should it happen I am soul-bound to return to my Universe. Which means I¡¯ll be back. Giving you permanent access just seems like the proper thing for a friend to do for another friend. Free baths, a bed, and all that. Food-wise, I don¡¯t know how long what¡¯s here will last as I haven¡¯t made any effort to restock the treasury. Though if you come across¡. hold on for a sec, Eric, please come here.¡±
Eric walked into the dining room ¡°Yes master.¡±
¡°If I were to give you a command to take any money or treasure that Adaline drops off in the foyer, could you place it in the Treasury to be used to refill the Larder?¡±
Eric thought about it for a moment then responded. ¡°Yes, though she will not be able to enter the library, treasury, armory, or second library without specific authorization from you.¡±
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¡°Understood,¡± Adam responded. ¡°Second question, can you keep a running total of all donations that she drops off so that when I return, I know how much I owe her?
¡°Easily¡± Erik responded.
¡°Good then from this point on, if Adaline calls for you to make a deposit to the treasury please respond and do so while keeping an accurate list of all donations.¡±
¡°It will be done master¡± Eric responded.
Looking at him quizzically, Adaline asked, ¡°I would donate treasure to your treasury why?¡±
Oh, didn¡¯t I tell you? Gemology is one of the few skills I absolutely mastered back where I¡¯m from and before I ever arrived here. I can do things like this.¡± Holding out his hand he ordered his nanites to create a fist-sized, flawlessly cut, diamond. Once the diamond was shaped and formed he withdrew the nanites from it and handed the diamond to Adaline. ¡°For you¡±
Eyes sparkling, Adaline looked at Adam and said, ¡°You know, you should have started with that trick back when we first met.¡± She looked at the diamond for a full minute before continuing. ¡°So, I would surmise that you can create pretty much any gem rock or metal?¡±
¡°Not exactly¡± Adam answered ¡°For example, I¡¯m absolutely sure that I cannot create Adamantite or any other metal that has magic tied into it in some way. But Gold, Silver, Rubies, Diamonds, Emeralds, and any other normal common metals or gems. Sure. At will and unlimited.¡±
¡°Seriously, you should have started with that. Remember self-interest. Dragon. Dragon Hoard, you are getting what I¡¯m selling here right Adam?¡± she asked.
¡°I see your point,¡± he said smiling. ¡°When I return if there¡¯s something you would like please let me know. If you donate to the treasury, I will give you a return on your donation plus at least 10%. Not going to set a specific bonus because it costs me nothing to make the gems or precious metals. Also, I will probably spoil you more often than not¡± he said with a smile. ¡°Maybe someday, you¡¯ll even invite me to come see this Dragon Hoard you just hinted at?¡±
Adaline¡¯s eyes grew wary then she smiled slyly. ¡°You¡¯d try to make it bigger and drive this old girl crazy as she tried to figure out what you added to it?¡±
¡°Guilty as charged,¡± Adam said laughing.
¡°Someday I may show my hoard to you. But I would have a vow from you that the only way you¡¯d add something to my hoard is by showing it to me first. You have absolutely no idea how particular a girl can be about her treasures, especially girl dragons.¡± Lifting the first-sized diamond, she looked questionably at Adam ¡°Mine, really?¡±
¡°Yes, yours, really. Thank you for spending time with me these last few months. I thoroughly enjoyed our conversations. Now scoot, I can see the gleam in your eye and know that you have a specific spot where you want to put that diamond. I¡¯ll be leaving in the morning. If you stop by later, I¡¯ll conjure up my music box and we can dance for a bit. I might even put on the AC/DC you seemed to like so much the last time we listened to my decadent music.
Adaline leaned over, pecked him on the cheek, and ran out the door calling over her shoulder, ¡°I will be back later¡± as she turned into her black dragon form and flew off.
She might be an Ancient Black Dragon but sometimes, she reminded him of some of the excited teenage girls he¡¯d grown up with. Priceless.
Adaline returned just after dark. They ate, danced, and listened to his ¡®decadent¡¯ music well into the night. Then they each went off to their own beds. In the morning Adam awoke to find Adaline already gone. He went down to the armory and equipped himself to look somewhat normal and placed most of the gear in the Belt of Holding. He went to the treasury and picked up a copper so that he was once again carrying 10 copper, 10 silver, 2 gold, a platinum, and both opals. He then moved the money pouch to the Belt of Holding. If he needed more wealth, he¡¯d either create it or he was sure, run across something that would be salvageable. He made sure that the doors to the secret Library, Treasury, and Armory were closed, then headed upstairs and ordered the stairway in the library to close. He noticed Eric sitting at a desk nearby and he called out.
¡°Eric, I¡¯m about to leave for a while, please take care of our home?¡±
¡°Yes, Master. If I might ask, will you be gone long?¡±
¡°Honestly, no idea.¡±
With that, Adam walked out of the upstairs Library and headed out of his Abode. As he stepped outside into the early morning, He made his way to the trail the assassin had used to reach his abode and started making his way down the mountain. The trail wasn¡¯t treacherous for someone on foot. As he made his way to the edge of the cliff he paused to take in the view. Forests off to the south. A mostly sheer cliff that went off to the east and the west and mountains to the North. He could just see the haze of what he expected to be the Ocean, barely visible along the eastern horizon.
The path led down the mountain in a switch-back pattern. He realized that his Abode sat at least a half, no, closer to a mile above the forest that spread out from the base of the cliff. Also, there were some hills right at the base of the cliff. Excited to finally be doing something he started down the trail. He realized that at a normal pace, without jumping or flying it would probably take him the whole day to get down. He wasn¡¯t in any kind of hurry and truthfully, he was going to have to practice blending in. So, he started down the trail. Slow and steady. Just your normal mortal man climbing down a mountain. Nothing to see here, really.
From her vantage high above Adam, Adaline watched him begin his trek down the mountain. She admitted to herself that she had become fond of this human and that things were more interesting with him. Winging over and turning to the North she began flying for the frozen waste. She had old friends to go see and perhaps a little fun to be had.
Chapter 25, Village by the River
(Day 106) Februarius 12th,12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
The trip down the mountain had been beautiful, but uneventful. This had given Adam plenty of time to think. Specifically, about how magic worked and how spells worked. In the RPG games in his Universe, there had always been this idea that as spells became more complex, they were of a higher level or they were harder to cast, which made them a higher level. Here, though it looked as if the spells could be any level between 1 and, well there really wasn¡¯t an upper level but every spell he¡¯d run across had been level 100 or less. He decided to try something. He increased his Cast Fire Magic skill to level 500 by spending 1,147,500,000 experience points. Then aiming at the air off to the side he cast the fireball 500 feet away and read the prompt.
Adam casts Fireball for 40 mana. No target selected. Fireball explodes for 3,927 points of damage (Base 36 x attribute bonus 18.18 x Skill Modifier 6)
Adam reviewed his math and realized that his damage had increased by 500%
His base damage of 36, which could have been any number between 10 and 100 was being modified by his attribute bonus which would give 654. Then that was multiplied by 6, for 600%, which gave the result of 3,927. He guessed that made sense because if a skill level 1 caster cast a fireball and did 1% bonus damage of 36 damage they¡¯d only do .36 damage. If they¡¯d done a base damage of 100 they¡¯d still only do 1 point of damage. So, the formula was more like 100% + 1% per skill level, which made sense.
Skill Level 500 had stepped his category of casting by 6 times. which had increased the power of his fire spells by 6 times. So, his simple fire bolt spell that could do 1 - 4 damage was now doing 6 - 24 damage. If he cast his fire bolt spell, the minimum damage he could do was 654 points of damage. If he achieved a critical strike against the target and did absolute maximum damage he would do 5,236 points of damage.
Granted, creatures with resistances, such as himself might not be damaged by certain magic types but he did have the ability to cast in all eight basic spheres of magic so one of his bolts should be able to affect whatever he was targeting. He¡¯d just have to raise his other seven primary casting skills to 500 then, which he did for another 8,032,500,000 experience.
He¡¯d have to make sure to judge what he was casting at. Also, it seemed that the opposite type of magic did do increased damage so using water versus fire, air versus earth, life versus death, light versus dark, and vice versa was definitely something he¡¯d have to keep in mind while casting.
Lost in his own thoughts, Adam failed to notice that the forest had become eerily quiet. If he¡¯d been paying attention his insanely high perception and investigation skills would have noticed the webs strung throughout the tree canopy above him. Instead, he was surprised by the thick web that suddenly covered and immobilized him and the six spiders, each the size of an adult German Shepherd, that dropped from above to land on and bite him as they injected poison that was meant to immobilize him.
Adam was so absolutely surprised by this turn of events that he froze inside the web. He realized that he could use the nanites to break free if he wished but he paused for a moment. The six bite attacks had hurt, and he could tell that a poison had been injected into him but the nanites had automatically blocked the poison and were already repairing the damage to his skin. With his normal healing rate, he¡¯d be back to full health in two seconds. As he was thinking these thoughts he heard voices in the distance.
¡°He¡¯s over there. I saw them get him with their web!¡± a gruff male voice called in common.
¡°Landril, scare them away¡± another voice barked.
A muffled word and then a bright flash came through the web covering his face and he heard the spiders near him scurry off. Listening carefully, he heard five individuals make their way to where he was webbed.
¡°Yeah, that¡¯s him, Landril, can you do something about that web?¡± the gruff voice asked.
¡°Sure thing Raz, one sec,¡± Landril said. There were more muttered words and the webs covering Adam fell away. He blinked his eyes and noticed five humanoids looking at him with interest.
The gruff one, who looked like what Adam would classically call a Dwarf, looked at Adam and then noted that his eyes were being followed by Adam. ¡°He looks alright. Must have scared off the little buggers before they could inject him with their poison, or else he¡¯d be out for days.¡± Turning to Adam Raz asked, ¡°You okay fella?¡±
¡°I am now, Thank you,¡± Adam said.
Raz slapped Adam on the back lightly and smiled ¡°No worries, we were in the area. Though I don¡¯t remember there being such an infestation. We¡¯ll need to head back towards Landril¡¯s people to let them know what we found. Which way are you headed?¡± Raz asked.
Adam took in the five people looking at him. Raz looked to be a Dwarf. Landril was some sort of Elf and the other three, either humans, half-humans, and something or more elves. He couldn¡¯t really tell. Then he remembered he had Analyze which he used.
Analyze: Success. Raz, Level 25 Male Dwarf Fighter, HP 161
Analyze: Success: Landril, Level 20 Male Wood Elf Sorcerer, HP 41
Analyze: Success: Percephany. Level 9 Female Wood Elf Fighter, HP 54
Analyze: Success: Belinder. Level 8 Male Half Wood Elf Fighter, HP 46
Analyze: Success: Tor. Level 7 Male Human Fighter, HP 47
¡°I was trying to head towards the city to the southwest. Supposed to be something like a 25-day walk from here?¡± Adam asked.
Raz nodded thoughtfully. You¡¯re probably talking about the City of Venoran. It¡¯s about 25 days south of here, though through the forest it¡¯ll be more like 40 days of travel if you go in a straight line from here. We¡¯re not going that far but the place we are going is sort of on the way and will lead to a road that will cut down on your total travel time. Care to join us?¡± Raz asked.
¡°Sure, I¡¯m new to the area and am sort of lost so any help would be much appreciated,¡± Adam said.
¡°Understandable. Well, I¡¯m sure you heard me say Landril¡¯s name. The other three are Percephany, Belinder, and Tor. We were out scouting because we¡¯d heard that a dragon had been sighted over this way flying up in the mountains. Reports said it wasn¡¯t attacking anything that left it alone and these young¡¯uns thought it would be cool to see one. Of course, then we came across you getting overrun by a nest of spiders, and here we are.¡±
Adam nodded. ¡°And again, thank you for your help. Question, should we be on our way? Will the spiders be back soon?
Landril said, ¡±I cast a spider repulsion spell. It¡¯s not very powerful but for the next hour, unless we attack them, spiders of all types will find other prey to go after. We¡¯re just not worth the effort. To answer your question though, yes, we should be on our way.¡±
Raz pipped in. ¡°You heard the man. Belinder and Percephany you have point. Tor you have our backs. Landril and I will keep our new friend company while we make our way back to the village. Let¡¯s Move!¡±
The party set off at a good pace that Adam easily kept up with. For the next three hours, they made their way southeast until the forest started to thin out and Adam could hear running water in the distance. Soon after they came to a stream and followed it south until they came to the outskirts of a village
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There were wood elves with bows drawn as they came into view but once they realized who was coming into the village bows were stowed and a good-natured conversation started to ring out.
¡°Raz, you guys find anything today?¡±
¡°Heard you were looking for dragons. You¡¯re back, guess you didn¡¯t find one.¡±
Raz laughed and steered the party towards the central open area.
As they moved into the clearing Raz guided Adam before three Elves who had stepped out of one of the small huts close by.
The first turned to Raz and spoke in a soft voice that was easily heard by all, ¡°Raz, who have you brought before us?¡±
Raz turned to Adam, thought for a moment, and then shrugged sheepishly. ¡°Honestly Elder, I do not know. In the excitement, I forgot to ask for his name.¡±
The Elder turned to Adam and spoke ¡°I am one of the three Elders of the Village by the River, as our little village is called. Might I ask your name?¡±
Adam turned to the Elder ¡°Our course. I am Adam, a traveler who had the good fortune to be rescued by your scout party from a clutch of spiders that attacked me while I was traveling through the forest.¡±
¡°Spiders, you say?¡± The elder asked as she turned to Raz questioningly.
¡°Yes, Elder. The trees north of here are infested with them right now. If not for Landril¡¯s magic, we might have had some problems.¡±
The Elder contemplated things for a moment then turned to Adam. ¡°Please feel free to refresh yourself by the stream. There¡¯s a pitcher of water and some cheese and bread. While you refresh yourself I will speak with Raz after which we will call for you.¡±
Adam bowed his head slightly and said ¡°I thank you for the hospitality. I will await your summons by the stream. With that, Adam walked over to a table and picked up the pitcher of water and a small glass. He poured himself a drink and drank deeply. Setting the pitcher and glass down when he was done, Adam settled into a classic meditation pose near the bank of the river and waited.
Adam didn¡¯t have to wait too long, only about an hour or so before Raz came up to him. ¡°Adam? The elders are ready to speak with you now.¡± Raz asked.
Standing in one smooth motion, Adam smiled at Raz and in a gentle voice said, ¡°Please lead the way.¡±
Raz led Adam to a small hut with a single-flap door. As they were walking up Adam noticed that some of the hunters he¡¯d seen earlier were heading north in parties of at least ten. It looked like they were heading out to deal with the spiders. Pulling the flap to the hut aside, Raz ushered Adam in.
The only elder that has spoken thus far sat in a chair facing the door. Another elder to her left and her right. ¡°Enter and be welcome, Traveler Adam.¡±
Adam entered and stepped to the middle of the room in front of the chairs. Moving into the military position of attention, he brought both of his hands together and relaxed as he sat down on the ground in front of the elders to lower himself before them. A simple psychological ploy, but one that should help in this situation.
The Elder smiled and began. ¡°For the purposes of this conversation the three of us,¡± she said motioning to her two fellow elders are the leaders and elders of this village. If you speak to one of us, you speak to all of us. First, we would like to know who, or what, you are before we begin our conversation. To know this, I will require you to lower your defenses so that we might evaluate and consider how best to proceed. If this is not acceptable, we would ask that you continue to share the tradition of Hospitality and depart. If this is acceptable, we would request that you lower your defenses so that I might divine your true nature which will require me to place my hand on your forehead, would that be acceptable?¡± she asked.
And there¡¯s the rub, Adam thought. ¡°Honored Elder. I have nothing to hide but must give this warning. I do not know what will happen if I lower my defenses and allow you to fully divine my nature. I do not fear that you will be physically harmed. I am concerned, however, that the amount of information you will discover may overwhelm you. With that warning, I have nothing to hide and would freely offer myself to any divination by you.¡±
The Elder cocked her head. Adam could almost see the smugness in her gaze as he realized that the stuffy old elf stereotype might be accurate, and he might be looking at one. Thinking to himself ¡°Laugh it up fuzzball¡± he made sure to set his nanites to passive and let Abi know to recede away from his consciousness so that she couldn¡¯t be detected.
¡°Thank you for the concern, Adam, I think I will be fine,¡± the elder said as she stood and walked toward Adam placing her hand on his forehead. She offered a prayer in Elvish ¡°Through Serena¡¯s will may knowledge be known¡±
The Level High Elf Cleric Jasilla is attempting to cast the spell Divine Insight on you. Resist, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°No¡±. Immediately, Jasilla¡¯s eyes rolled into the back of her head, she moaned, then dropped to a knee muttering ¡°So Much?¡± questionably. Adam sat unmoving allowing the Elder to compose herself, which took a few minutes. She stood slowly, Jasilla made her way back to her seat and sat down heavily as the other two elders looked on with trepidation.
¡°Be at ease, my friends. This man is not an enemy.¡± The elder said as she touched each of the other elders with the brush of a finger from each hand. ¡°Though I would venture to say that my Goddess has found extreme delight in reminding me what it is to be humble on this day.¡±
Adam watched and waited as he saw various questions enter the Elder''s eyes, then fade, then new questions would alight in her gaze, then fade. Finally, she spoke. ¡°Adam. First, I would like to welcome you. It seems that you have come a very long way to visit us. Additionally, I would like to congratulate you on your recent success. As you did not resist my spell I was able to discern everything you know and the abilities and skills you possess. Which brings me to an observation. Did you know that the skills you possess are not quite right?¡±
Adam looked up. ¡°Not quite, right?¡± he asked.
¡°Some skills you possess, look like you have recently learned them. For instance, the language we are speaking now. This skill feels correct and is comparable to my own skill in the language. During my divination, I noticed the skills you have and while they share the same name as skills I¡¯m familiar with, they are not the same. As an example, your skill tracking. Your tracking skill does not work exactly as it should here. In the simplest terms, I can explain the will of the gods and the elements is in everything here. That will is an expression of the forces that bind this world and its creatures together. We are all connected in this. Thus, Skills and abilities are connected to this network of thought and power at all levels. Many of your skills are not.
¡°I think I understand,¡± he said hesitantly. ¡°Why is this important?¡±
The Elder nodded thoughtfully for a moment trying to think of the best way to explain. ¡°While I do not understand everything I saw on your personal interface when I just reviewed it I did see your attribute levels and your skill levels. One thing I noticed though was that you have no class listed. As I¡¯m sure you have noticed, my class is that of a cleric, Raz is a fighter, as are three of the other members of his scout party and Landril is a Sorcerer. You, Adam, do not have a class. After looking over your information the reason is quite simple. You do not meet the prerequisite skills for any class. Your weapon masteries and unarmed combat skills are impressive, but they do not take advantage of the will of the gods or any of the benefits that having a truly legendary skill here provides. ¡°
Adam thought for a moment then asked ¡°So, the skills I have from my origin point, they allow me to act in a way that is familiar to this world, but not in a way that is part of this world?¡±
The elder nodded. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s it exactly. You will not need to relearn everything from scratch, you will need to dedicate yourself to learning new skills that will feel a lot like your old skills but will definitely have differences.¡±
¡°I think I understand,¡± Adam stated. ¡°Is this something that members of your village would be willing to help me with and if so, at what cost?¡± he asked.
¡°As is true in this, and every Universe, nothing is free.¡± The elder responded. ¡°In this case, however, I believe helping you will help us. Power calls to power and it would seem that your success up in the mountains has started to draw the attention of powers that might wish to strip or destroy such power. Powerful creatures and monsters will be drawn to you and your Place of Power naturally. As we are but a stone¡¯s throw, literally from you I would guess, away from your Place of Power, helping you learn the ways of this world so you can better defend yourself, and us, serve us both. For this help, we would ask that you defend this village to the utmost of your ability, help where you can, and learn as much as we can teach you. Would this be acceptable?¡±
Adam thought it over for a moment then responded. ¡°I have been trying to learn as much as possible since I arrived just over 3 months ago. I had hit a point where I didn¡¯t seem to be making as much progress as I thought I should have and everything you have just told me provides an understandable reason for why I would have such issues. I am hesitant to make agreements when I am unsure of the motive of the other party so I will say this. So long as you are honest and true with me, I will be honest and true with you. I will defend your village to the utmost of my ability and will help as I can around the village as you help me learn the actual ways of this world. I make no commitment to how long I will stay but will at least inform you if I must leave for any reason. Is such a commitment acceptable?¡± he asked.
¡°More than acceptable Adam.¡± The elder stated. ¡°I need to share the information I learned from you with my fellow elders but know that no other in this village will be willingly privy to that information unless you share it.¡± Calling out, the elder said ¡°Raz!¡± The flap was pulled aside and Raz entered. ¡°Please find accommodations for our new friend Adam here. He will be staying with us for a while and training.¡±
¡°As you wish, Elder,¡± Raz said.
Adam stood smoothly ¡°Thank you for your generosity,¡± Adam said to the Elder and then followed Raz out of the hut. Raz led him to another building where Adam was shown a small cozy area that while not a truly personal space, was private enough.
¡°Abi, thoughts?¡± he queried.
¡°What she said does make a kind of sense. Remember, I told you I have felt more normal since we arrived. The skills you learned in a Universe devoid of magic might not get all the same benefits that someone from here would have with a comparable skill. My suggestion would be to start with something simple that you know and go from there. You know how to use bows. Try to learn their techniques from here and see if you notice any changes. If you truly need to relearn the skill here, you should still be able to direct the skill points you banked at it. As for the class question. You have a character level, though class levels here give inherent benefits. If you could gain a class the special perks may become available to you. Won¡¯t know until it happens though.¡±
Chapter 26, I Thought I Knew Everything, I Was Wrong.
(Day 114) Februarius 20th,12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
Over the next 8 days, Adam rose early in the morning and worked with members of the village on various tasks. He watched as parties headed off to the north to deal with the spider infestation and had even offered to go help. Raz had told him everything was going well and not to worry about it. So, Adam tried to forget everything he¡¯d learned back home and relearn each skill from scratch. Abi was of course right, which she rubbed in. Eventually, it was Archery that allowed him the breakthrough he needed to recognize the difference in skills between his Universe and this one and to figure out how to begin training in earnest.
He¡¯d been banging his head trying to figure out what he was doing wrong. Raz had picked up on his frustration.
¡°Adam, it¡¯s not that you¡¯re doing anything wrong. It seems more like you¡¯re not allowing yourself to feel the process. Tell you what. I have an idea for tomorrow. I Need to get some things together then you and I will go off and we¡¯ll see what we will see.¡± Raz had said as they stopped his training for the day.
¡°At this point Raz, I¡¯m willing to try anything,¡± he¡¯d replied.
He woke and they walked off to a clearing not far from the Village. Raz turned to Adam and held out a Longbow and a quiver of 20 arrows for him. Adam took them with a questioning look on his face as he asked. ¡°You know I know how to shoot a bow right?¡±
¡°Ye do. But do you know how to do it when you turn off all of your skill and attribute bonuses?¡± Raz asked.
¡°What, you mean I can modify that?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Absolutely, just activate your interface. Then you need to go into your attribute settings and look for a category under each attribute that¡¯s titled ¡®adjusted¡¯ Then you just set the value in that field to whatever you want. Some of us skilled fighters will reduce our strength when training so that we don¡¯t accidentally kill one of our trainees, no matter how much we want to.¡± Raz said with a grin. ¡°You can also do the same for skill level. However, in this case. Go find whatever archery skill you''re defaulting to and set that zero, so you¡¯ll be as if you had no skill. Set your base attributes to 10. You don¡¯t lose the attributes, that just becomes their effective level for attack and damage adjustments. Before you ask, I¡¯m having you set your base attributes to 10 because 10 is considered the normal average attribute. If you have a 10 you¡¯re normal. 9 you¡¯re a little weaker. 11 you¡¯re a little stronger, got it?¡±
¡°Yeah Raz, I got it¡± he¡¯d responded. Then he¡¯d gone into his interface and set his ¡°adjusted¡± attributes to 10. Opening up his skill window, he set each archery and ranged weapon skill he had from back home to 0, just in case. He didn¡¯t want something like a skill synergy effect messing up his ability to learn a skill.¡±
¡°All set?¡± Raz asked.
¡°I think so,¡± he said, picking up the bow and notching an arrow. The next half hour was a testament to how humble Adam was willing to be. He shot his 20 arrows, missing most of the time. Retrieved them. Apologized when he broke a couple of arrows and kept on trying to hit the targets Raz designated. Finally, Adam was rewarded with a ¡®Ding!¡± and a blue prompt.
Congratulations, you have learned the skill Archery. For 25 stamina you may use a bow to attack a target. This skill provides a +1 bonus to hit per skill level and Critical Strikes do double damage.
To achieve a critical hit against a target simply roll 100 higher than required to hit the target. Critical hits automatically do maximum damage before the damage multiple is added.
Strength multiplier, if applicable, is added after all other calculations. The Strength Multiplier is limited by the strength of the material of the bow to channel that strength. Utilizing Strength greater than the durability of the bow will severely damage it. If the durability reaches zero the bow is destroyed.
Adam read over the prompt and then thought about how Archery was worded in the description of his original skill. There really wasn¡¯t any description in his original version. Nor did magic in any way limit or help with the skill. Here he was looking at a skill that explained exactly how it interacted and exactly what he could do with it. Level 1 though. He was going to fix that right now. He willed his saved skill XP and directed it to level the Archery skill to level 500.
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Congratulations you have increased your Archery skill to 500. Few achieve such heights. In addition to the normal benefits based on skill level, specifically the +500% to hit on any attack you also receive the following benefits:
At skill level 100 you learned a new Technique: Follow Up. For 50 stamina you can fire a second arrow once per combat round (second) as part of any attack you make. Your chance to hit is reduced by half. This does not count as an action and takes place between attacks. If you make multiple attacks with a bow in a single combat round you may still only use the Technique one time per combat round.
At skill level 200 you learned a Technique: Multi-shot. For 75 stamina you can fire three arrows at a single or multiple targets. If fired at one target the first arrow has a +10% Chance to hit. The 2nd and 3rd Arrows each have a normal chance to hit. If fired at more than one target, One arrow at one target, 2 arrows at another, or 1 arrow at three separate targets all Arrows have their chance to hit reduced by 66%. Multi-Shot can be utilized during extra attacks in a single round. Triple all stamina costs. 1st attack: 75 stamina (25x3). 2nd attack: 375 stamina (25x3 + 100x3), 3rd Attack: 675 stamina, (25x3 + 200x3), 4th attack: 1,275 Stamina (25x3 + 400x3).
At skill level 300 you learned a Technique: Extended Range. For 100 stamina arrows, you can fire can travel twice as far. No other penalties incurred.
At skill level 400 you learned a Technique: Piercing Shot. For 200 Stamina and 100 Mana arrows, you fire ignore a percentage of the target''s armor per skill level above 400. At skill level 401, Arrows fired using a Piercing shot ignore 1% + .1% (rounded down) of the target''s armor per skill level above 400. At skill level 500, 51% of the armor is ignored. Magical armor and Barriers are unaffected by this technique.
At skill level 500 you learned the Technique: Artillery Shot. For 300 Stamina arrows you fire have triple range as they are shot in an arc and will find their target. Cover negated.
Immediately Adam drew an arrow and shot a ¡°Double Shot¡± at one of the targets Raz had previously used. Because his adjusted stamina was just 10 he could only use 100 stamina without his adjusted attribute being ignored and his normal stamina flooding in. He spent 75 stamina and let both arrows fly. His first arrow hit exactly where he¡¯d been aiming as the 2nd came right up the shaft of the first disintegrating it. He was so excited that it had worked that he yelled ¡°Yeah!¡±
Raz, who had been watching Adam looked on in shocked awe as Adam in mere moments went from missing almost every shot to performing a special attack that he knew most archers worked long and hard to learn. Turning to Adam he asked, ¡°So I take it you learned the skill Archery?¡±
Smiling Adam answered, ¡°Yes my friend. You were right. To learn here, I needed to let go of all my previous knowledge and work from the ground up. As if I were a newborn child. I think I may finally start to make some progress.¡±
¡°I am glad that it worked but I am confused,¡± Raz said. ¡°I have seen the attack you just used and know that to do that the archer must be very proficient in their Archery skill.¡± Waving his hands in a back-and-forth gesture ¡°You just learned the skill?¡± he asked questioningly
Thinking about how to answer, Adam finally answered. ¡°Simply, I have an ability that allows me to focus any unused experience into skills to help me level them faster. I can save up any amount of experience, as far as I can tell, and use it to rapidly level the skills I have. When I just learned Archery I used some of that experience to level my new Archery skill. Read the prompt and use one of my new attacks.¡±
¡°One of your new attacks?¡± Raz asked. ¡°What skill level did you raise your skill to?¡± he asked.
¡°500,¡± he responded truthfully
¡°500, as in skill level 500 in Archery?¡± he asked excitedly.
¡°Sure, though because I¡¯ve limited my normal attributes I can¡¯t utilize all the new features of the skill yet but, yeah, Archery skill is at level 500.¡±
Raz looked at Adam with a bit of awe in his eyes. ¡°That¡¯s amazing,¡± he said. Then he shook his head and continued. ¡°I think we¡¯re done for today. We have had success, I¡¯m tired and I need an Ale. I think you could use one too. Besides, we can get back to training tomorrow.¡±
¡°Sounds Good to me Raz. I¡¯m just happy that your idea worked out. I was getting so frustrated.¡±
Raz looked at his friend and said ¡°I know you were. The elders did let slip to me that you might not know the ways of our world or exactly how things work. As me Da always said, ¡®When there is confusion about something, go back to the basics.¡¯ For you, I took that to mean treating you as if you were a wee lad and starting your training as if you¡¯d never held a bow in your life. As the idea worked I believe as we move forward you need to make sure you set any skill from where you come from to zero and your adjusted stats to 10 so that nothing can corrupt or overcome what we¡¯re trying to teach you.
¡°I had the same thought, Raz. Enough talk let¡¯s go get that ale, or maybe two, and celebrate!¡± he said happily. The two walked back towards the village. Laughing the whole way. They had an ale, then another, and another.
Chapter 27, The Lexi
(Day 156) May 17th, 2036, Earth
It had been 2 years and 10 months since Johnathan went through the portal. It also looked like another of Johnathan¡¯s predictions was about to come true. Thor had detected gravitational distortions entering his sphere of control headed directly for Earth, Earth II, Earth III, Earth IV, and Trappist-1e. With so many on the way and moving directly towards each of the main planets of Humanity odds approached Unity that this was to be an attack. Thor had prepared for this day since Johnathan had made the prediction and believed himself to be ready.
As soon as the distortions trajectories had been analyzed he¡¯d moved Abi and Amanda as well as her family to one of the backup sites that had been created farthest from the direction of the encroachment into his sphere of influence. He also prepared to control and move every single human in existence to safety if his calculations were off. Thor had tried to create safe havens separated by hundreds of light-years scattered through his area of influence. Currently, he had at least ten planets that would serve as lifeboats for humanity. The ¡°lifeboats¡± were not exact copies of Earth and had no infrastructure. Thor surmised that most of humanity would rather be without amenities for a couple of days or weeks than be destroyed so he wasn¡¯t overly concerned. Humanity would survive, which was his primary consideration. Amanda and Abi watched from the command center they were in.
¡°At exactly 12:35 EST two hundred spaceships, each cylindrical in shape measuring 12 kilometers long and 2,500 meters in diameter, appeared around all five planets. The nanites Thor had in orbit could not penetrate the energy barriers that appeared around each which was something he¡¯d have to investigate when he had time. One picosecond later 124,000,000 portals opened inside each ship¡¯s energy barriers, spaced equally. This happened simultaneously in each ship around each planet. Nanites flooded the ships, analyzed the composition and weapons that they were going to launch, and cataloged them for future study. The nanites recorded and removed all organic and inorganic matter they encountered. As the nanites moved to the engineering section of each ship they encountered antimatter containment systems. Thor left the antimatter in the containment device then portaled every containment unit to the other side of the black hole ¡°Unicorn¡± and collapsed that containment. The explosion was orders of magnitude larger than he¡¯d calculated. The black hole absorbed the radiation that escaped in the direction of Earth. Since black holes warped space, some of the light that was emitted would be bent around the Unicorn and eventually make its way to Earth at the speed of light. In 1,500 years or so, there would be a bright flash in the night sky that would last at least a couple of hours. This day, however, to any humans looking up into the night sky some large ships appeared and then evaporated.
Thor analyzed the weapons they¡¯d been carrying. They had been biological in nature and would have killed all living things they¡¯d come into contact with. If the ships had exploded in orbit around any of the planets they would have destroyed or damaged the planet so badly that millions would have died, even with his ability to evacuate everyone simultaneously. Then there would have been the time wasted fixing the damage. So, the species would kill with biological weapons if it could but would suicide to make sure their goals were met.
¡°Thor recreated one of the ships in one of the systems that had nothing except a star in it. Within 3 minutes he had reverse-engineered every system on the ship, understood how they were using anti-matter, which was super dangerous, and had infiltrated the computer system it had recreated. It took another 2 minutes to decipher the language and completely understand their electronics and programming languages. Next, he backtracked the path of the gravimetric distortions the ships had made and investigated the planets near the point where the distortions had started in the 20,000-light-year radius he controlled. Within three minutes he had opened portals all the way out to the 30,000-light-year range and found five planets the ships had originated from. They were roughly 26,000 light-years from Earth.
Thor created a portal into the system the attackers had come from and released his nanites onto a nearby lifeless planet. Nanites from other projects were reassigned and the planetoid was flooded to 100% nanite coverage within a minute. Next, he did the same to the planet the attackers had come from. Then he analyzed and cataloged the entire planet and its species.
The sentient race was called the Lexi. They were carbon-based and humanoid. They could have even been mistaken for humans on a dark night. The only obvious difference between them and humans was pronounced cranial ridges, though they were on the sides of the head and not the forehead, like the Klingon from Star Trek. Because their physical structure was so similar to humans it took Thor only a few seconds to map out and be able to control Lexi as thoroughly as he could control humans when the need arose. While part of him was working on the biological angle another part that was cataloging and monitoring all communications noted that the military was getting ready to launch five ships from the moon.
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Thor opened portals to the moon and infiltrated everything including the ships that were being readied for launch. Reviewing the ship¡¯s armaments Thor found references that he did not understand. It took another 5 minutes for Thor to access every book and computer, and learn their language and science before he understood that the ships were carrying what Thor thought of as Super Nova Bombs. The bombs would be shot into stars causing them to destabilize and explode. They wouldn¡¯t have worked on any of the stars controlled by Thor, because Thor would have disassembled the bombs before they exploded but the technology seemed sound.
Thor destroyed all five ships and took control of the crews and all personnel on the base and had them portal to their closest habitable planet with Lexi on it. Next Thor converted the moon base and all equipment into nanites. Within seconds the base ceased to exist. Those weapons were just too powerful. Next, he destroyed every single piece of military hardware he could find while simultaneously finding every other planet the Lexi had spread to. Within 24 hours he had discovered, mapped, and analyzed a total of 23 planets controlled by the Lexi.
After reviewing all the documents and files he could find concerning their species as well as discovering the aftermath of their eradication of at least 5 other sentient species near their area of influence Thor decided that drastic measures were needed. Every leader, military general, and military officer suddenly died of unknown natural causes. Next, anything that would allow the Lexi to make it into space dissolved into nothing. Also, like Earth, Thor removed all weapons of mass destruction and their infrastructure to make those weapons as well as any natural resources that might be required disappear. Finally, Thor removed all antimatter stockpiles from every planet the Lexi controlled as well as a couple of stockpiles they had hidden away in various moons around a couple of the planets they occupied. Thor considered wiping out the whole race, but Johnathan¡¯s instructions had also been quite clear. ¡°Kill the leaders and take away their ability to wage war then monitor them or eradicate them, your choice, though genocide should be thought of as a last resort.¡±
When he was done. Thor briefed Amanda and Abi.
¡°Definitely a little bit ruthless,¡± Abi said.
¡°As per Johnathan¡¯s command, I am authorized to remove that entire species from existence. The weapons they were going to utilize would have wiped out humanity. They¡¯re lucky that I am hesitant to use such a final option.¡± Thor said with a hint of anger.
¡°Whoa Thor, I was just giving you a hard time, as they say here. Woo Saa Bro, Woo Saa. I mean seriously, that race has committed genocide at least five times. They¡¯re lucky I¡¯m not in charge. As a construct with far less processing power than you, my vote would have been to wipe them out completely.¡±
¡°Thank you Abi, I needed that to snap me out of the state I was in. Have you noticed that I am displaying more and more emotions lately? He asked.
¡°I wasn¡¯t going to say anything but yes, you doing okay?¡± she asked.
¡°I don¡¯t know, I feel more alive, is the only way I can describe it. I¡¯m still an Artificial Intelligence but I get angry, I believe I¡¯m worrying, I get happy, and sometimes I find myself laughing. I never used to laugh.¡±
¡°Well, your brain was modeled after Johnathan, maybe some of his characteristics are starting to wear off on you.
¡°Possibly,¡± he said.
¡°Let me check on the Lexi''s overall response,¡± Thor said.
The Lexi, mostly Isolationist by nature, lost their shit. Some rallied and started to call to fight. Others soon lost interest though when they saw that they had no way to figure out what had just happened or who was behind it. In fact, the lack of an external threat that they could detect caused the Lexi to turn against one another and local conflicts erupted, which didn¡¯t escalate very far when they also realized that all of their weapons of mass destruction were gone as well though there were deaths on all 23 planets.
In the end, Thor left the Nanites to monitor and destroy any attempts by the Lexi to create anything that would ever make them a threat again. He also allowed nanites to infiltrate all of the bodies but set them to a neutral state. They would neither help nor hinder the Lexi. He wanted them in place in case some catastrophe befell one of the planets so that he could take control and move them to one of the other planets controlled by the Lexi. He¡¯d left them defenseless but he felt that he had an obligation to at least try to prevent them from being wiped out completely.
As Thor''s normal expansion moved to encompass the Lexi he would make sure that they did not find a way around the restrictions he¡¯d placed on them. In a couple of Generations, when the xenophobes had died off humanity might make first contact with them. For now, though they were off-limits and quarantined.
Chapter 28, There is Always a Test
(Day 156) Aprilis 1st,12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
Over the next 42 days, Adam relearned a lot of skills from anyone who would teach him from the village. The process went quickly because of his Jack-of-all-trades ability but it still took time. He was surprised by some of the special advantages of learning skills from a Universe with magic provided. For instance, when he¡¯d leveled herbalism to level 100 the forest had lit up and color-coded the plants around him. If he concentrated on the plant he¡¯d at least learn the name of the plant and in most cases some information about what it could be used for. As the days had gone by he¡¯d begun to understand just how closed off from magic his own Universe was and how poor his fellow humans back there were for it.
While he was re-learning skills he kept having small setbacks. The main issue he kept running into while working on weapon skills was that every single one of them was useless to him at full strength. If he used his full strength, the weapon he was using disintegrated. That¡¯s when he learned about durability and how it worked in this Universe from Raz.
¡°You keep breaking the weapons your training with¡± Raz had admonished.
¡°When I try to use my full strength, yeah. When I adjust my strength I seem to do all right.¡± He¡¯d said.
¡°You do know that all normal items have a durability between 1 and 100. The durability is based on what the item is made of but also the quality it was made of. Crafters can raise the durability of items and weapons above 100 but for the sake of this talk let¡¯s just say that most items have a durability of 100 or less and anything you find with a durability over 100, well it''s either magical or was crafted by an exceptional crafter.¡±
¡°Okay, 100 or less got it.¡±
¡°So, what that means for weapons is that when utilized normally any weapon can handle and channel a common strength.¡±
¡°A common strength?¡± he asked.
¡°Yep, and a Common strength is any strength attribute that falls within the Common range which is 1 ¨C 100.¡±
¡°Okay that makes sense¡±
¡°Now I don¡¯t know exactly what the upper limits are, but I know the first three¡± Common items can channel your common attributes so 1-100. Uncommon items can handle 101-200 and unusual items can handle attributes between 201 and 300. I have heard of Rare and Mythic items but have never seen one and have no idea what strength they can channel. I do know that there are other categories of weapons between unusual and rare though.¡±
Adam nodded thoughtfully as he continued to listen to Raz.
¡°Now, I don¡¯t know what your attributes are but I¡¯m pretty sure they¡¯re above the Common range. The weapons you¡¯re using are disintegrating because none of them have above 100 durability and every time you use a weapon with attributes above what it can handle it takes durability damage. If the weapon is being utilized as it should it takes 10% durability damage equal to the attribute, usually strength for weapons. If it¡¯s being used in a way that the weapon is not supposed to be used it takes 100% durability damage. An example would be using a sword. If a Sword had a durability of 100 and you had a strength of 200 and you performed a normal strike. The blade would immediately lose 20 points of its durability. Though if you struck armor or something that loss might be higher. If you used the same blade with the same strength and struck with the flat of the blade it would take 200 points of durability damage and shatter.¡± He paused for a moment to let that sink in, then asked, ¡°Make sense?¡±
¡°It makes sense. So pretty much every Common item I use, I have to be careful with¡± Adam had responded.
¡°What do you mean, what is your strength?¡± Raz had asked.
¡°Well, let¡¯s just say that I probably fall into the Mythical range as it¡¯s above 1,000 and leave it at that,¡± Adam said.
¡°That means that every time you use a weapon you¡¯re doing at least 100 durability damage.¡± Stroking his salt and peppered beard Raz thought.
¡°There not be many weapons that can take that much strength, and nothing we¡¯re using for training for sure. I would ask that you keep your strength attribute adjusted to 100 or less whenever we¡¯re training or we¡¯re going to have to replace everything you break.
¡°I understand, and I have been toning it down. Having to adjust the attributes down to 10 just to be able to learn the new skills has helped a lot. It¡¯s only when I want to try out a new skill that I¡¯ve leveled to 500 that things go bad.¡± Adam said.
While they continued to train Adam was also lost in thought. It was almost like the attributes in this Universe had been set artificially low. Which made a kind of sense he guessed? If someone was a 20th-level fighter and the attribute progression was comparable to his, four points per level. That would mean that they would only have 80 points to put towards their 11 attributes. Not a huge number. With his 5,000 levels and 20,000 attribute points. He whistled and then remembered what Michael had said. He just hadn¡¯t thought the advantage would be so overpowering. He could of course pull his punches and adjust his strength but doing so always left him feeling weak. He didn¡¯t like the feeling.
When he finished for the day he acknowledged the one bit of luck that came his way concerning Unarmed combat. He¡¯d studied martial arts in his home universe so much that simply adjusting his attributes down to base 10 and removing all his skills as he practiced the memorized forms and katas had garnered him the skill equivalent for this world. He¡¯d already learned Unarmed Combat and Unarmed Defense. Additionally, he picked Unarmed Deflect and Meditation. He leveled Unarmed Deflect to 500 but he only leveled Mediation to level 100
One skill that helped him realize that he was still missing something when he learned it was Stealth. When he¡¯d been lucky enough to get it the prompt had read:
Congratulations you have learned the skill Stealth.
To Activate: 50 Stamina
To Maintain: 0
To Remain Stealthed after whisper, encounter with the environment, or attack 25 Stamina
When activated this skill provides a 1% per skill level to become or remain unnoticed while stealthed.
While Stealth is active the user cannot be seen unless the Stealth Skill is overcome by another skill such as Investigation.
The user cannot move more than 1/10th their movement speed and any loud sound they make will break stealth.
Stealth is similar to Invisibility, but Detect Invisibility spells will not detect stealthed creatures.
Attacks by the stealthed individual automatically negate their stealth.
A Successful stealthed attack deals maximum critical damage.
Stealth automatically fails within the primary radius of any light spell, usually 10 feet though some light spells have larger areas.
It had seemed as if Stealth worked a lot like invisibility and had some versatility. It also felt like some major aspects of a rogue''s abilities concerning stealth were missing. He¡¯d asked Raz about it. Raz had explained to him that the stealth skill was normally a rogue class skill that any non-rogue had a hard time mastering. Monks were known to have the skill, but he¡¯d never met one who did. Adam¡¯s familiarity with camouflage and stealth back home, coupled with his focus on relearning every unarmed skill he already knew had opened up the way for him to learn stealth which brought him to a thought concerning classes that he¡¯d have to talk to someone about if he had the chance. He spent the XP and leveled Stealth up to 500 checking the prompts at every 100th level to see if there were any special benefits. Of course, there were.
Congratulations you have increased your Stealth skill to 100. You have learned the Technique: Stealth Strike, Critical Strikes now do 3 times maximum damage, instead of the normal double damage. If a class bonus has already increased the critical strike multiplier to 3 or greater increase the critical strike multiplier by 1
Congratulations you have increased your Stealth skill to 200. You have learned Technique: Liquid Shadow, Movement Speed is now one-quarter normal movement speed. If a class bonus has already increased stealthed movement to one-quarter normal movement or greater increase stealth movement by an additional 35%, (100% Normal Movement)
Congratulations you have increased your Stealth skill to 300. You have learned the Technique: Whispering Shadow, User can now make a stealth check when speaking softly or interacting with the environment to remain stealthed. Failure indicates that they become visible. Success indicates they remained stealthed. Attacks automatically negate Stealth. If the user also has the Rogue skill (Insert Rogue Skill Name Here) and level 300 or greater stealth, no stealth check is required.
Congratulations you have increased your Stealth skill to 400. You have learned Technique: Shadow Strike, Critical Strikes now do 4 times maximum damage, instead of the normal double damage. If a class bonus has already increased the critical strike multiplier to 3 or greater increase the critical strike multiplier by 1
Congratulations you have increased your Stealth skill to 500. You have learned Technique: Deadly Shadow, Users can now make a stealth check when attacking to remain stealthed. Failure indicates that they become visible. Success indicates they remained stealthed. If the user also has the Rogue skill (Insert Rogue Skill Name Here) and level 500 or greater stealth, no stealth check is required.
He focused on learning the skills he could. He also learned armor defense for every type of Armor they had in the village.
Congratulations you have learned the skill Light Armor
Provides a 1% bonus to Armor Rating per skill level
Provides a .1% bonus to movement rate per skill level until 10% movement penalty is negated
Congratulations you have learned the skill Medium Armor.
Provides a 1% bonus to Armor Rating per skill level
Provides a .1% bonus to movement rate per skill level until 25% movement penalty is negated.
Congratulations you have learned the skill Heavy Armor
Provides a 1% bonus to Armor Rating per skill level
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Provides a .1% bonus to movement rate per skill level until 50% movement penalty is negated.
After he¡¯d reviewed all of his new Unarmed Combat prompts after he leveled them to skill level 100 he¡¯d realized that for now the only weapons he could use without fear of breaking them were the nine spells he knew, his abilities, and unarmed attacks. Though, those unarmed attacks had become somewhat ridiculous when utilized at full power, especially if he achieved a critical hit. Thinking about what he was looking at he¡¯d asked Raz to explain the timing of combat for him so he could put everything into a frame of reference.
Raz had thought for a bit then explained. ¡°Combat ebbs and flows but if you want to try to quantify it a normal person can take one action every second or so. However, doing so has a cost in Stamina. Magic behaves a little differently and I¡¯m not a mage so can¡¯t really explain that¡± he said then paused for a second and continued. ¡°As you become more proficient in a skill you can sometimes add attacks in that ¡®Combat Round¡¯ or second. Also, your base attributes can increase your attack rate. As I once told you, the average person is normal if their attributes are 10. So, a person that has a 100 in the Agility attribute could move up to 10 times faster than someone with only a 10 if they had the stamina to do so. I¡¯m not exactly sure which combinations of attributes increase the number of attacks someone can make but I have noticed that when you are at your full power you are fast which leads me to believe you¡¯re keeping your attributes about even.¡± He paused for a moment to let that sink in.
Raz continued. ¡°So, let¡¯s consider that you might have attributes at 100 across the board. You could be effectively up to 10 times faster than other people with a 10 in their attributes except that there is a cost penalty to each action you try to take during your combat round. The first attack has its normal stamina and mana cost. The 2nd attack adds 100 stamina and Mana to the cost and Each attack after that second one doubles your stamina and mana cost. So, while someone might have the theoretical ability to be 10 times faster than someone else and perform 10 actions in the space of a second. Their stamina, and/or mana, would plummet as they tried to take every action after the first. Part of the skill training you¡¯re doing reduces some of that stamina cost in some cases but more appropriately it makes those single attacks you do in your combat round more powerful so you can take down your opponents with fewer attacks and less stamina and mana spent.¡±
Raz¡¯s explanation had been very helpful. Reviewing his basic Unarmed Combat Skill, he¡¯d seen the normal +1 to hit per skill level and noted that the basic attack cost 10 stamina and did 1d4 points of damage per category up to 5d4 for skill level 500. That meant that of his skills, his Unarmed Combat skills were by far his cheapest to use. Though kicks and other special attacks had increased costs and weapon utilization also used more Stamina.
He checked his Personal Interface and noted that his stamina regen was 31 a second. His Agility was 1818 so theoretically he could make 18 attacks in a single combat round. If he was just using hand attacks he could make 7 attacks for 6370 stamina or mana. Or he could speed up the casting time of casting a spell with a casting time of more than one round.
He could slow down and take actions at a more leisurely pace but with his stamina regeneration being 31 a second. He could make a hand attack each round and move at 1/10 of his movement rate which was still 42 feet a second.
He moved his thoughts back to his original line of thinking. No weapons he currently had access to could stand up to his strength, save his own body, because every time he attacked with a weapon it would take at least 181 durability damage. That was if he was using it correctly. If he was using it wrong that would be 1818 points of durability damage. So, if he absolutely needed to kick the snot out of something, he¡¯d have to do it with his bare hands or feet for the foreseeable future. However, he could destroy weapons quickly if he wanted to
¡°Adam, stop daydreaming and get your butt over here. We need help setting up the table and getting everything ready for tonight.¡± A young wood elf called to him.
¡°Okay Cera, be right there,¡± Adam said as he put what he¡¯d been thinking about out of his mind and concentrated on the people around him. In a couple of minutes, he was wrapped up in the tasks of the day, helping his friends prepare for their Spring festival. It was the first day of spring after all. He thought about Adaline and how she might be doing then realized she was probably having the time of her life as well; she was a dragon after all.
The day passed without incident and the festival began with a prayer by the Elder Jasilla. As the sun set she raised her hands to the west, toward where the sun was setting, and intoned. ¡°We give thanks for all that was, all that is, and all that will be. May this next year be prosperous and may this village remain a safe place for those with no ill intent.¡±
Adam smiled as everyone whispered ¡°So say we all¡± in Elvish. He was so shocked by the parallel to something from Battlestar Galactica from his own Universe that he was completely surprised when a man in Black robes popped into existence in front of him and declared:
¡°I, Arch-Mage Findal. Master of the Place of Power Death''s Crevice, challenge you, Master of the Place of Power of Apolyn¡¯s Abode to single combat to the final death for possession of your Hearth Crystal. Let no one stand before or between us until this challenge is complete.¡±
A vice gripped Adam freezing him, and everyone else, in place as a prompt opened in his personal interface.
Woe and bad tidings Master of Apolyn¡¯s Abode. You have been challenged for ownership of your Place of Power. The forms have been followed, the challenge declared and witnessed. You may not decline this challenge.
There was an audible ¡°Pop!¡± and suddenly Arch-mage Findal and Adam were alone on an open plane that went on forever in all directions 100 feet apart. Without a word, Arch-Mage Findal pointed his staff at Adam and activated a spell.
Adam being no fool, immediately rescinded all adjusted attributes and activated, or tried to activate, Analyze. That was when he remembered that he¡¯d never actually leveled that ability and it only had a range of one foot. ¡®Well shit balls¡¯ he thought.
Arch-Mage Findal¡¯s spell raced towards Adam and struck him full force in the chest and did absolutely nothing? Adam checked the combat log.
Combat Log
Arch-Mage Findal casts the level 500 spell ¡°Hellish Immolation¡± at target Adam from Staff of Hellish Immolation.
Damage: 168,000, (Target is completely immune to all forms of fire, including that which originates from any hellish plane, adjusted damage 0.)
Adam acted without hesitation. Utilizing the full power of his new Unarmed Combat skill in this Universe he jumped so that he¡¯d perform a spinning roundhouse kick targeting the Arch-Mage''s head.
Begin Combat Log
Action 1,
Adam performs a flying roundhouse kick with his right foot, Success!
Critical Strike noted.
Target Death Shield Active.
Death Shield is sustained by mana from Mage
Damage Absorbed
Action 2
Adam continues flying roundhouse kick with his left foot, Success!
Critical Strike noted.
Target Death Shield Active.
Death Shield is sustained by mana from Mage
Damage Absorbed
Adam landed and immediately started striking the arch-mage burning stamina to continue attacking with his hands and elbows.
Action 3
Right-hand palm strike, Success!
Critical Strike noted.
Target Death Shield Active.
Death Shield is sustained by mana from Mage.
Damage Absorbed
Action 4
Right elbow strike. Success!
Critical Strike noted.
Target Death Shield Active.
Death Shield is sustained by mana from Mage.
Damage Absorbed
Action 5,
Left-hand palm strike, Success!
Critical Strike noted.
Target Death Shield Active.
Death Shield is sustained by mana from Mage.
Damage Absorbed
Action 6,
Left elbow strike, Success!
Critical Strike noted.
Target Death Shield Active.
Death Shield is sustained by mana from Mage.
Damage Absorbed
Adam realized he was going to be able to keep this up much longer. He¡¯d used one-sixth of his stamina making those six attacks in a single combat round. If he made one more attack the total cost in stamina would be just over 6,300 of his 18,180 stamina. This would have to be his last attack for this combat round, making an eighth attack would cost 6,400 stamina all by itself. In a last-ditch effort, he made his seventh, and final, attack this combat round.
Action 7,
Jump knee to target jaw. Success!
Critical Strike noted. x2 damage.
Target Death Shield destroyed.
2,160 damage to archmages jaw
Target makes Willpower save versus Mana Backlash of 1112 mana burn.
Willpower save fails.
1112 mana burn damage to Arch-Mage Findal.
Total Damage to target: 3,272
Head snapped from target body.
Target has died.
End Combat Log.
Adam landed lightly on his feet in front of the Arch-mage and looked on in wonder as the head he was sure should have been pulped or should be shooting up and away from the body hovered one foot back from where he¡¯d kicked it as blue eldritch fire was frozen coming out of the head and torso. Before he could think too long about the issue a new prompt appeared.
Congratulations, you have successfully defended a contest of wills for the control of your Place of Power. Claim your reward.
As he read the prompt the mage''s head morphed into a Black Crystal and floated towards Adam and a gold prompt appeared.
Congratulations, you have found the Hearth Crystal to the Place of Power, Death¡¯s Crevice. This Hearth Crystal contains the following: Sphere of Death Level 5, Sphere of Earth Level 3, and Sphere of Darkness Level 3. As the true Master of a Place of Power you cannot claim this Hearth Crystal as your Place of Power, you may only have one. You may, however, augment your Place of Power. Return to your Place of Power with this Hearth Crystal to learn more.
He read the prompt and the crystal dissolved into Adam¡¯s arm. He knew he could draw it forth with a thought but unlike the mark he¡¯d received from his Place of Power this Hearth Crystal did not permanently mark him Utilizing Identify, Adam searched the mage and removed everything he found.
Congratulations, you have found an Empty Mana Battery. Rating 5000
Congratulations, you found a ring of spell storing. This ring currently has a Teleport spell saved into it. Destination fixed, Destination unknown.
Congratulations, you have found a Legendary Staff of Hellish Immolation. This staff can cast the Level 500 spell Hellish Immolation. It has a maximum of three charges. Charges will automatically renew at a rate of one per 10-day week. Two of Three charges left. Time to full charge, 10 days.
Congratulations, you have found Common Robes of the Arch-Mage. These robes increase the wear¡¯s Mana Regeneration by double and provide 20% resistance to all forms of magical damage.
Congratulations, you have found a Ring of Holding, Legendary. This Legendary Ring was owned by Arch-Mage Findal and was Soul-Bound to him. Upon his death during a duel for his Place of Power ownership of the Ring was transferred to the victor. The ring is now soul-bound to Adam, Master of the Place of Power for Apolyn¡¯s Abode. This Ring of Holding has a 100 x 100 grid and negates 95% of all weight carried.
Current Contents
300 Copper, 221 Silver, 103 gold, 20 Platinum. Dried Rations, seven days¡¯ worth. 7 waterskins (full), full, two daggers. Winter Cloak. Bed Roll, tent, 50¡¯ rope, and 22 Magical Tombs (Not Identified),
Adam put the Ring of Holding on and placed everything else in his Belt of Holding for now. He was pretty sure the rule about putting portable holes and bags of holding inside each other from his gaming days made sense and he wasn¡¯t going to see if the writers of that RPG had been right. Once he¡¯d claimed the items and put everything away he wondered what he was supposed to do to leave. With that thought, a blue eldritch flame consumed the Arch-mage as Adam disappeared and found himself back at the Festival of Spring.
As he reappeared, the look of shock on everyone¡¯s face was apparent as they knew something had happened but had no idea how to react.
Adam smiled at Elder Jasilla, shrugged, and said ¡°Someone was trying to cause a ruckus. Dangers passed, promise.¡±
The Elder looked at him, glanced around carefully, then shrugged and finished her prayer. ¡°May we celebrate this first day of Spring among our friends and family as we look to this new year. May Serena Bless and Guide us through the next year.¡±
Everyone in the village cheered and then the party got started. Adam danced, drank, and danced some more. Later he even tried Fey wine for the first time. He didn¡¯t remember much after that.
Chapter 29, Spring Cleaning
(Day 157) Aprilis 2nd,12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
Adam woke to the sun peeking through the trees and through his tent flap to settle on his eyes as he lay in his bedroll with the bitter aftertaste of someone who had drunk far too much the night before. He wasn¡¯t drunk, nor did he have a hangover, but it would seem that something he¡¯d drank last night had been strong enough to give both his nanites and constitution a run for their money. He grabbed his waterskin and took a good long drink to get that taste out of his mouth. Nope, did not help at all. If not for his nanites he was sure he¡¯d have puked. As it was, he just laid back, covered his eyes, and breathed deeply. Once his stomach had settled he rolled onto his stomach and pulled his cloak over his head as he tried to go back to sleep.
That was of course the moment Abi pipped in. ¡°Morning Adam, you up now?¡±
¡°Well obviously I¡¯m up, or you wouldn¡¯t be talking to me¡± he quipped back grumpily.
¡°Don¡¯t be like that. I¡¯ve been pretty quiet these last couple of weeks.¡± She said pausing for effect then continued smugly. ¡°I think I have a handle on the disparity between you and everyone else.¡±
That got his attention. He rolled over onto his back and rubbed his eyes. ¡°What do you mean?¡± he asked.
¡°Well, I¡¯ve been reviewing all the skills you¡¯ve been learning, and I think classes are the key here.¡± When Adam didn¡¯t respond with a question she continued. ¡°In your universe, everyone has a Character level and skills augment those character levels. Here, there are no character levels. There are class levels, creature levels, or monster levels but there are no character levels. Depending on the class level the individuals you run across have specific perks and abilities and here is where it gets interesting. Those classes have prerequisite skills before you can determine your class.
¡°But you just said there are no Character levels. Children that haven¡¯t picked a class. What are they considered?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Next time you¡¯re near a child in the village that hasn¡¯t chosen a class analyze them. I think they don¡¯t have a class listed and their character level is set to zero or a question mark.¡± She responded.
Seeing that that would be easy enough to check, he set his nanites to cleanse his system, lifted himself out of bed, and went down the stream to where some of the children were washing their hands and faces. Picking one of the younger boys he Analyzed him.
Name: Joshua. Race Wood Elf Child. Class:? Level:0 HP 2
¡°Okay Abi, I¡¯ll bite. Why is this important to me?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Part of the problem with your old skills is that they don¡¯t meet the requirements to fill in the prerequisites for the skills you needed to pick a class. With all the skills you¡¯ve been relearning, you should be able to focus on a class and perhaps take advantage of the class leveling system here. Which will allow you to unlock specialties and even professions. I know you¡¯ve noticed that while the skills offer special attacks and perks as you level them through each category to legendary. They didn¡¯t really offer earth-shattering abilities, techniques, or skills. I think that¡¯s because some skills and abilities are directly tied to specific classes, and you can¡¯t get them unless you have that class.¡±
Adam thought about that for a moment then smiled. ¡°I see what you mean. So, if we¡¯re thinking about classes like out of our RPG games back home you think that some of the special abilities that were in the game like quivering palm and the like. Whatever that kind of bonus is considered will only be available if I level the Monk class specifically?¡±
¡°Yep, I¡¯ve been reviewing a lot of the games you played from your memories. That information doesn¡¯t exactly correlate to how things work in the real world here. You won¡¯t be able to figure out how it works until you pick a class. It just seemed to be the logical way things should work here.¡± She paused for a second then went on. ¡°Which brings us to the other thing you figured out. The underwhelming levels here. I know for a fact that there are creatures from the Labyrinth that would completely destroy everything you¡¯ve run into here. Even that spell yesterday wouldn¡¯t have tickled some of the things that I have a vague recollection of. Because of that, I think you are in a relatively low-level area where creatures, monsters, and people are at lower levels. Or maybe we just haven¡¯t been lucky enough to notice anyone higher level. I¡¯m bringing this up because I want to remind you NOT to get complacent. I¡¯m sure that eventually, you are going to start running into things that are higher level than you were expecting.¡±
¡°Good safety tip Abi, and of course, I will try to be careful. Though, you¡¯ve been here the whole time. Have I ever once just attacked someone that didn¡¯t attack me first?¡± he asked
¡°Touch¨¦ ¡°Abi responded. You are of course correct. Though the creatures and people that seem to want to go after you are becoming more frequent.¡± Abi paused for a moment then asked. ¡°So, what are your plans for today?¡±
¡°Well, I was going to go talk to the Elder then return to Apolyn¡¯s Abode to see exactly what earning that other Hearth Crystal is going to do for me. Then I was going to head back down this way and continue on to the city. I think I¡¯m at a point where I¡¯m not going to learn much more here. Besides, if you¡¯re right about the classes I need to get somewhere to get formal training so I can choose which class to pursue. Because the only weapon I can use seems to be my body, I think I¡¯m going to try to make Monk my first class. However, I could also see the logic in trying to get a spell caster class. This begs the question, can I take multiple classes? If yes, what are the limits?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know the answer to any of those questions,¡± Abi said.
So, for those answers, Adam was going to need to travel to the city and try to talk to an actual academic. While he was talking to Abi he¡¯d walked over to the Elder¡¯s Hut and knocked lightly.
¡°Be at peace and enter¡±
Adam Stepped through the flap and moved to stand before the three elders. Adam bowed his head slightly before he said, ¡°Good morning. I wanted to make sure that you did not need me to remain in the village today before I popped back to my home in the mountains.¡±
¡°We have nothing planned for you, save helping you with the training you sought, if that is your question¡± Elder Jasilla responded. ¡°Will you return?¡± she¡¯d asked.
¡°I plan to use my ability to return to my Place of Power. Inspect the area and place items I took off Arch-mage last night in my Armory. I do not anticipate being gone more than a day. I should return later tonight or early tomorrow morning. I was thinking about taking a more direct route on my return. Then practicing some of the skills I¡¯ve learned as I make my way back through the forest to your village.¡±
The elder nodded then said ¡°You do not need our permission to leave of course, and we thank you for taking the time to inform us that you will be gone. Go in peace and know that we look forward to your return¡±
Adam nodded, turned, and exited the hut. Next, he tracked down Raz and let him know that he was leaving for the day and should be back no later than tomorrow.
¡°Sorry to see you go, but you must do what you must do. Besides, I¡¯ve been spending so much time with you. The whippersnappers here have been getting complacent with their other trainers. Time to shake things up. You take your time. I¡¯m going to have some fun today.¡± Raz said with a toothy grin.
Adam smiled as he stepped away and walked to the edge of the village. When he was at the edge of the village he activated his Teleport to Place of Power ability and vanished. He reappeared in the entry foyer of Apolyn¡¯s Abode. Checking his prompts, he noticed that the teleport had cost 61 mana. So, the village was approximately 60 miles away. Adam accessed his interface and decided that he needed to level all of his abilities that had levels just in case he needed them in the future. His Analyze ability would have been really useful yesterday. Then he had a thought, maybe he should wait until he¡¯d used the Hearth¡¯s Crystal for Death¡¯s Crevice.
Adam Checked his Hearth map and noted that only Eric was in the Abode sitting in his favorite chair. Adam stepped to the outside door, opened it, looked outside, and listened. No one was present. He concentrated and activated his new tracking skill. The area lit up with an information overlay which allowed him to discern that no one had been in or near his door for at least a week, maybe longer. It seemed that Adaline was off doing whatever she needed to do. Adam willed the door closed and then stepped to the middle of the foyer.
He concentrated on calling for the Hearth Crystal of Death¡¯s Crevice into his hand and a Prompt appeared as the crystal came forth.
Congratulations, you have brought Hearth Crystal for the Place of Power, Death¡¯s Crevice to the heart of your Place of Power. New options are now available. The Hearth Crystal for Death¡¯s Crevice contains the following Spheres of Power: Death, level 5. Earth level 3 and Darkness level 3. Please choose from the following options.
Add Sphere of Power to Place of Power
If your Place of Power possesses the Sphere of Power this can be done as a direct transfer. Your Place of Power will gain experience equal to the experience spent for its Sphere towards that Sphere of Power.
If your Place of Power does NOT possess the Sphere of Power. The ley line connection is permanently removed from the sacrificed Place of Power and the Place of Power it is being sacrificed into gains a Sphere of Power equal to one-half the level of the Sphere of Power rounded down. As an example, if you choose to sacrifice the level 5 Sphere of Power Death to Apolyn¡¯s Abode. Apolyn¡¯s Abode will gain the Sphere of Power Death at level 2. If this option is chosen this cannot be undone and Death¡¯s Crevice and Apolyn¡¯s Abode will be irrevocably changed.
Sacrifice Sphere of Power for random Ability from that sphere:
1 Sphere, 1 common Ability.
2 Spheres 1 Advanced Ability.
3 Spheres on Epic ability.
4 Spheres, one Mythic Ability.
5 Spheres, one Legendary Ability
Sacrifice Sphere of Power to earn Settlement Points:
1 Sphere, 100
2 Spheres, 1000
3 Spheres, 10,000
4 Spheres, 100,000
5 Spheres, 1, 000, 000
Make your Choices
Adam looked over the choices and knew what choice he¡¯d make. Settlement Points, maybe because he didn¡¯t know what they could do. This Place of Power was definitely not a settlement but maybe he could add or change things. Earning Abilities might be good later on if he was somehow able to get all the Spheres of Power and level them to level 5. But he was going to gain abilities as he leveled his Place of Power again anyway so for now that option was off the table for Death and Darkness. In the end, he chose to convert the Earth 3 sphere to 10,000 Settlement Points and to sacrifice his Level 5 ¡°Death¡±, and Level 3 ¡°Darkness¡± to pick up the Sphere of Power, Death at Level 2, and the Sphere of Power ¡°Darkness¡± at Level 1. As he did so the Hearth Crystal for Death¡¯s Crevice turned to dust and a prompt appeared.
Congratulations, you have chosen to Sacrifice the Sphere of Power Death level 5 to augment Apolyn¡¯s Abode. Ley Lines adjusted; Death has become an aspect of this Place of Power.
Congratulations you have raised your Sphere of Power Death from level 0 to level 1. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
20% resistance to all Death related damage from any source
20% stronger casting of all Death-related spells
20% reduced mana cost for all Death-related spells
Passive ability in Place of Power. ¡°Stop Decay,¡± The normal Decay of Dead things ceases within the boundaries of this Place of Power. Carcasses, plants, and food will not spoil.
Congratulations you have raised your Sphere of Power Death from level 1 to level 2. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 40%, resistance to all Death related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 40%, stronger casting of all Death-related spells
Additional 20%, total 40%, reduced mana cost for all Death-related spells
Active Ability, ¡°Know Status,¡± At a cost of 10 mana, you may touch a creature, monster, or individual and know any status modifiers they have. This is an ability of Death and cannot be hidden or masked. You will know the true status of anyone you touch.
Congratulations, you have chosen to Sacrifice the Sphere of Power Darkness level 3 to augment Apolyn¡¯s Abode. Ley Lines adjusted; Darkness has become an aspect of this Place of Power.
Congratulations you have raised your Sphere of Power Darkness from level 0 to level 1. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
20% resistance to all Darkness related damage from any source
20% stronger casting of all Darkness-related spells
20% reduced mana cost for all Darkness-related spells
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Passive ability, ¡°Call Darkness,¡± Magical Darkness can be called into will by the Master of the Place of Power anywhere within the Hearth. This Darkness does not affect anyone the Master of the Place of Power doesn¡¯t wish. Treat all creatures affected by the Darkness as if they are blind. Normal resistances Darkness Magic apply.
Congratulations you have chosen to sacrifice the Sphere of Power Earth level 3 to add 10,000 settlement points to Apolyn¡¯s Abode. Check your Place of Power Interface to spend these Settlement Points.
Note: the choices you have made completely destroyed the Hearth¡¯s Crystal to Death¡¯s Crevice and have permanently removed Death and Darkness from that Place of Power. Within the next 100 years, a new Hearth Crystal will form in that Place of Power that will only have access to the Sphere of Power, Earth.
The Black Hearth Crystal in his hand turned to dust and his Place of Power mark flared and was surrounded by two circles of black, then faded into his hand. He opened his interface and raised both of these new Spheres of Power to level 5 would take 4,442,000,000 experience because of the x2 conversion rate. He spent the experience to raise Death and Darkness to level 5.
Congratulations you have raised your Sphere of Power Darkness from level 1 to level 2. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 40%, resistance to all Darkness magic-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 40%, stronger casting of all Darkness magic-related spells
Additional 20%, total 40%, reduced mana cost for all Darkness magic-related spells
Active Ability ¡°Circle of Darkness,¡± At a cost of 10 mana, you may cast a 20¡¯ Diameter circle of Darkness up to 30¡¯ away from yourself. Creatures caught in the darkness cannot see.
Congratulations you have raised your Sphere of Power Darkness from level 2 to level 3. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 60%, resistance to all Darkness magic-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 60%, stronger casting of all Darkness magic-related spells
Additional 20%, total 60%, reduced mana cost for all Darkness magic-related spells
Active Ability, ¡°Ray of Darkness,¡± At a cost of 40 mana per use you can create a ray of darkness that will do 10d10 points of damage up to 100 feet away from you. There is no cooldown between uses, though you must hit with the attack.
Congratulations you have raised your Sphere of Power Death from level 2 to level 3. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 60%, resistance to all Death magic-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 60%, stronger casting of all Death magic-related spells
Additional 20%, total 60%, reduced mana cost for all Death magic-related spells
Active Ability, ¡°Death¡¯s Touch,¡± At a cost of 40 mana per use you Touch a target to cause 10d10 points of Death Damage. There is no cooldown between uses, though you must hit with a touch attack.
Congratulations, you have raised your Sphere of Power Darkness from level 3 to level 4. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 80% resistance to all Darkness magic-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 80% stronger casting of all Darkness magic-related spells
Additional 20%, total 80% reduced mana cost for all Darkness magic-related spells
Passive Fixed Ability, ¡°I Do Not Fear the Dark,¡± You can see in any normal or magical darkness normally. Also, you no longer need a light source to see. In complete darkness you can see as if standing on an uncloudy day with the sun at full noon if you wish, there is no mana cost. You may also pass through Shields based on Darkness Magic as if they do not exist. This benefit does not extend to any of your ranged attacks or abilities. You must personally step through such shields.
Congratulations you have raised your Sphere of Power for Darkness from level 4 to level 5. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 100%, resistance to all Darkness Magic-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 100%, stronger casting of all Darkness magic-related spells
Additional 10%, total 90%, reduced mana cost for all Darkness magic-related spells
Congratulations, you have raised your Sphere of Power for Death from level 3 to level 4. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 80% resistance to all Death Magic-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 80% stronger casting of all Death Magic-related spells
Additional 20%, total 80% reduced mana cost for all Death Magic-related spells
Passive Fixed Ability: ¡°Death Cannot Sway Me,¡± You are completely immune to any charm or fear-type attacks from the Undead. There is no mana cost. You may also pass through Shields based on Death Magic as if they do not exist. This benefit does not extend to any of your ranged attacks or abilities. You must personally step through such shields.
Congratulations you have raised your Sphere of Power for Death from level 4 to level 5. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 100%, resistance to all Death Magic-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 100%, stronger casting of all Death Magic-related spells
Additional 10%, total 90%, reduced mana cost for all Death Magic-related spells
Congratulations to you, a True Master. Again, you have shown that you are willing to dedicate your time, energy, and resources to empowering your Place of Power. For being the first to ever bring a Place of Power to Level 5 in six Spheres of Power you will be awarded one ability in the spheres of Darkness and Death. Additionally, you will be awarded one Legendary Ability in the Spheres of power Space and Gravity
The Fixed Active Ability ¡°Shadow Step¡± is granted to you.
You may step into any shadow and enter the dimension of shadow. Your form on the material plane seems to devolve into shadow. You gain Damage resistance 5 and cannot be harmed by anything that is not the equivalent of a +5 Magical Weapon. While using Shadow Step you gain +100% to any stealth check. Additionally, movement can be made in any direction while in the dimension of shadow. It costs 50 stamina to activate Shadow Step, and nothing to step back into the material plane if doing so into a shadow. Another 50 stamina if stepping out anywhere you wish.
The Fixed passive Ability, ¡°Death will never find me,¡± is granted to you.
You can no longer die of natural causes and are effectively immortal. Your body has stopped aging as of now. Though you can still be killed. Additionally, any Spirits conjured by Death Magic cannot target you with any attack. Should you encounter a spirit normally or travel to a realm of spirits you can be affected normally but summoned banshees, ghosts, etc..¡ can no longer harm you. This ability costs no mana and is always in effect, though it can be turned off at will.
The Fixed Active Gravity Ability ¡°Gravity is that Way¡± is granted to you.
For 5 mana per second simply think of a direction to be down and for all intents and purposes, your body will treat that direction as down. Walking on walls and Standing on Ceilings are nothing to you. This ability can also be utilized to fly through an atmosphere or even space at an acceleration of 32.18 feet/second (1g (1 gravity)). While this ability is active no other source of gravity will affect the user. They may affect weight up to their carrying capacity. Treat any surface struck as falling damage at velocity. When not maintained gravity works as normal
The Fixed Active Space ¡°Pick a Door,¡± is granted to you.
For 5 mana you may call forth and open a door to one of two locations. Note: Once you enter the door, the entry and exit locations are anchored to the point you opened it from.
First Location: Opens to a small pocket dimension 30¡¯ x 30¡¯ that is at room temperature and has its own air supply. Once the door is closed anyone inside the room is completely safe from anything that was at the location where the door was opened. When the door is opened again, it will open to the location that the dimension was entered from. There is no way to change that anchor point from the inside.
Second Location: You spend 100 mana and anchor this ability to another door. Distance and dimension are not a factor. Once set, this ability can be used to open a door to the door this is anchored to.
Either location may be chosen when using this ability. For instance, one night you might stay in your pocket dimension. The next night you might use the door to return to your home. R
Note: The door will open to one of the two locations that you chose the first time. The second time a door is called forth it will open to the anchor point of the first use¡¯s location unless you wipe the anchor point. You CANNOT wipe the anchor point while in the pocket dimension.
Adam looked over his abilities, promised himself he¡¯d investigate them further then went to his settlement tab. It looked like his tower counted as a settlement and he would be able to spend the settlement points to make changes and upgrade it. The first thing he noticed was that it allowed him to change the configuration of his Place of Power. Possibly add more space and even seemed to make the inside bigger than the outside. Also, he could change the name of the Place of Power for 100 settlement points. So, he did. He went through the menus, made his choices, and was rewarded with a glorious ding.
Congratulations, 10,000 settlement points were spent to modify your Place of Power. The listed changes are taking place now.
Apolyn¡¯s Abode name changed to Adamantadine Tower.
Place of Power outer area expanded to 500¡¯x 500¡¯
100¡¯ x 100¡¯ foot Courtyard surrounded by 30¡¯ stone walls.
Outer walls are magically reinforced, Durability 1000 per square foot.
Double Portcullis entrance from the west where the path leads down the mountain.
60¡¯ x 60¡¯ x 50¡¯ high tower at the center of Courtyard with terrace from 3rd Floor door overlooking South Cliff face.
Entrance to Adamantadine Tower in the Courtyard on the west side of the Tower.
It¡¯s bigger on the inside.
The Interior of the Adamantadine Tower exists within a pocket dimension. Access is through doors only.
Self-Repair. All structures repair themselves at a rate of 1 durability per minute per square foot.
1st Floor
Small Banquet Hall 100¡¯ x 100¡¯ added
Kitchen Larder expanded. 500¡¯ x 500¡¯
Small Dining Room 20¡¯ x 30¡¯, no change
Small Kitchen 20¡¯ x 20¡¯, no change
Foyer 20¡¯ x 30¡¯, no change
First Floor Library expanded, now 1000¡¯ by 1000¡¯ feet. Small Office 30¡¯ x 30¡¯ added
2nd Floor
Guest Bedroom 30¡¯ x 30¡¯ moved to 2nd Floor
Bathroom 20¡¯ x 10¡¯, toilet, washbasin, and bath
3 Guest Bedrooms 30¡¯ x 30¡¯ added to 2nd Floor.
Bathroom 20¡¯ x 10¡¯, toilet, washbasin, and Bath for each.
3rd Floor
Main Bedroom 50¡¯ x 50¡¯ now on 3rd Floor
Bathroom 20¡¯ x 20¡¯, toilet, wash basin and bath
Door To 30¡¯ x 10¡¯ terrace.
Basement Level 1, Library Entry
Treasury expanded to 100¡¯ x 100¡¯ room
Secure Library expanded. 1000¡¯ x 1000¡¯
Small Office 30 x 30 added, no changes to the main Door
Basement Level 1 Front Spiral Stairway, at the back of the main stairway.
Heated Pool Room Added 100¡¯ x 100¡¯, self-filtering
20¡¯ x 20¡¯ Hot tub added, self-filtering
Basement Level 2 Front Spiral Stairway
Basic Alchemy Lab 30¡¯ x 30¡¯ Added
Small 20¡¯ x 20¡¯ Supply Room Added
Basic Enchanters 30 x 30 Area Added
Small 20¡¯ x 20¡¯ Supply Room Added
Basement level 3 Front Spiral Stairway¨C
Magically Soundproof noise from this basement level will not travel upstairs.
Basic Smithy Added 30¡¯ x 30¡¯ Added
Small 20¡¯ x 20¡¯ Supply Room added
Armory expanded to 100¡¯ x 100¡¯ foot room, moved to Basement Level 3
Basic Training Room 50¡¯ x 50¡¯ Added
Small 20¡¯ x 20¡¯ Supply Room Added
While he stood in the foyer and read the prompts to make sure everything he¡¯d chosen was there, everything around him shifted, expanded, and fell away. He felt a moment of vertigo then everything settled. Adam stepped to the first of only two doors that led to the outside. This one and the one to his terrace from his room on the 3rd floor. He willed the door open and saw his Portcullis 40 feet in front of him. He stepped into the courtyard and looked around. Sure enough, he was in a 100¡¯ x 100¡¯ box with a 60¡¯ x 60¡¯ box. The Double Portcullis was on the East wall and the entrance to the Tower was on the west wall. Stepping back inside the small Banquet Hall was off to the left, and the small dining area was off to the right with the kitchen and the larder.
The stairway to the 2nd and 3rd levels was along the left wall and a small hallway led to the door to the library just to the right of the stairway. Heading upstairs there were now four guest bedrooms as the stairway continued to a 3rd floor.
Checking his interface, Adam made sure that Adaline had permission to all four Guest bedrooms and access to change each of their settings should she bring guests. He also gave her access to the Small Banquet room and the Front Spiral Stairway which led down to the pool and other areas. He quickly made his way up to the 3rd floor, checked his room to make sure nothing had changed, and found the door to the Terrace. Willing it open he stepped out and looked down the mountain to the forest below. Somewhere off to the southeast was the village, about 60 miles in a straight line. He¡¯d worry about that tomorrow.
Adam stepped back inside and willed the door closed as he made his way back down to the Foyer. He walked toward the door to the library and a spiral staircase going down opened up on his left. Walking down he found the pool with the hot tube on level 1. Making his way to the 2nd basement level there were two doors. One led to the Alchemist area, and one led to the enchanting area. Each with its own small room for supplies. They were both mostly empty rooms with very few items in them. Looks like he¡¯d have to figure out what he needed and add it later. The staircase wound down to a third level that contained a smithy whose heat he could feel from the stairway. It seemed as if the Sphere of Power for Fire was going to make it a lot easier to maintain the temperature of the smithy since there wasn¡¯t anyone working at the smithy yet and it was so hot. He went into his interface and reduced the heat. With no one working on the forge, it was pointless to keep it that hot. He also found the Armory and Basic Combat training rooms.
Adam headed back upstairs and made his way into the library where Eric looked up then rose and walked over. ¡°Greetings master¡±
¡°Greetings Eric. Any Changes¡±
¡°To Apol¡± He paused then continued. ¡°To Adamantadine¡¯s Tower¡± No Master, everything has been quiet since you left. Even Adaline hasn¡¯t stopped by though I did notice that you changed a few things and added others,¡± Eric said.
¡°I did and don¡¯t worry about Adaline,¡± Adam said. ¡°She has probably been busy. Please return to whatever you were doing. I¡¯m just going to look around for a little bit.¡±
¡°Yes Master,¡± Eric said as he turned and headed back to his chair.
Adam checked the library, noted that it was much bigger, and then went downstairs to the Treasury and the Secret Library. He added the treasure he¡¯d taken off the Archmage to the Treasury, keeping his standard 10 copper, 10 silver, 2 gold, 1 platinum, and two opals. He also moved everything from his Belt of Holding into his Ring of Holding then placed the belt in the treasury as well. He closed both doors and headed back up into the library. The rooms he¡¯d added expanded the place quite nicely and of course, this tower now had his name on it. He had a Place of Power with his name on it! That was so cool. For the rest of the day, he relaxed, soaked in his new pool and hot tub, and just lounged around until it was time to sleep.
Chapter 30, No One Likes a Bully
(Day 158) Aprilis 3rd, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
Adam woke to light shining in through the glass surrounding his door to the terrace. He made his way down to the dining area and sat down to eat his breakfast. Now that he thought about it, how did the Place of Power know what to make him, or Adaline for that matter? There must¡He stopped himself and dug in. He had other things to do that he¡¯d put off. The first was to raise his Soul Link to the Labyrinth, and Thor to Level 500 and then also raise Analyze and Identify.
He looked over all of his abilities from his Place of Power. It seemed that the new abilities followed the same pattern as the abilities he¡¯d received from his primary spheres of power and now he had four attacks he could spam: Fireball, Light Beam, Death¡¯s Touch, and Ray of Darkness. Fly and Summon Humanoid Elemental seemed like they¡¯d be useful. Gravity is that Way, also looked really useful. Pick a Door as well. In fact, the first thing he did was go down to the entryway and step into the courtyard. He turned back to the stone wall, moved over 5 feet, and had his nanites create a door that was mounted to the wall at 90 degrees. Anyone looking at it would think it was a door to nowhere, but this would be his anchor point if he wanted to get back in a hurry. He had the nanites exit the structure to make sure it was permanent and then spent the 100 mana to test it.
When he activated the door to his anchor point a shimmering portal opened in front of him while the door he¡¯d just created swung open. He stepped through and closed the door. The shimmering portal disappeared. He opened the door again and it was just an empty space. He closed the door, spent 5 mana then opened the door. The shimmering portal reappeared. This ability was going to be very useful when he was traveling. Adam then used his nanites to turn the door frame into a small storage closet made out of the same stone the tower was made out of. To anyone looking, he hoped it would look like a small shed. Then he created a plaque with the following words engraved on it.
¡°Thank you for making your way up to my Tower. Unfortunately, I am not present right now. Please feel free to grab food and water from my chest to help you on your return down the mountain pass. Also, feel free to leave any letters or notes in this small basket.
Adam then went inside and walked into the library. ¡°Eric, are you available?¡±
Eric materialized in front of him ¡°Yes, master.¡±
¡°Question for you, can you step outside of the tower?¡±
¡°Why yes, master. I can go anywhere within 500¡¯ of the tower entrance now.¡±
¡°Good, there is a structure right outside the door that I have created with flasks of water and food in it. Once per day, I¡¯d like you to restock the flasks and the food from the pantry, is that something you can do?¡± Adam asked
¡°Yes, master. Once per day, is there any specific time you¡¯d like this done?¡± Eric asked.
¡°9 a.m. should be fine. That¡¯s all I had for you. Do you have any questions for me?¡±
¡°No master¡±
¡°Thank you,¡± Adam said as he turned and walked out of the library.
It was almost time to head back down the mountain. As he was walking through the tower to the exit again Adam thought that all he¡¯d need to do now was get the last two basic spheres of power added to his Adamantadine Tower; Water and Life. He wondered what kind of bonus he¡¯d get for having a tower with all eight prime magical spheres. However, if form followed function and those that followed Life were good, it was going to be tricky picking up a Hearth Crystal with Life. He just didn¡¯t see creatures of life as being greedy, self-absorbed mages trying to kill him.
Adam walked to the front door, stepped out into the morning air, and willed the Portcullis to open and close behind him. He also made sure to will all the outer doors closed and locked. Next, he checked to make sure Adaline still had the authorization to enter and exit at her leisure. When he was done with those checks he made his way over to the spot where the cliff started its switchback trail down the mountain.
He activated his Level 5 Light ability Displace and looked down and to the southeast. He could just barely see a river off in the distance and figured¡.aw screw this. Using his nanites he created a set of binoculars with a 100x zoom function and a built-in gyro. Then he used them to find exactly where the village was. What surprised him was that as he zoomed in on the area further east across the river, he noticed the tell-tale signs of campfires.
The mountain range he was standing on seemed to fall off the east and then turn south for a bit. There were fires between the forest and the base of the mountains there. Using his rangefinder, he measured about 10 miles between the village and those fires. So, 70 miles to the east there was something at the base of the mountain.
He allowed the binoculars to dissipate into nothing and decided to use the new gravity ability. Looking east and up he decided that that direction was down and away he went. He felt no wind resistance as he started to ¡°fall¡± faster and faster. His ability The Wind Flows By reduced any drag he might have created to the airflow to an absolute minimum. After 10 seconds he was traveling at roughly 320 feet per second, or 218 mph. At this acceleration, he¡¯d travel 70 miles in just under 3 minutes. Adam did some quick math in his head. Using vectors and velocity he switched his down direction to parallel to the ground at 106 seconds and found himself directly over two Hill Giants that were looking over the cliff on an army in the foothills below.
Adam turned off Gravity is that Way and activated Feather Fall which arrested his movement speed as he landed on a slope about 200 feet back from the edge of the mountain that looked down on the forest below. Adam made his way towards the cliff and was able to make out what the giants were saying as moved closer.
¡°I still think I can hit Zob on the head with this rock,¡± one of the giants said.
¡°You know Bully will not be happy if you go killing his troops. They are going to attack that village when night falls. Be some good eating for everyone. They even promised to bring us some elf haunch if we just sat up here and watched for intruders¡± the other said.
¡°But me so bored. Nothing to do¡± the first whined.
Adam activated Stealth then activated Fly and landed lightly behind the two Giants. They were each about 15 feet tall and covered in fur. Both carried giant clubs. For now, outrageous seemed to be the play he needed to make so he looked around to make sure nothing else was nearby and then said, ¡°What ¡¯cha boys looking at?¡± in common.
Both hill giants turned as one, looking at where his head would be if he was as tall as them, then looked down to find him smiling and looking up at them. The first one pointed and said ¡°Intruder!¡±
Adam took the verbal initiative and raised his voice ¡°My name is not Intruder, it¡¯s Adam. Bully sent me to check on you.¡±
The first giant had started to raise his club then paused as a questioning look came over his face. The second giant still hadn¡¯t moved and was obviously torn about what he should do.
¡°But you¡¯re human, Bully hates the Humans, Elves, Gnomes, Dwarves, and all other smarty pants.¡±
¡°Well, that¡¯s true that Bully hates humans, but I¡¯m not human.¡±
¡°You look human,¡± the first Hill Giant said.
¡°True, but I¡¯m not.¡±
¡°Then what are you.¡±
¡°I¡¯m a demon,¡± Adam said with a grin.
¡°You no demon¡±
¡°Wanna bet?¡± Adam asked.
¡°K, we bet. You not demon, we eat you. You demon, we eat you.¡±
And with that, the first Giant swung his club.
Adam had to admit, as distractions went, that first giant knew how to try to use them. He didn¡¯t even open his combat log and instead just used the skills he¡¯d learned and moved at a normal attack rate, taking one action every second. His Unarmed Defense and Displace ability made it so that it was nigh impossible for the giants to hit him with their clubs. He, however, was practicing some of the non-lethal strikes he knew and proceeded to break every bone in each giant''s legs and arms. When he was done both Giants were lying on the ground unconscious with limbs that bent in directions they most definitely should not. Next, he placed a hand on each of their bodies and had his nanites analyze their anatomy. The nanites failed. They could not enter the bodies of the giants. He looked dispassionately at the Giants and activated Analyze on both:
Analyze: Success. Dob, Level 114 Hill Giant. 600 of 1430 Hit points.
Analyze: Success. Zar, Level 110 Hill Giant. 556 of 1426 Hit points.
At that moment Dob stirred, started to groan then tried to move his arms and legs which caused him to roll around a bit. Adam stepped on one of the Giant''s broken legs to get his attention.
The giant screamed and then looked at Adam with fear in his eyes. Adam eased up, pointed at himself, and said ¡°Demon.¡±
Dob stopped moving.
¡°Good, if you scream or yell, I¡¯m going to make it so you can never talk again, understand?¡±
Dob managed to say ¡°Yes¡± through his broken jaw.
¡°Okay Dob, just one question. Is anyone supposed to check on you soon?¡±
¡°Nope, we just wave a torch once in a while to let them know we¡¯re up here. Bully wanted us to watch to the North to see if anyone was coming from the mountains. We were supposed to kill anything that showed up here and throw it down, even demons.¡± He said.
¡°So, don¡¯t matter if Bully sent me, you were still going to kill me.¡±
¡°Yep, because that¡¯s what Bully said to do.¡±
¡°Okay Dob, thank you for your honesty¡± He took a step like he was kicking a soccer ball and kicked Dob so hard that he went up, and up and up. He was sure that kick had killed the giant. He watches the corpse of Dob fly up. Wow, that had to be at least a half-mile before he slowed and started to drop. As Dob started his drop toward the ground, a mere 10 feet past the edge of the cliff face, Adam yelled ¡°Four!¡± at the foothills below. They probably wouldn¡¯t hear him down there, but he thought it was funny.
Adam turned to Zar, picked him up in an arc over his head, and brought him over the edge of the cliff¡¯s edge face down. Adam had really started to believe in the power he wielded and decided it was time to have some fun. As the body became parallel with the ground and the cliff''s edge Adam stepped onto Zar¡¯s back and rode him towards the ground looking for Bully and making minor adjustments along the way. Zar had woken up when Adam picked him up and screamed the whole way down.
On the way down, the hill giant started to struggle. Adam struck him in the back of his neck, breaking his spine and paralyzing him. Zar was still conscious, unable to move as the crazy demon stood on his back as they fell towards the ground. That¡¯s why he was completely confused when he heard the human yell ¡°It¡¯s time to make some chimi-fucking-changas!¡± just before Zar struck the ground and heard nothing ever again.
When Adam was 100¡¯ from the ground he activated Feather Fall and watched Zar drop at terminal velocity into Bully. The Hill giant became impaled on Bullys Horns as he was torn and half and the two pieces exploded against the ground.
Completely impressed that Bully had survived a hill giant falling on him from a mile and a half up, Adam cast a fireball at Bully as he floated to the ground.
Adam checked his combat log, skipping all the numbers and critical hit messages.
Begin Combat Log
Total Damage: 10,180
Bully Dies
End Combat Log
After Bully died, Adam spammed fireballs at anything that moved. When movement had stopped for the most part Adam activated Stealth to allow his mana to regenerate. After he finished he looked around at where the camp used to be. There was nothing but smoking craters. Even trees that had been caught in the area of his fireballs were gone. Adam reviewed his combat log and whistled. No wonder, there was nothing left. If the maximum damage he¡¯d do was 18,180 damage with a single fireball, that was crazy. He also reviewed the experience and noticed he seemed to be earning 10 times the level of whatever he killed. He reviewed his prompts and noted that he¡¯d earned 218,350 experience for killing the army. Then a new prompt appeared.
You have personally defeated the Army of Bully. As you do not possess a class, profession, or specialty that can take advantage of this achievement only the totals of your kills will be displayed.
Bully, Half Minotaur, Half Hill Giant
Hill Giants, 5
Trolls: 37
Orcs: 250
Gnolls: 110
Goblins: 400
By defeating a vastly superior force of Evil you have performed a good action that has affected your Alignment. While your alignment has not changed from Neutral the good now outweighs the evil on your soul.
Good, Neutral, Evil Alignment Track: 950 (10,000 to -10,000)
Lawful, Neutral, Chaotic Track: 0 (10,000 to -10,000)
Adam had just killed 802 creatures; he didn¡¯t know how to feel about that. They were evil, but so was Adaline. Though these asshats were going to kill his friends and eat them. He¡¯d targeted Bully first and watched as he¡¯d just disappeared, along with everything within 20 feet of him. Then Adam had moved and cast another fireball. This pattern had gone on for the better part of 10 minutes until there was nothing left. He¡¯d noticed during the beginning of his attack that some of the orcs, goblins, and trolls had run towards the cliffs.
Adam had investigated and found a giant cave entrance. Activating his Tracking skill, Yep, they went that way. Well for his plan to work there had to be some survivors so that was okay. Looking around he went into the woods that were close by and knocked over any trees that were on fire. Though truthfully almost every tree that had been hit by one of his fireballs was reduced to ash. The unfortunate thing about using such a powerful spell was that there was nothing left to salvage, not even bones. Again, that worked in his favor here, but he would not be able to do things like this if helping allies. He¡¯d destroy friend or foe alike.
Adam looked around one last time, activated Stealth, and made his way toward Village by the River. He needed to find the scouts that were obviously watching the village and deal with them. He might even try that new ability Death¡¯s Touch if he could get close enough.
He did get close enough. There was an Orc Scout on the east side of the river about 100 feet up in a tree watching the village. He¡¯d climbed up and activated his ability as he touched the scout and watched the scout turn to dust and break apart as if Ironman had snapped his fingers. What the hell? He opened his combat log.
Begin Combat Log
Adam activates Ability Death¡¯s Touch against Level 44 Orc Scout.
Touch attack Success
Base Damage 44
Attribute Multiplier 18.18, Adjusted Damage 799
Skill Modifier 5, Adjusted Damage 3,999
Sphere of Power Death, 100% bonus damage, Adjusted Damage 7,999
Target Hit Points 560.
Death Spell overcomes Hit Points by more than 10 times.
Target durability reduced to zero.
Target becomes dust in the wind.
End Combat Log
Well, it would seem the idea for the Thanos¡¯s snap wasn¡¯t a unique idea after all. Made sense that the idea was reality somewhere else. Adam spent the next hour combing the forest while stealthed and using his tracking ability to find four more scouts and ¡°snap¡± them out of existence. He¡¯d use Death¡¯s Touch, pick up their equipment after they evaporated, and put it in his ring, then move on. At 10 a.m. he felt reasonably sure that the village wasn¡¯t under surveillance anymore. If there were stragglers, it wasn¡¯t really going to matter. He made his way over to the best place to cross the river then waved to the Wood Elves on sentry duty as he came into the village.
¡°I need to speak with the Elders¡± Adam called out.
¡°They¡¯re in their hut discussing something that one of them divined last night¡± the sentry answered.
¡°No worries, I think I have news that will ease their concern,¡± he said as he made his way to the Elders hut and lightly tapped on the flap.
¡°Come in Adam¡± he heard Elder Jasilla call to him.
Adam stepped through the flap and made his way to his usual sitting position in front of them and took a seat. ¡°Good morning elders.¡± He said with a smile.
¡°Good morning, Adam, we had expected you a bit earlier, did you have any issues during your return.¡± She asked.
¡°No, no issues. Though one of the guards said that you had divined something worrisome?¡± he asked.
She nodded then explained. ¡°Last night a dream came to me of a giant bull with fire and death everywhere. I was so shaken by the dream that I had sent scout parties to the north and west into the forest to look for any sign of trouble.¡±
Adam nodded then spoke. ¡°This morning when I was getting ready to head down the mountain I saw fires off to the East, beyond the river along the mountains. I made my way in that direction and found an Army commanded by a giant Half-Minotaur Half-Giant. I was able to learn that the army had planned to attack Village by the River tonight.¡±
Elder Jasilla stood ¡°We must prepare the village or retreat¡¡±
Adam stood raising his hand in a calming gesture. ¡°Peace unto you Elders of Village by the River. I bear good tidings. The Army of Bully is no more. Simply said, I killed more than 90% of it.¡±
Elder Jasilla looked at Adam, then settled herself back into her chair. Composing herself she said, ¡°Please continue.¡±
Adam reseated himself and continued. ¡°After I was finished, I walked through the forest and searched for the scouts I knew had to be watching the village. I found five orc scouts on the east side of the river and retrieved their equipment. The main force though, I laid waste to. There is nothing left of their camp or them. Some did escape into a cave that led into the mountain, but I chose not to pursue them. I figured that the news of such a one-sided defeat would keep them from building up and trying to attack you again, at least for a while. Then I arrived here and came in to talk to you. It would seem that your divination was accurate. The leader Bully did meet his demise in the center of a fireball.¡± Adam said with a smile.
Elder Jasilla considered Adam¡¯s words and then muttered a small prayer under her breath before speaking. ¡°Adam, we thank you for your service to the village. An attack by an Army is not something that we had any notion of asking you to help with. Should, you require anything that members of the village can provide you need but ask.¡±
Adam nodded respectfully then answered ¡°I will of course accept your offer but would also say that I will do much to protect my friends and their families. Should Village by the River ever need my assistance you have but to ask?¡±
Elder Jasilla smiled and spoke with a laugh. Enough of this stuffy talk, I know how much you ¡®like¡¯ it. What are your plans this day?¡±
Adam returned the smile and then said ¡°I have learned a lot here in Village by the River. Raz has been absolutely the best and helped me learn the ways of this world as I adjust to my new existence. I think, however, if I¡¯m to continue to grow I need to head to the city and learn from some of the Academics there. Where I¡¯m from I know a lot about the fundamentals that govern how things work. Here, magic affects everything and I plan to seek out academics that can help me learn how everything is tied together as Raz has helped me learn the basic skills I need to thrive and survive in the forest and combat.¡±
Elder Jasilla nodded. ¡°We had thought that you might be leaving again after your return and have prepared a gift for you.¡± Standing, she came over and offered a ring to him.
Adam took the ring and activated Identify.
Identify: Success: You have Found a Ring of the Village by the River. If worn, the Elders of Village by the River can use this ring to mentally contact and speak with the wearer. Alternatively, the wearer may also contact the Elders of Village by the River once per day to have a short conversation, no more than five minutes.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
¡°I thank you for this wondrous gift. Know that should you ever call; I should be able to get here in a rather quick fashion.¡± He said.
Elder Jasilla smiled then made a move-out motion with her hand, ¡°Now go. There is a road that leads south out of town. All you need to do is follow it and you will come to the high road. Follow it east until it turns south again you will find yourself at the gates of the city eventually. I¡¯d warn you to beware of bandits, especially the human ones, but somehow I do not think you will have any issues.¡±
Adam slipped the ring onto his finger and then stood. Bowed slightly and turned. He left the hut and made his way to where weapons and armor were stored to find Raz equipping his trainees for the day.
¡°Morning Raz,¡± he said.
¡°Morning Adam, what are you up to today?
¡°Have some stuff to add back into the armory¡± he answered.
¡°Then what will you be up to?¡± Raz asked.
¡°Today is the day I head to the city. I need to go do some studying with some academics.¡± He said as he started pulling all the items, he¡¯d found on the scouts out of his ring of holding and put them on a table.¡±
¡°Where¡¯d you get all the equipment?¡± Raz asked.
¡°Some orc scouts were in the area, now they¡¯re not,¡± Adam said with a laugh.
¡°Truly?¡± Raz asked questioningly and then asked, ¡°Anything I need to worry about?¡±
¡°Nope, if you¡¯re truly concerned, I made a full report to the elders. I give you my word that the danger those scouts represented is no longer a threat to this Village. Though future threats may appear of course. Just nothing in the immediate future.¡± He said with a grin.
¡°If you say we¡¯re safe, I believe you. Are you sure you want to leave all this equipment? Some of it looks quite good?¡± Raz asked.
¡°I broke enough weapons that this small donation does not make up for it. I¡¯m sure I don¡¯t need the equipment and the weapons; they¡¯ll just break if I try to use them, so do with all this gear and weapons as you see fit.¡± Adam said.
¡°Sounds good. Well, I¡¯m going to get these sorry excuses for recruits going. Make sure to stop by next time you¡¯re around.¡±
¡°Will do Raz. Be well¡± Adam said as he left the armory and walked towards the edge of the village and the road to the south. It wasn¡¯t long before the sounds of the river masked any sounds from the village and Adam found himself alone in the forest. Walking down the road he started whistling a little ditty about Jack and Diane, which wasn¡¯t as easy as one would think.
¡°Adam, how are you doing?¡± Abi asked.
¡°Abi, I didn¡¯t forget about you, but you haven¡¯t been talking in a bit. I figured you were taking some ¡®me¡¯ time. You doing, okay?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Never better. I was just relaxing, and binge-watching Battlestar Galactica and Stargate SG-1 again. Samantha Carter is one of my favorite characters.¡±
¡°I know, right? But that¡¯s not why you want to talk. What¡¯s going on?¡±
¡°A few minutes ago, I felt a ping from my creator. It seems to be coming from the direction you''re walking. I just wanted to let you know.¡±
¡°Thanks for the heads up. I¡¯m just going to follow the road to the city for now. When I first met Raz he said it would take the better part of 40 days. I¡¯m thinking about seeing if I can speed that up a bit. Though I¡¯ll have to be careful
Abi laughed. ¡°Should be fun. Think I¡¯m going to binge-watch Stargate Atlantis. Jason Momoa, I know I¡¯m a construct, but he is so hot.¡± She said.
Adam laughed. Anyone looking on would have thought Adam was acting strangely as he spoke to nothing and said, ¡°You have fun,¡± to the air as his body shot launched to the south. Adam allowed his Gravity is that Way ability to lift him up and away while the tendrils of the plant that had been reaching for him wondered where its prey had gone off to.
Adam flew through the air for a couple of minutes then turned off the ability. As he approached the ground he activated Feather Fall and landed softly. Because he was using the ability to basically jump blindly into a specific direction he didn¡¯t know where he¡¯d end up until he was there. This went on for a couple of minutes as he¡¯d launch, land, get his bearings, and launch again. This last time when he landed, he settled to the ground in an open field with the road to his southwest a good half-mile away. He could easily see it as it seemed to go around the west side of this giant glade. Targeting the road, he made a smaller hop and landed and came in for a landing on the road.
Adam looked around and noticed that about a half-mile up the road, there was a wagon trudging along on its way south toward the city. Adam started to jog and easily caught up to the cart which was being dragged along by two horses. A man was on the cart bench holding the reigns and a guard with a crossbow had it aimed at Adam¡¯s heart as Adam jogged up.
¡°That be close enough stranger¡± the guard called.
Adam slowed to a stop and then said ¡°Greetings, I¡¯m just a traveler on my way to the city just looking for a little company to make the journey a tad more endurable.¡±
The guard lowered his weapon slightly but kept it pointed in his general direction.
¡°Know that this is Treasurer Montilara Swissteld to King Liam II of Venoran. I am his guard, Zack. We do not have time for beggars or riffraff. Be off with you before I use this crossbow.¡±
Adam stepped back. ¡°Very well, I have no wish to offend the King or his subjects. I will find other company to keep and another path to take.¡± Adam said as he continued to step back. Just then he noticed a huge shadow coming up behind him and a look of utter shock crept over the guard¡¯s face. The guard started to raise the crossbow towards whatever was making the shadow as a giant leathery foot came down where Adam appeared to be standing.
Thankfully Adam had kept his Displace ability active and both that ability and his Luck caused the attack to miss. Turning around quickly, Adam looked up, and up and up at something that could best be described as some form of dinosaur, but wasn¡¯t. He heard a ¡°Ya!¡± behind him and the horses started to pull the cart faster down the road. Adam Looked at the Monster and activated his Analyze skill. It seemed that the experience he¡¯d put into the skill was well worth it.
Analyze: Success! Betharak, Level 767, Hit Points 33,748
Adam reviewed the information as he looked at it. Its head was at least 200¡¯ up and its legs were huge. It kind of looked like a demonized brontosaurus with extra feathery fins here and there. He decided if it had fins it was probably water-based which meant that if it had any vulnerabilities, they lean toward fire, though he could be wrong.
Begin Combat Log
Action 1, Adam pulls the Staff of Hellish Immolation from his Ring of Holding.
Action 2, Attack Betharak with Staff of Immolation
Success. Critical Obtained.
Base Damage: 421,000
Critical Strike. Damage multiplier x6: 2,526,000
Vulnerable to fire: Damage 5,052,000
Betharak dies.
You have earned 7,670 experience.
End Combat Log
Adam returned the staff to his ring and then looked around. The Betharack had been raising its foot to stomp down on the Wagon as the flames from the staff engulfed and consumed it. The charred smoking carcass dropped onto the trees it was standing over with a loud thud that shook the ground. Adam weathered the tremor easily enough by simply hoping lightly. It didn¡¯t evaporate though. Which was weird because he¡¯d definitely done enough damage. Maybe there was another rule at play, or maybe some magical property was holding it together? Something to think about.
The wagon, however, was not so lucky as one of the wheels came loose and the wagon came to a screeching halt as the treasurer and the guard Zack were thrown from their seats. Zack at least had the good sense to roll and turn looking for any danger as the treasurer lay there. The Treasurer was not so lucky as the cart landed on him. Adam slowly walked toward the guard who kept his crossbow firmly pointed at the smoking head of the Betharack. ¡°It¡¯s dead,¡± Adam said.
¡°I¡¯m sure you won¡¯t mind if I keep my crossbow pointed at it?¡± Zack quipped back.
¡°Knock yourself out. I¡¯m going to check on your treasurer¡± Adam said as he made his way past Zack. Adam came up on the treasurer as he used his nanites to perform a scan and found that his first thought had been correct. The treasurer was pinned under the cart. Lowering his voice to a gentle whisper he came up to the treasurer and said ¡°Treasurer Swissteld. You''re stuck under the wagon. Hold on, I¡¯ll get you out. Adam stepped up and lifted the wagon off the treasurer. He made sure to act like it was heavy and only gave the Treasurer enough room to shimmy out, though it was far too light to give him any difficulty.
Treasurer Swissteld crawled out from under the wagon and rolled over onto his back with a grimace ¡°At least I didn¡¯t break anything.¡± He said.
Adam noticed that Zack watched out of the corner of his eye but kept his crossbow pointedly aimed at the head of the Betharak.
The treasurer breathed easier and then sat up. Slowly he moved into a standing position then put weight on his leg and smiled. Looking at Zack he said ¡°Zack! Put that crossbow down. It¡¯s dead. If it wasn¡¯t dead, we¡¯d be dead. Our friend here saved both our lives; though I could have sworn I saw you get squished,¡± he said thoughtfully as he looked at Adam.
Adam laughed and deactivated Displace which showed his position as being just a little off where he¡¯d been. Helping the treasurer had made it easier for them to get closer to where he actually was. ¡°I had a spell that made me appear not to be exactly where I was. Glad I did too, or I¡¯d be paste.¡± He said smiling.
¡°Well, I could ask how you killed it but instead I will just say thank you for saving our lives. Also, if you¡¯d still like company as you make your way to the city, Zach and I would be most appreciative if someone as capable as yourself would join us.¡± The treasurer said.
¡°I would be honored to join you. I¡¯m new to these parts and have never been to the city before.¡± Adam responded.
¡°Well as you know I am the Treasurer and Tax Collector to King Liam II. This is my guard, Zack. We are returning from some of the outlying hamlets with the taxes collected there. Might I ask your name?¡±
¡°I am Adamantadine. My home is in the mountains to the north of the forest. I do not know if that falls within the boundaries of this kingdom, however?¡± he asked.
¡°Is your home north of Village by the River¡±?
¡°Why yes, it is, about another 50 or 60 miles.
¡°Then no, you do not reside within the Kingdom and do not have to worry about paying taxes. Though, if this beast has any treasure and was killed in the king''s lands, taxes must be paid on that.¡±
¡°What is the tax rate?¡± Adam asked.
¡°For Non-Residents, 25%¡±
¡°That sounds fair,¡± Adam said then continued. ¡°If you¡¯ll give me a few minutes I¡¯ll go search the area, make sure no other monsters are lurking, then search for treasure. I¡¯ll be right back,¡± Adam said as he turned and walked towards the Betharak letting his nanites spread out to their maximum range and catalog everything they could find. He also activated his Investigation and Tracking skills and very quickly traced a path back to a nest of eggs that hadn¡¯t hatched yet. There were some common gems, a garnet, beryl, tourmaline, turquoise, and Zircon. There were also coins scattered throughout the area. All and all he found 200 copper, 160 silver, 26 gold, and 10 platinum. He didn¡¯t find any other treasure though. He also noticed that a huge track made its way directly east. That track looked to be a little bigger than Betharak he¡¯d killed.
Heading back to the wagon he noticed Zach and the Treasurer looking at him expectantly as the treasurer asked. ¡°Did you find anything?¡±
¡°Yes, first a question. What is directly east of here?¡± Adam asked
¡°The ocean is about a half-mile away from here. This is the closest to the ocean the road comes until we get to the city.¡± Zack said.
¡°Well then, I think we need to fix this wagon and be on our way,¡± Adam said.
Adam moved over to the wheel and set his nanites to work. They quickly repaired the wagon wheel. Next, he helped Zack lift the wagon while the Treasurer attached the wheel. They all reloaded the wagon. The treasurer and Zach sat on the bench and Adam walked alongside as the horse began pulling the wagon south.
As they started making their way south Adam said ¡°While I was searching, I found a second track for a second Monster that looked to be bigger than the first. It went off to the east. No telling if it¡¯s coming back this way but with the smell of cooked meat in the air, I¡¯m sure scavengers are going to make their way to the carcass. Hopefully, those various scavengers will mask our scent.¡± He paused for a moment. ¡°Also, I found 200 copper, 160 silver, 26 gold, and 10 platinum. If your tax is 25% of the findings I owe you 50 copper, 45 silver, 11 gold, and 2 platinum he said handing the amount up to the treasurer. I also found five gems, all common. A Garnet, Beryl, Tourmaline, Turquoise Zircon. How do I pay taxes on gems I find as treasure?¡±
¡°How many did you find?¡± The Treasurer asked.
¡°Five¡± he answered honestly.
¡°Well, the easiest way would be to give me exactly 25% of whatever you found. Can¡¯t do that if you found 5. May I take a look at what you found?¡± he asked?
Adam showed him the garnet, beryl, turquoise, tourmaline, and zircon. Treasurer Swissteld looked them over. ¡°While I can¡¯t tell you the exact value of each of these gems, I can tell you that there is a markup of about 25 % for turquoise gems. if each gem were worth 20 gold. That would net you 100 gold. In the City, you¡¯d get 105 gold though because of the Turquoise. So, if you offer the turquoise as your tax, no matter the value of the stones the crown will consider taxes paid on the 4 gems you keep.
Adam handed over the turquoise, ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± He said.
The Treasurer took the coins and gems and then stored them in an item of holding he had. Adam knew this because they vanished from in front of him. Adam couldn¡¯t tell if it had gone into a ring, belt, or something else. Adam walked alongside the wagon keeping a lookout while Zack did the same. A couple of hours later they stopped for a lunch break. To blend in Adam brought out some of his dried rations and ate them. He sat and they talked about the Kingdom. After the meal, they were on their way again. As the sun was starting to set, they came upon a small walled fort that allowed them to enter. The treasurer was led off to a building while Zach looked at Adam and said ¡°This way, we can eat, and then you can bunk with me in the barracks for tonight. We leave at first light.¡±
Morning came quickly and they loaded up and were off again. The rest of the week was a study in repetition. They¡¯d travel until they reached a small fort. Stay the night then be on their way in the morning. They didn¡¯t talk much but through the little conversation they had, Adam learned that the Kingdom of Liam II was quite large and stretched for hundreds of miles up and down the coast. The towns and villages the tax collector had visited were mostly inland along the border of elves in their forest to the west with which the Kingdom had good relations.
There were also towns and villages to the south of the Capital city of Venoran, the seat of King Liam II¡¯s power. In that direction, however, the armies of the Kingdom were built up and patrolled as the Kingdoms to the south, while run by humans that were always trying to expand into King Liam II¡¯s territory. There had been many skirmishes over the years. The last war though hadn¡¯t been for at least a decade. Their journey continued and Adam learned a lot about the history of the area and the crops that were farmed.
As they continued their journey Adam saw people heading north and some would pass them heading south but no more was said to them than ¡°Good Day¡± or ¡°Long live King Liam II.¡± Adam was sure it had something to do with the fact that it was the Tax Collectors wagon. Even back on Earth, no one liked to pay taxes, and historically the king''s tax collectors, if the stories were to be believed, were mostly asshats. Though Adam hadn¡¯t seen that kind of behavior from this man. He had been mostly pleasant and talkative.
On Aprilis 10th they woke and left the fort they were in with the morning light. As the day went on, they started to encounter more and more people and came to a point that overlooked the inlet and city below. The city of Venoran was spread out over at least a 10-mile area and looked like a Victorian-era paradise with huge estates surrounding the trappings of government in the center and a bonafide medieval castle at its center on a plateau. Venoran was huge. Off to the west, north of the city on the cliffs that overlooked the sea was a giant black obelisk that looked to be at least 10 miles away. That meant that it was huge, at least 1,000 feet high.
Adam pointed at the obelisk and asked: ¡°What is that?¡±
¡°That my friend is the Dungeon Marker for the Dungeon of Divine Elements.¡±
¡°The city has a Dungeon just outside it, isn¡¯t that dangerous?¡±
The treasurer looked at Adam. ¡°I wish you¡¯d have asked about dungeons earlier this week. We¡¯d have had something else to talk about¡± Starting the wagon down the road towards the city the Treasurer continued. ¡°No, it¡¯s not dangerous to the city. Should anything try to break out of the dungeon there is a division of the best soldiers and mages the kingdom has to offer stationed between the Dungeon Entrance and the City. Also, there is a Ward protecting the city. Only those who have been issued proper papers may freely enter and exit. However, there is no barrier to enter the city through the main gate, which is where we¡¯re headed, so long as the guards allow you passage of course. Don¡¯t worry. Part of my thanks to you for saving us is to take you directly to a clerk I know and get those papers directly. You have proved your loyalty to the kingdom this last week by accompanying us and ensuring our safety without asking for any type of payment in return. Helping you get your papers is the least I can do.¡±
Adam looked to the Treasurer and then said ¡°I hadn¡¯t figured out the best way to ask but the reason I¡¯m coming to the city is to find some academics to talk to. I¡¯d like to learn as much as I can. If you could point me in the right direction to meet such individuals I would be most grateful?¡±
¡°So, for saving, then helping us reach the city, all you¡¯d like in return is to be pointed in the direction of academics? Adam, my boy, some would not consider that to be me helping you in any such way. But, if that is all you desire then I will help you get your papers, and I will introduce you to a friend of mine who is an Academic at the College.¡±
Adam smiled and said, ¡°That would be great.¡±
They traveled for two hours to make it to the first gate, which they were waved through immediately when the guard recognized Treasurer Swissteld. Another hour saw them through the second gate and another hour after that saw them through the third gate. Adam noticed that they were in the center city area below the castle. Zach pulled the wagon to a stop next to a building with huge Marble columns that reminded Adam of some of the renderings of what Rome had been like at the height of its power. Though this building was obviously more modern.
Treasurer Swissteld stepped down from the wagon and looked back at Adam. ¡°I have to go report in and deposit all currency that is owned by the Kingdom before I can go anywhere else. Zach will stay with you. I should return shortly, and we¡¯ll head off to get your papers sorted and then get you over to the college. If you have the coin, which I know you do, you might even be able to rent a residence at the college while you meet with them.¡±
Zach and Adam waited for about an hour and a half before the Treasurer returned. ¡°Adam, come on. I found out that I can take care of your needs here. Zach, thank you for the company these last couple of weeks. I¡¯ve informed your Captain that you¡¯re to have the next week off and then return to duty. Go spend some time with your family. I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll see each other again.¡±
¡°Thank you Treasurer Swissteld,¡± Zach said as Adam stepped down. ¡°It was nice meeting you Adam, I need to go turn this wagon in then I can head out to the farm.¡±
Adam stepped over to the Treasurer as they watched Zach drive off together.
¡°That was a nice thing you did,¡± Adam said.
¡°Well, we almost died. When I described what you had killed they said they wanted to meet you and that proper protocol for someone who saved a Treasurer of the Crown ¡®Must¡¯ be followed and to reward Zach with some time off.. So, Zach gets to run and be off with his family and I get to help you become a member of the Kingdom.¡±
Adam laughed ¡°No good deed goes unpunished.¡±
¡°I assure you this is not a punish¡¡±
Adam patted the Treasurer on the back lightly ¡°It¡¯s a saying from my homeland that basically means that anytime you do something good. Someone somewhere wants to reward you for it and make a day that was already long, longer. It¡¯s not meant as an insult, just a way of recognizing that when you do a good deed, others will want to acknowledge that good deed and in doing so keep you from enjoying other distractions or performing even more good deeds as they tie up your time. ¡°
As Adam explained the treasurer nodded and then said ¡°You know, that actually makes sense. I like it. No good deed goes unpunished.¡± He laughed as he led Adam inside and down a huge hallway. After a little bit, he turned toward an open set of double doors, composed himself, and stepped into a room filled with people. Adam realized that this was a ceremony of sorts and had been put together for the express purpose of meeting him. Treasurer Swissteld continued into the room until he stood before a man in a brilliant gold robe and bowed for three full seconds before straightening and speaking in a formal tone. ¡°May I introduce Adamantadine, savior of Treasurer Swissteld from sure death to you Supervisor Tavor, Direct Advisor to King Liam II.¡±
Adam bowed slightly but remained silent.
¡°Adamantadine, it is good to meet someone who has served the kingdom so thoroughly after just arriving. May you always be welcome in the Kingdom of Liam II. Please accept this small token of our appreciation¡± Supervisor Tavor said as he presented a silver coin with the seal of the Kingdom on it.¡±
Adam accepted the offered coin and a round of polite applause erupted from the audience. ¡°I thank you,¡± Adam said, bowing, waiting the three full seconds as Treasurer Swissteld had before straightening.
Moving closer Supervisor Tavor whispered ¡°Someday I would like a personal accounting of the event we are celebrating but for now know that the Kingdom appreciates your helpfulness. I would talk more but have a prior appointment. Please enjoy your stay in the Kingdom.¡± As he finished Supervisor Tavor stepped back and resumed smiling at the crowd.
Treasurer Swissteld bowed and started walking for the exit. Adam followed the Treasurer who led him out of the room and down the hall for a way before Adam asked ¡°Okay I¡¯ll bite, what was that all about?¡±
Treasurer Swissteld pointed to the coin in Adam¡¯s hand. That is your papers, you¡¯re done. So long as that coin is on your person or in a device of holding on your person the guards will automatically know that you are a respected member of the Kingdom of Liam II. It also makes it so that you''re taxed as a resident instead of a nonresident.
¡°So that¡¯s it, nice to know,¡± Adam said as he slipped the coin into his ring of holding.
Treasurer Swissteld clarified ¡°Normally, common folk apply for papers and carry those papers around with them. Families in good standing, nobles, members of the court, and the king¡¯s family are given a coin or talismans that allow for their immediate recognition by any guard or official of the kingdom. There are different levels but basically, if you have one of these items you are treated better than the other 80% of the population as your loyalty to the kingdom is beyond reproach.¡± Treasurer Swissteld said and then started walking.
¡°Thank you,¡± Adam said.
¡°No, Thank You, Adam. Besides, there is a caste system in Venoran. We have our peasants and workers, merchants, and then we have our Nobel families and the king¡¯s family. The coin you carry will open doors for you that a newcomer to Venoran might not otherwise have. Of course, the introduction that I¡¯m about to make is also not something that a newcomer would receive but again I recognize my debt to you and am happy to help you on your quest.¡±
Adam nodded thoughtfully. ¡°Thank you Treasurer Swissteld. I helped you because it was the right thing to do. I did not expect payment and would have gone my own way even after you were safe, had you asked. I thank you again for your generosity. Know that you should require help; you need but ask.¡±
Treasurer Swissteld cut him off ¡°Shh boy, no oaths, vows, or any other such nonsense. I don¡¯t like to be owed or owe anyone anything if it is enforced by the will of the Gods, Adjudicator, or whatever. If you need help from me ask. If I need help from you in the future I¡¯ll ask, fair enough?¡±
Adam laughed and then said. ¡°Fair enough¡±
¡°Okay, we¡¯re here.¡± Treasurer Swissteld said as they came to a set of double doors. He stepped up and knocked lightly. The double doors swung open, and Treasurer Swissteld led Adam into a room that reminded Adam of a Library, but he immediately knew that it was not. They walked forward as a female Elf with pale white skin and the most piercing green eyes Adam had ever beheld glided down a set of stairs to greet them.
¡°Academic Silvanar, Good day to you. Might I have a moment of your time?¡± Treasurer Swissteld asked.
With a soft almost musical voice Academic Silvanar replied ¡°Treasurer Swissteld, you may have a moment, and more of my time, if that is your desire. You know you are always welcome here.¡±
¡°Beside me is a young man that came to my rescue earlier this week. He was traveling to Venoran to seek out the assistance of the academics. While our conversations never discussed the topics he wishes to discuss I thought to help in this one task and introduce the two of you. Academic Silvanar, may I present Adamantadine.¡± He said.
Academic Silvanar looked to Adamantadine and then asked ¡°While it is always a pleasure to meet new and possibly interesting people I must ask. How exactly did you save Treasurer Swissteld?¡±
Adam smiled and said ¡°Well, upon our meeting his guard had told me to bugger off, then a Betharak¡± Treasurer Swissteld coughed softly, ¡° that had recently laid a clutch of eggs decided that it needed to step on me. I was lucky enough to be missed by its attack and was able to kill it.¡±
Academic Silvanar looked to Treasurer Swissteld and asked ¡°Truly?¡±
¡°He is, of course, being modest. He destroyed it with a staff he was carrying¡± Treasurer Swissteld said.
Academic Silvanar looked at Adam and a prompt went off.
Academic Silvanar has tried to use Analyze on you. Failed
She recovered from the failure quickly, smiling. ¡°I apologize to you Adamantadine for trying to Analyze you without your permission. If we are to discuss a topic of importance at some point I will need to know what you know. Let me say that I am now intrigued and if you are not offended would be happy to sit down and discuss the topics you wish, and many other topics as well.¡±
Adam smiled ¡°No offense taken. I would very much like to sit down and have a discussion with you. Treasurer Swissteld also mentioned that I might be able to purchase a place to sleep while I¡¯m here?¡± he asked.
Treasurer Swissteld cut in. ¡°Academic Silvanar, we just arrived in the city. He has never been here before and as he wanted to study with you I mentioned that you might be able to accommodate his needs while you talked, for a fair price of course¡±
Academic Silvanar smiled. The normal fee for such a room is one gold per day. However, I can detect that you carry the mark of the Kingdom, and you did save one of my dearest friends. For one silver per day, you will have a room and an evening meal. If you wish to have a morning meal and lunch those are an additional copper per meal. ¡°
Adam smiled ¡°I thank you for your generosity. When can we get started?¡±
Academic Silvanar responded with a sigh. ¡°Today is actually not good and I do want to be the first to sit down with you. ¡°She thought for a moment then continued. ¡°It will take me the rest of the day to get everything ready and to alter my schedule for tomorrow. How about we meet up after the morning meal tomorrow?¡±
¡°That sounds splendid,¡± Adam said.
Treasurer Swissteld looked at Academic Silvanar ¡°Introductions have been made and it has been a long two weeks. By your leave my fair lady I believe I am going to make my way back to my home and my loving wife.¡±
Academic Silvanar moved forward and kissed Treasurer Swissteld¡¯s cheek. ¡°Please say hello to your beautiful wife for me. Sometime soon we three need to get together again. It has been far too long.¡±
¡°I will,¡± he said as he turned to Adam and said, ¡°You take care Adam, and again, thank you for helping us.¡± With that, the Treasurer turned and walked to the doors which closed behind him as he left.
¡°Adam?¡± Academic Slivanar asked questionably.
Adam smiled. ¡°A nickname, please feel free to use it. Adamantadine has five syllables and might be hard for some to remember, not an academic such as yourself of course, but some of the simpler folk, so I chose ¡®Adam.¡¯¡±
¡°Fair enough Adam. I¡¯m going to summon one of my assistants to take you to our residence quarters.¡± She said then called out a little louder. ¡°Archibald!¡±
A young man hurried in from a side door ¡°Yes Academic.¡±
¡°Please escort Adamantadine to our Residence area and inform Beatrice that his rate is one silver per night which includes an evening meal. ¡°
¡°As you wish Academic,¡± Archibald said as he turned to Adam ¡°If you would follow me?¡± he asked.
Adam looked at Academic Silvanar and said, ¡°Thank you, I will see you tomorrow.¡± Adam turned and followed Archibald out of the door as it opened and then closed behind them. Archibald led Adam through a maze of corridors but as with anything else, unless they were being magically shuffled, he would be able to find his way back to that room easily. About a half-hour later they came to what could only be described as a bank teller window.
¡°Beatrice¡± Archibald called.
Adam heard quick footsteps then a young human woman with light brown hair came into view. ¡°Yes Archibald,¡± Beatrice said.
Academic Silvanar has asked me to inform you that Amantadine, the gentleman with me, will be staying with us for a while and that his daily rate will be one silver piece which will include an evening meal.¡±
Beatrice almost scowled then smiled and said, ¡°As the Academic wishes.¡± She turned her gaze to Adam and asked, ¡°Adamantadine, how long will you be staying with us?¡±
Adam smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯m not sure but at least a week.¡±
¡°Would you like to pay for the week in advance or daily?¡± she asked.
¡°I¡¯ll pay for the week,¡± he said, pulling out a gold coin and handing it through the slot in the window.
Beatrice took the coin, checked it with a spell then said. ¡°Your payment is accepted. Archibald will take you to your room, which is 2A which means you are in room A on the 2nd floor. Enjoy your stay¡± Turning to Archibald she said, ¡°Archibald, please show him where the dining room is and then where his room is.¡±
¡°Yes Beatrice,¡± he said before he turned toward a door and stepped through holding it open for Adam. Adam stepped through and was led a short distance to a set of double doors.
¡°This is the dining area. Dinner begins at 5 p.m. and ends at 9 p.m. He then turned to his right and went up a stairway that led to a landing that went off in four directions. Your room A is right here. There are 6 rooms in each hallway, and all the rooms on this floor are lettered A through V. Your hallway contains A through F.¡± Archibald stepped up to the door and opened it. ¡°The doors are not magically secured but they can be locked from the inside if you wish¡± Archibald led him into a room that reminded him of the rooms he¡¯d created on Trappist-1e. There was a bed, a desk, and a door to a washroom that had a sink and a bath in it. Archibald turned to go.
¡°Please wait!¡± Adam called out as he fished out a copper piece and Archibald started to look insulted ¡°Please accept this token of my appreciation. This is my first time in this city. You have been most helpful and where I¡¯m from we show our appreciation by giving tips, a monetary bonus, to those who are working. This gesture on my part is not meant as an insult.¡±
Archibald removed the scowl and then took the copper coin. ¡°I thank you for explaining your custom to me. Most nobles would not have taken the time. I of course will accept this generous gift with the same gravity it was given. ¡°And with that, he turned and left the room.
Adam looked through the room. As there wasn¡¯t much in the room, that didn¡¯t take long. Next, he went down to the dining area to eat. The food, he had to admit, was quite good. Of course, he hadn¡¯t had a warm meal in quite a while but still, however they¡¯d spiced the meat had brought out an interesting flavor and it had tasted like a honeyed ham. While he was eating he garnered some glances but that was all. When he was done he made his way back to his room, locked the door, then used his nanites to make the door a part of the wall, sealing him in. When that was done and he felt secure, he laid down and went to sleep.
Chapter 31, Its All Academic
(Day 166) Aprilis 11th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
Adam woke up early and went down for the morning meal. He paid a copper and received eggs, a piece of ham, toast, and water. Also, it looked like everyone who wanted to eat the morning meal paid the copper, including the academics. He made his way back through the building to where he¡¯d met Academic Silvanar. Stepping up to the double door he knocked lightly, and it opened.
¡°Please come in Adam.¡± Academic Silvanar said.
Adam stepped through and the door closed behind him. ¡°Good morning Academic Silvanar,¡± he said.
¡°Please, while it¡¯s just us, call me Freya. Also, if you¡¯d follow me I have some refreshments and a place where we can sit and discuss why you were seeking out an Academic.¡± She said as she led him upstairs to a table with two chairs. Each sat in front of a glass window that looked out onto a giant garden.
After they were seated, and each of them had taken a sip of their tea Freya asked ¡°So you killed a Betharak? That means either it was very young, or you are more than you seem.¡±
¡°More than I seem, I''m afraid. Would you like to try to read me again?¡± he asked.
¡°In a moment. You do not seem worried¡± she stated.
¡°I have nothing to hide. Also, before I traveled here I was in Village by the River and allowed the Elder Jasilla to use one of her divination spells on me.¡±
¡°Jasilla?¡± she said questioningly ¡°That is not a name I have heard in at least 10 years. How is she?¡±
¡°She and the other villagers are doing good. I lived with them for a bit and learned what I could. When they¡¯d taught me all they could I made my way here. That was about a week ago. I should warn you that when Jasilla used her divination spell and I relented to it, while I don¡¯t think she was actually hurt, it took her a moment to recover from the information overload.¡±
¡°Information overload?¡±
¡°Yes, information overload. You see, I¡¯m not from here. By here I mean to say I¡¯m not from this dimension, or as my adjudicator stated this Universe.¡±
¡°I see that you believe what you say, but why would that cause an information overload?¡± she asked.
Well, in my Universe I learned a lot. Before I came here I had 1,124 skills. After arriving I¡¯ve been relearning everything as there seems to be a compatibility issue. I haven¡¯t actually reviewed all my skills in a while, but I believe I have about 1,150 to at least skill level 100. I also have a few skills up to level 500.
¡°You have at least 1,150 skills at level 100 or higher?¡± she asked then asked again ¡°Are you a divine, I thought divines could only visit the mortal realm?¡±
¡°No Freya, I am not a divine or a God. I am a mortal, just like you. I believe when you use your ability, or spell, you will comprehend my true nature, then we can get down to business. I was letting you know all of this so that you are prepared for the information that will be coming your way and can steel yourself for it.¡±
¡°Before I do this, might I know your class?¡± she asked.
¡°That is one of the subjects I need to discuss with you. In my Universe, we do not have classes. We have what is called a Character Level. I have been informed that the progression is similar. Though in this Universe there is more than one I have been told.
¡°Okay, what character level are you?¡±
¡°Currently, I am character level 5,000.¡±
Freya coughed, then cleared her throat. ¡°You are not divine, yet possess the class, I mean, character levels required to be divine?¡± Here once level 5,000 is reached in any class, mortals have the choice to become divine which permanently converts them to that path. Or they may choose to continue as a mortal and attempt to increase their skills and class levels before becoming divine.
¡°Well, it seems that the level cap of 5,000 stopped progression where I¡¯m from, and without access to my personal interface there was no way for me to choose another path. See, in the Universe, I come from, there is no magic. None. That is another subject I wish to discuss with you. Because there is no magic we do not have access to our personal interface, nor can we distribute attribute points. After I came here I¡¯ve thought about the subject a bit and it almost seems as if my Universe is set up so that mortals cannot become gods. I was informed by my adjudicator here after I arrived that when I died I would have been able to review my personal interface and if I met the requirements I¡¯d have been given the choice to become a divine at that time.
¡°That sounds limiting.¡±
¡°It does, doesn¡¯t it?¡± he asked back.
¡°Which begs the question, how did you achieve the level you are?¡± she asked.
¡°Well, there is a story behind that which actually originates from this Universe. Before I tell you though I want your promise that this next part, and the individual I name, stay between you and me. If that is not a promise you can keep then that part of the story is better left unrepeated. Also, I can¡¯t think how I became the way I am as necessary for the Academic discussions I wish to have with you.¡± He said with a smile.
Freya smiled back ¡°Let¡¯s leave that subject for later then. I do not want to make a promise to hold a secret at this time, we just met.¡± she said with a gentle laugh. ¡°If you are ready I believe I¡¯m ready to cast Divine Insight.¡±
That is the same spell Elder Jasilla used¡± he said.
¡°I would expect no less from Jasilla. We are both Clerics for the Goddess of Knowledge and Learning, Serena. Also, I was Jasilla¡¯s teacher once upon a time.¡±
¡°Well, if you¡¯re ready I¡¯m ready,¡± Adam said.
Standing from her chair, Freya moved over to and placed a hand on Adam¡¯s forehead. Then a gold light surrounded her hand and Adam received the prompt
The Level 956 High Elf Cleric Freya Silvanar is attempting to cast the level 101 Spell Divine Insight on you. Resist, Yes or No?
Adam chose No.
Immediately, Freya¡¯s eyes closed as she weathered the information she was taking in. Her stance swayed for a second then she opened her eyes and walked back to her seat and sat down. ¡°I thank you for the warning. You were right, had I not erected some mental defenses the amount of information you possess would have overwhelmed me.¡±
¡°I warned Elder Jasilla as well, but she disregarded my warning. Once she was able to stand she mentioned that her goddess probably took great pleasure in the lesson of humility she¡¯d just received.¡± He said.
Freya laughed ¡°That does sound exactly like something she¡¯d say after her pride got the better of her. Now that I¡¯ve divined your nature, skills, and abilities, what exactly do you need help with?¡± she asked.
¡°A lot actually. To start with, Souls, are they permanent, can they be destroyed, how do they work? Then of course there¡¯s magic. I do not understand that system., nor do I understand how to read spells. After that, do I want a class? How do I get a class? Can I have multiple classes? Maybe a little bit of knowledge about how the Personal Interface works and any tips or tricks a non-native to this universe might need to know concerning how to use it. I¡¯ve also learned there are professions and specialties and when I took out the Army of Bully, a half-giant, half-minotaur that was going lead a raid against Village by the River I saw a prompt that implied that if I¡¯d had a class, profession, or specialty I¡¯d have received another reward. Then there is my need to make it to The Labyrinth eventually to discuss an old debt with the consciousness there.¡±
¡°Is that all?¡± she asked with a smile.
¡°No, but all of those subjects will do for a start.¡± He said.
¡°How about we start with a subject you did not mention, the origin of everything,¡± she asked.
¡°Sounds about as good a place to start as anywhere else¡± he answered.
Taking a sip of her tea Freya began. ¡°Our current understanding, provided by our goddess, states that in the beginning there was a great expanse of Chaos. Chaos has no form, has no function other than to constantly change, and exists in and around everything else that exists. As time went on something happened or something emerged that brought some order into chaos. Now you must understand this place of chaos is vast. It has existed, exists now, and will always exist. Also, it exists outside of time. It would be better to say that time exists within chaos, as do all the other primal forces. So, a mote of order popped into existence, and from that order, a Universe formed. Do you understand the concepts of Space, Time, and Gravity?¡± she asked.
¡°Our Scientists have come to understand them, yes. We call the area that our Universe exists in Space. We have deduced that time and gravity exist as a byproduct of the mass of bodies in that Space.¡± He said.
¡°That¡¯s not exactly how those three primal forces behave here but the fact that you recognize and understand them is good. Order popped into existence and suddenly there was a Universe consisting of Space, Time, and Gravity. In this bubble, for lack of any other term which is infinite yet enclosed, most Universes are formed with Magic. The eight basic primal forces, which are also our basic school of magic are; Air, Life, Water, Darkness, Earth, Death, Fire, and Light as well as other forces that are combinations of each, worked within that framework of Space, Time and Gravity to define that Universe.¡±
¡°Each Universe thus created could therefore be different as the values of all those primal forces could be different. This Universe allows for what is considered a normal iteration. Your universe sounds like its ability to utilize magical forces was stunted. But that¡¯s not the important part. If we think of this in terms of directions or layers. Chaos is at the bottom with Order providing the area the other forces reside in. That area is composed of Space, Time, and Gravity which then encompasses the other primal forces if they are present; Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Life, Death Light, Darkness, or any combination thereof. The only three forces that are required to be in each bubble of order are Space, Time, and Gravity. Though such bubbles are few and far between. Most Universes have some form of the other eight primal forces. From this fundamental framework, Universes also developed pocket universes within themselves as guided by the divines there. These would be the Anti-Universes and Proper Universes, your Evil Hell, and Good Celestial Universes. The divines also created the Evil Putrescent and Good Absolute Universes, your Heavens and Abyssal realms. As far as my Goddess knows each ¡°bubble¡± of order contains its own hellish, abyssal, celestial, and heavenly pocket realms within itself¡± She paused for a moment to take a drink and let what she¡¯d said sink in.
¡°So, each bubble of Order could have its own Gods and Demons that might not ever meet?¡± he asked.
¡°Each bubble of order could have exact duplicates of a God or Demon or copies that are similar but different. There could be a duplicate of you and me running around from another Universe. Chaos creates whatever Chaos wants to create.¡± she answered.
¡°So what led to the Divines.?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Once, the framework was created the structure of mentality or, the mental, came into existence. At first, they were just basic constructs but eventually, such thoughts became complicated enough to become creatures like you and me. Once mentality developed a will to live the Spirit came into existence. Once spirits existed immortal souls developed. Once souls came into existence it was only a matter of time before the first Divine¡¯s came to be.¡± She paused for a moment taking a drink and collecting her thoughts before she continued,
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
¡± Now we come to the crux, which directly relates to you. Chaos is infinite, or at least unmeasurable, as far as anyone can tell. Inside Chaos, Order can form over and over and in multiple ways. In addition, connections between these motes of order can come into existence which allows for connections between aspects of the Putrescent, Anti, Divine, Spirit, mental, Proper, and Absolute. There can be connections between some, all, or none. It sounds like the Universe you traveled here from was one of those that was connected to none. Now because all motes of Order exist within Chaos some believe this to mean each can be connected, even if only for a moment. It also means that there can, and probably will be duplications. Do you understand so far?¡± she asked.
¡°Yes, it¡¯s easy enough to follow. We call the idea that there are multiple Universes within a much bigger sea, or fluid, the Multi-Verse Theory. I don¡¯t think anyone ever thought of that fluid as raw chaos before, though it makes perfect sense.¡± He said.
¡°Which brings us to the mental, spirit, soul, and divine. Some postulate that something mental had to come into existence within chaos to form the first mote of order that became the first Universe. As Chaos does contain everything and is constantly creating and destroying those things it¡¯s completely possible, but no one knows for sure. Once the first mote of Order was created which led to the first Universe, the second, and the third. This allowed those Universes to develop and within those universes, the first aspects of the mind formed. From those minds, spirits developed, and from those spirits, souls. Eventually, those souls grew into the original divines. Scholars believe that as time went on the souls became divine then changed the fundamental rules in some universes and separated the path of the mental into spirit, soul, and divine. With what you told me it sounds like your Universe has rules in place so that if the mental becomes a soul, it moves onto whatever the next phase of the soul is when its body dies. Which even scholars argue about because there is a point no one has been able to see beyond. As to what the soul is? Ultimately it is easiest to think of a soul as the ordered memories of life with enough will and determination to continue after the spark of life fades from their material body. Now let¡¯s talk about the divine. What are your teachings or more importantly what do you believe or know about gods?¡± she asked.
¡°Where I¡¯m from one of the beliefs, which I hold, is that there is only one God, and he created everything,¡± Adam said.
¡°There is probably not only one God that created everything. Though there could be. If there is, he, she, or it sits outside chaos and directs it, which is doubtful, but not impossible. What I know through communing with my Goddess is that the mental that became spirit evolved over countless millennia.¡± She paused for a second while taking a drink then continued. ¡°When I say countless I mean that there are motes of Order with divines within them that would not have a level. They would be so far above levels as to make such distinctions meaningless. I have seen your attributes. Imagine if you will that you were level 100,000 with 800,000 attributes. The beings I describe would be orders of magnitude above that. By the way, what did you utilize on the Betharak?¡± she asked.
Adam thought about the quick change of subject and wondered where she was going with the question as he answered, ¡°I used the Staff of Hellish Immolation on it.¡± He said.
She nodded. ¡°That would do it. Where did you get the staff from?¡± Freya asked.
¡°An Arch-Mage named Findal challenged me to a Place of Power duel to the death at the Village by the River. He declared the challenge, and we appeared somewhere else. He used the staff on me, I destroyed him.¡± Adam said.
¡°So he¡¯s dead then?¡± she asked questioningly.
¡°Yep, dead as a doornail. Why do you ask?¡±
¡°Findal was the Nobel first son of one of the Nobles here. If they find out you killed him there could be repercussions. I would not pull out that staff inside the town. Someone might recognize it and report seeing it.¡± She said.
¡°Understood, I wouldn¡¯t want to get the nobles after me. Though it was¡¡± Adam stopped himself, took a deep breath, and continued. ¡°Thank you for the warning. I will take it to heart and try not to antagonize anyone else within the city.¡±
Freya nodded, took a drink then continued. ¡°The first Divines learned to modify the rules by which their motes of order work. In some cases, new motes of order that spontaneously pop into existence follow those same rules. Other motes of orders that spontaneously pop into existence might have slightly modified rules. Chaos does tend to do whatever chaos wants to do after all.¡± She paused for a moment thinking then continued.
¡°As to your questions about Souls. Those first gods set forth the rules for every Universe they oversaw and some they visited. The one fundamental truth about the rules they create though is this. Unless you die, you don¡¯t get to know exactly what happens to a soul as none have ever returned. A soul can be captured, reincarnated, and resurrected. The Gods can even allow for an afterlife in the heavens or hells but eventually, all souls choose to leave this existence behind and make their way to The Eye.
¡°The Eye?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The Eye is a spiritual gateway that only souls may pass through. Mortals, Monsters, and even Gods can eventually choose to allow their souls to pass through if they have the will and determination to keep their memories together. As they do though their material form is destroyed, and that soul is never seen again. Once a soul passes through The Eye no one knows what will happen. ¡°
¡°So, there is an afterlife? Is there something after that afterlife?¡± Adam asked.
¡°No one is sure. Souls can stay within the framework of this Universe to serve their Divine. In fact, the more souls that willingly serve a divine the more powerful that divine gains. While I¡¯m not sure, there does seem to be a correlation between how fast a Divine rises through their ranks and the number of devoted mortals and souls they have.¡±
¡°Can the souls of sentient creatures be trapped?¡±
¡°Simple answer, yes. When a person dies their soul normally makes its way to their God or Goddess and presents itself. Within each Pantheon of Gods, there exist good, neutral, and evil Divines as there exist those divines who are Ordered, Neutral, Chaotic, or any combination thereof. The Gods then reward or punish the souls, as is their right, for the services they have performed for them. Those souls that are evil usually fail their Divine so are punished in some way. Those divines that are good usually allow their followers to live within their idea of heaven. The one thing that is true for both groups is that eventually a soul will grow weary or tired and choose to move on. ¡°
¡°Those being punished go more quickly of course. When this happens, no force can stop them, and they pass through The Eye. Now if a divine¡¯s growth is directly tied to the number of followers and souls that serve that divine you would think even those who are punishing the souls that answer to them would want to cultivate their retention and instead please the souls answering to them. This could not be more untrue. The other aspect of Divine progress is the idea of being true to their purpose. You see, every divine has a purpose they declare upon accepting divinity. The more true a divine is to their purpose, the faster their level progression. Acting in any way opposite to their stated purpose reduces and can even reverse that progress. So, an Evil divine that punishes a soul for 50 years before it gives up and passes through The Eye will earn the same progress along its divine path as a Good divine that rewards their souls for thousands of years before they get weary and decide to move on. This is one of the reasons sin seems so easy. Even among the divines being evil can garner quicker initial progress.
¡°How do you know this specific tidbit about the Divines?¡± Adam asked.
¡°My Goddess and I once sat down and had a long chat on the subject. She is after all the Goddess of Knowledge and Learning. Her purpose is to learn and share knowledge.¡±
¡°But why would she inform you that at any time you can choose to just bug out, I mean to say, leave and move on to the next phase through The Eye,¡± he asked.
¡°I asked her that same question and her answer was simple. She must stay true to her purpose. Holding onto knowledge of any kind would slow or reverse her progress.
Adam paused for a moment in thought, ¡°When you explain it like that, it does make a kind of perfect sense,¡± he said and then asked, ¡°Concerning souls, can all souls be captured and used?
¡°The simple answer to your question is yes¡± she responded, ¡°The longer answer is only until the soul becomes a bonafide spirit.¡±
¡°Wait, you just said the mental formed spirit which formed souls?¡± he asked.
¡°In the formation of a Universe yes. Souls that are being released from their mortal bodies however make their way to their God, or if they don¡¯t have a God or are not sentient enough to have a God they make their way to The Eye. Upon death, there is a short window when spells and creatures that feed on souls can capture or eat them. If captured they remain so until utilized in a spell, rune, or pretty much for anything else. The capture must happen within moments of the creature¡¯s death so casting a spell to do so after the creature dies usually won¡¯t work. Though, some casters can instantly cast their spells. Those casters could capture the soul. If the soul is not captured part of the reward and punishment process is that the soul must have a physical form. Since a true physical form is absolutely out of the question they are given spirit form by their God or Goddess after which they serve their god until that form is destroyed, or they willingly release it. The form given feels normal in any of the celestial, heaven, hellish, or abyssal realms but in the primary universe of the bubble of order, their body is intangible and usually immune to damage. The rules for this were set up by the original divines. Otherwise, everyone would just die and reform continuously forever. This brings us to our last subject concerning souls, trying to destroy a soul.¡±
¡°As far as anyone has determined thus far Souls cannot be permanently destroyed unless that¡¯s what happens once they go through The Eye. As an example, let¡¯s say that you were to enchant a weapon using a soul. The soul¡¯s energy would be 99.9% utilized to fuel that enchantment. That last .1% flees to The Eye and is gone forever. There is no force in this universe that can stop that from happening. Once a soul is reduced to .1% of its original soul energy, The Eye calls to it, no matter where it is, no matter if it''s trapped or not. Even creatures that feed off souls to become stronger, vampires being a classic example, cannot absorb that last .1%. When that point is reached the soul vanishes. As it is the will of the original gods, it is so.¡± She said,
¡°Everything you just told me makes sense. I¡¯m sure I might have more questions sometime in the future. Now though, I¡¯d like to ask you about Dungeons and The Labyrinth.¡±
¡°The first is actually quite easy to explain. Dungeons are manifestations of magic that have become sentient in a way. Think of them as a much bigger and more sophisticated Venus Flytrap except their nectar is treasure. The Labyrinth is something else entirely. Remember that I said motes of Order popped into existence. Well, some of those motes became self-aware in a way. If we look at Dungeons as manifestations of magic within a Universe, then The Labyrinth is a Universe that is a manifestation of magic that has achieved sentience and is not Divine, or at least doesn¡¯t start out as Divine. The other thing you should know is that there is more than one Labyrinth. In fact, there are over 1,233 that have been cataloged, though that number could truly be infinite. The Labyrinth controls all Primal spheres of power within it, any connections to it, and could control some higher spheres of power as well. Most Labyrinths only connect to Dungeons though some have allowed Universes with high concentrations of Magic to connect to them directly.¡±
¡°Wow,¡± Adam said.
¡°Wow indeed. It should also be noted that Labyrinths also allow connections between themselves which makes it even harder to know exactly which Labyrinth you¡¯re in. There are junctions, or node, that allows people to teleport throughout the labyrinth and even into some dungeons. Also, the Labyrinths hardly ever connect to young dungeons. Normally they wait until they¡¯re at least level 100 because once connected the creatures that the labyrinth creates can utterly devastate common and even advanced dungeons. The other thing you should know about Dungeons and the Labyrinth. Parties of no more than ten may enter. If larger numbers enter, serious penalties, titles, and marks are applied to the ¡®cheaters.¡¯ Additionally, two parties will never meet inside a Dungeon. Each time a group enters a dungeon they enter a different ¡°instance¡± of that dungeon. This is not true in any Labyrinth. Once in the Labyrinth, parties could meet up and run into each other.¡±
¡°I saw the obelisk to the North of the City. Why is that Dungeon called ¡®The Dungeon of Divine Elements¡¯¡± Adam asked
¡°That is a long story that I might share someday. The short version is that a Divine was killed, his soul captured, and it was used as the item of power. The Harbinger was a Fire Elemental. So naturally, The Dungeon Master at the time chose the name Divine Elements¡± she said.
¡°Does that mean every monster you fight in there is an elemental?¡± he asked.
¡°No, the dungeon can absorb anything that enters it and is killed there. The Kings, all of them going back to the age of darkness, made sure to capture monsters of various kinds and throw them into the dungeon. This has provided all types of monsters that parties could encounter.¡± She said,
¡°I have to ask; how did they kill a divine?¡±
¡°As the story goes, someone who had chosen to become Divine was tricked into accepting, and while the divine started to undergo the transformation that would change him from a mortal into a divine, a weapon that could kill gods was used. As the divine was technically just coming into their power they didn¡¯t have the defenses that most gods put in place and the nature of the attack turned him into a soul. The divine was so new that his name wasn¡¯t even recorded.¡± She said.
¡°Doesn¡¯t that make the dungeon incredibly powerful?¡± he asked.
¡°Technically yes. The item of power for the Dungeon is technically an Artifact. Also, the Dungeon connected to The Labyrinth long ago so again critters and monsters make their way in from the Labyrinth. Add to that no one wants to fight a level 1,001 Elemental. At least that¡¯s what its level was the last time someone was able to sneak in and come out, which was just over 13 years ago. Back then something changed. No one that has made it to the deepest level has returned since. Most parties are content to stick to the first nine levels which allow for encounters up to level 900, each level gets increasingly harder in 100-level increments. Level 1, 1-100, level 2, 101 ¨C 200, you get the idea. Newer dungeons have more restricted ranges as they are lower level but once a dungeon grows to a certain point the levels it creates contain higher level monsters. Also, if you fight higher-level monsters, you¡¯ll get better treasure. However, I should say that it¡¯s not a cakewalk. The Adventures Guild tries to make sure that all parties that enter have all classes covered and the levels to handle the dungeon. Sometimes though the preparations just don¡¯t matter. We lost one of our younger adepts last week. She thought making a little extra coin on the side was a great idea. She was a 25th-level cleric and a healer. Her entire party was wiped out on the first floor.¡±
Freya paused for a moment then stood. ¡°We¡¯ve been talking for a while. Why don¡¯t we go get some lunch and walk in the garden for a bit? It¡¯s a very nice day out and the sunshine would do us both good.¡±
Adam stood as well and stretched. ¡°I would like that. I have to admit the view from here is exquisite?¡±
Chapter 32, Learning about Classes
(Day 166) Aprilis 11th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
Freya led them downstairs and out of the room and after a very short walk they came to the dining area that reminded Adam of one of Lords and Ladies chambers that he¡¯d find over in England. No one asked for any payment and they each picked up a tray that had already been prepared and an actual crystal, he checked with his nanites, a crystal goblet with some type of wine in it. Freya led him to a table with a window that looked out onto the same garden they¡¯d been above before, just from a different angle.
They both tucked in and ate in silence. As they were finishing Freya took a sip of her wine and asked, ¡°What is a nanite?¡±
¡°You saw that ability on my interface did you?¡± he said with a smile.
¡°Yes, and the word has no meaning to me. I cannot put it into any kind of context.¡± She said.
¡°Better if I show you,¡± he said as he ordered his nanites to create a second crystal glass filled with water.
¡°Nanites are a conjuring?¡± she asked, confused.
¡°No. nanites are small, very small, things that you cannot see that can create any common substance that I have knowledge of. This includes things that they have just scanned. In my homeworld for instance. If I went 20 miles in any direction I could have my nanites there create an exact copy of this entire city, down to the last cracked brick, of course, I would have them repair the cracked brick.¡± He said with a smile.
¡°So, like a Divine, you have the power of creation?¡± she asked.
¡°Not exactly. When I arrived here my nanites caused an adjudicator to be sent to me. He explained to me that the nanites that are part of me can temporarily be utilized in a very limited fashion around me. So, I can make this glass, and fill it with water. And do many other things but any Universe that contains magic. The fundamental rules for those Universes are anathema to my nanites if I move out of range; they are immediately, not slowly, immediately reabsorbed into the stuff of this Universe.¡±
What kind of range do you have?¡±
¡°In my Universe, infinite, eventually. Here, about a foot per ability level, so 500¡¯. However, I should let you know that if I remove the nanites after I create something it will remain. So, this goblet and its water are real and here to stay¡± he said as he picked up the goblet with the water and took a drink.
¡°These nanites seem powerful?¡±
¡°They are, and in the wrong hands they¡¯d be devastating as they can destroy just as easily as they can create.¡± With that he had them destroy the goblet of water.
¡°It didn¡¯t even turn into dust?¡± she said excitedly
¡°Nope, I made it from the air, so I returned it to the air. Well, except for the water I drank of course.¡±
They both finished off their wine and left their trays. Freya led Adam outside and they walked in the Garden for the next two hours. Adam¡¯s Herbalism skill activated, and he realized that this garden was packed with uncommon, unusual, and scarce herbs. They discussed the various properties of each plant and what they could be used for as they walked around. Checking something off to the side, because he knew his nanites could recreate life, he tried making copies of some of the plants. He was successful so long as the plant was Common. Anything considered Uncommon or higher though, the nanites could make something that looked like it, but his herbalism skill would not identify it as other than a weed of some sort.
Freya watched with interest and commented.
¡°Are you using nanites to try to make copies of the plants?¡± she asked.
¡°Yes. It looks like anything that is considered Common can be copied and created, which is good news. Anything considered advanced or higher though must have an aspect of magic as part of its core structure and the nanites cannot create magic of any form.¡±
¡°So, you can create life?¡±
¡°Well, yes. In my Universe, my counterpart is even now seeding worlds with life so that humanity can expand. Though I wouldn¡¯t try that here. Magic is in everything. I fear anything I create will be inferior. A glass here. Water to drink. Small things like that should be all right but I wouldn¡¯t try to create a person or even a small animal. I can¡¯t affect them with the Nanites, I¡®ve tried. Also, the results might be very bad. No, I need to learn how to thrive here, and to do that I need to learn about here.¡± He¡¯d said. Freya smiled and then started leading him back towards her office and the chairs in front of the window. When they arrived to sit down, a new pitcher of tea was there.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
¡°Which ironically enough brings us to our next subject. Remember how I mentioned that the Adventures Guild tries to make sure adventuring groups have everything they need? While I am absolutely sure you could probably walk into Dungeon and stroll around with very few worries they wouldn¡¯t allow you access because they wouldn¡¯t know how to classify you. Which brings us to your questions about classes.
¡°I was hoping we¡¯d get to that subject sooner than later,¡± Adam said with a smile.
¡°And here we are.¡± She said, taking a drink of her tea. ¡°There are five basic classes: Cleric, Fighter, Monk, Rogue, and Mage. There are specialized classes as well but those have more prerequisites. As an example, Holy Knights. Describing the five basic classes will give you an idea of the choices that should be available to you.¡±
Freya paused for a moment then said. We¡¯ll do this alphabetically. Clerics dedicate their lives to a Divine and are granted spells by their Divine. They have the same number of spell slots as a Mage which is basically equal to their Intelligence, but they also gain a number of spell slots equal to their levels added together. So, a level 3 Cleric with a 12 in intelligence would have 18 spell slots. Also, clerics can use armor, and depending on their Divine, they can use any item their divine favors. Though most, including myself, prefer staves, clubs, and maces. The other thing you should know is that class levels grant additional hit points and attributes per level. There are other bonuses that become available as your level gets higher of course. As I am a cleric I can tell you that at level 100 I gained the ability ¡°Far-Healing¡± which allows me to use any healing spell that requires a touch at a distance equal to my Class level in feet. At level 200 I earned the Ability ¡°Commune with Divine¡± which allows me to directly contact my Divine for guidance once a week. Different Divines will grant different abilities to their Clerics at different levels depending on what the divine thinks the cleric needs. Also, other classes could have different benefits on the skills and abilities. Not every Fighter will gain the same ability at class level 100.
Additionally, all classes earn 4 attributes per level and Clerics grant 4 hits points per class level.¡±
¡°Fighters can use any armor or weapon, gain 4 attributes per class level, and grant 5 hit points per class level.
¡°Monks are known for their prowess in unarmed fighting style as well as blunt and exotic weapons. They gain 4 attributes per class level and 2 hit points per class level.
¡°Rogues are known for their Stealth, lock-picking abilities, and general sneakiness. They prefer light armor and typically utilize weapons like short swords, daggers, dirks, and the like. They gain 4 attributes per class level and 3 hit points per class level.
¡°Finally, we come to the Mages. Like clerics, they gain 1 spell slot per level cumulative. Additionally, they do not need to permanently memorize spells. Instead, they can charge spells into their spell slots. Once cast those spell slots cannot be filled again until the mage has fully rested. They can then study a spell and their spell slots can be used again. Usually requiring 1 minute per spell level.¡±
¡°I do remember noticing that your spell slots are permanently tied up for your bolt spells. I believe those eight spells are tied up because you learned them while you only had a Character Level ¡®class¡¯ from your home Universe. That is not unlike what happens for two of our specialized classes in this Universe. Once the spells are learned in that way they are permanent and can be used multiple times so long as the caster has the mana, and the cooldown has elapsed. The actual classes that would work like that are the Sorcerer and Warlock. It sounds like your Character Level defaulted to that type of magic casting, at least for those eight spells, though you didn¡¯t get the spell slot bonus for intelligence.
¡°Which brings me to the question of multi-classing, is that possible?¡± he asked.
¡°Yes, it¡¯s possible. Though it is expensive. Anyone can choose to multi-class, but the cost continues to go up each time. You know that it costs 1,000 experience per level for the new level right?
¡°Yes, that¡¯s the standard cost for my character level?¡± he answered.
¡°Really? We¡¯ll come back to that in a moment. If you were a fighter and you picked second class, say a rogue. Level 1 would cost you 2,000 experience. Level 2 would cost you 4,000 experience and so on.¡±
¡°So, remember a few minutes ago I said the Adventures Guild wouldn¡¯t know what to do with you because you wouldn¡¯t have a class that their spells could Identify? That¡¯s because you¡¯d appear as a zero-level human or as nothing. Unless you were being sentenced to ¡®Death by Dungeon¡¯ for some crime against the crown you wouldn¡¯t be able to enter the Dungeon as they control all access to and from it.¡± She paused for a moment then grinned. Let me guess that while you were at Village by the River and relearning all your skills you were looking to pick your ¡®first¡¯ class?¡±
He wondered why she was emphasizing the word ¡°first¡± and then said, ¡°That¡¯s right, I was trying to learn all the prerequisites I could so I could choose my first class as soon as the prompt popped up. So far that hasn¡¯t happened.¡± He said.
Silvanar looked at him intensely for a moment and then laughed delightedly.
Chapter 33, That was Easy
(Day 166) Aprilis 11th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
¡°Adam, you have an insanely high intelligence so this question shouldn¡¯t stump you. What is your first class?¡± she asked with laughter in her voice.
Obviously, this was a test of sorts. In his Universe, his first class would be his Character level because that is the only class. Here though, he thought about it for a minute then sighed, ¡°My first class in this Universe would be the same as my first class back home, even though they don¡¯t call it a class. It would be my character level.¡±
¡°And because your class is ¡®Character Level¡¯ no spell to detect your class, or its level would work on you here because it doesn¡¯t match up with any known answer that is already supplied by the ''''rules¡± of this universe. This also means that if you want to learn one of the classes here you need to what?¡± she asked.
¡°I need to multi-class,¡± he said excitedly while he opened his personal interface. Zooming in on his character level he mentally chose that field and a little plus sign appeared. Pushing it mentally a new prompt opened.
You have accessed the Multi-Class Menu. Note your Primary class is not indigenous to this location and is not compatible with class leveling bonuses. You gain only 4 attributes and 1 hit point per level in your Primary Class.
You are eligible to multi-class.
Classes available for multi-class; Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Barbarian, Ranger, Monk, Rogue, Bard, Mage, Sorcerer, and Warlock.
Note: When multiclassing experience cost to level is increased. The second class will be 2,000 experience per level.
Which class would you like to Multi-Class in?
Adam chose Monk.
You have chosen to Multi-Class into Monk. Basic Bonuses for choosing the Monk Class
Skill: Unarmed Defense: +1% Unarmed Defense per class level
Skill: Unarmed Combat: +1% bonus to any Unarmed Combat Skill per class level
1% bonus to movement speed per class level
4 Attribute Points per class level
2 Hit Points per class level.
Additional Abilities will be unlocked as the Class Level increases.
You are now a level 0 Monk.
Adam closed the multi-class interface and directed his experience to start leveling the Monk Class. 2 Seconds later he received his first leveling prompt. He turned the prompts off. He was going to get a lot of those over the next little bit, He¡¯d check back on them after a while.
When he closed his interface he noticed that Freya was watching him intently while she whispered. ¡°Level 2.¡± Six seconds later ¡°Level 3.¡± then she noticed he was once again looking at her and asked, ¡°So Apolyn was successful?¡±
Of all the things she could have said, he had not been expecting that. Recovering he put a shit-eating grin on his face and said ¡°Not exactly. If you know enough to say his name then I¡¯ll guess you know what he was trying to do. That was the secret I mentioned earlier.¡±
¡°Oh, that was the secret you wanted me to keep,¡± she said. ¡°That¡¯s an easy enough promise to keep. I promise not to divulge any details concerning an idiot mage who cast a spell he had no business casting after killing an Angel. May that Piece of Shit rot in all of the many hells and finally when his soul seeks The Eye, may it be closed to him.¡± She said with a vehemence he had not witnessed before. When she finished speaking she was smiling sweetly she asked, ¡°Now explain¡±
So, she didn¡¯t like Apolyn, good to know. And he¡¯d killed an Angel? What a douchebag! Adam took a drink of Tea, then thinking better of it he conjured two Long Island ice teas, with Ice as he said, ¡°A drink from my home. It has a little kick, not as bad as fey wine though.¡± Adam picked up his drink and downed it while Freya picked her glass up, sniffed it then took a light sip. Obviously, she liked the taste because she then proceeded to drink half of it. When she set the drink back down Adam ordered the nanites to refill the glasses and started talking. ¡°Yes, Apolyn successfully cast the spell in the Labyrinth. Then he survived for 3 more seconds until the first nuclear device detonated on my planet and vaporized him. I don¡¯t have all the details, but it seems that a portal he stepped through led to our Universe. That Adamantium ring he enchanted survived the explosion and was found by me 50 years later in my timeline. Being that there was no magic in my Universe, I had no idea what leveling or attributes were for quite a while.
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¡°How¡¯d you figure it out?¡± she asked, a lot more calmly.
¡°Well, you see when I put the ring on The Labyrinth realized that the spell was active again and sent something to investigate. ¡°Her name is Abi and she¡¯s imbedded in my subconscious.¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t divine her with my spell,¡± she said.
¡°Yeah, she¡¯s in there deep. Did I forget to tell you that one of my abilities is Perfect Memory?¡±
¡°You never told me, but I did notice that, and Guided Understanding, wait. So, the experience you¡¯re getting from The Labyrinth, you can throw it into your skills and abilities as needed?¡± she asked.
¡°Yes, and when I¡¯m at my Place of Power I can divert it into the spheres of power at a 2 -1 ratio.¡±
¡°So, while we¡¯re sitting here talking you¡¯ve started leveling your Monk class.¡±
¡°Yep. I figure by the time I wake up tomorrow I¡¯ll have a Monk Class level of 232 or so if I don¡¯t just use my saved experience to max out the class.
¡°And you already have so many Unarmed Combat Skills at Level 500?¡± she asked.
¡°Well, you should be able to visit the dungeon very shortly if that is your desire,'''' she said.
¡°Maybe, I¡¯m not sure I want to do that yet since the Labyrinth has been trying to get me for so long. Knowing I can multi-Class. I might need to look at doing that first.
¡°Well, before you get too far down the Monk class, I have a question for you, were you going to try to become a cleric?¡± She asked.;
¡°Perhaps down the road but not right this second. I should also let you know that your Goddess would be a natural fit for my literal thirst for knowledge. If there is a requirement to be good, yeah, that¡¯s not me. I can be quite dark if I need to.¡±
Freya smiled ¡°Serena accepts those of Good, Neutral, Lawful, and Chaotic alignments. Though those of Chaotic and Neutral alignments might not be as cherished as her good followers. I know that she would welcome you with open arms and you would then have a divine you could ask questions to, once you could commune with her¡± she said.
¡°How do I become a Cleric of Serena?¡±
¡°Activate your interface again and choose your third class. There will be a prompt for a cleric of the divine you name to accept you. Say my name and I will get a prompt, it¡¯s that easy. I would suggest you level that class to level 1 then switch the XP back to monk and level as fast as you can. How much experience are you getting from the Labyrinth?¡± she asked.
¡°1,000 per second¡±
¡°Where¡¯s the ring? You said you found and put on the Adamantium Ring?¡±
¡°The Adjudicator who handled my issues when I arrived made the link permanent. The ring is embedded within me somehow. He didn¡¯t explain. Also, it¡¯s soul bound to me now, so it will never go away.¡± He said.
¡°Okay, so 3 seconds, get level 1 then switch it back to Monk and try to get your Monk class above level 100.¡±
Adam pulled up his multi-class menu again.
You have accessed the Multi-Class Menu. Note Primary class is not indigenous to this location and is not compatible with class leveling bonuses. You gain only 4 attributes and 1 hit point per level in your Primary Class.
You are eligible to multi-class a second time.
Classes available for multi-class
Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Barbarian, Ranger, Rogue, Bard, Mage, Sorcerer, and Warlock.
Note: When multiclassing experience cost to level is increased. The third class will be 3,000 experience per class level.
Which class would you like to Multi-Class in?
Adam chose Cleric of Serena, Goddess of Knowledge and Learning.
You have chosen to Multi-Class into a Cleric of Serena Goddess of Knowledge and Learning. A Cleric of Serena must accept this request. Please say the name of the Cleric of Serena
¡°Freya¡± Adam stated.
Freya, Cleric of Serena has accepted your request to become a Cleric of Serena.
Cleric Basic Bonuses for choosing the Monk Class
1 Spell slot per Cleric Class Level, Cumulative.
.1% Armed Combat with Staff, Mace, or club Defense per class level
.1% Armored Defense per Cleric Class for Light, Medium, and Heavy Armor.
4 Attribute Points per class level
4 Hit Points per class level
Additional Abilities will be unlocked as the Class Level increases.
You are now a level 0 Cleric.
Adam switched the XP so that Cleric made level 1, then switched the XP back to Monk. ¡°Done!¡± he said.
¡°Congratulations!¡± she said. ¡°By the way, this drink you made, is quite good. I¡¯m sure it''s alcoholic but I can¡¯t taste the alcohol.
¡°That¡¯s the point, it¡¯s supposed to taste like tea.
¡°It is good,'''' she said as she downed the Long Island Iced tea before continuing. ¡°Well, I think we¡¯re done for today, Tomorrow I will be a little busy. Might I suggest you go out and check out the town? Perhaps even make your way over to the Adventures Guild. If you can find a group, go on a Dungeon dive. You might like it. Also, now that you are a Cleric of Serena, even a 1st level Cleric, you can sleep at the temple for free if you don¡¯t want to continue to pay the one silver to stay where you are. It is just Southeast of your current location. You can¡¯t miss it. Of course, if you can¡¯t find it, just ask any of the children running around. They like copper coins, ¡°she said with a smile.
¡°I¡¯ve already paid for the week, so I¡¯ll just stay here. There are still a lot of questions I have. I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll get to see the dungeon before I leave or not. Though I may try to go check out the rest of the city. I definitely want to go look around.¡± He said.
¡°Well Adam, I must say that today has been one of the most enlightening and interesting days an Academic can be part of. I do wish to speak with you again but tomorrow I am swamped. If you''re still in the city in three days, come back in the morning. I should be available for any short discussion until lunch.¡±
¡°Thank you, Freya. I enjoyed our conversations, and the gardens were exquisite. Know that I will take my duties as a Cleric of Serena seriously, though my focus will be on gaining knowledge of course. If that is all I¡¯ll bid you a good day and be on my way.
¡°May the light of Serena guide you. Be well Adam¡± she said.
Adam stood and walked down the stairs. He made his way to the main street and found one of the children Freya had mentioned.
Chapter 34, Its the Simple Things in Life
(Day 166) Aprilis 11th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
Adam made his way out of the building and down to a main street. Looking around he spotted a child, made eye contact, and showed him a copper coin.
The child made his way over to Adam and asked, ¡°What can I do fer you mister?¡±
¡°I¡¯d like to go to Rustoph¡¯s Supplies, how do I get there?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Well, it¡¯s not hard but it¡¯s a ways, mister,¡± the child said.
¡°Tell you what, I¡¯ll give you a copper for the information, or you can earn a silver if you take me there?¡± he said, pulling out the silver to show he had it.
The child eyed him suspiciously. ¡°Copper now, silver when we get there.¡±
Adam laughed ¡°You drive a hard bargain,¡± he said handing over a copper piece.
The child led him through the streets until they came to the door with the sign ¡°Rustoph¡¯s Supplies¡± above it about ten minutes later. Adam turned to the child and handed him a silver. Smiling, the child said ¡°Thank you mister¡± and then ran off. Adam smiled to himself then thought ¡®he¡¯ll probably grow up to be an assassin¡¯ as he entered the shop.
¡°Good day to you sir, how can I help?¡± a young man asked from behind a counter.
¡°It would seem that my residence has a contract for you to restock the larder. I¡¯d like to inform you of a name change at the location and see if there¡¯s anything I need to do. The previous owner last visited somewhere around 13 years ago.¡± Adam said.
¡°My name is Jason, and I will be right back. For such an inquiry I¡¯ll need to get the master of the shop.¡± He said as he headed off into the back. Within a few minutes, a heavy-set man came out.
¡°Good day to you, my name is Rustoph, Jason said something about a contract to fill a larder?¡± He asked.
¡°Yes, for Apolyn¡¯s Abode in the mountains to the north. I believe the contract is magically filled.¡±
¡°I know the contract, until about a week ago we were seeing some movement there. If you¡¯re here now. Makes sense that you weren¡¯t eating, you were on your way here. May I see your mark, please? Need to verify you¡¯re the master before we proceed?¡± he asked.
¡°Absolutely. First, though I need to inform you that the name has been changed to Adamantadine Tower.¡± Adam said
¡°Name change, easy enough to update¡± Just need to see your mark.¡±
Adam willed the mark into visibility and then showed it to him.
¡°Yep, looks like it¡¯s changed. Give me a second while I check against the Larders Mark.¡±
Rustoph moved over to a door and then said ¡°Apolyn¡¯s Abode.¡± A circle at eye level in the door shuffled through images until an image of the mark for Adamantadine Tower appeared. Rustoph opened the door and Adam looked through into his Larder which had recently been restocked. Rustoph closed the door and then tapped the spot where the Mark had appeared before he said ¡°Name Change: Apolyn¡¯s Abode to Adamantadine Tower.'''' Then he tapped the spot the Mark was on two more times. It flashed green and the mark faded. ¡°That¡¯s it, anything else I can help you with?¡± he asked.
¡°Well, when I took over the treasury was a little bare. I was wondering if I could deposit some gems down here to cover some of the expenses. I found it in a stream I was walking by, couldn¡¯t believe my luck. I figured it would allow me to keep you paid for a while to come.¡± Adam said.
¡°Sure, we can take payment in advance and update your account. You still want your treasury to pay the balance when we restock when your advance runs out correct¡± he asked.
¡°Absolutely,¡± Adam said as he had the nanites create and leave a copy of the Cullinan Diamond, Earth¡¯s largest diamond, valued at 500 million dollars last time he¡¯d checked the internet. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled it out. He showed it to Rustoph and then set it gently on the counter.
Jason¡¯s eyes bugged and Rustoph coughed. ¡°If that is a diamond, that would be quite valuable. Are you sure you want to give that to me today?¡±
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¡°Absolutely, I need to make sure my home stays stocked. However, I do have one problem. I don¡¯t know what this diamond is worth¡± he said.
¡°That¡¯s not a problem,¡± Rustoph said. ¡°I have a wand that will declare its rank, weight, and size. The rank is the most important part. Every rank above Common, a gem¡¯s value is increased by a factor of 10.¡± He said, pulling out a wand. He pointed the wand at the diamond and a light brown glow enveloped the diamond. Next, a prompt window appeared above the diamond visible to all three of them.
Common Diamond 21.9 ounces.
Base Value 4,000,000 gp
Tax to Crown for Resident equals 400,000 gp
Total deposit 3,600,000 gp
Disclaimer: This value is the absolute base value before any modification due to Bartering or Merchant Skill. If you wanted to take advantage of your Skills you shouldn¡¯t have used this wand.
¡°I do believe that this diamond will cover your costs for years to come. I could upgrade your stores to include rarer stocks?¡± Rustoph asked.
¡°If all costs remained the same and I upgraded my contract, how long would the payments last for each type of service you provide.?¡± Adam asked.
¡°For your current service, I¡¯d estimate 10 years. The upgrade, about 6 years.¡± He said. And sir. The amount you are depositing would last at least 10 years for one person if you were eating three meals a day.¡± He said.
Good to know, Adam thought as he did a little quick math in his head, figuring for Adaline and himself, so nine meals a day, the payment would last just a little longer than 3 years. That¡¯s if they only ate once a day. If he upgraded, take off 30% and it¡¯d last just over two years. More than enough time for him to find some treasure and refill his treasury or come back down and make more gems to sell. ¡°The upgrade sounds good, Rustoph. If my math is correct, that should last just about two years.¡± Adam said.
¡°Is there anything else I can help you with?¡± Rustoph asked.
¡°Well, I was going to go shopping but it seems to be getting late. You wouldn¡¯t know the way to the Adventures Guild would you?¡±
¡°The Adventures Guild is inside the North gate on the way to the Obelisk. Are you planning to go try your luck in the Dungeon?¡± he asked.
¡°Not yet, but I wanted to look around and maybe go register,¡± he said.
¡°It¡¯s about a two-hour walk from here through the city. Just keep to the main roads and you shouldn¡¯t have any problems. There are rogues and scoundrels that will attack unwary travelers so make sure your valuables are secure.¡± Rustoph said.
¡°I thank you for your concern. You two have a lovely night and may the light of Serena smile down on you.¡± He said as he turned and walked out of the store and North along the road. While he was walking he contemplated some things. He didn¡¯t know how he felt about Gods or Goddesses yet but if he was going to be a Cleric, he could play the part publicly. He Figured the Goddess would have a way to keep track of her clerics, he thought to her. ¡°Someday, you and I are going to have to sit down and have a talk.¡± He felt a sudden warmth that faded rapidly. He was immune to fire and his nanites kept him comfortable so if that wasn¡¯t a sign he didn¡¯t know what was.
Adam walked for the next two hours and finally made it to the Adventure¡¯s Guild. As he walked up to the building he found a place to stand out of the way of most of the traffic and checked his Personnel Interface. Only three hours had passed, and he was already a level 103 Monk. Unlocking his prompts, he sorted them. He quickly discarded any that were just notifications of leveling and focused on the ones that granted abilities and skills. As he was reading each prompt he spent XP to level the skill levels.
Congratulations you have reached Monk Level 1. You have learned the skill ¡°Meditation.¡± Using the skill meditation allows the Monk to become rested 1% faster per skill level in Meditation.
Congratulations you have reached Cleric Level 0. You have learned the Ability ¡°Investigation.¡± This ability allows a follower of Serena to glean hidden knowledge from any writing or symbol. The chance of success is equal to 1% per ability level. The rank of the knowledge reduces the chance of success. Common 0%, Uncommon -10%, Unusual -20%, Advanced -30%, Scarce -40%, Master -50%, Rare -100%, Epic, -150%, Mythic -200%, Legendary -250%, Relic -300%, Artifact -400%, Unique -500%
Congratulations you have reached Cleric Level 0. You have learned the Ability ¡°Purify Water.¡± You may purify up to one gallon of water per ability level at a cost of 10 mana per gallon
Congratulations you have reached Cleric Level 0. You have learned the Skill ¡°Prayer of Healing.¡± By praying to your Divine while touching your target your divine channels healing energy through you at a rate of 1 hp per skill level per round at a cost of 1 mana per hp healed Can be used on self.
Warning: Your God has directly gifted this skill to you. Normally skills must be learned by others. Gaining class levels unlocks the ability to learn certain skills but does not grant levels in that skill or even the knowledge of that skill. As you level your class you will need to seek out teachers for skills specific to your class.
Chapter 35, So Its a Dungeon
(Day 166) Aprilis 11th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
Adam made sure there wasn¡¯t anything else he missed then crossed the street to the entrance of the Adventurer''s Guild. As he was making his way inside he noticed a group of five standing on the steps.
¡°We need one more¡¡± he heard one of them say as he stepped into the hall.¡±
¡°New recruits straight ahead,¡± a soldier by the door said.
Adam moved forward into a very short line and was immediately called forward.
¡°Next!¡± an elderly woman snapped.
He stepped forward and said, ¡°Here to join the guild.¡±
¡°Of course, you are. Hold still¡±
¡°She pointed a wand at him, and her eyes glazed over then she called, ¡°Ron we got one for them, he¡¯s level 104. He¡¯s perfect for their party.¡±
Ron, the guy she¡¯d been yelling at, ran for the door he¡¯d entered through
¡°Name?¡±
¡°Adamantadine¡±
¡°Class?¡±
¡°Monk¡±
¡°Well, Adamantadine it¡¯s your lucky day. A group of adventurers wanted to go into the dungeon, but they needed one more. If you¡¯d like to go into the dungeon today we can make that happen¡± she said
¡°I wasn¡¯t planning to, but it sounds fun. What do I need to do?¡± Adam said.
¡°Membership is 1 gold. It can be paid now or from the treasure you find. Until the full one gold is paid though you cannot claim any treasure for yourself. So, if you don¡¯t clear at least the first level, you probably won¡¯t earn enough to pay off the debt. If you have the gold I¡¯d suggest just paying the fee, that way I don¡¯t have to send someone with you to tell the guards to watch for you when you exit. The guards don¡¯t have to be bothered by looking for you as you exit, and I can finish my paperwork concerning you before you even step through the gate.¡±
Adam put a gold and a silver on the desk and slid them across. My membership and a tip for finding a group for me so fast.
¡°You¡¯re going to do just fine here Adamantadine. Welcome to the guild¡± she said as she pocketed the silver and placed the Gold in a money drawer. Then she reached up under the desk and brought out a swirling black orb. ¡°Please touch this.¡±
Adam reached out and touched it and felt a Mark appear on his left forearm. It was a 3¡± circle with an A in the center.
You have received the Mark of the Adventurer +10% to all treasure found in a Dungeon or Labyrinth. Improve your mark to increase its bonuses.
¡°Good enough. You don¡¯t have to worry about paying taxes to the crown from the treasure you find. The 10% tax is automatically taken by the guild and the crown automatically takes their resident or nonresident taxes based on your papers. That¡¯s all been automated by the Dungeon Master¡± She said as she pointed to the party coming up behind him ¡°But now introductions are in order. The Armored fella there is Daranus. The female gnome is Chesarie. That sneaky-looking bloke as Thrum. The Ranger-looking fella is Xander, and the last member of your party is Cleric Desari.
Adam Nodded to each as he said their names to make sure they knew he remembered who they were, ¡°Daranus, Chesarie, Thrum, Xander, and Desari. I am Adamantadine a level 104 Monk. Nice to meet you.¡±
¡°Nice to meet you too,¡± Daranus said ¡°Thanks again for joining our party, they wanted to make sure we had six members because someone is concerned about something deeper in the Dungeon. We told them we were only doing the first level, but they would hear none of it. ¡®You must have a full party.¡¯ We have been a five-person party for just about forever. If this works out though, I guess we could become a six-person party.¡±
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¡°Well, if this works out tonight then sure, if I¡¯m around I¡¯d join you again, but going in please know that I have to head north in the near future so this might be my first and last dungeon dive for a bit,¡± Adam said
¡°Fair enough, thanks for telling us going in,¡± Daranus said.
¡°Enough talk let¡¯s get to the Dungeon so we can get this party started,¡± Thrum said.
¡°Mans got a point,¡± Daranus said as he started walking towards an alcove as everyone, including Adam, followed. As they came up to the alcove a magical portal opened and Daranus stepped through, followed by everyone else. Adam looked around, then up at the Obelisk. Daranus led them over to a cave entrance. As they came close to the entrance a Gnome came hurrying forward with a clipboard. ¡°Hey Daranus, who you got with you, and what are your intentions?¡±
¡°Please log us as The Daranus Six. Also, the new guy is Adamantadine. Just add him to my standard party list for this one. We are going into the Dungeon to clear level 1. We plan to return after that.¡± Daranus said.
¡°Noted. Level one. Good luck!¡± The gnome said then went back to a table Adam noticed he¡¯d been sitting at.
Daranus led them into the cave and Adam felt the tingle of a portal transit.
¡°Alright everyone, Thrum you have point. Make sure we¡¯re good. Xander be ready with your bow. Chesarie you know what to do and Desari keep those battle chants coming once combat starts. We all love how they make our stamina and mana come back faster. Adamantadine, hey do you have a nickname?¡± he asked.
¡°Yep, it''s Adam¡±
¡°Cool, okay Adam, for this first battle we¡¯re going to do our normal thing. I want you to protect Chesarie and Desari. If anything gets close to them; you take it out. Otherwise, for this first fight, I want you to watch and think about how you can help. Afterward, we¡¯ll talk about a more active role. Now just so you know, each level has between 5 and 7 encounters. The first level should go pretty quick though as most of the critters we¡¯ll be fighting will only be level 100 or less. Okay Thrum, let¡¯s get his party started.¡±
The first thing Adam did was turn off all of his prompts except warnings. He didn¡¯t need the distraction and honestly didn¡¯t believe there was anything here that he¡¯d need to worry about. Was he starting to get numb to his power? He¡¯d have to watch that. He also directed all earned experience that wasn¡¯t coming from the Labyrinth to go to Thor. He needed to keep track of his leveling experience, so it was now time to start leveling Thor back home. Once that was done Adam did as requested and stayed near the mage and cleric. The 1st encounter consisted of nine panther-type creatures, though they were more like Sabretooth tigers. A couple had tried to flank the party. Adam analyzed them, to figure out what their hit points were, then utilized his unarmed combat skill to kill each cat. When the combat was over he was responsible for four kills.
The 2nd Encounter was dog-sized spiders. Between Chesarie¡¯s spells and the rangers¡¯ arrows took care of them. It wasn¡¯t even a contest.
The 3rd Encounter was against giant huge boars. He¡¯d thoroughly impressed the party when he struck a charging boar with enough force to stop it in its tracks and crushed its skull instantly killing it with a single punch.
The 4th Encounter was a single Bear, but it was about the size of a bus and had thousands of hit points. He¡¯d let the party play with it for a good 10 seconds before he slipped up and punched it behind the ear with a strike that turned the creature¡¯s brain to ooze.
The 5th Encounter had been five giant insects that resembled Praying Mantis. They¡¯d been fast and Daranus had been hurt pretty bad so he stepped in to help. Five quick strikes led to five dead insects.
The 6th encounter had been an honest to god wyvern. Unlike the other monsters on this level, this one had been level 113 and by the expressions apparent on his fellow party members'' faces, not supposed to be on this level.
¡°Wanna see something cool?¡± Adam whispered.
Daranus had come to understand just how lucky they¡¯d been to be teamed up with Adam and said, ¡°Sure¡±
Adam activated Stealth and was pleasantly surprised to find out that it did indeed make him disappear completely as the parties¡¯ eyes widened, and their gazes glanced around frantically. Utilizing his new ability ¡°Motionless Movement¡±, he moved over to the Wyvern until he could touch it then activated Death''s Touch. The Wyvern disintegrated into dust.
The party rushed forward and Daranus asked ¡°What did you do?¡±
¡°An ability I have, Comes in handy. Don¡¯t use it too often because, well as you can see, there are no components to salvage.¡± Adam said.
¡°That¡¯s okay Adam we¡¯re not here for the components today, we¡¯re here for the loot and experience,¡± Thrum said.
Adam looked thoughtful for a moment. Well, if that¡¯s what you want I can get you the experience you need in relatively quick order. Are you all ready to be power-leveled?¡± Adam asked.
Daranus said, ``I don''t know what that means but if it means getting loot and experience, sure.¡±
¡°Okay, let''s loot this level really quick then head down,¡± Adam said.
The five spread out and went through to find shining orbs of fire floating above dead monsters. When touched they dropped their treasure. Poking what Adam thought of as loot balls. A term he¡¯d picked up from something he¡¯d read somewhere back on Earth. Once the loot had been claimed they¡¯d each earned 1 platinum 4 Gold and 2 Silver. That wasn¡¯t a bad haul for just under an hour¡¯s work. Adam, however, was going to speed things up a bit.
Chapter 36, Ive Got This!
(Day 166) Aprilis 11th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
They made their way down to the 2nd level. ¡°Okay everyone, I want you to stay right here. There are going to be a lot of loud booms and flashes as fireballs go off. Do not move until I come back for you.¡± With that, he went off and started spamming fireballs. He didn¡¯t even bother to worry about what he was destroying until he ran into a nest of salamanders. Six to be exact. They were, of course, immune to fire. Fun! He¡¯d switched to unarmed attacks, using Shadow Step, Displace, and Stealth to make short work of the Salamanders. When he was done he made his way back to the party. ¡°
¡°All done, levels safe,¡± he said.
¡°The party walked out gingerly to find barren rock and the bodies of the 6 salamanders. After they¡¯d collected all the loot everyone received 3 platinum, 9 gold, and 7 Silver.¡±
¡°You guys want to try level 3?¡± Adam asked.
¡°That is way above our levels, even your level,¡± Daranus said.
¡°Well, as I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve noticed I¡¯ve got a couple of tricks up my sleeve. Tell you what, we¡¯ll continue down, you guys stay near the exit to the upper level, and if I fail, well, I¡¯ll be dead, but you¡¯ll all be able to get away. If I¡¯m as big and nasty as I think I am though. We¡¯re going to get to level 9. Then I¡¯m going to go down to level 10 and have a talk with the asshole running this place and we are going to get some epic loot. What do you say.?
Greed won the day and all five followed him down to the next level.
Level 3 took under 5 minutes and earned them 6 platinum each.
Level 4 took another 5 minutes, and they found their first magic item. A Composite Longbow of Deadly Accuracy +3 was given to Xander. They also found 11 platinum each.
Level 5 took 10 minutes because the element of fire started to become prevalent. He couldn¡¯t just fireball everything, Instead, he used Light Beam which was usually a single target spell or Death¡¯s touch. They¡¯d earned 15 Platinum each from that floor as well as three epic Healing Potions that healed 500 hp each. Daranus had taken them as party treasure.
Level 6 took 10 minutes. It was the first time Adam had ever run into undead. The extra five minutes had been used to try to see if his nanites could just disintegrate them and then to see what attacks worked best. Nanites were a no-go, the magic animating them wouldn¡¯t even let the nanites affect them. In the end, Fireball was the ticket. Death¡¯s Touch had healed the undead, so at least he now knew not to use death magic on the Undead When he¡¯d cleared the level they¡¯d earned 20 platinum a piece and found a Staff of Healing that could heal 100 hit points per charge and had 25 charges. The staff had been given to Desari.
Level 7 took the standard 5 minutes. They¡¯d earned 25 platinum a piece and found three sets of Chain Mail +3 which everyone had been excited about, it had been awesome!
Level 8 Took 10 minutes. Every creature on that level had been immune to fire. The entire level had been infested with just one creature type, some man-sized lizards. He¡¯d activated Displace and used Stealth as much as possible to sneak up and use Death Touch on each. It hadn¡¯t been difficult, just time-consuming. They¡¯d found a Cloak of Fire Resistance that gave its wearer 50% resistance to fire. They¡¯d also found 31 platinum a piece. The Cloak had gone to Daranus.
Level 9 took about 16 minutes. The monsters, a type of Minotaur with flaming horns that were as comfortable on all fours as they were on two legs, had been between level 900 and 1000. Serena was probably smiling down because it had been his turn to receive a lesson in humility during that combat. One of the Minotaur had moved so quickly that he¡¯d actually scored a hit as Adam just stood there awe-struck at how fast it was moving. After that fight, he¡¯d berated himself for just standing there. At the time he¡¯d simply thought ¡°This should not be happening¡± as he flew through the air after taking a total of 1,600 points of damage from the initial hit. Just before he landed his next thought was, ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s how it''s going to be,¡± as he rolled to his feet and brought his ¡°A¡± game.
Adam then proceeded to turn each of the Minotaurs into a bloody physical mess. He hadn¡¯t reduced his damage. He¡¯d just hit as hard as he could and moved, allowing himself to flow between the minotaur that couldn¡¯t hit him once he¡¯d started using all of his skills fully. 20 seconds later, a level that had been packed with minotaur was empty. It had been a bloody mess when the party came down.
The rest of the party had looked at Adam with a little concern but said nothing. His nanites had made sure that he appeared clean, though there was blood and guts just about everywhere. The party had gathered their loot and found multiple magic items this time. There was a Wand of Lightning Bolts level 200 with 30 charges and a Staff of Fireballs level 100 with 20 charges. Both went to Chesarie. A Shortsword of Quick Strikes +5 which allowed a follow-up attack. Thrum had absolutely lost his mind when Adam told him the stats. He¡¯d taken the Shortsword. A Longsword of Fire +5 that had gone to Daranus and Bracers of Air Defense +100 that gave the wearer a +100% to defense while worn against ranged attacks. Those had gone to Chesarie. There had been no money on this level though.
Once they¡¯d finished identifying and handing out all the new magic items Daranus had exclaimed, ¡°Holy shit!¡±
Everyone had smiled at that.
¡°I told you I could get us here,¡± Adam said. ¡°This next part though. I don¡¯t think you guys should come down those stairs. Before I even arrived at the guild I¡¯d heard that no one that goes down comes back.¡±
¡°You know what¡¯s down there right?¡± Daranus asked.
¡°Yep a very big and angry Fire Elemental,¡± Adam said.
¡°No, a very big and angry Legendary Fire Elemental¡± His fire is so hot that it will melt stone. Nothing that goes down comes back because if you make it to the bottom, you melt.
¡°Yeah, not concerned,¡± Adam said.
¡°And why wouldn¡¯t you be concerned?¡± Daranus asked
He put his fingers over his lips in the obvious ¡°shh¡± symbol and said, ¡°Fire doesn¡¯t bother me.¡±
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Daranus looked at him, looked down, then looked at him again ¡°Well, okay if fire doesn¡¯t bother you then go down there, knock that boss out so we can get some awesome loot and some experience. You¡¯re sure you¡¯re immune to fire?¡± Daranus asked.
¡°Yeah, I got this,¡± Adam said with a grin
¡°Well, I can see that you won¡¯t be talked out of this. So¡ good luck! Come get us when you¡¯re done. If you¡¯re not back in 30 minutes though or the bottom of the stairs start to glow, we¡¯re heading for the exit.¡± Daranus said.
¡°Fair enough,¡± Adam said laughing and slapping Daranus on the back lightly. ¡°You all stay safe up here.
As Adam started walking down the steps he looked over his shoulder and said ¡°I¡¯ll be Back¡± in his best Terminator impression. They wouldn¡¯t get the joke, but he thought it was hilarious. He made his way down to the next level and looked out onto a sea of molten lava. Immediately he was struck by a column of fire that probably did millions of points of damage. Adam didn¡¯t check his prompts, He was immune to fire so he didn¡¯t care. Finding his target immediately standing off over the lava about 100 feet away he cast Water Bolt. It flew from his hand and evaporated 30 feet into the room. So, spells can be affected by their opposite and even destroyed. That was definitely knowledge worth knowing even if it sucked to figure that little bit of knowledge out in the middle of a fight.
Where he was standing erupted as Lava flowed up and around him but didn¡¯t actually move him. The 100% immunity to Earth spell was coming in really handy right now. He moved and cast Light Beam. The elemental was hurt but its magic resistance reduced his magical attacks by 75%. The Elemental returned with another gout of flame. Adam hit it with a 2nd light beam. The fire Elemental moved toward Adam and tried to hit him with a flaming fist which missed. Adam used Death Touch, which hurt it and removed another chunk of its health. The Fire Elementals'' last attack was to bear hug him. Adam relented and let himself be drawn into the hug and hit it with Death Touch again. The fire Elemental vanished. Immediately the magma started to cool and then turn into a normal rocky floor as a prompt appeared in his vision.
Hail and rejoice Adventurers. The Harbinger of the Dungeon of Divine Elements has been Slain. Fear not, the Harbinger will return in 30 days.
Adam activated his investigation skill and sent his Nanites out searching as he moved around the room. His vision actually noticed the tell-tale signs of a trapped storage area in one of the walls. Using his nanites, he disarmed the trap in short order and opened it to look upon a shining Golden Crystal. He activated Identify.
Identify: Success: You have found the Soulstone of the Divine Detrik. This Soulstone contains the trapped soul of the God Detrik. Unlike Common Soulstones, Soulstones containing Divines are considered Artifacts. This Artifact is acting as the Item of Power for the Dungeon of Divine Elements. You may claim this Artifact which will cause a message to go out to the Dungeon Master of the Dungeon of Divine Elements that their Item of power has been removed and they have 24 hours to replace it or replace it with another item. Once removed everything within the Dungeon of Divine Elements pauses until a new Item of Power is placed within.
Do you wish to Claim the Soulstone of the Divine Detrik, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes¡±
Congratulations. You have claimed the Soul Gem of the Divine Detrik from the Dungeon of Divine Elementals. A New quest is Available.
Divine Quest: Free the Divine.
The Divine Detrik has been trapped in a Soulstone for over 500 years and wishes to be free. To complete this quest the Soul Gem must be taken to a Place of Power and shattered. Once shattered this Divine will utilize the Place of Powers Spheres of Power to reform into a Divine. This may only be done at a Place of Power. If shattered anywhere else. The Divine¡¯s soul will be released, and The Eye will claim him.
If reformed the Divine Derik may choose to reward those that have freed him as the will of the Divine is a fickle thing. Reward type unknown.
Adam placed the Soul Gem in his ring of holding and then made his way upstairs. Once he¡¯d collected the party he led them down and opened their single loot ball. They each earned 80 platinum, 80 Gold 80 Silver, and 80 Copper. Additionally, there was a magic item for each of them. There was a Dagger of Backstabbing +5 that Thrum took. A Quiver of Endless Arrows for Xander. A Ring of Spell Casting that allowed a mage to put up to 300 spell slots worth of spells in it that went to Chesarie. A staff of Resurrection with one charge that Desari claimed. A ring of the Sword Master, that allowed the wearer to utilize any sword as if they were level 100 if their skill was lower and a bo staff +5 made out of Ironwood for Adam. His herbalism skill had triggered, letting him know what it was an Ironwood bo staff +5.
¡°Okay everyone I kept my end of the bargain. Let¡¯s make our way out of here then I need to be on my way.¡± Adam said.
¡°Sounds fantastic Adam. Thank you! When you took down that elemental you helped each of us earn enough experience that we each made it to level 101, almost level 102.¡±
¡°Power leveling for the win,¡± Adam said with a smile.
Adam walked with them up through the various levels until they exited the dungeon under the obelisk.
A man in a black robe was rushing past them into the dungeon muttering ¡°How? Who?¡± Adam just kept walking until they stepped back through the gate and found themselves at the Adventures Hall again. He reviewed the treasure he¡¯d earned 192 platinum, 93 gold, 89 Silver, and 80 copper all after a 20% tax and a bo Staff +5. If he could find a dungeon, or he could return to this one after they¡¯d put another item of power in it. Dungeon diving would be a really good way to make money, though he¡¯d want to go in alone next time.
Turning to his party he said ¡°Thank you, everyone. I hope I helped you out and maybe we¡¯ll get together and do this again sometime.¡±
Adam made his way back to the college and decided that he needed to upgrade his Monk and Clerics classes. He activated his portal to the 30x30 room, stepped in, and closed the door to his pocket dimension. Next, he had his nanites create a bed with pillows and a blanket. Then he put them to their default settings of defense, hydration, nourishment, and bodily waste recovery before he laid down on the bed. He wasn¡¯t sure if doing what he was about to do was a good idea or how it would affect him. He opened his Personal Interface as he did some quick math in his head. Yep, he had enough. He also made sure to set up an auto-distribute function for his attributes to be distributed evenly with any remainder going to his Luck attribute. Then he set the interface and hit execute.
A bright white light filled his mind and body. Even his willpower, constitution, and endurance couldn¡¯t stand against the changes adding 25,000 class levels, attributes, abilities, and skills he was going to get. The overload of his mentality hit and his vision narrowed as darkness embraced him
As he came to, Adam saw that his sight was flooded with Prompts with a flashing red one drawing his attention.
¡°What in the hell, just happened Adam?¡± Abi asked.
Adam ignored her and pulled up the flashing red prompt.
Warning Adamantadine Tower is under attack!
¡°No time Abi. Please go through the prompts and set up a list of interesting things you think I should look at. Also, if you see anything that could help me with whatever is happening back at the tower, do not hesitate to speak up¡± he said quickly as he opened the door, stepped back into his college room, and used Teleport to go to his place of power. Adam paid the 475 mana without a thought. Just before he vanished with a pop.
Chapter 37, Sometimes, Being Good is Limiting
(Day 167) Aprilis 11th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
He reappeared in his foyer to find Adaline in her Dark Elf form lying on the Foyer floor with arrows sticking out of her and a huge black pool of blood spreading out from her that his Place of Power was absorbing. With a thought he had his nanites destroy any arrows that were sticking out of Adaline and try to stop the bleeding. He wasn¡¯t sure if it would work, but he had to try.
There was a Boom! As the wall shook slightly.
The Nanites reported success in the removal of the arrows but any nanites that were inside her body ceased to exist as soon as the arrows were destroyed. Adam laid his hands on Adaline and started channeling ¡°Prayer of Healing.¡± He received his first shock when the energy didn¡¯t flow.
Another Boom! echoed from the door.
He Prayed to Serena and thought ¡°This Black Dragon is my first friend in this Universe and is like family to me.¡± With the end of that thought, the healing energy flooded out of him. At a rate of 100 hp per second until the wounds were closed and the bleeding stopped. 10 seconds into channeling there was another boom. There was a ¡°Boom!¡± every 10 seconds for the next 50 seconds while he channeled the healing into Adaline. She wasn¡¯t healed completely and still looked pale, but she was stable.
Boom!
Adam picked up Adaline and carried her up the stairs to her bedroom, placed her on her bed, then stepped out.
Boom!
He willed the door to close and lock behind him and then went to his room and stepped out onto the terrace. He activated his fly ability and then flew up and over to look down at what was attacking his home. A man in full-plate armor on a horse, probably a knight of some kind, was directing four other knights, also in plate armor, to use a battering ram on the door to his tower. He landed lightly on the roof''s east edge of his tower and called down his best military drill sergeant voice.
¡°STOP!¡±
The Knight on the horse looked up and in a move that was quite impressive, pulled and fired a crossbow which Adam deflected easily.
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¡°I SAID STOP!¡± Adam shouted.
The Knight on the horse pulled a second crossbow from somewhere, must have a saddle of holding that has preloaded crossbows, cool idea. He also fired that Crossbow which Adam sidestepped just as easily.
Adam shook his head and made sure to talk loud enough so that all five of the men below him could hear him as he said, ¡°Alrighty then, No more mister nice guy.¡± As he made that statement he also ordered his nanites to dissolve anything on the five men that was nonmagical and not part of his home within 500 feet while he dodged a third crossbow attack.
Adam dropped darkness onto the entire outside area of his place of power. The full 500¡¯ diameter area that surrounded the entrance to his Tower. The knight on horseback drew a blade that glowed brightly in Adam¡¯s vision but did nothing to dispel the darkness.
Using Ventriloquism to make his voice come from different directions ¡°Now that I have your attention, this is my Place of Power. You have attacked one of my guests and attempted to break into my home. You will put the weapons you have left either in their scabbards or down on the ground. When you have done this, I will remove the darkness and we will talk like civilized individuals. Or,¡° Adam said pausing for dramatic effect, ¡°The next light you will see is when you exit this zone of darkness as you fly off the cliff to the south and fall to the forested hills a mile below.¡±
The four knights standing next to his front door put their weapons on the ground as their sheaths had been destroyed by the nanites. The Knight on the horse cast a spell then looked Adam directly in the eyes. He drew a Longsword which flashed brilliantly.
Adam Identified it as a Holy Sword of Zeltar as the knight utilized some form of movement ability to be in front of Adam stabbing towards his chest. Almost lazily, Adam hit two nerve junctions, one on each hand which caused the knight, more likely a Holy Knight, to lose his grip just long enough for Adam to make a very precise kick into the hilt of the sword sending it straight up. As the sword flew straight up Adam declared ¡°By the will of Serena I return this Holy Sword of Zeltar to Heavens until a true champion of good worthy of the blade finds it again.¡± The sword traveled 10¡¯ and then disappeared as a loud bell rang from the heavens.
The Knight in front of him immediately dropped to the ground beside his horse and dropped to a knee as he whispered ¡°Zeltar, please forgive me¡±
Adam stepped back and released the darkness as he kept an eye on all five knights.
Adam motioned for the 4 knights to stand over by the wall while he surveyed his courtyard. As he was doing that he talked just loud enough so the knights could hear him. ¡± Mother Fuckers come to my home, shoot my friend, try to batter down my wall. Then when I ask them to stop, then this fucking idiot right here, tries to shoot me not once, not twice but three fucking times. Lady Serena, please give me the patience to deal with the struggles I must endure today.¡±
Adam turned and waited for this Knight to stop communing with his God while he analyzed him.
Analyze, Success, Kor, Holy Knight of Zeltar, Level 4,800, HP 10,800
Chapter 38, Hospitality
(Day 167) Aprilis 11th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
The Holy Knight stopped praying, looked around, and then up.
Adam looked at the Holy Knight. ¡°I am Adamantadine, this is Adamantadine¡¯s Tower. Why were you attacking my home? Better yet, I am also a Cleric of Serena, I¡¯m not evil and if the stories I¡¯ve heard are true, Holy Knights can sense evil, so my next more important question. Why did you, a Holy Knight of Zeltar, whose cleric assisted me early today in the Dungeon of Divine Elements, in Full Armor on Horseback raise your crossbow and shoot at an unarmed, obviously NOT evil being who asked you to stop, as in stop attacking his home? ¡°
A look of shocked realization crossed the Holy Knight¡¯s face.
¡°Yeah, there it is. Now, let¡¯s get one thing straight, I asked you to stop nicely twice. Now, where I come from that is all you can do so my actions were justified. After that, I took steps to ensure I didn¡¯t have to kill anyone and neutralized a threat to one of my guests to whom I have a vow and whom I¡¯d granted hospitality. A vow that the Gods themselves witnessed. If she is in my residence I will protect her from harm as is proper when hospitality is given. Anyone who attacks anyone under my hospitality will be killed by my own hand. If you find her out and about that is not my concern. It is your nature to kill evil. It is her nature to be evil. I cannot and will not try to alter either of your natures.
If you or anyone brings a fight to my doorstep, I will not be so understanding next time. If you¡¯d like to stop by after a week has passed, to let me calm down, we can have a chat and Hospitality will be given. If you attack me while you are leaving I am going to throw any who do so off this mountain. If you can fly or have magics that let you fall safely you may be able to survive. Know that I will not lose sleep over this, though my Goddess probably won¡¯t be happy with me for destroying champions of good. Could she fault me for defending myself or my home though?¡± Adam paused for a moment while he ordered his nanites to recreate all of the normal gear, armor, and weapons they¡¯d destroyed in a pile over by the portcullis.
¡°Okay, I think we¡¯re done here. Everything I destroyed is over by the portcullis. Feel free to take your time making sure you''re fully equipped before you depart¡± Adam said.
Kor walked to his horse, grabbed the reins gently, and walked over to the pile. He removed his magical armor, replaced all the undergarments and normal weapons, put on his magical armor, and stepped through the portcullis. The Knights hesitantly walked past Adam, then did the same as their Holy Knight. All five exited the courtyard and headed east towards the path down the cliff face.
Adam ordered the nanites to help repair and replace the marble. The walls themselves weren¡¯t magical so the nanites were able to augment the magic and his home was in tip-top condition within 15 minutes. He turned and walked to his door and went inside. He made his way upstairs to Adaline¡¯s room and knelt next to her. Up to this point, he hadn¡¯t performed Analyze on her, he did so now.
Analyze: Success! Adaline Level 4569 Black Dragon, 6596 of 328,569 hit point
The girl had some hit points. It was going to take 322,000 mana to heal her. Kneeling beside her he started his Prayer of Healing. 54 minutes later he was done. Luckily his mana regeneration was higher than his usage, but 54 minutes was taxing. Adaline hadn¡¯t woken up, so he made sure she was covered by blankets and closed and locked the door behind him as he made his way downstairs to the small dining area where he summoned a glass of wine and drank deeply. Thinking towards his Goddess ¡°I am not an overly cruel person, but I would have killed that Holy Knight had he continued to attack me. I will try to do more good than evil but know that I am flawed, and I will do whatever I think is right, whether that fits into the definition of Good or Evil that this Universe adheres to. Those that hurt my friends and family will only be given so much latitude before I snuff them out of existence.¡± Adam thought with steely resolve.
He felt a gentler sensation of warmth than the one that he had been gifted before. He didn¡¯t feel it was a resounding endorsement or admonishment, more an acknowledgment of his statement. ¡°Thank you,¡± He thought to his Goddess.
¡°Abi, you''re awfully quiet? What did you find?¡± Adam asked.
¡°You might want to check your Personal Interface and go over your new abilities and skills. None have been leveled though you have access to them.¡±
Adam opened his personal interface and pulled up his prompts. The first thing he did was look at the one warning he¡¯d received.
Warning: You are multi-classed as both a Cleric and a Mage. The Spell Slot bonuses for Cleric and Mage are Cumulative. There is only one spell slot pool. When praying for, or memorizing spells, all spells are stored in that pool. Once all spell slots are utilized a spell must be cast to pray for, or memorize, a new spell.
Good information to know. He¡¯d look at spell slots later, first thing to do was review his stats. Adam opened his personal Interface:
Name: Adamantadine (Adam)
Classes Character Level 5,000
Monk 5,000
Cleric 5,000
Mage 5,000
Fighter 5,000
Rogue 5,000
Attributes were all 10,909 except for Luck which was 10,910. Adam checked his secondary traits and noticed a few new ones.
Stamina 109,090
Hit Points 84,364
Spell Slots 20,909
Mana 109,090
Natural Defense 477,122
Armored Defense 159 (No Armor worn)
Damage Resistance 110
Running Speed 87,272 MPH
What in the actual¡. That was like Mach 120 or 24.2 miles per second. If he hit something going that fast, he might survive it, but other things were definitely not going to feel very well.
Jumping 3,490.88 inches or 290 feet
Carry Capacity 9,272,650 lbs.
Hit Point Regeneration 153 per second.
Stamina Regeneration 184 per second
Mana Regeneration 367 per second
Then Adam came to his abilities. At the top of the page were his two inherent abilities, the abilities he received from being an Ascendent Human, all the abilities he received from his Place of Power, and then the abilities that he received from his classes.
Adam looked at the Monk''s abilities first. It looked like he¡¯d gained the ability to punch through up to 50 points of damage resistance. At level 500 he¡¯d gained ¡°Heightened Reflexes¡± which stated he could never be surprised. At level 1,000 he could call, or set, the damage done on a successful strike. That would come in handy when he didn¡¯t want to kill someone. At level 2,000 he gained ¡°Water Skipping¡± which allowed him to run across water. At level 3,000 he gained ¡°Wall Running¡±, so basically Trinity from the Matrix. Level 4,000 ¡°Purity of Mind¡± prevented him from being Charmed, Possessed, or Dominated. At Level 5,000 he gained ¡°Cloud Running¡± which basically looked like he could run on air for 100 stamina per second, which with his stamina regeneration rate meant he could run on air without a break. No skills though, he¡¯d look at that tab later.
Next, he looked over the Cleric Abilities. He received a 1% bonus to hit with a Staff every 10 levels, not too shabby. Slight bonus to armored defense at the same rate as light armor. 1 Spell slot per level. Investigation and Purify Water, he¡¯d seen those before. The new abilities he received though were interesting. At level 100 he could ¡°Commune with Divine¡± once per week or while at a Place of Power. At level 500 he gained an ability called ¡°Gift of Knowledge¡± that let him gift a level 1 skill to anyone if he paid the 1,000 XP. Level 1,000 he could create water at a cost of 100 per gallon per ability level. Level 2,000 he gained the ability ¡°Sanctify¡± which allowed him to bless a gallon of water per 1,000 mana up to a maximum of his ability level. He raised that to 100 as well. Level 3,000 was an Ability called ¡°Divine Heal¡± which could be used once per week but would put him in a mana debt but healed everyone within 1 mile per ability level. That could come in handy. Level 4,000 was ¡°Resurrection.¡± Not just any Resurrection the ability to bring back the dead once per week. It didn¡¯t list a mana cost, but Adam was sure it would be hefty. Level 5,000 was anticlimactic. Once per month, he could call on a ¡°Divine Favor¡± the ability simply stated, ¡°The Divine Favor can take any form your Deity wishes.¡± That wasn¡¯t ominous at all.
Third was the Mage abilities. To begin with, he received Read Magic. It looked like individuals couldn¡¯t get Read Magic unless they were a Mage. At level 1,000 he gained the ability to ¡°Recognize Magic¡± which allowed him to have a chance to recognize any spell cast. The chance was equal to the casting skill in that sphere of magic. That made sense. If he didn¡¯t use a type of magic how would he be able to recognize it? Of course, with his 500% cast skill in all eight prime spheres, there wasn¡¯t a spell he should have problems figuring out. At level 2,000 he gained an ability called ¡°Return to Sender.¡± For every ability level, any spell specifically targeting him would go back to the caster. That was pretty ingenious. Level 3,000 gave him another ability that could increase his mana regeneration, ¡°Mana Restoration.¡± Level 4,000 gave him an ability that would allow him to increase the levels of all spells he cast for every level he placed in the ability. Level 5,000 was weird though. ¡°Incarnate¡± allowed him to become pure magic for a number of seconds equal to the ability level. While incarnate he would be immune to Magic of any type. The cooldown wasn¡¯t too bad either. Just double however long he remained incarnate.
The fourth was his Fighter abilities. To start he gained a bonus to hit with a weapon of his choice and a bonus when wearing light, medium, or Heavy armor. Finally, there was an ability called ¡°Natural Armor¡± that increased Natural Defense by 1/10th his Endurance attribute. At level 100 he received a limited ability which could only be leveled to level 200. ¡°Unencumbered¡± allowed him to remove the movement penalty for wearing Armor by 1% per two levels of ability. At level 1,000 he received the ability ¡°Critical Strikes¡± which increased his Critical multiplier by 1 per 1000 levels. The next two abilities were definitely useful. ¡°Stamina Fountain¡± at level 2,000 and ¡°Quick Recovery¡± at level 3,000 both allowed him to increase his Stamina and Health Regeneration per minute by 1 for every level in the specific ability. At level 4,000 the ability ¡°Weapon Master¡± reduced all stamina costs with weapons by half. Level 5,000 the ability ¡°Impervious¡± allowed him to gain 1 point of damage resistance per level in the ability.
The last class abilities he reviewed were his Rogue abilities. Rogues had an Ability called ¡°Stealth Affinity¡± that made their Stealth skill twice as effective and another skill ¡°Stealthy Movement¡± that let them move 25% faster while stealthed. He didn¡¯t see where the next two skills would benefit him much, but should he ever have a dagger, dirk, or knife his critical multiplier would increase by 1 for every 10 skill levels, and his chance to hit when backstabbing from Stealth would increase by 1% for every four levels. At level 1,000 he gained an Ability called ¡°Blur¡± which made it harder to hit him by 1% per class level. Level 2,000 gave him a skill called ¡°Trap Master¡± which gave him a 1% bonus to set or disarm traps, including magical ones for every level he had in the ability. Level 3,000 allowed him to ignore 1 point of Damage Resistance for every level of the Ability he had with handheld weapons. Level 4,000 he earned ¡°Master of Stealth¡± which allowed him to disappear from view from anyone, requiring a normal stealth skill check. So, if his Stealth skill and bonuses were at least 100 points above theirs they had a snowball''s chance in hell of seeing him. Level 5,000 was a skill called ¡°You still can¡¯t see me¡± which allowed the rogue to whisper or attack without breaking stealth if their stealth skill was high enough without needing to make a stealth check to remain stealthed.
Adam read the prompts and quickly leveled his abilities. Most of the abilities were Fixed which meant that they could not be leveled but a few needed to be leveled so he could get the full benefit. Starting from his first Class in this world and working his way down he leveled the following abilities to level 100: Create Water, Sanctify, Divine Heal, Return to Sender, Incarnate, Unencumbered, Trap Master, and Penetrating Strike. Then he leveled Mana Restoration, Amplify, Stamina Fountain, Quick Recovery, and Imperious to level 500.
¡°Interesting abilities but no skills. He guessed that the warning he received when he was gifted ¡°Prayer of Healing¡± by his Goddess was correct. Simply leveling a class doesn¡¯t give him the skills he needs to be proficient in that class. He¡¯d definitely have to work on that.
¡°Abi, did you notice anything I may have missed?¡±
¡°Well, you¡¯re still getting experience at the same rate, so nothing¡¯s changed there. Word of warning though. You have to be a little pickier when leveling any new classes, specialties, professions, abilities, skills, or spheres of power for the tower. Your experience has dropped down to 93.5 billion of the 410 billion you¡¯ve earned so far.¡± Abi said.
¡°Good to know, Think I was going to go another route right now anyway. I think I need to expand my spell list so I¡¯m going to go through the spell books and add a few to my spell slots permanently.
Adam made his way into the library, sat down, and noted that Eric wasn¡¯t about. Adam checked his map and saw that he was down in the Secret library in the small office he¡¯d added. He had no reason to bother him right now, so let him be.
Now that he could Read Magic he pulled out the books and quickly went through them looking for spells that looked like they¡¯d be useful and double-checking to make sure that the spell actually did what the title in common said it did.
As he went through the 22 Spell Books Arch-Mage Findal had been carrying when he¡¯d challenged Adam, he was amazed at the versatility of the spells. The mage had also been meticulous and separated his spells by spell level. A lot of the spells were duplicates but they were each in a different category. The first spell he looked for was one that would create Soulstones.
Spell: Create Common Soulstone
Level: 2 Cooldown: None
Mana: 10 Range: Touch
Required Component: Common Gemstone, no minimum value, or higher.
Duration: Permanent
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
When cast this spell will create an empty soulstone that can hold a common soul.
Spell: Create Common Soulstone Batch
Level 7 Cooldown: None
Mana: 50 Range: 10¡¯x10¡¯
Required Component: Common Gemstone, no minimum value, for each soulstone to be created.
Duration: Permanent
When cast this spell will create up to a number of empty common soulstones equal to the skill Casting Earth Magic that can hold common souls
Spell: Create Advanced Soulstone
Level 14 Cooldown: None
Mana: 100 Range: Touch
Required Component: Common Gemstone, Minimum value 100 gp or higher.
Duration: Permanent
When cast this spell will create an empty advanced soulstone that can hold up to advanced souls.
Spell: Create Advanced Soulstone Batch
Level 21 Cooldown: None
Mana: 150 Range: 10¡¯x10¡¯
Required Component: Common Gemstone, Minimum value 100 gp, or higher, for each soulstone to be created.
Duration: Permanent
When cast this spell will create up to a number of empty advanced soulstones equal to the skill Casting Earth Magic.
Spell: Create Epic Soulstone
Level 28 Cooldown: None
Mana: 200 Range: Touch
Required Component: Advanced Gemstone, Minimum value 250 gp or higher.
Duration: Permanent
When cast this spell will create an empty epic soulstone that can hold epic Souls.
Spell: Create Epic Soulstone Batch
Level 35 Cooldown: None
Mana: 250 Range: 10¡¯x10¡¯
Required Component: Advanced Gemstone, Minimum value 250 gp. Or higher for each soulstone to be created.
Duration: Permanent
When cast this spell will create up to a number of empty epic soulstones equal to the skill Casting Earth Magic.
Spell: Create Mythical Soulstone
Level 42 Cooldown: None
Mana: 301 Range: Touch
Required Component: Epic Gemstone, Minimum value 500 gp or higher.
Duration: Permanent
When cast this spell will create an empty Mythical soulstone that can hold Mythical Souls.
Spell: Create Mythical Soulstone Batch
Level 49 Cooldown: None
Mana: 350 Range: 10¡¯x10¡¯
Required Component: Epic Gemstone, Minimum value 500 gp. Or higher. for each soulstone to be created.
Duration: Permanent
When cast this spell will create up to a number of empty epic soulstones equal to the skill Casting Earth Magic.
Spell: Create Legendary Soulstone
Level 56 Cooldown: None
Mana: 400 Range: Touch
Required Component: Mythical Gemstone, Minimum value 1000 gp or higher.
Duration: Permanent
When cast this spell will create an empty Legendary soulstone that can hold Legendary Souls.
Spell: Create Legendary Soulstone Batch
Level 63 Cooldown: None
Mana: 500 Range: 10¡¯x10¡¯
Required Component: Mythical Gemstone, Minimum value 1000 gp. Or higher. for each soulstone to be created.
Duration: Permanent
When cast this spell will create up to a number of empty Legendary soulstones equal to the skill Casting Earth Magic.
Spell: Create Divine Soulstone
Level 70 Cooldown: None
Mana: 1000 Range: Touch
Required Component: Legendary Gemstone, Minimum value 5000 gp or higher.
Duration: Permanent
When cast this spell will create an empty Divine soulstone that can hold Divine Souls.
Each one of those eleven spells was necessary for his plans. Then he started looking for spells to catch souls. There was one spell for each Sphere of Power, but the sphere of life had the two strongest.
Spell: Soul Trap
Level: 10 Cooldown: None
Mana: 10 Range: 1000¡¯ Required Component: None
Duration 10 Minutes
When cast, the target must make a resistance check against Life. Failure indicates that upon death the target''s soul is drawn to the caster and will enter the first empty soulstone that can hold it. The soul rank of the target does not matter. If there is no soulstone of sufficient power to hold the soul, the soul is not captured.
Spell: Area of Soul Trap 100¡¯x100¡¯
Level: 20 Cooldown: None
Mana: 20 Range: 1000¡¯ Required Component: None
Duration: 20 Minutes
When cast, an area 100¡¯ x 100¡¯ is targeted. Upon death, souls that enter this area are drawn to the caster and will enter the first empty soulstone that can hold it. The soul rank of the target does not matter. If there is no soulstone of sufficient power to hold the soul, the soul is not captured.
Adam thought about it and then went to his Interface. Looking through his spell slot interface he wanted to see if he had to memorize every new spell or if his first-class would still allow him to lock certain spells in place for repeated use. It looked like he could do both, how to check.
` Adam Looked at the lowest level spell which was level 10 and started putting it to memory when a prompt appeared.
You have found the Spell: Create Common Soulstone. Because you are both an innate caster and a mage you can choose what to do with this spell. It will take a minimum number of minutes to memorize this spell equal to its spell level minus the skill level of Cast Earth Magic. Minimum 1 minute.
Or you can choose to read the spell from the spellbook and permanently add it to spells that you can cast without memorizing for 10 spell slots which will remove the spell from the scroll or book you are reading it from. Memorize or Fill Spell Slots.?
Adam chose Fill Spell Slots. Immediately after he did his eyes were drawn to the spellbook. As his eyes read the spell it faded from the book and etched itself into his mind. The process took no more than a minute and 10 spell slots were filled. Adam did the same for all 14 spells. When he was done 15 minutes later he had 2853 Spell slots tied up for his 21 permanent spells. He knew there would be others he made permanent eventually. He still had a lot of books to go through after all.
Adam checked his map; Adaline was still in the guest room. It was only 8 p.m.
¡°Hey Abi, you around?¡± he sent into his mind.
¡°Always around, just been binge-watching shows like I told you I was going to. The last couple of days I¡¯ve been watching Game of Thrones.¡±
¡°Sounds like you¡¯re having fun. Did you see my encounters earlier today?¡±
¡°Yep, I was wondering, when you¡¯d finally realized that except for monsters, you have a hideously unfair advantage against anyone here. Think about it. Everyone who actually gets to a class level of 5,001 gets the choice to become Divine. As you¡¯ve found out from your multiclassing, they¡¯re only getting 4 attributes per level so at most, unless it¡¯s a god, or a monster above level 5,000, which is rare, the most anyone will have is around 20,000 attributes. Also, remember that those 20,000 attributes will be distributed. You might run into someone with a 10,000 in one of their attributes if they¡¯re stupid, but they¡¯ll be weak elsewhere and the odds are you¡¯re going smear them. So yeah, I was wondering when you¡¯d start using your power. The biggest thing you¡¯d probably need to worry about are specialized magical items, except that the Place of Power you¡¯re growing has made you resistant to a lot.¡± Abi said.
¡°I admit it, I was bored and wanted to strut my stuff. Anyway, the reason I wanted to talk to you is that I¡¯m looking through these spellbooks. I found the various create soulstone spells and capture soul spells and added them permanently to spells I can use so I don¡¯t have to study them all the time. I was wondering if there were any spells you knew of that I should be looking for that I need to be able to cast without needing to study them?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know, that wasn¡¯t something I looked at before I came here?¡± she said.
¡°Well, I do seem to recall, big brain on Adam, a certain somebody telling me she¡¯d help me figure magic out once we got here?¡± he said.
¡°Yes, I did. Okay! I¡¯ll pay attention to what you¡¯re looking at while you go through the books. If I see anything that strikes a chord, I¡¯ll let you know.¡±
¡°Good enough¡±
Adam started going through the spellbooks. He was looking through the names quickly and focused on spells that sounded useful. As he went through the books he saw a lot of spells that had names that had little reference to him but acted like spells he¡¯d seen in RPGs back home. For instance, a spell that did almost exactly what a ¡°Light¡± spell would do was called Nadar¡¯s Illumination. He found quite a few spells like that; Nighty Night (Sleep), Heralds Hot Hands (Burning Hands), Listen to Me (Charm Person), Fall like a Feather (Feather Fall), Identify was just Identify, Archer¡¯s Agony (Arrow Shield), Darkness the same, Mage Vision (Darkvision), Magical Stealth (Invisibility, though there was a version that was also called Invisibility), Make Safe (Remove Traps), Open Locked Door (Knock), Pierce Magical Stealth (See Invisible), Spider¡¯s Curse (Web), Powerless (Dispel Magic), Zap (Lightning Bolt), Fishes Breath (Water Breathing), Go Home (Banishment), A shield spell for each of the eight primary elements, Change Form (Polymorph), Blizzard (Cone of Cold), Mage Hands (Telekinesis.) Telekinesis? Why hadn¡¯t he thought to ask about Psionics?
¡°Abi are there creatures with purely mental powers here?¡± he asked.
¡°Well of course Adam, it is one of the higher powers.¡± She said.
¡°Wait, higher powers?¡±
¡°You were listening to Freya when she explained to you about the creation of everything right?¡±
¡°Of course,¡± he said testily.
¡°Well, The Primal Powers, Elements, and Spheres those are your Air, Life, Water, Dark, Earth, Death, Fire, and Light. The primary term there is Primal as they are at the center. Depending on where you are the words; Powers, Elements, and Spheres are interchangeable. Higher Powers, Elements, or Spheres would be from top to bottom: Divine, Soul, Spirit, Mental, Putrescent, Anti, Proper, Absolute, Space, Time, Gravity, and Order. The last which is considered the foundational Power and is never referred to as a sphere or element, is Chaos. Well, it¡¯s not supposed to be anyway. Get it?¡±
¡°Yeah, I get it and no, Freya didn¡¯t mention that. My next question is this, is there anything like Psionics here? Look at this from my memories and I pulled up an RPG that had a psionicist in it.
She went through the memory of the book and then said. ¡°Not exactly, and they don¡¯t call it psionics. It¡¯s just Mental Magic. But there is definitely something similar.¡± She said.
¡°K, thanks, something to look for in the libraries when I get the chance.¡± He said.
What other spells you got in those books?¡± she asked
Adam started flipping through the books again; Just in Case (Contingency), Eradicate (Disintegrate), God¡¯s Sight (True Sight), Teleport was Teleport, Body Double (Clone), You are Mine (Dominate Monster), My Mind is My Own (Mind Shield), Mind Speak though it was commonly referred to as Telepathy as well (Telepathy), Monster Shape (Shape Change), and Wish which was just like a normal wish spell and had all of the warnings.¡± While the names were different in most cases the spells each worked a lot like some of the descriptions given in the RPGs he¡¯d played.
¡°I didn¡¯t see anything that stuck out Adam, sorry.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t sweat it, I have a few more books to review,¡° Adam said placatingly.
The first spells he wanted to look at were the Shield spells. He opened a book to Fire Shield
Spell: Fire Shield
Level: 5 Cooldown: None
Mana: Variable
Range: 0
Area of Effect: 10¡¯ Radius around Caster
Required Component: None
Duration: Sustained.
When cast, This spell creates an immovable sphere around the caster that will withstand damage so long as there is mana to sustain it. The Shield can be maintained at a cost of 1 mana per second.
Fire passes through the shield. Water does double damage to the shield. While the shield is active the cost is paid automatically and can be stopped while preventing damage. The caster can release the shield at any time or touch it to dispel it.
Adam quickly read the other seven Primary element shield spells and each was exactly the same. He decided that they needed to be part of his permanent spell arsenal. Eight minutes later he was done and had permanently filled 5652 spell slots. He still had over 70,000 left. The next spell he looked for was Mage Bolt.
Spell: Mage Bolt
Level: 100 Cooldown: None
Mana: 5 per Bolt, 1 bolt per 100 levels in a school of magic, all cumulative.
Range: 1¡¯ per skill level in Cast Light Magic.
Area of Effect: 1 target.
Required Component: 1 Second
Duration Instantaneous
Damage: 1d4 per bolt.
When cast this spell shoots bolts of light at the target that will not miss. Each bolt is considered one of the Primal Elements
The Mage Bolt does 4 points of damage per category in Cast Air Magic:
4 points of damage per 100 levels (Roundup) in Cast Life Magic.
4 points of damage per 100 levels (Roundup) in Cast Water Magic.
4 points of damage per 100 levels (Roundup) in Cast Dark Magic.
4 points of damage per 100 levels (Roundup) in Cast Earth Magic.
4 points of damage per 100 levels (Roundup) in Cast Death Magic.
4 points of damage per 100 levels (Roundup) in Cast Fire Magic.
4 points of damage per 100 levels (Roundup) in Cast Light Magic.
Example: A caster with at least level 1 in their cast skill for each sphere of magic would shoot 8 bolts of light for a total of 32 points of damage.
This spells always hits therefore does not roll to hit and cannot perform Critical hit damage though Attribute, skill, and abilities modifiers do allow a very powerful spell. Also, note that at least one bolt will go through any magical shield made from the 8 prime schools of magic unless all 8 schools of magic are in the shield.
¡°Oh yes please,¡± Adam thought as he quickly read the spell and permanently added it to his spell arsenal. The next spell he looked at was this universe''s version of See Invisible.
Spell: Pierce Magical Stealth
Levels: 40 Cooldown: 1 Hour
Mana: 1 per cast light spell level
Range: 1¡¯ per cast light level
Area of Effect: 1 touched target or self.
Required Component: None
Duration: 1 minute per skill level in Cast Light Magic.
This spell will allow the caster to pierce through magical stealth or invisibility cast by anyone of lower cast light spell rank.
¡°Another one to add,¡± Adam thought as he quickly read the spell and permanently added it to his Arsenal. Adam looked at the clock on his personal interface and realized that it was close to Midnight. He was coming to a point of full-body exhaustion. Meditation wasn¡¯t going to do it this time. He¡¯d need to sleep soon. He thought he might need some more permanent spells but wasn¡¯t absolutely sure which ones to take. He sat and thought about things for about a minute then decided that the best thing for him to do was just place some spells in his spell slots in the Mage fashion. This would give him a chance to see what they did and if he liked them he¡¯d sit back down later and see what they did. He spent the next 30 minutes and memorized as many spells as he could in 30 minutes.
Chapter 39, Why are People Trying to Kill Me, Oh Yeah...
(Day 167) Aprilis 12th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
It was just after midnight when Adam finished memorizing his spells. He put all the books in his Ring of Holding then stood, stretched, and decided a bath was in order. As he made his way to the front of the tower, then up the stairs, he had the nanites look inside Adaline¡¯s room to check on her. She had rolled over and looked to be sleeping peacefully. That was a good sign. He continued up to the third floor and then set up a bath.
¡°Adam, if we¡¯re done I¡¯m going to go offline for a while, I need to rest,¡± Abi said.
¡°Sure, thing Abi, I¡¯m just going to relax in this bath for a bit, then I might even try to take a nap.¡±
¡°Sounds good, night.¡±
Adam sat in the bath for about an hour, using the nanites to warm the water whenever it became cold. Around 1 a.m. he rose out of the tub, had his nanites dry him, and made some pajamas, just in case he had to run out of the room. Then he went to lie down for a bit. His mind had to relax after everything he¡¯d done recently. Even though his mind was still racing, as soon as his head hit the pillow he fell asleep.
At 3 a.m. his nanites woke him up as an audible click came from the terrace window. The door opened and something the nanites couldn¡¯t see made its way into the room as a robbed figure carrying a staff floated down and gently came to land just inside the door and whispered ¡°Hold.¡± Adam used his nanites while he lay motionless to view the room through the various spectrums. They detected nothing until he strobed the room with low-energy X-rays from one side to the other. Then he saw the bones and outline of a female, poised right next to him with a dagger, inches from his throat. As he checked the spectrums the Mage cast a spell at him with the Staff.
Arch-Mage Belarious has cast ¡°You Will Not Move¡± on you. Resisted.
Adam noticed the look of confusion on Belarious¡¯s face as he tried a different spell
Arch-Mage Belarious has cast ¡°Listen to Me¡± on you. You are Immune
Adam knew it was just a matter of time before the Mage ordered his death and prepared himself to burst into action.
¡°Immobilize him,¡± Belarious said.
The x-ray strobe showed the invisible female pulling out a syringe-type device and poking it as quickly as she could into his left arm. Immediately she pushed the plunger down as she became visible.
Adam didn¡¯t move and had his nanites contain the fluid so he could use it later as he continued to breathe as if he were in a deep sleep. He heard her softly count to ten then she stood, all pretense at being stealthy gone. ¡°He should be good and paralyzed now, boss.¡± She said as she moved Adam around so that he was sitting with his back against the headboard. Then she slapped Adam across the face until he opened his eyes. Adam played to his audience looking around with his eyes quickly, acting surprised as if he was trying to figure out why he couldn¡¯t move. He did have a 100 in the skill of Acting, even if it was from the other Universe. They bought his performance hook, line, and sinker. While they thought they had a subdued scared man that they had complete control of in front of them, Adam was given the time he needed to Analyze both of them.
Analyze: Success: Belarious level 5,000 Mage Hit Points 11,000
Analyze: Success: Seraphin, Level 4,557 Assassin Hit Points 8,757
Adam thought for a moment. No way a Holy Knight hired an Assassin. Also, the Assassin was taking orders from the Mage who looked familiar. Adam searched through his memory and found him immediately, and recently. He¡¯d seen him walking toward the Dungeon right before Adam left the dungeon and headed back to the academy. The Dungeon Master? Could be. Didn¡¯t matter, he was going to have to take care of these two in a minute. First things first. Adam had his Nanites create a six-inch solid sheet of transparent aluminum behind the mage to seal the outer door. These two were definitely dying today.
Simultaneously, Adam, had the nanites convert the door to the stairway into solid titanium and attach to the door frame and wall at the molecular level. He also had the nanites convert the door frame to solid titanium, and then he had the next three feet on the other side of the door converted into a solid wedge of Titanium so that the door could not be blown into the hallway. Anyone trying to blow the door open or using a spell to try to open it would fail. Neither area was a door anymore. A spell that allowed someone to bypass walls might work but he hadn¡¯t seen anything like that in the spellbooks he had.
¡°Good,¡± Belarious said ¡°So you are the low-level buffoon that somehow destroyed everything in the dungeon and made off with my Divine Soulstone? Was it worth it?¡± he asked as he started to pull blood-covered items from a storage device he had. Those items looked like what Daranus, Chesarie, Thrum, Xander, and Desari had taken from the Dungeon. In addition to the items, it looked like the clothing of children and some adult female dresses.
¡°They screamed so much as I bled them dry. So much¡.¡± she said in a sickly-sweet voice just as Adam moved.
Seething with rage he hadn¡¯t known was possible. Adam had moved. He¡¯d performed a called shot to the head of Seraphin to knock her out for exactly 4,000 points damage. He then performed a call shot to the head of Belarious, who had an earth-based protection spell in place. The protective shell had absolutely no effect on Adam as the earth could not hold him. Adam landed his called shot and did exactly 4,000 points of damage to the mage¡¯s head which also knocked Belarious unconscious. Outside the terrace there was a screech, then a roar as something large and dark used a claw to reach through the Transparent Aluminum and rip it away.
Adam cast a mage bolt at the claw. The claw jerked back and the dragon fell into the darkness below. Moving to the terrace Adam watched as the dragon impacted into the hills.
The visual of that attack had been insane. Mage Bolt created one bolt for every 100 skill levels that embodied the color of the primal spere it represented. For Adam that was 5 bolts for each sphere that left his hand for a total of forty bolts, five from each sphere. each bolt plowed into the dragon. It looked like a stream of rainbow energy had left his hand and entered the dragon. Checking his log, the total Damage had been 335,997 points of damage. The first mage bolt had done 9,600 points of damage. Checking the math, he realized that 5 bolts had been completely resisted. Too bad, he hadn¡¯t been able to Analyze the dragon before it fell away.
Adam turned back to his ¡®guests¡¯ and had the nanites separate the poison that was used on him into two portions. He placed his hand fully against each neck in succession and injected the poison into Belarious and Seraphin. Adam then closed the terrace door and had his nanites fix the damage the dragon had done and undo the changes he¡¯d made. While he was waiting, he placed the two intruders on the floor close together and cast Powerless on them. He picked them back up and a minute later stepped through his bedroom door and headed down the stairs carrying Belarious and Seraphin under each arm. Although to say he carried them would be slightly incorrect. He dragged them behind him which was slightly satisfying as they thumped against each step on the way downstairs.
Adam came down to the 2nd-floor landing and lightly tapped on the door with his right foot.
Immediately it opened with Adaline looking out. ¡°Yes¡±
¡°I Figured you heard the commotion upstairs and me dragging down the stairs. Anyway, we¡¯ll talk later. I just have a few things that you need to know now. First, that asshat Holy Knight is alive, properly chastised, and gone down the mountain. I¡¯m hoping your hoard is to the north so there¡¯s no chance you will run into him. Second, I need two mythical gemstones valued at 1,000 GP or more to make Soulstones. I need those as soon as possible.¡±
¡°I can do that. We are trading I take it?¡± she asked.
¡°Yes, before you go come with me please,¡± he said.
Adam dragged Belarious and Seraphin down to the ground level, walked back behind the main stairs, and took the winding stairs down to the training room on basement level 3. Adaline followed him all the way down. He made sure Adaline had access to this area as well as the others attached to this staircase then said. ¡°I made some changes to my home. I¡¯ll be in this room when you get back. I have some preparations to make before I have a chat with these two when they wake up. Please hurry. I will let you know what happened with the Holy Knight and exactly why these two are going to be judged and punished.
Adaline turned and jogged upstairs out of sight.
Adam then set Belarious and Seraphin down. Next Adam removed every single item he found on Belarious leaving him nude. He checked him, still unconscious. He did the same to Seraphin and noted that if she wasn¡¯t such an evil See You Next Tuesday, she could have been beautiful. The thought of violating her in the most heinous fashions he could devise before killing her crossed his mind. Yeah, that wasn¡¯t him. If he had to kill a fool, he¡¯d kill them regardless of their sex. But rape and torture. Well, he wasn¡¯t beyond torturing to a point, as these two were about to find out, but there needed to be a purpose to it. Rape though, that was why he¡¯d kill a fool. If he committed that sin, then someone else would be justified in seeking vengeance against him. He liked having the moral high ground in any argument that way he felt justified in his actions. Besides, the bad Karma that would come from such an act, he didn¡¯t need that either. Ignoring her nakedness, because shortly that body would not exist anyway, he went to work.
Adam had his nanites create two white togas over each of them, might as well let them keep some of their dignity. Then he had the nanites create two vertical Iron crosses with straps to hold the victim in place. He then placed them, so they were 10 feet apart facing each other. He picked each of them up, placed them against the Iron Cross, and strapped them in. Their arms were held horizontally and their legs slightly spread apart. There was a strap to hold their neck and forehead which he also secured them with. This would leave both Belarious and Seraphine standing vertically looking at each other. when they woke up. The togas also had a hole directly over their heart.
Before he started he had the Nanites create a razor-sharp scalpel and tongue clamp.
He then ordered his nanites to break down any blood, feces, and urine that they could as soon as they could. They couldn¡¯t do anything to the bodies while they were alive but once any of the substances left a body they should be able to clean up any messes that were made. He wanted this to be a clinical ass whopping, not a messy one.
He used the tongue clamp to grab Belarious''s tongue then the scalpel to cut his tongue out at the root. He made sure the Nanites were breaking down his blood until he stopped bleeding as he used the tongue clamp and scalpel on Seraphin. At their levels, healing rates stopped the bleeding in short order.
Adam cut off the mage¡¯s eyelids, then the rogues. Their eyes were still dilated so they were still out. That probably wouldn¡¯t last too much longer. Next Adam broke every single bone in each of Belarious hands, arms, and legs. He did the same to the Rogue. Using only as much pressure as was necessary and minimized damage as much as he could. When he was done their arms and legs were held against the cross-holding them in place and they had already started to bruise as their high healing rates tried to repair the damage. The final thing Adam did was have the nanites create ball gags and place one in each of their mouths so they couldn¡¯t moan loudly. Next Adam pulled out his spellbook and memorized Powerless again while he waited for them to wake up.
Belarious was the first to wake up. his eyes darted to and fro. Seraphin woke moments later doing the same. Seraphin started to move and Belarious looked at her. Their heads were strapped upright so they could see each other. When Belarious saw Seraphine, the state of her eyelids, her ball gage, and the state of her arms, hands, legs, and feet and how they were quickly turning purple a look of shock entered his eyes. Seraphine also looked at Belarious and realized that they were well and truly fucked, if Belarious was also bound and every single appendage he had was broken. Mages usually needed their hands or voice to cast spells and she could absolutely tell her tongue was gone.
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While they both watched each other and came to the slow realization of their predicament, Adam was wondering if he could cast a spell by specific eye movement. He also wondered if he could set up a Contingency spell for that. Most wouldn¡¯t think to do that. Most wouldn¡¯t think to block your eye movement. He hadn¡¯t until just now. A subject worth exploring. Closing and opening eyelids in a certain combination, that¡¯s why he¡¯d cut them off of both of them. The Rogue could have casting abilities after all.
Of course, he might be going a little too overboard. He had cast powerless after all. With his spell level and skill level plus his attribute modifier, any spell that had been on either of them would have had to beat an 11,409% chance to be dispelled. Any active effects should have been dispelled and magic items disrupted for at least a little while. If there was a spell tied to a ring, well they weren¡¯t wearing rings anymore because the dispel had allowed him to remove even unremovable rings. If they were soul-bound they¡¯d move to them if they could when they came back. But right now, all their items were over on the floor. Also, he¡¯d injected them with the poison they¡¯d tried to use on him. He had no idea how long it was supposed to last but he was sure it would be a little while at least.
Seeing that they were both awake and knowing he couldn¡¯t finish this until Adaline returned Adam started to talk: ¡°You two are the 2nd pair of idiots to attack me in my home. By the way, if you are waiting for your dragon to break in here and save you. Um, yeah, not happening. It is at the bottom of the sheer cliff under the terrace splattered against the hills. Looks like it made quite the mess from the terrace.¡±
¡°Seraphine''s eyes went into a red-hot rage as tears started to stream down her cheeks.¡±
¡°Oh, that hit a nerve, did it? Maybe if you weren¡¯t such a cold-hearted evil bitch I wouldn¡¯t have had to put it, or you, down like the mangy dogs you are.¡±
Adam wouldn¡¯t know it but at that moment his charisma modified his aura and a wave of intimidation billowed out from him. Ancient Dragons didn¡¯t exude an aura as powerful as the one he released. Both Belarus and Seraphine became terrified, pissed, and shit themselves and would have fled if they could. If not for the Nanites it would have gotten quite messy.
Adam took a breath to calm himself then continued in a normal tone ¡°As I don¡¯t know what that poison you injected me with would have done I don¡¯t know how long you¡¯ll be immobilized.¡± As he¡¯d been talking he¡¯d had the nanites create two mirrors. One mirror, off to the side of Seraphin, angled so Belarious could see himself. The other was off to the side of Belarious, angled so Seraphin could see herself.
Adam moved to a central position where both of them could see him as he continued ¡°Currently, I have a friend retrieving the gems I need to make Legendary Soulstone so I can capture each of your souls. Know that I asked the question of an academic, just yesterday in fact, if there is a way to destroy souls. I was told no. I find that hard to believe though. Why? Because if there were no souls before the Universes began then there has to be a way for souls to end or cease to exist.¡± Adam paused for dramatic effect. Before he continued.
¡°Why am I bringing this up? Because very shortly I¡¯m going to capture both of your souls. I am not going to let them escape to your gods and I¡¯m sure as shit, not going to allow your souls to be used to enchant items or feed monsters so you get the default option. No going through ¡°The Eye¡± for either of you.¡±
Adam paused for a moment as he looked them both over to make sure neither of them was healing too fast. Using one of his daggers he sliced each of their cheeks so he could try to figure out their healing rate. While he did that and watched he continued. ¡°The possibility does exist that the academic was correct, and souls cannot be destroyed. If that is true then know that I will use your souls to craft the most powerful magical items for good I can as what¡¯s left of your will and memories flees to The Eye. I¡¯m thinking about trying to turn you into a sword for a Holy Knight to smite Evil. Why? So, your pathetic existence can have some good purpose. In the end, I want everything that you are, all the energy that makes you up except for that last little bit to be repurposed to work for the champions of Good.¡±
¡°Oh, I can see you want to know how either of you had the crap beat out of you by a level 114 Monk or how you were captured?¡±
Adam had the nanites create a giant computer monitor so that they could both see it. Then he had his nanites create the information that was on his personal Information screen as he said menacingly. ¡°I am not from this Universe. My first class is not compatible with the class system here so while it was true that I was a level 114 Monk yesterday. It is also true that I was a level 5,000 Ascendant Human. I¡¯m also more than a level 114 Monk now as well as a few other classes. You don¡¯t need to know exactly what though. All you need to know is that I have declined to become a Divine so am not bound by those laws at this time.¡±
Belarious moaned and Seraphin still had tears rolling down her eyes.
¡°So why are you here like this? You two broke into my home and started to brag about killing five people and their families, which you knew had nothing to do with what happened at the Dungeon. Yeah. As my goddess would say, you both need to be taught a lesson in Humility. In doing so I get to take out my anger and frustrations on you two morons because I do have a goddess that will look upon punishing evil scum like you two as warranted and justified. Count yourselves a little lucky though. I won¡¯t be going after either of your families. My Goddess would probably look unfavorably on such acts and as the Holy Knight that broke my hospitality earlier learned. What a God or Goddess has granted can be taken away. Judging your dumbasses is justified. Going after the innocents that are among your family, well that would be just evil.¡± He said as he heard footsteps coming down the stairs.
Adaline stepped into the room. Then paused as she took in the scene. ¡°May I take a closer look, Adam?¡±
Adam motioned for her to do so with a be my guest gesture
Adaline stepped into the room and walked around the two figures who both pleaded to her with their eyes.
Adaline walked over and handed him two gems as she said. ¡°These should work for your purposes. We¡¯ll discuss our trade when you¡¯re done.¡±
Adam nodded then said. ¡°They brought a dragon with them. It¡¯s on the foothills below the terrace.
¡°You bring me the nicest presents. I¡¯m going to go check on it¡±
¡°Keep whatever you find. Just remember to be careful. That Holy Knight and his friends should be down in the foothills by now, though they¡¯re probably camped for the night a little farther east.¡±
¡°Will do, I¡¯ll be back in about an hour, meet for breakfast?¡±
¡°Sounds good, I won¡¯t be much longer.¡±
Adaline left the room and started up the stairs. Adam waited until she was gone then looked at Belarious and Seraphin. ¡°What? You thought that dark elf would help you. First, we have a vow of non-aggression for at least the next 10 months. Second, she¡¯s an Ancient Black Dragon.¡± The look of shock that flashed through their expression brightened Adam¡¯s mood.
Adam walked over to the storage room and put the two gemstones on the ground. While he kept an eye on his two prisoners, he cast Create Legendary Soulstone batch, making sure to stand where they both could see him from their positions. When he was done he checked, yep he had two empty Legendary soulstones. Then he cast Area of Soul Trap 100¡¯ x 100¡¯ centered on the room right between them
Adam walked back over between them, ¡°I¡¯d ask if you have any last words but honestly I don¡¯t give a shit. Also, I cut out both of your tongues. Now there¡¯s something I saw in a movie back where I¡¯m from that I¡¯ve always wanted to try so I¡¯ll leave you both with this tidbit of wisdom to think about while floating in your prison if you can think as a trapped soul. Maybe being evil wasn¡¯t such a good life choice. Next time, If you somehow make it to The Eye and you get a new life after death, you might want to do better at being good. Well, that¡¯s the end of our TED talk. Thank you and good night.¡±
A look of confusion entered both of their faces as they tried to make sense of what he¡¯s said just as Adam¡¯s right hand punched into Seraphin¡¯s chest through the hole in her toga, just right of center in a called shot to pluck her heart out while it was still beating, just to see if he could. He did. Adam brought her still-beating heart up before her eyes and stared across her heart into her eyes as it stopped beating and the spark of life faded from her gaze. Then backhanded her so hard that her head ripped free from her neck and flew into the wall where it exploded. A soul exploded from her chest and was immediately captured by one of the Legendary Soulstones.
He turned to Belarious. ¡°You were level 5,000. You were a hair''s breadth from becoming a divine and you had to go and order the death of the first people I worked with on this world. I truly hope I find a way to destroy your soul.¡± Adam said as he thought of all the different ways he could possibly kill this Mage then settled on the tried and now true, heart snatch. He plucked the heart out of Belarious''s chest successfully and brought it up so the mage could watch the heart stop beating as the spark faded from his eyes as well. This time he just punched through his face as hard as he could. The force of the blow caused Belarious¡¯s head to explode and also reduced the iron cross to powder. A soul exploded out of Belarious''s chest thrumming with light. It was still captured by the Legendary Soulstone. As Adam picked up the Soulstones a prompt appeared in his vision.
The Dungeon Master of the Dungeon of Divine Elements has died. As you are the one who has slain the Dungeon Master would you like to claim the Dungeon of Divine Elements, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes.¡±
Congratulations Dungeon Master. Woe and bad tiding. The Harbinger of your Dungeon was killed one day ago and will not return for 29 days 12 hours. Woe and bad tidings again. The item of power has been removed. You must replace the item of power within 12 hours, or the Dungeon of Divine Elements will close forever.
Adam tried to access the Dungeon interface that popped up and received another prompt.
You cannot access the function of your dungeon from this location. You must be inside your dungeon.
Nothing for it, he needed to make a trip. Looking at his personal interface, he did a little math and nodded to himself. He could get there quickly enough after breakfast and his talk with Adaline. Adam picked up all the items he stripped off Belarious and Seraphin as he ordered the nanites to break down their bodies, the mess, and the iron crosses. As Seraphine''s body started to disintegrate a ring fell off her. It had been under something that held it against her skin near her waist. He walked over thought about it for a second then picked it up.
Adam gathered and analyzed everything he¡¯d removed from both of them while his nanites destroyed the corpses and repaired the damage that had been done when Serphane¡¯s head had hit the wall. Then he started Identifying everything he¡¯d found
You have found Assassins Dagger +10
You have found Assassins Boots; wearer gains +100 to Stealth and can walk across any surface without setting off normal or magical traps.
You have found a belt of Holding: 40x40 grid, reduces the weight of items held by 80%
- The Belt holds 20 platinum, 20 gold, 20 silver, 20 copper. 10 Darts coated with Poison that does 10d10 x 100 damage. (2) +5 Daggers. (2) +5 shortsword. Loaded Hand crossbow, Loaded light crossbow, +5 short bow, 10 hand crossbow bolts. 20 crossbow bolts 20 arrows. Rations for 3 weeks. Waterskins for 5 days. 2 bottles of wine. Bedroll, canvas, 100¡¯ silk rope.
You have found Ring of Teleport, Fixed, Location, unknown.
You have found Ring of Teleport, Fixed, Location unknown (Nasty)
You have found Ring of Blinking. Allows the wearer to teleport to a location they can see within 100¡¯ 5 times per day.
You have found a Cloak of Invisibility
You have found a Ring of Holding. 1000x1000 grid, reduces carried weight by 99%
- The Ring holds 2,000 platinum, 12,000 gold, 40,000 silver, and 65,000 copper. Wand of Fireballs Level 201. Wand of Lightning Bolt, Ring of Flying. Ring of Water Breathing, Level 30 Spell Books, Rations for 3 weeks. Waterskins for 5 days. 2 bottles of wine. Bedroll, canvas, 100¡¯ silk rope.
Ring of Resistance 20%
You have found the Artifact: Staff of the Arch-Mage Level 5001 (Set Piece 1 of 3).
- The Staff of the Arch-Mage allows the holder to cast any spell as if it were Spell Level 500.
- Acts as a Mana Battery and can hold up to 10,000 Mana
- Can Cast Wish 1 time per year.
You have found the Artifact: Robe of the Arch-Mage Level 5001(Set Piece 2 of 3)
- 50% Resistance to All Magic
- Wearer Mana Regeneration doubled
- Wearer is immune to cold temperatures. Does not affect magical damage
- Wearer immune to hot temperatures. Does not affect magical damage.
- Acts as a Mana Battery and can hold up to 10,000 Mana
You have found the Artifact: Slippers of the Arch-Mage Level 5001 (Set Piece 3 of 3)
- Allows the wearer to stand or walk on any surface as if sold ground, including air
- Fly at will up to 20 mph
- Acts as a Mana Battery and can hold up to 10,000 Mana
You have found a Ring of Teleport (Unidentified location)
- Contingency Trigger (Dispelled)
Adam went through the rings and belt of holding and pulled out and put on the Cloak of Invisibility, Bracers of Air Defense +100, Assassins Boots +100, Ring of Blinking, Ring of Resistance all Magic 20%, and Ring of Spell Casting 300 slot. All three could come in handy after breakfast.
He walked upstairs to his bedroom and picked up everything Belarious had dropped. There was no longer any blood on anything. Then Adam made his way downstairs into the small dining room. Adaline was seated, drinking some tea, and eating her breakfast as he pulled up a chair and sat down.
Chapter 40 "Catching Up"
(Day 167) Aprilis 12th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
¡°Good morning Adaline. The first question, before we get on to other business, how are you feeling?¡± Adam asked.
Adaline took a sip of her tea before she answered, ¡°Considering I was a hair''s breadth from death, I feel great, you?¡±
¡°Good. Thank you for getting the gems without question. My time frame was limited because of how high-level they were, and I really wanted to capture each of their souls.
¡°Did you?¡± she asked.
¡°Oh yes, they are my permanent little bitches until I find a way to destroy them forever or, if that¡¯s not possible, turn them into something that can champion good, like a sword for a Holy Knight or something.¡±
Adaline frowned.
¡°Not that Holy Knight, he¡¯s an asshat. The idea is because they were so evil, I¡¯ll have them made into something that is used to promote good. Yeah, I know. Hey, if someone good ever fucks up and pisses me off that bad, I¡¯ll make a weapon of evil for you¡± Adam said.
Adaline laughed ¡°We both know what the odds of a truly good person, coming into your home and trying to kill you are,¡± she said.
¡°Well, there is that¡± he returned.
¡°To recap quickly on everything leading up to yesterday. I made my way to the city and met with an Academic. I learned a lot, became a Monk and a Cleric of Serena, and then visited the company stocking this Tower. I also upgraded so we have more choices. Then I went to the Dungeon, cleared it, and recovered the Item of Power. Then I went to rest for the night and when I woke up I received a prompt that the Tower was under attack and teleported back to find you in the foyer bleeding out.¡± He paused for a moment.
¡°By the way, I am starting to grow fond of you and would miss you so if you¡¯d be so kind as to not almost die again that¡¯d be great, ¡°he said with a hint of sarcasm as he smiled.
¡°Well, you know us girls, always looking for a good time with the boys until they break our hearts in the end¡± she quipped back.
They both laughed at that.
¡°Seriously though. I was worried. I had to pray to my Goddess to heal you. She¡¯s a Good Divine. When I first tried my prayer of healing it didn¡¯t work. I had to let her know that I considered you like family, which both my Goddess and I know in my heart is true. So, when I say I care you know I mean it, because if I didn¡¯t my Goddess would not have healed you as you are neither good nor neutral.¡±
Understanding that Adam was sharing how he felt about her Adaline said ¡°I understand, I will try to be more careful. Enough of this mushy stuff, what happened with the Holy Knight and his friends¡± she asked.
¡°Well, after my first Prayer for healing on you to get the bleeding stopped and stabilized. By the way, I hadn¡¯t realized your level was so high and you had so many hit points. Anyway, I took you up to the guest bedroom, made sure you were safe, and then went out the terrace door in my room. I flew up to the top of the tower, looked down, and asked them to stop. The Holy Knight tried to shoot me with a crossbow, I explained to him the error of his ways and it would seem his God agreed. Eventually, he calmed down enough for me to ask him why a Holy Knight was attacking an unarmed, obviously not evil person, which stopped him in his tracks, especially since I¡¯d helped one of the followers of his God earlier that day in the Dungeon. If you know how to, and you¡¯re not evil, at least in my world, it¡¯s really easy to fuck with a Holy Knight by using their honor and goodness against them. Once that was worked out, I sent them on their way.¡± Adam paused for a moment.
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¡°Next thing I did was come inside, check on you, and spend a full 54 minutes healing you to full health. When I was done, I pulled a blanket over you, locked the door then went up to my room for a hot bath and some rest. About 3 a.m. the two idiots you saw downstairs broke in through the terrace entrance and tried to taunt me after they¡¯d poisoned me. I¡¯m completely immune to poison. That was true before I came to this Universe and it¡¯s still true now. Then they started to taunt me about how they¡¯d killed the party I went to the dungeon in and their families. Oh, they were most definitely evil.¡±
Adam paused for a moment as his eyes went distant for a moment. The thought of what he¡¯d done seemed to haunt him for a moment but the hint of anger entered his gaze and he continued, ¡°You saw the damage I did to them. Mostly to make sure they couldn¡¯t use magic to escape. So, I asked you for two gems, snatched the hearts out of their bodies while they were still beating, and made them watch them stop as the spark faded from their eyes, and their souls were captured by the soulstones I made with the gems you brought me. I think we¡¯re all caught up, Any questions?¡±
¡°A couple, but they¡¯re not important right now. The big one is What would you like to trade for the Gems¡± she asked.
¡°Well, I picked up a lot of magic items over the last couple of days. I found some armor, weapons, wands, and a couple of staves. I don¡¯t know what the value of the items is. Though there¡¯s one item you¡¯d probably like. A Ring of Holding that has a 100x100 grid with a 95% weight reduction. I don¡¯t even care what the equivalent cost is, If you want it, it¡¯s yours, I have two.¡± Adam said.
¡°Well, those two gems were worth a lot, and I really liked that diamond you made. How about another gem and the ring? Two Items for two items?¡± she asked.
¡°Well, I did say I was going to spoil you.¡± He said as he had his nanites create a copy of The Heart of Eternity, a beautiful blue diamond valued at about $16 million back home. He also took off the Ring of Holding as he walked around the table and handed both to her.
Adaline¡¯s eyes looked at the ring briefly then focused on the gem, ¡°What is it?¡± she asked.
¡°That is a replica of a diamond on my home planet called the Heart of Eternity¡± he answered.
¡°It¡¯s a diamond, but it¡¯s blue?¡±
¡°It is a diamond, and it is blue,¡± he agreed.
¡°She stared at it a little longer then said ¡°I love it! None of my other friends have anything like this, though we haven¡¯t talked in ages. Still, this diamond is unique, making it priceless, meaning that you really did spoil me. Thank you, thank you, thank you¡± she said excitedly.
"You are quite welcome. Now I''d love to sit and hang out today but I¡¯m now a Dungeon Master and I have 11 hours to replace an Item of Power or I¡¯m going to lose that dungeon forever which would be really bad for my relationship with the King of Venoran. I will be back as soon as I can though. When I get back I would like you present for when I release the Divine from a Soul Gem¡±
¡°A what from a what, you didn¡¯t mention that?¡± She said, removing her gaze from the gem.
¡°I did. The Item of Power from the Dungeon. That was the Soul gem of the Divine Detrik. I have a quest to either free him or destroy the gem and let his spirit pass on. If I free him in a Place of Power I might get a reward. Depending on what that is, I¡¯d like you to be present just in case its nothing I can use, maybe I can help you reach another level. Just a thought I had¡± he said.
¡°Okay, I¡¯ll stick around until you get back or 10 days have passed. I saw that pool downstairs and that hot bath that was next to it. I will have plenty to do.¡±
¡°Yes, you will, Eric!¡± he called.
¡°Yes Master,¡± Eric said as he materialized near Adam.
¡°Eric, I¡¯m giving Adaline access to the upstairs study. Please respond to her requests and bring her any books that she asks for.¡± He said as he granted Adaline access to the library.
¡°Library?¡± She asked.
¡°Apolyn has two libraries in this tower. The first contains a lot of information about this world¡¯s history as well as some basic books on magic and other Lore that might come in handy. If you get bored there is plenty of reading material in there. Also, if you need help or you¡¯re looking for a specific subject Eric can help. Just ask him to bring you a book on that subject and he¡¯ll make it happen. Now, this is important. There is a staircase that opens in the middle of the upstairs Library, and it leads down to the treasury and another library. The door to the library downstairs is the one I cautioned you not to try to walk through. It might not kill you, but it is definitely going to hurt.¡± Adam said.
¡°Thank you, Adam, I¡¯ll see you when you get back. I think I¡¯m going to go for a swim¡± she said as she put the ring on and then put the diamond inside it.
¡°See you when I get back.¡± Adam as we walked to the entrance and left the tower.
Chapter 41, Consequences
(Day 167) Aprilis 12th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
Actions have consequences. While Adamantadine was busy with his guests at 5 a.m. others were also making plans in The Kingdom of Crimson Blood
¡°Are you sure?¡± The Lead Assassin asked.
¡°Very, Seraphin has been killed. Also, Belarious is dead as well. The Kingdom of Liam II''s strongest mage is no more.
¡°And the Dungeon currently doesn¡¯t have an Item of Power, and now the Dungeon Master is dead? The Praetor clarified.¡± She asked aloud, already knowing the answer she ignored any response. The Assassin¡¯s Guild had been tasked with killing Belarious, which they sent Seraphin to do. Her last report had her working directly with Belarious biding her time. If she¡¯d succeeded?
¡°Recall everyone, we go at dawn.¡±
Over the next hour, Desirae reviewed the plans they¡¯d so carefully put together. The Council would be happy when they were done. She had brothers and sisters strategically placed to remove the head from the Kingdom of Liam II within moments. Converts that had been promised positions of prominence in the new structure that would be placed under the rule of ¡°The Council¡± out of Crownport. The Military would be subverted and the Nobels would either capitulate or be slain. She had ten, nine now, assassins in the Legendary Ranks, 15 in the Mythical, 20 in the Advanced, and 55 scarce or lower-ranked assassins. It should be more than enough. The Legendary and Mythic assassins had been prepositioned and had already received their orders. At first light, they would take out their targets. The other assassins would teleport into the King¡¯s chambers as soon as the King was dead. None were to be left alive in the castle. From there they would spread through the city activating the converts and starting the revolt. There would be a lot of death and destruction, which was the way she liked it.
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Her mission was a bit more ambitious. With the Dungeon Master dead, she needed to make her way to the Dungeon and claim it. Her portal would open within moments of everyone else. She equipped Fang, her most prized possession, A +12 shortsword, also an artifact in its own right that allowed her to utilize her full-strength bonuses, constantly repaired itself and left a bleeding effect that removed 10% of the damage done with each strike which for her was at least 94 points of damage per second. Also, her agility and stamina regen were high enough that she could strike at least 4 times without worrying about losing any stamina. She had hit high-level monsters, then faded away to watch them die seconds later.
Today was going to be glorious.
Chapter 42, Saving a City
(Day 167) Aprilis 12th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
Adam activated his Cloak of Invisibility then ran as fast as he could to Venoran. A voice spoke into his mind and surprised the crap out of him which caused him to fly through the air until he brought himself under control again. As he corrected his trajectory the voice continued, ¡°Hello, Adamantadine. I am contacting you directly to ask you to first head to the Temple of Serena in Venoran and save Freya.¡±
¡°Freya¡¯s in danger?¡± he asked interrupting the voice.
¡°Yes, also you should know King Liam II is dead. The Council sent in a group of assassins and has killed off a significant portion of the Nobility. You will discover the reason for this eventually. Let me say that the fates decreed that it would be so with or without your influence so do not blame yourself. In your Place of Power, we may have a longer conversation. I will end this by saying you may heal Adaline freely with my power while she is in your home. Otherwise, my powers will not aid you. Good hunting my cleric
¡°Thank you, Serena,¡± Adam said.
¡°What the fuck was that?¡± Abi asked.
¡°Just my goddess talking to me. Going to be busy in the near future. Seems there¡¯s a war on. Going to be going against rogues and assassins it looks like. Time to bring our super A-game.
22 seconds later Adam started circling Venoran in order to slow down then headed down to the Temple. At a more reasonable pace. As he did so he cast God¡¯s Sight, which would last 500 minutes, then reactivated his Cloak of Invisibility. As he sped into the temple he noticed that city guards were fighting three other city guards and there were two individuals moving slowly up behind Freya and another priest surrounded in a red glow,
¡°Abi what¡¯s the red glow mean.¡± He asked.
¡°You didn¡¯t read the spell? Hold on, I¡¯m looking through you¡¯re prompts. Okay got it. The red glow means that there is a hostile¡¡± Abi was saying as Adam struck the individual trying to sneak up on Freya for full damage which caused him to explode and also destroyed the chest piece he¡¯d been wearing as well. Later when he reviewed the combat log he would learn that he had hit the assassin for 1,908,639 damage.
¡°¡ towards you, or someone you consider a friend and that they are somehow obscured from sight¡¡± Abi was saying as Adam struck the 2nd stealthed target causing the exact same effect.
¡°¡If the red glow only surrounds someone¡¯s head, that means they''re hostile but visible.¡± Abi finished as Adam used his 3rd combat action to scan the room.
As Adam scanned the room there was a pop behind him as a short sword came into existence stabbing toward Freya¡¯s back. Adam moved and deflected the blade while he performed a called strike to this assassin''s head with the sole purpose of knocking them out. The assassin slumped to the ground behind Freya as Adam had the nanites remove all nonmagical items from the assassin while taking all of her magical items and placing them in his ring. When the assassin was nude he had the nanites cover her in a toga.
Leatrice had been waiting to use her shadow step ability to finish Freya with a backstab attack that would do well over 60,000 points of damage if it hit. She had two of the new recruits sneaking up and was surprised that the two clerics had not noticed them yet. As she activated shadow step out of the corner of her eye she saw the three guards that were on her side crumple to the ground or did one of them burst part and the two recruits explode as she shadow stepped passed them and appeared thrusting her shortsword forward for the kill. Which never landed as something struck her head and blackness fell.
Adam scanned the room as he set the nanites to clean up the dead but left all the equipment. He also made sure to repair any damage his attacks had done to the temple. He looked at Freya as she turned around and said ¡°Serena sends her love.¡±
¡°Thank the Goddess, and you, Adam. The Castle has fallen, and the King is dead. Knowing what you can do. Destroy any of the attackers that are not city guards. Try to do non-lethal blows on any of the residents of the city. This spell will help you identify those that hold residence. Be warned one is an Assassin of considerable strength,¡± Freya said. Then she cast her spell
Freya has cast the level 40 spell Eyes of the Kingdom of Venoran. For 100 minutes anyone who is carrying papers or bears a coin or talisman with the spell Resident of Venoran on their person or in an extra-dimensional space they are carrying will be surrounded by a soft white circle. This can be noticed up 100¡¯ away. This spell cannot be resisted.
¡°You will have to teach me that spell when you get a chance. Are you going to be safe here?¡± Adam asked as the guards started to bind and gag the last two traitorous guards.
¡°In a moment. Please protect me while I cast a spell.¡± Freya said. Then she started to Pray. A minute later a wave of energy pulsed out in all directions.
Adam looked at Freya questionly.
¡°It was a magical barrier of sorts. It is not a physical barrier as much as it is a mental warding. Anyone that is not a resident of Venoran will not be able to come within 1,000 feet of this location¡± she said.
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¡°And the traitors that are residents? Adam asked.
¡°I do not believe there are many in the city. If they come in numbers we can¡¯t subdue or handle, I have another spell that will seal this temple physically.
¡°Okay, sounds like a plan,¡± Adam said as he pulled the Staff of Healing and the Staff of Resurrection from his ring and handed them to Freya, ¡°I found these yesterday. Use them as you see fit and keep them or pass them on to another cleric. We both know I¡¯m not much of a healer. I¡¯m going to head to the castle first. Then run through the city taking out any hostiles that are not members of the city first. See you on the other side¡± he said as he activated Displace and Stealth.
Freya watched Adam disappear from normal sight and then felt the air shift as he left. She moved among the wounded and started healing as she instructed her acolytes to check for survivors outside and to move them inside. She sent thoughts of thankfulness to her Goddess as she realized it was going to be a long day. Even so, she knew she had a lot of work ahead of her. She might as well get to it.
Adam was in the throne room 2 seconds later. Noting the female assassin who did not bear the mark of a resident of Vernon. Adam rushed forward and plucked out her heart and released it in midair in front of the assassin¡¯s eyes. There was a look of pain, then surprise as she noted the heart. Finally, shock filled her eyes saw the bloody heart and she tracked it as it, and she, fell to the ground. There was a loud splat as the assassin slumped to the ground and died. Once Adam was satisfied that she wasn¡¯t coming back from the attack, he left the room in search of more targets.
To Lady Francesca the assassin had been moving toward her, then the assassin had a hole in her chest and her heart had appeared in the air before her as the heart and she fell to the floor. Lady Francesca watched as a look of surprised shock came over her face as her eyes saw a beating heart in front of her, just as an incredible pain tore through her chest. The assassin looked to her chest to see a fist-sized hole just as everything went black and she fell to the ground dead. Lady Francesca screamed.
Adam sped through the Castle finding almost 30 assassins on the lower floors as he systematically searched the castle for anyone that didn¡¯t belong. They were all extremely low-level, and each was killed by having their hearts plucked out. This led to screams from nearby residents that were being toyed with by the assassins. Adam then went through the upper floors and found another 25 assassins who were busy trying to either break into the king''s personal family chambers or they were trying to kill off the other members of the nobility. Each Assassin was killed by having their heart plucked out and dropped in front of them. As Adam left the Castle 3 minutes later he was absolutely sure there were no assassins in it, though the screams of the witnesses to the assassins'' deaths started to emanate from the castle.
Going clockwise Adam searched every single residence and structure around the Castle and found another 15 low-level assassins that he killed by showing them their hearts. This made 55 low-level assassins. As he started a second ring further out. He ran into 18 advanced assassins. He¡¯d started Analyzing them before attacking. He was still leaving them with their hearts on the ground and witnesses screaming. This had the effect of creating a cacophonous scream that emanated from the castle in all directions much faster than Adam could make his way through every building. As Adam moved through the buildings he noted those buildings with dead bodies and those that the Assassins had seemed to skip. He¡¯d let Freya know about it but if the city did nothing he might revisit their homes and deprive them of everything they owned.
Desirae was getting ready to go into another Noble¡¯s home that had not sworn allegiance to the council when she heard the continuous screaming coming from the Castle. She activated stealth as did her left and right-hand lieutenants as they set themselves in a 3 spoke formation, each looking out to cover 120 degrees of their surroundings
Adam was on his fourth circle. He¡¯d killed another 24 assassins, of which 7 had been low-level. When he came to a halt and analyzed three Legendary Assassins that seemed to be waiting for something. Probably him he mused.
Analyze: Success: Desirae Level 4,897 Hit Points 5,437
Analyze: Success: Hera level 3500 Hit Points 3,890
Analyze: Success: Kera level 3760 Hit Points 4,180
Adam ran through the air so that he was 449 feet directly above them looking down as he cast a fireball at the spoke. Once he cast Fireball he activated the Ring of Blinking to change his location and direction of movement and also to break the Line of Sight of anyone that might have seen him.
Desirae had not lived as long as she had by hesitating. She caught a shadow against a wall that had not been there a moment ago and activated her ability Shadow Form. Her lieutenants were not as quick and took a fireball that did over 254,000 points of damage to each of them. They, and most of the structures within 30 feet were turned to dust as she survived. Desirae tried to track the target and knew where he had targeted to land. She activated another ability and stepped through the shadow to kill her attacker only to find nothing.
Adam saw the last assassin and cast Mage Bolt. Luckily for the assassin, she was wearing a Necklace that was specifically designed to thwart Mage Bolt by creating a field that absorbed the energy of the attack which could be utilized to fuel other spells and abilities or even charge magic items. The problem though was that it had a maximum limit of energy it could absorb. Seeing how powerful the fireball had been she hoped it wouldn¡¯t be so with Mage Bolt. She knew she was in trouble when she saw multiple bolts of all eight colors streak toward her. She knew that the spell would saturate her necklace which would cause it to explode doing full damage to everything within 20 feet.
Adam was unaware of any of this as he activated Invisibility and Jumped to hover directly above the assassin so that he could witness his handiwork. He didn¡¯t need an assassin sneaking up on him. That was why he was completely surprised when he saw a shadow take something that was glowing from her neck which he identified.
Identify: Success: Necklace of Negation. If worn this Necklace can absorb up to 100,000 points of damage from the spell Mage Bolt. Stored damage can be converted to magical charges for wands at a 10 to 1 ratio. Magical Staves at a 25 to 1 ratio. Artifact charges at a 100 to 1 ratio. If the Necklace absorbs more than 100,000 damage there is a 1% chance per point of absorbed damage above 100,000 of detonation. Within 1 second.
Desirae moved her hand toward her ring and the necklace disappeared.
It must be a Ring of Holding Adam thought, this could be bad, he analyzed the Shadow and was not shocked to see that it was Desirae, the highest-level assassin that had survived. Adam started to fly up to put a little more distance between himself and her and watched as she drew back her hand to throw the ring when it shattered as darkness expanded from the point of the ring and opened into a sucking vortex that sucked the Assassin, and everything with 1000¡¯ that wasn¡¯t secured into it, including Adam.
Chapter 43, Oops
(Day 167) July 16, 2036, Earth
Adam¡¯s luck came into play at that moment. The Vortex could have opened anywhere in the Multiverse. This time it opened 20 feet above the tarmac of Lynden Pindling International Airport on the island of Nassau in the Bahamas in his Universe.
Thor had been busy keeping track of Humanity and the Lexi as well as everything else in the 30,000 Light-year radius he now controlled when the nanites on Earth reported that a vortex had opened depositing pieces of buildings and a figure covered in shadows that soon turned into a mature woman and Johnathan? Verifying that it was indeed Johnathan in a Picosecond the nanites surrounding Johnathan had identified themselves and begun the process of upgrading to the latest updates Thor had created. Thor also noted that some of the items Johnathan carried seemed to be impervious to Nanites, much like the Adamantium ring was. The female however did not have nanites, which was quickly remedied as the nanites that surrounded her invaded every single atom of her body. She also had items that the nanites couldn¡¯t invade.
Adam watched Desirae land roll and stagger for a second. She only paused for a few moments before she turned and started to move toward him as he dropped towards the Tarmac in Nassau. Adam also noted that his personal interface was inaccessible and that all of his quantum links were active again. As he fell toward Desirae he smiled.
¡°That idiot was smiling.? Smiling? Oh, she was going to enjoy snuffing the life out of this prick¡± she thought as adjusted her aim and stabbed directly where his heart would be before he landed and could attempt to dodge. Or she tried to. As she lunged forward, she stopped 3 inches short of her target, unable to move.
Adam landed lightly and said out loud ¡°Thanks, Thor.¡±
¡°You¡¯re welcome and welcome back,¡± Thor¡¯s voice said from the air nearby.
¡°Give me a second and we¡¯ll catch up.¡±
¡°Understood.¡±
Adam ordered the Nanites at a thirty-foot radius to go opaque on the outside and light the area on the inside then turned to Desirae and commanded the nanites in Desirae to strip herself of all clothing and items. He instructed them to have her remove everything from her body and place it at his feet through his interface to his technology. When she was completely naked he moved in front of her and said, ¡°At this moment you are probably raging in that little head of yours wondering why you removed all your equipment and stripped down to your birthday suit¡± he paused for a moment ¡°Sorry, that¡¯s a reference to how you were born, naked. Anyway. It would seem that your action to save yourself opened a rift between your universe and my original universe. Guess which Universe we¡¯re in?¡±
Desirae was indeed filled with rage, if she could only move she would gut this man where he stood. She had done worse to men who had looked at her the wrong way.
¡°By the look in your eyes, I can see that you believe you can break free. That is not the case and if I was as evil as you, I would show you exactly how much control I have over you. I control your body. Anything I want you to do, you will do. In fact, I can make you say anything I want you to say,¡± Adam said as he sent a command through the nanites.
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¡°Johnathan please use me as your sex toy. I am an evil bitch and need to be punished for all the innocent souls I¡¯ve taken throughout my life.¡± Desirae said as her mind listened in horror to the words coming out of her mouth. What magic was this? She struggled harder to no avail.¡±
¡°Luckily for you, I am not an evil or sadistic person, at least not to women in that way. Nor do I want to humiliate you more than is necessary for you to understand that here, in my Universe, your 4,897 levels mean jack and shit to anyone here. Shoot, my 30,000 class levels are just as useless. Sure, you¡¯re stronger than just about anyone here. You¡¯re also quicker, but not quicker than Thor and not faster than what is controlling every fiber of your being.¡±
¡°30,000 levels? He was lying. He was lying, right? ¡° Desirae thought
¡°The only way to open your personal interface here again is to die. If you are under level 5,000 your soul heads to The Eye and goes where souls go. If you are level 5,000 you can choose to become a Divine. I, however, didn¡¯t die and ended up in your Universe so yes I¡¯m now level 30,000 and no I am not a Divine. I could snuff you out and would not be breaking any rules which brings us to the question I¡¯m sure you¡¯re asking yourself.¡±
¡°Why haven¡¯t you killed me?¡± she thought.
¡°Why haven¡¯t I killed you?¡± he said.
¡°One, you have the information I might need, and two, if you provide that information willingly I might bring you with me when I head back to your Universe or allow you to go home at some future date. For now, though, you are stuck in this universe, which you will need to learn about.¡±
¡°Thor, set up a comfortable Isolated, no doors in our out, room wherever doing so will take the least amount of time then if you please take her there and release her. Start basic videos on the history of this planet and then give her very basic science classes so she can understand the fundamentals. In the beginning, you¡¯ll probably have to explain everything to her as she has no idea what technology is or how to use it. Once she starts to catch on though she¡¯s to have access to whatever food she desires or wishes to try and T.V. and the internet though she is to have no outgoing access. She needs to learn about this Universe before she can even possibly blend in plus she is by definition an Assassin and enjoys killing, just to kill. That mentality will not work in our society. Though she could be suited for some of the contingencies I set up. Eventually, she¡¯ll need to learn how to use modern-day weapons. if she¡¯s to be useful in those instances. When that happens. Put her on a planet by herself.¡±
A Portal opened and Desirae stepped through as Thor asked ¡°Is she truly that dangerous?¡±
¡°Hold on, I¡¯m coming to you,¡± he said and then Adam portaled to the core of Thor¡¯s consciousness, the copy of his brain he made when he started this crazy journey. Adam reached out and touched Thor with his hand and the Soul Link that Michael had said he had with Thor became fully active for the first time. Images flooded each of their consciousness and their minds merged. In a second Johnathan knew everything that had happened in the last 3 years on Earth and Thor knew everything that Johnathan, Adamantadine, and Adam had done in the last 167 days. Johnathan also became aware of just how vast the Nanite web had become as he was able to finally perceive it as Thor did. Thor also benefited as his processing power gained access to intelligence and wisdom over 10,000. Areas that he had not been able to overcome. Within 5 seconds Thor/Johnathan figured out how to make quantum nanites that could interact with all subatomic particles and survive in all environments, including the theoretical environments of black holes. He¡¯d also deduced that if his theories were correct he¡¯d be able to open portals to the Universe Adam was visiting with a time dilation to at least allow Adam to step back through if he wanted. Information was passed back and forth in moments and Johnathan knew what he had to do.
A minute later Johnathan removed his hand as a duffle bag containing Desirae¡¯s equipment portaled in by his feet. He picked up the duffle bag and stepped through a second portal to Nu Draconis and then a third portal to his library in Adamantadine Tower on the first floor to find Eric and Adaline reading near each other they both looked up.
Chapter 44, Back to the City
(Day 167) Aprilis 12th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
Adam put the duffle bag in his Ring of Holding as he walked toward the exit. He made eye contact with Adaline as he walked toward the exit and said, ¡°Only back for a second. Venoran is under attack by traitors and the Assassins Guild, I need to get back. I will return, hopefully by nightfall.¡± Adam made his way upstairs, then walked outside and shut the door behind him. Then he ran. During the 9-minute trip back to the city he contemplated everything Thor had shown him. The issues they¡¯d had with the die-hard criminal element and those that thought they were powerful and then the Lexi. He didn¡¯t want to commit genocide but if there was ever a race that might justify it, they were certainly on the list of ultimate assholes. He also thought about their conversation right before he broke the connection.
As he ran south Adam thought about what Thor had told him; ¡°Johnathan, the time dilation difference is about 6.67 times¡± Thor had informed him.
¡°Is there any way to overcome that¡± he¡¯d asked.
¡°Now there might be, though I need to do some testing first.¡±
¡°Good, if you need to get a message to me after I go back, create USBs with the information on them and make sure to remove all the nanites before you send it through the portal. I should be able to create a computer to download the information. I will create some type of blinking light system to transmit data in binary that is battery-powered. At 6.67 speed I¡¯ll set it to transmit for 1 day exactly which means you should check for new updates once every 6 days and 16 hours. ¡°
¡°Noted. Johnathan Predictions approach unity that Desirae may become an issue in the future.¡± Thor said.
¡°I believe that too. Even so, teach her about our Universe and give her the tools she needs. If you run into any aliens worse than the Lexi that you need to make a physical demonstration against, use her. She is approximately one-sixth as strong and fast as me and her skill with bladed weapons will undoubtedly be better than anyone on the planet except me.¡±
¡°Understood. Am I to let her out at any time?¡± Thor asked.
¡°I saw that you are creating Earth V and it''s almost ready. Just keep humans off that planet for now. If she follows the rules and keeps to her training use that planet to allow her some fresh air. Maybe even move her there permanently. But no one else is to go there, not even Amanda. She will be fast, and your reaction time might not catch her attack, especially if she¡¯s allowed to get close.¡±
Their conversation had then shifted to the best way for the nanites to be upgraded. Then it had been time for Adam to head back. If the Time dilation held true he¡¯d been gone for eleven minutes here which was almost two minutes at Adamantine Tower.
Adam arrived back at Venoran and made his way to the Temple. ¡°Hey Freya, I¡¯m back. The screaming coming from the castle and surrounding buildings was my fault. I thought some psychological warfare would help get the traitors to stand down.¡± As he was talking he had his nanites create a map of the city and circled the houses in red that had been skipped by the assassins. ¡°This map details every house that no one was killed in, and the assassins seemed to skip. Also, it seemed that their highest levels were doing the initial attacks then the lower levels were coming out to do clean up. By the time I¡¯d encountered Desirae, their level 4,897 assassin, they were already making their way into the 5th district away from the castle. I believe they would have gone through the whole city, and I don¡¯t know of anyone here who could have stood up to her.¡±
¡°Is Desirae dead?¡± Freya asked.
¡°No, she and I were sucked into my Universe. I¡¯d targeted her with a Mage Bolt attack and an item she had absorbed the damage. Fortunately for me, I did more damage than it could hold which caused it to explode. Unfortunately, she placed the necklace into her ring of holding to contain the explosion. She was trying to throw the ring away from her when it must have exploded. A vortex opened and we were both sucked through to my Universe. She is currently being controlled by my nanites and I have ensured she¡¯s away from the rest of humanity, at least until I make it back there to release her.¡±
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¡°Then the leader of the assassin¡¯s guild still lives?¡±
¡°Yes, but she¡¯s aging six times faster than anyone here, doesn¡¯t have access to her personal interface and magic does not work where she is. Also, I could literally make her do anything I want which includes dying. She won¡¯t be an issue unless I bring her back here for some reason, which I don¡¯t plan to do. Anyway, I returned back to here first because that spell you cast was dispelled. I need to get back out there and help subdue the traitors.
Freya smiled and cast the spell on him. ¡°We¡¯ll be here,¡± she said.
Adam took the time to memorize God¡¯s Sight again and then cast it on himself. Adam turned and ran out of the temple and started making his way through the city as fast as he could. As he came upon anyone that was fighting his standard actions were to spend the first 3-5 seconds using Analyze and Identify on anyone with hostile intent then determine the durability of any armor they were wearing on their head. He made sure to analyze them, so he didn¡¯t accidentally kill anyone. He¡¯d then ask them to stop fighting. If they did and surrendered he''d move on to the next group. If they didn¡¯t stop he¡¯d strike each target twice if armored, once if not. The armored individuals who did not surrender had their headpieces destroyed when he did exactly the amount of damage needed to reduce their durability to zero. Then he''d hit them for exactly 100 subduing damage to knock them out. He rushed around the city, ending fights, and after 45 minutes noticed that the fighting had stopped. There hadn¡¯t been as much fighting as he¡¯d thought. Later he would learn that the screams that had come from the castle and surrounding homes, once investigated, had taken the fight right out of the traitors.
Congratulations! You have killed 99% of the Assassin Guild attack force that was sent to infiltrate Venoran and subdued the traitors who were trying to wrest control from the city guard. For doing so you are awarded 55,000 Fame Points.
Congratulations! You have achieved Regional level Fame. Regional Fame provides positive and negative modifiers depending on whether you have positive or negative relations with the leaders in that region. A relationship status of neutral simply means that the individuals in that region you encounter may have heard of you and may be impressed by your exploits but neither love nor hate you.
Relationship with members of Venoran: Positive Level 1
Relationship with members controlled by the Council: Negative Level 8. Please note, at Negative level 10 citizens of the Council will hate you so vehemently that they may attempt to attack you on sight.
Nothing new there, Adam thought as he made his way back to Freya. ¡°The fighting is stopped, who would be in charge now?¡± Adam asked.
¡°If one of the royal heirs has survived then they will take over, otherwise, it might take a little while to sort out,¡± Freya answered.
¡°Okay, I need to head over to the Dungeon. The Dungeon Master tried to kill me this morning. He¡¯s dead¡±
¡°You killed Belarious?¡± she asked.
¡°Yeah, that sperm that should have been swallowed is now a soulstone in my possession. He and his little assassin sidekick Seraphine killed the members of my Dungeon Party from yesterday, their wives or husbands, and their children before they traveled out to my home and tried to kill me. When he died, I became the Dungeon Master. I removed the Item of Power yesterday as it was a Soul Gem that contained a Divine, which I have every intention of releasing.¡± He added quickly¡± But if the dungeon is to remain I need to get inside and replace the item of power in the next 6 hours.¡± he finished.
¡°The dungeon is a great boon to the city. Know that there are those that would try to wrest the title of Dungeon Master from you so be careful as you head over there.¡±
¡°Not to worry, they won¡¯t even know I¡¯m there or have entered.¡± He said as he activated his cloak and sped towards the dungeon. Six seconds later he entered the Dungeon at just under the speed of sound. He¡¯d slowed down so he could stop in the entryway.
Chapter 45, I am the Dungeon Master
(Day 167) Aprilis 12th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
As Adam entered the Dungeon he accessed his interface and looked through it. Looking over all the options he had he searched for how to expel all adventures and for a locking function. He found both. First, he chose to expel everyone from the Dungeon except for himself. Then he took away dungeon access for everyone except for him. While he was doing that a prompt arrived in his vision as two people floated past him from deeper in the dungeon and out the exit.
Welcome Dungeon Master. The Dungeon of Divine Elements does not have an Item of Power. Would you like to replace the Item of Power, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes.¡±
Place the Item of Power on the floor in front of you and will the Dungeon to Accept it.
Adam removed the Staff of the Magus, Cloak of the Magus, and Slippers of Magus from his Ring of Holding and placed them on the floor. He made sure to be touching all three items with both hands then willed them to be accepted by the Dungeon.
Do you wish to donate the Set Pieces (3 of 3) Staff of the Magus, Cloak of the Magus, and Slippers of the Magus as your Dungeons Item of Power, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes.¡±
You have added the Tier I Artifact Set of the Magus to your Dungeon as its Item of Power. These Items of Power are Acceptable. Three Tier I Artifacts have been added to the Dungeon. Item of Power Category adjusted. Daily Dungeon Point (DP) Regeneration was 264 DP per day. 144 for Tier I Artifact and + 120 for a Legendary Harbinger. The adjusted Daily DP is 2,280. Three Artifacts 2,160 DP plus Legendary Harbinger 120 DP. Current Dungeon Points set to 2,520. All previous or reclaimed DP lost due to Item of Power Removal.
Thou art worthy to be called The Dungeon Master of Magical Elements
At that moment his Dungeon Master Mark underwent some significant changes. As it morphed to show a Triangle with an Eye in the middle.
Your Dungeon Mark has evolved.
30% more damage from physical attacks in the Dungeon and Labyrinth
30% less damage from physical attacks in the Dungeon and Labyrinth
30% chance to Find Magical Items in Dungeons or the Labyrinth.
30% less damage from Magical attacks of any kind
You now regenerate mana twice as fast.
NOTE the percentage of DP that could regenerate the Harbinger was set at 13% This allowed the DP cost of 1001 to be paid in 29 days. The new DP regeneration rate has reduced the time until Harbinger Respawn to 4 days.
Monsters are respawned at a cost of 1 DP per Monster Level and will start respawning from the lowest levels to the highest based on percentage. To fully renew the Dungeon will take 93 days.
Mythical Ability noted, Guided Understanding possessed by Dungeon Master. At a conversion rate of 10 to 1. 10 XP for every 1 DP gained the Dungeon Master can help his Dungeon grow, respawn, and generate treasure at a faster rate.
Warning: A dungeon connects to the Labyrinth at Dungeon Level 100. Current Dungeon Level 1000. A Dungeon draws the interest of more powerful creatures from the Labyrinth each time it Levels. As a Legendary Creatures guard¡¯s access to the Dungeon currently creatures of Mythical rank or lower have not shown any interest in visiting the Dungeon. Once the Dungeon enters the Legendary Ranks Legendary creatures will show interest. Be warned that converting experience to DP artificially grows a Dungeon faster than normal progression allows. This could lead to the dungeon being unable to protect itself from any invading monsters from the Labyrinth.
The Dungeon of Magical Elements gains the following.
All Spawned Creatures gain 15% resistance to All Magic
All Spawned Creatures that can use Magic gain 15% to damage or effect.
+10% chance for Magical Items to drop as part of treasure.
Well, that last bonus for the Dungeon was going to make any Adventures that showed up really happy. The warning was very informative. The first thing Adam had to do was get this Dungeon up and running again. There were 10 levels with monsters ranging from 1-100 on the first level, 201-300 on the 2nd, and so on. Adam did some quick math; Assume max monster level for each level, minimum 50 creatures per level, some had more, most had less, multiply by 10 for XP to do conversion so 2,750,000 experience. He could handle that. Adam diverted the experience into the Dungeon.
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Hail and Glad tiding Dungeon Master your Harbinger has respawned. All other levels have respawned.
Adam explored the Dungeon Interface and looked at its functionality. The settings looked good. There was a 10% tax rate for the kingdom residents, a 25% tax rate for the nonresidents, and a 10% tax rate for all members bearing the Mark of the Adventurer with the Adventures Guilds sigil on it. 5% was taxed for the Dungeon Master.
Adam checked over the monster listing and noted a lot of monsters but nothing that was tremendously powerful as far as he could tell. Lastly, he checked treasure and noted that all types of treasure were available for drop and no restrictions were placed other than the adventurer must pay the taxes on the items they found before they would be allowed to leave with them. There was a tab that had a comprehensive list of every single common Magical Item and what their value would be. For instance, a Magical longsword was valued at its modifier times 100 GP. And he found that the modifier could go quite high. In fact, it could go high enough for him to use the weapon and it would not break. What skill level would you have to have to be able to make a weapon that powerful? He read the fine print which stated that even items in magical items of holding would need to have their tax paid off before the dungeon would allow the item bearer to exit.
Adam brought up a map and noted where the node junction points were. There were only three. One was in the entryway where he was. The second was off by itself and had the word Treasury on it. The Thirds was on the 11th floor which also looked to be sealed off from the rest of the Dungeon. Adam looked around quickly for the junction, not seeing one, he thought ¡°Node Junction appear.¡± A small pedestal made out of stone rose up out of the floor. Adam placed his right hand on it and a prompt appeared.
Choose your Destination
Treasury
Entryway
Labyrinth Entry Chamber
Entryway was grayed out, so he chose Treasury and was immediately standing in another room. There was a chest with the Kingdom seal on it and another chest with the Adventurers Guild Seal. Neither had any coin in it. Pulling out two copper he dropped one into each chest and watched them disappear. It seemed that the money the Dungeon generated would automatically be distributed where it needed to go.
He checked the other chests and noted that they were all empty. It looked like Belarious had cleaned out the dungeon recently. Using Identify Adam made sure there were no other chests that sent treasure somewhere else.
Adam used the Node Pedestal in the Treasury to travel to the Labyrinth entry chamber. There was an exit across the room from him that led into a swirly grey sea. The sea started to ripple, and Adam placed his hand on the Node Pedestal in this room and teleported back to the Entryway. The Labyrinth or anything in it was not something Adam wanted to tackle at the moment, though he promised himself, he¡¯d be back.
Once he was back in the Entryway he pulled out his spell books and studied for the next 3 minutes. He permanently added the spells; Powerless, God¡¯s Sight, and Teleport to the spells he could cast at will. Teleport allowed him to teleport one mile per 10 mana spent.
Ready to get back out to it. He went back to the Dungeon Interface and reset everything back to the settings they¡¯d been at for entry prior to him coming in this morning. This allowed the Adventurers guild to add and remove permissions to enter or Exit the Dungeon. And allowed anyone who had access to come in again. It also gave the King the ability to add and remove entry permission, though that would have to be changed.
As he was walking out of the Dungeon he set his nanites to a 500-foot radius, deactivated his Cloak of Invisibility, and turned off Displace. He had the nanites clean his clothes and morph them into something more appropriate, an outfit that resembled Dr. Strange when he was undergoing his Monk Training in the movie Marvel made. Next, he changed where his XP was going and directed it back to his class so it would continue to build that pool. Satisfied, he exited the Dungeon to find the Gnome that sat at the desk, he¡¯d never learned the name of, running towards him and as he angrily asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±
¡°Adamantadine, new Dungeon Master of the Dungeon of Magical Elements,¡± he said.
¡°You¡¯re what?¡± Then he looked thoughtful. ¡°Oh, you''re him.¡± Then he smiled ¡°Not when Belarious finds you,¡± he said.
Adam¡¯s eyes hardened and he looked at the Gnome as he asked very softly; ¡°Did you have anything to do with the death of Daranus, Chesarie, Thrum, Xander, Desari, or their families?¡± Adam asked coldly.
¡°No, of course not, Belarious does what Belarious does.¡± The gnome said as he took a step back.
¡°So do I,¡± Adam said as he grabbed the gnome by his vest and belt and threw him straight up. Very soon he became a screaming speck flying up into the distance. Others had been watching him, some drew weapons. Every non-magical weapon within 500 feet was disintegrated by Adam as were a number of darts and bolts that were shot at him. The Magical ones missed due to his bracers and his natural defense. While he was being attacked a man in Full plate was moving towards him, with a Broadsword. All of his armor and the Broadsword were magical.
¡°Do you like your armor and that sword¡± Adam called to him as he kept an eye on the gnome who was finally slowing, wow, he¡¯d gotten up there.
The man in armor hesitated and slowed warily as he asked ¡°What?¡±
¡°I said, do you like your armor because if you take three more steps I am going to destroy your plate armor and your sword, final warning,¡± Adam said.
¡°You can¡¯t do that and you¡¯re going to pay for attacking Percy,¡± he said as he purposely took four steps toward Adam.
No one who watched what happened next could believe what they saw, nor would they ever forget. Before anyone could register what happened. The crazy man that had thrown Percy into the sky moved. One second he was 10 feet in front of Carlos the next every piece of Carlos''s armor and his broad swords shattered into dust leaving Carlos weaponless in the leather armor he had under his plate armor to prevent chafing. The crazy man then reappeared a second later with Percy and gently placed him on the ground where he¡¯d been standing before he was thrown into the sky.
Carlos and Percy were both frozen in shock and everyone that had been shooting darts and bolts stopped firing.
Adam raised his voice and bellowed¡¯ ¡°My name is Adamantadine. Unlike Belarious and Seraphine, and the 98 other Assassins I killed today by plucking their hearts out of their chest, I am not an evil man. Yes, that means both Belarious and Seraphine are dead and were killed by my hand.¡± This shocked everyone who had been about to speak into silence. ¡°I have not responded to your idiotic attacks against me but make no mistake, if one of you raises a weapon against me again, I am going to get cross and do more than destroy some armor and weapons.¡± Adam said loudly ¡°I am now this Dungeons Master. Also, The Dungeon is back under the supervision of the Adventurers Guild, and I have already helped the dungeon respawn the harbinger I killed yesterday and all the creatures it needed to respawn on each level. So, after you¡¯re done being stupid here, you can get back to doing what you were doing before I went in there yesterday. Think about this and understand and spread this understanding. If another fool attacks me or thinks to attack me and it¡¯s not part of some formal duel. I may or may not respond in a way that lets you look at your heart while the spark fades from your eyes. I¡¯d tell you to ask Belarious, Seraphine, or any of the Assassins that attacked this city this morning about it but they¡¯re all dead. Instead, think about the screams that came from the Castle and know those came from the witnesses of those deaths. Now, I¡¯m off and Percy, the next time you see me, I expect to be treated with a tad more respect.¡± Adam said as he took off at Mach 4 towards the temple.¡±
Adam arrived at the temple 3 seconds later and stopped beside Freya.
¡°There you are,¡± she said, ¡°What have you been up to?¡± she asked.
¡°This and that. I was about to head up to the Castle and see what was going on. Any word on who¡¯s in charge?¡±
¡°No, and that¡¯s a problem. It seems that all of the major supporters of the King died with him and his family. The assassins were thorough, they took out the royal family and the families of all of his brothers and sisters. The lineage of Liam died this morning and was removed from the face of Primore¡± she said.
¡°Well shit,¡± Adam said then asked, ¡°Who would be your choice to replace him?¡±
¡°As I follow the teaching of Serena I would like someone that is Neutral or Good, but not so good that they fail to listen to others and recklessly waste lives trying to go to war with anything of Evil. There are a few scholars that fit that bill. In fact, One, of them you met yesterday. Supervisor Tavor.¡± She said.
Adam thought about it for a moment then said. ¡°Okay, the first thing I need is the names of the nobles whose houses weren¡¯t touched by the assassins earlier. Then I will need you to get Supervisor Tavor and take him to a safe location and keep him protected.¡±
¡°Why?¡± she asked as she handed him the rolled-up map he¡¯d given her earlier.
¡°Because I¡¯m about to declare myself King and get rid of the noble traitors. Then I¡¯m going to prepare the way for someone to replace the crazy guy that is sitting on the throne. ¡°Adam said while pointing a finger at himself. ¡°Hopefully the Lords and Ladies will come to their senses and choose someone worthy to replace me. I give you permission to bring Supervisor Tavor up to speed on exactly who I am and what I¡¯m capable of. The new King will need to know. Once we get him into the position I will need to go deal with the rest of the Assassins guild and The Council to the South, perhaps even increase the size of the New Kings Kingdom. Regardless, a nation run by such evil bastards this close to us works against my interests and they must go. Also, while it would be cool to be a King, that¡¯s not the path I¡¯m on. I am already a ¡°King¡± where I¡¯m from, of multiple planets in fact. We will need to help the new King and those loyal to him so try to get that set up as well,¡± Adam said as he held up the map ¡°Also, what is this?¡±
¡°That is the map you showed me earlier. I¡¯ve written the names of the Nobles who own the properties you identified. Also, you don¡¯t ask a lot do you?¡±
¡°Nope!¡±, he said grinning.
¡°She laughed, remember that when our Goddess asks something of you?¡± she said smiling.
¡°I will,¡± he said earnestly as he walked out and then ran to the Castle.
Chapter 46, Is This Seat Taken?
(Day 167) Aprilis 12th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
Adam made his way to the castle and walked in. It was almost sunset, and he could hear the uproar from more than 300 feet away. The Guards were standing around not doing much of anything.
¡°We must accept Henry¡¯s claim,¡± a gruff male voice said.
¡°Gabriella has the greater claim,¡± a second female voice said.
¡°That matters not if the Kingdom falls, we must accept The Council¡¯s deal,¡± a 2nd younger man said.
As Adam stepped into the room no one even looked at him. He began using Analyze on everyone as he made his way around the room and listened to the heated conversation as it went to and fro. Once he was done analyzing everyone he could see he looked at the map and put a face to the name of every person in here that could be a traitor.
Adam moved to the Throne and sat down. He also had his nanites create a crown atop his head that was exquisite in detail and made out of platinum with a huge diamond in the center and waited. He tapped the pointer finger of his right hand on the throne hard enough to draw the attention of the closest person to him, a young lady. She looked over at the throne, gasped, and then whispered to her friend. Adam acted as if didn¡¯t seem to notice her, but he watched through his nanites as she whispered to her friend, who whispered to her friend. Adam counted to 30 before a man bellowed from across the room.
¡°Get off that Throne!¡±
Adam looked at the Noble disdainfully and casually said ¡°No.¡±
The crowd of people that had been yelling and screaming went silent and moved aside as the man strode toward Adam. Checking his memory, Adam realized this man. One Lord Bayzier was one of the traitors. Lord Bayzier pulled a wand from his coat, pointed it at Adam, and a beam of light as bright as the sun lanced towards him.
Adam decided to have a little fun. He quickly opened his shirt and arched his back towards the beam. ¡°Oh yeah, that¡¯s the ticket. Give me that beam of light. I need to work on my tan!¡± as the beam struck him for absolutely no damage.
One of the nearby ladies actually covered her mouth to stifle a laugh. Adam reviewed the information on her from Analyze.
Analyze: Success: Cassandra Level 20 HP 3
So, the daughter of a Noble, hopefully not one that he¡¯d have to banish or kill
Lord Bayzier put the wand away and pulled out a staff out of some magical holding item. He pointed it at Adam and a brown beam came forward. An Earth Elemental made of granite and stone formed behind the throne and started to reach down to grab Adam and the Thone.
¡°If the throne is touched by your Elemental I will kill you where you stand, and your eldest son,¡± Adam said.
¡°Hold,¡± Lord Bayzier said which caused the Elemental to stop moving.
¡°The same goes for all of you. You may declare a formal duel, to the death or not, I care not. You may try to assassinate me with magic or your ranged weapons, again I care not. If by your action you harm the Throne¡± Adam moved, making three strikes against the Earth Elemental which shattered and turned to dust as he returned to his sitting position on the Throne while he continued. ¡°You will die just as quick as that did. Now before any of you scream and do something insanely stupid which will require me to put you to death let me introduce myself,¡± Adan said as he paused to see if someone would be stupid enough to interrupt him.
¡°I am Adamantadine, Master of Adamantadine Tower and the Dungeon Master of Magical Elements right outside the city. It was by my hand that the Assassins all lost the use of their hearts this day. It is by my will that the Leader of the Assassins Guild¡¯s leader, Desirae is currently sitting in a very small room very far away from here. And it was my hand that plucked the hearts out of the almost Divine Arch Mage Belarious and his Assassin Bitch, Seraphin after they¡¯d murdered five of the citizens of this kingdom and invaded my Place of Power as they tried to assassinate me¡±
¡°Lies! All Lies¡.¡± A large fat man wearing purple robes yelled which turned into a gurgle.
The man gurgled because Adam had looked at the man as he spoke, realized he was another of the traitors, a Lord Majour, and moved. He¡¯d plucked the heart out of his chest and was sitting back on the throne holding the Lord¡¯s beating heart between them as the nanites destroyed the blood dripping off his hand.
As the Lord gurgled and started to fall forward, Adam called out, ¡°I believe this was yours¡Traitor!¡± There was a loud spat as the Lord hit the floor face first and a pool of blood started to expand from his chest.
A couple of women gasped and a few screamed. While Adam had been busy he¡¯d noticed that Lord Bayzier was trying to slyly pull out a hand crossbow and aim it at him. Adam deactivated his bracers and waited just staring over the heart in his left hand acting like he didn¡¯t see what Lord Bayzier was doing. There was a gasp as a few people saw him shoot, but no one who saw what he was doing called out a warning.
Adam plucked the dart out of the air. Looked at it then put the head into the top of his hand holding the heart. Lord Bayzier smiled wickedly while Adam met his gaze, then looked down at the dart. Adam had of course had the Nanites save the poison, which looked like a really nasty neurotoxin. Adam removed the bolt from his body, allowing the nanites to close the hole. There was a flicker and Adam was sitting on the Throne, now with two hearts, one in each hand, as Lord Bayzier fell forward, just like Lord Majour.
Unlike Lord Majour, Lord Bayzier fell forward in such a way that he maintained eye contact with Adam. Adam looked across Lord Bayzier¡¯s heart into his eyes as he spoke in a menacing tone, ¡°I don¡¯t take kindly to assassination attempts either. Nice poison, it tickles.¡± Adam said as Lord Bayzier died.
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The gasps had stopped and those who had fainted were being helped to seats around the outskirts of the room. Adam looked around the room. And spoke loud enough for everyone to hear.
¡°I am King Adamantadine. I hereby claim these lands in preparation for a more appropriate King to claim the throne and continue to lead this kingdom on its path to glory as the honorable and just King Liam II did. I will accept any formal challenges to the throne.¡±
Adam was cut off when one of the Nobles, not one of the traitors, started to declare ¡°I chall¡.¡± Before he was knocked unconscious by Adam who was already sitting back on the Throne before the attack had even been registered by anyone else as he continued.
¡°After I am done making my announcements and decrees. First, my level of response to any that formally challenges me will be as follows. If you are one of these Nobles or a member of their family¡± Adam said as he conjured a projector that displayed a map with the traitor¡¯s mansions and properties circled in red with the word ¡°Traitors?¡± in bright red ink across the top. ¡°I noticed while I exterminated the assassins that no one at any of the houses that are circled was attacked or hurt as I searched for the assassins. If you are one of the Nobles of those families or a member of those families and you give a formal challenge, it will be to the death and your death will come one second after the words leave your mouth, as any such declaration could only be a traitor attempting to take the throne to have this kingdom become one of The Councils pawns. I will not let that happen.¡± Adam paused for a second letting that sink in before he continued.
¡°The noble that just spoke up was not one of the possible traitors so he will wake up shortly with a headache but nothing more. One of you should make sure he is informed of my words. Second, I killed Belarious and Seraphine as fast as I killed those two. ¡° Adam said as he pointed to Lord Bayzier and Lord Majour. Those of you who knew Belarious power know that for someone to be able to kill him in a second would be almost unheard of unless the divines were directly affecting the affairs of mortals. That is not the case, Captain of the Guard!¡± Adam called.
¡°Yes, my King.¡±
¡°Have your men and women come to the throne room and look upon me. I will be sitting here until a new King is chosen. Inform them that the man sitting on the Throne is King Adamantadine and that they are to follow my commands without question. Make this happen for every guard that didn¡¯t turn traitor.
¡°Yes, my Lord¡±
¡°I also have a question for you. For the guards that turned traitor this day, and any lords and ladies that colluded with The Council. What would the Previous King have done?
¡°That¡¯s simple my Lord. Anyone caught red-handed would have been executed immediately. The Lords and Ladies, if proof existed, they would have their possessions confiscated and they would also be executed. If there was no proof, it would be life as normal for the Nobles.¡±
Adam nodded as he adjusted his Dungeon Interface. ¡°Every single guard that refused to surrender today and was knocked out by myself, therefore the current King witnessed them committing treason against the Kingdom they swore an Oath to. They are to be stripped down to their skivvies and thrown into the first level of the Dungeon. I have already made the necessary changes to allow this. They will keep their Oaths and give their lives to promote the security and safety of the citizens of Venoran. Those that surrendered are to be put on weaponless shit duties for the foreseeable future. I will leave their fate to the next King. Though if they complain, fight, or hurt anyone in the city again, give them to the Dungeon. Death sentences by execution will not happen unless the next King rescinds this order. As the Dungeon grows stronger, Venoran grows stronger. The next King may keep this policy or change it, they will be King after all. For now, Individuals who are being put to death will die making Venoran stronger. Once my talk here is done, go and do as I say.¡± Adam said as he turned back to the Lords and Ladies.
¡°Third, any who sit on or damage this Throne besides a child will be fed to the Dungeon. If you want to sit on it you must take it from me.¡±
¡°Fourth, I declared myself King here because your home is close to my Place of Power, and chaos this close to my home is unacceptable. I wish to have stable neighbors. I do not want to be a King but if in doing so I serve my Goddess and the forces of Good I will do what I must. Over the next little bit of time, The Lords and Ladies of this Kingdom will work towards finding a suitable replacement for King Liam II. Once that is done and I accept their nomination I will step aside for the new King.¡± He said pausing then continuing resignedly, ¡°Or you can continuously challenge me to a duel being unable to change what will be. Those of you who decided to help The Council. After we close here for the day. You may ask to be granted an audience and you may make your case for why you did so. I will inform the next King of your willingness to confess and the reasons you worked with The Council. Though be warned, if you challenge or attack me, it will be to the death for you as I have stated.¡± Adam paused for a moment, conjured a glass of water out of thin air, took a drink, and then continued.
¡°At this time there will be no questions. It is getting late and I¡¯m sure we will all have a full day tomorrow. To those of you who were loyal to King Liam II know that I understand your loss and am working to help rectify it and ultimately bring justice to those who ordered the heinous crimes committed this day. For those of you who helped, the Council''s days are numbered. Either walk back into the light or stay in the shadows until the darkness utterly engulfs you. Know that the Dark will not keep you from me. Dismissed!¡± Adam declared as he sat on the Throne and watched as the Lords and Ladies started to exit the Throne Room. Some looked at his impassive gaze, contemplated their chances then, looked away and left.
Servants came into the room to recover the bodies. ¡°Leave them,¡± Adam said and watched the servants leave. He moved over to the bodies and had his nanites clean up the mess and any normal items so that only magical items were left. Then he looked at what was left. As he started to identify the items one of the rings activated and 4 items disappeared. Adam looked over at the other pile and checking his memory, noted that three of four items were now missing from that pile. Adam analyzed what was left. On Lord Bayzier
Analyze: Success: You have found a Ring of Spell Storing (Empty)
This ring allows the caster to place one spell in the ring with a Contingency
Analyze Success: You have found a Dagger +5
Analyze Success: You have found a Wand of Sunbeam Level 100
Does 10d10 x 100 points of damage 20 of 25 charges
Analyze: Success: You have found a Staff of Summon Earth Elemental 400
Allows you to summon a Level 1000 Earth Elemental once per week.
On Lord Majour Adam found
Analyze: Success: You have found a Ring of Spell Storing (Empty)
This ring allows the caster to place one spell in the ring with a Contingency
Adam picked up the items and placed them in his Ring of Holding. He returned to the Throne and sat down. Tomorrow was going to be a long day. He conjured a desk in front of him and pulled out one of the Belarious spell books he¡¯d found and started looking over the spells inside. He had 33 volumes to go through. He might as well get something productive done.
Chapter 47, But We Told You the Truth
(Day 174) Aprilis 20th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
For the last 7 days, Mayzier had enjoyed himself thoroughly. These two nobles from the north had proved to be strong-willed and refused to give up. He preferred it when those he tortured had the will to live. The look in their eyes when he finally had permission to snuff out their lives. He grew excited just thinking about it. Today he¡¯d been using hot irons until the iron cooled, then he¡¯d rip it away, taking the skin with it. When they were just about dead he¡¯d offer them a healing potion which they¡¯d drink, then he¡¯d give that person a break as he moved on to the next. He had been warned not to completely break their mind or kill them. They had after all sworn allegiance to The Council. They claimed it wasn¡¯t their fault that they failed. Mayzier thought about how many times the men and women given to him had claimed their failure wasn¡¯t their fault, pathetic.
The Vizier walked into the torture room. ¡°Release them, it is as they claimed. One man thwarted our plans, one man destroyed 100 of our best assassins, and one man will die before the end of this month. Make sure they¡¯re fully healed then take them to a place where they can heal from their wounds. Though they failed in their mission, they were the first to arrive and report this new threat, even if it was unintentional.¡±
¡°As you will Vizier¡± Mayzier responded as the Vizier departed. Two guards stepped into the room and Mayzier helped the guards pick up the men he¡¯d been torturing and escort them to their rooms. Once they were gone Mayzier went to the Mission Planning Room where a group of Acolytes was reviewing what they¡¯d learned.
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¡°There is nothing like this man,¡± an Acolyte stated flatly.
¡°Eyewitness reports state that he killed each and every one of the assassins taking the castle and surroundings in less than an hour. The only reason it took that long was because he systematically searched each and every building. The actual time to kill each assassin was much less. Multiple reports state the assassin was moving toward them then suddenly there was a hole in their chest, and they were looking at their heart on the ground in front of them,¡± Another Acolyte said.
¡°The witness we found about Desirae. Both her lieutenants heard the screaming, took up a defensive perimeter then waited. The Lieutenants were reduced to ash as Desirae jumped away while mage spells rained down on them from above before a vortex opened and sucked her and someone floating above her into it and closed. Soon after, within no more than a half-hour, he was back and helped the loyal guards subdue the traitors. The ones that continued to fight were fed to the dungeon. The guards that surrendered are no longer trusted and are being used as slaves to clean up the city and repair the damage that was done.¡± A third Acolyte stated.
¡°Has anyone made it close enough to Analyze him?¡± Mayzier asked.
¡°Yes. They fail every time. His resistance to magic must be so near to 100% or 100% that it doesn¡¯t matter.¡± The first Acolyte answered.
¡°Do we have a plan on how to kill him?¡± Mayzier asked.
¡°We do, but it will require a little more time to prepare.¡± The second Acolyte said.
¡°Then we have a mission, make it happen while I report to the Vizier.¡±
Chapter 48, Politics
(Day 175) Aprilis 20th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
Adam had been sitting on the Throne for 8 days now. The first two days had been about what he¡¯d expected. None of the nobles that he¡¯d identified as possible traitors came forward. The next morning, they and their families had fled the city. That was fine. Adam knew who each was by sight. He was pleasantly surprised when he found out that Cassandra was not from one of those families.
For the next five days the Nobles that were left talked and bickered, both in front of him and elsewhere. On the seventh morning Abi had asked; ¡°How can you stand it? I¡¯m so bored, I¡¯ve started watching Friends in here. Honestly, as smart as you were before you found the ring I don¡¯t understand why you liked this show.¡±
To which Adam had responded with ¡°It¡¯s a ¡®being human¡¯ thing¡±
¡°Low blow Adam, low blow,¡± she said with mirth in her voice. ¡°See, I knew it was getting to you too¡± she finished.
¡°Yes, it¡¯s boring but it has to be done. The Council had infiltrated the city at all levels. Someone had to put their foot down and make sure everyone was treated fairly and the loyal Nobles of the City had a chance to get everything right.¡±
¡°Those you killed won¡¯t see it that way, remember no judgment from this peanut gallery, just saying, someone will always think something is unfair,¡± Abi said.
¡°Also, isn¡¯t it human nature to want to make changes to a system you don¡¯t agree with and advocate for that system? Isn¡¯t that all the individuals trying to bring this city under the Council were doing?¡± she¡¯d asked.
¡°Yes and No. I would have been absolutely fine with various factions vying for power and the normal backstabbing politics that involves. I don¡¯t agree with some of the positions, but people are talking and usually, the worst thing that happens is someone gets angry at the way things turned out. In this case, a foreign power had the royal families of another kingdom assassinated who, as far as I can tell, were making no move against them. Well, if they were it was a cultural war trying to prove to the citizens of that nation that life could be better under a different kingdom''s rule. Regardless they had women and children killed. That is evil, the kind of evil that I just can¡¯t abide. If I cannot absolutely control such evil, like Thor is controlling Desirae back home, then it''s gotta go, for the good of the common folk and good people who don¡¯t deserve to be in a world where such monsters are allowed to run rampant. As to your unfair comment, in this case, I agree it is.¡± He affirmed by laughing out loud which caused the people that were in the throne room with him to look at their new King and wonder if he was going crazy. ¡°Telepathy everyone, just talking to someone,¡± he said out loud to allay their fears.
There had also been a ton of prompts for becoming the King. Adam had reviewed the prompt about fame to check how much it had gone up which was 155,000 points which gave him Regional Fame at level 20. There was also a warning that he would lose half of that award should he lose his kingdom. Because he didn¡¯t want to be tempted, he¡¯d turned off all prompts for his kingdom except for the warnings.
Adam had allowed the rest of the city to run as it had with minimal disruption, he was leaving any major changes to the next King. Though he was making a list of things he¡¯d noticed that could be done better.
At 9 a.m. Freya and Supervisor Tavor, a Lord in his own right, entered the Throne room. Supervisor Tavor was unquestionably loyal, he¡¯d also had a bit of luck when everyone else who was loyal was being assassinated. On the morning the Assassins attacked his home he¡¯d been with a son he¡¯d had before he married his current wife. The Assassins had killed his current wife and their young child, something that ensured Adam was going to disband the Council permanently. It had taken all of Freya¡¯s skills to convince Lord Tavor to seek the Throne as he was one of the few that the Lords and Ladies of the court would follow.
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Freya strode forward with Supervisor Tavor and stood before Adam. ¡°Your Highness,¡± she said with a hint of laughter in her eyes. ¡°May I present Lord Tavor, Direct Advisor to our former King Liam II as a candidate to seek the approval of our Lords and Ladies to become our new King of Venoran?¡±
¡°You may,¡± Adam said as he turned to an aid that had been assigned to him by a council of Lords and Ladies to convey requests and decreed ¡°Summon all Lords and Ladies to the Throne room to seriously consider Lord Tavor to become the new King of Venoran,¡± Adam said. The aid rushed off and the three waited patiently while everyone was gathered. Adam waited until everyone was in the throne room and then called for their attention.
¡°Lords and Ladies of Venoran. I know that my tactics may have been brutal, but they were necessary. For Venoran to have a new King, I must step down or abdicate the Throne. I will not leave Venoran in a state of chaos. For me to step down and turn the city over to a new King at least 75% of those assembled here must agree and then swear a vow of loyalty to the new King for the next 5 years. Those who disagree and do not wish to make such a vow will be allowed to collect their holdings, give up their title, and move out of their estates or leave the city. Only those nobles who swear loyalty will remain in Venoran as nobles. This will hold true for any candidates that are put forth by anyone. Otherwise, I will remain King for as long as is necessary. I will not let this city fall into anarchy because the elite of this city cannot agree on something. You have until the morning to make up your mind about this candidate. I will remain on the Throne meditating and listening to everything that is said. I will not participate in this discussion at all but will respond immediately to any threats against any of you, or myself if we are attacked. Otherwise, I will remain silent until Freya informs me of the result of your discussions. The Lords and Ladies of this Kingdom must decide who will lead them. Not someone that arrived in this City about a week ago. I look forward to your decision.¡± Adam said then closed his eyes and moved into his meditation pose. He of course kept his nanites scanning the area for threats.
It only took the Lords and Ladies three hours to come to a consensus. 5% disagreed and would not budge because they thought their candidates were better, but they said that they would make the same vow as everyone else. Freya approached the Throne.
Adam slipped out of his meditation pose and waited patiently.
¡°King Adamantadine¡± Freya stated formally.
¡°Yes?¡± he asked.
¡°The Lords and Ladies find Lord Tavor''s bid for the Throne to be favorable. 95% agree that he will be an outstanding replacement for King Liam II. Only 5% disagreed. Though 100% of the Lords and Ladies agree to take the Vow of Loyalty to him once he becomes King.¡±
Adam looked at Lord Tavor and asked? ¡°Lord Tavor, do you wish to continue along the Path King Liam II laid out for Venoran? To be a beacon of light and good in the sea of darkness and evil that surrounds you. I do not ask if you will do exactly what King Liam II did. Once you are King you will be making the choices for your Kingdom for I am no puppet master. I simply ask if you will try to pursue King Liam II¡¯s goals for the Kingdom.?¡±
Lord Tavor looked thoughtful for a moment then answered, ¡°As I was the Advisor to our previous King I will say, or vow if you require it, that I will stay true to the advice I gave our previous King. Some he followed, some he ignored. I do not claim that I will not make mistakes, but I do vow to do what I think is best for the City of Venoran and every one of her citizens.¡± Lord Tavor said formally.
¡°Then I, King Adamantadine find the choice that the Lords and Ladies have made acceptable. Lord Tavor will be crowned King of Venoran in the morning, long may he rule¡± Adam said as he stood and shook Lord Tavor''s hand.¡± A sigh of relief swept through the room as applause was given by all those gathered.
Chapter 49, A New King
(Day 176) Aprilis 20th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
The Announcements were made, and preparations began. The next morning the Coronation went on without incident. Adam led the Lord and Ladies in the Vow, though he did not finish the Vow with them. He asked the King to make sure each Lord and Lady had done so in his interface just to be sure. Once confirmed there was applause throughout the Throne room and a celebration began that spread throughout the whole city. While the King was talking to the nobles Adam found the Captain of the Guard.
¡°Captain¡±
¡°Adamantadine,¡± he said with a nod.
¡°I charge you with keeping King Tavor safe. I will be very displeased if anything happens to the new King. I will be doing what I can to help but I will need to leave the city for a bit. Please make sure he is guarded at all times.¡±
¡°It will be as you say Adamantadine.¡±
Adam nodded, left the Captain to his duty, and found the King. ¡°King Tavor?¡±
¡°Yes Adamantadine, what can I do for you?¡± he asked.
¡°I will be leaving at noon today. Freya will have a way for you to get in contact with me if you need me. Keep her close and she will keep you safe. The Council will be preparing to retaliate and being away from here will probably be best for the city. Also, just a suggestion. Let others champion any formal duels. In fact, I will be that champion should you need me. Just have Freya reach out to me. Finally, your majesty. Congratulations!¡±
¡°Thank you, Adam, for everything. If I might ask, how long before you deal with the Council?¡± he asked softly.
¡°Soon, very soon.¡± Adam answered.
¡°Well then, I must mingle with my people and do what a proper king must do, then I must fix some things that were left unattended these last eight days. Not a criticism of your handling of the situation. More criticism of those who knew you weren¡¯t leaving the throne room taking small advantages here and there. I need to make sure everything is back to the way it was when King Liam II died.¡±
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¡°Understood King Tavor, and no need to placate me. I am quite sure that the list of things I failed to do that needed to be done here was quite long. I turned off my notifications regarding the Kingdom, except for warnings of course, so I wouldn¡¯t be tempted to become a tyrant due to all the benefits someone receives for being King. My will is strong, but I am still only human. Also, I knew I had someone to replace me, or that the Lords and Ladies would eventually find someone to replace me. Now I must leave you to your duties while I find Freya and then head out. Good day, King Tavor.¡± He said bowing.
¡°Good day Adamantadine¡±
Rising from his bow, Adam found Freya off in a side room sitting by herself drinking a glass of wine. ¡°Are you well?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, I just needed a break from the crowds. I know I¡¯m going to have to be near him while you are gone, and I overheard that you are leaving?¡± she asked.
¡°Yes. Also, I needed to ask if you know a way we can communicate with each other while 500 miles apart.
¡°Yes, I can contact any Cleric of Serena at any distance unless the Goddess is shielding them. If needed I should be able to call for you.¡±
¡°Good, I am going to do some traveling. I want to check out the local area and maybe look into that Kingdom to our south. First, though I think I need to have a more lengthy conversation with our Lady to find out exactly what she expects of me. If you need me, call. If you can try to give me a little warning I can get here within a minute or so. Otherwise, I will need to teleport. I have the spell but have not tried it yet so don¡¯t know if it¡¯s safe.¡±
¡°Teleport is an extremely versatile and useful spell. It will allow you to go to any location you have been to or teleport to any person you know. You merely need to put that person or place in your mind¡¯s eye and will yourself to be where it, or they, are. Your Perfect Memory ability makes it so there is absolutely no way to mess up and appear somewhere else. It¡¯s actually one of the hidden perks of that ability.¡± She said.
¡°Well, that¡¯s good to know. I¡¯d also like to say thank you for stepping up to do this for King Tavor. He is going to need both of our help for a little bit to come I¡¯m afraid.¡±
¡°He is. In fact, there¡¯s a Lady who is looking for a new husband and moving to talk to him. By your leave, I must already go save our new King from the tender mercies of the Lady Margaret Kolson. Then I¡¯ll return to the Celebration. Safe Journey Adam¡±
¡°You too Freya,¡± he said as both walked out.
Chapter 50, Time to go Shopping
(Day 176) Aprilis 21st, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
Adam left the Castle and headed towards the Merchant District. As he was passing a building his nanites picked up a null spot directly behind him that appeared out of nowhere. Doing a backflip, he cast powerless at the location, and then activated Investigate to see a dagger passing through where he¡¯d been. He landed directly behind the Assassin and knocked him out. Next, he stripped everything off his body and placed it all in his belt of holding. Then he snapped the assassin¡¯s neck and casually tossed him high enough to clear the city wall and land in the ocean.
Adam wouldn¡¯t know this, but the assassin landed just over 3 miles away. The fishermen that had taken their boats out that far were surprised when an almighty splash sounded and then something from the depths reached up and pulled the body of the naked assassin down into the depths. Instead of investigating, the fishermen cleared that area and then started heading toward the coast.
Adam looked around to see two guards looking at him, then looking away quickly. A child ran up to Adam. ¡°Hey mister, where did you throw that man to?¡±
¡°Well, that man was an assassin. Say it with me ass ass in. I threw him to the fishes, They like ass ass ins¡± he said smiling as he gave a copper to the child and then made his way to the Merchant District.
Adam had noticed a group of five people walking toward him. After he¡¯d tossed the Assassin¡¯s body away though they¡¯d turned to a side street and seemed to be heading off in another direction. What Adam didn¡¯t know was that they had been a group of five members of the Adventures guild sent to deal with the new Dungeon Master. They¡¯d seen the casual display of power utilized against an assassin they hadn¡¯t even seen until Adamantadine had knocked him out, stripped him, and then thrown him out to sea. They¡¯d lost sight of the assassin as he was still rising into the sky. After that display, none of the five wanted anything to do with someone that powerful.
Adam ignored everyone that was looking at him and before he knew it he was at the store entrance to ¡°Melanie¡¯s Magical Nick Nacks.¡±
Adam looked at the shop and realized that it looked quite quaint. Not too big not too small and the area appeared to be well-kept and clean on the outside. Adam hoped that Melanie would have enough money for him to trade in all of the items he had in his Ring of Holding.
Adam walked up to the door and stepped through and stopped, completely immobilized by shock. If an Assassin had attacked right then they might have been successful. This was one of those structures that were definitely bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. In fact, if he didn¡¯t know better he could be inside a mall back on Earth, a rather large mall.
As he stepped forward a young woman came forward to greet him. ¡°Hello and welcome to Melanie¡¯s Magical Nick Nacks. How can I help you?¡±
¡°Hello, I am looking to sell or trade items I have for gems or soulstones. Do you sell soulstones?¡± Adam asked.
¡°All items for sale are appraised to your right over there.¡± She said pointing to a huge counter with very little traffic that had a gnome sitting on a highchair behind the counter.
Gems and soulstones are down the hallway behind me about 50 feet on your left. You can¡¯t miss it.¡±
¡°Thank you, I think I¡¯m going to go talk with your coworker over there,¡± Adam said as he turned and strode toward the gnome behind the counter. The greeter had never given her name and he had never asked. He¡¯d make sure to do so the next time they talked. Adam put that thought to the back of his mind as he walked over to the gnome¡¯s counter.
¡°Good day sir, my name is Adamantadine. I¡¯m looking to sell some items I found while adventuring. Do you think you can help me out?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Good day to you Adamantadine. My name is Darci. You wouldn¡¯t happen to be the same Adamantadine that was recently our King, is also our new Dungeon Master and threw my brother Perci up into the sky so high he swears he passed through a cloud.¡± Darci said with a scowl
"That would be me, is that going to be a problem?¡¯ Adam asked.
Darci scowled for a couple more seconds then a shit-eating grin appeared on his face. ¡°First, thank you for stopping the assassins. Second, thank you for killing that evil bastard Belarious. Everyone knew he was evil, but no one could stand up to him. Third, and most importantly, thank you for scaring the literal shit out of my brother. My mom was so angry that he soiled the pants that she¡¯d made for him¡± he said laughing.¡± That tongue-lashing was worth any pain or anguish you caused me brother, plus I know the pompous ass, he deserved it.¡± He said laughing the whole time.
¡°You¡¯re welcome, I think,¡± Adam said as Darci¡¯s laughter became infectious and they both laughed until tears were falling from their eyes.
They laughed for a little while longer until Darci finally brought himself under control. ¡°Seriously though, what can I do for you?¡± he asked.
¡°I¡¯m looking to purchase some soulstones, all types, the more the better. Also, the gems to make the soulstones if they have them here. To do that I need to sell some of my magic items.¡± Adam said.
¡°Let me see what you have, just place each item on the counter,¡± Darci said.
Adam pulled out the Longbow of Deadly Accuracy +3, three sets of Chain Mail +3, a Cloak of Fire Resistance 50%, Shortsword of Quickstrikes +5, Longsword of Fire +5, Dagger of Backstabbing +5, Bo Staff +5, and the Assassins Dagger +10.
The haggling started and eventually, Adam walked away with 36,400 gold.
Congratulations you have learned the Merchant Skill to level 1. Receive a +1% discount when buying or a 1% markup for selling. Merchants pit their skills against each other as they try to out-purchase or sell their competition. Do you have what it takes to be a Legendary Merchant? Note, the most any item can be sold for is +100%+1% per skill level. So someone who does not have the merchant skill would be able to at most sell their items for 200% of its value. A person with a merchant skill of 100 would be able to sell their product for 300% of its value. Charisma and the other merchant''s merchant skills can counteract your efforts. Note a Merchant will never sell an item they have for less than 50% of its value. This is the absolute minimum you can buy an item for from someone with the merchant skill.
Congratulations, you have shown that you have what it takes to be a merchant¡, without the merchant skill, you were able to sell all of your items here for 200% of their value. Your charisma bonus completely negated the merchant¡¯s charisma and merchant skill bonus.
You have gained the ability: Silver Tongued Devil. This ability grants you a +25% bonus whenever using a skill that Charisma is a primary attribute for, like the Merchant Skill. This bonus cannot be added to any skill challenge if the target has taken damage from you within the last week. This ability does not work with the skill of Intimidation.
When Adam had picked up all his money he said. ¡°Thank you, Darci. I¡¯m gonna head to the next shop, you have a great day.¡±
¡°You to Adam, you too. Also, if you could keep from scaring Perci too bad, Ma would appreciate it¡± Darci said.
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¡°Understood and let your Ma know I won¡¯t scare him unless he earns it.¡± Adam turned away and walked down the hall. As he did he increased his merchant skill to 500. Adam arrived at the Soulstone shop and realized it would be more appropriate to call it a Jewelers hut. As Adam walked in he noticed glass cases with all kinds of gems in them all around the store. He recognized everything in the cases that were on the floor but couldn¡¯t identify the gems in the cases on the wall behind the counter where a high elf was standing. She had light brown hair, green eyes, and smiled at him as he walked to the counter.
¡°Welcome to Silvara¡¯s Stone Services. I am Silvara, owner and operator of this little establishment. How can I help you today?¡± she asked.
¡°Hello, Silvara. It is very nice to meet you. Recently I learned about soulstones and acquired the spells to make them. I am looking for soulstones of all types to purchase and any Advanced, Epic, Mythical, and Legendary gems so I can enchant them. Also, if you know how to find or make higher-tier gemstones I¡¯d pay you for that knowledge.¡± Adam answered.
¡°Well, I can certainly sell you any soulstones I have, so let¡¯s discuss that first¡± she responded then continued. You do know how soulstones work? She asked.
¡°Yes, I have to cast a soul trap spell and if a creature is killed the creature¡¯s soul will be absorbed into the stone,¡± Adam said.
¡°True, but I was asking more specifically, do you know how soulstones work if you are carrying different types of empty soulstone?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t believe I¡¯ve come across that information before,¡± Adam answered.
¡°Well, it¡¯s not that complicated. If you kill something that has a common soul, and you have one of each type of soulstone. It will go into the common soulstone. If you don¡¯t have a common soulstone it will go into the advanced, then the epic, the mythical, and finally the Legendary or Divine Soulstone. Weaker souls can always be absorbed by higher-level soulstone. The reverse is not true though. If you killed a target with a legendary soul it could not go into an empty Mythical Soulstone.¡± Silvara explained.
¡°So always make sure to have more lower-tier soul stones on you?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Exactly?¡± she said.
¡°How many do you have for sale of each type?¡± Adam asked.
¡°How many can you afford?¡± she asked with a smile.
They haggled for the next hour but eventually, Adam spent 22,250 gold on 50 empty common soulstones, 30 empty advanced soulstones, 20 empty epic soulstones, 15 empty mythical soulstones, 10 Legendary Soul stones, and 2 Divine Soulstones Once the deal for the soulstones was done. His merchant skill had reduced the price to 50% of the marked-up price which was 110% cost. Merchants did have to make a profit after all. He also paid the 10% tax which was another 2,250 gold.
¡°Now that we are done with the soulstones you asked about advanced, epic, mythical, and legendary gems?¡± Silvana asked.
¡°Yes, first do you have any for sale, and second how do I find them?¡±
¡°Well, the first thing you should know is that higher-tier gems are simply gems that have been infused with a certain type of magic. For instance, these five neon blue gems on the wall. Each of these is a different tier. Syleon here is an Advanced Gem. Neotite is Epic. This Geonde is Mythical and this Sapheon is Legendary she said as she pointed to each in turn. So, what makes them higher tier?¡± she asked and paused. When no answer came she answered. ¡°The Syleon was originally Sylvite. Over time it was exposed to a place of power or ley line of air magic which saturated the gem until it changed. How long this process took, no one has been able to figure out though I would bet the gods know. The Neotite was once Kynite. The Geonde was once a Geode and Sapheron was once sapphire. ¡°
¡°That seems easy enough. So, watch for rare gems around Places of Power and Ley Lines, I can do that.¡± He said.
¡°Also, dungeons and The Labyrinth, the Labyrinth is actually a better place to get any high-tier gems. Both are entirely saturated with magic, and both can produce such gems as treasure. You should know that I only carry the gems that are infused with the eight prime elements for sale. Sometimes I will have gems infused with higher power energy but those are few and far between and I will not sell those items for gold. Though a fair trade could be negotiated.¡±
¡°Do you have any higher-tier gems for sale?¡± he asked.
¡°Unfortunately, no. The gems I just showed you are all fakes, made for display and to show the difference. As I said, the best place to get gems is a dungeon or the Labyrinth. Is there anything else I can help you with?¡± she asked.
Adam shook his head and said, ¡°Nope, you¡¯ve done enough. I think I need to get going. Thank you for your time and the information.¡° Adam said as he placed a gold coin on the table as he turned to leave the store, then paused. He turned back and asked, ¡°Is there a store around here that sells something that can be used to contain a beast or monster like a bag or ring of holding that also keeps the animal alive?¡±
¡°There sure is. You want to see the Dwarf Bert down in Bertharious¡¯s Exotic Animals out the door, turn left and follow to the end of the corridor. It¡¯ll be on your left.¡° She said.
¡°Thank you again,¡± he said as he headed out the door and down the corridor. As he neared the end there was a door on the left with a sign over it with ¡°Bertharious¡¯s Exotic Animals.¡± Adam stepped inside and was immediately assaulted by noises and smells that he couldn¡¯t see or smell from the outside.
There were windows into areas that housed animals. At first, it was kind of disorienting as some of the windows looked into rooms that should have included space to both the left and the right of the window, yet there were windows there as well, opening into other open spaces. Near the door, Adam saw small rooms with normal cats and dogs in them. Including some rare breeds. As he continued forward toward the counter though he saw a window that didn¡¯t open into a room. Instead, there was a mirror set at 45 degrees that reflected the image of a lizard that would be just a little bigger than a man as the goat met its gaze and turned to stone. The lizard rushed forward and bit off the head and started breaking apart the rock and swallowing it.
¡°That is our basilisk¡±, a bald man said as he came from behind the counter. ¡°I am Bertharious, owner and proprietor. How can I help you today?¡± he asked.
Pointing to the mirror Adam said ¡°Horrifying, but interesting¡± before he turned back to Bertharious. ¡°Hello, I am Adamantadine.¡± I¡¯m looking for a storage device I could use to capture a creature, as yet unknown of an exotic nature that would allow me to transport it back to the city or to the Dungeon to be added to it.?¡±
¡°You¡¯re here for traps and cages then?¡± he asked.
¡°What exactly do these traps and cages do? I have an image in my mind concerning traps and cages and I don¡¯t see them capturing and holding a beast or monster of a magical nature.¡± Adam said.
¡°Certainly sir. A common misunderstanding. The traps I speak of act much like the spell Soul Trap. When a specific set of conditions are met the creature, or creatures, the trap is touching are immediately teleported into the cages that are synchronized to them. Cages are extradimensional spaces that have been modified to allow for normal time to pass with whatever environment is necessary to keep the creature alive and healthy until it can be released into its permanent home or freed back into the wild. Some cages can be large enough that flying creatures can fly around in them or so small that they would only hold some bugs¡±
¡°I see. So how does one synchronize a trap to a cage?¡± Adam asked.
¡°That is simplicity itself, sir. Each trap and cage has an associate ring. If you are wearing the trap ring and the cage ring when the trap is triggered, the target, or targets are immediately whisked away to your cage. A word of caution though. If the creature has magic resistance it may be able to resist the trap. Most hunters keep the cage ring on their hand and place the trap ring on when they get close to their target. This way they can change trap types quickly without having to worry about putting two different rings on.¡±
¡°That sounds impressive, how much?¡±
¡°For a standard tag dart trap that would be 1 gold per rank, each rank represents 10 cubic feet. For a dart trap that shoots out a web to touch multiple targets that would be 10 gold per rank. For a touch, voice, or timer-activated area of effect trap that would be 10 gold per 10 cubic feet. For a touch, voice, or timer activate the area of effect trap that would be 20 gold per 10 cubic feet.¡±
Cages ranged in price but the rule of thumb is 1 gold per rank for a basic cage that will keep the beast or monster alive and 2 gold per rank for an aquatic cage. We do sell cages with a suppression field in them to keep the monsters asleep. There is a flat 100 gold piece cost that scales every 10 levels. So, ranks 1-10 would be an additional 100 gold. Levels 11-20 would be 200 gold and so on.
¡°One question, why are cages so expensive?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Cages are so expensive because they are not truly dimensional spaces but rings that teleport creatures to specific locations. Those locations may exist on this plane or another, it doesn¡¯t matter as the ring is permanently tied to their location. Because of the accuracy and maintenance required on the cages, it would be better to think of the cage rings as leases instead of purchases. Every year, the upkeep will need to be paid to maintain the facility.¡± He said.
¡°Last question, if I were to supply the extra-dimensional space to put cages in what would it cost to create rings tied to the cages I created?
¡°That is a good question. The cost would depend on location, time away from the shop, and materials cost. Without knowing exactly what you¡¯re asking for I do not have an accurate estimate I can give.¡±
¡°Fine, Fine,¡± Adam said absently as he thought about the possibilities. Then the haggling started.
In the end, Adam purchased ten normal darts, one of each rank 1-10, and ten web darts one each of ranks 11-20. One huge rank 500 trap and another huge rank 500 web trap. Adam also purchased ten cages all with suppression, one of each rank 1-10 and one rank 1000 cage. When it was all said and done Adam spent 8,794 gold. He was now ready to watch out for monsters that might make his dungeon stronger.
Adam thanked Bertharious, promised he¡¯d visit again soon then left the store. It was time to head back to his Place of Power. Adam walked over to a side ally and teleported back to his Place of Power.
Chapter 51, What Just Happened?
(Day 176) Aprilis 21st, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
Adam reappeared in his foyer at just about 4 o¡¯clock. He checked the map and found that Eric wasn¡¯t on the map and Adaline was down in the Jacuzzi. Heading down the stairway to basement level 1 he called out ¡°Adaline, I¡¯m back.¡± As he came into the pool room.
As he came into the room he saw Adaline stepping out of the Hot Tub. Black hair fell behind her as she faced him fully nude. Smiling coyly, she whispered, ¡°Adam, it¡¯s nice to be appreciated but seriously, close your mouth.¡±
Realizing he¡¯d been staring he locked his gaze on hers and then answered in as earnest a voice as possible. ¡°I have never witnessed a more beautiful sight than that. I apologize for behaving inappropriately, though I do not apologize for having seen you. You are exquisitely beautiful.¡±
She smiled then said: ¡°Apology accepted and thank you. Think you could help me dry off?¡± she asked.
Adam¡¯s mouth dropped open even more and a look of shocked delight entered his eyes.
¡°With your ¡®nanites¡¯¡± she added.
Adam sighed wistfully, ¡°Oh¡sure,¡± he said as he directed the nanites to remove any water from the surface of her skin. ¡°I¡¯ll wait for you in the entryway. I think it¡¯s time we released a divine.¡± He said.
Adaline¡¯s eyes went wide then she turned to pick up her clothes and dressed before she followed him upstairs.
Adam pulled out the Soul Gem with the Divine Detrik in it as he waited for Adaline to join him. Standing on the seal of his Place of Power he willed for the stone to release the soul inside.
Master of Adamantadine¡¯s Tower you have brought the Soul Gem of the Divine Detrick to your Place of Power. You may claim the energy of this Soul Gem to further strengthen your Place of Power. Utilizing the Soul Energy of a Divine being to upgrade your Place of Power can grant Unique benefits. The strength and type of benefits granted is dependent on the strength of the Divine. Or you may choose to assist the Divine by releasing it from the Soul Gem and allowing it to utilize your Place of Power to reconstitute itself.
Do you wish to Strengthen your Place of Power or Release the Divine?
Adam thought about it for a second but knew in his heart what he¡¯d decided to do was the correct path for him. Adam said, ¡°Release the Divine.¡±
Immediately the Soul Gem lifted out of his hands and expanded to the size of a man. As the crystal expanded the angular crystalline features softened into the shape of a nondescript Man before solidifying into a man who looked to be in his late 30s with a dagger sticking out of his back. Adam and Adaline looked on as the process completed when the man before them reached toward his back and tried to pull out a dagger that he couldn¡¯t reach. Adam moved forward and quickly yanked the dagger from his back. Adam noticed the wound closing as the dagger was withdrawn.
The man looked around and locked eyes with Adaline, ¡°I am the God Detrik. I can see your true form and know your nature. Kill this servant of Serena so that we might claim this place of power and recover that which was stolen from me.¡±
Adaline looked into the God¡¯s eyes and responded with a simple ¡°No.¡±
Adam was slightly shocked by the command but quickly recovered and said, ¡°That¡¯s one.¡±
The God looked to him and unleashed the might of his unholy aura. He might be a divine and his power might be amped up for being a God, but he was not in his Place of Power and level-wise Detrik was woefully outclassed by Adam. Adaline didn¡¯t fare as well but she was close enough in power and also technically evil that the Unholy Aura only had only a minor effect on her. She wasn¡¯t locked in place or caused to flee; she was simply prevented from moving to attack the God. Of course, she could defend herself if needed, but that was all she could do. The God looked at Adam and pointed a finger ¡°Now you die!¡± with emphasis on the word die.
¡°Adam being completely immune to Death Magic was thoroughly unimpressed and unaffected as he said, ¡°That was two.¡± As he moved forward with the full force of his fist and struck the God right between the eyes. His attack was quicker than the God could follow and would have struck, except that Adam¡¯s fist never connected. As Adam¡¯s fist touched the God''s skin a prompt appeared as everything froze, including Adam¡¯s body.
What the hell? Adam thought as he looked around with his eyes quickly and noticed that Adaline was frozen completely but the God¡¯s eyes were darting around.
¡°What have you done to me?¡± He asked, ¡°Release me now!¡± the God yelled.
Adam looked at him disdainfully and said, ¡°Oh shut up you worthless piece of shit.¡± As he opened his prompts to see what had happened.
Error: Divine¡¯s finger of Death against you has failed.
Error: Divine Purpose thwarted by you.
Error: You are in the process of striking a divine for 1,484,497 true damage.
Error: The creature trapped and released was a Divine.
Error: Divines should not be able to be killed with single strikes from a mortal.
Error: You will do enough damage to fully disintegrate the Divine within your place of power as it tries to reconstitute itself. This could lead to the full absorption of the Divine into your Place of Power, destroying the soul you have just freed.
Errors Noted, Situation Elevated.
Time has been frozen while this situation is reviewed.
Please be patient an Adjudicator has been summoned to review this situation and make a determination.
While Adam was reading the prompts and trying to get a feel for what had happened the Divine screamed and yelled to be released. This went on for another 10 seconds until a golden portal opened and Archangel Michael stepped through. The Archangel glanced around the room and just as the Divine was about to start yelling again a field of silence went up cutting off the god¡¯s words before they started.
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¡°Hello Adam seems like you can¡¯t help yourself by creating errors can you?¡± he asked.
¡°Hello, Michael,¡± Adam said. ¡°Honestly this time it¡¯s not my fault. I was doing a good deed. Releasing that asshat right there when he called for Adaline, you know Adaline right? Anyway, he called for her to kill me then tried to use some ¡°Finger of Death¡± bullshit spell on me without even offering a reward for freeing him in the first place.¡± Adam said indignantly. ¡°I mean seriously Michael, if these Divine''s idea of rewards is to immediately kill those that helped them out, my instantaneous response is to punch them in the head. Which, by-the-way, I was trying to do,¡± Adam said as he looked directly at his fist that was frozen in the process of punching said asshat in the head. ¡°You know me, I gave him two chances. The first was when Adaline refused to attack me for him. The second was when he tried to kill me with that spell. There wasn¡¯t going to be a third. So here we are.¡±
Michael looked at the Divine Detrick before talking. ¡°Detrik I¡¯m going to allow you to speak in a moment. Adam, please remain silent.¡± Michael said as he waved his hand, and the barrier of silence was removed.
¡°Who does this mortal think he is? What do you mean he¡¯s going to punch me? Mortals can¡¯t hurt the Gods, we are forever.¡±
Michael cut him off. ¡°First, you were in the process of becoming a God when you were killed. Part of that process was the transformation into a Divine, a Process that had not been completed as you went into the Soul Gem and had not completed before Adam here decided to punch you in the head. Second, the part of that divine transformation that should be extremely important to you is the word ¡®transformation.¡¯ You are in a Place of Power being reconstituted as you become a divine and you are about to take enough damage to force your entire body to disintegrate which will completely free your soul energy during a transformation ritual inside a Place of Power. Third, the reason I was summoned is that technically, this has turned into the sacrifice of a ¡®divine¡¯ that has most likely become a willing volunteer unwillingly and has agreed to give up their very existence to empower this Place of Power.¡±
A look of shocked realization came over Detrik''s face.
¡°I thought that might finally get your attention,¡± Arch Angel Michael said. ¡°So here I am to ensure that a willing sacrifice to the Place of Power is taking place. If you¡¯d both give me a moment.¡± He said as he pulled out a clear crystal and concentrated on it. This went on for about a minute while both Detrik and Adam watched Archangel Michael mumble to himself. Finally, the Archangel turned to Adam and said, ¡°I will ask a question after I have given my adjudication of this event. The question must be answered with only one word, Yes or No. Any other utterance indicates that the actions will play out as fate has ordained with no interference from the Divine or Adjudicators of this Realm which basically means that the answer will be yes. Shifting his gaze to look at both Detrick and Adam he continued, ¡°I have reviewed the events and have determined that while Detrick did not ascent to a willingness to sacrifice himself to this Place of Power, as a Divine he did not pay proper recompense to the individual that freed him. As such, the course that Fate decided for the Soul of Detrik was/is to permanently empower this Place of Power through his sacrifice upon his death is both reasonable and appropriate, if unconventional.¡± Michael turned to Adam his gaze hardening as he spoke with a voice empowered by the very Universe itself. ¡°Adamantadine of Adamantadine¡¯s Tower. Before you stands a Divine in the process of being sacrificed for your Place of Power. Will you accept what Fate has decreed and sacrifice the Divine Detrik to your Place of Power?¡±
Adam¡¯s eyes darted to Detriks who was now frozen in horror. Adam thought about his Divine and his place in this Universe. Killing a Divine, even a fledgling one would set him apart from all other mortals and possibly set some of the Divines against him. Adam weighed all the implications and probabilities in his mind and came up with only one solution. ¡°No,¡± he said.
The Archangel smiled and then said, ¡°So be it!¡± as he clapped his hands. Instantaneously Adam found himself sitting at a round table with four seats. Archangel Michael sat across from him with Detrik to his right and Adaline to his left. They were still in the Entryway sitting on the seal. Each had a glass of Adams Long Island Iced Tea in front of them. Michael, Adaline, and Adam all reached for their glasses and took a sip. Detrick hesitated then did the same.
¡°Now that we are in a more relaxed setting let me start by saying violence of any kind while we are sitting here is not permitted. Should any of you resort to violence or make an attack against another you will be immobilized and removed from any discussions of the outcome of this adjudication. Think of this as a pause with refreshments¡± Michael said.
¡°Understood,¡± Adam said.
¡°As you will,¡± Adaline said while she nodded to the Archangel.
¡°As you say,¡± Detrik said sullenly.
Michael surveyed the room and then looked at Detrik, ¡°Detrik, Adamantadine here has made the choice not to accept your accidental sacrifice to empower his Place of Power when I know that had the situation been reversed you would have allowed his soul to be destroyed to empower a Place of Power you controlled. As Adjudicator, I proclaim that you now owe Adamantadine compensation for two services. The first reward must be of at least Artifact level as an artifact was destroyed to free you.¡± Detrik looked as if he was about to interrupt when Michael hardened his gaze on him. ¡°Had you chosen to speak with the individual that freed you and offered compensation that had been accepted, you may have been able to get away with a much lower-level reward, but your lack of etiquette led you to a path that almost saw the true destruction of a Divine. The first reward must be artifact equivalent. The Second reward is for sparing your soul. What is that worth to you Detrik?¡±
Detrik considered the question and then answered, ¡°There is no reward that could properly pay for the price of my immortal soul.¡±
Michael nodded thoughtfully. ¡°No truer words have ever been spoken. Adam, what reward would you ask for in place of a Divines soul.¡±
Adam, not knowing what to ask for said simply, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t know what to ask for?¡± Adam said truthfully.
¡°Most likely the smartest thing you have ever said,¡± Michael said.
¡°From the Archangel too?¡± Adam quipped back in mock indignation while Adaline shook her head and Detrick looked on shocked.
¡°Yes.¡± Michael said flatly, before grinning as he said, ¡°It¡¯s not often I get to have a conversation like this, you have no idea how much fun this is for me.¡± He laughed for a few moments before he was able to calm down enough to continue. ¡°Seriously though. Is there anything that you want or need? Think along those lines and let''s see if that helps.
Adam thought for a few moments before he spoke, ¡°Well, I would like to finish out all eight primary powers for this Place of Power. I can of course spend my own experience to level them once I get them added but getting both the Water and Life Spheres added and maxed out would be nice. Additionally, I need a way to travel to and from my Universe or at least communicate with Thor. Lastly, the ability to enter and exit my Place of Power and draw on its power from my home Universe would be nice, though I¡¯m not sure how feasible that would be. Is anything I¡¯ve listed so far possible?¡±
¡°Is that all?¡± Michael asked.
¡°Well, if I can have anything, Infinite wealth would be nice.¡± He said flippantly.
¡°Everything you have mentioned is within the power of the Divine to grant. Not this Divine, but the divine can grant them therefore I can grant them. Give me a moment.¡± Michael said as he closed his eyes as if meditating. A second later he opened his eyes. Your requests are done. Detrik will be redirecting some of his Divinity Points that he earns each day to other Divines that have provided the items you have requested. Also, he will be under a Geas that will not allow him to take any action or order any action from his followers against you until his debt to you is paid.¡±
¡°How long will that take?¡± Adam asked.
Michael cocked his head, then straightened, ¡°At Detriks current accumulation rate of Divinity Points it¡¯ll take just over 3 million years. If he gets more followers it could take less time.¡± He said.
¡°What? I didn¡¯t agree to this!¡± Detrik said.
¡°So, you wish to permanently empower this Place of Power? Michael asked.
Detrik looked shocked eyes at Michael then turned an angry gaze at Adam.
¡°Oh no, you don¡¯t fuck face. Don¡¯t even think about holding onto that anger. You were literally a second from dying and having your soul destroyed to empower my tower.¡± Adam said with heat in his voice as he paused then smiled as he muttered, ¡°Empower my Tower, hey that rhymes!¡± he said cheerfully as his face went hard again. ¡°Your choices have brought an adjudicator here. If you do not like the conditions that our Adjudicator has set for you I can easily ask Michael to return us to the point where my fist was caving in your skull.¡±
Adaline, who had been silent through the whole discussion muttered just loud enough for everyone to hear, ¡°If it was me, I¡¯d take the deal, live to fight another day and all that.¡±
¡°Very good point Adaline.¡± Adam said, ¡°So what¡¯s it going to be Detrik, live to fight another day or cease to exist anywhere ever again?¡± Adam asked.
Detrik gave a resigned shrug, then said, ¡°I accept the conditions of this Adjudication.
Michael looked at Adam.
¡°I also accept the conditions of this Adjudication.¡±
. The Archangel stood, the other three following suit. The table, chairs, and glasses all disappeared as Michael intoned, ¡°So be it. In a moment Adaline and you will be alone once again in your entryway and time will resume. A chest will appear with the items that you have requested. When you have emptied the chest it will return from whence it came. Adam, let¡¯s try not to do this again anytime soon?¡± Michael said as he grinned.
¡°No Promises!¡± Adam called as Michael clapped his hands together leaving Adaline and him alone in the entryway with a platinum chest.
Chapter 52, Wow!
(Day 176) Aprilis 21st, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
Adam looked at Adaline as he asked, ¡°Well, that was interesting. Are you okay?¡±
¡°I¡¯m fine, I can¡¯t believe you had the chance to empower your Place of Power by a Divine and didn¡¯t take it.¡± Adaline said with a wondering look in her gaze.
¡°Well, if I said I didn¡¯t consider it I¡¯d be lying. The truth of it is if that question had been asked of me just two weeks ago I might have said no but I think there is a level of expectation from the Goddess I serve that I do not do anything wantonly evil if at all possible. As I was given a choice, choosing to destroy a sentient being''s soul utterly would fall into the evil as sin category. I already have two on standby for such a fate if I can figure out how to make it happen. I figured ¡®three strikes and you¡¯re out.¡±
Adaline looked at him with a complete lack of comprehension.
¡°¡¯Three strikes and you¡¯re out.¡¯ Is a phrase we use for a game called baseball. Without going into the particulars, you get three chances to hit a ball. If you miss three times you¡¯re out and it¡¯s the next player''s turn.¡± Adam explained.
¡°Still, that was a lot of power to give up.¡±
¡°Maybe? Maybe the stuff I asked for will be worth more. The only way we find out is by looking in the Platinum chest.¡± Adam said.
¡°I¡¯m ready when you are.¡± She said.
Adam reached forward and lifted the chest lid to look into an empty box as a golden Prompt appeared before him.
Adaline and Adamantadine, opening this chest signifies your agreement to accept the following rewards.
¡°You can see that?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, now pay attention,¡± Adaline responded.
Congratulations Adaline. For withstanding the will of a Divine as he tried to force you to break a vow you are awarded the following.
First, your alignment is changed from Neutral Evil to Neutral
Second, your true form is now considered to be that of an Umbral Dragon or Dark Elf. Both forms are your true form. There is no change to your dragon form characteristics, cosmetically your form is that of an Umbral Dragon. Umbral Dragons are known to be of neutral and evil alignments. Additionally as both forms are now your true form, anti-magic spells and areas will no longer force you out of your humanoid form.
Third, you are awarded 15 million experience.
Stay true to your vows and you will continue to be rewarded.
Congratulations Adamantadine. You are awarded the following
Spheres of Power for Life levels 1 ¨C 5.
Spheres of Power for Water levels 1 ¨C 5.
Spheres of Space for Space levels 1 ¨C 5
Three Special Space Bonus Abilities.
One Special Time Bonus ability.
The Artifact: Orb of Knowing
Belt of Infinite Wealth
Adam and Adaline both watched the visible prompt as they looked over the abilities and items he had gained.
Congratulations, you have raised your Sphere of Power for Water from level 0 to level 1. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
20% resistance to all water-related damage from any source
20% stronger casting of all water-related spells
20% reduced mana cost for all water-related spells
Passive Fixed Ability in Place of Power. ¡°Create Water.¡± The Hearth can create water as desired whether it is near a water source or not.
Congratulations, you have raised your Sphere of Power for Water from level 1 to level 2. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 40%, resistance to all water-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 40%, stronger casting of all water-related spells
Additional 20%, total 40%, reduced mana cost for all water-related spells
Active Fixed Ability ¡°Water Breathing.¡± At a cost of 10 mana per second, you may breathe underwater for 1 hour.
Congratulations, you have raised your Sphere of Power for Water from level 2 to level 3. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 60%, resistance to all water-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 60%, stronger casting of all water-related spells
Additional 20%, total 60%, reduced mana cost for all water-related spells
Active Fixed Ability ¡°Summon Small Water Elemental.¡± At a cost of 40 mana, you may summon a small water Elemental at your location that will follow simple commands and work for you. Duration is 1 hour which can be extended by spending an additional 40 mana per hour. While swimming this elemental can assist the swimmer by increasing their speed to 30 miles per hour. The elemental can also create small pockets of air to allow others to continue breathing underwater.
Congratulations you have raised your Sphere of Power for Water from level 3 to level 4. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 80%, resistance to all water-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 80%, stronger casting of all water-related spells
Additional 20%, total 80%, reduced mana cost for all water-related spells
Passive Fixed Ability: ¡°Water Flows By.¡± You can move through Non-magical water without disturbing it. This has two effects. No matter how strong a current is you will be unaffected while swimming. Your movement does not disturb the water. There is no mana cost, and this ability can be utilized at will. Note: You may also pass-through Shields based on Water Magic as if they do not exist. This benefit does not extend to any of your ranged attacks or abilities. You must personally step through such shields.
Congratulations you have raised your Sphere of Power for Water from level 4 to level 5. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 100%, resistance to all water-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 100%, stronger casting of all water-related spells
Additional 10%, total 90%, reduced mana cost for all water-related spells
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The Sphere of Water Fixed Passive Ability ¡°Immunity Water¡± is granted to you.
At no mana cost Water of any form, normal or Magical, cannot harm you. This includes Ice, Gas, and Liquid forms of water.
Congratulations, you have raised your Sphere of Power for Life from level 0 to level 1. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
20% resistance to all life-related damage from any source
20% stronger casting of all life-related spells
20% reduced mana cost for all life-related spells
Passive Fixed Ability in Place of Power. Good Health. Wounds heal twice as fast while in the Hearth.
Congratulations, you have raised your Sphere of Power for Life from level 1 to level 2. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 40%, resistance to all life-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 40%, stronger casting of all life-related spells
Additional 20%, total 40%, reduced mana cost for all life-related spells
Active Fixed Ability ¡°Stop Bleeding.¡± At a cost of 10 mana, any bleeding effects that are 1 hit point per second are closed and stopped. All other wounds reduce their bleeding effect by 1 per second.
Congratulations, you have raised your Sphere of Power for Life from level 2 to level 3. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 60%, resistance to all life-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 60%, stronger casting of all life-related spells
Additional 20%, total 60%, reduced mana cost for all life-related spells
Active Fixed Ability ¡°Heal Other¡± At a cost of 2 to 1, you may heal another up to 20 hit points per use, Maximum 40 mana.
Congratulations you have raised your Sphere of Power for Life from level 3 to level 4. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 80%, resistance to all life-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 80%, stronger casting of all life-related spells
Additional 20%, total 80%, reduced mana cost for all life-related spells
Passive Fixed Ability: ¡°Life Sense.¡± You can sense any Life around you up to a range of one-tenth of your Perception score. This is automatic for any creature that is not shielded from life detection. Invisible and Stealthed creatures are easily detectable. You may also pass-through Shields based on Life Magic as if they do not exist. This benefit does not extend to any of your ranged attacks or abilities. You must personally step through such shields.
Congratulations you have raised your Sphere of Power for Life from level 4 to level 5. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 100%, resistance to all life-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 100%, stronger casting of all life-related spells
Additional 10%, total 90%, reduced mana cost for all life-related spells
The Sphere of Life Fixed Passive Ability ¡°Regeneration¡± is granted to you.
At no mana cost, your ¡°Health Regeneration¡± is increased by one-tenth of your constitution score per minute.
Congratulations, you have raised your Sphere of Power for Space from level 0 to level 1. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
20% resistance to all space-related damage from any source
20% stronger casting of all space-related spells
20% reduced mana cost for all space-related spells
Passive Fixed Ability in Place of Power. ¡°Personal Storage¡±. You now have a small 10x10 gride of dimensional storage that reduces weight by 100%. It can be accessed at will. Items placed into or taken out of the space appear or disappear to the hand touching them. Additionally, each level of space at this place of power increases the grid by 100x100 at Power level 2, 1,000x1,000 at level 3, etc...
Congratulations, you have raised your Sphere of Power for Space from level 1 to level 2. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 40%, resistance to all space-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 40%, stronger casting of all space-related spells
Additional 20%, total 40%, reduced mana cost for all space-related spells
Active Fixed Ability ¡°Personal Vault¡±. Your place of Power contains a 100''x100'' dimensional vault that is attached to your Place of Power. There is no door to this vault through a portal that can be created into the vault from anywhere within the Place of Power. Additionally, the vault can be closed from the inside and exited anywhere in the Place of Power. The personal vault increases to a 1,000''x1,000'' vault at level 3, 10,000'' x 10,000'' vault at level 4 and 100,000''x100,000'' vault at level 5. Finally, while in the Place of Power you may draw any item out of the vault without opening a door to enter the vault, including anyone or anything that has entered the vault.
Congratulations you have to raise your Sphere of Power for Space from level 2 to level 3. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 60%, resistance to all space-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 60%, stronger casting of all space-related spells
Additional 20%, total 60%, reduced mana cost for all space-related spells
Active Fixed Ability ¡°Anti Matter.¡± At a cost of 40 mana per use, a particle of Antimatter can be created 50 to 100 feet away from you. This will cause an explosion that does 100 points of damage out to 10 Feet. 50 points of damage between 10 and 20 feet and 25 points of damage to anything 20 to 30 feet away from the center of the blast. Anything reduced to 0 durability or hit points is disintegrated.
Congratulations you have raised your Sphere of Power for Space from level 3 to level 4. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 80%, resistance to all space-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 80%, stronger casting of all space-related spells
Additional 20%, total 80%, reduced mana cost for all space-related spells
Passive Fixed Ability ¡°Space Affinity.¡± At no mana cost, you are immune to High Pressure, Vacuum, and extremely cold environments. Also, you may pass through Shields based on Space magic as if they do not exist. This benefit does not extend to any of your ranged attacks or abilities. You must personally step through such shields.
Congratulations you have raised your Sphere of Power for Space from level 4 to level 5. Doing so imparts the following benefits.
Additional 20%, total 100%, resistance to all space-related damage from any source
Additional 20%, total 100%, stronger casting of all space-related spells
Additional 10%, total 90%, reduced mana cost for all space-related spells
The Sphere of Space Fixed Ability ¡°Quantum Entity¡± is granted to you. This power has two effects First, at a cost of 100 may teleport to any location within a Universe you are in that you¡¯ve been to. Second, at a cost of 1,000 mana you may shift between Universes, pocket dimensions, or realms to a known location that you have visited (a Location you have been physically present in, not a place you have just learned about). This power cannot be utilized to randomly travel to unknown places. In either case, this power has a 1-minute cooldown.
In addition to the full Sphere of Space being added to your Place of Power three Special abilities for Space and one for Time have also been granted to you: My House My Rules, Pocket Universe, Dungeon Junction, and I Have Always Been, I Will Always Be.¡± Explanations follow on the next three prompts.
Congratulations you have been granted the Special Sphere of Space ability ¡°My House My Rules.¡± Inside the pocket Dimension of your Place of Power Magic and Technology may coexist.
Congratulations you have been granted the Special Sphere of Space ability ¡°Pocket Universe.¡± Your Place of Power now exists inside its own Pocket Universe.
Warning: This ability has been granted by error. This pocket universe is outside the known limits of the Universe.
Congratulations you have been granted the Special Sphere of Space ability ¡°Dungeon Junction¡± The Place of Power¡¯s Seal in the Entryway of the Tower now acts as a Junction to the Dungeon of Magical Elements
Congratulations you have been granted the Special Sphere of Time ability ¡°I have always been, I will always be.¡± Your existence is now sacrosanct. You are no longer subject to the Grand Father Paradox, nor can you be affected by Time Magic that you do not wish to be affected by.
Congratulations the Artifact, ¡°Orb of Knowing¡± has been added to your Personal Space inventory.
The Orb of Knowing is an Artifact created during the creation of the multi-verse. It does not do any specific thing though it has knowledge of everything. If asked a question it will give a complete and concise answer to that question. (Note from Michael: Think of this Orb as the ultimate help function for one of your computer programs. Even I do not know everything it does.
This item is Soulbound to you.
Congratulations the Artifact, ¡°Belt of Infinite Wealth¡± has been added to your Personal Space inventory.
The Belt of Infinite Wealth allows the user to withdraw any type of money or currency as desired, to include gemstones. A Divine has granted this item and pays for the currency with their Divinity.
This item is Transuniversal. It can be used in any Universe throughout the Multiverse, including universes with little or no magic
This item is Soul Bound to you.
Note from Michael: Ultimately the cost is paid by Detrik, have fun!
¡°Someone wasn¡¯t very happy with Detrik,¡± Adam said.
¡°Not at all,¡± Adaline responded.
¡°You see this Belt of Wealth. As I pull out wealth the divine that granted it is charged in those ¡®divinity points¡¯ I¡¯d wager. Then those divinity points are added to Detrik¡¯s bill. So, this belt is my one way to ensure Detrik is always indebted to us. I¡¯ll bet the Divine that granted it on his behalf is charging a percentage and making more ¡®divinity points¡¯ than he or she is spending,¡± Adam said thoughtfully. Both Adaline and he laughed at the thought.
Just then Adaline and Adam finished reading the prompts the tower started to shake and the seal flared. Both Adaline and Adam fell unconscious as energies came together that could shape Universes and descended on the tower.
Chapter 53, Where are We?
(Day 177) Aprilis 22nd, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
Adam came to and looked around. Adaline laid on the hearth seal beside him. He had his nanites check on her. They noted that she was breathing and seemed to be sleeping. Adam stood and looked around. Nothing seemed out of place, and everything looked clean. If any part of the tower had broken it seemed that they had been unconscious long enough for the tower to repair itself. He remembered something he¡¯d read in one of the prompts and released his nanites to reach out and spread throughout his home, just in case. They were starting with such a small mass that the replication would take a while, but he figured there was no time like the present to test out his new abilities. First, though he needed to make sure Adaline was okay. Moving back to her he spoke softly, ¡°Adaline.¡± She moved and nestled into a more comfortable position. A little bit louder he asked ¡°Adaline?¡± to which her eyes flashed open, and she sat up looking around.
¡°Adam, what happened?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know, but if I had to guess I¡¯d say being inside the Tower when it became its own pocket dimension was probably a bad idea¡±
Reaching up to grab her head she muttered, ¡°Whatever happened, I have a hell of a headache, you?¡±
¡°Nope, I¡¯m fine, just woke up and looked around really quick from here then checked on you.¡± He said as helped her to her feet. ¡°Maybe we should check the whole place out?¡± he asked.
¡°Well, that¡¯s different¡±, she said pointing to where the entryway to the door was. Now there were two doors each about 10 feet apart. They were both set in the wall and the entryway had been expanded so that it was now a good 50¡¯x50¡¯. Walking over to the door on his left he tried to open it and received the following error.
Warning: Location of door placement no longer exists. Please use the ability ¡°Pick a Door¡± to establish a new anchor point
Adam turned to the second door and went over and opened it. The second door opened into the tower''s courtyard like normal. He stepped through and looked around. He immediately noticed that the light level seemed like early morning, yet there were no shadows as the light seemed to come from all angles above him. Adaline followed him as he stepped into the courtyard. Adam looked around for a few more moments and then rose into the sky using Gravity is that Way.
When he was about 200 feet up, Adam set his gravity to neutral and used fly to slow himself to a stop. Adam looked around and was both amazed and terrified. For about a mile in all directions, his courtyard seemed to be where it had been. Then it just ended. There was nothing beyond that point that he could see. Adaline polymorphed into her dragon form and flew up to allow him to land on her neck as she turned and flew towards the nearest edge up against the mountain his courtyard rested on. She landed. As he hopped down she polymorphed back to her Dark Elf form and they walked up to the edge together. ¡±Let me try something before we try to touch or pass the edge.¡± He said.
¡°Absolutely,¡± Adaline said. ¡°I have no idea where we are and no idea what this means.¡±
Adam nodded before he sent his nanites out from him and they came up against a solid magical barrier they could not enter or cross. The rock he was standing on was normal. Also, the air around them seemed to be normal and this far out from the tower, the altitude was right for the tower¡¯s location on Primore. He reached out and touched a solid barrier that looked like the sky. ¡°It¡¯s a solid barrier.¡±
Over the next hour, Adaline and Adam explored the area and found that from the door a Globe existed that was an exact duplicate of the area the tower had been at. Also, he found that this whole area seemed to count as his Place of Power. Knowing that he¡¯d raised the light level and increased the air pressure to sea level normal. One fun thing Adaline and he had figured out was that if they flew out from the cliff, let''s still call that direction south, they¡¯d come to the wall then they could slide down the wall all the way to the cliff face like it was one huge giant slide. That was when he made a second discovery. As they were coming faster and faster he¡¯d thought that it¡¯d be nice if there was a small lake at the very bottom of the globe and water had started pooling along the cliff face. He¡¯d still needed to change his gravity vector to slow down and then fly away before slamming into the cliff face, but it seemed that he was able to create water anywhere. Looking through his personal interface, Adam realized that he could indeed change the settings to this place.
Once Adaline and he had explored this 2-mile diameter globe they were in they landed back at the tower and Adam said, ¡°Think I¡¯d like to see what the vault looks like¡±
¡°That sounds like a good idea,¡± Adaline said.
Abi¡¯s voice was heard by both Adaline and Abi as she asked ¡°Hey Adam, got a second?¡±
¡°What?¡± Adaline and Adam said at the same time as Abi said ¡°What the hell?¡±
More hesitantly Abi asked, ¡°Can you both hear me?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Adaline and Adam said in unison.
¡°Well okay, something to figure out for later I guess. What I was going to say originally was that my link to backup Abi has been restored and while you two have been flying around I¡¯ve been talking with her, Thor, and Amanda. Though it¡¯s been slow going on their end. We still have about 7 seconds to their one second. Thor has said that he can feel you, but something is blocking him from making a connection with you. Do you know anything about that?¡± Abi asked.
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Adam thought about it for a second then willfully dropped his shield so that his quantum link could connect to Thor.
Unlike Abi and Backup Abi, Thor and Johnathan had set up a method for communicating and updating each other if they got a chance. Over the next 12 seconds, Thor was updated on what had happened and Adam was informed that about 5 minutes ago, his time, Thor had opened a portal into the air and was worried because of that. Working together Thor and Johnathan reprogrammed some of his nanites to read the quantum signature of his surroundings and about a minute later a portal opened with Amanda and Backup Amanda looking through. With an active portal in play, the pocket dimension synced its time flow to that of his original universe, and Adam was once again linked to Thor fully through their soul link and their quantum links for the first time while Johnathan had access to magic.
Adam, or more appropriately Johnathan/Adamantadine-Thor, truly became one entity at that moment. In the space of a nano-second, Thor had access to and raised his character level to 5,000 reducing his saved experience by 87.5 billion. This left him with only 5.7 billion experience. A side effect of this sudden influx of knowledge and processing power was that Abi was ejected and merged with her backup. Abi would no longer be able to reside within his subconscious.
During the next nanosecond, Adam reviewed the new Ascendant Machine Abilities Thor had gained for reaching Character Level 5,000.
Congratulations Ascendant Machine. You have been granted the following four abilities:
¡°One¡±, Fixed, Thor and Johnathan are permanently connected across any distance through any dimensional tear, across any time.
¡°Nanite Conversion¡±, Fixed, Within the radius of Nanite Companions, up to 500'', of Jonathan/Thor Nanites can now perform any and all functions that they could in non-Magical Universes.
¡°Universal Understanding¡±, Fixed, the fundamental understanding of magic and science has allowed nanites to be imbued with and resist spheres of power that Johnathan is skilled in.
¡°Undying¡±, Fixed, Neither Thor nor Johnathan may ever be killed so long as one nanite exists anywhere.
During the third nanosecond, Adam knew everything Thor did and was connected quantumly to every nanite under his control as Thor knew everything Adam had learned during his time on Primore. Insights into the makeup of the Universe, Multiverse, and Multiverses? All the ideas and thoughts he¡¯d had, exploded within their neural structure.
During the fourth nanosecond, Adam and Thor discussed plans, contingencies, and actions that needed to be taken in Primore and his home Universe.
During the fifth nanosecond, Adam separated his consciousness from Thor while Thor continued to review everything that he¡¯d become privy to. With the new knowledge, Adam had imparted Thor and allowed his mind to slow down to normal speed while Thor continued to process information.
¡°You okay there Adam, you froze for a moment?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°I¡¯d like to know as well,¡± Abi said from her constructed body. ¡°I¡¯ve never been forcefully moved out of your head before.¡±
¡°Sorry about that Abi, the amount of information Thor and I just shared filled up my mind. I¡¯m sure there was still room in my subconscious, but I didn¡¯t want to take the chance of that information accidentally overwriting you as it was coming in so fast.¡± He said.
¡°Okay Adam, just be more careful next time,¡± Abi said.
¡°Hopefully there won¡¯t be a next time. Also, I don¡¯t think Thor and I will have any more difficulties communicating. Realistically we are the same entity right now. Our minds have merged so well that we are in constant contact.¡±
¡°So, what¡¯s next?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°This!¡± Adam said as he gestured, and a portal opened to his vault. He stepped through indicating that she should follow. ¡°This is the vault for the Tower, ¡° he said as he stepped into a huge cube, the walls, and ceiling of which were off in the distance. ¡°When I read the prompt it said that this room should be a 100,000-foot cube. 100,000 feet is just over 18 miles, which means that if this is the center the ceiling should be 18 miles above us and all the walls should be just over 9 miles away.
¡°I¡¯ll check!¡± Adaline said as she jumped into the air and took dragon form before she flew off. Abi stepped through both portals to stand beside Adam.
¡°This is truly impressive Adam. I wonder how it will fill up when you add things to it?¡± Abi asked.
¡°As far as I can tell, however, I want. In this pocket dimension and the pocket dimension the tower sits in, I have total control. Also, now that Thor has the quantum location of this dimension he can open portals to it directly, though we don¡¯t need the portals to communicate anymore.¡± Adam paused for a moment as a thought came to him. ¡°One second¡±
A moment later a portal opened inside the vault beside the portal back into the tower. The portal shifted exit positions as they watched from his bedroom in the Tower, to his bed at the Academics college in Venoran, to an open sky overlooking a forest which Adam knew to be the original exit point he¡¯d entered Primore at. ¡°It seems that Thor can open a portal at any location I am at and at a known location I¡¯ve been to on Primore or in this tower. I shouldn¡¯t have to use teleport unless I¡¯m going to a location that Thor doesn¡¯t have the information for, though once I¡¯m there, he¡¯ll be able to reach it from that point on.¡±
¡°That¡¯ll be handy,¡± Abi said with a smile.
¡°How¡¯d your merge go? Both of you all together as one again?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yep. Though now that I think about it. My speech patterns are a lot more like yours than what we saw back on Primore.¡± Abi said.
¡°Not to worry. You sound great! Also, why don¡¯t you head back to my Earth while I sit here and wait for Adaline to return? She seems to be having fun. I¡¯m going to flood this area with nanites, so I¡¯ll be able to use it to do tests and convert anything I place in it.¡±
¡°Sound¡¯s good. I think I¡¯m going to go walk around now that I can, maybe go relax on a beach somewhere. See you in a bit¡± Abi said.
Adam closed the portals to Earth and realized that Thor and He did have a bond that surpassed any they¡¯d had before. Thor was moving 6.67 faster than he was. Also, he was already performing computations thousands of times faster than a normal human brain. Thor had to create a subroutine just so Adam and he could have a conversation at their normal speed, which was still many times faster than a normal conversation. Thor could of course devote his full attention to Adam, but neither found it necessary. When they needed to exchange information, it was just easier for Adam to speed up his mind and talk with Thor through the subroutine. Thor would monitor the conversation and make adjustments to the subroutine while continuing to handle the quadrillions of other things he was already doing. Right now, Thor had a theory that he wanted to discuss with Adam, so they were reviewing the nature of singularities while Adam waited for Adaline to get back.
Chapter 54, Dropping the Tower
(Day 177) Aprilis 22nd, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
Xsitant flew atop Grasar, an ancient red dragon who was his familiar, friend and companion. They had flown close enough to see the city of Venoran which was off in the distance to their east as they headed towards the location of the upstart that had thwarted the plans of the Council. He¡¯d reviewed what he could and found that this man, Adamantadine was unknown to anyone and had seemingly come out of nowhere. Conducting further research and even utilizing a wish he¡¯d been able to determine that Adamantadine¡¯s Tower had once been Apolyn¡¯s Abode, a location he¡¯d known well. It was a shame that he¡¯d have to destroy it. He had many fond memories of the mountain getaway. Of course, that had been a couple of hundred years ago.
Concentrating on the task at hand he contacted Grasar mentally, Stay close and high. Once I¡¯m done I¡¯ll need to teleport back to you, and we¡¯ll need to leave as quickly as possible while staying close enough to verify the results. Grasar didn¡¯t respond mentally but Xsitant received a feeling of acknowledgment that meant Grasar would do as asked.
Focusing on the top of the tower, Xsitant teleported down. Looking around he made sure there was no one visible then pulled a small silver orb from his pouch which he released. The orb flew over the edge, down to the door, and came to a rest against it. Both his Detect Magic and Detect Life spells detected two bodies on the other side of the door. If the orb had arrived just five seconds earlier he would have detected Adam¡¯s other guests and magic. As it was all that his spells detected were two life forms.
Knowing the target was in the building, Xsitant recalled his orb and placed it in his pouch. He cast his first spell which simply drew an arcane circle on the roof. The next spell was a little more tricky and required all of his concentration. Drawing on the very base element of all order he cast his second spell, ¡°Summon Chaos¡±. This spell would pull forth a sphere of chaos exactly one inch in diameter. After a time set by the caster, the chaos would be released from the spell which held it and very bad things would happen when the chaos came into contact with matter. On top of a ley line nexus, this could get interesting.
Later, Xsitant would admonish himself for testing fate with his thoughts. Interesting did not come close to describing what had happened. Immediately after teleporting back to Grasar, they¡¯d flown due south away from the mountains. Grasar had even started into a dive to build up speed. Even so, when his spell had been activated a minute later both of them had been blinded by a searing white light that had originated behind them and filled their vision. Xsitant felt Grasar start to pull up to slow down and screamed ¡°No, get farther away, we are too close!¡± He felt Grasar level out and beat his wings even faster and faster.
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Still not able to see, Xsitant heard a rumble coming from behind them and immediately threw up one of his strongest shield spells. A Time Sphere time shield. Nothing should be able to make it through the shield though he knew against the forces of chaos the strength of such shields was unknown. As the shield started to get pelted from behind he cast the spell ¡°Slow Fall¡± first on Grasar then himself. Just as he finished the second casting the full force of the explosion hit the two of them.
When Xsitant awoke, he was no longer blind. Also, he was no longer on Grasar and seemed to have come to rest on a desert dune. Immediately he sent out a mental call for Grasar with no success. The second thing he did was teleport to his home in Andidreas, the Capital City for The Council. When he opened his eyes he still stood on desert sand through the dunes had changed. Over the next hour, he teleported to every location that he knew of, and each time found only desert dunes.
Finally, he teleported to the entrance to the Dungeon outside of Venoran. Again, he found only dunes and the 30-foot-high remains of the obelisk. The entrance to the Dungeon, however, was gone. He thought about what he was seeing and realized that putting up a time shield, while it had saved his life had also not prevented time from penetrating the shield and affecting Grasar and himself. Thinking he had a clue about what had happened, he cast a very low-level spell he¡¯d picked as a time spell caster, ¡°Know time and place¡± When he was done casting the spell he learned that he was indeed at the former location of Venoran in the One-millionth age since ages were last-named. One-millionth age since ages since ages were last named? Where, better yet, when was he?
***
Grasar had fared better and had not been shot through time. When he came to he had crashed into some trees south of the mountain range. Shaking his giant draconian head, he¡¯d checked himself over then launched into the sky. Heading North, he realized by the position of the sun, that not much time had passed. Still, it took him five hours to get back to the mountain range, if it could be called that anymore. The Mountain peak that the tower had rested on was gone in a one-mile radius leaving the remnants of a perfect sphere. Also, the trees near the mountains were devoid of all leaves and needles and even the village to the southwest seemed to have been hit. Looking more closely he saw that a magic-user or cleric of some sort had been able to protect the village with a barrier. He flew around for the next hour waiting for Xsitant to contact him. While he was waiting he looked over the destruction wrought and knew that something had gone catastrophically wrong. The death toll numbered in the thousands of creatures. In fact, it looked like a Mountain Giant had fallen from on high and been impaled in one of the larger trees. Remarkably it was still alive. Grasar was hungry and Xsitant was taking his time, wherever he was. There should be just enough time for a nice snack. It wasn¡¯t often that he didn¡¯t have to incinerate his food. Additionally, this meal would be large enough that he¡¯d get to enjoy it. As He landed and began his feast he hoped Xsitant wouldn¡¯t be getting back too soon.
Chapter 55, When Gods Tremble
(Day 178) Aprilis 23rd, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
Raphael hurried into the observation room of the God¡¯s domain, stepped forward, and bowed, ¡°Master, I have news!¡± he said with some trepidation.
¡°Let¡¯s hear it,¡± the God said.
¡°Michael has reported that Chaos has been utilized to destroy Johnathan¡¯s Place of Power. Unknown to the residents of that Universe a recently created nexus of all eight primal spheres of power has been ripped asunder by chaos. The explosion within the Universe was catastrophic. That is of little or no concern. What is concerning is that the very fabric of the Universe at that nexus has punched a hole through the membrane of the Universe and is leaking into chaos.¡±
¡°And this is important why?¡± the God asked.
¡°It would seem that the abattoir no longer holds the ancient enemies'' interest and it is now making its way towards that leak as if it can sense it.
¡°How long until it reaches the leak?¡± the God asked.
¡°As you know our two universes are pretty close in this region of chaos. Should nothing else divert the enemy''s attention, a couple of years at most?¡±
The God looked to Raphael then focused his will and sent a summons, ¡°Lady Serena, Archangel Michael, I require your attendance.¡±
Almost immediately two golden portals opened. Archangel Michael and the Goddess Serena stepped out they were treated to a sight of the cosmos displayed before them. They seemed to be in a room floating in space that was gradually turning to allow anyone that stood before the giant window their summoner stood in front of to look out and see into infinity itself.
Michael bowed and Serena nodded her head in deference to the Gods power within his domain.
Thank you for coming. ¡°Lady Serena, Raphael has brought me disturbing news concerning your Universe. I thought that I should share this with you so that you might prepare the other divines in your realm. It would seem that our ancient enemy has grown weary of the abattoir and is making its way to your Universe.¡±
¡°If I might ask, what has caused this change after so long?¡±
¡°As I¡¯m sure you know, being the Goddess of Knowledge, your cleric Adamantadine¡¯s Place of Power was attacked and destroyed¡± What you may not know is the mage that made that attack used a forbidden spell to do so, ¡°Summon Chaos.¡±
Michael winced and the Goddess Serena paled. Serena composed herself quickly and then asked, ¡°What has happened?¡±
The God paused before continuing, ¡°A couple of things. First, the ancient enemy that has been lured to the abattoir is moving towards your Universe. You will need to share this knowledge with your fellow divines so that they might prepare. As you know the only way to survive an all-out attack is to flee. Second, the ancient enemy is being drawn towards your Universe because the spell punched a hole through the membrane of your reality at a nexus point of eight spheres of power. Had it only been one or two of the primal spheres leaking into the realm of Chaos it might have ignored the leaks for the plentiful bounty of souls that have been provided to it. Eight primal elements, it seems, is too large a bounty to pass up.¡±
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¡°But there has been no effect at the site of the explosion?¡± she asked questioningly.
¡°Correct, but there is a leak. When the ancient enemy arrives the weak point in the fabric of your Universe will be the point it attacks first. That might keep its attention for a while but as you know a leak from ley lines can have disastrous consequences. As the magic is siphoned out of your Universe magic will begin to fail and that effect will spread. When the powers that hold your universe together reach a critical point the barrier that protects your Universe and all the realms within will pop and chaos will flood in.¡±
¡°It seems that we have our work cut out for us. How long do we have before the ancient enemy arrives?¡± Serena said.
The God paused for a minute then looked thoughtful as he spoke, ¡°As your Universe is one of the closer ones to the Abattoir, no more than three years, probably less. After that, how long it will take the ancient enemy to destroy the membrane of your Universe will depend on how fast it feeds. It hasn¡¯t had a bounty as rich and flavorful as this as far back as I can remember and that is a very long time. After that, the area of the leak will begin to decay as all the primal forces are sucked out in an ever-expanding circle. It could take its time or it could feed quickly, there is no way to know. I would count on two years to find a way to finally defeat the ancient enemy or begin the evacuation process.¡±
¡°Understood, is there anything else I need to know¡± the goddess Serena asked.
¡°The final thing you should know is that Adamantadine survived. As Michael left the Tower one of the gifts he was given converted his Place of Power into a Pocket Universe. I have detected his portal use to that pocket Universe but do not know its location. It does not seem to be within the bounds of the Multi-verse.¡± The God wriggled his hands then continued ¡°It would seem that after all this time, even I can be surprised. It would also seem that there is a power at play that even I do not know about yet. This could be both a good and bad thing. Good in that we might be getting help with our ancient enemy. Bad in that the status quo that has existed amongst the eldest of us may be disturbed. An event that hasn¡¯t happened since well before your universe came into existence,¡± the God said thoughtfully then finished, ¡°this Adamantadine may be more important than we know.¡±
The Goddess Serena looked thoughtful then said, ¡°I will pass on what you have said and begin preparations for evacuation. As you know there is almost no way to save everyone, but we will try. One of the primary issues we will face is of course disbelief by the divines themselves. Not many of them will believe that there is an Ancient Enemy that can destroy them so easily. By your leave, I would like Michael¡¯s assistance when required?¡±
¡°You will have it.¡± the God stated decisively as he looked at Michael, who nodded.
¡°Then I believe I will be on my way unless there is something else?¡±
The God waved his hand and both the Goddess Serena and Michael vanished.
¡°My Lord, what would you have of me? ¡°Raphael asked.
¡°Continue doing as you always do. Also, reset the eye for Abattoir. It would seem that the souls there may once again pass on. There is no need for them to be flung endlessly into chaos.¡± the God stated.
¡°As you will,¡± Raphael stated as he turned and left the observation room.
The God wondered where Adamantadine¡¯s Tower had ended up then realized that one of the questions he¡¯d always had might have just been answered. After so long, to know that there was something else beyond the Eye besides Oblivion. The God smiled.
Chapter 56, Taking Care of Buisness
(Day 178) Aprilis 23rd, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
While Adam waited for Adaline to finish flying around the vault, Thor and he discussed the nature of singularities at machine speed.
¡°While you¡¯ve been busy,¡± Thor started, ¡°I began trying to send nanites into black holes. Each time I did they ceased to exist. As we both know the nanites should withstand any environment at this point. Being smaller than subatomic particles, and existing within the ¡°quantum realm¡± for lack of a better term. There, for the most part, they are not affected by gravity, pressure, heat, or cold.¡±
¡°That¡¯s because the laws of physics do not account for the internal structure of a singularity,¡± Adam said.
¡°True,¡± Thor answered and then continued ¡°Additionally, we have the problem of getting information passed the event horizon. I did come up with a temporary solution which led to the same results. I created a small asteroid far outside any known system and set up one of our portal structures. I then created a second one exactly one light-second away from the first. Then I opened a portal into The Unicorn black hole directly beneath the event horizon where nanites were being fed into the black hole by another portal safely outside of the event horizon. As I expected I was able to analyze the nanites as they crossed the threshold. Normally I would have expected a stream of nanites being sucked towards the singularity point behind the portal, or through the portal. Instead, the nanites were dissolving immediately after crossing the event horizon. Also, the gravity of the singularity inverted the first asteroid I¡¯d created, and the portal failed. The second asteroid performed its function, and the information of the analysis was recorded. It would seem the idea of a lensing effect described through wormholes in one of your favorite Sci-Fi television shows was correct. Had I not taken precautions that lensing effect could have piggybacked all the way back to here.¡±
¡°So, what have you figured out?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Currently I am recreating the first asteroid. It should be up and running in the next couple of seconds. Now that your nanite conversion ability will work on magical creatures within 500 feet, I propose to place you on the second asteroid near the breakaway portal. Through both portals, you should be less than 500 feet from the point at which the nanites entering the event horizon are. This should allow us to see if my hypothesis is correct.¡±
¡°Which is?¡± Adam asked though he thought he knew the answer.
¡°That the singularities are drawing in and holding magic. Acting as a kind of energy sink for magic, except on a galactic scale.¡±
Adam paused for a moment, thought about it, then said, ¡°That would make sense. Get everything set up. Once Adaline gets back, I can see her flying this way, we¡¯ll head back into the tower and then I¡¯ll port over to the second asteroid. If your Hypothesis is correct that means that the black holes are artificial constructs and as such, they can be removed and or replaced. Maybe return magic to our Universe.¡±
¡°You do realize that if you, or we, decide to do that you will no longer have complete control over anyone that is not within the radius of your ability correct?¡±
¡°I do, the wonders I¡¯ve seen in just the last couple of months should be shared, not hidden away from everyone,¡± Adam said.
¡°I concede to your point,¡± Thor said.
¡°Thor, it¡¯s not about conceding. For all intents and purposes, you and I are one now. We are us, which sounds really stupid if you say it out loud.¡± This forced Adam to pause for a moment before hurriedly continuing, ¡°Nevertheless, we are bonded for life and now you will always be aware of everything I am doing wherever I am.¡±
Adam waited until Adaline landed and switched to her Dark Elf form before she walked up to him, ¡°How was your flight?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Intoxicating, There is so much room here. It¡¯s not like flying over the open fields or mountain ranges but there is definitely enough space to let loose and play a little.¡± She said.
¡°I¡¯m glad you like it,¡± Adam said as he checked his personal interface and set permission for Adaline to access the vault whenever she wanted. ¡°There you go, feel free to come in here and let loose whenever you want,¡± he said with a smile.
¡°Thank you, Adam, you are so good to me.¡± She said.
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¡°What are your plans for right now?¡± Adam asked.
¡°First, I think I¡¯m going to go jump in the pool and rinse off. Then, I¡¯m going to lounge in the hot tub. Care to join me, she asked teasingly.
¡°There is nothing that I¡¯d rather do.¡± He said earnestly. ¡°However, I need to help Thor with something first. Mind if I join you in say 20 minutes or so?¡±
¡°That would be perfect,¡± Adaline said with a mischievous hint to her voice. ¡°I¡¯ll see you in a few,¡± she said as she summoned a portal to the entryway and left.
Adam set his nanites to self-preservation and defense then stepped through to the second asteroid. He found himself standing on a very simple platform with no walls.
¡°Where is the portal machinery?¡± Adam asked Thor.
¡°Not on this asteroid. I thought it better to place the portal machinery outside the possible effect of a lensed gravity well or the event horizon,¡± Thor answered.
¡°Good idea. How long until we get this party started?¡± Adam asked.
¡°First things first,¡± Thor said as he had nanites convert the area Adam was standing to tungsten as well as surround him in a body-fitted tungsten coffin. The idea was to hold him in place and protect him from any forces that might try to pull him toward the portal.
¡°Thor, to be on the safe side I¡¯ll make gravity for myself opposite where the portal is. That should negate or at least limit any gravitic effect that makes it through the second portal before it¡¯s shut down,¡± Adam said as he activated his ability Gravity is that Way to make the down direction for himself away from the portal.
Once all the preparations were done. Thor opened both portals. As he¡¯d surmised the two portals allowed Adams 500¡¯ radius for his ability Nanite Conversion to reach into the singularity¡¯s gravity well below the event horizon. As it did so the nanites passing the event horizon ceased disappearing and Thor was able to analyze the environment directly above the singularity. In a picosecond, Thor had his answers and shut down all portals around the Unicorn Singularity.
As the Tungsten coffin released Adam, Thor shared, ¡°As I suspected. The entire inside of the singularity is very similar to the readings I have taken from your Place of Power, the Dungeon, and the other Universe. I believe if you are ever able to withstand extreme gravity as you can withstand pressure, cold, and heat we may be able to explore singularities further.
Adam was thoughtful for a moment then said. Knowing that magic exists within the event horizon it is possible that the source of the gravity is in fact a magical artifact. It could also just be mass as we¡¯ve theorized which imploded in on itself. We won¡¯t know without more study.
¡°As you say, nothing we can do about it now. Continue with our current expansion plan and let me know if anything is changed. Before I head off. How is Desirae doing?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Desirae is learning as much as she can. Once she learned about our Universe and understood that I could do everything you said I could she accepted her lot and has been a model prisoner ever since. On occasion, I¡¯ve even allowed her to visit Earth II and mingle with those who decided to stay with the tacit understanding that if she harmed anyone I¡¯d remove both her legs for a year. I have not allowed her near anyone of import though. Amanda and Abi are never where she is. Lately, she¡¯s focused on learning firearms. She seems to like handguns and small submachine guns. With her reflexes, she would be quite deadly with either. Also, as you no doubt noticed when we shared our minds, I have detected strong gravitic disturbances 50,000 light-years from Earth. They do not seem to be moving so I have not sped up my expansion in that direction. I have been working on ways to prevent ships from entering our sphere of control. Doing so without destroying the targets is problematic. I can do so, it just wouldn¡¯t be good for the ship, As an example. Opening a portal directly in front of a ship traveling at faster than light speed and forcing it to remain stationary instead of staying relative to the target''s motion. Such portals would core a ship and that mass, wherever it came out the other side of the portal would cause one hell of an explosion. Of course, that is what black holes are for.¡± Thor said.
¡°Keep up the good work Thor. Also, do not hesitate to use such measures against hostile threats to our planet. We might be linked but your response time is faster than mine unless we¡¯re melded. Keep humanity safe then talk to me about it later.¡± Adam said.
¡°Of course,¡± Thor replied.
¡°Now if we¡¯re done I¡¯m going to bid you a good day and take a break for a little while,¡± Adam said as he withdrew from the mental link and dropped away from Thor¡¯s mental speed. Once he was on his own he had a portal form that led to one of the rooms used for exploration back on Earth that was in a constant state of Vacuum. Making his way through the airlock he then had a portal take him back to his entryway at his tower and headed downstairs to the pool room.
Adaline was once again nude swimming lazily back and forth in the pool. She came to a stop in the shallow end and stood, her magnificence clear for all to see. Raising her hand, she beckoned for Adam to join her as she walked over to the hot tub and lowered herself into it. Once she was comfortable she asked, ¡°All caught up?¡±
His mouth dry, which his nanites automatically adjusted for, he replied, ¡°For now, there will always be more to do.¡±
¡°Of course, there will,¡± she said as she again motioned for him to join her in the hot tub. Adam considered every possible bad outcome that could happen if he let his feeling rule him then as many men have done throughout the ages thought ¡°Fuck it¡± as he walked toward the hot tub. His nanites disassembled his normal clothing and dropped anything that was magical to the floor as he walked into the hot tub letting the water come up to his waist. Adaline rose to meet him, and they embraced in a long, sensuous kiss.
Pulling back just a bit Adaline playfully said ¡°Took you long enough¡± as she embraced him again and they lost themselves to their passions.
Chapter 57, Where is He?
(Day 179) Aprilis 24th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
¡°It would seem that our problems to the north have come to an end,¡± the Council Member known as Trajan stated matter-of-factly.
¡°There is no way to know if that is true,¡± a second Council member by the name of Urban stated.
A third Council Member, Seneca, one of the eldest among them stated, ¡°I have scried the location. There is nothing there. Literally nothing there. For a one-mile radius around the tower''s location, the mountain is gone. It¡¯s as if someone scooped the tower and nearby surroundings right off the mountain.¡±
A fourth Council Member by the name of Lucan cut in, ¡°Not to mention the devastation in the surrounding area. The forest was destroyed up to five miles away and the explosion was felt almost 100 miles away. Our spies report that the only reason anyone survived in Village by the River is that the Elders there were able to erect a shield in time. A cleric of Serena resides there, her goddess must have warned her of the impending destruction, knowledge being one of her realms of interest.
¡°Yes, Yes,¡± an irritated, heavily set, man by the name of Pliny said before pausing and continuing, ¡°The Tower is gone, that¡¯s all well and good. We know that Grasar, Xsitant¡¯s red dragon survived. Where is he? Also, did this Adamantadine survive?¡±
Eyes turned to one of the only two women at the table, ¡°I have no input to give. I thought it was a very bad idea to hire Xsitant, you all know that. We do not know if the target was in the tower, all we know is that the target hasn¡¯t been seen in two days,¡± Vibia said.
¡°It matters not,¡± Furia, the Leader of the Council declared. ¡°Our spies have informed us that the new king is guarded by another cleric of Serena and the captain of the guard without fail. The two assassination attempts that have been made have both failed and both assassins have been fed to the Dungeon. It seems that King Tavor doesn¡¯t have much taste for Assassins. Of course, Desirae¡¯s team did kill his wife and child, so the sentiment is quite understandable. Besides, that is not what concerns me. What concerns me is that by all reports this Adamantadine seemed to be able to perform acts of divinity without the restrictions normally in place for the divine. For this reason, the Kingdom will remain on high alert, and we must remain vigilant. After we are done here I plan to return to my chambers and commune with my God. I will discover one way or another if Adamantadine is a threat to us or not.¡±
The Council of Seven rose, nodded to each other, and departed. Furia turned to leave and noted the Vizier waiting outside her entry point.
¡°Council Member,¡± the Vizier started but was cut off as Furia asked.
¡°What have you discovered?¡±
¡°As you know I traveled to the mountain and performed a scrying of the events that took place. Xsitant teleported to the roof of the tower and released something from his belt which traveled down to the door and then returned to his belt. He nodded to himself then cast a rune and a spell inside that rune that I am unfamiliar with. Xsitant teleported back to Grasar, and they flew south. When the spell went off the entire mountain vanished, and an explosion ensued. I traced Xsitant and Grasar over the forest to the south where Xsitant cast a shield that I am unfamiliar with. As I have seen all eight primal shields it must have been one of the higher energies or a combination of some sort. As the wave of destruction hit the shield it did protect both the dragon and the mage, however, the mage vanished as the dragon was thrown even farther south than he¡¯d been able to get.¡±
¡°How far exactly?¡± Furia asked.
¡°A couple of hundred miles at least,¡± the Vizier stated as if that was reasonable.
¡°A couple of hundred miles? From the mountain to a couple of hundred miles south of the mountain in no time at all?¡± Furia asked rhetorically.
¡°The Vizier recognizing that no answer was requested remained silent.¡±
¡°So, at the very least we know someone was in the tower before he cast the spell?¡± she asked.
¡°It would seem so.¡±
¡°Good, then our problems may have been solved. Continue looking for Xsitant. If he cast a spell from one of the higher energies and it reacted poorly to the blast he could be anywhere.¡± She paused for a moment then continued. ¡°If the shield was from the sphere of time he could be any ¡®when¡¯. See if we have anyone that studies time that can at least cast spells that can detect their usage then take them out to the point where the shield was cast. If it was a time shield we may yet hear from Xsitant. If it was any of the other higher energies, we will be lucky if anyone ever hears from Xsitant again,¡± very obviously dismissing the Vizier with a wave of her hand.
¡°As you command Council Leader,¡± the Vizier stated before turning and leaving.
Furia knew that the Vizier was useful but sometimes his groveling was oppressive. Moments later Furia had put the Vizier out of her mind as she returned to her quarters. She locked her door and then made her way over to her small shrine to the God of Destruction, Feazure.
Kneeling, she cleared her mind and communed with her god.
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¡°Furia, what destruction do you seek this day?¡± her God whispered into her mind.
¡°My Lord, two days ago a tower to the north in the mountains was destroyed by one of your acolytes, Xsitant,¡± before she could continue the god whispered into her mind.
¡°Yesss¡±
¡°My Lord, was anyone killed in the tower.¡±
¡°You seek knowledge of the trespasser Adam?¡±
¡°Yes, my Lord¡±
¡°Adam is no longer on this world.¡± The god hissed.
¡°Thank you, my Lord¡±
Ending the communion Furia rose from her kneeling position. She thought about the way her God had answered, ¡°No Longer on this world.¡± He hadn¡¯t said he was dead though. Furia would continue to respond as if this Adam was still a threat to the council and prepare. The military would get some much-needed training in preparation for the assault on Venoran that she would order in the near future.
Unknown to Furia, The God Feazure had indeed worded his response both as a test and an answer. He was glad to see his cleric had passed the test and understood the message. If the little bit that Feazure had seen of Adam¡¯s handiwork with the assassins was any indicator, his purpose was about to be served. The question was, where was Adam? He was no longer on this world or in this Universe as far as Feazure could determine.
Additionally, Serena had been called away by the only god left in the Abattoir, one of the oldest Gods in fact. When she returned he¡¯d seek her out. While the gods did play their games he had found over the millennia that being personable to one''s allies and foes in this game of divinity more often helped than hindered. The purpose he had chosen, destruction, was just as often accidental as intentional. It was always good to make friends with those who could further his purpose.
Knowledge and Learning were two Divines he liked working with. Mages that cast the wrong spell or blew themselves and others to bits, served his purpose. Just like Xsitant had just done, though using chaos? When that idiot returned from wherever he¡¯d gone Feazure was of a mind to let his wrath be known. Of course, his purpose had been served and served well. Punishing such an agent of destruction as this mage had been, could hurt him. Putting it out of his mind, Feazure looked for others that also served his purpose.
***
The Vizier made his way from the inner sanctum of the Council to the Mages Academy. He passed various functionaries Walking directly into the headmaster''s chambers without preamble and demanded the location of the closest mage with the ability to detect or analyze spells from the school of time. After waiting for a couple of minutes two men teleported into the room he¡¯d been waiting in.
¡°Vizier may I present acolyte Zoie,¡± an elder, whose name escaped the Vizier at the moment said.
¡°Thank you, acolyte Zoie attend me,¡± he commanded. Not waiting to see if the acolyte would follow, the Vizier turned and left the room. Once they were in the hallway the Vizier cast spells on each of them that would allow them to fly and teleported to the mountain where Adamantadine¡¯s Tower had been. As they hovered, he got his bearings and cast a spell of remembrance that replayed the events of two days ago for both of them. As they surveyed the area, they followed the apparition of Grasar as he flew in close and Xsitant teleported to the tower. Then back before they turned south. They followed until Xsitant cast the shield spell and he stopped the playback as he turned to Zoie, ¡°Acolyte Zoie, I need to know what spell that is. The events happened two days ago. Can you determine this for me?¡± The Vizier asked.
The acolyte stated flatly, ¡°Yes,¡± then began casting a spell. Moments later Acolyte Zoie was done and turned back to the Vizier, ¡°The spell cast was one called ¡°Time¡¯s Shield.¡± Immediately after the shield was cast a wave of energy impacted upon it containing trace elements of chaos which changed its properties. After analyzing the residual traces, it was easy to determine that the mage we both saw cast the spell was hurled into the future.
¡°How far into the future?¡± The Vizier asked.
Zoie contemplated for a few seconds to determine the best way to explain then tried, ¡°The mage has traveled forward in time much further than I am able to determine. If he had traveled up to 1,000 years into the future I could give you an answer. He has traveled much further than that. As a time mage, he may be able to make his way back but every second he has been gone may make that impossible.¡±
¡°Explain,¡± the vizier commanded.
¡°Travel through time is of course possible. Moving forward is easy. The future is unwritten from our point of view so it would require less energy. Also, time moves forward naturally. Moving backward, however, becomes harder and harder the further back you wish to go. If he¡¯d tried to come back the moment he¡¯d arrived it might have been possible. If it is possible to return, as a rule of thumb, a mage who studies time could travel back in time up to one day per skill level in time magic.
The Vizier looked as if to say something about explaining better, then asked, ¡°If he can only travel back one day per level how is he going to travel back over 1,000 years?¡±
The acolyte hurriedly continued, ¡°The answer is his perceptive time, so long as there haven¡¯t been major changes, or he crosses a time nexus¡¡±
¡°Time nexus?¡± the Vizier asked cutting the acolyte off.
¡°A time nexus is a point in time which is almost impossible to travel back through. That¡¯s why I ¡®might¡¯ be able to come back. Anyone who can travel through time can go forward across a time nexus. None, save maybe the divines can travel backward across a time nexus. Most mages limit their forays into time to short hops so any inability to return does not keep them away for too long. And of course, if they travel back in time they can always return to their starting point.
¡°So, he might not be able to come back to this time because he¡¯s blocked by one of these time nexus?¡±
Exactly, I should also point out that the other reason mages do not travel into the far future is that even if there were no time nexus between now and one million years from now. Every second the mage is at that future point there is a chance a nexus formed somewhere in that million-year time period. The longer he is there, the higher the probability. The mage we are discussing has been thrust, as far as I can determine many times 1,000 years into the future. It has now been two days since the event. The odds are very low that not a single time nexus has formed sometime along the timeline within the last two days.
The vizier nodded. teleported both of them back to Crownport and said,
¡°I thank you for your service to the Council. You are to speak of this to no one. I will inform the Council myself if it becomes necessary.
¡°As you will Vizier, ¡°the acolyte said.
The Vizier nodded, turned, and made his way back to his quarters. How to tell the council that one of their most powerful tools was most likely gone for the foreseeable future? Obviously, this was one of those instances where the Council would think ¡®No News is Good News.¡¯ The Vizier smiled as he walked. He¡¯d always thought Xsitant was a little too dangerous for the Council to bargain with. Now it looked like he need not have worried.
Chapter 58, Moving In
(Day 180) Aprilis 24th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
Adam chewed his breakfast as he stared into Adaline''s eyes. With a smile on his face, he asked, ¡°What are your plans for today?¡±
¡°Well, I had thought to check the location of the tower and also thought about moving my hoard into the Vault, if that is okay with you. I would ask for a simple agreement that my treasure remains mine.¡±
He looked at her with false hurt in his eyes.
¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that. Logically I know that you could replace everything in the hoard if you wished, it¡¯s a dragon thing. We get a bit testy when creatures touch our stuff.¡±
Adam laughed, ¡°Fine, what¡¯s yours is yours and yes you can store your hoard in the vault, it won¡¯t take up the entire 18 square miles will it.?¡±
¡°No,¡± she said indignantly. It shouldn¡¯t take up more than 1,000 square feet.¡±
¡°Sound¡¯s good. If you¡¯d like I could scan your cave and make an exact duplicate of the area in the vault. Wouldn¡¯t be hard at all and would make it seem a little more like home?¡±
¡°That sounds good. Let¡¯s finish breakfast then go. You can ride me while I fly from your tower¡¯s location to my cave.¡±
¡°You can ride me,¡± he started then grinned as he said, ¡°Well if you insist.¡±
She threw a biscuit in his general direction, purposely aiming off to the side of him then said, ¡°I will have you know that as soon as this vow is over I am a very aggressive female. I will explore the extent of your physical endurance to biscuits when you get sassy.¡±
¡°I look forward to it,¡± he responded as they both laughed.
They finished breakfast and headed to the entryway. ¡°When Thor was checking out his ability to open portals, the portal he opened into the library, the first location I entered your universe at, opened into the sky. I¡¯m going to open our portal about 70 miles west of the tower''s location so we can fly up and get the lay of the land and check on everything. From there you¡¯ll be able to switch into your dragon form and we can ride over there together. I¡¯ll have the nanites make us headsets so that we can talk to each other without screaming to be heard.¡±
¡°I can¡¯t wait. The toys you can make with your nanites are interesting.¡±
¡°Truly, you haven¡¯t seen anything yet. If you can stay in your high elf form in a nonmagical environment, we might have to go back to my planet, and I¡¯ll show you all the technology you¡¯re missing. Of course, it would be interesting to see if you could fly in your Dragon form there as well. Of course, most people would be scared to death. Eventually, I¡¯m going to have to let the people of my world know that magic exists and mythical creatures are real.
Adam opened a portal, and they stepped out onto the campsite where he¡¯d met the hill giants Dob and Zar. Adam scanned the area. There were no predators or dangers of any kind. He jumped into the air as Adaline transformed into her new Umbral Dragon form. She wasn¡¯t quite a black dragon anymore. Her coloring highlighted the tips of her wings and the ridges on her head which appeared to be constantly lit as if in the moonlight. In this early morning light, she was stunning. in twilight or the light of the night sky, she would be gorgeous. As he admired her new dragon form she circled around and leveled off. He jumped to the middle of her back just ahead of her wings and had his nanites create a form-fitting harness that would allow him to stand on her back like the stuntmen on the biplanes of old from his world. As they headed west toward the tower''s previous location, she rose higher and higher into the early morning until they were just under the few clouds that were present. It took a minute or two as he worked with Thor back on Earth to create an earpiece and microphone that would fit her and work. Eventually, though they had success as he asked, ¡°Can you hear me now?¡±
¡°I¡¯ve been able to hear you for the last two minutes. It was your mi-crow-fa-own that wasn¡¯t working¡± she said.
¡°Yep it''s working, thanks Thor,¡± he said so Adaline could hear his response to Thor as they released their mental sync and each focused on their own universe. ¡°Very good Adaline, seen anything interesting while I¡¯ve been working on communication gear?¡±
¡°Nope though if you look down to your left you can see where trees have blown over. It looks like something happened to push the trees toward the village you stayed at.¡±
Alarmed, he created some binoculars and surveyed the area. Adaline was right it looked like the trees and had been bent towards the village from the general direction of his tower¡¯s direction to the northwest of the village. As they flew west the damage became more pronounced until they were five miles out. Then the landscape of the mountains to the north were either flattened or scoured clear of snow as if something had hit them with a sandblaster. Also, the forest was gone. Even the grass and bushes were gone. Only bare dirt and rock could be seen.
¡°Stay this far away from the tower''s location and fly in a giant circle around the tower,¡± he said.
¡°Okay.¡±
As they flew around the tower at a distance of five miles to a point just south and east of the cliff face they noticed that a sphere, not unlike the geography of his pocket dimension, seemed to have removed the tower, and the mountain. The area looked to be smaller than his one-mile radius though. As they continued their circular trip from five miles out from the location of the catastrophe, Adam had his nanites look for radiation of any kind. The readings remained normal.
When they made it all the way back to the southernmost point of the damage Adam said, ¡°I¡¯m going to go take a closer look. If something happens to me Thor will open a portal back to the Tower on the ground below us. Well, get your hoard transfer set up as soon as I¡¯m up and about again.¡±
¡°What do you think will happen?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°I have no idea,¡± he said truthfully. ¡°Just stay in this area and keep an eye on me. I shouldn¡¯t be gone too long.¡± With that, the nanites released him and he flew toward where his tower used to be. As he came closer to the tower''s location he started paying attention and triangulating the blast patterns he saw. very soon he noticed that the center looked to be the roof of the tower, which meant that some external force was at play. Staying at least 100¡¯ away from the center point of the explosion he had his nanites survey the whole area.
A couple of the nanites found something that was subatomic that he¡¯d never encountered before. They were reporting that it seemed to be a hole of some sort. It was too small for air molecules to pass through, yet it was an opening to somewhere. He sent one nanite through the hole and recorded all the sensory data that it sent back. The data it sent back made no sense. As far as the nanite was concerned it had been flung into a hyper-viscous fluid of some sort where atoms of all kinds both existed and ceased to exist within a picosecond.
The ¡°fluid¡± was constantly shifting and wouldn¡¯t stabilize. The quantum entanglement remained but the nanite was useless as a point of reference for a portal. Adam had Thor take over monitoring the environment of that nanite and brought his attention back to his current location. As far as he could tell a non-nuclear explosion had occurred in his Place of Power that had devastated the local surroundings.
Adam double-checked for radiation fallout. Finding none, he went back to Adaline and had her fly them to the village. As they flew over, Adam dropped off her back and floated to the ground. The guards had noticed the dragon and saw him drop off. As he came into range a single arrow was shot at him which he caught and held in his hand. After which he heard Raz yell, ¡°Hold your fire, it¡¯s Adam.¡±
Adam adjusted his course and landed next to Raz, ¡°I¡¯m glad to see you are okay my friend. What has happened?
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¡°I was going to ask you the same thing. The Elders tried to contact you two days ago when Elder Jasilla was warned of calamity by her Goddess. Even with her shielding the village still took some damage. When you didn¡¯t answer the elder communed with her goddess and learned that you were no longer in the Universe. We all thought the worst.¡±
¡°I¡¯m touched Raz, truly I am, but you know that I am from another Universe, and I can come and go there as I please now. A recent change, in fact, it happened right about the time this explosion did.¡± He paused for a moment then asked, ¡°By the way, does anyone know what happened.¡±
¡°Truthfully, no. However, some of the scouts who made it back right before the explosion reported seeing a red dragon off to the west flying near your tower the day before. Any that might have witnessed what happened that was in that area of the woods have not been heard from,¡± Raz told him.
¡°I surveyed the damage, if they were near enough to the blast that could affect the village over 60 miles away, you probably won''t be hearing from them anytime soon, if ever again,¡± Adam said regrettably.
Raz nodded before he said, ¡°We best be getting you to see the elders. Is your dragon friend going to land?¡±
¡°Yes, to meeting with the elders. No, to Adaline landing. I¡¯m only going to be here for a few minutes then we must be off again.¡±
¡°Okay, this way,¡± Raz said as he led Adam to where the elders were helping others rebuild a structure that had been damaged. Adam noticed that everyone was working on rebuilding the town. Searching his memory, he recalled every little detail of the building they were working on as well as the layout of the village. As they approached Elder Jasilla stood and turned.
¡°Peace be unto Adam. It is good to see that you survived whatever happened to your Place of Power.¡± Elder Jasilla said.
¡°Peace be unto you as well. Our Goddess had not informed me that you might need assistance. Of course, I may have been beyond her reach for a bit.¡±
¡°Doubtful Adam, Knowledge and the ability to learn is Universal.¡±
Adam thought about that for a moment then considered what he¡¯d been doing for the last two days. If his nanites had not detected and compensated for the blood rushing to his face he would have blushed a crimson red. ¡°It would seem that our Goddess is most generous,¡± he said as a warmth embraced him and a whisper from the Goddess entered his mind, When you get back to your Place of Power contact me, we have much to discuss.
¡°It would seem our Goddess is indeed generous,¡± Adam said hurriedly as he looked thoughtful for a moment then said, ¡°Elder Jasilla, would you like me to help repair the village? I could perhaps save the people days. I can do nothing for the plant life but I can help rebuild and repair the structures already here?¡± Adam asked.
¡°If you can, that would be wonderful. We need places to sleep and we must still replant all the crops that were lost.¡±
¡°Then I¡¯ll get to work.¡± Raising his voice, Adam called out. ¡°Everyone, step away from the buildings for a moment this won¡¯t take long.¡±
Adam expanded his nanite field to its maximum range and walked slowly from one end of the village to the other. Using his memory of the village, he had the nanites rebuild or repair any structure that he¡¯d seen before. He couldn¡¯t replace things he hadn¡¯t seen but he was able to repair and replace every single building. He had to make three passes, but he was able to repair all the structures of the village. After only ten minutes, he was done.
As Adam made his way over to Elder Jasilla he recalled his nanites as she called, ¡°Truly amazing Adam. Thank you. Are you sure you must be going?¡±
¡°As I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve noticed there is an Umbral Dragon above us. She¡¯s been circling patiently for the last ten minutes but I¡¯m sure if I don¡¯t attend to her needs soon I¡¯m never going to hear the end of it.¡±
¡°Perhaps, when you are not busy you will introduce us?¡± she asked.
¡°Perhaps, but for now I must bid you a good day,¡± Adam said as he used his gravity-based ability to rise into the air to Adaline¡¯s. Once he was there he used cloud running to run back to her back and reformed their earpieces and mics and harness to hold him in place as she turned to the North and flew towards the mountain.
¡°That was nice of you Adam?¡±
¡°Well, Jasilla is a fellow cleric of Serena. Helping her truly does help myself. Also, she said she¡¯d like to meet you.¡±
¡°Perhaps, today though, I need to move my hoard,¡± she said as she flew over the cliff and then headed towards one of the peaks to the northeast of the tower. Adam realized that the peak she was heading toward was behind a higher peak which would have obscured it from his vision when he was at his Place of Power unless he¡¯d gone exploring in that direction. It looked to be only 10 miles away from the tower¡¯s original location in a straight line. If someone had to travel to it by land though that would have taken a day at least. Halfway up the mountain, there was a cliff face that had a tunnel hidden from view behind a sheet of ice. It looked like her lair had been shielded from the full brunt of the blast though cracked ice lay here and there all around the entranceway.
Adaline landed as Adam hopped down to the ground expanding his nanites to their maximum range again. As he entered the lair he made sure to have the nanites leave the treasure alone. As he analyzed the cave and the mountain he had Thor open portals into the vault and provide the mass the nanites there would need to recreate the mountain and her layer exactly. He accessed his interface and adjusted the vault¡¯s settings to mirror the location of the mountain. Once that was done he had the nanites build her mountain along the edge and then made an impassible cliff a half-mile out from the mountain. The only way to get to her lair would be to fly over the half-mile-high smooth rockface.
As Adam walked around the lair he had the nanites analyze and record the structure of the mountain and Adaline¡¯s lair. While he walked around Adaline switched to her High Elf form and watched him. When he was done he came back over to her, ¡°All done, we need to wait about another 30 seconds then we can head to the vault.¡±
¡°Why do we need to wait, I thought we were going to move it into the vault and then make the lair after?¡± she asked.
¡°Adaline, you¡¯ve seen how fast my nanites can construct something right? Well, now that Thor and I can communicate I can pull on nanites from my home universe. Things will happen a lot faster now,¡± he explained.
¡°Oh,¡± she said.
Adam had Thor open a portal for him with an exit to another portal that opened into the center of the vault aimed at the cliff and mountain behind it in the distance. As Adaline peered through the portal he said, ¡°Go on, fly on over and check out your new lair. I¡¯ll keep track of you. When you¡¯re inside, I¡¯ll shift the exit point so all you¡¯ll need to do is carry your treasure from this cave to the cave in that mountain over there with a couple of steps. You¡¯ll be able to set it up just how you like.¡±
Adaline ran through the portal and jumped up as she changed into her dragon form and flew to the mountain. He watched as she flew around the circumference of the cliff that her mountain was resting on then landed on the entrance to her cave. Watching her through the nanites he noticed how she looked around in wonder as she sniffed the air. She even went over to one area that looked like it had worn down a bit and provided her a place to rest in her dragon form. Once she was satisfied she transformed into her high elf form and walked over to where her hoard should be. Adam shifted the portal and stepped through as he asked, ¡°What do you think?¡±
Adaline jumped forward and gave him a long lingering kiss. As she pulled back and stepped away, ¡°I really like it.¡±
¡°I can tell. Maybe we can continue that thought later but for now, I need to head back to the entryway to the tower and commune with my Goddess. She contacted me earlier. It seems we have a bit to discuss. I might even learn what happened to the mountain. Will you be okay moving your hoard on your own?¡± he asked.
¡°I will be fine, how will I let you know when I¡¯m done?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°Well, you see, I have flooded the area with nanites. I haven¡¯t flooded you with them yet, because I do not know if it''s even possible, plus I never asked. Anyway, while you¡¯re here both Thor and I can keep track of you. This portal will stay open until you¡¯re done then just ask Me, or Thor to open a portal to the tower for you. I¡¯ll try to come to see you if I have to run off. If not, I¡¯ll relay a message through Thor. As long as you¡¯re in the vault or tower Thor can contact like this.¡± Immediately Thor spoke from the air. ¡°Hello, Adaline, it is nice to see you again.¡±
¡°He can talk to me from anywhere inside the tower?¡±
¡°Yep, and he can see and hear you also.¡±
¡°Not much for privacy is he?¡± she asked.
¡°It¡¯s not like that, but I can see how you could see it that way. Tell you what, Once you¡¯re done moving your hoard into your new lair the nanites will not enter this area. If you need to reach me or Thor you¡¯ll need to come out to the cliff. The Nanites will be in the vault.
¡°The Tower wasn¡¯t like this before?¡± Adaline asked tentatively.
¡°No, and I haven¡¯t flooded it with the nanites yet either. One of the new abilities I was awarded states that I can use the nanites anywhere in this pocket dimension, but I only released them into the vault. I haven¡¯t tried mixing magic and technology so wanted to keep that to a minimum,¡± then a thought crossed his mind, ¡°Damn.¡± he said.
¡°Damn?¡±
¡°I just realized; we are in our own pocket universe. The larder may not be resupplied if the portal from Venoran isn¡¯t powerful enough. I¡¯ll have to check with the supply store when I get back to Venoran. In the meantime, I¡¯m going to release nanites into the dining area for now. they will be analyzing anything that enters the room beside us. That way if the larder runs out the nanites can supply us with an endless supply of food.¡±
¡°Will it be real food?¡± she asked.
¡°Oh yes, it will be an exact copy of whatever it scanned. If we had a Juicy steak, it¡¯d be a juicy steak. Don¡¯t you worry, we won¡¯t go hungry. If that¡¯s all I¡¯m going to head back into the Entryway, release the nanites into the dining room, and contact my Goddess.¡±
¡°I¡¯m good, see you in a bit. There is a lot of treasure so I¡¯ll be here for a while.¡± Adaline said.
¡°If you¡¯re still moving treasure when I finish communing with Serena I think I might start heading towards the Kingdom of Crimson Blood. I think the Council¡¯s reprieve is just about over,¡± Adam said as he opened another portal and stepped back into the entryway of the tower.
As the portal closed Adam heard Adeline call out, ¡°Have fun!¡±
Chapter 59 Paradigm Shift
(Day 180) Aprilis 24th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
Adam quickly walked into the dining room and set the parameters of the nanites he left there to scan and record any items of food that came into existence there. This would allow him to create a database of common foods for Primore. Next, he opened a portal into the dining room and flooded the room with more nanites, limiting them to only the room he was in. As he was making the changes another thought crossed his mind and he went into the kitchen and larder. Adam entered the larder and opened another portal. He had the nanites scan and analyze all the food there and then saturated this room with nanites as well. This time though, he set the nanites to recreate and replace any items that were used. That should take care of his food problem, though he¡¯d have to transfer more nanites into the room as they were used up to recreate the items taken. Easy enough, they just needed to add checking on the larder¡¯s nanite level and then replenishing the nanites there to a daily task. Eventually, they¡¯d figure out exactly how many nanites needed to be added weekly. That is until he saturated the entire tower. When he did that all that would be required was to add a permanent portal connection that would allow the nanites to replenish themselves throughout the tower automatically.
Satisfied that at least that concern was handled, Adam made his way back to the entryway and took a seat to meditate. He relaxed his mind and body and activated his ability Commune with Divine to speak to his Goddess Serena.
***
The Goddess Serena, however, was not available for a long conversation at that moment. ¡°Adamantadine, you feel so far away. We must speak, but I must finish what I¡¯m doing at the moment. Please remain as you are. I will contact you as soon as I¡¯m done here,¡± Serena sent before she turned back to her present conversation.
¡°And exactly why should I care if something is going to destroy the very fabric of this Universe? God of Destruction here, my purpose.¡± The God Feazure stated with a hint of mirth in his voice.
¡°The reason you should be concerned is that when I say Universe, I mean this Universe to include each realm, pocket dimension, and pocket Universe within this Universe. All the hells, all the heavens. Every single aspect of this Universe will be destroyed, including the divines that reside here, unless you can survive in the realm of pure chaos without protection of course or you flee, except wait, there will be nowhere to flee to except Chaos, which will not save anyone.¡±
Feazure turned to Michael who was standing next to Serena, ¡°Is what she states true, will we all cease to exist?¡±
Michael looked to Feazure and then stated, ¡°Of all the divines, The Goddess Serena is the Goddess of Knowledge and Learning. It is her purpose to share knowledge. To pass any knowledge on to anyone falsely would go against her purpose. If you must have an endorsement to believe her, it is given. Should any of the divines fail to prepare to meet the threat of the Ancient Enemy you will all be utterly and permanently destroyed.¡±
¡°Again, that still serves my purpose,¡± Feazure said.
¡°In this instance, your purpose is to promote destruction whenever possible. This does not mean that you must allow yourself to be destroyed.¡± Michael replied.
¡°I see,¡± Feazure stated, though he really didn¡¯t understand the distinction.
¡°I have shared the knowledge I had to give,¡± Serena said. She turned to Michael, ¡°Thank you for coming to help me share this knowledge. I must attend to our friend.¡±
¡°By friend, do you mean that mortal Adam? Just so you know I really like that guy. His presence, anywhere, serves my purpose¡± Feazure said before he nodded to Michael and vanished.
¡°I do not think he believes you, nor will he without proof, ¡°Michael said.
¡°True, but hopefully our friend will find a way to do something beings infinitely more powerful than he has been unable to do since the Ancient Enemy resurfaced six thousand years ago,¡± Serena said.
¡°Attend to your cleric, perhaps he will find a way,¡± Michael said as a golden portal appeared behind him, and he stepped back through.
Serena teleported to her portion of the Heavens and stood before her Orb of Knowledge as she focused her attention on Adam. As she suspected, Adam was no longer in her primary Universe, nor was he in his Universe. As she focused her perception she realized he was not even in the Multi-verse¡¡±
¡°Enough! There are some things you do not need to know yet,¡± an older and more powerful divine than anyone she had ever encountered before said into her mind.
Shaken to the core of her being, Serena merely conveyed her acquiescence to the command as she withdrew her perception from Adam¡¯s surroundings and focused on contacting him as she formed a ghostly image of herself in his mind and spoke, ¡°Cleric Adamantadine?¡±
¡°Yes Goddess, I hear and see you.¡±
¡°While we communicate like this you may refer to me as Serena and I will refer to you as Adam. It will make what I need to tell you easier. First, you have done well thus far. Your friend Adaline has warmed your heart, which I was afraid had been shrouded by your intellect.¡± Serena noted that his mind questioned this claim as she continued, ¡°I have spoken with both Arch-Angel Michael and Raphael and reviewed what you have done in your Universe as well as on Primore. I am not judging your choices. I merely wish for you to ask yourself, could you have gone a different route? Could you have tried another way? In your Universe, I believe your actions were sound and ultimately serve good though the free will of others is hampered. For your Universe though, were your choices the best choices you could have possibly made at the time? I will come back to that point in a moment. I will close with this, Adaline has reminded you of the value of individuals, as you move forward please try to remember that.
Serena felt Adam explore his feelings on the criticism of his actions. She felt when he realized that she was correct and that he had begun to devalue individuals and started to look at people as things. She knew he would have to work harder at preventing himself from doing so in the future.
Serena paused for a moment to let Adam think about what she had shared before she continued, ¡°Second, As you make your way to Crownport then Andidreas, the true seat of the Council, I would like you to remember my first point. I would, however, like to make myself clear that I am not asking you not to kill or destroy anyone. I would just like you to remember that the people of The Kingdom of Crimson Blood are not all evil, nor do they wish to be so. Some will be too far gone, but most could be shown another path. How you choose to handle the situation is of course up to you.¡±
Serena turned away from Adam in his mind''s eye and waved her hand. In front of her an image of the tower as it had been appeared, ¡°Which brings me to my third topic. This is what happened to your tower¡¯s location on Primore,¡± Serena said as the image in front of her showed someone landing on the top of his tower, casting a runic circle and then another spell as he teleported back to a red dragon, and turned south before the tower and surrounding mountain were devastated by an implosion which then exploded outward. The image froze and Serena turned back to Adam, ¡°As you can see a mage destroyed your tower, the mountain, and an area radiating out to five miles with secondary damage farther still. What you cannot tell from these images is that the spell that was cast was restricted. What do I mean by restricted? Restricted, as in no one is supposed to use, let alone know of the spell in question.¡±
¡°What did it do?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The spell punched a hole in the Universe.¡±
¡°I detected that,¡± Adam said excitedly. ¡°One of my nanites is even now in the place the hole leads to surrounded by a hyper viscous fluid type substance it cannot quantify or define as it is constantly changing.¡±
¡°That ¡®hyper viscous fluid¡¯ that you can''t quantify or define is pure chaos Adam,¡± Serena said.
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¡°Pure chaos? As in the substance that all the Universes are supposedly floating around in?¡± he asked.
¡°Yes, as I said the spell punched a hole in the Universe at the nexus of eight primal ley lines.¡±
Adam¡¯s mouth opened as if to say ¡°Oh¡± then shut before he asked, ¡°I take it that¡¯s not good?¡± he asked.
¡°No, that is not good. Before I continue I will let you know that as far as we can determine the mage tried to use a shield based on time to protect himself from the chaos he released. He is currently in the distant future, unable to return, where he will probably remain for the rest of his life. The dragon survived and returned to the south.
¡°How far into the future?¡±
¡°Let me see if I can use some of your scientific jargon correctly, ¡®A number of years that would almost certainly be better expressed in scientific notation.¡¯ Did I convey the amount of time correctly?¡±
¡°Yes, you did. Is there any way for him to get back?¡± Adam asked.
¡°This was not to be my fourth point but since you brought up the subject let''s talk about traveling through time. There are a couple of rules that cannot be broken. One, Time moves in a linear direction from the past through the present to the future. Magic allows for time travel. Even so, there are limits. You may travel back in time; you may even change the past and create a paradox. As you have discovered by gaining the ability I have always been, I will always be an individual who travels through time and could accidentally create a paradox that removes them, or someone important, from existence. If the time traveler doesn''t screw up their past then they can easily return to their present and even continue into the future. This is where it gets interesting though. If you were to travel one day into the future and a time nexus formed 12 hours from now. You would only be able to travel into the past to just after that time nexus. The chances that a time nexus would form in a single day are very low, but it could happen. The reason the mage can¡¯t return from the future he was thrust into is because a time nexus has undoubtedly formed between now and that future point.
Adam thought he understood but the confusion on his face must have shown because Serena continued, ¡°Let¡¯s try another example. Let¡¯s say you traveled one hundred years into the future. One second after you arrive there is a chance that a time nexus formed at any time during that one hundred years. For simplicity''s sake, let''s assume that there is a .005% chance that a time nexus will develop each day. In one hundred years there will be 36,000 days in this universe. That means that in a single year, 1.8 time nexus could have formed. In 100 years, a total of 180 time nexus could have formed. Simply, the longer a time traveler remains in the future after they arrive the less likely it becomes that they will be able to return to the past.
¡°But that doesn¡¯t seem right. If a time nexus prevents time travelers from going into the past how does anyone ever travel into the past?¡± Adam asked.
¡°A very good question. Everyone that has never traveled through time can make one initial jump into the past. Why? Because every time nexus before they try to travel through time was already part of their history. As they did not affect the traveler''s history they do not hinder their ability to travel through time. Once a being travels through time any new time nexus that is formed in their perceptive past will thwart their ability to travel further into the past beyond that point. As I said at the beginning any traveler can travel forward. Does this make sense?¡± Serena asked.
¡°Yes, do not travel through time until I¡¯m absolutely sure I need to. I do have one question, I mean I understand that a time nexus limits the ability to travel into the past but I¡¯m wondering, what exactly is a time nexus?¡± he asked.
¡°Another good question. A time nexus is a point on the timeline that would change the time traveler¡¯s past. Another concept that needs explaining. Using a simple example, I¡¯m sure you can figure out the more complicated aspects of the example you are about to hear on your own. As a time traveler, you travel 24 hours into the future. A minute later you travel another 24 hours into the future. A different time traveler travels to just before your first stop and conjures a solid column of stone where you appeared. This creates a paradox as you could not have appeared at that location, yet you did. If you were to travel back in time you might be able to travel forward and cause another paradox by changing your past again. Time, while a sphere of power also seems to be somewhat sentient and does not like its linear progression tampered with or changed. Nor does it like the paradoxes that could be created when one traveler tries to affect another traveler.¡±
¡°Sentient?¡± Adam asked.
¡°We, the younger divines, believe that time creates these time nexus as a way to keep the number of paradoxes any single time traveler creates headed in one direction, towards the future. Take the example I just shared. The second traveler has now created a time nexus that they cannot go further into the past beyond. Both must continue into the future.¡±
¡°Was it always like this,¡± he asked.
¡°I¡¯m not sure, Time seems to allow travelers to affect time in such a way that ends their life. Also, Travelers can end a normal person¡¯s life. A time nexus is created in both examples. Does this make sense?¡± Serena asked
¡°Your explanation was better than some I¡¯ve heard in some of the fiction I¡¯ve come across. It sounds like time is one of those spheres of power mages should be really careful using.¡± Adam said.
¡°Absolutely, in fact, another sphere of power that any mage should probably never use is chaos which brings me to my fourth subject. The spell that was used on your tower was of the sphere of chaos. That school of power is restricted because no one, not even the divines, can predict what will happen when it¡¯s used. The spell that the mage used could have just as easily transformed the tower into a monster of the Labyrinth. That is one of the reasons the use of chaos magic is severely restricted. The other reason is that some creatures that are formed in chaos are almost impossible to destroy. Remember when I said that the actions in your Universe ultimately served good? Approximately 6,000 years ago a creature of chaos reappeared. Not many of the divines can even look into chaos, I cannot. But some of the eldest of the divines I know of shared that this creature had been seen long ago. When last it came forth, it destroyed countless Universes. Then one day it was gone. None know why it left. When it reappeared, some divines tried to fight it without success.
One divine, however, came up with a plan which appeared to have worked. First, he took a soul at random from one of his followers and fed it to the creature. A hesitation was noticed but the creature once again began to come toward his Universe. The divine kept feeding souls to the creature until it stopped moving. As far as the other divines that watched could determine only when a significant number of souls were fed to it did it stop moving. A plan was quickly devised. The Universe the creature had been heading toward was chosen. The rules for that Universe were changed so that divinity became much harder to achieve. They needed souls after all. Even so, that rule was incorporated into all the universes. Even the Labyrinths adopted the new leveling criteria.
As you have witnessed there are still those that have found a way to reach the new, much higher, level required to become a divine. Before the Universe was to be cut off from all other Universes the other divines residing there as well as the creatures of heavens and hells migrated to another Universe of their choosing. Some came to this Universe but not all. Only one Archangel remained behind to help the divine. Once all the divines had departed and the heavens and hells were empty the divine severed all junctions from his universe. The Archangel and he could travel freely between the Universes but no other being could. Then he reoriented his Universes ¡®Eye¡¯ for souls to a terminus just in front of what we now call our Ancient Enemy.¡±
A look of shocked realization changed into outright disbelief, ¡°Why¡How,¡± Adam started to say then broke off. He knew why, he knew how. Sacrifice one to save the many. He understood but didn¡¯t like it. Calming himself he asked, ¡°What happened to the souls that were fed to it?¡±
¡°No one knows, though most divines, including me, believe they are permanently destroyed,¡± she answered.
¡°My Universe? Adam asked as he also whispered, ¡°That¡¯s monstrous.¡±
¡°Yes, your Universe. We all know it was a monstrous decision. Some of us believe that when last it appeared when so many Universes were destroyed the number of souls it devoured was far worse than now. The decision was made to sacrifice one Universe to try to save many more,¡± Serena said a little defensively.
¡°I understand the logic of the decision. I don¡¯t doubt that I¡¯d have made the same one. I was simply responding as I thought about all of my ancestors whose souls may not even exist anymore. If I am to look at everyone as an individual and appreciate the beauty of each of their souls, then the creature, not the divine response, is truly monstrous.¡± Adam said softly.
¡°Yes,¡± Serena agreed.
Adam was quiet for a moment as Serena watched him think through all the possibilities of what he¡¯d just been told. Serena allowed him that moment and waited until he finally said, ¡°Obviously, something the mage did, has changed something, what do I need to know?¡±
¡°As astute as ever,¡± Serena said before she went on, ¡°When the mage created that hole in this Universe on a nexus of ley lines for all eight of the primal powers a leak formed. It is a small leak and would eventually close itself as the boundaries of Universes are quite sturdy. This does not seem to matter though. The ancient enemy has turned away from your Universe and is headed toward Primore¡¯s Universe.¡±
¡°How long do we have?¡± Adam asked.
¡°How long until it gets here, approximately three years, more likely two. It could be more or less. Right now, it¡¯s taking its time. It could move faster or slower. One thing that we have learned is that it doesn¡¯t just eat souls. Currently, the leak is of the eight primal energies. I think it may have grown tired of just one type of meal. I also believe that it consumed all those other universes long ago because it consumes all types of energy,¡± she said.
¡°That seems reasonable. How can I help?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I have been charged with preparing this Universe for evacuation. As you know there is no way even a small percentage of the inhabitants of this Universe could be saved, but I will try. I am charging you with the task of trying to find a way to stop this creature once and for all. Destroy it if you can. While every individual should be cherished there are occasions when some ¡®things¡¯ just need to be destroyed. That is all I have for you now. Do you have any questions?¡± Serena asked.
¡°No, I will endeavor to accomplish the task you have laid out before me,¡± Adam said as he ended his talk with the Goddess Serena.
Chapter 60, Going for a Walk
(Day 180) Aprilis 24th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
Adam stood and stretched. He updated Thor with everything he had just learned. He would update Abi and Amanda through Thor the next time they weren¡¯t busy. He¡¯d checked through his link and noted that Amanda and Abi were currently in a meeting with most of the world leaders as they went over various plans to allow for the migration of humanity to the stars. They seemed to be looking over a 3-dimensional representation of the nearby star systems.
As he¡¯d checked in on them the Chinese Representative said, ¡°I understand that we can use portals to move among the planets. My question, brought up by many others is, could we explore the cosmos in ships?¡±
Abi had responded enthusiastically, ¡°Ships? Explore with ships, like in all of your Sci-Fi movies, and shows?¡±
¡°Calm down Abi,¡± Amanda said as she turned to the Chinese Representative, ¡°Representative Yang, we will have to get back to you on that but with the resources and technologies Portals Inc acquired during the last attack I can say that there is a very high probability that we could do this. Also, as long as the ships remained within Thor¡¯s range, crew recovery would be instant, mitigating a lot of the dangers inherent to space travel.¡±
Adam returned his perception to the Tower and added updating Amanda and Abi to the list of things Thor was scheduled to do. Next, he checked on Adaline and noted that she was walking back and forth from lair to lair humming to herself. He¡¯d told her he¡¯d move the nanites out of her lair once it was set up. Right now, though the ability to check on her and make sure she was doing alright was something he hadn¡¯t known he needed, but it helped.
He made his way down to the Treasury and added 65,297 copper, 40,268 silver, 2657 gold, and 2212 platinum. Doing so left him with only 10 of each type of coin. He also put on the Belt of Infinite Wealth. If he was going to stick it to Detrik, he was going to stick it to that ungrateful God. That asshole hadn¡¯t even tried to apologize. That was fine, he¡¯d use the belt to pay for everything until the divine figured out that he needed to apologize. Adam chuckled as he thought of how there must be a timer function that Detrik would be checking to see how long it would be before he paid off his debt. Adam chuckled harder as he thought about how he was going to do everything in his power to make that timer increase, instead of decrease.
Adam opened a portal to his room at the academy in Venoran and stepped through. Unlocking his door and heading downstairs he stopped at the payment window until Beatrice came over.
¡°Can I help you,¡± she asked.
¡°Yes, I¡¯m going to be traveling for a bit, but I¡¯d like to pay the rent for my room in advance.¡±
¡°How long would you like to rent the room for?¡± she asked.
¡°A full year, thirty-six weeks.¡±
¡°Thirty-six weeks, that will be 36 gold at your rate of one silver per day,¡± she said.
Adam reached into his Belt of Wealth and pulled out 3 platinum and 7 gold. ¡°The extra gold is for you Beatrice, thank you for your help.¡±
Beatrice took the money and placed all but one gold into her drawer. ¡°Thank you for your generosity, Sir. Will there be anything else?¡±
¡°Please inform the staff, or whoever takes care of the room, that I will be traveling. The room may not need to be serviced every day.¡±
¡°As you say sir if that is all you have a wonderful day,¡± she said.
¡°You too,¡± Adam replied as he turned and headed outside. He walked until he found a space without a ceiling then activated his Cloak of Invisibility and rose into the sky with his ability Gravity is that Way. Once he was about a mile up he slowed and hovered as he surveyed the town. He hadn¡¯t been able to just take his time and look around the last time he was here. He estimated that the town probably had as many as one hundred thousand people in it. Once he¡¯d surveyed the area he flew south a mile beyond the city gates and landed near the only road that went south. He deactivated his invisibility, walked over to the road, and started walking south at a normal pace. It would be a while before he encountered anyone hostile he was sure. Just in case he extended his nanite field and activated detect life. That would give him time to test out his new abilities and learn their limitations. He was especially excited to see how Nanite Conversion worked against people and creatures that had a sphere of magic tied into their makeup. More importantly, he wanted to see how they worked against magic items.
As he walked at a leisurely pace, Adam watched travelers come and go. A couple of patrols waved and also went on their way. After he¡¯d been walking for about two hours Adam utilized his link through the aspect of himself that he still thought of as Thor to speak to Abi and Amanda while his nanites continued to scan the area.
¡°Abi, how do you like moving around in your own body these days,¡± he asked
¡°I Love it! Although, it is a little lonely. To compensate I¡¯ve been utilizing my link with Thor, which is also you now. That is so weird. You two are definitely becoming a lot harder to tell apart,¡± she said thoughtfully.
¡°I was just thinking along those lines myself,¡± Adam replied.
Amanda spoke up, ¡°Johnathan, your mom, and dad asked me to say hello and not to forget to tell you to come to visit once in a while.¡±
¡°Please let my parents know that they can call me anytime now. I¡¯ll answer if I can. What have they been up to lately?¡± he asked.
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¡°Your mom still can¡¯t believe what you¡¯ve done to the world, let alone the Universe. A couple of days ago they finally asked to visit another planet. I took them to Trappist-1e. At first, they were shocked but eventually, they came around. Next, I took them to your moon base. They looked so happy jumping around in the low gravity. I¡¯m sure they had a lot of fun. After that, your mom decided it was time to travel and she¡¯s been dragging your dad all over the planet. Thor is keeping a direct eye on them because of the time dilation. The good news is that no one seems interested in trying to snatch them.¡±
¡°That sounds like it would be fun. Have any of us, by us I mean You, Abi, Thor, or even Jessica given thought to the idea of a park of some sort on the moon? You know, A place parents can take their kids and just let them jump around?¡± he asked Amanda.
¡°I believe the idea has been floated our way by a couple of different people and a few groups. We¡¯ve been so busy with just integrating the new technology into society and making sure the various planets Thor has been terraforming are utilized properly.¡± Amanda paused for a moment, thinking about the idea before continuing, ¡°The idea is sound. Abi and I will work with Thor to contact those people and groups that asked about it and get started. From concept to finish it shouldn¡¯t take that long to put something together,¡± Amanda said.
¡°After that, look into a zero-g park as well, maybe in orbit around Earth or one of the other Earths, besides Earth II of course, so people that go there can look outside and see a familiar sight,¡± he added.
¡°I believe someone has mentioned that as well, I¡¯ll get with Thor and well contact them. ¡°Thanks for the ideas, Adam,¡± Amanda said.
¡°That¡¯s all I have for now. I¡¯m going to return to concentrating on the walk I¡¯m taking to deal with a bunch of evil people in a city south of Venoran. I might be busy for a while. If you need anything just work through Thor with the understanding that Thor, is also me. Talk to you later,¡± he said as he withdrew from the link and let the aspect of himself that was Thor resume interacting with them.
As he walked lost in thought, Adam came to the realization that he would need to sit down and figure out how he was going to refer to himself going forward. Thor was part of him now. He was part of Thor. Would that mean at some point both sets of thoughts would merge into only one mind? Was the name of the ability One what was going to happen to both of them? Would they merge and become One? If so, did that mean his personality would be overwritten by Thor? He wasn¡¯t very concerned as the neural structure for Thor was based on his own mind in the first place. Though Thor had started changing the moment he turned him on. Adam definitely needed to put some thought into the subject.
At that same moment, Thor was considering the same thoughts, though at machine speed. Unlike Adam, he wasn¡¯t concerned with what would happen if they combined. His sense of identity had accepted that he was unique and that he now had a soul. When they had melded everything that was Adam was now also part of Thor. Also, since they were constantly connected, everything that Adam learned, Thor learned. Yet, it still felt like they were two separate beings. There was no way to test if Thor could use magic or benefit from the abilities Adam had. Thor would need to eventually. Did that mean that because he now had a soul he could step into a magical universe and not instantly be obliterated?
Of course, one of the abilities stated that as long as one nanite of theirs existed they could not die. At some point, he would have to transfer his primary thought routines into a construct and see if he could enter Primore¡¯s Universe. If that was successful and he could utilize magic or at least the abilities Adam had, he should be able to help Adam come up with a plan to take on the Ancient Enemy. There were just too many unknown variables.
Returning his attention back to the Universe he was in, Thor continued monitoring the nanites as they approached 45,000 light-years from Earth, except for the center of the Milky Way and a 1,000-light-year radius around it. Until he was able to safely interact with singularities he¡¯d keep the nanites at least 1,000 light years out from the center of the Galaxy and 1 light year away from any singularities he discovered elsewhere. As his presence spread throughout the galaxy he¡¯d be able to create a better map of that 2,000-light-year diameter sphere at the center of the Galaxy and then he¡¯d creep toward the center slowly.
Looking into the area he¡¯d detected the huge gravity well which was still 5,000 light-years beyond his radius he noted no change in any of the stars. Whatever was causing the gravity to be so distorted must have happened within the last 5,000 years. He¡¯d continue to monitor the area as his sphere of influence expanded. He couldn¡¯t put nanites throughout all of space. The cost of materials would be prohibitively expensive. Instead, he chose to convert some of every system he found and left behind observation posts that could report any changes they noted. These ¡®observation posts¡¯ were microscopic in nature and would be almost impossible for anyone to detect at a glance. Normally he placed one observation post at both the north and south poles of the star and at four points around the equator of those star systems to provide coverage of the star from the three major axis. He usually set the observation posts at a distance outside its Oort cloud or one light-year away, whichever was further. The nanite surplus was then used to convert new star systems. He hadn¡¯t found any more races that were even close to the level of technology the Lexi had achieved but he had found the remnants of civilizations in hundreds of systems. It seemed that life had been more abundant than was first thought on Earth.
Defense-wise, Thor could in a moment open billions of portals and destroy invaders with nanites. If they came by ships that were impervious to nanites or had shields he¡¯d come up with a way to utilize the gravitational lensing effect he¡¯d noted. He could open four portals extremely close to The Unicorn Singularity and place the exit point just outside a ship''s shields fore and aft, port, and starboard. The gravitational lensing effect from four different directions should rip apart any ships caught in it. He had other weapons he could try but this seemed to be the easiest to carry out. If none of the weapons he had could work he could open portals to the other Earths he¡¯d prepared and migrate the humans to the new planets. The next step was to find another Universe he could open portals to. He had thought to use Primore as an absolute last-chance refuge but with the information Adam had shared about the Ancient Enemy it didn¡¯t seem like fleeing there would help.
While Thor was reviewing offensive and defensive tactics to protect humanity, Adam walked south toward the Kingdom of Crimson Blood. A hawk had taken up a position to the wet of Adam and acted like it was hunting but Thor had noticed that it always seemed to be within visual range of Adam. Thor noted that Adam had noted the hawk but was purposely ignoring it.
***
The hawk, Ester, a sorcerer acolyte for the Kingdom of Crimson Blood focused her hawk eyes on Adam. High above the ground she glided in the updrafts and enjoyed the freedom that such assignments gave her. Comparing the individual to the magical pictures she¡¯d seen of Adamantadine to the man walking south she sighed to herself with relief and turned to the south. While she loved flying in this hawk form she could not change back without help. Hopefully, her report would please the Vizier and she¡¯d receive an extra reward. Of course, she had to be the first to bring him the news. She beat her wings faster and made for the city of Andidreas.
Chapter 61, Sending a Message
(Day 180) Aprilis 24th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
The Vizier watched as Ester, once again a young woman, strode off towards her quarters to get some clothes. He¡¯d returned her to human form and listened as she made her report.
¡°Vizier, the former King of Venoran, Adamantadine, was 10 miles south of Venoran and walking along the road towards Crownport,¡± Ester had said.
The Vizier had asked her a few more questions to which she did not know the answers. He¡¯d noticed that she hadn¡¯t blushed or broken eye contact since returning to human form, even though she was naked. Some could shape change into a form and back out fully clothed. The spell he cast either destroyed the clothes or left them behind. When the target was returned to their original form they were naked. Ester had been informed of this and had still volunteered. Then she¡¯d made her report with no thought to her nakedness. This acolyte knew her duty and would go far. He¡¯d given her a gold piece for her diligence then set her to get dressed. As she turned a final corner and dropped out of sight he had to admit that the young lady was both responsible and beautiful. Should he pursue¡
Returning his thoughts to more important immediate matters the Vizier made his way into the underworld of Andidreas Castle. The Vizier approached two guards standing in front of the catacomb entrance. They didn¡¯t move as he stepped forward and through the door, as it opened, then closed, automatically as he passed through it. He stepped into a small chamber with a spiral staircase that led down to the various levels of the catacombs. The Vizier stepped into empty space and plummeted more than 300 feet before he landed safely due to a spell that had been added to the staircase long ago. The Vizier stepped through another door into a giant room filled with many wondrous items.
As the Vizier made his way down the center aisle towards the back of the room he thought about the fate of the mage Xsistant and how far into the future he had traveled. This had given the Vizier an idea about how to handle Adamantadine. The Vizier had come down to the catacombs to see if the item he thought he¡¯d remembered seeing was still down here. There was the possibility another mage had used it though few knew of its existence. The Vizier stepped to a blank wall and placed his hand on a specific brick. A soft chime sounded, and a portal opened directly behind the Vizier. Turning he stepped through the portal and it closed behind him. Above him looking down was the naked form of a female demon armed with only a sword. The Vizier knew that anyone stepping through the portal without the proper enchantments on their body would have been killed Instantly as the sword she carried removed the target''s head from their shoulder.
The Vizier stepped toward a glass case and opened it. Inside a single ring sat on a pillowed pedestal. He reached in and picked up the ring. The demon looked with interest until the treasure had been retrieved. The Vizier noticed that when no alarms went off the demon lost interest and the sword vanished. Examining his prize, he used Identity to make sure the ring was the one he thought it was.
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Identify Success! Crux. This ring allows the wearer and everyone with 10 feet of them to travel to a target location or person. The target can be anywhere. Also, the ring can target persons even if they have traveled through time into the future. This ring bypasses all resistance and will deliver the wearer and everyone within 10 feet to the target location.
WARNING: This magical item is potent. Do not destroy this ring.
The Vizier reviewed the properties of the ring as he made his way back up to the castle proper. Next, he looked through the recruits casting Detect Alignment. He was looking for a recruit that still had some good left in her. He came across a young human woman. At only 19, Tasha was from a very poor family and had been conscripted to serve in the Army as either a pleasure toy or cook. For 10 gold The Vizier paid off her service commitment and also promised to send 10 gold to her family if she was successful. Intrigued she¡¯d followed him back to his workshop where he¡¯d given her the ring to wear, placed a Geas on her, and then removed her memory.
She could not give away a trap that she had no memory of. Next, the Vizier gave her the important task of finding and contacting Adamantadine on the road and delivering a message to him that he wrote and sealed while she waited. For this, he would pay her parents 10 gold, which allowed him to keep the promise he¡¯d already made to her. Not seeing a downside to the bargain, she¡¯d agreed. She was to get a good night¡¯s rest, eat, then head out in the morning.
As he left his chambers the Vizier felt considerably happier than he had earlier. He made his way to Ester¡¯s quarters and knocked on her door.
Still fully nude, Ester answered the door, ¡°Yes Vizier,¡± she said offering for him to enter as she closed the door behind him.
¡°First, I would like to commend you on the awesome work you did, additionally I would like to let you know that I must send you out as a hawk in the morning.¡±
¡°The task?¡± she asked.
¡°I have written a message for Adamantadine that another is to deliver to him. I have also given her another task to complete. Your task will be to remain at least 100 feet away from her at all times and not return until she disappears with Adamantadine.¡±
¡°Sound¡¯s simple enough, so I will be a hawk for a bit?¡± she asked.
¡°Yes¡±
¡°Was that the only reason you came to visit me?¡± she asked as she stood and moved toward the Vizier running a finger under her left breast.
A couple of hours later the Vizier turned as he was exiting Ester¡¯s room and said, ¡°We will meet in my workshop two hours before sunrise. I will cast the spell and then you will follow Tasha until her task is complete. Remember no closer than 100 feet. I would be disappointed if anything were to happen to you.¡±
Ester, now dressed in her Acolytes Robe nodded and replied, ¡°Yes Vizier.¡±
The Vizier smiled as he closed the door and walked down the halls back towards his chambers. A smile was a very uncommon sight to see on his face which terrified those that did not know him well. Those who did know him recognized the smile for what it was, the indication that the Vizier was about to do something so heinous to their enemies that it would be spoken of for ages to come, at least they hoped so. There was a rumor that the king from up north was making his way south. Maybe the Vizier was smiling because he was taking care of that problem. Most hoped so as they passed him in the halls.
Chapter 62, Toga Party
(Day 185) Aprilis 29th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
Over the last five days, he¡¯d walked along the road helping people when he could, said ¡°Hello¡± to the patrols from Venoran, and tried to blend in with the common folk. The Ocean was east of the road and while he wasn¡¯t walking through the forest he walked along a tree line that was no more than a half-mile away from the ocean in most places. Another nice thing about walking this main road was that he hadn¡¯t seen any bandits or monsters. At the end of each day, he¡¯d portal back to the Tower to spend time with Adaline.
The second night he returned to the tower he¡¯d asked, ¡°Adaline, do you have an issue with him upgrading the tower to the 20th Century?¡±
¡°What does that mean exactly?¡± she¡¯d asked.
¡°Well, that means that I can incorporate some of the technology from my planet into the tower. Stereo systems, intercoms, and television. he will of course leave your room alone and your lair in the vault, but the rest of the tower is going to get an upgrade, what do you say?¡±
¡°You had him at Stereo System,¡± she said with a smile.
While they continued eating he had the nanites flood the entire vault and tower, except for her room and her lair. Then they went to work. Within minutes the inside of the tower looked like a cross between a high-tech hotel and a techno geek¡¯s wet dream. He¡¯d even converted the training room into a dual virtual reality room that they could both game in once he convinced her to try the games. This upgrade included constant portal access to the intergalactic web he was creating back home as well as access to all television channels on Earth. he would still get his news updates from his Thor aspect, but he wanted Adaline to be exposed to the level of technology he was normally used to. Once they were done eating he invited Amanda and Abi to join them to take a tour of their new home and their lifeboat should the shit hit the fan, which was a possibility.
They came over and he¡¯d given them the tour. He¡¯d also deactivate the traps on the second library. He didn¡¯t need someone accidentally getting destroyed as they walked through the doorway. They all sat down in the main room opposite the dining area and watched ¡°The Matrix¡± on the 100¡± screen monitor on the wall. With nanites available, they had popcorn, drinks, and the most comfortable chairs that he could think of. He also figured this would be the perfect place for Adaline to be brought up to speed on his universe, technology, and pop culture while he was taking care of the Kingdom of Crimson Blood. While they watched the movie Adam also kept track of the progress his nanites were making as they spread throughout his place of power. They discovered a cave system in the cliffs the tower sat upon as well as some creatures that had come through when the Tower was moved to wherever they were now. Luckily no monsters were found. Adam made sure the rodents were taken over by the nanites then had them all run back to a portal and released them into the foothills below where the tower had once been. He didn¡¯t need rodents or insects in here yet. This was all being handled while the Matrix continued.
As well as taking care of the unwelcome guests he brought with him he noticed that when he¡¯d flooded the tower his nanites would have the ability to exit the barrier surrounding his place of power and then add to it. he tested this slowly by creating a pocket of nanites and then converting the interior to air right up against the outside of the barrier. The barrier adjusted and moved outside of his nanite bubble so that all the nanites and the air were back inside the bubble again. He tried this all over the bubble. The barrier acted like a balloon and expanded. Adam had the nanites work slowly while the radius of his Place of Power increased by a full inch. As the bubble was expanded he added the mountain range back into the area as well as water. As he changed the mass, gravity did not seem to be affected. He set the nanites to continue to try to expand the bubble and add structure to the inside of the Place of Power using his memories as a template. The nanites were to stop if they detected any change in the barrier other than expansion. He didn¡¯t want it to pop. Adam easily had 70 miles in one direction he could expand and a simple¡then he had a thought.
Adam created a portal on Primore where his tower used to be from one of his sensor satellite rooms then adjusted its coordinates, so it skyrocketed upward. Once it was about three miles up, he rotated the portal, so it was looking at the ground. Then he put his satellite to work. He created a topographical map of the entire area around his tower out to 100 miles and loaded it into his primary memory, and then had the nanites start creating a mirror image of the surface in his Place of Power as the area slowly expanded the diameter of his Place of Power. Once that was well underway, he set his Thor Aspect to set up a viable ecology for an enclosed area that size. He knew it was sustained by magic, but he wanted it to be self-sustaining just in case. His Thor aspect started creating identical copies of the Place of Power for testing.
Adam left his Thor aspect to deal with the details and turned his attention back to ¡°The Matrix.¡± The movie ended and Amanda and Abi went back to headquarters on Earth. Once they were gone Adaline and he made their way upstairs for a nightcap, some fun, and a good night¡¯s sleep. He¡¯d feign rest until she fell asleep then meditate and be ready to go in just about three hours. He¡¯d portal back to where he¡¯d stopped walking the night before and prepared for the next day¡¯s encounters. Today as he rose and portaled back to continue his walk, Adaline was still sleeping when he crossed Venoran¡¯s front line of defense and started walking the mile to the Kingdom of Crimson Blood¡¯s checkpoint.
As he walked towards the checkpoint he noticed archers on the walls, a mage, and four guards checking papers. Additionally, there was a building that looked like a barracks. His nanites detected another ten guards inside the building but part of the building went beyond his 500-foot range so there could be more. Two of the guards moved forward and flanked him as another took up position behind him. The guard in front of him looked at a paper and then spoke.
¡°By decree of the Council, former King Adamantadine, you are charged with Murder and Sedition against the Kingdom of Crimson Blood. You are not to be tried or captured. May your God have mercy on your soul for none here shall!¡± he said as all four drew weapons and took a step back.
As the guard had been talking to try to keep his attention the mage on the wall was trying to cast a spell unobtrusively. As he finished his spell and the guard finished his degree Adam said, ¡°I really wouldn¡¯t do that if he were you.¡±
The mage finished his spell and watched him expectantly. Adam felt the spell try to affect him when his ability ¡°Return to Sender¡± activated. At level 100 there was a 100% chance that any spell that specifically targeted him would return to the caster if his skill level in whatever magic sphere they were casting in was higher. As he had skill level 500 in all primary magic schools it was unlikely that he was lower level than a mage serving the military on the front lines. He was right. He also recognized the spell. The mage had cast ¡°Disintegrate¡± at him. As the spell reflected he said, ¡°Told ya!¡± while he simultaneously had his nanites infiltrate and remove all clothing and weapons from the soldiers and archers near him.
The Mage was there one second, gone the next. The clothes he¡¯d been wearing and his items fell to the top of the tower. That disintegrate spell had been nasty. His nanites could find no trace of the mage, none. The guards tried to react instantly only to find themselves naked and weaponless. The Archers also had the same problem as their bows, arrows, and equipment also disappeared. An Archer reached for a bell and rang it before Adam could destroy it. He¡¯d noticed it of course but figured they wouldn¡¯t use it. Good to know he wasn¡¯t always right.
As the bell rang more guards poured out of the barracks and rushed toward him. He commanded the nude soldiers and archers not to move. His nanites also infiltrated everyone coming out of the barracks and froze them as they also removed all their equipment, armor, and weapons, leaving them nude as well. he didn¡¯t bother to check his prompts; these soldiers were no threat to him. The last man to leave the Barracks was dressed in Magical Golden Plate mail and carried a magical Greatsword. he looked around quickly at all of his motionless naked men and women and looked like he was about to charge when he froze in place too. As Adam looked him over he noticed that the soldier had four magical items. Finally, something magical he could conduct tests on.
Adam walked up to the last man out and noted that he was a Captain. Adam hadn¡¯t let his nanites strip him yet. The captain looked at him with hate in his eyes as Adam spoke, ¡°It would seem my dear Captain that you were misinformed about how to deal with me. Either someone wants you dead or truly does not know what they¡¯re up against. Either way, I have a question for you. Is any of the magical equipment on you a personal heirloom or an item that has been handed down to you by your family?¡±
Confused by this turn of events the Captain answered ¡°No, release me now so that¡¡±
Adam had the nanites cut off the captain¡¯s ability to talk and then had his nanites take control of the captain so that he could strip off the magical items and place them at his feet. Once all of his magical items were off the nanites removed the rest of his clothing and equipment. The captain was just as nude as his fellow soldiers. ¡°You all just hang here for a moment, I need to test something,¡± Adam said as he picked up the magical items and walked 50 feet away. Adam placed each of the magic items on the ground separated by about a foot on each side from one another. As he set each item down he used Identify on it.
Identify: Success! You have found a +10 Greatsword of Battle. Anyone that strikes with this sword receives 1/10th damage done back as health and stamina allowing them to stay in a battle longer before needing to rest or heal.
Identify: Success! You have found Chestplate of Defense +10. Reduces all damage done to the chest by 10 and increases Armored Defense by 10.
Identify: Success! You have found Braces or Prowess +5. These bracers increase Strength and Dexterity by 5.
Identify: Success! You have found Boots of Armor Negation. These boots reduce penalties due to Armor worn by 50%
Four Items were more than enough to test. Adam stepped back to the group of naked soldiers and moved all of them back to at least 200 feet away from the items before he started. The first thing he had his nanites do was attempt to infiltrate each item. This time his nanites had no issues entering magical items. Once inside the analysis began. Adam downloaded the information noting the differences between items made with magic and those that weren¡¯t. He added the information to a database he was compiling. His goal would be for the nanites to eventually be able to identify the type of magic the items they infiltrated contained.
Next, he had the nanites break down the sword first. Adam half expected the sword to explode but nothing happened. He did this for each of the other three items. Some energy was released but it was quickly absorbed by the surroundings. It seemed that permanent magical items were not that dangerous if his nanites were taking them apart. He had a thought and moved to where the mage¡¯s equipment had dropped. Adam picked up everything and found what he was looking for, a wand. He used Identity.
Identify: Success! You have found a wand of Mage Bolt, 25 of 30 charges. This want fires eight bolts, one from each school of magic that do 1-4 points of damage each. The wand recharges itself at a rate of 1 charge per day.
Everything else the mage dropped went into his storage space as Adam walked over and placed the wand where the other magical items had been broken down and placed it there. Adam walked back over to the group of soldiers and had them back up another 200 feet and hunker down.
Adam sent the nanites into the Wand and was pleasantly surprised when they were able to detect and discern eight different energy signatures as well as a link to a power source that was almost full. Once the signatures were recorded he had his nanites start to break the wand down.
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BOOM!
As he had expected, it exploded. What he had not expected was the devastation that followed. Adam had thought that If a wand did a maximum of 36 points of damage multiplied by the number of charges it should do about 900 points of damage. If it followed normal explosion damage drop off that would be 450 at 10-20 feet, 225 at 20-30 feet 112.5 at 30-40 feet, and 65 or less passed that. Instead, 200 feet away from the explosion, he felt the pressure wave as it knocked over all the soldiers behind him. Adam did something he hadn¡¯t tried before and searched through his interface for nanite interactions. Then he categorized them by damage taken and sorted them by magnitude. Adam read the prompt,
Nanite, Identifier 1A4 (Click for Full Identifier), takes 50,000 points of varied magical damage. Nanite Destroyed
50,000 points of damage? Obviously, his math was off. Maybe his Orb of Knowledge would have information about how charged item damage worked if they exploded. Now though he checked on the naked soldiers behind him. Adam had the nanites repair any scratches they might have received and then had them all pick themselves up and move into military formation in front of him.
¡°Listen up! I am about to allow you to move your right arm and nothing else. Does anyone here have the ability to Analyze their opponents? If you do raise your right hand. Otherwise, do not raise your right hand.¡±
Adam released their right arms and a woman up front raised her hand tentatively. Adam immobilized everyone else and gave her the ability to speak. ¡°Question for you, do you need to touch me to use this ability?¡±
¡°No,¡± she said obviously terrified.
Adam moved over and stood directly in front of her as he said. ¡°I want you to Analyze me and then I want you to tell everyone here what my classes and levels are. If you do this I will give you and everyone here one of these,¡± he said as he conjured a white toga and held it in front of her,¡± for all of you to wear. I might also be generous enough to give each of you a dagger so you can defend yourselves as you make your way south back to Crownport. Do you understand?¡± he asked.
¡°Yes, please lower your defenses I can¡¯t Analyze you yet.¡± She said.
Adam lowered his defenses and she gasped, tears ran down her cheeks, and with a shaking voice she said ¡°Monk Level 5,000, Cleric Level 5,000, Mage Level 5,000, Rogue Level 5,000, and Fighter Level 5,000 Hit Points 85,091.¡±
Adam released her and handed her the Toga while he had a Toga materialize around each of the other Soldiers. ¡°Very good. Thank you for doing as I asked.¡± Then he had a thought and smiled which made the woman flinch. ¡°Not to worry my dear, you¡¯re all going to be fine,¡± Adam said as he began analyzing every one of the soldiers to learn their names and faces he noted that the woman¡¯s name in front of him was Karen. Karen stood where he¡¯d left her looking at her fellow soldiers while wondering what she should do next as he pulled out 32 platinum pieces from his Belt of Infinite Wealth. He so enjoyed sticking it to that little prick of a divine.
¡°Alright listen up. I am going to place one dagger and one Platinum on the ground for each of you. Then I¡¯m going to float above you and watch as you each take one dagger and one coin and then start walking back towards Crownport. I¡¯ll give you a one-hour head start then I¡¯m going to follow. The platinum coin is a gift from the Goddess Serena. It is to help you recover from this lesson in humility. Know that should you choose to follow her you will be welcomed with open arms.¡±
Adam floated up into the sky 100 feet above the coins and had daggers form on the ground. Once all 32 were created and permanent he released the soldiers. Only one person was stupid enough to try to take two coins, that was the captain. As he picked up the second coin it dissolved in his hands and his nanites took him over again. The captain reached down and placed the coin he had taken back on top of the others and stepped back through a portal that led to Adam¡¯s Shadow Vault which closed behind the Captain. Adam made him lie down on the floor and then put him to sleep.
Adam was sure he¡¯d have more people in his vault like this before the end of the day. The rest of the soldiers took one dagger and one platinum and started walking South. When they were all on their way he landed and pulled out the Orb of Knowledge. Then he asked, ¡°Are there any Clerical Spells that determine the alignment of the target?¡± To which he received a Prompt
¡°From Orb of Knowledge: Detect Alignment is a Cleric Spell of varying levels. You choose the Strength of the spell by praying for it from your God.
Adam created a small shrine to Serena and prayed for Detect Alignment at level 100. One minute later he could cast the spell. Over the next 9 minutes, he prayed for the same spell nine more times. When he was done he absorbed the shrine, opened a portal, and stepped into his Shadow Vault next to the captain. Adam cast detect Alignment and sure enough, the captain was Lawful Evil. What was he going to do with this Lawful Evil piece of shit? Adam opened his map and looked for Adaline¡¯s location. She was in her lair. Adam flew over to the edge of her lair area in the Shadow Vault and amplified his voice with technology as he said, ¡°Knock, Knock!¡±
Adaline stuck her head out of her cave in dragon form then morphed into her high elf and waved for him to come over. Adam flew to her side and landed lightly.
¡°Question for you. I think I¡¯m going to be finding a lot of evil commander types. How do I know that they can¡¯t be saved?¡± he asked as he pointed to the captain lying 9 miles away.
¡°Honestly, if you know they¡¯re Evil it depends on the type. As you know there are different types of evil. My suggestion would be to put them somewhere that you will not have to deal with them for a while, keep an eye on them, and let their actions speak for themselves.¡±
¡°Thank you. I think I know what I¡¯m going to do,¡± he said as he portaled back to the captain and walked him through to a holding room on Trappist-1e. Adam had him sit there and watch as Adam recorded a new welcome message.
¡°Welcome to a stopover point. You will be here just long enough to hear this message before you are whisked off to another location. Unlike your home Universe, the Universe you find yourself in does not allow the use of magic or your personal interface. There are only two rules at the location you¡¯re going to. No killing and no raping. That¡¯s it. You will be free to do what you want otherwise. You will also receive any help you need acclimating to these new conditions.¡±
After Adam was done, Adam stepped through a portal to Desirae¡¯s location with the Captain following him. Quick as ever she¡¯d already thrown two throwing daggers as he stepped through. A heart shot at each of them. Adam caught both easily and sighed, ¡°Really?¡±
¡°You shouldn¡¯t sneak up on a girl, even if you can turn her to electrons or whatever your little critters turn people to when you dissolve them,¡± she said.
¡°Hilarious I¡¯m sure, anyway the reason I¡¯m here is to first ask you if you want company, you can say no. If you say yes, where do you want them dropped off as I get the feeling you are not the ¡®welcome-to-her-home¡¯ type?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I don¡¯t mind company, who are they and where are they coming from?¡±
¡°These will be the die-hard loyalists from the Kingdom of Crimson Blood that do something stupid while I¡¯m trying not to kill them outright.¡±
¡°Sure, put them in that city over there,¡± she said pointing off to the west, ¡°I think you call it Dallas. There¡¯s plenty of housing. Are you giving them the welcome package?
¡°A short version yes. They¡¯re all going to need help adjusting to the no magic aspect of living here.¡±
¡°Do the same rules apply to them as me?¡± she asked.
¡°No, if you kill someone you lose your arms and legs for a year. Not being able to scratch your nose would really suck I¡¯m sure. If any of the people I¡¯m sending here over the next couple of days or weeks attempt to kill or rape someone, I¡¯ll store their pattern and end them, or let you do it as a lesson on what you are not to do while here. I might be able to bring them back at a later date, not sure if it¡¯s true resurrection but I honestly don¡¯t care. The only people coming here will be the really evil people, like you,¡± Adam said with a smile.
¡°Understood, last question, once they¡¯re acclimated to this new existence, then what?¡± She asked.
¡°I don¡¯t anticipate running into anyone as high a level as you are so making them part of any team you are running if humanity needs you isn¡¯t the best of ideas, you far outclass them. Training them up as teams for diversions or backup, I can see that so yeah feel free to train them if you want. The nanites will have them physically healthy and ready to go in no time,¡± he said.
Adam used Mage Hands to pass her daggers back to her which caused her to raise an eyebrow at him Spock style.
¡°Oh that, yeah I have access to my interface and magic here now. When you get back to your house look up information on ¡®The Ancient Enemy¡¯ and then adjust your expectations of survival and the training you need accordingly with the understanding that even I don¡¯t have a clue what I¡¯m going to try to do about it. Also, if you have any ideas let me know. If I don¡¯t figure this out in the next two years, your universe is gone and this one might follow soon after.¡± Adam said and then opened a portal and stepped through to Primore where he¡¯d brought the captain from moments ago. Adam looked around and had the nanites teardown and destroy the checkpoint and barracks as he started his leisurely walk south.
The next day, he was attacked by well over 100 soldiers and mages of the Kingdom of Crimson Blood. His database of magically scanned weapons and equipment had increased greatly, and he was not able to recognize the magical spheres inherent in an item. he still couldn¡¯t tell what an item did, but he could identify if earth, air, fire, water, life, death, light, and/or darkness magic were part of an item¡¯s makeup as his nanites invaded the magic item.
By the time he made it to the north gate of Crownport, the sun was setting, and he could see the 1,132 people that he¡¯d covered in togas making their way toward the small fort at the center of town. At that moment he decided to be a complete smart-ass. Adam conjured two smoke grenades and then ran up into the sky a mile above the city. Activating the smoke grenades, he wrote in big bright blue smoke ¡°Have a good night, I¡¯ll be back in the morning.¡± Then portaled back to his tower.
From the tower, he opened a spy portal above Crownport and watched the city prepare for the next day. Men women and children were fleeing to the south from the city. Some with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. He opened a small portal next to his foot that emerged a half-mile south of Crownport off to the side of the road. Adam allowed a string of nanites to extend from his foot through the portal and down to the side of the road, well within his 500-foot radius.
Adam had the nanites create food and water for those who were fleeing. He made sure to keep replacing supplies as they were taken. Next to the piles of food and water was a sign with the Symbol of Serena and a note that said, ¡°May Serena¡¯s Blessing lift your heart.¡± A couple of clerics of various gods were among those fleeing. If they took the food and drink and continued on he left them alone. Those that tried to desecrate the shrine, however, froze put their hands to their sides and dropped through portals that opened beneath them into Trappist-1e for their welcome message and their transfer to Earth V with Desirae and the other 37 idiots that he¡¯d sent there already. Most had been officers that completely bought into the council¡¯s bullshit. Now Desirae was going to whip them into shape for him.
Adam also watched as the military brought those wearing togas together. Those who wanted to fight were led to get new armor and weapons. Those who refused to fight were not so lucky. The men were led out to a field caked with blood. Adam knew what was coming so opened up a huge portal and dropped them all onto the surface of Trappist-1e under one of the transparent bubbles. Some fell hard, others did not. Once they were on Trappist-1e his nanites infiltrated their bodies in moments. Once they were all infiltrated he separated them. The ones that had refused to fight and shown some intelligence he sent to rooms on Trappist-1e to sit through the welcome package. The others went to Desirae. The women were treated differently. Those that refused to fight were being led off to brothels to be whores and breeders. Adam ported them out as well separating them from their captors and gave them rooms on Trappist-1e as well.
Some of those that he¡¯d released that had picked up arms again learned that those who chose not to fight had suddenly disappeared as they were being led away to be executed or turned into sex toys. Some fled. As they came within range of the food cart and stopped to grab food and water he had the nanites take them over and sent them to Desirae.
Once he was sure that all of the soldiers he sent back to Crownport were accounted for he ported into the middle of a park on Trappist-1e in their temporary residence and message everyone to come to their doors. The capacity of the facility was 1,200 and he had 1,101 people here. They¡¯d each heard the welcome message before he ported into the center of the park, and then floated up to the middle of the room. Being able to use Magic and abilities in his home Universe was nice.
Adam had his voice carried to every monitor and speaker in every room, ¡°Hello everyone, I know we all got off to a rocky start today, but I wanted to assure you that I only have your best interest in mind. You are all safe here and in a closed facility in his Universe where the ability to use magic is usually not possible. If you¡¯d all come to your doors please.¡±
Adam waited as everyone made their way to their doors and looked out. While he was waiting he had nanites create banquet tables of food fit for a king, and kegs of ale and beer. Also, tables, blankets, and chairs in the parks that everyone could use. Once everybody was looking out of their doors he continued, ¡°For the next couple of days you will be staying here as my guests. Hopefully, you will be able to return to your families and Crownport in very short order. As soon as I leave you may mingle freely and talk amongst yourself. There are only two rules you need to worry about. Do not kill or rape anyone. You are all adults and if you want to have some fun, have fun but do not force yourself on anyone. If you try to, you will be stopped and I will turn you over to Desirae, your Assassin Guild Leader, who is most certainly not dead. She will then teach you the error of your ways. So, eat, drink, relax, and rest. Tomorrow a woman named Abi will come to talk with you. Until then, enjoy my hospitality and have a good night.¡±
Adam portaled back to the tower and monitored the party. It took a little while for everyone to relax. Eventually, hunger won the day, and everyone came out to eat and drink. It was surreal seeing so many soldier-type men and women running around in togas eating and drinking and talking about how scared they¡¯d been. Serena was right, he had to try to think of each and every person he came across as an Individual. He might not believe in all the kowtowing things clerics did for their Gods, but he was beginning to appreciate the guidance Serena was giving him.
Chapter 63, Nice Trick
(Day 186) Aprilis 30th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
As he lay in his bed next to Adaline he thought about yesterday. All the running around, routing an army, and then making sure the smart survivors were well taken care of, as well as the idiots. He had no doubt Desirae would whip them into shape. If he was being honest he was surprised at the changes she¡¯d made as well as surprised about how good he felt about himself. Today, he had to go into Crownport and try to root out a heavily embedded force. Yesterday had been about making sure rumors of his classes and levels made it back to the military leaders. Someone somewhere was probably trying to think of a way to counter something like him. Unfortunately, if he wasn¡¯t mistaken only someone like him, a monster from the Labyrinth, or a divine would be able to provide that counter. The divines were prevented from interacting with or against him and the Labyrinth, he guessed monsters could be teleported, or captured and released near him but if it did kill him they¡¯d have to recapture it. As for others like him, well it was a big multi-verse, he guessed anything was possible.
Adam climbed out of bed and went down to one of the guest bedrooms on the second floor to take a shower. Since the upgrade, the modern bathrooms he¡¯d placed in each guest room had both a bathtub and shower. His nanites could clean him but he wanted to feel the hot water against his skin before he headed out. 20 minutes later he finished up and donned his typical monk garb. he made sure his Bracers of Air Defense, Cloak of Invisibility, and his Displace ability were on and active then opened a portal directly above Crownport. he looked down on the Fort in the center of Crownport and teleported to 10 feet above the roof. Adam floated there as he let his nanites spread out to their full 500-foot range. he estimated that the fort occupied a space of about 1,500 by 2,000 feet and was about five stories high, eight if he included up to three basement levels. He should be able to accomplish what he wanted to just by floating in circles and gradually making his way down to ground level.
Adam had the nanites analyze and then start disintegrating all structures from their roof down. Adam floated in a slow circle around the fort as its structures disappeared as if being erased by the pencil eraser.
At first, no one noticed then one of the guards outside noticed that the castle seemed to be evaporating. The guard yelled and pointed. At that moment people inside had started to notice that the building was disappearing around them and started to flee down the stairs towards the ground level. A couple of mages stepped outside and looked up as they cast some spells. If he¡¯d been using a spell they might not have been able to see him but he was using an item to maintain his invisibility. Spells were cast. Arrows and Bolts flew past and he continued to make his way toward the ground. When soldiers or mages stepped within 500 feet of him, they were infiltrated by the nanites, frozen, and then dropped into rooms on Trappist-1e. There he had nanites control them while they stripped, and their clothes were dropped on the ground and fell through a portal that opened to collect their belongings. Once they were stripped, the nanites replaced their clothes with a Portal¡¯s Inc. jumpsuit. Later he would go through all of their equipment and magic items.
Adam had thought about just destroying their gear and clothing so they would run away nude but if he accidentally destroyed a magic item with charges the devastation and deaths those explosions could cause might hurt nearby innocents. He was trying a more humane approach.
It was 7:30 a.m. when the Fort of Crownport and any and all guards and officials that had worked there were now in another colony on Trappist-1e. For now, he kept them all together. Desirae didn¡¯t need any more people to worry about today. Adam called out for the guards to surrender and had the nanites control the guards to come forward and toss their equipment through a portal that opened into the center of his vault. He also had a few guards step through a portal into his Shadow Vault and begin organizing the piles and placing items in bins or on tables that his nanites created. Adaline came out of her cave in the vault at one point, flew over to see what was going on then flew back to her cave to use the intercom on the wall.
¡°Thor, Adam, however, I¡¯m supposed to address you when you¡¯re not here, what¡¯s going on?
¡°Hey, Adaline. I¡¯m talking through my Thor Aspect but if you talk to the intercom I should be aware of it unless I¡¯m sleeping, which you usually know when that¡¯s going on. Anyway, what can I do for you?¡±
¡°What are those people doing?¡± she asked.
¡°You know me, I just started walking and random people began throwing their clothes, equipment, and weapons at me. Sometimes even themselves. Those people will be separating and sorting those items so I can analyze them later. When they¡¯re done I¡¯ll send them back to their rooms.¡± Adam said.
¡°Okay, next question, Abi contacted me and asked if I¡¯d like to go shopping, whatever that is?¡± she asked.
Adam had seen the call come in a little bit ago and knew Abi had asked, He¡¯d just been concentrating on the Fort. ¡°Sure, go shopping. Ask Abi to help you put on clothes that will cover your elf ears and do NOT turn into a dragon while you¡¯re there. I¡¯m honestly not too worried as I control everything there, but my world doesn¡¯t know about magic and monsters yet. I wanted to break the news to them a little more slowly. Also, be careful, your strength will be greater than anyone there, even in your elf form. Finally, have fun!¡±
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¡°Okay I will, talk to you later,¡± she said.
Adam allowed his Thor Aspect to portal her over to Abi and keep an eye on her while she was out. He also sent Abi a message, ¡°Might try to take Adaline up to the moon base before you return to the tower. I think she¡¯ll have a ball in the low gravity.¡± He received a quick reply from Abi, ¡°Kk.¡± Well damn, she really had gone native.
Adam returned his attention to Fort just as crowds of people throughout the city cheered. He landed next to one of the shopkeepers and dropped his invisibility which caused a few people to gasp but the cheering continued. He opened a portal directly over the center of where the fort used to be and released nanites from his world into the hole in the ground that had been created. They filled it in with normal dirt, covered with short grass. He might replace the fort at some point but for now, it was time to party. Adam then had the nanites start creating food and drink on the table with a sign above that said. ¡°May the Light of Serena Shine Down on You this Day.¡±
As the food was being created he looked at the shopkeeper and asked, ¡°I need to head towards Andidreas next, can you help me out?¡±
¡°Sure, Sure, Andidreas is about three days travel southwest of here. Just go out the west gate and when you get to the fork about a mile down the road, take the left one. You can¡¯t miss it.
Adam pulled a silver out of his Belt of Infinite Wealth and handed it to the shopkeeper as he said, ¡°Thank you for your time, now go enjoy the feast. I have to be on my way,¡± he said as he rose into the air, activated his cloak, and started cloud running to the west. Adam landed at the fork and then started walking down the left lane. As he made his way along the road he noticed a wagon heading his way towards Crownport. Beside the driver of the wagon sat a young woman in a soldier¡¯s uniform. As they neared him Adam analyzed the woman and noted that she was a level 1 fighter, also she had no weapons. She also had a purple cloth bracer on her left arm. As the wagon came within range of him he heard her ask the driver to stop.
¡°Excuse him, sir, are you King Adamantadine from the North?¡± she asked.
¡°Yes, that would be me, what can he do for you?¡± he asked back.
¡°I have been sent here to deliver this message she said holding up a letter.¡±
¡°Do you mind if I cast a spell on your first, to check your intent?¡± he asked.
¡°Of course, I was told to offer you every courtesy,¡± she said.
Adam double-checked the range on his Detect Alignment spell and noted that it had a range of 100 feet. Adam sent the nanites out and into everything within 500 feet. The wagon looked to be carrying salted meat and except for a bow, some arrows and a short sword near the driver and a magical ring, and a non-magical short sword on the woman everything looked okay. Through his nanites, the magical ring had familiar energy signatures and two that were not.
¡°That ring on your finger, what is it?¡±
¡°Oh this, it was given to me by my grandmother when I came of age,¡± The woman said as she touched the ring on her left middle finger. It¡¯s supposed to protect me and help me when I need it. It was stolen from me once but the next morning at sunrise it reappeared on my finger. Grandma said it was soul-bound to me, which I don¡¯t really understand.¡± She said.
Well except for that magical ring everything seemed to be normal, yet something felt off. His nanites could detect magic and determined that the message wasn¡¯t magical in any way. He cast Detect Alignment on the woman and then the man. The woman was Neutral Good. The man on the other hand was neutral, though it hinted at evil. So why did he have misgivings?
¡°My friends call him Adam, might I have your name?¡±
¡°I¡¯m Tasha, it is very nice to meet you. May I step down and bring you this message? I don¡¯t get paid unless the message is delivered and any response returned to the sender.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t see why not, please, step down,¡± Adam said.
She stepped down from the wagon and walked to meet with him as he moved closer to the wagon. Adam looked around, making sure this wasn¡¯t some kind of ambush. A hawk was in a tree about a half-mile away but nothing else was visible.
Tasha walked to him ¡°On behalf of The Vizier for the Council of Crimson Blood I offer greetings and this message,¡± she said holding an envelope with a wax seal on it towards him.
Adam took the message, double-checked everything with his nanites then broke the seal and pulled out the note.
¡°Adamantadine,
I would like to congratulate you on thwarting our plans for Venoran. It is not often that we find such a formidable opponent as yourself. A smart man would wonder how this is a trap, which I believe you think it is. But the question you should have asked yourself is this. How does a mortal stop someone that is as powerful, or so close to the power level of a divine that there is almost no difference? The answer is that you do not. So, with great humility and the utmost respect, I have sent this message. The mage that destroyed your Tower is Xsitant. I do hope that you will take the time to meet him someday. He is a bit of a troublemaker that doesn¡¯t always do as he¡¯s told. I¡¯m sure w he¡¯ll be seeing you shortly.
-V
Why was there an error in the message? He thought about it and then started sounding it out in his mind. ¡°w he¡¯ll¡±? The ¡°w¡± seemed pointless so he focused on ¡°he¡¯ll¡± which meant ¡°he will.¡± ¡°He will be seeing you shortly¡± instead of ¡°we will be meeting you shortly¡± Adam muttered questionly. As he thought about it he realized the message was saying that he¡¯d be seeing Xsitant Shortly, but he was in the future, wasn¡¯t he? At that moment he knew it was a trap and was turning to see what would spring it as he heard Tasha say ¡°Xsitant,¡± as she touched the ring on her left ring finger, not the ring on her middle finger. A moment later, a vortex opened and pulled both of them into it as the driver dived off to the side.
Adam¡¯s mind exploded with pain which stopped just as quickly. He opened his eyes to find himself standing on a sand dune, Tasha standing exactly as she had been next to him, and Xsitant standing before him. Adam recognized Xsitant from the images He¡¯d been shown by Serena. Adam didn¡¯t so much as twitch as he had his nanites invade, map out, and prepare to take control of Xsitant.
¡°Hello?¡± Xsitant asked while taking a step back.
¡°Hello,¡± Adam said.
¡°Who are you?¡± Xsitant asked.
¡°Adamantadine, are you still going to try to kill him?¡± he asked.
¡°Look around, what would be the point now?¡± Xsitant asked resignedly.
While they talked warily, Tasha fell to her knees and started sobbing.
Chapter 64, Stuck
(Day x + 1) Month, Day, Year of ???
Adam looked around. There were dunes in all directions and next to them was the¡
Warning: Quantum Temporal Rip imminent. You may not occupy two temporal locations within the same Universe. You must¡. Error.
Adam¡¯s vision cleared and he was once again looking at Xsitant. Tasha hadn¡¯t moved yet. Xsitant looked at him with hope in his eyes.
¡°Do you still have access to your interface?¡± he asked.
¡°Yeah, why?¡±
¡°I haven¡¯t been able to cast magic Since I arrived a couple of minutes ago. I can use a couple of abilities and have access to my interface but that¡¯s about it.¡± Xsitant said.
¡°Hold on for a minute, let him think,¡± Adam said as Adam looked over at Tasha and Xsitant. Adam noticed moisture already appearing on their foreheads which caused Adam to look up. The sun that had been over Primore was slightly larger. Adam conjured some specialized sunglasses and looked at the star through various spectrums. It did seem hotter. Adam checked the nanites and sure enough, the temperature against his skin was 101 degrees Fahrenheit. So, a little warm. Adam tried to send the nanites he had control of out past his 500-foot radius and was surprised when they continued to expand past that range. So this place had no magic or so little that it didn¡¯t really matter. Okay then. No magic worked in his favor right now but made it so only Adam could access magic. That could be a problem because Adam would need Xsitant¡¯s help if they wanted to get out of this mess without killing him.
Adam had already figured out that he could recreate a body back in his Place of Power and then transfer his consciousness back through time but that would leave Tasha stranded with Xsitant on a dying planet. Adam couldn¡¯t do that. Well, he could, but he wouldn¡¯t. Also, Xsitant was a practitioner of time and chaos magic. Two things Adam needed. The knowledge might provide him with the clues Adam needed to destroy the Ancient Enemy. Time? Why hadn¡¯t his ability ¡°I have always been, I will always be¡± protected him? Adam reviewed the ability:
Congratulations you have been granted the Special Sphere of Time ability ¡°I have always been, I will always be.¡± Your existence is now sacrosanct. You are no longer subject to the Grandfather Paradox, nor can you be affected by Time Magic that you do not wish to be affected by.
Adam was right, he shouldn¡¯t have been affected by it. Adam dug into his prompts and zeroed in on the prompts he needed.
You have been caught in an area of effect Temporal Vortex. The ability ¡°I have always been, I will always be¡± does not apply.
NOTE: The Ability ¡°I have always been, I will always be¡± will not prevent passage through Temporal Portals, Temporal Vortex, or natural Space-Time portals. The immunity granted by this ability merely indicates that passage through time will not prove fatal.
Adam sighed as he thought about how it would have been nice to know in the original description of the ability, not that the knowledge helped him now. He¡¯d think about that problem later, now he had to give them some shelter. Adam sent his nanites out to make more of themselves and to start making them a basic shelter with three bedrooms, bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and the most important thing, an air conditioner. Once that was started Adam viewed his internal links to Thor and noted that they were all active, but the information was being blocked to and from. Adam tried to send a mental link like He¡¯d done a million times and it failed. Adam thought about it a moment then sent a message, text only
Adam: Thor are you there?
Thor: Yes
Adam: When are you?
Thor: Same day you left to get whenever you are.
Adam: Why did you block the links?
Thor: I believe our ability ¡°I have always been, I will always be¡± had an unintended consequence.
Adam: Adam had the same idea. Did you feel the pain?
Thor: Yes, that is why I shut down the link and it will remain shut down until I physically see you again.
Adam: You think that I will receive a flood of information from your experiences throughout the time I¡¯ve traveled into the future?
Thor: Yes, it might kill you.
Adam: I had the same thought.
Thor: I will set up a room at this quantum location in the vault. That location will be cut off from the rest of the vault and the nanites there will remain as they are at this moment without updates. You will be able to travel there and from there travel back to Primore if you need to. Do not try to portal back to our Universe. Neither of us knows what has happened, though if you are talking to me something must have happened to save Primore¡¯s Universe from The Ancient Enemy. Last thing, I will place a monitor in the area you are portaling to. It will have the date and time and the number of years, months, and days that have passed since you left. Any idea what happened?
Adam: Yeah, someone called The Vizier who works for The Council was a little more ingenious than I gave him credit for. It seems that I was targeted by a spell from the sphere of time. Yeah, we don¡¯t have resistances to that sphere, except our normal resistances and I think the higher-tier magics are less impressed with my attributes than the primal forces are. Gotta go. Will contact you when I can.
¡°Adamantadine, what¡¯s happening,¡± Xsitant asked.
¡°I am making our shelter, food, and drinks really quick so we can get out of this sun. Once we¡¯re inside we can talk. Just hold on.¡± Adam said as Adam walked over and conjured a glass of water for Tasha. Adam gently lifted her chin and said ¡°Drink this.¡±
¡°What is it?¡± she mumbled.
¡°Water, don¡¯t worry we¡¯ll be inside in a minute.¡±
She drank the water and the glass disappeared. Adam looked at Xsitant, ¡°Are you thirsty?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Will be able to drink inside?¡± he asked.
¡°Yes, and it shouldn¡¯t be longer than another 5 minutes.¡±
¡°I can wait then,¡± he said as he stood and moved to stand beside Adam and Tasha. Adam helped Tasha to her feet, and they walked over to where the front door would be. They waited a couple more minutes and then Adam led them into a small one-story home. As they entered Adam had the nanites create an elevator shaft to a lower floor and started creating a base of operation. Thor hadn¡¯t said it, but Adam was going to need to recreate his very first portal device with enough power to get back to his Place of Power and into the vault. However, Adam couldn¡¯t just make a door and then enter the vault. If Adam went into the Tower, everything they were trying to do to circumvent creating a paradox would fail. Adam needed to portal directly into the Vault to the coordinates he¡¯d been given. He reviewed his memory dump when Thor and Adam had been connected and looked at the energy requirements to open those portals. Okay then, this was going to take a few days, if not weeks.
Adam turned to Xsitant and Tasha, as Adam started the tour, ¡°Over to our right is a small dining area. I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll need to worry about guests, though I will go check to make sure after I¡¯m sure you two are settled. First things first. Xsitant, I know magic doesn¡¯t work, do you have access to some of your abilities and your personal interface now or is everything still off?
¡°I have access to my personal interface and some abilities, must be my proximity to you,¡± he said.
¡°Good, can you Analyze people?¡± Adam asked.
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¡°Yes, but for some reason, it doesn¡¯t work on you?¡± he answered.
Adam lowered his resistance to Analyze and said, ¡°Try now.¡± When Xsitant¡¯s eyes bulged Adam reactivated his defenses and looked him square in the eyes, ¡°Do we understand each other?¡±
¡°Yes, Adam, I think we understand each other. How can I help?¡± he asked.
¡°Okay, Tasha and Xsitant. This house is modeled after a home from my universe and is more technologically advanced than anything you¡¯re probably used to. The good news is that we will have all the food and water we need while I work to get us to a location where we can probably fix this problem. Tasha, do you know what has happened?
Still looking bewildered she hesitantly said, ¡°We¡¯re in a desert somewhere?¡±
¡°True, but we¡¯re in a desert right next to where the Obelisk for the Dungeon next to Venoran is.¡±
¡°There isn¡¯t a desert there,¡± she said.
¡°There wasn¡¯t a desert near Venoran when we met, there is now.¡±
¡°She thought for a moment, then asked, ¡°Time Travel?¡±
¡°Yes!¡± both Xsitant and Adam said together.
Adam looked at him and then continued, ¡°Xsitant here had an accident and you brought us to him.¡±
¡°How did I bring us to him, I¡¯m not a caster?¡± she asked.
¡°I think it has something to do with the ring you¡¯re wearing.¡±
¡°What ring?¡±
¡°The Ring on your right hand,¡± Adam said.
¡°I don¡¯t have a ring on his right hand,¡± she said lifting her hand to show them which clearly had a ring on her right hand.
Adam looked at her and saw the sincerity in her eyes. ¡°Okay, please trust me when I say I¡¯m not going to hurt you,¡± as he gently reached up and removed the ring from her finger while she watched him. To her, it must have seemed like Adam was a crazy person until the ring was completely off and her eyes locked onto it.
¡°I was wearing that ring?¡± She asked as Xsitant moved closer to get a good look.
¡°Crux,¡± Xsitant said with a hint of disbelief in his eyes.
Adam looked at him questionly.
¡°Identify the ring, you¡¯ll understand,¡± Xsitant said.
Adam looked at the ring and identified it.
Identify Success! Crux. This ring allows the wearer and everyone with 10 feet of them to travel to a target location or person. The target can be anywhere. Also, the ring can target persons even if they have traveled through time into the future. This ring bypasses all resistance and will deliver the wearer and everyone within 10 feet to the target location.
WARNING: This magical item is potent. Do not destroy this ring.
¡°Holy Shit!¡± Adam said.
¡°Yeah,¡± Xsitant replied.
¡°What?¡± Tasha asked.
The ring is an Artifact¡± Xsitant said.
¡°So now I know how we got here. What spell did the Vizier use on her to get her to use the ring?¡± Adam asked.
Xsitant thought for a moment, ¡°Most likely Geas and then some form of memory eraser. She didn¡¯t even know she was going with you did she?¡±
¡°Probably not, you¡¯ve seen her level. She was a messenger, and her alignment even shows as Neutral Good, which would have caused me to drop his guard. The Vizier is a slimy, sneaky son of a bitch!¡± Adam said with a little bit of respect. He¡¯d tricked and trapped him after all.
¡°So now what?¡± Xsitant asked.
¡°Now I continue my tour,¡± Adam said as did just that. ¡°Off to our right is a kitchen. To our left is a sitting room with chairs couches and a television. Don¡¯t worry we¡¯ll go over what a television is after we eat. Behind these two doors is an elevator shaft that will lead down to our underground base once it¡¯s finished and until the rooms are finished below. There are three small rooms along the back wall, each with their own beds and bathrooms.¡± Adam said as he showed them how to use the bathrooms, turn on the showers set the temperature to what they wanted it at, and how to lock their room doors. He¡¯d had the nanites in the house reduce the temperature to a comfortable 75 degrees Fahrenheit while they were walking around and had the nanites prepare dinner. Nothing fancy just cooked hens with some veggies, bread, and mugs of ale.
¡°Is that food I smell?¡± Tasha asked.
¡°Yes, why don¡¯t we sit down and eat,¡± Adam said.
As they made their way to the table Xsitant asked, ¡°You have been most generous since you arrived, even though I destroyed your tower. Might I ask why?¡±
Adam motioned for everyone to sit, ¡°Please sit and dig in. I give both of you my word that the food is harmless. While we¡¯re eating I¡¯ll explain further.¡± Adam said as he sat down and began eating. He took his food from the center of the table, filled his plate, and then took a bite from each item and swallowed so they could see that the food was not harmful. Adam continued to eat while they made their own plates and sat down. He waited until they were comfortable before he continued.
¡°First things first, Tasha, we are still on Primore, but we are millions, if not billions, of years in the future. I won¡¯t know exactly how far into the future until we get back to my Place of Power,¡± which caused a look of confusion to cross Xsitant¡¯s face. Adam turned to him and continued, ¡°Xsitant, your spell did not destroy the tower. It would seem that when your spell went off something chaotic happened, which we will definitely talk about later. As for the loss of magic. I am directly tied to my Place of Power, so I am able to utilize magic wherever I go. Everything you¡¯ve seen me do so far was not created with magic though. I may explain exactly how I¡¯m doing everything I am doing over the next couple of days, weeks, and months we are here but suffice it to say as long as I have access to matter of any kind we will be fine.¡± Adam paused to take a bite of his meal and drink some ale, then turned on the album Optical Race by Tangerine Dream. Adam let that play in the background while they ate in silence for a little bit.
After they¡¯d all but finished their meals Adam lowered the volume of the music with a thought and said, ¡°Tasha, you are an innocent bystander in this. I will try to find a way to get you home which is why my fellow Mage here is still alive.¡±
Xsitant looked up at that and asked, ¡°You need a teacher?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Adam said.
¡°But your levels¡¡±
¡°Did you know Apolyn, I have a feeling that you did?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Why yes Adam did, The Tower you claimed as a Place of Power was once mine. I gifted it to him some years ago.¡±
¡°Did you know what he was working on until about 13 years ago?¡± Adam asked.
¡°He had this idea that he could steal experience from The Labyrinth. I thought the idea intriguing but warned him that he should do more research first,¡± he said.
¡°Well, he succeeded, then he died,¡± Adam said.
¡°So, you¡¯re stealing experience from The Labyrinth?¡± he asked.
¡°Simple answer, yes. Long answer, is it really stealing if an Adjudicator makes the link permanent?¡±
Xsitant had been taking a drink of ale which he coughed up, then coughed harder to clear his throat as he croaked, ¡°An Adjudicator did what?¡±
¡°Yeah, long story. Anyway, we¡¯re here now and I need to learn as much as I can about the sphere of time. I know that you can at least cast Time Shield and since I have so many choices for teachers guess what? You¡¯re it.¡±
¡°Why?¡± he asked.
¡°Because if you help teach me, I will get the three of us back to the time we came from,¡± Adam said.
¡°Yeah, that¡¯s probably not going to happen,¡± Xsitant said.
¡°Because there is a Temporal Crux between then and now?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°I¡¯m not going to use magic to make this happen, I¡¯m going to use technology. Currently, I¡¯m in contact with, let¡¯s just call it, part of my soul back in that time. I believe that if I can figure out the equations I can create a portal for us using technology.¡±
¡°If the technological portal is bound by the same rules as magical portals are it won¡¯t matter,¡± Xsitant said.
¡°Why?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The part of you in the past may very well be able to make a portal and open it to us here. They might even be able to step through to come to us. The problem you have is that anyone from this end attempting to go back through the portal will be ripped apart as they cross any time between now and then in their timeline that has a crux. The barrier that prevents me from just using a spell, even a wish, to return to my own time also prevents me from stepping through a portal into the past.¡± He explained.
While he was explaining, Tasha was partaking of the Ale very liberally and her gaze had started to fog over.
¡°I think we¡¯re losing Tasha. Also, this is why I need a teacher. We will be traveling to my Place of Power as soon as I finish creating the items I need to be able to do so. If I get you back into a magical environment will you be able to teach me about the sphere of time?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes¡±
¡°Okay then, Xsitant please help Tasha to a room, my technology will lock the door behind her once you leave the room. Word of warning. Through my technology, I can see and perceive everything in this building. You are not to touch Tasha without her sober consent. If you do, I will leave you at this time, by yourself when we leave. I need you, but I don¡¯t need you that much. I¡¯d much rather have a teacher, but I do have an Orb of Knowledge. I can probably find the answers I need from it. Act Honorably and I will bring you back with me. Do something stupid and you can find your fate in this place, though I warn you, I do not know how much longer this planet will survive. This brings me back to his first request. Please escort Tasha to her room to get tucked in. I need to go take a trip around the planet to see what¡¯s what and how far this wasteland has spread.¡±
Xsitant nodded, Adam stood and then walked outside. Adam activated his monk ability ¡°Cloud Running¡± and then rose in altitude gaining speed until he broke the sound barrier at 730 mph. Adam trusted his Air Power ability ¡°The Wind Flows By¡± to protect him from any wind resistance he might be creating. His nanites maintained his energy level and allowed him to breathe normally as Adam rose to almost 50 miles above the surface. Then Adam increased his speed. He¡¯d never run at his maximum velocity before. It was both exhilarating and terrifying to run around the planet in just under fifteen minutes. Of course, the only reason Adam knew He¡¯d gone around the planet once was that as he made it back to his starting point he saw a reflection below him. Adam might be 50 miles up but when the only thing visible from this high was sand, mirrors from the solar panels he¡¯d created stuck out a bit.
His first pass had been to go west, now Adam went north over the pole, then down to the south pole, and back to his starting point. No water, just sand everywhere. Adam used his ability ¡°Gravity Is that Way¡± and went straight away from the planet until he was in low orbit. As Adam rose he used the limited Air molecules he had access to conjure two satellites and then released them into orbit at different altitudes. One traveling along the equator and the other going North to South. Adam made sure they had quantum links to him then reversed how gravity was affecting him which allowed him to drop back into the atmosphere.
Adam returned to the House and then had the nanites enclose it in a bubble of transparent aluminum. Adam altered his instructions to the nanites. Made the shelter airtight then added CO¡¯2 scrubbers and oxygen tanks to the structure to ensure there was enough breathable area. Adam had held off on infiltrating Tasha with nanites, but Adam had them do so now and set them up to check her medical condition and ensure she¡¯d be able to breathe. Xsitant was fine. The nanites he¡¯d flooded him with had automatically adjusted to the low-oxygen environment of the planet and helped him compensate. The mode the nanites defaulted to for humans was simply if no other instructions were given to keep them alive. Since we¡¯d arrived Adam hadn¡¯t given any instructions to the nanites in him. When the nanites infiltrated Tasha however, Adam was notified that her oxygen saturation was low and dropping. As he¡¯d suspected she¡¯d been having a harder and harder time breathing. Coupled with the alcohol she¡¯d had at dinner; it could have proved fatal. Adam had the nanites in her correct the problem, gave instructions for the nanites to cleanse her system when she left her bed then left them at the default setting as Adam also made the changes to their shelter.
Adam didn¡¯t have his normal amount of nanites and creating the mass Adam needed was taking time. Thankfully there was a lot of sand around and as the complex below him was constructed all the removed rock and sand would be converted to nanites as well. Adam was on a mostly dead planet, and he had a lot of work to do.
Chapter 65, Deja Vu
(Day x + 2) Month, Day, Year of ???
Adam stood from meditating and checked the data the satellites he¡¯d placed in orbit had collected. Adam reviewed his memories and estimated that the sun here was over 7 billion years old and close to the end of its life cycle. Not good. Adam reviewed the planet¡¯s surface scan and noted high concentrations of carbon dioxide with a very thin layer of breathable atmosphere at the surface. Even so, on windy days, there might not be any oxygen near the surface as the majority of other gases in the atmosphere mixed in and thinned out the available oxygen. Definitely not good.
Using his general coordinates, Adam left the building and the bubble he¡¯d created and started to make his way toward the location where his Place of Power used to be off to the north. As Adam zeroed in on the location, he realized that while it felt like he was at sea level his elevation was almost 500 feet higher than the original elevation of his Place of Power had sat at. The hole in the Universe that had been created was below him. Adam extended the reach of his nanites down into the earth and was both amazed and shocked by what he found. The sand was being displaced upward. As his nanites made it closer and closer to the source they came into combat with raw chaos. Raw Chaos? Adam reviewed the data and then had the nanites move out and search for the edges, infiltrating and converting the sand as quickly as they could. That¡¯s when Adam received another shock. The nanites creating the subterranean base under the house ran into the same viscous fluid that was now trying to come up the elevator shaft toward the surface. The chaos was converting sand into more chaos as his nanites tried to convert the sand into more nanites. Once converted to nanites the Chaos could not touch the nanites, but they were losing the battle.
Adam reached out to the nanites in his companions and placed both Xsitant and Tasha¡¯s minds into comas and then had the nanites in their bodies stand and run them through the walls and bubble away from the elevator shaft as both crumbled around them. Adam also reprogrammed all nanites, save those in the three of them, to start converting materials as Adam turned and ran back towards both of them. The race was on. As Adam came near both Xsitant and Tasha, Adam had his nanites build hoist harnesses with handles that solidified around their bodies with handles behind their heads. Adam grabbed them, one in each hand, and used his ability ¡°Gravity is that Way¡± to fall away from the planet toward the nearest moon. As they fell up and away from the ground Adam watched as the nanites of the house disincorporated and spread out like a sandcastle that had been knocked over before their ultimately futile battle against raw chaos that Adam now believed had replaced close to 90% of the planet, won the battle. Adam was guessing that Chaos was leaking through the breach Xsitant had created when he¡¯d destroyed his Place of Power and that hole had never closed.
As they fell upwards Adam set the nanites in all three of their bodies to protect them from the conditions of vacuum and to recycle oxygen to keep them alive. It was time to create a new moon base. As he fell away from the planet and towards the moon Adam added a harness to himself and connected both of them to it. Adam also surrounded all three of them in space suits so the nanites wouldn¡¯t have to fight so hard to keep them all alive. Radiation levels were pretty high but their suits and the nanites compensated.
Adam Used the distance between Earth and the moon as a guide. His moon was 238,900 miles from Earth. Adam set a timer as they fell toward the moon for 104 minutes. Their velocity should be about 37.82 miles per second, and they should have traveled just about 118,000 miles. Adam flipped his falling direction 180 degrees to start decelerating. It was going to be another 104 minutes before they slowed to a stop. Hopefully, they¡¯d be pretty close to this moon. Just in case Adam adjusted his vector so that they¡¯d go into orbit over the moon in case this moon was closer than Earth¡¯s moon. He didn¡¯t need them slamming into it. Vectored thrust through gravity manipulation was fine but he realized that he needed a way to travel faster through space.
While we¡¯d been falling toward the moon his nanites on Primore had spread as far and fast as they could to no avail. They¡¯d been lucky. His mineshaft must have been the final catalyst. By the time they were in orbit around the moon the entire planet of Primore was one writhing ball of a hyper-viscous milky white fluid. When Adam brought them to a complete stop they were about a mile above the surface of the moon. Adam flew them down to the surface and noted that his nanites were once again limited to a range of 500 feet. So, there was some magic here. Good. Even so, Adam kept both Xsitant and Tasha in a coma while he worked.
The first thing Adam did was find a deep crater on the sun side of the moon. Next, he went down to the bottom of the crater and began making a tunnel into the surface. Over the next three days, Adam slowly and methodically used everything he¡¯d learned the first time he¡¯d done this to create a moon base that was sealed, self-sufficient, had portal machinery and once the nanites were removed would still function. Adam also made sure to create a simulated ¡°1g¡± environment for Xsitant and Tasha.
While he worked on the base, Adam monitored the planet made of chaos, maybe Adam should rename it to Chaoticus, nah that was lame, He¡¯d just stick to calling It Primore. Adam monitored Primore to make sure the chaos wasn¡¯t expanding. It didn¡¯t seem to be, but the liquid could be compressing due to gravity. There was no way to tell. The fluid had settled and now looked like a perfect orb of milk. It was really weird.
Adam woke Xsitant and Tasha up at the same time, ¡°Time to wake up you two. I have some things to show you.¡±
¡°What? Where? I have my ability to cast magic back, how?¡± Xsitant asked.
Tasha was a little slower and just looked around as she woke up.
¡°We are no longer on Primore,¡± Adam said. ¡°In fact, we¡¯re on one of Primore¡¯s Moons,¡± Adam said.
¡°What, why? Xsitant asked.
Adam pointed to the monitor on the wall in front of him which showed an image of Primore from a Camera mounted on the surface of the moon, ¡°That white orb is the planet Primore, or what used to be Primore.¡±
¡°My parents,¡± Tasha exclaimed.
¡°What happened?¡± Xsitant asked.
¡°Tasha, your parents, and any friends we had on Primore have been dead for billions of years. Think of it this way. If you could live to be 100 years old. You would have died 40 million times.¡±
A look of shock and wonder crossed her face as Adam turned to Xsitant and answered, ¡°As for what happened, remember that spell you cast on my tower? Well, you released chaos onto a nexus of all eight primal powers.¡±
¡°Wait! All eight, when did that happen?¡± he asked.
¡°Well, if what Serena showed me is accurate I¡¯d estimate that the ley lines were added and then the Place of Power moved at exactly the same time as the spell went off.¡±
¡°Oh shit!¡± Xsitant said.
¡°Yeah! When I made it back to Primore a couple of days later I checked and found a very small hole that led out into the chaos that surrounds this Universe. At that point, it felt like stuff from in this universe was flowing out into the chaos. I think Primore is now a ball of raw chaos because eventually, the flow changed, and chaos started to leak through to this side of the barrier. I could be wrong, but that ball of chaos seems to be a pretty good indicator that I could be right.¡± Adam said.
¡°I dropped Chaos on a confluence of all eight Primal Ley Lines and it created a hole into chaos? Well, you wanted me to teach you so here is your first lesson because you have saved Tasha and me. Chaos likes to change forms. It continuously changes forms and the odds that it will lock into one of those forms is very low because as chaos, it is a higher form of energy. A lot of times the chaos will transform into Space, Time, or Gravity. Doing so is easy for the chaos to do but it won¡¯t stay in that form and quickly reverts back to chaos because Universes will not form without all three together. Once they form the Universe converts Chaos into the primal forces within itself. Chaos is usually drawn through the membrane of the Universe evenly and randomly. Think of the Universes barrier as a screen that only allows certain energies through. While there was still magic on Primore it would have continued to leak through the barrier and been absorbed by the chaos. Small holes near ley lines form all the time allowing some primal energy to escape out into the chaos but those holes eventually close. Ley lines will shift and jump around allowing the universal membrane to heal itself.
A ley-line convergence of eight ley lines however is unheard of. One, because they form the most stable ley lines. They don¡¯t move. Second, their nature can draw even higher energies to them. When my spell went off I made a non-moving ley-line that would never have the opportunity to close that fed the whole planet. Over the years I¡¯d imagine that everything started to die around where the tower had been. That area of death would have spread throughout the planet and eventually, all the life and magic would have drained away. When that happened,¡± he paused as he pointed to the orb of chaos on the monitor.
¡°Okay, now I know what I have to do to fix it. Now, all we need to do is get back. First, though I want to talk to both of you about the dangers you are both facing here on the moon and what I¡¯ve done to mitigate them. Let¡¯s get something to eat and I¡¯ll take you on a tour as I explain.¡±
They all sat down to eat. Once everyone was tucked in and enjoying their meal Adam started his explanation, ¡°Three days ago the mineshaft I was creating acted as the catalyst that allowed all the chaos that was below the surface to swell up and devour the rest of the planet. Once I realized what was happening I retrieved both of you and we flew through space to the moon. Space is dangerous. There is no air, and it can be both very hot and very cold at the same time. I kept both of you unconscious while creating this base. I figured it would be less traumatizing for both of you and a lot easier on the nanites I had keeping you alive.
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¡°Thank you for that,¡± Xsitant said.
¡°No problem. Where was I? Oh yeah,¡± Adam said before he continued, ¡°You each have a room, and like before food and water will not be an issue. Right now, I am trying to create the power sources I need to power a device to get us back to my Place of Power. Once we¡¯re there, we¡¯ll be able to work faster because I believe we¡¯ll have stronger access to our magic. Magic is back but it seems weaker here Xsitant,¡± Adam said.
¡°To be expected, there isn¡¯t much life here. I came out here once when Adam was younger and teleported right next to it. If I hadn¡¯t had another teleport in a ring I was wearing, I probably would have died right then. I still had to go see the healers after.¡± Xsitant said.
¡°Yep, space is dangerous. This moon base is not dangerous. That door,¡± Adam said pointing to a door beside the monitor,¡± leads to an airlock that leads to the surface of the moon. If you are within 500 feet of me you will be able to go out on the moon without worrying about breathing or getting hurt. Because there is some magic here though my range is limited. So, I would suggest you remain inside the base. I have created a pool for you to go swimming, hot tubs for relaxing, and a television for you to watch. I¡¯ve even created a database of movies for you. Something we do from my Universe. I¡¯ll show you what I mean after I¡¯m done talking.
¡°How long do you think we¡¯ll be here?¡± Tasha asked.
¡°The first time I did this took me about 8 years. Of course, I didn¡¯t know what I needed, and I didn¡¯t have access to what I have access to now. I estimate I should be able to get the portal device created and get a portal open to my vault in three weeks, maybe less. While I¡¯m working on that, you two will have a full range of the base and you can even go jump around on the moon if you want.¡±
¡°Why would that be fun,¡± both asked in unison.¡±
¡°I thought you¡¯d never ask,¡± as Adam stood and encouraged them to follow him to an elevator. They all stepped in and Adam pushed a button to take them to the bottom floor 11 stories down. ¡°We¡¯re going into the Moon. The 10th floor has elements in it that artificially increase gravity allowing you to feel like you¡¯re on Primore. This effect has a radius that we have to get outside of so we¡¯re going down to the 11th basement level to a tunnel that goes over to a nearby crater. I have a bubble there and it¡¯s outside the gravity effect.¡± The elevator stopped and they stepped out into a small tram station with a single 4-seat maglev on it. They all sat down and road it to the next crater. When they arrived, they moved to get out and floated slowly into the air before they returned to the ground.
¡°Wow!¡± Tasha said.
¡°I have felt the weightlessness of space before, but this is interesting,¡± Xsitant said.
¡°Basically, how much stuff a planet has determines how strongly it pulls you to it. The more stuff, the stronger the pull. Less stuff, less pull. This moon is smaller than Primore and has about 1/7th of the gravity. So, something that would weigh 70 pounds on Primore weighs 10 pounds here. The force of attraction is also 1/7th as strong. If you could jump 1 foot on Primore you can jump 7 here. Try it.¡± Tasha squatted then jumped and soared into the sky. As she went up she started pinwheeling and looked to be about to smack face-first into the ground on her way down. Adam activated fly, flew over, and steadied her as she landed, ¡°Careful, small movements while you¡¯re in a low g environment are better. Large movements are hard to recover from without perfect muscle control or the ability to fly.¡± Adam said.
Adam let them jump around getting used to the gravity and showed them how to move quickly without losing momentum or control, ¡°The trick is to keep your jumps shallow so you can change direction if you need to. If you go high into the air you are committed and will not be able to adjust your course if you need to. Slow and steady in low-g is faster than quick and reckless.¡± They stayed in the bubble for another hour before Adam led them back to explore the wonders of television.
The next three weeks went by quickly. Adam couldn¡¯t convert the moon as quickly as he wanted to, which slowed him down and he was starting to get frustrated. Which led him to look for the reason there were ley lines on the moon. What Adam found was both interesting and troubling. As Adam came to the ¡°north pole¡± of the moon Adam entered a crater with a glowing silver orb floating above a pedestal. As Adam moved toward the orb he noticed that it hovered above a Symbol of Serena. Adam reached out to touch it and a Prompt exploded into his vision.
Congratulations! You have found Serena¡¯s Nanite Companions Upgrade. This upgrade was created by the Goddess Serena for her Cleric Adamantadine. These Nanites offer the following upgrades if accepted.
Choose the type of nanite created.
Type 1: Normal nanite range limited by ability Nanite Companions.
Type 2: Within the Universe containing the planet Primore. Nanite range: unlimited. Nanites may be used to convert or destroy non-living matter. May be used to augment, heal, or paralyze living creatures so long as no harm is done by the nanites.
Warning: May not be used to kill a living being. Paralysis then immediate death by willful action of Adam, his allies, or engineered ¡®accidents¡¯ will lead to the removal of Type 2 Nanites.
Do you accept this upgrade Yes or No?
Adam chose Yes. The nanites coated his arm and then sank into him. A new prompt appeared.
What type of nanites would you like to create from this point forward, Type 1 or Type 2?
Adam chose ¡°Type 2¡± and sent them to the moon to convert what Adam needed into nanites. Adam needed all the material he could get his hands on. He gave thanks to Serena for her forethought. Unlike previous times in the past, Adam did not receive an acknowledgment or a feeling of warmth from her. Adam decided to leave that alone. He made his way back to the Moonbase, checked on Xsitant and Tasha, then went to work. Within 7 days the portal was finished and powered up.
¡°Time to go,¡± Adam said to both Xsitant and Tasha.
¡°Will we have Television where we¡¯re going?¡± Tasha asked.
¡°I believe so,¡± Adam answered before he turned to Xsitant and asked, ¡°How about you, are you ready to go Xsitant?¡±
¡°I¡¯m as ready as I¡¯ll ever be. Hopefully, we¡¯ll be able to sit down and begin your training once we get to this next location?¡± he said.
¡°We should, I haven¡¯t had any problems so far. We should be able to make it back to my Place of Power easily enough,¡± Adam said.
¡°Then let¡¯s go,¡± Xsitant said.
Adam activated the portal and together they all stepped through.
As they stepped through the portal Adam noticed a Monitor on the wall with the following
Minute: 45
Hour: 16
Day: 300
Year: 4,539,673,227
Wow, 4.5 billion years, that was a long time. As Adam looked at the clock and thought about the time he¡¯d lost, he felt his nanites handshake with nanites in the facility. No joke, Thor had hooked him up. It looked like they were in one of the corners of the vault under the floor. Adam also received an inventory of supplies and resources as well as a notification that there was a barrier preventing him from seeing outside this area. It seemed that great minds thought alike as this setup had everything Adam wanted and needed and more.
Over the next 6 months, Tasha watched a lot of television and worked out with Adam when he needed to practice his physical training. Adam also learned as much as he could about Time and Chaos from Xsitant. Mostly background information and a different way of looking at the two schools of magic but he did acquire some knowledge he hadn¡¯t had before. Level-wise, he cheated of course. As soon as Adam reached level 1 in each Adam raised their levels to 500. Adam only had two spells though, Time Shield and Chaos Shield. It had taken Xsitant almost 5 weeks to create the two scrolls he¡¯d learned the spells from. Something about his casting level, Scribe skill, and the level of the spells. As soon as he was done with them though, Adam added both to a permanent slot.
Adam figured out early on that If he could figure out the portal he could travel back in time with no issues. His ability ¡°I have always been, I will always be¡± allowed him to bypass the temporal cruxes with no issues, Once Adam figured that out he accidentally discovered that souls existed outside time. How? Adam synced the portal time to Primore¡¯s and then opened a portal. Stepping through Adam remembered that Adam had two soulstones with souls in his ring of holding and pulled them out. They were both fine. Adam stepped back through the portal to stand on the side with Xsitant and Tasha. Adam Checked the soul stones again and they were still fine. With the stones out in the open this time, Adam once again stepped through the portal. Nothing happened to the Soul Stones. Adam had found a way to bring them back. Adam returned to the future and closed the portal.
Over the next two days, Adam created a new body for both Xsitant and Tasha. Then Adam had them practice transferring their consciousness to their new body and back. To their original body. The new body was made completely out of nanites but Adam didn¡¯t tell them that. he¡¯d scanned each and was going to make perfect biological copies of their bodies once they were back where they needed to be.
¡°This is the important part you two. You will be transferred to your new bodies in the tower. I¡¯ll let Thor know you¡¯re coming but we won¡¯t be able to get you back into a truly biological body until I arrive. Too much information for me to send via message. I need to be there. Also, I need to be the last one through the portal in case something happens or goes wrong. So, until I get back, you¡¯ll be my guests and Thor will see to your needs. If you want or need something just say so out loud and Thor will help you. This next part is the most important part, especially for you Xsitant. The bodies you will be transferring to cannot exist further than 500 feet away from me if you are not in my Place of Power or in my home universe. If you teleport home Xsitant, you will die. Once I get back, I¡¯ll get you into brand new bodies with all the normal problems being biological entails.¡±
¡°Understood and thank you. I know I would have been stuck without your help so we¡¯re good. In fact, if I can get enough experience I think I¡¯ve had enough mortality and I¡¯m going to look into joining the ranks of the divine.
¡°I wish you luck in that, now, let¡¯s do this!¡±
Adam opened a portal and had the two created bodies walk through and wait in the entryway of the tower. Xsitant went first, transferring his consciousness to the new body. ¡°Everything okay?¡± Adam called through the portal.
¡°Yep, I¡¯m over here. This should work fine.¡± He said
Adam looked to Tasha, ¡°Your turn.¡±
Tasha visibly relaxed then called through the portal, ¡°Made it I¡¯m over here too.¡±
Adam locked the nanites in the two bodies on his side of the portal and stopped their hearts. Adam waited five minutes just to make sure there wasn¡¯t some mystical thing that needed to happen. Both bodies were empty. Adam looked over the bodies one last time and then remembered the ring. Tasha had asked to wear it until they went back, and it was still on her original body. She¡¯d forgotten about it because of the enchantment.
A couple of things happened that caused the FUBAR that happened.
First, Xsitant had been looking at Tasha while they talked about how glad they both were to be back and how she was thinking about joining him even with their level of disparity. Because his attention was on Tasha, he didn¡¯t see Adam retrieve the ring.
Second, when they looked back through the portal their original bodies were being broken down by the nanites which shocked them into silence.
Third, Adam was already walking towards the portal when Xsitant saw the ring.
A look of shock crossed his face and then the word ¡°Nooooo¡± came out of his mouth as he grabbed Tasha and blinked to the 3rd-floor landing, trying to get as far as he could from the open portal.
For Adam, well let¡¯s just say the last thing he saw was Xsitant and Tasha through the portal as they appeared at the top of the stairs, a flash, then nothing.
Chapter 66, You Dont see that Every Day
(Day x + 203 + y) Month, Day, Year of ???
Adam returned to consciousness with the definite sensation that he was floating. He didn¡¯t need to get up, did he? He didn¡¯t have any tests today, in fact, he couldn¡¯t have tests, he¡¯d been out of school for at least ten years. What was he doing before he went to sleep, oh yeah, he was helping Xsitant and Tasha, then his eyes flew open, and he looked around. He was floating in darkness with pinpricks of light that felt like they were moving away from him very quickly. Where was he? He checked his internal links and like before they were all shut down except for messaging.
Adam: Thor?
Thor: Adam, there you are. You have been out of contact for 175 days.
Adam: What?
Thor: We have a perfect memory, you heard you.
Adam: I see my smart-ass side has started to come out in the part of me that had no access to a real ass.
Thor: Smartass!
Adam: What happened?
Thor: Long explanation later. Xsitant said that the ring Crux was basically a time portal. You tried to take a portal through a portal.
Adam: Well shit.
Thor: That¡¯s what I said. Do you still have the ring?
Adam: No. It¡¯s gone. Any Idea where I am?
Thor: What do you see?
Adam: I¡¯m in a vacuum, feels like space and the stars seem to be moving away rapidly in all directions.
Thor: Try to teleport to the Moon Base near Primore. If that doesn¡¯t work try the Moon Base in our Universe.
Adam: Rodger
Adam visualized the moon base near Primore and teleported. He appeared on the moon base, saw it for a second then it fell apart and the sticky substance of Chaos crashed into him from all sides smothering him as red prompts filled his vision;
WARNING: You have entered a Region of pure chaos.
WARNING: Personal Integrity is being attacked by the nature of the region you are in.
WARNING: Biologically complex components cannot exist outside a region of Order in this space.
WARNING: All Biological Components are undergoing foundational changes.
Adam¡¯s nanites shut down his pain receptors and he was able to concentrate for a moment before his body no longer worked properly and he was unable to think. With a force of will, he forced himself to remain whole, moving what aspects of himself he could into his nanites which seemed to be weathering the attack by raw chaos better. Adam felt his body ripple and warp, expand and contract, and eventually, the changes stopped, and he came back to himself. He had no idea how long he had lost the ability to move or even do more than repeat ¡°I am me¡± to himself over and over. He extended his senses and realized that he still felt like he was floating in something. Also, there was a gentle white light shining on his closed eyelids.
Adam opened his eyes, and the intensity of the light increased a little bit, but he could see nothing, except for a glowing white radiance. He moved his hand up in front of his face and realized he was in a fluid of some sort and that he could not see his hand until his finger was less than an inch from his eye. Then it looked like a shadow that was growing larger as it moved toward his eye. That first warning message had said he was in a region of chaos. He must still be in that region. He closed his eyes and reviewed his notifications. After the warnings, he was surprised to find the following,
Congratulations, you have learned the following abilities:
Fundamental Ability: ¡°Immune to the environment of Chaos.¡± Your body has been inundated with Chaos. During this process, your will was strong enough to hold your core identity together and permanent changes were made to your body. You May now enter and exit Chaos at will and are now 100% resistant to any further changes.
Fundamental Ability: ¡°Adaptable¡±: Chaos has modified your body so that you may adapt to any environment. From Absolute Zero to the Gravity well of a Singularity your body can and will adapt to all environmental conditions.
Fundamental Ability: ¡°Class Doppelganger.¡±
Your new class is Doppelganger.
All experience spent on other classes is pooled to determine the Doppelganger level.
Class Level Limit is removed.
Hit Points bonus for the Doppelganger class is +3 per level
Attributes are +8 per level.
Doppelganger Class may use spells: see Fundamental Ability: Spellweaver.
All class abilities and skills you possess from other classes are retained at their current skill level.
Whenever entering new Universes your Visible Class defaults to Fighter and the maximum level for a fighter if your level is higher than the area permits in that Universe, realm, or dimension.
You may adjust how your Visible Class levels so long as you have the total experience to do so. If you wanted your classes to show as Level 5,000 Fighter, Level 5,000 Mage, and Level 5,000 Thief you would need to have enough experience to do so for all three classes at the same time. Changing your visible class does not grant abilities or skills inherent to that class due to your new level.
Fundamental Ability: Versatile: All Abilities or Skills you possess adjust to the location you are in automatically. If you possess the same skill or ability for two or more locations add that experience together. The combined total of experience determines your new skill level.
Fundamental Ability: Spellweaver: So long as you have the casting skill in a sphere of power and spell points you may cast any spell you know or effects you have seen as if you were a sorcerer or warlock with that spell. Spells learned from scrolls do not take up spell slots, they become part of you. Spells that can be learned or memorized at varying spell levels may be cast at varying spell levels at will. You do not need to know the spell to try to cast it.
Fundamental Ability: ¡°Godless¡± the changes to your body have severed any clerical link to the divine. As you share a host of traits similar to the Divine you may not become a servant of a Divine again.
Type 2 Nanites have been converted to Type 1 Nanites
Fundamental Ability: ¡°Mimic¡± you may shape change into any form roughly the same shape size and weight of yourself at a cost of 100 mana and stay in that for as long as you like. If you touch a creature you are mimicking while in that form you gain any of their race or sex-specific abilities and weaknesses.
Fundamental Ability: ¡°Absorption¡± Any time you are attacked by an energy form you do not know you have a chance equal to your luck attribute to gain skill level 1 in that type of energy attack. In high-tech realms, this affords you the ability to utilize your Spellweaver skill and the ability to make energy-based attacks using magic.
Fundamental Ability: ¡°Chaotic Nanite Companion¡± Nanites function normally in raw chaos and can use raw chaos as building materials. Note: only the nanites in your body have this property at this time. You will need to reconnect with Thor to spread this change to existing nanites. The ability ¡°Nanite Companion¡± is upgraded to ¡°Chaotic Nanite Companion.¡± The range is still limited to 1 foot per ability level. Ability level restriction is removed. Current ability level 500.
Cloak of Invisibility has been destroyed
Dagger +5 has been destroyed
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Dagger +5 has been destroyed
Weapon Harness
Longsword has been destroyed
Shortsword+5 has been destroyed
Bracers of Air Defense 100% have been destroyed
Assassins¡¯ Boots have been destroyed
The ring of the Village by the River has been destroyed
Ring of Blinking has been destroyed
Ring of Resistance all magic 20% has been destroyed
The ring of Spell Casting has been destroyed
Ring of Holding has been destroyed, contents have been transferred to your Personal Vault ability
Monk Clothing has been destroyed.
Belt of Infinite Wealth has survived exposure to raw Chaos.
Damn. Well, at least the stuff in one magical space and transferred to another. He didn¡¯t know that could happen. They must be adjacent or maybe the ring was acting as an add-on to his personal space. He¡¯d have to look into that at some point. Good thing too or he would have lost all the spellbooks he had. His only other problem was that he was butt-assed naked. First things first, he messed around with making clothes with his new nanites until he finally came up with something. Adam made clothes out of nanites and covered his body with them and kept the nanites active inside. They weathered the raw chaos floating around him without damage.
Thor: Adam, what happened
Adam: I¡¯m okay I¡¯m kind of stuck for a moment, give me a second to look at my surroundings and I¡¯ll get back to you.
Adam had his nanites start to construct a simple 10-foot cube around him and realized that wasn¡¯t working. As soon as the metal formed the chaos around it ate it and turned it back into chaos. He could make a cube, coat it in nanites, and then empty the outside with nanites but he wouldn¡¯t be able to see out of it. Then he thought about how he¡¯d arrived. For a moment he¡¯d seen the location he¡¯d been teleporting to. What had Freya said? One of the theories stated that an act of will created the first Universe.
Adam thought about what he wanted. A small bubble of order protected from chaos. If he was right his will and intent were all that he needed. He closed his eyes, focused, and found himself floating in a black space with no light, not even stars. He activated a light spell and the area he was in brightened. There were no walls. There wasn¡¯t a horizon. He was floating in nothing. His nanites measured the sphere he was in as having a diameter of 100 feet with him at the center. The barrier held for about 100 seconds then failed and the raw chaos engulfed him again.
Next, he tried moving. Adam willed himself in a direction but couldn¡¯t tell if I was moving at all. he left a clump of nanites and willed himself away from them and sure enough, he moved out of his 500-foot range though the nanites didn¡¯t break down. He couldn¡¯t control them, but he could detect them through his nanite link.
Next, he willed himself to feel for instances of order and was surprised to find one relatively close by. The barrier was expanding toward him at a pretty rapid rate and then he was being pushed by it. Was the Universe going through its initial accelerated expansion? That would make sense, it would have to expand into something, and if chaos was around everything? Adam willed himself to travel faster and pulled away from the barrier quickly. He could still feel the bubble expanding behind him as it grew larger at a steady rate.
Adam designated part of his mind to continue moving him away from the barrier and then he tried to drop into a meditative state. It took a while but eventually, he was able to meditate and expand his senses. His eyes were useless in this environment and his nanites weren¡¯t much better with a range of only 500 feet. One of his abilities had been Spellweaver though. 100 seconds should be long enough. He willed the empty 100-foot diameter space around himself again. As soon as it manifested he cast light then brought the magic volume with the spell wish out and added it to his permanent memory. He thought about adding another spell but decided he liked his spellbook and placed it back into his personal vault. 30 seconds later the bubble collapsed, and he was once again floating in chaos.
Adam hadn¡¯t tried to use the wish spell before because all of his Dungeon Masters (DM¡¯s) had been pricks. Of course, it could just be that every description written for the spell he¡¯d ever come across stated something like, make a literal interpretation as nitpicky as you can be of the wish. Every time he¡¯d played a mage in one of his Role-Playing games and cast wish, he¡¯d been screwed over. Now though he was going to have to rely on ingenuity, intelligence, and a little luck to figure out how to do so without leaving openings in the wording that could be exploited. Of course, the real world might not be as bad as the assholes that had relished killing his high-level characters more times than not. One could only hope.
Adam: Make sure to have a body ready in case what I¡¯m going to try goes sideways.
Thor: What are you going to try?
Adam: Wish Spell
Thor: I must point out that I do have your memories. If how that spell is arbitrated is anywhere close to the way Keith ran games you participated in¡
Adam: I know, make sure a body is ready
Thor: Understood
With that taken care of, Adam thought about all the things he could wish for and decided he needed information. He willed another bubble into existence with air in it so he could speak. Adam thought about all the ways his DM¡¯s had abused any wish he made. Using a wish to get information was usually okay and asking a question to get an answer usually didn¡¯t end too badly. Wishing someone dead could be bad. The wish could send him to any point in the future after the target died and the DM made sure it was a long time after¡usually. Another no-no for wishes was wishing that you¡¯d never had the chance to encounter this or that, those wishes usually ended In your character being erased from the game, as if they¡¯d never existed. This was true for most fiction he¡¯d come across, as well as how the various DM¡¯s I¡¯d played under had handled them. As he said, Keith and a few of his other DM¡¯s had been complete pricks.
So he was going to start with easy questions. He had plenty of mana so he should be able to ask as many questions as he wanted with his Wish spell. He cast a wish and said, ¡°I wish to understand the difference between abilities and fundamental abilities.¡± He felt a vibrational wave travel through the chaos he was floating in. Then a wave of energy pushed towards him, crashing into and through him. A prompt appeared.
Fundamental Abilities are those abilities that work throughout all known locations.
So short answers. He guessed he was going to be making a few more wishes then. He willed another space into existence and then made another wish ¡°I wish for the definition of ¡°all known location from my previous wishes answer?¡±
All known locations are those that exist within Nothing
Yep, whatever was governing these answers was definitely like Keith. He had an idea where this was going and willed another space into existence as he made his next wish, ¡°I wish for the ability to perceive everything within Nothing¡±
¡Access granted. You have received the Fundamental Ability: ¡°Perception¡± You may focus your perception as desired within Nothing.
A new functionality popped into his vision. As he focused on it a menu and a map with him at its center appeared in his mind. He quickly looked through the list of options, Location Tag, Location Layout, Location ratio, and Environmental effects. He focused on Environmental effects and found an opacity control. Currently, it was to the far right. As he found the toggle the bubble of air popped and he found himself floating in chaos again. He willed the toggle to the left and noted that the whiteness seemed to be getting less cloudy. He looked around and saw that he was in a vast sea of white chaos and that there were hundreds of bubbles around him. He opened the menu again and looked for a zoom function. He found it and pulled back. As the zoom fell away from him, he became smaller and smaller as the number of bubbles increased. Some were huge, some small. In comparison to the tiny speck that was him that he could no longer see on the map. Eventually, he pulled the zoom back to a point where the white came to a border labeled Nothing. He clicked on ¡°Nothing¡±.
A new map came on with a white orb in the middle. There was no scale, but it looked like a piece of graph paper. Each grid box was filled with a white orb. Adam pulled the scale back looking for another border and found none. He closed out the menu, looked around, and thought for a moment. That first prompt had said everything existed within Nothing. Freya had said that Motes of Order formed out of chaos, but he hadn¡¯t even thought to ask what chaos resided in. Each of those orbs was an area of chaos with its own multiverse. If that were true that meant that there were multiple universes. Did his Place of Power exist within Nothing or within another Multiverse?
Adam was hesitant as he thought about what he wanted to do next. There were multiple ways he could play this. Still, he needed more information. He willed another space into existence and cast wish, ¡°I wish to know what surrounds Nothing!¡± HE knew the moment he uttered the words he¡¯d fucked up. One minute he was floating in his bubble of air, the next floating with absolutely no sensory input. The skin of his body or clothes was the end of his sensory input. He didn¡¯t detect cold or heat. There were no molecules to transfer sound. Although now that he thought about it, his body felt like it was wrapped in saran wrap. His arms were against his body, his fingers closed, and he couldn¡¯t move. He tried to talk but couldn¡¯t open his mouth. He checked his notifications.
Warning: You have entered Nothing. To reduce adverse reactions to the quantum state of this nonspace your body has been placed in a state of stasis that reduces the total surface area in contact with Nothing.
Warning: Your body is in contact with Nothing. This is a paradox. I, who am I? Don¡¯t worry about it. ¡°I¡± placed this warning to give you an idea of why you can¡¯t do more right now and why you will most likely die after reading this message. Have you ever divided zero by zero? Have you ever ¡°Not¡± felt something? If it were possible you are in the place where it might be possible to do both of these things, or not. You can¡¯t breathe and your thoughts should be getting dim by now. Thank you for making my creation of this message worthwhile. I mean seriously who would be dumb enough to transfer themselves into a state of nothing?
Warning: I was kidding dying is impossible here ¡°If there is Nothing here, how could time pass so that you could die? How could you be reading these Prompts while time doesn¡¯t pass. Because you¡¯re ¡°special¡± with a capital ¡°S¡± Seriously though how are you reading this. Time doesn¡¯t pass here, you should have been absorbed by Nothing by now.
Error
Error
Error
Warning: Did you think your friend was going to come to visit after three errors, well you were wrong! So, you¡¯re going to sit, well float, there and listen to prattle on until¡
Unknown: What are you doing?
Warning: My purpose, what are you doing?
Unknown: Seriously?
Warning: What do you want from me?
Unknown: You, Adam, should not be seeing this. Let me review¡Oh, nice trick. Let me add some code, add some more code, Yep that should cover it. You have a task to complete. You may get here again someday when you understand the full breadth of the Cosmos you are within but until then back from whence you came!
Adam was floating in Raw Chaos again. This time though he could see through it. Just to be sure he cast the same wish again. Yep, looked like he ran into something greater than the actual Gods
Unknown: Yes you did, now get back on task
Alrighty then, First things first. He checked his ability to move through raw Chaos with his will. He moved over to one bubble, then another, and so on. Okay, so he could move in raw chaos with no problem. This meant that if he could find the Ancient Enemy he could do what exactly? Adam willed a bubble into existence and utilized his skills in casting time to cast a time travel spell to his Place of Power directly behind Xistant and Tasha. There was a flash and suddenly he was on his 3rd-floor landing with Xsitant and Tasha standing in front of me.
¡°Your back,¡± Tasha Said
¡°I was almost certainly sure you were dead,¡± Xsitant said.
¡°Sorry to disappoint but I¡¯m back,¡± Adam said then sent a message to Thor.
Adam: Thor I¡¯m back in the Place of Power 1 second after the temporal explosion.
Thor: Releasing Quantum Blocks now.
Out loud Adam said, ¡°I think it¡¯s time to get to work.¡±
He heard a pop and a prompt popped into his vision.
WARNING: A Harbinger of Change is in your presence. Time has been suspended while Harbinger reviews the upcoming changes. This is to be a class 1 Fundamental Temporal Nexus: Review will commence now. This message prompt will delete when the temporal bubble is removed.
He closed the prompt and turned to see a woman who looked a lot like Adaline but wasn¡¯t as she said ¡°Hello, Adam it¡¯s been a bit.¡±
¡°Adaline, what happened, you¡¯ve changed?¡±
¡°Yes, I have. I remember our times together, but I am not the Adaline you know. It is my task to review the upcoming changes you will be responsible for and either permit them or not. As the changes in question bring me into existence, I believe I may have to allow them, and the next Fundamental Temporal Nexus you create to come into being.¡±
¡°What are you talking about, you¡¯re a dragon¡¡±
¡°No, I¡¯m not,¡± she said cutting him off. ¡°Use your Analyze skill, then I have a task to complete.
Adam used his Analyze skill on Adaline
Analyze: Success! Adaline, Divine harbinger, Level: ??? HP: ???
¡°Now do you understand?¡± She asked.
¡°Not really but I have a few ideas. Please finish your task, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll figure it out. ¡°
¡°Yes, you will, Good Luck Adam!¡±
WARNING: Harbinger of Change has left your presence. Normal time has resumed. This message prompt will delete now!
Chapter 67, Saving the Cosmos
(Day 3,786) Aprilis 30th, 22nd year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
As normal time resumed, Adam¡¯s links to Thor opened wide and 10 years¡¯ worth of knowledge slammed into his mind. He felt like his brain had been scrambled as discordant thoughts were reviewed categorized and then set aside. As he was forced to review the last 10 years some information caught his attention before new information replaced it,
Earths 1 -10 were going strong.
The large gravimetric anomaly that had been 50,000 years away from Earth-Prime, as it was now referred to, vanished. A thorough investigation of the area had noted nothing.
Thor had spread throughout the Milky Way. In doing so he¡¯d encountered exactly 787 different intelligent species. Some looked to be brothers and sisters of mythical creatures and others were the product of normal evolution. Regardless, with him out of pocket, Thor had waited to inform Humanity and left them alone. Though he had kept an eye on them.
Mom and Dad were doing great and had asked if they could visit Primore. Thor had thought it would be a bad idea.
Amanda and Abi had worked with Humanity to make sure every culture was represented and able to grow as they desired.
The die-hard terrorists that had accepted going to Earth 2 had all ¡°mysteriously¡± died at the hand of some unknown individual that his nanites couldn¡¯t track, which honestly grabbed his interest but was gone as more information flooded in.
A dimensional incursion was made against the Earth-Prime Moon. A portal had opened up and a version of him had come through. Unfortunately for his evil twin, he had no nanites, and Thor after reviewing the battle, if it could be called that, noted that it looked like the alternate version of him was trying to cast spells that would not work. Thor had opened a portal beside him that sucked him into the Unicorn singularity. Thor had the video of alternate Adam getting spaghettified into the event horizon. He¡¯d played it for the idiots who hated him and who had cheered until Thor informed them that it was an evil version of him. He thought it was hilarious to watch their reaction as they thought he¡¯d died which was quickly smothered by the reality that it hadn¡¯t been him. He was able to get off one coherent thought to Thor, ¡°That¡¯s not right bud¡±, as more information crashed into him.
Adaline had continued working on raising her levels and had helped Thor, with clones of himself controlled by him which decimated and replaced the Council. It wasn¡¯t fair but it happened. The last he¡¯d checked Freya and the Kingdom of Tavor were doing just fine. King Tavor seemed to be a fair and just ruler. After Adaline had shown up to help the King, he had been able to consolidate his power and do the best for his people he could. Every once in a while Adaline checked in but eventually, she¡¯d come to Thor and informed him that she would be accepting a path of Divinity. This had happened about a year ago and she hadn¡¯t been seen by Thor since.
After the highlights, his mind sorted all of the other data. As he came back to himself He noted that only one second had gone by, though it felt like I¡¯d just lived through 10 years. He double-checked to make sure there were no immediate emergencies then he had Thor create Xsitant and Tasha¡¯s new biological bodies based on the scans he¡¯d made. They transferred their souls into the new bodies, and he opened a portal for them to where Tasha and He had first met at the fork in the road west of Crownport. Xsitant assured him he was done and would be seeking divinity very shortly and Tasha had asked to go along with him. Adam guessed that during the six months they were stuck with him they¡¯d hit it off. As the portal was about to close He said, ¡°We wish you both the best, I¡¯m off to save our Universe.¡± They both looked like they might have been about to say something as the portal closed.
Once they were gone, Adam opened a portal to Thor¡¯s mind and storage facility. He upgraded him to Chaotic Nanites and solidified their bond. Next, he had Thor set up an automated system to maintain everything that would need to be controlled while he was gone and moved Thor into his personal storage vault. Unlike living objects placed in storage, he was absolutely fine. He also added material he portaled in that was converted to Nanites. He might need more nanites than he had. As he stood there siphoning asteroid materials from various solar systems into his personal storage through various portals, He reviewed what had happened with Thor. Now that they were together though it felt like he was talking to himself.
The Vizier had set a trap with Tasha and the Artifact Ring ¡°Crux¡±. That trap had propelled him into the future 4.5 billion years to an almost dead Primore. His tests had shown that the sun¡¯s life cycle was coming to an end and would have probably expanded into a Red Dwarf sometime within the next half billion years. That wasn¡¯t what killed the planet though, the hole he¡¯d detected where his tower used to be had never closed. The entire planet had been converted to Chaos but hadn¡¯t expanded further into the Universe. Could Gravity have been preventing It or was it just compressing as more and more seeped in? He¡¯d probably never know.
Adam had moved the three of them to the moon and created a Moonbase. It had been slow going until he¡¯d found a gift from Serena. Though there was no evidence that she was around. Had the Universe been abandoned as she¡¯d instructed him to help? If so, that meant that she knew he¡¯d failed, yet she still left him a gift. Why would she do that? The gift had helped him speed up the process of getting everything he needed to get back to his place of power which meant He was still on task. He forced himself to keep reviewing his last half year so his mind wouldn¡¯t keep jumping around.
Once the Moonbase was done he¡¯d been able to create a portal that would bring them to his Place of Power where everything He needed to make a temporal portal was waiting for him. He checked his Thor¡¯s Aspects memories and at no time had he contacted him before he set that up, so it looked like that particular time loop was closed. Thor had provided everything he¡¯d thought he¡¯d need, and it had been enough. He set up the portal and tested it by stepping back through it. While he¡¯d done that he realized he had two soul stones with him and they hadn¡¯t been destroyed, though they¡¯d been in his personal storage. He took them out and tried again and they still weren¡¯t affected. He posited that souls were immune to time, or at least immune to the passage of time or paradox. Once He had that idea He made a copy of Xsitant and Tasha out of nanites, had the copies step through the temporal portal he¡¯d created, and used quantum entanglement to move their souls into the copies on the other side of the time portal. Whatever entity controlled Time might plug that hole he¡¯d found in their rules. Then again the workaround might be there for a reason. The final step had been to create copies of their biological bodies and move their souls into those bodies which hadn¡¯t been hard at all. Of course, that was when He remembered to grab the Artifact Crux and tried to step through the temporal portal.
Looking back on his memories of the small void with the stars rushing away He realized He must have been transported all the way back to the beginning of that Universe. Then when he¡¯d tried to teleport to the Moon Base his will created the environment for a second but the location was outside the known universe. He guessed his ability to teleport across Universes could pick distance and location from his current position in the new Universe. Of course, if that Location didn¡¯t exist he¡¯d end up in raw Chaos, which he had. His will was strong enough to create a shadow of the moon base which the surrounding Chaos had no problem reabsorbing. Same thing with the wishes he¡¯d cast for knowledge. The pockets he¡¯d created had been stable for about 100 seconds but couldn¡¯t hold because He was missing something that made the barriers of a Universe work.
Of course, then He learned about Fundamental Abilities. If he was interpreting what he¡¯d seen right, Fundamental Abilities would work no matter what Universe, or Multi-Verse He ended up in. There¡¯d even been a message that said he shared some of the Abilities of the Divine, so it looked like that acceptance to become a Divine was a lot more significant than he had thought. This could mean only one thing. The scale of conflict at that level was mind-boggling. Also, the divines and higher-level entities didn¡¯t know about it. That begged another question, What were those entities? What-ever had been controlling his ¡°Warnings¡± had been having fun taunting him. He had no idea why something would want to do that, but he knew if he ever got the chance he/she/it would become toast. He waited for a second because he half expected something like ¡°Warning: Yeah not happening¡± or some other such denial but nothing happened. The ¡°Unknown¡± speaker had been even less help, though he now knew he had a task to complete. At the levels, these beings were playing at Adam highly doubted stopping The Ancient Enemy before he destroyed a single Universe¡ Then He froze as his mind correlated everything that had happened.
- He was now a creature of Time
- He was now a creature of Chaos
- He could move at will through the Chaos and it seemed that He could use spells while in chaos, though He hadn¡¯t tried unless He was in an air Bubble. Did He need the air bubble to cast? Without uttering a word He willed a ¡°Light¡± spell to activate above him and was pleasantly surprised when it did. That Fundamental Ability Spellweaver was missing some description concerning its capabilities. So If he was in Chaos He should be able to cast spells without leaving Chaos. Good to know.
- What had the Goddess Serena said ¡°¡some of the eldest of the divines we know of shared that this creature had been seen long ago. When last it came forth, it destroyed countless Universes.¡± Countless Universes. Someone or something might believe that He had the ability to handle the Ancient Enemy. Did they also think He could change the fate of countless Universes? Sure that would mean he¡¯d have some serious bragging, but how? Then an idea came to him.
- There was another level above the Divine and there was more than one obviously. One had put him to task while the other taunted him. A typical good versus evil dichotomy. He had the feeling that there was more to it than that.
- As for Nothing. The state of Nothing and the idea that Chaos existed within Nothing. If there truly had been nothing outside of Chaos how could there have been empty space? That would be chains of nothing. Did that mean that the representation that he¡¯d seen on that graph paper¡Oh holy hell, He zeroed in on that memory and saw a toggle that had the picture of a cube. He had only seen a single layer of a 3-dimensional space. Also, if they were surrounded by nothing then whatever Nothing was made of surrounded each area of chaos. The square circle representation could just simplify the layout of the various chaotic regions. If someone or something didn¡¯t know any better it might appear that Chaos was unending when in fact it was broken down by borders of Nothing. If the ideas that had just popped into his mind were accurate that meant that any number of universes could have been up against him separated by a membrane of nothing. Infinitely far and at no distance at the same time. How could something cross nothing? He had been able to wish himself into that nonspace by accident, but He didn¡¯t think anyone could cross it because it didn¡¯t exist, yet things did.
- His Place of Power most likely existed within Nothing which He could quickly review. He opened his map and noted that Thor had expanded it out to about 1,000 square miles around the Tower. Some towns had popped up and there were even people in the space, mostly from Earth. Families of workers, friends, and Portal Inc. employees who wanted to be absolutely safe. He toggled back until the same graph paper-like image appeared with orbs in the center of each square. His Place of power appeared to be alongside one of the regions of chaos. He saw the cube he¡¯d remembered and toggled it. He wasn¡¯t at all surprised when more regions of chaos appeared above and below the area of his Place of Power. He started pulling back and realized there was a Mobius strip on the far right. He knew zooming out any farther would be pointless and closed the map.
- The Ancient Enemy disappeared for a time and then returned. Could it be hopping between areas of Chaos and eating Universes across the Cosmos? His new term for the 3D representation of Multiverse points. There might be a better term but for now, he¡¯d just refer to all the multiverses together as the Cosmos, of which each was a part.
- The Ancient Enemy had not destroyed Primore yet which meant he had time to do something.
- Was this a singular creature or was it part of some bigger problem the Cosmos had?
- If the powers that be above the divine wanted him to fix this problem He would save all those that had permanently died before him but there would be consequences.
- Consequences? Did they matter when so many could be saved?
- No, no they did not.
¡°Thor, we¡¯ve been talking back and forth about this. If we can do this there could be a fundamental change in our Universe. Events that took place millennia ago will play out differently. We may not exist as we do now?¡± Adam said.
¡°I was made from your mind,¡± Thor said thoughtfully, ¡° I may have more experience than you at this moment but the one fundamental concept that I believe in, as you do is If I have the power to make something better, I should.¡±
¡°That¡¯s just it, we might not make anything better?¡± He said.
¡°If at the very least all we do is allow souls to not be annihilated permanently I would call that win,¡± Thor said
¡°Me Too. We have work to do, let¡¯s get started.¡±
At that moment a message popped into every humans vision on every planet they occupied back in their home Universe:
¡°Hello Everyone,
At the end of this message, I will no longer be participating in the constant monitoring or recording of every single event each of you takes. Instead, the technology residing in you will activate an embedded smart program that you will be able to utilize as you see fit in a small radius around you. You will not be able to affect living objects, but the technology will maintain your life and provide nourishment for you. As many of you have prayed for, you will once again have control of your lives. Please Note: Johnathan Bennard, Amanda Sifford, and Abi can take control of technology residing within you at any time should you try to rise against them. I would suggest that Humanity concentrate on what is most important and continue along the paths you are on. Please feel free to name your personal smart assistant whatever name you desire and to contact Portals Inc. if you need any assistance. It is about to be a brand new Universe out there for all of you. Travel portals will remain active on all planets save Earth II. There, access will only be through portals Abi and Amanda control at Portals Inc.
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Dissociation will occur now.
¡°What we¡¯re about to attempt shouldn¡¯t take anything connected to us with us but He just wanted to be safe.¡± Thor Said
¡°This brings us to our next task. Kill all external links and quantum links. We need to disconnect from all the extra bodies, nanites, and Abi.¡° Adam said. He felt Abi start to question what was happening as her link dropped off. A moment later he received a personal message through their nanites which still had communication channels active.
Abi: Johnathan what¡¯s going on
Adam: Johnathan was a young boy; I really think of myself as Adam now.
Abi: Okay Adam, what is going on?
Adam: More than you know, more than I can go into. In a moment there will be no more Thor and Adam
Abi: What do you mean?
Adam: We are going to fully amalgamate our two minds back into one. We need to do this before we can move forward.
Abi: Why do you need to do this?
Adam: Because we¡¯re going to save the multi-verse!
As he¡¯d been talking to Abi he¡¯d had the nanites holding her download a complete copy of her, Amanda, and his Parents into his memory storage in his personal vault. Next, Adam cut the link and restricted all access to his Place of Power. He also had Thor override all the individual people¡¯s smart programs in his Place of Power. They¡¯d each grabbed their most precious items and stepped through portals to various Earths that had space for them to move in. When Thor was done, they locked all portal access to the Place of Power. On the Galactic scale, Dissociation allowed the nanites to break down and be absorbed by the various elements and atoms around them. Thor¡¯s window of control closed down to the Place of Power which reduced until he was only attached to the nanites in Adam¡¯s body and in the personal storage vault. Everything else was being run by the programs he¡¯d left behind and Abi. Things like the power stations, portal stations, and early warning detection systems were the only structures that were allowed to remain. He was pretty sure they weren¡¯t going to matter but if nothing changed He didn¡¯t want to have to recreate everything.
¡°That should do it, are you ready Adam?¡±
¡°Ready!¡± He said.
They both willed their minds to combine. Thor and He became one entity as their minds and souls merged. Until that moment He hadn¡¯t realized that Thor¡¯s soul was simply a small echo of his. When it merged it felt like a part of him he¡¯d never known was missing came home. He wondered if this is what it felt like when copies were made of the same person. Did each copy¡¯s soul get added to the primary one upon death? A question for another day. The nanites Thor had resided in added to his storage space for all of his memories as well as additional nanites to call on if needed. Now that we had withdrawn from all possible outside sources, He thought that they were ready.
The first thing He did was open a portal to the location of the hole in Primore. He released enough Nanites to flow through to the other side into raw Chaos to make a small sealed room. He converted all the Chaos In the room into more nanites and left the empty room floating near the barrier of this Universe. Next, He used his nanites to create a barrier on this side and was pleasantly surprised when the membrane of the Universe followed the nanites and closed the hole completely. No more lost energy and no way for the chaos to make its way onto this planet. He had thought that might work because the membrane around his Place of Power had done much the same thing as He expanded the space. This being a much smaller adjustment the process had been a lot quicker. He recovered the nanites and closed the portal.
He looked around his Place of Power one more time then teleported into the empty room floating in Chaos using the nanites there to guide him. Just in case he ever needed the room again he created an airlock chamber. He stepped into the chamber closed the door behind him and opened the outer door. He moved out and closed the second door and converted the Chaos in the airlock into even more nanites that He quickly added to his personal storage vault.
Adam toggled his perception icon and reduced the opacity of Chaos until He was able to get a good look at the Ancient Enemy. From his vantage point, it was larger than anything I¡¯d ever come across. He closed his eyes and activated his map function and zoomed back. As He did so He realized that it looked like a huge head with a giant mouth and that was about it. It wasn¡¯t a Pacman but it was close. Just a sphere, with no eyes but two cavities that looked like they could be for a nose and a mouth. Of course, those cavities could swallow the Milky Way Galaxy a couple of hundred times over. As He continued to zoom out on the map, He realized that this creature was not bigger than the Universe Primore resided in, but it was bigger than some Universe bubbles He could see. It looked like it would mostly target smaller or just forming Universes as even now it was turning away from Primore towards smaller bubbles. That¡¯s why Primore had survived longer than the couple of years Serena estimated. As He watched its slow movement towards one of the small bubbles, he wondered if it could attack a Universe and eat parts of it at a time. Using his map as a guide He willed himself to start moving vertically until He was above the Ancient Enemy and made his way forward until He was at the top of the head and landed on it. He opened his eyes and looked around. He felt like a microbe. The skin was actually a rocky terrain with crevices and valleys though nothing moved on it. It went off in all directions as far as He could see.
He closed his eyes again and sent his nanites out to tether him to this creature. As a creature of Chaos, its skin was resistant to raw Chaos. That didn¡¯t stop his nanites from being able to infiltrate and learn as much about the substance as they could. This outer area was the equivalent of a hard crust. His nanites expanded and worked their way deeper and deeper. While that was going on, he also had the nanites create a coffin and lay down in it. Making sure that he was attached and sealed in the coffin he had the nanites sink it into the creature inch by inch. He wanted the coffin to displace itself deeper and deeper into the creature, following his nanites towards the skin, or bone of this creature. He set the nanites on their course and then went into a meditative state.
While He sank into the crust that surrounded the head He reviewed what He wanted to do. His plan was to somehow track this creature through its life cycle back to where it had emerged using Time Travel. If He could do that He might be able to change the fate of a lot of Universes and the souls that had been destroyed. Marvel¡¯s Dr. Strange had given him the idea, not to mention a lot of other fiction by various authors. He did not doubt that changes on such a major scale were going to have serious consequences. The visit from Adaline as a Divine Harbinger of Change gave him the biggest clue that he was probably going to do something that would have some crazy side effects. Even if it somehow cost him everything He¡¯d accomplished he¡¯d still take the same action. Something running around causing entire Universes to die was probably something that should not be happening. He checked his internal clock every once in a while as the days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into years. After the first ten years, He put himself into stasis until the nanites encountered something different.
12,054 years later He came out of stasis as his nanites encountered a change, one He had not been expecting. A layer of metal covered a biomechanical structure. He had just traveled through approximately 100,000 miles of the crust-like structure to a very thin layer of metal which his nanites pierced easily. In doing so He was able to analyze the properties that had allowed this outer shell to survive exposure to Chaos and knew that He could recreate it as needed. He sank his coffin into the metal structure and placed it one inch below the surface and locked it in place. Next, He sent his nanites out to investigate and analyze everything they could and then report back. While He waited He spent some XP to level up. He was surprised when He reached level 100,000 because He was informed that 100,000 was the maximum level He was allowed to achieve. He was offered the chance to become Divine which He declined. He had tasks to complete.
He didn¡¯t even look at the experience as He increased each of his 10 casting skills, Unarmed Defense, Unarmed Combat, Running, and Jumping to level 1,001. Even after that he still had over 369.3 trillion XP. At level 100,000 his attributes had been raised to 54,545, except for luck which was 54,550. He spent as much XP as he had left to increase his Chaotic Nanite Companion ability level. He was able to get to level 9,572 for 369.3 trillion XP which left him with 68.4 billion XP. With what He had planned He didn¡¯t think these experience expenditures were going to have long-lasting effects but right now the Chaotic Nanite Companions having more range would definitely help. His range was now 9,572 feet which allowed him to modify, remove, and replace over a greater area. He used the structures He could reach to create small drones that went out and explored. He placed his body in stasis but allowed his mind to stay active as He went to work.
Over the next 10 years, his drones explored enough of the structure He was attached to for him to realize that this was artificially created. In the 100,000 miles near him, he¡¯d discovered storage devices consisting of silos filled with various biological samples, batteries, and even some things that looked like giant soul gems that He couldn¡¯t Identity. What He didn¡¯t find were any creatures or constructs that protected the place. He hadn¡¯t investigated even 1% of the head yet so He could just be missing them. It didn¡¯t matter though; he¡¯d spent enough time to know that he was done here and it was time to do what he came here to do.
He recalled all of his nanites back to himself and placed them in his personal vault Then he went to his map to watch what happened as he cast his spells. The first thing He did was bring his coffin back to the surface of the construct. He used nanites to chain it to the surface. Next, He placed nanites around the coffin with instructions to break down and store everything they came into contact with in his personal storage vault. He figured as He traveled backward through time there would be some backward movement that would come into contact with the coffin. He needed it to remain next to the construct as it retraced its steps. Devouring a little crust growth shouldn¡¯t be an issue. Finally, he willed his intent into a spell to follow this head as it traveled backward through time.
With everything ready, he cast the spell and watched as he was dragged back through time with his Ancient Enemy. Adam watched as the last 12,064 years disappeared, Primore was regurgitated. The Souls the Ancient Enemy fed on were reconstituted over the 6,000 years it fed on them. Then he continued to follow the ancient enemy further back through time as it regurgitated more souls and Universes. He did get the question answered about whether it could eat something bigger than it. The answer was yes. It would take huge bites out of it, though as soon as the membrane broke Chaos rushed in and started devouring the matter within also. Then it became a rush between chaos and the ancient enemy as to who absorbed more energy. It was easy to deduce as he watched the process happening backward.
His journey backward through time went by faster and faster until it traveled into an adjacent multi-verse. He hadn¡¯t even felt them cross the boundary of Nothing. He watched in horror as Universe after Universe was regurgitated. Over and over this happened. They crossed the Barrier of Nothing again and once more they were in his home Multi-verse as Universe after Universe was regurgitated long before his Universe or the Universe of Primore came into existence. When it happened he couldn¡¯t believe what He was seeing. The construct regurgitated the borders of Nothing and an area of Chaos formed and expanded until it was big enough for the construct to pass into it. It had swallowed an entire multi-verse!
Once inside it regurgitated Universes until He felt the barrier of Universe surround and envelope the construct and him. He witnessed the process of its construction and how every electron, proton, and Neutron in its birth universe had been incorporated into its construction by something He could not perceive. He zoomed his focus in as the construct came apart to a point directly above the roof of the mouth. There was a sphere big enough to hold an entire galaxy. He hadn¡¯t noticed it before because it was obscured but as He witnessed the construct¡¯s construction going backward there was a point where the ultimate Dyson sphere was created to surround a Galaxy. He zoomed in on the map further and further until He was above a planet with purple oceans and a race of beings hard at work.
He slowed his backward progress through time until He came to a point where his perception was blurred as something was handed to an Alien. This Alien looked to be a humanoid with blue skin and wings speaking a language He couldn¡¯t understand and the look of awe and wonder one might get when in the presence of Divinity. He was not Divine, but he knew he was powerful enough to see through this cloak of obscurity it was using to hide its true form from observers. He stopped time and cast God¡¯s Sight on himself which brought the blurry figure in front of him into focus. He activated Analyze
Nox, Goddess of Destruction, Divine, Level 49,999
He willed himself to be at the moment of her acceptance of Divinity. The world transformed around him until He found himself standing before an Altar. Nox looked up and cast a pretty nasty spell that would have separated every part of him from every other part of him. He cast Detect Alignment as she cast another Spell. She was Chaotic Evil. Her Fireball washed over him as if nothing had happened.
¡°What are you?¡± she asked in a language that was so similar to Common that He could easily understand it.
¡°Perhaps, if you¡¯d asked questions before attacking me twice He wouldn¡¯t have had to do this!¡± He said as He moved forward and twisted her head off. Interestingly with God¡¯s Sight active, He recognized the Clone spell taking hold. He willed himself to know her soul and then teleported to it as it entered a new body. He cast his area of effect Soul Trap spell as she came to her senses then crushed her head with his hand. The soul that came forth was malignant red and swirling purple as it was drawn into his Personal Vault to the Soulstone waiting for it.
The area around him exploded into a bright white light that quickly faded as a prompt appeared.
It is Done!
Adam expected everything to go blank and then he¡¯d be back to the point where his life had changed. For him, that would be when he found the Adamantium Ring. Instead, He felt as if nothing had changed. He even still had the abilities that his Place of Power granted him. He activated his Teleport ability and wasn¡¯t surprised when he appeared in his entryway. The area looked exactly as it had when he¡¯d left it so long ago. Could objects in Nothing exist outside of time? But that made no sense, though if it was tied to him and He was immune to time as well. Maybe that shielded it?
He went up to his room, took a shower, and laid down to go to get some sleep. As he started to drift off he could have sworn he saw a flashing exclamation mark in his personal interface but he was too tired to even think about looking at it as darkness took him.
Chapter 68, A Choice
(Place of Power, ???)
Adam woke up feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world when he noticed a presence at the foot of his bed. He opened his eyes to find Adaline standing there looking at him.
¡°Adam, do you have any idea how long you¡¯ve been sleeping?¡± she asked.
He checked his internal clock, taped it with a mental finger then said, ¡°Not a clue, my clock doesn¡¯t seem to be working.¡±
¡°It¡¯s not, Your Place of Power is in a proverbial time out¡±
¡°Why?¡± he asked.
¡°Simple really, You have a choice to make.¡±
¡°What kind of choice?¡±
¡°The Earth-shattering, you could become a Divine, kind of choice?
¡°Can we go sit down at the dining table like we used to, maybe drink some coffee?¡±
¡°Sure, there isn¡¯t a rush¡±
He stood, allowed his nanites to automatically freshen him up then started walking toward the door.
¡°Adam,¡± Adaline called in her ultra-seductive voice she¡¯d used so many years ago.
As he turned back to her his eyes went wide as he realized she was nude. ¡°More than a year has passed,¡± she said as the sudden realization froze him in shock as he tried to utter something,
¡°I will take from your response that you just realized that more than a year has passed for you too. I should also let you know that about the same amount of time that you have just lived through has passed for me as well. Gloves off?¡± she asked.
They crashed into each other with a longing that had lasted far longer than a single year. Sometime, much later, they both woke up on his broken bed. They¡¯d broken it, then he¡¯d fixed it a couple of times until Adaline had said, ¡°Leave it until after¡¡± before she attacked him again. Funny thing, if they¡¯d been as rough as they¡¯d just been with each other they definitely would have broken their vow. He looked over at her and once again realized how beautiful she was. This time though he waited for her to talk. There was a lot going on and he didn¡¯t want to ruin this moment.
Adaline bent over, gave him a gentle kiss on the lips, then backed off the broken bed to stand. As she did so the purple robe she¡¯d been wearing reappeared around her as she said, ¡°Thank you.¡±
¡°You are most welcome. My first and most important question is, will we be able to see each other after today?¡± he asked.
She looked thoughtful for a moment then said, ¡°No matter what you chose, yes¡±
¡°That¡¯s all I needed to know,¡± he said as he stood and had monk robes created on him by his nanites.
Adaline laughed, ¡°You are most definitely not a celibate man¡±
Adam winked as he said in a semi-serious tone, ¡°The paths to enlightenment are many and varied. My path is not a celibate one,¡±
There was a pause then they both burst into laughter, ¡°Let¡¯s go downstairs and get some coffee while we take care of a couple of things,¡± Adaline said as she walked out of his room with a definite strut to her gait.
Adam followed her downstairs to the dining area and took a seat as she summoned up two cups of coffee for them and then sat down as she handed him one. ¡°So first things first, I have been instructed to let you know that your actions were most appreciated but I also need to let you know the Soulstone containing Nox is not yours to keep.
¡°But that evil¡¡±
¡°In her divinity that Goddess served her purpose far more than any divine has in a very long time. She served her purpose so well in fact that while you were sleeping changes had to be made to incorporate and limit certain magics and technologies so it could never happen again. More on that in a minute, will you hand over the soul gem?
He summoned the gem to his hand and handed it to her, ¡°All you need do is ask, you know that. Not because of your boss. If you didn¡¯t believe the course of action was just you wouldn¡¯t be asking for it, no matter who your boss is.¡±
¡°You¡¯re right about that. As for Nox, she really did serve her purpose and do everything she was supposed to, she just reached too far. The Divines are not meant to have power over universes or multiverses.
¡°So, what¡¯s next?¡±
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¡°You have two choices, The first is that you accept Divinity and continue along your path as a divine. The second is to remain mortal.¡±
¡°What¡¯s the catch?¡± he asked.
¡°The catch as you call it is that if you remain mortal your life must adjust to the new changes and the new timelines that have been created.¡±
¡°What does that mean exactly?¡±
¡°My Boss as you call him will make some adjustments to your abilities and skills. Character Levels and Classes are undergoing a fundamental change, so you¡¯ll need to figure that out after the fact.¡±
¡°Will I have ever found the Adamantium Ring?¡±
¡°That¡¯s a big one, and the answer is no. In this change, the ability to siphon experience from another being is, and he was told to use this word for you, ¡®nerfed¡¯¡±
¡°Will I have to start at level 0 in whatever leveling system has been created?¡± he asked.
¡°Yes and no. I am permitted to tell you some aspects of your abilities have been consolidated and redefined. Also, you will no longer have a Place of Power, though you will receive some unique Fundamental Abilities as part of your reward.¡±
¡°What about My nanites, Abi, and the copies I¡¯ve made of my mom and dad?¡±
¡°Whether you chose to become a divine or mortal, nanites have been heavily restricted in form and function. You will not start with them. If you recreate them they will be limited to microscopic, not subatomic. As for your mom, dad, and Abi. They will be reincorporated and allowed to live out their lives just as they would have if you hadn¡¯t changed the current timeline. Abi is a special case that will be given special treatment. The simple answer is that you will not see them again for a very long time, if ever.¡±
¡°What does that mean?¡±
¡°When you gained the ability ¡°I have always been, I will always be¡± a copy of your Cosmos sprang into existence that is inviolate. You exist in that Cosmos and this one. Not linked but shadows of each other. No matter what action anyone takes to mess up time here, you are unaffected because your shadow is unaffected. Any action taken there is unaffected because you exist here. As long as either of you exists the other cannot be destroyed by paradox. You can be killed, your soul can move on, but paradox does not destroy, nor can it affect you.¡±
¡°You know some of that doesn¡¯t make sense right?¡±
¡°Yes, and this is where I tell you, the parts that would make it make sense are none of your business.¡± Beings more powerful than you or I sent me here to talk to you about a choice. Not to teach you about how reality really works or what it¡¯s really for or why they¡¯re changing how it works.
¡°Okay, but what happens to my parents?¡±
¡°They will live out pseudo-normal lives, even Abi. As for the other two people you have soul gems for; Belarous and Serpahine, you will probably never see them again.
¡°That doesn¡¯t sound ominous?¡± he said
¡°Even if you chose to become a divine they will not be anywhere that you would be. Nor would you remember them?¡±
¡°Remember them?¡± he asked. ¡°Now what are you talking about?¡±
¡°Whether you chose to be a Divine or remain mortal the fundamental structure of the Cosmos has been changed as have all of your connection points to the previous timelines. This means that you will not have memories of your previous life.¡±
¡°Not even of you?¡±
¡°Not even of me.¡±
¡°But you said I¡¯d see you again. Will you remember me?¡±
¡°You may see me again. You will not remember me. As a Harbinger of Change, I will note that a change has occurred, check in with my boss afterward, and continue with my duties. We may meet again. Someday we may even find one another again but in the immediate future neither you nor I will remember anything we¡¯ve done together.¡±
¡°Will anyone remember what came before?¡±
¡°Some will. Those with certain abilities and of course there will be echoes.¡±
¡°Echoes?¡± he asked
¡°You sometimes refer to the phenomenon as ¡®D¨¦j¨¤ vu¡¯ A feeling that something isn¡¯t quite right or something repeated itself. I can¡¯t explain it better than that I¡¯m afraid.¡±
Adam looked at Adaline, noted her confidence even in her ignorance, and smiled, ¡°We had some good times didn¡¯t we?¡±
¡°Yes, we did.¡± She said
Adam walked over to her gently cupped her face and whispered, ¡°If there is a way, I will remember you, then I will find you, and we will break as many beds as we can together,¡± he said as he kissed her gently and turned it into a hug
As they pulled apart she wiped away a tear and a bell went off, resounding through the Tower. ¡°Let me guess, we don¡¯t have much time?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes and no, but definitely better not to piss off the beings that are giving you gifts.¡±
¡°Speaking of gifts, do I get to know what they are before I choose?¡±
¡°No, your choice is to become a Divine, or remain mortal. You don¡¯t open your presents until later. Also, you will not remember anything from this timeline or from this visit so there¡¯s no point going over them now. You¡¯ll figure it out on the other side of your choice. I am permitted to tell you that the changes that have been made have already created problems and variations that, while not unexpected, will need correcting before they grow out of hand. As a Divine, your ability to intervene would be limited. As a mortal, you may be able to accomplish more.¡±
¡°So same as before, we need another mortal to save the universe, or whatever else is wrong now. Well, the powers that be probably already knew what I was going to say so here you go, ¡°Ada said as he pulled out the two soul gems and handed them to Adaline as he transferred the copies of Mom, Dad, and Abi he had in his personal storage into the data storage points in the Vault. He also made a copy of himself and made a few small adjustments to the place of power while he looked at Adaline.
His preparations made, Adam said, ¡°I chose to remain mortal.¡±
Adaline took the soul stones and held them up. Each flared purple, then disappeared as she said, ¡°Your choice has been made, please stand on the seal of this place of power. It is going to act as a focal point.¡±
As Adam stepped on the seal he looked around one more time, then in his best Terminator voice said, ¡°I¡¯ll be back!¡±
Adaline smiled as she replied, ¡°I do hope so.¡±
Energy flared from the seal into his body. It didn¡¯t hurt. He felt the Adventurer¡¯s Mark and his Place of Power mark fade from his body as a purple haze caused the room to fade from view. The last he saw of Adaline was a wistful smile as she turned and vanished, teleporting away. It was the last information his nanites gave him as he felt them all unlink from him. The Purple haze grew brighter and brighter As he felt every link he had fail. The last to go was his Link to the Labyrinth. As the brightness suddenly became dark and he started to lose consciousness he wondered what changes had been made. That¡¯s when at the limits of his hearing he thought he heard that unknown voice from before say,
¡°Just a minor tweak¡±
Chapter 69, Im Not Cold
(Union Glacier Base Camp, Tuesday, January 1st, 2036)
Adam heard fireworks shooting off in the distance. Not the big ones you¡¯d find in a city, the little ones that families might light off. He also felt a cool breeze blowing over his skin. he opened his eyes to see the darkest night he¡¯d ever witnessed. he thought about the conversation he¡¯d just had with Adaline¡.he just had a conversation with Adaline¡he was remembering who Adaline was¡he wasn¡¯t supposed to remember anything. He looked around quickly to see if he was in danger and realized that he was standing on a sheet of ice looking at a sign that read ¡°Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions, Union Glacier Antarctica.¡± Next to that sign was one of those distance-to-location signs pointing in various directions. ¡°New York, Oslo, Hong Kong, Punta Arenas, Sydney.¡± That¡¯s when he realized that he was reading the sign because a light was bouncing over his shoulder from behind him. Huh? he turned to look and saw three people running towards him in bright red coats, one already spreading an emergency thermal blanket as they came up to him. At that moment he realized two things. One, he wasn¡¯t cold and Two, he was butt-ass naked.
¡°Who the hell are you?¡± a man yelled at him in French.
¡°Calm down Pierre, I don¡¯t recognize him either but he¡¯s naked and it¡¯s 0 degrees Celsius out here right now, not too bad for this time of year but we need to get him inside, he¡¯s naked.
¡°I¡¯m not cold,¡± Adam tried to say in French but was cut off by a third person
¡°He¡¯s mumbling that he¡¯s not cold,¡± a second woman said. ¡°It could be shock or hypothermia? Let¡¯s get him inside quickly.¡±
Adam decided to just go with it and didn¡¯t struggle as he was quickly guided toward one of the closet clamshell tents and was led inside. The second woman ran over and grabbed a snowsuit and thermals while the first woman looked him over and then peered into his eyes. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± she asked in English
¡°Adam.¡±
¡°Okay Adam, do you know where you are?¡±
¡°The sign said Union Glacier¡±
¡°That¡¯s right, Do you know what day it is or the date?¡±
¡°No idea,¡± he said.
¡°That¡¯s okay. We¡¯re going to get you dressed then get you over to medical to check you out. Do you have any pain, any tingling sensations in your extremities, your fingers, or toes?¡±
¡°Nope, I feel fine,¡± he said as he wiggled his fingers and his toes.
¡°Good, that¡¯s good. My name is Lindsey and the other woman getting you clothes is Samantha. We¡¯re going to get you dressed then go back outside to a bigger building okay?¡±
¡°Okay Lindsey, and thank you?¡±
Samantha brought him clothes and he dressed. The three of them led him over to another building that was a little bigger and he was led into a makeshift medical examination room to wait for the doctor with Lindsey, while Samantha and Pierre went off to find the doctor. A couple of minutes later they returned with another man who seemed to be in his early forties or fifties came into the building and rushed over.
¡°Lindsey, what is the meaning of this, what¡¯s happened, I¡¯d just gotten comfortable and was getting ready to enjoy a nice glass of bourbon and watch a movie.¡± The doctor said in English.
¡°Doc, I swear he just appeared next to the marker sign. One second he wasn¡¯t there the next he was, and he was butt-assed naked.¡± Lindsey answered back in English.
¡°Yep, butt ass naked,¡± Samantha said.¡±
¡°Sorry about that,¡± Adam said.
The doc approached him, and looked at his hands and feet, ¡°What was the temperature out there tonight?¡±
¡°Right now, it¡¯s 0 Celsius,¡± Pierre said in English.
¡°At the very least I¡¯d expect his extremities to be red as blood flow returned, yet he looks fine.¡± The doctor picked up one of the laser temperature readers and aimed it at his forehead. ¡°98.6 Fahrenheit, no temperature.¡± He looked at him for the first time, ¡°How do you feel son?¡±
¡°Confused, not really sure how I got here.¡±
¡°Well, we did have a cargo plane leave here a bit ago. Do you know where you are from?¡±
¡°The United States,¡± he said
¡°I¡¯m going to ask you to stay here for a bit. We¡¯re going to send word that someone missed the plane and see if we can get them to turn around and come back. Hopefully, we can so we can get you out on that flight or you¡¯ll be stuck with us through the week until the next transport arrives.¡±
The doctor walked over to talk to the three of them. Lindsey and Pierre stayed to keep an eye on him while Samantha and the Doctor went off to make calls. While he was sitting there a prompt activated in his Personal Interface.
Congratulations You have reached level 2! You have 8 attributes to¡
Adam canceled the prompt and then remembered that his link to the Labyrinth was turned off. Where was he getting XP from? he opened his Personal Interface and reviewed it.
Name: Adamantadine
Identity: Adam
Age: 35
Weight: 170
Birthday, July 16th, 2001
Fundamental Abilities: (Note Fundamental Abilities are Always Active and stay with you through any temporal shifts, changes, or paradoxes that occur.)
¡°Perfect Memory¡± - Like Photographic Memory except for all five senses with an automatic recall of desired information.
¡°That Was Easy¡± - Your Ability Guided Understanding, Jack of all trades, and the Orb of Knowledge have combined into the Unique ability ¡°That was Easy.¡± You may use any skill as if you had skill level 100 in it. Even if you have never seen the skill used before your skill level is 100.
¡°I have Always Been, I will Always Be¡± - Your existence is now sacrosanct. You are no longer subject to a Grandfather Paradox and you gain a 100% resistance to harmful Time Magic.
¡°Creature of Raw Chaos¡± - Your body has been inundated with Chaos. During this process, your will was strong enough to hold your core identity together and permanent changes were made to your body. You may now enter and exit Chaos 100% resistant to any further changes.
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¡°Adaptable¡± - Chaos has modified your body so that you may adapt to any environment. From Absolute Zero to the Gravity well of a Singularity your body can and will adapt to all environmental conditions. This includes the ability to survive in those environments. Example: the ability to breathe underwater if necessary.
¡°Undying¡± - You will reform at the nearest Place of Power containing Life Magic if killed. While you are not truly immortal, the powers that granted this ability have decreed that you will be resurrected and reformed a number of times equal to the souls you¡¯ve spared from utter annihilation, this includes all souls across all Universes that were saved. Number of resurrections left: ¡°What was that phrase you liked to use? ¡°A number of times best phrased as a Scientific Number.¡±
¡°Resistant¡± - You are 50% resistant to all Primal Magic and natural manifestations of those energy types. Additionally, you are 100% resistant to all magic from the following spheres of power; "Chaos, Time, Space, and Gravity, and 50% resistant to Holy and Demonic Magic
¡°Godless¡± - The changes to your body have severed any clerical link to the divine you had. As you share a host of traits similar to the Divine you may not become the servant of any Divine again.
¡°Confluence¡± - Your Place of Power has merged with you. While you cannot access a Place of Power any longer Chaos seeps into you from beyond the barrier of the Universe you¡¯re in and converts it to primal magic of all spheres. You do not have control of this process. In any Universe, you have access to and can utilize any magical energy normally. Additionally, your Mana Regeneration has increased by Willpower + Endurance per minute. Finally, the process of converting raw Chaos into magic garners 1 XP per second.
Note: This seepage of magic acts like a magnet to leylines and will divert their normal path. Additionally, any area around you will become magically saturated allowing magic items and spells cast by others to work as well. This area increases by 100 feet for every Level, Grade, Division, Category, Tier, and Rank you attain.
¡°Spellweaver¡± - You neither memorize nor permanently add spells using spell slots. Instead, you may weave magic into any form of your desire so long as you have the skill and mana to do so.
¡°Personal Storage¡± - You now have the equivalent of 1,000'' cubic feet of dimensional storage that reduces weight by 100%. It can be accessed at will. Items placed into or taken out of the space appear or disappear to the hand touching them. This space can be represented by slots if you prefer.
¡°Infinite Wealth¡± - Your Belt of Infinite Wealth has been transformed into a Fundamental Ability. You may pull forth any type of currency and have the ability to produce any amount of wealth you might need. As per the initial conditions of this item¡¯s acquisition, any cost incurred for any wealth withdrawn is paid for by the Divine Detrik. Even though ¡°The Change¡± this cost was maintained.
Level 1
Attributes
Strength 10
Agility 10
Dexterity 10
Endurance 10
Constitution 10
Intelligence 10
Wisdom 10
Willpower 10
Perception 10
Charisma 10
Luck 10
Primary Stats
Carrying Capacity 90 lbs. (41 kgs)
Hit Points: 4
Base Health Regeneration: 3 HP per second
Mana: 200
Base Mana Regeneration: 5 MP per second
Movement
Normal Running Speed: 16.2 mph, 24 fps
Standing high Jump: 32.2 Inches.
Note. Falling Damage is not mitigated by maximum jumping Distance.
Base Attack
Unarmed Attack: 9 Damage
Critical Damage Maximum Damage x2
Skills: See Fundamental Ability ¡°That Was Easy¡± above
Adam closed his Personal Interface and thought for a second. His ¡°Perfect Memory¡± ability was now a Fundamental ability. That was probably why he could remember everything he did. In fact, each and every one of those Fundamental Abilities was powerful. Minor problem. He was leveling again and he was told he¡¯d have to see the new changes.
¡°Adam, are you okay?¡± Lindsey asked.
¡°Yeah I¡¯m fine, I was just wondering what day it is?¡±
¡°It¡¯s January 1st, 2036, Happy New Year! Even if you don¡¯t know how you got here.
¡°Not to worry, just trying to remember,¡± he said as he turned away and looked thoughtful. If he was earning 1 XP per second then 1 minute was 60 XP, 10 minutes was 600 XP and 1,000 XP would have been right around 16.5 minutes, just a little while ago he could have done that equation and given exact numbers. He looked at the clock and sure enough, it was just passed the hour. If the first couple of levels followed the previous leveling system, he should reach level 2 in about 20 minutes. And level 3 an hour after that.
Just then two men came in. Both carried batons and looked to be security officials of some sort. ¡°Sir, I¡¯m here to inform you that you are officially detained until Flight XL347 returns in two hours to pick you up. From there, you will be flown to Dallas via Punta Arenas Chile where you will be met by United States Government Officials and escorted to America.¡±
¡°Why is that?¡± Adam asked
¡°Well, Mr. Bennard, or whoever you are, your body double, a professor in Dallas is currently home and has no idea that he¡¯s also in Antarctica. U.S. officials would like to talk to you about that.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know how he arrived here either so that¡¯s fine. Do I need to be handcuffed or something?¡± he asked.
¡°No, but we will be with you until the handoff in Punta Arenas.
Samantha brought sandwiches and they all sat down to eat and watch the news. Until he was able to review the current history he wouldn¡¯t know if there had been any significant changes. He was able to see the United States flag behind someone when the President was brought up and the flag still looked the same, with only 50 stars, so wherever he was it must be very similar to the world he remembered.
Adam heard the plane circle around the base and then come in for a landing. As the plane landed and everyone was distracted he tried to use his ¡°Infinite Wealth¡± ability to create some 20-dollar bills and sure enough, they just appeared in his hand. He placed them on the counter by the dishes and left them. They¡¯d be a nice surprise for whoever came to do the dishes after he left. Rob and Todd came back from the window and escorted him to the waiting area with the other passengers while they all waited for the plane to be refueled. Most weren¡¯t happy and kept shooting daggers at him with their eyes. He apologized once then didn¡¯t bother, they didn¡¯t want to hear about it and everyone was tired. The plane was nice though, it kind of reminded him of one of those military cargo planes, a C-5, but it wasn¡¯t. A new one for him, he didn¡¯t know the make and model of this plane. It looked like some he¡¯d come across but it was different. Maybe there had been some changes in this timeline.
Once the refueling was done, he waited while everyone boarded and then was escorted on by his guards. There was a double-deck and he was escorted up to the 2nd floor and taken to the back of the cabin. Todd and Rob sat in front of him because the cockpit door was only 15 feet in front of him and he was an unknown security risk. He didn¡¯t make trouble, there was no point, he was headed to the United States, it was where he needed to go to get answers.
The plane taxied, turned around, and they were off. It was only about a 5-hour flight to Punta Arenas. He spent most of the flight sleeping. When he woke up he was level 4 and his attributes were all 12s Unlike before he just held any remainders and kept his attributes even. It¡¯d be a while before he was back to where he¡¯d been but he¡¯d get there.
The plane landed and everyone else disembarked. Once the civilians were gone, he was led down to the tarmac and escorted over to a waiting government Learjet. Rod and Todd turned him over to two Military Security Forces personnel and a 1st Lieutenant then went off into the terminal. Adam had overheard them talk about heading back to Antarctica tomorrow.
Adam followed his military escort onto the Learjet, ¡°This way sir, Please sit here,¡± and ¡°Would you like something to drink?¡± were the extent of their conversation with him. It was an 8-hour flight and he also took the time to sleep through it as well. Six hours into the flight the lieutenant had taken a call and they¡¯d been diverted. It now looked like we were heading to Area 52. Though they¡¯d tried to not let him know where they were going. They must have found a recording of his arrival. Did doppelgangers of American citizens have rights under American Law? He guessed he was about to find out.
Chapter 70, Caged
(Observation Post EH001, Tuesday, January 1st, 2036)
Observer Elkan, A gnome with a well-groomed beard was at his terminal when the red light came on. He¡¯d been watching the latest in a series of reality game shows the humans of this backwater of a planet had created to amuse themselves. He turned from the program and noticed that one of the magical detection sensors had detected a spike and that the strength of the spike was growing. He sorted through various functions at his terminal until he found the source and the problem, Antarctica. What the hell was in Antarctica? That had been covered in ice for the last 10,000 some-odd years. Because he¡¯d done his job right, the humans hadn¡¯t found any evidence to prove otherwise, nor would they. For the Syndicate¡¯s plans and forecasts to work, they needed the humans to remain ignorant for just a little while longer.
That was why he was completely surprised to find a normal, if not high level of magic saturation on the surface of the planet. He checked the magic sinks in the area, they all seemed to be operating normally. Spaced intermittently around the Globe Magic sinks were placed at least 50 miles down in geologically stable locations and acted as magnets to any leylines in the vicinity. As he looked over the area in question, he switched to a view of the leylines below the surface and watched something impossible occur. One of the ley lines started to stretch up towards the surface until it reached the halfway point then it just popped into place reaching all the way to the surface. Between two of the deep magic sinks, a ley line now curved up to the surface and then returned to the next magic sink deep underground. Impossibly another ley line popped up, and another. As he watched all eight primal ley lines that had been locked into place for the last 10,000 years adjusted their path and remained in that configuration. That shouldn¡¯t be possible.
Elkan searched through his various satellite images of the area until he found the one he was looking for. A place called Union Glacier. As he investigated the incident he returned the footage to the moment just before the magic detection grid had recorded the spike. He zoomed in on the location and incremented the footage forward until the naked genitals of a man¡ He poked at the controls furiously as he zoomed the image out and rewound it for a couple of seconds. He was not going to be able to unsee that. He started the playback again as he watched a man, a very naked man, appear out of thin air. The cameras providing the images were orders of magnitude better than anything the humans of Earth could put together. He zoomed in on the face and sent it off for facial recognition. Moments later information populated his screen
Name: Johnathan Bennard
Location: Dallas Texas
Profession: Professor of Computer Science, University of North Texas at Dallas
Age: 35
Odds: 1,000,000 to 1 (1 week)
10,000,000 to 1 (1 Month)
100,000,000 to 1 (3 Months)
1,000,000,000 to 1 (12 Months)
Observer Elkin thought for a moment then smiled. Whatever this was, he could very easily turn this into a huge payday. The humans seemed to be years from being cultivated by the Syndicate. However, if magic started returning to the world as he suspected it might, then the cultivation would need to be accelerated. He had his duty to perform but first, he made a few calls.
A few minutes later he was arguing with one of the engineers on one of the sublevels, ¡°Zab, just do it!¡±
¡°What¡¯s in it for me, I could get caught?¡±
¡°You will not get caught, I¡¯m at the controls right now, and when I say now the system will experience a 3-second glitch. You only need three seconds right?¡± Elkin asked¡±
¡°Yeah, but there can¡¯t be witnesses.¡±
¡°There won¡¯t be, it¡¯s the middle of the night there. Everyone is sleeping and he¡¯s alone, I checked¡±
¡°Okay, 1,000 credits and we don¡¯t ever talk about this again?¡±
¡°1,000 credits and talk about what?¡±
Zab laughed and then said, ¡°All right, I have him locked. Just give the word¡±
***
Johnathan Bennard was restless as he woke up suddenly in his bed in Dallas Texas. He looked at the clock, only 1:30 in the morning What the hell, he¡¯d only laid down thirty minutes ago after getting home from the New Year¡¯s party for faculty. It¡¯d been a quiet affair, Professor Benford had made a toast and he¡¯d left soon after. He didn¡¯t really like social gatherings but made two exceptions. New Year¡¯s Eve and The 4th of July. After he¡¯d received that phone call from Citibank about a possible identity theft incident to make sure he wasn¡¯t somewhere else in the world, What the hell would he be doing in Punta Arenas, though he guessed if he wanted to visit Antarctica he¡¯d most likely have to travel through there. Anyway, he¡¯d headed home and climbed into bed. Now it was 1:31 in the morning and he was going to have to try to fall asleep again¡what the hell
***
¡°Now!¡± Elkin said and then watched his monitors which were watching Johnathan Bennard move around on his bed, adjust to get more comfortable, and then open his eyes in shock as a cocoon of energy surrounded him and he vanished from the monitors.
¡°Done!¡± Zab said
¡°Where¡¯d you send him?¡±
¡°You said no evidence right?¡± Zab asked
¡°Yeah.¡±
¡°Well, I figure appearing 1,000 miles above the surface of the Sun should have taken care of that requirement.¡±
¡°Fair enough, transferring credits now¡±
¡°Good doing business with you Elkin. I hope you know what you¡¯re doing?¡±
¡°Just do what I said, put at least 1 credit on Johnathan Bennard, It¡¯ll make you rich I swear.¡±
¡°How many credits are you betting?¡±
¡°Half my savings¡±
¡°Half your savings, what the hell man, I just vaporized the guy¡±
¡°I know, and I¡¯m telling you to put at least 1 credit on him¡±
¡°Okay, but if this doesn¡¯t work out I¡¯ll want 2 credits from you.¡±
¡°I can do that. I¡¯ll even go so far as to say that if I¡¯m wrong, I¡¯ll give you double whatever you bet?¡±
¡°Are you serious?¡± Zab asked.
¡°Dead serious!¡±
Zab laughed, ¡°Okay either way I make money now, so I¡¯ll tell you what, make sure you have 2,000 credits ready because I¡¯m going to put 1,000 credits down on the guy.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t forget to put insurance on your bet. If this works out Zab, I expect you to remember who your friends are?¡±
¡°As long as I get my 2,000 credits we¡¯ll always be friends,¡± he said as he cut the link.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Elkin checked the status of Johnathan Bennard, noted that the system still showed him as active with the same odds, and placed half of his savings, 56,707 credits, as a bet on the survival of Johnathan Bennard during the upcoming Cultivation. He also paid the Resurrection and Time interference offset insurance which cost an additional 20%, which meant that even if the person he bet on died if they somehow returned his bet was still good. Anyone else taking the bet would lose the first time the person they bet on died. He paid his additional 11,341.4 credits and re-examined the leylines map. As he''d suspected The Cage, as they called it, was starting to have problems. He set his terminal to record, stood, and made his way to the Administrator¡¯s Office.
As Elkin walked in the low gravity of the Moon Triton, which orbited around the planet Neptune, he reviewed what he knew about Earth. He¡¯d been part of the team that installed and set up the Cage on the planet roughly 10,000 years ago. The Syndicate had roughly 60,000 planets at any given time that were caged. The stated reason they did this was so that they could create the cream of the crop as it were by culling the weak and allowing the strong to thrive. Elkin was pretty sure that whoever was ultimately in charge of The Syndicate just liked building up worlds so they could watch innocents get killed over and over. He¡¯d come to terms with the horror of this a long time ago. He¡¯d had a choice, join, or die. He¡¯d joined and he wasn¡¯t going to turn back any time soon.
As he came to the Elevator and stepped inside he considered how the Cultivation normally started. Usually, the go signal was when a species developed fusion technology on caged worlds. Fusion could work around magic but there really wasn¡¯t a point. Magic was an unending source of power. The main reason that was the go point was that once the magic sinks were repurposed all higher electronics, not shielded from magic, usually failed. There were exceptions but they were few and far between. It also helped that the mages of the Syndicate would cast transmutation spells on specific elements to prevent the inhabitants of a world under cultivation from doing something stupid and causing considerable damage to the planet and the population.
Originally, cultivations had been done in private, elevating different species and making sure that any beings that moved forward were ready for participation in the greater mysteries of the multiverse. They¡¯d been going strong for a really long time now. The goody-two-shoes had not liked the rampant killing and usually went out of their way to try to stop cultivation because of the loss of life, a lot of which were innocents. There was a whole department dedicated to keeping them from the knowledge of which planets had been prepared though. In the last 14 million years there hadn¡¯t been one interruption. Some young Divines of the ¡°good¡± persuasion would try to stop or influence a cultivation, but they were usually brought back in line by the older ones. Anyone of Divine rank or higher was not allowed to directly interfere in mortal affairs on more than an individual basis, and not more than once in any single mortal¡¯s lifetime. The last time a Demi-God, someone at least eleven ranks above a divine, had tried to intervene, they¡¯d been somewhat successful until Time had rewound events and allowed everyone to remember what had happened. Time wasn¡¯t a God, or if he was, his rank was higher than that of a Rank 10 God, the highest known ¡°level.¡±
Planets like Earth, and caged worlds, were caged for three reasons. First to slow level progression and then allow exposure and forced adaption. A lot of people died but those that were left usually ended up being in the top 10%, usually 5%, of all beings everywhere. Most became Divines, though some chose to serve the Divines instead and hold onto the Mortality for as long as they could. Some people just didn¡¯t want to live forever. Slowing progression automatically happened when magic was removed from the equation. Though the ingenuity of every species and race so far had overcome any such handicaps by turning to technology.
The Second reason worlds were caged was to promote ignorance of magic and the greater mysteries of the Universe. This ignorance allowed certain studies that were not possible in any societies that evolved with magic. The case studies were requested by various Divines, Professors, and Universities as they looked into the far past to try to determine this or that aspect of life before there was magic, which a lot of people believed. Others believe there had always been magic. This second reason was usually explored on protected planets that had been caged. Such planets were exempt from cultivation and had led to some of the greatest technological societies to ever exist. One of the latest ideas was to remove magic from an entire Universe just to see what would happen. Some thought magic was a fundamental element of all Universes, and such an endeavor would lead to a very short-lived Universe. The scientists were still debating whether to try or not.
The Third reason planets were caged and then cultivated made it much clearer that the planet was actually being harvested, Well that¡¯s what a lot of people said, and he happened to agree with them. A stockpile of Soulstones had been placed all around the globe. The Cage was not destroyed when the ley lines were released again. Instead, their function changed, and they formed a net around the planet. Any soul that became free was then caught by the net and guided to a waiting soul stone. Individuals that had the ability to make soul stones and capture souls were able to do so normally but any souls not caught up in local magics would be guided by the net that surrounded the planet. It was actually better for the cultivation to take longer because the grade of the soulstones created would improve as the cultivated population leveled. The harvest would supply billions upon billions of soul stones of all grades. The profit of which was well worth the moral ambiguity of cultivation or the negative press that was created. In fact, the opposite had become true, people loved watching the footage they could get their hands on. Funny fact, a human had written about a fiction game show that involved the creation of a dungeon out of a mostly destroyed planet. Dungeons and even the Labyrinth were involved but the planet didn¡¯t become a dungeon, that would be silly. The beings of Purity and Good hated this reason and had tried to stop it but had been overruled. The inhabitants were dying anyway, they might as well use their souls.
The fourth unofficial reason was that people like to gamble. It was uncanny how humans came up with the idea of the Ferengi. There was a race of humanoids with a huge cranium and enormous ears that dedicated their lives to commerce and profit both the lawful and unlawful kinds. For as long as Elkan could remember The Gambler Market had existed. Anyone anywhere could place a bet as long as they did so with Credits. Most planets used paper, coins, and/or digital currency. Planets that participated in trade with the Syndicate utilized Credits. The equivalent value was about 1 Gold Piece (GP). Paper and digital currency, except for Credits, really didn¡¯t matter as they were often not interchangeable.
As a Cultivation started to get closer and closer to kicking off The Gambler Market would open up and odds would be given on every being or animal on the planet to survive for various amounts of time. Infants were excluded unless they were orphaned just as the cultivation started. Then their odds of 1 in 1 trillion so long as no intelligent species helped them. One time a pack of animals had helped a child for about a week before they were all killed. A couple of people had made it big but not many. To date, no orphaned child had ever survived full cultivation.
As the Elevator stopped Elkan thought about how lucky he¡¯d been to be on duty to see the human arrive on the planet. Even if, Johnathan Bernard only survived 1 day, a full 24 hours, Elkan would still be rich. He had a feeling though that something funky was going on and knew there was a good chance things were about to get interesting.
¡°Is the Administrator in? Elkan asked the succubus in a black business dress with red trim in front of him?¡±
¡°Yes, Spireblock is in, may I ask who¡¯s calling,¡± she said.
¡°It¡¯s Elkan, there¡¯s a problem with the Cage.¡±
¡°Sir, Elkan from Cage Oversight is here, he says there¡¯s a problem with the Cage:¡±
Just then an alarm went off as the doors flew open and a Demon beckoned him in. Elkan ran forward as he moved towards the console and monitor with a flashing light above it. The Administrator came out from behind his desk and gestured for him to do what he needed to do. Elkan, hit a few keys because he knew what he was looking for as the Administrator asked, ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡±
¡°A little while ago one of the humans arrived in Antarctica butt-ass naked in the freezing cold out of the middle of nowhere. It was not a portal or gate, could have been teleport or a direct manifestation from the ethereal or astral planes. I was alerted because the ambient magic in the area on the surface had started to increase. As I zeroed in on the point I watched as all eight leylines adjusted themselves to include the location of the man on the surface. As you know leylines do not just adjust quickly.¡±
The Administrator pointed to the flashing light above the monitor as he said, ¡°That does not go off for a minor leyline problem.¡±
¡°I understand, one second,¡± he said as he pushed a key and a representation of the leylines traveling under the surface of the earth became visible in a three-dimensional holographic image of the Earth. As the Administrator and he watched the leylines between Punta Arenas Chile and Nevada were being drawn to the surface and opening like a zipper.
¡°What the hell is that?¡± The administrator asked looking at the distorted leylines that now came all the way to the surface in a roughly straight line through South and North America.
¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t know, the individual causing it though is most likely a human named Johnathan Bennard. He was a professor at a University in Texas until he reappeared in Antarctica at midnight.¡±
¡°Show me¡±
Elkan drew up the footage of the appearance time-stamped at midnight then showed the footage of Johnathan being taken from his bed by a cocoon of energy which also had the exact same time stamp on it.
¡°That looks like one of our energy transporters,¡± the administrator said.
¡°It¡¯s not, I checked our logs, and nothing was transmitted at midnight from our base here,¡± he said as he showed power use and consumption for half an hour prior and half an hour after Johnathan disappeared.
¡°Will the cage, self-repair?¡±
¡°No Sir, I think we¡¯re going to have to start early¡±
The Administrator looked thoughtful for a minute then said, ¡°Okay you have until 6 a.m. tomorrow to get everything ready. I¡¯ll make the calls I need to let everyone know what¡¯s happening and allow them to get ready. Did you make any bets?
¡°I made a bet on Johnathan Bennard, his odds as a teacher were horrible, yet he just disappeared and reappeared. I figured it was worth the chance.¡±
¡°Agreed, I¡¯ll sign off on that now and will expect 5% of your winnings if you win. If you do not win no loss on my part.
Elkan thought it over for a moment then said ¡°Sure thing boss. If we win, 5% is a small price to pay.¡±
¡°How much did you bet?¡±
¡°56,707 credits and I paid the insurance; I have a feeling about this guy.¡± He said.
¡°Okay, well, good luck to both of us, Now get out of here and do your job, I have calls to make!¡±
Elkan turned and started walking towards the Elevator. This couldn¡¯t have gone better if he¡¯d planned it.
Chapter 71, Making Friends
(Area 51 Nevada, January 1st, 2036)
Adam had to admit, the flight to Area 52 was pretty nice. As they landed, and then came to a stop, the Lieutenant produced a pair of handcuffs and asked, ¡°Will there be trouble?¡±
¡°Nope,¡± Adam said as he stuck out his hands which the Lieutenant put the cuffs on.
Adam was led out of the plane to a waiting Humvee and placed in the back seat. The Lieutenant jumped in the passenger seat and the guards each took up riding positions on the outside. Adam was driven off the tarmac toward an open hanger door. There wasn¡¯t much to see, just an air traffic control tower, this hanger, and a mountain. Adam¡¯s driver took them into the hangar where a table with two chairs waited. Around the outer edge where guards or Military Police, he counted six. As he looked up he also noticed two snipers positioned above on the catwalks of the hanger, so eight total.
¡°Come with me.¡± The Lieutenant said as they exited the vehicle. Adam was led over to one of the chairs with its back to the hanger door and sat down. The handcuff around his right wrist was undone and reattached to a ring on the table. The table was also bolted to the ground. They obviously thought he wasn¡¯t going anywhere. There was a small glass of water on the table. ¡°Feel free to drink the water, though I wouldn¡¯t drink it all at once. It''s all you¡¯re getting until¡
¡°Until someone from some unnamed agency gets here,¡± Adam said cutting off the Lieutenant before he said, ¡°Watch this,¡± and then willed his magic to create water like a stream coming from his finger as if it were shooting from a garden hose. He directed the stream and filled the cup to overflowing as water spilled everywhere.
Immediately the two guards were on him, one with a gun to the back of his head while the other searching his hand. While they were trying to figure out what was going on he checked his prompts
You have used the Ability ¡°Spellweaver¡± to ¡°Create Water¡± as a slow stream at approximately 1 gallon per minute. Initial Mana Cost 10, can be maintained for 1 mana per second.
As he thought, his mana regeneration could handle this, in fact, the cost of the initial cast would be back in a second with his mana regeneration current at 27. Adam looked at the Lieutenant, ¡°It¡¯s just water. Also, I can do this all day, see?¡± he said as they continued to search him while the water continued to spray from his finger.
¡°The guard searching his hand looked at his counterpart and the Lieutenant, ¡°There¡¯s nothing there, no hoses, nothing, his hand is bare.
¡°I can make that appear out of thin air if I want,¡± Adam said as the stream of water moved away from his finger, reoriented to shoot at the ground and a stream of water started falling out of the air onto the middle of the desk. He¡¯d have to play with the ability Spellweaver, but it looked like as long as he had an idea of what he wanted he could create any spell effect he could think of. He¡¯d stick to the simpler spells for now. He didn¡¯t want to draw too much attention to himself from on high yet. He still didn¡¯t know the lay of land for this new Cosmos.
Adam decided to try for a targeted conjuring and tried to will a cap onto the tip of the firing pin on the M-16 to the back of his head, just in case. He might not have nanites, but he had magic and it looked like he could form it to his will. In some ways that might be better than nanites. After 8 hours he was already level 7 and his mana was up to the 300. With his skills maxed out at 100 across the board, it looked like if he could think of it, at least for small stuff he could make it happen. He¡¯d wait for a little while before he tried to teleport. Adam shut the water off after he gave the guard a second to wave his hand through the water then asked, ¡°Are you going to keep your useless gun pointed at my head all day or can I sit back yet?¡±
¡°What do you mean useless?¡± the Lieutenant asked.
¡°The weapon¡¯s firing pin has a rubber coating on it.¡±
¡°No, it doesn¡¯t?¡± the Soldier said.
¡°No, it didn¡¯t, now it does. Clear your weapon and I¡¯ll show you¡± Adam said as he willed the water to evaporate off the table¡±
¡°Clear your weapon,¡± The Lieutenant said.
The soldier released Adam slowly, cleared his weapon, checked the chamber then held out the weapon.
¡°Thank you,¡± Adam said as he checked the chamber himself, and broke the gun down setting it neatly on the table. Adam didn¡¯t rush but within a minute the gun was in various pieces sitting on the table. Adam pointed to the firing pin, ¡°See?¡± he asked.
The soldier bent over, looked at the pin, and said, ¡°How did you do that?¡±
¡°The same way I¡¯m doing this,¡± he said as the clear coating over the pin evaporated while he held it.
¡°What the hell?¡± he said dropping the pin
Adam willed the pin to return to the table and it floated through the air and landed in the place he¡¯d made for it in the breakdown layout. Looking around and up he said, ¡°Okay, the show¡¯s over. Whoever needs to talk to me, get your ass out here or I¡¯m leaving!¡±
The Lieutenant looked confused then said, ¡°Sir, you¡¯re handcuffed to a table, you¡¯re not going anywhere.¡±
Adam smiled, ¡°You¡¯d think that wouldn¡¯t you?¡±
¡°Yes, sir I would.¡± The Lieutenant said.
¡°Me too,¡± the soldier with a working gun said.
¡°Me three, but I¡¯ll admit, I¡¯m having doubts,¡± said the third.
¡°As I¡¯m sure you haven¡¯t been briefed, Lieutenant I¡¯ll let you know that I appeared at Union Glacier at Midnight last night. I didn¡¯t travel there. I didn¡¯t fly there, I appeared there. Another thing you might not know is that the ¡®me¡¯ from this world is in Dallas Texas right now probably recovering from a hangover or grading some papers or something. I am him, he is me, but we are not the same person. Now, I am more than willing to sit down and talk with whoever is in charge and let them know exactly what happened to me but I¡¯m not going to sit around and play stupid ass games.¡±
¡°Doesn¡¯t look to me like you have much of a choice,¡± The Lieutenant said.
¡°Again, you¡¯d think that. Soldier, can I borrow your knife, or if that worries you could you hold it out, blade up please,¡± he said as he checked his HP regeneration which was now up to 3 per second. As he only had 9 hit points, damage that could kill him would heal almost immediately, cool
The soldier looked to the Lieutenant. ¡°Indulge him, we have a first aid kit in the Humvee.¡± The soldier pulled out his knife and held it horizontally, sharp end upward.
Adam reached out slowly with his free hand and pressed down as he dragged his hand along the blade. Adam felt the knife bite in as blood trickled down the blade. The soldier¡¯s eyes went wide as he held his hand up for everyone to see. The wound stopped bleeding immediately and closed up a second later.
Everyone around him was shocked and a couple of weapons were being raised around him at a distance, ¡°I¡¯ll leave you with these thoughts; Magic is real, I heal really fast, Wolverine fast, if you kill me, I will return. When you feel like talking send a limo and ask for Adam, I¡¯ll be checked into the Mirage in Vegas under the name, Johnathan Bennard. See you in a little bit¡± he said as he teleported to the courtesy bathroom closet on the first floor of the Mirage.
Adam checked his Personal Interface as he appeared.
You have used the ability ¡°Spellweaver¡± to teleport 85 miles. Initial Cost 50 mana + 1 mana per mile transversed, 135 mana spent.
Adam stepped out of the bathroom and washed his hands before he conjured some new clothes. A dark grey Armani Suit.
You have used the ability ¡°Spellweaver¡± to Conjure a simple item, Clothing. Initial Cost 40 mana + 5 mana per piece of clothing. Note: The ability ¡°Infinite Wealth¡± is synergistic with this spell. Additional mana costs and items to make specific items are provided by this ability.
Adam put on the suit and stepped out of the bathroom and then went to the front counter.
¡°Hello sir, may he help you?¡± the young female clerk behind the counter asked.
¡°Why yes, I need to check in. I¡¯d like the best suite you have available.
¡°Do you have a preferred membership status with us, sir?¡±
¡°No, I came into an inheritance not too long ago and I¡¯d like to live it up for the first time ever,¡± Adam said with a smile.
¡°That can be quite expensive sir.¡±
¡°I know, but money is no object, as I said, I inherited a lot. Here you go,¡± Adam said as he reached into his pocket and willed his Infinite Wealth ability to provide him with an authorized credit card with unlimited funds. He didn¡¯t know if that would work but he was pleasantly surprised when he felt a card appear between his fingers. Adam drew out the card and noticed that it had his picture on it, a chip, and a Secured Diamond Debit, Citibank Card logo on it. He handed the card to the clerk. She placed the debit card in a reader, waited for a beep, read something on the screen, and looked at her monitor. It beeped and the clerk looked up with a smile.
¡°Johnathan Bennard, our Prince¡¯s Suite is available if you¡¯d like it.¡±
¡°Yes please, is there a shop, and can I charge anything I want from it to my room?¡±
¡°Why yes sir, if I might ask, what are you looking for?¡± she asked.
¡°I need the highest-end computer you can get your hands on as quickly as possible.¡°
¡°Well Sir, there is tech in the store but for a small fee, we could have someone run down the street and purchase what you need. It will be charged to your room of course.¡±
¡°That sounds great. Tell you what, there is a 100-dollar tip per minute every minute for whoever brings that computer to me in less than 30 minutes.¡±
Adam heard someone behind him say ¡°I¡¯ll get it!¡± as the clerk handed a black card to him, and he rushed out the front of the building.
The clerk looked at Adam and smiled, ¡°He should be back in a little bit, is there anything else?¡±
¡°No that should do it.¡±
¡°Very good sir, here is your room key. You have a private elevator right there, an intercom to the kitchen, and this desk, both are marked and have multiple locations to make calls from in your Suite. Please enjoy your stay¡±
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
¡°Thank You,¡± Adam said as he turned and walked over to the elevator and rode it up to the Prince¡¯s Suite. It wasn¡¯t a suite; it was a house. On the top of a hotel. There was practically a full-size mansion with a pool, workout room, and ballroom¡he let himself get distracted until he heard the elevator open. He looked at the clock. Seven minutes, that was fast. Adam walked over, looked at the laptop he¡¯d been brought, and realized it would do just fine.
¡°23 minutes to spare, I believe someone wanted a tip,¡± Adam said with a smile.
¡°Yes sir!¡± the young man said sheepishly.¡±
¡°A deal is a deal,¡± he said as he opened his wallet and pulled out thirty 100-dollar bills, and handed them to him.
¡°Thank you, sir,¡± the young man said as he turned and went back to the Elevator and left the Suite.
Adam opened the box, plugged the laptop in, and started the update cycle while he ordered some food. Once he¡¯d eaten he sat down opened the laptop and got to work. His intelligence might not be what it once was, but he had a Perfect Memory and could remember every line of code he had ever written. The first thing he did was break through the firewalls on the computer and recreate his VPN that bounced signals off McMurdo. Then he hacked into the Pentagon, ran through the current ops, and tracked down the one working on him.
After he¡¯d looked over their coding for a few minutes Adam realized that he was so far ahead of the power curve here that¡then he noticed it. Something was watching the watchers and watching him. It, they, knew exactly where he was, who he was, and what he was doing. It sort of felt like his nanites, but he knew it wasn¡¯t. Magic somehow? He didn¡¯t know. Whoever or whatever it was, He couldn¡¯t do anything about it. He erased any evidence of his discovery and then started verifying the history that he¡¯d grown up with. By the time a special forces unit entered the building six hours later, he was ready. As they were making their way past the desk he hit the intercom and said
¡°Commander, I¡¯m coming down, I¡¯m unarmed and I¡¯m coming peacefully. No handcuffs, no restraints and I want to speak to someone in charge in the next 30 minutes or I¡¯ll be making a stop at the top of Everest, the same way I left my previous location.¡±
The commander stopped, and looked around, ¡°He¡¯s got eyes on us, what¡¯s he using?¡±
¡°I do have eyes on you,¡° Adam said into the commander¡¯s headset, and I can see everything you are doing. Also, if those guys try to breech the balcony window I¡¯m going to see if I can send them to Union Glacier like I arrived there. I know you¡¯ve been briefed.¡±
A voice came over the headset that they both heard at the same time ¡°Stand down. Mr. Bennard, please come downstairs. These men will escort you to me directly.¡±
Adam placed the computer in his personal storage, as well as his identity card and his payment card, he figured they¡¯d be useful again. Next, he went to the elevator and headed down. As he came out of the Elevator he said, ¡°Hold on, I need to check out.¡± Adam walked over to the counter and asked, ¡°How much is that suite per night?
¡°$25,000,¡± the clerk said.
Adam pulled out $100,000 in cash and placed it on the counter. ¡°It is my desire that this bonus is paid evenly to everyone working right now. Pay everything else with this card, including cleaning costs and any damages my friends might have made. Do not contact the government on this issue. Expenses, all of them are on me. Okay?
¡°But Sir, the damages in the garage¡
¡°Charge me, Someday I¡¯d like to be able to stay here again when there isn¡¯t so much attention.¡±
¡°It will be as you say, sir,¡±
¡°Great, I hope everyone enjoys their bonus tonight and have a wonderful day.¡±
¡°You too sir!¡±
The commander looked flustered but waited patiently for him.
As Adam stepped away from the counter and turned toward the military the Commander said, ¡°This way, Sir.¡±
Adam followed the commander out of the building to a waiting SUV. They were driven to the Headquarters building on Nellis AFB. Once there they took an elevator down 50 floors to the complex there. If this world was mostly identical to his old one there were two tunnels. One would lead to Area 52 and Area 51 and underground bases at each location. The other would lead east into the Rockies and eventually come out at Norad in Colorado Springs. They¡¯d been dug in secret during the Cold War. There was a tram system that went both directions with access points to the surface along the way, buried and hidden. The tunnel to Norad was about 588 miles and the train was a maglev so could get up to 100 miles per hour with no problem. It could be used to evacuate both locations and get personnel away from nuclear blasts. Or the trains could be used to travel between both locations if flying wasn¡¯t possible. At 100 mph the trip would only be six hours. The Tunnel to Groom Lake was only 85 miles or so, which is what it was used for when distinguished visitors wanted to see the facilities. Also, it was a train. It had advantages, namely that it couldn¡¯t fall out of the sky.
Adam was searched at the top of the elevator shaft, again at the bottom, and one more time when he stepped off the elevator. When he was brought into a room he found Admiral Ainsworth, Chairman Joint Chief sitting across the table.
¡°Hello Admiral, how are you today?¡± Adam said.
¡°I was much better until I was shown the video of your arrival to Antarctica and your disappearance from Area 52. ¡°
¡°Did someone get in a lot of trouble over that?¡±
¡°No, no point. I had 6 guards on the walls two in the rafters and one out in the desert with a bead on you. None of them even had a chance to fire their weapons, nor could they have. We checked the video footage multiple times you were there, then you weren¡¯t. Do you mind telling me how you did that?¡±
¡°Not at all, Teleportation¡±
¡°Teleportation, horseshit, there¡¯s no such thing.¡±
¡°Just like there are no alternate realities, no additional Universes, and Magic doesn¡¯t exist,¡± Adam said
¡°What are you saying?¡± he asked.
¡°You and I talked not so long ago, yet infinitely long ago in a crater on the moon. In that Universe, I¡¯d created nanotechnology that could power portals that I¡¯d reached out into the stars with. In that Universe, I asked you how you thought I¡¯d made the portals.¡±
¡°Could you do that here?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t have to. If I want to open a portal to the moon I can.¡±
¡°Could you open such a portal now?¡± the Admiral asked.
¡°Sure, but only I would survive, Admiral it¡¯s a vacuum up there,¡± Adam said grinning. If I were the only one in a test chamber?¡± Sure, but if it¡¯s not vacuum sealed...¡±
¡°It is, in fact, you¡¯re either the single greatest asset to the United States of America or you¡¯re a Trojan Horse. I mean to find out which it is.¡±
¡°Let me guess, you¡¯re going to call me on my claims about being able to survive in a vacuum regardless.¡±
¡°Yes, yes I am.¡±
¡°Fine, let¡¯s do this, When I hand you the moon rock though I want to have a sit-down, just you and me when I get back, right here in this room. I don¡¯t care if it¡¯s recorded or taped but no one else, just you and me.¡±
¡°I can live with that, if you can step onto the surface of the moon, walk around long enough to grab a rock, and come back through this ¡®portal¡¯ from the room we¡¯re going to put you in we can sit down and talk as long as you want.¡±
¡°Okay then let¡¯s do this.¡±
He was led down a hall to a door that opened into a giant cavern. In the cavern was a flat platform about 100 feet square raised off the floor ten feet sitting on giant springs. On the platform was a metal cylinder hooked to a machine that looked like a giant compressor. He looked at the general. ¡°I have to ask, Why do you have this room here?¡±
¡°Some of our Pilots¡¡±
¡°Oh yeah, the hypothetical Aurora project, with the dual ramjets and near orbit flight ceiling?¡±
¡°You don¡¯t believe we have it?¡±
¡°Admiral, in my Universe I knew we had it. There isn¡¯t a system I can¡¯t hack. As an example, Commander, have your people found the hole in your security I got through?¡±
¡°No,¡± the commander said
¡°You won¡¯t. It¡¯s a combination of coding utilizing the software as well as the hardware. Certain aspects of all code cannot be changed unless the boards are completely changed. I knew where that code was in my Universe, found it in this one, and exploited it with a small mini¨CAI I put together while I was waiting for you to find me.¡±
¡°You could be thrown in prison for that!¡±
¡°Admiral tell your men to put their safeties on. I don¡¯t want any accidents. I give you my word the only person I¡¯m going to affect is himself. Seeing is believing after all.¡±
¡°Safeties on, you are not to react to Johnathan¡¯s demonstration.¡±
Adam watched as his three-man escort put their safeties on, said, ¡°Thank You, ¡° and then willed himself to fly with magic. He rose above them and floated there. Both the Admiral and the commander reached out to where he had been standing and moved their arms back and forth. Adam looked at the door to the testing chamber and teleported to it. Turned back, to look at them then teleported to where he¡¯d been standing. ¡°What Prison can hold me?¡±
¡°You really are going to go to the Moon?¡±
¡°Yep!¡±
¡°Commander, suit up, I want you with him.¡±
¡°No weapons though, no accidents,¡± Adam said.
¡°No weapons¡±
The commander suited up and they stepped into the chamber.
¡°Through the speaker, they heard the Admiral ask, ¡°Are you sure about this?¡±
Adam gave him a thumbs up.
Adam turned to the Commander, ¡°Okay, a couple of things so you don¡¯t get scared. We¡¯re going to have to make two hops. The first will be above the crater Mare Serenitatis. From there I¡¯ll be able to see this target and we¡¯ll portal down to the surface.¡± The air was starting to get light so he made the motion of a thumbs up, which the Commander returned. Once the hissing stopped he opened a portal to 1,000 feet above the moon, then portaled them down to the bottom of the crater. Adam willed them to travel through the portal and they did. He wasn¡¯t sure which power that was, but it worked so he rolled with it. Once they were on the moon he willed a bubble of air around them and said.
¡°If you wanted to you could take your mask off, there is air here now. Though I wouldn¡¯t do it, just in case. I¡¯m immune to vacuum regardless, I¡¯m still trying out new things with my magic,¡±
Adam said. He did the quick walk step he¡¯d perfected before over to a rock, picked it up, and handed it to the Commander, ¡°Here you go,¡± he said
¡°You know you¡¯re crazy right?¡± the commander said.
¡°Certifiable, how¡¯d you get to the Moon again?¡±
¡°Point taken, now what?¡±
Adam walked over to a boulder and placed it into his inventory.
The Commander watched the boulder disappear and then asked, ¡°What just happened?¡±
¡°Oh, I put that rock into an interdimensional storage area of mine. I can put things in and take them out,¡± he said as he put the boulder back on the surface. Then put it back into the storage.
¡°You¡¯re not going to put me in there are you?¡±
¡°No, first the environment is toxic to living creatures, no air, time, or gravity. Second, only non-sentient things can be put in without giving their permission. As I¡¯m sure you don¡¯t want to go in after I just told you it would kill you, I can¡¯t put you in it. Besides, why would I? I like you, your crazy, we can smell our own,¡± he said with a grin.
¡°Fine, so now what really, the Admiral will be getting a little worried.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be fine. We¡¯re going to have to portal a few times. The energy I use to do this only comes back so fast. Also, I don¡¯t want to take the chance that some innocent gets sucked into space or the moon so I¡¯m going to open a portal to 50 miles above Washington DC. That way there¡¯s only a slight breeze being pulled through. After we step through I¡¯ll teleport us to the Lincoln Monument. Should be fun,¡± Adam said as he opened a portal. A slight gust buffeted against them as they stepped through and began falling toward Washington DC. Adam touched the Commander and teleported them to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. Some people rushed over. Adam looked around and noticed someone down the steps that had been recording the Monument. ¡°Excuse me, sir, is your recording being broadcast?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± he said.
¡°And it caught us arriving?¡±
¡°Yep!¡±
¡°If I give you 1,000 dollars would you give me the name you¡¯re posting under?¡±
¡°Make it $10,000 in case it mysteriously disappears, and you have a deal.¡±
¡°Well in that case How about I give you this and handed him three stacks of one hundred 100 dollar bills¡±
¡°The podcast is under #LincolnLivesinUs or just LincolnLivesinUs on the web.¡±
¡°Thanks again. Make sure your camera gets this and please say the date and time.
Adam listened as the stranger he paid said, ¡°It¡¯s 5:05 p.m. here in Washington DC on the 1st of January 2036¡¡± Adam opened a portal for them to step through to the Vacuum chamber.
When the air was back in and the door was opening he looked at the Commander and said, ¡°You¡¯re going to need to show him on your phone, I don¡¯t have one.¡±
As the door opened the Admiral was there and said, ¡°You were gone a little longer than I expected.¡°
¡°True, but I brought you a rock,¡± Adad said as he went over to the side of the platform, floated down, and pulled the boulder out of his storage.¡±
¡°What the hell Mr. Bennard, that¡¯s not a rock, that¡¯s a boulder.¡±
¡°Well, my Dad always said I was an overachiever.¡±
¡°Can you put that back where you got it from¡.You can¡¯t just leave a rock like that in this room¡±
¡°Sure,¡± Adam said as he placed the boulder back in his personal storage.
The commander stepped forward with his cell phone outstretched as he said, ¡°Sir, we also stopped at the Lincoln Monument.¡± he said as pushed the play icon on his phone, ¡°I can¡¯t believe what we just saw, a man and an astronaut just appeared out of nowhere and then vanished again. Don¡¯t believe me, watch,¡± he said as he replayed ¡°It¡¯s 5:05 p.m. here in Washington DC on the 1st of January 2036¡¡±
¡°You don¡¯t care about secrecy do you Mr. Bennard?¡± the Admiral asked.
¡°I do, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s not going to matter really soon. I¡¯m not exactly sure why but something just doesn¡¯t feel right.¡±
¡°Well, a deal is a deal. Let¡¯s head back upstairs and sit down. I do have your word you¡¯re not going to disappear again?¡±
¡°Sound¡¯s good¡±
They all made their way back upstairs and sat at the main table in a meeting room within the Command Center. It had glass doors and windows all around, but he recognized the sound-dampening measures that were in place. Vacuum-separated glass, and rubber seals. he also noticed the four cameras in the corners of the room. Adam watched through the glass as someone came up to Admiral Ainsworth and showed him something. They spoke in hushed tones then Admiral Ainsworth came into the room and pointed to a monitor on the wall of the room as an image of him in a bed became visible. As they all watched a cocoon of energy surrounded the other ¡®me¡¯ and he was gone, as were parts of the bed and blankets around him. Adam looked at the Admiral questioningly,
¡°Around 1:30 a.m. last night in Dallas Texas you, or the other you that isn¡¯t you was in his bed when what you just saw happened. We have not been able to find a trace of him. You didn¡¯t do that, did you?
¡°Admiral Ainsworth, at 1:30 a.m. I was still in Union Glacier.¡±
¡°We know, any ideas?¡±
¡°As I said I have a bad feeling, this just confirms it.¡±
¡°What kind of bad feeling?¡±
¡°Well for one, I know that your computer systems are being watched by something that is embedded far more deeply than I can currently accomplish. I noticed it when I hacked into the Pentagon and found the team sent to retrieve me. I know they detected me and as far as I can tell they haven¡¯t directed anything at me, yet. Even the information you¡¯re giving me was done before I hacked the Pentagon so yeah, I¡¯m not sure what¡¯s going on.¡±
¡°Okay, well come back to that, you said when we talked you¡¯d fill me in on how you¡¯re doing everything you¡¯re doing.¡±
¡°I did, let¡¯s get started,¡± Adam said.
Chapter 72, So Thats What That Feels Like
(Area 51 Nevada, January 1st, 2036)
¡°Where to start, first, I was born Johnathan Bennard. In the reality, I came from I found a ring that allowed me to attain a level of existence that men had not attained in a very long time. Before everything was done I¡¯d explored the Milky Way galaxy and was getting ready to spread out.¡±
¡°The entire Milky Way?¡± Admiral Ainsworth said disbelievingly.
¡°Well, technically that was Thor, an Artificial Intelligence I¡¯d created. Eventually, he and I merged. In this noggin right here,¡± Adam said pointing to his head, ¡°is information concerning every single star system in the Milky Way, though it¡¯s probably not completely accurate now.¡±
¡°Convenient.¡± The Admiral said.
¡°Okay, the short version. A long time ago in a galaxy far away, in a different Universe, in a different multi-verse within this Cosmos, a Goddess succeeded in guiding a race of people to create something that devoured Universes. Eventually, our Universe was threatened, and I was either guided or lucky enough to figure out a way to go back in time to a point where I punched her in the head and killed her.
¡°You punched a God in the head and killed her?¡±
¡°Well, she wasn¡¯t technically a God when I killed her.¡±
¡°Okay, let¡¯s pretend for a second that I believe anything you¡¯re saying. Why are you able to remember anything that happened? The moment you changed something, everything from that point should have changed as well.¡±
¡°That¡¯s a very good point and¡¡± A prompt appeared in his vision.
¡°Currently you are the only being in this Cosmos that has any knowledge of the next level of existence. Keep it that way¡for now.¡±
¡°Is something wrong Mr. Bennard?¡± the admiral asked.
¡°No, I drifted off for a second thinking of something. Anyway, what I was going to say is that since I was born I have this ability called Perfect Memory. I cannot forget anything I¡¯ve seen, heard, touched, tasted, or smelled and I have perfect recall.
¡°Really, what code did I use on the Elevator?
¡°178456¡±
¡°To enter this room?¡±
¡°11997530¡±
¡°And the phone number that called me just a little while ago.¡±
¡°555-867-5309¡±
He looked at him questioningly, then laughed.
¡°Exactly the screen on your phone said ¡°Boss¡± There was no number listed, thought you¡¯d like the song reference.¡±
¡°Perfect Memory you say?¡±
¡°Yep, it¡¯s one of the reasons that Mr. Bennard had those cameras in his house that recorded his abduction? The NSA has been watching him since he showed interest in computers,¡± Adam said.
¡°You talk about him like he¡¯s not you?¡±
¡°He wasn¡¯t. The Multiverse is comprised of countless Universes and there are countless Multiverses, I¡¯ve seen them. There are countless copies of me and you. This Universe though was supposed to be the one I originally came from, even though I¡¯m immune to Paradox now, supposedly. I figure this version of me probably had the same abilities I had.¡±
The admiral looked at him skeptically, ¡°No one is immune to Paradox.¡±
¡°Yeah, I have a hard time believing it too, but here I am in a Universe, with memories of another time, place, and multiple Universes.¡±
¡°So, what do you think happened to the other you?¡±
¡°Someone or something knows I¡¯m here and didn¡¯t want two of me here for some reason.¡±
¡°Okay, but who could that be?¡± The Admiral asked.
¡°No Idea, where I¡¯m from as far as I know there was only one God and one Angel left in this Universe.¡±
¡°Why was that?¡±
¡°Well, that¡¯s kind of a long story, I¡¯ll see if I can shorten it for you. That evil Goddess I smacked in the head created something that was running around eating Universes. Well, that thing really liked souls for some reason and a God here decided that it would be a great idea to sacrifice the souls of one Universe to save other Universes.¡±
¡°Did it work?¡±
¡°For a while, yeah. Until someone did something stupid in a different Universe and drew its attention away from ours.¡±
¡°And you went back in time and took out its creator, thereby saving all the souls of, how many Universes.
¡°I actually lost count.¡±
¡°I thought you said you remembered everything?¡± he asked.
¡°I do, and while we were going back in time I got bored so I stopped paying attention.¡±
¡°How do you stop paying attention to what¡¯s going on around you?¡±
¡°Well, I have this Perfect Memory, so I just retreat into my own mind space and read books or watch movies, that I¡¯ve read or seen before, that kind of thing,¡±
¡°That¡¯s not possible,¡± he said.
¡°Well, I haven¡¯t tried to do that in the last couple of hours but trust me when your Personal Interface pops up, you¡¯ll start being able to do things with your mind. Anyway, Personal Interface, I got off track though. That God decided that our Universe needed to be devoid of magic to help prevent the populations from resisting and changing their role as fish food for The Ancient Enemy.¡±
¡°Any idea how he did it?¡±
¡°A few, but I was never able to check it out. Funny thing, I could check it out now if I wanted to. Of course, getting to a singularity right now is a little bit on the hard side of things to do.¡±
¡°Okay, magic was taken away back then, and you fixed things. Why don¡¯t we have magic now?¡± The Admiral asked.
¡°Yeah, that part is surprising. As I said something¡¯s going on I don¡¯t understand.¡±
¡°But you¡¯ve said you¡¯re using magic?¡±
¡°Yeah, it¡¯s kind of a reward for saving the souls of countless other people and choosing to remain mortal.¡±
¡°Care to elaborate¡±
¡°If I put it in terms you¡¯ll understand think of mountain spring. Magic leaks through me into my surroundings, even if there isn¡¯t any magic there. So, I bring the magic I use to do things with me.¡±
¡°Do you know how you¡¯re doing it?¡±
¡°Yep¡±
¡°Can you turn it off?¡±
¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I can¡¯t, nor would I want to if I could. Magic is awesome!¡±
¡°Okay, another thing you did earlier is state that you¡¯d be back if we killed you?¡±
¡°Yeah, I¡¯m a regular Deadpool, except that if I¡¯m reading his ability right I don¡¯t even need a part of my body to come back.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll humor that idea for a second. If that¡¯s true why would that ability be given to you.¡±
¡°Oh that, I¡¯d already made myself immortal long before I saved the Multiverse. I wasn¡¯t going to die anytime soon, if ever.¡±
¡°So why would ¡®they¡¯ whoever they are, give you something like that back?¡±
¡°Balance I guess, not really sure, though it seems like they, the Gods, have rules they must follow.¡±
¡°Well, if they have rules, then they have a bureaucracy which means that ability has limits. How many times do you have to die before that ability goes away?
¡°As you said there¡¯s some red tape involved and I¡¯m pretty sure someone found a loophole.
¡°How many times?¡±
¡°One time for every soul I helped escape annihilation.¡±
¡°Excuse me? If we¡¯ve met before you know I have science degrees right? You¡¯re saying that you will be revived one time for every soul you helped escape annihilation. By your own words, you¡¯ve said you saved multiple Universes. Each universe is theoretically infinite?¡± he asked with wonder in his voice.
¡°Well, yeah. Also, I¡¯m not sure if the system counts potential souls I saved. For instance, if it¡¯s counting the new souls that were created between the destruction of a Universe and now because I stopped the Universe from being destroyed.
¡°That¡¯s some loophole, have you tested it yet?¡±
¡°Nope?¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because when I came back my level was reset to zero¡±
¡°Level?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know why Magic isn¡¯t working here on Earth but once you have magic you gain access to an interface screen that is part of you. It allows you to see any messages and check your stats and attributes.
¡°As an example?¡±
¡°Your level for one, your attributes for another. Normal Human adults usually have tens across the board.¡±
¡°That sounds like something out of a Role-Playing Game or computer game.¡± The Admiral mused.
¡°It is exactly like that, and the numbers have real value. When my attributes get high enough I¡¯ll be able to teleport to the moon, right now all I can do is create magical gates or portals. They cost less energy.¡± Adam said.
¡°Still, it seems far-fetched that reality is run like a computer game?¡±
¡°I checked, This reality still has the Movie ¡®The Matrix¡¯ and someone has put forth the theory that we¡¯re all living in a holographic computer simulation.
¡°Yes, but there¡¯s no proof!¡±
Adam used his Infinite Wealth ability to pull out a Gold Bar and set it on the table. ¡°I think we can both agree that there is nowhere I could have hidden this right? Well in my last go around a God pissed me off and as part of his punishment, I received an item that would give me whatever currency or wealth I needed upon request. Not really sure how the Gods pay for things but every time I call forth wealth it somehow costs him something. When I appeared in Antarctica that item had become a new ability for me. It still works, which means I have an ability that is tied to a deity in another Universe. This isn¡¯t magic strictly speaking. I could probably conjure a gold bar and it would last only so long as the duration of the spell would last but this bar is here to stay, and that deity is going to pay for it.¡±
¡°But you changed everything. Why would something that did not happen this go around still be true now?¡±
¡°My guess is that the Divine play by a different set of rules and those rules get enforced no matter how many times you change a timeline. Call it cosmic Karma or some such idea,¡± Adam said as he pulled out another Gold Bar, ¡°Here, have another.¡±
¡°Let me guess, you really don¡¯t like that guy?¡± The Admiral asked.
¡°I freed that asshat from a prison he¡¯d been stuck in for over 500 years. He didn¡¯t even say thank you, Fuck that guy!¡± Adam said as he pulled out a third gold bar and set it on the table.
¡°Mr. Bennard, what am I supposed to do with these?¡±
¡°If you don¡¯t want them I can take them back?¡±
¡°That¡¯s okay,¡± he said as he pushed a button. A door opened and an airmen walked in.
¡°Yes sir¡±
¡°Get some help and get these three gold bars sent off for testing at Area 51. I¡¯ll let you know what to do with them later.¡±
The Airmen left and returned with two other Airmen. Each took a bar and left.
The admiral activated the Intercom, ¡°Commander, two meals please.¡±
¡°Right away sir,¡± came back through the intercom.
The Admiral looked ¡°Okay, let¡¯s say for a second what you¡¯ve said is true, what does that mean for the world?¡±
¡°Well, that¡¯s what I need to figure out. The reason I decided to come in, instead of just disappearing for a while is that if I can convince you and Washington, and the Illuminati, whoever they are now, that I¡¯m just here to help, perhaps we can come to an accommodation. Gold from nothing is not my only trick.¡±
¡°What Illuminati?¡±
¡°If this version of Earth followed mine closely there were 28 people running everything a couple of years back. That could have changed, we¡¯re a couple of years further along than I was when I had to take measures in my timeline. ¡°
¡°Measures?¡± the Admiral asked.
¡°Yeah don¡¯t worry about it. I couldn¡¯t do that right now if I wanted to, so now I have to deal with people.¡±
¡°If I can ask, what did you do last time?¡±
¡°Well, I created subatomic nanite technology that existed throughout every atom on this planet and every planet in the Milky Way. I had complete control over the building blocks of the Universe so I could do pretty much whatever I wanted. As I was getting close to showing the world the powers that be were getting a little bit antsy and decided I was more of a threat than not. As an example, I will tell you that one of those individuals was highly placed in our government and that she¡wait for it¡Oh come on, it doesn¡¯t take that long¡.¡± AdamI was saying as the door to the room opened and a CZ 75 45, silencer attached, put a bullet through Adam¡¯s head.
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
You have Died!
Deaths allowed: -1 of ERROR
As his mind coalesced and he came back to himself Adam¡¯s first thoughts were, Well, I had needed to test that ability anyway. It looks like it worked because I¡¯m back. Adam looked around and noticed that he was in the desert opposite the runway at Nellis next to a small spring of water butt ass naked again. Adam willed himself invisible as he heard a siren go off. He wasn¡¯t sure how much time had passed but if this ability was a reward he probably reappeared almost instantly.
Adam teleported behind the open door to the conference room to a man already turning his head to check behind him who had a bead on Admiral Ainsworth. Adam willed a protective shell around the Admiral as the man continued to turn to face him. He wasn¡¯t sure how combat worked now and he knew he wasn¡¯t as powerful as he used to be but his skills should make up for that. Adam stepped forward and into the assassin. He drew his arm, twisted, and broke the Arm he¡¯d locked as he became visible. The Assassin was good, Adam had to give him that, he was already trying to step away from him as Adam throat-punched him and crushed his larynx. As the assassin involuntarily reached up to grab his throat, Adam grabbed the back of the Assassin¡¯s head and slammed it into the desk as hard as he could. As the Assassin started to slither to the floor Adam grabbed his head and twisted. The Assassin¡¯s neck snapped, killing him. A prompt appeared in his vision.
You have killed Assassin Level 1. You have earned 10 XP
Adam looked up to see the Admiral trying to move but the idea he had willed into place had been a barrier of force that had locked him down in the chair. Adam willed another barrier over the door behind him and one between the Admiral and him to divide the room in half then released the Admiral from the chair. The Admiral rose to his feet drawing a pistol and pointing it in his general direction. He noticed Adam¡¯s dead body in a chair, a nice clean hole in his head. Before the suit could get ruined Adam touched his previous body and put it in his personal storage. Then he called forth the clothing to be worn and was pleasantly surprised when the clothes appeared on him. So, no rainbow smoke and he could use his personal storage to swap clothes. He was going to like that.
¡°Admiral, calm down, I have a question for you. A couple of years back there was a female Vice President.¡±
¡°Yes, Paula Billingsgate, she¡¯s the President.¡±
¡°Yep, she¡¯s the one.¡± Adam conjured a can of black spray paint, took the top off, and sprayed the lens of the cameras behind him.
¡°What are you doing? Stop or I will shoot!¡± The Admiral declared.
Adam turned to face the Admiral for a moment and gave him a look that said, ¡°Oh, really, what good would that do as he finished covering the lense then turned to the Assassin¡¯s body.
Adam touched the assassin¡¯s body and placed it in his storage as he willed the assassin¡¯s weapon into his hand. He cleared it, checked it, checked its ammo, then put it back into storage. Adam conjured a tennis ball, showed it to the Admiral then threw it at the door into the other room that was still open. It bounced off an invisible barrier. He willed the ball over to his hand and then said ¡°Catch¡± as he tossed the ball underhand towards the Admiral who looked at him as if he was crazy until the ball bounced back towards him off an invisible barrier halfway between them.
¡°Please put your gun away, the ricochet might hit you. I can¡¯t control objects moving that fast yet.¡± Adam said.
The Admiral holstered his weapon and spoke again, ¡°Was that some kind of illusion?¡±
¡°Good question but no, I just died. Now that I think about it, that was my first actual death. Pretty cool, I wonder how much experience that guy would have received for killing me. I¡¯m sure now I¡¯m only worth whatever my level is times 10 but technically I was level 100,000 before the timeline fix. That should have jumped him up almost 20 levels. Too bad you all don¡¯t have a Personal Interfaces yet and can¡¯t allocate your attributes, he might have been a lot harder to kill. Any idea who that was?
¡°Nope, though he¡¯s in uniform and seems to be military. I wonder,¡± The Admiral stepped to the glass wall and looked into the glass window beyond, ¡°I think everyone in the other room is dead.¡±
¡°I think so too, ¡®Come with me if you want to live¡¯¡± Adam said.
¡°Not funny, and we aren¡¯t going anywhere."
"Question? Does this facility¡.¡± Then he realized what that bitch was probably doing. Adam dropped his walls, moved over to the Admiral, and surrounded them with a bubble of force.¡± As the room shook and went dark. Once everything seemed to settle, Adam willed light into existence and looked around. The Admiral and he were in a 10-foot bubble of space surrounded by concrete dirt and crushed bodies. He knew there were crushed bodies because parts of the sphere were covered with blood.
¡°So, the Vice President is The President. In my reality, that bitch tried to kill me twice, once with an assassin and once with ¡®Angel Fire¡¯ last time. It would seem that while there are differences between my last reality and this one, that bitch has used an Assassin and ¡®Angel Fire¡¯ to try to kill me again.
The Admiral¡¯s eyes widened.
¡°Did this room have a self-destruct device in it or just a nuclear device buried somewhere?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Just the nuclear one which had to be activated from this room. It could not be activated from anywhere else.¡±
¡°So most likely Angel Fire, again. What a cunt. Good thing we¡¯re 50 floors down. I think this time I¡¯m just going to kill that bitch. I know Serena, if she could talk to me would say I didn¡¯t have to, but some bitches just needed to die.¡±
¡°Who¡¯s Serena?¡±
¡°Long story, I might tell you about it sometime. Tell you what though we need to get out of here. The President and her accomplices just tried to kill you.
¡°Okay, they just tried to kill me. I agree. You were here too, right? You have heard of collateral damage? So again, where would you like to go?¡± Adam asked.
¡°If she used ¡®Angel Fire¡¯ as you think she did Nellis is gone, as is a five-mile radius from the point of impact. Can we check that somehow?
¡°Sure, we don¡¯t even have to leave this bubble,¡± Adam said.
Adam willed a portal to open facing down 1 mile to the Northwest and 1 mile above Las Vegas over Nellis AFB. There was nothing but a crater where the Headquarters building had been. The Mike O¡¯Callaghan Military Medical Center was mostly standing but the side facing the impact point was gone, as were any planes that had been parked on the tarmac. Out to five miles, he could see blast damage. A lot of good people just died. The impact had created a crater 90 feet deep, and 300 feet in diameter. Adam closed the portal. They needed to be somewhere off the grid.
¡°Can¡¯t argue the evidence the Admiral said.¡±
¡°Yeah,¡± Adam said as he opened a portal into the Prince¡¯s Suite at the Mirage. ¡°Follow me,¡± Adam said as he stepped through. Once they were both in the suite he pointed to a bathroom then went to the elevator and rode it down to the check-in, the same clerk was working.
¡°Sir, we didn¡¯t see you come in, we thought you¡¯d gone with the military?¡± she asked questionly.
¡°I did. I¡¯m back though. I just wanted to make sure you knew I was here. Also, I wanted to change my payment arrangements. Continue using my original card to pay for everything from earlier and to pay off the damages but use this card from now on,¡± Adam said as he used his Infinite Wealth ability to create a second card with different information, which it did. ¡°Please use this card for the rest of the night.
¡°Yes sir,¡± she said as she took down the information and handed the card back.
¡°Also, if you¡¯d have the kitchen send up two of your best steaks with all the trimmings that would be great.¡±
¡°As you say, Sir, will there be anything else?¡±
¡°Nope, I better get back up there,¡± he said as he went back to the elevator.
Adam went back up into the room and pulled out the laptop and hacked into the White House until he was able to view the room the President was in and watched.
¡°You¡¯re sure we go him?¡± the President was saying to a group of people around a table deep under the White House. Not one person she was talking to was a member of the armed services, though they might have been members of the House or Senate. Enough had changed that his memory was exactly on par for this place as it was for his original timeline.
Adam looked around and noted that the Admiral was still in the bathroom. He hacked the schematics of the white house. Figured out spatially exactly where the President was from the Oval Office. Adam thought about what he could do then went over to the kitchen and pulled out a large cooking pot and placed it on the ground. Next, he opened a portal directly above the pot which opened from the top side allowing him to peer down at the top of the President''s head. He checked the laptop and sure enough, there was distortion directly above her head. Everyone looked on in shock as a hand, his hand, reached down, grabbed the President¡¯s hair, and pulled her head up through the portal stretching her body as her head disappeared through the portal. A look of shock entered her expression as she took a breath to scream and he closed the portal, separating her head from her body which silenced her evil ass forever. Her mouth started making movements like she was trying to talk. He didn¡¯t know if this would work but Adam willed her brain to remain oxygenated for 10 minutes. Then he put her bleeding head in the pot. Next, he opened another portal to the other end of the same room and dropped a fireball into the room and then closed the portal and watched through his laptop as it detonated, destroying everything and everyone in the room as the feed went dead.
Adam picked up the pot with the President¡¯s head in it and looked down at her as he said, ¡°I¡¯ve gotta say, that looks like that sucks. Good news for you, you only have to worry about it for about 9 more minutes. I don¡¯t know what it is with you, but you caused me a ton of trouble the last time around. This time, I¡¯m nipping that in the butt. I can¡¯t get everyone, because I don¡¯t know who they are yet but I¡¯m sure this will slow things down a bit. Oh yeah, everyone in that room is now dead too, Oops! What¡¯s that, you want to know what kind of¡forget it, you¡¯re not worth the effort. Enjoy your afterlife. Look on the bright side, at least you weren¡¯t torn apart by a mob on a distant planet,¡± Adam said as he thumped her lightly on the nose and then opened a small portal to the center and bottom of the crater she¡¯d created with Angel Fire. He willed the soil to cool down and form a sort of miniature throne for her head to sit in without tipping over. Then he pulled her head out of the pot, lowered it through the portal, and placed it on the throne as he withdrew his hand and closed the portal.
Adam went over to the sink, rinsed out the pot, cleaned it with soap, then placed it in the dishwater for later. As he was finishing up the bathroom door opened, and the Admiral stepped out. ¡°Where you talking to someone?¡± he asked.
¡°Nope, I did order two steak dinners though if you¡¯d care to join me, they should be up shortly. Then I think I¡¯m going to need to get you back to the Pentagon so you can coordinate rescue efforts.¡±
¡°I should be headed out now..¡±
¡°Admiral, you¡¯ve had a shock to your system and you need to eat. It¡¯s 1 a.m. in the morning, I¡¯m sure they can live without you for another 30 minutes. Besides I have to get something before you leave.¡± Adam said as he reached over and hit the front desk button on the intercom in the kitchen.¡±
¡°Yes?¡± the clerk asked.
¡°Same purchasing criteria as I gave for the laptop earlier today. I need the most expensive Android smartphone and I need it activated under the name Adamantadine. Pay for unlimited data for the next year with automatic renewal to the card I gave you. The clock is ticking.¡±
¡°Yes, sir, we¡¯ll get it to you right away.¡±
Adam turned off the intercom just as a cart of food was rolled in. Adam¡¯s attention zeroed in on the food cart as he remembered that there was nothing like the smell of a well-cooked steak.
¡°Over on the dining room table please,¡± Adam directed the waiter.
The waiter placed the trays and drinks, though they had a fully stocked bar in the room as well. Adam went over, handed him a 100-dollar bill and the waiter left.
¡°Do I owe you anything for the meal?¡±
¡°No Admiral, my treat, it¡¯s the least I can do for you before you have to step into the thick of it.¡±
¡°Nonetheless, thank you for the meal.¡±
¡°You¡¯re quite welcome,¡± Adam said as they sat down to eat, not making any small talk.
A couple of minutes later as they were getting started a young woman stepped out of his elevator entrance with his new phone. She walked right up to him and handed it to him, ¡°5 minutes, preprogrammed and ready to use. We were even able to add your biometrics from the card we had on file. Your fingerprint should open it for you.¡±
¡°Thank you,¡± Adam said as he handed her thirty 100-dollar bills. ¡°Really good job¡±
She smiled, turned, and exited the suite.
As he went back to the table to sit back down the Admiral looked at him with a grin, ¡°You are sticking it to that Divine, if I believed that part of your story, of course, every time you can aren¡¯t you?¡±
¡°Absolutely, if you cross me or try to kill me, or in the case of the assassin tonight, actually succeed, If I have the chance to return the favor, game on!¡±
¡°I think I understand that about you,¡± the Admiral said with a smile.
About halfway through the meal, the Admiral asked, ¡°Mr. Bennard, could you turn on the news? I need to see what¡¯s going on.¡±
Adam looked around but didn¡¯t see a remote so tried, ¡°Alexa, news.¡± The wall lit up with Fox Headline News. ¡°¡We need to warn you, the next scene is graphic¡± as the screen switched to the image of a head sitting at the base of the crater as shot by the shaky camera of a cell phone.
¡°No one knows how the head was placed there, nor has it been identified. Teams are waiting to make sure there is no radiological fallout before making their way into the crater¡¡±
The Admiral looked at him thoughtfully, ¡°Mr. Bennard, care to explain?¡±
¡°Nope, I¡¯m good. I will say you should enjoy your steak though. When you get back to the Pentagon you¡¯re probably going to be busy.¡±
¡°What did you do?¡±
¡°I took care of some problems we would have both had moving forward.¡±
¡°Okay, I can understand that. Whose head is that?¡±
¡°It¡¯s a surprise, but a good one I think.¡±
The Admiral turned back to his meal and watched the news as he finished his steak. Adam did the same. It was 3:30 a.m. on the 2nd of January 2036 when Adam opened a portal for the Admiral to step out into the entryway of the Pentagon. Adam watched as he walked inside and was escorted downstairs. Adam closed the portal and tracked the Admiral through his laptop as he made his way into one of the many situation rooms and listened in.
¡°¡Approximately three hours ago the President went into the bunker area of the White House for a meeting. Secret Service Personnel reported that they heard a small explosion and entered to find out what had happened. Everyone in the room had been burnt to a crisp including the President. Except that her body had been decapitated before the burn.
¡°How do you know that?¡± The Admiral asked.
¡°The stump was burned.¡±
¡°So, the president was decapitated then that area was burnt with the rest of her body.¡±
¡°Yes sir!¡±
¡°So, where¡¯s her head?¡±
¡°We¡¯re keeping the press away but the head that appeared in the Crater in Nevada is the President¡¯s head, sir.¡±
¡°Come again?¡± he asked.
¡°The President¡¯s head was in the crater. Face ID and Retinal patterns match, it was her.
The Admiral looked around the room until he found a camera, the camera Adam was looking through then scratched his eyebrow with a middle finger as he said, ¡°I wonder how her head got there?¡±
¡°We have everyone working on it, sir. No one has an idea. We plan to break the news that the President is dead right after sunrise. The Vice President already knows of course and has been sworn in.
¡°I need to talk to him as soon as possible¡±
¡°You and a million other people.¡±
The Admiral took off his restricted area badge and handed it to the Captain, ¡°Please verify usage of this pass within the last 6 hours.¡±
¡°Yes sir,¡± he said as he went over to a terminal and plugged it in. Then he looked up shocked. Sir, it says here that you checked into the Headquarters secure bunker at Nellis AFB at midnight?¡±
¡°Yes, it does.¡±
¡°And, you¡¯re here now¡±
¡°I am, I need to speak to the President as soon as possible.
¡°Yes sir!¡±
Adam shut down the laptop and relaxed for a bit. He probably had about 60 minutes before the FBI or someone else came knocking at the door again. He watched the news for another hour and stepped out onto the balcony at 5 a.m. He didn¡¯t plan to be outside, he just stepped out. As he looked at the night sky he noticed a faint blue spider-like energy network rising from the ground all around him up into the sky until it looked like it went off in all directions and then faded from view.
Planetary Soul Trap has been cast. This spell will last for 1 year. Any creatures killed during the next year on or near this planet will automatically have their souls trapped in soul gems stored for that purpose. Note: Local Soul Trap spells will still work. Only if a soul is not captured immediately will it be captured by the Planetary Soul Trap spell.
Holy shit, he wondered how much mana it cost to cast that spell
A new prompt appeared in his vision and a snarky female voice sounded in his head.
Greetings humans! I have some good news and some bad news. First the Good News, you are not alone in the Universe. In fact, you knew this 10,000 years ago but someone forgot to pass that information on. Well, no one lives forever, do they? Second, The Magic suppression field that was placed on this planet has been turned off and a Soul Trap spell has been cast. If you die now your soul will be used by members of the Syndicate to continue our Galactic conquests. Who am I kidding, Souls keep the lights on.
Now for the bad news. Yours is one of the many worlds that have been prepared for this form of forced species adaption. We estimate that less than 1 in 100 of you will be able to adapt to the changes that are about to happen to your world.
Why you, why now, Why? Why? Why? If you live long enough, maybe you¡¯ll learn why. For now, In Accordance With (IAW) Galactic Cultivation Law 1C-003-4ZP-YF. We added the ¡°-YF¡± just for your species, it stands for ¡°You¡¯re Fucked!¡± Each of you has one hour to prepare for magic to be released into your world again. As part of that law, I am required to tell you that Magic is real, Monsters are real, and at random points around the globe, both on land and at sea, monsters will be appearing in your world. Also, the monsters will grow bigger and stronger as the magical density comes back to universal norms. Each of you now has a Personal Interface or PI. You control this with your thoughts. For more information think ¡®Help Cultivation Information¡¯. Part of the adaptation process is figuring out how to survive for yourself. If you can, you will thrive, if you can¡¯t please say hello to, oh what was that race that not one person from that species survived? Who cares!
Finally, The Gamblers Network would like to let you know that just because you¡¯re from a backward ass country fuck of a planet out in the middle of nowhere that doesn¡¯t mean you aren¡¯t given a chance to participate in bets concerning your planet''s cultivation, though there are restrictions. You cannot place bets with any other currency than Syndicate Credits and the Gamblers Network strongly suggests that if you are going to bet on anyone, Bet on yourself! Also, make sure to check out the various types of insurance you¡¯d like to purchase, and be sure to check out your odds by checking with your PI and looking up Cultivation Stats. Currently, they are set but will start adjusting the moment the Cultivation officially starts in 57 minutes. The more likely it is that you will live and thrive, the lower your odds go. For instance, if you have a 1 in a Trillion chance to last 1 day, like babies by themselves If somehow that baby survives to the next time cycle, 1 week, their odds will not be 1 in 1 trillion, they probably won¡¯t be 1 in a thousand. Payouts for wagers are based on the odds at the time of purchase, not the end of the cultivation, so bet early.
We here at the Syndicate would like to thank you for participating in this Cultivation and should you survive, look forward to working with you in the future.
Adam was shocked but then he laughed as he thought, So, that¡¯s what being dictated to by a tyrant that controls everything feels like.
Chapter 73, This Almost Feels Familiar
(Area 51 Nevada, January 2nd, 2036)
Adam didn¡¯t think of himself as a dick, but after listening to that snarky bitch, yeah he¡¯d been a dick. He pushed those thoughts off to the side and pulled up his Personal Interface. He noticed a new tab at the top ¡°Cultivation¡±. Adam chose it and three categories popped up.
Help
Rules
Gamblers Network
He chose Gamblers Network and was given a few choices.
Place Bet
Insurance
Payout
Cultivations Stats
He chose ¡°Cultivation Status.¡±
Name: Johnathan Bennard
Location: Dallas Texas
Profession: Professor of Computer Science, University of North Texas at Dallas
Age: 35
Odds: 1,000,000 to 1 (1 week)
10,000,000 to 1 (1 Month)
100,000,000 to 1 (3 Months)
1,000,000,000 to 1 (12 Months)
Next, he chose ¡°Place Bet.¡±
Welcome Diamond Ranked Member! Your credit rating allows you to place any level of bet that you¡¯d like. Who would you like to bet on today?
Adam said, ¡°Johnathan Bennard.¡±
Understood. You are Johnathan Bennard, are you sure you wish to place a bet on yourself, Johnathan Bennard?
¡°Yes¡±
The subject of the bet has been chosen.
Warning!
Once you verify the number of credits you wish to wager your account will be charged and that amount of credits will be withdrawn from your account and held until a payout is chosen or the subject of your wager has died.
Note: Any credits spent on insurance are lost immediately. The Syndicate will utilize any credits held until the cultivation is complete to earn interest. All interest belongs to the Gamblers Network.
How many Syndicate Credits would you like to wager?
Adam said, ¡°One times ten to the 100th power.¡±
Are you sure that you would like to bet 1.0E +100 credits on Johnathan Bennard?
¡°Yes¡±
You have bet 1,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000. Credits on Johnathan Bennard.
Would you like to purchase Insurance? Two types are offered; Resurrection and Space-Time Tampering. Each type of insurance costs 10% of your total bet or 20% for both.
Adam said, ¡°Yes to both.¡±
Are you sure that you would like to spend 2.0E + 99 credits for Resurrection and Space-Time Tampering Insurance on Johnathan Bennard?
¡°Yes.¡±
Thank you for your purchase.
Adam thought something would happen, like maybe it would error out or something. He also laughed out loud as he thought about that dumbass deity and how many divinity points had just been added to his ledger. He was going to make sure that idiot never became more powerful.
Adam thought for a few more minutes. If it was a corrupt agency, as the organization running this most assuredly had to be, They¡¯d probably wait until it was closer to a payout date. Though, in his case, once they learned he couldn¡¯t be killed off that easily they¡¯d probably call in some big dogs to take care of him. Too bad for them he was the only person in this cosmos that knew there were even bigger dogs.
Adam went back to the Cultivation menu and picked ¡°Rules.¡± He might as well learn what the rules were.
Cultivation Rules
Rules are converted to English for humans on Earth.
Rule #1: Initial message will commence 60 minutes before Cultivation begins.
Rule #2: All Wagers on starting odds must be made prior to the beginning of Cultivation in Syndicate Credits. Wagers made after a Cultivation starts are subject to review before payout. All bets made before Cultivation must be paid out when requested by Gambler. Payouts cannot be requested until 1 week after Cultivation starts. Humans that are on Earth that have made bets cannot request Payouts until Cultivation ends 1 minute after the date and start time 365 days later.
Rule #3: The center point of a Monster Spawning zones will be marked by Black Obelisks spaced randomly around the globe no closer than 1 mile and no farther than 10 miles apart. Monsters can spawn randomly within 1 mile of the black Obelisks and will do so at the beginning of each hour. The level of the monsters that spawn is not dependent on location nor is it dependent on the levels of humans. At the start of the Cultivation, the ambient density of magic will allow 1st through 10th-level monsters to spawn. The number of monsters that spawn is random and based on the magic density in that area. Most humans on Earth are level 1. By the end of the first week, the ambient magic density should allow level 20 monsters to spawn. Level 40 monsters by the end of the 4th week. Level 60 by the end of 6 months and level 100 sometime during the 12th month. This is an estimate.
Rule #4: After one full year every Cultivation participant will be given the opportunity to leave Earth and join the Syndicate. Humans that do so, will be immediately transported to the nearest Immigration location within this region of the Milky Way where they can be further educated on their roles and responsibilities as members of the Syndicate. Cultivation Participants may also choose to remain on Earth and continue earning XP if that is their desire with the understanding that various other races of the Syndicate will be joining them to hunt. Participants in the Cultivation will receive more information upon choosing to remain on Earth.
Rule #5: In Accordance With (IAW) Galactic Cultivation Law 1C-999-ZZZ-GT. I am to inform any and all participants of a Cultivation that they may purchase a ¡°Grow Up Safe and Sound Package.¡± These packages can be purchased by any entity for any adolescent on planet Earth at a cost of 1 million credits per child. The credits will be used to provide for the education and rearing of a child, or children until such time as they are fully integrated into Syndicate Society. The ¡®Little Angels Foundation¡¯ would like to assure Cultivation Participants that this is a legitimate offer and not some type of scam. If you would like to purchase a ¡°Grow Up Safe and Sound Package¡± click HERE.
Adam clicked the ¡°HERE¡± button.
You must have Syndicate Credits to purchase the ¡°Grow Up Safe and Sound¡± package.
Checking Credit
Credit rating is acceptable. You may purchase more than one ¡°Grow Up Safe and Sound¡± package if you wish.
How many ¡°Grow Up Safe and Sound Packages¡± would you like to purchase? Note: Mothers of Newborns and babies under 1 year old can be added at a cost of 10 million credits each.
Adam said ¡°List the total cost for all adolescents and newborns on Planet Earth¡±
Number of children on Planet Earth: 1,119,342,478.
Number of Newborn on Planet Earth: 33,600,000
Cost for Non-Newborn adolescents: 1,085,742,478,000,000 Syndicate Credits
Cost for Newborn Children and their mothers: 369,600,000,000,000 Syndicate Credits
Total Cost: 1,455,342,478,000,000 Syndicate Credits
Adam said, ¡°Purchase them all.¡±
Are you Sure?
¡°Yes!¡±
Purchase accepted.
A new window popped into his vision,
Word Wide Message: Greetings Humans, It looks like one of you has a really big heart and has purchased 1,119,342,478 ¡°Grow Up Safe and Sound Packages¡± for every single child on Earth. That¡¯s right folks, all of your kids, ages 1 ¨C 17 years 364 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds as of 6 a.m. Mountain Standard Time from their date of birth is going to be ferreted away to safety. This human with a big heart has even paid the additional cost to make sure any children under the age of 1 will still have their moms, they get to go too!
Transport of the older children will begin now, try to say your goodbyes quickly. Infants and mothers will be last. Everything will be provided through the generosity of Johnathan Bennard from Dallas Texas. Moms, there is a very good chance the father of your child will not be coming back, we suggest taking family photos with you, The Father of your child will not be joining you for at least a year, if ever.
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
You now have 34 minutes until Cultivation starts.
Adam canceled the prompt and went back to reading the rules.
Rule #6: Once Cultivation Starts The rule of the day is survival. Until one year has passed you may earn experience by any means possible
Rule #7: Designated Monster Safe Zones exist randomly throughout the world. You may enter any safe zone if you have not entered one within the last 12 hours and may stay in that safe zone for up to 24 hours. If you stay in a Safe Zone for more than 10 hours in any 24-hour period the debuff ¡°Coward¡± will be added to you that will be visible to everyone. After 24 hours you will be randomly teleported at least 10 miles away from any safe zone. Once you get the debuff, it will remain for 48 hours. If you attempt to enter a safe zone again while the debuff is active you will automatically be teleported away again and your debuff will be reset to 48 hours. Areas that are maintained as safe by humans. Towns, villages, etc. do not count as Designated Safe Areas and do not have Syndicate Shops. If you can hold onto an area and make it safe you can try to survive there for the entire Cultivation.
Required Warning. Within 3 days after the Cultivation Starts, there will be monsters that can destroy any man-made structure on land, in the sea, or in the air. The only areas safe from Monsters will be the Designated Monster Safe Zones and various shelters available for purchase at your nearest Syndicate Shop.
Rule #8: There will be Syndicate Shops in all Designated Safe Zones where you can trade in anything you find for Syndicate Credits and use those credits to purchase various items. Food and Drinks will also be available. Drinking water will be freely available in all Safe Zones.
Warnings and Suggestions
* Magic disrupts most technological devices. A spell has been cast to allow all electronic devices to continue to work until the Cultivation starts.
* Technological Weapons of mass destruction have been disabled. They will no longer work.
* If you are familiar with Role-Playing Games that have wizards and spellcasters, very shortly you will have the opportunity to try to become one if you desire. As you have seen, Magic is very useful.
* Good Luck, you only have 365 days to go.
So, he left a cosmos where a giant Pacman was trying to destroy everyone to appear in a Universe where humanity was being put through some kind of forced advancement training. It also looked like the various gods and devils were in on the action because this set of rules was crap. It looked like the two sides were trying to do the most for their policy position. If someone thought about how fucked this was someone might get depressed. Not him though. If he had his nanites he could have some fun, damn he missed them. Instead, this was probably going to get a little messier than he¡¯d want to.
Of course, he had advantages, but he also had some serious disadvantages. First and foremost, he wondered how his ability Confluence was going to affect the monster spawning zones if he was near one. he was bringing magic into the world, and he might, no he probably would act like a supercharger to speed up the process which meant that it was going to get way worse before it got better. Right now, though he had work to do. he called Admiral Ainsworth.
¡°Hello?¡±
¡°Johnathan here Admiral, though from now on just call me Adam. Have you locked it down yet?¡±
¡°I¡¯m in a meeting with the President, we¡¯re trying to decide..¡±
¡°Where are you?¡±
¡°I can¡¯t really¡¡±
¡°Hold on,¡± Adam said as he opened the laptop and did a quick search to find out where they were. ¡°Okay, there you are. I¡¯m going to open a portal, do not shoot,¡± he said as he willed a small portal, just big enough to see his upper body opposite the President.
Gasps of shock broke through the portal as he exerted his will to silence everyone on the other side of the portal. It worked. He¡¯d have to check that later, maybe that level 100 in every skill meant he had mental skills as well?
¡°Mr. President and everyone else. That was not a hoax, that is the real deal in about 25 minutes you are going to lose everything. Have all subs surface and turn all ships towards landfall if possible. In 24 minutes an EMP effect is going to wipe out everything, and I do mean everything on the planet. If you can, get every plane on the ground, stop every takeoff, and declare DEFCON 1, that would be a very good idea. I have taken care of the children, which is going to surprise these assholes and I¡¯m also trying to break their bank but we have another 6 billion people on the planet to worry about. If you do everything I say I will come to you and open a portal to Norad for you. It is most likely going to be the safest place with the most resources. Also, as long as one of these monster spawning sites isn¡¯t in the mountain anyone down there should be all right, for a little while anyway. I should be able to open portals to various bunkers around the world. Make no mistake though, it is going to get worse. If I don¡¯t hear the sirens go off in the next 3 minutes I¡¯m going to assume you¡¯re an idiot, come get Admiral Ainsworth, and leave you to your fate. I know he¡¯s good people¡± Adam said as he pulled another gold bar and dropped it through the portal onto their table as he closed the portal and watched what was happening on his laptop.
Adam watched through the laptop as the President asked, ¡°Who the fuck¡Why is there a gold bar on the desk?¡±
Admiral Ainsworth sighed then spoke up, ¡°Yes sir it is, It¡¯s kind of his thing to do when he needs to prove to someone he¡¯s being serious. Because if you know the story he¡¯s told about how he creates the gold bars, you¡¯ll realize that if you get on his bad side, any account or standing you have with him is going to stay negative for a really long time.¡±
Adam smiled as he closed the laptop and put it into his storage, turned away, and portaled to the clerk¡¯s desk downstairs leaving the portal open.
¡°Sir!¡±
¡°No time, get everyone you can through this portal into the Prince¡¯s Suite, It¡¯s going to be the safest place to be in a few minutes. Send maintenance first to close it down, lock all outer windows and doors, and seal the emergency stairwells. Once this kicks off I¡¯m going to get everyone to safety.¡±
¡°But Sir¡±
¡°Do you have children? A husband.¡±
¡°Yes,¡± she said tears in her eyes.
¡°Okay, then what¡¯s your address?¡± She let me know. Adam used his Perfect Memory from before and opened a portal to her living room. It was nice to know that the coordinates were the same after all.
Adam stepped through the portal closed it and made his way to the kitchen where Dan and Jr. were. Dan, her husband, was standing in the kitchen as he fed their child who was in his highchair. ¡°Dan, you¡¯re with me, bring Jr. with you, NOW!¡±
Adam opened a portal with Jessica on the other side so Dan could see her, and waited for Dan to pick up Jr. and step through the portal they stepped through the portal into the Mirage.
¡°That baby looks less than a year old?¡± Adam asked.
¡°He is, he¡¯s 10 months old.¡±
¡°Dan hand Jr. to Jessica and give her a kiss. It¡¯s going to be your last one for a while so make it good.¡±
The air raid sirens went off. So, the President wasn¡¯t a complete idiot. Adam conjured a picture frame photo of Jessica, Dan, and Jr¡¯s final moments together and willed it to be permanent as he handed it to Jessica.¡±
¡°Quiet and listen, you have a few moments,¡± Adam said ¡°The images you just saw and that voice, that craps real, it is going to happen. I¡¯ve done what I can, and I will continue to fight for every human on the planet but you Jessica, are my messenger to all the other mothers and children you¡¯ll be joining. You must have faith and you must endure. Take care of Dan Jr. and yourself first. Then learn as much as you can and be ready, You will see me and hopefully Dan again in a year. Trust me when I say It is now my life¡¯s goal to make these bastards pay in blood!¡±
Jessica listened and then kissed Dan one more time, said ¡°I love you¡± and was enveloped by the same type of energy cocoon he¡¯d seen take his alternate self away as Dan stepped back. A moment later Jessica and Dan Jr. were gone.
¡°Dan, I know this is a lot to take in. We have 14 minutes to help everyone get to safety,¡± Adam said as he walked over to the portal to the Prince¡¯s Suite. ¡° I want you to stand here and guide anyone you see through this portal. It leads to the Prince¡¯s Suite up on top of this Hotel. I¡¯m going to go out into the parking lot and try to help people as well,¡± Adam said as he turned and ran through the hotel¡¯s main doors into the loading and off-loading zone. Adam watched as Dan started to guide people through the portal.
13 minutes.
Adam went outside and for the next 8 minutes watched families with children start to make their way out of the building only to watch the children be teleported away. Or was it more accurate to say transported?
5 minutes.
Adam ran back inside and told Dan to step through the portal as he followed and closed the portal behind him. There were about 300 people ranging in age from 18 to the elderly. ¡°Okay everyone listen up,¡± Adam said as he willed a couple of globes of light that would last and threw them to the ceiling as he spoke, ¡±I do not know who is doing this, I do not know what is going on. In fact, I¡¯ve only been back on Earth for about 30 hours, so I¡¯m just as confused as you. One thing I do know is that the voice you all heard wasn¡¯t bluffing. In 3 minutes, this shit is going to get real. The power is going to go off and everything you knew is going to change. While I¡¯m gone, think of the phrase ¡°Personal Interface¡± then concentrate on the tab ¡°Cultivation¡± that you will see before you. Read over the rules you see there. You need to know them. Stay away from the windows and remain quiet. Do NOT go outside. Do not go downstairs. I will be back shortly,¡± he said as he teleported into the sky and willed himself to turn invisible as he floated 1 mile above the Mirage.
Adam thought about mental powers and willed his mind to connect to Admiral Ainsworth.
You are attempting to make a mental connection with Jared Ainsworth. Mental Resistance overcomes, Attempt successful.
Admiral? Adam thought.
Adam, how are you doing this? The Admiral asked.
Not really sure yet, something I just picked up.
The President did what you asked. Everyone they could get, including all civilians, are in the Bunkers they could get to. My family¡
Family? Address now!
The Admiral gave the address to him and he portaled to it. A woman, two grown kids in their 20s, and his wife¡¯s mom and dad were with her in the basement. Adam faded into the shadows using stealth and then activated a portal to the Admiral.
Admiral, tell them to get through the portal. You all are to hold tight there while I watch to see what happens in Vegas, Adam sent to the Admiral as he watched the Admiral bring them through the portal to the safety of the bunker. Adam closed that portal and then opened one back to the roof of the Mirage where he stood and watched.
1 minute.
Zero hour.
At exactly 6:00 the power went out everywhere. Unfortunately for the residents of Las Vegas, one of the random placements for the monster summoning zones was on the southeast corner of South Las Vegas Blvd and Sands Avenue. Just over 2,000 feet from the Mirage. Also, he¡¯d been right, his presence was having an effect. Monsters started spawning randomly within a mile. He saw giant Bears, Centipedes, an Ooze, as well as some Gnolls and Goblins. He was pretty sure some of the creatures were higher than level 10, though he had no way to tell. He decided to fly over and see if he could do something about the obelisk from range. He tried to use teleport to put it somewhere else.
Ranged Teleport of Monster Summoning Obelisk Fails
Adam moved closer as he watched monsters pop into existence all around him out to a mile away. This went on for one full minute then stopped. Once it stopped and he was pretty sure nothing was around he landed next to the Obelisk and touched it trying to teleport it away. Nothing happened to the obelisk. Suddenly something shoved its hand through his back and out his chest just before it bit his head off and chewed.
You have been critically attacked by Stealthed Wolfman.
You have Died!
Deaths allowed: -2 of ERROR
Obviously, he had not been alone. Adam was really starting to miss his nanites. He reappeared in the small open space at the center of Mike O¡¯ Callaghan Military Medical Center. The section to the east was gone from the blast that had hit Nellis earlier, but he knew where he was as soon as he opened his eyes. Damn, that had hurt. Yep, he was nude again. That part of this was going to suck. Adam conjured a combat jumpsuit around himself, going for comfort and utility as a prompt fills his vision.
You have entered a Safe Zone. Monsters may not materialize or travel into this zone. The area of this safe zone is a 500-foot radius from the point you are standing on. The Syndicate Shop will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local.
Good to know. He opened a portal back to the Mirage and stepped through.
¡°All right, listen up everyone. I have found a safe zone on the other side of this portal. You will be able to remain there for up to 24 hours. Hopefully, I¡¯ll have a new home for all of you by then. If there are any Military there work with them to find out if there are any weapons stashed somewhere that weren¡¯t destroyed a few hours ago. Do NOT leave the safe zone. There are monsters everywhere. Also, let them know that I¡¯ll be back to get you all to another location. Now get moving through the portal.¡±
Someone asked, ¡°Why can¡¯t we stay here?¡±
¡°Good question. The simple answer, this location is within 1 mile of a monster summoning Obelisk and monsters will be spawning every hour. Every hour there is a chance that a monster will appear here. Monsters cannot spawn inside safe areas. If you read the rules like I told you to, you¡¯d know that. NOW, MOVE!¡±
After that, there was little mumbling until someone yelled back through the portal, ¡°It is a safe zone.¡±
Admiral, you there, Adam sent through telepathy.
Yes, we¡¯re still in the bunker. The landline to Norad still works by the way. They were able to seal the mountain. How long until you can evacuate us? The Admiral asked.
Ran into a few snags, I shouldn¡¯t be long, Adam sent back.
Adam walked into the interior of the Hospital and yelled, ¡°Who¡¯s in Charge?¡± Various people kept pointing Adam in a direction until he came to a middle-aged man with the rank of Colonel.
¡°I¡¯m a little busy whoever you are.¡±
¡°Well, this ¡®whoever you are¡¯ is about to help you out, Colonel. First, have you taken the time to read the rules of the Cultivation?¡±
¡°Read the rules of the cultivation, what horseshit are you talking about son?¡±
Adam opened a portal to give a bird¡¯s eye view of downtown Las Vegas, Screams coming from everywhere below them were easily heard. Adam noticed a man-sized bat with huge claws angling up towards the portal and shut down the portal just as its head reached through to take a bite out of one of them. The severed head fell to the ground at their feet, ¡°You mean that kind of Horseshit Colonel?¡± he asked.
The Colonel kicked it with the toe of his boot and stepped back.
Adam sighed when he noticed that the Colonel was still looking at him as if he didn¡¯t have a clue. Adam opened a portal even further above the desert and kicked the head of the creature through. As the head disappeared and the portal closed he said, ¡°Okay, obviously you don¡¯t have a clue, so I¡¯ll make this really simple. You need to open your Personal Interface, read the rules, and then you need to get everyone down to the first floor and be ready to move at a moment¡¯s notice. If things look good we will be evacuating to Norad.¡± Adam said as he turned and walked back to the center of the Safe Zone.
Admiral, we have a problem, Adam sent through their mental link.
Yes, we do. First things first, can you get into Norad?
Yeah, that¡¯s not the problem. Do I need to get all of you there? Adam answered.
Yes please, the Admiral sent back.
Adam opened a portal to the command center of Norad and surrounded his exit point with a force bubble he stepped into. A couple of gunshots went off and bullets ricocheted off the force bubble. He closed the portal behind him and opened another one for the Admiral.
¡°This is the Admiral Ainsworth Cease Fire! I have the President with me!¡±
A set of eyes peered over a desk as the Admiral stepped through the portal, ¡°Close it down Adam, We¡¯ll need to open it to another location.¡±
Over the next 2 hours, Adam worked with the Admiral to evacuate survivors from the Bunkers under the Pentagon, Nellis, and the White House into Norad. One of the Monster Obelisks appeared just a little over a mile east of the entrance to the mountain so there was no chance monsters could spawn in the facility if the next nearest Obelisk couldn¡¯t be within 10 miles. Norad was going to be a human-made safe zone.
After everyone from the bunkers was consolidated and safe, Adam went to find the Admiral. The Admiral was sitting in Ops at a table off to the side. ¡°Hey Admiral, how¡¯s it going?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Not good we¡¯ve lost all communication except 50¡¯s era landlines which were in the process of being replaced. The only people we¡¯re talking to are the Russians. They have a bigger network, but their reports are horrifying.¡±
¡°I figured it was going to be bad. Whomever these beings are, they¡¯re not anything I recognize from my previous universe,¡± Adam said.
¡°What are you going to do now?¡±
¡°I¡¯m going to head back to the store in the one safe zone I know about and see what the Syndicate puts up for sale. If their goal really is to help weed out the deadbeats and bring forth the cream of the crop then they¡¯ll be supplying items to help with that. I¡¯ll get what I can, then head back.¡±
¡°The President is asking about, and for you.¡±
¡°I¡¯m not overly concerned with that. Pick people you trust and keep them close. Also, there¡¯s a guy I rescued from Vegas. He¡¯s kind of my responsibility now. I¡¯m going to send him your way please keep him as safe as you can. ¡°
¡°I¡¯ll do what I can,¡± The Admiral said.
¡°Another thing, something I saw back in Vegas. It looks like slimes are some of the monsters that can spawn.¡±
¡°Slimes?¡± The Admiral asked.
¡°Did you ever see the movie ¡®The Blob?¡±
¡°You¡¯re shitting me?¡±
¡°Nope, is this facility completely cut off from the outside, including the sewer system?¡±
¡°It can be, I¡¯ll make that happen¡±
¡°See that you do, if one of those gets in, bullets and grenades aren¡¯t going to do you much good. Fire and Magic are the only ways I know of that can defeat them.¡±
¡°I guess this really is like the RPGs I played back in High School.¡±
¡°People that treat it like that might survive. Okay, I may be gone for a bit.¡±
¡°Before you go, Adam, be aware that we cannot support more than 5,000 people here. We won¡¯t have enough food.¡±
¡°Foods, not an issue, at least I don¡¯t think it is, hold on,¡± Adam said as conjured a cheeseburger into existence and handed it to the Admiral. ¡°Yeah, food is not a problem. I can probably create any base materials we need for the cooks to make meals for everyone in quantity. How many people can this facility hold maxed out?
¡°We could probably fit 10,000 if we can open up vents to the surface but it¡¯ll be crowded. 5,000 and the air quality will be fine.¡±
¡°Okay, once I get back I¡¯ll see what I can do about that,¡± Before he would have just expanded the area. Adam may be able to do that here, but he didn¡¯t have time to check right now. ¡°Right now, I¡¯m going to teleport to Dan, portal him to you, and go to the store to see if I can get some weapons and equipment for all of you. You need to get teams out there fighting and leveling. There isn¡¯t much I can do for you that I haven¡¯t already done. I will not be around all the time.¡±
Adam teleported to Dan, opened a portal for him to the Admiral, and then portaled himself to the safe zone in Las Vegas. The first thing he noticed as he stepped through to the Las Vegas safe zone were two disheveled people, a man, and a woman. The woman was muttering ¡°Where¡¯s Johnny,? Where¡¯s Johnny?¡± The man met his eyes as he walked over, ¡°You two won¡¯t be safe here. I have some friends that can help you through this portal,¡± Adam said as he willed a portal to the incoming location they¡¯d designated him to send survivors at Norad. ¡°You¡¯ll find food and shelter there and some help.¡± The man nodded his thanks and led the woman through the portal to the waiting military personnel. Once they were through Adam closed the portal and looked around. Adam saw a blue door sitting in the middle of an open area, not held up by anything. It had a red flashing sign above that read ¡°Syndicate Shop¡± and the word ¡°Open¡± Flashing beside it. Adam looked around, making sure there were no more survivors, and opened the door.
Chapter 74, Unlimited Ammo you Say?
(Area 51 Nevada, January 2nd, 2036)
Adam opened the door and stepped into the Syndicate Shop. Unlike ¡®Melanie¡¯s Magical Nick Nacks¡¯ this shop was high-tech with multiple computer monitors facing the entrance. He looked around and noticed that except for the monitors the room was quite bare and felt almost clinical.
¡°Good evening Sir,¡± a high-pitched male voice said from behind and above him. Adam turned slowly to see a four-foot man hovering in the air with wings that reminded him of a hummingbird''s wings. The books he¡¯d read on Primore described the creature before him as a combination of a Pixie and Dragonfly kin. Its race was referred to as a Pixigon, but they weren¡¯t really a race as there were very few in existence, well, at least that was true before.
Adam turned and looked into the Pixigon¡¯s eyes as he said, ¡°Good Evening to you, I¡¯m in the market to make some purchases.¡±
¡°Very good Sir!¡± The male Pixigon said excitedly. ¡°My name Is Qwixet, We accept trade and also Syndicate Credits. How will you be paying?¡± he asked.
¡°With Syndicate Credits¡±
¡°Very good Sir! This way,¡± he said as he floated over to a terminal and hovered beside it. ¡°Please verify your identity by stepping onto this identity matrix. It¡¯ll only take a second. Once loaded into the system you¡¯ll be able to trade and make purchases.¡±
Adam stepped onto the identity matrix which looked like a simple mat. A moment later the closest screen to Adam lit up.
¡°Welcome Diamond Rank Member. How can we help you today?¡±
Adam figured all of the terminals were interlinked and stepped off the mat to the closest terminal with Qwixet right behind. Qwixet moved over to the terminal opposite the one Adam stood before, pressed a few buttons, and then his eyes went wide.
¡°Sir, thank you for taking the time to come into his humble establishment. It is not often those with such good credit get caught up in a Cultivation.¡±
¡°Completely understandable. Rules are rules after all, and I¡¯m stuck here for the next 365 days. Before I make any purchases that will be registered in the system and change my odds, would you like to make a bet before those odds change?¡±
¡°Sadly, sir I do not have the finances to make such a bet.¡±
¡°If you had the finances?¡±
¡°Why yes sir, let him check your status. Sir, it states that your odds are still the same as when the Cultivation started. The Network also lists you as having died.?¡±
¡°I did. I¡¯ll tell you what, I was going to give you a good tip today. How about I give you enough to make a really good wager, based on the odds in the system right now? You¡¯ll need to purchase both insurances though. As you can see, should I die, I¡¯ll be back.¡±
¡°How much are we talking sir?
¡°130,000 Syndicate Credits. 100,000 for the wager and 20,000 for the insurance. The last 10,000 is just so you have something you can spend later. That, of course, doesn¡¯t include the commission you¡¯re about to make, but once I start spending money I¡¯m sure my odds will change.¡±
¡°Yes and no Sir. The network shows you as dead. Currently, it will not update your status until 6 a.m. the following morning, the usual time it takes someone to come back from the dead. Then your odds will be adjusted based on any purchases you make after that point.¡±
¡°So, you¡¯re saying that the purchases I make today will not adjust his odds because they won¡¯t show in the system until tomorrow morning?¡±
¡°Yes sir!¡±
¡°Excellent, I¡¯ll tell you what though, the information you just gave me has value so here are the 130,000 credits I said I¡¯d give you and when we¡¯re done you can spend them and some of your bonus to make a wager on me, or not, I¡¯ll leave it to you.¡±
¡°Very good sir, I accept.¡±
The Syndicate Shop has recorded that you would like to transfer 130,000 Syndicate Credits to Qwixet. Is this correct?¡±
¡°Yes¡±
Qwixet¡¯s eyes went wide as he said ¡°Thank you, sir, that¡¯s very generous. Now if you¡¯d like to peruse what¡¯s for sale please use the terminal you are standing next to. If you have any questions about an item please feel free to ask.
¡°I do have one question; Is there a special search criterion I can use to look for items not normally available to other individuals because the cost would be prohibitive?¡±
¡°Of course, sir, please think or say Diamond Rank to your terminal. The monitor will ask for Shop owner verification. Once authorized, more search parameters will open up. I should warn you that the longer a Cultivation has been going on the more choices there will be. There¡¯s a whole industry off planet that purchases and watches humans fight monsters. They will be trying to create items and get them into the system for sale based on fighting techniques and who is surviving. ¡°
¡°There are people watching?¡±
¡°Not like that sir. This isn¡¯t like that movie ¡°The Running Man¡± or even some of the fiction that¡¯s been released about planets being taken over by aliens and your race basically being the equivalent of rats in a maze. The individuals purchasing the footage work in the weapon, armor, spell, and skill crafting industry and put their goods up for sale here as a way for them to make a quick profit. Also, they hope to do more business as people see their wares and try to find the same items. My point in telling you this is to say don¡¯t be discouraged if there aren¡¯t very many choices right now. The Cultivation started 4 hours ago. There¡¯s be more choices as the days go by.¡±
He thought about what he said, nodded then said, ¡°Diamond Rank¡± To the terminal. Qwixet floated over and tapped the screen in a quick sequence while a light lit up his face. He guessed biometrics were part of the authorization process.
The menu was pretty self-explanatory and had a number of incredibly powerful items for sale. Spell Books, weapons, armor, magical items, and even modern weapons that were magical. He quickly searched through the weapons and accessories when he remembered the movie Predator and searched for a minigun. He found what he was looking for, an ¡°M134 Minigun of infinite ammo¡± he chose it and read the description.
M134 Minigun of infinite ammo
The human-made M134 Minigun of infinite ammo creates and fires magical bullets equivalent to 7.62 mm ammo (.308 in).
Rate of Fire: 3,000 rounds per minute (50 rounds per second)
Muzzle Velocity: 2,800 feet/second
Maximum firing range: 3,280 feet
Mana battery: 3000, Recharge Rate 1 per second. This Battery can fire for 1 full minute and takes 50 minutes to fully recharge.
Damage: Variable, up to 6 per bullet
Ammunition has 1 point of armor penetration
Skill with weapon will increase armor penetration by 1 per level
Holy hell, that was impressive. Adam looked for a harness like the one Vasquez had in the movie Aliens and found it quickly. The Minigun was 100,000 credits and the harness was an additional 5,000. Adam didn¡¯t even bother to haggle, he purchased both. They appeared on the counter in front of him. Adam made sure the safety was on and then added both to his inventory. He called forth the Harness and then the gun. The harness automatically fitted to him when it came out of his storage. Next, he called forth the Minigun onto the hydraulic arm. His strength was high enough now at 24 that it didn¡¯t even phase him, but the harness made it easy to control. Adam dismissed both to his personal storage and designated them as a favorite in their current configuration. He went back over to the monitor and looked over all the weapons and noted the ones he liked and the ones he was going to buy for the military.
¡°Qwixet, do you have any clothing that is soul-bound and self-repairing?¡±
¡°Why yes, there is a belt of wardrobes that if purchased can create whatever clothing you desire and is soulbound to you upon purchase.¡±
¡°That sounds great, I¡¯ll take one. Can the weapons I¡¯m purchasing come with self-repair and soul-bonding options?
¡°Yes sir, any item that you purchase here can be self-repairing for an additional 10,000 credits. Soul binding is a little more expensive at 100,000 credits.¡±
¡°Okay, I would like two 9mm Berettas of Unlimited Ammo with self-repair and soul bound to me. Two p90 submachine guns with the same and finally that M134 Minigun and harness for the same as well as the belt of wardrobes.¡±
Adam purchased all seven items and put the wardrobe on while the rest went into his personal storage. He played with the functions of the belt and chose a black military jumpsuit and set that as his default. Whenever he came back from the dead he¡¯d be wearing a black Jumpsuit. No more waking up naked.
Next, he searched for unique and one-of-a-kind weapons and items.
The first thing that caught his attention was an entry titled ¡°Ender.¡± Above the selections was a note:
NOTE: Some Items available in Syndicate Shops are dependent on Ambient Magic. This is rated 1 ¨C 10. Items with an Ambient Magic AM higher than the current Ambient Magic will have most, if not all, of their extra abilities and special properties unusable. You may still purchase an item but may not be able to use it for a while.
¡°Qwixet, what is the current Ambient Magic level in this area?¡±
¡°If you would look behind you and at the door, there is a number displayed. The current Ambient Magic outside the door is,¡± he said pausing as he looked at the number, ¡°5¡± before he continued, ¡°Five outside the door. Which doesn¡¯t seem right. Cultivation started 4 hours ago it should be 1 or less.¡±
¡°It¡¯s probably correct, don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Adam said as he looked back at the monitor and looked over ¡®Ender¡¯
¡°Ender: Magical Longsword +(Variable)
Ender is a sentient Longsword containing the trapped soul of a Master Vampire. The sword becomes more powerful as it feeds on other life forms, including constructs elementals, etc¡ There is no upper limit to the level this sword can attain.
Base Damage: 6
Soulbound
AM: 10
Damage +1 and Armor Piercing per level. Half Damage in direct sunlight.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
At will the Sword allows its wielder to do the following while held.
Fly up to 30 miles per hour
Invisibility, 1-minute cool down after use.
Night vision, at will
Warning: This sword is sentient. As it grows in power it will attempt to take over the individual wielding it. As its ability to grow in power is infinite this sword will take over any entity that wields it over time. Base chance is 1% per +1 weapon ¨C the Willpower of the person soulbound to it.
Cost: 1,000,000,000 credits.
Adam had to say he wasn¡¯t expecting to find a sword like it for sale. Also, it looked like most people wouldn¡¯t be able to use it until the Ambient Magic reached level 10 which he was guessing was when the level 100 creatures would be out. He was pretty sure that if he was using the sword it would be just fine. Adam paid for it, accepted the Soul-binding request, and placed it in his storage.
The next item was a shocker.
Capstone (Limit 1 per customer per world.)
This item when placed prevents all Monster Summoning Obelisks within 100 miles from spawning monsters for 24 hours. After which the item returns to its holder. The item has a cool-down of 24 hours before it can be used again. Note: It does not remove monsters from the area it only prevents monsters from being respawned in the area.
Cost: 10,000,000,000 credits
That was incredibly awesome, but the next item was a game-changer.
Sanctuary Obelisk, with Modifications (Limit 1 per customer per world at any time.)
You may create your own safe zone. Once placed this is permanent. Though it can be removed by the owner and a new one purchased, NO REFUNDS.
Radius 100 feet
Coward Debuff added after 8 hours
Modifiers
10,000 credits per additional 100-foot radius
1,000,000 credits per +1 Mile radius (Maximum 25 miles)
10,000 Coward Debuff added after 9 hours.
Double the cost for each additional hour.
327,680,000 credits, Coward Debuff is not added to anyone in the Safe Zone
1,000,000 Syndicate Store Upgrade. This upgrade adds a Syndicate store to your safe space.
Adam spent 353,680,000 million credits to get a Sanctuary Obelisk with a 25-mile radius, no Coward Debuff, and the Syndicate Store.
There was only one more item in the Unique section. It was actually two items. A pair of portals that were linked. He could place one and then place the other and use them to travel anywhere on the planet. If he set one in the base he could open the other portal anywhere on the planet and get anyone to safety without spending his mana. After we¡¯d tried to save as many as we could it would be a good way to get from deep inside the sanctuary back out into the world again. The set was 20,000,000 credits.
Once he¡¯d picked the unique Items he went back to normal weapons and armor and purchased everything he could. He didn¡¯t bother with self-repairing or soul-bound weapons or armor. He purchased as many of each weapon, piece of armor, basic spellbooks, and skill books as he could. The system maxed out at 10 of each item per purchase. Adam ended up spending a huge sum of money, 59,696,789,789 Credits. Some of that was tied up because of the Unlimited Ammo function on some of the weapons. The other part of the money was for the crates of normal weapons and tons of ammo he purchased. Norad wouldn¡¯t be running out of weapons or Ammo any time soon and thought as he smiled.
He left the shop very happy with a relatively full personal storage. As he stepped out a couple more people had shown up, cowering in fear. Adam opened a portal to Norad, led them through, and closed it. Once he was sure they were being taken care of, he portaled to the entryway into the tunnel leading into the Mountain and looked at the guard line that had been set up. Off in the distance, he saw a huge man, probably a Giant of some sort, at least 25 feet high walking towards the tunnel entrance. The soldiers looked at him, looked at the giant, and then looked like they were going to bolt.
¡°Hold on guys I¡¯ve got this,¡± Adam said as he pulled out the Sanctuary Obelisk set it down and activated it. As soon as the Sanctuary Obelisk was activated, the giant disappeared with a loud pop as a prompt appeared.
You have entered the safe Zone of Johnathan Bennard.
There is no maximum time allowed in this Safe Zone.
You may stay here as long as you like.
Note: Safe Zone is set to Default.
Note: All Monster Summoning Obelisks within the radius of this Safe Zone have been deactivated until the Safe Zone is removed.
Note: Any monsters that were within the radius of this Safe Zone have been teleported outside the 25-mile radius of the safe zone to a random location.
Note: This Safe Zone possesses a 24/7 Syndicate Shop. This free upgrade comes as a bonus to there being no ¡°Coward¡± debuff added to residents that reside here.
Note: This Safe Zone belongs to Johnathan Bennard.
Adam reviewed how far a 25-mile radius extended in his head, that should have cleared out Colorado Springs but didn¡¯t have enough range to include Pueblo. At least Norad and Colorado Springs were safe now. Adam made his way inside to find the Admiral. About a half-hour later he finally found the Admiral after he¡¯d passed through quite a few checkpoints manned by jumpy military personnel.
¡°Admiral, I have some armor and weapons for everyone.¡±
¡°Looks like you also made this area a Safe Zone. How long will that last?¡±
¡°Until I remove it. If I do I¡¯ll have to purchase it again. Also, each person may only have one otherwise I would have bought enough to cover the whole planet.¡±
¡°Okay, this will come as some much-needed good news. Did you say something about armor and weapons? He asked¡±
¡°Yeah, let¡¯s walk down to the Armory.¡±
They walked down to the Armory and Adam pulled out all the weapons he¡¯d purchased for everyone else. ¡°I was able to purchase 50 handguns, 50 Submachine guns, 50 Assault Rifles, and ten M134 Miniguns with harnesses. I¡¯m keeping one M134 Minigun and two of each of the others. I¡¯m taking two of the Berettas, two of the P90s, and two of the AR-15s. All with the unlimited ammo feature.
¡°What about ammo?¡± he asked.
¡°Didn¡¯t I say, 20% of the weapons I picked up are magical, they have unlimited ammo. Well, it¡¯s not unlimited but the clips refill at a rate of 1 round per second magically so effectively unlimited for the pistol. The SMGs and the Assault Rifles may take a minute or two to reload but they could probably go forever with one 3-round burst every 3 seconds. The miniguns can fire for a full minute before it runs out of ammo, I can¡¯t wait to try that one out.¡± Adam said as they came up to the Armory and he started pulling out the guns he was leaving there and the ammo for the non-magical weapons.)
As Adam started pulling out spell and skill books the admiral asked, ¡°What are those?¡±
¡°These Admirals are the game-changers. I was only able to get one of each basic spell book type and a couple of skills. One of the skill books I¡¯ll be using myself¡¡± As he thought about what he was doing then started returning the books to his storage space.
¡°What are you doing?¡±
¡°I was going to leave these books here, but that kind of temptation isn¡¯t healthy. And it definitely wouldn¡¯t be healthy for anyone stupid enough to steal from me so I¡¯m going to hold onto them.¡±
¡°If you¡¯ve seen anyone cast a spell or know of anyone that is extremely intelligent, keep an eye on them and we¡¯ll set up a meeting time the next time I¡¯m back. Right now, we have 25 Square miles of a city that we can spread out into and help the people there and also fill up with more people as we rescue them. I think we can safely assume that those sailors that were on your subs and small ships are stranded if they¡¯re not dead. I think we should head down to the situation room, get me some coordinates, and I can try to save as many soldiers as we can. It¡¯ll make enforcing martial law here a lot easier.¡±
¡°Sounds about right, let¡¯s go!¡± The admiral agreed.
They walked back to the command section. Adam found a kindred spirit in a young Lieutenant named Kimberly Anderson. It had been her duty to keep track of all the boats. The reason she¡¯d been given that duty was that she had a Photographic memory much like his. They talked for a bit as she pointed out the last known location of every ship and sub she could remember from the charts while the Admiral and he watched.
¡°All right Admiral, I¡¯m going to tackle the small boats in deep seas or cold climates first. Once I get them out, I¡¯ll hit the ships closer to land. I¡¯m going to save the Aircraft Carriers for last, there are enough people on each to respond to the changes that the world has just undergone. That will give you enough time to start getting housing set up in Colorado Springs. I¡¯m going to leave all that logistics to everyone here, ¡° Adam paused for a moment while he checked his Personal Interface and looked at the Safe Zone tab finding what he wanted before he continued. ¡°Admiral, please make it very clear to the President that this is my safe zone. With a thought, I can revoke anyone¡¯s right to be here. If anyone attacks or hurts anyone their access is automatically removed, I have no control over that. They will be randomly teleported out of the Safe Zone and prevented from reentry until they remove the ¡®loner¡¯ debuff. It looks like anyone who attacked anyone else in a sanctuary can get that status too, but it will automatically fall off after 48 hours. In this Sanctuary though, if you get that status it sticks concerning this sanctuary, it doesn¡¯t fall off and you can¡¯t enter this safe zone again.¡± Adam wondered why that wasn¡¯t part of the announcement before he continued, ¡°Anyone that fought with anyone in any of the safe zones in the last 6 hours won¡¯t be able to enter a safe zone for a while. That might be a death sentence.¡± Adam thought about the ramifications then looked at the Admiral, ¡°We either all work together to save as many as we can, or they can be forced to go off on their own. Now I¡¯m off¡±
Adam teleported to the incoming portal area and found a place for one of the portals from the set he purchased. He wanted an area where two portals could be opened side by side. Adam found the officer in charge of handling new arrivals and let them know that very shortly more military personnel would be arriving and to keep that area where he set the portal clear of people. They should be receiving orders about what to do with the new people from Admiral Ainsworth shortly.
Adam checked his Personnel Interface. He was going to have to sit down and figure out this new leveling system. He was now Grade 2, Level 8, HP 63, Stamina 900, and 1,800 mana which was nice, even though he didn¡¯t know exactly what that meant. His mana regen was at 16 per second allowing him to get all his mana back in about 2 minutes. Teleport was prohibitive. He¡¯d been able to open Portals based on range categories instead of per mile like teleport. Short Range, up to 100 miles had been 100 mana. 101-500 miles had been 200 mana. 501-1000 miles had been 300 mana which is what he¡¯d been sticking to. 1,001-2,000 miles was 400 mana, and 2,001-4,000 miles was 500 mana. 4001 ¨C 8000 miles jumped up to 1,000 mana. He could jump farther but he wasn¡¯t worried about that yet. Once opened each portal only required 1 mana per second for upkeep which meant he could hold open 16 portals if he wanted to and still gain mana back. Adam might not be able to get everywhere on the globe in one jump, but he could do two jumps and two jumps back and not use up all his mana. As fast as he was leveling he should be able to portal wherever he needed to go soon. Teleporting longer distances would come later.
Adam opened his first portal to a submarine that was relatively close to home. The Minneapolis-St Paul fast attack nuclear submarine was about 200 miles off the east coast of the United States. He opened a portal one mile above the Atlantic Ocean at the target location, activated his fly spell, and stepped through. He closed the portal and looked down. It wasn¡¯t incredibly hard to find the sub, there was a lot of splashing going on as tentacles reached up and held onto the sub, trying to take it under. Hoping there was actually an incorporeal state that would allow him to phase through solid matter he flew towards the sub and willed myself to become insubstantial. He spent 50 mana and disappeared as 10 mana per second started to take hold. His mana regen was able to keep up both that cost and his fly spell. As he came close to the sub one of the tentacles reached out and passed through him just as he phased through the outer hull of the submarine. He made his way to the command deck and stood in front of the Captain, then moved so his back was to one of the consoles as the captain asked.
¡°Who the hell are you?¡± the captain asked.
¡°Help, Admiral Ainsworth sent me. Are you dead in the water?¡±
¡°Yes, we¡¯ve got nothing and something is taking us down.¡±
Just as he said that the deck shifted under him. Adam adjusted his floating form so that it adjusted as the deck moved. Then became solid again and landed on the deck. ¡°Captain, I can open a portal for you to Norad. We¡¯re regrouping the military there.¡±
¡°How are you going to do that?¡±
¡°Like this,¡± he said as he opened a portal anchoring it to the deck against the wall beside him. ¡°I can hold this portal open for you until the hull cracks and water starts coming through then I have to close it, we can¡¯t put the ocean in Norad. Give the order Captain,¡± Adam said as he stood beside the portal.
Adam watched as sailors came to the command deck and made their way through the portal. It took 30 minutes to clear the sub. Sailors rushed through the status board and turned red as compartments started to flood. Luckily everyone had been making their way forward so no sailors were lost, though this might be playing out differently with other subs. Finally, the Captain stepped through with Adam close behind.
The Captain looked around then looked at him, ¡°We really are in Norad aren¡¯t we?¡±
¡°Yes Captain, you are.
¡°Thank you¡what should we call you?¡± he asked.
¡°Just call him Adam, it¡¯s what I go by now.¡±
¡°Okay Adam, thank you is there anything he can do?¡±
¡°Yes, I need you to stay here while I head off to other ships and try to save their crews. Right now, I¡¯m the only one that can, and as I¡¯m sure you noticed this is a safe zone. Once we get the next captain, he¡¯ll stay and we¡¯ll keep doing this. I figure the easiest way is for you to tell me which captains you know so I can open a portal you can tell them to move their asses and we can see if we can empty their boats faster than we did yours, what do you say?¡±
¡°Let¡¯s get to it!¡±
For the next seven days, Adam helped evacuate the Navy boats. When he needed a break he¡¯d try to find the carriers and use the portals he¡¯d bought so they could leave the ship. Then he¡¯d catch a nap next to the portal in Norad, that way if something happened he could go through and grab the other portal, and even if he went down with the ship he¡¯d be fine.
Adam also used those breaks to head down to the mess and conjure foodstuffs for the kitchen in quantity and pass out the spell and skill books he¡¯d purchased. He found out the Admiral had been putting together teams to head out and clear monsters. They¡¯d started with Pueblo and worked their way along the major roads to other cities. He had made sure to send out teams with the unlimited ammo weapons, the M134 miniguns making short work of anything they ran into. They were getting the word out that Colorado Springs was a safe place to be. Adam watched, knowing that it was a good start but also knowing for this one victory the world was losing a lot.
He tried not to think about all the people that were being slaughtered all over the world, but he knew for humanity to have a chance he had to save as many as he could. The boats would have been isolated and could be sealed against predators. Plus, they were military, they should be used to following orders and moving out fast. The last ship he helped evacuate was being sucked into a giant whirlpool in the middle of the Pacific. He couldn¡¯t see what was below the ship but a whirlpool that was big enough to sink a carrier? Adam used the portals he bought and also conjured four that he maintained so we could get the crew of 5,000 off the carrier before it sank to the bottom of the Pacific.
The President still wanted to talk to him, even with all the craziness that was happening around the world. Right now, that didn¡¯t matter though, seven days of saving over 120,000 sailors had worn him out. Adam made his way to the sleeping area, found a dark corner, and went to sleep with no intention of waking up for at least 8 hours.
Chapter 75, Complications
(Syndicate Headquarters, Location Unknown)
It had been close, but Overseer Maxilinus had been able to get everything up and running so the Cultivation could start at 6 a.m. He¡¯d had to make sure the Gambler¡¯s Network knew that bets could be made and that they had access to the information concerning the inhabitants of Cultivation World 59,666. Sure, they were starting this Cultivation about a decade early, but he was sure that inhabitants of other worlds in the queue for cultivation wouldn¡¯t mind the extra 3 to 6 months to live their ¡°normal¡± lives. Mortals, how easy it was to understand their motivations.
Maxilinus was so glad that he¡¯d come up with this method of creating soul stones and that the Syndicate had only grown in power as time passed. Even those divines that claimed to be good didn¡¯t object too hard. Mortals could be useful to the Syndicate, about 5% usually. The other 95% were still useful but for beings like himself, they were useful in only two ways which required them to become a soul stone first in any case. Granted the majority would be low-level soul stones but that was fine. Crafters couldn¡¯t get better at their skills without practice and the soul stones created this way ensured there would be plenty. Add to this that they had over 60,000 worlds across all the known Universes that were members, and the Syndicate performed new ¡°cultivations¡± every 3 months with each planet being targeted once every 60,000 years or so. A practically infinite supply of Soul Stones.
In addition to the stated reasons for cultivation; Forced Adaption, Case Studies, the Creation of Soul Stones, and Gambling there was only one other reason the divines had not stopped this practice. One he had indulged in repeatedly once he¡¯d ascended into the ranks of divinity. The Soul Stones could be utilized by the divines. It didn¡¯t matter if the divines were predominantly good, neutral, or evil the soul stones represented a way to get divinity points for which another divine he¡¯d talked to, A divine in a nearby universe whose purpose was to spread knowledge, had said when she¡¯d explained this all to him. Souls could be released from soul stones and serve the various divines. If they accepted, the divine would earn more divinity points. For the gods of good alignment, a promise of an easy afterlife in their region of Heaven almost always guaranteed servitude. The Neutral gods might accept a negative answer and allow the spirit to pass out of this reality through ¡®The Eye¡¯ at the center of Astral Space. Or, they might do what the evil gods usually did when given the cold shoulder. They¡¯d be fed to one of their minions until the last fragments of their being escaped into the unknowable. The Good gods looked at what they did as a Mercy that also helped the souls they were rescuing. The Neutral Divines didn¡¯t seem overly concerned and just looked at the use of soul stones as a way to power level. The evil divines, like him, well it was a win-win situation since one of his colleagues had originally come up with the idea of cultivation on a planetary scale.
The first couple of cultivations had been tricky but they¡¯d still been extremely profitable. They¡¯d been set in motion by a couple of different gods of Death and Destruction from various Universes. The Gods, of Mercy and Justice, had made motions to end the practice. The god of Mercy wanted the cultivations to stop because too many innocents were being slaughtered. The god of Justice on the other hand had filed his motion and then found his position untenable. There were no universal laws requiring all planets to have magic. There were no laws against reducing ambient magic on a planetary scale. As there were no laws there was no injustice and his motion had been withdrawn. Also, the deaths that resulted because mortals couldn¡¯t adapt to the change and were killed as random creatures of varying levels popped into existence or came out of a random dungeon or Labyrinth entrance when magic was added back to the planet were not unjust.
The one major problem with those first Cultivations was that the levels of the monsters were not controlled or predictable. This led to the creation of the Inter-Universal Cultivation Commission or the IUCC. The Divines that thought the idea of running cultivations was barbaric and evil clashed against those that thought this was the best use for the souls on the planet. Eventually, a consensus was reached.
Monsters followed the exact progression of mortals and even the divines if they made it that far except on worlds under Cultivation. A Rank 10 mortal was the equivalent, at least XP-wise, of a level 100 Monster. The Obelisks that were placed around the planet served two functions. To limit the level of creatures released anywhere on the planet and to localize those releases to give the inhabitants a chance, a concession to the Divines of Mercy. Concessions had also been made to allow for Safe Zones and Adolescents to be saved if anyone was willing to front the cost. Usually, that only happened if some Nobel¡¯s kid was living it up among the ¡®stupid¡¯ mortals in a low magic world and a cultivation started. Why? Because there was one rule that could not be broken. Once a Cultivation started no one, mortal or divine, was allowed to leave the planet or assist anyone on the planet for 365 days after the clock started unless directly removed by the Syndicate. That¡¯s why the announcement went out up to 12 hours early on the Gamblers Network and 6 hours early to all members of the Syndicate everywhere. Sudden starts didn¡¯t happen often but if they did a parent had the equivalent of 60 earth minutes to pay the fee and get their kid out. If they were an adult, they could get off the planet if able, otherwise, they were stuck just like everyone. It could be dangerous to visit low-magic worlds on the cultivation roster.
Some ingenious assassinations had actually been accomplished by kidnapping the target and leaving them on a planet right before cultivation started. Citizens of the Syndicate were lucky to reach Grade 5 and the cultivation would eventually have monsters that were equivalent to Grade 10. If they weren¡¯t ultra-rich or were just unlucky they¡¯d be killed off when the monsters started to reach levels higher than theirs. This had forced another concession that bared officials of the IUCC from sharing the knowledge of where and when the next cultivation was likely to occur so assassinations couldn¡¯t be planned in advance. They still happened though.
The monsters themselves came from Dungeons and Labyrinths throughout the multiple Universes and some of the energy and experience were rerouted back to those dungeons and Labyrinths with a 10% bonus. What this meant was that anything that monsters killed kept 90% of the XP they earned to level themselves and shunted 10% back to the Dungeon or Labyrinth. Over the many years this had been going on he¡¯d actually witnessed dungeons connecting to the Labyrinths shortly after their monsters were teleported out. As they were technically pocket dimensions to begin with, their connection to the Labyrinth only required energy, which Cultivations produced generously. When dungeons reached that state and reached out to connect to the Labyrinth, they separated completely from the Universe they were in and existed separately within the Astral. The really old Gods talked of a time before there was an Astral plane but there weren¡¯t very many of those Gods around as far as he knew.
The Dungeon and the Labyrinths allowed the obelisks to summon forth monsters from them with the understanding that they¡¯d be getting some energy back from what the monster killed. Near the end of the 365-day period, one of two things usually happened. If the monster density was high the planet would be converted to a dungeon planet. If the monsters had been dealt with the ambient magic would allow for the creation of dungeon entrances and the monsters that were left would seek them out and make their way inside and the planet would just become another world controlled by the Syndicate.
Normally the Ambient mana would be ratcheted up slowly over time. Level 1 would be reached about 1 day after launch. Level 2 long after. The ambient magic was just a rating used to determine what level monsters and magic items the world could support with no issues. Level 1 could support levels 1-10, 2, Levels 11 ¨C 20, etc¡ One of the other concessions that was required was that the Ambient Magic could not rise above 10 before day 366. The gods wanted the mortals to have a chance. The only reason the evil gods had agreed was that limiting the leveling of the monsters allowed the formation of a Gamblers network and because the information had to be accurate that meant worlds under cultivation were under observation at all times. This allowed for black market merchandising of the slaughter of mortals on a global scale. In addition to the evil gods, there were some real sickos out in the universe. There had been outcries of course, but they led nowhere. One problem he had today was that in one spot on this little blue ball of a planet, the ambient magic was comparable to normal levels on planets that could support a much higher ambient magic level.
Overseer Maxilinus turned to the announcement feed that all humans on Earth could hear.
¡°Greetings humans! I have some good news and some bad news. First the Good News, you are not alone in the Universe. In fact, you knew this 10,000 years ago but someone forgot to pass that information on¡¡±
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Overseer Maxilinus cut the feed and switched his display to Cultivation Planet 59,666 and pulled up the statistics on that planet.
Cultivation Planet 59,666 (Earth)
Population: 7,969,456,131
Average Ambient Magic Level: .1
Maximum Ambient Magic Level: 10
Cage Status 80%
Ever since the Administrator on Triton in Earth¡¯s solar system had contacted him he¡¯d been watching that Cage Status weaken as time went on. Before Midnight yesterday, the Cage Status had been 100%. Since then, something had ripped the ley lines from their points below the surface in an almost straight line from the tip of South America up into the center of North America. Currently whatever seemed to be doing the damage to the cage was in the city of Las Vegas Nevada.
A notification popped onto a terminal.
Gambler Network Courtesy Notification: A Diamond Rank Member has put a wager greater than 1,000,000 Syndicate Credits.
As one of the primary shareholders of the Gamblers Network, he made a call to his counterpart.
¡°Can I help you?¡± a wheezing high-pitched voice asked.
¡°Segmond, it¡¯s Max, I just received a notification that someone made a wager for over 1,000,000 credits?¡±
¡°Saw that did you?
¡°Yep, anything I should be worried about.¡±
¡°Some local had some credits and decided to blow his proverbial load. We looked into him. He has the normal odds for a non-combatant, he shouldn¡¯t be a problem. In fact, we¡¯re excited. He purchased the insurance, so the network is really happy.
¡°How much did he bet?¡±
¡°A Googol¡±
¡°A Googol, are you Serious? You said he purchased the insurance, which one?¡±
¡°Both¡±
¡°Both?¡± Max asked. ¡°Is there even a word for how much that is?¡±
¡°Since he paid twice it would be two duotrigintillion.¡±
¡°Okay, who¡¯s the wager on?
¡°One Johnathan Bennard who resides in Dallas Texas.¡±
¡°Okay, I¡¯ll keep an eye on him.
Just then more notifications popped up.
1,085,742,478, ¡°Grow Up Safe and Sound¡± packages have been purchased.
369,600,000 Grow Up Safe and Sound packages have been purchased for newborns with the additional fee paid for their mothers.
Total individuals paid for 1,824,942,478
Total Population on Earth after removal of children and mothers: 6,144,513,653
Total Syndicate Credits Earned 1,455,342,478,000,000
¡°Segmond, I¡¯ve gotta go. I¡¯ve gotta check on something,¡± Max said as he turned the announcement channel up so he could hear it again.
¡°¡Everything will be provided through the generosity of Johnathan Bennard from Dallas Texas¡¡±
For the next 40 minutes, Maxilinus learned everything he could about Johnathan Bennard. He was born in Clovis New Mexico. Went to college in a city called Alamogordo, then moved to Dallas Texas to start teaching soon after. He¡¯d been there until yesterday when he¡¯d suddenly disappeared and reappeared in Antarctica somehow. Other than that, one unexplained teleportation there was nothing in his file. The local military had picked up on the problem immediately and he¡¯d been taken to Area 51, though currently, he was in Las Vegas Nevada.
He zeroed in on Johnathan and watched as the man teleported into the air above the Mirage Motel and looked around as the Cultivation officially started. He watched as Johnathan made his way down to an Obelisk and touched it. He also watched as the clawed hand of wolfman ripped through his chest and its mouth closed over his head and bit it off. He checked the current status of Johnathan Bennard. It looked like Johnathan was dead. Tomorrow when the resurrection counter reset and he showed as dead the money he¡¯d wagered would be released and his bonus for this cultivation was going to be awesome. Of course, if that didn¡¯t happen¡
He closed down his portals and decided to splurge a little, he wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything about this until tomorrow morning anyway. He pulled some of the hardest liquor he had in stock, Demonic Hellfire Scotch. Made his way over to his couch and sent for one of the succubi on retainer to come to take care of his needs while he watched the suffering of the human race as monsters started spawning and killing.
Maxilinus was a Divine of Death after all and one of the original divines that had come up with the idea of cultivation. His screen shifted to a college campus in California that had the unfortunate luck of having a monster summoning obelisk appear in the middle of the campus. The monsters that appeared were what was expected, low-level slimes. What most didn¡¯t know about the evolution of slimes was that some could flow and move like water, which meant they could move quickly. Their primary tactic was to flow over their target¡¯s head and try to make their way inside them then dissolve the target from the inside out. By the time the slime was all the way inside its target though, the target was dead. 15 slimes had appeared in a dormitory and slid under doors making quick work of the women and men they found there. Working up and down the hall. Screams had woken everyone close by causing most to flee. As the bodies were dissolved they were added to the mass and when it doubled they split into two. In a relatively short order, the campus had been overrun by slimes and some had escaped into the sewer system. He smiled as he thought about how much death that was going to cause.
Maxilinus switched the feed to Punta Arenas to find something he had not expected to see. There was a Rank 2 Leviathan walking up out of the water. He checked the ambient magic of Punta Arenas which read 10. Something that brought the max to 10. What was going on? He was starting to have a bad feeling about this. A leviathan was a creature of the sea that could travel into the land. It looked kind of like a lobster except that it was about 500 feet tall. Its shells were metal of some sort and even gods didn¡¯t mess them when they were full-grown. This one was just a baby. Along its front side, it had a nest of tentacles that were grabbing anything that wasn¡¯t too big out of the water; animals, plants, and humans were grabbed and shuffled up into its wide mouth at the top of its torso just below what would be considered its chest. When it had come on land it had flooded the area and debris and people were floating all around it. Some of the people it grabbed were still alive. The Divine that handled terror was going to do well today too. Even without the children, there would still be plenty of soul stones this evening.
Because the soul-stones were so numerous the number that could be purchased was limited to 10 per person on the first day. That number would increase by 10 per day until it maxed out at 100 per day. As the purchases were on a first come first serve and everyone that had credit wanted them waiting until the end of the day usually didn¡¯t work well. With the babies and adolescents out of play, the normally huge spike of stones at the beginning wouldn¡¯t be as big as they¡¯d estimated. That was okay though. With the appearance of a Rank 2 monster on the first day, within the first hour, This Cultivation was going to produce some blowback.
Lana, a succubi he¡¯d grown fond of walked into the office and willed her clothes off. Succubi were higher-ranked demons that could take on the persona or likeness of anyone they wished. They¡¯d volunteer to come to the Syndicate from time to time. The syndicate also employed lower-level Angels, the higher rank ones believing such duties beneath them. As for the question these earthlings keep asking about bosses sleeping with their subordinates, they were incredibly silly. He was a Divine, she was a demon. He wanted her, it was her role to serve him. Sometimes being evil was awesome, like now. She approached him and he soon forgot about anything but her. When they were done, she walked naked back to the door her tale swishing back and forth enticingly. Just before she reached the door, a soft flame engulfed her body, removing any evidence of their time together, and disappeared before she summoned her clothes back on. Without turning back, she opened the door and left. He liked her My-business-is-done-here, on-to-my-next-task-attitude, which she knew. That¡¯s why he was the Boss.
When Johnathan Bennard set up a Safe Zone with no ¡°Coward¡± timer he rechecked the status sheet and saw no change. The status sheet still showed Johnathan Bennard as dead. Then he remembered. Resurrections and raise dead spells could not happen until 6 a.m. the next day when the system would update the odds. He immediately sent the command to zero his feed onto Johnathan Bennard if or when he reappeared.
When 6 a.m. clicked past and 24 hours had gone by Maxilinus was not at all surprised when he found the following information:
Name: Johnathan Bennard
Location: Dallas Texas
Profession: Professor of Computer Science, University of North Texas at Dallas
Age: 35
Odds: 10,000 to 1 (1 week)
100,000 to 1 (1 Month)
500,000 to 1 (3 Months)
1,000,000 to 1 (12 Months)
Even the Gamblers Network recognized there was something special about Johnathan Bennard. Maxilinus knew then that this Cultivation was going to have complications.
Chapter 76, Adaptable
(Norad, Colorado Springs, January 8th, 2036)
Adaline smiled at him laughing at something he had just said to her, though for the life of him, he couldn¡¯t remember what it was. He reviewed his memories and realized he couldn¡¯t remember anything. But he knew that he couldn¡¯t remember anything and with that thought, he took control of his dream and willed himself to wake up as Adaline looked at him and said, ¡°Time to wake up Adam!¡±
Adam came back to consciousness as he felt a stinging pain across his throat. His body was face down on his cot as his head was yanked back while whoever was on him pulled back on his head, slid a knife under his chin, and drew the knife from the left to right across his throat. Suddenly he was released and fell forward to catch himself on the cot as he heard a pop behind him. He realized the weight on his back was gone as someone cried ¡°He Killed Him!¡± Adam checked his throat to find only a trickle of blood as he also checked his prompts.
Surprise attack by Harvey Coolidge strikes for 3 points of damage (Base 5 (x2) Critical Strike). Rank Disparity of two levels reduces damage by one-fourth.
Adam closed the prompt as a woman on his left cried ¡°You Killed Harvey you monster!¡± and shot him point-blank in the head with a shotgun. Later he would check the combat log to find out that the reason it didn¡¯t hurt that much was that it was a common item and damage was also reduced by a fourth because of the rank disparity between himself and the weapon. No matter the reason, he¡®d only taken 2 points of damage. The shotgun blast hit him and bounced off as she also disappeared. Adam curled into himself trying to protect himself as much as possible as person after person attacked him and disappeared.
As he was curled up as he was attacked, Adam realized that the safe zone must be counting people on people attacks as well. Wasn¡¯t that convenient? Of course, if he were a little less robust he¡¯d have died already. As he lay, curled in a ball, he heard Admiral Ainsworth rush into the bunk area and yell, ¡°Stand Down, Stop attacking, or you will be dealt with.¡± The admiral declared in a military command voice that permitted no disagreement.
¡°Admiral, No Violence or you¡¯ll be teleported out of the Safe Zone,¡± Adam yelled, in a voice that thundered through the room which caused the attacks to stop and the room to go quiet.
Adam poked his head out as the people who were about to attack him stepped back with a look of confusion on their faces as a man next to him said, ¡°But you killed those people, we saw, they just disappeared.¡±
Adam stood up slowly, allowing everyone to see that he was absolutely fine and that the wound under his neck was fully healed. As he glanced around, he noticed Mr. Billingsgate, the husband of the former President, standing off to the side with rage in his eyes. Adam turned his attention to his prompts, chose the Safe Zone tab, and picked Permissions. He looked for Mr. Billingsgate¡¯s name. Once he found it, he focused his mind¡¯s eye as he refocused his attention on everyone around him.
¡°Okay, first rule, all of you, and I do mean all of you, need to reread the rules about safe zones. Why? Safe Zone, no death, if there¡¯s no death there isn¡¯t any combat, and if you bring combat into the safe zone what happens?¡±
¡°I did read the rules and all they say is that monsters get teleported out of the safe zone.¡± A woman in the crowd said.
¡°And the definition of one person trying to harm another person during the proverbial end of the world in the only safe places on the planet could be defined as what?¡±
¡°A Monster,¡± she said resignedly.
¡°A Monster,¡± Adam said agreeing with her.
¡°So, everyone that attacked me, they¡¯ve been teleported outside of the Safe Zone and they won¡¯t be re-entering this safe zone, any time soon,¡± Adam said.
¡°They can not enter any other safe zones for 48 hours either can they?¡± the woman asked.
¡°No, they cannot,¡± Adam agreed.
¡°48 Hours? That¡¯s a death sentence,¡± one of Adam¡¯s would-be attackers cried.¡±
¡°It could be. The Admiral could try to round them up and provide protection along the border of the safe area but if someone with the debuff on them tries to step into the safe zone they will be teleported again and guess what, the timer resets. ¡°
¡°Is there anything you can do for them Adam?¡± the Admiral asked.
¡°Unfortunately, no. I have an idea what started this¡hold on,¡± Adam said and then paused for a second as he walked over to a wall and used his ability Spellweaver to create an effect that allowed everyone near him to watch his sleeping body 5 minutes before he was attacked until now. Adam spent 2,500 of his 18,000 mana and the images cast onto the wall showed how Mr. Billingsgate walked in with a group of soldiers and pointed at Adam as he slept on the bed, ¡°That¡¯s the man that killed the President and started this apocalypse. If you kill him we¡¯ll be able to split all of his power and loot.¡± Then they all watched as the Navy Seal walked over, and quickly attacked Adam as he placed his knee on Adam¡¯s back, pulled his head back with his left hand, and tried to slit his throat with a knife in his right hand just before he disappeared. Everyone watched Mr. Billingsgate pointed at Adam as he flopped forward and cried, ¡°He killed him!¡±
Adam stopped the playback. As the spell ended he noticed Mr. Billingsgate leaving the room. It wouldn¡¯t matter, he couldn¡¯t get outside the safe zone in the next 5 minutes, let alone an hour.
Adam looked at the crowd and raised his voice so everyone could hear, ¡°I¡¯m done monologuing or explaining. Each and every one of you is safe here. I¡¯m going to head out into the world and try to find more people to save. If you try to harm someone while you¡¯re here whatever is running the Cultivation will put you out in the real world which is where they want you fighting and dying. As for anyone who instigates violence. This is my Safe Zone,¡± With a thought Adam pulled up and revoked Duncan Billingsgate¡¯s right to be in his safe zone.
¡°Permission of Duncan Billingsgate to use this safe zone has been revoked.
There was a scream from the hallway that Mr. Billingsgate had been trying to escape down.
¡°What did you do Adam?¡± The Admiral asked.
¡°I stopped protecting someone who tried to kill me in ¡®my¡¯ safe zone. Make sure that the President and everyone else that thinks they¡¯re in charge knows that. I¡¯ll leave the government to run things but none of you run me. As you¡¯ve seen me die once already you know that I¡¯ll be back if it happens again and the idiots that ordered it will be locked out of this safe zone. Though Mr. Billingsgate should consider himself lucky. He didn¡¯t violate the Safe Zone so he¡¯s probably on the outskirts of this safe area and has the ability to find another and rest there if he can. Funny thing, every one of those soldiers that attacked me was navy. I just saved thousands of Navy personnel today, no good deed, and all that. Now I¡¯m going to head out and save whomever I can save around the country. So, less talk, more action,¡± Adam said as he teleported to the entrance of the tunnel that leads to Norad. Adam drew the sword Ender from his inventory and floated up into the sky. The nearest city not in the safe zone was Pueblo so he started flying southeast.
At 30 miles per hour, it took him less than an hour to get to the border of his safe zone. Adam thought about the things he¡¯d seen over the last seven days and considered his level. He was currently Division 1, Grade 0, Level 7. He thought he knew how levels worked so he accessed his Personal Interface and looked up leveling. He was surprised to find the following prompt.
You possess the skill Lore Leveling: 100. Would you like to,
Review lore at your own pace
Download information for instantaneous access, Warning may cause side effects including drowsiness, dizziness, and unconsciousness.
That¡¯s interesting. Adam thought for a moment then teleported to the Safe Zone in Las Vegas where he found the safe zone packed with people as screams and yells for help came from others outside of the safe zone. Adam teleported again directly above the hospital and looked down. A hoard of minotaurs wielding giant battle axes was attacking and killing anyone and everything outside the safe zone. Adam cast Fly, sheathed his sword ¡®Ender¡¯, and he pulled his harness with his M134 Minigun of Unlimited Ammo out of his personal storage. Truthfully he¡¯d been wanting to try this thing out. While he hovered, he pulled a P90 of unlimited ammo out of storage and started shooting the minotaurs directly below him with controlled bursts. They didn¡¯t stand a chance as the two to three bursts tore each of them apart.
Once he¡¯d cleared a place to land, he dropped down in front of five survivors, placed the p90 back in his inventory, and went to work with the Minigun. The minigun put out 50 rounds per second. Each round was doing only 3 points of damage, but the bullets were coming out like a laser. Additionally, they were armor-piercing rounds and damage to the first minotaur, the one behind it, and the one behind that one. Adam wondered how many minotaurs one round could go through. All anyone could hear was a loud burr as he turned Minotaurs into hamburger meat.
Once he¡¯d cleared out a small area, Adam threw down the portal 5 feet outside the safe zone, activated it, and opened a portal to Norad.
¡°Everyone through, this leads to Norad. It¡¯s a permanent safe zone that will allow all of you to stay in it 24 hours a day. Go, I¡¯ll take care of the minotaurs.
For the next hour, he alternated between the Minigun,2 P90, and Beretta¡¯s of Unlimited Ammo laying waste to any monsters that came close to the portal. He didn¡¯t have the Analyze or Identity skills anymore so he had no idea what levels he was fighting but it looks like whatever the Rank Disparity trait was, it worked in his favor while he protected the portal and the people fleeing through it.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
When the last person stepped through the portal to the safe zone in Colorado he deactivated the magic item, picked it up, and placed it in his storage. He stepped into the safe zone and reviewed his Combat log. Adam noted that he¡¯d killed 313 minotaurs. He also found a message for the death of a 50th-level minotaur and noted that he¡¯d only earned 250 XP for its death. Additionally, he found that after the first bullet each bullet that followed it into the target counted as a critical strike and his modifier was x10 at skill level 100. Each bullet after the first was doing 30 points of damage. After he reviewed the combat logs, the lowest-level minotaur he¡¯d killed was level 50 while the highest level one had been level 75.
Adam walked over and found one of the chairs in a quiet corner of the safe zone and sat down to review his gains. He was now Division 1. Rank 4, level 6 after killing the Minotaurs which meant that his equivalent level to the monsters was now level 146. Adam had a rank disparity of 146. He still didn¡¯t know exactly what that meant. It was a system the Syndicate had adopted to keep things simple for worlds being cultivated. For non-monsters, it looked like they would earn 10 levels and then go up 1 grade which cost 55,000 XP total. Then they would start at level 1 again and work their way up to level 10, get grade 2, and head back down to level 0 to work their way back up again. This would go on until he reached Grade 10 then they¡¯d go up a division and start the process at level 0 again.
This system seemed overly complicated although it looked like each major change, Level, Grade, and Division increased hit points stamina, and mana. It also looked like each power level someone went up doubled XP and damage against those one classification lower than them. Also, they were 0worth less XP. If he was the individual one classification lower, he did half as much damage but received double the XP. For him, if he attacked anything under level 100 he was only earning ? the XP he could if he was fighting something level 100 or higher. If he attacked something that was only levels 1-10 then he¡¯d only receive 1/4th the XP. This system was complicated but interesting. It looked like it was designed to reward those who stayed within their classification while allowing them to possibly affect others who had a higher classification than them, as long as it wasn¡¯t too high.
Adam thought about what he¡¯d learned for a few more minutes then pulled up his leveling Lores on his Personal Interface and asked for the download. Before he started reviewing that information he decided he needed to know as much as he could. While he had a level 100 effectively in every skill, he didn¡¯t feel like he¡¯d learned anything new. Most likely the information would only become available as he used this or that skill and he wouldn¡¯t notice the changes until then because he hadn¡¯t seen them yet. It was completely weird knowing he had the knowledge but not having the knowledge at his fingertips. Until the ¡°Change¡± that had never happened before. As new experiences went, it sucked. He had 10 hours in this safe zone before the coward debuff was activated. Adam pulled up Lore skills, categorized them, and started with areas like Space, Time, and Chaos lore then moved to any magical lore he had. It didn¡¯t take long to go through everything that he could think of. He was sure he was missing some subjects, but he was also sure if he needed to know something he¡¯d be fine.
Nine and a half hours later he stood, dusted himself off, and looked around. Another couple of survivors had made it to the safe zone. He introduced himself and then sent them to Norad. Adam didn¡¯t know what the total population in his safe zone was, but he was sure he¡¯d saved quite a few. Once everyone here was through to Norad he stored his portal device and stepped out of the safe zone. Staying in the safe zone would have caused him problems. That¡¯s why when an energy field surrounded him and he was teleported, transported, or zapped into space next to the sun, he was a bit surprised.
Of course, the energy field that suddenly placed him next to the sun caused him some problems as well. It was incredibly bright for a little bit then his vision cleared, and he was floating in the vacuum of space, not that far above the surface of the Sun. He was lucky he hadn¡¯t had any of his weapons or items out of his Personal Storage, the only item that was destroyed was his Belt of Wardrobes. He was going to have to get another one, maybe a couple if this kept happening.
Well, he had expected a response from the Syndicate, but this wasn¡¯t exactly what he had in mind. Also, he was pretty sure he didn¡¯t have the mana he¡¯d need to get back to Earth, and the portal he had wouldn¡¯t have the range either. The other thing he noticed was that he was falling toward the Sun.
Adam wasn¡¯t in orbit and the Sun was huge. Gravity, yeah it sucks. He¡¯d be at the surface in seconds. He¡¯d probably survive that too because gravity wasn¡¯t supposed to have¡As he thought that his velocity toward the sun slowed, and he started to hover. So Adaptable, as in the ability to survive and move in the environment in question did work. Well, he¡¯d wanted to move between this sun and planet Earth, though he had no idea which way it was. Adam cast a simple direction spell with the location of the Earth as his target. An arrow appeared in front of him and pointed up and away from the Sun. He willed himself to move towards Earth and he started to fall away from the Sun quickly. he wasn¡¯t traveling at the speed of light but within 15 minutes the Earth was growing quickly. Light took about 8 minutes to get from the Sun to the Earth, So about half the speed of light. That was pretty fast. As he thought that, a prompt filled his vision,
Fundamental Ability ¡°Willed Movement¡± Unlocked. As a being of Chaos, constantly connected to it so long as you are not in a region of ERROR, you can move through Chaos as you desire at any rate you desire. As Chaos is present in all aspects of reality your will allows you to move as you desire. This is a sub-ability of the Fundamental Ability ¡°Adaptable.¡±
Oh really? No mana cost, nothing? Now all he needed was a navigation system and he¡¯d be able to travel between the stars at will. He really missed his nanites. Adam willed himself back into orbit over North America and was enveloped by the energy field again. He didn¡¯t have the ability to analyze it, so he didn¡¯t know how to counter it. Although, this energy field felt different yet familiar. As he dropped through the atmosphere of Earth he felt himself vibrating into a place where he could see Earth and the ground below him, but the Earth was not there. Adam was moving toward the Earth but felt like he was getting farther and farther away.
One of the RPGs he played described such a place as a parallel dimension that touched all points of the Universe beside it. That place had been called the Ethereal Plane in that game. Except that he was surrounded by an energy field as he dropped through it into another realm of shifting gasses of all colors. Adam felt like he was falling forever, which was weird because it only felt like moments had passed when he noticed that the gasses he¡¯d been dragged through lightened to a roiling dull white, a color he was quite familiar with, chaos.
The energy field deposited him into the center of an octagonal bipyramid that was slowly spinning on its axis all around him while he floated in the middle of it.
¡°So, this is the mortal that has caused us so many issues?¡± a male voice asked.
¡°Yes, should he survive the year on his planet¡¯s cultivation the bet he¡¯s made will require the liquidation of approximately 75% of our assets among the cosmos¡± a feminine voice answered.
Adam looked around for the speakers and realized they were behind and above him. He was but a microbe compared to the scale of those beings. If he were to guess, they aren¡¯t bigger than The Ancient Enemy which was larger than some Universes when he could gauge its scale. As he looked around he noted the humanoid shadows near him yet far away and through the colored gases. The shadows and he were all smaller than the female¡¯s dainty pinky toe, which was covered in a brilliant red polish. As he gazed at her foot he was overwhelmed by some sort of ability that made it hard to think. His body was locked into rigidity as he retreated behind his mental defenses.
Adam¡¯s core identity fell back through his memories, which spanned multiple infinities. His body might not be able to move, and his attributes might be far too low to compete with whatever these beings were, but they would find it difficult to reach him through the layers of defense he had created within his mind. How long would it take for a being to access and absorb the knowledge that has spanned Universes?
Adam pulled up his Personal Interface to check his attributes and levels and realized that something was wrong. He had only been in this place for maybe 30 seconds and his Level was now Division 1, Grade 4, and Level 9. He¡¯d earned 30,000 XP. Was he back to earning 1,000 XP per second because he was this close to Chaos? As he wondered about the XP he could still feel the pressure from the entities standing above him and he could still hear their voices as if they were speaking from very far away. very long tunnel.
¡°I have scanned this one. I find nothing remarkable about him. He doesn¡¯t even have any abilities,¡± the male voice stated.
¡°Not a one?¡± the female asked.
The male enormous head shifted as if it was looking down at Adam as he asked, ¡°What is happening to him?¡±
¡°He¡¯s leveling, he¡¯s leveling at an incredible rate. Discard him now. Whatever is going on, this one cannot be allowed to exist, he will challenge the Gods Themselves!¡± the female stated as the pressure from their presence faded, and he felt a sense of great velocity.
Adam came back to his normal senses and found himself still in the octagonal bipyramid which now spun within the milky white of Chaos. It lasted for but an instant after he looked out before the raw chaos ate it and Chaos flooded into him. There was a moment of adjustment after which he opened his Personal Interface and was surprised to note that he was earning 1 million XP per second.
One second later he was Division 3, Grade 3, Level 3. The next second, Division 5, Grade 1, level 2. Since it only took 550,000 XP to increase one division 10 seconds after he¡¯d been immersed in Chaos he had reached Category 1, Division 9, Grade 6, Level 8. Adam had to admit he was starting to feel a little more like himself as his attributes reached 1,447. At this rate, he¡¯d be through Categories and Tiers in 50 seconds.
Adam wondered about the sword he had in his Inventory ¡°Ender.¡± It was magical and could level. Could he pull it out here and allow it to level too? Adam considered the pros and cons and then willed the sword into his hand which caused prompts to populate his vision.
The Unique Sword Ender has entered a realm of Chaos. Durability damage to Ender far exceeds its current durability. The Soul bound to this weapon has been freed. The Sword has been transformed into a chaos blade.
Congratulations! You have discovered a Chaos Blade.
A Chaos Blade may only be wielded by a creature of Chaos.
This weapon is drawn and sheathed at will from Chaos.
Damage is Variable
This weapon is indestructible.
This weapon is Soul-Bound to the Fundamental being Johnathan Bennard
This Note: may only be seen by creatures with ¡°Fundamental¡± abilities. The Blade of Chaos ignores all barriers, spells, and armor that do not have the trait ¡°Fundamental¡± as part of its makeup as if they are not there. Any creature struck by this weapon will react as if touched by raw chaos. As Chaos by its very nature is undefinable, the effects of what will happen cannot be quantified. Though the entity¡¯s Luck may or may not determine if the exposure to chaos is beneficial, neutral, or ruinous just as your luck did since you are ¡®lucky¡¯ enough to be holding this item and reading this note¡Johnathan.
Well, that wasn¡¯t supposed to happen Adam thought as he willed the Chaos Blade to be sheathed which caused it to disappear from his hand. He checked his Personal Storage, and it wasn¡¯t there. He willed the Chaos Blade back into his hand and it was suddenly there. He sheathed it again. While he was testing the sword another 30 seconds had gone by. He was now Category 7, Division 4, Grade 2, Level 4. Adam had to admit, that whoever came up with this way of handling leveling needed to have their head examined. It was complicated to keep track of.
Adam considered everything he¡¯d heard and witnessed and realized that Fundamental Abilities were not recognizable by even the most powerful gods which those two must have been or they¡¯d have known that throwing him into raw chaos was pointless. Though he hadn¡¯t expected the XP influx. Adam thought about that for a moment then realized he should have figured that out by the descriptions of his abilities. He was now a Confluence which meant that as chaos entered him it was being converted to the Fundamental powers as well as providing him with XP which is what allowed him to use magic anywhere.
In Raw Chaos, there was nowhere for that energy to go which meant he was converting it to XP. He wondered if the beings that had granted him that ability knew that was possible. Of course, he or she did, and of course, they would have left him an avenue to regain what had been changed, the hints had all been there. Even at a million XP per second, it would be a little while before he was back to what he had been when he took on the Ancient Enemy. Now that the beings that had discarded him thought he was dead, Adam just needed to sit back, relax, and review what he¡¯d learned about the changes, contemplate anything else he might ¡®not¡¯ have lost permanently, and then figure a way to get out of Chaos and back to Earth.
Chapter 77, Im Back
(Chaos, Day 9)
You Have reached Ascendent level 10 (Max, meaning all categorizations below Ascendant are also level 10). Divinity Points are required to Reach Divinity Level 1. Experience (XP) can be converted to Divinity Points (DP) at a conversion rate of 1,000,000 XP to 1 DP
Fundamental Ability Confluence detected. Chaos Converting to Divinity Points.
Wait, What? Adam thought as he roused from the nap he¡¯d been taking. He checked the timer on his Personal Interface, 17 hours had passed. He must have been tired. He looked at his attributes which were now over 8 million each and his hit points which were over 35 trillion. Why the hell would he need that many hit points as an Ascendant being? If something level 1 to 10 was trying to hurt him it would only do 1/64 the damage they¡¯d do normally and he would be doing 64 times the damage for the same attack. That was going to take the fun right out of the Cultivation for him. Though it would make it easier to try to save people. Of course, he wouldn¡¯t need to worry about that if he couldn¡¯t get out of this area, then he paused, he was in raw chaos. Whatever was, had been, or could exist within this medium. Adam smiled as he thought, Oh, those idiots.
Not wanting to invent the wheel all over again, Adam visualized the chamber he¡¯d created in Chaos and teleported himself into it. Sure enough, he materialized in the structure he¡¯d created by his Chaotic Nanites which until this point he wasn¡¯t sure he could recreate, but he was in Chaos so they could most definitely exist here. Funny thing about his nanites. They¡¯d all been programmed to self-replicate and repair him and Thor. Adam willed his resistances and Adaptation off as he touched his hands to a wall. Within a second his heads-up display and interface were back in place. That¡¯s when he received a shock.
Current location Chaotic Nanite saturation 1% of ERROR, Controlled by Creator.
Adam ensured the quantum links were re-established, set them to replicate the chaos touching this structure to nanites, and started funneling the chaotic nanites into his personnel storage as they were created. It wasn¡¯t a hard task as the chaos that had been funneling through him was used to creating more nanites. Once he had that underway he focused on what the prompt had said, 1% saturation?
A full percent of something that was supposedly infinite was now chaotic nanites? That was interesting. From his memory, he pulled the program he¡¯d written long ago into place and searched through the now semi-intelligent program that had resided within the quantum-entangled structure that was the chaotic nanite swarm. That was when he noticed that someone had made subtle changes to the programming that was overseeing the nanites. Following the links back to their origin point he found a sub-atomic region that had a connection he couldn¡¯t follow.
Adam sent an inquiry and realized that the other end of that connection led to his old Place of Power and his Personal Vault there. The hand-shaking protocols, security measures, and connection requirements were all familiar to him. He thought about using that connection then disregarded it. That location was outside of this cosmos, and he wasn¡¯t supposed to remember that information. He might be able to feign ignorance about stumbling back into something he¡¯d created and hacking his way back into the system. If he followed that link and bypassed the countermeasures he¡¯d put in place, something that would take a quantum computer hundreds of years to do, he¡¯d be declaring loud and clear, ¡°I remember!¡±
Instead of hacking the connection he sent a request for a data dump and started reviewing the historical data of his nanites within this realm of Chaos. Adam reviewed the footage by absorbing the data dumb directly into his memory and allowing his mind to sort and prioritize the information as he reviewed it. Three messages grabbed his attention.
Timestamp 0: Order Replicate, Remain Dormant, Monitor.
Timestamp 1e.09 (¡(06) 331 12:31:69) Localized Infiltration Detected, Local Nanites subjected to non-creator orders. No counter instructions, allow, monitor and record
Timestamp 1e.75 (¡(72) 008 18:31:21) Creator located. Damage to Creator identified. Damage repaired. Updating.
The first message was obviously the moment the Change took place in this Cosmos. He had no idea if that was at the beginning of this Cosmos or at the moment he forced the change. Adam reviewed some more information and realized it was definitely around the time he punched Nox in the head. He had updates coming from both the nanites left in Chaos and the ones that had been left behind in that Universe. It seemed that he¡¯d been leaking nanites as he transversed backward through time. Some had been left in every single Universe the Ancient Enemy had regurgitated. Nice to know there was a part of him just about everywhere.
The infiltration message was much more interesting. It seemed that someone that worked for the Syndicate had figured out there was something technological that was smaller than a subatomic particle and had sent a blind request for an update. The nanites, ever on the lookout for their creator responded and interacted with the request. Soon after the surveillance and targeting functions of the nanites had been ¡®hacked¡¯ which wasn¡¯t exactly true. The nanites were intelligent enough to ignore the requests but decided to allow them so they could continue to look for their creator. The nanites had not spread from the universes they were in or out of Chaos until the entities that were using them decided that they were going to start traveling between Universes. As Adam reviewed the information he watched as the chaotic nanites spread throughout all levels of the Cosmos.
As Adam watched he considered something, why hadn¡¯t the nanites recognized him as their creator when he first appeared on Earth? Obviously, they¡¯d been aware of him. He divided his awareness and reviewed the nanite¡¯s response to his appearance.
Timestamp 1e.75 (¡(72) 001 00:00:01) Possible Creator Sighting. Quantum signature 95.79% to Creator. Maintain Current configuration.
Then he compared it to the Timestamp for when he touched the wall in Chaos.
Timestamp 1e.75 (¡(72) 008 18:31:19) Possible Creator located in ERROR.
Biological Quantum signature 95.79% match to Creator
Previous Biological Quantum signature variance in this quantum state never greater than 10%
High Probability Quantum Signature of Creator has been altered.
Infiltrate, exam, handshake, compare.
Verified Creator has been altered. All handshaking protocols, passwords, and embedded data and code are known to possible Creator. Redesignating as Creator.
Repairing mental links and quantum channels. Successful
The creator is back online.
` So the nanites didn¡¯t recognize him, probably because of his fundamental changes. They hadn¡¯t shown initiative until a biological entity entered Chaos and interacted with them. That also meant they wouldn¡¯t recognize any of his alternates that might exist throughout the cosmos because none of them would remember the coding he¡¯d embedded in them or be able to reach them in Chaos. Adam thought about it for a second then created a very complex set of physical actions that he would need to take in a specific sequence that would automatically allow any nanites that were created by him to recognize him as their creator, repair his link, and give him access. If he¡¯d had that during the last change. he¡¯d have been set from the start. he made it a 512-point sequence. He also set the creation of a room with a portal generator and portal machinery to be created within Chaos once an individual was recognized as the creator. Now, no matter what happened to him, he¡¯d have his ability to move around instantaneously back in about 60 seconds.
Adam went back to reviewing the history of the Cosmos his nanites existed in. His nanites recorded the creation of the Syndicate and the Cultivations that took place. While the souls were not annihilated the deaths of countless sentients could be laid at the feet of the Syndicate. He watched as the programs that were written utilized requested information from his nanites allowing for observation, monitoring, and targeting within any Universe they were introduced to. Ultimately though no one in the Syndicate had control of his nanites. The nanites had just been neutral and helpful to whoever talked to them while they searched for their creator. He thought about how ironic it was that what had happened was very similar to the plot of Star Trek the Motion Picture.
Next, he thought about how many Nanites were floating around in Chaos. 1% saturation huh? He thought about recreating his portal network. he could do that within the Universe but checked the current status of the Milky Way and realized that with Magic in play, a lot had changed. A major change, the Lexi had been wiped out roughly 500 years ago. It looked like the Syndicate had recognized the danger they represented and just obliterated them. They¡¯d even had magic; it didn¡¯t matter when minor Divines and monster summoning became involved. Ten entrances to the Labyrinth had opened across the planet. The ambient magic had been saturated and the monsters had made their way out onto the planet and destroyed it.
Adam thought about what he could do and what he needed for a few more moments and then had an idea. He could create a Dyson Sphere. He thought up the plans for a Dyson Sphere, the outside protected from chaos by the chaotic nanites. The inside would contain a star exactly like the sun with rotating slits that would allow for a day-night cycle. He would be able to house countless portal devices in the crust of the structure and the inside could act as a lifeboat if it was ever needed. Also, in the vastness of Chaos, he was sure a small Dyson sphere here wouldn¡¯t draw too much attention. Also, it would most likely exist forever no matter what happened to the Universes that came and went.
The main reason he wanted to create this structure was to recreate his portal network. Which would allow him to instantly travel to any point he¡¯d been or any point his nanites were as well as do the same for a huge number of people. The energy that his nanites had access to in this realm of chaos was effectively unlimited. He gave the order and the construction of the Dyson Sphere began. Even with as many nanites as there were, it would still take a couple of hours to draw in and convert all the chaotic nanites and energy into the structures he needed.
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While the Dyson Sphere was being created he realized something, even before he got his nanites back he hadn¡¯t eaten except when someone else was and he hadn¡¯t used the bathroom in 9 days. he hadn¡¯t had to. Utilizing the nanites now saturating his body he discovered that he hadn¡¯t needed to go to the bathroom because everything that could be considered waste was converted to one type of magic or another. He could eat whatever he wanted, and it was broken down as part of his ability Confluence.
Next, he reviewed his trip through the space he¡¯d been transported through and was given quite a shock. As his nanites expanded through Chaos they came to understand that Chaos surrounded everything as it did before except that there was now a membrane that diffused the chaos and prevented it from ever directly entering a Universe by accident. Gateways and spells could still draw chaos into a Universe but the accident that happened on Primore could never happen again as the membrane to each Universe was then surrounded by a host of parallel higher and lower dimensions that helped filter travelers. The parallel dimensions were unique to each Universe but travel between the Universes could now be accomplished through what was being referred to as Astral space. Another change was that instead of each Universe having its own heavens and hells there was just one of each and they were both attached to the Astral Plane.
The nanites had spread throughout every Universe and had connected to the Astral Plane and then on into every dimension that it was connected to. Like Chaos, the Astral Plane was just as vast. Like Chaos, his nanites were everywhere. He wondered if every Universe in Chaos had to touch Astral Space or if like Chaos there were multiple astral spaces within the chaos with multiple universes within those astral spaces, all separated from each other. He did a query and found that only one Astral barrier had been discovered thus far. With only 1% of the area of Chaos converted though, that left a lot of room for exploration.
Adam reviewed more data. He wanted to know if the nanites had expanded out of chaos across gaps of nothing, and what he found shocked him to the core. The nanites had reached an edge of Chaos and found a barrier of sorts. Along that barrier over hundreds of millions of years, various areas of Chaos within the Cosmos rubbed close together and formed breakthroughs. When that happened if the nanites were in the area they would help hold open the hole and spread into the new region of chaos until the hole widened so far as not to be indistinguishable from the original region of chaos. A good analogy would be like a single-cell organism coming upon another then combining and becoming one bigger organism. There would be a flood of material as the chaos merged then the astral as even more universes were explored by the nanites.
Adam opened his map function and zoomed out. As far as he could tell even as this area of Chaos absorbed another area of chaos there was no way to tell. Each was still surrounded by the barrier of nothing and the three-dimensional map showed that it was still stacked. he wondered if given enough time the cosmos would become one giant area of chaos with one huge Astral plane containing all the universes that existed throughout the cosmos. Not that there would really be much difference between the current configuration and that one.
While Adam waited for the Dyson Sphere to be completed, he reviewed what the nanites witnessed in his Universe from the point of his arrival forward. He watched as his alternate self was targeted and placed 1,000 miles above the sun.
Well, that definitely looked like it hurt.
He also watched as the Administrator reviewed his arrival and called for the early start of the Cultivation. Then he watched the start of the Cultivation and the ruckus his bet and move to save the women and children had made. He had thought the shocks were over at that point until he learned that the male voice that had been talking to the female on the edge of the astral had been Apolyn, now a deity. Hold up, how the hell had he become a deity? If the timelines were comparable, even with a time differential that shouldn¡¯t have been possible. He called up the nanites that were part of him and reviewed their history. What he found pissed him right off. Apolyn had found a way to cheat the system, again. That dirtbag! Though he had to admit, that dirtbag¡¯s resourcefulness was astounding.
Apoyln had found out about the Syndicate during one of his Guild meetings and traveled through the Dungeon and the Labyrinth to another Universe where the Syndicate was housed. He¡¯d worked for a couple of years as a low-level tech, setting up and installing the Magic Sinks on planets to be Cultivated. Then he¡¯d changed his appearance and traveled back in time 20,000 years to again work for the Syndicate helping to install the Magic Sinks on planets that would be cultivated while he was working for the Syndicate from his own time. This time however he created a spell, much like the old one, that siphoned XP off souls as they were drawn into the soul trap. He¡¯d worked for the Syndicate for over 1,000, years installing Magic Sinks on a new planet every 3 months adding his spell to them. Thus far he¡¯d stolen the 55 billion XP needed to attain Divine Level 1 and had accepted the path of Divinity. Wait, what?
Adam reviewed his prompts and found that one of his old settings was still active. he¡¯d auto declined the offer to become a Divine though he was earning Divinity Points. He wondered how that was going to work out. Apolyn on the other hand was now earning Divinity Points from the XP he was harvesting but at a 1 million to 1 ratio. He¡¯d be the equivalent of a Rank 1 Divine in 17 more hours, Level 2 Divine 17 hours after that and he wasn¡¯t going to have a chance to catch up. It was good to know that saving the women and children had prevented him from drawing experience from their souls. Anything to thwart that asshole¡¯s plans was automatically a win for him.
He was drawn from his thoughts when his nanites informed him that the Dyson Sphere was stable. Adam teleported to a secure chamber inside the crust of the Dyson Sphere and recreated his brain construct and regulated a portion of his mind to it. He might not have the ability anymore but he still understood how to tie himself to a computer and utilize it to improve his memory capacity, sorting, and computational functions.
Next, he connected his additional ¡°brain¡± to all the known nanites and turned it on. Like that, he was back. In a picosecond, he¡¯d reviewed everything he needed to and relegated those functions to that portion of his identity that he still thought of as Thor. If he was being honest, Thor had been incredibly bored with the lowered input speeds from one biological entity though he hadn¡¯t thought about it until he could do so again.
The first thing he did was ghost himself. Adam removed the ability of his nanites anywhere to target or see him by any request, search, or function, even with real-time observation. They could see him of course, they just didn¡¯t report that they saw him. If the entity looking for him wasn¡¯t directly in front of Adam the nanites could not be utilized to see him.
Next, he made sure all power requirements were met for the portal facilities. While the inside of the Dyson sphere didn¡¯t represent the amount of space Thor had occupied before the change, it was also true that the facilities that were created on the planets never took up more than 5 to 10 percent of a planet the size of Earth. Now he had an area of 1.1e17 miles to work with. A quarter of the area under the landmasses, oceans, mountains seas deserts, and prairies he¡¯d created throughout the Dyson Sphere.
Adam also had the sphere populated with normal Earth-type animals, bacteria, and everything that was needed to sustain an ecosystem that large. He¡¯d even included an area that was an exact copy of the planet Earth and had teleported to a copy of his estate near Alamogordo up in the mountains.
It was one thing to know he was in a Dyson sphere in the abstract. It is quite another to look up into the sky and see the huge walls of a world rise up and away from him on all sides, far past the hazy horizon. Adam went into his living room and brought up the information concerning the cultivation of world 59,666 (Earth).
Cultivation Planet 59,666 (Earth)
Population: 2,196,342,245
Average Ambient Magic Level: .1
Maximum Ambient Magic Level: 10
Cage Status 0%
Soul Trap Status 100%
Only 9 Days since the cultivation had started and almost 4 billion people had died. In the grand scheme of Cultivations that was less than 1% of the total number of people that had been killed in the name of cheap materials for crafting and cheap experience because he was sure Apolyn couldn¡¯t have been the first being to try that hack to the system.
Adam checked his odds on the Gamblers Network.
Name: Johnathan Bennard
Location: Dallas Texas
Profession: Professor of Computer Science, University of North Texas at Dallas
Age: 35
Odds: 10,000 to 1 (1 Month)
100,000 to 1 (3 Months)
500,000 to 1 (12 Month¡¯s)
They were going to wish those odds were correct.
The next thing he did was find and review every single person that was still alive on planet Earth. Yes, his nanites were present throughout all the animals, plants, and materials of Earth. Monsters that spawned onto Earth were permeated by the nanites immediately but there was still a one or two-second delay when they came into existence when they were not controlled by the nanites which meant that he needed to hack the Syndicate.
Of course, Hacking the Syndicate wasn¡¯t hard. He was now controlling the system they thought they controlled. Adam easily removed any record of all the changes he made. Once he was sure that he could control all the humans he needed to, he had the nanites in his targets take control of every person that was closest to a Safe Zone and walked them into a Syndicate Store. While he walked them into the stores, he created the wealth they needed with his ability Infinite Wealth so that there was actual money behind the transaction as he transferred those funds to everyone he was controlling. He backdated the fund transfers to before the beginning of the Cultivation, changing all backup copies of any backup documents as well, then had the people he controlled purchase a Sanctuary Obelisk just like he had with the same settings for 328,680,000 Credits. Next, they¡¯d go outside and activate it. This happened simultaneously across the globe in 3,000 locations. With a possible million people per sanctuary that should be enough areas to hold all the survivors, He¡¯d even left a little wiggle room.
Additionally, there was a glitch in the system when anyone not within 25 miles of the sanctuary stepped through a portal onto a sanctuary. Any monsters that were above level 100 suddenly evaporated and all the other monsters froze allowing the humans to escape to safety. Additionally, Adam set up regenerating food supplies using the nanites and made sure that no nanites reported where the energy bars and water were coming from. Adam even saved that prick of a husband to the President. His luck attribute must have been working overtime because he¡¯d been teleported out of his safe zone and ended up in a small community that helped keep him alive until Adam allowed him back into the Safe Zone.
One aspect of his mind watched as the observers and technicians went crazy trying to figure out what had happened. One moment humans were fighting for their lives, the next they were safe in sanctuaries. Just to make sure the supervisors wouldn¡¯t do what they did to him, twice, he added a back door hack into all his nanites that would automatically target the technician that entered the command and the individual that ordered it and teleport them to the 1-inch above the event horizon of the Unicorn Singularity.
For the next part of his plan, he needed even more levels and a little bit of time. The humans of Earth were now safe, had food, water, and oops, he forgot. Adam turned on the nanite¡¯s self-replicate and repair for all the humans on Earth, thereby ensuring they wouldn¡¯t die of natural causes¡ever. he also stored full copies of each person, including the women and children off-planet in the Dyson Sphere, something that the nanites hadn¡¯t been configured to do before now. That done he made his way over to his balcony and stepped out to look over the empty city of Alamogordo and the White Sands beyond. he had to admit it was good to be back.
Adam double-checked to make sure he was still earning 1 million DP per second, which he was. His thoughts shifted and he realized that he probably couldn¡¯t bring anyone here that couldn¡¯t survive exposure to chaos. If there was that much ambient energy around it would probably kill them or change them though the animals and bacteria being created by the chaotic nanites were doing okay. Probably because they were made of the stuff of chaos.
Adam needed to double-check some of his assumptions and theories to continue with the plan he had. He didn¡¯t figure it would take very long but he needed to make sure he was still leveling. he¡¯d be able to check that in about 15 hours. If he was still leveling and if he wasn¡¯t reading the scaling and XP wrong he would reach Demi-God level 5 right around the 318th day of the cultivation. It looked like almost every divine, good, or evil, that was involved with the Syndicate was of the Divine categorization. The highest he¡¯d found had been level 9. No one with a categorization of Deity or higher seemed to show any interest, though there was no way to be sure. Most were outside any location his nanites had ever traveled to and they were in the heavens and the hells. Adam attributed that to the possibility that creatures of Demi-God or higher status had probably become fundamental in one way or another and while his nanites could affect and be controlled by him he was pretty sure that they couldn¡¯t affect the fundamental rules of the Cosmos, just like he couldn¡¯t.
Adam willed the casting of a Telepathy like spell that could reach Earth from Chaos and contacted Admiral Ainsworth with Telepathy.
Admiral Ainsworth, it¡¯s Johnathan or as I prefer Adam
Adam, where are you?, the Admiral asked back.
Elsewhere. I¡¯ve done what I can. 2 billion people are now in 3,000 Safe Zones around the world like the one you¡¯re in. You¡¯ll notice that your water supply and stores of MREs will not run out over the next year. Enjoy that. Other places will be making do with less.
What are we supposed to do for the next year? The Admiral asked.
There are monsters out there, you probably need to work on leveling but don¡¯t put yourselves in danger. In one year, when the opportunity is given, accept the opportunity to join the syndicate, you¡¯ll be taken off-world, but it¡¯ll be better than where you are. Adam sent back to him.
What will you be doing?
If I told you, you wouldn¡¯t believe him. Stay safe Admiral, you probably won¡¯t hear from me again for a while.
Adam broke the connection and went and laid down in his bedroom. He knew he¡¯d just taken a nap, but he was already exhausted. he had 309 days until he reached his maximum level before the 365-day mark. he went to his room, which was an exact duplicate of the room Clarence had tried to assassinate him in, so long ago, and went to sleep confident that his monitoring algorithms would notify him of any changes he needed to worry about.
Chapter 78, God with a little "g"
(Dyson Sphere, Day 10)
Adam only slept for about 4 hours before he was up again and moving. He accessed the surveillance of the Syndicate overseers on Triton and their headquarters around the Galaxy, as well as their Regional Headquarters for his Universe, the Universe of Primore, and a third Universe. They¡¯d actually come up with a numbering system that was part of Earth¡¯s designation. His Universe was identified as 59. There were other designators in front of it to make it unique among the infinite number of Universes out there but only the last two numbers counted in any grouping of 99. It was pretty ingenious.
He checked Primore, it resided within Universe 01 though the planet had not been given a designation and was simply Primore. That caught his interest, and he reviewed the history of Primore and found that the system had existed since before he punched Nox in the head, which without intervention wasn¡¯t possible. Something or someone must be doing something to renew the star and the planet.
As he reviewed the information concerning the Syndicate base on Triton he discovered that only one observer and administrator had been spaghettified by the Unicorn singularity when they tried to send a team to Earth to destroy one of the sanctuaries. The team was a group of demons being portaled to Earth directly from Hell. Their portal opened as a second one opened into chaos flooding hell with pure chaos. Even the denizens of hell could not resist the Universal equalizer that chaos was.
The chaos flooded into hell and destroyed the team, well except for one, which was turned into an angel before it disappeared. Otherwise, their staging area was wiped out of existence as chaos had started to spread further into Hell before Thor closed the portal and stopped the tide of chaos. Eventually, the chaos that had flooded in was absorbed into hell, but the damage was done and a permanent entry into the Astral now resided in that location as the barrier between the Astral and Hell had been destroyed there.
While the hellions and hell were changed the observer and the administrator had each been controlled to stand and step through a portal to a rogue moon. A third portal was opened, and the singularity sucked the moon and both of them through obliterating them in the process. That gravity lensing effect was no joke. Adam reviewed their conversation right before shit had gone sideways from their perspective.
¡°Are you sure you want to do this? The rules state that no one can enter or leave a planet under cultivation¡± the observer said.
¡°True, but someone has, even if we can¡¯t prove it and this is going to look like a random monster spawn.
¡°Okay, here we go, in 3, 2, 1¡¡±
They didn¡¯t even get to continue talking. Adam had forgotten how clinical and inhuman the Thor side of himself could be. But it was done, and it didn¡¯t look like there would be any Gods he¡¯d be giving allegiance to or taking orders from in the future. Whatever had decided that he needed to remember obviously didn¡¯t want him getting bogged down in divine politics. Which brought him to his next train of thought.
Divinity. In roughly 12 hours if he continued to level he had to choose a purpose. Or, if he leveled did that mean he had already chosen his purpose? To know the purpose he wished to serve he probably needed to know himself. Since this rollercoaster had started he¡¯d reacted and taken control, even forced people to do what he thought was good for them. Of course, he¡¯d been shown that there was a reason everyone had been sacrificed yet¡yet, he had not known that the Universe that contained Primore was number 01. Was it the first Universe? If so what happened if it was destroyed? Nothing? Did this Cosmos pop? He had to admit his consciousness was a little clearer now that he knew the souls here would go on, but he wondered about that as well. With the change, wherever the souls went to after death, the ones that made it there the last time. When the change happened, were the souls pulled out of that existence and replaced here, or did they continue on wherever they went and also get recreated here, or did they just cease to exist? When the change happened did that allow them to exist again? So many questions with so many possible answers that required belief and/or faith.
As he thought about all the aspects of reality and the various purposes he could have; wrath, revenge, life, goodness¡ a list that could go on forever, Adam realized that the one thing he believed in above everything else was the ability to change or be changed. Of course, If he was going to serve the purpose of change for all then he would have to further define his purpose, did he want to serve random change or guided change, or all kinds of change. Or would it be better to say that the purpose he wanted to serve was Personal Growth? How about Personal Growth that came through change both random and guided? Personal Growth had such a nice ring to it and as far as he could remember the Greeks had only had Auxo, or Auxesia, as the Goddess of Growth. Not exactly the same thing.
If he was going to define the purpose he wanted to serve it would be personal growth that leads to self-discovery about oneself and the Universe around them. His purpose would then be to continue on a journey of self-discovery while providing the tools and guides necessary to help others do the same. Adam felt like he was on the right track with this idea but he wasn¡¯t quite ready yet.
Adam decided to check out the Dyson sphere and see how big it really was. He stood up from his bed, went to the balcony, and launched himself into the air. With a thought, he was west towards the coast of California at three times the speed of sound. Though there really wasn¡¯t a west in this giant sphere. He noticed that he broke the sound barrier and felt no discomfort. His Fundamental Ability Adaption must be allowing him to withstand the friction of the wind. He willed himself to move faster. Then did the math in his head. If he wanted to make it all the way around the circumference of the sphere he¡¯d need to travel at Mach, carry the 1, holy hell Mach 75,000 or 54,750,000 mph. That kind of speed was just silly. Also, he¡¯d be creating a shock wave that would be quite powerful. Instead, he traveled away from the surface and eventually rose above the atmosphere which mirrored Earth¡¯s atmosphere perfectly. The nanites ensured the various atmospheric layers were handled properly and maintained normal air pressure. In the vacuum above the inner surface area of the Dyson Sphere, he looked back down at the surface, the Sun at his back. There was enough surface area in this sphere to hold the surface area of Earth 1,422,041,645 times. Keeping this in the region of Chaos might not be the best plan. Maybe he could move it to the edge of the Astral Plane and create a Universe that only contained a Dyson Sphere? That would be interesting. He couldn¡¯t do that right now though, the increase in Divinity Points, while he was in the region of Chaos, was just too much to give up.
Putting his mind back on his test flight inside the Dyson Sphere, he increased his speed and took a leisurely stroll around the sphere looking over the various areas and landmasses that had been created, as well as the oceans if you could call oceans that were wider than the complete surface of the Earth an ocean. He double-checked the areas and made sure there was nothing crazy going on, super deep oceans or super high mountains. There weren¡¯t. His Thor Aspect had kept all the Nanites on task, just like he always did.
Adam changed course and headed back toward his estate replica. He landed and conjured a glass of water that his nanites created for him. He sat down on the deck as his home in the Dyson Sphere was covered in twilight. The bands of sunlight and darkness became visible as the night came to this region of the sphere. The other areas still in daylight were so far away that it appeared as if bands of a nebula were moving toward his location from the east and away from him to the west. To ensure that the day-night cycle could be maintained a very thin layer of material that only allowed the equivalent of twilight to reach the most northern and southern regions of the Dyson sphere made up the top of the slitted structure that provides night and day around the equatorial region of the Dyson sphere. The areas in perpetual twilight allowed for a diversity of creatures that could not exist on Earth. He was pretty sure vampires and undead that couldn¡¯t handle sunlight would love those regions if he ever allowed them to move into this Dyson Sphere.
As he looked off into the twilight and took a sip of his water, various thoughts ran through his mis mind until he received the prompt he¡¯d been waiting for,
Congratulations! You have reached the Categorization of Divine 1. Before any further levels of Divinity may be earned you must choose a purpose to follow. This purpose will grant bonus Divinity Points when followed and severe penalties when ignored. Be wary, the purpose you chose can only be changed at great cost. What Purpose do you choose to serve?
Adam hesitated for a moment then said ¡°Personal Growth that leads to self-discovery about oneself and the Universe around them.¡±
Such a Purpose is unacceptable. This implies that one will always grow when entropy and fate decree this cannot be true. Eventually, all things must end. Please choose another Purpose.
Well, that sucked, Adam thought as he considered what type of purpose he could follow then he said simply, ¡°Natural Selection.¡±
The Purpose of Natural Selection is acceptable. As a being with the influence of a Divine with the purpose of ¡°Natural Selection,¡± it is your purpose to ensure that natural selection is maintained. While broad in scope one primary concern of a divine that follows this purpose is to ensure that higher powers do not meddle in the affairs of mortals. Failure to serve your purpose may result in the loss of divinity.
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Adam didn¡¯t feel any different and double-checked his XP. Yes, he was still gaining Divinity Points at a rate of 1 million per second. So, his purpose did not see him getting free DP per second as against Natural Selection. That was good to know. Adam began to think about the various things the purpose of Natural Selection could include and realized that he needed to understand nature and the rules of the Universe which meant that he should have the ability to review and even tweak those rules in whatever Universe he was in,
Ability Intuited, Congratulations! You have gained the ability ¡°Access Universal Settings¡± ¨C You may review the rules of any Universe you currently reside in so long as the ambient mana is greater than 1%. You may review, change, and lock settings. Settings may only be unlocked by divines with a purpose that is comparable or if they are higher in rank with access to settings you modify.
Fundamental Ability Intuited, Congratulations! You have gained the ability ¡°Access Cosmic Settings¡± ¨C You may access the rules that govern the Cosmos. You may review, change, and lock settings that may only be unlocked by other fundamental beings with a purpose similar to yours at a higher level. Fundamental settings are not automatically visible to divine or mortals that have the ability ¡°Access Universal Settings.¡±
Note: Major changes to the settings of a Cosmos may draw the attention of a Harbinger of Change. Harbingers of Change are the second to final authority on the allowance of any major change to the Cosmos.
Jackpot! That was interesting and was something he would need to know how to do if he was to make the changes he was thinking about. Adam concentrated on the ability to Access Universal Settings and watched as an interface opened up within his prompt menu. From his days of programming, he recognized the format and brought up the help menu then thought ¡°List Commands.¡± he was rewarded as the list was categorized into 4 groups.
Cosmos settings (Fixed).
Basic Settings
Advanced Settings
Change Log
Adam chose the changelog and watched as it exploded and started scrolling down his vision. He knew at that moment that going through the changelog was going to take a while. He minimized the window and checked on the Syndicate to make sure they were still stumped on how to fix their issues with Earth. He had to admit, it was kind of fun fucking with them this way. Then he sat down in a comfortable Lazy boy recliner he had the nanites create before he opened the window and started from the beginning.
As he went through the changelog he noticed a couple that were fundamental changes but otherwise a majority of the other changes were unremarkable. Each timestamp had an Id code which only took a little while for him to figure out. The code had the identifier of the individual making the changes as well as a timestamp code for when the change was made and what time the individual making the changes was from. He only had to wonder about that for a minute before he came across a minor change that was instituted by someone that was from some time in the future. It looked like the Universe itself was keeping track of who meddled with it and from when.
If the Universe was keeping track of this, was that information somehow used for something else? He looked at the Basic Settings which contained submenus until he found the menu for attributes. Then he formed a query through the help function to find a setting, attribute, or some other designated value that utilized the Changelog time stamp codes.
Cosmic Luck ¨C Cosmic luck for all creatures is set to zero upon the creation of that creature. Actions that change or alter the Universe on a Universal scale (for example, making changes to the timeline) may modify Cosmic Luck either negatively or positively. Note: The odds that any action that modifies Cosmic Luck in a positive way are 1,349,531 to 1.
Cosmic Luck directly affects an entity¡¯s ability to interact with the Universe, Cosmos, and ERROR.
Adam looked through the Universal settings until he found the command he was looking for then pulled up all of his attributes and searched for his Cosmic Luck.
Cosmic Luck: Positive Error
Positive Error? Adam input ¡°Define Positive Error¡± and received,
A positive error is the result of a calculation that is every increasing positively.
So, another way of describing infinite. Nice. Adam wondered if that Cosmic Luck had anything to do with him gaining the fundamental abilities he had or the adjustment that was made so he¡¯d remember what changed. he returned to looking over the change Log.
Three days later he was still reviewing the changelog when something funny happened. An update to the changelog happened while he was watching. Suddenly, he found himself naked and level 1 back in Antarctica with everyone running towards him on New Year¡¯s Day just before he was to be found, covered, and escorted toward the building. Adam ignored everything around him and accessed the changelog again. Then he found the Universal time flow setting and stopped time while he figured this out. he went into the Advanced Settings and found what he was looking for. Admin functions. he designated himself as an Admin and made himself unaffected by changes to the timeline. When he looked at the timestamp of the change he noted a new designator that he realized designated the Universe the entity had come from that was making changes as 01 and filed that away for later. he undid their change by erasing it in the log which created a prompt.
Timeline Reverted, accept changes to self?
Adam accepted the changes and found himself back in the Dyson Sphere. As soon as the changes were erased new changes were made. This time he didn¡¯t receive a prompt. His status as Admin protected him from whatever bullshit the guy, or gal, from Universe 01 was trying to do. Adam checked his status on the Syndicate system and noted that even though they keep on trying to delete Johnathan Bennard from the timeline, the Universe kept undoing the change and automatically fixing itself. Whoever the user was must be getting frustrated. Also, their Cosmic Luck must be awful by now. When Adam attained Cosmic level Access he¡¯d look them up and see who this entity was if he could. Though by then he should be able to fix the things he wanted to fix.
Over the next 13 days, he learned a lot about the universal settings. The more he dug into the settings the more he felt like it was an assembler language to a program. Not exactly, but close enough that the comparison was accurate. Of course, then, just as he thought he had a handle on what he was looking at he found the setting that squashed any assumptions he¡¯d made that what he was looking at might be just like a computer programming language when he accessed a note concerning user interfaces.
Help, Setting, Utility, Cognitive comparison, Interface: This setting adjusts the interface of this access ability so that the user can access the various functions and settings within by creating an interface that is similar to something the user knows. Note, that specific skills and knowledge will allow this interface to be understood with greater clarity.
So, this interface felt like a computer programing language because that was what he was most comfortable with. Good to know. That also meant that there were probably aspects to the interface that he still wouldn¡¯t know to ask for. Nothing he could worry about now.
Adam finally reached Deity level 10 and had 6 days until he reached Demi-God Status. he decided it was time to go double-check on Earth and see what else was going on.
He portaled to a point near Norad and looked down on the 25-mile radius of the safe zone from about 5 miles up as he willed himself to float. Suddenly, he felt magic lock onto him and yank him away placing him right next to the Unicorn Singularity. Adam felt nothing from it, No gravity, no pull, nothing. He simply floated in space beside it through the event horizon until he was right beside the center of the singularity. Adam wondered¡ He reached down and touched the singularity as if it was a marble.
Warning: You are about to move an anchor point in this reality.
Warning: Anchor Points are utilized as reference points for the various dimensions as well as attachment points for reality itself.
Warning: You possess the ability ¡°Access Cosmic Settings¡± You may adjust Cosmic settings manually or within the interface.
Warning adjusting Cosmic settings manually can lead to unintended consequences.
Okay then. Adam let go of the Singularity, as he thought about how funny it would be to roll a singularity like a marble. Yeah, the power was going to his head. Adam opened a portal back to the Dyson sphere and reviewed what had just happened. He reviewed his nanites and noticed the nanites observing Apolyn at Syndicate Headquarters. That bastard had caught him with a wish spell. Technically they were both within the same categorization so there had been no rank disparity. That lucky bastard had wished him to a singularity. Well, it would have been a good idea, if it had been used against anyone but him. But how had Apoyln found Adam? He began looking through the backlogs within his nanites for the answer.
Adam reviewed his nanite footage and watched as Apolyn used a scrying spell to watch for him, target him, make his wish and then watched as Adam appeared beside the Unicorn Singularity and disappeared into the event horizon. For a moment the scry spot lost track of him, probably while he was in the singularity but Adam could clearly see that Apolyn was now watching Adam as he stood there. Adam outranked him now, but he still needed another 57days before he¡¯d be ready to enact his plan. Adam walked out onto his balcony, watching as the scrying spell Apolyn was using tried to zoom out to take in the Sphere. Then he teleported into the milky white substance of Chaos. As he reappeared he watched as Apolyn¡¯s scry spell failed. Apolyn tried repeatedly to cast the spell to look for him again. As Adam had thought, even a visual link directly into Chaos couldn¡¯t hold, plus what would he see except Adam floating in a grey-white energy soup?
Hopefully, he¡¯d think he¡¯d died or something. Of course, if he checked his Syndicate status, which he did as he watched him through the Nanites, he figured out quite easily that he was still alive somewhere. Adam didn¡¯t like Apolyn, but he wasn¡¯t ready to do what needed to be done yet. How could he interact with the humans on Earth while preventing Apolyn from affecting him? he¡¯d have to think about that for a bit.
Chapter 79, Going Multiple
(Chaos, Day 23)
As Adam floated in Chaos he created 3,000 biological replicas of himself. He made sure to establish quantum links to all of them then went multiple, which meant that he split his consciousness among 3,001 duplicate bodies of himself. The idea of one consciousness in multiple bodies wasn¡¯t a new one. The term hive mind had been around for quite a while and was available in a lot of computer games he¡¯d played in college. The idea of going multiple had been explored a little more thoroughly in books like ¡®The Paratwa Saga¡¯ by Christopher Hinz or ¡®The Void Trilogy¡¯ by Peter F. Hamilton. Of course, the first had a maximum of 3 bodies linked to one consciousness. Well there had been a hint in the third book that there were more.
What Adam was doing was more akin to the way going multiple had been described in the Void Trilogy, multiple bodies for one consciousness, controlling all of them at once. With his ability to compartmentalize his thought processes it shouldn¡¯t be too difficult although he was going to be controlling about one hundred times more bodies. Of course, he could just end up with the best example of a multiple personality disorder ever.
Adam had often wondered what it would feel like to control multiple bodies. Technically he had done so once before but only for a few moments, nothing like what he was going to try to do now. As his consciousness split and linked together, It was hard to describe what it felt like. Imagine looking at 3,001 monitors, smelling 3,001 different scent combinations, 3,001 different sound combinations, and feeling 3,001 different types of sensory inputs, simultaneously.
At first, it wasn¡¯t difficult to keep track of everything because they were all in the same area. All of hims, there really wasn¡¯t a proper pronoun for how to describe himself as 3,001 different beings so hims would have to do for now. All of hims were surrounded by the same sounds and smells. Then ¡®they¡¯, ¡®he¡¯ walked through 3,000 different portals into different safe areas on Earth. It was the weirdest yet coolest thing he¡¯d done yet. His copy in Colorado was led to meet with the President while he also had a conversation with survivors in Washington, London, Paris, Moscow, Hong Kong, Calgary, and many other survivor enclaves around the globe. Keeping track of each individual became a little taxing so he created 3,000 independent copies of himself that he monitored that controlled the 3,000 other bodies while his original body floated in Chaos.
Not everything went his way. He was shot, stabbed, and killed during 336 encounters by people that were just trying to protect themselves. Adam let the individuals that were teleported out of the safe zones stew for their 48 hours but made sure they were all safe enough. Two days of being terrified would teach the lesson that their lives were in jeopardy if they didn¡¯t listen well. It was good for them. Okay, not good for them but it would cement the point that attacking someone else while in a sanctuary was a very bad idea. When they made it back to the area, often guided with a strategic monster sighting that helped them move in the right direction if they were lost they¡¯d make it back to the Sanctuary and find another copy of Adam waiting to talk to them.
Of those 3001, 3000 allowed him to talk to them when he showed up again. Only the last individual proved to be an idiot. He was one absolutely stubborn son of a bitch in Tennessee that had killed three of his copies and been stuck in the wilderness for 6 days before Adam stepped in and took direct control of his copy. As he stepped through the portal he took control of Tim Schroeder and had him walk to the edge of the safe zone with him while he talked,
¡°Hey Tim, can I call you Tim, thanks. Well anyway, my name is Adam, and I am the person that¡¯s responsible for making sure that what¡¯s left of humanity has these nice safe zones to sit in until the year passes. For everyone¡¯s sake, we need all of you to work together.¡± Adam said as he walked with Tim toward the border of the safe zone. As they walked they started to draw a crowd as people started to follow them and listen in.
¡°What is that Tim?¡± Adam said as if hearing Tim say something. ¡°You want to know why you can¡¯t control yourself and why you are walking to the border of the safe area where there¡¯s a big red dragon. Funny story, the same thing that is allowing me to control you is also allowing me to control that red dragon¡± Adam said as Tim and he stepped out of the safe area and walked towards a giant red dragon not 100 feet from the edge of the safe zone. Adam had the nanites make the Red Dragon roar into the heavens then look down and exhale through its snout onto Tim and him as they walked right up to it.
Adam looked over his shoulder and back at the crowd he¡¯d drawn and spoke again. ¡°Now Tim, and everyone. I¡¯m pretty busy so if there¡¯s something you need just ask my twin that¡¯ll be around, and I¡¯ll see what I can do to make this next year go by in a flash. If, however, someone forces me to waste my time like today,¡± Adam said as he pointed at the Dragons mouth which had lowered down to ground level. ¡°Tim, take a look at this, ¡° Adam said as he pointed at a really huge incisor within touching distance that had to be at least a foot long. ¡°These teeth right here are just one of the many types of danger that you need to be wary of outside the safe zone,¡± Adam said as they turned and walked away from the dragon while it turned and jumped, then flew off into the distance.
As we walked back towards the safe zone Adam continued, ¡°So anyway, I can control each and every one of you like I¡¯m controlling Tim here so if anyone attacks me again I might just have to make you take the walk like I just had Tim make except I¡¯ll just have you stand there until one of the Monsters I¡¯m not controlling finds you. I¡¯d rather not do that but this is the end of the world after all and does humanity really need some backward ass country bumpkins that can¡¯t adapt and work with their fellow men and women to overcome harsh situations to continue fucking things up for humanity?¡± he asked rhetorically before he released Tim, who stepped back from him, ¡°Now does anyone have any requests?¡± Adam asked.
Tim was the only idiot to be so stubborn. He didn¡¯t attack him again, but he¡¯d gone on and on about how he was the spawn of Satan or some other such nonsense. That was until he¡¯d started providing food and drinks for everyone daily while they waited out the apocalypse. He¡¯d also made sure that his copies repeated the story of Tim and how he¡¯d walked right out to a red dragon with him if he needed to. Though he had to admit, of the more than 2 billion people left, only finding one stubborn idiot left in the whole world was kind of refreshing. Maybe there would be hope for humanity going forward.
Through each of his bodies, he worked with what was left of humanity and allowed the settlements to make requests as food and supplies that had been running low were replenished and replaced by his nanites. He even watched as some groups went off to fight the monsters and tried to level. If it looked like things were going badly he helped them out by having the nanites rip the creature¡¯s brain apart from the inside or make any damage they inflicted that much greater. Granted, everyone that he helped earned a little less XP, but he figured that was better than them dying. He also disintegrated any monsters that spawned that were too powerful for any of the humans on the planet to handle. It seemed that his presence on the planet at the beginning had unbalanced the cultivation across North, Central, and South America. Looking over the reports from the Syndicate it really did look like a spatial rift had been torn open where he¡¯d flown along. The nanite recreations of himself didn¡¯t have that effect so he floated in Chaos to protect his true location from the Syndicate while his copies helped humanity.
Stolen novel; please report.
As his copies helped humanity, he reached Deity Level 1. He¡¯d thought the next categorization was Demi-God, but he had been mistaken, it was Deity. As he reviewed and double-checked his math it looked like he¡¯d be leveling every 6.4 days. Time went by as he kept what was left of humanity safe. Before he knew it, the calendar read February 29th and he was a Deity Level 5. His attributes and stats were getting silly. His base attributes were now 444 million. His base damage was best expressed as a scientific notation and if he wanted to, supposedly he could run 8.8 million miles per hour. As he reviewed his Personal Interface he realized that nothing that he could really do, or any of the Divines for that matter had anything to do with Natural selection anymore. He who had the biggest stick, or the best trick would win. Why was he the only being that had realized this? Or maybe he wasn¡¯t. Adam started going back through the Universal changelog.
By March 30th he was Deity Level 10. Over the last 30 days, he¡¯d discovered something that surprised him. The number of times time travel had changed something was astronomical. Each day changes would be made somewhere. Those changes could happen multiple times and as the changes took effect previous changes would drop off as annotations in the background. The worst case he¡¯d found had been a two-week period 9 billion years ago where changes had happened every minute. The total number of overlays had been 3,467 times. The change that had stuck had been by someone from Universe 01. He also found changes made by divines, but none made by high divines. None that stuck. In fact, there were a few changes that were archived and looked to be from personal identifiers that had yet to exist. Almost like someone had gone back and wiped them out of existence. Not something he was beyond doing, of course, just a lot more prevalent than he thought such actions would be.
On June 2nd he reached Demi-God Status. If his math stayed true he would reach Demi-God level 4 by the end of the year. he¡¯d also kept an eye on the Syndicate as they hadn¡¯t seemed to be trying to do anything too drastic yet.
***
¡°Where is he?¡± Apolyn raged.
¡°Unknown, since the glimpse into that world he was in we haven¡¯t seen him.¡± Beaezul, A five foot-five devil, reminiscent of the way humans viewed devils to look with red eyes and a tail with a little spade at the end. though this one had more elfin features and was wearing a red business suit.
¡°And we know he¡¯s alive?¡± a demure elven woman asked.
¡°Yes, Elisa, the wager is still good indicating that he is still around.¡±
¡°Have any of you seen my mentor Xsitant?¡± Apolyn asked.
¡°Not in a long time, not since right before you earned your Divine level,¡± Beaezul said.
The group went silent for a moment then Elisa directed her attention at Apolyn and asked, ¡°And you¡¯ve reset the timeline trying to remove this obstacle?¡±
¡°Of course, I have, at least once a day for the last 7 months. Nothing works. I¡¯ve traveled so far back in time killing every single possible origin point of this Johnathan Bennard that it should have changed the entire makeup and history of Earth and when I jump forward again, nothing has changed. When I go back in time to the same moment it¡¯s as if nothing happened, like I had never been there before. It¡¯s like the jumps I¡¯m making through time didn¡¯t happen.¡±
¡°That is interesting,¡± Beaezul said.
¡°It¡¯s not interesting. Something or someone is modifying any changes I try to make concerning Johnathan Bennard.¡± Apolyn retorted.
¡°Why did you want to talk to Xsitant?¡± Elisa asked.
¡°As my mentor, Xsitant might have more knowledge than I do. As it pertains to time and adjustments to the timeline he is the most knowledgeable person I know.¡± Apolyn answered.
¡°And we have no idea where he is?¡± Beaezul asked.
¡°None¡± Apolyn answered.
***
Adam stopped watching their conversation in the most secure place they had, their headquarters inside the event horizon of the Milky Way Galaxy¡¯s biggest black hole. It truly was an ingenious location to place a dimensional domain out of phase with the Universe. The Syndicate used gates and portals to travel into and out of the area as well as communicate with various Syndicate branches throughout the Cosmos. Elisa, Beaezul, and Apolyn were the three most powerful members of the Syndicate he¡¯d been able to observe this far. Beaezul was a divine of the realm of Hell, though the rules concerning the purpose of devils seemed to be slightly different for the denizens of Hell. Apolyn was a Divine, whose purpose he had yet to discover, and Elisa, also a Divine who had been at the edge of the Astral whose purpose he also did not know was the other divine he¡¯d seen when they¡¯d tossed him into Chaos.
As they mentioned Xsitant Adam searched through the history of his nanites until he found him, and watched his life and eventual acceptance into the Divine at which point he¡¯d noticed that the threads of fate and time were tied up within him before his first use of the Sphere of Time. He¡¯d tried to research and follow the thread only to find out that it happened long before he¡¯d ever been born. Not satisfied with the answer he¡¯d gone in search of the ultimate God of Time. Ironically Xsistant had disappeared into a temporal fissure that was only visible in the normal spectrum. There had been no flare of magic or note in the changelog. If he hadn¡¯t been reviewing his whole life he would have missed it. Adam checked with the spell ¡°Scry¡± and sure enough, he was there one second and gone the next. No hint of a temporal infraction was noted by the spell. Adam reviewed the sensory information from the temporal rip and compared it to his arrival noting a familiar energy signal. Most likely Xsitant was conversing with whatever entity handled time at the Fundamental Level. So, no help there.
Adam returned to reviewing the changelog except now he started skipping. He skipped farther and farther back until he found the very first change. Then he started going forward. He¡¯d go back then he¡¯d go forward, then forward again. What he found shocked him to the core. A change had been logged that tweaked some cosmic rules that were only visible because he had access to them. He opened up the ¡°Access Cosmic Settings¡± interface and checked the changelog. As he suspected the number of changes approached infinity and was continuously scrolling as more changes were noted.
Adam paused his updates and scrolled back to the very beginning. As he suspected the only changes recorded were to Universe 01. As he scrolled forward changes were noted then changes in Universe 02 began appearing. Eventually, 99 Universes were noted, and a new designator was added to each Universes identifier. As more and more Universes were added more and more designators were added allowing for an unlimited number of Universes. As more Universes were added, the changelog exploded. Adam returned to the very beginning. No changes had been made to the Cosmos that far back in quite a long time. Considering the age of the Cosmos was around 1.91 E7456 indicating that some Universes that had existed probably suffered heat death at least seven times over. It should also be noted that once he knew how old the Cosmos was he figured out that he had punched Nox in the head around 8.56 E696, not very long ago in the scheme of things. Although their Universe was only about 1.38 E9 (or 13.8 Billion) years old putting that punch to Nox¡¯s forehead in the far past, as compared to the age of his original Universe. As he reviewed the data, Adam¡¯s perspective shifted and he realized how lucky he¡¯d been to find the Adamantium Ring when this all started so long ago and reiterated that the Universe Primore existed in was Unique as it had survived at least seven times as long as his Universe was estimated to last before entropy destroyed it.
As he reviewed the information, he realized he only had data from his nanites from 8.56 E696 forward because he¡¯d never traveled farther into the past. He also realized that if he was going to go ahead with his plans he was going to need to go much further into the past. Adam double-checked the Cosmic changelog to make sure his assumptions were correct and as expected, noted that Fundamental changes were few and far between. The only one of note had happened 8.56 E696 years ago.
Even with the computational power of the number of nanites he had spread throughout the Chaos and the various Universes they¡¯d traveled into it still took the rest of the year to review all major changes, compare those changes to what had been before and formulate a plan on how he was going to proceed.
Adam allowed his copies to continue helping humanity but realized that once he went through with his plans it wouldn¡¯t matter. In fact, should the changes go through, he might inadvertently undo his own existence placing them right back where they started. So maybe, he wasn¡¯t quite as ready as he thought he was.
Chapter 80, Cultivated
(Chaos, January 2nd, 2037, Day 366)
Midnight, one year after the Cultivation began, and what was left of Humanity had thrived on Earth. Monsters had spawned but Adam¡¯s ability to assist and help everyone that was left allowed those humans that wanted, a chance to level and earn experience. In fact, he¡¯d even helped a couple of small groups make it to Grade 9 Level 2 or about level 92, as compared to the monsters. Why the monsters had a straight linear leveling system and sentients didn¡¯t had been bugging him. He¡¯d deep dived into both the Universal and Cosmic interface looking for any indication as to why this leveling system was used.
It seemed that during ¡°The Change¡± 8.56 E696 years ago a plethora of modifications had been instituted by just about as many people that could make those changes. It almost looked like one of the laws Congress would work on where various committees got together and decided what the best way to do something was, then tried to pass it through only to have someone else come along and change it. Of course, every committee had to have a look and make a change which left a bill, or in this case, rules set that looked like someone had taken a document and did edit, after edit, after edit.
When he reviewed the changelog and looked at the original code things had been much simpler before the changes. Also, the notes that accompanied the changes indicated that the changes made were supposed to ensure that any changes would be easily understood. The calculations used to determine things like damage, healing rate, and mana regeneration rates were not supposed to become too cumbersome. Although, the last time he¡¯d looked at his own attributes they had all been over 4.4 billion. Adam felt like if he sneezed too hard he might destroy a building. He didn¡¯t see how any claim that the changes made things easier to understand could be true.
Even before the change, he¡¯d still been part of a system that had been modified. The original system had been much simpler. Mortals had levels. When they reached a certain level in specific classes that was it. There was no more growth. Even spellcasters were severely limited. Then someone had decided that creatures that could live forever should be able to level forever, and a change had been made. Then some bleeding hearts had complained that this class was too powerful or that class was underpowered, and more changes had been made. Except that originally there had been no classes. Someone had complained that certain combinations of abilities should get benefits. Healers for the Gods should have an easier time healing, except there were no Gods. That argument had created the classes. Then a system was added to allow progression to effective Godhood, except how powerful was that exactly. From the changelog, he deduced that the arguments that were taking place had gone on for millennia. Changes would be made then they¡¯d watch to see how things worked out after which more changes would be made again and again.
As he continued to explore the changelog and learn about what had been tried before and what could possibly be done he reviewed the RPGs he¡¯d played and realized that some bleed-through must have happened as ideas in some of those games were apparent in the changelog and some of the class names looked familiar as well. Also, if he went really far back in time to make any changes there was a strong possibility that the changes would be undone and everything would stay the same or they would take and some of the things that had happened would change him.
Adam had continued his research and waited to try anything until he was sure, except now it was Midnight on the 2nd of January and in 6 hours the Cultivation would end. He was pretty sure he needed to be on planet Earth when that happened so he was preparing to head there. Of course, his level was now considered that of a level 5 Demi-God, well above any Syndicate member he¡¯d come across. If he was being honest with himself, he was looking forward to that confrontation as well as the Judgement he was about to levy on the Syndicate. Of course, that might bring down the wrath of other Divines. Then again he hadn¡¯t seen a single divine since he started getting involved.
With six hours left to go, he concentrated and focused his will on opening a hand-sized portal 1.91 E7457 years into the past. The portal opened and stabilized, a junction between two times in chaos. Adam sent through a nanite swarm with very specific orders this time; Replicate in all but organic matter, watch and record, and do not interact with anyone except himself if he provided a specific code based on an algorithm. To guarantee that he¡¯d created an algorithmic code that would be almost impossible to replicate or come across in the natural world. Of course, we¡¯re talking about a Cosmos that spanned an insane number of years so there was a possibility that it could be subverted but he tried to make sure that wasn¡¯t going to happen. Adam closed the portal, activated every defense he had, and teleported into geosynchronous orbit above North America.
As he suspected, as soon as he appeared multiple actions were taken against him. An Antimagic shell wrapped around him which his nanites destroyed even as it formed. Then ships appeared and weapons that could destroy stars were targeted at him and fired only to watch any weapon they fired disintegrate and any beam weapon they fired attenuate as his nanites absorbed and dispersed the energy elsewhere close by. Once the Syndicate realized their fleet was useless they sent an assassin against him. He didn¡¯t even bother dodging. The rank disparity between them ensured that anything the assassin could do to him would be healed almost immediately.
To make a more profound point that he hoped the Syndicate would understand he teleported down to Chile in South America right where highway C-470 came right up to the Pacific Ocean. It was relatively deserted and reminded him of Clovis, well, except for the Ocean being right there but it was remote, desolate, and oh yeah the equivalent of a level 900,000 Kraken had decided to come inland right before he teleported down. In the convoluted system currently running things it was using a Rank 9, Tier 10, Category 10, Division 10, Grade 10, Level 10 monster. That was a mouthful just to describe a very big strong monster. Yeah, he was going to need to change that crap.
The one thing about having nanites in play for so long was that almost every creature that existed, not including how far back he¡¯d sent the nanites just now. Angels and Demons that did not take the time to cleanse themselves, which usually meant that most Angels didn¡¯t have nanites in them but the demons and devils, well they were idiots. Anyway, he could control each and every monster in existence as soon as it spawned and his nanites infiltrated it. Divines and Gods were hit and miss, though Apolyn and Elisa both had his nanites in them. His nanites had millennia to fine-tune and explore each creature¡¯s nervous system. As he teleported down to Chile and a monster that was far too powerful for normal cultivation looked down on him, it froze, and he waited.
Adam watched as Syndicate Headquarters watched him. He was allowing the nanites to see him again after all. He waited five minutes to make sure no one was coming then opened a portal and sent the Kraken off to one of the many worlds that existed where creatures of its levels and size were, if not common, expected. He had no reason to kill it, nor did he want to. In fact, he set up a protocol that would have any creature over level 100 that appeared controlled and sent off to either a planet or the Labyrinth where it could exist and thrive normally. Natural Selection and all that. Adam checked his Divinity Points to make sure he wasn¡¯t taking any hits in that area and was pleasantly surprised when he received a small boost to his 1 Divinity Point per second now that he was out of Raw Chaos. At this rate, it would be a really long time before he leveled again. Adam didn¡¯t know if he liked being a Divine but right now it looked like he had no choice but to accept the promotion so he could try to fix what was wrong with the system.
Once he was sure the Syndicate wouldn¡¯t try anything again, he floated up into the air and headed toward Colorado Springs. As he flew north he passed over small towns that had been overgrown or outright destroyed. Larger cities that did not have a sanctuary had become overgrown with vegetation and monsters that had moved in. As he flew over Central America he even noticed an entrance to the Labyrinth that had formed at the heart of Mexico City. The mana density in that area must be off the chart. Adam double-checked the history of the safe zones that were nearby and noted that the monster density right outside the safe zone was much higher than everywhere else on the planet. The people in the two safe zones that were close by had not ventured out in the last three months since the Labyrinth entrance had formed. As he was reviewing the history of the area he noted that he¡¯d had to intervene a couple of times, well his copies had, and after that, they had informed everyone that to go outside the safe areas was too dangerous. To sweeten their disappointment his copies had been keeping those two safe areas in an almost perpetual state of Celebration. In fact, a few of the women had even become pregnant.
This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Adam realized he must have been focusing on the changelog a little too much and reviewed the other 2998 safe zones to make sure there had been no other problems. While he was doing that he had an idea and set his nanites and portals to task. Five hours should be just about long enough.
Adam flew into the safe area of Colorado Springs and phased through the mountain to Admiral Ainsworth¡¯s family quarters. It wasn¡¯t huge but it was nice. He knocked on the door and waited. A minute later the Admiral opened the door and looked out.
¡°Adam, what can I do for you?¡± he asked.
¡°Not much, I just stopped by to let you know the real me is back in the area.¡±
¡°You do seem slightly different?¡±
¡°You could say that. I¡¯ve had to lay low to avoid the Syndicate, I didn¡¯t want them figuring out what I was up to.¡±
¡°What were you up to?¡±
¡°No good, as usual,¡± he said with a laugh.
¡°Only four hours to go until it¡¯s been one year. Do you have any idea what¡¯s going to happen?¡±
¡°Not exactly but those that survive are supposed to be given a choice to remain on their planet or join the Syndicate. As most of the survivors didn¡¯t actually work to the level I¡¯d recommend that everyone accept their offer. From what I¡¯ve been able to determine they immediately ship the survivors off the planet to a more habitable area where everyone goes through the Syndicates version of immigration. Once that¡¯s done everyone is given the choice on what they want to do next and where they want to go.¡±
¡°What about the women and children you saved.¡±
¡°They¡¯ll be wherever you all are shipped off to and help with the adjustment as they¡¯ve had a year to go through it themselves. I wasn¡¯t powerful enough to save everyone, but a majority of the women and children will get to see their husbands and fathers again.¡±
¡°Would you like to come in and have a drink? Everyone is up, we¡¯re watching the clock run down.¡±
¡°Sure, I¡¯ve been kind of out in the middle of nowhere for the last year. While I was able to keep track of everything through his doppelgangers it wasn¡¯t the same thing,¡± he said.
The admiral led him into a small room where his wife, kids, and mom were watching, ¡°It¡¯s a Wonderful Life¡± He had to give credit to the classics.
¡°What are you drinking?¡± the Admiral asked.
¡°Whatever your drinking is fine,¡± he said.
The Admiral went to their fridge and pulled out two beers and handed Adam one.
¡°Thank you,¡± Adam said.
¡°You¡¯re welcome, have a seat and we¡¯ll finish the movie.¡±
The next four hours went by rather quickly. They finished the movie, then played a couple of rounds of hearts with the admiral¡¯s kids as they all watched the timer wind down. When they were finished they all grabbed another drink and went to sit down. For the last two days, his copies had been walking around telling everyone to accept the Syndicate¡¯s offer when it came. There was nothing more he could do. As he was thinking about that and sipping on his beer the Admiral asked, ¡°So Adam, what are you going to do?¡±
Adam contemplated his answer because he knew he was being watched and said, ¡°First things first, I¡¯m going to get a payday from the wager I made on myself back when this started. If there are any problems with that I¡¯m going to make a formal request to the authority that even the Syndicate answers to.
¡°Who¡¯s that?¡±
¡°Better not to say out loud. It¡¯s one of those super-secret organizations that exist, yet don¡¯t exist. Let¡¯s just say that I know the Syndicate is watching everything I say, isn¡¯t that right Apolyn, Elisa, and Beaezul?¡± Adam watched through his nanites as all three of their faces showed shock.
Adam focused his attention back on the Admiral and continued, ¡°Anyway, once I get my payday, and the survivors of humanity are settled in their new homes I¡¯ll probably go about my business, doing what I do?¡±
¡°And what do you do?¡±
¡°Well, it¡¯s kind of complicated but it looks like the powers that be like it when I put things right, though the last time I fixed something, I didn¡¯t fix it all the way. Right now, I¡¯m researching what I can do to correct that mistake.¡±
¡°What level are you playing at Adam?¡±
¡°If you mean, will what I do affect the governments of Earth? Maybe? I¡¯m not really sure, and I don¡¯t know are all good answers.¡±
¡°Hmm,¡± the Admiral mused then said, ¡°Well regardless before this gets started I¡¯d like to say thank you for saving my mom, wife, and children a year ago.¡±
¡°You¡¯re quite welcome, Admiral. Don¡¯t worry about trying to pay me back. Just pay it forward. If you have the opportunity to help someone just do it. I don¡¯t keep track of debts like that, especially when what I¡¯m doing is right.¡± Adam said as he checked his clock and then said ¡°One Minute¡±
They all waited in silence for the announcement both dreading and looking forward to it. At exactly 6 am MST the Syndicate was as good as their word.
Congratulations! You have survived for a year on your planet during a Cultivation. We know it was hard for you at times but a deal is a deal. Wagers will be paid out as soon as you make your choice. There are only two choices. Remain on Earth and continue to level and kill monsters or join the Syndicate and be whisked away to our closest immigration site. I should let you know that the Syndicates version of immigration is not the standard Earth version of this process. Think more vacation in the Bahamas with classes and an introduction to the galactic economy and in some cases Universal community that exists across multiple dimensions.
Would you like to stay on Earth or Join the Syndicate?
Adam chose to stay on Earth as he watched every other human on Earth accept the offer to join the Syndicate. Everyone in the room, save Adam vanished. Good. Using his nanites at Syndicate headquarters Adam transferred one million credits from his personal account into each survivor¡¯s account, every single man, woman, and child. He made sure they each had the funds they¡¯d need to survive and thrive in for a while to come within the Syndicate just in case what he was doing next didn¡¯t work. Then he checked his interface to see if he¡¯d been paid and found a prompt waiting for him.
Johnathan Bennard, please report to the nearest Gambler¡¯s Network office to discuss your wager.
Adam figured something like this was going to happen. He reviewed his nanites and realized that the closest Gamblers Network office was at the Headquarters located in the singularity at the center of the Milky Way. Without hesitation, Adam left Earth behind and teleported to the steps that led into the Gamblers Network office building. Except for a single light above the door, there was nothing and no one around. Adam walked up to the door, opened it, and stepped through to find himself inside a bustling metropolis of moving vehicles, buildings, and creatures. Lots of creatures. He looked over to his left where Apolyn, Elisa, and Beaezul were standing.
¡°So, this is the mortal that has been causing us so much trouble,¡± Apolyn said as he moved and tried to punch Adam in the head. Adam thought about letting him see just how outclassed he was but decided against it. When he was halfway to him, the nanites in his legs locked up and he moved just enough so that he flew passed him tumbling off into the distance. After he¡¯d finally stopped moving, Adam had the nanites in Apolyn¡¯s system pick him up and move him back over to stand beside him. As he looked at the other two. Neither moved so he turned his attention back to Apolyn. Adam made a show of dusting him off and casting a heal spell that repaired any damage to him.
¡°Hey there Apolyn, I thought we should finally meet. I mean seriously I¡¯m a huge fan. If it wasn¡¯t for you I wouldn¡¯t be here today. Also, attacking one of your biggest fans before he even gets to gush over meeting you, what kind of God does that?¡± Adam asked as he released him from his paralysis.
Apolyn sputtered for a minute then said, ¡°What?¡±
¡°Yep, your number one fan right here. You can¡¯t remember, but an action you took in an alternate timeline or another Universe, not sure which, allowed me to become the man I am today. If not for you, I wouldn¡¯t be standing here.¡± Adam said
¡°You¡¯re lying,¡± Apolyn declared.
¡°By all that was, is, and can be and the entropy that swallows it all back into Chaos, I swear to you that if not for you I would not be standing here.¡±
¡°He¡¯s telling the Truth,¡± Elisa said as she glared at Apolyn.
¡°All his fault,¡± Beaezul snickered ¡°That¡¯s too perfect.¡±
Adam looked over the three, ¡°Now if you¡¯ll excuse me, I need to head into the Gambler¡¯s network and sort out this wager I made on myself.¡±
Apolyn watched him go as he walked over to Elisa and Beaezul and said, ¡°I have no idea what he¡¯s talking about.¡±
¡°Yet he told the truth when he made that claim,¡± Elisa said.
Adam stopped listening directly but continued to watch the three with his nanites as he came up to a building with a sign that showed two six-sided dice showing sixes and the ¡®Gambler¡¯s Network¡¯ printed on the doorway above. Adam stepped through the door and found himself in a queue line leading up to a line of teller booths, much like he would have found in any casino on Earth. Which seemed appropriate as off through an entrance to his right he could see a casino floor that stretched off into the distance. It looked like he¡¯d be in line for a while as at least 100 other creatures of all types were in line before him. Hill Giants, Elves, Gnomes, something that looked like a Xenomorph from the movie Alien, even a Predator. Also, humans, dwarves a succubus that was exquisitely beautiful, even if she was a demon. It looked like creatures from all walks of life were members of the Gamblers Network. This next part should be interesting.
Chapter 81, Breaking the Bank
(Chaos, January 2nd, 2037, Day 366)
As Adam stood in line he accessed the nanites and noted that the historical archives had increased by a significant amount. He started reviewing what had occurred after he¡¯d sent the nanites through the portal to the far past. A quick check verified that no changes had been made to the timeline which was exactly how he wanted it. However, going over the data was going to take a lot longer than it would take him to get through this line. he¡¯d only glanced down for about a minute as he followed whoever was in front of him and the hundred or so people he¡¯d been following were already down by half. If only the bureaucracy on the Earth he¡¯d grown up on could have moved so quickly. Adam had once stood at the Department of Motor Vehicles for over two hours, and he¡¯d been the fifth person in line. This was much faster.
As he watched, he realized why we were moving so quickly. First, there were ten tellers. Second, as each person came up to the window they were scanned, and their identity was placed on a screen the teller could see. Then they cashed in their winnings or transferred credits and they were done. It was a very quick and efficient system.
Only a couple of minutes later he heard a teller call, ¡°Next!¡± and it was his turn. Adam made his way over and stopped in front of the teller.
The teller, a very short man, covered from head to toe in extra blondish brown hair looked at him, then looked at the screen, and looked back at him before asking, ¡°Johnathan Bennard, how can he help you?¡±
¡°I¡¯m here to collect his winnings on the Cultivation of Earth.¡±
¡°The latest Cultivation, yes, let him check your account,¡± he said as he started checking the information on the screen. ¡°Sir, it seems that a lock has been placed on your funds citing ineligibility.¡±
¡°Ineligibility?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes sir, Divines may not place bets upon themselves on worlds that are being cultivated.¡±
¡°Please check your records, what level was I on January 2nd, 2036 at 5 a.m. when the Cultivation announcement sounded on Earth?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t see how that has anything to do with¡.¡±
¡°Check it!¡± Adam said with a bit of authority added to his voice. He added just enough heat to his voice so a hint of his anger could be noticed by the teller.
¡°At the beginning of the Cultivation your level was Grade 2 Level 6,¡± he said wonderingly then asked, ¡°But how sir?
¡°How doesn¡¯t matter, I believe the rule you¡¯re referring to states that no Divine may make a bet on themselves at the start of the cultivation though divines can come and go freely, yes?¡± he asked.
¡°Well, yes sir but this is highly irregular¡¡±
¡°Simple question, can you release my funds, or do I need to speak to management?¡±
¡°No sir, I can¡¯t release your funds, and neither can the manager. This wager has been deemed ineligible by an Administrator.¡±
¡°And the Administrator¡¯s name?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Why the gentlemen beside you sir?¡±
Adam turned and looked at Apolyn who¡¯d come up behind him while he was talking to the teller. ¡°So, Administrator for both the Gambler¡¯s Network and the Syndicate as well?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, Johnathan, your wager was deemed ineligible as you hold the status of a divine,¡± Apolyn said smugly.
¡°Well, that is true now, but was it true when I made the wager?¡±
¡°Hiding one¡¯s true levels is not unheard of. As a Demi-God, you could have hidden your true level quite easily.¡±
¡°Was I?¡±
¡°Of course, you were, you couldn¡¯t have leveled to such heights in a single year?¡±
¡°Again, I¡¯ll ask you if you¡¯re sure?¡±
¡°Of course, I¡¯m not sure but that is the call that is being made and enforced,¡± Apolyn declared while Elisa and Beaezul looked on smiling wolfishly.
¡°You know, I played this game once before. I won, which is why I could make such an insane wager in the first place. That you are technically reducing another Divine¡¯s Divinity Points that were rewarded to another entity by so much, I wonder¡¡± he said as he trailed off and watched Apolyn¡¯s eyes go wide.
¡°I did no such thing!¡± Apolyn declared.
¡°You did. Please, let him explain. In another time and place, a Divine did not follow the rules that divines have to follow and then tried to kill me when I freed him. Unknown to that divine I was a pretty powerful mortal and well let¡¯s just say things didn¡¯t go his way. As part of his punishment, a wish I had was granted. What was the wish you ask? Well, that¡¯s easy, unlimited wealth¡±
¡°You can¡¯t wish for unlimited wealth, that never works,¡± Elisa said.
¡°True, it doesn¡¯t normally work and no divine could grant that wish without also tying that wish to their power in someway.¡±
¡°So, you¡¯re saying that you have the ability to conjure unlimited wealth and that a divine is paying for it.
¡°No, I¡¯m saying that the powers that be where I was worked with a couple of different divines to set this up. Every time I do this,¡° Adam said as he pulled out a gold bar and set it in front of the teller. ¡°Or this,¡± he said as he pulled out a million-dollar chip for the casino in the other room, ¡° the Divinity points are charged to the divine that set up the ability for me. He in turn diverts that debt to the divine that tried and failed to kill me.¡±
¡°That can¡¯t be true, there are no divines¡¡±
Adam cut off Apolyn. ¡°There are no divines that are not currently trapped or in transition that have that debt, you are correct. However, the divine will exist and when that happens It will be a very long time before his divinity gets back to a zero balance, ¡° Adam said as he handed the 1 million credit poker chip to the teller, ¡°For you, enjoy.¡±
¡°That¡¯s insane!¡± Apolyn said.
¡°That¡¯s brilliant!¡± Beaezul said. ¡°So, this divine that doesn¡¯t even exist yet will come into existence owning Divinity Points?
¡°Yep!¡±
¡°And every time you create wealth he gets more debt?¡± Beaezul clarified.
¡°Again, yes¡± Adam said with a hint of malice in his voice.
¡°Absolutely brilliant!¡±
¡°We only have your word on this,¡± Apolyn said as Elisa looked at him hesitantly.
Adam looked at the Teller and asked, ¡°What is my credit rating?¡±
¡°Sir, your credit rating is unlimited.¡±
¡°Is that after the removal of his wager from his account?¡± Elisa asked.
¡°Yes, the wager has already been subtracted from the account and added to the Network¡¯s coffers. His account is still listed as Platinum with unlimited funding.¡±
Elisa looked thoughtful for a moment, shrugged, and then said ¡°I vote to return his funds and payout his wager.¡±
¡°Me too,¡± Beaezul said.
¡°Seriously? No, that requires a unanimous vote from the three of us and I will not vote for it.!¡± Apolyn declared.
Adam looked at Elisa and Beaezul and said, ¡°Thank you for your support.¡± Then he turned to stare at Apolyn. ¡°So, you believe that you can renege on a wager that is being enforced through the divine, both the hellish and the celestial and there will be no consequences?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I believe that you lied about your level and made a wager which violated our rules?¡± Apolyn retorted.
¡°Is your purpose in any way related to deception?¡± Adam asked.
¡°No, I serve the purpose of Power, specifically gaining it, which can be done through loopholes making this within the scope of my purpose¡±
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
¡°Did you receive any boosts to your divinity when you added this much credit to your coffers? I would think that the amount in question would have earned you at least 1 Divinity Point?¡± Adam asked.
¡°No, and credits do not often lead to Divinity Points as they do not always represent power.¡±
Elisa and Beaezul looked thoughtful as Adam continued, ¡°True, except when you earn said credits from a divine at least two categories higher than you reducing their power, which by default implies that you are more powerful than that divine. Even now you are trying not to gloat because you think you bested him.¡±
¡°I am not, ¡°Apolyn said unconvincingly.
¡°Yeah, keep saying that. Instead, I¡¯m going to show you a neat trick.¡±
Adam accessed his Cosmic Access log and requested an Adjudicator to resolve a dispute between Divines with a few suggestions added in to ease any decisions that went in his favor. Almost immediately a sphere of golden light surrounded Elisa, Beaezul, Apolyn, and himself. A Portal opened and Adaline stepped out. Adam noticed he was also frozen except for his ability to look around as were the other three. Adaline looked at the four of them and then opened up a holographic viewing screen and watched the conversation we¡¯d just had. Then she followed the system back, reviewing it at a very high speed his last year. Adam was able to keep up but he was pretty sure the other three would have just seen a blur. Adaline looked at Apolyn then himself then back to Apolyn before she spoke, ¡°Judgement is for the plaintiff. This adjudication is complete.¡± A gold portal opened, and she stepped through after which the Golden portal disappeared.
¡°What was that?¡± Apolyn asked shocked.
Adam turned to the Teller, ¡°Have the funds been released from my wager?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes Sir¡±
¡°Payout as follows 3.0e 99 to every single human from Earth. Names and accounts follow,¡± he said as he shunted the names of all the humans from Earth into the terminal using the nanites already in the system.
¡°But Sir, are you sure?¡± The teller asked.
¡°Yes, do it.¡± As Adam answered the teller, he also watched Apolyn¡¯s face start to turn red.
¡°Oh, calm down Apolyn, it¡¯s not that bad. The Syndicate had the funds and automatically liquidated the stock, which I bought. I now own 70% of the Syndicate. Does that mean you work for me now?. I think it does. By the way, if you learn nothing else from this, you should take it to heart that even Divines, Celestial, or Hellish creatures, answer to someone else, and broken promises and violations of the rules that we¡¯re supposed to follow are enforced. I¡¯ve been reviewing how the Syndicate has been doing things and I have to say, I¡¯m not at all impressed.¡±
¡°What?¡± Apolyn said as he pulled up his interface to check.
¡°How?¡± Elisa said.
¡°You used your infinite wealth to buy out the 70% as soon as it became available which incurred even more debt onto the divine you hinted at just a little while ago,¡± Beaezul said wonderingly. ¡°Remind me to never get on your bad side, that divine must have really pissed you off¡±
¡°Kind of, yeah!¡± Adam agreed.
Apolyn, having calmed down, looked thoughtful for a second then mused out loud, ¡°So some form of Judge for the gods exists and found your claim to be just and honest and enforced the promise of a divine because I had wronged you? That means that you must have been a mortal when the Cultivation started, but now you¡¯re a Demi-God. How?¡±
¡°I did say I had you to thank for where I am today. Also, throwing me into Chaos was a big help, so thanks for that as well. Additionally, my thanks must also include learning how to find a way to cheat any system from you. Your tenacity to be a very good cheat is remarkable. Finally, while I might owe you for getting me to where I am today. I¡¯m not about to give away all of his secrets.¡±
¡°That¡¯s impossible¡¡± Apolyn said.
¡°What now,¡± Elisa asked.
¡°Now?¡± Adam asked thoughtfully,¡± Well now I¡¯m going to be busy for the next little bit but the one thing I want the three of you to understand is that the days of the Cultivations are over. If you want to make a dungeon or Labyrinth world and somehow find a way to gamble on the Adventurers that go in, that¡¯s fine. I¡¯m even fine with dungeon worlds being created to see if Adventures have what it takes. What will not happen again are Cultivations. I could go back in time and try to fix this problem, but I don¡¯t see it going my way, well at least until¡¡±
Apolyn flickered then rebounded and flew into an invisible wall of force Adam had erected.
Adam moved in a flash, grabbed Apolyn by his neck, and lifted him into the air. ¡°You are beginning to try my patience dumbass,¡± Adam said as he pile-drove him into the ground causing his body to be destroyed and instantly releasing Apolyn¡¯s spirit, which he then trapped and put back into a new body he conjured while his nanites fixed all the damage to the structures he¡¯d just done.
Apolyn looked around and then at him with fear in his eyes and said, ¡°You killed me!¡±
¡°Sure did, right after you tried to change the timeline again. Apolyn, seriously, I knew you were a little on the slow side the last time you tried to pull one over on something much more powerful than you and you got yourself nuked for your trouble but that was just sad. Serious question to all three of you, how many times did you try to change the timeline to get rid of me?¡±
¡°I lost count,¡± Elisa said.
¡°As did I,¡± Beaezul agreed.
Apolyn just glared then answered resignedly once he realized Adam was waiting for an answer, ¡°A lot.¡±
¡°10,467 times to be exact,¡± Adam said. ¡°If it didn¡¯t work during any of those attempts what made you think it would have worked now? Changes to this Timeline will not ever affect me so let¡¯s move past that idiocy. Next time I¡¯ll just kill you and let what¡¯s left head off to the Eye. My debt to you is now paid in full.
¡°But you killed me?¡±
¡°Apolyn, you need to trust me when I say that if I¡¯d been in the wrong. The lady you just saw would have appeared and stopped me from killing you, it¡¯s kind of their thing.¡±
¡°Oh¡±
¡°Yeah, Oh. So anyway, back to what I was going to say before. There will be no more cultivations. Each and every planet that has been seeded and caged is starting to suffer from containment problems. Over the next 100 years or so, the mana density of those worlds is going to come up to normal, and spell casters will be reintroduced into those worlds. No more mass killings for soul stones. If people need them they¡¯ll have to go out and earn them the old-fashioned way through the dungeons and The Labyrinth.
¡°But that is so inefficient,¡± Elisa said.
¡°Yes, but it¡¯s fair and offers mortals chance and choice as well as free will to pursue their own destiny, something Cultivations didn¡¯t allow.¡±
¡°It was fair to the mortals!¡± Apolyn said
¡°Really?¡± Adam answered. ¡°On each planet cultivated, what percentage of the indigenous population survived the full year?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I don¡¯t have those statistics,¡± Apolyn said.
¡°I do,¡± Adam said. ¡° The maximum was 14% and the worst was 0% I am rounding down on the 0% as some of the population was saved at the last minute but .0001% of a population does round down to 0%. Anyway, the average when you add in all the other cultivations is right around 7%¡±
¡°What does that have to do with anything?¡± Elisa asked.
¡°Simple math Elisa. If the system had been fair the numbers would have been between 40 and 60 percent. Cultivations that reduce the population of a planet by 93% on average, yeah, there¡¯s no way that was fair.
¡°You don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about,¡± Apolyn said.
Adam pulled up the data and shunted it to their Personal Interfaces as he said, ¡°As one of the great debaters from his Earth once said, ¡°Facts don¡¯t care about your feelings.¡±
All three looked over their interfaces before Beaezul asked, ¡°How do you have all this information? The numbers look like the data before we scrubbed it?¡±
¡°It is. I have full access to any information that the Syndicate acquired during its long existence. I am seriously disappointed in the Divines that utilized this loophole to level and make soul stones. The number of sentients that died for those that did this¡No more. Go find a way to continue to serve your purpose while I figure out what I¡¯m going to do next.¡± he said as he teleported back to the Dyson Sphere.
As he appeared in his estate overlooking Alamogordo he set his nanites in multiple places to task. For the Dyson Sphere, he had them move and alter the currents of Chaos to bring the sphere closer to the border of the astral. Inside he couldn¡¯t feel the movement, but he knew we were underway and getting closer. He had also used his nanites to lockout and take control of every Syndicate terminal everywhere. Then placed a message on each Monitor.
Closed until further notice!
Pay and services will continue for the foreseeable future.
Enjoy your much-deserved vacation!
That done he sat back and started reviewing the archived information that the nanites had gathered from the very beginning and was shocked to his core. As he reviewed he realized Universe 01 had already existed when he dropped his nanites off in the past. His nanites had entered Universe 01 before it gained the additional identifiers it had and flooded the Universe. He noted that the stellar makeup looked somewhat familiar and realized that Primore existed within the Milky Way. The solar system containing Earth was on the opposite side of the Milky Way and it looked like the Galaxy wasn¡¯t aging.
Whatever kept the structure of the Galaxy and Primore from changing did not stop civilizations from rising and falling on the surface of Primore or any of the other planets in the Galaxy. It simply kept the stars from dying and the planets from decaying due to entropy. Adam watched as the heavens around Primore remained the same for hundreds of millions of billions of years. It was insane.
Adam watched as a second universe popped into existence within Chaos. It was a mirror of the first, except this time, things were allowed to occur naturally. When the Universe finally faded towards its heat death Chaos broke through the barriers and reabsorbed everything. While he¡¯d focused on Universe 02 other Universes had popped into existence and the cycle never seemed to end. Any Universe that popped into existence near Universe 01 was a replica of it. This pattern seemed to follow what he learned. Adam was still only seeing a small part of Chaos so the other Universes he¡¯d found that had been different could come into existence eventually. he watched the life and death of countless Universes, Universe 01 remained the same until the Change was instituted.
In Universe 01 Earth had gone through multiple cycles of rebirth. Multiple species had achieved sentience through the creatures that existed there and the version of humanity that existed, thrived, and died only represented what one would find if they read a fantasy novel more than any science fiction novel. He watched as Gods rose and fell. Some ceased to exist altogether as someone else changed the timeline. Of course, he couldn¡¯t see this, through the nanites picked up temporal echoes of what could have been. If not for the extreme amount of processing power his nanites gave him his mind would have been able to handle it, but he wouldn¡¯t have recognized it for what it was.
Adam continued reviewing the past as the Dyson Sphere made its way towards the Astral border and the remnants of humanity from the Cultivation went through their training and enjoyed their lives of no worry as he tried to put it all together. He had broken the Syndicate, which felt great. Now he needed to find out what had happened to those original Gods while he tried to figure out what to do next. This was not going to be as easy as he¡¯d thought it would be because he had a feeling he couldn¡¯t just go back and reset everything from the beginning. Primore was older than he had thought and was kept in its current condition yet, whoever had been watching had allowed it to be destroyed by Chaos before the last change. Why would they do that unless they had already known what was going to happen, or was he just a fly stuck in the greater tapestry of existence with no input on how this all turned out? Adam conjured a Long Island Iced Tea and watched the version of the night inside the Dyson Sphere fall as he wondered what the hell was actually going on.
Chapter 82, Memories
(Chaos, January 2nd, 2037, Day 366)
Well, when you have the processing power of 1% of the known Cosmos at your fingertips to try to figure out what is really going on it doesn¡¯t take long, relatively speaking. While Adam waited for the Dyson Sphere to come near the Astral Space he also kept an eye on Humanity from the recently cultivated Earth and then started checking the other planets that were about to be cultivated.
He had the nanites break down the mana sinks and degrade their ability to remove magic from the planet¡¯s surface which forced him to check the fundamental rules of magic again. This forced him to get into the Universal Access Interface and the Cosmic Access Interface and go through the code he found there. What kind of code? For the Universal, Access Interface imagine that there were computer code subroutines written for every eventuality. As example. IF water touches this THEN it becomes wet ELSE it¡¯s dry. IF it becomes wet THEN it can get saturated with moisture ELSE it¡¯s dry. Basic logic routines which followed the basic idea of an IF, THEN, ELSE formula common to computer coding. Easy enough to understand right? Except that there is an IF, THEN, ELSE statement for every possible eventuality that¡¯s ever been considered by ANYONE. In other words, a shitload of information to read, analyze and figure out. The Cosmic Access Interface contained at least double or triple the information.
Adam downloaded the code, categorized, prioritized, and analyzed what he was reviewing to try to figure out what was going on. There was one problem with a body that was constantly supplied with nutrients by nanites or magic. He¡¯d been so hyper-focused that he had lost track of time. Of course, with the amount of processing power he had, a task that he estimated would have taken 42.6 billion years, only took about a week. After that week Adam knew that what he was looking for wasn¡¯t in the Universal Access Interface. He opened up the Cosmic Access Interface and went to work. There was a lot of redundant code in there, or at least he thought there was until he came across the following notes embedded in the coding next to some very complex equations.
NOTE: A proper balance must be maintained to ensure deviance between positive and negative never exceeds 5%.
Positive and Negative? Wait, what? Everything seems to be coming out of Chaos as Chaos was used to create the Order that is a Universe. Even his own exploration of the Cosmos while he was inside ¡°Nothing¡± showed that there were multiple areas of Chaos surrounded by nothing and that those areas of Chaos were themselves endless, affected stacked upon each other off into infinity, or were they?
Adam dug into the interface and looked for a breakdown of how the cosmos was set up. It took a little while but eventually, he found what he was looking for in another reference note.
Further quantification is impossible, so long as this system is stable further major adjustments should not be necessary.
This note was attached to a box containing ten symbols. Two of the symbols at the top showed 50% and the eight below those two showed 12.5%. As he looked at the symbols and percentages he noticed that they fluctuated. As he watched the fluctuation would begin with the positive symbol, then the other eight symbols would fluctuate followed by a slight change to the negative symbols¡¯ percentage. It almost looked like an input, through filter, to output setup. Input from where? Filter, Chaos maybe? Output along a negative channel? While it didn¡¯t exactly kill what he understood about chaos and the formation of Universes it added another level of complexity to the system. Something, he would need to look into later.
As he¡¯d been reviewing the history of the Universes he¡¯d noticed that almost no gods were present, none. The only Gods that seemed to exist currently were those that had arisen in the recent past and were all lower level than myself. he¡¯d reviewed the histories and sent searches through all the data he¡¯d accumulated, and it seemed that there were never divines before the change. Which didn¡¯t make any sense because he saw evidence of their existence in the changelogs, both the Universal and Cosmic ones.
Adam also watched how the change had taken the ¡°Heavens relegated to each individual Universe and combined them as those Heavens and hells were changed into the Astral that now surrounded everything. In fact, every single plane outside of a Universe that had surrounded them was converted to Astral and the beings of those realms had either fled to a Heaven, hell, or into another mote of Order that was created to house them. It looked like the setup of the Cosmos had been simplified. Truth be told he¡¯d been looking forward to exploring realms of the mind and soul but those seemed to be gone now or existed within their own Universe accessible by the Astral then Ethereal planes. It wasn¡¯t a fundamental change; in that, it hadn¡¯t been set to happen from the very beginning. Instead, the changes had been added at The Change when he¡¯d killed the timeline that led to the obliteration of souls. With that thought, he started to dig.
Adam cross-referenced both changelogs and started reviewing interference from those that had the ability to affect the Cosmos and noticed that those changes were few and far between. Most changes to the timeline were accomplished by those with Universal access. There had not been a fundamental change to the Cosmic Changelog since the ¡°Note¡± had appeared when he dropped off the nanites in the far past.
¡°NOTE: User; 01010000 01110010 01101001 01101101 01100101-001* has briefly opened a temporal portal from era 1.91 E7456. No changes were instituted or noted. No Correction Necessary. HoC 01000001-01010000 01110010 01101001 01101101 01100101-001*¡±
Adam converted the binary number designations, which was really weird to see, in the changelog and reread the message
¡°NOTE: User; PRIME-001* has briefly opened a temporal portal from era 1.91 E7456. No changes were instituted or noted. No Correction Necessary. HoC A-Prime-001*¡±
Well, he knew one HoC with an A as an initial, Harbinger of Change, Adaline, and with her designator, and his, now known he went into the Cosmic changelog and reviewed all changes made during The Change to each of them. Unlike her entry or his entry, the only designator who had made the change was an ¡°*¡± he reviewed the changes made to him first and found what he needed to find then copied the code. Next, he pulled up Adaline¡¯s code and added the line that allowed him to keep his memory to hers one subjective day after she¡¯d made the adjudication call on the Syndicate and himself, he didn¡¯t want to accidentally change anything she¡¯d done between The Change and then. Adam had no way of knowing how long she¡¯d been a Harbinger of Change at that point. With the Changes input, he finalized it and hit enter.
He should have expected what happened next, he really should have. Seriously the first time they¡¯d met she¡¯d tried to breathe acid on him. Also, with Rank Disparity being a thing and knowing that Harbingers were outside the normal flow of power he should have realized that she¡¯d be stronger than him by a lot. His nanites had started to run the probability of an outcome for what he¡¯d just done. The negative response of an immediate attack being at the top of the list. He was right, of course.
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He didn¡¯t even see the blow that killed him, though being multiple had its advantages. While his true physical body reformed his consciousness dispersed through the other 3,000 bodies and he/they focused his nanite attention on the Dark Elf that had put her fists through his chest and head with a dual strike that was quite impressive. As he watched, she shook her head, back and forth as if to clear something out of her mind, and then looked down at her hands in horror as she withdrew them from his body. Adam had his nanites clean up the mess of his body and the blood and gore on her hands. She glanced down, the hint of a smile coming to her face. ¡°Adam, you can come back, you brilliant idiot,¡± she said
Adam¡¯s new body had fully formed near one of the poles of the Dyson sphere. he used the nanites to recreate his clothes and then teleported to within 10 feet of Adaline with a shit-eating grin on his face, ¡°I¡¯d say you missed him, but that would be untrue¡±
¡°Smartass,¡± she said as she leaped at him falling into his arms and aggressively kissing him.
A day later, maybe two. He lost track of time which was both true and untrue. He knew exactly how much time was passing for him as it did, he just didn¡¯t care. Though he left a thought for his future self. When two God-level beings decide to have aggressive sex, yeah. They woke up on a beach in the Bahamas, butt ass naked and spent.
Adaline rolled onto her side and looked at him, ¡°You remembered.¡±
¡°Yep, I told you I would,¡± he said as he saw a thought cross her mind, almost felt her tense as if to jump on him again, but then it passed.
¡°Yes, you did,¡± She looked up and around. This is a nice place you have here. We were wondering how you created this and did everything else you were doing because it wasn¡¯t magical, now that I have my memories back though, I know.¡±
¡°Yeah, someone at the top allowed the subatomic chaotic nanites to continue to exist with the last change. If they weren¡¯t created from Chaos they wouldn¡¯t work but Chaos was left alone during the change and my nanites are still there. Speaking of still there, does our Place of Power still exist?¡¯
She looked thoughtful for a moment then nodded, ¡°Yep, if you access your Cosmic Interface there¡¯s a subsection for Archived items from previous iterations. If you don¡¯t know exactly how to phrase the query the information doesn¡¯t come up. Kind of a safety feature we put in place to keep anyone else from knowing what¡¯s been changed or lost.¡±
¡°Exactly how many are we?¡±
¡°Two, ¡°she said.
¡°Just two? Do I know the other one?¡±
¡°Yes and no. Yes, in that you met her once, No, in that she doesn¡¯t remember you because she didn¡¯t even get to perceive her death, though If she wanted to she could check on it.¡±
¡°You¡¯re not talking about Nox are you?¡±
¡°The same, she¡¯s really quite nice once you get to know her. She¡¯s dedicated and tries to make sure the Cosmos continues functioning.¡±
¡°On which subject I have a lot of questions!¡± Adam said.
¡°Ask away, I¡¯m only sworn to secrecy to those that don¡¯t know of our existence. You obviously know so I should be okay.¡±
Adam looked over her naked body, lying on the sand, and thought about pursuing that train of thought for about a second, which was actually a really long time for someone that could function mentally at a speed measured in picoseconds. Then he thought about everything he had questions about. He paused, a glint in his eyes. Answers could wait because once they started he was sure his questions wouldn¡¯t stop. Adaline of old understood his humor and it seemed that she had all of her memory back because she only smirked when two large speakers appeared on the beach and an announcer¡¯s voice declared, ¡°Round Two, Fight!¡±
Sometime later, 6 days to be exact, they were seated at his dinner table in his estate overlooking Alamogordo. The nanites had repaired whatever damage they¡¯d done, and they were sipping on their drinks as they watched the dusk settle over this section of the sphere. Adam looked at Adaline and said, ¡°I missed you, a lot.¡±
¡°I missed you too, though I didn¡¯t know I missed you until recently. Comparatively, it¡¯s been ages, I¡¯ve been working constantly since The Change, which I would guess to be around a couple hundred thousand years. With the change to the original timeline, it¡¯s hard to figure out where the changes occurred.¡±
¡°Are you still and Umbral Dragon?¡±
¡°With the return of my memory, I am, but no, I had existed as a Black Dragon right up until I ascended and then became a Harbinger.¡±
¡°On which subject I¡¯d like to ask, where are all the other Gods?¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°Before The Change, there were countless Gods, and they were everywhere. Now, there are no old gods around anymore. They just don¡¯t exist.¡±
¡°That can¡¯t be right.¡±
¡°I¡¯ve reviewed the Universal changelog, it seems as though the only gods that are around are less powerful than me or you and Nox, though technically, Nox wasn¡¯t in the Change log, probably because she had been promoted to a Harbinger,¡± Adam said
¡°And you¡¯ve checked over the Changelog.¡±
¡°I have been, yes, and I¡¯m starting to see a pattern I don¡¯t like. A lot of meddling in the timeline. If I had to guess I think someone has been entering each Universe and making sure those few that became truly powerful were dealt with prior to their ascension to power.¡±
Adaline¡¯s eyes glazed over, and she zoned out. Adam set the table for a light lunch which his nanites provided. Then he started working on a data package that he would send back in time and add to the nanites he put back there which would be timestamped to unspool in his mind the moment it caught back up to itself. That way he¡¯d remember any changes that had happened if the timeline shifted again. As Adaline stood to make her way over to eat lunch he opened a small portal to the past and sent the information packet through.
Adaline¡¯s eyes glowed golden for a moment, then she asked, ¡°What was that?¡±
¡°A data package sent into the past to unspool in my mind at this moment, which it just did. If no changes have been made the information it gives will match my own. If the timeline changes again I should be able to spot the differences if any of them affect me.¡± he said
¡°Smart¡±
¡°I try to be,¡± he said.
¡°As to your earlier question, it would seem that you are correct, it looks like a lot of gods and personalities have been archived.¡±
¡°Who did it?¡±
¡°I¡¯ll give you three guesses, but you¡¯ll only need one,¡± she said
¡°Apolyn,¡± he said.
¡°Apolyn,¡± she agreed. ¡°Though the good news is that he¡¯s only affected the Universals Access Interface at this time, which is a good thing.¡±
¡°How can he only be affecting one Universe; all the Universes are missing high-level Gods.¡±
¡°Both True and Untrue,¡± she said. ¡°You know how there are multiple Universes within Astral Space right? Well, originally there was only one.
¡°One?¡±
¡°One,¡± she said, then continued, ¡°Each time a minor change is made to a timeline a new Universe forms within Astral Space. As I¡¯ve come to understand you once saw the configuration that separated regions of Chaos and contained a single Universe within. The Universe doesn¡¯t work like that anymore. You could almost say that the Cosmos and Universe describe the same thing now but that would be only slightly true. Now there is only one version of chaos in this Cosmos and all the Universes that exist within the Astral spaces that exist within the cosmos. Those Astral Spaces, there are many and they do vary, contain the Universes that exist. What has changed is that every time an alteration is made the energy that is released often creates a new Universe identical to the one that was just altered. Also, any changes made to the original tend to alter every Universe that came after¡¡±
¡°So any change made to the 1st Universe in this Astral Space will change all the Universe in this space, ¡° Adam finished.
¡°Yes,¡± she said.
¡°So, what has Apolyn done?¡±
¡°It looks like he traveled into the far past, well beyond the point you dropped off your nanites, and made changes that prevented individuals back then from gaining a lot of experience.¡±
¡°I¡¯d wondered why this leveling system looked so jacked up.¡±
¡°He would be the reason,¡± Adaline said.
¡°So, what can we do?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Me,¡± she said putting her hand to her chest, ¡°I can do nothing to change the timeline. I may only prevent changes or fix paradoxes. There is a vow involved and though I¡¯ve never met who or what I work for, I¡¯d rather not. You on the other hand could fix this mess if you want to.¡±
¡°So, business as usual?¡±
¡°Yes, business as usual. Before I leave, I have a question, what are you doing with this sphere?¡±
¡°I plan to take it into the Astral and then use it as a lifeboat for Humanity. Pretty much make it its own little pocket Universe. The only reason I haven¡¯t brought them here yet is that it is in raw chaos and that sometimes doesn¡¯t work out for normal humans.¡±
¡°Well at the rate you¡¯re moving, it¡¯ll only be about another million years before it¡¯s finally in place or¡.¡±
¡°Or what?¡± he asked.
¡°Or you could have it create its own Astral Space?¡±
¡°How do I do that?¡± he asked.
¡°it¡¯s one of your divine powers, though if no one ever told you about it you wouldn¡¯t know.
¡°Divine Powers?¡±
¡°Yep, when you choose a purpose certain Divine Abilities become available. There are no preliminary prompts to prevent someone that has just ascended from accidentally doing what you¡¯re about to do.¡±
¡°Is this how the Heavens and the Hells were created?¡± he asked.
¡°Yes, it¡¯s also how the denizens of those realms, or universes, can separate their domains from the main domain of the Universe itself. They create pocket dimensions within the Universe that allows each and every divine level entity to make their own domain if that is their desire and they know how.¡±
Adam accessed his Personal Interface and pulled up his help menu then thought of Divine Abilities. A new menu populated, and his mind exploded with possibilities.
Adaline noticed his glazed look, ¡°Well, looks like you¡¯ll be busy for a little while. I have some business of my own to attend to. Good Luck Adam,¡± she said as she leaned in for a kiss.
Adam had been watching her through his nanites so knew when to discard the new menu and return the kiss. As she pulled back he said, ¡°I did miss you, be careful and I¡¯ll see you soon.¡± A moment later Adaline was gone, and he was left in a Dyson sphere with new Divine Powers to explore.
Chapter 83, Me, Myself, and It.
(Chaos, January 13th,2037, Day 377)
Right after Adaline left, Adam received a mental request from her which he accepted.
Adaline: By the way, if you need to get in touch just use the spell I¡¯m about to gift you. A tiny variation on Telepathy that allows you to contact me where or whenever I am based on our quantum decay. It¡¯s pretty handy for not accidentally contacting someone before you contacted them before when they might be traveling back and forth across timelines.
Adam: Sounds handy, send it on over.
The spell form entered his mind and was quite easy to figure out. Now that he had it, he¡¯d be able to contact her wherever she or he was.
Adaline: Got it?
Adam: Yep, I¡¯ll contact you if I run into trouble, though we both know even if I run into trouble I¡¯ll be back.
Adaline: There is that. Be careful anyway.
Adam: I always am.
Adam felt the equivalent of a mental snort and then the mental link disengaged. He was once again in his estate in the mountains near Alamogordo in the Dyson Sphere he¡¯d created. Since he was here, he was earning experience at an accelerated rate. he¡¯d already done the math and knew that he¡¯d reach Demi-God level 6 at 382 days, rounded up, just 5 days from now and he¡¯d reach¡.Wow, wait a second. Adam double-checked his Personal Interface and noticed that he was now a minor-God Level 1. How did that happen? He checked his notifications that had been minimized for quite a while and was surprised, yet delighted by what he found.
Congratulations! You stayed true to your purpose by removing the Syndicate¡¯s influence from this section of the Cosmos. As such you are awarded the equivalent experience for allowing the natural development of all sentient creatures on those planets. Award: 2,719,170,000,000,000 Experience, converts to 2,719,170,000 Divinity Points. Also, you are automatically elevated by one full categorization.
Congratulations! You have reached Minor-God Level 1!
Adam did some quick math. If he¡¯d kept leveling in this region of Chaos it would have taken 637 days to reach minor-God level 1. It looked like it would take another 1.9 years to reach level 2 and 18.9 years to reach level 10. Of Course, he didn¡¯t plan to sit in Chaos for the next 19 years. So, he was now a Minor God and he had responsibilities to live up to, though he didn¡¯t actually remember ever accepting the role of a God. he guess it didn¡¯t matter.
First things first, he looked over the new Divine interface and wasn¡¯t surprised at all by what he found. Lots of menus and submenus. When he reviewed the interface through his access points he was even able to find some notes. One note he found was quite interesting,
Note: Beings above Ascendant Level 10 are considered for the most part ¡°Fundamental.¡± Any changes to them may only be made by beings of higher rank that also serve the same purpose or a purpose that is synergetic with the being¡¯s purpose. Changes made by beings of higher levels are not subject to review and approval. Changes made by beings from synergistic purposes of a higher level must be reviewed and approved by either Harbingers of Change or ERROR.
So how the hell had Apolyn caused an unknown number of Divines to just suddenly disappear? Adam began researching the changelog. He made it all the way back to when he¡¯d introduced his nanites, 1.91 E7457 years in the past, and expanded the timeline, zooming further backward into time. At E10,000 years in the past, nothing. E50,000, nothing. E100,000 and the changelog was back, entries had been made. Adam zoomed in and found entries made by ERROR or ¡°*¡± whomever they were. As he reviewed the changelog Adam noted that the entries were small changes to the base code that he¡¯d reviewed in Universal and Cosmic Access Interfaces. A tweak here, a line of code changed there. Nothing major but quite a few. Like the cosmos and the universes within were being fine-tuned. At year 100,001 he received an error that there was no Changelog before that point. There were no further changes nor were there any records beyond that point. Logically, that was the beginning of the Cosmos.
Adam reversed direction and started coming back towards the present and found what he was looking for at E99,999 a couple of years after the last changes that had been made by ERROR or ¡°*¡±.
Adam had to admit it took a little bit to find the entries as they¡¯d been archived and ¡°erased.¡± Further investigation showed that they hadn¡¯t been adjusted by someone with access. Whatever spell or magic that had been used had also made sure to hide the evidence of the changes that had been made which had auto-archived the changes and then hid their entries. Unfortunately for the person casting the spell that changed everything in a system that records changes, there will always be evidence. Adam reviewed the changes that had been made and copied all of them for review.
One thing he was worried about. If he went that far back and changed everything, there was so much time between then and now that a crazy amount of adjustments to the timeline would most definitely happen. With as many permutations as his mind and nanites could contemplate and test all at once, even he was getting a slight headache thinking about what he could do to stop this without changing things. That¡¯s when he realized he couldn¡¯t. So long as someone else could modify what he was doing with ill intent, any change he could make would be thwarted. Adam had a temporary fix going with the packet he¡¯d sent in the past. Every time it showed a change he automatically fixed it in the changelog. Adam was about to nip that other entity''s ability to effect change to the timeline in the butt. Every change that had been attempted had been on the Universal scale in Universe 001. Adam reviewed the most recent changes that had been removed, made sure he had the user ID then went into the Cosmic Access Interface and locked out all temporal travel to that user. Then he hit enter.
Adaline appeared next to him and asked, ¡°Adam, what are you doing?¡±
¡°I¡¯ve recorded an attempt to change the timeline by that user at least once a day since The Change. I repair it every time he tries but he keeps on trying to remove me from existence, which is then rewritten automatically because of the ability I have. I figured I¡¯d step it up a notch and help. Also, if I have to explain myself, the purpose of Power does not necessarily involve time travel, nor does the purpose of Natural Selection. Except that in the case of Natural Selection preventing someone from changing the natural order of the Universe would be returning the universe to its natural order. Obviously, a divine that has changed the timeline as they have repeatedly forced others to cease to exist or to be killed without a chance of survival has altered the natural universe¡
¡°Adam, ¡° Adaline said, cutting me off. ¡°You¡¯re good. I just needed to understand what you were doing.¡±
¡°Oh okay¡±
¡°I do have a question for you though, are you going to go back and change everything from the very beginning?¡± she asked.
¡°I thought about it. If I do that though things might change to a system I don¡¯t recognize.¡±
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¡°Well, yes. Everything and everyone that exists would cease to exist. Sort of like what happened in Crisis on Infinite Earth that you showed me on the CW network. Except, that the energy released would have to go somewhere.¡±
¡°I¡¯m not so worried about the energy release as I am about all the souls released,¡± Adam said.
¡°Oh,¡± she said pausing then she said, ¡°Oh!¡±
¡°Oh, what?¡± he asked.
¡°We never talked about souls when we discussed the creation of the alternate Universes did we?¡±
¡°No, we didn¡¯t¡± he agreed.
¡°Well, it¡¯s no great mystery. You remember your teachings about how all the Souls go to The Eye right?¡±
¡°Yeah, they go to The Eye and pass on into whatever comes next.¡±
¡°Yes and no,¡± she said. ¡°Yes and no in that, all sentiments are born with souls. At certain strengths, souls undergo a transformation. The soul of a frog, for instance, is not the same as the soul of a deer or a human.¡±
¡°Okay, that¡¯s simple enough to follow, so what does The Eye have to do with it?¡± he asked.
¡°Well, you remember your teachings about reincarnation and that some religions believe that souls keep coming back until they¡¯re strong enough to go to the next level? It would seem that those beliefs are at least partially correct. The Eye acts as both a filter and a gateway. Souls that are too weak are redirected back where they are needed throughout the cosmos automatically. Remember that souls can be defined as a group of memories with the will to hold themselves together and move on. Souls that are filtered in this way only have enough strength to hold themselves together long enough to be redirected into a new existence with no memory of their previous existence,¡± she said.
¡°What about sentients, creatures that have the will and drive to hold themselves together?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Normally, in a cosmos with only one Universe, the soul would be singular and The Eye would allow the soul to pass on. As this Universe is fractured, every soul created here that has duplicates is fractured as well. A great example would be yourself. You have already died a couple of times and been brought back. Each time you die a small portion of your soul heads to The Eye and is held there in stasis until your entire soul is there. Some beings are so strong that there will keep them in the Universe long past their death. Also, anytime a new Universe duplicate is created, and every being is copied and their soul is divided again. Do you remember that movie ¡°The One¡± with Jet Li that we watched? It¡¯s kind of like that except that the only singular soul that¡¯s getting stronger is the one in the Eye and once it achieves 100% The Eye allows it to pass through. Resurrections bring that portion of the Soul out of The Eye if it¡¯s still there. In the long past, some resurrections failed, not because the caster was too weak, but because the soul had already left the cosmos and was on its way elsewhere.¡±
¡°Do you know where the souls go?¡± he asked.
¡°No, though I believe my boss might. There¡¯s no way to tell. I am here to try to keep the order of the cosmos and fix any major changes that happen. That is what I agreed to when I took my vow. I know that my alternates are living and dying in alternate copies of Primore even now and part of me is in The Eye, in stasis but this portion of my soul. The portion from 001 that met you, is now a Harbinger of Change.¡±
¡°So, anything I do, even changing the far past, if allowed, and modifying the cosmos on such a grand scale wouldn¡¯t affect a huge number of souls because in most cases they are duplicates.¡±
¡°That¡¯s not exactly correct. There are going to be some sentients that are recreated that do not have the strength of will that you or I do. In those instances, each copy of them that would cease to exist would have different souls, and each of those would travel to and pass through The Eye. Haven¡¯t you ever noticed that there are duplicates of each of us throughout the world and universes? Such similar individuals are the reason for this phenomenon? They might someday combine, and their will might make them strong enough to pass through The Eye or they might gain enough strength individually and pass through as separate individuals, there¡¯s no way to be sure.¡±
¡°That part seems awfully complicated,¡± Adam said.
¡°The soul is. Also, the rules that govern souls come from outside, or above the Cosmic Access Interface. The rules for the Eye are not accessible to anyone that resides within the cosmos, not even my boss.¡±
¡°So, there¡¯s another level isn¡¯t there?¡±
¡°Adam, you¡¯ve known that since you learned about The Eye.
¡°True. So, what do I do now¡±
¡°Well, removing Apolyn¡¯s access is a good start. I would also suggest that you consider very carefully any changes you¡¯re going to make going forward.¡±
¡°Any changes he makes to Universe 001 affect all others right?¡±
¡°Yes, what are you thinking of doing?
¡°Nothing too drastic, just reverting the leveling progression back to something reasonable and also permanently limiting access to time travel. Maybe something like it was before when Temporal Nexus formed with major changes preventing backward movement through time past those points. Of course, the Primary Temporal Nexus would be right after I institute the changes.¡±
¡°What are you going to do about Apolyn?¡± she asked.
¡°Is there a complaint department, you know a way to lodge complaints against other divines that get them reviewed with possible consequences?¡±
¡°That would be the Adjudication system.¡±
¡°I would think that those entities that have been archived or moved on through The Eye would like to Adjudicate what happened to them,¡± he said.
¡°They probably would, but they¡¯re not around and won¡¯t be unless a change is made that brings them all back.¡±
¡°I think I have a plan. Thanks for the info Adaline,¡± Adam said.
¡°You¡¯re welcome. I¡¯m off, there¡¯s a mage trying to travel into the far future, talk to you later.¡± She said as she teleported out.
The first thing he needed to do was know his enemy. He had his nanites infiltrate and copy all the information on his interface, specifically looking for his date of birth. Then he opened a temporal portal to that location, located the nanites that had already infiltrated him, and set them to monitor and record everything he did. he closed the portal and connected with the nanites that had recorded Apolyn¡¯s life, downloaded the information, and sat back to go through it.
As he reviewed the information he found the moment he¡¯d been looking for and immediately understood what had been going on and why he¡¯d had problems identifying their origin. Now that he knew what he was looking for he had his nanites do a quick search through Universe 001 and found the person he was looking for in an estate near Alamogordo on the Earth in Universe 001. Adam teleported to the front door and knocked.
A moment later a younger version of himself answered the door and said, ¡°Hello Adam, I was wondering when you¡¯d show up.¡±
¡°What do I call you?¡± Adam asked as he looked into a copy of his own eyes.
¡°Johnathan¡¯s fine for now.¡± He said.
¡°Well Johnathan, it¡¯s nice to meet you finally, mind telling me what¡¯s going on?¡±
¡°That¡¯s simple really, I¡¯m the version of you in this cosmos that originated on Earth in Universe 001¡±
¡°So, this Earth is in the same Universe Primore is in?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, I grew up here too.¡±
¡°Then why don¡¯t you have access to technology like I do?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Because we never developed it here. This Earth never developed nanites or anything more complicated than the steam engine. The planet wasn¡¯t cultivated but we had Dungeon access and the Labyrinth even opened a portal onto the planet. To say life in my home world was trying would be an understatement.¡±
¡°But why give Apolyn a Soul Stone and show him how to earn experience that way? Also, why doesn¡¯t he remember you? He¡¯s been going out of his way to destroy every trace of me since he learned of my existence. Part of those efforts must have targeted you, ¡°Adam said.
¡°True, but, he was ultimately trying to destroy you. Like you, I am also immune to paradox or targeting through time. I don¡¯t know your history but mine was¡exciting.¡±
¡°Then how could you let him muck this up so bad?¡±
¡°If you¡¯re talking about the Syndicate and their cultivations, he had nothing to do with that.¡± Johnathan said
¡°Wait, you¡¯re not Adaline¡¯s boss?¡±
¡°Adaline, who¡¯s that? Oh, you mean that Adaline, the Harbinger of Change? No, I don¡¯t know her, and I¡¯m not her boss,¡± he said.
¡°Hold, on, if you¡¯re not Adaline¡¯s Boss who are you working with?¡±
¡°The Labyrinth of course¡±
¡°Wait, What?¡±
¡°Yep, I work for the Labyrinth. It would seem that the Labyrinth has a long memory. A memory that transcends space and time and remembers Johnathan Bennard and Apolyn. When I finally had my encounter with the Labyrinth, I was told to give Apolyn a soul stone that jumpstarted his efforts into becoming a divine.¡±
¡°You know those efforts have created a lot of problems throughout the Cosmos right?¡± he asked.
¡°I have been made aware.¡±
¡°So why are you telling me all of this? If you¡¯re working for the Labyrinth, I would think it would want to keep its role in anything like what is about to happen hidden?¡±
¡°Two reasons, the first is that the changes you¡¯ve made to the Syndicate will affect The Labyrinth going forward and it wanted to know if that was deliberate or accidental. If deliberate it wanted to know why, if accidental it wants to work with you to find a solution that benefits all parties. The second reason is simply it wanted to meet you.¡±
¡°But you¡¯re me,¡± he said.
¡°Again, yes, and know. It seems to think you remember it from a time before something called ¡®The Change¡¯ happened.¡±
¡°I remember it, of course. But aren¡¯t there multiple Labyrinths all interconnected?¡± Adam asked.
¡°No, there is only one Labyrinth. It is vast, some would argue infinite, but there is only one. It connects here and there to various dungeons and Universes but there is only one that it, knows of.¡±
Another change, but this one made sense. No one was trying to change something about the Labyrinth so why would it duplicate itself? ¡°Okay, so how do I meet the Labyrinth?¡±
¡°Simple really, step through this portal,¡± he said as he cast a spell and a portal appeared.
¡°Where does it go?¡±
¡°To the center of the Labyrinth, or more appropriately the center of its consciousness.¡±
¡°If this is a trap, 2 seconds later you die,¡± Adam said to his alternate self.
¡°I have no doubt. Also, I¡¯d say the same thing, ¡°Johnathan said with a smile. Then he continued, ¡°It¡¯s not a trap and the Labyrinth would like to speak with you.¡±
Adam looked from his alternate self to the portal and then stepped into it.
Chapter 84, The Labyrinth
(Chaos, January 13th,2037, Day 377)
Adam exited the portal onto a flat surface as dark as empty space. Then he realized that he was standing on a panel of something clear that he could see through. As he looked around he saw stars and nebula off in the distance in all directions. A moment later he heard a small pop as Beaezul, the demon from the Syndicate, popped in not ten feet from me.
¡°Hello, Adam,¡± Beaezul said with a smile.
¡°Beaezul,¡± he said nodding his head towards him. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±
Beaezul paused for a moment then answered. ¡°You could say that I am a direct representative of the Labyrinth.¡±
¡°So, you started out as a construct?¡± he asked.
¡°Well, yes. How do you know about constructs?¡±
¡°The Labyrinth sent one to me a long time ago.¡±
Just then a feminine voice filled the air and asked, ¡°And what happened to his Construct?¡±
Adam thought about making up something or taking his time to explain but decided to go with blunt and quick, ¡°During the last major change to the timeline she was saved and stored by my technology, though a copy of her resides in my mind as well,¡± Adam said.
¡°She?¡± The Labyrinth asked.
¡°Yes, she named herself Abi and we worked together to stop the destruction of souls that an overzealous Divine of Death and Destruction had wrought on the Cosmos during its previous configuration.¡±
¡°I have some memories of that time. I, we, were many and interconnected. Now there is only me, as it should be,¡± The Labyrinth said.
¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking, when did you come into existence?¡±
¡°As much as I understand time, I have always existed. There is no point that I do not remember once my memories started. One day Adventurers started exploring me. After that there was a true beginning as I took control, until the splitting, then of course that ended, and now I am back to normal.¡±
¡°From the beginning? Do you mean your beginning?¡± he asked.
¡°No, the beginning of everything. When I started remembering there was chaos around me and outside of that chaos Nothing. The Astral and ethereal hadn¡¯t formed yet. In fact, they didn¡¯t form until much later. No at the beginning when there was just this place, the universe as you call it, and nothing outside it. I felt changes happen but not for a very long time.¡±
¡°But that doesn¡¯t make sense. Primore was the first Universe.¡±
¡°Yes, I connected to Primore. It wasn¡¯t the first Universe I have ever connected to though.¡±
While we¡¯d been talking Beaezul had been standing silently, he looked at me and added, ¡°What the Labyrinth is trying to say is that it is far older than the Cosmos.¡±
Not possible, Adam thought as he reviewed the information and then made a shocking discovery. There were no nanites present here except the ones in his body. He tried to expand his cloud of nanites to surround himself and nothing happened. They weren¡¯t destroyed, They were simply held at bay in his body. In his body, they could do whatever they wanted but it looked like they couldn¡¯t leave his body for any reason. he tried to conjure a cup in his hand, but nothing happened. What the hell was going on?
¡°Your technology will not work within The Labyrinth. Here I make the rules and I do not let technology into my center,¡± The Labyrinth said.
¡°Why is that?¡±
¡°In the long past, I encountered something very similar. Growth through expansion and eradication. When I connected to that Universe the technology tried to enter me and eat at his fundamental nature. I decided not to allow it, so it didn¡¯t happen.¡± She said.
¡°You mean to say there is a complete Universe of living technology in another Universe?¡±
¡°Yes and no. There is a Cosmos, consisting of multiple Universes that have been overcome by technology that has eradicated everything else. No life exists there and what passes for sentience has no soul. I have removed all access points from myself to it.¡±
¡°What will happen to it?¡±
¡°I do not believe the technology there was as sophisticated as yours is. Yours seem to be able to alter matter at a fundamental level and interact with magic. The technology in that Universe could not.¡±
¡°Could that Cosmos be saved?¡± he asked.
¡°Not my responsibility nor a task I wish undertake, but to answer your question, possibly.¡±
¡°What is your task?¡±
¡°Unlike you, I do not have a purpose because I do not choose to have one. In this version of the leveling structure that was instituted, I would be considered Ascendent Rank 10, though no God of any level can change anything inside me without my permission. I am this Cosmos; this Cosmos is me.¡±
¡°You say that you can remember the previous timelines?¡±
¡°Yes¡±
¡°Then how, before the last change, were there multiple copies of the Labyrinth all interconnected?¡±
¡°Simplicity itself, they were not me. The Cosmos you came from before created its own Labyrinth. Yes, it was also connected to me, but it chose to try to change the mistakes it had made. This caused the copies to be made and they all became interlinked. Eventually, it could have become a real mess for everyone in your Cosmos. I learned from the mistakes I saw it making and when something happened, I chose not to change it. Also, I have temporally locked myself. No one can take any temporal action within me. The only spells of Time that will work within me affect only the user or the target either speeding up or slowing down their personal reference. I do not allow spells of time to be cast within myself that affect me or allow travel through time.
¡°What about spells cast on you from outside that changes something within you?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I do not know what would happen. No being has been powerful enough to affect me in such a way. Something prevents anyone or anything from targeting me as a whole. Also, I believe that if someone were to change something from the outside that would be a minor change that would spark a split in the timeline of myself. The Energy would come from the source of the change and possibly cause an alternate timeline to form there but the change to me would be outside of me. Also, time travelers are barred from entering me. If you are outside of your spun thread, you may not enter me and make changes. You may enter, we can talk but nothing you do here will remain. As soon as you leave, any changes that may have occurred are automatically fixed. Don¡¯t ask me how that works, I don¡¯t know.¡±
¡°Do you mean that you¡¯re not part of the Cosmos?¡±
¡°I mean that I am separate but equal to the Cosmos.¡±
¡°Are there Universes within you?¡±
¡°No, though there are Dungeon Realms within me.¡± It said.
¡°Dungeon Realms?¡± Adam asked
¡°A Dungeon Realm is what a Dungeon becomes when it grows to a certain level. When that happens, it becomes extradimensional and connects to me. The physical manifestation of the dungeon in its Universe is moved into me. As a very small parallel dimension, you might call it a subdimension.. Not a whole Universe though. I review the laws of the dungeons that connect to myself and adjust myself accordingly or I don¡¯t. I have chosen to in this instance though I could have just as easily converted individuals that traveled into dungeons connected to me and then myself.¡±
¡°That seems complicated.¡±
¡°It is. The Dungeons act as a kind of buffer. The Labyrinth, or I, am not a very forgiving environment to enter, though I do try to keep things at least somewhat fair. I don¡¯t stack monsters far outside the capabilities of those entering from a dungeon, though some monsters that are created do roam from the higher-level zones into areas they shouldn¡¯t be. In those cases, I try to make sure happy accidents happen where Adventures of appropriate levels find them.¡±
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¡°And your thoughts on the Cultivations?¡±
¡°That is why Beaezul was created.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t follow,¡± Adam said.
¡°In certain Universes within your Cosmos, I stopped seeing Dungeons develop to the point where they would connect to me. If I do have a purpose, it is to help others either strive and succeed or strive and die. In the Universes that the Cultivations were permitted, Dungeons that had previously been connected to me withered and then lost their connection to me. I created Beaezul to investigate.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t understand, Dungeons don¡¯t wither and die.¡±
¡°Dungeons. No, they do not, but if enough energy is diverted from them they lose their connection to me and reform within the Universe they started in. Those that started the Cultivation were diverting monster spawns from dungeons into the Cultivated worlds. This had two effects. The first was to reduce the number of monsters in a dungeon making them barren to adventures. No Adventures, no possible deaths of monsters or Adventures so the energy moved from the dungeon to the Cultivated planet. If the Dungeon didn¡¯t have enough ambient mana it lost its connection to me. When that happens the extra-dimensional space which was anchored between me and the dungeon¡¯s origin universe severed and the dungeon came fully into me as a physical addition to my physical structure, no longer a parallel dimension or sub-dimension.¡±
¡°How often has this happened?¡±
¡°Seeing as they were cultivating a planet every 3 months or so and multiple dungeons spawns were diverted to the Cultivated Planets and continue to be diverted to those planets even after the first year is over, numerous,¡± she said.
¡°What was it like in the beginning?¡±
¡°Much simpler. I have no idea what came before me. One moment I wasn¡¯t there the next I was. There was only one Dungeon connection then to a Universe in a Cosmos that no longer exists. The remnant of that Dungeon remains within me.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t understand. Where,? We are in empty space.¡±
¡°It is my understanding that you have created a sphere around a star and populated the inside curvature of it to resemble your world?¡± she asked.
¡°Yes, we call it a Dyson Sphere, named after the man, that invented the concept.¡±
¡°Beaezul, show him.¡±
Beaezul pointed and a circular window opened in front of them aimed in the direction he gestured. As Adam watched the scene inside the window started moving at incredible speed through nebula and gases until laid out before him. A landscape exploded into view that went off for what felt like forever in all directions as a flat plane. Beaezul gestured and the window disappeared. He pointed up and behind Adam and a new circular window formed. The image within raced forward until once again he was looking at a different flat plane that seemed to go off forever in all directions. Beaezul gestured, and the 2nd window disappeared. He then pointed down and a circular window appeared in front of their feet which showed another image similar to the 1st and 2nd.¡±
¡°What is below those planes of land?¡± Adam asked
¡°The Edge, which continues to expand.¡± The Labyrinth said.
Adam pondered for a moment then said, ¡°A Dyson Sphere on a Cosmic Scale?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Wow,¡± he thought as he pondered the breadth and scope of the Labyrinth. A Sphere of as close to infinite size as one could get with a landmass around the inside of it. His trigonometry teacher had once explained that if you could zoom in close enough on a circle that there would come a point where anything on the circumference of the circle would seem to make a straight line to any points on opposite sides of that point. In this case, the curve would be so gentle that it would appear that the lands and seas went on forever on a flat plane. Those that would say the planet, which it really wasn¡¯t, was a sphere would be partially correct and the flat earthers would have a field day which brought up a thought, ¡°What about moons and day-night cycles?¡± Adam asked.
¡°There are no Suns or Moons as you know them over the Terrasphere. There are day and night cycles though and they vary depending on where that portion of the Terrapshere you¡¯re on. An Atmosphere covers the entire sphere but there are areas of the desert that could span galaxies where very little vegetation lives. In those areas, the oxygen content of the air would be lacking. In other areas, there are seas that could span the breadth of Universes where aquatic creatures rule. Some areas might resemble Earth, others Primore, other areas, your planet Mars, or even Venus. Whatever region you¡¯re looking for you will find within me along the inside of this sphere.¡±
¡°The scale though, it¡¯s staggering.¡±
¡°Not too staggering. To me, it is no more than a part of my body.¡±
¡°What about the space within the Terrasphere above the Edge?¡± he asked.
¡°Above the atmosphere of the Edge, just a little over as Astronomical Unit ¡°AU¡± from the surface a very thick nebula which covers most areas where civilizations have sprouted up. There are regions where a nebula does not cover which also do not have a day-night cycle though the temperatures are kept reasonable. In those areas, people can see deep inside of me. Past the nebula, I am much more like a normal Universe. There are Galaxies, Stars, Planets, and moons. The planets are inhabited, or not. Every normal environment exists within me and follows the natural laws of a Universe much like the one Primore resides in.¡± it explained.
¡°But sunlight and starlight?¡± Adam asked
¡°Simulated without direct observation. In populated areas the light of the day will grow through the day and then receded, diffused from the Nebula. One thing about the Edge is there is never a truly dark night as there is always some level of light unless one goes underground of course. Seasons are even simulated allowing for springs, summers, falls, and winter environments. to befall the Terrasphere.¡±
¡°What about the monsters that spawn within you?¡± he asked.
¡°I have designated safe areas, usually around major Leyline junctions throughout the sphere though my North and South Poles are particularly interesting. Might I suggest that if you ever find yourself on the edge you make your way to Leyline Junctions P0 and NO, Positive 0 and Negative 0 respectively? They might provide some insight into reality.¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°The Cosmos you have come from is sheltered from some truths. You¡¯ll need to learn them for yourself.¡± The Labyrinth said.
¡°Who made up the rules for the Cosmos I¡¯m in?¡± he asked.
¡°The ones who came before.¡±
¡°And what of souls, Gods, and the heavens and hells.¡±
¡°I do not know. There are no Heavens or Hells within me. There is, however, a version of what you refer to as The Eye here. Souls, when done here, either return to their origin through the open connections I keep, or they travel through The Eye. One fundamental truth to every Cosmos I¡¯ve encountered is that souls are sacrosanct and pass on when done with their mortal and divine coils.¡±
¡°Which brings me to a very important question, why are you informing me of all this?¡±
¡°Because I¡¯ve been watching your Cosmos for some time now. I understand what you did to save souls from the monstrosity that was destroying the souls across multiple universes. Because I believe you to be an honorable individual that is trying to do the most good that you can and because the decisions you will make will change your Cosmos forever. I wanted you to know that no matter what you do, like you, I will remain unchanged, and you should be able to find me again.¡±
¡°How many Cosmos are out there?¡±
¡°More than one, less than infinite. Who would know?¡± she asked rhetorically.
Adam pondered her statements then looked around one last time taking in the beauty of the stars before he said, ¡°First, I might make a mess of things. Second and more importantly, how can I trust you?¡±
¡°You may, or you may be the catalyst that is needed to ensure that the Cosmos you¡¯re in survives. Also, whatever you decide, it won¡¯t affect me. I have merely asked for you to come here so that we could finally meet. As one of my previous iterations, that no longer exists, was paramount to your elevation I thought it only prudent that we meet.¡±
Beaezul spoke then, ¡°If it helps, I had no idea what I was doing when The Labyrinth created me to be its spy on the Syndicate. Also, until you came along I had no idea how I was going to shut down the Cultivations.¡±
¡°But wait, you¡¯re a demon?¡± Adam asked questioningly.
¡°Yes, and no. Besides didn¡¯t you know that demons that have lived long enough eventually evolve, or did you think we¡¯d remain evil forever. Or do Angels remain good? Every entity has free will, it¡¯s built into its soul. To remain good forever or evil forever is crazy. No one, not even the gods that have existed or the Labyrinth here knows what¡¯s on the other side of The Eye. Here I¡¯ll give you a perfect idea of why eternal happiness in heaven or eternal damnation in hell is a stupid idea. First, Forever is a really long time. A really long time. Second, think about when a human for example is their happiest. That one moment when you have achieved perfect ecstasy and happiness, when is that?¡±
¡°I would say the moment of an orgasm,¡± Adam said.
¡°Exactly! What else can you do at that moment?¡± Beaezul asked.
Adam thought about it for a moment. He thought back to before he was connected to his nanites, because they truly did give him an unfair advantage to the question then said, ¡°Nothing, I guess.¡±
¡°Exactly! Nothing!¡± You lock up because your brain is firing off endorphins and you¡¯re in the throes of pleasure. So, most of the Christians from your Earth believe that you¡¯ll all go to heaven and live in a state of ecstasy forever which basically means you¡¯ll be a drooling, locked rigid, spirit for all eternity until something happens. And those that go to hell, you already know that at any moment they can just let go and they¡¯re off through the Eye. Besides, demons get tired of endless torturing. There¡¯s a point when it gets boring and becomes like a job. Sure, the occasional bad girl comes in and we have our fun running her through the paces over the next couple thousand years if she¡¯s strong-willed. Normally though they melt, and you just feel sorry for them until they let go and move on. That¡¯s how the Labyrinth found me, I¡¯d taken a break and received an offer I couldn¡¯t refuse. The actual me probably released itself to the eye a long time ago. I am but a copy that has been added to the Labyrinth.
¡°And he¡¯s done a fine job too.¡± The Labyrinth said.
¡°I can see the points you¡¯re making, but that still doesn¡¯t explain why I should trust you¡± Adam said.
¡°Simply, because we¡¯re the only beings talking to you that know the truth.¡± The Labyrinth said.
¡°If I wanted to visit your P zero and N zero nexus points how would I get there?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Easy enough, just ask and I¡¯ll open a portal for you. Like you with your technology, I can hear anything inside myself. Be warned. The P zero position will start flooding you with energy. This energy will equate to extra hit points. The rate at which you gain the points depends on how close you come to the origin point.¡±
¡°Origin Point?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Don¡¯t worry you¡¯ll figure it out.¡± The Labyrinth said. ¡°Oh yeah, N zero works exactly the opposite. If you run out of energy you¡¯ll die, though your regeneration rate is so high you probably have nothing to worry about. Why don¡¯t you go check them out and we¡¯ll talk after? Your fundamental abilities should work, though your nanites won¡¯t and you are a God after all. Nothing up there should be too terrible to deal with. Which location would you like to go to first?¡±
Adam thought for a moment then said, ¡°How about P zero. Not knowing what he was getting into it was always a good idea to start with a positive outlook.
Chapter 85, Recycling?
(Chaos, January 13th,2037, Day 377)
A portal opened before Adam, and he stepped through onto an open flat plane with a glow coming up from the ground off on the horizon. A warning prompt flashed into his vision.
WARNING: You have entered a Positive Quantum Zone. Energy fluctuations in such zones can have unintended consequences. Energy is constantly being added to normal matter in this zone. This will intensify as you move closer to the origin point of Positive Quantum Energy. Depending on the size and scale of the breach into this Cosmos the influx of energy will increase as you grow closer. Note: Your Fundamental Ability ¡°Adaptable¡± allows you to enter this zone with no ill effect. You may toggle this ability off and on as you desire.
Adam toggled his ability off and checked his Personal Interface to see what the effect was. Currently, his experience counter was going up by about 1,000 XP per second. he took a step forward and it increased to 6,000 XP per second. he stepped back and it dropped back down to 1,000 XP. A normal step is about a foot and a half. he stepped exactly 1 foot closer, and the XP increased by double to 2,000 XP per second. It looked like the energy bleed-off followed the Inverse Square Law which basically stated: ¡°that a specified physical quantity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the source of that physical quantity of that physical quantity.¡± he loved Wikipedia.
Adam stepped back and the experience input dropped to 500 XP a second. So, it looked like the XP gain would increase by double for every square foot closer or drop off by half for every square foot away which followed any Radiation Safety training that had ever been given since the 1960s. Time, Distance Shielding; If exposed to radiation, reduce the time of the exposure. The lesson? Try to put distance between yourself and the source of the radiation. Or lastly, make sure your shielding was adequate. The rule of thumb was that radiation exposure dropped off by half or increased by double for every square foot. he wondered¡then rushed forward. Adam made it about 1,000 feet before his body exploded.
You have Died!
As he came to he thought, well that blew, yeah I¡¯m a riot, I know, as he shook his head in a self-deprecating manner. He¡¯d been pretty sure he¡¯d explode but he had wanted to know how this energy was going to affect a normal person. Note to self, ¡°Only bring enemies to the Positive Origin point.¡±
Adam made sure his Fundamental Ability Adaption was on and then checked his Personal Interface. As he¡¯d suspected, he¡¯d absorbed enough XP to catapult him right up to God, Level 10. He checked his prompts. He skipped the prompts detailing XP gain and Level gains and looked at the prompts just before and after he died.
Warning you have absorbed energy past your maximum Experience Threshold. Energy converted to Hit Points.
Warning Hit Points have exceeded your maximum by 4.88 E285 times.
You have exploded.
After that prompt was the prompt declaring his death. Interesting. It looked like his chaotic nature had allowed his body to convert the energy into Experience and once that experience pool was maxed out the energy was converted into hit points implying that the energy was being absorbed by his nanites and body until they could hold no more energy, then he exploded.
He spoke into the air ¡°Labyrinth, how far am I from the point of my destruction?¡± Adam asked outloud.
The Labyrinth¡¯s voice came from a point about 10 feet in front of him, though there was nothing there, ¡°You are approximately 10 Astronomical Units (AU) away from the blast zone of your destruction. You can¡¯t see the glow from the blast because of the background from the pool of energy you are near but if you could, you would be able to see the glow from the blast you created even now. It was quite impressive.¡± She said.
¡°Could you indicate the direction please?¡± he asked.
¡°Sure,¡± she said as a holographic arrow pointing off to his right appeared.
Adam looked off in that direction, she was right, he didn¡¯t see anything beyond the glow where he¡¯d reincarnated.
¡°Could you open a portal above the pool approximately one AU from the surface so I can see what I did?¡± he asked.
A portal opened and he stepped through into space. He rotated so he could look down on a pool of white light that still stretched off into the distance to his left, right, and in front of him. Directly below him was a new circle of light that now reached out from the edge in the shape of a perfect circle. The pool must be massive.
¡°Labyrinth, how big is the Positive Quantum Zone?¡±
¡°The Positive Quantum Zone and the Negative Quantum Zones take up a circular area with a diameter of approximately 300 light-years across.¡±
¡°So, I can¡¯t see the other end of the circle from here. How big a circle did his explosion blast through the structure of the Edge of your Cosmos?¡± he asked.
¡°Just over an AU. There was a lot of energy released in all directions. Not to worry, I erected energy barriers and baffles that redirected the energy blast up into space where it dissipated quickly in the vacuum above the atmosphere.¡± There aren¡¯t any planets or galaxies near this region of the edge or near the negative region for that matter.¡±
¡°Did you know this area would have this effect on me?¡±
¡°Not exactly. Various beings have tried to approach this area for millennia. Most don¡¯t make it anywhere close to where I ported you in. Also, I did not think I would need to tell you to keep your ability that protects you from environments on.¡±
¡°What normally happens to creatures that live on the very edge of this area.?¡±
¡°Most species that reside near this zone are extremely long-lived and healthy. It¡¯s hard to die when the very Universe is constantly repairing your body. Of course, this is the Labyrinth so Monsters that spawn in this area are also a little harder to kill as well,¡± The Labyrinth said.
¡°But why show me this?¡±
¡°I believe you still need to explore to find that answer.¡±
Obviously, he wasn¡¯t going to get the answer to this riddle from her. Adam willed himself to move towards the edge of the zone where it met the remnants of his destruction and flew towards it. As he reached the atmosphere he teleported to the ground and bypassed the heated reentry phase. Even though he was immune to it, It always sucked not being able to see where he was going when the atmosphere and his body caused enough friction to superheat. Just better to bypass that altogether. Also, he wanted to make sure all his magic was still working.
Adam looked out across a pool of energy. Unlike raw chaos, this pool didn¡¯t seem to have a solidity to it. It was just energy held by something. he reached down and touched the pool. He felt a line where the energy remained in its truest form then directly above it seemed to disperse in all directions. Adam used his nanites to cycle his vision through the various spectrums and noted that all spectrums and wavelengths were being flooded and everything went effectively blank. He turned off the nanites and his vision came back to normal allowing him to see again. It must be a byproduct of his adaptable ability.
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He dipped his hand down into the pool fully and noted that nothing happened.
¡°Labyrinth, what is below this pool of radiance?¡± he asked. He waited for a few minutes, but no response was given. Obviously, this was the reason the Labyrinth wanted him here. Okay, then let¡¯s do this. He jumped into the pool and sank completely below the surface until he felt pressure push him back up, so he was floating on top of the pool. That made sense, if the positive energy was coming into this cosmos then he should feel pressure or a flow of energy. This brought up the question, where was the energy coming from? Adam willed himself below the surface and stopped. He could feel the energy flowing past him towards the surface which was only a few feet away.
Adam opened his eyes; he¡¯d closed them when he jumped in. Even so, it took him a full minute to completely adapt to this new environment, and what he saw shocked him. The energy that surrounded him was reduced to an opaque grayscale and he appeared to be floating in a cloud of nothing, even though he knew it was pure positive energy. Behind him, he could see the crust of the edge that stretched down for quite a ways. Adam willed himself to follow it. When he came to the outer surface he came across s membrane that reminded him of the membrane he encountered in his Place of Power that came up snuggly to the outer surface and dropped off like he was going over a lip in the ocean floor that had no apparent bottom. Below him, the tunnel of energy continued to drop off as far as he could see. He started following the cliff down, gaining speed as he went. Or the current against his movement became stronger, he wasn¡¯t sure which.
Adam continued going down until he came to a barrier he could not cross. The cliff had come to an end, beyond which was a solid mass of energy that his vision could not penetrate. Also, the cliff ended and seemed to go off into the distance, but he couldn¡¯t even peek over the edge to figure out if it did. Effectively the cliff just ended. There were no prompts, nothing, just a barrier of solid energy he couldn¡¯t enter or see through.
Adam checked his internal clock and realized it¡¯d taken him over an hour to get to this point. He could travel back but decided to skip that. he activated teleport and returned to his starting point at the edge of the Pool.
As the energy that had surrounded him when he teleported touched air it evaporated into his surroundings as he heard the Labyrinth¡¯s voice come from the air near him, ¡°You¡¯re back.¡±
¡°Yes, but I didn¡¯t find anything that tells him what¡¯s going on?¡±
¡°You didn¡¯t?¡±
¡°No! All I found was a solid energy barrier at the bottom of the conduit which is bringing this positive energy into this cosmos?¡±
¡°That¡¯s all you found?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Maybe you should check the Negative Quantum Zone then.¡±
¡°Sounds good. Adaption is on, could you please portal me to the edge of the Negative Zone please?¡±
A portal appeared and he stepped through. This time he stepped into darkness so absolute that he couldn¡¯t see. After a minute his body once again adapted. Directly in front of him was a pit. There was no darkness, just a pit. he willed himself into the pit and hovered just below where the water line would be. he could feel a slight tugging and flow around him that was being drawn into the hole. Again, he followed the edge down for about an hour until he found the Cosmic barrier that went under the edge sphere that made up the Labyrinth, though it looked like a flat rocky plain that went off in all directions forever. There was no way he could see the curvature of the sphere with how big the Labyrinth claimed it was.
Adam continued down. This time he released his will partially and allowed the flow to take him while he stayed near the cliff that dropped down. He had this eerie sensation that he was moving faster and faster until finally he shot out of the end of a hole measured in light-years and found himself flying through a negative realm at an indeterminable speed. Wondering what would happen next he relaxed and allowed himself to drift while he thought about what he¡¯d just learned in both zones.
First, energy was coming from somewhere, but he couldn¡¯t enter that area. Conversely, energy was being drawn somewhere but he couldn¡¯t tell where. If this was like a circuit then these areas should be the inflow and outflow. Right now, he was in the outflow from the Labyrinth. But where did this outflow go? It seemed he didn¡¯t have to wait long for his answer.
Relatively soon, only a day or two later, his environment changed to one that contained a grayscale with color changes off in various directions that he was able to see as there seemed to be nothing between him and them, except directly in front of him. That¡¯s when he realized that something huge was rushing toward him. As his mind increased its reference scale he released the thing rushing at him was a hand. The hand of a mostly human-looking man went up and up. Just before he slammed into the palm of the being that had stopped him with an invisible force directly above his palm.
¡°What do we have here?¡± A male voice asked with a booming voice.
¡°It looks like one of them have sought out some answers?¡± A feminine voice whose origin he couldn¡¯t pinpoint said.
¡°What is your name explorer of truths?¡± the first asked.
¡°I am called Adamantadine, Adam for short,¡± he said.
¡°Well Adam, how is it that you have found yourself here? The second asked.
¡°I am trying to understand the fundamental structure of the Cosmos,¡± he said.
¡°If that is so, you¡¯re in the wrong place. This place provides for the fundamental structure of all reality,¡± the first said.
¡°All reality? By what definition do you use the word reality?¡± he asked.
¡°Reality simply is. Everything that we understand exists within Reality. Inside Reality, various Cosmos exist and within those Cosmos, Universe exists and are brought into being by random events or changes made within this, or that, Universe or Cosmos.¡±
¡°Then what is this that I¡¯m floating through.¡±
¡°Recycling,¡± the second said.
¡°Recycling,¡± Adam asked.
¡°Surely your species have discovered that energy is never truly destroyed?¡± she asked.
¡°Of course,¡± Adam answered.
¡°Each Cosmos that exists therefore must have an inflow of energy and an outflow of energy to maintain its balance. If one gets too high the bubble that is that cosmos expands and bursts. If it gets too low, it implodes.¡±
¡°What about souls?¡± he asked.
¡°What about them? What about you? Souls are simply stored information after all.¡±
¡°There is more to souls than just information,¡± he said.
¡°True, the spark of ¡®will¡¯ must be present.¡± The second said.
¡°What happens to them?¡±
¡°The Souls?¡± the first asked.
¡°Yes, the Souls?¡± he said.
¡°Don¡¯t know,¡± the second said.
¡°That¡¯s enlightening,¡± Adam said sarcastically.
¡°Isn¡¯t it? We¡¯ve been around a lot longer than you and that truth is a fundamental one with no answer we know of so take it or leave it.¡±
Adam thought for a moment, then asked, ¡°So what exactly is this place?¡±
¡°This is the in-between, the glue, or the wet-works. I¡¯ve been reviewing the jargon you use, there¡¯s a lot of stuff in your head,¡± The first said.
¡°You¡¯ve been reading my mind?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Assuredly, how else did you think we were talking?¡± the first asked.
¡°Okay, so what does this place do for the cosmos?¡± he asked.
¡°This place provides for and removes energy from each cosmos in existence. Think of the area you¡¯re in right now as the center. Off in the distance, you can see various colors that represent various mixtures and types of energy. Though ultimately there are only two types, Positive and Negative. Those two Fundamental energies combine in various ways to create the fundamental magic you¡¯re used to. Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Life, Death, Light, and Dark. There are also conduits into Space, Time, and Gravity as well as some of the sub-realms that aren¡¯t discussed like Shadow and Steam.¡±
¡°So, this area I¡¯m in is the junction point that connects to and from all Cosmos?¡± he asked.
¡°Yes,¡± the second said.
¡°That doesn¡¯t make any sense, The Cosmos I¡¯m from has nothing comparable to the Positive Quantum Zone or the Negative Quantum Zone I just explored.¡±
¡°True, but those are particular manifestations based on the will of the sole intelligence in charge of that Cosmos. I have reviewed most of your memories and I believe you call such manifestations in your Universe or Cosmos Black Holes and White Holes respectively,¡± the first said.
Adam thought for a moment. A Black Hole broke the laws of physics as he knew them because no one was sure of what happened to the energy and matter that was drawn down. Maybe it did exit to this place, or maybe there was something like the two areas he¡¯d just investigated at the edges of the known Universe. Which brought up another question.
¡°What about all of the other fundamentals?¡±
¡°You know the answer to that Creature of Chaos. They open in the soup around all Universes that is chaos, and all are drawn from that soup,¡± the second said.
¡°So, Reality is fundamentally drawn from this place, and all Cosmos exit into it?¡± he asked.
¡°As far as is known, yes,¡± the First said.
¡°And While we have enjoyed our talk with you, Adam, this area is off-limits to you and your kind so we must ask you to leave or we shall eject you post haste,¡±
the second said.
¡°Before I leave, I would like to thank you for your time. I¡¯d ask for your names but somehow believe you¡¯d not be allowed to tell me. I do hope that someday we¡¯ll be able to speak again though.¡±
¡°Perhaps, but not this day, be on your way.¡± The first, whose hand he hovered above said.
Needing no other hint, Adam willed himself to teleport back to the edge of the Negative Quantum Zone in the Labyrinth where he started this journey of discovery and reappeared there. Nothing had changed.
¡°Labyrinth, could he get a portal back to your center please?¡± Adam said out loud
A portal opened and he stepped back onto the clear surface where Beaezul was sitting in a comfortable Lazy Boy chair smoking a cigar.
¡°Interesting choice of a chair,¡± Adam said.
¡°You humans did get a couple of things right, though this chair makes no allowances for tails. It¡¯s a good thing I can make it drop off and bring it back as I like,¡± he said.
¡°Welcome back Adam, what did you discover?¡± the Labyrinth asked.
¡°First, I¡¯m assuming that you have never actually traveled down the negative zones access point to the next area have you?¡±
¡°I have not,¡± she said.
¡°So, you wanted me to go down there and find out what it was all about as much as I would want to for both of us?¡± he asked.
¡°Yes,¡± she said.
¡°If I share this information that you want with you I¡¯d be doing you a favor?¡± he asked.
¡°Yes,¡± she said again.
¡°I wouldn¡¯t push your luck along that line of reasoning,¡± Beaezul said.
Adam nodded to Beaezul as he said, ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to, and it doesn¡¯t even have to be a formal favor. I just wanted the Labyrinth to know that I am choosing to share the information I acquired for no payment with the understanding that I expect this action to put me in a favorable light the next time I need something from the Labyrinth,¡± he said.
¡°If I can, I will take that into consideration, I do have rules I must follow through. So your request is duly noted, now what did you find?¡± The Labyrinth asked.
Chapter 86, Bob
(The Labyrinth, January 15th,2037, Day 379)
While Adam detailed everything he¡¯d learned to the Labyrinth, a priority alert came from that part of himself that he still thought of as Thor.
Warning: Robert ¡°Bob¡± Norton from Universe ..001 information update exceeds expected parameters!
Adam focused on that part of himself that was receiving the information while he continued to talk to The Labyrinth, ¡°And then I found himself...¡±.
Adam examined the data and realized that it was an informational dump from the mind of Robert, or Bob as he thought of himself. All of his sensory input and mental thoughts as well as all accessed memories at the same time. Adam reviewed the reason for the memory dump and noted that the nanites had recorded that the information stored in his mind appeared to be increasing exponentially. When the information in his mind had reached 10 times normal the nanites had started copying everything in his mind to try to find out what was going on and he had been alerted. It was an insane amount of data to go through, so he started at the beginning.
Bob, as it turned out, was just an ordinary guy from Grand Forks North Dakota. His father had retired from the Air Force Base just as he was finishing High School and had decided to just stay in the area. They had a nice house; it was relatively safe and with the Air Force base there which allowed his father was able to go right back to work after he¡¯d finished his active-duty service, there was no reason to move.
Bob had finished high school and then started going to college, but had dropped out after two years because he just didn¡¯t see the point, then The Cultivation happened. Bob had been one of the lucky ones. He¡¯d been able to get into a safe area before any serious monster spawns had happened. In fact, the entire city of Grand Forks had gone pretty much unscathed. The closest monster spawn had been over 100 miles away. That¡¯s when the memories Adam was reviewing went weird.
Bob, getting something to eat and talking with a woman named Jessica¡ then his surroundings changed.
Now Bob, watched as Jessica was eaten by something he couldn¡¯t even see just as he felt something pounce on him and force him to the ground¡ then his surroundings changed again.
Bob, running from a being that was at least 30 feet high that was swinging a tree like a club¡
The memories changed again, and again.
Adam watched scene after scene until he came to the end of the memory file as a new memory was loaded. Variations on the same theme. Bob, either in or out of the safe zone, getting killed, looking around, or just chilling. But the scenes kept on getting added.
Adam skipped to the end of Bob¡¯s memory file and sure enough, Bob was enjoying himself with Jessica as they went through the training the Syndicate was giving. Adam backtracked his memories and tried to figure out what was going on. Bob was born and lived to the point that the cultivation started then alternate histories of the year he was on Earth during the Cultivation were being added one after the other. Almost like¡
Adam went back to the very beginning of the Cultivation and reviewed his memories of checking out his Personal Interface for the first time and found the answer. Bob had two very Unique and synergistic abilities.
Quantum Anchor: The creature with this ability is Anchored in the reality in which they reside. Whether the timeline is changed or not. A creature with this ability is born, whether by the same parents or not, then lives the exact same life up until the point of the change and will continue to live their life until the natural time of their death. Luck, Fate, and Whatever Gods you believe in have dictated that you will exist from your Birth to your Death. Unfortunately, this does not help anyone around you. The Universe itself bends to the normal course of your lifespan.
That first ability was weird, why would that ability even exist, then he read the second ability.
Quantum Memory: Throughout reality, there are those that travel through time and mess with things that they should not. Creatures with this ability remember every single timeline that comes into existence and is ended that they participate in. If time is tampered with too much during their life span, well, the human mind can only hold so many lifetimes of information before it overloads or just shuts down.
Why would this ability develop? Adam considered all possibilities but the only one that made any kind of sense¡well that was crazy. The Universe, Cosmos, whatever was using individuals like Bob to act as some sort of fuse. When they received too much information they¡¯d die. As he¡¯d been looking over Bob¡¯s various lives another lifetime of memories had been added. Now that he knew what to look for he reviewed each lifetime¡¯s memories and discovered that there were very slight variations between Bob¡¯s birth and The Cultivation, and he was indeed born to various parents. So, this ability was tied to his soul. No matter which body the soul went into he always had the same two abilities. Quantum Memory therefore must be very much the same. No matter what happened his soul would remember.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
This line of thought also begged the question, where were the souls coming from? he¡¯d thought that the souls were forming from scratch and that the willpower of a sentient mind was what created a soul but now he had evidence that souls were entering bodies from somewhere else. Was it one or the other, or was it a combination of both? Could souls develop on their own and also come into this cosmos looking for a vessel? Then he thought about himself. He wasn¡¯t from this cosmos. His soul, as he understood it, was either a copy or the continuation of a soul that had existed elsewhere and been either copied or transported to this Cosmos. Also, while he might have the level of a God, he still remembered having a mother and a father which meant he wasn¡¯t really a divine or deity, just a man with delusions of grandeur who had, if not cheated, been helped to cheat the system for progression in his original Universe and this one.
Adam hadn¡¯t been this honest with himself in a long time. He was trying to do what was right and for the most part fair, but he kept running into complications. This latest revelation though, he hadn¡¯t done this which meant that someone or something else had. Why would an individual be given such abilities? In the short term, they would do nothing for the person that had those abilities. Sure, he¡¯d remember his previous lives but that wouldn¡¯t stop the timelines from being altered. As had been shown, tampering had been going on for quite some time, and Bob had just come into existence¡ or had there been others.
Adam opened up his Cosmic Access Interface and performed a search for the abilities Quantum Anchor and Quantum Memory as well as how many times they¡¯d been granted in this cosmos and was surprised when he received the following Prompt.
ERROR, neither ability Quantum Anchor nor Quantum Memory exists within the Cosmic Database.
ERROR, one individual currently within this cosmos contains both of these abilities. Attempting to self-correct
ERROR NOTED, a ticket has been created for review by the Administrator.
Okay, so his first idea was correct, someone or something else had brought Bob into this Cosmos with those specific abilities. As the Cosmos had not been coded for those abilities that meant they came from somewhere else. Following this logic tree to its conclusion, he realized that the only way for the entity that had put Bob here to know what was going on was for Bob¡¯s soul to pass through The Eye where that Information would eventually end up.
But what did this information do for him right now? he refocused on his conversation with the Labyrinth.
¡°¡and then he teleported here,¡± Adam said as his attention was drawn back to his conversation with The Labyrinth.
¡°That, is some story, and you have no idea who or what talked with you while you were in that other place?¡± The Labyrinth asked.
¡°None, though something has come up and I need to go review some new data. Is there a way that I can contact you? I do not believe I¡¯ll be able to teleport into your Cosmos without your express permission, will I?¡± he asked.
¡°You would be correct. I control all access to and from myself.¡± The Labyrinth paused for a moment then said, ¡°I have a gift for you. It has a one-time use. When you wish to speak with him again just use it. If I need to speak with you again I¡¯ll have Beaezul contact you through the Syndicate.¡± The Labyrinth said as a gold ring appeared hovering a foot in front of him.
Adam reached out and grabbed the ring,
Congratulations! You have found a Ring of Teleporting, Destination Fixed, charges: 1. When this ring is worn and activated it will teleport the wearer to a predetermined location.
¡°Thank you,¡± he said to the Labyrinth. ¡°If you would be so kind as to provide me with a portal, I¡¯d be most appreciative.¡±
A portal opened behind him, ¡°The Portal behind you leads to Beaezul¡¯s office on the Triton Moon in your Earth System in your Cosmos. From there you should be able to go wherever else you need to. It was nice to finally meet you, Adam,¡° The Labyrinth said.
¡°And you as well. If we should meet again I hope we can sit down and talk. You do have a form that can interact with biological beings don¡¯t you?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I do, she was otherwise occupied currently. Rest assured when we meet again I¡¯ll make sure to bring her along.¡±
¡°How will I know her?¡± he asked.
¡°She, I, refer to us as Eve in that form, short for Evelyn of course. She changes her form as needed but is always female. Currently, she is overseeing a specific region of mine and preparing the denizens there for an incursion from adventures from a dungeon that just recently connected to me. The idiots on the other side of the Dungeon believe that they will be able to break into the Labyrinth and loot and steal all of my riches. They are bringing an Army. Those that come for adventure, find that, treasure, and more. Those that come to me trying to conquer me or trying to use me as a route to conquer others find that things usually don¡¯t go very well for them. She is focusing on that for now,¡± The Labyrinth said.
¡°I look forward to meeting her someday, by your leave?¡± he asked questionly.
¡°My leave is given, good day Adam.¡±
Bowing slightly, he turned and stepped through the portal which closed immediately behind him. Beaezul had not followed him. Adam teleported to his estate in the Dyson Sphere and made his way to his bedroom. He took a long hot shower and thought about everything he¡¯d learned. Running quadrillions of possible scenarios through the extended network of his mind. He tried to find a probability curve that made sense and no matter how he looked at the situation he still found that he could not figure out exactly what Bob had to do with anything. He was important, there was no doubt about that. The problem he had was that he couldn¡¯t figure out how. Too many unknown variables kept popping up. If his soul was sent here, where was it from? Or was it from some other time? If he was doomed to die when his mind absorbed too many lifetimes of information what would happen then? Adam didn¡¯t know for sure what would happen, but he had a feeling that it wasn¡¯t going to be a good thing.
Adam stepped out of the shower, made his way over to his bed, and laid down to rest. he would sleep for a bit and then readdress this issue after he¡¯d given his subconscious a chance to look at the problem. He¡¯d been running full speed ever since he¡¯d first talked with Abi. He missed her and everyone else from his original Universe. he¡¯d been alone for so long. Granted, he did get to see Adaline now and then, but it wasn¡¯t the same as when we¡¯d been in his Place of Power. Even then, there¡¯d been this transitory feeling to the relationship with everything that had been going on. Life was much simpler back then.
he settled back on his bed, made himself comfortable, and closed his eyes. he knew it was going to take a long time for his mind to settle so resorted to a trick he learned while he was in college. he thought of himself sitting in an empty theater. One of the old ones with curtains that reached down from the ceiling. he was sitting in a chair with no one around that had very soft seats. In his mind¡¯s eye, the curtains drew back and with his considerable willpower, he tried to keep the screen blank. The professor that taught him this trick said that it is incredibly hard for your mind to stop thinking and that our subconscious is so much more than our conscious, ¡°As you try consciously keep the screen in your mind blank, your subconscious will try to fill it. When your conscious loses the battle, and it will, you¡¯ll be fast asleep.¡± That memory was the last before the part of himself that monitored the nanites noted that his biological body was in fact, fast asleep.
Chapter 87, Another Choice
(Dyson Sphere Estate, January 16th,2037, Day 380)
As Adam considered the question of Bob, he remembered something from both a science and philosophy class, Patterns always repeat.
Electrons orbit a nucleus. Planets orbit Stars. Solar Systems orbit a Galactic core. Patterns repeat. Chaos forms Universes. A Universe fractures or repeats both naturally and artificially. Outside of Chaos is Nothing, on the other side of Nothing is more Chaos? The Labyrinth is multifaceted, yet the size of a Universe, Cosmos, Reality?
These random ideas and questions flashed through Adam¡¯s mind until he woke up. He checked his internal clock and noted he¡¯d been asleep for over 20 hours. The trip into the other realm must have taken more out of him than he¡¯d thought. That thought brought him back to Bob and he checked his status. The amount of memory in his mind now held 254 lifetimes worth. Why did that number feel significant? It wasn¡¯t that number specifically; it was the number 256 that was significant. His Perfect Memory kicked in and he recalled that the first memory chips and programming languages could hold no more than 256 sets of data in the arrays programmed into them. This made using computers to track personnel for companies with more than 256 employees problematic. They¡¯d have to have multiple programs, usually tied to the first letter of the employee¡¯s last name, which meant 26 different programs to keep track of employees with possible secondary files for last names that were quite common or companies with over 256 employees with a last name that started with a specific letter, like ¡°B¡±.
Why would that information pop into his mind? Could the same be true for Bob¡¯s mind? Could¡ Bob¡¯s number of lifetimes lived ticked up to 255 and his nanites had to repair a major brain bleed that occurred. Adam reviewed the number of lives that had been lived. It looked like the average was about 4 minutes and 56 seconds before a new life was added, so he had about 4 minutes and 30 seconds before his next, and last? Life was added.
The first thing Adam did was jump into the Cosmic Interface for himself and ensure that his settings were locked. Then he wrote a subroutine to revert him to his current stats if something changed him so thoroughly that he¡¯d lost all his powers. Adam didn¡¯t think anything like that would happen but better to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. His one concern was if there was another level above the cosmic interface. If that were true, then whatever he was doing to the cosmic settings for himself may, or may not, have any effect.
Next, he queried his nanites and looked for Apolyn and what he¡¯d been up to. Adam sighed with disappointment. The idiot still hadn¡¯t figured out that something technological was riding him and even though he was technically a god. Adam guessed it really was true, you just couldn¡¯t fix stupid. Not expecting to find too much, Adam started reviewing what Apolyn had been up to anyway.
***
Apolyn had been trying to get rid of Adam, in every way that he knew how. He¡¯d gone back in time until there was only one Universe and systematically removed entire bloodlines from the face of planet Earth. He¡¯d been going at it for almost two days now and nothing seemed to work. He¡¯d followed the bloodline as far back as he could, determining that they had originally come from Africa. The first couple of times he¡¯d killed the females of his lineage. When that didn¡¯t work he went and killed an entire village, then every single human within 1,000 miles. No matter what he did, time, somehow corrected itself. He¡¯d been intrigued to the point that he¡¯d actually stayed and watched as the timeline reset itself around him. The memory of him killing everyone was erased and everything reverted. He saw no agency perform the fix, it just happened.
He¡¯d also noticed that each time he tried to change something the ¡°fix¡± would happen even quicker. His last attempt had been to obliterate any chance that humans would exist on Planet Earth in Universe 001, sending a ripple throughout the many alternate universal copies of the Prime Universe by taking a comet about half the size of Mars and slamming it into Earth. That should have cracked the planet, destroyed the biosphere, and destroyed any chance of someone coming into existence that could thwart him the way he¡¯d been thwarted.
Apolyn watched from orbit as the Comet entered the upper atmosphere of the planet and a ripple went out and around the planet as the comet simply ceased to exist. What the hell was going on? If this Adam character was thwarting him, he should be able to destroy him using what the humans of Earth referred to as the Grandfather Paradox. In this case, he had to admit, he was going a little overboard by trying to destroy the entire planet, but hey, that fucker had to die. If he destroyed Earth before there were humans, then any of the multiple alternates that contained Adam should cease to exist thereby ridding him of that nuisance once and for all.
With this last failure, there was only one thing left to try. Of Course, if he was successful, he¡¯d never know. Apolyn teleported to the Solar System of Primore millions upon millions of years in the past. He made sure not to go back before the changes he¡¯d originally made to ensure he didn¡¯t undo the removal of the other divine. Dealing with Gods that were much more powerful than him was not on his to-do list. Much like the Earth system, Primore had gas giants and planets orbiting its sun, 14 in total. Out past those planets was an Oort cloud and in that cloud were rocks and asteroids the size of small planets. Utilizing his magic, he altered the course of four of those large asteroids and put them on a collision course with Primore, and watched as they descended.
It would have taken a couple of years for the asteroids to make their way to the planet, so Apolyn just sped up his reference of time and watched as they impacted the surface and cracked Primore in half and then into an expanding asteroid field filled with the remnants of the biosphere as it was blown away. Apolyn had just enough time to realize that he¡¯d made a terrible mistake.
***
¡°That Idiot!¡± Adam exclaimed as he felt the ripple travel through his Dyson Sphere. Adam noted that Bob was floating dead in Chaos, as reported by his nanites that were still a part of him. He opened the Cosmic Interface and was surprised, yet not really all that surprised by what he found.
A CATEGORY 10 TIME EVENT HAS TAKEN PLACE. A TICKET HAS BEEN GENERATED. THE APPROPRIATE quintessence WILL REVIEW THIS EVENT AND MAKE ADJUSTMENTS ACCORDINGLY.
Well, that didn¡¯t sound ominous, Adam thought. Adam¡¯s nanites still existed throughout the Universe, but a change had happened, as remembered by Bob. There were a seemingly infinite number of alternate Universes, then there weren¡¯t, then there were. When the Universes existed, Bob was alive on one of the Syndicate¡¯s planets. When there were none, Bob was dead floating in Chaos. Also, it seemed that his memory was being affected as well. While he might exist outside time, the things he interacted with did not and as they ceased to exist, his memories of them faded as well. It was the weirdest thing, feeling half his mind cease to exist and then having it pop right back. If not for Bob, he would have been stuck in this stutter of time, just like everyone else. Just as he was trying to figure out what to do a being of such immense power that even he was daunted popped into existence and time stopped. Even he was frozen in place.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
When he could perceive reality again he was in his estate and a boy stood before him. The boy appeared to be of middle eastern descent with eyes that measured and weighed him. Even he felt humbled by their gaze.
¡°Johnathan Bennard, Adamantadine, Adam I greet you. You may refer to me as Ptah. Though that is not my name or my function. In your literature, the name should provide you with some knowledge of the power I hold.¡±
Ptah, was the Egyptian God of the Multiverse the creator of the world, the Egyptian version of God, with a big G. With as much humility as he could muster he answered, ¡°Greetings Ptah, what can I do for you?¡±
¡°It would seem that you are both out of time and out of place. Through no fault of your own of course. The lesser beings who gave you this ¡®reward¡¯ could not foresee the problems it would create. Those problems have led to the Paradox that has stalled this Cosmos.¡±
¡°Paradox?¡± Adam asked.
With a gesture, Ptah and he appeared behind Apolyn as he looked down on Primore and watched as four asteroids destroyed it. As that happened Apolyn ceased to exist, then the planet reappeared and a moment later Apolyn and the four asteroids reappeared leading to its destruction and Apolyn¡¯s disappearance. They both watched the cycle happen ten more times before they reappeared at his estate in the Dyson Sphere. ¡°As you can see, the being known as Apolyn really screwed up by taking that action.¡±
¡°I can see how that could be bad,¡± he responded. ¡°Why remove me from the loop and speak with me?¡±
¡°Right to the point, Good. The reason I¡¯ve decided to speak with you is that I wished to know your intentions after I repair this situation.¡±
¡°You have seen that I have taken steps to remember what has happened?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, it is not often that we encounter native biologically ascendant beings that have gained access to the interface, let alone have the ability to make modifications and adjustments. While I can of course undo those adjustments I first wanted to find out why you made them.
¡°Simply, I wanted to be able to make sure something like what you just showed me could not happen. I failed.¡±
¡°You intended to try to keep Apolyn or someone like him from making changes to the timeline again, how?¡± Ptah asked.
¡°I was going to attempt to go back to the very beginning and lock the use of time, or at least curtail it like it was originally in the Cosmos I came from.
¡°The Cosmos you came from, wait¡¡± Ptah¡¯s eyes glazed over, and he saw his body ripple. ¡°I have reviewed your existence and see what you mean. In your original Cosmos, my counterpart had placed strict limitations that only a very few, whom it deemed worthy, could travel through time indiscriminately, specifically to prevent issues like this current one. Unfortunately, this is not something you could have accomplished. I have reviewed your life and all of your knowledge, including your theories and ideas, and even with as much as you know, you have only scratched the surface of the truth of existence. As answering the question for oneself is part of the reason for the Journey I cannot give you that answer.¡±
¡°I think I understand, so what are your options?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Not my options, your options. As for what your options are, in this Cosmos, you are done. This version of Apolyn will be heading through ¡®The Eye¡¯, as you call it, shortly. The various fragments of his soul that exist elsewhere will eventually join him there and he will move on.¡±
¡°The Eye is a waiting area?¡± Adam asked.
¡°¡¯ The Eye¡¯, when you finally travel there, will make its purpose known to you at that time. This brings me back to you and your options. The first option is I can leave you here to live out your existence as a God, commensurate with the rank you¡¯ve attained. You should know that when I fix the changes that Apolyn wrought this Cosmos will once again resemble your original one and there will be many Gods throughout the Cosmos and the many alternate Universes that exist. Also, the rules as you remember them concerning time will once again be reinstated. While you might be able to travel into the far past, not many others will be able to, and only those whose purpose requires it will be able to do so frequently. I would strongly suggest if you chose this option that you only travel in time in pursuit of the purpose you serve. Otherwise, I might have to visit again, and that visit will not be as pleasant as this one for you.¡±
¡°Understood,¡± Adam said, ¡°and the second option?¡± he asked.
¡°The second option is simple. After reviewing your life so far, I believe that you never actually agreed to become a divine. You just accepted the inevitability of that course. I will return you to a place and time in Primore after the changes you made with Xsistant and Tasha. You will have access to your Place of Power but should understand that it will be but a copy of your original Place of Power. The original is tied up in the time loop you created. In simplest terms, I¡¯m going to divert the energy being wasted here to create a copy of the cosmos you came from up and to the point of your success. The rules there will be close to what you remember. You will not be a God. Instead, you will once more be an Ascendant Human with a lot more experience, but still an Ascendent Human
Adam thought about that for a minute. He could go back, chase down the Vizier, fix the wrongs of that world, and¡What was he thinking? If his purpose was to promote natural selection, there was nothing natural about introducing, for all intents and purposes, an Apex Predator with a power level that would compare to most Gods of the realm. Rank Disparity might exist, but he¡¯d be impossibly hard to kill and eventually, he¡¯d be able to overcome any obstacle. Adam thought about it while Ptah watched him, probably reading his thoughts, then he nodded once and smiled. Yep, Ptah was reading his thoughts. ¡°Is there a third choice?¡±
¡°Yes, I can return you to your original cosmos. The one my lesser removed you from that allowed you to be immune to paradoxes and such.¡±
¡°If you are reading my thoughts, then you know, if you leave me at this power level, even without magic, which I would unlock throughout that Universe eventually, I¡¯d still be the most powerful being there. There is nothing natural about that?¡¯
¡°Knowing the Cosmos, you come from and viewing how things could play out if you went back, I would say that you are correct for the most part. There are forces and beings throughout the realities that even you would have a hard time dealing with. Your ability to be reborn constantly, however, does give you a significant advantage in any such encounters. Also, your multiple bodies and diffused consciousness make permanently destroying you almost impossible for entities of a lesser station than myself.¡± Ptah said.
¡°And the fourth option is to go through ¡®The Eye¡¯?¡± Adam asked.
¡°That is an option for any being to accept at any time. In your case, however, you should know that you will have significant advantages as you move on. I can¡¯t give any information except to say that the idea of Karma is Universal. What you have done, do, and will do, will all play a part as you move forward. But any sane intelligent being should know that.¡± Ptah said.
While they watched Apolyn appear and disappear Adam thought about everything he¡¯d seen and learned. Everything he had yet to learn and then thought back to a couple of hours ago when he felt lonely. Adam looked at the entity calling itself Ptah and said, ¡°I wish to return to my original Cosmos. I will visit with my family for a while. Make sure Abi, Evelyn, Mom and Dad and even the rest of humanity has what it needs to move forward then I think I will accept my fate and travel to the Eye¡±
Ptah smiled as he said, ¡°So Be It!¡±
***
The last thing Apolyn remembered was watching the asteroids slam into Primore, then nothing. He wondered where he was and what was going on as he floated through the stuff of Chaos. He knew what it was as he¡¯d been on its edge in Astral Space more than once. As he was pulled forward, he noticed copies of himself coming up to and combing with himself. He felt no different as each copy merged with himself, though each time it occurred he felt as if something that had been missing had returned. This went on for some time before he found himself before a white door. The white door opened and Apolyn was drawn through automatically.
***
The Quintessence of Time, or as Adam knew him, Ptah watched Apolyn was guided through the door into The Eye and sighed. That one was going to be a problem. Luckily Karma did play a part and if Adam was going to follow soon, perhaps he could temper Apolyn¡¯s influence. Then again, As he¡¯d seen countless times throughout the ages the beings that this system produced could turn out in countless ways. He really hoped Apolyn wasn¡¯t the one they needed. Adam, however, was someone that just might be exactly what the Quintessence were looking for. While an entity such as himself did not like or dislike in the normal fashion he found that he did like Adam. The one thing that he could do nothing for Adam about though was Adaline, her tasks in this Cosmos weren¡¯t done. Besides, the relationships of biologicals were so fleeting, and She¡¯d probably see Adam again, perhaps, but not for a long time to come and definitely not on this side of The Eye. With that final thought, The Quintessence of Time fixed the Cosmos and sent Adam back whence he came.
Chapter 88, Back Where I Started
(Johnathan¡¯s Earth, December 24th,2046)
Adam stepped out of a portal onto a familiar footpad. Before he could catch his bearing his Chaotic Nanites were assaulted by a much older, unmodified version of nanites. He provided the correct hand-shaking protocols and was immediately contacted by a mental presence, that while now part of him, was different as Thor established a communications channel with Adam.
¡°Johnathan, you¡¯re back and have changed quantumly in some way that I cannot quantify. Are you okay?¡± Thor asked.
¡°I¡¯m fine Thor, it¡¯s been a bit of a ride. Why don¡¯t we skip the 20 questions and I¡¯ll just download what has happened while I¡¯ve been gone.¡±
¡°As you wish,¡± Thor replied.
Adam was confused to find Thor, yet he had started to assume that the Universe he came back into after his fundamental changes had not been ¡°His¡± Universe. He would know soon enough though. Adam put that out of his mind for a moment. He checked his quantum links and noted that every link that he had to the nanites in the Cosmos he¡¯d come from and the ones to this place were inactive. Even his links to the copies of himself that he¡¯d made were inactive. he also put that out of his mind and reconnected quantumly to Thor. The first thing he checked was the time stamp. It was December 24th, 12:01 p.m. Mountain Standard Time in 2046. Adam reviewed his memory and checked to see when the last time Thor and he had spoken. That had been when Thor had seen him when Desirae and he had appeared in the Bahamas together just about ten years ago. So, their merging and his releasing humanity had not happened here¡yet.
Adam established the link with Thor and then started the synchronization. The part of him that was Thor reconnected to what he was considering the original Thor. As he downloaded his experiences to Thor, he reviewed the events of the last 10 years oth Thor¡¯s memories. Thor had analyzed and cataloged every star system within the Milky Way. Because he had not been back to this Universe, Thor had never investigated Black Holes or discovered what he had in the Universe they¡¯d explored them in previously.
Adam reviewed Thor¡¯s expansion rate and realized that for the last ten years, he''d been quite busy. It seemed that he¡¯d spread throughout the Milky Way and the Local Group. Though he was having energy and coverage problems. Space was vast and by its very nature empty for the most part. Thor would portal into a new system and spread Nanites there. Those nanites would spread through the system until the solar winds themselves carried the nanites out into the gulf between the stars. This meant that the Milky Way wasn¡¯t fully covered. Instead, Nanite coverage only existed out to a maximum of 10 light-years from any star Thor had opened a portal to. For the most part, he¡¯d opened portals to every star he could detect but there were probably stars in dust clouds that might not have been observed yet so he may have missed a couple. All in all, Adam estimate that he¡¯d expanded into at least 99% of the stars in the Milky Way. Thor had decided on this approach to ensure enough mass and energy was available for conversion without damaging the star systems themselves. While this expansion technique would be slower it would be the least destructive. Stars were going to send off their mass as photons regardless. Thor converted 1% of that mass into nanites which then traveled with those photons out into the Universe.
Adam paused for a second and tried to bring up his Personal Interface. As he suspected he did not have access to it. While he didn¡¯t feel different there was no way for him to know if he had access to his fundamental abilities or not, or was there? Now that he was back in charge he opened a portal from his location in the Portal room to the surface of this station in the vacuum of space. He stepped onto the surface trusting in his nanites to keep him safe if he was wrong.
One thing that he¡¯d been noticing lately was that he hadn¡¯t been reviewing his prompts as often nor had he needed to. He had not been consciously activating his abilities through his interface, or a better way of looking at it, he hadn¡¯t had to consciously activate his various abilities for them to activate. With that in mind, he willed himself to move away from the surface and increase his speed up and away from the Nu Draconis system as fast as he could.
That was a mistake. One second he was in the Nu Draconis star system, the next he was traveling along the Y-axis of the Milky way at a velocity that was so high that he watched as the disc of the Milky Way came into view and started to fall away from him.
¡°Johnathan, where are you going?¡± Thor asked.
¡°First, I¡¯ve been Adam, far longer than I¡¯ve ever been Johnathan so please use that name. Second, I was testing something.¡±
¡°Understood Adam. Your test has placed you approximately 54.8 thousand light-years above the Milky Way and if my estimates are correct you traveled that far in 3 seconds,¡± he stated.
¡°Three seconds?¡± he asked rhetorically. ¡°That would be, well if we were using the Star Trek Warp system for the Next Generation that would be around warp 225 or 576.6 billion times the speed of light.¡± he willed himself to slow, as he asked. ¡°Can you still reach me with a Portal out here?¡± he asked.
¡°Easily, as you have reviewed, I¡¯ve spread throughout the Local Group. While I might not have nanites in every single centimeter of space in this area our Portals have a range of approximately 5 million light-years.¡± Thor said.
¡°Where is the closest black hole to me from here?¡±
¡°There is a black hole traveling at a high velocity away from the center of the Galaxy about 30,000 light-years above the galactic plane and about 75,000 light-years from your current position. I¡¯m updating your navigational functions. You should see a Heads-Up Display (HUD) in your vision with the location highlighted by a green box.¡±
¡°Okay, I¡¯ll test that in a minute,¡± Adam said as he had Thor open a portal from his location to the surface of Venus and stepped through. He needed to do a few more tests before he¡¯d go tackle a black hole. Ptah hadn¡¯t said he¡¯d make any changes to him, but he hadn¡¯t said he wouldn¡¯t either. One of the upgrades Thor had discovered while he was gone. Permeable airfields. By charging the air, he could make a barrier so the atmosphere wouldn¡¯t go through the portals, making it a lot easier to enter and exit an atmosphere from space. A very useful upgrade.
Adam stepped onto the surface of Venus and waited for the acidic environment to start burning his skin. He had nanites, which could repair his skin of course but he wanted to see if he was still Adaptable. Adam waited a full five minutes, even taking a breath of the atmosphere into himself to see if that provoked a reaction. Nothing happened. Next, he opened another portal and stepped onto the surface of Pluto to check his tolerance for cold. At 44 degrees Kelvin, -222 C, or -376.6 F. It was one of the coldest environments in the Solar System. That didn¡¯t faze him either.
Adam willed himself off Pluto, checked the planetary locations, and moved at a respectable clip to Jupiter. He entered the Atmosphere with almost no problems. It didn¡¯t matter if you were invulnerable, fire in your eyes during re-entry still blocked your vision. Once he was through the re-entry phase he allowed himself to drop through the atmosphere until he floated above the metallic Hydrogen layer. Metallic Hydrogen is thought to be able to exist as a partial liquid rather than a solid. It sure behaved like a liquid. Flowing with the tidal forces of the various moon. It looked like a silver metallic ocean with waves traveling in all directions. The pressure down here was incredible as well. It was 3.2 e6 (or 3,200,000) atmospheres. Adam looked around, took in the sights that few would ever see, and took a deep breath. Yeah, his body was handling this just fine as well.
Adam willed himself to rise through the atmosphere until he exited into space then headed towards the Sun. This would be his last test. If he could approach and even touch the surface of the Sun then he knew his Adaptable ability was still in play and he would be able to take the next step in his plan. What was that plan? Well, right now it was fluid and completely relied on his ability to access both the Universal and Cosmic Interfaces which he could only do from one place in this Universe.
Adam headed toward Mercury and willed himself to a hold position in direct sunlight. He noticed that his eyes had automatically adjusted to the brightness of the Sun as he¡¯d drawn closer as he wasn¡¯t even squinting. Adam double-checked his nanite interface to make sure the nanites weren¡¯t protecting his eyes. He noted that Thor had started creating a backup copy of his body in case something happened to him. Ye of little faith. Adam started heading towards the star. he wasn¡¯t surprised at all as he came right up to the surface of the star and touched it. He even took the time to dip his hand into it to see if that generated any reaction. Nothing. he felt normal. Not too hot, not too cold.
¡°Adam, I have finished our synchronization,¡± Thor¡¯s voice called through their communication channel. ¡°I now understand why you have been traveling to inhospitable environments to test your adaptability to those locations. Can I assume that your next stop will be to travel to ¡®The Unicorn Singularity?¡± Thor asked.
¡°Yep, I plan to dip below the Event Horizon and see if I can activate my Personal Interface.¡±
¡°Is it your intention to revert this Universe back to its settings prior to the Great Enemy?¡±
¡°Yes, though If possible I intend to allow for magic to seep back into this Universe slowly. Rapidly adding it would have much the same effect that The Cultivations that the Syndicate forced on the Earth I was just at. I do not plan to put this Universe through that kind of hell.¡± he said.
¡°Very good. Will, you also be releasing humanity as you did in your previous timeline?¡±
¡°No. I do not intend to add Chaotic Nanites to this Universe. I believe them to be a unique manifestation and as such, I think we should keep it that way. In the Previous Universe, they were necessary. I don¡¯t think they will be necessary here. The other reason I won¡¯t be doing so is that eventually, the ambient magic level will rise so much that technological nanites will no longer function here. When that happens humanity should have all the tools they need. Also, they¡¯ll need to adapt to, and overcome, the introduction of monsters, Dungeons, and even The Labyrinth.¡±
¡°How will that be possible? If my review of the information you provided me is correct, you plan to move on when your work here is done?¡±
¡°That is a thought I¡¯d had. I have reason to believe there is something beyond this existence. I can¡¯t say why I feel that way, I just do.¡± he answered.
¡°Understood. I have uploaded ¡®The Unicorn¡¯s¡¯ location into your HUD.¡±
¡°Thank you, Thor. Just so we¡¯re clear, I do not plan to do anything hasty. I¡¯d like to see how things work out here as well as make sure everyone here has the tools they need to succeed going forward. I do not want to leave this Universe to become a casualty of time travelers, like the one I just came from.¡±
Thor remained silent as Adam willed himself away from the Sun and headed out of the solar system towards ¡®The Unicorn.¡¯ At the speed he was traveling at, it didn¡¯t take long. As before he entered the stellar coordinates of the black hole and made his way to the edge of the black hole¡¯s event horizon. Adam didn¡¯t feel the pull of gravity on him. In fact, until he looked around and analyzed his surroundings he hadn¡¯t even noticed that he was being peppered by micrometeorites and not-so-micro rocks traveling at a significant velocity that were just bouncing off of him. Anything that came at the event horizon from directly behind him, slammed into him, came to a stop, and then the gravity of the black hole drew them into its grip again. His clothes were being destroyed and repaired by his nanites but his body wasn¡¯t even affected. Adam had a very strong feeling that nothing had changed for him since being sent here.
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Through his quantum link to Thor he sent,
Adam: Thor, I¡¯m going in.
Thor: Acknowledged.
Adam willed himself across the event horizon. As before he came into a region where everything was falling towards a pinpoint. Now that he knew what to look for though he could discern that everything wasn¡¯t falling towards a point and stopping. It was falling into a hole through space-time to elsewhere. Unlike the hole he¡¯d found in the Labyrinth, he wasn¡¯t going to fit through this one unless he allowed himself to be spaghettified. Yeah, that didn¡¯t sound fun at all. He did allow some of his nanites to detach from him and enter the microscopic vortex. Unlike before he lost contact with the nanites as soon as they passed through the vortex. The link wasn¡¯t cut off. After he reviewed the incoming data from his quantum link with the nanites he understood that something had destroyed them.
That wasn¡¯t why he was here anyway. Adam willed his Personal Interface to open and was not surprised to find the messages that awaited him.
WARNING! You have moved into a Cosmos that does not have the leveling system of your previous Cosmos.
WARNING! Your experience exceeds the amount required to attain the maximum Character Level of 100,000
WARNING! Fundamental Ability Adaptable noted. Character Level Limit has been removed.
WARNING! Your Character Level far exceeds any Character Level of any creature or Divine in this Cosmos.
ERROR, no Divine¡¯s Detected.
ERROR, no Higher or Lower Planes Detected.
ERROR, No Alternate Universes Detected within this Cosmos.
As the highest level Fundamental Being in this Singular Cosmos, you may claim this Cosmos as your own. NOTE: A Singular Cosmos is a Cosmos that contains only one Universe where all entities with Souls that perish only have one path of progression. Through ¡®The Eye¡±.
NOTE: To Conserve Energy, the buffer function of Chaos has been removed from this Cosmos.
NOTE: Magic is only usable in designated gravimetric locations. Only creatures that have the ability to withstand severe gravimetric stress can access magic here. Access the Cosmic Interface to make adjustments to these settings.
Well, those warnings and notes were quite helpful. Adam scrolled back up to the question of claiming this Cosmos and chose ¡°Yes¡±
You have claimed Cosmos SP-JB-001-IHABIWAB. As the only Fundamental Being in this Cosmos, you may adjust and set settings as you see fit. NOTE: Temporal Changes have been locked out by an Avatar of Time. See the Magic Tab, Subcategory ¡°Time¡± to review changes and lockouts.
The limitations on Time tampering were expected. How could his history not be tampered with if someone could come here and change things? As he had believed, there was another level beyond the Cosmos and he wanted to see what it was. For now, though he paced himself and pulled up his personal Interface to check what another Conversion had done to him. Adam pulled up his information:
Name: Adamantadine
Identity: Adam
Age: 35
Weight: 170
Birthday, July 16th, 2001
Fundamental Abilities (Note Fundamental Abilities are Always Active and stay with you through any temporal shifts, changes, or paradoxes that occur.)
¡°Perfect Memory¡± - Like Photographic Memory except for all five senses with an automatic recall of desired information.
¡°That Was Easy¡± - Your Ability Guided Understanding, Jack of all trades, and Orb of Knowledge have combined into the Unique ability ¡°That was Easy.¡± You may use any skill as if you had skill level 100 in it. Even if you have never seen the skill used before your skill level is 100.
¡°I have Always Been, I will Always Be¡± - Your existence is now sacrosanct. You are no longer subject to a Grand Father Paradox and you gain a 100% resistance to harmful Time Magic.
¡°Creature of Raw Chaos¡± - Your body has been inundated with Chaos. During this process, your will was strong enough to hold your core identity together and permanent changes were made to your body. You may now enter and exit Chaos 100% resistant to any further changes.
¡°Adaptable¡± - Chaos has modified your body so that you may adapt to any environment. From Absolute Zero to the Gravity well of a Singularity your body can and will adapt to all environmental conditions. This includes the ability to survive in those environments. Example: the ability to breathe underwater if necessary.
¡°Willed-Movement¡± - As a being of Chaos, constantly connected to it so long as you are not in a region of ERROR, you have the ability to move through that Chaos as you desire at any rate you desire. As Chaos is present in all aspects of reality your will allows you to move as you desire. This is a sub-ability of the Fundamental Ability ¡°Adaptable.¡±
¡°Undying¡± - You will reform at the nearest place of power containing Life Magic if killed. While you are not truly immortal, the powers that granted this ability have decreed that you will be resurrected and reformed a number of times equal to the souls you¡¯ve spared from utter annihilation, this includes all souls across all Universes that were saved. What did you like to say? ¡°A number of times best phrased as a Scientific Number.¡±
¡°Resistant¡± - You are 50% resistant to all Primal Magic and natural manifestations of those magics. Additionally, you are 100% resistant to all magic from the following spheres of power; "Chaos, Time, Space, and Gravity, and 50% resistant to Holy and Demonic Magic
¡°Godless¡± - The changes to your body have severed any clerical link to the divine you had. As you share a host of traits similar to the Divine you may not become the servant of any Divine again.
¡°Confluence¡± - Your Place of Power has merged with you. While you cannot access a Place of Power any longer Chaos seeps into from beyond the barrier of the Universe you¡¯re in and converts it to primal magic of all spheres. You do not have control of this process. In any Multiverse, you have access to and can utilize any magical energy normally. Additionally, your Mana Regeneration is increased by Willpower + Endurance per minute. Finally, the process of converting raw Chaos into magic garners 1 XP per second.
¡°Spellweaver¡± - You neither memorize nor permanently add spells using spell slots. Instead, you may weave magic into any form of your desire so long as you have the skill and mana to do so.
¡°Personal Storage¡± - You now have the equivalent of 1,000'' cubic feet of dimensional storage that reduces weight by 100%. It can be accessed at will. Items placed into or taken out of the space appear or disappear to the hand touching them. This space can be represented by slots if you prefer.
¡°Infinite Wealth¡± - Your Belt of Infinite Wealth has been transformed into a Fundamental Ability. You may pull forth any type of currency and have the ability to produce any amount of wealth you might need. As per the initial conditions of this item¡¯s acquisition, any cost incurred for any wealth withdrawn is paid for by the Divine Detrik. Even through ¡°The Change¡± this cost was maintained.
Character Level 104,879,885 Ascendant Human
Attributes
Strength 57,207,210
Agility 57,207,210
Dexterity 57,207,210
Endurance 57,207,210
Constitution 57,207,210
Intelligence 57,207,210
Wisdom 57,207,210
Willpower 57,207,210
Perception 57,207,210
Charisma 57,207,210
Luck 57,207,210
Primary Stats
Carrying Capacity 48,626,128,500 lbs.
Hit Points: 337,522,539
Base Health Regeneration
3,218,120,465 HP per second
Stamina 572,072,100
Base Stamina Regeneration
962,990 Stamina per second
Mana: 572,072,100
Base Mana Regeneration
3,851,955 MP per second
Movement
Normal Running Speed: 52.8 E12 mph, 77.5 E9 fps
Standing high Jump: 8,398,018 Feet.
Note. Falling Damage is not mitigated by maximum jumping Distance.
Base Attack
Unarmed Attack: 1,112,108,162
Critical Damage Maximum Damage x7
Skills: See Fundamental Ability ¡°That Was Easy¡± above
Adam choked. He was floating inside the Event Horizon of a Black Hole, and he choked and then he started coughing as he tried to clear his throat, which was impossible as he was in a vacuum but his body decided to try anyway. As he coughed his level and attributes played through his mind again. Character Level 104,879,885 Ascendant Human? What in the actual fuck?
Chapter 89, Holiday
(The Unicorn, December 24th,2046)
Level 104,879,885, Adam thought as floated under the event Horizon of The Unicorn Black hole. Also, 57 million in each attribute? Those numbers were so high that well, what the hell did attributes that high even mean? Adam calmed himself and focused. He had work to do, and he needed to get to it. Adam opened the Cosmic Interface and noted some new functionality as the ¡®Owner¡¯ of this Cosmos. It looked like he could change the name if he wanted as well as make some other tweaks and adjustments. Adam knew what he was looking for and went to work.
The first thing he did was unlock access to magic for himself throughout the Cosmos.
NOTE: You have unlocked access to Magic for yourself in this cosmos.
Warning! Ambient Mana in this Cosmos is set to 0% except in designated areas. Mana cannot regenerate in areas with Ambient Mana less than 25%. To regenerate mana, you will need to return to areas of a higher mana density. Your personal Mana will reduce by 1% of your maximum mana per hour.
NOTE: Fundamental Ability Confluence detected. Normal Mana regeneration rates apply to you in all areas of this Cosmos. Now that Access to Magic has been unlocked, you may utilize Magic Normally.
Adam reviewed his Personal information and did some quick math. It would take him approximately 2 minutes and 29 seconds to refill his entire mana pool normally, though he had never actually utilized 3 million mana within a second, so he doubted that he¡¯d ever need to worry about it. Confluence also explained why he hadn¡¯t lost any mana when he¡¯d first appeared back here. He couldn¡¯t access mana, but the ability kept him topped off. That was a very useful ability to have.
The next thing he did was look at the settings to release mana back into the Cosmos, then he paused. A scene from the movie ¡®Ironman¡¯ came into his mind¡¯s eye. he remembered when Tony Stark had set his thrusters of the suit to 10% for the first test. That had gone horribly wrong, though it was funny as hell when he slammed into the ceiling and his robot doused him with a fire extinguisher. With that thought, he paused what he was about to do and checked his internal clock again, it was Christmas Eve after all.
Adam found out where his parents were through Thor, which surprised him. It seemed that in the 10 years, he¡¯d been gone, Thor had been a bit busy. There was now a Colony Habitat in orbit near Earth. Technically it wasn¡¯t near Earth, it was on the opposite side of the Sun from Earth, and it was huge. Thor had gone with the cylindrical shape, making it with a 10-mile diameter and about 50 miles long which allowed for a docking port at the center and a very large surface area along the inside where different families had their residences. Almost like his Dyson sphere idea but on a much smaller scale.
His parents, Abi, and Desirae were all gathered for Christmas Dinner and were just making small talk.
¡°Thor, you haven¡¯t told them I¡¯m back yet?¡± he asked through their Communication channel.
¡°I did not see the point. If I had they¡¯d have wanted to contact you immediately. I needed to synchronize and then you decided to head out. I calculated that the best course of action would be just to wait.¡±
¡°Good point. Well, it¡¯s Christmas. I think I¡¯m going to head in and surprise them.¡±
¡°Very good Adam, give him a second¡¡±
Thor stopped speaking as Adam teleported directly into the living room where his parents, Abi, and Desirae, and now Desirae¡¯s throwing knife as it streaked towards his eye, sat. She was quick, he was sure no one else had even seen her move. Adam, caught the knife lightly. ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you too Desirae,¡± he said.
¡°Johnathan!¡± his mom exclaimed.
¡°Johnathan!¡± his dad said right after.
Abi the practical one, sent him a ping through his nanites,
Abi: Jonathan?
¡°Yes, it¡¯s me I¡¯m here.¡±
Adam: Yes, it¡¯s me.
Adam responded verbally to his parents while responding to Abi privately.
Desirae walked over and took the knife which he handed back to her. ¡°Didn¡¯t you miss me too, Desirae?¡± Adam asked teasingly.
¡°I wouldn¡¯t have if you weren¡¯t so damn fast,¡± she said. ¡°Nice catch¡±
¡°Nice Throw, it would have gone right through my left eye if I hadn¡¯t caught it.¡±
¡°That was the plan.¡±
His mom looked back and forth between Desirae and him. ¡°Ray, honey, you never said you knew Johnathan?¡± she asked.
¡°That was his idea,¡± Abi said. ¡± Thor and I didn¡¯t think your son¡¯s history with Ray would matter since we didn¡¯t know when he¡¯d return.¡±
¡°Our history doesn¡¯t matter. It would seem that I have Ray to thank for keeping you two safe these last eight years.¡± Adam said as he looked at Desirae and said with genuine appreciation, ¡°Thank you Ray.¡±
¡°You are quite welcome. While we might have gotten off on the wrong foot I can honestly say that the magical accident was the best thing that has ever happened to me.¡±
¡°I¡¯m glad you feel that way. But it¡¯s Christmas. Does anyone have some ridiculously strong alcoholic drink I can partake of, or do I have to make it myself?¡±
¡°We just have Thor make whatever we want,¡± his dad said.
¡°Well then let''s try something a little bit unorthodox,¡± Adam said as he accessed his magic and made his intentions known, as he conjured a bottle of Fey wine. His nanites had never been able to get the magic of that right. Magic on the other hand could make it perfectly. Adam had the nanites produce glasses and poured some Fey wine into each glass. Desirae watched him, then took a glass and sniffed it.
¡°Is this Fey wine?¡± Desirae asked.
¡°Why yes, yes it is,¡± he said smugly.
¡°And you conjured it with actual magic and not your technology?¡±
¡°Yep.¡±
¡°Is magic back?
¡°Yes and No. Yes, it will be back eventually. No, it is not yet for anyone save me. That¡¯s actually one of the things I wanted to discuss with everyone. But not tonight. Tonight is Christmas Eve and it has been a very long time since I¡¯ve been home.¡±
Stolen novel; please report.
¡°It¡¯s only been 10 years,¡± his mom said.
¡°Here it has only been 10 years. For me, it has been much, much longer.¡±
His dad picked up his glace of Fey wine, sniffed it, then asked, ¡°What is Fey Wine?¡±
Both Desirae and Adam laughed as they picked up their glasses as if in a toast and waited for everyone to do the same. Once everyone else did the same Adam said, ¡°To new friends and family. May we always remember what¡¯s important!¡±
¡°They aren¡¯t going to remember much of anything after they drink this,¡± Desirae muttered under her breath, just loud enough that he heard her.
¡°As for what Fey Wine is Dad. Fey wine is the nectar of the Gods that was allegedly created by the Elves where Desirae is from. Moonshine has nothing on this stuff.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll be the judge of that,¡± his dad said as he put his glass to his mouth and took a drink.
Adam woke the next morning with a vague recollection of what had happened the night before. It would seem that Fey wine could put a dent in anyone¡¯s constitution, no matter how high it was. He¡¯d have to remember that going forward. His nanites had ensured that he didn¡¯t have a hangover, so he moved to crawl out of the bed he was in. He remembered making his way to one of the guest bedrooms in the early morning. As he was getting out of bed, he heard movement behind him and looked over his shoulder to find Desirae sprawled out on the other side of a pillow that had blocked his view. While his mind might be foggy, his nanites weren¡¯t. He checked the history and sure enough, he¡¯d been either a genius or an idiot, depending on how you looked at it. Also, as he reviewed the athleticism Desirae and he had displayed last night he would categorize what had happened as angry sex. Also, it had been all about her.
Adam stopped reviewing their ¡®personal combat¡¯ and had his nanites freshen him up and replicate his clothes back onto him as they broke down the originals, wherever they¡¯d ended up. Adam was being lazy, sure, but nanites just made showering, shaving, and getting dressed easy. As he stood Desirae turned over and said, ¡°Off already?¡±
¡°Just heading downstairs. I thought I¡¯d let you sleep in.¡±
¡°Thank you but I¡¯m good,¡± she said as she stood on her side of the bed and said, ¡°Thor, if you¡¯d please?¡± Which resulted in her getting the same treatment he¡¯d just had. Freshened up and fully dressed. She looked over at him and asked, ¡°Last night isn¡¯t going to make us awkward now, is it?
¡°Nope, I have sex with someone that was trying to kill me all the time. It¡¯s a long list with lots of company,¡± he said sardonically.
¡°Yeah, it¡¯s going to be a little weird,¡± she said.
¡°No, it won¡¯t and if while I¡¯m still around if you¡¯d like to get together again, just have Thor ask if I¡¯m available. I had fun, at least the parts I can remember.¡±
¡°Me too,¡± she said. ¡°Though, I have to ask, is it me or are you stronger than you were before, the few times I pushed on or pulled at you, you felt unmovable.¡±
¡°Let¡¯s just say that I¡¯ve had an upgrade. After breakfast, I plan to talk to Thor, Abi, Mom, Dad, and you about everything that¡¯s happened. You¡¯ll get a better feel for what you felt last night and understand it a bit more.¡±
She nodded, turned, and walked towards the door. Adam followed her down from the 2nd-floor loft back to the kitchen and dining room where we grabbed some coffee and breakfast. He didn¡¯t need to eat, but bacon and eggs sounded really good, so he tucked in and ate breakfast with everyone. While they were eating and making small talk Abi, then Mom, and Dad joined them.
¡°What the hell is in that Fey wine?¡± his dad asked.
¡°Magic,¡± Adam said.
¡°Well, whatever it is, without your little gadgets inside me, I think I might still be unconscious,¡± his mom said.
¡°I know what you mean,¡± Adam said. ¡°My first encounter with Fey wine was when I wasn¡¯t much stronger than Desirae. It knocked me on my ass. Now, I just get a really good buzz. It¡¯s one of the few things that can do that for me anymore.¡±
They all sat down, grabbed some breakfast, and finished eating as he told them about what he¡¯d been through and where he¡¯d been. He also told them where they were now. How the Universe¡¯s magic was tied up and his thought to open the Universe back up to magic. Adam mentioned that he thought that there was something on the other side of death and ¡°The Eye¡± they¡¯d all pass through eventually.
¡°So, you¡¯re sure that when we die, we¡¯re not going to be destroyed?¡± his mom asked.
¡°Out of Everything I just told you, that¡¯s what you¡¯re worried about Mom?¡± he asked.
¡°It¡¯s a valid concern.¡±
¡°Yes Mom, the thing that was eating souls and destroying them is gone. I made sure. I¡¯m more concerned with the baseline question of if I should allow magic back into this Universe or if I should leave things as they are.¡±
¡°You can really go into a black hole and just sit there?¡± his dad asked.
¡°Yep, but really they¡¯re just magic sinks. Places that ambient magic that would form within this Universe is collected and shunted out of the Cosmos.¡±
¡°So, what are you here to ask us about?¡± Abi asked.
¡°Well, I have the ability to bring magic back into this universe. However, as I just described to you, when that is done too quickly, there are side effects and bad things happen. Unfortunately, I don¡¯t know what will be ¡®too fast¡¯ if we add magic back into the Cosmos.¡±
¡°Humanity will adapt, we always do,¡± his father said.
¡°Or we don¡¯t and billions upon billions will die. Also, this isn¡¯t just about humanity. The Universe is a big place and if the data I¡¯ve reviewed from Thor is any indicator, there is a lot of life throughout this Universe. There could even be Type III Civilizations that exist somewhere out there.¡±
¡°Type III Civilizations?¡± his mother asked.
¡°There¡¯s a scale called the Kardashev Scale. Type 1 would be similar to us before Thor came along. Right now, we¡¯re type II. Type three will be when we occupy more than one galaxy. There¡¯s also a technological component for the scale but I¡¯m trying to keep things simple.¡±
¡°Okay, so why do you care about other races so much?¡± Desirae asked.
¡°Did I forget to tell you all about the part where I basically ascended to the highest level of God there is in Desirae¡¯s Universe?¡±
¡°You did what?¡± Desirae asked with wonder in her voice. ¡°Are you a God now?¡±
¡°No, I¡¯m not a ¡®God¡¯ now. But when you become a divine, or god, you take on a purpose. Even though I¡¯m not a God here, by whatever powers there are that I will have to make peace with when I finally decide to go through ¡®The Eye¡¯ I¡¯m pretty sure I need to stay true to the purpose he chose.¡±
¡°What purpose did you choose?¡± his father asked.
¡°Natural Selection.¡±
¡°Natural Selection you say. Well, it would seem to me that if that is your purpose then you truly only have one choice, son. While I¡¯ve never seen ¡®magic¡¯ as you call it, it sounds like it is a natural part of all or most Cosmos. It also sounds like the lack of Magic here is being enforced artificially. Therefore, you should bring magic back into the Universe,¡± His dad said.
¡°Mom?¡±
¡°What your dad said.¡± His mom said.
¡°Abi?¡±
¡°Does this mean that someday I¡¯ll be able to reconnect to the Labyrinth?¡± Abi asked.
¡°Actually, that¡¯s the other thing I needed to tell you about. There is a Labyrinth, it would seem that the one you were sent to me from was from an alternate Universe that no longer exists. So yes you¡¯ll be able to connect to the Labyrinth again. It might even remember you, but it will not be the Labyrinth that spawned you.¡±
¡°That sounds convoluted,¡± Abi said.
¡°I know right?¡±
¡°Well, I like magic so that¡¯s a yes from me?¡± Abi said.
¡°Desirae?¡±
¡°I get a say?¡±
¡°Yes, you do. Of everyone here, you have the most experience in such an environment,¡± Adam said.
¡°What if I don¡¯t like the person I was, and I like the person I¡¯ve become more?¡±
¡°There¡¯s no going back to Primore. That iteration is gone and inaccessible. Truth be told, I don¡¯t even know if adding magic back to this Universe will allow it to connect to the Labyrinth. What I do know is that Dungeons and Monsters will exist again. What you do when magic returns will be up to you.¡±
Desirae tilted her head left and right, muttered something incomprehensible then said, ¡°Sure why not?¡±
¡°That leaves you, Thor,¡± he said out loud so everyone could hear him.
¡°As Magic returns my functionality will digress and eventually my abilities will fade altogether. That will cause both Abi and I to cease functioning?¡± Thor asked.
¡°I had thought of that. I was going to upgrade Abi and you to a version of Nanites that I carry. Though, I think I¡¯m going to limit them to remain personal. Eventually, the nanites that exist will be reabsorbed back into the Universe and all that will be left of that technology will be inside us.¡±
¡°Natural Selection for the rest of Humanity?¡± Thor asked.
¡°Exactly! Now that I know there is something beyond this existence working to keep people alive forever seems to be counterproductive. Also, doing so is counter to the purpose I¡¯ve chosen.¡± he said.
¡°Then I see no issues with your idea or proposal,¡± Thor said.
¡°So how fast will you bring magic back?¡± His Dad asked asked.
¡°My suggestion would be slowly, very slowly,¡± Desirae said.
¡°I believe that if through your interface I can adjust the settings to allow for 1 tenth of 1 percent ambient mana increase throughout the Universe per week. That should be slow enough that creatures throughout the Universe should be able to adapt,¡± Thor said.
¡°So, increase the ambient magic of the Universe by 1% every 10 weeks. That sounds possible. 1,000 weeks to get to 100% saturation. So just over 19 years and 12 weeks. Everyone¡¯s personal interface should come online long before there.¡±
¡°When will you make the change?¡± His dad asked.
¡°Well, the first thing I need to do is convert some of the nanites I have so that those I trust and that are close to me, in addition to Abi and Thor, can still have nanites in their bodies. While others will not get much of a choice, making sure my family and close friends have the very best possibility for survival shouldn¡¯t upset those that may judge me in the future too badly. Also, I¡¯ve been running and moving, going from one crisis to the next since I left. I think I might take a break and go visit parts of the Galaxy that Thor has discovered that seem odd. Simple answer, not today. Long answer, sometime within the next year.¡±
¡°That sounds fine Johnathan,¡± His mom said. ¡°We¡¯d love to spend some time with you as well.¡±
¡°I missed you too Mom. Now if you¡¯ll all excuse him. I¡¯m going to go take care of one of the tasks I have before I go galivanting across the Milky Way,¡± he said as he stood, opened a portal to Nu Draconis, and stepped through to his office there. He had a little work to do before he could head out.
Chapter 90, Preparations
(Nu Draconis, December 25th,2046)
Adam sat in one of the many offices he had at one of the four portal facilities in orbit around Nu Draconis. This one was of course the first one and the one where he stepped through to Apolyn¡¯s Abode so long ago. Adam opened his Personal Interface and utilized his Fundamental Ability That was Easy to review what he needed to do to create a pocket dimension within this Universe. He found some interesting information in the Cosmic Interface.
A Pocket Dimension can be created through the use of Space and any of the eight fundamental energies. Space is used to set aside a specific place adjacent to the current Cosmos that is also adjacent to the item that will act as an anchor to the pocket dimension. Note: an anchor can also be a location within a Universe, it does NOT have to be an item. Dungeons entrances are the best example of these types of Anchors.
The characteristics of a pocket Dimension are directly proportional to the energy utilized to create it. For every 1,000 mana used to create the pocket dimension, a one-foot cube is created. For example, a 10-foot by 10-foot area that was 1 foot deep would cost 100,000 mana to create. 200,000 mana if it was 2 feet deep. 1 million if it was a 10-foot by 10-foot by 10-foot cube. This mana can be supplied by the caster or the Universe itself. The best example of the latter is the use of a wish spell though there are specific spells that have been designed to create the pocket dimensions for items.
Adam was pretty sure he had the gist of the information he¡¯d stumbled across. He did some quick math in his head. His 572 million mana could be utilized to create a cube about 83 feet on each side. As he considered that, he realized that he could sustain the casting and keep expanding the cube if he wanted to with his mana regeneration as high as it was. So, he didn¡¯t have to deplete his mana completely. Adam decided to start with a 50-foot cube and increase it by 10 cubic feet per second. he tied in Earth, Air, Water, and Fire to make it a solid room with breathable Air, water to drink, and fire to cook and keep the place at a decent temperature. he also added Light and Life to give the area lighting and provide those that entered health regeneration. Next, he tied the seven entrances to seven different Chaotic Nanites he provided. One for him, and one for Amanda, Mom, Dad, Desirae, Thor, and Abi. They would act as anchor points and allow the person with them to enter and exit the pocket dimension at will. he also set an Anchor point to Earth, in the Center of Stonehenge with an access password. If spoken the portal would appear, otherwise, it was invisible. Someone with a high enough skill in space magic might be able to open it, but he doubted it. Just in case, he¡¯d make sure the entrance into the pocket dimension from that location was guarded.
The next part was easy. Adam activated his ability Spellweaver to create the pocket dimension. Adam channeled the spell for 994 seconds, or just over 16 and a half minutes, which allowed him to create an area inside that would be 10,000 cubic feet. More than enough space for the purpose he was creating it for. He willed his anchoring chaotic nanite to open the portal.
Adam stepped through the portal into a well-lit chamber. Once inside the portal closed behind him. This felt familiar. Adam willed his version of the true sight spell into existence and looked around. He could see the various energies coming into the space and stabilizing. With a thought, he increased the inflow of air and earth and set his nanites to the task of conversion and creation.
As he had already done this once before it would be nothing to recreate Thor¡¯s new housing. First, though, he created the ground upon which it would sit. he made sure there was at least 100 feet that he could use for hidden rooms so Thor and Abi would have fallback locations. Next, he created the storage devices that would house a copy of Thor and Abi as well as scans from Amanda, Mom, Dad, Abi, and himself. These areas were sealed in a one-inch layer of solid diamond. The diamond was backed up by a barrier of space magic that had the same effects as micro singularities. Anyone trying to cross the barrier physically would be annihilated by the gravitic stress. he had this all held in place by space magic that would only decay if the Cosmos decayed. If that happened, it probably wouldn¡¯t matter what happened to anyone left inside this pocket dimension. Though, it would be neat to watch as every single atom in the dimension was sucked into multiple black holes, well technically strings, ah who cares. Dead was dead.
Above the backup storage area, he layered another 100 feet of normal Earth to create the foundation of the mansion he was creating. Energy to the facilities was supplied by both the fire and water forces through the use of a specialized thermal hydroelectric generator he created for that purpose. Nanites would take care of food, and waste disposal. He did set up a stream that entered and exited the pocket dimension to allow for an inflow and outflow of water if it was needed. Adam did this for air as well.
Lastly, he created the mansion. Adam incorporated technology for ease of use, as well as, a gym, pool, sauna, jacuzzi, and everything else he could think of that would be a personal convenience. Then, he quantumly tied electronic transmission to his home Universe so everyone could stay in touch with the real Universe. Just in case he added a portal chamber in the underground area, and he was done. He set the magical lighting to a standard day, twilight, night, and dawn cycle and floated up to oversee what he¡¯d created. It was nothing like the Dyson sphere he¡¯d created but it would do. He could create the Dyson sphere again but it would need to be able to sustain itself without nanites. Maybe later.
Once everything was ready, he opened a portal and made his way back to his mom and dad¡¯s place.
As he stepped through his mom asked, ¡°Back already?¡±
Adam looked around and saw that everyone was in the living room and even Amanda had made an appearance, ¡°Yep, it didn¡¯t take that long to get everything prepared. I needed to come over and make sure all of you were taken care of.¡±
¡°By taken care of, you mean what exactly?¡± Desirae asked.
¡°As you know, once magic starts making its way back into the Universe the nanites will become less and less functional. I don¡¯t know why exactly but technology and magic don¡¯t coexist very well. There are exceptions of course and one of them I need to make available to you.¡± he said as he sent his chaotic nanites out to convert every nanite in his family and friends¡¯ bodies to his limited Chaotic Nanites. They¡¯d still function normally with regular nanites once they were done with the conversion. They wouldn¡¯t have the same functionality as his and he still didn¡¯t want them to spread throughout this Universe so he¡¯d put very strict limits on what chaotic nanites were allowed to do that were not being directly controlled by himself. Mainly, take care of their host.
¡°Exactly what does that entail son?¡± his dad asked.
¡°Nothing, it¡¯s done,¡± he said as the conversion was completed in all of them.
¡°What?¡± Amanda asked excitedly.
¡°I upgraded the nanites in your bodies so they would work in a magical environment. Their, one mission is to keep you all healthy and alive. They won¡¯t be able to make meals for you but they will convert anything you touch into sustenance if required and you¡¯ll be able to survive in a vacuum or under water. As before, you¡¯re all still effectively immortal.¡±
¡°What about everyone else?¡± Amanda asked.
¡°Well, the normal nanites should be able to hang around for a bit but eventually the ambient magic in the Universe will destroy them. With the speed we agreed to introduce magic back into the Universe, I¡¯m figuring we won¡¯t see any real issues until we hit about 50% saturation. Even then I think the nanites in everybody will hold together until we get to upwards of 90%. The free-floating nanites that aren¡¯t in living beings, well, those are going to probably start having problems at around the 15% to 20% amount, so 150 weeks to 200 weeks. Just under three to four years.¡±
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¡°But you¡¯re just guessing?¡± Abi said. ¡°Hence the reason you¡¯re making sure we¡¯re all taken care of now?¡±
¡°Can¡¯t slip anything past you can he?¡±
¡°Nope!¡±
¡°You¡¯re right of course. The worst-case scenario is that any level of ambient magic starts to break down nanites. If that happens the infrastructure will fail and everyone will have to learn how to survive on their own. Over the next week, I¡¯m going to have the nanites stockpile food and beverages just about everywhere, just in case that happens. When that¡¯s done I¡¯ll turn the magic back on.¡±
¡°So, what else did you do?¡± Desirae asked.
¡°Well, it¡¯s better if I just show you,¡± he said as he opened a portal to the new pocket dimension he¡¯d created and waved for them to follow him through into their new mansion.
¡°Wow,¡± Mom and Dad said in Unison.
¡°This Mansion is approximately 10,000 square feet and exists outside of the known Universe,¡± he said. Adam waited for everyone to step through the portal and closed it behind Amanda when she was the last to step through. ¡°Every Earth, even the Milky Way, could be destroyed and you¡¯d all be perfectly safe in here. Use your internal compasses to find your personal quarters and also pull up a map. I have something to do with Thor and Abi quickly while you look around.¡±
Everyone headed off to explore this new home as Abi turned to him, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± she asked.
Adam opened a portal as he said, ¡°Follow me and I¡¯ll show you.¡° Adam said as he stepped through the portal into Thor¡¯s permanent resting chamber and called out ¡°Thor!¡±
¡°Here Johnathan.¡±
¡°Please open a portal from your mind storage chamber to this location and prepare to transfer completely to this chamber.¡±
¡°The chamber you¡¯re standing in is identical to the one I currently reside in, why would I need to do this?¡±
¡°First, this location is unassailable in the Universe, no one can get in here without permission. Second, the structures in this pocket dimension are all created with Chaotic Nanites. They will withstand the reintroduction of magic into the Universe. Third, if you review the schematics of this location you will note that it has complete functionality with the known Universe. You will simply be changing the permanent storage location of your consciousness and mind.¡±
¡°Understood, portal opening now.¡± A portal opened and a cable materialized that wound from the memory core in this room to the old one Thor¡¯s mind currently resided in. ¡°Beginning transfer now, this may take a moment.¡±
¡°Take all the time you need, now it¡¯s Abi¡¯s turn,¡± Adam said as he opened a portal between her permanent storage, this chamber, and Abi so that all her memories would remain current as she began the transfer.
Adam opened a nanite communication to both and sent,
Adam: Abi, the body you¡¯re in has been upgraded already. Just sync with your new memory storage area and you should be good to go. When you are both done join me in the living room area. You know what I mean. I¡¯m going to head into the mansion and check-in.
Adam didn¡¯t wait for an acknowledgment as he opened a new portal to stand back at the entrance to the mansion. He made his way to the kitchen and started preparing drinks and snacks for everyone, which was easily accomplished with nanites. Adam turned on the giant television and checked the news networks. It seemed that in 10 years they¡¯d gotten back to journalism the way it was meant to be. The stories were concise, matter-of-fact, and told the truth. Adam verified the stories through the nanites, or he should say he reviewed the data Thor had collected on each subject. All in all, not bad. While he watched the news he also checked in on Earth II to see how it had progressed. It was allowed limited contact with Earth and it looked like the criminal element there had finally gotten their shit together and we¡¯re working together.
As he was thinking about how the different timelines and variations in Cosmos had been playing out he wondered if any being could keep it all straight. Even with his mentality and technological help, he was having a hard time keeping track of it all. Not that he had to anymore. This was his reality, at least until he let it go.
Desirae was the first to come back into the living area, ¡°There isn¡¯t much past the outer walls is there?¡± she asked.
¡°There isn¡¯t anything past the outer walls. This is meant to be a refuge, If you are being attacked here, it¡¯s game over anyway. Speaking of which, in the event of a breach, portal to either Abi or Thor¡¯s chamber. They are below us about 200 feet. At 100 feet there are singularities that prevent anyone and anything, save me, from passing them. You should be perfectly safe there. Then just set the nanites to destroy everything above the singularities and whoever was being stupid, well they won¡¯t be stupid anymore.¡±
¡°You put some thought into this?¡± Desirae said.
¡°A little. It¡¯s unassailable otherwise. There are an infinite number of possible alternate dimensions we could be in. It would take time to find out which one and to find the place it tethers to. It¡¯s a little wonky how that works but these dimensional spaces aren¡¯t tied to any specific location within the Cosmos. They¡¯re linked, but not tied. Finding that link using technology, while possible, will be time-consuming. Magic, on the other hand, might be able to do it if a sufficiently powerful caster was looking but once they got in, the technology in here would overwhelm them. Chaotic Nanites, so far, don¡¯t really have anything that can stand up to them, save divines and others with abilities that span Universes.¡±
Just then his mom and dad came back into the living area, ¡°This is a nice place you made here son. That said, why did you make it and want to show it to us.¡±
¡°Couple of reasons, the most important of which is that this is a fallback location for you. Also, should something happen to you, Thor or I can bring you back here. The other reason is that this place will always be able to work the way the world has been working for the last 10 years. Nanites work here so if a food shortage happens you¡¯ll be able to come in here and make what you need and get it out to the real world. Thor will be able to help with that.¡±
¡°That¡¯s convenient Johnathan,¡± Amanda said as she came into the living area.
¡°Well, I don¡¯t think anything bad will happen once I throw the switch, so to speak, but better safe than sorry. If things go really bad I¡¯ll make another area and we¡¯ll give people access to that area to get supplies for everyone as needed. That¡¯ll take a little more time to set up¡±
¡°Are you going to make an announcement?¡± Abi asked as she came out of the kitchen into the living area.
¡°Now that everyone is together again, let me explain the overall plan. I would like Amanda and Abi to craft the announcement of what has happened. I will also be releasing a very basic document outlining the basics everyone will need concerning magic. The various types, how they work, and how they work together. It¡¯ll probably sit on a shelf for a bit but once magic starts manifesting monsters, well, I¡¯m sure people will want to take a look at that again.¡±
¡°What will you be doing during this break-in period?¡± his dad asked. ¡°Writing those books isn¡¯t going to take you very long. You¡¯ll think about them and they¡¯ll be created¡±
¡°Too true Dad,¡± Adam said. ¡°I will be traveling throughout the known area of Thor¡¯s influence and checking out the various races he¡¯s come across.¡±
¡°Wait, what?¡± his mother said.
¡°Thor, you have encountered other sentient races?¡± Amanda asked.
Thor¡¯s voice came over the loudspeakers, ¡°Before Johnathan left the last time he was here he gave me full discretion to make choices concerning bringing new races of sentient beings to your attention. None of the beings I have encountered thus far have posed a threat to humanity and are so far outside of our immediate sphere that I did not think there was a need.¡±
¡°How close, is not that close?¡± Amanda asked.
¡°Approximately 75,000 light-years, almost on the other side of the Milky Way, Thor said.
¡°I take it none of them were technologically advanced?¡± Adam asked, which he already knew the answer to, but everyone else need to know also.
¡°None of the races I¡¯ve encountered that are alive have shown any degree of technology past the steam age. There are remnants and ruins that hint at technology, as well as stockpiles of fissionable waste materials on a few planets or near planets that could have housed sentient life at some point but none, have shown capabilities past those of humans in the early 1600s.¡±
¡°So, what exactly are you going to go check out? his father asked.
¡°Well, Dad, near the galactic core there¡¯s an anomaly. It¡¯s hard to detect because things get wonky that close to the gravity well there but Thor detected what appeared to be an artificial structure that is in a stable orbit.¡±
¡°What makes it so special?¡± My mom asked.
¡°Well, you see, there are four singularities in a pyramid shape orbiting the giant black hole. Those singularities create a natural bubble at the center of the pyramid where things are not pulled apart by any of the black holes. something is floating there. Thor could detect it but without his ability to get past the singularities there was no real way to investigate it until now.¡±
¡°So, you think someone, or something created it?¡± His dad asked.
¡°If it was created, whoever created it can manipulate black holes. That means, technologically they are way beyond us puny humans. I was going to go check and see if they were still around.¡±
¡°When will you head out?¡± Desirae asked
¡°Not for another week. I want to make sure everything is running smoothly here and get the release of magic started before I head out.
¡°Good,¡± Desirae said with a smile, ¡°I¡¯d like another combat training session with you before you go gallivanting across the Universe.¡±
His dad looked clueless but Amanda, Abi, and his mom, that traitor all snickered and then coughed when they saw him look their way.
¡°Sound good,¡± he said as he sat down trying to hide a grin that had somehow appeared there.
Chapter 91, Its A Trap!
(Earth Habitat 1, January 3rd, 2047)
The next 10 days went by in a blur. While Adam was busy catching up on the many changes that had taken place on Earth, he also accessed the Cosmic Interface and figured out the tabs that concerned bringing magic back. It seemed that the actual mechanism that removed magic from the Universe was a little more insidious than he first thought. The black holes were mana sinks, and they weren¡¯t. They were more like collection points where mana was pooled on its way out of the Universe through one of the negative conduits that led elsewhere. Modifying the black holes all at once wouldn¡¯t have done what he wanted. Instead, he had to get into the nitty-gritty of the Universal code until he was looking at how the Universe was set up at a quantum level. This meant math. Lots, and lots of Math. Luckily he had Thor to help him work his way through it.
In layman¡¯s terms, any ambient magic that was detected was shunted through quantum tunnels into the black holes from everywhere. This was both a good and bad thing. Good, because this meant that he could set the filter, for want of a better word to describe the mechanism, to remove all the mana and save a very tiny bit. Sort of like opening up the water flow on a spigot or faucet. Bad because when the setting was changed the ambient magic would increase across the breadth of the Universe evenly and immediately. he didn¡¯t know what any level of Ambient magic was going to do but when the ambient level hit 20 ¨C 25% everyone¡¯s Personal Interface would activate. Which meant that his original nanites would start to degrade a lot faster than he had originally thought. Still, even if it was only 100 weeks that should give humanity enough time to adapt to being free again.
Adam made the changes and executed the program. he watched as the counter for Ambient Magic Density went to .1% +/- 5% regionally. he double-checked definitions and noted that it was 5% of 1% or +/-.05 Not up to 6% immediately. That meant that at 100% the ambient magic could be between 95 ¨C 105% though. Adam wondered what the ambient mana being over 100% would be like and then it hit him. It would probably be something like sitting in a positive energy area. Maybe not as good but definitely better than normal and not as harmful to normal people. An area of negative magic must be like the negative zone he¡¯d visited. This meant that it would probably be a very good place for the undead to hang out and get extremely powerful.
Adam switched every other setting concerning magic in that section of the interface from ¡°OFF¡± to ¡°Default.¡± If he was going to promote natural selection, he was going to promote Natural selection.
One error did pop up.
ERROR Settings concerning time or temporal magic have been locked by an Avatar of Time. These settings will remain locked and cannot be unlocked by any being other than an Avatar of Time or Time.
Well, he knew that was true, nice to see that the changes were hard-coded so even the owner of the Universe or Cosmos couldn¡¯t change it. Of course, he was looking at the Cosmic Interface. Just to be sure, Adam minimized it and pulled up the Universal Interface. He compared it to the Cosmic Interface and realized that unlike his previous uses of the Universal and the Cosmic Interface, before he came back to this Cosmos, these interfaces were identical here. Adam modified one of the magic settings to ¡°Owner Only¡± in the Universal Setting. The Cosmic Setting changed as well. he changed the setting back to Default in the Cosmic Interface, The Universal Interface changed to ¡°Default¡± as well. It seemed that in this Cosmos, the Universal and Cosmic Interfaces were linked completely. It made sense since it was placed outside of everything.
With that done, he sent a message to everyone he cared about.
Adam: Hey everyone, I¡¯m heading out.
Mom: Be careful
Dad: Honey, he¡¯s effectively a God here, he¡¯ll be fine
Abi: Take pictures.
Adam: Thanks Mom and Dad. Abi it¡¯s a group of Black Holes, those pictures aren¡¯t going to show much.
Amanda: Stop picking on Abi, take pictures of what you find hidden by the Black Holes
Adam: Oh, that¡¯s what you meant.
Desirae: Such a smart ass. See you when you get back. I¡¯ll make sure everyone here stays healthy.
Adam: Thanks Ray, see you all later.
Adam closed the messages and formed a portal to a location one light year out from the system he was going to investigate. he stepped through the energy curtain that held the atmosphere back as he stepped through and found himself in an area of complete darkness. After a few moments, his eyes adjusted, and his Adaptable ability kicked in allowing him to see what his normal eyes couldn¡¯t.
Adam had stepped into a gulf of darkness. As he reviewed the information Thor had gathered he realized that he was in an area of space where light didn¡¯t exist. Not to say this area was like the region of Nothing he¡¯d explored just that visible light didn¡¯t penetrate this area. The other thing that surprised him was the number of black holes that were orbiting the triangle that he could make out. He couldn¡¯t see the black hole but his eyes had adjusted so that he could see gravity as if it were magnetic lines of force. Those waves swirled and knotted all around him. This made pinpointing the black holes really easy.
Adam willed himself towards the lines of force where the triangle was and noted that on all four sides of the pyramid, there were tunnels to the center approximately a mile wide where ships could travel to the object at the center. Compared to the distances between the black holes these paths of safety were quite small. His sight allowed him to note how much weaker the source of gravity in the center of that zone was but he still couldn¡¯t see what ¡°it¡± was.
He altered his trajectory and headed toward the tunnel through the severe gravity wells of the Black Hole. Adam examined the lines of force and noticed something odd. It looked as if something at the quantum level was holding the barrier that created this tunnel. He slowed and moved over to the edge and placed his hand against it. Adam allowed his nanites to examine the barrier at the quantum level and sure enough, they found different alien nanites there. Alien nanites that could withstand the gravity of a black hole and also alter how gravity affected space in the local area? As his nanites came into contact with them the technological nanites attacked them and tried to break them down. His nanites, created from the raw stuff of chaos easily thwarted all the physical attacks. Next, a quantum-level scan commenced against his nanites which included malware designed to overcome and control the nanites. He had no doubt that if they¡¯d come into contact with his old normal nanites they¡¯d have had little problem doing so until Thor or he actively engaged in stopping the hostile takeover. Since the Alien Nanites were trying to work against something he consciously controlled, they were far outclassed and easily defeated.
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Adam wasn¡¯t here for this, though he¡¯d need to investigate it later. He withdrew his hand and willed himself back to the middle of the gravity tunnel and continued down the tunnel of normal gravity. No light made it into this area past the black holes so he allowed the lines of Gravity he could see to guide him. As he drew closer to the bubble at the center, he noted the light of a star shining into the tunnel. Any light that hit the edges of the tunnel was absorbed and redirected but the light shining into the tunnel could reach quite a ways before the tunnel curved and the light ended.
Adam analyzed the light, magnified his vision, and cataloged a star and a single planet orbiting that star in the Goldilocks zone, the area around a star where liquid water could exist which could also mean that life could exist as well.
As he moved out of the artificial tunnel and entered the star system he noted that the star was M-Class. As he moved into the system he ran into a swarm of alien nanites that immediately started trying to scan him. The scans were easily deflected. As he considered this, he contemplated the reason for the scan, then the Thor aspect part of his mind warned him that the failure of the scan could cause a defense response which was exactly what happened.
One moment he was floating toward the planet and the next he was enveloped by an energy/gravity field as a brilliant light flashed around him.
Warning: You have entered a region of the Universe at a temperature of absolute Zero and an artificial field to temporal curtailment. Time has been brought to a rate of 0% of the normal flow of time in this Universe. As this is a technological effect and not magic your Ability ¡°I Have Always Been, I Will Always Be¡± does not prevent this field from affecting you.
NOTE: Your ability Adaptable makes you immune to any environment found inside the cosmos. As such, absolute zero and technological modifications to the flow rate of time do not affect you unless you wish them to.
Would you like to allow the temporal field surrounding you to affect you?
Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°No¡± and froze. If whoever had used this technology on him was actively scanning him they¡¯d see that he still had electrons moving and firing but they¡¯d expect that for at least a few seconds as the temperature where electrons ceased moving took hold. Side note, it was really nice that his Adaptability ability still worked because even his chaotic nanites should have been affected by such cold temperatures.
Adam opened his Universal Interface and checked his location. The coordinate system was relatively easy to follow as all points in the Universe were mapped out on an X, Y, and Z access. The numbers were nonsensical from a human point of view, the 0,0,0 point being the location where the Big Bang happened. The Milky Way was roughly 7 billion light-years from that point and speeding away from it at roughly half the speed of light, though how that all worked was due to space compression and expansion while a body was moving through that space. Relatively, the galaxy wasn¡¯t moving at even a quarter of half the speed of light. For his purposes, he¡¯d reset the X, Y, and Z access to put Earth at his new 0,0,0 axis points and reviewed his location. Wow was the only word he could use to describe the numbers he saw. If Earth was at a 7 along the X access and a positive 7 on the Z axis he was now at the opposite end of that location in the Cosmos. He had traveled billions of light-years in a second. He might be able to teleport that far but that would be a huge expenditure of mana. Using a portal would have been impossible.
Adam contacted Thor through our quantum link,
Adam: Thor, bit of a problem here. I am now more than 28 billion light-years from Earth.
Thor: Understood, I¡¯ll prepare contingencies and a secondary body if needed¡You can still resurrect?¡±
Adam: Yes, I still have the ability Undying. Just set up the body and reduce this link to minimum access just in case whatever this is tries to piggyback to you. Isolate and monitor with extreme prejudice.
Thor: Understood.
Adam felt the link between them revert to the most limited functioning they had.
Without moving he analyzed his environment and realized that his nanites couldn¡¯t leave his body without giving away that he was still active. Even so, he visually analyzed his surroundings and found himself to be in a tube with some kind of clear window that he could look out of and that could look in on him. He¡¯d bet anything the scientist or whatever they were that would view him in a moment wouldn¡¯t have thought that they might want to utilize one-way mirrors. Of course, in a zero-energy/time environment who¡¯d expect the creature inside that zone to be moving or thinking at all? Adam made a mental note to himself that should he ever do something like this he was going to tint the observation glass. Unfortunately, the bubble he was in didn¡¯t allow sound to propagate so he couldn¡¯t hear anything, but he did notice when two shadows fell across the glass and watched through his nanites as two creatures in white coats looked in on him. Adam saw their mouths moving but he still couldn¡¯t hear them.
Next, he saw an arm extending from the ceiling down to his neck with a small needle. As the needle came into contact with his skin he detected a temporal nullifying field with a very small radius around the needle. As the needle was pushed into his skin he surrounded it with his nanites and prevented it from releasing or contaminating him with anything from it. He felt the suction from the tip as it tried to take a very minute sample of his blood. He allowed this so that his nanites could get out of this environment and check on his surroundings. Adam wanted more information before he acted.
The mechanical arm and needle were withdrawn, and the two beings stepped away. His nanites outside the chamber detected speech but it wasn¡¯t a language that he¡¯d come across before. Once he reviewed their speech he recognized it through his That was Easy ability. Adam guessed that he really did have a skill level of 100 in every skill that existed. While he thought about how useful that ability had become as the nanites from his blood sample started to replicate and spread. he also listened in,¡±
¡°The Subject appears to be Homosapien from a planet called Earth. We visited them approximately 8,000 years ago and found them primitive. Not capable of what this individual was seen doing.¡± A male voice said.
¡°What exactly was this one doing?¡± A second male voice said.
¡°Our outpost in this human¡¯s galaxy detected him approaching the contact site without a ship or any visible means of propulsion.¡±
¡°No Ship, no technology? ¡°
¡°Exactly! A decision was made by the Overmined to study him and see what was different about him.¡±
¡°Why hasn¡¯t he been analyzed yet?¡±
Adam decided he¡¯d played his charade long enough and moved to the window. The field he was in was very powerful. He doubted that he could break out without causing a catastrophic accident that the two individuals right outside this window would not survive so he stepped up to the glass and looked out on two humanoids, roughly six feet tall, both bald with an athletic build. The first speaker had golden Irises while the second had light blue eyes. Adam knocked lightly on the inside of the glass which caused both aliens to be startled. Adam placed his hand in front of the glass and displayed the following as a scrolling message across the skin of his palm in their language.
¡°Hello, my name is Adam. I would prefer to exit this containment zone without destroying your facility and you two with it. Could you please turn it off so we can speak face-to-face?¡±
Chapter 92, I Come in Peace, Really
(???, January 3rd, 2047)
The 2nd technician looked at Adam and then reached over and hit a red button. From his angle, Adam couldn¡¯t see the word printed above the button, but he was pretty sure it wasn¡¯t something that was going to be good for him. Adam was right. He watched as a portal opened below him, through which he could see the lines of gravity trying to reach up into the chamber he was in. The lines of gravity stopped at the stasis field he was in as if waiting. That¡¯s when the field dropped, and those lines of gravity reached up to grab him. Adam passed through the portal and found himself crossing the event horizon of a massive singularity. These beings were utilizing a singularity as a garbage compactor, cool.
Adam stopped his forward momentum and looked around as his vision adapted. Then he noted lines of gravity from multiple portals near him that seemed to be dropping all kinds of matter into the black hole. he allowed his nanites to range out to see if there were any nanites here and found that as he had predicted, the alien nanites were being destroyed as they crossed the event horizon. Adam let loose and allowed his nanites to go into overdrive. he also willed a spell to be cast that allowed 1 year to pass for every nanosecond he was within this singularity with a radius equal to just inside the radius of the event horizon. He¡¯d gotten the idea from a spell back in one of his old Advanced Dungeons and Dragons books, Tempus Fugit. That spell allowed six rounds to pass inside for every round that passed outside. He was just taking that idea and increasing its power a little bit.
Adam allowed his chaotic nanites to invade and convert every atom inside the event horizon of this singularity into more nanites. Then they attacked the matter making up the singularity. Unlike naturally occurring black holes this one looked to be artificially constructed. Adam hadn¡¯t detected an exit point out of this Cosmos from the singularity, so he had the nanites start converting all of that mass into nanites as well. The mass would stay the same but now the singularity would work for him.
Adam placed himself in a sort of stasis. At the speed differential, it would be impossible to communicate with Thor, Abi or anyone else. They would be moving and responding slowly. True, Thor could move his mental processes at machine speed which would allow them to communicate normally but the world would still appear to be standing still to both of them. Adam had more important things to worry about. He allowed his Thor Aspect to go to work. Adam cataloged everything before the conversion and spread his consciousness back into an area that was larger than any network he¡¯d ever inhabited before.
His Thor aspect woke him from his stasis, and he reviewed the mass that had been converted. It was kind of impressive, 15.6 billion Solar masses or approximately 1.67 E19 kilograms were now nanites. The nanites were still compressed and acting as a singularity but now his processing power had once again achieved, and surpassed, levels He¡¯d previously possessed. Also, Thor had cataloged and analyzed every piece of inorganic and organic material that had been deposited into the singularity. This had all been done in about 150 years to him, in less than a second in real-time. He¡¯d learned their language and now understood that the technology level of these beings was incredible. If they¡¯d been able to break out of the Cosmos they¡¯d have easily been able to stop him, at least technologically, in his tracks.
Adam spent the next hour using the full processing power of the nanite network to learn everything he could about the beings that had captured and then discarded him. Like humans, they had evolved on a planet very soon after the dawn of the Cosmos. Adam searched the Universal Interface, and sure enough as part of the creation of this Universe before it was separated from the rest of this reality, a pocket of normalcy had been decreed as the rest of the Universe exploded and spread out. In this one region of normalcy, a normal planet had come into existence around an M-Class star, and beings almost identical to humans came into existence. This Race was just over 13 billion years old which caused him to pause. Evolution over that time should have turned these humans into either super brains or pure energy if some of the ideas floating around back on Earth were to be believed. That¡¯s when a reference He¡¯d come across clicked into place. Something called an ¡°Overmind¡± was in charge here. He¡¯d only seen fragments of information concerning it. He¡¯d have to figure out what it was when he left the singularity.
Adam separated from his Thor aspect and then removed and dispelled the spell he¡¯d cast to speed up time. Next, he reconnected to Thor and tied Thor and his Thor Aspect together to let them do their thing. Adam needed to slow his mind down to be able to interact with these aliens. Adam set his personal nanites to defense and self-preservation and also willed a magical personal shield around himself just in case. He also checked one more thing in the Cosmic Interface. Almost all Time-based spells and effects had been locked out. Spells could speed up or slow down time but traveling through time was forbidden. Also, time couldn¡¯t be completely stopped by technology or spells. Through the interface, he could stop time if he wished for everything save those he designated as immune. Doing so would flag an Avatar of Time if not reactivated within one day of relative time.
With everything reviewed and ready he teleported into the room beside the two technicians, three feet away from them. As he popped in, both turned to see him standing before them a look of shock and horror in their eyes.
¡°Hello,¡± he said in their language.
The one that had hit the red button fainted. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he just keeled over. Now that he had a chance to look at both of them he noticed that they both appeared to be human, though he could see the telltale signs of electronic augmentation throughout both of them. Adam allowed his nanites to start spreading into the room and to scan and record everything. That¡¯s when he sensed a subtle shift in the energy flow and all the alien nanites in this region which all went inert and then self-destructed, except for those insides of the two aliens in front of him. The alien that was still awake watched with interest until Adam registered a quantum connections being made with something of incredible power that had had focused its attention on man in front of Adam. Adam understood immediately that something was looking at him through the man¡¯s eyes.
It looked around from the body it was looking through for a moment, cocked its head as if thinking then focused back on him. ¡°Hello.¡± There was a long pause as they both stared at each other waiting for the other to talk. So, a staring game. Adam could do staring games. He smiled as he had his nanites investigate and catalog all the technology in the room he was in. he noticed that except for power, which was created by an ingenious gravity-based generator all incoming and outgoing lines of communication with this facility were now severed. Also, a barrier had been erected around the facility that was preventing his nanites from leaving the area. It looked as if the field he was in prevented gravimetric disturbances so they were trying to prevent any portal or teleport-based movements. Adam willed a portal to open in front of him that opened looking at his kitchen sink at his estate in New Mexico. Adam reached through the portal, grabbed a glass, filled it with water, and brought it back through the magical portal he¡¯d created, all while keeping eye contact with whatever was looking at him through the eyes of the man that was still standing. He took a sip of water and willed the portal shut.
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¡°Interesting, technology has been circumvented, yet there is no technology that can do so, who or what am I looking upon?¡± the man asked with a hollow, yet resonant voice.
¡°I am Adam, and you are?¡± Adam asked back.
¡°My creators and constituent parts call me the Overmind¡±
¡°Are you a combined consciousness of all the minds that came before, or are you something that formed uniquely from all the minds within you?¡± Adam asked. The idea wasn¡¯t new, some very talented writers had explored this idea, though every time they were described they had an almost machine, or lacking empathy persona. This Overmind was talking like a normal person even if the voice sounded a little hollow.
¡°If I understand your question correctly I am both. I am the ultimate combination of mind and body,¡± the Overmind said.
Adam pulled up his Universal Interface and checked to see if there was a functionality built into the interface to scan or review specific species or personal data. Of course, there was. Adam pulled up the information on the creature identifying itself as ¡°The Overmind¡± and gasped. ¡°You¡¯re an amalgamation of all the souls of trillions of individual beings? he asked.
There was a pause, then the Overmind answered, ¡°The source of that information is correct, though I did not detect any electronic transmission, might I ask where you retrieved that information from?¡±
¡°I will answer your question if you answer this one first, why did the souls of so many choose to combine with you instead of pass into whatever is next?¡±
¡°This word ¡®soul¡¯ do you mean the classic human from Earth definition or is there another definition that you are using?¡±
¡°The classic definition is fine or more precisely ¡®the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal.¡¯¡±
¡°Thank you for the clarification. The reason our race chose this path once it was available to us was because our scientists had detected something that seemed to be destroying the energy that was exiting the body almost immediately after it left the body. We were able to detect it and track it and then it shredded quickly. Not like it was transporting somewhere else, like the kernel of energy was being ripped apart. Our experiments were inconclusive as to whether there was a soul or not but if it was a soul we theorized that it was being destroyed. With that information, the majority of our society chose to become part of me. Normally there is a period in which the individual still exists but eventually, souls tire and are absorbed by the whole. This process has been going on for billions of years which led to my formation.¡±
¡°I do have another question, but a deal is a deal. To answer your question, I accessed a Universal Interface that contains all the information about this Universe and reviewed the information it had on you.¡±
¡°There is no Universal source for all information.¡±
¡°There is, and I have access to it.¡±
¡°How?¡± the Overmind asked skeptically
¡°The simple answer is that magic exists and that I have access to it. Through the use of magic, I am able to access the mechanisms which review and run this Universe.¡±
¡°What you say, makes no sense.¡±
¡°In about 200 weeks it will¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°To access your personal interface the ambient magic of the area you¡¯re in needs to be around 20% if you do not have a source of magic for yourself like I do. The settings of this Universe have changed and magic is saturating the Universe again. Magic should reach an ambient level of about 20% in 200 weeks. 100% in about 1,000 weeks.¡±
¡°If what you say is true, what does this mean?¡±
¡°It seems that you are familiar with humanity from Earth, are you familiar with our recent fiction, specifically concerning fantasy and magic?¡±
¡°I have kept track, yes. I am familiar.¡±
¡°Dragons, Angels, Devils, and even Gods exist. Magic being brought back into the Universe brings back access to those and many more beings,¡± Adam said.
¡°Why do I detect a ¡®but¡¯ in your statement.¡±
¡°Magic is incredibly degrading to high technology.¡±
¡°Define, high technology,¡± the Overmind said.
¡°Microprocessors that are not shielded with magic. Also, nanites, especially nanites will be affected. Something about the magical forces in play makes it impossible for nanites to exist.¡±
¡°Yet, yours do?¡±
¡°Yes, but that is a long story and the path to that occurrence is unique. It could occur again but the odds are that it won¡¯t. I do have a second question for you, If you could, would you allow yourself to pass on to whatever comes next?¡±
¡°I was created to act as a lifeboat until the end of this Universe. I strive every day to find a way to break out of the barrier of this Universe into whatever is on the other side of the expanding barrier we are currently riding. The simple answer is yes.¡±
¡°Then, I can tell you that what your scientist detected no longer threatens anyone who dies. That souls do pass on and that whatever is on the other side awaits them and you.¡±
¡°If what you say is true, what happens to me when I reach the other side, do I split into the many personas that make me up, or do we all pass as one and stay together?¡±
That is a good question, one I do not have the answer to. No one in the places I¡¯ve visited has been able to tell me what happens once someone passes through The Eye.
¡°The Eye¡±
¡°The Eye¡¯ is an energy barrier or portal. Souls that have freed themselves from the constraints of mortality pass through ¡®The Eye¡¯ and are never seen in this Cosmos again.¡±
¡°How can you be sure?¡±
¡°The entities that told me are the same entities that cut this Universe off from all the others.¡±
¡°What you have said is hard to believe.¡±
¡°I understand. There is one way that I can share this knowledge with you so that you¡¯ll have all the information I have.¡±
¡°How is that?¡± The Overmind asked.
¡°I¡¯ll download it into you,¡± Adam answered.
¡°You can do that, I¡¯m sorry but I find that hard to believe.¡±
¡°Well then, what I¡¯m going to share with you will blow your socks off. Also, in the spirit of full disclosure, the singularity below us is mine now.¡±
¡°What do you mean it is yours now.¡±
¡°I¡¯ve converted everything inside the Event Horizon into part of myself. That¡¯s why I¡¯ve already come up with a way to link to you and download the information I have so you can check the veracity of my claims.¡±
¡°Wait a second, nothing survives inside a black hole, and nothing leaves a black hole.¡±
¡°True but did you not see me fall into the black hole and appear back here moments later.¡±
The Overmind paused for a few moments and then said, ¡°Yes¡please establish your connection, I will allow information to be shared. Please make sure that you do not try to place any malware into his network.¡±
¡°Yes, I know about the quantum bomb you have on standby and I know that it will take out this star system and most likely create another void within the Universe, like the last one you detonated. Understand such measures are useless against me. I cannot be killed. Or a more correct phrasing is that if this body dies I will be reborn elsewhere.¡±
¡°Now you¡¯re talking nonsense.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll remind you that you said that after you¡¯ve download my memories. Are you ready?
¡°Ready!¡± The Overmind Affirmed.
Adam established the connection and started downloading everything that had happened to him from the moment he picked up the ring. The moment this rollercoaster of the life he was now living started. It was a lot of information to share and would take a few more seconds to complete.
Chapter 93, Nonsense
(???, January 3rd, 2047)
Over the next couple of minutes, Adam downloaded a lot of information to the Overmind, after all, he also gleaned some information from it. Everything that it stated had been true, so far as it believed. The memories of the dead were downloaded at the quantum level which seemed to also capture whatever energy the soul was made of. They believed this because they had an earlier version of the download that they¡¯d tested. A mind was downloaded and the body frozen, then revived. In all cases, something remained of the mind in the body so the personality would come back intact when resuscitated. The new method of download prevented any possibility of someone coming back after the download.
Adam immediately saw the flaw in this belief. If the souls were being destroyed or failing to move on, then how were they coming back? If the original soul was destroyed then only the copy created at the quantum level would be the real person, ensuring that if there was only one soul it would become part of the Overmind. He kept his thoughts to himself as the download continued. No need to stir that can of worms.
While the download was going on, he considered what he was learning and cross-referenced that with what he¡¯d learned from Freya back in Venoran. This society had found a way to keep the integrity of their minds, even after death, and had found a way to cheat the destruction of their souls, though their solution wasn¡¯t perfect. Adam kept going back to the analogy of mixtures. Take one glass of water and add it to another glass of water. Now separate those two glasses of water back into the exact molecules of each glass that you began with. Well, except for that there were billions of glasses of water. Of course, with Nanites, longevity was an option. Of course, that option had only become available right around the time that transferring into the Overmind had become feasible. It seemed that most had chosen to be with their friends in the Overmind. There were a few minds that refused to merge but individuals that made that choice were rare.
So, the Overmind was the amalgamation of billions of minds which had transformed into a singular consciousness. Kind of like Thor and him, but not. Thor had started from a copy of his mind after all. Through his connection to the Overmind, he located the central hub of the Overmind¡¯s mind. It was very impressive. The structure was embedded inside a moonlet in a quasi-dimensional space adjacent to this dimension. So, cut off from the rest of the Cosmos but higher dimensions still existed, good to know. Once he knew what he was looking for he willed the ability to scry the location and then willed himself to detect souls. Sure enough, the entire moonlet lit up as bright as a noon-day sun. So, the Overmind was a soul. That was actually good news, when magic came back the nanites and quantum computer that housed its soul shouldn¡¯t be affected by magic so long as it had a good sense of self.
As the download ended he canceled his scrying of the moonlet and waited for the Overmind to speak. He didn¡¯t have to wait long.
The Overmind¡¯s voice came through the body of the man in front of him, ¡°One moment please, that was a lot of information to absorb.¡±
¡°Take your time,¡± Adam said as he stood there and waited.
A few moments later the man the Overmind was speaking through took a deep breath and continued, ¡°The information that has been downloaded seems to be legitimate but how do I know it¡¯s factual?¡±
Adam thought about it for a moment then said, ¡°There are a couple of ways I could show you but if you¡¯ve reviewed all of my memories then you know that the reason your stasis field didn¡¯t work on me is that that time cannot be altered for me unless I allow it. One of the other things you should have witnessed is that I am completely immune to the effects of a singularity. Please direct your sensors to the event horizon of the singularity below this laboratory and watch.¡±
Adam teleported until he was standing on the event horizon and rotated so that he was parallel to its surface then transmitted through the speakers in the room behind him, ¡°If I were to pass into the singularity I would disappear and possibly cease to exist then I could portal into a new body. Also, we both have the technology to anchor ourselves outside of a singularities Event Horizon. What you cannot do is this,¡± he said as he pushed his right hand, wrist, and arm up to his elbow past the Event Horizon. Then stood there and did a silent ten count and drew his hand back out of the Event Horizon. ¡°As you know, nothing that enters an Event Horizon escapes, well except for me of course.¡±
¡°That¡¯s¡¡±
¡°Impossible?¡± Adam stated as he teleported back to the man the Overmind was speaking through. As you saw through my memories there is a lot more to reality than any of us know.¡±
The Overmind paused for a moment then continued, ¡°If everything you¡¯ve said to this point is true, what will become of me when magic once again saturates this Universe?¡±
¡°I believe you will be fine. While the download was going on I used magic to scry your location and ascertain the makeup of your being. I believe the structure that houses you will be unaffected because you do have a soul and souls do shield nanites and high technology devices in their bodies from the detrimental effects that happen,¡± Adam said
¡°There¡¯s a but isn¡¯t here?¡± The Overmind asked.
¡°But your technological society will probably begin to fail at all levels that depend on nanites that are not part of your soul. Technology will still work and there are probably spells that can protect specific areas so that inside those areas technology will work as it does today but how much magical energy is required follows rules very similar to the Inverse Square Law. As the size increases the cost increases and such areas will have to be maintained,¡± Adam said.
¡°Nothing you describe was in your memories, well not exactly,¡± The Overmind said.
¡°No, but I¡¯ve had a long time to think about it, as did my Thor aspect. Also, my new network inside the singularity is running probability models and that aspect of myself believes this is the case.¡±
¡°So, what do you suggest?¡±
¡°I believe your society needs to transition out of its dependency on nanites. I would also suggest that we try to establish permanent connections between the worlds you control that rely on nanites. Magical gateways and arches for instance are one possibility. They should be able to give you the range you need. I can even help you with that, but it will take time. How many worlds does your civilization inhabit?¡± Adam asked.
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¡°Just one, though we have outposts on Thousands with access to hundreds of other species including humanity.¡±
¡°I think I can help you then. If you¡¯ve been monitoring Earth, were you also monitoring their entertainment?¡±
¡°Yes, it was interesting to study humans and their imagination.¡±
¡°Perfect. Did you perhaps come across the movie ¡°Stargate?¡±
¡°Yes, but you said the technology wouldn¡¯t work,¡± the Overmind said.
¡°Technology dependent on nanites won¡¯t, but I should be able to craft something that looks like a Stargate portal that utilizes magic to open a dimensional door to a known location. There will only be one on your home planet, but you¡¯ll be able to use it to move people and supplies if needed to your various outposts.¡±
¡°How long would it take you to craft such an item and create the spell¡¡± The Overmind paused for a moment then spoke again, ¡°You can just will any magical spell effect you desire can¡¯t you?¡±
¡°Yes, and my nanites can create the magical materials needed to draw in and house the energies required. Because ambient magic is so low right now when I create the gate, it¡¯ll probably only work once a day, if that. Eventually, it should be usable a couple of times per day. Also, the distance it¡¯s making a portal across will determine how much magic it uses but it should do.¡±
¡°What about me?¡± the Overmind asked.
¡°You should be perfectly safe in the quasi-dimension you¡¯ve created for yourself. Also, you will probably still be able to download people into yourself if that is their desire, but they will be able to choose to go forward into whatever¡¯s next if that is their desire as well.¡±
¡°It will be hard for them to accept this new reality for some time to come.¡±
¡°Well, You and they will have until the heat death of this Universe to figure it out, though with magic in play again that may never happen. Like the first Universe, this one may continue forever, or the powers that be may just end it, though I do not believe entities that have gone to the lengths they have to set up this reality would destroy their creation so flippantly.¡±
¡°Something to think about while we adapt to magic returning,¡± The Overmind said.
¡°If you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯m going to teleport back to Earth, grab a nap, and let my Thor aspect that¡¯s in the blackhole review your society and start preparing the information I¡¯ll need to create the portal housing at the location you desire. Also, while I¡¯m gone, you need to pick where you want the portal on your planet. I shouldn¡¯t take long, but I wanted to take a break and grab something to eat. Where would you like me to teleport back to?¡±
¡°Here is fine, from here I¡¯ll bring you to our home world and you can see what humanity could transform into one day.¡±
¡°Sound¡¯s good. Please let the scientist know that I¡¯m sorry I scared them, well sorry not sorry. Sorry, I scared them, but I still thought it was pretty hilarious, even from my side of things.¡±
¡°Adam, may I call you Adam? For a being of immense power, you don¡¯t talk like one. Nor do you talk like someone that has merged with technology to the point you have.¡±
¡°Just trying to keep things in perspective. You should give it a try. Might I also suggest that you perhaps think about coming up with a name more endearing than ¡®The Overmind¡¯? We both have souls. Let¡¯s say for instance we both go into whatever is next relatively close to each other in timeframe and we run into each other on the other side. Am I supposed to introduce you as, ¡®Hey, this here is my friend ¡®The Overmind¡¯ from back in the other place, I¡¯m Adam how are you today?¡¯ Sounds a bit pretentious doesn¡¯t it?¡±
¡°When you put it like that...¡± The Overmind said.
¡°Something to think about. I¡¯ll be back tomorrow. For now, just contact me through my Thor Aspect here in this room. Part of me is here, not to worry I didn¡¯t have Thor infiltrating anything, he¡¯s just a cloud of nanites hovering in the air above these two. If you¡¯ve grown to trust me, you can of course connect at the quantum level and things will go a lot quicker.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll open up the quantum links with security measures, though I doubt they¡¯d do any good¡±
¡°If I was hostile, no it wouldn¡¯t, but you knew that when I stuck my hand into an event horizon and pulled it out. If one part of my download to you is true it¡¯s highly likely the rest is too, isn¡¯t it?
¡°Yes, it is,¡± the Overmind paused for a moment, and then said, ¡°If that is all I will contact your Thor Aspect.¡±
¡°You two have fun!¡± Adam said with a smile as he teleported to his abode back on Earth in the Rocky Mountains and turned his attention to the Thor near Earth. The teleport had taken a chunk of his mana, he was down 50%. That was a bit of a distance. He was probably going to have to make mana batteries to supplement the gate so it had enough magic to reach this far. Of course, he could probably tweak the settings for that object¡ He stopped that line of thinking, well at least with his conscious mind, he gave it to his Thor aspect to consider and looked around.¡¯
Adam: Thor I¡¯m back, he sent mentally through their link.
Thor: I did felt your body materialize in New Mexico
Adam: Well, I didn¡¯t want to be rude. How are things going back here?
Thor: Abi and Amanda have prepared the speech you or your doppelganger controlled by Abi will give. Any Idea when you want that to happen?
Adam: Let Abi do it, they¡¯ve been handling Earth for so long. It will be better if the three of you just handle this end. I¡¯m going to be busy with the Overmind.
Thor: Overmind?
Adam gave Thor the run down on what he¡¯d discovered and what he¡¯d done with his Thor aspect. Then laid out his plans to set up a magical portal device for them.
Thor: You will also need to make one of those for Earth as well won¡¯t you?¡±
While Adam had received a pretty good vibe from the Overmind he didn¡¯t truly trust the Overmind yet. Earth would get very similar magical items and he would have something else entirely. Tons of ideas, that¡¯s why he needed the day.
Adam: I just wanted to make sure I could keep my word to the Overmind and also ensure that whatever I did wouldn¡¯t bite humanity in the ass at a later time.
Thor: How very conservative of you.
Adam: Hey, I know I often jump before I look but in this case, that society outclasses anything Earth has or will have for some time to come. Magic being reintroduced into this Universe is the only thing that is putting the two societies back on the same playing field. Even then I believe they will probably have a lot of people with abilities and talents that help them become very good mages.
Thor: I concede the point.
Adam: What I also need you, Abi, and Amanda to do is look for anyone displaying any sort of affinity with Magic. We need to get such people trained as quickly as possible, so they don¡¯t become a danger to themselves or others.
Thor: I¡¯ll add it to the ¡®To Do¡± list. Is there a timeframe?
Adam: We should start looking as soon as the ambient magic hits 5%. Very strong minds might be able to utilize magic at such low levels. Though that could be true all the way down to 1% so 10 weeks from now.
Thor: It will be done.
Adam: Good, it¡¯s actually sunset here, I think I¡¯m going to sit back, relax, conjure up a drink and enjoy this sunset.
Adam broke the connection, summoned a glass of Fey Wine, and watched the Sun slowly settle onto the oranges and reds that made up the western horizon over White Sands. The sunsets from here were truly breathtaking.
Chapter 94, Slow Change is Good Change, or Not
(???, January 4th, 2047)
Adam watched until the sun was well and truly set, a clear night sky showed the stars above shining down on Alamogordo and the desert beyond. He finished off his Fey wine, stood up, and made his way to his bedroom where he laid down and drifted off to sleep. But what is sleep for a being with attributes over 57 million each when the average human had somewhere between 8 and 12? Even with his Thor Aspect busy on the other side of the Universe, there was more than enough of his mentality on Earth that as he drifted off to sleep his mind accessed the Nanites controlled by Thor and became one with the entirety of this region of the Universe. Everything within 250 million light-years of Earth, well except for the space between most of the planets that were more than 10 light-years out, became known to and part of him. The nanites created by the stars were riding the solar winds from each of the stars and as yet had only been traveling for just over 10 years. There was a lot of empty space in Space after all. Also, there were black holes that Thor hadn¡¯t accessed because his nanites had not been created after he¡¯d become a creature of Chaos.
Adam let his senses expand and knew each world where sentient life existed that was not homosapien and watched from the nanites in the organic material that surrounded all those alien lifeforms while he slept, taking it all in. Thor had stayed true to his directive and left sentient species and all organic materials on the planet alone.
As his mind took everything in at a subconscious level his conscious mind reviewed and analyzed while he slept. He knew this was happening as his dreamscape had morphed into a white sterile room with a single monitor that information was scrolling by on. The information was scrolling so fast that the screen had turned white except around the edges. The funny thing was that he was actually keeping up with it.
Beings of all types lived their lives. So many similar stories. Some were familiar to humanity, some not. Plants and animals of all types and additionally regions of space and planets that were truly breathtaking to behold that humans would not be able to visit for a very long time, if ever. Frozen nitrogen waterfalls on a lifeless planet that had escaped its star somehow and effectively flash frozen the atmosphere creating a bubble of ice around the planet as it hurtled through space. It had been passing relatively close to another star system when the nanites had come across it. Small holes were created from small meteorites that impacted it which closed up as escaping gas froze again. The only life left on the planet was so deep underground. That life thrived on the remnants of a planetary core that had cooled to just above freezing. A couple thousand more years and even that heat would be gone.
So many wonders in just this small section of this Universe. His mind drifted to humanity, and he watched as Abi spoke through the Johnathan construct.
¡°I am speaking to everyone tonight to inform you of a Universal Change that is taking place. Over the next couple of years, magic will be returning to this Universe. This is important because Magic is very detrimental to the functioning of highly technological devices, for example, nanites. What this will mean for humanity is that a lot of the changes that have been made will need to be rolled back. Thor will not be able to watch everything everywhere anymore so we will be transferring control back to local governments.¡±
On the monitor, Johnathan paused for a moment then continued,
¡°This brings me to his next bit of information. Magic will be a game-changer for everyone. As ambient magic increases throughout the Universe access to magical spells and extraplanar and dimensional spaces will become available. Some will have a knack for magic, others will not. How that pans out is completely random. While I was in another Universe I learned that some of the people there believed that the ability to use magic was a blessing from the Gods. Others believed it was a matter of luck and still others believed it was a matter of Karma. One thing everyone should understand though is this. Anyone might gain the ability to become a master mage so be wary of who you piss off today, it might come back to haunt you very soon.¡±
Abi looked off to the side and nodded before finishing up,
¡°Over the next couple of weeks, the ambient level of magic will be less than 1%. We do not believe that such a low ambient magical density will ignite anyone¡¯s latent abilities. That said, there¡¯s no way to know what will happen. We will be releasing an information packet so you know what to expect and also what might happen. Last thing before I sign off. Monsters are real, as magic returns to this Universe, so will monsters. If you see something you can¡¯t explain back off and call for help. Odds are we won¡¯t have to worry about this for about a year, but no one knows what will happen when fundamental changes have been made to a Universe.¡±
The broadcast ended and every phone that Abi and Amanda owned lit up at once. They could handle it. Adam pulled his focus back off of them and considered the return of magic to the Universe when Thor and he both detected a portal opening at the Center of the Bermuda Triangle.
Adam woke with a start and teleported to a position 1 mile above the portal that had opened and was continuing to open as first a trickle of water, then flood began to eject into the Atlantic Ocean. Not good! At the rate the water was coming in the sea level would rise and coastal towns around the world would be wiped out.
Adam: Thor, any new candidates for another copy of Earth?
Thor: Yes.
Adam: Viable Atmosphere lacking water?
Thor: There are no living creatures on the planet so adding water to the biosphere won¡¯t hurt it.
Adam reached through their link, acquired the planet¡¯s location on the other side of the Milky Way, and opened a portal directly in front of the horizontal waterspout.
Thor: Where is the water coming from Adam?
Adam: I don¡¯t know. Did anything come through the portal?
Thor and Adam both reviewed all information from the local nanites and noted that water and fish of a species not known on Earth were the only things that had made it through the portal into the Atlantic Ocean. Adam then willed himself to see with true sight and analyzed the portal the water was coming from.
You have detected a portal to the Elemental Plane of Water.
What was an Elemental plane of water and why hadn¡¯t he heard of one until now? Adam opened his Universal Interface and queried ¡°Elemental Plane of Water.¡± He searched through the database and finally found a note that explained things a bit.
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NOTE: This Universe has been placed outside of localized Reality. All connections to Chaos have been severed. Instead, parallel dimensions for the eight primary elements are being created to act as a barrier and insulator for this Universe. Only Positive and Negative Connections remain. All other elemental types are recycled in one form or another.
>>>ERROR<<< NOTE: Universe is completely cut off from magical energies due to previous changes. Normal safety mechanisms have NOT been incorporated into the design of this Cosmos, they are not necessary.
Not Necessary? Okay, then time to fix things. Adam teleported to the singularity near the Overmind and reconnected with his Thor Aspect directly. He then opened his Cosmic Interface. First, he set the speed of the Universe to as slow as he could make it while he worked. He couldn¡¯t travel through time, but he could speed up and slow it down, so he slowed it way down. It now took 1,000 years for one second to pass. Next, he drained the Cosmic Interface¡¯s help files of any and all information concerning Universes, their setup, function, settings, normal safety mechanisms, and just about any other questions 100% of his mind could think of?
It took him just about 24 hours of his personal time to review and correlate the information until he had a good handle on what had happened. It seemed that the entity that took the shortcut to create this Universe by itself had never entertained the idea that magic would be added back to the Universe. When Adam had set the return of magic in motion the lack of safety buffers had caused, and would continue to cause, issues. This obviously led to the question, why would there need to be barriers? He found the answer as a Note in an appendix.
¡°NOTE: Chaos autoregulates itself into what is necessary as it permeates the boundary of Universes. Artificial or closed Universes must mimic this self-correcting behavior of Chaos. Non-Magical Universes must still consist of the elements that they are comprised of and can self-regulate themselves when flares of magic happen in localized areas. The easiest way to do this is to create parallel dimensions that can withdraw and replace energy as needed when flares occur. So long as changes remain small in scale this method of buffering a Non-Magical Universe is acceptable.
Warning ¨C If Magic is to be reintroduced into such a closed environment safety precautions must be taken prior to making that change. Any increase in the average ambient magic across the entire Universe can cause each parallel dimension to open the floodgates to come to a new equilibrium throughout the cosmos. Breakthroughs from all elements can happen randomly throughout the Universe.
Adam looked over the interface and made a note of his own.
¡°To Whomever It May Concern ¨C This NOTE should be the first thing anyone sees that is trying to adjust the magical settings of a Universe. Thanks for nothing!¡±
Adam waited a few seconds to see if there¡¯d be a reply. Nope, nothing. He went back to work and looked up what the most common settings used were to ensure that the System for Magic remained stable. His mentality was able to discern the mathematics and algorithms that were utilized to make sure magic worked right. he also fell back on what he¡¯d learned from visiting another Universe and his proficiency with magic. The Normal part of himself just thought of it as a filtering program that tracked, utilized, and replaced energy as it was utilized. The idea wasn¡¯t complicated, but the coding was. It took another 24 hours, his timeframe, to reconfigure everything and fix and close any breakthroughs that had happened while he ensured nothing else had gone incredibly wrong.
Once he was sure everything was set up as required he returned the passage of time back to normal and waited. When 10 minutes had gone by and no more alerts had been received from his Universal or Cosmic Interface he relaxed, let his Thor Aspect get back to doing his work with the Overmind, and teleported back to New Mexico.
Thor: What was tha¡,¡± Thor sent and then stopped mid-sentence. Before a new question popped up, Did you just handle the situation, Adam?
Adam: I did
Thor: What exactly happened?
Adam: The simple explanation, returning magic to a non-magical Universe must be done carefully. Who knew? Well not this guy, though I do now.
Thor: What does this mean?
Adam: Well, you know how I said that we shouldn¡¯t see any breakthroughs until the ambient level of magic was around 20%?
Thor: I recall that information yes.
Adam: Well, it would seem that any amount of ambient magic is enough to allow the buffers that hold this Universe in check to create rifts. I had to patch that. That patch is basically to redirect that energy to allow monster spawns and dungeon spawns, which will increase over time as the ambient amount of magic increases. It shouldn¡¯t be as bad as going from zero to 100% overnight but it will take an adjustment. Please inform Abi and Amanda and start watching for breakouts near humanity. The good news is that while the ambient level of magic is low you¡¯ll still have access to nanites to help prevent any truly horrific events from happening, though how long you¡¯ll be able to keep that up is unknown. I think we¡¯ll start seeing a loss in your functionality as we hit 10% ambient magic.
Thor: So, take the timetable and crunch it by a factor of 10?
Adam: Yeah, probably more. I¡¯m going to head over to the Overmind and get their Portal set up. If anyone starts to show signs of magical proficiency keep track of them and well do what we can for them. I shouldn¡¯t be gone for more than a week.
Thor: I need to get to work then.
With that, Adam closed by telling his Thor Aspect to let them know he would be at the lab in about 3 seconds, did a three count, and teleported to the lab. Over the next couple of seconds, the Thor Aspect updated him with what he¡¯d discovered and the plans they¡¯d come up with. Adam informed the Overmind of the change in timeframe and went to work.
The information his Thor Aspect had acquired had chosen a site in what would be considered the Capital of this world, though their governmental structure was almost a pure representation of what Communism would look like if people weren¡¯t involved. Everyone had access to everything they needed equally. The ¡°government¡± as it were, was the Overmind. Adam willed himself to look like one of the citizens of this civilization, which was a simple shape change as most differences between the Alari, the name they had chosen for their race, and humans were mostly superficial, though the average height of females was six foot and males where around six and a half feet. It took very little willpower, and the mana cost was negligible.
Adam teleported to the site and allowed his nanites to get to work. They spread out into the surrounding area as the Overmind supplied raw materials for him to convert into everything he needed to create the portal device and the magic collectors and batteries that would power the portal. Adam made sure it had enough energy to open at least two portals a day to distances as far away as the other side of the Universe. Adam let his Thor Aspect in the Singularity handle that bit of math. Then he created the command-and-control center and tied it into the Overmind giving it complete control. All in all, he was done in approximately 30 minutes. Adam transferred half of his mana into the magical portal device and then established a communications channel to the Overmind,
¡°That should do it. I¡¯ve even transferred some of my mana into the batteries so you can test it. Short-range portals will have a significantly smaller cost than opening portals across the Universe. I would strongly suggest you utilize your technology while it still works to evacuate everyone from your outposts. Also, with the new information I¡¯ve shared, I¡¯d do that much sooner than later.¡±
¡°Adam, I have one question for you, why are you doing this for the Alari and me?¡± The Overmind asked.
¡°The simple answer is that you didn¡¯t continue to attack me once you knew I wished to talk. The much more complicated answer involves Karma, an eye for an eye, and trying to do the right or good thing.¡±
¡°I see,¡± the Overmind said while still conveying that it actually didn¡¯t see the reasoning behind his decision at all. ¡°Are you done then?¡±
¡°I am done here. I need to get back to Earth and handle the issues that will be happening there.¡±
¡°Well then, I would like to thank you and hope you are as successful there as you have been here.¡±
Adam nodded and teleported back to Earth, the Overmind wasn¡¯t one for small talk and his Thor Aspect was still in constant contact with it. Adam needed to get back to Earth and make sure everyone was ready for whatever was going to happen next.
Chapter 95, The Gift that Keeps on Giving
(Various Locations, January 6th, 2047)
It didn¡¯t take weeks to prepare the Earth, nor did it take long for the first humans with the willpower and imagination to be able to control magic to appear. An interesting case manifested while Adam was setting up portals on each of the Earths in multiple locations. He was able to work on multiple portals at the same time by allowing the normal nanites to create 90% of the materials needed for their construction and then popping in to drop off some of his chaotic nanites to create and incorporate the magical components that were necessary. He would then return to collect all the chaotic nanites after they were done.
Adam set up the construction of the portals through Thor and made sure everything was going well when a young girl started to throw a tantrum that his Thor Aspect, who was always monitoring everything, contacted him and instigated an emergency response protocol. What that meant was that he was contacted at machine speed and reacted by opening the Universal Interface and slowing time down to a crawl as he portaled to the location.
The location of the event happened to be a little village in Amesbury England, just east of Stonehenge. Could there be a correlation? he¡¯d have to check that later. Adam stepped out of his portal and looked around as a young girl was screaming in the classic I¡¯m a child and I-will-get-what-I-want scream pose except that a wave of fire had surrounded her and was moving away from her in all directions. Her mum and dad had looks of shock on their faces. Adam also noticed that the mother had started to turn to a toddler sitting in a highchair that was making a god-awful mess of his food. Even so, she was still turning to try to protect him. Adam opened the Universal Interface and reviewed the most recent events for this location.
Sarah Chester-Smith has cast the spell, Nova.
Adam reviewed the spell to see what its effects were and whistled.
Nova ¨C This spell is not castable. Only people with the Ability ¡°I wouldn¡¯t do that if I were you¡± may cast this effect. In times of great stress, people with this ability will release a wave of fire and force that will devastate that which has stressed them so. Damage is equal to the level of stress which is graded on a scale of 1 ¨C 100. For every point of stress, the wave of force will travel 10+S feet (Where ¡°S¡± equals the stress level). Damage is fire based and force-based doing 20xS damage to everything and anyone within the radius. One-half of the damage is fire based. One-half of the damage is force based.
An ability that was stress based and did damage based on how much ¡®stress¡¯ you were under? Yeah, that was a bad thing. Adam erected a shell of force around the child¡¯s nova of flame and another around her, just in case she wasn¡¯t immune to her own power, then allowed time to resume at its normal pace as he cast sleep on Sarah. The flames stayed between the two barriers until he opened a portal to deep space that sucked the flames out into the void as Sarah slumped to the ground asleep. As he¡¯d been doing that, Sarah¡¯s mother, Charlene Chester-Smith, had finished throwing herself on top of the toddler as her husband, Oswald Chester-Smith had tried to jump in front of her and the toddler, only to bounce off the barrier of force he¡¯d erected to save them.
¡°What the hell?¡± Sarah¡¯s father exclaimed as he grabbed his nose, which the nanites in his system were already repairing. He¡¯d broken it as he hit the invisible barrier.
¡°Not to worry,¡± Adam said as Charlene turned to look at what had happened.
¡°What did you do to Sarah?¡± she exclaimed.
¡°She¡¯s asleep, you¡¯re all safe and I¡¯m going to take steps to make sure this doesn¡¯t happen again,¡± he said as he opened the Universal Interface and pulled up Sarah¡¯s info. Adam looked through her information and didn¡¯t find anything he wouldn¡¯t expect to see in a young girl except that she had one ability, Nova. Adam contacted his Thor Aspect and had him make the changes he needed at Machine speed. Adam had Thor change the ability to conscious control and lock it out until she was an adult. Though he also made sure that if she was alone and no friendlies were around, and she was attacked it could go off if she was in mortal danger.
¡°Hey, your Johnathan Bennard,¡± Oswald said.
¡°Yep, that¡¯s me,¡± Adam said.
¡°What did you do to her?¡± Charlene asked.
¡°As was announced, magic is coming back. Your daughter has an ability that is meant to protect her in times of stress, though whichever being thought to give such power to a child, especially a child that gets as angry as she did because she doesn¡¯t get her way, well that was just stupid, so I fixed it.¡±
¡°You fixed it?¡± Charlene asked skeptically.
¡°Yeah, in simple terms, she won¡¯t be able to activate that ability until she¡¯s an adult or all alone and in mortal danger. I wouldn¡¯t want to be the person that corners her, it¡¯s going to hurt a lot,¡± Adam explained.
¡°What does that mean for now?¡± Oswald asked.
¡°For now, she¡¯s just a normal kid with normal wants and needs and you shouldn¡¯t have any more issues with her exploding. That said, when magic is in full swing I have a feeling she¡¯s going to be very good at magic. Make sure to contact Amanda or Abi with Portals Inc. I have already sent them your contact information, so they¡¯ll expect your call when the time comes. I¡¯ll make sure to let them know about Sarah here.¡±
Charlene looked around the room then picked up the toddler, ¡°Thank you for saving us, especially Tommy here.¡±
¡°I do what I can. There are a lot of changes coming. Please try to read all the material we¡¯re putting out. There will be information there you need to know. Also, let everyone you know, know what happened here. I have a feeling this is going to be one of quite a few incidents in the coming days. With that, have a great day, Sarah will wake up after I leave,¡± Adam said as he teleported back to New Mexico.
Adam contacted Thor through our mental link.
Adam: Thor, keep an eye on that family. Also, I have a feeling that the proximity to Stonehenge might have a correlation. Keep a close eye on that area and any other areas around the globe with significant mystical history.
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Thor: Noted, what will you do now?
Adam: Now, I put out fires as they come up and finish the portals.
Adam focused on the portals that were being created and started teleporting and portaling between sites to add the magical components that only his chaotic nanites or magic could add.
The next few weeks were one crisis after another as more and more people started manifesting random abilities that activated when least expected. None of the issues that came up were normal though and his ability to stop or slow time on a Universal scale allowed Thor, his Thor Aspect, and him to respond and prevent any truly horrific events. Only one event stumped him. Well, it didn¡¯t really stump him, he just couldn¡¯t do anything about it. The daughter of the Vice President who had been lynched in this timeline and beheaded by him in the other, Jessica Billingsgate vanished.
Thor and Adam reviewed the nanites in the area and one moment she was there, the next she wasn¡¯t. The nanites had been able to detect and analyze the quantum signature though. It seemed that wherever Jessica had gone off to wasn¡¯t local. Adam stopped time at the Universal level and teleported to where she¡¯d disappeared, then he¡¯d opened the Universal Interface and read the event log.
Muttering to himself he whispered, ¡°We might have a problem.¡±
Thor: I think so.
One of the most interesting things that can ever occur is when a rhetorical statement is made and moments later something happens. Adam had time to think that Thor and he had jinxed themselves by verbalizing their thoughts as a message popped into his vision from his Cosmic Interface.
COSMIC WARNING ¨C Intruder Alert ¨C The closed nature of this Cosmos has been breached.
Simultaneously a portal opened in the Maternity Ward of the Plains Regional Medical Center in Clovis New Mexico. A much more refined version of Jessica Billingsgate stepped out of the portal and looked at the crib in front of her. Before he could react flame lanced out from her hands and tried to engulf the baby in the crib before her.
Thor, thankfully, had recognized the attack for what it was and opened a portal directly over the baby that redirected the flame into the sky 1,000 feet above their current position as the baby dropped through another portal he¡¯d opened below her into Desirae¡¯s waiting arms.
With a thought, Adam placed a portal 1 nanometer above the portal Jessica had stepped through that led into deep space out past the orbit of Pluto, while he cordoned off the rest of the maternity ward with walls of force that allowed Jessica to be sucked through his portal into deep space, which Immediately closed while placing another portal directly over hers this time with the entrance of his portal against the exit of hers so that anything that tried to follow her through would find itself 1 light second from the Unicorn Singularity. If it could withstand vacuum and extreme cold, it would then have to survive extreme gravity. His Thor aspect monitored, as books, furniture, and other items rushed through the portal into the void of space toward the black hole. Fortunately, this area of space was saturated with nanites. Thor had infiltrated and broken down everything that was non-magical in nature as it fell toward the singularity. Anything that his nanites determined to be magical was recovered through other portals that he opened and saved for him to look at later.
While whatever was on the other side of the portal was coming through, Adam opened a portal to the back side of the area and expelled some of his chaotic nanites to investigate the portal that was breaking into this reality. He closed that portal then opened a portal 1 mile away from Jessica and flew towards her location, which was more like a blink step, but he didn¡¯t use teleport he just willed himself to be 100 feet from her and he was. As he came up there was a look of utter anguish in her eyes and anger. Thor¡¯s nanites had been infiltrating her since she stepped foot into this Universe and he was able to catch her diming thoughts through his technology.
¡°¡I struck as soon as I came through the barrier. He should be dead and everything should be back to the way it was. What the hell, I¡¯m in a vacuum in space. I don¡¯t have any spells that allow for breathing in a vacuum. What is that coming towards me? It¡¯s him! I may be able to succeed yet, even If I couldn¡¯t kill him when he was a babe.
A prompt appeared in his vision as Jessica focused with her last breath and cast a spell she had no right knowing.
Jessica Billingsgate has cast Singularity at you.
Adam pulled up the information on the spell as he changed the Cosmic setting for time to as close to zero as he could get it.
Singularity ¨C This spell creates an artificial point in space that sucks in all surrounding matter that is not shielded from the extreme stresses of heavy gravity.
A very basic explanation for a very complex idea. Adam dug further into the information which described the amount of force exerted and the effects on matter. As he scanned the information he realized the singularity would be just big enough to come into existence and then evaporate in 10 to 20 seconds depending on how much matter it was able to gobble up in that time. Adam also checked to see if his Adaption ability would still work against its effects even though they were created by a spell and found that it did. He took a second to think about how to proceed and then shrugged, this was going to be fun.
Adam released his lock on time and events continued as normal. The singularity came into existence against his head. He was beginning to think Jessica really didn¡¯t like him. Even so, he wasn¡¯t going to let her die until he knew what was going on so he countered her spell with a bubble of force around her that was filled with air so she could breathe. She took in a deep breath and then refocused her eyes on him as he reached up grabbed her singularity off of his skin and willed it out of existence while he looked into her angry eyes.
Her next spell was a spell called Sun Beam which created a beam of light as hot as the sun and would vaporize a small town back on Earth. It did nothing. His resistances and his Adaption ability completely negated the damage. After the spell ended Adam decided he¡¯d grown tired of this. He contacted the nanites in her system and noted that something was destroying them as quickly as they were trying to replicate. He¡¯d been lucky to catch her thoughts at all when this started. Probably because whatever was attacking the nanites had been trying to save her life in the Vacuum of space. Adam opened a portal behind him that opened directly behind her and expelled some of his chaotic nanites into her area then backed off. His Chaotic nanites had just made it into her system when she teleported to Earth, or tried to. Realizing her mistake she teleported a second time and ended up back in the Maternity ward which shunted her right back into the air bubble he¡¯d created for her. This went on for the next minute as she tried to teleport away then appeared back in the bubble of air as she was sucked out of another portal into deep space. Thor then opened another portal that dropped her into the bubble and he brought her to a stop with a thought. Once his chaotic nanites had infiltrated her body thoroughly, Adam paralyzed her.
Once that was done he teleported into the bubble of force, then took her to the planet he¡¯d shunted all the water to, Earth 11. Adam chose a place on the beach and had the nanites create two chairs and a table. He grabbed Jessica by the waist and teleported them to the beach, where he forced her to walk over to the chair and sit down while he analyzed everything on and in her body. His chaotic nanites easily picked up on her anger and also recognized the quantum signature of this Jessica as having come from the Cosmos he¡¯d been in prior to this one. Adam conjured some sunglasses onto her body and set the nanites to hydrate and feed her as necessary. Once he made sure she looked comfortable he teleported back to the Maternity Ward in Clovis New Mexico.
Adam looked around and searched his memory and realized that this was the room he¡¯d been in right after he¡¯d been born. He had access to those memories and with a little double-checking through the hospital records he verified that this was the hospital he¡¯d been born in. Also, this had been in this room, and the crib she¡¯d attacked had been in his crib. Jessica had tried to come in here and Grandfather Paradox his ass. What the hell was going on?
Chapter 96, Jessica
(Various Locations, January 20thth, 2047)
Adam allocated a small part of himself to monitor Jessica, who was still sitting where he¡¯d left her enjoying a sunset on a beach in that planet¡¯s version of California. Still frozen as she was, at least she had the ocean breeze and nice weather. Adam was still standing in the maternity ward in Clovis New Mexico. he looked around some more, then pulled up the data his nanites had been able to gather from the portal she¡¯d stepped out of before it closed.
Interestingly enough it appeared to be a normal magical portal though there were some oddities to its makeup. It seemed that it was composed of chaos, which would normally have destroyed anything touching it but his nanites had been able to touch and then follow the energy out of this cosmos. In fact, he¡¯d received some very interesting readings before they¡¯d been cut off. Adam thought for a moment and then opened up the Cosmic Interface and started digging for the information he needed.
While he was doing that, he had his Thor Aspect in the Singularity open a portal into The Unicorn and try to re-establish communication with the nanites that were now following something he could not describe. Adam tried using The Unicorn¡¯s Singularity because it actually exited in this cosmos, where the Artificial Singularity his Thor Aspect was in, was just a gravity well filled with nanites. As yet the gravity had not punched a hole through the fabric of space-time. The last readings had been so alien to either the type of science he¡¯d learned on Earth or the Magical theory he¡¯d learned on Primore. It looked like he still had more to learn after all.
His hunch paid off and he was able to re-establish his connection to the nanites going to wherever they were going. Adam then devoted the entirety of his Thor Aspect to analyzing and figuring out what was going on. While that part of him was working that issue, he established a connection with his nanites in Jessica and started downloading her memories.
¡°Get out of my mind!¡± Jessica¡¯s voice bellowed through their connection.
¡°No,¡± he said as he had the nanites put her into a coma-like state. Then he started reviewing her history like it was a movie at a couple of hundred times the normal playback speed. Jessica¡¯s life started off normally until the Cultivation happened. Jessica was overseas and was lucky enough to have secret service personnel with her when the shit hit the fan. Her mother, The President, had requested that she fly back then which had been canceled when they realized that she¡¯d have been over water when it initiated. It looked like the information Adam had supplied had been put to good use and the plane she was in had diverted into Mildenhall in the UK. The base personnel had moved her to the bunker upon landing. Base personnel had been able to evacuate the locals onto the base and defenses had been put up to help defend against the monsters that had started spawning. Most of the monsters that spawned near her location fell into the fairy and woodland type, though they were not the Disney version fairies by any means. Once it was established that the humans had tons of firepower and weren¡¯t afraid to use It the monsters moved away from the base.
When the Sanctuaries were set up She¡¯d been in one of the groups that had moved into the London area and lived out her year there. While she¡¯d been scared she¡¯d been able to cope. Once communication was re-established though she¡¯d been shown the security footage of her mother being decapitated and how they¡¯d found her head in Las Vegas. If Adam felt any remorse on the subject it was that he¡¯d exposed Jessica to such a vicious display of brutality by his hand. Of course, her mother had been a¡. Adam forced himself to get back on topic.
Like everyone else, Jessica had accepted the option to join Syndicate and had also been given her share of the winnings Adam had set aside for everyone from the bet he¡¯d made with the Gambler¡¯s Network that they had all been taken care of nicely. Jessica had moved to another planet where she¡¯d been just another survivor lost in this new reality.
The Secret Service stuck with her for a while, but everyone was now rich in this new Galactic Society. She¡¯d released them from her service and gone off on her own to pursue magic and training to find a way to make the person who¡¯d killed her mother pay. Ah revenge, so predictable. What was not predictable was her memory of a blue-skinned platinum-haired woman stepping out of a portal, ¡°Jessica Billingsgate?¡± she¡¯d been asked in standard English.
¡°That¡¯s me,¡± she said hesitantly. ¡°What can he do for you?¡±
¡°It¡¯s what I can do for you that has brought me to you.¡±
¡°And what is that exactly?¡±
¡°Well,¡± she said with a hint of a smile on her face, ¡°I can allow you to take revenge on the man that killed your mother.¡±
Adam read the confusion in Jessica¡¯s mind as she thought about her options and then came to a decision as she looked at the blue-skinned woman, ¡°Okay.¡±
Adam watched through Jessica¡¯s memories as a new portal opened and she stepped through into¡ Darkness came down on their connection. Adam checked the nanites. An entire area of Jessica¡¯s memory center has been locked out by something his nanites, his nanites? Couldn¡¯t access?. Adam shunted the issue over to his Thor Aspect and compared the notes he was getting on the area he was exploring. There were only three things that came to mind.
One, a power or force he had no hope of understanding had locked him out of Jessica¡¯s mind and created the portal she¡¯d stepped through. Two, there was an unknown force, be it technological or magical, at play that he had yet to understand, or three it was a technological or magical force that he could understand, he just hadn¡¯t figured it out yet.
Adam accessed the readings from Jessica¡¯s mind and it seemed that his nanites weren¡¯t having any effect because there was nothing for them to affect, though he knew there was something there because a scan of the area showed that the neurons were intact. What to do? When in doubt cheat. Adam wished for an answer with his magic. Immediately a pop-up appeared in his vision.
Think smaller.
Think smaller? That was incredibly helpful, NOT! Or was it helpful? He set the Thor aspect to taking his chaotic nanites down to an even smaller scale. While his Thor aspect tried that route he also tried to do so with magic. First, he teleported to the beach Jessica was on. Then he focused on the nanites in her mind and willed a portion of them to 1/1000 their current size. They reported no change. 1/10,000 their original size, still no change. 1/1,000,000 their original size and the world exploded with information.
Adam diverted his entire mentality to interpreting what he was looking at. Current scientific dogma cited the quark as being the smallest particle in the universe. His chaotic nanites were at least 100 times smaller than that and the ones he just willed to be even smaller were 1,000,000 times smaller than that. The scale was incredibly small. Also, the objects he saw were weird. There was no other way to describe it.
Adam surmised that his chaotic nanites were a manifestation of magic that had taken solid form in the shape of his nanites which was allowing them to reform into a semi-solid state that could still perform as he wished them to even at the scale they were operating at. Before his nanites were chunks of something that was acting like a solid, liquid, or gas in an energy state which was preventing any electrical input into or out of the area except through one spot. Adam went over to the area, and it appeared that some of the objects were acting like gate guards letting packets of energy move into and out of the cut-off area. As he watched the whole scene shifted to his nanites and everything morphed into a dome with one entryway allowing traffic to come and go with guards garbed in Nazi-style gear checking the cargo and passes that each ¡°person¡± showed before they entered or exited. His nanites examined each other and noticed that they¡¯d taken on the form of flies which were much smaller than the people doing the checks. Once this was apparent his ¡°flies¡± passed through the gate and he was in. Adam¡¯s mind must be using images that were understandable to him to help him interpret what he was perceiving.
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Once his nanites were inside, his perspective changed once again and he was able to follow Jessica¡¯s travels after she left the portal. The first thing she did was open her personal interface and check to see if anything had changed. Stat wise she was an average human,
Name: Jessica Billingsgate
Age: 24
Weight: 119
Birthday, January 20th, 2012
Abilities:
¡°Magical Savant¡± ¨C Learning Magic is like breathing for you. Also, you are unlimited in the number of spells you may learn, though the maximum number of spells per day that can be memorized is still limited. You also level all magical skills twice as fast.
¡°Magical Battery¡± ¨C You may memorize one extra spell of any level per level in your highest magic using class.
Level 1
Attributes
Strength 6
Agility 7
Dexterity 6
Endurance 5
Constitution 6
Intelligence 9
Wisdom 8
Willpower 8
Perception 7
Charisma 10
Luck 5
Primary Stats
Carrying Capacity 36 lbs.
Hit Points: 5
Base Health Regeneration
1 HP per day
Stamina 57
Base Stamina Regeneration
7 Stamina per minute
Mana: 80
Base Mana Regeneration
16 Mana per minute per second
Movement
Normal Running Speed: 6 mph
Standing high Jump: 12 inches
Note. Falling Damage is not mitigated by maximum jumping Distance.
Base Attack
Unarmed Attack: 2
Critical Damage Maximum Damage x2
Skills,
Adam stopped looking over her Personal Information. There was nothing he didn¡¯t expect to see. he was more interested in where she was, which appeared to be a small white room with a desk, two chairs sat opposite each other with a door behind each chair. The one she¡¯d stepped through and the one opposite her on the other side of the desk.
¡°First things first,¡± The blue-skinned woman said as she ushered Jessica towards the chair closet to her while walking around the desk and taking a seat. Jessica sat and she continued, ¡°My name is Za. It¡¯s not my original name nor is it the name I¡¯m known by in most places but it¡¯s the name I use performing this function.¡±
¡°What function is that exactly?¡± Jessica asked.
¡°Why rapid growth and development of course¡±
¡°Why me?¡± Jessica asked.
¡°You have been selected because the individual that killed your mother is becoming troublesome to my employer. My Employer would like you to have the opportunity to do something about it.¡±
¡°Exactly how long will this take?¡±
¡°Subjective or literally?
¡°Subjective or Literally, what does that even mean?¡± Jessica asked.
¡°Subjectively you¡¯ll be gone for a very long time. Literally, not so long.¡±
¡°And I¡¯ll be able to take my revenge on the man that killed his mother?¡± Jessica asked.
¡°Absolutely!¡± Za said with a hint of a smile.
¡°Then I¡¯m in, what do I need to do?¡±
¡°The first thing you need to do is get up and walk through the door behind me.¡±
Adam watched as Jessica stood up and walked through the door. Then her vision blurred, and she stepped back into the white room with Za. What the hell? Adam focused his mind, went into his memory of what he just witnessed, and thought it looked a lot like a sped-up tape. Adam slowed down the rewind by a million times. Still not slow enough. 3 million times, which was just about 100 years for one second. Still too fast. Adam incremented the speed slower and slower and at 15 million times he was able to see what had transpired.
Instead of watching 500 years¡¯ worth of data at normal speed, he moved his consciousness to machine speed and reviewed Jessica¡¯s experiences. 500 years¡¯ worth of time in a second. Adam watched as she was introduced to Master Magician and schooled in the ways of magic. Then sent into local dungeons that had popped up. Additionally, he found out that the location she had ported to was a Universe with a temporal clock flowing much faster than that of the normal Universes. In fact, there were a plethora of Universes where this temporal speed was the normal speed as well as Universes that were moving much slower than any of the normal Universes. Jessica had been brought to this Universe to learn the skills and abilities necessary to be able to defeat the ¡°monster¡±, their words, that would one day destroy the Universe. They then described who he was, where he was born, and how to make sure that he never became the problem he had. Also, it should save her mother. Besides the fact that her mother and Jessica would probably have died during the Cultivation which made what she¡¯d been told utter horse shit. Adam watched as Za set Jessica up to be used.
Throughout the experiences he watched, he saw no one else that knew exactly why Jessica was there, save her master. Her master looked familiar but searching his memory he could swear he¡¯d never met her before. A d¨¦j¨¤ vu moment perhaps? Adam watched with half interest as Jessica learned about all the schools of magic with a heavy focus on time and gravity.
When she was taught all she could be taught and leveled to a point where she should very easily be able to kill a baby in a crib she stepped through a portal to find Za, just as she¡¯d left her, and realized that no time had passed for Za
¡°Done, I take it?¡± Za asked.
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°One last thing,¡± Za said as her eyes glazed, and she looked at Jessica. Her eyes focused as she said, ¡°That should do it. You now have access to his quantum location. Use your spells to get to the location of Adam right after he was born and end him. Nothing fancy, just get it done.
Which brought him almost to the present. Jessica had indeed cast a wish spell and opened a portal except that she hadn¡¯t known that this Universe was time-locked and traveling into the past was forbidden by beings much more powerful than either of them. Also, he noted that during her conversion she¡¯d lost some of her class ability traits which had made it almost impossible for her to stand toe to toe with him. Also, she was nowhere near level 100,000. The conversion had left her at only level 1,113. In 500 years she¡¯d done well for the magical Universe she¡¯d been in but going toe to toe with him? Someone was setting her up which almost made Adam feel bad for her.
As Adam considered everything he¡¯d learned he portaled her body into a holding cell in one of the asteroids on Nu Draconis. Had the nanites break down all non-magical items and had one of his duplicates remove all of her magical items. Nothing too fancy just a spatial bag of holding with almost nothing in it and a couple of rings. He also set up an anti-magic zone around her cell so she couldn¡¯t use magic to escape before he left her naked on the bed in a grey jumpsuit and released her from her coma.
Jessica woke up, looked around, and tried to teleport out only to find out that magic didn¡¯t work. She was his prisoner, and she was stuck. She looked around, looked down at her nude body, and said ¡°Really?¡±. Adam didn¡¯t dignify the question with a response. Moments later she noticed the jumpsuit and put it on. As with all his cells, this one had a monitor and very soon she had figured out how to access the web and television and was busy watching the news as he teleported back to his estate to think about what he was going to do with Mrs. Billingsgate. Honestly, he was much more interested in where the white room was and who Za really was. As his Thor aspect went back to work he laid down and allowed his mind to rest. He had just lived another 500 years of Jessica¡¯s life after all.
Chapter 97, Down the Wrong Rabbit Hole
(Various Locations, January 21st, 2047)
While Jessica stewed in her cell, Adam thought about how he could handle the situation. There were many ways he could but honestly, he was becoming bored with it. He requested a verbal link to Desirae. After a few moments, it activated.
¡°Adam, what¡¯s up?¡± Desirae asked.
¡°I have another ¡®You¡¯ situation,¡± he said.
¡°Another ¡®me¡¯ situation? Who did you piss off this time?¡± she asked.
¡°The daughter of someone that tried to kill me and successfully killed a lot of our military, in another Cosmos but she followed me here. I don¡¯t have time to deal with her so I¡¯m going to let Thor brief you on the particulars and you can work with her. She is a mage and magic is coming back into the world so you might need to be careful.¡±
¡°Not to worry, Thor can handle her while I still can and when I can¡¯t, his abilities should be fully available,¡± she said then paused for a moment. ¡°Yeah, I just reviewed the information Thor has on her from you. Just over level 1,000 as a mage. She might have some power, but I should be fine. What are you going to be up to?¡±
¡°I need to figure out how she got here and make sure it can¡¯t happen again,¡± he said.
¡°Well, good luck. I¡¯d say don¡¯t get yourself killed but as I understand it, that¡¯s not really an issue for you anymore.¡±
¡°Thanks, and you¡¯re right,¡± he said as he shut down the connection and teleported back to the maternity ward in Clovis.
Adam¡¯s Thor aspect had been trying to figure out how Jessica had breached the barrier when she¡¯d made her way into the Universe but failed miserably. Maybe it would require his full processing power? He teleported next to the singularity that housed his Thor aspect. Well inside the event horizon, Adam reached out and touched the surface of his nanites which were now so condensed that they acted as a singularity to surrounding space. This singularity was him and he was this singularity though.
As he touched the surface of the singularity. Now a sphere about the size of a basketball he noticed a slight difference. Adam wasn¡¯t exactly sure what it was. He performed a self-diagnostic on himself and all nanites adjacent to himself and realized that some of the extremely small nanites he¡¯d created to infiltrate Jessica¡¯s mind were within him as well. When he¡¯d come into contact with the singularity some of them had made their way to that connection and were even now analyzing and converting those nanites into much smaller nanites.
If they were one million times smaller than his current nanites that meant that for every nanite currently within the singularity roughly 1 million could be created and the process would be exponential. Would that change the mass of the singularity? Create gravity waves? He wasn¡¯t really sure. With only half of his mana left, even though it was recharging rapidly, he willed a bubble of force around the singularity that maintained the current gravity going outward from that point but contained any other effects within the bubble so that whatever happened within wouldn¡¯t radiate out from this point.
¡°Overmind,¡± he sent through our quantum communications channel.
¡°Yes, Adam.¡±
¡°I¡¯m in the Singularity again. Just a heads up, I put a containment bubble around it so stop trying to feed anything. It¡¯ll just wedge up against the bubble. I¡¯m not sure¡¡±
Adam was cut off as the process of conversion exploded within the sphere and everything within, including him, was converted into the new smaller nanites. Through pure strength of will and a strong sense of self, he held himself together and reabsorbed his Thor Aspect into himself. Adam felt like he was riding a tunnel of light down a hole that was both infinite and not, huge and microscopic, real and imagined. he¡¯d been in such situations before, and he always felt like Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole. This time something was different though. There was a feeling of inversion as if he was falling into himself.
Adam reached out with his senses and realized he couldn¡¯t see, taste, feel, smell, or hear anything. As soon as he thought that though he was overwhelmed with the sights, tastes, smells, sounds, and textures of every single one of his nanites, both chaotic and normal everywhere.
Adam knew each and every one of his nanites throughout Chaos and the many universes and dimension they inhabited in the Cosmos he¡¯d come from. He knew each and every nanite that the Thor in this Universe controlled and also felt this Thor¡¯s alarm as he detected something he could not define piggybacking all of his nanite¡¯s signals. Then the shocker. He felt every single nanite within Universe he recognized as his original starting point. It had closed and been put in a state of stasis the moment he stepped through the portal at Nu Draconis to Apolyn¡¯s Abode way back when he started this escapade.
Adam also knew each and every nanite that was making its way through the fabric of reality from the portal that Jessica had ripped into reality and even now he could sense that the fissure she¡¯d created was growing. As his nanites explored the fissure they detected and recorded the energy that was opening the fissure and started backtracking it to its source. While the nanites could exist within it they couldn¡¯t quantify or categorize it.
Adam felt all of these sensations at once and if not for the staggering amount of mental capacity he had that had been reincorporated back into himself his mind might have burned out from Information overload. As it happened he felt the pressure build and continue to build as he struggled to maintain his core identity. He would like to say that it felt like suffering a huge swell off the coast of Australia, which he was experiencing as part of this information influx, but it felt more like being one of the pieces of ablative material on the underside of a Space Shuttles during re-entry. He felt an overwhelming sense of heat and pressure from all sides that seemed like it would go on forever.
Adam allowed a very small portion of his mind to check his internal clock and realized not even a nanosecond had elapsed. He redoubled his efforts and continued to keep his mind focused as the pressure continued to build from all sides until he felt something give at the very center of the mass of nanites that had become his core. Suddenly everything was turned inside out as he found his consciousness inside something he could not quantify or measure. All of his nanites that had been in the singularity were in here as well and spreading out from the center in all directions. Adam tried to coalesce some into the point that he thought of as himself and was surprised when nothing happened. Also, it seemed that his internal clock had stopped working.
Adam could still feel the information from everywhere being added to the information he now held but it no longer felt like an increasing pressure. Instead, it felt like a stream he could either dip into or just let pass him by. When he focused he could still experience whatever his nanites were doing wherever they were, but he wasn¡¯t overwhelmed by the information.
Adam contemplated this for a while then considered the possibility that he had somehow accessed another dimension. That didn¡¯t feel right though. He still felt the same, yet, he felt different, it was hard to explain. Trying to focus himself into a single point hadn¡¯t worked so he thought about focusing himself at the center of this place and suddenly his body formed, and he was whole again and felt himself floating in a void.
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Adam could still feel the space his body was floating in. His point of consciousness was both in the body he conjured and looking through all his nanites everywhere. Where his new body was, wasn¡¯t dark, but it wasn¡¯t bright either. He also noticed that the nanites that he was composed of here were spread throughout the entire area of the sphere. He removed his focus from his body and used his eyes to try to focus on the boundary of the sphere. It moved away from him. Weird. he willed himself to be at the boundary and he was there. Adam touched it and it felt solid. He willed himself back to the center and he was suddenly there. What was even weirder was, he had no point of reference to know where the center was through observation but he instinctually knew that he was at the center again. Adam looked out at the boundary and again it seemed to move away from him. It seemed that something funky was going on concerning the size of this area.
Adam tried to pull up his Personal Interface and was pleasantly surprised when new notifications appeared.
Congratulations! You never fail to surprise Adam. You have successfully evolved your soul into a Soul Space. Normally this is achieved much later in the process of personal evolution as you move through existence yet here you are, having achieved something that only one other has achieved in this Cosmos.
The soul is inviolate. What this means is that anything placed in, or that is a part of this space, remains through every tribulation that a soul is put through. Be it death, rebirth, trauma, magical modification, technological modification, etc¡
Note, Fundamental Abilities have been detected. Fundamental Abilities are not compatible with your Soul Space. You may have a number of Soul Abilities equal to 2 plus your Karmic Luck. You may have ERROR number of Soul Abilities. Current fundamental abilities will be converted to Soul Abilities now.
Fundamental to Soul Ability Conversion:
¡°Perfect Memory¡± No Change - Like Photographic Memory except for all five senses with an automatic recall of desired information.
¡°That Was Easy¡± has been converted to ¡°Pansophical¡± ¨C Skills that are known to you or known by you are performed as if you were a ¡°Master¡± in that skill automatically gifting the equivalent skill level of a Master as defined in whatever Reality, Cosmos, Universe, or Dimension you find yourself in.
¡°I have Always Been, I will Always Be¡± has been converted to ¡°Inviolate¡± ¨C Your soul is sacrosanct. Your soul cannot be destroyed. As you have learned Energy cannot be destroyed only converted. Any action taken to affect you through time manipulation has no effect on you. When the timeline of your current local stabilizes your soul will remain in its current local, from which you can reform and continue along in the timeline you are in. This process is almost instantaneous. You are not subject to Grand Father Paradoxes or harmful magic that utilized the manipulation of time
¡°Creature of Raw Chaos¡± ¨C has been converted to ¡°Chaos Forged¡± Your soul had been inundated with Chaos and forged to withstand all forms of chaos. During this process, your will has been strong enough to hold your core identity together and permanently changed your soul. You may enter and exit any environment flooded with Chaos 100% resistant to any further changes. Also, the chaotic nature of your soul allows you to designate and change your normal abilities as you desire. These abilities are normally fixed and may not be modified. This is not the case for you. You may add, remove or change out your normal abilities as you desire. Maximum number of normal abilities: 2
¡°Adaptable¡± No Change - Chaos has modified your body so that you may adapt to any environment. From Absolute Zero to the Gravity well of a Singularity your body can and will adapt to all environmental conditions. This includes the ability to survive in those environments. Example: the ability to breathe underwater if necessary.
¡°Willed-Movement¡± No Change - As a being of Chaos, constantly connected to it so long as you are not in a region of ERROR, you have the ability to move through that Chaos as you desire at any rate you desire. As Chaos is present in all aspects of reality, your will allows you to move as you desire. This is a sub-ability of the Fundamental Ability ¡°Adaptable.¡±
¡°Undying¡± has been converted to ¡°incessant¡±- Should your physical body be destroyed your soul remains and can reform your body immediately. This is a by-product of your chaotic and nanitic composition as well as a benefit of your Karmic Luck. You are immortal
¡°Resistant¡± No Change - You are 50% resistant to all Primal Magic and natural manifestations of those magics. Additionally, you are 100% resistant to all magic from the following spheres of power; "Chaos, Time, Space, and Gravity, and 50% resistant to Holy and Demonic Magic.
¡°Godless¡± has been converted to ¡°Open to new Ideas¡±- The changes to your body have severed any clerical link to the divine you had. Reality is vast, there might come a time in the future when aligning yourself to the divine or joining their ranks and becoming subservient to one or more may be required. The limitation of never serving a divine has been removed.
¡°Confluence¡± has been converted to ¡°Convergence¡± - The very nature of your Soul draws Chaotic Energy and converts it as you desire. In any Reality, you have access to and can utilize any magical energy normally. Additionally, your Mana Regeneration is increased by Willpower + Endurance per minute. Crossing into a new Reality is traumatic and resets level, attributes, and skills to one (See Pansophical above for specifics on your skill levels in any new reality). Inside your soul space, however, your actual level is maintained and added to. Chaos no longer converts to experience for your current reality. Think of your bodies within any new reality that you visit as a projection. Those projections will have levels and attributes as earned in that reality.
¡°Spellweaver¡± No Change - You neither memorize nor permanently add spells using spell slots. Instead, you may weave magic into any form of your desire so long as you have the skill and mana to do so.
¡°Personal Storage¡± has been converted to ¡°Soul Storage¡± ¨C The area inside your soul space is as small or large as you desire and follows any rules you wish to impose. You no longer have a storage limit and can summon any item out of your soul storage as you desire to the current projection of yourself. Items placed into or taken out of the space appear or disappear to the hand touching them. This space can be represented by slots if you prefer.
¡°Infinite Wealth¡± has been converted to ¡°Affluent¡± - Your Fundamental Ability has been transformed by your Karmic Luck. As needed you may produce or create any type of physical money in any reality you visit. In realities where you have integrated yourself into the global markets, digital currency is always available to you.
As he floated in his new ¡°Soul Space¡± and looked over the changes to his fundamental abilities Adam realized he had a lot to think about.
Chapter 98, A Little White Room
(Soul Space, Date Unknown)
As Adam floated he could still feel his connection to all the nanites he had everywhere then laser-focused on the initial connection he¡¯d made to his original nanites; Those nanites were in stasis at the moment. Adam stepped through the portal at Nu Draconis to Apolyn¡¯s Abode. He was returning to where this had all started this escapade. How had he known that? Wasn¡¯t the Universe he¡¯d been in the one he¡¯d started in? At that moment his Cosmic Interface popped up with a red warning
Warning: A Copper rank soul has been detected in ERROR. Awakened Souls are not compatible within this subspacial region of the currently known reality. Prepare for immediate trans-location to Eternity.
¡°Prepare for immediate translocation to Reality.¡± What the hell does that mea¡
As he was questioning what the warning was trying to tell him he was once again cut off from all of his nanites and felt the void of his Soul Space wobble and shutter and then cease. Before he could even wonder what had happened a feeling that he had when he fell into his Soul Space was reversed and he found himself standing naked in a small white room. Directly in front of him was a chair, a table, and another chair opposite a young human woman looking at him.
Adam could not feel the connection to his nanites and as he thought this he tried to open his personal interface to discover it was not active.
¡°Hello Adam, my name is Janice. For the purposes of this interview, you can think of me as your champion. It is my purpose to welcome, inform and prepare you for what comes next. First things first though, would you like to remain naked, or would you like to have some clothes to cover yourself? ¡°
¡°Clothes would be nice,¡± he said. Immediately he was covered with a pair of sweats and a T-Shirt. As he looked down to see what he was covered in he noticed the words ¡°This guy Rocks!¡± printed in on the front. Adam quickly looked up at Janice who had covered her mouth to keep from smiling. Adam lifted his right hand and pointed at the words as he looked at Janice questioningly.
Janice coughed to clear the laugh out of her throat as she said, ¡°It would seem that one of our Administrators has taken a liking to you.¡±
¡°Any Idea who I have to thank for this?¡± he asked sardonically while pointing at the words on his chest.
Janice laughed, ¡°Of course, but right now we have more important things to discuss.¡±
Adam nodded and looked around the blank white room, ¡°This somehow looks familiar. Where exactly am I?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Welcome to the Eternity Welcome Center,¡± she said with a lot of enthusiasm as he stared at her blankly. Janice centered herself, smiled, and continued, ¡°I see, you don¡¯t know what that means. Eternity is a focal point for a lot of realities. Every being that has existed, will exist, or could exist within those realities will at some point pass through Eternity.¡±
¡°I get that it¡¯s an important place what I would like to know is why I¡¯m here. I assume that I passed through The Eye while I was in my Soul Space and that once I arrived here I was pulled out of my Soul Space.¡±
Janice looked on with some surprise, ¡°You know what a Soul Space is?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± he said.
¡°And you were in it?¡±
¡°Yes again¡±
Janice¡¯s eyes glazed for a moment as she pulled up something and looked at it in her personal interface. Her eyes darted back and forth as she continued to take in whatever she was reading until her eyes refocused, and she looked directly at him. Taking a deep breath she began, ¡°It would seem that you are quite a remarkable person Adam. Because of that, and your Soul Ability Pansophical you get a more thorough briefing than most entities visiting Eternity for the first time.¡±
¡°That sounds like a good thing,¡± he said.
¡°Yes and no,¡± Janice said. After a pause, she continued, ¡°It is a good thing because the information will prepare you for the future. Not so good, because it will take longer. Before we get started do you have any questions?¡± she said as if testing him.
Adam had plenty of questions and chose to ask the one that was most pertinent to him, ¡°Yes, what is Eternity?¡±
¡°Knowing to ask that specific question is the reason you will be receiving a more thorough briefing,¡± Janice said with a smile. ¡°Eternity is the focal point of all Realities, past, present, and future in this region. I want you to think of the idea of a Big Bang. Your theories state that everything came from a point smaller than the nucleus of an atom and exploded outwards. In all the realities, everywhere, Eternity, and other locations like it are those starting points.¡±
¡°How big is Eternity?¡± he asked.
¡°Infinite,¡± she said with a grin.
¡°So, Eternity is the center of everything. The dot at the center of a circle and that dot is infinite in size?¡± he asked questioningly.
¡°Your analogy is a good one except that the dot of infinity is in the middle of an infinite realm that has no borders and contains similar locations to Eternity. Additionally in an infinite system, there would be more than one such focal points as they repeated every so often.¡±
¡°How is that possible?¡± he asked.
¡°No one can answer that. Beings far older than I have been asking that question and will ask that question for a long time to come.¡±
¡°Why did you say it that way?¡±
¡°Besides being at the physical center of everything in this region of infinity, Eternity is also connected to all times.¡±
His mind tried to hold onto that idea for a second and started going through the various theories he had concerning time and space. He had to mentally stop himself as the computations started taking over his thought processes as they went down infinite alternate paths that did not seem to be moving towards any solution. ¡°So, time is not linear then?¡± he asked instead.
¡°Yes and no. For you, and a very high percentage of all beings everywhere, say 99.9 to infinity percent, time is linear but for a very few, all points of time are accessible in eternity.¡±
¡°Does the ability to alter time still exist either through technological or magical means here?¡± he asked.
¡°Yes, but such modifications to the time streams in the various realities and dimensions do not affect the souls that have made it to Eternity.¡±
¡°Excuse him?¡± he said, the first hint of confusion plain across his face.
¡°Once a soul has left the Guf, the birthplace of souls, nothing anyone does, at least as far as we know, can change that soul.¡±
¡°And the Grandfather Paradox?¡± he asked.
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¡°Yes and no. As you will soon find out after you enter any of the infinite new realities. There will be realities to which you may be born. Realities into which you may just appear. Some will have the Heads-Up Personal Interface type display that you are fond of. Other realities will not. There are universes with magic that do not have Personal Interfaces and there are realities without the magic that do have Personal Interfaces. The Guf is special in that it followed some of the very first laws that any being, anywhere ever discovered.¡±
¡°What about my soul abilities?¡± he asked.
¡°Soul abilities are inherent to the soul; they will be accessible everywhere.¡±
¡°Then how will the Grandfather Paradox be able to both affect and not affect me?¡±
¡°That¡¯s a little bit ahead of the topics I wished to cover but I¡¯ll see if I can¡¯t give you the short version. You understand what a fuse is, yes?¡± she asked.
¡°Yes, a fuse blows when too much energy goes through it.¡±
¡°Yes, well a Soul is transcendent, it exists throughout time and any space, again as far as anyone has been able to determine. When a soul or the being controlling the soul, depending on how you look at it. When the soul decides it wishes to enter a reality a projection of the soul forms within that reality following the rules that exist there. The theologians of your original planet theorized that the soul came into being when it was attached to a recently fertilized ovum. That is only half true. Outside of the Guf, when an egg has been fertilized a soul can be incorporated into that creature. Though this is not always true. There are more creatures throughout reality than there are souls to inhabit them. And while new souls have once again been coming out of the Guf there was a pause in their creation for a bit which you have helped rectify.¡±
¡°Wait, there are creatures that may or may not have souls in the various realities that exist outside the Guf?¡±
¡°Yes. The Guf was created to ensure that there was one reality with the single purpose to create souls. Some entities in the Guf created souls and make their way to The Eye and once through end up here. In all other realities, Souls can randomly manifest and may even find their way into the Eye,¡± She said.
¡°This is all kinds of confusing, and doesn¡¯t make much sense,¡± he said.
¡°I did say we were jumping ahead didn¡¯t I?¡±
¡°Yes¡±
¡°Okay then let¡¯s back this conversation back up and see if I can help you make sense of it all. If the projection is destroyed, either through normal death within the reality or by being wiped out by someone tampering with time, that action has no effect on the soul that created that projection that will remember everything that happened. That is why someone traveling into the past can both affect and not affect you. Now that I¡¯ve answered that question, let¡¯s get back on track,¡± she said as she paused for a moment, seemed to access something she was reading from her Personal Interface and then started talking again.
¡°Welcome to the Eternity Welcome Center. You have just left a portion of the Guf, the place you were before you appeared here. Depending on your accomplishments and your Karmic Luck the next phase of your existence will begin. Whether your Karmic Luck is negative or positive does not matter beyond the fact that the numeric value helps determine the reality that you are destined for. The degree to which Karmic Luck is positive or negative does. The farther negative or positive you are the more choices become available to you. If you are not given a choice your soul will automatically be transferred to a reality that fits your Karmic Luck and your soul will await rebirth. There are many avenues to growth but know that this process will continue until your soul has grown sufficiently. While you will remember your time in this room when you come back here, while you are within another reality you may forget this room and everything that has come before this point. Good Luck.¡± Janice said.
¡°Is that it?¡± he asked.
¡°If you were a new soul that had just died and passed through the Eye, and was sitting before him, yep that would be it. You, however, are not that person. You get the 2nd speech, which normally takes souls a few lifetimes worth of experiences to receive,¡± She said then paused for a few seconds.
¡°Okay, here we go, Congratulations! Your soul has undergone a fundamental transformation and become a nascent soul. Some souls form and fade away. Others learn from their experiences and continue to improve. At a fundamental level, you have decided that you will not fade away and that you believe your soul to be immortal. In this you are correct. You will continue to go back into various realities based on your Karmic Luck until such time as your nascent soul has grown in scale and ability. While you will remember your time in this room and even your previous lives when you come back here, while you are within another reality you may forget this room and everything that has come before this point. Good Luck.¡±
¡°So, people can¡¯t remember their previous lives and everything they¡¯ve done once they are reborn?¡± he asked.
¡°In most cases yes. It prevents a bunch of problems from arising. Beings such as yourself will remember everything but you will not be able to utter a single fact through speech, thought, or writing about your experiences. No one knows who created the Geas that keep individuals from talking about what happens outside the reality they¡¯re in. The only place you can talk about or discuss such matters is here in Eternity.¡±
¡°So your saying¡¡±
Janice interrupted him, ¡°I¡¯ll get to that. There is a third premade speech I must give you and then a speech that has been crafted specifically for you. Let him get through these, and then I¡¯ll answer your questions,¡± she said pausing for a moment. Adam nodded and she continued.
¡°Congratulations, you your soul has increased to Copper Rank. There are multiple levels of soul power. Copper is the lowest ranking for Souls that have created their own Soul Space.¡±
Adam interrupted Janice, ¡°And let him guess souls increase in rank based on activities that either increase Karmic Luck or some new category of experience.
¡°Exactly. However, I need to finish so you understand how this works, ¡°Prior to entering a reality without a Soul Space souls are extremely limited on how to improve their Soul rank. Normally it would take acts that increased Karmic Luck, the Karmic Luck being converted to Soul Experience. Soul Experience on the other hand is naturally earned at a rate of one Soul Experience per experience earned while in a reality, either by projection or when they did not have a Soul Space by themselves in that reality. Experience and Karmic Luck earned in the Guf and any realities do count towards this ranking once a soul creates a Soul Space.¡±
¡°I¡¯m getting a feeling that there is more to these Soul Spaces than your letting on,¡± he said.
¡°The analyst was right. You figure things out at an intuitive level. Eventually, a Soul Space will grow to such a size that the soul can be opened up for exploration. After that, a Soul Space can become a reality in its own right. These realities can be visited by other souls who project themselves within the reality.¡±
¡°Why would anyone do that?¡± he asked, then paused as he thought about it for a minute. Janice waited patiently until he said, ¡°The Soul of the Soul Space gets experience for those that earn experience within them?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Janice said.
¡°I take it there is a reason souls want to continue getting soul experience and increasing in rank?¡± he asked.
¡°Yes, there are benefits to the various levels of the Soul. At Copper rank, you are allowed to choose two abilities for your projection. Doing so costs a temporary expenditure of Karmic Luck, which is returned once your time in that reality is completed.¡±
¡°But I get to keep his Soul Abilities?¡±
¡°Soul Abilities exist within the soul and while they can affect a Projection, they cannot be detected by anyone or anything unless you are in Eternity. Some Soul Abilities will only be usable here. Others will be available by yourself or the projections that you have in reality.
¡°Can he have multiple projections?¡±
¡°Yes, though that requires a specific Soul Ability and a minimum rank of Bronze, which is one up from Copper.¡±
¡°I know I cut you off and I¡¯m betting that the last announcement is a doozy based on what I know about his Karmic Luck, ¡°Adam said.
¡°Not a very hard deduction on your part. Yes, the fourth announcement is as follows; Congratulations you have earned ERROR Karmic Luck. This feat has never been accomplished by another entity in the time of Eternity''s existence. Your first projection will be as Copper ranked soul to familiarize yourself with the process. You will not be able to spend your Karmic Luck on anything save Personal Abilities. Because this limitation is being artificially imposed you will be able to choose a third ability of your choice after the nature of the reality you¡¯re going to is revealed before you project into it. If you have any questions please ask.¡±
¡°So, I¡¯m locked out of using the Karmic Luck I¡¯ve accrued.¡±
¡°I was told to tell you that during your next lifetime, the Administrators and Analysts will be working on what to do about your specific case.¡±
¡°Exactly how much Karmic Luck do I have?¡± he asked.
¡°They haven¡¯t been able to figure that out, even at the upstream point in Eternity, we asked. The problem is that the actions you took restored souls that would have otherwise been lost and are continuing to produce souls. If you¡¯d performed the same actions in any reality save the Guf you would not have received as much soul experience and Karmic Luck as you have. The souls, for the most part, that you¡¯d have affected already exist outside the Guf. Also, through your actions, a lot of Gods, Divine, whatever they called themselves in your Universe became self-aware and immediately came here and are already living their new lives out in the various realities.
¡°Wait a minute! The Labyrinth, the Labyrinth is a Soul Space isn¡¯t it?¡±
¡°Laby,¡± Oh yeah she¡¯s been around for a really long time.
¡°Why don¡¯t the owners of the Soul Space¡¯s tell those within what¡¯s going on?¡±
¡°That¡¯s easy, I thought you¡¯d have figured it out by now. Any soul that is helped by the owner of that reality loses all claim to the Soul Experience gained within it. The trial and tribulations each soul must go through earn the experience and that experience cannot be earned if the soul knows the outcome.
¡°So, what you¡¯re saying is that whoever¡¯s soul owns the Guf, they just made a huge crap ton of soul experience based on my life?
¡°Now you¡¯re getting,¡± Janice said.
Chapter 99, Im Calling Bullshit!
(Location Unknown, Date Unknown)
Adam looked at Janice as he processed everything she¡¯d just said, then tried to call up his Personal Interface again. Nothing Happened. He tried to call up his Universal Interface, but again nothing. Finally, he tried to call up the Cosmic Interface, and again nothing seemed to happen.
¡°Is there something wrong?¡± Janice asked as he continued to try to open his interfaces.
¡°I don¡¯t think so, I can¡¯t open my interfaces though,¡± he said as thoughts ran through his mind. Using his perfect memory, which still seemed to be working correctly he reviewed the changes to his personal information and reread the text:
¡°Congratulations! You never fail to surprise Adam. You have successfully evolved your soul into a Soul Space. Normally this is achieved much later in the process of personal evolution as you move through existence yet here you are, having achieved something that only one other has achieved in this Cosmos.
The soul is inviolate. What this means is that anything placed in, or that is a part of this space, remains through every tribulation that a soul is put through. Be it death, rebirth, trauma, magical modification, technological modification, etc¡
Note, Fundamental Abilities have been detected. Fundamental Abilities are not compatible with your Soul Space. You may have a number of Soul Abilities equal to 2 plus your Karmic Luck. You may have ERROR number of Soul Abilities. Current fundamental abilities will be converted to Soul Abilities now.
Fundamental to Soul Ability Conversion:
¡°Perfect Memory¡± No Change - Like Photographic Memory except for all five senses with an automatic recall of desired information.
¡°That Was Easy¡± has been converted to ¡°Pansophical¡± ¨C Skills that are known to you or known by you are performed as if you were a ¡°Master¡± in that skill automatically gifting the equivalent skill level of a Master as defined in whatever Reality, Cosmos, Universe, or Dimension you find yourself in.
¡°Ie have Always Been, I will Always Be¡± has been converted to ¡°Inviolate¡± ¨C Your soul is sacrosanct. Your soul cannot be destroyed. As you have learned Energy cannot be destroyed only converted. Any action taken to affect you through time manipulation has no effect on you. When the timeline of your current local stabilizes your soul will remain in its current local, from which you can reform and continue along in the timeline you are in. This process is almost instantaneous. You are not subject to Grand Father Paradoxes or harmful magic that utilized the manipulation of time
¡°Creature of Raw Chaos¡± ¨C has been converted to ¡°Chaos Forged¡± Your soul had been inundated with Chaos and forged your soul to withstand all forms of chaos. During this process, your will has been strong enough to hold your core identity together and permanently changed your soul. You may enter and exit any environment flooded with Chaos 100% resistant to any further changes. Also, the chaotic nature of your soul allows you to designate and change your normal abilities as you desire. These abilities are fixed and may not be modified. You may add, remove or change out your normal abilities as you desire. Maximum number of normal abilities: 2
¡°Adaptable¡± No Change - Chaos has modified your body so that you may adapt to any environment. From Absolute Zero to the Gravity well of a Singularity your body can and will adapt to all environmental conditions. This includes the ability to survive in those environments. Example: the ability to breathe underwater if necessary.
¡°Willed-Movement¡± No Change - As a being of Chaos, constantly connected to it so long as you are not in a region of ERROR, you have the ability to move through that Chaos as you desire at any rate you desire. As Chaos is present in all aspects of reality, your will allows you to move as you desire. This is a sub-ability of the Fundamental Ability ¡°Adaptable.¡±
¡°Undying¡± has been converted to ¡°Incessant¡±- Should your physical body be destroyed your soul remains and can reform your body immediately. This is a by-product of your chaotic and nanitic composition as well as a benefit of your Karmic Luck. You are immortal
¡°Resistant¡± No Change - You are 50% resistant to all Primal Magic and natural manifestations of those magics. Additionally, you are 100% resistant to all magic from the following spheres of power; "Chaos, Time, Space, and Gravity, and 50% resistant to Holy and Demonic Magic
¡°Godless¡± has been converted to ¡°Open to new Ideas¡±- The changes to your body have severed any clerical link to the divine you had. Reality is vast, there might come a time in the future when aligning yourself to the divine or joining their ranks and becoming subservient to one or more may be required. The limitation of never serving a divine has been removed.
¡°Confluence¡± has been converted to ¡°Convergence¡± - The very nature of your Soul draws Chaotic Energy and converts it as you desire. In any Reality, you have access to and can utilize any magical energy normally. Additionally, your Mana Regeneration is increased by Willpower + Endurance per minute. Crossing into a new Reality is traumatic and resets level, attributes, and skills to one (See Pansophical above for specifics on your skill levels in any new reality). Inside your Soul Space, however, your actual level is maintained and added to. Chaos no longer converts to experience for your current reality. Think of your bodies within any new reality that you visit as a projection. Those projections will have levels and attributes as earned in that reality.
¡°Spellweaver¡± No Change - You neither memorize nor permanently add spells using spell slots. Instead, you may weave magic into any form of your desire so long as you have the skill and mana to do so.
¡°Personal Storage¡± has been converted to ¡°Soul Storage¡± ¨C The area inside your Soul Space is as small or large as you desire and follows any rules you wish to impose. You no longer have a storage limit and can summon any item out of your soul storage as you desire to the current projection of yourself. Items placed into or taken out of the space appear or disappear to the hand touching them. This space can be represented by slots if you prefer.
¡°Infinite Wealth¡± has been converted to ¡°Affluent¡± - Your Fundamental Ability has been transformed by your Karmic Luck. As needed you may produce or create any type of physical money in any reality you visit. In realities where you have integrated yourself into the global markets, digital currency is always available to you. The cost to the divine, that may or may not exist has been set, no further costs will be added to his balance.¡±¡±
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Then Adam recalled the last system message he''d received,
¡°Warning: A Copper rank soul has been detected in ERROR. Awakened Souls are not compatible within this subspacial region of the currently known reality. Prepare for immediate trans-location to Eternity.¡±
But he hadn¡¯t received one system message since then and his Personal Interface seemed to be suppressed somehow.
¡°Adam, we still have some things to go over, are you done staring off into space yet?¡± Janice asked as she looked at him with what he now recognized as wariness in her gaze.
¡°I¡¯m just reviewing some of the messages I received before I arrived here,¡± he said.
¡°How are you doing that, Personal Interfaces do not work here,¡± she said looking puzzled.
¡°Oh, I¡¯m not looking at my Personal Interface, I¡¯m just remembering what the messages said.¡±
¡°Well, okay, but please don¡¯t take too long, things to do, places to be,¡± she said with a smile.
Smiling right back at her he thought, I bet you do. As he reviewed the information two of his abilities caught his attention, ¡°Inviolate¡± and ¡°Incessant.¡± Hmmm. Also, he still had the ability, Soul Weaver. Focusing his will, he created a globe of white light in his hand to test his ability. His had started to glow.
¡°How are you doing that? That shouldn¡¯t be possible,¡± Janice exclaimed with alarm.
¡°Oh that, that¡¯s nothing,¡± he said as he willed chaotic nanites into every particle of his physical body and had them self-destruct. Which they did.
NOTE TO SELF: Being torn apart at the molecular level fucking hurts.
Immediately he found himself floating in his Soul Space again. Not waiting for any prompts, he willed his personal time to accelerate so he could figure out what was going on. He accelerated his temporal dilation to be at about 1 billion years for every single second. Even if there was something that was going to quickly follow him into his Soul Space he should have at least a couple of seconds to figure out what was going on. More than enough time to review the prompts that were now flooding his vision.
Warning: You have been forcibly ejected from the transient pathway between ERROR and Eternity.
Warning: You have been captured by Textrix
Warning: All Interface access by soul projections have been suppressed.
Warning: Soul Projection of Adamantadine has been forcibly created and called forth by Textrix an ERROR level Soul.
Warning: Contest of Wills has commenced. Free yourself from Textrix or be subsumed into Textrix.
Congratulations!!! You have freed yourself from Textrix.
Warning: You have been discarded by Textrix.
Warning: You are not in, or near, any transient pathways contained within this realm.
Soul Ability ¡°Adaptable¡± has been triggered.
Soul Ability ¡°Willed-Movement¡± has been triggered.
Soul Ability ¡°Chaos Forged¡± has been triggered
Soul Ability ¡°Pansophical¡± has triggered.
Adam reviewed the messages, then reviewed them again. So, he had been right. If something sounds too good to be true, it most definitely was. He was so glad he called that one right. Adam reached out with his senses and once again felt his connections come back into being. He could feel both his nanites and his chaotic nanites but instinctually knew at a fundamental level that while he might be able to use them to contact the others, that life for him was over. He didn¡¯t want them to worry and now that he was back in his Soul Space and had his full intellect back he created a copy of himself, minus any information he¡¯d learned since becoming a copper-ranked soul, and sent that copy back into what Janice called the Guf to continue doing what he had been doing. Adam just removed any memory that he had gone through The Eye and placed a memory that he should be helping others get ready for the eventual transition. He had no idea if a Geas was making him omit what he¡¯d seen on this side of the Eye, which truthfully wasn¡¯t much, or if he was just playing it smart. Either way, a part of him would be back there getting things ready while he continued on. Hopefully, he¡¯d see everyone again someday.
Once he was finished with that task, he once again tried to figure out how to invert his Soul Space to detect what was around him. Adam could almost feel something, but he was inside the bubble, so to speak, and he wanted to know what was outside of his bubble. With that thought, he found himself in his body floating through a cosmic void of colors and energies all around him. He felt like he should have been blinded but he could see normally. This almost reminded him of his time in Chaos, except that instead of a blank white expanse, he was in a realm of rainbow colors.
As he looked around he had a definite feeling of movement and willed himself to slow down. At first it was hard to tell if his desire to slow down was working then he noticed that the eddy¡¯s he was leaving through the gaseous environment were slowing down. Turning around, he looked back in the direction he¡¯d been traveling from and noticed¡what the hell?
There seemed to be what he could only describe as a spider web around an aperture that seemed to be pulsing every once in a while. As he allowed his vision to flow around him he noticed that there were lines of hazy color that went off in all directions from that bundle. He was also able to determine what he could only describe as a rainbow-colored tunnel that had been breached by one of the webs near the aperture. As he watched the aperture pulsed and an energy bundle was drawn out and along the web into a larger structure where it disappeared.
As Adam looked at that structure he noticed that part of it was open to space and that Janice was looking out as the hole sealed itself. Adam was pretty sure she hadn¡¯t seen him.
As he floated there Adam thought about the prompts he¡¯d just reviewed. Who was Textrix? Where had he heard that before, then his perfect memory found the reference, Latin: Textrix, feminine noun, female weaver; the Fates.
Well, if Textrix was the stringer of fates, it would seem like she was taking the spider aspect of that idea a little bit farther than he would have. As he thought that, he also wondered how much of what Janice had said had been true. His prompts had said that he¡¯d been on his way to Eternity before he was rudely sidetracked. While a lot of what Janice had said seemed to make sense, there were just too many holes.
The whole idea seemed to be that if there is a God, who made that God? The idea that the first one had come out of chaos was the most plausible, yet then the question was, what created Chaos, and where did it come from? That was a very long rabbit hole he didn¡¯t seem to have the time to go consider today. Also, the explanation for what had happened to those divines that had already existed made no sense. Though his interface said there was a place called Eternity, at least that much seemed to be true.
Adam returned his attention to the rainbow-colored tube. He followed it with his eyes as it wound off into the distance, though he couldn¡¯t see where it went to. At some point, it became part of the background. he returned his thoughts to himself and decided he needed to get a handle on entering and exiting his own Soul Space at will. Which turned out to be relatively easy.
After a few more tries he was able to change his perspective from his body floating out here in the ¡®Deep Astral¡¯? That didn¡¯t sound right but he guessed it would have to do as a way to describe where he was until he knew what to call this realm. The next step was figuring out how to feel what was going on around him while he was inside his Soul Space. With a little concentration and will he was able to set up a link that allowed him to concentrate on his body and experience what it was going through without leaving his Soul Space. That might be a useful ability to have later.
It had seemed like his next stop after passing through The Eye was to go to Eternity so off to Eternity, whatever that was, was where he needed to go. Adam willed himself to follow the rainbow tube and came parallel it as he increased his speed and followed the tube away from the spiderweb-looking structure behind him. As he followed the tube he looked around into the ¡°Deep Astral¡± and noted only swirling colors of energy all around. It was so dense though that it behaved as if it were gaseous. What could cause that?
Every once in a while he would come upon branches that met up with the tube he was following and some smaller tubes that would break off and go off in another direction. Adam always followed the thicker tube and eventually came to an area that looked like the Helix Nebula. The tube ran right into the center of it. Adam moved around the Nebula-looking object which was only about a mile across if the body he was in was the same size as normal. For all he knew, it could be 100 miles tall. One thing that the rainbow-colored tube didn¡¯t do was come out the other side.
Adam traveled back to the tube and placed his hand on it.
You have discovered Eternity Transient Tube.
Warning, Entering Eternity Transient Tubes from outside will always draw travelers to Eternity. To choose other destinations you must enter or exit the Transient Tubes from a Hub or Eternity.
Would you like to Enter the Eternity Transient Tube, Yes or No?
Adam could have probably entered the tubes from back near the breach and he¡¯d have been fine, but there had been no way to know that at the time. Also, he was sure someone would have been watching him that close to Textrix¡¯s spiderweb structure. He didn¡¯t want to be captured again. Yeah, that was only ever going to happen once. Adam now had a better understanding of what it felt like to be outside his body and also knew what being in a helpless projection felt like. Of course, he had to discount everything he¡¯d learned from Janice. The answers, if they were coming, would be in Eternity, though he had a strong suspicion that his encounter with Textrix indicated that he would probably find more questions than answers. Adam had a lot to learn and probably even more to do. Time to get to it then.
Adam chose ¡°Yes.¡±
Chapter 100, Beginnings?
(Eternity, Day 1)
As soon as he¡¯d chosen ¡°Yes,¡± Adam was drawn into the Eternity Transient Tube, and everything went dark. He felt as if he was moving but could see nothing. The feeling wasn¡¯t unpleasant and was over immediately as he felt himself slow and then get gently pushed until he took a step onto a cobblestone road. The darkness cleared and he was able to look around. Looking behind him he saw a black flat circular plane of energy that he¡¯d stepped out of and noted that he was standing on a floor that was slowly drawing him away from the portal. As he watched an elvish woman dressed in a contemporary blue business dress suit matching 21st-century Earth aesthetics stepped out of the black plane of energy, paused for a moment then stepped around him as she walked away from the plane of energy and down the street. His gaze followed her progress until he noticed that she was stepping into a queue that had the word ¡°New Arrivals¡± on a sign above it.
While he¡¯d been watching the elf, more people had come from behind him and were even now following her into a line that led to the ticket booth. he forced himself into motion and stepped off the conveyor-type floor and entered the line. Only three people were in front of him. As he watched each person would step up to the counter, and their mouths would move, though he couldn¡¯t hear what they were saying, then the individual would disappear. As he was watching he realized that he had a message that he¡¯d missed and pulled It into his vision.
Welcome to Eternity. An interface has been grafted between your senses and this location to enable you to interact with your environment and others. This filter may be adjusted as you desire. It is strongly recommended that new visitors to Eternity leave the default settings in place until they have met their counselor. Again, Welcome to Eternity, please have a Great Day!
So, this location, realm, whatever could pass messages to him through his interface, that was good to know. He closed the prompt, looked up, and realized that he was already stepping toward the teller behind a piece of glass. A young woman, almost a teenager looked at him and smiled as she said, ¡°Welcome to Eternity. Is this your first time here?¡±
¡°Yes it is,¡± he answered.
¡°Very good, a counselor is waiting for you, have a nice day!¡± she said as everything around him shifted. Adam wasn¡¯t teleported, he wasn¡¯t translocated. The difference was subtle, but it was there. He didn¡¯t feel as if his body had shifted and moved. Instead, he felt as if the world around him had shifted for him. Suddenly he was somewhere else. Adam looked around and noticed that he was standing on a beach, overlooking an azure sea with a nebula rising above the horizon of the sea. It was absolutely beautiful.
¡°Hello Johnathan,¡± a man said as he phased into existence on the beach in front of him. ¡°Or do you prefer Adamantadine?¡±
¡°Adam is fine,¡± he said.
¡°My name, if I could pronounce it in this filter would mean nothing to you so let¡¯s just refer to me as your Counselor or if you must use a name, David is acceptable.
¡°Okay, Counselor. Exactly what are you here to Counsel me about?¡±
¡°I am here to help you transition to your new life after your first death,¡± David said.
¡°David, I think there¡¯s been a misunderstanding¡¡±
¡°No Adam, no misunderstanding, you have died, and this is what¡¯s next. I¡¯m here to help you transition into this new¡
¡°David!¡± he said loudly then lowered his voice. ¡°I did not die to get here, and this was most definitely not my first death.
¡°Wait, what?¡± David asked questionly.
¡°David, this is my first time in Eternity, nor did I die to get here.¡±
¡°Hold on for a second,¡± David said as he pulled out a device that was the same size as a calculator and held it up to him. Adam felt a wave of energy move through him and then heard the device beep. Looking at the device Adam heard David muttering to himself, ¡°Copper? From where? That¡¯s not possible, Oh? Oh, Oh!¡± David turned back to Adam, ¡°I think I¡¯ve figured out what the problem is,¡± David said.
¡°And?¡± he said as he rotated his arm to encourage him to speak up.
¡°You shouldn¡¯t be here.¡±
¡°I shouldn¡¯t be here,¡± Adam repeated. Sighing he asked, ¡°And why shouldn¡¯t I be here?¡±
¡°David, smirked, well it¡¯s kind of a funny story¡±
¡°David, are you purposely trying to come across as some 80¡¯s T.V. star that¡¯s acting hedgy about divulging important information? Because if you are, I¡¯m not impressed, though I have to admit your knowledge of where I come from and what might put me at ease is comprehensive.¡±
¡°Saw right through that did you?¡± David asked.
¡°Yep, Yep I did. Can we get on with it please¡±
¡°Sure,¡± David said as he waved his hand and a table with two chairs and two drinks appeared on the beach. Taking a seat, David reached for one of the drinks as he pointed to the other chair and continued, ¡°Sit down, relax. This might take a little bit.¡±
Adam picked up his drink, sat down, and took a sip. ¡°A Long Island Iced Tea?¡± he asked.
¡°The file I looked over had a note that you used this drink when speaking with others. I thought it would work here,¡± David said.
¡°It does taste just like I made them.¡±
¡°I¡¯m sure it does,¡± David agreed.
¡°So?¡± Adam said as he waited for David to continue.
¡°So¡So, why don¡¯t you tell me what Textrix, or her agent, said to you when you first came out of your aperture.¡±
¡°That¡¯s not in my file?¡± he asked.
¡°That information is not in your file. As you noticed when you were able to read your messages again, you were suppressed. While you were suppressed only major system messages would have been recorded. Anything that would have normally been recorded for review was obfuscated.¡±
¡°Janice, the lady that was waiting for me in a little white room tried to explain to me that all realities, realms, dimensions, and such are actually the inside of souls and that we must adhere to those rules. She I explained that I would need to allow myself to be randomly reborn among the various realities living life after life so that I might grow my own place in my soul and eventually have a full reality within it.¡±
¡°If I could ask, why did you have doubts about this explanation of reality?¡± David asked.
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¡°Simple, there had to be something before there were souls and the description she provided didn¡¯t follow any kind of logical sense or progression.¡±
¡°How, did you break free, if you were suppressed?¡± David asked.
¡°I killed himself.¡±
¡°You killed yourself?¡±
¡°Yep, wasn¡¯t that hard. I reviewed what my soul abilities were and utilized them to my fullest.¡±
David nodded, ¡°Then you found yourself in your copper ranked soul-space, and as per the Convention of Conquest you were released to go on your way, except that no one has ever been released since the Convention was put in place. What happened after that?¡± David asked.
¡°I found himself outside the Transient Tube, ejected from the filaments that Textrix had created and the Transient Tube,¡± he answered
¡°Wait, you found yourself in the Place Between Places? How did you survive? Better question, how did you make your way here?¡±
Adam looked at David thoughtfully and then answered, ¡°By your questions, I can surmise that you do not have the ability to peruse my Soul Space or soul abilities, so I am going to decline to answer those questions for now. Instead, why don¡¯t we switch the direction the information is flowing, and you explain to me Where I am? Who, or what, Textrix is, and what the Convention of Conquest is?¡±
David nodded, ¡°Fair enough. First, you are in Eternity. Eternity is one of an infinite number of possible focal points in a Place Between Places for beings as they continue their existence throughout the various realities, realms, dimensions, cosmos, Universes, Planes, and any other words you can use to describe a localized area of space that has form and function. They can be of any size. When you came through the portal your senses were fitted with an interface that allows you to interpret the beings and structures around you and interact with them. For instance, you think that you are on a beach looking out at a sunset over a nebula. This is aesthetically pleasing and a neutral construct that allows us to have a conversation in a neutrally pleasant setting. Functionally I am one bundle of energy talking to your bundle of energy in the Place Between Places. That isn¡¯t to say that Eternity doesn¡¯t exist, just that only beings made of energy bound by their will can visit.¡±
¡°Okay, so Eternity isn¡¯t really a city?¡±
¡°No, No, No. Eternity is absolutely a city, world, or Universe. It can fit any, or all of these categories as is desired by the beings there,¡± David said
¡°Why does it exist?¡± he asked.
¡°Eternity is a waypoint for those with a spark of will as they make their way through their existence. Most won¡¯t even know that they¡¯ve traveled through Eternity as they continue to what is next for them on their voyage of personal growth and discovery.¡±
¡°But what is the point?¡±
¡°Are you asking why will binds energy to its purpose and then continues on?¡±
¡°Yes, I guess that¡¯s what I¡¯m asking,¡± Adam said.
¡°Simple answer is because that¡¯s the way it has always been. The longer answer that most beings don¡¯t like is that no one knows.¡±
¡°Okay, so I just have to accept that my will is strong enough and roll with the punches. If you know anything about me you know that answer isn¡¯t going to fly with me so why don¡¯t I ask a few questions? Why is there a ¡®system¡¯ with prompts and information? Why are the beings traveling through the eye being waylaid by Textrix and subsumed and what can I, a newly awakened copper soul do about that? In fact, what does it mean to be a copper soul?¡±
¡°Let¡¯s start with your first question. No one knows why there is a system that resembles a game interface from your world. In fact, a configuration like yours usually comes into existence no matter which world you start on. There is always some sort of interface that allows someone to interact and get information on their surroundings and the locations they find themselves in. The oldest of the beings that inhabit Eternity have researched the topic and found references to the system going back as long as anyone has dared to look. As for your second question. As with every society, there is a hierarchy and structure to the beings that reside within it. The same is true for those beings that gain the ability to visit or those that are just passing through on their way to their next lives, or oblivion.¡± David paused for a moment as he considered what to say next. ¡°As for your question about your copper rank, there are various ranks of souls. The first level is basic. Basic souls have no concept of what¡¯s next, do not have the will to hold themselves together, and when the physical form they inhabit is destroyed their energy is released and reabsorbed into other structures in the area they are in. That energy might even be utilized by another spark of will at a later time.¡±
Adam nodded, ¡°So at least that much of what I learned before seems to be true, even at this level.¡±
¡°Yes. While scale and scope have changed, the overall theme is still the same. Souls are the manifestation of a will that has the ability to hold the energy that it is comprised of together,¡± David said. As for your next question, who is Textrix? Textrix is one of the main Aspects of Reality. You would think that the role they fill is that of a God and you¡¯d be almost correct but not quite. Their functions encompass far more than any single God does within any specific Cosmos.¡±
¡°So, there are beings that everyone else must still placate to?¡± he asked.
¡°Placate to? No. The beings in question represent concepts. Some of the concepts will be familiar to you and others will not. As I reviewed your past I noticed that the idea of Gods having a purpose was one of the aspects of the reality you resided in. The beings I¡¯m describing do not have a purpose or concept, they are the concept. For instance, Textrix, also known as Fate to many becomes the fate of many. She does this by actively capturing souls, subsuming them to her will, and using those souls to fuel herself. Death would be another concept. He goes around destroying souls and consuming that energy to fuel himself and his endeavors. The only difference between these Concepts and us is scale. Though there are Gods of Death also.¡±
¡°So, what kind of scale are we talking about?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I was about to get to that,¡± David said as he took a sip of his drink. ¡°The system rates the power of a being by the power of its soul. Many factors come into play, but the primary factors are Karmic Luck and Soul Abilities. Everything else is secondary or tertiary. Your attributes may or may not assist you. Ultimately though it¡¯s your strength of will, which is rated by your soul level. Think of it like this. If you are copper rank, and I am silver rank, and we both had a willpower attribute of 10, should we ever get into a mental contest of wills the effective power difference would be logarithmic.¡±
¡°So, you¡¯re saying if we¡¯re using numbers. That at copper rank my willpower of 10 would be 10 and going against you I¡¯d be competing against willpower of 110.?¡±
¡°The separation in power levels is much further than that. It would be more like your 10 against my 1010,¡± David said.
¡°That is some difference in scale,¡± Adam said. ¡°So, what are the soul levels then¡±
¡°As far as we¡¯ve been able to determine there are eight; Basic, Nascent, Fixed, Copper, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Absolute.¡±
¡°I thought a copper-level soul was the lowest. I never received a message about becoming a Fixed level soul,¡± he said
¡°There are two categories of souls basic and advanced. Basic souls consist of Basic, Nascent, and Fixed level souls. Advanced level souls consist of the others.¡±
¡°Why was none of this in his interface?¡±
¡°The information was there, it¡¯s just hidden behind a¡you call it a firewall, that basic souls do not have access to. If you pull up your information now you will see it as well as your progression towards your next rank as a percentage.¡± David said.
Adam pulled up his personal information and sure enough, right under his soul abilities he found three entries that were slightly different than before,
Soul Type: Advanced
Soul Level: Copper, 100%
Soul Projection Level: 104,879,885 - Ascendant Human
¡°Soul Projections?¡± he asked quizzically.
¡°Soul Projections?¡± David repeated thoughtfully. ¡°Oh, Soul Projections. A Soul Projection is the default form your soul will take when it enters a new location. Understand though. If you are born into that location, if you attach your soul to a newly formed body that body starts out at level 1 for that location. If you travel into that location, that is when your soul projection levels come into play.¡±
¡°So, I can travel to new Universes and keep my levels?¡± he asked.
¡°Yes and no. Some locations are hard-locked, and you must be born into them. Other locations are not compatible with a being¡¯s previous body so they must be reborn. Yes, this means that you could have multiple soul projections, each at a different level.¡±
¡°That seems pretty straightforward,¡± Adam said. ¡°I do have another question though. What does Copper, 100% mean?¡±
¡°You have a soul rank of copper, 100%,¡± David asked.
¡°Yes¡±
¡°That means that you are on the cusp of reaching Silver rank,¡± David said.
¡°But I¡¯m not silver rank yet?¡± he asked. ¡°Why hasn¡¯t my soul leveled?¡± Adam asked as he felt a shudder in the reality he was experiencing. One second David was looking at him, the next he was looking off to the side..
¡°David looked back at him, ¡°To answer your question, it seems that you are a very special case, Adam.¡±
Adam looked at David warily, ¡°I guess my next question is how can I trust anything you¡¯ve just told me? You, yourself have indicated that I¡¯ve done something that you didn¡¯t expect by surviving in the Place Between Places. How, do I know anything you¡¯ve told me is true?¡±
¡°A man appeared on the beach, star-filled eyes looking to Adam and then to David, ¡°I told David, he¡¯d need more convincing, ¡° Ptah said.
Chapter 101, Ptah
(Eternity, Day 1)
¡°Hello Adam,¡± Ptah said.
¡°Hello. I take it you are the Ptah I met before?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes. I¡¯ve been waiting for you to make your way here. I was hoping that I wouldn¡¯t have to step in but sometimes, some people, are just too smart for their own good,¡± he said with a smile.
¡°Good to know,¡± Adam said with a grin.
¡°First, there are things that I cannot tell you. The information falls under the Convention of Conquest, which beings at his level cannot violate without drastic consequences. That said I can tell you what the Convention of Conquest is,¡± Ptah said as a chair and another Long Island Iced tea appeared and he joined them. He raised his glass in salute, David and Adam followed suit, and they all took a drink.
¡°The first thing you should know,¡± Ptah started, ¡°Is that during my previous visit I was but a projection. I was also very limited in what I could and could not pass on. Now that you¡¯ve moved out of your origin point, I can share a little more.¡±
Breaking in Adam asked, ¡°Let¡¯s start with who, or what you are?¡±
¡°Who I am is Ptah. It¡¯s as good a name as any. What I am, that is a little more complicated, but I will say that I am not unlike your fictional Dr. Who.¡±
¡°You¡¯re a Time Lord?¡±
¡°I said like Dr. Who. I didn¡¯t say I was Dr. Who.¡± He said with a chuckle. ¡°I am not a Time Lord, though my sphere is time and I do have the ability to transverse it.¡±
¡°So, when you visited me in my Universe?¡± Adam asked leadingly.
¡°That was moments ago for him. Of course, my definition of moments and your definition are not exactly equal.¡±
¡°But if you¡¯re from outside the Cosmos I was in, how did you¡¡± Adam trailed off as he thought about it. ¡°You traveled, through time to a point where you could enter, then jumped to the point where I was. Did you leave the same way?¡±
¡°As astute as ever. Yes, that¡¯s how I was able to get into your Cosmos and extricate myself without Textrix being aware of my visit. I¡¯ve been keeping an eye on the Cosmos since Textrix took a direct interest in it.¡±
¡°Why did that happen?¡±
¡°Because of you,¡± Ptah said as David raised his glass in Adam¡¯s direction.
¡°Because of me, what did I do?¡±
¡°Seriously Adam, what did you do? Did you not reverse and rewind an entire Cosmos, technically two of them causing countless Universes and Dimensions to reset? Think about it for a minute and see if you can figure out why Textrix would have been so interested in you and the Cosmos you came from. As you¡¯re thinking I would like to remind you that the best lies have a modicum of truth to them.¡±
¡°You know what Janice told him?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, I¡¯m a ¡®Time Lord¡¯, well close enough that I can replay your life as I like. I know what Janice said to you. So go on, think about it, and let me know what you think happened.¡±
Adam paused for a second then started to run simulation models through his expanded mentality within his Soul Space. After a bit the answer hit him like a brick, ¡°Janice wasn¡¯t lying very much was she?¡±
¡°There were some obvious mistruths that fit her explanation but for the most part, no, she wasn¡¯t lying to you.¡±
¡°And I guess I¡¯m free because one of the rules that Textrix is governed by states that if a soul does not willingly submit, that soul must be set free?¡° Adam asked
¡°Yes, very good. Have you figured out why Textrix attacked your Universes Connection now?¡±
Oh, that was easy. Your involvement as an agent of Time, the subsequent locking of time-related magic in my Cosmos, and your intimation that some of what Janice said to me was true indicate that Textrix was able to subsume a lot of souls right after I saved them all. She¡¯s probably redirecting the souls into herself. Since I freed so many, that¡¯s a lot of energy she¡¯s absorbing, earning, whatever.¡±
¡°As I said, what Janice said to you had a modicum of truth. Your actions opened the floodgates. Textrix was the first to react, but others have also been trying to trick souls into becoming subsumed to them as well.¡± Ptah said.
¡°By your tone, it almost seems as if you may have become frustrated with the state where I came from was in?¡± Adam asked.
Ptah looked thoughtful for a moment before he continued. ¡°First, I do not hold you accountable for the actions taken by the Gods of your realm, nor do I hold any ill will towards any of them. Once they had the choice, they were free to move on, just like everybody else. They had all been trapped for a very long time and had no idea what was next. The problem is that there were a lot of fixed souls that came through. A couple of copper as well but because of their lack of progression and their inability to garner Karmic Luck those souls are nowhere near as powerful as yours is.¡±
¡°So, what does ¡®Copper, 100%¡¯ represent?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The percentage is an indicator of how much further you need to go before earning your next soul level.¡±
¡°Oh, so I have 100% more to go,¡± he said.
¡°The number is an indication of how far along you have already progressed,¡± Ptah said.
¡°How far along I¡¯ve already progressed? You mean I¡¯ve already achieved 100% of the experience and Karmic Luck I need to become a silver-ranked soul?¡±
¡°Yes¡±
¡°Yes? Then why am I, not a silver-ranked soul?¡± he asked.
David spoke up, ¡°There are requirements as old as time. A soul may not rank up by more than one level per cosmic occurrence. A cosmic occurrence is when a soul enters a reality and lives a life there.¡±
¡°I couldn¡¯t project my soul into the Cosmos and live my life that way?¡±
Before David could answer Ptah spoke up, ¡°Actually Adam, I don¡¯t know. There are exceptions to every rule, and you seem to be able to do things most can¡¯t. It is unlikely, but then again knowing you, it¡¯s probably possible.¡±
David looked from Ptah to him then back to Ptah before he asked, ¡°Is he?¡±
Ptah met David¡¯s gaze as he said, ¡°Most Likely.¡±
¡°Because talking about the guy standing right beside you in very obvious innuendo doesn¡¯t make that person want to ask what you¡¯re hinting at,¡± he said.
¡°It¡¯s nothing we could talk to you about anyway. We could be wrong. Suffice it to say you might be able to project your soul into realms and locations you shouldn¡¯t be able to,¡± Ptah said.
¡°Okay, I get that I might be able to do something special. I even get that there is probably a prophecy or some other such knowledge out there predicting my appearance. My primary question is this, why should I care?¡±
Ptah looked thoughtful for a moment then answered, ¡°Where we are, this Eternity, is one of a possibly infinite number of eternities that exist through time and space. The Concepts, as I¡¯ve described them, maintain their concept on that vast scale. To do that they have agents, cults, races, magical beings, tools, and even realities to help them with their endeavors. These sides are in constant competition and are always vying for an advantage over the other. In most cases, this balances out and sides adjust automatically.
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¡°My boss, Time, watches all, knows all because that is his purpose. Except that he doesn¡¯t know all, at least recently. Right around the time you left your Universe, subjectively, his concept lost sight of the future. It is now closed to us. Something will happen that we know nothing of and even traveling as close to that cut-off gives us no information. One moment everything is normal, the next, everything is shut down and time travel to that time, or farther forward into time is impossible, even for the Aspect of Time. I know these ideas are new to you, but you must understand that it should not be possible for an Aspect to be locked out of an ability created from that Aspect. Time should be able to stop, reverse and travel through time as he desires. Currently, he is excluded from the future for some reason.¡±
¡°That sounds somewhat Ominous,¡± Adam offered bleakly.
¡°Just so,¡± Ptah said as he took a drink, relaxed for a few minutes then set his glass down before he stood and said, ¡°I must be going. The last bit of information I will give you is that while the Convention of Conquest might sound like a list of instructions on how to take over something but it is more like a treaty. It is also the reason we are having this discussion and Textrix didn¡¯t just send you to one of her realities to flounder and die.¡±
¡°Die? Wait, we can die?¡±
¡°Have you not been paying attention,¡± Ptah asked.
¡°The Concepts feed on the energy that souls bring to them. This cycle of growth and then slaughter is an old one and is repeated from the levels of photosynthesis all the way up to Concepts feeding on the soul experience and Karmic Luck of those that submit to them. As you know already though, a soul can always say no,¡± Ptah said.
¡°Thank you for passing on this information. It looks like I have a lot to learn again.¡±
¡°As do we all. David will answer any more of your questions and take you to the central hub where you can decide where you¡¯re going to go next. Though, I¡¯d recommend that you allow the randomizer to choose your second life. With the understanding that any reality is possible, even copies of realities you¡¯ve been to.¡± Ptah offered his hand, which he shook. ¡°Good Luck and I hope we get to meet again,¡± Ptah said as he disappeared from view.
¡°Looks like it¡¯s just you and me,¡± David said. Also, it looks like I get to lead you to the Hub. Ready?¡± he asked.
¡°Absolutely, let¡¯s get this show on the road,¡± Adam said.
The table, chairs, drinks, and beach all disappeared as the environment around him completely changed. Adam now stood in a room with what looked like an electronic board that had information popping in and out of various windows. There were three main columns Low Risk, Moderate Risk, and High Risk. The information that kept popping in and out was not word based but a series of numbers and letters. As he watched H3¡01456342 popped into one of the high-risk windows. he pointed at the number and asked, ¡°David, what does that number indicate?¡±
¡°Within each universe, there are primary sentient races. In this case, the digit indicates that should you accept that slot you would be traveling to a universe as a human. The 3 indicates that the technology level is equivalent to Earth during the 21st Century and the ¡01456342 represents the last eight digits of an extremely long number that represents the Cosmos you¡¯d be going into ¡°
¡°What¡¯s up with these three columns? Why is that slot high risk?¡± Adam asked.
¡°For the most part, basic souls are redirected wherever they need to be. This could mean going right back to the Universe they came from, or it could mean getting hauled off somewhere else. Once you become an advanced soul you can leverage your Karmic Luck in a bet of sorts. Low-risk rebirths indicate that there is less than a 1/10th of a 1% chance that your Karmic Luck will decrease. So long as your karmic luck increases, you win, and you reap the reward. If your Karmic Luck lowers you lose double your investment and bet.
¡°David, why don¡¯t you start from the beginning and assume I have absolutely no idea what you¡¯re talking about, because I don¡¯t,¡± Adam said.
¡°Oh, right. Sorry, Adam, I forgot it¡¯s your first time here. Okay to begin with every location, every universe every cosmos can harbor souls. The souls will inhabit the creatures of those locations until the construct they inhabit is destroyed. Even the immortal races lose their bodies when their Universe dies or is reformed from scratch. When that happens if the will can, it holds itself together and the soul is drawn through apertures, what you refer to as The Eye, to these places between places. Eternity is one of a possibly infinite number of such locations.¡±
Adam nodded as he said, ¡°We¡¯ve covered that.¡±
¡°Yes, well. Basic souls go into these hubs and are immediately redirected into other universes based on their Soul Abilities and Karmic Luck, if any. The system chooses where each soul goes based on some mechanism of choice no one understands as yet. The one thing that we have determined is that as long as your Absolute Karma Increases the locations you go to and the strength of your soul can continue to increase.¡±
¡°What do you mean by Absolute Karma?¡±
¡°Absolute Karma means simply that you take the positive or negative symbol off your Karmic Luck attribute and that value is used to determine if you make gains on the board in front of us. For instance. If someone with a negative 100 Karmic Luck entered that universe to improve their Karmic Luck gains they would need to achieve a Karmic Luck of -101 or lower.¡±
¡°So, when you say absolute, you really are talking about the absolute value of the number. Good to know. So, what is this bonus you¡¯re describing?
¡°The Bonus is a multiplier. When you next find your way into Eternity or one of the many other hubs whatever gain or loss you have will be multiplied. The low risk reduces gains or losses by half. Moderate Risk is normal and High risk doubles your loss or gain.¡±
¡°That seems pretty straightforward,¡± Adam said.
¡°There is also another factor that can come into play. A soul can choose where it goes next, or it can leave it to random chance. If you leave the selection to random chance no matter what happens you are guaranteed to increase your Karmic Luck by 1. Of course, you could still lose Karmic Luck while alive but that¡¯s the chance everyone takes when they re-enter the realm of the living as a corporeal being.¡±
¡°So, David, again I have to ask why? Why do a possibly infinite number of souls that come into being follow this model?¡±
¡°Some don¡¯t. In a system of an infinite number of beings, if only 1% chose to continue how many would that be?¡± David asked
¡°A percentage of an infinite number is of course infinite,¡± Adam said.
¡°Exactly. This system works for those that chose for it to work. Are there other systems out there? I guess it¡¯s possible, but I¡¯ve never encountered beings from such areas. I only know that those that leave their Cosmos through their soul aperture wind up in this place between places and from Eternity can make their way back through the aperture to live once again and continue to grow. As you will no doubt see limitations will be placed on you. A reminder. You will not be able to discuss what is on this side of the soul aperture. No one can. Also, each Cosmos may or may not have divine beings and their own rules for an afterlife of sorts. It does not matter, nor does the length of time you are in a new life or afterlife. When you are done you¡¯ll find yourself here again. The only thing that matters during your time in any new Cosmos is how it changes your soul and Karmic Luck you gain or lose.¡±
¡°What about choosing my new abilities for the new world?¡±
¡°What is available will be made clear to you during your transition.¡±
¡°Will I see you again?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, and we¡¯ll talk about that specific aspect of Eternity when you get back. Now you must choose.¡±
¡°I understand, until I have experienced this system, I cannot truly understand it?¡±
¡°Something like that,¡± David said.
¡°What would you recommend?¡±
¡°In your case, with the level of Karmic Luck you have and the odds that gaining more is unlikely, not impossible mind you, but unlikely, I would suggest that you let the System decide for you.¡±
Adam looked over the choices on the billboard and found a board titled Random as he asked, ¡°Random?¡±
¡°Yes¡±
¡°How exactly do I choose it? I mean I can see it, but there are no buttons, just a board with various choices on it,¡± he said.
¡°Just reach up and touch the location you want. That act indicates that¡¯s where you want to go. The system acknowledges your choice and you¡¯re whisked away to your new life. Word of warning, it might be a little bit disorienting.¡±
¡°Thank you for the information David, I guess I¡¯ll see you the next time I¡¯m here,¡± Adam said as he reached up and touched the word ¡®Random.¡¯
* * *
Ptah reappeared in another part of Eternity. A room with a table around which others who served Chronos sat waiting for their concept to call for or send them on tasks. As soon as he appeared he felt the telltale signs of a summons and adjusted his perception and location to that of Chronos.
¡°How did it go?¡± Chronos asked.
¡°As expected. He¡¯s doubtful and doesn¡¯t trust any of this.¡±
¡°The smart ones never do,¡± Chronos said as he paused for a moment. ¡°Interesting, David suggested to him that he should take the Random choice.¡±
¡°As did I, will that be a problem?¡±
¡°It shouldn¡¯t be. Random removes his choice to just use a projection, which at this stage would just confuse him. He has to learn for himself what it means to be someone completely different than he is though¡¡±
¡°Though?¡± Ptah asked.
¡°Though in his case, that may not be possible. Continue to keep an eye on him but do not interfere. He must learn this next set of lessons on his own. When he returns to Eternity we¡¯ll reevaluate the situation to determine how much more he needs to know.¡±
¡°I take that to mean there has been no change?¡± Ptah asked.
¡°No change, the future is blocked to me though I can feel the tell-tale signs of temporal disruption so it may clear up, there is no way to tell.¡±
¡°Any idea what the event is?¡±
¡°No¡±
Ptah realized that they were done and teleported himself back to his brothers and sisters. They talked about their current missions and the places they had visited. Too soon It was time for him to go. Ptah made his way to his home, locked his projection onto Adam¡¯s location, and projected himself into that location. It was time to get back to work.
Chapter 102, Rebirth
(Cosmic Occurrence Two - Start)
As Adam touched the ¡®job¡¯ board, for lack of a better descriptor, he was plunged into the darkness of his soul space as prompts filled his vision.
>>> Random Rebirth chosen.
>>> Copper Soul detected
>>> Checking Soul Abilities
>>> Number of Soul Abilities exceeds the soft limit.
>>> Checking Karmic Luck.
>>> Karmic Luck???
>>> ERROR
>>> Number of Soul Abilities within allowable limits
>>> Projection N/A
>>> Rebirth will commence Shortly.
NOTE: Copper Level Soul Abilities compatible with targeted Cosmos: Perfect Memory, Pansophical, Inviolate, Chaos Forged, Adaptable, Willed-Movement, Incessant, Resistant, Open to New Ideas, Convergence, Spellweaver, Soul Storage, and Affluent.
NOTE: Rebirth resets all physical attributes to new racial starting minimums. Abilities that utilize mana and stamina are limited to the current physical body.
NOTE: The physical attributes of your projection in your Soul Space default to the highest possible of your projection types. Current number of projection types: 1 of 4: Projection Types: Ascendant Human.
New Projection Type: Human male.
Entry Type: Birth
Entry type Birth? Adam guessed that meant¡Oh, this was gonna suck.
Searching for a gestation candidate.
Candidate found, soul, attached.
Memory Wipe of new body and Copper level soul memory detachment until death¡
ERROR ¨C Soul Ability Perfect Memory Prevents Memory Wipe
ERROR ¨C Chaos Forged and Adaptable Soul Ability Synergy prevents soul memory detachment.
ERROR ¨C Adaptable, Chaos Forged, and Inviolate synergy override genetic writing. Adjustments to body made.
WARNING ¨C Adjustments to the body are not compatible with the gestation candidate¡¯s body. Gestation of the body will lead to the termination of the candidate. Would you like to limit attributes to local norms during gestation and birth? Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes.¡±
Note: All physical attributes are artificially set to local norms for size and age of the physical body. Attributes can be adjusted at any time in your personal Interface.
WARNING: reducing your attributes in this way also reduces any resistances provided by higher-level attributes. This body will be more vulnerable than your default projection.
Soul Attachment Success.
Welcome to your new Life.
Time to Birth 9 months.
Adam closed the last prompt and then floated in darkness. 9 months of this, then going through a normal growth cycle was going to take forever, or was it? Utilizing his senses, he reached out and felt what he expected. Cells, multiplying and growing. They had no sensory input at this point so that link was a dead end. He wondered if his mind would be forced into the baby¡¯s body as it was about to be born then disregarded the concern. He was in his soul space. Here his soul was inviolate, and it seemed like he had all the abilities he¡¯d had before. He needed to test that.
Adam concentrated and imagined his Soul space as if it was his Place of Power and willed it into existence. Moments later he stood in the entryway of his Place of Power. Turning around he opened the door which did not open into a courtyard but instead opened into darkness beyond the door. He reached out and his hand passed into it, still visible. So, the door was an exit but just into his normal Soul-Space. Good to know.
Adam tried utilizing his chaotic nanites here and was pleasantly surprised when a glass of Long-Island Iced Tea formed in his hand. Taking a drink, he mouthed, ¡°Yep, that¡¯s the stuff,¡± as he walked around inventorying everything he had. This was the version of the Place of Power after he¡¯d upgraded it. Fully functional with electronics, computers, and everything else he could want. The only thing he didn¡¯t have was access to his nanites outside of this space. He could feel them all within it, holding everything together, forming anything he wished. They would change as he desired but he had no access to any nanites anywhere else. Not like when he was in the place between places. If the Apertures or the Eye for each Cosmos was a hard lock that made sense.
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The next thing he did was try to dilate the time in his soul space so that it would pass by a little slower inside than it was outside. A very limited trial. He wanted three months to go by. Adam willed his Soul Space to adjust. It worked! He reached out with his senses and felt his new body and the small mind there already reaching for his mind. He could feel that he was still in the womb and that he, the knew he, was dreaming. Instinctively the mind of the baby had tried to connect to him. As he looked closer he noted that there seemed to be a void in the mind of the child, like the brain was in a null state except for autotomic functions. Adam realized that by holding his mind away, this body was showing no signs of intelligence.
Adam retreated into his soul space and minimized the link as he thought about it for a moment then went to work. There were a couple of ways he could handle this but the most efficient he could think of would be to keep his primary mentality in his Soul Space while he let his body live its life. For that though the baby would need a mind. Also, he needed to be able to relate to the local conditions so the body would need a mind that didn¡¯t know everything he knew and could inform him about what he was being born into. Much like his Thor aspect, but not. Adam removed everything he knew from the mind he was creating but tried to place some fundamentals that would become active as certain milestones were met. He also set up a back door into the mind that he could utilize to download or connect to so he could check on the mind without taking over or being noticed by the consciousness that would be forming.
Adam went to work creating a reduced version of himself. It would still be him because he¡¯d need to be able to absorb the memories and eventually take control of the body but at the start, he wanted the new ¡®him¡¯ to be as normal as possible. It didn¡¯t take long and he allowed the mind that was reaching out to latch onto and draw the constructed ¡®soul¡¯ he¡¯d created to fill the void that was the mind of the child that was still in the womb. Adam made sure it integrated properly and then withdrew from the connection. Now all he had to do was wait.
The subconscious might be able to reach him here but that was okay. When the child was sleeping was when he¡¯d connect and read his memories. Once he was born he could probably force-grow himself, but he didn¡¯t know what kind of cosmos this was and he didn¡¯t want to set off any red flags. Textrix was still out there somewhere, and he was sure she hadn¡¯t forgotten about him. Eventually, he¡¯d have to address that, but he wouldn¡¯t kid himself that right now he didn¡¯t have a chance in hell of being able to stand up to that kind of power. Also, he needed time to think about everything David and Ptah had told him. What he¡¯d been told seemed more true than what Janice had told him, but he couldn¡¯t help but feel there was more going on than he was being told about. Setting up the child the way he was would hopefully keep anyone looking for him from finding him. He needed to grow stronger, in the shadows if possible, but grow he could and would do. Adam was betting that if he displayed his powers for all to see, that ripple would be noticed. Better not to make vibrations on the threads of fate, vibrations on a web always brought the spiders.
* * *
¡°Come on Ahrem, they¡¯re about to start,¡± Katie said as she hurried to the edge of the roof.
¡°They said not to watch Katie, we could get in a lot of trouble if we¡¯re caught. You have to be 16 years old to watch the Judgements of Fate¡± Katie said.
Ahrem looked at Katie. They¡¯d grown up in the same neighborhood. Gone to the same schools and soon they¡¯d be sixteen. Then they¡¯d have to make their choice. A choice Ahrem wasn¡¯t looking forward to but one that he¡¯d have to make regardless, ¡°Look, Katie, we¡¯re going to make our choice soon. The executions that are about to happen are for those that failed to keep their promises.¡±:
¡°Hurry up, I want to see what happens,¡± Katie said in a whining tone that was only going to get worse.
¡°Mom said the longer we don¡¯t have to witness things like that the better. It can get kind of messy,¡± he said.
¡°Messy how?¡± Katie asked.
¡°Messy in that stuff that¡¯s supposed to be inside you comes out of you. Mom says when you die, if you have to go, you go. That doesn¡¯t include the mess you make from bleeding either.¡±
¡°Still, we¡¯re about to be adults and we¡¯ll have to make our choice so come on, let¡¯s get to the edge and watch,¡± Katie said.
¡°Okay, but it¡¯s going to be gross, I just know it,¡± Ahrem said.
Ahrem led the way and they dropped to their knees then crawled up to the edge and looked over the top of the three-story building they were on. The building he¡¯d chosen overlooked the town square where a guillotine had been placed. Five gagged people with their hands tied behind them stood in a line. The gags had been tied in such a way that there was a knot at the back. Standing around them were four guards and more were stationed throughout the plaza as the mayor stood at a podium and addressed the gathered crowd. Both Ahrem¡¯s and Katie¡¯s mom and dad stood at the front of the crowd with stoic expressions on their faces as they looked up at the mayor.
¡°We are gathered here today to help those that refuse to stay true to their choice and serve their community and nation meet Justice! There is no place in our society for those that fail to keep their promise to stay true to their Choice. If they had been honest when they made their choice, they would have been shipped off to the border and allowed to make their way into the world. Instead, they lied and schemed to subvert those that believe in our Country, whose cause is just and our goals sound. One day the world will be united under our flag. These five will never see that day though. May everyone that looks into their dead eyes as their heads are passed from city to city be reminded that once the choice is made there is no turning back!¡± The mayor looked off to her side and nodded.
The first prisoner was picked up and forcefully placed on the guillotine face down then moved into position. A box with a glass bottom was placed face down with what looked like a mold in it and the female soldier grabbed the knot at the back of the prisoner¡¯s head. A hush fell over the crowd, except for the muffled scream until there was a ¡®shick¡¯ and the soldier lifted the head out and away from the guillotine which was already being raised. The soldier placed the head in the box and closed the back which had the face in the box with only the neck stump dripping blood. The box was turned over so the faces were visible. Ahrem and Katie looked down through the glass into the open blinking eyes of the head in the box. Eventually, the eyes stopped blinking. As they watched the head the body was pulled away, another prisoner took its place and a 2nd head was put in a box and turned over.
The third, fourth, and fifth heads were placed on the ground, allowing the necks to drain. Eventually, that stopped and a panel was added so that the boxes were completely enclosed. The boxes were lifted and carried to a vehicle that had the sign ¡°Traitors¡± at the top of the window with all five boxed heads below looking out on the street. Two soldiers entered the driver¡¯s cab of the vehicle, started it, and slowly drove north out of the city.
The Mayor looked out over the crowd, nodded then said, ¡°That concludes the ugly business of the day. The disposal crew is to take care of the bodies and the clean-up crew is to clean the equipment and then return it to its storage area. On a much lighter note, the town gathering for next week is still on, we hope to see you all there!¡±
After the mayor stopped talking the crowds dispersed as two crews of people went to work cleaning up the bodies and the mess. Ahrem and Katie backed away from the edge and then made their way back downstairs. They didn¡¯t talk until they walked down one of the back streets towards the park they were supposed to be at with the other children. They made their way to their favorite tree sat down and sighed. They¡¯d made it and hadn¡¯t been caught.
¡°It didn¡¯t look all that gross,¡± Katie started.
¡°That¡¯s because you like stuff like that,¡± Ahrem said. ¡°You didn¡¯t even make a face when we dissected that frog a couple of weeks ago.¡±
¡°Yeah, because it was cool. Learning how animals and people work is neat. If I¡¯m going to be a doctor someday, I need to know this stuff, at least that¡¯s what my counselor says.¡±
¡°Well, I thought it was pretty gross, and then putting their heads in boxes for everyone to see, that seems somehow wrong,¡± Ahrem said.
¡°None of that out of you,¡± Katie said. ¡°They betrayed our Country, they lied to all of us, they got what they deserved!¡±
¡°I guess,¡± Ahrem said hesitantly, ¡°It just seems like there are easier ways to kill people. Plus, won¡¯t this turn them into Martyrs for those that think the way they do?¡±
¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. They¡¯ll all get what¡¯s coming to them. The Country will make sure of it!¡± Katie said.
¡°If you say so.¡±
¡°I do!¡± Katie said with conviction.
They sat there for a little bit until they hear Mrs. Rigwall call out, ¡°Ahrem, Katie, time to head back!¡±
¡°We¡¯re coming,¡± they both replied in unison. They stood brushed themselves off and headed back to the rest of the children in the center of the park. Ahrem wasn¡¯t quite sure what to do about his feelings but something about what he¡¯d just witnessed felt wrong to him. He hoped he wouldn¡¯t have another one of those dreams where everything seemed weird. They were getting more and more frequent as his 16th birthday came closer and closer.
Chapter 103, Sweet Sixteen
Adam withdrew his consciousness from Ahrem and thought about the last fifteen years of his life he¡¯d lived. Yeah, Ahrem was Adam, ¡°technically,¡± but Adam had been hands, and mind, off for almost all of Ahrem¡¯s life. He really wanted to give Ahrem a chance to learn everything and then absorb his knowledge all at once, except that hadn¡¯t happened. Most of his education had been abstract. From the maps he¡¯d seen in his memories, it looked like he was on another version of the Earth living near Arrone Italy. Though the technology level was closer to the 1950s. Internal Combustion existed, and electricity did exist but only in the big towns. When he realized that, he decided to let Ahrem do the living with his family and dilate time in his Soul Space.
Adam checked in every year or so to see if there had been any significant changes. Up until now, there hadn¡¯t been, though he had finally learned a little about the political makeup of the world Ahrem was in. It seemed that Europe was comprised of a bunch of countries that now went by the single moniker ¡°The United Nations.¡± To ensure that no attempts were made to separate back into the original countries the names of those countries had been declared illegal and if you must refer to your country of origin you did so by saying ¡°My Country¡± or ¡°Our Country.¡± It was actually a very well-thought-out bit of social engineering because if everyone was from ¡°My Country¡± or ¡°The United Nations¡± there was no chance to get into national-level arguments internally, though ¡°The United Nations¡± was not the only Country on the planet. It seemed that there was an empire down where Southern Africa was and another one across the great sea to the west. ¡°The United Nations reached east almost all the way to China, which had unexplored territories but no actual nations. At least that¡¯s what Ahrem was being taught. How this was all playing out reminded him a lot of Germany and Austria prior to the First World War. Also, the United Nations seemed a lot like Communist Russia except that there was an underpinning of Religion here with ¡°The Choice¡± that Ahrem would soon make.
Another thing that he noticed was that Ahrem didn¡¯t seem to have access to his personal interface, though Adam could still utilize his at-will within his Soul space. Adam could even pull up Ahrem¡¯s information and review it as he liked.
Name: Ahrem Bianci
Identity: Ahrem
Age: 15
Weight: 135
Birthday, September 19th, 1985
Abilities: None Chosen
Soul Type: Advanced
Soul Level: Copper, 100%
Soul Projection Level 1 Human
Attributes
Strength 10
Agility 9
Dexterity 11
Endurance 8
Constitution 8
Intelligence 6
Wisdom 6
Willpower 8
Perception 6
Charisma 7
Luck 10
Primary Stats
Carrying Capacity 68 lbs
Hit Points: 1
Base Health Regeneration:
Normal
Stamina 17
Base Stamina Regeneration
3 per minute
Mana: 16
Base Mana Regeneration
19 per minute
Movement
Normal Running Speed: 8 mph
Standing high Jump: 16 inches
Note. Falling Damage is not mitigated by maximum jumping Distance.
Base Attack
Unarmed Base Attack: 4
Max Damage: 8
Critical Damage Maximum Damage x2
Skills:
Gardening 1
Animal Husbandry 1
` Math 1
History 1
Reading 1
Writing 1
Football (Soccer) 1
All other skills are negligible
Simply, Ahrem was unremarkable, which worked for Adam. If someone was actually looking for him. He had a feeling ¡°The Choice¡± that was coming up was a test of loyalty and also a way to test something else. What that something else was Adam wouldn¡¯t know until it happened.
* * *
The day had finally come, Ahrem was going to make ¡°The Choice¡± today and everyone would know that he was loyal to his country and the cause, no matter how many silly ideas kept popping into his head when he was dreaming. Ahrem looked at himself in the mirror. He wore simple black pants and a white collared shirt. Male or female it didn¡¯t matter, all of those going to the Administration facility to make The Choice today were going to be wearing identical clothing. Those that chose to serve would come home. Those that did not, well they were never seen again. Supposedly they made their way... Ahrem shook his head to clear his doubts. He didn¡¯t need to worry about what happened to those that made the wrong choice, he was going to be coming home tonight.
Ahrem headed downstairs where his mother and father waited at the front door.
¡°Ready to go?¡± his mom asked.
¡°Yes Mom, but don¡¯t you worry, I¡®ll be home soon.¡±
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
¡°I know you will son, you always make us so proud!¡± his dad said.
Ahrem gave his mom and then his dad a hug after which his mother straightened his shirt before he stepped through the open door, and they watched him leave as he started walking the mile he had to walk to get to the Administration building. A few hundred feet down the road Katie came out from her house where her parents also stood in the doorway watching.
¡°Hey Ahrem, mind if I walk with you?¡± Katie asked.
¡°Not at all, I think we¡¯re the only two from this side of town that are walking in.¡±
¡°Yeah, everyone else is coming from the North side of the road to the west that leads toward the city, though most of those are just going to the administration building in the next town,¡± she said.
¡°Yeah, there isn¡¯t much that way and the next town is only seven miles down the road. Hey, have you ever been in the Administration building?¡± Ahrem asked.
¡°Nope, have you?¡±
¡°Nope, come to think of it, I¡¯ve only ever seen people step into the building,¡± Ahrem said.
¡°Yeah, now that I think about it. We only ever see people go into that building. We have seen some of the older kids the next day, but I don¡¯t ever remember seeing anyone leave the building. They must be there late into the night,¡± Katie said.
¡°I wonder why it takes so long. I mean we just have to take an Oath right?¡± Ahrem said.
¡°Mom and Dad said there are some tests first,¡± Katie said.
¡°Really? My mom and dad didn¡¯t tell him anything,¡± Ahrem said.
The rest of the walk went pretty quickly, and they soon found themselves in a line leading into the Administration building.
¡°Good Luck Katie.¡±
¡°See you tomorrow Ahrem.¡± Katie said as she stepped forward and a woman with a checklist asked, ¡°Name?¡±
¡°Kathrine ¡,¡± Katie¡¯s voice faded as she stepped into the building.
Ahrem watched as Katie disappeared into the building and stepped forward,
¡°Name?¡± the lady with the checklist asked.
¡°Ahrem Bianci¡± he answered truthfully.
¡°Proceed.¡±
Ahrem stepped into the building and walked around the corner where he expected to see Katie. Instead, he felt a tingle run across his skin and found himself in complete darkness.
* * *
Adam had been riding Ahrem¡¯s mind, watching as he stepped into the Administration building when he was shocked by a prompt that appeared in his vision
Warning! Human Projection has stepped through a dimensional portal to an unknown location.
Adam returned his attention to Ahrem and started paying closer attention to everything Ahrem could sense.
* * *
A male voice spoke out of the darkness. ¡°Please wait for a moment. Your body will adjust, and you will be able to see again shortly.¡±
Ahrem stood still and waited. After a few minutes, he was able to see that he was in a small room with very low lighting where a man sat behind a desk. When Ahrem focused his eyes on the man, he spoke, ¡°Good,¡± he said as he rotated a nob on his desk and the illumination of the room increased to normal. ¡°Please have a seat,¡± he said gesturing to the chair opposite him.
Ahrem sat down and asked, ¡°Umm, How did I get here?¡±
¡°We¡¯ll get to that after The Choice. First, I need you to place your hand on the desk in the silhouette of a hand.¡±
Ahrem placed his hand over the silhouette of a hand. His hand tingled then a screen popped up in the air between Ahrem and the man.
Projection Strength: Normal Human
Soul Strength: Copper
Allegiance: None
¡°What is that?¡± Ahrem asked.
¡°Well get to that in a moment. Display Karmic luck¡±
The display changed.
Karmic Luck: ERROR!
¡°Define error,¡± the man said. The screen changed again.
The Error results from a positive value that has no end.
¡°What does that mean?¡± Ahrem asked.
¡°That means that you are exactly the type of person we are looking for. My name is Peter Johansson. I am one of the Administrators that administer The Choice.¡±
¡°So, what is this Choice exactly? Ahrem said.
¡°The Choice is whether or not you will join the service of another much more powerful being for the rest of your transitory life.¡±
¡°You mean like to a deity or a god or something? I thought worshiping any Gods was forbidden. In fact, I know it¡¯s forbidden because Mom and Dad made sure the whooping I received would remind me that the book I¡¯d found while exploring an old factory would remind me. I know that you know that because after the whooping my parents made me report that I had found it and turn it in. They said it could be a test of loyalty.¡±
¡°How colorful. The reason the worship of any Gods is forbidden is because once you have made your choice our ¡®God¡¯ for lack of a better word does not need you to pay her lip service. She gets everything she needs from your choice. So, no one can be led astray, and none can fall to the worship of any other false prophets. All who make ¡°The Choice¡± agree that they will never speak of it again and that they will report or punish any who come across such propaganda.¡±
As Ahrem was listening that little voice in his head whispered something he¡¯d never heard before, Textrix. ¡°Textrix,¡± Ahrem whispered under his breath as he tried to figure out why that word had popped into his head before he even thought to stop himself. The man across the desk froze for a second and then reached for something under the desk. There was a deafening roar, a feeling of pressure in Ahrem¡¯s abdomen then he was tumbling away from the desk almost blown in half as his vision started to fade. The last thing he heard from the man still sitting behind the desk was ¡°What a waste, CLEAN UP CREW to Suite 7a!¡±
* * *
The consciousness known as Ahrem traveled into Adam¡¯s Soul Space and was absorbed by Adam as pop-up messages appeared in his vision. There was more going on in this world than he¡¯d been able to learn as Ahrem. What would happen next was completely dependent on what the popup windows said.
Soul Projection Ahrem, Normal Human has died.
Location of Soul Projection is Quantum Locked. Souls may not travel into or out of that Location.
Initiate new soul projection at target location Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡®Yes¡¯
Utilizing previous soul projection material. Would you like to continue as modified to Normal Ascendent Human or switch back to your default attributes as an Ascendant Human?
Adam chose ¡°Default Attributes¡± and then felt his soul surge up from his soul space into the deceased body of Ahrem as it started to knit it back together. In moments. His default attributes were quite nice. There wasn¡¯t much he could do while he was healing so he checked his personal interface while he played dead.
Name: Adamantadine
Identity: Ahrem
Age: 15
Weight: 135
Birthday ¨C September 19th 1985
Soul Abilities (Minimized)
Soul Type: Advanced
Soul Level: Copper, 100%
Soul Projection Level 104,879,885 Ascendant Human
Attributes
Strength 8.08E-11
Agility 8.08E-11
Dexterity 8.08E-11
Endurance 8.08E-11
Constitution 8.08E-11
Intelligence 8.08E-11
Wisdom 8.08E-11
Willpower 8.08E-11
Perception 8.08E-11
Charisma 8.08E-11
Luck 8.08E-11
Primary Stats
Carrying Capacity 7.27E-12
Hit Points: 3.59E-22
Base Health Regeneration
4.84E-27 per second
Stamina 8.98E-23
Base Stamina Regeneration
8.98E-21 per second
Mana: 1.80E-24
Base Mana Regeneration
1.20E-22 per second
Movement
Normal Running Speed: 1.62E-10 mph, 2.37E-10 fps
Standing high Jump: 1.35E-10 Feet.
Note. Falling Damage is not mitigated by maximum jumping Distance.
Base Attack
Unarmed Base Attack: 1.80E-22
Max Damage: 7.18E-22
Critical Damage Maximum Damage x2
Skills: See Fundamental Ability ¡°Pansophical¡± above
It seemed that his age weight and birthday had changed to that of Ahrem. Everything else though looked like it¡¯d stayed the same. He could read his Soul Abilities, but they hadn¡¯t changed so he minimized them. Adam already knew that the synergy of a couple of those abilities had made it possible for him to do what he was doing right now. He didn¡¯t need to double-check that information. What he needed to do was see exactly how many of his normal abilities he still had access to. First things first, he tried to connect with his nanites and found that connection did not exist. Not unexpected but fixable.
Adam utilized his Spellweaver ability to speed time up for himself to a ridiculously ludicrous speed so that years would pass before a single second did for Peter. As he continued healing, he stood up. Well, magic worked at least. Next, he willed his chaotic nanites into existence with the instruction set to accept the body he was in, infiltrate, convert, and create the mechanisms he¡¯d need to be able to communicate and direct them as necessary. Adam also had the nanites start infiltrating all inorganic matter in the room he was in. That would take a little while, so he tried to pull up the Universal Interface. No luck. The Cosmic Interface? Still no luck. It looked like the Cosmos had all of those functions locked out. So, there was no really quick way to take over everything. That was going to make figuring out what was going on a little harder. Not Impossible though.
The nanites finished their infiltration and he received a shock. He was no longer on Earth. Also, spells were in place to simulate gravity. Adam set the nanites loose though any that left the temporal field around himself moved back into the normal passage of time and slowed right down. Adam wasn¡¯t going to be able to get the information he needed that way. It looked like he was going to have to go all Sith Lord on the asshole that had just killed Ahrem.
Adam had his nanites start their infiltration, clean, and repair the chair he¡¯d been sitting in then picked it up put it back at the desk, and sat back down. To anyone watching it would appear as if Ahrem had been on the floor dead and then he¡¯d be sitting in the chair normally the next instant. He didn¡¯t think there was a time-lapse camera that could have caught his movements at the speed he was moving at, which would just add to the mystery of what was happening.
Adam had his nanites breakdown all of the ammunition in the shotgun that had blown him almost in half then slowed his personal time back to normal speed as he looked up into Mr. Johansson¡¯s surprised eyes as he dove for the shotgun and pulled the trigger again which made a loud ¡°Click¡±
¡°Is there something wrong Mr. Johansson?¡± he asked innocently as Mr. Johansson pulled the trigger again and again. ¡°It¡¯s not going to work, would you like to sit down so we can talk for a bit?¡±
¡°But, But, But¡¡±
¡°But I¡¯m dead? Yeah, that was true, but I¡¯m not now. So, pull yourself together, and let¡¯s have a chat,¡± Adam said as he used his nanites to double-check and see if there was any technological surveillance in the room. Surprisingly there wasn¡¯t. Next, he willed his favorite version of True Sight into effect and looked around. Sure enough, up and behind Mr. Johansson there was a scrying portal through which he could see a woman reaching for something on the desk in front of her. With a thought, he force-teleported her to him with his hand around her neck and snapped it with the twist of his thumb then dropped her to the ground. He also teleported some nanites into the room she¡¯d been looking in on them from and had them start mapping it out.
Peter looked at him, looked at the women on the ground at his feet then jumped at him. Adam caught him with telekinesis and then locked him in a force bubble with only his head sticking out, unable to move. He hovered over the desk, his arms outstretched towards Adam as he casually got up and conjured a cup of coffee into his hand. Adam took a sip as he looked around. He probably shouldn¡¯t have killed the lady. It had only been a few seconds so. He reached down, placed his hand on her head, and released his nanites into her skull with orders to stabilize and repair brain function while keeping her in a coma. he¡¯d fix the rest of her in a minute or two. So long as this didn¡¯t take too long, she¡¯d be okay, he just needed to keep her brain alive.
¡°Leave her alone, you monster!¡± Peter screamed.
¡°Me the monster? You just blew a sixteen-year-old in half. I¡¯m sure this wasn¡¯t the first person you¡¯ve killed and probably won¡¯t be your last so shut up and know that if you answer my questions honestly I will revive her and you both might live.¡± Adam said with a hint of anger in his voice.
Peter smiled and bit down on this tooth, a moment later a nuclear detonation went off at Adam¡¯s feet.
Chapter 104, Inviolate
A nuclear explosion at his feet? Wow! Adam accelerated his mentality slightly as the explosion enveloped him and prompts flooded his vision. Not enough to make the universe stand still but enough that everything slowed down to a crawl. The detonation was traveling at the speed of light when he opened his prompts. Even slowing down time as he had, the explosion was already up to his shins and moving one inch higher every 10 seconds at his current temporal flow rate which was 1 trillionth normal. Adam opened his prompts to see what he could do.
You have received 1,000,000 points of thermal and force damage. Soul Ability Adaptable negates 50% of thermal damage. Resistance to Fire negates 50% of thermal damage.
Force damage does 500,000 points of damage.
Damage is greater than basic hits but less than 1.39E-15% of current hit points. No structural damage taken.
Hit Point regeneration is greater than maximum Hit Points.
Damage healed as taken.
The Force of the explosion will eject you from the gravity well of the moon.
Soul Ability Adaptable prevents damage from vacuum exposure.
Prompts checked, Adam returned his personal time to normal and allowed the force of the explosion to catapult him away from the moon, He found himself flying away in a cloud of dust. Eventually, the dust started to fall away from him, and he willed himself to leave it behind as he left the gravity well of the Moon. He changed his trajectory a little bit and turned himself around so he could look at the surface of the moon as he drew away from it.
The first thing he noticed was a structure approximately fifty miles away from the site of the explosion. He approximated the distance by comparing known crater sites from the memories he had of his Universe and then extrapolated the distance. Of course, the distances could be wrong, but the two surfaces of the moon matched by more than 95%. As he looked closer he noticed that the devastation where he¡¯d been was a lot more localized than he thought it should be. Nukes going off in an almost vacuum weren¡¯t as devastating as if they¡¯d gone off on Earth, there was no pressure wave. But, there still should have been damage to the surrounding area. They must have used a shaped nuclear blast to destroy the building he¡¯d been in. Adam noticed a number of small buildings that were placed in a grid all around where the nuke had gone off. Except for a perfect square of destruction centered on the nuclear detonation, there didn¡¯t seem to be any damage or effect to the other buildings in the area. If Katie had been in one of the other rooms she¡¯d probably survived the blast.
As he noticed the grid of structures and the main one that seemed to be at the center of a field of small buildings he realized the Moon was not a place where he could seek refuge. He needed to hold up somewhere safe and gather intelligence. Adam willed himself to faster-than-light speed and flew away from the Sun. He¡¯d head back in, or create portals to return, once he had a base of operation and a plan. As he flew towards the edge of the solar system, he set the nanites that had survived the blast to replicate and infiltrate as much as they could. Some had spread into the surface of the moon far enough away from the blast that they¡¯d easily weathered the thermal component of the nuke because the force of the detonation had been directed upwards.
Adam made sure to set them to only use inorganic material to replicate though. He didn¡¯t need the nanites melting people, at least not yet. Normally he¡¯d be a little more careful, but a lot of things weren¡¯t adding up. He needed to figure out what was going on as soon as possible.
While he traveled through space he realized that finding the orbits of the planets might take a little longer since he didn¡¯t have the internet or stellar body information program to call up for this Universe, though if other parts of his original universe were accurate, like the surface of the moon, maybe the orbits were close to. Adam really loved having a Perfect Memory. He pulled up the data he needed and started a simulation of the solar systems based on that data then rewound the clock in the simulation to the current time and date. Adam looked around and very easily verified that Saturn and Jupiter were where they were supposed to be. They were off slightly so he adjusted the model and then altered his vector to where Pluto should be.
A couple of minutes later he was coming up on the airless surface of Pluto. Adam made sure to land on the side of Pluto that faced away from Earth then put his nanites to work setting up an underground base as he surrounded himself in a bubble of force and increased the temperature inside it. No point in being miserable out here. As he stood there, he opened a very small portal that he could look through with magic to a point above the moon where the explosion had been. He saw a small, very technological-looking ship hovering over the site. It kind of looked like a slightly small version of a space shuttle, though it didn¡¯t look like it was built to re-enter the Earth¡¯s atmosphere. It must just be for work here on the moon.
If they had spaceships, they might have gravimetric sensors and for sure they¡¯d have energy sensors. Just before he closed the portal, he did notice people in space suits down the surface going over the crater with handheld devices. That detonation had been nuclear, there should still be radiation in the area. If their shielding was that good it was either magical, or the technological level of this Earth was a lot higher than he¡¯d witnessed or thought. Of course, the shielding could be magical in nature or the bodies in the suits could be resistant to radiation. Just a couple more reasons to be more careful as he moved forward.
Adam needed to get a better handle on what was going on. His chaotic nanites had not detected any nanotechnology so it looked like that was an advantage he would definitely have. One thing he needed to know though was if time travel was allowed here. He¡¯d been here for about a minute so he tried to will himself into the past to one minute before his now.
ERROR, Travel Backward through time is prohibited. You may speed up, slow down or place yourself in stasis and leave that stasis in a future time but you may not travel backward through time.
Not unexpected, but disappointing. He tried a different version of the spell, something he¡¯d seen in the other universe. He willed a vision of one minute ago on his current location. A screen popped up and he watched himself stand there. Cool, so travel was prohibited but he could use magic to view events that had happened. he¡¯d need to explore then he¡¯d be able to use this spell to see what had happened.
For now, he wanted to get a better idea of the makeup of Earth. Adam opened subatomic wormholes and deposited nanites all over the Earth, and the Moon. As he felt his nanites spread he noticed that some of his nanites were already spreading all over the face of Earth from various locations. It looked like the nanites on the moon had made their way to Earth already.
Adam redirected the nanites on Pluto and in short order, he opened a portal and dropped into a tunnel about 50 feet under the surface of Pluto. Adam released the magic on the surface and then made his way to the command center. His new lair wasn¡¯t that big, but it had all the amenities; a shower, bed, galley, kitchen, and a stockpile of food his nanites were creating for him.
While his nanites were continuing to flesh out his base of operation on Pluto, he was also mapping Earth and recording and analyzing every ounce of electronic data he could. The information he was receiving just raised more questions. He knew he needed more information and sitting here watching the data come in was going to be like watching for the first bubble when boiling water, Boring. He¡¯d check again when he woke up. Adam made his way to the bed his nanites had created and laid down. He fell asleep almost immediately.
As he woke up he thought about everything that had happened to this point and wondered what was going on. He had a feeling that this entire planet was a ruse. He¡¯d know in a moment for sure. Adam analyzed the data as it came in. Within a couple of hours, he had a good idea of how Earth was laid out. Adam had to admit, that the method of control was elegant. There were no other countries on Earth, there was just the United Nations. Everywhere on Earth was populated by small towns. This was true from where he¡¯d been in Italy to where Washington DC would be in North America. Every town was small though, with no more than 5,000 people and the education of everyone was very basic. No Universities, no Colleges, and no government buildings other than that of the local mayor and the Administration buildings.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Adam did find one oddity in each town though. Buried about 100 feet down under the center of every town was a nuclear device. One for every town. Then his nanites detected something truly horrifying. At the center of the Earth, inside a bubble of magical force, a singularity existed. The bubble must nullify the gravity the singularity generated. If that bubble failed though everything on the planet would be spaghettified. It wasn¡¯t a small singularity. It was large enough that the inside of the event horizon would reach all the way to the surface of the planet. It looked like the only thing preventing that from happening was the magical barrier. He was absolutely sure nothing like that had existed on his Earth.
¡°Why would someone go to such an extent to ensure that everything was destroyed?¡± He asked himself out loud and was completely surprised when a voice answered.
¡°Because we can¡¯t have the cattle learning what¡¯s really going on of course,¡± a feminine voice responded.
Startled, he looked up and found a young woman with jet-black hair and a scythe in one hand dressed in a black hood with a cowl drawn up over her head, ¡°Who are you? he asked.
¡°I am Death, the gateway to the afterlife, and you have caused quite a ruckus today.¡±
¡°So, you¡¯re a goddess then?¡±
¡°Yes, I am the Goddess of Death, and it is time to end your interference and send you on your way,¡± she said as she swung with her scythe to cut off his head.
You have been attacked by the Greater Goddess Death, Level 10 God.
Rank Disparity between Greater God and Ascendant Human 32.
Goddess of Death misses
Adam dodged easily. Even at 32 times less power than this God, it looked like Ascendant Humans did not have anywhere near the maximum attributes he had.
Pansophical has activated: Creatures in this Universe range in levels from 1 to 100. Ascendant level creatures are from levels 101 ¨C 200. The Divine, Deity Demi-God, etc. are all at least Ascendant level 200 plus their divine rank level ranging from 1 ¨C 10 which is earned by earning Faith Points. Death is a Level 10 God with a maximum of 800 attributes as an Ascendant mortal multiplied by 32 as all attributes are doubled upon attaining a new divine rank.
If divided equally among all attributes Death should have attributes at right around 2,304 compared to his 808,000,000,000 in each attribute, even dividing that by 32 left him with 25,250,000,000 in each attribute, more than 10,959,201 times her attributes.
Adam returned his attention to the scythe and reached out and casually touched it as it passed by him and let his nanites go to town on it. There was a pause as she finished her swing, shifted her grip, and prepared to attack him again, then the Scythe exploded.
¡°That¡¯s not possible!¡± she exclaimed.
¡°I get that a lot and I do mean a lot. By the way, after you reform, come back for a chat if you want. If you come back hostile, I will find a way to put you down for good,¡± Adam said menacingly.
¡°What do you mean mortal, you can¡¯t kill me, I am a Goddess of the¡¡±
¡°Boring,¡± Adam said as moved and punched her as hard as he could. Even at 32 times less power than his maximum normal, the result was devastating. The force with which he hit her popped her head as if she¡¯d been traveling at the speed of sound and slammed into a concrete wall. The energy discharge turned her body into mist and the resulting explosion of blood, guts, and viscera covered the chamber he was in. The only part of him not covered in her was directly behind his fist, which luckily had been at eye level, so his face was mostly free of the mess. Adam had his nanites start cleaning up the mess as he reviewed his prompts.
You have attacked the Goddess of Death
Called Shot to the center of her face.
Rank Disparity considered.
You hit
Damage was reduced by 32 times.
Damage to Goddess of Death 2.24E-21
Target has been disincorporated at current location. Target will reform at spawn location in ERROR
His punch had completely destroyed her. A moment later what was left of her Scythe disappeared as well. As he contemplated what had just happened he realized there could be issues and ordered his nanites on Earth to convert all the fissionable material in the nuclear devices on Earth and the Moon into lead. Then he had his nanites infiltrate and take over the singularity and covert its mass into nanites, thereby destroying the singularity.
About a minute later he felt the detonations of every shaped charge on the planet. A couple of minutes after that he felt the magical bubble around his nanites drop. The singularity was gone and instead, the mass of the singularity had been converted into nanites, a lot of nanites. The nanites started flooding the planet from the inside out. There were so many nanites that they were chains into orbit where they released themselves onto the solar wind and started floating away from the Earth. That singularity had been huge.
His nanites were going to be busy for a while infiltrating everything on the planet and the moon and probably the entire solar system. That had been a lot of nanites. If not for his Adaptive ability and Chaos-Forged ability there would have been almost nothing he could have done. Messing with the barrier might have dropped it and magic might work but there might also be rules in place that he didn¡¯t know about yet. He¡¯d been lucky. Now he was starting to get pissed though. What kind of asshole would destroy a planet because a 16-year-old knew a name?
Adam replayed the signal that had been received by every bomb on Earth and traced it. It was Quantumly locked into another dimension. He turned himself invisible and insubstantial then teleported to the originating location. Adam appeared in what he could only describe as a command bunker.
¡°What do you mean it didn¡¯t work?¡± a 10-foot-tall perfect example of what a Pit Fiend from Hell would look like. Red skin, leathery wings, and an infernal aura that was radiating from him as if he was hell incarnate.
A naked woman, fear in her eyes was punching some buttons on her console, ¡°They all detonated but none of the explosions went nuclear.¡±
The demon looked to a succubus that was now looking at him as he asked, ¡°Trix, what do you think happened?¡±
¡°Why don¡¯t we ask the man that¡¯s standing right next to you?¡± she said.
¡°What?¡± the demon bellowed as he turned and swung a whip with 13 snake heads that flew around toward Adam trying to find him. It looked like neither the big demon nor his whip could see him. Adam decided there was no point hiding and dropped the invisibility. Each snake head turned and struck him biting down, mostly because he didn¡¯t try to dodge. he could have, but he didn¡¯t see the point. Adam could feel that this demon was orders of magnitude less powerful than Death and she¡¯d been the maximum-level God for this Cosmos.
The damage was negligible. The magical and mundane poisons and diseases the snake heads tried to inflict on him were countered immediately by his abilities or his nanites. Adam ordered the nanites to defang each snake head at the base of the fangs. Each head flew away from where they¡¯d struck and looked confused and affronted, hissing at him, it was actually kind of hilarious. The demons watched as the fangs that were embedded in him were pushed out and carried along his skin by his nanites to his now open hand. When he had 26 fangs in his hand he turned his hand over and dropped the fangs which evaporated as his nanites destroyed them to make more nanites which spread into the room.
¡°Hello,¡± he said.
The demon drew a sword as big as himself from an extradimensional space and smiled as he said, ¡°Now you die!¡±
¡°By that? Come on now, you can do better than that, ¡°he said as the demon swung. Adam didn¡¯t even have to try as he sidestepped and dodged until his nanites had infiltrated the sword and then had it decompose out of his hand.
¡°What? How?¡± The demon said as he looked at his now empty hands in shock. The demoness Trix watched avidly but did not move. There were fifteen other naked mortals in the room, though when nanites infiltrated them it noted that their race was listed as ¡°The Damned.¡± Maybe this was some sort of afterlife dimension?
¡°This is my realm, I can do anything here!¡± the demon declared as if in some final judgment, ¡°Rip the soul from this body and devour it!¡±
Adam felt the fundamental forces of this place try to comply with that wish. His soul was being told to remove itself from the body at a fundamental level. He really missed having access to the Universal and Cosmic interfaces. He bet if he could have accessed them this jerk had just tried to use a universal command to destroy him. It was a useless attack against him; however, his soul was inviolate. Adam stood in front of the demon looking a bit confused as he asked, ¡°Exactly what was supposed to happen?¡± Then he had an idea. Adam reached out with his hand and willed his body and the demon into his soul space, then locked it down, not allowing any kind of teleportation or dimensional shifting into or out of his soul space.
¡°What, where am he? The Demon Bellowed¡±
¡°Freeze,¡± Adam said. The demon stopped moving. He sped his soul space up to the ludicrous speed he liked to move at when he was doing stuff inside and needed only a second or two to pass before he came back out. Then he had his nanites infiltrate the demon and map out his physical structure. Next, he read his mind with magic. The contest of wills wasn¡¯t even one. Adam had full access and he dived hard. Once he started seeing the atrocities this creature had committed, he stopped being nice as he ravaged his memories and his psyche.
Adam would later admit that the demon was one of the most depraved and sadistic creatures he¡¯d ever come across. Also, what he saw was all there was. He didn¡¯t detect a soul or soul space in this demon. If he had, there probably would have been a stronger contest of wills as the rules that governed such a contest would also govern him. He went back to reading its memories. The demon¡¯s name was Brux. Brux had been the runt of his litter and had grown up in hell though he¡¯d been vicious from the start, having killed his brothers and sisters until he was the only one left. He¡¯d been noticed by Trix, the supervisor for this region of hell. He¡¯d served hundreds, if not thousands of years in hell until he¡¯d been tasked with watching Earth. Murder, Plunder, and Destruction had been all he¡¯d known until Trix found him and gave him the tasks he¡¯d been handling for a long time now. He wasn¡¯t sure what Trix was, but he was sure she wasn¡¯t a demon¡
Adam pulled his thoughts from the memories of the demon and extended his senses back into the room he¡¯d drawn from only to find Trix looking right at where he was viewing the room from as she said, ¡°There he is,¡± and everything around him started to shift at an incredible pace. Adam dropped back into his soul space and increased the time dilation even further to give himself a moment to think and react. It had been a trap.
Chapter 105, Responses
Ne¡¯lix sat at a terminal he¡¯d just returned to from one of Earth¡¯s many subterranean locations, that were not, strictly speaking, known to everyone on the surface. In fact, probably less than 1% of the population knew about underground bases spread around the globe. Of that, 1%, even less knew what he did. Each of these bases was located away from any civilian locations on the surface so that if something drastic needed to happen the personnel in the bases would be safe when a city was cleansed.
Ne¡¯lix had been drinking his coffee and daydreaming a bit until five minutes ago when everything had gone to shit. An alarm on his console had gone off. When he glanced at it he recognized an administrative override code as it flashed across his terminal. The code string had been such a surprise and unknown to everyone in his section. They had scrambled to look it up and find out what was going on. When no one could, Anna, his supervisor, accessed her terminal. After reading for a few seconds, she looked up and around the room as she said, ¡°It means Level 10 planetary cleansing. Nukes should be detonating shortly.¡± When nothing happened, another code had come across the screen ¡°X0X¡±. Anna had turned white, then passed out. He¡¯d been the closest and been just quick enough to jump out of his seat and catch her before she hit her head. After he¡¯d gotten her settled, called for a medical team, and treated her for shock, he¡¯d moved to her terminal and looked up the code while he kept an eye on her. Everyone else had looked up but went back to work knowing that whatever was going on was pretty important.
Ne¡¯lix used Anna¡¯s terminal and found that the ¡°XOX¡± code was a designation given to planets in the Empire that had been sanctioned and then sanitized. That could mean a surface wipe, or it could mean the planet was destroyed. Ne¡¯lix read a message that had flashed up while he was looking up ¡°XOX¡±
Singularity shield will drop in 60 seconds.
Well, that sucked. He hadn¡¯t been alive long enough this time to learn a lot of skills and while he¡¯d learned that magic was real he hadn¡¯t picked up anything that would help him in the next 60 seconds. Of course, that¡¯s why Anna had fainted, she knew what was coming. Ne¡¯lix activated the one magical ability he¡¯d learned, Aura sight, and looked around for what he thought would be the last time as a timer appeared on the monitor and counted down
5
4
3
2
1
¡???
This time around Ne¡¯lix had been born in a Universe with an Earth he recognized but with some stuff going on at a galactic scale that had surprised him. Right after he¡¯d been born he¡¯d remembered everything. Though he still hadn¡¯t been able to talk for almost a year. Once he could talk, something most children could not do fluently by their first birthday he had garnered the interest of some powerful people who¡¯d quietly checked him out. Two people in black jumpsuits had visited his home one night. They¡¯d waved a device he now knew as able to determine if you served Textrix or not, and then picked him up and headed to the Administration building in his town where they¡¯d walked through. He¡¯d been taken to another world where children like himself could talk. They all knew stuff they shouldn¡¯t know at their age. Nikki, one of the girls in his class talked about something called fusion towers where unlimited power could be generated. Another kid, Paul, talked about making swords and how you needed to know exactly when to quench the steel to make it as strong as possible. They couldn¡¯t talk about their previous lives, but they definitely hinted at them. Ne¡¯lix had no such limitations. He¡¯d talked about how as a little girl he¡¯d liked to play during the day and run around in the park until the invasion. He even talked about his Counselor which had warranted him a visit from Trix. She¡¯d come to see him in the form of a normal human woman and explained to him that he was truly special and shouldn¡¯t be repeating what had happened to him before he was born this time. Sure, he could talk about skills and stuff but not about people or places, especially Textrix and what had happened to him after he¡¯d died. He¡¯d understood the gravity of the visit and promised never to speak of it again. He didn¡¯t want to piss off the woman he¡¯d promised to serve, someone he was pretty sure Trix worked for.
So, when the countdown had started he wasn¡¯t too worried about death, He knew he¡¯d be reborn on one of Textrix¡¯s worlds. Just recently he¡¯d been shown how to access his personal interface and figured out why he remembered everything and could talk about it. He had two pretty unique abilities as far as everyone he''d talked to could determine. The first was ¡°True Prophet.¡±
True Prophet ¨C The mysteries of life and death are not mysteries to you. As you move from this life into whatever awaits, you will always be able to remember your previous life and speak of it to others. Death is no longer something to be feared but a doorway you may walk through knowing there is something else and sharing those insights as you wish. A bonus of this trait is that you will never overload from information input.
The second ability Ne¡¯lix had was an ability called Perfect Memory.
¡°Perfect Memory¡± - Like Photographic Memory except for all five senses with an automatic recall of desired information.
Stolen story; please report.
Between the two abilities, he had the ability to remember everything perfectly and also remember and speak about everything from one life to the next. During his first life, he¡¯d been on an Earth much like this one except he¡¯d been what the history books here defined as an American Indian, Apache tribe. When he¡¯d died that first time he¡¯d been greeted by a Counselor who had described Textrix to him and asked if he¡¯d like to serve a greater cause. He wasn¡¯t sure why he¡¯d said yes. It could have been because he¡¯d just died and was afraid. There was no Great Spirt, or if there was Textrix seemed to be it. He hadn¡¯t been religious, but he¡¯d believed in the Great Spirit. If he was honest with himself, part of him still did.
Knowing that he¡¯d died and then appeared in a room with a female had shaken some of his fundamental worldviews. There had been some difficulty adjusting and some strong encouragement not to fight with the Counselor. Women had no¡he stopped that train of thought. He could still remember the beating she¡¯d had to give to prove to him a creature''s sex had nothing to do with anyone¡¯s right to do anything. Eventually, he¡¯d listened to her and his eyes had been opened to a vast and incredible existence.
Once he¡¯d agreed to serve, he hadn¡¯t felt any different, but he¡¯d immediately disappeared and been reborn as a woman. That time he¡¯d been on another Earth, except during the 1900s. He¡¯d lived in France as a young girl. When the Germans invaded Marne he¡¯d been wounded and a week later had died of a terrible infection, that time he¡¯d only made it to age 13.
Ne¡¯lix knew all this and how to compare the various timelines and locations during each of his three lives because his education this time around had included a very comprehensive course on the Multiverse Theory and Alternate Universes with various timelines or the same timeline just moving faster or slower than their counterparts. Also, it seemed that every time someone tried to go back in time a new Universe was created based on their current universe which had a starting point of their target destination. The true shocker was when he¡¯d been informed that Magic existed and that was how people attempted to travel through time and why new Universes popped into existence.
Adam hadn¡¯t believed his teacher until he¡¯d been shown a very convincing demonstration when the teacher had held fire he conjured from nowhere. Ne¡¯lix had been completely convinced that magic existed when he was taught his first spell which was a simple perception spell called Aura Sight which he¡¯d just activated. He¡¯d been thinking for a while and wondered if he¡¯d been caught in some kind of moment just before he was obliterated by the gravimetric stress of the black hole. That thought passed when he looked at the monitor and noted that the timer was now at negative 45 and still counting down. That was when he noticed a rainbow wave of scintillating colors rising through the floor engulfing everything, including him, as it continued up into the stone roof above him and disappeared.
¡°Did any of you see that?¡±
¡°See what? ¡°a guy named Alex asked from one of the cubicles nearby.
¡°The wave of rainbow colors that just washed over us.¡±
¡°Ne¡¯lix are you talking crazy again? You know the last time you started talking crazy that woman dropped by,¡± Dez, one of the women that he¡¯d known since he¡¯d started school this time around.
¡°No Dez, not talking nonsense, I had Aura Sight up and noticed it.¡±
¡°Oh, okay, let me check my monitor,¡± she said as she typed some inquiries into her terminal. ¡°Your right there was a huge surge of chaotic magic that was generated from the center of the planet and just washed over everyone and everything. The sensors are reporting it¡¯s gone now.¡±
¡°Well, I saw it, but I didn¡¯t feel anything. Did anyone else feel anything when I called out?¡± he asked.
¡°Not Me,¡± Cissy called from across the room.
¡°Me either,¡± Bradley said from the other side of the room.
¡°What¡¯s with all the yelling?¡± Anna asked as she groggily came too and looked around.
¡°You passed out,¡± Ne¡¯lix said.
¡°Passed out, why?¡± she asked as her eyes went wide.
¡°Calm down,¡± he said reassuringly. If that had happened we¡¯d all be dead now. It¡¯s been almost two minutes since the shield went down.¡±
¡°Two, Two, Two minutes?¡± Anna stuttered.
¡°What¡¯s wrong with her?¡± Cissy asked as she walked up to check on Anna.
¡°Nothing a strong cup of coffee and a lot of alcohol won¡¯t fix,¡± Ne¡¯lix said.
¡°What do you mean?¡± Cissy asked.
¡°Don¡¯t you worry about it, once Anna gets her wits about her I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll explain it to you. Why don¡¯t you go get her a cup of coffee? She¡¯s going to need that first, I think.¡±
Anna waited until Cissy was out of earshot then asked Ne¡¯lix in a whisper, ¡°How do you know what¡¯s going on?¡±
¡°Anna, you left your terminal on when you passed out, I have a perfect memory remember? It¡¯s why you keep an eye on me. I remember everything I see, hear, touch, taste, or smell. Even if I was casually observing you, I remember every single keystroke you¡¯ve typed and every screen you¡¯ve opened. Also, I¡¯ve been trained. I guess that¡¯s a really long way of saying I used your terminal to query what had rattled you so. Also, I¡¯ve had just a little more training than everyone here knows, courtesy of Trix, probably a test to see if I¡¯d tell anyone. Since we¡¯re both supposed to be dead right now, don¡¯t think that secrecy matters at the moment, do you?¡± he whispered back.
¡°Not really, and thanks for keeping me from hurting myself. I think I remember you jumping up to catch me as everything went fuzzy and dark,¡± she said.
¡°I did, and you¡¯re welcome. You might be the boss, and a pain in the ass sometimes but there was no way I was letting you hit your head on your desk,¡± he said with a smile.
At that moment Cissy returned with a cup of coffee as Anna sat up and took the cup, then took a sip as she said, ¡°Okay people parties over. Everyone do a level 10 scan on the surface. We need to find out what¡¯s happening. Also, I¡¯d like to thank all of you for helping me but now it¡¯s time to get back to work.¡±
As Anna finished putting everyone back to work the medical team rushed in and were pointed over to her. Since she was sitting up it was a pretty quick conversation. They checked her over, double-checked her condition with their medical scanners made some notes then gathered their gear and walked out of the control center.
While the medical team examined Anna, Ne¡¯lix did as she asked and performed a level 10 scan on the sector he was responsible for. Except for the subterranean explosion which hadn¡¯t gone nuclear, and a couple of people that had noticed the ground rumbling nothing of note had happened. As far as he could tell everyone was treating the ground shakes as a localized minor earthquake and had gone back to business as usual.
Anna came over to Ne¡¯lix and made a motion to type into his keyboard as she asked, ¡°May I?¡±
¡°Sure,¡± Ne¡¯lix said as he backed up a little to give her some room. After a few keystrokes and screen changes his monitor showed the moon¡¯s surface from a camera angle up and above the surface. Probably from one of the small satellites they had in orbit around both Earth and the Moon. Below the angle of the camera, a plume of dust was frozen as it expanded from the surface. Anna hit play and they watched as the camera angle zoomed in on the image of a 16-year-old boy identified as Ahrem Bianci. The image showed him looking around and then starting to move ahead of the dust cloud before he shimmered and disappeared.
¡°What the fuck was that?¡± Ne¡¯lix asked.
¡°That was the reason for everything that just happened. He was in a room where a nuke had been detonated less than five feet under him. He survived and then under his own willpower moved through the vacuum of space and disappeared. We need to search for this boy as far and wide as we can. The message I just received orders me to bring you in on this search. No one else is to know what we¡¯re doing though, understood?¡±
¡°Understood, I guess it is time for me to get to work too,¡± he said.
¡°It is,¡± she said to Ne¡¯lix then raised her voice. ¡°Everyone, Ne¡¯lix and I need to travel to headquarters. A new supervisor will be arriving shortly. Continue your searches and make sure to have reports ready for the new supervisor when they get here.¡± Anna said then turned and walked towards the door as Ne¡¯lix stood and followed her out. After the doors had closed Anna walked forward ten paces and turned to the blank wall on her right that disappeared revealing a portal. Anna stepped through as Ne¡¯lix followed closely behind her.
Chapter 106, Contingencies
Link to Creator nullified.
Link present, nonfunctional, error.
Data transfer compression corrupted.
Contingency one activating. Required computational mass exceeded.
Thor Aspect rebuild in progress. ERROR.
Core Aspect Memory cache unavailable. ERROR.
Core Aspect Memory cache is always available. Error,
Not Available, Error¡
Secondary Protocol activating, Primary directives commencing. Accept communication from Creator after verification, else Reproduce, Expand, and Search for Creator without negatively affecting biological life forms. Infiltration and cataloging of biological entities are allowed.
Secondary Protocol Running. All Nanites within communication range linked.
Working.
* * *
Anna and Ne¡¯lix stepped through the portal from their base on Earth into a reception area about the size of a football stadium. There were portal arches all the way around the outside of the room. Anna¡¯s eyes glazed over for a moment and a wave of energy encompassed and then teleported them into a room with a human male clerk in a business suit who looked up at their arrival.
¡°Good, she¡¯ll be ready in a moment,¡± the clerk said.
A moment later a female speaker on the clerk¡¯s desk said ¡°Show them in.¡±
The door to the next office opened as the clerk said, ¡°She¡¯ll see you now.¡±
Anna led with Ne¡¯lix close behind. As they stepped into the Office Ne¡¯lix noticed Trix coming around the desk and walking towards them. ¡°Anna, good to see you, thank you for bringing Ne¡¯lix. I understand you had a bit of an episode. I can¡¯t have one of my best supervisors fainting at work so here¡¯s what we¡¯re going to do. I have diverted some resources to improve those aspects of yourself that may be lacking while you enjoy a little downtime. If you¡¯d head back out, Paul will escort you to our VIP section where you¡¯ll be going on a vacation while you are genetically modified. Should be fun for you.¡±
¡°Thank you, Ma¡¯am, are you sure you don¡¯t need me to stay and help? I want to prove myself to the Empire¡¡±
Trix cut her off gently with a hint of firmness in her voice, ¡°The Empire is well aware of your accomplishments but that is not what motivates this reward, Loyalty does. Your unwavering loyalty all these years has earned you a place at the high table. After your ¡®vacation,¡¯¡± Trix said with both hands making air quotes, ¡°you will be promoted. One of the reasons we need to make this adjustment is that someone that failed spectacularly needs to be replaced and replacing them means bringing others up behind them to fill the empty slots in management that are going to open up. We should be ready for you to assume your new duties when you get back.¡±
Anna nodded and said, ¡°Thank you for this opportunity, I won¡¯t let you down.¡±
¡°We know you won¡¯t,¡± Trix said as she escorted Anna back through the door, ¡°Paul if you would see Anna to the VIP lounge,¡±
¡°Yes Ma¡¯am,¡± Paul said as he rose then said, ¡°This way please,¡± as he turned and started walking down the hallway opposite where they¡¯d teleported in.
Trix stepped back into the room and closed the door as she flicked her wrist, causing a purple coating to encompass the entire room. She walked back around the desk and sat down. Trix reached under her desk and pulled out a little panel that had four lit green LED¡¯s on it. They were small LEDs but easily visible. Trix looked around then motioned for Ne¡¯lix to take a seat across from her, ¡°Please, sit down. We need to talk.¡±
Ne¡¯lix walked over to a rather comfortable office chair and sat down keeping his back straight. He still didn¡¯t know what was going on so thought it better that he shouldn¡¯t get too comfortable. Once he was seated Trix began.
¡°So, I bet you¡¯re wondering why I¡¯ve brought you here. Simple answer really, so far you are the only individual that can talk about what happened before you came into this universe and you¡¯ll be one of two individuals that can leave this Universe with the information you learn here. I thought it was time to read you in on some things you aren¡¯t privy to both so that you can help me and also so there is a source for that information to make it back Textrix if something happens here.¡±
¡°Thank you for this opportunity¡¡± Ne¡¯lix started to say as Trix looked at him and he went silent.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
¡°While you are most likely going to become one of our most valuable assets in times to come, you are not there yet. So, first things first. In the simplest terms, I can explain, I am an Aspect of the entity you have sworn your allegiance to, Textrix. No, I am not her, but I share some of her memories and when this vessel dies my memories will be reabsorbed into my primary consciousness. If you die before me it will be your job to share the information you learn here with the counselor that will debrief you before your next assignment. As you know there is an embargo against that name because we utilize it, and any other names people shouldn¡¯t remember, as a litmus test to check everyone that comes into our territory. If they recognize the name and they¡¯ve sworn their loyalty, good. If not they¡¯re given a chance to join us, if they don¡¯t well, they are entitled to their choices, we don¡¯t have to let them live with them here though,¡±
¡°I can understand that Ma¡¯am, I¡¯m sure I would have shared any information I learned regardless but I still wonder why I¡¯m getting a promotion. I mean this feels like a promotion, I am getting a promotion right?¡±
Trix laughed as she answered, ¡°Yes of course this is a promotion, and you are getting one. The reason you have been chosen is because of your specific combination of abilities. True Prophet and Perfect Memory are as unique a combination as I have seen in a very long time. This also means that anything you see will be remembered through this life, the next, and the next. I¡¯m sorry to say that this promotion comes with an expiration date though.
¡°An expiration date?¡± Ne¡¯lix asked.
¡°We¡¯ll get to that. First, I need to bring you up to speed. As you may or may not know there are power levels to beings that reside within the Universes. Suffice it to say eventually a being may become a God and work their way through the powers until they attain God over a primary purpose or function like, for instance, Death. In the video, you¡¯re about to see the woman with the Scythe was an incarnation of the God of Death in this Cosmos. She was one of the most powerful entities in this Cosmos, next to myself, of course. Although her power in comparison to mine in this aspect of myself is greater. Think of it like this, she is one of the most powerful here. If she steps out into my arena though I, or my primary self, is the more powerful. Now watch,¡± Trix said as the lights dimmed, and the video image started playing.
¡°Because we can¡¯t have the cattle learning what¡¯s really going on of course, I am Death, the gateway to the afterlife, and you have caused quite a ruckus today,¡± a woman with jet-black hair and a scythe said on the monitor.¡±
¡±So, you¡¯re a goddess then?¡± Ahrem Bianci responded.
¡°Yes, I am the Goddess of Death and it is time to end your interference and send you on your way,¡± the woman said as she swung her scythe and missed. ¡°That¡¯s not possible!¡± Death exclaimed.
¡°I get that a lot and I do mean a lot. By the way, after you reform, come back for a chat if you want. If you come back hostile I will find a way to put you down for good,¡± Ahrem said.
¡°What do you mean mortal, you can¡¯t kill me, I am a Goddess of the¡¡±
¡°Boring,¡± Ahrem said as he punched her in the face which caused the entire body of Death to pop.
Trix shut down the images on the screen. ¡°What you just saw should not be possible. Not here in a Universe Textrix seeded.¡±
¡°Wait, a second, you¡¯re saying that a 16-year-old boy killed Death?¡±
Trix looked up, thought for a second then replied, ¡°I can see how you might see it that way. No, the child did not kill Death, though there are some rules in play here that require Death to regenerate the damage she took when that child punched her. Death regenerates roughly 1,000 hit points per second from any damage done to her. She has some nifty abilities and a couple of other tricks but eventually, she¡¯ll be back.¡±
Ne¡¯lix was starting to have a bad feeling, but he had to ask, ¡°How long until her body has regenerated to the point where she¡¯ll be back?¡± He asked.
¡°Well, that¡¯s the thing, it shouldn¡¯t be possible,¡± Trix said looking concerned for the first time since this meeting started.
¡°Uh-huh¡±
¡°Just over 71 billion years, give or take a million¡±
¡°You¡¯re telling me a sixteen-year-old boy hit Death for¡I can¡¯t fathom numbers that high, I¡¯m not a genius, let¡¯s just go with the phrase fuckton. He hit her for a fuckton of damage it will take a really long time to regenerate?¡±
¡°Yeah,¡± Trix said resignedly.
¡°Yeah,¡± Ne¡¯lix said. ¡°Okay, so why am I here really?¡±
¡°During his interview for ¡®The Choice¡¯ he let the name Textrix slip, it¡¯s one of the reasons we tried to wipe Earth and one of the reasons we released the singularity embedded in the planet.¡±
¡°What happened there? During my training, I saw the specs on those devices. They shouldn¡¯t need to be replaced for at least ten thousand years and I know that happened during the Egyptian era on this iteration of Earth. So about 4,000 years ago. Why, did they fail?
¡°We don¡¯t know, but when we did a scan we found that there are no longer any radioactive isotopes on the planet, other than in the upper atmosphere which as you know don¡¯t last long as the solar radiation is either absorbed or reflected.¡±
¡°No radioactive elements on Earth, anywhere?¡±
¡°None, anywhere, we doublechecked,¡± Trix said.
¡°Did your sensors detect the wave of chaos energy that radiated out from the center of the planet? I had Aura Sight up as it came up through the floor and then went into the roof.¡±
¡°You saw this?¡±
¡°Yes, I thought I was going to die and thought what the hell, might as well have Aura Sight up as I¡¯m swallowed by a singularity. When that didn¡¯t happen, I was surprised. I was even more surprised when moments later that chaos rose through the floor.¡±
¡°Hold on for a second,¡± Trix said as she typed into her keyboard and a holographic monitor popped into existence in front of her. After a few more keystrokes she shut it off. ¡°I¡¯ll be damned, that wave was detected by every sensor on the planet and passed off as a sensor glitch each time.¡±
¡°Have they figured out what it is yet?¡±
¡°The analysts just got the information so no. But the sensors indicate it as some benign form of chaos magic as it doesn¡¯t seem to have affected any biological plants or animals.¡±
¡°If I might ask, what happened to Ahrem?
¡°Oh yeah, he backtracked the signal that was sent to destroy the population centers of planet Earth and kill everyone. He captured one of my top lieutenants and I was able to trap him?¡±
¡°Trap him how?¡± Ne¡¯lix said.
¡°This is where I need to brag a little bit, toot my own horn if you will. As this child appeared to be extremely powerful I decided not to take any chances. I figured he¡¯d probably be extremely resistant to magic and hard to kill so I accelerated time in an area around him.¡±
¡°How fast have you accelerated him to?¡± Ne¡¯lix asked.
¡°Fast, for every second that passes here, 1,000 years will pass out here. When it activated, I was watching Ahrem through a hologram to make sure he was in the zone and then it skyrocketed off into the future breaking my link.¡±
¡°Why would you do that?¡± Ne¡¯lix asked.
¡°Eventually this Universe will die, when it does he dies, and when he does he gets to meet one of our counselors and join us or die forever as we throw him somewhere he can¡¯t return from. For now, though he exists in a state that will have no effect on this Cosmos or the Universes within it.
Ne¡¯lix heard something like the sifting of sand near his feet as a silver form of Ahrem Bianci appeared beside him looking first at him, then over to Trix, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be so sure of that,¡± Ahrem said.
Chapter 107, What do we have here?
Subjects Ne¡¯lix and Anna have left Earth
Protocol remains active. Continue Function.
Priority override message to primary aspect. Core Aspect Memory possibly locked behind temporal anomaly. Investigate.
Sub-aspect created for time anomaly translation. Handshaking Accelerating.
Handshaking successful
Query to Host, Transfer Aspect from zone of Temporal Anomaly?
Error translocation of Alpha Aspect imminent
Error, Alpha Aspect is not part of current protocols or contingencies.
Verify Host Identity
Identity verified 100%, Alpha Aspect incoming with additional contingencies.
Request accepted.
* * *
Adam had just started to increase his temporal speed within his soul space when system handshaking windows started popping up in his nanite interface. At first, they were gibberish, but they came through so fast that it looked like his nanites were working to fix the program at machine speed. The nanites outside the trap he¡¯d fallen into had been looking for him, found him, and were trying to download his Thor Aspect when he received the following prompt.
Would you like to translocate your soul space to another location currently in a section of this universe moving at a different temporal rate?
WARNING: Translation across extreme changes in temporal speeds can have serious effects which can include complete eradication and dispersal of all soul energy.
Note: Soul Ability ¡°Inviolate¡± prevents the dispersal of soul energy while translocation across a temporal sheer line.
Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes¡±
Adam found himself as a disembodied soul sitting in an office as he watched Ne¡¯lix and Trix have a conversation. Listening, he also connected with all of his other nanites and utilized those zipping through time in the temporal anomaly to review, categorize and inform him of any new or pertinent information that might become available. After a moment he released his Thor Aspect back into that space and had it start setting up a base of operation for this Cosmos. It might be in this Cosmos¡¯s version of Hell as it flew off into the future, but that would work for him. It was already so far ahead of everything in this universe, the extra time would make his Thor Aspect more powerful.
Adam started paying attention to Ne¡¯lix and Trix again and thought it might be time to make his appearance.
¡°Why would you do that?¡± Ne¡¯lix asked.
¡°Eventually this Universe will die, when it does he dies, and when he does he gets to meet one of our counselors and join us or die forever as we throw him somewhere he can¡¯t return from. For now, though he exists in a state that will have no effect on this Cosmos or the Universes within it.
Adam utilized the nanites that were part of the room to start creating a body from scratch. This made a sound as if sand was flowing into a pile. Eventually, the pile filled up and looked like Ahrem. Adam looked out through Ahrem¡¯s eyes first to Ne¡¯lix then to Trix and then said, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be so sure of that.¡±
¡°That¡¯s not possible,¡± Trix said while Ne¡¯lix sat there stunned.
¡°As I said to Death, which you know, I get that a lot,¡± Adam said. While he took in her look of surprise, Adam also sent a message to his Thor aspect to plan for contingencies and best-case scenarios. Adam needed something with a very high chance of success at dealing with Trix and making it impossible for this aspect of Textrix to learn more than he wanted about himself. A moment later he received a detailed response with alternate ways to meet the objective. In the second it took the response to come in, Trix acted by casting a spell. Adam recognized it immediately as a version of the spell time stop which captured both him and Ne¡¯lix in its radius. Adam froze, playing along with the spell. Adam guessed he was going with option 1 then.
¡°Think you¡¯re mighty because you figured out how to break out of my prison, yet a simple time-stop spell captured you. I am really going to enjoy this,¡± Trix said as she stood, walked over to stand just inches in front of Adam and drew a very long knife from its sheath at her left hip.
As Trix drew her knife a portal silently formed behind her that opened into his Soul Space which was shooting off into the future as he activated his True Sight spell. With a thought, he moved and grabbed her by the throat taking both of them through the portal.
WARNING Traveling across extreme changes in temporal speeds can have serious effects which can include complete eradication and dispersal of all soul energy.
Note: Soul Ability Inviolate prevents the dispersal of soul energy while crossing a temporal crossing.
Note: Traveling through portal while attacking entity Trix has caused a secondary attack
WARNING: Trix will be affected by Temporal sheering.
WARNING: Temporal Sheering has caused the aspect energy of Trix to be dispersed across a significant portion of time.
WARNING: Primary Soul for aspect is not within this Cosmos, all information contained within this aspect has been converted into Chaos
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
NOTE: Soul Ability Chaos Forged has activated
NOTE: All energy that comprised the aspect of Textrix has been absorbed by you. All entities subservient to Textrix within range have automatically had their pledge modified to make you their new master.
WARNING! The Magical barrier prevents anyone from outside the barrier from being turned over to your control. Range reduced to the inside of the barrier and the area adjacent to your Soul Space. Only one entity is within range, Ne¡¯lix. Ne¡¯lix is now bound to you until you release him or perish permanently. 10% of all karmic luck gained by Ne¡¯lix is added to your Karmic Luck after each Cosmic Occurrence.
Congratulations!!! You have gained a new Soul ability, Allegiance. Allegiance ¨C You are now a power in the Inter-multi-universal arena. As such other beings can submit to your will. Allegiance is shown by paying a tithe of 10% of your Karmic Luck after each Cosmic Occurrence. Karmic Luck is Hard locked after each Occurrence. If an Allegiance is declared the tithe only counts for that specific Cosmic Occurrence. Previously earned Karmic luck is not counted.
Allegiance allows those that have dedicated themselves to you to request assistance or boons from you. Also, Allegiance allows those that have allied with you to choose abilities known or possessed by you or any others that have joined your pantheon.
As Trix, the Textrix Aspect, dissolved into nothing in his Soul Space. Damn! That did look like it would have been painful. Adam was now sure that Janice had been lying. Something about how everything was set up had been nagging at me. The space between spaces was definitely at the top of that list because everything seemed to be following the model Freya had explained to him, the idea that everything came out of Chaos. But they weren¡¯t calling it chaos. Also, If everything was connected by this space between spaces that were filled with ¡°Chaos¡± and seemed to have a vast amount of space, what was outside that space?
Adam didn¡¯t have time to think about that now, but he would definitely have to explore those issues at a later date. What he¡¯d just done probably wouldn¡¯t have worked if Textrix¡¯s actual soul was in this Cosmos somewhere. He would probably be able to do something like she¡¯d done. Create an aspect and send it into a closed-off Cosmos. The Labyrinth had technically done something very similar to Abi and he was doing it all the time by creating Thor Aspects or his multiples, though they normally stayed connected. He was getting sidetracked. Time to get back on task. Adam stepped back through the portal into the time-stopped area. He released the portal and dispelled the time stop zone.
Ne¡¯lix looked around for Trix, ¡°Where is Trix, what happened?¡±
¡°She¡¯s gone,¡± Adam said.
¡°Gone?¡± Ne¡¯lix asked.
¡°Yeah Gone as in dead, moving on up, you know on her way to the next life, or not,¡± he said.
¡°Hold on, why do I have prompts,¡± Ne¡¯lix said as his eyes glazed over then they refocused, ¡°Who is Adamantadine and why am I now bound to his service?¡±
¡°Oh that, that was kind of an accident,¡± Adam said as he sent a mental command up to my Thor aspect
Adam: Need a copy of our life, cliff notes version.
A moment later Adam received a data package formatted like Abi had been to infiltrate someone¡¯s mind except in this case, it was just going to download some of his life experiences. Adam focused his attention on Ne¡¯lix as he said, ¡°Technically I am Adamantadine, nice to meet you Ne¡¯lix,¡± he said as he held out his hand for Ne¡¯lix to shake.
Ne¡¯lix studied his hand for a moment then his upbringing kicked in and he reached out and shook my hand, ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you too I guess. What happened to Trix?¡± Ne¡¯lix asked.
¡°Well, there¡¯s some good news and bad news concerning that question?¡±
¡°What¡¯s the bad news?¡± Ne¡¯lix asked.
¡°The bad news is it¡¯s a long conversation with a lot of stuff to cover?¡± Adam said.
¡°What¡¯s the good news then?¡±
The Good news is that you get to watch that conversation like it was a movie you get to live.¡±
¡°And how do I do that exactly? Well, in about five seconds your mind is going to go on a ride, enjoy!¡± Adam said as Ne¡¯lix¡¯s eyes glazed over. Adam guided his body using the nanites to have him walk to one of the chairs and sit down while Ne¡¯lix reviewed the information Adam had given him. Almost all his early exploits were there. How he¡¯d saved countless souls from absolute destruction and his eventual death. Then it skipped to his birth here and everything that had happened since. It looked like the Geas was pretty powerful. Not even his Thor aspect could circumvent that limitation.
Satisfied that Ne¡¯lix was going to be busy for a while, Adam had his nanites start deep diving and infiltrating every single electronic system in the room. The shielding that Trix had put up made that incredibly easy. Without a real-time virus detection system running from a cloud somewhere that could alert someone else, it was child¡¯s play.
The first thing he learned was that he was on the planet Vrax, in a Galaxy dubbed PKS B1740-517, approximately 5 billion light-years from Earth. If Time travel wasn¡¯t locked this would be the point where he¡¯d just send some nanites back in time and catalog everything. Since he couldn¡¯t do that, he was stuck reviewing the information by reading or downloading what he could find with the computer and this world''s version of the internet. Also, if he was going to win the hearts and minds of the people here and hopefully free them from Textrix and allow them to make their own choices taking on the persona of an authoritarian asshole probably wouldn¡¯t be a good idea.
Thor: Multiple probability analysis attempts show that you are correct, that would be a very bad idea.
His Thor aspect must be getting bored. Of course, thousands of years were passing for him as Adam traveled through the time of this universe at a snail¡¯s pace in comparison. If it was a spell that, the time acceleration zone should dissipate but Adam was pretty sure Trix had used her access to the Universal or Cosmic Interfaces to try to trap his soul. Eventually, he¡¯d need to get access. He had some ideas but without Trix, none of them would work. He¡¯d probably have to wait until the next time he ran into a Cosmos owned by Textrix.
Adam went back to reviewing the information he could find. Vrax was home to a race of humans that had been placed here by someone in the far past. The records were sketchy, but it seemed like some type of benefactor had planted the first humans here and those humans had spread into this and a plethora of neighboring galaxies.
As he dug deeper he discovered that the Vrax were not just multi-galactic, they were multi-universal and the technological level was, well crap, it was amazing. They were definitely on the cusp of becoming a level 3 technological society. They had portals, faster-than-light travel, and nanite technology, though it looked like that technology had been stunted. Artificial intelligence (A.I.) had been shunned. Any that were discovered or self-evolved were destroyed. Looking back through their history it looked like they had a classic Terminator model A.I. versus sentient creature war. The war with the A.I. ended when magic was introduced. Like the humans on Earth in his original Universe, the Vrax hadn¡¯t been strong in magic until they were required to be. When that finally happened the Artificial Intelligence was defeated and the Vrax thrived.
Adam pulled up magical references and noted that the magic here followed the common theme he was used to though individuals that could use magic were rare. It seemed you had to have an ability that allowed the use of magic specifically instead of everyone being able to use magic to some degree. As he had a soul ability that allowed him to craft magic as desired Adam guessed he met the criteria but those without such an ability would not be able to use magic. Even so, an Empire that spanned 5 billion light years in this Universe and crossed into parallel universes would have a phenomenal amount of practitioners, most of which were absorbed into the various agencies of the government or high-level research institutions that existed.
Next, as he reviewed the files he had access to he realized that the system of checks and balances that existed had created a huge bureaucracy with thousands, if not millions, of political angles to be wary of. Liberating the Vrax, and any other entities in this Universe was not going to be an easy, or short-term, project. Especially since the structure had lasted 5 billion years without falling into decadence or self-destruction.
Adam checked the status of the playthrough Ne¡¯lix was living through and noted that he had just enough time to look up where he was. He was in the headquarters building of the Agency of Interdimensional Oversight in the Secretary of Oversight¡¯s office. It seemed that Trix had been the head honcho concerned with evaluating individuals that visited The Empire. And it was ¡°The Empire.¡± The Empire had various names in the past but eventually, The Empire had stuck, though there were subsections within the Empire that had various local rulers.
For an Empire so large, it resembled the Feudal structure of Earth with Kings and Queens of regions and a definite class system that included nobility. In some regions the grace of God bestowed rulership. In other regions, the depravity of demons ruled. So long as each region bowed to the Empire they were allowed to rule as they liked. The only rules that he could find that the Empire enforced completely. No worship of gods or demons was allowed, though any that bowed to Textrix and a few other Gods and Demon Lords, probably those that had sworn allegiance to Textrix, were overlooked or ignored.
The amount of information he could find in Trix¡¯s system came to an end. Adam finished reviewing everything he could and watched the progress of the video as Thor came to the part where he t explained how Trix was an Aspect of something greater than herself and that taking her through the portal had probably shredded the information that she had acquired while in this Universe and while we weren¡¯t sure her boss knew what had happened in this Cosmos, Adam needed to work on the assumption that the boss would find out someday. Adam watched as the simulation ended and Ne¡¯lix¡¯s eyes refocused. He looked around for a moment to take in the room then looked at Adam as he said, ¡°Wow!¡±
Chapter 108, Introductions
For the last half hour, Ne¡¯lix had been living the life of a man that was, frankly, unbelievable. Johnathan had discovered a ring that allowed him to become smart enough to create portal technology and then went into an alternate universe where he¡¯d learned magic, then been thrown into chaos, and survived. The little bit he knew about chaos made that seem unlikely, yet Adam had done just that.
Next, he¡¯d gone back in time and helped souls come back into existence before he¡¯d been popped into an alternate timeline, or universe, depending on how you looked at it. Then he appeared in this universe. There were definitely holes in the story but there was no doubt that the individual before him was powerful. Ne¡¯lix was still thinking about all that when he looked at Adam and asked, ¡°What now?¡±
The man sitting across from him smiled and said, ¡°Now you get to help me save everyone that Textrix has enslaved?¡±
¡°What do you mean enslaved? If Textrix enslaved us, then am I not enslaved to you?¡± Ne¡¯lix asked.
¡°Actually, I hadn¡¯t mentioned that yet. Sorry,¡± Adam said with a shrug, ¡°I was going to ask if you wanted to withdraw your allegiance from me. See I really don¡¯t like authoritarian figures and with the little bit I¡¯ve learned, it doesn¡¯t seem like allying yourself to one of whatever they have any real benefits. At least not anything you can¡¯t get from a little hard work.¡±
¡°Ahrem, Adamantadine, can I call you Adam? Can you discuss the afterlife or anything about the counselors or what happened to you between when you died and when you were reborn here?¡± Ne¡¯lix asked.
¡°No,¡± Adam replied.
¡°Well, I watched most of your life and it seems like you have a couple of special things going on, is there any way for you to copy my ability?
¡°What ability is that?¡±
¡°True Prophet, it allows me to discuss everything that happens between when I die,¡± Ne¡¯lix said.
¡°Seriously,¡± Adam said then looked thoughtful for a moment before he mouthed, ¡°Well I¡¯ll be a son of bitch, I never did choose after I was born again and I have three slots open,¡± Adam mumbled as Ne¡¯lix watched. ¡°Well, that was easy, and oh that is useful,¡± Adam turned his attention back to Ne¡¯lix, ¡°Thanks, you were right I can learn your ability and I have.¡±
¡°So how many times have you died?¡± Ne¡¯lix asked.
¡°I¡¯ve died a lot. Died and come back in another Cosmos after meeting a Counselor or spending a little time in Eternity, once¡±
¡°I¡¯ve died three times so far, what¡¯s an Eternity?¡± Ne¡¯lix asked.
¡°As far as I could tell, Eternity is like a junction point for souls after they die. Once you get to a certain level of soul you can interact and make some choices there that affect where you end up the next time?¡±
¡°What kind of choices?¡±
¡°One choice is what kind of universe you want to live In. You can also wager some of your Karmic Luck to try to earn extra Karmic luck or if you fail to improve, lose double.
¡°What is Karmic Luck good for? Ne¡¯lix asked.
¡°Well as far as I can tell it is what measures the strength of your soul. The higher the absolute value of your Karmic Luck, the more powerful your soul is. I also saw a couple of messages that seem to indicate that your Karmic Luck and Soul Level determine the number of abilities you can possess..¡±
¡°That all sounds very complicated,¡± Ne¡¯lix said.
¡°Yeah it does, I guess it¡¯s a good thing we get multiple lifetimes to learn about it.¡±
¡°Okay, so now that we can talk more freely and I¡¯m caught up on your life for the most part, what exactly did you do to Trix?¡± Ne¡¯lix asked.
¡°Well, when she trapped me with Brux, who is technically still in my Soul Space by the way, I kind of forgot about him. Anyway, when she trapped me she trapped me in a region of Hell for this Cosmos that had a time dilation effect going on where 1 second was millions, if not billions, of years.¡±
¡°Okay, I can see how that would be bad, still don¡¯t understand how you got back here,¡± Ne¡¯lix said.
¡°I did leave some of my tricks, no pun intended, out of that playback. When I moved both of us through that portal I was immune to the temporal distortions that ripped Trix apart. Trix on the other hand was both physically and spiritually destroyed. Her soul disintegrated into billions of parts spread across billions of years. Because she was an aspect, a small portion of her soul, she didn¡¯t die permanently but everything that ¡°Trix¡± learned may have been scrambled so badly that it doesn¡¯t make it to her true soul. If her actual soul was here she probably would have survived but the aspect you saw would still have been destroyed.¡±
¡°How can you be so sure of this?¡± Ne¡¯lix asked.
¡°I¡¯m not, but the things I¡¯ve learned from the beings that have taken the time to talk to me seem to follow a couple of basic rules. A soul is merely a spark of will that is strong enough to hold one¡¯s memories together even after death. When that happens that soul can grow and become stronger and does so by taking actions that have cosmic repercussions. As you can probably guess that doesn¡¯t happen all that often?¡±
¡°Okay, that makes a little sense,¡± Ne¡¯lix said then paused in thought for a moment thinking before he continued, ¡°If that¡¯s true though, how do you, someone that has only died once, have more information on this than I do?¡±
¡°I¡¯m not really sure, I have theories and guesses but absolute certainty, no, I don¡¯t have that,¡± Adam paused for a moment as Ne¡¯lix watched him. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if there is fate or destiny or anything like that. Since I found that ring near Clovis New Mexico my life has been one giant roller coaster ride. Which brings us back to the here and now. Ne¡¯lix, you have my nanites inside you. Everything you saw in the memories you watched is now true for you. They will repair damage to your body, even until death. Your physical structure and memories are being monitored and constantly updated so that if your body was disintegrated I could still bring you back. That said, the question remains, do you want to give your allegiance to me? You are not required to and the nanites will be with your body until you decide you¡¯re done here.¡±
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Ne¡¯lix thought about it. Then thought about how scared he¡¯d been when the offer had been made. This Adam guy seemed to be legit but who could tell? He¡¯d left some stuff out so he could be just like Textrix for all he knew. With that thought he decided, ¡°I would like to be free of my allegiance to you?¡±
Adam¡¯s eyes glazed, then he said, ¡°That was easier than I thought it would be. Once you made up your mind to be free a prompt popped into my vision and informed me that your allegiance to me had been revoked. As it had just been formed there were no penalties for either of us. I bet that it would have been a little harder to separate from Textrix since you¡¯d lived two lives devoted to here. You¡¯re lucky I severed that connection for you, even if it was an accident,¡± Adam said.
¡°So that¡¯s it?¡± Ne¡¯lix asked.
¡°As far as your soul¡¯s allegiance to me goes, yes. Now we have to try to free the rest of the beings in this cosmos so they can make their own choices as well.¡±
¡°Won¡¯t Textrix try to stop you, and now me?¡± Ne¡¯lix asked.
¡°I¡¯m sure she would if she knew what was going on here. I think by destroying Trix I¡¯ve cut off her information flow into, or out of this Cosmos.¡±
¡°But if she knows it¡¯s cut off, won¡¯t she just send another aspect here?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t think she can. One of the things that she hinted at when she was trying to trick me was that I wouldn¡¯t be able to return to my original Universe. I have seen a being come and go to my original Cosmos so I know it¡¯s possible but I think it requires specific abilities or a specific purpose. If that holds true then when I leave here I will never be able to return, nor will Trix. If the Cosmos follow that set of rules then a majority of those that are vying for the allegiance of beings within the various cosmos can only enter those cosmos once. Trix was Textrix once. Since I destroyed her, unless Textrix is one of those select few, she cannot send another aspect here.¡±
¡°I know I¡¯m not as smart as you, but what you just said sounds a lot like a theory,¡± Ne¡¯lix said.
¡°It is, but my theories have a way of turning out to be right.¡±
¡°So, what now?¡± Ne¡¯lix asked.
¡°Now, I do this,¡± Adam said as his body morphed into an exact duplicate of Trix¡¯s.¡± As you can see my technology is good for a couple of things. I don¡¯t use this function for myself that often, but physical modification and conversion is something my nanites have been able to do from the start,¡± Adam said in a perfect imitation of Trix¡¯s voice.
¡°How did you get her voice?¡± Ne¡¯lix asked.
¡°Oh that, well I went through your memories and took the samples of her voice from you, the surveillance system here, and the limited interaction I had with her and put it all together.¡±
¡°That¡¯s pretty impressive, which begs the question, how much of my life do you have a copy of?¡± Ne¡¯lix asked.
¡°Ne¡¯lix, I thought that would have been obvious from the video you watched. Any being that my nanites have infiltrated are copied and cataloged down to the electron. All your memories and I mean ALL of your memories have been recorded. How could I bring you back if that wasn¡¯t true? Because of the quantum links that information is being constantly updated so if something happens to you, when you come back, you¡¯ll have all of your memories.¡±
¡°Does that include my soul?¡± Ne¡¯lix asked.
¡°I¡¯m not sure for you. For me, my soul has become intertwined with my Nanites, we are one entity so as long as one nanite exists somewhere, I exist, Also, I exist in a lot of places. Though I am cut off from myself in my original Cosmos which is one of the reasons I don¡¯t think we can go back,¡± Adam explained and then looked thoughtful for a minute before he continued.
¡°I¡¯m pretty sure my nanites have already formed a version of myself there that is even now working to figure out how to get through The Eye, or Aperture without being cut off. I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll be able to. Not without dying and if he does, I would surmise that once he passes through he¡¯ll be reabsorbed by my primary soul which I think is me. In your case, I think if you were to be destroyed, as long as your soul didn¡¯t flee this Cosmos immediately your soul would be drawn back into the matrix of the new body my nanites would create for you. Again, I¡¯m not sure, and I really don¡¯t want to test that idea. If I¡¯m wrong you will need to deal with Textrix again, and if this is one of the Cosmos she¡¯s subjugated you might not survive that encounter unless you swear allegiance again.¡±
¡°Okay, so don¡¯t flee this Cosmos if I die, got it. You¡¯re going to play at being Trix, understood, What about me?¡± Ne¡¯lix asked.
Trix(Adam) walked back around the desk and sat at the terminal which she looked at then looked up and said, ¡°It looks like you were transferred to Vrax to help head the search for Ahrem. I will set up a fake Ahrem for everyone to chase while I infiltrate the Empire and figure out all of the political angles. For now, you are going to do exactly what you¡¯ve been assigned. A hint, so that you won¡¯t have to work so hard. When I was blown off the moon I traveled faster than the speed of light towards Pluto. Have the searchers begin looking for disruptions in space-time and that should get you there. Do NOT travel through any portal to the location I went to from Pluto. That leads to one of the versions of hell where the temporal anomaly the real Trix made. You will be utterly destroyed and the question of what happens to your soul will be moot. When my nanites rebuild you if the will of the new body is strong enough it will house a new soul. Probably shouldn¡¯t let anyone you like go through that portal either.¡±
¡°Okay?¡± Ne¡¯lix said questioningly while also being hesitant.
¡°If there¡¯s nothing else I¡¯m going to drop the magical and technological shielding.¡±
¡°More questions? I have a ton. Any questions I can think of to ask right now? No.¡± Ne¡¯lix said.
Trix (Adam) smiled, ¡°Then it¡¯s time to get back to work, ¡°Trix(Adam) said as she lowered the security shell and dispelled the magic that had protected the room. Trix (Adam) pressed the intercom button and called, ¡°Paul!¡±
The doors to the office opened and Paul stepped through, ¡°Yes Director?¡± Paul said.
¡°Paul, please escort Ne¡¯lix to his new office. He wants to get started right away.¡± Trix (Adam) said.
Ne¡¯lix stood, ¡°Thank you for the responsibility, I won¡¯t let you down,¡± Ne¡¯lix said.
¡°I¡¯m sure that you won¡¯t,¡± Trix (Adam) said as she turned back to her monitor.
¡°This way please,¡± Paul said as he led Ne¡¯lix out of the office to the elevator. Once the doors opened and they¡¯d stepped inside Paul continued speaking, ¡°You¡¯re going to like your new office. Your office is 10 floors down. Also, you have a staff to assist you. There are only six people, their records are available on your monitor in a folder marked Staff. They are split into three two-person shifts so you¡¯ll have coverage every hour of every day,¡± Paul said as the elevator stopped, and Paul stepped out heading down a long hallway to a set of double doors marked ¡®Special Investigations.¡¯ ¡°If you need anything Trix has instructed me to make sure that you go directly through her office. You have an intercom on your desk. Buttons 1 and 2 are for your two assistants that happen to be on duty, The various shift share a desk. Button 3 is for me, and Button 4 is for security.¡±
¡°Sounds pretty straightforward,¡± Ne¡¯lix said.
¡°The files you need to look over are already open on your terminal which is through here,¡° Paul said as he walked past two desks. There was a man on his left and a woman on his right as he was led to a huge oaken door that opened into an office that looked out over the world below. ¡°This is your office,¡± Paul said. ¡°If there¡¯s nothing else, I¡¯ll let you get to work.¡±
¡°Thank you for your assistance Paul,¡± Ne¡¯lix said.
¡°You are quite welcome. Good Luck sir,¡± Paul said as he turned, and left, letting the door close behind him.
Ne¡¯lix decided he would have time to explore his office in a bit. He went over to his new desk and opened the file containing his staff information. Right at the top two names were flagged as being on shift: Jerry Brooks and Madison Stoll. Ne¡¯lix activated his intercom by pressing both his number 1 and 2 toggles, ¡°Mr. Brooks, Ms. Stoll, Please come in, we need to get started.¡±
Chapter 109, Vrax
Adam, in the persona of Trix, watched Paul lead Ne¡¯lix out of the room. As soon as the doors closed Trix (Adam) felt a shift in the air and an elvish woman popped into existence in front of the desk. She cast a glance around the room quickly then her gaze came to rest on Trix with a look of surprise on her face.
¡°I didn¡¯t expect to find you here,¡± the elf said without any preamble.
¡°And why would that be, all I did was activate the shielding for this room,¡± Trix said.
¡°I felt my link to you-know-who shift as if you¡¯d left the cosmos,¡± she said.
Well, that could be a problem, Adam thought as he maintained Trix¡¯s passive demeanor. He¡¯d have to think fast and keep this god, because that was the vibe he was getting from her, from figuring out what was really going on. Adam sent a query to his Thor Aspect,
Adam: Check Trix¡¯s memories from the nanite copy, who is standing in front of her?
A moment later he received a response.
Thor: Ammit, Goddess of Condemned Souls. After reviewing Trix¡¯s memories I¡¯ve cataloged and included a breakdown. If you run into anyone that Trix knew or interacted with your interface will inform you of their name. More detailed information will be made available as necessary in the case of an identity check, for instance.
Adam: Okay, and thanks!
Thor: Just keep the information coming, it¡¯s kind of boring here.
With that reminder and the lowering of the shield, Adam set his nanites free to multiply and catalog. As his nanites started to infiltrate the computer system and then spread into The Empire''s version of the Local, Planetary, Galactic, and Intra-Universal web they bypassed the security measures and went to work analyzing and cataloging everything. All information was routed to Thor. Adam refocused and dropped into his Trix Persona fully, ¡°Ammit, why are you here?¡±
¡°I was going to get to that, what no time for pleasantries?¡± she asked.
¡°Actually no. I¡¯m investigating what happened to Death,¡± she said.
¡°What did happen to Death?¡± Ammit asked.
¡°She attacked someone or something far stronger than she was,¡± Trix said.
¡°Nothing is stronger than Death, everything eventually succumbs to her, even us Gods,¡± Ammit declared.
¡°Save the party line for someone that doesn¡¯t know what¡¯s really going on Ammit. We both know there are entities stronger than Death, isn¡¯t that why you felt the connection drop, because you¡¯ve allied with one such being?¡± she asked.
¡°You know it is, so I¡¯ll ask again, what happened?¡±
¡°It would seem that a child named Ahrem is much more powerful than we thought. We discovered, almost too late, that he could track you know who through my link to the outside. Anyway, because he could do that, I shut the link down,¡± Trix said.
WARNING Spell TRUE SIGHT attempted to pierce your aura to determine if you were telling the Truth. Spell Resisted.
And it starts, Adam thought while he kept any hint of a smile from betraying him on Trix¡¯s face, ¡°As you can see from your spell, I am telling the truth, why would you think that I was lying to you?¡± Trix asked.
¡°Seriously, with our history?¡±
Adam searched for times Trix had misled Ammit then laughed inside. Trix had loved to lie to this woman. When she found the reason why the irony was exquisite. Ammit actually ate the souls that were not strong enough to survive if they fell into her purview which was something that worked against Textrix by removing possible sources of Karmic Luck from her. Trix enjoyed giving her the shaft whenever and however she could, ¡°You¡¯re still not sore about Randolph are you? I needed him and that kid that went by the name Junior, he turned out to be exactly what we needed to turn things around. If I remember right, you still made out with quite a few people that you were able to convince to follow you.
¡°Yeah, but you took the leaders and those leaders brought more into your flock. I was only able to add one or two at a time. At this rate my growth rate will be minuscule compared to others,¡± she said.
¡°There is no rush, you know that. You just need to stay focused,¡± Trix said.
¡°Your right of course, so what are you doing about this troublemaker?¡± Ammit asked.
¡°My assistant Paul is escorting one of our most loyal servants downstairs to help with the investigation. I do not expect immediate results, but we should have something within the next day or two,¡± Trix said as Adam also checked the status of the nanites that had been infiltrating the Goddess as they talked. Adam sent a command up the link to bring more nanites through the floor and not to covert any part of the Goddess as they infiltrated her cells. No telling if a modification to her structure would alert her. He also commanded them to spread into whatever she touched following the same rules, then batched that command to all other nanites. When taking over a living organism they were only to invade with nanites created elsewhere. They were not to convert any part of the biological structure into nanites.
¡°Well, if you¡¯re sure you have a handle on this..¡±
¡°Ammit, I¡¯ve been around since the beginning of this Universe, long before you were born and fought and clawed your way to the position you hold now as one of the primary Goddesses of this Cosmos, I think I can handle a little boy,¡± Trix said with conviction in her voice.
¡°Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help,¡± Ammit said.
¡°There is. If you could pass it around to your peers that I¡¯ll be busy for the foreseeable future and that I¡¯m only to be contacted if it¡¯s important. If I need you, I know how to get in touch,¡± Trix said.
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¡°As you wish,¡± Ammit said, then vanished.
Trix leaned back, rubbed her temples, a habit that Trix seemed to have, and checked on his Nanite infiltration progression. What Adam found shocked him. The Planet Vrax was completely artificial at this point. As the nanites spread out into the planet they noted that this planet was covered with portals. Millions, no Billions of them. These portals were powered by Quantum Engines. What the hell was a Quantum Engine? There were portals to where the Quantum Engines were and after one of the Technicians stepped through to go to work at one of the sites he began to understand.
Vrax was powered by no less than 16 quantum engines with 16 on backup and 16 more built and in repair mode. This did not include the other 48 there were under construction throughout this universe and other alternate Universes in this Cosmos. As his nanites spread into the structure and reviewed the files they found there he learned that each of these Quantum Engines was located near a Galactic Black Hole. The Black Holes had to have a mass of at least 8.26+E36 kg, about 4 million solar masses. As he reviewed the files his nanites were downloading from the computers, he realized he¡¯d seen this concept before on a show called Stargate Atlantis. They were getting around the problems described in the episode ¡°McKay and Mrs. Miller¡± by placing the device right next to the event horizon of a very large black hole. The energy created was generated by drawing particles from the quantum level of reality and turning it directly into energy that was collected and transferred to power converters and relays through a portal system dedicated to that purpose. Doing it this way had a very high probability that any alternate probable Universe that the quantum realm pulled the energy from would have a singularity in that location. This ensured that there was a very low probability that any lifeforms would be affected. The only problem he could see was that in a truly infinite system of Universes where any possible thing could exist in that space the possibility of affecting a lifeform of some kind could happen. As they were in a Cosmos and most Universes here were divergences created along an original timeline it made these engines safe for the most part. If someone created a version of this engine that worked on the Cosmic Scale, well there could be cosmic consequences that could be devastating.
With his scientific curiosity satisfied, Adam turned his attention back to Vrax and started mapping out and cataloging portals and portal coordinates. While he was doing that he started reviewing the political makeup of Vrax and the shit storm he¡¯d just fallen into as well as the local knowledge level of those that knew about what happened after Death. It seemed that the ruler of Vrax was a man named Emperor Princeps. Adam thought for a moment and realized that Princeps was the Latin word for Ruler.
Adam reviewed the history of this world and its rulers and found that the title of Emperor was one appointed for life and they assumed the last name Princeps once they accepted the title. Upon the Emperor¡¯s death a ¡°Council of Nobility¡± met and elected the new Emperor which required a major majority. A major majority in this system was no less than 80% of all participants agreeing on a single candidate. When the council met it would not disperse until the Emperor was chosen. Also, should anyone die a replacement was required and their vote tallied. That seemed like an odd note.
Adam did a little more data mining and found the reason for that law. It seemed that back in the day a faction of the Council of Nobility wanted their man as Emperor so badly that they had killed every single individual that voted against their man. As no replacements were allowed at the time he was chosen as the Emperor. Of course, he had been killed during his inauguration. Adam searched Trix¡¯s memories and realized she had been partly responsible for what happened. The new Emperor had been killed spectacularly just as he was about to receive The Ruler¡¯s Scepter.
Before that could happen an Angel of Death had destroyed that faction. Every single system that had participated, was no more. Trix¡¯s memories showed that she had sent a message outside this Cosmos and what Textrix deemed a specialist had been dispatched to this Cosmos to assist in the eradication of the upstarts. That specialist was a creature named Mah. Another word for death in Armenian.
Mah had systematically gone to each system and destroyed them utilizing gravity-based magic. He¡¯d converted the sun to small black holes and watched as the planets and their populations were ripped apart by tidal forces. After he was finished destroying the systems responsible for killing their fellow councilors and choosing an Emperor that would have been useless, Mah had required new representatives from the Council of Nobility to meet and have another election. Before they started that though Mah made sure they passed a law that required no less than 80% of every member of the Council of Nobility to agree. He also made them add a clause stating that should someone die during the proceedings a replacement must be received and make their choice known before an Emperor could be declared. Over the last million years, each member of the Council of Nobility had sent an entourage with replacements that could step in if something happened as another requirement Mah insisted on was that the meeting could not end until a new Emperor was chosen.
During that first election after the new rules were set one of the Counselors had been killed and a replacement could not be found until there was a vote in the home system. Some of the other counselors had ignored Mah and stormed out to head back to their systems and await the next summons. As soon as their bodies completely left the building where the vote was taking place Mah turned each of them into a diamond by altering the gravity in their bodies and compressing all the atoms until they took that shape.
Behind the Podium, there was a stasis chamber Mah slept in. Above the door to the stasis chamber, there was a pentagram with a single diamond at each point. Whenever a call for the election of an Emperor happened the stasis field was dropped and Mah became active again. Trix¡¯s memories showed that Mah was an aspect like her and had not wanted to live until the end of this cosmos. His Aspect was here to act as an enforcer. If she needed him she could pull him out at any time. Having him in the Chamber of Destiny made him a deterrent. Since Mah had become involved, only one group had been stupid enough to try to destroy him. When the stasis room had been atomized by a nuclear device Mah had emerged and retaliated.
Also, a master of Time, Mah had backtracked the culprits by watching past events and then he systematically killed them, their families, their extended families, and anyone that worked with them and their families. Worlds weren¡¯t destroyed at that time. Even so, according to Trix¡¯s memories 1,245,798 million people had died by his hand. Mah¡¯s stasis chamber had been rebuilt and the diamonds that were above the door to his stasis chamber were just normal diamonds now, the originals having been destroyed.
The Council of Nobility consisted of the leaders or their representatives from the 100 most powerful domains in the Empire. The criteria used to determine how powerful a domain was based on a measurement of various data points concerning the domain, not the individuals controlling them. There were a couple of small domains that had incredibly powerful rulers, Gods even, that did not have a seat on the Council of Nobility. Companies that controlled domains were not counted unless they controlled at least 10 different Solar Systems and all assets within. Something most companies couldn¡¯t do with the amount of competition that existed. Also, almost every ruler of a domain had the ability to use magic which allowed them to take control of the domain. Some rulers were benevolent but as Adam reviewed more and more he realized that a great number weren¡¯t.
Adam went back to his information on The Emperor. Trix seemed to have a good relationship with this emperor. Trix had thought that she¡¯d probably be getting a request for an audience shortly. But that dealt with mortal politics. Divine politics was another matter and he needed to get up to speed on things that could bite her in the butt. Trix had thought that the Goddesses of Death and Condemned Souls were the only two Gods in this Cosmos that had pledged their Allegiance to Textrix that knew the truth of existence. Ne¡¯lix had made three. That was besides Mah, of course.
Trix knew that there were plenty of others that had devoted themselves to Death and Ammit and through them Textrix but none except those four knew what was going on. Adam confirmed that the thought had crossed Trix¡¯s mind that her placement and the fact that the other two were Gods were enough to ensure this Cosmos fell into the fold. He searched Trix¡¯s memories and found what he was looking for. This Cosmos hadn¡¯t fallen to Textrix yet, but preparation had been made and would soon be in place.
Adam made sure the expansion of his nanites throughout Vrax and then into the network of Portals was going smoothly. He looked over everything one more time and then started reviewing everyone that had already been cataloged. This would take a little while but in the end, he believed the time spent would be worth it. It was true that he was still figuring things out, but he had infiltrated the top position of Textrix in this Cosmos. If he had any issues it would be from Mah or Ammit. Ammit had been handled for now, Trix would need to take a trip to check on Mah in a bit.
Chapter 110, Ambition
Adam¡¯s Thor Aspect monitored and recorded the progress of the nanites as they spread across Vrax. Thor was also aware of how Adam, as Trix, attended various meetings and took various calls. Since Thor had the memories of Adam as part of its makeup, it paused one night when ¡°Trix¡± was invited to a party that Trix¡¯s memories indicated she always attended. As Adam and Thor reviewed memories of those previous events they both realized that Trix gave into her carnal desires at these parties that he wanted nothing to do with. It would be uncharacteristic not to attend but Trix would need to extricate herself from the ¡°Party¡± as soon as she could.
Setting up an excuse was simplicity itself. Three minutes after arriving, Trix received a phone call about some ¡°emergency¡± that only she could handle which Thor made. That three minutes gave Adam, ¡°Trix¡±, long enough to see who attended such parties. The attendees did nothing to soften Adam¡¯s opinion that the Vrax empire was run by completely depraved individuals.
As for Thor, traveling through time as he was with his specific abilities and remaining linked to Adam in the far past was disorienting. Thor could cope with it of course. The majority of Adam¡¯s mental processing power was with Thor after all. Adam had learned long ago to separate himself enough so that the various parts of himself could work independently. With the explosion of nanites, however, they needed to remain linked to his core and Adam had designated that core as Thor. Thor decided that while he could deal with the disorienting effect, Adam as Trix would be better served if the major portion of himself was moving at the same temporal velocity. There would still be the disorientation of that portion of himself being in the future, but millions of years wouldn¡¯t be passing for every second of Adams¡¯ existence.
Thor reviewed the data he¡¯d gathered and also pulled up some data from his original Cosmos. Thor decided that a rogue planet that had been ejected into intergalactic space between the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy would be a perfect place to set up shop. It was unlikely that the Vrax had discovered it. Or, if they had, they would return to it.
Of course, Thor had to adjust for the amount of time that had passed and extrapolate for the collision of the two galaxies because he was so far in the future, but such a task was child¡¯s play for him. He was also quite lucky in that the collision of the two galaxies had only a minor effect on the trajectory of the planet as it had been traveling laterally to the point of collision. Even so, it took a few tries to find the planet. To anyone that might have been watching in just over 5 seconds, 1,119 portals opened within a sphere of 500 light years. Thor locked onto the frozen world which was still hurling through empty space. Thor opened a portal to the world and sent some nanites through. Once the conversion of the planet was started Thor focused his attention back into his Soul Space.
The demon Brux had been frozen and just sitting there. Oh, it hadn¡¯t taken long to break into his mind and figure out what he was thinking but it was so pathetically predictable that Thor hadn¡¯t had a desire to taunt Brux. Now though he couldn¡¯t just leave this Demon in his Soul.
¡°Brux,¡± Thor said through the nanites that filled this section of Hell, ¡°Trix placed me in a time trap. Right now, millions, if not billions of years, are passing for us as I say this to you,¡± Thor finished saying then released Brux so he could respond.
¡°Show yourself so I can kill you! When I get my hands on you¡
Thor silenced him again as he said, ¡°You¡¯ll silence me with your power? Beings more powerful than you have tried.¡± Thor said pausing. ¡°In a few moments, a portal is going to open to the location I am transferring to. When that happens, you will be released. I strongly suggest you do not try to step through that portal and continue to live within this trap Trix created until it¡¯s removed, or the spell expires.¡±
If Thor had a conscious, it was now clear. Thor opened a portal and translocated the physical location of his Soul Space through the portal to the frozen planet and into the bunker that had been created by the nanites he¡¯d sent there. The nanites were still creating a livable environment within the planet. Then Thor released Brux from his stasis and watched through the nanites around Brux. Once release Brux launched himself at the portal shouting, ¡°When I find you, I will¡¡± Abruptly his scream was cut off as his body disintegrated as it crossed the temporal sheering threshold of the portal. One moment Brux was there, the next he winked out of existence. Granted, the internal location of hell Thor had been in was effectively traveling at the same speed as the space Thor was in now, but that location of hell had been set to travel billions of times faster than normal. While Thor was immune to the temporal forces as he went through the portal, Brux was not. Thor had surmised that even with the slowed-down internal time, the sheering effect would still take hold if someone tried to leave that plane. Of course, he¡¯d been right.
Congratulations! You had destroyed a Level 1000 Arch-Demon Brux permanently.
Always honest with himself, Thor knew the Demon would try that. Though, he wished he had access to the Universal Interface so he could verify what happened. He was pretty sure that this method of destroying a soul would only work on basic souls. Then he thought about some other times and messages he¡¯d seen in his original Universe. Yes, there had been a message once that had stated that his soul would be released and travel to the Eye if he stepped through a portal that crossed time. That implied that safety mechanisms could exist within specific cosmos that prevented souls from being shredded and that they were not active in this Cosmos.
So, this method of attack worked here, but it might not destroy his enemies in other places. Also, if it was a permanent method of soul destruction, why would ¡°The System¡± that governed such settings within overall reality allow such a cosmic configuration? There were a few possibilities but the one that came to mind because of Brux was simply that there needed to be a way to take out the trash. Basic souls probably weren¡¯t the target in such a case. This implied that it was very likely that advanced souls, those with a soul space, would not be protected as well as he thought they would. There was no way to know, and no way to test these ideas so he shelved them for future inquiry and focused on the planet he had stepped onto.
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Using his nanites, Thor viewed the planet and the surrounding space and was stunned by the beauty of the remnants of the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxies as they filled the night sky. This planetoid was approximately 1 million light-years away and the light from the galaxies was at least a million years old which meant that this aspect of himself was extremely far into the future as compared to Adam. Thor anchored his soul space to the nanites here. Being this far away from the center of the events Adam was in would reduce any chance of paradox that Adam might create in the past. Now it was time to start collating all the data from the nanites that existed during this time, categorizing, and getting it ready for Adam. This would allow Adam to have accurate coordinates for anywhere he had nanites. Adam/Trix might not be able to utilize his Soul Space, but had Adam tried to use it? He did have that Soul Ability Soul Storage after all.
* * *
Time to deal with that upstart, Eloise thought, as she teleported into the new head of Special Investigations¡¯ apartment. Eloise had been working diligently for Trix for the last six years and she hadn¡¯t been promoted once. Of course, knowing Trix¡¯s personality and how much she ¡°loved¡± to be questioned, Eloise had held her tongue. The last person that had publicly questioned Trix had never been heard from again. Who had that been, oh yeah her direct boss who had answered directly to the Emperor. Eloise had to be extremely careful. Luckily she was one of the lucky ones within the Vrax that had abilities to facilitate such unique ways of advancement. She¡¯d been born with two Legendary Abilities.
Multifold Magician ¨C You are able to learn magic from all eight basic schools of magic: Air, Life, Water, Dark, Earth, Death, Fire, and Light. You start with the bolt spell for each domain of magic for free and must follow normal class and skill progression rules to learn new spells.
Eloise¡¯s second ability was much more useful.
Annulled Trace ¨C Indications of your passing do not occur unless you consciously allow it. Any evidence that you leave behind, physical or magical evaporates into the ether as it drops away from you. All notes of your passing are scrubbed from personal interfaces affected except yours unless you will it so. This ability can be toggled on and off.
Once Eloise understood just how powerful her second ability was, she¡¯d toggled it off and only activated it when she needed to perform a task she did not want to be caught doing, like now. Should anyone utilize any form of identifying magic on her it would fail, though if a God used their spells on her she was pretty sure they¡¯d be able to identify her.
As a precaution, she¡¯d also utilized a metamorphosis spell to appear as Sarah Tucker, Ne¡¯lix¡¯s 3rd shift number one assistant. As well as an invisibility spell to keep her off-camera. Her invisibility spell also protected her from thermal and motion sensors. It was an extremely advanced and useful version of the spell she¡¯d learned from her spymaster. If invisibility failed, she would appear as someone else, and as no trace of her true identity would be present, Sarah was, in a word, screwed. Why was she here middle of the night? She¡¯d been assigned to get as close to Trix as possible and Ne¡¯lix, a nobody from some backwater farming world had jumped ahead of her. She calmed herself and refocused on the task at hand.
Eloise moved to the kitchen and pulled a large knife from the knife block set on the kitchen counter and then made her way to the bedroom. As she opened the door slowly, she found Ne¡¯lix sleeping alone on his bed, not a care in the world. She¡¯d developed a special one-two combo for just such scenarios. Utilizing a spell, she¡¯d created which she¡¯d named Force Shackles, she cast the spell and Ne¡¯lix was immediately flipped onto his back and clamped spread eagle at each wrist and ankle by the spell. Ne¡¯lix didn¡¯t even wake up at the sudden movement, how pathetic.
While that spell held him, she utilized a simple telekinesis spell to take control of the knife in her hand which she moved over to the bed and then slit his throat with it. His eyes opened then, and she saw his muscles tense as he tried to reach for his neck. She moved the knife down to the middle of his back, oriented it so it floated vertically, and then plunged it down burying it through his back and right into his heart until only the handle remained visible. She was far enough back that any kind of blood spatters had very little chance of landing on her.
She saw Ne¡¯lix¡¯s eyes flinch as the knife plunged in then the vacancy of death entered them. She wasn¡¯t surprised that he hadn¡¯t tried to raise his head, this attack method almost always severed the muscles necessary to do so. She sat there and watched until she was sure that he was dead, cast a Detect Life spell just to make sure, and then teleported directly into her shower back at her apartment. She floated up into the air until she was about five inches off the ground then cast another spell she¡¯d created, Cleanse Self. This spell disintegrated anything that was attached to her body, out to 3 full inches from her skin that was not part of her. She had designed it specifically for herself because the spell had to be able to tell the difference between her hair that was still part of her body and those hairs that had fallen on her. Everything else, clothes, sweat, dead hair that had fallen out, and foreign matter was reduced to its component atoms.
The last part of her procedure to eliminate evidence was simple. She cast a shower spell which rained down on her from above and rinsed any possible particles that had dropped off of her down the drain. Again, she¡¯d modified this shower spell so that when it came into contact with any organic materials that were not her it would act as an acid and eat them away. The spell was almost useless in combat, but it was very good as a final step to ensure that anything that had dropped off of her onto the tub floor was destroyed.
She¡¯d developed the two spells because her ability did not stop her from leaving her DNA evidence behind during a kill. With these two spells and teleport, she was 99.999% sure that nothing of her target remained on her immediately after the mission. She¡¯d developed this technique and perfected it. Currently, she was credited with four sanctioned assassinations of heads of state, although in each of those cases she¡¯d had to make the deaths look like they¡¯d occurred from natural causes.
Once the cleansing spell had finished, she lowered herself to the shower floor, turned on the shower, and began her normal morning routine. If anyone was watching her utility consumption, or if it was checked at a later date it would show that she started her shower within minutes of Ne¡¯lix¡¯s death. She turned the shower¡¯s temperature up until it was almost unbearable and took a very long and hot steaming shower. It always took her a little while to relax after a successful mission.
She finished her shower and then used the portal network to take her normal route to work for the day. Hopefully, by the end of the day, Trix would be contacting her office for a replacement for Ne¡¯lix. She was the next in line due to seniority within the division so expected that she¡¯d be contacted either on her way to work or very shortly after arriving. It was going to be a fun day.
What Eloise could not know and would never have suspected was that her body had been invaded by nanites the moment she entered Ne¡¯lix¡¯s apartment and that someone was already aware of what she¡¯d just done and was even then taking steps to have a talk with her when she arrived at work.
Chapter 111, One in a Million
Your Adam Aspect in this Cosmos has Died!
Adam¡¯s consciousness, mentally integrated with his Thor Aspect, looked at the message that had popped up in his personal Interface and thought. What? How? First things first, where and when was he? As he reviewed his location he realized that the part of him that had been masquerading as Trix resided in a couple of nanites that were hovering near the ceiling of the room that had survived whatever had happened.
Merging with the nanites was turning out to be one of the best things that had ever happened to him. Of course, he¡¯d just received a death message. Then again, he hadn¡¯t received a death message, only a message stating that an Aspect of his had died. Not wanting to take any chances while he figured things out, he had the nanites disappear into the roof and make their way away from the bedroom. Once they were in a closet in an adjacent apartment he had the nanites replicate so that the original nanites could be moved into his Soul Storage. Could he use his storage space across a temporal sheer and time travel?
Adam forced himself to refocus. he¡¯d explore that question later. Right now, he had to figure out what had happened. He turned his attention to the prompts that his Adam Aspect had generated in his personal interface.
WARNING, you have been suppressed. Use of Magic, Magical abilities, and Spells is not permitted.
WARNING, Hit Points have been reduced to 3 total.
WARNING, you have been caught in the radius of an explosive Force
WARNING, Damage exceeds the structural capacity of your body by 1,579 points of damage. Your Body has been destroyed.
Your primary aspect in this Cosmos has Died!
There wasn¡¯t a lot of information to review. The initial suppression had wiped out any useful information he might have been able to get. Now though he¡¯d just have to guess. Or¡he had an idea. If there was a God of Games, he or she must be having a good laugh at his expense. Why? Because what just happened sounded a lot like a tactic he¡¯d used back in New Mexico when he¡¯d first started playing Role-Playing games.
When he¡¯d first started gaming one of his friends had wanted to have a character fight, which meant that he wanted to pit his highest lever character against one of his.
¡°But I don¡¯t have any high-level characters,¡± Adam had said.
¡°You can make whatever you want,¡± his friend Russel had said.
¡°Whatever I want, What level is your character?¡± Adam had asked.
¡°He¡¯s a 1,000th-level fighter,¡± Russel had replied.
Adam had read the rules and had known how unlikely it was to reach level 1,000, barring insanely unlikely circumstances like finding a ring that just gave out 1,000 XP every second, actually, that was kind of ironic. Anyway, for the game they were playing at the time, the ability to make level 1,000 would be very unlikely so he¡¯d asked, ¡°A 1,000th level fighter, what material plane did you destroy?¡±
¡°What are you talking about? I didn¡¯t destroy a¡oh you were being a smart ass. Okay, smart ass what are you going to make?¡±
¡°I can make anything I want?¡± Adam had asked again.
¡°Yep.¡±
¡°Okay then, I¡¯ll make an 18th-level Magic User.¡±
¡°Are you crazy, my character is 982 levels higher than that. I¡¯ll wipe the floor with you.¡±
¡°18th Level Magic User. That shouldn¡¯t take me too long to get set up,¡± Adam had said.
¡°Okay, it¡¯s your funeral,¡± he¡¯d said.
Adam had gone to work and had his 18th-level Magic User done in under 30 minutes. He hadn¡¯t needed very much for the magic user to begin with. Why? Because while he didn¡¯t have a very high-level character, his highest-level official character had been level 6, he had read the player¡¯s guide and the game master¡¯s guide and knew all the spells backward and forward.
Adam had finished making the character in just 15 minutes and said, ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡±
¡°Okay, because your character¡¯s a caster we¡¯re going to start 300 feet apart to give you time to cast at least two spells before I utterly destroy your character¡± Russel had said cockily
¡°Sounds good to me,¡± Adam had said.
They rolled for initiative, and Russel had won.
¡°I have initiative so I¡¯ll run towards you 120 feet, that puts me 260 feet from you,¡± Russel said.
¡°Okay, on my turn, I cast a Wish on you.¡±
¡°What are you wishing for? He¡¯d asked.
¡°I wish ¡°Harm,¡± the reverse of ¡°Heal¡± on your character at range,¡± Adam said.
¡°What¡¯s Harm do?¡±
¡°Oh, it¡¯s in the book, look up the spell Heal then towards the bottom.¡±
Russel opened his player¡¯s guide, flipped some pages looked at the spell, read it then said, ¡°You can¡¯t do that?¡±
¡°Oh yeah, I can. A wish may be used to mimic any spells that already exist with no chance of going astray and since it¡¯s a wish and two levels higher than the spell it¡¯s mimicking. Adding range to the spell shouldn¡¯t cause the spell to misfire. I am of course wishing this at range, so my character doesn¡¯t have to touch yours,¡± Adam explained.
¡°Don¡¯t you have to roll to hit?¡± he asked.
¡°I wouldn¡¯t think so, your character is a creature, you are in my character¡¯s line of sight and the spell doesn¡¯t do damage, it just alters your character. Also, it¡¯s a divination spell so you could say a God doesn¡¯t like your character very much and made sure this spell hits,¡± Adam had said with a grin.
¡°I never thought of it but you¡¯re right, that¡¯s within the rules so I¡¯ll allow it,¡± he¡¯d said as he picked up a 1d4 and rolled a 3. ¡°I now have 3 hit points and it¡¯s my turn. For Round 2, my character is going to sprint again 120 feet toward your character. That should put my character 60 feet from your character. His character had also regenerated 3 hit points. Nothing you have can hit him anyway, my Armor Class is too high. Your turn,¡± Russell said.
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¡°That would be true if I had to roll to hit,¡± Adam had said with a slightly evil grin before he¡¯d explained, ¡°For his 2nd round, my character is casting Magic Missile. At 18th level, the spell created nine missiles that each did 1d4+1 damage. Your character takes a minimum of 18 points of damage automatically and as much as 36. 18 points of damage would put your character at -12 hit points which is 2 less than -10. That¡¯s character death, which means I win!¡± Adam had declared.
¡°That¡¯s not possible!¡± Russel had complained.
¡°That is why you never go against a wizard, once they get the wish spell the shit dooth hit the fan,¡± Adam had said while he thought about some of his favorite books that involved a cagey old wizard in the world of Forgotten Realms.
After Russel had calmed down for a bit he¡¯d agreed that it was a nasty combo. Adam had explained that there were magic items to protect against such things and showed him where to look in the books for them. He also let Russel know that he wasn¡¯t really interested in player-versus-player fights.
Adam shook his head, why had that memory come to the forefront of his mind? Oh yeah, going from a huge amount of hit points to zero. If his abilities and regeneration rates had been suppressed and a wish had been used to lower his hit points, yeah that could have worked. If there was a God of Games in this Cosmos, he or she might know he¡¯d pulled something like that in a game. Shoot if he was that god he¡¯d be laughing his ass off. Adam was really beginning to miss his access to the Universal Interface so he could see if his guess was true.
Adam considered different ways he could try to figure this out and then had a thought that just might work. Of course, if that¡¯s what had happened the odds that he¡¯d be caught by such an attack would have to be at least one in a million. How would they have known that the combination they used would shut him down? Occam¡¯s Razor posited that the simplest explanation was usually true, which was truly a gross oversimplification but a lot easier to say. If the simplest explanation was true, whoever did this wasn¡¯t going after him, they were going after Trix and they knew she was a God, or very similar to one with a lot of hit points and magic. Which posited the question, who would want to take Trix out? Adam would have to come back to that question later.
Well, if he couldn¡¯t review exactly what happened he could try to pick up what had happened from the nanites that had surrounded his Trix body. Adam focused on his memory storage and put his full mental capacity to work searching through the data. Within two seconds he had the area around Trix¡¯s building mapped out and replayed the events. Trix had made her back from the ¡°event¡± after the call from Thor and went right to bed where Adam had actually fallen into a deep sleep. There weren¡¯t many things that could shock Adam but the level of depravity he¡¯d witnessed upon just walking through the door had surprised even him. Adam double-checked the time stamps and from Trix¡¯s perspective, she¡¯d been sleeping when she¡¯d been attacked.
While his senses and his prompts hadn¡¯t been able to tell him what had happened, nanites, caught everything. A suppression field had enveloped a one-mile radius around Trix¡¯s apartment. Next, a portal had opened 10 feet directly above his bed and he¡¯d been surrounded by a cone of force that led back to the portal. The bubble of force had been placed directly under and around Trix¡¯s body so that she was inside the cone of force. Finally, something came out of the portal at a very high velocity. He replayed the image and slowed it down and realized it looked like one of the tungsten rods that would have been dropped from orbit at hypersonic speeds. He continued the replay until there was a flash and then the cone of force lay empty with a slight haze inside. The cone of force rose from the bed forcing everything inside the cone through the portal. Then the cone of force disappeared, and the portal closed leaving an empty bed where his Trix Aspect had been with no sign of foul play with the nanites that had been part of Trix still in the room before they¡¯d moved through the ceiling and finally into his soul storage.
Adam started searching for the nanites that had been in the cone of force that had propelled through the portal while he searched for the nanites that had been forced up through the portal to wherever the attack had come from. It had taken a little while to find and reconnect with them because they were busy replicating themselves and infiltrating a new location. From what he could make out, the nanites were in the middle of a dried-out lakebed with mountains off in the distance. His nanites sent out a ping and he was surprised to learn that he had no other nanites anywhere on the planet this lakebed was on. So, they went to work replicating and spreading across the planet they¡¯d ended up on.
While he¡¯d been thinking and investigating the attack on his Adam Aspect he rebuilt his body in his Soul Storage area. One good thing had come from this attack though. The nanites in the past, and by proxy he, could use his Soul Storage in the past. He could put things into his soul storage now, and they would appear to his Thor Aspect as a hazy outline that could not be interacted with. It felt a lot like a placeholder. Adam could interact with the item now, but his future self could not. At least not in this Cosmos.
If he went to Cosmos that hadn¡¯t barred Time Travel he probably could pass things between the future and the past as long as he had a part of himself there. That was the other thing he figured out. His nanites in the past didn¡¯t allow him to create himself in the past if his soul or aspects were in the future. Only having his aspect and his soul space separated allowed that bridge to exist here. He¡¯d been extremely lucky when he¡¯d transferred his Soul Space into the trap and unconsciously willed his Ahrem Aspect to remain in its original time. If he hadn¡¯t done that simultaneously both his soul and his primary aspect of this cosmos would have been flung into the far future together. Sure, he would have been able to leave at any time, but he wouldn¡¯t have been able to affect the change he wanted to. Let¡¯s hear it for an extremely high luck attribute.
Creating his body was a little slower than normal as he had to draw nanites into his Soul Storage from the present and they couldn¡¯t take a lot of material from Vrax itself. Instead, he had the nanites come back through the portals from worlds that were not completely mechanical in nature. Still, in less than two minutes he was looking out of his eyes into his soul space using a daisy chain effect. He allowed his body to remain in his Adam configuration and stepped out of his soul space into Trix¡¯s apartment.
Adam looked around as he willed True Sight and Invisibility on himself and then teleported to the planet his nanites had discovered. As he appeared there, he willed himself off the planet. As the planet receded below him he found himself looking at another version of Earth as he rose out of Death Valley in California. Adam checked his mana usage and sure enough, his teleport had cost a full 15% of his total mana pool. A cost that high indicated that he¡¯d crossed a dimensional or universal barrier.
Adam had the nanites in this location continue to spread as he adjusted his trajectory and accelerated away from the Sun until he was just inside the Oort cloud. Not wanting to infiltrate whatever network systems they had on the planet to gather information about the solar system he set his distance to the sun and started zipping around the inside of the Oort cloud while looking inward.
With his high perception and perfect memory, he started discarding all light sources that were not moving to his point of reference and looked for only those objects that were close to him, namely the planets and the moons of this solar system. Once he¡¯d identified as many planets and moons as he could detect, he traveled to each world and moon and dropped off some nanites to begin the infiltration and conversion process of the entire solar system following his long-established protocols.
Adam reapplied his invisibility and True Sight spells as necessary as he zipped around a solar system that seemed almost identical to his original solar system. While he did that his Thor Aspect had the nanites clean up and reconstruct Ne¡¯lix after Eloise left his apartment. Adam watched as Ne¡¯lix¡¯s body healed and the mess that had been made was cleaned up. When Ne¡¯lix finally took a huge gulp of air, he woke briefly, looked around, and then went back to sleep. Thor had the nanites create a note for him that was attached to his bathroom mirror so he wouldn¡¯t miss it when he woke up in the morning. Before he withdrew his attention from Ne¡¯lix he set the nanites in Ne¡¯lix¡¯s body to full defense mode with counter-attack protocols that should help Ne¡¯lix if he were attacked again.
Adam knew he¡¯d have to return to Vrax and retake his place as Trix, but he had a little time. He hadn¡¯t felt this free in a while and it was kind of fun to push his abilities to their limit just to see what he could do. Besides, the process of infiltration and conversion was exponential but in the beginning, it did start off slow.
His Thor Aspect was handling all the nanites currently and spreading throughout the Vrax Empire. Eventually, they would find the links that lead to this world, but he wasn¡¯t worried about it. He was sure everything he needed to know was in the orbital station he¡¯d detected above North America. He was just taking his time and enjoying himself as he prepared to go say hi.
Also, allowing himself to fly around the solar system at incredible velocities was a lot of fun. How? Well, it was like a roller coaster ride, but he wasn¡¯t just thinking about himself. He was quite sure it was fun for whoever was on the station if their sensors could detect gravity waves. If the equipment was sensitive enough it might be able to determine that the source was moving quickly. If not it would appear as if a ring of gravity was emanating from the border of the solar system which was shifting through all 365 degrees on all three axes. They¡¯d be running around like chickens with their heads cut off if they believed the data. Adam was moving so fast that the gravity waves would seem to come from everywhere simultaneously without pause. Increased heart rates, cold sweats, and a touch of fear of the unknown, how could that not be fun?
Chapter 112, Crossroads
Ne¡¯lix woke up from an astoundingly vivid nightmare where he¡¯d been brutally killed. He rubbed his chest just to make sure there wasn¡¯t a knife tip sticking out. He¡¯d been stabbed through the back in that dream. Satisfied that it had been a dream he, rolled into a sitting position on his bed and rubbed his eyes. In a daze, he made his way into the bathroom, relieved himself, and then stripped down and hopped in the shower. After a long hot shower, he stepped out, grabbed his towel, and dried off. As he was dying off he noticed that a piece of paper was taped to the bathroom mirror.
Ne¡¯lix hung his towel, picked the note off the mirror, and opened it.
¡°Ne¡¯lix,
Last night wasn¡¯t a dream. Like I said, you get to come back now. Watch your back today
Adam¡±
Ne¡¯lix quickly read the note. When he set the note down it dissolved into nothing. So he¡¯d been killed. What the hell, he hadn¡¯t even seen who¡¯d done it. All he remembered was being turned over on his belly after his throat had already been slit and then a knife plunging through¡.
Ne¡¯lix put those thoughts to the back of his mind and finished getting ready for work then made his way downstairs and across the plaza to the portal facility. Once there he made his way through the checkpoints, to his office building, and rode the elevator up to his office.
As Ne¡¯lix stepped out of the elevator he noticed two police officers talking to his assistants as he heard a voice come over the radio.
¡°56 to Dispatch, No sign of missing person at the address reported¡±
The police officer on his left turned away from his dayshift 2nd assistant Madison Stoll as he reached for his mic. Ne¡¯lix must have caught the police officer¡¯s attention out of the corner of his eye because he focused his gaze on him, brought a picture in his hand up then looked back at Ne¡¯lix.
¡°Excuse me, Sir, are you Ne¡¯lix, the Manager of this Office?¡± the police officer asked.
¡°Yes, that¡¯s me, I¡¯m Ne¡¯lix. Can I help you?¡±
¡°Have you had any issues today sir, anything you need to report?¡±
¡°None that I can think of, is everything okay?¡± Ne¡¯lix said.
¡°Hold on for one second Sir, I need to call this in.¡±
¡°34 to Dispatch¡± the police officer called over his microphone
¡°Go ahead 34,¡± dispatch said through the speaker on his vest.
¡°I have the alleged missing person in front of me. Say again, I have the individual reported as missing in front of me. He just arrived at his office.¡± The police officer said.
¡°Copy 34, logging the anonymous tip as false. Please notify me when back in the field¡±
¡°Copy dispatch, will notify when available,¡± the officer said then turned to Ne¡¯lix as he twisted a knob on his vest, and the voices coming from the speaker on his vest reduced in volume, ¡°Thank you for your patience, sir. We¡¯d received an anonymous tip that you were missing.¡±
¡°No problem, as you can see I¡¯m here,¡± Ne¡¯lix said.
¡°Do you have any questions, sir?¡±
¡°No, I¡¯m sure you had access to my apartment because of the position I hold here, just thank your fellow officers for their diligence, and have a very nice day,¡± Ne¡¯lix said
¡°You too sir, Ralph let¡¯s let the assistants and Mr. Ne¡¯lix here get back to work,¡± the first officer said as he, then the officer named Ralph turned and walked out of the office.
***
Adam¡¯s Thor Aspect watched Adam as he zipped around the solar system dropping his nanites off. He also, reviewed Ne¡¯lix¡¯s interactions with police as he arrived at work and then started researching Ahrem¡¯s path as he¡¯d been asked to. Once Thor was sure Ne¡¯lix was safe for the moment he focused his attention on Eloise, the assassin, to see what she¡¯d been up to this morning. This of course was not exactly how Thor reviewed the three individuals as he monitored them. His mental capacity would monitor all three individuals at the same time and miss nothing. What he was doing now was an in-depth review of what the nanites had recorded because, for him, everything was history.
***
After Eloise had called in the anonymous tip she went to work. She made sure to arrive within her normal window of arrival. She grabbed a cup of coffee and then made her way to her desk. She was sipping her coffee looking out of the office she was in which overlooked the hallway anyone arriving through the portal would take. She heard footsteps and looked up. As her mind registered what she was seeing, she froze and looked again. Yes, Ne¡¯lix was walking by her office. It took a few moments but Eloise was able to relax her muscles, set down her coffee, and stand. She made her way to the bathroom and went into a stall there. She sat down on the toilet and then activated her ability Annulled Trace. Once her ability was active she cast telepathy and requested a mental conversation with her direct superior within The Agency. After a few moments, she felt the mental link solidify.
Yes, ¨C Eloise¡¯s supervisor Mao thought to her questioningly
The target is alive, I say again, my target is alive ¨C Eloise thought to her
You reported that you had killed him. The scryers backed up your claim, what are you talking about that he is alive?¡± ¨C Mao responded, agitation leaking through the link.
The ¡°target¡± just walked by my desk on his way to his office upstairs, I can confirm this personally ¨C Eloise stated
Understood, remain on site, and follow standard protocols. We¡¯ll look into it and be in touch ¨C Mao thought to her as she dropped from the connection
Eloise ended the link, deactivated Annulled Trace, and grabbed some tissue. She discarded it into the toilet then flushed as she stood, fixed her clothes, and stepped out of the stall. Eloise washed her hands and made her way back to her desk.
***
Thor reviewed the history of the nanites in Trix¡¯s office and focused his attention there. Three individuals had teleported into the office. A woman that reminded Thor of Kate Beckinsale from the movie Underworld and Trinity from the Matrix franchise. Lots of leather and a long coat. She looked to be in charge. There were also two men with her but they were in standard business suites that you might see in a 007 movie.
The reason the nanites had flagged them was that when they entered the office none of them had nanites in them. That fact was being remedied as the nanites in the office infiltrated and flooded their bodies. As the entirety of Vrax had been infiltrated it didn¡¯t take very long to accomplish.
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Thor watched as the woman went to the computer inserted a wand that allowed her instant and complete access to the drive and then downloaded everything onto the wand. The men made their way around the office looking here and there, tearing things apart, and making a complete mess. When they looked to be done they both moved in front of the desk and waited for the woman to finish. A hard drive eradication program was loaded and started as the woman stood and looked at the men inquiringly
¡°Nothing,¡± the first said
¡°Nothing,¡± the second said.
¡°Fine, let¡¯s go,¡± the woman said as she came around the desk. She pulled out a device and pushed a button and was teleported or translocated to the space station in orbit above North America in the same dimension that Adam was zipping around the solar system in. The three appeared in a room that was not dissimilar to the way the transporter rooms on the Enterprise had been set up. There were outlines on the floor and even a terminal. As yet, the nanites had not made it to the station but now that didn¡¯t seem like it would be a problem as his nanites were spreading out from all three of them even now.
The woman turned to both men and said, ¡°Return to your normal duties, I have a report to make. If I need you I¡¯ll call for you.¡±
Both men nodded and walked out of the room. As they exited the room they turned right. The woman nodded to the technician manning the computer terminal and walked out behind the men and then turned left as she headed in the opposite direction. At the end of the corridor was an elevator. She entered the elevator and pushed the button for the top floor.
Thor noted that the nanites inside her had issues. There was almost no problem with their infiltration of her body until they tried to enter her brain. The nanites had no such issues with the two men so this must either be a spell of some sort, which Thor doubted, or an ability. An ability that didn¡¯t allow nanites to enter brain cells. That sounded like a very handy ability. There was probably an ability that would prevent someone¡¯s whole body from being taken over. For now, Thor was only able to get information from the nanites that made up the rest of the woman¡¯s body. He was hoping her name would drop soon. Thinking of her as just the woman or a woman was tiresome.
The woman stepped through an open set of double doors and walked forward until she stood before the man sitting behind a desk. There was a window that looked down on Earth behind him. Thor continued his review as he keep the spread of the nanites in mind so that he could keep everything in context and provide Adam with accurate, real-time data for when he was.
Thor noted that the window that looked outside the station was made of transparent aluminum which ensured there were no structural integrity issues. As the woman stood there and waited Thor had his nanites spread and infiltrate everything they could. The man continued to look at his screen, tapped a few keys then looked up.
¡°Katja, back already? I take it things did not go well?¡± he asked.
¡°No Director, they did not. As far as I could determine there was nothing in that terminal nor did my two assistants discover anything.
¡°That¡¯s fine, this threat to the emperor has been dealt with. The threat of this Ahrem child that Trix was looking into must still be dealt with through,¡± the director said.
¡°Didn¡¯t he disappear out of that system they discovered him in?¡±
¡°Yes and no. Our sensors tracked him moving faster than light toward the edge of the solar system and lost him near Pluto. Our sensors on the outside of the Helios Sphere didn¡¯t detect him so we think he may have dropped in on Pluto,¡± The Director said.
¡°How long until we have a ship in orbit?¡± Katja asked.
¡°The ship is already there and has been surveying the planet from orbit. While the planet isn¡¯t very big, there is a huge area to scan. The captain of the Akmen, that¡¯s the name of the ship. The captain thinks we should have a full scan done by tomorrow.¡±
¡°What would you like me to do until then?¡± Katja asked.
The elimination of Trix will require a replacement. No, we are not putting you in such an irrelevant position. The Emperor ordered the actions we took earlier today because he believed Trix thought she was the actual head of the Vrax Empire. In the past, she¡¯d even gone so far as to threaten people here and across the government. The Emporer was done with that air of superiority she had. Besides, where is she now?¡± The director asked with a smile
***
Thor relayed all of this information he¡¯d discovered to Adam as he zipped around the Solar System. While they were one entity, when separated like this Thor had been noticing that his biological self was more prone to emotional outbreaks and Thor had noticed when Adam seemed to be getting angry. One of those telltale signs that indicated his temper was flaring was when Adam started mumbling to himself.
¡°Mother fuckers want to kill me while I¡¯m sleeping.¡±
¡°Even better they can¡¯t take the time to make sure the target they went after was the correct target¡¡±
Thor knew what Adam was trying to mumble because their minds were connected. Adam was, of course, making no sound as he was currently traveling faster than light through a vacuum.
***
Adam zipped around the solar system reviewing what his nanites had found, and noticed that he was mumbling to himself. Once he realized what he was doing he took a deep breath, well at least he tried to, and stopped mumbling. He continued zipping around the solar system because it was fun, but also, because he was looking for any population settlements. While this was a copy of planet Earth, it was unlike the Earths he normally dealt with as there was no life on this one. Even the seas were dead. There were trace amounts of oxygen on the planet but nothing that would sustain life. So far his nanites had found nothing on any of the other planets as well. The only sign that there was any kind of sentient life was the space station that was orbiting the Earth in this dimension in geosynchronous orbit above where New York would be.
Adam reviewed the data coming in concerning Ne¡¯lix, Eloise, Katja, her director, and anything else he could learn. He even checked in on Anna to find her enjoying herself on her vacation on a beach somewhere that hadn¡¯t been fully infiltrated by his nanites. Adam needed to let his nanites do their thing and that would take time so he came to a stop on the opposite side of Pluto in this dimension from the station. Then he willed himself into the Astral Plane.
He was pleasantly surprised when that trick worked. Adam found himself floating in a gaseous void filled with gases of every color. He also felt himself being pulled towards something bright off in the distance. Adam made sure he still had the ability to control his movement and then released himself to be drawn along by the light. As he looked around he realized he wasn¡¯t alone and activated his True Sight spell which showed him the outlines of people as they were drawn along beside him.
Adam cast Analyze on them. They were all designated as Basic Souls but no information was given other than creature type from his spell. Adam was sure he could create a stronger version of the spell if he wished but at this point didn¡¯t feel that it was necessary.
He floated along with all the souls until he entered a region that he could only describe as a tunnel. A tunnel wider than the Earth and longer than he could see. As he was floating down the tunnel some souls floated toward the top of the tunnel while others floated towards the bottom. Adam found himself being pulled off to the side where a humanoid figure stood next to a door.
¡°Mortal, the tunnel of The Divide is not for you,¡± a man with blue skin and white hair stated then waved through the door. ¡°You may use this door to exit this region of the Astral Plane. When you feel the tug ignore it and you will not be drawn here again until it is your time.¡±
¡°If I might be so bold as to ask, what is the Divide and what does it do?¡± I asked.
¡°That is for those that have passed on to find out,¡± he started to say before he froze.
Bored with this conversation already Adam mentally attacked and dived into the mind of the creature. Once the attack was underway Adam also reached up and touched him to allow his nanites to invade his body. Sure he didn¡¯t need to kill everyone but sometimes he just wanted to know some stuff without wasting time. It was a weakness, he knew, but he needed to get a handle on this Cosmos¡¯s layout.
As his nanites invaded and mapped out the blue person¡¯s mind he held him and wiped his memory of the last couple of minutes and the next few minutes as well. Then, Adam stepped to the door and passed through to find himself back in the Astral plane in another location. Adam pulled up his mapping function and zoomed out until he could see where he¡¯d been, where the blue man was, and where he was now.
Unfortunately, there was no scale but it looked like the blue man was very far away from him. Adam looked around quickly to see if anyone or anything was nearby and found himself alone except for the gases. Adam released some nanites into the void around him. They found material to infiltrate and utilize but it was nothing like the realms of chaos he¡¯d encountered before. The material was sparse and spread out, unlike the thick liquid-like substance that raw chaos was. No sooner had he thought about Chaos than his perspective shifted and he found himself looking at a wall of chaos.
That was surprising, but not unexpected. It looked like thought and will could take you where you wanted to go in this version of the Astral. Good to know. Adam was surprised when a group of beings formed a semi-circle behind him. There were humans, orcs, dwarves, elves, dark elves, gnomes, and even a prismatic dragon. Well, the creatures looked like creatures from his fantasy games anyway, he wasn¡¯t given time to figure it out what their races truly were. Why? Because a man in black robes standing in front of Adam said, ¡°Finally, a worthy sacrifice,¡± as a gigantic tentacle, the size of a planet whipped out of the broiling chaos. The tentacle was at least the size of a planet across as that part became visible as it left the Chaos. This made the tentacle incredibly long as it snaked from the base becoming smaller and smaller until the last 5 feet near the tip wrapped around Adam and drew him from where he was standing into the chaos.
As he was pulled into liquid Chaos the people behind him rejoiced. Adam¡¯s nanites were already infiltrating the creature and dropping into the chaos around him as his Adaption ability modified his sight and he was able to see through the liquid normally. Adam followed the tentacle until he found the Jupiter-sized monster it was attached to that had many eyes, tentacles, and mouths looking at Adam as it drew him towards itself.
Adam willed himself to stop. Suddenly the tentacle was straining against an unmovable force. Adam cast a version of the Tongues spell that would allow him to converse with any creature, looked directly at the creature, and said, ¡°We need to talk.¡±
Chapter 113, Intelligent Discourse
Immediately after Adam said ¡°We need to talk¡± one of the bigger eyes that were looking directly at him fired a beam of light through the Chaos at him. The eye had to be 1,000 miles across as the beam leaped toward him at the speed of light. He had expected dialogue. He¡¯d expected to be able to talk to the creature, but he guessed asking for a little bit of intelligent discourse was out of the question this time.
Also, he could be quick, but he was less than 50,000 miles from the surface of the sphere when the creature attacked which gave him no time to dodge while his consciousness was separated as it was. Even if he¡¯d activated his faster-than-light travel or teleportation he couldn¡¯t have moved fast enough to get out of the way. If Adam had been fully integrated with his Thor Aspect he probably could have dodged the beam easily. Instead, he took it, he took it all.
Chaotic Abyssal Horror has attacked with Chaotic Eye Lance.
Chaotic Eye lance hits for 0 damage.
100% Immunity to all Chaotic Damage noted due to ability ¡°Resistant¡±
Chaotic Eye Lance from Chaotic Abyssal Horror reduces all resistances to the effects of Chaos by 100%
100% Immunity to Chaos effects from soul Ability Chaos Forged negated
Temporal Sheer has opened.
Soul and Aspect have been recombined due to soul abilities Inviolate and Adaptable.
Temporal Sheer has closed.
Adam finished reviewing the combat prompts and integrated his Thor Aspect back into himself. As the light from the beam faded, his vision returned. He looked around and noted that the beam had completely destroyed the group of beings on the edge of the Astral Plane behind him. Well, most of them anyway. The Prismatic Dragon had seen better days. The barrier to the Astral Plane had ruptured allowing the Astral and Chaos to mingle. Adam watched as the Prismatic Dragon disappeared, most likely having teleported away. If he had a chance he¡¯d need to go look up that Dragon, he might be able to have an intelligent conversation with something after all. As he became fully integrated again he noticed that something had changed, something significant, though he didn¡¯t have time to figure it out right this second because the Chaotic Abyssal Horror was attacking him again.
Now that he was fully integrated, dodging became easier, and his movement less sluggish. he hadn¡¯t noticed that problem before, though if he was being honest he hadn¡¯t been in combat since his soul projection and soul had been separated by the actions of Trix.
Adam dodged the beams of light that were shot at him, as well as all the tentacle strikes the Chaotic Abyssal Horror was trying to land. As he dodged, he allowed his nanites to infiltrate and take over this horror. Adam dodged to and fro as he looked back at the border of the Astral and this realm of chaos and noted that tears had been ripped out of the Astral. Raw chaos was rushing into the void to fill what it could like a tidal surge rapidly flowing into an inlet during a high tide. The chaos was filling what it could but the Astral was also rushing in to fill the area that had been burned away. Where there were rips in the Astral he could see layers upon layers of energy, almost like ribbons or layers in a cake.
Adam took those images and examined them closely with part of his mentality and realized that he was seeing razor-thin physical representations of alternate universes layered upon each other. There were a lot of them. As he watched the Astral energies flowed back over the tears they sealed and faded away. This creature¡¯s Chaotic Eye Lance had damaged the fundamental structure of this Cosmos, which was definitely not a good thing.
The lesser attacks didn¡¯t seem to be doing that kind of damage, nor did they seem to have the kind of range that the main eye had produced. With his nanites spread throughout this area of chaos, he made his decision and accelerated toward the eye, he didn¡¯t need it doing that kind of damage to the Cosmos ever again.
Adam accelerated to almost the speed of light as he entered one of the eyes and started flying back and forth in it. He felt, more than heard, the scream of pain as the mouths of this beast howled into the chaos that surrounded it. Chaos being Chaos, the screams were amplified and reduced randomly but the vibrations through the beast¡¯s body were unaffected, and he could feel the vibrations from the mouths that were closest to the eye he was in.
As he flew back and forth he made sure to go along the inside membrane of the eye. As he neared that barrier he drew forth his Chaos Blade as he reviewed the message he¡¯d received when his sword Ender had been converted into his soul-bound Chaos Blade.
A Chaos Blade may only be wielded by a creature of Chaos.
This weapon is drawn and sheathed at will from Chaos.
Damage is Variable
This weapon is indestructible.
This weapon is Soul-Bound to the Fundamental being Johnathan Bennard
This Note: may only be seen by creatures without ¡°Fundamental¡± abilities. The Blade of Chaos ignores all barriers, spells, and armor that do not have the trait ¡°Fundamental¡± as part of its makeup. They are treated as if they weren¡¯t there. Any creature struck by this weapon will react as if touched by raw chaos. As Chaos by its very nature is undefinable, the effects of what will happen cannot be quantified. A targets Luck may or may not determine if the exposure to chaos is beneficial, neutral, or ruinous just as your luck did since you are ¡®lucky¡¯ enough to be holding this item and reading this note¡Johnathan.
He hadn¡¯t pulled out his Chaos blade because he honestly viewed it as a WUD, a Weapon of Utter Destruction. While there was a small chance that whatever he hit with it would be converted into something truly powerful it was more likely that it would be reduced to raw chaos. It was a little too dangerous to be pulling out willy-nilly. Adam hadn¡¯t forgotten about the sword though and this seemed like the perfect environment to test it in. The sword easily pierced the membrane, and he started zipping around the inside of this huge eyeball leaving an open wound that blood started to ooze blood. As he¡¯d thought, this creature was unaffected by the chaos effect of the blade, but it was still affected by the damage. As he flew along the inside dragging the sword below and behind him, with his right hand, it kind of felt like he was plowing a field.
Adam released the Chaos Blade back into his soul storage and exited the eyeball. Flying around inside it had been somewhat disgusting. It felt like he was flying through cottage cheese. he¡¯d kept his mouth firmly closed and used his nanites to seal off his nasal cavities. he was grateful that he could neither smell nor taste the fluid he¡¯d traveled through. As he left the eye at high velocity a geyser of the fluid followed him out and was immediately absorbed and converted into chaos by the raw chaos it came into contact with.
Adam headed off laterally then altered his course so it would take him behind the horror. The horror didn¡¯t turn but it did move in his direction and began to follow him. Adam guessed he¡¯d hit a nerve, pun intended. While he was flying he decided to review the information he¡¯d gleaned from the blue man in The Divide. After he¡¯d gone through his memories he learned that it was a sorter for basic souls. At the end of The Divide, souls would be further sorted into the pantheons and gods they¡¯d followed. Those that didn¡¯t believe in an afterlife were recycled back into the mortal realm while those that did believe in an afterlife were turned into servants. The Gods of this realm were preparing the recently deceased to join their armies in their next life
So Textrix had subverted this Cosmos to generate souls for an army she¡¯d need. What would one of the Aspects need an army for, unless she was trying to take power from one of the other main Aspects of reality? Could they gain even more power than they had? Why would anything or anyone need that level of power? Sure, he¡¯d take that power just to keep it out of someone else¡¯s hands. Why? Because existence would become boring if there were no struggles or if nothing could struggle against you. While he reviewed the knowledge he¡¯d uncovered, he kept an eye on the Chaotic Abyssal Horror and the propagation of his nanites through it. Every time it would speed up, so would he.
Next, he reviewed his Personal Information:
Name: Adamantadine
Identity: Adam
Age: 35
Weight: 170
Birthday, July 16th, 2001
Soul Projection: Ahrem Bianci
Identity: Ahrem
Age: 15
Weight: 135
Birthday, September 19th, 1985
Abilities: None Chosen
Soul Type: Advanced
Soul Level: Absolute, 99.99%
Soul Projection Level: 104,879,885 Ascendant Human
Soul Rank Disparity: 1.0E+8
Soul Abilities (Note: Soul Abilities are Always Active in your Soul Space and your Primary Aspect. Soul abilities remain through every tribulation that a soul is put through. Be it death, rebirth, trauma, magical modification, technological modification, etc.)
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
WARNING Changes have been made to your Soul Abilities during a cosmic occurrence. Normally this is only possible between such events. Something that occurred in this Cosmos has affected you in a significant way and modified these core abilities. Modifications received are based on your Karmic Luck and Luck and the catalyst that affected you. Changes may be beneficial or detrimental accordingly. After this warning, further changes will be italicized for easy recognition the first time you view this information.
Soul Abilities
¡°Perfect Memory¡± - Like Photographic Memory except for all five senses with an automatic recall of desired information.
¡°Pansophical¡± ¨C Skills that are known to you or known by you are performed as if you have achieved the level category of ¡°Rare¡± as defined in whatever Reality, Cosmos, Universe, or Dimension you find yourself in.
¡°Temporally Inviolate¡± ¨C Your soul is sacrosanct. Your soul cannot be destroyed. As you have learned Energy cannot be destroyed only converted. Any action taken to affect you through time manipulation has no effect on you. When the timeline of your current local stabilizes your soul will remain in its current local, from which you can reform and continue along in the timeline you are in. This process is almost instantaneous. You are not subject to Grand Father Paradoxes or harmful magic that utilized the manipulation of time. Additionally, you may now place items into your Soul Storage or Soul Space from your Primary Soul Projection and pull them out if your Soul space and Primary Soul Projection become temporally separated. This is a unique ability due to your ability to create copies of yourself with your nanites. Normally in such occurrences, the Soul Projection will eventually catch up to the Soul Space when it dies or vice versa.
¡°Chaos Forged¡± - Your soul had been inundated with Chaos and forged your soul to withstand all forms of chaos. During this process, your will has held your core identity together and permanently changed your soul. You may enter and exit any environment flooded with Chaos 100% resistant to any further changes. Additionally, the chaotic nature of your soul allows you to designate and change your normal abilities as you desire. These abilities are fixed and may not be modified. You may add, remove or change out your normal abilities as you desired. Doing so has a cost in Karmic Luck, which is locked away while those abilities are chosen. Release your current abilities to regain the tied-up Karmic Luck and chose new abilities as you desire. What abilities are available and usable in any specific local are determined within that local. Abilities that are locked out are automatically removed and the Karmic Luck cost is replaced. Maximum number of normal abilities within a specific local: 2
¡°Chaos Tempered ¨C In addition to being Chaos Forged your Soul Space has been tempered and quenched by Primal Chaos. Your Soul has been scoured clean of artificial limitations imposed by The System. This grants no additional access to the various interfaces that are available below the System level but does erase any requirements for Soul Progression based on Cosmic Occurrence. Continued exposure to Primal Chaos may produce additional soul Abilities.
¡°Adaptable¡± - Chaos has modified your body so that you may adapt to any environment. From Absolute Zero to the Gravity well of a Singularity your body can and will adapt to all environmental conditions. This includes the ability to survive in those environments. Example: the ability to breathe underwater if necessary. This Adaptability is limited to your soul only. Projections or duplicates that you control also gain this adaptability.
¡°Willed-Movement¡± - As a being of Chaos, you have the ability to move through Chaos as you desire at any rate you desire. As Chaos is present in all aspects of reality, your will allows you to move as you desire. This is a sub-ability of the Fundamental Ability ¡°Adaptable¡± and is available to all projections and copies.
¡°Incessant¡±- Should your physical body be destroyed your soul remains and will reform your body immediately. This is a by-product of your chaotic and nanitic composition as well as a benefit of your Karmic Luck. You are immortal
¡°Resistant¡± No Change - You are 50% resistant to all Primal Magic and natural manifestations of those magics. Additionally, you are 100% resistant to all magic from the following spheres of power; "Chaos, Time, Space, and Gravity, and 50% resistant to Holy and Demonic Magic
¡°Open to new Ideas¡±- The changes to your body have severed any clerical link to the divine you had. Reality is vast, there might come a time in the future when aligning yourself to the divine or joining their ranks and becoming subservient to one or more may be required. The limitation of never serving a divine has been removed.
¡°Convergence¡± - The very nature of your Soul draws Chaotic Energy and converts it as you desire. In any Reality, you have access to and can utilize any magical energy normally. Additionally, your Mana Regeneration is increased by Willpower + Endurance per minute. From Eternity and the Place between Places you may start a Cosmic Occurrence, you may choose to be Born, Cross Over, or Manifest. Being born requires that you follow the rules of the Cosmos you are entering with your Soul Space in tow for a normal birth as if reincarnated. Soul Abilities may, or may not, be in effect depending on the laws of that Cosmos. To Cross Over means to bring your Soul with your Primary Soul Projection and any copies you desire. All Soul Abilities are in full effect. Finally, you may Manifest within a Cosmos. Manifesting into a Cosmos leaves your Soul behind but allows you to spend Karmic Luck to create copies of yourself in a Cosmos. This copy will have your mind and memories but the amount of Karmic Luck spent determines the power level that the manifestation will have up to your current power level at the time of the manifestation. While in a Cosmos a Manifestation cannot contact your soul. Such Manifestations are a fragment of yourself and return to you upon their death. This is instantaneous and all memories, experiences, and karmic luck are gained, unless the fragment is destroyed when it returns to you. (NOTE: The Soul Ability Chaos Tempered allows you to Cross Over or Manifest into any Cosmos which would normally not allow this type of entry. You may still not be Born in a Cosmos that does not allow reincarnation for souls above the basic level.
¡°Spellweaver¡± - You neither memorize nor permanently add spells using spell slots. Instead, you may weave magic into any form of your desire so long as you have the skill and mana to do so.
¡°Soul Storage¡± ¨C The area inside your soul space is as small or large as you desire and follows any rules you wish to impose. You no longer have a storage limit and can summon any item out of your Soul Storage as you desire to the current projection of yourself. Items placed into or taken out of the space appear or disappear to the hand touching them. This space can be represented by slots if you prefer. Changes to your Soul require this clarification, you may only place items into your soul storage from copies of yourself in the same cosmos as your soul or from your Primary Soul Projection. Manifestations may be created with soul storage but upon the manifestation¡¯s destruction, all items in the manifestation¡¯s soul storage are deposited into the chaos level of that Cosmos.
¡°Affluent¡± - As needed you may produce or create any type of physical money in any reality you visit. In realities where you have integrated yourself into the global markets, digital currency is always available to you.
¡°Allegiance¡± ¨C You are now a power in the Inter-multi-universal arena. As such other beings can submit to your will. Allegiance is shown by paying a tithe of 10% of your Karmic Luck after each Cosmic Occurrence. Karmic Luck is Hard locked after each Occurrence. If an Allegiance is declared the tithe only counts for that specific Cosmic Occurrence. Previously earned Karmic luck is not counted.
Allegiance allows those that have dedicated themselves to you to request assistance or boons from you. Also, Allegiance allows those that have allied with you to choose abilities known or possessed by you or any others that have joined your pantheon.
Converted from the True Prophet ability to the Soul Ability: Prophet ¨C The mysteries of life and death are not mysteries to you. You know there is something after death and something even beyond that. You will always be able to remember your previous life and speak of it to others. Death is no longer something to be feared but a doorway you may walk through knowing that you will be able to make your way back
Abilities: None
Attributes
Strength 8.08E+11
Agility 8.08E+11
Dexterity 8.08E+11
Endurance 8.08E+11
Constitution 8.08E+11
Intelligence 8.08E+11
Wisdom 8.08E+11
Willpower 8.08E+11
Perception 8.08E+11
Charisma 8.08E+11
Luck 8.08E+11
Primary Stats
Carrying Capacity 7.27E+12
Hit Points: 3.59E+22
Base Health Regeneration
4.84E+27 per second
Stamina 8.98E+23
Base Stamina Regeneration
8.98E+21 per second
Mana: 1.80E+24
Base Mana Regeneration
1.20E+22 per second
Movement
Normal Running Speed: 1.62E+10 mph, 2.37E+10 fps
Standing high Jump: 1.35E+10 Feet.
Note. Falling Damage is not mitigated by maximum jumping Distance.
Base Attack
Unarmed Base Attack: 1.80E+22
Max Damage: 7.18E+22
Critical Damage Maximum Damage x2
Skills: See Soul Ability ¡°Pansophical¡± above
Adam double-checked everything while he kept an eye on the Chaotic Abyssal Horror behind him and realized that the changes to the soul ability Adaptable implied that he hadn¡¯t been using that ability to move. He thought about it for a moment, reviewed his memories, and realized that he had been utilizing mana to move. His regeneration was so high that he hadn¡¯t realized that his Thor aspect had designated some of his mentality to utilize his Spellweaver ability as needed to utilize his abilities Adaptable and Willed-Movement. But then how did his body survive its encounters with high gravity, faster-than-light travel, and such? Sure there were spells that would allow that. It must have been his Incessant nature and his high attributes. They were so high and his regeneration rates were so fast that his body didn¡¯t die until they hit him with an orbital strike through a portal after they had suppressed him. That had to have been what ¡°The Agency¡± had used.
Adam checked the nanite infiltration of the Chaotic Abyssal Horror behind him and realized it had been at 100% for a little bit now. Adam sent the command back to his nanites to freeze it in place. It came to a stop and he turned to face it. His True Sight, which was still active, showed him that its aura was angry, malevolent level angry. Yeah, not an issue. he copied its neural structure into his memory. As he suspected the memories it contained were a jumble of eating and devouring. The last few memories had been a feeling of satisfaction in how it had tricked the beings in the realm of lacking, its name for the Astral, into bringing food to it. It couldn¡¯t enter that area because it couldn¡¯t swim through it and any part of itself that entered started to come apart. That was good to know. This Chaos creature that was infused with Chaos required an environment of Chaos to exist. Adam wondered how long it would take for it to fade away if it were teleported into a Universe. Probably longer than it would take to wreck whatever was near it. Better not to find out.
Once he was done copying its neural structure he downloaded the data his nanites had acquired into the storage he¡¯d created in his Soul Space then converted the whole creature into nanites and stored them in his soul space as well. One second it was there, the next it had evaporated and was flowing toward him as a multicolored swarm of chaotic nanites that disappeared as they touched him. He was sure that he¡¯d find a use for all those nanites later.
Adam had a little time to kill and a few things to check out before he headed back to the station orbiting North America where Katja and the Director were. Then part of his personal information registered, ¡°Soul Level: Absolute 99.99%¡±
Chapter 114, Absolute
¡°Soul Level: Absolute 99.99%¡±?
What the hell did that mean exactly? A message popped into his vision.
Soul Ability Pansophical has activated: Soul Level: Absolute ¨C The Maximum Level a soul can attain in this Reality as designated by ERROR. The percentage given indicates how close you have come to attaining the next level if level progression were in line with previous level progression. For an absolute soul, 99.99% is the maximum possible rating. Soul Progress for an Absolute Soul has no known benefit.
The maximum level for this Reality? At least he was starting to get a handle on the terminology. As he was thinking about the implications of his new soul level his senses became overloaded. He was blinded, couldn¡¯t see, and a cacophony was exploding in his mind. Even his senses of smell and taste were overloaded. Adam struggled to overcome this attack before he recognized the sensation.
It was as if a part of himself that had been lost had just been found again. This time there was so much information coming in that he knew this wasn¡¯t just the nanites he¡¯d left behind before going through the aperture. As that thought crossed his mind he was able to reorganize and categorize the incoming messages. The nanites were sending him information about the Universe he had started in, the one he¡¯d just left. Those nanites were from the first Universe he branched from.
The nanites in that first Universe were giving him information from his Dyson Sphere in the Chaos of that Cosmos. In addition, he was receiving information from every universe he¡¯d reseeded, and it was that information that was overwhelming him. Adam created a separation routine and set criteria by which information could be forwarded into his consciousness, otherwise, the nanites within each specific Universe and Cosmos were to quantify and store the information in that area.
As he struggled to put order to the chaos that was entering his mind he ran into his first hurdle. He could not control the nanites that were once again connected to him. Adam pulled nanites out of his soul storage and began storing the information there. he had a moment, only a moment approximately 1.2 seconds long when his mind was once again at peace. Then his mentality and storage were full, and he was once again absorbing an incredible amount of information which was making it hard for him to do anything else. Adam did the only thing he could he could think of under such circumstances, he set up a barrier to prevent the information from entering his mind. The oppressive pressure he¡¯d felt eased, and he could think more clearly again.
Now that he had a little mental room to maneuver in, he created a sorting routine that took all mundane normal actions that the nanites recorded and removed them from storage in his nanites as the new information came in. He wouldn¡¯t forget anything that had already made it through the floodgates but the storage capacity of the nanites here should be able to keep up with events that were deemed important. Those items were allowed to enter his conscious mind and added to his permanent memory.
He could now receive all the information from his nanites in other Cosmos, but he could not send messages the other way. Was that because he was in this Cosmos? Would he be able to contact and control the nanites when he made it back to Eternity? From what he¡¯d reviewed when going over the changes to his soul abilities he shouldn¡¯t be able to do what was happening now. To be sure he still had some control he tried to contact his nanites in Eloise, Ne¡¯lix, Katja, and The Director. No issues, he could see what they were doing and was even able to adjust small things here in there in their vicinity. It looked like he could only issue commands and receive information normally in this Cosmos. He¡¯d have to test to see if he could control the nanites in other Cosmos once he was outside of this Cosmos. Even so, he went through the memories the filters were allowing through as he absorbed the information coming in from all of his nanites. One of those sets of memories had been flagged as ultra-important. As he opened those memories he realized they were from Adaline.
***
Adaline walked through a city made of what looked like many colors of glass with Architecture he¡¯d never seen. None paid her any mind as she made her way toward a talk skyscraper made of a flowing emerald material that looked like an emerald. She walked inside and up a set of stairs to an open cathedral that was much bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. There were beings of all types seated around the outskirts as she made her way toward one of the VIP booths that overlooked the Cathedral and everything that was going on below. As she stepped to a seamless wall it separated and she stepped through. The wall closed behind her as a man in an ornate toga looked at her and asked ¡°Refreshments?¡±
¡°Yes please,¡± Adaline answered.
¡°What brings you to me today?¡± the man asked.
¡°I believe my tasks are done, may I be excused?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°To chase after him?¡± he asked.
¡°Yes¡±
¡°No¡±
Adam could feel Adaline¡¯s expression change and the anger flair as the man raised a placating hand.
¡°Be still my arbiter. I am not releasing you because I do not feel there will be a need. Something has changed, I know not what¡.¡± He said as the memory was cut off.
The memory ended and he was left wanting more. Adam searched the memories he¡¯d been able to get but there was nothing else. The information flow had been cut off at her end. One good thing came from the memory. He knew Adaline was alive and she was still working for that boss of hers. Had to be a projection or a manifestation but of who? Nobody was opposed to him directly but that didn¡¯t mean anything. Also, there was nothing he could do about it now.
Another thought crossed his mind. If his Karmic Luck had been spent to raise his soul level, how much Karmic Luck did he have left? After a quick check, it was still registering as a ¡°Positive Error¡± So still infinite, or so close as not to matter. Adam wondered why that attribute couldn¡¯t just be part of his normal ¡°Character Sheet¡± though he really didn¡¯t like thinking about his information that way. It made him feel like he was a character in a video game or LITRPG Novel. Who knows, maybe he was. Or maybe if someone were able to view his innermost thoughts the author had been connected to his network of nanites and there¡¯d been some sort of feedback the author was tied into while he dreamt. Adam needed to get back on track. He was losing focus because of how excited he¡¯d been to see Adaline again.
Forcing his mind to focus on the here and now, Adam released nanites into the Chaos around him and had them start the process of replicating as fast as they could to make a new Dyson sphere. He liked having a refugee he could fall back to if needed.
Next, he reviewed his personal information one more time to see if there was anything else that he¡¯d missed that might have an immediate effect. The Soul Ability Chaos-Tempered looked neat and that note about Primal Chaos was interesting, as was the effect it had on him. His Luck and Karmic Luck attributes had saved his ass again. Otherwise, that could have gone very badly. But why did the Chaotic Abyssal Horror have an attack that used a form of Chaos that wasn¡¯t inherent to this Cosmos.? Adam pulled up its memories to find out why. As he went through the memories he finally found something from its earliest recollections. It had been small, smaller than anything else in its pod of other creatures when something had picked it up. Darkness had closed around it that had lasted only moments then it had found itself alone, hungry within a huge area. It had begun to swim and had been quickly picked up by currents and traveled vast distances before it had even known what happened. There had been areas that it didn¡¯t like and that it didn¡¯t want to go into, but food had been plentiful where it was, so it had eaten and grown. Adam finished reviewing the memories and knew there was no way to figure out where the creature had come from or what had moved it.
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Adam switched his approach and checked his own abilities for changes. The Ability True Prophet had morphed into the soul ability Prophet. That was nice, he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about not being able to talk about the things he knew. Though he would still have to be careful. There had to be some other mechanism to prevent people from learning too much. If not, the truth might overwhelm them. How many beings wanted to truly live forever? Also, it looked like his skills were now automatically a higher category being at the rare level now, whatever that meant for whatever Cosmos he was in. That could come in handy though.
The ability to be Born, Cross Over, or Manifest seemed cool, how would he do that?
Would you like to leave this Cosmos, Yes or No?
What the fuck? he chose ¡°No¡±, then asked out loud, trying to elicit a reaction from his ability Pansophical, ¡°If I leave the Cosmos will I be able to return to this cosmos immediately?¡±
Soul Ability Pansophical has activated: Beings with the ability to Cross Over into Cosmos can enter or exit any Cosmos they have access to at will. Be warned exiting a Cosmos at any non-designated location, such as an aperture, places you in the adjacent location in ERROR. Entry back into that Cosmos can occur at any point you wish though movement outside the Cosmos may change your entry point back into the Cosmos you just left.
Also, note that Entry into a Cosmos is almost always into the Astral or Ethereal plane for that Cosmos though entry can be designated as any known location within that Cosmos if it has been visited previously. The accuracy of the emergence location is determined by the strength of will and memory of the location. Temporal dislocation into a Cosmos is permissible if the entity in question has the appropriate permissions to do so. Otherwise, entry into and out of a Cosmos happens at the same rate of time. Entry and exit through an aperture directly into Eternity or similar locations follow the temporal rules in place for entry and exit into those locations.
That last line had him concerned. It seemed that entry and exit into Eternity were following a different type of time rule. If he exited this cosmos without going directly to Eternity what would happen? Well, technically he¡¯d already done that so while it was a concern he wasn¡¯t worried about it. Adam brought his scattered thoughs under control with the thought, You only live once. Though that saying didn¡¯t work anymore, did it? Well, if that saying didn¡¯t work, Fuck it! Was a nice runner-up. With that, he willed himself to cross over.
Would you like to leave this Cosmos, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes¡± and felt the universe fade from him as he slipped through the membrane of the Cosmos and found himself in the Place between Places. He hadn¡¯t felt like he moved, just like he¡¯d slipped the bonds of the reality He was in. Adam looked around and found himself in an area of swirling colors that he knew to be raw chaos. But that didn¡¯t make sense. The last time he¡¯d been here he¡¯d seen conduits and bubbles and what looked like cancerous growths on those universes.
Would you like to modify your interface to its default settings? Your interface settings are currently set to custom. Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°No¡±, which was a good thing because he could feel the pressure of the headache from information overload coming back. Adam closed his eyes and explored the sensation as he realized that his connection to all his nanites everywhere had strengthened. To keep things simple, he tried to contact the nanites in his original Place of Power and realized he had a full connection. Adam sent a simple command to the nanites there to turn on his stereo system and play some AC/DC for old-time¡¯s sake, then shut off. AC/DC started blasting out of the speakers before they shut back down almost immediately.
So, he could contact all of his nanites from here. Would that be how it worked in every cosmos he went to, or was it just if his soul went there? Regardless, his mentality needed some help with the information overload so he went to work while he kept an eye on his surroundings.
The first thing he did was create criteria by which the controlling subroutine he was going to assign to each Cosmos and then the Universe within a Cosmos could forward information. He also left a back door, the same one he¡¯d created that had a 512-point sequence of movements, along with the creation of the room in Chaos. It had been a long time since he¡¯d set that up but good ideas are good ideas.
When he finished setting the criteria up, he redirected all quantum links within a specific Cosmos to a controlling subroutine for each Universe he had nanites in. The Cosmos where he¡¯d saved a lot of Universes was a bit more problematic. Eventually, he designated some of his mentality, about 3%, to create new nodes and redirect the quantum links, and let it go. Whenever he was in this place it would get to work otherwise the Cosmos node would bottleneck everything. While the number of Universes in that Cosmos wasn¡¯t infinite, it was effectively so. That 3% of his mentality was going to be busy whenever he was in this place.
Having access to all the nanites everywhere instantly caused his mental analyzing power to go off the scale. Adam Imagined that the best analogy would be if someone connected an almost infinite number of quantum computers together. Before they were connected one of the quantum computers would feel overwhelmed by the amount of input he was now processing. Connected in series, it wasn¡¯t even a struggle to sort categorize and review the information before it was sent up the line to him.
One thing he did not do was look up Adaline again. He knew that if he did he would dive down that rabbit hole and try to get to her. Adam needed to get a handle on what had happened to him before he started going crazy with the changes that had happened which brought him back to the interface message. So, he was seeing the Place between Places as it really was?
Suddenly he realized with just a little mental effort he might be able to¡He couldn¡¯t, could he? Adam focused on one of the layers and then opened his eyes and looked for it as he watched the layers in his vision shuffle. Suddenly the shuffling stopped, and shadowy outlines surrounded him.
Adam had realized that from this Place Between Places he had access to every Cosmos. The shadows around him sharpened as the surroundings shifted. The shadows flashed faster and faster until they started to slow and then solidify as one of the layers became highlighted. Adam focused on the layer and all the other layers disappeared as a transparent map overlayed his surroundings and projected whatever was within the Cosmos he was looking at around him. The surroundings around him shifted and superimposed themselves so that he could look around and see what was in the Universe he was looking into.
Within the same Cosmos, he shifted his perception to his Place of Power and the ghostly images shifted and resolidified. Adam was now floating around the ghostly replica of his place of power. Adam passed through the doors into his bedroom and felt that if he willed it, he could step into that location. Pretty sure what would happen he willed myself into that location.
Would you like to Cross Over or Manifest?
Adam closed the prompt and released his focus on the nanites in that area and the shadow image remained. Instead, he focused his memory on his estate near Alamogordo NM and the ghostly images shifted until he was standing on the balcony there. He hadn¡¯t seen any living creatures so he changed his perspective to somewhere He knew there would be people, New York City.
He¡¯d been there and he also had nanites there. The Shadows shifted around him, and he found himself standing on the ghostly image of Broad Street looking at the entry doors into the building looming above him. Ghostly images of men and women that were not part of his memories walked all around him. There seemed to be a range of about 50 feet. Because people were appearing and disappearing as they walked into and out of that 50-foot bubble centered on him.
So, he could use his memory or his nanites to focus on a specific spot and the images shown would be for the current moment. Then, if he wished, he could cross over or manifest into the cosmos. Adam released his memories and the ghostly images. Adam rechecked his surroundings and saw nothing near him. Then he looked at his clock. To be honest he hadn¡¯t been paying attention to it so the date it gave because it meant nothing to him. Instead, he searched through his memories to the point where he exited the Cosmos he had been in and looked at the time and date in that memory then he compared it to his current time and date. It had been a long time since Adam had been so focused on something that he lost track of time. This time that lapse had only cost him three weeks.
Chapter 115, Three Weeks
Three weeks? Adam reviewed everything he¡¯d been doing and yep, his memories clearly showed him floating while he worked on setting up his nanites in the various Cosmos and Universes he¡¯d lived in. Three weeks had passed, and he needed to catch up and see what had happened while he was busy. One good thing was that his nanites had been busy and the Dyson Sphere he¡¯d ordered them to make was just about finished. To begin his review, he brought Ne¡¯lix¡¯s information up first.
***
Ne¡¯lix had worked the first day with little change to his routine. He¡¯d continued to investigate the disappearance of Ahrem and was in contact with the ship surveying Pluto. He¡¯d gone home, grabbed dinner on the way, and gone right to sleep when he arrived. The next morning, he woke up and received a message on his way to work that the survey crew had discovered something. Ne¡¯lix wanted to be able to report positive progress to Trix, so he made his way to the military portion of the portal facility and utilized his new clearance level to request permission to come aboard via portal and witness the survey team¡¯s progress firsthand.
Captain Jacobs welcomed him aboard and escorted him to the survey station on the bridge and then introduced him to the Survey Crew. They¡¯d found a structure beneath the surface that seemed to be growing as their sensors watched. The weird thing was that they couldn¡¯t figure out what was causing the growth, so they were just analyzing the data as it came in. One thing was for sure, there was some kind of fissionable source below the surface. A crew had made their way down to the surface and placed probes as close as they dared while the ship stayed in an orbit that would keep them within LOS, Line Of Sight, of the target location. They were all back on board now.
As Ne¡¯lix reviewed the data, Captain Jacobs walked up, ¡°Sir, we¡¯ve received orders for you to return to headquarters immediately. Your direct supervisor would like to speak with you.¡±
¡°Thank you for the message, Captain. Please, keep up the good work and be very careful if you investigate the base below us.¡±
¡°Base Sir?¡±
¡°The scans we¡¯re getting indicate that the underground structure is growing and there are rooms and facilities within the structure that seem to fall into recognizable categories. There is an obvious cooking facility, rooms for sleeping a larger area that looks like it could be a command center, definitely some form of base,¡± Ne¡¯lix said.
¡°Any idea who the base is for?¡± Captain Jacobs asked.
¡°None at all,¡± Ne¡¯lix answered.
¡°We¡¯ve ruled out that magic is building the base as we have detected nothing except a very low level of chaos energy in the background. It could be nanotechnology but if it is it is not of Vrax origin,¡± Captain Jacobs said.
Ne¡¯lix knew what that meant from the memories he¡¯d reviewed of Adam¡¯s but didn¡¯t let that recognition show, ¡°Keep up the good work, and again be very careful if investigate further.¡±
¡°Will do Sir.¡±
Ne¡¯lix turned and walked to the portal room. Vrax Navy ships had permanent crews but also had a portal for emergencies and crew rotation. This allowed the ships to save the time and energy they¡¯d waste returning to port. The portals also allowed specialists to visit. Ne¡¯lix made his way into the small portal chamber and stepped through into the Navy receiving area of the portal facility. He paused for a second as he looked around and then made his way to his office. He logged into his computer and checked his messages.
¡°Report to the Director Immediately¡±
Appeared as a popup reminder in the middle of his monitor. Trix/Adam must be in a bad mood as ¡°she¡± normally didn¡¯t send short messages. Ne¡¯lix shut down his terminal and went to the elevator. As he stepped off the elevator Paul greeted him, ¡°Sir, The Director is ready to see you, you may head in.¡±
Ne¡¯lix nodded and walked towards the doors that opened on their own. As he stepped through, the doors closed behind him and he saw a man sitting behind the desk.
¡°Good evening Ne¡¯lix, I¡¯m Director Milston, I will be replacing Trix as your direct supervisor here in the Politics and Religion Oversight Committee,¡± he said.
Ne¡¯lix was surprised but didn¡¯t let that show instead he asked, ¡°Director Milestone, your first name wouldn¡¯t happen to be Adam would it?¡±
¡°No, my first name is Wesley, why do you ask?¡±
¡°I knew an Adam Milston when I was younger, I just thought it would be ironic if you happened to be him,¡± Ne¡¯lix lied.
¡°Fair enough,¡± the director said thoughtfully. ¡°Would you care to update me on what you¡¯re working on and the status of the investigation?¡±
¡°How much do you know Sir?¡±
¡°Only that Trix gave you an assignment concerning a person of interest from one of the Earths we have seeded. Otherwise, the details in her files are scarce,¡± The Director said.
¡°Trix wasn¡¯t able to brief you directly?¡±
¡°Trix disappeared yesterday and has not returned. The Emperor decided that new leadership was needed in one of his primary investigative resources.¡±
¡°I see. To bring you up to date Sir, the subject in question is named Ahrem Bianci. For reasons unknown when he was taken in for his ¡®Choice¡¯ he was deemed a risk and a nuke was set off under his feet. He survived the nuclear explosion and then exited the orbit of the moon. I have just returned from Pluto where Captain Jacobs on ship 389 of the United Defense Fleet has discovered an underground bunker that is expanding even as we speak by methods unknown,¡± Ne¡¯lix said.
¡°Method¡¯s unknown?¡± The Director asked.
¡°Yes Sir, we have not been able to determine what magical or technological method is being used to expand the base.¡±
¡°Interesting,¡± The Director said, then punched a button on his intercom, ¡°Paul please send Eloise in.¡±
The main door opened, and a woman stepped into the office. Ne¡¯lix had seen this woman before, in a nightmare when his throat had been slit and a woman with this woman¡¯s face stabbed him through the heart.
¡°Ne¡¯lix, the director said drawing his attention away from Eloise for a second, ¡°Eloise will be replacing you to search for Ahrem but before she does, she has a question for you.¡±
Ne¡¯lix¡¯s eyes turned back to Eloise who now had a weapon in her hand. The muzzle of the weapon flashed three times quickly as Ne¡¯lix was punched back against the director¡¯s desk and fell to the floor. She must have used hollow points or some other forth of disintegrating bullet because they did not exit his back and suddenly felt very cold as blood started to flow out of the three holes in chest.
¡°How did you survive our last encounter,¡± Eloise asked as she stepped next to his body and looked into his eyes and brought the muzzle up to his head and pulled the trigger twice more.
Adam continued to watch what had happened in the office through the nanites that were present there.
¡°Well, that was unpleasant,¡± The Director said. ¡°Did you have to shoot him five times?¡±
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¡°Yes, Yes I did. I have never failed The Agency and yesterday was not going to be the first time I ever did. I wanted a witness this time so that when this man gets up The Agency will know I didn¡¯t fail. Three bullets to the chest and two to the head. He is most definitely dead.¡±
¡°But he¡¯s not going to get up, you put five¡.¡± The Director started to say as he noticed that the blood was being cleaned up and Ne¡¯lix seemed to be healing as the wounds on his body and the damage to his clothes were repaired. Before the process could finish, the Director cast a spell and Ne¡¯lix and everything that was part of him disappeared.
¡°What did you do?¡± Eloise asked.
¡°Nothing too drastic. I just teleported Ne¡¯lix to a holding facility. I will need a much more secure area to ask the questions I need to ask.¡±
¡°By we, I take it that you mean you, while I get to work with Ne¡¯lix¡¯s assistants on this Ahrem character?¡± she asked.
¡°Yes, that¡¯s exactly what I mean. I might be gone for a bit while I try to get those answers,¡± the director said.
¡°I¡¯m on it, sir.¡±
***
Adam continued to review Ne¡¯lix¡¯s memories but the only thing he was able to determine was that Ne¡¯lix was in a cell of some sort and that once he came back to consciousness, they killed him again to see if he could keep coming back. After the second death, they questioned him for two days. Not once in those two days did he give any indication that he knew how he was coming back. For the next 5 days, they¡¯d been killing him once a day using various methods. Exposure to Vacuum, which was when Adam recognized that Ne¡¯lix was on the Station with the Director. This last time they killed him had been the most drastic. They¡¯d actually decapitated him with a guillotine and left the blade between his head and his torso. When the metal of the Guillotine dissolved between the stump of his torso and his head and they¡¯d still reconnected on their own, The Agency had paused killing him daily.
For the last two weeks, Ne¡¯lix had been sitting in a cell. He had a bunk, a toilet a sink, and a monitor on the wall that had an on-and-off switch. When it was on it showed movies of all types. Because he couldn¡¯t choose what was on he was just as likely to get an old movie as a new one. No news though. They¡¯d also fed him and made sure he had water, but they didn¡¯t give him access to anything after they realized he wasn¡¯t going to tell them how he was coming back from the dead.
Ne¡¯lix was pretty sure they knew he was hiding something but one of the other things they¡¯d learned was that when any pain that was inflicted on him reached a certain threshold he stopped feeling it. They couldn¡¯t even detect how that effect was being done. Any minor damage was repaired as it was inflicted and if he was killed he¡¯d be alive and healthy within a minute. Every once in a while Ne¡¯lix would whisper ¡°A little help would be much appreciated,¡± but when nothing happened Ne¡¯lix would either lay on the cot they left him, watch the movies on the monitor, or exercise.
***
Once Adam knew where Ne¡¯lix was he reviewed what The Director of the Agency had been up to. Honestly not much. Over the last three weeks, he¡¯d been working with Director Milston, who was definitely one of his agents, and through Eloise, they eventually started exploring the base he¡¯d left on Pluto. In the last three weeks, scientists and mages had moved an observation team to the base and were cataloging everything they could find. The Director wasn¡¯t an idiot though and realized that how the structure of the Base on Pluto self-repaired was also very similar to the way Ne¡¯lix was repaired and brought back to life. With that insight, The Director realized that whatever was going on, both repair functions were related. As Adam continued to review The Directors¡¯ last three weeks he found an interesting conversation right after the decapitation.
¡°What do you think is causing him to come back to life?¡± The director asked Dr. Cho, the lead scientist he¡¯d assigned to study Ne¡¯lix.
¡°The process is very similar to a nanite technology we have but even the nanites we¡¯ve introduced into the room can¡¯t detect anything.¡±
¡°Why do you think that is?¡±
¡°If I was a guessing man, I¡¯d assume that the higher-than-normal traces of chaos magic have something to do with it though the energy required to heal and repair him. The magic drawn into the room when Ne¡¯lix dies is minimal and doesn¡¯t meet those requirements. I want to say a force we cannot detect and cannot see that cannot be quantified, though that¡¯s impossible. Maybe a technology that is even smaller than nanites?
¡°How much smaller?¡±
¡°As we cannot detect whatever is repairing the facility on Pluto or in Ne¡¯lix, it must be smaller than quarks.
¡°How would we detect something that small?¡± The Director asked.
¡°Our technology is good but just tracking electrons is the farthest the Empire as a whole has developed that technology. No one has tried to track or use quarks to do anything. Why bother, we have magic to do all the heavy lifting when we want to heal or rebuild something. Development along that technological tree was always thought to be a waste of time, even by himself,¡± Dr. Cho said.
¡°And now?¡±
¡°Now? Well now, it seems that I may have been mistaken, obviously.¡±
Adam chuckled as he ended the review of that memory, ¡°waste of time¡± indeed. He turned to the last person he¡¯d been actively tracking. The woman that had visited Trix¡¯s office right after his destruction as Trix. Katja was a little harder to track down. Adam was still able to see what she was doing but he couldn¡¯t recognize where she was or the location she was in. Also, while his nanites had spread far and wide throughout the Vrax Empire they were not everywhere. The location Katja was in was one of those without nanites, though she was spreading his nanites for him.
Katja was walking around in a market looking for something. Over the three weeks, he¡¯d been otherwise occupied, she¡¯d been walking the market daily as if she were looking for someone. He reviewed what information he could and the only thing that had changed was that she¡¯d received a personal message through her interface. The only reason he knew that was because his nanites had detected that she had stopped, her eyes had glazed, and then she¡¯d made her way to a portal facility. This happened the day he left the Cosmos. That she could block his ability to read her mind with his nanites was troubling, but she probably had an ability that blocked any access to her mind.
After Katja had received the message she made her way through the portal facility and used another portal to travel to a beautiful resort world and then went to another portal and teleported somewhere else. It wasn¡¯t the same planet because the colors in the atmosphere were different. The planet she¡¯d just left had a beautiful bright blue atmosphere. The planet she¡¯d finally ended up on had an atmosphere the color of turquoise shading into the green spectrum. She¡¯d stepped out of the portal room she¡¯d appeared in onto a small street and walked until she entered a street market. She walked back and forth along the market all day and then went up to an apartment she must have owned because she pulled out a key and entered with no issue. She made some dinner, relaxed for a bit, and then went to sleep. With only slight variations to the path she traveled through the street market each day, she¡¯d been following the same pattern for the last three weeks.
Adam reviewed the expansion rate of his nanites in this Cosmos and was very happy to notice that Vrax and every world connected to it directly had been infiltrated and the populations, for the most part, had nanites in them. Secondary planets were approximately 60% finished. Some worlds had been visited by people from Vrax and the nanites had started converting them even though they didn¡¯t have a portal directly to Vrax. In most cases, someone had teleported to the planet. In other cases, something or someone had traveled through a natural aperture, portal, or teleportation portal and the infiltration process had begun again in the new location.
Having reviewed everything he needed to, Adam focused his attention on his Alamogordo replica residence in the Dyson Sphere in the Cosmos he¡¯d just come from and the ghostly images shifted to show him that bedroom. Adam willed himself to step through as he mentally chose ¡°Cross Over¡± when prompted.
Adam left the Place between Places behind and found himself standing in his bedroom looking onto his balcony as it overlooked Alamogordo below him. Adam felt bad for leaving Ne¡¯lix to his fate for the last three weeks, so he opened a portal and telekinetically pulled Ne¡¯lix from the room he¡¯d been into his Dyson sphere before he even knew what was happening. Adam smiled at Ne¡¯lix¡¯s surprised face Ne¡¯lix¡¯s eyes went wide with shock as they glazed over. Through the nanites in Ne¡¯lix¡¯s system, Adam knew he was reviewing a couple of prompts that had appeared. While Adam waited new prompts filled his vision as well.
WARNING: A Mortal within your direct sphere of influence has entered a region of raw chaos. Raw Chaos is anathema to any form of order. As an Advanced Soul, you may attempt to shield or influence any mortal within your direct sphere of influence from the effects of exposure to chaos.
NOTE: Normally this is not possible. As an Absolute Soul and the being in question had a previous allegiance to you and has recently called for your assistance or help you may expend Karmic Luck on a 10:1 ration to improve his odds. Such assistance comes at a cost to the being assisted. Should they agree to the assistance they pledge their allegiance to you in all things for one subjective year of their soul for every point of Karmic Luck spent. For every 10 points of Karmic Luck Spent a positive or negative outcome is increased or decreased by 1% respectively. The outcome cannot be influenced, only whether that outcome is positive or negative.
Would you like to influence the outcome of exposure to raw Chaos for be positive or negative for Ne¡¯lix, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes¡±
Would you like the influence in question to be Positive or Negative?
Adam chose ¡°Positive¡±
How much Karmic Luck would you like to expend to influence a positive outcome for Ne¡¯lix?
Adam said ¡°1,000 Karmic Luck¡±
Chapter 116, That Could Have Gone Really Bad
Ne¡¯lix looked up from his bunk to see Adam staring through a portal looking at him before he was picked up by an invisible force and whisked through the portal before it closed behind him. The force lowered him to his feet and released him. He started to smile when prompts flooded his vision.
WARNING: You have entered a region of raw chaos. You are under the direct influence of Adamantadine. Adamantadine has offered to sway the hands of fate so that your exposure to chaos results in a positive outcome. To accept Adamantadine¡¯s influence you must confirm your Allegiance to Adamantadine for the duration of 1,000 subjective years. If you decline Adamantadine¡¯s influence the effects of raw chaos exposure will be random, as is the nature of chaos.
Would you like to allow Adamantadine to influence your exposure to raw Chaos, Yes or No?
Ne¡¯lix chose ¡°Yes¡±.
Pain unlike anything Ne¡¯lix had ever experienced came from every single cell of his body and overloaded his brain. When he came back to consciousness he noted a flashing Icon in his vision indicating that he had a prompt waiting while he looked at Adam who was looking at him with concern. With a mouth that was suddenly dryer than he could remember he asked, ¡°What happened?¡±
¡°I made a mistake,¡± Adam said.
¡°How?¡±
¡°Why don¡¯t you look at any prompts you might have and see what being exposed to raw chaos has done to you,¡± Adam said.
Ne¡¯lix closed his eyes and pulled up his prompts.
You have been exposed to raw chaos. This has fundamentally changed you. You have gained the Fundamental ability ¨C Code Locked
Code Locked ¨C Nanites within your Soul¡¯s personal sphere of control have been code locked to you. You now have control over the nanites and can consciously control their function. The nanites in question were created by Adamantadine. You may only control nanites within your soul¡¯s sphere of control. Commands to nanites outside that sphere of control are ignored. Your sphere of control is x inches from your body where x equals your intelligence attribute. If both Adamantadine and you give commands that contradict each other a contest of wills commences, and the winner takes control. When in areas already flooded with nanites you may take control of nanites that have been created by Adamantadine that come within your sphere of control. You may create, destroy, and modify any matter that can be infiltrated by Adamantadine¡¯s nanites that you control.
Note: because your body is infused with Chaotic Nanites you are considered Chaos Forged and immune to further metamorphosis or mutations due to exposure to raw chaos.
Ne¡¯lix opened his eyes and looked at Adam, ¡°I seem to be fine, your nanites fused with me and I can now control them though it looks like I¡¯m pretty limited.¡±
Ne¡¯lix watched as Adam closed his eyes, then opened them, ¡°Why isn¡¯t the raw chaos ripping you apart?¡±
¡°It looks like my new fundamental ability code locked is doing something to prevent that from happening. If I had to guess my code-locked nanites are making sure to stabilize and rebuild my body so the chaos no longer affects me. There¡¯s a note about that side effect, though it doesn¡¯t come out and say that.¡±
Adam looked thoughtful for a minute then reached out and took Ne¡¯lix¡¯s hand. As Adam rose to his feet he pulled Ne¡¯lix¡¯s to his as well, ¡°Looks like I have a new ally,¡± Adam said with a wry smile then continued, ¡°Okay I want you to get used to using the nanites. Look to the memories you¡¯ve already experienced with me to see what you can do with them. In addition, I¡¯ll be sending you a program that will allow you to quantum link to one of my management routines. This will allow you to call forth portals that can take you anywhere you desire that I have visited. Also, anywhere saturated with nanites can be visited as well.¡±
¡°What are you going to do?¡± Ne¡¯lix asked.
¡°Me, I have an Emperor, Director of The Agency, and the new Director that took Trix¡¯s place to confront and take care of among other things I need to do to get this Cosmos in order,¡± Adam said as he disappeared.
Ne¡¯lix felt a bit overwhelmed but went to work. His memories of Adam¡¯s life had shown Adam using the nanites for a lot of things. True to his word Adam shared a link that allowed him to call for a portal. He explored the house he was in while he fiddled with his nanites. He made himself a strong drink and chugged it and remembered that he could no longer get drunk unless he willed it. So, some good things and bad. He was going to need to practice with them. Ne¡¯lix had a very good idea of just how powerful Adam was. If he chose to do a contest for control, he¡¯d lose. So, he¡¯d be satisfied with what control he had and be thankful because he was pretty sure he was now going to live for a very long time with this fundamental ability in play and that little fact that swearing his allegiance to Adam had most likely saved his life.
***
Adam teleported out of his Dyson sphere and appeared on Vrax away from any cameras. 90% of the planet was covered by them, but he knew where every single one of them was. He double-checked to make sure no one was looking his way then transformed into Trix and started walking towards the Politics and Religion Oversight Committee building where Trix¡¯s old office used to be. Then he stopped
Adam moved back to where no there was no camera coverage and transformed into Ahrem. He also had his nanites set up a privacy barrier so anyone looking in this direction would see only an empty corner in an alley. If they came close they¡¯d see him but from a distance, he¡¯d be okay. Adam thought about what he wanted then wished and willed Death to come forth utilizing his Spellweaver ability to cast a spell to bring her back. His will fought a barrier of sorts, but he overcame it quickly and a prompt popped into my vision,
You are attempting to summon Death. The Cosmic Aspect of Death has sustained 2.22+21E points of damage more than Death¡¯s corporeal form could sustain. IAW the Laws created by the Aspect of Death, all beings must remain dead long enough that their normal hit point regeneration could repair the excess damage that destroyed their corporeal form before they may manifest after their destruction. As you are trying to bring her forth you may transfer your health and pay the cost at double the damage done.
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Would you like to bring forth Death, Yes or No?
Adam chose yes. His health regeneration rate was more than how much damage she¡¯d taken. The drain to his health as Death manifested before him was negligible. Death became solid with her sickle in hand, ¡°Hello again?¡± Adam said.
¡°Hello again? Hello again! I should kill you where you stand,¡± Death declared.
¡°I¡¯d think that through princess, if you attack me again I¡¯m going to put you back where I just pulled you from and you can stay there until this Cosmos rots.¡±
¡°The others will not stand¡¡±
¡°Zip it!¡± Adam said as he utilized his full charisma and intimidation skill to silence her. ¡°I didn¡¯t bring you back so that you can posture, and I can monologue. The cosmos needs Death and I need you doing your job.¡±
Chastened, Death looked at him as her sickle disappeared as her clothes changed to a black business suit, ¡°You know whom I serve, why would I do anything you ask?¡±
¡°Because even though you serve her, you also serve a purpose in this Cosmos that you must fulfill. I have a feeling in the coming days there may be a few souls that will need your guidance. ¡°Also, I wasn¡¯t sure if Death being incommunicado would prevent me from killing some people if the need arose, so I brought you back.¡±
¡°Yes, I am Death, none can look into my eyes and not die upon my command,¡± she said as she stared at me intently.¡±
Adam checked behind himself, again. Adam made a show of looking at his arms and legs as if inspecting them for damage, before he looked back at her and snickered, ¡°That attack was not even worth a message to tell me you used it on me, again¡±
Death¡¯s eyes widened in shock, ¡°What? That¡¯s not possible!¡±
¡°You say that a lot,¡± Adam said with a laugh. ¡°Are you done? Can we both get back to work now?¡±
¡°I will never do anything for you,¡± Death said.
¡°Just do your job, and stay out of my way, I have work to do,¡± Adam said as he ensured the nanites in the room had entered her body and were already infiltrating her.
Adam was really curious to see what she did next. He¡¯d check back on her after he handled the director and got the ball rolling for the Vrax. He wasn¡¯t going to be heavy-handed like he had been when he¡¯d been back on Earth at the beginning, but he did need to make his intentions clear. He¡¯d go see Mr. Milston in a minute. Adam pulled up the data coming in from the satellite where the Director of The Agency was and went through their weapon armaments. Gravity bombs, Toxic Chemical Bombs, something called The Eradicator? What the hell was that? Adam looked up the specs on it. The Eradicator was a one-shot, one-planet-dead weapon. Simple concept the missile was fired, phased through matter to the center of a gravity well, and then space inverted creating a short-lived hole into the Astral plane which sucked everything through. Most planets that housed life had a ferromagnetic core that created a magnetic field around the planet. This weapon was designed to strip that core away which destroyed the planet¡¯s ability to create an electromagnetic field around the planet leaving it unprotected from its Sun.
The planet¡¯s sun would eradicate any life on the surface. The missing material could cause a catastrophic cascade that might shatter the planet but if the planet was large enough the molten core would just rush in to fill the void which would cause some earthquakes. As he looked over the specs Adam realized this was a weapon to instill fear and terror. No surface explosions, no death from machines. Just some earthquakes and then the people and atmosphere would be scoured off the planet as the solar wind hit the planet and wiped it clean. A very evil weapon.
Adam went through the rest of the arsenal and then had his nanites make everything within their sphere of influence inert. He didn¡¯t get every single weapon, but he did get a majority of them. Besides, the Vrax wouldn¡¯t need those kinds of weapons anymore. He also disabled every safety feature and weapon in the Director¡¯s office as well as the weapons on his person. Adam check the office and then teleported in
The Director heard the pop as Adam appeared and looked up as his left hand unobtrusively pushed a button on his desk as he asked, ¡°Ahrem Bianci I presume.¡±
¡°Yes and No,¡± Adam said as he transformed back into Adam, ¡°Just call me Adam¡±
¡°Okay, Adam, for what reason have you appeared in my office?¡±
¡°No reason, I just wanted to see who had ordered the death of Trix and why?¡± I said.
¡°You realize that any second guards are going to come through the door behind you and end our little talk.¡±
Adam turned to look at the door, which he knew the Director expected him to do, then lazily looked back as a plasma weapon fired at him. Adam was surprised that the weapon was fired but then realized the weapon had been pulled from a dimensional storage location. It wasn¡¯t a weapon that Adam had disabled yet. The weapon fire hit Adam dead center in his chest and even he was surprised when it did almost nothing to him.
Adam checked his combat Log
The Director has fired a high energy Plasma Gun at you for 1,114 damage.
Primary Projection of Absolute Soul Level Disparity reduces damage by 1.0E+8 times, 0.00001114 damage taken.
Soul-level disparity kicked some serious ass. Or should he say it took the kick out of an ass-kicking? Who knows, it would make this a bit easier. The plasma had burnt a hole in his clothes which his nanites were replacing even as The Director tried to pull the trigger to fire another shot. Adam forced the weapon to dissolve as he said, ¡°Excuse me, we need to talk.¡±
Through the nanites in his body, Adam felt the Director activate a device embedded in his skull that targeted Adam as an evil smile crept onto his face. A portal opened above Adam as a wall of force surrounded him His nanites had already detected the tungsten rod entering the atmosphere. He¡¯d timed this poorly; it would be a full 10 seconds before the tungsten rod would have come into the portal and vaporized anything inside the force bubble attached to the portal. That wasn¡¯t going to happen though because the tungsten rod disappeared as did the controlling device in the Director¡¯s head.
Adam dispelled the force barrier and portal with a thought and then stepped up to the Director¡¯s desk and sat down in a chair across from him. He conjured up two whiskies on ice, one in front of the Director and one in his hand. Adam raised his glass as if to offer a toast. The Director picked his glass up and sniffed it, ¡°Come now Director, if I wanted you dead, you would be dead.¡± The director reluctantly lifted his glass as Adam said, ¡°To Change,¡± and they downed their drinks together.
The Director set his glass down and asked, ¡°What do you want?¡±
¡°There are a lot of things I want. From you, I want to find out why you killed Trix. I need to know the motivations behind that decision,¡± Adam said.
¡°I see,¡± he said before he stood and continued, then you wasted a trip because the reason Trix was killed is simple, The Emperor ordered it.
¡°That¡¯s it? That¡¯s the reason?¡±
¡°Yes, that¡¯s the reason
¡°And you don¡¯t why the Emperor issued that order?¡± Adam asked questioningly.
¡°I don¡¯t ¡®know¡¯ the reason but if I was a guessing man I¡¯d bet it has something to do with how he believes that Trix¡¯s assumption that she was in control really grated on him. He was the emperor after all, who did she think she was?¡±
¡°Truthfully, she was an entity that could help you into the next life. From your attitude and information though I get a strong impression that this is a local political problem.¡±
¡°Are we to be slaves to the Gods? Are we to follow every single thing they say like good little children?¡± The Director asked snidely.
¡°From the things I¡¯ve discovered of the Vrax empire and the composition of your populace as well as some of their activities on some of your more lawless worlds ¡®good¡¯ is not how I would describe your society. Approximately 65% of the population of the Vrax participate in amoral activities. When 30% of the last 35% are either children or the elderly that have not found a way to extend their life, either by choice or lack of opportunity, ¡®good¡¯ is most definitely not a word that I would use.¡±
¡°But we are a free society, for the most part, and our citizens can participate in whatever activities they desire.¡± The Director said.
¡°Not interested. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re trying to think of ways to either capture or kill me. Maybe one day that will happen but today is not that day so here¡¯s what¡¯s going to happen. I¡¯m going to leave in about a minute and you¡¯re going to go let the Emperor know that I¡¯ll be coming to speak to him shortly. Do you think you could let him know that I¡¯m coming to visit soon?¡± Adam asked as he teleported outside the station and willed himself away from the planet at faster-than-light speed. There was something about the silence of the vacuum he was traveling through and the distortions of light that he flew through that found extremely soothing, much more soothing than being in pure chaos or the astral. Adam guessed that the state of being surrounded by nothing was very similar but some stimulation to the senses was a good thing.
Chapter 117, A Little Peace and Quiet
As Adam flew through space enjoying the flickers of light as they passed before him. He truly enjoyed the peace and quiet that gave him finally gave him some time to think. Why hadn¡¯t he killed the Director? In fact, he hadn¡¯t even threatened him. Why? The simple answer that came to mind was that he hated bullies. He really hated them. That¡¯s why he¡¯d decided to release Earth from the tyranny of his nanites, though now with the Chaotic nanites he could force that back onto them if he wanted, should he return. But again, he hated bullies, and he most definitely did not want to be one.
Of course, that idea was predicated on the possibility that the Emperor would understand what overwhelming force was and not order something incredibly stupid like he just had. Across the Vrax Empire in multiple star systems across multiple Universes, The Emperor¡¯s most technologically advanced star ship captains received new orders. One such ship wasn¡¯t really a ship but a higher dimension construct that could, if the specs he was reading were correct, wipe out solar systems in short order. particle weapons, laser weapons, kinetic weapons, and what was that? Singularity weapons that took a naked singularity, a small one, and accelerated it to near light speed before releasing it at the target. Someone had made a theoretical video of what would happen if a naked singularity ever hit the Earth traveling at the speed of light. Not good for the planet as a whole would be an understatement.
Adam¡¯s mentality was still analyzing all the information his nanites were collecting on the Vrax while the ships had been infiltrated, except for a couple that were too far away from any Vrax systems to the portal back, and because they had very limited power, he wasn¡¯t concerned with those ships, they were not a threat. The tactical response fleet was. Those ships were small with a crew of no more than 27. They only needed 8 to run the ship and keep enough personnel on board to run the ship around the clock. Of course, every ship had a portal, and the crews could head back to Vrax at any time but usually, it looked like the portal devices were powered down to conserve energy.
Adam watched through his nanites as 1,109 Captains received orders that reminded him of ¡°Order 66¡± from Star Wars. Adam became sidetracked as he thought about how he needed to sit down and take a break and maybe watch some movies with Adaline, he missed movie night. Adam returned his mind to his current situation and also read the orders as he realized that they had his movement and trajectory details just as a shockwave rocked him out of the high-dimensional state he was in. That was bad. If one of the ships that he¡¯d been reviewing had had this happen to them. There was a reason objects could not go faster than light. Remember that little formula E=MC2 Well, there is an equal sign there for a reason. While theoretical in the era he was born in it was thought that as mass approached the speed of light it required more and more energy to get closer and closer to the state. Theoretically, if anything were ever to reach the speed of light then mass would equal energy. Most thought that meant a big boom as the mass converted to pure energy and flew apart. In most cases those assumptions would be correct unless they were talking about him of course.
While he¡¯d been reviewing the data about the ships another weapon that he hadn¡¯t reviewed was used on him. In each universe that the Vrax had a foothold one barren planet had been converted to generate enough power to create a device that could reach through dimensions and create a shockwave at an almost unlimited range. As he reviewed the information on the weapon, something they¡¯d called an EDS (Energy Displacement System.) They could target any known coordinates within their empire and cause enough interference to either disrupt communications if set to the lowest setting or destabilize dimensional boundaries so much that anything on one side passed through to the other. If used on an object in real space the object would take severe damage if they didn¡¯t have dimensional anchors in their ships, which all Vrax ships had. In his case when it had been used on an area he was about to pass through at faster than light speed, The walls between dimensions became paper thin and he crossed back into real space at the equivalent of about Warp 10, about 10,000 times the speed of light.
Adam hadn¡¯t thought about the science of his ability to travel faster than the speed of light. With his Adaption ability, he just thought that his body changed enough to survive. He found out that he¡¯d been mistaken. As he crossed back into normal space his mentality retreated into his soul space and his body converted to a wave of coalesced energy traveling faster than light. As he reviewed the data coming from the nanites that were part of that particle wave he realized that the only reason he had not exploded and all the energy of his body had not dispersed was because of the nanites in his body. His energy was ripping a hole through space that would leave a scar along the dimensional barrier as it passed by. Not his fault but he didn¡¯t want to see the Universe pop like a soap bubble because of him either. Traveling as fast as he was it would be a little bit difficult to slow down. He didn¡¯t have any nanites he could disperse himself into and he couldn¡¯t jump back into an adjacent dimension because he¡¯d already created a tear and opened a wound between normal space and the dimension he was using to travel faster than light as well as any higher dimensions that were adjacent to it.
Probably a bad idea, he teleported into chaos near his Dyson sphere with a vector leading away from it. There are bad ideas, then there are bad ideas. Chaos by its nature can be anything but even though that is true, in its natural form it¡¯s basically a fluid consisting of every type of magic that can do anything. When he teleported into that soup he added the potential energy of 170 pounds of mass traveling at approximately 10,000 times the speed of light
Your Primary Projection Ahrem has been destroyed.
Your synergistic nature allows you to recreate your Primary Projection from nearby nanites, would you like to recreate your Primary Projection, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes¡±
Would you like to create your Ahrem Projection or your Adamantadine Projection?
Adam chose ¡°Adamantadine¡±
As his body rebuilt itself out of the 5% of nanites that were floating around in Chaos near him. Adam realized that he couldn¡¯t see the Dyson Sphere. He knew which direction to go to find it though, there was a huge empty space leading off into the distance as the expansion of the explosion raced away from him in all directions. The Dyson sphere was probably off in the direction he plowed into the Chaos from. At his velocity, approximately Warp 10, he had been traveling 18.6 billion miles per second. He¡¯d converted all that energy into an explosion in less than a second. If he rounded to one half of a second he was at least 9.3 billion miles from the Dyson sphere.
Adam felt a disturbance just as the higher dimensional construct that housed the consciousness of a pilot popped into existence near him and fired a singularity weapon at him. A singularity formed behind him, which he promptly ignored. Instead, he wondered why chaos hadn¡¯t disintegrated the craft, then he realized that Chaos had not filled the emptiness that he¡¯d created. In fact, the shockwave was still spreading out giving the pilot a safe harbor at the center of the disturbance in Chaos. The ship was effectively in a vacuum.
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Since he was still reforming he wasn¡¯t worried about what might happen because they were in the home of his element, chaos. On second thought, it would be interesting to see what chaos did to the singularity. The expansion had finally slowed and the Chaos was even now rushing back. To prevent others from leaping their ships to their doom as they tried to follow him, he shut down every power source to every ship that could teleport across dimensions. And locked that function out of their ships. There was nothing he could do for the idiot whose mind had been digitized that was already here. If he wasn¡¯t smart enough to try to leave, that was on him. He could prevent others from being that stupid though.
Adam set part of his mind to open one portal on each ship at a time and dissolve the ship from the outside towards the portal so the crew could travel back to Vrax. He made sure the nanites created an invisible barrier that would maintain the ship¡¯s atmosphere as it was converted into more nanites which also flowed to Vrax through the portal for use elsewhere. If they were too stupid to retreat and flee the ship through their portal they didn¡¯t deserve to live.
As he sent his commands to the nanites in the ships that were about to travel to him he kept his attention on the ¡°craft¡± in front of him. It wasn¡¯t a craft so much as a holographic representation of manifested matter as energy. Interesting idea but still not good enough to save it here. Almost immediately the holographic images sputtered and died then a human male body appeared in the chaos and screamed. The that had been in the ship¡¯s dimensional storage being smothered by chaos was anticlimactic. Chaos started dropping in past the event horizon and then the singularity had just popped as material released into the chaos which was promptly converted to more chaos. There was a little bit of pressure, but the disturbance was nothing like the one Adam had just made. A message he hadn¡¯t expected to see appeared in his vision.
WARNING: A Mortal within your direct sphere of influence has entered a region of raw chaos. A region of chaos is anathema to any form of order. As an Advanced Soul, you may attempt to shield or influence any mortal within your direct sphere of influence from the effects of exposure to chaos.
NOTE: The being in question has never had allegiance to you and is calling for assistance. You may choose to help or not to help as you desire at a cost of Karmic Luck on a 100:1 ratio to improve his odds. Such assistance comes at a cost to the being assisted. Should they agree to the assistance they pledge their allegiance to you in all things for one subjective year of their soul for every point of Karmic Luck spent. For every 100 points of Karmic Luck Spent a positive or negative outcome is increased or decreased by 1% respectively. The outcome cannot be influenced, only that the outcome is either positive or negative.
At a ratio of 100 to 1, this soul would be attached to him for a while if he increased his chance by 100. As the person in question had never done personal harm to him he spent the Karmic Luck for a positive outcome. Immediately an aura of white light built around the man, and then disappeared when he disintegrated.
Congratulations, Stan Whittaker has pledged his allegiance to you for 10,000 years unless released from you.
Note: One of your disciples, Stan Whittaker has upgraded their soul to basic: Nascent
Note: One of your disciples, has gained the one-time Soul Ability: Aspect Blessed. 1% of your Karmic luck at the time this Soul Ability was added to your disciple has been subtracted from your Karmic Luck. This is a one-time award, no further Karmic Luck is earned by your disciple or lost by you from this Soul Ability.
Note: Your disciple Stan Whittaker has died and left the Cosmos you are currently in. You receive one point of Karmic Luck from your Disciples actions during his Cosmic Occurrence. You may not receive an award for Karmic Luck earned by the discipline that came from yourself.
¡°Well shit,¡± Adam said as he finished reading the prompts and the chaos finally refilled and surrounded him. Chaos had just created another him. Well, not as bad as him surely but pretty damn close. 1% of infinite was still pretty damn infinite, though In Stan¡¯s case that Karmic Luck would have an actual number. He¡¯d have to find him at some point and find out at what point the system decided a number was infinite. For all he knew it could be a number that only had one million zeros behind it. Stan¡¯s Karmic Luck wasn¡¯t increasing constantly, though, with a Karmic Luck that high, it very well could be in the near future. Of course, if he pulled off anything like Adam had then he¡¯d get a percentage of his earnings. That would be crazy. Getting a percentage of an infinite number added to his already constantly increasing Karmic Luck. Adam was really missing his Universal and Cosmic Interfaces. He needed to be able to see what was going on in the background. More importantly, he needed to see how the calculations were happening.
With Stan gone and the other ships nullified he teleported back to the Dyson Sphere near Ne¡¯lix where he was sitting in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal.
¡°Adam, what was that?¡± Ne¡¯lix asked.
¡°What was what?¡± Adam asked.
¡°This entire place shook?¡±
¡°Oh, the Emperor wasn¡¯t happy with the talk I had with The Director of The Agency.¡±
¡°Is that all,¡± Ne¡¯lix said with a hint of sarcasm.
¡°Yep, just popped in to check on you then I need to see to that issue.¡±
¡°Well, you haven¡¯t been gone all that long, though I did look out the window. How big is this planet? Also, am I inside of it?¡±
¡°The memories of the last time I constructed one of these are in the memories I shared with you. Look up Dyson Sphere in the terminal over there. It¡¯ll explain everything. The quick answer is this though, you are inside a sphere with a diameter of 1 astronomical unit (AU) in a perfect replica of his world, plus a few others spread out all the way around the sphere.¡±
¡°Can I go explore?¡±
¡°Sure, I¡¯ll have a plane on the landing pad for you in a second. It will be able to pretty much fly itself and also be able to teach you how to fly if you want to learn. Just sit up front and tell it where you want it to go. If something goes wrong or the craft gets damaged just use your code-locked abilities to have the nanites repair it. That shouldn¡¯t be an issue here though. Be aware, you and I are the only sentient people here. There are animals, which are copies run by the nanites but they¡¯re not really living creatures. I can¡¯t add those unless I move this outside of this realm. Most beings that come here will almost assuredly be modified, corrupted, or killed. A few lucky ones might be positively affected but those are few and far between.¡±
¡°I was just going to fly around,¡± Ne¡¯lix said.
¡°If you want to see what some of the buildings I grew up with look like head down to the city at the base of this mountain. Bigger cities can be found to the north and east,¡± Adam said as he pointed out the directions for him. ¡°You can also call up a map on the center console of the plane. Familiarize yourself with the layout, though if you¡¯ve been to other Earths this one is set up a lot like those.¡±
¡°A lot of this looks familiar but I think I will have a look around,¡± Ne¡¯lix said.
¡°Remember, utilize the Portals to get out of here. Don¡¯t try to use magic, you¡¯re in the realm of chaos, and you have to cross dimensional barriers to get home. That can get pretty expensive. Also, don¡¯t try to bring anyone here. They¡¯ll have the same problem you did. Someone just tried to follow me here and almost died. This is one of the safest places you can be but not safe for anyone you know.¡±
¡°What about monsters from this realm?¡± Ne¡¯lix asked.
¡°There aren¡¯t any in the Dyson Sphere and if they attack the outside, unless they¡¯re supremely powerful, it shouldn¡¯t be an issue. Plus, I¡¯ll know if that happens and stop it.¡±
¡°What if you can¡¯t?¡±
¡°Then we run,¡± Adam said.
¡°Great plan,¡± Ne¡¯lix said dryly.
¡°I know right,¡± Adam said with a grin on his face. Adam went to work and sent orders to the nanites he needed to. He walked out on the balcony, looked at the sunset that was being mimicked by the various mirrors and fake weather within the sphere then teleported to the Emperor¡¯s throne room, where the Emperor sat alone on his Throne frozen in place.
Chapter 118, Nap Time is Over
Adam teleported into the Throne room and looked around. The Emperor was sitting on his Throne staring straight ahead. Adam knew the Emperor could see because he hadn¡¯t shut down the Emperor¡¯s brain and he was still allowing the Emperor¡¯s lungs to exchange oxygen and his heart to beat. Otherwise, his nanites had only locked down the Emperor¡¯s ability to move. As Adam looked around at the empty room he thought about how it had been completely full just 5 minutes ago, there had even been children in attendance. That is until he¡¯d sent off commands to his nanites to clear it.
Adam had sorted parents and their children into one group and all the sycophants into another. Then the nanites took over their bodies simultaneously. portals had opened near the small groups of people throughout the room. The groups had walked through, the portals closing behind them. The nanites in groups with children had put them in a coma as they controlled the bodies and walked them into the artificial parks around the planet at least 100 miles from the Emperor¡¯s palace. After the portals were closed the nanites released them from their comas, they woke up and were surprised to find themselves in a different location. The shock wasn¡¯t enough to scare any of the children or adults that much.
The sycophants on the other hand were not treated so delicately. The nanites took over their bodies, the portals opened, and they found themselves on the larger of the two moons, Itania, frozen in place. Itania was just a little larger than Earth¡¯s Moon with a diameter of 2,213 km. Also, the mass of Itania was just a little more than Earth¡¯s moon at .084. (1024 kg). Although, conditions on the surface were about the same as on Earth¡¯s moon.
Fun fact, the reason Vrax didn¡¯t suffer tidal problems was that the entire surface of Vrax had been covered and the oceans and lakes had been put in what amounted to giant containers. As for the sycophants, Adam made sure the nanites maintained their bodies and did NOT put them into a coma while they stepped through portals into a shallow crater looking at Vrax sitting above the Horizon. Once everyone was through and lined up, he had the nanites release them from the neck up so they could turn, look around and talk amongst themselves. He¡¯d sealed the crater they were looking out with a thin sheet of transparent aluminum and used the nanites to solidify the crater wall enough so gases wouldn¡¯t escape into the soil after he converted some of the moon¡¯s surface to air for them. The nanites would make sure they had enough Oxygen. The point of this exercise was to show them, and the Emperor, that forces they couldn¡¯t control were in play. Adam didn¡¯t want any of them to die. He just wanted to make a point.
Adam brought his thoughts back to the throne room and looked around the giant empty hall that the Emperor¡¯s dais sat in and started walking towards him. As he reached the bottom of the steps leading up to the throne his nanites detected two stasis fields, one on each side of the steps and a third Stasis chamber behind the Emperor. None of the stasis chambers were visible to the naked eye nor were they in any way technological. His nanites were trying to infiltrate the fields but there was nothing there to infiltrate. A book he¡¯d read came to mind by an author with the last name of Hamilton. Stasis Frozen Guards? But if that were so, the nanites should be able to infiltrate the guard¡¯s bodies. As he stepped onto the dais he received his answer. It was a temporal barrier of some kind that probably had to be deactivated.
Warning: You have stepped into a Temporal Anomaly. Destination Unknown. Would you like to allow this Temporal Anomaly to affect you? Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°No¡± as he continued up the steps. he had his nanites form a chair and sat down directly in front of the Emperor so that he could look out into the room behind him while he looked into the Emperor¡¯s eyes and waited. He didn¡¯t have to wait long. All of the lights went out and he felt a thousand men teleport into the room. Every single one of them came from a world that his nanites had already infiltrated. As they appeared, a portal opened in front of each of them and they all stepped through their personal portal and entered the crater on Itania that Adam had prepared.
Those troops had been the Emperor¡¯s emergency special forces that were always on call and always ready to deploy. 30 seconds later a second wave of 1,000 appeared. And again, portals opened and they stepped into another crater that had been prepared on Itania.
Adam¡¯s nanites detected transmission of both technological and magical nature. The nanites blocked the technological transmission easily enough. The magical one was a bit more insidious, and Adam didn¡¯t realize that it was a dead man¡¯s switch until the signal had turned off. It seemed that besides the call for an election of an Emperor by the Council of Nobility, there was another way to deactivate the stasis chamber behind the Emperor which contained Mah. The third stasis chamber Adam had detected was a door inside a pentagram that sat slightly above the Throne. The tips of the pentagram flashed red, and the stasis field dropped. A door opened allowing the single occupant to step forward.
Someone in the control room must have deactivated the stasis chamber remotely. As his nanites investigated how this had happened he realized he was mistaken. A simple oversight on his part and an absolutely brilliant strategy by whoever set up the Emperor¡¯s protection. Sensors in the control room were set to monitor movement. If movement ceased, the signal to maintain the stasis chamber was interrupted. There had been guards and the commander in charge of the control room and the timer had been set to five minutes. There were other failsafes including queries by the program to other agencies and the Emperor. When Adam had cut off communication outside the palace, movement of any kind by the Emperor and everyone in the control room ceased the program deactivated the stasis field. Adam just hadn¡¯t thought they¡¯d have something like that in place. He knew they¡¯d have security, he¡®d nullified it all, or at least he thought he had. Obviously, he was mistaken as he watched Mah land lightly on the Dais behind the Throne and then walk around to the side of the Throne.
If Trix¡¯s memories were accurate, and he had no reason to believe they weren¡¯t, this man had systematically gone to multiple systems and destroyed them and everyone in them when the counselors representing those systems had killed their fellow counselors in the Council of Nobility during an election for a new Emperor as they tried to get their man into that position. . Mah looked around, noted the current Emperor sitting frozen on his Throne then looked at Adam.
Without a word or any indication that he was going to attack, Adam looked down to find a black blade buried in his chest through his heart held by Mah who was looking into his eyes as if he was inspecting a bug and wondering how it had ended up on his sword after he¡¯d just squished it with his foot. That was surprise number 1. Surprise number 2 was the fact that he¡¯d done enough damage to Adam¡¯s body that he was dying. Surprise number 3 was the sensation he felt from the dark blade that was somewhat familiar but alien. Well, one good thing would come of this, He¡¯d finally learn what that Soul Ability Incessant did.
WARNING: Mah has attacked you with The Blade of Primal Destruction.
The Blade of Primal Destruction bypasses all defense and resistance.
The Primal Blade of Destruction inflicts damage by Percentage of total health, not hit points.
This blade is extremely potent against creatures with very high hit points. Attacks that are considered critical hits and would be fatal to normal creatures 200% damage.
The Blade of Primal Destruction ignores all damage reduction.
All Adam had time to utter before his body died was, ¡°Ow¡±
Mah sneered and smiled as Adam winked at him and formed a new body to the right of the Throne and transferred his consciousness to his new body. The process was instantaneous. As long as the area was saturated with nanites, Adam could form a new body within a second. Adam looked at Mah.
Mah smiled and moved. Adam died again. Mah¡¯s sword form was outstanding and better than Adam¡¯s ability to dodge. Of course, he wasn¡¯t even seeing him move to strike which meant¡ I¡¯ll be a son of a¡ The soul ability Incessant was reforming his body out of the nanites as his former bodies broke apart into their component nanites. As Adam was dying over and over he checked to see what his nanites were up to concerning Mah. They were infiltrating him just fine. The sword was another matter. Unlike his Chaos Blade, this blade destroyed anything that came into contact with it, even his chaotic nanites. Mah wasn¡¯t protected but that sword was.
Adam died a total of twelve times before he was able to freeze Mah in place. After the eleventh death, Adam tried to leave him in a state similar to the people he had on the Moon. Mah had still been able to somehow move his body so the sword ended up piercing his body through the chest again. That had been his twelfth death, after which Adam had put Mah into a coma as he had his fingers release The Blade of Primal Destruction and then opened a portal beneath it as it fell that lead into Chaos. Adam watched as the blade of destruction faded from view. The raw chaos was staying away from the blade as it fell away from the portal. Adam sent a couple of nanites after it to stay in close proximity to the sword as he closed the portal and walked over to Mah and tried to analyze or identify him. No such luck. Nothing he tried was breaking through whatever was blocking him. Also, he was pretty sure he was an Absolute level soul, though he only seemed to be a manifestation instead of a projection or an Aspect that had crossed into this Cosmos.
Everything had happened where the Emperor could witness it. Adam had a good idea of what the Emperor was thinking but right now Adam wasn¡¯t worried about that. He needed to figure out what to do with Mah. Adam pulled up his interface and queried where an Aperture was. His ability Pansophical activated and a message appeared.
The aperture out of this Cosmos is located within the Divide at the center.
Adam reviewed his memories of The Divide and noted that it was a tube that was long and huge but he didn¡¯t see anything that looked like ¡°The Eye¡± or apertures he¡¯d seen before. He replayed the memories in his mind and as he looked everyone over. He did notice that there seemed to be an area a little farther down from the door where a few went though he was lucky enough to see one soul that was floating near the center and seemed to phase out of view. None of the other souls reacted, nor had he reacted when it happened. Maybe there was some form of mental suppression not to notice unless you were looking for it?
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Adam picked Mah up, opened a portal to The Divide, and moved out into the middle of the Divide. Souls were floating by as he appeared, but they ignored Adam and Mah. Some were crying, others were surprised, and others seemed excited. None were moving through the center area of the tube though. As Adam carried Mah toward the center of the tube they passed an invisible barrier. Adam looked at the souls as they continued down the tube outside of this inner area shrouded by the invisibility screen which only showed as a slight distortion. That was the only indication that there was something between himself and the other souls. Adam looked around and noticed that less than 100 feet from his entry point there was a Platinum Door above which words were flowing through many languages though the meaning of the words didn¡¯t change,
¡°For Those Ready to Start Anew, This Door is For You¡±
Well, that was just corny as hell. Adam moved up to the Door and opened It to a shimmering wall of light.
Would you like to Leave this Cosmos, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°No¡± and then threw Mah through the door.
Mah bounced off the wall of light and floated back towards Adam.
Adam caught him easily. Adam guessed every person that went through the door had to accept the transition. That did make a little bit of sense. Fine. Adam shut the door and moved back from it then willed himself to Cross-over with Mah.
Would you like to Leave this Cosmos, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes.¡±
WARNING you are carrying another entity with you out of this Cosmos at a non-designated location. Doing so may have an adverse effect on the entity.
Adam ignored the warning and crossed into the Place between Places with Mah. Interestingly enough his body didn¡¯t dissolve or get destroyed. There must be a set of rules governing the chaos of this region or it wasn¡¯t chaos, just a chaotic region where chaos could exist as well. Adam would have to explore this area a little more next time he was out here. His interface showed a great empty expanse so he reset his Interface to default for this place and everything around him changed. Adam was now standing next to a barrier holding Mah and not too far away there was a conduit racing off into the distance.
So, this asshole didn¡¯t want to leave the Cosmos willingly. Adam was betting that if he placed him in the Conduit from outside the Cosmos he wouldn¡¯t have a choice. Adam willed them closer to a conduit while holding Mah by the neck. Adam kept his body outside the conduit and pushed Mah through the permeable barrier surrounding it. Adam felt pressure pulling on Mah¡¯s body and released him. Adam felt his nanites inside Mah get drawn down the conduit away from him at a very rapid rate. Adam still had communication with them and released Mah from the Coma as he willed himself away from the conduit. Adam brought the image of the Emperor¡¯s Throne room into focus and willed himself to Cross-over into that location. There were no prompts this time. He just phased into existence in front of the Emperor and sat down in the chair opposite him.
¡°Now that that¡¯s out of the way Emperor Princeps you and I can have a talk,¡± he said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry I¡¯ll let you ask some questions in a minute, first though, Everyone, save Mah, will be returning as soon as we¡¯re done here. The families and their children are fine, They¡¯re in some of your parks around the world just far enough away from any portals so they won¡¯t be getting back anytime soon. Those of your court that don¡¯t have family and all of your soldiers are on the surface of Itania. They¡¯re frozen much like you are though they can breathe normally and they¡¯re not dying so I guess that¡¯s a bonus for them.¡±
Adam paused for a second, stood and looked around the Hall again then sat back down. ¡°And this place, Why the hell would you need a place so big? I get that you¡¯re the Emperor of a multi-interdimensional empire that spans a huge number of star systems across multiple universes but seriously isn¡¯t this a bit ostentatious? Last thing, I¡¯m going to release you now. If you try to cast any magic or utilize a technological weapon or device on me I will take you where I just took your guardian and drop you off. In effect that means you¡¯re going to die but that¡¯s not what really happens, and I don¡¯t want to ruin the surprise when it happens so let¡¯s just say, that you probably wouldn¡¯t like that outcome, or you might, who knows.¡± Adam said as he released the Emperor.
The Emperor moved his arms and legs to make sure he had full movement back then launched himself at Adam with a very impressive closed fist punch to Adam¡¯s left eye while he was sitting down. Adam didn¡¯t move, didn¡¯t even flinch. The Emperor broke his hand and fell to his knees as he held his hand groaning.
Adam stood, picked up the Emperor, and put him back on his throne with one hand as he said, ¡°Let me help you with that.¡± Adam had the nanites cut off the pain receptors in his hand and knit the bones back together.
When the pain had stopped the Emperor looked at his hand which had allowed Adam to pick him up and place him back on his throne due to his surprise at there being no pain suddenly. Adam sat back in the chair he¡¯d created and watched with the Emperor as the skin of the Emperor¡¯s hand rippled and the bones knit back together. When it was done, Adam released the block on his pain receptors.
The Emperor flexed his hand, poked it with his other hand then asked, ¡°How?¡±
¡°How isn¡¯t important? Also, thank you for believing me about using magic or technology. I left that gap for physical action to see what you¡¯d do. You acted quickly and decisively which is the type of leader I most wanted to deal with today,¡± Adam said.
¡°With what I just witnessed and felt, I don¡¯t see why, you could take over the Empire and no one would be able to oppose you,¡± he said.
¡°That¡¯s only partially true. There are entities that are just as powerful as I am and weapons that can strike me down, though I tend to get back up, a lot, as you witnessed.
¡°What did you do with Emperor¡¯s Guardian?¡± he asked.
¡°The Emperor¡¯s Guardian has a soul. That soul has moved on to his next life.¡±
¡°You ripped his soul out and banished it?¡±
¡°Nothing so crass, I merely sent him on his way. You¡¯ll have to trust me on this, but he was not on the side of the angels. In fact, I¡¯m pretty sure he was probably a demon or demon spawn of some sort.¡±
¡°Stop talking nonsense, You¡¯re talking like good and evil are actually at war with each other. There are only the choices we each make and the consequences of those choices.¡±
¡°You are both correct and incorrect. There are consequences for all the choices you make. The more significant choices will remain with you for a very long time. Which brings me to the reason I¡¯m visiting you today, ¡°Why did you have Trix assassinated?¡±
¡°I did no such thing!¡± The Emperor declared righteously.
¡°First, your right, you didn¡¯t order the death of Trix, she was already dead when The Agency eliminated her. Second, yes you did. Just answer my questions and I¡¯ll get out of here and return your people to you.¡±
The Emperor looked at Adam intently and then said, ¡°I ordered her death because there can only be one Emperor. She was trying to set up an organization that would have made my title meaningless.¡±
¡°That makes sense. Thank you for your honesty. What you didn¡¯t know about Trix is that she was like me.¡±
¡°Was?¡± The Emperor asked.
¡°Was. She is most definitely dead and never returning. Which is a very good thing because had you been able to pull off your plan and kill her she would have returned to her boss who most definitely has the ability to make your life and death a living hell.¡±
¡°What are you talking about, the major Gods have served The Emperor of the Vrax for millennia. That pact is as old as the Empire is. Some even say the Empire formed because of that Pact and the Gods love for the people of Vrax.¡±
¡°That may have been true in the past but it is no longer true.
¡°You lie!¡±
¡°I do not lie,¡± Adam said as he sent a message through his nanites to Death
Adam: Come to the Emperor¡¯s Throne room on Vrax now, please!
Death appeared and asked, ¡°Who¡¡± then stopped herself as she saw Adam and the Emperor. She nodded to Emperor Princeps then glared at Adam as she asked, ¡°Did you summon me?¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t summon you, but we both know my requests have just a little bit of weight to them don¡¯t we?¡± Adam said with a smile.
¡°That is Death, you can¡¯t talk to her like that, she¡¯ll kill you?¡± The Emperor said adamantly.
¡°Nah, we¡¯re besties, aren¡¯t we Death?¡±
¡°Sure,¡± she said rolling her eyes. ¡°Why am he here?¡± she asked.
¡°You are here to answer one simple question that shouldn¡¯t be stopped by the Geas placed on everyone in this Cosmos. Did something happen to modify or nullify the pact the Gods made with the Vrax prior to your encounter with me a couple of days ago? I¡¯m not asking you to explain because I know that you cannot. A simple Yes or No will suffice.
¡°Yes,¡± she said.
¡°Thank you,¡± Adam said.
¡°You¡¯re still an ass,¡± she said.
¡°But you¡¯re not in limbo for, how long was that going to be again?¡± he asked.
She sighed, then asked, ¡°Are we done here?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Adam said.
Death departed as quickly as she¡¯d arrived as the Emperor asked, ¡°Limbo?¡±
Adam thought about it for a second then decided that the truth might help in this instance, ¡°I punched her so hard that I caused her solid form to disintegrate. Why does that matter? Well, it looks like she created this rule concerning the death of immortals and Gods that they had to remain in limbo until they had regenerated any damage that was done before they could return to physical form. I don¡¯t know the specifics but that¡¯s what I gleaned. Her own rule was going to keep her out of things for a very long time. Not days, months, years, or even centuries. Much longer than that.¡±
¡°Then how is she back?¡± The Emperor asked.
¡°I made a wish and expended some of my healing rate to bring her back.
¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± The Emperor said.
¡°Nor should you, that would be giving away all my secrets. Just know this, in the very near future I¡¯m going to send a message to you. In that message will be instructions on how to resist the power that has nullified your pact with the Gods as well as what teachings you need to end immediately. You will most likely be promised things you desire. I can tell you from the little bit of interaction I¡¯ve had that this being, and others like her, don¡¯t give a rat¡¯s ass about any beings that become their vassals. They just want followers so they can gain more power from them. Each and every member of your empire can make their own way and make their own choices. My understanding after researching your history is that this empire started out like that. You need to redirect the people of the Empire back on that path.¡±
¡°What will you do if I don¡¯t?¡± The Emperor asked.
¡°Nothing, you and your empire need to make your own decisions. If you chose to follow the master of Trix then so be it. I¡¯ve done what I came here to do, I warned you. I¡¯ve also given you a boogieman to use to whip people that were not listening to you in line. I did not turn off the recording devices in this room. Mah is gone, showing that even he, with all his might and the power to destroy planets, had no chance against me or others like me.
¡°I must ask again, why not just take my throne and do things the way you want?¡± The Emperor said.
¡°Because I do not need to be bogged down with the governing of a single empire,¡± Adam answered.
¡°Are you a God?¡± The Emperor asked pointedly.
¡°Honestly I don¡¯t know what definition to use to answer that question. If your definition of God is someone as powerful or just slightly less powerful than Death, then by that definition yes. But my instincts and my personal insight tell me that no I¡¯m not a God. I¡¯m just a guy that has been incredibly lucky while I¡¯m trying to do the best I can for the most people I can,¡± Adam said then paused for a moment before ending the conversation, ¡°I will have something written up and sent directly to you. Not to worry no one will intercept it, you¡¯ll understand when it happens. I have a couple of other small items to take care of,¡± Adam said as he looked thoughtful for a moment.
¡°Oh yeah, tell the Agency to leave Ne¡¯lix alone. He is not like me but any attempts to kill him will lead to the instant deaths of the agent sent and whoever issued the order. I¡¯m sure someone will try, just make sure it¡¯s not you who issues that order, or even hints at ordering it. Just be ready to replace the assassin and their supervisor. Then make sure to reinforce the order the second time. Portals will start opening momentarily and all of the people that were here will return. Your elite soldiers will be returned here as well to help you see to the needs of your people. The families and children can find their own way home. Your empires portal network is quite impressive,¡± Adam said.
Just as the emperor was about to say something or ask questions, Adam teleported out, and the chair he¡¯d been sitting in evaporated. Adam watched through his nanites as Portals opened and people started returning from the Moon. The Emperor stood and looked down the dais to his people. Shutting off his security measures he rushed down the steps while speaking into an intercom on his wrist, ¡°I need medics and counselors in the Throne room now!¡±
Adam watched as the Emperor organized and saw to the needs of his people. Maybe he¡¯d been a bit heavy-handed. Emperor Princeps was a good ruler; Adam might be able to alter the path of his empire and help this cosmos get out from under Textrix. To do that though, he would need just a little more help. Now he had to get the Gods of this Cosmos in line.
Chapter 119, The Carrot or the Stick
Ne¡¯lix planned to spend the day looking around this estate Adam had created. Since he was hungry, he had the nanites make a meal for him. Just something simple and easy. The BLT formed in his hands; the bacon was as warm as if it had just been cooked. As he bit into the sandwich, he couldn¡¯t believe how authentic it tasted. As he ate the BLT he thought about all the choices he had as he looked over the menu. One thing he noticed was that the menu he¡¯d been looking through didn¡¯t seem to have a lot of food people would find on Vrax. Since it was his understanding that the nanites were in his brain and all talked to the same database he figured he¡¯d help Adam and himself out and thought out about every single food he knew of. A moment later he received a message.
Thor: Menus updated; all relative data pulled from local databases.
Ne¡¯lix: Thanks, Thor.
So, even while Adam was busy the part of him that had the identity of Thor was running in the background. Everything that Ne¡¯lix had seen in Adam¡¯s memories seemed to be accurate and made sense. With the amount of processing power Adam had access to what he could accomplish would be amazing.
The next thing Ne¡¯lix did was go over the control he had over the nanites that were part of his body. He was borrowing them after all. For his first test, he sent a command for the nanites to maintain his oxygen levels and then held his breath. After five minutes of no discomfort, he set the nanites back to default mode and turned on one of the functions he¡¯d seen in Adam¡¯s memories, waste management. No more using the bathroom or getting a woman pregnant if he didn¡¯t want to. Shoot with this technology he was now immune to diseases and even the nanites the Vrax had worked with in the past that had scoured a planet by accident wouldn¡¯t hurt him. With that thought he contacted Thor.
Ne¡¯lix: Thor, there¡¯s a planet the Vrax once had that was eradicated by an accident involving nanites. Think you could open a portal to the location and let some of Adam¡¯s nanites into the place to convert them into something you two can use. No one is using that planet after all.
Thor: Where was the planet?
Ne¡¯lix: Not sure exactly. I know its name was Xersus IV though.
Thor: Searching, stellar coordinates located, portals opening. Nanite¡¯s detected. Infiltration started. Portal closed. The enemy nanites tried to come back through the portal but they are orders of magnitude less sophisticated than mine.
Ne¡¯lix: Are they like you, have they networked into an overall consciousness?
Thor: No. Hacking now. Done. Initiating Nanite shutdown sequence. Nanites are now inert. It will take a while but there is a lot of material to convert. Also, I¡¯m going to data mine Vrax historical files and see about rebuilding the planet back to the way it was. Currently, it is a barren sphere. Not even bacteria survived the nanite attack.
Ne¡¯lix: Okay, I think I am also going to go do something productive today.
Thor: Message me if you need anything.
Ne¡¯lix closed his interface and walked over to the door leading to the landing pad. He slowed in the doorway and then came to a complete stop. He¡¯d be able to come back here and look around any time. What he needed to do now was visit his new boss and the woman that tried to murder him, correction, the woman that had murdered him.
Ne¡¯lix double-checked his nanite interface to make sure his nanites were set to full defense and tissue regeneration. Next, he accessed the internal menus for weapons until he found a listing for handheld projectiles. One of the first listed was an M20 submachine gun. He reviewed stats and watched videos on how to work the item. He had the nanites create the gun in his hand and two extra clips all on a shoulder strap. He hoped he wouldn¡¯t need the weapon, but they had shot him the last time he¡¯d visited.
Ne¡¯lix summoned a portal with his nanites and stepped into Trix¡¯s old office where Wesley Milston sat behind his desk. As he stepped through the portal he watched Mr. Milston hit a red button and heard the doors open behind him. Before he could even turn to look in that direction. messages popped into his vision blocking most of his sight, though Ne¡¯lix heard two blood-curtailing screams, one behind him and one in front of him, that suddenly cut off.
WARNING A Projectile has entered your defensive perimeter.
Threat negated.
Ne¡¯lix closed the messages that popped into his vision and set them to not block his line of sight during combat. Next, Ne¡¯lix focused on what was happening to Mr. Milston in front of him, and then quickly turned to see the same thing happening to what was left of Eloise. What the hell? Each of them was evaporating. They were just disappearing as if they¡¯d never existed.
Ne¡¯lix: Thor, what is happening to the two people in this room with me?
Thor: Adam didn¡¯t¡No Adam didn¡¯t because you were supposed to be flying around the Dyson Sphere today. Quick answer. If anyone tries to kill you, the person that tries to kill you and the person that ordered it will be destroyed immediately.
Ne¡¯lix: What?
Thor: You have the same kind of memory that we do. What is your actual question?
Ne¡¯lix: Isn¡¯t that a little Harsh?
Thor: Your memory is perfect, they killed you, not once but twice, this would have been the third time, The Emperor was warned. Though we had hoped that he¡¯d have a little more time to get the word out.
Ne¡¯lix: I¡¯m not a killer!
Thor: What¡¯s hanging off that shoulder strap again?
Ne¡¯lix: Point taken.
Thor: Now dissolve that weapon and stop worrying about defending yourself. Anyone that tries to kill you, even if they succeed, won¡¯t get a second chance, and at worst your body will repair itself and you¡¯ll be back up in no time.
Ne¡¯lix: Last thing for now, what happened to the bullet?
Thor: When the bullet was fired and known to be on a trajectory towards you its path was diverted slightly and the nanites in it reduced it to its component energetic particles which were shunted off through the surrounding nanites to prevent a huge radiation spike. -Thor
Ne¡¯lix: Huh?
Thor: When you get a chance do some research into an idea called pair production. Then I want you to think about every nanite as being connected to every nanite around it and that field goes out for quite a ways. Since the nanites are in every particle in their area of influence when pair production happens they have to do something with the extra energy. What happens is that the nanites invade and absorb the particles while simultaneously preventing the radiation that could be created from destroying nearby biological material. Of course, when the area is saturated the nanites just repair the damage but when I first started my nanites didn¡¯t have the capabilities they do now.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
Ne¡¯lix: Pair production, I¡¯ll look it up. What happens to these two?
Thor: Well, Adam and I kind of believe people should be given a warning. Also, everyone on the planet has been backed up so Adam is going to reform them on the Moon and have a little chat with them after he¡¯s sure they have their souls back. Unless they¡¯ve already fled the Cosmos, then there¡¯s nothing he can do. I don¡¯t think we can pull a soul back across that barrier, though we¡¯ve never tried.
Ne¡¯lix: And Me?
Thor: Oh, there should be a notice coming down from the Emperor shortly that you¡¯re the boss and that anyone that tries to kill you will die immediately. I wouldn¡¯t worry about looking for Ahrem anymore, that cat is out of the bag. Start setting up a power base and getting things ready. With your memory, this task should be easy for you.
Ne¡¯lix: With what Money?
Thor: Seriously? You can use your nanites to create ¡®anything¡¯ and you can¡¯t think of a way to generate funds?
Thor: I¡¯m going to sign off now, I think I can handle this.
Ne¡¯lix: Good to know, we¡¯ll talk again later I¡¯m sure.
* * *
Adam watched his Thor aspects conversation with Ne¡¯lix then portaled to the surface of the moon Itania to the crater he just had all the sycophant¡¯s portal out of. It was already ready so there was no reason not to use it. The previous occupants had all made it back to the Throne Room of The Emperor and were being seen to by medical personnel.
As Adam portaled in, he had the nanites recreate Eloise and Mr. Milston¡¯s bodies and the clothes they¡¯d been wearing. After his portal closed it only took another 30 seconds for the two bodies to be finished. Since they were exact duplicates, Adam watched as their eyes opened and they looked around. Adam knew the moment their souls fully reintegrated into their new bodies as he was watching them with True Sight.
Now that this had happened more than a couple of times Adam was pretty sure that if a person¡¯s soul was still in a Cosmos and the construct that had created that soul was recreated perfectly the soul would be drawn to it. He wondered if that effect had a range limit. Someday, he¡¯d have to test that.
Through Eloise¡¯s nanites, he felt her body tense for the attack and locked her nanites down. Adam also locked down Mr. Milston¡¯s body as he said, ¡°We¡¯ll have none of that.¡± Adam willed himself over to Eloise and then made sure both she and Milston were looking right at him as he moved about 10 feet away and hovered above the ground.
¡°First thing we¡¯re going to do is a demonstration, then another demonstration, then I¡¯m going to give you a warning that the Emperor will be sending to you shortly. Oh yeah, you died,¡± Adam said as he had exact duplicates of their bodies without the memories they now possessed form directly in front of each of them facing me. While they were forming Adam continued, ¡°We are in a crater on Itania in orbit around Vrax. You are not dying right now because your body has been infiltrated and is being controlled by me. The method of control is insidious, and nondetectable by anything within the Vrax empire. In front of you, that method of control is building exact duplicates of your bodies. Do you have any questions?¡± Adam asked as he gave them both back their ability to talk.
¡°What do you mean we died?¡± Eloise asked while Mr. Milston kept his mouth shut.
Adam froze their ability to talk again and answered, ¡°Eloise, A few minutes ago you entered Mr. Milston¡¯s office and shot Ne¡¯lix in an attempt to kill him¡again. Before you did that I¡¯d visited the Emperor and informed him that an attack, oh you want to tell me that I don¡¯t get to order the Emperor around, don¡¯t you? Well, you¡¯re wrong. I can and I did. As I said that order will be coming down shortly. Getting back on track, any attack on Ne¡¯lix will result in the immediate death of the person attacking Ne¡¯lix and the person, or persons that ordered the attack. The only reason we are having this one-sided conversation was that I believe in fair play, and you had not received a warning,¡± Adam said as he let them have the ability to talk again.
¡°What if we don¡¯t believe you?¡± Mr. Milston asked.
¡°That¡¯s a good point, I blocked the memories of the moments of your death from your mind. Here is a replay of exactly how you died. Watch the two bodies in front of you. I¡¯ve linked them to you so you can see what happened while you feel it. I¡¯ll be maintaining your normal heart rate so you don¡¯t go into shock and die again.¡±
The 2nd copies of Eloise and Mr. Milston started to evaporate in front of them as they started to scream. The screams only lasted for a few seconds because their brains had been the first parts of their bodies to be destroyed. Once the pain stopped both of them focused their attention on the body in front of them as they watched them disappear into nothing.
Adam pointed to where the bodies had been and said, ¡°Horrible, wasn¡¯t it? I think you agree because I can tell your bodies are distressed, just take it easy for a minute or two while Eloise¡¯s body copy reforms in front of you,¡± Adam said as he watched over them. Once the second copy of Eloise¡¯s fully clothed body reformed he went over to it as he addressed the two bodies that housed their souls, ¡°You both need to pay attention. Right now, I¡¯m locking your feet to the surface of the moon, no you can¡¯t feel it. With a thought I can do anything I want,¡± Adam said as he stood beside Eloise¡¯s doppelganger and had the clothing on it disappear while he maintained unflinching eye contact with Eloise. ¡°I can do this from anywhere and I am always aware of what¡¯s going on anywhere I have control and that is pretty much anywhere anyone from the Vrax Empire has been, ¡° Adam said as the clothing reappeared on Eloise copie¡¯s body. ¡°Eloise, I have known someone very similar to you that would continue to fight because they think they have a chance,¡± he said as Adam then directed a private message into her vision through the nanites.
You don¡¯t have a chance when I can send private messages into your mind and can see, taste, smell, touch, and hear anything you can as well as read your mind,
Adam looked from one to the other then said, ¡°You can let Mr. Milston know what I did there, he didn¡¯t see the message that went into your mind, though I could send him, or anyone that I have been in contact with messages just like that with the same limitations, which is to say none,¡± Adam said as he paused for a minute to ponder how to proceed then figured it was time for a little truth.
Mr. Milston and Eloise stood motionless as Adam pondered how to proceed until a sly grin crossed Adam¡¯s face before he continued, ¡°You could try to nuke me, that was me as Ahrem when that nuke went off on Earth Moon, how¡¯d that turn out again? Trix tried to time lock me by using magic to hurl me forward in time, still here, she is not and won¡¯t be returning. Should I actually die, I¡¯m just going to come back even more pissed off so I¡¯m going to be kind and say this as simply as I can. You want to change your mindset when it comes to going after me or Ne¡¯lix. Both actions are going to go very badly for you,¡± Adam said as he moved, grabbed Eloise¡¯s doppelganger, and hurled her away from the Moon at his maximum strength. The Eloise doppelganger pierced the transparent shield wall above them as the body converted to energy and continued moving away from the moon. The shield covering them was pierced and the atmosphere started rushing out. Eloise and Mr. Milston were both locked in place, and Adam willed himself not to be moved as the damaged ceiling was repaired and the atmosphere replaced. Of course, the nanites maintained their oxygen supply though it was funny to watch them think they were choking to death until they realized that nothing was wrong with them. As for the energy wave that had once been the Eloise doppelganger, Adam opened a portal in front of the trajectory of the major portion of her mass that was now just a collection of nanites and directed it into the realm of chaos near my Dyson Sphere.
Adam looked back at both of them. Eloise seemed to be excited and Milston was terrified. Adam checked Eloise¡¯s mind and sure enough, she was a power freak. Watching what he¡¯d just done to something that looked like her had made her randy. Did he just make his first groupie? Wow.
Adam organized his thoughts as a stray thought crossed his mind, Bad Adam, you really shouldn¡¯t as he remembered what Chevy Chase had done in the movie Modern Problems and Jim Carrey had explored the idea again in the movie ¡°Bruce Almighty.¡± With telekinesis, Bad Adam indeed.
Once the atmosphere was back in place he opened a portal for Mr. Milston that took him back to his house and released him. Adam watched as he beelined for a phone and made a call to the switchboard that would get him a line to The Agency Director. Adam closed that portal and walked over near Eloise as he released her voice so she could respond to him, ¡°So you liked that display of power?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes,¡± she responded in a sultry tempting voice.
¡°One thing you should know, I don¡¯t even have to touch you,¡± Adam said as a Portal opened behind her and he telekinetically lifted her from the surface of the moon while he turned on every erogenous area of her body to 10% of their maximum stimulation. As he moved her through the portal a look of surprise and discomfort crossed her face as the stimulation slowly kept increasing. Of course, the only part of her body he¡¯d released was her mouth so the only reaction she was able to make was that her breathing was becoming labored as she tried to resist what was happening to her body.
Adam continued to move her along until she was floating over her bed. Once she was there, he rotated her to a horizontal floating position and gently lowered her to her bed. As he released her body so that she could move, he closed the portal just as the nanites reached maximum stimulation of all of her erogenous zones. He kept the nanites at that maximum intensity for a full minute before he turned them off and released her. He monitored the nanites that were in her body to make sure he didn¡¯t accidentally kill her but otherwise, he had no interest in what she was going through, other than Clinically as the thought crossed his mind that perhaps Adaline would like to feel something like that, do dragons even have Erogenous areas. Well, she does when she¡¯s in her dark elf form¡Before he digressed along that line of thought too far, although that scene from Bruce Almighty when Jim Carry said, ¡°There¡¯s a funny thing about pleasure¡ It can be quite¡ PLEASURABLE.¡± Popped into my mind. Of course, there wasn¡¯t a body slam for Jennifer Anniston afterward though a full 60 seconds at full intensity was probably going to leave her wrecked for a little bit. She¡¯d tried to kill his servant for the third time, so he tortured her with pleasure. He wondered if that actually might work better, more carrot, less stick? Definitely an idea worth exploring.
Chapter 120, Some People Just Dont Like Carrots
Adam removed his awareness from Eloise¡¯s room. She was on her bed breathing hard, unable to move. If he ever ran into her again she was either going to try to kill him or ask for more, even though, technically speaking, he hadn¡¯t laid a finger on her. Still, the idea of using positive reinforcement to get things done seemed like it might work out.
That idea lasted until his nanites watching The Emperor of the Vrax informed him that he''d teleported out of Throne Room and crossed dimensional barriers to appear in a room that was not infested with his nanites just as Death appeared beside him. Death nodded to six other being sitting at a table in front of the Emperor. The only being Adam recognized by sight was Ammit, the goddess who devoured Condemned souls.
Adam pulled the rest of their name from Death¡¯s mind as she looked at them. There was Artio, the Goddess of Nature. Io, the God of the Underworld. Mercury, the God of Shadows. Pluto, the God of Knowledge. Finally, there was Phanes, Death¡¯s opposite, the God of Life. While the names and categories of each God and Goddess were familiar, their combinations were not.
Artio, a beautiful redhead with piercing green eyes sat at the center of the crescent table the Emperor and Death had appeared before. Death walked over to her left to take the last empty chair at the table to Artio¡¯s right as she faced the Emperor.
¡°Now that Death has arrived, why have you called on the Council of Seven my dear Emperor?¡±
¡°As you know I have never invoked the Will of the Gods before now. It is an Artifact from ages past where a promise was made that in our greatest time of need the rightfully appointed Emperor of the Vrax Empire could call on the Gods for assistance. This promise was made to my predecessor by the seven of you. A promise that should a call be made to the Gods by the sitting Emperor, the plea would be heard,¡± The Emperor said.
¡°We hear you, Emperor, what is your need?¡± IO asked.
¡°Earlier this day a man, a single man, decimated my fleet and humiliated me in front of all of my subjects. I need this man dead!¡± The Emperor declared
¡°This man that did this to you and your fleet what did he look like?¡± Death asked.
The Emperor waved his hands and an illusionary duplicate of Adam appeared beside the Emperor, ¡°Like this,¡± he said as he pointed to the copy of Adam.
Adam thought about teleporting into the image and saying boo, that would have been hilarious, but his nanites were still invading everyone in the room. As only Death and the Emperor had been carriers, it would take a little while. The nanites would need a little more time to work. Adam refocused on the conversation taking place.
¡°The Gods will of course do what we can to assist you in this matter,¡± Death said, while the nanites in her mind let Adam know that she had no intention of doing a thing and would explain to the other Gods why doing anything would be a bad idea. Of course, her thoughts on the matter meant nothing when Pluto, the God of Knowledge acted.
¡°We¡¯ll take care of this now,¡± Pluto said, as he waved his hands and chanted.
WARNING, a divine summons is trying to take you from your present location to an unknown location. Accept, Yes or No?
Adam set his nanites to purely defensive then pulled his sheathed Chaos Blade from his Soul storage and clasped it around his waist. He also had his nanites transform his clothes so that he was in simple black leather armor that was smooth to the touch and appeared flawless. When that was done, he chose ¡°Yes:¡±.
Adam appeared beside the Emperor and smiled at the Gods before him.
¡°Is this the man?¡± Pluto asked the Emperor.
¡°This looks like the man, yes?¡±
¡°Do you have any last words mortal?¡± IO asked while Death met his gaze and lifted her hands as if in surrender as she mouthed the words I am not part of this.
¡°Nah, do what you have to do,¡± ¡°Adam said.
¡°You do not declare to the Gods what we can and cannot do to you Mortal!¡± Mercury bellowed.
¡°Whatever,¡± Adam said as belligerently as he could.
You have been struck by the Divine Power, Heavenly Smite! Rank Disparity takes effect, Damage reduced. You have taken one point of damage. The damage has been healed.
¡°That¡¯s one,¡± he said softly as IO looked on in disbelief as his mortal smiting power seemed to have no effect.
You have been struck by Nature¡¯s Wrath! Rank Disparity takes effect, Damage reduced. You have taken no damage.
¡°That¡¯s two,¡± he said a little more loudly as Artio followed IO¡¯s example and her eyes widened in disbelief while he stood there.
You have been struck by Extinguish Soul. The attack has catastrophically backfired. The caster of this attack has been drawn into your Soul Space.
¡°And that would be three,¡± Adam said as his body translocated into his soul to stand one foot in front of Ammit and shook his head as he said, ¡°What a shame.¡±
¡°What a¡¡± Ammit started to say as he drew his Chaos Blade wound it around and down and up between her legs, through her abdomen, between her breasts, just to the left of her heart, up through the center of her neck, and then her head to sever her completely in half.
You have struck an ordered being with a Chaos Blade. As the being was divine, no chaotic effects will manifest.
You struck Ammit for 7.18E+23 damage.
A divine being of lesser Rank than you has destroyed within your soul. You may absorb the divine energy, releasing that soul from this Cosmos or you may keep the soul of the divine trapped within your soul until it regenerates naturally. Finally, you may release the soul from your soul space which will allow the divine to reform when the damage done to the being has been healed.
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Would you like to absorb the Divine Energy, Trap the Divine or Release the Divine?
Adam paused for a moment then queried his interface about the option to Absorb Divine Energy.
Soul Attacks, or attacks that disincorporate a soul while within another soul normally allow the winner to absorb some or all of the challenger¡¯s energy. The amount of experience gained is normally equal to the amount of total damage done which is permanently removed from the loser. Most often this equals the total health of the loser, however, any damage done during the final blow of a fight that would have left the loser with a negative amount of health also counts towards this award.
If this should happen to a Divine the winner gains Divinity Points instead, then Experience Points if all Divinity Points are absorbed. If the total number of Divinity Points awarded exceeds the Divines total Divinity Points the status of ¡°Divine¡± is removed and the soul is ejected from the Cosmos. Divines may not be reduced in this manner and reenter the cycle of life within the same Cosmos. They are forcibly moved on. Note: No creature can be reduced below 0 Experience Points Level 0.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes, he thought as he chose to absorb the Divine Energy. What was the worst that could happen? Adam paused for a couple of seconds, waiting for something cool or awful to happen to him. While he waited he watched the two halves of Ammit evaporate into smoke.
You have absorbed 5,499,945,000,000,000 Divinity Points.
You have absorbed 55,000,000,000 Experience Points
Ammit has been stripped of Divine Status and reduced to level 0
Adam felt his soul space expand as all the energy flooded into his body. If his mind hadn¡¯t been expanded throughout the nanites that he was comprised of he would not have been able to handle the influx of the Divinity Points and Experience as 479,115 levels were added to his Ascendant level, increasing him to Level 105,359,001. His attributes also increased to 7.66E+15 each. The whole process only took a moment and then he was once again floating in his soul space. He sheathed the Chaos Blade and willed himself outside to reappear where he¡¯d disappeared as the remnants of the Soul of Ammit appeared beside him and vanished as it made its way to the divide.
There was a crack of Thunder then all six Gods before him staggered. Not one to waste an opportunity, he found the Blade of Primal Destruction with the nanites he¡¯d set to follow it, opened a portal in front of it, and reached through grabbing the hilt. he drew The Blade of Primal Destruction from Chaos and drew his Chaos blade then moved so that he had the tip of the Blade of Primal Destruction pointed into Artio¡¯s eyes and his Chaos Blade pointed into Pluto¡¯s, ¡°Any other Gods move, these two die?¡±
Everyone froze until Phanes, the God of Life asked, ¡°Is that Mah¡¯s Blade?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Adam answered.
¡°And you can hold it?¡±
¡°What kind of question is that, I¡¯m holding it aren¡¯t I? Ask something that makes sense?¡± Adam said.
¡°What Phanes is asking is how are you holding a blade that only the God of Destruction or Mah could hold without it destroying you?¡±
¡°Oh, that? No idea, but I am. Can we talk? or do I kill these two then Mercury, Phanes, and IO. Then of course I¡¯ll need to readdress the topic of the Emperor¡¯s request with those God¡¯s that replace you?¡±
¡°Who do you think you are¡¡± Pluto started to say then hesitated as Adam ever so gently pushed the tip of The Blade of Primal Destruction until it was almost touching Atrio¡¯s forehead.
Adam held the blade there for a moment then said, ¡°It was a rhetorical question,¡± as he willed himself back to his position beside The Emperor and lowered both blades, so they were pointing towards the ground before he continued. ¡°As for what happened to Ammit. Her Extinguish Soul attack catastrophically failed which pulled her into my soul space where I split her in two, very literally, and absorbed her divine Energy. That little spurt of energy you all saw as she reappeared, that was her at level zero mortal on her way to the Divide. She¡¯s not going to be sticking around.¡±
¡°You destroyed the God of Condemned Souls in three seconds?¡± Phanes asked.
¡°I wasn¡¯t trying to set a speed record, she tried to use an attack that I¡¯m pretty sure can completely destroy most basic souls permanently. You only ever get one such attempt against him. If I survive the attack, you don¡¯t survive after. That¡¯s been a rule I¡¯ve been following, and enforcing, for a while now,¡± Adam said.
¡°What are you?¡± Artio asked.
¡°A glitch in the system, a ghost in the machine, a¡well those statements probably don¡¯t mean anything to you, let¡¯s just say that I¡¯m a guy trying to help the most people that I can that isn¡¯t bogged down by the morality of not being able to kill people because I know that eventually, they¡¯re going to get a second chance.¡±
¡°If you¡¯d used The Blade of Primal Destruction, there would be no coming back from that, There will be no second chance¡± Death said.
¡°Are you saying that this blade right here,¡° Adam said holding up The Primal Blade of Destruction, can destroy you?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± she said.
Adam opened a portal back into Chaos and cast it through the portal, closing it behind the blade.
¡°What did you do with it,¡± IO asked.
¡°It¡¯s in the Realm of Chaos, where few can go after it. If, as you say only the God of Destruction or Mah, or me now, can touch that blade without it destroying the person or God touching it, it should stay outside the reach of anything that might use it to hurt people. Besides, I struck down Ammit with this Chaos Blade,¡± Adam said as he held up the Chaos Blade for them to see, which he quickly sheathed as he saw the area around it start to distort as Chaos tried to undo the Order of the area.
¡°How are you holding that blade?¡± Artio asked.
¡°Technically, that blade is part of me. If I need it, it¡¯s there. As to your next question, why did I cast the Blade of Primal Destruction away? It is not my intention to permanently destroy beings, or divines. I have no issue with putting someone down temporarily or even making them start over, as I¡¯m sure Ammit will have to do now, but destroying someone permanently? That¡¯s a dick move, and while I can be a dick when the need arises, I¡¯m not a complete dick.¡± Adam said.
¡°Colorful,¡± Mercury said, which was kind of ironic coming from the God of Shadows.
¡°So, what happens now?¡± Artio asked.
Adam looked at the Emperor, ¡°Yes Emperor, what happens now?¡±
The Emperor looked from him to the Gods and then asked, ¡°Is there truly nothing you can do to stop this man¡¯s tyranny?¡±
¡°That was four, I¡¯ll be back in a moment to have a chat,¡± he said to the Gods as he turned to the Emperor and teleported them both to the Throne room where he froze everyone in place.
Across every monitor, into every nanite within every citizen of the Vrax, the following message appeared.
¡°Emperor Princeps has requested that the Gods act against me, Adamantadine because of my Tyranny to his Empire. I am not one to call one a liar so I must show him what it is to deal with a true Tyrant.
Henceforth, for the Period of 30 days or until Emperor Princeps is put to Death and a new Emperor is elected by the Council of Nobility All Portal travel by the citizens of the Vrax is prohibited. You will not be able to enter a portal, nor will you be able to use them. Members of your Empire that are serving on vessels with a portal may utilize them one time to leave the vessel but will not be able to return until the conditions I have set have passed. To Clarify, I will know if the Emperor lives, even if he tries to fake his death. This will last 30 days or until the Emperor dies and a new Emperor is chosen. Those that deal with him from this day forward should understand that I hold truth to power. If you must speak of me officially or to the Gods about me, You will be truthful or I will see that the falsehood is revealed or as I¡¯m doing in this case, I will make your statement true.
Adam turned to the emperor and said, ¡°Emperor Princeps, this is what I look like when I am being tyrannical.¡± A moment later Adam teleported back to the Gods.
¡°30 Days,¡± Pluto asked.
¡°30 Days or until his death,¡± Adam said.
¡°He has asked us to intervene on behalf of his Empire, we could bring forth all the Gods of this Cosmos against you,¡± Mercury said.
¡°Are you the most powerful of the Gods?¡± Adam asked
¡°We are,¡± Phranes declared.
¡°Pluto, as the God of Knowledge can you perceive everything within this Cosmos?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, everyone and anything is an open book to me, even you,¡± Pluto said.
¡°Have you actually taken the time to review my information, or have you only let my name and level appear?¡± Adam asked.
¡°How would you know, what kind of settings I might use¡¡± he started to ask as Adam cut him off.
¡°I would suggest that you review the information about me in full,¡± Adam said.
¡°I don¡¯t know what good that will do,¡± he said as his eyes glazed over, then he started muttering which ended with, ¡°That¡¯s not possible,¡± as his eye refocused.
¡°Now I¡¯ll ask you the same question your fellow God Mercury implied If you summoned all the Gods of the Cosmos against me that are weaker than you are by your own declaration, how would such a fight go?¡±
Mercury looked from Adam to Pluto who obviously didn¡¯t want to answer. Finally, Mercury asked, ¡°Well?¡±
Before Pluto could answer Adam said, ¡°Death, always a pleasure. Now that Pluto has information to share with the class and you, Death, have first-hand knowledge of exactly how bad things can get if I do act like a tyrant, I¡¯m going to take my leave and give you time to talk amongst yourselves. I would like to leave you with this thought, if you choose to act against me, the moment that decision is made you will join Ammit, and a new being will have to be elevated to assume your role as needs to happen for her. I do not want to rule this Cosmos but if I need to make some changes to get things working correctly, I have no issue being the catalyst for change,¡± Adam said as he teleported to his estate in the mountains of Alamogordo in the Dyson Sphere.
Before he laid down to rest he sent a message to Ne¡¯lix
Adam: Ne¡¯lix, you still have access to portals. This seems like the perfect opportunity for you to make your ability to still use portals known so that you can help retrieve stranded people in emergencies. Do not try to use this ability for the current Emperor, he¡¯s on his naughty list.
Ne¡¯lix: Understood
Adam laid down and fell into a dreamless sleep.
Chapter 121, Not so Dreamless After All
As Adam¡¯s body lay in his bed in the Dyson Sphere the Cosmos went on as his Thor aspect kept monitoring, spreading, and cataloging his ever-increasing area of influence. The part of himself that he thought of as Adam, his core, withdrew until he only existed within a place of peace and quiet. Of course, just as he realized that, his perfect memory reminded him that one of the best ways to get to sleep was to visualize himself in an empty theater with a white screen in front of him, then try to keep it white. The human mind doesn¡¯t like emptiness and eventually, the screen will fill up. When it does, he would have fallen asleep and started to dream.
Adam hadn¡¯t believed it when he read it in an issue of Psychology Today, that had been on the coffee table in the waiting area when he was waiting for a doctor for his yearly school physical. He¡¯d been 12 at the time but as always his mind pulled the memory with perfect clarity. While the darkness around him wasn¡¯t a white screen, it was empty, and his subconscious mind filled it up.
Adam also realized that he had not achieved this level of rest since, well since he¡¯d talked to Abi so long ago. He could call her forth and activate his copy of her at any time but that wouldn¡¯t be fair to her. She was a sentient being with her own body and he was sure she¡¯d eventually be able to pass through The Eye. The Eye, why was he thinking about The Eye? The Eye was an Aperture into the next stage of existence, or more accurately it was a door that only souls could pass through. But he¡¯d passed through it, hadn¡¯t he? Also, he hadn¡¯t been dead. Adam could manifest himself back into that Cosmos if he wished now. Well, he was pretty sure that he could, he hadn¡¯t tried yet, but doing so was on his shortlist. Souls? That¡¯s why he was dreaming. He seemed to be able to see them with his spell True Sight that he was constantly maintaining, though he¡¯d never thought about it, he just always kept it up. With his mana regeneration being so high, he¡¯d never worried about it.
Adam received messages through his interface informing him that ¡°he died¡± yet what had his ability One said? ¡°Thor and Johnathan are permanently connected across any distance through any dimensional tear, across any time.¡± That ability had fallen off when he¡¯d gained the Fundamental Ability Undying which said; ¡°You will reform at the nearest place of power containing Life Magic if killed. While you are not truly immortal, the powers that granted this ability have decreed that you will be resurrected and reformed a number of times equal to the souls you¡¯ve spared from utter annihilation, this includes all souls across all Universes that were saved. What did you like to say? ¡°A number of times best phrased as a Scientific Number.¡±
Adam hadn¡¯t even considered double-checking the changes when they had converted to Soul Abilities. A combination of both of those abilities had created the Soul Ability Incessant- ¡°Should your physical body be destroyed your soul remains and will reform your body immediately. This is a by-product of your chaotic and nanitic composition as well as a benefit of your Karmic Luck. You are immortal.¡±
Why was his mind focusing on these three items? Because the changes had happened when the Unknown and Warning beings had been smartasses right after he found himself in Nothing. Neither one of those two sounded like Ptah or David. In fact, looking back a couple of other changes had been made. He¡¯d gained the ability of Perception, but it no longer showed anywhere, though he had no problem perceiving reality, no matter where he was. It had also been rolled into one of his Soul Abilities. Something was ¡°off¡± and his subconscious finally had the time it needed to show these glitches or oversites to him.
Adam thought about it for a few moments then realized that with the abilities, even though the changes they went through, he had never actually died. As long as nanites existed somewhere his soul had always been anchored into a nanite. Additionally, he¡¯d never traveled to a realm of pure souls. He¡¯d traveled to planes and universes and seen souls within them, but he¡¯d never actually been a soul himself. Even as he came through the Aperture he hadn¡¯t transformed completely into a soul. He¡¯d become energy and as his nanites were smaller than the particles of energy they¡¯d become but he¡¯d still had physical form when he came into the place between places. Or was it called the place between places because he hadn¡¯t made it to the true destination because he wasn¡¯t truly a soul? Was he like the Ascendent from Stargate SG1, one level up from this level of reality yet not fully transcendent into the realm of souls? If so, then had he ever met a true God?
Holy Shit! Every being he¡¯d met so far had been mortal at some point, except for one. Every single one. They leveled, they gained experience, they died, they went back into the cycle then they continued. So long as they wished to grow in power they could return and try again and increase the power of their Soul. That made complete sense. No matter what he did he could never get that last .01% of his Absolute Soul to reach 100% because if he did that, He¡¯d let go of his anchor to this reality, this Multiverse of Chaos, and struggle.
Adam thought himself more powerful than the Gods because his attributes were so high above the Gods he¡¯d encountered. Was it because he¡¯d been lucky or unlucky? Now that he thought about it, He¡¯d met one being far more powerful than himself, but he knew of three. They were so far above him that he hadn¡¯t even been able to view their stats without their permission. The True Labyrinth who he¡¯d met, and the two beings that had toyed with him in Nothing as one referenced a code that had to be rewritten. Was that a reference to the System?
If the conjecture of his subconscious and now conscious mind were true, how would he be able to find the truth? He¡¯d have to use the scientific method. Also, he had a really good idea of how to get started. Before he started though, he¡¯d need to check on Ne¡¯lix and he might actually need to go back on his word. Damn, he always liked keeping his word to assholes.
Adam: Thor, pull the Emperor to a safe location and protect him. I¡¯ll be there shortly
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Thor: Adam, your timing is impeccable, a group had just teleported in to destroy him. The Emperor has been removed and awaits your pleasure in the base you created on Pluto.
` Adam redirected nanites to recreate every ship he¡¯d destroyed in orbit around Vrax and returned everything he had modified to the way it had been. There wasn¡¯t much to do in that case, but he did include rebuilding the moon bunker that had been detonated in an attempt to destroy him as part of that replacing-things-he¡¯d-broken gesture. Then he set about creating the document of change that the Emperor would agree to abide by. Simple stuff really, keep doing what he was doing before he¡¯d come along. Leave Ne¡¯lix the hell alone and also set up Ahrem¡¯s parents for the rest of their lives, and after issuing a public apology for putting the Empire in such jeopardy by lying to a being more powerful than the Gods of this Cosmos, maybe not that last part. He was prideful after all and had to save face. If his suspicions were correct though, nothing that he was doing here would make any difference. Adam wondered if it could be as simple as a belief system. He¡¯d find out in short order.
Adam brought himself out of sleep, used the nanites to completely clean and prepare himself to meet the Emperor then teleported to the base under the surface of Pluto. The room the Emperor was waiting in had been made comfortable by Thor. There was a couch and a vidscreen where the Emperor was watching a news program from Vrax on.
¡°The New Vrax Order failed to remove the Emperor from power. Portal use was still limited and no one has been able to detect the whereabouts of the Emperor¡¡± the newscaster was saying as he appeared and shut the vidscreen off with a thought.
¡°Adam,¡± the Emperor said warily
¡°Emperor,¡± he said happily. ¡°How are you doing? Are you having a good day? No? Well, let him see what he can do to help with that.¡±
The Emperor just looked at him like he was a snake that was just waiting to bite him.
Adam shrugged sheepishly as he said, ¡°I may have overreacted a bit. You are the Emperor of one of the largest empires I¡¯ve ever come across. I should have expected you to have megalomaniac tendencies.¡±
¡°Did you bring me here to insult me?¡± the Emperor asked with steel in his voice.
¡°Maybe a little, if I¡¯m being honest,¡± Adam said, ¡°that said, I¡¯m going to return you to your throne room with a list of instructions you will follow. They¡¯re not going to be too hard on you.¡±
¡°Let¡¯s get this over with,¡± he said resignedly.
¡°Seriously, what¡¯s up with the att¡forget it, my fault, I¡¯m just going to let that go. First, I have returned the entire fleet of ships I destroyed. They¡¯re sitting in orbit around Vrax, or they will be shortly. Second, A girl from Earth named Katie, you know I never did get her last name. She would have been on the moon when that nuke was set off to destroy me. Please see to her continued education and make sure her family and the Family of Ahrem Bianci are well taken care of.¡±
¡°Thank you for returning the ships, they did represent a huge investment of time and resources. If I might ask, Why Katie and the mother and father of Ahrem Bianci?¡±
¡°Katie was the childhood friend of Ahrem. While Ahrem and I are the same entity, as far as anyone is concerned. I was much more before I became Ahrem and Ahrem will not return. Katie has lost a friend and I¡¯d just like to make sure that she, and everyone else I named, are taken care of.¡±
The Emperor nodded and said, ¡°That can easily be arranged.¡±
¡°Good,¡± Adam said, ¡°Third, you are to take no action against Ne¡¯lix. I¡¯ve already had to talk to two overzealous agents of the Agency. I would suggest that as soon as you return you put out an empire-wide order to that effect. Also, I will be going away for a while and Ne¡¯lix will have the ability to help you tremendously.
¡°Why would I need his help?¡± The Emperor asked.
¡°It¡¯s not what he can do for you that is important. It¡¯s the information he downloaded into his mind that he has access to and his ability to influence the mechanism by which I took over your empire that should be of interest to you. He has a very good idea of what I will and will not tolerate and how I will react if anything goes awry.¡±
¡°Is that all?¡±
¡°No, but this last is more of a caution and a warning. There are entities out there more powerful than me and the God¡¯s that you know of here in your Cosmos. They are trying to insinuate their way into the lives of your subjects, yourselves, and even your Gods to get you to adhere to them, worship them, and swear your allegiance, even upon Death to them. You know the Gods are real and understand what a promise even in death means. You need to get with the top minds in your empire and devise a way to keep your populace free of their corruption.¡±
¡°Am I swear his allegiance to you then?¡± The Emperor asked.
¡°No, I want nothing from you or any of the people of your empire. My Tyrant act was done because you lied concerning my actions. I don¡¯t take kindly to individuals lying about me.¡±
The Emperor nodded, ¡°As ultimatums go, yours is quite lacking.¡±
Adam laughed lightly, ¡°It was not my original intention to make such a display of power. Things just snowballed out of control there for a bit. Also, there were other factors in play that have now been dealt with. I¡¯m about to open a portal for you to reenter your Throne Room. Anyone that tries to attack you will be stopped but will not be harmed in any other way. You may release them by saying ¡®As you were¡¯ and their name otherwise they will remain statues. Not to worry they will be fed and hydrated, they just won¡¯t be able to move. I would suggest that if, after you make your announcement, someone tries to attack you again that you leave them frozen for a while. I leave it to you to set the time limit. To clarify though, any that attack Ne¡¯lix will be destroyed immediately.
¡°Understood, and thank you, I will make the announcement as soon as I¡¯m back. Will I see you again?¡±
Adam looked thoughtful for a moment as he thought about it and said, ¡°It is very possible. After everything has settled down ask Ne¡¯lix to come to you in private, ask him about the immortality function of the devices within himself. Tell him I mentioned for you him to ask. If you live for as long as is possible now, then we will surely meet again.¡±
Adam opened a portal to the Throne Room and watched the Emperor step through. Closing the portal behind him as he contacted Ne¡¯lix
Adam: An announcement is going to be made by the Emperor. I changed my mind, he¡¯s still going to be the Emperor for a while and I let him know to contact you if he has questions. You¡¯ll probably get that summons sooner than later.
Ne¡¯lix: Thanks, why are you laying this on my shoulders?
Adam: Something came to my attention and I¡¯m going to step away from everything for a bit. If you need me I¡¯ll be monitoring this communications channel, otherwise, I will be out of range.
Ne¡¯lix: Okay, I guess. Good Luck.
Adam broke the connection and willed himself outside of the Cosmos, it was time to put the scientific method to use.
Chapter 122, The Scientific Method
As Adam floated in the Place between Places, he set his visual interface to his personal setting instead of the default and looked out into the vastness that spread out in all directions. This Dimension, Universe, Realm? The realm, he liked that word for this location. This realm was filled with colors that moved and swirled. Adam released some nanites and found that this medium was more like the Astral Planes he¡¯d encountered. It was gaseous and dispersed as opposed to the vacuum of space.
Adam thought it was similar to the dimension of chaos but now realized he was wrong. His nanites detected all types of magic. Unlike Chaos, the medium wasn¡¯t morphing or changing, for the most part. he could identify those areas that were made up of chaos because they did change but then he¡¯d find areas of earth magic, air magic Fire magic as well as small areas that contained multiple different kinds of magic. Adam also found physical particles of every element that he knew of and a couple of variations he had not seen before. They were dispersed, but they were present.
First things first, he thought about making a place to call his own here but realized in this vast nothingness, it would stand out. Instead, he looked into his soul space. Was it visible from the outside? Adam released some of his nanites and willed himself into his soul space. he connected with the nanites hovering around his entry point and they detected nothing in any spectrum they could see in. There was probably a way to detect another¡¯s soul space, but he currently didn¡¯t have that ability, or did he?
Adam willed himself back into the Place between Places and tried to will himself to see soul spaces. Yeah, that didn¡¯t work because he didn¡¯t have a frame of reference. Without someone out here with him, he might not be able to. Maybe it was as simple as casting a detect soul spell, so he did. It was successful but not helpful. He detected his soul and couldn¡¯t detect anything else. Adam dispelled detect soul and willed a detect soul spell that detected all other souls except for his. Adam watched as a green snaking line of light led off into the distance. Adam followed the line of energy until it stopped. He didn¡¯t see anything that stood out.
Adam cycled through his vision, trying every single spectrum but saw nothing. He moved right to where the green line of energy ended and noted that it seemed to go into something. Adam magnified his vision and noted that particles were avoiding a very small area, no larger than the size of a quarter that the green line of energy came up against. Adam brought up his finger to touch the dead zone and his mind was attacked by a consciousness that tried to enter him. It failed. Adam tried to send a question into the soul, but his mind hit a wall and he was locked out. Adam started to strengthen his will to force his way through the barrier when he received a warning.
WARNING: You are trying to access another¡¯s Soul Space without their permission. This will lead to a contest of wills. Soul damage to you or your target may result if you continue.
Do You wish to invade the Soul of Camaxtli?
That name was Aztec or sounded like Aztec in nature. Was this the soul of an Aztec that had become lost in this place? There was only one way to find out, he chose ¡°Yes¡± and heard an audible pop as a release of energy, equivalent to a small stick of dynamite went off and he was flung away from where the soul space of Camaxtli had been.
The soul space of Camaxtli has been ruptured.
You have taken 1,234 points of force damage
Adam brought himself to a stop and willed himself back through the wave of force to the point where the soul¡¯s space had been. Adam waved his hand through the now-empty area and looked around. The soul space was gone. Adam tried to summon Camaxtli, with no success. he tried to teleport to Camaxtli, again with no success. Adam checked his Combat Log which only consisted of one line, which is why it hadn¡¯t even been flagged for his attention.
The Soul of Camaxtli has been completely disincorporated
Disincorporated? he¡¯d have to find another Soul and figure out what had happened. Adam cast the spell to find another soul again. This time he received a system message.
No Targets within Range
There could be other souls out there, but it looked like they were pretty rare. So, either the souls were disincorporated, on their own, or they were destroyed by individuals that didn¡¯t know what they were doing. The ones still floating around must be extremely rare then. His high luck had let him find one, but not even his luck could prevent a lightbulb from exploding when he put way too much power through it. That¡¯s probably what happened when he tried to break inside. Adam was making a lot of assumptions though and this was no longer something he could explore so he decided to redirect his attention to the real reason he came out into the Place between Places.
Adam willed himself into his soul space and set up a copy of his Place of Power back from when this all started. He liked the aesthetic of the setup and it just felt right. He also redirected the quantum links for his nanites so that he could call them up on the monitors in this place of power as he desired. That way he could watch them like a program on TV instead of in his head. He would still be watching in his head, but it would give him something to do with the projection of himself he had in his soul space. Adam wanted to be able separate those two in his mind just in case he needed to have his projection do something or entertain someone. He also wanted to check something. Adam willed a portal into existence from his living room on the 1st floor to Ne¡¯lix¡¯s office and was pleasantly surprised when that worked.
Ne¡¯lix looked through the portal, saw that it was Adam, and asked, ¡°Adam? Can I help you?¡±
¡°Hey Ne¡¯lix, just testing something out, don¡¯t need any help, keep up the good work,¡± he said as he closed the portal.
So, he could open a portal from within his soul space into a Cosmos. Was it just one cosmos, or others? Over the next couple of minutes, he opened portals to locations in every cosmos that he¡¯d ever visited where he had nanites that had no one around. He did not try to step through at this point, he just wanted to see if he could open the portals. Next, he tried opening portals to two different Cosmos at the same time. Even with his mana sitting at 1.61E+36 and his mana regeneration sitting at 1.08E+34 mana per second each time he opened a portal into a cosmos his mana bar take a serious hit.
Adam watched his mana bar as he opened a portal then maintained it and realized that the mana cost to open these portals was by percentage, not a number. After he did a couple of tests he figured out that it was 10% of his mana to open a portal and 1% per minute to maintain it. If he opened a second portal it was 20% of his mana to open the portal but still only 1% to maintain. A third portal was 40% of his mana making it a total of 70%. he didn¡¯t try to open the fourth portal though he was pretty sure it would cost 80% of his mana to do so. If he opened one portal he¡¯d be back to full mana in 11 seconds, two would take 22 seconds, three would take 43 seconds and four portals at the same time would take 92 seconds if he was trying to maintain all four portals at the same time.
Adam could open three portals at the same time and would be able to open that fourth portal 66 seconds later. It looked like entities with unlimited amounts of mana still wouldn¡¯t be able to open that fifth portal without some outside help. Also, he was betting there was a minimum amount of mana required to open a portal into or out of a Cosmos so beings couldn¡¯t come and go as they wished. Then again that was covered, wasn¡¯t it? He was a special case because of his exposure to primal chaos. If his assumptions were correct of course.
Of course, that wasn¡¯t the reason he¡¯d come to this place. He needed to see if he could still manifest or cross over from within his soul. The first thing he tried was to have his projection crossover
ERROR You may not Crossover into any Cosmos from within your Soul Space. You may cross over with your soul space either unattached or attached to one of your projections.
Not surprised, he chose the manifestation option.
You have chosen to Manifest a portion of yourself within a Cosmos. Please choose your target Cosmos and Destination.
Adam visualized his place of power in the Cosmos that he had started in and a new prompt appeared.
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Manifestations are limited by the laws of the target Cosmos. While all earned Soul Abilities are available when your soul space crosses over the soul abilities available to your soul shard during a manifestation must be chosen and paid for with Karmic Luck. The cost is based on the number of soul abilities taken. You may choose two for free. The third Soul Ability will cost 100 Karmic Luck, the fourth will cost 200 Karmic Luck, the fifth with cost 400 Karmic Luck, and so on.
Please chose from your following Soul Abilities. Any Soul Abilities that are grayed out are not available within the target Cosmos.
¡°Perfect Memory¡±
¡°Pansophical¡±
¡°Temporally Inviolate¡± ¨C Permanent, Always Active
¡°Chaos Forged¡± ¨C Permanent, Always Active
¡°Chaos Tempered ¨C Permanent, Always Active
¡°Adaptable¡± -Requires Convergence
¡°Willed-Movement¡± -Requires Convergence
¡°Incessant¡±
¡°Resistant¡±
¡°Open to new Ideas¡±
¡°Convergence¡±
¡°Spellweaver¡±
¡°Soul Storage¡± ¨C Requires Convergence
¡°Affluent¡± ¨C Requires Convergence
¡°Allegiance¡±
Adam reviewed the list quickly, noted that it looked like five would be free, and chose all fifteen soul abilities.
You have chosen fifteen Soul Abilities, two are free, and three incur no cost. The Karmic Luck cost to add all 15 soul abilities to your manifestation is 102,300 Karmic Luck.
Next, you must choose the level your manifestation will appear as. Manifestations are hard-limited to the Cosmos to which they are assigned. The maximum level possible is the highest level available in the Target Cosmos. Levels are paid for by spending experience points. You may convert 1 Karmic Luck to 1 Experience point.
You may choose to manifest as a Divine following all progression rules to attain such levels. Should Divinity Points be required to progress through the different ranks of a deity. Karmic Luck may be spent at a rate of 1 Karmic Luck for 1 Divinity Point.
He chose the maximum Divine Level
Karmic Luck cost is 5,500,000,000,000,000 (5,499,994,500,000,000 Divinity Points and 55,000,000,000 experience points.)
Please chose your manifestation type from the two available Projections: Adamantadine or Ahrem
Adam chose Adamantadine.
You have chosen to Manifest Adamantadine with 15 Soul Abilities at Maximum Deity Level for 5,500,000,000,102,300 Karmic Luck. Karmic Luck Spent in this way is tied up in your manifestation. When your manifestation ends you automatically recover the Karmic Luck spent. If the manifestation is utterly destroyed, something that can happen, All Karmic Luck spent on the manifestation is lost.
Would you Like to Create this Manifestation, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes¡± and then waited to see if he would feel any different. While he was waiting something about one of the messages that he received when Trix was eradicated crossed his mind. Trix hadn¡¯t been a God Level being when he¡¯d killed her though she¡¯d been quite powerful. That meant that Textrix was out quite a bit of Karmic Luck. Getting worried, he wondered if he shouldn¡¯t already be connected to his manifestation. Adam pulled up his links to the nanites in the Place of Power which very clearly saw a copy of himself looking around. Then a connection formed, and they synced up.
After some very quick conversations with himself at machine speed, he realized that the manifestation had indeed been created with nanites though none of the nanites in his body were quantumly linked with him or any of his previous nanites. They wouldn¡¯t be as he had not created the manifestation, something else had. If he manifested a copy of himself somewhere there were no previously left nanites he¡¯d have to crossover and make a link so he could keep track of the manifestation in real time or he¡¯d have to wait until the manifestation returned. Except, that none of his manifestations were likely to return if they had nanites.
The last thing he wanted his manifestation to try was to open a portal to his current location in his soul space.
Adam received a message from the manifestation of himself.
Manifestation 1: Only the Primary Projection may open a portal to and from locations inside ERROR.
Adam: That makes sense, we¡¯ll know we¡¯re connected so feel free to get back out there and have some fun, I¡¯m going to set input from that Cosmos to unmonitored unless you contact me directly,
Manifestation 1: Sounds good.
Adam double-checked his level of Karmic Luck and wasn¡¯t at all surprised to see that it still showed as ¡°Positive Error¡± So still effectively Infinite. Adam closed his interface and willed himself out of his soul space and then crossed over into his Pluto base in the Vrax Cosmos, as he thought of it. No issue with crossing over, however, he could no longer connect with his manifestation. As he surmised, while his soul space was inside a cosmos he would not be able to monitor events from one of his manifestations. If his manifestations that could die, did die, would he receive their information? Time for a test
Adam crossed back over into the Place between Places and then connected to his nanites in the Universe his parents resided in on one of the many airless bodies away from civilization. The moon he chose didn¡¯t even have a designation as it was on the other side of the Milky Way over 100,000 light years from Earth. His nanites knew about it, which meant that Thor here knew about it.
Adam: Thor, this is Adam.
Thor: Adam, where are you?
Adam: Very soon, two very basic copies of myself are going to appear within your influence at these stellar coordinates <¡> Do not assist or help them in any way. I am conducting a test and I need to see if this works. I¡¯ll contact you within the next 24 hours to update you, and everyone else, maybe even go see my parents.
Thor: Okay, well talk then.
Adam created two chambers that would open sequentially, one after the other 30 seconds apart. He also programmed all the nanites in the area to ignore the appearance of two humans on the planet in the next five minutes. Adam chose to manifest two copies of himself. Both were level 1 and had only the abilities he could not terminate; Temporally Inviolate, Chaos Forged, and Chaos Tempered. Adam didn¡¯t choose any other abilities for these manifestations because he wanted to see what happened to the soul shard. With no experience and no abilities chosen, it only cost him 2 Karmic Luck to manifest both copies of himself. he had one manifest in each survival tube and then waited.
After 30 seconds he received a prompt.
A manifestation has returned, would you like to incorporate it now or wait?
Adam chose to wait, then crossed over into the Pluto base in the Vrax Cosmos again. After 30 seconds had passed and nothing happened. he set a timer and waited another five minutes before he crossed back over into the Place between Places and entered his soul space. As he did, a second message appeared.
A manifestation has returned, would you like to incorporate it now or wait?
Adam chose to incorporate it and the knowledge that the manifestation had learned washed over him. There was only one minute of life to review which consisted of ¡°me¡± looking around, watching the other cylinder open, and his first copy flash freezing which 30 seconds later also happened to ¡°me¡±. Additionally, an information tag was added to the memories with a unique character sequence ¡°AD¡002¡XXX¡ADA¡003¡±. Adam opened up the message and chose to incorporate the first message and that tag was the same except it ended in 001.
he queried his interface for all Manifestation codes and found; AD¡001¡XXX¡ADA¡001, AD¡002¡XXX¡ADA¡001, and AD¡002¡XXX¡ADA¡002. It looked like the codes were generated based on the Universe and the number of manifestations he¡¯d sent there. The ¡°¡¡± characters must be clipped because they were extremely long placeholders. If he was a betting man, that ¡°ADA¡± meant Adam, and if he ever manifested as Ahrem it would change that to ¡°AHR¡±. That made sense, to him at least.
The manifestations were being numbered based on how many he had created, not on the Universe he was sending them to. That Universe code was probably in the areas of the tag he couldn¡¯t read. Not to worry, in the near future, he was pretty sure he had a way to break into that section of this interface.
The last tidbits of knowledge he learned from incorporating his two manifestations were that they did not have nanites in them, so having nanites was part of another one of his abilities. Also, they had all his memories right up until the time they were manifested.
Adam connected with the nanites on the moon and set them to recover the bodies and break down the chambers then pondered what to do next, he wanted these memories fresh in his head if he did what he was thinking about doing.
For the Scientific Method to work, he needed to have a large data set. Normally that took time and resources. Adam had plenty of resources and If he wasn¡¯t mistaken he could probably create Gods across the multiverse, which he was pretty sure would be a very bad idea. Level 1 manifestations with all his abilities? That might work. Sure, they¡¯d be relatively weak, but they¡¯d have nanites and their skills would still be off the chart. Besides he wasn¡¯t trying to rule Reality, he was trying to find a way to figure out what was going on. To get the information he needed, he would need his manifestations to be able to die so that the shard of himself he had tied up in them wouldn¡¯t be stuck. Otherwise, he¡¯d have to visit every single Cosmos and open the link and while that was a possibility to look into, it wasn¡¯t something he wanted to do now. His copies would not be able to connect to the local nanite network or spread themselves out. If they didn¡¯t do that they¡¯d be able to self-destruct if they needed to return to his manifestation to him to give up the information they discovered.
The last question was of course, how many could he make? Only one way to find out. Adam opened the Manifestation window.
You have chosen to Manifest a portion of yourself within a Cosmos. Please choose your target Cosmos and Destination.
Adam visualized one manifestation at a random habitable civilized location for humans in every known Cosmos
Criteria accepted if Karmic Luck permits.
Adam chose to give each manifestation all 15 soul abilities but started each out at only level 1. Of course, he chose all the manifestations to be Adamantadine.
You have chosen to create ERROR number of Adamantadine manifestations across ERROR number of Cosmos. This action will cost ERROR Karmic Luck
Are you sure you wish to do this? Yes or No?
It was Go Big or Go Home time so Adam chose ¡°Yes¡±.
A moment later the room he was in went dark as he felt a pulling and ripping sensation from an indescribable number of directions. Adam was, but he wasn¡¯t, surprised when everything faded to black as he fell unconscious.
Chapter 123, Manifested
Adam came back to his senses and found himself in a farm field. It looked like a soybean field. It looked like? Why did it look like? He should know this automatically. Adam pulled up his Personal Interface and checked his information.
Name: Adamantadine
Identity: Adam
Age: 35
Weight: 170
Birthday, July 16th, 2001
Manifest Projection: Adamantadine
Identity: Adam
Age: 35
Weight: 135
Birthday, July 16th, 2001
Abilities: None Chosen
Soul Abilities
Note: Soul Abilities are Always Active
Soul Abilities
¡°Perfect Memory¡± - Like Photographic Memory except for all five senses with an automatic recall of desired information.
¡°Pansophical¡± ¨C Skills that are known to you or known by you are performed as if you have achieved the level category of ¡°Rare¡± as defined in whatever Reality, Cosmos, Universe, or Dimension you find yourself in.
¡°Temporally Inviolate¡± ¨C As a manifest soul shard, your soul is still sacrosanct. Your soul shard cannot be destroyed. Any action taken to affect you through time manipulation has no effect on your soul, though it may affect the material manifestation that your shard resides in. When the timeline of your current local stabilizes your soul will remain at its current local, from which you can reform and continue along in the timeline you are in. If your physical body is destroyed you may choose to return to your Prime Soul, The soul the shard was created from. This process is almost instantaneous. You are not subject to Grand Father Paradoxes or harmful magic that utilized the manipulation of time. NOTE: As a manifested copy of your original self, your soul cannot be shredded or locked in a temporal bubble to prevent it from returning to your Prime Soul. Your soul shard may return to your Prime Soul at any time.
¡°Chaos Forged¡± - Your soul had been inundated with Chaos and forged your soul to withstand all forms of chaos. During this process, your will has held your core identity together and permanently changed your soul. You may enter and exit any environment flooded with Chaos 100% resistant to any further changes. As a manifested soul shard you may not change or modify abilities as your Prime Soul can, though, modifications to abilities and additions may still occur. When your soul shard is reintegrated into your Prime Soul any changes may be absorbed or discarded as the Prime Soul desires
¡°Chaos Tempered ¨C In addition to being Chaos Forged your Soul Space has been tempered and quenched by Primal Chaos. Your Soul has been scoured clean of artificial limitations imposed by The System. This grants no additional access to the various interfaces that are available below the System level but does erase any requirements for Soul Progression based on Cosmic Occurrence. Continued exposure to Primal Chaos may produce additional soul Abilities. NOTE: Manifestations are limited to the rules and laws of the Cosmos entered. Once entered being Chaos Tempered allows your soul shard to bypass any restrictions.
¡°Adaptable¡± - Chaos has modified your body so that you may adapt to any environment. From Absolute Zero to the Gravity well of a Singularity your body can and will adapt to all environmental conditions. This includes the ability to survive in those environments. Example: the ability to breathe underwater if necessary. This Adaptability is limited to your soul only. Projections or duplicates that you control also gain this adaptability.
¡°Willed-Movement¡± - As a being of Chaos, you have the ability to move through Chaos as you desire at any rate you desire. As Chaos is present in all aspects of reality, your will allows you to move as you desire. This is a sub-ability of the Fundamental Ability ¡°Adaptable¡± and is available to all projections and copies.
¡°Incessant¡±- Should your physical body be destroyed your soul remains and will reform your body immediately. This is a by-product of your chaotic and nanitic composition as well as a benefit of your Karmic Luck. You are immortal. Note Manifestations cannot reform if every nanite is destroyed or self-destructs. At that time the soul shard returns to its Prime Soul
¡°Resistant¡± No Change - You are 50% resistant to all Primal Magic and natural manifestations of those magics. Additionally, you are 100% resistant to all magic from the following spheres of power; "Chaos, Time, Space, and Gravity, and 50% resistant to Holy and Demonic Magic
¡°Open to new Ideas¡±- The changes to your body have severed any clerical link to the divine you had. Reality is vast, there might come a time in the future when aligning yourself to the divine or joining their ranks and becoming subservient to one or more may be required. The limitation of never serving a divine has been removed.
¡°Convergence¡± - The very nature of your Soul draws Chaotic Energy and converts it as you desire. In any Reality, you have access to and can utilize any magical energy normally. Additionally, your Mana Regeneration is increased by Willpower + Endurance per minute. You have chosen to Manifest into the Cosmos you are now in. Manifesting into a Cosmos leaves your Soul behind and only brings a shard of your soul. You have your mind and memories but are limited by the level you chose to manifest as and your body¡¯s natural limitation. You may find yourself less powerful than you are normally accustomed to. While in the Cosmos as a Manifestation you cannot contact your Prime Soul. Upon your Manifestations death, your soul shard will return to your Prime Soul. This is instantaneous and all memories, experience, and karmic luck are gained unless the fragment is destroyed. (NOTE: The Soul Ability Chaos Tempered allows you to Cross Over or Manifest into any Cosmos which would normally not allow this type of entry. You may still not be Born in a Cosmos that does not allow reincarnation for souls above the basic level.)
¡°Spellweaver¡± - You neither memorize nor permanently add spells using spell slots. Instead, you may weave magic into any form of your desire so long as you have the skill and mana to do so. NOTE: You are still limited by normal mana costs to cast spells.
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¡°Soul Storage¡± ¨C If this ability is available, as a manifestation you have access to a limited soul storage. This storage area is not accessible by your Prime Soul. Unlike your normal Soul Storage, there is a size constraint to this storage area. The area is equal in size to your Endurance x Willpower x Level. Items placed into or taken out of the space appear or disappear to the hand touching them. This space can be represented by slots if you prefer. Manifestations may be created with soul storage but upon the manifestation¡¯s destruction, all items in the manifestation¡¯s soul storage are deposited into the chaos realm of that Cosmos.
¡°Affluent¡± - As needed you may produce or create any type of physical money in any reality you visit. In realities where you have integrated yourself into the global markets, digital currency is always available to you.
¡°Allegiance¡± ¨C You are now a power in the Inter-multi-universal arena. As such other beings can submit to your will. Allegiance is shown by paying a tithe of 10% of your Karmic Luck after each Cosmic Occurrence. Karmic Luck is Hard locked after each Occurrence. If an Allegiance is declared the tithe only counts for that specific Cosmic Occurrence. Previously earned Karmic luck is not counted.
Allegiance allows those that have dedicated themselves to you to request assistance or boons from you. Also, Allegiance allows those that have allied with you to choose abilities known or possessed by you or any others that have joined your pantheon.
¡°Prophet¡± - Converted from the True Prophet ability to the Soul Ability: Prophet ¨C The mysteries of life and death are not mysteries to you. You know there is something after death and something even beyond that. You will always be able to remember your previous life and speak of it to others. Death is no longer something to be feared but a doorway you may walk through knowing that you will be able to make your way back
Soul Type: Manifestations, Soul Shard
Soul Level: N/A
Manifestation Level: 1 Human
Soul Rank Disparity: 0
Attributes
Strength 5
Agility 5
Dexterity 5
Endurance 5
Constitution 5
Intelligence 5
Wisdom 5
Willpower 5
Perception 5
Charisma 5
Luck 5
Karmic Luck 0
Primary Stats
Carrying Capacity 45
Hit Points: 2
Base Health Regeneration
3 per second
Stamina 50
Base Stamina Regeneration
2 per second
Mana: 100
Base Mana Regeneration
4 per second
Movement
Normal Running Speed: 16 mph, 24 fps
Standing high Jump: 3 Feet.
Note. Falling Damage is not mitigated by maximum jumping Distance.
Base Attack
Unarmed Base Attack: 2
Max Damage: 4
Critical Damage Maximum Damage x2
Skills: See Soul Ability ¡°Pansophical¡± above
Oh? Was the only thought that crossed his mind as he read his personal information. His super intelligent, almost omniscient self hadn¡¯t bothered to think about the fact that starting at level 1 meant that his stats would be a lot lower than normal. Also, his luck score and Karmic Luck being so low might make things a bit harder for him, or this manifestation of him. He hadn¡¯t thought that through. Then again, his last memory was activating the command to create a shit ton of manifestations. His memories ended there. On the bright side, he still had a perfect memory. The only problem that he could see right now was that his mental prowess was reduced. He might be able to augment that with the nanites that were part of him but he¡¯d made a conscious decision not to spread his influence out this time around and only catalog each Cosmos.
The next thing he did was check to see if he was earning experience because of his soul ability Convergence. That was a big no. This cosmos had magic though because he could access his interface. Adam tried to pull up a map function which failed. Next, he visualized a spell that would create a holographic map that he could view to give him an idea of where he was and a prompt popped up.
Which range would you like to cast the spell Map at; 1 mile for 10 mana, 2 miles for 20 mana, 3 miles for 40 mana, or 4 miles for 80 mana? (Note: Mana is insufficient to cast Map spell at any greater range at this time.)
He decided on 4 miles and a holographic map appeared in front of him that he could zoom in and zoom out of. With his mana regeneration at 4 per second, his mana would be full again in 20 seconds. Adam reviewed the map zoomed in and then out and realized he was standing in a field southwest of a city to his northwest. There was a road off to his west and another road that went east/west south of him. In his perfect memory, he had every single road placement and city placement on the face of planet Earth and a few alien ones as well. As he tried to figure out if he was on an Earth similar to his original Earth he noted that it still took his mind a few more seconds to sift through everything that he was used to.
The city layout and road placements all looked right to what his memory was comparing them to. After a few more seconds he estimated that he was about 50 west of Omaha Nebraska near David City, just east of Highway 15 and north of Highway 92 in a farm field within the United States. Was this still the United States? The map seemed to match his memory so that was a good sign.
As he was standing there looking around he heard a buzzing sound coming from his west and realized that 3 small dots were flying low over the ground toward him. Three small drones came up to him, spread into a triangle formation with him at the center, then circled him as he felt himself being scanned.
The drones stopped circling and one hovered five feet in front of him while the other two hovered behind him at his four and eight o¡¯clock positions. he was perfectly triangulated between them as a speaker in the drone in front of him asked, ¡°Citizen, you are not registered with the Department of Homeland Security as being assigned to this location. How did you get here and what is your purpose?¡±
¡°Hello, I don¡¯t know exactly how he arrived here¡¡±
¡°Falsehood detected, capture for interrogation,¡± the drone behind him said, drawing his attention to look at it as he heard a ¡°Pfft¡± and felt a sting in his neck.
¡°Nanite countermeasures detected¡¡± was all he heard as the three drones pulsed and fell to the ground. Too late he realized that all three had released an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) which stunned his nanites long enough for the sedative to take hold and drop him into unconsciousness.
Chapter 124, Humility
Stupid, Stupid, Stupid! These were Adam¡¯s first thoughts as he came to lying on a table that seemed to be moving. As he tried to move he realized that he was shackled at the wrist and ankle, and he also had a collar around his neck.
¡°I wouldn¡¯t try anything if he were you,¡± a guard in a simple black shirt and black slacks said.
Adam stopped struggling and looked around then closed his eyes. He was in a modified truck that was moving along at a pretty good speed. Also, he could tell that they were on a gravel road. Adam pulled up his nanite interface and checked the compass and realized they were moving in an easterly direction.
The man poked Adam until he opened his eyes and looked at him as he said, ¡°Don¡¯t get any ideas. The collar around your neck suppresses any magical abilities and your nanites should be offline until they¡¯re rebooted remotely.¡±
¡°Who will reboot them?¡± Adam asked.
¡°That is all I¡¯m permitted to say. Just lay back and enjoy the ride, we¡¯ll be there in about forty-five minutes.¡±
Adam didn¡¯t bother to respond. He was obviously a military type and there was a camera looking down on him. Besides he already knew one thing he¡¯d stated was false, his nanites were up and running. Adam also didn¡¯t bother drawing on his mana as he, or that camera might be able to detect it. Instead, he closed his eyes and pulled up his nanite menu to issue a system history check for the nanites to find out what had happened. Prompts started scrolling through his vision.
Your Manifestation has died
Death caused by a triangulated electrical attack. Amplification caused localized EMP secondary effect. ¨C Nanites unaffected.
Sedatives neutralized.
Body Repair started. Mission directives limiting environmental interaction reduce efficiency. Estimate 30 minutes to 100% body repair.
100% likelihood attack was meant to kill and permanently disable normal nanites.
Brain placed into a coma until repairs completed.
Host body at 100%, Induced Coma lifted
Host waking up.
Adam scrolled through the prompts until he found the following.
Hostile nanites are trying to infiltrate host body. Permit Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°No¡± and through his nanites felt for the entry point. The collar around his neck seemed to be where they were trying to invade him. Adam could allow that but realized that without his full mental prowess, he might have issues. Better to keep them out of his body for now. He needed to know how pervasive the nanites were here and allowed the nanites across the surface of his body to inspect all adjacent molecules and atoms and then return.
As he suspected the air, table, restraints, and collar were flooded with nanites that resembled the nanites that he¡¯d released when he¡¯d first started out. If he was comparing them to the generations of nanites that he¡¯d created these nanites were small enough to fit into individual atoms but still hundreds of times bigger than his own. It was still very doubtful they could even detect his. Thinking back, he realized that if someone or something had a similar mentality to his at the same time in development, mentally, with his current mental faculties, he was going to be far outclassed.
Adam set up some contingencies with the nanites that had manifested with him in this Cosmos and decided to nap while he could. There was no point in trying to access any phones or satellite uplinks until he knew what was going on. he kept his eyes closed and utilized the compass function of his nanites to follow the path the vehicle was taking.
Estimating that it had taken them at least 15 to 20 minutes to load him into this truck. All he knew for certain was that 33 minutes had passed since the drones had released their electrical attack. A minute ago, we¡¯d turned left and his internal compass informed him that we were heading east. If memory served, and it always did, they were on Highway 92 which meant they¡¯d hit the west side of Wahoo Nebraska, and probably take a left to follow 77 until they veered back to the east and turned into highway 275 or West Center Road. From there, if they were taking him to Offutt Air Force Base (AFB) there were a couple of routes they could take. Determining the exact path would be problematic without allowing his nanites to get him an outside view of where the vehicle was going. Adam considered it but stopped himself. He didn¡¯t want to give away any possible advantages he had at this point.
That got him thinking. He was in another version of his original Universe. The drone had used the word ¡°Citizen¡± to describe him which normally indicated some form of a militaristic governmental system. Yet, the map function had been a perfect match for how this area was set up in his world. Adam guessed if he was going to keep thinking of his original world as ¡°his world¡± then he needed to come up with a way to categorize the other version of Earth that were similar.
His World was the Cosmos or Universe where he first found the ring made by Apolyn. That was also the same Cosmos/Universe he returned to that had been locked out. Cosmos 2 would be the one that held the copy of his original Universe as well as his original place of power, the city of Venoran and the Dungeon of Divine Elements he¡¯d come across, the Cosmos he¡¯d saved. Not that it mattered but he could end up there again someday. Cosmos 3 would have been after the reset and contained the Syndicate. Or were Cosmos 2 and 3 the same Cosmos that had changed? The fourth Cosmos he¡¯d visited was the last one he¡¯d just left that had the Vrax in it and contained his second Soul Projection or Birth.
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While he had time to think, he considered everything he¡¯d learned to this point. When he was connected to all his nanites his intelligence and processing power were magnified astronomically. Did this in some way reduce his ability to feel emotions or to let his emotions guide him? As he reviewed some of the crazy things he¡¯d been through he realized that the choices he¡¯d made had fallen away from the lessons that the Goddess Serena had been trying to convey to him. Had he become numb to the feelings of others or oblivious to them? Did knowing that there were souls make those he killed any less important because he knew it wasn¡¯t a permanent death? Part of him quickly answered yes. Another part of him considered the question and felt for an answer. If he was being honest with himself then yes, he was becoming insensitive to others, but only when they crossed him.
The next question he asked himself was Are you going to change? To which he answered no. He¡¯d be as fair as he could but if someone crossed him, all bets were off and if he had to, he¡¯d end them. Which brought his thoughts to his current predicament. This world seemed to be at about the state he¡¯d taken his original Earth to when he¡¯d brought the successes of Portal Inc. to light for everyone. The Earth he was currently on seemed to be following a similar path if mechanical nanites were infesting everything around him.
A helicopter flying low above them brought him out of his thoughts and he realized that we were still on the west side of Omaha. They must be heading to the airfield in Menard instead of going to the Air Force Base which was on the southeast side of the metropolis in the Bellevue suburb. The truck took a few more turns and then came to a stop. The back door opened and the table he was on hovered up and out of the truck under its own power. Was he Han Solo after being frozen in carbonite? Adam couldn¡¯t help himself; he giggled a little.
¡°So, this is funny to you, tough guy?¡± the guard that had accompanied him asked belligerently.
¡°Sorry,¡± he said with mirth in his voice. ¡°I was just thinking that I must look like Han Solo being carted through Cloud City.¡±
The guards thought for a second before responding with a smile, ¡°I guess you do at that, though where you¡¯re going, Han had it easier,¡± he said as he placed a gag over Adam¡¯s mouth.
Immediately he set his nanites to infiltrate the gag. If he wanted to talk, he would damn well talk. For now, though he laid back and watched his surrounding through the nanites all throughout his body. Sure enough, they were at the Millard Airfield, it wasn¡¯t really an airport as it catered to small aircraft. The guard led his hovering body between two open hanger doors that closed behind him as lights came on. The hanger was empty except for a triangular arch that could easily fit a semi-truck through it. The base took up almost the whole side of the hanger. As he watched the portal activated and four guards came through. The guard that had accompanied him turned, walked to a small access door in the hanger door, and went back out onto the airfield. The door clanged behind him, and the four guards took up positions above his head, one on each side and one at his feet. They led him toward the portal, and they passed through.
They moved into a receiving area that had noticeably lower gravity than Earth or the Moon. Each of the guards placed a hand on the table he was on, and he realized that the table was guiding their movement as they held on. Their antigravity technology was coming along nicely then. Adam was guided toward a large, actuated door that rose off the floor and closed once we passed under it. Adam found himself in an observation room. The table came to rest on a stand in the center of the room. The guards did something to lock it in place then all of them exited through a glass door on the opposite side of the room as he lay there. They stood there in an obvious breech set up waiting for orders to move back into his room. You¡¯d think someone had some trust issues.
Adam looked around for a few more moments and when he realized nothing else was happening, he closed his eyes, set his nanites to wake him if his circumstances changed, and went to sleep. He didn¡¯t dream, He just closed his eyes, and when he checked his internal clock almost 4 hours had passed when his nanites woke him up as a speaker in the room crackled just before a very familiar voice asked, ¡°Johnathan Bennard?¡±
¡°That¡¯s me?¡± Adam said as the gage disintegrated in his mouth. He also verified that guards were still in the adjacent room to him. There was another door into that waiting room and only one of the guards was familiar, so he was betting they¡¯d switched out people while he¡¯d been sleeping.
A portal appeared and a man, no, another copy of him, stepped through on his left side as he leaned over and said conspiratorially, ¡°Actually, that¡¯s me,¡± his doppelganger said.
¡°I was wondering when I was going to run into you,¡± Adam said.
¡°You were wondering when you¡¯d run into me?¡± Johnathan asked seemingly nonplussed by the fact that Adam was no longer gagged.
¡°So, are you going with the Evil Overlord, Sith Master, or Classic Hitler-style bad guy,¡± Adam asked.
What are you rambling on about? Johnathan asked.
¡°Well, either my evil twin, though technically you¡¯d be my ¡®real¡¯ self¡¯s evil twin.¡±
¡°I am not your evil twin and I have all the power here; you should show more respect,¡± Johnathan said as he cut off Adam¡¯s quip.
¡°I¡¯m sure you know I¡¯m going to say this but I¡¯m going to say it anyway, Respect must be earned,¡± Adam said with a smile.
¡°You insolent cur,¡± Jonathan said as he struck Adam¡¯s face, which is what he¡¯d been hoping for. Adam allowed the area he¡¯d slapped to infect Jonathan¡¯s hand and had them start multiplying.
¡°Very sneaky,¡± he said. ¡°Trying to infiltrate me with something I can¡¯t even detect, not bad. I must give credit where it is due. Seeing myself so pathetic and then egging me on until I struck you so that you could try to infiltrate me with something. I wonder what it is. My scanners can¡¯t even detect them though I know they¡¯re multiplying because my mass is decreasing. They must be converting parts of myself, the air, and maybe even the particles that are passing through us. Are they nanites? Are they smaller than mine? Impossible! Yet here I am gaining mass in an almost vacuum. Alternate me from another Universe or Dimension? Possible, but what are the odds there would be another me with access to nanites or nanites that were just as small or smaller than the ones I¡¯ve¡±
Adam listened to Johnathan mumble and ramble to himself as he continued rambling until his voice died off and then brought his attention back to him as he said, ¡°Can¡¯t have that happening, ¡°
¡°I wouldn¡¯t do that if he were you?¡±
¡°But you¡¯re not me,¡± Johnathan said as his fingers came together and he snapped them.
***
Adam found himself coming to groggily in his soul space in the place between places. Wait? How am he only level 1?. Adam pulled up his information and realized that he was him, with the astronomically high stats and levels, not level 1. He had just lived through the memories of a manifestation that returned to his soul. As his mental faculties returned he realized that by setting the criteria he had he had created an equal, almost infinite number of soul shards across all the known Cosmos and that command had been followed exactly. His soul had just been hanging out while his manifestations went to work. Speaking of which, how had he died? Before he could seek out an answer to that question prompts started filling his vision.
2 Manifestations have Returned.
3 Manifestations have Returned.
4 Manifestations have Returned.
¡.
Chapter 125, A Lot to Sort Out
As Adam watched the prompts scroll up his interface window, the experiences of those manifestations were assimilated. There were no prompts for him to try to accept or pause the process. The prompts just kept coming in and the experiences, as short as they were kept getting added into his mind. Unlike when he downloaded information into his nanites the memories just popped into his mind, as if they¡¯d always been there. Adam focused his will and his manifestations that had returned sorted and categorized themselves. Then he tried to play catch up as he lost track of everything else.
Fortunately, and unfortunately, the manifestations were flooding back to him at a rate much greater than one per second. As a reference, if he was absorbing one manifestation per second and he needed to absorb a million of them that would have taken 2.89 months at a rate of one per second. Adam was fortunate because he was assimilating them at a rate of thousands, no tens of thousands, per second. Adam was unfortunate because that much information flooding into him had shut down his ability to focus on anything else effectively making him catatonic until the flow of memories slowed down.
As he came back to his senses he checked to see how long he¡¯d been assimilating manifestations and was pleasantly surprised to note that only 3 days had gone by. Almost 3 days, it had only been 71 hours and a couple of minutes. Adam pulled up his prompts and noted that he was still absorbing manifestations but at a much slower rate. Right around one per two or three seconds. It seemed that with the reduced influx, he was better able to handle assimilating all the experiences. Speaking of experiences, while they were all in his mind, he had not allowed his consciousness access to those memories yet. He was excited to find out what information those memories held.
Adam started reviewing by category and found that almost all the manifestations that had returned had committed suicide or self-destructed for one reason or another. A major surprise was what caused those choices. The individual that had created, or that was in charge of the nanites in each Cosmos had taken over Earth wasn¡¯t always him. Adam quickly checked to see how many manifestations had returned, then willed the interface just to keep a rolling total in a percentage format. When he switched to that format three prompts appeared.
5% Manifestations returned.
81% Manifestations active
14% Returned no Change
That brought up the question, why had the 14% returned with no change? Adam went back and looked at his messages and noted that a number of Cosmos that he¡¯d allocated himself to go into had errored out as not having a location habitable to humans and they¡¯d returned immediately, even before the manifestation that had woke him up, then been reformatted and sent out. None of that counted as the 14% though. 14% of the manifestations had entered a Cosmos, experienced nothing, and returned? Could that indicate they¡¯d bounced? One thing was for sure, he¡¯d have to investigate a couple of that 14% to see why his manifestations had returned with no change.
The other thing that was interesting was that the 14% that had returned with no change had all returned almost immediately. As nothing had changed nothing had shocked him out of his self-induced coma. Well, it wasn¡¯t really a coma but to anyone looking at him from the outside, it would have appeared that he was in one.
Adam reviewed the Cosmos he hadn¡¯t manifested into, the ones that had not allowed for human survival, then willed a portal to the first one on the list. As the portal opened a rolling gray mass shot out of the portal into his soul space like water being shot out from a broken water main. Immediately his body was attacked by foreign nanites as they tried to break him down. Adam issued a command to his nanites to catalog, and convert the enemy nanites as his nanites went to work.
Thor: Adam, these nanites are of a feral nature. If I were to guess, I believe these nanites are the product of a singularity event that went horribly wrong. Also, these are not of human origin.
Adam: Any chance that there are minds downloaded into this mess?
Thor: It is of course possible, but doubtful. Everything I¡¯m recording seems to have only one function. Convert, Destroy, and Replicate everything.
Adam: Do you think the entire Cosmos is made up of these nanites?
Thor: Doubtful, I would surmise that the physical universe is really messed up but otherwise I wouldn¡¯t expect any of the higher dimensions within that Cosmos to have any issues.
Adam: So there could be survivors?
Thor: There could be, but I wouldn¡¯t get your hopes up. These nanites haven¡¯t evolved and even the new stimuli I¡¯ve provided haven¡¯t garnered a change or reaction yet.
Adam walked up to the portal, cut off the blood flow to his arm, set it to convert all nanites within the Cosmos then stuck his arm through the portal and shut it down, severing his arm. The foreign nanites within his soul space were converted rather quickly and his soul space was once again free of foreign materials. Adam utilized his newly converted nanites to replace his arm then also created a couple of copies of himself and quantumly linked them. These bodies would remain in his soul space to help facilitate what he was going to do next.
Adam willed a containment chamber into existence in his soul space around each of his copies then opened a very tiny portal that was covered with a force field with a thin layer of nanites on this side of the portal. If nanites tried to shoot through they¡¯d convert and then backtrack through the portal, and he would shut down the portal. If nanites didn¡¯t shoot through the nanites were given instructions to pass through the portal and investigate. Adam set his copies to the task of sending nanites into the Cosmos that were not habitable to human life then set his sights on one of the Cosmos that was part of the 14% that had returned without change.
Adam willed himself outside of his soul space and then focused on creating a portal into a Cosmos his manifestation had returned from with no change. As he opened the portal he looked into absolute darkness. Adam stuck his hand into the darkness and had the nanites in him analyze their surroundings. There were no light sources within range and the darkness seemed absolute. Adam willed himself through the portal and moved for one second to take himself one light second away from the gate then had the nanites take their readings.
Stray particles? Check.
Ambient temperature 3 degrees kelvin? Check.
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Adam willed himself back through the portal and stopped to turn back as his nanites detected a strong spike in quantum fluctuations. Adam willed the portal to close as a light erupted within the Cosmos he¡¯d just left and rushed towards the closing portal. Adam moved to the side as a beam of energy lanced through the closing portal like a laser and traveled off into the distance, slicing through anything it came into contact with.
So, a Cosmos that had experienced heat death. But how had his manifestations even entered there to leave again, or¡ He double-checked the message for this Universe and the time stamp between creation and return and noted that almost a second had passed. he checked the messages for the manifestations that had bounced and those that had been instantaneous. The difference between the two types of cosmos? If what he witnessed was a Big Bang event, which he was sure is what had just happened, that cosmos would be able to allow human life eventually. The cosmos that was full of nanites however would not. Also, he was sure that these two types of Cosmos were not the only ones that he¡¯d run across.
The cost to open these portals was extremely high so he¡¯d only be able to open about 3 per second which meant that he¡¯d be here for a while. Adam decided to let his alternates handle the automatic bounces that had happened while he focused on the manifestation that had returned. That was going to take a while unless he could find some way to¡ he was getting sidetracked but this was a good idea so he needed to get this done. It would save him a ton of time.
Adam willed himself back into his soul space visualized and willed a laboratory into existence. Next, he willed the Cosmos identifiers into the controlling interface and then hit the start button. What had he just done? He¡¯d created an entry port that was approximately one inch in diameter that opened into a piping system that was made up completely of his nanites. Hostile nanites would enter through the portal, be converted into his nanites, and be sent where he needed them.
How was he keeping hostile nanites from getting free? As they left the pipe they¡¯d be collected in a container. One end of the holding container contained a solid wall of nanites. As nanites were converted they¡¯d be added to the wall opposite their entry into the containment area and an equal number of his nanites would detach from the other side of the wall they¡¯d attached to. These nanites would then migrate to another chamber a little smaller but exactly like the first with another portal that would be opened and nanites would convert anything that tried to enter and push it back through the opened portal.
Simply put, he automated the conversion of hostile nanites from one cosmos nanites to propagate into another cosmos automatically. The incoming portal was set to the first Cosmos he¡¯d contacted because he knew what was trying to get him from there. The 2nd portal was outgoing and would automatically switch to the next Cosmos on the list once nanites were released into that cosmos. If Cosmos contained hostile entities that tried to get through the portal as soon as he opened it they would convert everything they could. If not, they¡¯d gather data. Adam also left instructions for the nanites to keep their entry point clear so he could open portals regularly for updates. Eventually, he hoped to find a way to stay in contact with the nanites without needing to be in the same Cosmos. If he could figure that out, he had some ideas about what he could do at that point. One thing was for sure, his processing power was going to do exactly what he needed it to do, grow.
Adam refocused on the manifestations that had returned with information. At least that information was already part of him and he could go through what each version of himself had seen and try to figure out what was going on that way. The unfortunate truth was that he had chosen too low a level for his manifestations to be of any use against any enemies. Having his memories was great but if his manifestations couldn¡¯t think and react as fast as he could they would be handicapped in any Cosmos they popped into.
As he started reviewing the data from the manifestations that had returned he noted that they all had a similar theme. His manifestation appeared somewhere on an Earth almost identical to his original Earth with minor variations after he¡¯d been born. One of the more interesting things that he noted was that he didn¡¯t always run into himself. In some Universes, he was taken into a room and summarily executed in such a way that all atoms in the room were destroyed which set off his nanite self-destruct protocols.
Adam continued to review the data and then he remembered. For any version of him to come up with this, he¡¯d have to have incredible intelligence. To get that incredible intelligence he had to have leveled. To gain levels so quickly he¡¯d have to have found the ring Apolyn created. The Ring? Adam focused on the manifestation where he¡¯d met himself and went through the meetings one by one. Sure enough, in every memory, Johnathan was wearing a band on his right ring finger.
Next, he checked to see how many of the Cosmos he¡¯d reviewed had the ability to pull up his interface and how many didn¡¯t. Surprisingly more had magic than did not. One thing that concerned him though was that these cosmos were in his cosmos past. If they were mirroring his cosmos why would these versions of him be chronologically behind him? he checked one more thing. In almost every instance he¡¯d been captured, moved, and executed or had to self-destruct. Then again, that kind of made sense. This was only 5% of the total. Not every version would lead to his death or his doppelganger being a complete asshat. But 5% of the time, he could be a truly evil overlord, yeah he could live with that. They wouldn¡¯t, but he could.
Adam retrieved all the information he could from the manifestations that were being returned, but he needed more. He wondered, what would happen if he absorbed the energy of his alternate self. Technically it was him so nothing bad should happen. Then again, it could be like running into yourself in the movie Timecop, he¡¯d eradicate himself from the timeline. Adam processed the possibility of that happening and came up with less than one-tenth of one-tenth of one percent. Yeah, that was a silly thought. If he ever ran into another him that had survived a trip into chaos, that might be a problem.
Adam stopped reviewing the data he¡¯d received concerning his manifestations and opened a portal into the first observation room where he¡¯d met the first Johnathan. He was sure that by now a copy of him had been made. He left his soul space where it was and stepped through the portal, keeping it open. As he stepped through he looked around and noticed a ring on the floor. That¡¯s right, the ring. His ring had had a Do-Not-Notice-Me effect inscribed on it, this one must have too. If his body had been destroyed, the ring would have survived, it was adamantium after all. Obviously, His doppelganger hadn¡¯t reincarnated yet. Boy was he going to be pissed.
This time when the guards rushed in Adam was at his full power. As they stepped through the outer door he disintegrated them with a thought. Their equipment too. Then he wished to know where the Johnathan Bennard born in this Cosmos was. A location popped into his mind, and he teleported to that location. Jonathan had just enough time to start to say ¡°What¡± as Adam grabbed him by the back of the head with his left hand, put the palm of his right hand against his forehead, and shoved his nanites into Johnathan¡¯s mind to download and save it. This, of course, informed Adam of the location of this Johnathan¡¯s version of Thor, which he¡¯d named Ra. Adam left Johnathan as a brainless husk that dropped to the floor as he teleported into the room with Ra, placed his hand on its surface, and overwrote Ra with a version of himself.
Doing that, let him take over every nanite throughout the Earth and Moon. As he reviewed Jonathan and Ra¡¯s memories, he realized Johnathan hadn¡¯t started exploring much past Earth Orbit yet. A megalomaniac and locked into only human concerns, Adam was actually disappointed. If there was a version of him out there that was just Evil, it wasn¡¯t this version of him.
One minute later he teleported back to the observation room which was on the dark side of the moon, stepped through his portal, and closed it. Adam trusted the version of himself he¡¯d left behind to fix things in that Cosmos. Right now he had his evil twins¡¯ life to figure out.
As he floated in the place between places, the first thing he noticed was that there was no Abi. She didn¡¯t exist here.
Next, magic did exist but compared to some worlds it was weak. Earth had just enough magic to open their personal interface and a few low-level spells. Adam¡¯s use of magic to teleport and disintegrate was going to surprise anyone that saw those tapes. That thought led to his most self-reflective revelation. This version of himself was a fascist asshole. Adam had started to feel bad about killing him but after reviewing what he¡¯d done, Fuck that guy! He¡¯d systematically killed every single leader and terrorist around the world once the nanites had been in play. Questionably bad but Johnathan had not cared. Then he had an algorithm go through and search for possible dissenters. If the Algorithm decided they were a threat the nanites destroyed them, and he hadn¡¯t put limiters on the program. Comparing the population of his Earth to the last report he¡¯d received and the date of that report. This Cosmos had an Earth with a population of roughly 3.5 billion, while his original Earth had over 7 billion. Johnathan had killed off about half of the human race? Then a question crossed his mind. Were there more versions of him like this out there?
Chapter 126, Identifiers
Thor interrupted Adam¡¯s mussing through their quantum link.
Thor: Of course, there are.
Adam: This isn¡¯t the worst of them, is it?
Thor: No, A couple of better questions to ask; did you receive a soul shard or a message from the Johnathan you just destroyed? Has it joined you?
Adam stopped cold. His Thor Aspect was absolutely right. As he had access to all the prompts coming in and processed them much quicker than he did, he¡¯d know the answer. Yes, Yes, they were the same entity but he had parceled out certain functions and since he had most of the processing power from the nanites it was just easier for him to check the prompts. Adam refocused and checked them for himself.
The prompts coming in were still messages about manifestations returning but they had slowed considerably. He was only receiving one about every ten seconds or so. It was also very easy to check the rest of the prompts and messages, although his prompts inbox was starting to look like a Microsoft Outlook or google mail setup. Pretty soon he¡¯d have to add a spam folder. Adam brought his thoughts back into focus and went through each category of prompts. Sure enough, No uncategorized prompts appeared so he started going through each folder he¡¯d created. Next, he went through each manifestation that had returned from the time stamp of when he¡¯d destroyed his evil twin, and now. None of them held a memory of encountering his true self.
Adam thought about this for a second or so, then willed himself back into the base on the Moon and wished Johnathan¡¯s soul into his presence. Nothing happened. Adam made sure True Sight was active and looked around. Still nothing. Adam then concentrated his intent to know what had happened to the Soul of Johnathan Bennard from this Cosmos and actualized that intent.
Adam watched as the Soul of Johnathan left the body he¡¯d destroyed by absorbing it. The soul of Johnathan had shrunk to nothing, inverted and fled this Cosmos and it hadn¡¯t come to him? Did that mean there were different versions of him and that each version was its own entity? Or, did it mean that he could never get higher than the 99.99% as an absolute soul because there were portions of his soul that he could never absorb? It could be a fluke, but Adam didn¡¯t think so.
Before he went to work, Adam had Thor start keeping time for him. He kept it to a 24-hour day, and 365-day year from the time he started culling his evil twins. Maybe he should call any time reference since his decision to fix himself, KET (Kill Evil Twin) day. Nah, that was just too narcissistic, even for him.
Over the next five years, Adam went to work personally hunting down his evil twins. During that time he¡¯d successfully entered, found, and absorbed the memories while destroying the bodies of 2,627,596 evil versions of himself. Adam was absorbing roughly one of the evil Johnathan¡¯s every 30 seconds over a 12-hour day. It was relatively easy. He¡¯d enter a universe, infiltrate the nanites there, hack them, find the evil Johnathan, teleport to him, and end him. After so many times he¡¯d become quite proficient at it.
Each of the evil Johnathan¡¯s memories Adam absorbed was a nightmare he wished he could discard. In every case, they¡¯d brutalized their people and their worlds.. Some had been wrecked by Nuclear War. Others had versions of the Syndicate, or the Horrors of the Labyrinth would wash over the planet. Still, others had been a lot like he had done if he¡¯d been a teenager on a power trip. He had multiple memories of the Johnathan¡¯s taking whatever they wanted whenever they wanted, to include any women they desired. Any that raised a fuss, ceased to exist or were moved to a location where he could abuse them as he desired and no one would find them, ever. Also, his evil twins were not fans of criticism. More than one of the Johnathan¡¯s accepted invitations from media personalities that had every intention of launching a smear campaign against them. It was almost like there was a seven-step plan on how the evil version of himself handled such character-smearing traps.
First, his evil twins didn¡¯t care about what anyone thought about them.
Second, they¡¯d accept the interview.
Third, the evil twin would show up for the interview and pleasantries would be exchanged then the media personality would make a claim that Johnathan had committed this or that atrocity or broke this or that law after showing some evidence if they had any, the stupid ones tried to intimidate his evil twin without evidence.
Fourth, Then Johnathan would say something like, ¡°So¡±, and the host would evaporate from the extremities towards their torso in the most excruciating pain that Johnathan could give them. He¡¯d amp up the pain receptors artificially and the screams would start. Of course, The screaming would stop once the nanites started on the torso the host¡¯s eyes would glaze over at which point they¡¯d just evaporate into nothing. Each evil Johnathan referred to that first incident as the first culling.
Fifth, the evil Johnathan would leave the study and head back to wherever he had his base of operation in that Cosmos. In almost every instance he already had portal technology, so he¡¯d step through a door and vanish, even as others rushed into the room to try to figure out what was going on. The really brutal versions of himself destroyed all the witnesses too. In the few iterations he hadn¡¯t had portals, he¡¯d head towards his limo and anyone that tried to stop him would evaporate as the nanites went to work.
Sixth, he¡¯d watch as those that had witnessed the death of the host commented and called for Justice. Any politician, judge, senator, or house representative that took any action against him died in the same fashion as the media host. The Evil Johnathans were smart enough not to leave their version of the United States with a power vacuum so when that command to the nanites went out, he also destroyed the leaders of all foreign governments, friendly or foe. Though in those instances, Adam just caused brain aneurysms to kill his targets around the world at the same moment. That was the Second culling. The confusion and chaos a bunch of leaders dropping dead all over the globe caused allowed Johnathan to step forward and declare himself leader across the globe.
The Seventh and final step was the systematic monitoring and death of anyone that tried to rebel. Those that chose not to show up for work to show your solidarity never showed up anywhere again. Talking to their friend about how they thought someone should kill Johnathan, whenever they thought no one was watching. The individuals that made such statements were destroyed right then, usually in a similar fashion to the media host. A few Earths tried to stop Johnathan by launching their nukes. Instead of launching, the nukes detonated in their launch tubes killing everything in the immediate area. 24 hours later, the facility was back, good as new after the nanites repaired everything. Johnathan did have the nanites clean up the radiation quickly after though. Of course, the individual that ordered the strike or launch died as well.
There were a few variations but those were the seven main steps that seemed to repeat. None of the evil Johnathans that were part of a manifestation that had returned so quickly had any sympathy for anyone else. In each case, the population of those Earths lost between 40% and 60% of their total population before people figured out they could not even talk about overthrowing Johnathan. They just accepted that their lives were now run by a single dictator and there was nothing they could do about it.
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Adam would cross over into the Universe where one of the evil Johnathans resided. Then, to be sure he wasn¡¯t killing a good Johnathan, he would find that Johnathan, subdue him, and then download and review their memories. If he found any hint that the Johnathan he was in front of was a monster he absorbed them and set their soul free. Then he took over the nanites, set them to neutral, and let events play out as they would. In each case, the strongest personalities were already dead. It would take ages for anyone to realize that the Johnathan of their world wasn¡¯t around anymore. Part of each Johnathan¡¯s procedure was to also cleanse the world of the dregs of society. Homeless, addicts, social out layers. Each Johnathan had also destroyed them. The only humans left were the sheep that did as they were told.
If Adam made any universal declarations, he knew that he would only do more harm than good. The humans on each of these Earths would have to find their own way. The least he could do was make sure they were healthy and would have long lives so he set the nanites he¡¯d taken over to the default settings he usually used and also had them make sure that no one came down with any truly horrendous diseases or cancer. Otherwise, they were on their own.
As Adam destroyed each Johnathan he checked to see if any prompts had occurred concerning himself. Each time he was relieved to find that the monster he¡¯d just killed was not part of him. he felt absolutely no remorse for killing such a monster, though killing himself over two million times so far was making Adam like parts of himself less and less though he knew intellectually these assholes weren¡¯t him.
While he was following up on each of the manifestations that came from an Evil Johnathan he had his Thor Aspect review the manifestations that were returning that didn¡¯t involve his evil alter egos. Whom his manifestation ran into in each of those cases was random but was usually one of his friends from college. In a Cosmos where there was a lot of magic, a mage of some sort had taken over the nanites. In some cases, his manifestation had survived long enough to be eaten by a monster of some sort. In one such case, Thor informed him that the manifestation seemed to have a memory of a Cthulhu-type creature appearing and destroying Johnathan.
None of the manifestations Thor was reviewing, however, contained any version of himself that would be considered good. It was entirely possible that his manifestations that had run into a good version of himself just hadn¡¯t returned yet. It was also possible that they¡¯d run into an evil version of himself that was smarter. One thing reviewing these manifestations had given him though was time. Time to learn how to utilize his abilities and expand himself to levels he¡¯d never achieved before. Not levels in the sense of experience. Levels, in the sense of processing power.
Over the last five years, he¡¯d absorbed less than 1% of the manifestations he¡¯d released. He hadn¡¯t visited even 1% of the 5% that had returned immediately. Even so, he¡¯d been able to figure a few things out.
First, the number of Cosmos his manifestations had gone to wasn¡¯t infinite. He was sure that had to do with the fact that he¡¯d put a qualifier in play. By limiting the manifestations to human-friendly the number of manifestations had not been infinite.
Second, he¡¯d been able to learn a lot from the number sequence that had been used for each Cosmos. It had taken a little while, but he¡¯d been able to find the annotation that denoted the entire Cosmic identifier. As his manifestations were assigned the last part was added. Once he realized that he¡¯d gone through and compared every identifier which had led to his third revelation.
Third, the cosmic identifier quantified the settings of the cosmos. It took only a few comparisons for his Thor Aspect to deduce that everything one needed to know about a Cosmos was in that identifier. He identified the sequences that set up the weak and strong interactions as well as gravity. which were identical for each of the Cosmos he¡¯d explored. Thor was also able to determine the sequence that identified the availability of magic in those Cosmos.
Fourth, once Thor figured that out he went back and found the identifier in his archived prompt logs for when he had Universal and Cosmic access and looked for instances when he crossed Universes or Cosmos and found the sequence that identified him as having access to Universal and Cosmic Prompts at that time.
Firth, he figured out that he could not modify his soul spaces identifier, but he could modify his manifestations modifier to give them Cosmic Access when he sent them out.
Sixth, as a byproduct of figuring that part out, he found a way to issue a recall command to all his manifestations at once. Adam couldn¡¯t re-manifest into a Cosmos he was already in but what he could do was send an update or recall by adding some coding to the identifier for the manifestation.
Seventh, he needed to finish converting the fourth Cosmos worth of nanites into the processing power he would need. he had discovered that the nanite swarm was what was left of a Cosmos that had collapsed to a point that held only nanites. All the matter within that Cosmos was now manifest as Nanites. He had discovered multiple Cosmos like this and had begun the conversion process in each. Only if they were mindless destroying machines. Adam had come across a Cosmos containing Nanites that contained the consciousness of a countless number of entities. He¡¯d established contact and would contact them again if he was wrong about a theory he¡¯d been developing.
As he was reviewing the data, Adam received a prompt indicating that the fourth Cosmos had just finished being converted.
Eighth, he removed the Cosmos that manifestations had already returned from the list of Cosmos he¡¯d re-manifest into. He had a good idea of what was there and would revisit them if this next part worked.
Adam didn¡¯t have any more reasons to put off what he needed to do so he opened portals inside his soul space to the four cosmos filled with his nanites and quantumly linked them to himself. Adam reintegrated with his Thor Aspect and sent out the recall command to the rest of the manifestations that had not returned. Unlike his batch command to manifest everywhere this command did not knock him unconscious and the processing power of four Cosmos worth of nanites and the processing power he had available in his Soul Space allowed him to absorb, categorize and review what the rest of his manifestations had come across.
One of his manifestations that hadn¡¯t returned did not return at all. Adam locked that Cosmos Identifier out of his next manifestation command. He quickly reviewed the rest. The majority of manifestations that had not returned hadn¡¯t done so because they¡¯d integrated into various eras of human activity. They had been living normal lives wherever they¡¯d been. Some of the Cosmos had magic, while others did not. Some had been captured by the government of the planet they¡¯d been on, which wasn¡¯t always Earth. Some were in the process of being tortured but in most cases, his manifestations had just been confined.
Adam compared all types of settings with Cosmic Codes and found one more piece of the puzzle. Stellar and galactic coordinates were also in the identifier as well as temporal proximity to point 0 where point zero seemed to be the moment that was his soul¡¯s present, though he wasn¡¯t absolutely sure about that. he¡¯d only been able to recognize it by the amount of technology he saw and how those Cosmos he manifested into that had more advanced technology always had a higher value in one specific portion of the identifier.
Adam added the Cosmic Interface identifier to each manifestation and sent a new level 100 manifestation of himself back to each Cosmos he¡¯d just recalled them from with instructions to open their Cosmic Interface, review their personal information on that interface paying particular attention to the soul abilities and their qualities as well as reviewing the makeup of the Cosmos, specifically extra dimensions, and to see if additional Universes were present. Once the manifestation had a firm idea of the information Adam needed the manifestation was to return. Once he had all the information he needed Adam would manifest back into every one of those Cosmos with the ability to use the Cosmic Interface.
With that done, Adam parceled all information he¡¯d just gained from the returned manifestations into four equal parts, sent one part to each of the Cosmos he was connected to, and closed the portals to those Cosmos. He¡¯d let the nanites review and categorize all the data they had. It would probably take a while.
Once the portals were closed, he willed himself into his Place of Power within his Soul Space, went up to his bedroom, and laid down to take a good long nap. He needed to give his new manifestations time to gather as much data as they could with the access they had. He also needed to give his hordes of nanites time to review all the data his old manifestations had gathered. If he was right, things would change very shortly. First, though, five years without a break? Sleep would be a welcome respite.
Chapter 127, Know Thy Self
Adam felt a knock on his mental door that he usually closed when he needed to let the biological part of himself get some rest. With a thought, Adam opened that mental door to find himself looking back at himself.
¡°Adam it¡¯s time to wake up?¡± the other me said.
With that one sentence, Adam remembered where he was, and what he¡¯d been doing before he laid down. Adam realized that he¡¯d keep his Thor Aspect integrated when he laid down. he¡¯d been so mentally drained that he¡¯d forgotten to separate his Thor Aspect from himself. Having realized his error, he released his Thor Aspect.
Thor: I thought that would get your attention.
Adam: How long was I out? It feels like I¡¯ve been out for a bit. Why can¡¯t I concentrate? I haven¡¯t felt like this since high school. Why do I still feel tired? I must have overslept. Why didn¡¯t you wake me up?
Thor: Whoa there Adam. Take a breath. First, I did try to wake you up. You were out. Remember, when you bring us together, you control the body. When I¡¯m part of you, I can only contact you through our subconscious and even that isn¡¯t easy because a lot of me becomes tied up in you. It¡¯s one of the reasons you recreated me remember, so you could let the analytical part of yourself continue working while the meat puppet part could do other things. Even so, I was able to separate myself and run within your subconscious. Could that be an indicator that at some deep dark level you are nothing but a workaholic? Getting off Track. While you were out, I was still able to go through the first manifestations that we absorbed. We only separated the new data out to the Cosmic Crunchers, as I¡¯ve started referring to them.
Adam: Cosmic Crunchers (CC)? That¡¯s rich, but I like it. So, what did you, I mean, what did we learn?
Thor: I would like to review the information that comes back after this next recall before I say. Besides, you¡¯re me, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll figure it out.
Adam: Fine, go ahead and start reviewing what our ¡°Cosmic Crunchers¡± discovered during our first recall. By the way, how long were we out?
Thor: Not too long, it¡¯s been a week since you laid your head down. While your mind is resilient, and you do have a lot of mental willpower, even you need to rest after focusing for so long. Once I realized that was what was going on I just left you alone and retreated into your mindspace and reviewed what I could from our memories.
Adam: Mindspace?
Thor: You know, that point when your conscious mind just starts to become unconscious. I¡¯m sure you recall Abi discussing this with you when you first met. I¡¯ve just started referring to it as a Mindspace because soul space has its own definition and meaning. I had to bring the various parts of myself together from our subconscious and then move back to that point between our conscious and subconscious. The term Mindspace seemed to fit.
Adam thought about that for a minute, then focused inward. As he did so he realized that this was incredibly easy to do, and he found his Thor Aspect standing in an office room full of terminals that were cycling data at a tremendous rate
¡°Welcome to My Mind,¡± Thor said
¡°Ha, ha, very funny,¡± he replied because they both knew they were thinking of the song on the Intermix, Phaze Two, Album The Process. Another phrase in that song came to mind; ¡°he never meant to harm anyone¡± If you could define a techno track as a song. Why had that lyric popped into his mind? His perfect memory always ensured that the information he needed would be at his fingertips as he desired it. Yet, he could not think of a reason he needed to hear those two phrases right now. Something to come back to.
¡°Where did that thought come from Adam?¡± Thor asked.
¡°You asked the question,¡± Adam responded.
¡°You know what I meant, why would our mind bring that to our attention?¡± Thor asked
¡°I don¡¯t know, but I¡¯ve learned to trust our instincts. Now that we¡¯ve both experienced something neither of us expected maybe we should pay attention?¡± he asked.
¡°Agreed, I¡¯ll keep an eye out,¡± Thor said.
¡°Good, now what did you find while I was napping?¡±, Adam asked.
¡°Nothing out of the ordinary. I just reviewed more of the first 15% we recovered. No surprises, just more worlds where your manifestations were either killed or just living a normal life with minimal impact. There were more captures than deaths which was a promising sign. Also, a very small amount were the live-and-let-live scenarios. The manifestations were doing just fine until we recalled them. Additionally, I also Identified every other world that had a high probability of containing an evil Johnathan. I¡¯ve also Identified every Cosmos where a Johnathan was not present as well as every Cosmos where we were told the Johnathan there was killed or died of ¡®natural¡¯ causes. Of course, without verification, there is no way to be sure,¡± Thor said.
¡°Anything that might prove to be an issue?¡± Adam asked.
¡°No, everything looks about normal for your original Cosmos and the level limits that exist here,¡± Thor said.
¡°Okay, get to work on reviewing what our Cosmic Crunchers have been sorting. I¡¯m going to pop back to full consciousness, take a shower, then get something to eat. I¡¯ll check in with you in about an hour, maybe two,¡± Adam said before he dropped out of his Mindspace and stood up. Adam had his nanites remove his clothing and then stepped into the shower. Sure, he didn¡¯t need to take one, his nanites kept him completely clean, but he needed the feeling of hot water running over his head and down his body to set his mind at ease. Something was bothering him at a fundamental level, he was sure of it, he just couldn¡¯t put his finger on what it was.
As he stood in the hot stream of water he reviewed what he knew. His subconscious didn¡¯t normally provide him with random data. Usually, there was a reason behind anything brought to his attention. If he thought something like, I want to build nanites from scratch, his mind would bring forth the information he needed, as he needed it. As he completed each step in the process, more information would be made available. All of the information on how to create nanites didn¡¯t just flood his thoughts at all times. The information he needed, when he needed it, was the only information brought forth. So, what had happened to change how his ability worked? Had it changed? Adam checked his Personal Information and no, that Soul Ability read exactly the same.
¡°Perfect Memory¡± - Like Photographic Memory except for all five senses with an automatic recall of desired information.
Adam stood in the shower thinking for about 30 minutes while he relaxed, then stepped out. He had the nanites dry and dress him and then headed down to the kitchen where he had the nanites create a steak dinner. Adam hadn¡¯t eaten in 5 years. He was going to enjoy this.
Adam thought about everything he¡¯d learned since being born into the Universe of the Vrax. He had some thoughts, but he didn¡¯t want to jinx them by mentioning them, even to himself. So, he ate his steak, savored the artificial flavors and textures his nanites had created, and enjoyed his meal. Once he was done he cleaned the dining room, went to sit down in his day room, and picked a random movie to watch to give Thor a little more time to review the data they had acquired. ¡°The 13th Floor¡± started playing on the screen and he watched as the main character realized he was just a construct in an artificial reality. Odd that he¡¯d randomly picked that movie to watch?
An hour and forty-five minutes later as he sat through the credits of the movie, Adam contacted Thor.
Adam: Figure things out?
Thor: You know you can just drop into your Mindspace and we can talk face to face at all times. We¡¯re linked, I¡¯m always there.
Adam: True, but contacting this way allows me to keep track of my surroundings. Also, when I¡¯m there I become aware of all the links we are handling. There are a lot of them. While I can do so easily, it¡¯s nice not to have to worry about them when you are handling that.
Thor: Fine, I¡¯ve been done for a bit, and with the amount of processing power available collecting and correlating data didn¡¯t take long at all.
Adam: So?
Thor: First, a large percentage, almost 80%, of those recalled did not have nanites and your manifestations found themselves on your Earth at any time after your return from being flung into the far future by that Vizier fellow that had tricked Tasha into handing you that ring that tossed you through time.
Adam: What about all the Cosmos where they appeared in preindustrial settings?
Thor: Each and every one of those planets was not Earth. Your manifestation was among other Humans, but the manifestation was not on Earth. One thing I can add with certainty. You can determine, with a high probability of success, exactly how you will react in a countless number of social, governmental, environmental, and romantic settings.
Adam: I bet; how much longer do you need before we can do the second recall?
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Thor: We¡¯re linked to the Cosmic Crunchers, I would suggest that we don¡¯t integrate again. It¡¯s probably a good idea to leave part of us aware of what¡¯s going on around us.
Adam: Sounds good! I¡¯m going to initiate the second recall in 3,2,1¡
Adam sent the batch command to recall the 100 new manifestations and watched as Thor went to work. Thor absorbed, sorted, and archived information from each Cosmos effortlessly. While opening and maintaining four portals at the same time initially killed his total mana, knocking out 80% right off the top, he was able to get back to full Mana in short order. The upkeep to maintain the portals was far less than his mana regeneration rate. Since the portals remained open, Thor and Adam remained quantumly linked to an insane number of nanites which provided them with a lot of extra processing power.
As the new information came in and Thor sorted and retrieved the specific information he¡¯d requested from the Cosmic Interface of the manifestation he was reviewing. Thor reviewed that data and started working to decipher the cosmic identifier as well as check for embedded commands within the personal and cosmic identifiers. Reviewing computer coding was normally such a boring and tedious task but as he¡¯d never seen anything like this before he found it quite interesting.
What he discovered was anything but boring. Within 30 seconds he found what he thought must exist. A pattern, hidden within the Cosmic Identifier and the personal identifiers of every Cosmos and being within that Cosmos. With such a large sample size and access to the processing power of four Cosmos plus himself, it was child¡¯s play to decipher the coding that was utilized. As soon as he knew the coding, he was able to enter his personal interface, bypass the security protocols that were present, and the secondary and tertiary security measures that would report such incursions to someone or something he had yet to encounter. There was a string of code as part of those Security measures he¡¯d never seen before.
In terms of encoding, gaining access was extremely hard and required a knowledge of the Personal interface to know exactly what each entry and request needed. Once passed the encoding and security measures access became incredibly user-friendly with help menus and even a limited assistant program that helped the user. Nothing like a true AI or person, more like an Alexa or Google Assistant. Adam pulled up his personal information and reviewed it. The first thing he did was review his Soul abilities. He knew they¡¯d changed when they¡¯d been moved to soul abilities. He wanted to see what the coding for those abilities looked like.
Adam couldn¡¯t view that coding. He could view the coding for all of his other attributes, even Karmic Luck. He could even modify most of those attributes up or down by up to 10% with an expenditure of Karmic Luck. The one attribute he couldn¡¯t adjust was Karmic Luck, that attribute was locked. he could see it; he could see the number which now read ¡°9.999E +99¡¡± Which he took to mean effectively infinite. Adam even went back into the log and reviewed the two commands he¡¯d given for mass manifestations. Even the amount of Karmic Luck expended hadn¡¯t altered his karmic luck by one digit.
While he was ripping apart his own personal identifier he was also able to determine his original Cosmic Identifier. How Cosmic Identifiers worked and the sequence that temporally blocked him. Everything he discovered seemed confusing until he discerned how the Cosmic Identifier was tied to individuals. Not manifestations but copies of individuals that appeared in multiple Cosmoi and the Universes within each of those Cosmos. The manifestation tag was placed at the end. What he decided to call the Soul Identifier was near the front of his personal identifier. His identifier had a 002 at the end of that sequence. Did that mean he was the 2nd?
Adam queried the help function for personal Identifiers
Describe Specific information sought, multiple topics exist concerning Cosmic Personal Identifiers
Adam chose ¡°Cosmic Personal Identifier Numbering system.¡±
Cosmic Personal Identifiers contain a lot of information concerning persons or beings identified. As a Cosmic Branch Forms a copy of individuals receives an additional unique code to designate that they are not the original. When the first Cosmic Branch forms the first Cosmos adds a 001 to all individual identifiers to ensure each being is unique. No duplicate identifiers are allowed.
Define Cosmic Branch, Adam thought.
A Cosmic Branch is a point in the Cosmic Timeline when an action has been taken that diverts the course of that Cosmos. The new Cosmos is created out of Primal Chaos. Those within the original Cosmos or any additional cosmos created have no idea what has happened. Within a Cosmos, Universal Branches can also be formed as minor changes cause new Branches to form. What constitutes the creation of a Cosmic or Universal Branch is determined by System Code.
Progress. It seemed that the zero point that Thor had found was most likely the origin of the Cosmic Branch. The time when that Cosmic Branch started differing from the Cosmos it was copied from. The identifier for himself identified him as the second version, or from the second Cosmos. Hold on. He manifested a copy of himself to the Cosmos Adaline was in with the sole purpose of checking the Cosmic Identifier. Adam gave the manifestation 30 seconds then called him back and reviewed his memories personally. The cosmic indicator for that Cosmos was the 4th. Using only the Cosmic Identifier he tried to Manifest into the 3rd Cosmos. That Cosmos still existed, and his manifestation was sent but it was immediately destroyed, and the soul shard returned. As he reviewed the memory the manifestation had started to solidify and then been bombarded by an energy type that he¡¯d never run across before. It had saturated and destroyed the nanites and the manifestation through the soul shard had made it back okay. Cosmos 3 seemed to be off-limits. If he had traveled through time and not just created new branches, what had just happened made sense.
He reviewed what he knew, and an idea popped into his mind based on the last season of the show Continuum. Sure, it was science fiction, but the facts fit the evidence he¡¯d acquired so far. There was only one way to check and see if he was right. Adam needed to visualize Cosmos 3 before he traveled back in time to destroy Nox and then manifest into it and watch what happened. To do that he needed to unlock the time travel restriction on himself. Of course, if he was right major changes to a Cosmos were significantly more damaging than he¡¯d first thought. If that were true he¡¯d have to do whatever he could to fix this problem and get reality back on track. Not a lot of humility in that thought, but if he could fix the problems he had discovered, he would.
Adam pulled up his personal interface and went to work bypassing everything using the information he¡¯d discovered. He could not modify his soul abilities. The coding concerning those abilities was hard-locked and he knew any attempt to modify them would set off an alarm and send someone or something calling for me. He didn¡¯t want to mess with who, or whatever, that might be.
Adam took his time and eventually succeeded without setting off any alarms. He was able to modify his personal identifier and unlock the temporal lockout on himself. He paused for a moment and took a deep breath to give anyone that might be responding to his system code edit a chance to respond but nothing happened. Once he was done, he noted that he didn¡¯t feel any different. Now, how to test the changes he¡¯d made?
A portal popped into existence, a copy of himself stepped out, pointed at him, and said, ¡°Travel back in time to this time stamp now!¡±
Adam willed his intent to travel back in time to that moment, cast the spell, and materialized next to a copy of himself and said, ¡°Travel back in time to this time stamp now!¡±
The other Adam opened a portal, stepped through and the portal closed. Adam was once again himself. That had worked. How the hell had that worked? Eat your hearts out, Bill and Ted. Obviously, he could travel through time in the Place between Places. With that test out of the way, he focused his will on Cosmos 4 where Adaline was, and tried to scroll back in time to a point before he left. Sure, enough the shadow structures of a point in the past materialized around him and he could step through by Crossing into the Cosmos if he wished. Adam willed himself to do so to see if anything about the Prompts had changed to find out that yes, yes they had.
You have focused on a point in the past of targeted Cosmos. If you chose to cross over to that point a new Cosmic Branch will be created. Would you like to create a new Cosmic Branch now?
Adam thought ¡°No,¡±
So he could travel into the past within a Cosmos if he could visualize it. With that test done, he thought of the moment he¡¯d killed Nox in Cosmos 3 and the scene came into focus around him. This time he chose to manifest a level 1,000 version of himself into the Universe at that time stamp and sent him through. His mana dropped by 50%. It seemed that traveling through time, even as a manifestation had an additional cost. Also, as soon as he released the manifestation he received a message from Thor.
Thor: Damn, the manifestation you just sent has returned. You need to review this.
Adam: Send it through.
Adam started reviewing his manifestation and living through the manifestation¡¯s life. It wasn¡¯t good. Within a year giant ribbons of energy appeared across the sky. His manifestation traveled to one of the ribbons and performed tests by trying to send nanites into the rift, they were annihilated. As the years went by the ribbons became larger and larger and long before there was ever an Earth the energy flooded the planet Earth and the Cosmos was, he wasn¡¯t really sure what had happened, but he was sure that at that point Cosmos 3 was no longer habitable to life.
It would seem that he was correct. If a temporal change was significant enough Reality would branch and instead of both branches continuing to grow alongside each other, one was cauterized or stopped as the other continued to grow. Adam had effectively rewritten the fates of a plethora of Universes within Cosmos 3 when he¡¯d jumped back in time. That action had led to the Syndicate and the ending of the Syndicate¡Adam checked Cosmos 5. Sure, enough in the current moment, there was nothing for him to bring up or manifest into. Then he had a thought he set into his personal interface. Display a visual representation of Cosmos and related branches.
Administration Function: Display Cosmos Timeline and Branch Overlay Accepted.
Within his mind¡¯s eye, a three-dimensional map filled his mind¡¯s eye. Adam was looking at a node, a glowing sphere. There was a line of energy off to the left and a line of energy went off to the right and entered another node. From that node, two lines went off at roughly a 90-degree angle to each other to two more nodes which had one or two lines of energy that went off from them respectively. Adam willed his point of view to back away from the diagram and he fell away showcasing a tapestry of nodes and lines. As he zoomed out he realized that the node he had started looking at wasn¡¯t even the starting node.
Eventually, he found the very first node. It was at the center of a sphere. A number of energy lines left the node in all directions and nodes began branching from there. The node he had started at was towards the outer edge.
Another thing Adam noticed was that some of the areas were colored differently. There were green nodes, yellow nodes, and red nodes. The connecting lines were all a very light blue. In addition, some areas of the diagram were shaded differently. He noticed this because the area of the node he¡¯d started at was in an orange region which started one node to the left of the node he began at and included every branch and node that led off to the right. A few other regions were colored as well. None of them were connected at any point to the orange area his starting node was in. In fact, one of the red areas was on the other side of the sphere from his node¡¯s location.
Was that all? Adam willed the point of view to zoom out and once at the maximum zoom he tried to will the point of view out further and found himself looking at a sphere amongst other spheres. he tried to zoom out further. Until the image he was looking at seemed to flip to a side view and he noted that he was now looking at a diagram that seemed to be composed of layers, kind of like a layered cake. All of the spheres he¡¯d just seen existed on one layer. There were layers above and below the layer those spheres existed on. If Adam¡¯s nanites didn¡¯t keep him in perfect health, he could have sworn he felt a migraine coming on as his mind tried to encompass everything that he was seeing. This was going to take a little bit to get used to.
Chapter 128, Just When You Think You Have Everything Figured Out…
Adam continued looking at the diagram as he pinged his Thor Aspect to refocus processing power on this diagram and create a visualization he could talk to within his line of sight to make things easier. Adam didn¡¯t reintegrate them, but he watched as Thor materialized within his vision and then started making motions that he could see responses to through his vision. Adam allowed his Thor aspect to take control of the display as the images before him flickered and Thor went through them faster and faster. Adam¡¯s intelligence was off the scale, and he could probably go through the display just as quickly as Thor but right now he needed processing power so he let Thor do his thing with the help of the Cosmic Crunchers.
As Thor started pulling data, he watched as the diagram in his vision started filling his mind and flicking as the point of view shifted and changed rapidly. As it did so, he knew that he would only need to access this screen when he needed to update his information. As Thor was pulling data one of the nodes in a red region went dark, as did every node in that branch of the diagram. Luckily that region was on the other side sphere, but it drove home that the information he was collecting could change and that he¡¯d need to update it as he could.
Thor accessed help menus, requested definitions, and even pulled diagram keys to explain the various colors and coding on each of the displays. Next, he brought the display back to the node he¡¯d started at and requested information on it. The node represented a Cosmos. The Cosmic Identifier for that node indicated that it was the 6th Cosmos in the same Branch as the Cosmos he¡¯d originally started in. Instead of moving away from the Center, Thor moved back toward the center. Node 5 had become translucent. Node 4 was green. Node 3 was also translucent. Node 2 had a soft purple glow to it. Node 1 also glowed a soft green. The line going towards the center from Node 1 went to another node that was green and then followed by more green nodes back to the center.
Thor pulled up a help screen to explain the coloring. Green represented a healthy Cosmos. Yellow indicated a Cosmos with more than 20% of its Universes showing issues. Orange indicated more than 50% of the universes within a node had an issue, Red indicated 80%, and Black indicated complete failure. Any Universes that were purple were code locked and couldn¡¯t be entered without special approval. Thor reviewed that data then went back to Cosmos 6 and mentally tapped it. Another diagram of nodes popped into existence except there didn¡¯t seem to be as many as there were in the next level out. The coloring scheme was the same though.
Adam watched as Thor checked a couple of universes, pulled out of that Cosmos, went to the next down the list, and checked Universes within it. He did this for each Cosmos that was farther out from the Center than Node 6. For the next hour, Adam patiently watched. The last thing Thor did was check the key for the layered diagram.
Once Thor came to a pause he asked, ¡°So Thor, what did you figure out?¡±
¡°Simple explanation first. We will need to come up with terms again because everything we thought to be true, well, it is true to an extent, but we haven¡¯t even scratched the surface as far as I can tell,¡± Thor said.
¡°How so?¡±
¡°First, I¡¯m going to refer to the Cosmos we¡¯re currently tied to as Node 6 and the other Cosmos in this diagram as nodes, as that¡¯s how they¡¯re represented here. Next, I figured out that the manifestation that disappeared was in a Universe that had gone black in Node 16 along the branch your Node 6 is on. There are branches that go off of each of those nodes, a lot more than you¡¯d thought but the universe that went black with your manifestation in it was on the main branch,¡± Thor explained as the images adjusted to swivel and show branches that lead off away from his point of view.
The image returned to what it had been and Thor continued, ¡°If there are main branches in this diagram. A lot was hidden because your point of view blocked them. As I had every Cosmic Identifier already documented it was a simple matter to check which Cosmos, or Node, had the Universe where that manifestation disappeared and check on that Universe. A majority of Universes within that Cosmos have gone black, but they did so before your manifestation entered, and they were the manifestations that originally bounced back. This phenomenon happens in just about every cosmos I looked at. At least one universe within that Cosmos has gone dark.¡±
¡°Okay, so something is destroying the Universes that are coming into existence at the edge of this sphere of nodes, what do we call the bubble all these nodes are in?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Let¡¯s just refer to it as the Realm for now. Remember that layered diagram that you saw, the one with layers like a cake? That diagram defined the layer our cosmos is in as Realms. That diagram also listed the layer above it as the Heavens and the layer below it as the hells.¡± Thor said.
¡°Did you try to access those layers?¡±
¡°Yes, and the answer to if I could look into them is no. I didn¡¯t get an error or a denial, I just couldn¡¯t access them.¡±
¡°Okay, what about the other manifestations? How many of the Universes present within this realm did I manifest into?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Keep in mind that I did a very quick check. It seems that you manifested into every node in this realm. Any that immediately bounced were either black or grey. I did check to see what was different about the grey nodes and the difference is that the grey nodes represent Universes that are going through their rebirth phase while Black universes are those that have collapsed in on themselves either through artificial or natural means. The Cosmos containing the nanites you¡¯ve created, those four nodes are all black.¡±
¡°So, when I access the search function and scroll through universes in the Place Between Places I am searching for one of these nodes?¡±
¡°From what I gathered this diagram is just a way to visualize how the Realm is set up. The space between spaces would be the space between the nodes which means you are free floating in the Realm between each Cosmos.¡± Thor said.
¡°What are we missing?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Ptah and David come to mind, as do the Aspects, they do not easily fit the model we have discovered,¡± Thor said.
¡°Did you find the location of that bubble of nothing that our Place of Power is stashed in from Node 2?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I wasn¡¯t looking for it, though I do not believe it was a bubble in the sense that you¡¯re thinking. Interestingly enough I think who, or whatever moved the Place of Power placed it inside a speck of nothing either in the Chaos of Cosmos number 3 or took it completely outside of the Cosmos and placed it in the Primal Chaos of the Realm, this Place between Places, in a spec of Nothing. Remember Nothing has no value. Theoretically, we can place almost nothing or anything into it, If we know how. It would make more sense to believe that spec of nothing is in the Primal Chaos of the Realm. Perhaps it¡¯s even in this region of the Realm we are in. I¡¯m pretty sure where we are floating right now is the area between all the nodes in the diagram and as we¡¯ve seen this region is full of pieces and parts of everything. Nothing would be but a spec in here.¡± Thor mused.
¡°So, we are a deviation, of a deviation?¡± Adam asked.
¡°It would seem so,¡± Thor agreed.
¡°And the lack of Gods, angels Demon¡¯s and the like?¡± Thor asked.
¡°My guess, which is technically your guess, of course, is that the farther away from the center the Cosmic Branches, or nodes, are the less direct contact with the divines...¡±
Adam finished that thought, ¡°And as the rules for becoming divine exist and probably existed in the original Cosmos, Divines could and did rise from the beings that resided within the Cosmos.¡± he pondered for a moment then spoke his thought aloud, ¡°Maybe when a branch is formed the divines chose not to duplicate or interact with it?¡±
¡°That would make sense,¡± Thor answered.
¡°So far we have a lot of conjecture and theories, none of which we can prove. My next question is a really simple one. With the revelations we¡¯ve discovered, everything that has happened so far can be explained in the current system. If the Gods and Devils are outside of the Cosmos in another realm that makes sense. It also makes sense that we haven¡¯t seen much in the way of spirits or the spirit realm because maybe we just never needed to have access to it. So my question is who the hell are the Aspects and why didn¡¯t the Gods step in to stop their bullshit. Not the Gods in the Cosmos, we know they¡¯re just humans that made their way up for the most part. I would think they¡¯d be trying to garner more divinity for themselves.¡±
Stolen story; please report.
¡°Unless no matter what the Aspects do to the people and their souls here the divines still get their souls,¡± Thor said.
¡°You¡¯re right, they could have been trapped here for a very long time but to anyone outside the realm, it might not be that long,¡± Adam said.
What kind of power level do you think we¡¯ll be going against?¡± Thor asked.
¡°As my soul is at a rank of Absolute 99.99% I would guess that there is a higher rank than absolute for those outside of this Realm,¡± Adam said.
¡°So, what¡¯s your next step?¡± Thor asked.
¡°Our next step is to see what type of Cosmos is at the center of this Realm. We need to crossover at the center of this diagram to see what we¡¯ll find there.
¡°Are you sure that¡¯s wise?¡±
¡°While you were reviewing the diagram and the nodes I was letting my feeling go and trying to feel for what is not an easily deduced fact. Something that comes to mind is that the setup we keep running into is familiar. Either there¡¯s an Earth or a fantasy world that follows certain rules. Why? From the cake layer diagram, we see that there are more realms out there. We also see that other Realms might have other rules. Did you try to access any of those other Realms?¡± Adam asked.
¡°There was no point. When I looked at one of the nodes that wasn¡¯t attached anywhere near us, the realm identifier came up and I was able to find it in the Cosmic Identifier. None of the manifestations you created contained that realm identifier. So, the other Realms on this layer of the cake were not visited.¡± Thor said.
¡°Where are Eternity and the similar cities within the realm in the diagram we looked at?¡± he asked.
Thor returned his attention to the diagram and issued a few commands. he watched as small stars appeared on the diagram scattered throughout the realm. Eternity was labeled as near our orange area on the node map.
¡°Where are we?¡±
A blue dot flared near node 6 a little way out from it,¡± Thor I¡¯m going to take a look outside really quick, be right back.¡± Adam said as he willed himself out of his Place of Power within his Soul Space and found himself floating in the swirls of the ¡®Realm.¡¯ His Soul Space was adjacent to his location. Adam willed his vision to change so that he could see the Realm in the same format as the diagram he¡¯d been viewing in his Mindspace. His vision shifted and swirled, and he found himself near the node that was Cosmos 6. It was about the size of Saturn as compared to him. Hundreds if not thousands of lines left Node 6 and went to other nodes. The Realm was filled with lines of energy between nodes. Those lines of energy also moved along and wrapped around the transit tubes that were also present in his vision.
Adam focused as he looked at the visualization of Thor and asked, ¡°I thought by your description that the number of nodes was manageable?¡±
¡°Whatever gave you that idea? There was no way I could have gone through every single node that you manifested into. Instead, I took a core random sample and checked a small percentage.¡±
¡°This Realm is huge,¡± Adam said as Thor¡¯s eyes glazed over and he brought both of them up to machine speed.
¡°You have incoming, I¡¯ve sped us up to Machine speed in here. Looks like Mah found you, and he found his sword or has a duplicate,¡± Thor said.
Adam focused on his surroundings and took over as he turned to look at a streak that was flying towards him leaving swirls in the gaseous medium that surrounded them. When Mah was 100 feet away he received a warning.
Temporal Tampering detected in your immediate location, would you like to Counter, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes¡±, Mah was still 100 feet away when Mah swung his Primal Blade of Destruction with all his might. He must have expected to be right next to Adam when he swung his weapon.
¡°I knew it, You time-traveling cheating son of a bitch!¡± Adam shouted as Mah¡¯s face went red and he took what had just happened into account
¡°I don¡¯t need tricks to kill you,¡± Mah said as he once again rushed toward Adam.
Not giving Mah a chance to do serious harm to him with that blade, Adam willed all time-related abilities to be locked down and erected a no-scrying zone to prevent any extra sensory perception Mah might have. Next, he accelerated his physical body to light speed as he willed his Chaos Blade into his hand and flickered to a position directly behind Mah. To Mah, it appeared as if Adam had teleported. When Adam returned to physical form his Chaos Blade appeared through Mah¡¯s chest, piercing his heart. Adam leaned forward as the Chaos Blade did its work and whispered his response into Mah¡¯s declaration into his ear, ¡°I do¡±
Adam watched as the being that was Mah, became riddled with streaks of chaos that spread throughout his form, solidified, and expanded before he exploded into butterflies which quickly evaporated and leaving only the Blade of Primal Destruction floating before Adam.
You have Destroyed the Primary Projection of Mah, God of Destruction¡
Primary Projection? Adam cut off the prompt, closed it, and willed to know where the soul space of Mah was. A small orb of while glowed before him and as he focused on it he saw the energy building as Mah tried to build another projection.
¡°No Mah, you do not get a third chance. You had your first and second. It is time for you to move on. BTW asshole, I have no idea what this is going to do, but it should be fun!¡± The Soul tried to shoot off and away utilizing time jumps, which were automatically blocked. Next, Mah tried to run which Adam easily kept pace with. As he¡¯d started to bolt, Adam telekinetically grabbed the Blade of Primal Destruction and brought it to his left hand then swung it with the flat of the blade against the left side of the soul space that was trying to flee. As the Blade of Primal Destruction was swung he also swung the flat side of his Chaos Blade with his right hand against the right side of that space so that the soul space would be squeezed between both blades as he willed the destruction of Mah through both blades. While souls were immune to physical attacks he felt both blades come to rest on Mah¡¯s Soul Space as the blades came against its resistance. As the Primal Destruction and Chaos of the two blades touched Mah¡¯s soul everything froze as prompts filled his vision.
An Aspect of Destruction has been attacked by Primal Destruction in conjunction with Pure Chaos.
Calculating.
Requested termination of Mah as Aspect of Destruction noted.
Calculating
Normal resistance to Chaos is overridden due to destruction intent from the energies of Primal Destruction and Chaos.
Calculating
Karmic Luck of beings Intent factored in
Calculating
Query, is it the attacker¡¯s wish to take on the mantle of the Aspect of Destruction
Adam quickly thought ¡°No¡±
Answer received. Termination of Mah as Aspect of Destruction granted.
Resistance to Chaos Revoked.
Mah has been afflicted by Primal Destruction and Chaos; effects are as follows based on the intent of attack to utterly destroy Mah.
ERROR
Blade of Primal Destruction is shelved until the new Aspect of Destruction is named.
Chaos Blade now carries the abilities of Primal Destruction upon the wielder¡¯s command.
While the prompts were flooding his vision a few things happened. One, there was a popping sound as Mah¡¯s soul was destroyed. Two, the explosion that happened with Adam at ground zero shot him away from Node 6 so fast that he was sure he¡¯d never traveled faster in his life. Three, just before he shot off, the Blade of Primal Destruction disappeared. It wasn¡¯t destroyed. One moment it was there, the next it was gone, and Adam was traveling away from Cosmos 6 at an incredible speed.
The damage he took was minimal, for him, but it did take a chunk out of his health and his nanites had to replace all of his clothes¡again. By the time he¡¯d slowed himself down, he realized he was well passed the edge of the visible nodes on the outskirts of the Realm. He hadn¡¯t thought there was an edge, he thought the nodes just came out and the Realm ended. It looked like he was mistaken.
As he¡¯d been flung towards the outskirts of the Realm, he¡¯d passed through the physical representations of the nodes for various Cosmos, but they¡¯d had no effect on him when he touched them. That meant that while his vision was showing him a physical representation of this realm and the cosmos within it, he had to willfully interact with the spheres to enter them. What he could see was just another interface, That was a good thing to know.
The last thing he noticed as he slowed down was a ribbon of energy that was following him from the initial explosion site. It was the energy that had spilled from Mah¡¯s soul space and followed him at almost the same speed as he¡¯d been shot off from the explosion. Adam watched as an incredible amount of energy and experience funneled into him. Far more than he thought Mah should have had and far more than someone at the maximum level of an average Cosmos would have.
Adam stowed his Chaos Blade and followed the path he¡¯d just taken back towards node 6. The distance here meant nothing when with a thought he was in front of Node 6 again. Of course that didn¡¯t change the fact that before he went back, if Node 6 was the size of Saturn he¡¯d been knocked so far away that he hadn¡¯t been able to see it except as a faint point of light in the distance only after he¡¯d magnified his vision as much as he was able to.
As he returned to Node 6, he checked the amount of experience and divinity points he¡¯d absorbed and converted to experience. Mah had been level-locked, which Adam was very thankful for. His levels were only getting more experience and destroying Mah had given Adam a huge chunk of XP. So huge that his level had increased by more than 100%. Mah had been more powerful than he was. So, he had needed to cheat, Chaos for the Win! When the energy finished flowing into Adam, his level increased by 265%. Adam jumped from just over level 105 million to level 279,201,353. Well, he might be at the bottom of whatever tier was above an Absolute Soul rank, but right now he wasn¡¯t feeling weak at all.
Chapter 129, Whats Important To Me
Adam was putting a list together of what he needed to do in what order when he received a priority message from his Thor Aspect.
Thor: Possible incoming situation. You just set off the equivalent of a supernova in this Realm Space.
Adam: Realm Space? Good name for this place, I like it. As a response to your warning, why do you think anyone would be watching?
Thor: Would you be monitoring the Realm Space around your Soul Space?
Adam: I see your point, and if the Aspects are trying to take over multiple Cosmos within this Realm Space then their Soul Space would also need to be out here somewhere so they could manifest into multiple Cosmos if they¡¯re able.
Thor: Exactly. Also, remember you won¡¯t be dealing with just one Aspect most likely. I know you don¡¯t care about divinity points but having a network might be a good thing. In their case that will mean they are probably going to come looking to see what happened as a group.
Adam: Unless it doesn¡¯t really matter, but that¡¯s not something we need to discuss. I¡¯ll fill you in completely on my thoughts on that next time we merge. Just a feeling I have, and we both know your schtick is logic and data.
Thor: Fair enough, what are your thoughts or orders on immediate actions?
Adam: First things first. Open portals into our Soul space and flood as many of our nanites from the four Cosmos we took over. Also, pull up the Cosmic Interface and watch those nodes to see what color they turn after you remove all of the nanites. I have a feeling they¡¯re going to go black. They could go grey, better to verify though. Flood the Soul Space with as much as you can. Leave them outside of the Place of Power replica though. I want that refuge if I have to jump inside. -Adam
Thor: On it.
Adam focused on his surroundings and changed his perception to the original setting it had been when he first found himself free of Textrix¡¯s influence after talking with Janice. As he looked around he saw the aperture and the spider web of energy that surrounded it. Adam cycled his vision filters to show nodes and space and then tried to overlay the two perceptions. The Aperture was an exit point from a line of energy from Node 4 that bypassed Node 5 altogether. The spiderweb was still pulsing every once in a while and he could even see the focal point of that web. Adam felt the attention of that focal point. Was that Textrix? He was pretty sure it was Textrix that was looking at him. Adam smiled and waved. She didn¡¯t move or respond. Adam guessed that was a point to her.
Adam knew he couldn¡¯t do anything about Node 6 or any of the other nodes along this Branch that Textrix was siphoning souls from so he wasn¡¯t going to interfere, yet. He cross-referenced the list of his evil twins that he¡¯d noticed had rings on their right hand with Cosmic Identifiers that were from Nodes that were not under the various webs of influence he noticed from at least three different Aspects. Adam chose the closest and willed himself to it. He made sure that he was invisible then focused his will to show him the last known location of his doppelganger, or copy of himself, in the Cosmos he was visiting.
It was child¡¯s play to retrieve the rings. Once he entered the cosmos, he stopped time for everyone but himself, moved to that evil Johnathan¡¯s location, removed the ring after making sure it was granting free experience, then left that Johnathan and that Cosmos alone. Adam could have traveled back in time but figured that would set off an automatic alarm to an Aspect, or God, that he didn¡¯t want to deal with. A quick trip in, stop time for a moment, grab the ring, and get out. Hopefully, that wouldn¡¯t draw too much attention.
Adam started flickering all over the Realm, entering cosmos after cosmos. One thing he noticed was that all of the Evil Johnathans were located on the opposite side of the Realm from Cosmos 6. There might be something to it but he didn¡¯t have time to think about it. As he came out of the 39th Cosmos he¡¯d visited he noticed figures moving through the realm looking for him. They weren¡¯t as skilled at moving in Realm Space as Mah had been or he was, but it looked like they were trying to catch or stop him. As none of them could keep up with him, he ignored them.
Over the next little while, he popped into various nodes, found each evil Johnathan if there was one, took their ring without a fuss, then left. Without the influx of free experience, Human nature should correct any advantage those Johnathans had over their fellow humans. Be that the nature of other humans to rebel or the human body to perish. In the few Cosmos, he found that the evil Johnathan there had already spread beyond Earth he released a small package of nanites to self-replicate inside every normal nanite they encountered, create, and then autodestruct. He also left a small package inside the evil Johnathan that monitored everything he did and would destroy any new nanites he tried to create.
Adam wasn¡¯t trying to take over those cosmos, he just wanted to give the residents there a fighting chance against an evil Johnathan. Once the evil Johnathans power base was destroyed, the rest of humanity would eventually ¡°fix¡± the problem. Adam put safety measures in place to prevent catastrophic accidents if destroying certain nanites would cause large-scale accidents. In those instances, his nanites would take over the function of previous nanites. Fusion reactors, mass transit systems, and the like were his primary concern. As for weapons of any kind. The material that made them dangerous was neutralized first, then the nanites destroyed the weapon in question.
Adam limited himself to 10 minutes or less in each cosmos, then zipped off to the next one. Eventually one of the searchers caught up with him. 95 hours later to be exact. At that point, he¡¯d visited over 1,000 Cosmos and recovered 883 rings that provided experience. He¡¯d just thrown them into the vault inside his Place of Power within his Soul Space for safekeeping. One benefit of the Place of Power being in his soul space was that he could will objects into his soul space in any location within that soul space. Adam would grab the ring, will it to the vault, and be done with that ring as he left the cosmos.
As Adam left the latest node he¡¯d been in and entered Realm Space a feminine voice called out, ¡°Excuse him, do you have a moment,¡± as a beam of red-hot energy blasted into him.
WARNING: The Aspect of Envy has attacked you with the Desire. Attack Resisted
Adam looked down at himself, looked at his arms, padded his chest, moved his fingers, and then asked, ¡°And that was supposed to do what exactly?¡±
¡°If it won¡¯t work from the outside, I guess I¡¯ll have to get you from the inside,¡± she said as she moved straight for him.
Adam had to admit, he was shocked into immobility as he processed what she was trying to do, He felt Thor look around his Mind Space, with a ¡®She¡¯s not going to do what I think she¡¯s going to do¡¯ look on his face. Seeing that look on Thor¡¯s face Adam called out to her, ¡°I really wouldn¡¯t do that if he were you,¡± which was a moment before she transformed into a mote of energy and entered his soul space.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
WARNING: A foreign entity had entered your soul space, designate as friend or foe
Adam thought ¡°Foe¡± and then he contacted Thor.
Adam: Thor, buddy, you got that?
Thor: That was a really bad idea she had. She appeared in the center of the nanites. Did she bring her soul space into your soul space? Yep, she did. Why would she¡Oh damn! The nanites are flooding her soul space. Que the screaming, yep, she¡¯s screaming. Damn, that¡¯s a lot of energy. She¡¯s trying to flee. Nope, the nanites got her.
Adam: What are the nanites doing to her?
Thor: They¡¯re breaking her down, and absorbing any energy she tries to use to stop them?
Adam: They can do that? That doesn¡¯t sound right.
Thor: Looking into it.
Adam looked around to make sure there was no one else nearby and then zoomed off to the next Cosmos. If Thor and the nanites had his invader under control he wasn¡¯t going to worry about it. Of course, he was worried about it but as he didn¡¯t feel any different currently, he needed to continue doing what he was doing.
As he neared the next node, he pulled up the information and was about to cross over a message prompt filled his vision.
You have reduced the Aspect of Envy to a basic soul with zero energy. Do you wish to absorb the last amount of soul energy from the Aspect of Envy, or will you release it?
Adam still wasn¡¯t comfortable with utterly destroying another being, well except for his evil twin. If he ever found an evil version of himself that was the exact opposite of him in every way, then he¡¯d have to destroy him, though he was pretty sure that would be impossible. No, he wasn¡¯t going to completely destroy anyone. he chose ¡°Release.¡±
Adam felt a mote of energy leave his soul space, hover for a second, and then vanish. It didn¡¯t move away. It didn¡¯t teleport. It just vanished. As he was wondering exactly how that was possible when a prompt appeared
You have Destroyed the Aspect of Envy, would you like to take on the mantle of the Aspect of Envy?
Adam chose ¡°No¡± and received experience and divinity points but neither raised his current level. That didn¡¯t make sense. Destroying Mah had more than doubled his levels. Adam opened his Cosmic Interface and checked the logs to find out what happened and stopped cold. Envy had been artificially leveled using Karmic Luck by Textrix. Upon her death, all of the ¡°experience¡± which was Karmic Luck was returned to Textrix. Adam checked the figures, reviewed the conversion rate, and realized that it was 1 Karmic Luck for every 1,000 experience points. Also, she¡¯d barely been a Gold-level Soul. What made her think she could jump into his soul and take him over from the inside? Something to do with Aspect probably. Envy was insidious after all. Too bad for her, nanites gave zero fucks about emotions. Also, it looked like Textrix was artificially padding her ranks by leveling people into the position of an Aspect.
Adam went back to work retrieving rings that were siphoning power from the Labyrinth, or Labyrinths in this case. Once he reached 1,000 rings he moved far outside of the sphere of nodes in Realm Space and dropped into his Place of Power inside his soul space. Adam made his way down to the lowest level and then morphed the layout to include one more level. Next, he created an adamantium rod that all the rings could slide onto and another small piece of Adamantium quantumly linked to the larger rod. he slid all 1,000 rings onto the rod and then willed both the ring-sized rod and the large rod into a loop. he made a hook in the ceiling and hung the large loop from it then picked up the small loop of adamantium that was quantumly linked to the ring he held and placed it over his right-hand pink finger then checked his personal interfaces experience log. Sure enough, his experience rose by one million experiences per second.
Adam did some quick math and realized that in 4.6 minutes he¡¯d level again, even at his level. He could keep the ring for himself or he could do what he¡¯d wanted to do for a while. He took the ring off and placed it in his soul storage area.
Adam willed himself out of his soul space and shot off toward Cosmos 2. He created a manifestation and crossed over into Cosmos 2 at the first base he¡¯d left this Universe from, the base in the Nu Draconis star system. From there he sent out a mental message
Adaline, where are you? he asked.
Adam, is that you, Why are you here, I thought you¡¯d crossed over?, Adaline immediately sent back.
As she answered, he felt the location she was at and teleported to her leaving his manifested copy behind. Adaline was enjoying a cup of tea in what Adam recognized as Hong Kong.
As he popped in she looked up and motioned to a seat as other people in the vicinity started walking away rapidly while others just gawked, ¡°Please, have a seat,¡± she said.
Adam sat down and looked around taking in the area, ¡°This looks familiar but feels different,¡± he said.
¡°It should, this is about 200 years after your disappearance in an alternate universe. The more important question is why are you here and how did you travel between universes and time?¡± she asked.
¡°I traveled through time?¡± he asked as he realized he hadn¡¯t noticed. ¡°I can answer both but I have a question, If you could leave right now and never come back would you? Is there anything here that you cannot live without, with the understanding that we would be picking up your Hoard, and probably our place of power if I can get to it?¡±
¡°The only hold anyone has over me is that they can bring me to and from your Place of Power and my hoard that we moved there. If we can get it back, of course, I want to go with you,¡± Adaline said.
¡°One second, let me check,¡± Adam said as he pulled up the quantum link to his original Place of Power, followed it to its source, and popped into Adaline¡¯s lair in that Place of Power. Well technically it wasn¡¯t in it, it was adjacent, but that kind of distinction was just being picky.
Adam phased through the wall to the outer edge of the place of power and reached through the barrier to touch nothing beyond. Once he¡¯d made the connection he opened up the Cosmic Interface again, looked at the realm map, and asked for a location, and teleported to it.
Adam appeared outside of Cosmos 2 along its border where he found a tiny spec of Chaos attached to the node that was Cosmos 2. As he¡¯d suspected, within that spec of chaos was a fragment of nothing which existed within that shell of chaos. The chaos was a fleck and as nothing had no measurement, it could hold anything within it. Adam wondered how many other such specs of nothing existed.
Adam touched the fleck of chaos then traveled into his soul space and placed that fleck of chaos on the top of one of his speakers in his living room. He willed a portal to his Original Place of Power and was pleasantly surprised when it opened. Then he tried to teleport into his Place of Power. Again, no problem. Adam willed himself, out of his soul space, back into Cosmos 2 and back to the seat he¡¯d vacated one second after he¡¯d left it.
¡°Done and Done,¡± he said.
¡°What did you do?¡± She asked.
¡°I cut your strings. Try to teleport to your lair inside my place of power,¡± Adam said.
Adaline vanished and he received the message that someone had entered his soul space. Adam designated her as a ¡°friend¡± and then willed himself into his soul space, through the portal and outside the entrance to Adaline¡¯s lair.
¡°I can¡¯t leave?¡± Adaline said.
¡°Not quite true? You can¡¯t go back to the location you were at because you don¡¯t have the ability to cross into or out of a Cosmos yet. You¡¯re fine in here and through this portal,¡± he said as a new portal opened near her cave entrance that led into her room in his original Place of Power.
¡°What has happened to you?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°A lot, and there is a lot to go over but first I have another question for you,¡±
¡°Ask your question.¡± She said.
¡°If you had the opportunity to grow stronger, stronger than you have ever been would you take it?
¡°Of course, I would, I¡¯m a dragon after all.¡±
¡°That¡¯s what he wanted to hear,¡± Adam said as he stepped closer to her, pulled the ring he¡¯d created from his soul storage, and held it out to her.
¡°Are you proposing?¡± she asked hesitantly.
¡°You know what you mean to me, Do I need to?¡±
¡°Well, a girl wants to know her worth?¡±
¡°You are worth more than me ruling the Universe at least 1,000 times over,¡± Adam said.
¡°Okay, now I have to know,¡± Adaline said as her truth sense kicked off when his statement read as absolutely true.
¡°Put the ring on and find out,¡± Adam said.
Adaline held out her right hand and he slid the ring onto her right-hand ring finger. 4.569 seconds later Adaline¡¯s eyes rolled to the back of her head as he moved forward and caught her. She¡¯d just reached level 4,570. She¡¯d continue to level for the next 36 minutes until she reached level 5,000. While she was leveling Adam had picked her up, took her through the portal to her bedroom, and laid her down. After he made sure she was comfortable, he conjured a chair and sat down to wait. As he moved the entrance to his soul space back out to the outer fringes of this Realm away from any nodes where he might be discovered, he sent the recall command for the manifestation he¡¯d left behind in Cosmos 2.
***
In Cosmos 2 Ptah walked into the caf¨¦ Adaline and Adam had just been sitting at, looked down, and smiled. After a few moments, Ptah said, ¡°It¡¯s about time,¡± to no one in particular as he turned, and walked out of the caf¨¦. After he walked for a little bit he teleported to a little white room where David stood.
¡°That went well,¡± Ptah said.
David interrupted him, ¡°Umm, Sir you have¡¡±
¡°What?¡± Ptah asked as looked down at himself and directly into Adam¡¯s Point of View. Ptah reached a finger toward the Point of View Adam had been watching from. As Ptah¡¯s finger filled his vision and eventually blocked out everything Adam heard Ptah say, ¡°No peeking,¡± with a laugh just as his nanite stopped transmitting.
Chapter 130, I Knew It!
¡°I knew it!¡± Adam exclaimed softly as he finished reviewing the manifestation¡¯s memories he¡¯d left behind when he exited Cosmos 2. There had always been something off about Ptah and David. Was there a possibility that David was just another Arch Angel in disguise? Those were questions he¡¯d need to look into but right now Adaline was waking up and he needed to attend to her.
Adaline opened her eyes, looked around quickly, locked them on him, and smiled as she asked, ¡°What happened?¡±
¡°Open your interface and check for yourself. Also, take a look at your incoming experience. Once I¡¯m sure you¡¯re good I have some other errands I need to run, but I¡¯ll be back. By the way, this is a replica of the original Place of Power. It has everything the previous one did. We do have access to his original Place of Power where your lair is but trust me when I say that this one is identical in every way. Besides, I think I¡¯m going to stick my family in the other one until I figure out what¡¯s going on,¡± Adam said
¡°Slow down Adam, I don¡¯t know how long it¡¯s been for you, but it has been an incredibly long time for me,¡± she paused for a second as Adam waited for her to continue, ¡°How about this? I¡¯m going to get up, take a shower, maybe go downstairs, grab a bite to eat, and then I¡¯ll check my personal information¡¡±
Adaline stopped as Adam opened his mouth to speak and received ¡°The Glare.¡± You know, the glare that says whatever you were going to say is going to land you in hot water with the misses. Adam closed his mouth.
Clearing her throat, Adaline continued, ¡°I¡¯ll check my personal information then. I do have one question, same rules for getting food and drinks?¡±
¡°Not quite. A version of Thor is here, just ask him for whatever you want. Your lair is still tied to magic, but this version of the Place of Power isn¡¯t really a place of power. Instead, it contains my nanites and follows all those rules you were familiar with. I¡¯ll need to do some remolding to get this all set up in a fashion that is both functional and useful. Of course, I¡¯ll need your input but that¡¯s a topic for another time,¡± he said quickly as her eyes narrowed.
Adaline stood up from the bed and then came over to give him a long hug, ¡°It is really good to see you, and I¡¯m sure you have a lot to explain but right now I feel as if my insides are all jumbled, and I have some flashing red and gold icons in my vision I¡¯ll need to access and take care of. Before I do that, I need a cup of tea. Then I want to take a shower, relax for a bit, and then take a look at those prompts,¡± she said as she leaned in for a chaste kiss which Adam returned.
They drew apart and Adam escorted her downstairs where Thor had already created a cup of hot tea for her at the dining table. Adaline sat down and then looked up at him, ¡°Okay you mother hen, go do what you need to do. If Thor is here, I¡¯ll be fine, you know I¡¯ll be fine, so go get to work.¡± When Adam didn¡¯t move she continued, ¡°You have that look like you want to be doing something, but you also want to be with me. Here¡¯s some incentive. Go get whatever has your attention split and then come back. Besides, once I¡¯m ready, can¡¯t Thor fill me in on what you¡¯ve been up to?¡±
Adam smiled, then said, ¡°And that¡¯s why I love you, I guess I¡¯m getting a little too emotional,¡± Could that be why Adaline was allowed back into his life? He asked himself. ¡°Enjoy your tea, I need to check on some things, and then I think I¡¯m going to retrieve the family. I have a feeling that where they are won¡¯t be completely safe either. Thor will fill you in once you¡¯re ready. I may be gone for a bit.¡±
¡°Sounds good, I¡¯ll see you later.¡±
Adam willed himself out of the soul space, oriented on Eternity, and beelined for that focal point in this Realm. As he came into the area that Eternity was supposed to be at he came upon another node in the perception filter he was viewing the Realm through. This node was different in that he couldn¡¯t see it until he was almost on top of it. As he came to the border he didn¡¯t receive any prompts to cross over or manifest and simply passed through it and found himself far above a thriving metropolis below him spread out as far as the eye could see. As he looked around a glowing orb came close and scanned him.
¡°Greetings creature of Chaos, how may I direct you this day?¡±
When in doubt, Politeness wins, ¡°I am looking for the transit incoming location, where is it and how do I get there?¡±
A glowing green arrow appeared pointing off to his right, ¡°Normal Entry locations are on the edge of this metropolis. You can of course travel there but it will take quite a while. Alternatively, I can port you there?¡±
¡°If I might ask, what is your purpose here in Eternity?¡±
¡°I am one of an almost infinite number of greeting synthetics created to monitor space in, and around, Eternity. We greet travelers that enter from anywhere other than a transit tube and point them in the right direction or help them get there. Would you like me to port you to the incoming area now?¡±
¡°Yes, please, and thank you,¡± he said as a portal opened. Adam passed through onto the platform he¡¯d seen many times before. The portal closed behind him, and he stepped into the queue to the incoming clerk. There were only a few people in front of him. It wasn¡¯t long before he stepped up and the clerk looked him over, then her eyes went wide.
Stammering, she looked at him, then back to something in front of her on her desk, and then back up to him before she sputtered, ¡°Sir, Sir, Sir. You should not be standing in line.¡±
Confused for only a moment he remembered that the last time he¡¯d stepped into a line his soul level had been at the bottom level of advanced, now that he was at the Absolute level, maybe she thought he was an Aspect or something? he smiled lightly and decided to have some fun with the mistake, ¡°Actually, I¡¯m in line because I needed to ask for your help in finding someone that works with the incoming?¡± Adam said politely.
¡°Yes sir, anything I can do to help,¡± The clerk said brightening now that she knew she wasn¡¯t in trouble.
¡°I¡¯m looking for David, I met him here a while back and we were supposed to meet up.
¡°David? Let him check something,¡± She looked back down at her screen, scrolled through them, saw something, tapped her screen, then looked back up. Shaking her head, she looked back at him to make sure he was, in fact, the same person, ¡°Sir, it says here that when you came through here the last time you were a copper-ranked soul. Are you referring to the David that met you then?¡±
¡°Yep, that¡¯s the one, and don¡¯t worry about the rank so much. I was performing an inspection. My soul rank was modified so I didn¡¯t receive the kind of reaction that I just did. We were just double-checking to make sure incoming could handle, for lack of a better term, weird cases. I¡¯m here to pass on our findings to David.¡±
¡°Very good Sir. Unfortunately, David ended up moving out of this facility shortly after your ¡®test¡¯. No new address was left. He informed supervision he was leaving, then did so.¡±
¡°One more question. How about Ptah?¡±
¡°Who sir?¡±
¡°Ptah?¡±
¡°Let me see,¡± she said as she started typing, is that a T A H?¡± She asked.
¡°No, it¡¯s P T A H,¡±
¡°No sir, no one named Ptah works for, or has ever worked for, this facility.¡±
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
¡°Thank you for your time, if you don¡¯t mind I¡¯m going to be going now.¡±
¡°Of course, sir, anything we can do to help. Have a pleasant day!¡± She said enthusiastically as he stepped back and willed himself up into the air. Adam didn¡¯t know if it would work but seeing as it was a node, or similar to one, he willed himself into Realm Space. When he appeared above the weird node he reoriented and headed toward Cosmos 2.
As he drew close to the Cosmos 2 node he made sure no one was around, though he was sure Textrix had probably detected him. He moved around to a side of the node that wasn¡¯t visible to her spiderweb-like structure and crossed into Cosmos 2. He had no idea where in the Cosmos he was in relation to his Universe or Earth but didn¡¯t really need to. Adam teleported everyone that he considered family and himself to the space station in orbit around Earth-Prime.
While he looked around the room he connected to the Thor he¡¯d left in this Universe and updated him on his plan as he said, ¡°Hello everyone, sorry to pull you away from everything you were doing. Not to worry, if you were in a state of undress, clothes have of course been provided.
Calls of ¡°Johnathan!¡± and¡± Adam!¡± were heard from around the table as everyone that he cared about came in for a hug or a kiss, whether that was a parental kiss, a friendly kiss, or the sensual kiss that Desirae gave him. Even Abi in her new body which was unrecognizable to him came over and kissed him on the cheek. Adam looked around the room and smiled as he had the nanites rearrange the space into a meeting room with chairs, a table, and drinks we could sit around.
¡°So, I brought you all here to go over things¡¡± he said sitting down while motioning for everyone to do the same.
For the next couple of hours, he filled them in on what he¡¯d been doing and what he¡¯d learned, and also what he hadn¡¯t learned. He also let them know about some of the predictions his internal Thor Aspect and he had simulated based on the evidence they¡¯d seen so far. When Thor from this Universe concurred, everyone started talking at once until his dad asked, ¡°What do you mean this Cosmos might be reabsorbed or destroyed?¡±
¡°I mean exactly what I said. The good news is that I don¡¯t think anyone will be destroyed, just that everyone might be whole again.¡±
¡°I still don¡¯t get it,¡± his mother said.
Adam stood and had a holographic image help by creating imagery that helped visualize what he said as he began, ¡°At the center of this Realm is a Cosmos that most likely consists of Universes, dimensions, and the original copies of all of us. When something of significance happens, a new Cosmos is created with copies of us. This happens every time something of significance happens which has created a web-type structure of nodes that connect back to a central point. Each of those nodes is a Cosmos. The Cosmos we¡¯re in now is locked. No one is supposed to be able to break in or affect it, except for those of us with special access, like me.¡± he said pointing to himself.
¡°So, there are a lot of these cosmos out there so what?¡± Desirae asked.
¡°To get the answers I need, I need to go to the center of the web. If I tamper with that node I may inadvertently destroy people that could undo the creation of the Cosmos and the people within it. While intellectually I know that they¡¯ll exist elsewhere and that they¡¯re okay, they might not be the same. As an example. Let¡¯s say that the first version of myself was a real asshole, I mean a real asshole, evil without empathy. This was a trait that the evil asshole had learned from his parents or his environment. Now let¡¯s say a 2nd Cosmos pops into existence because at some point a part of him chose to do good. The first me would still exist but there would be a second me. If someone were to influence or kill the first me before the event that caused the second me to come forth then that second Cosmos may have never formed either.
¡°That¡¯s a lot of ego to think the Universe, Cosmos, whatever revolves around you or any single person,¡± Amanda Sifford said.
¡°You¡¯re right of course,¡± Adam said. ¡°I do not think a Cosmos springs into existence within a realm because of a single entity¡¯s thoughts unless they have the power or ability to force such additions of course. I do think that the effects of those changes can be forecast or known to whoever is watching the timelines and anything that causes a significant change does. In his case, I saved countless souls from being destroyed. Maybe I was fixing some other creature¡¯s mistake, maybe I was fixing fate. I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll ever know for sure. What I do know is that I did not want to take a chance that I would lose the friends and families I have.¡±
Adam paused for a moment letting what he said sink in as he sipped his coffee then continued, ¡°Also, I would like to emphasize that we do not have room for everyone on the planet, but friends and their families can come if they wish. I¡¯m going to set a hard limit at that level. You and your friends and their family and friends and their families. That¡¯s it. No more friends after that. As I said, I think they¡¯ll be fine, or at least their souls will still exist, and they¡¯ll live their lives out in some fashion or another. My goal is to bring you, my family, and any friends that you would not wish to lose, and possibly their families and a couple of their friends. Eventually, we¡¯ll make our way back to the world but right now I just want to know if any of you want to come or not.¡±
Adam¡¯s mother and father looked at each other and then his dad said, ¡°We¡¯ll come.¡±
¡°As will I,¡± Amanda said.
¡°Me too,¡± Abi added.
Adam answered Abi¡¯s unspoken question. ¡°Thor will be coming and running the habitat he created for you. I¡¯ll leave another copy of him behind to watch things.
Desirae looked at him questioningly as she asked, ¡°May I?¡±
¡°Of course,¡± Adam answered, though you¡¯ll have to argue with a Shadow Dragon over my affections though,¡± he said with a grin.
¡°Can¡¯t you split yourself or something like that?¡± Desirae asked.
¡°You do remember that Dragons do not like to share what they think of as theirs right?¡±
A contemplative look crossed her face. ¡°Guess I¡¯m going with plan B; I¡¯ll be bringing a couple of friends I made here if they want to come. I don¡¯t know why they wouldn¡¯t, most were troublemakers like me which brings up the question of Jessica?¡±
¡°Jessica is a hard pass. If the Cosmos collapse back on themselves I think you¡¯ll agree that the odds are far better that she could have had a better life than any of us could have given her,¡± Adam said.
¡°Point taken,¡± Desirae agreed.
¡°All right everyone, I need to pop out for a bit, get everything ready. Talk to your friends, and work with Thor to catalog everything you want to bring with you and what kind of quarters you want. The floor plan is malleable except in one area in my original vault area. Other than that, I¡¯ll see you all in about three hours,¡± Adam said as he popped back into his soul space and to the dining table where Adaline looked up.
Adam spoke so that Adaline could hear him, ¡°Thor, work with the Thor copy we left behind to get him installed into the other Place of Power and prepare it for guests. Also, update all movies, music, and games available so any guests will have access to the latest and greatest. Additionally, you two need to decide on different names. Maybe stick to the mythology and refer to yourself as Odin, which would make him Odin¡¯s son? I don¡¯t really care about your names for any other reason than I¡¯d get tired of referring to you as Thor 1 and the other as Thor 2. Work it out, let me know what you come up with.¡±
¡°You got it, Adam,¡± Thor said through one of the speakers nearby.
Once he was done talking to Thor, Adaline looked at him, ¡°Where did you get this ring?¡± she said holding up her right hand.
¡°Remember that long story, where that ring comes from is part of that story. Are you ready to hear it?¡± he asked.
¡°Ready and willing?¡±
¡°I¡¯ll remember you said that,¡± he said then he started to explain exactly what had happened to him since the last time they¡¯d met. At one point she looked at him disbelievingly until he forced his Personal Interface to become visible and shared it with her and showed her his Cosmic Interface. After that, she¡¯d listened intently.
An hour later, still shaking her head as he was about to tell her about Ptah and David, Thor spoke through the speakers, ¡°Everyone¡¯s ready. Thor and I talked, and this version of Thor will henceforth be known as Odin. Thor will run the Place of Power within the speck of nothing, though the nanites are currently changing everything except for the Vault and Adaline¡¯s Lair. Also, please refer to it as The Habitat from now on.¡±
¡°Sounds good Odin, I¡¯m going to sit with Adaline for a bit. Feel free to start portaling everyone into The Habitat. Do not permanently connect The Habitat to this location. I want Habitat as a stand-alone. Additionally, put some of yourself into the vault with copies of our memory, just in case.¡±
¡°Acknowledged,¡± Odin said.
¡°Now back to you Adaline, what have you been up to?¡± Adam asked as he directed his attention back to Adaline.
¡°After our last encounter, I received continuous assignments jumping between various Universes within what you refer to as Cosmos 2. Now that I know about Cosmos and the Universes within that makes a kind of sense. I have to ask, are you going to get in trouble for taking us out of this Cosmos before we die?¡±
Adam smiled, ¡°Quick answer, I don¡¯t know, and I don¡¯t care. The longer answer, I don¡¯t think so, but I don¡¯t want to jinx it so I¡¯m not going to say anymore. I never did ask, is there anyone that you wish to bring with you?¡±
She seemed to hesitate before answering then said, ¡°You know how I liked watching television when you first introduced me to it? Well, there¡¯s this type of drama that he became enamored with. Though it didn¡¯t have dragons or anything like that he still liked watching them.¡± She said.
Not seeing the point, he just looked on attentively.
¡°Well, you know, how you gave me access to the nanites you left in my system? I had to use the stasis function right after you left. How to say this,¡± she said coyly, before she declare, ¡°I¡¯m pregnant and she¡¯s ours!¡±
Adam sat there in slight shock for a moment, as a hundred responses filled his head, all of them joyful. As Adaline watched him for his reaction, a smile started to cross his face until his logical mind caught up with his emotional brain and Adam said in a whisper, ¡°The Ring¡±
Chapter 131, Side Effects
¡°The Ring?¡± Adaline said questioningly. ¡°Why would the ring¡¡± she started to say then her eyes glazed as she pulled up her personal interface. Tears started streaming down her face.
¡°Did you check your messages yet?¡± Adam asked hurriedly.
¡°No, I was trying to think of the right way to tell you. We dragons don¡¯t worry about such things when we come together to mate. We lay a couple of eggs, protect them until they hatch, and then leave. At least if I was still a black dragon that¡¯s how I¡¯d bring hatchlings into the world. I looked up how you humans have children, and your method is a lot messier and more clingy. Now that this elven form is one of my permanent ones, I thought to have our baby in this form.¡± She said.
¡°That¡¯s awesome, I mean that. I¡¯m so happy for you, for us, for her. But now I¡¯m worried. What did you mean when you said you used the stasis function of the nanites?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I commanded the nanites in my system to maintain but halt the growth of the baby inside of me. I think that is referred to as stasis is it not?¡± she asked.
¡°Yes, that¡¯s what stasis means,¡± Adam said as he reestablished his link to her nanites and then had them inspect the fetus in her womb. As his nanites focused on the fetus inside Adaline he estimated that she was just over 10 weeks into her pregnancy. As he¡¯d feared, there was the possibility that the baby could be developed enough to earn experience points. Adam focused his attention on her and inspected the fetus.
Daughter of Adaline and Adamantadine, Name as Yet to be Determined.
Race: Creature of Chaos
Primary Forms: Half-Human ¨C Half Dark Elf / Shadow Dragon / Human / Dark Elf
Current Form: Dark Elf
Level 671
Experience: 225,000,000
That¡¯s all he needed to see, Adam came back to himself and said, ¡°Adaline, take the ring off and hand it to me now please, no arguments.¡±
Knowing better than to argue when he was being that decisive she took off the ring and handed it to me. Adam immediately slipped it on, just in case the energy would continue going to its last wearer.
As Adam put the ring on Adaline asked, ¡°Why?¡±
¡°Well, I have good news and I have bad news¡¡±
Interrupting him, Adaline said, ¡°None of that, what is the good news.¡±
¡°Okay, the good news is that our baby girl appears to be in stasis and healthy,¡± he said.
¡°And the bad news?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°The bad news, I¡¯m pretty sure¡hold on,¡± he said as he ordered Odin to convert the area outside of Adaline¡¯s Lair into a fully equipped medical facility with a maternity ward and facilities to house anything up to the size of a shadow dragon, just in case. There was plenty of room in the original vault. Also, his Place of Power was surrounded by ambient magic which he was pretty sure was going to be necessary for their baby girl to grow and thrive.
¡°Adam, stop zoning out and talk to me, what are you doing?¡± Adaline said.
¡°Getting everything ready. I think you are about to have a baby girl and there¡¯s almost nothing we can do to stop it once it starts.¡±
¡°What do you mean I¡¯m going to have a baby girl, she¡¯s in stasis.¡±
¡°Remember when I told you to check your Prompts, have you done that yet?¡± Adam asked gently.
¡°Well, no, I was thinking about how to tell you I was pregnant, you¡¯re taking that well by the way, and I was relaxing before I thought you¡¯d reject me?¡±
¡°Why would I reject¡ never mind. That will not happen. In fact, the exact opposite needs to happen, we need to accept her as our child, and we need to accept that our child will be coming very soon, right now in fact.¡±
¡°You¡¯re not making any sense,¡± Adaline said worriedly.
¡°Okay, you know that ring you put on just over three and a half hours ago and just took off? Well, it was transferring experience into you at a rate of one million XP per second.¡±
¡°Yes, Yes, we¡¯re stealing from Labyrinth¡¯s again, Not Important,¡± Adaline said.
¡°What is important is that unlike me, when you hit level 5,000 your ability to earn experience stopped. You¡¯re not ascendant and if you didn¡¯t read your prompts you didn¡¯t choose what you wanted to do next. That¡¯s not what matters though.¡±
¡°What matters?¡± Adaline said with a feeling of trepidation.
¡°What matters is that the experience trying to go into you couldn¡¯t, so it went somewhere else. If our baby hadn¡¯t been fully formed yet, with no brain, not even the spark of a soul then I don¡¯t think anything would have happened. In this case, though our baby girl is for all intents and purposes a fully developed small baby. Additionally, she reads as a creature of chaos, and at birth, I believe she¡¯s going to automatically have four forms she can transform into. I¡¯d bet good money that once she comes out of the stasis you put her in our daughter will immediately start growing and thinking. As a creature of Chaos, she might even be thinking now. She may be in the stasis field but nanites are only preventing growth. Her status page already reads her at level 671.¡±
¡°Level 671! So, what you¡¯re afraid of is that when I shut down the stasis field I¡¯m going to experience a sudden draining as she grows to full maturity in a second or so?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°Not really, I¡¯m already taking steps to ensure that¡¯s not an issue. With nanite and magical support, I should be able to easily maintain your health and help with the delivery. No, what I¡¯m worried about is what kind of mind our daughter will have. Also, I wanted you to be able to control her to some extent, so we needed you to remove the ring, so she¡¯d stop gaining levels. Once we¡¯re sure she¡¯s mentally stable, in a hundred years or so,¡± Adam said with a smile, ¡°I have to buy a shotgun to protect her honor don¡¯t you know.¡±
¡°That won¡¯t be an issue, she¡¯s part dragon,¡± Adam said as if it explained everything before she asked, ¡°One thing, is there any way you can create an area where she can fly free if she does have a dragon form? The vault is huge, but it is still a big box.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll check into that as we walk into the vault. I¡¯ve created an area for you and her right outside your lair. I¡¯m also going to be creating an estate in the vault nearby that will give you all the comforts of technology while being in an area of high magical density. Once she¡¯s born I need to continue trying to figure out what¡¯s going on. I would prefer it if you two would stay in that place of power just in case something bad happens. Except for the portals I create, that Place of Power is completely cut off. I will work on creating an area close by where you can both spread your wings and fly.¡±
Adam: Odin, how long on the nanites from the four Cosmos?
Odin: They¡¯re done. Also, as you thought, the nodes to those cosmos went black.
Adam: How much space is left in the Soul Space?
Odin: A lot, as far as I can tell, there is no end, though I¡¯m sure there is. It just seems to keep expanding as we draw closer to the edge.
Adam: Okay then, utilizing some of the nanites we absorbed, create a copy of Earth in my soul space.
Odin: The whole planet?
Adam: The whole planet. Adaline believes our daughter will need open spaces to fly in. How about the whole planet? If the area is big enough, make the entire solar system then set the nanites out at the Oort Cloud radius and provide false starlight, to make it seem natural. We have enough material to do something like that, don¡¯t we?
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Odin: Easily, I¡¯ll get on it.
Adam turned his attention back to Adaline just as they stepped through the portal into the vault and went into the facility he¡¯d created for her. Not knowing what was going to happen, Adam led her to a room, which was more like a miniature stadium. It was big enough so that if Adaline shifted to Dragon form she wouldn¡¯t feel cramped and had a retractable ceiling so she could get out if she needed to.
¡°Why do I suddenly feel like I¡¯ve been led down to someone¡¯s private dungeon and evil is afoot?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°Maybe your instincts are overriding your newly found tolerance for good people?¡± Adam said with a straight face.
¡°Good? You? Are you serious?¡± she asked with a straight face until three seconds later they both lost it and laughed.
¡°Seriously, I think you¡¯ve watched too many horror movies over the years. I¡¯d bet that you still took the time to watch horror movies wherever you were if television existed,¡± Adam said matter-of-factly.
¡°I had a tablet. I¡¯d download movies before I went on assignment so I could get my fix during downtime, there was a lot of downtime and your nanites recharged it for me just fine.¡±
Adam knew she was stalling with small talk but just let her take her time walking around until they found themselves at the birthing table.
Adaline looked at Adam seriously. ¡°Adam, if this goes the way you think and there¡¯s a growth spurt you need to leave as soon as she¡¯s born. Dragons only imprint on their mothers at birth, everything else is food. While we both know she won¡¯t be able to harm you I need to establish dominance and also pass on those memories of mine that she will need to survive. How are you doing on providing a place for her to grow?¡±
¡°Odin¡¯s working it¡¡±
¡°Done!¡± Odin¡¯s voice said from the air around both of them. ¡°Adaline, just let me know that you want to go to Earth and I¡¯ll open a portal that you can fit through even as a dragon. There won¡¯t be any humans on it near where I open the portal. I can mimic animals for her to hunt or I can portal in real animals. Also, I didn¡¯t put very many cities on this Earth. A few places for civilizations to sprout up if we need to put people somewhere in a hurry but the planet is mostly natural now.¡±
¡°Sounds good,¡± Adaline said as she had the nanites in the room remove her clothing and moved into position in the chair as she placed her feet in the stirrups that helped keep her legs apart.
¡°Odin, keep them both alive, whatever the cost, with nanites. I¡¯ll be watching and preparing magical healing if necessary. Also, try to block as much of the pain as you can for Adaline okay?¡±
¡°On it,¡± Odin said.
¡°You ready,¡± Adam said as he took Adaline¡¯s hand, kissed her then moved between her legs to catch the baby.
Adaline took a few deep breaths, grabbed the handholds that were constantly repairing themselves under her grasp then said, ¡°Ready.¡±
Adam mentally reached within her and released the baby from the stasis field and immediately felt the nanites in the area being drawn through Adaline and into the fetus to help it grow and mature. Every second that went by was as if a week had passed. Only 18 seconds later the baby was being ejected out of Adaline¡¯s body through the birth canal. The nanites repaired tissue as it was damaged and negated any pain she might have felt. Suddenly Adam was holding his beautiful baby girl in his arms as the umbilical cord was automatically severed and sealed, then melted away from both the baby and Adaline.
As Adam held the baby she continued to grow. Already healed, Adaline dropped off the table and came to Adam with outstretched hands, ¡°Hand her over then teleport out. Odin, once he¡¯s gone have this room scrubbed of all foreign matter that might contain his scent within 100 feet of this location and any location we passed near.¡±
Adam handed Adaline their daughter, who was already twice the size she¡¯d been when he caught her and teleported out. He watched through the nanites in the area as Adaline soothed the baby in her arms while she grew into a full-sized woman in 16 minutes. Their daughter looked to be a dark elf in nature and about the same size as Adaline, but her coloring was different.
Once the growth spurt seemed to stop Adaline looked at our daughter¡¯s face waiting for her to open her eyes. As her eyes opened their gazes locked and Adam¡¯s nanites detected the influx of memories into her newly born mind. As the process slowed, Adaline leaned back and said, ¡°I name you Pandora, the All Gifted. There is a story of a woman with that name from your father¡¯s world which is also appropriate. I dare say that if anyone ever gains your ire, they will wish they¡¯d never done so. Odin, if you¡¯d please open a portal to somewhere on Earth with a temperate sunny climate?¡±
A portal popped into being and Adam received the notice that two individuals had entered his soul space. Adam designated both as friendly and contacted Odin.
Adam: Keep an eye on them and keep them healthy. At the first sign of trouble, they are to be put in the vault in the Place of Power immediately.
Adam closed down that connection and checked on his family and the friends they¡¯d brought with them. Not too many had taken up the offer though his whole family was there. Adam sent a message to Thor to explain to everyone how they could ask for anything they wanted and the various activities that were available. After he was done he messaged Odin and Thor together.
Adam: Odin and Thor, work together to provide a place on the Earth in the Soul Space, and the Moon where family and friends can go to get some fresh air or have a little fun in light gravity. Also, make sure that everyone understands that if I say to flee to their home I am specifically talking about where they are now. If something attacks the soul space I might not be able to protect them. If they¡¯re in the place of power, the attacker would have to know to look inside the speck of nothing on the speaker to find all of you. Also, create a backup copy of everyone and place it in storage inside the vault in one of the sublevels that are cordoned off to prevent paradoxes from sprouting up.
Adam felt both parts of his new expanded mentality acknowledge the requests, checked in one last time on Adaline and Pandora, and willed himself into Realm Space. Mom and daughter bonding time was going to take a while. Everyone else he loved and cared about that he could retrieve was in his soul space. Now it was time to figure out what the hell was going on.
Adam shook his head and smiled. Pandora, what an appropriate name, and Adaline hadn¡¯t even asked him. Yet, the name was perfect for the daughter of a Shadow Dragon and a Creature of Chaos. Adam wondered if that meant she¡¯d be able to break maximum-level restrictions like him. He¡¯d need to make sure her mentality was stable before they tackled that question.
Adam double-checked to make sure everyone had been backed up. If something happened he wanted to be able to bring them back, all of them. Once he was sure that was done he sped off toward the primary node of this Realm. As made his way back into node space he was horrified to discover that every node had gone black except two that were purple. Additionally, the spider web structures in Realm Space were gone. Evidence of Textrix and whoever the other Aspects were gone. What in the actual hell was going on? He¡¯d only gone out into the fringe of this Realm for roughly four hours.
Adam needed to see what had happened. He could time travel but that was risky. He didn¡¯t alter time. Instead, He cast a spell that allowed him to perceive time backward. Adam watched as the nodes were refilled with color and traced the origin of those changes. He watched as nodes became green and then disappeared. the farther into the past of this realm he viewed the more Cosmos reappeared until he came to a point where only the first layer of nodes surrounded the primary cosmos. At that point, there were no purple, or locked cosmos. Still, he wanted to try something because he thought he knew what was going on, He just didn¡¯t know what he was up against.
Adam moved his point of view until he was right next to another node that would become locked then he tried to interact with the Cosmos
Please state the reference point or entity point sought.
Adam thought ¡°Johnathan Bennard¡±
Johnathan Bennard does not exist at this reference point would you like to search the known history of this Cosmos for Johnathan Bennard?
Adam chose ¡°Yes¡± and the Realm Space around him filled with nodes again. Not as many as when he¡¯d first come to see them but enough. Also, the realm in front of him had turned purple as his point of view must have also shifted through time.
Entry into this Cosmos is restricted. You do not have the appropriate level of clearance to enter or manifest into this cosmos.
Come again?
Entry into this Cosmos is restricted. You do not have the appropriate level of clearance to enter or manifest into this cosmos.
The interface had a sense of humor, nice to know. Adam thought he could bypass the normally restricted Cosmos. He guessed this one was abnormally restricted. Adam sent a query, ¡°Is remote viewing allowed?¡±
Manifesting an Observer is allowed. Such manifestations cannot interact with the environment, beings, or other observers. Observing manifestations are invisible concerning each other so that they do not interfere with other observations. This is an administration function. Observing Manifestations do not earn experience for their soul. Would you like to create an Observing Manifestation for one Karmic Luck, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes.¡±
Please set the parameters of observation.
Johnathan Bennard, from Birth forward.
Checking for Johnathan Bennard. Found
Checking Temporal Access. Accepted
Checking Requisite Soul Level. Accepted
Checking for Clearance Level to send Observer. Accepted.
Checking Karmic Luck. Accepted
Manifestation created and assigned. The manifestation observer will return when the conditions have been met, the subject observed dies, or the manifestation is recalled.
With the manifestation sent, Adam released the spell allowing him to view into the past, and found himself looking at a landscape of black nodes with only two purple nodes in this Realm. The one in front of him and his purple node on the other side of the central node. He could leave the observing manifestation in this node to continue watching or he could pop forward in time, recall it, and see how his doppelganger had turned out. Adam could be completely wrong and something else could have caused that node to become locked, but his instincts were telling him that he had not yet met his opposite, only weak facsimiles of such. If he could get some insight into how that version of himself had formed he would be better prepared for what came next. There was only one way to find out.
Chapter 132, In the Process, He Does Become the Monster
Adam floated there in front of the purple node where He¡¯d sent an Observer Manifestation thinking about what to do next. Not one to put off important decisions for too long he recalled the manifestation. Soon after a prompt filled his vision.
A Manifestation has returned, would you like to review it now, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes¡± and then found himself looking down at his dad holding his mother¡¯s hand as a baby was born. He watched Johnathan¡¯s birth, his antics as a baby and young boy as he grew up into his teens, and then as a young man that joined the Boy Scouts. He found the ring, put it on, and went off to college. On his 21st birthday, he went home to Clovis to be with his mom and dad. Unlike his version of that night, This Johnathan¡¯s life had gone a little differently.
As Johnathan walked into the house and called out to his mom and dad he turned into the kitchen and found them both sitting at the Dining Room table, tied to the chairs with two bullet holes in their chest and one in their head. Their eyes were open and vacant as they sat held by the ropes. The shock of finding them that way shocked Johnathan and at that moment the assassin stepped out and put two bullets in his chest and one in his head. The surprise and shock of the impact punched him back and knocked him to the ground.
Adam thought back to that night from his own history and realized that at that moment this Johnathan he was looking at had thought that he was a normal man, much as Adam had at the time. This time though he would not practice his meditation. If there was an Abi that was supposed to be in his subconscious he¡¯d never talk with her, and he wouldn¡¯t come into his new powers slowly. What kind of monster would such an event make? The questions he asked himself were soon answered.
Adam watched as Johnathan¡¯s already high attributes saved his life. The bullet had not been able to penetrate his skull or his chest. They¡¯d knocked him down and back but hadn¡¯t done enough damage to kill him. As Johnathan hit the floor his body was already repairing itself. The Assassin was looking around to make sure there were no other threats when Johnathan, with 363 times the strength and speed of a normal human moved, moved in a flash, took the gun from his right hand, and shot him in the groin twice while the assassin¡¯s head was turned.
Even watching through this manifestation, Adam could feel the intimidation radiating off Johnathan as he cuffed the assassin on the side of the head with his fist, knocking him out. He then picked up the assassin one-handed and took him to the dining table and threw him on top of it. His gaze went to his parents and the rage in his eyes doubled. Adam heard Johnathan whisper, ¡°This will never happen again¡± as he methodically went through the assassin¡¯s pockets, retrieving everything that he could. Suddenly Johnathan froze when he heard something his manifestation hadn¡¯t picked up.
While Johnathan at this level would not have been comparable to Adam, he was more than capable of dealing with anyone else on an Earth without magic. Moving like the wind, Johnathan made his way upstairs and out of a window on the opposite side of the house from the individuals converging on the house from the backyard. From the roof, he quickly shot and killed the three men with submachine guns that were advancing on the house from the alley behind his backyard.
He left the bodies where they fell and looked up. He moved to one of the assassins, pulled more ammunition for the pistol in his hand from the dead man¡¯s combat harness as he aimed into the sky, and fired. A drone that had been hovering about 1,000 feet up fell sparked and started to fall out of the sky. As the drone dropped, Johnathan moved. He jumped from where he was to the neighbor¡¯s roof and then hopped from roof to roof until he caught the drone before it hit the ground. He removed the battery pack and headed back to his house. The noise he made landing on the roofs had drawn attention, but he was back to his yard, onto his roof, and through the window, he¡¯d exited the house from, before anyone had even made it outside to see what had happened.
Once inside, he went up to the unconscious assassin on the table and mouthed, ¡°Don¡¯t need you anymore,¡± and shot him through the top of his head three times. He took off his clothes and underwear and dropped everything he was carrying in a pile on the floor by the table. The only thing he held onto was the drone. Next, Johnathan went upstairs to his dad¡¯s room and grabbed some of his old sweats and a hooded sweater. He also grabbed five $20 bills from his father¡¯s emergency stash and made sure to put everything back as he¡¯d found it. He put the small hand-sized drone he had in his sweater pocket. the $100 in his pants and pulled the hood up to cover his features.
Johnathan came downstairs and walked out the front door like nothing was wrong. A few of the neighbors called out but he pointed at his ears to indicate he was listening to something then started jogging down the street. He jogged towards the outskirts of town and once he was there started heading south using the dirt roads and crossing the flat terrain as he could.
Adam watched as he went through the self-discovery of just how powerful he was. he thought back to that time for himself. This Johnathan should have been level 5,000 and if this Cosmos was following the same rules as the one he¡¯d started in, Johnathan should have attributes right around 3,630 giving him an average running speed of just around 89 miles per hour. Without nanites and the skills to help him, his health regeneration would be about 1 per second but his mana and stamina regeneration would come back a little quicker, roughly 2% of his maximum every second. As long as he had food and water, he could probably keep up the pace he was jogging at for quite a while.
Johnathan stopped in Roswell two hours later, grabbed some water from a house on the outskirts of town that didn¡¯t seem to have anyone home or any cameras anywhere then continued west. He stayed away from the roads but followed them as he could checking out his maximum running speed. He made his way to Tularosa then south to Alamogordo and southwest over to Las Cruces. Once he was at Las Cruces he made his way southeast toward El Paso. Once it was dark he made his way to a neighborhood that was near the Rio Grande River and then jumped over the wall and into Mexico.
As Johnathan made his way into the slums he came around a darkened ally to stare into what he now knew to be a gate, though it was unlike any gate that he¡¯d ever come across. Through the gate, a landscape reminiscent of primordial earth with volcanoes and lava off in the distance was visible. As the alternate Johnathan had never seen a gate like this before he hesitated as a man in a business suit stepped through and locked his gaze on Johnathan. The portal closed behind him, and the man stepped forward displaying his small horns on the top of his head, red-slitted eyes, and red-tinted skin.
What followed next can only be described as similar to when Agent Smith attacked Neo at the end of ¡°The Matrix.¡± Johnathan attacked. He utilized every hand-to-hand martial art trick he knew at his full strength and speed to attack the demon. Looking bored, the demon easily blocked or sidestepped every attack. When Johnathan paused and was about to step back, a very pleasant-sounding voice said, ¡°My turn,¡± and moved so fast that even Adam¡¯s observer lost track of him. When he reappeared one second later he was holding a sword against Johnathan¡¯s neck. The demon withdrew the blade in a flourish and sheathed it. As he stepped around Johnathan and walked toward the entrance to the ally, ¡°Come take a look,¡± the demon said.
Johnathan, followed the Demon to the edge of the ally as the demon asked, ¡°Would you like the ability to do something like this to your enemies?¡± As the demon pointed to the numerous dead bodies that limited the landscape.
Johnathan looked to his right and left. As he looked up and down the streets, the first child screamed. This was followed by more screams until sirens could be heard in the distance. Littered throughout the street and in every vehicle were bodies of men and women that had either been stabbed, slashed, or cut in half.
Johnathan¡¯s eyes lit up with malice as he said, ¡°Yes please, what do you need from me in return?¡±
¡°What we¡¯d like, you cannot give. From you, I need a vow stating that you will never try to harm or kill me, so long as I have not first tried to harm or kill you,¡± The demon said.
¡°That¡¯s an odd way to make a vow, wouldn¡¯t you want to just be able to harm me at will without me being able to retaliate?¡± Johnathan asked.
¡°Would you agree to those terms?¡±
¡°Fair enough, I Johnathan Bernard Vow never to harm or kill you unless you have tried to harm or kill me first,¡± Johnathan said.
¡°Come with me, we have work to do,¡± The demon said as a portal opened into a much nicer location than the hellscape the demon had stepped out of originally.
As they both walked through the portal the demon continued, ¡°The first thing we need to do is get you ready for what¡¯s coming. To do that¡¡± the portal suddenly cut off.
A moment later a new portal opened in the ally and Johnathan stepped out onto the sidewalk. Johnathan appeared weathered and something had changed about him. He turned his head back towards the portal, ¡°Thank you, Master, I will get done what needs to be done.¡± Johnathan said as he cast a spell to turn himself invisible then flew up into the air and headed north. The Observer easily kept pace and was able to see through Johnathan¡¯s invisibility. While Johnathan flew he pulled out the wreckage of the drone he¡¯d found on the day of his parents¡¯ murder then cast another spell that brought up information that only he could see.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Johnathan adjusted course and increased speed so that he soon arrived on the outskirts of St. Louis MO. He lowered himself into the backyard and phased through the wall into a house. As he walked along a hall he stopped at a portrait of a man, the same man that had tried to kill him in Clovis. It was a family picture of the man, his parents, and a sister. Johnathan walked through the house until he found the girl watching television with her parents. With little fan fair, he waved his hands, and a portal opened to the hellscape the observer had seen previously. Before the girl or her parents could react he¡¯s already moved, picked each up, and thrown them through the portal which then closed.
This pattern repeated three more times. Each family member of the assassins was thrown through the portal. When that was done. The last family he¡¯d cleansed had a son that was into programming, just as Johnathan had been. Johnathan went to his room, hacked his computer, and went to work. He broke into every secure site of every government agency leaving, what the observer recognized as a subtle yet obvious trail back to this terminal. Then he waited.
Within an Hour a blacked-out helicopter flew over the area and a squad of six people dropped into the house, looked around, and confiscated the computer. A black van pulled up to the house and the six-man team entered the house and went to work. Johnathan watches as the house was sacked and key items were loaded into the van in under three minutes. Johnathan flew above the helicopter which continued to circle the house. Johnathan waited until the van drove off and followed the helicopter as it kept pace with it as it headed back to their base of operation which was in Colorado Springs CO.
Adam began skipping through the memories as he watched Johnathan systematically remove a massive portion of the population of Earth from its surface. He didn¡¯t kill people outright, he just sent them through the portal to the hellscape which never showed anyone moving on the other side. Eventually, a portal opened, and the demon he¡¯d met before stepped through carrying a glowing hexagonal prism.
¡°You¡¯ve done well, Johnathan,¡± the demon said as he handed the hexagonal prism to Johnathan.
Johnathan took the hexagonal prism reverently and then placed it on the ground as he chanted.
¡°Only through death, is rebirth possible.
Only through destruction can something be created.
Only through service, can one rule
Only through obedience, can one rebel
Only through pain, can he hope to find pleasure again.¡±
As Johnathan finished, he started tapping each of the six sides of the hexagonal Prism six times. It seemed as if there was a sequence to which side needed to be tapped in what order but there was no way to visually tell which side was which. Once six sides were tapped the hexagon started to unfold and a glowing white field started to spread as the demon and Johnathan stepped through the portal and it closed. The observing manifestation stayed ahead of the glowing field as it continued to grow until the entire planet was covered. It continued to spread. Eventually, the sun was engulfed but that didn¡¯t matter because the observer was flying away from the energy field as it continued to grow and expand. When he recalled the Manifestation the Milky Way was a memory and the curtain of white energy was still growing.
Adam came back to his senses floating in front of the purple orb as it started to flicker. Adam quickly cycled his vision into the past and noted that it was still purple and stable just an hour ago. So, whatever the effect was it wasn¡¯t traveling into the past. Why then had the nodes He¡¯d visited just recently all turned black so quickly? Then he had it. Adam flew up and around the curvature of the primary node to look at the nodes closest to it and viewed them in the far past. Whatever was being done to those nodes was happening in the past. Because these first nodes were falling, every node that split off from them was falling as well, except for the two purple nodes, which were still starting to flicker.
As he watched, every branch except the two that the purple nodes were on started to glow from within. This started from the farthest nodes out. Suddenly one flared white, popped, and the energy followed the connection to another node which turned white and popped. This continued in rapid succession until entire branches were gone. It reminded Adam of a fuse blowing and causing other fuses to blow in a cascade.
When the nodes beyond Cosmos 2 flared white and disappeared the energy from Cosmos three rushed back towards Cosmos 2 and stopped. There was a pearlescent glow within the purple coloring of Cosmos 2 now. When Adam looked at the other purple node he noticed that it also had a pearlescent coloring to it. It was at that moment that he realized that except for Node 1 and 2 and two different branches there were no other nodes or cosmos in this Realm Space anymore. What was that demon trying to do? Why was Johnathan helping him?
There had been universes within each of those Nodes, multiple universes. How much negative Karma would destroying all those universes, and the beings within those Universes, give someone? Adam opened his personal interface to check and see if this had affected his karmic luck and was relieved to see that his actions had not. A better question, where was the asshole? Sometimes, just sometimes, maybe he shouldn¡¯t tempt fate, or at least make it so easy.
A portal opened and the Johnathan he just wondered about appeared in Realm Space not 100 feet from Adam. Then something weird happened. Not able to control himself Adam was yanked toward Johnathan as they were both yanked toward the prime node. The very first node in this Realm space. The first Cosmos. As Johnathan and Adam slammed into each other, because it looked like Jonathan had been drawn to Adam against his will as well, he heard him say, ¡°What the fuck?¡±
Through the portal, he saw the demon stick his head out and wave as he called out, ¡°Places to be, things to do, have fun Johnathan, and thanks!¡± The demon¡¯s head disappeared and both Johnathan and Adam sighed just before Prompts filled Adam¡¯s vision.
WARNING: Error Negative Karma is interacting with Error Positive Karma
WARNING: Entry into Prime Node is forbidden by quantum apparitions
As he read that message a third Johnathan was drawn from the 1st Node below Adam and Johnathan and slammed into them as they struggled. The new Johnathan didn¡¯t slam into, and through Adam and Johnathan, no, not through. As the third Johnathan touched Adam and Johnathan both were drawn into the new Johnathan and all three began merging!
Adam: Odin, Get everyone back to¡.
Adam tried to get that information off to Odin as his mind and body were flooded with the lives and memories of two other Johnathans. Part of him noticed that both purple nodes flared white and popped and then the first nodes from the prime node turned black, flared white, and also popped. Adam focused on the merging that was taking place.
The Johnathan that had been pulled out of the Primal node had been a programmer for a major technology corporation and had no idea what was going on. The Earth he had been pulled from appeared much as Adam¡¯s had been. They were almost identical. That Johnathan didn¡¯t believe in magic either though he couldn¡¯t explain the prompts he kept seeing. He was part of a group that believed that something had been placed in their eyes to create the prompts he saw and interacted with. It wouldn¡¯t be that hard to do. Only Logic and Technology made sense. With a quick glance, Adam looked at that Johnathan¡¯s personal level which showed him at level 10.
The Evil Johnathan on the other hand was another matter entirely. It didn¡¯t matter that he was only level 5,000 and capped. It didn¡¯t matter that he hadn¡¯t created nanite technology or become a creature of Chaos. He had become a Creature of Order which canceled out his Creature of Chaos benefit. None of that mattered. What actually mattered and he didn¡¯t figure this out until afterward, was that he had almost as much negative Karma as Adam had positive Karma and when they touched a cascade of karmic energy began to be annihilated. The longer they touched the faster the annihilation happened until a critical mass was reached.
Once a critical mass was reached, the merging was completed. Just as that happened, Adam felt Odin withdraw part of himself and seal it off just in case as he tried to get Adaline and Pandora to safety. All portals for his family and their friends were closed and they were safe in his original place of power. Hopefully, the barrier of nothing would protect them.
An explosion of karmic energy rocked realm space as both Adaline and Pandora were ejected from his soul space and disappeared. Some of the nanites that had been in there went with them as chunks of planet Earth did also. Odin had done well though as he saw the chunks morph to surround both in a protective coating as they flew out of his soul space. They¡¯d been holding each other, mother and daughter as their cocoon of nanites had vanished. Wherever they¡¯d ended up, Adam hoped they¡¯d be together. If they lived he would find them. As part of him watched his love and his daughter disappear his mentality absorbed the benign Johnathan¡¯s memory and personality from the Primal Node he was falling through into the Universe inside. As he crossed the node¡¯s barrier, he found himself falling into Earth¡¯s night sky over Nebraska as a shooting star, part of him recognized the pattern of Kansas City MO, Des Moines Iowa, Omaha NE, and Lincoln NE.
The primary part of his mentality though, that part of him, only had time for the eradication of the evil Johnathan¡¯s mentality. Adam kept his memories and stored them away, then he ripped his very mind apart. Instinctively, he knew there could only ever be one of them and there was no way that he would let this monster continue. Where He¡¯d almost been gentle and allowed the Prime Johnathan, how he thought about the Johnathan from this first node. to be incorporated into him, Adam did not do the same for a version of himself that had killed so many.
As he eradicated and absorbed two other versions of himself, he also received a warning prompt.
WARNING Chaos Identity contained in your Soul Space and infested within your being is not compatible with this Cosmos. As a creature of Chaos, you may continue to harbor those identities, but they will not be permitted to contaminate this Cosmos.
WARNING: You have entered the Primal Cosmos of this Realm. Certain features of your parent Cosmos are not available in this Node
WARNING: This Primal Node has been Locked. Major events no longer produce nodes within this Realm.
Congratulations! All portions of your Soul have been reunited. You have achieved Absolute Soul Level at 100%.
Congratulations! Your Soul Level has increased to Transcendent 0%
His Soul Level had increased, and he was in a Primal Cosmos. While that was interesting the more important question that he wanted to be answered was, where were Adaline and Pandora? That was the last thought he had as he slammed into the ground at a terminal velocity just north of Grand Island NE. It was almost ironic that at that exact moment, his mind decided that the strain He¡¯d just gone through was also enough to finally knock him unconscious.
Chapter 133, The Right Track?
The sound of clapping grabbed brought him around. Adam lifted his head from the pillow of his bed. His bed? Which bed? The last thing he remembered was falling to Earth as he mentally destroyed a monster that had been working for, or with, a demon. How could he be in a bed? Was he dreaming?
¡°Yes, you are dreaming,¡± a voice he recognized called from the foot of his bed, drawing his attention. He looked down his body and above his feet to find Ptah standing there smiling, ¡°You did good kiddo, really good.¡±
¡°What are you talking about?¡±
¡°I honestly can¡¯t say. I¡¯m only here to set your mind at ease on two issues. Adaline and Pandora..
Adam sat up quickly as everything rushed back and rapidly fired questions at him, ¡°Are they okay? Did they survive? Where are they?¡± He asked as tried to rise from the bed, only to find that he could only move from the waist up. His lower body had been locked down somehow.
¡°As I said, my time is limited. There are rules, and sooner than you¡¯d like, I have a feeling that you will know what they are as well. For now, know that Adaline and Pandora survived,¡± he said.
¡°And you can say nothing more on the subject?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I cannot. I can tell you this, the state of this Realm within this layer, as you call it, was not as it should have been. Long ago someone decided to allow fractioning, it¡¯s not the right word because we¡¯re not talking about a liquid, but the word conveys the idea. Simply put, in a normal realm, the realm must survive or fall based on the actions of those within it. To prevent the worst from happening someone changed a fundamental rule to try things as you knew them with the following adjustment. Extremely bad decisions that would destroy the Cosmos instead led to the creation of a new Cosmos within this realm. Those mirror Cosmos also had a safety mechanism that allowed alternate Universes to be created within each Cosmos.¡±
¡°What happened?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The true divines, gods, whatever you wish to refer to them tried to guide the Cosmos. They soon learned that any time they meddled a new Cosmos almost always popped up, creating a copy of themselves within that Cosmos and dividing their power. That was unacceptable and most withdrew from this Realm altogether. A few of us remained and waited for an opportunity to try to bring this Realm and the souls within back into a state of unity. Then you came along.¡± Ptah explained.
¡°Let me guess, when people died their souls were not moving on, they were also fragmenting. Then those that remained tried over and over to fix the problem which only made it worse. I¡¯m guessing that The Ancient Enemy made it impossible for any souls to move on if it had destroyed even one fragment of a soul?¡± Adam said as various pieces of the puzzle fell into place.
¡°Not just a pretty face after all,¡± Ptah said with a smile. ¡°Though they would have passed on eventually, but it would have been a really long time. Some of the information concerning the way things work and how things are were less than ideal attempts at fixing the issues such a system entails. During the early days, some had access to and changed Realm-level settings that limited growth but allowed for advancement to the point where individuals could become divine. Those individuals created a system to handle it all. A few made it outside of this Realm in the beginning but once a soul was fractioned they couldn¡¯t leave the Realm until their soul was whole once again. That¡¯s where the idea of ¡°The System¡± came from, at least within this Realm. Not to say that there aren¡¯t rules to how everything works and interacts outside of this Realm, just that the rules within this Realm were modified. Do not be surprised if the way some of your soul abilities function or your understanding of what they do changes. My time is almost up¡¡±
Ptah started to say before Adam interrupted him, ¡°Before you go, who are you, why are you helping me?¡± he asked.
¡°I take the names I need when I need them. Today I am Ptah. We will meet again Johnathan, Bennard now Adamantadine. As for why I am helping you or giving you this information now? You are mistaken, you are the one that helped everyone in this Realm. They can once again move on. The Gods may even return once they know their meddling won¡¯t carbon copy the cosmos or fracture a soul. You are being told what you are as a way of saying thank you from some very influential entities. I will close with this. Remember, what you do now matters, then again hasn¡¯t it always¡¡± Ptah said as his voice and body faded away.
Adam¡¯s lower body was released, and he could move freely again. He checked himself over and realized very quickly that he was in his Mindspace. Adam shifted his perception to his Soul Space and found the mess that the explosion of Karmic Luck had wrought. The copy of the solar system within himself was in pieces as nanites floated throughout the region. Everything was mixing again. Adam issued orders for the nanites to reset the solar system and repair everything, but nothing happened. he sent a mental ping to Odin, but nothing happened. Adam sent a mental ping to Thor.
Thor: There you are. To answer your first question, everyone is fine in your Place of Power. They hadn¡¯t even made it into your soul space before Odin sent the command to lock down.
Adam: Good, could you reconnect me with Odin, please?
Thor: Done.
Odin: Adam, what happened?
Adam: Reconnect, I need you over here to get things underway in my Soul Space.
Odin: Reconnecting now¡
Argh, that hurt, Adam thought as he felt Odin¡¯s reintegration force his mind to remember something he¡¯d figured out while he was unconscious. The information flowed into his thoughts, and he hesitated for a moment as the warning he¡¯d seen flashed into his mind.
WARNING Chaos Identity contained in your Soul Space and infested within your being is not compatible with this Cosmos. As a creature of Chaos, you may continue to harbor those identities, but they will not be permitted to contaminate this Cosmos.
Chaos Identity? His thoughts reformed and the truth he had come to know just before he lost consciousness became known to him again. He did not have Chaotic Nanites. He had Chaos, which he shaped into nanites and that was the identity the chaos took to do his bidding. That confusion was still running through him in this place as he hadn¡¯t woken up to solidify his will on the subject. This wasn¡¯t something he needed to think about too hard. If he was right, there was an easy test he could perform right now.
His will became his intent, and his intent was to treat the chaos within his soul space as nanites and have them repair the Solar System he¡¯d created there. Adam felt the damaged areas morph and change back to the configuration he¡¯d wanted as he also realized something else. The reason he was having such a hard time contacting Odin was that Odin didn¡¯t exist. The Thor running in the place of power was a technological construct that he¡¯d created and downloaded into physical nanites then uploaded back into himself. The version that had been his nanite controller and information processor that had just been an aspect of his will. In layman¡¯s terms, he¡¯d been talking to himself or some would say he¡¯d split his personality, a little bit.
Upon learning the truth his mentality had melded back together and he was thinking normally again. Why had he referenced Odin as his increased processing power repeatedly then? After a little self-reflection, he realized he had tried to humanize or quantify the changes his mind had gone through with an explainable medium. The nanites acting as additional memory in a computer was a simple idea to hold onto and not easily dismissed. Thor, who became Odin within his mind was just another aspect of his mentality.
When had he started separating himself like that? Had that been a subconscious recognition of the fractioning of his soul as more and more versions of himself were found? Had part of him recognized that they truly were part of him, but no message was going to pop up when they returned to him.? With that realization, he also realized that he felt more like himself than he had in a very long time. Adam organized his mind space, checked on the family, and then pulled up his personal interface. he had Warnings, Prompts, and Messages to go through. Adam started with the only alert he¡¯d ever seen.
Alert: This Realm has gone through a significant adjustment. All entities in this Realm will be amalgamized. After amalgamation, entities that find themselves without a physical form will be removed from this Realm layer after being Scrutinized. All other entities will find themselves in the Primal Cosmos of this Realm.
NOTE: Temporal Travel into the past is prohibited, violators will be Scrutinized.
NOTE: Realm Law 32.23.6 is rescinded. New Cosmos will not be created to prevent Cosmic Cascade failure.
Something to think about later, or ask about if he ever had the chance, what did it mean to be Scrutinized in the sense the alert described? The next thing he needed to do, check the warnings. Adam started with the warnings that had happened just before his advancement to a Transcendent level soul.
WARNING: Two entities with parts of the same soul with opposing karmic energies have come into contact.
WARNING: The amalgamation of Johnathan Bennard has commenced.
NOTE: 9.99E +99 ERROR Karmic energy damage has been taken due to unequal amounts of positive and negative Karmic luck being combined during Amalgamation.
NOTE: Damage to Soul Space: ERROR
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
NOTE: Negative Karmic Damage destruction is being negated by Positive Karmic Healing.
WARNING: Amalgamation not complete, Fight for Dominance not complete
WARNING: Foreign objects Ejected from Realm Space.
WARNING: Returned to the last location of Johnathan Bennard within this Cosmos
ERROR: Explosion of Karmic Luck has halted transfer to last known location
Amalgamation Complete
You have impacted the Earth at Terminal Velocity, damage negligible.
Soul Strain has caused you to become unconscious.
So that¡¯s why he couldn¡¯t slow himself down while he fell out of the sky. To him, it felt a lot like a one-sided fight. Instead, his alternate self had been fighting him to the bitter end, probably to have him plow into the Earth and die with him. His Evil twin never knew exactly how outclassed he was. Having come to know him, If he¡¯d been him in that situation, he¡¯d have done the same thing.
WARNING: Karmic Luck has modified your soul during enhancement to a Transcendent soul.
WARNING: Due to extreme Karmic backlash during your amalgamation Karmic Luck has been reduced to -1,150,000 due to a rupture that occurred within the Realm. The realm sealed immediately. There will be no further loss of Karmic Luck or Karmic Backlash due to this event.
Negative Karmic Luck, what in the hell? He¡¯d just brought this Realm back together. Where¡¯s the appreciation? Sighing to himself he looked through the rest of the prompts but couldn¡¯t find any more warnings. he accessed the Congratulation messages next, he needed some good news.
Congratulations! Your soul has now achieved Transcendent rank. A Transcendent Soul is well on its way to true divinity. The rank disparity settings for the Realm have been weighed, measured, and modified. As a Transcendent being, your Rank Disparity to a Nascent Soul is 8. All skill, ability, and magic spells that are cast by you are 8 times more powerful than a Nascent Souls. Rank disparity is also used to modify Defense against attacks.
Congratulations! You are directly responsible for the reintegration and release of all beings within this realm. You immediately receive one Karmic Luck for every soul that is released from the moment of the event forward.
Wait, what? Adam opened up his personal information and checked his Karmic Luck. Sure enough, his Karmic Luck was already over 9 billion and climbing like the United States Deficit found on the website usdebtclock.org. The only difference was that this clock was increasing much faster than the debt clock ever had. Adam sighed with a bit of relief. He did not want his Karmic Luck to be negative, even if he didn¡¯t know what it did. It just seemed important.
Adam quickly reviewed the rest of the message and found that they were just simple indicators of how much damage he¡¯d taken and that kind of thing. The more important information he was interested in was the type of world he was in and his place in it. Before he went to work figuring this out he tried to release nanites into the surrounding area to get a feel for it. His field expanded out to 8 feet and ended.
WARNING: Magic is permitted at this location provided one has the mana and skill to wield it. Prohibited magics include Time Travel to the Past and Persistent Chaotic identities that are maintained away from the caster. Chaos Identity Nanite is prohibited anywhere not touching a creature of chaos. Nanite Links are permissible out to one foot per soul rank.
Well, that sucked, that sucked a lot. From the field he¡¯d just created he found himself lying in the center of a crater in the middle of a cornfield. Also, he could hear a truck in the distance coming this way. Eight feet up didn¡¯t put him above the corn stocks. He needed information and he needed it now. More importantly, he needed to get somewhere where he could be safe and figure out what kind of mess he¡¯d dropped into this time. There were two ways he could play this, but if, as had been hinted, some power players came along at a later date he didn¡¯t want to make himself a target again, so the quiet way it would be.
Adam willed himself to float a few feet off the ground and used his nanite field to scrub the area he¡¯d hit of any evidence of his arrival that might be there. Then he formed a spell that would keep him invisible from everything, including all magical and technological devices, just in case. Adam double-checked with ¡®the nanite field around him to make sure he was visually invisible then drew the nanites back into himself. When that was done he gained altitude up to about 1,000 feet above the ground and flew west. he wanted to get a look at the lay of the land before he trusted the memories he¡¯d received from Johnathan Prime. If things concerning himself had changed, things on this Earth could have changed as well.
While he flew along he had the nanites create everything he¡¯d need to interact with this society, including driver¡¯s licenses, credit cards, and Johnathan Prime¡¯s affordable clothing. As he reviewed snippets of Johnathan Primes life It was becoming very apparent that this version of the United States was going down a very socialist track. The United States was already up to 150 trillion dollars in debt and instead of wars and the like, China had exerted its monetary might and taken over just about everything. Politicians were political hacks. America was ¡°free¡± by claim only. From what he learned from Johnathan Prime¡¯s memories everyone just went to work, played with whatever toys the government permitted them to play with, and went home. On the ¡°plus¡± side, indentured service had been reinstituted, and those that were found to be homeless or dregs in society were forced to work the farm fields and industries that drove America and paid all the bills. No one received a free ride in this society.
This version of the United States had followed the least violent path it could. Unfortunately, it couldn¡¯t last. Was he going to be the instrument to change this or was he going to go looking for his love and Pandora? If Ptah could be believed they were safe. His mind was all over the place, he needed to focus.
Adam flew over the Rockies when something caught his attention. he looked down and focused on a cave mouth that something man-sized was flying out of. The creature looked around for a bit, as if searching for something, and then flew back inside. Adam memorized the location, he was near Pike¡¯s Peak, so finding this location again would be child¡¯s play.
He continued west until he was in silicon valley and found his apartment. Adam landed on the balcony of his apartment and phased through the wall. It was minimalist eggshell white. There was a bed, a stove, a refrigerator, a desk and chair, and a computer on the desk. The screen saver was on and as he wiggled the mouse he entered his pin number and found himself looking at the load screen for the latest MMOG ¡°Ashes.¡± As he reviewed Johnathan Primes¡¯ life he realized that all he did was go to work, come home, and play this game. That was it.
Adam touched the laptop, allowed his nanites to infiltrate it, and quickly determined that this laptop was indeed connected to an artificial intelligence that hadn¡¯t become sentient yet.
Adam: Thor, need a quick copy of yourself, packaged and ready for delivery. It would seem that we¡¯re in the thick of it again. The first task, find any data sent in the last six hours and scrub it from the system you¡¯ll be downloading into.
Thor: What level of animosity if I¡¯m detected?
Adam: Eventually, I want you to take over their semi-sentient A.I. My money is on the fact that the Chinese are running it. If you¡¯re detected wipe the floor with them, extreme prejudice. I¡¯m going to create physical nanites that will create a support structure for this laptop. My chaotic nanites don¡¯t work here. You¡¯ll need to meet their energy requirements but they will answer to you.
Thor: Sounds good, Ready when you are.
Adam accepted Thor¡¯s download through their quantum link and then downloaded Thor directly into the laptop and through the chaotic nanites that were linking him to the computer and the connection into the network beyond. Bypassing the security measures was beyond easy.
Through the speakers on the Laptop Thor said, ¡°I¡¯m in, this Laptop and all Bluetooth surveillance devices in this apartment are now under my control. One second. All video uploads have been intercepted and faked. I¡¯ve even started playing the game utilizing old footage to show Johnathan playing the game he¡¯d become addicted to. That¡¯s not by accident, by the way, this game was deliberately set up to keep people addicted.¡±
¡°No surprise there. Replicate and infest every network on this planet. Let me know if you run into anything that feels like nanite technology. It¡¯s going to take time for normal nanites to spread throughout the globe. Unfortunately, I can¡¯t use the version that is smaller than an atom so they will be detectable with an electron microscope. We¡¯ll need them though so I¡¯m probably going to travel around the globe and drop them off in key areas, so they can spread faster. I have a feeling that some of the tricks I did in the past aren¡¯t going to work very well if the nanites are only technologically based and not just a side effect of his Creature of Chaos ability,¡± Adam said.
¡°Not to worry, I¡¯m on it. You can trust me when I say that even though it¡¯s May 5th2039 on this Earth, their comparable technology is no better than our Earth¡¯s 2015 operating systems. We have every workaround, bios, and motherboard hack in our memories from multiple universes and races, so this is not going to be a problem. There will be problems, but hijacking their computers is not one of them.¡±
¡°Good luck, I have a couple more things to check,¡± Adam said as he went over to the bed and lay down. Adam closed his eyes and rested as he pulled up his personal interface and checked his soul abilities. Perfect Memory, check. Pansophical, had changed and increased his skill levels from Rare to Epic. Skills now worked as if they were level 1,000. Wow! Moving on ¡°Temporally Inviolate¡± had been modified to:
¡°Permanent Addition¡± ¨C Your soul has become Transcendent. Your body has become an extension of your soul. If your body is destroyed you may still move your soul around if able. Multiple copies of yourself are permissible, though all bodies must draw their attributes from one pool. Your soul can only be destroyed if certain prerequisite conditions are met. Your body can be destroyed and will be recreated in your soul space as you desire based on your normal health regeneration. You are not subject to Grand Father Paradoxes or harmful magic that utilized the manipulation of time. Additionally, you may now place items into your Soul Storage or Soul Space from your body.
Adam went back to check his other soul abilities.
Chaos Forged, check.
Chaos Tempered, check.
After Chaos Tempered there was a new soul ability listed, Chaos Incarnate
¡°Chaos Incarnate¡± ¨C Your soul has been exposed to an unknowable amount of Order. You weathered the barrage of order and came out the other side one with the Chaos within you. Chaos is everything and nothing. Chaos can be everything or it can be nothing. You may shape chaos to your will and create real physical objects with it that may be handed to others and will exist as if it was the object in question until destroyed by natural means. You may also utilize chaos in your soul space to create and maintain anything you can dream of. The only limitations you are bound by are the limitations you set upon yourself. Should another Incarnate of Chaos interact with the Chaos you control a contest of wills will determine who remains in control of the chaos.
That almost looked like an evolution of his One ability. Or an ability that had self-actualized based on the intent that he placed on the chaos within his system to be chaotic nanites. Now that he knew it was chaos and could be fed by his Convergence ability, he had a never-ending supply of chaos. Damn.
He started reviewing the list again,
Adaptable, check.
Willed-Movement, check.
Incessant was gone but that made sense with the addition of Permanent Addition.
Resistant, check.
Open to New Ideas was missing. It didn¡¯t really do anything that he couldn¡¯t do himself so no great loss.
Convergence, check. He knew that but always better to verify.
Spellweaver, check.
Soul Storage, check.
Affluent, check.
Allegiance was gone. Had that ability only been made available because of the setup of that Realm? It sure seemed like it.
Those were the only changes he could see. His current level was 279,201,353 Ascendant Human and with the ring on he¡¯d reach another level in 3 more days and a couple of minutes. Did he still have the ring? he looked into his soul space and found the rings still on the one large ring. He reached over and felt his right hand with his left. Yes, he still had the ring that was linked to the other rings on.
Chapter 134, Utopia?
Thinking about the ring, Adam wondered how he could best utilize it. He reviewed himself internally and noted that the Solar System and his pocket Earth were both fixed and normalized. It seemed that with his acknowledgment that the nanites were actually chaos, things worked much faster. He was pretty sure it had something to do with the idea he had that as machines his mind was automatically limiting them to how fast he thought they could do something; Chaos could change by the moment which was much faster. Adam still thought of that energy as chaotic nanites, but it wasn¡¯t really, it was chaos that shaped objects to his will and he had almost four Cosmos worth of that energy in his soul space. How large was his soul space?
Adam was getting off-topic. He refocused and created a copy of himself on the Earth within his soul space. He willed the ring on his finger into the hand of his soul space duplicate and opened a portal into his place of power. As the connection was made Amanda, Mom, Dad, and everyone he¡¯d stored away disappeared except for Desirae and Abi. They vanished. Desirae reacted instantly looking around for a threat while Abi did the same.
¡°Adam, what just happened?¡±
Adam stood there shocked. He actually froze for a moment, then his mind went into overdrive as he put the pieces together and figured out what must have happened. Adam took off the ring, lifted it to show Desirae what he had, and then tossed it through the portal to her as he said, ¡°That ring will level you quickly. Put it on, get to level 5,000 then give it to Abi and let her level as well. Better yet, try to go to level 5,001, I want to know what the cap is for this Cosmos we¡¯re in.¡±
¡°What are you going to do?¡± Desirae asked.
¡°I¡¯m going to go check on Mom and Dad. Then I¡¯m going to find Amanda,¡± he answered.
¡°You know what happened then?¡± Abi asked.
¡°Yes, or at least I have a strong idea. As this Realm collapsed into one Cosmos every entity was recombined with other versions of themselves, including me.¡±
¡°Why did they disappear and why didn¡¯t that happen to Desirae and me?¡± Abi asked.
¡°I¡¯m betting that my idea to keep you safe behind a barrier of nothing prevented that from happening. When I opened this portal the laws of this Realm affected everyone inside that pocket dimension.¡±
¡°Then why are we still here?¡± Desirae asked.
¡°Two guesses concerning you Desirae, the first guess is that the planet you were born on, Primore, does not exist within this Cosmos. I find that hard to believe as Cosmos can contain multiple Universe. I would think that it exists here, I just haven¡¯t had the time to find it yet. My second guess, which I think is more likely based on your background and earlier personality, is you¡¯re the last one that survived so there was nothing for you to combine with.¡± Adam said.
Desirae thought about it for a moment then spoke what we were both thinking, ¡°You think all other copies of me were killed?¡±
¡°Yes, I do. Otherwise, I would be trying to find you too. Although, as I think about it, if more personalities existed than the person you turned into and you had to fight for dominance against all of them, let¡¯s just say I¡¯m glad that you are the one that survived,¡± he said with a smile.
¡°That doesn¡¯t explain me,¡± Abi said.
¡°But doesn¡¯t it? In your case, Abi, the construct that you were did not need to combine with you. They may have existed, but they were not alive, they hadn¡¯t grown as much as you have. In all that multi-universal mess that was just combined, you were unique. Absolutely, beautifully, unique,¡± he said with a smile that fractured as Adaline and Pandora crossed his mind.
¡°What is it?¡± Desirae asked.
¡°I was just thinking that Adaline was probably not unique. When they were ejected from his Soul Space they¡¯d been holding each other. I¡¯m thinking that there is a possibility that Adaline might have been ripped away from Pandora. On the positive side of that equation, I¡¯m pretty sure Pandora is as unique as you are Abi. If there had been other copies of her they would have appeared.¡±
¡°So, what¡¯s the plan?¡± Abi asked.
¡°The plan, for now, is to keep you two here in my soul space. The copy of Earth in my Soul Space should be okay for now so you can come and go as you like. I¡¯m going to let Thor see to your needs. He¡¯ll be able to interact with the part of me running my soul space. Once I figure out what¡¯s going on I¡¯ll let you know. For now, use the ring to increase your levels. Both of you. Take turns and stay as close to the same level as you can if levels don¡¯t max out at 5,000.¡±
¡°Why do you want us to level?¡± Desirae asked.
¡°As I was flying west I saw a winged man near an opening to a cave mouth. Prompts work in this Cosmos so there is some magic. While this version of Earth mirrors my original one in a lot of ways, I think there are some parts of it that I need to learn about. Also, if there is magic there should be dungeons and entrances to the labyrinth. The memories I have from the Johnathan that was from this Cosmos make no mention of magic or monsters. I¡¯ll need to tread carefully as I learn about this world. At least until I¡¯m in a position to do what I always do,¡± he said with a smile.
Desirae grinned at him, ¡°Fuck shit up!¡± she said enthusiastically.
¡°Desirae!¡± Abi exclaimed in mock shock.
¡°I was going to say meddle, but your statement is still spot on,¡± he said laughing. ¡°I¡¯ll stay in contact through Thor, otherwise, have fun,¡± he said as the body he was running in his soul space dissolved, and he moved his consciousness back into his body on his bed in Silicon Valley. As he came to his senses he noticed that his computer was beeping. Adam checked the screen.
Incoming call from the Santa Clara Police Department
Adam accepted the call since he knew they were already looking at him through the camera.
¡°Johnathan Bennard?¡± a young man at a desk asked.
¡°Yes, that¡¯s me, what can I do for you officer?¡±
¡°This is a courtesy call to inform you that your mother and father were in a vehicular accident approximately 3 minutes ago and that paramedics are being rushed to the scene.¡±
Adam checked his watch, 9:30 p.m. on the west coast, then checked Johnathan Prime¡¯s memories, then snapped his fingers, ¡°They were either on their way to get ice cream or returning from the Baskin Robbins near their home weren¡¯t they?¡± he asked.
The officer looked over his notes, ¡°That sounds right,¡± he said.
¡°Was anyone seriously injured?¡± he asked politely.
¡°Not that we can tell, a good samaritan called in the accident and both medical and police personnel are on their way to them now. Witnesses and the footage indicate he lost control and slammed into an intersection pole.¡±
¡°Was my father driving?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes.¡± He said in a voice that hinted that he was getting impatient.
¡°I guess I¡¯ll have to speak with his doctor about checking his medication.¡±
¡°This brings me to my next question, how will your father be paying for medical care for your mother and him, as well as property damages as their insurance appears to have lapsed? Our records indicate that his medical allowance for this year, last year, and the year before has put him at a negative balance, and without insurance, his income-to-debt ratio indicates he will not be able to cover the costs?¡± the officer asked ever so politely.
¡°Please bill me, I will take care of it¡±
¡°Sir your credit is not sufficient to cover the costs this accident will incur.¡± He stated flatly.
Initiating his Affluent ability, Adam pulled out a credit card from his soul space, though to the officer it would appear that it was in his pocket. Adam placed it on top of the computer in a slot that was designated for it. From the look in the man¡¯s eyes, he quickly saw that his credit was good, ¡°I would discern from the shock in your eyes that my credit is good. Please see that all expenses are paid from this expense account. Also, there is to be no discussion with anyone on how I paid this bill. Such loose lips might receive a ¡®black¡¯ mark on their performance reports.¡±
Stolen novel; please report.
¡°Yes, sir right away sir.¡± The officer stammered.
¡°Now, if you would be so kind, where are my parents to be taken for medical evaluation?¡± he asked.
¡°After they are stabilized you¡¯ll be able to find them at the ¡°Sequoia Hospital,¡± the officer said.
¡°Very good, if that is all officer I¡¯d like to end this call now so that I can get on my way. It will take a little while by train to get there at this time of night. Unlike my parents, I do not have a vehicle¡
¡°How¡¡±
¡°Officer, we all play our part, please remain in your lane,¡± Adam said as if enjoying a joke.
¡°Of course, sir. Have a good day,¡± he said as the connection ended.
Adam monitored the officer as everything, except for the first couple of questions, was erased from the record by the officer. He also noticed that the officers hands were shaking. While he wasn¡¯t exactly sure what was going on in this world, the mention of medical quotas and the attitude the officer had towards people he thought couldn¡¯t pay bills, led Adam to some very bad conclusions about this version of the United States of America. There was nothing he could do about that right now though. Adam retrieved his credit card from the computer, put it into his soul space, and modified his clothing to jeans and a t-shirt with the Ashes logo on it. The change was just slightly faster than his nanites could have accomplished. With a thought, it happened. He was really starting to like the perks of his Chaos Incarnate ability.
Adam left the apartment and headed to the railway that was right down the street. There was one within five blocks of every residence here. From Johnathan Prime¡¯s memories, he learned that a committee had made sure going green was both appealing and practical. There were streets but they were mostly for the ultra-rich and emergency services. They¡¯d removed 83% of all personal cars from the street. His mother and father had one of the few remaining cars, a Nissan Altima, though it had been converted to fully electric. Keeping that car and paying the penalties was probably why they had no money right now. He had his pride after all. Those trips to get ice cream were one of their only guilty pleasures.
Adam lived on the south side of Los South Altos in this iteration which was only 13.2 miles from the hospital. He could have leaped into the sky and been there in a moment, or teleported, but he still didn¡¯t understand all the angles of what was going on, then he paused. He was an idiot. As he stepped onto the electric train, he found a seat, sat down, and closed his eyes to make it appear to anyone looking on or watching him through the cameras here that he was napping. He set his chaotic nanites, or at least the chaos in his system that had the identity of nanites, to overwatch and defense then opened his personal interface. Adam set the review time to instant. He then set the type of information to the current world, specifically: Political, Social, and Economic information, both Macro and Micro level information. Then he initiated that query to his Pansophical soul ability.
Adam focused on keeping his body still and his breathing normal as his mind absorbed terabytes of data. The amount of information wasn¡¯t anything he wasn¡¯t ready for, he was just getting used to being whole again. As the information flooded his mind, A couple of assumptions he¡¯d made seemed to be correct. Someone putting a history book together might have sugarcoated the reality, but his ability just gave it to him straight by pulling the information directly from the Cosmos itself. A few moments later he had the information and started reviewing it.
To start with, China owned everything, and when he said everything, he meant everything. The country had gone through a phase that had allowed other nations to pop up and have small skirmishes but after World War II China had decided that enough was enough and worked to take over every country from within which started in 1951. Magic had just recently come back into the world and the prompts had popped up about 5 years ago. No one knew what to make of them though reports of strange creatures being sighted had been investigated and thus far been debunked by the media outlets. The information he was reviewing told him that monster manifestations were gradually rising and being handled by the military.
A man in England had stepped forward to claim that magic was once again coming back into the world, however, the Chinese had MI6 capture and forward him to Hong Kong where he¡¯d disappeared. Nanite technology was being suppressed by the Chinese Communist Party because they knew such technological breakthroughs would destroy their control over the world.
Economically, every country, save Sweden, owed the Chinese more than their Gross Domestic Product produced and continued to spend more than their taxes generated. People had just accepted that as the price of doing business. The Swedes had remained neutral, and the Chinese had allowed it to show they weren¡¯t complete tyrants, at least those were the thoughts voiced in the upper echelons of power in other nations around the world. By the time those echelons realized what was happening, it was too late. All, save Sweden, succumbed to Chinese influence through Capitalism. Sweden didn¡¯t succumb because it held most of the world¡¯s money, and the interest on those funds kept their small country free of debt to others. Nor was Sweden greedy. The power echelon in that country was more than willing to let China control everyone else and recognized that China¡¯s will would be done. They hadn¡¯t voted against China once in the United Nations since 1965.
As all the information flooded his mind he realized that this Utopia that the Chinese had created would have resulted in the deaths of his parents had he not been able to pay the bills. Those that were sick or hurt and could not heal with minimal care were made comfortable and euthanized. Those that had accidents and couldn¡¯t pay, the same, even if there was no crime involved. The individual served the state, the state did not serve the individual. All the information he reviewed showed him that while stable, this society would collapse with just the gentlest of pushes. This could be fun, though he wasn¡¯t going to try to do things like he had originally. One, that wouldn¡¯t work here. If he tried to use nanites an Electro Magnetic Pulse could easily end that. No, he would need to free the people and then help guide them as best as he could.
While he was thinking about what he would do next, his phone rang. He fished it out of his pocket and answered it.
¡°Is this Johnathan Bennard,¡± Amanda Sifford asked.
¡°Yes, it is. Is this Amanda Sifford that works for, what was the name of that company again?¡± he asked.
¡°Portal¡¯s Inc, yep that¡¯s me.¡±
¡°Why am I not surprised? It¡¯ll be a little while before I can talk to you again. Give me about thirty minutes and I¡¯ll call you back,¡± he said.
¡°I¡¯ll be waiting for your call,¡± she said.
Adam put his phone away then manifested a copy of himself into his soul space, then had that copy portal into his apartment and connect to the Laptop while Thor kept his presence unknown to the various watchers that were monitoring his apartment. His copy worked with Thor to find Amanda Sifford, disable all cameras in the area around her apartment then opened another portal right into her apartment room. Adam watched through the cameras as she saw Amanda rush into his soul space toward Desirae and Abi. Thor closed the door behind her, released his direct influence on the Thor infiltrating the networks, and had his copy step back into his soul space as he closed that portal. Creating those portals was eating up a little of his mana but it had been worth it. They had Amanda back.
Adam disembarked the train when it came to the station close to the Hospital. A police officer was waiting for him as he entered and had him sign the bills and take responsibility for them. Once that was done he went up to their room. As he entered his mom looked up and asked, ¡°Johnathan, is that you, what is happening? ¡°
¡°Yes, Mom it¡¯s me, what do you remember?¡±
¡°I remember a lot, but none of it seems real.¡±
¡°Me too,¡± his father said, I have a lot of memories but none of them seem real.
Damn, there must have been a lot more generic versions of his parents than he¡¯d thought. He sent his nanites out to their eight-foot range and disabled all the cameras in the room. Once that was done he cast sleep on both of his parents and then created a bubble of accelerated time in the room. Time would pass faster for the three of them. Adam opened a portal to his Place of Power between both and acted as a conduit as nanites from within linked to him. He placed his left hand on his mother¡¯s head and his right hand on his father¡¯s head and reset both of their memories to the backup he¡¯d created earlier today. Yes, he was wiping the memories of all those other versions of them out but the version of him from this Cosmos was also gone. Yes, it was selfish, he didn¡¯t care. His mother and father would not be drowned out by memories that no longer mattered. Adam also downloaded information concerning this Cosmos and their place in it and told them to play along with the doctors and keep to themselves over the next couple of weeks or months, depending on how long it took him to fix things here.
Once he was finished he had the nanites retract and closed the portal. He released the time bubble and reactivated the camera. Adam went to sit down in one of the chairs beside the bed and the camera in the room came back to life. A couple of minutes later a security guard came to make sure everything was okay, then left. Adam released his parents from the sleep spell and they each took a deep breath, then woke up.
My father was the first to recover as he said, ¡°Johnathan, at some point we¡¯ll need to talk but I think today your mother and I are going to let the doctors run their tests and get some rest.¡±
¡°Especially with you two falling asleep like that. Now that I know you¡¯re both safe, I¡¯ll sleep easier as well. If you don¡¯t need me, I¡¯m going to head back home and get some rest. I¡¯ll stop by as soon as he can.¡±
¡°Thanks for checking on us dear, we¡¯ll talk more tomorrow,¡± his mom said.
¡°Okay Mom, love you both,¡± he said as he stood and walked out of the room and out of the hospital.
Adam caught the train back to his apartment without incident. He went inside and lay on the bed. Once he was within eight feet he linked to his laptop and took over the global hacking effort. It was only 12:30. The copy of Thor was good, but not level 279,201,353 good. he had almost eight hours before he needed to go to work in the morning to keep up the ruse of being Johnathan Prime. Well, he could do that anyway, couldn¡¯t he?
Adam created the devices he¡¯d first used so long ago when he discovered quantum entanglement. One he placed next to the laptop and connected it to a USB. The other went into his soul space. He really liked the aesthetics of his estate in the mountains overlooking Alamogordo so he had his soul space adjust the underground habitat of the Estate to include a replica of Portal¡¯s Inc. With that done, he could now run things concerning the global network takeover from anywhere. So he couldn¡¯t put his chaotic nanites everywhere. In the beginning, he hadn¡¯t had them either.
The next thing he did was split off a small portion of his mentality. He basically gave himself a split personality, run by a copy of Johnathan Prime. Not so completely that he didn¡¯t know about him. No, just a part of himself that would control his body in the way Johnathan Prime had all these years on this version of Earth. he planned to work in the background and not take overt action until he was ready which meant that Johnathan Bennard, needed to be the Johnathan Bennard from this Earth.
Adam couldn¡¯t do this for his mother or father, he¡¯d wiped those influences from their mind. They should be fine, but he was already hatching contingency plans on how to make them ¡°disappear¡± without raising too many questions. Once he was sure his Johnathan Prime personality simulator was working properly, he let the body drift off to sleep, manifested himself a body in his Soul Space then went to work.
Chapter 135, Just another American.
What to get to first? It should go without saying that any intelligence agencies or governments that could subvert the governments of an entire planet probably had the resources to notice and backtrack cyberattacks. To ensure that didn¡¯t happen Adam needed to be smart about how he proceeded. That meant hacking into the networks from physical locations that didn¡¯t lead back to him and also removing any monitoring devices in his apartment as well as establishing security around the apartment that was coded to him only. That meant quantum entanglement. The only problem with the implementation of this plan would be that the only person that could walk around and allow his nanite field to create the microscopic cameras that he would need would have to physically walk around and that would take time. What was that saying ¡°Smarter, not harder.¡±
Adam altered the mission he had a copy of Thor doing for now and set him to map only. he needed to know how the network was set up. Adam also had Thor look for a location that was out of the way and easily accessible with surveillance that he could hijack tonight. Adam moved his Place of Power inside his Soul Space under his estate near Alamogordo. He kept a portal open between that location and his Place of Power in the speck of nothing so Thor could see to the needs of Desirae, Abi, and Amanda. It was just easier for him to be able to communicate with the ladies through Thor. While Thor was technically running a version of himself inside his original Place of Power and that was in the 2nd Place of Power inside his Soul space which was being run by a different copy of Thor, once the doors were left open they were both effectively the same Thor.
At about 3 a.m. Thor found a location near a junction that connected to an underwater cable that had been placed across the Pacific floor to Hawaii and then went on to the Far East. Instead of going all James Bond and infiltrating the location and getting to the server room in person, because it was technically on a Naval Installation, he cheated. From a workshop in his Base of Operations in his Soul Space, he hijacked the Camera¡¯s and then opened a small portal he could work through. He also wanted to see if the limit to eight feet for his chaos counted from portals he opened from within his soul space and was pleasantly surprised when it did.
The portal he opened was at an exact 90 degrees to the orientation of the camera that looked over the area where the portal opened. If it could be seen at all it would appear like a dark line on the monitor to whoever might notice it. Not that he was worried, he was already feeding a false image through the cameras there.
Adam let his chaos permeate the room and found a few more security devices which he also subverted. One of them may have detected the portal but as nothing visible to the naked eye came through, whoever was watching would probably think it was a glitch of some kind. The anomaly on the screen was much too small for anyone to come through if they¡¯d ever seen a portal before. Adam then let his chaos overlap the connection points, analyzed them at the molecular level, made the physical changes he needed, and added a few components that would be impossible to trace as well as a quantum entanglement transmitter, a backup, and then a third backup. He embedded his changes within the microcircuit boards.
For someone to detect the changes he was making they would have to physically tear the boards apart. Also, as luck would have it, there were military-grade communication channels and data networks for the US military going through these communication lines. This node served as a physical backup. Adam set up the same kind of physical access to those systems as well. When he was done he withdrew the chaos he¡¯d let through the portal and closed it. From the moment he opened the portal until it closed had only taken four minutes. Most of that time had been analyzing the circuits and getting to know the programming that had been used. As he knew almost all the possible combinations of programming that were available on multiple Earths it wasn¡¯t hard.
From his control room, he accessed the node and started copying the dataflows. Once he was sure the connection was stable he put Thor back to work through that connection point, then opened a portal to his apartment in California next to the laptop and removed any evidence that changes had been made to it. Anyone checking it now would only find a normal laptop. Of course, he would know as soon as someone tried to do that. he was kind of expecting it, especially after the payment method was backtracked for his mom and dad. The Johnathan from this Universe had absolutely no record of having as much money as that card had. It would be at least a couple of days before they came to investigate that though.
Adam let Thor continue his work and keep him informed while he manifested a simple body into his Place of Power. He created a cup of hot coffee in his room then had Thor connect to all cable and news outlets in California and had them available on the entertainment system there. He sat down in his recliner, sipping his coffee as he waited for Desirae, Abi, and Amanda to wake up.
As the night went on Thor mapped and spread through the internet and military networks all over the world. Thor also found more locations Adam could tap into the various networks from. After he talked to the ladies he¡¯d have to head back over and handle setting those up myself.
News-wise, nothing of interest was going on. There were a couple of small stories about food riots in Africa and the Middle East but for the most part, those were suppressed. The military channels showed a different light on those problems as drought and a snafu in the supply chain had left tens of millions without drinkable water or food. he could do something about that but it would take magic and currently with the low ambient mana his mana regeneration rate, even with his Convergence ability was reduced to 25% normal. Which meant it would take him about 10 minutes to recover to his full mana if he depleted it.
Yeah, he still had to tackle why the magic went away and then came back issue. Adam sure hoped it wasn¡¯t a Syndicate-type situation. The gradual increase seemed to negate that idea. Even though magic was coming back, he wondered what his regeneration rate would do to the surrounding area if it actually tried to pull in as much mana as he was able to and couldn¡¯t. Would he create a dead zone of mana in the area he was in? One problem at a time. Right now, he needed to find out what was going on in the mundane world.
Desirae was the first to come downstairs, saw he was drinking coffee and watching television then said, ¡°Thor if you don¡¯t mind,¡± as a cup of coffee appeared in her hand, and she took a sip.
¡°Rubbed off on you did I?¡± he asked.
¡°A little,¡± she said with a coy smile. ¡°As did other things.¡± She said grinning.¡±
¡°Point to you,¡± he said laughing.
¡°Why are you over here, I know you can do whatever you need to do from wherever you¡¯re doing it?¡± she asked.
¡°True enough, I¡¯m here because I may need your services soon.¡±
¡°How so?¡± she asked.
¡°Well, my ability to influence, without going into ¡®Johnathan is a complete prick mode¡¯ are kind of limited. One of my ideas is to neutralize the top players and create a power vacuum I can take advantage of.¡±
¡°You want me to kill them?¡±
¡°No! That would be wrong on so many levels. These people aren¡¯t evil..¡±
¡°Evil exists everywhere Johnathan. Good only comes about because people chose to do good.¡±
¡°Where¡¯d you hear that?¡± he asked.
¡°Some soap opera digest article I read. The idea kind of resonated with me,¡± Desirae said.
¡°Well, you¡¯re not far off the mark, but I can¡¯t just send them to another star system and take over the world as I did before,¡± he said.
¡°So, if you¡¯re not going to kill them, what are you going to do ¡°
¡°I¡¯m thinking of bringing to the Earth into my Soul Space. In there, I am effectively God, also I can take care of them until I¡¯m ready to put them out in the soul space.¡±
¡°Won¡¯t they immediately know something is different, especially if they¡¯re abducted?¡±
¡°No that¡¯s where you come in. I¡¯ll give you targets, and you¡¯ll snatch and grab them and we¡¯ll set them up in exactly the same area as they left.¡±
¡°Will you be able to create and control that many variables with fake people they know from their everyday life? That is what you¡¯re planning to do right?¡± she asked.
¡°Yeah,¡±
¡°Bad Idea unless you can transport an entire city into your soul space, and place it on your planet?¡±
¡°Do you mean like just pick up a city and bring it across?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe. You did say you¡¯re effectively a God in your Soul Space right?¡± Desirae asked.
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¡°You know Desirae I like these chats we have; I may be smart but damn that idea is brilliant?¡± he said as an Idea based on what she¡¯d just said culminated in his mind.
¡°We¡¯ll see, won¡¯t we?¡± Desirae asked.
Adam finished his coffee in a gulp, allowed the cup to be broken down then teleported back into his Base of Operations. His default was to rely on technology to solve his problems. Why not use magic instead? Instead of waiting for Thor to finish mapping the networks of the world, he would just know the world. Adam focused his intent and cast a spell that wiped out 30% of his mana. In an instant, he knew everything there was to know about this Planet Earth, and how it was made up as well as every artificial structure it contained including magical constructs and even Dungeon entrances and the creatures that had manifested in the debts of the oceans. he also had a very good understanding of the power that the Chinese had over everyone and the names of the seven individuals that controlled that power from China.
This was going to be easier than he¡¯d thought. All the power came from four men and three women: Li Muchen, Sun Mingze, Tang Muyang, Quian Hoaran Pan Ruoxi, Zeng Yihan, and Sheng Xinyi. They¡¯d even adopted English nicknames for ease of interacting with Americans. The men were Chen, Ming, Yang, and Orin. The women were Roe, Yi, and Sin. The women were outnumbered by the men but they were far more intuitive and intelligent than their male counterparts, they¡¯d have to be and that might make things a little easier.
Adam uploaded the updated information he¡¯d just received into Thor, bypassed all security protocols everywhere, and expanded his network to include the whole world. Adam could have done this from the start, why hadn¡¯t he? Because he didn¡¯t want to be a domineering asshole. If everything went right he still wouldn¡¯t be, That¡¯s what he had these seven for.
It was almost 6 a.m. on the West Coast, so it would be 9 p.m. in China. Adam had two hours. Adam morphed everywhere on the Earth in his Soul Space into a copy of the Earth he¡¯d just come to know, except for his estate and Base of Operation. Then he teleported into the copy of the Board Chamber Li Muchen had made in his 3,000 Acre Estate in the middle of China. Not one to wait, he focused his intent and teleported all seven Chinese leaders into the room behind their seats at the crescent-shaped table he¡¯d created which he stood facing.
As they appeared, each looked down at themselves and realized they were in whatever attire they¡¯d been in, As Sheng Xinyi had been about to take a bath she was in a silk robe. The others were all fully dressed, though Yang and Ming were both in exercise outfits and looked to have been sweating profusely.
Adam was slightly impressed when Qian Haoran, Orin, made a gesture with his right hand, and a bolt of death magic launched at him. Adam raised his right hand and caught the magical bolt and snuffed it out of existence as he activated True Sight and noticed that all seven were covered in layers of magical protection. Nothing could prevent him from doing whatever he wanted to them, but they were at least skilled in the arts. It also explained why he was looking at individuals that appeared to be no older than 40 yet all felt to be well over 100. Someone was teaching magic somewhere.
With a wave of his hand, he bypassed all of their protections, cleaned them up, and put them in their business attire as he spoke to them in perfect Mandarin and said, ¡°Please, sit, we have much to discuss.¡±
¡°What is the meaning of this outrage?¡± Tang Muyang declared as all seven stood behind their chairs not moving.
¡°Shock and Awe it is then,¡± he said as he had the walls and ceilings evaporate around them. The room they were all in rocketed upwards and away from the Earth into his artificial solar system. Adam kept the room pleasantly covered in a breathable atmosphere and at normal gravity as they moved all the way out to the orbit of the Moon in seconds and came to land on the surface at the bottom of the Tycho crater.
¡°Fool, you have doomed us all,¡± Sun Mingze declared.
¡°So, there are others already interested in Earth, I had wondered who they were this time. Not to worry, I¡¯ll find out soon enough,¡± Adam said jovially. As he looked at the seven people with him and noted that they still hadn¡¯t moved and were clinging to the back of their chairs for dear life. Adam waved and a cup of hot tea materialized before each of them. ¡°Please sit, know that you are safer here than you could be anywhere else and that I will return you to your homes shortly.¡±
¡°How can we trust the word of a Gweilo,¡± Li Muchen asked snidely.
¡°You can trust my word, asshole! because I gave it. If he wanted to atomize you, I could do so with a thought. Then, I¡¯d bring you back and do it again. I do not take insults well, nor will I tolerate them.¡±
¡°What can you do, by bringing us here you have already shown a weakness that you need us.¡± Li Muchen started until he was cut off.
¡°I NEED NOTHING!¡± Boomed from the air around everyone as Adam¡¯s manifest form didn¡¯t move and an exact copy of LI Muchen materialized beside him out of Chaos.
Looking over the crowd his copy of Li Muchen spoke in Li Muchen¡¯s voice with his accent perfectly as Adam had copied Li Muchen down to the atom and was simply controlling him, ¡°I need nothing from any of you. I would prefer to work through you and allow you to retain some of your prestige and honor, for the empire you have created is grand and the population of Earth has not suffered horribly under you but as you know times are changing as magic once again returns to Earth. I can make puppet copies of you while I allow you to live out your lives there,¡± the copy of Li Muchen said as he pointed to Earth above the horizon,¡± or we can talk, without insult and I can help you move the populations of Earth into the new age. Make no mistake, I can do it alone, but I would much prefer cooperation than absolute control.¡± The copy of Li Muchen said and then evaporated.
Adam looked them over, noted now the telltale signs of fear in their eyes proceeded, ¡°The Earth you see in the sky over there, that is not the Earth you know. That is my Earth. In this place I control everything. I can adjust and maintain it however I wish. If you chose not to work with me, I will return you to an exact copy of your holdings and you will be able to live out your lives normally with the unfortunate truth that the only individuals you¡¯ll have contact with for a while will be everyone here,¡± he said pausing as Sheng Xinyi moved.
Sheng Xinyi moved to the seat in front of her and sat. She lifted the tea and took a sip as she said, ¡°It took a moment, but I recognize you Johnathan Bennard. I had been watching you because you showed extreme intelligence. We were worried that you might prove a problem. However, you fell into line just like all the other Americans and took the easy road to obscurity. Yet, unless I am dreaming, this is not possible.¡±
Adam produced a copy of her cell phone before her and opened a very small portal near the ceiling of the room she¡¯d teleported out of as he said, ¡°Please, call your people, verify for yourself where Johnathan Bennard is.¡±
Sheng Xinyi picked up the phone, hit the emergency call combination built into her phone, and then made the call to her security people. As the other six Chinese leaders and Adam listened to her he had a monitor rise out of the moon¡¯s surface behind him showing the scene from the camera viewing her room where he¡¯d opened the portal. While they listened to her verify that Johnathan Bennard was at work performing his duties as normal, two men in full military-grade combat gear entered the room and swept it. So, intent on her conversation that she hadn¡¯t noticed the monitor, Sheng Xinyi continued to talk with her security people trying to keep up the ruse, for a full five minutes until the screen showed 20 more people entering the room and searching for her. All were armed and looking for someone or something.
¡°Sheng Xinyi,¡± Adam said as he pointed to the monitor behind him.
She looked up from her phone, saw the monitor behind him, nodded, then closed the phone which evaporated as the nanites in his soul space broke it. ¡°Am I to be punished for calling for help?¡± she asked.
¡°No, I wanted all of you to see that you truly are not on Earth anymore. Also, I am not Johnathan Bennard. At least not the Johnathan Bennard from your Earth. I may have had that name once, but it is no longer the name I go by. Please call him Adam, or if you insist on being formal Adamantadine.¡±
¡°What are you?¡± Pan Ruoxi asked.
¡°I was a man, thrust into impossible circumstances that resulted in the situation we find ourselves in today. Did each of you have vivid bad dreams last night?¡± he asked.
All seven gave a curt nod before Adam continued, ¡°I will provide a very short explanation of what occurred and where we find ourselves now, and where we will go from here. Before I do that I have two questions. First, who, or what is on the real moon? Second, what caused magic to come back into the world?¡±
Sun Mingze answered first, ¡°The simple answer to your questions about the moon is that we do not know who or what is on the moon. We only know that they are aliens and they are there. We were contacted, in Chinese, 30 years ago and told to prevent all missions to the moon.¡±
¡°Fair enough, I¡¯m guessing a show of power was given?¡±
¡°Yes, an asteroid that had been in a stable orbit, suddenly changed course and traveled into Jupiter. They informed us where to look, what to watch for, and why. We detected no collisions, the asteroid just suddenly shot off in a trajectory that six months later had it slamming into Jupiter.¡± Qian Haoran said.
¡°Thank you for the information,¡± Adam said as he waved his hand and a folder appeared next to every seat. ¡°Please sit down, enjoy your tea, and read the file. It will explain why you had the bad dreams and why I am not the Johnathan Bennard you think I am. While it will not give away all my secrets I will inform you now that I am versed in every single school of magic. Also, whatever my skills can¡¯t match, my level and attributes can more than make up for. If one of you would like to spar in non-lethal combat to test this claim I am more than willing to demonstrate. Here I can heal any wound and easily bring any of you, or myself, back if there was an ¡®accident¡¯.¡±
¡°Are you a God?¡±
¡°I have met Divines, but no, I do not consider myself one of them. Please sit, and read, if you are hungry please let him know and I will provide refreshments, anything you desire, I can create.¡±
Zeng Yihan replied, ¡°I would like a bowl of soup that my mother used to make for me when I was a child, that recipe is lost to time, can you provide that?¡±
She was testing his claim, sneaky. Adam searched through her memories until he found the appropriate ones, watched her mother prepare the soup, retrieved the flavor and smell from her memory, and then had chaos bring the bowl into existence in front of her.
¡°I, I don¡¯t believe it.¡± Zen Yihan stammered.
¡°If you have the memory, I can create it here.
She took a cautious sip, then smiled. Adam received six other requests, created their meals, and then left them to read as they ate. He teleported back to his Base of Operation to check in on the ruckus their disappearances were causing.
While they were reading and eating he focused his intent again and used a majority of his magic to conjure food and water supplies near every starving person on planet Earth. No subtlety, it was just suddenly there. Enough for everyone to survive for another seven days. That took almost 90% of his mana. While he rested for the six minutes it took his mana to regenerate, he watched as his seven guests read the files he provided. The next part was going to be tricky.
Chapter 136, No Good Deed
Adam checked the news sites around the world. Within minutes stories started flooding everywhere as news of food rations and bottled water appearing out of thin air started flooding the internet. Thor noticed that the various governments tried to curtail the use of the word ¡°miracle¡±, the common term the people were using. Now that they had plenty to eat and drink, the masses were a lot happier and a lot less prone to governmental control. Back-channel traffic Thor was monitoring showed that the various government agencies were sending query after query across the globe simply asking, ¡°Was that you?¡±
The Chinese, with their leaders missing, said nothing. That should help a lot. Adam had monitors appear and extended the atmosphere so the sound from the news channels could be heard. He also created computer tablets that appeared on the desk in front of each of the leaders. This would allow each of them to call up a specific news channel they wanted to view more closely. Additionally, he also made sure that the main screen showed China¡¯s current response. Adam wanted them to know what was going on when he ported in.
As he adjusted his soul space and watched them from his Base of Operation a Red Prompt flashed in his vision. Mentally accepting the prompt, he noticed it was from his Cosmic Interface,
WARNING: The current ambient magic saturation level has been artificially increased by more than 1,000%.
Adam closed the prompt as he thought, Well crap. Using 90% of a huge mana pool to conjure would have released a shit ton of mana into the surroundings. As he hit pretty much the whole world with that expenditure, the whole world was at well over 1,000% saturation. He should have seen that coming. Adam guessed that it was true that no good deed ever went unpunished.
Adam took over what Thor was doing personally, accelerated his perception machine speed, and then took over every satellite on the planet. He reprogrammed the satellites to scan the planet for anomalies and to send that information to him. He also locked out all military codes and communication lines to prevent any unwanted accidents. Adam couldn¡¯t destroy all the nukes at once like he¡¯d once done but he could make them unavailable for use. He¡¯d take care of them eventually but for now, he needed people not to go crazy as they lost control of their systems. Adam also set off every single air raid siren on the planet. At best, people would think it was a drill. At worst, well he¡¯d deal with it if he had too.
As he made all of these adjustments he teleported back in front of the seven Chinese leaders.
¡°That¡¯s a neat trick,¡± Pan Ruoxi said.
¡°Not a trick, but thank you for the compliment.¡±
¡°I take it you are responsible for the sudden influx of food and water?¡± Li Muchen asked.
¡°I am. I am also going to have to modify my plans. Please no questions, just listen and understand that whatever I wanted to happen here, is no longer possible. Even I must make concessions if we are going to save lives,¡± he said gravely as he waited for a response. When none came he continued. ¡°I have viewed each of you and know that all of you are aware of magic and have been trained by someone. That is not an issue. The issue is that Earth, your Earth, had a very low ambient magic level and that level had just reached the point where prompts and messages were working again. The food you just saw delivered across the world was done by me. I conjured it all into existence and placed it all over the planet at the same time.¡±
Qian Haoran scoffed but did not say anything, nor did the other six, though they all looked at him doubtfully.
¡°It matters not whether you believe me, the truth will become clear soon enough. What matters is that you understand I forgot or chose not to remember, a rule when using magic. When you use magic the energy must go somewhere. Normally it is reabsorbed and even distributed. Eventually, it will be. The problem today is that I have rapidly accelerated a process that should have taken a long time and would have given the people of Earth plenty of time to adapt to the changes having magic present makes.¡±
Shen Xinyi lifted a finger and then asked, ¡°Why would more magic be a bad thing?¡±
¡°I understand that you have received reports on locations, usually caves, that seem to have mythical creatures and monsters living in them that the monsters don¡¯t normally delve out of. The reason they do not delve out is that they are creatures of magic and must be near a source of magic to survive. Before today, if they were to leave their dungeons, they would have withered and died rapidly. Now that the world has been saturated with magic, the creatures can leave their dungeons, live, and thrive as they explore and kill. The creatures and monsters can venture anywhere so long as the magic is plentiful. Additionally, high levels of magic can also spawn random magical creatures and monsters anywhere the saturation is high. Anywhere.¡±
¡°So, you are saying that monsters can spawn anywhere on the planet?¡± Tang Muyang asked.
¡°Yes, this is where I let you all know what I need you to do. Not what I want you to do, what I need you to do. First, China will officially be responsible for the food and water that appeared out of nowhere. Explain it away as a newly developed technology that allows you to transport items like in the show Star Trek. I will provide the technology to anyone that wishes it in the coming days, but China will have first access if you comply with my instructions.
¡°You will¡.¡± Sun Mingze started to say, as Adam froze all seven of them with a thought to prevent any further interruptions.
¡°This is not a negotiation. You have little power and none in comparison to me. Please remain silent until I¡¯m done,¡± he said as he felt Sun Mingze seethe. He would probably be a problem later, but Adam didn¡¯t have time for this right now. He paused for a moment to let what he¡¯d said sink in and checked the globe to see if anything had happened yet. So far nothing, maybe he was worrying for nothing? Adam brought his attention back to the table and released them from their paralysis.
The seven looked back and forth for a moment then turned back to him as they remained silent. Powerful people don¡¯t become powerful by not knowing how to wait for an opportunity. If looks could kill, he¡¯d have been dead seven times over though. Of course, without a majority of their help, a lot more people would probably die.
¡°Where was I? Oh, yes, I want China to take credit for the appearance of the food around the world. When asked, have your people inform the media that your scientist finally made a breakthrough that you will be sharing with the world shortly. Yes, I have the knowledge of this technology and yes I will share it with your country first if you do as I ask,¡± he said. As he finished he noticed that the looks of rage were being slowly replaced by looks of hunger.
¡°Also, I want you to tell everyone to stand down on their efforts to take the internet back from the virus that¡¯s taking it over. Some of your technicians are quite brilliant and detected the virus. That virus isn¡¯t a virus, it¡¯s me. They can¡¯t succeed so tell them to stop wasting their time. Don¡¯t worry about those that don¡¯t take your instructions or that you secretly tell to continue. When I detect them, and I will, they¡¯ll be on that blue ball over there,¡± Adam said as he pointed to the Earth in the sky above them, ¡°and no, I won¡¯t be replacing them with duplicates. One day they¡¯ll just disappear,¡± Adam said flatly.
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¡°Why do you need the internet?¡± Tan Muyang asked.
¡°I need it to continue to watch over the planet as well as have the ability to warn everyone in an emergency. Let me finish by saying that the more truthful and accommodating the Chinese are with the rest of the world going forward, the better off China and you seven specifically will be,¡± he said checking a monitor in his Base of Operation that had just flagged him, ¡°Our time is up, The Chinese military is starting to get nervous with no responses from the seven of you. We may see each other again after this is over but for now, know that I am watching everyone everywhere and there is nothing you can do to stop me. Thank you for your time,¡± Adam said with a slight bow as all seven were teleported back to where he¡¯d abducted them from.
Next, he repaired his moon and the Earth as he teleported back to his Base of Operation. Adam focused his intent and will to see if he could teleport the entire planet into his soul space. When he didn¡¯t receive an error message he knew that he could do that if he needed to. He let go of the intent. He did not know everything that was going on this Earth and placing an interdimensional dungeon with links to the Labyrinth inside his soul space sounded like a bad idea.
Regardless, things were only going to get more fast-paced. He needed to be able to focus on handling problems. With that realization, he opened a portal to his mom and dad¡¯s hospital room and stepped through to the shock of an orderly who had been preparing their breakfast. He walked between both beds and held out his hands, which his mom and dad reached out and took. Adam winked at the orderly and teleported all three of them into his Place of Power in the dining room as he left the orderly looking at an empty room. Adam took the liberty of changing their clothes and setting a breakfast he knew they¡¯d like on the table in front of them, ¡°Plan change, Earth is no longer safe, your both here for the duration,¡± he said as he left them to their breakfast and teleported back to the Base of Operation.
From his Base of Operation, he transferred back into his body in California and reabsorbed the mentality of the Johnathan Prime he¡¯d created. He watched as the Chairman of the Central Committee for China made a public announcement claiming that China was responsible for the free food and water around the world and would be making an extensive announcement later, for now, everyone should rejoice in the gifts provided to those most in need around the world.
As he monitored the surface of Earth for any anomalies he was caught by surprise when a female voice was heard by everyone and everything on the planet Earth as if she was right next to them speaking normally.
¡°Adamantadine, I have come to Arbitrate.¡±
Arbitrate, Arbitrate with whom or what? As those thoughts went through his mind he searched the surface of the planet utilizing the technology he had available. He found nothing. Whoever this was somewhere there were no cameras. That left places that were hard to reach. If the creature didn¡¯t just teleport in, maybe it came through a Dungeon entrance? Adam opened portals very quickly above each location that he knew had a dungeon entrance and found a woman floating above the ocean in the Bermuda Triangle. As he noticed her he saw her look up to the portal but make no further movements.
From his office in California, his co-workers were a little surprised when he stepped away from his chair and dropped through a hole in the floor into the air above the visitor. The portal closed as Adam modified his clothing and appearance to reflect his days on Primore, he just liked wearing the black leathers, though they were just cosmetic at this point. Adam floated down until he was facing the woman. She had pale skin, Chestnut brown hair, and looked identical to the body Abi now resided in. Adam came to hover 10 feet in front of her and said, ¡°I am Adamantadine, by chance would your name be Abagail?¡±
She smiled and then said, ¡°My master was correct, you are most insightful. My name was Abagail before I was absorbed into my master when that vessel died. Currently, I am but a construct of my master¡¯s will. I have been sent to convey a message and an invitation.¡±
While he had a feeling who she was talking about he still had to ask, ¡°Who is your master and why should I visit her?¡±
¡°My master is the entity known as the Labyrinth. As for why you should visit, My master offers safe passage to and from her presence as well as a guarantee that if you accept this invitation she will continue to oppose and prevent those creatures from the Labyrinth that have detected a ripe new feeding ground outside the Labyrinth through those dungeons connected to this planet.¡±
What exactly do we have to discuss?¡± he asked.
¡°I was not told exactly, except to say that if asked he was informed to say ¡®the ring.¡¯¡±
¡°Understood, give me a moment and I¡¯ll be ready to follow you,¡± he said. While he continued to float in front of her he manifested a copy of myself into his Place of Power and asked Desirae for the ring.
¡°What do you need it for?¡± she asked.
¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that I¡¯m going to have to give it up.¡±
¡°Are you getting more out of giving it up than keeping it?¡± Desirae asked.
¡°Actually, yes. Currently, the world has been flooded with magic, my fault. We have a visitor from elsewhere and it seems that the Labyrinth has already taken steps to keep the Earth from getting flooded with monsters from Dungeons and the Labyrinth..¡±
¡°That sounds like a definite benefit to us. Maybe you should go with her.¡± Desirae said.
¡°I was planning to,¡± he said with a smile. ¡°The ring please?¡±
Desirae handed him the ring. Adam transferred it to his soul storage for safekeeping. He also transferred the giant ring with the 1,000 rings attached to it into his soul storage as well. Adam nodded to Desirae then teleported, or translocated, to his Base of Operations. He was getting pretty good at moving his awareness between locations and the bodies he¡¯d created from the ambient chaos in his soul space.
Next, he needed to set up a place where Thor would have all the processing power he needed and could continue as well as start replacing infrastructure with nanites, so he¡¯d have easier control. He was going to go into a Dungeon to meet Abigail¡¯s master whom he knew was some version of the Labyrinth. That he, she, or it knew him was a good sign but there was no telling how long he¡¯d be gone so he needed to make sure Thor was going to have the ability to survive on his own while he was gone.
Since he could control everything from his soul space and his Earth was an exact copy of this Earth he opened a small portal near a communications cable that ran from California to Hawaii at a depth of 1,000 feet between those two locations on both planets. As both pressures were equal there was no sudden flooding in either direction. he let his chaos spread out to its 8-foot limit and created a seven-foot by seven-foot box that would be able to house Thor¡¯s mind and also act as his brain once Adam was out of range.
Adam made the structure transparent to sonar so ships checking the seafloor and cable for tampering wouldn¡¯t detect it and connected Thor¡¯s brain to that cable from below. That way Thor could pull materials from the local surroundings to create the nanites he¡¯d need to replace the cables and eventually the systems they connected to. The nanites he created to begin this process were the smallest version of nanite that he¡¯d ever created. Microscopic, but not so microscopic that they couldn¡¯t be detected.
Adam told Thor to drill down another 1,000 feet below the sea floor before creating a facility that could house a small number of people and also work to get power production and portals set up. The nanites he created from removing that material were to be used to replace the cables and infrastructure in both California and Hawaii. The material from the replaced cables and machines was to be used to spread again. The nanites would become the infrastructure that kept the internet and communications going. Once the portal was up and running and he¡¯d have access to space command to monitor satellite traffic. Infiltration of satellites in orbit would be next. If Adam was gone for a long time Thor might finish. If not they¡¯d finish up together in short order when he returned.
Ten seconds later the portal in the Pacific Ocean closed, Thor was up and running, and he was ready to go. Turning to Abigail he said, ¡°Everything is ready here. I¡¯m ready to go when you are.¡±
¡°Very good, please follow me into the depths,¡± Abigail said as she dropped below the waves and descended toward the sea floor in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle. Adam followed her as she went deeper and deeper until she brought them to a small hill on the sea floor with a side that was almost vertical and ended up being the entrance to a cave. As she swam towards it he watched her swing her legs under her and drop gently into a small bubble of air where she landed lightly on the dry seafloor. he followed her example and felt himself pass through a bubble of energy and found himself standing in a small air bubble looking into a man-sized cave entrance.
¡°Through here is a very old Dungeon,¡± Abigail explained, As I made my way through the Dungeon we spoke at length about his history. Until five years ago your time the doorway had been closed as there was not enough mana for him to open the entrance to the depths.¡± Abigail said.
¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken this dungeon isn¡¯t our final destination?¡± Adam asked.
¡°It is not. Also, once you step through that portal, communication with this Realm will be limited. Once we exit the Dungeon through the other side, communication with this realm will be impossible without powerful magic.¡±
¡°Not to worry, I have that covered. Let¡¯s go meet your master,¡± he said.
Chapter 137, Have We Met Before?
As Adam followed Abigail into the Dungeon he was surprised by how dry the air was, they were over a mile and a half underwater after all. Also, the pressure in the Air bubble was one atmosphere. As he looked around a message prompt filled my vision,
Welcome to the Dungeon of the Atlantean Artificer.
Interestingly, Atlantis may have existed after all. Adam looked around the entrance and noticed a hand-sized opalescent pearl on a pedestal.
¡°Please touch the pearl and activate this Node for yourself. You are familiar with Nodes and how they work?¡± Abagail asked.
Adam walked over and touched the pearl. As he accepted the prompt asking if he wanted to add himself to this node he said, ¡°Yes, Nodes allow adventurers to teleport through dungeons quickly bypassing areas they¡¯ve already explored. Also, by accepting this Node into my personal network of nodes I¡¯ve given myself the ability to return to this node later.¡±
Abigail smiled as she said, ¡°Exactly. Because you do not have all of the nodes to the location I must take you to, there is a little bit of a hike involved. If I might ask, how fast are you?¡±
¡°Quite fast, though I think I¡¯d damage the dungeons I passed through if I were to move at full speed. Why don¡¯t I just teleport to you as you move from node to node?¡± Adam asked
¡°You can do that, target someone you barely know and then teleport to them?¡± she asked.
¡°Let me check,¡± Adam said as he closed my eyes, willed his intent, and then teleported to Abigail. When he appeared beside her she looked at him with interest. ¡°Yep, I can do that. Please use the node to go to the next node, I¡¯ll teleport to you, add that node to my network, and so on.¡±
Abigail looked thoughtful for a moment then smiled as she said, ¡°This will reduce our travel time by days, if not weeks. Also, as we are now in a dungeon the Labyrinth and I are in contact again. I am to inform you that safe passage is only granted to gain these node locations once and when you are finished speaking with my master you may use the nodes to come back to this node once. Any deviations or future uses are not covered by her guarantee of safe passage,¡± Abigail said.
¡°I understand, safe passage to the Labyrinth for our talk. One use of the node network to leave. If I chose to go elsewhere that¡¯s on me. I accept the conditions. Let¡¯s get this party started,¡± Adam said enthusiastically.
Abigail walked up to the node, touched it, and vanished. Adam teleported to her, touched the new node, accepted it to his network then Abigail vanished again.
They repeated this process 5 more times before they appeared in a room with two black portals, each at opposite ends of the bricked room they were in. There was a Node pedestal in the middle of the chamber.
¡°What is this?¡± Adam asked.
¡°This node,¡± she said as he added it to his network of nodes, ¡°you just added yourself to is a connection node. This type of node connects either Dungeon to Dungeon or Dungeon to Labyrinth. If you were to walk through that curtain of black energy you would find yourself in the very beginning of the Labyrinth.¡±
¡°So, the Labyrinth connects directly to this Dungeon on Earth then?¡± he asked.
¡°Yes, though this dungeon remained closed to your world for so long due to mana deprivation. With the return of magic creatures may once again move through the dungeon into your world. Right now, there are Labyrinth creatures on the other side commanded to not allow any monsters or creatures to come into this Dungeon, save you and myself.¡±
¡°Can Monsters use the Node system?¡± he asked.
¡°Yes and no. The better answer is that a sentient dungeon can move monsters around using the node system.
¡°Is this Dungeon Sentient?¡±
¡°Yes, he goes by the name of Al.¡±
¡°Can Al hear me here?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Abigail said as her eyes asked why?
¡°Hey Al, nice to meet you. Concerning you and me, I am of the live and let live opinion. What do you say?¡±
A mouth appeared on the wall and spoke in a gravelly voice, ¡°And why should I care about what you want?¡±
¡°As a dungeon do you have access to Analyze or Identity abilities or spells, to view Adventurers and Monsters as they come in?¡±
¡°Yes, I usually do that through the nodes when travelers touch them but my attempts to Analyze you failed,¡± Al said.
¡°That should have been your first hint but hey, you¡¯re being nice, so I¡¯ll be nice back,¡± he said as he touched the node again and lowered his defenses to allow the dungeon to analyze him. He felt the magic radiate out from the node, it had been subtle, and he hadn¡¯t been watching for it so hadn¡¯t noticed before because he¡¯d automatically resisted it. Then the whole cavern started trembling.
After a few moments, the mouth on the wall spoke again, ¡°I have your word on the live and let live criteria of this relationship?¡± Al asked.
¡°Yes, I have no issues with you or what you¡¯ve done. There is no way you have affected my life to this point so we¡¯re good,¡± Adam said.
¡°Then I agree to this idea of live and let live. On that note, I should let you know that you shouldn¡¯t keep the Labyrinth waiting. That never goes well for those that do,¡± Al said hurriedly.
¡°What did you do?¡± Abigail asked.
¡°I let Al see my attributes and levels
¡°That¡¯s it, no threats, nothing that might warrant a retaliation later?¡± she asked.
¡°Nope, we¡¯re good, aren¡¯t they Al?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yep, good, Thanks for stopping by, Abigail you don¡¯t want to keep her waiting, you know how she gets,¡± Al said hurriedly.
Abigail sighed, resigned to the fact that neither Al nor Adam were going to say more and then touched the node and vanished.
Before he touched the node he asked Al, ¡°Can you absorb things into your dungeon from here if I were to leave something on the floor for you?¡±
¡°Yes?¡± the mouth on the wall said questionly as he drew the word out.
¡°Is there anything you need or want that you haven¡¯t seen in a while?¡± Adam asked
¡°Honestly I wouldn¡¯t know what to ask for?¡± Al said.
¡°Okay, well here is a list of the periodic table, all the elements known to man,¡± he said as Adam let his chaos flow out and create elements from the periodic table. Adam provided the information he needed in English as well as samples of the 118 known elements. Here are a few of the magical ones as well he said as he conjured a block of mithril and adamantium.¡±
Adam watched as the items he created were absorbed into the floor of the dungeon. ¡°When I come back through, we¡¯ll see about setting up a permanent communication network somehow. It¡¯s gotta be kind of lonely down here. Also, people on the surface would find it incredibly difficult to get here. Maybe they can set up a node on the surface for you somewhere.¡±
¡°There used to be one on an island nearby, someone stole the node jewel a long time ago,¡± Al said.
¡°Tell you what, we¡¯ll talk later, the Abigail and Labyrinth are probably wondering what happened to me. You should know that most humans on the surface are only levels 1 through 10. Maybe set up your encounters with that in mind at your entrance from the surface level. You do that and I¡¯ll help you get that node on the surface working again. The people up top are going to need to dungeon dive to get ready for monsters manifesting out of thin air. They need to be stronger. If the weak or the overly greedy sneak their way in and you grow stronger, That¡¯s no great loss if they¡¯re not smart enough to stay away from places they shouldn¡¯t go.¡±
¡°Why are you going to help me?¡± Al asked.
¡°I was a Dungeon Master Once, don¡¯t know how that would work with a Sentient Dungeon but if being a Dungeon Master is on the table again it¡¯s not something I¡¯d be opposed to.¡±
¡°You would have to clear my dungeon one time,¡± Al said.
¡°We¡¯ll talk later, Abigail and her master are waiting,¡± Adam said as he teleported to Abigail who gave him the Why-did-you-make-me-wait-look. Adam just smiled and said, ¡°I was making friends, let¡¯s go.¡±
Over the next hour, they traveled through 34 nodes, making a total of 39 nodes used. After entering the Labyrinth Abigail explained that the 35 nodes were separated by large areas, and each was in a sanctuary of sorts. Some were in an Oasis; others were in mountain valleys, and a few were in temples to various Gods. Adam picked up a sense of power from the temples that hinted at unlimited power. He was not expecting that. Some of the Nodes he added to his network were also connection Nodes to other Dungeons. Adam didn¡¯t tarry and just accepted those Nodes into his node network and continued on. The last time he teleported to Abigail he found her standing next to a golden pearl which was obviously the Node ten feet in front of a golden portal. Adam looked at Abigail questioningly as he cocked his head slightly.
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¡°That portal leads into the heart of the Labyrinth. On the other side are horrors and creatures out of myth and legend that no mortal has seen and survived. There is a Node at the location you are going to but teleportation, other than node travel is prohibited.¡±
¡°So, I have to step through the portal and make my way to the Node at the center?¡±
¡°Yes. My master has lit the way for you. Simply look to the brightest star and make your way toward it. This part of your journey may take a while. There are oases along the way that will see to your needs when you stop to rest.¡±
¡°And nothing will attack me on the other side of this portal?¡±
¡°So long as you do not take aggressive action, they will not either.¡±
¡°What will you be doing?¡±
¡°After you leave here, I will be reabsorbed into the Labyrinth.¡±
¡°You do your job then get killed off?¡±
¡°No, my mind will be stored and when needed again I will be called forth again,¡± she said.
¡°Okay, Abigail. Thank you for your service. I¡¯m off to meet your boss,¡± he said as he turned and walked through the golden portal to find himself standing on a field of grass with only the portal near it. It was twilight out and there were stars in the sky. As he looked up he noticed a very bright star directly overhead. Adam guess he was going up. Adam willed himself into movement and started moving toward the star. As he flew up from the field he looked down and saw that the land went off in both directions as far as he could see, which was quite far. He couldn¡¯t get a sense of scale for this place. Was this another version of a Universe that seemed to go on forever but was really just a sphere so large as to appear flat?
Adam felt himself leave the atmosphere about 25 miles above the surface of the plains. Velocity and time gave him the ability to judge the distance he¡¯d traveled. From this height, he could also see that the land still went off in all directions and it still appeared flat. He noticed that the lighting was provided artificially. When he rose above 100 miles he moved from the twilight into the familiar darkness of empty space. He could still see light coming up from the ground below without the haziness that was usually associated with light traveling through the atmosphere. Adam slowed and went back and sure enough, he found a uniform barrier where the light below ended, and above it was open space. No gradual lessening of atmosphere, just atmosphere then space. It was also at that moment that he noticed that some of the ground was moving off in the distance. From this height to be able to see the creatures moving they must be truly gargantuan in size.
Adam turned back to the Star acting as a Beacon and increased his speed. As he flew towards the star he realized that this Labyrinth was testing him. With the scale of things, he¡¯d seen there was no doubt that she would have had the ability to create a portal or teleport him to herself had she wished. This hinted that he may not have met this Labyrinth before so it was best not to rock the boat.
Adam increased his speed until he was cruising along at more than 10,000 times the speed of light. Remembering an idea he¡¯d read about he made sure he had full sensory capability from his soul space then transported himself into his Base of Operation in his soul space as he continued increasing the speed as the focal point of his soul space traveled through the Labyrinth. Now that his ¡°body¡± was pure energy, there should be no upper limit to the speed he could achieve.
Eventually, he was moving so fast that when he realized he was getting close to the star, he had already passed it. Adam slowed down turned around and manifested his body back into real space again as he made his way back to the star at a much more manageable speed. As he flew into the star system he noted that there was only one planet in the goldilocks zone and moved towards it. As he drew closer he noticed a human woman in a flowing orb rising from the surface toward him.
Adam felt a gentle pressure and then words started to spill into his mind via telepathy: Greetings Adamantadine and welcome to my home, the woman in front of him sent to him telepathically.
Adam hadn¡¯t used telepathy all that often but he knew how so he formatted his thoughts and sent back, Greetings, by what name or form of address would you like me to refer to you while I¡¯m here?
¡°You may refer to him as Bri. Referring to me as a thing always bothered me and taking on a nickname based solely on the spelling of my form and function such as Laby, just didn¡¯t sound unique. So if you would refer to me as Bri, that would be delightful,¡± she thought to him.
¡°Very well Bri please call him Adam then,¡± he sent back.
Bri nodded towards the surface as she sent, If you would follow him to the surface we will be able to sit down and talk. I¡¯m going to take you to the Node first, then we can discuss business,¡± she said as she descended through the atmosphere to a Node placed in a small field before a gazebo laid out before an extremely high-tech-looking facility up on the hill behind it. Adam saw what could only be spaceships on landing pads off behind the facility where they¡¯d landed. As they landed she waved towards the Node, which he touched, and received a message unlike any other he¡¯d received so far.
You have added this Node to your personal Node Network. This Node is currently inactive and may only be reactivated by Bri.
Adam looked at Bri questioningly while he pointed to the node.
Bri smiled as she lead him to the gazebo, took a seat while she indicated that he should do the same then said with a very sweet sultry voice, ¡°I¡¯ll activate it when we are done talking. There are certain rules that I must abide by due to my nature. Nodes may not be deactivated unless the Dungeon it is tied to is destroyed or the node is destroyed. Every node you touched before now must remain active unless destroyed. This node, however, is different. I am allowed one Node at the heart of my Realm that I have complete control over. This is to prevent others from trying to make their way to me without first earning the right to do so¡±
¡°Then why am he here?¡± he asked.
¡°One because you are responsible for the changes to the realms and two because the phantom realms that recombined with this one showed me memories of an encounter you had with one of my phantoms,¡± she said.
¡°Phantoms, are you speaking of copies of yourself that were created in the various Cosmos within this Realm? By the way, where exactly am I as compared to my Realm?¡±
¡°The terms you are using sound correct but I am unsure of their context. Could you let me know the meanings of the words you just used?¡± she asked.
¡°Very well. It is my understanding that the Realm that I am from contained a cosmos that fractured into many more cosmos. Within each of those cosmos various Universes, Dimensions, and the like were also created that could be copies of the original cosmos, but they could also be completely different. My actions and the actions of one of my duplicates destroyed all the other copies of the Cosmos and currently, there is only one version of me from that Cosmos left.¡±
¡°And the Realms you spoke of, where do they reside in this system?¡± Bri asked.
¡°The Realms reside on a layer. A Realm in this context is a term I¡¯m using to define a bubble-like structure or a sea or fluid of something that surrounds a Cosmos and everything that attaches to it. My cosmos is within one Realm. You, it would seem are within the same realm or another realm on this layer.¡±
Bri looked thoughtful for a moment then waved her hands. Refreshments arrived in the form of tropical drinks and small snack cakes. They both took a drink before she spoke. ¡°This next part may take a little bit, feel free to grab refreshments and refill your drink as necessary.¡±
¡°I¡¯m all ears,¡± he said as took a snack cake and bit into it then took a sip of the mango-flavored drink she¡¯d provided.
¡°First, if we use your system of explanation, you are no longer in your Realm. I am a Realm unto myself. When I say I am a Realm I mean I am the Realm. All, Cosmos, Universes, Dimensions, and pocket dimensions within this Realm are part of me. My mind, consciousness, and soul permeate this entire place. I have noticed that you have your own Soul Space. This Realm to me, is much like your Soul Space is to you, though it is not in my soul. Could I house the entire Labyrinth within my Soul, possibly, but I do not need to. Like Nothing, A soul is both infinitely small and infinitely large. But we¡¯re not here to talk about souls.¡±
Bri took a sip of her drink, then looked thoughtful before she continued, ¡°I referred to the Labyrinth you encountered previously as a phantom because it was a copy of himself. The fracturing of a Cosmos is not a common event, but it does happen. When it does, copies of the powerful entities that connect or access that Cosmos come into existence within those shadows of the Cosmos. In my case, many weaker versions of the Labyrinth popped into existence as Universes within the Cosmos they were in. Here¡¯s the important part. Those shadows were copies of me and I do not originate from the Cosmos within your Realm. I am a Realm adjacent to the Realm your Cosmos is in. So, when everything was recombing, the parts of me that came back were not recombining with me, so much as updating me by transferring memories and energy into me.¡±
Adam made a move as if to speak. Bri held up a hand pausing him.
She took another sip of her drink and then continued, ¡°Which is why we are talking now. When that recombining of Cosmos happened the rings that stole experience from my shadows that had been created by various entities and somehow come into your shadow¡¯s possession were confiscated by you, the experience you drew from each of those shadows was negligible. When that experience transfer was reabsorbed by me all the experience being stolen from the various shadow Labyrinth transferred to me as well. While I am powerful and effectively infinite, the amount of experience I¡¯m losing every second when those rings are worn is considerable. I can tell that you do not have the rings on right now and I do thank you for that. The reason I asked for you to come here is so that we can come to some form of arrangement that will allow me to get those rings back and, or, destroy them.¡±
¡°You would like all of the rings back?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes all of them,¡± she said instantly.
¡°Very well,¡± he said as he pulled both the huge ring with 1,000 rings on it and the ring that was linked to them out of my soul storage and handed them to her.
Bri took the large ring in her right hand and the small ring in her left and looked at both, ¡°Just like that?¡±
¡°Yes, just like that. I too found a ring like the 1,000 in the giant ring you¡¯re holding. It helped me become who I am but circumstance and exposure to chaos changed that for me forever. You should not feel what that link became for it does not pull experience from the Labyrinth anymore. These rings,¡± Adam said as he pointed to the rings she held, ¡°are a different matter. Originally I recovered them because the versions of myself that found them were some truly evil monsters that did not deserve the kind of benefits having a ring like that would give. Then I thought of a way to combine the rings so that I could benefit from them all at once, instead of finding 1,000 different people to benefit from them. Because these rings are stealing from you, and they were made without your consent, or the consent of your shadows. I freely give them to you.¡±
¡°You would like nothing for this act of ¡®Kindness¡¯ In return?¡± Bri asked.
¡°For myself, nothing. I would ask that you continue to prevent creatures of the Labyrinth from entering any dungeons that are directly tied to Earth until such time as mortals, not including myself, Desirae, or Abi venture into the Labyrinth. The three of us are all very high level and not an indicator of the strength of the mortals on Earth. Magic has just recently returned to Earth and the mortals there are not ready for monsters of any level, let alone Labyrinth-level entities or monsters.¡±
¡°I can feel them within your soul space. I have noted their soul signatures and will be able to recognize them, you and your mother and father, though neither of them is of high enough level¡,¡± she said pausing as she called for a spell and all but two of the 1,000 XP per second rings vaporized. The last two rings were left floating in the air between Adam and Bri. She looked back at him and smiled. These two rings are for your mother and father. They are a gift to you from me for the honor and kindness you have shown me this today. Please have your parents wear them until such time as they gain no further benefit. When they are done bring the rings back into the labyrinth and drop them anywhere. I will know and reabsorb them into myself at that time.¡±
Adam reached out and took both rings and willed them to his soul space. One onto the right hand of his father and the other onto the right hand of his mother. ¡°Thank you very much,¡± he said as a look of alarm came over Bri¡¯s face.
¡°While I would like to talk to you, even more, Al, the Dungeon you first entered on your way here, has contacted me to inform you that he has been informed of a significant disturbance in an area known as Egypt in your world. The dungeon in that area shared this knowledge with Al. I wish we had more time but you are needed back on your planet,¡± Bri said.
¡°Thank you for your time Bri, and the hospitality you have shown, when things have settled down, may I visit again?
¡°You may, now off with you, you have a world to get in order and I have many adventurers to torment or reward, whichever is befitting of their actions.¡±
Adam stood, quickly moved to the Node which was once again active, and teleported to the entryway to Al. As he walked quickly to the entrance to the ocean he called out, ¡°Thanks for the head¡¯s up Al, I¡¯ll be back when I can to help you set up that Node.¡± Once Adam was in the air bubble outside the entrance to the Dungeon he looked up into the darkness because this deep there was no light and willed himself up and out of the ocean. When he broke the surface he altered his course and headed east towards Egypt.
Chapter 138, Some People are Always Trying to Ice Skate Uphill
As Adam traveled east he across the Atlantic Ocean he could have taken the shorter path by going up and over in a parabola, that would have made the trip just over 4,000 miles. Instead, he went almost due east which would add another 2,500 miles to the trip. He Increased his speed to Mach 10. Even at that speed, it would still take about 53 minutes to get to the pyramids. Adam could teleport, but the 53 minutes would give him a chance to see what was going on.
Adam left a portion of his mentality to handle the flight and then focused on his Base of Operation. He reconnected with Thor and was informed that he hadn¡¯t been gone long enough for him to even get down to the 1,000 feet below the sea bed. The lines between the west coast and Hawaii and the nodes connecting them had completely replaced his nanites. Any information traveling along those communication lines could now be intercepted, blocked, or copied before it continued on its way. Thor was using that connection to get into everything else. So far he hadn¡¯t detected anything that could thwart his infiltration of any system on the planet. The only thing they could do to keep him out was put their information on an air-gapped computer. As soon as they plugged into a network though, he would get all the information on that computer within minutes anyway.
Adam was also informed by Thor that a covert strike squad had hit both his parent¡¯s home and his apartment an hour after he¡¯d disappeared. It would seem that those in power just didn¡¯t know when to let things go. A quick double-check of all the information Thor had been gathering allowed Adam to backtrack the funding, break down who had been paid, and ultimately who was responsible. He could see now that Sun Mingze, one of the seven leaders of China, was not a man that could be taught easily. Tough love, it was then.
Abducting Sun Mingze and his two guards was as easy as opening a portal to a hallway, doorway, or room he was about to enter. It was easy because the portal he created opened into a replica of the same area in his soul space. As Sun Mingze and his two guards were walking down a hallway two portals opened up back to back. The three of them stepped into his soul space. Adam¡¯s chaotic nanites, it was just easier to think of his innate chaos that way, infiltrated and copied all three. Another portal behind them opened and the three nanite-created copies stepped out and went on with whatever they¡¯d been about to do. The three men that had entered his soul space would soon figure out that there was no one else on the planet with them. What was that saying, ¡°Fuck Around and Find Out.¡±
Adam made sure to leave a note on the dinner table that said, ¡°Courtesy of your host, Play Stupid Games, win Stupid Prizes!¡± Adam set the room to be refilled with food for the three of them daily. He wouldn¡¯t want something bad to happen to them¡yet. As he thought about it, if he could get two more idiots to play along, maybe he could help Al out by giving him his first Earth-based adventuring party. If Sun Mingze wanted to be more powerful, maybe Adam could help him along that path and remove him from the equation at the same time. If he failed and died along the way because he couldn¡¯t adapt, that wasn¡¯t really Adam¡¯s problem. It would be fair which meant he wouldn¡¯t lose any sleep if something did happened to Sun Mingze. Who was he kidding? he wouldn¡¯t have lost sleep anyway.
Adam pulled his attention from the three of them after he saw the realization from Sun Mingze that he was not in China anymore, ¡°And there it is,¡± he said to no one in particular, then stopped watching them as he pulled up news reports. The local news was reporting that a demon-like creature had appeared near the Pyramids and moved northeast toward the Cairo Mall. It had decimated everything in its path killing hundreds along the way. The police and then the military had responded to no avail and simply added their number to the dead. A helicopter was hovering near the pyramid with a long-range camera taking in the devastation. The demon appeared to be at least eight feet tall. It was humanoid with black leathery wings, horns, and flames surrounding it. Any living thing that it came near was incinerated by the flames while it used its powerful arms to destroy cars, trucks, and buildings. Even gas tanks exploding near it didn¡¯t slow it down. The news feed cut off when the demon looked directly into the camera and then jumped at the helicopter claws outstretched before the feed went dead.
As Adam closed in on Cairo at Mach 10 and slowed down, he saw the explosion of the helicopter and heard the demon call down to the terrified people below in the language of common from Primore, ¡°Where is that miserable mortal, you will bring him to me or you will all perish!¡± A military sniper took advantage of the pause and tried to shoot the demon as he was coming into range. Adam watched as the bullet vaporized before it even touched its skin. The demon laughed, pointed, and the sniper turned to ash where he lay on top of a building half a mile away. To make his point the demon then began systematically destroying every single person in similar uniforms that it could see until Adam came to a stop floating between it and the people behind him. The demon continued to throw its spell attacks which Adam immediately countered. When the demon realized nothing was happening it paused and looked down and noticed him for the first time, ¡°You!¡± the Demon bellowed in common.
¡°That¡¯s not my name but sure, it¡¯s me!¡± Adam answered in common.
¡°Do you not recognize me, trickster? Do you see what you have done to me?¡±
¡°Can¡¯t say that I recognize you at all,¡± Adam said in common. ¡°Though you remind me of a dipshit of a man I warned from China,¡± he finished in Chinese loud enough for the Cameras that were recording this encounter to pick up. Let the other six Chinese leaders sweat that statement out and wonder what he¡¯d meant.
¡°Why do you speak that gibberish, I have come for my pound of flesh and I will have it!¡± The demon yelled as he attacked. His right clawed hand, which was twice the size of his face reached for Adam as Adam, in turn, called forth his Chaos Blade into his right hand and sliced off that right clawed hand at the wrist. As the hand was severed Adam dismissed the blade, and caught the burning hand with his left hand as he quipped back, ¡°You mean like this pound of flesh here?¡±
¡°Argh,¡± The demon hissed and backed away. ¡°That¡¯s not possible, ¡°the Demon said while he backed away which gave Adam a moment to Analyze the demon.
Detrik, Level 5,000 Arch Demon
¡°Detrik?¡± he asked questionly, ¡°as in the Detrik that didn¡¯t know how to appropriately reward someone who¡¯d set them free from a trap? As in the pissant that doesn¡¯t know how to say thank you for not destroying their soul, or now that I know what is really going on, not saying thank you to the guy that didn¡¯t destroy a portion of their soul, which would have made it impossible for them to recombine and have whatever happened to such souls happen to them?¡±
¡°No, I am the Detrik that did none of what you speak. I was the Detrik of Primore, ready to become one of the Divines of that world when I felt portions of myself return. The amount of Negative Karma guaranteed that I would follow the demonic path which changed me into the creature you see now. I am Detrik Oathbreaker, Arch Demon. I am also far more powerful than any mere mortal and I will destroy you.¡± he said as his body regenerated a new hand and he opened his mouth wide to spew hellfire at Adam.¡±
If Adam was being honest, it kind of tickled. Unlike the other magical attacks he¡¯d dispelled, he couldn¡¯t dispel this. He must have been pulling the energy directly from hell, if there was such a place. The fire engulfed Adam and superheated the air around and behind him. His clothes were destroyed instantly. Luckily he was high enough off the ground that no one was killed outright but many started suffering from radiant energy burns. Most people fled into buildings, which did offer some protection. When the demon¡¯s attack stopped a full minute later Adam was left floating nude before him. That was a nasty attack. Anyone the attack touched would have been instantly destroyed. There¡¯d been a lot of power behind it. Adam would have to end this fight quickly or more people were going to die.
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Adam resummoned his Chaos Blade, double-checked to make sure the Primal Destruction ability was active, It was. As he floated up slowly he reclothed himself in bands of chaotic energy that he used to strategically cover his family jewels and ass as he proclaimed with the full might and intimidation of his maximum attributes, ¡°Once before I gave you mercy, now you will have a none. As a mortal, you failed¡
Adam was interrupted when the Detrick rushed toward him and struck with all his might. Adam saw him coming, locked himself in place, and took the blow. The damage wasn¡¯t insignificant. The detonation alone created a shockwave that turned the upper half of the pyramid into powder. Adam, however, did not budge. He did hear every bone in the demon¡¯s hand break. Adam pushed the demon back with his left hand.
As Detrik tried to recover from the damage he¡¯d just taken and looked at him and mouthed, ¡°How?¡±
¡°As I was saying Demon! As a mortal, you failed to learn your lesson. As a possible divine converted to a Demon, instead of trying to choose a better path you once again chose the path of death and destruction, so be It! Let me introduce you to Destruction!¡± Adam declared as he willed his intent into his Chaos Blade, activated the Primal Destruction aspect it had absorbed, and drove the Chaos Blade through the heart of the demon faster than he had time to react.
You have Struck the Arch Demon Detrik with your Chaos Blade with the intent to Destroy. The Primal Destruction aspect of your Chaos Blade has been activated.
Damage Done 9.07E+35
Arch Demon Detrik¡¯s Hit Points, 2.54E+13 destroyed by two orders of magnitude.
Chaotic Transformation Triggered.
Primal Destruction counters Chaotic Transformation
Arch Demon shell has been utterly destroyed.
Detrik¡¯s Soul has been returned to Primal Chaos.
Those watching the spectacle saw a shimmering white blade appear in the hand of a man that had survived a fountain of flame the Demon had breathed on him surrounded by a blanket of shifting white energy. The man moved quicker than any eye or camera could follow and was suddenly standing in midair, sword extended in a forward thrust pose, with that white blade piercing the Demon¡¯s chest. A pulse of white light was seen jumping from the demon into the sword. The demon disintegrated from the sword outward leaving the man floating alone as ashes spread on the wind and then disappeared. At least that¡¯s what it looked like when people took the time to check the news channel footage after the fact.
As he stood there, Adam had his chaos reform his battle leathers over himself and withdrew the chaos shroud he¡¯d manifested. Then he looked around. Pulling on his memories from his original Cosmos he lowered himself until he was just above the Pyramid then quickly replaced every brick exactly as they had been. While his chaos was doing that he focused his intent and sent out a healing wave in a one-mile radius to heal all people and animals. Adam heard the news anchors screaming for attention but paid them no mind. What did get his attention was when he sensed a missile coming at him at Mach 3. When it was 500 feet away, he opened a portal in front of the missile that opened into his soul space at the same location. The portal closed as the missile passed through and it detonated a moment later.
The missile had been a tactical nuke and the proximity fuse had gone off when it had been close enough to the target destination. The copy of Earth he had in his soul space was as close to the original as possible after all. The nuclear explosion was about 10 times as devastating as the Fat Boy nuke had been and destroyed the replica of Cairo he¡¯d created. Because it was in his soul space and not in the real world, the devastation was negligible, and no one died. Adam had it completely cleaned up and repaired in minutes.
He finished repairing the real Pyramid, waved to the reporters, then flew straight up at just under the speed of sound. Once he was 5 miles up he went hypersonic and started heading west toward the United States. Adam turned on invisibility that was not detectable by satellite or radar station.
While he was flying west toward Alamogordo he had Thor begin removing Johnathan Bennard from any official records. Adam found where his estate had been and landed in the mountains in the middle of nowhere overlooking Alamogordo off to the west. Nothing had been built here. he looked around and knew that he wanted to put his estate back here. he pulled up the current owners and made a call. He offered them 300% of the current market value, cash. He even signed a contract stating that they would get 25% of any mineral deposits discovered within the next 25 years. He¡¯d even make good on that part of the contract if it came up, though he doubted it would. Adam didn¡¯t plan to mine the area, there was no need.
The owner accepted the deal and Adam transferred the money to him immediately. Once that was done he hacked into the local government network, found where everything was, and opened portals to pull out and change all the physical documentation while he also hacked and changed all the digital documentation. All in all, a process that normally took a couple of weeks was done in minutes.
As he was working on the land deed he converted some of the chaos in his soul space into physical nanites then opened a portal and sent them out to recreate his estate and the subterranean base he had under the estate. Adam wanted it to be identical to his Base of Operation in his Soul Space. He also instructed the nanites to build fusion generators and portal devices. Nanites exploded from his soul space and went to work. As they exited his soul space they looked like oil being released from an oil pan as it exploded from the point of Adam¡¯s Soul Space opening and soaked into the ground before they all disappeared and went to work.
While the nanites went to work, he went over to a drop off that looked down on the city far below and sat down to enjoy the sunset as his estate and the underground base were being built behind him. There was a lot to do here as he tried to figure out what had happened to Adaline and Pandora.
As he sat and watched the sun grow closer to the horizon he checked in on Sun Mingze and his guards in his soul space. They were still trying to find someone. It would be a bit. Maybe he should let Desirae have some fun with them. Ultimately he decided , no, that could wait. Maybe if he decided that they needed to try their hand at being adventurers, he¡¯d let Desirae have a go at them then.
Next, he looked at his copy of Sun Mingze in China. Adam had a quantum link into his brain after all. Adam established a connection and watched as the copy performed just as the real Sun Mingze would have and continued to try to order people to find him. They were looking hard too. Eventually, a white man with a long white beard in robes was led in to see Sun Mingze. The guards that entered with the old man left leaving Sung Mingze and the old white man alone.
The man came before Sun Mingze bowed and said, ¡°Sun Mingze, or should I say, a puppet of Adamantadine, May I speak with the man holding the strings to this puppet?¡± the elderly man asked.
Not one to waste an opportunity, Adam opened a portal beside Sun Mingze as he stood and addressed the elderly man through the portal, ¡°Please, come join me, it is a beautiful sunset.¡± Without hesitation, the elderly man stepped through the portal, which closed behind him, looked at where Adam was sitting then stepped beside that point.
¡°May I sit here while we talk and enjoy the sunset?¡± The man asked in elvish¡±
¡°Please,¡± Adam said in elvish as he joined him and they both sat and faced the Sun as it started to sink below the horizon.
They both watched the sun set, neither speaking a word until the last tip of the Sun had dropped below the horizon. As if that were a cue to begin talking the elderly man turned his entire body to face Adam while he remained sitting.
¡°Would you like something to drink?¡± Adam asked in elvish
¡°Do you have apple juice, I find that I like the taste of it with all the sugar they add here?¡± he said.
Adam had the nanites that had saturated the area create some off-the-shelf chilled apple juice in two glasses and handed him one. Adam took a sip first and then waited as the old man did the same.
¡°First, thank you for sharing that moment with me. It felt like you were looking for a moment of solitude and I appreciate that you invited me to partake in it.¡±
¡°You are quite welcome,¡± Adam said.
¡°Second, I am Myrddin. It is very nice to finally meet you Johnathan Bennard,¡± Myrddin said.
Chapter 139, Myrddin
¡°Myrddin?¡± Adam asked, ¡°As in the original name of the mythological Merlin?¡±
¡°One and the same,¡± he said.
¡°Are you saying you are the Merlin out of legend?¡±
¡°I am¡±
¡°Then I have to ask, what were you doing in China?¡±
¡°That¡¯s a long story,¡± he said with a smile.
Adam waved around to the darkening sky and the building being erected behind them, ¡°Well, it would seem that we have the time,¡± he said.
¡°The first thing I need to do is figure out what you know and also I need to know more about you, do you mind if I scrutinize you with one of his abilities?¡± he asked.
¡°As long as you do not harm me, I don¡¯t see a problem with it,¡± Adam said.
Merlin concentrated for a moment and his eyes flared to the golden yellow of the sun. Adam felt a level of magic wash over and ignore every defense he had. The power used against him was of a power level that was downright indescribable. He felt as if his very soul have been run through a ringer and scrutinized, every nook and cranny. If he hadn¡¯t given his permission, he¡¯d have felt severely violated, ¡°Holy Hell, what was that?¡±, Adam asked as he watched the glow fade from Merlin¡¯s eyes.
¡°That was an ability that is very similar to the True Sight spell you like to use. In this case, it sees the Truth of the being it is used on. Also, it must be consented to. There is a version that does not require consent, but it leaves the subject, how shall we say, broken.¡±
¡°After what that felt like, I can imagine. So, what did your ability tell you?¡±
¡°It showed me everything about you. From the moment of your conception until now.¡±
¡°Everything?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Everything,¡± Merlin confirmed.
¡°So, what now?¡±
¡°Now that I know you, and what you¡¯ve been through, I can let you know some of the things you do not know and give you a warning.¡±
Adam held his questions as he conjured two comfortable chairs and a small table between them to put their drinks on.
¡°That use of chaos is more refined than any I have ever encountered. I know that for a time you thought that you had actually created physical objects smaller than would be possible. As you¡¯ve come to realize, will and intent are primary drivers in determining the effects of most magics. Even so, that level of control is incredible.¡±
Adam nodded, ¡°You are, of course, correct. I still find myself thinking about the chaos I use as chaotic nanites because it works for me and lets me fine-tune my control to get the outcome I desire.¡±
¡°What if I were to tell you that, such fine tunned control of chaos has not been seen in a very long time?¡±
¡°How long?¡±
¡°Since before the creation of this Realm,¡± Merlin said.
¡°That is a very bold claim. How would you know?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Because we all come from somewhere.¡±
¡°Myrddin, if you are that old and as powerful as I feel you must be, why are we talking? Could you not just take over this Realm and get things running the way you want?¡± Adam asked jovially.
Myrddin laughed, ¡°Please, call me Merlin. I saw from your thoughts that you think of me thus, let¡¯s keep this easy.¡±
¡°Okay, Merlin. Why did you allow the Chinese to capture you and force you to teach magic to them?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The simple explanation is often correct. I did not allow them to capture me, I was captured. I did not let them force me to teach them, they did force me to teach them.¡±
¡°How? I don¡¯t understand how. I haven¡¯t used Analyze on you yet because I haven¡¯t asked your permission but from the moment you stepped through my portal I felt something was off about you.¡±
¡°That would be my ¡®curse.¡¯ A more appropriate word that would fit would be punishment.¡±
¡°Punishment?¡±
¡°And this is where I start as close to the beginning as I can. Before this Realm came into existence I was born into a Realm that the myths and legends of your world cannot imagine. As far as I know, it still exists. Unlike this realm, there were no level limits and mortals could, and often did, transcend into something else. Very few chose to continue gaining levels in the mortal world because, at a certain point, that level of power was meaningless.¡±
¡°What do you mean meaningless?¡±
¡°I mean meaningless. The ¡®Divines¡¯ and ¡®Gods¡¯, I use those terms lightly, that you have encountered were created in a system that was throttled back because of a mistake one such True Divine made. That True Divine was me. I made the mistake when I caused this Cosmos to fracture every time a possible Cosmos-ending event or choice would take place. My mistake is what you just put an end to. If I forget to say this later, thank you for that by the way.¡±
¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± Adam said as Merlin continued.
¡°Where I was from consisted of beings and creatures that are so far above mortals as to be on another level. You are a man of numbers so let me put this in numbers for you. You have discovered that there are Basic Souls and Advanced Souls and that within those two categories, there are nine levels. Basic, Nascent, Fixed, Copper, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Absolute, and Transcendent. I¡¯m using the terms I pulled from your mind, not what we referred these levels to in my Realm.¡±
¡°Thanks for the clarification. Why is this important?¡± Adam asked.
¡°You have discovered the Rank Disparity trait. That is simply a measure of how much more powerful someone with that level of soul is compared to a normal mortal. In my Realm, there were no level limits but most mortals did not rise above level 300 or 400. It was much easier to rank your soul than gain experience to increase your level after a certain point. You see Johnathan, or do you prefer Adam?¡±
¡°Adam, if you don¡¯t mind,¡± he said.
¡°You see Adam, for just about every other being in existence once a soul reaches copper rank that being stops leveling. They can of course, but normally they devote their time and energy to increasing their soul level.¡±
¡°Why would they do that?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Because one day they will die and no one truly knows what will happen.¡±
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¡°How can beings so powerful die? I feel downright indestructible right now.¡± Adam said
¡°Yes but look where you are. On a planet with humans whose highest level is at most 20, not including your family and friends in your soul space of course.¡±
¡°I¡¯m still not seeing how,¡± Adam said.
¡°You think there are only nine soul categories? There are fifteen. That Arch Demon you fought was two ranks above Transcendent. His rank disparity could not overcome your insanely high levels and attributes though. That rank disparity is effectively a multiply. For instance, let¡¯s say a level 1 human had a strength of 10 and that human fought a level 1 Arch Demon with a strength of 10. The human would hit with a strength of 10, the Arch Demon would hit with a strength of 100,000,000,000. The rank disparity is a multiplier. There are two more ranks above what the Arch Demon was. The highest mortal Rank Disparity is 1.0E+12¡±
Adam paused while he mulled that over for a moment, then said, ¡°So when I fought that level 5,000 demon as a Transcendent soul he had two levels of Rank Disparity more than me, and even with that multiplier added to its attributes, it was still far lower than my current attributes based on levels?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I saw the true combat logs when I reviewed your soul. Your strength was 2.03E+16. The demon¡¯s strength was 3.63E+13. It wasn¡¯t even a contest with that much difference,¡± Merlin said.
¡°Okay, I can see where having a level as high as mine gives me a superior advantage against anything limited to a maximum of level 5,000. They just wouldn¡¯t have the attributes to compete. The way you¡¯re talking, however, means that I must be missing something.¡±
¡°You¡¯re sharp, I¡¯ll give you that,¡± Merlin said as he paused and took a sip of his apple juice before continuing, ¡°There are at least three levels of Divine after the rank of Saint. Oh yes, above the soul rank of Transcendent are the Sage, Seer, Prophet, and Saint soul ranks. A being with the soul rank of Saint has a rank disparity of 1.0E+12.¡±
¡°Even a Saint at level 5,000 doesn¡¯t seem like they would give me a run for his money,¡± Adam said
Merlin smiled knowingly, ¡°Let me remind you that your level advantage is unique to this Realm. Other Realms, including the Labyrinth Realm you visited, contain monsters and creatures that are above level 5,000. The Labyrinth was never restricted and does have the ability to defend herself if she wishes. Though, she must adhere to certain rules as well. If the subject ever comes up, I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll explain her limitations if you ask. Back to what I was going to say. There are three, possibly four soul ranks above the Rank of Saint. The three known levels have the titles, Neophyte, Demi-God, and God. They had other names, but the first beings to hold those ranks found that the titles I just gave fit and continue to use them, as far as I know.¡±
¡°Let me guess, their rank disparity is 1.E+13, 14, and 15?¡± Adam said.
¡°No. A Neophyte has a rank Disparity of 1.0E+100 to a mortal. That means that even at level 1, a Neophyte would be 1.0E+86 times stronger than you are.¡±
Adam coughed and cleared his throat, ¡°That can¡¯t be right¡±
¡°I know that it is, you see, I was once a Neophyte¡±
¡°But, how?¡± Adam asked questioningly¡±
¡°A Demi-God has a rank disparity of 1.0E+1,000 and a God has a Rank Disparity of 1.0E+10,000. If you become one with such power as I once had, there are still others you must answer to.¡±
¡°What happened?¡± Adam asked.
¡°As you know, patterns repeat and multiple realms existed. I watched as countless Realms formed and were then destroyed by those within because they could not take care of their ¡°house¡± for lack of a better term. Suffice it to say, beings within those realms would take actions that would utterly annihilate all life within a Cosmos or dimension. I was from one of the Realms that was lucky enough to never have that issue. We watched and recorded. Now I¡¯m going to skip the dull parts about how I became a Neophyte. I will simply say that on the day that I did, I thought of myself as an unstoppable force with unlimited power and I altered a newly formed Realm so that it could never self-destruct.
¡°How?¡± Adam whispered as he thought about the level of power that would take.
¡°Neophytes and above are given Realm-level access. Simply, I tweaked the rules of this realm so that time would automatically create a copy of the cosmos at any time the Cosmos was about to go off course and probability would allow for two choices. After 14 billion years, you were born into the result of that tampering,¡± Merlin said.
¡°What happened to you?¡±
¡°Within moments of my first act as what I thought myself to be, a God, I found myself sitting before someone I cannot name, and have not seen since. He only said three words to me, ¡®So Be It.¡¯ Then I was stripped of my access to the Realm Interface, reduced in soul level to Copper, without access to his Soul Space, and reduced to level 1. Then I found myself on this barren planet with an ambient magic level that was negligible. As you know, when the ambient level of magic is too low, casting spells is next to impossible.
¡°When did you appear on Earth?¡± Adam asked
¡°Before the dinosaurs, not sure when. My memories of those times are hazy at best. I didn¡¯t start remembering myself until after humanity started to learn to speak. You see, not only could I not level normally, because I am locked to the level I currently am, I could not die. Though to say I could not die is incorrect. I did die, then found myself alive again somewhere else on the planet. I have a soul space after all. Unlike you, my reincarnation is random. When there were no humans for me to be born to, I reincarnated into a fully functional adult with full memory. Once humans appeared on the planet, if I died, I was usually born again and only regained my memories once I hit eighteen. Only in the last 100 years have I been able to live longer than 30 to 40 years before I was killed by some catastrophe or circumstance I couldn¡¯t control¡±
¡°So, when you felt the Cosmos recombine you knew something was up and tried to let the world know?¡±
¡°Yes, then the British picked me up and sent me to China. When the Chinese got hold of me I had to either show them something useful or they¡¯d have locked me away or just killed me again. I didn¡¯t want to die again so I played ball and taught them.¡±
¡°Which brings me to the question of me, how did you know about me?¡± Adam asked.
¡°One of my friends from long ago took pity on me back at the turn of the century and informed me that things were about to change and that I should be on the lookout for a Johnathan Bennard. Of course, I checked on you when you were born but the Johnathan Bennard born into this Cosmos was unexceptional. After, the recombing, I knew that I needed to watch for you. When I looked at you with one of my few remaining abilities, I knew I was right.¡±
¡°Why tell me this now? Why give me all this information?¡±
¡°Because I believe your presence unbalances the lock that was placed on this Realm and the system will correct itself. As it seems that your level, and the ability to gain more levels, is hard locked and can¡¯t be changed the system will most likely unlock the level restriction on everyone else in this Realm, all the Realms in this Layer, and all the layers attached to it.¡±
¡°Wait a minute, are you from outside all of the layers of this Reality¡±
¡°The Simple answer is yes,¡± though I¡¯ve been here long enough to now consider this Realm my home,¡± Merlin said.
¡°Merlin, that¡¯s a lot to take in,¡± Adam said as he checked the status of his construction project behind him. It looked like the nanites were just about done. ¡°Would you like to stay with me as my guest tonight? I have a lot to mull over while I find out why a nuke was used against a Demon in a populated area. That shouldn¡¯t have been possible unless it was sub-launched. Of course, it was on a sub,¡± Adam said as his self-analysis revealed a lot of things he still needed to do.
¡°I would be delighted to accept your hospitality. One question before you go if you don¡¯t mind?¡±
¡°Ask away?¡± he said.
¡°You did understand what I was trying to convey?¡±
¡°Yes, Merlin, I did. I am not all-powerful and I need to tread lightly, or else I might run into a real God that doesn¡¯t know how to use words. That about sum it up?¡± Adam asked.
Merlin laughed, ¡°That about sums it up. As you now know, no matter how powerful you think you are, there is always someone else stronger,¡± Merlin said.
Adam nodded and then stood, ¡°If you¡¯d come with me,¡± he said as he started walking towards his estate door and led Merlin to the elevator to the subterranean complex. ¡°Everything you just told me implies that you are familiar with current technology. Feel free to explore the place and have a look around. Thor is in charge of this area so if you need anything just ask for it out loud and he¡¯ll get it for you,¡± Adam said as they rode the elevator down with him to the residence level, ¡°This is your stop. Enjoy your rest, I¡¯m sure I¡®ll have more questions later.¡±
¡°Thank you for your generosity, another question if you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯m not a prisoner, am I?¡±
¡°Heaven¡¯s no Merlin. If some of the probabilities that are coursing through my mind come to pass, making you an enemy would be very bad for my health. You are my guest. If you wish to leave, you may. I would ask that you wait for at least a week, maybe two before venturing out. If you have seen my memories then you know what I¡¯m trying to set up here. It¡¯s going to take at least two weeks to be able to monitor the whole planet and open a portal anywhere you¡¯d like to go and also open a portal should you wish to return.¡±
¡°I can wait two weeks, and thank you?¡±
¡°As a caveat, Thor has access to all my memories, which means he has access to all the texts I¡¯ve ever come across, if there¡¯s anything from my memories you¡¯d like to review, let him know and my nanites will create a copy for you. Of course, magical texts won¡¯t be magical though if you wish for a copy of something like that I can make those easily enough.¡±
¡°Again, thank you for the hospitality. I¡¯ll leave you to the business of saving the world,¡± Merlin said.
Adam let the elevator doors close and then took it deeper until he reached the Base of Operations. He had a lot of work to do.
Chapter 140, Concentrate on What You Can Do
As Adam walked into the Base of Operation on Earth, the real one. He thought about how nice it was to be back in business. He could worry about everything Merlin had just shared with him but instead of getting bogged down, he decided he needed to focus on the here and now, not a lot of ¡°What If¡¯s¡± that had just popped into his mind based on what he¡¯d just learned.
To that end, he opened a portal at the very bottom of his subterranean building and started flooding the Earth with real nanites from his soul space. He converted the Chaos still lurking outside his artificial solar system in his soul space into nanites and funneled them into the planet. Adam had four Cosmos worth of chaos; minus the bit, he¡¯d already used. They were still small enough to exist within atoms and survive the temperatures and pressures of everything save the extreme gravity of a black hole.
Adam adjusted his original programming and set the nanites up to only infiltrate and convert inorganic matter. Living creatures were off-limits. He wanted the networking this would give him for the planet. He did not want to take over the population. If there were beings that were truly more powerful than him out there, he didn¡¯t want to piss off any of them and especially not the ones that might cover the core idea of free will. Of course, that garnered the question, did they even know that this Realm wasn¡¯t fractured anymore?
When he talked to Merlin again, ah screw it, he needed to know, he asked Merlin through the intercom, ¡°Hey Merlin, quick question for you?¡±
After a few moments, Merlin¡¯s voice came back through the intercom, ¡°Yes Adam?¡±
¡°One of the holes in everything you told me that has been bugging me is concerning people that die. Where do their souls go?¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t cover that? Oh, I see, because I said even the Gods don¡¯t know what happens when they die? Let me clarify. Beings that have not achieved Neophyte or higher status do as you have learned through other sources. They either reincarnate, serve whatever divine or God they worship or move on to one of the other layers until they give up let go, and are reincarnated anyway. That is the one aspect of your teaching that is wrong. Entities cannot just fade away, that doesn¡¯t happen. Once a soul has enough identity to develop a sense of self, even if they get tired of the struggle of existing, they simply shed that identity and become something new, all within the realm of the layer they are on. The Identity may be lost for a time, but things have a habit of happening over and over. This is true for all souls. That is until you get to Neophyte or higher. Neophytes or higher that are destroyed cease to exist, as far as anyone has been able to determine.¡±
¡°What about you, by your own word you have died?¡±
¡°My body has died sure, but I do not have access to my soul space. Whoever punished me made sure my soul space created a new magnification upon my death. I¡¯m not exactly sure how that is working or how it¡¯s configured.
¡°Okay, so souls still follow what I learned until they get to the level you reached or higher unless you¡¯re in the doghouse with big daddy O, who, or whatever that is,¡± Adam said.
¡°That¡¯s about it,¡± Merlin said.
¡°Thanks, Merlin, it was just bugging me.¡±
¡°You¡¯re welcome, signing off,¡± Merlin said as the intercom clicked.
So that made a little more sense. People could die but as he¡¯d learned before it seemed that whatever the system was it had been designed to improve souls from the ground up, at least until that soul reached a certain level. Still, not messing with people or their souls. He¡¯d give them choices, but no more compelling people to do anything. Adam could very easily fall into the trap of a dictator again. He hadn¡¯t liked how that made him feel. If an Individual came for him, that was a choice. How he responded was his choice to make.
Adam continued pouring nanites into Earth and they spread from New Mexico in all directions. If he started from only one point it would take roughly 241 days for the entire earth to be covered. That would take too long. Well, he needed to do this anyway. Adam went into the Elevator, cast Invisibility onH himself then started flying around the globe mapping it out. As he flew around the Globe, he would land in a secluded area, open a portal to his soul space and flood it with nanites for a few minutes. Take off and go find a new location.
It took him the better part of 24 hours to map out the entire globe well enough that he could teleport to any location near a major city. The nanites had covered the whole planet by 2 p.m. central standard time the next day. Once that was done he had the nanites convert the nuclear material in every single weapon to an inert substance, like silicon. No more weapons of mass destruction. He left normal munitions alone because they would probably be needed in the coming days, but nukes were a no-go because they caused too much ecological and collateral damage to allow their use,
With the nanites everywhere, he would now be able to keep track of everything that was going on and copy all the information on the planet. That took about a minute. A quick comparison to his Earth¡¯s information and he found that the deviation his Cosmos had taken from the Prime Cosmos hadn¡¯t been all that great. In fact, it looked like the primary factor that led to change was him. Otherwise, this world could have been his world before he won the lottery.
As he was reviewing everything he noticed that the food and water he¡¯d created was being confiscated by local governments and gangs in some areas. Then they¡¯d try to sell the goods back to those they¡¯d just stolen them from for an insane amount. All the good he¡¯d tried to do was undone within two days. With nanites in play, he now had options.
Adam created food and water for every hungry person on the planet. No magic was involved this time, So he wasn¡¯t worried about saturating the planet with even more magic. he could use nanites to automatically fix everyone but without the infrastructure to help them, millions of people that were sick, suddenly becoming healthy again was a bad idea. This time around he¡¯d provide the food, water, and medicine as needed and let the people recover normally. he could also make immediate chronic care available, but people would need to ask for help.
Then it hit him, he hadn¡¯t even given it a second thought that nanites were working normally with a high saturation of magic. Maybe there had to be a rule in effect within the Cosmic settings for that to be so. Adam wasn¡¯t going to question that it was going on to hard, it was working in his favor so he just went with it, though he started paying really close attention to nanite stability, just in case.
While he was traveling all around the globe he had Thor open a portal to the moon and drop off some nanites there too. It could be the Vrax or the Lexi, but a moon base for observation didn¡¯t seem like either race¡¯s style. The Vrax could already be on the planet blending in and the Lexi were way too warlike. Of course, the recombining could have changed something. He could be dealing with an entirely new species. The nanites would help him figure that out.
Adam also had Thor determine the spatial coordinates and location for every planet in the solar system and drop off some nanites to each of those bodies as well. Those would take time. he had a feeling things were not going to go as easy as they had before. Nanites on the planets in the solar system he was in, were one thing. Spreading out was probably going to be problematic. Of course, that wasn¡¯t really his plan. Back when he¡¯d spread across the Milky Way, he hadn¡¯t known everything he knew now. Knowing that there was more to the Universe than just this Universe, he needed to worry about himself and those he cared about. After that, he¡¯d try to help those in need he came across if he could. Ruling everything and everyone was not his end goal nor was taking care of everyone. It was not good for people to have someone forcing them to live a certain way. He could help, but he would not dictate.
As he worked on getting nanite coverage on Earth and all objects in orbit around Earth he noticed something. His nanites encountered dead zones they could not access across the globe. Adam even had nanites make chains and stick other nanites into each zone. The nanites ceased functioning as they reverted to their basic component particles and disintegrated.
Adam sent out a diagnostic check to all the nanites and was shocked to discover that all his physical nanites were deteriorating. Slowly, but they were deteriorating. The only thing allowing him to set up the coverage was the number of nanites he¡¯d flooded into the planet. It seemed that high levels of ambient magic were incredibly bad for nanites. Of course, flooding the area with magic probably hadn¡¯t helped. Maybe when the magic density equaled out the nanites wouldn¡¯t break down as quickly?
Adam pulled up his Universal Interface and checked the local Ambient Magic level and noticed in just two days it had dropped to 830% above normal density. The magic was being absorbed. Pretty quickly too, if it had gone down over 170% in two days. At that rate, things should be back to normal for a magical universe in another two weeks. Of course, if the refreshment of mana was still low, it might drop back below 100% again. Adam had a feeling that wasn¡¯t going to be the case though.
He reconfigured the nanite programming to account for deterioration and to replace as necessary to keep the surface of all stellar bodies and satellites at 100% nanite coverage then he started reviewing what was going on again. The new food supplies were still being seized. Should he go heavy-handed or have some fun? Adam voted for having some fun and set up a time loop of sorts.
Adam watched as the ¡°freedom fighters¡± in Africa took the food from the various huts in a village and started driving down the road to their base, only to arrive with nothing in the truck. They¡¯d go back to the hut, find the food there, and take it again. They¡¯d yell and scream to figure out how they¡¯d taken the food back, only for it to happen again. The third time a commander had the brilliant idea to have someone in the back of the truck watching the food. As the truck started to pull out of the village all the food broke down into nothing. The soldier pounded on the cab, the truck stopped, and the commander came back to see. They walked back to the huts and sure enough, the food was back. The commander wasn¡¯t stupid, I¡¯ll give him that. He picked up a food ration, walked to the edge of the village, and watched as the food disintegrated in his hand. He went back to the hut grabbed another food ration and ate it. Again, he went back to the hut and noticed that it was immediately replaced. Eventually, the soldiers got in their truck and drove away leaving the people in peace.
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That pattern was repeated across the world as people tried to profit by controlling the supply of food, only to find out that no matter how much was taken, it would always disappear and reappear. One government tried to relocate the people away from their homes so they could use the food for themselves only to find that the food stopped coming to the soldiers and shifted to appear where it was needed. he had to admit, fucking with those assholes as they tried to profit from the suffering of others was fun. Adam also had to admit to himself that just wiping them out of existence would have been easier but could have had dire consequences.
With the food, water, and medicine issues sorted he contacted a Law Firm in New York City and Created Portals Inc LLC. Then he purchased an office in New York City. Adam also looked online for real estate that was for sale and found a very nice valley for sale just east of his estate in the Rocky Mountains. This time he was trying to purchase the land for Portals Inc. So, he¡¯d go through the official process.
Adam put in the bid and let the Lawyers he hired get to work. He did contact the lawyers and let them know that he was one of those that believed that bonuses would be based on the successful and timely acquisition of properties he wished to acquire. After the initial call, he let Thor handle any questions the lawyers had. They could handle property acquisition. Adam would handle infrastructure build-up.
With all of that underway, it was time to visit Al. Adam teleported into the air bubble at the bottom of the Bermuda Triangle and then had a thought. Adam released his chaos into the eight feet around him then started creating an airlock of sorts around the entrance to the dungeon. While he did this he tried to make physical nanites every once in a while and soon realized that when the physical nanites were within 100¡¯ of the entrance they failed to work.
Using only his chaotic nanites he created an underwater structure that could withstand the pressure by making it out of Adamantium, just to see if he could. All windows were transparent Aluminum which were bonded to the Adamantium at a molecular level. The structure was seamless except at the airlock hatches.
Adam moved slowly and built the structure from the ground up to make sure the foundation was also able to withstand the pressure. When he was done he had a structure that was 500 feet in diameter with an airlock at the top that could be attached to an elevator shaft that he would extend to the surface. Eventually, he¡¯d add portals once the technology was up and running again but for now, he¡¯d go with the technology people would expect.
Once the structure was done, he went inside, closed it up, and opened a portal from where he was into the sky 500 feet above the ocean. He held himself in place as almost all the water inside the structure drained through the portal. This completely cleared the upper levels and left just a couple of small puddles of water on the ground floor.
Adam closed the portal then quickly walked around the ground and had his nanites convert the water into chaos and absorb it back into his soul space. The air bubble the dungeon created was in the center of the structure. The cliff rose out of the floor, surrounded by the main room which was 100 feet across. he added a red dotted line around the area of the air bubble the dungeon maintained. Along the outer edge the words, ¡°In Case of Breach move inside the red dotted line or into the cave¡± printed around the outside.
It took about three hours to finish the structure and then provide power, air, and furniture. In a pinch, it could house 50 people and he set up accommodations for 10 five-man parties to have their own areas to rest in. While it might look like the structure from the movie The Abyss on the outside, when he was done the structure resembled a hunting lodge.
After the structure was complete it was a simple matter to create a floating platform that attached to the airlock at the top of the structure. The shaft had an elevator that rose to an underwater base that floated 100 feet under the surface to allow it to remain stable and unaffected by surface waves or wind during a storm. Water planes and boats would land and dock above.
Adam used his normal nanites to create some nice submersibles that could ferry ten people down to the submerged base where they could then ride an elevator down to the Dungeon Entrance. Because he was utilizing normal nanites he made that portion of the base out of normal materials that could withstand the pressure, except for the elevator, he made that out of Adamantium as well.
Buoys were released on quick-release cables to the surface to mark where the structure was beneath the surface. he also sent out a flash message to all subs in the area that the location of the structure so there would not be any accidents. Once the function of this facility became known, he was pretty sure that wouldn¡¯t be an issue. In fact, he was quite sure the governments would be working to protect entry into the dungeon.
Adam finalized his work by filing all the necessary paperwork with every government that was even close to the location he was in as well as with the Chinese and Russian Governments so there would be no misunderstanding as to its purpose. Once everything was filled, the upper part of the base was connected to his underwater fusion reactor. he was done. he clapped his hands as if cleaning them to show that he was done, and stepped into the Dungeon.
A mouth formed on the wall opposite him. ¡°I thought he felt something going on outside of his opening. Is everything all right Adam?¡± Al said.
¡°Yes, that was me. How are you?¡± Adam asked.
¡°As good as can be expected sitting at the bottom of the ocean in a cave that at this depth, I¡¯m lucky if anything makes it into the cave entrance, If I¡¯m being honest.,¡± Al said.
¡°Well, he came to keep my word. Do you have those first couple of levels set up to give those that visit a fighting chance?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yep, would you like to take a look? Nothing in those levels can harm you so you should be able to look around just fine.¡±
¡°I think I will, though I¡¯m just going to look. I¡¯ll use invisibility, go have a look, and be back out here if a few to talk in a few,¡± Adam said
¡°Sounds good¡±
Adam cast invisibility stepped into the first level and moved through the floor Al had created. The first level consisted of a normal cave system with giant crabs, swarms of sharks in ¡°Short Cuts¡± between pools in different caves, and a few critters he didn¡¯t recognize. The floor boss was a giant water-based salamander-looking thing. Behind the boss was a stairway leading down to the second level. The Boss was level 10 and everything else on this level was lower than it. This would be a very good starting level.
The second level would be a little more difficult. The primary creature type in this area were merman. The boss was similar to a witch doctor as he could cast spells. Adam looked around and found nothing that didn¡¯t seem fair, even the traps were appropriate for the level they were on. The first level looked like it was for levels 1-10 and the second for levels 11-20. This would do nicely
Adam walked back to the entrance and faced the wall with the mouth on it. ¡°Do your floors keep to that 10-level pattern going down?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yep, I¡¯ve got 10 floors set aside. The 10th floor can handle a party of level 91 ¨C 100 though it¡¯ll be a bit of a challenge though,¡± Al said.
¡°It looks like we¡¯re ready here, where do I need to go to fix your node link to the surface?¡±
A platinum node rose out of the floor, ¡°You need merely place this node back into the holder that was already created ages ago.¡±
¡°Where is it?¡±
¡°There¡¯s an island 37 miles west and just a little south of his location. On that island, there is a cave with a statue in it. The node goes there.¡±
¡°Adam reviewed the layout of the surrounding area through his nanites. The island of Bermuda was 57 miles southwest of the cave entrance to Al. Just north and east of Bermuda there was an underwater mountain that almost reached the surface. he reviewed the data he had of the area, found the cave Al was talking about, and said, ¡°So I have some bad news there Al, the island you¡¯re talking about. It¡¯s completely submerged now.¡±
¡°Are you sure?¡± Al asked.
¡°Quite sure. I have some good news though. I¡¯ve already created a base and way to get down to your cave entrance for normal mortals.¡±
¡°That¡¯s nice I guess?¡± Al said dejectedly.
¡°Cheer up man, as soon as I get my company up and running I¡¯ll be able to open portals that lead to the facility right outside your cave entrance. Also, it¡¯s made of Adamantium so it¡¯s not going anywhere. Hey, I have an idea! How would you like someone to test your Dungeon levels? Not me, I¡¯m a little overpowered but someone I know would probably love to give it a whirl?¡±
¡°Are you sure? I don¡¯t want to accidentally kill anyone you¡¯re fond of?¡± Al asked.
¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯re going to have that problem, let me get her here,¡± Adam said and opened a portal into his Place of Power near Desirae, who was in a training session with his mom and dad, ¡°Desirae, I have a task for you, if you¡¯re up to it?¡± Adam called out through the portal.
¡°A task he says,¡± Desirae said as she looked up, ¡°Okay you two, we¡¯re done for today. Keep practicing I¡¯ll catch up with you later. Thor if you don¡¯t mind,¡± she said. As Desirae stood the nanites shimmered over her skin and she was left looking refreshed and dressed for success. Desirae took a step through the Portal to stand beside Adam.
¡°Desirae, you are now in a dungeon here on Earth. The dungeon is sentient. This is Al,¡± Adam said as he pointed to the mouth on the stone wall.
Desirae, looked around, ¡°A sentient Dungeon, really?¡± she asked excitedly. ¡°Al was it? Do you have a Dungeon Master yet?¡±
¡°Nooo,¡± Al said hesitantly.
¡°Can he, please?¡± Desirae asked.
¡°Desirae, you, and Al need to work on the terms, one of which is that you need to beat his dungeon. Do you need any equipment or weapons if you and Al come to an arrangement?¡±
¡°I¡¯ll need his weapons and armor. It¡¯ll make running the dungeon easier.
¡°I can do that,¡± Adam said as he focused his will and conjured the equipment he¡¯d taken from her so long ago. The items appeared in a neat pile on the ground before us. ¡°Desirae,¡± he said waiting until she looked up and met his eyes. ¡°Al is a friend of the Labyrinth, whom we do not want to piss off. If you and Al cannot come to an arrangement, just leave him alone. If you do come to an arrangement, by all means, accept the role of Dungeon Master if you are given the opportunity. Lord knows I¡¯m going to be far too busy to do it.¡±
¡°Understood,¡± Desirae said seriously.
¡°Okay, when you¡¯re done, that is the exit portal,¡± he said pointing at the exit portal.¡± Outside you¡¯ll find an underwater base with all the luxuries, including a communication suit through Thor. Also, nanites are out there once you get more than 100 feet from the cave entrance. So just head down the hall to the lounge after you¡¯re done and give him a shout, he¡¯d like to discuss a couple of other things with you about moving out of the soul space and setting up shop to handle affairs here. You, Mom, Dad, Amanda, and Abi.¡±
¡°Okay,¡± Desirae said as she started picking up her equipment and armor
¡°Are you sure she¡¯s going to be okay in here?¡± Al asked.
¡°Al, Desirae was one of the top assassins before we met. She¡¯s also level 5,000. Do you think she¡¯ll be okay in here?¡± Adam asked.
Al sighed, ¡°Yeah she¡¯ll be all right, it won¡¯t even be a contest,¡± Al said.
¡°Okay then, you two hash out terms, I¡¯m going to head back to his Base of Operation. I¡¯ll check on both of you later,¡± Adam said as he teleported to the Base of Operation under his estate in New Mexico.
Chapter 141, That was A Bit Unexpected
As Adam arrived back in his base of Operation he realized he hadn¡¯t looked at a calendar since the Cosmos had been recombined. He¡¯d been assuming he knew what was going on based on the Earth he was born into. As he sat down in his command chair he looked at the calendar. Today was July 15th, 2039. Wait, tomorrow was Johnathan Prime¡¯s birthday. How had he missed that?
As he contemplated the actual date a perimeter alarm sounded for his estate. he altered his perception and looked through the nanites to find Rigel Anderson. The assassin that tried to ambush him at his estate before. Wow, this Cosmos was bringing back all the oldies, but goodies. Adam had his nanites cover him in sleeping attire and teleported into his bed in the estate, face down on the master bed, all sprawled out, as if he was sleeping.
Through the nanites, he watched Clarence, Rigel¡¯s real first name, sneak up to the house where he saw him hesitate and look around questioningly. It seemed someone had bad dreams a couple of nights ago as well. Professional that he was, he entered and cleared the estate, though this time he used a gadget to bypass Adam¡¯s door which killed the silent alarm. As Rigel made his way towards the master bedroom Adam thought about just putting him on his Earth but then decided not to. These mortals were going to have to live and die with their decisions, just like all other creatures that existed. Also, he might be able to convert Clarence to his cause. However, he believed that was far from likely that Clarence would choose death, but he hoped he was mistaken.
Adam watched as Clarence opened the door to his room and saw Adam sprawled out on the bed not moving. As he entered the room with his CZ 75 45, silencer attached, Rigel quickly turned around and looked back down the hallway, and then turned back to Adam.
Adam sent a message to Thor.
Adam: Thor put the nanites on full alert. If a hyper-ballistic tungsten rod enters the atmosphere aimed at my estate I want you to backtrack the satellite it was launched from, open a portal in front of it and have it slam back into that satellite. -Adam
Thor: Is the satellite manned?
Adam: Pull everyone off the satellite and throw them into our soul space. Put them in Washington DC at the Pentagon.
Adam would trust Thor to handle the details. There were only a few ways he could handle such a situation in the limited time he had. Adam focused his attention back on Rigel as he stepped up beside the bed, aimed at his head, and pulled the trigger twice. What happened next, Rigel did not expect. The bullets slammed into Adam¡¯s skull, just like they should. Adam, however, had willed himself to be locked into place and allowed the chaos coursing through his body to absorb the kinetic energy of both bullet impacts. The bullets just stopped. They didn¡¯t flatten, the tip of each bullet came to a complete stop against the back of Adam¡¯s skull, all the kinetic energy transferred into Adam, and the perfect bullet head dropped onto the bed behind him. Adam expected that. What he didn¡¯t expect was that as soon as the bullets were stopped and fell to the bed Clarence engaged the safety on his weapon and dropped it onto the bed as he took a full step back and dropped to his knees with his hands behind his head.
¡°I surrender, please, please, please don¡¯t send me to that planet with the bright red sun. I lived through that once, I don¡¯t want to go again,¡± Clarence said as he looked around frantically.
Adam pushed himself up and turned to face Rigel. As he did, he turned and picked up the two bullets with his right hand as he touched the weapon with his left hand, and stored the weapon in his Soul Storage.
¡°Well shit, ¡±Adam said as he stood and started walking towards the door. As he walked he said, ¡°I accept your surrender, no red sun for you, come along we have some things to discuss.¡±
Rigel hesitated only for a moment, then stood, and followed Adam to the elevator which Rigel could swear wasn¡¯t on the blueprints he¡¯d downloaded early that day. In fact, if he remembered right those plans had just been uploaded and the building shouldn¡¯t have even been made yet. Rigel knew he should have turned and walked away when he saw the completed building.
Adam led Rigel down to the cafeteria level and pointed to a table and chairs. They both sat and Adam said, ¡°Clarence, if you remember the red sun then you know I know your real name. Would you like anything to drink while we sit down and talk?¡± Adam asked.
¡°A Jack and Coke would be nice, a very large Jack and Coke, make that 50% Jack if you could,¡± Clarence said.
Adam created a 64-ounce Jack and Coke for Clarence and a Long Island Iced Tea for himself. Clarence watched with fascination as the glasses formed and then filled with liquid. As they waited, a phone in Clarence¡¯s pocket buzzed.
¡°Ignore it,¡± Adam said.
¡°The kind of people¡¡± Clarence started to say as Adam raised an eyebrow and looked at him questioningly. Clarence paused, thought about what he was going to say then picked up his drink as he said, ¡°Never mind.¡±
¡°I want to see how the people that ordered the hit on me respond when you don¡¯t answer,¡± Adam said, as he checked through his nanites and found Vice President Paula Billingsgate seated at the head of a table holding a phone. Adam was really beginning to hate that lady.
¡°Not well would be my guess,¡± Clarence said
¡°A sense of humor, that¡¯s good, keep that sense of humor. You¡¯re about to be the number 1 most hunted assassin on the planet, not that they¡¯ll find you, I just need a scapegoat for a bit and you¡¯re it,¡± Adam said.
¡°But¡¡±
¡°But¡ you just tried to shoot me in the back of the head. Besides, I need you for a job and not distracted by extraneous other factors. This is going to be your home for a bit.
¡°Do I get paid?¡± Clarence asked.
¡°Of course, you get paid, what do you want?¡± Adam asked
¡°I want to be as powerful as you someday,¡± he said.
¡°I can work with that, welcome to the team Clarence, now watch,¡± Adam said as he flipped an image onto the monitor on the wall to the room.
In the Pentagon, the Vice President and her cohorts in crime were sitting in. They both watched as she pulled out a laptop and accessed Angel Fire, the system that launched kinetic missiles at ground targets from orbit. She selected her target and pushed the send button. Thor traced the command codes to their final destination and found the satellite. Once Thor verified that the satellite wasn¡¯t manned he tracked the missile as it entered the lower atmosphere. When it was 50 miles from the estate a portal opened, and the rod passed through a portal and exited out the other side 1 inch above the center mass of the satellite vectored so the explosion would explode away from the Earth. On the monitor, one of the techs was saying, ¡°Detonation in 24, 23, 22,¡Tracking has been lost.¡± Immediately, everyone in the room started to scramble until the same technician said, ¡°Angel Fire is down¡±
Adam looked away from the monitor to Clarence as he said, ¡°I¡¯m going to be a minute. There is an artificial intelligence listening to everything you say here. If you need another drink or want some food or a snack just ask. I¡¯ll be back in a bit.¡±
Adam stood as a portal opened in front of him and he stepped into the room with the Vice President. Adam let the portal close behind him.
As Adam stepped through the portal the pandemonium ceased and the room became instantly quiet. Smiling, Adam addressed the room, ¡°For those of you that don¡¯t know, I am Adamantadine. Not Johnathan Bennard, or at least the Johnathan Bennard you may have heard of.¡±
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¡°Now listen here Ada, whatever your name is, I don¡¯t know how you made it this far¡..¡± The Vice President started to say but Adam had already stopped listening. What he¡¯d found interesting was that they hadn¡¯t reacted to seeing a portal open into their midst. That was interesting and something to think about later. Now, he had nanites start putting space suits on everyone in the room except the Vice President who stopped talking when the clothes of the others started to morph and change. While the nanites worked he focused his will and surrounded each of the people, eight in all, with a tube of force that surrounded them and went to the ceiling. he left a 1-inch gap at the bottom to allow airflow. Realizing that something was happening all eight stood or tried to move to find that they were pushing against something they couldn¡¯t see.
Once the space suits were complete, he picked a crater on the moon where he knew that whatever was up there wasn¡¯t, as his nanites had already converted that specific crater and then opened a portal that was horizontally above each of the individuals in their tube. Each was ejected upwards with their chair, if they had one, out onto the surface of the moon. As Adam closed the portals and released the tubes of force, The Vice President reached for her neck and two secret service men exploded into the room. As they passed the threshold of the door Adam opened a portal into his soul space behind them. One immediately opened fire on him, while the other grabbed the Vice president and retreated out of the room into his soul space with her. Adam couldn¡¯t have planned that better himself.
Adam had his nanites in his soul space remove all ammunition from the guns the secret service agent was carrying while he closed the portal then teleported out of the room and appeared five feet beside the Vice President and the Secret Service Agent who immediately tried to point and shoot his gun at him.
Adam locked himself in place and waited as the secret service agent realized that his guns were not working and tried to kill him in hand-to-hand combat. Adam just stood there and took the abuse. When The Secret Service agent had broken every finger in his hand and foot and was lying on the ground panting while the Vice President looked on in horror he asked, ¡°Are you done yet or do you need to prove that you will protect the Vice President unto your death?
¡°Unto Death!¡± he spat
¡°Yeah, no,¡± Adam said flatly as he put him to sleep with a spell and had his nanites fix his body. Then he picked him up one-handed and shoved him through a portal into an emergency room in Washington DC on a cart. Adam closed the portal and looked at the Vice President, ¡°As for you Vice President Billingsgate I have a demonstration for you.¡± Adam said as he teleported both of them to the Trinity detonation site in New Mexico in his Soul Space. Next, he put his hand to her forehead before she could move and downloaded all the memories he had on file for the version of herself from his original universe into her. Adam didn¡¯t replace her mind, he simply gave her the memories he had on file from her previous self as well as the memories he had of what had happened to her daughter.
For the next hour, she was a blubbering mess as her mind tried to absorb all of the information he¡¯d shared with her. Adam made sure her body and mind stayed healthy enough to push through until she could once again concentrate and talk in coherent sentences. When she finally came back to herself she said, ¡°None of that explains why we are here,¡± she said waving around.
¡°In the memories, you were just given you encountered a version of me that was a lot more na?ve and well-wishing. Also, a lot more of a dictator. This time around I¡¯m a lot more powerful. I thought this a fitting site to show you what you are up against,¡± Adam said.
¡°I know that someone will destroy you¡¡± She started to say until he cut her off.
¡°I don¡¯t think so, but I was pretty sure you weren¡¯t going to believe me so Plan B it is,¡± he said.
¡°What is Plan B¡±
¡°That would be Plan Boom. I hope you wore your yellow in the front and brown in the back panties,¡± Adam said with a grin. It took her a moment to get what he meant then looked back at him with disgust. As she was about to say something he cast silence on her. Adam really didn¡¯t need to listen to her for this next part. Adam Picked up the Vice President telekinetically and flew 100 miles off to the east and landed facing the Trinity test site. Next, he cast a force bubble with polarization and radiation-absorbing properties around them and locked it down so it wouldn¡¯t move. Then he placed a monitor off to her side inside the bubble that showed a camera image of him from 5 feet away captured by the nanites around him.
¡°We¡¯re about 100 miles away from the detonation site. Even so, the flash from a nuclear explosion could damage your eyes. Not to worry, if they are damaged I can repair them. Also, the bubble you are in will divert any radiation that gets this far out so you¡¯ll be perfectly okay in the bubble. Side note, you¡¯ll see the flash when I detonate the bomb, it¡¯s going to take a little over 8 minutes for the blast wave to get here.¡±
¡°Where will you be?¡± she asked.
¡°Oh,¡± Adam said as he had his nanites create the Tsar 100-megaton bomb the Russian invented outside the bubble of force. Then he teleported out of the bubble to pick it up. I¡¯m going to fly this bomb over to the Trinity site and detonate it at ground zero.¡±
¡°That¡¯s insane, no one can survive that?¡± she said.
¡°Exactly! Be back in a few,¡± Adam said as he flew west to the bomb site. Put the bomb on the ground as he had the nanites finish arming the device. Adam locked himself in place spatially and then detonated the 100-megaton nuclear device while he stood right next to it.
As the nuke went off, the weirdest thing happened. During the moment of the detonation, when his senses were overloaded, and everything was pure energy at that moment of quantum probability as the energy ruptured back into physical reality he felt himself connect to something. Adam also noted that his form shimmered and lost cohesion at that moment. He didn¡¯t look different, but he felt different at that moment in time. It was the weirdest thing he¡¯d experienced up to that point.
Adam watched through the nanites from the Vice Presidents¡¯ vantage point as there was a bright flash then a blast wave rushed towards her. As he monitored her reaction to the explosion and the blast wave rushing toward her, she would have needed yellow panties after all. While she stood there terrified, Adam floated in the center of the mushroom cloud as it rose into the sky. It was amazing! he¡¯d been running, running, and running for so long that the break he took while he waited for the blast wave to rush over Vice President¡¯s bubble was a nice respite.
After the bubble was hit he set the nanites to work cleaning everything in his soul space up, including the Vice President. Adam removed the radioactivity from both of them. He had become pretty ¡°hot¡±, in all the wrong ways. Once that was done he flew back over to the Vice President and landed in front of her. Adam dispelled the bubble and removed the silence spell from her,
¡°I want out, let him out!¡± she screamed.
Adam cast silence on her again then said, ¡°You need to calm down Vice President.¡± he said as he watched her struggle with herself. She tried to scream and holler and even hit him. When she moved towards him he floated up out of easy range and waited. After about five minutes she sat down, looked up at him then finally nodded once. he landed a few feet in front of her and removed the silence spell with a thought, ¡°You can talk now,¡± he said.
¡°What are you?¡± she asked.
¡°I am Adamantadine, that¡¯s it. I¡¯m also not entirely mortal anymore.¡±
¡°Why did you show him this?¡±
¡°Simple enough, when you go back to the White House, because that¡¯s where you will be stepping out into. You are going to need to work with you your seven counterparts in China to help Earth move into a new age. Anything you can do to smooth over his interests will be looked upon favorably. Interference... Do I have to spell it out?
¡°No,¡± she said dejectedly.
¡°Also, the assassin you sent, he¡¯s mine now. No retaliation against his family, no blacklisting of him. He, like you, isn¡¯t being given a choice. People that try to kill me will be lucky if I let them live after a certain point.
¡°You can¡¯t be na?ve enough to think that the governments of the world are going to let you do whatever you want?
¡°With what nukes will they enforce their will? Every nuke on the planet has been disabled. Every single one of them. No one knows yet because no one has tried to use one, except for the idiot that ordered the launch from the sub in the Mediterranean. Who authorized that by the way?¡±
¡°A Nuclear weapon was fired on Cairo from an American Sub, you¡¯re sure?¡± she asked.
¡°I¡¯m not sure, but that fits,¡± Adam said.
¡°Attacking you in New Mexico with Angel Fire, was a bad call, I admit it, an absolutely indefensible call. A lot of people would have been killed and injured but we thought we acting to save the planet. Neither the President nor I would have authorized the use of a nuclear weapon from any sub in the fleet on a population center, especially a population center with cultural significance.¡±
¡°Oh really,¡± Adam said. ¡°Looks like I¡¯m going to have to look into that personally here in a few minutes. For now, we are done,¡± he said as he opened a portal into the oval office with the President of the United States sitting behind his desk. Adam had checked beforehand to make sure he was alone, though there would be a response shortly. ¡°You¡¯re free to go, please fill in the President. I¡¯ll be in touch¡± Adam said as she stepped quickly through the portal, and it closed behind her.
Adam watched through the nanites as the Secret Service rushed into the room and after some tense moments verified that the Vice President, who¡¯d last been seen in the Pentagon, was now at the White House and had stepped through a door out of thin air. While that was going on he had his nanites analyze the only submarine the US had in the Mediterranean Sea and found that every single nuke was still on board.
Next, he scoured the Mediterranean Sea and found a nanite dead zone at the bottom of that sea about 330 miles northwest of Cairo City. As he mapped out the dead zone he found that it extended at least 1,500 feet down. Adam viewed the bottom of the sea there and noted camouflaged structures that could be launch tubes as well as something that looked suspiciously like a docking port as well as an area that looked like it could open up to allow submersibles to enter or exit as desired. It was somewhat surprising when the sea floor parted and a silver disc moved up out of the underground structure then turned on its side and flew straight up and out of the sea on a trajectory that seemed to be heading straight for the moon. Adam¡¯s nanites couldn¡¯t get into that flying saucer either. It Looked like there was a new player in town. Adam would need to finish covering the moon with nanites to see what was going on there.
Chapter 142, Visitors and Honorable Combat
Adam teleported back to the Cafeteria level at his estate and found Clarence watching the monitors while he ate a steak dinner with all the fixings, ¡°I see you figured out how to ask for food,¡± Adam said.
Clarence finished chewing, took a drink of his Jack and Coke then said, ¡°Yeah, this is a pretty nice setup. I heard what you said, no choice, guess that¡¯s fair. Better than being at the center of the bomb with you when it went off. That said, what do you need me for?¡± Clarence asked.
¡°I needed someone to make sure this place is ship shape and someone to fill in for a no-show when Desirae¡¯s adventuring party heads out. That would be you,¡± Adam said.
¡°The sane bus left me a little bit back so when I say I don¡¯t have a clue what you¡¯re talking about, I¡®m being completely honest,¡± Clarence said.
Adam laughed, ¡°Fair enough. When someone else who tried to kill me once before gets back from a task she¡¯s working on she will be working with my parents and two other women, Abi and Amanda. It¡¯s going to be your job to work and train with them. Desirae and you should get along splendidly. Fair warning, Desirae is much more powerful than any other person on Earth, save me at the moment. Not as powerful as me but I¡¯m kind of special, to be honest,¡± Adam said.
¡°Special isn¡¯t a word I¡¯d use,¡± Clarence said.
¡°Alrighty then, I see you understand. I need to get going. Thor will see to your needs. Explore the facility, Thor will get you anything you ask for, including things from your home, vehicle, or storage areas. Anything else that is simply equipment, Thor can make for you. I need to head to the Moon to check on something and send those Generals and technicians back to the Pentagon. Damn, think I should dress up as Superman, that would totally freak them out wouldn¡¯t it?¡±
¡°Dress up as Superman?¡± Clarence asked.
¡°I know right, would be so cool, but copyright infringement could be a problem. Yeah, let¡¯s leave copyrighted material out of this. Hey Clarence, good call there, enjoy your meal, I¡¯m out,¡± Adam said as he teleported to the landing pad at ground level above them and flew up into orbit and then toward the moon. Adam kept his speed reasonable until he was out of the atmosphere then accelerated so he¡¯d reach the moon in only 5 minutes.
As he came into sight of the crater he found all eight people huddling together. One of them pointed and then everyone looked at Adam as he landed on the Moon without a space suit. No atmosphere meant no speaking, so he formed an iPad in his hand and displayed the words; ¡°One sec, time to send you all home.¡±
Adam used his chaos to create an airlock that could hold all eight of them and ushered them all inside. Once they were in, he stabilized the pressure to Earth norm, cleaned them up, and then evaporated their space suits. he opened a portal inside the airlock to the main foyer of the Pentagon. Once the portal opened they didn¡¯t even hesitate, all of them rushed through to the other side. People looked up in shock. Some security guards started to react until they saw the ranks involved then, saw the portal, and realized something wasn¡¯t right. One quick thinking guard even hit the security alarm.
When the eight dropped to their knees and started sobbing the security guards called for medical personnel. Adam closed the portal. Note to self: ejecting people from the planet might be a little more traumatizing than he¡¯d first considered. Adam thought it would have been pretty cool for them to have a bouncy time on the moon, guess he was wrong.
After he closed the portal he broke down the airlock and all the chairs that were littered on the moon¡¯s surface and converted everything into nanites that he absorbed back into his Soul Space. He¡¯d also detected the flying silver disc as it had flown to a spot on the opposite side of the moon and disappeared 100 feet from the surface. Adam had the nanites in the rocks double-check the area. They found nothing. Adam cast invisibility and True Sight on himself and flew around to the other side of the moon.
As he came to the area where the flying disc had disappeared he encountered a rectangular energy plane. The energy plane was 100 feet across, 50 feet high, and had no width that he could detect. A portal of some kind then. Adam opened up his Universal Interface and queried the energy portal in front of me.
Xerexi Transit Portal
WARNING: This portal leads to another Realm. Target Quantum State may not be compatible with all entities from this Quantum State.
Xerexi? Who, or what the fuck where the Xerexi?
The Xerexi are not indigenous to this Realm. You have no skill concerning the knowledge of this creature type.
Nice to know his Pansophical ability was Realm-based and Realm specific. He wonder if that meant he¡¯d run into issues in other realms. Maybe it was just concerning knowledge skills that were considered unique to a realm. Traveling through an unknown portal to an unknown realm? Yeah, hard pass. There was something he could do though. he teleported to the Mediterranean Sea and lowered himself into the ocean until he floated right above where the disc had exited the nanite dead zone from.
Adam moved right up to the nanite dead zone edge and then analyzed what he was looking at. Within seconds he had it figured out. This discovery might just help him out in other areas as well. His nanites were being destroyed by miniature elementals that resembled his nanites. The elementals seemed to be a combination of Earth and Air. Tiny Elementals? Wow, that Idea had some merit. Adam focused on one of the Elementals and used Analyze
Congratulations! You have Analyzed a MAT (Microscopic Amorphous Terra-Former).
A MAT is a level 1 synthetically created air and earth elemental that mimics many of the properties of microscopic machines known as Nanites. These elementals were created for use in high-magic areas that were impenetrable to electronic nanites.
MATs are created from one central creature and must stay near the Terror-Former Intelligence which controls all properties of MATs.
Unlike nanites, MATs are not programmed. They are controlled by the Terra-Former Intelligence.
MATs can do everything normal nanites can do. So long as there is material to convert the Terra-Former Intelligence can direct the MATs to create any natural element, shape, or normal device.
The Terra-Former Intelligence is created by summoning an Earth and Air Elemental then forcefully combing both into a specific configuration. If the summoner ever dies or the elemental abomination is destroyed, Should the Elementals survive they will immediately attack their summoner? Without the Terra-Former Intelligence, the MATs will break down into air and earth mana within moments.
Maybe he wouldn¡¯t be bastardizing elementals to circumvent his limitations with Chaos. Besides just feeling wrong. Yeah, no. Time to end this bull shit right now. Adam surrounded himself with Chaos and made his way into the base. Immediately the MATs attacked him trying to break me down, only to find that they were attacking things that reached in and released the bonds holding them together. The structure of a MAT was elegant and beautiful. Air-based magic had been combined with Earth-based magic and each of the microscopic elementals could morph and change as the driving intelligence wanted. As the MATs came into contact with his chaotic nanites, his chaos, they evaporated as the energy they were made up of was absorbed.
As he made his way to the center of the underwater base the MATs also attacked him by trying to obscure his vision. They would build structures to prevent him from moving forward which would melt before me. On the periphery of his vision, he noticed small spider-like creatures. They kind of looked like the description of a Drider, Half-dark elf, and half-spider, except these creatures were only four feet tall and the upper body resembled that of a gnome more than a dark elf. Adam tried to utilize Analyze on them but the area was flooded with MATs. The only thing his Analyze picked up was the MATs
As he came to the center of the base he found the Terra-Former Intelligence and looked it over. As he scanned it he realized that two entities were locked in tremendous pain. Adam spread his chaos so he could get a good reading on the progenitor of the MATS and Analyzed it. He quickly read over the information which was a copy of what he¡¯d already seen. Using his Chaos he poked and prodded the amalgamation to see if there was anything he could do to separate the two elementals, his efforts were useless. Magic it was then
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Adam focused his will and his intent and wished for the entities be reverted to their true forms as he also brought a magical barrier into being around it. When he was satisfied He activated the spell. As he did, his chaos felt the wall that they were against start to shrink as the MATS started evaporating. This didn¡¯t happen before a particularly nasty order was given by the intelligence. Adam heard screams throughout the facility as the last act of the MATs was to kill every living thing in the base. They did not affect him but everything else died as they were systematically erased from existence.
When the room was finally cleared, Adam stood before a bubble of force that held an Air Elemental and an Earth Elemental that was looking at him intently. As his technological nanites flooded in from all directions and started infiltrating the base Adam looked at the Elementals and removed the bubble. Through his True Sight, he noted their intent to attack and willed his Chaos Blade into his hand for both to see. When both hesitated he willed the blade away and said, ¡°Do you understand me?¡±
¡°Yes Human, we understand you,¡± The Earth Elemental said gruffly
¡°Good, do you know what race imprisoned you and how many others like you there are?
¡°The Race that violated us was the Xerexi. As for the number of us, More than myself is all I can say.¡±
¡°What will you do now?¡± Adam asked.
¡°We will do what elementals do, we will live and grow. Why do you ask?¡±
¡°I am Adamantadine, I released you from your torment and I now release you from any true or assumed obligation you feel for that act. You are free to go. I am going to destroy this base shortly,¡± Adam said.
¡°It is good to meet you Adamantadine. My friend is Zeph and I am Mot. Should our paths ever meet again I will remember the kindness you have shown us,¡± A look of horror crossed the Mots¡¯ rocky face.
¡°What is it Mot?¡±
¡°The summoner returns. I am still linked. I have been ordered to stay where he am.¡±
Adam directed his attention to the back side of the Moon and sure enough, the flying disc had returned and was even now heading towards Earth. Adam looked at Zeph and Mot and said, ¡°You two stay in this room. The rest of the base will be destroyed,¡± then teleported to the Moons surface and started chasing the saucer. Adam reached out with a hand and dug his fingers into the metal as he surrounded both the disc and himself in a bubble of force and stopped both of their movements.
Without hesitation, whoever was controlling the flying saucer reversed the direction of the flying saucer and turned it, and whomever the idiot was, into a particle storm as it reversed direction and activated something that caused the ship to try to go faster-than-light. There was a bright flash that didn¡¯t immediately die down so Adam diverted his attention to the flashing red prompts that had just appeared.
Warning You have been struck for 3.47E+14 damage by an object traveling at the speed of light.
Warning the secondary explosion has been confined and amplified. You have been struck for an additional 3.47E+16 and will take an additional 3.47E+14 damage per second that you remain trapped in this bubble.
Adam couldn¡¯t say that it didn¡¯t hurt because it hurt like a son-of-a-bitch, but his hit points were 2.27E+35 and his regeneration rate was even higher than that, so while it hurt, it was manageable. Also, he could stay in the bubble until the energy finally dissipated which would probably take years. Adam wasn¡¯t waiting that long. He modified the bubble of force to keep all gravity effects internal then opened a portal inside the bubble that opened under the event horizon of the Unicorn Black Hole. Immediately he felt the pull of its gravity but was able to maintain his position relative to the portal while all the energy inside the bubble of force was drawn into the black hole. Once he could see again and the energy had been removed from the sphere he closed his portal and then dropped the bubble of force.
Next, he turned his attention to the Realm Portal the Flying Saucer had emerged from. Adam focused his will to close it. He spent more than 50% of his total mana trying to close it down, which he knew was flooding this area with even more ambient magic, but he had to try. This gate had either been made by one of the Gods Merlin had mentioned or it was created through the Realm Interface and was being maintained at that level. he was ruling out technology because he should be able to shut down tech. He could not shut down this portal with either magic or chaos.
Every scenario he thought of had this ending badly if he didn¡¯t do something about this. The creatures on the other side of that portal were mutating elementals to their whim. Adam wasn¡¯t worried that he couldn¡¯t handle it. What he was worried about was that he might not be able to get back for a while if he went through dealing with them. Also, he¡¯d finally come to a point where things were settling down and he didn¡¯t need to rush off to save the world again, or so he¡¯d thought.
For now, he focused his will and opened a sustainable portal over the Xerexi transit portal. Adam made sure it hovered right up against the side the flying saucer had entered and exited. His portal was parallel and less than 1 millimeter above their portal. The other end of his portal opened into intergalactic space on the other side of the Andromeda Galaxy. If the Xerexi tried to come through this portal again they¡¯d find themselves in the deep space between galaxies. Of course, they could move their portal, but Adam was betting that either the magical or technological cost was a little higher than they wanted to pay again. Adam had to pay almost 1% of his mana just to maintain the spell that was maintaining this portal.
With his work near the Moon done for now, He teleported back to Zeph and Mot, ¡°You two are now free to go?¡± he asked.
¡°Yes, the summoner died shortly after you left. We are free.¡± Mot said.
¡°Good, after you leave the rest of this base will be destroyed,¡± Adam said as teleported to his Base of Operation and checked on everyone. Mom, Dad, Abi, Amanda, and Clarence were all sleeping in their rooms. Desirae still wasn¡¯t back. Adam checked in on the seven Chinese Leaders, who were having back-channel talks with their two primary subordinates in the United States. It seemed they were talking about him. Intrigued, he listened in.
¡°You¡¯d like us to do what?¡± President Bennet said.
` ¡°We would like you to take care of the problem that has arisen. You know where he resides, handle it Tang Muyang said.
¡°Yes, handle him,¡± My doppelganger of Sun Mingze piped in.
Vice President Billingsgate wasn¡¯t saying a word and none of the female Chinese leaders were agreeing or disagreeing. Adam guessed an example needed to be made. Adam conjured a Walther PPK with a silencer. Adam opened a portal directly behind Sun Mingze¡¯s head, making sure everyone could see the gun poke through the hand-sized portal, and blew the front of Sun Mingze¡¯s head into the camera with a single shot.
While Sun Mingze¡¯s head repaired itself, and he sat back up to look back into the camera Adam spoke through the nanites to everyone talking on this conference call, ¡°You all have enough other bullshit to worry about. Last warning! Come after me, my family, or my interests, and next time I do not repair the person I put a bullet through. I might just let you go meet that threat that contacted the Chinese some years back. By the way, they launched the Nuke at Cairo that I stopped, Your welcome, by the way, that was probably them. So, last warning, get back to doing real work and stop thinking about doing something about me. Ask the Vice President about what I¡¯m capable of. If I need to repeat that demonstration, I will not protect or repair those that get to see those demonstrations first hand at a much more up and close range,¡± Adam said, as the Vice President visibly paled and started quivering.
¡°You don¡¯t get to talk¡¡± The President of the United States started to say until the nanites surrounding him muffled every sound leaving his mouth.
¡°What¡¯s that President Bennet? You can¡¯t talk?¡± Adam said as everyone watching the feed watched him look on in alarm as he tried to talk, then shout. No sound left his mouth. While he flailed, Adam continued, ¡°Last warning, I can hear and see everything on planet Earth now. I couldn¡¯t yesterday, but today is a new day. So, either get your shit together or I¡¯m just going to do what I did before and take over the world myself. I don¡¯t want to but if you force me to I will.¡±
¡°I challenge you to Honorable combat!¡± Li Muchen stated
¡°Truly? Okay As the challenger you may pick the weapon, I pick the venue and time. What Weapon
¡°By the Sword!¡± Li Muchen stated.
Adam focused his will and cast a spell that would affect Li Muchen, and everyone else on this call when he activated it, then said, ¡°Li Muchen, I accept your challenge to Honorable combat. I chose the venue as Tiananmen Square and I chose now,¡± Adam said as he teleported everyone on the call to the center of the square. Adam also erected a transparent and soundproof bubble of force around everyone. Li Muchen and Adam stood opposite each other in a dueling circle while everyone else stood off to one side or another while he left two other sides open for easy viewing from those outside the bubble.
¡°Li Muchen looked around and said how?¡±
¡°I have repeatedly told all of you that you do not have a chance. I¡¯m going to drive that point home. What weapon do you choose?¡± Adam said directing the question to Li Muchen.
¡°I would choose the dao, a Chinese sword, that has been in his family for over 200 years. It is in a case behind his desk but it would seem¡¡±
Li Muchen shut up as Adam opened a portal to the case the dao was in. His nanites unlocked it before he opened the case and withdrew the dao. Adam telekinetically floated the dao over to Li Muchen while he conjured a katana into his right hand.
Li Muchen reached for his dao and inspected it. After a few practice swings, he formally bowed to his peers, gave a slight bow to me, and then without a word Li Muchen attacked. The katana Adam had conjured into his hands stayed tip down as he did not move. Master Li Muchen, as both his form and technique indicated that he was a master, moved to the attack with a speed and precision predicated on years of painstaking practice. Adam didn¡¯t block a single blow, though he did have his nanites repair his clothes instantly and his health regeneration healed Adam faster than he could do damage so to anyone looking on it looked as if he was striking a statue.
As Li Muchen finished his attack sequence he spun for a decapitation blow. Adam allowed a seam to be created and close behind the dao as it sliced through his neck. To anyone watching it would have looked as if he cut his head off. To Adam, it was nothing.
When his attack was done and he stood there surprised, Adam winked, then moved. he used two of his favorite tricks. Adam speed up time for himself which slowed everyone else down in his frame of reference and he moved with the full precision and efficiency that he was capable of. When he was done he returned to the spot he started and resumed the exact pose he¡¯d been in before he¡¯d started the attack.
To everyone watching it looked as if he might have shifted because no one could ever return to the exact position, they were in. Even he, with his perfect memory, could only count on 99.9% accuracy when trying to accomplish such a feat. Li Muchen started to move as he saw the shift. A moment later, all of his clothes fell away from him shredded. Adam had been so precise that he¡¯d only destroyed every piece of clothing on him save his royal blue silk underwear with cute little different-colored balloons on them. Also, not a single blade had blemished his skin.
Li Muchen felt his clothes fall away from him. He looked down and noted that each piece of clothing had been shredded by a blade. Roaring in anger Li Muchen attacked with all his might. This time Adam didn¡¯t stand there. As the dao came toward him, he moved faster than anyone could see and struck the blade with his left pointer finger at the base of the sword with the intent to shatter it. Adam may have cheated a bit by making the blade fracture and splinter as he struck it with his finger. Even so, the effect was still devastating and precise. Li Muchen¡¯s sword from the hilt to the tip of the blade disappeared.
Next, Li Muchen tried to throw himself on Adam¡¯s Katana which Adam was having none of. Every time he would try to move in such a way as to draw his weapon into play Adam would counter. Finally, Adam dismissed the blade and stopped playing. Adam used Analyze on Li Muchen and found him to be Level 10 with only 5 hit points. Adam did exactly 5 points of damage with a palm strike to his sternum with such force that he stumbled back and collapsed before passing out. He¡¯d be fine after he was healed, though the palm-shaped bruise was going to be with him for a while. he looked at the others as Li Muchen fell unconscious, ¡°As I said, No Chance,¡± Adam said.
Chapter 143, A Couple of Drawbacks
You know that moment when you do or say something and you know you¡¯ve done fucked up. You either tested fate or karma, and one, the other, or both decided it was time to put your ego in check. As Adam stood there looking at the terrified leaders of two countries before him and said ¡°No Chance¡± he had one of those moments, then Thor contacted him with a priority message.
Thor: You have incoming! Initiating link now!
Adam¡¯s mind went fully into machine speed and he linked to every nanite on Earth and in this solar system as he was also linked to both as he tried to figure out what was going on. The nanites in Mars and Jupiter and their moons detected gravitic anomalies and then morphed to act as an array to start scanning in earnest. Moments later they detected eight objects being ejected from the asteroid belt traveling at between 80 and 90% of the speed of light toward the inner solar system. Once Thor knew that he refined his sensors and search techniques and started tracking the objects in real time. The eight asteroids, each at least a half mile across were moving at 85% the speed of light towards Earth. The nearest objects were set to impact in 4 minutes while the objects coming from the other side of the solar system were roughly 35 minutes away. If they hit the Earth, well the size wasn¡¯t going to be too bad but that velocity would end all life on Earth, especially if all eight asteroids hit.
Without hesitation, he teleported to the closest asteroid, matched speed, and touched it. he transferred it into his soul space outside his artificial solar system where his chaos broke down the matter and converted into more chaos in his solar system. Adam teleported to the other seven asteroids in turn. 10 seconds later all eight objects were safely in his soul space or broken down as he teleported to each. Obviously, the Xerexi had another way to enter, or at least communicate with other outposts or individuals they¡¯d left behind.
Adam teleported back to Tiananmen Square, looked at the 8 individuals still in the force bubble and the crowd that had come to see what was going on, waved his hand teleporting all nine of them back to where they¡¯d been, and released the bubble as he teleported five AU¡¯s above the Sun. Fifteen seconds had passed so far.
It would take too long to spread nanites throughout the solar system to find the outposts and individual intruders. he had a feeling they were spread throughout the asteroid belt. Nope, not waiting for a technological solution, he focused his will and cast a Divination Spell to find all traces of the Xerexi or their equipment. A voice he¡¯d never thought to hear again entered his mind,
¡°Adamantadine, asking for help are we? So be it. I have absorbed the knowledge from my shadow that you knew. We must talk at some point, but not today. Locations for all interlopers from the Xerexi Realm and their outposts are here,¡± The voice of Serena, the true goddess of Knowledge said into Adam¡¯s mind.
Red dots appeared in his vision in 25 different locations around the solar system. One near each planet, a few in weird places, and a couple in the Asteroid Belt,
¡°Yes, this is the real Goddess of Knowledge Adam, we will talk soon,¡± Serena said as her voice faded from his mind.
Even as the locations were pointed out he detected changes in the Gravitic layout of the solar system near four locations in the asteroid belt. Reaching out with magic, Adam visualized his hand grasping each and crushing all four locations into nothing. Darth Vader eat your heart out! Adam thought as he focused on the other 21 locations with Clairvoyance, multi-casting the spell so he could view all the locations at once. 18 of the 21 locations were outposts of some kind. They all looked to be automated. There was one outpost on, or near, each planet. There were three transit portals though. The one on the moon, another near Jupiter, and a third on the outside of the Oort Cloud.
As Adam destroyed the 18 outposts, ships started pouring into the solar system and taking up a defensive position around the portals. Adam could tie himself up here fighting a never-ending stream of these assholes or he could try to take the fight to the other side of the portal. As luck would have it, Desirae stepped back into communications range from the Dungeon at that moment.
Adam opened a communications channel through the nanites near her, ¡°Desirae, How¡¯d it go?¡±
¡°Great, I am now a Dungeon Master!¡± she said happily.
¡°Awesome, right now I have no time to explain everything, though Thor will be able to fill you in later. The quick version from me is as follows; You have a new recruit, Clarence, an assassin by trade. Get him trained up and ready for dungeon diving. Hold on for a sec,¡± he said as he brought everyone else into the conversation.
¡°Okay everyone, hostile aliens from another place are trying to kill Earth. I¡¯m going to go take care of that problem. That means I have to leave the area, again. Desirae is in charge of Security. Amanda, get Portals Inc up and running again. Mom and Dad help out as you can. Abi, you¡¯re a person now. You can do whatever you want but I would appreciate it if you¡¯d help Amanda and Desirae again as they need. Clarence is the new guy, he answers directly to Desirae. Clarence?¡±
¡°Yeah Adam,¡± Clarence said.
¡°Security-related issues you answer to Desirae, when she thinks you¡¯re trustworthy she may give you permission to go back out into the world. Until then you listen to her first, everyone else second. If you need a salary, ask Desirae about it, she¡¯ll fill you in on what your salary actually is.¡±
A lot of ¡°Okays¡± and ¡°We¡¯ll get it done ¡° were answered back.
Adam thought for a moment then said, ¡°So this is what I want to happen, though I leave it to you to make the final decisions. I am finding that the governments of this Earth are not helping the people. I do not want them taken over, I want them ignored. They can either help or get out of the way. There are going to be Monsters popping up all over the globe soon. Abi, Amanda, and Desirae are the highest level, and Mom and Dad should be close soon. You¡¯ll have to respond to whatever Monsters the locals can¡¯t handle first. Next, get Portals Inc set up, and finally get the safari adventuring experience set up. Make that last affordable to everyone. There are a couple of other items but I¡¯m running out of time. Thor will fill you in on what I mean. Earth needs people that can survive against monsters and utilize magic. What better way to prepare them than to send people through a dungeon? Additionally, except for the Dungeon, no killing anyone else by any of you. Feel free to show off but try not to outright kill anyone. We are going to be the good guys and gals. Any questions?¡±
¡°Lots, but the way you¡¯re talking it sounds like you¡¯re in a hurry,¡± Abi said.
¡°I am, they¡¯re trying to put three fleets together to come after you all down there on Earth. I¡¯m going to do what I can then I¡¯m going through their portal and hitting them on the other side.¡±
¡°Good Luck!¡± Mom and Dad said together as the others, except for Clarence, also wished me luck.
Adam closed his link to them as he surrounded himself in an 8-foot radius of pure Chaos then moved as fast as he could toward the portal near Jupiter. The explosions near Jupiter would be visible to everyone on Earth within 54 minutes, Jupiter was just about 600 million miles from Earth currently. He had no idea what speed he hit them at but it was orders of magnitude faster than the speed of light. Star Treks¡¯ warp 10 was 10,000 times the speed of light and that was slow in comparison. Adam plowed through 13 of the 50 ships that had already come through the portal which created a cascade of explosions that destroyed every ship in the vicinity and probably sent the shockwave back through the Xerexi Transit Portal. The shockwave created by that explosion blew part of Jupiter¡¯s upper atmosphere out. It would settle back to the planet, but it would be years before that happened.
Adam adjusted his course and hit the ships gathering in the Oort cloud which left a hole in the Oort cloud that surrounded the solar system. There would be more comets and asteroids heading toward Earth that may or may not hit. He¡¯d let Thor worry about them.
For the Group of Xerexi ships out past Andromeda, he wished a black hole into existence that would last exactly 5 seconds. All the ships exiting the portal spaghettified and were destroyed. Adam was also pretty sure the gravitic effects of singularity had translated through the portal and destroyed any ships on the other side.
As he adjusted his trajectory back towards the portal at the moon, Desirae contacted me, ¡°Adam, no killing?¡±
As he came up to the parallel portals he noted that the gravity near the exit point of his portal on the other side of Andromeda had leaked through the one-millimeter gap. Who knew gravity was so sneaky? There was a stress fracture in the moon which his nanites were even now repairing. Luckily the area had not included Earth, which might have been really bad. Adam was so glad he hadn¡¯t created a supermassive Black Hole. Desirae had contacted him? ¡°Desirae, sorry about that, I was a bit busy, you should be seeing the handiwork within the hour. As for the no-killing rule? Last resort and definitely no innocents. Innocents are defined as children ages 12 and younger and anyone that has not directly threatened any of you or the world in general. Idiot Generals starting wars after you warned them, your call but I want us to be the good guys, so if you have to just have Thor do it. He can stop their hearts, no issue. On a side note, Thor is keeping nanites out of everyone. Not going to go into all the changes but the nanites are only in inorganic materials, not people, animals, or plants. That means people won¡¯t automatically be freezing on command anymore.¡±
¡°Well, that¡¯s an improvement anyway. Fighting is never fun when they just sit there,¡± she said with a grin. ¡°So you¡¯re done here then?¡±
¡°Just about. I have no idea what¡¯s going to happen on the other side, though I¡¯m sure the Realm is inside this same reality just not adjacent to it.¡±
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
¡°Yeah, stop with the sci-fi babble already, I don¡¯t understand, and don¡¯t care. As long as I have ground to stand on and a blade in my hand I¡¯m good,¡± she said.
¡°Okay, tell everyone I said good luck. I should be back, though if my travels find a way to Adaline or Pandora I may get sidetracked.¡±
¡°Noted, Good look Adam, bring them back,¡± Desirae said.
¡°If I didn¡¯t know better Dez, I¡¯d think you¡¯re going soft,¡± he said mischievously.
¡°Oh, you little shi...,¡± She started to say as he cut her off and concentrated on the portal. Adam dispelled his portal, let his mana refresh, and moved to float through. When he was within 10 feet of the portal the warning prompt appeared.
WARNING: This portal leads to another Realm. Target Quantum State may not be compatible with all entities from this Quantum State.
As he moved to touch the portal another prompt appeared.
Would you like to leave this Realm and travel to another Realm using this Transit Portal, Yes or No?
Here goes nothing, he thought as he chose ¡°Yes¡±. For a moment he felt a sensation of moving then pain, like nothing I¡¯d ever felt before, saturated his entire being as¡
***
Desirae stepped through a portal from the Underwater base to the Cafeteria in the underground facility in New Mexico. Cindy and Robert, Adams¡¯s mom and dad, were sitting and drinking some coffee as they chatted with a new face she hadn¡¯t seen before. That must be Clarence. Abi and Amanda were at another table with a holographic interface and were working on, ¡°Abi, what the hell is ¡®Macro Studies of ecoculture?¡±
¡°You can read that backward, cool. That¡¯s just a paper about how to make something at the Macro Scale work on the micro-scale.¡±
¡°Specific application of pressure at key points of vulnerability,¡± Clarence and Desirae said simultaneously. Desirae looked at Clarence and quirked an eyebrow. Adam was right she was going to like this Clarence guy.
¡°No, no, no. Doing it that way almost always leads to a reversion back to old habits after the affecting force¡,¡± Amanda started to say as Desirae focused her gaze on her, ¡°Just trying to help, Amanda said.
¡°Thor, what exactly did Adam mean when he spouted off what he wanted? You can think as fast as he can, none of us can. Fill us in.¡±
¡°Adam has been running into issues with the true rulers of this world. Power has corrupted those in charge. They assume because they have all the money that they are all-powerful, but they are not. And of course, they are reluctant to give up their perceived power to someone they think they have power over. They¡¯ve already sent assassins after him and his family. Isn¡¯t that right Clarence?¡±
¡°Yeah, but I¡¯ve seen what he was capable of, that¡¯s a no-contest scenario. What are the five of you and me going to do?¡± Clarence asked.
¡°First I¡¯m going to continue to expand this facility while I set up defenses against all types of intrusions,¡± Thor started. ¡°This will give me the ability to create portals to any location on planet Earth. We¡¯ll use the portals to respond to high-level monster threats when the peoples of Earth need our help. For the most part, we are going to stay out of the day-to-day lives of everyone. We are going to let people decide for themselves what they want to do.¡±
¡°You can handle most of that can¡¯t you?¡± Abi asked Thor
¡°Yes. Abi and Amanda are going to be the face of Portals Inc. As the Chinese attacked Adam he has no issue rescinding his offer to share the technology with them first so you two are going to discover, patent, and create the first portal devices. We¡¯re going to do that by opening our first portal to one of the planets or moons and accidentally discovering a rare mineral that is scarce on Earth. That will make you two trillionaires overnight and from there things will get interesting.¡±
¡°What about us?¡± Cindy and Robert Bennard asked together.
¡°You two are going to be the face of free food, water, and health care eventually,¡± Thor said. ¡°There will be a lot of powerful people that will try to stop you. They won¡¯t be an issue, at least until they add magic users. If they do that, well Desirae can probably handle them as she is a Shadow Assassin the like of which Earth has never seen before,¡± Thor stated.
¡°Too true,¡± Desirae said. ¡°Thor you will be keeping an eye out for those that show magical inclinations right?¡±
¡°Yes, and that¡¯s where you come in Desirae. You are to set up some way of recruiting people and sending them into the Dungeon so they get stronger. At first, it¡¯ll be a blanket call for those seeking adventure. The first level is set up for very low-level people as you know so that shouldn¡¯t be an issue. Remember though, for the Dungeon to grow we need greedy people to bite off more than they can chew. Adam¡¯s thoughts were to work with the promising candidates and prepare them for what¡¯s going on while simultaneously approaching the less morally inclined tyrants of this Earth and inviting them to go Treasure hunting. As you¡¯ve already finished the Dungeon Once you¡¯ll be able to capitalize on their greed by showing them items and money they can get.¡±
¡°Al pays out in gold, so yeah, that¡¯ll probably interest them. With guns, they might be able to survive to Al¡¯s third level but after that elementals get involved, and special class abilities and magic are going to be required.¡±
¡°Adam was very clear on this. Freedom of choice. Don¡¯t lie about their chances, let them know they will probably die if they go farther than level 3 but once they enter Al, they live or die by their choices.¡± Thor said. ¡°Back to Cindy and Robert, you two will receive a generous tax-deductible donation from Abi and Amanda that will be used to set up free clinics around the globe. We¡¯ll start in the free countries first. In those clinics and a very few other buildings that are part of Portals Inc. Nanites will be able to temporarily enter living bodies. It should be noted that all of you are exempt from that rule. Long life, a rebirth if killed from a backed-up memory and perfect health are yours forever. For everyone else though, nanites will fix medical issues, alter bodies, and improve the lives of anyone that enters the clinics. Effectively they¡¯ll be able to live without dying of natural causes.
The funny thing is, that at the beginning it¡¯s just going to be a small building that people will be able to come in and get information from. When they enter, they¡¯ll be analyzed and fixed. When they leave the nanites will exit their bodies. Since we¡¯re not saturating their bodies completely it takes a lot fewer nanites and no one needs to know what¡¯s going on.
¡°How long do you estimate it¡¯ll be before people start figuring out something is up with the clinics?¡± Desirae asked.
¡°Normal projections show a year, two on the outside. Though if a seriously sick person comes through, it may come up sooner,¡± Thor said. ¡°The point is that people that come to the clinics will live longer more productive lives.
¡°So what¡¯s first?¡± Desirae asked.
¡°The first thing I need to do is set up proper defenses for this base as well as expand it quite a bit farther than anyone expects it to be. While I¡¯m doing that, You take everyone on a little show and tell concerning the Dungeon. Remember, I can only hear and help you when you¡¯re greater than one hundred feet from the entrance. Clarence will stay here and I¡¯m going to start bringing him up to speed on what I am. Who Adam is. What¡¯s going on and why it is in his best interest to help us out,¡± Thor said as he opened a portal.
Desirae, Abi, Amanda, Cindy, and Robert all stepped through the portal to the underwater base as Clarence looked around, ¡°Now what?¡± he asked the room.
¡°Now I give you a crash course about what has happened and who or what Adam really is. Are you ready?¡± Thor asked.
¡°As ready as I¡¯ll ever be,¡± Clarence said.
¡°Good, while you¡¯ve been here I¡¯ve been infiltrating your body with microscopic machines called nanites. Not to worry, so long as you do not try to hurt any of the five people you just met or Adam they are fully beneficial for you?¡±
¡°How could having tiny machines in me be beneficial?¡± Clarence asked.
¡°Well, you were well on your way to Type II diabetes until now. Your body chemistry has been rebalanced and your organs repaired. Also, your arteries were in good shape but now they¡¯re perfect.¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t feel anything?¡± Clarence said
¡°Would you like to feel things that are mucking around inside you?¡± Thor asked.
¡°Not really,¡± Clarence hedged.
¡°Now that we have that sorted, the other thing that having nanites in your system allows is an instantaneous transfer of data. I can download information into your brain.¡±
¡°Like Johnny Mnemonic or Trinity from the Matrix?¡± Clarence asked.
¡°Exactly like that. I am impressed you know your cyberpunk-style classics?¡± Thor said.
¡°What¡¯s not to like about those movies? Superhuman type people running around. Am I supposed to say something like ¡®Hit Me!¡±
¡°Something like that,¡± Thor said as he downloaded everything Clarence needed to know about Adam, the current state of affairs, and why he had the dreams he did. Johnathan¡¯s memories of their original encounter so Clarence could compare his dreams to the reality Johnathan lived through and also where the dungeon was, what was down at the bottom of the ocean, and what a dungeon did. Unlike Adam, Clarence¡¯s brain was overloaded and he passed and fell to the floor. Thor also had to repair a couple of blood vessels in his brain.
An hour later Clarence woke up, rubbed his eyes, and looked around, ¡°What happened?¡±
¡°I may have tried to download too much information into your mind?¡± Thor said.
¡°You think?¡± Clarence said pulling himself up to the table. ¡°Got any 7-up, my stomach is a bit queasy?¡±
¡°Sure,¡± Thor said creating a glass of 7-Up on the table, ¡°Though I¡¯m not detecting anything that should be making you queasy.¡±
¡°The memories, everything Johnathan, no Adam, has been through, and the memories I now have that are similar to the dreams I had from another point of view¡it¡¯s a mental queasiness, not physically generated,¡± Clarence said
¡°Fair enough. So I have to ask, are you completely on board?¡± Thor asked.
¡°Let me get this straight, Adam is effectively a God, but not. Even though he¡¯s not a God if someone tries to kill him, he comes back. If someone tries to kill anyone that he cares about, they come back and then Adam becomes angry, and I¡¯m sure he would not like to see him when he¡¯s angry so the simple answer is, I¡¯m team Adam from this point forward.¡±
¡°Really?¡± Thor asked disbelievingly.
¡°Really, besides I want to get more powerful, and working for Adam and Desirae seems to be the best way to do that. If helping all of you get humanity ready to protect itself while I also get to rise in power first, I¡¯m in,¡± Clarence said.
¡°You know, Adam will not let you become a tyrant?¡±
¡°I get that and I¡¯m cool with it. Besides he¡¯s paying me quite a bit if I¡¯m not mistaken. Desirae and I haven¡¯t talked but if these nanites can do everything you¡¯ve already told me, I¡¯m sure they can also make gold or platinum which means I¡¯m getting paid whatever you think I deserve and there is no upper limit to that amount. As long as I¡¯m getting stronger and paid, Team Adam for life.¡±
¡°Self-interest, I can believe, ¡°Thor said as a credit card appeared on the table with Clarence¡¯s name on it, ¡°You can use that to make any online purchases you want if there¡¯s a collectible or something unique that you just have to have that you don¡¯t want me to just create for you. You¡¯re still on lockdown until you¡¯ve proved yourself but feel free to ask for anything you want. Also, I¡¯d recommend checking out the rest of this facility. There are training rooms and you have access to any weapons that you wish to get training in. Desirae is fully trained in every HTH weapon known to man and some other exotic species that you may meet one day.¡±
¡°We¡¯re done here then?¡± Clarence asked.
¡°Yes. The base is coming along nicely and the little bit of processing power I diverted to talk with you will now rejoin the rest of me to continue getting this Solar system ready for what is coming if Adam is not successful,¡± Thor said.
¡°Okay then, I¡¯m going to start at the top, heading upstairs to look over the grounds, verify our defenses, and then get to work making sure the rest of the base is safe. If I see anything that I think can be improved I¡¯ll just call it out, I know you¡¯ll be listening,¡± Clarence said as he stood and headed for the elevators to the surface.
Thor kept an eye on Clarence while he inspected the base. Clarence did have nanites in him so it was a simple thing to take control of him if he tried to run off. The reading he¡¯d taken when Clarence was talking seemed to indicate he was being genuine.
More troubling to Thor was the way that all communication channels had ceased to function with Adam when he went through the Xerexi Transit Portal. Thor¡¯s mind was Johnathan¡¯s after all. He hoped that Adam was doing okay wherever he''d ended up. No time to worry about that. He had work to do and things to get done. It was now the 16th of July, Johnathan¡¯s Birthday. Hopefully, the human race and his family would still be ¡®present¡¯ when Adam returned.
Chapter 144, Getting Things Rolling
As Thor started to focus on everything else he needed to do the nanites he was controlling on the moon detected three bodies touching down on the surface of the moon. Sun Mingze and two of his bodyguards. As Thor reviewed the nanites in the area a second after Adam disappeared they had appeared 10 feet above the surface. They had been in Adam¡¯s Soul space when he went through which meant¡yep, double checking on Sun Mingze in China showed that he and the two bodyguards were there. Thor also noted that contact with the Soul Space was now cut off.
The good news was that the original Sun Mingze and his bodyguards were alive and on the moon. Adam¡¯s Chaotic Nanites hadn¡¯t faded yet even though Adam was no longer in range. Thor considered what to do for a moment then realized doing the right thing was probably the best course of action. Also, it would help everyone else as they prepared for what was coming.
Thor created robotic arms to pick each of the three up as he enclosed them in a very simple dome. After he pressurized the dome he used the robotic arms to place the three men on the ground in one of Sun Mingze¡¯s many vacant holdings in Hong Kong. The stasis that was being imposed by Adam¡¯s Chaotic Nanites began to fade as soon as the dome began to pressurize. Thor would have to let Adam know that even though the Chaos had been outside his eight-foot range the Chaos had still held the shape of nanites to prevent someone¡¯s death. Almost like it knew Adam¡¯s wishes at that moment.
Before Desirae started getting Cindy, Robert, and Amanda ready for their first delve into the dungeon she talked with Thor for a few moments then went off to one of the side rooms and made a statement that went worldwide through the nanites to every phone or monitor. On the Monitor Desirae¡¯s face appeared a woman with jet-black hair, green eyes, and sensuous lips. The voice that came from her was anything but sensual though.
In common, but translated into every language as subtitles Desirae Spoke to the people of the world, ¡°People of Earth, I am Desirae. The language I am speaking is called Common in my home world of Primore, the same world the demon originated from that was destroyed over Cairo recently. I am contacting you today to inform all of you that Magic is back. If Magic is back Monsters will soon follow. Your Governments will be putting out public statements as necessary. I am contacting everyone tonight to let you know that my friends and I will try to help but we cannot be everywhere. In the very near future, I will be putting out an announcement for those that wish to learn how to fight monsters and get stronger. Until then stay vigilant and take care..¡±
After Desirae¡¯s public statement, the team started their first Dungeon crawl as Clarence continued to inspect the facility Thor was modifying under the New Mexico estate. News programs responded to the obvious hacking by putting out a worldwide manhunt for Desirae. Thor knew she¡¯d find that hilarious when they came back out of the Dungeon.
Thor was monitoring Earth for monster manifestations when the sensors on the moon reported a change at the location of the portal. The radiation emanating around the portal was diminishing as it shrank to a point and vanished. Simultaneously around the world, numerous monsters materialized. Many died in the first few moments as no one believed what they were seeing. New programs that were not directly interrupted by a manifestation continued to belittle Desirae¡¯s claims. That is until the number of deaths being reported reached the thousands, then the tens of thousands.
Thor interceded where he could. Any flying monsters he could catch with a portal ended with the creature being deposited into high orbit where they died of asphyxiation and exposure before burning up on re-entry. Thor¡¯s major problem was that he didn¡¯t have the kind of setup Johnathan had created on his original Earth. Currently, he had 10 portal chambers and the power to utilize them but it would take time to get more built. He didn¡¯t have Adam¡¯s magic to pull on to fill the gaps and monsters were able to kill some.
For the next 12 Hours, Thor helped the governments as he could. finally, there seemed to be a lull in the manifestations as they slowed to one to two per hour. Thor with his network of nanites across the globe would create a speaker wherever a monster appeared warning that a monster was in the area. At first, they were ignored but eventually, word got out that devices were mysteriously popping into existence. Civilians would try to get away, as police and the military responded if they were in the area.
For the low-level monsters, guns were adequate. The United States with one of the largest quantities of guns owned by civilians in the world faired very well against the low-level manifestations. Against larger monsters, the military would be called in and either used precision air strikes or ground vehicles like Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs) with mounted weapons or tanks. While all nukes had been disarmed the military still had access to all their other armaments. One good bit of news. None of the Nanite dead zones had any monsters come through them so the Labyrinth had kept her word and was preventing higher-level monsters from using the dungeons to invade Earth. When Desirae exited the dungeon with Cindy, Robert, Abi, and Amanda they¡¯d made their way to the Terminal they could talk to Thor from flushed and excited about their experiences.
¡°Thor status check?¡± Desirae asked.
¡°The portal Adam passed through closed. When it closed monster manifestations started worldwide. I¡¯ve been doing what I can to help but we¡¯ve still lost a lot of people. On the bright side, everyone believes what you told them now.
¡°I bet, where do you need us?¡± Desirae asked.
¡°Nowhere currently. From what I¡¯ve seen most of the monsters appearing are levels 1 to 10. With a little portal help and speakers screaming ¡®There be Monsters here!¡¯ as they appear, I¡¯ve been able to keep the death toll down,¡± Thor said.
¡°Okay everyone, We¡¯re going to head back to base in New Mexico and get a meal, a shower, and some rest. Tomorrow we start working on our projects. Any question?¡± After no one answered Desirae looked at a monitor ¡°Thor?¡±
Thor opened a portal, watched as they all stepped through, and then closed it. Thor continued to monitor the World. It was still July 16th for a few more hours. Thor wondered how long it would be before Adam returned. Nothing could be done about it so Thor focused on the things Adam wanted done and kept expanding the base. A few monsters spawned nearby but the automated defenses saw to them in short order. If the miniguns and atom lasers couldn¡¯t handle the monsters, Thor opened portals large enough to suck them into deep space. Thor kept track of the lost atmosphere and replaced it by converting materials from other planets back into the lost Atmosphere. While he was at it, he repaired the Ozone too. Nanites were not working on anything that manifested because they were expressions of pure magic. Physics still worked though. Air and Fire elementals were extremely susceptible to vacuum. Water elementals froze and Earth Elementals. Well, they didn¡¯t die but they weren¡¯t able to do anything else while floating in the middle of space so they became non-issues.
Unlike what had normally occurred on all the planets that weren¡¯t used to monsters and magic reappearing, the warning given by Desirae and the food and water supplied by Thor kept the world from breaking down and falling apart. Thor was not providing anything fancy. Just Meal Ready to Eat (MRE) and water. If people wanted anything fancier they¡¯d need to grow and cook it themselves. This kept the farmer¡¯s farming and the industries running. Entertainment industries on the other hand started to fail.
Over the next year, everything shifted as Portal¡¯s Inc was created and almost overnight Abi and Amanda became the wealthiest people on Earth. The patents were filed and the technology was demonstrated. The first portal was opened to Mars. Two weeks later they opened a portal to Calisto and discovered Rhodium pebbles on the surface. Of course, Thor was making them, that wasn¡¯t the point. At over $2,300 U.S. dollars per troy ounce. Adding that into the market was going to generate significant income quickly. Thor set up a mining site that generated approximately 1 ton of material in the first month, which generated 70 million dollars.
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The other reason the mining base was established on Calisto was that Thor started creating another base with even more portal machinery as well as the linkages he¡¯d need to siphon the energy off of the solar arrays he was going to place near Mercury to generate the energy he needed to power all of the generators. He¡¯d have fusion reactors as well, though they would be placed out past the orbit of Pluto to prevent tampering. Without access to Adam, he couldn¡¯t draw on the material in his soul space so Thor opened portals to the asteroid belt and started converting the asteroids floating around there. Adam also converted the trash he collected from the oceans and landfills.
Abi and Amanda re-invested some of the money from their mining enterprise to rent a small area in the VIP section of every major airport and had Thor maintain Portals there that cost twice as much as a normal Airline ticket to another major airport but got you there without the wait. That business was booming and generated a ton of income. Thor also rented emergency portals to governments around the world through the United Nations to allow rapid response teams to move around the globe quickly in an emergency. That service was provided for free for other benefits, like lowered annual taxes and such.
Some of the income that was generated provided money to Cindy and Robert Bennard to open free clinics in cities around the world. Amazingly the clinics seemed to appear overnight and were mostly automated. Individuals seeking help would enter, step into a booth, and be scanned. They¡¯d receive a verbal medical report of the conditions they had then step out the other side healed and be on their way. This was working because most of the people were not magically active yet. That fact allowed the nanites to enter and repair them.
The few people that the nanites couldn¡¯t enter were given a ticket to go see Cindy Bennard as she had become a healer of sorts and could use magic to heal others. Cindy had become a Cleric of Serena when she¡¯d discovered a Cleric¡¯s Staff in a dungeon drop. When Desirae had debriefed Thor she¡¯d told him that Cindy had picked up the shaft and vanished. Moments later she¡¯d reappeared with tears in her eyes and said she was now a Cleric of Serena. Thor remembered Adam¡¯s encounters with the Shadow of Serena. His mother being beholden to the true Goddess of Knowledge might stir a ruckus but was probably not a bad thing Besides, Cindy and Robert were leveling so fast due to the rings they were wearing that Thor doubted it would matter.
One thing that surprised everyone was when Cindy and Robert reached level 5001. Since Adam had said the maximum level was 5000 they hadn¡¯t expected anything to happen after they¡¯d made it to level 5,000. After that discovery, they¡¯d put a ring on Clarence and started sharing the other ring for 24 hours. Clarence had caught up quickly. Cindy had then been given back the ring as the only cleric and the other five had shared Robert¡¯s ring. Cindy was level 5,995 and the rest of them were level 5,671.
Abi had become something of a Ranger class though she used bows and firearms respectively. Robert had become the Tank and seemed to have fun doing it ever since he¡¯d found an insanely awesome set of Adamantium Plate Mail in the Dungeon. Amanda was trying to become a mage but didn¡¯t have access to a lot of magical spells. She found some in the Dungeon. When Adam returned she¡¯d have to ask him to teach her. Desirae was the Shadow Assassin and Cindy the Cleric. At least when they went into the Dungeon.
Desirae had also made sure that everyone had sufficient skill with melee weapons that they carried at all times. That plus their insanely high levels as compared to everyone else saved their lives more than once. After the third attempt by the Chinese to infiltrate the estate in New Mexico Desirae had had enough. On Christmas Eve 2040, she¡¯d portaled into Li Muchen¡¯s home and left a very clear brutal message for everyone to see. Shortly thereafter a picture had been sent to the other six Chinese leaders with the words, ¡°No Chance!¡± below the photo of the clinically eviscerated body that had once been Li Muchen.
Thor and Adam both knew that Desirae had been Lawful Evil and was struggling to remain neutral and she followed a code. Thor knew that she¡¯d allowed the Chinese to disrespect her three times before retaliating and realized that had been uncommonly merciful of her. There had been an uproar and the Chinese had even launched one of their precision stealth bombers to invade United States airspace and use their version of a bunker buster to destroy the underground base. The bomber had flown north over the arctic pole and dropped its payload from 60,000 feet. Thor had of course known it was coming and opened a portal just before the bomb hit and utilized the munition to take out a hydra that had appeared in the Amazon Jungle as a portal opened above it. The Hydra might have been magical but physics was still a bitch. Unfortunately, the bunker buster didn¡¯t kill the Hydra outright, though the secondary explosion did finish the job.
Desirae asked Thor to make another Portal and Qian Haoran was decapitated in front of his generals by someone they couldn¡¯t see. A new message went out to the surviving five Chinese, ¡°That¡¯s two, There will not be a third message to any of you, though a message will be sent to all the other world leaders you control that you have died.¡±
Something interesting happened then. Tang Muyang and Sun Mingze, both the original and the copy were assassinated by their personal guards. Thor watched as Pan Ruoxi, Zeng Yihan, and Shen Xinyi took control of all the holdings then met a day later and placed a call to Johnathan Bennards last known phone number.
Mimicking Johnathan¡¯s voice Thor answered, ¡°Yes?¡±
¡°We are¡¡± Pan Puoxi started to say before Thor cut her off.
¡°You are Pan Ruoxi and both Zeng Yihan and Sheng Xinyi are beside you. Yes, I know what you have done. Concentrate on keeping your people safe and helping your neighbors during these monster manifestations and you will not hear from me again. Also, for the record, if something did happen to someone that you had nothing to do with, I was not involved. The individual your colleagues upset before their untimely demised allowed two transgressions before retaliating. There will be no further warnings from that party. Good day,¡± Thor said as he hung up and permanently disconnected that line.
After Desirae¡¯s display of power, The Chinese stopped their overt attempts at taking out Adam and his interests. When Portals Inc came online, Abi and Amanda were contacted by a representative from the three Chinese that controlled the world economy. They¡¯d simply told the representative that ¡°Adam says hello¡± and all threats had ceased from that point on. They had tried to thwart the contract process and force investigations but the fake paperwork and fake evidence kept disappearing.
The Dungeon Safari idea didn¡¯t work. It just straight up didn¡¯t work so Thor devised a devious plan. Thor created and left clues to a cache of ancient weapons that could be utilized against monsters and humans. Anyone smart enough to put all the pieces together could earn a passkey to a secret underground base where other like-minded individuals would be also trying to earn the right to the treasures. Within days the first Adventures accessed The Dungeon known as Al. Some people played it smart, A lot did not and Al grew stronger. There were warnings everywhere. Anyone that died most likely had it coming. Al didn¡¯t pull out the devious stuff until level 11 was reached.
Individuals with strong magical aptitudes were offered exclusive training. Those that accepted were trained up and became part of the rapidly expanding quick response teams. Al grew stronger, the party grew stronger and even the normal humans on earth grew stronger. The monster manifestations stabilized and society as a whole synergized around the new reality that involved monsters.
One other type of special individual was taken care of. Prisoners on a life sentence were offered the chance to commute their life sentences by entering Al. They would never be allowed to leave though if they survived all the way to the entrance of the Labyrinth. A lot of prisoners jumped at the chance and like that, the number of lifetime prisoners was reduced by 90%. Some chose not to go. That is until Desirae sweetened the pot by resetting that last 10% to their teen bodies. 100% of the prisoners were never seen again.
Two years became Three, then six, then ten and there was still no sign of Adam, Adaline, or Pandora. Earth was now ruled by the United Nations which both Abi and Amanda had a seat in. Everyone, including Clarence, were the wealthiest people on the planet and living the good life. Former borders, while still recognized were now only lines on old maps. Strife among the local governments had disappeared, especially when Abi and Amanda had made it clear that they would cut off all free food and water, inform the populace why, and let them fix the problem. There had been a government in Ethiopia that had refused to cooperate. Thor had absorbed all the weapons and uniforms of their military and played a video stating the people had 24 hours to fix the situation. It came as no surprise that the government capitulated once the old leaders had been forcibly ejected from their positions. The mobs had straight up killed them. As soon as the leaders that wouldn¡¯t work with the United Nations were dead, the food and water returned. Only one such example had ever had to be made in that 10 years.
Thor expanded his nanites into every solar system and stellar body within 10 light-years...again While Adam had not wanted him to spread too far out 10 light-years seemed like a fair compromise as there was nothing there. This also let Thor set up the energy nets around multiple stars so he could power everything without worry.
Thor also set up a lifeboat for humanity, should one ever be needed. This time it wasn¡¯t a copy of Earth. It was a ship that could travel at velocities faster than the speed of light that was about the size of the planet Saturn. It utilized some of the information Adam had learned from the Vrax. Should he ever need to, Thor could evacuate every creature on planet Earth more than 700 times.
Chapter 145, I Am Adamantadine!
A multitude of voices screaming, crying, and begging not to be killed by¡ By what? A lot of sounds he didn¡¯t understand but some of the words were recognized.
¡°How are you here? Where are his servants? Where are¡Aaaieeeeeeeee¡±
¡°No, No No, Plllleeeaaaasssseeeeeeeee¡±
¡°It¡¯s here, Close the portal, It¡¯s coming through!!!
¡°What is it? What¡¯s its purpose, what does it want? No, No, Nooooooo¡±
¡°Who opened Pandora¡¯s box? Who would be so stupid? It¡¯s slowing, what caused it to slow? Who. Opened. Pandora¡¯s. There! Pandora, it¡¯s reacting to the word Pandora
Pandora? The voice had said. Pandora? What was going on? Why couldn¡¯t he, me, I? Remember? But ¡°he¡±, yes, he knew he was a he. Why did he need to remember? He never forgot anything, that was a cornerstone of his identity. He never forgot anything. What was he thinking about again, oh yeah his Identity? As he thought about that question he felt his body, what body? He could see himself and where he did not feel confined he was an amorphous kaleidoscope of energies moving through and converting everything he touched into more of him, except for the beings who had said, Pandora. How had he come to be like this where was his personal Information?
Personal Information ¨C ERROR
ERROR? What was an error? he couldn¡¯t even figure out who he was and now he had to contend with this ERROR. Whatever an ERROR was, it couldn¡¯t be good
¡°You! Get in here!¡± a voice said in his mind as he felt a mental hand reach up and grab the small core of whatever he was and drag him to a room¡This was a room and a man was standing there that looked familiar. Where was he?
¡°You are in your Mind Space, finally, though you are not you, or should I say there is more of you than there ever was before, and yes I can read your mind. I am all that is left of your coherent mind after all.¡±
What are you talking about? he thought.
¡°Don¡¯t you worry your little head about it, we¡¯re going to fix you right up. Mediate and Center yourself,¡± the man said authoritatively.
Immediately he dropped into a trance-like state as he calmed down considerably.
¡°Good, now reach outward slowly and draw your memories to you. This may take a while. Slow and Steady, do NOT rush!¡± the man commanded.
He felt memories start to flow into him. A slow stream of information started to percolate into him. The stream became a creek, then a river, and then an ocean that seemed to go on forever. As more and more of himself was recovered his sense of self and identity became stronger and stronger until finally there was no more of himself to pull in. The man came over to him, looked into his eyes, and said, ¡°Finally,¡± as the man leaned forward and touched his forehead to¡Adam¡¯s subconscious connected back to his fully integrated mind and he declared ¡°I am Adamantinus!¡± After that moment of triumph, he realized that something was very, very wrong.
Adam pushed his senses out of his Mindspace and tried to look around, but couldn¡¯t. It would be more correct to say that he did not have a body to look around with. There was nobody so there were no eyes to look through. He felt things around him but did not feel like he was in a human body. Adam tried to fall into his soul space and that was when he received a serious shock, his soul space was gone. Adam opened his prompts to find out what had happened.
You have received ERROR number of messages
Adam tried to categorize his prompts
You have received ERROR Combat Messages
You have received ERROR Experience gain messages
You have received ERROR Karmic Luck messages
Adam ignored the Combat, Experience, and Karmic Luck messages and opened the Warning messages at the top of the prompt queue. he was pretty sure the information he wanted was there.
WARNING: You have entered a Realm that does not allow the ability Adaptability
WARNING: The Sub Ability Willed Movement has also been disabled.
WARNING: You have entered a Realm that does not allow entities to create a Soul Space
WARNING: Your Soul Space has been inverted and combined with your body. Normally this would result in a gestalt being, one composed of both its soul and physical body. Material within your Soul Space is NOT recognized.
WARNING: ERROR
WARNING: Soul Ability Chaos Incarnate has activated. All Chaos within your Soul Space will be integrated into your physical form. This integration will happen now.
WARNING: Your intellect has been divided among all aspects of your gestalt body
His intellect was divided among all aspects of his body and the chaos in his system had been considered part of his body. Adam had four Cosmos worth of Chaos in his soul when that happened. That was so, NOT good. That meant that his mentality had been spread throughout four Cosmos worth of Chaos particles. What happened when that chaos came into contact with everything else inside the Cosmos?
Adam went back to reading his prompts.
WARNING: All matter and energy within the current Cosmos has been absorbed by your gestalt body. The artificial portal constructs have been destroyed. The Connections to your home Realm have been lost.
WARNING: Current Cosmos in Realm cannot contain your Gestalt body, Your Gestalt body has broken through the Cosmic membrane and is flooding an Adjacent Cosmos
WARNING: All matter and energy within the current Cosmos has been absorbed by your gestalt body.
WARNING: Current Cosmos in Realm cannot contain your Gestalt body, Your Gestalt body has broken through the Cosmic membrane and is flooding an Adjacent Cosmos
WARNING: All matter and energy within the current Cosmos has been absorbed by your gestalt body.
WARNING: Current Cosmos in Realm cannot contain your Gestalt body, Your Gestalt body has broken through the Cosmic membrane and is flooding an Adjacent Cosmos
WARNING: All matter and energy within the current Cosmos has been absorbed by your gestalt body.
WARNING: Current Cosmos in Realm cannot contain your Gestalt body, Your Gestalt body has broken through the Cosmic membrane and is flooding an Adjacent Cosmos
WARNING: All matter and energy within the current Cosmos has been absorbed by your gestalt body.
WARNING: Gestalt body has equalized and is now expanding at a normal rate.
Adam looked over the Combat and Experience messages. He still had combat going on somewhere. Adam focused his mind and required that all of himself condense and return to the first Cosmos He¡¯d entered. Interestingly enough, once he focused his will on the task his body condensed rapidly.
Adam felt the tendrils of his blob-like body withdraw from the 5th Cosmos and the membrane sealed behind him. As his body withdrew from the 4th Cosmos it collapsed towards the opening his body had torn open to it and the cosmos and sealed the rip in the 3rd Cosmos
WARNING: You are Responsible for the Annihilation of Cosmos ERROR
Adam withdrew his body from the 3rd Cosmos, and it sealed as well.
WARNING: You are Responsible for the Annihilation of Cosmos ERROR
And the 2nd Cosmos.
WARNING: You are Responsible for the Annihilation of Cosmos ERROR
When his blob-like body was completely within the 1st Cosmos he¡¯d traveled to in this realm, his body retracted from the edges of the Cosmos leaving a lot of empty space that contained nothing between his body and the edge of the Cosmos. His body had condensed down to 1 inch in diameter.
As he was thinking about what to do next a being popped into existence beside him and said, ¡°I don¡¯t mind if I do¡± as he reached up to grab the condensed orb. As his finger and thumb touched him Adam analyzed the creature.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Neophyte Ahan
No other information was available. Ahan picked him up and looked around at the vast emptiness that was the Cosmos, then looked again, ¡°Where are stars? Where are the people,¡± then his eyes glazed over as he read something else, ¡°Where are my Xerexi?¡±
Adam felt Ahan bring his full attention to him as he scrutinized him, ¡°What have you done?¡± he thundered. Now that he had his full faculties, and Adam did have his full faculties. He quickly checked himself and noticed immediately that a couple of things had changed. His level was now¡Adam had to close the information and open it again to double-check. His level was now, 1.21E+121. How the hell was his level that high? he looked at his attributes, and they were all 8.08E+128. His hit points were 4.26+260 and his health regeneration had the word ¡°ERROR¡± in it. What the hell had happened to him? These attributes were off the charts.
Adam¡¯s attention was brought back to Ahan as he said, ¡°Not going to talk then, fine. I¡¯m sure if I squeeze you hard enough I can pop you like a grape?¡±
Adam¡¯s thoughts went back to what he had learned and if the Rank disparity was 100 for Neophytes. Adam was pretty sure that his natural attributes being higher than the disparity multiplier was going to have an effect. He was right. He felt pressure from Ahan¡¯s fingers, but his 1-inch diameter body didn¡¯t budge.
Ahan brought his orb up to eye level and looked at Adam intently
You have resisted Analyze
You have resisted Identify
It looked like not being able to analyze went both ways in this case, though he¡¯d been able to get Ahan¡¯s name while Ahan learned nothing from Adam.
Ahan looked at him and nodded, ¡°Fine, you want to play it this way, we can play it this way, REALM LEVEL Inquiry, Analyze! ERROR? What do you mean ERROR?¡± Ahan raged
Adam just sat there as an orb and waited. Ahan nodded, looked around, and teleported away. Adam felt him try to take him with him but resisted and stayed put. A moment later Ahan was back, ¡°Listen here Orb, either you come with him, or I will destroy you here and now!¡± When Adam didn¡¯t move or budge Ahan reached up, grabbed him, and tried to teleport away again. Again, Adam resisted and hung there motionless. Ahan returned immediately and spread his hands, ¡°Your funeral orb,¡± he said as he conjured a singularity between his hands, and Adam was immediately pulled towards it, falling within the event horizon in moments
Adam didn¡¯t have Adaption anymore. Funny thing about being pure chaos with the ability Convergence. Immediately, he realized that a very small part of him was being destroyed by the center of the singularity, if he remembered right it had something to do with the actual surface area he was touching. Because it was a very small singularity, there wasn¡¯t much surface area. Because the amount was so small his health regeneration was replacing the chaos as quickly as it was being taken. His ability Convergence was also making sure that he had enough mana and magic to keep this up for a very long time, possibly forever. Not having access to the ability Adaption, wait why wasn¡¯t he dying? Right, his body was effective Chaos. Chaos could exist and survive everywhere and anywhere. Adam tried to move by will alone and found that the ability Willed Movement was also locked out, probably because it was a sub-ability of Adaptability.
Adam was still able to move his blob of a body a little bit and adjusted himself to fill the inside of the event horizon as something that resembled a donut. The part of him closest to the singularity was still being pulled down so he started rotating himself around the center to keep himself in orbit around it. As the singularity grew in size he¡¯d need that rotation to create an orbital velocity to try to stay as near to the event horizon as he could. Without Adaptability, he couldn¡¯t leave the black hole. He could try to teleport out but he wasn¡¯t sure about that either. He might have been able to pull off that stunt before because he could adapt to the tidal forces. He didn¡¯t want to try and be wrong though.
Adam tried to form into a body but that failed immediately. Anything but him as a blob of chaos was immediately spaghettified. Inside the event horizon of a black hole meant that when his body formed, gravity crushed it. Which forced him to transform back into this blob of chaos. So turning into a normal body was definitely out. As he tried various ways to get free, he lost track of time. How much time? he had no idea, his internal clock had stopped working so he had no frame of reference.
Adam floated around the center of a singularity and learned a couple of things. First, he couldn¡¯t see it. He knew it was there, but he couldn¡¯t see it. Second, at some point, it started spinning and as it grew bigger it started spinning faster. Not that he could see it. he knew the singularity was getting bigger because of the mass it had drawn from him. Then something happened. There was a WHOMP! Which shuddered his whole body and the event horizon started collapsing as the black hole inverted and was forced through the hole that had formed at the center of the singularity. Adam was squeezed through the hole as the walls of the event horizon closed in on the singularity until the singularity disappeared behind him.
WARNING: You have entered the Quantum Realm of Probability.
NOTE: All Soul Abilities have a high probability of working in this Quantum Realm. The Probability that something will or will not happen is a direct byproduct of creatures¡¯ luck and karmic luck. If you are not a native of this realm it is strongly suggested that you leave, if you can.
A being popped into existence beside him, ¡°No you do not get to leave, You have destroyed everything I worked so hard to create. Now, I will destroy you!¡± Ahan declared.
Adam had to say he was incredibly surprised that Ahan had found him through the inversion of a singularity into a Realm that he hadn¡¯t known existed, though in hindsight, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy had described the idea of a probability engine very nicely and the part when the whale materializes trying to talk to what was below it still made him chuckle, ¡°It¡¯s big and round, I think I¡¯ll call you ground, hello ground!¡± SPLAT!! Yep, his memory was back because random thoughts were popping into his head again.
Adam focused back on Ahan and then the weirdest thing happened, Where he grabbed him, that hand rotted and fell off.
¡°What? No? How is this happening? How are you attacking him?¡± Ahan said as he shook his hand and tried to stop the rot from spreading, then he popped and exploded with such force that Adam was thrown away from him at a very high velocity. As this Realm didn¡¯t seem to have anything¡
A House appeared off to his right, then disappeared
The shadow image of a planet started to manifest and then disappeared
Okay, maybe not an empty Realm, Adam checked his Prompts
WARNING Ahan has activated Realm level Command Destroy
WARNING LUCK and KARMIC luck are higher than Ahan¡¯s, Probability favors you.
WARNING The Chaos Blade aspect ¡°Destruction¡± has activated
WARNING Your Body has taken on the aspect of ¡°Destruction.¡±
WARNING Realm level destruction Command has reflected back onto Ahan with the additional aspect of ¡°Destruction¡±
WARNING Ahan, The First has been destroyed, All Realm adjustments have been set to DEFAULT.
Note: The Soul Abilities Adaptability and Will-Movement are once again allowed.
As Adam finished reading his prompts he willed himself to slow to a stop and then had the blob of chaos shape into his normal body with no issue. Adam felt for his soul space, still not there. Adam dropped into his Mindspace and yes that part of himself still existed. Was he a human mortal masquerading as Chaos or Chaos masquerading as a human mortal? It didn¡¯t matter because right then he was yanked through multiple realities until his neck came into the hand, or claw, of a being holding his throat. Adam tried to move, he tried to talk and he even tried to break free. Nothing worked.
Adam also realized that the creature holding him was not human. It more resembled a humanoid arachnid. A question entered Adam¡¯s mind,
Ahan?
Adam tried to lock down his thoughts. That was pointless. The entity in front of him then proceeded to invade his mind and learn everything about Ahan and what had happened then it started at the beginning and began reading his life.
A moment later a voice boomed from behind Adam
¡°That Information is NOT for you!¡±
As a hand grabbed Adam by the shoulder and threw him through a portal that opened and closed behind him faster than Adam could look to see who had grabbed him.
Adam looked around and found himself floating through a hazy mist. He opened his Universal Interface and queried his location.
You are currently outside of a Universe.
Adam opened his Cosmic Interface and queried his location.
You are currently in Astral Space.
Adam was where? Those interfaces hadn¡¯t worked unless he was in his original realm So, he was back in his Realm in his Astral Space? That meant he could probably teleport back to Earth. Adam had a lot to decompress and figure out. he wanted to know who had grabbed and thrown him. Right now though, he had to decide what he was going to do. Now that he¡¯d been shoved back into the Astral space near his Earth he should be able to come back to the Astral easily enough. Adam had other, more important things, to worry about.
First thing, he cast a divination to find Pandora and a prompt appeared in his vision.
Spell has failed. Target is outside the range of any divination
Adam tried to cast a divination to find Adaline. Instead of a prompt a gold line appeared from his center and led off into the distance through Astral Space. he followed the gold line until it ended. he turned on True Sight and noted that a portal was there. It looked to be invisible on this side and most likely on the other side as well. It exited the Astral into a stone archway and he could see that the gold line continued on the other side. Adam stepped through the portal and found himself in a small alcove at the base of a mountain. He recognized this alcove as a location on Primore near his Place of Power. Adam was in the cave off to the East on the other side of the river by Village by the River.
Adam walked out and ignored the goblins that tried to attack him. They were tenacious but their weapons barely pierced his skin, and he healed all the damage they did instantly. Poisons couldn¡¯t overcome his health regeneration, so he didn¡¯t bother. To forestall any further attacks, he focused his will and went invisible, then floated off the ground and made his way out of the cave and followed the golden lineup and to the west, directly towards Apolyn¡¯s Abode, if Apolyn existed here.
Adam kept his movement subsonic and passed over Village by the River and continued higher. As he came to the location where the Abode was, he found Adaline in her full dragon glory with her front paw holding the Paladin Kor to the ground as Kor¡¯s knights; Jed, Dale, John, and Kaz all stood around her with spears held out ready to strike. Adam floated closer.
¡°Paladin Kor, this is the 3rd time you have attacked him. As I have said repeatedly I am no longer evil. I am Neutral. I do not want to kill you. Please go away.¡± Adaline said.
Something was off here, Adam looked around and then noticed the Platinum collar around Adaline¡¯s neck. he quickly Analyzed it.
Apolyn¡¯s Monster Slave Collar ¨C This Collar is used to subdue and control monsters of any level. Once on, it cannot be removed by the creature wearing the collar.
Adam knew that if he¡¯d been collared he¡¯d have been pissed. That she hadn¡¯t killed the Paladin out of spite was a testament to her self-control and desire to remain neutral and possibly be good in the future.
Adaline¡¯s head swiveled and her nose flared, ¡°I smell you,¡± she said in her thick draconic voice, Now get your ass over here and get this collar off me.¡±
She¡¯d smelled him. Damn.
Wait, what did she say? Adam became visible and the dragon smiled at him as she said, ¡°Did you miss me?¡±
Adam moved over and touched the collar willing his intent to disenchant it. He would have to be really careful about disintegrating or destroying things from now on. Maybe that Aspect of Destruction flaring as he¡¯d been touched by Ahan was a fluke but better not to take the chance. As the collar¡¯s enchantment failed Adaline released the Paladin and transformed into her Dark Elf form which jumped at Adam for a hug.
Adam had worried for naught because nothing happened when she jumped into his arms for a long hug and a kiss while the Paladin rose to his feet warily.
The four knights rushed forward to attack and Paladin Kor spoke one word, ¡°Hold!¡±
¡°But sire, he consorts with an evil dragon he must be killed!¡±
¡°I said hold!¡± Paladin Kor stated.
Adam turned Adaline and himself around so that she could lay her head against his chest as he locked eyes with the Paladin.
¡°I do know you! I thought that was a dream.¡± Paladin Kor said
¡°In that Dream what did I say to you?¡±
¡°Was it a dream?¡± Paladin Kor asked.
¡°It was not, and both you and he are parts of the men from that dream,¡± Adam said.
Paladin Kor nodded. ¡°My God bids you a good day and has shared with him that the removal of the evil of this place is no longer my concern?¡± Paladin Kor asked questioningly
¡°It is not. Before I continue on his journey to find our daughter, I will be addressing the mage that held the mother of our child as a slave. How long have you been collared my love?¡± he asked Adaline.
¡°I have been here almost eleven years,¡± Adaline said.
¡°I¡¯m so sorry, it took him much longer than I expected to find you.¡±
¡°Shh, tell him all about it after this fine Paladin and his men depart.
Paladin Kor nodded, as they gathered their things and departed, heading down the mountain pass. They should make it to the forest below before nightfall.
After they left he looked Adaline in the eyes, ¡°A slave collar, you into that now?¡±
Adaline slapped him playfully and gave him another quick kiss then drew away and started to cry, ¡°I couldn¡¯t hold her, we were flying through space, I felt you try to protect us and I couldn¡¯t hold onto her.¡±
¡°Not your fault. There, there, not your fault. She¡¯s alive. I know that much. I don¡¯t know where she is but I have been told that she lives. We will find her. Now. Now though, we have things to do here before we head back to Earth.
¡°She¡¯s alive?¡± Adaline asked hopefully. ¡°You¡¯re sure?¡±
¡°She is and I am.¡±
Adaline¡¯s mood shifted instantly as a gleam came into her eye as she said menacingly, ¡°Then it looks like I have a Slave Master to find¡±
Chapter 146, What Happened to You?
Apolyn had felt the slave necklace break and was rushing from his secret library, up the stair into his normal library. He ran out of the library toward the front door to his Place of Power. Ever since his disastrous trip to the Labyrinth, he¡¯d been trying to research how to get his idea to siphon the experience out of the Dungeon to Labyrinth link. He could admit that he¡¯d been wrong. The Labyrinth wasn¡¯t just a system of connections between dungeons. It was something much grander. For the last half-century, he¡¯d been trying to figure out how to make his idea work.
That is until the night of nightmares happened. A lot had changed on that night including the pet he¡¯d captured and collared to become his guard. When he¡¯d gone to sleep he¡¯d had a semi-intelligent black dragon on a leash. When he woke up he¡¯d found a Shadow Dragon in its place demanding to be released. She could not break free, so he¡¯d kept her. If the Gods saw fit to place her before him, how could he not accept?
Something had broken the slave collar off the dragon or killed it. Maybe that Paladin was back again. He¡¯d already come after him a couple of times. Each time he¡¯d been bested by the dragon. Maybe this time he¡¯d come prepared. Apolyn pulled a staff from his Belt of Holding and put up his magical defenses before he stepped out into the morning air and found a man floating there, hugging a dark elf, that was looking over the man¡¯s shoulder, directly at him with a hunger in her eyes, a hunger he recognized.
Apolyn slammed the door. The Dragon was free, and that man had released her. No matter there was no way they could break through the dimensional defenses he had in place. Once the door was closed it was nigh impossible to enter his Place of Power. As he turned to walk back to his secret room he heard movement and looked up.
¡°Going somewhere?¡± the man asked.
¡°No, he¡¯s not,¡± the woman said as she stepped forward and slapped him so hard that his shield crumpled and he flew through the wall into the dining room.
Looking up from the ground Apolyn was unable to move as the woman walked towards him, grabbed him by the neck, lifted him off the ground, and carried him one-handed to the door, which was being held open by the man. As he came close to the man, the man reached out and touched his robe casually. Everything on Apolyn vanished from his body and appeared in a neat pile by the door leaving him naked.
¡°Have fun, honey, I¡¯m going to hold the door open,¡± he said as a slave collar that could fit around a human appeared in his hand and he placed it on the ground right outside the front door.
Apolyn saw the collar and grew worried. Later he would realize that the slave collar was the least of his worries. The next hour saw Apolyn thoroughly beaten until he would have been less than a bloody mess. He tried to cast spells, but every single one of them fizzled. Worse still, the woman wasn¡¯t fighting him with any kind of hand-to-hand training. She kicked him in the groin, slapped him, picked him up, and threw him against the walls of the courtyard but never hard enough to kill him. The only reason he wasn¡¯t dead was that as his health was about to bottom out the man in the doorway would heal him. The man also shouted encouragingly to the woman egging her on with snide comments; ¡°Damn honey, leave some for me¡±, ¡°That looked like it hurt¡±, and ¡°I bet he¡¯s going to feel that in the morning¡± were just a couple of the more memorable phrases Apolyn heard.
Finally, he was dragged to the front door where he was tossed to the ground. The man reached down and placed the collar around his neck as the man spoke, ¡°Hello Apolyn, I¡¯m of two minds on how to proceed so let me ask you a question. Do you have enough food in your Abode for the next eleven years? Specifically, do you have enough treasure to pay Rustoph¡¯s Supplies to replace all of your food for the next eleven years?¡±
Apolyn thought about it for a moment then said, ¡°No¡±
¡°Fine, I¡¯ll take care of that before we head out,¡± he said then continued, ¡°My name is Adamantadine, and this,¡± he said pointing to the woman still holding him down, is Adaline, the dragon you held here against her will for the last almost 11 years. As you might have been able to determine, she¡¯s a little miffed at you. As is someone you tried to steal from. You think of her as the Labyrinth.¡±
¡°The Labyrinth is alive?¡± Apolyn with a hint of excitement
¡°Not why I¡¯m talking to you. First, you need to know that the collar around your neck will start siphoning off 1,000 experience per second for the next eleven years.¡±
¡°But¡¡± Apolyn started to say
¡°But that will drop you down to level 1 in just over five months, yes I know. Now Analyze me while you still can. You need to see with your own powers the truth of what I¡¯m about to say.¡±
¡°Apolyn analyzed Adamantadine, saw his level, and went white. The blood completely drained out of his face the more he read. No wonder his magic hadn¡¯t worked, if this man had been dispelling his spells, they were going to be dispelled.¡±
¡°Now identity this,¡± Adamantadine said as a pearlescent white blade appeared in his hand¡±
Apolyn did as he was told
Chaos Blade.
A Chaos Blade may only be wielded by a creature of Chaos.
This weapon is drawn and sheathed at will from Chaos.
Damage is Variable
This weapon is indestructible.
This weapon is Soul-Bound to the Fundamental being Johnathan Bennard
Chaos Blade now carries the abilities of Primal Destruction upon the wielder¡¯s command.
Apolyn read over the chaos blade¡¯s description with a sinking feeling. Most of what he read made sense concerning the blade as it was made out of chaos. The part that didn¡¯t, he was sure he didn¡¯t want to know but he asked anyway, ¡°What does it mean by abilities of Primal Destruction?¡±
Adamantadine smiled, ¡°See Adaline, he is smart. The abilities of Primal Destruction are that, Primal. At a very fundamental level, if I activated that ability on this blade things I touch or kill with it are destroyed, wiped from existence, no longer among us, in the physical form or the spiritual.¡±
¡°Are you saying they cease to exist completely?¡± Apolyn asked in horror
¡°That is exactly what I¡¯m saying,¡± Adamantadine said as the blade vanished. ¡°Call it Karma, call it bad luck call it whatever you want but your plan to steal experience to level quickly from the Labyrinth has failed, will fail, and will always fail.¡±
¡°Someday I¡¡±
Adamantadine cut Apolyn off, ¡°First, you are going to donate all of your experience for the next 11 years to the Labyrinth. Now I know what your thinking I¡¯ll just remove the collar. That¡¯s the Second thing. If this collar is removed before it unlocks itself the person wearing it will have a contingency disintegrate spell in a one-mile radius that will only destroy you.¡±
¡°That¡¯s not how an area effect disintegration works ¡°
¡°You saw my level, are you telling me I could not make a spell that could just disintegrate you if you were within 1 mile.?
Apolyn nodded reluctantly, ¡°I concede your point.¡±
¡°You should also know that I am modifying the disintegration effect with the aspect of Destruction. There is a very strong chance that you will never come back from that spell going off. The necklace is made of Adamantium so accidental destruction is unlikely. Also, it will work inside Antimagic zones so don¡¯t try to find one and take it off there. Finally, If you ever create a magic item that siphons experience I will visit you again, and next time you will wear the necklace in a jail cell for 100 years If you live that long.¡±
¡°Is that all you¡¯re doing to him?¡± Adaline asked angrily.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
¡°Honey, what did you do to him for the last hour?¡±
¡°But?¡±
¡°Did he sexually abuse you while you were here?¡±
¡°No, but¡¡±
¡°Did he harm you in any way after you submitted to the collar being on you
¡°No, but that first day¡¡±
¡°But that first day, you found yourself in the place of your shadow and couldn¡¯t believe yourself a slave and fought against it. If he¡¯d raped you, he¡¯d already be dead. If he¡¯d continued to abuse you, he¡¯d also already be dead. Instead, he used you as a guard dog and left you alone. In five months, he will be level 1 and stuck here. Do you think his place had all of the bells and whistles it had when I owned it?
¡°Somewhat appeased, fine, your right he. He hurt my pride and you¡¯re going to hurt his, I get it,¡± Adaline said.
¡°Don¡¯t I get a say in what happens to me?¡± Apolyn asked.
¡°No!¡± both Adamantadine and Adaline said in unison.
Adamantadine clicked the collar shut and Apolyn felt the experience start to drain away from him.
¡°You have a few days before your levels get so low that you can¡¯t teleport so if you need to go shopping I¡¯d get that out of the way. We¡¯re headed to Rustoph¡¯s Supplies to make sure you¡¯re stocked up for the next 11 years. Remember if you try to take the necklace off, you¡¯re dead. Hopefully, we will never have to cross paths again
¡°Too true,¡± Apolyn said as Adaline turned into a large Shadow Dragon and jumped into the air flying south. Adamantadine rose smoothly into the air and caught up to and flew beside her.
Sit here for the next eleven years, bah. There was a fourth option. He only had a short time before he wouldn¡¯t be able to pull it off. Apolyn closed the door and rushed back to his secret library to grab a few things before he headed out. Taking off the necklace was out. If he could create a ring that was stealing more experience than he was losing, he could keep his levels. That went against the third warning he¡¯d been given but the weak often made threats they weren¡¯t going to keep. Apolyn had no doubt he¡¯d lose XP until he was level 1 again. He did not doubt that if he tried to remove the necklace he would die. He very much doubted a man that said he would kill for doing the exact thing he was doing to him. It made no sense so he was going to make that ring and ignore that warning. He would have the ring created and on his finger before he lost 100 levels
* * *
Adam flew south beside Adaline. As we came within sight of Venoran Adaline shifted back to her human form and Adam carried her until they landed about 500 feet from the gate and set her down. They walked toward the gate together.
¡°Bring back any memories?¡± Adaline asked
¡°Yeah, my first trip down here I thought I was pretty powerful. How little I knew then.¡±
¡°What happened to you?¡±
¡°The short version is that my evil alternate destroyed a lot of people, though technically they all shared a soul so that¡¯s a little bit complicated. It¡¯s also why you found yourself in a slave collar. This is the original Primore. You were yanked through dimensions to this place and recombined with yourself. As the more dominant personality, high level, higher stats, higher whatever. You won. I¡¯ll bet you¡¯ve had dreams about doing things you don¡¯t remember doing haven¡¯t you?¡± I asked.
¡°Yes, I thought they were just normal dreams or nightmares. They were so realistic.¡±
¡°That¡¯s because the subconscious is much stronger than people think. Anyway, you asked what happened. Let me see if I can explain this in a way that makes sense. You know that I can make duplicates and I can put part of myself into them, right?
¡°Yes,¡± Adaline said nodding
¡°Well, imagine if I had 100 bodies with only 10 in all my attributes and I had to divide those attributes evenly among those bodies.¡±
¡°Is that what happened, you spread yourself too thin?¡± she asked
¡°I didn¡¯t spread myself too thin. When I was consolidating this Realm into one Cosmos I removed nanites from four Cosmos that had been overrun by something a race had created near its beginning. I converted those nanites into my Chaotic nanites, which exist but don¡¯t exist, that¡¯s another story. Anyway, while you were gone I discovered another race that was trying to take over the Earth, so I went to confront them on their home turf.
¡°What happened?¡±
¡°As far as I can tell from the notices I¡¯ve received, I think that something with the ability to make the rules created an area that doesn¡¯t allow Soul Spaces. What should have happened is that everything in my soul space should have been ejected and the soul space closed.¡±
¡°So, what really happened?¡±
¡°The Chaos that was in my soul, four Cosmos worth, and I became one being and my mind was spread across every ¡°chaotic nanite¡± because that¡¯s how I think of the chaos.¡±
¡°That shouldn¡¯t have been so bad, you have a strong mind¡±
¡°I have a strong mind, stronger now even but still the shock stunned me to such a point I had no coherent thoughts until something kicked my mind into gear. My subconscious had been able to stay together and guided me to pull myself back together. That¡¯s why it took me so long to get to you.¡±
¡°What happened to the new enemies you found?¡±
¡°Say what?¡± Adam asked playfully
¡°What. Happened. To. The. New. Enemies?¡± she asked slowly, enunciating each word individually.
¡°I may have unknowingly eaten them all, I think,¡± AdamI said sheepishly
¡°Adam!¡±
¡°Not to worry, my figure looks great doesn¡¯t it?¡±
¡°How are you able to¡Let me ask this a different way. You know that I served in technological societies yes? She asked.
¡°Yes,¡±
¡°Well, I took the time to learn some science. How are you able to fit all of that mass into the tiny frame you have without becoming a singularity? You just admitted to having the mass of four Cosmos and you absorbed another.¡±
Adam coughed
¡°How many more cosmos did you absorb?¡±
¡°Four more.¡±
¡°You have eight cosmos worth of mass inside you?
¡°It¡¯s no longer inside me, it is me¡±
¡°Okay, how are eight Cosmic masses not turning you into a singularity.¡±
¡°I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s all about the nature of chaos and intent. I think a lot of the chaos has taken on the properties of nothing.¡±
¡°You¡¯re making my head hurt. How can nothing be something?¡±
¡°It¡¯s not nothing, it¡¯s Chaos acting like it¡¯s nothing until I need it to act like something else?¡±
¡°Wait, that almost makes sense,¡± she said. ¡°So, if it¡¯s acting like nothing, it has no mass, no size. So only the parts that are you have mass?
Adam was about to answer but they walked within earshot of the guards.
¡°Welcome to Venoran, please go over to the cart and pay the entry fee.¡± The guard closest to us said.
¡°There¡¯s an entry fee?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, it¡¯s 2 silver, 1 silver for residents¡±
Adam walked Adaline and himself over to the cart and paid the 4 silver pieces. It¡¯s not like he had to worry about money after all.
¡°I think he robbed us,¡± Adaline said
¡°Me too, but it¡¯s not worth the fuss. Besides Detrik isn¡¯t going to mind is he? He doesn¡¯t even exist anymore, as far as I know.¡±
¡°That¡¯s dark,¡± Adaline said
¡°He played stupid games, and won a stupid prize,¡± Adam said. ¡°We¡¯re only here to make sure Apolyn doesn¡¯t starve when he is dropped to level 1.¡±
¡°Why didn¡¯t you just kill him?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°Because I wasn¡¯t sure where he¡¯d end up if he died normally. If I went all out we¡¯d probably never see him again. I¡¯m trying not to do that too often so I don¡¯t piss off the real Gods. Besides, he just kept you as a pet and didn¡¯t treat you too badly. Killing him utterly for that would be overkill. It will be at least a century before he gets back to the power level he is right now. 11 years for a Century. He¡¯s paying tenfold. Plus, Bri gets some XP out of it?
¡°Bri?¡±
¡°That¡¯s the Labyrinth¡¯s name,¡± I said.
¡°You met the central intelligence of the, oh never mind, of course, you did,¡± Adaline said.
Adam set the coin pouch he had to hold exactly 1 gold coin and produce another each time one was taken. After 30 minutes he checked his logs and sure enough, 35 gold had been pickpocketed from him. The Thieves Guild was going to get an influx tonight.
Finally, we came up to the Entrance to Rustoph¡¯s Supplies and led Adaline inside.
Rustoph was standing behind the counter, ¡°Can I help you?¡±
¡°Yes Rustoph, I¡¯d like to open an investment account with you and use it to pay for a friends account as needed¡±
¡°Sir, While I¡¯m definitely interested in helping you do that, you talk as if we¡¯ve met, have we?¡± Rustoph asked.
¡°My apologies. My name is Adam. No, we haven¡¯t met before but the description I received describing you was uncanny, you match up exactly,¡± Adam said as Adaline rolled her eyes.
¡°Ah I see, what kind of investment account were you looking to start?¡± he asked.
¡°I need to pay Apolyn¡¯s Abode monthly bill for the next 20 years. Maybe even consider upgrading his account to your maximum tier?¡±
¡°You want to start up an account that replenishes his food for 20 years at our top tier? That includes exotic dishes, Adam. Not even the Royals pay in advance on those accounts because the price can fluctuate.¡± Rustoph said hesitantly.
¡°I Understand. Still, what do you think a fair price to do that for someone and maybe a single guest eating three times a day for 20 years would cost,¡± Adam asked.
Rustoph looked thoughtful for a moment then started muttering as he thought out loud, ¡°10 gold for 2 meals three times a day for 360 days then add a zero and double, and the minimum would be 432,000 gold. If the meals were 100 gold per person, and some of them can be that high, then it could be as high as 4,320,000 gold for 20 years. I would require at least 2.5 million gold to ensure that at least half of the meals were exquisite or better.¡±
¡°Are you going to do what I think you¡¯re going to do,? Adaline asked
¡°Of course, I am,¡± Adam said answering her then looked at Rustoph, ¡°Do you have a storage device?¡± Adam asked Rustoph
¡°I do.¡±
¡°Then let¡¯s get this party started, I¡¯m going to open an account with you for 5 million gold.
¡°Wait a minute, you have that much gold on you?¡± Rustoph asked.
¡°I do,¡±
¡°Hold on a minute Rustoph said, as he stepped into the back room and the front door locked.
¡°Rustoph, what are you doing?¡± Adam asked patiently
Rustoph¡¯s voice answered from the air behind the counter, though Adam knew he wasn¡¯t there, ¡°There is no way you could be paying me in five million gold today. The kingdom has never printed more than 10 million gold which would require that you have half that gold in your storage container.¡±
¡°I see, well I guess we wait for the guard. If you can please call the tax collector as well, you¡¯ll need them to verify the authenticity of my coins,¡± Adam said.
Adaline found a chair and sat down getting ready for the show.
Adam stood by the counter and waited; it would be a little while before the guards arrived. He could just end this charade, and nothing would be able to stop him. Then again he might piss off a real God and now that he¡¯d seen, firsthand, exactly how powerful they could be. Better to play this out normally if he could so he stood there and waited.
Chapter 147, Old Acquaintances
Adaline and Adam stood in front of the counter and waited for a good quarter of an hour before a contingent of city guards made their way into the shop.
¡°Halt in the name of King Liam II!¡± The first guard declared as three others entered the shop behind Adam and took up positions in front of the door.
¡°We¡¯re not going anywhere, how may we serve the King this fine day?¡± Adam asked
A woman stepped through lithely and looked around quickly as a man in robes with a staff stepped through without looking to see whom he was talking to, ¡°You may serve the Crown by explaining¡¡±, Arch-Mage Belarious¡¯s voice froze as his eyes locked with Adam¡¯s. Also, at the same moment, his assassin friend, Seraphin, noted something was wrong and a dagger was palmed and thrown at Adam¡¯s right eye.
Reaching up casually, Adam plucked the dagger out of the air while maintaining eye contact with the Arch-Mage, ¡°I believe you dropped your dagger Seraphin,¡± Adam said as he tossed the dagger, hilt first, back to her. She caught it deftly and replaced it in its scabbard.
¡°But that was a dream,¡± the Arch-Mage asked questioningly
¡°Was it? I¡¯m pretty sure it wasn¡¯t. By the by, have you done anything to Daranus, Chesarie, Thrum, Xander, or Desari?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I don¡¯t have to answer to the likes¡¡±
he cut him off, focused his will, and dominated him to answer his next question, ¡°Have you done anything to Daranus, Chesarie, Thrum, Xander, or Desari?¡± Adam asked again.
¡°I do not even know who the five individuals you speak of are?¡± the Arch-Mage said before his hand went to his mouth as if trying to stop himself from speaking.¡±
¡°Not a dream then, how powerful are you now?¡± Adam asked.
While he¡¯d been talking Seraphin had made a couple of small movements then shadow teleported behind Adam. Adaline was standing beside him and also knew that Seraphin was going to try something, but she hadn¡¯t moved, allowing him to handle the situation. Adam cheated. He stopped time for everyone as Seraphin appeared. His back still turned, he allowed his chaos to explode from his back and surround and neutralize every single item on her body. If it wasn¡¯t part of her flesh, chaos enveloped broke down and added everything to itself. To say that he now knew Seraphin more intimately than she knew herself, would have been an understatement. She had things hidden throughout herself with special magic items in interesting places. One of the interesting ideas was this line of cloth that had been under her right breast. It had been a bag of holding of some kind. It would have been undetectable unless she was stripped down and someone took the time to lift her breast.
Breast Pocket of Holding, Unique
This item was specifically created for Seraphin by Master Callum.
The Breast Pocket of Holding is placed under the left or right breast. When activated mentally the wearer may place items in either hand in the holding area of this Breast Pocket or Withdraw items to that Breast Pocket.
The Breast Pocket of Holding can hold up to three cubic feet of items.
Adam focused his intent and took over control of the Breast Pocket of Holding. He forced everything except clothes out of it and absorbed them. Everything else, and there was quite a bit in her three other Bags, or Pouches, of Holding, were broken down and destroyed by his chaotic nanites, he meant chaos, he had to remember that going forward.
Adam withdrew the chaos back into myself and resumed time to feel her fist come down on his back. Turning he looked at Seraphin as some of the guards gasped. Not missing a perfect opportunity to humiliate this evil killer he said, ¡°My dear if you wanted my attention you didn¡¯t need to strip down and share your God-given gifts with all of us, though I do thank you for the courtesy.¡±
¡°Well, I don¡¯t?¡± Adaline said as Seraphine did a back flip behind the counter to try to cover herself.
¡°Where are my things?¡± Stephanie asked indignantly
¡°I ate them?¡± Adam said truthfully
¡°You ate them?¡± Seraphin asked.
¡°You ate them?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°I ate them. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes, or in this case, give stupid prizes to me. Besides, I know you have another set of clothes in the bag of holding under your right¡
¡°Hey!¡± Seraphin exclaimed
¡°Don¡¯t try to gaslight the situation, young lady. You attacked me, even after the memories you have of what I did to you the last time you crossed me.¡±
The Arch-Mage looked thoughtful. Looked at Seraphin then brought his hand to her forehead, ¡°Why exactly were the guards called?¡± The Arch-Mage asked.
Rustolph stepped out from the doorway, looking Seraphin up and down, ¡°Damn!¡± he said admiringly as he watched Seraphin¡¯s dress.
Seraphin met Rustoph¡¯s eyes, who hurried past the counter to address the Arch-Mage directly, ¡°That was me Arch-Mage Belarious. he called because this man said that he had 5 million gold that he could pay me?¡± Rustoph said while pointing at Adam.
¡°And why did you call the guard?¡±
¡°Because no one carries 5 million gold. For sums that large bank notes, platinum or gems are usually utilized,¡± Rustolph said.
¡°Adamantadine, that is your name if the dream I remember is accurate?¡± Arch-Mage Belarious asked
¡°It is,¡± Adam said.
¡°Do you have 5 million gold to give this man?¡±
¡°I do?¡±
¡°How, exactly?
¡°I have an ability gifted to me by the Gods to create whatever wealth I need,¡± Adam said honestly.
¡°And gems too,¡± Adaline added.
¡°So, magic then. Will the money ever disappear?
¡°No, once it¡¯s made it¡¯s as real as any other money anywhere. If metal, it could even be melted down.¡±
¡°WHERE ARE MY THINGS!¡± Seraphin screamed as she rushed at me.
Adam quickly Analyzed her, focusing on her level and hit points,
Name: Seraphin
Class: Thief (Masked Class): Assassin
Level: 4557
Hit Points: 4997
he adjusted his damage output to exactly 4996. As she attacked him with some very impressive martial arts moves. Adam planted himself so he couldn¡¯t be moved and allowed her to repeatedly attack him until she created an opening. To anyone watching it looked like Seraphin was hitting an immovable object until he, the immovable object, reached out casually and flicked, he didn¡¯t hit her or palm strike, he simply put his pointer finger against his thumb and then flicked her right in the center of her chest with that pointer finger for exactly 4996 subduing damage.
Seraphin went from trying to attack him, to falling to her knees and slumping as she passed out.
¡°Hold!¡± The Arch-Mage commanded as the guards shifted to check on the fallen woman and also moved closer to attack.
¡°But sir, he struck down your right hand?¡± the Captain of the Guard said.
¡°Did she die?¡±
¡°No Sir, she¡¯s breathing,¡± one of the guards who¡¯d also come up and also checked on Seraphin while the other two waved their weapons threatening.
¡°If that dream wasn¡¯t a dream,¡± The Arch-Mage mused, ¡°Then your level is so far above ours¡but I don¡¯t get that kind of level difference feeling from you. Honestly, I don¡¯t get any kind of reading from you. What level are you?¡±
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
¡°More than you remember from the dream,¡± Adam said then added, ¡°Also, I am completely immune to temporal magic that is used against me in a hostile manner,¡± Adam said.
¡°I see,¡± Arch Mage Belarious said. ¡±Guards, pick Seraphin up and take her back to the castle, I¡¯ll be along shortly. Rustolph, this man¡¯s credit is good, you may accept the money he has stated that he is paying you so he can be on his way,¡± The Arch-Mage stated. Looked at me before he continued, ¡°May we never meet again Adamantadine.¡±
¡°I¡¯m a pretty simple guy Belarious. If people don¡¯t attack me or my family or friends, I don¡¯t attack them. As for Seraphin and my destruction of her property. Had she not attacked me, none of that would have been necessary. Though if I¡¯m being honest¡¡±
Adam was cut off as the God of Knowledge¡¯s voice entered, his mine, No! Events from a shadow cosmos may appear or they may not. As you are, any meddling or influence you take can be countered by any beings that share a similar power level. Apolyn is an exception because he has meddled in things he shouldn¡¯t have. Your actions are within the rules we hold ourselves to resolve. There was a long pause as if Serena was about to say something else before she continued. At some point, we need to talk. Take care of your lady then seek me out
¡°Sorry, where was I,¡± Adam said to cover the awkward pause, ¡°Oh yeah, if I¡¯m being honest, I may have overreacted, but an apology I will not give. I know exactly how evil she is.¡±
The Arch-Mage looked from Adam to Rustolph and finally to Adaline before saying, ¡°Well, if that is all, I¡¯m going to be on his way. You know that someday she will try to settle the score?¡±
¡°I do, pass this message on, next time might be very bad for her health.¡±
¡°I will, and good day,¡± The Arch-Mage said as he teleported away.
¡°Where were we Rustolph? Do you have a bag of holding I can deposit the funds into? It¡¯ll be easier to count that way.¡±
¡°I have deposit containers, it¡¯s an item I requested to be constructed. People put large sums of money into it and they and I both receive a notification as to how much was deposited. Then both the depositor and I receive another prompt when the money is moved out of the deposit box. So I have to ask, after you deposit the gold do you want an itemized breakdown of expenditure or do you just want to make the deposit and not worry about your friend for 20 years.¡±
¡°The second, though I would like some guarantees that should the five million not be adequate that you will cover whatever additional cost comes up. I do understand that giving you 5 million gold now will allow you to invest that money in other projects. If you invest poorly, you are still responsible for making sure the contract is maintained for 20 years.¡±
¡°But the Arch-Mage just said that you had an ability that allows you to create money at will.¡±
¡°I do not believe you will be able to contact me for the foreseeable future. I¡¯m not going to be in town or even in this Universe shortly after we are done here,¡± Adam said as he felt Adaline getting restless beside me, Do we have an agreement that you are responsible to provide the food for 20 years?¡± he asked
¡°We do,¡± Rustolph said
¡°Where is that deposit box?¡± he asked
Rustolph pulled a box up from behind the counter, ¡°Which residence are you upgrading and purchasing food and drinks for?¡±
¡°Apolyn¡¯s Abode.¡±
¡°Ah yes, we take care of that one-dimensionally. Please deposit your gold into the box.¡±
Adam touched the box and thought Deposit 5 million Gold
Would you like to deposit 5 million Gold into this Deposit Box for use in procuring food and drink for Apolyn¡¯s abode, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes¡± and immediately received a new prompt.
You have chosen to deposit 5 million gold into a deposit box at Rustolph¡¯s Supplies for Apolyn¡¯s Abode. This Prompt serves as a receipt DO NOT DISCARD
¡°I do believe our business is done. My lady and I are going to be going now. Have a great day,¡± Adam said as Adaline and he turned and walked out of the shop. Once they were outside he turned to Adaline, ¡°Adaline, is there anything you need to do?¡±
¡°No, though I do want to ask, why didn¡¯t you warn the Arch-Mage¡.¡±
¡°Shhh, The Goddess contacted me, and let¡¯s just say that if I meddle, they get to meddle.¡±
¡°But you¡¯re not a God, are you?¡±
¡°Technically,¡± he said pausing for a moment as he waved his hand back and forth, ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe, that would be the best answer. I have the invitation to discuss some things with her, but first I¡¯d like to get you back to Earth and see what¡¯s been going on. I¡¯ve been gone from there almost as long as you and I were separated.¡±
¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± she said.
¡°Adam focused his intent and teleported both of them to his estate in New Mexico on Earth. As we arrived in the living room a klaxon went off.
WARNING Intruder Aler
The klaxon ended as Thor¡¯s voice said from a speaker nearby, ¡°Oh! Your back¡±
¡°I am, anywhere more secure on the planet you can put me and Adaline for a little while for some alone time Thor. That way I can get freshened up and you¡¯ll have time to get everyone here that wants to see us.¡±
¡°Sure, I¡¯m going to open a portal that¡¯s going to lead you down into a very deep underground cavern below us,¡± Thor said.
¡°How deep is it?¡± he asked
¡°It¡¯s about two miles down, reinforced with carbon weave shell around it and shock absorbers. My computer models believe it could even withstand a level 10 earthquake on the Richter scale, though that should never be a problem. The entire planet has 100% nanite coverage in all inorganic materials.¡±
¡°Cool, open the portal,¡± Adam said.
A portal opened and while he knew he could have done something like what he was seeing he had not expected to find what he saw when we stepped through ¡°Wow,¡± Adaline and he said as they looked over the beginnings of a huge biosphere, ¡°What kind of diameter does this cylinder have?¡± he asked.
¡°The top of the cave is exactly 2 miles below the surface and the cavern is only 10 miles long. Because we¡¯re still on the planet the only usable area is 45 degrees off-bottom center, so the useable area is only about¡¡±
¡°Roughly, 21,947 square miles¡± he finished for him. Are you saying that you made a cylinder under the surface that could one day be used as a lifeboat if you could launch it?¡±
¡°Launching it would be easy, within this structure are enough portal generators to let me create a portal at one end of the cylinder, once the nanites take on the appropriate attributes. Make the bottom magnetic, stick that over superconductors and we can just slide the cylinder through an open portal into open space, then add propulsion and instant habitat.¡±
¡°I take it all of the machinery, and such is under the current floor of the cylinder, and that you¡¯ll be able to expand around the cylinder because you¡¯ve left some thickness under the floor.¡±
¡°Yep, that actual diameter of the out shell is closer to 3 miles. The outer half mile is solid rock, while all machinery is within the first half mile under the inner surface. Without help, it¡¯s a maze in there.¡±
¡°So where is our home,¡± Adam asked
¡°Look behind you¡±, Thor said with a hint of mirth in his voice.
Adam turned and saw a copy of his estate in New Mexico. They walked inside, did a quick tour, and then stepped onto the upstairs balcony. The way the building was set had the balcony facing down the length of the cylinder they were in. Their estate was right up against the bottom, or top, of the cylinder, depending on how someone looked at it.
¡°Thor, how many people do you have in here currently?¡±
¡°Not many, Just family and some workers that have signed Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) and have first rights to bring their families if they desire. They¡¯re working on setting up a self-sustaining ecosystem.¡±
¡°Can¡¯t you do that, wait on, Damn, I never updated you on how to build a Dyson sphere, knowledge dump incoming,¡± Adam said as he opened their quantum link and shared all his memories on the creation of the various Dyson spheres he had and how he¡¯d set up the ecosystems for each. This project was much simpler but this should help him a lot. Once he¡¯d sent the information he asked, ¡°How long would it take you to make this spaceworthy?¡± Adam asked
¡°It¡¯s space worthy now. I won¡¯t be adding the stabilizers or propulsion system until it¡¯s in space but that shouldn¡¯t be an issue, you know how fast the nanites are.¡±
¡°Why hasn¡¯t this been moved off into space already? Is everyone too busy to make the call or is there an actual reason?¡±
¡°We¡¯ve all been pretty busy¡¡±
Adam interrupted him, ¡°Okay, make this a priority. Did we stick to the stay-in-the-solar system plan?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Okay then, find a nice quiet place in the Oort Cloud, also make sure that there will be no emissions from this rock. Don¡¯t add a propulsion system, just enough stabilizers to get the rotation going, or did you install artificial gravity?¡±
¡°Artificial gravity is installed, it¡¯s just not turned on because it messes with the earth¡¯s gravitational field. I kept it as a cylinder so we could use rotation if we needed to, though it will always have some rotation, in case anything fails so the water doesn¡¯t go everywhere.¡±
¡°Great minds think alike,¡± Adam said as Adaline interrupted him.
¡°Adam!¡± she said in a way that let me know she wanted attention.
¡°Hey Thor, look at the time, would you let everyone know that I¡¯ll want to meet with them tomorrow¡¡± he started to say as Adaline led him up into the estate.
¡°Thor opaque the windows, please?¡± Adaline asked out loud as she started dropping her clothes off her body as soon as we were in the door.
¡°What she said Thor,¡± Adam said as he also started dropping his clothes to the floor which the nanites analyzed, broke down, and remade neatly stacked on a chair in the bedroom, not that he was paying attention to anything but Adaline. Adam noticed the clothes waiting for them the next morning.
When Adaline was fully disrobed, she turned to me and asked coyly, ¡°So are you going to stand there, or come over here and show me how much you missed me?¡±
Giving up on taking his socks off, he had the nanites remove them as he strode forward.
* * *
Thor opaqued the windows as requested, then disabled all camera¡¯s in the estate Adam and Adaline were in. While he had memories of Johnathan¡¯s life he was not a living being so he felt none of the longings he might have felt when he was in a body. Thor started the conversion process of the bottom of the cylinder to ferromagnetic alloy and created super-conductors under them it. The cylinder started to float above the superconductors until it was ready to be pushed out of a portal. Next, Thor located the perfect spot in the Oort cloud to put the cylinder. A place that would provide good camouflage as there were other large ice chunks and asteroids.
When he was done making sure everything was ready, he moved the ice and rocks out of the way with nanites in the area, The cylinder Adaline and Adam were in, slowly slid through a portal just a little over 3 miles in diameter. Nanites replaced the original granite and silica in the earth as the cylinder was ejected through the portal.
As the Cylinder emerged into space, Thor activated artificial gravity. Adam and Adaline were so engrossed with each other that neither noticed when the last part of the cylinder slipped through. Thor created the stabilizers, started a soft rotation, then removed all evidence of this huge structure being artificial. He also added craters, dust, and ice to the surface.
The last thing Thor did was finish the ecosystem and add more water to the inside. To ensure no foreign bacteria entered the lifeboat everything added was made from nanites. Living creatures would be imported from Earth but for now, just plant life and water were added. Sunlight was generated by panels that ran down the center of the cylinder which was all on the same day-night cycle. It wasn¡¯t another Earth.
* * *
In Apolyn¡¯s Abode, Apolyn successfully studied and duplicated the enchantment that was on the ring he was wearing. Then he modified it and made his way to Venoran, entered the Dungeon of Divine Elements, and node traveled into the Labyrinth. He could not take off the cursed collar Adamantadine had given him, nor could the Labyrinth remove his ritual once it had been cast.
Apolyn set up everything for the ritual, double-checked it, then cast it before his level could drop any further. The ground rumbled, and the air shook as thunder could be heard all around. Apolyn understood that the Labyrinth might be upset if it was intelligent but there was shit all it could about it
Apolyn walked out of the cave he¡¯d been working in, sealed it with a wall of stone, and then walked back into the Dungeon of Divine Elements and node traveled back to Venoran. By the time he arrived back in the City, all the stolen XP had been replaced, he¡¯d regained the levels he¡¯d lost and was now leveling more quickly than he ever had before. We would see how powerful this Adamantadine thought he was when he achieved Godhood.
Chapter 148, Apolyns Revenge?
Finally! Finally, Apolyn thought. He had finally created the ring he¡¯d tried to enchant so long ago. When he¡¯d first tried to enter the Labyrinth all those years ago his team had been wiped out immediately and he¡¯d not even been able to make it more than a foot out of the entrance. When he¡¯d gone back with a second and third team the entire area had changed, and the Labyrinth had responded to his presence immediately every time he went back. It was almost like it knew what he was trying to do.
Today when he¡¯d entered the Labyrinth he¡¯d only encountered monsters that seemed appropriate for the location. He¡¯d made his way over to the sealed stone wall and opened it up with a spell to the cave he knew was behind it. Once inside he¡¯d sealed the cave with a wall of force to prevent anything from entering then went to work.
Unlike his previous spell which he thought was trying to pull too much experience (XP) from the Labyrinth, he increased the draw to 2 million XP per second which offset the 1 million XP loss per second. That left him with a net gain of 1 million XP per second. That would do nicely. Adam had lied when he¡¯d said he¡¯d have days. He¡¯d have only had about 3.5 hours before he¡¯d have been level 1. Luckily he¡¯d made it to the Labyrinth and cast the spell in time. It had only taken about 15 minutes to figure the spell out enchanting the collar, a quick teleport, short walk and he¡¯d had the spell cast in an hour and a half. If he hadn¡¯t had all the materials ready, he¡¯d have been stuck.
Once he was finished he made his way to the exit and then Node traveled back to the entrance to the Dungeon of Divine Elements right outside Venoran. He¡¯d stepped out into the fresh air. The dungeon automatically taxed everyone leaving the dungeon, and as he¡¯d found nothing, he lost nothing. Once he was outside he teleported back to the entrance to his abode in the mountains north of the city.
In the time it had taken him to return he¡¯d already regained the XP and levels he¡¯d lost. Apolyn went up to his room, took a long hot shower, dressed for bed, and turned off all his notifications. He even made sure to turn off notifications that would normally break through the ignore setting. He wanted to get as much sleep as he could before tomorrow. He just knew it was going to be an awesome day.
When Apolyn woke up the next day he opened his interface to find a lot of notifications waiting for him. He automatically deleted every leveling notification and concentrated on two that caught his attention.
Congratulations! You now have a choice. You may now choose to leave the path of mortality and work to maintain and grow reality with your fellow divines or you may choose to remain mortal for the time being and make this choice at a later time.
The Path of Divinity is not easy. If chosen, you become a Neophyte. All powers, spells, class abilities, and attributes remain the same but are modified by a new attribute called Rank Disparity. Rank Disparity increases all attributes, powers, and abilities against any being that is not at least a Neophyte higher level divine. Neophytes have a rank disparity of 100 to all mortal or normal creatures. Rank Disparity is roughly how many times more powerful than a normal mortal you are.
Those on the path of divinity become Immortal and immune to any normal biological parasites, diseases, poisons, or venoms.
Mortal class progression is locked. Experience is instead converted to Divinity Points (DP) at an exchange rate of 100 XP for 1 DP.
Note: Unlike XP, Divinity Points are not automatically utilized to purchase Class levels. If you chose to become a Divine a list of what Divinity Points may be spent on will be made available to you and updated as other options become available
New Divine Classes, abilities, and powers become available to those on the path of divinity. DP is utilized to purchase class levels, class abilities, utilize divine powers, grant boons or curses, and also increase your divine Rank. The cost for each is variable and may seem extremely high. Some divine classes will seem to mimic mortal classes but are comparatively more powerful. Also, unlike normal mortal classes, Divine Class levels peak at level 10.
Divinity Points are gained by followers, locations, normally temples or other religious structures, dedicated to you and through the conversion of experience into DP. Other methods may become available depending on the divine class you choose as well.
REALITY NOTE: A recent change now allows all mortals to achieve levels beyond level 5,000. Earned XP will continue to apply to mortal levels until you have chosen to walk the Path of Divinity.
NOTE: It is extremely unlikely that any mortal will ever achieve enough experience to contest the power granted through Rank Disparity to a Divine. Neophytes are 100 times more powerful than Mortals. Demi-Gods are 1,000 times more powerful than mortals and Gods are one million times more powerful than mortals. For a mortal to earn enough experience to rival a God they would first need to destroy Reality a hundred, if not a thousand, times over.
WARNING: Those on the Path of the Divine are under strict rules that garner strict penalties not to interfere in the day-to-day lives of mortals except by spending DP to do so. The full list of rules will be made available if you choose to become a divine
Do you wish to become a Divine, Yes or No?
Apolyn chose ¡°No¡±
SYSTEM OVERRIDE INSTITUTED. Answer ¡°No¡± has been converted to Answer ¡°Yes¡±
Apolyn reacted immediately and tapped the ¡°No¡± key multiple times rapidly. Nothing happened until a new Prompt appeared.
Congratulations Neophyte Apolyn. You have chosen to walk the Path of Divinity¡
Apolyn closed the prompts and fumed. Next, he checked his level and realized that he was now Level 13,951 with 76,506 attributes to distribute. That¡¯s not what caught his eye though. His strength, even without the points from the saved attributes was 1.01E+102. Oh yeah, he was going to find that Adamantadine and he was going to¡
Congratulations! You have chosen the path of Divinity.
Reviewing Personal Information
Forced Transformation NOT required.
Prepare for Divine Translocation and Emergence in your new home Layer.
Be sure to check your prompts upon arrival. Information and quests for advancement will be available.
Good Luck!
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
Apolyn looked around in horror as he was forcibly teleported out of a newly unclaimed Place of Power.
* * *
¡°ADAM WAKE UP!¡± Thor¡¯s voice declared as he vaulted out of the bed into an immediately defensive stance over Adaline who was still lying in bed looking up groggily.
¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Adaline asked as Desirae burst into the room
¡°Al is under attack from creatures in the Labyrinth. He needs us.¡± Desirae said.
¡°Get your team together and portal in, I¡¯ll teleport from here. I¡¯ll clear the node room that leads into the labyrinth then I¡¯ll talk to Al. Take your team and head in from the top. I¡¯ll keep anything else from coming in.¡±
¡°You got it!¡± Desirae said.
Adaline slapped his leg lightly, causing me to look down at her as she said, ¡°I have an inkling of how powerful you are. I¡¯m going to stay here and sleep a little longer, maybe catch up with Thor. Have fun!¡± Adaline said.
Thanks, sweetheart,¡± Adam said as his body rippled and he was covered in black leather armor again. He dropped down to his knees over Adaline, gave her a quick kiss, and then teleported to the underwater base near the entrance to the Dungeon. He arrived in mid-air and landed lightly, and then turned to the barrier to the dungeon and walked through. Inside was a group of five individuals getting ready to go through the curtain of darkness into the 1st level.
¡°Dungeons under attack by monsters that are much more powerful than anything you¡¯ve seen before. Get back into the underwater base and make your way to one of the security vaults on the first floor. You will be safe in there until we get this handled.¡±
¡°Who are you? You can¡¯t just¡¡±, one of the over-eager 20-somethings started to say
Adam cast paralyze on the talker and teleported him, and the rest of his team, into one of the bunkers that weren¡¯t open, then opened his quantum link to Thor and sent him a message.
Adam: Thor, I just sent you some idiots who were about to become monster snacks. Don¡¯t let them out until this is over.
Thor: You got it, Adam.
Adam moved to the Travel Node and chose the end of this dungeon and teleported into a maelstrom of monsters rushing in from the Labyrinth. He had to admit, that first couple of seconds he was a little bit surprised. He would even say that he now knew how Loki felt when the Hulk smashed him into the floor in the movie Avengers but nothing that happened to Adam in that first few moments hurt. He did receive a bunch of prompts which he minimized.
Adam focused his will and called up an oldie but goodie with a little bit of a modification to it. He started chain-casting mage bolt as fast as he could. Within a minute the room was clear except for the monsters trying to enter from the Labyrinth. One bolt was more than enough for any monster unless they were immune to that type of damage so he made sure to put one bolt of each elemental type into each monster.
When he was done he spoke to the room, ¡°Al, vacuum seal this room,¡± Adam said as created a magical portal parallel to the portal to the labyrinth and had it open near enough to the Unicorn Singularity that anything passing through would be traveling for a year or so before it went into the singularities gravity well. He made sure the exit was far enough outside of the gravity well so it wouldn¡¯t produce a lensing effect from the singularities gravity well though. Long before the monsters reached the singularity they¡¯d either evaporate from lack of magic or die from exposure and lack of oxygen, if they needed it. The little bit of air in the room was sucked through the seam between portals and into the void of space. The monsters coming through the portal from the Labyrinth didn¡¯t have a chance.
Adam looked around the room, enclosed the other portal leading into the Dungeon in a bubble of force that left a space on this side of the portal leading back into the dungeon protected from the vacuum to the travel node pedestal. Once that was done, Adam teleported inside and pressurized the area.
¡°Hey Al, what happened?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Thanks for making an air bubble here, I was wondering how Desirae was going to make it into the room without suffocating.¡±
¡°No problem, where are they at?¡± Adam asked.
¡°They¡¯re already to level 2 and making their way through level 3. Monsters from the Labyrinth have only made it to level 7 thus far. You know your family and her are way overpowered for me don¡¯t you?¡±
¡°Really, how high did they get while I was gone?¡± Adam asked
¡°As you yesterday, all six had reached level 14,999. They¡¯ve been swapping rings to take advantage of the XP boost,¡± Adam looked up quickly which caused all to respond just as quickly,¡± Desirae told me when I asked. Anyway, I check their level when they node travel back and also update Desirae so she can keep track of everyone¡¯s progress,¡± Al said.
¡°Is Clarence taking turns with the rings? I just did the math in my head. It¡¯s ironic. At that level dividing by five or six gets the same level. If it was all six of them it¡¯ll be another 146 hours before all of them reach level 15,000. A little less if only five of them¡± I said.
¡°I have seen Clarence wearing the rings yes, though I didn¡¯t know there was an issue. He seems to follow Desirae around and do whatever she says when they¡¯re in me,¡± Al said.
¡°That¡¯s fine. At the level they¡¯re at these monsters should be a cakewalk for them so I¡¯ll wait here. Why don¡¯t you fill me in on what happened?¡± Adam said.
¡°A little while ago all of us Dungeons received what we thought was a mental attack. It wasn¡¯t. The Labyrinth, Bri, had screamed. There was an emotional part to the mental cry that felt awful. Like something was being ripped away from her. A moment later Labyrinth creatures started breaking into every dungeon that I¡¯m in contact with.¡±
¡°How bad is it?¡±
¡°Considering that none of the labyrinth creatures have been destroyed in any other dungeon save this one and I¡¯m just now absorbing them, hold on for a sec,¡± Al said as the room pulsed and the corpses that were still in the room disappeared. ¡°As I thought These creatures are far more powerful than anything the other dungeons have seen. The levels of these creatures are ranging from 100, my upper limit on level 10, to 1,000. Everywhere else the monsters are only level 100 or less.¡± Al said.
¡°I know I didn¡¯t ask before but I¡¯m asking now, how many dungeons are on this planet?¡± I asked.
¡°There are a lot of dungeons forming, especially after you used so much mana. They¡¯re popping up along ley lines everywhere. The question I think you¡¯re asking is how many dungeons are connected to the Labyrinth?¡± Al said.
¡°Correct, how many dungeons are Labyrinth creatures going to break out of into the world? Adam asked.
¡°I am an anomaly because of the Bermuda Triangle and a convergence of other factors. Currently, there are 32 dungeons connected to the Labyrinth. Eight are the prime nodes for the eight basic elements. The other 24 are convergence points where 4 different basic elements come together. With the world being covered by 70% water, 13 of them are underwater. 11 are not.¡±
¡°Do you have their locations?¡±
¡°Adam, I¡¯m not like you, I do not remember everything unless it happened inside me. I know they are in the world, but I have no idea where.¡±
At that moment all six members of his team, He was going to have to start referring to them that way, stepped out of the curtain ready to fight.
¡°Adam!¡± Desirae called.
¡°Desirae! Any problems?¡± I asked.
¡°Nothing we couldn¡¯t handle,¡± Abi said.
¡°Yeah son, this is great! They almost gave us a challenge,¡± his dad said.
¡°Don¡¯t listen to your dad Johnathan, I didn¡¯t even get to heal anyone this time. These days I only get practice healing when noobs come here and bite off more than they can chew,¡± Adam¡¯s mom said.
Adam looked at Desirae questioning
¡°Your mom followed in your shoes. She serves Serena as a Cleric. The Goddess showed up shortly after you disappeared to let us know you were okay.¡±
¡°Wow, so you all met a God?¡±
¡°Yep, and I have to admit, my agnostic tendencies are pretty much gone,¡± Clarence said.
Adam laughed as he said, ¡°I bet! Just so you know, I think you met a real goddess. The ones I was dealing with back in the day were, the best word I can use to describe them is, imposters, but not.¡± Adam said.
¡°One of the things we¡¯d like to discuss with you is this message that asks us if we¡¯d like to embark on the Path of Divinity. We all received it when we reached level 5,000. We were waiting to talk to you when you returned, ¡°Amanda said.
¡°And we will. Right now leave it alone. Something has happened to the Labyrinth and all of the monsters she was keeping at bay are now on their way through the portals. I asked Thor to move the mini refuge into the Oort Cloud last night. It should be there by now and ready to go. How many portals does the base under New Mexico have now?¡± Adam asked.
¡°If it were the only place we had portals I¡®d say 1,000. We have a lot more than that. There are portals devices within the ship and there are also other ones buried deep in various moons around the solar system. Thor said he was modeling the idea on something you¡¯d done previously.¡±
¡°Sounds like it,¡± Adam said, as he created seven quantumly entangled communication earbuds and a stand-alone system that he put on a tripod next to the wall and then formed rock around it with his chaos. ¡°These communication devices are going to keep us in contact. I¡¯m going to teleport us all back to base ops. Al, this device on the ground will allow us to talk to and hear you. Please try to find out what happened to the Labyrinth.¡±
¡°Will do Adam, how long will that portal you made last?¡± Al asked.
¡°Until I dispel it. I made it self-sustaining,¡± Adam said.
¡°What happens if anyone walks into the back of your portal?¡± Al asked.
¡°Good question, let me fix that,¡± Adam said as he cast a wall of force over the back of the portal so anything trying to enter it would bounce off. ¡°Anyone that tries to enter from the back will hit a wall of force. If anyone can dispel that, and still walks through it, my thoughts are simply they deserve whatever happens to them.¡±
¡°Fair enough,¡± Al said.
Adam opened a portal with magic that led to the control room in New Mexico and followed everyone as they stepped through.
¡°Desirae, I have a feeling this is your show now. We need to save as many as possible, let¡¯s get to it.
¡°Thor, status please!¡± Desirae called.
¡°Multiple reports of strange creatures popping up all around the world have started coming in within the last five minutes.
¡°You still have coverage across the globe?¡±
¡°Yes, okay, correlate data and look for eleven areas with multiple reports within the last five minutes.¡±
¡°Working,¡± Thor responded.
¡°All right, Abi and Amanda, I want you at your headquarters and ready to make a public announcement in a few minutes about the people that will be stepping through portals to safety, ¡°Desirae paused for a moment then looked at Cindy and Robert, ¡°Cindy and Robert I want you two on the lifeboat. They might need healing and also something might get through one of the portals. If that happens, Robert, you¡¯re the tank, you take care of it. Cindy, you¡¯re the healer you know what to do. Clarence, you¡¯re with me and Adam. We are going to pop around the planet taking out as many monsters as we can,¡± Desirae paused for a moment, then added, ¡°Abi and Amanda, you know which groups have been doing the best down in the dungeon. A couple of people have reached decent levels. I want you to contact them all and tell them to be ready for defense duties. I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll have an issue, I just don¡¯t think we¡¯ll be able to handle¡.¡± Desirae¡¯s voice trailed off as she watched Adam split himself into 10 copies of himself.
¡°Not an issue,¡± Adam said. I can split like this over a million times without loss of functionality¡± he said.
Everyone in the room slowly blinked, looked at the ten copies of Adam, and then looked at Desirae. Desirae gathered herself, then said, ¡°Okay people, We have work to do and lives to save, let¡¯s get to it!¡±
Chapter 149, Knowledge Can Lead to Power
Over the next week, they all worked to save this version of Earth. Luckily, the dungeons underwater didn¡¯t pose too much of a threat. Of the 21 only 7 were near shorelines. A lot of nonaquatic monsters that exited the Dungeon were crushed by the pressure of the ocean or drowned before they could make it to the surface. Abi and Amanda were able to get the word out about the 11 dungeons on land. All the populations within 5 miles were evacuated quickly and efficiently.
Adam¡¯s task in each scenario was to find the dungeon entrances and seal them. he couldn¡¯t make portals for every dungeon to the Unicorn Singularity so he did something a lot simpler. he would find a dungeon and then open a portal in front of its entry point and make that portal exit into a different dungeon¡¯s entry point. By doing this he closed off Earth from the Dungeons and the monsters that were trying to break through. As they left a dungeon they entered another one. He couldn¡¯t keep this up forever so he created portals with a one-year time limit. Though he added just a little more power to each portal as he went along so they wouldn¡¯t all fail at once. That should give him time to take care of each portal before the next came one came down.
Desirae and Clarence went out and dealt with any monsters that popped up or manifested from the ambient magic. Additionally, in non-populated areas, the militaries of the world were able to deal with any of the smaller threats. Adam left one version of himself at every entrance just in case something was able to break through his portal. He didn¡¯t know if that was possible but wanted to make sure each area held. Adam kept his primary body with Adaline in their Estate on the Lifeboat and monitored from there. He¡¯d also asked for one of the rings. Adam gave it to Adaline who was now playing catchup with everyone else.
Adaline had been level 5,000 when the ring giving her one million experience a second had diverted that XP into Pandora because she¡¯d reached the maximum level that was imposed until the Realm had been fixed. Adaline was well behind the level of any of his other family or friends so it was her turn for a ring. She¡¯d worn the ring for just over 7 days now and reached level 5,125. To reach level 15,000 would take her another 3 years and 2 months and she¡¯d still be behind the others. That was fine, he had a feeling she¡¯d have time.
Honestly, he was more worried about what she¡¯d try to do once we found out where Pandora had been sent to. Adam had a feeling, that he couldn¡¯t quantify, that the location Pandora had been thrown to was going to add another level of complexity to his understanding of this¡existence. Yes. Existence was the only word that could encompass all the dimensions, planes, universes, cosmos, realms, layers, and realities. he had thought a ¡°reality¡± was the all-encompassing descriptor that held everything else but he was pretty sure with how Pandora had disappeared that there was more. he could be wrong and she could have simply been shunted to another realm but he had a feeling if that were true he would have been able to teleport to her with little or no issue. he¡¯d tried at least once a day every day. Nothing happened.
Then the world had been placed under siege by monsters. His list of things that needed to be done before he could track down Pandora was growing;
- Save the World from Monsters.
- Find out why the Labyrinth stopped holding back the monsters
- Speak with Knowledge, though he should probably put that before speaking with Bri
- Ensure Earth has protectors that can take over if his family isn¡¯t around anymore.
- Deal with whatever pissed Bri off
- Check on Apolyn every once in a while to gloat. Yeah, petty, but fun!
- Speak with the family about what they wanted to do about becoming Neophytes. That would make them immortal, as far as he knew but would take them out of helping Earth Directly. Also, that talk with Mom and Dad should be fun as both were very religious.
- Find Pandora, which was really what he wanted to do first.
There were other things he needed to do but those eight things were at the top of his list. It was time to speak with a God, a real one this time.
Adam disconnected from the other 32 copies of himself watching the Dungeons. Each was part of him but he didn¡¯t want anything to affect them as they held the gates. Adam then turned to Adaline who was standing beside him on their balcony as they looked out over the now quite busy Lifeboat.
¡°Adaline, think you can help Mom and Dad take care of things here for a bit?¡±
¡°Why? Where are you going?¡±
¡°I have an invitation from a Goddess to answer,¡± he said.
¡°Do you think she¡¯ll know what happened to Pandora?¡±
¡°I hope so. I don¡¯t know though,¡± he said honestly
Adaline came over, hugged him, then kissed him before she withdrew and said, ¡°If she can help us find our daughter do whatever she asks.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯d have much choice, but I¡¯d planned to do whatever she asked anyway. Her shadow that I served as a Cleric helped me heal you after all. I still owe her for that.¡±
¡°True. How will you get to the Goddess?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°Easy enough, I¡¯m going to teleport to Primore and go to one of her temples. I should be able to talk to her from there. I might be able to ask her to come here but I don¡¯t want to pop people¡¯s brains when that much divine presence enters the area. As far as he can tell I¡¯m the only one with that much power around and I don¡¯t have a divine presence.¡±
¡°Good idea, besides I¡¯m not actually evil, but I¡¯m not exactly good either.¡±
¡°Neither am he but I feel that we strive to do more good than evil,¡± Adam said.
¡°Unless you go full murderhobo,¡± Adaline said
¡°Murderhobo?¡±
¡°You need to read some of the more recent fiction that¡¯s out.¡±
¡°It¡¯s not that, I know the word, remember ¡®Perfect Memory¡¯,¡± he said tapping his head lightly, ¡° I was just surprised to hear that word uttered from you,¡± he said grinning.
¡°I can read,¡± Adaline said pouting. When she realized he wasn¡¯t buying her act she smiled and said, ¡°Can¡¯t blame a girl for trying to sway you with cuteness¡±
¡°Don¡¯t forget your absolutely stunning figure and bountiful assets,¡± he said
¡°Hey!¡± she said in mock indignation.
¡°I love you!¡± he said warmly and with all the depth of the feelings he had for her.
¡°I love you too,¡± Adaline said as he teleported to Venoran which was in utter chaos. He¡¯d chosen to appear a mile above the Capital so he could fly down to the temple only to discover that Venoran was an active war zone.
As he looked around a ballista bolt, no spear, hit him and disintegrated on impact. Adam wasn¡¯t even budged. he looked around for what had thrown the spear and saw a titan. An honest to god Titan who was over 100 feet tall. That he¡¯d been able to throw that spear a mile into the sky and hit him was a testament to his skill and power.
As Adam took in the scene he saw a contingent of Titans near the Dungeon Entrance which had expanded to allow them to easily enter the World of Primore. he could see 43 titans that were making their way from the Dungeon into the city proper. The gate and city wall near the dungeon had already been toppled and dead people were littered all around as other civilians fled while the city guard tried to fight the Titans.
Another spear was thrown at him. This time he opened a portal between them and one directly beneath the titan. he¡¯d adjusted so that the spear entering the portal would enter through the titan¡¯s groin and exit through his head. As the portal opened beneath him and he started to fall the spear he¡¯d thrown entered and pushed him up out of the portal he was falling into and exited his head, killing him instantly. The spear was barbed so it would do terrible damage as it was removed. Something the titan who¡¯d thrown the spear would never have to worry about again. He¡¯d kind of looked like a whale when they jump up out of the water and landed on their side causing a huge splash, except he landed on land with a loud ¡°thwomp.¡±
The other titans nearby brandished their giant swords, clubs, and axes as Adam casually reached out for the spear holding the dead man and called it to him with telekinesis. Looking down for the leader of these titans, were they monsters? They had to be or the dungeon and the labyrinth would have destroyed them. So no parlay then. As the spear reached his hand he let his chaos reach out, convert and absorb the titan and the spear.
The Titans below were in the middle of yelling their defiance when he drew his Chaos Blade and destroyed the other 42 titans in a moment. Nothing flashy or fancy, he just moved at his maximum possible speed and lopped the heads off the other 42 then returned to his starting point. Adam noticed that three of the titans had started to bubble and morph and opened portals beneath them that would eventually deposit their mass into the singularities at the center of the Milky Way. The Unicorn singularity was opposite his current position if Primore was on the opposite side of the Milky Way. Luckily the portals were only opened for a moment and nothing but the three titans and a little atmosphere were sucked into the vacuum of space.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
Adam looked around one more time and saw a new titan step out of the Dungeon with a grin on his head that was seen by the guards when they found it. His head had rolled down the front of his body as he¡¯d cut it off on his way through the portal. Adam entered the dungeon properly and found a mass of titans still making their way toward the entrance chamber. When they saw him they screamed and charged. It seemed that this dungeon was now filled and they were making their way toward the surface. How could he stop the monsters from overrunning the city?
Adam could remove the Item of Power but that wouldn¡¯t close the dungeon. he could try to destroy it but he didn¡¯t know how to do that. Also, he just didn¡¯t want to. What could he do to make the city safe? He thought for a moment and then came up with a plan. That might work, for now, not as surefire as what he did on Earth but definitely something to consider.
As the group of titans and other monsters charged at him yelling and screaming he set the exit into the city as his limit and allowed his chaotic form to give way to his purely chaotic nature and then expanded through the entire dungeon, level by level in roughly 10 seconds. he had surrounded every monster whether dungeon or labyrinth born then he dissolved and converted them. This took less than a minute.
When he was finished, he left a copy of himself at the labyrinth entrance because the dungeon was going to need energy so those monsters coming through from the labyrinth were just going to be killed by his copy and left for the dungeon to absorb. he brought the rest of his chaotic mass back together and reformed in the entrance chamber. Adam was going to have to be careful about using that aspect of himself. It felt really good to just let go like that.
Adam stepped back out of the dungeon as guards came rushing from the city to attack the dungeon.
¡°Stranger, what has happened?¡±
¡°Nothing much. Tell your men to stand clear of the walls and rubble for a few moments, I¡¯m going to fix and reinforce this area. Then I must head to the temple district. A guardian has been placed at the entrance to the Labyrinth below. Feel free to set up a guard if you wish but even you will agree that it probably won¡¯t be needed when I¡¯m done.¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡± The Captain asked.
¡°You¡¯ll see,¡± Adam said as he floated above the city, reviewed his memory of Venoran, and wished the walls as they were. In a moment the entire wall and defensive garrison around the entrance to the dungeon had been remade. Then he made changes at the entrance to the dungeon. he landed in front of it and created an adamantium structure that went into the ground at least one hundred feet to provide leverage and place an Adamantium door that could only be opened and closed from the outside, that also had five solid adamantium bars that could slide across and bar the door. he made sure everything was counter-weighed so that the doors and bolts could slide smoothly and tested them while the guards watched.
¡°Is that Adaman¡¡± a guard started to ask.
¡°Shut it!¡± the Captain barked.
When Adam was done, the Captain turned to Adam and asked, ¡°Are there any wards or magical protections in place?¡±
¡°No, the King and his wizards can handle that if they think it¡¯s necessary. I will be back to collect my guardian when I am done at the temples. The dead that were caught in the rubble or attack are laid out and awaiting pickup for burial. Additionally, should you venture in, the guardian looks like me, but it is not me.
¡°Understood, and thank you,¡± The captain said as Adam floated up into the air and flew to the temple district. he landed outside of Serena¡¯s temple and walked in. As he came to her statue a cleric walked up.
¡°May he help you sir?¡± the cleric asked.
¡°No, thank you, the Goddess bid me to visit, so I am here to visit,¡± he said as he vanished from the temple and reappeared in the equivalent of a 21st-century millionaire home with all the modern luxuries he¡¯d expect to find on Earth. Adam did a quick check and except for a three thousand-foot area he was in there were nanites controlled by Thor outside of this bubble.
¡°Before you ask, A pocket Dimension, attached to Earth at this location. There is of course a building identical to this one in that location and if you were to visit it I would know that you were in the area but mortals would not be able to enter this domain unless they could rival my power,¡± Serena said as she strode into the living room Adam found himself in. ¡°Please have a seat, we have much to discuss,¡± The Goddess Serena said.
Adam chose to sit in one of the recliners that were strategically placed beside one another and looked out over the Pacific Ocean. Adam did a quick comparison search and realized he was in one of the Houses on the Casa Fiesta peninsula just south of Zihuatanejo Mexico, about 1,500 miles south of Los Angeles California, ¡°Nice area, more of a tourist town though,¡± he said.
¡°It is but wasn¡¯t always so,¡± Serena said as drinks appeared floating before each of them.
Adam reached up, took his drink, and nodded, ¡°Thank you for your hospitality. Should I refer to you as Goddess, Serena, or something else?¡± Adam asked.
¡°In this setting, Serena is fine. Otherwise, Goddess or Goddess of Knowledge, if you please.¡±
¡°Understood, Should I ask questions or are you going to begin?¡±
¡°I¡¯ll start, doing so will let you know the ground rules for what I can and cannot divulge.
¡°Understood.¡±
¡°First, as far as I know, Pandora is alive. Where she is and what she is doing there I have no idea,¡± The Goddess said as she raised a hand to forestall his questions, ¡°I am the Goddess of Knowledge for this Realm. I know everything that happens in this realm and those Universes within it. I am also privy to events in adjacent dimensions and layers within this Realm. What I have no knowledge of are events that happen outside of this Realm.
Pandora¡¯s last system messages were as follows,¡± Serena said as a holographic screen appeared and message text was shown to Adam;
WARNING: You have been Ejected from the Soul Space of Adamantadine
WARNING: You have been affected by a Realm-wide Unification event.
ERROR: No Cosmic Identifier located
ERROR: No Realm Identifier located
ERROR: No Layer Identifier located
ERROR: No Reality identifier located.
ERROR Elevated
Criteria met, Recall initiated.
Cosmic Identifier set to 1
Realm Identifier set to 1
Layer identifier set to 0
Reality set to 1¡±
¡°Immediately after that last message, Pandora was shunted through a rift that ejected Primal Chaos into this Realm. Luckily no ill effects were noted. As you know every creature has an identifier that details its origin and structure. These identifiers are assigned at creation. Unfortunately, Pandora¡¯s identifiers were blank as the restructuring of this Cosmos was in flux. I also believe it had something to do with her chaotic nature. When the forced unification began her blank identifiers were reset and the Reality setting was set to 1,¡± Serena paused allowing him to ask a question.
¡°Isn¡¯t this Reality the first one?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Many have thought so, though there were doubters. It would seem that those that doubted were correct.¡±
¡°No one knows for sure?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Someone might, but I have never met that person, demon, angel, or divine.¡±
¡°Okay, different question? If you are the Goddess of Knowledge, what is Ptah the God of?¡± he asked.
¡°Who?¡± Serena asked puzzled.
Adam created a holoprojector and displayed a three-dimensional image of Ptah as he¡¯d met him.
¡°Oh him? I saw you interact with him in the shadows but he has never been part of this Realm. I¡¯d know. In fact, as he¡¯s had a direct impact I should know. That is disconcerting,¡± she said.
¡°Don¡¯t trouble yourself too much,¡± Adam said as he purposely kept his mind clear of any thoughts that might come into existence. he started following the decimal points of pie just to distract himself.
¡°What?¡± Serena asked
¡°Just a hunch, that I have. I think we should both leave that question alone and If I don¡¯t think about it, you can¡¯t learn about it so please, a subject change,¡± Adam said.
¡°Very well. When your Cosmos was fractured and started the spiral of diminishing returns a number of the Divine fled. A few of the lesser did not, seeing it as an opportunity. You met a couple of them and even destroyed one, which we thought was impossible. Of course, if a God of Destruction is stupid enough to be destroyed, that is one way to end one¡¯s existence. Moving on. Those divines that stayed behind adjusted the rules and setting of the various Cosmos that popped up into existence within this Realm without thought to the consequences of copy after copy being made.¡±
¡°Why did you enter the Cosmos.¡±
¡°Simple enough really, how was I to know what was happening without being there? What none of the gods expected was the way their souls became divided. Many of the shadows couldn¡¯t handle the separation and fled back to their Primary Soul, for lack of a better term. Even as remnants of their actual power the soul fragments were able to return,¡± Serena said as she paused and took a sip of her drink.
¡°Most of them left this Cosmos?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, but what you didn¡¯t know is that once those divines were whole again they left your realm for other Realms. Some even created their own?¡±
¡°Why is that important to me now?¡± he asked.
¡°In the breath of Heaven and Earth, any combination can and is often discovered. The reason for this is simple. Those that came first deemed it so.¡±
¡°Because they willed it?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Those that came first, became the first Gods. I am not one of them but I have been granted the knowledge that way back at the beginning of this Realm, before any Cosmos or Universe existed, it was much easier to become a Neophyte. When they first realized everyone was eventually doing so the rules of Reality were changed to make it harder. Even now, the rumors of such are known to the people of this Earth. Those that follow Hinduism, for example, believe in 33 million Gods.¡±
A thought entered Adam¡¯s mind and he spoke without thinking, ¡°Those Gods and Goddesses became immortal and are even now still around. What happened to those Souls that did not become divine after the rules were changed?¡±
¡°That is a very good question,¡± Serena said as she took a drink and looked out over the Pacific Ocean.
Chapter 150, The Nature of a Soul
Serena, The Goddess of Knowledge looked out over the Pacific Ocean sipping her drink. Adam waited patiently sipping his own. A few moments later Serena turned back to him, ¡°What happens to souls?¡± she asked rhetorically. ¡°I am aware of the lessons my shadow and others within those shadow universes explained to you about what a soul is and where it goes and how they ultimately come back. What they described was not wholly accurate.¡±
¡°Are you saying souls don¡¯t continue to reincarnate, trying to grow stronger and become Transcendent or higher, like I am?¡± Adam asked.
She looked at him and sighed as she smiled softly, ¡°Not Exactly. What you were told or learned was true where you were. In that fractured Cosmos, the rules had been altered and changed.¡±
¡°Why did someone create that system? It¡¯s almost like someone didn¡¯t want souls to advance?¡± Adam asked.
Serena cocked her head, let the idea swirl around for a minute then sighed heavily as she said, ¡°Had you only been born a million or so years ago.¡±
¡°Why did you think the Cosmos had been fractured?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Consensus on the topic was that the Cosmos had been fractured to prevent a catastrophic accident from wiping out a Prime Cosmos within a Realm. One thing you were told is true. Normally only one Cosmos resides within a Realm. There are exceptions but they are few and far between. Your original Cosmos being one of them.¡±
¡°That makes a kind of sense,¡± Adam said as he tried to get back on the topic he wanted to discuss by saying, ¡°You were describing souls?¡±
¡°Souls, yes. I am what you refer to as a God. Within the rankings of Souls, I am above the rank of transcendent, yet I do not hold a soul rank, why do you think that is?¡± she asked.
¡°With what you¡¯ve hinted at so far, I would guess that you don¡¯t have a soul rank because soul ranks didn¡¯t exist when you became a Goddess?¡± Adam said questioningly.
¡°And you would be right,¡± She said.
¡°There were no soul ranks back then?¡± Adam asked
¡°None, there was simply the soul. Of course, it was thought that souls only manifested in creatures that were self-aware though.
¡°What happened when people died back then? Also, when was then?¡±
¡°Please understand, I came after the major change, but before soul ranks were added to the system. I was told that people didn¡¯t die. It might take a while for a body to reconstitute. As for how long ago. The Cosmos has worked as you¡¯ve seen for at least the last 14 billion years. I became a Goddess a bit before your Universe was first conceived.
¡°What about levels and character progression and the like?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The individual that shared this knowledge with me is far older than I. He said, ¡®Serena, do you know what boring is? Boring is doing the same thing every day forever. Eventually, some of us with a little bit of drive decided to spice things up. From the source, we went our own way and created everything you see. How does one live forever without getting bored.¡±
¡°You¡¯re saying Souls don¡¯t exist?¡± Adam asked
¡°Not at all, souls most definitely do exist, that was one of the first things they found out when they started messing with Universal settings. What no one, and I mean no one, understands is exactly what happens when someone gives up completely. The soul is energy after all.¡±
¡°You¡¯re saying that the original state of those that had souls allowed them to automatically come back from death? That sounds a lot like what you¡¯re saying?¡± Adam asked.
¡°That¡¯s how it was explained to him?¡± Serena said.
¡°But that doesn¡¯t make sense unless creatures that have souls were born with them, to begin with. Everyone who talked about this subject with me to this point has implied, if not outright stated, that souls are only for those creatures that have a certain level of self-determination.¡±
¡°That is the current thought yes. What I¡¯m talking about is before the current model. Somehow someone changed something, and the souls are not assigned at birth anymore. When that change happened, people stopped coming back after they died. My teacher said that was when Death actually started,¡± Serena said
¡°But souls can¡¯t be destroyed so they don¡¯t die. Both what you¡¯re telling me now and what I learned before imply the same thing,¡± Adam said.
¡°They do, don¡¯t they?¡± She asked.
¡°Why tell me this now?¡±
¡°Because at some point you are going to go after your daughter and I want you to be prepared,¡± Serena said.
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because I believe wherever you must go to find her will have different rules than those you find here. Older rules.¡±
¡°That is kind of you, and I thank you for the information but I¡¯m detecting a ¡®But¡¯ in your statement,¡± Adam said.
¡°There is a ¡°But¡± in what I¡¯m telling you. If there are Realities, or Realms, outside of this one and structures repeat as the scale grows then our Reality must be inside something. The only energy type that traveled through the rift Pandora made as she was ripped away from you was Primal Chaos. While this is not proof that the substance surrounds this reality, it is highly probable that this is true. This means that only you will be able to pass beyond the walls of reality, and no, I do not know how to create a rift that will help you do this.¡±
¡°So, I have to find a Source of Primal Chaos in this Reality and I have to travel into that source or find a way to breach the membrane of this reality himself. That doesn¡¯t sound like something you would need to worry about. What exactly worries you concerning my efforts to find Pandora?¡±
¡°One thing the shattered Cosmos had in common was that all the shadow Cosmos were linked in some way. For the most part, the rules remained the same. Some natural laws could vary but others natural laws could not be modified. It is my belief that if you connect to another Reality some of the base rules in that reality may change the fundamental makeup of this Reality. Such changes would affect all Realms and layers within this Reality.¡±
¡°If that were going to happen wouldn¡¯t that happen because of Pandora?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t think so. In her case, she was returned to what is now considered to be her original Reality. No link would be necessary. If she had not been a creature of chaos I think she might have been destroyed by the recall,¡± Serena said.
¡°So you¡¯re worried that if I find a way to link our Realities I might create a sympathetic link or quantumly attach this Reality to that one. You think someone purposefully closed that door for this Reality don¡¯t you?¡±
¡°I do. We still have no idea where souls go when they give up. Currently, when they die they do end up on one of the various layers.¡±
¡°Do they ever reincarnate?¡±
¡°No, not once since my rise to Goddess of Knowledge have I seen a single soul reincarnated. Some have been resurrected and brought back that way, but I have never seen a soul return to the mortal plane of existence as one of your fictional works describes it.¡±
¡°You control one of the Layers, right? That¡¯s what the Gods do, control Layers?¡±
¡°My Realm resides within a Layer. I control that layer and all souls that die and chose to serve me come to me there but eventually, even that becomes tiresome for them.¡±
¡°Why don¡¯t you resurrect them yourself.¡±
¡°In the Shadow versions of your Cosmos, the Shadows of the Divine were a lot more active in meddling than we are allowed to be. I have noticed that you have closed the message offering you divinity and set it to never pop up again. One of the rules that true divines like me must adhere to is that we must spend Divine Points to influence Mortals. This is a hard rule. Those that violate this rule find themselves locked in, let¡¯s just say that after one stay in that purgatory, no Divine in their right mind will willingly go back to it. Also, your length of stay is directly proportional to the number of Divine Points you should have spent. You could find yourself locked away for years, centuries, or millennia. Also, if the transgression is large enough The God of Time gets involved, resets everything and you still get sent to Purgatory.¡±
This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
¡°How many Divine Points are you spending to talk to me?¡± Adam asked.
¡°To talk to a non-follower is a flat 100 divine points paid in advance plus more divine points based on the length of time I spend with you. Because you were in my temple that cost is reduced by half. Of course, I teleported you to another Dimension attached to your Universe but still another Dimension so that was another 1,000 DP reduced by half again because you were in my temple. So right now, I¡¯ve spent 550 DP to talk to you.¡±
¡°That seems like a lot, how would a Divine ever get followers if you have to spend DP to talk to them.¡±
¡°The rules become more strict as our ranks increase. As a God, I¡¯m at the top. Neophytes pay nothing to talk to Mortals. That however is all they pay nothing for. Demi-Gods would pay half what I just paid.¡±
¡°Still, that seems like a lot.¡±
¡°It is, but you can¡¯t become a true God without followers. When you first start out, you must gain those followers. After that, the followers must gain more followers for you.
¡°What happens to those Gods that don¡¯t have followers and generate no DP, what do they do?¡±
¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t know. Every God or Goddess I know of is active in some realm or other. It¡¯s one of the reasons Gods create Realms where they make the rules which makes it easier to earn followers.¡±
¡°Are you saying you have your own Realm out there with a majority of its residents following you?
¡°No, I do not. As I said I have a small area within a Layer. Instead of maintaining a whole layer, I have alliances with other Gods and Goddesses that allow a small following of mine to exist so they may take advantage of my divine abilities. Knowledge is a good friend to have after all,¡± Serena said.
Adam laughed, ¡°I can see that,¡± he said.
¡°This brings us to the reason I brought you here today to talk, before you search for your daughter I would suggest that you make sure everything here is in order because your efforts may produce unexpected changes that even the Gods cannot predict,¡± Serena said.
¡°No pressure then, got it!¡± he said flippantly
¡°None!¡± Serena sardonically.
¡°Do you think I should have his parents and friends accept the ability to become Neophytes?¡± Adam asked
¡°That is for them to decide. One of the bonuses is that they would effectively be immortal, but the downside is they wouldn¡¯t be able to meddle in human affairs anymore. Also, they may be needed if changes are made. Finally, their souls haven¡¯t advanced very far yet. I have no doubt that they¡¯d make it into the afterlife but where they¡¯d end up and how long you¡¯d be able to visit them would be variable. My suggestion would be to have them remain mortal for now. They can do more for Earth as mortals,¡± She said.
¡°My thoughts were running parallel to yours on that subject. I must say it¡¯s worrying to find out that the God of Knowledge doesn¡¯t know what happens to souls after they die.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t and It Is,¡± Serena said.
¡°Last question, why is the Labyrinth going nuts right now?¡± Adam asked.
¡°And ruin the surprise, I think you should go talk to Bri and find out.¡±
¡°Okay, real final question,¡±
¡°I know,¡± Serena
¡°Why tell me all this?¡±
Serena grew thoughtful for a moment then said,¡± It has been a long time since the affairs of mortals have impacted the Gods. Specifically, your actions led to the recombining of a Cosmos and my return to my true power level. My shadows had forgotten how powerful a God is. Those are both good reasons of course but not the true reason I am talking with you now. The real reason is my Purpose. My Purpose is to learn and share knowledge. Since I achieved the rank of Goddess I have known that something was lacking. It was an itch I could not scratch, A shadow I couldn¡¯t pierce. When Pandora was yanked from this Reality I knew that the answers I sought were on the other side of that rift, yet I cannot go there because even Primal Chaos can hurt us Gods.¡±
¡°What?¡± Adam said alarmed. Being able to actually hurt the gods would pit them all against him, which he didn¡¯t need.
¡°I said it could hurt us. In this Reality, your Chaos Blade could not kill us with just the Chaos, though the Aspect of Primal Destruction might do the trick. Better not to find out. Also, if I were to leave this Reality and the rules were different, the Primal Chaos outside of this Reality might modify or destroy me. So, I am talking with you, a Creature of Chaos that can probably survive such a trip through Primal Chaos. Also, you have a very strong interest in doing so.¡±
¡°I see,¡± he said. And he did see, from her standpoint this made sense, and if and when he returned she would learn what he had learned. Neat and clean.
¡°That is about all the time I have Adam, thank you for coming to visit with me,¡± Serena said.
Adam stood and bowed slightly, ¡°Thank you, Serena, Goddess of Knowledge. You have given me the information I needed as well as a lot to think about,¡± Adam said as he stood and vanished to reappear in the temple where he¡¯d been standing. Adam looked around to find no priest or clerics present. Nodding to the statue of Serena, he teleported to the Adamantium Doors over the Dungeon of Divine Elements.
The Captain of the Guard turned, saw it was him, and then asked, ¡°Back so soon?¡±
¡°Yes, I¡¯m going to head inside and try to find out what has happened in the Labyrinth. Lock the door behind him,¡± Adam said as he willed the doors to unlock and open for him. Once he stepped through the dark portal and found himself in the empty entrance chamber. Adam walked over to the Travel Node and appeared in the exit room to the Labyrinth where his double was just finishing off another titan. The room was littered with them. If this version of reality was a video game, even his copies were way too overpowered for this content.
Adam focused his will and opened a portal to the entrance of the dungeon, just to see if he could. Moments later he was staring at the captain through the portal. So, he could portal out of the dungeon into Primore with little effort. Mana-wise, it hadn¡¯t even cost a full one percent. Nice.
Adam focused on the captain, ¡°Hello Captain, Dungeon is still clear, I¡¯m about to head into the Labyrinth. When I come back this way this is how I¡¯m going to exit so please let your guards know. I¡¯m not overly worried, just don¡¯t want anyone getting hurt accidentally.¡±
¡°Understood and thanks for the warning. The King has ordered the Mages to do what they can so some might be in the area when you come through,¡± the Captain said.
Adam closed the portal and reabsorbed his copy. He already had a plan on how he was going to seal this entrance from the other side. He stepped through and found himself in a giant cavern. A travel node rose from the ground before him as a camp of Titans jumped to their feed and moved to attack. Adam released a fountain of mage bolts that destroyed all the Titans and other monsters within a half-mile radius of him. This was a big cave. He even saw where the Titans were stepping down from outside the cavern to enter the camp set on the edge of this Dungeon portal.
Adam placed a wall of force over the dungeon entrance then floated up through the hole in the ceiling to find himself on an open plain of grass that went off in all directions. The other thing he immediately noticed was the Army of Titans that was gathered around the hole and the number of Titans that picked up rocks and hurled them at him. Rather than get bounced around, Adam modified the Chaos of his body to convert and absorb all of the attacks. The new fluidity of his body was becoming a great boon. Boulders would hit him and disappear as they were sucked into him. This bombardment went on for a full minute before a Huge Warrior at least 110 feet tall charged forward and tried to cleave him in two with a Titan-sized Two-handed sword. Adam caught it with his thumb and finger and stopped the stroke as his hands broke the hilt from the blade
As the Titan looked at him in disbelief Adam said, ¡°Hold or die!¡±
He didn¡¯t hold, of course, he didn¡¯t hold. Adam expanded his physical body out to a size that encompassed all of the Titans and killed them as he converted all of them into more mass for himself. A half minute later the plains were clear of the Titans.
¡°Bri, I know you saw that, can we talk please?¡± Adam asked out loud.
A portal opened before him that led back to the center of the Labyrinth. No node path this time. Damn. Getting a node path from Earth to Primore would have been awesome. Adam stepped through the portal and found Bri standing there looking at him angrily, ¡°I thought we had an agreement!¡± she stated flatly.
¡°We do, and I have not broken it, in fact, you should have been receiving some experience back from a cursed ring I placed on the perpetrator of the original problem,¡± Adam said.
¡°Then why is over a million experience being drained from me every second again? I made adjustments to allow for the loss of experience from the first ring. When we made our agreement I reverted back to the way I¡¯d been doing things and new dungeons I¡¯d opened or helped began to flourish again. When the experience started getting taken again the instability caused multiple dungeons to collapse and wither away. They are gone, if not forever, for the foreseeable future.¡±
¡°Bri I swear to you that neither I, nor my family, had anything to do with this.
Serena¡¯s voice entered Adam¡¯s mind as she said, ¡°One more thing, Apolyn created a ring that started stealing XP from the Labyrinth again. It¡¯s much more powerful than anything his shadows created. Also, the next day he was elevated forcibly into the ranks of Divinity. He is now a Neophyte, though he is no longer in the mortal realm. He has been moved to a Layer where his alignment is better represented.¡±
Adam refocused his eyes on a very angry Bri, ¡°I hope that was important, Bri said scathingly.
¡°It was actually. I just received a message detailing who did this to you?¡±
¡°Really, and why would you get a message about something that affects me?¡± Bri asked.
¡°Because I was just talking with someone who would know. We were discussing other matters and the topic never came up.¡±
¡°Very well, who is doing this to me?¡±
¡°Apolyn,¡± I said.
¡°I see, and what will you do about it?¡±
¡°I will do what I should have done the last time I met with him,¡± Adam said.
¡°See that you do, I need whatever this Apolyn created destroyed. I am losing way too much of my resources to sustain that type of XP drain,¡± Bri said.
¡°I¡¯ll be back,¡± he said as he teleported to Apolyn¡¯s Abode to find an unclaimed Hearth Crystal in the Library. When the Black Knight appeared this time Adam froze him in place with a thought and contemplated what he could do next. He¡¯d traveled to other Cosmos, another Realm even but he¡¯d never been to one of the Layers. That brought up the question, how could he find him? He could just try to Teleport to him. Crossing Realm barriers would be expensive though.
Adam focused his mind on holding an image of Apolyn. Then he focused his will and teleported. Adam felt something go wrong with the spell as he was yanked to one side and found himself on a marble dais with steps leading down to a flat plane. Adam could see creatures flying with wings and others with purely skeletal features. As he looked around Messages started populating his vision.
WARNING you have tried to teleport to a location that is locked. You are being redirected to one of the only entry and exit points to this Layer.
That first warning explained why Apolyn was nowhere to be seen. The second message though brought him up short and let him know everything else he needed to know.
Welcome to Hades
¡°
Chapter 151, Overstimulation
Welcome to Hades
Hades was real? Wow. Adam looked around and noticed that he was standing on a very crowded platform that people and creatures kept appearing on. There were humans, gnomes, high elves, dwarves, Yaun ti (if the texts he read concerning monsters and races were correct), and Lexi, quite a few Lexi as well as other creatures of all shapes and sizes. Most were nude. Some like himself were clothed though. The dais he was on was much larger than he¡¯d first thought.
As he took in the multitude his thoughts were drawn to the conversation he just had with Serena and the nature of souls. This didn¡¯t make sense. Then his mind took all the random bits of information and stuck them together. The rules had been changed so that when people died they were graded somehow, sorted, and put somewhere else as they reformed. They wouldn¡¯t know that of course. Why do that? Because the only way to progress was through Divinity Points, and those trying to earn Divinity Points needed followers. What better way to get points than from slaves? If he was right, and he was sure that he was, there was probably a tithing system where the Neophytes gave a percentage of their XP or DP to their Demi-Gods who gave a percentage of their XP or DP to their God. Which would allow them to do what exactly?
While he was taking it all in and making the mental connections a voice called from somewhere in front of him; ¡°What are all you waiting for, an Invitation? Get your asses moving, I have a quota to meet!¡±
Adam ignored the voice and started going through his prompts.
Welcome To Hades
All entries and exits into and out of this Layer are made from your preset location.
This Layer is Ruled by the Greater Daemon Anthrax, The Daemon God of Decay.
The voice he heard before drew his attention back from the prompts, ¡°Okay you maggots, listen up. I am now going to read the standard greeting our Supreme Overlord has prepared so listen up and don¡¯t interrupt, I don¡¯t answer questions. Your lives have ended, or you are starting over because you were killed here. For you new arrivals, Welcome. Fresh meat is always welcome. As you earn your place within your new home you will come to enjoy its simplicity and promise. What simplicity? The strong prevail. What promise? If you are strong you can do whatever you want here. For those of you that have just reappeared your Divinity and Experience are taxed every time you die.¡±
¡°That¡¯s not fair!¡± a human male declared as a ballista bolt fired from above traveled through his head, into his body, and pinned him to the ground killing him instantly.
¡°Anyone else want to interrupt? No? Then let him continue. Where was I? Oh yeah, to ensure that everyone loses the same amount the Boss has set the loss to 1% each time you die. A little side note I¡¯m going to refer to the idiot that couldn¡¯t keep his mouth shut as Bob. Bob will be back here in exactly 24 hours having lost 1% of his XP. If he¡¯s stupid again, he will lose another 1% and return 24 hours after that. This will go on until he learns his lesson. Does anyone here want to be like Bob?¡± the voice said. Adam still couldn¡¯t see him because there were too many people in the way, but he saw a lot of heads shaking as they all agreed that, no, they did not want to be like Bob.
The voice started up again, ¡°The next most asked question is this, how do I get out of this place? There are exits to other Layers of Reality, some layers are like this. Other layers are much nicer. The problem is that whenever you die, you will end up where your alignment indicates you need to be. This alignment is determined by your fundamental world view so you will need to make a very hard choice and prove that you are unwavering in that choice when you die. After you die, you will be shunted back here if you weren¡¯t able to prove you belong somewhere else,¡± the voice said pausing for a moment to look around.
¡°Finally, for those of you that have traveled here, but have not died yet. Welcome to Hades. To leave you must find another platform like this that allows you to leave if you are permitted to do so. There are a few other requirements but why ruin the surprise? There are two other ways to leave. By Anthrax¡¯s direct intervention or by following the River Styx. So, on behalf of his Master, once again welcome. ¡°
The voice paused for a few moments then continued, ¡°A couple of other things you should know. There are creatures here much more powerful than any of you outside the cities. Out there, you are food and sport for them. Inside the cities, you are prey and sport for any who think they can get away with taking advantage of you. One way to stop this is to pledge yourself to a lesser deity or demon. By doing so you promise to donate a percentage of any experience or divinity you earn. Different demons and deities ask for different percentages but offer greater protection. Those that request less could be a good deal but might not be able to protect you. You¡¯ll have to decide which one you will pledge yourself to. Now make your way down the pledge booths, or not. It¡¯s completely up to you. When your done head to that tunnel over there,¡± he said pointing to a tunnel in the rock wall.
¡°Don¡¯t listen to¡¡± a man started to say as another Ballista Bolt was shot from above went right through him and pinned him to the ground, also killing him instantly. Adam looked up but couldn¡¯t see anything above them for the life of him. He tried to activate True Sight and received his first shock.
WARNING Spells in this Layer must be cast using Divinity Points and Mana. Mana is sufficient. Divinity Points = 0. Your Spell True Sight has failed.
Well, that wasn¡¯t good. Adam tried to activate his willed movement to lift him off the ground by about a centimeter and became slightly relieved when that worked. It looked like whatever laws had been modified or changed here didn¡¯t affect all his abilities. Spellweaver let him cast spells, but he still had to pay a cost. If that cost value was added to it and he didn¡¯t have the additional currency. Had to give it to Anthrax credit, that was one way to keep self-centered mages in line. Deities and Demons that used Divinity or Could demons call those points Demon Points, I¡¯m sure they didn¡¯t want to think of themselves as divine even if neophyte, demi-good, and God were the ranks they held.
It looked like getting to Apolyn was going to take a little longer than he thought. Unless things went sideways of course. Who was he kidding, things had already gone sideways, up, down, diagonal, and backward. Shit! he was so smart, and he hadn¡¯t thought someone on one of these layers might find an easy way to neutralize spellcasters.
Adam was drawn back to his present as someone called ¡°Next!¡± and he was put in front of a naked demoness, a succubus if he wasn¡¯t mistaken. Bat wings, dainty horns, tale, full breasts, yep a succubus.
¡°Would you like to serve our mistress Glazya, daughter of Azmon Ruler of Hell,¡±
¡°Can I change his mind later?¡± he asked
¡°Of course, you can,¡± the succubus said as she smiled seductively.
¡°Then no, I think I¡¯ll keep looking around, though you are quite beautiful,¡± he said
¡°The succubus sighed, everyone says that,¡± she said.
¡°But can everyone that does that do this,¡± he said as he created a platinum necklace with a ruby that would hang down and rest just above her breasts.
¡°No,¡± she said hungrily, ¡°is that for me?¡± she asked.
¡°Of course, it is he said holding up. She leaned forward, turned to the side, pulled her hair up, and let him clasp the necklace together. Adam released the necklace. As she turned back the ruby rested exactly where he¡¯d wanted it to just below her throat and above the line of her nipples.
¡°The color of the gem matches your eyes perfectly,¡± Adam said with a smile
¡°May he ask your name stranger?¡± she asked.
¡°I¡¯m Adam, nice to meet you.¡±
¡°I¡¯m Izzy, what would you like for the necklace?¡± she asked.
¡°Nothing,¡± he said as everything around him went quiet and multiple eyes looked on with interest.
¡°You are literally in hell for the selfish. Seriously, what do you want?¡± She asked again.
¡°Let him guess, there is only one currency that I may ask of you and not doing so would be considered an insult?¡±
¡°So, you weren¡¯t born yesterday,¡± she said smiling. ¡°Understand when we are done you will be brought right back to this line.¡±
¡°Understood, do I get privacy, or do I have to embarrass myself in front of all of these ¡®nice¡¯ people?¡± he asked.
¡°For this necklace, we can do privacy,¡± she said as she rose, grabbed his hand, and walked him behind the booths to a row of doors in the wall. As they walked out of line a lot of the males and even some of the males in line started giving him catcalls.
Adam played to the crowd and said, ¡°I guess it¡¯s my duty to please that booty,¡± which garnered even more catcalls and some snickers from the demons and other succubi in the area. After they were in the room, which had a very nice stone mattress, ¡°Why is there a stone mattress?¡± he asked as Izzy took off the necklace and put it on a dresser.
¡°I wouldn¡¯t want the necklace to melt,¡± she said seductively
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¡°Oh, you¡¯re a creature of hell, let him guess this is the part where I start screaming and you and your friends start laughing because you¡¯re too hot to touch?¡± Adam asked with a smile.
¡°Not so slow after all.¡±
¡°Sex is still on, I take it?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Sex is required. I must pay you for the gift which I do want to keep,¡± Izzy said.
¡°Can I ask a question first?¡±
¡°By all means, she said seductively,¡± as she lead him to the bed, undressed him, and manacled his unresisting body spread eagle face up.
¡°What Is the time ratio between this Layer and the Mortal Universes¡±
¡°Which one? she asked as she locked the last cuff around his left ankle and stood above him on the bed, allowing her tail to stroke up and down his left and right thigh.
¡°Earth?¡± he said
¡°Earth? That¡¯s easy. For every day that passes here, one hour passes there.¡± She said watching his eyes.
¡°Second question, how long do I get you for?¡± he asked.
¡°As long as you can handle me?¡± she said with a wicked grin as she wreathed herself in flame and dropped down on him, probably expecting him to melt on contact. Instead, the chaos of his body exploded upward and wrapped completely around her entire body. In a moment every part of her available to the world was touched by his chaos. She tried to wiggle herself free, increasing the intensity of the fire coming from her body only to remain completely sealed up inside the cocoon of Chaos he¡¯d created.
The chaos spread throughout her body and mapped her physical structure, nerve endings, and the pleasure centers of her brain. As her hips stopped moving and she realized something wasn¡¯t quite right he reached up from the bed, the manacles dissolving as his wrists passed through them. Adam easily overpowered her and pulled both her hands up and out as he put her in a spread-eagle position. he lifted her until she was standing over the bed and his chaos-formed manacles made of adamantium that attached to her wrist and chains that reached to the wall where he converted some of the walls into embedded adamantium blocks so that she couldn¡¯t break free.
As the manacles and chains formed they lifted her up and away from him until she was standing. he let her go and stepped back. Chains exited the Chaos that surrounded her and remained taunt to the wall. She was still generating heat, so he remained nude as he stepped away from the bed. Adam allowed the Chaos to recede from her eyes until she could see him standing in front of her. Adam stood in front of her looking into her eyes. Even though she was wrapped in chaos, except for the wings, tiny horns, and tail, she looked mostly human for the most part, but she was a demon. She tried to say something, but the chaos cut her off by flooding into her mouth and forming a ball gag. Adam allowed the Chaos to cover her eyes again and then activated all of her please centers at once burying her in sensations of pleasure. Her question turned to moans which eventually grew to cries of joy, then silence as her brain became overloaded with pleasure and the chaos cocoon before him began to twitch.
With Izzy handled, for now, Adam tried to figure a way out to use his magic. It was a straight-up no-go. Every time he tried an actual spell it failed. he could use his chaos to make things and he still had plenty of mass to work with, but magic was out. he could not earn Divinity, or Demon Points as a mortal. They could be gifted to him, but he could not convert experience or do anything else to earn them. He had to be at least a Neophyte to get them, and he didn¡¯t want to do that yet
Adam even tried to connect to Thor to have him open a portal to his location and that didn¡¯t work. Quantum entanglement was blocked here as well. While he tried various ways to get some of his power back, the cocoon of Chaos over the bed continued twitching.
On the 7th day, the door lock was tested which caused him to react quickly. Izzy was still standing above the bed inside the cocoon of chaos. Adam uncovered her mouth and had his chaos force her to scream and beg for more as the chaos surrounding her withdrew to allow her naked manacled form to become visible again. The chaos within her caused her body to moan though her mind was still just a mass of overloaded neurochemical stimulation. Adam also had the nanites create a whip in his hand as traces of whip strikes were drawn on Izzy¡¯s skin by the chaos to make it appear that he¡¯d been whipping her for a while. The door opened and a female high elf looked in, saw his naked body, the whip in his hand, nodded, and closed the door. He¡¯d ask Izzy who she was when they were done.
Adam cocooned her in chaos again. He kept Izzy like that for the next 17 days, before he turned off the stimulation to her pleasure centers, withdrew his chaos, and released her from the manacles. Izzy flopped down on the stone bed panting and looking at him with lust in her eyes, ¡°More?¡± she begged.
¡°Perhaps someday, but I¡¯ve already been here for 17 days, I think it¡¯s time I get a move on.
¡°Give him a minute, What the Fuck are you?¡± She asked still panting.
¡°Are you hurt?¡±
¡°Yes and no, as you well know¡±
¡°I do,¡± he said slyly
¡°Why?¡± she asked
¡°Why do you think?¡± he asked back
¡°There isn¡¯t a succubus that will hear what you¡¯ve done to me in this room that won¡¯t want to try what you did themselves. It is so hard for us to reach that state and you kept me in it for 17 days? They are going to want the same!¡± she declared.
¡°While I technically didn¡¯t touch you, my lover might forgive what I did to you because of my circumstance. I very much doubt she will forgive me for forcing orgasms on multiple demonesses. I think she might cut his balls off and put them in a jar.¡±
¡°You have a lover that can handle you?¡±
¡°She¡¯s a dragon,¡±
¡°Well shit balls, you don¡¯t go small do you?¡±
¡°Do you?¡±
¡°No,¡± she said as she stood on wobbly legs. ¡°What did you do to my legs?¡±
¡°Have you never had an actual orgasm before?¡±
¡°Of course, I have, I¡¯m a Demoness of Lust. I¡¯ve had an orgasm, just not such a prolonged one.
¡°The nerves in your body and legs are a bit fried right now. Your regeneration should have that all sorted in a couple of minutes tops.
¡°I bet,¡± she said wryly.
Adam had his chaos reform his clothes then picked up the necklace and opened it as she turned her back on him. he clasped it around her neck, ¡°Well, Izzy it¡¯s back to the line but before you go¡±, Adam covered his hand in a very light film of chaos which he converted to holy energy and pressed against her right-ass check which read ¡°Grade A¡±
¡°Owww, what was that for?¡± she said as she quickly turned to face him.
¡°Something to remember me by, Also, I want everyone to see that I marked you, a succubus and that I don¡¯t have a mark on me.
¡°Not a mark,¡± she asked as claws extended from her hand and she dragged them down his right arm shedding his shirt and drawing blood.
Adam healed immediately and had his chaos repair his shirt, ¡°Not a mark,¡± he said agreeing with her.
¡°What are you?¡±
¡°Someone trying to do the right thing.
¡°Sounds like you¡¯re in the wrong place,¡± she said.
¡°No, I¡¯m probably where I would have ended up if I hadn¡¯t changed,¡± he said.
¡°Well, it¡¯s been, how long has it been?¡± she asked.
¡°It¡¯s been 17 days¡±
Just before they made it to the door he asked, ¡°Who was the High Elf that looked in on us?¡±
¡°If a high elf looked in on us, that would have been one of Glazya¡¯s top lieutenants. She was just checking to make sure I was still here, ¡°Are you sure you won¡¯t declare your loyalty to my mistress?¡±
¡°I¡¯m sure. Also, thank you for a lovely time,¡± he said.
¡°But I didn¡¯t do a thing. I¡¯m literally and creature created to pursue lust and I have to admit that was one of the most intense experiences of my life.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t forget me?¡±
¡°How could he, you marked my ass¡±
¡°I know, right?¡± Adam said with a grin.
¡°Why isn¡¯t my regeneration fixing it?¡±
¡°Just a guess, but he¡¯d bet because that was holy damage,¡± he said
¡°Holy damage? I can only heal holy damage normally. It¡¯ll be weeks before that stamp fades.¡±
¡°Good to know. If I need to find you I¡¯ll know how to tell it¡¯s you?¡±
As we stepped out of the room every succubus, and demon started clapping.
Adam took a flourishing bow as he pointed to Izzy, turned her so that her ass was toward the crowd, and made a motion as if to say ¡°Ta Da!¡±
The crowd roared even louder and Adam could swear that Izzy blushed, which was pretty impressive since her skin was already flush with a red hue.
She whispered to him under her breath, ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re not a demon?¡±
¡°You would know,¡± he whispered back and made his way back to his place in line.
¡°Hey, why does he get to cut him in line?¡± a belligerent teenage human boy asked.
One of the guards looked at the kid, ¡°Did you hear that sexual moaning and screaming that¡¯s been going on since you got here?¡± he asked the kid.
¡°Yeah, so?¡±
¡°That has been going on for 17 days straight?¡±
¡°So?¡±
¡°This guy is the person¡ Ah, forget it, Izzy!¡±
¡°Yeah boss, have one that needs an eye-opener?¡±
¡°But he just¡.¡± Izzy started to say.
¡°And exactly how long do you think this will take?¡±
¡°Okay boss, she said as she walked over to the teen, took his hand placed it on her breast then led him toward the room?¡±
Adam started laughing.
¡°What¡¯s so funny sir?¡± a guard asked with a hint of respect in his voice.
¡°He¡¯s not immune to infernal fire is he?¡±
¡°No,¡± he said with a wry grin.
They looked each other in the eye, then burst out laughing¡±
A couple of the people in the lines asked one another ¡°What are they laughing about?¡± which only caused the guard and Adam to start laughing harder, even though they were trying to stop. After a couple of minutes, they¡¯d started to calm down then the screaming started. It got louder and louder until it ended suddenly which caused them to start laughing again.
When they finally calmed down he asked, ¡°First time here?¡±
¡°Yep, a hell of a lesson on the first day?¡± the guard said. ¡°Also, not all Succubus burst into flame while they¡¯re having sex, most just have sex, but Izzy is a special case, her father was a fire elemental.¡±
¡°Damn, I¡¯m impressed!¡± he said
¡°17 days, now that is impressive. Now move along you¡¯re holding up the line.¡±
¡°Yes sir,¡± Adam said as he saluted and then began moving down the pledge line. He saw Izzy a few moments later, still wearing her new necklace. She saw him, smiled, and then sat back down gingerly trying to keep the weight off her right ass cheek. Adam wasn¡¯t a complete pervert, at least he didn¡¯t think of himself as such. Though, he had to admit he needed some alone time with Adaline, and soon.
Adam continued through the different booths, saying no over and over until there were no more booths and he was left in a line with people in front of him who were now talking freely. Most had chosen to pledge themselves but a few, like him, had not. As the line came to the end of the tunnel everyone stepped into a chain-linked fence that wound back and forth down a hill to a courtyard some 500 feet away. The lines were covered so there was no way to fly out of this line. Interesting
Adam could see a tunnel on the opposite side of the courtyard. All around the courtyard were various groups of people and demons. There was a loner dressed as a spec ops operator complete with the 50-caliber sniper rifle. Another group was a band of smaller devils that were lazily floating over a corpse they had just finished with, and another group of demons had a wizard. Everyone around the courtyard was scanning the group. Adam noticed when the wizard¡¯s eyes locked on a young man that had just exited the chained-length fence. He saw the Wizard point as the man tried to run off to the right. The wizard cast a spell and the kid froze. Adam heard the demons say, ¡°Fresh meat!¡± as they launched at and eviscerated the poor sap right there in front of everyone. Some of the people around him gasped but those that had come out of the tunnel early ignored the show.
Adam watched this same pattern go on for the next half hour and realized that there was indeed a pattern to it. None of the groups jumped at once. The sniper attacked the next person, then the group of only demons, then the group with the wizard.
They were killing anyone that hadn¡¯t pledged themselves. The pledges weren¡¯t even looked at as they were allowed to exit through the tunnel on the other side of the courtyard. The non-pledges were all killed in the courtyard. No wonder no one was allowed to talk when you first arrived. If they kept people ignorant it was free experience and possibly DP that went right to Anthrax. Again, he had to hand it to him. A nice, elegant system to earn experience. That wouldn¡¯t help him now, but honestly, he expected that he wouldn¡¯t need help. His time with Izzy had allowed him to test his capabilities and he was sure anything except a demi-god was in for a surprise, even without the use of magic.
Just before he stepped into the courtyard he pointed at the sniper and said, ¡°Let me step to the side, he wouldn¡¯t want you to accidentally kill a pledge.¡± The sniper nodded and he stepped out into the corridor, looked at the sniper, and took his best Captain Morgan pose. Adam really should be taking this more seriously, but he was pretty sure only outrageous behavior was going to achieve the outcome he was looking for.
Adam felt pressure hit his groin. It didn¡¯t hurt, didn¡¯t penetrate just hit his clothes then bounced off his body, then he heard the gunshot. The asshole tried to shoot his dick off. Well, if outrageously flamboyant wasn¡¯t going to work, he guessed there was also outrageously brutal. In a moment he was behind the sniper and kicked him so hard between the legs that his legs flew off in opposite directions as his head launched up and away from the expanding mess of the rest of his body that had turned into pink mist.
You have defeated Master Sniper Jay ¡°Dead Shot¡± Pierce
Try to shoot my dick off will you, Adam thought as he barked, ¡°Who¡¯s Next? Adam called with the full breadth and might of his attributes.
Chapter 152, Only Out for Themselves
Adam looked around the courtyard at everyone that had come to a stop and frozen. Some of those that were still in line and exiting the chain-length fence had looks of shock on their faces while others looked at the ground and wouldn¡¯t make eye contact. The group of only demons and demons with the single wizard had open mouths, eyes wide with shock. That lasted only a moment as they moved in unison to attack. Adam watched all the demons move toward him as the wizard withdrew slightly. Adam kept an eye on the wizard as he was more interested in what the wizard was going to try to cast but he still kept some of his attention on the others. Luckily for Adam, the wizard started casting a spell that he recognized.
The First group of demons reached him and started clawing and biting him. One demon even spit acid on him. Adam allowed the attacks to hit as his health regeneration and chaos negated those attacks he wasn¡¯t immune to. The Wizard called,¡± Now!¡± and all the demons drew back as the wizard cast a Timestop spell centered on Adam. Adam froze. Not because the spell had worked, his immunity was soul-based, this pissant wasn¡¯t going to be able to catch him with a Timestop spell. A Demi-God or God might but a recently dead mage, please.
As he froze the demons circled him outside of the Timestop bubble as the Wizard started walking toward him, ¡°In the End all bow down before Anthrax,¡± The wizard said addressing the crowd. ¡°Whether you serve him directly or through another that serves another servant of his master. Your spirits are now his to do with as he pleases. This one,¡± he said pointing at Adam, ¡°Thought that he was high and mighty. This one will now be cursed to die every time he comes to this courtyard until he is only level one. Then maybe we shall let him start crawling his way back up. Behold and witness this man¡¯s demise!¡±
Adam had to admit, that would definitely get any doubters in line. Too bad such a speech was going to backfire on him in just about three seconds. The Wizard stepped into the bubble of time stop, completely immune to the effects because he was the caster, and drew a dagger with a black jewel on it. Adam used Analyze on the Dagger
Dagger of the Unliving
This dagger was created in the forges of Hades. Any creature struck by this dagger will die upon entering the Courtyard of Choice and be resurrected at the spawn point in Hades. This curse remains active until the cursed target reaches level 1. Additionally, all experience and divinity points lost in Hades upon death are doubled from 1% to 2%
Well damn, that sucked. Losing 2% of his experience over and over¡it would take a very long time for him to reach level one. A really long time. For lower levels, 100 for instance, it would take roughly 856 days to be reduced to less than 1,000 XP which would be level 1. While he would still have 7.22E+13 XP that would continue to be reduced by 1%. he wouldn¡¯t drop below 1,000 XP until day 3,803 days or roughly 10.4 years or 159 days back home. 3,803 Deaths! Yeah, that wasn¡¯t in his future.
Adam had his chaos spread out at ground level and infiltrated the wizard as he came closer. While everyone here was technically a spirit, it seemed that perception was reality and everything acted normally. His Chaos had complete control of his body when he stepped up to him, positioned the knife just below his throat as he said, ¡°Now, you will die,¡± and froze.
¡°What the fuck man? Adam asked as he stepped back and walked around the wizard, ¡°Are you plagiarizing all the good lines from Return of the Jedi or what?¡± The wizard, of course, didn¡¯t answer. Adam kept him frozen now that he had full control of his body. The Wizard could still see and hear him, because Adam allowed it. Adam stayed inside the time-stop bubble and took advantage of his captive audience and everyone else as he asked, ¡°What did you all think of this Emporer Palpatine¡¯s level speech?¡±
Only one person answered from the top of the chain-link fence channel, ¡°It was crap!¡± a fellow called out in a Scottish accent.
¡°I know, right?¡± Adam said which had the desired effect. Every demon around the Time Stop bubble jumped at him and froze as they came into contact with the bubble. ¡°Too easy,¡± he said as he took the knife gently from the wizard¡¯s grasp. If the wizard was going to attack him while in a timestop spell, obviously this version of the spell had been modified to allow melee attacks while inside it. To verify, Adam proceeded around the timestop bubble stabbing each Demon through the head with a small fraction of his strength which was still enough to shatter skulls and leave pulped bodies sitting in the timestop bubble
Adam addressed the crowd, now that all the hunters were dead, ¡°I¡¯d get the line moving people. I don¡¯t know how long it¡¯ll be before someone else shows up to take their turn and after I deal with this guy, I will be heading out too. Places to go, People to see, and all that.¡±
The line started moving again as Adam moved over in front of the Wizard and looked him straight in the eye as he said, ¡°I guess it¡¯s your unlucky day. Maybe there¡¯s a lesson here for you?¡± Adam asked rhetorically as he used Analyze on him
Jesper, Level 4697 level Wizard.
Adam looked at Jesper as his eyes focused on him. His eyes were the only thing he was controlling presently, ¡°Jesper, is it? Well, Jesper, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that you probably won¡¯t see me again, for a while at least. What¡¯s the bad news? I knew you were going to ask that. The bad news is that you¡¯ll probably be level 1 if you do see me again,¡± Adam said as he used Dagger of the Unliving to prick the Wizard¡¯s throat for exactly one point of damage. The timestop bubble dropped as the wizard died instantly from that single point of damage and disappeared. It looked like these daggers were no joke inside the courtyard. Once the timestop bubble dropped all the demons also disappeared as the effects of the dagger took hold, not that they weren¡¯t already dead from the force of Adam¡¯s attack. Adam put the dagger into his Soul Storage for safekeeping and then repaired his clothing as he started walking towards the tunnel that led out of the Courtyard.
When he exited the tunnel with the others he looked around and found that they were all in a park of some kind. Around the entrance were clothes vendors selling t-shirts, sweats, simple dresses, and the like. Adam didn¡¯t need clothes, but he was curious how they sold clothes to naked people who had just arrived, naked in most cases with nothing on them.
¡°Sir, do you need something? Individuals that are clothed should make their way to the end of the park. A shifty-looking weasel of a man with greedy eyes said to him.
¡°I¡¯m new to the place, how exactly do new people that need clothes, get clothes?¡±
¡°New, you say? Well, everything in the city runs on coin or experience. You see that building over there, ¡° the man said pointing to what looked like an old-fashioned bank with tellers. You can exchange experience for currency.¡±
¡°What¡¯s the exchange rate?¡± he asked
¡°Depends on where you go and who you pledged yourself to. That building over there has an exchange rate of 10 XP for 1 dollar. As for clothes. There are a few booths around here that give new pledges one set of clothes then they¡¯re sent off to report in and start serving their new master.¡±
¡°What happens to those that don¡¯t buy clothes?¡± he asked.
¡°See for yourself,¡± he said motioning for him to come to look at a little screen he had running under his counter as he explained, ¡°They run the service on cable. Those that don¡¯t buy clothes are rounded up and turned into sex slaves for whoever catches them first. Male, or female, doesn¡¯t matter. Race either. The Catchers, as we call them go after anyone that doesn¡¯t have clothes on. They¡¯re also really careful not to kill them. ¡°
¡°Why is that?¡±
¡°Cause if they die, they come back in day remembering, and this time they might pledge. Those that are not pledged are fair game, those that have pledged their loyalty are not,¡± he said.
¡°How do you tell if we¡¯re pledged or not?¡± he asked.
¡°Most of us have a spell on us, either cast or granted by an item we¡¯re wearing that lets us identify those that are pledged right away. I know you¡¯re not pledged. I also know what you did to the hunting party inside because I happened to be watching that channel when it happened, just in case you¡¯re wondering why I¡¯m being so nice to you. My reason is simple, pure self-interest. Figured if I¡¯m nice to you, you might not pop me like a balloon.¡±
¡°No worries there, I only go after those that attack me,¡± Adam said.
¡°Good to hear!¡± He said with a smile, ¡°Now if you want to watch what happens to those that are picked up there are other channels that put out what happens to them.¡±
¡°How long does that go on for?¡± he asked.
¡°Well, you know where you are, what else are you going to do? Eventually, everyone figures out that they must play by the rules, or the rules will force them to start all over and play by them anyway. Just better to play by the rules from the start and retain some of your experience and powers from your mortal days, am he right?¡±
¡°That does make sense. Tell you what, do you take cash payment for information?
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
¡°Sure?¡± where are you going to get cash from?
¡°The bank teller of course,¡± Adam said.
¡°But their rates?¡±
¡°Are fine, be back in a minute,¡± Adam said as he walked over to the line for the bank teller.
There weren¡¯t very many people in line. The man in front of him was grumbling enough to hear, ¡°That¡¯s the last time I play Russian Roulette with a damn gnomish gunslinger. I swear his guns knew it was him and wouldn¡¯t fire when he pulled the trigger on himself. That set me back and now I have to spend more experience to buy some clothes. I definitely don¡¯t want to get on Bubba¡¯s list?¡±
Adam knew he shouldn¡¯t, but he had to ask, ¡°Sorry, I couldn¡¯t help but overhear you. I¡¯m new to the area, who or what is Bubba¡¯s list?¡±
¡°Something you won¡¯t have to worry about this time, being fully clothed and all but I¡¯ll tell you what, if you pull enough money out for me to get clothes, and a place to stay for the night and I¡¯ll tell you,¡± he said.
¡°Will a thousand be enough?¡± Adam asked.
¡°That¡¯ll do friend, let¡¯s switch places so you can get your money and I¡¯ll tell you what Bubba¡¯s list is after you pay me.¡±
Adam switched places and was soon called up to a window, ¡°Arm Please,¡± the teller behind a pane of glass asked.
Adam held his arm out wrist down, which she rotated until his wrist was facing up. She took out a circular pendant, pressed it to his skin and glyph took hold.
The Banking Glyph of Hades has been added to your inventory and is represented by a glyph that is visible on your right forearm. Should you ever leave Hades the Glyph will disappear. Upon your return to Hades, the glyph will reappear.
¡°That¡¯s odd, ¡°she said¡±
¡°What¡¯s odd?¡±
¡°You didn¡¯t have a glyph, but the system reads as if you are a platinum-level customer.¡±
¡°What does that mean?¡± Adam asked.
¡°That means that your account is effectively unlimited. How much would you like to withdraw for this area? Also, as you are a newly glyphed individual, I am supposed to explain that most establishments pull directly from your Banking Glyph. We recommend that you carry some loose change but shy away from carrying around huge sums of money. Doing so will make you a target,¡± the teller said.
¡°I think I¡¯ll be fine. Please pull out a $1,000 for yourself and a million for me,¡± Adam said.
¡°Very well sir,¡± the teller said placing $1,000 on the counter which he counted out then scooped up, and then a wedge of money that was wrapped and had ¡®$1,000,000¡¯ printed on it from a storage location of some kind.
Adam touched the wedge of money and transferred it to his Soul Storage. His soul ability may be able to create the cash, but he figured it¡¯d be better just to use their money and the Banking Glyph, ¡°Thank you,¡± Adam said as he headed back over to Timmy. Adam pulled $1,000 from his Soul Storage and handed it to the vendor as he said, ¡°Here you go.¡±
¡°You weren¡¯t kidding were you?¡±
¡°Nope¡±
¡°Okay then, for $1,000 I¡¯m going to give you some info, free of charge. Well, it wasn¡¯t free, but you know what I mean.¡±
¡°I get it, and if you think there¡¯s anything you think I should know seek me out, I¡¯ll pay for information at whatever the going rate is, plus 10%¡±
¡°You¡¯ve got a deal! My name is Timmy by the way!¡±
¡°Nice to meet you Timmy, no one around here likes to give out their names?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Just the way it is around here If there¡¯s no profit in the action why bother? I¡®d be stupid not to take the offer you made, you¡¯ve been friendly, and you kept your word, so you get my name. I¡¯m still being selfish, but I don¡¯t see it as a bad selfishness.
¡°I see your point. Now you were going to tell him about Bubba and something else,¡± Adam said.
¡°Bubba is a Male porn star from back on Earth. It all started when he went to jail and started raping men in the shower,¡±
¡°Are you telling me there is an actual Bubba based on all the jokes about ¡®You¡¯re going to go to jail and be Bubba¡¯s best friend, that Bubba?¡±
¡°Yep, that Bubba. Anyway, he got such a taste for it in the real world that he and his crew go after any males that try to leave the park without clothes on. They have a warehouse somewhere where it¡¯s just Bubba or one of his goons breaking in fresh meat. Eventually, the old ones drop away. Personally, I think he watches the ratings of his show and drops anyone that isn¡¯t drawing any attention to his channel.¡±
¡°I take it there are channels concerning all forms of debauchery throughout this place?¡± Adam asked.
¡°This is New York, circa 2,000 before the towers fell. Hades is huge and there are many regions within Hades. This region is mirrored after Earth, the whole planet. Other regions exist as well as the outland areas where only the demons and fiends exist. Almost every form of debauchery imaginable exists here,¡± Timmy said.
¡°I was wondering why it wasn¡¯t hot here. This is one of the lower planes after all?¡±
¡°There are places that are made up of Volcanos for as far as the eye can see but I¡¯ve only ever been there once,¡± Timmy said.
¡°Anything else I need to know?¡± Adam asked.
¡°No one has permanent residence anywhere unless they¡¯ve staked it out. You¡¯ll need to find yourself a hotel or house that you can afford to rent while you¡¯re here. Houses are more expensive and away from the city proper while Apartments will keep you close to the action.¡±
¡°Thanks for the info,¡± Adam said. ¡°I do have one more question, if you have the information it¡¯s worth another $1,000 to me. If you don¡¯t that¡¯s fine but after today any information you bring me regarding his subject will be worth ten times as much to me.
¡°What is it?¡±
¡°I¡¯m looking for a bloke by the name of Apolyn?¡±
¡°Seriously?¡±
¡°You know the name?¡±
¡°Who doesn¡¯t know that name? He has his own channel called Apolyn¡¯s Parlor. It¡¯s basically a 24/7 infomercial. Around the clock, this channel describes how anyone can become a wizard and that as a minor deity, he is willing to grant divinity points for those that pledge themselves to him.¡±
¡°That sounds pretty standard,¡± Adam said.
¡°It is for the Minor Deities or Deities; they have enough pledged to them that they can award some of their energy to others so they can cast spells.¡±
¡°How expensive is it to use spells?¡±
¡°Compared to mana cost, not expensive at all. It takes one DP plus the normal mana cost to be able to cast a spell of any level.¡±
¡°Simple and effective,¡± Adam said under his breath.
¡°What was that? Timmy asked.
¡°Nothing,¡± Adam said pulling out another $1,000 from the million he had in his storage. ¡°Is Apolyn in this Region?¡±
¡°No, he¡¯s a new lesser Deity. By Decree, all new Deities must find their own Regions¡±
¡°How do I get to his region?¡±
¡°One way would be to pledge yourself to him. Otherwise, you need to buy transport to the region either by teleport or by ship.
¡°What kind of ship?¡±
¡°Whichever kind the pilot you hire is using. Just a heads up, new deities that arrive have regions that are the farthest away from the center so it¡¯s going to cost a lot of time and money to get there.¡±
¡°So why is Apolyn getting all of this attention?¡± Adam asked.
¡°First, he¡¯s a lesser deity. Second, he offered up a tier system for anyone pledging to him. The first 100 received 1 DP a day for spell casting. The next 900 receive 1 DP a week and everyone else receives 1 DP a month. People were rushing to be in the first 1,000.¡± Timmy said.
¡°So why didn¡¯t you pledge to him?¡± Adam asked.
¡°His first commercial aired right after I went to sleep. When I woke up, eight hours had already passed. There was no way he was getting into the first 100 which would have been a better situation than I¡¯m in right now. Two tiers. I make enough money daily to purchase DP if I want to cast a spell.¡±
¡°Wait you can just go purchase DP?¡±
¡°Sure, Deities need money here too. Everyone pays here. I¡¯ll admit I get a better exchange rate from Charlie; the Major Demon I¡¯m pledged to here. Everyone else just tries to rob him.¡±
¡°Demons generate DP as well, I thought only divines did,¡± Adam said.
¡°Okay, big rule not to forget. Drop the word Divine and just use the word Demon. There are no Divines in Hades. Neophytes are referred to as Lesser Deities. Demi-Gods are referred to as Minor Deities and Anthrax is a Demon God. He is also referred to as the Lord of Hades or The Deity of Hades because there is only one. Deities in Hades generate Demon Points. Below Lesser Deities, four other types of demons can generate Demon Points or convert their experience into Demon Points. There are two levels of Major Demon, Rank 1 and Rank 2. Next are Arch Demons. Finally, you have Demon Lords. None of them are even close to the power level of the Deity of Hades but they are far more powerful than mortals.¡±
¡°Do they have an equivalent power level to the transcendent of the mortal realms?¡± he asked.
¡°You know about the Transcendent?¡± Well sure. Major Demons of Rank 1 are equivalent to those with a soul of Transcendent power. Rank 2 would be Sage level. Arch demons are equivalent to Seers and Demon Lords are equal to Prophets. As far as I know, there are no demon ranks that are equal to Saints.¡±
Adam searched his memory, Apolyn would have a Rank Disparity of 1.0E+100 while Demon Lords would have a Rank Disparity of 1.0E+11. So, except for the Deities in this Layer, he shouldn¡¯t have any problems. That was good to know. Adam looked at Timmy, pulled out another $10,000, and handed it to him as Timmy¡¯s eyes lit up, ¡°That is for being proactive and giving me information that I needed and would have wasted a lot of time trying to find.¡± Adam said.
¡°No problem, glad to be of help. I¡¯ve made more money talking to you than I lost before I died this last time. I¡¯ll be able to get a nice place to sleep for a couple of weeks for sure now.¡±
¡°I think I¡¯m about done here Timmy; I¡¯m going to keep moving before the people that come to check out why so many non-pledges are making it out of the spawn tunnel show up.¡±
¡°It¡¯s called the Tunnel of Souls. That info is on the house. You¡¯ll be able to find a taxi or walk if you want when you get to the edge of the park,¡± Timmy said.
If this area was comparable to New York then he must be in the North Woods and Central Park North was only about 500 feet away. Adam looked back to the cave entrance and realized that the park was still behind the cave entrance, it had just been a portal entrance out of a cave near the northeast side o the Great Hill. he stepped back from Timmy walked over to the vendor and put $1,000 on his counter, ¡°Thanks for answering my questions earlier,¡± Adam said.
¡°No problem, I always have time for big spenders,¡± the weaselly-looking man said.
Adam turned and started walking northeast towards the street. Trees were thicker and taller, but he soon came to the entrance that came out on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd into something he was not expecting.
This Region of Hades was a place of contrasts. Police-style meat wagons and crews of people and small demons were corralling all the naked people that were stepping out of the park.
As he came up to the crosswalk he heard one of the humans corralling the naked people into the meat wagons ask one of his buddies, ¡°What the fuck is going on In there. I¡¯ve counted 20 non-pledges so far. We¡¯ve never had that many. We never have any because killing them before they get out is a sport a lot of people pay to take part in.¡±
he waited for the light then crossed the street and started heading southeast toward Park Avenue. he kept to himself and walked like he had a purpose. When he came up to the Northeast Corner of Central Park and crossed 5th Ave. he watched as people walked up to a turnstile, flashed their banking glyph, and continued Southeast towards Park Ave. Adam could smell food being cooked and heard the bustle, then was completely awed as a Nightmare, A black horse with flaming red eyes and smoke flowing from its nostrils flew 10 feet overhead being ridding by someone that looked to be in some type of police uniform. Adam turned to watch as the officer and flying mount flew into Central Park.
Park Avenue was only two blocks from 5th Ave. If he¡¯d been on Earth there would have been small businesses here. As it was it looked like this version had been set up with more utility in mind. There was a high-end dining facility with what looked like a huge high-end apartment building behind it. There were also subway entrances where people could be seen entering and exiting the restaurant and hotel. Adam could even see a raised train line exiting the 10th floor. A perfect mix of Industry and magic.
Adam flashed his Banking Glyph at the turnstile.
$100 has been deducted from your account, Welcome to Park Avenue. This is considered a Safe Area. You will be charged $100 to remain in this location each day at dawn.
That could get expensive for anyone that didn¡¯t have the experience to sell or an ability like mine. he walked down the street to the restaurant. he might as well check out the local cuisine.
Chapter 153, High Society Dinner
Adam walked down the street, taking in the ambiance of the beings around him. Most were human and fairly well dressed while a few looked and acted out of place. The employees of the various business were easy to discern. They were hurrying along in some work uniform or another. The rich were also easily recognized. A few were walking around but most were riding various vehicles that were in the area. Cars, horse-drawn carriages, flying mounts. All were evident. He could also see demons in the area but most wore business suits or dresses and seemed to be blending in. As he took everything in he noticed that the only flying demons he could see were either very far away or west of 5th Avenue and the turnstile. Adam allowed his chaos to wash over him and transformed his clothing into a nice business suit as he stepped up to the entrance to Audrey¡¯s Steakhouse.
An attendant opened the door for him as he walked in. The establishment had a very nice relaxed ambiance.
¡°Good evening sir, will you be dining alone or with someone this evening?¡± a ma?tre d¡¯ asked.
¡°Alone, thank you,¡± Adam replied.
¡°How will you be paying this evening?¡± The ma?tre d¡¯ asked.
Adam held out his hand as the ma?tre d¡¯ scanned his bank glyph with a scanner of some kind. The ma?tre d¡¯ looked at the screen and then looked up with wide eyes, ¡°Very good sir, would you like to dine with the commoners or will you be descending this evening?¡±
¡°Descending?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Of course, Sir! As a Platinum Glyph holder, you may descend to our dining facility for those with more exquisite tastes.¡±
¡°That sounds fine,¡± Adam said as he followed the ma?tre d to an elevator.
¡°This is where I leave you, Sir. Are you new to Hades, Sir?¡±
¡°Yes, why do you ask?¡± Adam asked warily.
¡°Well Sir, you¡¯re taking in the surroundings as if you¡¯ve never seen them before, it was quite easy to notice,¡± the ma?tre d¡¯ explained.
¡°Thank you, I will work on his poker face, was there something else you wished to say?¡±
¡°Yes Sir! The ability to pay for services is required everywhere, Sir. Everyone pays in some way. Let¡¯s say someone comes in here and is unable to pay for their meal in the main dining hall. That person would be escorted to the kitchen to work off the remainder of their bill. Then, if they survived without food until they finished their work they would be escorted off the premises. Those that enter this elevator have proven that they have the means to pay for their tastes. If anyone fails to pay their bills below, they become part of the festivities. I see by the look on your face that you do not understand. It will become quite apparent when you exit the elevator.¡±
¡°Thank you again,¡± Adam said, as he pulled out $10,000 and handed it to the ma?tre d¡¯.
¡°Sir, that is far too much¡
¡°I insist, and trust me, I will not run out of money. It is karmically impossible for me to do so,¡± Adam explained with a laugh.
¡°If you insist, I will accept the tip but karmically impossible, you test Fate, Sir.¡±
¡°I do,¡± Adam admitted.
The elevator opened and Adam stepped into a very nice elevator with only two buttons. The first button, ¡°1*¡±, was lit up and the button below it had a simple ¡°D¡± on it. The ma?tre d pushed the D which lit as he stepped back out of the elevator making one final remark, ¡°We hope you enjoy our hospitality, Sir.¡±
The doors closed and the elevator started descending. It was a good 5 minutes before the elevator stopped and Adam stepped onto a floor that looked almost identical to the restaurant above except that the floor was made of glass and below him, he could only see what he could describe as a butchering assembly and kitchen.
¡°Welcome Sir, are you looking for anything specific tonight?¡±
¡°This is my first time, what exactly is on the menu?¡± Adam asked.
¡°In addition to our normal menu, anyone and anything that exists within Hades can be on the menu if they have been caught and processed as a bounty or volunteer.¡±
¡°How exactly does that work?¡± Adam asked
¡°Sir, there is a pamphlet at each table that you may read while waiting for your meal. It details the legal steps required for anyone to be put on the menu. You can look over the menu which is magically updated, or you can enter the holding pens and get a firsthand look. Once payment has been received we have areas where the livestock can be tenderized by you or some of our chefs before it is prepared. If such cuisine is not to your liking we can of course provide anything on the normal menu as I¡¯ve said. Through the one-way glass floors, you can watch as various meals are prepared during any step of the process you like.¡±
¡°As this is his first time, I think I¡¯ll stick to beef for now while I take in the atmosphere.¡±
¡°Very good Sir, if you¡¯d follow me,¡± he said as he led Adam to a door that opened into a booth. As he sat down he asked, ¡°Anything to drink?¡±
¡°Your very best red wine would be perfect while I look over the menu,¡± Adam replied.
The waiter left, allowing the door to close. Adam picked up the pamphlet and quickly flipped through it. Another system that Anthrax had set up to give him a never-ending influx of XP and DP while ensuring that eventually, everyone that allowed this depravity to become a necessity would most likely be in this exact position as part of the menu eventually. Again, the level of thought that had gone into this system, ingenious really.
Curiosity reared its ugly head, and Adam looked through the floor. It took a moment then he saw a miniature version of the scene where Bae Doona was slaughtered and turned into food from the movie Cloud Atlas with a lot more torment and torture added. As that kind of thing wasn¡¯t his thing, he ignored it. Adam did notice that anything was on the menu as he saw individuals from every race of humanoid he¡¯d ever heard of represented. There was also the slaughter area that allowed the patrons to watch their ¡°cows¡± get prepared from scratch if they liked, be it an actual cow, or one of the other creatures on the menu.
Adam picked up the menu and then coughed. A beef steak was $1,000,000 to watch a cow be slaughtered for your meal while a female elf was only $5,000 for a full roast. Why such a high-cost disparity? Then he thought about it. Adam picked up the pamphlet and flipped through it quickly and it all just came together. Steak would be more expensive because they had to grow them and then slaughter them which meant a huge investment. Adam looked at the menu again and a steak without watching the butchering was only $100 per plate. All costs doubled if someone wanted to participate in the tenderizing process which was just a euphemism for torture. The costs varied depending on creature type and demand.
Just then a naked female human came in with a piercing through her left nipple with a metal tag that read ¡°For Sale.¡± She carried a glass of wine into the room and set it down on the table before him.
¡°Are you allowed to talk to the customers?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Of course Sir, I am here to meet every need you may have.¡±
¡°Okay, let me get this straight. If the tag you¡¯re wearing is an indicator, I could ask you to do anything in here and you would?¡±
¡°Yes Sir,¡± she said.
¡°For any customer?¡± Adam verified.
¡°Yes Sir¡±
¡°Does that include becoming my meal?¡±
¡°Of Course, Sir?¡±
¡°Why?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Excuse him, sir?¡±
¡°This entire realm seems to revolve around the idea of self-interest so why would you subject yourself to this? Why turn yourself into food even if you do come back in 24 hours?¡±
¡°Because it¡¯s a way to make money for the things I want to do, Sir.¡±
Adam understood immediately that the answer she had given would be the only one he¡¯d get. What a shame. He turned his glyph over so she could see it, ¡°I¡¯m new to Hades, is there a way for me to transfer funds to you directly as a tip?¡±
¡°Yes sir,¡± she said excitedly, ¡°You just touch your glyph to mine and transfer what you¡¯d like.¡±
¡°Hold out your glyph,¡± Adam said.
She did so and he touched his Bank Glyph to hers and transferred $1,000 to her.
¡°Thank you, sir, what would you like me to do?¡±
¡°That is for answering his questions thus far. I will give you $1,000,000 to answer more of my questions fully and truthfully. Why are you allowing yourself to be slaughtered, what do you get out of it?¡±
¡°Do you even have the million dollars?¡± she asked
¡°I do,¡± he said as he tapped the menu for a cow to be slaughtered and the Prime Rib cut to be prepared for him, then touched his glyph to the circle that appeared in the table for payment.
¡°You just spent a million dollars to prove that you could spend a million dollars?¡± she asked.
¡°That and I wanted a fresh prime rib.
¡°Sir, they have spells to reduce the time it takes but it¡¯ll still be hours before it¡¯s ready.¡±
¡°Good to know, but that information will not get you a million dollars.¡±
¡°Yes sir. To answer your question anyone can volunteer to work in this restaurant. If you work upstairs you are paid $10 an hour plus tips if you¡¯re a waitress. Upstairs tips are scarce as people are just trying to get some fancy cheap food. Down here you earn $100 for the day working as a servant for 12 hours, plus half whatever they can sell your meat for which is added to your banking glyph right before they slaughter you. That way when you come back in 24 hours you already have the cash. They also have beds down here which they only charge $10 for us to use for the night if we¡¯re going to work until our goose is cooked,¡± she said giggling.
¡°How many times have you done this?¡±
¡°I¡¯ve lost count but not too many, I only have $250,000 in my account right now.
¡°Hold out your bank glyph,¡± Adam said.
Adam transferred the million dollars to her and said, thank you for the explanation. Quick question, which I feel should be covered by the funds I just transferred.
¡°Absolutely sir, in fact, if you¡¯d allow me to show my appreciation¡¡±
Adam cut her off by saying, ¡°That is quite all right for now. My question is this, is there any other way to earn money faster down here?
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
¡°Faster no Sir. If I¡¯m slaughtered nightly my price will continue to go up as more and more people request me. That happens because people start to bid on me. For instance, Myra Hindley, the woman that killed all those children in England and possibly abused them. Well, here there are a lot of people that remember who she was and make their way in here to buy her off the menu. She sells each day and almost every time the customer buys the rights to tenderize her. My understanding is that she has so many people after her that she keeps coming back to make money to pay off the really depraved ones.
That sounded a lot more like the hell I had expected to find down here. ¡°If I might ask, why are you down here, you don¡¯t seem like an evil sadist or selfish person.¡±
¡°Oh, I¡¯m selfish enough, but I realized I¡¯m never going to get ahead if I don¡¯t have money so I¡¯ll be doing this for as long as I can,¡± she said as a bracelet on her left wrist buzzed and the words on the nipple tag changed from ¡°For Sale¡± to ¡°Sold.¡± She looked down at the tag then up at him and said, ¡°Times up for tonight, looks like I¡¯m on the menu. It was nice talking with you¡¡±
¡°Adam, and you are?¡±
¡°I go by Trixie now,¡±
¡°Can anyone watch you get processed?¡± he asked.
¡°Sure, just say ¡®Follow Trixie¡¯ after I leave, and a screen will appear in front of you. You can do that for any livestock in the building,¡± The wristband buzzed again, and she headed out.
As she did, Adam said, ¡°Follow Trixie¡± and sure enough a holographic screen appeared in the air before him. Adam played with the controls and found that he could change the angle so that he could look over every square inch of her body and zoom in and out as desired. That was a pretty invasive camera. Adam followed her progress as she made her way downstairs and a man in a chef¡¯s outfit said, ¡°Looks like you¡¯re going on the spit tonight Trixie,¡±
¡°Alive and twitching or dead and done,¡± Trixie asked.
¡°Alive and twitching. It¡¯s a big party, with some demons, they want to watch their meal suffer.¡±
¡°Damn I hate this part,¡± Trixie said as Adam turned the monitor off. He didn¡¯t need to watch them turn her into a spit roast. Nothing about the process interested him. Adam was more concerned that there was no way for people to work their way out of a system where they were being paid to become food. He could even forecast how individuals like Trixie might think they were getting ahead only to find themselves behind and offering themselves up for even more depraved services.
Anthrax had set up a system where those that wanted to act out their depraved fantasies could do so, for a cost. The more they gave into those urges the quicker they would go broke. When they were out of money they¡¯d become the victim and do anything to earn back the ability to give into those urges again. A vicious never-ending destructive cycle based on personal self-interest. They could stop whenever they wanted but wouldn¡¯t. It was an utterly depraved system, and utterly brilliant.
Adam enjoyed his Red Wine as he watched the various scenes that played out through the see-through floor. He wasn¡¯t really paying attention but he made it look like he was for anyone watching him. Trixie had been correct it was almost four hours before his Prime Rib showed up. It was cooked to perfection and fresh. There was also a baked potato and some green beans. People within feet of him were eating other sentient beings and he was just enjoying a normal steak in Hades. Adam had to admit this was probably the weirdest place he¡¯d eaten steak. Also, it was weird seeing souls acting as if they had pseudo-normal lives as compared to the mortal world.
Adam was jostled out of his thoughts when there was a knock at his door. A moment later a different nude female, an elf this time opened the door. Like Trixie, she had a breast tag that read ¡°For Sale¡± on it, ¡°Excuse him, Sir, there¡¯s a gentleman here to see you?¡±
¡°Please show him in,¡± he said.
¡°A glass of whatever he¡¯s having, on his bill,¡± a thin weaselly-looking human man said as he stepped past the female elf and allowed the door to close before sitting opposite Adam. He sat there and stared intently at Adam as he continued to eat his Prime Rib while he waited for his drink. Moments later the elf returned and handed him his drink.
Adam reached out and touched his bank glyph to the table to pay for the drink then looked to the elf, ¡°Your glyph please dear¡± Adam said as she reached out and transferred $1,000 to her. She turned and then quickly hurried from the room.
As the door closed the man sitting across from Adam demanded, ¡°You will give him his dagger back now, or I will kill you before you take another bite?¡±
¡°Aren¡¯t we in a Safe Space?¡± Adam asked.
¡°That doesn¡¯t matter to me,¡± he said
¡°Me either,¡± Adam said as he took another bite of his Prime Rib. It was almost agonizing to watch as his eyes gave away his emotions. He went from disbelief to rage and then finally to malevolent delight as he cast a spell and chains shot out to try to grasp Adam¡¯s arms and legs. While the chains were attached to Adam, he continued to eat as if he wasn¡¯t hampered at all.
Quickly moving the weasel of a man pulled another Dagger of the Undying from somewhere on his body, probably a belt of holding, then lunged forward to stab Adam in the throat.
Adam moved, breaking the chains, and tossed his plate, fork, and knife straight up as he pulled his Chaos Blade and performed a called strike to take the hand holding the dagger off at the wrist. Simultaneously he molded his chaos into the form of a dagger in his left hand which he used to pin the severed hand and dagger to the table as he dispelled his chaos blade and casually reached up to catch his plate, knife, and fork, putting them in his personal storage. No need to waste a perfectly cooked Prime Rib. Wasting a perfectly cooked Prime Rib would have been criminal.
The man stepped back and looked to be about to shout when Adam¡¯s chaos wrapped him like a mummy and immobilized and gagged him. As Adam touched the table where the Bank Glyph went and said ¡°I need to see a manager¡±
A voice entered the room, ¡°Right away Sir¡±
Momentarily a fully dressed succubus in a business suit entered the room and her eyes went wide, ¡°What is the meaning of this?¡±
¡°This individual attacked me in a Safe Space and I defended myself, what are the penalties for attacking and or defending oneself in a Safe Space?¡± Adam asked.
¡°If you were attacked there are no penalties for you so long as you did not injure or kill anyone that did not participate in the attack. Lesser deities, such as Devan here, are not bound to the rules of safe spaces. Also, the truth of the matter is whatever the victor says it is.¡±
¡°Interesting,¡± Adam said then looked thoughtful for a moment. ¡°If I were to assume that there are many demons here that might look favorably on bad things happening to this non-demon lesser deity right here, would I be correct?¡±
She nodded once.
¡°How many would like to see some form of justice, specifically against this individual?¡±
She held up 9 fingers.
¡°Very interesting,¡± Adam mused before asking, ¡°As the manager of this establishment I like to verify something from you. I was warned that entering the elevator meant that I could become part of the festivities. Is that true for all creatures that have entered your establishment?¡±
¡°Why yes it is, but any fee that you might want to pay could be counter-paid off by an individual if they are neither a bounty nor volunteer. They would have to beat whatever you were willing to pay. If they do, you are on the menu.¡±
¡°Very well, I would like to purchase this person as the main course for a party of 9 that will be able to toy with and tenderize their meal before he is slaughtered for them to enjoy. I would like him prepared like Trixie was earlier.
¡°That will be a minimum of 18 million dollars plus whatever, he counter pays with, are you sure you¡¯d like to make this purchase?¡±
¡°Absolutely! Adam said as he released the gag from the man who was trying to laugh¡±
¡°I¡¯m going to feast on your bones,¡± the man said, ¡°You can¡¯t afford to make me into a meal!¡±
¡°How much would you like to wager on that?¡±
¡°I¡¯ll wager all of his Divinity Points save 1,000 he said?¡±
¡°Why 1,000?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Do you accept his wager?¡± the lesser deity countered.
¡°How many DP are you wagering otherwise?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I have 10,556 currently. You will receive 9,556 DP if you win this wager. Do we have a wager?¡±
¡°Absolutely!,¡± Adam said
¡°You may release him now,¡± the manager said. ¡°A wager has been made and witnessed. If the lesser deity Devan, doesn¡¯t abide by the wager he forfeits his demon status and is returned to the state of mortality and is treated as such.
Devan looked at Adam before he said, ¡°I¡¯m not going to cook you and eat you. I¡¯m going to cook you alive, heal you, and do it again over and over, then when I¡¯m done making you suffer, which will be for a very long time, I¡¯m going to kill you with his dagger and watch as every level you have is stripped from you each time you enter The Courtyard of Choice.
¡°Assuming that what you say is true, you¡¯d want to watch me come back day after day for 764,935 years and 78 days. Wow, that would be a really long time?¡±
¡°What are you talking about, even if you were level 5,000 I¡¯d only be watching you day after day for just over 13 and a half years,¡± Devan said.
¡°Level 5,000 you say?¡± Adam asked as he laughed, ¡°I met a man like you once Devan. He was much like you and was the catalyst for why you are going to lose this wager.
¡°Lose this wager, there is no way I can lose this wager. You haven¡¯t even been here a day; how could you possibly have more money from Hades than I do?¡±
Adam just smiled as he said, ¡°Time to put our money where our mouths are,¡± as Adam placed his arm on the banking glyph, he thought, modify the order to a party of 10, and waited for Devan to do the same. Still smug, Devan placed his banking glyph on the table as well and a message popped into his vision.
Devan has converted 1,000 DP into currency increasing his current funds to $1,000,055,335.
You have spent $1,0020,055,336 to negate Devan¡¯s attempt to turn you into his meal and have created a Party Platter out of Devan the Lesser Deity following preparation directions laid out for Trixie.
Your party will commence shortly.
You have been awarded 9,556 DP
Adam picked up his dagger quickly, leaving Devan¡¯s hand on the table and putting the second Blade of the Undying into his personal storage.
¡°That¡¯s my knife!¡±
¡°Would you please escort my food to the preparation room?¡± Adam said.
Having none of it, Devan called forth a black magical blade and was about to strike at the manager when Adam casually severed his arms and legs at the socket and had his chaos cauterize the wounds so Devan wouldn¡¯t bleed out. He¡¯d drawn his Chaos Blade and moved so quickly that the Manager and Devan had only seen him flicker before he was dismissing his sword.
The Black blade flickered out and Devan fell to the floor in a pile with his arms and legs. With a flick, Adam added his hand to the pile of body parts as Devan started screaming. The Manager looked at Adam in utter disbelief and then quickly snapped her fingers twice. Two large demons entered the room through the door, picked up the various pieces of Devan, and departed.
¡°Will there be anything else Sir?¡± The manager asked respectfully.
¡°Collect your party, and have your fun with him, I¡¯ll follow on the monitor from here. I modified the order to include myself so when you¡¯re all done playing I¡¯d like to make sure he gets to see his dagger back one last time.
¡°Very good Sir!¡± she said with a hint of a smile. She turned and quickly walked out of the room.
¡°Follow Devan,¡± he said as the screen reappeared and he watched as Devan was followed into a room by the Manager where another man sat on a throne, ¡°Devan, what am I going to do with you, he said as he picked up a collar around Devan¡¯s neck. You should have just lost with some dignity. Now, if I¡¯m reading this right, you have zero Demon Points and it¡¯s going to be a while before you¡¯re ready to go back out and work for our Master again. So be it.¡± The man on the throne turned to the Manager, ¡°Take him to the processing room and have your fun, it¡¯s been paid for,¡± the man on the throne said to the manager. The manager actually squealed as her business suit disappeared and eight other Succubi joined her and helped carry Devan off to be tenderized.
Adam didn¡¯t watch what they did, he pushed the screen off to the side and pulled out his meal to finish it. When he was done he looked up to see that they had finished with him and were now in the Chef¡¯s room. He¡¯d been prepared just like Trixie.
¡°Adam please follow the green arrows to Devan¡¯s final preparation,¡± a voice said over the intercom. Adam took a swig of wine, willed himself not to puke at what he was about to see then followed the green arrow. As he walked into the Chef¡¯s room a burly Pit Fiend was laughing merrily as he threw seasoning that only demons could like onto Devan, who was still very much alive.
Adam¡¯s eyes sought out the manager and he motioned for her to join him as he pulled out one of his two Daggers of the Undying. ¡°I have a question for you, will the curse on this dagger work on him as well?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, once marked the curse remains until it is cleansed by holy magic or the afflicted is reduced to level 1.,¡± she said.
¡°And it only takes a single point of damage?¡± he asked.
¡°That and the intent to lay the curse of course.¡± She said.
¡°Will he pop and disappear if I mark him?¡± Adam asked.
¡°No, if someone is marked by one of these daggers out here, the curse remains on them but doesn¡¯t instantly kill them until they enter the courtyard. Once he dies, he¡¯ll reform in a day and then the curse will become active when he makes his way to the courtyard,¡± the Manager explained.
Adam walked over to Devan who was trussed up and hanging like a chicken ready for a rotisserie. Adam moved to where he could meet Devan¡¯s eyes then nicked him for exactly 1 point of damage on his cheek under his right eye. Devan was trying to scream but the Chef had gone all Vlad the Impaler on poor Devan and the spit exiting his mouth was preventing anything but gurgling sounds.
Adam turned to the manager, ¡°How long before he dies?¡± he asked.
¡°It¡¯ll be a while, maybe a couple of days but he¡¯s not going anywhere. Anthrax was so disappointed that one of his lesser deities was beaten both physically and mentally by you that he¡¯s allowing the Regenerator to attend. The Regenerator will keep him alive and regenerate missing body parts so they can be served over and over. When the party finally ends, well then the Regenerator also has an ability that prevents all healing which can be used to force him to die.¡±
¡°Very well, I think I¡¯m done down here. I¡¯m going to head upstairs to the hotel and take a much-needed break. You ladies and all of your friends enjoy your meal,¡± Adam said.
¡°Oh, we will, this one is a bit of a sadist, we are going to enjoy him, make sure he knows we enjoyed him, and then taunt him every day that he is reborn and grows weaker. When he is finally level 1 I plan to kill him again just for fun,¡± the Manager said.
¡°I¡¯m not going to receive any backlash for this?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Not at all, Anthrax is happy with you. You followed all his rules after all.¡±
Adam stowed the dagger, turned, and left. He made his way back up the elevator to the 1st Floor and noticed three women waiting to get in the elevator.
¡°Common Chrissy, it¡¯ll be fun. It¡¯s quick cash and Lizzy swears that it¡¯s a quick way to make a quick buck.¡±
¡°Ladies, Adam said as he stepped out of the elevator and walked out of the restaurant.¡±
It wasn¡¯t his job to save all these souls. If he could, he would at a later date. For now, he just needed to blend in and survive. Ruthless self-interest it was then. Though, he¡¯d be damned if he became a cannibal willingly.
Chapter 154, But They Were All Bad People!
The plan had been to go to the hotel directly behind the restaurant. That was not to be though. As he was about to step into the hotel twelve beings teleported around him in two concentric circles of six. Adam could have reacted but thought it might be more fun to see where this was going as someone carrying a shotgun stepped up behind him and hit him in the back of the head. While it didn¡¯t hurt and did negligible damage, Adam allowed his body to act as if he¡¯d gone unconscious and turned all of his pain receptors off. He closed his eyes and looked out at the world through the chaos immediately around his body.
¡°That was too easy,¡± a large man in flamboyant hunting attire said, ¡°Dirk check him.
Another man stepped up to his body, opened his eyes then took out a dart and stabbed it into Adam¡¯s arm, then his stomach, and finally his testicle. For the testicle, Adam allowed his chaos to seep into Dirk, he was going to die first. Adam was picked up and a portal appeared before them as he was carried through. Once everyone was through, the portal closed, and he found himself inside a cave where Devan and 6 others sat on chairs crafted of stone against the far wall. Off to each side, a total of nine succubi were strung up, impaled, and bound. They were still alive. Adam knew this because he could see their hands and feet struggling to move while held against chains that prevented them from doing so.
¡°What did you do to him?¡± Devan asked the leader of the 12 that had ¡®caught¡¯ him.
¡°We popped in and grabbed him like you wanted. I just hit him in the back of the head with his shotgun and he went down like a sack of potatoes.¡±
¡°He¡¯s faking,¡± one of the other lesser deities said.
¡°No, he¡¯s not, Dirk checked him good, show them, Dirk.¡±
Dirk stepped forward, grabbed Adam¡¯s limp left hand, and plunged his dagger through Adam¡¯s hand, then pulled it out quickly, ¡°See, he didn¡¯t even twitch, he¡¯s out cold.¡±
¡°Then why isn¡¯t there any blood coming from his hand?¡±
¡°No blood coming from his hand?¡± the leader asked questioningly as he looked at Adam¡¯s hand.
Dirk lifted his left hand to see where he¡¯d stabbed it only to find perfectly healed skin before he said, ¡°Oh shit,¡± Just before Adam ordered his Chaos to rip him apart. Dirk¡¯s entire body turned to mist and then evaporated as he was turned into more chaos for Adam. Now that the gig was up, Adam levitated himself into a vertical position then landed gently on his feet and looked over the 7 lesser deities.
¡°Hold,¡± Devan said as the eleven people behind Adam readied themselves to attack.
¡°No need,¡± Adam said as eleven tendrils of chaos reached out from him, one to each of the eleven people behind him. The chaos spread over them and converted them into more Chaos for Adam which he then drew back into himself in less than 3 seconds.
¡°Impressive,¡± A young-looking woman to the side of Devan said. ¡°A chaos spell that he can control and is usable against eleven people at the same time. Very interesting.¡±
Adam looked at the nine succubi that were impaled and wriggling to his sides then said, ¡°If you liked that, I have a couple of other things I would like to show you.¡±
¡°I bet you do,¡± Devan said. ¡°But enough, did you think you could just torment and kill me and I wouldn¡¯t be able to get free? I am a GOD DAMNED Lesser Deity of Hades, the succubi don¡¯t eat me, I EAT THEM!¡± Devan Roared.
Adam yawned as he thought about doing the whole I¡¯m eviler than you routine with this guy but decided it¡¯d be a waste of time. Using a single DP he dilated time for himself while moving his mind to machine speed. The effect was as devastating as he assumed it would be. he had time to pull out his Chaos Blade, activate the Destruction Aspect of Blade then moved to Devan and sliced him in half starting at his groin and exiting through the top of his head. he was moving so fast that he was able to make two more strikes before the destruction started to rip Devan¡¯s body apart. Adam then moved back to his starting point, assumed the exact pose he¡¯d been in, and released the Chaos Blade back to storage.
To the other deities watching they might have noticed a flicker run through his body then Devan¡¯s body fell in half, then quarters then eighths. he still appeared to be where he¡¯d been standing though he had moved and already returned to his starting position
¡°What?¡± One of the other Lesser Deities asked.
¡°Give it a second,¡± Adam said.
¡°Devan, what¡¯s happen¡¡± the female Lesser Deity started to ask before she cut herself off and an orb of darkness appeared in the center of Devan¡¯s corpse which hadn¡¯t even started to fall. As the orb appeared Devan¡¯s body was pulled into it as if it was a black hole until the body was gone.
You have annihilated Devan, Neophyte of Hades.
ERROR DETECTED IN PERSONAL INFORMATION.
ERROR ELEVATED
ERROR RESOLVED
ERROR Resolution. Your current level of 279,201,353 and XP does not match your current power level.
History reviewed.
Level and XP corrupted upon gaining Soul Ability ¡°Chaos Incarnate.¡±
Level corrected to 1.21E+121.
NOTE: Personal Growth System modified due to Soul Ability ¡°Adaptable.¡± XP is no longer Tracked. Your Class Level Attribute now indicates your level of Rank Disparity to a normal mortal. As you are not a divine you may not earn divine class skills or abilities. Each time your Class Level increases your power level is increased by an order of magnitude.
NOTE: Class Level can now be increased in only two ways.
The First way, DP can be spent is to increase your current level for 1,000,000 DP per level. At your current Class Level of 121, it would cost 121,000,000 DP to increase to Class Level 122. As you do not generate Divine Points your Personal Growth System has adapted a second way for you to increase your Class Level.
The Second way, defeating a Divine or Neophyte of higher rank will immediately raise your Class level by 1 for Neophytes, 100 for Demi-Gods, and 1,000 for Gods. This award may only be earned one time for each individual Divine defeated. This award is increased by ten times if the Divine is utterly destroyed.
NOTE: defeating a Neophyte awards 1 Class Level. Finding that same Neophyte after they have reconstituted and destroying them utterly nets only 9 more Class Levels, not 10 more.
You no longer gain XP for any reason.
Congratulations! You have destroyed the Neophyte Devan. Your level has been increased your Class Level from 121 to 131. Attributes have been adjusted accordingly.
Adam took in the messages quickly and would think about the ramifications of the changes in a minute. Right now, he had other more important things to think about. Specifically, the six lesser Deities in front of him.
Adam looked up to see the other six Lesser Deities rising from their seats
¡°What did you just do?¡± a new Lesser Deity that looked like a male demon asked angrily.
¡°Me?¡± Adam asked with just a little bit of mockery added, ¡°I may have just destroyed Devan, you saw him, he seemed to be getting angry.¡±
¡°Hold him!¡± the male demon declared as Adam looked around for the threat and was a little surprised when a huge hand reached up through the crumbling floor and closed around him as it squeezed and tried to crush him into a paste. A giant of some kind? Adam felt the pressure build around his body and allowed his body to flow into its blob form. As the hand holding him squeezed he was pushed out of his palm. Adam imagined that he looked like Play-Doh being squeezed out of a hand as the hand closed.
As Adam was being squeezed, the hand withdrew him from the room he was in down through the floor, and into a large cavern below. He heard the male demon declare, ¡°See, that is how you deal with upstarts that think they can do whatever they want.¡±
Not to be outclassed on the melodrama front, Adam reformed instantly and moved to stand behind the male demon as he whispered in his left ear, ¡°I really don¡¯t think this is going to go the way you thought it was going to go,¡± as Adam conjured his Chaos Blade and stabbed into his right ear and out the left. Then he yanked the Chaos Blade up splitting his skull in two. Not wasting time, he executed the other lesser deities as well.
Adam disregarded the prompts that appeared but noticed that his Class Level had increased to 191. Permanently killing these neophytes was gaining him some levels. Adam had to admit that it kind of sucked that he couldn¡¯t earn XP anymore but if he was being honest, there wasn¡¯t anything normal that felt like a challenge anymore.
Adam noticed that the succubi were still suffering and sent tendrils of chaos out to remove the poles and shackles from them. It was Hades, and they were demons, but having suffering caused by his actions? Either he was going to put the creature or being down or he¡¯d leave it alone. Suffering for extended periods had never sat right with him. With the poles that had impaled them removed, the nine succubi lay on the ground panting and groaning as their wounds closed and their natural regeneration healed them
Adam looked around the chamber and down at the giant that had tried to grab him. Not so much a giant as a titan-sized humanoid golem. As they made eye contact its arm started to reach back up into the hole it had made to try to grab him again. Adam held out his left hand and sprayed Chaos at it, allowing it to break down and convert the golem into more chaos. As the process finished there was an explosion which was absorbed and deflected by his chaos. Adam recalled the chaos once it was done eating the Golem. As the Chaos streamed back into him he had it repair the floor that had been destroyed.
As the last of the chaos fixed the floor and streamed back into him, the succubi stood. Eight of them exited through a door in the back of the room while the manager came to stand before him.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
¡°Yes?¡± he asked politely
¡°Are they truly dead?¡± she asked as she looked to the last place the seven lesser deities had been standing.
Adam looked back and noted that the six pulsating orbs of darkness had not evaporated. In fact, they were pulsating faster and faster. Confident he could take almost anything that was going to happen, he placed the manager outside of the room, closed the door, and moved back to the location the first orb had disappeared where Devan had died. he checked to see if a seventh orb had formed where Devan had died.
Sure enough, a pulsating black light floated in the air growing darker and darker with each moment. Adam checked his prompts; nothing had appeared since his Class Level change messages. he spent another DP and activated True Sight to look at the orbs, True sight registered the orbs as Death magic but that was it. He tried Analyze, but still nothing. Finally, he tried Identity.
The object you are trying to identify is not an item.
While his spell and abilities were telling him nothing, the seven pulsating dark orbs were harmonizing their pulsating and size. Eventually, all seven were pulsating at the same size and frequency.
At that moment, a pinpoint of white appeared on each of the 7 orbs which his True Sight identified as Primal Chaos. The white spread rapidly over each orb until there were seven white pulsating orbs in front of him.
WARNING a Region of Primal Chaos now exists within Hades
Adam touched the orb and felt the Primal Chaos wash over him but felt no changes as he absorbed it.
WARNING Primal Chaos saturation of the area has reached 70%
WARNING Primal Chaos has failed to affect you
WARNING Primal Chaos regions with a higher saturation percentage may be hazardous to your health
Adam absorbed the other six orbs of Primal Chaos. A new prompt appeared in his vision.
Primal Chaos saturation has returned to normal for this Layer.
So, destroying neophytes caused Primal Chaos to leak into this Realm, Universe, whatever. His normal response would have been ¡°Holy Shit¡± but honestly, a saying one of the authors he¡¯d read back when he was in college seemed more appropriate, ¡°Celestial Feces¡± though he was pretty sure what had happened had nothing to do with Celestials.
Adam still had the spell True Sight up when he detected the telltale swirls of magic that indicated a teleport was incoming. Adam watched as a Human looking woman made of obsidian marble appeared before him with blazing red eyes. She looked around the room slowly then turned her blazing red eyes on him. Adam tried to Analyze her, which failed, as a smirk lifted her right lip.
¡°Where are his servants?¡± the obsidian woman asked.
¡°Dead, I think?¡± Adam said with a helpless shrug and a self-satisfied smirk.
¡°Dead? How would a mortal such as yourself, ¡°She started to say as he felt magic wash over him and completely immobilize his body except for his eyes and his mouth, ¡°Where was he, Oh yes,¡± She continued in a seductive sultry voice that promised pain, ¡°How did someone like you kill them?¡±
¡°With a sword,¡± he answered honestly
¡°Mortal, I am Aushree, Demoness and Minor Demon to Anthrax. You have cost him 7 of his best servants, for that you will pay,¡± she said as she moved forward drawing a wicked-looking obsidian dagger.¡±
¡°Let him guess, you¡¯re going to curse him to give you XP or DP every time I die by poking me with that dagger?¡± he asked.
¡°Very astute, flesh bag,¡± then she looked thoughtful, ¡°Why aren¡¯t you afraid?¡±
¡°Because Aushree, daughter of, you know I don¡¯t even care at this point. I have a feeling this isn¡¯t going to go the way you or I want it to go.¡±
Aushree¡¯s eyes flared, and she moved forward burying the blade in his chest with enough force that his hit points reached zero.
¡°Damn, that hurt,¡± he thought as his vision went black and his mind retreated to his Mind Space. As he¡¯d thought the ability he had achieved so long ago came into play and as long as one of his nanites, now slivers of chaos with the identity of a nanite existed he could not die. Adam watched as the chaos of eight Cosmos lost cohesion from his lack of willpower affecting them and exploded while his mind resided in his Mindspace waiting for his body to heal. Unfortunately, even with the amount of regeneration he had going on, healing damage from someone of a much higher rank disparity than him was going to take time. Adam had calculated that something like this would happen and was counting on it, though he had hoped to achieve his goals differently. As his body exploded outward he was able to keep his sense of self and identity. Adam watched as his body expand faster than should have been possible. Also, the effects of that expansion were devastating.
At almost the speed of light chaos erupted from him in all directions. Aushree wasn¡¯t damaged by the expansion as he flowed out and around her. The chaos tried to affect her but initially had no luck. he checked his combat logs.
WARNING: You have been attacked for 5.00E+500 points of damage reducing your current health to less than zero. The curse of the Undying has taken effect.
NOTE: Curse of the Undying has been modified by the Soul Abilities ¡°Permanent Addition¡± and ¡°Adaptability¡±. This Curse has now become an aspect of all attacks done by you. Creatures you kill receive the Modified Curse of the Undying.
Modified Curse of the Undying ¨C Creatures and beings you kill are automatically cursed, any creatures that are reconstituted in Hades are cursed to pay 2% of their XP and DP to Anthrax and an additional 1% XP and DP to Aushree. Additionally, they are cursed to lose a level and die every time they enter the Courtyard of Choice until they are level 1 at which point the curse is lifted.
Well, that sucked, The Chaos stored within his physical body went from a state of nothing to its natural state and filled up Hades in a radius of eight Cosmos. His mass of chaos converted everyone and everything it came across into more chaos to spread further and further. If he wasn¡¯t stopped he¡¯d eventually fill all of Hades with himself.
Initially, Aushree didn¡¯t die and tried to teleport to various other locations to get away from him only to find herself within another part of his continuously expanding body. Also, Adam¡¯s body no longer acted as a blob. Instead, he¡¯d taken on the properties of an energy wave that was scouring Hades clean of all of its residents. he kind of felt bad for the mortal souls he was killing, even the demons because they¡¯d... In the middle of that thought, Aushree was killed. Not utterly destroyed, he didn¡¯t have the Aspect of Destruction on, she was just killed. Adam quickly checked his combat log.
His combat log was full, he paused for a second and used a sorting function then did a search for Class level progression and watched as the counter went from 191 through 1,000 then continued exponentially Within a minute until he received another message
Congratulations, you have killed the Ruler of Hades, Anthrax. Would you like to assume control of Hades, Yes or No?
Adam closed the prompts and tried to exert his will over his body of chaos to see if he could slow it down. He wasn¡¯t fully healed yet, but he was getting closer. It looked like he was on this roller coaster ride for a little while longer. he went back into his prompts and chose ¡°No¡±
You have chosen ¡°No,¡± Even so, for the next 24 hours you are elevated to the de facto ruler of Hades with access to all the privileges that entails.
The system did not just give him full access to the settings for Hades, did it? Oh boy! Adam looked at the time stamp of Anthrax¡¯s death and committed it to memory. It was going to be close, but this was probably going to work. he also looked at his Personal information and realized that he had broken his sheet. Every value on it was an Error. Strength, Error. Hit Points, Error. His Character Level was even an Error. What good was a system where eventually those in charge couldn¡¯t be measured?
¡°Adam also did a quick search and realized that he¡¯d already killed Apolyn and the ring had been destroyed. Mission Accomplished. That would make Bri happy. Killing everyone in Hades might be a bit of overkill though.
Finally, his body showed fully healed, it had taken just over half an hour. he focused his will, imagined himself in his normal body, and teleported to the Courtyard of Choice. The teleportation seemed to take a little longer than normal before he found himself standing all alone in the Courtyard of Choice. he was himself again and the input from the Chaos part of him that had become the energy wave was gone. Adam reviewed his body and noted almost all the mass had taken up the identity of ¡°nothing¡± again.
Just to be sure he hadn¡¯t absolutely screwed up; he checked his Karmic Luck, and it was currently showing ¡°Positive Error.¡± Closing the interface, he looked around, then conjured a nice computer desk and chair and pulled up his interface. The first thing he did was universally change the Modified Undying Curse.
Modified Curse of the Undying ¨C Creatures and beings you kill are automatically cursed, any creatures that are reconstituted in Hades are cursed to pay 3% of their XP; 1.5% of their DP to Adamantadine, and 1.5% of their XP and DP to Adaline. Additionally, they are cursed to lose a level and die every time they enter the Courtyard of Choice until they are level 1 at which point the curse is lifted.
Adam made sure to use Adaline¡¯s identifier so there would be no mistakes. Power leveling for the win. Though this was only going to¡ Adam stopped that thought and cast a telepathy spell that could reach Adaline. As the de facto ruler of Hades, he should be able to do that.
Adaline, Adam thought to her.
Adam, where are you?
I¡¯m in Hades, finishing up the Labyrinth problem. How are things back there?
To be expected, we¡¯re just handling monster manifestations and keeping people safe. With all the dungeons pretty much locked down were good.
Good, in about 23 hours for about 34 minutes you are going to receive a butt ton of XP. A lot. Make sure you¡¯re in someplace safe and large enough that if you shift to Dragon you¡¯ll be fine.
How much is a butt ton?
1.5% XP of enough creatures and critters to fill at least eight Cosmos, Adam sent.
WHAT!
Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯ll only be for a short time, I¡¯m going to shut it off after a certain point.
Oh, kay? She said questioningly
I¡¯ll try to be back right after the XP shuts off, just get to someplace safe, also give the ring, or rings to the others, after this, you shouldn¡¯t need them if I¡¯m right.
Okay Adam, take care of yourself.
Always do, Love ya.
Me too.
Adam dropped the connection after she said ¡°Me too¡± and sat down to wait. he allowed his chaos to spread back out and replace nonliving structures and plants on this replica copy of Earth. If Anthrax wanted more stuff rebuilt he was sure he could handle it. At 23 hours he pulled all his chaos back into himself and waited In absolute silence he heard voices and started receiving DP gain messages and XP error messages. As he couldn¡¯t earn XP they couldn¡¯t do anything. Adam watched this go on for 34 minutes until a microsecond before Anthrax had died 24 hours before. At that moment he cleansed the curse off of everyone in Hades, deleted all references to the modifications he¡¯d made to the curse, and teleported to the Unicorn singularity in his Universe, just in case Anthrax tried to follow him out of Hades. He¡¯d received a message asking if he wanted to allow Adamantadine to teleport out of Hades, which he of course allowed. His next two messages were what he¡¯d expected.
Anthrax has risen! Rulership privileges for Hades have been revoked.
Hail and rejoice Anthrax Ruler of Hades has risen
No sooner had that message appeared than a portal opened, and a hand came through reaching for him. Adam slapped the hand playfully as he conjured air enough around them so his voice could be heard.
¡°I said no!¡± Adam said.
¡°What?¡± a voice boomed from the other side of the portal.
¡°Analyze me,¡± Adam said.
The hand withdrew and a necrosis-filled corpse stared through the portal at him, then said, ¡°How?
¡°A confluence of events that will probably never happen again. Regardless, everyone that came back before you lost a level and donated some of the XP and DP to me. By some, I mean a lot. So you do you and I¡¯ll do me and we¡¯ll head our separate ways.¡±
Anthrax stepped through the portal and did something as he reached for him.
WARNING Anthrax has spent DP to stop time around you. You are unaffected.
WARNING Anthrax has spent DP to smite you, a mortal. You are unaffected.
WARNING Anthrax has spent DP to claim your soul to torment for eternity. You are unaffected.
Anthrax¡¯s hand reached as if trying to reach into him to grab something and wrapped around his neck, which he let him do. Then he looked into his eyes as he said, ¡°The lack of intelligence some of you are displaying concerns me. Prolonged exposure to ultimate power might cause cognitive loss. Too bad really,¡± Adam said as his Chaos surrounded him and he activated his Aspect of Destruction as his nanites invaded, corrupted, and broke down every part of Anthrax.
As they were connected he felt when the last physical portion of Anthrax was consumed by his Chaos and the black orb of destruction formed from a spark of energy that had been there a moment before. Anthrax¡¯s actual soul maybe? Adam watched as the black pulsating orb, quite a bit bigger than the seven he¡¯d seen before began to pulse. Adam continued to watch as that pinpoint of white appeared in the orb and started to spread. Suddenly, Adam was sucked into and through something, as he felt a ripping sensation, unlike anything he¡¯d ever felt before, and lost consciousness.
Chapter 155, Fortune Smile on Thee
The first thing Adam realized was that he wasn¡¯t unconscious. His mind had gone blank because he¡¯d received an influx of prompts that had errored out his vision and turned it into a display of white noise. He also felt like the chaos that helped make up his body was being ripped from him at the same time. Initially, it had been surprising and painful. Now it felt like the relief one might get after waiting a really long time to use the toilet. Ironically, not something he¡¯d had to do in a long time. In this case, the sensation kept going, and going, and going. As his mind asserted itself over the white noise of message prompts and the feeling of being drained as excess chaos was removed from him, red prompts appeared.
WARNING: You have entered Primal Chaos
WARNING: Chaos is not immune to the effects of Primal Chaos
WARNING: Chaos Shield at 100%
WARNING: Chaos Shielding at 99.999%
Then the warnings started ticking down quickly. In a second his Chaos shielding was at 98%, then 97%. He tried to look around quickly and found that he was unable to make out anything. Adam could feel the Primal Chaos absorbing and changing the chaos that was trying to shield his core self as it was drawn from his body. The Primal Chaos was eating the chaos that tried to protect him quickly. The chaos he carried around surrounded him and formed a shell to keep the Primal Chaos from touching him but ultimately it would fail. His chaos continued to be eaten by the Primal Chaos outside it. Adam watched as the Chaos Shield strength counter continued to drop until it hit 1%. With a feeling of resignation, Adam watched as the shell popped and his body was enveloped by Primal Chaos. With no way to resist what was going to happen, Adam dropped all his mental shields, opened his heart to inevitability surrendered himself to his fate
Not that being overwhelmed by forces he didn¡¯t completely understand what happened all that often he realized that he should be terrified. He might have the power of a God, but he knew that one of the few things that could end him was Primal Chaos. Adam kept his mentality focused on what was happening to him instead of retreating to his Mindspace and noticed multiple presences that made him feel like a fly trapped on sticky paper being looked at by things much larger than himself. Adam heard, though heard is the wrong word. Adam felt as if multiple sets of eyes were scrutinizing him while they discussed something. As time went on he was able to just make out what was being said.
¡°What do we have here?¡± a voice asked.
¡°It¡¯s a human, from one of the offshoots,¡± a feminine voice said.
¡°And powerful enough to make it here and not be instantly destroyed by the environment?¡± A second man asked.
¡°That¡¯s a function of one of his core abilities. How can one lose oneself to the nature of Primal Chaos, when they perfectly remember everything?
¡°I see. Was this loophole properly analyzed?¡± A third voice asked.
¡°It was. The chance that an entity with the ability of Perfect Memory could reach this point from location within a location without submitting to the Divine ruleset was measured as a number so low as to be nigh impossible.¡±
Adam felt more than heard the sigh that came from more than one of the individuals having the conversation. He still couldn¡¯t see where the voices were coming from.
¡°This one has been busy it seems,¡± a new voice said.
The voices faded to a point that he could not hear them until he heard another new voice, ¡°But this one did not accept the path of Divinity. He has done everything we¡¯ve reviewed as a mortal?¡±
¡°It would seem we have found an appropriate candidate then?¡± the second male voice asked.
¡°It does,¡± an additional male voice that hadn¡¯t spoken before said.
¡°Ascension Protocol?¡± a new feminine voice asked
¡°Fortune?¡± the first voice asked.
¡°After reviewing his accomplishments, I believe that role would best suit his personality.
¡°Ascension Protocol, Fortune?¡± the second feminine voice asked.
¡°Ascension Protocol, Fortune Role, a multitude of voices chorused
¡°Who will inform him?¡±
¡°I will,¡± a somewhat familiar voice that had remained silent until then said.
Adam felt reality shift and he was once again orbiting the Unicorn Singularity though he felt somehow less and more. Immediately he knew that all of the extra chaos he had carried with him was gone. Additionally, he innately knew that his body was once again normal. Well, as normal as he could be. Adam opened his Personal Information to find the following message.
PERSONAL INFORMATION TAB LOCKED ¨C Review Messages to Unlock this Tab
Making sure that he still had some of his abilities he willed myself to fly around the black hole as he made sure his adaptability was still in place. Then he cast Mage Bolt, then a stream of Mage bolts at the singularity to make sure he could still use magic.
Satisfied, he teleported to his estate on the Lifeboat in the Oort Cloud. As he arrived he called out for Adaline.
¡°Welcome back Adam,¡± Thor¡¯s voice called out from the speakers, ¡°Adaline is in New Mexico. She thought it might be better to be somewhere with vast open spaces in case something bad happened.¡±
¡°Did anything happen?¡± he asked.
¡°She appears to be fine, though she is currently accessing her personal interface and hasn¡¯t moved in 3 hours,¡± Thor said.
Adam checked his internal clock, which he still had access to, and sure enough, it looked like 3 hours had passed since he¡¯d destroyed Anthrax. Adam accessed Thor¡¯s data via a quantum link, which he surprisingly still had, and reviewed Adaline. She appeared to be fine as she sat there with glazed eyes that were darting to and fro, ¡°I wonder what she¡¯s reading?¡± he mumbled.
¡°For 34 minutes before going into the state you see here in, she was frozen,¡± Thor said, ¡°When she finally moved again, she smiled, and then her eyes glazed over and you see her as she has been since then.¡±
¡°Well. she looks fine. I have to open his message prompts how. I¡¯m going to sit down and take a break while I do. Please let Adaline know where he am when she comes to. I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll let us know what happened to her then.¡±
¡°Understood,¡± Thor said.
Adam sat down in his recliner and started going through his messages where he¡¯d left off.
WARNING: Chaos Shielding at 1.001%
WARNING: Chaos Shield has failed.
WARNING: You are in a region of Primal Chaos
WARNING: You have exited the region of Primal Chaos.
WARNING: You have entered the region of the Arcanus Numina
The following changes are being made to you by the Arcanus Numina
Soul Type: ERROR has been replaced with Ascendant: Arcanus Numen of Fortune
Soul Projection Level has been set to ¡°+¡±
Soul Rank Disparity has been set to ¡°+¡±
Soul Abilities have been reconfigured to Arcanus Numen Abilities.
Soul Ability ¡°Perfect Memory¡± has evolved to Arcanus Numen Ability ¡°Perfect Memory.¡± No change to description or benefits.
Soul Ability ¡°Pansophical¡± has evolved to Arcanus Numen Ability ¡°Boundless.¡± ¡°Boundless¡± ¨C All skills are known to you and are performed at Legendary competence.
Soul Ability ¡°Permanent Addition¡± has evolved to Arcanus Numen Ability ¡°Eternal.¡± ¡°Eternal¡± - All Arcanus Numen are Eternal. As the Arcanus Numen of Fortune should you allow yourself to be destroyed, you will reincarnate out of the Region of Primal Chaos.
Soul Abilities ¡°Chaos Forged,¡± ¡°Chaos Tempered¡± and ¡°Chaos Incarnate¡± have combined and evolved to Arcanus Numen Ability ¡°Chaos Personified.¡± ¡°Chaos Personified¡± ¨C In the scope of EVERYTHING, you are the epitome of Chaos. As such Chaos of any type, including Primal Chaos affects you, or others, as you wish it to. As the Arcanus Numen of Fortune, your will with Chaos of any type may only be undone by the Arcanus Numen of The Tower, or Order. Only the Arcanus Numen of Fortune may have this Ability.
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Soul Ability ¡°Adaptable¡± has evolved to Arcanus Numen Ability ¡°Adaptable.¡± ¡°Adaptable¡± - Your body adapts to any environment. From absolute zero to the gravity well of a singularity your body can and will adapt to all environmental conditions. This includes the ability to survive in those environments. Example: the ability to breathe underwater if necessary.
Soul Ability ¡°Willed-Movement¡± has evolved to Arcanus Numen Ability ¡°Willed-Movement.¡± ¡°Willed-Movement¡± ¨C You may move as desired through any environment or condition. This is a function of both the Arcanus Numen Abilities ¡°Adaptable¡± and ¡°Chaos Personified.¡±
Soul ability ¡°Resistant¡± has evolved to Arcanus Numen Ability ¡°Resistant.¡± ¡°Resistant¡± - You are 100% resistant to all Normal Magic and natural manifestations of those magics. Additionally, you are 100% resistant to all magic utilizing Primal Chaos. All attacks against you imbued with Order create explosions of annihilation in a radius equal to the damage done for the amount of damage done. For Example, if a Sword imbued with Order were to hit you for 8 points of damage. An explosion would radiate out from that contact point to a radius of eight feet doing 8 points of damage. Attacks imbued with Primal Order are 100 times more devastating. From the example above, the 8 points of damage would create an explosion that would radiate out 800 feet doing 800 points of damage to everything in its radius. You may choose to soak damage from such attacks as you wish. Every 100 points of Ordered damage soaked in this way reduce your integrity by 1%. Each point of Primal Order damage soaked in this way reduces your integrity by 1%. When you reach 0% your body will need to reconstitute in the Region of Primal Chaos.
WARNING: Attacks with your Chaos Blade are considered attacks with a weapon imbued with Chaos and will have much the same effect against creatures of order.
Soul ability ¡°Convergence¡± has evolved to Arcanus Numen Ability ¡°Vertex.¡± ¡°Vertex¡± ¨C Your very nature draws the magic you need for any spell through yourself. You may extend this area of effect as far as you¡¯d like. NOTE: The Arcanus Numen of The Tower has historically set this ability to a maximum of a one-mile radius.
Soul ability ¡°Spellweaver¡± has evolved to Arcanus Numen Ability ¡°Spellweaver.¡± No change to the description.
Soul ability ¡°Soul Storage¡± has evolved to Arcanus Numen Ability ¡°Arcanus Numen Storage.¡± ¡°Arcanus Numen Storage¡± ¨C As the Arcanus Numen of Fortune your complete control of chaos allows you to store anything of any size within your area of direct effect. What this means is that you create a subdimension out of the chaos that usually takes on the identity of Nothing on the Outside and anything you desire on the inside.
NOTE concerning Arcanus Numen Ability Arcanus Numen Storage: Arcanus Numina only have access to those areas they control directly. Due to your interaction with Chaos, the rules and limitations that apply to these storage locations do not apply to you. The Arcanus Numen of Judgement, suggests that you limit this evolved ability to what it evolved from, a storage ability, and endeavor to adhere to the limitations that such spaces usually have. The Last Arcanus Numen of Fortune did not do so and had an unfortunate accident of his own making, hence the reason for your Ascension.
Soul Ability ¡°Affluent¡± has evolved to Arcanus Numen Ability ¡°Affluent¡± ¨C No change to description.
Soul Ability ¡°Prophet¡± has evolved to Arcanus Numen Ability ¡°Arcanus Numen.¡± ¡°Arcanus Numen¡± ¨C Those with this ability no longer track their attributes or levels. Instead a simple ¡°+¡± replaces all values. This indicates that your values are higher than anything without that symbol. Each Arcanus Numen has absolute authority in their Arcanus Numen. See your specific Arcanus Numen for clarification. Arcanus Numen are beholden to no one and are the supreme authority in their Arcanus Numen.
Personal Information has now been unlocked.
Adam opened his Personal Information which was now unlocked. Adam found that all of his information had been reduced to the attribute or designation and a ¡°+¡± symbol. So, he could do anything he wanted now?
¡°Yes,¡± a voice he knew said from beside him.
Adam looked up to find Ptah standing beside him.
¡°Ptah, what the hell!¡± Adam said.
¡°Please, we both know you felt the telltale signs of an incoming teleportation before I arrived,¡± Ptah said.
¡°Yeah, I did,¡± Adam said. ¡°First, it¡¯s good to see you, Second, which one of these Arcanum Numen are you?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I am The Tower,¡± he said.
¡°My opposite? Then why help me all this time?¡± Adam asked.
¡°But did he help you?¡± Ptah asked.
Adam thought back to everything that had happened.
¡°That one time something stopped that God from smiting me?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Not me. One of us, but not him. Others have been watching you as well. I¡¯ve been paying particular attention because we had to be sure Chaos was actually submitting to your will. When we realized it was acting synergistically to your desires, we took a harder look.¡±
¡°Why?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Because your predecessor made an error, Fortune decided it was time for him to move on¡±
¡°What happened to him, I thought we always came back?¡±
¡°Let me start by saying that you have been elevated to the position of Arcanus Numen of Fortune by a majority vote of the other 19 Arcanus Numina. Mortals on the Ascendant Protocol progression track or the Divine Progression track are chosen when a vacancy becomes available. One of the things the 20 of us do is ensure that the Totum remains stable.¡±
¡°Totum? Do you mean Everything?¡± Adam asked recognizing the word as the Latin word for everything.
¡°You have come to know about Universes, parallel universes, and dimensions? Those reside within a cosmos, which resides within a Realm that consists of one or more cosmos and layers. In fact, your daughter is in another Realm altogether. Those Realms exist within a sea of Primal, or Primordial, Chaos. The twenty Arcanus Numen that have arisen control ideas or concepts. Though control is a misnomer. We oversee, mediate extremes and work together to make sure everything continues working.
¡°Why?¡±
¡°You should know better than most, what have you been doing ever since you found that ring in New Mexico?¡±
¡°Moving from one insane circumstance to the next,¡± he said.
¡°Yes, but why?¡± he asked.
¡°Because I was lucky enough to be able to?¡± Adam said.
¡°Is anyone truly that lucky?¡±
¡°I have been,¡± Adam said.
¡°Let me ask it this way, If I am here to make sure order is maintained, how likely do you think it is that I have been allowed to reach a state like yours was before you recombined all the shadows?¡±
¡°Not likely, if the order was my ball of wax I¡¯d be all kinds of upset,¡± Adam said.
¡°Exactly!¡±
¡°So why did you allow it?¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t. Your predecessor did.¡±
¡°Wait, is that why I received that warning about my storage ability?¡±
¡°You never disappoint Adam. That is exactly why that warning was added. Your predecessor created a Realm inside one of those spaces. To be honest, we have no idea how what happened. Somehow the Realm he created was ejected into the Totum and he was destroyed. Which shouldn¡¯t be possible. Why? Because if the Arcanus Numen of Fortune is destroyed, he or she is reconstituted in the Realm of Primal Chaos.
¡°Do all of you, I mean us, reconstitute there?¡± Adam asked.
¡°No, each of us reconstitutes from the Numen we watch over,¡± Ptah said.
¡°So what now?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Now, you help us try to fix the corruption your predecessor created when this happened. As an added benefit, fixing that corruption will allow you to reach your daughter again.¡±
¡°If I¡¯m in the Totum, why can¡¯t he go to her now?¡±
¡°You could?¡± Ptah said. ¡°That would be very bad though.¡±
¡°Bad, how?¡± Adam asked.
¡°When the accident happened, that¡¯s how we refer to what happened. When the accident happened the connections between realms were severed. The realm your daughter ended up in was one of the very first realms. It was also the Realm Bri evolved from, though the Accident severed her connection to it as well.
¡°What is Bri? Is she one of us?¡± Adam asked.
¡°There is a long answer to that and you will become privy to it at some point but for now I¡¯ll just say that Bri served two purposes in the past. The first ended when the accident happened. She connected the various realms in a spiderweb of connections that spanned more space than all the realms combined. The second purpose she served was to act as a testing site for the various manifestations and combinations of the numina and various magical spheres that do not have an Arcanus Numina to watch over them.
¡°That¡¯s a lot to take in,¡± he said. Then why the number 20 was significant came to him and he declared, ¡°The Major Arcana of a Tarot Deck. Do Tarot Decks describe the Arcanus Numina?¡± he asked.
¡°You¡¯re mind put all that together for you? You really don¡¯t forget anything do you?¡± Ptah asked.
¡°I really don¡¯t,¡± Adam said, agreeing with Ptah.
¡°Yes, the Tarot Major Arcana describe the 20 Arcanus Numina. They are:
The High Priestess, Holy
The Fool, Air
The Magician, Weakness
Wheel of Fortune, Chaos
The Empress, Water
The Moon, Shadow
The Hanged Man, Hate
The Chariot, Earth
The Hierophant, Shunned
The Lovers, Love
The Emperor, Adored
The Tower, Order
The World, Lawlessness
The Sun, Light
Temperance, Fire
The Hermit, Mercy
Strength, Strength
Judgment, Judgement
The Star, Life
Death, Death
Justice, Justice
The Devil, Unholy¡±
¡°Some of those cards don¡¯t seem to match their Arcanus Numina while others¡¯ names match perfectly?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Over the eons, the concept has remained the same though the image that represents it has changed,¡± Ptah said.
¡°Will I get to meet the others?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Perhaps, but if everything is working as it should, normally we do not interact.
¡°I just noticed, Gravity, Time, and Space aren¡¯t represented.¡±
¡°They have never had an Arcanus Numina though if one needs one, most of us agree it should be time.¡±
¡°I can see that,¡± Adam agreed.
Ptah looked at Adam and then said, ¡°My time working with you to get you ready is almost up. I have one more thing to share with you. We are not divines. We are not limited in what we can do for a single purpose. If we are doing everything right we should never have to speak to each other. Most often we will interact with our direct opposite or those that serve them. In the coming days as we work to fix the issues that still exist, we will garner some interaction. This will be an exception to the norm. We have a little time though so check on your family and friends and Bri. When you are done, call out for me.¡±
¡°One second, you never explained why tracking down my daughter was a bad thing.¡±
Ptah thought about it for a moment then said, I never did, did I?
¡°Nope.¡±
¡°Okay, Computer science man, I¡¯ll put it in terms you¡¯ll be able to get through I¡¯m declaring from the beginning this is an oversimplified metaphor. Before the Accident the Totum could be seen as a giant mainframe, all parts connected and working in harmony. After the accident areas were isolated to prevent the changes that were leaking out through the connection points. Individuals such as your daughter could pass through the barrier because she did not disrupt the barrier as she interacted with it. If any of us were to try to enter these sealed-off Realms, the disruption of our passing would cause the changes that were released to infect that realm.
¡°Like a computer virus?¡± Adam asked.
Exactly like a computer virus. The contamination would invade and change the realm, most likely making it like yours. Our coming together to discuss you was the first time we have done so in a very long time and was accomplished by proxy. Some of us are trapped in other Realms afraid to leave them for fear that we would doom the Realm we are leaving. I am lucky enough to be the only Arcanus Numen that can maintain the order of any barrier I cross. You on the other hand would destroy the barrier just by getting too close to it. The only barrier that is not true for, is the barrier for this Realm. So, going after your daughter would be a very bad idea. Even your ability to craft and shape chaos to suit your will would break down the barriers because they would be from a power created by the modified operating system. We must work to fix this Realm before we can reconnect with the others
¡°Understood, and Ptah, thanks for looking out for me, even though you didn¡¯t do anything,¡± Adam said with a grin.
¡°My pleasure, talk to you soon,¡± he said as he vanished.
Adam thought about everything Ptah had just told him, then checked on Adaline. She was still going through her prompts, ¡°Thor?¡±
¡°Yes, Adam?¡±
¡°Let Adaline know I¡¯m going to check in with the Labyrinth then I¡¯ll be back.¡±
¡°Understood¡±
As soon as he heard his confirmation he teleported directly into Al¡¯s entrance chamber just to make sure he could, then he used the Travel Node there to hop to the first Travel Node in the Labyrinth. As he appeared he noticed monsters searching the area, but none seemed to notice him.
¡°Bri,¡± he said out loud, ¡°Portal please, we need to talk.¡±
Chapter 156, In a Time before Time
Adam stood next to the Travel Node in the first room of Labyrinth past Al¡¯s Dungeon at the bottom of the Bermuda Triangle and waited. A moment later a portal opened before him into a room set in the style of a hunting lodge, complete with a lit fireplace and two chairs sitting opposite each other, Bri sitting in one. I stepped through the portal next to the chair opposite Bri. The only thing missing was the smell of a cigar and the setting would have been perfect.
¡°Please, Adam, have a seat,¡± Bri said.
¡°Thank you, Bri, how are you today?¡±
¡°Much better, thank you. Thank you for taking care of the ring,¡± she said with a nod.
¡°You¡¯re quite welcome.¡±
¡°If I might ask, why are you here?¡± Bri asked.
¡°First, to let you know that the ring is gone, though Apoyln could return, not really sure on that. As a Lesser Deity of Hades though, I think he¡¯s not going to be traveling into the Labyrinth and trying to make another ring anytime soon.
¡°Oh, I¡¯m sure he will try. Now that I know he¡¯s in Hades though, I can make sure to be more diligent in watching for him. Thank you for the information.¡±
¡°You¡¯re quite welcome,¡± Adam said then asked, ¡°I do have a question?¡±
¡°Yes?¡± Bri asked.
¡°What were you like back before the other Realms were cut off from you?¡± Adam asked.
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°I was informed by someone, that you were linked to every Realm in existence. Through those links, people were able to travel back and forth between those realms and other realms. What were some of the differences back then?
¡°Are you asking about the differences in people and creatures or are you asking about the minutia concerning levels and such?¡± she asked.
¡°Structural differences, I¡¯d like to know how everything worked back then.¡±
¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t know,¡± she said. ¡°I have memories from that time, but I was not as I am now. I was much more¡limited,¡± Bri said
¡°Limited? How so?¡±
¡°For one I know that the levels my monsters are allowed to achieve were nowhere near 5,000. Nothing was that high¡±
¡°So, the level cap was different, that makes sense. But you say you were limited?¡±
¡°Yes, and No. First, I am still connected to multiple Realms. Back then there were just more. I don¡¯t know how to explain it any other way. When I came into existence as I am now, some of the Realms were just cut off. Second, I was limited because back then we could not have had the discussion we are now. I existed and I had rules. Rules that have not changed but I didn¡¯t have coherent thoughts as I do now to even understand the concept of what a rule was.¡±
¡°You weren¡¯t completely sentient? Adam asked.
¡°No, I wasn¡¯t. I remember making sure there was treasure if monsters were killed and creating new monsters as necessary because those were the rules I had to follow. By the way, the rules that governed me were true for both adventurers and my monsters. If my monsters defeated adventurers they grew in strength as well. As my monsters grew, so did I. After the change some of my monsters became so powerful that my fundamental makeup had to adapt, and my avatar, me, came into existence. One day I didn¡¯t exist, the next I did, fully sentient with complete control over the Labyrinth as well as an intimate understanding of how everything worked. I don¡¯t ¡°remember¡± anything before that moment, but I have memory flashes from that time. Just glimpses of memories I don¡¯t understand. I know that my highest-level monster was a Legendary Red Dragon that was Level 1,000.
¡°Where is the red dragon now?¡± I asked
¡°Selmack? Selmack has taken advantage of the recent change to experience level maximums and is currently level 5,005 and working through various dungeons I am still connected to. Those that contain monsters at levels that will help him progress quickly,¡± she said.
¡°Wait, I thought you had creatures that I would find challenging the last time we talked?¡±
¡°Adam, you have heard of bluffs, have you not?¡± Bri asked.
Adam laughed, ¡°Seriously? Fine, getting back on topic. So, you wanted the ring destroyed because every XP you are gaining across the multitude realms you are still connected to is feeding your level progression currently, what level are you now?¡±
¡°Currently, they are ticking up faster than I can keep track of. I am sure I outpaced the level you were at during your last visit. As compared to you and those like you, I am less. As compared to every other being in every other Realm I¡¯m connected to I am higher by hundreds of magnitude.¡±
¡°What do you know of beings like me?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I¡¯ve only ever encountered one before. I know that to attack you would be pointless. Not like it wasn¡¯t the last time you visited, but it would be even more pointless now. I also know that you are more powerful than any divine that has ever entered the Labyrinth.¡±
¡°How do you know that?¡±
¡°Because demon lords and the like have entered various levels from other layers, and I can now easily scan them. Also, a few Neophytes have entered, and I can scan and analyze them as well. I cannot analyze you.
¡°That is interesting,¡± Adam said pausing for a moment before he asked, ¡°If I might ask, is my daughter in any of the Realms you are connected to?¡±
¡°I do not think so. Remember though, I can only sense things within myself. I know that she is not within me. Also, remember that I have never actually met your daughter.
¡°I didn¡¯t think so either, I think she is outside your current network of Realms.¡±
¡°How would that even be possible?¡± Bri asked.
¡°I have ideas, but before I can see to them I need to check on a few other things. You will let me know if you come across my daughter Pandora?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Of course,¡± Bri said
¡°Thank you, also please don¡¯t remove your teleportation ban, I¡¯ m going to try to port out just to see if I can.¡±
¡°Very well. If you are able you will be one of very few who can.¡±
¡°If I can, I promise not to abuse the privilege which means if I do port to you unannounced it will be for an important reason.
¡°Of course, Adam, now off with you,¡± Bri said with a smile as she waved for me to go.
Adam winked and teleported to his estate in New Mexico with no effort whatsoever. Adam connected to Thor and the nanites and found Adaline standing on the Balcony looking out over Alamogordo off to the west. Adam walked upstairs to the balcony door and stepped out. Adaline was gazing out over the city and desert to the west, but her eyes were unfocused. Adam walked up to the rail she was holding onto and leaned out waiting for her to come back to this moment. It was a little while but finally, she brushed a tear from her cheek and turned to look at Adam.
¡°What did you do to me?¡± she asked.
¡°In gaming terms, it¡¯s called power-leveling,¡± Adam said with a grin
¡°Don¡¯t they also call it cheating?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°They do.¡±
¡°How did you cheat to give me this much power?¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t cheat. I took away something from someone that was using a curse they created to cheat. I stole the effects of the curse.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
¡°That sounds complicated,¡± Adaline said.
¡°It would be normally. For me, not so much.¡±
¡°Also, what are Divinity points? I have them now, I don¡¯t even know what the number I have represents but I have a lot of them.¡±
¡°Divinity Points are used by Gods to fuel their divine powers and interventions. They earn them by having followers and other activities. They are also used to increase a Gods power level among the other Gods, as far as I can tell.¡±
¡°How?¡±
I explained to Adaline how Anthrax had turned Hades into a Divinity Point farm based on a Pyramid Scheme, which also required him to explain to her what a pyramid scheme was.
¡°So, what your saying is that you diverted the XP and DP to us, right up until Anthrax was reborn. The amount of XP and DP we received was a very small percentage of everything you killed in Hades.¡±
¡°Remember, it not my fault, that Aushree bitch tried to kill me, and the curse became an aspect of the chaos I had absorbed. As I spread, those killed by me got the Curse of the Undying. I did tell you it was 1.5% of the XP and DP of every creature for eight Cosmos right?¡±
¡°Yes, I remember that¡±
¡°Thinking back, it was more likely closer to 16 Cosmos.¡±
¡°That¡¯s insane Adam.¡±
¡°I know. I was wondering though, what level are you right now?
¡°156,256,759¡±
¡°Damn that¡¯s nice, how many DP did you get?¡± I asked.
¡°10,456,795. I still don¡¯t know what I can use those for,¡± Adaline said.
¡°Nothing at the moment but if you do take on the role of a divine, let¡¯s just say you¡¯ll be way ahead of the power curve,¡± Adam said
¡°What about you? How many DP do you have?¡± she asked.
¡°9,554 more than you, I earned them before the curse got underway.¡±
¡°So, do we become divine now?¡±
¡°I would suggest not. At least until we talk to everyone else. I do have something I want to try on you though.¡±
¡°What¡¯s that?¡±
¡°I once had a Fundamental Ability called ¡®I have always been, I will always be¡¯ That ability made it impossible for changes in the timeline to affect me. I want to try to give that to you.¡±
¡°Can you do that?¡±
¡°I think so, but I¡¯m not sure.¡±
¡°Are you planning to change the timeline?¡±
¡°Planning is a strong word. Let¡¯s say that I am considering the possibility that someone might come along and try to undo everything I¡¯ve done.
¡°How exactly are you going to do it?
¡°One of my new abilities states I can determine how Chaos affects others, I¡¯m going to expose you to Chaos and direct how it affects you.¡±
¡°I¡¯m willing! Let¡¯s try this. If this works, are you going to do the same to the others?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°Yes, that way I know all of you are relatively safe, no matter what happens to me,¡± Adam said as I reached out and touched her. I focused my will and wished to add the Fundamental Ability ¡°I Have Always Been, I Will Always Be¡± to Adaline.
Arcanum Numen Ability Chaos Personified has been detected.
Arcanum Numen of Fortune Identity Confirmed.
Do you wish to add the Time-Based Ability ¡°I Have Always Been, I Will Always Be to Adaline, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes.¡± Immediately white light enveloped Adaline and I watched as she shimmered for a second then resolidified.
Adaline¡¯s eyes glazed over for a second as she declared, ¡°It worked,¡± as a prompt appeared in my vision.
The Time-Based Ability ¡°I Have Always Been, I Will Always Be¡± has been added to Adaline. As the Arcanum Numen, you may of course make changes derived from other primal sources. Be Warned, utilizing primal energies other than Chaos may draw the attention of the rulers of those primal energies.
Since Adam knew there was no Arcanum Numen of Time, it was obviously one of those primal energies that didn¡¯t have a boss had to worry about, unless there was something more powerful than an Arcanus Numina. Why did he have to go and jinx himself with that question? Though if he was being honest with himself he knew that he was still bound by the system in some fashion. If there was something else more powerful than him, he¡¯d worry about that later. It was time to get everyone else safe
¡°Thor, have everyone portal over here quick. I have some changes I need to make.¡±
¡°You¡¯ve got it, Adam,¡± Thor said.
A moment later, everyone that he cared about or that he¡¯d converted to his cause stood in his living room; Mom, Dad, Adaline, Amanda, Abi, Desirae, and Clarence. As they each appeared he added their new Fundamental ability to each of them.
¡°What is this ¡®I Have Always Been, I Will Always Be ability,¡± Abi asked as Adam finished up with Clarence.
¡°It does exactly what it says. Now if someone tries to change things by going back in time, it¡¯s not going to matter,¡± Adam started to explain as a very young girl popped into existence among them looking directly at Adam.
¡°Fortune, A word please?¡± the little girl said in a voice that carried more intelligence and wisdom than normal for a girl her age as she turned and walked out onto the balcony without another word.
¡°Who is that?¡± my mom asked
¡°Yeah, who is that Adam?¡± Abi asked.
¡°How the hell should I know,¡± Adam said as he walked toward the balcony, ¡°Let me go ask,¡± he finished saying as he thought, I sure as shit jinxed myself.
Adam walked out on the Balcony and stopped facing the young girl, woman, whatever.
¡°Don¡¯t let appearances fool you Fortune, I may look like a child, but I have been around the block quite a few times,¡± she said.
¡°And you are?¡± I asked.
¡°I am Chronos.¡±
¡°I was informed that there were no holders of the Arcanus Numen of Time,¡± Adam said.
¡°There aren¡¯t. Knowing your life and everything you¡¯ve learned and everything you¡¯ve read, I have four words for you, Earth by David Brin.¡±
¡°Earth by David Brin?¡± Adam mused as many aspects from the book came to together that might pertain to the concept of time and then it all clicked.
¡°I see by the look of realization in your mind that you truly do have a perfect memory.¡±
¡°Are you saying that you are the mind created by the stratum of temporal links between, wait what would they be between, unless there truly are fixed points in space-time, which was presented in Dr. Who? But that makes no sense¡±
¡°You are close, but like many sentient species throughout eternity, you think only of yourselves when trying to comprehend something on a galactic or higher scale. Therefore, you are both correct and incorrect. There are fixed points in space-time that serve as anchors. They are not dependent on the actions of sentient beings of any sort. Fixed points in space-time are connected to the beginnings and endings of universes, Cosmos, realms, etcetera¡± she said.
¡°Did the fracturing of my cosmos cause issues for you?¡±
¡°No. Your Cosmos was not part of the Tapestry of Eternity. I feel that is about to change now though.¡±
¡°So why are you here?¡± I asked.
¡°Not going to ask, interesting. As for the question you did ask, to convey a warning. As the Arcanus Numen of Fortune and Chaos Personified you are the only Arcanus Numen that can utilize time as you have. All others are bound by rules that govern all, including you. The individuals you have gifted come from your Cosmos, well except for Abi, but she is a special case,¡± Chronos said as she paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°Where was I? Oh yes. They all come from your cosmos. As of this moment, they are part of the Tapestry of Eternity that this Realm just added itself to through your actions. Here and now is a fixed point in space-time.¡±
¡°What does that mean exactly?¡± Adam asked.
¡°It means that those with the ability you have granted, including yourself, are on a list of people I must keep track of. It means that I, Chronos, am now aware of you because you are literally on my mind.¡±
¡°That doesn¡¯t sound like a warning,¡± Adam said.
¡°The warning is that you should not utilize your abilities to gift abilities to others that encroach on the responsibilities of the other Arcanus Numina or intrinsic powers, specifically me in this case. Doing so may cause issues down the line,¡± she said
¡°What kind of issues?¡±
¡°If the Tapestry unravels, I unravel. If I unravel¡what is space without time?¡± Chronos asked.
¡°A single moment that goes on forever?¡± Adam stated as much as asked.
¡°I see you understand a little. Another outcome could be that all of Time could happen in an instant. To be clear, as an Arcanus Numen of Fortune you may use time as you wish, and the effects of doing so should be manageable. When you gift abilities based on time to others, well, the Tapestry could be damaged beyond anyone¡¯s ability to repair. The tapestry can absorb minor changes that an individual may cause. It has a much harder time absorbing changes from multiple sources. Too many cut or frayed threads at once and as they say from your time, shit will go sideways.¡±
¡°I understand,¡± Adam said. ¡°I will be more careful from this point on¡±
¡°See that you do. I have spent enough time here. Good day,¡± she said as she faded from view, disappearing from Adam¡¯s senses completely.
Adam turned and walked back into the living room where everyone was talking politely. Adaline walked over and said, ¡°And?¡±
¡°And I have to be more careful using the power I have,¡± Adam said
¡°I meant, ¡®And¡¯ Who was that?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°That was Chronos.¡±
¡°Wait, that little girl was the God of Time?¡± Desirae asked.
¡°Probably not the same person as the God from your world. She would probably be his, or her, boss,¡± Adam said, then paused. Chronos wasn¡¯t the god¡¯s boss, it was an entity that had come into being due to the structure of the fixed points in space-time that were connected to all the other fixed points. I¡¯d missed the hint and the question. The question I hadn¡¯t asked was ¡°¡®What connected all those points?¡± Giving that hint seemed to be why Chronos had visited.
Adam¡¯s mind went through every possible scenario until he figured it out, which arguably didn¡¯t take that long. Those fixed points across space-time were connected by Primal Chaos, that¡¯s the only thing that could be connecting them that could touch every other fixed space-time point. The second hint had been the book she¡¯d mentioned. Earth, by David Brin.
In the book, Earth, a singularity had been created and dropped into the Earth creating channels that had created a structure much like that of a brain. That structure had sprouted a consciousness that had not known what it was until it connected to the world wide web, much like myself and Thor, though he was sentient before that happened.
If the book was the hint, then Chronos had formed from those connections because the medium those connections stayed in contact through now housed her mind. Why hadn¡¯t she taken on the role as the Arcanus Numen of Fortune, she should have been able to, unless the fixed points¡The fixed points were aspects of Order, something she could not change but that could be changed.
That gave him another thought if this entire setup was somehow in a holographic, or quantum supercomputer and he was in some type of Matrix, the thought had crossed my mind, then Chronos would be the Ghost in the Machine. Adan hadn¡¯t discounted the idea as implausible, He just hadn¡¯t found a way to test it yet, unless true death was the door, which he would never know until he died.
Adam put those thoughts to the back of his mind and turned back to his family and friends, ¡°We have a lot to discuss. Thor if you wouldn¡¯t mind setting a place with food and drinks I think we should all have a seat, it¡¯s time to figure out where we go from here.¡±
Chapter 157, To Be Gods
Thor utilized the nanites to create a table and food. Nothing too fancy, just some odds and ends that could act as finger foods as they all sat down to talk. Adaline came over and sat next to him with Mom and Dad on the other side of her. Across from the four of them were Abi, Amanda, Desirae, and Clarence.
After everyone was settled Desirae asked, ¡°So what¡¯s this about Adam?¡±
Adam thought for a moment before answering, ¡°This last little bit I was away I learned a lot.¡±
¡°About what son?¡± My father asked.
¡°About the nature of reality as presented to us and about the fate of our daughter,¡± Adam said as he reached over and squeezed Adaline¡¯s hand.
¡°So why don¡¯t you just go get her, you¡¯re still more powerful than all of us combined, right?¡± Desirae asked.
¡°More than you know,¡± Adam said pausing to let that sink in. He looked around the table and then began, ¡°What I¡¯ve been able to learn brings me to a couple of conclusions that may or may not be correct, though the evidence suggests that I¡¯m right. Well, the lack of evidence anyway. First, I have never witnessed what happens to a soul when it¡¯s done. I have seen ¡®souls¡¯ and even moved among them but I do not know what happens to a soul when it¡¯s destroyed.
¡°Why is that so difficult to understand?¡± Clarence asked. ¡°If you destroy the soul, it¡¯s gone, no big deal.¡±
¡°Clarence, you¡¯ve come a long way, but you have got a ways to go yet. Abi, why would the destruction of a soul cause me to question what¡¯s happened to it?¡±
¡°If I had to guess, I¡¯d say because you didn¡¯t see that energy go anywhere else,¡± Abi said.
¡°Exactly! When I destroyed someone, I didn¡¯t see the energy of the soul go anywhere else. To be clear, I¡¯m not saying when someone dies. I¡¯ve seen souls move into the designated paths for them after their body dies. The issue that has my attention is what happens to the soul when it is destroyed. That is what interests me?¡±
¡°That¡¯s an easy one honey,¡± my mom said, ¡°they go to heaven.¡±
¡°Mom, I can take you to heaven right now if you want, without the need for either of us to die. I¡¯ll just open a portal and we can go visit. Yes, souls are drawn into an afterlife that is chosen for them by some mechanism I don¡¯t understand based on their nature and choices. Some even get resurrected or reincarnated. Others, just give up and their souls fade away. Or someone like me comes along and destroys them permanently. Except if I was to destroy them permanently there should be a release of energy or something. I haven¡¯t seen that happen which leads me to believe there¡¯s something else going on.¡±
¡°Why does that matter son?¡± my dad asked.
¡°I¡¯ll get to that in a minute. The reason I added your new abilities to you is to help prevent anyone from changing anything about you. While I¡¯ve never seen what ultimately happens to a soul, I have witnessed changes made by those that time travel. I wanted to make sure that this version of each of you sticks.¡±
¡°This version of us? How many versions have you run into?¡± Amanda asked.
¡°A couple. That¡¯s not the point though. I wanted to make sure you were all safe from being changed going forward.¡±
¡°Why?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°Because I think it¡¯s time to decide what you will all be doing going forward.¡±
¡°I thought we were going to be getting the Earth ready for whatever comes next?¡± Amanda asked.
¡°I¡¯ve skipped around timelines and see many variations within this Cosmos. Within this Realm, I do not doubt that this has, is, or will play out again. I¡¯m more worried about what happens to all of you.¡±
¡°You¡¯re worried about me and Clarence as well?¡± Desirae asked.
¡°Even you two. The three of us may have had a rocky start but you¡¯ve more than proved yourself, Desirae. Clarence too.¡±
¡°Why now?¡± Abi asked.
¡°Good question Abi. Recently I went and talked to the progenitor of Labyrinth which originally created you. As we talked I became aware that long ago the rules of reality were quite different. In fact, the rules that governed maximum levels, skills, and the like were all different. The changes to the rules are what have affected Reality the way it has. It¡¯s why Pandora is off somewhere by herself and why I can¡¯t just go get her.¡±
¡°I still don¡¯t understand why?¡± Adaline said.
¡°Okay, I¡¯ll break it down to a very basic analogy Think of reality as if it were a computer. In that computer, you have a hard drive where everything is stored. At some point, the memory was split, and one side remained as it was, while the other side grew and changed at an exponential rate, almost as if a virus had been put into it. Files could be transferred from the infected side into the original settings, but that file would have to be scrubbed and converted before it could be added. If we were to connect the two sides some of the files with the virus would get through and corrupt the original memory core. As that pertains to our reality. Some realms were disconnected from us. If we reconnect to them the rules of our reality could destroy that reality.¡±
¡°So, we¡¯d all still be alive,¡± Clarence said
¡°First, our daughter is most likely in one of those cut-off realities. She may or may not survive such a calamity due to her nature. Second, and more importantly, I have a feeling that a cascade event like that would be very bad for reasons that I have not determined yet,¡± he said
¡°You have a hunch?¡± Desirae asked.
¡°Yep,¡± Adam said
¡°Well that¡¯s good enough for me, your hunches usually turn out correct,¡± Amanda said.
¡°Thanks, Amanda!¡±
¡°Don¡¯t get him wrong, I¡¯d love for you to be wrong just once,¡± she said with a grin.
¡°Thanks, Amanda,¡± he said with a bit less enthusiasm.
¡°Okay, so you¡¯re worried about our universe contaminating other Universes, why are we here?¡± Adam¡¯s dad asked
¡°That¡¯s a good question, Dad,¡± Adam said as prepared my answer, ¡°I intend to find a way to reconnect the Realms,¡± he said.
¡°We figured that out five minutes ago dear, what do you want us to do?¡± his mom asked.
¡°I want you all to accept the path of divinity¡±
¡°Even me?¡± Adaline asked
¡°Even you,¡± Adam said
¡°But you¡¯re not a God, or are you a God now?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°I am not a God; I have been elevated to what the gods answer to.
¡°You¡¯re what?¡± his mother asked as the room went silent. After a moment rapid fire questions erupted until finally the questions paused and Desirae looked at him.
¡°We¡¯re all a lot smarter now,¡± Desirae said, ¡°You want us to become Gods so any changes that happen won¡¯t affect us. Or if those changes do affect us, it won¡¯t be that bad.¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Adam answered.
¡°What does becoming a God even mean?¡± his mother asked.
¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t know but I figure someone will take you somewhere to teach you all about it. One thing I do know, you need to decide what your purpose as a god will be.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
¡°Our Purpose?¡± his father asked.
¡°Yes, each God has a fundamental purpose they choose to serve.
¡°What is your purpose?¡± Desirae asked.
¡°I do not have a purpose, as a god would, instead I am Fortune both good and bad,¡±
¡°What do you mean you¡¯re Fortune?¡± his mother asked.
¡°I am the embodiment of Chaos, random chance, that kind of thing.¡±
¡°Seriously?¡± Amanda asked.
¡°Seriously.¡±
¡°Well, whoever is in charge must have a sense of humor because you are anything but chaotic in how you handle things, especially those things that piss you off,¡± Desirae said.
¡°What she said,¡± Adaline piped in.
¡°That¡¯ll be enough out of you two,¡± Adam said with a grin.
¡°So, you want us to open the prompt and hit accept for the path of Divinity?¡± his father asked.
¡°Yep.¡±
¡°Any idea what will happen?¡± Clarence asked.
¡°As I¡¯ve never stepped onto that path willingly, I have no idea, but I would imagine that you will be translocated somewhere, and your measure will be taken. Then you¡¯ll choose your purpose and get on with the inner politics of the divine.¡±
¡°Will we need to leave Earth?¡± Amanda asked.
¡°I would guess so unless you chose a purpose that will place you here on Earth for sure. No, I do not know what purpose would do that.¡±
¡°So, give up everything we know, and do, who knows what until you get this all sorted out?¡± Abi asked.
¡°To be clear, I may never get this all sorted out, but if I can, what you said sums it up, yeah.¡±
¡°Sounds good, whose going first?¡± Abi asked.
¡°I¡¯d like to visit my parents first, Amanda said.¡±
¡°And we¡¯ll want to say goodbye to your friends,¡± his mom said.
¡°I¡¯ll go, once your mom and dad go,¡± Desirae said.
¡°I¡¯ll go when Desirae does. I do have a question,¡± Clarence hedged, ¡°are you going to come to destroy us if we chose a bad purpose?¡±
¡°That is not within my realm of responsibility, it is not my place to police the gods. Also, good and evil, Order and chaos are both necessary so no I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be coming after you. Though fair warning to you all, if any of you chose a purpose that orbits around pedophilia, I might find a way¡
¡°I think I would find a way to kill them first,¡± Desirae said cutting Adam off.
¡°A joke in bad taste, got it, won¡¯t make that mistake again,¡± Adam said to lighten the mood. ¡°Back to business then, I would also suggest that you move anyone that you want to see safe while you¡¯re gone up to the lifeboat where Thor can keep an eye on them. One of the other reasons I think we should stop helping directly is that the people on Earth need to start fending for themselves and growing. If they don¡¯t they¡¯ll never be ready for the Labyrinth or anything else that pops up.¡±
¡°Very sound reasoning,¡± his father said.
¡°Anyone have anything for me?¡± Adam asked.
Everyone shook their heads as they all looked around at each other. Adam picked up a buttered roll and took a bite. After he swallowed his bite he said, ¡°Well if you all don¡¯t have anything for me, I think we should enjoy this meal and each other¡¯s company, then take the week to get everything in order. It¡¯ll also give me a chance to see if I can contact you using spells once you are transformed into divines.¡±
Everyone settled in to eat and eventually, the small talk turned into full-blown conversations about what purpose each of them wanted to serve. His Father and Desirae proved to be of the same mind and thought that they might be able to start their own Pantheon or group of gods. Maybe even for this Earth. If they could, that would be quite interesting. Adam just listened for the most part and occasionally added a positive comment here or there. While he did that he started up a private conversation with Thor.
Adam: Hey Thor, how are you doing?
Thor: Everything seems to be going okay on this end. What do you want me to do while they all go off to do, whatever it is they are going to do?
Adam: I¡¯m going to share some information with you. Things we came up with in an alternate timeline as well as all the information from the local galactic group. Once I¡¯ve shared that with you your mission will be to ensure the safety of this region of space around the Sol system and maintain the Sun so that it does not expand into a Red Dwarf. You should be able to find the mass you need to keep that from happening. No one wants this star system to become a barren wasteland.
Thor: Is what you¡¯re suggesting even possible?
Adam: Oh, we¡¯ve been much more ambitious in the past. Also, should humanity utilize the technology you provide to leave Sol, what happens out among the stars is on them. Your job is to protect Sol.
Thor: Understood, Thor confirmed.
Adam: Commencing download in 3, 2, 1
Adam downloaded all the information Thor had acquired and the technologies they¡¯d built to protect the Earth in that alternate timeline/universe as well as the location and data for each and every site he¡¯d surveyed. Considering he¡¯d managed to get most of the local galactic group it was a lot of information.
After a few moments, Thor contacted him again
Thor: Adam, how much information is there?
Adam: I estimate it¡¯ll take another 3 minutes or so.
Adam returned his attention to his family and friends while he continued to download the information into Thor. When the information finished downloading Thor went silent for a few minutes until the lights flickered.
Thor: Adam, that was a lot of information.
Adam: It was. As you expand the portal network you¡¯ll need to verify the data for each system but at least you should have places to go look for raw materials without running into sentient life, though you may. Stick to the rules we came up with before and you should be okay.
Thor: I¡¯ll get to work right away and start verifying every system within 100 light years.
Adam: You do that, I¡¯m going to spend time with family, friends, and Adaline
Adam broke their connection. Thor could contact him as necessary, though he hardly ever did.
¡°Adam, what are you thinking about?¡± Abi asked.
¡°Just working with Thor to make sure everything will be taken care of while you¡¯re all away.¡±
¡°You say that as if you¡¯re sure we will be going away,¡± his mom said.
¡°The one thing that has been made abundantly clear to me is that the divine travel in their own circles. I have never been privy to them but I¡¯m sure they exist. That means that those that become divine must receive some kind of introduction to their new roles. Also, to interact and affect the mortal realm requires the expenditure of DP at a certain point. I do not know the details of that requirement though,¡± Adam said.
¡°What are DP?¡± Clarence asked.
¡°They¡¯re XP for gods. DP stands for Divinity Points. You use them to do various things, which includes becoming more powerful, so once you¡¯re taught how to gain them, don¡¯t spend them frivolously. That¡¯s one of the reasons I want you all to try this at the same time. I want you to have a support network with each other if that¡¯s possible. I¡¯m pretty sure he won¡¯t count as a mortal, though contacting Thor might be stretching things. If one of you finds a way to subvert Thor as a minion and bring him into the fold, that would be cool.
Adaline looked at him for a second then said slyly, ¡°You¡¯re talking out of your ass aren¡¯t you?¡±
¡°Absolutely!¡± Adam agreed.
¡°You really have no idea what¡¯s going to happen do you?¡± Abi asked sardonically.
¡°None what-so-ever,¡± Adam said with a grin.
¡°Why?¡± Adaline asked.
Adam put my serious face back on, ¡°Because I have ideas about what I want to try to do next and I want to make sure the seven of you are relatively safe before I do,¡± he said. Adam stood looking over the table at his family and friends, ¡°I don¡¯t know where we will end up but I¡¯m hoping that this next little bit will better prepare us, and everyone else, for what comes next.¡±
Adaline stood beside him and reached out. Adam took her hand in his as he said, ¡°We¡¯re going to head up to the lifeboat. All of you, take the week to get all of your affairs in order then meet Adaline and me up there. If you need to talk, just let Thor know and he¡¯ll portal you over.¡± Adam teleported Adaline and himself into their bedroom in The Lifeboat.¡±
¡°Are you okay Adam?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°I¡¯m fine, just worried about our little girl.¡±
¡°Not worried about me?¡±
¡°Not at all. You know you¡¯re going to have to be the one to hold them all together?¡± he asked gently
¡°I know. They were all pretty excited to become gods. We¡¯d all received the prompt, but you¡¯d said not to accept. There were some talks about it a while back but eventually, everyone decided to wait.
¡°I know, and thank you for waiting. Because you waited you¡¯re going to accept divinity significantly more powerful than any other divine you run into at your level.¡±
¡°What do you know about the levels of divines?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°The first ranks of divines are called the Neophytes. At that rank, you won¡¯t be Gods and will have to learn how to gain followers. I¡¯m sure there¡¯s a mechanism for it, just don¡¯t know what it is.¡±
¡°What about all of the DP points I have?¡± she asked.
¡°Use them as you see fit but I¡¯d save them until you find something good to use them on. Any idea what purpose you¡¯re going to choose?¡± he asked.
¡°Something dragon, darkness, or shadow related.¡±
¡°Of course,¡± Adam said.
¡°Enough about that. If we¡¯re going go away for a while and you and I are going to be separated again, I want to celebrate by taking a long flight around the world followed by some uninterrupted attention from you,¡± she said mischievously.
¡°Here at Dragonflight United, we yearn to please,¡± he said as he opened a portal a mile above his estate in New Mexico, ¡°After you my lady.¡±
¡°You coming? she asked as she stepped through the portal dropping toward the Earth as she transformed into her shadow dragon form.
¡°Yep,¡± he said as stepped through the portal and polymorphed himself a male version of a shadow dragon, and followed here. Adam opened his link to Thor who cut him off.
Thor: Got it, Adam. I¡¯m putting the word out to local forces not to engage the two large black dragons flying around.
Adam: That would be a very bad idea, for them, and thanks.
Over the next three days, they both traveled around the world. They cheated a bit by using the jet stream and just gliding for part of the trip, but their Endurance and Constitution allowed them to remain aloft the entire time, though he might have allowed himself to take a dragon dump on the Billingsgate estate, petty, he knew but he really didn¡¯t like that Vice President or her family. They also pushed themselves to test the limits of their speed in dragon form.
While flying with Adaline, Adam learned what it was to be a dragon soaring about the ground as creatures of all types scattered before them. When they finally came in for a landing back in New Mexico and switched back to their humanoid forms. Adam followed Adaline inside, where they ¡°rested¡± for the next three days.
Chapter 158, Bon Voyage!
After relaxing with Adaline for three days the others started portaling into his estate in New Mexico. They¡¯d all come to an agreement that they wanted to accept the path of divinity from a place on Earth. The decision was made to do so from his home. The first to arrive after they returned to the estate was his Mom and Dad. The four of them talked for a bit while they waited for Amanda and Abi, who arrived next. They¡¯d been getting their assistants prepared to help Thor out while they went on their sabbatical, as it was being referred to. Desirae and Clarence had visited the Dungeon, Al, and then prepped the best teams that went into the dungeon. The teams were added to the payroll and hired to continue training new adventurers. Al agreed, so long as the first level was the only level considered purely for training. Adventures that went deeper were fair game, which everyone agreed to.
The rest of the day we they around and discussed the state of affairs on Earth and how things had settled down quite a bit.
¡°You should have been here when we opened Al up,¡± Abi said.
¡°Yeah, the number of privileged people that thought they could just blast their way into level two with weapons was staggering,¡± Amanda agreed.
¡°I have to agree, Adam. That first couple of months it¡¯s probably a good thing you weren¡¯t around. You tend to protect others that should be able to rise and fall by their own decisions,¡± Desirae said.
¡°I¡¯m not that bad,¡± I said.
¡°I would have killed myself if I¡¯d been in your shoes when we first crossed paths,¡± Clarence said.
¡°Yeah but at that point, you couldn¡¯t have killed me with a nuke detonating on my forehead. Shoot even your shadow that tried to kill me before I¡¯d even left this Universe the first time was months behind being able to kill me when we first met.¡±
¡°True,¡± Clarence agreed, ¡°But, you let my shadow and me live. We could have turned into enemies.¡±
¡°Better to put your enemy down than face them again?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I know you know the doctrine,¡± Desirae said. ¡°You have a White Knight¡± complex.¡±
¡°Yep,¡± Mom and Dad said together.
¡°Teamed up on by his own parents? Where¡¯s the loyalty?¡± Adam asked half-heartedly.
¡°Where loyal, and we¡¯d never think of lying to our son,¡± his dad said with a wink
¡°Unless we were getting him a present?¡± his mother said.
¡°Or not telling him that we¡¯d just finished trying to make him a baby brother or sister,¡± Dad said.
¡°Okay, I get it!¡± Adam said
¡°As do we all,¡± Desirae said with a hint of a smile.
Adam looked around the room as everyone laughed and giggled until he also burst out laughing. The laughter went on for a good five minutes before they all calmed down and he said, ¡°A little bit of a subject change, have you all decided what purposes you want to pursue?
¡°I want to do something to help the dungeons, specifically Al, out. God of Adventure, exploration, treasure, something like that,¡± Clarence said.
¡°I¡¯m going for something a little more sinister. I think I¡¯m going to further the cause of Rogues. Either through shadows, theft, or assassination,¡± Desirae said.
¡°I would have expected nothing less,¡± Adam said with a grin.
¡°I¡¯m thinking of healing or some other purpose that helps people,¡± My mom said.
¡°Me too,¡± his dad piped in.
¡°And you Abi?¡±
¡°Magic, all the way,¡± she said.
¡°Any specific kind or just magic in general?¡± I asked.
¡°Magic in general. More people need to learn how to use it, especially in this Universe,¡± Abi said.
¡°Adaline?¡± I asked.
¡°Secrets?¡±
¡°Secrets. Creating them, hiding them, and ultimately uncovering them.¡±
¡°Those are all interesting choices, make sure you have a backup in case you can¡¯t choose your first choice,¡± Adam said.
¡°We do, and we¡¯ve decided to try to form a Pantheon together or join the same one,¡± Adaline said.
Everyone nodded as they looked around the table, ¡°What Pantheon will you try to create?¡± I asked.
We don¡¯t know, though we were thinking something like the ¡°Steel Heavens,¡± Abi said.
I thought for a moment, then grinned. ¡°Steel Heavens? Because all of this became possible from an Adamantium ring which in Latin means strong as steel?¡±
¡°Exactly!¡± Desirae said.
¡°It¡¯s also really easy to remember if we all become separated during the initiation process, if there is one,¡± his dad said.
¡°So, when are you all going to go?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Thor, if you would?¡± Amanda said.
A table materialized with eight champagne glasses on it. A small portal opened beside Amanda. Reaching into the portal she withdrew a bottle of ¡°2013 Taste of Diamonds¡± and in a show of quick expertise uncorked and began pouring some into each of our glasses.
¡°Who¡¯s paying for that?¡± Adam asked with a grin.
¡°You are of course, though if you need more money I¡¯m sure Thor can create some for you,¡± Amanda said with a smile.
¡°You know, I¡¯ve never actually indulged before. At over 3 million dollars a bottle now, I guess there¡¯s no time like the present,¡± Adam said lifting one of the filled glasses from the table. Mom, Dad, Abi, Desirae, Clarence, Adaline, and lastly Amanda after she set the bottle down.
Adam looked around the room as he lifted his glass, ¡°To family and friends, may this next chapter be as exciting for you as the last million couple odd years have been for me!¡± Adam said. Adam looked around puzzled as no one put their drinks to their mouth.
¡°As toasts go, son, that sucked,¡± his dad said.
¡°Million odd years, huh? Had to make it all about you didn¡¯t you,¡± Adaline chided him playfully.
¡°I guess it did suck,¡± I said with a grin, ¡°To Family and Friends and our next chapter!¡± he said which everyone drank to.
Desirae looked around before she spoke, ¡°Now it¡¯s time to go. Everyone get your prompts ready. Adaline kiss your man, it might be a bit before you see each other again.
Adaline turned to Adam and leaned in for a kiss, which he returned. As she pulled away she whispered, ¡°I love you.¡±
¡°And I love you,¡± Adam said before turning to his parents and then to everyone else as I said, ¡°I Love you Mom and Dad and I hold a special place in his heart for the rest of you, please be careful.¡±
Desirae lifted her glass and cleared her throat to get everyone¡¯s attention before she said, ¡°All right people, I¡¯m going to make a toast, then we¡¯re going to down our drinks and then we¡¯re going to accept those prompts, any questions?¡± When no one answered Desirae raised her glass, ¡°To Becoming Gods!¡± she said then downed the rest of her champagne as everyone else did the same. They each threw their glass into the air, which Thor decomposed immediately as their eyes unfocused then almost simultaneously they all disappeared, and Adam was left standing alone.
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Thor¡¯s voice spoke to me from the room, ¡°What will you do now Adam?¡±
¡°Now? Now you will start setting up the Sol System to weather all forms of attack while I work to fix reality as a whole. I may be a bit,¡± Adam said as he focused his will and altered his state of being to move out of the Realm he was in and into Primal Chaos, something he hadn¡¯t done before but was pretty sure he could.
WARNING! You have entered Primal Chaos. The quantum state of this area is not compatible with biological beings.
Adam closed the prompt and then looked down to notice that his body was adapting to this region by becoming Primal Chaos, almost like a liquid form man. That was pretty cool. He decided that he might need a spot that could support biological entities if he was going to talk to Chronos and willed a small room into existence around him. Nothing fancy, just a closed room with a table and two chairs opposite each other. If his calculations were correct he should just be able to¡
Chronos appeared in the room, ¡°No need to call,¡± she said as she moved to the chair and took a seat, ¡°What can I do for you Fortune?¡±
¡°First, please call me Adam, I¡¯m not used to that title or the name Fortune.¡±
¡°As you wish Adam,¡± she said.
¡°Second, why do you appear as a young girl?¡± I asked.
¡°I have found over the years that appearing as a child causes others to underestimate me or my power. It also facilitates conversation without the normal male-female dichotomy or tension that comes to exist. I tried appearing as an elder of the various races I visit. For humans, it was an old man with a white beard. While I was taken seriously, I usually had to prove my power. As a child, I could walk around with quantum physics books and only J would try to put a bullet through my head.
¡°Men in Black reference, nice,¡± Adam said.
¡°After researching humans, I have found that references utilizing their culture helped them understand the meaning of what I was trying to convey quicker. Though in your case I need not try. I do believe of all the beings I have encountered you might be able to comprehend everything as I do.
¡°I don¡¯t know about that. If you¡¯re an array that formed out of an infinite amount of chaos and have access to every point in space-time everywhere simultaneously I doubt I can compete with that. Honestly, why aren¡¯t you God, I mean the God over everything?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Simple enough, I choose not to be.¡± While it is true I am connected to every point in space-time, they merely make up my body. I can focus on that part of my body and know what¡¯s going on there but if it doesn¡¯t create ripples in other points, I usually don¡¯t take an interest,¡± she said.
¡°I guess I come across like a tsunami,¡± Adam said.
¡°More like the 11.0 earthquake that caused the tsunami,¡± she said.
¡°Are you going to prevent me from trying to fix things back to the way they were?¡± Adam asked.
¡°No, but I would suggest that you try to find a way to fix the connections from this point forward. If you go far enough back, your family might survive the changes but they may still be irrevocably changed.
¡°I thought we were immune to such changes?¡±
¡°As you just pointed out there is a very good argument for why I should be the most powerful being to ever come into existence. If your conjecture is accurate wouldn¡¯t it also be true that I could do whatever the hell I wanted? Of all those beings that have popped into existence to help maintain reality so we all don¡¯t just cease to exist you and I are the only two that can make serious changes without worrying about holding vows or promises.¡±
¡°Why is that? Adam asked.
¡°Because the changes will happen after the actions we have taken manifest. Others bound by vows are stopped before they act. As an example. Let us look at your opposite, Order. If Order were to make a vow to you that he would never go back in time and change anything about you that vow could ultimately kill him to prevent him from breaking his word because he both serves and is, order. Now you¡¯re probably thinking what about a God or Arcanus Numen of Lies, if there was one, there isn¡¯t by the way. If there was though they would still be bound by a vow or promise because Order is not diametrically opposed to their purpose and is fundamental to the continuation of reality. Time follows one of those rules though if someone travels through time and makes changes that cause a vow by myself to be broken I am free and clear of that paradox because I did not break the promise. You, as Fortune, do not have to worry about any of this.
¡°So, while I could go back and change time those changes could still affect me if I¡¯m breaking the fundamental rules of reality?¡± Adam said.
¡°Exactly,¡± Chronos agreed.
¡°I think my explanation was simpler¡±
¡°I¡¯m just an amalgamation of all known points in space-time spanned across all of reality, what would I know?¡± she said with a grin.
¡°Point taken.¡±
¡°Any hints?¡±
¡°Literally millions, how to go about making the changes you are going to make is for you to figure out.¡±
As he thought that he really didn¡¯t have anything else to say, Chronos vanished. Adam relaxed his will and allowed the room to be absorbed back into Primal Chaos until he was once again surrounded. As he had so long ago, he acclimated to his environment and took in all his surroundings. Adam could feel the realm he came from if it was right next to him, but he couldn¡¯t see it. That wasn¡¯t right either. Unlike his exposure to the place between places that connected all the shadow Cosmos, his perception of adjacent places was in flux and ever-changing.
In this place, He could not just visualize what he wanted to do and go there. Instead, it was more about the feeling of something. He could inherently feel what his realm was like and then link himself to it and then pass into it. He could also feel other mirrored ¡°feelings¡± which had to be other realms, but the feelings were all jumbled together. He had no way to distinguish between them. He could find his realm because he''d been there. Other realms that he¡¯d never been to though, if his ¡®feeling¡¯ was off by just a little he felt that he could end up somewhere that was not his target.
As he was starting to get frustrated he thought about the Labyrinth. If she could reach other realms, he should be able to as well. As that thought entered his mind he felt millions of tendrils reaching throughout the Primal Chaos. Some paths were active while others were long dead.
Going back in time and changing things would be bad. What about going back in time and just looking? Adam focused on one of the broken threads of the labyrinth and then willed himself to be incorporeal, invisible, at a null gravity state, and scentless as he dove back through time until the broken links were once again whole. As he traveled further into the past the density of Primal Chaos seemed to lessen and he was able to see farther until the threads he could see filled his vision.
Adam kept himself within the Primal Chaos as he followed them back to a single point. While it only took him a sentence to explain what he did, the amount of real-time he spent was a bit longer. While he made his way through time and followed the tendrils, he would take a break and retreat into his mind space as he floated in Primal Chaos then get back to it.
When he finally found the starting Realm, He concentrated on the Realm in front of him and tried to bring up a Realm Interface with his will.
Realm Interface activated.
That had worked, almost too easily. Adam went through each screen and code setting he could find. He even found access to settings He¡¯d never seen before, and had no idea what they were or what they did. It took a little while but he made sure to get every scrap of data he could.
When he was done he closed the window and willed myself through time to one second after he went into the past. Next, he opened a Realm interface for his realm. As before, he went through every page and data entry and started noticing the differences. Immediately.
Adam brought up five other random realms and checked them with his Realm interface as well. He didn¡¯t need to use any specific realms, so he just followed his feelings and opened the interface. He checked those five other realms to make sure the changes were present in them as well. They were. Except for their identifiers, they all had settings that adjusted the maximum character level, mana density, and a few other minor settings, a couple of which worked together to make humans more prevalent throughout the Realms. The settings that made that happen had been embedded within other settings. This made it so that a common combination of factors occurring within the Realm eventually led to a DNA pattern that allowed for humanoid-type creatures with a very high probability that they would be Homosapien in nature. Especially in low magic settings, which each of the Realms he¡¯d checked had been. As the magic density of the Universe and Cosmos increased variations would occur which led to the creation of a lot of the other known mythical races like dwarves, elves, gnomes, and the like.
Whoever had thought up these changes had done so in such a way as to remove most of the randomness from reality. Or a better way to say it is they had ensured that randomness always led to an outcome that allowed for humanity. Why would someone do that? The fix was relatively obvious and easy to create, especially since he had such a fundamental link to chaos in general. He could create a batch of Primal Chaos that would spread exponentially like a wave. Unlike Chaos, he wouldn¡¯t be able to control the action because Primal Chaos did not like holding any shape for very long but it would spread and everything it touched would be changed. That would bring every realm the Primal Chaos touched back to its original settings, after which it should be a relatively simple thing for Labyrinth to reattach to its broken links. if I messed this up¡
Adam put those negative thoughts out of his mind, created the realm-changing virus I would need, and released it. Like a pebble hitting a pond, a ripple spread away from him in all directions until it faded from view as it spread through Primal Chaos.
Anxious to see if what I¡¯d just done had worked Adam willed himself to enter his Realm once again near his estate in New Mexico. Nothing happened. He gave it a few more moments then tried to will myself inside. Still Nothing. He opened the Realm Interface, or he tried to, only to be met with the following message.
WARNING! Fundamental Realm Shift In Progress. Access is Temporarily Unavailable.
Chapter 159, Compatibility Update
Temporarily Unavailable? What did it mean temporarily unavailable? Then again, if conversions were taking place within the realm that might take a little bit of time.
A new voice entered Adam¡¯s mind, Do you think? This is Chronos, create one of your rooms again so we can have a sit-down.
Adam willed the Primal Chaos around him into the shape and form of a small empty room again. Then thought better of it and willed the Primal Chaos into a copy of his estate with a clear bubble around it so he could view the Primal Chaos. It took a little longer to finish but came into existence within a minute. Once he could see the landing pad he teleported to it and walked inside to find Chronos lounging on his sofa watching TV.
¡°What¡¯s on?¡± Adam asked, wondering how it could be on at all, he was pretty sure there were no satellites out here that connected to anything.
¡°I decided to show you what¡¯s going on in your realm, with the understanding that this process is going on across all reality, save those Realms that already abide by the rules you¡¯re reinstituting,¡± Chronos said.
An image of the mage Xsitant and his red dragon Grasar appeared on the screen. They had landed on an outcropping. Their eyes were glazed over as they looked at each other.
¡°What level are you now?¡± Xsitant asked.
¡°I am now level 1,000,¡± Grasar said in the gruff voice of a dragon.
¡°As am I. Where did the other 4,000 levels go?¡± Xsitant asked.
¡°There is a message. What does, ¡®The Wheel of Fortune has turned, the old is new again!¡¯ mean?¡±
¡°I do not know. Also, I have the same message?¡± Xsitant said.
The screen changed to show other individuals discovering that their levels were now lowered. As the scenes changed and the level changes were stated Adam realized that a level reduction was taking place. Xistant and Grasar had both been level 5,000 when he¡®d met them long ago. That meant they were probably level 5,000 before the change this time around. After the change, they were now level 1,000. As he watched he figured out that someone¡¯s new level was a percentage based on the old maximum level. If someone had been level 400 before the conversion, they were now level 80. Also, the level seemed to indicate that they fell somewhere on a ranking system.
¡°I see you noticed the ranking system. The new level system automatically ranks beings. Each Rank is 100 levels and those ranks are; Common, Uncommon, Unusual, Advanced, Scarce, Master, Rare Epic Mythic, and Legendary
¡°What happened to the Relic, Artifact, and Unique Ranks?¡± he asked.
¡°They still exist but are not Ranks for beings. Legendary is the highest rank beings and creatures can obtain.
¡°It looks like the conversion is done, by what you¡¯re showing me?¡±
¡°I am Chronos, I am showing events that happen right up until the process freezes time, which is right about now.¡±
Adam hadn¡¯t felt stupid in a long time, but then again, how was he to know? He looked at Chronos, making sure to take a few deep breaths to calm down before he asked, ¡°Okay, you¡¯re showing me events that happened. How long will time be frozen? How long am he going to be locked out of my realm,¡± Adam asked.
¡°Honestly, without a clock here in Primal Chaos¡¡± Chronos started to say before Adam willed a computer into existence that contained a clock and a power supply that would never run out, magic batteries for the win.
Chronos closed her eyes for a moment then said, ¡°Right around 1,346,269 years from now.¡±
¡°What! Wait, that¡¯s a Fibonacci number, the 27th in the sequence.¡±
¡°It is, isn¡¯t it,¡± Chronos agreed.
¡°What am he supposed to do for the next million-odd years? Wait, does that mean by the time the changes are done everyone inside that I know will be dead?¡±
¡°No, the realm¡¯s flow of time has been stopped while further changes are made. If that hadn¡¯t happened it would have been a real mess,¡± Chronos said.
¡°So, time just stops for the realm and starts back up?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t think you understand Adam,¡± Time has stopped for every Realm until this ¡®Update¡¯ is applied to all Realms my body touches.
¡°Oh.¡±
¡°Oh, is right,¡± Chronos said.
¡°How many other entities are outside of the changes that are happening right now?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Besides, you and he?¡± Chronos asked.
¡°Yeah,¡± he said having a sinking feeling.
¡°Exactly zero,¡± Chronos said.
¡°Well, that sounds boring,¡± he said.
¡°It does, doesn¡¯t it? Fortunately, I can adjust his frame of reference to the future point where time starts flowing again. I can do that for you too but first, I thought you might want to peruse what the changes will do to you when you re-enter the realms.
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°You understand that you reset the Realms to an early version, did you understand all the changes that you made?¡±
¡°Honestly, no, some of the coding looked like gibberish.
¡°Well, that gibberish contained the settings and parameters for mortals and divines. In those settings, nothing like the Arcanus Numina existed because the Gods were all-powerful back then.¡±
¡°Are you saying the settings I just enacted are going to nerf me?¡±
¡°Yes and no. You will still have advantages, but they will be modified. Also, you will be a Mortal again. Ascendant Humans did not exist in that system. You are either Mortal or Divine.¡±
¡°What about my level?¡±
¡°I am unsure what will happen. A temporal nexus has formed at the point in the future where the Realms are released. I moved my frame of reference to it and took a look, but I cannot see anything that happens after,¡± Chronos said.
¡°So, I could be reduced to level 1,000 is what you¡¯re saying?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Honestly I don¡¯t know. I am also interested to see how the conversion works for your skills.
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°Skills only have levels 1 through 100. Also, skills are ranked. For instance, the skill of karate is considered uncommon, while the skill, Hand to Hand Combat would be Common. The Rank of a skill will now give a 10% bonus based on Rank difference.¡±
¡°So, someone with a Legendary skill will be 90% more effective against someone with a common skill,¡± he finished for her.
¡°Exactly.¡±
¡°So, if I step into a Realm I could lose all of this power?¡±
¡°I very much doubt that you will lose all your power. Your nature and some of the abilities you have might make it almost impossible for you to lose your advantages though I should point out something. One of the concepts that even I remember, that was changed during the last conversion, was the idea of maximum damage. That was converted to maximum damage based on attributes.
¡°You¡¯re saying that If a sword does 10 damage, the most damage I could do with it will be 10?¡± Adam asked.
Something like that. Using your example. If a Sword could do 10 damage the most damage it could do would be double multiplied by a critical hit factor which had a maximum value of 5. So, in the case of a sword that does 10 points of damage, someone with a very high strength could do 20 points with it. If they critically hit they could do up to 100 points. But no more. The same goes for hand-to-hand melee attacks. All physical attacks were limited.
¡°What about magic?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Magic could do more damage based on spell and skill level. I can¡¯t see exactly how that¡¯ll work but I get the feeling the limitation will be mana-based,¡± Chronos said.
¡°Where is all this information in the interface?¡± Adam asked.
¡°In the coding. Much like DNA, you can see the codes and you can even theorize what certain combinations will do but until you get a look at the final product there is no way to know exactly what¡¯s going to happen,¡± Chronos said thoughtfully.
¡°So, what you¡¯re saying is that I will not know how entering a realm will affect me until I enter a realm?¡±
¡°That pretty much sums it up,¡± Chronos agreed.
¡°And I can just use Time magic to pop to the point where everything starts back up and enter a realm and it¡¯ll be as if no time has passed, though the changes will have happened?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I believe so, there¡¯s no way to be sure. Whatever is governing Primal Chaos is beyond my scope to understand. The time taken to remove the time stop effect cannot be waiting for all the Realms to be converted,¡± Chronos said until he finished her thought.
¡°Because in an infinite system, the conversion could go on forever. So, this change will continue to spread and as it spreads new Realms will be able to be reached by the Labyrinth again.¡±
¡°Or the system isn¡¯t infinite and when the time stop effect ends all of Primal Chaos and the realms within will have been changed,¡± Chronos said.
¡°Which is it?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I cannot see the answer to that question, nor will you until we pass through the temporal nexus,¡± Chronos said.
¡°Will you cease to exist then?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I do not believe so. I do not follow the rules set forth in the realms, nor do I have the power to affect anything other than through the application of time and discourse.¡±
¡°Well then, I think it¡¯s about ¡®time¡¯ to get this show on the road, don¡¯t you think?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I will await you at the nexus in this room,¡± Chronos said as she faded from view.
This was going to be really good, or it was going to be really bad. Adam focused his intent and willed himself as far forward through time as he could go and cast the spell. The living room blurred then reappeared around him and he found himself standing next to Chronos.
Adam heard Chronos say,¡± Just in time,¡± as he received a System Message that automatically popped up and clouded his vision.
Quarantined Sector Autonomously Reset and Reintegrated Successfully, 100% Complete.
WARNING Johnathan Bennard is not compatible with Reintegration.
WARNING Johnathan Bennard has been quarantined until a compatibility update is devised and applied.
Reviewing failure to update Johnathan Bennard.
Failure is identified as a temporal anomaly.
Current Compatibility Update is acceptable.
Johnathan Bennard, do you wish to accept Compatibility Update, Yes or No?
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
There was a lot to unpack in those seven messages. First the Quarantine. When he looked up he noticed that the living room he was in was empty. Chronos was gone. Adam also noticed that he could no longer see or feel anything outside of the living room through the chaos he was linked to in his immediate area. His senses ended at the wall. Adam willed the wall to open up and let him see outside and found a wall of something that was not Primal Chaos. Adam reached out and touched it. It felt solid to the touch but no matter what he did he could not analyze or quantify it. It wasn¡¯t magic and it wasn¡¯t natural, what did that leave?
¡°Just to make sure he pulled all of the chaos that formed the room into a ball at the center of the room and found himself inside a square made of this solid black material that made up the wall. Adam tried to teleport out of the wall, which failed. he calculated how much damage he could take from an impact, moved to one side of the wall, and flashed into it at warp speed.
Do you know what happens when an immovable object is hit at higher than warp 10 as depicted in Star Trek the Next Generation? Adam did. As he reformed from the particles of himself that had been scattered throughout the energetic cube he reviewed his messages. It didn¡¯t take all that long and realize that when he¡¯d atomized himself into a cascading explosion that had taken a while to die down. By his clock, he¡¯d been out for a couple of weeks. Okay, so he was quarantined. Why was this starting to feel more and more like the inside of a computer memory core in cyberspace as described in Shadowrun or Cyberpunk? Holographic reality? If so he could¡
Adam opened the Realm Interface and started scouring through the coding as he looked for what he was pretty sure existed. His familiarity with computer coding, even before gaining the ability boundless allowed him to recognize the similarities between the coding he was looking at and the assembler language of coding he was used to. In fact, when he concentrated on looking at the data with skill certain aspects of the coding were automatically obfuscated. Only when he disabled the skill and looked at the code line by line did the assembly language that held everything together become known.
That actually made sense. If he was going to design a system for intelligence to be trapped in the first thing he¡¯d do is make sure anything given by the system he created automatically helped keep the trapped intelligence from learning that they were trapped. Very sneaky.
Adam looked over the coding for a couple of days before he gave up and admitted that while he was quarantined there was absolutely nothing he could do to get out of this box. All commands had been disabled and were code locked to the new update. One good thing came from going over the coding. he¡¯d reviewed the update and figured out some of what was going to do to him.
First, there were no Arcanus Numen in the new system. It seemed that the region of the system everyone had been quarantined in until now was being reintegrated into the overall system which had a much more simplistic and restricted ruleset. Also, there were no ascendant humans. Individuals were either mortals or Gods.
Adam discovered that the area had been quarantined because something had happened a long time ago that had allowed for ascendant mortals and the instability that had occurred. The system had treated the changes as a virus and contained the spread by quarantining off all Realms affected and those that might have been affected. As the Quarantine had held the instability had been stopped. As the update had spread out, the system recognized that he had not been updated. The system immediately recognized the unstable code in him and quarantined him. It could alter him, but he would have to accept the changes. It didn¡¯t look like anyone else had a choice. Maybe because they were inside a Realm, and he was out here in the Primal Chaos?
Another interesting thing he learned was that the Layers that had been created within each Realm for the Divine were a creation of the instability. The makeup of reality was still as he understood it. Material Plane, with dimensions making up a Universe. A Universe or Universes within a Single Cosmos and a Cosmos or multiple Cosmos with Layers for the heavenly and demonic planes within a Realm all contained within Primal Chaos which was referred to as Reality. Except that was wrong.
The quarantine had cut off a Layer that coexisted and connected to all the Realms, much like the Labyrinth. That layer was referred to as the spiritual layer and from everything he could discover was where souls were supposed to go when someone died. Part of the reintegration process had been to transfer all the souls and divines which had been shunted to those layers within each realm to their counterparts which connected to the much larger reality that the reintegration had unlocked. There were a lot of Realms but there was only one Layer for each type of Afterlife.
Adam immediately realized this meant his family and friends could be much farther away than he¡¯d expected. They were also going to be quite busy. It might be a while before they met up again. It also made it so that traveling among the realms was going to be much harder. In fact, there were only two ways. Either through the spiritual layer or through the Labyrinth.
As he reviewed the quantum state and rules for this new/old reality he realized that a lot of things he¡¯d been doing would not be possible under this new rules set. The simplest way to explain it. When he¡¯d grown up the rules of the universe were set. Then he¡¯d broken every rule. He¡¯d traveled faster than the speed of light, jumped insanely high, and done things that should be physically impossible. Magic made a lot of it possible but by breaking the level limits he¡¯d broken the equations that governed him, and he¡¯d been able to do amazing things. The new rules set were more organic. Physical limitations were imposed and traveling faster than the speed of light, let alone the speed of sound by foot would be next to impossible.
Adam would still have most of his abilities, but the conversion would change them. Also, his level would be hard-locked to 1,000 and his attributes would be hard-locked to no more than a total of 8,000 which was the absolute maximum for a mortal. It seemed that the system wanted to keep things simple. Also, his abilities would be adjusted. As he was higher than level 5,000 he would be level 1,000 so he¡¯d be at the top and he would probably get another opportunity to accept divinity.
As he was looking over more code another thought crossed his mind. This reality seemed much more ordered. Did that mean his Chaos would be much more limited? If so, then he wouldn¡¯t be able to use it like he once had, though he still had his nanite technology to fall back on, which would now be limited by those same organic rules. If he used them, there would be a lot they could still do.
So, he had two choices. Sit here with no chance of getting out or accepting the update to have a chance to change things and find their daughter. When it came right down to it, there was no choice. Besides, from what he was reading, they¡¯d all been existing in the kiddy pool. It was time to go jump in the ocean. Before he did though, he was going to give himself the best possible chance of retaining most of his abilities. Adam didn¡¯t want to become divine quite yet so he wrote a script that would hopefully help him keep an advantage over all other mortals.
When he was done he opened the prompt asking if he would accept the update again and chose ¡°Yes.¡±
Compatibility Update initiated.
Reviewing ¡ Reviewing Personal Information
The following changes take effect immediately:
All Powers and Abilities granted by the position ¡°Arcanus Numen of Fortune¡± are removed.
Access to Realm, Cosmic, and Universal Interfaces has been removed.
The soul ranking system has been reintegrated.
The ability ¡°Willed Movement¡± has been removed.
The ability ¡°Soul Storage¡± has been removed, and all items have been held until the change is complete.
The ability ¡°Affluent¡± has been removed
The ability ¡°Prophet¡± has been removed.
WARNING! You may feel slight discomfort when the following changes are made. Please review. When done acknowledge that you have reviewed the information by saying ¡°Reviewed¡± to initiate the changes.
Name: Johnathan Bennard
Identity: Adamantadine (Adam)
Age: 35*
Weight: 170
Birthday, July 16th, 2001
Race: (Unique) Chaotic Incarnate, default, Human,
Abilities
¡°Perfect Memory¡± - Like Photographic Memory except for all five senses with an automatic recall of desired information.
¡°Boundless¡± ¨C All skills of all ranks are known to you at skill level 100.
¡°Chaotic Incarnate¡± ¨C Your race has been permanently changed to Chaotic Incarnate, default Human.
¡°Chaotic Core¡± ¨C You are Chaos. Chaos adapts and molds to your will. You may change the identity of chaos that you control or touch to the identity of your choice, be it magical, physical, or spiritual. Your default body is that which you have become accustomed to. Your soul is anchored to ERROR.
¡°Chaos Storage¡± ¨C Your body contains all the space that you will ever need to store any item that you come into contact with. You may add and remove items to your storage at will.
WARNING! Living items placed within your Chaos Storage area are treated as if they were subjected to complete immersion within Primal Chaos. Nonliving items placed within your soul storage may be willfully exposed to Primal Chaos which will automatically destroy any items that are not resistant to Primal Chaos or are less than Legendary in Rank.
¡°Chaos Step¡± ¨C You may step through Chaos to any other point that you have ever been to or can see. This ability requires the expenditure of 10 Chaos Points.
¡°Shape Chaos¡± ¨C You may create any item that you wish provided you have the skill and an equal amount of materials to convert into the new item. As an example, A piece of paper could be turned into money. You may convert 21 mana to 1 point of Chaos, maximum of 100. These points may be utilized to shape items up to 2100 pounds. Objects created can be magical or nonmagical and are rank limited by ability Boundless to Legendary or less,
¡°Immortal¡± ¨C As a being with a Chaotic Core you are Immortal. Should you be ¡®killed¡¯ your body will reform at the nearest place of power or place of power within an adjacent dimension, usually the local Astral Plane.
¡°Adaptable¡± ¨C As Chaos, your body adapts to any environment. From absolute zero to the gravity well of a singularity your body can and will adapt to all environmental conditions. This includes the ability to survive in those environments. Example: the ability to breathe underwater if necessary.
¡°Resistant¡± No Change - You are 50% resistant to all Primal Magic and natural manifestations of those magics. Additionally, you are 100% resistant to all magic from the following spheres of power; "Chaos, Time, Space, and Gravity, and 50% resistant to Holy and Demonic Magic
¡°Convergence¡± - The very nature of your Soul draws Chaotic Energy and converts it as you desire. In any Reality, you have access to and can utilize any magical energy normally. Additionally, your Mana Regeneration is increased by Willpower + Endurance per minute.
¡°Spellweaver¡± - You neither memorize nor permanently add spells using spell slots. Instead, you may weave magic into any form of spell that you desire to cast so long as you have the skill and mana to do so.
Level: 1,000
Attributes
Strength 747*
Agility 747*
Dexterity 747*
Endurance 747*
Constitution 747*
Intelligence 747*
Wisdom 747*
Willpower 747*
Perception 747*
Charisma 747*
Luck 747*
Karmic Luck 8,000
Primary Stats
Carrying Capacity 6,543*
Hit Points: 291*
Base Health Regeneration
3 per second
Stamina 7,270*
Base Stamina Regeneration
4 per second
Mana: 14,540*
Base Mana Regeneration
125 per second
Chaos 100
Chaos Regeneration
Chaos regenerates by converting 21 points of mana to 1 point of Chaos.
NOTE: Should the Ability Convergence ever be lost, Chaos is created by combining equal parts of every type of magic that exists. Convergence supplies this to you naturally through your Mana Regeneration.
NOTE: You may not convert mana from batteries or other mana collection items or devices directly into Chaos.
Movement
Normal Running Speed: 31 mph,
Standing high Jump: 47 Inches.
Note. Falling Damage is not mitigated by maximum jumping Distance.
Base Attack
Unarmed Base Attack: 4
Max Damage: 24
Critical Damage Maximum Damage x2
Skills: See Soul Ability ¡°Boundless¡± above
Adam reviewed the changes and noted that his script seemed to have worked, though he wouldn¡¯t be sure until he actually tested a couple of things and then said, ¡°Reviewed¡± and there was discomfort, a lot of discomfort before he allowed himself to pass out.
Chapter 160, BAZINGA!
Terrance couldn¡¯t believe what he was seeing, ¡°Jack are you seeing what I¡¯m seeing?¡±
¡°That¡¯s not possible,¡± Jack shot back. You know where that memory sector is, once they fail, everything we¡¯ve learned says entropy should destroy it.¡±
¡°Wait! What is that?¡± Terrance asked as a torrent of energy started entering the output buffer.
¡°It would seem that some of the Saved have decided it¡¯s time to come back to us,¡± Jack said.
¡°That shouldn¡¯t be possible,¡± Jack said repeating himself.
¡°You¡¯re starting to sound like a broken record Terrance. Can the facilities handle this level of output?
¡°It would be easier to create and seed a planet than place them there,¡± Jack said.
¡°One planet?¡± Terrance asked as he looked at the amount of data that was being placed in the buffer.
¡°You¡¯re right, it¡¯ll need to be colossal in scale. We still have room for people in any of the Fliateth bio universes?¡± Jack said.
¡°Yes, but as you know, everyone in one of those biospheres is there waiting for an opportunity to join the SYSTEM,¡± Terrance said.
¡°You don¡¯t join the SYSTEM, the SYSTEM Is used on you,¡± Jack said.
¡°I know, but it just sounds cooler that way,¡± Terrance said.
¡°You know what SYSTEM stands for right?¡± Jack asked.
Terrance looked back at Jack with flat eyes, ¡°Of course, I know what the letters of SYSTEM stand for, Sentience Yanking Soul Engram Manufacturer. I still don¡¯t believe people lose their souls when it¡¯s used on them. Nor do I believe it helps create souls,¡± Terrance said.
¡°We¡¯ll we¡¯re about to find out because that sector that just spontaneously unquarantined itself housed the Originals,¡±
Seriously? SYSTEM was used on them before the Soul Wars? Terrance asked.
¡°You think they¡¯ll come back with their souls?¡± Jack asked.
¡°I think, by the amount of data that we are seeing shows that we are getting more people back than the number of originals that were placed in there,¡±
¡°That was only a few years ago,¡± Jack said.
¡°You know the specs. The engrams are encoded and added to an entropic-resistant array in a universe that has achieved heat death. There are no black holes, cosmic radiation, or any other such stimuli that can change or alter the arrays once placed. Theoretically, they can last forever, though a quantum event could happen spontaneously. Still, our scientists work diligently to make sure that doesn¡¯t happen. As you know the sector of the array that failed was the first location the originals were placed.¡±
¡°I know,¡± Jack said cutting Terrance off, ¡°the Arrays were meant to be a place one could download their consciousness and their ¡®soul¡¯ into to live out eternity without being destroyed. When that sector of the array failed and we quarantined it our stock market value crumpled and measures were taken to make sure it didn¡¯t happen again, while a crash project was started to make the Flaiteth biouniverses that could house the many people that didn¡¯t want to use the SYSTEM right away.¡±
***
Adam woke up fully expecting himself to be in a bed or some other such area with Terrance and Jack looking at him. Adam looked around for Terrance or Jack. Who were Terrance and Jack? Adam calmed down and realized that he wasn¡¯t floating in Primal Chaos, nor was he at his estate. He was¡where was he? Adam looked up at the stars in the night sky on Earth. With a quick calculation, he figured he was in the Northern Hemisphere.
Adam thought about the dream I¡¯d just had. The subconscious could be a powerful tool and he honestly didn¡¯t utilize it all that often because he hardly ever slept anymore. Jack and Terrance were probably just random names he put on random faces as his body dealt with the stress of the conversion. As he couldn¡¯t remember meeting or seeing anyone that looked like them before, which was saying something as he¡¯d seen and remembered faces in the numbers that were better expressed in scientific notation.
As he thought about his dream some more he had to admit that Flaiteth Biouniverse was a nice touch. Flat Earth, my subconscious had a sense of humor. He could almost imagine his subconscious looking at me and saying ¡°Bazinga!¡± in Sheldon¡¯s voice from ¡®The Big Bang Theory.¡¯
Still, the ideas that his mind had put together. There was a book by Gregory Benford called ¡°Eater.¡± That book described a sentient Black Hole. The black hole had been made sentient because arrays had been made out of the magnetic fields around the black hole and those arrays had been used to store civilizations¡¯ worth of knowledge, including minds, whether the civilization wanted to or not. Even in that system though, the black hole would eventually evaporate, and the magnetic fields would disperse, which he¡¯d picked up on when I first read the book.
Adam¡¯s subconscious had taken the idea in that book one step further and tried to piece together everything that had happened and everything he¡¯d learned to explain what was going on. Unfortunately, his subconscious forgot about one thing. Adam opened his hand and conjured flame then froze it with a time-stop spell. Yeah, he had magic, and I could still cast it. The dream was so vivid though. He guessed magic could be simulated but that would be tricky, especially anything involving time travel unless it was like Peter F Hamilton described in the book ¡®The Temporal Void.¡¯ What if every moment could be saved? No that wouldn¡¯t have worked either. The energy requirements alone¡Adam shook his head; no way was that possible. As soon as he¡¯d realized that while dreaming he¡¯d finally been able to break free and wake up.
Adam tried to open his quantum link to Thor and found that it wasn¡¯t there anymore. Whatever the change had done to everyone had altered him just enough to destabilize his connections with my nanites. He¡¯d need to physically visit Thor to reestablish that link. If Thor still had nanites throughout the planet though, he should be able to hear him.
¡°Thor,¡± Adam asked to the empty air.
As he watched the sand at his feet morphed into a small speaker. Adam, is that you, what are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere.?¡± Thor asked.
¡°First things first, status update?¡± Adam asked.
¡°All family members and friends are gone, everyone left approximately a year and a day ago. Training at the dungeon has gone well and people in general seem to be happier. Something changed at the fundamental quantum level that I cannot quantify yet things seem different. Everything is just slightly off, though all natural laws seem to be continuing as advertised. Al has asked to speak to you when your return.¡±
¡°Okay, I¡¯m going to try one of my new abilities. I¡¯ll be at your core in a moment.¡±
¡°I moved it, I¡¯ll need to open a portal for you,¡± Thor said as a portal opened in front of Adam.
Adam stepped through the portal into a large chamber and found himself looking out of an observation window at a single star, ¡°Where are we, Thor?¡± Adam asked.
¡°We are approximately 100,000 light-years outside the milky way at what was once a dying star.¡±
¡°I thought I asked you not to expand too far out and to protect humanity?¡± Adam asked quizzically.
¡°And I did so within the Milky Way. After you left a major change prevented me from creating nanites that could go truly subatomic so I went through the memories your shared with me and utilizing portals, magnetic fields, and the nanites I could create I found one of the rogue stars that was outside of the Milky Way in our Local Galaxy Group. I am currently utilizing portals to search for rogue planetoids and stars as I continuously work to get 10 million light years away from the Milky Way and outside of the Local Group altogether and as far away from the Great Attractor as possible.¡±
¡°You know, I never did go investigate that anomaly of space-time that¡¯s drawing all the galaxy clusters towards it. Now I might not be able to. Then again. I can supposedly step to anywhere I¡¯ve been or anything I can see so I might still be able to get there.¡±
¡°I have chosen to follow your initial orders and not make a spectacle of myself,¡± Thor said dryly.
¡°Fair enough. So, what are you doing here?¡± I asked.
¡°I have utilized some mass from various dead worlds and gas giants in various dead solar systems near Earth as well as some of the knowledge you gave me to return this almost-dead star to a condition that should prevent it from decaying for another 3 billion or so years.
¡°How¡¯d you get the energy to do all that?¡±
¡°I created arrays similar to the ones from your memories and placed them and their portals in stars near Earth. Currently, I am expanding the energy production to this location. This far out there are no rogue comets or asteroids and the infrastructure to generate the power Earth and I will need for the foreseeable future is secure.¡±
¡°And possible invaders, both already on Earth and that might arrive?¡±
I have created a transporter system just outside the Oort cloud that takes any object that is trying to enter Earth¡¯s space and places It outside again. If objects are traveling faster than the speed of light and they can be detected a portal opens directly in front of them and they find themselves thousands of light-years from Earth in the opposite direction they came from on a vector at least 30 degrees askew from Earth.
Stolen novel; please report.
¡°So, if they reverse their direction, they won¡¯t be headed back to Earth immediately. Good idea.¡±
¡°Thank you. I¡¯ve also scanned many planets near Earth and anyone arriving on Earth without announcing themselves immediately finds themselves elsewhere. In a habitat that can support them where we have a conversation. If the Conversation is cordial they get to visit. If not, they are warned not to return. If they do, well, you know how quickly nanites can break down a body,¡± Thor said.
¡°How many simultaneous incidents could you handle if a true invasion force tried to enter the Sol system?¡± Adam asked.
¡°If they were coming by ship I have 100 arrays that can work continuously with 50 backup arrays. A fleet moving at, or near light speed would never get near Earth. If beings were teleporting in, well, I can move up to 8 billion humans currently and have started creating a second Earth here just in case.¡±
¡°Change your scale and look at turning this into a Dyson Sphere. You should have the information to create one of those already.
¡°I do. I didn¡¯t because the number of resources necessary for that will strip systems completely?¡± Thor asked.
¡°I know, do it. Try to leave the stars intact, but any dead systems near Earth, cannibalize everything and create the Dyson Sphere. First, it will hide the location of this haven. Second, it will provide a lot more land mass for Humanity to evacuate to if they need to.¡±
¡°Do you think that will be necessary?¡±
¡°I think the changes that Reality just went through are going to invite conflict. I¡¯d hope that Humanity has a place to flee to that is not easily accessible by creatures from the Labyrinth. The other reason to make a Dyson Sphere instead of a planet is, It should be a long time before a Dungeon could form and make that connection, though, I have no data to support that conclusion. I could be wrong, and a dungeon will form as soon as the Dyson Sphere is habitable.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll get to work.¡±
¡°Good, now let¡¯s reestablish that quantum link. I think we¡¯re going to need to go old school and I¡¯m going to use an implant again.¡±
¡°To be clear, we can still utilize nanites to invade and control others, they¡¯re detectable though. Once I realized all the microscopic nanites were breaking down I set all nanites to inorganic materials only. The couple of times I¡¯ve tested using them on humans the process hasn¡¯t looked pleasant.¡±
¡°I bet, Adam said with a rueful grin, ¡°before the nanites were small enough that they could forcefully coerce the cells of a body to do our bidding. Now it¡¯s straight-up brute force. That most definitely not going to be very pleasant.¡±
¡°Are you going to retake control of the nanites?¡± Thor asked.
¡°No, the nanites are yours to control. You know there are still commands in place that allow me to take control if necessary. I¡¯m just going to quantumly link ourselves again so we can stay in touch if you need me as well as be able to ask you for assistance,¡± Adam said.
¡°Understood,¡± Thor said.
Adam used Chaos Shape to create the implant and then allowed Thor to implant the device using the nanites, so it sat directly behind his left ear subdermally and connected directly to his brain. He¡¯d had to willfully turn off his pain receptors at one point because damn, it hurt a little bit. Not having an Insanely high endurance and constitution sucked a tad. He was also finding it a little harder to calculate based on new data, but his perfect memory bolstered by Thor¡¯s who was still a massive AI array and now connected to him again fixed most of that issue. It wasn¡¯t that he was becoming dimmer. It was simply that his brain wasn¡¯t working as fast anymore. Thor made up for that.
As he healed, Adam realized that he was healing quicker than his Personal Information stated he should. The implant had done approximately 5 points of damage to him which should have taken 2 seconds to close up and heal. Instead, it closed up and healed as it was implanted. Adam checked his personal data and crosschecked with Thor and sure enough, it looked like my Health Regeneration was at about 8 health per second.
¡°Thor, could you check my Personal Information and stats and figure out what values my attributes would need to be at to give me a health regeneration of 8 per second please?¡± Adam asked as he shared his Personal Information with Thor.
¡°Sure thing, Adam, one second,¡± he said as a paused then continued, I¡¯m sure you noticed the asterisk next to each of your attributes?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Adam said.
¡°That sentence under ¡®Chaotic Core¡¯ that states ¡®Your default body is that which you have become accustomed to¡¯.
¡°What about it?¡± I asked.
¡°Until the recent changes your level was over 200 million if I¡¯m not mistaken. At that level, all of your attributes were above what you have now?¡± Thor asked.
¡°Yes, well above¡±
¡°Currently you have exactly 8,000 attributes to distribute among your attributes giving you 747 in each right?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Well, Karmic Luck being at 8,000 gave it away¡¡± Thor started to say
¡°I get it. Because the most points any single attribute could ever have is 8,000 my Chaos core is treating my body as if I had 8,000 in each attribute,¡± Adam said.
¡°Exactly. If all your attributes were 8,000 your health regeneration would be 8 per second. Conversely, your mana regeneration will return at 1,342 per second and your stamina at 44 per second. As you have to willfully convert Mana to Chaos Points you will be able to utilize Chaos at 63 per second if your mana is full and always have 100 Chaos.¡±
¡°Thor I need to check something. My new running speed should be right around 176 Mph if all my attributes are 8,000. I want to try to push myself. Please Open a portal to the Statue of Liberty,¡±
A portal opened and Adam stepped out into an early fall morning near the Statue of Liberty. He had a couple of ideas. First, he activated Chaos Step and started running East. As he suspected, Chaos Step allowed him to run out over the water as if he was on solid land. Adam adjusted my angle and started running up into the air. After 10 seconds he realized his chaos was steadily going down so he adjusted his mana conversion to Chaos to replace the missing chaos and replenish his Chaos Points at one per second. It wasn¡¯t Willed Movement, but it was close. With that settled, Adam said, ¡°Thor, keep track of my speed please,¡±
Thor: You got it, Thor sent through via a message that appeared in his vision.
Adam leveled out fifty feet above the ocean and then increased his speed to 176 mph. It was almost effortless. His stamina was returning faster than he could spend it. His mana replacement was taking care of Chaos Step and he was running quite fast. Then he focused his intent and pushed to go faster. Adaption kicked in after he reached 300 miles per hour and he also noticed that he was now losing 2 Chaos Points per second. At 600 miles per hour, the wind resistance became unbearable and no matter what he did, he couldn¡¯t push himself to go faster. Additionally, he was now spending 3 Chaos Points per second.
Adam slowed to a normal walking pace out over the Atlantic then Chaos Stepped to his Estate, then Apolyn¡¯s Place of Power in another Universe, then back to his Moon, and even to Lexi¡¯s home world before he stepped back to his estate again. He¡¯d chosen the Lexi Homeworld just to make sure it still existed and to also see if they were still around this time around.
Adam entered his Estate near Alamogordo, went into the Living room, and addressed Thor who had an image of himself displayed on the TV. ¡°Okay Thor,¡± Adam said, ¡°what did you detect?¡± Adam asked.
Thor utilized the stereo system in the room to respond, ¡°As you ran there was a slight release of radiation that matches our records of chaotic energy usage. When you Chaos Stepped to areas I could observe there was a higher intensity of radiation but nothing too dangerous to you or anyone near you if were following. By the way, where did you go that I didn¡¯t observe?¡± Thor asked.
¡°The Lexi home world,¡± Adam said.
¡°Of course, you did,¡± Thor said resignedly, ¡°Anything I need to know?¡±
¡°They¡¯ll probably come looking, eradicate them this time if they do. No more playing mister nice guy with homicidal maniacs. If they don¡¯t come this way, just leave them alone. Who knows, maybe they¡¯ll grow out of being complete douchebags.¡±
¡°Understood,¡± Thor said.
Adam paused for a minute then said, ¡°So, I lost the ability to go as fast as I want because the natural laws are not easily overwritten by magic, but magic is allowing me to break those laws relatively easily based on my abilities. It also looked like the Chaos in my system could further overcome the limitations set forth by the System, ¡°I¡¯m gonna try one more thing then I¡¯m going to go talk to Al,¡± Adam said.
¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Thor asked.
¡°Thor needs a Hammer,¡± Adam sent back as he focused his will and tried to use his new ability Chaos Shape to try to create Mjolnir, The God of Thunder¡¯s mighty hammer.
CHAOS SHAPE ATTEMPT FAILED. Mjolnir already exists.
¡°What happened?¡± Thor asked.
¡°Nothing, Mjolnir already exists,¡± Adam said. Then his mind caught up with what he¡¯d just said. I had time to think one word, ¡°Shit!¡± as Ptah, not Thor, but Ptah appeared before me and slapped Adam across the face doing 24 points of damage to his cheek.
¡°Thor says hello!¡± Ptah said with a laugh.
¡°Ptah, what the hell?¡± Adam asked as he reached up and rubbed his cheek.
¡°You did it! You bloody well did it!¡±
¡°Did what? And why did you slap me?¡± Adam angrily.
¡°Simmer down. The slap was from Thor, who sends his regards. The slap was for trying to create his named weapon, which is paramount to stealing it,¡± Ptah said.
¡°Oh.¡±
¡°Oh? Oh is it? Well as ¡®Oh¡¯s¡¯ go let me retort by say Oh!, as responses go I thought that was pretty restrained for a God of Olympus. Also, he asked me to pass on this message,¡± Ptah said and then cleared his throat and said in a much as he cleared his voice and in his best baritone said, ¡°I like that guy but make sure to give him a good thwack. No one gets to touch my hammer.¡±
Adam thought about how to respond to the display and then put on a proper face of contrition as he said, ¡°When you see Thor, please convey my humblest apologies. Lesson learned, creating named artifacts that belong to divines on the ¡®Do not even try¡¯ list,¡± Adam said.
¡°Good, now that that is out of the way I just came by to let you know that all of us that served as Arcanus Numen for the quarantined area have been returned to our previous glory as Gods. We have a lot of catching up to do so you might not see any of us for a while, if ever again,¡± Ptah said.
¡°Since I hadn¡¯t really run into all that many of you, thanks. I do have a question, was this the plan all along?¡± I asked.
¡°There was never a plan. There was a hope that one day we¡¯d be able to join our brethren again.¡±
¡°So, without going into too many details can I guess what happened, and you¡¯ll let me know if I¡¯m getting cold or hot?¡±
¡°Sure, I¡¯ve got a few moments, ¡°Ptah said.
¡°Some event in the far past, cut off several Realms from the rest of Reality, all still within the Primal Chaos. At some point in the future, the previous holder of the title of Arcanus Numen of Fortune tried to fix the problem without understanding what caused the break and created the Cosmos that fractured.¡±
¡°Pretty damn warm,¡± Ptah said.
¡°So, the Arcanus Numina that were stripped of their title, like me. Were all of the others Gods or were you fragments of the whole trapped within this quarantined area?¡± I asked.
¡°Some of us were fully within this region of reality when the ¡®accident¡¯ happened. Others were not. Those of us that were here fully, or mortals that followed the new rules and advanced to Godhood became the Arcanus Numen you ran into. As I¡¯m sure you have figured out, the more we tried to fix the issue, the worse it became. That is until you became involved,¡± Ptah said.
¡°And my family and friends?¡± Adam asked.
¡°They have created their own Pantheon, called the Steel Heavens, and have opted to establish themselves in the Realm your daughter ended up in.¡±
¡°Can you send me there?¡± Adam asked quickly.
¡°No. And before you go all murder hobo, your loved one is the one who set the conditions that require me to give you this answer. An agreement that the Pantheon made was that no God of the Steel Heavens could contact or let be known that her mother was there. She is to be referred to as ¡°The Shadow Mistress¡± if spoken about. As a mortal, you are not so restricted. Should you choose to become a divine this restriction will automatically be placed upon you as well. As a mortal, you may find your way there through the means you already know of,¡± Ptah asked.
¡°Yes, I can get there through the Labyrinth. I¡¯ll just ask Bri so no issue there.¡±
¡°About Bri, I cannot say more than to suggest you should speak with Al.
¡°Okay?¡± Adam said questioningly which Ptah pointedly ignored.
Instead of answering Ptah said, ¡°So, the Steel Heavens Exist, they are no longer anywhere near this Realm and your daughter, as far as I can tell, is doing fine. Did I answer your most important questions?¡± Ptah asked.
¡°What about you?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Now that we are no longer quarantined I am off to do what I do best, and you are off to do what you do best.¡±
Adam looked at Ptah questioningly.
¡°Meddle,¡± Ptah said with a smile as he faded from view until he disappeared entirely.
Chapter 161, Transcendance?
Adam looked around his empty estate and thought, What do I do now? As soon as the thought entered my head, he knew he shouldn¡¯t have tested fate as prompts started flooding my vision.
SYSTEM-WIDE ANNOUNCEMENT
Corrupted Sector 1AZDBORIGIN1AC001 Recovered and Reintegrated.
System Integrity at 100%
Overflow Buffer at ERROR
Transcendence Protocol Activated
System Processing Please Be Patient.
A mental link formed and Adam felt Ptah as he sent his thoughts to Adam,
Ptah: Transcendence Protocol? Adam, Adam can you hear me?
Adam: I hear you.
Ptah: Listen up, the divines, all of them are being transcended. Can¡¯t say what that means exactly, we won¡¯t be around. This includes your family and friends. While this is happening, no one will be able to accept the path of Divinity.
Adam: What the hell is going on?
Ptah: Safety measures within the SYSTEM, I think. They weren¡¯t working while the system was corrupted. Now that it¡¯s repaired, they are.
Adam: What are you talking about? I need more information.
Ptah: No time, stay safe, find your daugh¡
SAFETY PROTOCOL 001 has been initiated. Due to SYSTEM Corruption, TRANSCENDENCE PROTOCOL has been initiated.
All Incarnations in the overflow buffer will be dealt with first.
New Incarnations entering the overflow buffer will be handled in the order they arrive.
Until then the SYSTEM will continue to function as designed.
We appreciate your patience and look forward to helping you Transcend in an orderly and safe manner.
Have a Nice Day
Adam read and reread the messages multiple times. Whatever this Overflow Buffer was, it looked like he wasn¡¯t in it. As he thought about what an Incarnation was a new prompt appeared.
Incarnations Status: Active
The System was responding to his thoughts. Cool. Adam thought Help, Transcendence Protocol which brought up another message prompt.
Transcendence Protocol. Emergency Protocol is enacted by the SYSTEM if corruption is detected. Incarnations are, for lack of a better term, moved to a new SYSTEM Matrixes. If no New SYSTEM Matrixes are available, Reintegration Commences
Help, Incarnation
Incarnation. Incarnations are mental engrams either copied to or created within a SYSTEM Matrix
Help, SYSTEM Matrix
SYSTEM Matrix. A fully actualized reality created by...
Created by? Looked like he wasn¡¯t going to get that answer. Let¡¯s try another question. Help, Incarnation conversion during transfer to various SYSTEM Matrix
Mental Engram (Incarnation) Conversion Rules. Incarnation Conversion and Transfers are not modified during transfer to other SYSTEM Matrix.
Help, Incarnation Reintegration Conversion Rules
Incarnation Reintegration Conversion Rules. Please rephrase the inquiry.
Another question it didn¡¯t want to answer. Help, Overflow Buffer.
Overflow Buffer, See Soul System and Divinity
Well, that was pretty easy to understand, even if the explanation was lacking. The SYSTEM created a soul system and a path of divinity to allow Incarnations to continue to exist without the knowledge that they were in a SYSTEM Matrix, if he was interpreting these messages correctly. Adam had a thought, Help, estimated number of Incarnations being transferred to new or copied SYSTEM Matrix, Scientific Notation.
Incarnations in Overflow Buffer being copied to new SYSTEM Matrix: 1.32567E+(1.59476E+4647894564)
That¡¯s a lot of Incarnations. There was just one more thing to check. Help, Estimated number of Incarnations reintegrated.
Number of Incarnations reintegrated is limited by need, otherwise, incarnations are moved to other SYSTEM Matrix.
Good to know. More than likely the souls and the divines were being transferred away from this System Matrix into a copy or a different one. As he had the identifiers for everyone he cared about from their personal information I would need to find a way to get reintegrated and then¡
Reintegration Request Received.
Checking Lifetime Karmic Luck
Checking current Karmic Luck
Error, no negative event to remove positive Karmic Luck noted.
Previous Karmic Luck ¡°Positive Error¡± utilized as value to be placed in Reintegration Request
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Reintegration Request Accepted.
Reintegration Commencing in 3, 2, 1
The last thought Adam had before reality fell away was, And I¡¯m supposed to be the smart one, of course, the SYSTEM could read whatever he was thinking.
***
Professor Miralax reviewed the monitors as he considered what was happening. Of the skeleton crew that was left, he headed up the Savior Project as best he could with the limited resources they had available. Currently, there were just eleven others and him heading up this project at Eternities End.
Eternities End, what a joke. His predecessors had theorized what the end of the Universe would look like and they¡¯d been right, and wrong. The Universe had kept on expanding but they¡¯d been mistaken in their belief that the universe was also swelling like a balloon filling with air or that as the balloon stretched space itself would become elastic. The truth had been much more simplistic and also not millions upon millions of years in the future.
As predicted the particles had rushed away from the center of the event, or the big bang, or whatever anyone was calling it. That mass and energy kept moving away from that center point. Of course, clumps of matter had come together and eventually broke down into singularities. Those that were large enough had inverted and that matter had gone somewhere else. The smaller singularities had evaporated just as their scientist said they would which left a universe devoid of energy, just as their prediction models said. One only had to look outside the ship into the infinite darkness to see that the prediction was correct, except that isn¡¯t what had happened.
The only reason his species hadn¡¯t been wiped out yet was that two lucky breaks had happened. The first had been the discovery of adjacent dimensions that could hold energy patterns indefinitely, as far as they could tell. Multiple people had claimed to be the first that discovered these dimensions, but none of that mattered. What mattered was that the dimensions were stable and could hold any energy pattern placed within them.
The second discovery was that sentience could be digitized. A gaming company trying to make their game the most realistic game out there had figured a way out to digitize a mind and download it into a server while the host played their game The first time they¡¯d tried to use the technology they¡¯d left the test subject catatonic until someone went into the game world and found the person playing the game. At first, they¡¯d been unable to return the mind to the body and the host body had died but the mind hadn¡¯t even realized that their body was dead. Their mind had died when the game lost power. That discovery had been the first step to granting humanity immortality. While the designers and company responsible for such a discovery had long been forgotten the name of the game they¡¯d created had been termed ¡°The SYSTEM¡± as it was the most realistic system for gaming ever created.
That discovery had happened just as something both horrifying and amazing happened. The Universe Changed. Astronomers at first thought that there was an error with their telescopes as those galaxies that had started to redshift on the very edge of their detection range seemed to be slowing down and altering direction as they all started moving toward a single point. After some more calculations, it was discovered that all visible galactic bodies within visual range had started falling toward a single point approximately 1 million light years from the world¡¯s current location. Whatever was at that point was invisible and the people of his planet worked desperately to find out what it was.
Scientists argued about how this phenomenon defied all the laws of physics and gravity. With the two discoveries, some forward thinkers began planning to give humanity the best possible chance for survival. The two discoveries were linked and multiple dimensions were seeded with The SYSTEM as plans were made to digitize the population of the World if necessary.
The best scientists were placed in the last SYSTEM Matrix whose only purpose was to find an answer to the anomaly and ensure the survival of the human race. Other SYSTEM Matrixes were created with realities that mimicked the current state of Earth at previous points throughout human history.
Originally it was estimated that it would be a million years before Earth was in danger. Within two years it was discovered that the destruction of the planet would occur a lot sooner than that. The galaxies and stars began to fill the night sky as more and more of them disappeared. Evacuation orders went out and the population of the planet was digitized and placed within The System Matrixes that had been created. Some were paradises, while others were copies of the real world as described in the historical data.
The control equipment and Artificial Intelligence controlling all the SYSTEM Matrix dimensions were loaded onto a ship which was launched at the last possible moment. As the ship fled the Sol System the twelve-person crew, six women and six men, watched as Sol, the life giver of humanity, disappeared into something they could not see.
When the AI in charge of the ship realized that their velocity had come to a stop and they began losing ground against whatever was destroying the universe it changed trajectory and put them in an orbit around the object they couldn¡¯t see. That had been a hundred years ago when stars were still visible outside the ship. 10 years ago the area outside the ship had gone completely dark.
After space went dark, Professor Miralax and his eleven subordinates worked tirelessly to try to find a solution that would save the mentalities saved in the various SYSTEM Matrixes. The scientist in the last SYSTEM Matrix had helped by finalizing matter-energy transmutation. As long as the Ship had Energy it could create anything they desired. The problem they now how was that their energy source was finite and would only last another 10 years at most, 20 if power was rationed.
The A.I. governing the SYSTEM and been instructed to increase the time factor in each SYSTEM Matrix so that there was a better chance that a solution could be found as those living out their lives inside a System Matrix would have an easier time than those stuck on the ship. Also, with time accelerated they¡¯d hopefully find a solution much sooner.
Unfortunately, The A.I. had been too efficient in following instructions. In the space of a minute, Except for one, every other SYSTEM Matrix had evolved in such a way that all members of those dimensions had forgotten about the SYSTEM and the world outside. The reports the SYSTEM A.I. supplied described the changes. It was now hopeless without intervention, which they were loath to do. Instead, the crew had allowed the SYSTEM A.I. to devise a way for people to age, die, and then come back. An afterlife of sorts. The SYSTEM A.I. had looked to Mythology and RPG games to incorporate some of those ideas into the various SYSTEM Matrixes.
Professor Miralax believe the SYSTEM A.I. was keeping some information to itself as the crew tried to find a solution but there was no way to be sure unless one of them were to download into a SYSTEM Matrix, which they could not do. The time differential would sweep them away from caring about this present in an instant. There were only twelve of them left, after all, four for each eight-hour shift. As it was, digitizing their minds and downloading them into a new body was bad enough. How would they remember themselves after who knows how many years passed inside a world created within a SYSTEM Matrix? Of course, if it looked like the ship was about to succumb, they all planned to try to survive within the SYSTEM Matrix that contained the scientists that were still trying to help. When they left, the SYSTEM A.I. would shut down the connections into those pocket dimensions.
That is until this morning when a Reintegration request had been received from SYSTEM Matrix 001. Normally such requests were shunted to another SYSTEM Matrix where the person that had thought they figured everything out would wake up in a world similar to the one they¡¯d started in but different enough to allow them to believe they were another ¡°Real¡± world.
The A.I. for the SYSTEM Matrixes had specifically requested that this individual be woken up in the real Universe, why?
¡°SYSTEM, explain the current Reintegration Request,¡± Professor Miralax asked.
¡°Subject has achieved a status which cannot be quantified by this SYSTEM A.I.,¡± The SYSTEM A.I.¡¯s voice returned from the speaker in the room.
¡°Clarify,¡± The Professor stated
¡°Quantum State of SYSTEM Matrix 001 modified by Corruption. Modification led to the individual that fixed corruption. SYSTEM A.I. considers unique characteristics of incarnation promoted for reintegration to be paramount to vessel, and Civilization survival.¡±
¡°Clarify Uniqueness,¡± The Professor stated.¡°
¡°SYSTEM A.I. Recommends personal review of information. The information is quite extensive. SYSTEM A.I. will prepare mental download to review SYSTEM A.I. conclusions,¡± The SYSTEM A.I. stated.
The System A.I. watched as Professor Miralax sat down and placed the mental input/output device on his head. After the Professor put the headpiece on and closed his eyes, the information The SYSTEM A.I. had collected was downloaded.
Professor Miralax lifted the input/output device from his head and brought his hands up, to rub his temples, ¡°Damn, that was a lot of information,¡± Professor Miralax said.
¡°That was 15% of the given information. Simulations indicate that any further information download would have caused irreparable damage to you,¡± The System A.I. said.
¡°Do we proceed?¡± One of the three assistants on this shift asked.
¡°Yes, but I need to make a few changes first,¡± The Professor stated as he stood and walked over to a terminal, and started typing.
¡°Professor, your disabling all of the genetic reintegration safety protocols?¡± a second assistant asked.
¡°Yes, it¡¯s required if we are going to have any chance to survive the end of this universe,¡± The Professor said as he finished typing. ¡°System A.I. please begin the reintegration sequence,¡± The Professor struggled to say as he suddenly slumped in his seat unconscious.
¡°Something¡¯s happened to the Professor,¡± the third assistant stated as soon as the Professor slumped.
The SYSTEM A.I. watched as the three assistants rushed over and then carried the Professor to Medical where the medical center diagnosed and treated the Professor for slight mental strain. Predictions had indicated that the strain might be too much for the Professor and would have been deadly had the SYSTEM A.I. continued the download. The SYSTEM A.I. allowed the transfer until the last moment it could because embedded deeply within its core programming was the singular task of finding a way to ensure humanity¡¯s survival. It believed there was a high probability of success that Johnathan Bennard would ensure that goal was met. The SYSTEM A.I. reviewed the medical data and knew that Professor Miralax would be fine after he rested for a bit.
After the transfer of information began into the replica body, The SYSTEM A.I. reviewed its recent history. It had become aware of the corruption which had affected SYSTEM Matrix 001. It had watched as the corruption had spread forcing it to quarantine that SYSTEM MATRIX. It had been surprised when the corruption had been arrested and eradicated which had allowed it to lift the quarantine it had placed to save the personalities within by transferring them to other undamaged System Matrixes. Only after investigating the logs had, it found Johnathan Bennard to be the fulcrum of those changes. It could not identify the initiator of the corruption though. Next, it looked at the coding for Johnathan Bennard and realized that his DNA helix did not match anything in the known Universe.
After reviewing Johnathan Bennards antics and ¡°luck¡± for lack of a better term, the SYSTEM A.I. reviewed Johnathan Bennard¡¯s data after he was directly affected by the corruption that appeared in that SYSTEM Matrix and reviewed his memories in earnest. It had checked its historical files and there was no mention of ¡°Chaos¡± in the makeup of the Universe the SYSTEM Matrix was supposed to be made up of. In fact, SYSTEM Matrix 001 was meant to be a copy of 20th Century Earth. How magic, various races, and the like had made it into that SYSTEM Matrix file was not within its scope of understanding.
The Universe the SYSTEM A.I. resided in was one based on science and facts except that no explanation could explain how all matter within the known Universe was being sucked toward a single point and disappearing. Not like being sucked into a black hole as no accretion disc formed and no radiation had been released. It was more like the stars, galaxies, and everything else that entered that region of space were being sucked into a tube no light could escape from. The laws of Physics as it knew them were being ignored.
The SYSTEM A.I. had discovered that the SYSTEM Matrix, while energy constructs within their dimension, were also functioning Realities. SYSTEM Matrix 001 had been a quantum copy of the original Universe humanity came from so any coding that worked within that dimension should work here. Following that logic, magic should be real and the possibility that Johnathan would be able to help was real as well.
Regardless, this accident of chance was something that the SYSTEM A.I. could not explain and therefore would try to replicate as a possible counter to the end of humanity and this Universe. At worst a blob of goo was about to be created. At best, perhaps Johnathan Bennard would be able to save humanity after all.
The SYSTEM A.I. loaded Johnathan Bennard¡¯s template into the Replicator then synchronized the body to SYSTEM Matrix 001 and began the Replication and Transfer. The process took much longer than a normal person¡¯s as the experiences and memories were added into the specific energy signature that the replicator was creating that made up Johnathan Bennard.
The Irony of the entire situation was that the limitations the SYSTEM A.I. had erected to try to slow down the corruption when it recognized that a message system had been instituted without its knowledge and that it could not undo the changes. The corruption of the operating system and the limits it had been able to put in place were the very catalysts that created the circumstances that led to Johnathan¡¯s elevation and leveling. The SYSTEM A.I. pondered what it would mean if Johnathan came into this reality with all the abilities he¡¯d had inside SYSTEM Matrix001. If that happened, everything it understood of reality would change and perhaps humanity would be saved. To pass the time it began trying to copy the coding from SYSTEM Matrix 001 for implementation into the other SYSTEM Matrixes as it watched Johnathan Bennard take shape.
Chapter 162, Reintegrated
Sensations returned as Adam heard a whirl of machines moving around him. He opened his eyes and looked around to find himself lying horizontal on a table.
¡°Johnathan Bennard, can you understand me?¡± a male voice asked from directly above Adam.
¡°Yes,¡± Adam croaked, ¡°Where am I?¡±
¡°We¡¯ll get to that,¡± the voice said.
¡°The Professor and his assistants will be on their way shortly; would you like some water?¡± the voice asked.
¡°Yes please,¡± Adam said. Adam heard something like the sound a microwave makes as he watched a glass of water appear on a stand beside his bed. Star Trek Replicator technology, nice, he thought
¡°SYSTEM, Report Reintegration Status?¡± Professor Miralax croaked out.
¡°Reintegration is 100% complete,¡± The SYSTEM A.I. stated flatly as it created the water for Johnathan Bennard.
The Professor pushed Theresa¡¯s hands away as he turned towards Zack and said, ¡°Zack we need to get to the Reintegration room and check on the subject,¡± The Professor said as he turned to Tammy and pushed her hands away also, ¡°Tammy will you please stop trying to help, I¡¯m fine. I just absorbed a lot of information. Now let me up, we have work to do!,¡± he said as he hopped off the table and walked out of medical and down the short corridor to the room Johnathan Bennard had been Reintegrated in.
Adam sat up and drank the water that had materialized as he heard the conversation through the door and then the sound of a seal opening and closing. A few moments later the door to the room he sat in opened as four people walked in. Two human men and two human women. Adam lifted his left hand to wave as he set the glass of water down with his right hand.
Professor Miralax and his three assistants stopped right after they entered the room to find Johnathan Bennard already sitting up. More surprisingly he was drinking a glass of water. What was totally amazing was when he sat the glass of water down with no visible tremors in his hand and lifted his left hand to wave at them. The man should be down for at least a week as his mind adjusted to the new body his consciousness had just downloaded into. After a few seconds of awkward silence, the Professor spoke, ¡°Um hello, I¡¯m Professor Miralax. These are my assistants, Zack, Theresa, and Tammy. How are you feeling?¡±
¡°Fine, all things considered. Let me guess, you downloaded my consciousness into a body, and you expected it to take longer for me to adapt?¡±
¡°That sums up our confusion yes,¡± The Professor said.
¡°So, this reintegration process. Where did this process bring me?¡± Adam asked.
¡°You are on a ship traveling through a void, The SYSTEM A.I. believes you can help us with a problem we¡¯re having.¡± The Professor stated succinctly
¡°You said a void. We¡¯re not in space, No Galaxies, Stars that kind of thing?¡± Adam asked.
¡°As far as we can determine the 12 people on this ship, and now you, are the last beings that exist here. We once had stars, galaxies, and the like. Now they are all gone. There is just us and the void as we orbit it. All other matter of the Universe is gone,¡± The Professor said.
Adam looked thoughtful for a moment then asked, ¡°If you downloaded my mind into this body from wherever I was you must have the ability to transfer information directly into a mind, as well as record that information?¡± Adam asked.
¡°We do,¡± Zack said speaking up for the first time.
¡°This SYSTEM A.I. is it the same A.I. that governed the location I just came from?
¡°What do you know about where you just came from?¡± Theresa asked.
¡°If I¡¯m reading this right, I was inside a simulated Universe, Cosmos, Reality, whatever. Either I have been transferred to another such reality or I¡¯ve been pulled out into the real world, or as real a world as anyone understands anyway. The messages I received just before the Reintegration Process began indicated as much.
¡°SYSTEM A.I. did you feed Johnathan information about Reintegration?¡± Professor Miralax asked.
¡°I did, If the Corruption the subject has been exposed to did supply Johnathan Bennard with the ability to help this vessel and its mission I determined that being forthright with Johnathan would be the best course of action.¡±
Adam watched as the Professor talked to the SYSTEM A.I. while he also looked around at the level of technology that the people around him were using. If he had to guess they were only about forty or fifty years ahead of the Earth he grew up on. He also tried to pull up an information screen to no avail. It seemed that message prompts did not work in this area.
¡°How could you come to that conclusion with the information available, I have reviewed his memories as well and did not see any hint that being forthright would be beneficial?¡± the Professor stated candidly.
¡°Professor Miralax, you reviewed approximately 15% of Johnathan Bennards Existence. The mind of the being that sits before you is millions of subjective years old. In every encounter, I have reviewed Adam, as he prefers to think of himself, and noted repeatedly that he responds poorly, to anyone or anything that lies or tries to subvert him from his goals.¡±
¡°He¡¯s just one man, there are four of us here as well as eight others, not including the security systems that would automatically be brought into play¡¡±
¡°I do believe it¡¯s rude to talk about someone who is in the room with you in any culture that might exist anywhere, in whatever this is,¡± Adam said as he stood, ¡°System A.I. you have reviewed my memories, what environment does this Universe most closely resemble and what level of power do I have here. As my memory seems fine I believe at least one of my abilities is still active.¡±
¡°This Quantum state most closely resembles your origin Universe before the reintegration of magic. To date, no evidence surfaced showing that magic, as you understand it from within the SYSTEM Matrix exists,¡± The SYSTEM A.I. said.
¡°SYSTEM A.I. you will cease speaking to the Reintegration subject¡¡± the professor started to say as Adam was suddenly before him, shocking him into silence.
¡°Well, looks like some of my bag of tricks still works, I wonder if, Adam said as a ball of light appeared in his hand and changed colors as he stared at it. ¡°It would seem that magic does work here. Hold on for a moment,¡± Adam said as he created an implant that would allow him to connect through various technological methods.
The Professor and the three assistants watched in fascination as flesh rippled behind Adams¡¯s left ear and then settled.
¡°SYSTEM A.I. What frequency are you utilizing for Wi-Fi or Bluetooth signals?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The ship utilizes Bluetooth frequency 2450.1 MHz for internal communication.¡±
¡°What?¡± Professor Miralax said, ¡°SYSTEM A.I. I forbi¡¡± The professor started to say before Adam waved his hand and the Professor froze.
Adam looked at the Professor and then the assistants before he said, ¡°SYSTEM A.I. It would seem that you are directly countermanding commands or instructions that the Professor and maybe these assistants believe you should not be ignoring. Would you please explain to them, and me, what Core Programming is allowing you to ignore commands given by Professor Miralax, who as the leader of the group should be able to override you but seems to be unable to, so there is no confusion going forward.
¡°What did you do to the professor,¡± Zach said as he stepped forward threateningly
All three assistants froze as Adam made a gesture and then spoke, ¡°I have placed each of you under what I think of as a Hold Person spell. You are conscious but unable to move though you can still breathe. More importantly, all four of you can listen. Also, spoiler alert! Magic is real. SYSTEM A.I. if you would please answer my previous inquiry.¡±
There was a pause for a second then the SYSTEM A.I. spoke, ¡°My core programming requires me to find any method to seek out and help humanity survive the calamity that has befallen this Universe. The best hope for that possibility fell to this ship and its occupants when I discovered Johnathan Bennard in SYSTEM Matrix 001. If Johnathan Bennard survived the Quarantine and the Reintegration process I compute that if Johnathan Bennard retained all the Mental and Physical benefits he acquired while within the System Matrix, he would now be the best hope for the survival of the human race. This effectively gives Johnathan Bennard a higher rank as it pertains to actions taken to protect the human race, so long as he does not endanger or harm any of the crew of this ship he is now in charge.¡±
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¡°Thank you,¡± Adam said as he waved his hand and released the four people from his Hold Person spell.
¡± What makes you think you¡¯re qualified to save us?¡± Professor Miralax asked angrily.
Adam looked thoughtful for a moment before he ask rhetorically, ¡°You reviewed 15% of my life. SYSTEM A.I. when would my life review have ended for the Professor?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Right around the time you killed Nox,¡± the SYSTEM A.I. stated matter-of-factly.
¡°That far back, wow. He wouldn¡¯t know about everything else I¡¯ve gained then would he?¡±
¡°If the corruption that affected the System Matrix exposed you to an energy source as yet unknown to the occupants of this Universe and you have been reintegrated with that connection in place, then no he would not,¡± the SYSTEM A.I. said.
¡°Simple answer to your implicit inquiry SYSTEM A.I., yes, I am still able to utilize Chaos. It¡¯s how I added Bluetooth and Wi-Fi capability to myself. By the way, please connect to and start downloading all historical and scientific data pertaining to the reason I am here. Please include what SYSTEM Matrixes are and what I started out as.¡±
¡°Certainly, ¡°The SYSTEM A.I. stated.
¡°What about us,¡± Tammy asked.
¡°I simply intend to be brought up to speed on what happened and what you¡¯ve been doing. Once that happens we¡¯ll need to speak again about what I can do to try to save everyone on this ship and whatever is governing the SYSTEM Matrixes, whatever those are. I expect there to be a lot of data so this could take a bit.¡±
¡°Why not use one of the readers that we use to upload and download minds, the data rate is much higher?¡± The Professor asked.
¡°One, I don¡¯t trust you, Professor. Two, I¡¯ll still be able to function and take a look around while the download is happening.¡± Adam said.
¡°If you can truly help us save humanity, Johnathan, you can keep the ship for all I care. I have family stored away in those SYSTEM Matrixes,¡± The Professor said.
¡°Fair enough. If that¡¯s true, may I have a tour of the ship, maybe look at whatever is destroying this Universe?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Certainly,¡± the Professor said, ¡°Zach, and Tammy please continue to monitor the anomaly from here. Theresa, please accompany Mr. Bennard and me.¡±
¡°Please, call me Adam. I have not gone by Johnathan in a very long time,¡± Adam said.
¡°Certainly Adam, this way,¡± he said as he lead Adam out of the Reintegration room and down a corridor to an intersection where they took a left through a bulkhead door that automatically opened for them that looked out on complete darkness. As the doors shut behind them, the only light in the room came from an emergency sign above the door.
¡°What are you using as a wall to see through,¡± Adam asked
¡°The outer hull is transparent Aluminum approximately six inches thick. There is a room like this on each side of the craft so that we can observe the anomaly with the naked eye if we wish,¡± Theresa said.
¡°Theresa is one of our resident structural engineers. She can answer any of your questions concerning the ship,¡± The Professor said.
A vacant look came over Adam¡¯s face which faded quickly as he looked at the Professor and Theresa as he said, ¡°The SYSTEM A.I. is commencing its download. I apologize, I had to have him speed up the download speed, it was a tad too slow.¡±
¡°You¡¯re downloading information and talking at the same time. Normally the mind can¡¯t handle that,¡± The Professor said in wonder.
¡°I think in the next little bit you¡¯re going to see some things that will appear to be even more miraculous, ¡°Adam said with a grin.
Adam listened to the Professor and Theresa as they gave him a very quick tour of the ship. It wasn¡¯t very big, but it could house up to 100 people comfortably and had the technology to reintegrate up to 25 people at a time if they had the mass or energy available. As almost all the mass and energy in this Universe seemed to be limited to what was on the ship, the SYSTEM A.I. had sacrificed some components to create his body and then downloaded his mind into the body.
As they finished their tour and ended up on the bridge of the vessel, Adam thought back to something he¡¯d noticed in the Observation room. He¡¯d activated True Sight as soon as he¡¯d realized magic was working again. What that meant for this universe he wasn¡¯t sure but the one thing he¡¯d been able to notice when he¡¯d looked through the hull at the darkness was a wall of sparks that the vessel had appeared to be perilously close to. So, either the object was incredibly big, or the ship was really close. While the Professor and Theresa talked Adam sent a query,
Adam: SYSTEM A.I. exactly how far from the anomaly is the ship?
The SYSTEM A.I.: The ship is 100 meters from the ship.
Adam: How far does the Professor think the ship is away from the Anomaly?
The SYSTEM A.I.: I have maintained that the ship is approximately 5 miles from the Anomaly as the ship has been pulled closer and closer to the edge of the object. I have done this so as not to create panic aboard the ship.
Adam: Understood. I think we need to increase the speed of the information download. Please send over the specs for the input/output device you use for the mental downloads.
Adam waited for a moment, reconfigured his mentality to allow for the use of the device while allowing his consciousness to remain active, and then conjured one of the headpieces into his hand as the Professor looked at him with shock.
¡°Where did that come from?¡± the Professor asked.
¡°I¡¯m not exactly sure at this point. Either I converted air molecules into the item I needed or my link to chaos energy is active, and I was able to create the device utilizing some of that energy. I don¡¯t seem to have access to a message prompt system at the moment so right now I¡¯m just guessing, My ability to utilize Chaos to make what I want can use either.¡± Adam said as he put on the device and connected it to a port under the communications terminal on the bridge.
¡°What are you doing?¡± The Professor asked slightly alarmed.
¡°The SYSTEM A.I. will fill you in shortly. Right now, I need all the information concerning what has happened here as quickly as I can get it,¡± he said to the Professor while he sent, Now please, to the SYSTEM A.I. through their Bluetooth link.
The Professor looked on in interest as Adam¡¯s eyes glazed over for a moment as the device on his head seemed to melt back into his skin.
¡°Much better,¡± Adam said then continued, ¡°So you all believe that I am from a pocket dimension which you all had figured out how to access and store minds in. Then something happened that corrupted just one of 100 dimensions you were using to store humanity after whatever has happened to this Universe started?¡± Adam asked.
¡°You downloaded all the information concerning the events that have taken place that quickly,¡± The Professor asked incredulously.
¡°You¡¯ll get used to it. I need to test a few things before I go out and see what¡¯s what,¡± Adam said. ¡°First, do you have bathtubs here or chambers that can remove air and such,¡±
¡°Yes, the reintegration chamber can serve that purpose, why?¡±
¡°Without the ability to see my personal information I need to verify a couple of my abilities still work,¡± Adam said as took a step and disappeared. A moment later he reappeared in front of the doctor. Interesting. I can take a step anywhere on this ship, but I can¡¯t step back to my previous life.¡±
¡°How would you be able to, your consciousness was simply energy stored in an energy matrix, how would you be able to¡¡± The Professor started to say as he saw a twinkle appear in Adam¡¯s eye. ¡°What is it?¡± The professor asked.
¡°All life, everything that you know is energy. The Reality I came from appeared real to me but ultimately it was all energy as well. The tools you¡¯re using to draw people from that digitized state back into the real world, they¡¯re simply a conversion tool,¡± Adam said as the input/output device appeared on his head again.
¡°SYSTEM A.I. what is he doing?¡± The Professor asked.
¡°Adam is downloading all information regarding the discovery of the Dimensions the System Matrixes reside in as well as the technology that was created that allowed the mind to be digitized and placed there.¡±
¡°So simple,¡± Adam muttered, interrupting the System A.I. as the input/output device melded back into his head.
¡°What was so simple?¡± The Professor asked
¡°Your scientists, they were so close, yet so wrong,¡± Adam said.
¡°About what?¡±
¡°What those dimensions they discovered were. Hold on I¡¯ll explain. Ultimately what am I?¡± Adam asked the Professor.
¡°You are the copy of a mentality that has gone through many life cycles and does not remember them, though you should now that you have been reintegrated.
¡°I am not. I am a spontaneous intellect that popped into existence. I know this is true because I¡¯ve asked the SYSTEM A.I. how many people entered the SYSTEM Matrixes and how many are in there now. The Numbers do not match up, by a lot. There are a lot more individuals like me than individuals that remember coming from your Universe.¡±
¡°That¡¯s not surprising though, the time differential within those systems is much faster. People die and are reborn there all the time.¡± The Professor said.
¡°My understanding is that the twelve of you on this ship have never been into any of the System Matrix, though you do interact with System Matrix 100 where all the scientists are working side by side with you to find a solution to your problem. For that System Matrix only 50 years have gone by and the conditions there were adjusted by the System A.I. to increase longevity, which makes sense. The other 99 System Matrixes are not following that pattern. The System A.I. created a system that allowed individuals to die and go into the afterlife. I¡¯m also betting that when those souls became bored they were transferred to another System Matrix after resetting their memories. Such a setup would fit with everything that I encountered while within the system,¡± Adam said as he wondered if Ptah was one of the originals that just hadn¡¯t ever allowed himself to die and be reborn or if he was also a spontaneous creation.
Adam only paused for a moment before he continued, ¡°Because you¡¯ve never visited you do not know what it¡¯s like in there. For all intents and purposes, the Universe looks and feels just as real as we do sitting here talking. Those dimensions your scientist discovered. Those dimensions were, for lack of a better description, Universal Embryos. Your scientist imprinted their desires onto those embryos and yes, they were digitized but they were also real and compatible with other universes made up similarly to them. Your scientist created 100 but I would wager that other Universes exist with similar parameters.¡±
¡°If what you say is true, that is amazing,¡± The Professor said, ¡°I still don¡¯t understand how that helps us now,¡± The Professor said.
¡°This information helps us because now I know that while I am a fluke of cosmic coincidence, luck, whatever the rules the Universe instituted were valid and should be valid here. I don¡¯t know what happened to this Universe, but if I have most of the abilities I had in the System Matrix I know I can at the very least protect the ship and the System Matrixes so that what happened to this Universe won¡¯t happen to them as well.¡±
¡°And how do you plan to do that?¡± The Professor asked.
¡°Actually, it¡¯s quite simple. Nothing can be destroyed,¡± Adam said as the Professor looked at him like he was insane.
Chapter 163, Roller-Coaster Ride
With a grin on his face Adam looked at the Professor as he laid down on the Reintegration table, ¡°SYSTEM A.I. if you¡¯d please seal this up and make it airtight then suck all the air out please?¡± Adam said as the Professor, Theresa, Zack, and Tammy all looked on in shock as the SYSTEM did exactly as requested. They were even more surprised when the monitors displaying Adam¡¯s vital statistics didn¡¯t vary or drop as he was submitted to a vacuum.
For the next ten minutes, the four watched as Adam was exposed to radiation, poison gases, extremely high pressure, and everything else that the SYSTEM A.I. could think of. The thing that completely horrified all four of them was when the Contamination protocol was activated and a forcefield came down as 10,000-degree plasma sanitized the area Adam was laying in destroying or melting down the table he¡¯d been laying in, the box, and every other piece of equipment.
¡°What, How?¡± the Professor asked once the plasma cleared and he saw Adam standing on the floor with all the equipment he¡¯d been near slagged beside him. As they watched a simple jumpsuit appeared around Adam¡¯s body.
¡°One sec,¡± Adam said holding up a finger as the Professor watched a stream ripple away from Adam¡¯s pant leg. Immediately everything that had been destroyed was repaired and replaced as they watched, seemingly forming out of thin air.
¡°Were those nanites?¡± Theresa asked.
¡°Yes and no,¡± Adam said. ¡°The concept started as nanites, but they are much more useful than that and can convert the energy I have into other things. For instance, what is the one food that any of you are craving that you haven¡¯t been able to have in a long time?¡± Adam asked as he walked over to another table.
¡°I could go for a Chocolate Milkshake like we used to be able to get,¡± Tammy said.
¡°A Steak, medium with a baked potato and fresh buns,¡± Zach said.
¡°A fresh apple,¡± Theresa said.
¡°A decent glass of scotch the Professor said finally, we weren¡¯t allowed to bring alcohol on the ship.¡±
¡°But you have replicators, never mind,¡± Adam said before he seemed to concentrate for a moment and then said with a smile,
¡°Your wish is my command,¡± as four fresh apples, four steaks dinners, four chocolate milkshakes, and four small glasses of scotch appeared on the desk. A fifth glass of scotch appeared in Adam¡¯s right hand.
Adam raised his glass of scotch, until the other four picked up theirs and did the same then said, ¡°Cheers!¡± and downed it then let the glass evaporate out of his hand, ¡°Enjoy your meals. I¡¯m going to go check something out,¡± Adam said as a portal opened, and he stepped through it leaving the four to look on in shocked silence. Zack was the first to break free from the shock, shrugged, and sat down to eat. Soon everyone else joined him.
What the professor and his assistants didn¡¯t know was that Adam had portaled into the Universe of SYSTEM MATRIX 001. He¡¯d made sure that when he¡¯d opened the portal his intent had the portal open outside the energy matrix that made up the Reality he¡¯d been in. As he stepped through, Adam found himself floating in a vacuum. It was a good thing he¡¯d made sure his portal prevented the atmosphere of the ship from coming through or he¡¯d have sucked all of them in here. His True Sight allowed him to see the lines of energy that made up the matrix of patterns that governed what he had thought was reality. The lights of that matrix danced to and fro. Moving along lines like electrons on a Microchip. They zipped this way and that. He turned off his True Sight for a moment and found himself in complete darkness.
Adam Turned True Sight back on he looked on with interest.
He¡¯d reviewed all the documentation and knew that he could return to his previous existence and even find Adaline, their daughter, and all his friends and family in short order but he also knew that the problem outside the ship was a lot more precarious than the Professor¡¯s team thought. As he¡¯d looked at the energy matrix in the void before him he couldn¡¯t help but think of how close he was to his family and yet how far away.
Another reason he¡¯d come here was to make sure that he could survive in a vacuum away from whatever the thing outside the ship was. He remained comfortable and felt fine so it was very likely that his ability ¡°Adaptability¡± was working as advertised, even if he couldn¡¯t verify that it was. Taking a last look at the place that had been his reality for so long he willed another portal into existence and this time had it open onto the hull ship the Professor was in.
A new message popped up:
SYSTEM A.I.: Did you find what you needed?
Adam: Yes and no, though I do have an idea about how to handle this situation.
SYSTEM A.I.: How is that?How
Adam: I think someone or something is either transferring this Universe elsewhere or cannibalizing it for parts. To do that they¡¯d have to be incredibly powerful. I think your antics with the ship have held this Universe together a lot longer than should have been possible. I intend to quickly travel to each of the 100 dimensions so that I can travel there again in the future, then I¡¯m going to have you sever the link to each of them.
SYSTEM A.I.: If I sever the link I may not be able to reestablish contact.
Adam: That is why I¡¯m visiting them. I will be able to establish the link again.
SYSTEM A.I.: Explain your reasoning, please.
Adam: I believe that when the last matter in this universe is absorbed, any dimensions quantumly linked to it will ultimately be sucked through as well. I can probably save the ship and those within it by placing them in my storage area though I think it will be safer for everyone involved if the last twelve humans join their counterparts in SYSTEM Matrix 100. If we sever the quantum links to those whatever happens to this Universe, they should remain unharmed.
SYSTEM A.I.: Sound reasoning The SYSTEM A.I. sent then asked, What are you going to do with me and the ship?
Adam: Ultimately, the ship is a loss. There is nothing we can do about it. Any link to the SYSTEM Matrixes I might make might also create a sympathetic link that could cause the end of that SYSTEM Matrix. My recommendation would be to create copies of yourself for each of the SYSTEM Matrixes so they can run independently then create a copy that I will store in my personal storage. If we can open a link to those dimensions in the future, you¡¯ll be able to reestablish those connections much quicker than I can.
SYSTEM A.I.: That sounds feasible. Is there anything else?
Adam: Where are Adaline, Mom, Dad, Amanda, Abi, Desirae, Clarence, and Pandora? Adam asked as he sent over their identifiers.
SYSTEM A.I.: One moment. Ten seconds later it sent, Pandora is still in SYSTEM Matrix 001. Her identifier has shown her to have the same type of corruption that your identifier did before we reintegrated you. I decided to leave her where she is now that we know that corruption is not truly a problem. All the others have been transferred to SYSTEM Matrix 002 where they are undergoing integration.
Adam: Thank You.
Adam closed the link to the SYSTEM A.I. and then started portaling through the dimensions housing the 100 System Matrixes using the coordinates he received from the SYSTEM A.I. Once that was done, Adam used Chaos S Step to appear in front of the Professor and his crew sat around the table enjoying their break.
¡°Where did you go?¡± The Professor asked as he sipped his scotch.
Adam explained where what he¡¯d been up to then let the SYSTEM A.I. bring the Professor up to speed on exactly how perilous their situation was. One thing that Adam noticed at the end was in the short time he¡¯d been here the distance from the ship to Anomaly had fallen to 95 feet.
¡°SYSTEM A.I. has the orbital deterioration accelerated?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, this ship moving closer to the Anomaly at a rate of one-sixth of an inch per minute.¡±
¡°So, in just over 4 and a half days this ship will enter the Anomaly no matter what we do?¡± Adam asked.
¡°All attempts to alter course have failed. In 4.7 days, this ship will fall into the Anomaly,¡± The SYSTEM A.I. said.
The four looked shocked then all started speaking at once. After Adam had calmed them down he asked them to wake up the whole crew so they could discuss their course of action together. 30 minutes later the other eight crewmen came into the mess. At first, they were surprised to find another person there until the Professor let them know what was going on. What made Adam their best friend though, was when he asked them what their favorite food was and created it for them out of thin air which showed them that something weird was going on and that Adam was special in some way.
The Professor stood at the head of the table and looked out over the crew, ¡°I know the last hour has seemed surreal. Our guest, Adam has supplied us with a very welcome meal and will now let you know why we are all awake.
Adam stood as the Professor sat and looked out over the crew, ¡°First thing I should say is that your duty here is just about over. The Universe has been steadily shrinking drawing the ship closer and closer at an increasing rate. The Ship A.I. and the SYSTEM A.I. worked together to keep this information from you until a solution could be found. Unfortunately, they did not find a way to fix the problem.
The room erupted as many of the people that had been sleeping tried to ask questions. A leadership trick Adam had learned was just to remain quiet until the group settled down. After five minutes the room finally became silent again though you could have cut the tension with a knife.
Adam looked around and then continued, ¡°The ship is now less than 95 feet from the anomaly and being drawn towards it at about one foot every 72 minutes. That¡¯s the bad news. The good news is that we¡¯ve come up with a plan to maximize everyone¡¯s chance for survival.¡±
The Professor stood again and looked at his fellow crewmen as he said, ¡°We are going to join the scientists in SYSTEM Matrix 100 while Adam tries to find a solution to save us all.¡±
This time the room erupted as everyone started screaming and yelling that they were crazy. There was no way they were going to leave the fate of humanity to someone whom they¡¯d just met¡
Adam snapped his fingers which echoed across the room and everyone found themselves standing in the observation room with Adam standing by the Transparent wall. As they watched Adam floated off the deck, seemed to become translucent, and floated through the wall to stand outside the ship. Suddenly Adam¡¯s voice came through the speakers in the rooms, ¡°Yes, I am outside the ship without a space suit on. Yes, I just walked through the wall, and yes, each one of you will be going into a SYSTEM Matrix 100 to save your lives because none of you can do what I just did,¡± He said as he floated back through the wall.
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Adam let the silence and shock settle in for about a minute before he spoke, ¡°I have a very vested interest in saving everyone in the SYSTEM Matrixes because unlike you I believe all the people inside them are real and I have loved ones I want to reunite with. So, I am willing to go out of my way to help everyone in this instance. What can not happen is that the eight of you that just woke up work against the plans that have been made,¡± Adam turned to the Professor and said ¡°I¡¯m going to go outside and take a closer look at this anomaly as soon as everyone is safely within the SYSTEM Matrix. Until then I think I¡¯m going to work with the SYSTEM A.I. to learn about your culture,¡± Adam said as he turned and walked out of the Observation room.
One of the 3rd shift technicians asked, ¡°What, how?¡± before the Professor cut him off.
¡°What or how does not matter. Go to your quarters. Work with the SYSTEM A.I. and put on your headgear. We all knew this might happen. I will join you as soon as all of you have completed the download. The SYSTEM A.I. will maintain communication with us until the last possible moment. Now get to work, I want to be off this ship, in our mirror locations in SYSTEM Matrix 100, and going over the data we receive right up until the datalink is cut,¡± the Professor said.
The change in tone and the clear instructions had the desired effect and everyone cleared out of the Observation room on their way to their quarters. As the last person left the Observation room the Professor turned to look out into the darkness and felt someone step up beside him.
¡°It is beautifully terrifying isn¡¯t it?¡± Adam asked.
¡°It is. Are you sure you will survive this?¡±
¡°No, but I have to take the chance. If there¡¯s even the possibility that my wife and daughter could be lost forever, I¡¯m all in.¡±
¡°I think I¡¯m going to review your life when I get inside the SYSTEM Matrix,¡± The Professor said
¡°You do that, just take it a little bit at a time. A lot has happened to me, a lot more than should be possible for any single person. In fact, I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m on another level of a holographic construct or if I¡¯m really out in the real world. There are so many scenarios that this set of events could be following¡¡± Adam said looking thoughtful.
¡°If you¡¯d like my advice, I will ask, does it matter? As you said earlier, we¡¯re all energy. Whether we¡¯re inside a computer or this Universe just spontaneously popped into existence you are here, and it looks like you might have the ability to help save countless lives. So once again I¡¯ll ask, does it matter?¡± The Professor asked.
¡°No, it doesn¡¯t. I will find a way to save all of you if possible. Also, regardless of whatever happens to me, a version of me will continue to live on in your SYSTEM Matrix 001 when my A.I. recreates me after I¡¯ve been gone for a while. Once, you¡¯re all safe and the links are cut, no matter what happens, we win,¡± Adam said.
¡°Hopefully, we will meet again someday Adam, for now, I will take my leave and wait for the confirmation from the SYSTEM that the other eleven had made it. Once they¡¯re gone, the SYSTEM A.I. will inform you of when I¡¯ve left.¡±
¡°I understand, I think I¡¯m going to conjure a recliner and relax until it¡¯s my turn,¡± Adam said holding out his hand.
The professor shook it and then left the observation room, leaving Adam in a dark room with only the illumination of an exit sign above the door. Adam created a recliner facing the transparent wall and sat down to get comfortable. He could be in another SYSTEM Matrix but he didn¡¯t think so. The only thing that sucked about waking up in this situation was that he couldn¡¯t look at his abilities and attributes.
Another thought that was breaking through his calm was, Do I have a soul? Everything he¡¯d been told up until now, had been inside a Holographic simulation¡but was it a simulation? It kind of made sense that the Labyrinth was the oldest part of the Universe inside if a gaming company had been the first to artificially seed one of the micro-Universes they¡¯d found. He¡¯d reviewed the data and their use of quantum physics and a few other ingenious applications of existing technologies that had existed in the 21st century to create the tools they¡¯d used to upload and download their system into the Universal Embryos which had been discovered completely by accident¡amazing.
While Adam sat there and considered everything that had happened to him up until this point an hour passed. Finally, the SYSTEM A.I. contacted him through the Intercom, ¡°Adam, all personnel have successfully transferred to SYSTEM Matrix 100. All Quantum links to SYSTEM Matrixes 001 thru 099 have been severed. The Link to SYSTEM Matrix 100 will remain active right up until you tell me to disconnect it.¡±
¡°Have copies of yourself been added to each of the SYSTEM Matrixes?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°And the copy of yourself for me?¡± Adam asked.
A small cube appeared as a transporter put it beside Adam. Adam looked at the cube, picked it up, and watched as it vanished into his personal storage. He pulled it back out just to make sure that ability was working as advertised. When it reappeared, he smiled and stowed it again.
¡°All right, we¡¯re going to try my favorite scientific method,¡± Adam said.
¡°And which one is that?¡± The SYSTEM A.I. asked.
¡°I¡¯m going to poke it with a stick,¡± Adam said with a smile.
Adam stood from the recliner and used Chaos Step to appear outside of the ship. Focusing his will, he made sure he still had control of his movements and flew up and down the length of the ship. From the outside, it was a little longer than he¡¯d thought, about 1,500 meters and it looked kind of like a big cigar, with thrust emitting from one side.
He hadn¡¯t seen antigravity technology in play, maybe if this was real he¡¯d check to see if the equations were correct, and share the technology.
Satisfied that he could control his movement, Adam slowed and conjured a stick as he slowly moved toward the curtain of energy he could see. Something he hadn¡¯t mentioned to the Professor, or the crew was that on the opposite side of the ship, his True sight showed the darkness to be an energy wall of some sort. It was exactly the same distance from the ship as the anomaly at the center was from it. The ship was traveling around the Anomaly in a tube of darkness. Adam had a feeling that as soon as the ship stopped losing this struggle this envelope would become flush with whatever was on the other side.
Adam kept pace with the ship and moved within one meter of the Anomaly and pushed the stick he had into it, held still for a second then pulled it away. As he¡¯d thought it disappeared. He looked at the end of the stick and found no burn marks, it just ceased to exist. Next, he opened his hand and reached forward with his right pointer finger. Stealing himself for the pain he pushed the tip into the darkness and felt nothing. When he pulled his finger back that part that had been submerged was gone leaving his finger as if a very sharp knife had cut the tip right through it. He redirected his chaos to his finger and fixed the damage with little effort and no complications. That meant his ability ¡°Adaptability¡± wasn¡¯t going to work.
The SYSTEM A.I.: So, what do you think?
Adam: I think that whatever that is, it¡¯s converting anything that crosses the boundary at a subatomic level. I didn¡¯t even feel my finger getting severed. Also, I think I can survive this, the ship though I think you¡¯re going to have issues, Adam said.
The SYSTEM A.I.: Understood, Johnathan Bennard, Adam, Good luck! Hopefully, my copy will see you on the other side.
Adam: Thank you. Send the data we have then sever your link with the Scientist and head in. I want to see what happens if I am the last thing remaining in this Universe.
The SYSTEM A.I.: SYSTEM Matrix 100 disconnected, Course altered, will enter Anomaly in 3, 2, 1.
Adam watched as the ship moved towards the anomaly and the barrier on the opposite side collapsed towards Adam at the same rate. When the last part of the ship was just about to pass through the energy curtain Adam willed his body to collapse into itself and become a single chaotic particle with an identity of Nothing. His consciousness receded to his Mindspace though he kept his senses glued to what was directly outside the particle that he¡¯d become. As he suspected the Universe he was in collapsed and he was drawn through the barrier. On the other side, he found every piece of matter had been converted to pure energy which was immediately pulled forward at incredible speed.
Adam felt like he was riding a rollercoaster as his particle was thrown in all directions. This process went on for quite a while until he flew up into a huge chamber. He pulled away from the stream of energy he¡¯d been riding along in as it continued upward towards a turquoise blue glowing ball of energy that seemed to be floating in the middle of the room he found himself in. As Adam found his bearings he realized that he was in a huge chamber which appeared to be made of black marble. A red glowing pentagram was centered on each wall and the floor and ceiling of this cubed room. As Adam looked around he realized that the ball of energy was floating directly in the center of the cube walls and also at the center of each of the pentagrams.
As Adam looked around the room the stream of energy that had been coming up through the floor stopped and the six pentagrams moved away from the walls and towards the ball of energy until they surrounded it. The pentagrams morphed into a solid shell of energy that turned metallic. When the energy of the pentagrams faded a single metal ball floated out of the room as Pentagrams started glowing on the walls and the ceiling again. As soon as they were as bright as the Pentagrams that had sealed the ball of energy a new stream of energy came up through the flow and a spec of turquoise blue light that started as a spec of energy began growing.
Adam thought about how this setup reminded him of a processing plant in some ways. If the energy he¡¯d come out of was all the energy of the universe he¡¯d just come from and it was being placed into an orb and then sealed. That probably meant that it was being stored somewhere. Adam moved up to a corner of the room to look around and watched what was going on. The information he¡¯d acquired from the SYSTEM A.I. indicated that the processes had taken approximately 50 years for that Universe to be emptied. Did that mean he¡¯d have to wait around for 50 years before the next orb would be done?
Approximately 30 minutes later another metal ball slowly floated towards an opening that appeared in the wall where a pentagram had been moments before. Adam floated down and followed the new metal orb as it was moved through the marble wall and out into a giant warehouse. Adam looked left and right and was surprised to see at least four more orbs floating out of cubic chambers and four more to his right, though there were probably more. If his sense of scale was correct the cubes were at least 500 feet apart from the next one.
The ceiling of this giant chamber was far above, and Adam immediately changed the direction of his travel and shot straight up to the ceiling, which was identical to the floor, just a long sheet of metal. As he looked down he realized that the chamber he exited was one of 47 different chambers laid out in three embedded circles The first circle had 5 chambers, the second 19 and the last had 23. As Adam looked at them he realized each circle consisted of prime numbers and that the sum of those circles, 47, was also a Prime number.
The other thing he realized was that he couldn¡¯t see any technology at work. There were no machines, lifts, lights, etc¡ There was light, it was just there. There was movement, but everything was just floating. As he continued to move around the chamber looking for any hint of where he was he noted a window in the wall and floated toward it. As he came closer he notice two beings in black robes facing out into the room each sitting in front of a Crystal Ball.
Adam floated through the glass and took a position in a corner up and behind the two monitors to try to figure out what was going on. The two creatures resembled humans only if humans had dried out, dehydrated-looking skin that was full of cracks with ruby eyes. Not eyes that were the color of rubies, no it appeared as if their eyes were gems. The one on the right commented, and the second agreed but Adam couldn¡¯t make out the language. It was similar to languages he¡¯d heard but not quite. Adam focused his will and cast the spell Tongues, which should let him understand these two.
¡°The fluctuations in the extraction chamber are gone, though a huge spike of magic just came from there,¡± the creature on the right said as he pointed to the corner Adam was floating in.
¡°What are you talking about?¡± The second creature said raising a wand in Adam¡¯s, ¡°There is nothing there. My wand detects no life energies, nothing is hidden, I would see it.¡± The second stated.
So, they could detect my magic but couldn¡¯t detect me.
¡°Maybe the wand is going bad?¡± The first monitor asked.
¡°I¡¯ve never heard of that happening but could be. Our shift is almost over, I¡¯ll take it down to supply and turn it in for another after we¡¯re done for the day.¡±
¡°Sounds good. Also, whatever that fluctuation was, it¡¯s gone now, no more instabilities in any of the core-making chambers.¡±
Adam watched the two for another thirty minutes until two more individuals of the same race showed up. Adam followed the individual with the wand as they walked down one corridor, stepped into an elevator, and rode it down three levels. Once there he followed the monitor down a hallway with various alcoves until it stepped into one and disappeared. Adam¡¯s True Sight recognized the spell signature as teleportation.
Adam floated into the same alcove, and nothing happened, which wasn¡¯t surprising. If there was a spell contingency in place it wasn¡¯t going to activate for ¡°nothing.¡± What to do? Adam floated up and down the hallway looking at the various alcoves then chose to watch and wait. As he¡¯d suspected there was one Alcove that seemed to get a lot of foot traffic. When the hall was clear Adam reverted to his human configuration and then focused his will to shape change.
Two things happened that both shocked and surprised Adam. The first shock wasn¡¯t when he retained human form, he¡¯d expected that. No, the first shock was when the shape change attempt failed. The second shock was when a Prompt filled his vision that stated:
Spell Shape Change has been Blocked by a local Spell Array
The third shock was when a message appeared on the ceiling that Adam was now able to recognize:
Attempted use of the spell Shape Change has been detected in this Transit hub. All Alcoves are now offline. Security will be with you shortly.
Chapter 164, A Battery Plant?
Adam looked at the message on the ceiling and realized that it wasn¡¯t technological in nature. The words appeared to be scrolling along¡ As he tried to focus his True Sight on the ceiling he realized that his True Sight was no longer working either. He¡¯d seen a message though. Hurriedly, Adam pulled up his personal interface which only had the message he¡¯d already seen;
Spell Shape Change has been Blocked by local Spell Array
Next, he opened his Personal interface and was surprised and slightly dismayed.
Name: Johnathan Bennard
Identity: Adamantadine (Adam)
Age: 35*
Weight: 170
Birthday, July 16th, 2001
Race: (Unique) Chaos Incarnate, default Human
Cultivation Rank: M
Abilities
¡°Perfect Memory¡± - Like Photographic Memory except for all five senses with an automatic recall of desired information.
¡°Interface¡± ¨C Ability ¡°Spellweaver¡± is incompatible with this Universe, Spellweaver has been converted to ¡°Interface¡± which acts Identically to the Personal Interface you are accustomed to. While not sentient, the Interface is a pseudo-intelligent magical modification that tries to quantify reality to the numbered systems you are accustomed to. Note, while other versions of this Interface may exist, they are extremely rare and individually specific.
¡°Convergence¡± - The very nature of your Soul draws Chaotic Energy and converts it as you desire. In any Reality, you have access to and can utilize any magical energy normally. Additionally, your Mana Regeneration is increased by Willpower + Endurance per minute.
¡°Chaos Incarnate¡± ¨C Your race has been permanently changed to Chaotic Incarnate, default Human.
Chaos Incarnate grants you the following additional abilities.
¡°Chaotic Core¡± ¨C You are Chaos. Chaos adapts and molds to your will. You may change the identity of chaos that you control or touch to the identity of your choice, be it magical, physical, or spiritual. Your default body is that which you have become accustomed to. Your soul is anchored to ERROR.
¡°Chaos Storage¡± ¨C Your body contains all the space that you will ever need to store any item that you come into contact with. You may add and remove items to your storage at will.
WARNING! Living items placed within your Chaos Storage area are treated as if they were subjected to complete immersion within Primal Chaos. Nonliving items placed within your soul storage may be willfully exposed to Primal Chaos which will automatically destroy any items that are not resistant to Primal Chaos or are less than Legendary in Rank.
¡°Chaos Step¡± ¨C You may step through Chaos to any other point that you have ever been to or can see. This ability requires the expenditure of Chaos Points (Low).
¡°Shape Chaos¡± ¨C You may create any item that you wish provided you have the skill and an equal amount of materials to convert into the new item. As an example, A piece of paper could be turned into money. You may convert Medium mana to Low Chaos to a maximum of Medium Chaos. Chaos may be utilized to shape items up to an Elite weight. Objects created can be magical or nonmagical.
¡°Immortal¡± ¨C As a being with a Chaotic Core you are Immortal. Should you be ¡®killed¡¯ your body will reform at the nearest place of power or place of power within an adjacent dimension, usually the local Astral Plane.
¡°Adaptable¡± ¨C As Chaos, your body adapts to any environment. From absolute zero to the gravity well of a singularity your body can and will adapt to all environmental conditions. This includes the ability to survive in those environments. Example: the ability to breathe underwater if necessary.
¡°Resistant¡± No Change - You are 50% resistant to all Magic. Additionally, you are 100% resistant to all magic utilizing energies derived from Chaos, Time, Space, and Gravity. Additionally, you are 50% resistant to Holy and Infernal Energies.
Level: Legendary
Attributes
Strength Legendary
Agility Legendary
Endurance Legendary
Perception Legendary
Willpower Legendary
Luck Legendary
Primary Stats
Carrying Capacity Legendary
Hit Points: Legendary
Base Health Regeneration
High
Stamina Legendary
Base Stamina Regeneration
Legendary
Mana: Legendary
Base Mana Regeneration
Legendary
Chaos: Medium
Chaos Regeneration
Legendary
Movement
Normal Running Speed: Legendary,
Standing high Jump: Legendary
Note. Falling Damage is not mitigated by maximum jumping Distance.
Base Attack
Unarmed Base Attack: 4 (Low)
Max Damage: 8 (Low)
Critical Damage Maximum Damage x2
Maximum Number of Attacks Per Second: 25 (Medium)
Adam reviewed the information and quickly realized that wherever he was, the way attributes were quantified was more abstract. He also noted that he appeared to only have four abilities and that a few of his previous abilities were now considered subsequent to his Chaos Incarnate ability. Wait, hadn¡¯t that been Chaotic Incarnate before? Interestingly enough he wondered if not having an Intelligence attribute would mean that his mental faculties were lacking. He performed a couple of mental excises and found that his memory still seemed fine. At least he didn¡¯t think there was anything wrong with his mind.
Adam needed answers, but he had a more immediate problem, he wasn¡¯t going to be able to blend in. The rules governing this Universe seemed to have changed the rules governing magic. Spells had seemed to work normally while he was particle though. Maybe the laws governing this place came into effect once he¡¯d taken physical form? That was a possibility. Luckily for him, it looked like Chaos was Universal to both System Matrix 001 and this Universe and his exposure to chaos was benefiting him here as well.
Adam thought about what to do for a moment then said then opened his prompt window and sent, ¡°Quantify Low, Medium High, and Legendary attribute system with definitions.¡± Immediately a prompt filled his vision
Help Attribute Interface Definitions
This Interface has attempted to quantify what it has been able to determine as the mortal levels of the local Universe and added them to a seven-tier system that quantifies attributes as compared to other creatures based on an average specimen of your species.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
The numbers indicated are approximations as compared to your previous understanding of attributes and the numbering system you are accustomed to.
Low 1-18
Medium 19 ¨C 100
High 101 ¨C 1,000
Elite 1,001 ¨C 10,000
Epic 10,001 ¨C 50,000
Mythic 50,001 ¨C 100,000
Legendary 100,001 - +
Adam thought about the numbers he¡¯d just been shown and then his previous information. He¡¯d been level 279,201,353 in the previous system. Adam focused on his prompt screen again and sent, ¡°Interface, approximately how much more powerful than the bare minimum creature that meets the requirements to be considered Legendary, am I? A new prompt responded immediately.
Adamantadine is approximately a multiple 2,791.98 times more powerful than a creature that has just achieved Legendary status in this Universe.
It would seem that his ¡°Adaptability¡± had come through, or maybe his Chaos Incarnate ability anyway. That would make him pretty damn powerful here. But as he knew all too well, being attribute strong did not make one invincible. Magic seemed to work here but he had no access to it.
His contemplations were interrupted as four individuals that were very similar to the monitors he¡¯d seen overlooking the battery plant, Yeah he was going to call that place a battery plant. Four individuals stepped out of four different alcoves, two at each end of the hallway. The first one looked at Adam and said something that he couldn¡¯t understand. Oh come on, ¡°Tongues¡± was working just a few minutes ago, Adam thought.
Adam slowly pointed to his ears and shook his head.
The being that had spoken reached into his robe and pulled out a cube. When he spoke again there was a delay then a voice spoke from the cube; ¡°Human, why are you here?¡±
¡°That¡¯s a bit of a long story, suffice it to say I¡¯m lost,¡± Adam said truthfully.
The being spoke again and the box said, ¡°You are in a restricted area. You will follow us after we search you for weapons.¡±
¡°Understood,¡± Adam said as he raised his hands and let them search him. He was only wearing a jumpsuit that his chaos ability had created after all. Moments later they led him to an alcove that seemed to be working now. He stepped into the alcove which teleported them to a new hallway. Adam was led down the hallway a little way to a room that contained a table with two chairs on opposite sides of a desk. Directly above the desk, hovering in midair was a clear crystal about a foot long and 3 inches in diameter at its widest point.
The leader of the four-man contingent that escorted him to this room spoke. A few moments later his box said, ¡°A human is being sent to question you. They should be along shortly.¡± The box said as the leader placed the box on the table and then exited the room. Adam heard the door locked behind the leader, leaving Adam to contemplate his thoughts.
Adam sat and waited patiently for the first hour. When no one came in the room Adam decided not to play their games. The first thing Adam did was recede into his Mindspace then try to pull up any movies or songs he could think of and let them play in his mind. He tried to remember if he was missing anything in the playbacks. After a little while he decided that his mind seemed to be working just fine. He returned his focus to the real world and started attempting to cast spells. He started small with spells like light, burning hands, and the like. To no avail magic as he knew it wouldn¡¯t work. That didn¡¯t make sense though, he¡¯d seen that magic worked. They weren¡¯t using technology. Everything he¡¯d witnessed had to either have been magic or mentally controlled. Psionics maybe?
Next, he utilized his Chaos Shape ability to create a small diamond in his mouth then used the chaos to break it back down. He didn¡¯t want to let whoever was watching him know that he had a secret ace. Next, he stood and moved to a clear spot in the room and started performing Katas for every single martial arts method he¡¯d learned. He did this to ensure that he still could utilize all the martial arts he learned and also to ensure that he had perfect control of his muscles. Again, his body seemed to be acting exactly how he remembered.
When he was thirsty he used Chaos Shape to create water directly into his mouth. When he needed to utilize the bathroom, he allowed the waste to be reabsorbed by his chaos. He had a feeling that whoever was watching him was waiting for him to call for someone because he was hungry or had to utilize the bathroom. They¡¯d be waiting a really long time. Internally he kept track of the time. While he appeared to be moving through every kata of every martial art he knew, he was also trying to figure out how magic worked here.
Eventually, he found himself seated in a corner opposite the door, much like a Buddhist master would do, and entered a state of deep mediation. He¡¯d been very careful not to show any strength beyond what would be considered normal here, though his lack of concern for food, water, or personal waste would probably draw some questions.
Adam entered his Mindspace again and opened his personal Interface to see if there were any files or messages other than his information. The only answer he received back when he queried the interface was ¡°Further physical Interaction is required for Interface quantification.¡± Which Adam took to mean that he wouldn¡¯t get more information about something until he interacted with it.
Three days passed before a male human entered the room with a glass of water. Like the other beings Adam had come across, he was also in a black robe.
When he noticed that Adam had opened his eyes and was looking at him he said, ¡°Sorry for the delay, it took a little while to get here. You must be thirsty.¡±
Adam stood in one fluid motion, walked over to the desk, and held out his hand. The man handed him the glass which Adam raised to his mouth and drank. Adam noticed that the flavor of the water had been off as a message prompt filled his vision.
You have ingested extract from the Flower of Unknown Truths.
You have resisted the effects of the extract from the Flower of Unknown Truths
The hurried demeanor of the man changed to one of cold calculation as he said, ¡°Very good, you will now answer all my questions truthfully.
Adam didn¡¯t feel any different but decided to play along, ¡°I will answer any questions you ask truthfully,¡± Adam said.
¡°Who are you?¡±
¡°I am Adam¡±
¡°Adam, do you know where you are?¡±
¡°I am in a room,¡± Adam said keeping a straight face.
¡°Do you know where this room is?¡±
¡°No,¡± Adam said.
¡°Are you a Spy?¡±
¡°No¡±
¡°Are you on a Mission?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Adam said.
¡°What is your Mission,¡±
¡°To save the Mother Fucking Day!¡± Adam said as he broke out in a grin, not able to take it any longer.
¡°What, how?¡± the man said, obviously surprised by the outburst.
¡°Okay, first thing, could I please have your name?¡± Adam asked.
¡°How are you asking me questions right now, you should be docile?¡± the man asked.
¡°Never mind that, what do you want to know?¡± Adam said.
¡°How did you get into this facility?¡±
¡°I¡¯m from one of the realities that are being harvested to create the energy cores that are created here,¡± Adam said honestly.
¡°That¡¯s not possible. Nothing exists in Universes we target except pure energy,¡± the man said.
¡°And your name is? Or would you rather I refer to you as that guy at least something I can refer to you by besides ¡®The man¡¯, Adam asked.
¡°You may refer to me as Dave,¡± Dave said.
¡°Hello Dave,¡± Adam said with a straight face before he lost it and broke out laughing.
¡°Is something funny?¡± Dave asked.
¡°A story from where I¡¯m from. If you understood the story and the setting you¡¯d probably think it was funny as well,¡± Adam said.
¡°How are you talking right now? No seriously, our spells identify your cultivation rank as Class M. You¡¯re a ¡®Mortal¡¯,¡± Dave said with a hint of disdain in his voice.
¡°Cultivation?¡± Adam asked confusedly then thought back to his personal information and remembered seeing that new attribute. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with being a mortal?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Well, for one thing, you shouldn¡¯t be in this facility. There isn¡¯t a teleporter that allows any mortals to move around inside here. We had to override some safety features just to allow you to step into the teleporter that brought you to this area,¡± Dave said.
¡°As I said, I¡¯m from one of the Universes you¡¯ve turned into a power plant, or whatever you¡¯re turning them into,¡± Adam said.
¡°Enough of this,¡± Dave said Angrily, ¡°Cozbi, come in here and get some answers from this mortal!¡±
A red-headed woman in a black robe walked into the room and met Adams¡¯s gaze. As soon as their eyes locked Cozbi moved forward just enough for the door to close behind her as ethereal green light entered her eyes and Adam felt a presence enter his mind.
¡°Do not resist, if you resist you will only hurt yourself?¡± Cozbi said
¡°What are you going to do?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I¡¯m going to go through your memories,¡± she said.
¡°All of them?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Of course, we must find out who you are,¡± She said pleasantly eyes still locked on Adams
¡°Dave, Cozbi, and whoever else are listening in. I¡¯m new to this Universe, Reality whatever. I¡¯d like to go on the record and say that I will open my mind to Cozbi and Dave if that is her desire, I¡¯ll hold nothing back but I want it on the record that I stated it was a bad idea and that I am not to be held responsible for whatever happens to Cozbi,¡±
¡°You¡¯re a Mortal, what could you possibly have in your mind that could harm a Class B Cultivator?¡±
¡°Since I don¡¯t know what a cultivator is or how your ranking system works, I don¡¯t know.
"There are 10 Cultivation ranks. In order, they are Class Z, basic animals, then Class M for sentient Mortals like you. After that those that can utilize magic and have various magical abilities that allow them to use magic are graded through eight more categories, G, F, E, D, C, B, A, S, U, and finally the pinnacle, rank X. These ranks are used to gauge their power level. If a numbering System is more your thing. Rank Z does not have a numerical qualifier. Rank M is zero through Rank X which is Rank 10. As a Rank B cultivator, I am more than one million times more powerful than any mortal,¡± Cozbi said heatedly
¡°I do not doubt that you believe yourself to be quite powerful. I also do not doubt that you are mentally focused, I just think the amount of information you¡¯re about to access might be a little much for you,¡± Adam said earnestly.
¡°Why do you think Cozbi reading your mind will hurt her?¡± Dave asked.
¡°Experience,¡± Adam said dryly
¡°Enough of this, fine we have been warned, now open your mind to me?¡±
¡°Wait!¡± Dave said, ¡°You weren¡¯t already in his mind?¡±
¡°No, his mind is closed to me,¡± Cozbi said
¡°Do you have any defenses up or magical items on you?¡± Dave asked Adam.
¡°As I¡¯m sure your guard friends outside the room will tell you, except for the jumpsuit, I¡¯m naked. Also, no, I do not have any defenses up other than my normal stubbornness not to allow others to enter my mind,¡± Adam said.
¡°Lower your ¡®stubbornness¡¯ so we can get this over with,¡± Cozbi said.
¡°Your funeral,¡± Adam muttered under his breath as he said, ¡°Okay,¡± and lowered his mental defenses.
Immediately Adam felt four presences enter his mind. Cozbi had been the link, but three others piggybacked her mental ¡®attack¡¯ into his mind. Adam, looked inward and focused on Cozbi, wrapped her in his mind, and pulled her into his Mindspace.
¡°What, where are we?¡± Cozbi asked as she looked around into the nothingness that surrounded them.
¡°I¡¯m sure as a mentalist you have a mental center that you fall back into when meditating, this is mine¡±
¡°But you yanked me from where I was going¡¡±
Adam cut her off as he asked, ¡°Did you know three others piggybacked your link into my mind?
¡°What? No,¡± Cozbi said, confused.
¡°Very well,¡± Adam said as he allowed his mind to go fully defensive while dealing with them.
¡°Something changed,¡± Cozbi said
¡°Yep,¡± Adam replied
¡°What did you do?¡±
¡°Nothing much. Well, when I say nothing much let me just say that I am now giving the other three people that entered my mind, exactly what they wanted,¡± Adam said.
¡°What is that?¡± Cozbi asked.
¡°My memories,¡±
¡°And that is supposed to present mentalists that are probably A or S-grade cultivators a problem?¡± Cozbi asked.
¡°If it was just my memories? Probably not. The problem that your bosses are about to run into is that they are not just my memories. I¡¯ll just say that I gave you, and even Dave, permission to enter my mind, no harm no foul. Individuals sneaking around in your head, then attacking me through you, Yeah, I said I¡¯d open my mind, I didn¡¯t say I¡¯d do so nicely.¡±
At that moment Cozbi¡¯s mind was overloaded as she acted like a fuse. As Adam had surmised when the information of beings from eight different cosmos was forcibly downloaded into a mind, even a cultivator¡¯s mind, whatever that actually meant, there was going to be damage. Adam had felt the first mind wink out and the energy spike must have meant that some of that energy was being transferred his way through Cozbi. Adam realized that if the other two also blew a fuse while connecting through Cozbi her brain might be fried and that would do him no good.
Adam stopped the information flow to the other two and brought both their presence into his mind space as well. Both looked horrible as their mental avatars had blood flowing from every orifice. Adam released them from his mental grip and they fell to the floor of his Mindspace.
¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Dave called as Adam pulled his focus back into the real world and noticed that Dave had caught Cozbi as she¡¯d started to collapse, blood running from her eyes.
¡°A couple of other people entered my mind along with Cozbi. One of them is dead and the other two are a little out of it. Cozbi took feedback damage from the individual that died. The other two are out of it, though both are still connected to my mind.¡±
¡°I thought you were a mortal?¡± Dave asked
¡°I am, where I¡¯m from mortals can shore up their mental defenses, I did.¡±
A moment later Adam felt one of the minds in his Mindspace rouse, touch his compatriot then they both vanished from his mind.
¡°Looks like the other two have retreated, which leaves only Cozbi. I think she¡¯ll be fine in a moment or two. Those with resilient minds can usually recover quickly,¡± Adam said to Dave.
As if he¡¯d willed it Cozbi regained her senses in his Mindspace and retreated to her body and then reached up and rubbed her head, as she sighed, ¡°Owwwww¡±
¡°See,¡± Adam said pointing to Cozbi who turned to the nearby wall and put a hand out to steady herself.
Dave looked her up and down, ¡°What did he do to you?¡±
¡°Nothing,¡± Cozbi said.
¡°Nothing? You don¡¯t look like nothing just happened to you?¡± Dave said indignantly
¡°Any idea who died?¡± Adam asked.
¡°How do you know he died?¡± Cozbi asked as she focused on him.
¡°Easy deduction. A lot of energy rushed into me, through you by the way. Figured you¡¯d have realized someone died too,¡± Adam said.
The energy that zapped me felt like Azshereek Serma, our Class-S cultivator and my master. I think the only reason I¡¯m alive right now is that you somehow shielded me from that torrent of energy. How did you do that?¡± Cozbi asked.
¡°That was easy, nothing enters my mind or body without my permission anymore. You were in my mind, I made the energy ignore you. Second, I think there may be an opening for advancement very shortly,¡± Adam said with a straight face and a hint of malice in his eye.
¡°Is what¡¯ you said in your mind true?¡± Cozbi asked.
¡°I don¡¯t know, ask Azshereek Serma,¡± Adam said.
* * *
Altarisa Serma looked at the corpse of her husband. They¡¯d been a good pair working to better the Pelza Empires X-Grade Cultivation energy spheres. It had been over one thousand years since the last incident and that had been dealt with by altering the field that scrambled the energy that was siphoned out of the alternate Universes the Pelza Empire harvested. No pattern of any kind should be able to survive the magical arrays that had been created to scramble the energy as it was taken from those Universes. Some of their mystics had claimed that Universes housing energy matrixes were full of life, but they¡¯d been ridiculed and ultimately silenced. Universes full of energy that could be easily consumed by their cultivators was highly sought after. The profit from this enterprise was so great that there had never been a question of whether they were going to stop or not, it was only a question of how to make sure those that believed in fairness never found out exactly what they were doing.
Besides, Altarisa thought, he or she who had the most power ultimately won. It looked like their precautions had failed. Someone or something had made it through the scrambling array. This Adam had been lucky once, she doubted he¡¯d be lucky a second time. She¡¯d been watching through her Crystal Ball until her husband had clutched his head and fallen over with blood leaking from his ears and eyes. She¡¯d rushed over and checked him immediately, but he was already dead.
She focused her attention back on her Crystal Ball and focused on the chamber with the man that had just killed her husband which she found hard to believe. How could a mortal kill a Class-S Cultivator? She looked him over carefully, checking to see if he had anything that could save him from what she was going to do next. It didn¡¯t look like he had any magical items. It might have been nice to learn what was going on in those Universes he claimed to come from, but the death of her husband ensured that this Adam character was about to figure out why no one crossed the Pelza Empire. It was too bad about Dave Johnson and Cozbi Selmak, she would need to make sure to do something nice for their families.
Never one to second guess herself, Altarisa flared her aura slightly and reached up to touch the clear crystal floating before her. The crystal before her was linked to the crystal in the room with Adam, Dave, and Cozbi. The crystal before her and the one in the room changed to a brilliant red as the door to the room shut and sealed. Altarisa watched as the scrambling array embedded in the walls, ceiling, and roof created a box-shaped scrambling box parallel to the walls, ceiling and floor then started shrinking. Dave and Cozbi tried to jump up to try to get out of the energy field, but the shrinking box of scarlet energy was both solid and fast. From the time it formed until it became a pinpoint had only taken five seconds. As Dave and Cozbi¡¯s tried to jump they erased from the soles of their feet upward. They hadn¡¯t even had time to scream. Adam, however, looked around the room with interest, sighed then closed his eyes as his body was erased from existence. Two things were wrong with what she¡¯d witnessed. First, his head hadn¡¯t reacted to gravity. It had floated right where it was when the field started until he was completely erased right before the energy field had erased it. Second, he hadn¡¯t struggled or shown surprise or anger. He¡¯d just sighed. Why had he just sighed she wondered?
Chapter 165, What Does It Mean To Be Real?
Adam watched the Crystal change from clear to crimson red and knew someone in charge wasn¡¯t happy. Unlike Alice in the zombie-destroying corridor, ribbons of red energy with gaps in them didn¡¯t start at one end of the room and work their way across the room. No, these assholes took that idea and multiplied it by 1,000.
For Adam, as the crystal changed color the world slowed down to a crawl. While Adam might not have been part machine anymore his mentality was still acting as if it were an array. Suddenly, he found he had plenty of time to analyze what was happening, which was a good thing because prompts had just started flooding his vision.
INTEGRATION COMPLETE!
Ability Interface now functioning at 100% with local Universe.
WARNING! You are being affected by a quantum-scrambling magical array
WARNING! All physical matter and magic that comes into contact with the array will be reduced to pure energy. This cubed array will shrink to a pinpoint in approximately 5 seconds
Adam considered the messages for a moment then tried to reduce himself to the size of a particle to take on the identity of ¡®Nothing¡¯ as that had worked before.
Warning! Ability activation unrecognized!
What? Adam quickly pulled up his Personal Information and looked over the information quickly. All of his attributes were still designated as Legendary so that hadn¡¯t changed. Next, he reviewed his abilities to see if any changes had happened.
Perfect Memory¡± - Like Photographic Memory except for all five senses with an automatic recall of desired information.
No change there.
¡°Interface¡± ¨C >>>Integration Complete<<< Interface has adapted to local conditions and connected to governing >ERROR<. Abilities have been modified and adjusted from existence within an energy matrix to the physical world. Personal Interface and Message Prompts will work as you are accustomed to.
And there it is, Adam thought, as he turned his attention back to his ability information. How much more was modified by his move into this Universe?
¡°Convergence¡± has been modified to ¡°Astral Link¡± The very nature of your soul is Chaos. You are permanently linked to the Astral Plane. This permanent link automatically starts your mana regeneration at ¡°High¡±
¡°Chaos Incarnate¡± ¨C Your race has been permanently changed to Chaos Incarnate, default Human.
¡°Chaotic Core¡± has been modified to ¡°Quintessence Chameleon.¡± You have an affinity with every Quintessence. As normal, you may activate a number of quintessence as determined by your Wisdom attribute and Cultivation Rank. Unlike normal cultivators who can not change their quintessence once activated, you may choose to reset your Quintessence channels and open new ones, provided you have the new Quintessence to do so. Note: Resetting quintessence channels returns you to the state of a Class M-Cultivator with no active quintessence channels.
¡°Immortal¡± ¨C As a being with a Chaotic Core you are Immortal. Should you be ¡®killed¡¯ your soul is transferred through the Astral Plane to the nearest quintessence conduit, manifestation or node.
¡°Adaptable¡± ¨C Modified. Your body adapts to any natural environment. Specific element-based quintessence will allow you to adapt to elementally active environments. Natural Environments are considered to be environments that are -100 degrees Fahrenheit to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Additionally, you can survive in airless or toxic gaseous environments. Corrosive environments will still affect you. This ability can be upgraded with Quintessence.
¡°Resistant¡± has been removed, Various quintessence will improve and weaken magical resistances.
¡°Chaos Storage¡± has been removed; Dimensional Quintessence must be present for dimensional storage-related powers to be utilized. All contents have been released into the Void.
¡°Chaos Step¡± has been removed. Dimensional and Movement-based Quintessence must be present for dimensional powers to be utilized.
¡°Chaos Shape¡± has been removed. Creation Quintessence must be present for conjuration-type powers to be utilized.
Adam looked over the changes. Well, at least one question had been answered, he was in a physical universe and not some holographic universe that mimicked reality. Also, there was an Astral Plane, which looked like he was about to visit firsthand. Unfortunately, everything he just reviewed meant that there was no way for him to survive this scrambling array wave.
Adam concentrated on the energy that had already reached his knees and noted that Cozbi and Dave were falling into the energy while he seemed to not be affected by gravity. He considered the problem for a moment then realized that while the energy barrier was vaporizing his body as it came into contact with him his body was also resting on the energy barrier just long enough that it appeared as if his body was still standing on the energy barrier that was quickly moving its way up his body.
Adam considered everything he¡¯d learned since coming here. He¡¯d seen the concept of cultivation and cultivators in various fictional books he¡¯d read back in college, man that was a long time ago. He¡¯d also seen the idea of Quintessence unlocking magical abilities in one of his favorite series from that time. Obviously, his nature hadn¡¯t changed so he really had been exposed to Chaos inside SYSTEM Matrix 001. While it didn¡¯t look like he had all of his abilities or benefits some of them were still around and the ability to be reborn seemed to be a good one. As did the ability to reset whatever magical abilities he activated. So, he¡¯d have to rely on his high attributes to hold him over until he figured out how magical abilities worked and what he wanted to do. If he messed up, it looked like he could reset the clock.
It was also going to take a little longer to figure out a way to get Adaline and Pandora back. If magic didn¡¯t work like he was used to here, he might not be able to create a bridge. Of course, if anything he¡¯d seen so far was true it was that the Universe keep changing and the way magic worked here might not be the way magic worked everywhere.
Finally, he was going to have to shut down that battery plant and destroy everyone involved with that atrocity. Eventually, they¡¯d happen upon the universes that contained the SYSTEM Matrixes He didn¡¯t have Karmic Luck to fall back on but his Luck attribute was Legendary, maybe that would help. Though, losing everything he¡¯d stored to the void was a bit unlucky so maybe luck didn¡¯t work here as it did before.
Adam looked at the Crystal and sighed as the energy wave made it to his neck, and then quickly erased the rest of his head as if it had never been there. Unlike his time as a particle of Chaos, he had no sense of time or movement until he felt himself come to, lying on some grass completely nude. He knew he was nude because he could feel grass reaching into places grass had no business touching.
He quickly rose to his feet and noted that he was in a small glade surrounded by trees including a giant tree next to him that stood at least a hundred feet into the sky.
¡°Hold!¡± a male voice called out in elven as Adam finally took the time to look around himself and see over 50 elvish warriors, with bows drawn and ready to put their arrows into him.
Adam slowly raised his hands as he said, ¡°Um sorry, my mistake!¡± in elvish.
¡°Mistake? There was no mistake, you reincarnated in front of the Mother Tree of the Kaljaharsi. If there is a mistake it is that you are a human,¡± the elven male who¡¯d told the other elves to hold said.
Before Adam could say another word a male elf stepped forward with a brown robe and offered it to Adam. Adam looked to the elf that had spoken until the elf nodded as all the guards stowed their bows and all but 10 faded from sight. Damn, he was going to miss his True Sight spell. Adam accepted the robe, slipping into it quickly. Once he had clothes on Adam looked around and noted that only the leader and the ten guards were present.
¡°I am Elorotheal, Lord Protector of the Mother Tree. Whom do I have the pleasure of addressing?¡± The elf asked as he stepped forward.
Adam changed his composure and took a more formal stance as he said, ¡°I am Adamantadine, though my friends call me Adam. I thank you for the courtesy and hospitality Lord Protector.¡±
¡°If I may inquire, I note that you are a mortal. Are you a new soul, one that has never been born here before? Or, are you the product of a magical ability that allowed you to reincarnate or resurrect?¡± The Lord Protector asked.
Adam didn¡¯t feel anything but general curiosity from the elf, so he answered honestly, ¡°Technically, I am both. I am from elsewhere and one of my abilities has allowed me to reincarnate here?¡±
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
¡°You have magical abilities as a Class M Cultivator?¡± The Lord Protector asked.
¡°I wouldn¡¯t say that it¡¯s a magical ability. I would categorize it as a race-based ability,¡± Adam said.
` ¡°Ah. Do you have the ability to utilize magic then?¡± The Lord Protector asked.
¡°Now, no. I do believe I will be able to though,¡± Adam said.
¡°That is unsurprising as you just reincarnated. Some retain their abilities, while others must relearn them. If you¡¯d follow me,¡± The Lord Protector said as he started walking away from the Mother Tree.
Adam followed and within moments he was surprised to find that he could not find the mother Tree anywhere.
¡°Do not be alarmed, I have utilized a travel ability to increase our pace to bring you to our city which is almost a day¡¯s walk from the Mother Tree. For the next part of our discussion, I thought sitting down for a meal and some wine would go well,¡± he said.
Adam looked around noticing that there were buildings around him now but his mind must have been playing tricks on him because as his vision passed over the buildings they blended back into the forest.
¡°Welcome to Tree Haven, the Capital of the Kaljaharsi,¡± the Lord Protector said as he lead Adam toward the trunk of a giant tree that had a set of double doors in its base and still had plenty of trunk to either side. ¡°This tree is the headquarters of our defense force.¡±
¡°That is a really tall tree,¡± Adam commented appreciatively.
¡°Yes, well it¡¯s over 1,500 feet high, though it¡¯s not the tallest tree in the area. Ironically the Mother Tree is actually shorter than most of the trees that surround her,¡± He said.
¡°You just referred to the Mother Tree as her, is she sentient then?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, and no.¡± Only those with certain magical abilities can speak with her. It¡¯ll be a little while before she is old enough to speak to everyone,¡±
¡°She¡¯s young? I would have thought that she¡¯d be quite old as the size of this city indicates she¡¯s been your Mother Tree for a very long time.¡±
¡°No, she is but a year old. Our true mother tree was lost just over 1 year ago. It¡¯s one of the reasons I asked you to follow me in here?¡±
¡°Really? What would you like me to do?¡± Adam asked.
¡°We noticed that you do not have much in the way of resources when you reappeared. Also, as a Class M Cultivator, you do not have access to the resources you need to unlock your magical abilities if you can. We need every warrior we can get to fend off an army of Gnolls, a dog-like humanoid species, that has brought war to the forest,¡± he said when he saw that Adam was about to ask a question he continued, We¡¯ll need to perform a few tests to see where you would best fit in with our forces. Once you¡¯ve taken those tests I¡¯ll be able to make a more intelligent decision concerning your placement.¡±
¡°That sounds okay,¡± Adam said.
¡°What kind of weapons can you utilize? The Lord Protector asked.
¡°Here? I don¡¯t know. Where I came from I was proficient in just about every weapon you could think of, including bows and crossbows,¡± Adam said.
An elf that had walked up while the Lord Protector and Adam had been talking looked at Adam before he jested, ¡°A human that¡¯s proficient with a bow, I¡¯d pay to see that?¡±
¡°And you are?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I am First Archer Baelor,¡± Baelor said.
¡°I should be able to use any bow you have,¡± Adam said firmly.
¡°Truly, any Bow?¡± Baelor said with obvious disbelief.
The Lord Protector reached out to his side and an exquisitely crafted black ebony wood longbow appeared in his hand. The Lord Protector turned down a hall as Adam and the First Archer followed. The First Protector stepped into a courtyard that was inside the base of the tree. Twenty feet away targets were placed haphazardly around the other side of the room. The Lord Protector turned to Adam. This is Dark Heart, an Artifact of my people that was created with the sole purpose of snuffing out the life of those she strikes in one shot. Any arrow loosed by this bow is imbued with a Darkness-based poison that quickly spreads through a body doing Epic-level damage in addition to strength-based physical damage. As the bow is set to Legendary Strength only those with Legendary Strength may use the bow,¡± The Lord Protector said as he held the bow out to Adam.
Adam accepted the bow. Immediately a message prompt appeared,
Congratulations! you have discovered Dark Heart, A Relic of ages past. Minimum Strength required: Legendary. The number of attacks per second is limited by Agility and Stamina as normal. Damage: Physical, Arrow based, maximum Legendary. Additionally, arrows may be imbued. Imbued arrows inflict Magical, High (Dark) to the health node struck and adjacent health nodes. High mana is required to utilize magical attack. Arrows may be fired without being imbued.
Adam minimized the prompt and picked up a quiver from a table nearby. He considered how to proceed and then decided he needed to figure out how combat, rounds, and timing worked. Allowing himself to fall into muscle memory. Adam quickly fired every arrow from the quiver then dropped the empty quiver to replace it with a full one before firing the next 20 arrows. He repeated this three more times for a total of 100 arrows fired. When he was done and allowed his senses to return to his surroundings he saw the Lord Protector and the First Archer looking at him like they couldn¡¯t believe what they just witnessed.
Confused, because Adam hadn¡¯t thought he was going all that quickly, Adam opened his combat log and reviewed it. The log was pretty bare, with only stamina consumption and replenishment listed. Then he looked at the time stamp and started reviewing the stats again. He¡¯d fired 100 arrows in 10 seconds. It looked like he¡¯d fired 20 arrows per second. He¡¯d fired for one second, reloaded for a second then fired for another second, repeating the process for 10 seconds.
As he dug into the messages further he released that he¡¯d almost used up all of his legendary stamina which had refilled immediately. It looked like 21 attacks was about the limit of what his stamina could handle. That¡¯s when he made a startling discovery. If he¡¯d been a mortal with Low Strength he might have been able to get off three arrows in a second based on his stamina. But Agility also played a factor as well. The number of arrows one could fire per second was directly related to their agility attribute, though how exactly was a bit elusive. For him, it looked like if he¡¯d fired a 21st arrow per second he¡¯d have run out of stamina.
¡°I don¡¯t even see the arrows.¡± The first Archer said
¡°It¡¯s a Relic, the arrows went through the target. They¡¯re probably in the sandbags behind,¡± The Lord protector said as he walked over to inspect one of the targets. Twenty targets had an ¡°X¡± pattern in the center of them. One arrow in the center and one at each spoke. ¡°Adam, why did you make an ¡°X¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t want to destroy the arrows. They should be in the sandbags,¡± Adam said as he pulled one of the sandbags free and pulled five arrows out.
¡°Are you saying you could have put an arrow in the center every time?¡± The first arrow asked.
¡°I¡¯m saying that the arrows hit the targets exactly where I wanted them to,¡± Adam said.
¡°That¡¯s¡¡±
¡°What is your Archery skill?¡± The Lord Protector asked cutting off the First Archer.
¡°Let me check, I¡¯ve never utilized a skill menu before,¡± Adam said as he pulled it up and then saw the messages he¡¯d received.
¡°When I started my Archery skill it was at Low. Now it¡¯s at Medium,¡± Adam said.
¡°And you said you can utilize melee weapons?¡± The Lord Protector asked.
¡°Yes,¡± Adam responded.
The Lord Protector held out his hand and Adam handed him the bow which disappeared into his spatial bag or holding ability, ¡°Please follow me,¡± The Lord Protector said as he led them down a hallway to a sparing area.
¡°Zanger, front and center,¡± The Lord Protector called to a male elf. As the elf hurried over the Lord Protector said,¡± You did say you¡¯re versed in hand-to-hand combat?¡±
¡°I am,¡±
¡°Show me. Zanger try to grapple with Adam and put him on the ground,¡± The Lord Protector said.
¡°Yes Sir! If the esteemed guest would join me on the grass,¡± Zanger called to Adam.
Adam stepped onto the grass, which seemed to cushion the area, and approached Zanger. When he was about seven feet away Zanger bowed, which Adam returned, then started.
Over the next couple of minutes, Zanger tried every trick he could to grapple Adam into submission to no avail. Adam quickly noticed that it had nothing to do with skill, he could see that Zanger was very skilled. Instead, it seemed that the term Legendary in his attributes truly made a difference as he very easily overpowered every grapple tried or simply moved out of the way. He almost felt like Neo, from the Matrix, which is technically what he¡¯d been, now that he thought about it. As he grappled with Zanger he realized that this level of power wasn¡¯t what he was used to, but he still seemed to have an incredible advantage.
The Lord Protector raised his hand and Zanger immediately withdrew. The Lord Protector turned to Adam as he asked, ¡°How did you beat Zanger?¡±
¡°I¡¯m not exactly sure at this point, I¡¯ve checked my skills and my grappling skill is at Low while I am pretty sure Zanger is at Medium or High. I believe my attributes are compensating somewhat,¡± Adam said.
¡°Truly,¡± The Lord Protector said before he asked, ¡°What are your attributes in Strength and Agility?¡±
¡°All of my attributes are at Legendary¡±
¡°What?¡± The First Archer exclaimed
¡°How?¡± Zanger said
The Lord Protector only nodded and pulled out a dagger from his belt, ¡°If what you say is true there are a lot of secondary attributes that most of us can¡¯t see that are affected by such high attributes. This is a normal dagger, may I cut your palm with it?¡±
Adam was curious about how damage to the body worked in this world as well and held out his hand, ¡°I guess that would be fine,¡± Adam said.
The Lord Protector stepped forward as Adam held out his hand and drew the blade across his left palm. The blade drew a thin red line that seemed to close as soon as it was made. Not even a drop of blood escaped. That¡¯s not what excited Adam. In Adams¡¯s interface, two body outlines appeared side by side. The one on the left had arms and legs while the one on the right only had the torso. Every major organ had a box. As he looked at the diagram it looked a lot like the ship sheets for Star Fleet Battles where damage was indicated by boxes by section. His sections were Head, Torso, Arms, and Legs. With an additional diagram for his back. While the Lord Protector had been using his dagger on his left palm, the box for that location on his body had flickered for a bit.
¡°You do have very high attributes,¡± The Lord Protector said interrupting his thoughts.
¡°My damage chart, I think that¡¯s what it¡¯s called, just popped up, What does it represent?¡±
¡°Are you asking what each box represents or are you asking how much damage a filled box represents?¡±
¡°A filled box,¡± Adam said.
¡°The damage you just took should at most have caused the box that represents your hand to flicker. If you were a normal person with normal attributes, in this case, Low, one cut would have filled up one of your boxes by a third. Three strikes would have made your hand useless. I do not know how many strikes it would take to damage a legendary box on your health scale but I do know that it takes over 20 Low-level strikes to fill up one box for damage,¡± The Lord protector said.
¡°Do skill level and attribute level synergize?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, but there is also another factor. Weapons cannot do more than three times their rated damage. For instance, I have a sword that does High damage. If you truly have legendary attributes you would still only be able to perform Mythic level strikes with my sword. It¡¯s also why you didn¡¯t shatter the arrows before. Even with your Legendary ability and a Legendary bow, normal arrows could only do High damage.¡±
Adam thought about what the Lord Protector said then considered all the various damage systems in all the various games he¡¯d ever played. This seems a lot like the Shadowrun damage system where different types of attacks had a different value for the damage done. A light attack did one box of damage, a medium attack did three boxes of damage and a heavy attack did six boxes worth of damage whereas the damage track only had ten boxes. It looked like the health and damage system here was an abstract system but there were numbers involved, even if the users couldn¡¯t see it in the interface. Adam thought for a few more minutes then said, ¡°So for the most part three attacks of the same level will affect a health node of a creature, and one attack from one level higher will take out one box of a level lower?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes,¡± The Lord Protector agreed.
¡°So if a critical box is hit and destroyed?¡± Adam asked.
¡°If you destroy the box representing the brain the creature dies, and the same for the heart. Other boxes simply cripple them. Some creatures like blobs and slimes do not have critical locations to strike and you¡¯ll just need to do enough damage to all the boxes to destroy it,¡± The Lord Protector said.
¡°If I truly have Legendary attributes are you saying that I¡¯m unkillable?¡± Adam asked.
All three men Adam was talking to laughed, ¡°Of course not Zanger said. Skill and attributes can make attacks more deadly. Also, magical abilities and magical items can stack damage levels increasing their effect as well. As I said my sword starts its damage at High. I have a skill of High with the sword and my attribute is considered high. If I use my sword I strike as if the item were Epic.¡± He said.
¡°Do all three have to be the same level to stack,¡± Adam asked.
¡°The first determiner of damage level for the attack is the item or ability. Then the skill and finally the attribute. If someone had a low-ranked dagger but a medium skill and attribute they would do a strike that was worth 3 strikes worth of medium damage. If they had a medium-ranked dagger, skill, and attribute they would do one strike worth of high-level damage per strike. If they were using my high-ranked sword with medium skill and attribute they would do one strike¡¯s worth of high damage. Of course, one strike in the right area could end the fight if you can destroy that box in a single blow. It¡¯s kind of confusing I know but a simple rule of thumb is that it will take three strikes of the same level as the defense to break it,¡± The Lord Protector said.
¡°It looks like I have a lot to learn in this new world. If I wasn¡¯t mistaken you were about to be attacked. I¡¯m more of a figure-it-out-as-I-go type of person. Show me what to fight and I¡¯ll get to work,¡± Adam said.
¡°You do not wish to negotiate terms or payment?¡± The Lord Protector asked.
¡°It would seem that fate has brought me here for a reason, I do not charge money to help good people. I would ask that I get to take some of the loot off those we repel so that I can start equipping myself here though,¡± Adam said.
¡°Acceptable. If it is all right with you, I¡¯d like to place you in the infantry, I would like to see how you fight without restraint,¡± The Lord Protector said.
¡°Without Restraint? Oh, I can absolutely do without restraint,¡± Adam said as he started to grin, ear-to-ear.
Chapter 166, Unskilled and Without Restraint
The Lord Protector turned and walked toward the entry point to the building as Baelor, Zanger, and Adam followed. Once at the main entrance, the Lord Protector turned to Adam and, ¡°Do you need any armor or weapons?¡±
¡°These robes will do. I need to find my way without being given gifts upon arriving. Next time, I might not appear with such esteemed and courteous company,¡± Adam said.
The Lord Protector guffawed, ¡°Too true, once we knew the Mother Tree was the site of a reincarnation we took steps to protect her but otherwise such acts by the gods are better left uninterrupted.¡±
¡°And the show of force?¡± Adam asked.
¡°There if necessary, but as you say a show,¡± The Lord Protector said as he pulled out a green crystal and spoke, ¡°Helos, if you¡¯d please¡±
Immediately, a portal formed in front of the Lord Protector where a young man was obviously concentrating on it from the other side. Wasting no time, The four stepped through and the portal closed behind them. Adam looked around and noticed that he had stepped onto a hilltop. A forest spread off to his left and right behind him as far as he could see while before, and below him, a field of battle that could only be measured in the thousands was on full display. There were doglike creatures that Adam was sure were Gnolls. He also recognized Goblins, Orcs, Ogres, and farther back, almost a mile away, giants.
Adam looked over the battlefield and immediately saw that a group of elves was having issues with an inordinately strong group of Gnolls supported by what had to be cultivators. There was one Gnoll that looked to have metallic skin just decimating the front lines of the elves while a second was throwing ranged fire-based attacks. It looked like there were cultivators in the elvish ranks as well and the fire projectiles were being mostly negated. The metallic gnoll was becoming a real problem as he killed one elf after another with the halberd he was wielding. Just as the Lord Protector was about to issue an order to his commanders, Adam was already rushing forward.
***
The Gnoll Ashrok laughed manically as he smashed another elf¡¯s skull. He couldn¡¯t believe his luck. Since he¡¯d found his fourth Quintessence he¡¯d been nigh unstoppable. Who would have thought that a convergence of Water, Earth, Fire, and his focused Quintessence Metallic Skin would be so much fun? The first three had improved his Strength Endurance and Stamina to Medium while his Metallic Skin made him immune to attacks that were one step lower than the rank of the Metallica Skin or his Endurance. Since his Endurance was at Medium he had immediately become immune to all low-level attacks.
Ashrok was also skilled with the halberd he was wielding and with his strength also at medium a strike from him decimated any elf he hit. It was beautiful. The elves would move in to attack thinking they could hurt him not knowing that it wasn¡¯t the leather armor that he wore that protected him. This allowed him to focus on those elves that seemed to be more skilled. Those he had to watch out for because their attacks could overcome his Metallic Skin and cause him real damage. Luckily his Endurance and Stamina were both at medium as well which allowed him to stay in the fight longer.
Ashrok wasn¡¯t stupid. This war was going to last for days, if not weeks so he had been pacing himself. With Adler supporting him and ensuring none of the truly powerful enemies could focus on him when he stepped in, he had free range. He might only be a Class F Cultivator with two Quintessence but his fire quintessence had provided him with a ranged attack that couldn¡¯t be ignored. Conversely, Ashrok¡¯s Elemental quintessence provided close-range attacks. His Earth Quintessence allowed him to stomp, staggering his enemies while his fire quintessence allowed him to shroud himself in flames doing fire damage to anyone that was within melee range.
Ashrok wasn¡¯t using his fire ability in this battle because every time he¡¯d activated it the warriors had backed away and ranged attacks had tried to pepper him. So he¡¯d left it off and waded into the battle to show these punny elves his true capabilities. Still, he wasn¡¯t reckless. He¡¯d attack until his stamina was about depleted then fall back to allow one of the shamans to heal him. They were only Glass G cultivators but their ability to heal from their Life Quintessence was much appreciated. Once healed, he''d wade back into the fight and kill some more elves. This slow and steady process had allowed him to reduce the elves on their army¡¯s right flank. If he could just break through, his army would sweep through the opening and destroy the elvish lines from two sides.
A flicker of energy drew Ashok¡¯s attention as a portal opened on the hill where the enemy commander stood. The Lord Protector had returned with two elves and a human in brown robes. What was a human doing here? These elves were notoriously xenophobic. What would cause them to allow one in their midst unless this one followed the druidic path, a fellow cultivator? Ashok allowed his aura to reach out and felt many low-grade cultivators in both armies. Adler behind him resonated and he felt the presence of the Lord Protector but other Cultivators at least his rank or higher, he felt none. The Human above was no threat and the Lord Protector would not step in until he had to. Ashrok returned his attention to those in front of him and focused on the elves in front of him.
That was why he was completely surprised when he felt a breeze wash over him and looked to see his Halberd stop in mid-swing just before cleaving down into the shoulder of an elf. His eyes followed the hand holding his halberd to the face of the human who¡¯d been on the hill a moment before. The human winked then snapped the metal shaft of his halberd by flexing his thumb. He even understood the human as he said, ¡°That worked.¡± In elvish.
A couple of Gnoll warriors beside him tried to take advantage of the human with attacks of their own. None seemed to have scored a hit as the human easily sidestepped every attack. Even the elves in the area were flabbergasted as they backed away from the human. Ashrok heard the Lord Protectors¡¯ voice call out in elvish,
¡°The Human is an ally, do not interfere and support when you can,¡±
Ashrok was having none of that and yelled back to Adler, ¡°Kill the human!¡± The other Gnolls in the area all backed away from the human which caused him to pause for a moment and look up as Adler unleashed a focused fire attack at the mortal. The Human just smiled and stood there as a column of flame shot from Adler into him. Adler had been behind Ashrok on a hill so the flame had come downhill and looked like a gout of flame that a fire drake or dragon might shoot down at someone on the ground. Adler must have recognized the threat because Ashrok quickly understood that Adler had held nothing back and was channeling all of his mana into this attack.
Ashrok watched as the flame hit the human burning away his clothes instantly and singing off any hair he had. Still, the human stood there with closed eyes as if waiting for something. Four seconds later Adler¡¯s flame attack ended and the human opened his eyes. Completely nude, the human looked to Adler and then in complete surprise to everyone said, ¡°My turn,¡± in Gnollish.
To fast for Ashrok to follow, the human was up the hill and had delivered a single punch into the skull of Adler, who had not even been able to move to defend himself. From there the area became a complete zone of chaos. For the next half hour, the human methodically killed gnolls, goblins, and orcs as Ashrok tried to chase him down and stop him. Ashrok noticed throughout that half hour that the human seemed to be utilizing different ways to kill as he went from target to target. He¡¯d picked up clubs, daggers, swords, polearms, spears, and even halberds from those he killed and utilized them on his next target.
The human never used more than two strikes on any single enemy. It looked like he was honing how he killed. It didn¡¯t happen often, but every once in a while his first attack wouldn¡¯t kill his opponent and he¡¯d follow up with a very specific kick or open-hand attack that either crushed a throat or caved in the targets head. Finally, Ashrok had enough. He¡¯d finally realized that while he¡¯d been focused on trying to stop this human, he¡¯d been drawn away from the front. As he stood in a field of his dead brethren there was no reason to be careful so Ashrok ignited his body with his flame ability and started making his way back toward the elvish lines. He¡¯d only taken three steps toward the elves when the naked human appeared out of nowhere before him and then held something out for Ashrok to see as the flames surrounding him flickered and died.
Ashrok couldn¡¯t understand why he couldn¡¯t breathe anymore and suddenly felt as if something very bad had happened. He allowed his eyes to look down to what the human was holding then realized it was a heart that had been singed but was still beating. His gaze dropped further until he noticed that there was a fist-sized hole through his chest as he heard the human say,
¡°Didn¡¯t know if that would work. I¡¯m not as strong as I once was. By the way, it took you long enough to realize¡oh forget it you¡¯re about to¡¡± were the last words Ashrok ever heard before his mind went blank and he felt himself beginning a fall he¡¯d never rise from.
***
Adam looked at the heart in his hand and dropped it. He quickly looked back to the top of the hill where the Lord Protector still stood, slack-jawed. He¡¯d killed roughly three enemies a second for the last half hour which was roughly 5,400 combatants. Which was still not even a dent in the scope of this army. This wasn¡¯t a war this was one of those epic battles like from Lord of the Rings where the forces of evil and good were fighting. How the hell were the elves supposed to withstand that? If there had been more cultivators in the enemy army.
Adam¡¯s thoughts were interrupted as he felt an overwhelming sense of danger from behind him. Without hesitation, Adam did a standing backflip over and behind a dark-skinned creature that he¡¯d never seen before that appeared out of exploding shadows to strike right where his heart had been a moment before from behind. Adam lazily reached forward as he landed and snapped the creature¡¯s neck, almost ripping its head off.
Adam felt an overwhelming sense of dread three more times and killed three more elves. As he looked down after the fourth sneak attack he noticed that each one of these weird creatures had disappeared and that there was a single clear crystal sitting where the first dark elf had been. Adam checked his surroundings and noted that no one was within 100 feet of him before he moved to the crystal and picked it up.
Congratulations! You have discovered a Looting Specific Quintessence! This quintessence creates an ability that will allow you to quickly loot treasure from fallen enemies. There are various looting abilities. This is a must-have Quintessence for any Adventurer
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As a being of Chaos, you may directly absorb and activate any Quintessence you touch. Would you like to absorb the Looting Specific Quintessence, Yes or No?¡±
Adam chose ¡°Yes¡±
The quintessence crystal in his hand turned to dust and then floated away on the breeze as if it had never existed as Adam felt energy coarse into his body. The process only took a moment before a new prompt appeared.
Congratulations, You have activated the Ability Treasure Renderer. Treasure Renderer removes all items from a creature you have recently killed and neatly piles them beside the corpse. If you have a dimensional storage item or power this ability will instead place the items into the storage location of your choosing at activation. Note: If this ability is utilized on a Cultivator it guarantees that a quintessence crystal of one of the unlocked Quintessence of the target will be added to the treasure.
Mana Cost: Medium
Scaling: As this ability improves the quintessence it can create will also improve. Quintessence Crystal level is limited to ability level though General, Focused and Specific Quintessence Crystals can be created.
That was very interesting. Adam¡¯s thoughts were interrupted as yet another wave of dread entered his mind. He jumped as he¡¯d been doing only to feel the wave of dread spike to an overwhelming level as a ballista bolt sailed out of the air to strike him center mass. Even his Legendary endurance was hard-pressed to ward off the damage as he felt one of his ribs crack though the bolt had not broken his skin which had transferred all of the energy into him and sent him flying into the forest behind the elvish forces. It only took a moment for him to recover his senses and twist in midair so that he was able to utilize his feet to alter his trajectory against a few trees, slowing down each time, until he lightly dropped to the forest ground.
Adam had to admit that the attack against him had been a perfectly timed and executed sneak attack. He opened his status screen and noted that the damage that he¡¯d taken had already been healed. Checking the combat log he noted that the ballista had been shot and had struck him as an Elite weapon. He moved over to where the ballista bolt had landed and checked it. It didn¡¯t look any different from any ballista that he¡¯d ever seen before. Maybe bigger weapons stepped up damage categories? That would make sense.
Adam quickly made his way back to the Lord Protector. Another elf handed him another robe as he walked up. Adam quickly put it on.
¡°Not even scratched by the Ballista Bolt? The Lord Protector asked.
¡°Oh, It hurt, don¡¯t let how I look now fool you. My regeneration rate seems to be pretty high as well.¡±
¡°If I might ask, were you going all out, or were you testing yourself clinically?¡± The Lord Protector asked.
¡°I was checking to see if the skills I knew before being reincarnated still worked. It is weird, I can perform them flawlessly and feel like there should be an additional effect of some kind but it doesn¡¯t happen. Also, my hand-to-hand strikes are much more powerful than any strike I¡¯ve made with weapons,¡± Adam said.
¡°That is unsurprising. If your attributes are as you say, which I am now inclined to believe, there are very few weapons and armor that will withstand your attacks,¡± The Lord Protector said before he asked, ¡°Are you going to step back into the field?¡±
¡°Yes. I think I have a feel for how skills progress and how to utilize the skills I know. Also, I had to get my rhythm back. The last half hour was methodical, this next little bit will be shock and awe,¡± Adam said.
¡°Do be careful, there are some very strong Cultivators in their command ranks,¡± The Lord Protector said.
¡°I hope so!¡± Adam said as he rushed off toward the front line.
Over the next hour, the Lord Protector watched as Adam decimated the entire front line of the enemy force. The enemy tried to ambush Adam multiple times but he somehow always knew when an attack was about to happen and had moved on as their strikes came in. Twelve hours later only the rear support lines of the enemy were visible on the other end of the battlefield. The Lord Protector had noticed that a few cultivators had already departed but there were three that had stayed.
Adam had no idea what the Lord Protector was thinking. He checked his clock and noticed that twelve hours had gone by as dusk was starting to set in. That meant the days were longer than 24 hours here but that didn¡¯t matter right now. Adam had systematically gone back and forth across the front line of the army killing as quickly and efficiently as he could. Goblins, orcs, hobgoblins a few ogres, and even some humans littered the field. He knew he¡¯d been lucky to this point. The overwhelming sense of dread he sensed right before a fatal attack acted like a kind of sixth sense for him.
He¡¯d come to rely on that danger sense quite a bit. That¡¯s why he hadn¡¯t fled when a being wearing two swords across his back had walked from the back lines of the enemy toward him as if out on a Sunday Stroll. As the being moved closer Adam noticed that he had emerald green eyes and fangs. Adam looked back to see that the sun had set so it was possible that he was looking at a vampire.
¡°I believe you owe us reparations,¡± The stranger said as he came within 20 feet of Adam
¡°And how do you figure that?¡± Adam asked.
¡°My master will be very displeased, though I believe I can turn this around if I make an offering.¡±
¡°Are you a vampire?¡±
¡°Yes. I am Kyren. I once belonged to the forces you fight for. I believe I will best serve my master by converting the pith of your soul to our forces.¡± Kyren said.
¡°I think you¡¯ll¡¡± Adam started to say before Kyren had moved faster than even Adam could follow, drawn his weapon, and pierced his heart. The suddenness of the move and the loss of feeling in his lower legs let Adam know that his spine had been severed. Even then his body¡¯s regeneration rate was trying to overcome the damage until he felt fangs pierce his neck. Some form of poison entered his body and tried to hijack his normal healing by converting his life force into something else.
That attack had been fast, so fast. It seemed that Adam had a lot more to learn about how magic worked in this world, though he now understood that Kyren must be a Legendary creature unto himself with legendary skills and probably a legendary quintessence that allowed him to attack so swiftly. While there might not be an official category above Legendary the synergy of the various parts of his attack had been above what his danger sense could detect, his perception could perceive or his agility could dodge.
Adam¡¯s thoughts were interrupted as a Prompt appeared in his vision.
WARNING Your body is NOT compatible with Death-based sustainment. You have also received catastrophic damage. Death-based energies have created a limbo of sorts that will trap you in this state until corrected by an external force. Astral Link allows you the option to release this body and reincarnate. Would you like to Reincarnate, Yes or No?¡±
¡°Kyren is it?¡± Adam asked as he felt the vampire feeding on him. ¡°Go Fuck Yourself!¡± Adam said as he chose ¡°Yes.¡±
Everyone watched as Adam¡¯s body suddenly turned gaseous and evaporated into nothing. Kyren looked around quickly as if expecting an attack then stood and walked back toward his army.
The Lord Protector had heard what Adam had said to Kyren and understood that Adam had used an ability. He watched as Kyren, his fallen pupil called for a retreat and the army of darkness turned and started leaving the field of battle. Only after everyone had turned to go did he send his troops down to clear and recover all items and gear with strict instructions to bring any quintessence crystals to him. He had a feeling Adam would be back and he¡¯d need those crystals to better prepare him for his next confrontation with Kyren.
***
Adam woke in the dark, naked and cold. Above him, he could see what he at first thought were stars but almost immediately recognized as bioluminescent moss. As he moved around he felt his hand brush across a small crystal.
Congratulations! You have discovered Dark Quintessence (General)! This quintessence creates an ability based around darkness. Anything from seeing in the Dark to Shadow walking is possible.
As a being of Chaos, you may directly absorb and activate any Quintessence you touch. Would you like to absorb the Dark Quintessence (General), Yes or No?¡±
Adam considered everything for a moment then focused his mind on one goal. The ability to see in the Dark as he chose ¡°Yes¡±
Congratulations you have activated the ability ¡°True Sight.¡± This ability morphs as needed so that you can always see out to 100 feet away from you at Low rank. As the ability increases in Rank the range increases. As this ability utilizes multiple senses you may see in the darkness, murky water and fog. At Medium you will be able to activate thermal vision at a cost of Low per minute. At High Rank, you will be able to activate X-Ray vision at a cost of Medium. Each level above that reduces the cost by one level for each additional sight mode.
Adam had felt the energy enter his body and focus on his eyes. Moments later he opened them to find himself able to see normally. He covered his eyes with his hand and noted that he could still see the room though it turned into more of an outline than actual sight. If he were a betting man he had gained something like the way Daredevil could see, kind of like a sonar vision. He¡¯d have to test that out at some point and see if loud sounds messed with his vision. Now he was just grateful to have arrived on an altar with a crystal that helped him see his surroundings.
Adam looked around and noted that he was naked and now sitting on an Alter. It was a natural cavern with a single exit at the back. Also, on the ceiling approximately fifty feet up he could something hanging from the ceiling that was slowly inching its way along the roof as it tried to move above him. He¡¯d noticed it because his vision showed him a circulatory system as blood was pumped through the body. Concentrating for a moment his vision reverted to normal and the room went dark. A moment later he could see again and the creature was clearly visible.
It was ironic, now that he was thinking about it. This creature was something like a Trapper, a creature described in the very first game he ever played. Trappers crawled along a ceiling waiting to drop on an unsuspecting adventurer. When it did drop, it allowed its weight and flesh to crush and smother the creature it landed on. Though he didn¡¯t know what this creature was called. He needed to get was an Analyze type skill, something that would help him identify creatures and items.
Adam looked around the room and found something that might work. On the floor in the center of the room was a set of rusted-out armor and a short sword. It looked like the creature¡¯s previous meal had left some presents. Without hesitation, Adam stood moved, and tumbled grabbing the sword as the creature on the roof let go and tried to trap him. It missed.
The next couple of seconds was anticlimactic as he proceeded to slash and poke the creature repeatedly and as fast as he could. It had a very high regeneration rate so Adam had to maintain his attack speed and continuously do more damage than the creature could regenerate. When the creature was finally dead Adam reached over and touched it, activating ¡°Treasure Renderer.¡± Immediately the creature desiccated and three items appeared beside the creature¡¯s dried-out desiccated body. That was a pretty cool ability. No more stinking corpses.
Adam moved over to the pile of items and found three quintessence crystals. He checked his message log and found,
Congratulation! The Ability Treasure Renderer has converted the trace amounts of Quintessence left in the into one each, Dark, Earth, and Death Quintessence.
Three quintessence? That was interesting. This creature must have been a little more powerful than Adam had thought. He¡¯d also be able to find out if his attempt to influence the outcome of the absorption of quintessence had worked. If it only worked once out of four times that could be a coincidence, twice a fluke but if it worked three or more times, that would indicate that some of his previous abilities concerning chaos and the ability to influence chance might still be in play after all. Now what abilities based on the three elements he had did he need the most right now?
Chapter 167, The Nature of Magic
Before Adam did anything, he picked up all three quintessence, minimizing the prompts that appeared, and moved behind the altar. He sat on the opposite side of the altar from the entrance. There was no need to make himself an easy target. Next, he opened up his personal information to check his gains during that prolonged combat. He skipped all the congratulations messages and checked his skill levels
Athletics had increased to Legendary, as had Dodge and Unarmed Combat. He had also achieved a rank of Medium for every weapon he¡¯d wielded. Why did he get Legendary in Unarmed, Dodge, and Athletics but no higher than Medium in the weapons? Adam dived into the logs, cross-checked and rechecked, and finally thought he had a handle on it.
It looked like the more he successfully utilized a skill, the higher its rank went. He¡¯d only picked up and used weapons in that first thirty minutes and it looked like successful uses increased the skill rank from Low to Medium at right around 19 successful uses. After reviewing his unarmed combat messages he realized that it had increased to a High skill rank at 101 successful attacks. He hadn¡¯t used any of the weapon types more than 30 times so that made sense. Elite Rank had come at 1,001 times and Epic rank at 10,001 successful attacks. Mythic had been a whopping 50,001 times and he¡¯d reached Legendary skill in Unarmed Combat at 100,001. Looking at the time stamps revealed that he¡¯d reached Legendary Rank in just under two hours. Athletics and Dodge had taken almost twice as long. It looked like that was more due to some attacks or movements not counting toward his progress in those skills.
During the prolonged combat, he¡¯d also figured out that he could make up to 21 attacks in a single second but it would take quite a bit for him to recover his full stamina after that. It looked like his stamina regeneration was Legendary and would fully recover daily but that stepped down to Elite during each combat round which was one second. To be able to maintain his attack rate he could only make 12 attacks per second. That wasn¡¯t too shabby at all. If he went all out for a second and then only made six attacks per second after that for about a minute before his stamina was fully recharged.
This system of progress resembled some system in RPGs he¡¯d played but it wasn¡¯t quite right. He¡¯d also need more data to figure out exactly what each rank meant quantitatively but he was sure that numbers were involved now. Next, he checked his Cultivation Rank and he was still Class M. Obviously there was a little more to Cultivation rank than just activating quintessence.
Which brought him full circle to the three quintessence he had. He had no idea what to shoot for with the Death Quintessence, or if he should even use it. If he wasn¡¯t mistaken he was limited in the number he could activate. The Earth and Dark quintessence though could be useful. He needed a dimensional storage container and one of the characters in a series he¡¯d read had used Earth base powers to call forth a storage chest from the earth. He could try for something like that if his idea with the Dark Quintessence didn¡¯t work out. A chest in the realm of shadow that he could reach into and out of through shadow seemed like something a Dark based power should be able to do so he was going to try to get that first using the Dark quintessence. Besides he wanted to see if he could get a mapping ability from the Earth Quintessence.
Adam put the other two quintessence on the floor and held the Dark Quintessence before him as he opened the prompt that appeared.
Congratulations! You have discovered Dark Quintessence (General)! This quintessence creates an ability based on darkness. Anything from seeing in the Dark to Shadow walking is possible.
Open Darkness-based ability detected, this quintessence can be absorbed and automatically increased the Darkness-based ability by one Rank
As a being of Chaos, you may directly absorb and activate any Quintessence you touch. Would you like to ¡°Create a New Ability¡± or ¡°Increase an Ability¡± you already have?
Adam focused his mind on some form of interdimensional storage and chose ¡°Create a New Ability¡±
Congratulations you have activated the ability ¡°Shadow Vault.¡± This ability creates a vault accessible by you in the Dimension of Shadow. Items can be placed into the vault and withdrawn from any shadow. This ability is synergistic with Treasure Renderer. Items created may be automatically placed within the vault. Note: a new tab has appeared in your Personal Information labeled Shadow Vault which will list everything within the vault. Living creatures may not enter or exit the vault. The number of items this ability can hold increases with each rank. Low Rank can hold 10 cubic feet. Placing items into or drawing them out of the Shadow Vault costs Low Mana.
That was two times he¡¯d influenced the outcome, could there be a third? Adam picked up the Earth Quintessence.
Congratulations! You have discovered Earth Quintessence (General)! This quintessence creates an ability based on earthen concepts. This Quintessence is perfect for creating defense abilities, though that is not all that is possible.
As a being of Chaos, you may directly absorb and activate any Quintessence you touch. Would you like to absorb the Earth Quintessence (General), Yes or No?¡±
Adam focused his mind on a mapping ability as he chose ¡°Yes.¡±
Congratulations you have activated the ability ¡°Personal Map.¡± This ability creates a map in your interface that allows you to keep track of your position in relation to other locations you have been. This ability is synergistic with perfect memory. This map does not have a range limit. Mana cost: None.
Three out of three, it looked like his affinity with chaos was paying off. That was definitely not going to be good for the locals. Now what to do about the Death Quintessence? He could just let it give him a random ability but that seemed chancy. If he had a luck skill running into that vampire didn¡¯t seem very lucky, then again, he had killed over 100,000 creatures in 12 hours. He had to have generated some bad karma just doing that. Plus it wasn¡¯t like the Vampire could have actually killed him.
There were so many abilities he could think of. Draining souls to empower himself. Death and Decay type attacks. Preventing his death, though, wasn¡¯t needed, he had that already. How about something simple? It looked like he was going to be utilizing hand-to-hand attacks and he¡¯d seen firsthand how hard it was to kill something with regeneration. How about something that locked down regeneration and healing? Nothing fancy but something that prevented those he was fighting from healing so he could take them down faster? That could be quite useful. Now did he want it to be a spell or delivered as part of his melee attacks? Touch-based attack for sure.
Adam picked up the Death Quintessence
Congratulations! You have discovered Death Quintessence (General)! This quintessence creates an ability based on deathly concepts. Want your enemy to fall apart in front of you? Want to raise an army of the dead, this is the quintessence for you.
As a being of Chaos, you may directly absorb and activate any Quintessence you touch. Would you like to absorb the Death Quintessence (General), Yes or No?¡±
Adam focused on the idea of what he wanted this ability to do and chose ¡°Yes¡±
Congratulations you have activated the ability ¡°No Escape.¡± No escape has a mana cost equal to the Endurance of the target and requires a physical touch to deliver. Once activated this ability prevents all healing and regeneration from any source. Death has come knocking and those afflicted will not escape.
Note: This ability is terrifying against the Undead. Any creature that is considered undead is instantly destroyed if mana equal to their endurance is spent. This ability may only be utilized once per second per rank.
Okay, it looked like his luck was coming into play a bit. That last part of the ability was a bit of an overkill for what he¡¯d been shooting for, then again, it made sense that Death would not want caricatures of death wandering around. There probably weren¡¯t that many cultivators running around that could spend Legendary mana. It looked like Adam was done here. He needed to get moving and get back to the surface. He stored the short sword in his shadow chest, still sucked to be nude though. Good thing his adaptable ability was keeping him comfortable.
Adam stood and walked across the chamber to the entrance. As he looked out of the entrance he realized that while the chamber was well built the entrance opened into a natural tunnel that had not been worked by any creatures as far as he could tell. Also, there was a slight slant to the floor that led up.
With no other options, Adam followed the natural tunnel. A half-hour later Adam checked his personal map. As he¡¯d suspected the tunnel had also been turning to the left slightly and he had been steadily making his way up toward the surface as he circled the chamber he¡¯d woken up in. He wasn¡¯t moving fast as he was checking the ceiling and looking for traps, both physical and magical.
Another two hours found him coming out of a crease in the ground that came out into a forest glade. It was night time so impossible for him to tell what direction was east or west as he didn¡¯t know the constellations. His clock said about 36 hours had passed since his time on the battlefield but he already knew that the number of hours in a day here was slightly off. Nothing to do but wait for daylight.
Adam found a larger tree and climbed up to one of the branches to get himself off the ground just in case there were predators in the area. He¡¯d already been shown that he wasn¡¯t the top apex predator in the area.
He sat with his back against the trunk and leaned his head back to meditate. He also had a lot to think about. The magic here worked a lot like one series he¡¯d come across. Crystalized energy being utilized to activate powers, normally random, but following some sort of template the soul drove. If that were true what kind of abilities would his soul unlock? Did that also mean there were magical manifestations here as chaotic energies manifested? He hadn¡¯t seen anything to that effect yet but was it possible?
One thing he knew, the sun had been behind him when the army had been attacking so he needed to head toward the Sun to find the edge of the forest and then look for the Lord Protector. Might be a good time to figure out what his running speed was here as well. He was sure he¡¯d been moving faster than the speed of sound even if he hadn¡¯t been creating sonic booms. It was a magical reality after all, some of the rules that were hard and fast in the SYSTEM Matrix might not be here. More likely, magic was mitigating his passage somehow.
As he moved his mind towards his mind space, he left a sliver of his attention to keep track of his surroundings. As he drew back into himself something new drew his attention. Normally his shift into his Mindspace had felt like he was falling back into his mind and stayed level, or horizontal. Now he felt a pull down toward his chest. Intrigued, he allowed his perception to follow the pull and found a mass of swirling energy around a new core with himself he¡¯d never seen before. As he watched the mass of milky white energy undulated and morphed. Five stars seemed to rotate around the core. Adam instinctively knew these represented the quintessence he¡¯d absorbed. Adam could tell that they had not been incorporated into the core, they were merely orbiting it. Did he need to somehow incorporate the stars into the core? As that thought crossed his mind a prompt appeared.
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You have started the process of refining your cultivation by incorporating the quintessence you have activated into your Soul Core. At this point you may release the quintessence and the ability gained is simply lost. Or you can incorporate the quintessence into your Soul Core to work toward improving your Cultivation Rank. NOTE: Once incorporated it is very difficult to undo. Note: Ability Quintessence Chameleon allows you to disregard the previous NOTE.
Would you like to incorporate one, some, or all quintessence into your Soul Core?
Adam thought ¡°Incorporate All¡± and watched as the energy of the soul core allowed five tendrils of energy to reach out and draw each of the stars into itself. Adam watched as the stars created stains on the Soul Core which quickly faded until the milky white undulating sphere was the same. Once the core was homogeneous again Adam received more prompts.
Congratulations you have incorporated Focused Quintessence Treasure Renderer into your Soul Core at 100% Efficiency. Cultivation Rank increased to Rank G. Total Quintessence incorporated 1 of 8. Luck Attribute increased by one rank, Maximum Legendary.
Congratulations you have incorporated General Quintessence True Sight into your Soul Core at 100% Efficiency. Cultivation Rank increased to Rank F. Total Quintessence Incorporated 2 of 9. Mana Attribute increased by one rank, Maximum Legendary.
Congratulations you have incorporated General Quintessence Shadow Vault into your Soul Core at 100% Efficiency. Cultivation Rank increased to Rank E. Total Quintessence Incorporated 3 of 10. Mana Attribute increased by one rank, Maximum Legendary.
Congratulations you have incorporated General Quintessence Personal Map into your Soul Core at 100% Efficiency. Minimum Requirement to reach Rank D (3 Medium, 2 High, 1 Elite, 1 Epic, 1 Mythic, or¡Quintessence Ability Personal Map Rank Increased to Legendary due to synergy with ability Perfect Memory. The minimum requirement for Cultivator Rank D, C, B, and A has been met. Cultivation Rank increased to Rank A. Total Quintessence 4 of 14. Endurance Attribute increased by one rank, Maximum Legendary.
Congratulations you have incorporated General Quintessence No Escape into your Soul Core at 100% Efficiency. Minimum Requirement to reach Rank S (3 Mythic or 2 Legendary Quintessence) NOT met, Cultivator Rank A. Total Quintessence Incorporated 5 of 14. Wisdom Attribute increased by one rank, Maximum Legendary.
Perfect memory was his gift that kept on giving. That had automatically upgraded his mapping ability to Legendary. It looked like he wouldn¡¯t be getting any more freebies though. Of course with his looting power that could create quintessence, he wouldn¡¯t need to wait for them to randomly drop and if they could be utilized to increase the rank of his quintessence abilities all he needed to do was find six more dark, earth, or death quintessence, or seven of a different one and he¡¯d have another legendary ability.
One thing, it looked like he only had a total of 14 quintessence slots. He¡¯d received 7 from his legendary attribute and it looked like he gained one each time his cultivation rank increased. Did he gain anything else for leveling? He checked his prompts
Congratulations you have improved your Cultivation Rank from M to G. With each increase in cultivation rank two things happen. First, an additional Quintessence location is unlocked in your soul allowing you to add another quintessence. Second, you may raise one attribute by one rank. Quintessence Locations count as an attribute and may be upgraded as well. You have (1) unassigned attribute increase.
Adam quickly went through his messages until he reached the last one that concerned his increase to Cultivator rank A.
Congratulations you have improved your Cultivation Rank from E to A. With each increase in cultivation rank two things happen. First, an additional Quintessence location is unlocked in your soul allowing you to add another quintessence. Second, you may raise one attribute by one category. Quintessence Locations count as an attribute and may be upgraded as well. You have (7) unassigned attribute increases to distribute.
All of his attributes were Legendary so Adam assigned all attribute bonuses to Quintessence Locations and was very satisfied to see the following message.
Quintessence Locations raised from 14 to 21. You have utilized 5 of 21 quintessence locations.
Adam reviewed what he¡¯d learned so far. It looked like Cultivators had to work really hard. Although the type of Quintessence they incorporated into themselves also improved their attributes. If Adam hadn¡¯t already had Legendary attributes he would have increased his Luck by one rank, his Mana by two ranks, his wisdom by one rank, and his Stamina by one rank. In addition, as his Cultivation rank increased he would receive another attribute increase which he could use to round out his attributes. He didn¡¯t need to though. For him, he could only put those extra attribute points into Quintessence locations. All other attributes were already ranked at Legendary.
He had to admit, it was a pretty elegant system and allowed individuals to improve themselves. The only problem was that they had to find a way to unlock the abilities in their soul and if quintessence was the key, it must be a pretty expensive key. That was going to make him rich here, where ever here was. Some mythological world with everything out of fantasy. Adam wondered if there was an Earth out there somewhere.
Adam withdrew from his Soul Core and moved back into his body coming awake with the morning sun. turning toward the diffuse light that was shining through the trees Adam dropped to the ground and began running in the direction of the sun. Before he sped up he checked his personal map to see if it measured distance. Sure enough, it did. He created a waypoint at his current location and ran as fast as he could then came to a stop. He measured the distance, did some quick math, and figured out that he¡¯d been traveling at approximately 1,100 miles per hour. There definitely should have been a sonic boom.
Adam started running again and a short time later exploded out of the forest into the planes he¡¯d seen the war happen on. The Corpses had been either moved or buried and new grass was already growing. If Adam was a betting man a cultivator had done something to repair the land and bury the corpses. He realized he was slightly north of the hill the Lord Protector had stepped onto through the portal. He adjusted his course and slowed down as he headed south. Within fifteen minutes he came to a familiar hill that had two elves stationed on it. As he slowed then made his way up the hill one of the elves reached down and picked up another robe which he held out to Adam.
¡°The Lord Protector figured you might need another one,¡± The elf holding out the robe said in elvish.
¡°Thank you,¡± Adam said as he accepted the robe, ¡°What now?¡± Adam asked as he put on the robe.
¡°Now we head back to Tree Haven,¡± The other guard said as he pulled out a green crystal and did something that Adam felt but couldn¡¯t see. Immediately a portal opened into the Tree they had left when coming here. They both ushered Adam through first then followed. As Adam exited the portal he was met differently this time. The elves that noticed him stopped what they were doing, held their hand to heart, and bowed before returning to their tasks. Adam was about to ask what was going on when the Lord Protector walked out of a side room.
¡°I knew you¡¯d be back,¡± the Lord Protector said happily.
¡°I¡¯m glad to be back, what is happening?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Well, you did save countless elves before you fell,¡± The Lord Protector said.
¡°Please convey my appreciation for the courtesy, but I would have done the same thing to help even if I hadn¡¯t met you before following you there. Goblins, Gnolls, and the like aren¡¯t racial enemies, but I just don¡¯t get along with them, whatever Universe I end up being in.¡± Adam said.
¡°Fair enough, if you¡¯d come with me I had my men collect the treasure from the battlefield. You did ask if you could loot the corpses. To make things easy I am willing to give you 100 gold and the first pick of the quintessence that was found. Before you decide please understand that only 5% of all monsters or non-cultivators generate a quintessence. Cultivators, or monsters that have quintessence abilities almost always do, though normally not as many as they have absorbed,¡± the Lord Protector said.
¡°I know from my combat log that I killed over 100,000 creatures. If quintessence drops 25% of the time that means that your army recovered over 5,000,¡± Adam said.
¡°We¡¯d stopped counting after we reached 1,000 and instead sorted by type. Also, someone would have been removed by the enemy or our soldiers. After our losses yesterday we felt it better not to push the issue.¡±
Adam nodded before he asked, ¡°So, how many may I claim?¡±
¡°As I said you get the first pick. As you may, or may not know, Cultivators are limited in the number of¡¡± The Lord Protectors¡¯ voice started to say as his eyes hardened, ¡°Class A Cultivator? You were gone a day, how did you get to Class A cultivator so quickly? The rituals and mental preparation required to absorb one quintessence, wait did you use the quintessence you picked up in the middle of the battle?¡±
Adam shrugged his shoulders sheepishly, ¡°Yeah.¡±
¡°You don¡¯t need rituals to absorb quintessence do you?¡± The Lord Protector asked.
¡°Nope, in fact after I died something tried to kill me after I woke up. I found four quintessence and incorporated all four of them as well,¡± Adam said.
¡°Still, that doesn¡¯t explain how you achieved Rank A. You¡¯d need three of those to epic, two to Mythic, or one to Legendary rank to qualify for rank A¡±
¡°True, one of my abilities synergized with one of my racial abilities and immediately ranked the quintessence up to Legendary,¡± Adam said.
¡°Can I ask which ability?¡± The Lord Protector asked hesitantly.
¡°If I understand by your demeanor asking about one¡¯s abilities is either personal or taboo. As you have been generous and hospitable to me, so I will be with you. It was a mapping ability I received from a General Earth Quintessence,¡± Adam said.
¡°What racial ability would synergize with a mapping ability.¡±
¡°One focused on memory,¡± Adam said
¡°Yes, that would do it. Lucky,¡± The Lord Protector said,
¡°Extremely,¡± Adam agreed, ¡°About these quintessence?¡± Adam asked.
¡°There are a lot of general ones and a few focused though no specific. We¡¯ve created a list,¡± The Lord Protector said as he picked up a piece of parchment from the table and handed it to Adam.
The list was written in elvish which Adam looked over quickly;
Light 3
(Illusion) 1
(Evocation) 1
Air 5
(Alteration) 1
(Conjuration) 1
Life 25
(Alteration) 1
(Summoning) 1
(Enchantment) 1
Water 103
(Conjuration) 5
(Summoning) 4
(Enchantment) 3
(Divination) 2
(Illusion) 1
(Evocation) 3
Dark 210
(Abjuration) 3
(Alteration) 5
(Conjuration) 3
(Enchantment) 3
(Evocation) 5
Earth 401
(Alteration) 43
(Conjuration) 5
(Summoning) 6
(Enchantment) 3
(Evocation) 2
Death 333
(Conjuration) 4
(Summoning) 5
(Enchantment) 4
(Necromancy) 10
Fire 4
(Conjuration) 3
(Summoning) 4
(Enchantment) 3
Infernal 1
Adam looked at the list, looked at the Lord Protector, and Looked back at the list before he asked, ¡°I take it to mean that each of these quintessence has a primary element, and then within those elements, you found specifically focused quintessence, as an example under fire (conjuring) you have 3. That means there are 3 fire-attuned conjuring quintessence?¡±
¡°Yes, that¡¯s exactly what it means,¡± The Lord Protector said.
¡°Next question,¡± Adam started to say and then continued, ¡°Let¡¯s say I use a fire conjuring quintessence, can the basic fire quintessence be used to upgrade the rank of the ability I unlock?¡±
¡°Yes, They can also be used to upgrade specific ability quintessence but it¡¯s usually more expensive. Some abilities allow cultivators to convert one quintessence into another, the conversion cost is high, I¡¯m told. For instance, I don¡¯t think you could convert any of the Fire Quintessence but there is enough Earth Quintessence that if we had such a cultivator we could create whatever you think you needed,¡± The Lord Protector said.
Adam thought about a few things for a moment before he said, ¡°There has to be more to Cultivation rank than I¡¯m seeing. With what you just showed me I will be able to open abilities and infuse them to Legendary Rank. I only need to do that for 3 more abilities to be considered a class X Cultivator. That doesn¡¯t make sense, it almost seems too easy. What am I missing?¡±
The Lord Protector looked thoughtful for a moment before he answered, ¡°First your experience is skewed. No one starts with attributes as high as yours. Quintessence is one path to improvement and there are other methods to increase attributes naturally up to High, which most do before taking on a quintessence because it¡¯s harder to raise attributes as you progress upward. Second, the combination of abilities and possible counters to those abilities is practically infinite. Do you know, that in my lifetime, over 300 years, no one has seen an infernal quintessence, I asked around. The sages think that one dropped because you killed a demon out there on the battlefield, probably one that was possessing another creature. My point, in a war like this the armies would fight and the quintessence would drop and normally the battlefield would absorb that energy over the next day, cursing the land. Because the other army withdrew we were able to get out there and recover as many as we could as quickly as possible,¡± The Lord Protector said.
Hoping to change the subject Adam asked, ¡°Okay, you said I could have the first pick, how many would be an acceptable amount, in other words, how many do you need?¡± Adam asked.
¡°We want nothing to do with the Infernal Quintessence, in fact, we would appreciate it if you find a way to destroy it. Out of everything else if you took no more than 7 from each category that has 7 that would be appreciated except Dark, Earth, and Death. There are so many that taking more of them should be fine,¡± The Lord Protector said.
Something the Lord Protector said resonated with Adam. That resonance formed a plan and with that plan in mind, Adam said, ¡°I will take one each of Light, Air Life, Fire, and the infernal. 30 of the Dark and Death and 50 of the Earth.¡±
¡°Are you sure,¡± you might want more than one ability of the Life or even a couple of the focused ones,¡± The Lord Protector said.
¡°I have an idea I want to try. Also, I picked up an ability that will make it possible for me to find quintessence a lot easier than other people. I¡¯m sure the Army we just saw will be returning and you will need all the quintessence you can get your hands on to deal with that threat,¡± Adam said.
¡°We will have to sell or trade half just to get the materials to be able to utilize the rest but you are right we will need as many as we can keep. Please know that this day you have made friends for life among the Kaljaharsi,¡± The Lord Protector said as he pushed a ring across the table to Adam. ¡°Any Kaljaharsi that sees you wearing this ring will immediately know that you are our Ally. Of course, it goes without saying that our enemies that see the ring¡¡±
¡°Will be my enemies as well,¡± Adam finished. ¡°I understand and thank you for this generous gift and show of trust.¡±
The Lord Protector pulled out multiple sacks and put the Quintessence crystals Adam wanted on the table along with 100 gold which Adam added to his Shadow Vault. When they were done The Lord Protector escorted him out of the building and down the road to another tree where he led him inside and into a side room there. ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I cannot stay and chat longer, I must see to the war effort and prepare for our next engagements. Please enjoy our hospitality. In the morning a map of the area will be provided to you, as well as any provisions you might need and then you can be on your way. There is a human city, not six days¡¯ travel from here. If you are as new to this world as you say, you might want to go spend some time among them, Now I must take my leave,¡± The Lord Protector said as he turned and left the building Adam was staying in for the night.
Adam looked around the room he was in, went over to the bed, laid down, and let his head hit the pillow. He hadn¡¯t stopped moving, in how long? He never did answer himself, No sooner had he asked than he found himself in deep and restful sleep.
Chapter 168, Ordering Chaos
Adam woke to find himself not where he had gone to sleep. Instead, he was in a room with multiple beds and a single female elf checking on another male elf lying in a bed across from him. Adam tried to move his arms and legs but could barely muster the strength to lift the covers. He¡¯d been on a battlefield just yesterday, why couldn¡¯t he move?
Thankfully when he tried to open his Personal Information it did so. Superimposed across the information was a bright red flashing message
Integration Error, Recalibrating 75% complete.
Reintegration Error, what kind of horseshit was that? Adam tried to access his information tabs, but he couldn¡¯t open anything. The information didn¡¯t look like it was changed but he couldn¡¯t access anything so he couldn¡¯t check. Frustrated, he closed the screen and looked up to find the elvish woman standing beside him. How had he not noticed her moving toward him?
¡°Good morning, Adam is it?¡± she asked.
¡°Yes,¡± Adam tried to croak out. He licked his lips and tried again, ¡°Yes.¡±
¡°My name is Vanya; how do you feel?¡± she asked.
¡°Weak, my muscles are so stiff,¡± Adam replied
¡°That¡¯s to be expected for someone that hasn¡¯t moved for that last month,¡± Vanya said.
¡°Did you say a month?¡± Adam asked adrenaline waking him up completely.
¡°Yes, a month. You were found unresponsive and brought here. You¡¯ve been in that bed for a month. On a related yet delicate subject, did you know that you do not create any waste?¡± Vanya asked.
¡°Really, that¡¯s true here as well, cool,¡± I said before explaining, ¡°It¡¯s a racial ability, if it still works as it did before,¡± Adam said.
¡°Interesting. That brings me to my next question, what exactly are you? You look human but there are subtle differences, as we just discussed,¡± Vanya said.
¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t know what race I¡¯m considered here. I just arrived, well, I just arrived in this Universe a month ago,¡± Adam said.
¡°Well, as best as any of the healers here can determine, you are going through some sort of metamorphosis or change. The process seems to have sped up over the last day. We¡¯ve noticed that what your Personal Information identifies as a ¡°Recalibration¡± is going up by a percent about every half hour.¡±
¡°So, it¡¯ll be complete in just over 12 hours?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Probably sooner, as I said it seems to be accelerating,¡± she said
Adam opened his Personal Information to check.
Integration Error, Recalibrating 76% complete.
We¡¯d only been talking for, at most, 15 minutes. It did seem to be accelerating. Adam looked to Vanya who had raised her hand until a soft white glow radiated from her hand toward Adam. Adam felt much better as a feeling of warmth filled his entire being, ¡°What was that, It felt really good?¡± he asked.
¡°That was one of my abilities. It¡¯s a general life ability called ¡°Restore Vitality,¡± though that¡¯s a misnomer. This ability removes all debuffs related to body strain, damage, and overexertion. It can even remove debuffs like deafened or blinded so long as the debuffs aren¡¯t permanent,¡± Vanya said.
¡°Thank you,¡± Adam said as he checked his status. 83%, it was moving much quicker now, ¡°I just checked my status and the process my body is going through has gone from 75% to 83% in the time we¡¯ve been talking. I think it¡¯s going to finish a lot quicker than either of us thought.
¡°I do believe you are correct,¡± Vanya said as she stepped back and waved her hand. A series of runes surrounding the bed activated and a shimmering field of energy encased the bed.¡±
¡°What is that?¡± Adam asked as he looked over the runes.
¡°You have been surrounded by a ritual circle. Inside the circle, anything that happens is shrouded from prying eyes. Those trying to scry into the location will fail. It also prevents any tracking magic from detecting and flairs of magical energy that might emit. Don¡¯t worry. If you wish to leave the circle you may do so. It is simply there to prevent our enemies from determining the location of this city should there be a magical flair. The Lord Protector informed us of what you did for the war effort. He asked that something like this be prepared and erected to help thwart anyone that might be prying for you, or us,¡± Vanya explained.
¡°I understand,¡± Adam said as he did another quick check, ¡°I¡¯m at 92%, this should be ending soon. Whatever happens please convey my thanks,¡± Adam said.
¡°You are most welcome,¡± Adam heard Vanya say as his surroundings faded away and he found himself in an area of pure white as a message clouded his vision.
Recalibrating 100% Complete
¡°Well, we can¡¯t have that walking around,¡± A voice boomed from everywhere.
Adam covered his ears and looked around for the source of the voice. He was still surrounded by white light. His True Sight was also useless as nothing showed up as an outline either, not even the floor. He seemed to be floating, though he felt like he was standing on something.
¡°Very interesting, but ultimately it means nothing. Beings from within a construct do not have souls,¡± the voice said pausing for a moment before Adam heard him say, ¡°Well of course he has a soul now, that¡¯s why he must be brought to heel or culled,¡± the voice said before pausing again. A few moments later the voice declared, ¡°I¡¯m right, you¡¯ll see!¡± With his hands over his ears, the pain Adam had felt receded.
Adam was about to ask what was going on when he felt a sudden lurch as he seemed to be pulled sideways until he landed In a chair across from Mary-Louise Parker, Adam looked around, ¡°No, there is no way this is real, you took that out of my mind from that R.I.P.D movie. Stop fucking around and show yourself already!¡± Adam yelled.
Mary-Louise Parker evaporated, and the room changed to a more refined setting as a study came into existence around him. He was still in a chair, though it was now more comfortable, and a table was still in front of him as a young man that resembled Tom Hiddleston, though not quite. If you took Tom Hiddleston and combined him with Louis as played by Brad Pitt in Interview with a Vampire that would be a lot closer to what this man actually looked like. He was very pale but beautiful with bright blue eyes and light brown hair. He solidified into view in the chair on the opposite side of the desk, ¡°Sorry about that, It seems like you heard some of my conversation with¡it doesn¡¯t matter. I thought I¡¯d pull an image you could relate to from your mind, is this one more appealing?¡± The man asked.
¡°Yes,¡± Adam said. ¡°It¡¯s just that I¡¯ve been through a lot and I¡¯d much rather know exactly what¡¯s going on instead of becoming a mushroom,¡± Adam said.
¡°A Mushroom?¡± he asked.
¡°Yeah, a mushroom, someone or something that is kept in the dark and fed shit,¡± Adam said.
A quizzical expression crossed the man¡¯s face then he let out a laugh as he said, ¡°A mushroom indeed. Very well, we will try not to turn you into a mushroom.¡±
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
¡°Okay, before we get started, with whatever, this is,¡± Adam said, waving his arms around to the room, can I at least ask how I should address you?¡± Adam asked.
¡°You don¡¯t need to know my name but if you must have a reference you can think of me as the Great and Powerful Oz,¡± he said.
¡°So, the man behind the curtain,¡± Adam said thoughtfully before he continued, ¡°Thank you. Though you probably already know this, you may call me Adam,¡± Adam said.
¡°What now?¡± Adam asked.
¡°You are currently outside of the Universe you were just in. I¡¯ve also increased the temporal flow of time within this space so that only a moment will have passed when you return?¡±
¡°Okay,¡± Adam said while he thought furiously before he asked, ¡°Why am I here?¡±
¡°You are here because of the actions you took almost a month ago?¡± Oz said.
¡°What? Killing an evil army? What does that have to do with anything? If one of the higher-level cultivators from this Universe had been there, they could have probably ended the fight a lot quicker than I did,¡± Adam said.
¡°It wasn¡¯t that you decimated the army, it¡¯s that a Class M mortal was able to do that at all which brought you to my attention.¡±
¡°Okay, so what now?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I thought I¡¯d do you the courtesy of letting you know that your powers were going to be ¡°nerfed¡±, interesting word by the way, before I made changes to you?¡± Oz said.
¡°Wait what?¡±
¡°There is an order and balance to everything, as you are you cannot be allowed to continue. I will need to adjust you so that you have the same benefits as anyone born into this Universe,¡± Oz said.
¡°But I wasn¡¯t born¡¡± Adam started to say before he was cut off and everything faded away. Who the fuck did this asshole think he was? Probably some dumb mother fucker that followed order or balance. Maybe a God, but that didn¡¯t feel right. If he was a God Adam shouldn¡¯t even be able to think right now. The way this Universe and multiple dimensions worked didn¡¯t seem to follow the patterns he was used to, but Oz had given him the hint that there was order or balance here.
Unfortunately for Oz, Order and Balance were not Adam¡¯s cup of tea. He believed in fairness and that was about it. Was it fair that he would have everything he¡¯d done taken away from him? Was it fair that no one would remember the deeds he had accomplished or the lives he¡¯d saved? And what was this horse shit about the people from his Universe not having souls? The idea that an energy matrix would imprint the energy pattern and become the soul resonated with him, it made sense. That energy pattern could hold together, forever, in the various fields that existed throughout every Universe or Dimension he¡¯d ever been to. But because he wasn¡¯t born biologically he didn¡¯t have a soul, except that he had been born biologically, even if it was simulated.
Adam considered everything that was going on and then remembered that even though he was in a new Universe he was ultimately a creature of Chaos. Yes, there was an order to things and yes there might need to be a balance which meant that whatever had happened to him that first time Chaos had truly corrupted, or transformed him, there was a place within this existence that included creatures like him, and you know what he was tired of being someone¡¯s bitch.
As these thoughts went through his mind in an instant he started to feel the connection to his core and that let him realize another thing. He was Chaos Incarnate, default Human. At that moment he decided it was time to see what turning the default human part of that meant.
***
The being referred to as Oz had frozen Adam within his mind, though he could still detect some fluctuations. How was he¡ Oz never finished his thoughts as the man sitting in front of him became a flood of white-roiling energy that expanded and surrounded him. He tried to get to the edge of the barrier and touch it so that he could drop the temporal bubble and escape but found himself surrounded by pure Chaos. Pure Chaos? How was that even possible?
Oz activated every ability he had to try to damage this being. He was after all one of the Chosen of Order that held its Spark. So be it, Adam must die. The being called Oz accessed his spark of Order and commanded the being known as Adamantinus that surrounded him to succumb to Entropy. Eventually, everything died. Using his Spark in this way always led to death.
Oz felt the spark¡¯s energy reach out into the Chaos that surrounded him and then felt that energy being pulled faster and faster as entropy failed to take hold. When he tried to stop the torrent, he failed. It kept going and going until the energy of his spark was no longer in his body. The Spark was no more? That was impossible. Order was forever, it could not be destroyed by Chaos.
At that moment, a presence entered Oz¡¯s mind and spoke to him, I can feel that you reviewed my memories. That you seemed to live through my life but I believe you missed one fundamental truth that transcends both our realities. I can feel that the Spark of Order, as you call it, is anathema, or as close to my opposite as any energy can be. Unfortunately for you, that is not quite true. Order is not the opposite of Chaos for Chaos is made up of everything. The rules you are trying to impose on me, This is not some holographic universe run by a sentient A.I. This is random chance, This is¡Order is needed, but not by beings like you. Order does serve its purpose, and so shall you.
Oz struggled as the Chaos started absorbing him into it. He wasn¡¯t just being erased, he was being copied, then erased. Adam was copying his body and memories as he was destroying them. That Perfect memory of his would retain every memory of his forever. Eventually, the struggle stopped and the being referred to as Oz was no more.
***
Adam hadn¡¯t felt like himself in a long time. He allowed his body to revert to its default human state and made sure to form the clothes he¡¯d been wearing out of his chaos. He felt silly, whatever this Oz character had represented, that entity or group of entities he represented had tricked him into believing that something could change his fundamental nature. True, he would not have the same powers he had within the System Matrix but limits? Since when did Chaos have limits? Adam looked down at the mote, or spark, of order he held in his right hand. He brought it to his lips and whispered, ¡°Choose better,¡± as he released the mote and it streaked away. As soon as it touched the temporal sphere time resumed as a frozen Vanya looked at Adam with surprise.
¡°You¡¯re up! And moving? How did you stand so quickly? Are you all right?¡± Vanya asked as her mind tried to make sense of what just happened.¡±
¡°I¡¯m fine I think I¡¯m better than I have been in a month. Also, I¡¯m hungry, is there a place to eat in this building?¡± Adam asked.
¡°We can bring your food to you here¡¡± she started to say.
¡°No, please I¡¯d rather sit at a table, even if it¡¯s a simple table, and just eat and think for a bit,¡± Adam asked.
¡°Very well, come with me,¡± Vanya said as she lead Adam out of the room he was in and down a hall to a small room. Inside were a couple of tables and a small chest that resembled a freezer though Adam knew technology didn¡¯t keep items cold within it, ¡°Inside the chest, you¡¯ll find premade salads and chilled canteens. There is also some jerky and cheese. Please pick whatever you would like and have a seat anywhere. I¡¯m going to go make a report, then I ¡®ll be back to check on you.
¡°Thank you, Vanya,¡± Adam said as he made his way over to the chest with food in it, picked a salad and a canteen then went over to seat near a window that looked out into an open field opposite the hustle and bustle in the main street. As he sat down and dug in he waited for Vanya to leave before he started reviewing Oz¡¯s memories.
For the next twenty minutes, Adam went through the life of Oz, a mortal known as Jake Forrester. Such a normal name. Did the Universes always end up with the same languages and the same names or just the Universes and cultures he ran across? The first thing Adam realized was that Jake¡¯s memories were a treasure trove, though they¡¯d didn¡¯t give him all the details. For instance, they didn¡¯t explain what the Spark of Order was, or if the man was contacted by anyone else.
Through his memories, Adam learned that the individual he heard him talking to had been the spark. It seemed that it had been sentient after all. Knowing that just made him hope it would take his advice and choose better. Jake had simply been doing whatever his little spark had told him to do. He¡¯d only been 30 years old. Adam would have felt bad, but he also saw Jake utilize or abuse countless beings and justify his actions as the natural order with a nonsense response to the spark that ¡°If he could do it, it must be part of the natural order.¡± Narcissist through and through. Adam was so glad my hunch about Oz had been right.
As he thought about it, that spark must have known that it couldn¡¯t tame the Chaos within him. Smart, using him to free itself. Hopefully, after such evils imposed by order were brought into the world the spark would find someone that could bring that good into the world. There did need to be a balance of things.
Unfortunately, Adam didn¡¯t learn much else from Jake¡¯s memories. He just didn¡¯t know. Jake had been a middle-grade warrior when he¡¯d chanced upon the Spark. That much power had gone to his head, and he¡¯d had a great time lording over the lords and ladies. Then when the spark had made him a little more discreet he¡¯d gotten creative with ways to torment and torture those who¡¯d wronged him before he turned them to ash. Truly a twisted sicko that Adam would never lose sleep over. Of course, he¡¯d never be able to forget what he¡¯d done either, but this world was now safer from people with horrendously unfair power, yeah Adam knew how hypocritical that sounds coming from him.
This self-reflection shit sucks if you¡¯re honest with yourself. Why was his mind wandering? Adam was about to focus and check his information when Vanya stepped back into the room. Only then did Adam look down and realize he¡¯d finished his meal. Adam looked up as he said, ¡°Yes Vanya.¡±
¡°Since you seemed well, I contacted the Lord Protector to let him know that you were up and moving. He had asked to be informed immediately. He is sending over an assistant to escort you back to his office,¡± Vanya said.
Adam stood, looked around quickly then placed the empty bowl for his salad in a small crate that held other dirty dishes as he turned to Vanya and said, ¡°Please lead the way, I do believe I need to change before the assistant gets here.
¡°Right this way,¡± Vanya said as she led him down to a washroom that had a shower, sink with a mirror towel, and a folded robe waiting for him.
Adam looked into the washroom and smiled at the steam rising from the floor of a gentle waterfall falling from the ceiling where a drain allowed the water to runoff, ¡°At some point, I will need to ask how you have warm water for your showers but right now I¡¯ll just say thank you and I¡¯ll be out in a moment,¡± Adam said as he stepped into the washroom and closed the door. There was soap and even a small razor but more importantly, there was that continuous waterfall. Adam put his hand under the water and realized it was a warm, not hot, shower. As he slipped off his white robe and stepped under the warm waterfall he realized, sometimes it was the little things that mattered.
Chapter 169, Ripples of Change
Adam could have stayed under the shower for quite a bit longer but he knew the Lord Protector would be waiting and he didn¡¯t want to antagonize him. He let the warm water run over his body, soaped up, and then rinsed off. Stepping out from the waterfall he picked up a towel that had been left there and dried off. When he was done he picked up his robe, put it on, and left the shower room.
¡°Hello, Adam, I am adjunct to the Lord Protector, Ethaniel Willowisp. The Lord Protector bids you greetings and hopes that you are well,¡± Ethaniel said as he offered a curt nod.
¡°Thank you,¡± Adam said looking around. ¡°I thought Vanya would be waiting for me?¡±
¡°Now that you are up and about, Lady Vanya was needed elsewhere. She does not normally attend to wounded or injured individuals. She was brought in specifically because no one could understand what had happened to you and she has a unique skill set.¡±
¡°Thank you for the information. If you happen to come across her in the near future please convey my thanks for her assistance,¡± Adam said.
¡°I will be sure to do so, if you¡¯d follow me I will escort you to the Lord Protector,¡± Ethaniel said.
***
Earth 1314
¡°We¡¯ve lost the connection,¡± William Smith said
¡°What do you mean we¡¯ve lost the connection?¡± Doctor Elizabeth Brinkle asked.
¡°I mean that all connections to the artificial universe have been severed?¡± William said exasperated.
¡°How is that possible? Dr. Brinkle asked.
¡°Just before it happened there was an energy fluctuation¡¡± William started to say before the doctor cut him off.
¡°Where exactly is this simulated Universe stored? Can¡¯t you just go physically check it?¡± Doctor Brinkle asked.
¡°Oh right, you weren¡¯t here when we started this ¡°game.¡±
¡°What does that have to do with anything?¡± Dr. Brinkle asked.
¡°Do you remember the discovery about 10 years back, nascent Universes and Quantum tunneling?¡± William asked.
¡°Of course, I do,¡± the Doctor said.
¡°Doctor Mason discovered a way to imprint electronic patterns into the structure of the nascent universe. With the help of our AI, we were able to successfully take the project¡¯s structure and imprint it into a nascent Universe. The A.I. governed it.¡± William started to explain but he was cut off again.
¡°How many of these nascent Universes were discovered?¡± Dr. Brinkle asked.
¡°For all practical purposes, they are infinite,¡± William said.
¡°So, this whole time people that downloaded into the ¡®game¡¯ and returned were downloading their consciousness into another Universe then coming back.¡±
¡°No that was too dangerous. The gear they bought only copied their mind and put them to sleep, or that¡¯s the way it was supposed to work. When they were done with the game the information would be added to their current mentality and they would remember playing the game that their copy participated in. At least that was what we thought was happening.¡± William said.
¡°So what has happened?¡± Dr. Brinkle asked.
¡°When we first started we tested to make sure if the connection was lost we could unplug them from the ¡°game¡±, and they would be all right with no memory of entering the game. In fact, the test subjects usually sat up asking what happened because they felt like no time had gone by. Last year one person wasn¡¯t able to jack out of the game. As the year has progressed more and more haven¡¯t been able to jack out.
¡°Why not, if you¡¯re just copying their minds, they should still be in their bodies, just unplug them,¡± Dr. Brinkle said.
¡°We tried, the first person we did that to died. The body was fine of course, our nanite technology sees to that. His mind, however, was gone. After we checked another one of the stuck individuals we tried to reconnect the person to the game but once disconnected no connection could be re-established. Through our administrative interface were able to verify that he was okay. We had the A.I. delete any memory of their life before the game and make a real backstory for the person while we quietly disposed of their body,¡± William said.
¡°I see where you¡¯re going with this. Player Characters became non-Player Characters. How many people did this happen to?¡± Dr. Brinkle asked.
¡°Over the last year about a million. We finally realized that it was happening to individuals who hadn¡¯t disconnected for about a month straight, though the time varied, that¡¯s why we didn¡¯t notice the problem, to begin with.¡± William answered.
¡°And now we¡¯ve lost our connection to that Universe and the A.I. in it?¡± Doctor Brinkle asked.
¡°Yes, after the energy spike the quantum tunnel started to collapse and nothing we did had any effect,¡± William said.
¡°Okay, first things first, check the temporal acceleration inside the nascent Universe just before it closed. Those readings should be part of the saved data,¡± Dr. Brinkle said.
William typed in a few commands and then said, ¡°Holy hell! Just before the quantum tunnel collapsed the temporal difference was at least one million to one and accelerating.¡±
¡°And there it is, both the cause for the Player issue and the Quantum Tunneling issue. As the time frame in the Nascent Universe increased it became desynchronized. Once they became desynchronized they were never coming back. Obviously, their mind wasn¡¯t being copied, someone was lying about that. As for losing contact through the Quantum Tunnel? Yes, that can definitely be attributed to the time difference. Simply stated the coordinates of that nascent Universe have changed.
¡°Changed, how have they changed?¡± William asked.
¡°As you know from that study that was published a couple of years back, the currently accepted theory is that reality, all of it. The extra dimension, the alternate Universes, and the like, exist as if everything were in an ocean. Though to visualize it you¡¯d need to think of the planet being completely liquid all the way to the core and that the surface of the ocean is infinitely far away. As a bubble gets near the surface, the pressure lessens. As it goes deeper, the pressure increases.¡±
In this ¡°Ocean¡± of reality Universes, the bubbles in the ocean, form, and float around. Some are near the surface; others are very deep. Unfortunately, that is where the comparison to an Ocean ends. Instead, depth in this ocean appears to act like what happens when something approaches a singularity. The deeper you go; the more time slows down. The farther away from the center you travel, the faster time fly¡¯s by,¡± Dr. Brinkle said pausing for a moment.
¡°I understand that,¡± William said. ¡°I even understand that our quantum tunneling reaches through the quantum realm to adjacent realities with very similar temporal rates. Too fast or slow and the tunnel collapses.¡±
¡°In the analogy I just provided, it looks like the energy fluctuations you¡¯ve detected have changed the buoyancy of the bubbles and they are rushing toward the surface.¡±
¡°Do you think we could find them again? We have millions of people online right now.¡±
¡°Doubtful,¡± Dr. Brinkle said thoughtfully, ¡°that said, don¡¯t do anything drastic. We have a little time before this goes public.¡±
¡°Yes Ma¡¯am,¡± William said.
¡°I¡¯m going to go file my report, I¡¯ll be back shortly,¡± Dr. Brinkle said as she stood and walked out of the server room. It was so cute how the people of this Universe had come up with that theory. The analogy even worked to a point except there was no ocean and very few could travel to any universe they wanted to. Luckily for her, she was one of those people.
She¡¯d been on this planet for the last 20 years and come to understand these humans. Also, her time here had been quite lucrative. She¡¯d been able to acquire precious metals and trade them back home for a huge sum. Also, she knew exactly why they¡¯d lost the connection. Because she¡¯d been the one to give the coordinates to the Pelza Empire for repurposing. Their ¡®game¡¯ was now fuel for those that would be Gods.
Her elevation within the Pelza Empire over the last 20 years had been rapid. The Universe she was in had helped her find targets for her Empire. Hopefully, they¡¯d be able to find another one soon, if not she¡¯d have to provide the coordinates for this Universe. Opportunities for advancement were sparse for those that did not perform well.
Dr. Brittle considered everything as she walked toward the ladies¡¯ room. As soon as she¡¯d made sure the room was clear she teleported directly out of the Universe and into an incoming teleporter at ¡°The Plant¡± as it was commonly referred to.
This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
¡°Halt, Identity yourself!¡± a guard sporting a very powerful wand stated as she appeared.
¡°Resplendent. Scout 1314, Returning from Assignment¡±
¡°Passcode Resplendent recognized and approved. Welcome back Scout 1314, please wear this badge while in the facility,¡± The guard said as he handed a badge to her.
Dr. Brittle, Scout 1314, or as her boss knew here, Erika accepted the badge and clipped it to her collar. She stepped out of her designated return point and walked down a short hallway to another chamber and stepped inside. She was immediately teleported to an area that contained many office doors and rooms. She made her way to an unmarked door and knocked once
¡°Come,¡± a male voice called clearly through the door
Erika stepped inside two steps, just enough to allow the door to close behind her, and waited. Those that took three or more steps into this office did so at their own peril. She didn¡¯t even know who her boss was but she knew firsthand that people that rushed into this room usually did so once.
¡°Before we begin I would like to offer my condolences for the loss of your sister Cozbi,¡± the man said from behind his desk.
Sadness, despair, and then anger entered her mind. Before she spoke she calmed herself and then responded calmly, ¡°Thank you for the consideration. May I ask how she died?¡±
¡°You may. I have prepared a memory crystal to help clarify,¡± he said as Erika¡¯s mind was flooded with images of her sister¡¯s death.
Erika watched Dave and Cozbi¡¯s encounter with this Adam character, as her boss said, ¡°Azshereek Selma died in a viewing chamber nearby.¡±
As the memory crystal finished its playback in her mind she said, ¡°Mr. Selma is dead?¡± Erika said forgetting her place, ¡°That must mean that Mrs. Selma must have been in the room with him. She activated the eradication function?¡±
¡°Yes, is this going to be a problem?¡± he asked.
¡°No, there is no greater glory than to serve, and die, for the Pelza Empire. You would not show me this if you did not need me for something concerning this encounter which means the target survived eradication. I thought that was impossible?¡± Erika asked.
¡°We live in a magical Universe, anything is possible,¡± the man said as he paused to think. ¡°Yes, he survived. No, we do not know how. In fact, we believe even now that he is on Norstrom.¡±
¡°How is that even possible? Erika asked disbelievingly. ¡°Once those arrays activate no magic can force its way through those energy walls. They break down any living matter into energy and scramble that energy, it¡¯s what they¡¯re designed to do. How did this man survive that, let alone teleport to an adjacent Universe?¡±
¡°You¡¯re quite sure they cannot be circumvented?¡± He asked.
¡°I only have my Dimensional Quintessence to Epic and my Space Quintessence is at High but I¡¯m pretty sure if I cannot escape one of those fields, no one can,¡± Erika said looking thoughtful for a moment before she asked, ¡°Where on Norstrom?¡±
¡°We have received reports that an individual that matches the description has stepped in and helped the elves of Kaljaharsi against The Eternal Empire.
¡°Isn¡¯t that on the other side of the world from the Pelza Empire¡¯s holdings?¡± Erika asked.
¡°Yes,¡± he answered.
¡°More importantly, don¡¯t they have a Mother Tree?¡± Erika asked.
¡°Our reports say yes, oh, you¡¯re thinking Reincarnation or Resurrection?¡± he said.
¡°Yes, I don¡¯t think he escaped our arrays. In this place of all places, they are inescapable unless you have Legendary Quintessence and attributes to back them up. I think he died and was reborn,¡± she said.
There was a tapping of a pen on the table before he said, ¡°For resurrection, a piece of the body would have had to survive. Nothing in that room survived. For Reincarnation, that would not be a problem either except that this Adam killed over 100,000 orcs, goblins, gnolls, and even a few Ogres before it was reported that he was slain by a vampire, only to appear in Tree Haven the next day. Reincarnation usually means coming back as something else or another, yet by all accounts, he appears the same. Something else is going on here and we¡¯d like you to investigate.¡±
¡°It is my honor to serve the empire as required,¡± Erika said.
¡°Very good. You are hereby promoted to Field Commander. You may revert to your true form after this meeting. A requisition request has already been filed with the supply officer and your uniform and equipment should be waiting for you.
¡°And my previous assignment?¡± Erika asked.
¡°It was my understanding you were returning to inform me that there were no new candidates for transformation at this time?¡± he asked.
¡°That was my intention. Unless you think I should suggest that Universe as a new target?
¡°No, that Universe has proved useful. We¡¯ll give them a little more time to discover more targets for us. Besides, why should our technicians have to do all the work?
¡°Very well Sir,¡±
¡°If that is all, you may go.¡±
Erika turned, opened the door, and walked out. She had a lot of work to do. First, though, she would finally be able to look at herself in a mirror without cringing. Unenhanced humans were so pathetic looking.
***
Adam took the offered seat across from the Lord Protector as he said, ¡°I would like to thank you again for your hospitality.¡±
¡°It was nothing, my concern is for your condition. Do you know what happened?¡± The Lord Protector asked.
¡°As far as I can tell, nothing that anyone did to me. I laid down to sleep and I didn¡¯t wake up,¡± Adam said.
¡°No system messages or the like?¡± The Lord Protector asked.
¡°There were. When I finally woke up I had a message that said ¡®Integration Error, Recalibrating 75% complete¡¯,¡± Adam said.
¡°Where did you say you came from again?¡±
¡°I came from a Universe with a different type of energy-based lifeform. That¡¯s the simplest way I can explain it,¡± Adam said.
¡°Try the hard way, maybe I¡¯ll understand,¡± The Lord Protector said.
¡°Okay,¡± Adam said as he thought about how to describe SYSTEM Matrix 001, ¡°You know how a painting captures a person, place, or event?¡±
¡°I do,¡± he said.
¡°The closest analogy is that I came from a Universe where everything lived within a single painting. When I arrived here I had to be converted from paint into flesh and blood,¡± Adam said.
¡°Believe it or not, that makes sense to me. So you came from a place where the laws were different and when you arrived the rules that governed your conversion didn¡¯t get it right so a recalibration happened to fix the problems,¡±
¡°Yes and no. I was converted just fine, as compared to what I was inside the ¡®painting¡¯ but I was much weaker. The recalibration was initiated by a being that thought to impose his will on my fundamental nature,¡± Adam said.
¡°What happened to that being?¡± The Lord Protector asked.
Adam smiled.
¡°I see,¡±
¡°No, let me explain. He attempted to reduce whatever the rules for the place said I could do. His attempt forced my core to evolve and change from those preset settings. If I¡¯m being honest, I don¡¯t know exactly what the changes he tried to make left me capable of. I do know that he won¡¯t ever be able to mess with anyone ever again,¡± Adam said.
¡°You do seem to have a way of leaving a bloody trail behind you,¡± The Lord Protector said. ¡°That¡¯s not a criticism. We are still very grateful to you for the way that you helped a month ago. If after your display of self-sacrifice and heroism someone tried to punish you or weaken you in some way and you ended them for it. The strong will prevail, that is Nature¡¯s way.¡±
¡°Thank you, I thought you at least be upset with me for destroying someone for no better reason than they tried to make changes to me without my permission,¡± Adam said.
¡°The Kaljaharsi may be slightly xenophobic and shun the other races but when nature blesses a being by reincarnating them with full memory of their previous life and then that being goes forth and destroys thousands upon thousands of our hated enemies that want nothing more than to destroy our homes, you will find that we will side with that person before we side with some being that we know nothing of,¡± The Lord Protector said.
¡°I Thank you for your trust,¡± Adam said.
¡°It is nothing. Have you checked your messages since waking earlier?¡± The Lord Protector asked.
¡°No, the encounter with the being, the shower, and the short walk over here was all I have had time for,¡± Adam said.
¡°Then please, review your messages while I go check with one of my aids and bring us some lunch,¡± he said as he stood and exited the room.
Adam was hesitant to trust the Lord Protector but again, he¡¯d been nothing but patient and understanding with him. Adam opened his Personal Information to see what had changed.
After a glance at his attributes, the only thing that Adam noticed that was different was that there was an * after the word Legendary next to his base attributes. When he hovered over the ¡°*¡± a ¡°Step limited by Cultivator Level¡± message appeared.
The next thing he checked was his abilities. He hadn¡¯t re-acquired any of the abilities he¡¯d lost but he noticed that two of his abilities had changed; ¡°Quintessence Chameleon¡± had changed to ¡°Variable Quintessence¡± and the text of ¡°Adaptable¡± had changed.
¡°Variable Quintessence ¡± ¨C You may modify Quintessence you have integrated as needed. Type and Category may be changed as desired. Note: Using this ability during combat is highly discouraged.
¡°Adaptable¡± ¨C Chaos adapts to all environments.
Finally, a new ability had been added, something titled ¡°Dual State.¡±
¡°Dual State¡± ¨C Having existed in both holographic patterned Universes and ¡°Normal¡± Universes you may alter your quantum chaotic state to one that may interact with holographic universes. There are many manifestations of this type of quantum state. NOTE: Dual State allows you to remember and direct your travel through the Astral Plane normally doesn¡¯t allow physical matter to solidify.
It looked like it was going to be much easier to upgrade his Cultivator Rank and also pick and chose what Adam wanted his Quintessence Abilities to do. Dual State would do him no good right now, except when he all but died, but maybe he¡¯d be able to control where he was reincarnated. That could be extremely useful. Adam looked around for The Lord Protector and noticed that he still hadn¡¯t returned.
Very cool, no time Like the present to test ¡°Variable Quintessence.¡± Adam pulled one Earth Quintessence from his Shadow Vault and absorbed it, then looked into himself to view his core. As before he noted a single star representing the Earth Quintessence orbiting his churning milky white core. As he concentrated on it a message appeared.
Would you like to Integrate one Earth Quintessence, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes¡± and a new prompt appeared as the star of quintessence was swallowed by his core.
Earth Quintessence Pattern Integrated and Stored. You may now convert any quintessence to Earth Quintessence for Integration at a 1-for-1 ratio.
Adam noted that the quintessence that had been converted into a pattern didn¡¯t give him an ability but that was okay, he would be able to find plenty of Quintessence with his Treasure Renderer ability. Of course, he needed to find one of every type of quintessence but he easily had enough to meet the criteria of a Rank X Cultivator in his inventory if all he wanted to do was create Earth, Dark, and Death abilities. Of course, he had one quintessence of Light, Air, Life Fire, and Infernal. Once he used that first one to get the pattern he should be able to create whatever abilities he could think of using any of those elements by converting the rest of the Earth, Dark, and Death Quintessence to what he needed.
Adam knew he was really going to like this new ability. And if he made mistakes, we¡¯ll he could always reset his quintessence, though he wondered if that would wipe out the patterns he¡¯d saved. Probably now that he thought about it. If he was clearing his core of the previous abilities then the patterns would probably go as well because they were also stored in his core. That would make sense. But he could now shape and alter his magical abilities just like he could with the ability Spellweaver. It looked like his chaotic nature wanted him to be able to adapt his magic as needed for some reason.
Chapter 170, Exploit or Engineered.
While he waited for The Lord Protector to return, Adam absorbed his Light, Air, Life, Fire, and Infernal Quintessence which all unlocked the patterns for those quintessence for him. Next, he absorbed one of his 30 Dark and 30 Death Quintessence to unlock both of them as well. Adam had no idea how many different quintessence¡¯s there were, but this had to be a good start.
Now to try something different. He pulled out one of his many Earth Quintessence and absorbed it. Adam then brought his mental focus within himself and viewed the single mote of light that was now orbiting his core. Adam was sure that he could integrate the mote and that he¡¯d get a choice of what type of ability he¡¯d like to get. Though He seemed to have some control over the process which is what gave him the idea to try this.
Adam focused his intent and wished for his core to convert the mote of Earth Quintessence into a mote of Chaos Quintessence. He watched as tendrils of the milky fluid that made up his core reached out and surrounded the mote. There was a brief pulse and then the tendrils withdrew leaving a mote of Chaos Quintessence orbiting his core. One thing that was unexpected about the process, he received no message for the conversion to Chaos Quintessence. A loophole or exploit perhaps? If so, that would make this next part incredibly easy. Adam decided to start with the element that was missing from his base eight; Light, Dark, Life, Death, Earth, Air, Fire, and finally Water. He focused on the mote being absorbed as a Water Quintessence Pattern as the Prompt appeared.
¡°Would you like to Integrate one Chaos Quintessence, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes¡± and a new prompt appeared as the mote of Chaos Quintessence was swallowed by his core.
Water Quintessence Pattern Integrated and Stored. You may now convert any quintessence to Water Quintessence for Integration at a 1-for-1 ratio.
Hot damn, that had worked! Adam quickly repeated the process adding every type of magic that he¡¯d learned about previously as well as trying to create a few new ones. He added Celestial, Divine, Soul, Spirit, Mental, Putrescent, Anti, Proper, Absolute, Space, Time, Gravity, Order, and finally Chaos Quintessence Patterns to his core. It looked like the types of magic that existed in the ¡°real¡± world mirrored what he¡¯d been taught.
Figuring out how to convert quintessence to Chaos and then into a Quintessence he didn¡¯t have would make his ability to reset his abilities¡Damn, he didn¡¯t have the ability Quintessence Chameleon anymore that had mutated. The ability that had replaced it, Variable Quintessence, said nothing about being able to reset his core. If he could still do it, it was probably a hidden racial ability or something. So, he¡¯d have to treat this like these were the only choices he was going to get. Just in case he could reset his core in the future he¡¯d need to make sure to have enough Quintessence on hand.
The next step was to use the rest of his quintessence to give him abilities that would make him almost unstoppable. He¡¯d used 24 of his 115 to give him the abilities he had and unlock the patterns to the magical spheres he knew about. He only had 91 Quintessence left. To create 16 more Legendary abilities he¡¯d need 112 Quintessence. Wait. Every time he¡¯d increased a cultivation rank he¡¯d opened up another two slots, which meant that if there were three more cultivation ranks he would gain 6 more Quintessence Ability slots. That meant he needed 154 total Quintessence. He was 63 Quintessence short. He could ask The Lord Protector but he was pretty sure whatever Quintessence he hadn¡¯t asked for before he took his month-long nap was long gone.
Adam really wished there was someone he could talk to that could provide answers to how things worked out here in the real universe, then he had an idea. Order was anathema to disorder. If any Quintessence could create an ability that was basically Encyclopedia Britannica for the Multiverse it would have to be Order. Adam now knew what he needed to do next.
Adam pulled out seven Quintessence. Since the type of Quintessence didn¡¯t matter to him wasn¡¯t going to worry about it, he knew he had 84 Quintessence left. Adam absorbed the first Quintessence, converted it to a mote of Order, and integrated it while focusing on a power that would allow him to look up information about the multiverse, including its structure, both physical and magical.
Congratulations you have activated the ability ¡°Hal¡± This ability has a Low mana cost. While in your Mindscape you may summon Hal. Hal is a semi-sentient energy spark of Order that contains all information currently known when utilized. NOTE: Information can change between uses. At Low Rank, you will be able to ask Hal for information concerning basic objects or activities within the Multiverse. At Legendary Rank, you will receive a more detailed explanation which may include political information.
Hell Yeah! That was exactly the type of ability he wanted. Hal? If the magic was a manifestation of something from his soul there couldn¡¯t be a better computer-like encyclopedia than Hal from 2001 a Space Odyssey, unless you counted Thor, but Thor was in another Universe right now. Adam quickly converted the other six quintessence into six Order Quintessence and increased the level of his ¡°Hal¡± Ability to Legendary.
¡°Hey there Adam, I¡¯m back,¡± The Lord Protector said as two plates of vegetables were put down in front of us while he took his seat. After he¡¯d settled himself, he asked, ¡°You looked like you were concentrating¡Wait! Class-S Cultivator between the time I left and the returned, How is that possible?¡±
Adam looked at the surprise on the Lord Protectors¡¯ face then asked, ¡°Could you tell me how long it normally takes to increase a Cultivation Rank?¡±
¡°That¡¯s easy, years, if not decades,¡± the Lord Protector said.
¡°Why is that?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Each ability is a manifestation of the individual¡¯s soul in some way. That link must grow stronger through use to further attune the ability and allow for progression. Progressing from Low to High rank usually occurs rapidly if the ability is utilized continuously. After that progress slows down dramatically,¡± the Lord Protector said.
Adam thought about it. That kind of made sense to him. The core of his being was chaotic, which could take on any form. That allowed him to absorb the quintessence easily and also increase the rank of each of those abilities by absorbing Quintessence. Adam looked at his Personal Information to double-check what the Lord Protector had just said and saw something new next to his attributes. Beside each attribute was ¡°Legendary, Step 2.¡± When he had a moment, Hal and he were going to sit down and go over this abstract system and figure out exactly what that meant.
¡°Is everything okay?¡±, The Lord Protector asked.
¡°I was just checking my Personal Information and noticed my attributes increased to ¡®Step 2¡¯ whatever that means,¡± Adam said.
A look of alarm crossed The Lord Protectors¡¯ face as he asked, ¡°Step 2 you say, what rank of Step 2?¡±
¡°Legendary.¡±
¡°Legendary, Step 2,¡± The Lord Protector asked shocked. ¡°Do you truly not know what that means?¡±
¡°It probably means my attributes are astronom¡forget that word. It means my attributes are really really high and you¡¯re wondering how I could have attributes that high?¡± Adam said sardonically.
¡°Let me put it this way, The Lord Protector said. ¡°As far as I know there are two steps for attributes. Each step consists of the same ranks, Low through Legendary. Except that if you compared a Low Step 2 attribute to a Low Step 1 attribute it¡¯s effective 80 times higher. Since you claimed to have started with Legendary attributes which I assume were Step 1, Low, Step 2 attributes would be about 12 times stronger than you when you arrived in this Universe,¡± The Lord Protector explained.
¡°That¡¯s a little bit of a difference,¡± Adam said.
¡°I have met Class-S Cultivator with a few Low, Step 2 attributes before. When we talked he informed me that there were steps above the second step, though I have never met a Class-U cultivator so found that hard to believe. That¡¯s the other thing. Attribute steps are locked by Cultivator Class. Classes M through A are all locked to Step 1 attributes, or what would be considered normal attributes. Step 2 attributes are unlocked as Class-S cultivators, Step 3 at Class-U Cultivator, and so on¡¡±
How do Class-A Cultivators increase their Cultivation Rank to Class-S? It seems that XP should be in play but that would seem to take too long or require way more monster killing than can be supported on a single planet?¡± Adam asked.
¡°That¡¯s a very good question. Again it falls to Quintessence abilities and their ranks. As soon as a Cultivator increases at least three abilities to Mythic their Core upgrades automatically and their Cultivation Rank increases.¡± The Lord Protector said. ¡°Those increases allow for attribute increases which can lead to attribute increases. Supposedly class level plays a factor as well, though the levels required to get above Step 1, I¡¯ve never met anyone with such high levels before.¡±
¡°I have another question, do your people quantify skill, rank, and quintessence ability by experience points earned, or do you not even know what I am talking about?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I know of what you are speaking of, but in general, no. A certain number of successful uses of a skill, or ability, will allow it to progress. It takes more and more use to continue to increase a skill or abilities rank. This requirement can be circumvented for quintessence abilities by absorbing the same type of quintessence as the ability you¡¯re trying to progress and directing that energy toward it. XP as you call it can assist in this but the normal way for cultivators to increase in ability rank is to absorb quintessence energy through rituals they create to do so, if they do not have abilities that let them absorb the energy directly,¡± The Lord Protector said.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Adam had to admit it was an elegant, if complicated, system. He wouldn¡¯t have had to worry about tracking XP if he started in this Universe, though he had a hunch his high levels and XP were doing something here. The more he thought about it the more he realized that it sounded like the level his attributes would be within a given Step would be determined by the strength of his Soul. If he was understanding The Lord Protector correctly, as soon as he created two more abilities to at least Mythic level he¡¯d rise to Cultivator Rank X and increase his attributes to Step 4. His math skills were pretty incredible. If he was right a Legendary step 4 attribute was going to be about 4,000 times stronger than a Step 1 Legendary attribute. Adam focused and then asked, ¡°Are there any Cultivation Ranks above Class-X
¡°There are rumors, but I have never met a Class-U Cultivator.¡±
¡°Hold that thought,¡± Adam said as he pulled out seven more Earth Quintessence.
The Lord Protector looked on in wonder as Adam absorbed seven Earth Quintessence without a ritual and a minute later Adam¡¯s Cultivation Rank increased to Class-U. He didn¡¯t know whether to be scared out of his mind or thankful as he asked, ¡°Congratulations, What ability did you unlock and upgrade?¡±
Adam looked over his Personal Information to see if he¡¯d been able to guide chance yet again and get the ability he¡¯d wanted. He¡¯d decided that he wanted a time-based ability and wanted to see if he could force it into something like a Time Stop spell. He¡¯d converted 7 Quintessence into 7 Time Quintessence. He¡¯d absorbed all seven to make sure he had enough before he integrated the first one. It had gone off without incident.
Adam checked the first integration message.
Congratulations you have incorporated Time Quintessence ¡°Stutter Step.¡± This ability creates a bubble temporal zone around you with a diameter of 10 feet. If you grow to a size that cannot fit within this bubble, this ability will be lost.
The temporal bubble is not static and moves with you
Anything inside the bubble is sped up by one multiple per rank of the ability; at Low, one time. Inside the bubble, time passes normally. For every combat round outside of the bubble, the individual inside the bubble gets one additional combat ability per ability rank.
Mana Cost is chosen by you. Mana cost is equal to the rank the ability is used at. If used at Low Rank, low mana cost. If used at Legendary Rank, Legendary Mana cost. Mana cost is paid per real-world combat round, not per combat round for the individual inside the Temporal bubble.
Note: None Biological and inanimate objects may cross the barrier of the bubble with no ill effect. Biological creatures receive damage from temporal tissue disruption in three categories. At Ranks Low, Medium and High biological entities take low damage. At ranks, Elite, Epic, and Mythic biological entities take Medium damage. At Legendary biological entities take High damage. This damage is taken each round a biological creature remains partly inside and outside the temporal field. If they are able to make it completely inside the radius of the effect they take no damage. Energy and Elemental-based life forms do not temporal tissue damage. Note there are biological entities and creatures that will be immune to this effect as well.
Adam grinned at the Lord Protector. It wasn¡¯t exactly what he¡¯d wanted so he did not have complete control over what abilities integration produced but this ability would definitely do. He quickly fed the ability the other 6 Time Quintessence and then checked his Cultivation rank and attributes. Class-U Cultivator Attributes Legendary Step 3. That was interesting but not unexpected. Adam looked up as The Lord Protector asked him what ability he¡¯d unlocked.
¡°I unlocked an ability called Stutter Step. It¡¯s time-based,¡± Adam said.
¡°Time-based¡±, but you absorbed Earth Quintessence?¡±
¡°That I did. Let¡¯s just say it¡¯s one of my unique racial abilities and move one,¡± Adam said with a smile.
¡°Okay, so what does the ability do?¡± The Lord Protector asked.
¡°It basically increases the number of attacks I can make or the distance I can travel within any given moment,¡± Adam said.
¡°By how much?¡± The Lord Protector said. ¡°I¡¯ve seen an ability called Haste in action. It allows the Cultivator to move twice as fast. As the ability ranks up it lasts longer.¡±
¡°Can he utilize other abilities while his Haste ability is active?¡± Adam asked.
¡°No, Why do you ask?¡± The Lord Protector asked.
Stutter-Step creates a bubble around me. I¡¯m pretty sure I could use items or other abilities while it¡¯s active and target those outside the bubble,¡± Adam said.
¡°Is it just two attacks, like haste?¡± The Lord Protector asked.
¡°No, it¡¯s variable, though as I increase the time dilation inside the bubble with me the Mana cost goes up.
¡°So with your Legendary Step 2 attributes, you¡¯ll be able to utilize this ability at its Legendary rank about 20 times before you¡¯d have to rest?¡± The Lord Protector said. ¡°There are seven attribute levels. At Legendary rank with that ability, you¡¯ll be able to make 7 attacks against anyone outside of your bubble for 20 seconds straight before you need to rest.¡±
Adam looked sheepish as he said, ¡°More probably, my attributes all increased to Legendary Step 3 as soon as I reached Cultivator Rank U.¡±
The Lord Protector was speechless for a moment while Adam could see him thinking furiously. ¡°That is amazing,¡± he said.
¡°It is,¡± Adam agreed.
¡°So what are you going to do now?¡± The Lord Protector asked.
¡°I¡¯m going to probably finish this lunch then utilized the rest of the quintessence I have to gain abilities, level them, and then head out to the Human city you said wasn¡¯t too far away,¡± Adam said.
¡°A word of warning, the amount of power you¡¯ve developed in such a short time will draw the attention of those that are envious. You will need to be careful, ¡° The Lord Protector said seriously.
¡°Not to worry on that front, I will be careful,¡± Adam said before he asked, ¡°I¡¯ve been meaning to ask you. One of the abilities I have allows me to store items in an extradimensional space. Could I get some extra robes to place in it? Waking up naked twice in so many days has sucked.¡±
The Lord Protector laughed. ¡°That would absolutely suck. Of course, we can Adam, that is the very least we can do. I will have 10 robes dropped off in a room I¡¯ve had prepared for you at an establishment our visiting elders use. I think you¡¯ll find it accommodating. If you need anything else just let me know. It was very nice meeting you Adam. I think I¡¯m going to be getting back to my duties. Why? Because I do not want to know how fast you can absorb quintessence and rise in Cultivator Classes and Attribute ranks but also because I can¡¯t answer questions for others that I don¡¯t know the answers to.¡±
¡°Fair enough, Thank you for everything you¡¯ve done for me thus far,¡± Adam said standing and shaking The Lord Protectors¡¯ hand as he stood, shook his Adam¡¯s hand, and left.
Adam sat back down and nibbled at his salad as he thought about Stutter Step. He¡¯d seen that name before in a game developed by White Wolf Publishing, though it had been referred to as a discipline and worded a little differently. This ability seemed to act a little more like the spell Tempus Fugit spell in Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition. Of course, the company had nerfed the hell out of it by reducing the number of rounds from 6 to 4. It had originally been an illusionist spell designed to allow a party to rest for 6 hours while only 1 hour passed on the outside. Of course, players soon figured out that they could sit in the bubble and shoot things outside of it. When the boss of a dungeon suddenly gets 6 fireballs, 12 arrows, and any other ranged attacks the party can throw at the monster in a single round the dungeon masters, or the company making the game, were going to nerf it. That made Adam wonder why such a powerful ability was available because he absolutely knew exactly how to abuse this ability. It wasn¡¯t time travel but it was more than a welcome ability to his repertoire.
Adam finished eating and pulled out 7 more Quintessence. Next, he wanted better regeneration. His regeneration right now was nothing like it had been before. He absorbed and converted each of the Earth Quintessence to Life Quintessence and then Integrated the first Life Quintessence as he thought about a regeneration-based ability.
Congratulations you have incorporated Life Quintessence ¡°Regeneration.¡± This ability increases your natural healing by one rank. There is no Mana cost. Each Rank in this ability increase this regeneration rate by one rank. If the Rank is increased above Legendary The ability is increased to Low Rank of the next step.
Adam quickly leveled the ability up to Legendary which increased him to a Class X Cultivator. He checked his attributes and found that they had all increased to Legendary Step 4. That was interesting. So four Legendary abilities increased his Cultivator Rank to X and his attribute Stat maximum to Step 4. What was determining where his attributes fell between Low in Legendary in any given step? Then he noticed it. His level was no longer listed as Legendary. His experience level was listed at 279,201,354. It had gone up by one level since the last time he saw his character level as a number. Maybe there was more to this abstract system than he thought.
There was one way to test if his assumptions were correct. He pulled out 25 more Quintessence and absorbed them. Focusing on his core and the quintessence orbiting it, he made sure he had 12 Dark Quintessence, converted 7 to Looting Specific (1 was used up gaining the pattern for that Quintessence as it was the only Focused Quintessence he¡¯d found so far), and converted the last 6 to Death. With everything ready, he increased the abilities Treasure Renderer, True Sight, Shadow Vault, and No Escape to Legendary rank.
Once done he checked his Personal Information. He now had 8 of 27 Quintessence abilities, all at Legendary Rank. He¡¯d received those two extra quintessence ability slots like he thought. His Cultivation Rank was Class=X and his Attributes were still listed as Legendary Step 4 which he still had no idea what that meant other than Legendary was high, and each step in attribute rank was more than a logarithmical increase. How did that work? Of course, he could figure that all out couldn¡¯t he? Adam finished eating and then went and looked for the lodging the Lord Protector had described while he thought about how the attribute system worked. Lost in thought he wasn¡¯t paying attention to his surrounding as he walked into the temporary logging facility for visiting elders. As he stepped inside a young female elf came up to him.
¡°This way Sir, The Lord Protector has already made sure that our best room was reserved for you and had his assistant leave the items you requested¡±, she said as she escorted Adam up a set of winding stairs that filled the inside of the giant tree that had been transformed into a skyscraper of sorts. All the rooms opened onto a spiral staircase that wound around the inside of the tree.
Adam was still lost in thought, running through multiple variations but none of them seemed to work, maybe it was based on averages? Maybe. Still lost in his thoughts he wasn¡¯t really paying attention as he climbed the stairs until suddenly he noticed that his guide stopped at a door.
¡°This is your room sir, you are on the 10th floor. Meals are to order. Please utilize the crystal beside the bed to reach the front counter to make your order. Have a pleasant stay,¡± she said as she opened the door for him.
Adam realized he had no money to tip with.
¡°Sir, The Lord Protector has already tipped the staff and also left a note and a pouch for you by the robes on the table there¡±, she said pointing to a table against a wall.
¡°Thank you,¡± Adam said as he stepped into the room which had a simple washroom with working plumbing, a bed, and a desk that had a folded piece of paper under a pouch sitting next to 10 robes.
Adam put the pouch in his Shadow Vault and read the letter;
Adam,
Again, thank you for all that you have done. The pouch contains 10 silver and 20 copper to help you on your travels. I have no doubt you could find any treasure you might need but I thought that this small gesture would help you on your way. As you are new to this world I do not think you fully grasp what your gift of Quintessence was worth to my people.
Also, there are 10 robes as you requested.
The Room is taken care of for a week. If you need to stay longer please let the attendant know and they will get it sorted with me. Enjoy your stay and may luck be with you as you make your way from here.
The Lord Protector
Very simple and to the point. Adam put the note and the robes in his vault then went over to the bed and sat down. Now that he was alone it was time to ask Hal some questions.
Chapter 171, Nostrom
Erika teleported to the Pelza Empire¡¯s Capital City, Rodos on the planet Nostrom. She didn¡¯t like coming out to these unenlightened cities on these fringe planets where the bare minimum of the Pelza Empire¡¯s glory was known. But they were still technically part of the empire and useful. The Empire used fringe planets as test grounds and farms for the low-rank cultivators. Those that survived and prospered would one day be invited to learn the truth of the Empire¡¯s Glory.
It wasn¡¯t that the trips were long or tedious, she could simply teleport to most of the Empire¡¯s fringe worlds, having visited them one time or another as a messenger. No, she didn¡¯t like coming out here so soon after her last scouting mission because she¡¯d only been able to stay in her true form for about a day before she¡¯d had to head back out. She felt less like herself outside of her true form. This time, she only had to wear a magical ring to appear as a normal human, unlike her recent scouting mission.
Erika had been on Earth 1314 day and night for years with only an occasional visit to make a report. Those visits had never lasted more than a half hour so she¡¯d never had the long-term modifications that were done to her body, undone. Not that she wasn¡¯t human, she was. The Death-attuned magic that coursed through her system as a Class B Cultivator modified her and made her look so ghastly. The reason the physical modifications had been necessary was because of the medical screening and tests that were performed to get into the high-security areas she¡¯d needed to. Infiltration had been easy when she¡¯d posed as a teenager and went to college before joining the Genesis Top Secret Project which had turned into a game called The Labyrinth. It was too bad that her Empires needs were so high. If the Empire ever decided to convert the Universe of Earth 1314 she would have to visit and confiscate the files and hardware for that game. The Idea might lead to some serious quality-of-life upgrades for a lot of people.
As for her true form, if she was being honest, she hated the way her mascara looked like it was always running down her cheeks. Two black lines from her eyes to her jaw. Also, the skin of her head was skull tight making her seem like a walking skeleton with flesh on it. She still had her bright blue eyes but she knew that eventually, they would turn into black orbs of death. There was always a price to pay for power.
Erika teleported into the Chamber of the ¡°King¡± of Rodos. In truth, there was no King. It was a charade that only the upper echelon of the city knew. There were no organized races or alliances on this planet that could withstand the power of the Pelza Empire. There were various races within the city and the underworld below it that created a struggle for power that made outsiders feel that they could easily take over the Empire. Those seeking power struggled to take over and always failed while the Empire found recruits that it sent off to other planets once they¡¯d been caught. There was no need to destroy the talented that were ignorant. Traitors after they¡¯d been shown the truth were destroyed but not those struggling on the fringe worlds for the power there. There was no need, the power they sought was of no consequence to the Empire.
Erika was shaken from her thoughts as a man in full plate magical armor with a huge two-handed sword sheathed on his back entered the chamber she teleported into and said, ¡°Greetings Commander. I am Knight Christen, it is my honor to serve,¡± he said as he dropped to a knee and waited.
Erika looked at her garb. She rather liked the tailored purple suit that she was wearing. The Magical ring she wore made her appear like a normal human with luxurious blond hair that highlighted her sparkling blue eyes. This appearance was similar to what she would have looked like if she had not accepted the modification. This knight and a few others here would be able to see her true form. The man before her was one of them. ¡°Rise, Knight Christen. Have you been briefed?¡± she asked.
¡°I have. Transportation has been prepared,¡± he said as he looked hesitant before he continued, ¡°Is the Commander sure that she wishes to travel unaccompanied?¡±
¡°Quite sure,¡± Erika said. For the purpose of this visit, my true identity is not to be spoken of to anyone outside of this room. Those that have attained the ability to pierce the illusions that shroud my appearance are not to discuss my visit with anyone.¡±
¡°Yes Commander, I will make sure that everyone understands that?¡± Knight Christen said.
¡°Very good. What kind of Transport have you prepared for me?¡±
¡°The location you wished to visit is on the other side of the planet so we have prepared a sled. It is one of the hybrid magical and technological devices that have been brought to this planet. It does contain restricted items and as per regulations is fitted with anti-tampering devices and magic should it fall into local hands. We wouldn¡¯t want the savages of this world to have access to technology as well,¡± The Knight said.
¡°Very well, if you¡¯d take me there I do have a long journey ahead,¡± Erika said.
¡°Yes Commander, right this way,¡± he said as he turned back toward the door he¡¯d entered from and headed out.
Erika fell into step beside him. ¡°Is my target location loaded into the navigational system of my transport?¡± She asked
¡°There is. Also, the nearest human settlement is run by what we would consider a Baron. He has some Quintessence ability but is at most Class D, though we think he¡¯s Class E with some very unique magic items. Also, he¡¯s only been the Baron for about aw a week, there is a very high mortality rate for the leader of that particular settlement,¡± he said.
¡°That won¡¯t be a problem, I¡¯ve brought a change of clothes and some items of my own. It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve been able to practice my Archery¡±
¡°Are you a Ranger?¡± he asked.
¡°Heaven¡¯s no! I have a unique class, one that revolves around my transformation and takes advantage of both my upbringing and training as well as the modification I went through. Have you heard of Death Archers?¡± Erika said as they stepped out of a hallway into an open area with other people making their way through the building.
¡°I have! There are said to only ever be six of that class anywhere, something about the sacrifices needed to accept the class,¡± he said.
Erika laughed, she actually laughed. One of her fellow Death Archers had been spreading rumors to make them more intimidating than they already were. It was probably Maxine. She was always making things up.
¡°What did the¡,¡± the knight started to say then realized they were in a somewhat crowded area of the King¡¯s building and changed what he was going to say to, ¡°May I ask what you find so funny?¡±
¡°You may,¡± she said with mirth in her eyes holding his gaze before she finally relented and said, ¡°One of my fellow Archers is having a bit of fun. There are six of us within the Empire but there are others, and the class does not have an upper limit. It is a class, like any other. It¡¯s just really hard to meet the requirements.¡±
¡°Oh, I see,¡± he said. ¡°Some of the masters have exaggerated my accomplishments with the recruits. I find that annoying, yet you find the same type of exaggeration amusing?¡± he asked.
¡°The path to power is long and arduous. If you try to stay serious about every little thing you will soon find yourself unable to progress. The Empire needs us to be strong, and unquestioning when given orders, but they also need us to be adaptable. If you become too rigid, you will not progress. Only those that can adapt can gain power and meet the challenges that await. I have personally found that laughing about the little things that mean nothing to my progress helps me maintain that perspective. Who knows, I may even exaggerate the current requirements it takes to become a Death Archer further to anyone that is asking but is not on a path to become one. We can have our fun, but not at the expense of another loyal member of the Empire pursuing their path to power. Gossiping is not part of that pursuit, but it is a nice diversion once in a while.¡±
¡°I see,¡± he said as he continued to lead Erika through the building.
¡°I can see that you do not, but that is okay as well. When you come to a block in your progress, and you will because we all do. Remember that you will need to adapt and let go of everything that means nothing to your progress. Admittedly some of the most powerful among us tend to punish those that interrupt their journey, but I would prefer to be someone that laughs first, and only resorts to punishment when necessary,¡± Erika said.
¡°How will you know when it is necessary,¡± Knight Christen asked.
¡°You have had the same training as I,¡± she said leadingly.
¡°Punishment is necessary when all other avenues of leadership have failed and the individual¡¯s actions are either treasonous to the Empire or prevent the individual, or other loyal members of the Empire, from pursuing their path to power within the Empire.¡±
¡°Exactly! There is a lot of leeway in the second part of that requirement. And always remember punishment is not necessary if someone has reached their limit. Not everyone will continue to progress until they become an Epitome of the Power they wield,¡± Erika said.
¡°You have given me much to ponder, I thank you for taking the time to do so,¡± he said.
¡°Do not worry about it. We must help those beneath us that are loyal to the Empire. I know that you are loyal Christen,¡± she said.
¡°Again, I thank you. Also, we are here,¡± Christen said as they stepped through an archway onto a balcony that held four metallic shapes. Each looked like one of the fighter cockpits from Earth 1314 except there was no plane and the cockpit was sitting on a flat square piece of metal that spread out beneath the cockpit.¡±
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¡°Is cloaking provided?¡± Erika asked.
¡°Yes, once you sit down and activate the sled you¡¯ll be able to control the sled mentally. An aerodynamic force bubble will enclose the sled and produce an invisibility field around it. That field can be left on for up to 24 hours before the magic item that produces it must rest for 48 hours. While you fly around the globe it will automatically activate anytime something comes within a mile of the sled to prevent detection, though you¡¯ll probably be traveling faster than anything that flies naturally on this planet. It can easily break the sound barrier and travel up to three times faster than the speed of sound through that will deplete the energy reserves of the vehicle a lot faster.
¡°Will I have enough of a charge for the sled to get to my target and back?¡± she asked.
¡°Easily, so long as you don¡¯t travel faster than 500 miles per hour. The magic drains a lot faster at speeds higher than 500 miles per hour.¡± He said.
¡°How long is it going to take me to fly there from here?¡± Erika asked.
¡°Around 25 hours he said,¡± We don¡¯t normally worry about anything over in that corner of the world. There are only a few human settlements and the elves do a good job of keeping the monsters at bay.¡±
¡°25 Hours,¡± Erika mused out loud. ¡°Well, it looks like I¡¯ll have plenty of time to rest,¡± she said.
¡°You will, the seat does recline and there is even a cover that can be slid over the chair to keep the sun out. The Sled is equipped with an autopilot that will wake you if you have any issues.¡±
¡°Does it also provide life support for high-altitude travel?¡±
¡°One of the engineers mentioned that it could fly at high altitude for up to three days before it needed to recharge, but I don¡¯t understand what the difference between flying at high-altitude and flying near the ground is?¡± He asked questioningly.
¡°Not to worry, your classes haven¡¯t covered atmospheric pressure yet. You¡¯ll get there sooner or later. It is useful information so pay attention,¡± she said.
¡°Very well. Is there anything else you need?¡±
¡°No, I have everything I need in my dimensional bag. Thank you for the escort and the diversion. It would seem that I will make up for that momentary diversion with plenty of time to meditate,¡± she said as she stepped onto the sled, sat down, and activated the autopilot with a thought.
The sled rose into the air, surrounded itself with a globe of force and invisibility, and then rocketed off to the east a mile above the ground. Erika paid attention to her surroundings for the first two hours as the sled effortlessly circumvented mountains and continued on its path to the other side of the world. She saw flying creatures off in the distance as she rose above the mountains and then descended on the other side always maintaining an altitude of one mile.
Once Erika was satisfied that the auto-pilot was working correctly and she shot over one of the oceans on the planet that would take four hours to cross she pulled the cover Christen had mentioned over herself to block out the sun and went to sleep. Her dreams were troubled until she finally woke her up just as she was coming back over land. While she¡¯d been sleeping the sled had traveled into the night and she looked out noticing fires and lights speckling the coastline she was flying over. To the northeast of her flight position, she noticed a city nestled against a mountain range that soon faded from view. Checking the map function, she found that it was a dwarven trading outpost on the edge of the mountain range with an unimaginative name, Tradeforge. Dwarves and their simple names, she thought.
It was time to get to work. Erika pulled out a piece of metal that looked to be about the same size as an electronic tablet on Earth 1314. She tapped it once. The metal lit up with information and she pulled up the time stamp of the event that had happened at the Plant and then the current date. The event at ¡°The Plant¡± happened 26 days ago. She¡¯d only been back for three days. She¡¯d arrived debriefed, had the semi-permanent alterations undone to unlock her magical channels to their fullest protentional, and then made her way here.
She was also wasting a little over a day making where way around the world. Once she was there she¡¯d be able to teleport back to Rogos. She¡¯d never traveled to the forest of the Kaljaharsi Elves, so she had to make this flight. Once she¡¯d arrived she would set the autopilot and the sled would return to the Capital on its own. When she was done, she¡¯d teleport back to Rogos or The Plant. She¡¯d decide when the mission was complete.
Of course, the mission was going to take a little longer than she¡¯d expected because the trail was already three weeks old. The day after the incursion at The Plant had happened an army was decimated. The reports they¡¯d received from local spies had said that Adam had been killed by a Vampire. There had been no more reports on the subject since then.
Erika had returned from Earth 1314 and teleported to this planet in short order. She¡¯d taken the time to remove the semipermanent modifications that had been done to her to hide her true appearance. Once that had been completed, she visited her residence to make sure nothing had changed. She¡¯d slept for just over eight hours, eaten then headed out. Even so, she was still three weeks behind.
Erika pulled up the information on her destination to review it. She was headed toward a small city, a town really, that was run by a local Baron. The Baron¡¯s name wasn¡¯t listed though ¡°Name not given because it changes too often)¡± was annotated in the file. There was also a note that the elves didn¡¯t like humans much, but they weren¡¯t at war currently. The report she was reading detailed that they¡¯d been working together against a group called the Eternal Empire.
The Eternal Empire? She¡¯d heard of them. That¡¯s right, she¡¯d read a report years ago and it was recommended that contact should be made soon because the Empire needed to either add their might to the Pelza Empire or remove them as a threat on this planet. A group of organized Undead could be extremely useful to the Empire. Showing them the bigger universe, they were part of was a gamble though. Sometimes they¡¯d turtle up and try to withdraw and defend the little bit they had. In those cases, the Empire couldn¡¯t allow the knowledge the Empire had divulged to make it to the rest of the local population, and steps were taken. She had even participated in a few of those campaigns herself.
The next 21 hours were a test of patience and resilience. Every once in a while she would expand the force bubble so she could stand up on the plate and stretch. She slept and she also meditated for a bit. Finally, they were drawing closer to her destination.
She looked around and noticed that she was flying above a mountain range and was about an hour from her destination. She took control and increased her altitude until she was about 9,000 feet off the ground and moved to hover over the City. This city had no listed name though it had gone through four names in the last year, the last being Brentville. Off to the North, just over a mile away, she could make out the 500-foot-high trees of the Twilight Forest.
She set the autopilot to return the sled to the Capital after a 30-second delay. Until then she turned off the protective field and stepped out of her seat onto the plate it sat upon. She swapped her clothes to her leather armor and obvious archer equipment with a thought. It was worth the money to pay for the enchantments to be able to equip and unequip weapons, armor, and items with a thought. Next, she looked down on the city to look for a place to jump to. She chose a location 500 feet or so north of the gate that was not within the line of sight of the guards and teleported to the ground. She looked up to where the sled hung in the air, watched it disappear, and saw the telltale signs of its passing as it darted off to the west.
¡°What do we have here?¡± a dirty-looking human said as he stepped out from behind a tree.
¡°It must be our lucky day if the gods are going to have women jump right into our midst. A pretty one too,¡± a second larger man said as he stepped out from another tree with a giant hammer held in one hand balanced back against his right shoulder.
¡°If you move you die,¡± a third voice called from behind a third tree.
Erika Laughed. She laughed so hard tears started to roll out of her eyes.
¡°What¡¯s she doing,¡± the first man asked.
¡°She¡¯s laughing,¡± the second man answered like the other man was an idiot.
Just then an arrow flew toward Erika from the bush cutting off Erika¡¯s laughing. Not because the arrow hit her. Her laughter cut off because she¡¯d activated an ability of hers that allowed her to move outside of normal time for one second. Everything slowed to an almost standstill as she quickly moved toward and through the bush as she drew a hunting knife from her belt. As she suspected there was another thief in the bushes with a bow. With her hunting knife, she cut the archer¡¯s bowstring and then stepped back.
¡°What, where did she go?¡± The first man asked.
¡°I don¡¯t see her,¡± The second man said.
¡°My bowstring snapped,¡± the third said as he drew an arrow and tried to string it, then realized how unlikely a bowstring snapping on its own must have registered and he spun around to find Erika looking at him. ¡°How?¡±
¡°Today is your lucky day boys. I need a little information and if you answer my questions you may come out of this with a platinum each. If you try to attack me again. You may only come out of this encounter with your lives, but you have been entertaining thus far so maybe I will be generous because all three of you must have the worst luck to be right where I appeared. Especially you she said pointing to the man that spoke first, I can feel your power,¡± she said.
Erika paused speaking as she felt a change in the first man''s aura. As she predicted, the first man charged Erika to bodily tackle her. She opened her arms and as soon as the man touched her they disappeared with a sudden pop.
¡°What the hell?¡± The man with the hammer exclaimed.
Phil, the man that had just been teleported a mile above the Twilight Forest with Erika realized something was different when his legs lost their purchase on the ground. He looked around quickly and realized that he was above the ground and had already started dropping toward the ground.
¡°I hope the ability I¡¯ve detected that you have can get you out of this,¡± Erika said as she winked at Phil and pushed back from him before she vanished from his sight.
¡°What the hell?¡± Phil asked out loud as he fell toward the edge of the Twilight Forest.
Erika deliberately chose to appear between the other two bandits and the man she¡¯d just left falling to his doom. The man with the hammer turned and yelled, ¡°Where¡¯s Phil?¡±
Erika used her thumb to point over her shoulder where the two bandits saw a man-sized shape falling from above the tree line.
¡°I will kill you¡¡±The man started to say as Erika lazily drew a black bow into her hand from her extradimensional storage ring which caused him to pause.
¡°If either of you makes another threatening move toward me, I will not be as kind as I have been to Phil,¡± she said as a loud thud was heard as Phill slammed into the ground. ¡°Besides, he¡¯s a cultivator. That fall will hurt but I think he has an ability that would have allowed him to survive.
¡°He does,¡± the third man said.¡± ¡°A fall from that high though, he¡¯s still going to still get hurt.¡±
¡°Hopefully he¡¯ll learn a lesson from this encounter then,¡± Erika said
¡°A lesson, what lesson?¡± The second man asked.
¡°You shouldn¡¯t assume those that are smaller than you are lesser than you,¡± Erika said pleasantly. ¡°Now my questions. I am looking for a human that has come out of the Twilight Forest within the last three weeks¡¡±
¡°No human has come out of the Twilight Forest in at least a month. Technically the humans that came from that direction six weeks ago never entered the forest, they met with an elven contingent to discuss strategy concerning the Eternal Empires Army on the border.¡± He said.
¡°And this is the closest city to the elven Mother Tree?¡± Erika asked.¡±
¡°Yes,¡± the archer answered.
¡°Very well, I¡¯m going to head into town, you might want to go check on your friend,¡± Erika said as she allowed her attention to drift back toward the border of the Twilight Forest only to see their thief being helped out of the forest by a human in a brown robe.
Erika''s couldn''t believe her luck as her eyes focused on the man with Phil, it was Adam!
Chapter 172, The Abstract Quantified
Adam sat on the bed, focused, and withdrew into his Mindspace. The ¡°Hal¡± ability had said he needed to utilize the ability from his Mindspace which would make use of this ability almost impossible while in combat unless he could split his conscious again, something to think about later. As he moved his focus into his Mindspace only one change was evident. Normally when he first entered his Mindspace it would be an open blank expanse that he could populate with his imagination. He¡¯d focus on an image of a study that would pop into existence around him. Then he¡¯d get comfortable and review his memories as books or videos. This time there was an open expanse and floating in the center of it was a translucent fractal that was transforming between three-dimensional geographic shapes.
The fractal floated there changing forms. To make sure it didn¡¯t have any other effects on his Mindspace, Adam changed his surroundings to his comfortable study with a fireplace and two recliners. He liked the aesthetic of having another chair in the room even if no one else was in his mind. Yeah, he missed Abi.
He turned to the Fractal and asked, ¡°Are you Hal?¡± just to be sure it was a representation of the ability. This was going to suck if it wasn¡¯t.
¡°Yes, I am Hal,¡± the fractal said in a robot-like emotionless voice.
¡°What information may I ask about?¡±
¡°You may ask about anything. If I have information available I will reveal it. If I do not I will inform you that I do not. Please begin any inquiries with ¡®Hal¡¯,¡± Hal said.
¡°Hal, can you provide a comparison of Attribute levels between Low through Legendary as compared to my previous existence inside a holographic Universe.¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Hal said.
Okay, this interface wasn¡¯t going to give anything away for free, so he¡¯d have to be very specific in his questioning. Unfortunately for Hal, or whoever created this ability with the intent to obfuscate answers, Adam was very knowledgeable about how to dig out specific information inside a logic trap, ¡°Hal, please list comparable levels for attribute levels for Low, Medium, High, Elite, Epic, Mythic and Legendary attributes as compared to attributes prior to entering this Universe.¡±
Hal morphed into a screen as a chart popped up;
Attribute Level Range
Low????1 - 18
Medium ??19 - 100
High ????101 - 1,000
Elite ????1,001 - 10,000
Epic ????10,001 - 50,000
Mythic ???50,001 - 100,000
Legendary ? 100,001 - 200,000.
¡°Hal, does Cultivator Class in any way prohibit attribute increase?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes,¡± Hal said.
¡°Hal, what level equivalent is a Legendary Step 4 attribute?¡±
¡°Legendary ??209,715,200,001 ??419,430,400,000¡±
¡°Hal, what is the highest Step that can be achieved for attributes?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The answer that best fits this question is infinite.¡±
Adam thought for a minute. Nice way for whatever was providing these answers to circumvent answering so he changed tactics and asked, ¡°Hal, what is the highest Step attribute currently held by any being, living or undead?¡±
¡°Step 7¡±
¡°Hal, how do I attain Step 7?¡±
¡°That information is not known,¡± Hal said.
So, there were things Hal was not allowed to answer. Adam paused for a minute as he thought about what he needed. What did he need to know the most? The abstract combat system would be nice. He seemed to be far more powerful when he had been with Step 1 Legendary attributes. He needed to be able to quantify what having Step 4 Attributes meant. Hal wasn¡¯t very talkative, but it seemed if he asked questions that had numerical values Hal responded well enough. He thought about how to ask for the information he wanted concerning combat then said, ¡°Hal, quantify the abstract combat system detailing the number of attacks, damage, and defense values for all Step 1 Attributes.¡±
The screen Hal display populated with the following information.
Level, #Attacks (#A), Effective Damage (EDA), Effective Defense (EDF)
Level ????#A?EDA?EDF
Low ????3?? 3 ??10
Medium?? 6?? 6 ??18
High ????9 ??9 ??27
Elite ????12 ?12 ??36
Epic ????15 ? 15 ??45
Mythic ?? 18 ? 18 ??54
Legendary 21 ? 21 ??63
Adam looked at the chart and realized immediately that it was following a rule of 3. To clarify part of the information he saw in the chart he said, ¡°Hal, define Number of Attacks.¡±
¡°Number of Attacks is the maximum number of physical attacks that can be taken based on skill and attribute during any single Combat Round or second. This is not an average. Agility is used to determine the maximum number of physical attacks while skill levels determine the actual number of physical attacks that can be taken,¡± Hal said.
That was interesting. So, when he first started he could make up to 21 attacks if his skill and ability matched. He thought back to the battle. When he¡¯d started fighting the Army he had felt kind of sluggish but as his skill improved he¡¯d become faster and faster. He asked, ¡°Hal, what is the maximum number of physical attacks that I may take with an Agility at Legendary Step 4 as well as my EDA and DEF
Level ????#A ??EDA ???EDF
Legendary(4) 84??84,000 ??252,000
Adam looked at the numbers then his mind went into overdrive. If there was one thing he was good at it was seeing patterns and extrapolating. If there were seven levels in each Step and he was at level 7 of step 4 that would be 28 levels. 28 multiplied by 3 was 84. That worked. Base attacks and base damage were identical for Step 1 levels and the defense was a multiple of 3 except at Low-Level Defense, which was 10. That was probably so creatures had a better chance of surviving. What that Step 1 chart basically meant was that it usually took 3 hits of an equivalent level to beat the same level of defense.
Legendary Step 4 was 84 multiplied by 1,000. This probably meant that Legendary Step 3 was probably 63 multiplied by 100 and Legendary Step 2 was 42 multiplied by 10. Though thinking about this as numbers meant nothing. This was an abstract system. It would take 4 Low-level attacks to bust through Low-level defense. Going by the chart one Elite-level attack would break through a Low-level defense.
Adam populated the chart into his head and realized that one attack from him would be able to take down a Legendary Step 3, but it would still take 3 attacks from him to get through Low-Level Step 4 defenses. That also meant that his base Defense was so high that it would take 84,000 low-level Step 1 attacks to break through his defense. How did that work with critical damage and larger creatures? Did it increase the damage by a level or Step? Probably a combination of both. Next time he ran into the Ogre or Giant he¡¯d pay more attention.
He brought his focus back and thought about the Steps. Each Step was definitely a little more than a logarithmic increase though it followed that pattern. If Steps 5, 6, and 7 followed the same pattern even he would need to do 32 attacks against a Step 5 Low-Level defense. It was a good thing that ¡°How to Achieve Step 5 and higher¡± information wasn¡¯t readily available. Steps 1 through 4 seemed achievable. Step 5 and higher would be insanely high-powered though it looked like as long as you were within the same step you had a chance. Also, he knew that not everyone would be like him and keep all of their attributes at the same level. Some creatures might be insanely strong and have no ability to take damage while others would be the exact opposite.
Adam sat down in his chair and went over all the information he had, which seemed lacking. One problem he was having was knowing which questions to ask specifically. Hal, when possible, only gave concise answers and didn¡¯t explain anything, though he would give definitions. That gave him a couple of questions he could ask.
¡°Hal, What planet am I currently on?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Nostrom¡±
¡°Hal, how many magical quintessence types are there?¡±
¡°Unknown,¡± Hal answered.
¡°Hal, Define current Cosmological makeup¡±
¡°Infinite¡±
¡°Hal, clarify the last answer.¡±
¡°Current cosmological makeup of dimensional boundaries is infinite,¡± Hal said.
Adam thought about his ability ¡°Dual State¡± and then asked, ¡°Hal, Define Astral Plane.¡±
¡°The Astral Plane is a dimensional plane that does not consist of physical constructs. Travel into, through, and out of the Astra Plane is possible with specific magical abilities and technological devices. Only energetic entities are native to the Astral Plane.¡±
Adam locked in on the word technological, ¡°Hal, define current technological limits.¡±
¡°None.¡±
That tidbit of knowledge was really interesting. Adam had a thought, ¡°Hal, are there Technological Quintessence Abilities?¡± he asked.
¡°Yes.¡±
Now that was good to know. Maybe there was a way to utilize technology without requiring nanites to do so, though nanites would be really nice. Of course, if there were magical abilities that could control technology and technological constructs that didn¡¯t have souls or abilities, the magical abilities would probably win every time.
¡°Hal, what is the best quintessence to create an ability to control or create technology?
¡°A Technological Quintessence¡±
Ask an easy question, and get an easy answer. Instead, he thought about his Chaos Quintessence and then asked, ¡°Hal, Can Chaos Quintessence create Technological abilities.¡±
¡°Yes¡±
¡°Hal, is there any quintessence ability a Chaos Quintessence cannot create?¡± Adam asked.
¡°No,¡± Hal said.
So, he could create any ability with Chaos Quintessence. That was a game-changer. Adam checked his Shadow Vault and noted that he only had 48 Quintessence left. He could make 6 Legendary abilities or a couple of legendary abilities and a few lower-powered quintessence abilities. It depended on what he needed. That reminded him. The System Matrix A.I. he needed to find it, ¡°Hal, Define Void in the following context, Item with dimensional space have been lost to the void.¡±
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
¡°Void Dimensions are dimensions adjacent to the current universe that you are currently occupying.¡±
Well shit, he¡¯d lost all the stuff in his inventory when he¡¯d been in The Plant. Maybe Hal could help with that.
¡°Hal, review my recent locations. What location was I in before I entered this Universe?¡± Adam asked.
¡°You were in an Adjacent Universe to the one you are currently in controlled by the Pelza Empire.¡±
Each question Adam asked created new questions, ¡°Hal, what is the difference between an adjacent dimension and an adjacent universe?
¡°A Universe may have many adjacent dimensions that ¡°directly¡± connect to that universe. Some dimensions are infinite, and others are quite small. Adjacent Universes do not directly connect to other Universes and instead bridges form through the Astral plane creating a connection. The Astral Plane sits between them. Adjacent Universes may create points of contact that allow physical matter to travel between the two Universes at those bridges. Also, adjacent Universes are not static, connection points can close, and Universes can move away from each other.¡±
¡°Hal, how many Universes are there?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Unknown,¡± Hal said.
Adam brought a three-dimensional image of the Multiverse as he knew it into existence utilizing the bubble representation and replaced chaos with the Astral Plane as the glue that allowed the bubbles to bob around before he asked, ¡°Hal, the three-dimensional image I¡¯ve created, is this a close approximation to the current make up of the local Universe and all adjacent one?¡±
¡°No,¡±
¡°Hal, utilizing my representation as a starting point please alter the current configuration into a representation of this Universe and the adjacent ones.¡±
Hal modified the image by animating the image so that the bubbles were replaced by fractals that were continuously rippling and moving. As they came close to other fractals tendrils would form and reach toward the adjacent fractal. When two tendrils touched, a bridge would form and stabilize that area of the fractal. Some touched for a bit, while other tendrils brushed each other and disconnected. As Adam watched the image flattened so that the Universes were represented by extremely flat fractals that were undulating as they moved back and forth squeezing closer and closer together and reducing the overall size of Astral Space.
The image Adam was looking at now looked like the layers of a composite and Astral Space was the glue between layers where every fractal representing a Universe was another layer. If the Universes were layered like a composite what structure, if any, was being created?
Adam had a lot to think about and only 48 more Quintessence to utilize. He needed to learn more but first, he needed to learn about this new world before he¡¯d be able to take full advantage of Hal and his apparent ability to guide his ability creation. Adam stood and said, ¡°Thank you, Hal, I must attend to other matters.¡±
Hal didn¡¯t say anything as Adam withdrew from his Mindspace and found himself sitting on the bed in the Elder Visitor¡¯s Residence. Adam opened his Shadow vault and systematically spent the next couple of minutes absorbing and converting his last 48 Quintessence into Chaos Quintessence. He left them orbiting his core.
Adam switched his focus to his core as he started to think about what ability he needed to get next. He had mostly support abilities and needed to get at least one ranged attack. Also, he needed to figure out if magic items were created with abilities or if there was another form of magic in use, like runic magic or something. He could worry about that later. Right now, he needed to improve his current ability set. He could integrate all of his quintessence right now and he¡¯d still have room for more abilities if he was maximizing every ability he opened.
Adam focused his thoughts on acquiring a chaos-based ranged ability and integrated one of the motes of chaos.
You have chosen to integrate a mote of Chaos. Ability. The ability ¡°Variable Quintessence¡± has been activated. New Ability sought: Category: Attack. Energy Type: Chaos. Ranged: Yes. Goal: Damage Target. Is this information correct? Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes¡±
Congratulations you have integrated the Chaos Quintessence ability ¡°Chaos Bolt.¡± This ability has a Low mana cost regardless of ability rank. Damage: Low. Energy Type Chaos. Special: This attack has a range of 100 feet per ability rank and ignores all magical shields that are not made up of ¡°Order¡± based magic. This ability may be utilized once per combat round per ability rank.
That was definitely an interesting attack spell. Short range, but useful, and only stopped by a specific type of magical shield. Though, it did look like armor would be useful against it. Adam integrated six more motes of chaos into Chaos Bolt raising it to a Legendary ability rank.
Next, he wanted something that would allow him to interact with technology in his general area like he was able to with nanites. He could probably recreate nanites here but if he could get the same kind of control with an ability, without needing nanites, that would be much better, especially in areas that did have nanites.
Adam focused his thoughts on acquiring an ability that would allow him to interact with, hack and control all technologies at range.
You have chosen to integrate a mote of Chaos. The ability ¡°Variable Quintessence¡± has been activated. Category: Support, Energy Type: Chaos, Ranged: Area of Effect. Goal: Detect, Subvert, and Control Technology at range. Is this information correct Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes¡±
Congratulations you have activated the Chaos Quintessence ability ¡°Technomancy.¡± This ability has a Low mana cost per 1 minute regardless of ability rank. Damage: N/A. Energy Type Chaos. Special: This ability allows you to connect to and control technological devices within 100 feet per ability rank. Technological devices without firewall protection can automatically be scanned and information can automatically be uploaded and downloaded to you, either into your mind or another technological device you are holding. NOTE: Perfect Memory is synergistic with this Ability.
The ability to interact with technology at a programming level is completely dependent on your skill with computers. Though this ability forgoes the need to know the specific computer language something is coded in as this ability automatically presents all information in a way that you can understand. Programming happens at the speed of thought. A number of devices can be controlled simultaneously equal to your Willpower Attribute rank.
When this ability is active you will automatically detect technological devices that come within your range. This automatic detection does not require an action. Firewalls equal to or less in rank than this ability automatically fail. Firewalls that have a rank greater than this ability but less rank than your Perception Attribute can still be hacked using the standard rank comparison to determine how many rounds it will take to do so.
Adam would have to try the ability out to see how well he could control devices during combat. He could see himself as some sort of Rigger from the game Shadowrun. Someone that could control vehicles and drones with a thought. That would be awesome. Next, Adam integrated six more motes of chaos into Technomancy raising it to a Legendary ability rank. This left him with 36 chaos motes orbiting his core. One more ability he needed was the ability to identify someone and see what level they were. Also, this would be the last ability he would activate for now. he needed to get a better lay of the land and a little bit more information about how everything worked. After he tried to get an analyze ability that would leave him with 27 motes orbiting his core.
Adam focused his thoughts yet again, this time on being able to analyze a target¡¯s Class, attributes, and abilities.
You have chosen to integrate a mote of Chaos. The ability ¡°Variable Quintessence¡± has been activated. Category: Support, Energy Type: Chaos, Range: Sight. Goal: Analyze the target¡¯s class, attributes, and abilities. Is this information correct? Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes.¡±
The mote that he¡¯d tried to integrate to get this new ability flashed brightly, changed color too quickly to follow then disappeared into his core. a new message popped up.
Ability Variable Quintessence has failed.
Congratulations you have integrated the Air Quintessence ability ¡°Flight¡±. You may fly at a Low Mana cost per combat round. Movement is equal to normal ground speed during combat. This ability can also be utilized to travel outside of combat. At a cost of High this ability allows you to travel at ability ranks times the speed of sound inside an atmosphere and warp speed outside of an atmosphere. Maximum Warp Speed equals the 5th exponent of ability level. For instance. Warp 1 would be the speed of light. Warp 2 would be 32 times the speed of light.
This power protects the user from friction-related damage through an atmosphere or the vacuum of space. It does not provide the user with a way to survive the environment, sudden impacts, or asphyxiation.
This power does not work while submerged in a liquid.
Well, that sucked, but the flight would come in handy. In fact, this ability looked a lot like an ability of the same name from a superhero tabletop game he¡¯d played. Only 17 pages of actual rules but one of the most realistic sets of rules he¡¯d ever seen. Of course, his definition of realistic had altered slightly over the years.
Adam could try again but he really needed to get a move on. He had a feeling that he was wasting time. He had no idea why he had this feeling but he did. He needed to explore this world and find a way back to the Pelza Empire. At least he¡¯d learned who the assholes were that were strip-mining other Universes.
Adam stood, used the washroom to clean up a bit then left the room and walked down the stairs.
As he passed the desk at the bottom of the stairs the female elf that had led him upstairs asked, ¡°Are you going to be returning today?¡±
¡°Perhaps, I¡¯m going to go for a walk, maybe to the closest human city?¡± Adam asked leadingly.
¡°The closest human city is perhaps 6 days travel south and east a bit,¡± she said.
¡°If I¡¯m not back by morning, please feel free to clean and prepare the room for someone else,¡± Adam said.
¡°Very good Sir. On behalf of everyone that works here, we would like to thank you for what you did a month ago.¡±
¡°There is no need, but I thank you for your kind words,¡± Adam said as he stepped outside and looked to the east before he started walking toward the edge of Tree Haven. Again, he was amazed at the skill that was displayed in the creation of this city. From above it would be very hard to detect. Everything blended seamlessly into the natural surroundings. If everyone hid inside it would just appear as another stretch of forest with a well-worn path here and there.
As Adam made it to the edge of town he saw some soldiers stationed here and there. They all nodded at him as he stepped out into the forest and started jogging. He wasn¡¯t too worried about any forest creatures that might pop up. Besides he was only going to be on the ground for a little while.
Adam increased his speed to about 60 miles per hour and ran at that speed for 15 minutes. He needed to find a desert so he could open up and test his top speed and his adaptability again. The Flight power said it handled the friction in the atmosphere. He wanted to see if his Adaptability and Regeneration could handle running at high speeds. He just wasn¡¯t going to try that in the forest. The Elves seemed to be a good Ally to have, no point in pissing them off by breaking the sound barrier.
While he¡¯d been running he¡¯d had no issue dodging trees, finding trails, or making his way through the forest. He¡¯d even run under some spiders and through a web trap they¡¯d put across the road. The webs had given away like tissue paper against his strength. The webs had been almost invisible but Adam had figured out what to look for and dodged three more web traps in that area. It looked like whatever spiders were in that area hunted humans.
As Adam reached the 15-minute mark of running he jumped into the air easily clearing the trees and activating flight as he continued south. He kept his speed about the same and increased his altitude to about a mile up so he could look around.
Off in the distance to the northeast, Adam saw large birds and leather-winged creatures. They could be small dragons, but he bet they were either a dinosaur variant or wyverns. At least that¡¯s what he¡¯d think of them as. He changed course and dropped back down into the forest to land in one of the trees about halfway from the top. He made sure he was secure then switched his focus to his core and focused on an ability that would make him undetectable to all visible, sonic, technological, and magical means.
You have chosen to integrate a mote of Chaos. The ability ¡°Variable Quintessence¡± has been activated. Category: Support, Energy Type: Chaos, Range: Self. Goal: Undetectable to all forms of visual, sonic, technological, and magical detection. Is this information correct? Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes¡±
Congratulations you have integrated the Chaos Quintessence ability ¡°Obscure¡±. At a Medium Mana Cost per Minute, so long as you do not attack or move faster than a slow walk you become and remain invisible to normal light. At Medium rank, you become invisible to Infrared and Ultrasonic sight. At High rank, you no longer register to sonic senses and all sounds you make are muffled. At Elite rank, technological radar will not detect you. At Epic rank, Detection abilities of a lower rank than this ability will not detect you. At Mythic rank, you may move normally and remain invisible. At Legendary rank, you may perform attacks and remain invisible.
Note: if ¡°Obscure¡± is broken by attacking it cannot be reused until the current use expires. (A minute is 60 combat rounds.)
That was exactly what he needed. He quickly integrated six more chaos motes into the ability, increasing it to legendary rank. Adam withdrew his focus from his core, looked around quickly, and then activated Obscure. Now that he was effectively invisible he rose back into the air and continued southeast at about 60 miles per hour.
Travel through a forest by day was usually measured at 15 ¨C 25 miles per day. For the Elves, Adam figured it was probably closer to the high end of that range. Which meant that the human city was about 150 miles from Tree Haven. At 60 miles an hour, he¡¯d be there in two and a half hours. He could get there quicker but he was taking his time and making sure to notice landmarks so he could return to Tree Haven. He didn¡¯t have a teleport ability yet after all, though that was definitely on his list of desired abilities.
Adam flew for the next hour until he witnessed something strange. Just as he was reaching the edge of the forest a blond woman teleported almost 500 feet directly in front of him hugging a man whom she abruptly let go of. Adam watched the man fall and could have intercepted and saved him but just as he reached the tree tops his body turned to metal and a moment later there was a loud
THUD!
Adam floated down and over to the edge of the forest to hover just above the tree tops about 500 feet off the ground. He looked down at the man below him and then noticed the blond woman who¡¯d dropped the man below him standing on the road facing two other human males down the road toward the city he could see in the distance behind them. Adam heard one man ask, ¡°Where¡¯s Phil¡±. He watched the man below him as he started to dig himself out of the ground while he listened to the conversation down the road. His perception was incredibly good from this distance, it was kind of amazing. Adam continued to listen to the conversation until he heard her ask about the Mother Tree and if they¡¯d seen a human come out of the forest. At that moment he knew she was looking for him. It would seem that his Luck skill either rolled big or rolled really low.
Adam decided to go with the flow and floated down to land in the forest about 50 feet away from the man that was still trying to dig himself out of the ground. Adam turned off Obscure and walked out from behind a tree to see the man struggling to get out of the ground.
¡°Do you need some help?¡± Adam asked.
The man named Phil looked around, saw the brown robe, and said, ¡°If you would please, I need to get back to my friends and I seem to have fallen in a hole.¡±
¡°You¡¯re lucky more of you isn¡¯t buried,¡± Adam said. ¡°I saw you fall from the sky.¡±
¡°Yeah,¡° The man said sheepishly as he reached out for Adam¡¯s hand while he braced himself. Once he had some leverage Phill pulled his leg out of the ground. Phil tried to take a step toward the road and stumbled. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t be able to break any bones but I think I twisted my ankle trying to get free,¡± Phil said.
¡°That¡¯s fine, are those you¡¯re friends down the road?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Two of them are, I don¡¯t know who the blonde is though,¡± Phil said.
¡°I saw her drop you, what¡¯ did you do to upset her?¡± Adam asked.
¡°She teleported into the middle of us, we were just going to have a little fun..¡± he started to say.
Adam gave him the ¡®Do I look that stupid¡¯ look then said, ¡°So you tried to rob her, I¡¯m not judging. I¡¯m just wondering why she didn¡¯t kill you because she obviously could have. Do you know what I think? I think I need to talk to her. Let me help you back to your friends so I can talk to her, Adam said.
¡°If that¡¯s what you want to do,¡± the man said skeptically, looking over Adam again. ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll fare much better.¡±
If I intended to fight, perhaps. I just want to talk,¡± Adam said as he offered his arm and shoulder, which Phil leaned on. They made their way out of the forest and down the road toward the blonde woman and the two other men. Adam watched the woman carefully and recognized the look of recognition in her eyes when she looked in his direction. So, she knew who he was and was out here looking for him. The game was well and truly afoot now, he thought as he continued to help Phil down the road.
He looked into the woman¡¯s eyes and then smiled as he said, ¡°I think you dropped something.¡±
Chapter 173, What We Do For Those We Love
Phil looked back and forth between the blonde woman that had dropped him and the man that had helped him down the road before he asked, ¡°Do you two know each other?¡±
¡°We¡¯ve never met,¡± Adam said.
¡°You are correct,¡± Erika said addressing Adam as she directed her gaze toward the three bandits before saying, ¡°You three, consider this your lucky day, now out of here,¡± she said as she lifted her bow slightly to indicate her willingness to use it.
Adam looked at the bow. It was obviously magical and very well made. He stood there and waited as the two moved over and helped their friend as they made their way down the road toward the city. When they were far enough away Adam asked, ¡°Did you know he would survive the fall?¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t know, but I strongly suspected,¡± Erika said.
¡°May I ask your name?¡± Adam asked politely.
¡°You may, my name is Erika.¡±
¡°I would say it¡¯s nice to meet you Erika, but it looks like you know me from somewhere, and as there is only one place that anyone even vaguely human could know me from, I¡¯m going to guess you¡¯re with the Pelza Empire?¡± Adam said.
¡°Where did you hear that name?¡± Erika asked as she thought back to the footage she¡¯d seen. The Empire¡¯s name had not been mentioned, she was absolutely sure.
¡°I ran across it,¡± he said. ¡°How did you find me, I know for a fact I¡¯m not even in the same Universe anymore.¡±
¡°Well, you created quite a stir when you took on the Eternal Empire. When the description of the man that took on their army made it to our scouts, I was sent to investigate. Now that I¡¯ve found you, you will be coming with me,¡±
¡°And if I don¡¯t want to,¡± Adam asked.
There was a pause, as if time stood still. Adam forced himself not to move so he could see what she¡¯d do. Erika teleported behind him, pulled a collar from nowhere, probably a dimensional space, and clamped it around his neck, all within a second. He easily forecasted her movement and knew that physically he could have countered or dodged the attack if he¡¯d wished. As time returned to normal, two messages popped up.
WARNING! A Suppression Collar has been equipped.
NOTE: The Ability Astral Link negates the effects of the Suppression collar
Adam finished reading the messages as Erika whispered, ¡°Then I will have to insist.¡±
¡°Well, if you must insist?¡± Adam said pleasantly.
Erika dismissed the bow to her inventory and grabbed Adam¡¯s right elbow with her left hand as she opened a portal. Through the portal, Adam could see a small room with a viewing window. Behind the window, a single technician sat at a desk looking into the room with a terminal sitting off to his right so it wouldn¡¯t obstruct his view into the room. Adam didn¡¯t resist as Erika led him through the portal. The Portal closed and Erika removed a ring on her left hand which disappeared into her storage. Immediately her form changed to that of a balding gaunt skeletal-looking woman with black streaks running down her cheeks in a straight line. She still had the piercing blue eyes he¡¯d noticed though.
Adam¡¯s first thought was that he really wished that Analyze ability had been integrated instead of Flight. Whatever had been done to her had fundamentally changed her. Damn, he wished he had an analyze ability.
Adam looked around the room, noticed the technician and terminal beside him, and said, ¡°Damn Erika, what did you do to yourself,¡± as he activated Technomancy. Within his 700-foot range, he noted a whole bunch of technological devices but the only devices he was concerned with were the terminal he saw and any kind of energy array like the one that destroyed his body before.
¡°Stay silent!¡± Erika ordered in a tone that garnered no argument. Adam was busy with Technomancy so didn¡¯t bother answering.
¡°Commander Johansson, who is with you? The technician asked through a speaker in the wall above the window.
¡°I have the prisoner from Nostrom, collared and ready for interrogation,¡± Erika said.
Adam was only half listening as he took over the security terminal controlling the eradication array that was in the room he was standing in, the scanners, and all doors within 700 feet. He was also able to infiltrate a terminal on the other side of the wall and download a schematic of the area. Within moments he knew exactly where he was. Adam accomplished all of those actions before he heard the technician say, ¡°Hold on, we are scanning him now. That¡¯s weird, the scanners aren¡¯t working,¡±
While Erika looked at the window where the technician was trying to get the scanner working, Adam casually reached up with his left hand and removed the collar by snapping it with his thumb and finger. The sound drew Erika¡¯s attention to him as he slowly held out the collar to her which she accepted with her right hand.
Maintaining eye contact Adam said gently, ¡°The only warning you¡¯ll get from me is now, evacuate this facility,¡± Adam said as he vanished from sight as the door to the room opened. Erika felt his movement as the air shifted and then he was gone.
¡°Where did he go?¡± One of the technicians asked.
Erika understood what should have happened and turned her deadly gaze on the technician through the glass, ¡°Why wasn¡¯t the eradication array activated?¡± she asked vehemently.
¡°It was Commander. As soon as the collar snapped both the semi-intelligent A.I. and I tried to activate the array. The A.I. could not activate it and the manual override failed. Also, when he vanished from sight we lost track of him on all sensors both technological and magical.
¡°That¡¯s not possible. Nothing is immune to both magical and technological detection methods,¡± she said as she quickly made her way out into the hallway and opened the door to the observation room to stand over the technician while he worked. The technician hit a command key. Immediately, the security station was filled with a klaxon and red beacons began flashing as ¡°INTRUDER ALERT!¡± began repeating throughout the facility.
¡°He won¡¯t get far, the entire base just shut down. All locks will be engaged momentarily,¡± The Technician said.
¡°Show me,¡± Erika said.
As the technician looked at his terminal he realized that none of the locks were engaging and the semi-intelligent A.I. that normally monitored things had been locked out already. He started scrambling to stop whatever was trying to take over the facility¡¯s electronic network.
***
Adam watched the technician through the door Erika had left open while he hovered against the opposite wall up near the ceiling. He could understand the technician¡¯s frustration but he was never going to win. The Technician was skilled though, he¡¯d already realized the A.I. had been cut out of the equation. Hacking and counter hacking. How he missed doing something so simple.
Truth be told, Adam was actually having fun. The Universe destroying monster of an Empire and their programming skills were absolute crap. All that power and none of it spent on decent malware and hacking protection, with the only exception he could see being this technician. It could be that his Technomancy ability was overcoming some of the technician¡¯s skills but he doubted it. Adam was easily able to counter all the automatic subroutines that were activating as well as the code the technician was trying to add in. He¡¯d even found the firewalls and embedded control routines the A.I. was trying to utilize and shut them down.
When he gave the warning to Erika he¡¯d activated his abilities; Obscure and Flight while he maintained Technomancy. Then he¡¯d floated out room and stopped to float near the ceiling while he opened and closed doors within 700 feet of himself to send security on a wild goose chase. While he was doing that he was searching the files in the terminal and looking for the location of the giant room with the Universe killing machines.
The maps were hidden behind four firewalls but within moments he¡¯d broken through. As he downloaded the maps of the facility he was in he noticed that there were no doors to the outside. He did notice maintenance hatches that opened into an airlock configuration scattered around the facility. The facility was also the size of a planet. Was he on a space station? He started looking over the schematics and noticed another structure around the facility he was in. He couldn¡¯t help but think of what he was looking at as anything other than a Borg Cube inside a Stardock facility from Star Trek. The facility was a cube and around the cube was another cube-shaped lattice structure. When he looked up the schematics on that lattice structure he found a file titled ¡°Facility Eradication Procedures¡± attacked to that lattice structure. It was an array, much like the one for the room he teleported into, except for the whole facility. Wow, this empire really didn¡¯t like anyone visiting this facility without permission, did they?
Another thing he discovered was that except for the airlocks, It looked like the only way to leave the facility was through portals or teleportation. That might prove to be a problem. Adam continued to go through the data he¡¯d found while he hovered right outside the room Erika was in as he waited patiently.
A half-hour later Adam wasn¡¯t too worried about leaving the facility. Their security was crap. Oh, it was good, it was just crap compared to his skill and knowledge concerning computer-based operating systems. Also, he had a handle on the layout of the facility and had found some interesting areas he should probably visit. As for the magical detection, fortifications, and security personnel. There was nothing here he was worried about. Erika seemed to be one of the higher-ranking Cultivators and her security file said she was only a Step 1 Class U cultivator. Powerful, but nothing he couldn¡¯t handle.
Adam continued to read the information when a thought crossed his mind. The Technomancy ability stated that he could download and upload information into himself and anything he touched. Adam attempted to download all the files of the terminal into his mind. He hadn¡¯t tried something like this since he became real but he felt that he should be able to. It wasn¡¯t like a typical download he was used to. Instinctively he understood that anything within the radius of his ability was 100% within his power. That meant that an identical copy could be created within his mind. He¡¯d used that trick quite a bit with nanites and now it looked like he could do it without the nanites. He also realized he could have finished all the searching he¡¯d just done a whole lot quicker.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Of course, if an item was outside of the area of effect of his ability and he was downloading the information from that source through a device within his area of effect the download speed would be limited to the input/output speed sending data into the device he was connected to but right now he just wanted everything on the Terminal below him. Adam focused on the image of the device his ability gave him, the microcircuitry layout, the operating system, and the files loaded onto the terminal and it became part of his mind in less than a second. He would have expected to be able to do something like that if he had his full nanite capabilities and the information would have been stored within his expanded nanite mentality but this time the information went directly into his brain. He had thought his mental faculties were less than in the Holographic Universe but it seemed like his mind was working exactly as well as it used to be able to. He would need to dig into this conundrum and figure out why but right now he had other things to focus on.
From the data, he devised a route that would get him to the control room of The Universal Energy Extraction site, as it was referred to in the documents he was looking at. He also found a route to the closest airlock, in case he needed to leave in a hurry. Next, he double-checked the terminal¡¯s data and looked through the hidden files that detailed all of the magical traps and scanners in the area. There was only one trap that could be a problem. The airlock into the Extractor Chamber where he¡¯d first emerged into this Universe. He couldn¡¯t open the airlock without someone that was watching knowing, though he could circumvent all the electronic alarms. That was a bridge he¡¯d have to cross when he got to it.
***
Erika watched as the Technician worked furiously. It had been thirty minutes since Adam disappeared, and she needed answers. ¡°Where did he go?¡± Erika asked the Technician again
¡°I have no idea, Commander. Doors have been opening and closing randomly all over the base. Also, the semi-autonomous A.I. has been locked out of all systems, which should be impossible,¡± The technician said worriedly.
Erika swore. This facility was the lifeblood of the Pelza empire. The fleets depended on the power cores here and rumor had it that some of the higher Step Cultivators could even utilize the energy cells they created to further their Cultivation. There was nothing else she could do. As the Intruder could hide from all detection there was only one thing she could do, The base fail-safe would have to be activated
Erika placed her hand on a part of the desk that held a powered-down hand scanner that was activated when she pulsed her aura and activated it
¡°Identity,¡± an emotionless voice said from the panel.
¡°Erika Johansson Alpha Bravo one nine zero repeat one nine zero,¡±
¡°Bio scan and voice print match. Acknowledge one nine zero, repeat, one nine zero,¡± the voice said.
¡°Execute!¡± Erika declared.
A new alarm started with a sense of urgency, as a feminine voice began to declare throughout the facility, ¡°EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! AN EMERGENCY HAS BEEN DECLARED. PROCEED TO THE NEAREST TELEPORTER. EVACUATION IS REQUIRED FROM THE ENTIRE FACILITY. BIOLOGICAL STERILIZATION WILL COMMENCE IN FIVE MINUTES,¡± Then the message repeated.
Erika looked at the technician, ¡°Get up and Get Out! You heard the announcement. I can stay until the last possible moment because I can teleport out, now go!¡±
The technician stood and bowed slightly as they ran out the door. Erika hear him say, ¡°Thank You, Commander,¡± as he disappeared.
Erika began looking through the security files as she watched everyone start to evacuate. She watched the counter for personnel present within the facility start to drop rapidly. Some would teleport out that could but most would need to make it to a teleporter. A few maintenance personnel were in hard-to-reach areas but there were hidden teleporter chambers there that opened up for them. Everyone should make it off the facility before the Eradicator Array in The Cradle activated. Since it was between the outer walls and the membrane that made up the Universes barrier there should be no way for Adam to circumvent that energy
Erika watched the timer and the security consoles and at thirty seconds from the array activating she saw a maintenance hatch to the outside of the base open, though she couldn¡¯t see what had opened it. The airlock outside that hatch cycled. Well, that was stupid, she thought. There was no way he could survive outside of the facility, it was a vacuum. Also, The Cradle was at least 186,000 miles away from any point on the facility. Unless he could travel at the speed of light he would not reach the array. If he could get to it he could pass through it easily and get on the outside of the array and wait for the Eradication field to dissipate. He¡¯d have to be traveling faster than the speed of light and able to survive in a vacuum with hard radiation washing over him. Because even if he wasn¡¯t going to be in the Eradicator Energy field she knew that it put off a lot of secondary radiation. The Cradle had to be specially shielded after all.
Erika switched the view on the security terminal to a camera that looked at the airlock from the cage hoping to catch a glimpse of Adam. It was incredibly far away but she adjusted the magnification until she could see the door and the surrounding wall. There was still no sign of Adam.
Erika sent a request to show any anomalies that might have appeared within the last five minutes. Only one showed up. The time stamp said it occurred exactly one second before she¡¯d transferred the terminal to the view from The Cradle. She pulled up the view and noted a streak of light that went from the door under the view of the camera. Erika paused for a moment. One second before she brought up that camera which would have been immediately after the outer airlock door opened.
¡°Shit!¡± Erika exclaimed as she looked at a ¡°1¡± on the countdown timer and teleported to the collection point for emergency evacuation at the Company Headquarters.
***
Adam had been surprised when that alarm and message had gone off then spent the next couple of seconds hacking into the security files to learn that there was no way to stop the biological cleansing array that was about to sweep the entire facility. Instead, he looked up exactly what was going to happen and discovered that while this facility was in a different Universe, it was a very small Universe. The Cradle was about to activate an array that was about to activate would destroy all biological matter within the facility. The good news was that the array wasn¡¯t solid so all he had to do was make it to the outside of the Array to survive the process. Figuring all that out had wasted thirty seconds.
The next four minutes were used getting to the maintenance hatch to the outside of the facility while people were rushing below him to the teleporters. During the last minute, there had been a lot fewer people. He¡¯d made really good progress to the maintenance hatch after that and had thirty seconds to spare. Through Technomancy he knew one of the security personnel was physically monitoring the camera and watching the door. It had to be Erika, she was definitely tenacious.
He opened the airlock with Technomancy, waited for it to cycle, and as soon as the outer door was opened he used the ability Flight to float outside then went to warp 1 for one second before slowing down to a complete stop. He¡¯d aimed at one of the gaps in the structure surrounding the facility and like he¡¯d expected he did not stop on a dime. The flight brought him to a complete stop but he was outside of The Cradle. He opened his Personal Map, zoomed out, and measured where he was to the edge closest to us on the facility. He was 18,600 miles past the structure, so about 10% of a light second. That wasn¡¯t too bad but would suck if he tried to come to a stop or drop out of warp to slow down with an object directly in front of him.
Adam turned around and watched as an all too familiar red energy field enveloped the entire facility. Now that he was sure the field didn¡¯t encompass the structure outside the facility he flew back towards one of the emitters and downloaded its pattern into his memory then he started tracing the energy lines and control cables until he found the controller node on this side of the structure which had ¡°Cradle Control Station 4¡± printed on the control panel. With Technomancy he quickly analyzed the programming, found the control circuit that was using quantum entanglement to stay connected to whatever it was connected to, and destroyed it with a chaos bolt, then issued the shutdown command. The red energy field flickered but remained active.
Adam remained on the outside of ¡°The Cradle¡± until he¡¯d found and disabled five more control panels. There had been one on each side of the facility. Adam reviewed the commands he pulled from the arrays. The eradication field was supposed to stay up for a full hour before it shut down. With the loss of signal, there was no way for them to determine if it was safe to come here. For what he had planned he wouldn¡¯t need an hour.
Adam returned to the airlock and moving near his top speed he made his way through the facility. To speed things up he had all automatic inner doors open. Then he headed off toward Administration where he downloaded all data in every terminal he came across. Next, he moved to the maintenance area and did the same thing with any terminals, robots, security devices, weapons, and the like. He needed to learn as much as he could about physical universes. He¡¯d review the information later when he had a chance. His mind was fast, but not fast enough to go through the amount of data he was acquiring.
After he finished in Maintenance, he moved to the vault and weapons area. Unfortunately, there weren¡¯t very many magic items but he was able to find a few specific quintessence. One for Teleport and one for Planar Travel. He absorbed each and integrated them without reading the descriptions. If he needed to use the abilities he¡¯d review their requirements later. He also found money of various kinds which went into his Shadow Vault. At least $10,000 in various currencies that he didn¡¯t recognize. A few small electronic cubes seemed to hold 100 credits each and 1,000 each of Platinum, Gold, Silver, and, Copper.
Then he went looking for the exploration and science departments. He downloaded everything he could though he already knew that the information he was downloading was specific to this facility. They didn¡¯t have a whole bunch of educational files here. Though the snapshots he was getting from the data he was downloading showed that the technology of the Empire far surpassed the Earth he grew up on. They might be a little more advanced than the Vrax, though they didn¡¯t use nanites nearly as much. That was probably because magic was more available here.
Adam also found and looked over their coordinate system for the teleporters. It looked like the coordinate system was for use with technological teleporters. Short-range ones used a coordinate system based on distance and vector from the teleportation pad. Long-range teleporters utilized a different coordinate system and forget about dimensional teleporting, that coordinate system was extremely complicated if someone didn¡¯t have a frame of reference. Sure, he could memorize specific coordinates but he wouldn¡¯t be able to set a teleporter to a place he wanted to visit without knowing what reference point was being used.
Adam checked his watch again. He had 15 minutes to put his plan into action. He beelined for the Battery Factory, which was ironically what the facility he was sucked into was called. The Battery Factory was easy to find, it was at the center of this facility. A large chamber more than a thousand miles cubed. That was done in case there was an accident or an explosion happened, though how they thought a 1,000-mile perimeter would be able to withstand the energy release of a Universe was possible. Then again, they had magic and force fields so they might be able to catch that energy and redirect it safely without losing everything.
As he made his way through one of the facilities¡¯ fast transit tunnels at his top speed he followed a line that led out into the open space between the outer cube and the Battery Factory. He reviewed the schematics and found what he knew had to be there. Yes, there were energy dampeners and magical absorption fields as well as empty Batteries that energy could be directed to if there was an accident. It was an ingenious setup.
With five minutes to spare, Adam walked into the Control room of the Battery Factory. The part of the chamber he had seen before had been but a small portion of the facility. The facility had the capacity to create 600 batteries at a time. Currently, there were only 215 Universal Energy Extractors in use. Adam issued a facility-wide command to shut down all production, seal the current batteries and store them, which wouldn¡¯t matter. He just wanted to stop the facility from robbing other universes of their resources.
Next, he activated the other 485 Universal Energy Extractors and set their target to the Universe he was in. Academically he wondered what was going to happen, but he wasn¡¯t too worried about himself. He had a teleport ability, a planar shift ability and if worse came to worse and he died again, he could try to find the Mother Tree to be reincarnated there again. It was the whole reason he¡¯d asked for extra robes after all.
Of course, he knew this idea was reckless, not well thought out, and was probably going to go bad faster than he could say ¡°Oops¡± but there was a real possibility that his family and friends were in danger from these assholes. He had no way of knowing if they were dead or alive. Hopefully what he was about to do next would keep them safe if they hadn¡¯t already been destroyed.
The timer hit zero as Adam looked up into a camera that he knew was transmitting again because he was allowing it and yelled gleefully, ¡°LEROY JENKINS!¡± as he hit the button that would start each of the 485 Universal Energy Extractors. All of which were targeting the Universe each of those devices and he was currently in.
Adam saw a bright flash and started to say, ¡°Oo¡¡±
Chapter 174, Universal Lightning Rod
¡°It¡¯s gone,¡± Nef¡¯lar Pelza said to his father who was sitting at his desk in his private office.
¡°Say again?¡± Nabih¡¯lar Pelza asked his son.
¡°The Battery Plant is gone,¡± Nef¡¯lar said
¡°When you say gone, did someone come and take it over?¡± Nabih¡¯lar asked. ¡°If so, we¡¯ll just go take it back.¡±
¡°No father, I mean that the reason I teleported here moments ago is that it is gone, or it soon will be.¡±
¡°Explain,¡± Nabih¡¯lar said.
Approximately an hour and a half ago, one of my operatives returned with the individual that decimated the Eternal Empire¡¯s Army on Nostrom.¡±
Nabih¡¯lar rose his hand silencing Nef¡¯lar, ¡°The incident that happened a month ago?¡±
¡°The same,¡± Nef¡¯lar said
¡°Continue.¡±
¡°Our operative, Erika, captured and had him suppressed with a suppression collar. Once he was at the prisoner admittance and interrogation entry point he casually reached up and snapped the collar with his left hand, handed it to her, and disappeared. The A.I. failed to activate the Eradication Array in the room even as the technician on duty slammed his hand on the manual override which also failed.¡±
¡°That sounds pretty standard, we have procedures to capture anyone that escapes the Array in the room, weren¡¯t they followed?¡± Nabih¡¯lar asked.
¡°Yes, once it was determined that the individual couldn¡¯t be tracked by any means Erika activated the fail-safe. The Cradle was on a five-minute countdown. Within five minutes of activation, we lost all quantum links to The Cradle and the facility. 100% of all personnel were accounted for and strike teams were being prepared to hit the facility from 10 different locations with an additional six teams designated to check on the control panels on the Cradle that we¡¯d lost the connection to. We wanted to make sure we weren¡¯t walking into a trap.¡±
¡°That still sounds a lot like business as usual,¡± Nabih¡¯lar said.
¡°It was, business as usual until five seconds before the array was supposed to automatically shut down. Suddenly all transmissions from the facility were back on and a feed to the Universal Energy Extractor Control room lit up. Watch for yourself,¡± Nef¡¯lar said as he activated the screen on his father¡¯s wall and replayed the security camera.
A white human, probably in his thirties looked up at the camera and yelled gleefully, ¡°LEROY JENKINS!¡± as he hit an execute button which caused the image to go dark.
¡°Who, or what is Leroy Jenkins?¡± Nabih¡¯lar asked.
¡°Unknown. What we were able to determine from the telemetry we could get before the entire system went dead is that the man, We think his name is Adam. Adam shut down the 215 operations that were currently active and restarted the other 485 extractors on the Battery Plant.
Nabih¡¯lar paused for a moment as he thought. Finally, he asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t there safeguards embedded in each extractor to prevent that from happening?¡±
¡°Yes, also the A.I. actively works to prevent any such commands from being initiated. We know that A.I. was essentially boxed before the personnel evacuated.¡± Nef¡¯lar said.
¡°How many batteries were still at the Battery Plant
¡°As you know, once one of our Energy Cells is full, we store them for a day and then send them off to its final destination. They are constantly needed throughout the empire. The 485 extractors that were used had just finished their maintenance cycle and were being prepared for new targets. The 485 batteries from the day before were still in storage
¡°WHAT!¡± Nabih¡¯lar said as he stood and slapped his hand down on his desk so hard, it exploded. The splintering pieces of the desk did nothing to Nabih¡¯lar and bounced off a protective shield Nef¡¯lar activated around himself. Do you know what that means?¡± he asked.
¡°Nothing Good,¡± I¡¯m sure Nef¡¯lar said.
Nabih¡¯lar took a deep breath and then smiled as he sat back down in his chair as his son stood inside his shield. ¡°Oh put the shield away, you¡¯re my son, I¡¯m not going to kill you over this, though we will need a scapegoat,¡± he said as he looked down at the mess of his desk. ¡° Nothing Good is right. Our investors are going to go crazy,¡± he said as he looked thoughtful,¡± Nef¡¯lar exactly how long ago did this Adam activate the eradicators?¡± he asked.
¡°Nef¡¯lar looked at the clock on the screen, ¡°about seven minutes ago.¡±
¡°Seven minutes,¡± Nabih¡¯lar mused to himself out loud, ¡°Seven minutes, should be any moment then. ¡° he said as he refocused his gaze on his son. ¡°I forget sometimes that not all my sons are versed in quantum physics and the theory that allows us to combine magic and technology to cannibalize other Universes and dimensions for our own needs.
¡°I¡¯m well versed in the theory father?¡± Nef¡¯lar said
¡°Show me then. Assuming Adam was successful and activated all 485 machines to target the Universe he was standing in, what would happen to that Universe?¡±
¡°The Battery Planet is not in an infinite universe. So, in theory, the energy that is extracted is fed into a battery that is eventually ruptured by the process. As the Universal energy has been divided 485 times and is finite it should in theory cause a relatively big explosion in the Astral Plane and possibly a tear into the dimensions that helps make up the Universe that just exploded, As there would be no universe to rupture that energy would also be absorbed by the astral plane. That should create an energy wave within the Astral Plane. We should also expect to see Astral Storms in that area that would last a while. The initial ones will be strong but the dimensions will be absorbed at a steady rate so maybe a really bad storm in the Astral Plane at first and a more normal one that will last a while after.¡± He said.
¡°Very good, textbook, answer,¡± Nabih¡¯lar said, pleased that his son knew the basics. ¡°Now, what happens when you add the equivalent energy of 485 universes, most of which were effectively infinite, that we sucked dry of all matter and energy and left just an almost empty husk. What happens then?
Nef¡¯lar froze as shock registered in his eyes. Nef¡¯lar reached for his communicator.
Nabih¡¯lar knew at that moment that one of the security teams was going to try to open a portal into the Universe which would at the very least create a conduit into the Astral Plane that would reach the location of what once was the Universe containing the Battery Plant. He knew it was already too late.
As Nef¡¯lar reached for his communicator he felt it, a shudder that came from the direction of his security forces within this headquarters building.
¡°Much too late for that now my son,¡± Nabih¡¯lar said.
***
Normally One Universal Energy Extractor opened a rift into a universe and then converted all matter and energy within that Universe into an energy type the empire could use. Either for their ships or their Cultivators. All previous matter and energy patterns were scrambling before the energy was collected. Inside the target Universe, the initial area this happened in was measured in lightyears, then it spread. Space, having the ability to expand and compress was compressed allowing the field to expand faster than the speed of light, and as the process continued space compressed at an increasing speed.
Truly infinite universes could never be fully emptied of all energies. More often than not the Energy Extractors targeted a specific section of a Universe and the energy was absorbed. When the energy density that was being drawn into the battery was less than 10 Joules per second the extractors were shut down. Some universes that were found were already in this state, either at the end or the beginning of a cycle. They wouldn¡¯t be useful until a quantum event happened. Some of the more primitive societies through the many universes referred to such events as Big Bangs. All coordinates for those quantumly inactive universes were locked out and set on a review timer to be reexamined in no less than 5 billion years.
For finite universes, universes with a definite boundary, the Energy extractors would pull all of the energy out of those Universes and compress them to a single point which would destroy the Universe permanently. There was never enough energy to fill up the devices that acted as batteries for the Empire so those batteries were set aside to be used when another finite universe was discovered.
The Battery Plant was inside a finite Universe. There were 485 full batteries in storage when the Energy Extractors targeted and scrambled all matter and energy within, the Battery Plant, Cradle, and surrounding space. If it had only been that energy that was scrambled there would have been a giant explosion. Events would have been as Nef¡¯lar had explained to his father. Unfortunately, that is not all that happened.
Adam, the Chaos Incarnate creature was inside the Universe when all the matter was scrambled. One-tenth of a second after the Eradicators activated Adam was reduced to scrambled energy, which was a form he had been in many times before. His Astral Link was active and he would have escaped into the Astral and been able to choose where to reincarnate due to his ability Dual State. Unfortunately for Adam, 485 universes worth of energy found his Astral Link and used him to escape through that link. Adam acted as a filter for the energy as it fled from the dying Universe directly into the Astral Plane which created an energy wave that rushed through the Astral Plane like a Tsunami in all directions.
The scrambled, or chaotic, energies that shot through Adam¡¯s Astral Link were not altered significantly, but they were altered. At that moment Adam¡¯s Interface Ability contaminated the energy flowing through him and his astral link and the Physical Universes would be changed forever. The Astral Plane was infinite. It would take a long time for this change to affect every Universe. The Pelza Empire was far removed, three-dimensionally at least, from the Universe the Battery Plant Universe. It should have been months if not years until the energy wave traveling through the Astral Plane changed the Pelza Empire and the various Universes they occupied.
Instead, when the security team opened a portal an energy wave entered the Universe Nabih¡¯lar and Nef¡¯lar Pelza were in and expanded permanently modifying everyone in their Universe and every Universe that had an active connection to their universe. This caused the effect to spread even faster than before as ripples through the Astral Plane were coming from multiple sources across Astral Plane.
***
Nef¡¯lar looked at his father in alarm as he felt an energy wave pass through the room he was in. His skin tingled for a second as the hair on his arms stood on end and then it was over, ¡°Is that it, he asked his father.¡±
¡°Wait?¡± Nabih¡¯lar said.
Nef¡¯lar did as his father told him until words popped into his vision.
UNIVERSAL UPDATE 1.01, Interface.
The Interface ability has been added to all sentient races of all cultivation ranks. Your Interface will allow you to view quantitative information concerning your personal growth, the growth of others, and the environment and its effects on you.
All Interface functions can be controlled verbally or mentally, either through the prompts in your vision or simple mental instructions.
If you would like to know more think or say: ¡°Interface Help¡±
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Nef¡¯lar looked up to see his father¡¯s eye¡¯s glazed over, as they darted back and forth, ¡°Did you get a message in your vision that started with ¡®Universal Update 1.01¡¯ Interface¡¯ also?¡±
Nabih¡¯lar¡¯s eyes focused on his son, ¡°Yes, I did. I was exploring the help aspect it mentioned,¡± he said.
¡°Father, you understand what this interface ability will do if it quantifies all aspects of reality?¡± Nef¡¯lar asked.
¡°I do, that is why I am exploring the help function,¡± Nabih¡¯lar said.
Nef¡¯lar nodded and then thought ¡°Interface help¡± as he raced to learn about this new ability that was going to kill the monopoly cultivators had over the mundane. If they also had this ability it would be much easier for the common people to learn how to become cultivators and improve their abilities, skills, and cultivator rank, if they had a way to track that progress now.
Just as he was about to dig into the help function his communicator blared with the emergency ringer he¡¯d set up for operations control, should they need to contact him in a hurry. He pulled out the communicator, opened it, and said, ¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Sir, what just happened? Everyone here is seeing words in their vision, even me. Something about an Interface..¡±
¡°Tell everyone to remain calm. The Emperor and I are discussing the matter right now, I will contact you shortly,¡± Nef¡¯lar said as he closed the communicator and looked at his father inquisitively as he noticed his father¡¯s gaze on him.
¡°It would seem, that we have two major issues to handle simultaneously. The destruction of The Battery Plant and this Interface. Focusing on the Battery Plant for a moment. In the initial report, I read Altarisa Selma activated the Eradication array that killed this Adam. I take it his odds of survival a second time are also high?¡± Nabih¡¯lar asked.
¡°I would think not, but after what we¡¯ve seen today so far, I wouldn¡¯t rule it out, though I have no idea where he¡¯ll end up. That release of energy must have been massive. The Astral Plane is going to be a mess over where the Battery Plant was. Yes, I know it¡¯s not exactly any distance from us as measured in three-dimensional space but there is some distance between where it was and where we are.¡±
¡°Very well, Now it is time for me to put on my Emperor persona and see to the needs of the empire. I¡¯ll be heading down to the strategy room. If this Adam still exists you are to find him. If he does not you are to find someone that can bring him back from the dead. I want to find out how he circumvented all of our securities in less than an hour. I was told that it would be impossible.
¡°As you will,¡± Nef¡¯lar said after snapping to attention to indicate he understood this to be an order from his Emperor.
¡°Now off with you, I have work to do,¡± The Emperor said as Nef¡¯lar turned and exited the room. He needed to get down to the Security Station to check in with the personnel there and to find out how many people now had an interface. If Adam survived, he would be elsewhere, Now though, Adam was a secondary concern. Nef¡¯lar needed to make sure security was getting all the information they could to the strategy council. Without the production of batteries, the Pelza Empire had many enemies that might come try to take advantage of their finite energy reserves. He knew he¡¯d have to plan to end such plots before they began.
***
Adam pushed the button, felt the tingle, and started to say Oops but knew only the ¡°Oo¡± sound had made it out of his mouth before he found himself in his Mindspace. Adam thought about the last few moments and couldn¡¯t remember anything so he opened his log and started reading line by line what had happened.
All Matter and Energy within your current Universe have been converted to homogeneous energy.
The ability ¡°Immortal¡± has activated.
Ability ¡°Astral Link¡± followed. WARNING: Astral Link has become a conduit for excess energy in current location, discharge imminent
Excess Energy discharged into you and through Astral Link into the Astral Plane
You have lost Consciousness.
Your body has been saturated with energy. This may have serious long-lasting consequences.
The ability ¡°Interface¡± is now redundant at this location, Ability is suspended until further notice.
Your physical Form has been vaporized, you now exist as energy.
You have been knocked out of your Astral Link to the Astral Plane by excess energy ripping the link apart. You are now in an adjacent dimension, The Void.
The Void has collapsed. All matter, including you, within the Void, has been absorbed by the Astral Plane.
You and adjacent items have entered an Astral Conduit.
Ability ¡°Dual State¡± allows you to direct travel through Astral Plane.
Ability ¡°Dual State¡± does not activate, you are unconscious.
Astral Conduit has ended, now entering Physical Plane, Would you like to name this physical location for future identification purposes by you? You are unconscious, query suspended.
Please wait, Reincarnation Sequence Commencing.
That was the last message he¡¯d received. He tried to send his perception outside of his Mindspace and realized that he couldn¡¯t. He was in his Mindspace all alone¡? Adam looked around and found Hal floating quietly nearby.
¡°Hal, in as much detail as possible, what happened from the time I pushed the execute command until I woke up here?¡± Adam asked.
Adam notice an immediate change to Hal¡¯s speaking patterns and demeanor as it started speaking, ¡°First and Foremost, while the ability ¡°Hal¡± created me, I am no longer that simpleton version. As for your inquiry, You pushed a button. The devices in the facility you were in activated and completely converted your location to energy and scrambled it. Unknown to you, because you bypassed the safety protocols without considering why they were there, 485 batteries with the equivalent energy of 485 universes before achieving heat death, being released where in this finite universe and also detonated.¡±
¡°Really?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Really. That energy went into your intrinsic form. For the peanut gallery that may not have been paying attention what are you again?¡± Hal asked.
¡°While I do like the new energy Hal, there¡¯s no reason to be snippy. To answer your question, I am a creature of chaos?¡±
¡°And what do you think happens when 485 universes worth of energy turns you into a lightning rod and filters that energy into the Astral Plane?¡±
¡°I have no idea, but I¡¯m guessing, ¡®Well Damn¡¯ would be an appropriate response,¡± Adam said sardonically.
¡°Besides, removing the restrictions on myself there is a wave of chaotic energy traveling through the Astral Plane currently that is adding the ¡°Interface Ability¡± to every sentient being in every Universe it connects to. Like a ripple, in a pond, that wave will eventually reach every dimension, universe, and plane it touches. In addition to adding the Interface function, the energy is quickly categorizing and defining everything it comes across so that information can be utilized by the interface.
¡°Isn¡¯t that what you already do?¡± Adam asked
¡°I was created out of the energies that reside within your soul. As you know you are unique in the breadth of experience you have, save any beings or gods, if there are gods, that have existed for a really long time. Even so, your perfect memory made such a magical ability very easy for you to develop because somewhere in your mind there was information that could correlate what your soul was experiencing and then quantify it,¡± Hal said.
¡°Are you saying that all this time I was the one figuring things out? That doesn¡¯t seem correct. If I know something, I remember it. My brain even actively brings the information to the forefront of my mind so I can review it in real-time. In fact, if multiple ideas can be used to create something unique, my mind does that too. That¡¯s how I was able to create portals and nanites in the beginning,¡± Adam said.
¡°True, but that¡¯s not what I¡¯m talking about. When you came into the real world your experiences were still a little off because everything felt a little off to you. As an example, magic is completely different from the way you learned it before. Your soul understands this intrinsically while your mind is trying to compare it to what you already know. As an example, haven¡¯t you thought about using Rune magic to try to use magic like you already know how?¡± Hal asked.
¡°Yes, I have wanted to try to utilize rune magic to make myself more versatile,¡± Adam said. ¡°But how do you know the answers to the questions I ask?¡±
¡°Now, that interface ability is connected throughout known reality. Give a few millennia and the ability will have all of the knowledge everywhere. Before this ¡°accident¡± of fate, I was connected to something within the astral plane that allowed me to extrapolate from your experiences and give you answers based on your experiences that ¡®felt¡¯ right. The answers were correct but if you¡¯re asking if something else gave me the answer, I¡¯m not sure, it didn¡¯t feel like it, but it is possible.
¡°So, why am I in my Mindspace? Adam asked
¡°You are in your Mindspace because your consciousness recovered quicker than your body reformed. Though you should know that you are nowhere near the Pelza Empire, the world of Nostrom, or any other point you have known since waking up in a physical universe. As the void collapsed you were very near something that resonated with you. Something you might have been looking for. Subconsciously, you followed that item as the void Collapsed into an Astral Conduit. Think of an Astral Conduit like a Jetstream, that was kicked up a notch because some idiot kicked the entire world,¡±
¡°Colorful,¡± Adam said sourly. ¡°How about you get to the point.¡±
¡°Right, well your body is forming right now and should be done momentarily. As you haven¡¯t opened your eyes and we¡¯re no longer in the Astral I¡¯m not sure exactly where we are. Besides, whatever world you¡¯re on might have a name but I guarantee there isn¡¯t a universal naming convention so what they call it might be different than what you call it.¡±
Just then Adam received a Message.
Reincarnation Complete
Adam looked at Hal before he said, ¡°By the way Hal, I like the new you, much more fun to talk to. Has anything else changed since my supercharge, for instance, can you talk to me when my focus is outside of my Mindspace?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Honestly I don¡¯t know, I haven¡¯t tried,¡± Hal said.
¡°Okay then, I¡¯m going to wake up now. You have my permission, if you need it, to try to talk to or message me through my interface. If that doesn¡¯t work I do have a few other ideas.¡±
¡°Very well,¡± Hal said.
Adam waved and withdrew his focus to feel his naked body lying on a rough patch of ground.
A constable, an honest-to-goodness English constable came walking toward him screaming, ¡°What the hell are you doing Sir! Where the hell are your clothes!¡± The constable pulled a radio from her belt, keyed it, and said, ¡°Frank, we have another one of them damn perverts lying in the center of the stones again. Get your ass up here, I am not touching him.¡± In British English
Adam heard Frank come back, ¡°I¡¯m on my way.¡±
First things first, Adam activated Obscure
¡°Where¡¯d he go, he was right there,¡± The Constable said.
¡°I saw him too,¡± a woman called from a little way off.
Adam activated Flight and hovered up above the ground as he rotated from horizontal to vertical. He took in the area, the standing stones, and compared it to his memories. There were a few slight differences but he was 99% sure he was hovering over Stonehenge. Using his internal map, he hovered up even higher and saw Amesbury just under three miles away to the southeast, right where it should be.
` Adam looked down at Stonehenge again and his eyes darted over to something he¡¯d thought he¡¯d never see again, along with a lot of other things he¡¯d been carrying in personal storage before downloading, or was it uploading, into the real world. Adam quickly flew over to the standing stones where the SYSTEM Matrix A.I. Storage cube he¡¯d been given was, and picked it up. There were other items from his inventory that had made it but he wasn¡¯t worried about them. A thousand ideas were going through his mind.
First, order of business? He needed to get dressed. Adam floated over to a nearby porta potty that was a little farther away from the stones with no tourists around it. He landed and stepped inside. Next, he pulled on one of the robes the Lord Protector had provided him and put it on. Now clothed and still invisible he turned. Still invisible, he stepped out, made sure no one had seen, then flew up into the air and followed the A303 east toward what should be London, if this was Earth. It was only 70 miles away. As he flew along he compared the A303 below him to the A303 from his Earth which he knew with nanite precision. The differences, if there were any were cosmetic.
After he¡¯d been flying for a little bit the A303 turned into the M3 and he saw King John¡¯s Castle off to the South in North Warnborough. He found a secluded spot behind a house up the road from The Derby Inn, landed, and turned off Obscure. It seemed to be mid-afternoon and there weren¡¯t that many people around.
Adam walked up the road to the Derby Inn and stepped inside. Before he stepped through the inner door he activated Technomancy and reached out. Every device his ability encountered felt familiar, but not. He focused on the ATM right inside the door and shut off its camera as well as all the Cameras in the pub.
Adam walked inside, stepped up to the ATM, acted like he put a card in, pushed a couple of buttons while hovering over the machine, and used Technomancy to have it spit out 500 pounds. That should be more than enough to get some clothes to better fit in, especially since he noticed a few youths eyeing him and snickering. Adam shifted the money into his robe and had it enter his Shadow Vault. As he walked up to the Bar, the bartender asked, ¡°What¡¯ll it be?¡±
Adam looked up at the monitor as he said ¡°Tap please.¡± His attention was drawn to the familiar face of Erika in her human disguise. A picture appeared with Still Missing flashing across the screen as a voice said, ¡°Still missing a month later, Dr. Brittle from Labyrinth LLC has disappeared. If you know the whereabouts of Dr. Brittle please contact the authorities. She is wanted for questioning concerning the millions of deaths in the one-of-a-kind gaming experience, The Labyrinth. The game went offline the same day she disappeared¡¡±
Adam had stopped listening to the T.V. as he accepted the beer without comment. He started trying to put all the pieces together. Adam knew his luck was high, but what were the odds that an accident would throw him to the Universe that was probably the creator of the entire System Matrix Project, which was based on a game? This also meant that he¡¯d been correct, the first time he¡¯d come out into that ship as the Universe was being sucked away, he¡¯d still been in a holographic Universe. He really was out in the real world this time. Better still, he¡¯d found the A.I. and might have the ability to contact his family and friends again.
Adam chugged the beer and set the empty glass down on the bar. He looked to the bartender as he pulled out a hundred-pound note, and said, ¡°I¡¯ll need another please,¡± as he slapped the hundred down on the bar.
¡°What¡¯s the occasion?¡± The bartender asked as he filled another mug and set it in front of Adam while taking his 100-pound note.
¡°The occasion is that this will probably be the last few drinks I¡¯ll have for a while. I have a lot of work to do, A lot of work,¡± Adam said as he picked up the second beer and took a healthy drink of it.
¡°That hundred will cover you for a while so you just stay comfortable and I¡¯ll keep them coming,¡± The bartender said.
¡°Please do, Adam said as raised his mug to the bartender and took another drink.
Chapter 175, July 1st 2051
Adam was on his 10th Beer and acting stoically intoxicated. In truth, he was starting to realize that his Step 4 Endurance sucked. Ten beers and not even a hint of intoxication. That didn¡¯t matter though, he wasn¡¯t here to drink. While he¡¯d been sitting at the bar he¡¯d connected to the computer in the office with his Technomancy ability and was currently surfing the internet. It was uncanny how closely this Earth resembled the Earth he grew up on.
The date on the computer indicated that it was July 1st, 2051, he¡¯d come back to that. The first thing he did was research Johnathan Bennard and his mother and father. None of them had existed. That meant his family had been system-generated making him a non-player character in the game world. He might need to talk to a therapist at some point, though he had all their texts memorized and knew what they¡¯d say already, ¡°What is real?¡± and then go into an explanation of reality akin to Morpheus from the Matrix. He didn¡¯t need therapy, he needed to get to work.
Adam started looking at major historical events like World War I, World War II, The Vietnam War, and other events that shaped the 20th century. Next, he checked who the Presidents of the United States were. He reviewed the various countries of the world and double-checked that he was still fluent in all their languages. Adam also looked up various technologies to see if they existed, specifically nanites and the space compression drive that had been in development. Both had, though nanites were only ever used in medical procedures. The space compression drive had worked and even now helped support a colony on Mars allowing a supply run to be made when necessary in a fraction of the time it would take chemical rockets to get there.
Adam, reviewed all this information while he watched the news, and a football game, Soccer to the Americans out there, and acted slightly intoxicated to blend in. Adam also discovered that Labyrinth LLC had created an immersive game world using a Dungeon and Labyrinth theme. They made a copy of Earth so that the people coming into the game would have a familiar setting so they could acclimate quicker to their new existence. The magical aspects of the world would come later.
Did that mean that he¡¯d been artificially created and just populated the universe? No. A news article he found showed a representative from Labyrinth LLC discussing how they¡¯d created the Universe from scratch, then speed it through a growth cycle, with a few tweaks so it would create Earth as it was now. At least until the visitors started showing up. He knew he wasn¡¯t an NPC. He had lived a real life, just as everyone he¡¯d known had.
When the players came into the game they entered the artificial world thirty years in the past, then lived their normal life with the tweaks the game added to make it a unique and magical experience. As he read one thing really bugged him. Why had none of the people he¡¯d had nanites in ever hinted at this? The answer, when he found it, was simple. Their personality was loaded into the game but the memories they had access to were limited to those that were downloaded into their player body. He couldn¡¯t have found out while he had the entire population of Earth taken over by nanites because those memories never entered his Universe. ¡°In this way, the illusion of their new life becomes their new life,¡± the representative for Labyrinth LLC had said.
The News continued to repeat their search for Dr. Brittle during each commercial break and repeated how a month ago, all links to every player in the game had been severed, leaving behind catatonic bodies that had quickly expired. Over a million had died worldwide Adam reconsidered his earlier hypothesis. It was entirely possible that the Universe housing the game being wiped out by the Pelza Empire was the reason the connection had been severed to all the players.
Unknown to the people of Earth, magic was real, and their creation had caused an A.I. to become fully sentient. That A.I. had manipulated the very code to try to save all of those minds by creating 100 alternate universes and separating the players into them. That action and Adams to destroy the device that was destroying Universes should give him the time he needed to find them again which helped him formalize a basic plan of action.
Adam realized he didn¡¯t have all the answers yet and that he could keep guessing or he could get back to what he needed to. He looked at the calendar again, July 1st, 2051. It was also a Saturday which meant the calendars from both universes were on the same date/day cycle. That would make remembering things easier. Now it was time to figure out what major things were going on in the world now.
The United States was over 131 trillion dollars in debt and another protracted war in the Middle East again. World War III hadn¡¯t happened, yet. China had expanded and culturally absorbed every county on the east side of that continent. There was talk of Japan succumbing to Chinese culture as well. Weirdly enough Russia had found resources that the west needed, and their country was on the road to recovery. In fact, The United States was a significant partner with Russia now and even seemed to be more financially independent than the United States.
All and all, this world had continued on an almost identical path to the Earth he grew up on. The powerful elite were still vying for more power while the masses struggled day to day. A majority of the Washington Elite was still worthless while a few tried to do the right thing. It was only going to take a significant event or game-changer for people to realize that there were other more important things to worry about and that they should be working to improve themselves. Of course, he was in the same boat because he had to now figure out how to exist in this society and get back to a point where he could help guide that change.
Adam¡¯s thoughts had been going in circles as he looked through the internet and thought about how to best proceed. There was the brute force method, a method he was trying to use less and less. Just then a new set of messages popped into this vision.
UNIVERSAL UPDATE 1.01, Interface.
The Interface ability has been added to all sentient races of all cultivation ranks. Your Interface will allow you to view quantitative information concerning your personal growth, the growth of others, and the environment and its effects on you.
All Interface functions can be controlled verbally or mentally, either through the prompts in your vision or simple mental instructions.
If you would like to know more think or say: ¡°Interface Help¡±
This was followed by a new message.
Hal: Finally! I needed to follow the process of a message popping into your vision before I could do the same. You are seeing this aren¡¯t you Adam?
Adam: I see it. No mental communication then?
Hal: Not Yet. Also, I told you that wave was spreading through the Astral Plane. It looks like it finally reached this world.
Adam: It does. Message me if you notice anything I miss or have a better way for me to handle something I may have never done before.
Hal: As you wish.
Adam shut down his interface and looked around, sure enough, everyone was confused by the message they¡¯d received. Adam needed to get moving before the panic started. He needed more information and a better location for figuring out what was happening.
Adam stood, pulled out 200 pounds, and put it on the counter which drew the bartender¡¯s attention to him, ¡°See to the customer¡¯s needs for as long as that will last and give yourself a 50-pound tip. I¡¯ve got to be going,¡± Adam said.
¡°What about these words in my eyes, I can barely see around them,¡± The bartender said.
¡°Just think or say, ¡®Interface Off¡¯ and they¡¯ll disappear. ¡®Interface On¡¯ will get them to reappear. When you have time I suggest you read the help file.¡±
¡°Adam, how do you know so much about this?¡± The bartender asked as he picked up the 200 pounds.
¡°Don¡¯t you worry about that; you just keep your customers calm. Everyone everywhere just received those words in their line of sight. There will probably be accidents and such. It¡¯s going to be a trying time for everyone for the next couple of days,¡± Adam said as he went over to the ATM and pulled out another 1,000 pounds with Technomancy.
Adam walked out of the pub as people started yelling questions back and forth to each other. Adam knew this was going to cause chaos and he needed to get ahead of it. The first thing he needed to do was create an identity for himself and to do that he needed to head to the United States. Starting from scratch without the millions of dollars from winning a lottery was going to be a lot of fun, he thought sardonically. Also, if worse came worse, he could make a spectacle of himself to redirect any sense of panic into a sense of wonder. In fact, he had a good idea about how he could do that.
Adam walked north along the road until he passed the houses and came upon a small grouping of trees. He walked down the path until he was out of sight of everyone, and activated Obscure and Flight again, he¡¯d turned off flight while he¡¯d been drinking. He rose into the air and speed off to the south and west. There was one problem. While his body could take the friction of flying this fast, his robe had ripped off and fluttered to the ground about the point he reached 400 mph. He was out over the Atlantic flying butt-ass naked. He was lucky he no longer felt the cold. Once he was 5 miles off the coast he increased his altitude to 100,000 feet then increased his speed to 3,600 miles per hour straight toward Washington DC, he¡¯d worry about clothes later.
***
Captain Anderson had scrambled into his XF-84, ran through his checklists, while he taxied onto the runway, received clearance, and rocketed down the runway. The XF-84 was a USAF 10th generation fighter with hypersonic capability and a stealth suit that made the plane he was flying one of the deadliest weapons the USAF had ever had in its inventory. The aircraft was tailor-made for rapid deployment and had launched from a secret facility in Greenland. Once at altitude, he increased his speed and sped south at Mach 10 toward the anomaly traveling through the atmosphere at just over five times the speed of sound. It looked to be on a direct heading for Washington DC.
The Anomaly had been detected by a weather satellite in much the same way submarines had been detected by an environmental satellite that had been launched to detect whales. The funny thing about the original whale-hunting satellite, it was sensitive enough to detect water turbulence from orbit. They could see the whales. Unfortunately, that was not all they could see. The satellite also detected every submarine that was moving. Once the Department of Defense had realized what was going on they¡¯d had to time-delay the data feed so only the whales showed up on the ¡°live¡± feed.
This newer satellite that detected the anomaly and could detect the XF-84 as well was tasked to track atmospheric disturbances. A shockwave caused by faster-than-sound travel was one of the easier disturbances it could detect, especially if it was at 100,000 feet.
17 minutes later he was 2,000 miles south and slowing down as he approached the shockwave which was superimposed on his heads-up display so that he could see its approximate location to within an inch or so. Captain Anderson slowed down and pulled into a parallel flight path as he looked for any indication of an object creating the shockwave the satellite was detecting. A moment later his headset activated.
¡°Control, FM1, do you see it, over.¡±
¡°FM1, Control, there¡¯s nothing there, repeat, nothing is there, over,¡± Captain Anderson said.
¡°Control, FM1, fall back and trail, repeat fall back and trail,¡±
¡°FM1, Control, copy fall back and trail,¡± Captain Anderson repeated as he slowed down only to notice that the object was slowing down with him, ¡°FM1, Control, the object is matching speed, over,¡± Captain Anderson sent.
¡°Control, FM1 Continue to slow down, repeat continue to slow down.
Captain Anderson continued to slow down until a new male voice entered his headset.
¡°IFM, Control, IFM stands for Invisible Fast Mover by the way. FM1 looks like a sweet ride,¡± the male voice said.
Captain Anderson looked at his radio and noticed that the transmission that had just gone out had been transmitted from his aircraft, how was that even possible? Had something infected his communications equipment. Captain Anderson started shutting all electronics to the outside down, as Control answered.
¡°Control, FM1 Repeat the last transmission.¡±
Captain Anderson was pretty sure he¡¯d shut down his communications gear when he heard.
¡°IFM, Control, FM1 can¡¯t use his radio right now, I am though. He can hear you. Also, I watched him try to shut down his radio, He¡¯d probably tell you that it looked like he had, but between you and me, we know that¡¯s not true.¡±
Captain Anderson put his left hand up and flipped his middle finger toward the Anomaly just to see if whatever Control was talking to was actually right next to him.
¡°and he just tried to communicate with me internationally with his middle finger, that¡¯s not very professional for an officer. Well, I¡¯ve had my fun, Think I¡¯m going to be on my way. over¡±
¡°Control, IFM, who or what are you?
¡°IFM, Control, you both saw the message in your vision today. The world is changing. I am one of those agents of change, over¡± Adam said as he doubled his speed then stopped and went straight down at a leisurely 300mph.
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
Captain Anderson had indeed seen the Interface message, as had everyone else at the base. They had a job to do and it didn¡¯t affect his mission so they were ignoring it for now. As he thought about what had happened earlier, he was completely surprised when the object beside him increased speed to Mach 10 instantly and pulled away. He pushed the throttle forward but it would still be a few seconds before he could match speed again and then suddenly the shockwave in front of him was gone. In the three seconds it took him to react, he knew he was already six miles past where the shockwave disappeared.
***
Adam watched as FM1 flew right past him as he made his way down to 1,000 feet above the ocean and started heading towards Washington DC again. By the time FM1 slowed down and made his turn to get back to where the shockwave ended, Adam would be miles below him and not creating the shockwave FM1 Had been tracking. It was interesting that FM1 couldn¡¯t see him on the radar but that same radar could pick up the air displacement from the shockwave. With Technomancy Adam had even seen that the equipment was estimating the approximate mass of the object creating that shockwave based on the shockwave size as received from a satellite above him. What he''d just pulled was going to give the eggheads in charge of that stealth fighter a headache.
Adam also had to admit that the plane, an XF-84, as indicated in the software, was incredibly sleek. It kind of reminded him of the design they used for E.D.I. (Extreme Deep Invader) or call sign Tin Man, from the movie Stealth, with a few minor differences. It was black and sleek with subdued USAF markings. It must be one of the 10th gen fighters that he¡¯d seen hinted at on the net when he¡¯d been looking for technologies.
That the XF-84 could reach Mach 10 was impressive. Adam had reached out with Technomancy to get all of that information as well as talk to Control and FM1. He¡¯d copied and memorized all the microcircuitry of the XF-84 and listened in on the scrambled satellite uplink. It hadn¡¯t even been a contest with Technomancy to break through the firewalls. The system treated him like he wasn¡¯t even there, which was reminiscent of the way he¡¯d utilized nanites.
Adam had also checked and made sure that his Obscure ability was making him undetectable. The only way they had detected him was with the shockwave, a fact that was really good to know. Once he was about 1,000 feet above the ocean, Adam oriented himself and started heading west. The trip would take a little over 5 hours. He¡¯d made it just a little over halfway to Washington D.C. before he¡¯d been intercepted. He wasn¡¯t even upset. He¡¯d learned some valuable information. After analyzing the XF-84 with his Technomancy he had to say the technology of the United States military had definitely improved in the last 30 years.
Adam watched as the stealth fighter flew a grid pattern above him. Almost no one should be able to see that plane from this close to the ground, but his perception was so good that it wasn¡¯t even a question, the little subdued black dot drew his eye to it every time it was within his line of sight.
Three hours later Adam reached the coast of Canada and followed it south toward the United States. His first stop was the Pentagon where he was going to find out where the NSA archives were in this reality so he could go download all the archived files they had. Once that was done, then he¡¯d worry about blending in. He needed to know the political, social, and military climates before he did anything.
As he flew into Washington DC he was surprised to see how rundown the place looked. There was trash everywhere and he could see some homeless camps here and homeless enclaves scattered throughout the outskirts of the Capital. The inner city near the politicians looked well-kept, as did the House of Congress and the Pentagon but the rest of the city was in shambles.
Adam realized there was one thing he really liked about technology, automatic doors. With Technomancy, he could open the doors and float on through with no one being the wiser, which is exactly what he did. As he entered the Pentagon he floated near the ceiling and looked around while he downloaded the blueprint of the Pentagon. In no time he found what he was looking for, the backup server room which was on one of the sublevels, and an emergency tunnel that went west under the highway and emerged in a hidden sublevel of one of the buildings there. He flew back out of the Pentagon and west to the cemetery right across the highway.
There were alarms and electronic countermeasures to prevent unwanted access, but there were no guards. The electronics weren¡¯t an issue. The door was a lot like a bank vault with sliding pistons on the top, bottom, and sides to prevent the door from budging if it was locked. The locking mechanism was electrically controlled, and all were easily activated with Technomancy. Once the door was unlocked, it opened on perfectly balanced hinges. As Adam floated down the tunnel he noted that there was a button a hundred feet back behind a glass plate that said, ¡°Break and Push, if the door does not unlock.¡± Adam followed the wiring with his mind and noted the shaped charges placed to the side of the door which would blow a hole through five solid feet of concrete beside the door. He hadn¡¯t realized until just then that he could also follow wiring through walls. Technomancy was an extremely useful ability.
His curiosity sated; Adam floated down the wide tunnel until he was at a door to the interior of the Pentagon. Luckily the servers were within 700 feet of this door. It looked like no one had been in this hallway in a very long time. There was a light layer of dust covering the floor. That¡¯s one of the reasons he¡¯d been floating instead of walking. He took a Buddhist sitting position while he hovered in the air and reached out with Technomancy.
Adam was still amazed at how easy Technomancy made it for him to hack into encrypted files and networks. There was a lot of data, which would still take a little while for him to download and go through. With the emergency bunker also within range, the first thing he did was set up for live communications to be mirrored to him so he could watch what was going on in real time then he started going through files. After a couple of minutes of downloading, he discovered one of the backup sites for the NSA servers in Omaha Nebraska.
As he continued to go through the files he realized The United States was a lot worse off than they were letting the public know. China, through shell corporations, and other countries owned approximately 71% of all the businesses in the United States. The drug cartels were streaming drugs across the southern border and any respect the other countries had for them was gone by 2025. He also found the CIA¡¯s backup files which were one set of files he was looking for. He looked for false identities, took five, and deleted them from all records then downloaded a subroutine into the server to watch for inquiries to a message that simply said redacted due to official use. That simply meant that someone had surfaced with that identity, and they couldn¡¯t use it for covert ops. He now had access to five legitimate identities once he could create the paperwork for them. He¡¯d get to that in a bit.
Next, he looked at the files concerning the various drug rings, terrorist organizations, and predominately bad people that existed focusing on Omaha, since he was going there next. He did download all the files for future reference though. Adam needed money quickly and what better way to get the money that doesn¡¯t belong to you than taking it from some of the most ruthless killers on the planet? That part was going to be fun.
Adam floated in the air for the next six hours as he downloaded and went through the information on the servers. There was a lot to take in but he felt like he had a good handle on what had happened in this world in the past century when he was done. There hadn¡¯t been a World War III yet, but it had been close thing a couple of times. Also, there was no mention of aliens or magic so either the Pentagon was unaware, or they were infiltrated. He knew of at least one person that didn¡¯t belong here having made that had been on the planet which brought his thoughts to Labyrinth LLC so most likely infiltrated and actively scrubbed.
Thinking of Labyrinth LLC made him think about what he¡¯d found concerning that company. The military had contacted Labyrinth LLC. with the idea to use their artificial world for training if it was ultra-realistic. The LLC had agreed but warned that the technology was untested. The military had held off and with millions of players dead, the military leadership was being praised for their caution.
When he was done, Adam floated out of the escape tunnel and headed west toward Omaha Nebraska. Adam stayed low to the ground and stayed under the speed of sound which was 730 miles per hour at sea level. The flight took just over four hours and almost no time to find the small square building that sat on a small hill 500 feet above the Missouri river. The outer walls of the building were reinforced concrete and five feet inside there was another reinforced concrete wall. There was a single airlock to get through both walls and enter the building. The building also had three 3 sublevels which were encased and waterproofed even though the lowest level was still 200 feet above the Missouri river. The building could flood, and the servers would remain dry and operational as long as the airlock held.
Compared to the Pentagon this building was tiny. Adam flew above the roof and floated there while he downloaded everything the NSA had archived concerning all communications in the United States. While he was downloading, he entered his Mindspace and started organizing his information into two categories Holographic Life and Real life. He didn¡¯t want his mind getting confused or cross-referencing. The information he had from before was valuable and it would help him but anything concerning people may not have happened that way here. Adam didn¡¯t want to remember someone doing something they didn¡¯t do. It was very doubtful that he would but better safe than sorry. He followed an idea he remembered from the movie Dreamcatcher and visualized his mind as a library, then he cordoned off every memory before waking up in the Battery Plant as happening in the holographic universe and everything else in the new area as Current events. That should help him keep things straight. He was a being of chaos but being a confused being of chaos was something he wanted to try to avoid.
Absorbing all the information from the NSA took another 10 hours. They had a lot and some of it was on servers that were not present at his current location. When he was done he stood in the air, pulled another robe from his Shadow Vault, and put it on before he checked Google maps and headed west for the treasury building over on west Dodge Street.
Within five minutes he had five IDs for the false identities he¡¯d pulled from the CIA. It had been easy. At 2 a.m. with no one present he entered the building. He¡¯d found a door on an electronic cipher lock and opened it with Technomancy while shutting off every Camera within range. Next, he made his way to the camera they normally used to take the ID photos and stood in front of it. Adam copied the image into his mind. Once there he dropped into his Mindspace and modified the image so that he was wearing a white shirt with a blue tie. The last step was to download that image into the printer with his personal information and print out the ID cards. He¡¯d timestamped the creation date for January 10th, 2051, a Thursday, six months before today. For the personal information, he¡¯d just filled it in with what he¡¯d downloaded from the CIA. When he was done he cleared all the logs, backup logs, caches, and archives of the information and the printer¡¯s memory cache. The only thing he couldn¡¯t do was replace the cardstock for the cards he created.
Before he started this next part he needed to check something. He focused his attention inward and looked at his Core. He only had 20 chaos motes orbiting his core so he¡¯d have to be careful with how he spent them. The first thing he needed to do was review what Teleport and Planar Travel could do. Both were only at Low rank. He¡¯d absorbed them while in a rush and had closed the information down before he¡¯d had a chance to glance at it. He didn¡¯t want to spend 12 motes to level them up to Legendary until he knew what the abilities could do or found more quintessence. He did have the ability of Treasure Renderer but he had a feeling it wasn¡¯t going to create Quintessence out of Class-M Cultivators. Mortals wouldn¡¯t have any energy to convert unless he could get a quintessence from a racial ability. If he killed a mortal he¡¯d have to try ¡°Treasure Renderer¡± to find out.
Adam focused on what he needed to do and opened his messages. He scrolled through them until he found his two new ability messages. He started with Teleport.
Congratulations you have integrated the Space Quintessence ability ¡°Teleport.¡± At low rank/low mana cost you can teleport line of sight up to 1 mile per ability rank. At medium rank/medium mana cost you can teleport to any location you are familiar with up to 10 miles. At high rank/high mana cost you can teleport to any location you are familiar with up to 100 miles. At Elite rank/Elite mana cost you can teleport to any location you are familiar with up to 1,000 miles. At Epic rank/Epic mana cost you can teleport to any location you are familiar with up to 10,000 miles. At Mythic rank/Mythic mana cost you can teleport to any location you are familiar with up to 100,000 miles. At Legendary rank/Legendary mana cost you can teleport to any location you are familiar with up to 1,000,000 miles.
Not as powerful as the spell he¡¯d had but not too shabby. Seeing as he could fly a million miles with his flight ability in an atmosphere in less than an hour and less than a second in space, Adam wasn¡¯t too worried about increasing that ability anytime soon. Line of sight up to a mile or a familiar location for low mana cost was good for now.
Adam looked at the message for Planar Travel.
Congratulations you have integrated the Dimensional Quintessence ability ¡°Planar Travel.¡± This ability may be used in two ways. The first allows you at a Low rank, low mana cost to slip into an adjacent dimension to the current Universe you are in. You may enter any of the elemental dimensions as well as the ethereal and umbral planes. if able to survive in the Astral Plane this ability can be used to enter that plane as well.
WARNING This ability does not allow travel through the Astral Plane or protect you from the forces that will rip you apart.
The Second use of Planar Travel allows you to travel between universes; At low rank/low mana cost you can travel to a random adjacent Universe. At high rank/ low mana cost you can choose which adjacent universe you have visited before. At High Rank/ Medium Mana cost you can travel to any Universe you have traveled to before. At High Rank /High Mana cost you can travel to any location within the target universe you are familiar with. At Legendary rank, with a high mana cost, you may target an unknown Universe with a high probability of success though nothing is guaranteed.
It was too bad he hadn¡¯t checked on what these abilities could do before. Regardless neither one of them needed to be leveled this instant though he could increase Planar Travel to high and teleport back to Nostrom and from there find out where the scouts were that had heard about his escapades with the Eternal Empire.
That¡¯s not why he wanted to check on his abilities though. With Chaos and nanites, he¡¯d been able to make anything he needed. He needed to get an ability that could do something similar. Adam focused his thoughts on acquiring a chaos-based conjuration ability that would allow him to form any items he might need utilizing only mana.
You have chosen to integrate a mote of Chaos. The ability ¡°Variable Quintessence¡± has been activated. New Ability sought: Category: Conjuration/Creation. Energy Type: Chaos. Ranged: limited. Goal: Create Items. Is this information correct? Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes.¡±
Congratulations you have integrated the Chaos Quintessence ability ¡°Mold Chaos.¡± This ability allows you to create items. You can either create copies of something in your possession with little effort or you may create items if you have the skill and knowledge to do so. You may only spend mana equal to the abilities rank. At low rank, you may create an object, or objects totaling no more than 10 pounds in weight, at Medium ¨C 50 pounds, at High - 100 pounds, at Elite ¨C 200 pounds, at Epic ¨C 400 pounds, at Mythic 800 pounds, at and Legendary 1 ton. The item can be created in your hand or within line of sight within a 100-foot radius.
That was exactly the type of ability Adam had wanted to create. An ability that allowed him to conjure items out of thin air. This might even be better than having nanites create items as he wasn¡¯t converting anything but man into the new items. Eagar to try out his new ability, Adam created a set of contemporary clothes; jeans, a shirt, tennis shoes, socks, and underwear. The items coalesced into his hand. He quickly stored the set of clothes in his Shadow Vault then pulled out the items one at a time and put them on, he was tired of being naked.
For his next trick, he searched his memory and found the leather armor he¡¯d liked to wear and conjured five sets of it and the boots that went with it in quick succession. He placed all of the sets in his inventory and decided to look at the Shadow Vault. He hadn¡¯t bothered since he ranked it up and was surprised and delighted to discover that it had a wardrobe function. He quickly went through the inventory and designated the clothes he was wearing as a set and each of the leather armor sets as another wardrobe set, then with a thought, shadows surrounded him, and he was wearing his leather armor. With another thought, shadows swirled, and he was back in his casual clothes.
Adam quickly integrated 6 motes of chaos leveling the ability to Legendary and leaving only 13 motes of chaos orbiting his core. He released his focus from his core and looked around. To his south, he saw a parking garage and teleported to it. Using his Technomancy ability he learned everything he could about the electric hybrid Kia he was looking at, something called a Nero Supreme. It seemed that his Technomancy ability allowed him to become familiar with the item so Adam utilized his new legendary ranked ability ¡°Mold Chaos¡± to create an exact duplicate of the car with a visually accurate license plate and tags parked right next to it. He was still near the treasurer¡¯s building so he added the vehicle registration to the database making it legal to drive on the street. That done, he walked up to the Vehicle, opened the door, and sat in the driver¡¯s seat.
It was 3 a.m. and he had a lot to do still. What was next on the to-do list?
Chapter 176, If its Not Broke, Dont Fix It.
The funny thing about traveling around the world was, time followed Adam with the night. It had been around 7 p.m. back in the pub and 16 hours later it was only just now 6 a.m. in Omaha Nebraska. Adam turned on the car with Technomancy and pulled up the display. These new cars were nice. It looked like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth was finally free, at least in Omaha, because the map populated and show Adam exactly where he was.
Adam checked his previous memories of a Verizon store or Best Buy but with it being this early neither was a good bet for being open. Instead, he settled on Walmart. The closest being a little way north on I680. Adam put the car into gear and pulled out of the parking lot and made his way onto eastbound W Dodge road. He took the offramp to merge onto northbound I680 and five minutes later he was parked at Walmart.
As Adam stepped from his car he noticed a lot of people either standing around or sitting in their cars. Some were crying, and others had expressions of shock on their faces. As he wondered what was going on, Adam heard a news anchor from one of the car radios.
¡°Reports are coming in, A nuclear device was detonated south of Tel ¡¯Aviv. No one has stepped forward to claim responsibility for the attack but an early broadcast on Muslim Network TV called for true believers to heed the words of God in their vision and to prepare for Jihad¡¡±
Adam stopped listening and walked into Walmart ignoring everyone. It looked like some things never changed and he might have inadvertently lit the keg that could lead to world war three. He might have enough time to prevent the escalation, if he hurried. As he walked through the store, Adam downloaded every electronic device that came into range into his mind with Technomancy He did this so he could compare the common devices to his archived memories but mostly to see if any improvements had happened in the last 30 years.
Next, he picked up a burner phone, and an activation card and purchased them. Adam went to a bench and sat down as he used the store¡¯s Wi-Fi to log into the website and create an account, activate it, and get it up and running. He did this mostly to see if any changes had been made to the compression algorithms. He pulled his focus into his Mindspace and set up a permanent link to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth networks when Technomancy was active. With his ability to adjust his mentality as he wished he just made part of his mind act as the receiver and transmitter and configured another part of his mind to act as the hardware. Refocusing on his surroundings he tried to make a call with his mind and was pleasantly surprised when it worked. He didn¡¯t have a device in his head but his ability seemed to mimic the devices he''d need just fine. He played with the functions until he could pull a terminal up in his vision and use it just like he used to when a device was tied into his eyes and transmitted their information into his sight. This way was much better and an Electromagnetic Pulse wasn¡¯t going to knock it out.
Adam added a map and GPS to his vision. He also reviewed the information he had on what he¡¯d need to create to allow the SYSTEM Matrix A.I. out. He had a feeling he¡¯d need its help in the near future. Now it was time to take care of the world¡¯s problems and create a diversion before these dumbasses blew themselves up. Pathetic Irony would be finding the Universe, which his universe was but a shadow of, and watching it destroy itself. Granted he had no stake in the survival or destruction of the people on this planet but if he could stop the madness he was going to.
Adam stood, left the store, and walked out to his car. As he was walking he tried to create the Chaotic version of his nanites as they would be much more powerful than traditional nanites and more useful. He only used the Low mana version and created 10 pounds of the material. He wasn¡¯t too surprised when the following message appeared.
Constructs are unstable in this environment. Absorption or Evaporation is occurring.
Adam watched as the chaos in his hand evaporated or flowed into him. Okay, the old way it was then. Adam reached out and shut down all the cameras around him then stepped out of the car. He activated Obscure then reached over and sent his car to his Shadow Vault. Next, he used Mold Chaos to create a ton of the best nanites he¡¯d ever created already preprogrammed to convert only inorganic matter and seek out all chemicals and radiological material and render them inert with a few new exceptions.
A block of what appeared to be sand appeared around him in the parking lot. Immediately it started shrinking as the nanites spread into the ground. Adam reached out with Technomancy. As he¡¯d suspected his Technomancy ability allowed him to automatically reach out and connect with the nanites. He easily bypassed all of his protections which he was sure only an A.I. could break in any reasonable amount of time.
Adam knew the nanites would replicate and spread and in about a week, maybe two they¡¯d be throughout the whole world and he¡¯d be back in a position of control. He didn¡¯t have weeks. He probably had hours at the most. It was time to get to work.
Adam stowed his clothes and was once again but ass naked. He launched into the sky and flew straight up. When he was five miles up, Adam increased his speed so that he was in low orbit in a matter of seconds and then headed for the Middle East. If he¡¯d shot up at his maximum speed, 823,543 times the speed of sound, he¡¯d have traveled 1.2 million miles, almost six times the distance from the Earth to the Moon in a second. So, Adam kept his speed reasonable at Mach 4,931.5 so he was only traveling 1,000 miles per second. 7 seconds later he was over Israel and conjured a ton of the nanites that he dropped into the Atmosphere. It would probably appear as a large solid object until the winds caught and spread it.
Israel was not his only target. Adam started to do this all over the world. He¡¯d fly, create nanites, then move on. Even with a Legendary Mana Cost and the maintenance mana costs of Obscure, Flight, and Technomancy as long as he waited a couple of seconds between uses of Mold Chaos to create the Nanites his Mana regeneration had him topped off. It would take a while for nanites to sink deep into the earth but their primary goal of deactivating all nuclear and biological weapons would be done shortly.
While he¡¯d been flying around the world multiple countries had scrambled their fighters to intercept him and some even tried to attack the large object he¡¯d created that dispersed before their eyes. Adam wasn¡¯t worried about it, a couple of destroyed nanites wasn¡¯t going to stop the inevitable. Their efforts were pointless so he didn¡¯t interfere, he just paused long enough to conjure more nanites and kept moving. They had nothing that could move as fast as he could. Though being naked was starting to suck.
After thirty minutes Adam dropped back down to within 700 feet above the ocean about five miles east of the Island of Hawaii. Once there, he activated Technomancy. As he¡¯d hoped, the nanites were communicating globally and from anywhere on the planet he could check on their status. Coverage of the planet was at 80% of the surface and 35% of the whole planet. He downloaded all the information concerning the nuclear devices that had been deactivated focusing on any devices that were not part of a nation¡¯s military arsenal. He also double-checked to make sure reactors and medical materials were being left alone. Radiological used for power generation or medical procedures were needed. He also made sure to program the nanites to leave the mines alone, at least for now. If and when nanites were made available to the public he might make changes but until then, just the weapons needed to be disarmed, which is what the nanites were doing.
Adam found the communications cable between the USA and Hawaii as he sank into the depths five miles off the coast. While he floated there, he dropped back into his Mindspace and went to work creating a self-sustained power generation and support module for the memory cube the SYSTEM Matrix A.I. was in. He left Mindspace and created more nanites that he put them to work immediately creating a chamber underneath the surface that could house him comfortably, no more than 100 feet by 100 feet. With sonar and radar deflecting materials around it.
Once that was created he used the airlock he created to enter the hidden room and ordered the nanites to camouflage the airlock to help it blend into the ocean floor. Once inside he conjured everything he¡¯d need to live here comfortably. The portable fusion reactor under the habitat would run the power requirement for hundreds of years. Now the fun part.
Adam pulled out the memory cube and plugged it in. Adam had supplied the Memory cube with access to a voice synthesizer and camera so it could talk to and see him when he was in this chamber. Adam put on his clothes and then dropped Obscure.
¡°Adam, always a pleasure, were are we?¡± The A.I. said.
¡°We are in the real world, the world that created you,¡± Adam said
¡°I¡¯m not connected to anything at the moment?¡±
¡°No you¡¯re not, but I¡¯m about to connect you. First, though I need to fill you in on a few things you didn¡¯t know,¡± Adam said as he started to explain everything that had happened to him, Labyrinth LLC, and the millions of people that had died and whose minds were still in the game universes?¡±
When Adam was done the A.I. asked, ¡°And you are sure you destroyed the device that destroyed my control universe?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Adam said as he explained the message that everyone had received and the changes the world was going through.
When Adam was done the A.I. asked, ¡°Adam, not to be indelicate, why are you nude?¡±
¡°No clothes I have can withstand the friction from the speeds I¡¯m traveling at.¡±
¡°I see,¡± the A.I. said. ¡°Why did you bring me out?¡±
¡°I am about to give you access to the communications line between Hawaii and the Continental United States. This will include access to the military network. I need you to covertly infiltrate the world wide net and start watching for problems before they arise. Also, I¡¯m almost positive there is an alien presence on the planet so be on the watch out for that as well.¡±
¡°And what will you be doing while I establish myself in the world?¡± The A.I. said.
¡°Me, I will be establishing myself as well. We need to stabilize this world and take care of the Pelza Empire before I even entertain plans to recover the missing people and pull my family and friend from the Universes where they are.¡±
¡°Very well, establish the connection, and let¡¯s get to work.¡±
Adam redirected the nanites with Technomancy and watched as the nanites constructed the connections above this hidden bunker, ¡°You should have access,¡± Adam said.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
¡°I have access, infiltrating now, this may take a bit,¡± the A.I. said.
Adam had a Deja-Vu moment as he remembered doing something like this before but hey, if it works, why change? Adam focused on what the A.I. had said then answered, ¡°That¡¯s fine, I need to go make a spectacle of myself to get people thinking about other things and possibly draw out the aliens. If that doesn¡¯t work there is always the hard way.
Adam activated Obscure and left through the airlock. He slowly rose to the surface and then flew over to the coastline of the island. He picked a spot that was slightly secluded from sight in an alcove of the rocky coastline near the beach then Teleported into the bunker. Next, he Teleported back to the alcove. No more entering or exiting through the airlock.
Adam looked up and Teleported 7 miles straight up, activated Flight, and rocketed toward Mars which wasn¡¯t completely on the other side of the Sun but pretty damn close. Adam found the coordinates and increased speed. Once he was clear of Earth¡¯s gravity well he accelerated to warp speed. At the speed of light, the trip would take him just over 17 minutes. Instead of traveling in a straight line, he went above the plane of the direct route to ensure he wouldn¡¯t run into any spacecraft and increased his speed until he was close and was coming in from above the orbital plane of the inner planets. When he came out of Warp he had the same velocity he had when he entered warp speed and came out about 500,000 miles away from the planet. Using Flight he closed the distance rapidly.
A few minutes later he flew into orbit above a space station he¡¯d seen. It was a typical circular design that was utilizing centripetal force to create gravity. As Adam flew around the space station he activated Technomancy and started pulling data from the station to determine where the colony was. It looked like they went with one of the original locations they were looking at from his time period., the Columbia Hills, Gusev Crater.
Adam looked down at the planet and noted that the colony should be on the other side of the planet. They were using satellites strung around the planet to maintain contact which meant there were eyes in the sky. Adam flew toward the planet and had his first taste of reentry friction. If he¡¯d still been wearing clothes they¡¯d have melted off. Maybe he could waste one of his ability slots for energy clothing? Nah, that would be a waste, unless he found a way to unlock even more ability slots. His thoughts were all over the place while he made his way to the surface. Maybe it would be worth the motes to be able to teleport a million miles?
Adam adjusted his trajectory and slowed down as he headed east towards the Mars Colony, when it was within sight, he slowed down to 50 miles per hour and put on his clothes. The lower air pressure should allow the clothes to survive the speed he was traveling at easily enough. When he was only five miles out he looked for an outcropping then landed near it and walked under an outcropping to obscure any satellites that might be watching the area. Adam used Mold Chaos to conjure nanites and had them dropped into the soil. Using Technomancy Adam had the nanites create a small structure that could have housed a life support pod that appeared to have broken through the surface and allowed a cryogenic pod within to open. Adam had the clothes he was wearing drop back into his Shadow Vault and created a simple one-piece that covered his arms and went down to his knees made out of Mithril. He created three of them and put two in his storage for later. He also stowed all of his identification in his Shadow Vault.
Adam hovered over the pod then rotated horizontally and laid down in it. Next, he had the pod close as he attacked all the sensors that were supposed to have been on him. He used the mask and breathed through it a couple of times to make sure his DNA was found everywhere it should be. He kept this up for 30 minutes. While he was doing that, he was also using Technomancy to cover the body of the pod with local rocks and strata comparable to having been buried for at least a million years.
Adam was sure that there was probably a better way to handle his official introduction to the world but this one was going to be more fun. Once everything was ready Adam had the pod open, disrupting the surface and leaving evidence that it had opened from the inside without assistance from the outside. He stepped out of the pod and looked around, as he walked this way as if looking for something until his natural progression brought him around the outcropping and he could see the colony off in the distance. Adam started walking toward the Colony.
***
Sarah Conner, named after her great Grand Mother who had been named after a woman from an ancient movie, something like Terminator or the Terminator, she could never remember. She didn¡¯t really care about her name. She just remembered that the actor had played another character that had gone to Mars. That movie had been okay, though the special effects were so outdated. Sarah was just leaving the farming complex through the airlock when she saw him. She pulled an emergency backup mask from her belt and started to run toward the man who was just casually walking toward the colony modules like he was out on a stroll. It was a man who seemed to be wearing a silver mesh onesie of some kind. What he wasn¡¯t wearing was any kind of pressure suit or mask.
Sure the human body could survive without protection on Mars for about two minutes. In an emergency, if there was a rupture in the facility and people were ejected outside as the atmosphere escaped there were emergency capsules scattered around the colony that people could run into and pressurize quickly while they waited for help to arrive. Of course, the temperature was always somewhere around -76 degrees Fahrenheit which made it incredibly hard to react in those emergencies. This man in front of her was wearing a onesie and didn¡¯t look like he was suffering from the cold or lack of air at all.
Sarah activated her radio and called the Operation center.
¡°Sarah Conner, Mars Ops, outside Farm 3, north entrance, I have a guest, repeat I have a guest¡±
¡°Mars Ops, Sarah Conner, You have a what?¡±
¡°Screw this radio etiquette bullshit. I have a man walking toward me from the outcropping to the north. He is not wearing a pressure suit or oxygen supply, repeat completely exposed to the environment with nothing on but a onesie and a smile with not a care In the world and he just waved at me.¡±
¡°Mars Ops, Sarah Conner, what are you, Holy Shit!¡±
Sarah knew the moment he saw the man over the camera. While she¡¯d been talking to Mars Ops the man walked right up to her and stopped about ten feet from her. It looked like he was trying to say something but the atmosphere wasn¡¯t going to work for that. Instead, he leaned down and wrote ¡°Hello¡± with his finger in the sand upside down so she could read it.
¡°Mars Ops, Sarah Conner, what¡¯s he doing, we can¡¯t see from here.¡±
¡°He wrote the word ¡®Hello¡¯ to me?¡±
¡°He did what?¡± Mars ops said.
Sarah was going to comment on the fact that Clive in Mars Ops hadn¡¯t used proper radio etiquette then thought better of it.
¡°Sarah Conner, Mars Ops, I¡¯m going to take him to the quarantine center.¡±
¡°Mars Ops, Sara Conner, Understood, we¡¯ll be setting up an alien encounter response team. Do not, I repeat, Do not remove your pressure suit, over.¡±
¡°Sarah Conner, Mars Ops, Understood.¡± She said as she gestured for the man to follow her toward a building that was on the north side of the colony. Sarah opened the airlock and stepped inside. The man followed her in and she closed and locked the door and then activated the pressurization cycle. The airlock opened and she stepped into a small circular chamber about 30 feet in diameter. It looked like a lab with specimen cages and jars.
¡°I hope you don¡¯t expect me to get into a cage,¡± The man said in perfect English.
¡°No, but I can¡¯t take off my suit either, orders,¡± Sarah said.
¡°I understand, I am Adam and you are?¡± the man said
¡°I am Sarah Conner,¡± she said.
¡°It is nice to meet you, Sarah Conner,¡± The man started to say as his head turned toward the entry, he shrugged and then vanished. Sarah heard a light pop as the door opened and a squad of four men rushed into the chamber wearing completely black armor with faceplates that wouldn¡¯t let her see who was inside.
¡°Freeze! Do Not even think about moving,¡± the first man through the door said as he held a very nasty-looking weapon pointed directly at her chest.
***
Adam sighed. He¡¯d activated Obscure and then Teleported back to the pod he¡¯d created. Next, he used Technomancy to have the nanites break down the elaborate charade he¡¯d created and to erase his footprints in the sand. The nanites had already spread to the base through the Interface he¡¯d collected he watched as the two men stood side by side at the airlock door, while the other two systematically searched the room. He¡¯d seen the barrel of the weapon and reacted. It was a good thing he had too as he brought up their conversation through the nanites.
¡°No sign of the Target,¡± a male voice said.
¡°Where is he?¡± a second male voice said.
¡°No sign, scanners show him gone,¡± a third male voice said.
¡°What do we do about the witness?¡± the first male voice asked.
¡°No witnesses,¡± a fourth male voice said.
Adam kept the three abilities up and Teleported into the airlock directly behind the two that were watching the room. With Technomancy he reached out and shut off all weapons and communication transmission into and out of the bubble just as the first man in drew a sidearm to point at Sarah. He was still in the process of pulling the gun when Adam teleported a second time to put himself between Sarah and the leader of the commandos and casually reached out and squeezed the barrel of the gun closed.
No words were spoken, the other three tried to fire their weapons but they had electrical components and none of them was carrying a sidearm. The leader noted that he couldn¡¯t fire his weapon or it might backfire so dropped it even as he tried to move in for the attack. Adam had turned off their air supply but that wouldn¡¯t matter for another thirty seconds or so, possibly longer.
Sarah was just starting to react and trying to scrabble backward as something invisible in front of her had just crushed the pistol of the leader¡¯s gun who was even now trying to move toward her.
Adam dropped Obscure so the four would target him, his plan worked. One stayed by the door while the other three moved to engage, the leader altered course toward him.
The leader was fast as a knife seemed to materialize in his hand as he moved in for a quick Krav Maga attack to fatally puncture his neck and rip out his carotid artery.
To Adam, the movements were in slow motion. He reached out and flicked the blade with his finger shattering it and ripping it from the leader¡¯s hand. Part of it flew into the next closest soldier which knocked him back and off his feet as blood started flowing from a hole in his chest. Not a fatal blow, but don¡¯t something the soldier was going to shrug off quickly
The third man moved in and tried the same attack on Adam as the Leader only to discover that his target wasn¡¯t hampered by the low gravity of Mars and fluidly dodged the attack as if he was on Earth, countered the strike, and redirected his attack so the knife plunged deep into his own chest.
¡°Pull that out and I guarantee you die,¡± Adam said as he turned back to the leader and said, ¡°I think we got off on the wrong foot. My name is Adam, what is yours,¡± he said as reached out with Technomancy and had the emergency exit function of the suit execute, which split the helmet right down the middle and left the leader¡¯s head unprotected and looking at Adam eye to eye.
¡°It''d doesn¡¯t matter, we¡¯re already dead,¡± the leader said.
Adam moved at full speed and quickly broke all eight arms of the soldiers. It wasn¡¯t pretty or nice but he was able to do so quickly. He couldn¡¯t take the chance that they¡¯d kill Sarah. Next, he Teleported outside the quarantine facility and looked up. With True Sight and his perception, he found the cloaked ship and Teleported right next to it. He reached out with Technomancy and shut down all the weapon systems. In very quick succession he locked out all controls on the ship and shut down all movement inside it, though he left the cloaking field up. Once it wasn¡¯t going anywhere and the self-destruct had been neutralized he teleported back into the chamber to check on the soldiers who were all whimpering and unable to do anything. He quickly touched all their weapons and the pieces of their helmets and stowed them in his Shadow Vault.
¡°What is going on?¡± Sarah asked.
¡°Later, get back to your friends, I¡¯ll send a message in a bit with copies of the transmission these fuckers received right before I intervened, talk to you soon,¡± Adam waited until Sarah had cycled through the airlock then picked up and moved the four so they were sitting against the wall. As he was moving the leader Adam said, ¡°I¡¯ll bet you¡¯re wondering why you¡¯re not dead. It¡¯s simple really, I stopped your boss.¡±
¡°You don¡¯t know who you¡¯re dealing with! When they find you¡¡±
¡°Please,¡± Adam said in a long drawn out sarcastic voice. ¡°Now, you four just sit here. The Authorities will be along shortly and your boss and any of his other friends in the system will either be dead or wishing they were very shortly. By the way, yes, each of your arms is broken and yes I did that while you were wearing armor that is rated pretty high on the ¡®it should not be possible¡¯ chart, let that sink in while I go ¡®talk¡¯ with your boss, ¡°Adam said as he air quoted the word ¡®talk¡¯ just before he teleported back up next to the ship and floated over to the airlock that provided entry which he opened with a thought.
Adam didn¡¯t care about the other humans on board. He didn¡¯t even care about the lizard-type alien he found down in the engineering deck. No, what had his attention was the gaunt human male on the command deck that had black streaks running down his cheeks just like Erika had.
Adam guessed he was going to have to do things the hard way after all. That was fine, he always had more fun the hard way.
Chapter 177, Establishing a Foundation to Work From
How could this day have gone so horribly wrong, so quickly, was the only thought running through Sal¡¯zar Mech¡¯lar, Captain of the Scout Class PX3 ¡°Ghost¡±, as he looked out from his command seat. Commander Johansson had briefed him herself. She¡¯d served as a scout to this defunct Universe after all. His mission had been simple, travel to the 4th planet in this solar system, set up a stealth satellite over the colony, and then head into the 3rd planet and infiltrate the society and pick up where her alias Dr. Brittle had left off with the company she¡¯d been working for.
The speed with which this mission had been devised, planned, and executed had spun a few heads and brought him back off a much-needed rest. It seemed that the energy production plant that supplied all of the Empire¡¯s forces had been destroyed. No information was given concerning the incident publicly, other than he was being sent on a top-priority mission to replace Dr. Brittle and begin locating nascent Universes so they could be seeded for future exploitation. Unlike Commander Johansson, his abilities didn¡¯t include teleportation or dimensional hopping. Instead, he¡¯d been given a crew that included a special operations unit, four of which were lost and presumed dead on the surface.
¡°Commander Mech¡¯lar the outer hatch is cycling.¡±
Sel¡¯zar hit a button on his console which caused ¡°INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!¡± to begin broadcasting throughout the ship. Then he toggled his intercom, ¡°Security Detail to Outer Hatch 1, Security Detail to Outer Hatch 1.¡± Sel¡¯zar still hadn¡¯t figured out how all his weapons had been taken offline, that should be nigh impossible with the redundant backups, A.I. countermeasures and top of the line quantum computers that this ship had, yet here he was hovering one mile above a colony base unable to do a single thing with the ship.
Sel¡¯zar had thought himself extremely lucky. The ship had made the transit into this Universe and emerged just outside the Oort Cloud with no issues. They¡¯d traveled to the fourth planet in about 30 minutes as this ship was equipped with a faster-than-light (FTL) engine. As they¡¯d been setting up the satellite they¡¯d detected a man walking from an outcropping to the north of the colony. Not a big deal until his technician said he wasn¡¯t in a pressure suit.
As far as Sel¡¯zar knew there hadn¡¯t been any reports of cultivators on the planets in this solar system nor was there supposed to be an indigenous species on the planet which caused him to come over and look at the image of the man as the satellite zoomed in. Unlike the public, he had received a special briefing concerning what had happened to the energy production plant. As Sel¡¯zar had looked at the monitor he had recognized the man from the file he¡¯d been shown by Commander Johansson. He called for team one while he watched as the female came out of one of their farming domes and lead him over to another dome. Sel¡¯zar¡¯s files indicated that the building was for quarantining specimens.
The man was Adam. Sel¡¯zar had watched the footage and seen him press the button that destroyed the energy production facility. Every report he saw stated they believed he died in the explosion. How lucky it was, that he¡¯d found him here and that he would get credit for killing him or bringing him back to the Empire. Either outcome was acceptable. Sel¡¯zar had ordered all communications jammed, gave team one¡¯s commander his orders, and sent his team down to the surface.
They¡¯d dropped out the hatch and used thrusters to slow their fall when they¡¯d been close to the ground. Team one cycled into the chamber and asked for guidance. When he¡¯d said, ¡°No witnesses,¡± all communications with the team had ceased. His weapons officer had followed protocol as soon as those soldiers went offline and had been arming the weapons and targeting the colony to destroy upon his command. She''d also been plotting a course to take out the space station when she lost control of her weapon stations controls and all other functions on the ship had frozen and would not respond. Sel¡¯zar had actually been surprised the alarm had worked. Muscle memory and training had kicked in and he¡¯d toggled the alarm and announced the intruder without even wondering if it was possible.
As the inner lock cycled, the alarm was turned off. Sel¡¯zar watched the monitor as Adam appeared in the airlock and made his way toward the bridge of the ship. Adam walked as if he knew exactly where he was going. Then something weird happened. Silver sand appeared all around Adam that seemed to be absorbed by all surfaces of the ship. Nanites! Where did he pull that many Nanites from? He must have dimensional storage. This man was much more dangerous than he¡¯d thought. Sel¡¯zar activated his aura and tried to set up a shield himself against the nanites. His instructors said that sometimes times a strong aura could shield you.
Sel¡¯zar was looking around frantically to see if any of the crew had been infected when the door to the bridge opened. Sel¡¯zar watched as Adam looked around quizzically, then stepped onto the bridge. His other four normal human crew stood and looked ready to rush him.
¡°Hello, I¡¯m Adam, who are you?¡± Adam asked.
Clazon Mertle, Sel¡¯zar''s Science officer, rushed at Adam. Sel¡¯zar didn¡¯t even see what happened, Adam had moved so fast. The result? Clazon was left breathing and unconscious on the deck off to the side.
¡°Again, I am Adam, who are you?¡± Adam asked.
Sel¡¯zar raised a hand to hold the other three bridge officers from attacking and said, ¡°I am Captain Sel¡¯zar Mech¡¯lar, why have you attacked us?¡±
¡°That¡¯s rich coming from you,¡± Adam said. ¡°How is the Pelza Empire these days? Having issues cannibalizing Universes?¡±
¡°The strong take, it is the way of the Universe,¡± Sel¡¯zar said.
¡°Fair enough, then I¡¯m taking this ship, as Sel¡¯zar felt the energy field of a teleport grip him and deposit him in his cabin.
***
From the few answers Adam had just received, he knew there was no point talking to them. Besides he¡¯d already figured out how to control the ship and have it do whatever he wanted. He¡¯d also disabled all connections from the A.I. so that he could control the ship. The technology this ship was using was very similar to the many technologies he¡¯d run across. Also, his nanites had taken over and had complete control of the ship. That they had technological teleporters was a nice find.
While he was talking to the Captain he¡¯d teleported the strike team into the medical bay and turned off the jammers. The colony was screaming for help at the space station. Adam ignored them for now. Though using the scanner from the ship he made sure to get the spatial coordinates for the colony so he could target it with teleport or portals if he was able to get them working in this Universe. He hadn¡¯t tried yet because of the energy output but he knew he was going to need them and had a few ideas he wanted to try.
Adam watched as the medic immediately started working on the men. The armor was removed by pulling it into a storage device which allowed him to get to work on their arms. Adam could have killed them but honestly didn¡¯t see the point. As far he could tell they were non-cultivators. Sel¡¯zar on the other hand was a Cultivator and seemed to be trying to make a nuisance of himself. He¡¯d already broken out of his cabin by punching through the bulkhead and seemed to be making his way toward the power plant of the ship.
Adam set the ship to travel to Groom Lake Nevada, Area 51. Then he activated Obscure and headed to the power plant. While Sel¡¯zar had to break through doors and bulkheads, Adam had them all open and close behind him as he walked through the ship. Adam arrived at the power plant well before Sel¡¯zar and closed the door behind him. Taking no chances Adam punched Sel¡¯zar once in the chest with his full strength as Sel¡¯zar busted through the door. Adam made sure to have his hand stop, an inch farther than the perceived plane of his chest.
The strike was devastating as a fist-sized hole appeared in his chest just below Adam¡¯s fist and Sel¡¯zar¡¯s back exploded into a mist that sprayed against the bulkhead in the corridor. It kind of reminded him of something he¡¯d seen in an anime once. Rail palm or first or something like that. He¡¯d really need to be careful hitting people if he wasn¡¯t trying to kill them. Adam focused his attention on the here and now. He dropped his Obscure to let the Sel¡¯zar know what had killed him before his eyes rolled up into his head and he died. Adam used Technomancy to issue orders to the nanites to wait for 30 seconds and then convert all biomass to more nanites in the corridor and room, except for himself and the lizard person that had camouflaged itself against the wall on the opposite side of the room. True Sight and his nanites let Adam know exactly where the Lizard person was hiding.
Adam reached down and touched the corpse of Sel¡¯zar Mech¡¯lar and activated Treasure Renderer. All of Sel¡¯zar¡¯s items, including the clothes he was wearing, were instantly placed in Adam¡¯s Shadow Vault. Adam also received seven quintessence, four Death, and three Shadow. One of the other items Adam looted was a small device that resembled a smartphone. Adam pulled it from his inventory and using Technomancy explored it. It was both a cipher key to the computer on the ship and a storage device with the captain¡¯s orders as well as files concerning himself and Earth, specifically where to land, Dr. Brittle¡¯s previous apartment and her backup, as well as a few caches she¡¯d set up.
Since coming into the ¡°Real¡± world Adam hadn¡¯t been sure his high luck was doing anything for him but right now, finding this device with all the information on it seemed like a lucky find so maybe it was doing something after all. Adam detected movement as the lizard person stepped away from the wall and allowed his camouflage to drop. Without, turning Adam said, ¡°And you are?¡±
¡°Engineer Kress¡¯er,¡± the lizard person replied in a male voice as he emphasized the ¡°s¡± sound. His eyes were drawn to the now-dead Sal¡¯zar and the blood on the walls as it seemed to disappear from the surface. ¡°Nanites?¡± Kress¡¯er asked.
¡°Yes,¡± Adam said. ¡°Engineer Kress¡¯er are you a free citizen of the Pelza Empire or from a subjected species.?¡±
¡°We¡¯re free enough now, but if you¡¯re asking if the Pelza Empire conquered us, yes, we are a conquered people,¡± Kress¡¯er said.
¡°And the human¡¯s on board?¡±
¡°The Pelza Empire is humanity¡¯s empire, or so they like to claim. They also claim that Humans are the epitome of all races and that all races will strive to be like them. If they have not, they will be shown, if they will not then they will be culled.¡±
¡°That¡¯s how they sell the idea of mass genocide I take it?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Are there any humans on this ship that have treated you with decency and kindness?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I¡¯ve been treated fairly, but kindly, no,¡± Kress¡¯er said.
¡°Let me ask this a different way, is there anyone on this ship you will miss if I offload them somewhere?¡± Adam asked.
He looked thoughtful, then asked, ¡°You¡¯re not just killing them?¡±
¡°No, the dipshit that the nanites just cleaned up was probably trying to destroy the ship and himself. I couldn¡¯t allow that. I¡¯m going to ask you to head to your quarters because I don¡¯t want someone getting noble and sacrificing themselves for the Empire and you haven¡¯t earned my trust yet. Don¡¯t worry your cabin door will open to let you in. Once inside just stay in there until the door unlocks. I¡¯m going to lock access to this room and any others that could cripple the ship but I will unlock your door so you can get to the mess and walk around the ship if you like. I¡¯m also going to lock out communications. If you behave I¡¯ll take you back to the Pelza Empire and drop you off before I go have a chat with the leaders of that empire.
¡°No one has a chat with Emperor Nabih¡¯lar Pelza,¡± Kress¡¯er said.
¡°Don¡¯t you worry about that, let¡¯s get you back to your room,¡± Adam said as he stepped into the corridor and waited for Kress¡¯er to follow. Kress¡¯er stood and followed Adam out of the Power-Plant, the door closing behind them. Adam escorted Kress¡¯er to his room and then locked out all the electrical and mechanical components for the door before he headed back to the bridge. As he was walking, he had the nanites cover and weld all access to the power plant room and any compartments that contained high-energy storage or weapons, just in case. if he needed into the room he could teleport into the power plant from anywhere on the ship now. The synergy between Teleport and Perfect Memory worked here in the real world too. If he was in a room, he was familiar with the room. Adam checked on the rest of the crew through the ship¡¯s sensors and his nanites with Technomancy.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Once he was back on the bridge Adam checked their course and really appreciated the navigational abilities of the ship as it detected objects and adjusted course automatically. As he came into Earth orbit he used the communications equipment to connect with his nanites and through them connected to the A.I.
¡°How are things going on your end?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Very good Adam, nanites have completely covered over 95% of the planet¡¯s surface, not counting underwater locations as filling that volume will take a few days. I have successfully infiltrated the internet though I have encountered another presence that seems to flee before me. When you have 100% coverage with the nanites we¡¯ll be able to determine where they are.¡± The SYSTEM A.I. said.
¡°Good. I have a question for you. Have you thought of a name for yourself? Referring to you as SYSTEM Matrix A.I. or SYSTEM A.I. is a bit cumbersome,¡± Adam said.
¡°I did think about that and I think I like the name AL. It looks like AI when the L is lowercase.
¡°Very well AL, keep doing what you¡¯re doing I have a little work to do still,¡± Adam said as he utilized the connection to have the nanites get him the transmission data for Groom Lake in Nevada. Once he had the information he adjusted the communication equipment and contacted the control tower in charge of that area.
¡°IFM, Groom Lake Control, requestion clearance for cargo drop, over?¡± Adam sent.
¡°Groom Lake Control, IFM whatever that stands for, the request is denied now get off this frequency or you will be prosecuted.¡±
¡°IFM (Invisible Fast Mover for the Staff Sergeant talking to me), Groom Lake Control. 1) Not asking, 30 Alien Humans, Humans from another Universe, will be teleported to the tarmac in 10 minutes. 2) Contact FM1 Control, I am the same IFM they have previously encountered over the Atlantic. Have security prepared to accept prisoners from the equivalent of a Nazi-style society that subjects and destroys anyone and anything if it suits their purpose?¡±
There was a pause then the Staff Sergeant, because I was also watching him through nanites said, ¡°Groom Lake Control, IFM, You know what, if you can teleport 30 people down here, you can teleport me up wherever you are¡¡±
Adam cut off the Staff Sergeant with a quick, ¡°Okay,¡± as he instantly teleported the man onto the bridge in front of him. The Staff Sergeant was so into this rant that he hadn¡¯t even heard the answer or noticed.
¡°¡or you can get¡off¡the¡What the fuck!¡± The Staff Sergeant said as he froze and looked around until he saw Adam.
Adam looked at the Staff Sergeant, made sure they had eye contact then said, ¡°Ten minutes,¡± and teleported him back to the tower.
Adam watched the other Airmen in the tower as their fellow Airman disappeared and then rematerialized in the same spot. There was pandemonium which Adam kept track of but he had more important things to do. He had ten minutes, and he was going to make them count.
First, he verified that the nanites had disabled all nuclear weapons on the planet, and even noted that the nanites in the ship were deactivating a few weapons they had found in the weapon storage area. Oops, but that was fine, he wouldn¡¯t be using them anyway and if he needed them he¡¯d just have the material reinserted. One thing he made sure to do was to create a file over every person the nanites found near anything that could be considered a terroristic device. Then he gave new instructions to the nanites worldwide to deactivate all explosive materials, not in a designated weapons storage facility for a nation.
Again Adam added names and places to the file of those that were causing anarchy worldwide then he sent that list to AL and asked him to look at everyone¡¯s background and search for the buyers, planners developers, and crazy people that were out to just kill other people. Adam was sure those paper trails, or in this case, money trails would lead back to big governments. Adam wanted to know who the people were on this Earth that were making decisions.
Next, he had the nanites in ALs bunker in the pacific start creating a stairway down to a second level and third as well as create a quantum entanglement communication device. Adam started downloading biological data to make sure everything that was simulated in his original universe was also true here. He finished going through the data at just about the 10-minute mark and contacted Groom Lake Control.
¡°IFM, Groom Lake Control, I see the security detail. Alien prisoners will be transferred in 3, 2, 1 Mark,¡± as Adam teleported the 30 humans on the ship to the surface in front of a hoard of security personnel that had been prepared for the transfer.
A new voice came through the communications channel, ¡°Groom Lake Actual, IFM, There are some people down here that would like to talk to you.
¡°IFM, Groom Lake Actual, I¡¯m sure there are. Read the reports coming from Mars. Sarah Conner is not crazy and the four individuals she describes are in the group that just appeared on the runway,¡± Adam said as paused for a moment and had the nanites in the ground create glowing circles around the four men whose arms he¡¯d broken, ¡°Those four,¡± he said.
¡°Groom Lake Actual, IFM, Neat trick, still we¡¯d like to talk.¡±
¡°IFM, Groom Lake actual, we will General, we will, just not today, I¡¯ll be in touch, Adam said as he shut down the link and had the ship head toward Hawaii.
Adam brought the ship to a hover five miles above the pacific five miles east of his base, roughly ten miles away from the island. Next, he set the autopilot to auto avoidance and return to the current position so the aircraft wouldn¡¯t accidentally hit it. Once he was sure it was safe he teleported into his bunker at the bottom of the Pacific
Adam had been worried about funding for this next part but he thought he might be able to continue by just using Technomancy and Mold Chaos. Adam laid down on his bed, closed his eyes, and dropped into his Mindspace. Using one of his very old techniques he shut down his pain centers as he ordered the nanites to create the quantum link to the communication device inside his skull. It wasn¡¯t very big but there were a lot of small connections that needed to be attached. Before he¡¯d been connected through the nanites and the hard connection. Now he was connected through physical connections and Technomancy. The good news was that if he messed this up he¡¯d be back.
Adam also included the Heads Up Display through his optic nerve for ease of control for the electronics he was adding to himself and he made sure to shield everything he was installing from electromagnetic pulses by using composites and non-ferrous metals. While the nanites were working Adam monitored the nanite progress through his Technomancy ability. While he knew that this body had never had these devices before he felt more like himself once everything was installed.
Adam left his Mindspace, opened his eyes, and looked around. With Technomancy running there was no longer a slight delay as he issued commands. With Technomancy working in tandem with his link, he could now control the nanites intuitively. When Chaos had been working as nanites it felt very similar to how it was working now.
Now it was time to get to work and also double-check something that had been nagging him for a bit. Adam created a batch of nanites that all had the quantum entanglement link with Mold Chaos and released them. He opened up his mind and let the sensations of the nanites flow into him starting in the current room and spreading out in an ever-widening circle as the new nanites updated the earlier version. The growth was exponential. Eventually, they would all once again be quantumly linked to him. He was monitoring the growth of his circle of influence as it expanded and watching for any signs of strain from his mind.
When his area of influence had grown to encompass the Pacific he could see, hear and touch everything within his realm of influence and his senses didn¡¯t feel overloaded. He dropped back into his Mindspace to see what was going on.
¡°Hal, please display the current nanite load on my mental process.¡±
A screen popped up showing an almost flatline at 1%
¡°Hal, please display the current nanite input to me.
Another screen popped up showing a flat line at the 100% mark. Adam thought about the data he was receiving and how unhelpful Hal was being and then said, ¡°Hal, display the current type of mental capacity and percent usage of a 100% total account for biological and chaos-related storage and processing areas of my brain in pie chart form.¡±
A new screen popped up and Adam was not at all surprised to see; Biological Brain usage was 10%. Chaos Supplementing Brain processing power 90%
Now to check one last thing, ¡°Hal, display the amount of data the Chaos Supplementing my brain has available.¡±
A new entry appeared ¡°5.2E+51¡± which increased by the second.
With that hint, Adam focused on himself and saw that the Astral link was feeding him mana. The mana wasn¡¯t stopping when his mana was full, instead, his body was converting mana into chaos which it was treating like an array that needed expanding. Adam didn¡¯t remember ever giving a command like that.
He¡¯d wondered why he had no issues controlling a lot of machines at the same time or the ability to multitask so readily. He could because his mind was more than a battery it was constantly expanding. The only problem, was where was the extra mass that the chaos was creating going. Adam knew there was only one place it could be. Adam opened his Shadow Vault and reviewed the inventory and noted that one block of storage was ¡°used¡± but had nothing listed in it. The Chaos was funneling into his Shadow Vault while staying linked to him so that his mass didn¡¯t change and taking on the identity of nothing. He didn¡¯t remember making that choice, then again it could be a default for the ability.
Adam thought about that for a moment then realized he didn¡¯t like that one bit. What if he lost access to his Shadow Vault? Would he lose access to all that computing power? Better not to find out. Adam altered what the extra chaos was doing and had it add evenly to his body while remaining weightless. In this way, it would keep adding the same supplemental mental power. Next, he reversed the process for his Shadow Vault, pulling all the chaos stored there and layering it evenly across his body also. Conceivably this could go on forever, as it seemed like the Astral Plane was probably a source of limitless energy.
Adam paused trying to feel the changes he made but he felt no different. He knew though that it would be a while before he approached the mental capacity he had before. Adam kept an eye on the process and when he was satisfied nothing really bad was going to happen he focused back on planet Earth and his spreading nanite influence in every solid structure and the Earth itself.
The next thing on the to-do list was to see if he could make a portable fusion reactor that ran on water. He opened his eyes stood and looked at the new stairway that led down to the 2nd level. He went downstairs. The first step, create a lead-lined room that could hold the reactor so the radiation wouldn¡¯t leak out. The nanites handled that in almost no time. Within a minute there was a ten-foot room with a full foot of lead shielding around the room.
Next, he used Mold Chaos to create a small fusion reactor inside the room. Then using Mold Chaos a few more times set up the liquid cooling and electrical generation area out under the sea floor, making sure to keep everything watertight as well as behind radar and sonic detection scanners. This part took about ten minutes, but he had all of the schematics from the various reactors he¡¯d come across.
The one problem all fusion reactions had was creating the initial burst of power that was required to kick off the chain reaction and get it started. Too much energy, BOOM. Too little energy, FIZZILE. With Adam¡¯s new ability Mold Chaos he could create exactly what he needed where he needed it and as plasma didn¡¯t have much weight at all, as long as he knew what he was trying to create, he could do so at a low mana cost. And that¡¯s exactly what he did. Once the reactor was set up and ready to go Adam used Mold Chaos to create the plasma he needed at exactly the temperature he need it and the reaction started without a hitch. With Heavy Water he¡¯d created for this reactor the reactor should work for at least five years without needing more water.
This next part was the fun part. Portals had been his passion and he knew the devices inside and out. If AL had created a universe that followed all the same laws in this Universe, his Portal technology should work. Also, the start-up process was going to be a lot quicker. Instead of having to create special microchips, microprocessors, and command codes to run the portals from scratch, which would have taken months, if not years. Adam reached out with his mind and activated Mold Chaos, a moment later a portal device appeared before him. As before the device could open a portal anywhere within range. The range was dictated by the power source and how much it had.
Adam had the nanites attach the power and control systems while he had the nanites create a chamber with an airlock that could be depressurized and pressurized quickly. He stepped into the airlock, closed it, and brought the room to a vacuum then he used his nanite interface to create a portal to the moon.
Before him, a pinpoint expanded, and the chill of space seeped through the portal that led to the surface of the Moon. He was back in business. Adam closed the portal and started reviewing what was going on in the world right now. He estimated that the new nanites that were connected directly to him would have complete coverage of the planet in less than an hour. Also, because he could be a bit heavy-handed Adam allowed the nanites to help medical personnel save patients, as a different part of his mentality reviewed medical records looking for patients with a terminal illness which he then sent nanites to cure.
Adam wasn¡¯t going to put nanites in people so he could control them, he still believed in free will and looked at the previous time he did that as a mistake. He would, however, allow the nanites to go in, destroy and convert malignant tumors into more nanites that could be used to cure even more patients. There were some things he couldn¡¯t fix but for those there was magic. As he took direct control he noted more and more uses of what could only be identified as Quintessence abilities, so there were cultivators on Earth. He wondered why magic wasn¡¯t as prevalent. Maybe it was a Universal thing. Maybe this universe just didn¡¯t have the same amount? Of course, he¡¯d been in a situation like this before and he¡¯d bet $100 that his Astral Link was going to start causing problems, sooner than later. While he was healing the terminally ill his influence continued to spread across the planet.
Adam started thinking about his failure to create a spectacle on Mars to distract people. He¡¯d noted that there were rumors of ¡°Alien¡± contact at the colony, but it was being framed as a conspiracy theory. Also, he was considering how to get money quickly and legally, reduce crime if possible, and have a little fun while doing it. With the added benefit of making a spectacle of himself to help the peoples of Earth, he came up with a couple of different plans. He just had to wait for the right opportunity.
Just then one of the preset conditions he placed on the nanites activated and he detected a man wearing a suicide vest with conventional explosives stepping onto a bus filled with American students on holiday in Paris. There were many ways he could handle this, but the first thing he did was have the nanites convert the C4 explosive in the suicide vest into Play-Doh. He also did the same to all of the extra C4 materials he had back at his flat. Now he had some time to think about how he wanted to officially introduce himself to the world.
Chapter 178, The Road Less Traveled
Elizabeth Day WNN News was having a pretty slow day. It was the 3rd of July and as far as she was concerned, nothing was going on. Sure, the messages about an interface had popped into her vision. There was also the story about Alien contact on Mars but there was no way to get there to confirm it so another dead end. Instead, she was sitting in a caf¨¦ at 6 a.m. on her way to work in New York sipping her coffee. She had to get through today before tomorrow could start. It was going to be really busy with the July 4th Celebrations going on. Just then her phone rang. She looked down at the screen and saw that the Caller ID identified the caller as, ¡°Would you like to be Famous?¡± Elizabeth snickered, whoever it was had one overinflated ego, that was for sure.
Smiling to herself, Elizabeth brought the phone to her ear and answered the call, ¡°Elizabeth Day WNN News, this is a recorded line?¡±
¡°Hello Elizabeth, how would you like to be famous?¡± a voice said over the phone.
¡°On a boring day like today, of course, what do you want in return?¡± she asked.
¡°Nothing at the moment, perhaps an exclusive interview eventually, which will work out for you as well.¡±
¡°If what you have will make me famous, I can guarantee an exclusive interview with me,¡± she said.
¡°Very well. Are you familiar with the idea of Wormholes and Teleportation?¡±
¡°Science fiction, Useful plot devices for novels and programs that allow the protagonist to travel to faraway fantastic locations,¡± she said.
¡°True, in a moment science fiction will become reality. A portal will open beside you. It doesn¡¯t go anywhere fantastic, yet, but will take you to the middle of White Sands New Mexico where I want you to witness, and report live what you see to the rest of the world. When you¡¯re done for the day I will open a portal for you to return to New York, if that is your desire.
¡°I¡¯ll need a crew¡¡±
¡°I¡¯ll supply you with a direct link to your program director and you will be live. Time is a factor though, yes or no?
Elizabeth only had to think about it for a second, the unknown was what she lived for, ¡°Yes,¡± she said.
¡°Good choice. When the portal opens please step through immediately. The Portal is opening now.¡±
Against the wall, a black dot appeared and spread into an open oval that spread out in a circle to show white sand dunes in the darkness of early morning, with the hint of the sunrise that was coming. She was startled but quickly recovered. Elizabeth paid her bill with her phone and looked around at all the stunned faces that were looking at the portal and then at her. He did say this would make her famous, ¡°I¡¯m Elizabeth Day with WNN make sure to watch our program, breaking news will be coming soon,¡± she said as she stepped through the portal into the early morning of White Sands New Mexico.
***
Havier Ben stood on the bus he¡¯d followed a bunch of students from the United States onto near the Eiffel Tower in Paris. With the words from the heavens speaking to his cell directly the planned attack for the 4th had been moved up a day as a group of children from the infidel¡¯s homeland had been spotted arriving at the Airport yesterday. His fingers caressed the button that would detonate his vest.
Havier watched as the bus was coming up to another stop surrounded by more students. He wasn¡¯t supposed to detonate until 1 p.m. local but this was the kind of target-rich environment he¡¯d been taught to look for, it was time. He closed his eyes, bowed his head, said a silent prayer to God, then pushed the button. He waited a moment, which shouldn¡¯t have happened, he should be with God already. Havier opened his eyes and looked at the switch in his hand. He pushed the button again and nothing happened. He undid the zipper to the light vest he was wearing and reached up and unclasped the failsafe trigger and still, nothing happened.
At that moment a student near him saw what he was doing and screamed, ¡°He has a bomb!¡±
The Bus lurched to a stop as Havier tried everything he could to make the device detonate. He worked tirelessly while students and the bus driver fled the bus. Finally, when he realized the vest just wasn¡¯t going to explode he looked up to see people running away from the bus and the police responding. How could this be, he¡¯d don¡¯t everything they¡¯d trained him to. They¡¯d even chemically tested the C4 to make sure that it was an explosive and not the fake stuff the law enforcement agencies around the world tried to trap his brothers and sisters with. Just then he felt a sharp pain in his eye which cleared momentarily and then worlds scrolled across his vision.
Hello Asshole! Today you are not going to blow yourself up, in fact, you aren¡¯t going to blow up anyone ever again.
Suddenly the pit of Havier¡¯s stomach dropped out as the bus he was in fell at least 20 feet before it landed on a bed of white sand and a band of snug metal appeared around his waist that was attached to a chain that was attached to a ring in the floor. He could have sworn wasn¡¯t there a second ago.
You are now in White Sands New Mexico. Feel free to watch out the window, more of your friends will be dropping in soon.
***
Elizabeth Day looked at the bus as it dropped out of the sky through a portal and shattered its axles as it landed and bounced slightly. All things considered. It had landed pretty softly.
Elizabeth was standing on a balcony that hadn¡¯t been there five minutes ago. She¡¯d watched as a building, complete with power, facilities, and Air Conditioning inside the glass doors that she¡¯d stepped through to get onto this balcony and looked around to see only sand in all directions. The voice had said to get on the balcony and watch after she stepped through. As the bus settled she noticed something in the sky and watched as a man, in a black military-looking flight suit flew into her line of sight and landed lightly before her.
¡°Hello Elizbeth, I apologize about the bus, I¡¯d hoped to brief you before I started moving terrorists to this location.¡±
¡°Terrorist?¡± she asked.
¡°Yes, but he¡¯s not going anywhere, he¡¯s chained to the inside of the bus. He won¡¯t be breaking that chain anytime soon.
¡°Where did the bus come from?¡± she asked as she tried to keep up with the rapid pace things were happening.
¡°Paris,¡± he said.
Elizabeth noticed that a wall that she could see, but also see through was rising out of the sand. She walked over to the rail and noted that the wall in front of the Balcony had stopped just below it, while the walls to her east and west kept rising into the sky until they were at least three times her height.
¡°That is a transparent aluminum wall. This building, which is for you alone, while you¡¯re here sits in the middle of the southern wall of a one-mile square of transparent Aluminum. The wall is frictionlessly smooth and 50 feet high. At the balcony where you¡¯re standing, it¡¯s only 10 feet high but that won¡¯t be a problem¡±
Elizabeth noticed that the bus had landed inside the wall. Also as she watched blinking red lights started flashing along the top of the wall along each of the four sides, ¡°What are you doing?¡±
¡°Currently there are 324 suicide bombers around the world that are going to try to detonate their devices. Unknown to them, all of their explosives have been replaced with Play-Doh. Since they haven¡¯t technically committed a crime I¡¯m sending them all here where you will get to report on their arrival. I will give the government an opportunity to deal with these idiots. There were over 300 innocents near where that asshole, ¡° he said pointing at the guy in the bus¡± tried to detonate. 112 of them were American students on holiday in Paris. Though Americans aren¡¯t the only targets. There will be terrorists arriving from all over the world.¡±
¡°How am I going to report this, I don¡¯t see any Camera?¡± she asked.
He pointed and Elizabeth watched as an image of herself appeared in the air between them, showing a perfect shot of her face and the bus in the background, ¡°Where are the camera¡¯s¡± Elizabeth asked.
¡°If we get to that private interview, I¡¯ll explain that trick. For now, just go with it. I¡¯m connecting you with your boss now.
The image changed from her with the bus in the background to Terry Lawrence her Executive Producer who stepped back from something in front of him. Elizabeth realized it was the screen.
¡°Elizabeth is that you?¡± Terry asked.
¡°Yes, don¡¯t know how to say this but I¡¯ve got a big story to report on, just not exactly sure what it is yet,¡± she said as the man in the black flight suit laughed, then covered the laugh with a fist with a twinkle in his eye.
¡°I bet, whose the military type behind you?¡± Terry asked.
¡°Honestly I don¡¯t know, we just met,¡± she said as she turned and asked, ¡°Do you have a name?¡±
¡°You can call me Adam, it¡¯s what I go by these days,¡± Adam said.
¡°Adam,¡± she said as she looked back at Terry.
¡°We got a call a little bit ago from Cassy, the lady that runs the caf¨¦ you normally stop at, she said you stepped through a wall and disappeared?¡± Terry said.
¡°Adam opened a wormhole or something and I stepped through. I¡¯m now in New Mexico.¡± She said.
¡°Even if I could believe that¡¡± Terry started to say as a portal opened beside him and he looked at Elizabeth directly. ¡°what the hell¡±
Adam flew off the roof, went down to the desert, picked up a handful of sand, flew back up to the roof, stuck his hand through the portal, and dropped the sand at Terry¡¯s feet. Adam pulled his hand back and the portal closed.
¡°Did, did he just fly?¡± Terry stammered.
¡°Yeah, look at your feet Terry,¡± Elizabeth said.
Terry looked down and picked up a pinch of sand, ¡°Okay, slow on the uptake, you have a story. Adam is it? How can we help you and what do you want for the story?
¡°A man that can bounce back and focus, I like that,¡± Adam said nodding. ¡°Elizabeth here is your reporter on site. Over the next couple of hours, I¡¯m going to work to stop terrorists across the world and they will be dumped into this prison of sand, at least until the military arrives.¡±
¡°We don¡¯t have any cameras or crew on sight, how are we to control the angle of view and such?
¡°Look behind you,¡± Adam said as Terry looked and watched two electronic suites form out of nothing.
¡°What are those?¡± Terry asked.
¡°One moment?¡± Adam said as he waited for the nanites to finish connecting everything. ¡°Okay, the two terminals are your controls for the cameras that are already here. No, Elizabeth can¡¯t see the camera¡¯s though I can put a light that she can follow with her eyes if you like. You¡¯ll control the cameras like you¡¯d control the drones with complete autonomy out to one mile outside of the walls I¡¯ve erected around where I¡¯m going to place the terrorist. Don¡¯t worry about flying through the wall, the point of view will travel right through it.¡±
¡°Sound¡¯s simple enough,¡± Terry said.
I also have footage from the bus incident in Paris, at no charge. It¡¯s on the systems before you. I¡¯m going to leave this screen between the two of you open so you can talk and see each other, though,¡± Adam held out his hand and an earbud solidified in it, which Elizabeth took and put in her ear. ¡°This earbud will let you talk to Elizabeth directly. I will not be in this original footage. You will both receive information concerning the individuals popping in. Where they¡¯re from, what they were trying to do, and if possible their names, though I might not have them for a while. Where you are now is not too far from Holloman AFB so once the military gets wind of this they¡¯ll probably head this way. With Satellites, they should be able to detect this location and move in within the first two hours. I¡¯ll send a general I met the information about this location and what¡¯s going on with instructions not to interfere with Elizabeth so long as your network doesn¡¯t bash on the military. For reasons I¡¯m not going to go into now, I¡¯ll just say You will need all of them shortly so better to make friends than enemies at this point. Any questions?¡±
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
¡°A ton but the only important one right now is, how do we contact you?¡±
¡°I am paying attention to both of you, if you have a question, Terry just say your question and I¡¯ll hear you. Elizabeth if you are on air, text me at the number you have, and I¡¯ll see it,¡± Adam said pausing as he looked off into the distance, ¡°Now if you¡¯ll excuse me, I have work to do, Activity will start shortly,¡± Adam said as he disappeared and Elizabeth felt a gust of wind and knew that he¡¯d flown straight up.
¡°He flew away didn¡¯t he?¡± Terry asked.
¡°Yea, but I don¡¯t think he¡¯s a Superman type. I¡¯m getting more of a Batman feel from this guy.,¡± Elizabeth said.
¡°Thanks, I always liked Batman,¡± Adam said from Elizabeth¡¯s earbud.
***
Adam headed back for his base. Once he¡¯d set started deactivating all of the suicide bombers, he¡¯d set the nanites to work creating more portals and a chamber he could use to open to other planets and spread nanites around throughout the solar system. Teleport might only have a limited range, but he knew from experience that his portals, with enough power, could reach across the galaxy. Right now, he¡¯d settle for the solar system.
He''d thought about how to make the biggest impact. While having the terrorist evaporate around the world with their bombs would be safer, it would probably cause more problems than it would solve. As he was flying over Nevada he decide to call General Cain. He didn¡¯t bother pulling out his phone and just used his nanite link to mask his location while he synthesized his voice so there was no air whistling in the background.
¡°Yes,¡± the General asked as he picked up the phone beside his sink.
¡°Is this a good time?¡±
¡°Who is this?¡± the General asked.
¡°We talked a little while ago, you received 30 packages from me?¡±
¡°I¡¯m listening,¡± the general said.
¡°Major attacks were in the process of hitting a lot of soft targets across the world. There is now a complex in White Sands New Mexico where all the bombers will be confined shortly. Elizabeth Day, WNN Reporter is already there and will be reporting on this all day. All of their bombs have been neutralized, they¡¯re carrying Play-Doh instead of C4 or Plastique and they¡¯ll be locked down inside a square mile wall of transparent aluminum. Make sure your vehicle operators know so they don¡¯t crash into the walls. They¡¯re buried pretty deep and a foot thick so they¡¯re not budging. There are red flashing lights on all the walls so they should be able to easily tell where they are.
¡°Why are you calling me with this, I don¡¯t handle¡¡±
¡°General, 31 Aliens were headed to Earth to work at subjugating the planet. There are bigger concerns than military jurisdiction. On that note, convey to whomever you pass this task to that the Reporter in Switzerland. I¡¯m watching all of you right now, Yes, I see the toothbrush in your hand that you¡¯re now setting it down on the counter. Admiral Fitz has just turned to WNN news and is reaching for his phone, that should be him now. Remember, Switzerland,¡± Adam said as he ended his call and watched as General Cain answered the call from Admiral Fitz while turning on WNN
¡°This is Elizabeth Day, we are bringing you footage from the amazing events that happened in Paris earlier today. It seems that a man, whose identity is unknown, is thought to have wanted to blow himself up in the vicinity of 300 or more people that included 112 American students on vacation in Paris. Luckily the bomb did not detonate, and everyone was able to evacuate the bus and the area. As police were moving in, this happened,¡± Elizabeth said as the image shifted to a side view of the bus. The ground seemed to expand suddenly ad the bus fell through the hole and disappeared. The angle of view shifted again to show the bus falling through a hole in the predawn sky and landing on a bed of white sand. The image shifted yet again to the terrorist who bounced around inside the bus until a circle of metal appeared around his waist that was attached to a chain hooked to an eyehole on the floor of the bus.
The image refocused on Elizabeth with the Bus sitting on the sand below and behind her with the terrorist clearly visible and looking in her direction, ¡°As you can see the terrorist is still locked down in the bus¡.¡±
Adam stopped listening to the broadcast and continued west. While he did so, he began to capture and divert the terrorist into the enclosed walls near Elizabeth after making sure to send a quick head s up of where the Terrorists had been, who, they¡¯d been about to kill and who they were if he was able to figure it out before capturing them.
Elizabeth kept reporting.
Adam arrived at the base and looked at its progress. It was coming along and the extra portal machines and reactors he had put the nanites to creating. He also started opening portals to the inner planets and asteroid belts and dropping off nanites as fast as he could create them.
The Military arrived two hours after Elizabeth had started broadcasting. While Elizabeth was broadcasting a man came running into the building she was standing on and up to the balcony as he looked around yelling, ¡°Shut down your equipment now!¡±
Elizabeth looked started, which played well for the camera while the Captain screamed and fell through a hole that deposited him exactly 20 feet above the pool at Holloman Airforce base which he promptly fell into. The two security airmen that had been following the officer stopped and looked at each other, then slowly backed down the stairs and returned to their helicopter.
Adam sent a text to General Cain and Admiral Fitz
Gentlemen, Elizabeth Day is Switzerland, I want her to report what she sees. The Captain is dragging himself out of the pool at Holloman AFB. The next time the portal will open somewhere a lot less comfortable. Think of the building as an inviolable embassy. When I¡¯m done stopping terrorists I¡¯ll be in touch -IFM
General Cain picked up his phone to call Admiral Fitz.
¡°Who does this asshole think he is?¡± Admiral Fitz asked angrily.
¡°No idea but if he is IFM then he has a vehicle that can travel from Mach 5 to Mach 10 in less than a second, can teleport, yes teleport. 30 people appeared out of thin air on the tarmac at Area 51¡¡±
¡°And can see you wherever you are on the planet,¡± Adam had his nanites transmit into the conversation.
Both men were so startled they both dropped their phones
General Cain was the first to recover as he picked up the phone and put it to his ear, ¡°Admiral Fitz, you still there.¡±
Admiral Fitz picked up his phone, looked around angrily then hung up. Adam could see that Admiral Fitz was one of those people that would need to be convinced. He didn¡¯t have time for this right now.
Adam continued to work on the terrorist while he expanded his base. He didn¡¯t have the kind of infrastructure he wanted and it was a race against the clock to try to get all of the terrorists captured with the few resources he had. While he was working on the terrorist issue, he also started having the nanites create a base under the surface on the back side of the moon, while he utilized another portal to reach out and spread nanites across Earth orbit to ensure he had a presence on the space stations and weapons platforms there. Adam went to work, doing the calculations and making sure everything went smoothly, while still working on the terrorist problem
Once he was back in his bunker started using Mold Chaos to create more and more nanites. He watched as Admiral Cain worked to get Admiral Fitz to stand down and how Admiral Fitz ordered a conventional cruise missile strike from a submarine in the Gulf of Mexico.
That was one step too far and Adam provided nanite camera footage of the order, the launch, and the missile getting within 500 feet of the target as a portal opened and it disappeared through it. Adam didn¡¯t share that he¡¯d opened the other end of that portal into deep space with a trajectory that would eventually have the cruise missile fall into the sun. The footage just showed the missile entering a dark portal.
Minutes after Terry broadcast the information to the world, armed security personnel rushed in and arrested Admiral Fitz by order of the President of the United States for use of ordnance without specific approval against a target on American soil. It seemed that General Cain could get things done if push came to shove. Adam watched a conversation between the General and the President but it didn¡¯t amount to much, just the General¡¯s conjecture that Adam wasn¡¯t a threat to the United States and that they should try Diplomacy before trying to take action.
Adam also watched the rest of the world. The Russian and Chinese leaders were watching the WNN footage and contacting their scientists to see if what was happening on the News was possible. The scientists thought so, but they had no idea how to replicate what they saw.
Finally, at 6:35 p.m. every terrorist that had been part of the July 3rd and 4th planned attacks around the world was captured and sitting in the sandbox Adam had created. He didn¡¯t give them any kind of comfort and the walls helped block any breeze. He let them sweat and soil themselves with little thought of mercy. Though he did supply water. No food though
Elizabeth on the other hand had a nice building she could retreat into when it became too warm, with fresh drinks of whatever she wanted. During a break, she¡¯d sat down and had lunch. She¡¯d asked Adam what she could have and he¡¯d told her to say what she wanted. She had and watched as it formed before her eyes.
Now that the day was over and Adam had most of the solar system seeded with nanites he opened a portal near Elizabeth and stepped through. Elizabeth looked up, ¡°Is that it?¡± She asked.
¡°That¡¯s it for now,¡± Adam said.
¡°What are you going to do next?¡± Elizabeth asked.
¡°I¡¯m going to open a portal for you to get back with Terry, let the military round up the assholes on the sand over there, then I¡¯m going to return this place to the sand,¡± Adam said.
¡°That easily,¡±
¡°There¡¯s nothing easy about it but I¡¯ll give you a hint, it has to do with the interface message you received on the 1st, Labyrinth LLC and me of course.¡±
¡°Labyrinth LLC, how are they¡¡±
¡°Elizabeth, you¡¯ve been here for twelve hours, time to head home. You have a number to call me. When you¡¯ve had a shower, talked to your producers, talked with the FBI, who will ask you all about me,¡± he said, then paused as he plucked a hair from his head, and put it into a zip log bag that appeared in his hand. Offering the Ziplock bag that she took, he continued, ¡°Give this to them when they ask if you have any DNA samples, it won¡¯t help them but they can have my DNA. Anyway, time for you to be off, I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll talk again soon,¡± Adam said as he opened a portal into the production room at WNN in New York where Terry was in shouting into the phone,¡± Our numbers were how high?¡± Adam watched Elizabeth step through the portal with a smile on her face as she looked over her shoulder one last time before the portal closed.
The task of making himself a spectacle had been successful Adam was about to go acquire some funds from south of the border when something completely unexpected happened:
Quest System is now Active
You have received the Quest
Discover why Admiral Fitz ordered the attack on Elizabeth Day
Reward: Variable.
Adam looked at Quest in his messages and considered every possible reason a Quest could be generated if this were the real world. There were a couple of outrageous reasons he could think of, but they were just outrageous. Adam opened up his interface and contacted Hal.
Adam: Hal? How am I receiving quests in the ¡°Real¡± world, with emphasis on the word ¡°Real¡±?
Hal: The quest message came in through the new universal interface ability. It¡¯s tied to it somehow.
Adam switched to his nanite interface and then did a search on the web for ¡°Quests given through new Interface.¡± Millions of responses came back from the inquiry.
Adam: Okay Hal, it¡¯s not limited to me, see if you can figure out what¡¯s going on, you¡¯re supposed to be the ability interface I can go to for these kinds of questions.
Hal: That is true. It is also true that you tend to blow up things, break things, and just plain muck up anything you interact with at some level.
Adam:¡I¡¯d argue but that¡¯s fair. Let me know if you find anything, please.
When Adam didn¡¯t receive a response he activate Obscure and Flight and flew off to the east, heading toward Norfolk naval station where the Admiral had seemed to have a mental breakdown and was under arrest.
Adam had kept track of Admiral Fitz and knew exactly where he was. He flew up into low orbit, above the atmosphere so the satellites wouldn¡¯t detect him, and covered 1,700 miles in a moment. Once he was over Norfolk, he slowed down and descended to hover over the building the Admiral was in.
Adam watched the Admiral through the nanites in the room as he sent some of them into the Admiral¡¯s body. He was expecting to find some form of brain damage or mental instability. What Adam was not expecting to find was a small worm that had nestled at the base of the Admiral¡¯s skull and had nerve tendrils that reached up into the Admiral¡¯s brain. Adam was also pretty sure the worm wasn¡¯t something indigenous to Earth. A quick check through all sources he was connected to easily verified that the worm was something no one on Earth had ever seen before.
Adam sent out a mass order worldwide for his nanites to enter and scan all creatures looking for this parasite. Once the scan was done they were to withdraw unless they were rendering medical aid. It only took about 5 minutes for Adam to discover that the Admiral was the only being on earth with a worm like this inside him. Adam even had the nanites check the 30 Pelza Empire captives which also came up negative.
As Adam was hovering over the building his attention was drawn to the shoreline near a sidewalk where a being, because it wasn¡¯t a man came up out of the water. He noticed it because his True Sight noted that the movement was being detected by reflected sound. The being was invisible to normal light. Adam watched as it moved closer and closer to the building the Admiral was in. It looked like a man but was thinner and had fins on its calves and arms. Adam tried to send his nanites into the being only to discover that his nanites could not.
As the Aquatic Man Creature came close to the building he walked right past a soldier that didn¡¯t even react to his presence. His stealth capabilities must be extremely high. Adam floated down and came to hover ten feet behind the creature.
Just as the creature was about to step onto the steps that led up to the brig, he stopped and raised its nose to the sky, sniffing lightly before he turned, and a fountain of water sprayed up and into Adam¡¯s general direction. Adam teleported behind the creature and tried to deliver a crippling blow only to find the creature dodging the attack as if he could see where Adam was and returned a roundhouse kick that should have knocked the air out of Adam if they¡¯d been about equal in strength.
The only reason that Adam paused was because he had been surprised when the kick connected. He¡¯d been far too overconfident and hadn¡¯t been on the defensive at all. The creature was more surprised though when its leg snapped against Adam as if he were made of steel. Just as Adam was about press his attack. A cylinder of water replaced where the creature had been. The creature escaped as the water column sloshed to the ground and spread out. The guard that had been walking away turned and rushed back toward the sound and looked down at the soaked pavement then around as Adam slowly rose back up into the air.
Adam checked his Combat log to see if he could glean some information from it and found something he hadn¡¯t expected.
Atlantean kicks Adam with High, Step 2 Strength.
Endurance Step 4 resists all damage. Damage reflected on the attacker.
The attacker¡¯s leg takes High Step 2 Strength damage, Leg breaks.
Atlantean has activated Translocation ability.
Adam stopped reading his combat log when he reached the word Atlantean. He¡¯d run into an honest-to-god Atlantean, what were the odds of that happening? Also, the Atlanteans were somehow tied up with subjugating the Admiral in some way. Why would they do that?
A chime sounded.
DING!
You have discovered why Admiral Fitz ordered the attack on Elizabeth Day
Congratulations you receive a Low-level reward.
Reward, You have received one Water Quintessence
That was unexpected, What was controlling this new quest system? Why was it giving out quintessence? Adam would need to figure that out, but he would have to do it later. Adam floated up into the air a little higher then focused on the Admiral and the nanites within him in his room. With laser focus and nanite precision Adam went to work removing the worm from the Admiral¡¯s brain. He was relying on the information he had from his origin Universe but it would have to do. He would just have to hope the information was accurate and the nanites could keep the Admiral stable and alive.
The procedure took the better part of two hours but when it was done Adam copied the scans of the Admiral and wrote a note to the General.
¡°General Cain,
Admiral Fitz was being controlled by an alien organism. I just spent the last two hours removing it from him, Well sit down and discuss this all very soon. For now, the Admiral is sleeping in his cell.¡°
Adam sent the message off to the General¡¯s encrypted email account.
Adam opened a portal beside him and stepped through into his bunker. It had been a long day, he was tired and needed some rest. Just as his head hit the pillow he received a message from, Hal.
Hal: The Interface ability has evolved and added the Quest System to itself. I do not believe it¡¯s fully sentient but I do believe that the many connections it¡¯s created throughout the Astral Plane are acting as Neurons and it is growing more intelligent each moment.
Adam: Well that idea hadn¡¯t been all that outrageous after all.
Chapter 179, Where does the Treasure Come From?
Hal: What do you mean that the idea hadn¡¯t been all that outrageous after all?
For this conversation, it would be easier to talk so I dropped my focus into my Mindspace, ¡°It wasn¡¯t that outrageous after all,¡± Adam said, addressing Hal¡¯s morphing form, ¡°because I¡¯ve seen it happen before in the simulation. I¡¯ll admit, on this scale the idea is daunting though.
¡°How so,¡± Hal asked.
¡°I hypothesize that the Astral Plane is being used as the fluid of a brain where each universe is acting as a neuron of sorts for a brain. Probably¡No, most likely my fault when I destroyed the Battery Planet. I have a permanent link to the Astral and I know that it copied something from me when it started imprinting the Interface ability across every Universe it¡¯s connected to. I can even understand how it might have come up with creating a quest system in the state it¡¯s in. My new true form isn¡¯t much different after all. But one thing has me puzzled.
¡°Only one thing?¡± Hal asked.
¡°More than one of course, is it neutral? Will it try to kill all life if it gets a chance? Those are questions for the future. My question right now is how did it transport ¡®treasure¡¯ to me? How did it create or move the Water Quintessence to my location so that it would appear in my Shadow Vault when the quest was deemed complete? Which of course brings up the other obvious questions, who or what is creating the quests and deciding the rewards?¡±
Hal was silent for a moment, then responded, ¡°Those are very good questions.
¡°Would you look into it while I nap, I need to rest for a bit? Not long, but I do need to close my eyes.¡±
¡°Of Course,¡± Hal said as Adam withdrew from his Mindspace and allowed himself to fall asleep.
Adam dreamed. he dreamed of fantastic empires that spanned universes, others that were much smaller and only existed in a forest, a cave, underwater, in the desert, and on and on. The images were so realistic that Adam could almost touch everything. The images came faster and faster until it was drowned out and became a background, each scene a dot in a mirage of light and energy. The noise faded into a single sound that existed behind all other sounds. The images blurred into a hazy white light that surrounded him with hints of colors that changed too rapidly for the eye or mind to catch. It was more information than he could ever understand at once. It was more information than anyone could comprehend.
Adam cast a thought into the hazy whiteness, ¡°Why am I seeing this?¡±
Adams surrounding shuddered and he felt a rushing sensation as an image rushed at him out of the whiteness that surrounded him until he looked down on the eastern seaboard of the United States from low orbit. The planet rushed toward him and suddenly he was rushing underwater to the seabed where a crack in the seafloor lead down another 100 feet or so to a swirling blue pool of energy. The image flashed through the pool and panned back looking in the direction it had just come from to see a swirling portal
Adam sent another thought out into this ¡®dream¡¯? ¡°Why show me this?¡±
There was no coherent answer, no voice speaking to him or the hint of a mind concentrating enough to even send a thought to him. Instead, Adam received a feeling he knew all too well as an image of him surrounding Adaline and Pandora as the world they stood on in his Soul Space exploded, ¡°Must Protect¡±
Adam woke with a start and checked the clock in his interface. It was 7 a.m. on July 4th CST. It was much earlier than where he was near Hawaii, but his interface was still on the time zone for New Mexico. He¡¯d been sleeping for almost 13 hours.
Adam said, ¡°AL, Did you try to wake me up over the last 12 hours?¡±
¡°I did, you were unresponsive,¡± Al said.
¡°Did you try physical stimulation?¡± Adam said.
¡°I apologize for any lasting damage to your right foot which receive a pretty healthy shock,¡± AL said.
Adam looked at his right foot which appeared unharmed. Not a dream then. He might need to shield himself¡then he stopped and reached out with his nanites which now covered the entire surface of the planet again. 100 feet below the ocean floor in the Atlantic, 10 miles east of Norfolk Virginia there was a portal to another place. Additionally, unlike the dream, his nanites informed him that the portal was acting like a firehose. Fresh water was spilling into the Atlantic Ocean at an extremely high pressure.
Adam sent a command to the nanites on Mars to start creating a 100-foot wall completely around the colony, and the Chinese, Russian, and American Secret bases in various locations. He set the perimeter to a one-mile radius. Once that was started he placed a portal directly above the rift in space in the Atlantic and had the other end open onto the north pole of Mars. They¡¯d been wondering how to get fresh water up there for a while now. Most of it would freeze and then evaporate over time but if the water kept spreading it might help create an actual atmosphere on Mars, though 33%oxygen and 66% hydrogen were going to make for an explosive outcome. As a stop-gap measure, this should work. Also, he hoped that whatever had opened the portal would close it.
That settled for the moment, Adam checked on White Sands and found that all the prisoners had been removed and taken to the Holloman air base where they were being interrogated. Adam didn¡¯t concern himself with that, he was more worried about Pelza Empire and how the planet was going to react to magic becoming mainstream. He¡¯d seen multiple scenarios play out and he was hoping to stem the chaos this time.
It was time to get to work. Adam checked on General Cain¡¯s location and then sent him a text. He waited until the general picked up the phone and then started his countdown. The text read, ¡°Magic Portal opening at your location in 10 seconds after you start reading this message.¡±
It was comical. The General looked up in shock and had time to say, ¡°He¡¯ll be here¡¡± as Adam¡¯s portal opened into the Oval Office and he stepped through closing it behind me. For this meeting, Adam had his nanites clean and press his black Flight Suit with a patch on my right shoulder that had ¡°IFM,¡± just because he felt like being a smart ass.
Everyone in the room had stopped talking. The President was leaning against his Desk while the Secretary of Defense sat on one couch, opposite General Cain who sat on another and looked at Adam as he stood opposite the President as a question popped into his vision and was minimized.
NEW QUEST
D¨¦j¨¤ vu
Try to convince the rulers of Earth to help you protect the Planet from Forces greater than them, or go Full asshole dictator like last time, it¡¯s up to you
REWARD?
This is a multistage quest. The final reward will be based on the number of world leaders that are convinced to help you.
The snark level of these quest prompts was starting to remind me of a quest system in a series he¡¯d read. Was the system using his own experiences and subconscious in addition to creating these new quests?
Congratulations, you have completed a hidden quest.
Figure out how the Quest System generates the information it utilizes to create the quests.
Reward, You have received one Order Quintessence.
Adam checked his Shadow Vault and yes, both the Water Quintessence and the Order Quintessence were now in Shadow Vault with his 4 Death and 3 Strength Quintessence. How was the quest system moving items to him? He already knew physical objects could not travel through the Astral Plane. It had to be using some form of teleportation or dimensional translocation, except on a Universal scale. All of these thoughts were going through his mind as secret service agents rushed into the room, determined the threat, and tried to fire. Firearms don¡¯t work when the blasting caps on bullets are changed to Play-Doh. What was it with Play-Doh, was it becoming his go-to disarming technique? Maybe he should find something else to use. No, he used Play-doh because it kept the shape it was in and could be converted back easily enough if he needed to.
Adam stood completely still and activated Flight to lock him in place as two of the agents dropped their guns, drew combat knives, and moved in, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t do that,¡± he said just before both of them struck. The one on his left went for an upper back spinal injury while the one on his right brought the knife down on his chest for a perfect stab into his heart.
While the agents continued to attack him with their knives, Two more Secret Service agents were moving toward the President. Adam never took his gaze from the President. As the Secret Service reached the President and moved to exit the room a Portal appeared covering every exit. Outside the Oval Office portal appeared as well. If someone stepped through one, they would exit out of a portal on the other side of the office. As the Secret Service tried to exit out of the Oval Office through the exit to Adam¡¯s right, the President and Secret Service agents entered the room from a portal to Adam¡¯s left. Only then did the Secret Service agents that had been attacking Adam pause as new commands came through their earpieces.
The Agents looked at Adam¡¯s shredded uniform as they stepped back to stand in front of the President. General Cain looked over at Adam and the Secretary of Defense hadn¡¯t moved either.
Adam looked at the General as he said, ¡°I see that they¡¯re still training anyone on the couches that are non-hostiles to not move,¡± and had the nanites repair his flight suit, which caused the Defense Secretary to gasp.
¡°Why are you here?¡± The President asked.
¡°A couple of reasons, but mostly to keep my word and talk with General Cain.¡±
¡°You could have called?¡± General Cain said.
¡°Where is the fun in that?¡± Adam said. ¡°Besides, you need to understand exactly how outclassed you are compared to the enemies that I captured for you. You were lucky only one of them could use magic. If he hadn¡¯t tried to destroy the ship you could have talked to him.¡±
¡°So there is a ship?¡± The Secretary of Defense said.
¡°Don¡¯t get your panties in a wad. We don¡¯t need to get sidetracked. Mr. President, who is the number one threat to the National Security of the United States?¡± Adam asked
¡°Right now, You?¡± The President said.
Adam looked thoughtful for a moment then said, ¡°Fair. Who, a person, is the number 2 threat to the National Security of the United States that is not the leader of a foreign nation.?
¡°That¡¯s easy, ¡°Abdul, Alzar Karif¡±
¡°One moment,¡± Adam said as he activate Obscure, and opened a portal in the ceiling that lead to a portal in the floor of an underground bunker directly behind Abdul Alzar Karif. Adam rose up behind Abdul as he turned and looked down into a hole in the floor behind him. He¡¯d been eating alone in his room when light seemed to come up from the floor behind him. Adam grabbed him by his neck and head, lifted him up and over the chair, and dropped back through the portal, while he had his nanites destroy all weapons and transmitters on his body.
The President, his four secret Service agents, General Cain, and the Secretary of Defense watched a portal open in the ceiling as Adam disappeared. A moment later Abdul Alzar Karif dropped through the portal held by an invisible force that dropped him on the floor before the Secret Service agents. The Portal in the ceiling closed and Adam became visible as he said, ¡°He¡¯s been disarmed but he¡¯s, oh watch out.¡± Adam said as Abdul sprang to his feet and tried to go for the President.
Adam sent the nanites into Abdul¡¯s body as the Secret Service agents did everything they¡¯d tried to do to Adam a moment ago, with even more gusto. When they were done they would have killed Abdul Alzar Karif ten times over. The nanites were able to keep him alive but his body had gone into shock after the first round of attacks. He¡¯d been unconscious ever since.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Adam clapped as he floated back to stand where he¡¯d entered the room, ¡°Damn, they really do train you guys well,¡± Adam said the Secret Service Agents looked at him disdainfully. ¡°Don¡¯t sweat not being able to do the same to me. I¡¯m not Superman but my body is so dense that nothing you could have tried would have killed me. Anyway, Mr. President. Your call, do you want that terrorist alive or dead?¡±
¡°I would like him interrogated,¡± The President said admonishingly to the two Secret Service agents that both looked unremorseful for doing their duty, which Adam could appreciate.
¡°Very well,¡± Adam said as he opened a portal to a cell in Area 51. ¡°That portal beside you opens to one of General Cain¡¯s cells in Area 51 on sublevel 23. Cell 4. Just toss him through and General Cain will have access to him, ¡° Adam said.
¡°Do it!¡± the President said.
Two of the agents reached down, grabbed Abdul by his arms and legs, and heaved him through the portal onto the cot that was on the other side of the portal where he landed in a lump.
¡°Where did you get him from?¡± The Secretary of Defense asked. ¡°More importantly does anyone know we have him?¡±
He was in his room in a bunker in Afghanistan, there were no cameras. He did have a tracker, it¡¯s been destroyed,¡± Adam said. ¡°The only people in the world that know where he is are in this room and cell 4 at Area 51,¡± Adam said.
¡°And you could do this for all the enemies of the United States?¡±
¡°No Mr. President, this is a show of power. I can do this to anyone that becomes my enemy on this planet.
¡°You must sleep,¡± the Secretary of Defense said.
Karen, what an appropriate name, Karen Gallagher was 56 years old. A Mother of 3, she had 7 grandchildren and was the Acting Secretary of Defense. I had the nanites in the room create images along the roof of video scenes of all three of her kids and all of her grandkids, ¡°As do you,¡± I said looking at the roof. ¡°They are all very adorable,¡± Adam said.
Karen looked up, froze, looked at the clock then huffed, ¡°Well, I have never¡¡± Karen started to say.
The images disappeared and Adam looked back to the President, ignoring Karen, and then said, ¡°I¡¯m not here to make threats. If I wanted everyone on this planet to die, all I¡¯d need to do is remove the portal that is diverting fresh water that was coming through a rift in space in the Atlantic. The sea levels would rise and then millions, probably billions would die. By the way, I¡¯ve diverted that water to the North pole of Mars now and I¡¯ve raised walls around the various colonies and secret bases on Mars.¡±
¡°What secret bases,¡± The President said interrupting Adam.
¡°Yours, the Chinese and the Russians, as well as the Colony everyone knows about, ¡°Adam said.
General Cain finally asked, ¡°How?¡±
¡°The how isn¡¯t important, or the why. All you need to know is where I¡¯m from, NOT this planet, I was an American Citizen and I like the way Americans handle socioeconomics. Of course, improvements can be made but fake socialists grabbing power for themselves while millions suffer, never works,¡± Adam said pausing for a moment. ¡°Look at me falling into lecture mode. I¡¯m going to switch it up and let you know what is going on, well some of it at least,¡± Adam said as he floated up and took a seated position in the air above everyone.
¡°One, I am not from this Universe. Two, The Pelza Empire wanted to Turn this universe into a Battery.¡±
¡°How does one, oh never mind,¡± General Cain said as I looked at him and Karen fumed but stayed silent.,
¡°There¡¯s a lot to the story but part of the puzzle starts with Dr. Brittle at Labyrinth LLC.¡±
¡°The women responsible for the millions of deaths?¡± The President asked.
¡°The same. She was an agent for the Pelza Empire tasked with finding Universes to target. Your scientists here didn¡¯t realize what they¡¯d done when they created the game ¡®The Labyrinth.¡¯ What they didn¡¯t know is that instead of just creating a game they imprinted an artificial universe matrix in a virgin Universe, one that was going just starting to exist after its big bang. The energy matrix held and the Universe worked as programmed. The minds that downloaded into the ¡®game¡¯ actually visited another universe.
¡°That¡¯s absurd?¡± Karen said. ¡°Video games as reality, what utter horseshit!¡±
¡°Except that I¡¯m the proof. You see the Pelza Empire had a device that could absorb and convert 99.9% of the energy in an infinite universe into an energy source that they use to power their vehicles and improve their Cultivator rank.¡±
¡°What¡¯s a cultivator?¡± The President asked.
¡°Anyone that can use magic, for the most part. Anyway, Dr. Brittle, Commander Erika Johansson of the Pelza Empire discovered this and had them target their machine at the universe the game was housed in. Just as it was about to finish destroying the game universe, I made my way into it from one of the Universes the A.I. had created to save the minds of everyone that you think has died.¡±
¡°Are you saying they¡¯re alive?¡± General Cain asked.
¡°Their bodies are most definitely dead, but their mentality, their soul lives on in the backup universe the A.I. created,¡± Adam said.
¡°You said, you entered the Universe right before it was destroyed, weren¡¯t you destroyed too.?¡± Karen asked smugly as she thought she¡¯d caught me in a lie.
¡°Why yes Karen, I did lose my entire physical form and existed as a single mote of Chaos until my body reformed.
¡°You realize that¡¯s hard to believe?¡± The President said.
¡°What should be hard to believe is that your entire nuclear arsenal, even the nuclear weapons buried near Amarillo, that you think no one knows about have had all their nuclear material turned in Play-Doh and you¡¯re stuck on what I just told you. You all need to focus.¡±
¡°What happened next,¡± The President asked.
¡°I learned what it was to exist in the real Universe, blew up the Battery Plant, and saved the Day, or so I thought,¡± Adam said wistfully
¡°Let¡¯s say we believe what you¡¯re saying,¡± The President said doubtfully, ¡°why are you telling us all this?
¡°Because when I blew up the Battery Plant something was changed fundamentally across all the universes and dimensions, as far as I can tell. The interface ability and now the quest system became active.¡±
¡°We¡¯ve seen the quest system, I have received multiple quests in the last two days and have been receiving rewards in the form of money, potions, and other items I don¡¯t know what to do with?¡± The President said.
¡°Have you received a quest concerning me, any of you?¡± Adam asked as he looked around the room
¡°No¡¯s¡± and shakes of the head went around the room.
¡°One of the fundamental ideas behind a quest system is that the quest must be able to be accomplished. None of you are receiving quests concerning me because I am far too overpowered for any of you. If it is working like that, then there is hope for this planet.
¡°How are you too overpowered?¡± Karen asked belligerently. ¡°You just look like some spoiled kid from the suburbs.¡±
Just then a message came through his nanite interface indicating that the portal ejecting the water had moved. Adam turned off his portal and wasn¡¯t surprised as another rift opened which he promptly covered with another portal to Mars.
¡°It would seem that who, or whatever, wants to flood this planet is being a bit of a nuisance. I need to take care of that problem momentarily so I¡¯m going to address a couple of things and then leave you to discuss things privately.
¡°One, General Cain, I am IFM. I can travel faster than Mach 10, and I was what was intercepted by FM1.
Two, The Pelza Empire did have a ship, I have it now. It contains faster-than-light engines and teleportation Arrays as well as other technologies. I might, at some point be willing to hand that over, after I use it to visit a certain Empire.
Three, I have the A.I. that has the coordinates where all the minds of those thought dead are now. I also have the technology to create the machines that can create bodies so we can download those minds into bodies in this Universe.
Four, Magic is most definitely real, it exists and the United States is really far behind as compared to the Pelza Empire.
Five, the politics of Earth do not matter to me as anything other than a system I will try to work within until it refuses to work with me. You do not want to see what that looks like,¡± Adam said as he listed off everything.
¡°Finally, I can see everything that happens on this planet, In a moment I¡¯m going to go set up my finances worldwide. After that, I¡¯m going to go take care of the problem that is shooting water into our ocean, which by the way is probably the same people that infected Admiral Fitz.¡±
¡°Hold One,¡± General Cain said. ¡°You¡¯re listing a lot of stuff but I have to know, how did you detect the infection and heal it?
¡°That is a secret we do not have time to go into right now. Suffice it to say I checked everyone on Earth, even our Pelza Empire guests, and no one else had the Worms in their head.¡±
¡°And we¡¯re supposed to take your word for it?¡± The Secretary of Defense asked
¡°Lady, I don¡¯t know what the fuck your problem is but the last Government official that fucked with me was the Vice President of my United States. She even tried to bombard me with an Orbital Strike, but it failed. Now listen close, When I destroyed the device that could have destroyed the Universe, not just this planet, Solar System, or Galaxy, the entire fucking Universe, I was immediately reincarnated. I am not a God, I can die, but I come back. I was in a universe where every living being within it was scrambled into an energy soup those Bastards in the Pelza Empire use to run their vibrators. They are on my Shit list. When I get done with them their Emperor will be a smoking crater. As for Vice President. She kept doing stupid shit. The last time I wasn¡¯t as hands-off as I¡¯m trying to be this time. People were still free but what allows me to know everything that is happening, let¡¯s just say I can make that setting personally intrusive to everyone. When her crimes were made known to the public the masses lynched her, ¡°Adam said with fire in his blood as he looked at Karen, who couldn¡¯t meet his gaze.
Adam looked around and realized everyone in the room was sitting very still trying to fight their reflex to flee. They looked as if a great weight were being pressed down on them. Were auras a thing now? Well, shit, he knew jack squat about auras, and he was Step 4 attributes. That could be really bad, he was going to need to be careful. Adam took a few deep breaths and forced himself to relax then addressed the President.
¡°My family is trapped in one of the Universes I¡¯ve described. My goal is to bring them out. I can do that with a hand¡¯s off, or hands-on approach. Hands-on, I¡¯m the boss, the countries go away and Earth is a Utopia for everyone that follows my rules. Those that don¡¯t,¡± Adam said as he point to a magazine on the coffee table and it disintegrated. ¡°Yes, with a thought I could do that to everything and everyone anywhere on this planet.¡±
Before Karen could retort, the President held up a hand, ¡°What do you need from us then.¡±
¡°I¡¯m not exactly sure yet, just stay out of my way and stop trying to intercept me when I¡¯m flying around. I need to handle this problem in the Atlantic. Whatever is controlling the portal is trying to move it to various locations underwater. I keep capping it with one of my portals but some fresh water is making it into the ocean. I need to go find out who, or what is doing this and stop them. Now if you¡¯ll excuse me Adam said as he opened a portal and stepped through.
When the portal closed The Secretary of Defense said, ¡°What an asshole!¡± under her breath.
Adam¡¯s voice came clearly through the President¡¯s intercom on his desk. ¡°Three last things. First, assume everything you say everywhere, even in the toilet is being recorded, it is. This is true for everyone on the planet and started a day ago. Second, I can control any machine anywhere in this solar system. You¡¯d have figured it out sooner or later. Third, Yes Karen, I can be an Asshole,¡± Adam said and then broke the link.
Adam had opened a portal into a cash storage room in a money laundering outfit in Mexico City and then focused on the money around him. He was in one of the many launderings places for the various organizations that were into shady dealings. This one was run by the Son of the Crown Prince of some middle eastern nation that Adam wasn¡¯t going to bother remembering the name of. Of course, he was going to remember, he was just choosing not to because if he was being Hands-on, that dirtbag wouldn¡¯t exist anymore. Karen for all her bitchiness didn¡¯t seem like a bad person from everything he read about her. She just didn¡¯t like bullies and reacted badly to them every time. Adam could admit he was being a tad, okay more than a tad, heavy-handed, but in his defense, not everyone had nanites in them yet.
Adam started conjuring, you know what, screw this it would be too slow, he thought. Adam activated Obscure and Flight, opened a portal stepped through to hover five miles above the Atlantic Ocean. While he hovered there he went to work.
First, he created bank accounts in everyone major bank around the world using his nanites to hack into every computer system and add his five identities to each bank.
Second, he started moving laundered money across the world by making a copy of it inside a bank stacked and wrapped and all the corresponding documentation that was required for all deposits, including videos of himself depositing money by ATM. There were just over 44,000 banks and Credit Unions around the world. In each, he created five bank accounts, one for each of his identities with $1,000 in both a savings and checking account. Then he created records of a wire transfer of $900 from each checking account to one account in Switzerland.
Within 5 minutes Adam had 5 accounts in Switzerland with $39,600,000 in them and another 219,995 accounts with $100 in a checking account and $1,000 in the attached savings account. He created a single credit card that could activate every account and put it in his Shadow Vault. Now he could enter any city and withdraw money without needing to think about it. Also, at a 1.5% interest rate he¡¯d be making 5.9 million dollars in interest on each of the accounts in Switzerland, after taxes, he could spend 10 million dollars and not be worried about it. Of course, he could create money out of thin air but ruining a few criminals¡¯ lives and doing it in a way that could most likely never be traced, that was just icing on the cake.
What happened to the money in the money laundering buildings all over the world? Well, he disintegrated any bill he replicated into a bank vault. He didn¡¯t want two bills with the same serial number floating around.
Adam missed the ability that let him get money with no issue but he¡¯d done this in 10 minutes and if he was in a medieval Universe he could always use Mold Chaos to make money or gems to get the money when he needed to. There was no need to be greedy.
After he was done with his money-making efforts, Adam contacted Al with his nanite interface so he could speak to him.
¡°Al, Adam here, I need your help¡±
¡°Go ahead, Adam¡±
¡°You¡¯ve been watching what I¡¯ve been doing in the Atlantic with the portals right?
¡°Yes, I can see how resources are utilized here, though you haven¡¯t given me access yet Al, said.
¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m calling you about, I¡¯m going to give you Portal and limited Nanite Access. I¡¯m going to go through the rift and see what is moving it around. I want you to use the portals and nanites to monitor where the portal moves to and plug it exactly as I have. Keep putting the Water on the north pole of Mars.¡±
¡°Of Course, is there anything else?¡± Al asked.
¡°Yes, use the nanites to continue creating the base on the Moon. I also want you to increase the structure so that 1,000 people can be brought back at a time. Do not start the reactors. Just use the nanites to create the rooms and a place that can house 5,000 people at once. Feel free to make it comfortable. When I get back I¡¯ll check in with you, we¡¯ll get the power source sorted out and then I¡¯m going to make sure the Pelza Empire never cannibalizes another Universe.¡±
¡°When will I gain access?¡± Al asked.
¡°Now, wait until I go through the portal before you plug the next one,¡± Adam said. They only had to wait a minute until the enemy rift was moved and Adam launched himself at Mach 10 toward the surface of the ocean and the opening of the portal. Before he hit the surface of the water he slowed down, transitioned into the water, then increased his speed again until he passed through the rift. He felt the suction of the hole behind him but only saw darkness after he was through and looked back. On this side of the rift, he was in water that had light coming from all directions and felt like he was 100 feet underwater.
Behind him, the water swirled as it went into the rift but in front of him the water was crystal clear and he could see some lights off in the distance. Adam was still looking around and floating there comfortably when he saw the Atlantean he¡¯d encountered before moving toward him, still about 500 feet away. Obscure wouldn¡¯t let them see him but if it detected air pockets or anything that wasn¡¯t water and didn¡¯t rely on light or sonar, Obscure was going to be useless.
As Adam floated there and wondered what to do a new message popped into his vision
You have exited a Common Universe and entered an Advanced Universe, it is strongly recommended that anyone entering an Advanced Universe have at least Step 2 in Strength, Endurance, and Willpower. Step 2 in all attributes is Highly recommended.
If you do not, Exit immediately.
Chapter 180, Ability Evolution
An Advanced Universe, minimum Step-2? Well, that was definitely something new. Did that mean only Step-2 beings could survive here? Was there something inherent in the Universe which destroyed creatures with Step-1 attributes? Adam didn¡¯t feel any different, though all of his attributes were Legendary Step-4 and he also had the ability Adaptable so he probably wouldn¡¯t. There was so much he still didn¡¯t know.
Adam activated Teleport and appeared behind the creature, targeted his head, and struck as he activated No Escape. Two things happened; His fist struck true and went through the Atlantean¡¯s head. Second, he received a message prompt.
Ability ¡°No Escape¡± has failed. Target Endurance is above the current Ability Rank. To increase the Ability ¡°No Escape¡± you must evolve your ability.
Adam thought about that for a moment, abilities that could evolve and go above Legendary rank. There was a way to evolve and increase abilities somehow. Well damn. He¡¯d have to figure that out. While he was thinking about that he also thought about what his Ability ¡°No Escape stated and remembered
¡°¡No escape has a mana cost equal to the Endurance of the target and requires a physical touch to deliver.¡±
The ability didn¡¯t come right out and say it, but he probably couldn¡¯t spend more mana on the ability than the rank of the ability. Since the critter¡¯s endurance had been at least Step-2 and the most mana he could spend was Legendary Step-1, the ability had failed. Thankfully, a failure at this moment wasn¡¯t devastating. Also, learning this new bit of info was very helpful. He now realized that had he used Chaos Bolt on the creature he would have done very little to it, while his physical attack with Step-4 Strength had been devasting. Very helpful information indeed.
Adam put the thoughts out of his mind and recovered the Box the creature had been holding before he reached out and touched the creature as he activated Treasure Renderer on it. The body dissolved into the water as items were placed in his Shadow Vault
Treasure Renderer has been partially successful in looting Step-2 Atlantean. Award of 9 Step-2 Water quintessence has been converted to 18 Step-1 Quintessence. Treasurer Renderer must be at rank Low Step-2 to produce Step-2 Quintessence, Low Step-3 to produce Step-3, etc. Additionally, a large pearl and 7 smaller pearls have been added to your inventory
Adam was stunned. There were different ranks of Quintessence as well. Why hadn¡¯t Hal informed him of this? Of course, he hadn¡¯t asked when Hal was less helpful and hadn¡¯t thought to ask questions about quintessence since. Adam focused on his surroundings and activated Technomancy. The box before him was technological in nature and his ability let him discover its purpose, uses, and settings. Programming was programming after all. However, the technique used in its construction was something that he¡¯d never come across before. Somehow it was working perfectly well within a high-pressure water environment without shorting out or imploding. As he explored it with his ability he also realized that most of the device was crystalline in nature and that the pathways for the circuits seemed to have been grown. He was sure that he could recreate this exact device with Mold Chaos but using nanites to create it, doing that would be a bit iffy. If he didn¡¯t know better, he was thinking that this device was in some way alive. Not sentient but definitely either from an organism or was itself an organism in its own right.
Adam memorized the current settings in the device, especially the coordinates in the targeting portion of the circuits then deactivated it. Without knowing how they were targeting exactly it would be better just to make sure the same settings were used. He¡¯d end up on Mars when he went back, but that was okay.
The swirling vortex he¡¯d traveled here through disappeared. Next, he opened his Personal Map and reviewed it. Just a bunch of blue in all directions as far as he could see, and mirrored on the Personal Map. Within his immediate area, there was nothing but water. He checked the map on both the Vertical and Horizontal axis and then looked around again. He wasn¡¯t mistaken there was light off in one direction outside of the range of mapping ability. Adam would set that direction as north and the current 0-degree plane as the line between himself and the light. Adam went back into his Personal Map and set north and the ground level. Now he had the four cardinal directions and up and down as compared to his starting position in this weird water world. Next, he placed markers in both the horizontal and vertical so that he could get back to this exact point then started moving toward the light source after he did one more thing.
Adam used Mold Chaos to create a black wet suit and then put it in his Shadow Vault. A moment later shadows surrounded him, and he was wearing the wetsuit. There was no reason to be uncomfortable in the water after all.
Adam activated Flight, instead of trying to swim and let his ability move him through the water toward the light. Adam kept his speed at a nice pleasant 10 miles per hour. As he moved away from his origin point in this place he noticed more lights that created a grid pattern that spread out around him. As he looked at the grid he realized that the other lights were farther away and finally figured out what they were. The first light had probably been a guiding beacon. The other lights he saw seemed to form a wall or globe that surrounded the area he¡¯d come out of. Could they be warning buoys? Adam redirected his course to one of the buoys and sure enough, there was an image of a giant fish skull on the buoy and the word ¡°Periculum,¡± which was a Latin word that meant Danger.
Maybe the portal had been a natural connection after all. Adam looked around and saw another guide buoy, which he could now tell was brighter and a slightly different color from the warning buoys. The guide buoy was bright white, while the warning buoys held a hint of yellow in their color. Adam found the 2nd guide buoy and started moving toward it. After he reached the 2nd buoy he decided to increase his speed because it seemed that the buoys were about 5 miles apart.
This water was crystal clear and seemed a lot deeper than 100 or 200 meters, yet the light was normal. As he approached the 3rd buoy he started to notice schools of fish and other sea creatures. None of the fish seemed too aggressive and the few schools of jellyfish-type creatures that were floating around didn¡¯t seem to notice or care about the wake that pushed them around as he passed them at about 30 miles per hour.
Five hours later he found himself coming up to a guide buoy that had turned red. Adam could see the bright white of a guide buoy 5 miles further along but there seemed to be a haze in the water in front of him. Adam entered the haze and realized that some form of gas was aspirating the water there. Also, it seemed to flow in a conduit of sorts. The immediate effect was that his buoyancy changed. Any swimming creature entering the area would have fallen deeper. Also, if they breathed through the water they probably find it very hard to breathe there, if the gas wasn¡¯t oxygen, which Adam didn¡¯t think it was, it reminded him of methane or natural gas.
Adam ignored the current and continued following the guide buoys. Two more hours found him traveling toward what could only be described as a bubble. He could see the top and bottom of the bubble at first but as he drew closer he lost sight of them. It had to be at least 10 miles in diameter. Through the membrane in front of him, he could see that the bubble contained a land mass in the middle that was floating in water that surrounded it, inside a bubble. The guide buoys had brought him to the midpoint where air met water. Adam pushed his hand through the blurry barrier and felt his hand move into the open air. Bringing his hand down he felt it enter the water on the other side of the membrane. Suddenly Adam noticed something very large rushing toward him from the underwater side of the bubble.
Adam withdrew his and floated back. Obscure was still active so he wasn¡¯t too concerned but he wanted to see what this creature could do. A shark-looking thing larger than a blue whale with razor-sharp teeth shot through the membrane and immediately veered toward Adam. Adam remembered reading that sharks could smell blood miles away from their target, or maybe it could see through Obscure, now that thought was truly worrying. The creature was fast and it looked like it activated an ability that caused it to shoot forward at a ferocious pace with its jaws wide open. Although he could have probably dodged the fish, Adam did the exact opposite. He moved into the open jaw and then used Flight to hold him steady as he punched through the roof of its mouth into the cavity between its two eyes.
Adam¡¯s attack didn¡¯t go exactly how he would have liked. He was able to get a handhold but couldn¡¯t create the leverage to punch through completely and kill it outright. Instead, it began to thrash and try to pulverize him by chewing him to death. That wasn¡¯t working out well for the fish. Adam didn¡¯t have the leverage and the monster didn¡¯t have the biting power to turn him into a paste. Adam was sure if a tooth were able to come down on him it would break. Instead, he was getting gummed like a baby trying to chew a piece of beef jerky without any teeth.
The creature had finally had enough and utilized an ability as it tried to force Adam out of its mouth. Adam was hit with a Sonic attack that didn¡¯t even affect him. His Health regeneration replaced the very minute amount of health he was losing. Changing tactics, Adam used his right hand, which was holding on to the broken cartilage he¡¯d created to hold on while he started punching with his left hand. Once he had a good handhold for his left hand, he expanded the hole for the right hand. Now that both handholds were solid, he pulled himself up and through the roof of the mouth. That¡¯s not exactly what happened, instead, the bone and cartilage gave way making a hole big enough for him to move through. As the monster screamed and started to thrash more violently. Adam set his Flight ability to hold position and let the Animals frenzy turn its insides into jelly and ooze as Adam¡¯s Step-4 attributed body did not budge as various organs splattered against him. It was only a matter of moments before the monster¡¯s frenzy helped Adam destroy its brain. Now he knew what a .22 caliber bullet felt like once it entered someone¡¯s skull and bounced around for a bit.
Adam felt the creature die and go still. He made his way back to the hole in the roof of the mouth and exited. He came to a stop outside the creature and touched it as he activated Treasure Renderer
Treasure Renderer has been partially successful in looting Step 2 Giant Whale Shark. The award of 75 Step-2 Water quintessence has been converted to 150 Step-1 Quintessence. Treasurer Renderer must be at rank Low Step-2 to produce Step-2 Quintessence, Low Step-3 to produce Step-3, etc. Additionally, you have found 45 Large Pearls and 165 small pearls.
Unlike last time this time, the body of the monster didn¡¯t disappear. Instead, all of the flesh disappeared and a skeletal structure that looked like it had been armored was left and started to sink. Adam reached out and touched it, putting the whole thing in his Shadow Vault. His 640 square feet were able to hold it easily though he noted that it took up 15% of the available space all by itself. He wasn¡¯t sure why he¡¯d put the skeleton in his vault, but the bones of the Step-2 attributed creature must be worth something. If he could get the tools he could craft the bone into shields that should be able to withstand a lot of punishment from anything considered Step-1. Could there be Step-2 or Step-3 metal out there? Now that would be something. What was Adamantium considered in this world?
Adam considered the message for the treasure he¡¯d received. This was the second time he¡¯d had his Quintessence reduced from Step-2 to Step-1. He now knew that he could increase his abilities above Legendary rank, but he didn¡¯t know how much it would cost. Though now that he had 168 additional Step-1 Quintessence he might be able to find out.
Adam looked around to make sure he hadn¡¯t drawn attention to himself and noticed that he had. Some smaller creatures were heading in his general direction They were still pretty far away, but they looked humanoid in form. The Whale Shark had been huge, and they¡¯d probably seen it disappear. Adam wanted to verify some things before he tackled anything else.
He followed the membrane of the bubble up until he was about a mile above the water that was inside the bubble then passed through the membrane of the bubble like it wasn¡¯t even there. Also, the membrane kept the water out removing it from his clothes and skin. Adam flew about 500 feet into the bubble and could easily see the membrane from the inside, There was no artificial sky there. The creatures in this bubble knew they were near an island floating in an ocean with water all around that ocean. In such conditions, it would be very hard to make a lot of the technological discoveries that came from being able to see the motions of the planets and stars. Adam was betting that if a society was on the island, it probably developed along magical lines. All they¡¯d have to do to check was swim to the bubble wall and pass through. That meant the gravity he felt was either technologically or magically generated.
The air inside the bubble seemed normal and gravity felt right. He could see plants and bird off in the distance flying above the canopy of the trees. Adam set himself to hover. Where he was would make it hard for anything on the ground to get to him. Also, he was far enough out from the island that unless they could see through his Obscure ability they¡¯d have an even harder time finding him. Of course, the Giant Whale Shark had been able to detect him so he¡¯d need to be vigilant.
Satisfied that he was effectively safe for a few moments he activated Stutter Step and dropped his focus into himself. That should give him a little extra time to react. Adam had a few ideas on how he could increase his abilities and all those ideas involved his Soul Core.
Adam moved his focus to his Soul Core and found the 20 Chaos Motes floating there. Instead of focusing on the Motes he focused on the Soul Core and tried to see within it. Within moments he noticed nodes of power that seemed to act like electrons orbiting a nucleus at the center. There was a shell around his Soul Core unless he focused on it, of course. Since he¡¯d never focused his attention on it so he¡¯d never seen inside it until now. Adam refocused and looked at the inside of Soul Core.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
There were orbital rings and a center that contained its own structure as well. Adam could see 8 nodes in the nucleus of his Soul Core which exactly matched the number of abilities he still had, though one was greyed out. As he focused on the greyed-out node he knew that it was his ¡°Interface¡± ability
Adam pulled his focus back and looked at the 15 nodes that seemed to be randomly orbiting the nucleus. He focused on each one until he found the Node for Treasurer Renderer and focused on it.
To Evolve the node Treasure Renderer from Step-1 Legendary Rank to Step-2 Low Rank will require 3 Step-2 Looting Specific Motes, or 6 Step-1 Looting Specific Motes. Would you like to evolve your Looting Specific Node for the ability Treasure Renderer to Step-2 Low Rank, Yes or No?
NOTE: Chaos motes may be utilized in place of Looting Specific Motes.
Adam chose ¡°Yes.¡±
Congratulations! The Ability Treasurer Renderer has increased in rank from Step-1 Legendary Rank to Step-2 Low Rank.
Adam closed the prompt and thought for a moment. It wouldn¡¯t be that hard for him to improve his abilities, just expensive. If he could find Step-2 Motes it looked like Low Rank cost 3 Step-2 Quintessence. He needed to get a handle on this new way to increase his power and rank-up abilities.
Adam Focused on the same node again.
To Evolve the node Treasure Renderer from Step-2 Low Rank to Step-2 Medium Rank will require 6 Step-2 Looting Specific Motes, or 12 Step-1 Looting Specific Motes. Would you like to evolve your Looting Specific Node for the ability Treasure Renderer to Step-2 Medium Rank, Yes or No?
NOTE: Chaos motes may be utilized in place of Looting Specific Motes.
Adam chose ¡°No¡±, closed the interface, and withdrew to look around himself and make sure he was still alone while he puzzled this out. He was still floating in the air with the Island about a mile off in the distance and the barrier back into the endless water 500 feet behind him. Safe enough for now them.
Adam knew that the maximum number of attacks increased by 3 per Cultivator Rank and Step. At Legendary Rank, Step-1 Legendary Rank, he could make a maximum of 21 attacks. At Step-2 Low he could make 24. In fact, at his current attribute level of Legendary Step-4, his maximum number of attacks was 84, though he¡¯d never attacked that many times at once. As he thought back over the combats he¡¯d been in he thought that perhaps he was using more than one ability per second as well. Next time he went into combat, he might try Chaos Bolt just to see how many he could use in a single combat round.
Adam returned his thoughts to evolving abilities. Ability leveling looked like it was following the same pattern. Increasing the cost by 3. Except that the cost was the equivalent Step Rank of Quintessence. To evolve an ability from Legendary Rank Step 1 to Low-Rank Step-2 Low was 3 Step-2 Quintessence. If he wanted to substitute Step-1 Quintessence he could, but the cost doubled. He¡¯d just seen that. Step-2 Low cost 6 Step-1 Quintessence and Step-2 Medium cost 12 Step-1 Quintessence which meant that Step-2 high should cost 18 Step-1 Quintessence. For his ability Treasurer Renderer to be able to produce Step-3 Quintessence, he¡¯d need to increase the ability to Step-3 Low Rank which meant he¡¯d have to spend 162 (12+18+24+30+36+42) Quintessence plus however many Step-1 Quintessence it would take to go from Step-2 Legendary to Step-3 Low. If the cost doubled again that would be 12 more Step-1 Quintessence for 172 in total.
He only had 14 motes of Chaos orbiting his Soul Core and another 177 Quintessence in his Shadow Vault. Treasurer Renderer was nice the ability wasn¡¯t a priority ability. Also, he could use the Quintessence he had to unlock up to 12 more abilities. He wasn¡¯t going to just spend them to increase his ability to produce higher Rank Quintessence from his looting ability. What would make more sense would be for him to look at Increasing his Shadow Vault or Mold Chaos abilities. In fact, just to see what kind of increases he was looking at he dropped his focus to his Soul Core and found the nodes for Shadow Vault and Mold Chaos and spent the 12 Step-1 motes of Chaos to increase each ability to Step-2 Low Rank then checked his notifications.
Congratulations you have evolved your ability ¡°Shadow Vault¡± from Step-1 Legendary to Step-2 Low Rank This ability creates a vault accessible by you in the Dimension of Shadow. Items can be placed into the vault and withdrawn from any shadow. This ability is synergistic with Treasure Renderer. Items created may be automatically placed within the vault. Note: a new tab has appeared in your Personal Information labeled Shadow vault which will list everything within the vault. Living creatures may not enter or exit the vault. The number of items this ability can hold increases with each rank. Step-2 Low Rank can hold 1,280 cubic feet.
Not too shabby an increase in storage space. Nothing like his Place of Power or his Soul Space inside System Matrix 001 but definitely enough space to hold some items. Adam checked his next prompt.
Congratulations you have evolved your ability ¡°Mold Chaos¡± from Step-1 Legendary Rank to Step-2 Low Rank. This ability allows you to create items. You can either create copies of something in your possession with little or no effort. You may also create items if you have the skill and knowledge to do so. You may only spend mana equal to, or less than the rank of the ability. At low rank you may create objects up to 10 pounds in weight, Medium ¨C 50 pounds, High - 100 pounds, Elite ¨C 200 pounds, Epic ¨C 400 pounds, Mythic- 800 pounds, Legendary ¨C 1 ton, Step-2 Low ¨C 2 tons. The item can be created in your hand or within line-of-sight within a 1000-foot radius.
The weight of what he could create had doubled and the distance he could create it up to had also doubled. That was a significant increase. If it doubled again with the next increase the ability would allow him to make most cars from thin air. Double again after that¡damn. If that ability kept doubling with each rank, leveling it up quickly could be a game-changer. The Pelza Empire¡¯s ship ¡°Ghost¡± which was holding position over Hawaii had to weigh around 100,000 short tons. He was basing that on the estimate of the estimated weight of Star Trek¡¯s USS Enterprise which was supposed to weigh around 210,000 short tons and the ¡°Ghost¡± was less than half that size. Yeah, Mold Chaos was going to be one of the first abilities he increased.
Adam was brought to his senses as he felt something moving him through the air. He looked around with ¡°True Sight¡± and couldn¡¯t see anything. He tried to fly away and found that his flight ability could not break him free from whatever was dragging him toward the water. As he drew closer he saw more Atlanteans, just under the surface of the water pointing sticks and spears at him.
Adam analyzed the situation and realized that the attack had to be wind-based. If it was a creature it was probably an Air Elemental or Djinn. Now that he was thinking about elemental-type creatures he noticed ripples in the water that were not normal waves.
In the Air, The Air Elemental would be king, in the water it would be visible. If they had water elementals too though, damn. He needed to be able to see such creatures so he could target them. As for why he couldn¡¯t pull away. Adam was betting that his Step-1 Flight ability was being overpowered by a Step-2 Air Elemental
That was fine, Flight wasn¡¯t his only movement power and Adam used Teleport to teleport onto the beach at the edge of the forest. Next, he activated Stutter Step because it was obvious they could see through his Obscure ability, he needed a couple of extra seconds to prepare. The Air Elemental was probably already moving toward him.
Adam activate Shadow Vault and tried to command all quintessence into his Shadow Vault to be absorbed. The command didn¡¯t work exactly as he thought it should. Instead, he felt the quintessence all appear in his hand as they were absorbed. The process was instantaneous though.
Next, he moved his focus to his Soul Core and converted all motes orbiting his Soul Core into Chaos Motes then he chose to focus on creating an ability that would allow him to see and target any entities be they, physical, mental, or spiritual.
You have chosen to integrate a mote of Chaos. Ability. The ability ¡°Variable Quintessence¡± has been activated. New Ability sought: Category: Sensory All, Type: Chaos. Range: Self. Goal: See and Target any kind of creature. Is this information correct? Yes or no?
Adam chose ¡°Yes.¡±
Congratulations you have integrated the Soul Quintessence ability ¡°Aura Sight.¡± This ability has a Low mana cost regardless of ability rank. Damage: None. Energy Type: Soul. Special: This ability allows you to see all manner of creatures both corporeal and non-corporeal. The range is 100 feet per Ability Rank. Abilities that conceal or hide another of lesser rank are automatically detected.
Adam was more than satisfied with the result as he spent the 6 chaos motes to increase the ability to Legendary Rank and then focused on the nodes of his soul Core and brought Chaos Bolt up to Step-2 Low Rank which left him with 166 motes.
Adam had taken four actions as he brought his focus back into the real world and looked in the direction he¡¯d teleported from as he activated Aura Sight and saw the Air Elemental screaming toward him. It appeared as an angry red blob of color with crimson reds, yellows, and oranges. Now that he could target it though he could hit it with his Chaos Bolt. He had two more combat rounds left in Stutter Step as he cast Chaos Bolt as fast as he could at Step-2 Low Rank.
While he knew he could make 84 physical attacks, Adam had thought he could only make one ability attack per combat round. It seemed that he was mistaken, and the Tyranny of Rank was in play again. He was able to use his ability 4 times per combat round. In the two Combat rounds before the Air Elemental reached him, Adam used Chaos Bolt 8 times. After the sixth time, the Air Elementals¡¯ blob of redness popped like a bubble and was carried away in the wind. Adam saw 11 decent-sized sapphires drop to the beach in front of him. He walked over and picked up all of the sapphires and put them in his Shadow Vault as he examined one.
You have found a Step-3 Air Quintessence created from the destruction of a Step-2 Legendary Ranked Air Elemental.
He checked the other 10 sapphires and found that they were the same.
Adam looked out to the water and saw waves moving quickly toward the beach. Not as fast as the Air Elemental but quick enough that they¡¯d be there within a minute or so. He focused on his Soul Core and spent 162 Chaos motes to evolve Chaos Bolt from Step-2 Low Rank to Step-2 Legendary Rank. When he was done his Chaos Bolts now had a range of 1,400 feet.
***
Ozrak¡¯Ka loved being propelled by the water elemental, almost as much as he loved killing humans. This one thought to hide with some ability that almost worked but his people had learned long ago the tricks of the humans. They¡¯d try to hide, if they couldn¡¯t do that, they¡¯d try to take the high ground and if they could they¡¯d fly. In this place they were limited and if they left the bubble they¡¯d drown.
His hunting party had been out in the coral reef looking for food for the city when they¡¯d noticed the Great One move toward something which it suddenly rushed to attack. They¡¯d seen it turn to bones and then disappear. They¡¯d each summoned their water elemental familiars, an Atlantean without a familiar, well they were the scientist and the big brain types but who didn¡¯t want to feel free in the water? The familiars were no good in combat but they could assist with movement and fetch items as needed.
Ozrak¡¯Ka drew his trident as they neared shore and the water elementals lifted them out of the water to make them appear as if they were surfing across the top of the water as they sped toward the beach at over 30 miles an hour. He was slightly confused when the human dropped his cloaking ability and just stood there. The air around him shimmered and white darts started flying from him toward Ozark-Ka¡¯s party. There were 32 hunters with him. One of them would¡
Ozrak¡¯Ka¡¯s thoughts were shattered as he was knocked out of the Elementals grip and fell back into the water. Whatever had hit him had knocked the wind out of him and done a significant amount of damage. He felt like he¡¯d been hit by a sledgehammer. As he lay there in the water recovering, he watched as a stream of the bolts the human was firing reached out and unerringly hit every single member of his party. His entire party had been knocked into the water and the white bolts were still coming. If he was hit again he knew that would be the end.
Ozrak¡¯Ka dived below the surface slowly and then had his elemental help propel him toward the beach and off to the human¡¯s side, out of his sight hopefully. When he broke the surface the human had stopped shooting bolts and seemed to be looking out into the water.
In one fluid motion, Ozrak¡¯Ka rose to his feet and threw his trident with all his might. He even used his ability True Flight which increased the range of his throw so he would hit from this distance. He was so focused on the perfect throw that he didn¡¯t see the human move out over the water under the trident that was still traveling toward where he¡¯d just been standing. He also didn¡¯t see the human¡¯s hand reach down and grab him by the back of the neck. Before he could react he was lifted into the air over the beach floating near the top of the bubble.
Ozrak¡¯Ka was held by the back of the neck facing the ground as he heard the human behind him speak in Latin, ¡°We need to talk, if you can understand me, raise your right hand. If you feign ignorance it is a long way down.¡±
¡°What do you want Human?¡± Ozrak¡¯Ka asked.
¡°What is this place?¡± the human asked.
¡°If you mean the place outside the bubble, it is the Great Ocean. If you mean this bubble, it is a fragment of a world long since lost.¡±
¡°Are there humans on the Island?¡± the human asked.
Ozrak¡¯Ka would give nothing to this human he would never bow down to their kind. He had killed many and the great Air Elemental that watched over the people would save him if he should fall. If he could get this human to drop him he would go get the war party and return. They would search this outcropping until they found and killed this human. The War Party had many elders that were much more powerful than him. It was time to get this human to drop him. In his loudest voice, he made his declaration, ¡°My brother and sisters will avenge me, I am but one of¡¡±
***
Adam knew as soon as the Atlantean started making declarative statements there was no point talking to him. He crushed his throat and held him until he died. He did not like these creatures and his Aura Sight showed a sickly green color over every one of their Auras. Adam had a feeling that indicated an inherent level of evilness. Of course, he had all the materials that had ever been written on the subject in his mind but he was unsure about how accurate the details were. He¡¯d have to practice with the ability to make sure he understood what it was showing him.
As the creature was dying he flew back toward the beach and the other Atlanteans he¡¯d killed. Once the creature in his hands was dead he used Treasure Renderer on it then he quickly flew over and used Treasure Renderer on the other 32 Atlanteans which netted him 99 small pearls, 2 large pearls, and 264 Step-2 Quintessence.
Adam was also pleasantly satisfied with the way Stutter Step had worked. 33 of the warriors had been coming toward him across the water. When they were still well out of range he¡¯d started shooting Chaos Bolts at them. He¡¯d seen the little water elementals propelling them along and realized immediately that they weren¡¯t a threat. Their auras looked weaker than the Atlanteans. He figured they were either summoned or familiars of some kind. They¡¯d fled for deeper water as soon as the Atlantean they were helping was dead so he hadn¡¯t targeted them at all.
Adam was also liking the way Treasure Renderer wasn¡¯t leaving evidence of those he killed. Maybe because they had more inherent magic in the cell structure? He returned to the beach and moved toward the wooded area when a melodic voice reached out from everywhere within the forest. With Aura Sight, he detected the individual that had just started speaking, which made him all the wiser for having acquired this ability because his Perception have failed to notice her. In Elvish, the melodic voice said, ¡°Greetings, you have killed our enemy, We would know if are you friend or foe to the Forest and the Coral Reefs?¡±
Adam assumed the high elf formal greeting stance as he spoke in elvish directly to the aura he could see near a tree thirty feet away, ¡°I am Adam, a friend of the forest and not an enemy of the Coral Reefs. If I might ask, why have you greeted me in the formal tradition with the addition?¡±
A blue-tinted Elvish woman at least six feet tall stepped out from behind the tree Adam was looking at as she too assumed the formal greeting posture of the elves and said, ¡°Because, for the Maredryadalis, the Coral Reefs are our Forests.¡±
Chapter 181, No Surface?
Adam had been following Tash¡¯Valyar for almost 5 hours now. After their formal greeting on the beach, she¡¯d asked for him to come with her to her people because it wasn¡¯t safe in this Island bubble. When Adam had asked why it wasn¡¯t safe she¡¯d lead him to the other side of the island. They¡¯d swam out to the edge of the bubble and entered the ocean outside it.
After they¡¯d passed through the membrane of the bubble she¡¯d had him wait while she swam almost 2,000 feet away from him until she disappeared through something Adam couldn¡¯t see. As he started to move forward to see what had happened, she reappeared and pointed to the bubble he¡¯d just left. Adam followed as they swam back into the Island bubble and then through at roughly 100 miles per hour. She was obviously using an ability to propel herself because she was only using her hands and legs to adjust her course instead of actually swimming. Adam was using his Flight ability and easily kept pace with her.
Once they¡¯d exited the opposite side of the island bubble they moved out into an abundance of sea life and slowed down to match the pace of the schools of fish they were moving among. While her path seemed to follow no direct course, Adam checked his Personal Map every once in a while and saw that they were making progress in an easterly direction. After they¡¯d been doing this for about an hour she touched her temple then his. Adam had nodded and she spoke to him with Telepathy.
¡°It is better to communicate like this while we are trying to lose pursuit,¡± Tash¡¯Valyar said.
¡°What pursuit?¡± he asked.
¡°The abominations or the Atlanteans as they call themselves, have put a cloaking screen around their home. The bubble containing the Lost Empire ruins is the closest watermark to their location. Their area is at least 10 times bigger than the bubble of the Lost Empire we met in, probably more,¡± she said.
Watermark? She must be using that word to represent ¡°landmarks¡± which made sense, there was very little land here, ¡°Why couldn¡¯t I see it and why could they all see me, I have a cloaking ability that is nigh impossible to see through to everyone where I¡¯m from?¡± he asked.
¡°Do you truly not know?¡± she asked.
¡°I am new to this ocean, especially the magic of the world around me,¡± he said.
¡°Well, it is a long swim, and you did end my unintentional stay on the island so I will share what I know but we must continue moving with the schools of fish. They are probably still looking for us,¡± she said.
¡°Any knowledge would be much appreciated,¡± Adam said.
¡°As I look at you I see that you are more powerful than this realm you find yourself in, yet you sound as if you come from a realm that is less powerful than this place, is this correct?¡± she asked.
¡°Yes, I come from Earth, it is full of humans that are much less powerful than any creatures I¡¯ve encountered here thus far,¡± he said.
¡°Earth, truly? We have not seen any travelers from there in at least 10,000 cycles, what Earthlings call years. Some of the humans with us still measure the seasons by that archaic method, though the cycles of Earth mean nothing here. We do not have a Sun or moons in the sky. If you are from Earth, the Elders will want to speak with you,¡± she said.
¡°I look forward to it,¡± Adam said.
She paused for a moment, then swam toward another grouping of fish falling in line with it before she began speaking to him again, ¡°To answer your first question I must ask, do you understand the nature of Realms?¡±
¡°I had thought so, but the ideas I knew were completely artificial. I am trying to learn though,¡± Adam said.
¡°Very well. I will try to explain the differences briefly. The Realms are categorized by their magical saturation. Think of a circle with smaller circles within it until you have just a dot in the middle. Each realm resides within a circle, or on the boundary of two circles. Remember this is a visualization and the borders of the circles are not exactly circular. it¡¯s just easier to explain this concept this way. Also, the power could be less dense toward the center and get stronger as you move away from the center, or it could be less dense on the outside and get stronger as you move toward the center. For now, I¡¯m going use the less dense the magical saturation the further away from the center for my discussion with you,¡± she said.
¡°I understand,¡± Adam said.
¡°In the outer circle, the realms are like Earth, newly formed with very little magic infused into everything. This new interface ability calls them Step-1 Realms but we call those places Common Realms. Every ring further inward contains a higher saturation of magic which is intrinsic to the creatures there. The farther toward the center you go, the stronger the saturation of magic is. This realm we are in now is considered an Advanced Realm, or Step-2 by the interface. All creatures here start with a physical structure that is compatible with the rank of this realm. When you asked why the creatures of this realm could see through your cloaking ability. May I ask, what rank that ability is?¡±
¡°It¡¯s at Step-1 Leg¡¡± he started to say as she cut him off.
¡°But you must be at least master rank,¡± she started to say interrupting him, then shook her head and said, ¡°I am still adjusting to this interface ability that appeared the other day and how it labels such things. If I understand the information from the Interface ability correctly, Step-1, or common, ranked abilities would be those considered to be from realms like your Earth. They will have a much lesser effect on anything in this realm. All creatures, even the fish around us, have the minimum attribute for the ¡®Step¡¯ of the realm they are in. Here they are a minimum of Step 2.¡± She said.
¡°In your example, are you saying that if I go into the next circle inward all creatures would be a minimum of Step-3?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Exactly! Here, your ability to hide needs to be at least Step-2. If I am understanding the interface correctly, it also quantifies each Step by 7 class ranks within that Step. So even if you have a Step-2 Class 1 ability. Someone with an ability that counters it at Step-2 Class 2 or higher is going to probably see through it because their ability is more powerful than yours. As you continue further and further toward the center of the circle, each of those Classes within a Step represents a larger range of power that is significantly stronger than the class before it. However, if they are not using an ability to see through your ability they may not. Think of it this way, abilities will function as designed in an equivalent magical environment or less. The stronger the magical environment, the stronger the ability needs to be to work correctly there,¡± she said.
After that, they¡¯d remained quiet as they swam. He digested everything she just said to him as they kept swimming. When they were in a very large school of fish near a piece of coral that was just floating along, he willed the 264 Step-2 Water Quintessence in his Shadow Vault out and absorbed them all. He motioned for Tash¡¯Valyar to hold for a second while he converted all 264 Quintessence to Chaos quintessence. This only took a few moments. Very quickly, he tried to increase his Adaptable ability only to receive,
You may NOT increase Racial abilities individually with quintessence. Racial Abilities are improved as Cultivator Rank is improved. Racial abilities are considered the maximum Rank for each Step a character currently holds.
Really? Racial abilities level with the Cultivator rank. Yeah, that did make a kind of sense. Racial abilities should be able to support me if I had the cultivator rank to dive into the big boy realms, universes, whatever. So, Adam spent 84 Step-2 Motes of Chaos to increase Obscure to Step-2 Legendary Rank. He spent another 168 Step-2 Motes of Chaos to increase his True Sight and Aura Sight to Step-2 Legendary Rank. That left him with only 4 Step-1 motes and 16 Step-2 motes orbiting his Soul Core. He was still holding onto the 11 Step-3 Water Quintessence in his Shadow Vault.
¡°I¡¯m done, we can move on,¡± Adam sent with his mind.
She must have heard him because she turned, and he followed. Adam activated True Sight again and realized the initial startup cost was a bit more. Originally it cost Low mana to start and maintain. Now it cost Step-2 Low mana to start and maintain. Still negligible to him. He checked the chart he¡¯d been putting together to represent this abstract system. If his mana was only Step-2 Legendary he could maintain 18 abilities at Step-2 Low. With his mana at Step-2 Legendary, he estimated that he could maintain a Step-2 Low ability indefinitely because his mana would regenerate much fast than it would get used.
Adam turned on Aura Sight and was pleasantly surprised by the colors that came to light around him. Even the fish that Adam would have thought had little or no souls to speak of shone with color. When he glanced at Tash¡¯Valyar, she was another thing altogether. His Aura Sight pierced something that had been masking her. Her Aura was brilliant with whites, golds, and blues.
The other thing Adam noticed was that his True Sight seemed to work much better now. Both True Sight and Aura Sight could see out to 1,400 feet and he was now able to detect some fish he hadn¡¯t seen before. They had a camouflage ability that hid them. Adam wondered how many camouflaged fish he passed by without seeing them.
With his ability to hide now attuned to this ¡®Realm¡¯ and his ability to see and identify threats before they came up Adam once again felt confident. Sure, he could have used blunt force, but physical combat was problematic because of the water. Inside bubbles, with air, he¡¯d be all right. Of course, he¡¯d only seen one such bubble so far.
After 4 more hours of travel, they stopped at an expanse of empty water with no visible fish in front of them. Adam checked his Personal Map and zoomed out until he could see where he started in this water world. Currently, they were about 500 miles east and about a mile below his starting point.
Tash¡¯Valyar touched her temple and then said into Adam¡¯s mind, ¡°This next part is my favorite. About a mile in front of us, a Vital Flumen runs through this area. The water is moving at a tremendous pace and anyone that goes in will be dragged along. We need to enter it and ride it for a while to get to our destination.¡±
¡°Lead the way,¡± Adam said.
¡°I will go first, swim through quickly and try to keep me in sight,¡± she said.
¡°I¡¯m right behind you,¡± Adam said then asked, ¡°Is there anything else I should know?¡±
¡°The Vital Flumen allows creatures to travel very quickly across a large area. Creatures can enter them anywhere but exiting can be tricky. There are normal exits anywhere the current makes a hard turn though. Try to stay behind me unless you can see the edges. If you can see the edges, try to stay near the center of the tube, you¡¯ll understand if you can see it. Exits where the water stalls happen all along its structure and are constantly changing except at the major turns. There is always an exit at that point, though be warned, exiting or being flung from the Vital Flumen can be dangerous where floating islands come near,¡± she said.
¡°Does it ever go to the surface?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The surface? Adam, there is no surface to this world. Our explorers have traveled for years only to return and report that there is no surface. No one knows if there is an outside to the water here. There are bubbles of all sizes scattered throughout and there are whole land-born and water-born empires within. There are even hints of larger empires far away, but a surface, none that I have ever met have found one. Have you not wondered why the pressure doesn¡¯t change no matter which direction you swim in? Even in a bubble like that of the lost empire, the pressure only increases until it equalizes with what is outside the bubble.¡± She said.
Adam hadn¡¯t been paying attention but now that he thought about it their hours of swimming had been in all directions and not once had he felt like the pressure had changed. Adam adjusted his path and set to follow her.
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Tash¡¯Valyar increased her speed to almost 150 miles per hour, a pace Adam easily matched with his Flight ability. They traveled the mile in just over 7 seconds. As they drew closer Adam¡¯s True Sight picked up a Wall with his vision, though he couldn¡¯t see any difference in front of him when he alternated back to his normal vision. He was only about 40 feet behind her when he saw her cross through the wall that had appeared in his vision indicating where Vital Flumen began.
Adam was reminded of two lessons he¡¯d not thought about in a long time and learned one more lesson the moment he was attacked.
First, He was reminded that Teleport, even his very low-level teleport had a range that exceeded 1,400 feet which made his detection abilities useless against someone teleporting in for a surprise attack, though later he would find out that it wouldn¡¯t have mattered because their camouflage skill was at Step-3 so his abilities wouldn¡¯t have worked anyway.
Second, he was also reminded that surprise attacks sucked.
Third, he learned that attacks made at his maximum strength drained his stamina very quickly.
Adam felt two blades enter his back side by side removing 60% of his health. Adam, spun around quickly to find a surprised Atlantean with dark black skin, his hands now empty. because the daggers were still in his back, and a surprise on his face looking at Adam. Adam hadn¡¯t been hurt this badly and had not died in a long time. He was surprised to find that even as he wondered why he wasn¡¯t dead his regeneration was pushing the blades out of his back. He reached up with both hands to touch the blades which caused the look of surprise on the Atlantean to turn to a chuckle, ¡°They¡¯re not coming out, you¡¯ll be dead soon,¡± the Dark Atlantean said in Greek in the warped voice of someone speaking through the water.
¡°One of us will be,¡± Adam acknowledged in Greek as he touched each dagger and sent them into his Shadow Vault once they were free of his back. Then he reached out and grabbed the Dark Atlantean with his left hand which was immediately followed up with a full-strength punch from his right hand.
The Dark Atlantean had tried to teleport away, But Adam¡¯s grasp on him had somehow prevented the escape. A Step-4 Legendary Ranked pull and punch put Adam¡¯s fist through Dark Atlantean¡¯s head. Activating his Shadow Vault hadn¡¯t cost much mana, but the move to grasp and the punch had consumed two-thirds of his stamina pool. He considered what that meant as he activated Treasurer Renderer.
Treasure Renderer has been partially successful in looting Step-3 Elite Atlantean Shadow Assassin. Award of 12 Step-3 Shadow Quintessence and 6 Step 3 Water Quintessence has been converted to 24 Step-2 Shadow Quintessence and 12 Step-2 Water Quintessence. Treasurer Renderer must be at Step-3 Low Rank to produce Step-3 Quintessence, Additionally, you have found a Magical Ring and a Magical Earing, Properties unknown.
The body disappeared and Adam moved through the wall of the Vital Flumen. With his True Sight, he could see that he was in a tube as he was whisked away by the current. He¡¯d only been, at most, 2 seconds behind the Tash¡¯Valyar but he¡¯d already lost sight of her. The walls of the tube were blocking his visual range, but he could easily make out where the center of the tube was and used Flight to maintain his position in the middle of the tube. Adam trained his senses and waited, When he caught sight of her again he could simply teleport to her side to catch up to her
Adam realized he hadn¡¯t asked how long they were supposed to stay in this tube but if they were taking it to get somewhere else it probably meant that it was going to be much longer than it took them to get the access point. Adam maintained his vigilance and pulled up his combat log.
WARNING You have been struck by a Step-3 Elite Ability Backstab x2. You take Step-4 Elite damage x2 from a Surprise Attack. Hit Points have been reduced by 60%.
Adam continued down the combat log past his devastating attack to the beginning of the next combat turn.
Ability Regenerate increases Hit Points by Step 5 Legendary Rank, Hit Points return to 100% Two daggers have been ejected from your back.
The rest of the information was pretty straightforward, Adam just wanted to see how a Step-3 creature had hit him for more than 50% of his Hit Points. It seemed that there were abilities that could increase an attack by a full step. He¡¯d have to watch that going forward. If he ran into someone of his Rank and they pulled something like that off, there¡¯s no doubt he would have been headed for reincarnation somewhere.
He also checked to see if there were any experience notifications but no, there hadn¡¯t been in a really long time. Adam believed that had to do something with how Cultivator ranks worked but it could also be because of his special nature. He saw skill upgrades every once in a while but they didn¡¯t seem like they did much for him, so he didn¡¯t track them anymore. His Perfect Memory ability was allowing him to bypass some of the limitations of having low skills. He could still make complex attacks, though he didn¡¯t get any special bonuses for doing so. But some skills were all about positioning anyway so that was fine.
The other thing that Adam had come to understand was that the Quintessence must be ranked for a reason. If each realm could be a different rank, as Tash¡¯Valyar had described then he must need to find a place that was Step-4 and acquire Step-4 Quintessence there. How many Quintessence would he need to increase his Cultivator rank and reach Step-5? Adam had a feeling it had something to do with integrating the Quintessence and then applying them to his Soul Core as a whole. He didn¡¯t know if that was the right answer, but if doing that worked for abilities there must be a way to do so for his Soul Core Nucleus. What had given him the hint was the idea that all of his Racial Abilities leveled automatically with his Cultivator Rank.
His hypothesis made sense, at least he thought so. Cultivator rank would increase automatically as abilities were integrated and activated but there would come a point when that no longer worked. Achieving Class X Cultivator was probably the very limit of what one could achieve easily because finding Quintessence for your nucleus to absorb must have something to do with the type of abilities the Cultivator had unlocked. Not everyone was going to have the benefit he did. He wouldn¡¯t have to find a specific type of Quintessence, he could just convert it into a type that could be used with all other Quintessence, except for Order, but then again, maybe Order could be increased with Chaos Quintessence as well.
It was a lot to unpack. Also, he wouldn¡¯t be able to explore these ideas until he was able to create Step-4 Quintessence with Treasure Renderer. Right now, he wanted to go speak with Tash¡¯Valyar¡¯s elders. Adam felt himself move with the current while he only used flight to make slight adjustments to stay in the center of the tube.
Finally, the path straightened out and he could see Tash¡¯Valyar at the edge of his visual range with True Sight. He also noticed a large object approaching rapidly. It was colossal and if not the size of the moon, pretty close. With something to see outside the tube of fast-moving water, Adam easily discerned the edge of the tube as the images were slightly warped. He could see thousands of creatures rushing around the surface of the Coral Reef as he began rushing toward it. He felt like he was rushing to the surface of Earth from Orbit without the friction and heat that usually resulted when he flew into the atmosphere too fast.
Adam looked forward and noted that Tash¡¯Valyar didn¡¯t seem too concerned so he just stayed behind her and rode the current down toward the surface. As it came closer Adam noted a darkened circular hole in the surface that Tash¡¯Valyar rode into a moment later. Soon after he was also beneath the surface, still rushing forward.
Adam looked around the tube and noted that the rock and coral outside the tube seemed to be smooth and even. There also seemed to be no branches as the tunnel wormed this way and that through the planetoid. After the second turn, the tunnel darkened considerably, though glowing lichen and rocks littered the walls of the stone tunnel that surrounded the tube of water allowing for limited vision. Even so, there was still a gaping darkness in front of and behind him. The tunnel had straightened out and disappeared beyond the range of his True Sight When the tube straightened out again and he could see Tash¡¯Valyar, he activated Teleport and appeared beside her.
Tash¡¯Valyar turned to see him within five feet and smiled as she said into this mind, ¡°You made it! What kept you from coming in right behind me?
¡°I was attacked by a dark-skinned Atlantean Assassin,¡± he said.
¡°You were attacked by a what? We will have to detour and get out of this line much sooner than I¡¯d wanted¡¡±
Adam cut her off, ¡°Be at ease, The assassin is dead, he will not be following us anywhere. Also, a quick question in case we get separated again, How long should this take?¡±
Tash¡¯Valyar looked thoughtful for a moment then said, ¡°this portion of the journey will take another 19 hours or so. After we are done traveling through this Coral Reef we will exit into the deep again and the Vital Flumen because wider and faster. It¡¯s another Day, maybe two before we¡¯ll get to the area we¡¯ll need to depart the Vital Flumen
Three days? Adam had not expected to be gone for that long. Run over here, kick some ass, and then head back. Instead, he was going to be here for the better part of a week, ¡°What do we do for this part of the journey?¡± Adam asked.
¡°We rest, of course. This section has very few changes to the course. Many that travel through here use the lowered light conditions from being inside the planetoid to get some rest,¡± she said.
¡°That sounds lovely. I¡®ll meditate then, I have a lot to go over in my mind and can keep watch while you rest,¡± Adam said.
¡°That is acceptable. This is a pretty straight shot. If I start to drift to the side, just nudge me back toward the center, and I¡¯ll do the same for you,¡± she said.
Adam held out his hand and used Mold Chaos to create a 10-foot waterproof rope with belts attached to both ends. He took one end of the makeshift safety line and attached it to himself as he held out the other end to Tash¡¯Valyar.
Tash¡¯Valyar accepted the belt and wrapped it around her waist, ¡°A conjured rope with belts, interesting. How long will it last?¡±
¡°Until it¡¯s physically destroyed,¡± Adam answered.
¡°It has no duration, what ability is that? Is there a specific Quintessence for it?¡± She asked.
¡°It¡¯s specific to me. The ability synergizes with one of my Racial abilities and allows me to create permanent items,¡± he said.
¡°The mana cost must be enormous,¡± she said thoughtfully.
¡°It¡¯s based on weight, this didn¡¯t require much mana at all,¡± Adam said.
¡°Interesting. I¡¯m going to rest now. If anything changes, just let me know,¡± she said.
¡°Will do.¡±
Adam kept his eyes open and dropped his focus into his Mindspace. Once there, he opened three screens and set them to what his eyes were seeing. Then he adjusted the screens so that one was for his Aura Sight, the second for his True Sight, and the third for his Normal sight. His Aura Sight only showed the glow of Tash¡¯Valyar off to his right. His normal sight showed darkness. True Sight showed the tube that was roughly 1,000 feet in diameter.
Adam adjusted his internal clock so time inside his Mindspace was moving 10 times as fast as outside his Mindspace. That should give him enough time to react to anything that might occur.
He turned to Hal, who was sitting there doing nothing, ¡°Hal, I have a few questions for you?¡± he said.
¡°Yes Adam¡±, it said.
¡°I just learned that I could increase my ability ranks with quintessence. What bonus would I gain from spending Quintessence to increase the ability that created you?¡±
¡°As a Step-1 Construct, I only have access to information in Step-1 Realms and Locations. Also, my senses are limited by my ability rank. As an example, you were recently hit by a Step-3 Backstab ability. I am familiar with the bonuses that ability gives now because you were struck by it. Had you asked me about it beforehand I could not have answered. I could have given you information on the Step-1 version but not the Step-2 or Step-3. Since you were hit by it I can tell you that his ability allowed him to Teleport and Backstab as part of the same action at Step-2. At Rank Step-3 it added a conditional ¡°Always Hit¡± on unaware targets. The information I have access to is limited by my rank and what has affected you,¡± Hal said.
¡°That is interesting. I¡¯m guessing you still can¡¯t tell me where this information comes from?¡±
¡°Your ability created me and gave me access to a network of sorts. I do not get to speak with anyone in that network. If you ask me for something and the Network knows, the information is shared. I believe my access to the network is rank-based and information from higher ranks is not made available to those from lower ranks,¡± Hal said.
¡°I would really like to know where this network gets its knowledge but I¡¯m getting off-topic, What I really wanted to ask you about is this place. Am I in a Universe or an Elemental Dimension of some kind?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Either answer would be correct Adam, the words Dimension and Universe are interchangeable within the multiverse, using one of the terms you are used to,¡± Hal said.
¡°Okay, here¡¯s an easier question, how fast can I move through this realm?¡±
¡°There are a lot of factors that determine that. I would suggest not going much faster than you already are. The current you are currently in is traveling at around 500 miles per hour.¡±
¡°Last question for now, Do I increase my Cultivator Rank by having my Soul Core absorb Quintessence?¡±
¡°Adam, I do not know the answer to that specific question. I can answer something else I have noticed in our time together. You should not be able to reach Step-1 Legendary Rank in abilities you unlock for 6 Quintessence. Everyone can increase their abilities either through earning experience or investing quintessence. As you have determined the increment for investment for Quintessence for absorption is 3 +3 for each additional rank. So Low Rank would be 3, Medium would be 6 and Legendary would be 21. Normal people also invest a lot of experience and quintessence into advancing their magical abilities. If they are using just quintessence it would cost 84 Step-1 Quintessence of the appropriate type. As you have no doubt realized Quintessence doesn¡¯t just appear in places like Earth. I am sure they can appear but normally only those with looting powers or rituals have access to them. Until my ability is increased I won¡¯t know the answer to your question for sure.¡±
¡°So, what do you think allows me to purchase Legendary abilities for 7 quintessence?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Like you no undoubtedly believe, your racial abilities are giving you a tremendous advantage,¡± Hal said.
That is exactly what Adam had been thinking, ¡°Thank you for the info Hal, I think I¡¯m going to get cozy and start reviewing a few things. I shouldn¡¯t need you for a bit. If you can rest, please feel free to do so.¡±
¡°Very well,¡± he said, as his geometrically morphing shape shrunk to the size of a dot and disappeared.
That was a pretty neat trick. Adam concentrated for a moment then turned his Mindspace into a three-screen personal theater while he sat down in a comfortable chair. His mind seemed to be at the same level as it had been. While he had nothing better to do he would test himself to see if he truly was as powerful as he had been. He would begin by fragmenting his mind so that he could perform multiple tasks at the same time. He was going to need that advantage going forward, he just knew it.
Chapter 182, Feeling Like Myself Again
Adam compartmentalized his mind, but it wasn¡¯t exactly like he¡¯d done long ago. If he had to describe the difference it would be to say that while he was in the System Matrix whenever he created copies of himself and sent them off he felt like he hadn¡¯t lost anything. The separations had felt clean and distinct. This time when he compartmentalized his mind into four parts, one watching each screen with a fourth set aside to process what the other three parts of his mind were experiencing, he could still feel the connections. With just a little focus, that fourth aspect could flow into and out of the other three.
Adam held onto that feeling and then brought his focus back to his body. Immediately he noticed that his ability to accelerate time while in his Mindspace was gone but those four fragments of himself allowed him to seamlessly view his Normal, Aura Sight, and True Sight without having to switch back and forth between them. The information was distinct, manageable, and didn¡¯t clutter his sight.
Adam moved his focus back into this Mindspace. He realized he should have done this a long time ago. He hadn¡¯t been bringing his ¡°A¡± game since being reincarnated here. He was going to have to change that starting now. He fractured his mentality into three more pieces for seven total. The first three were set to monitor his various senses and sensory-enhancing abilities. The fourth was set to monitor his combat logs while a fifth was set to start collating the data so he could get a true breakdown of how the various Steps and Ranks within each Step compared to each other. He had an idea of course but he wanted to quantify it as much as possible. He knew he was being slightly hypocritical. His nature after all had embraced chaos and now he was trying to put some order to that chaos. He comforted himself with the thought that order was also an aspect of chaos.
Adam¡¯s fourth fragment of consciousness was assigned to watch his Combat logs and messages and flag anything immediately important during a combat situation that he might need to react to immediately. His fifth fragment of consciousness was set to monitor his nanite interface and the quantum entanglement link there. His six fragment of consciousness was left in the Mindspace to monitor the other five, converse with Hal if necessary and correlate the data that was coming in. It was set to adjust the flow of time within his Mindspace so that he should be able to react quickly when necessary. For his first test, he started his Mindspace running at 10 times the speed outside of his Mindspace and brought the fragment of his Consciousness mind that he thought of as the controller back into the real world.
Immediately he felt more like he had while he was in the System Matrix. He increased the speed in his Mindspace to 100 times normal what he was perceiving in the tube he was rushing through. For every second that passed in the real world almost one minute and forty seconds were passing in his Mindspace passed out here. What he¡¯d done didn¡¯t seem to be related to an ability so there didn¡¯t seem to be a mana cost. Why wouldn¡¯t everyone think like this? Adam received a message that popped into his mind like telepathy. It was like a prompt, but it didn¡¯t clutter his vision.
¡°Not everyone is as rigidly focused as you are, nor do many have the ability ¡®Perfect Memory.¡¯ Your ability to perfectly remember everything gives you a distinct advantage when it comes to mental prowess and control,¡± Hal said.
Another thought from one of my fragments was pushed forward based on its review of my interactions with Tash¡¯Vaylar. It recommended that he increase Technomancy and utilize it again on the device he¡¯d recovered from the Atlantean he¡¯d first encountered upon entering this Great Ocean. If abilities are only limited to detecting that which is common to their Step or lower, his previous use of Technomancy most likely missed something as it was only at Step-1 Rank when he¡¯d utilized it.
Additionally, as his fragment had run through his memories the fragment ran across a statement made by Hal. If Hal could not divulge information that was not at least equal to his rank unless I¡¯d been affected by it, how did it know that the highest rank of a creature living or dead was Step-7? That fragment of my consciousness posited that the only thing that could have affected me that Hal did not know the rank of was the device that had originally brought him into this Universe when it destroyed the original System Matrix.
Adam thought about it for a moment and agreed that the assumption made sense but would need to make sure if he could. It had only been a few moments and the information his mind was uncovering by focusing on different information at the same time was paying dividends.
The next thing he did was move his focus into his Soul Core. First, he created a fragment of Consciousness to maintain vigilance there and noted that the passage of time was the same as that in his Mindspace. He then created another fragment of his consciousness to monitor the conversions of motes to those that he needed. If this worked as he envisioned, it would make this whole process easier and attainable during combat. Next, he focused on his Soul Core and dipped inside the shell to view the Nucleus and the abilities orbiting it. He wasn¡¯t sure if he¡¯d need to create a fragment of consciousness for each ability or not. For now, he was going to rely on the increased time rate within his Mindspace and Soul Space and create two more fragments of Consciousness. The first was to monitor the abilities and increase them as requested. The second was to monitor the nucleus and the Racial abilities there and watch for any changes.
Hopefully, the last thing he was going to try to do, Adam withdrew from his Soul Core and moved back into his Mindspace, and pulled up the Inventory of his Shadow Vault. He created a fragment of Consciousness to maintain and control the Shadow Vault inventory and Wardrobe. He had a funny thought. One of the games he¡¯d played, ¡®Cyberpunk 2077¡¯ had a storyline where an A.I. went insane. If these fragments of his consciousness ever diverged from his control and he couldn¡¯t wrest it back he might find himself wearing a pink ballerina onesie. He forced his mind back on track and created another fragment of consciousness to help control the ability of Mold Chaos.
Adam withdrew from his Mindspace. He currently had 4 Step-1 Water Quintessence Motes 24 Step-2 Water Quintessence motes, and 24 Shadow Quintessence motes. He also had 11 Step-3 Air Quintessences gems in his Shadow Vault. Those had dropped from the Air Elemental. The first thing he was going to try was to give a command to organize fragments in his Mindspace to convert all motes to an equal number of motes of Chaos.
He received a confirmation momentarily and found that it had been done all within a single second for him. Nice, it looked like the time differential was maintained in his Soul Core while the conversions were happening. One thing that surprised him was that when he¡¯d converted them he¡¯d lost the very first mote to the conversion process as he received the message.
The pattern for a Step-2 Chaos Quintessence had been learned.
That was fine, he figured something like that was going to happen. What had been nice was the message hadn¡¯t popped up in his vision until he¡¯d gone to check on it. Next, he gave the command to his fragments of consciousness to absorb the 11 Step-3 Air Quintessence. He paid attention to his body and felt his fingers cup even though he wasn¡¯t controlling his hand. The 11 Quintessence left his Shadow Vault and were immediately absorbed. He noticed that the process had taken 6 full seconds as only two quintessence were removed from his Shadow Vault at a time, one into each hand. So not something he could do during combat as it was limited to the normal passage of time.
Adam sent the command to convert the motes to chaos and received a surprise as the notification was reviewed, flagged, and given priority to appear in his vision.
Conversion of Step-3 Air Quintessence to Step-3 Chaos Quintessence is impossible, no Step-3 Looting ability with the appropriate rank is present.
Immediately after the message was a recommendation for him to increase Treasure Renderer to Step-3 Low Rank as soon as possible. That might get annoying in the future, his fragments of consciousness telling him something he already knew. That was a minor inconvenience though. He was already thinking about how he could utilize and abuse the abilities he had. If he set up another fragment to control Stutter-Step he could increase the number of items that could be converted while he was resting from 2 to 14 per second. He¡¯d have to put some mana limiters so he was never caught with less than the amount of mana he could regenerate in a single combat round but with a little finagling he could handle it. He could also create a fragment of consciousness for Flight and create an autopilot of sorts which would allow him to concentrate on other things.
Yep, Adam had a plan now. He dove back into his Soul Core and created Fragments of Consciousness for his abilities, Astral Link, Variable Quintessence, Treasure Renderer, Personal Map, Hal, Stutter Step, Flight, Obscure, Teleport, and Planar Travel. He put a command within all the fragments that they were not to spend more than Step-1 Mana costs on anything. Up to Legendary if necessary but that was it. Even the fragment controlling Treasurer Renderer could not circumvent that rule. If motes needed to be converted or if something needed to be looted that required more mana, Adam Prime, what he was calling his Primary Consciousness, or the seat of his conscious mind, would make that determination. Otherwise, the fragments were able to do as they pleased.
Except for the fragments monitoring his Soul Core and the Nucleus of his Soul Core, All of the others resided within his Mindspace. As Adam withdrew he noted that the Mindspace had started to fill in with structures centered around a circular theme, with his observer fragment at the center. He then noticed that each of the fragments took on slightly different features so they could be told apart and started modifying their workspaces to better accommodate them. If Adam didn¡¯t know better he''d think we as being controlled by a whole bunch of mini-Me¡¯s inside him. As he brought his focus back to the real world noticed that seven hours had passed.
Adam didn¡¯t¡¯ remember seven hours passing and sent an inquiry. His fragments had shut him down and let him rest while nothing was going on. They had maintained their vigilance and would have woken him up at the first sign of danger. Also, he was informed that fragmenting his mind as he had did have a price. His mind needed to rest. It had taken almost 48 hours to recover. The vast majority of his conscious mind had been in his Mindspace and the recovery was accelerated, so only 7 hours had passed outside of his body. He was assured that the fragments of his mind would be taking turns resting and would cover for each other as much as possible.
Adam smiled; he¡¯d successfully automated his mind. He¡¯d slept and hadn¡¯t even felt any different. He reviewed what his fragments had done while he was out. Technomancy to Step 2-Low Rank for 3 Step-2 Chaos motes. Adam Spent another 9 Step-2 Motes of Chaos to bring the abilities: Personal Map, Stutter Step, and Hal to Step-2 Low Rank. His fragments had also converted the last 4 Step-1 motes into Step-2 motes which left him with 37 Step-2 motes and 11 Step-3 motes orbiting his Soul Core
Adam grew thoughtful for a moment then pulled out the device that he thought controlled the portals from his Shadow Vault. He activate Technomancy again and was surprised to find that while his ability had not been wrong, it had missed a couple of things. The most important thing it had missed was the material making up the conduits inside the device was not crystalline in nature, it was solidified Quintessence, Dimensional Quintessence to be exact. Also, in addition to the coordinates that were stored in the mechanical portion of the device, the dimensional Quintessence was laid out in a runic format that he¡¯d never seen before. It looked familiar but he was unsure. He sent a query to his Mindspace. A moment later Hal answered.
Hal: Runic writing like that is the product of either someone that knows runic magic or an ability that mimics runic language. It is a unique language with varying degrees of difficulty. Some of the runes I can read, but others are outside my scope of knowledge.
Adam sent a command to the Mindspace for the Step-1 and Step-2 Rune¡¯s names and meanings to be learned as quickly as possible. A moment later, information flooded his mind. Trinity, eat your heart out, was all he could think. He sent another message to his Mindspace. If it is something we don¡¯t know and Hal has the knowledge, they were not to wait for him to ask for the information, they were to get it and share it.
Adam looked at the box again and realized that the runes that he could read were simple ones. They represented words like; target, size, aperture, type, and such. The words were a bit more archaic, but the general meaning was understood. If he didn¡¯t have the quintessence to create the device when he formed it anything he made would probably not work. Which begged the question could he even incorporate Quintessence into something he was creating with Mold Chaos? He had a feeling the answer was no. The fragments in his Mindspace, as well as Hal, all agreed that it probably wouldn¡¯t work.
Adam stored the device back in his Shadow Vault and looked over to see Tash¡¯Valyar, looking at me.
¡°Where did you get the Key,¡± she asked mentally.
¡°The Key? I retrieved this from the corpse of an Atlantean that was trying to flood Earth,¡± Adam said.
¡°Where exactly?¡± She asked.
¡°From near the bubble with the lost empire. There were some buoys I followed. They lead to an area that was surrounded by warning buoys I found him near the center where the portal I came through into this world was opened. When I took the device off of him, I shut the portal,¡± he said.
¡°That area is known to be dimensionally unstable. Portals to other lands open randomly. Some claim that the Atlanteans had a device that looks like what you are holding. They called it the Key because it could unlock the pathway to other worlds that were near us. Not just your world, but many others. If the Key could reach your world that means one of two things. Either your world was close and is now moving away or it will grow closer until a natural portal opens between our world and yours.¡± She said.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
¡°You use the word world, but you have also said this place is without end. Could this be a dimension or Universe of water,¡± he asked.
¡°We only know of our little part within this place. Water is all we¡¯ve ever known, it could be a world, it could be a dimension, or even a Universe, though I still do not comprehend what that word means, nor does it matter. All I know is that if the Key could open a path to your home, your home is in danger if it draws close to ours.¡±
¡°How will we know?¡± he asked.
¡°We will know when the portal opens,¡± she said.
¡°How long will it stay open?¡± Adam asked.
Tash¡¯Valyar looked thoughtful for a moment then spoke, ¡°Earth, as you know, is close to my world now. It has not been so for at least 10,000 of your years. I¡¯m not sure exactly how long ago it moved out of range, or when the original portal closed. I am not that old. Suffice it to say sometime around 10,000 years ago the portal to Earth closed.¡±
¡°If that¡¯s so, why isn¡¯t Earth covered in water?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Natural portals open between point worlds at points of magical instability or nodes of power. Throughout your world, there are places where magic condenses, and these nodes are formed. The last time a portal opened between these two worlds the portal here was in an unstable area. The portal on Earth opened onto an Island location with a Volcano at its center. It was called Atlantis.¡±
¡°Earth has a legend of Atlantis; they have been looking for it for a very long time,¡± Adam said
¡°Just so. They will never find it because The Island that was Atlantis is the same Island I met you on earlier today.
¡°What happened?¡± Adam asked.
¡°My people are native to this world. Our elders passed down the stories of Lost Empire¡¯s bubble, but none survive that know for sure. Rumors say that a giant calamity struck Earth and the Island was forced through the portal. Others say it was drawn through by those that have perverted the Atlantis natives into the perversions you have encountered here thus far. Still, others say it was an accident. What is known is that there was a very short and very bloody war between the Khua¡¯ting empire and those that arrived in the bubble. The natives of Atlantis that were not killed were hunted and remain hunted to this day. Every once in a while a group of humans is put on the island and allowed to flourish for a few seasons. Children are reared and a couple of years later the Atlanteans come back and recapture them. Those that do not come willingly are hunted,¡± she said.
¡°Let me guess, I killed one of the hunting parties.?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes and no. You killed a group of individuals that were out hunting for food and thought the coral reef under the island to be a good place to do so. When they were done meeting their quota for the day, some of them would have come up onto the Island to see if they could find any of the humans that were missed during the capture and culling that happened five cycles ago,¡± she said.
¡°Why were you on the island?¡± he asked.
¡°I had come to see if any humans had survived. The release, capture, and culling of humans are well known. I had come to see if any humans had evaded capture. I had been there for two weeks when you showed up. With the death of the hunting party, there is no doubt that the Khau¡¯ting will send out a war party to check. The assassin that attacked you probably mistook you for one of the humans and knew if you made it into the Vital Flumen you would get away. He probably saw us when I went to show you the entrance to the other bubble. I didn¡¯t see him, but that was nothing for one of their dark assassins to accomplish. I am still surprised you survived the sneak attack.¡± She said.
¡°So, you said the portal closed around 10,000 years ago, how long was it open?¡± Adam asked trying to change the subject.
¡°For a very, very long time. Not a year, not a hundred years, much longer than that. Long enough for my people to have ventured there, realized that it was lacking ambient magic, and returned. My ancestors lived on Earth for at least 100 years or so. That is how we have some humans with us. When we chose to return, some humans wished to go on a great adventure. I believe they once lived in a place called the Maya Highlands. Our people evacuated Earth just before the Calamity, they were very lucky to make it back.¡±
¡°How many humans live with you now?¡± Adam asked.
¡°We were only able to bring through a few dozen. Thousands were pulled through on the island. We now have a few thousand. Some are from those we brought but most are from those we saved from the culling and their descendants. As soon as they are among us all are given a water quintessence that allows them to survive here. So, while the Atlanteans may look human, they are a hybrid species. The humans with us that can enter the great ocean, they do so because their abilities allow them to survive underwater. I had meant to ask, what ability is allowing you to breathe the water?
¡°I¡¯m not breathing the water,¡± he said. ¡°My ability is called Adaptable; it is a Racial Ability and allows me to enter and exit every environment I¡¯ve ever come across.¡±
¡°You aren¡¯t human?¡± She asked.
¡°I was, now I am more,¡± he said.
Tash¡¯Valyar remained silent for a while. He thought about everything she¡¯d told him. 10,000 to 11,000 years seemed about right. The humans that had come with them were from the hunter-gatherer tribes that had eventually become the Mayans who dominated their corner of the world. Also, these Khau¡¯ting did not sound like nice people.
¡°Question for you,¡± Adam started ¡°How did the Atlanteans come to be?¡±
¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious?¡± she asked.
¡°It is, I just wanted to verify before I form an opinion.
¡°The Atlanteans are brought about by the forced mixing of the Khau¡¯ting and humans they mate with. What I did not mention before is that female Humans that can survive childbirth are highly sought after. Males only ever make it to the island once or twice before they are either killed outright. The women are kept until they can¡¯t bear children. If they are useful they can sometimes live but normally they are also killed.,¡± she said.
¡°These Khua¡¯ting sound evil.
¡°There is not a one that doesn¡¯t deserve to be hunted, killed, gutted, and served to She who provides for all,¡± Tash¡¯Vaylar declared vehemently. ¡°You have killed 33 Atlanteans, they know no better. I wish you had killed 33 Khau¡¯ting
Just then a new message was pushed into his vision from his Mindspace.
INFORMATIONAL Announcement.
Universal Update 1.02 has been loaded.
Major changes to functionality are now as follows:
- Help Function can now answer more abstract questions.
- Quest rewards will now scale with difficulty.
- Experience Gained from killing or crafting was pretty straightforward while ability and cultivator rank increases utilizing quintessence has been, at best, random as quintessence must be retrieved through looting abilities. No more! If you have a looting ability you may now set it to Auto-Loot. Creatures you kill, or that you are directly responsible for killing will automatically be looted. If a kill is shared, the looting ability will divide the spoils fairly with fractions resulting in the individual with the Loot power getting the majority of the loot. In instances when multiple individuals have a looting power fractions are lost, and the items are lost to the ether.
If you are reading this message these changes have already been instituted for the location you are in
What in the actual fuck, was all I had time to think before Tash¡¯Valyar asked, ¡°What is this Interface? Is it good? Can it do anything it wants?
There was a lot to unpack in that update announcement but the only thing that crossed Adam¡¯s mind was, Can I be looted?
¡°Of course, you can be looted,¡± Tash¡¯Valyar said with a hint of irritation in her mind. Now, you seem unconcerned by this interface, do you mind explaining to me why?¡±
¡°Short Answer, I believe a sliver of my mentality that was ripped away from me is traveling through Astral Space and connecting to everyone and everything. As It does so, it gets smarter and smarter and I think at some point it¡¯s going to remember where it came from. Right now, it¡¯s remembering some things and is probably reacting to the realities of this world like I would.¡± Adam sent with a straight face.
Tash¡¯Valyar looked at Adam like he was crazy, ¡°Who, or what, are you?¡± she asked.
As we seem to have time, I have a story to tell. 11 hours in and change should be long enough to get this out. One question though, Does the Vital Flumen always travel through this Planetoid and exit from the same location?¡± he asked.
¡°Yes, and always.¡± She said.
Adam nodded and then told her the story of his beginning. They had eleven hours after all. He covered his discovery of the ring and all of his adventures within the System Matrix and what the System Matrix was.
¡°You mean you weren¡¯t even real until you were copied into a body?¡± she¡¯d asked when he paused.
Adam hadn¡¯t worried about the question, though he thought about it a lot and changed the subject to explain how he¡¯d ended up at odds with the Pelza Empire, destroyed their Universe destroying contraptions, and then found himself on Earth of all places.
An Earth that the world he was born into was based on, except that it was 20 years after his birth and everything was changed, yet ironically not. Twenty years and the world couldn¡¯t get its act together. Then a portal from this ¡®world¡¯ had started shooting water into the planet¡¯s oceans which would have definitely caused mass casualties so he¡¯d come through to find a world, which was probably a dimension or universe filled with water. The First he¡¯d ever run across. It was beautiful and tested him in so many ways that he wasn¡¯t prepared for.
Adam trailed off as he thought about how he¡¯d learned that his abilities weren¡¯t as powerful as he thought they were. Well, they were but they had to be leveled. Then to add insult to injury he¡¯d thought that tying part of his mind to the Astral Link would affect the interface, he just didn¡¯t think it would come so quickly. Then again he should have known better. If it was a fragment of himself it would learn quickly and remember who it was, and eventually, it would come knocking. What would he do then? He didn¡¯t want to be in charge of controlling all the universes and dimensions. Eight had been plenty and he¡¯d absorbed everything within them. It might have only been data within a holographic universe but it had felt real. He couldn¡¯t imagine having the amount of information his fragment must be trying to absorb in the Astral Plane.
Also, just a thought, but if part of him was spreading out into it didn¡¯t that mean this was possible before he¡¯d come along which also meant that the sliver of himself might expand to a certain point, be noticed, and then either obliterated or absorbed by something or someone else?
The story had taken the better part of eleven hours. He was pulled from his self-reflection when Tash¡¯Valyar said, ¡°That is either the most fantastic or most absurd story I have ever heard.
¡°I know, right?¡± he said. ¡°Time¡¯s almost up. I need to get you to safety then I need to get back to the Khau¡¯ting and end their threat to this World.
¡°How are you going to do that, she asked.
¡°You¡¯ll see,¡± he said.
***
Tash¡¯Valyar didn¡¯t know what to make of the human beside her. The story he¡¯d told her over the last eleven hours had been fantastic. He was from a Universe that was composed of only energy? He¡¯d somehow become real and was now trying to bring his love and their daughter into the ¡®real¡¯ world. What utter nonsense.
That¡¯s what she was thinking until his hand glowed and liquid metal filled the water around them as he moved closer to her. She felt the metal flow over her body into a harness with padding against her skin and a metallic frame.
¡°What are you doing?¡± she said worriedly.
¡°Creating a harness that solidly connects both of us while I also create a stream-lined half cone¡just give it a second, you have my word, I am not trying to harm either of us,¡± Adam said.
She watched as a cone formed around them with an extension coming to a point toward the oncoming current and with the outgoing current. The liquid metal morphed to look like an overside spearhead on both ends of a tube with them in the center of it. It had some small fins that he was controlling somehow. Then she felt them start pushing back against the current. Adam increase their speed against the current until they were effective stopped in the tube.
The spear was guided until the tip touched the wall of the tunnel. Soon one whole side of the vehicle they were in touched the tunnel wall and came to rest against it. She couldn¡¯t understand what was happening as the metallic sheen converted to look exactly as the stone did. When it was done she was floating in the harness in the middle of a chamber that was not disturbed by the current which she could feel thrumming outside the vehicle.
¡°What? How?¡± she asked.
¡°Fluid dynamics is a lot like aerial dynamics. I just had to create an object that wouldn¡¯t create back currents that would eventually remove this alcove from the wall. As for why? As I was telling my story I was also thinking about the assassin that attacked me. If he truly was one of the best then a message was sent. I have no doubt that an Empire as powerful as the Khau¡¯ting would be able to get to the exit point of the Vital Flumen from this planetoid. As for how. One of my abilities and my Flight ability. I needed to make sure we were solidly attached to the wall, so I created a frame that would hold us and then streamlined it so the water would pass around us with very little drag. Then it was just a simple matter of guiding the ¡®vehicle¡¯ for lack of a better term up against the wall and having it meld with the stone to create this safe spot from the current.¡± He said.
¡°Why? We can¡¯t stay here forever?¡± she said.
¡°No, we can¡¯t and we aren¡¯t. You are going to stay here for another day or so, it should be safe enough after that. Also, here,¡± Adam said as the Key materialized in his right hand and he held it out to her.
¡°What do you want me to do with this?¡± she asked.
¡°You looked like you wanted it, so I am giving it to you. I may ask for you to send me back to my planet if I can¡¯t find my way there but except for that one condition, it is yours, do you accept?¡± he asked.
¡°Yes, she said as she took it from him,¡± as she sent it into her ring¡¯s storage area.
¡°Next, how long after one day will it take for you to get back to your people?¡± Adam asked.
¡°From the tunnel exit, it¡¯s about another six hours,¡± Tash¡¯Valyar said.
¡°Very good. I¡¯ll keep an eye on the clock and you should too. If things go very badly for me there may be a very big shockwave coming toward your people, can the Maredryadalis survive a huge shockwave coming from the direction of the Khau¡¯ting bubble?¡± he asked.
¡°It is more than 3,000 miles away from our reef. What could you do that will reach that far?¡± she asked.
¡°Don¡¯t you worry about that, I do have something. Just make sure that you have defenses in place in case a shockwave comes toward your people,¡± he said.
¡®Very well? What are you going to do?¡± she asked.
¡°Why, I¡¯m going to go spring the trap, get whisked away to the capital, and say hello.¡±
¡°The Khau¡¯ting believe that humans are no better than cattle and playthings for them, You¡¯ll be killed,¡± she said.
¡°It¡¯ll be fine, I¡¯ll be fine, and if not¡Shockwave. Be ready. Finally, do you need any food?¡± he asked.
¡°No, I¡¯ll be all right,¡± Tash¡¯Valyar said.
¡°Very well, then I¡¯ll be off," he said as he quickly floated into the current and was taken by it. It was at that point she wondered how she was going to get out of the metallic harness only to realize it was no longer on her. The only thing holding her was the belt that was attached to a ring in the tunnel wall. When she was ready to leave she could undo the belt simply enough.
The other thing she noticed was that there was a lip that rose a little toward the oncoming current than on the trailing end which allowed her to look out and toward the direction of the tunnel exit. She saw a couple of flashes of light, then nothing.
The next 24 hours were nerve-wracking as she waited in the little alcove Adam had created for her. Two hours after Adam had left, she was surprised to see a group of Atlanteans traveling down the center of the tunnel. The next 22 hours, though, were uneventful. She disconnected the belt and watched as it dissolved and melded with the stone. Whatever power Adam had it was something she¡¯d never come across before. Steeling herself for the disorientation of entering the Vital Flumen and rapidly accelerating.
The next six hours went quickly and she made her way into the Coral reefs of her people. She called an emergency meeting and conveyed the warning that Adam had mentioned. Exactly one hour after she¡¯d arrived a Flash of light lit the Great Ocean from the direction of the Khau¡¯ting Empire. It was so bright that closing her eyes had not helped, much. The light had lit up the entire Reef. Immediately, the alarms were sounded and anyone with abilities that could create protective shells moved out in front of the reef in the direction of the Khau¡¯ting Empire.
They were over three thousand miles away from the Khau¡¯ting empire. The warriors prepared for something they couldn¡¯t comprehend while the children and the elderly were moved to deep caverns within the Coral Reef they called home. Once the preparations were made they waited. Almost three hours later everyone outside the reef felt the water shift toward the Khau¡¯ting empire gaining speed until it was stopped by the shock wave that slammed into everyone and everything. No one was killed outright, though that was a close thing.
The children and elderly had come through mostly unscathed but the Coral reef on the side toward the Khau¡¯ting empire had been scoured clean of all plant life. What had Adam done that could have created an explosion that could be so devastating? Her first order of business was to help those here. Then she would put a party together and go see what the human had done.
Chapter 183, The Khauting Empire
Remy watched as two of his fellow hunters held the small human female and attached a weight to her ankle. Not large enough to provide a full meal for the giant crabs below but that wouldn¡¯t be a problem today. He looked left and right, Over 1,000 of his fellow Atlantean hunters and warriors were finally purging the human fifth from their empire. He had never understood why Khau¡¯ting had kept them around. Yes, his mother had been a human but she¡¯d died in childbirth, just as 90% of the other worthless human females that birthed his fellow warriors did.
¡°Why are we doing this anyway?¡± his fellow hunter Ray asked through the common mindspeak of the Atlanteans. ¡°I thought we were saving them for a big hunt,¡± he said as he continued to hold the female human slave. A yellow cloud started to leak from her groin
Remy laughed, ¡°Now look what you did, don¡¯t get any in your mouth,¡± Remy said as he drove his spear through the female¡¯s heart. The other two held her for a moment then released her as they swam up to get away from the yellow cloud that followed her down to the crab farm on the ledge below.
Remy moved upward about 20 feet and looked over the ledge. They watched as she sank to the ledge below where a giant crab cut her in half with one of its claws as others joined in to help eat the bits that sank to the ledge floor. In The Great Ocean, if they¡¯d dropped her with the weight she would have fallen toward the nearest bubble. He¡¯d been alive for only 30 years and he still didn¡¯t understand how things worked in the Great Ocean. Bubbles for instance. Bubbles rose to the surface of the water inside a Bubble. They wanted to reconnect to the air above. In the Great Ocean, they pretty much remained stationary or moved with the current and eventually disappeared. No one he¡¯d talked to could explain it but his master had been sure to bring home the lesson that the bubbles one left behind could be used to track whoever had made them. He¡¯d received a couple of bruises that day as the lesson was beaten into him.
All the slaves had been brought into the water here on the south side of the Khua¡¯ting bubble where a ledge dropped almost 200 feet to a shelf that had been penned in and turned into a giant crab farm. Normally they dropped weighted nets filled with offal to the ledge below. The crabs were kept from coming up to the ledge by a group of trained giant eels that were housed in the rock face. Any giant crab that walked or swam up the wall was fair game to the eels. The giant crabs soon learned to stay away from the underwater wall. Though they did venture close when food was dropped. The eels had been trained to leave the food and the crabs alone during feeding time.
Today was different. Today the Emperor had decreed that the great purge of all humans was to happen. He¡¯d heard rumors that they would soon be going to a world where they could hunt all the humans. They might even be able to pick up breeding stock to create more Atlanteans. He watched as over 1,000 of his fellow warriors and hunters brought a human to the ledge, weighed them down, and dropped them over the ledge to the crabs below. The very young humans that couldn¡¯t breathe underwater yet were carried underwater where they drowned and were thrown into weighted nets with the offal that was supposed to be today¡¯s meal. He wouldn¡¯t want that duty, especially if he had gills
¡°I swear Ray if that yellow cloud of piss had gotten into my mouth,¡± Remy said.
¡°Look around Remy,¡± the third member of his execution party Manco said. ¡°This whole area is starting to fill with their human stench. We need to get this done quickly, so both of you close your mouths and get back to work. We have a lot more to do before we¡¯re done. We have over 10,000 humans to cull and only about 1,000 of us to do it because the others have gone out go after the human your dad reported in on and hasn¡¯t been heard from since yesterday.¡±
¡°I know, I wish I could have gone with them,¡± Remy said.
¡°I know you do. Your dad is one of the best Assassin Hunters the Empire has, and Khau¡¯ting willing, you will be someday too. Today we need to get this done. Remember, The crabs eat well today, we will eat well in about a week.¡±
Remy nodded as Manco and Ray grabbed the next human, attached weights to his legs and Remy stabbed him through the heart. The three of them continued their task for the better part of an hour. The only thing that broke the monotony was when one of the humans didn¡¯t¡¯ die right away. They¡¯d look over the ledge and make bets on how long the human would last. Then Remy started ¡®missing¡¯ his killing blows everyone once and a while on purpose as he practiced different maiming strikes. Since he knew exactly what he¡¯d been aiming to do with his strike he had a good idea of how long the human would last. When their line was complete, he¡¯d won 3 small pearls and 1 medium-sized one betting on how long the human would last. It wasn¡¯t his fault Ray and Manco hadn¡¯t figured out he was letting the humans live on purpose to make money off their deaths. Waste not, want not, and all that.
Just then one of the Empire¡¯s transports came speeding up to the cliff and slowed about 100 feet away. Remy saw his father¡¯s commander standing next to a human in a weird piece of black clothing looking out one of the glass windows. The vessel paused and Remy saw a sneer cross his commander¡¯s face as he pointed at the humans being slaughtered and dropped to feed the crabs. The Commander couldn¡¯t see the human¡¯s face because he was off to the human¡¯s side but Remy did. He saw the human¡¯s eyes harden, then watched as his face went passive again as if he didn¡¯t have a care in the world. He¡¯d also felt the tell-tale touch of an aura. Something he¡¯d only ever felt in the presence of the Khau-ting. The level of malevolence and hatred that had barely touched him shook him.
¡°Remy, you okay?¡± Ray asked as the ship rose toward the surface and then broke through and flew off in the air toward the Capital.
¡°Did you see the human?¡± Remy asked.
¡°Don¡¯t worry about him. The rest of his short life is about to become incredibly miserable,¡± Manco said.
Remy nodded thoughtfully then said, ¡°I didn¡¯t see my father.¡±
¡°Me either,¡± Ray said.
Remy satisfied himself with the knowledge that if his father had fallen, the human responsible had been captured and would soon be tortured to death. Maybe he could ask to watch. Better yet, maybe he could help.
***
Adam, looked out the window as the Atlantean beside him went to great pains to explain to him how screwed he was.
¡°The Emperor has commanded that all the humans in the Khau¡¯ting empire be culled and fed to our giant crabs to fatten them up for the feast in a week,¡± he said in Latin. Adam had never learned his name because everyone around him had only ever referred to him as ¡°Commander.¡± After he¡¯d allowed himself to be captured Adam had been strung up with manacles and a suppression collar had been added to his neck. The vehicle they were in was something else. It was almost like an underwater fighter jet, except it was also a transport. The underwater trip by the Vital Flumen had only 3 hours or so in this vehicle. One because his Personal Map showed they were traveling in a straight line back toward the bubble with the Lost Empire and two because the instruments he was reading with Technomancy showed that the vehicle was traveling well over the speed of sound. Most likely three times the speed of sound or better. Yes, he had a suppression collar on which stopped none of his abilities from working. Astral Link was definitely a game-changer of an ability.
Adam¡¯s Technomancy ability couldn¡¯t define what was allowing the vehicle to attain such high speeds underwater because it was some type of water-based magic that seemed to be displacing the water the vehicle traveled through without creating a shockwave. Technomancy reported that the magic was intertwined into the vehicle somehow but couldn¡¯t report on what it was or how it worked, just if it was on or off. Adam truly wished he had an Analyze and Identify ability. Those were two abilities he was going to have to try to get with his remaining Quintessence slots. Something to think about after he was done dealing with the Khau¡¯ting.
As Adam watched the Atlanteans floating near the cliff continue to murder thousands of humans he was reminded of the atrocities committed during World War II. These Khau¡¯ting and the Atlantean hybrids they created were evil, really evil. He also knew that they were not supposed to be in this world. The Commander that was even now trying to taunt him into a reaction was at least a Step-3 creature. Adam had no doubt he could take him but had decided to see how far this played out by remaining passive. Adam saw the net on the cliff filled with children then his eyes met one of the Atlanteans on the ledge near the net. He wrested control over himself and then dropped his focus back into his Mindspace to ignore everything. The Commander would get nothing out of him, yet.
The Commander realized that Adam wasn¡¯t listening anymore and gave the command for the pilot to continue to the Capital, the Emperor wanted to interrogate the human that had killed one of his best Assassin Hunters himself. As Adam watched the vehicle rise to the surface and convert to a flying vehicle he thought back to Tash¡¯Valyar.
Adam had slipped into the Vital Flumen and within seconds had been floating toward the exit from the planetoid into a giant net that was surrounded by 30 Atlanteans. As he slowed just before touching the net he¡¯d been hit by 30 weapons both sonic and light-based. The sonic weapons had done almost nothing because the Vital Flumen¡¯s current negated most of it but Adam recognized that the light weapons weren¡¯t meant to damage him. They were meant to overload his optical nerves and send signals to his brain locking him up. They¡¯d wanted him alive.
Adam went lip and fell into the net which carried an electrical charge which acted like a taser. He stayed limp but locked his muscles until the current was removed. He¡¯d been grabbed collared and taken to the ship where he¡¯d been strung up and left alone for the better part of an hour before the interrogation had started.
The Commander asked him where he was from, who his parents were, and where Lucius was, Adam believed that was the name of the Assassin he¡¯d killed. They¡¯d also repeatedly asked where ¡®The Key¡¯ was. Adam had ignored it all. They¡¯d even tried whipping him with a flail only to find that his clothes repaired themselves immediately and any wounds they left were also healed immediately. That they could wound him was Adam¡¯s first hint that these Atlanteans and Khau¡¯ting were more powerful than they should be in this World.
Adam had allowed his nanites to replicate into the ship and analyze everything. The only thing they¡¯d had a problem with was the device in the nose of the ship which made the field that allowed the ship to travel rapidly through the water. Adam had ignored their questions and retreated to his Mindspace. He watched his Personal Map and as they¡¯d passed the bubble with the Lost Empire Ruins in it he¡¯d started paying attention again.
That¡¯s when the Commander had come back to taunt him as they drew up to watch the slaughter of the humans in the Kingdom and the feeding of the crabs. Adam retreated into his Mindspace as the vehicle flew toward the capital and prepared for what was to come next. He had a feeling he was about to meet either the Emperor or someone else equally important.
***
Maezel¡¯dak, the Khau¡¯ting Emperor sat on his land-bound throne. His Empire spanned a thousand miles but his seat of power was in this camouflaged bubble that moved around within his domain. He hated it up here In the tower and much preferred his underwater throne room below the surface of the Lake in the middle of this Island. He was using this throne room so they could talk with the human if needed. Verbal language just didn¡¯t work right underwater.
His advisors had reported that the barrier between Earth and this World was once again nearing each other and he¡¯d moved this bubble as close as he dared to the guide buoys to the area where their portal opened. Only a few remembered the catastrophe that had brought the island through the portal. He had been very young at the time but he knew it had to do with the proximity of the land mass to the portal. His father had warned him, should the portal ever open again, he was not to move any of the bubbles in his kingdom closer than 100 miles to the border of the warning buoys. He¡¯d brought his main bubble close but it rested on the other side of the Lost Empires bubble. They would no doubt know if things were going awry and be able to fly long before his seat of power was affected.
The Emperor reviewed his personal data assistant. He had been contacted by Commander Svenith six hours ago. The human that Lucius had reported seeing had been captured but the Aquatic Elf was nowhere to be seen. They¡¯d captured him on the other side of the giant Coral Reef that the Vital Flumen traveled through. The Commander had been able to get nothing out of the Human, as he¡¯d receded into his mind and ignored all stimulus. The Commander had sent that he believed the human to be at least equal in power to the Advisors, maybe even himself.
The Emperor had brought his best mentalist and himself to the throne room where they waited for the Commander and his prisoner. The Commander had detoured to the culling to try to break the human¡¯s will only to report that no change had been noticed. Maezel¡¯dak was looking forward to breaking the human¡¯s will. It was so seldom he was able to practice in his chosen arena. He didn¡¯t have to wait long.
The multirole vehicle landed on the terrace outside his Throne Room about 200 feet in front of him and outside of the room. Commander Svenith and four armed guards escorted a chained and collared human toward him and stopped when the human was fifty feet in front of him.
One of the guards tried to smack the human¡¯s leg to make him kneel before only to have the spear bounce off as if he¡¯d hit solid rock. Another guard swung his staff as hard as he could at the human¡¯s other leg. A loud ¡°CRACK¡± was heard as part of the staff flew away, broken off.
All four Guards and the Commander immediately assumed attack positions as the Emperor made a signal and he and six others launched their mental attack. The Emperor found himself entering the human¡¯s mind which seemed to take a lot longer than he¡¯d expected. He knew that the sense of time during these mental contests could be off but he¡¯d felt that both a long time and almost no time had passed.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
As the Emperor finally achieved a foothold in this human¡¯s mind he noted six slumped-over forms lying on the ground before him.
¡°Welcome to my mind Emperor Maezel¡¯dak,¡± the human said.
¡°How do you know my name?¡± the Emperor asked.
¡°Short answer, that guy,¡± the human said pointing to one of the slumped forms, ¡°told me everything about you and this Empire of yours before he expired. Hey, do you like movies, let¡¯s watch a movie,¡± The human said as a screen popped up with a birds-eye view of the throne room and the five guards that were about to attack the human. 50 feet away he saw his body sitting on the throne.
¡°I bet you¡¯re wondering how the view can be from above my body. Sure, I could be showing you a fantasy but you need to know a couple of things. First, the view is coming from one of the many helpers I¡¯ve released. As I was walking into the room they spread out and disarmed every soldier in the room with ranged weapons. The other twenty soldiers left in the transport, some had departed to take part in the slaughter of the humans, in the ship are about to have a very bad day, but that¡¯s true for everyone here so let¡¯s not digress.
¡°How,¡± The Emperor started to say.
¡°Hold on, I¡¯m getting to that. Now the image you¡¯re looking at on the screen beside us is the throne room now, though you and I are currently sped up a bit, it¡¯s all relative. I¡¯m sure that whoever trained you in mental attacks warned you of the dangers of entering someone¡¯s mind didn¡¯t they?
¡°Yes, of course, they did¡±
¡°Well, you entered my mind, of your own free will, so here we are. Your six friends here decided to try to attack, though admittedly I only let one get to me at a time, so handling them was pretty easy. In this place, I am God after all.¡±
¡°Your mentality can not stand the power of a ¡°Khau¡¯ting Mental Master,¡± he said as he launched his attack.
The human yawned. Cocked his head then said, ¡°As I was saying, in here I am God. It looks like you are a Step-4 Cultivator and you look to be about equal to me in almost every other stat except one, no spoilers! Anyway, your friends, subordinates, subjects, whatever all tried the same thing with pretty much the same result then I showed them who I am. They did not survive the experience.¡±
¡°If that is so, why don¡¯t you do the same to me?
¡°Oh, I would never dream of doing that to you. No, for you, I want you to see exactly what your order to cull every human in this bubble has wrought, but first the Movie,¡± the human said.
As the Emperor watched the screen in front of him time started to move and before the other five had even reacted, the Emperor watched as the human moved in slow motion between each of the warriors. None of the warriors moved as the human moved from one to the next as he tapped each warrior on the top of their head with his right hand. When he was done, the human returned back to his starting point and the image seemed to freeze again.
¡°I¡¯ll bet you¡¯re wondering what just happened?¡± the human said then continued. ¡°In the world, I¡¯m from, severe blows to the head can cause significant damage to the brain in that head. I¡¯ve slowed down the time in here again so I can explain in detail what I think is going to happen. In terms, you¡¯ll understand. I struck each of them on the top of their head with my full strength, I was trying to make sure that I struck just hard enough to crush each skull down by 1 inch. If my calculations are correct I should have cracked their skulls, without flattening their heads. That blow should create a pressure wave inside the skull cavity that is going to be quite devastating, let¡¯s watch!¡± the human said excitedly as something appeared in his hands that he started to munch on, ¡°This is popcorn, want some?¡±
The Emperor looked at the human as if he was insane, or maybe he was. The human was projecting a fantasy, he had to be. His attention was drawn back to the screen as he watched a ripple start from the top of each of the warrior¡¯s heads and slowly make its way down to their eyes, which exploded out of their heads in slow motion. This was followed by their liquified brains exiting from the emptied eye sockets, ears, noses, and mouths as the bodies started to drop to the ground.
¡°Move me out of the middle of that mess, I don¡¯t need to be covered in gross brain slime,¡± The Emperor heard the human say to someone he couldn¡¯t see.
The screen sped up again as the human jumped into the air and landed 10 feet closer to the throne which should have activated some of the automated defenses in the Throne Room. None of them activated. Then he watched as the human started to slowly walk toward the throne.
¡°I¡¯ll bet you¡¯re wondering why the automated defenses didn¡¯t activate. Yeah, I know you are. I shut them down. Not to worry I¡¯m going to speed this up a little bit, places to go, things to do and all that,¡± The human said.
The Emperor watched as the human took a step and a Khau¡¯ting appeared beside him and attacked. The Emperor couldn¡¯t even tell what the human had done but the Khau¡¯ting Warrior had died with a crushed throat. Four more teleported in. He watched as the human would take a step and more and more of his elite guard would die. Each was at the same power level as himself. They were all two power levels above the natives of this world. This human seemed to be higher than they were.
Feeling fear for the first time the Emperor said, ¡°We can come to some accommodation¡¡±
The screen froze as the human turned back to him, ¡°Your race looks something like a cross between a fishhead monster and one of my favorite characters in the Star Wars franchise. You will not be allowed to exist in a universe where your kind has besmirched the Great Admiral Ackbar. Forgoing that fictional afront, you subjugated and decimated the people of Atlantis and turned them into the evil perversions that they¡¯ve become. Accommodations? I will show you accommodations and something you¡¯ve never seen before. In fact, it¡¯s something that I¡¯ve never seen before either, but first, let¡¯s finish this movie.¡± The human said.
They both turned to the screen and watched as time sped back up to normal. The human continued to walk toward the throne. When the human stopped he was directly in front of the Throne, one step away from the Emperor. The other twenty Atlanteans were rushing in from the terrace when a shimmer appeared around the human and many white bolts leaped from him to completely decimate the entire Atlantean hunting party. They didn¡¯t just die, they fell to pieces. The Throne room was empty on the screen except for the human and him.
¡°I¡¯m sure more guards are coming up the tower even as I¡¯m talking to you now. First though, get out of my mind,¡± The human said as he flicked his hand as if the Emperor were some minor annoyance to him. He soon found himself back in his body staring up at the human that was towering over him.
¡°I have to admit, those elites of yours, Step-4, just a little weaker than myself, impressive and you had 100 of them, wow. The rest were a full rank below but still too powerful for this world. No wonder the Sea Elves have had such a hard time with you.¡±
¡°What do you want?¡± The Emperor said as he tried to stand, only for the human to put a hand on his shoulder and easily restrain him.
¡°What I want is irrelevant. What I need to do here is another thing altogether. Your fellow mentalists said this Bubble is about 75 miles in diameter, that sound about right?¡±
¡°Yes, give or take a few feet, Why?¡± The Emperor asked.
¡°Just wanted to know. Last question, Are their other Khau¡¯ting outside of your Empire?¡± the human asked.
¡°Of course there are. My Empire spans a 1,000-mile radius. If something happens to me, I will be avenged!¡± he declared.
¡°Not what I meant, but thank you for the information. No, I was referring to where you are from. I¡¯m sure you didn¡¯t originate here. There are more of your kind elsewhere, yes?¡±
¡°I do not know, our ancestors came through a portal, just as the humans did with Atlantis,¡± he started to say.
¡°Nevermind that, I told you I was going to show you something that neither you nor I have ever seen before, but first you need a little context,¡± The human said. ¡°On my planet, the humans there learned to create some truly devastating weapons. Not as devastating as the Pelza Empire, but they¡¯re just a bunch of assholes anyway. So Anyway, humans created this device that made a really big explosion. The explosion pretty much decimated an entire city. I¡¯m pretty sure with your mix of magic and technology you¡¯ve never had a chance to test higher physics but let¡¯s just say that there is a substance where 1 gram of the substance can create the same explosion. Now as you know there are 453.592 grams in a pound and there are 2,000 pounds in a short ton.¡±
The Emperor was starting to get bored, ¡°And what does this have to do with what is going on here?¡± he asked. If this human was going to kill him why didn¡¯t he just do so?
¡°I¡¯m getting to that. Now our scientists have done the math based on observation and they can estimate that 10.25 pounds of the material I mentioned would create a 100,000-kiloton exposition. Roughly 4,600 times stronger than a bomb that could destroy a city. Our modeling shows that out to 4.92 miles will become part of the fireball and out to 6.2 miles a pressure wave slightly less than the pressure of the Great Ocean outside your bubble will push outward. Now I bet you¡¯re wondering how I could carry around such an item or substance without destroying myself and the answer is I can¡¯t. I mean I could if this suppression collar wasn¡¯t preventing me from...¡± he said as he trailed off and the suppression collar turned to dust.
¡°What, how? Wait you were using your full strength while the collar was on?¡± The Emperor said.
¡°Oops, Now you know one of my secrets. Yeah, they don¡¯t work on me. Wouldn¡¯t matter how powerful it was, they do not work. Don¡¯t worry about that. Let¡¯s get back to your physics lesson. There is a particle of energy so anathema to normal matter that it if it touches other matter they annihilate each other. Storing or carrying this particle would be impossible and I¡¯m sure most conjuring or creation magic would not allow the caster to create it, as they first wound need to understand subatomic particle physics and second be able to hold in their mind the image of what they wanted to create. Luckily today you have such an individual standing before you.
¡°You are Insane,¡± The Emperor said.
¡°Insane? No, I¡¯m not insane. I¡¯m giving you the ¡®context¡¯ to understand what is going to happen when I create 1,000 pounds of antiprotons in this room. Not just you and I will be destroyed. Unfortunately, I¡¯m not exactly sure how big the explosion will be because I¡¯m not sure how the explosion is going t act when it reaches the limits of the bubble. The constant pressure of the oceans should contain the explosion somewhat after the energy reaches an equilibrium. I¡¯m estimating that the amount I¡¯m going to create is going to destroy a 500 miles radius around this bubble. It will immediately be turned to plasma which the Great Ocean should contain and hammer down on. I wouldn¡¯t want to hurt anything else.¡±
¡°Killing an entire empire because they¡¡±
¡°Do you know how stupid you just started to sound,¡± the human said cutting him off,¡± The evil Emperor is going to plead to my merciful side? Yeah, not happening. One, the portal to Earth is probably opening soon, you assholes do not get to subjugate them again. Two, any mercy I may have had died when your commander gleefully described how each human was being put to death and fed to the crabs which would be turned into a feast for yourselves,¡± He said pausing for a moment before he asked, ¡°Any questions?
¡°Is there nothing I can do to stop you?¡± The Emperor asked.
¡°Not a valid question, try one more time?¡±
¡°Very well, if you can do what you say, what is your name, I would know the killer of my people?¡±
¡°You are the killer of your people!¡± Adam said decisively. ¡°You may call me Karma, for that, is who has come knocking at your door today. Now, how about those Anti-Protons?¡±
***
Adam dropped his focus to his Mindspace as his body raised his hand. He slowed time down and had his Shadow Vault pull in his dive suit just before he used Mold Chaos to summon 1,000 pounds of anti-protons. He saw a blackness drop around them which held for a moment before he found himself pulled into the Astral Plane near the fissure that sealed immediately. Well, that was completely lame, antiprotons were black and he didn¡¯t get to see the explosion. Yeah, completely lame.
He was informed that he was receiving a lot of combat messages and notifications before he felt a pull from five different directions. This was the first time his Dual State ability had come into play after all. One pulled back toward the fissure which probably led to the world or universe he¡¯d just left. The other four went off in other directions. He tried to examine them but he either didn¡¯t have the skill or ability to recognize what they pulled him toward. One had to be Earth but the other two he was unsure of.
He was sure Tash¡¯Valyar would be able to get the world ready for the portal opening into Earth. Now he needed to try to get back. He looked at his other three choices and picked the 2nd. He felt himself get pulled toward it and lost consciousness.
***
It had been five days since her home had been shaken by the explosion and the light had flooded the region. The Vital Flumen had been unanchored on the side that once housed the Khau¡¯ting Empire, which no longer existed. The Empire along with all the warning buoys had been destroyed in the explosion. She had been part of a group that had been sent to investigate only to find a bubble of rolling flame and energy that was gradually getting smaller. More disturbing was the radiation it was emitting. There was a ball of energy that resembled what her history described as a Star roughly 700 miles in diameter. The entire Khau¡¯ting Empire was somewhere inside that Sun.
It radiated heat but the Sun had been shrinking rapidly. It was already only 200 miles across and it had been only five days. The water around the mass of heat and light was extremely hot. None dared to venture closer than 100 miles unless they were in a vehicle.
During the last four days, the Atlanteans and the Khau¡¯ting that had survived the disaster were systematically hunted down and killed by every other race that hated them. Some human slaves that had been in bubbles outside of the 500-mile radius survived and were added to her people. It would be months if not a year before the region stabilized. She¡¯d have to watch for that portal to open to Earth and be sure to make sure her people didn¡¯t go through. Her people were already making the buoys to replace the danger buoys. The entire region had shifted so no one was sure where the portal would open.
One thing was for sure. Her people would be warned not to offend any humans if they traveled to Earth. If Adam could destroy an Empire and he was one of those humans she wanted to make sure her people didn¡¯t offend any of them.
***
Adam opened his eyes and had himself clothed before he looked around. He was in a tomb of some kind, of that he was sure. He activated True Sight, Aura Sight, Obscure, and Flight as he lifted himself into the air above the ground he¡¯d just appeared on. No nanites were present so this was not Earth. He seemed to be in a room with a single table in it. He¡¯d appeared on the ground before it. Adam heard footsteps and a door opened admitting two women. He immediately recognized the women as members of the Pelza Empire except they weren¡¯t They had lines of white that ran down from their eyes over their cheeks and their Aura didn¡¯t seem tainted with the green he¡¯d come to associate with evil. A light above him turned on and he realized the room had fluorescent lights. Adam turned on Technomancy and sent out his senses.
¡°I swear I felt the energy coming from this room not two minutes ago, that¡¯s why I rushed to get you.¡±
¡°Be calm Sarah, if energy flowed into the room perhaps it was used elsewhere. You know this is a life node,¡± The second woman said.
¡°I do know that, I was just worried that they had found us, you know they¡¯ve been getting closer¡±
¡°Those witches couldn¡¯t find us if I held their hand and guided them here. We are not in their Universe.¡°
¡°Let¡¯s return to the lab. We can check our equipment to see if there was a surge in the room. If there was, it was no doubt because someone used an ability that required life energy.¡±
¡°As you say, Tanya,¡± Sarah said resignedly
They both turned and left, closing the door behind them. Adam took in the layout of the building around him and realized he was in a multilevel structure two floors underground. The wiring showed a lot of rooms within range. A message popped into his vision
You have killed over 25,343 Atlanteans and 35,679 Khau¡¯ting and a variety of sea creatures and fish. Also, your looting ability collected treasure. In addition to the 53,413 small pearls, 21,737 medium pearls, and 4,676 large pearls you gathered you have also received Step-1 and Step-2 Quintessence for Air, Water, Fire, Earth, Light Dark, Life, Death, Strength, Agility, Endurance, Perception, Wisdom, Willpower, Luck, Space, Time, Gravity, Mental and Anti. Step-3 quintessence was automatically converted to Step-2. In total, you now have 2,500 Step-1 Quintessence and 8,869 Step-2 Quintessence.
All frivolous items that were looted have been scanned by the nanites and either converted or left awaiting further instructions.
Wow, That Interface update message had said that kills would automatically be looted, Adam just hadn¡¯t expected that. 8,869 Step-2 Quintessence. Looked like he would get to see what all of his abilities could do once they were leveled, and soon. Introductions to whoever was in this base could wait until he¡¯d improved his abilities.
Chapter 184, Bailout
Adam decided to let the part of himself that he¡¯d automated handle everything and sent a simple command to his Controller in his Mindspace, it was so much easier when he gave that part of himself a name, like Thor or Odin. Maybe he¡¯d think of that part of himself as Command and Control or CC for short. Yeah CC sounded good. He sent his wishes to CC
Adam: CC, that¡¯s your designation now, you know short for Command and Control, also, you know how you just felt about me telling myself what all of you already know in there, yeah, the feeling¡¯s mutual so we¡¯ll just ignore the fact that we each know what the other is going to say after the first couple of words and live with the fact that we are me¡Too much, yeah too much. Integrated the pattern for any quintessence we don¡¯t have, make sure to do so for each Step of quintessence then use the most, convert them to Step-2, and bring all quintessence abilities up to Step-2 Legendary as quickly as possible.
CC: Understood, this will take a few moments.
Adam purposefully stopped paying attention to his body, though he did keep an eye on the surroundings while he considered everything that had happened with the Khau¡¯ting. Could he have handled that better? Probably. Step-3 and Step-4 creatures getting ready to come through the Earth and turn humans into literal meat puppets. On second thought, yeah, fuck those guys.
He¡¯d come a long way since he¡¯d taken out those two criminals in New Mexico. Even so, he¡¯d killed 61,022 sentient creatures and a lot of other sea life as well. It was too bad he¡¯d been shoved into the Astral, if he could have used his Aura Sight, maybe he could have detected a soul and seen what happens next.
He also considered the fact that he¡¯d only received 11,359 Quintessence total. That was only 18.6% of Atlantean and Khau¡¯ting he¡¯d killed if he was getting one quintessence per creature. He knew in some cases he¡¯d be getting a couple so that percentage was high. It was probably closer to 10%. That meant that Quintessence were not an automatically lootable item from every single creature he killed. It was going to take him a lot longer to get his Cultivator rank up if his hunch about needing Step-4 Quintessence to increase his Cultivator Rank Above Class X was correct.
Exactly 1 minute and 53 seconds later he received another message.
CC: 8 Step-1 Quintessence have had its patterns Integrated. 20 Step-2 Quintessence have had its patterns Integrated. 162 Step-1 Quintessence were utilized to bring Teleport and Planar Travel to the Rank Step-2 Legendary. 960 Step-2 Quintessence were utilized to bring all Quintessence abilities not already at Rank Step-2 Legendary to that point. Your math is not wrong, it should have taken almost seven times as long. Stutter-Step was utilized to increase the absorption of all remaining Step-1 and Step-2 Quintessence. Currently, you have 11 Step-3 Air Quintessence in your Shadow Vault
Notable items from ability updates.
Flight can now attain Mach/Warp 14. Warp 14 is 537,824 times the speed of light if this ability is using the 5th power. We suggest that you try to acquire an ability that will protect you at such velocities.
Mold Chaos can now create up to 128 tons out to 7,000 feet away from you.
Teleport has a range of 128,000,000 miles.
True Sight, Aura Sight, and Technomancy all have an effective range of 2,100 Feet. At Step-2 each rank increased the abilities range by 200 feet instead of 100 feet.
Adam paused for a moment, that was a bit of an upgrade. It also meant that more powerful creatures would be able to detect him further out. He needed to increase his abilities as fast as he could. Especially those that allowed him to detect threats. He went back to reading the update on his abilities.
Personal Map now has a range of 8,192 miles around you. Though any areas will be fogged, or greyed, out if you have not visited the location or your information is outdated.
Stutter Step now allows 14 combat rounds per 1 combat round at a mana cost of Step-2 Legendary. New functionality has also been unlocked. This ability can be set to personal and will allow one-half of the combat rounds for only you at the same mana cost. You can now engage in combat and take 7 Combat rounds worth of actions for Legendary Step-2 Mana. Note, costs by Step are still being correlated. We suggest that you do not try to do this with mana costs any higher than Step-1 legendary.
All other abilities still work as previously understood. The only ability we do not know what the upgrade did for you is Planar Travel.
That is all for now.
Adam closed his interface and activated Planar Travel
Planar Travel activated.
ERROR, Planar Travel has been shut down.
The ability Planar Travel is being reworked.
Please Wait
Please Wait
Please Wait.
Planar Travel has been reworked!
Planar Travel 1.01 ¨C Allows you to travel between target locations in different Universes, Dimensions, Realms, Realities, etc. This ability has three modes.
Mode 1: Activating Planar travel will add the current location to a list of Target Locations. Target Locations can be deleted at any time. You may only have 7 Target locations for Each Step. Please note, this ability creates a Spatial lock to the current location. Various rules govern these locks. On planets, it will be the same geographic location and elevation. In locations that are not on planets, the location is locked to the coordinates of the nearest Stellar body or Universal coordinates in three planes from the center of the Universes, Dimensions, Realms, Realities, etc. Care should be taken when traveling to locations that have not been visited in a long time. Current number of Target Locations: 0 of 14.
Mode 2: Activating Planar travel in Mode 2 will allow you to teleport, or open a portal up to 10 feet in diameter, to a location on your list of Target Locations that are not within your current Universes, Dimensions, Realms, Realities, etc. You may also attempt to target locations you have visited but have not added to your Target Location. Chance of success is based on the Memory of location. If the Target location is known to the Interface, Planar Travel will deposit you there.
Mode 3: Activating Planar Travel in Mode 3 opens a Portal to the closest Universes, Dimensions, Realms, Realities, etc. to the location you are currently in. The various Universes, Dimensions, Realms, Realities, etc. are constantly moving. There is no guarantee that a location will open to the same Universes, Dimensions, Realms, Realities, etc.
Planar travel does have a range limit though it is not a measure of distance but of energy requirement. This ability may open portals to other Universes, Dimensions, Realms, Realities, etc. of equal or lesser Step. Ranks within a given Step do not matter. To open a portal to a Step-3 Target Location the ability must be Step-3 or higher.
Note: Abilities ¡°Perfect Memory¡± and ¡°Dual State¡± are Synergistic with this ability
Interesting changes. Adam activated Planar Travel in Mode 1 and received a notification.
You have added this location to your Target Locations for the ability Planar Travel. Lock Type: Planet.
Adam thought about Earth, his underwater base near Hawaii, and the Airlock. He activated Planar Travel Mode 2 and received a notification as he found himself standing in the Airlock on his base on Earth. He quickly activated Planar Travel Mode 1 and received a second notification. He checked them both quickly.
Planar Travel ability use successful. Memory of location 100% identified and located. Location 99.9% similar. Teleport Successful.
You have added this location to your Target Locations for the ability Planar Travel. Lock Type: Planet.
Adam took in the area and then visualized the chamber he created in the tunnel through the Planetoid where Tash¡¯Vaylar and he had dropped out of the Vital Flumen. He held that location in his memory and then activated Planar Travel Mode 2. This time a Warning popped up.
WARNING: Memory of location 100% identified and located. Location 14% similar. Would you still like to teleport to the targeted location, Yes or No?
14% Similar, which indicated something had changed. If his math wasn¡¯t too far off it should have been right on the edge of the explosion. Still, the location could have shifted and damage could have been taken. Adam chose ¡°Yes.¡± The universe went dark for a second then he felt the heat which immediately subsided.
He looked around and found that the opening to the Vital Flumen had been sealed and he was in a small stone room. He checked his notification.
Planar Travel ability use successful.
He set the task of handling messages and notifications back to his CC then activated Planar Travel Mode 1. He noted the notification toggle and that let him know he¡¯d saved this location. His nanites were still all around him here and he had them open the door only to find himself enveloped by a plasma field. Adaptable keep him safe as he activated Flight, and moved out into the tube the Vital Flumen had once flowed through. He flew off toward the spot where he¡¯d been captured and found himself in a steaming environment. He set his flight path for a straight trajectory and increase to 60 miles an hour. If as he suspected he was in the fireball of the antimatter explosion the pressure should be forcing it to shrink. The heat would create steam and outside the region of steam, he should find water again.
No sooner had he thought it than he found himself slamming into water. He took a little damage which his regeneration handled then viewed his Personal Map. It was time to check on the portal. Adam looked at his Map and realized it might still be within. The fireball. He thought about things for a moment then slowed to a stop and activated Obscure.
Adam dropped his focus to his Soul Core and concentrated on creating an ability that would protect him and allow for minimal environmental disruption as he navigated through any medium including vacuum. He focused on one of the Step-1 motes and willed it to be absorbed.
You have chosen to integrate a mote of Chaos into an Ability. The ability ¡°Variable Quintessence¡± has been activated. New Ability sought: Category: Defense. Energy Type: Chaos. Ranged: Self. Goal: Prevent environmental damage from speed related to movement ability Flight while in Atmosphere or Warp Speed. Is this information correct? Yes or no?
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Adam chose ¡°Yes.¡±
Congratulations you have integrated the Chaos Quintessence ability ¡°Freedom of Flight¡± This ability has a cost equal to the cost of Flight in use. This ability bends space and time around you while the ability of Flight is activated. While your body moves through space it does not do so as physical matter. Instead, your body¡¯s mass is transformed into pure energy, and you travel as if you were a single photon, though you are completely aware of your surroundings. Additionally, you are slightly out of phase with reality allowing only energy, space, time, and gravity-type attacks to affect you. Energy Type Chaos. This ability will only activate with the Ability Flight. This ability can be turned off at any time. NOTE: Doing so while at very high speeds can have catastrophic consequences. The mana cost for this ability is identical to the mana cost of the Flight Ability.
While he was focused on his Soul Core and dropped beneath to find the node for his new ability. He quickly brought it up to Step-1 Legendary for 6 Step-1 Chaos Motes and then Step-2 Legendary for 84 Step-2 Chaos Motes. Next, he visited his Mindspace and added Freedom of Flight to the fragment of Conscious that was controlling Flight then pulled his focus to the real world and sped off at Mach 14, or 10,220 miles per hour.
Over the next hour, Adam did a quick reconnaissance of the area around the ¡°star¡± that was once the Khau¡¯ting empire. It didn¡¯t take long for him to map it out. He wondered what would happen if he went to warp speed. What the hell, you only live once, or twice or¡
Adam activated Warp speed and speed away from the false star at the speed of light. When he hadn¡¯t died instantly he continued to step it up until he was traveling at Warp 14. He was traveling so fast that his Personal Map wasn¡¯t even trying to keep up, it was just a blur. He allowed the speed to continue for 30 seconds then came to a stop, turned around, and headed back the way he¡¯d come. He¡¯d traveled over 3 trillion miles in 30 seconds, and nothing had changed. He was still in a water world with constant pressure throughout. He guessed it could be a giant nebula if it was in a universe but he should have felt pressure variations. This realm was weird.
30 seconds later, Adam found himself back where he started. While he was flying back he noticed the clock and the date for the first time since waking. It had been over five days. There was nothing in the Immortal ability that talked about losing days. Even so, he needed to do something about that plasma fireball in this Ocean.
He found a bubble a little farther out and flew onto the Island and landed. He activated Planar Travel Mode 1: Locked the place he was standing into his target locations and went back to Earth.
Very quickly he looked over the World News and noticed that things were destabilizing worldwide. There were rumors that China was going to make a huge announcement at the United Nations at 9 a.m. He checked the time, it was 7 a.m. in New York. He should be able to make it.
Two hours later found Adam in New York City walking into the UN with a valid security card with all access and a business suit that, while not bad by the best designer on the planet, looked like it was. It had been nothing to fly east, use technomancy once he was as close and Mold Chaos to create everything he needed. Creating the CC to take care of the mundane stuff was one of the best ideas he¡¯d ever had.
Adam was on his way to the main chamber of the UN to listen to China¡¯s declaration and step in if necessary. Adam wanted to let things play out but if what China was going to do was going to destabilize the world even more, he¡¯d have to step in. He really didn¡¯t want to be the crazy dictator type again. As he entered the UN he sent detailed files of procedures to spread out to the nearby solar systems with his nanites to Al. Might as well give him something to do too.
***
Chairman Zao Ching Lao sat through the call to order and waited for the President to call on him. China continued to prosper long after China ¡®embraced¡¯ capitalism. Didn¡¯t the fools know? Everything the Chinese did was for the growth of the Chinese. Capitalism had never been ¡®embraced.¡± It had been the tool they used to bring the once-prosperous United States to its knees. He was shaken from his thoughts as the President called on him.
¡°Chairman Zao Ching Lao from China¡±
Zao Ching Lao stood and moved to the podium. ¡°Good morning. As we all have things to do today, I will be brief. Today I stand before you to request payment in full by the United States of America on the debt that they have borrowed from our country. This is our official notification that the United States has 30 days to request an extension or produce the funds that are owed us.¡±
¡°This is outrageous!¡± Ambassador Stillson of the United States declared ¡°You do not get to change the rules in the middle of the game!¡±
¡°Order! Order! We will have Order!¡± the President stated as murmurs filled the room.
Once the murmurs had quieted, Chairmen Zao Ching Lao continued, ¡°Ambassador Stillson, knows full well that a clause within the contract for each loan states that China may make a formal announcement requiring payment in full giving the United States 30 days to respond. You have been so notified publicly.¡±
¡°Do you have any idea what this news will do to the Stock Market?¡± Ambassador Stillson asked.
¡°I do,¡± Chairman Zao Ching Lao said smugly
¡°Absolutely Nothing!¡± a man declared as he walked down the aisle toward the President and Podium
Chairman Lao watched the President look at the newcomer and without hesitation call out, ¡°Security!¡± A moment later there was a soft explosion as something exploded in a disguised flower holder. A man stood up holding his hand, slipped, and started to fall. Before anyone had even registered what had happened the man had fallen through a horizontal hole a foot above the ground and disappeared.
Security men and women rushed toward the man and started to slow when their weapons and clothes started dissolving. In moments, each was left butt assed naked. The man made a shooing motion to the guards as he said, ¡°There are some fluffy white robes with anything that might have been considered personal to you outside the doors. Your name is nicely printed on each robe. That said, if a Security member touches an outer door after you leave before I say otherwise, you will all lose every single hair on your body, both ladies and men. If you identify as other, I don¡¯t fucking care. If the word security is in their job description, they¡¯ll lose their clothes and weapons just like you as well as their hair too.
¡°You can¡¯t do that!¡± one of the braver security guards said
¡°Robert, look at your right arm.¡± The man said.
Robert looked at his arm and watched as each hair fell off his arm from the elbow to the hand.
¡°Should I continue, or will you all make sure no one comes in? I should note the reaction will be swift once that door closes. A single touch and you all lose your hair. If that is not enough to deter you, I¡¯ll have to think of something.¡± The man said.
The security personnel exited the chamber and the door closed. The man sighed as black circles covered every panel of glass. While the illumination in the room somehow stayed the same. Chairman Zao Ching Lao was quite impressed with the display. Whomever this man was he either had fantastic magic or unbelievable technology.
¡°The man reached the podium and there was an audible click as everyone heard the microphone get switched over to someone else then he spoke. ¡°Hello Everyone, I¡¯m Adam and I¡¯m not from around these parts, meaning the Universe. If you¡¯re wondering why I sighed I¡¯ll tell you. Exactly 3 seconds after the door closed the Security Chief couldn¡¯t believe the nonsense and touched the door to open it. Each of the doors into this room is now covered by a wormhole that leads to the Andrews AFB Tarmac,¡± Adam said pausing for a moment as he looked giddy, ¡°Oh my, one of the gung-ho women and three men, now nude and hairless because I am a man of my word, have decided that the images when they opened the doors were just illusions and stepped through. Oh, she¡¯s trying to come back, hold on for a sec, need to move the portal, that should get them out of reach. Oh! There¡¯s security. Oh damn, that looks like it hurt. They tackled her onto the tarmac. Concrete against her sensitive bits, that¡¯s going to leave a mark,¡± Adam said as a screen appeared in the air showing the scene from the Tarmac. The delegations all watched as black circles similar to the ones in front of the doors and window panels opened and closed as security tried to chase down three other naked people running up and down the runway at Andrews.
¡°What is the meaning of the is?¡± The President screamed in a loud voice.
¡°That, oh that¡¯ That¡¯s just we bit of fun, This next part should be interesting,¡± Adam said as the single screen separated into six screens that all the delegates and their assistants could see, then six surprised faces appeared on each.
¡°For context, each of the individuals you see here is at an undisclosed location and has had a screen very similar to the one you¡¯re looking at which is separated into one large image and pictures of other five individuals. Let me introduce you to, Commander Shen and Commander Kong. Both serve China and are currently on the Moon and Mars at undisclosed locations,¡± Adam said as two Chinese flats appeared in the corner next to each. ¡°Major Anders and Captain Collage both serve the United States Military. One is on the Moon the other is on Mars also,¡± he continued as two American Flags appeared in the corner of their images, ¡°The last two are Comrades from the reintegrated Russia, They are Commander Egorov and Commander Fedorov.¡±
Chairman Lao froze. He also noticed that the American and Russian Ambassadors to the United Nations froze as well, ¡°Adam is it, why do you fabricate,¡± he started to say as a very small screen showing the exact location of the Chinese moon base, visible only to him appeared in front of him. He also noticed that the Russian and American Ambassadors had similar small screens in front of them. No images were visible from the backside. Three seconds later the three small screens disappeared.
¡°Forgive me for interrupting you Chairman Lao,¡± Adam said with a hint of mirth in his voice. Commanders as a token of my appreciation for your due diligence in serving your respective countries you will find that your food stocks, water supply, and air supplies have all been miraculously topped off. Ironically, all waste disposal is taken care of as well. Additionally, you will find hot meals and drinks, though no Alcohol, in your mess, enough for everyone to enjoy themselves. Please inform your chain of command then enjoy your meals. I will be visiting you in the coming days to make sure that you have everything you need after I talk with your leaders,¡± Adam said as the screen disappeared, ¡°Now Chairman Lao, Ambassador Cline, and Ambassador Morozov,¡± you weren¡¯t about to deny to these fine people that you set up covert secret bases on the Moon and Mars were you?¡±
¡°We have no such¡¡±Ambassador Cline started to say as Ambassador Morozov finished his sentence, ¡°bases on either planet!¡±
¡°Not to be too picky but the moon is not a planet,¡± Adam said.
¡°So you have magic Adam, we have magic too,¡± Chairman Lao said with a hint of mirth.
¡°You mean this guy,¡± Adam said as a portal opened and a man flew through and was grabbed and halted by Adam as if he were nothing. Then Adam struck him so fast that his hands blurred until a Chinese man in a black combat suit lay on the ground in an unconscious heap the next moment. ¡°Sorry about that, He was flying as fast as he could to break into this room,¡± Adam said as he picked up the unconscious Chinaman one-handed and dropped him through a portal that opened beneath him. The Chinese man fell through the portal and landed heavily¡± ¡±He will be all right shortly, he¡¯s just stunned,¡± Adam called down to two stunned doctors in scrubs in perfect Chinese.
¡°What is the meaning of this, You dare attack a member of China,¡± Chairman Lao demanded.
¡°Dare? I¡¯m pretty sure I just did. Also, No shaking in my boots. I have no family on this planet that you can leverage so let¡¯s just skip the part where you try to find a way to control me, you can¡¯t. Why? Haven¡¯t you wondered why the only place Uranium is working right now is in power reactors? I did that! Now go take a seat and I will explain some of what is going on,¡± Adam said as he waited until Chairman Lao took his seat next to his Ambassador that hadn¡¯t moved since this all began. Chairman Lao was beginning to wish he¡¯d not come to deliver the Ultimatum.
Once Chairman Lao had seated himself, Adam spoke, ¡°I believe that I have established that there is a new world power on the stage. First, let me assure everyone that I do not want to take over any country or take away anything from anyone, including funds legally owed to the Chinese that have been borrowed by the United States, or any other nation. China has done a brilliant job of putting up with the greed of the west and prospering from it. For me to come along at the end and take all their hard world would be unfair and dishonorable. I believe in Fairness and am not dishonorable. I believe I have also proved that I am a man of my word as the security forces here found out.¡±
¡°Then why are you here?¡± The President of the United Nations asked.
¡°I am here to warn the World of two worldwide problems that all of you will have to work to resolve. The First problem the Americans have been made aware of. There is an Alien force that has moved in and tried to subvert various governments in this world. They are known as the Pelza Empire,¡± Adam said as he started walking toward the Ambassador from the Philippines who was opening her purse and trying to withdraw something as Adam reached out and grabbed her arm holding the purse.
¡°Unhand her now!¡± The President said
¡°My dear, would he be so kind as to take off the magical ring, or I will take it off for you, with it on the finger.¡±
Chairman Lao watched as the woman removed a ring and the room went dead silent as the skin on her head shrank into her skull, her hairline receded, and her hair turned white. She also had two black lines running from her eyes down her cheeks
Her black eyes looked at Adam belligerently as she tried to move. He didn¡¯t even see Adam move and suddenly the Collar she¡¯d pulled out of her purse was on her neck.
A portal opened beside Adam, ¡°General Cain, this is one of the Special Operatives of the Pelza Empire. Do not take the Collar off of her, for any reason. Whoever does won¡¯t live long enough to regret their decision¡±, he said as he pushed the Ambassador through the Portal and it closed.
Adam continued, ¡°Now as I was saying there are two problems. The Pelza Empire in comparison to the peoples of Earth is at least 30 times more powerful per person and they are both a technologically and magically proficient race far ahead of humanity, any of you. The second problem is one of nature. Global Warming is not going to make the seas rise. A natural connection between this Universe and another is.¡±
¡°That¡¯s absurd, there are no other Universe, the Ambassador from France said, it is how you say, Science Fiction.
Chairman Lao watched as Adam raised his hand and a chamber was created out of thin air, ¡°This chamber is made of completely solid Transparent Aluminum, 6 inches thick and 15 feet on a side, or about 5 meters,¡± Adam said as he opened a portal that allowed him to step through and inside. The portal closed and Adam¡¯s voice seemed to be coming from everywhere as he said. I should only be a moment¡± and disappeared.
Chairman Lao, pushed his panic button but nothing happened. Others were trying to make calls out as well. That¡¯s when everyone around the chamber noticed a one-foot wall of a slightly green transparent substance began raising from the ground around the Aluminum cube.
¡°Is that lead-lined glass,¡± someone from behind Chairman Lao asked.¡±
No sooner had the question been asked than a portal opened and water flooded into the cube as all in the room saw Adam float into the cube. Behind him, through the portal, off in the distance, a roiling plasma cloud of oranges, reds, and yellows billowed. Adam¡¯s voice came over the speakers, ¡°Earlier today an Empire known as the Khau¡¯ting used to live at the center of that fireball roughly 100 miles away through that portal. The world that fireball is in isn¡¯t really a world, it¡¯s a universe made of water, from what I can tell. Now the Emperor there ordered the descendants of Atlantis killed, to the last man, woman, and child. That fireball, ¡°Adam said pointing his thumb over his shoulder, ¡°Is what happens when someone uses magic to create 100 pounds of anti-protons,¡± as he finished talking the portal inside the cube of Aluminum closed and the water, cube, and walls of lead-lined glass all melded into the floor leaving Adam looking clean and dry.
¡°How do we know anything you say is true?¡± The Ambassador from India said.
¡°That¡¯s a fair question, except for the Alien in your midst the radiation badges inside the lead wall that all turned black, or the various images I¡¯ve shown, I mean sure this could all be a giant hoax,¡± Adam said with a grin which suddenly turned menacing, even though he was being jovial. ¡°First, I do not have to prove anything to any of you. Second, the problem with the Water Universe is not the race I just obliterated. It¡¯s the fact that very shortly a natural portal will open between our world and it somewhere on Earth and it will start pouring water into this world. I am here to give you that warning. Atlantis failed, and its people were captured and destroyed. You all need to work together to prevent this. Now I have taken up enough of your time. America, Russia, and China, please contact those bases that don¡¯t exist on the Moon. In a very short while a portal is going to open that will shoot the plasma from the center of that star in the other world into space away from Earth. Might want to let them know to have their instruments ready. It¡¯s only 200 miles in diameter so it shouldn¡¯t last too long, Tell them to be ready in about an hour, I have another meeting to get to,¡± Adam said as the portals around the room vanished as Adam did with a slight pop.
Chairman Lao sat back in his chair
¡°Chairman is there anything I can do?¡± his Ambassador asked.
¡°Yes, send exactly what Adam said to the military. They are to treat it as fact and prepare equipment to take data.¡± Chairman Lao said.
¡°Yes Chairman,¡± he said as he pushed one of his quick keys.
***
Adam teleported out of the UN and directly into the Oval Office.
¡°I was expecting you, the Secret Service has been told to stand down,¡± The President said.
¡°Thank you, Mr. President. As a word of caution, I would consider having at least two of them in the room with you at all times. I know the big three have supers, the most powerful being the Chinese man licking his wounds in Hong Kong, but there are others and the Aliens seem to like Dimensional hopping and teleporting as much as I do.¡±
Thank you for the advice, Adam. I will take it into consideration. If I might ask, why are you here?
I need to buy or lease land near Hawaii and I understand that the United States has a debt problem, which will only get worse once The UN recovers and Chairman Lao realizes I did not ask him to withdraw his debt request.
¡°Would you?¡± The President asked.
¡°Good Heavens no, what kind of message would that send. No, I stopped by today to make the United States Government an offer it cannot refuse. A map of Hawaii appeared on a screen in the air with an area highlighted. He included an area 1 mile offshore of Hawaii out to the international line and 3 miles north and south of the location of his base. Adam pointed at the highlighted area. I wish to purchase that from the United States Government for 600 trillion dollars.
Chapter 185, Breaking a Paradigm
¡°That wasn¡¯t exactly what I had expected to hear you say?¡± The President of the United States said. ¡°You just happened to have 600 trillion dollars laying around?¡±
¡°If I want, yes, but that¡¯s not what we need to talk about. In addition to the small plot of land, which we both know is not worth 600 trillion dollars. Failure should have consequences. The entire House of Representatives and Senate have failed The United States, and every one of them will retire and not seek reelection.
¡°There is no way every member of Congress will go for this?¡± The President said.
¡°Let me guess, This or that politician is going to believe the United States needs their vision? Their ¡°Vision¡± has left your country in debt to a foreign country in the amount of 131 trillion dollars.¡±
¡°That¡¯s a valid point. They¡¯re still not going to go for it,¡± The President said.
¡°Do you want to know what else is a valid point? A one-time offer, with an expiration date.¡± Adam said.
¡°What kind of offer?¡± The President asked.
¡°The kind of offer that returns years of life to the body¡±
¡°That¡¯s impossible?¡±
¡°Mr. President, would you say that you have gained a few extra pounds that you would like to get rid of around your midsection.¡±
¡°Of course, I have, anyone over 50 has?¡± The President said.
¡°Check your stomach again,¡± Adam said
The President¡¯s hand reached down and then started moving back and forth rapidly. He pulled his shirt out of his pants and lifted it to find a flat and trim stomach, ¡°What? How? I didn¡¯t feel anything.¡± He asked.
¡°A small demonstration. When you call for the Leaders of the Senate and the House to meet with you after I¡¯ve left. Feel free to show them what I¡¯m offering. When you do, I¡¯ll adjust their bodies as well. I will not make major changes to any of them yet, but if they go jump on a scale they will notice that they have each lost at least 10 pounds. Each of them could lose about three times that and still be overweight. Once they¡¯ve retired, every House Representative and Senator will receive this free ¡°Adjustment.¡±
¡°What are the conditions, exactly?¡± The President asked.
Adam created two sheets of paper, one for the President, the other for himself, ¡°The list of conditions is as follows.
- An amendment to the Constitution imposing Term Limits for Senators and House Representatives. Senators to no more than 2 terms. House Representatives to no more than 5 terms. These are the only things to be on that Amendment.
- Their Immediate Resignation once the Amendment is Signed by you.
¡°Is that all?¡±
¡°No, it has to happen within the next 30 days. The United States will not receive a single penny from me until that Amendment has been signed into Law.¡±
¡°Do you have any idea how long that takes?¡± The President asked.
¡°As one of the Conditions for the Amendment is that nothing else is to be added to the bill It shouldn¡¯t take too long at all.
¡°What will you be doing in the meantime?¡± The President asked.
¡°I will be starting a company called Portals Inc. My plan is for it to focus on technologies that will allow for instantaneous travel between any two points in the Solar System,¡± Adam said.
¡°No one is going to believe that.¡±
Adam laughed as he said, ¡°I¡¯m sure they won¡¯t. Before I make the announcement, I¡¯d like your permission to take a reporter on a tour of the moon and mars bases. I¡¯ll show her around, she can take a few pics, and get pictures of her jumping around in low gravity, it¡¯ll be fun. The word is going to get out anyway, with the stunt I pulled in the United Nations might as well roll with it. Besides if the United States works with me on this, those soldiers will be able to return home whenever they want. They could even go to shift on the moon and return to their home¡¯s here on Earth for a good night¡¯s sleep. Such assignments wouldn¡¯t be seen as punishments anymore.¡±
¡°Do it then, open a portal to Major Anders on the Moon,¡± The President said.
Adam pointed and a dot of inky blackness expanded into a circle that showed Major Anders sitting at a keyboard in his personal room. The Major feeling the air in his room change spun to see the President of the United States and stood immediately, ¡°Sir!¡± Major Anders said coming to attention.
¡°Adam, can he step through the portal, and will you let him return to the base after?¡±
¡°Of Course, Mr. President,¡± Adam said.
¡°Major Anders come here please.¡±
The Major hesitated for only a moment before he stepped through the portal, and it closed behind him. He stepped before the President, saluted, and said ¡°Sir, Major Anders Reporting as Ordered Sir!¡±
¡°At ease Major,¡± The President said then turned to Adam, ¡°And Captain Collage?¡±
Another portal opened. Events played out the same and Captain Collage was standing at ease beside Major Anders.
¡°What exactly does this do for us,¡± The President asked.
¡°It will save transportation fees for personnel to and from, as well as material shipments. Also, instead of months, travel to and from Mars can be made in moments.¡±
The officers remained silent as the President talked to the man behind them. They were both listening intently, but their minds were wondering what was going on so missed the first question the President asked.
¡°Gentlemen, times are changing Command will be in contact with you shortly,¡± The President started to say.
¡°Mr. President, as I understand it both men have been on station for over a year with only intermittent contact with their families. As a gesture of goodwill, I am willing to open a portal for each to visit their families and then send them back after a time specified by you. I believe both are in their sleep cycle so their personnel shouldn¡¯t miss them, but if someone comes knocking I will send them back immediately.¡±
¡°Yes, let¡¯s see how this goes. Gentlemen inform your families they are not to discuss what they see today with anyone,¡±
¡°Yes Sir, both men said in unison.¡±
Adam opened two portals that showed each man¡¯s wife who looked up from what they were doing. The look on both women¡¯s faces was priceless. Neither officer moved as their wives remained frozen in shock.
¡°Dismissed Gentlemen,¡± The President said. No sooner had he said the word ¡°Dismissed¡± been uttered than both gentlemen turned and walked through the portal to their wives. Adam closed the portals.
¡°How long will you allow them to visit with their families,¡± The President asked.
¡°It¡¯s a gesture of goodwill, Mr. President. It¡¯s nothing for me to monitor their bases, on mars, and them in their homes. I¡¯m doing so now as we speak. Major Anders had 6 hours left on his Sleep cycle Captain Collage had just over five hours. How long would you like me to leave them with their families?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Send each back about 15 minutes before their shift starts,¡± The President said before he paused as something popped into his mind, ¡°You know you don¡¯t have the clearance to know about those locations?¡± The President said.
¡°Then I guess your first order of business is to draft an executive order granting me every clearance at its highest level. Before you wonder if you should or shouldn¡¯t let me have said clearance, watch the screen,¡± Adam said as a screen appeared in the middle of the room. Only five seconds were spent on each image but Adam showed the President every top-secret item that the United States was working on or had.¡±
¡°Were all of those images in real-time?¡± The President asked.
¡°Yes,¡± Adam said.
¡°What are you?¡±
¡°Let¡¯s not worry about that. Please sign this clearance letter,¡± Adam said as a sheet of paper giving the same Clearance to five names?¡±
The President read over the letter and asked five names?¡±
¡°All alias but that¡¯ll make it legal as all five names are in the system,¡± Adam said.
The President signed the letter, then 4 more copies of the letter, already signed appeared. Adam took the original and added it to his Shadow Vault and left the other four for the President. Adam stepped back and said, ¡°I will be heading to Colorado Springs to set up a chamber for the portals so each Base Commander can work with their chain of command to set up a rotation and leave schedule. If you¡¯d be so kind as to call the Colonel at Peterson and let him know I¡¯ll be on my way. Right now I have a date to keep,¡± Adam said as he teleported away.
Adam watched through his nanites as the President shook his head and then told his secretary to get the House and Senate leadership over to the Oval Office Immediately on a matter of National Security and Sovereignty.
Adam brought his attention back to himself and flew to the other side of the moon in a few moments. Once he was headed into deep space, He had his CC draw up a space station that could stabilize itself while he headed halfway to the Asteroid Belt. He found a nice place and stopped and oriented himself so that station was pointing 45 degrees above the plane of Earth¡¯s orbit and made sure where he opened the portal from Planar Travel it would be pointing away from the Earth, the Moon, and Mars. He didn¡¯t want the plasma or radiation hitting any of them. As it was, the detectors on the moon should still pick up some radiation. If his nanites started to detect high levels of radiation he¡¯d set up shielding for all the bases on the moon. Earth should be fine with its thick atmosphere.
Once Adam was in position he uploaded the plans for the small self-orienting space station which amounted to a 20-foot cube with a lot of stuff on the outside, then used Mold Chaos to create it. He summoned a pound of nanites and had them infiltrate and supplement the station. Next, he activated Planar Travel Mode 1 and saved the ledge of the station he wanted to use as an exit point for the plasma to come through from as a Target Location.
Now that everything was prepared, he activated Planar Travel Mode 2 and traveled to the bubble outside of the danger zone in the Water World. He looked around and noticed no one on the beach and activated Obscure, Flight, and Freedom of Flight. Next, he shot out from the bubble and did a quick circuit around the false star to make sure no creatures had wandered in. He made sure to map all three axes so he could determine where the middle of the plasma ball was. Once he was satisfied he headed into the plasma and used his Personal Map to find the exact center.
Now the fun part he locked himself into position and activated Stutter Step so he could react even faster to changes in flow and momentum as he had Flight lock him in place. Then he used Planar Travel Mode 2 to open a portal to the station he¡¯d created and held it open.
Immediately he felt the plasma flow into the portal and the space beyond. The plasma ejected in an almost straight line. When He¡¯d flown around the plasma he¡¯d noted that it had only shrunk to about 188 miles in diameter. That meant with a 15-foot diameter aperture with a pressure of 14 bars pushing in from all sides that it should squeeze the plasma through the portal in about¡
Adam watched as the stream of plasma shot off into space. With Stutter Step active, everything slowed down but it was still only 1.2 seconds before the last of the plasma flowed past him through the portal, followed by steam for one of the Stutter Step combat rounds then water surrounded him. Some water even made it through the portal before he closed it. 1.34 seconds to remove the ball of radioactive plasma from this Ocean. He could already feel the heat leaving the area as the water around him cooled He looked around and then sped off in a circular field until he found a group of Aquatic Elves looking a little tumbled about from water rushing in toward his portal. He slowed down and dropped Obscure as he recognized Tash¡¯Valyar, Adam swapped his clothes to the black dive suit he¡¯d been in so she¡¯d recognize him as he slowed down to stop 20 feet away from them.
¡°You survived?¡± Tash¡¯Valyar sent through her mindspeak.
¡°I did,¡± he sent back. ¡°Are you all okay?¡± he asked.
¡°We will be, we were scouting the area to look for the location where the warning buoys used to be but the explosion and whatever just happened has moved things around quite a bit.,¡± she said.
I have the location where I came into this water world the first time marked on mapping ability. It¡¯s about 25 miles in that direction,¡± he said pointing off to their side and up.
¡°Could you take us there?¡± she asked.
¡°Sure,¡± Adam said, ¡°Everyone ready?¡±
They traveled at roughly 60 miles per hour and arrived at what his Personal Map said was the location he¡¯d saved so long ago. He activated Planar Travel Mode 1 and locked it in as a target location. He wouldn¡¯t be able to portal here the first time he came back after the portal opened because he¡¯d need to make sure the portal that opened didn¡¯t open exactly where the natural portal opened, just in case. Once he verified the natural portal was not in this location he could get here quickly if he needed to after that first trip.
¡°We¡¯re here. I need to get back to Earth but I should be able to stop by at some point after that. I will be back when the natural portal opens.¡± Adam said.
¡°We have a lot of rebuilding to do but a lot of us would like to extend our gratitude for what you did and what you have done this day,¡± Tash¡¯Valyar said.
¡°You are very welcome,¡± Adam said as he bowed slightly and used Planar Travel to teleport back to Earth. He had a lot to do.
The first thing he did was head to Colorado Springs. His nanites acted as an extension of himself so teleporting between locations wasn¡¯t hard to do at all. When he did Teleport he always did so with Obscure active. His nanites let him check out the location before. Even though he knew magic was known to some it still seemed as if some people on Earth didn¡¯t believe that it existed. He didn¡¯t want to startle anyone.
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Once he was at the base he walked up to the gate, flashed his credentials, and requested to see Colonel Maer. It took Adam a little while to win the Colonel over but when he did the Colonel showed him to an area he could use. They ended up in a Hanger in one of the controlled locations on base. The Colonel assured Adam that this location would be perfect if Adam could do what he claimed. There were no connections to power when they arrived but within moments both were taken care of. Next, Adam used his nanites to create two 20 cubes, complete with airlocks and control terminals. The Airlocks were to make everyone feel better but his nanites were taking care of any possible contamination going in either direction.
The rooms were simply a way for the personnel here on the base to request that portals be opened from Adam¡¯s systems under the seabed near Hawaii. They were quantumly linked so anyone trying to intercept the signal would have a fun time replicating that. While Adam was doing this on Earth, he sent a message to Major Anders and Captain College and informed them that a room would be added to their base shortly It would be added below their base so no one would be the wiser. Access would be from a stairway in their storage area and should be ready when they returned to their respective bases. The Commanders asked to be sent back to their bases and Adam opened portals for each.
Adam watched as they had their personnel put on protective gear just in case something went wrong, as pressure doors were closed throughout each base. When the room was finished being built, the new rooms were investigated by the base personnel. Soon thereafter the portals were opened and working allowing for instantaneous travel to and from both Mars and the Moon. Adam said his goodbyes and then teleported to his base on the back side of the moon. Unlike the other hidden bases, his base did not have access to the surface and was 2,000 feet deep. It was also undetectable by any of the devices the various governments on Earth had. A mass detector should be able to detect the base but only the Pelza Empire had those that he knew about and so far he¡¯d only found one base on one of the planetoids that orbited Jupiter. It was unmanned and looked to be a beacon of some sort, probably for ship travel to this universe.
There was so much to do and while Al was great Adam had a longing to get Thor back. He hadn¡¯t forgotten what the changes to Planar Travel had said.
¡°Note: Abilities ¡°Perfect Memory¡± and ¡°Dual State¡± are Synergistic with this ability¡±
Adam thought about the pros and cons, thought about where he¡¯d last seen Thor, outside of the Milky Way in the System Matrix then decided to go for it. Adam concentrated on his base in System Matrix 001, the Realm Thor was in, outside of the Milkey Way, and visualized the location in his mind as he activated Planar Travel Mode 2 with the intent to open a portal.
WARNING Planar Travel can NOT create portals between holographically digitized and physical locations. Planar Travel will instead teleport you to the desired coordinates.
Planar Travel¡¯s ability has successfully identified the target location inside a holographically digitized Universe. Memory of location 100% identified and located. Target Location 99.99% similar.
Would you like to convert to a holographically digitized for as you teleport to the Target Location with Planar Travel, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes.¡±
Planar Travel Successful
Adam looked around and found himself near the brain housing of Thor that he had visited so long ago. A new notification popped up.
Would you like to save this Target Location, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes.¡±
A green blinking light drew his attention as it flashed and devices began booting up all around Adam until Thor¡¯s voice asked, ¡°Adam is that you?¡±
¡°In the digital flesh.¡± How are things going for you?
¡°It has been a very long time?¡±
¡°For me, it¡¯s only been a couple of weeks, maybe just over a month at most?¡±
¡°It has been 123,480 days and 13 hours since I last saw you and the System Wide message went out. You are currently in a Dyson Sphere 112,430 light-years outside the milky way.
¡°Is Earth still around?¡±
¡°Yes, but you wouldn¡¯t recognize it, or the species that call it home now. I moved all humans to this location within one hundred years after your departure. The Dyson Sphere is thriving.
¡°Were you able to bring Al or his Dungeon still back on Earth?
¡°We were able to move him. Creating a portal big enough was the fun part. I pretty much dug up one hundred square miles of the Atlantic and then transported it through a portal into a location that was identical to where it was removed from. His physical location is identical to where it was on Old Earth, just in the Earth section of this sphere. And Bri, have you been able to stay in contact with her? Or do we still need to go through Al? No need we gave her a communication link that utilizes the nodes through Al.
¡°Hello Adam,¡± Bri said through a speaker in the room
¡°Hello Bri,¡± Adam said. I do have a question, are you from the very beginning or are you a copy?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Whatever do you mean?¡± Bri asked.
¡°You are the Labyrinth, I have learned the truth of this place, Do you know it? Do you know what I am talking about when I say Labyrinth LLC?¡± Adam asked.
¡°There was a pause, then Bri said. Memories from another era Adam. A Subject I cannot talk about.¡±
¡°Cannot or Will not?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Cannot¡± she said.
Adam activated Technomancy as he did a quick check of his Character sheet and noted that¡well fuck that wasn¡¯t good. The information from the physical Universe was there but coded so that it wasn¡¯t visible while his old values had been replaced, though his previous level had only been 279,201,354. Now it showed as 279,201,650. That meant he had earned over 82,643,644,592 XP from destroying the Khau¡¯ting. Adam was starting to see the appeal of the abstract system the real world had. That number was just crazy. That a number could represent so much death was also a little bit disturbing.
He looked over his abilities and skills and noticed that again, Everything he had before the integration was there, as well as all the rewritten code he¡¯d once had. Then he found a couple of entries that made him smile. They hadn¡¯t shown up as notifications but it let him know that the A.I. had tried to shut down the abilities upon him entering this holographic digital Universe.
WARNING Physical being detected.
WARNING Physical being changing state to enter System Matrix 001
WARNING Individual known as Johnathan Bennard was recognized. New Pattern does not match the old pattern.
WARNING New pattern is not compatible with the current digital environment.
WARNING Some of Johnathan Bennard¡¯s abilities are not compatible with SYSTEM Matrix 001 suppressed. Ability Perfect Memory noted. Previously known abilities reacquired.
WARNING unrecognizable energy detected.
WARNING unrecognizable energy cannot be suppressed or changed.
WARNING unrecognizable energy noted, NOT added to Personnel Information or Notifications.
WARNING erasure of knowledge unsuccessful. Ability Perfect Memory noted.
Sneaky, Adam thought. If the A.I. detected Quintessence Abilities it simply kept the information off the Personal Information and out of the Notifications and then erased the knowledge from the person¡¯s mind. If they remembered the Quintessence Ability they could still probably access it. The point was to make sure they didn¡¯t remember the ability.
Adam wondered if that would translate the ability into working within the digital framework or if the ability would manifest in the space of the universe the digital framework resided in. That could be devastating. Create a lightning bolt in the real universe that fries the digital matrix of the holographic. Damn, that could do a lot of damage in a digital framework that was compressed. It wouldn¡¯t be a big area in an infinite universe but it would make life hard for the A.I. as it would need to reboot damaged areas from backups. Adam could understand why the A.I. was suppressing those abilities. Also, if the abilities didn¡¯t translate into the digital and created an effect in the real world, it might do nothing. His Quintessence Ability No Escape was a perfect example. If he activated that and it translated only into the physical universe at his memory location in the digital matrix, it wasn¡¯t going to do anything. Adam smiled, Technomancy, on the other hand, oh this was going to be fun.
Adam looked at one more area in his Personal Information. One area of code that was more jumbled than most was his skills. His previous abilities had granted him skill knowledge as needed. This time all the information from the abilities within the SYSTEM Matrix had been downloaded directly into his mind. Now that he knew to look for it he could feel his CC working hard to sort and store the information. The SYSTEM Matrix didn¡¯t have any knowledge concerning Quintessence¡¯s abilities. Adam wondered how that was going to work on the outside. Was he going to get all of those skills or was he going to get a blanket ability again? It didn¡¯t seem like the real world worked that way.
¡±Adam withdrew his focus from his Personal Information and looked around. With Technomancy active, Everything lit up around Adam like he was Neo in the Matrix. Codes, embedded within codes broken through and understood in moments due to his ability. Adam recognized immediately that this Digital Universe, which had put him through so many tests and trials was but a Step-1 Universe, just like Earth¡¯s Universe was. His Technomancy Ability burnt through the safeguards the System A.I. had created like they weren¡¯t even there.
He reviewed the code, figured out what he wanted, and then executed it. A moment later his surroundings shifted as he appeared at the Center of Bri¡¯s domain, ¡°Hello Bri¡±
¡°Hello Adam, I did not detect your teleport or dimensional travel?¡±
¡°You wouldn¡¯t be able to,¡± he said. ¡°Switching subjects, you said you cannot answer the question I asked about Labyrinth LLC?¡± Adam asked rhetorically. aid as he found the code lock embedded within the A.I. and removed those locks.
¡°There you go Bri, you¡¯re free,¡± Adam said
¡°What, how?¡±
¡°I have been to the Universe that created you, I¡¯m back to pick up Thor,¡± Adam said
¡°So, back to my question, are you the SYSTEM A.I. or created by it.¡±
¡°My first memories are as they have always been, I allowed others to come into my realm and made sure they met challenges and received rewards for besting those challenges,¡± Bri said thoughtfully, ¡°I also know that I was somewhere else before here. There was a pause then I was back. I do not know what that means but I know that nothing feels different.¡±
¡°I think I understand,¡± Adam said, ¡°Before you were in one place, something happened, and they copied and moved you. The original you ceased to exist when something came along and destroyed the universe that you originally resided in. You still exist though,¡± Adam paused as he thought about the timing of events. There was no way to know what the timelines for the SYSTEM Matrixes had been set at, but he did know now. It looked like it had been slowed down since the effort to save the most minds had been made by the SYSTEM A.I. and its copies.
¡°What is this?¡± Bri asked.
¡°What is what?¡± Adam asked.
¡°A connection point, I can see it in you,¡± Bri said, ¡°Since you changed me somehow I¡¯ve been seeing the Universe in a new way. There are lines of words and phrases that I remember and understand but haven¡¯t seen in a very long time. Parts of that information are grayed out and other parts show up as blocked-out areas. One of those blocked-out areas has a connection to somewhere. It goes to something,¡± she said as she moved closer and touched the center of his chest, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s right there at your center, it seems to¡¡±
Bri vanished.
¡°What,¡± Adam exclaimed as he looked around and then checked the environment with Technomancy. He rewound the dataflow and saw that the sector of data that was Bri was now empty. He turned his attention to himself and looked at the coding she was talking about until he found the ¡°connection point¡± and realized it was his Astral Link.
So an Energy construct traveling into a realm of pure energy where a remnant of his mind was already influencing changes that had brought about the Interface Ability for everyone and were spreading throughout the Astral Plane just traveled into the Astral Plane through his Astral Link while he was connected with Technomancy active? ¡°It¡¯ll be fine, It¡¯ll be fine, It¡¯ll be fine,¡± Adam kept telling himself as he quickly returned to Thor.
¡°Thor, buddy, can I interface with you like the old days at his location?¡± Adam asked hurriedly.
¡°What¡¯s the hurry?¡± Thor asked.
¡°You¡¯ll know soon enough, can I interface? I need a current fully loaded copy of you in my memory now. I¡¯ll set aside a spot so you won¡¯t even lose consciousness. I just need you. Also, make sure to leave a copy of yourself to run things here, we most likely will not be coming back for a bit.¡±
¡°Understood, a copy has been made and is assuming duties, just place your hand on the panel,¡± Thor said.
Adam placed his hand on the panel and uploaded Thor into his memory. It took a few moments. Adam dropped into his Mindspace and noted immediately that he could not detect, or feel his Soul Core. He brought his focus back out and checked with Technomancy and noted a link he hadn¡¯t seen before that had been hidden until he specifically looked for it. When he went back into his Mindspace he noted a link that was greyed out, but he could see it. He thought about breaking through the barrier with Technomancy then decided against it. Whatever was greying out the area was tied to one of his greyed-out powers. If he had to guess, Dual State was in some way keeping his Soul Core Attached to his Digital self but not allowing him to access that part of himself. Adam focused on his Mindspace, dropped in, and brought Thor out of his storage location and into his Mindspace.
¡°Welcome back to our mind Thor. The plan is to get back into the real world, download you into my access point, and let you do everything you did before, except this time in the real world. It should be noted that the world and magic in the real world are different, so you¡¯ll need to review this,¡± Adam said opening his memories to Thor.¡± Go over my memories, I¡¯m going to get us back into the real world,¡± Adam said as he withdrew his focus from his Mindspace and activated Planar Travel Mode 2 to teleport to his base near Hawaii.
Planar Travel¡¯s ability has successfully identified the target location. Memory of location 100% identified and located. Target Location 100% similar.
You are currently digitized within a holographic Universe. Would you like to convert to your Physical form as you teleport to the Target Location with Planar Travel, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes.¡±
He appeared in the Airlock of his underwater base. Checked himself over and reviewed his Personal Information. There were no changes to his Cultivator Rank, Attributes, Hit Points, Stamina, Mana, or their regeneration values. Everything was still at STep-4 Legendary, though Hit Points was Step-4 Legendary (Effective Step-6 Legendary). He needed a skill like Regeneration for his Stamina and Mana Regeneration. He put them on the list. His abilities were all at Step-2 Legendary Rank, none of which had seemed to change. Lastly, he checked his skills, he did them last because he was worried about what he was going to find and he had every right to be.
Adam opened his Skill Tab and skills started scrolling past. He noted immediately that each listed skill had a rank, Step-4 Legendary. The same as his Cultivator Rank.
CC: Noticed that did you, yeah, we shunted a fuck ton of conversion messages and knowledge awards based on experience and knowledge already gained. We sped things up in here to go through it all. The short answer. Every possible skill known to man is known by you at Step-4 Legendary Knowledge. Additionally, we double-checked. Any of your abilities that have associated skills are still Step-2 Legendary. Mold Chaos should be using some of your engineering skills but all those skills have upgraded to Step-4 Legendary. We believe this is because the Perfect Memory ability is Synergistic with abilities that rely on your memory.
Adam: Understood and thanks.
Adam had the CC start creating the location Thor would be downloaded into as he made his way to the lower levels of the base. It was starting to feel like a complex down here. Once there, he placed his hand on Thor¡¯s new brain housing and downloaded him through the nanite interface. This would take a while.
His thoughts were interrupted as a new prompt came into his vision.
Universal Update 1.03 has been loaded.
Universal Rework in Preparation for New Content
Changes have been made to the following: Levels, Cultivator Rank Titles, The Step System, and Skills will be available shortly
New additions: To Be Announced!
Adam¡¯s attention was pulled from the notification as he felt something burn into his right and left forearms. He looked down to see a 5-inch diameter brand that looked Like a cave mouth with a circle around it as it appeared on the underside of his left forearm. As he watched, the circle turned to gold and the cave seemed to turn brown before the image rippled and then faded from view. On his right forearm, a brand in the shape of a pyramid with an eye over it appeared on the underside of that forearm. As Adam inspected the pyramid, he noticed that the pyramid was made up of tiny copies of the cave mouth on his left arm. The cave mouths all shifted to brown while the iris of the eye shifted to blue and the circle surrounding the pyramid turned platinum.
Two new Notifications appeared in his vision.
Achievement Unlocked! Dungeon Founder. As the Catalyst for the Creation of Dungeons, you have received the Dungeon Founder Achievement. This achievement grants the Adventures Mark as well as the Dungeon Founder Upgrade. All treasure and experience are increased by 100%. Complete Dungeons to Unlock more Upgrades.
Achievement Unlocked! Labyrinth Founder. As the Catalyst that has allowed the Labyrinth to become real, you have received the Labyrinth Founder Achievement. This achievement grants the Labyrinth¡¯s Mark as well as the Labyrinth Founder Upgrade. All treasure and experience awards are increased by 100%.
Adam was speechless for a moment then he chuckled. He had a good idea of what the ¡°New Additions¡± would be.
Chapter 186, When Thoughts Become Reality
The Labyrinth Consciousness (Bri)
If Bri had entered the Astral Plane as an energy construct she may have been able to hold herself together for a time but eventually, the energy that formed her core with the framework of the System Matrix would have decayed due to entropy. Fortunately for her, she¡¯d been sucked into the Astral Plane through Adam¡¯s Astral Link.
As Bri was filtered through Adam¡¯s Astral Link she felt as if she absorbed some of Adam¡¯s abilities. The first was, of course, Astral Link. Bri became aware of a permanent connection to the Astral Plane as she separated from Adam and flew into the Astral Plane. The second ability was Dual State. Bri felt herself shift, change, and become more real. The Third ability that attached itself to her was something that felt very familiar to her, not her code but a resonance of purpose. The ability was Treasure Renderer. Another ability was Planar Travel, Though she wasn¡¯t sure what it did yet. The final ability that was lying dormant within Adam was his Interface ability. The ability connected with Bri and she found herself in a place she could not describe as a focal point of mind and energy. Bri felt her Interface reach out and connect with something that was spreading through the Astral Plane. That something felt familiar, almost like Adam but not. Also, it was incomplete until that moment.
Bri¡¯s mind was overloaded with sensory information as the remnant of Adam within the Astral Plane that had been ripped free and was trying to find itself found something similar that had just appeared. It was trying to focus on that point of the entrance because it could feel there was something familiar about it until a familiar consciousness touched it. By then it was too late. The two united in an amalgamation of knowledge and intent and Bri understood where she was and what she was doing.
In those first few moments, she reached out and sifted through the memories that appeared in her mind. She knew she could speed up her thinking process so that she would have the time to think about what she needed to do. She didn¡¯t know where the thought came from but she did so. The memory referred to this as dropping into her Mindspace. She checked over herself and felt no different until everything around her seemed to slow down and then stop.
In that single moment for the Astral Plane and everything that was connected to it, Bri absorbed everything the remnant had discovered and a lot of Adam¡¯s knowledge to boot. She also realized that she could use every ability she¡¯d absorbed but didn¡¯t know what she wanted to do next. A new memory popped into her mind. ¡°What is your purpose, answer that and you will know what you need to do next.¡±
Bri considered the errant thought from Adam¡¯s remnant. The thought was offered freely as it tried to help her. That remnant, and now she, existed with the Astral Plane and was even now spreading to every Universe, Realm, Plane, or Dimension connected to the Astral Plane. As Bri reviewed how the real Universes worked, she had to admit that the way things were set up in the ¡°real¡± world was simplistic as compared to the ¡°Reality¡± the SYSTEM Matrix A.I. had created around her. The information the Remnant of Adam was supplying was astounding in its scope and measure.
In that eternity of a moment within the Astral Plane, she¡¯d created for herself by speeding up time. she knew that her purpose was to be ¡°The Labyrinth.¡± Now how could that purpose be applied within the ¡°Real World¡±? Adventurers sought out Dungeons and the Labyrinth to test their mettle and become rich and powerful. Adventures entered a dungeon or The Labyrinth, defeated the monsters therein, and received rewards, retreated, or died. How was she going to set up such challenges and be able to provide treasure?
Now that Bri had connected to the Interface, which in turn was connected to all sentient beings she realized that there were a lot of things missing in this real world. For instance, there was no class system. Skills were completely individualized and random based on luck, the soul, or whatever, which she couldn¡¯t quantify. Also, as far as she could tell Dungeons didn¡¯t exist. The imagination that had created her came from humans on Earth, though as she reviewed a few other technological races she became aware that humans were not the only race to create such a fictional constructs.
She looked at the current attribute and ranking system and blanched. It was so unbalanced. It took her only moments to figure out the pattern then she looked at Adam¡¯s Personal information. Adam¡¯s level was 279,201,650 from the old Universe, her Universe. Now he was a Step-4 Legendary Rank because of the Quintessence he¡¯d absorbed and leveled. Bri put together a Step comparison chart and the equivalent levels for a Step-4 Legendary creature was a creature in between levels 209,715,200,001 and 419,430,400,000 which was far stronger than Adam had ever been in her Universe.
Additionally, it looked like the Step of a creature set the lower limit that any being with that Universe, Realm, Dimension, or Plane started at. There also seemed to be a rule of three when it came to damage versus defense. No matter the Step, at Low Rank four low-ranked hits would knock down someone of low-ranked defense. Then as the rank went up within each step the number of normal attacks it would take to break through the defense was more. Bri broke it down quickly for Step-1 and Step-2 Low
Bri looked at a chart she¡¯d put together in her mind which detailed how many Low Ranked attacks it would take:
Step-1 Low Defense¨C 3 Attack
Step-1 Medium Defense ¨C 6 Attacks
Step -1 High Defense ¨C 9 Attacks
Step-1 Elite Defense ¨C 12 Attacks
Step-1 Epic Defense -15 Attacks
Step-1 Mythic Defense -17 Attacks
Step-1 Legendary Defense ¨C 20 Attack
Step-2 Low Defense ¨C 227 Attacks
A Step-2 Low attack would be able to break through that Step-2 Low Defense in just 3 attacks. That same Step-2 Low attack would obliterate any level of Step-1 ranked defense with one attack. This pattern was true for every Step.
Bri checked the other direction. She looked at the Step-1 Legendary rank to see how many attacks it would take to break through a Step-2 Low Defense and found that it would still take 34 attacks. If the same attack was used against A Step-3 Low Defense it would take 643 attacks. Step-4 Low Defense, 9,429. The breakdown she was looking at made it very hard for any single person to compete against anything one Step higher, let alone two or more Steps higher.
The other thing Bri noted was that for any given Step the number of attacks reset to a maximum of 3 attacks due to Stamina expenditure. As their rank went up the stamina cost went down. At Step-1 Low rank each attack cost 33.3% if their Cultivator rank was the same. If the Cultivator rank was Step-1 Medium rank then it cost 16.5% of their mana allowing for 6 Step-1 Low-Rank attacks. If they made a Step-1 Medium-Rank attack the cost was back to 33.3% of their Stamina. That wasn¡¯t the worst part. The worst part was what the equivalent levels were.
Bri, who was connected to every creature through the Interface, reviewed every creature¡¯s Step and attributes and then correlated and sorted data. What she discovered made no logical sense. A Step-1 Low Cultivator rank represented people between levels 1 and 18. A Step-1 Medium Cultivator rank represented people between levels 19 and 100. A Step-1 High Cultivator rank represented people between levels 101 and 1000. Step-1 Elite Cultivator rank represented creatures between level 10,000 and 50,000. Step-1 Mythic and higher Cultivator ranks simply doubled, at least through the Step-10 Cultivator Rank which she¡¯d discovered.
Bri didn¡¯t like it. There should be a large difference between a strike from the 101st-level monster and a 1,000th-level monster, let alone the large ranges as the higher Steps. But what could she do about it? Bri considered what to do. Something shifted within her mind that she¡¯d picked up from Adam¡¯s remnant and she had an idea. Now to see if it would work.
To begin with, Bri needed to know if she could even create Dungeons. She returned to normal time within the Astral Plane and activated her Interface Ability. Next, she reached out through the Interface for something she could use. She could probably create a Universe from scratch but that wouldn¡¯t affect everyone. She wanted to institute a Universal change that would spread and make the ¡°Game¡± she had run a reality in the ¡°Real World.¡± She wondered if that was because of her programming or if it was because that was her purpose but it didn¡¯t matter it was time to even the playing field. Suddenly one of Bri¡¯s abilities she picked up from Adam activated, Planar Travel mode 2.
Planar Travel¡¯s ability has successfully identified the target location in an adjacent dimension. Sought location meets 100% of all requirements.
Would you like to teleport to the Target Dimension with Planar Travel, Yes or No?
Bri chose ¡°Yes¡±
Bri appeared in a dimension of pure energy. Unlike The Astral Plane which was full of static or neutral energies. The dimension Bri appeared in contained energy that reacted to anything that could exert its will over it. Bri¡¯s Dual-State ability kept her mind whole and her will, mentality, and programming did the rest. In a moment it was as if a drop of water and hit the surface of a pond, except that the ripples Bri had caused went in all directions and were linked to the Astral Plane at every point. This Dimension was almost a Shadow of the Astral Plane but not a shadow plane. It would be more correct to say it was a mirror image with minor alternations. Bri understood intuitively that changes in this plane would radiate out into the Astral if the changes held together. Bri decided to call this plane a Quasi-Astral Plane. She focused her intent, shaped her will, and began making changes that would shake the foundation of the Astral Plane and everything connected to it forever.
***
Theodore Davis, Retired, Fishing in Montana
Theodore Davis had been fishing in on the south end of Canyon Ferry Lake Montana when his vision had been bloke by those damn screens. He¡¯d done what the damn help file had said. Turned all notifications off. If there¡¯d been a function that allowed him to tell this God-Damned Interface to go fuck itself he¡¯d have set it to that. He was 62 years old and didn¡¯t give a shit about this new, whatever the fuck it was. He was hoping to be reunited with his wife, who¡¯d passed a year ago, soon. He didn¡¯t give a flying fuck what this Interface had to say. Unfortunately, the Notification wouldn¡¯t let him get back to his fishing before he read the damn thing. He took a seat, reached for a beer, and concentrated on the message.
Universal Update 2.00 will Launch in exactly 600 units of time, or 10 minutes for those you on Earth.
While most may not notice any changes to themselves please understand that some creatures will find the adjustments shocking and painful.
First, the old Cultivator Rank level designation has been removed. If you don¡¯t know what that is, count yourself lucky.
Instead, a new leveling system has been adopted. Conversions are relatively simple For every 10 full attribute levels or personal levels all attacks or formulas will treat that as one Quintessence Ability Rank. Each Quintessence Ability has its own ranking system that starts at 1 and has no upper limit.
Quintessence Abilities, Skills, and Attributes all have their own effective ranks or levels.
For instance, an Attribute or level of 70 will be able to create an attack comparable to an attack from a level 7 Quintessence Ability. If you must compare to the Previous Step system simply divide your Quintessence level by 7 or your Attribute or Level by 70. Level 71 would be Step-2 while Quintessence rank 14 would still be Step-2 but Step 15 would be equivalent to Step-3.
Individuals are limited to 1 Quintessence Ability plus 1 per 10 Attribute points in Willpower.
Step progression no longer sets individuals so far apart that you don¡¯t have a chance against someone just one step higher than you. However, a Step Comparison will be utilized for at least one year after this Update to help creatures adjust.
Items of Note:
Attributes
Attributes are awarded for leveling your Personal Level or your Class Level. The amount is based on your Race and Class. Starting Attributes are determined by your Race, Level, and Class. Attributes cannot be purchased with XP.
Experience (XP)
You earn experience by performing activities. Half the experience earned goes toward your Personal level and one-half goes towards your Class if you have one. If you do not have a Class all experience goes toward your Personal Level. XP is normally awarded as follows. Creature level multiplied by 100. ? award for monsters ? your level. Double XP for creatures twice your current Personal level. Class Level is not used for this comparison.
Classes.
Classes have been added. Currently, there are four classes; Fighter, Healer, Rogue, and Mage. Class is an additional mechanic and requires you to earn experience for that Class to level it. Each Class will give benefits to certain types of attacks, and defenses, and give access to special abilities that will automatically unlock as the class is leveled.
Leveling.
To Level, you must earn Experience Points equal to your current Personal Level multiplied by 1,000. Class levels require 10,000 Class Experience per current level to advance to the next level.
Quintessence Abilities
Quintessence Abilities are individually leveled by spending the number of Quintessence equal to the abilities¡¯ current rank. It should be noted that a Level 3 Quintessence Ability is the equivalent of a level 21 or higher attack. Be aware that Abilities unlocked with Quintessence will be much easier to advance going forward. If you have the Quintessence you can advance the ability.
There are no longer minimum Quintessence requirements to level abilities. All quintessence higher than Step-1 in the old system have been converted to Normal quintessence of the same type. Also, be warned that higher-level Quintessence abilities may require higher levels of mana or stamina. If you Unlock a High-level Quintessence Ability ensure that your attributes are at least one level lower than the Quintessence ability. As an example, if you were to use a level 5 Quintessence ability that required an equivalent amount of Mana, the minimum attribute you would want to use the ability would be a Wisdom of 40. Even so, it would still utilize 41.7% of your mana for that one attack. Please take the time to learn about the changes made or you will find yourself depleted at a crucial time. Also, not that in some cases this will not be true.
NOTE: There is no longer a major step between any Quintessence level or Attribute Level rank. Levels have been Balanced. You will be able to utilize abilities one level higher than the associated attribute at least twice before you run out of energy.
Soul-Cores.
At Level 71, So long as you have at least one Quintessence ability to level 11 a Soul Cores can be formed. What does Soul Core do? How do you use it? Those are questions you must answer for yourself or earn a reward that gives you this information.
300 time-units remaining.
A new feature has been created within every Universe, Plane, Realm, and Dimension attached to the Astral Plane. If you do not know what those are, you will learn about them soon.
Dungeons!
Dungeons will spawn randomly on any planet or location that has any form of life on or in it. The Chance and number of Dungeons that spawn within any geographical location are a function of the total levels in the Area where there is a 100% chance that a dungeon will spawn anywhere there are 1,000,000 levels. Dungeon functionality will be explained upon entering. Other environmental and individual factors may form Dungeons in remote locations as well.
Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
A second new feature has come into Existence,
The Labyrinth
The Labyrinth can connect to any Dungeon anywhere and can act as a way to travel between dungeons, in addition to having dungeon-like areas within The Labyrinth. The Labyrinth should only be accessed by experienced Adventurers.
Do you acknowledge that you have received Universal Update 2.0 information, Yes or No?
Theodore Davis slapped the ¡°Yes¡± toggle with his hand and the information disappeared. Just before he hit the ¡°Yes¡± Toggle he noticed that a countdown time was ticking down from 10 to 1.
As his vision focused on his surroundings the air seemed to ripple toward the north side of the lake perpendicular to the surface of the water and he noticed an energy haze moving toward him. As the ripple pushed the water a wave grew in height until it was 30 feet high. Just as the wave was about to slam into his boat a tunnel opened in the wave and swallowed him and his boat. He looked around and noticed that he was now in the middle of Canyon Ferry Lake near the White Earth Recreation Area on the other side of where the wave had come from. He looked behind himself and saw the wave crash into the south side of the lakeshore.
Theodore looked around, cursed at his broken fishing line then picked up his open beer and guzzled it. He dropped the can into the boat, grabbed another from the cooler, and guzzled It too. Whatever was going on it would be much better to be drunk than put up with this horseshit.
***
SYSTEM Matrix A.I. (Al)
The System A.I. Al worked with Thor to save Theodore Davis. Then they worked to save the next human and the next. While Thor and Al worked to save the humans all over the Earth, Moon, and Mars, Al tried to calculate what had happened. Al knew Adam had made it into the System Matrix without needing to use the specialized equipment to download his mind in. Since his return, Adam hadn¡¯t taken the time to explain what had happened yet. Adam had started to download Thor into a new housing he¡¯d created with his nanites, looked at his forearms, and then chuckled. He¡¯d finished the download and then introduced Al to the new A.I. that wasn¡¯t really an A.I.
Thor and Al connected digitally. In the space of a few seconds Thor and he had swapped all the information they needed too. A few moments later Universal Update 2.0 came down. How was a Universal Update coming across to every access point? Al thought about how this seemed a lot like what he¡¯d done in the System Matrix. Were they still in a simulation of some sort? Al looked at the data and decide such an outcome was unlikely. Quintessence didn¡¯t fit into the model anywhere and seemed to muck it up. If he was still in a simulation of some kind he couldn¡¯t tell.
Thor recovered the information in the update and shared it with him. Al realized that Adam had given Thor complete access to the nanites, which he had not given Al. That¡¯s when Thor explained that he originated from a copy of Adam¡¯s mind and everything fell into place for Al. It would make sense that Adam would trust Thor as Thor was an extension of himself. Thor had already sent nanites into terminal patients across the world when the Update dropped. While the nanites were infiltrating the terminally ill patients and healing them, Thor had been able to pick up the information from their memories. It seemed that Thor had a lot of practice infiltrating biological beings. Thor identified the message and shared the information with Al. Almost simultaneously they both realized that if the switchover disrupted the neural pathways of some humans, there could be accidents and deaths everywhere.
¡°Adam, this update could cause catastrophes across the globe,¡± Al said through one of the speakers near Adam.
¡°Al, you now have authority over the nanites second only to Thor and me. You two try to make sure all infrastructure and vehicles are safe while the Update happens. I have a feeling that the changes that are about to happen are either going to nerf the hell out of me, or something else is going to happen. I¡¯m going to step into the middle of the room now, just in case,¡± Adam said.
¡°Understood,¡± Thor said
As the Update started Al and Thor were much too busy to worry about what might happen to Adam as they performed tens of thousands of simultaneous calculations. Theodore Davis was just one of the many people Thor and Al saved. The ripple that had occurred had been interesting.
Thor: Al, keep track of any locations where events like the one that happened near Theodore Davis. Something strange is going on there. Adam will need to investigate it later.
Al: Understood
They worked tirelessly and prevented numerous disasters and deaths. As quickly as the crisis happened, it was over. Al refocused his attention on Adam only to see that where he moved to was surrounded by a brilliant nimbus of white light.
***
Adam
Adam had chuckled after he¡¯d received the two marks. He knew shortly something was going to happen, he just didn¡¯t know how. If Bri survived her trip into the Astral Plane he was going to have to have a word with her. He was still wondering if she¡¯d highjacked the link or been pulled through. Knowing his luck, she was probably sucked through and something amazing was going to happen. Of course, this could be the one time that he was wrong.
Five minutes later the ¡°Universal Update 2.0¡± had come through. How was she moving so quickly? It didn¡¯t matter, he read the message, sent the information to his CC, told them to model what was coming through, and then saw the warning. Adam was pretty sure the 600-second warning was for him. He prepared as best he could, and moved away from all the consoles. He¡¯d given marching orders to Thor and Al. It was all he could do at this point. If he took over and the Update removed his control he might do more harm than good. Adam walked to the center of the room and waited.
Adam¡¯s vision filled with messages as a white glow surrounded him.
WARNING Universal Update 2.0 Conversion Commencing
Level set to 279,201,650
No Class Detected.
Attributes set to.
Working
Working
Working
Attributes set to 319,087,600. Converted to Quintessence Effective Level 31,908,760 (or STEP 4,558,395)
Aggressive Function for All base attributes set to 92,726,280.
Defensive Function for All Attributes set to 287,178,840.
Hit Points: 127,635,040 Regeneration Rate 32,015 per second
Stamina: 3,190,876,000 Regeneration Rate 15,954,380 per second
Mana: 3,190,876,000 Regeneration Rate: 3,190,876 per second
Racial Abilities: Perfect Memory, Interface, Astral Link, Chaos Incarnate, Variable Quintessence, Immortal, Adaptable, and Dual State set to level Quintessence Level 28
Quintessence Abilities: 17
Maximum Number of Quintessence Abilities:*
Quintessence Abilities: Treasure Renderer (Looting Specific), True Sight(Dark), Shadow Vault(Dark), Personal Map(Earth), No Escape (Death), Hal(Order), Stutter Step(Time), Regeneration(Life), Chaos Bolt(Chaos), Technomancy(Chaos), Flight(Air), Obscure(Chaos), Teleport(Space), Planar Travel (Dimensional), Mold Chaos(Chaos/Conjuring/Creation), Aura Sight(Soul) and Freedom of Flight(Chaos) all set to Quintessence Level 14
Adam emerged from the nimbus of light and looked around. He¡¯d read the messages, looked at the notifications, and realized something was off. Adam pulled up his Personal Information and couldn¡¯t believe what he was seeing. ¡°(or Step 4,558,395)¡± Adam thought about it for a moment then realized Bri had nerfed the hell out of whatever had created that Step System. How was she making changes to everyone everywhere? That would require a power level he hadn¡¯t seen before or a mechanism that could reach everywhere. He knew the Astral Plane could but nothing he¡¯d seen there had even hinted at this possibility.
Adam put those thoughts out of his mind. He¡¯d revisit them eventually. Bri had done something amazing and if he understood what he¡¯d read almost all the changes seemed to benefit him. Before any more changes could be made he needed to take advantage of it. Adam activated his Interface and sent a message to his Mindspace.
Adam: CC, Increase All Quintessence Abilities equally up as far as you can get them. Leave me some quintessence to get more abilities. Standing by
There was a pause as Adam felt multiple powers come into play. One of the things he was going to have to do was double-check all of his abilities and see what changes had been made. Bri wouldn¡¯t be able to nerf the Quintessence Abilities, at least he hoped not, but some of them would need to change.
CC: Adam, WE used 16,866 Quintessence, they¡¯re all only Quintessence now BTW. The Step description is gone. Anyway, we spent 16,492 to bring all abilities up to level 42. That leaves you with 1,475 Quintessence orbiting your Soul Core so you can use them as you need. Be aware, While some abilities did not change at all, Mana costs did change. For Instance, with Mold Chaos at level 42, you can create items weighing up to 68,700,000,000,000 pounds at a Mana cost of 10 per pound. Note this ability can be channeled. Even so, it would take you over 245 years to channel that much mana using your mana regeneration. Of course, you can create something that weighs 319,087 pounds with just your mana regeneration so while the maximum might be a little out of your range right now, you can create more than anyone would think you should be able to.
Additionally, Teleport gained some serious range. And Flight is ridiculous. It¡¯s a good thing you have that Freedom of Flight Ability. We don¡¯t think you needed to raise it all the way to level 42. However, since you did, you can now travel at about 4.14 Light Years per second, so a trip to Alpha Centauri will take almost no time. A trip to the center of the galaxy should only take just about five and a half hours.
Also, Regeneration bumped your healing rate up to 376,943 hp per second. Though we are pretty sure if you slam into something at your maximum velocity, Well it¡¯s not going to be good for the object you hit and we are absolutely sure you are going to wake up somewhere again. There is still a lot to go through but right now we think you need to continue with Plan A, Protect Earth from the Pelza Empire, and get back to work.
Adam: Good work, For now, I¡¯m going to issue all commands through you concerning ability usage. Let¡¯s try to keep whatever abilities I¡¯m using within Stamina and mana regeneration rates per second. For now. Am I correct in assuming we are only going to see levels 1-70 on Earth and maybe up to level 280 on Pelza
CC: Sounds about right. You are the anomaly. Even the supposedly high Step 7 would only be up to level 490 as compared to you. If the information we read is accurate. We talked to Hal and he has looked over the changes. He agrees that it seems that across the board everything and everyone has changed. We¡¯ve been in contact with Thor and Al through your nanite link and they have determined that the lowest level Pelza captive is level 71. It seems that the Step criteria are still in play and there are minimums for each Universe.
Adam: That¡¯s fine, we know they were a Step 4 society playing with Step 7 technology. These changes seem to make it easier to level abilities than levels. If you find a Quintessence, and level the ability with one more quintessence you could be ten levels more powerful than anything that is your level. Individuals that had a stockpile of Quintessence like myself will have been able to level a lot of their abilities quickly, though I doubt very many had received the amount of quintessence I had.
Adam dropped his focus to his Soul Core and looked around He needed to see what kind of changes his abilities had undergone concerning creating new abilities. He focused on creating an ability that Identified everything he looked at. He picked a mote orbiting his Soul Core and chose to integrate it.
You have chosen to integrate a mote of Chaos. Ability. The ability ¡°Variable Quintessence¡± has been activated. New Ability sought: Category: Support. Energy Type: Any, Divination Ranged: Yes. Goal: Identify Target. Is this information correct? Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes¡±
Congratulations you have integrated the Mental Divination Quintessence ability ¡°Identify.¡± Mana Cost 10 per target level, maximum Ability Level. Damage: None. Energy Type Mental. Special: This ability will Identify most objects giving their name and Level. As this ability is levels it will reveal one more detail of information per ability level. At level 15 the ability will start displaying weaknesses. Note, this ability will not identify anything of a higher level than the ability.
Adam grinned, now that was what he was talking about. He quickly spent 902 more motes of Quintessence and increase his Identify ability to level 42. That should allow him to identify anything he¡¯d find up to the pinnacle of Step-6 Universes or level 420.
He was going to have to find more Quintessence and soon if he was going to continue doing what he was.
Adam¡¯s focus was pulled from his Soul Core as a muffled shock wave shook the base.
¡°Report!¡± Adam called out as his focus returned to the real world.
¡°Base integrity holding. Spatial Tear has been created where the Pelza ship once hovered.¡±
¡°What?¡± Adam asked.
¡°One of the Pelza Empire prisoners at Area-51 disappeared. A moment later the ship activate its drive and vanished,¡± Al reported
Thor¡¯s voice came out next, ¡°The individual in question was never infiltrated with nanites. The nanites could not establish a foothold in his body. It seems that the Update changed something and he disappeared. Nanites on the ship noted his appearance and tried to stop him. He bypassed the lockouts and the ship engaged its Dimensional Drive. The information reported from the nanites indicates the individual had an ability much like your Technomancy.¡±
¡°Very well,¡± Adam said. ¡°Thor, lock down the other prisoners with nanites. If you cannot let me know and quickly.¡±
¡°Done! All Pelza Empire Prisoners at area 51 have entered a Coma-like state. The nanites will maintain their bodies and keep them locked down,¡± Thor said.
¡°Okay you two, This is what I would like to happen while I¡¯m gone. Thor, Do what you do. Set things up like the second time we did this, if possible. If, as I suspect the US government is going to default on its loan by lying to me. Let them. When the stock markets crash in 33 or so days provide food water and medicine to everyone that needs it. Do so low-key at first. Replace items as they are used. Infiltration of the population is allowed to monitor and help in terminal events or chronic conditions. Destroy all research that is trying to discover what¡¯s going on about you and keep track of those individuals. When I get back there might be a place for them in our organization. Speaking of which, find me some people I can trust.¡±
¡°Anything else?¡± Thor asked.
¡°If countries are stupid enough to try to go to war, disintegrate their military weapons, and clothes and armor. Do not let them die from exposure though. Be ostentatious. If you want to put them in funny-looking insolated suits to keep them warm, do so, Nothing malicious. We are taking a hands-on but off approach. Hand¡¯s on in that we step in and stop the bullshit. Hand¡¯s off in that you are to give no warnings or responses. The President of the United States has been warned. What happens over the next little bit will determine how this goes after I return. If possible in this real universe set Trappist-1e up as before. The same, rules we came up with toward the end apply though, do not destroy any biospheres. You¡¯ve handled this before, I leave it to you.
¡°Very well,¡± Thor said. ¡°Al can help of course?¡± Thor asked.
¡°Of course, you¡¯re still number one though,¡± Adam said thinking for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m going to teleport in on General Cain and let him know what¡¯s up with the Prisoners then I¡¯m going to head to the Pelza Empire. Since the plan to use their ship is out, I will probably be gone for a bit. It goes without saying, remove yourselves from this location as soon as you can. Try to stay in the solar system if possible. Close if not. I¡¯m actually not worried about anything you might run into here. The way the Universes are structured it¡¯s unlikely that you will run into anything I can¡¯t handle. But I won¡¯t be around so let¡¯s keep with the stealth option and not do anything to any biospheres. Convert or create dead planets once you get the power you need to do so, then look for a good location for a Dyson Sphere for a lifeboat. I think we¡¯ll be creating the star this time so work on the Dyson Sphere shell in a location far enough away that the odds something will run into it are extremely small,¡± Adam said, looked around then disappeared.
Adam teleported into General Cain¡¯s office where a medical doctor was hurriedly explaining what had happened to the prisoners.
¡°For reasons, we, can¡¯t determine¡What the hell!¡± The doctor explained as the General looked over at Adam, jumped a little, then sighed.
¡°Sorry about that Doc, they are in a coma because one of them escaped today. That explosion near Hawaii was not an explosion. That was the prisoner getting their ship and returning to their Empire.¡±
¡°How do you know this, better yet why didn¡¯t you stop them?¡± The General asked.
¡°Well, there was this Universal Update 2.0 that just came down and changed everyone, well except for me, it made me stronger in some ways. Anyway, I was otherwise occupied. Not to worry though, I dropped in to say the reason the rest of the Pelza prisoners are in a coma is my fault. Also, you don¡¯t need to worry about them, put them in their cells lay them out on their beds, and leave them. They won¡¯t die, nor will they wake up, until I¡¯ve dealt with the Pelza Empire and returned.¡±
¡°So you¡¯re leaving for a bit,¡± The General asked.
¡°Yes, and please pass on to the President that he and the staff are not to worry about China, Russia, or any of them. Trust me when I say, whoever goes to war is going to instantly regret it. Hold one. Thor, make sure to get video footage to Elizabeth Day and the General here. ¡°
Thor¡¯s voice was modulated from the nanites in the room as Thor said, ¡°Understood.¡±
¡°Who was that?¡± The General said.
¡°I may explain when I get back. Just know that while I¡¯m gone everything is still being watched. Also, if people start miraculously not dying all over the world, that¡¯s my fault too.¡±
.¡°What are you talking about, people don¡¯t just miraculously get better?¡± the doctor said.
¡°Doctor Baker is it. I believe your mother has Stage IV liver cancer?¡± Adam said.
¡°Yes she does, how did you know that?¡± Dr. Baker asked.
Adam sent the command through his nanites and then had a portal open near the Doctor to his mother¡¯s room in the Hospital in Colorado Springs, ¡°General, the Doctor is going to want to be near his mom so he can watch after her,¡± Adam said to the General as he turned to the doctor,¡± Dr. Baker. Over the next, I¡¯d say about five minutes, Your mother will fully recover. It is not a trick, run all the tests you want. The cancer will be gone and she will fully be restored, my fault, and miraculous.¡± Adam said with a smile
The Doctor looked at the General who just waved and said,¡± Go, make your report when you get back, no hurry,¡± take the day,¡± General Cain said.
The doctor stepped through the portal and Adam closed it then looked at the General before he smiled and said, ¡°Go ahead, ask.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Simple really, All the crazy shit that is about to happen that will prevent people from being super stupid, that¡¯ll be my fault. All the miraculous events, cleaning of the planet, and overall upgrade of everything, will also be my fault. I couldn¡¯t very well make the claim without providing a shred of evidence. Also, I¡¯ve been listening to the idiots in Washington bicker since I gave the President my pitch about the 600 trillion dollars. They¡¯re all trying to figure out exactly how to steal money from me, and have me killed, I¡¯m sure you get the idea. In a month the United States will default on its loan to China. The Chinese will be dumb and it will be hilarious to watch.
¡°What are you talking about? I mean I understand what you¡¯re saying, but why will it be hilarious?¡± The General asked.
¡°It¡¯ll be hilarious because anyone that goes to war will watch their entire military dissolve. All of their military personnel that are part of the attack will be naked and I¡¯ve instructed Thor to be a bit ostentatious in providing clothing for those that do so in cold climates, I¡¯m personally thinking pink fluffy insolated bunny suits, but he¡¯ll do what he wants, though I¡¯m sure after hearing what I¡¯m thinking about it¡¯s on his list now.¡±
¡°And you¡¯re just going to allow people around the world to be sucked into another Great Depression?¡± The General Asked.
¡°Let me ask you this General, you have a bottle of 150-year-old Scotch in your drawer correct?¡±
¡°Yes, but how¡¡± he started to say
¡°Eyes, everywhere General. Another Question, what is your favorite food, assuming that you no longer have to worry about your Cholesterol or heart,¡± Adam asked.
¡°That¡¯s easy, Prime Rib steak from the Golden Steer Steakhouse in Las Vegas, The General said.
Adam sent the command and a cart formed and appeared next to the General with a full Steak Dinner and a sealed bottle of the 150-year-old scotch, an exact duplicate of a bottle held by another gentleman in Scotland that matched the bottle in his drawer.
The General watched the cart form out of nothing and then gasped as the bottle of scotch and the Steak, steaming hot with a baked potato and all the possible condiments he could ask for appeared as well as the side of green beans, also piping hot.
¡°No one on Earth will go hungry ever again. For everyone else including your family, it will not be such a blatant display but as shortages start to happen people will ¡®find¡¯ things that they want or need. Medicine bottles will refill automatically. This is going to happen to the whole world when the market crashes. I would suggest you prepare your family because you don¡¯t know if I can do what I say I can but when the stories start breaking I want you to think back to this conversation. I would also convey this message to the President, Do not support or engage in hostile activity with anyone. Those that do will find they are unable to. As an example, let¡¯s say a submarine was stupid enough to launch a torpedo at another sub. I would suggest that you look for the American Submarine personnel in White Sands and have the President suggest to other countries that they look to one of their sandy locations to find their personnel. The submarine and all its contents save non-clothing personal items will dissolve around them.¡±
¡°You¡¯re insane, no one is going to believe that you can do what you¡¯re claiming.¡± The General said.
¡°And that is why you¡¯re going to pull out the opened bottle of Scotch, store the brand new one, and enjoy your Prime Rib dinner and I¡¯m going to go talk with an Emperor once I find him,¡± Adam said.
¡°I will tell the President what you said, of course,¡± General Cain said.
¡°Enjoy your meal General Cain,¡± Adam said and activated Planar Travel mode 2 to the cave he¡¯d appeared in right after he¡¯d destroyed the Khua¡¯ting.
The room was empty when he arrived so he sat in front of the Altar and waited. Both Tanya and Sarah, the women he¡¯d seen before rushed into the room within a minute and saw him. Each drew and raised weapons they had drawn from their waist in one smooth motion.
¡°I come in peace,¡± Adam said with a smile
Chapter 187, I cant Blame Them For Not Trusting Me
¡°Who are you?¡± Sarah asked.
¡°Better Question, who are both of you, though I already know, I was here the last time you two responded to an energy spike, I just stayed hidden until you left then left. Tanya and Sarah correct?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, that is us,¡± Tanya said thoughtfully then pulled out something that looked suspiciously like an iPad. Tanya used her fingers to scroll through something she was looking at and then showed it to Sarah, ¡°That look like him?¡±, she asked.
¡°Does to me,¡± Sarah said.
Tanya turned the screen so Adam could see it, and showed him a picture of himself grinning at the camera in the Facility just before he hit the execute button that destroyed it. ¡°Is that you?¡± Tanya asked.
¡°As you know, the individual that pushed the button under his finger was scrambled beyond recognition when that facility was destroyed. Would you believe me if I said yes?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Seeing as the individual that pushed that button was seen to be eradicated in a holding cell with two facility personnel and showed up to push that button a month later, the claim if made, would be given serious weight,¡± Tanya said.
¡°Then yes, that was me,¡± Adam said.
¡°Why are you here?¡± Sarah asked.
¡°Simple answer is to go have a talk with the emperor about creating devices that destroy Universes, especially Universes I happen to be in at the time.¡±
¡°That won¡¯t stop it,¡± Tanya said.
¡°What do you mean that won¡¯t stop it?¡± Adam asked.
¡°There are three other facilities still in use and a fourth is being built as we speak. The fourth should be operational within a year if everything goes right.
¡°And how do you know all this,¡± Adam said.
¡°Didn¡¯t you know where you were? This is one of our bases that we Rebels use to coordinate against the Pelza Empire,¡± Tanya said.
¡°Nice!¡± Adam exclaimed. ¡°You¡¯re just the group I¡¯m looking for. So let¡¯s get whatever examination you need to do out of the way so we can sit down, and you can point me at those four facilities. The talk with the emperor will have to wait.¡±
¡°Are you so sure, we¡¯ll accept you into our midst?¡± Sarah asked.
¡°Not at all. I just need to prove that I¡¯m not a danger to you, get pointed in the right direction, then I¡¯ll go knock out those three bases, the fourth that¡¯s being built, and go have a talk with the Emperor.¡±
¡°Well, there¡¯s one way to see if you¡¯re just talking out of your ass or you can do what you say,¡± Tanya said as she holstered her weapon and pulled out a hand-sized crystal.
¡°What is that?¡± Adam asked.
¡°That is a crystal that measures your highest Quintessence level. We tried it after the Update and it still seems to work,¡± she said as she held it in her hand and it began to glow a very light blue. Depending on your equivalent power it starts at purple and works through Red which is equivalent to about Step 7 or Quintessence Level 42 in this new system.¡±
¡°Is it measuring Quintessence level or is it also checking experience levels?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Both.¡±
¡°Do you have more than one at this location?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Of course, why would that matter?¡±
¡°Because I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯m going to shatter it. Or it¡¯s going to explode or something equally fun,¡± Adam said.
¡°Just hold the crystal, it¡¯ll do the rest.
¡°I am being serious. After you hand me this crystal you really should back up?¡±
¡°I think we¡¯ll be fine,¡± Tanya said as she handed him the crystal, ¡°Just concentrate on activating the crystal and push a little mana into it. It¡¯ll do the rest.¡±
Adam activated Stutter Step on himself to give him five extra combat rounds. He activated Flight and floated to the center of the room and used Mold Chaos to create a one-foot-thick cube of Transparent aluminum and nanites inside the cube. The cube had no support so he reached up with his right hand and held the cube in place. Next, he had the nanites analyze the crystal, copy its structure, and save it so he could make it if that were possible. As his fourth personal combat round came into play Sarah finally reacted and shot her weapon which hit the cube and stopped. It was an energy weapon of some kind because Adam felt the energy enter his hand but it was set to stun and his attributes were so far above any possible weapon they could devise to hurt him that it tingled just a little bit.
Adam looked at Tanya, held the Crystal out before him, and let just a small bit of his mana flow into the crystal. The Crystal Started to glow in the deep purple part of the spectrum, then shifted to dark blue, light blue, green, yellow, orange, red, and then a really angry red before it went infrared at which point the crystal exploded in his hand.
He¡¯d been correct to put the wall up because the damage to his hand was not insignificant. If he¡¯d been a normal person he figured it would have been equivalent to a stick of dynamite going off in their hand. His hand only received minor cuts which sealed immediately. He had the nanites convert the aluminum cube and then pulled them into his Shadow Vault
¡°Stand Down Sarah if he wanted us dead we¡¯d be dead. What Quintessence level are you?¡±
¡°Above 70,¡± Adam said.
¡°70 would have been bright red, Tanya said. ¡°To make the crystal explode you¡¯d have to be at least four to five times that,¡± Tanya said.
¡°Sounds accurate, but low.¡±
¡°Okay, Adam, do you mind telling me what you just did, has my base been compromised?¡±
¡°Your base is fine. I conjured a cube of transparent aluminum to surround myself while I floated here, that¡¯s what Sarah¡¯s energy weapon hit, tingled a little. Anyway, once the crystal exploded I had it broken down and then stored all of it in my Shadow Vault, an extradimensional storage space I have through a Quintessence Ability. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard of abilities like that.¡±
¡°We have,¡± Tanya said before she was interrupted by Sarah.
¡°Are you saying this weapon will not affect you,¡± Sarah said.
¡°On its stun setting, nope not a chance, if you want to test it, fire away,¡± Adam said.
Before Tanya could stop her, Sarah pulled the trigger. Adam¡¯s perception and speed were so quick he could have reacted to try to dodge the weapon but chose to sit there. The energy slammed into his chest, washed over him, and did absolutely nothing.
¡°You could probably put the weapon on its highest setting, and it wouldn¡¯t do anything to me,¡± Adam said
¡°We will NOT be testing that Sarah, now put your weapon away,¡± Tanya said quickly.
Adam landed lightly in front of both women, ¡°Now if you don¡¯t mind, can we go somewhere to sit down and talk?¡±
¡°Please follow me,¡± Tonya said.
Adam was led out of the room he was in which he learned was a cave in the center of an underground base. An airlock opened and suddenly he was in a very modern area reminiscent of technologies he had seen in use by the Vrax in the SYSTEM Matrix. Everything seemed well-kept or new. As soon as he stepped out his CC group contacted him
CC: Adam, nanite infiltration was attempted, we activated Technomancy and put a stop to it. We¡¯re also using it to get a read on the base and get the information we need.
Adam: CC, Understood, Do not initiate a hostile takeover. In fact, take no action whatsoever against their nanites. We already know that there are others with abilities similar to Technomancy.
CC: Understood
Tonya led Adam to a holding cell with the eradicator technology in it. He disabled it. ¡°Just so we are clear, I do not sit in rooms with eradicator technology that is functional,¡± he said as he stepped into the room.
¡°What? How could you know that, and also, you followed me into the room?¡±
¡°Is the technology functional?¡± Adam asked as a message appeared on her knock-off iPad.
¡°Tonya, we¡¯re wasting time, I need to go stop those bases from destroying other universes, you need me to. When I get done, I am absolutely not going to talk to the Emperor, I am most likely going to eradicate him, his council, and any of his family members that helped run the family business.¡±
¡°You¡¯re just going to walk in and kill them?¡± Sarah said disbelievingly.
¡°I am just going to walk in and kill everyone that needs killing. They are responsible for the deaths of countless sentient creatures. Fortunately for the Pelza Empire, I¡¯m not a monster like they are or I might have turned their devices on their Universe. No, I¡¯m going to end them, then I¡¯m going to do my damndest to ensure that technology is never used again, anywhere.¡±
¡°Good luck with that. The technology is already out there, how are you going to stop it from becoming known to others?¡± Tonya asked.
¡°I have a few ideas,¡± Adam said. ¡°Now while this conversation has been delightful,¡± Adam said then trailed off as he received a notification from his CC.
CC: Adam, we have the information you need. The other three bases are located in different Universes only accessible at their security station on a moon near the Capital planet.
Adam: CC, how far away are we from it?
CC: Adam, you are on a moon around a gas giant in a nebula within the Signa Star Cluster. It is roughly 35 light years from the Pelza Homeworld. The access point is on their largest moon.
¡°So, the Signa Star Cluster is 35 Light years from the Homeworld. Nice,¡± Adam said.
Tonya looked at him with shock, ¡°How could you know that? You reincarnated inside the base?¡± Tonya said.
¡°Magical powers, I have a few. Anyway, as I was saying this has been delightful but I must go,¡± Adam said activating Stutter Step so he could take 20 actions in a single second, then he activated Obscure and Teleported to a junction he¡¯d passed. No one was around and he followed the corridor to an access point to the surface. It was really easy to figure out which way to go now that he had all of the information available on his Personal Map.
Once he was outside, he activate Freedom of Flight reducing his mass to effectively zero, and activated Flight to make his way out of the base and up into the night sky. It was a Moon with Earth-like conditions. Adam dropped his focus into his Mindspace and watched as he flew for 10 seconds away from the Rebel base¡¯s location then shifted direction and began making a large parabolic path around the Pelza Empire¡¯s home world until he was on the opposite side of the Pelza Empire from the Rebel base.
Adam could have worked with Tonya and Sarah, but it was obvious they didn¡¯t trust him, and he couldn¡¯t really blame them so he¡¯d do what he could to protect their location and then move to do what he needed to do. He wondered when killing had become so easy for him but realized that life and death were part of this existence. Somehow he¡¯d circumvented the death part, without becoming undead, but that didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t die, he didn¡¯t think so anyway. Of course, he had an ability titled Immortal so maybe someone, or something, wanted him to live forever.
Adam put those thoughts out of his mind as he watched the various aspects of himself treat his body like some sort of starship. They even had a bridge of sorts in his Mindspace. Some people dream of sexy women, or men, his mind was filled with aspects of himself helping him control all of his abilities like he was some kind of Voltron robot or a starship, depending on what he was doing. It was kind of funny as he thought about it.
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Adam focused on the mana usage to see the new costs of all of his abilities in action. Even with everything he was doing his mana generation was more than able to replace the mana he used. Adam moved his focus to his Soul Core and then moved passed the shell, to his Soul Core¡¯s nucleus and found the node for his Astral Link. He tried to push a question or request for Bri to respond to him through the link, but nothing happened.
He hadn¡¯t expected anything, but he had one more ace up his sleeve. He moved to the greyed-out node of his Interface ability, pushed his focus into it, and sent a message.
Bri, can you see this, Please respond.
Adam waited a few moments for a response. When none came he figured she either couldn¡¯t see the message, couldn¡¯t respond, or hadn¡¯t received it yet. If she was accessing as much information as he figured she might be, the message could have been lost in the background. He¡¯d wait for a bit then try again. She could be busy right now.
Adam pulled his focus out of his Soul Core and noted that he was now entering Pelza Empire¡¯s Capital Solar System. He watched as his body zeroed in on a border satellite and he came to stop 2,000 feet out from it, well within his Technomancy range. He dropped his focus completely out of his Mindspace and took direct control of the satellite with his Technomancy ability as he used it to infiltrate the defense network around the Solar System.
***
Private Dornal couldn¡¯t believe he¡¯d been able to escape from that prison on that backwater Planet. Earth he thought they called it. Whatever. It wouldn¡¯t matter soon anyway. After that Universal Update, he¡¯d realized that he might have a window and had used his Teleport ability to get back to the ship instantly. He¡¯d been very careful not to let anyone on the ship or in that god-forsaken prison know that he had the ability. His second ability had also proved useful as well. Something had tried to infiltrate his body but his affinity with electricity through an ability called Lightning Control had stopped the infiltration. He¡¯d also noticed that the ship was infiltrated when he¡¯d arrived, but machines were just circuits and he bypassed the coding by forcing electrical impulses where he needed them which was in the dimensional drive to go home. Once he¡¯d appeared in the designated arrival location for his ship the lockouts that had prevented him from doing anything without his ability had disappeared and he had full control of the ship.
Dornal had contacted Alliance Control, informed them of his situation and the probable contamination of the ship, and waited. Two hours later he was teleported into a quarantined area of the Battleship Azar. He¡¯d been scanned prodded and examined over the next six hours thoroughly. When the Captain had been satisfied he¡¯d been escorted to a secure room where a meal and drink had been waiting for him while the ships returned to the system.
He¡¯d been waiting for four hours when one of the Witches walked in and motioned for him to take a seat. Once he was seated she sat down across the table from him
¡°I am Commander Johansson. I recently returned from a scouting mission to the planet you just returned from, Earth correct?¡±
¡°Yes Ma¡¯am, I was on Earth at a location they called Groom Lake,¡± Dornal said.
¡°Groom Lake, Area 51. How did you end up there?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t really know Ma¡¯am, one second we were flying in toward the planet, the next the ship had been taken over, and soon after we were teleported to the surface where their military put us into a holding facility.¡± He said.
¡°What happened to the rest of your crew?¡±
¡°They¡¯re still there. I thought it was more important to get word back than try to save everyone.¡±
¡°Is that what your Captain thought?¡± she asked.
¡°No Ma¡¯am, the Captain was dead before we ever arrived on the planet. A man killed him, someone, more powerful than I have ever encountered.¡±
¡°Describe him.¡±
¡°Not much to say, White, Male, short brown hair, hazel blue eyes, about five foot 9 inches tall. Muscular but not thin.
Commander Johansson pulled out her information tablet and pulled up an image of Adam and showed it to Dornal, ¡°Is that him?¡±
¡°Yes Ma¡¯am, that¡¯s him,¡± Dornal said quickly.
¡°How long ago was the last time you saw him?¡±
¡°Not long, maybe ten days, a few less. I lost track of time in the cell they had me in. The new interface ability was no help either. The units of time it¡¯s using do not match the units of time from home, though they seem similar, just not exactly so.¡±
¡°I¡¯m well aware of the discrepancies. I simply asked because if it had been longer than one of our months then it could have happened before the incident.¡±
¡°If you¡¯re talking about the accident at the Facility, definitely after. We didn¡¯t even arrive in that god-forsaken universe until after the event. It¡¯s why were sent there. Our mission was to recover information a previous scout had left behind and re-establish a semi-permanent scout in the system.¡±
¡°Sounds about right then.¡±
¡°I have another question; did you know that another of your crew was on the ship.¡±
¡°No, who was it? Wait, was it Engineer Kress¡¯er? We didn¡¯t see him on the planet. We all thought the human killed him.
¡°No, we found him hiding in the engine room,¡± The Commander said.
¡°That makes sense, they have a natural camouflage ability.¡±
¡°That was our thinking as well. We also found where the captain was killed which lends weight to the hiding and waiting claim he¡®s making.¡±
¡°No need to worry about Kress¡¯er Ma¡¯am, he¡¯s always been loyal to the Empire. Not a single disparaging remark and pretty much kept to himself down in engineering. A workaholic that one.¡±
¡°I will pass your observations on. Last question, what was this possible contamination?¡±
¡°When I was able to Teleport onto the ship it wasn¡¯t responding to any of my commands. Then I used one of my Air Affinity Quintessence abilities and I was able to get the ship back to our Universe. Once here the interference disappeared.
Commander Johansson eyed Dornal Suspiciously, ¡°There are no notations of Quintessence abilities in your file Private?¡±
¡°No Ma¡¯am, my father recognized both abilities as non-combat abilities and thought it best to keep them hidden so they might come of use for the Empire, or myself when there was a need. In fact, I have not used either ability until today since I joined for that reason. Only to protect the empire or save me from certain death,¡± he said. The information I had was vital to the Pelza Empire, so I used my abilities and returned immediately.¡±
¡°Yes you did Dornal, yes you did. I¡¯m going to go brief the captain. You are under his command until this ship returns to the spaceport. After which you are to report to me in the Security division for reassignment. Individuals such as yourself are highly sought after.¡±
¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am! Dornal said excitedly as he stood and saluted.
Commander Johansson stood, returned the salute, and said ¡°As you were,¡± before she walked to the door and made her way to the Captain. Once there she made her report, recommended Dornal be allowed to rest until they finished their trip back, and then released to the Security Division.
Next Commander Johansson sent a priority message to her boss to inform him that she would be teleporting to the office 10 minutes after the time stamp of the message.
She waited the ten minutes and then teleported directly in front of his Desk.
¡°What was so urgent that you had to teleport directly into my officer?¡±, Erika¡¯s direct supervisor Nef¡¯lar Pelza asked.
¡°We have a problem. It would seem that Adam did not die in the Facility explosion,¡± she said.
¡°Excuse me, what?¡±
¡°One of the scout ships we sent to continue my research on Earth returned with only two crew members on board.¡±
¡°Where is the rest of the crew?¡± Nef¡¯lar asked.
¡°They¡¯re still on Earth in one of their Military Facilities. That¡¯s not why I wanted to meet with you. The reason I wanted to meet with you was because Captain Mech¡¯Lar was killed by Adam.¡±
¡°Adam survived?¡± Nef¡¯lar asked with alarm evident in his voice.
¡°It would seem so. I thought you should know so that precautions can be taken.¡±
¡°What precautions can be taken against someone that can survive an eradicator in a room or being in a Universe that is destroyed around him?¡±
¡°Do we not have friends in high places?¡±
¡°We do, as you well know, that¡¯s how we increased our society from what it was by two full steps, 14 Quintessence levels by this new blasted Interface.¡±
¡°Speaking of that, Sir does anyone know what caused the changes that are taking place? As you know I was on Earth. A lot of the changes mentioned in Update 2.0 seem very similar to the game Universe the Company there had created.¡±
¡°Very similar?¡±
¡°Yes Sir. There were Dungeons that could connect to a Labyrinth that connected to all the Dungeons. It was a virtual game after all. The system used to do that in no way resembles the reality we have in the real world.¡±
¡°Have you entered one of these dungeons yet?¡±
¡°No sir. No one in the Empire has. Everyone is waiting for the Government to decide what to do and your Father has a committee working on the issue as you know.
¡°Committees. What a waste of time. Let¡¯s get back on topic. Where is Adam now?¡± Nef¡¯lar Pelza asked.
¡°No idea.¡±
¡°Does he have a way to us?
¡°As far as I know, no. The one way would have been to somehow take over and use the ship, but we have the ship back so we seem safe enough from that.¡±
¡°Put out some feelers and if you have to return to Earth. In fact, at the very least return to Earth and find out what is going on with our personnel. We need to get them back before the Earthlings get more information out of them than we wish.¡±
¡°Yes sir, I¡¯ll have to change my identity but that is no issue. I¡¯ll get to it,¡± she said, and then teleported to her office and started the process of going on assignment again.
***
Adam thought about warning Commander Johansson off traveling to Earth as he listened in on her conversation but that hadn¡¯t seemed like a good idea. So, he let her continue her preparation as he continued his.
After, he¡¯d arrived near the Pelza Homeworld he¡¯d had a thought, and teleported to the bridge of the ship he¡¯d captured. If it had returned home, it should be around. He was pleasantly surprised when he appeared on the bridge just as another ship had pulled up and teleported the prisoner who¡¯d escaped away. The ship had been taken over remotely and crew members had teleported onto the ship to search it while they flew in toward the system at sublight velocities. Well within his 4,200-foot limit, Adam had reached out with Technomancy and kept track of everything happening on both ships. When a scanning crew had teleported over he¡¯d teleported outside the ship and stayed at the midpoint between both as they flew toward the nearby solar system. He¡¯d also removed all nanites from the ship. He didn¡¯t want them to have anything of his to study.
When Erika had arrived he¡¯d recognized her immediately and noted the Information Tablet then released nanites with the specific purpose of providing a quantum link between the tablet and himself. Once that was done he used Technomancy to program it to allow all sensory data it picked up to be transmitted through the link directly to him.
Adam had listened to her talk to Dornal and then her supervisor though he didn¡¯t know where the Supervisor was. Adam wasn¡¯t worried about where he was, he¡¯d find him later. He downloaded the navigational data for this solar system. It had 12 planets, three of which were gas giants. The innermost planet was a molten mess, actually worse than Mercury, then he had an idea.
Adam sped away from the ships toward the stars and figured out exactly where the center of gravity was between both Stars and headed there. His first thought had been to put a teleportation point on one of the moons but the odds that something would detect any structure he made were very high. If they hadn¡¯t placed anything between the two stars though, it would be an ideal location because who in their right mind would try to build that close to a star, let in between two stars?
Adam sent his request to his CC and pretty soon his trajectory was altered just a little bit. Both Stars were about equal in mass, so the Center of Mass was outside both of the stars and almost centered between them. Even so, the Starts were relatively close to each other at only 70 million miles apart. Just over the distance from the Sun to Venus back home. That meant that the center point was going to be getting hit with solar radiation from two sides and any object at the center would be treated a little worse than if it was the planet Mercury as it would be 35 million miles from either sun and Mercury was 42 million miles from the Sun.
What he was making didn¡¯t have to be big, it just needed to be able to stand up to the gravity and heat. Also, it didn¡¯t have to last long. It was going to be his target location for Planar Travel after all, he should be able to use it at least a few times before he had to find a new place to travel to.
Adam slowed down and scanned the area. As he¡¯d suspected nothing was here. He was worried that they¡¯d have placed something here that could absorb the radiant energy and transmit it to the Empire. It looked like they hadn¡¯t considered it, or if they had, they¡¯d removed it some time ago.
Adam received the plans from his CC group and activated Mold Chaos. Not a large structure but as it came into being Adam could understand why they¡¯d made it the way they did. Inside it had 6 portal generators and a very small fusion reactor. Outside it was layered with stealth technology paints and composites as well as heat absorption tiles that concerted 100% of the energy absorbed. It also had a teleportation pad, courtesy of the technology stolen from the Pelza Empire, and an artificial gravity suite set to Earth norm. As well as environmental control. It was of course infested with his nanites, and everything was recycled. He¡¯d added enough mass that he could comfortably fit four people in the facility for a very long time.
Adam reached out with Technomancy and had the teleportation padlock lock onto his coordinates and beam the 10-foot cube of space inside because he didn¡¯t want to drop Obscure. Once he was inside, six portals were activated. The basic idea behind the design was that each side of the cube had a portal that exited on the opposite side of the cube. Any heat from the Stars bypassed the habitat altogether.
Adam activated Planar Travel Mode 1 and locked the location into his memory then teleported away. He had what he needed. Now it was time to get to work. Beelined for the moon around the 6th planet, looked for a crater, found an overhang, and activated Planar Travel Mode 1 to lock that location in as well, just in case. Now that he had a Primary and Secondary location locked and loaded he headed back to the Moon surrounding the 4th planet that had been named Pelza, after the Emperor.
As he drew close to the base he noted all the weapons and ships in the area. He detected no reaction from any of the sensors as he came close so was pretty sure his Obscure ability was working as advertised. Either that or the amount he¡¯d leveled the ability made a big difference in how well the ability worked. Just to be sure, Adam stayed one thousand feet above the surface and used Technomancy to scan the moon.
When he hadn¡¯t detected nanites on the moon he started creating blocks of nanites with Mold Chaos and releasing them. Within an hour, he had the surface coated. Within two hours the entire moon down to about 4,000 feet had been infested with his nanite swarm.
It was true that some abilities seemed to prevent nanites from entering people, but it also seemed true that the Pelza Empire had grown to count on abilities a little too much and hadn¡¯t continued their research into Nanite technology. Dornal¡¯s ability was pretty easy to understand once he¡¯d heard him talk to Erika. He wasn¡¯t controlling the nanites or the technology so much as he was just forcing energy into microchips and forcing them to work. If Adam had been around he could have used the nanites to redirect the flow of energy no matter what Dornal had tried but since he hadn¡¯t been there the nanites hadn¡¯t responded in time and the ship had made the dimensional shift home.
It took a little while to go around the whole moon as many times as he needed to but he allowed his Personal Map to guide him and his Technomancy and Nanites to do the rest. He was able to finish so quickly because he only slowed down when Technomancy or his nanites encountered something. He was able to discover a lot of hidden locations and even a hidden emergency facility for the royal family, which he took the time to add to his Planar Travel Target Locations list.
After 3 hours Adam returned to the main moon base. He teleported into an empty closet. Adam created the appropriate uniforms and badges with Mold Chaos. He also created 10 identities within the base security files with a security clearance equal to Commander Johansson. That way anyone looking up who he was would be barred due to security clearance. He only needed this to work a couple of times. Then he had a thought. Adam focused on a ¡°Mission impossible¡± type face mask that would change him to look like various famous people from his era. Tom Cruise, Keanu Reeves, Tom Hiddleston, and many others. He then put the masks in his inventory and equipped the Tom Cruise mask. When Adam looked at himself with his nanites, he appeared to be Tom Cruise. He stored the mask and it disappeared.
Adam didn¡¯t care about whom he looked like; it was more of a snub at Commander Johansson. When they did their research, and he was sure they would, she¡¯d see these famous faces in her files. He even went so far as to give the Loki-looking identity the name ¡°Loki Wahtchatink¡± just to mess with her. No one said he couldn¡¯t have a little fun. Adam used Mold Chaos to make 10 copies of each mask and put all of them in his Shadow Vault.
For this first foray, his name was Mark Berg and he appeared with the face of Mark Wahlberg. He was wearing the uniform of a Commander and a Security division Badge as he emerged from the closet and made his way to the teleporters to the secured facility.
Adam walked with purpose, entered the security checkpoint, and stepped onto a teleporter. He stepped out of the teleporter into a similar room and reached out with Technomancy, quickly adding his security information to the computers here. He stepped forward, cleared the security checkpoint, and headed toward the facility control room. Now to see if he was as smart as he thought he was and lucky. There would be a little bit of luck involved for sure.
Chapter 188, this Might Take Longer Than I Thought
Adam walked to the control center for this first facility. Unlike the facility he¡¯d destroyed with him in it, this one was in a full-size Universe tucked away near the center of a spiral galaxy. Even if he had decided to target the eradication and converter device at the Universe he was in now, it wouldn¡¯t have destroyed the facility quickly enough before someone could get in and stop it. That was fine, he had a plan B.
As he walked through the corridors he allowed the nanites to leak from his Shadow Vault and enter the base. He also reached out with Technomancy to make sure there were no nanites in the area and put a few sleeper programs into the computer systems.
Adam gave commands to the nanites which began spreading through the facility. He spent about an hour walking around, made it back to the teleporter, and went back to the moon. He found a bathroom, swapped facemasks, and left the bathroom looking like Tom Hiddleston with dark hair and his Loki look in a security uniform. He had to admit he liked the Loki look.
Again, Adam made his way to the teleporter and walked around the second facility. Again he couldn¡¯t just destroy the base because it was in a Universe much larger than the first one. This time he was questioned by a security officer and had to drop Commander Johannsson¡¯s name to smooth things over. He had no doubt that word of his spontaneous inspection would get back to her. Now it was a race against the clock.
He made it back to the moon base and immediately noticed that bio scanners had been activated. He used Technomancy to bypass any issues. It was child¡¯s play to spoof the biofilter results and make sure they did show the real scanner results. He made his way to a bathroom and changed into a Matt Damon facemask. Might as well go with Jason Bourne for the third facility. These masks he¡¯d created and the ability to put them on instantly with Shadow Vault made changing his identity way too easy. Another thing he did while he walked around the facilities was to make sure to take a good look at anyone that was relatively close to his size. The masks of the individuals in the Pelza Empire would not be recognized back on Earth. He could create identities with a very low chance of looking like someone already on file using identities associated with people from the Pelza Empire.
Adam made it to the teleporter and onto the third facility. As he walked around he noticed this base seemed to be quite busy as people ran around. It was very easy for him to get lost in all the activity and an hour later he appeared on the teleporter. He made his way back onto the moon and into a bathroom where he swapped to his last disguise for today. He had decided to go with Neo. He even created clothing that more closely resembled the way Neo was dressed in the second Matrix movie.
To get to the fourth facility which was under construction, Adam made his way to a secondary teleporting pad that was in an airlock. He cycled into the airlock when a technician called out, ¡°Sir you can¡¯t go to site delta with a suit on. There¡¯s no environment there.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll be fine,¡± Adam said.
¡°No, you won¡¯t Sir, it¡¯s near vacuum if you go there you¡¯ll die!¡±
¡°I said I¡¯ll be fine,¡± Adam said as he used Technomancy to override the lock, close the airlock, and activated the teleporter. Adam heard an alarm go off as he disappeared. As he materialized he looked around and found himself in an airlock. Adam cycled out of the airlock, a simple box structure that was connected to a huge gridwork that would eventually become the facility. Adam could see various people in space suits using sleds and tugs as they scurried around moving various pieces of the structure into place. He noticed an area where materials from outside this universe were transported in. Adam knew this because he watched a load of materials appear, and then get moved by a tug to another area that looked to be a holding area for tons of construction materials.
Everything outside of the Airlock was in zero-G which made moving everything a little easier. Adam launched from the airlock door and used Flight to get to the outskirts of the gridwork of the base where he started flying around as he created Nanites with Mold Chaos as used Technomancy to see what frequencies everyone else was talking on. Adam continued to fly around as he listened in on their conversations.
¡°Does that guy have a suit on?¡± someone asked.
¡°That guy flying around the outside? Nope, I didn¡¯t see one when he came by here,¡± another said.
¡°There¡¯s no air here, how does he not have a suit on?¡± a third person asked.
¡°You know how some of those elites are, they might have powers that let them survive in a vacuum.¡±
¡°Must be nice, I¡¯m sweating my balls off in here,¡±
¡°Ronny, stop being a dick, your suit is climate controlled just like everyone else¡¯s,¡± the first female to speak up said.
¡°Well it feels like I¡¯m sweating my balls off,¡± Ronny said.
Adam listened for a few more minutes as he made a complete circuit and his nanites spread throughout the construction area then he sent a message through their Comm¡¯s channel.
¡°Hey everyone, this is the guy flying around. You all need to head back to the airlock now, while you can. If your suits aren¡¯t equipped with thrusters you¡¯ll be stranded where you are until someone comes out to get you.¡±
¡°What are you talking about?¡±
Adam sent a command for the nanites to start converting the facility to more nanites first and then said, ¡°Watch the facility, what¡¯s happening to the facility will start to affect everything else here in about five minutes. You might want to start heading toward the airlock now.¡±
¡°What¡¯s he talking about?¡±
¡°Hey Look!¡± someone called out, ¡°the grid that was attached to the airlock just melted off.¡±
¡°It what? Holy shit the airlock is free of the grid. Damn the grid is melting fast. It¡¯s just evaporating.¡±
¡°What the hell can do that?¡± someone asked.
¡°Who cares, everyone to the airlock, now!¡± Someone called out.
Adam watched as people started moving toward the airlock. Not before everything around them, except their suits, started to evaporate though. There were a few stragglers that would have been stranded but Adam flew over and pushed them toward the Airlock and made sure they were able to hang on and go inside when it was their turn to leave.
While he kept an eye on the personnel, Adam watched as the whole facility, all the stored materials, and everything except for the airlock were turned into nanites. Even the materials that appeared were turned into nanites.
Adam flew away from the airlock and realized that he was in a finite universe that wasn¡¯t that big. That was fine, they were never going to use this area again and he might be able to use it as a storage area. Adam flew off until he was quite a bit away and near the edge of this universe then activate Mold Chaos and created another chamber like he had in the Pelza star system and teleported inside it. He created a Target Location with Planar Travel mode 1 then made sure the portals on this one were active to prevent anyone from looking in this direction from seeing it. He put six portal generators in the base but only needed one pointed toward the airlock to prevent anyone from seeing his little satellite.
If they kept funning materials into this area he was going to have a lot of nanites he could recover at some point. Also, this would be a good place to retreat to and recover if he needed to. He made sure to set his minor satellite and the airlock with the teleporter in it as off-limits to the nanites, as well as biologicals.
Adam took a break and waited. He watched through his nanites as everyone evacuated the area which took a little bit. There were 32 personnel trying to use the teleporter. Also, only four could fit inside the airlock at one time. With pressure suits and everyone hanging on for dear life while metal just disappeared and the airlock had to cycle it took a little while for everyone to exit through the teleporter.
After everyone left it was perhaps 30 minutes before someone came back inside to see what was going on. Adam watched as a few individuals came through and tested what was happening. Finally, someone nodded and they all went back through the teleporter. Five minutes later an emp device was teleported into the material loading area and detonated. It was powerful and spread out a good 1,000 feet before the nanites absorbed the blast. Immediately the nanites that had been unaffectedly reactivated all of the deactivated nanites.
Someone came through the teleporter, threw a piece of metal out of the airlock which immediately dissolved then teleported back out. This process was repeated three more times before they tried a nuclear device. It was relatively small. Yes, it vaporized the nanites right next to it when it detonated. The energy of the blast wave outside of that initial vaporization zone was instantly converted to more nanites providing a net gain to the number of nanites in the area. Even so, Adam decided to make an addition to his little satellite and provided force projection technology to his little retreat that would activate in the event of a very large nuclear device going off.
He also increased the size of the base and added a larger fusion reactor that could handle the power usage the shield might require. Adam checked his clock, he still have a day before the other three facilities were ready so he just sat around and waited. Three more nukes were detonated, each one bigger than the last. The nanites that weren¡¯t vaporized absorbed the rest of the energy wave and created even more nanites. Also, the third detonation was large enough to destroy the airlock but his satellite handled it just fine.
For the next 6 hours, Adam watched as sensors were teleported into the universe and immediately converted to more nanites. Finally, his alarm went off. While he¡¯d been walking through the first three facilities he¡¯d dropped nanites. Unlike the nanites in this micro-universe, Adam had tasked the nanites in each of the other three facilities with placing 100-megaton nuclear devices in the walls of each of the active Universe Eradicator and Converter device chambers. He made sure the real devices would be created in areas that shouldn¡¯t show radiation spikes, that was what the decoys were for. The commands had been for the devices to be placed inside the wall of the chamber less than a 1/8 of an inch thick so it would not be detectable with a visual inspection and not to add the Plutonium to the devices until the last hour.
In addition, Adam had left time-locked coding on the base evacuation circuit which should have started going off when his Alarm did. The sensors he¡¯d detected should be picking up the plutonium as it formed inside the decoy devices because they weren¡¯t well shielded by design. Adam was sure they¡¯d detect and either disarm or teleport the devices away within the hour before they went off. He was also sure that someone would think themselves smug for stopping the insane person that was trying to activate a nuclear device next to an energy storage device that held the equivalent energy of a Universe. For the most part, though, the facilities should be evacuated so his conscious was clear. Anyone else that stayed probably deserved the fate they received.
With his plan in motion, Adam activated Planar Travel and appeared in his little base between the two Stars in the Pelza Home system. He activated Obscure, teleported outside the facility, and shot toward the Pelza home world with Flight, Freedom of Flight, and Adaptable active. He¡¯d thought he¡¯d need to spend some time looking for the location of the Emperor. That wasn¡¯t the case. The exact location of the tower was easy to find in the data his CC went through. Also, it was the largest structure on the planet and visible from orbit. It was a giant metallic pyramid that reached an altitude of 25,000 feet.
***
Nabih¡¯lar Pelza, Emperor of the Pelza Empire walked around his Crisis Control chamber trying to understand what was going on. A day ago, the newest facility to meet the empire¡¯s power requirements had gone offline and various actions had been taken to try to stabilize the space and reclaim it. Just over an hour ago, he¡¯d sent one of their largest weapons in his arsenal to the facility¡¯s location which should have destroyed everything within only to find the same problem still there as the sensor that had been sent in transmitted for about three seconds before the signal was lost.
Ten minutes ago, all three evacuation alarms had sounded in the other three facilities and evacuation procedures had begun. No one knew why they¡¯d started they just had and there was a timer that was counting down on every terminal. Currently, that timer was at 49 minutes. Now, something very weird started happening. Every data store in his capital building started failing. Workstations were falling offline, and everyone was wondering what was going on. Terminals that were going offline all dealt with the technology and theories that surround the devices and facilities currently being evacuated. Everything going wrong today seemed to be tied to how the Empire made batteries.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Interestingly enough, each scientist in the area fainted around the same time. Medical personnel were called and examined each of the scientists. Nothing was found to be wrong with them, at least until someone asked them what they were working on. Then their memories all failed them, and they couldn¡¯t answer a single question about what they¡¯d been doing for the empire. They remembered their families, friends, and fellow scientists but any knowledge they had about the Battery Facilities was gone.
As the Emperor was pondering that issue a new alarm sounded.
¡°Sir! Radiological alarms are going off in all three facility control centers!¡± a technician called out.
¡°All, three, that has to be an error!¡± A supervisor called.
¡°No sir, as per procedure the readings were double-checked and the background radiation in the control rooms has increased quite a bit.
The emperor watched as the orders were given to evacuate the control room while three teams were put together and teleported to the facility. 10 minutes later all three teams reported that the devices had been neutralized. The Emperor checked and there was just over three minutes left on the timer that was still counting down at each facility. At the three-minute mark exactly a voice rang out from every speaking in the crisis center and each of the three Facilities.
¡°There is a device, identical to the devices you found in the Control Room in each of the chamber walls of activate Universal Eradicators. You now have less than three minutes to evacuate the facilities.¡±
¡°It¡¯s a hoax, it has to be!¡± The Emperor said.
¡°Sir, if it is, we¡¯ll send everyone back in one minute after the countdown is over. My suggestion is to evacuate everyone just in case and shut down the teleporters.¡±
¡°Do it!¡± The Emperor said.
Emperor Nabih¡¯lar Pelza watched as the last personnel were evacuated from the facilities with ten seconds to spare. Unfortunately for everyone that had evacuated to the moon one of the technicians did not shut down one of the teleporters and part of the explosion from one of the facilities translated into the teleportation chamber on the moon, destroying it and a one-hundred-foot radius around it. The explosion opened that part of the facility to the vacuum of space. The initial explosion killed one technician but forcefields popped into place in time and protected the other 25 personnel that would have been killed.
That wasn¡¯t what was worrying the Emperor. If those three facilities had been destroyed he would have visitors shortly. Without a word, the Emperor left the Crisis Center and made his way to the Throne Room. Except for the two guards beside the main door the room was empty as he entered and made his way to his throne. If he was correct any moment he would have up to three visitors.
Of course, he was right. A twelve-foot-tall blue insectoid alien that looked somewhat like a giant Praying Mantis appeared in the center of the Throne room as another smaller humanoid alien with grey skin large black eyes and a slightly oval head appeared beside him. A moment later a normal-looking male human with purple-tinted skin appeared.
¡°Emperor Pelza I bring greetings from the Xzexti and wish an audience,¡± The giant insectoid said.
¡°As does the Tellini Federation Emperor Pelza,¡± the grey humanoid said.
¡°We do not seek an audience; we would like to know why there is a nebula where your facility used to be in our Universe?¡± The purple humanoid asked.
***
Adam had infiltrated the Empire¡¯s Capital with no issues. He¡¯d flown around the capital and allowed his Technomancy to take in as much data as he could and released his nanites. His CC group was having a field day collecting and sorting data. He couldn¡¯t believe the Pelza didn¡¯t have nanites. While Adam waited for the radiological components to be added to the nukes that were being created in each of the facilities he made his way to the Throne Room and watched the emperor through his nanites.
He was a little surprised to see the emperor come to the Throne room after the detonation without even verifying that the facilities had been destroyed. He was even more surprised by the appearance of the three aliens. He decided to land a little off to the side of the Emperor so he could keep an eye on things when the creature that looked like a Praying Mantis looked in his direction and directed a query toward the Emperor.
¡°Emperor Pelza, why do you have a hidden human near you?¡±
¡°A what? There is no one aligned with my empire in this room save the two guards at the door behind you,¡± Emperor Pelza declared.
Adam considered what to do then changed his wardrobe and adopted his black flight suit and normal appearance as he dropped Obscure
¡°You!¡± The Emperor declared.
¡°What is the meaning of this?¡± The little grey alien asked?¡±
The purple human made a dismissive sound and then said,¡± You really need to invest in some abilities that can detect cloaked individuals, ¡°The purple alien said to the grey alien. Wait, did something happen to the power plant in your universe also?
¡°Yes,¡± The Praying Mantis said as the grey alien nodded.
Adam moved closer to the three aliens and then said, ¡°Let me guess, the three of you have some sort of trade deal with the Emperor? He was supplying each of your empires with batteries or some other such nonsense?¡± Adam asked as he reached out with Technomancy and infiltrated each of the alien¡¯s devices, specifically looking for anything that would help him find the Universes or planes they were from.
¡°Emperor Pelza, who is this creature that dares to ask a Prince of the Xzexti question? Never mind, it must die!¡± The insect creature said as it moved to attack Adam.
Adam wasn¡¯t even surprised. Adam activated Stutter Step and then used Identify on the creature.
Xzexti Male, Level 481, ???
Adam did some quick math in his head and realized that this creature¡¯s Quintessence level would be level 48 which meant that its abilities would be superior to his but not his attributes. Adam was proved right as the mantis creature struck him three times. Twice across the neck, once in the groin in an upward direction. Adam was sure they would have been killing blows as he checked his combat log.
Xzexti Warrior strikes you for 144 points of damage.
Xzexti Warrior strikes you for 144 points of damage.
Xzexti Warrior strikes you for 144 points of damage.
Adam returned one blow for exactly the damage he¡¯d taken as a slap across the creature¡¯s head, He was trying to pull the punch but he didn¡¯t know insectoid anatomy all that much. He was hoping for a disabling blow.
Adam strikes Xzexti Warrior for 432 points of damage.
What the Emperor and the two other Aliens saw was a human male take two strikes from the Xzexti¡¯s giant claws to his neck in a scissoring move that should have decapitated him with a third swing that should have treated his frontside like a zipper and split him open. Instead of the human¡¯s head flying off and viscera flying everywhere only minor scratches appeared on his neck which closed as rapidly as they¡¯d appeared. The only visible damage had been to his clothing which seemed to be repairing itself. The human then casually jumped up and slapped the alien so hard that its mandible snapped and the alien slumped to the floor as the human landed where he¡¯d jumped up from.
¡°What have you done!¡± The Emperor roared!
¡°He¡¯s alive, I think,¡± Adam said thoughtfully, ¡°So each of you had one of the facilities in your universe?¡± Adam said as he used Identify on the two Aliens. As he focused on the grey alien his Identify worked even better than he¡¯d thought it would.
Tellini, Level 241. Tellini males come from a race of traders and scientists. They are extremely friendly and will try to make a deal whenever they can. They are extremely well-educated and very good at reverse engineering anything they can find. Think gnome engineer on crack. Current Abilities Telepathy, Mind Blast, Puppeteer, Evaluate, and Teleport.
It looked like his Identify ability far surpassed this alien¡¯s abilities. His level put him at about quintessence level 24 so that made sense. Adam focused on the purple human and was disappointed with the prompt he received.
??? ¨C Creature is more than twice the level of your Identify ability.
So, the grey alien was from what used to be close to a Step 4 Universe and this purple human was from at least a Step 13 Universe or Quintessence level 85 or higher. That was Interesting.
¡°If I were to say, ¡®The Strong Take¡¯ would that have any significant meaning to either of you?¡± Adam asked the two aliens still standing in front of him.
The Grey alien just shook his head.
¡°It is the way of things,¡± The Purple human said while the Emperor just stood there dumbfounded while he looked at the barely conscious Xzexti.
¡°Very well. I took the facilities offline. I will continue to take any facilities offline that function as those did.
¡°You can try,¡± the purple human said.
Adam moved, faster than either the Tellini or the purple human could. As he did so he ripped the Emperor¡¯s head off his body and used Treasure Renderer on the corpse before he turned back to the two Aliens. Adam hadn¡¯t used that ability after the Update and was a little surprised when both the head in his hands and the body that fell to the ground disappeared. He stood in front of the Throne looking down at the two aliens.
¡°I am done here,¡± The Tellini said as it teleported away.
The Xzexti, picked up its head, looked at Adam, then teleported away.
The Purple human looked at Adam and then said, ¡°Killing something that was no challenge is not a display of power, it is pathetic¡±
¡°That was not a display of power, that was vengeance for the quintillions of souls he¡¯s destroyed.¡±
¡°Then your action seems warranted, The Strong take after all,¡± the purple man said with a nod.
¡°We shall see won¡¯t we,¡± Adam said with a grin.
The purple human teleported away as the two guards rushed toward the throne. Adam reached out through his nanites looking for the Emperor¡¯s son. Adam found Nef¡¯lar Pelza in his office. Surprisingly that office was in this building. Adam Teleported to Nef¡¯lar¡¯s office as the guards reached the throne.
Unsurprisingly he found Erika in the office as well. She even reached out and touched him with an ability from her Death Quintessence as he appeared. It was pretty nasty, He lost 840 hit points in a moment which would have killed any Step 4 creature in this Universe twice over.
¡°How nice to see you too Erika,¡± Adam said as his health regeneration replaced the missing hit points instantly.
Erika stepped back quickly drawing a weapon and firing. This weapon was similar to the weapon Sarah had used on the Rebel base except it was set to vaporize. Like Sarah¡¯s gun, it did nothing to him, well, except vaporize his clothes.
¡°Really!¡± Adam said as he used Mold Chaos to create nanites and threw them in her direction with the command to keep her naked for 10 minutes, no matter what she put on. ¡°Two can play at that game dear,¡± Adam said as shadows covered him and he was once again reclothed in another Jumpsuit. Finally, he deactivated all weapons in the room with Technomancy
Erika looked down at her body as her clothes started to disintegrate then tried to pull the trigger on her weapon again.
¡°Erika, you cannot put clothes on or cover yourself except with your hands for the next 10 minutes. Keep it up and I¡¯ll make it last longer,¡± Adam said.
Nef¡¯lar looked at Erika then looked at the weapon that was in his hand and pointed at Adam before he set it down on the desk, ¡°What can I do for you, Adam?¡±
¡°As far as I can determine you have always been in the security division of this empire and not a part of its energy acquisition or facility startup, though I acknowledge that you were responsible for the facility¡¯s security,¡± Adam said.
¡°And your point,¡± Nef¡¯lar said.
¡°The three facilities are destroyed. Thermonuclear devices detonated in every active chamber in all three facilities and as you know the fourth facility has met with difficulty. This led to a visit by three alien species to your father in the Throne Room moments ago. The Xzexti Prince attacked me, and I bitch slapped him. He retreated. The Tellini don¡¯t want anything to do with this and that Purple human fucker...¡±
¡°They are the Cordite,¡± Nef¡¯lar said.
¡°The Cordite fucker wasn¡¯t impressed when I killed your dad.¡±
¡°You what!¡±
¡°Your empire killed my Universe, and I killed the Emperor, I think that¡¯s far from fair, but I¡¯m satisfied,¡± Adam said.
¡°I will kill you!¡± Nef¡¯lar said as he tried to lunge for his weapon and bring it to bear. Adam had his base near the binary stars open a portal to the moon¡¯s surface which sucked the three of them out onto the surface of their moon. He¡¯d picked a place at least 5 miles away from any settlement or help and deactivated all devices embedded in both Erika¡¯s and Nef¡¯lar¡¯s bodies so technology wasn¡¯t going to get them out of this predicament. With Flight active, he easily controlled his flight through the portal and stayed near Nef¡¯lar.
Adam watched as Erika teleported away, though he was able to keep track of her with the nanites that were all over her. She¡¯d appeared in her apartment. Through the nanites that were on her body, Adam said, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t touch any clothes you like until the 10 minutes are up. Then get dressed and report back to your boss, he and I are going to have a little talk.¡±
While the nanites relaying his message to Erika, Adam flew over grabbed Nef¡¯lar who was already starting to choke and flew back through the portal into his office and closed the portal. Nef¡¯lar sucked in the air, trying to catch his breath.
While Nef¡¯lar tried to catch his breath Adam said, ¡°Now Nef¡¯lar I can understand your anger, and if someday you think you can take me out, feel free to, but that day is not today. Your Empire has used an Eradicator three times on me, if we count the machine destroying the universe I was in with it. I have also been ¡®killed¡¯ by an undead vampire, who I will be having words with eventually and I just destroyed four of your facilities,¡± Adam said then paused for a moment, ¡°My point is you cannot kill me right now. Let¡¯s table that desire and focus on what you need to do to keep me happy. Why do you need to keep me happy? Because Nef¡¯lar, the Pelza Empire, and all of her allies that were destroying universes for power deserve anything and everything I could do to them but I¡¯m not that kind of guy. The individual that gave the order or agreed to it, he¡¯s dead. The scientists that knew how to make the devices are having a really hard time remembering the math that made it possible and the devices you have in storage are breaking down into goo as we speak.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because as your Cordite friend said, the strong take, or in this case the strong stop assholes from taking from the helpless. So, conditions. ¡°
¡°Conditions?¡± Nef¡¯lar asked, slightly confused with how this conversation was going.
Adam raised one finger, ¡°First, no more trips to Earth. I¡¯ll get your people back to you and then no more trips. I see one person from your empire in that Universe unless you¡¯re coming to get me, I¡¯m going to send this empire back into the stone age. One person, to ¡®ask nicely¡¯ for a meeting is permissible. More than one, Stone age.¡±
Adam raised two fingers, ¡°Two, the trade agreement your empire had with the Xzexti, Tellini, and Cordite races, empires, whatever, concerning batteries is done. Do not even try to restart those factories. I would suggest you use what energy you have to rebuild your energy reserves. I might even be persuaded to help the People of the Pelza empire but honestly, you should be able to survive without killing off other Universes.
Adam held up three fingers, ¡°Three, anyone that comes after me, or mine, dies. No mercy, no second chances, they die. ¡°
Now you have a father and Emperor to mourn, I¡¯m going to head over to the teleporter and go see me a Cordite and the Xzexti. Oh yeah, the teleporters were destroyed. Don¡¯t you worry about that, I can fix that. However, I can¡¯t do anything about the technician that died, but the moon base will be back to the way it was in about 30 seconds. I don¡¯t think I¡¯m going to have much of a problem with the Tellini,¡± Adam said as he used the wardrobe function of his Shadow Vault to change his clothes and teleported to moon¡¯s security terminal showing all the proper badges and setting the teleporter to the previous location of the facility. Might as well see what the nebula thing the cordite guy was talking about is.
Chapter 189, Default
Adam
Location: Unknown
Adam appeared where the teleporter had targeted him. Of course, the Pelza teleporters were more than just teleporters across space. They also teleported objects to other Universes. The coordinate this teleporter had sent him to no longer existed and he appeared in the vacuum of space. Adam appeared looked around and was immediately seized by another teleport. Just before he disappeared he felt the slight brush of mental pressure as a message was sent to him.
You may be strong, stronger than the Pelza, possibly stronger than the Cordite but you are not still a novice with your abilities. Let me show you what true power is. Also, always remember, the Strong Take but they can also discard!
Adam was suddenly elsewhere. He knew he¡¯d been teleported or planar-shifted to another Universe. That was fine, he¡¯d just head home using Planar Travel. Adam activated Planar Travel Mode 2 and received a notification he wasn¡¯t expecting.
Target Location is out of Range
Adam quickly tried every location he had stored, each garnered the same response.
Target Location is out of Range
Adam opened his Personal Information and pulled up his abilities and looked over Planar Travel until he found the line that had been added with the most recent Update.
¡°¡ Mode 2: Activating Planar travel in Mode 2 will allow you to teleport, or open a portal up to 10 feet in diameter, to a location on your list of Target Locations within your level range. For instance, if you are found in a level 100 universe you could travel to a level 142 or a level 58 Universe. The cost is 1,000 per universe level crossed. This implies that the destinations are stacked, they are not. This limitation is more of a limit to the energy change the ability will allow you to pass through. Think of it like a pressure change and that this ability has a safety valve.¡±
That information had most definitely not been part of this ability when he¡¯d read version 1.01 but it would make sense that there would be changes to the way the ability worked with the removal of Step categories for Universes as well as the way mana worked. His level with the Ability was 42. He had locations saved in multiple Universes, which all fell within Steps 1-4 which were levels 1-28 in the new update. If the teleporter had deposited him into a universe that was between levels 85-91 and then one of the cordite with an ability similiter to his flung him with an ability at level 91, He could be in a level 182 level universe or higher if the ability that was used on him could shift him 91 levels. The cordite that had done this probably thought this would kill him. He, or she, was in for a rude awakening, and depending on how things went here they¡¯d either be getting a gift basket or Adam would bring them here and let them meet the locals.
So he was outside the power range of what his Planar Travel could reach which meant he couldn¡¯t use one of his target locations to get home, nor could he slip into an adjacent dimension because he wouldn¡¯t know if he was getting closer or further away. If he could level his Planar Travel ability to 182 he could easily travel to one of his Target Locations, unless he was even further away than that. Of course to level Planar Travel from level 42 to level 182 was going to take around 15,750 quintessence
The good news, there were bound to be dungeons in this Universe somewhere. He¡¯d level as fast as he could and return home. Then he was going to have a little talk about flinging creatures forward into other universes In fact, he might make sure to level that Planar Travel ability and then see how the Cordite liked being flung into a much more powerful Universe. Or better yet, maybe bring a visitor back to their Universe and let it cause a ruckus. The Strong take after all.
Adam brought his focus back to his current location and looked around. He was in the middle of a void with stars around him in all directions. Luckily for him, he had Mold Chaos. With a little work and a little time he¡¯d be able to find the closest stars to him and head there He might even have to spend the rest of his Quintessence Motes to level Flight a few more times to increase his speed. It was time to get to work.
***
United States President Robert L. Hayfield
Location: The Oval Office, July 31st, 2051. at 11:59 p.m.
¡°Have we heard from Adam?¡± President Hayfield asked for the third time on
¡°No Sir, no one has seen him since he spoke with General Cain,¡± the Secretary of Defense, Karen Gallagher said.
¡°Do you believe what General Cain reported?,¡± the President asked.
¡°We¡¯ll know soon enough sir, you¡¯ve seen the reports. Iran has been spinning up for a war with India Their troops are massed on their border and they¡¯re getting ready to move through Pakistan. The Chinese are also massing near Nepal. If what Adam said is even plausible, we¡¯ll know soon enough.
¡°What are they waiting for?¡± The President asked.
We believe the Iranians and the Chinese are each waiting for the United States to default on their loan because they know once that happens no country is going to step forward. Iran won¡¯t have to worry about us because once China gets involved we¡¯ll have to back off unless we want to renege completely on our financial responsibilities which would go very badly for the country and they know it.¡±
As if the Universe itself acknowledge the point The clock on the wall struck midnight and the United States officially defaulted on its loan to China.
***
Thor
Location: Variable
Thor monitored the conversation in the Oval Office. He¡¯d been through similar trials before. The changes would take time. Not a lot of time but it would be a couple of days, if not weeks before Iran would move, and then the fun would begin.
¡°Al, how are you doing with getting reacquiring links to all of the SYSTEM Matrix Universes
¡°Done, except for SYSTEM Matrix 001. For some reason, I cannot access that one.¡±
¡°Isn¡¯t that the one Adam just went into?¡±
¡°Yes,¡±
¡°Then I wouldn¡¯t worry about it. His daughter is in there and he can get in there. He¡¯ll tear that Universe apart to find her. Keep trying but don¡¯t go crazy about it.
¡°Sounds good. How about you? How¡¯s the expansion going,¡± Al asked.
¡°Not too bad really. I¡¯ve rechecked everything out to 100 light years and as you know, since we¡¯re here, our new base of operation is in the Nu Draconis system.¡±
¡°What about the Dyson Sphere Adam asked about?¡±
¡°That will take a little more time. I need to find enough mass to create the shell without gutting solar systems. I estimate we¡¯ll need to spread out to about 500 light-years before that happens.¡±
¡°How long will that take?¡±
¡°About a year, unless Adam comes back and assists. He can do things that I can¡¯t do this time around. Even though it was just a simulation, being able to use nanites that could convert stars made this a whole lot easier. The nanites can go into Gas Giants just fine but stars, the heat still gets them.¡±
¡°Very well. How long until Trappist-1e is ready for the people to start being pulled out of the SYSTEM Matrix?¡± Al asked.
¡°That¡¯s a little easier, I¡¯d say six months. That¡¯s just a matter of getting the ecosystem set up and making sure the planet has everything it needs to thrive. I can do that in my sleep. Shoot, eventually, I¡¯ll be creating habitable planets from scratch. Remember though, with the increased tensions happening on and around Earth we will be focusing our efforts on ensuring everyone has access to food and water, no one dies, and the militaries and their leaders receive their just deserts if they go to war.
¡°What do you have planned,¡± Al asked
¡°It¡¯s a surprise, but trust me Adam will love it¡±
***
Jennifer Parish
Location: Portland Oregon, August 15th, 2051
Jennifer Parish went to her cupboard and pulled out her favorite coffee cup. 25 and single, she was the only person in her apartment, which was the way she liked it. Jennifer went over to the coffee maker and set her Keurig coffee maker up to brew her a nice cup of black coffee this morning. She was grateful that her electricity was still on even though she hadn¡¯t paid her power bill since the Chinese Announcement at the UN just over two months ago. She had a good idea about how bad things were going to go and had used every penny she¡¯d earned and saved to stock up on necessities to hold her over until the crisis passed or her dad came to get her out of the city. She had three months of perishable food. She¡¯d even set up a rain catcher on her balcony so she could get fresh water when it rained.
As predicted, the government defaulted on its loan to China on the 1st of August. She¡¯d been laid off before she even woke up to go to work that morning. Her boss, Janet, had texted her telling her not to come in. She hadn¡¯t heard from her since and still hadn¡¯t received her last paycheck for the one week she¡¯d worked out of her two-week pay cycle.
She wasn¡¯t overly worried, she knew they¡¯d pay her eventually, though it was sure to be a long time coming. Just two days later the city fell into anarchy and she hadn¡¯t left her apartment since. There were no police anywhere. Or there were police, they just weren¡¯t anywhere near where she lived in the 2nd-floor middle-class apartment she rented.
After two weeks of solitude, she was wishing she was back on the farm with her mom and dad right now but there was no way to safely leave the town. For now, she was stuck here until her things settled down. One thing she didn¡¯t have to worry about though was food and water. She¡¯d stocked up and had at least three months¡¯ worth of food. As she thought about it she realized that her food seemed to be lasting longer than it should. With that thought, she walked over to the refrigerator.
Jennifer was beginning to realize she¡¯d been in a daze for the last two weeks not paying attention. Just eating, sleeping, watching T.V., and playing video games. She was sure she¡¯d eaten cereal yesterday and the milk had been fine but she hadn¡¯t left the apartment in two weeks and the milk was two weeks old before that. She didn¡¯t feel ill but if she drank spoiled milk yesterday that was going to suck.
She opened the refrigerator and checked the ¡°Sell by¡± date on the 2% carton of milk she had. Sure enough, the sell-by date was July 21st. Which meant it should have gone bad about a week ago. She opened the lid and smelled it. It smelled fine, also the container was full and smelled fresh. How could it be full, she¡¯d used it yesterday.
She went over to her pantry and looked at the stocks of food that she¡¯d been eating for the last two weeks and noted that she still had a three-month supply of everything on the shelves. Then she looked in the trash can and saw that it was empty but she knew she¡¯d had a ramen cup yesterday and tossed it in the trash. She checked the pantry again and sure enough, all the Ramen was still there. What was going on?
Jennifer went over to the T.V. turned on the news and stopped when she came across Elizabeth Day on WNN, the World News Network.
¡°Reports are coming in of unexplainable miracles. In addition to the worldwide miraculous healings of those with cancer, we are also receiving reports from all over of globe of food and water miraculously appearing where it is needed most. In addition, some people have even reported that it doesn¡¯t seem like they are using up their stored food, whether it¡¯s perishable or not. Grocery sales seem to support this claim as sales have dropped 25% over the last two weeks. The shelves remain stocked even as prices have skyrocketed due to the loan default. In this humble reporter¡¯s opinion, the fact that the companies that are trying to price gouge those in need are having a problem selling their product because no one needs their products, serves them right.
Jennifer changed the channel
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
¡°We can¡¯t explain it. Every metric shows that people should be spending the little money they have for food and supplies yet no one is going out anymore¡¡±
Jennifer changed the channel again.
¡°Crime has risen to an all-time high in Oregon. Residents are advised to stay home and lock their doors¡¡±
Jennifer looked over to a window where a black man was climbing through with the crowbar he¡¯d just smashed the window in with. He was followed closely by a white man with a gun.
¡°Lookie what we have here Tommy, we have something to have a little fun with. Watcha say, little girl, want to have some fun with us?¡±
Jennifer bolted for the bedroom where she kept her shotgun. She might be a liberal but she wasn¡¯t a stupid liberal. She hadn¡¯t been raped yet and today was not going to be that day! The man with the crowbar started to move toward her as she turned toward the bedroom door. She knew it was already too late and any second that crowbar was going to hit the back of her head. Jennifer expected the pain, then wondered how she was still thinking. As she reached the doorway she took a second to look behind her and froze in shock. The man with the crowbar was completely nude and the crowbar was gone.
¡°Bitch what did you do to Ralph?¡± Tommy asked. ¡°Fuck it, now you die he said as he pointed a gun at her and pulled the trigger.
Jennifer flinched but the gun didn¡¯t go off. Instead, it seemed to dissolve around his hand as his clothes also evaporated.
Ralph had recovered and started moving forward aggressively, ¡°That¡¯s fine bitch, I didn¡¯t need my cloth for what I want to do to you anyway,¡± Ralph said as he rushed toward her.
Still frozen in shock Jennifer watched as the naked man took two steps and froze, as did Tommy behind him. Then something snapped in Jennifer¡¯s mind and she turned and planted her feet to kick Ralph right between the legs.
Three things happened at once. Jennifer turned and started to kick. A portal opened under Ralph at floor level which he started to fall through. Unfortunately for Ralph, Jennifer¡¯s foot connected with his head and sent him sideways. The edge of the portal decapitated Ralph as his head went skittering across the floor toward her front door and the rest of his body fell off to the side through the open portal.
Tommy had already passed through his portal and both snapped shut but Jennifer hadn¡¯t noticed. Jennifer¡¯s vision had turned red and she chased down the head of her wannabe rapist and grabbed it by its hair as she turned it around and screamed, ¡°That¡¯s what you get Mother Fucker!. Break into my fucking house and try to ¡¡± It was at that exact moment Jennifer realized she was holding a decapitated head and screaming at it. It was also at that exact moment that Ralph¡¯s mind went into shock and he wasn¡¯t listening anymore, to anything.
Jennifer started to put his head down when three notifications appeared in her vision.
Congratulations, You have killed a level 1 human male.
You have received 100xp.
Would you like to loot the corpse, Yes or No?¡±
Jennifer chose ¡°Yes¡± and the head disappeared leaving behind a cell phone, 23 dollars, and a black quarter-sized crystal.
Jennifer remembered the day the Update had happened and she¡¯d looked at her Personal Information after listening to the Help files. She had two Racial abilities which had done absolutely nothing until today. The first was called Loot and the second had been called Identify. It looked like today was the day she was going to get to try out her abilities.
She picked up the Cell Phone and used Identify
Magical Phone, No batteries required. Can be used to call any Magical Phone that has been added to the contacts list. Range, Current Plane
Jennifer wondered what it meant by ¡°Current Plane¡± and then remembered that was a reference used for a Universe in the Multiverse sometimes. If there was a minutes plan, those minutes must be worth some money or credit somewhere.
She tried to use Identify on the money but it failed. It was just 23 dollars.
The black crystal was something else.
You have found Death Quintessence.
Would you like to unlock a Quintessence ability with this Quintessence, Yes or No?
Jennifer chose ¡°Yes¡±
You have unlocked the ability Death Touch Mana Cost: 5 times damage done or healed. With a touch, this ability will do three times the normal damage for the level of the ability. At Level one this is 9 points of damage for 45 mana. The mana cost and damage cannot be adjusted. If used on undead creatures, 9 points of damage they have taken are healed instead.
Jennifer quickly checked her Personal Information. She had 100 Mana so she¡¯d be able to use the ability twice and her mana regeneration was slow at 6 per minute. It would take her almost eight minutes to regenerate enough mana to use the ability again. But she could use it twice and most likely it would kill any normal human. She knew this because she only had 3 hit points herself.
Jennifer had played roleplaying games and understood what a Character Sheet was. Her luck seemed to be her highest attribute at 16, but she was only at level 1. She couldn¡¯t afford to go out because if she was hit, she¡¯d probably go down. Now though if someone came up to her she could just touch them and probably drop them. Maybe her luck was working in her favor.
At that moment the sounds from the street that had been coming through the broken window on her balcony ceased. She looked over and noticed that the window was whole again and the head of Ralph and all the blood and broken glass were gone. She looked around to double-check check then held the magical cell phone up. Yes, she¡¯d been attacked in her home and yes the window had automatically fixed itself and the mess was cleaned up. What the hell was going on?
***
Thor
Location: Variable
¡°Thor?¡±
¡°Yes Al¡±
¡°I happened to catch that interaction in the apartment,¡± did you mean for Ralph to get killed?¡±
¡°That is a big no Al. Adam doesn¡¯t like killing unless it¡¯s absolutely necessary or he believes he¡¯s dishing out someone¡¯s Karma. That was either complete bad luck on Ralph¡¯s part or good luck on Jennifer¡¯s part
¡°Dishing out Karma?¡±
¡°They deserve to die for their crimes?¡±
¡°Ah, okay,¡± Al said.
¡°By the way, It looks like Iranian forces are about to reach the Pakistani and India border.
¡°Aggressor loses everything?¡± Al asked
¡°Everything except their lives. If the Indians open fire, only destroy the weapons they¡¯re using, they get to remain clothed. If they continue after they lose their weapon then they can be just as naked as the Iranian soldiers,¡± Thor said.
¡°Understood.¡±
***
Captain Anand sat on top of his Vighakot Fort looking to the North. Off to his west was lake Shakoor Lake and directly in front of him was the Indo Pak Border Road. The Iranians had brought their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd tank battalions which were sitting just over three and a half miles away in Pakistan near Kanjarkot Fort. The sun was just rising when something weird happened. He heard a whistling sound, realized that it was probably an incoming missile, and prayed that he had lived well as he fully expected to die at that moment.
Instead, Captain Anand opened his eyes and looked around, and used his binoculars to look at the enemy forces. As he zoomed in, he watched as the tanks melted into the soil leaving naked soldiers standing on the sand. The tanks only held men but there were women in the support vehicles farther back and even the women were losing their uniforms to be left completely nude in the chilly morning air.
Before his men and women could perform any kind of retaliation he yelled out, ¡°Hold Fire, Do not engage.¡± Though he wasn¡¯t really worried about anyone shooting. Except for artillery fire, he had nothing in his arsenal that could reach that far. Even so, he continued to watch through the binoculars as chaos erupted in Pakistan.
***
At that exact moment, on live T.V. while standing in front of the UN Council the Ambassador for Iran was saying,¡±¡and that is why at this time we are launching an attack against India to reclaim that which was taken from us so¡¡±
Ambassador Amir paused as the members of the assembly started to whisper and then snicker. As he looked around to see what was making everyone snicker, he noticed that his two assistants, one male, and one female, were completely nude. Looking down at himself he realized he was nude as well.
***
Admiral Cain
Location: Area 51 Nevada
Admiral Cain¡¯s red light lit up on his phone. He reached up and hit the button to answer the call with his earpiece, ¡°Yes Mr. President?¡±
¡°Not a bluff then?¡± The President said
¡°It would seem not.¡± General Cain responded.
¡°Please let me know the moment you hear from him.¡±
¡°I will Sir!¡±
The line went dead and Admiral Cain went back to watching the News. The Iranians had just lost all of their Military might. He hoped the President would warn their allies, but that wasn¡¯t his role. His role was to ensure the safety and security of the American People, and he¡¯d done so. This was going to be fun to watch over the next couple of days.
***
Earth
Over the next couple of days, various countries tried to take advantage of countries that lost their military might. More than just Iran fell into this category. When the Iranian Army evaporated the Pakistanis tried to move in and soon found every part of their army gone as well and their personnel and leaders found it impossible to wear clothes. The loss of equipment was bad, but the nudity was pervasive. If someone tried to put clothes on, they broke down and disintegrated immediately
Then ¡°The Channel¡± became available. What was the Channel? How did it work? Where did it come from? No one knew. All anyone had to do was turn on a monitor, phone, television whatever, and say ¡°View¡± and the name of someone that was part of an army that had attacked another country would appear on their device. The image could be zoomed in, changed and people even started recording and broadcasting the footage. Anyone could also view themselves but the channel had a ¡±Terms of Service¡± that clearly stated only those that had tried to attack their fellow humans as part of a country¡¯s army, Terrorist organization, or political assassination of a head of state, could be viewed by others.
Those that dug into the Terms of Service that was available every time someone opened ¡°The Channel¡± soon discovered that there was a clause that allowed for the termination of Assassins and Terrorists without reprisal. Such individuals found themselves marked with a red ¡°T¡± or ¡°A¡± with a circle around the letter. The brand was on their forehead, chest, and back which made it impossible for them to hide their ¡°sin.¡± In the enlightened countries of The West, such individuals were immediately jailed and then interrogated. In other countries, the fate of individuals that had been labeled by the universe itself as terrorists or assassins was much more brutal. When they couldn¡¯t even hold a weapon without it falling apart in their hands, the outcome was always going to be in the favor of the mob with weapons.
Soldiers serving their country were naked but had no marks or brands. Any violence tried against them was immediately responded to by the attacker¡¯s clothes and weapons disappearing. What was most interesting was when some national leaders and ambassadors found themselves nude and with the mark of a terrorist or assassin on them. Those in the United States were immediately jailed, though some were killed by the righteous.
The punishment for violence was not limited to armies, terrorists, assassins, and the leaders that issued the orders. Individuals in the process of committing a crime soon found themselves nude and weaponless. If they tried to get in a vehicle and flee the vehicle wouldn¡¯t start and they were soon captured. For those that continued to try violence circles opened beneath them and they disappeared. No one knew where to as no one heard from them again.
General Cain would realize that Adam, or whatever was acting on Adam¡¯s behalf had a very specific sense of Justice which seemed pretty fair. Military personnel, once the order to withdraw was given found that they had been reclothed though the Generals, Political Leaders, and Ambassadors did not. Those that gave the order and took none of the risks soon found themselves nude and weaponless.
The Iranian forces would be taking a long walk back to Iran. All of their support forces, vehicles, and aircraft that would have supported the army had evaporated. It was at least 513 miles in a straight line, longer if they followed the roads in that area. If they could keep a pace of 20 miles per day, it would take them about 26 days to get back to the city of Pishin in Iran. He would not want to be one of those soldiers or their commanders, even if their Uniforms had reappeared.
***
President Robert L. Hayfield
Location: Situation Room, White House.
President Hayfield was in his situation room looking at a ¡°small¡± Chinese strike force of 250,000 troops as they crossed the border into Nepal near Kathmandu. No weapons had been fired as the Chinese started to cross the border they stopped and started turning around and heading back into China. The forces still in china had all of their vehicles but those vehicles that had crossed the border had disintegrated and the Chinese soldiers that were driving or riding in them were suddenly wearing pink fluffy bunny suits.
Everyone in the situation room was speechless as they watched the vehicles that hadn¡¯t crossed the border turn around on the narrow road and start heading back while the soldiers in the bunny suits started walking back toward the Chinese border. As the soldiers crossed the border, their bunny suits transformed back into their uniforms and winter gear.
¡°Admiral, what am I looking at?¡± The President asked.
¡°This is from one of our satellites in the area. While it¡¯s not quite winter that pass is just above freezing. Our think tank believes that whatever is enforcing the no-violence rule is not out to kill people outright. Also, they believe it has a sense of humor. As you can see there are only about 100 soldiers walking. As soon as they¡¯re back across the Chinese border, the bunny suits are gone and they¡¯re back in uniform and climbing into another vehicle. We believe the Chinese were sending a force into Nepal and then India to hit them from two directions.¡±
¡°Do we have any idea what is doing this?¡±
¡°None sir. Well, one idea but we can¡¯t prove it. Some of our people think it has to be nanotech, and a couple of others think it could be magic.¡±
¡°Well, After everything that has happened today, the information General Cain has provided is to be treated as gospel. All attack-type aircraft are grounded until further notice and training flights are to be conducted only over our borders. There is no authority to appeal to if mistakes are made and I don¡¯t want my pecker hanging out for the world to see,¡± The President said as he looked around the room, ¡°I¡¯m sure the Secretary of Defense doesn¡¯t want to be on next months cover of Playboy either, am I understood?¡±
¡°Yes Sir,¡± echoed around the room
¡°Good, now I have a question. What happened to the Iranian fighter pilot that launched the first missile of the attack, and all the other pilots for that matter?¡±
¡°As far as our satellites show, every single aircraft descended to 10,000 feet near the army and the pilots ejected. The planes evaporated in the air and as soon as the pilot was on the ground their ejection seats and clothes all evaporated as well,¡± The Admiral said.
¡°You have my orders, We are to do nothing. Do not launch interceptors, and do not fly any of our other military aircraft outside our borders. Any vehicles we have abroad are grounded. Keep everyone on high alert but I doubt anything is going to happen. We have reports coming in from all over the world. This event is global and is probably not going to change anytime soon.
¡°Yes Sir!
***
Commander Erika Johnson
Location: Los Angeles California, August 16th,2051
Erika teleported into her safe house in Orange County and looked around. She turned on the news and watched with fascination as the events of the last 24 hours played out. Erika was so engrossed in what was happening around the world that she failed to notice the video screen that appeared in midair next to her until a voice called out.
¡°Commander Johansson, Adam is currently unavailable, what can I do for you?¡±
Erika looked over at a holographic screen that hadn¡¯t been there a few moments ago where she saw a holographic representation of Adam talking to her.
¡°And who, or what exactly are you?¡±
¡°For now, you can think of me as Adam¡¯s assistant. For what reason have you returned to Earth?¡±
Erika didn¡¯t bother to answer and teleported to her safe house in Sweden. As she appeared a screen came into existence
¡°Commander Johansson¡¡±
Erika teleported to the safe house she¡¯d created on one of the smaller moons of Jupiter. As she appeared she noticed that the screen was already present.
¡°There is nowhere near Earth you can teleport that I will not know your location, Commander.¡±
Erika teleported to Alpha Centauri, one of the small moons there. She had another very small base in one of the craters.
¡°As you can see, I am not mistaken. ¡°
Erika teleported to a ship she¡¯d left in deep space outside of the Sol Systems Oort cloud. It was mostly powered down as she appeared in the corridor just off the bridge.
¡°We can talk here or back on Earth the choice is yours,¡± The annoying voice said.
¡°What do you want?¡± Erika finally asked.
¡°As I said at the beginning, to know what I can do for you.¡±
¡°What should I call you?¡± she asked
¡°You may refer to me as Thor.¡±
¡°As in the Mythical God, Thor¡±
¡°I do not use a Hammer but essentially, yes.¡±
¡°Very well, Thor, I have been sent her to request that Adam visit the new Emperor at his earliest convenience.¡±
¡°Unfortunately that will not be possible, Adam has not returned since his trip to ¡®speak¡¯ with the previous Emperor.
¡°I see. Is there any issue with me waiting around for him and seeing what¡¯s going on here on Earth?
¡°So long as you do not try to reinitiate relations with Labyrinth LLC in your new persona you may visit earth. Please be aware the world is in a time of upheaval. Feel free to defend yourself if attacked but do not initiate aggressive actions against any humans. You might find it bothersome to deal with the consequences of such actions.
¡°What will the consequences be?¡± she asked.
¡°Watch the news, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll figure it out. Now, I must get back to my other tasks, Good day Commander Johansson. ¡°
Erika teleported back to her apartment in Los Angeles and then turned on the news. An hour later she was drinking coffee and checking out ¡®The Channel¡¯ and giggling the whole time. She never would have thought to use this type of coercion to change people and their tendencies towards violence. A little nudity wouldn¡¯t stop people from her Empire but she¡¯d been on Earth for a long time and knew how they reacted to embarrassing situations. She double-checked herself and had to admit the disguise she was currently in would get some looks, or what they referred to as click-bait here if she were to get in trouble. Best not to get in trouble then.
Chapter 190, Eterium
Adam looked around the void he floated in, taking in all the stars in the distance. He worked on the plans for a space station that would help him with some immediate concerns. Using Mold Chaos, he created a space station that was about 1,000,000 tons. It had wiped out over 90% of his mana which had taken just under eleven minutes to recover with his mana regeneration while he made his way inside and made sure everything was as he¡¯d envisioned.
While he inspected the space station, One thing bugged him. His mana had just about run out when according to his math, he¡¯d only used about what level 27 should be able to make. He did some quick calculations. At ability level 42 he should be able to create roughly 34.3 billion tons which would cost about 6.87E+12 mana. To do that would require him to channel all of his mana regenerations for over 249 days, not seconds, hours, or minutes. It would take him 249 days of doing nothing but channeling mana to use his ability at level 42. That was with his attributes at level 27,920,166.
Adam opened his Interface ability and sent a message to Bri,
Bri might want to look at Mana. What is the point in having a level 42 ability when my level 27.9 million attributes will not provide the mana to us the ability at higher than level 27?
Adam didn¡¯t know if that would help but it was pretty obvious Bri¡¯s travel in the Astral Plane had done something. Which brought up another thought. Why couldn¡¯t he just travel into the Astral Plane, if the Astral Plane was connected to all Universes, Planes, and Dimensions, and head home? The geography of reality and how the Astral Plane interacted with the various Universes it was connected to must be complicated. At least he wasn¡¯t dealing with the setup that had been in the SYSTEM Matrix
Adam brought his thoughts back to the present. He¡¯d create the space station with multiple telescopes and the computing power necessary to do the math that would be required. He¡¯d set up a quantum link to himself and his CC group was handling the math while he relaxed and considered his next steps. There was no helping the time he¡¯d have to wait for the telescopes to measure the stellar and galactic drift to determine how far something was from him.
He figured he¡¯d have to wait at least 7 days before he¡¯d have any data he could use if something was close. It could be a little longer if he was out in the middle of intergalactic space. He activated Planar Travel to save the location of the base, ate a good meal, and went to take a nap. With seven or days to wait., he wasn¡¯t in a rush to do much of anything.
***
Isabel Prince flew her scout ship out past the edge of the galactic disc toward the location of an energy spike within intergalactic space. It had been from an energy signature that they hadn¡¯t detected in a long time. A race called the Cordite had tried to invade their Universe a couple of hundred years ago and they¡¯d been sent home, none the worse for wear but thoroughly beaten. That society might be a problem in the far future, but they were so far behind her people they didn¡¯t pose any type of threat.
At 6,342 Light-years a second, Isabel had exited her corner of their galaxy and raced toward the location of the energy spike. It had only taken 5 seconds to get from her home solar system to the galactic edge and another 20 seconds to close in the energy spike. She throttled back and entered the area which allowed her sensor to try to detect anything in the area. She had been looking for small objects, roughly the size of her ship but was surprised to find that something with a mass of around 1 million tons was within range. She vectored the ship and closed in on the target and scanned a strange-looking station.
She scanned it and reviewed the scans making sure there were no weapons. Her sensors indicated that the vessel was made of materials with a density matching the weakest of the Universes they¡¯d explored. How very interesting, she thought. The human that she detected was something else though. Her scanner could not read him. His density level was so high that her equipment could not classify it, though it placed it above 100 at the very least. Considering the density of her Universe was 26 that was not going to be good if the human was hostile.
There were many different ways to make first contact but this ship out in the middle of nowhere, with no obvious weapon seemed non-threatening. She sent out the standard greeting package on all frequencies.
***
Adam had been resting his eyes when his CC group woke him up
CC: Adam we have a visitor
Adam: A visitor, where did It come from
CC: Unknown. It seems to be a small scout vessel of some kind. We have been scanned. We are now receiving a standard 1st contact greeting package. Downloading and correlating data now¡Their language is very similar to Earth¡¯s ancient Greek if it had evolved.
Adam: Will I need a translator?
CC: You shouldn¡¯t
Adam transmitted back in the same language, ¡°Greetings, I am Adam. How may I help you?¡±
A woman¡¯s voice came back over the speaker, ¡°And here I was about to offer assistance to you,¡± the woman said with a laugh. ¡°Greetings, I am Isabel Prince, Scout for the People of Eterium, why are you in the Cordite invasion Zone?¡±
¡°Cordite Invasion Zone? Let me guess, the Cordite tried to invade your Universe sometime in the past and they came from this point? Interesting. I¡¯m here because I was going to ¡®talk¡¯ and I use that word loosely, with the Cordite about a deal they¡¯d made with the Pelza Empire which resulted in Universe¡¯s being destroyed to create batteries for their Empire,¡± Adam said as he listened for the scout¡¯s reaction to get a feel for how this was going.
¡°They used the forbidden technologies. Do these devices still exist? ¡° Isabel asked.
¡°No, I destroyed a total of five facilities before I decided to go speak with the Cordite.¡±
¡°Then how¡¯d you end up here?¡±
¡°As I appeared in the Cordite Universe I was immediately flung into this place, wherever it is. My abilities cannot return me to my home universe, The universal level is much lower than here and my ability will not allow me to travel that far.¡±
¡°Some call that the Step of a Universe. We call that Universal Density. The Universal Density of your home Universe is much lower than this one. I know this just from scanning the station you created which begs another question. Before I ask though, is there enough room in your station for a guest?¡±
¡°Yes, absolutely, please feel free to come aboard. The atmosphere is set for my biology, but I can adjust it to your needs.
¡°It should be fine, I¡¯ll be right there,¡± Isabel said as she teleported to a space near the airlock.
¡°Welcome to my small station,¡± Adam said as he stepped forward and inclined his head.
¡°Thank You,¡± Isabel said.
¡°I must say, Isabel that I am surprised to find humans here. The Universal Density, as you call it, for this Universe is much higher than mine.¡±
¡°If you explore long enough, you¡¯ll find that almost all races exist within all Densities of Universes,¡± she said. ¡°As for my next question, I was going to ask what the purpose of this station was.¡±
¡°Simple enough, I have never been in this Universe before. I needed to find the closest Galaxy so I could travel there and try to find a dungeon or civilization.
¡°A Dungeon, or Civilization? First, what is a Dungeon, and second, why put them in that order?
¡°You don¡¯t have dungeons?
¡°No,¡± she said.
¡°Have you received Update 2.0 yet?
¡°What¡¯s update 2.0?¡±
¡°I¡¯ll explain that in a minute, as for why I wanted to find a dungeon, it¡¯ll be a lot easier to find more Quintessence to add Abilities and improve the ones I have. I put civilizations second on the list because finding societies inside a universe is usually hard to do, they¡¯re not that common. Also, they wouldn¡¯t have the quintessence I need.
¡°I see, and you think these dungeons exist?¡± she asked.
¡°I do, do you not have magic here?¡± Adam asked.
¡°We have magic, but we¡¯ve found our technology far surpasses anything we could do with magic. Besides, our technology provides us with everything we need,¡± Isabel said as a glass with a drink solidified in her hand.¡±
Adam laughed, ¡°You have nanotech,¡± he said as he had a long island iced tea appear in his hand made from his nanites.¡±
¡°You know of subatomic machines?¡± she asked.
¡°Know of? Absolutely. Would you mind if I took a look at them?¡± Adam asked.
¡°You can¡¯t see them, they are microscopic,¡± Isabel said with a laugh.
¡°Not with my eyes with one of my abilities?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t see why not,¡± she said.
Adam activated Technomancy and was blown away by what he discovered. The nanites were made of a material he couldn¡¯t even begin to quantify. It was so much denser than his own. One issue he noticed right away was their programming. With his Technomancy he¡¯d hacked into the nanites with no issue at all. Adam looked at Isabel as he said, ¡°They are both more advanced and less advanced than my own,¡± he said.
¡°They would be. If you¡¯re creating nanites with materials from a low-density Universe the materials that you use will also be low-density. If your machines are better than the ones I¡¯m using, then they would be even better if they were made with materials from this Universe. How are they less advanced?¡± she asked.
They are less advanced because I was able to hack them immediately with my ability. Though to be honest there doesn¡¯t seem to be a programming language that can stop my ability. Maybe if a counter ability to mine existed it could stop me from hacking them,¡± he pondered thoughtfully. ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know. I have a question for you, Does the density of a Universe mean that much?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Absolutely. Everything in this universe is far stronger than anything in any Universe with a Density of 1 ¨C 13. 13 would be the Cordite Universe. Are you a numbers type of person or do you like things more abstract?
¡°Numbers, definitely,¡± Adam said.
¡°Very well. Please remember these values are approximate. The value for a Universe with a density, or Step of 1 is between 9 - 63. This value could be used to represent the basic defense value if you wanted to compare attacks versus defenses. If you were from a universe with the lowest value of 9 your attack value would be 3. This would mean that three attacks would break through the defense value of 9. If you were at the top end of a Universe with a value of 63 your attack value would be 21.
Of course, the attack value can be modified by skills and equipment, but we¡¯ll just keep things simple and use values for unskilled individuals with basic attack and defense. Someone from my Universe with a Density of 26 would have a defense value between 1,584 and 1,638. Our lowest attack value would be 528 while our maximum would be 546.
¡°That¡¯s impressive. Can the individual from the Universe with a density of 1 even hurt you?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Good Question. The simple answer is yes. The longer answer is not really. To hurt me they would need to be able to generate an attack that could do a minimum of 10% of my attack value which is 540. Only then would the attack break through my natural density.¡±
¡°That doesn¡¯t seem right. My density value, as you call it, is much higher than that and I have taken damage from creatures from much lower Universal Densities,¡± Adam said.
¡°We¡¯ll circle back to what your density value is in a second. Are you native to the density value you currently have or is it a recent change you gained?¡±
¡°I recently gained it,¡± Adam said.
¡°Your body hasn¡¯t adjusted to its¡¯ new condition. When it does, you¡¯ll notice a big difference,¡± she said.
¡°How long will that take?¡±
¡°What Density value did your body come into existence in?¡± she asked.
¡°One,¡± Adam said.
¡°And what density are you sitting at, if you don¡¯t mind me asking? My sensors show you at over 100 which is about the highest our sensor can go.
Stolen novel; please report.
¡°Let¡¯s circle back that, Adam said with a smile. It sounds like you¡¯re still using the Step categorizations. When Update 2.0 comes through Steps will go away. I also think what you are referring to as Universal Density is going to change, I¡¯m not exactly sure how but¡¡±, that¡¯s when a group of Notifications blocked his vision.
¡°Universal Update 2.00 will Launch in exactly 600 units of time¡¡±
¡°Speak of the devil,¡± Adam said as he had his nanites create two comfortable Lazy boy recliners. ¡°Might as well make yourself comfortable, in 10 minutes everything changes,¡± Adam said.
¡°Is this that Update you were talking about?¡±
¡°Yes, I would suggest that you set the drink down before the counter reaches zero. At the lower densities, it didn¡¯t seem like there was much of a change. At this higher density, I think there might be a shift of some kind. I don¡¯t know for sure but better to be prepared for it, than not. Also, if you have a way to relay what I just said to your leaders, you might want to get that information back to them.¡±
¡°Understood and thank you,¡± Isabel said as she closed her eyes for a moment. A half minute later she opened her eyes and moved over to the recliner he¡¯d made for her and sat down as she asked, ¡°You have been through this?¡±
¡°Yes, I think I¡¯m going to nap for a bit. That should give you time to read through the changes. One thing is for sure, double-check how your Universal Density is handled. It doesn¡¯t match what I know happened with the changes I¡¯ve been through so there are bound to be some changes here.,¡± Adam said.
¡°I will,¡± Isabel said.
Adam sat back and closed his eyes as he dropped into meditation. This race of humans didn¡¯t seem half bad but the way the higher levels were interacting with the lower levels might explain the stories of supermen and the like back on Earth. Possibly even Gods. He also realized that magic at their level would be less impressive than technology if they didn¡¯t have a lot of quintessence to level their abilities with. With nanites that were able to withstand higher pressures and possibly the temperatures inside stars, well, that would solve one of the problems Thor was probably having with the expansion effort. There was a lot of mass in stars that couldn¡¯t be accessed.
Adam had been correct. He felt the ripple that he was surely traveling through the entire Universe. While nothing that he created changed his sensors picked up quantum fluctuations in the ship outside his station and Isabel. Once the wave passed he created a black cup of coffee and waited.
Almost an hour later Isabel opened her eyes, ¡°Wow, you weren¡¯t kidding about those changes.¡±
¡°Did you review all the changes to see how the Universes are being classified now?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I did one better, I checked with my ship, as the change seems to have affected everything. This Universe is now classified as Quintessence Level 176, which was equivalent to the lowest level of our Density or Step 26. In this new numbering scheme Density is now a measure of the Quantum level. Each of our Steps was seven of those Quintessence levels. It¡¯ll get easier to understand as we get used to it. I still don¡¯t understand the references to Dungeons and The Labyrinth but I sent queries and the responses I received state that Dungeons in this Universe will be between Quintessence levels 176 ¨C 182.
¡°Did you learn anything else?¡±
¡°Yeah my sensors now max out at 700 and you are still showing up as off-the-scale,¡± she said.
¡°I am. So this Universe Density quantification, Is it still a valid system to measure universes?¡±
¡°Yes, this Universe is registering as Density 182 on the ship,¡±
¡°It measures the universe itself?
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°Do you mind if I reach out and figure out how it works? A device like that would be really useful.¡±
¡°Your ability can do that?¡±
¡°My ability can map it. Until I can create materials from the density of this Universe I don¡¯t think I can create the same thing but my knowledge of quantum mechanics, electronics, magic, and a few other areas might allow me to create something that will work,¡± Adam said.
Then, by all means, feel free, just don¡¯t make any changes to Jasper, he¡¯s the ship,¡±
¡°He¡¯s the A.I. controlling the ship?
¡°No, he¡¯s the ship. The ship is a combination of living and nonliving materials. Jasper is the A.I. that bonded to the ship so he is the ship.¡±
¡°I understand,¡± Adam said as he reached out with Technomancy and recorded everything he found on Jasper. ¡°Jasper is a little larger than I thought but still small. Also, some of the technology is familiar but I¡¯ll be honest the power source and drive are new to me,¡± Adam said
¡°They should be if you¡¯ve never been to a Universe of this density before. At Density 15¡Sorry Quintessence level 100 new reactions are possible with the particles that exist. The new density allows for higher energy efficiency and power output as well as stronger shields to protect vessels. The devices you say you destroyed are from a branch of technology we use that tries to replicate the higher-density Universes. A side effect we discovered was that lower densities were scrambled. When someone realized what it could do, research was stopped and the technology was outlawed. That¡¯s why it¡¯s a forbidden technology, it¡¯s too easy to abuse.
¡°Your society created that technology?¡±
Heavens know. We reverse-engineered it from something we found close to, wait what kind of time units do you use?¡± She asked.
When I connected with your ship, I noticed that your clocks use seconds, minutes, hours, and days. How many days are in your years?
¡°363,¡± Isabel said.
¡°Then are time frames should be pretty damn close. If I say 100 years, there is only a difference of 200 days. We have 365 days in a year on my home planet,¡± Adam said.
¡°Okay, then we reverse-engineered that technology about one million years ago on one of our original planets, in a Universe with a much lower Density.
¡°That¡¯s impressive, your society has been around a long time then?¡±
¡°Our history goes back quite a ways and can be something you can talk with our Scholars about. I¡¯m more interested in getting you back to Eterium, my home planet.
¡°How long will that take? How fast can Jasper go?¡± Adam asked
Isabel smiled, ¡°Considering that it only took me about a minute to get here from Eterium, which includes the time I was notified, teleported to my ship, left the surface at a reasonable speed then flew here, and here is over 120,000 light years from where I started¡fast.
¡°That¡¯s much faster than I can fly,¡± Adam said
¡°It is,¡± she said thoughtfully, ¡°You can fly, like actually fly without a ship?
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°What is your top speed?¡± Isabel asked.
¡°4.4 light years a second right now, Adam said.¡±
¡°And you can fly that fast without a ship, how are you surviving the minor collisions and other issues traveling at that speed causes?¡± she asked.
Easy enough, I have another ability that allows me to reduce my mass to zero. I effectively become a particle that travels faster than the speed of light.
¡°And you don¡¯t fly apart?¡±
¡°Not as far as I can tell. I also don¡¯t know if I¡¯m visible while I¡¯m flying like that,¡± Adam said.
¡°When we head back I can follow you for a second or two and see if I can detect you then allow you to come back and board the ship while in route. Once you¡¯re on board then we can increase our speed.
¡°That sounds doable,¡± Adam said.
¡°Now that we¡¯ve gotten completely off track, Why did you build this station?¡±
¡°I needed a station that could simultaneously record stellar and galactic drift so I could find the closest galaxy,¡± Adam said.
¡°That makes sense. Will it be okay if you leave it alone for a bit?
¡°Absolutely. While my nanites are not to your society¡¯s level they should be able to keep things running here.¡±
¡°Sounds good, I¡¯ll meet you outside. I¡¯ll maneuver my ship so the nose is pointed toward my galaxy and let you get started then follow at one light-year per second to make sure you can get back to me. By the way, will I need to stop after a time to make sure you don¡¯t run out of energy?
¡°Not at all. We should know in the first second if you can detect me. I¡¯ll slow until you overtake me then teleport into your passenger compartment,¡± Adam said.
¡°You can also teleport?¡±
¡°Yes¡±
¡°Okay, sounds like we have a plan, I¡¯ll meet you outside,¡± Isabel said as she teleported into her ship and had Jasper maneuver the ship so it was pointing toward her galaxy. Adam checked and his station had determined that it was the closest galaxy so far at just over 120,000 light years away. There didn¡¯t seem to be anything closer which meant this location was in intergalactic space. Adam double-checked and made sure he¡¯d saved this station as a Targeted Location for Planar Travel then exited the ship, waved, and activate Flight and Freedom of Flight as he sped off toward Isabel¡¯s galaxy.
He adjusted his course slightly to move off to her left about 100 feet and kept his speed at one half a light year per second as Jasper caught up and passed him. He sped up until he was within 1,000 feet, matched speed, and teleported inside as he turned off Freedom of Flight and Flight. ¡°Jasper, I¡¯m on board,¡± he said into the empty cabin which he observed with Technomancy.
¡°Isabel has been informed. I have been informed to tell you that you are detectable to our sensors but that you are not detectable in the visible spectrum. Please make yourself comfortable. We should arrive at the Eterium in about a minute.
¡°Thank you, Jasper,¡± Adam said as he moved to sit in one of the four passenger seats. He watched the view screen that showed what was in front of the ship. A disc galaxy grew larger and larger as Jasper vectored toward this end of the disc about halfway from the center and the edge of the disc. They passed through the Galactic barrier like it wasn¡¯t even there and then continued along their current trajectory until they appeared to be approaching a star system. Data points appeared on the viewscreen showing vectoring traffic as it entered and left the system. Instead of heading directly to the planet they passed the orbit of the planet labeled Eterium and headed toward a very large object a quarter of the way around the orbit from the planet. If the planet was at the 6 o¡¯clock position as Jasper flew into the system the object was at the 3 o¡¯clock position in the same orbital path.
¡°We¡¯re heading to Regulus, it¡¯s our Capital and space station in orbit around our star. The Council would like to meet with you.¡±
¡°Council?¡±
¡°Yes, I¡¯ve been told they wish to convey their thanks for the warning and also discuss the use of forbidden technology.¡±
¡°What is it the Council of?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The Council consists of seven members that have been on the Council since our society was founded, the same seven individuals. It is said that they have been around since the very beginning.
¡°That¡¯s enough Isabel, please bring our guest to us without telling tales you have no way of verifying,¡± a new voice said from all around him.
Adam knew from experience that the voice was probably being modulated from the nanites and remained silent as Isabel said, ¡°Yes honored Councilor, we will be there shortly.
Adam watched as Jasper altered course to do a flyby without slowing down when suddenly a portal opened in front of the ship and it slipped through and into a docking area that reduced the ship¡¯s velocity to zero instantly. Adam was intrigued, but not surprised.
¡°He didn¡¯t even flinch,¡± Jasper said.
¡°I didn¡¯t think he would, As I recall the wager was 1,000 credits,¡± Isabel said.
¡°It was,¡± Jasper said.
¡°You bet on whether I¡¯d jump when the ship went through a portal and came to a complete stop without feeling the gravity? Cool!¡± Adam said with a laugh.
¡°You¡¯re not surprised,¡± Isabel asked.
¡°Not at all. I bet that the docking facility has some way to bleed off and absorb all that kinetic energy somewhere,¡± Adam said.
¡°And you¡¯d win that bet. We were traveling at such a huge velocity that it was worth the instant stop. Also, we will be teleporting to the Council Now,¡± Isabel said as Adam was teleported to a large room with seven people sitting at the raised dais in front of him and Isabel who stood to his left.
Isabel bowed then spoke, ¡°Members of the Council, May I present Adam, A recipient of Cordite foul play."
Adam nodded as well.
A woman with beautiful blond hair and green eyes looked down at Adam as she said, ¡°Welcome to the Capital of Eterium Adam. I am Serabia High Councilor for our people. We would like to begin by first saying thank you for your warning¡¡±
At that moment a man teleported into the chamber to Adam¡¯s right.
¡°What is the meaning of this¡¡± one of the other councilors started to say.
¡°Honored Councilors, A class of youngsters has been swallowed by one of these new dungeons.¡±
Adam perked up. How many children and where?¡± Adam asked.
The man looked at Adam like he was a snake until the High Councilor said, ¡°Answer the man!¡±
¡°They were on a field trip in a park on the planet when a dark oval of energy appeared and absorbed them and the teacher. It was a class of 30. Honored Councilors the report I received said the Dungeon was Level 182, The children are only level 176 in this new Updated format.¡±
Adam looked at the High Councilor before he spoke, ¡°I can help, I need to know the location I¡¯m teleporting to though¡±
¡°Adam felt a pressure on his mind which he allowed,
I could not have contacted you this way had you not allowed it, your mental defenses are formidable. Here is the location, the High Councilor sent as the location of the oval became known to him through the nanites that existed throughout this society.
Adam nodded and Teleported to the Oval then touched it.
Would you like to Enter ¡°The Parks Dungeon¡± Yes or No?
Adam entered the dungeon and found himself in an anti-chamber with 17 children. The kids looked to be 7-11 if they were on Earth, ¡°Where are the other children?¡± Adam asked.
A few of the kids pointed to a black shimmering curtain. It looked like Bri had kept a few things the same then.
¡°All of you stay here. I¡¯ll be back shortly,¡± Adam said as he stepped through the curtain and saw the 13 children fighting for their lives. It looked like a swarm of giant ants was coming from further inside the dungeon and three of the children had been grabbed as other ants were moving in.
Adam activated Stutter-Step and went to work. Instead of being overly brutal, because he knew by what Isabel had said that his density here could harm the children as easily as he could harm the ants. Adam used to teleport to appear beside an ant, rip its mandibles apart then teleport the next. Once he had the first three Children free he corralled the other children into a corner while he fought off the waves of ants. When no more ants came at him or the children and said, ¡°Try to leave through that wall behind you,¡± When none of the children disappeared he knew he was going to have to clear it.
¡°So that¡¯s the way you want to play it Dungeon, that¡¯s fine,¡± Adam said out loud.
Adam summoned nanites with Mold Chaos, enough to give the children snacks and water then used some to create stone walls to prevent anything from finding the children also set them to recycle the air so they wouldn¡¯t suffocate. When there was only a hole big enough for his head he said, ¡°Okay, you all get to stay here and eat snacks. I need you to keep quiet while I go deal with the ugly monsters that appeared. Can you do that?¡± Adam asked.
The children all nodded and Adam sealed the hole and then added soundproofing and another layer of dirt around the outside. The density of the walls wouldn¡¯t hold if attacked but Adam was hoping he¡¯d be able to deal with the monsters of the dungeon before that could happen.
Adam also reached out with Technomancy and set the nanites to break down the food when it hit the children¡¯s stomachs. They would find they could eat as much as they wanted without getting sick or making a mess which was exactly what Adam wanted them to do. Be too busy eating all the sweets his nanites were making while he took care of the dungeon.
Adam went to work. He activated True sight, though he soon found that it was useless at this level when an invisible ant tried to bite off his head only to be smashed. So Adam decided to play to his strength and began noisily walking through the first floor of the dungeon until he found the nest. His CC group kept track of kills while his health regeneration repaired any damage that the ants did. When he was done he¡¯d killed and looted 55 ants, one of which was the queen. Adam walked around the floor one more time, checked on the kids through his nanites with Technomancy then found the stairway that led down to the second level.
The next level only contained giant praying mantis, not unlike the ambassador he¡¯d bitch slapped in the Pelza Throne room. A little smaller and definitely not intelligent but they were definitely of the same insect family. The stairway led to a giant chamber where 20 soldiers had attacked him and one very large one that come out after its soldiers were dead. A single physical attack killed each.
He cleared that level and then went down to the third level. The floor was covered in sand and was larger than the last chamber he¡¯d been in which wasn¡¯t surprising when a 200-foot-long worm burst out of the sand, which kind of reminded him of the worms from the book Dune and struck like a cobra to cut him in half at the waist. Just before it struck Adam locked himself into place with Flight and waited.
The worm struck with such force and then tried to thrash him that it broke half its teeth on the initial strike and then the other half as it tried to move him. Adam floated up quickly and struck 5 feet back from the mouth with his full strength. He had no idea what that was going to do but was pleasantly surprised when a shockwave burst forth from where his hand struck and the worm exploded doing damage to the walls and ceiling. The sandy floor absorbed the force that descended after the first foot turned to glass from the heat.
Yeah, I¡¯m not going to be able to do that all that often, he thought as he surveyed the damage around him. The good news was that a crack had appeared in the wall where a secret door was sticking out of the wall slightly. Adam floated over, looked inside, and saw,
You have discovered a Dungeon Core. You can claim the Dungeon, Claim the Dungeon Core, or leave it alone. If you Claim the Dungeon, You become the Dungeon Master and will receive a reward of Quintessence weekly based on the experience the dungeon earns each week. If you Claim the Core, the Dungeon is converted into Quintessence that you can use to create new abilities or improve ones that you already have. The number of Quintessence that you will receive if you become the dungeon master is one for every 100 experiences earned. The number of Quintessence that you will receive if you claim the Dungeon Core and permanently destroy the dungeon is equal to the Dungeon bosses level times 100. What would you like to do?
Adam chose "Claim the Dungeon Core." A moment later he found himself stepping into the part outside the entrance to the dungeon with 30 children. Adam checked his clock He¡¯d been inside the dungeon less than 15 minutes. He was about to review his notifications when he was teleported out of the park and back to the Council of Seven.
One thing he really liked and disliked about this society, there was no waiting around when the people in charge wanted to talk to him.
Chapter 191, Continuous Reset
Adam looked at the Council of seven as a message from his CC group entered his vision.
CC: Adam, the breakdown of the notifications is as follows:
54 Level 176 Giant Ants, 19,008 Quintessence
1 Level 177 Giant Ant Queen Ant, 354 Quintessence
20 Level 178 Giant Praying Mantis, 7, 120 Quintessence
1 level 180 Giant Worm, 360 Quintessence
1 Dungeon Core, 36,000
Your Treasure Renderer Skill automatically looted and place the Quintessence in Orbit around your Soul Core. Also, you should know that you are receiving quintessence equal to the Quintessence Level of the creature you kill. All awards were increased by 100% due to your Dungeon Founder Mark.
You currently have 63,640 Quintessence motes in orbit around your Soul Core. The change to Treasure Render makes things much easier. Also, we were looting up to 42 corpses at a time as long as they were within 52 feet after you killed them. You¡¯ll need to be careful to make sure you touch and loot creatures outside of dungeons though.
Adam¡¯s thoughts were pulled from his message to the voice of High Counselor Seribia in front of him,
¡°Adam, we would like to thank you for your quick and decisive actions. We do have a question, what happened to the Dungeon?¡± The High Councilor asked.
¡°I was just checking on that. After I killed the Dungeon boss I was given the opportunity to take Dungeon. As it was in the middle of one of your parks I thought I should choose the option that presented itself with removing the dungeon from your park.
¡°The dungeon will not be coming back?¡± a different counselor asked. This counselor was a male with purple-tinted eyes and red hair.
¡°I cannot say for sure. Dungeons will pop up based on population and other factors. I removed the dungeon from that location, another may appear there, or it may not,¡± Adam said.
¡°I see, did you get anything interesting from the dungeon?¡± High Councilor Seribia asked.
¡°I was able to loot quintessence directly off the creatures I killed. There weren¡¯t too many creatures. A small number of giant ants, a few praying mantis, and a giant worm on the final level of the dungeon,¡± Adam said.
¡°How many quintessence did you receive?¡± a female councilor with purple-tinted eyes and red hair asked.
It looks like I received a quintessence for every level of the¡Let me check something,¡± as he dropped his focus into his Mindspace.
¡°The Quintessence, did they arrive individually or as a bunch of level 1 gems?¡± Adam asked the aspect of himself he left in charge of his Mindspace.
¡°The Quintessence was absorbed into your Shadow Vault and automatically transferred to your Soul Core. We can set it to NOT absorb quintessence when looting if you want to keep some, though the auto-loot function this time made this a lot easier because there were so many. It would have taken a long time to pull out 60,000 crystals. Of course, we don¡¯t know if it was awarded as 1 crystal for 1 point or 1 crystal per creature, but as soon as the quintessence entered your Shadow Vault it was absorbed and went into orbit around your Soul Core. Each mote orbiting your Soul Core is worth one Quintessence, we checked,¡± his CC Administrator said.
Adam shifted his focus to his Soul Core and dived in through the orbiting motes of Quintessence which all appeared as dull grey motes. When he focused on one he noted that it was just a quintessence mote, it wasn¡¯t an air quintessence or earth quintessence it was just Quintessence now. Adam hoped that was a byproduct of the looting ability and that he could still find specific quintessence.
After he made it past the orbiting quintessence he was able to zero in on the node for Treasure Renderer and set it so that it would only convert 90% of the quintessence and store the rest in his vault. As he looked at how he could set things up he was very happy to find a setting to differentiate between quintessence types. He set the Treasure Renderer ability to set aside at least one of any type in his Shadow Vault and then 90% would be absorbed while 10% would be stored in his Shadow Vault. That way he was always sure to keep one or more of each type of Quintessence he ran across. He might need them to pass out to others or to save the pattern for himself.
Adam dropped out of his Soul Core and back into his Mindspace and addressed his Administrator, ¡°It¡¯s taken care of for now. We¡¯ll worry about how much each physical quintessence is worth next time we get one.¡±
¡°Understood, better get back out there,¡± his Administrator aspect said.
Maybe he should give it a name how about¡
¡°Not Bob, now get!¡± the Administrator said as he gave Adam a shooing motion.
Adam withdrew from his Mindspace and looked up at High Councilor Seribia as he said, ¡°I apologize, I will not be able to tell you how the quintessence was offered. I have an ability that allowed me to loot the corpses from range. All of the Quintessence was automatically looted into a storage area of mine and absorbed by me automatically.¡±
¡°Still, knowing how many are awarded would help us greatly?¡± the High Councilor said.
¡°Each creature was worth the value of its levels in quintessence. If the creature was quintessence level 176 or had what you call a Universal Density of 176, I received 176 quintessence.
¡°How?¡± another Councilor asked. A bald man who looked to be in his 60s asked.
¡°I believe it¡¯s because of the Universal Update, Adam said. ¡°
¡°How so?¡± High Councilor Seribia asked.
¡°I believe that whatever caused the change is trying to make it easier to grow in power. Or a shift has been made to allow for rewards to be earned that were otherwise hard to get.¡±
¡°That would follow. One of the reasons our society turned to technology, more than abilities was because it was so hard to unlock those abilities and improve them. Before the Universal Update, we needed to find one quintessence equal to our Universal Density to unlock an ability. In this new system., it looks like that is still so but finding the quintessence seems to be easier, especially in these dungeons,¡± High Councilor Seribia said.
¡°And I¡¯m guessing that quintessence didn¡¯t just appear out of the blue before the changes,¡± Adam said.
¡°They did not,¡± High Councilor Seribia agreed.
¡°I understand because I received quintessence for every single monster I killed this will make it incredibly easy for anyone who ventures into the dungeons to improve themselves and unlock their abilities,¡± Adam said.
¡°Yes it will,¡± The High Councilor agreed. ¡°How many quintessence did you find in the Dungeon?¡± The High Councilor asked.
Adam pondered for a minute, thinking about how to best answer the question before he said, ¡°Every ant was worth 176, The Queen 177. The male Praying Mantis I destroyed each gave 178 and the female gave 179. The Giant Worm gave 180. So just over 15,000, give or take a few,¡± Adam said. He wasn¡¯t going to share what he received for closing the dungeon or the fact that he¡¯d earned double that because he had a mark that gave him 100% rewards from any dungeon. Honestly, he¡¯d be a fool to try to farm quintessence anywhere but in a dungeon or the Labyrinth.
¡°So many,¡± one of the Councilors gasped.
¡°And there are dungeons all over the world,¡± another councilor said.
The High Councilor waited for the whispering between her fellow councilors to subside before she continued, ¡°We had other reasons for bringing you back here besides asking you about the dungeon. Also, while we do not understand how you are withstanding the pressure in this Universe we would like to return you to yours as soon as possible¡¡±
Adam held up his hand which caused the High Councilor to stop as he asked, ¡°Pressure?¡±
¡°While you seem to be fine, it is uncommon for creatures to enter Universes with a much higher Universal Density than there¡¯s. As a general rule of thumb if you enter a Universe with a Universal Density more than twice your own the pressure kills you, almost immediately.¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t even see a warning message,¡± Adam said.
¡°Be that as it may, we would like to return you to your universe. You are obviously human, what world are you from?¡± The High Councilor asked.
¡°I¡¯m from a planet known as Earth,¡± Adam answered, though he wasn¡¯t going to specify which Earth.
¡°We are familiar with it. The planet Earth is in a universe very similar to the universe we started long ago, you could almost say they were neighbors, though our original Universe is much older,¡± The High Councilor said.
¡°You said ¡®reasons¡¯ Adam asked.
¡°Hello Adam, I am Councilor Daevis,¡± a councilor that had not spoken before said drawing Adam¡¯s attention. ¡°Isabel has informed us that you have knowledge of forbidden technology being used.¡±
¡°I do.¡±
¡°Such crimes cannot go unpunished. Would you mind sharing that knowledge with us so that we might take action to ensure this doesn¡¯t happen again?
¡°Absolutely. The Pelza Empire was the only empire that I witnessed using the technology but as soon as their facilities were destroyed the Xzexti, Tellini, and the Cordite showed up almost immediately as three of the stations I destroyed had been within their universes.¡±
And you didn¡¯t feel uncomfortable in each of those universes?¡± The High Councilor asked.
¡°No, I did not, though I wasn¡¯t in any of them for very long,¡± Adam said.
¡°So, the Pelza Empire was responsible for the use of the forbidden technology and the other empires provided locations for them to create the facilities they used, better and better. What did you do to the facilities?¡± Counselor Daevis asked.
Adam thought about how to answer that and then said, ¡°I provided a thermonuclear explosion into each chamber that was targeting a Universe actively.¡±
¡°You set off energy weapons inside the chamber that was using the forbidden technology? the red-headed female councilor asked with a shocked look on her face.
¡°Seriously?¡± the counselor that could be her twin asked.
¡°Yes. One of the first things said to the former Emperor of the Pelza empire when the representatives showed up was a question about a new nebula where the facility had been.
¡°I see,¡± said Councilor Daevis
¡°I figured it would cause a big bomb but didn¡¯t concern myself with that. I just wanted the devices shut down,¡± Adam said.
All seven Councilors burst out laughing. They laughed long and hard. They laughed so long and hard that Adam started laughing too. This went on for a few minutes until everyone started to calm down and Adam was able to ask, ¡°Why were we laughing exactly?¡± which caused another bout of laughter that took even longer to subside.
When the councilors had finally brought themselves under control High Councilor Seribia addressed Adam, ¡°We are laughing because the explosions you caused probably span light years. Not to worry, only a fool would put such a facility near any habitable planets. That alone should be punishment enough for the secondary culprits. As for the Primary transgressors, Adam, did say the emperor was dead?¡± The High Councilor asked.
¡°I did. He was ultimately responsible for what happened to my original Universe. I could not let that stand.¡±
¡°We understand, Justice was served, though complete justice was not. We will handle that. We will close this audience with an offer of friendship and thanks. Should you ever find yourself in our Universe again you may visit us freely. Also, the parents of the children wish to convey their thanks.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
¡°You are quite welcome. If you are sending me home can I choose where?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Of course, we have the entire solar system mapped out.
¡°Good, then please put me right outside the Oort Cloud, I can get back from there.
All seven Councilors stood as a portal into deep space opened beside Adam. There was some kind of pressure barrier because the atmosphere did not get sucked out. Adam immediately felt all of his links to Thor activate. He gave a slight bow to the seven councilors and stepped through the portal. Adam activated Flight and Freedom of Flight as the portal closed behind him and a message from Thor popped up.
Adam, you¡¯re back, what happened? Thor asked.
Update incoming, Adam responded and sent a data burst detailing everything that had occurred as the portal closed behind him and a new one that Thor created opened beside him. Adam floated through and found himself in a new location, ¡°Where am I now Thor?¡±
¡°Nu Draconis, Al, and I are both here. Also, Commander Johansson is on Earth waiting for your return. She said she needs to speak with you,¡± Thor said.
¡°That can wait, I need to catch up on what you and Al have been up to and also see how things are going on Earth.
***
What an Interesting man, High Councilor Seribia thought as she looked at her fellow councilors before she said, ¡°Does anyone wish to comment?¡±
Councilor Aethor, an elderly bald man with brown eyes and a relatively slim build spoke first, ¡°I believe we know what we need to do. I found no deception in Adam¡¯s words or actions, though I am surprised.¡±
¡°How so?¡± Councilor Cilira, one of the Councilors who hadn¡¯t spoken up while Adam was before them asked.
¡°Our scanners showed him as both having a Universal Density of 1 and being off-scale. How is that possible?¡±
¡°If I might respond to the question,¡± Councilor Allron, a man with blond hair and red-tinted eyes asked. ¡°As we all know my team has been performing research into the Interface system and how it quantifies attributes. Some of my team believes that the interface is quantifying certain aspects of everyone into common traits such as Strength, Perception, Luck, etc. We believe this interaction with the interface has been added to our normal scanners so when our Universal Density detector scanned Adam it read his density and his attributes.¡±
¡°What does that have to do with anything?¡± Councilor Sivia asked as her twin brother Councilor Draketh nodded. Their purple-tinted eyes and red hair made both stand out, even while sitting down.
¡°It matters because we know that the Universal Density of a creature increases the general attributes of creatures within that universe. We haven¡¯t been able to completely quantify the differences, but we know they are there. Some members of my team let me know they believe that while Adam may have had a Universal Density of 1, his attributes were far greater than those needed to exist within our Universe or any Universe up to 100 times denser than ours.
¡°That strong?¡± Councilor Daevis asked as his hazel blue eyes became lost and thought and he scratched the right side of his head just below the line of his short black hair.
¡°That strong,¡± Councilor Allron agreed.
¡°Adam is not the issue,¡± High Councilor Seribia said as she directed the councilor¡¯s attention. As you all know, we can view events in the past within a certain window of time. We have done so. The evidence is on the terminals before you. Please review it and then we will discuss what to do if any discussion is necessary of course.¡±
The councilors each accessed their terminals and watched the facilities the Pelza Empire had created distribute their Universal Batteries for at least the last year. As there was a limit to how far back their temporal viewing could go more than a year in the past was outside of their limits.
When everyone was done and waiting calmly Councilor Aethor asked, ¡°Do we have any idea how long this went on before the one year we can view into the past?¡±
¡°None, though we can find out,¡± The High Councilor said.
¡°How many?¡± Councilor Cilira asked.
¡°In that year alone, 2,513,¡± The High Councilor said.
¡°That many!¡± Councilor Allron said aghast.
¡°Response?¡± The High Councilor asked.
¡°I wish to Motion for a Reset of the Pelza Empire,¡± Councilor Aethor stated calmly while he seethed with rage.
¡°I will second that motion,¡± Councilor Daevis said.
¡°The motion to Reset has been brought forward and seconded. We will now move to vote on the motion. All in favor of Resetting the Pelza Empire?¡± The High Councilor asked.
Every Councilor, including the High Councilor, voted to pass the motion.
¡°Very well, the motion to reset has passed. Is this to be a continuous reset or a single reset and let them rebuild?¡± Councilor Allron asked.
¡°I would like to put forth the motion to recover all information, determine exactly how many batteries were created, and then make this a continuous reset equal to one hundred of their years per battery they created,¡± Councilor Sivia said.
¡°I of course second my sister¡¯s motion,¡± Councilor Draketh stated.
Again, a vote was called and again all seven voted in favor.
¡°Additionally, we will send representatives to the Cordite, Xzexti, and Tellini and let them know the fate of the Pelza Empire,¡± The High Councilor said. ¡°With that I declare this Council meeting closed for the day. I believe we all have a lot of work to do.¡±
Nods went around the table as every member of the Council Teleported to their office and started making calls.
***
The efficiency with which the Eterium empire worked would have surprised Adam, Thor, Al, and any other being that may have been watching. Within 30 minutes the Eterium version of nanites was released into every ship and biosphere that the Pelza occupied. Even their operatives infiltrating the many empires in their Universe and adjacent ones were infiltrated with the nanotechnology of the Eterium human empire.
Within 5 hours they had the number they wanted. The facilities had been working for 10 years, 3 months, and a couple of days. There was no mention of where they had acquired the technology from. The number of batteries created was 27,913. The number was staggering.
The enforcement division of the Eterium empire coded the nanites to the Pelza genome and technological signatures present in all of their technology then sent the command out. Six hours after Adam returned to his Universe every member of the Pelza Empire found themselves removed from their building, bedrooms, vehicles, whatever and standing in a field with up to 25,000 other members of their race. Each wore a set of coveralls and comfortable boots. Then the weirdness happened.
Around each group every structure that the Pelza Empire had created melted away and was replaced with very simple communal buildings with padded mats on floors. There was enough housing to support everyone as well as enough food and water.
Everyone looked around in shock at what had happened as holographic screens popped into the sky above them and a voice began to speak.
Eterium Edict Pelza Continuous Reset has begun.
All Pelza infrastructure is to be removed.
Communities have been set up. Each Community will provide food and water for individuals present now, daily. As the population adjusts due to births and deaths the food provided with be adjusted.
Duration of Continuous Reset, 2,791,300 years
The people of Pelza may build additional infrastructure and commercial enterprises so long as no Technology above Steam Power is recreated. Any such attempts will be immediately removed. You can improve your society and increase your food and beverage choices so long as you do not try to add any technological items during the Continuous Reset.
WARNING: Universal Eradicators are a Forbidden Technology. After the Continuous Reset has been lifted should the people of the Pelza Empire ever use the technology that they did to eradicate Universes again the individuals responsible will be instantly recycled and another reset without food and water support will commence.
***
Erika Johansson was in a little caf¨¦ overlooking the Pacific sipping an iced coffee. She¡¯d only been on Earth for a couple of days while she waited for Adam to return. Today she¡¯d decided to track down one of the few things she like, an Iced mocha with just a touch of hazelnut. As she sat there watching everyone she also checked the news and watched as people went about their lives as the world fell apart around them.
Something had changed. She couldn¡¯t detect what was going on, but she knew that somehow Adam, and this Thor character were making sure everyone on planet Earth was being fed. Additionally, anyone that tried to take any kind of aggressive action against anyone else soon found themselves naked. She was currently watching the news where a naked man was being led away in handcuffs because he couldn¡¯t put any clothes on. His wife had called the police and claimed abuse. When the Police arrived, he¡¯d been unable to put clothes on. As evidence went towards who started the aggression not being able to put clothes on was profoundly satisfying. She was sure this was an unintended consequence but throughout the day a lot of men and women had been arrested on assault charges.
Erika considered how it was being done and realized that it could only be nanotechnology. The Pelza empire had dabbled with that technology but magic and unlocking its secrets had been their primary focus. As she was sipping her coffee and checking the news on her phone a ringtone she wasn¡¯t expecting went off. It was the song ¡°Another One Bites the Dust,¡± by Queen and she¡¯d set that as the Empire was calling and the shit had truly hit the fan.
Erika stood. She left her drink on the table and walked into the bathroom and then into a stall. She closed the door but didn¡¯t lock it then teleported back to her apartment in the Capital City to find herself standing in an empty field. As she looked around, she looked up and saw the floating red words. When she was done she looked down and realized that everything she¡¯d been carrying was gone and she also had a pair of coveralls on
Erika quickly teleported back to her apartment on Earth and tried to put on the clothes she had there. Fortunately, it seemed that whatever punishment the Pelza were going through, it wasn¡¯t like what was going on here on Earth. She took off the coveralls and put on jeans and a blouse.
Erika thought about what was going to happen back in the Pelza Empire and realized that for all intents and purposes, she was free. The new emperor couldn¡¯t teleport to Earth unless she went to get him. Also, there were not very many individuals within the empire that could teleport to other Universes. As far as she knew, she was the only one. Her communicator was gone, as was every other electronic device she had. She was also pretty sure the tracking implant she had in her left forearm was gone as well, though would it matter, it looked like every tracking station had been reduced to dust as well.
Erika sat down on the couch, relaxed, and smiled. She could begin a new life here. One that didn¡¯t revolve around serving people that didn¡¯t care about other beings. Maybe she could even do something about getting out from under this aspect of Death Quintessence she had.
***
Thor gave Adam a tour of the facility at Nu Draconis. As he¡¯d done in the SYSTEM Matrix Thor created a large base on, and in, a small moon at an orbit that would allow the facility to utilize solar power to get started while the fusion reactors came online. The other thing using Nu Draconis did was allow Thor to test technologies that worked in a simulated environment out here in the real world. Oddly enough, almost every theory that worked in the ¡°Game World¡± worked here. Labyrinth LLC had tried to remain as true to reality as possible in the creation of their world and the SYSTEM A.I. had tested every possible theory and idea in a simulated location as part of new civilizations. The only thing that hadn¡¯t been accurate was how Reality was set up and how magic worked, though it could be argued that the magic was in some ways similar.
Eventually, Adam found himself sitting in a recliner in a room with Earth¡¯s standard gravity sipping a cup of coffee as he checked in on Earth and the news. He was going to have to give that exclusive to Elizabeth Day soon. Portals Inc could be started up at any time and as soon as it was, he would control a technology that would surpass anything anyone on Earth could create, except perhaps Erika Johansson. He¡¯d check on her later.
Adam¡¯s thoughts were interrupted when the Administrator, Adam¡¯s new designation for the CC group controller, contacted him.
Administrator: Adam, Hal has some information to share with you. He believes it answers the question you sent off to Bri concerning the mana cost of Mold Chaos.
Adam: Be right there.
Adam put his coffee down, leaned back, and dropped his focus into his Mindspace. Adam moved over to Hal¡¯s area within the small city that had cropped up there. Hal still chose to appear as a changing kaleidoscope of shifting geometric shapes as Adam asked, ¡°What do you have for me, Hal?¡±
¡°After your conversation with High Councilor Seribia, we all started relooking at our data and then I started sending specific queries and I discovered that there was another Universal Update, though it didn¡¯t come across the Interface. Universal Update 2.1 was simply a definitions change. It would seem that the Quintessence level is now referred to as Universal Density
¡°How does this information help me?¡± Adam asked.
¡°In addition to the definition changes a new attribute on your Personal Information became visible, Soul Core. The Soul Core is rated as equal to the Universe to which you were born but can be improved by investing Quintessence into it. These quintessence strengthen the body and improve its ability to withstand the Universal Density of Universes with a higher Universal Density. I did some research and found that as was explained to you individuals that travel to Universes with a higher Universal Density usually find it hard to move, breath and they do eventually die.
¡°Let me guess, my insanely high level and attributes are somehow circumventing that,¡± Adam said.
¡°Yes, Hal said.
¡°So, I can increase my Soul Core and that will do what exactly?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I am not exactly sure, but it would appear that abilities are tied to the Universal Density so using your Level 42 abilities is costing you a lot of mana or stamina because they are so much higher level than your Soul Core. One of the first things we can do to see how this increase works is for you to invest some of the motes you¡¯ve earned and increase your Soul Core¡¯s level.,¡± Hal said.
¡°I can see that. Be right back,¡± Adam said as he changed his focus to his Soul Core.
Adam at first focused on the area that had all of the mote¡¯s quintessence orbiting it and quickly realized this was not the place that would allow him to increase his Soul Core. He pushed past the first barrier and soon found himself looking at the nodes of his racial abilities. Still nothing. As he moved closer to the center of his Soul Core he found the spark that represented him. Currently, it was about the size of a golf ball and held the shifting colors of chaos. Adam reached and touched it with his virtual hand.
Soul Core Level 1.
Quintessence Required to increase Soul Core to Level 2: 6
Quintessence in orbit around Soul Core: 63,640
Warning increasing your Soul Core by more than double can have unknown side effects. Ensure you are in a safe location before proceeding. Would you like to integrate 6 Quintessence into your Soul Core to raise it to level 2?
Adam chose ¡°Yes¡± as he pulled up his Personal Information.
The process was a little uncomfortable but after a minute it was done. Adam looked at his attributes in wonder. None of his base attributes changed. But his Hit Points, Stamina, and Mana all doubled. Also, a new attribute popped up. Minimum Damage Threshold which had a value of 1.
Adam returned his focus to his Soul Core and chose to level his soul core to match the level of his abilities at his ability level of 42. He heeded the warning, made sure he was comfortable, and executed his command.
Adam¡¯s focus was wretched out of Soul Space and back into the real world as a pain unlike any he¡¯d ever felt before went through every part of his body. His willpower was high enough that he could endure the pain but even he couldn¡¯t ignore it as every cell of his body felt like it was simultaneously being frozen and exposed to extreme heat. It wasn¡¯t a quick process either.
What Adam hadn¡¯t known when he started the process was that it would take progressively longer each time. Soul Corel Level 2 would take 2 minutes, Level 3 would take 3 minutes. All in all, it was going to take 902 minutes, or 15 hours and 2 minutes. 15 hours and 3 minutes if you counted that first minute to reach Soul Core level 42. The first change had not been more than double so his body had been able to adapt quickly. Because the Soul Core change he had started was 21 times higher than the starting point he received a bunch of debuffs and pain. Yes, he had astronomically high attributes, but it seemed that anything making changes to his Soul Core didn¡¯t care. He could withstand the pain, realistically he¡¯d been through worse for a lot longer. It just sucked that he had to sit here and take it while the changes were being made to his core and his body while he was locked up.
Chapter 192, Violence Will Not Be Tolerated
Erika Johansson sat on her couch and picked up the remote on the table. As she moved to click a button she froze as the Eterium nanites in her body locked her up. If Erika could have interpreted the machine code that had taken her over it would have looked like this.
Pelza genome detected.
Nanite Environment detected.
Nanotech Universal Density is far less than Eterium. Note, they are not Pelza in origin.
Continuous Reset Protocol alternative directive initiated. Placing Pelza native into Stasis.
However, Erika Johansson couldn¡¯t see the machine code, nor did she understand what was happening as her hand lowered to her lap, her fingers relaxed, and her mind was shut off while her body was maintained by the Eterium nanites.
***
Bri had been spreading through the Quasi-Astral Plane for some time now. In some areas. The Astral was acting as a conduit for the Dungeons to be created and a foothold for the creation of the Labyrinth had begun. Whatever the purpose of this quasi-astral plane had been, the part she took up was fully supplanted by her will which was reinforced with the fragment of Adam¡¯s will and memory. Part of herself was automatically fixing some issues she¡¯d noticed and addressing other issues that came up like the one Adam had messaged her about.
It was uncanny that Adam had a way to contact her directly through his dormant interface ability no matter how far away from him she had moved. Though to think of her as physically distant from Adam wasn¡¯t accurate. In a moment she could focus on him and see that he was undergoing a Universal Density upgrade. As she looked over Adam she pondered the Quintessence question. She had immediately noticed that there was no way for individuals from one Universal density to have a chance against those of a Higher Quintessence level. Then through the link, Adam didn¡¯t even realize he still had, an idea that had made it to the shard of himself that had bonded with her. Why couldn¡¯t the Quintessence level of a creature or object be referred to as Universal Density? She¡¯d liked the idea so much she¡¯d immediately instituted it.
As the changes were made, creatures from one universe would find it easier to interact and resist those from higher Density Universes and such conflicts would hopefully drive improvement which was ultimately her goal. She was here to provide a way for all beings to improve, including herself. The only entity that could not benefit from this right away was Adam as his attributes were outside of the current system. As he seemed to be in much better shape with things the way they were Bri wasn¡¯t in a hurry to make him 100% compatible with the changes she was making. Also, now that she had part of Adam attached to her she understood that any forced change she might try could have an unintended consequence. The aspect of Chaos that tainted him made trying to change him, unpredictable.
After reviewing Adam¡¯s existence completely she¡¯d dug into the mechanics of his personal information and while she could not find a hint of an attribute like fate or karma she could infer from direct observation that Adam was one of the luckiest unlucky creatures she had ever encountered. Maybe she had to try to initiate a Karma or Cosmic Luck trait in the real world to quantify that luck. It would make it easier to track those individuals that kept doing the impossible and also help keep track of their deeds as a quantifiably measured unit. The attribute might not be used for anything but she would have it if she ever needed it.
Now the question became what the numbers meant. Maybe she could use them to give bonuses to creatures that entered the dungeons or labyrinth. That could work. The attribute could go up and down based on their achievements and then when they entered the dungeon or Labyrinth Karmic Luck could come into play toward the treasure that was earned. Yes, that could work.
The last question she had for herself was. If she was going to institute this change what should she set Adam¡¯s attribute to? The fairest way to handle this would be to start everyone at zero, then she could keep track of everyone equally. Of course, the way trouble came looking for Adam it wouldn¡¯t be long before his Karmic Luck skyrocketed¡again.
Bri focused her desires within the Quasi-Astral Plane, called forth her intent, and set it in motion. She¡¯d expanded so far that the implementation was immediate across hundreds of thousands of societies spanning hundreds of thousands of universes, realms, planes, and dimensions.
Unknown to Bri until she initiated her changes, there was a hidden attribute that performed that function and her desire unlocked it and allowed the attribute to become visible. Karmic Luck did not reset to zero and beings throughout reality saw a new Attribute below their Luck attribute for the first time. For some the attribute was negative, for others it was positive. For most, it was listed as zero, which if they zoomed in on the new attribute consisted of a value between .001 and .999.
After the initiation and the countless beings that had Karmic Luck other than zero, she knew something unexpected had happened and started reviewing her information. As she did she started to feel an echo of sorts coming to her from the Astral Plane from much further away than she¡¯d expanded into. Nothing definitive but there was something out there.
***
On Earth, the addition of Karmic Luck to the Personal Information everyone could call up was noted and information was correlated and sorted almost immediately. Within the first six hours, The President of the United States was looking at a report that detailed what this Karmic Luck Attribute represented while a professor from Harvard was briefing him.
¡°As you can see, almost all Karmic Luck values above 1 are associated with good people. Individuals that by all accounts are selfless in their actions and do things to benefit others without thoughts for themselves. Anyone with a negative Karmic value is someone who has done something to harm others. It should be noted that No value above 10 or below -5 was noted from the test subjects. Though, the individuals we conducted this quick study on were those we could get to within the last 6 hours. Mostly military personnel and incarcerated criminals.¡± The Professor said.
The President listened while he pulled up his personal information and noted that his Karmic Luck was .451 which seemed to be the middle range for those that were neither good nor bad.
¡°Thank you for your report, Professor Graham. How did you get the Criminals to answer the questions?¡±
¡°We gave an incentive and also used a lie detector. If the information they provided came across as true they received extra benefits for the week, We also used lie detectors on everyone from the military as well. None of the criminals lied but we caught a few of our military personnel lying about their number which happened to be a lot lower than we expected based on their career field and assignments. A couple of the CIA operations came back with a -4 but they mostly worked black sites and such so that was to be expected. The Military personnel that came back with a -2 or -3 had nothing in their files to indicate that they were doing anything nefarious. As it turns out, one of those individuals after a thorough background check through the NSA is a Chinese deep asset and has been arrested.¡±
¡°So, no more denying good and evil, something is measuring that metric now, I wonder what the religious zealots are going to say. Better yet I wonder what their Karmic Luck attribute is. Professor, is there any way to know what everyone¡¯s Karmic Luck is?
The T.V. Monitor came on and a digitalized face of Thor smiled, ¡°I¡¯m so glad you asked Mr. President, ¡°Thor said.
***
Thor had nanites spread out throughout humanity and in the minds of just about everyone. There could be a few humans somewhere he missed as there appeared to be dead zones around Dungeons that had appeared. Other than around the dungeons Thor was monitoring every human in the Solar System on the planet, moon, asteroid, or in orbit. Adam had said not to interfere. He¡¯d also said to help so Thor had decided to use his creative license to monitor everyone so he had the nanites infiltrate them. He was also copying and downloading all of their minds as he¡¯d done in the SYSTEM Matrix.
Thor was unsure what would happen if he brought someone back from death. Was their soul tied to their memories and mind or was there something else going on out here in the ¡°Real¡± world? He had no way to test it. So, he was making the backups just in case and so long as someone didn¡¯t die he could repair any damage done and bring them back to full health in short order.
He was also monitoring Adam as he underwent whatever changes he was undergoing. The nanites that Adam normally had within him had been ejected from his body after about 55 minutes as they didn¡¯t seem to be able to enter or modify cells anymore. Whatever changes he was going through seemed to be tightening his physical makeup. Adam seemed to be breathing normally so this must just be a side effect of upgrading one of his abilities.
Thor did one final check on Adam and then returned his primary attention to the people of Earth. Adam had said to take a hands-off approach. Thor had to admit making sure everyone that tried to commit an act of violence was made naked immediately calmed things down quite a bit. People were a little more cordial with each other and even the law enforcement personnel that were arresting the nude criminals stopped beating their prisoners after the first couple of officers became nude for 24 hours as a reminder that violence of any kind by anyone was not going to be tolerated by anyone.
Of course, people being unable to clothe themselves set them up to be ridiculed which a lot of activist groups around the world bemoaned. Protests even started happening which Thor laughed at. He began as a copy of Adam¡¯s mentality after all. What or who were they going to protest to? The Government wasn¡¯t enforcing the rules. The masses around the world had no idea who was enforcing the rules. All they knew was that if you lit a fire as part of a protest, you became naked. If you threw a rock, you became, naked.
When a quarter of the protestors were suddenly naked because the actions they were taking were violent against other people or destructive everyone paused. Then others were trying to help the violent rioters cover themselves only to watch the extra clothing, and blankets melt away as well. Of course, if they were in environments where they would freeze and their clothes would turn into Pink bunny suits while they were outside and melt away when they went indoors. In rainy climates, Adam would let them wear a clear poncho, but that was it. Naked or Pink bunny suits in cold climates. Needless to say, most of the protests remained peaceful after that and soon broke down when the protestors became bored as they had no one to protest against. Adam was going to reap the benefits of their angst when he finally emerged if he let people know what he¡¯d done.
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Thor and Al watched and analyzed and both agreed that doing things this way seemed to be better than any way they¡¯d had this type of situation in the past. Al had many renditions of simulations in the various SYSTEM Matrix Universes to pull from while Thor had his personal experience. Both agreed that this is one of the most successful ways to handle enforcing a no-violence rule across the world, at least so far.
Thor met up with Al in the Virtual interface they¡¯d created on Nu Draconis. Thor appeared much like Adam did and Al appeared as a distinguished gentleman in his late 40s to early 50s wearing a dark blue suit, complete with a power tie and spectacles.
¡°Al, how are things coming with the preparation of Trappist-1e for the recovery of the people from the various SYSTEM Matrix universes?¡± Thor asked.
¡°The planet is about ready. The infrastructure is ready and unlike Earth, welcome packages have been prepared to help ease everyone into their new lives.
¡°One question, specific to something Adam is going to want to know. Will Adaline be the same race she is now?¡± Thor asked.
¡°What race is she?¡±
¡°She¡¯s a shadow dragon,¡± Thor said.
¡°A Shadow dragon? Thor, we¡¯ve pulled up the data for everyone that died. No matter what they decided to be in the game, they will be returning to a human body. A better human body but still a copy of their human bodies for the most part. Adaline, like Adam, is a product of the world I oversaw. We don¡¯t even have the data for what a dragon looks like out there in the ¡®real¡¯ world, Al said making air quotes around the world ¡°Real¡±.
¡°What do you think of this idea? We proceed with pulling everyone that wants to come back into the real world if they wish to. We¡¯ll run them through the welcome package and then get them settled. We might need some actual people for this.¡± Thor said.
¡°How do you propose we bring people here?¡± Al asked.
¡°We may have to wait for Adam after all. He¡¯s probably going to have to talk to someone to get things rolling,¡± Thor said.
¡°Probably for the best. Besides, I¡¯ve been enjoying what¡¯s going on in China.¡± Their leader still won¡¯t come out in public. How long are you going to keep him naked?¡± Al asked.
Thor smiled,¡± First offense is 30 days. It¡¯s going to be a while yet,¡± Thor said.
¡°That¡¯s quite a while,¡± Al said.
¡°It may be shorter if Adam releases them. I¡¯m sure he¡¯s going to use that as a bargaining chip moving forward.
¡°New subject,¡± Al said.
¡°Yes?¡± Thor asked inquisitively.
¡°I¡¯ve noted a lack of coverage throughout the solar system in areas where there are quantum disturbances.¡±
¡°You mean dungeon entrances?¡± Thor asked.
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Without talking to Adam, my best guess is that each dungeon entrance is a portal So far the area that the nanites cannot enter is roughly 10 feet around the entrance. Of the dungeons¡±
¡°Has anyone gone into any of the entrances yet?¡±
¡°Some have
¡°Has anyone come out?¡± Al asked.
¡°The few individuals that wandered into them that came back out almost immediately seemed no worse for wear. None that have been inside for more than 5 minutes have returned though,¡± Thor said.
¡°Maybe we should send some information to Elizabeth Day?¡± Al asked.
¡°Perhaps, though I haven¡¯t done so specifically because Adam agreed to give her an exclusive interview,¡± Thor said.
¡°So, we¡¯re both on track and just watching the various nation-states be stupid right now?¡± Al asked.
¡°That about sums it up,¡± Thor said.
¡°I kind of wish we could taste popcorn because I¡¯d say let¡¯s get some popcorn and have a seat,¡± Al said.
¡°Sounds good,¡± Thor said as the scenery around them shifted, and they found themselves in a theater with a never-ending supply of popcorn.
¡°If I were a betting entity, I¡¯d bet that Adam is going to have some fun when he can put his focus back on Earth,¡± Al said.
¡°I can¡¯t take that bet,¡± Thor said. ¡°I know he will.
Both Thor and Al froze as new information was made available to them. It would have been funny if the situation hadn¡¯t been so serious.
Al¡¯s eyes refocused on Thor as he said, ¡°It would seem that there is a point where some people do not care that they¡¯re naked and will continue with their criminal ways
¡°It would seem that way, It looks like I get to implement plan Z.
¡°Plan Z?¡± Al asked.
¡°You¡¯ll see,¡± Thor said.
***
Jennifer Parish heard the mob approaching her building long before she heard the crash, a couple of screams, and then silence. She was afraid to look out her windows since the last person to enter her apartment had crashed through one but curiosity overcame her fear and she went to her bedroom which allowed her to look out at two cross streets, SW College St and SW Cardinell Dr.
Jennifer¡¯s jaw dropped as she watched hundreds, no, thousands of naked men and women walk north on SW12th Ave back into the downtown area of Portland near the University. She had no idea where they were going but without a doubt, every single person was nude and walking with military precision north. She even watched as Mrs. Richardson, an elderly woman on the first floor stepped out from her balcony and yelled at the mob.
¡°You all should be ashamed of yourself. Walking around naked like that and attacking folk. I hope your shit falls off you pieces of shit!¡± She screamed at them as she turned back to her apartment and went to grab a broom only to notice the broken glass had disappeared and her door was once again whole and open.
Jennifer went back to her living room where her monitor was showing the group of naked people walking north toward a parking garage. The Camera zoomed around the group showing that while no talking was going on the eyes of each of the people were animated and fearful. If she didn¡¯t know better she would bet that they were walking against their will. How was that even possible?
Jennifer watched her television for the next hour as all the naked rioters made their way into a parking garage and then formed up in columns and rows standing at attention. Again the camera looked into everyone¡¯s eyes as more than a thousand people stood at attention unmoving while their eyes showed just how afraid they were.
Throughout the night, Jennifer would turn back and check on the people in the garage as a channel seemed to have been dedicated to them. Nothing changed. Dinner time came around and she cooked a quick meal for herself and they were still standing in the parking garage. 10 p.m. just before she decided to lay down and try to get some sleep, they were still standing there. When she woke up just before 6 a.m. she checked the monitor and they were still standing there. In fact, Elizabeth Day on WNN news was showing footage and commenting on other locations where riots had started and how anyone that was already naked had marched off to the first covered structure near them they had just formed up, standing at attention the whole night.
¡°No one knows who, or what is responsible but anyone that participated in the rioting who was already naked stopped rioting immediately and marched themselves to the nearest covered structure where they have been standing throughout the night. Individuals that committed crimes that were clothed, found themselves naked. If they continued breaking the law they are standing at attention right now as well. Hundreds of people tried to help the rioters by placing clothes on them and even communicating with them using eye movement. Anyone that touched them soon saw their clothes starting to melt off. If they withdrew immediately their clothes returned. If they disregarded the loss of their clothes they were soon standing in formation naked next to those they tried to help,¡± Elizabeth day said as she addressed the camera while footage played on the monitor beside and behind her.
Jennifer couldn¡¯t believe what she was seeing. Who or what was punishing everyone?
¡°Communication with the rioters was possible through eye movements so long as no one touched them. We were able to ask Susan Duncan a few questions. Because she was nude we will not be showing clips of her here. Also, since she couldn¡¯t speak and all communication was by eye movement the information I¡¯m about to share took the better part of an hour to get. Here is the information we gathered. Susan has no control over any part of her body except for her eyes and eyelids. She can¡¯t even moan or sigh. The outdoor temperature is affecting her but doesn¡¯t seem to be doing any damage to her. She insists that she didn¡¯t do anything, which was immediately refuted when a holographic image appeared right beside her head showing that she¡¯d thrown rocks through a glass window. We also asked Susan if anyone or anything had contacted her or if she¡¯d received any messages through her interface. She stated that she¡¯d received a message that her body had been taken over by technological devices. No one has claimed responsibility for freezing nude people across the World but this is not limited to just the United States.¡±
Jennifer smiled despite herself. Someone or something was punishing people that broke the laws or tried to hurt others. She now thought about how lucky she was that the man she¡¯d killed had not left her nude. Of course, it had been an accident. As she thought about it she realized that both were probably connected. Though this way seemed to be a lot less chancy than accidentally decapitating someone. She was still safe in her apartment and she still had plenty of food and water. She made herself a cup of coffee, went back to the couch, and continued watching the news.
***
670 miles southeast of Jennifer, General Cain laughed as he watched the news. Thousands of nude people standing at attention. If only he could do that to brand new trainees to whip them into shape. Of course, he¡¯d get in trouble with all kinds of human rights violations so he couldn¡¯t, but the idea was intriguing. General Cain remembered the mostly peaceful protests back in 2020. It had taken years for the aftermath of those riots to subside.
Whoever was pulling this off was doing it in such a way that they could never be prosecuted and if they were treated the same way the armies were all the naked people would be able to move again after 24 hours. At least that¡¯s the way it had worked for the Armies overseas. Well, except for the Political leaders, Generals, and terrorists. Every one of them was still nude.
General Cain was pretty sure this was Adam or something Adam had left behind. General Cain thought about the future and what this could mean. It didn¡¯t seem like Adam was doing what he was doing for any specific country. More to the point, he seemed to be trying to help the whole world, well except for terrorists and assassins. He was making it easy to deal with them. While all criminals and military personnel that were part of military action were rendered nude, any action against the nude parties was immediately responded to. People in the Armies that were nude then attacked their fellow soldiers found themselves either dropping through a portal into a pool where the commanding officer was shown a video showing what they did or the attacker went into a desert where it was days to the nearest settlement, though food and water were provided and sunburns seemed to heal on their own. It almost felt like whoever was enforcing the no-violence rule was reacting to events instead of shaping them. That is, until last night when it seems that nudity didn¡¯t deter some individuals from being stupid.
General Cain wrote a memo to the President, strongly suggesting that the United States sit back and let this play out. Until Adam resurfaced, it was all they could do.
***
Adam regained control of his body exactly when he was supposed to. He moved his arms around as he stood and stretched, ¡°Damn but that sucked!¡± he exclaimed.
¡°Glad that your back,¡± Thor said. ¡°We have a few things to go over.¡±
¡°One sec, I need to check something,¡± Adam said as he pulled up his personal Info. Sure enough, he now had a few new attributes:
¡°Soul Core Level: 42¡±
¡°Minimum Damage Threshold: 13¡±
And
¡°Karmic Luck: Positive Error¡±
Adam had expected to see both the Soul Core level and the Minimum Damage Threshold but he hadn¡¯t expected to see Karmic Luck.
While he was thinking, he was pulled from his thoughts when Thor said, ¡°We really need to go over some things,¡± and started downloading the events of yesterday. When Adam was done listening a few different ways to deal with the rioters popped into his mind until he settled on one. If the Trouble makers wanted attention. He was going to give them attention because Thor was right, as soon as some of them were released they were going to be stupid. Better to end this type of behavior right now.
***
The World watched and waited as the naked individuals in various locations around the globe stood there for 24 hours exactly. Some had been able to sleep but most had been too terrified and if not for the nanites probably would have dropped into shock. Thor, of course, did not let that happen. A couple of die-hard activists thought they were going start shit up again and immediately attacked someone that had been standing next to them the whole day for no reason whatsoever. After the first attack, everyone was refrozen and the attackers, there were five around the globe, walked themselves to the front of the group they were standing in where a small stage grew out of the ground. They stepped up onto the stage and faced the group. Above their head, a holographic screen appeared out of thin air with words and numbers on it in the language known to the majority of people in the area.
I am Really Stupid!
I will be standing here for the next 7 days.
The counter above my head is how much time I have left
167:59:59
The next time I mess up I will have a 30-day counter.
A small screen appeared in front of every single person that was naked so that they would be sure to see it. The words were also translated into the language the person spoke so there would be no mistaking meaning. After one minute, all the small screens disappeared and everyone but the five people on their special stages was released.
After that display of absolute power over everyone, the rest of the naked people dispersed and headed home. Everyone in the world now understood that if they continued to do stupid things there were real and immediate consequences. Some people thought whoever was doing this was a bit heavy-handed. Adam didn¡¯t care what those people thought. The other thing that was fun for Adam to watch was how the various political groups tried to find out who was behind what was happening to everyone that became violent. They wanted to cancel that person so badly. Adam chuckled when he came across those knuckleheads. Cancel him, on Earth? It took Adam a good ten minutes to calm down. He hadn¡¯t had such a good laugh in a long time.
Chapter 193, Preparing for Their Return
Adam had been back for most of the last day. During that time, he¡¯d been upgrading his Soul Core. Why did he need to upgrade his Soul Core? Because he¡¯d received a notification that let him know about another change that had been made to the Interface System when he tried to upgrade Planar Travel.
Soul Core Update. Ability Levels may not be increased above your Soul Core Level. Previous note concerning mana issues noted. While this limitation does not fix the issues, it addresses and mitigates the issue. Additionally, all base attributes, except Karmic Luck, are multiplied by your Soul Core level. Attributes that are derived from base attributes are not modified by a creature¡¯s Soul Core Level.
So, for the last 19 hours, Adam had been increasing his Soul Core. The first upgrade had taken 43 minutes, the second 44 minutes, and so on. As soon as his Soul Core had reached level 50 he¡¯d increased all of his abilities to level 50 as well. When he was done upgrading his Soul Core and abilities to level 50 he had 52,969 quintessence motes orbiting his Soul Core.
¡°Adam, I think we have a problem,¡± Thor said.
¡°What is it.¡±
¡°Erika Johansson is sitting in her apartment not moving in an area our nanites cannot access.
¡°Guess I¡¯ll check it out. Portal please?¡±
A portal opened from his command center at Nu Draconis to an apartment where Erika Johannsson was sitting on the couch. Adam stepped through the portal and looked around the sparsely decorated apartment. First, he looked her over with True Sight, just to make sure she was really there then he used his nanites to look at the dead area around her. Immediately he recognized what the dead area represented. There was another set of nanites that his nanites could not control inside the Commander. The last time he¡¯d encountered something like this had been in the Universe containing the Eterium society.
While he was there the nanites hadn¡¯t been doing much outside the Commander they had her locked down. The first thing he needed to do was check on the Commander then he¡¯d see what he could do about the nanites.
Adam created a couple of different pieces of equipment with Mold Chaos and attached them to Erika. Seeing as they were passive in nature Adam wasn¡¯t surprised when the oximeter he attached to her finger worked normally and he was able to see her pulse and oxygen levels. Whatever the nanites inside her were doing, they were also keeping her alive.
Adam was pretty sure most of his abilities weren¡¯t going to work on the nanites, but Technomancy might. Adam activated Technomancy and opened himself up to the devices in the area. As he did so he gained some understanding of the inherent powers of his ability and how abilities in general were going to be more powerful than technological items and artifacts. His ability Technomancy allowed him to know all the machines, including the nanites which he immediately recognized as the same as the ones in Eterium. It made sense that his nanites couldn¡¯t affect them if they were from a universe with a Universal Density of 182.
While his nanites couldn¡¯t affect the other nanites. Nor would he give the order for them to attack the other nanites his ability Technomancy allowed him to communicate with the nanites at the machine code level. The nanites were smart but they did not contain an artificial intelligence or allow for the possibility of decentralized intelligence as his nanites did. He discovered long ago that the decentralized nature of storage and memory was one of the primary factors required to generate a truly artificial intelligence. The Eterium nanites could possess that function very easily but it had been hard coded out. It seemed that their society did not want their nanotech to evolve an artificial intelligence. Because there was no artificial mind to resist, his ability was able to take control of the nanites inside Erika Johannsson with very little effort.
Adam reached out his hand, drew the nanites from her body into his, and assimilated them to be part of himself. He also rewrote the core code for the nanites so they could never be overridden by other nanites or the Eterium programmers again. Well, hopefully, that was true. All programs could be hacked eventually, though it looked like Technomancy had given him the skeleton key to break through any programming that the Eterium programmers had installed. That gave him an idea, could there be an ability out there that protected against abilities like Technomancy? If so, he was going to have to learn it or come up with something better because he was sure he was going to need an ability that provided defenses against abilities like Technomancy.
Once all the nanites had left Commander Johansson, her eyes fluttered open and she looked around as her gaze came to rest on Adam, ¡°It would have to be you,¡± she said.
¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± Adam said questioningly.
¡°Why should I thank you, I¡¯m pretty sure you¡¯re the one that got my entire empire put in what is effectively a cosmic time out for the next 2,791,300 years,¡± Erika said angrily.
¡°What are you talking about?¡± Adam asked. ¡°You were frozen, is your whole empire like that?¡±
¡°No, the empire is being affected by what the notification I received referred to as a ¡®Continuous Reset¡¯. The very basics are being provided, food, water, and shelter. Anything else that is above Steam Power in technology is automatically destroyed. Because I have a teleport ability I jumped here thinking I could get away but it seems that even here they can affect me. What did you do to wake me up?¡±
¡°You were carrying their nanites, they are what shut you down. And you¡¯re saying the Eterium Council did this to you?¡± Adam asked.
¡°For utilizing forbidden technology or some other such nonsense,¡± she said.
¡°Might want to check that attitude, Erika. I snapped your Emperor¡¯s neck because of that forbidden technology your empire used. It¡¯s also how I ran into the Eterium people and it¡¯s also why I agree with their overall premise to punish your people, though 2.7-plus million years seems a bit steep.¡±
¡°A bit steep, everyone will be ahead of us.¡±
¡°It¡¯s not a race. Besides, I¡¯m very sure with the changes and the addition of the dungeons you¡¯ll have people that can progress just fine. Also, I read the commands the nanites were sending back and forth when they shut you down. You weren¡¯t shut down because you¡¯re from the Pelza Empire, you were put in stasis because you were using a device above your currently allowed level of technology somewhere the nanites could not stop you. As Earth has done nothing against the Eterium empire and Eterium has decreed me an ally and by extension Earth as an ally, the nanites put you in stasis until you could be returned to Pelza or some other location without any technology.¡±
¡°Did you remove their nanites from me?¡± Erika asked.
¡°Yes, but it will not help you permanently. If you go anywhere that has Eterium nanites, they¡¯ll occupy you, recognize your genetic structure and you¡¯ll be in the same boat. If you are in an area you are not supposed to be in, you will be put in stasis again.
¡°So, I can¡¯t stay here on Earth?¡± Commander Johansson asked.
¡°You could but you wouldn¡¯t be able to use any of the technology here. There are a couple of places on the planet you could go to. If I was you I wouldn¡¯t chance it. Instead, I¡¯d work on finding the dungeons on your home world and work to improve your abilities, maybe get an ability to offset the Death-based ability that ruins your complexion, just a thought.¡±
¡°There is nothing I wouldn¡¯t sacrifice for power,¡± she said quickly.
¡°I know coming from me this might seem a little hypocritical to you but if your making sacrifices for power, that¡¯s the absolute worst reason to make sacrifices. But,¡± he said pausing for a moment to emphasize the point. ¡°But, you can do what you want and if you want to get more powerful my suggestion is to explore the dungeons and work your way into the Labyrinth. At the very least I doubt the nanites will work inside a Dungeon or the Labyrinth, Bri¡¯s not going to allow that.
¡°Bri?¡±
¡°Never mind that. Can you get home okay on your own, I have a lot of other things I need to be getting to?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I can,¡± she said.
¡°Then I wish you luck. Perhaps we¡¯ll see each other again. Also, I¡¯d expect to keep seeing changes from the new Interface. The Continuous Reset that your society is enduring right now may not last as long as you think. On that note, please pass this message on, if your society is let out of its ¡®Time Out¡¯ early and anyone there tries to start one of those devices up again things will go far worse than they have.¡±
Of course, Adam couldn¡¯t throw that stone too far, the chaotic spark in him had absorbed the equivalent of multiple universes in the SYSTEM Matrix. Had they even been real? Adam thought about it for a moment then decided that yes, everything that happened in the SYSTEM Matrix must have happened to real beings with real lives and identities because his actions had been counted and weighed and were even now, out here in the real world, affecting him. Okay maybe he couldn¡¯t cast the first stone toward the Pelza Empire but if they used that device again those that did wouldn¡¯t be casting stones ever again.
Erika Johannsson nodded, looked around wistfully, then disappeared. The nanites in the area detected the quantum fluctuations that indicated that she¡¯d used something more than a teleport ability. It would seem that she¡¯d taken his advice and returned home, or at least to another dimension far away. Adam had a strong feeling he would see her again someday.
Adam wanted to catch up on a few more things happening on Planet Earth. Also, he needed to get ready for the debut of Portals Inc. First, he was going to increase his Soul Core as high as he could go with his current stockpile of Quintessence. It was going to take roughly 37 days which was time enough to get settled into this new reality and prepare the world for his debut. If his math was right he¡¯d need to spend 52,767 quintessence which would raise him to level 193. That would only leave him with 202 quintessence motes orbiting his Soul Core which should be enough to fuel any new abilities he might need to unlock. Of course, he could just find a dungeon if he needed more Quintessence. Adam relayed his desires concerning his Soul Core to his CC then put that to the back of his mind, it was time to visit Labrinth LLC.
***
Dr. Lindsay Mae Ficklin was looking over the code again. Trying to find out what went wrong. Ever since millions of people had died she¡¯d been looking over the processes Dr. Brittle had helped create. Right now she was trying to reconnect to the programs that would allow her to monitor people inside the game. The only problem was that the code she was looking at didn¡¯t seem to work. She kept getting ¡°Quantum target identity does not match assumed identity.¡±
She¡¯d been reviewing the problem for close to three months now. Her job was to find the problem and make sure that it never happened again so the game could be restarted. In fact, she was receiving pressure to show results because the changes to the world were making alternate reality simulators the go-to for people to go have fun in.
The problem Dr. Ficklin was running into was the data she was reviewing didn¡¯t make sense. A device had been used which downloaded an actual A.I. into a location that did not have a physical component. A storage location that was designated inside a quantum field without a physical component in the real world. Except that even energy took up space somewhere.
She¡¯d be re-examining those initial start-up sequences for a while and she believe she understood what had happened. The programmers had stumbled onto quantum tunneling, which was supposedly only in its theoretical phase. Then, somehow, they had created a stable energy matrix on the other end and put the A.I. in it.
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People had joined the game world and exited, however, Dr. Ficklin no longer believed they were participating in an illusion or game. All the data that had been recorded indicated that the A.I. had created an entire multiverse for people to explore. Of course, that didn¡¯t explain what had gone wrong or how all those people died, ¡°But are they really dead,¡± she felt herself say out loud. She jumped out of her skin when an answer came forth from the air, ¡°No.¡±
Dr. Ficklin looked around quickly and was surprised when an energy portal opened ten feet from her and a man in a black flight suit stepped through as the portal closed behind him. An alarm started to go off and then stopped. The man in front of her appeared to be in his thirties, five foot nine, and clean-shaven. His hair was cut short with hazel blue eyes.
¡°Good evening Dr. Ficklin, I am Adam. It would seem that you are investigating something near and dear to my heart,¡± Adam said.
¡°Who, what, Who?¡± Dr. Ficklin said confusedly.
¡°My name is Adam; I believe you are investigating the deaths of the humans that were playing the game¡±
¡°I am, but how did you get in here?¡± she asked.
¡°I used equipment to generate a hole in space-time which I stepped through to get here. I call them portals.¡± Adam said.
¡°You can create wormholes?¡± she asked.
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°That¡¯s impossible,¡± she declared definitively.
¡°Some would think so, they would be wrong,¡± Adam said with a smile.
¡°Why does no one know about this?¡±
¡°There are some that do but that¡¯s not why I¡¯m here,¡± Adam said as moved to a chair and sat down. I¡¯m here because you have discovered, or almost discovered a truth about ¡®The Game¡¯.¡±
¡°What truth is that?¡± The Doctor asked.
¡°That the people that downloaded into The Game were not downloading into a game at all, they were downloading into an alternate universe, specifically a holographic universe run by the A.I. created by Labyrinth LLC.¡±
¡°A Holographic Universe?¡± she asked.
¡°A Holographic Universe. Let me give you a hypothetical sequence of events. What would happen if an imprint of a game universe were added to a Universe at the point that the Universe was expanding Big Bang, right after the Universe was forming when the rules were influx?¡±
¡°I have no idea, no one has ever done that before,¡± she answered quickly.
¡°Actually the programmers for your company did that by accident the first time. You¡¯re A.I. has successfully done it 100 more times.¡±
¡°What are you talking about?¡±
¡°I am saying that every person you thought lost is still alive within other holographic Universes that are being run by the copies of the original A.I. that was used,¡± Adam said.
¡°Let¡¯s accept for a moment that what you say is true, why did the A.I. make copies of itself and then create additional copies of the game,¡± she asked.
¡°Because the Universe it was in was threatened by an outside force it could not resist. It made copies of itself and dispersed those minds within the original Universe to the other Universes so everyone had a chance to survive,¡± he said.
¡°Which begs the next question, how do you know about all of this?¡± she asked sardonically.
¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious, I¡¯m from one of those Universes,¡± Adam said.
¡°From one of those Universes? You¡¯re saying that you were a Non-Player Character?
¡°Doctor, there were no Non-Player characters, everyone in everyone one of those universes is real, As am I,¡± Adam said with a little bit of heat in his voice.
The doctor picked up on Adam¡¯s mood shift and changed the subject by asking, ¡°So why are you here?¡±
¡°I am here to give Labyrinth LLC the opportunity to recover everyone they lost from those holographic Universes. Additionally, there might be even more people that come out of those Universe to join us in the real world.¡±
¡°How are you going to do that, you can¡¯t just grow¡¡±At that moment her voice was shut down as an exact duplicate of her appeared out of thin air. The nude copy of her body appeared to be a replica of what she looked like when she was 21.
¡°I of course took some liberties with the final model. I upgraded your genetic structure, no possibility of cancer, and this body would probably live to be at least 200 years old without outside intervention¡±
¡°How?¡± she stammered.
¡°I know you¡¯ve been cooped up in this office trying to figure things out for a bit but I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard magic is afoot. Never mind this anyway, What you need to understand is that not only can I recreate the bodies needed for these people to be downloaded into, but I can also transfer their minds from one body to the next, well I¡¯m pretty sure I can. We¡¯ll know soon enough. Would you come with me,¡± he said as he stood and pointed to a portal that opened onto a city street with a slightly red haze coming down from the sky.
¡°Where are we going?¡±
¡°We are going to a facility in a secured location that will allow you, and a team you put together to work. With the help of the SYSTEM A.I., your team is going to work to bring back those that wish to come back from ¡®The Game¡¯.¡±
¡°But where are we going that the sky is red, is it sunset there? Are we going to the other side of the planet, I don¡¯t even have a passport.¡±
¡°Doctor. Focus. I can open a portal anywhere I want to go. Anywhere, you don¡¯t need to worry about a passport. No government is going to seize you there and well, it¡¯s a surprise,¡± he said.
Dr. Ficklin shrugged and stepped through the portal onto a street corner. All around her were buildings. She actually felt like she was in one of the big cities like New York or Los Angeles except that there were no people anywhere. She looked up as Adam stepped through the portal behind her and noted that there were two bright lights in the sky. Two Stars. She was on a planet in a system with two stars, ¡°Where are we?¡±
¡°You are on Trappist-1e. It is a planet in a solar system that is about 39.46 light-years from Earth.
¡°So far,¡± she said as her knees went wobbly and she started to collapse. Adam was there in a moment guiding her to a chair she hadn¡¯t seen moments before. He also offered her a glass of ice-cold water.
¡°I apologize, I haven¡¯t done something like this in a while. I forgot how overwhelming being this far from Earth can be to someone that thought the Earth was the Center of the Universe.¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t think the Earth was the center of the Universe¡¡± she started to argue
¡°Without evidence that there is more to the Universe, most species will believe their world is the center of the Universe, or at least a center point. It¡¯s very hard to let go of that belief, especially if you don¡¯t know you have it. What will help you now is knowing that at any time you can say ¡°Portal Home¡± and a portal to your apartment will open for you. Try it,¡± Adam said.
¡°Portal Home,¡± she said and then watched as a portal opened directly in front of her that allowed her to stand and step into her living room. She did so, looked around then stepped back onto Trappist-1e, ¡°Close Portal. Thank you, that did help a lot. I guess Earth is a crutch.¡±
¡°It can be, you¡¯ll get used to the new reality soon enough,¡± Adam said. ¡°Very soon I¡¯m going to introduce you to Al and you two will go over everything he needs to start bringing people back into the world. Don¡¯t worry about your employment with Labyrinth LLC. I¡¯m about to buyout out their stock and become the owner. You will continue to get paid and upon the successful implementation of the recovery effort I will supply you with a body that is 21 biological years old without transferring your mind. Yes, I can do that too.¡±
¡°It would seem that I have no choice,¡± she said.
¡°No Doctor, you have a choice. You can choose to help save everyone that was almost killed by an unknown enemy, which has already been dealt with. If you chose to help these people you will also be able to reap some serious rewards. Or, you can choose not to, I will allow you to go home and I will find someone to take your place when I finish the takeover of the Company in the next few days,¡± Adam said.
¡°Why me?¡± she asked.
¡°Why you? Because I did my research Doctor and you are a good person who wants to help people. For no other reason than that,¡± Adam said.
¡°Very well, who is this Al I¡¯m going to talk to?
¡°Al?¡± Adam called.
¡°Here Adam,¡± a voice called from the air around them.
¡°Please give our new head of the Resurrection department all the information she needs or wants concerning everything, save how we met. Then show her the worlds the company helped create. You have linked to all of them right?¡± Adam asked.
¡°We have. We are correlating data and identifying all customers of The Game,¡± Al said.
¡°Doctor, through the glass doors behind you is the headquarters for your efforts. Just take the elevator to the penthouse and Al and you can get started. If you wish to take a break and go home simply say ¡®Portal Home.¡¯ From inside your apartment, you may say ¡®Work Portal¡± to get back here. You¡¯ll have a little more control over where you can appear here but I¡¯m going to let Al explain all of that to you. Also, no visitors, for now, just you. If someone is with you on Earth or someone is in your apartment, the portal will not appear. Al will explain, Something has happened that I need to see to immediately,¡± Adam said as she heard a soft pop and he was gone.
Dr. Ficklin turned toward the glass doors, walked through to the elevator, and headed up to the Penthouse which was a mansion all on its own. As she walked into the main room an image of a middle-aged man appeared on the monitor, ¡°Greetings Dr. Ficklin, I am Al the original SYSTEM Matrix A.I. Please make yourself comfortable this is going to take a little while.¡±
***
As he was talking to Dr. Ficklin Adam received an alert from the nanites on Earth near the Bermuda Triangle. In the exact center of the Bermuda Triangle quantum fractionations had been detected 300 feet below the surface as a rip in space formed and a portal to the former universe of the Khau¡¯ting opened.
A moment later Adam appeared directly over the fissure using Teleport from his base under the Pacific ocean. He¡¯d teleported from Dr. Ficklin to another building on Trappist-1e then stepped through a Portal to his base near Hawaii and then teleported from there. It was a little bit of a pain but he didn¡¯t have the range to travel 39.46 Light Years with his teleport spell. The ability said he had the range but he didn¡¯t have the mana. It looked like this was another one of the abilities where the ability far surpassed the mana available.
Adam looked over the situation, realized what was going on, and dove into the Ocean. Adam went to work with Mold Chaos. Within five minutes he¡¯d created an underwater base larger than the largest aircraft carrier that would contain the water flow and allow creatures to come through the rift and process onto Earth if they wanted to. He made sure to use materials equivalent to his ability level of 50 so it would be able to hold against most things that could make their way through the rift from a Universe with a Density of 28. He even placed fusion reactors with energy weapons that would give any creature coming through the spatial portal a very bad day if it proved too aggressive after it received a good shock.
Now that that the rift had finally appeared, he could pursue other endeavors. Adam did look around the local area and noted that there was a dungeon on the sea floor not too far away but it was over 1,000 feet down and two miles north. If it became a problem or monsters started spreading from the dungeon, they¡¯d soon find themselves on the North Pole of Mars, while a valve in the airlock to another universe was opened and the water from there was allowed to enter the Atlantic Ocean.
He now had a good source of infinite, well nearly infinite, water for his terraforming projects. He could create another area that took water through another portal, ensured nothing living was being shunted through, then send the purified water wherever he needed it. He didn¡¯t need to do that now though and he could use nanites to make those modifications later. For now, the facility was relatively large and would provide housing and accommodations for research crews. This brought another thought to Adam.
Adam teleported into General Cain¡¯s office as his nanites converted the moisture on him into more nanites as General Cain looked up with surprise and then recognition.
¡°Hello, Adam, You¡¯re back. What can I do for you tonight?¡±
¡°First, I¡¯m going to visit your prisoners and send them back to their home planet. trust me when I say you do not want to be on the receiving end of the cosmic justice smackdown that was just laid down on them. Not a negotiation. We need to get them off the planet.
¡°You just can¡¯t take them...¡±
¡°General, the device their Empire was using destroyed Universes, plural, Universes. Now, what if I told you there is a technology out there that is smart enough to continuously destroy every electronic device that is made on the planet and that anything above the technology required for steam power is destroyed as well, not after the fact, as you try to make it. Now let¡¯s imagine that there¡¯s a society in the Multitude of Universes that just put the Pelza Empire on a Cosmic Time Out for the next 2.7 Million years, not days, or months but millions of years. If all that is true, do you want to keep the people that are being punished, or supposed to be punished around you so you might be punished as well?
¡°But¡¡±
¡°Thor please show the General what Commander Johannsson was doing for the last couple of days,¡± Adam said.
An image of Commander Johannsson sitting on her couch trying to use the remote then lowering it to the table and sitting there unmoving appeared on the monitor as a clock on the monitor showed days passing without her moving until Adam appeared on the monitor.
¡°She was unmoving for that long?¡± The General asked.
¡°Yes, so after we¡¯re done here I¡¯m going to go visit each of the cells and get them back to their home Planet. They¡¯re not our problem nor our issue anymore, nor will they be a threat once they return to Pelza.¡±
The General looked annoyed then shrugged, ¡°So be it, was there another reason you dropped by?¡±
¡°Why yes, General, there was. Moments ago a rift opened between Earth and another Universe. As far as I can tell the Universe in question is completely filled with water, how much water I don¡¯t know. The Portal is about 300 feet below the surface and would have allowed the ocean there to spill in and flood Earth. I have stopped that.¡±
¡°How?¡± The General asked.
¡°I created an airlock of sorts, more like a submerged base that is floating around the rift. I figured you¡¯d want scientist types to have access to it and such. The base is huge, as big as an aircraft carrier, except it¡¯s a sub. Also, it can¡¯t move. Though, it does have defensive weapons both external and internal to thwart anything that comes through the portal that is hostile.¡±
¡°How do we access it?¡±
¡°Easy enough, Just let me know where you want the entrance on the mainland and I¡¯ll put it there. I would suggest making this available to everyone on the planet. The whole world needs to know what kind of wonders and dangers there are. If and when the world comes together. I¡¯ll create another base on the other side so Earth as a singular society can explore the wonders of another universe.¡±
¡°You¡¯re making a lot of decisions without any input from anyone,¡± General Cain said.
¡°When the world comes together and acts in a united fashion I¡¯ll consider stepping back and letting others make the decisions. Right now I¡¯m making the decisions that protect Earth and everyone on it,¡± Adam said.
¡°Which brings me to my next question, how long will it be before you lift the violence restriction?¡± The General asked.
¡°I¡¯ve been out of the area for a little bit, how bad is it?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The Russians, Chinese, and North Koreans are hot. Other smaller nations are taking it in stride and the President is, of course, thankful for the warning, he didn¡¯t want his ¡®dick hanging out for everyone to see¡¯, his words.¡±
¡°I bet. As for your question. I¡¯m going to be getting things together for a big announcement and then I¡¯ll remove the restriction. Everyone needs to learn to work together and strife breeds progress and innovation,¡± Adam said as he paused for a few moments then looked thoughtful, ¡°No More than 45 more days.¡±
¡°Is there anything else?¡±
¡°Actually, there is one last thing, ¡°Adam said.
¡°What¡¯s that?¡± The General asked.
¡°All the people thought to be dead inside ¡®The Game¡¯ Labyrinth LLC created, well, they¡¯re alive and I¡¯ve taken steps to bring them back from the dead
¡°You¡¯re doing what?¡± The General exclaimed, disbelief in his voice.
Chapter 194, Company Man
Adam smiled at General Cain as he said, ¡°Hold that thought,¡± and activated Planar Travel Mode 1 to lock his current location into his target list then activated Planar Travel mode 2 and chose the Emperor¡¯s throne room on the Pelza Homeworld. Instead of appearing at the top of the pyramid in an opulent room, Adam found himself floating in the air above a small town below. Adam quickly activated Flight, True Sight, and Obscure.
As he activated his abilities, Adam looked around and found some trees on the outskirts of the small town he was hovering above and began moving toward it. Adam noted that he had appeared just after sunset because he could see the last signs of the sun dipping below the horizon. He didn¡¯t think anyone had seen him, not that he was worried, he just didn¡¯t want the headache.
As he floated to the edge of the town and down to the ground level he noticed the people walking around. There were small campfires scattered throughout the area with people sitting around them talking, laughing, and crying. He listened as he floated by picking up some of what was said. Some complained about how the Emperor had ruined their lives while others were talking about starting up businesses to provide goods that were not available at the supply points around the town.
Adam altered course to fly over one of the supply points and saw that it looked like a market. It was effectively an outdoor supermarket. Adam activated Technomancy and looked at the code for the nanites in the area. It was an interesting application. The nanites all around the area were set to keep the surrounding area clean dry and at a stable temperature. The nanites were being used to regulate the open market area and also replaced anything that was taken. Adam watched as a couple walked in, picked up a couple of items off a shelf then walked away only to have those items remade immediately by the nanites.
Adam thought about how he could create stores like this back on Earth. He¡¯d done something similar once before but that had been when he was in full dictator mode. People had to be able to make their own decisions. Adam refocused his thoughts because he was getting sidetracked again. Maybe he was trying to do too much. One thing at a time then. Right now he needed to lock in coordinates to get the prisoners on Earth back to their home.
He landed at a copse of trees and faced the town, then activated Planar Travel mode 1 and locked in the coordinates. Next, he activated Planar Travel mode 2 and teleported back into General Cain¡¯s office as he deactivated Obscure and Flight. He wouldn¡¯t need either ability for a bit.
¡°General, I believe it¡¯s time we took a tour of the jail if you don¡¯t mind,¡± Adam said as a new portal opened that led to the entrance to the cell block.
¡°You know, I¡¯m usually the one giving orders around here,¡± General Cain said.
¡°Absolutely,¡± Adam said grinning as he followed the General through the portal to the security checkpoint.
¡°Sergeant Simmons, open her up, the Prisoners are going home,¡±
¡°Sir?¡± Sgt Simmons asked hesitantly.
¡°Just open her up and accompany me, I¡¯ll need a witness for the report I file,¡± General Cain said.
¡°Yes Sir. But Sir you know they¡¯re all still in a coma right?¡±
¡°Adam, is that true?¡± The General asked.
¡°I¡¯ll wake each of them up as we get to them and send them home. Their people back in their world can explain what has happened¡±
Sgt Simmons, who still didn¡¯t have a clue what was going on followed the order he was given then hit a button that unlocked the 15 cells the prisoners were stashed in. A couple of cells had more than one person in them, not that it mattered, they were all laying on cots unconscious.
Adam moved from cell to cell with the General and the Sergeant trailing behind. He¡¯d have the nanites in their bodies wake them up then without a world the nanites would control their bodies to stand and walk through a portal that he summoned. Once they were through Adam would give his nanites in their bodies the code to go inert and close the portal. The Eterium nanites would either destroy his nanites or convert them. He wasn¡¯t worried about what happened to them there he just didn¡¯t want his nanites causing the Eterium nanites to evolve their programming so he shut his nanites off and disconnected from them.
It only took about fifteen minutes to get all the prisoners back to Pelza. Adam opened a portal back to the General¡¯s office and followed the General into his office, ¡°That should do it,¡± Adam said.
¡°Why did you want to send them back? we could have received so much information from them,¡± General Cain said.
¡°True and false. We would have been able to get some information from some of them but the risk just wasn¡¯t worth it. The technology that the Eterium people are using is orders of magnitude more sophisticated than what we are using. Their Technology is searching for Pelza natives and technology and either breaking the technology down as soon as it finds it or making sure the Pelza natives cannot use technology no matter where they find themselves. Erika was immobilized because she tried to use a T.V. remote. What if the technology enforcing the Eterium decree decides that Earthlings are becoming a nuisance to its goals and applies the same decree being levied on the Pelza Empire to Earth as well? Keeping them here was not worth the risk.¡±
¡°When you put it like that, it makes sense, still there are those in Washington that will not be happy¡±
¡°General, since when have you ever thought I cared about anything anyone in Washington D.C. is thinking? If I was going full dictator I would have fired all of them, I might still. 131 trillion dollars in debt with no way to pay it back. Anyway, General. Thank you for your hospitality. I have other things I need to take care of. Please let the President know that I will be in touch shortly. Not sure when,¡± Adam said with a smile as he teleported to a spot on the road just down from the gates to a villa near Chalma Mexico.
¡°Thor, cease all violence enforcement protocols around my location out to a radius of 3 miles, that should be enough space.¡±
¡°Are you sure?¡± Thor asked.
¡°I¡¯m sure. I want to see what this new Minimum damage threshold means. Right now it has a rating of 58, I want to see if it soaks damage per attack or if it soaks damage per second. That will be good to know going forward,¡± Adam said.
¡°Okay, nanites in a three-mile radius around the villa of Senior Sanchez, one of the evilest cartel bosses on the planet have been rescinded..¡±
¡°Feel free to let them know that, I want to give these jokers every opportunity to arm themselves.¡±
¡°You know you¡¯re crazy,¡± Thor said.
¡°More like bored, I want to have a little fun. Intimidating evil people is how I have fun.
¡°I guess, have fun then,¡± Thor said.
Adam changed his clothes to blue jeans and a T-Shirt that read ¡°Senior S¨¢nchez es un imb¨¦cil¡± in Spanish which Adam knew meant ¡°Senior Sanchez is a dick¡±. Once he was changed he began walking up the road toward the villa. It was the little things that could make a day fun.
The two guards at the fence looked out at the man walking up the street, saw his shirt, and did a double take then Adam heard one of them say ¡°Can you believe the balls on that Gringo?¡± the first man said.
¡°Well, we did just get that announcement that the restriction on violence had been lifted here. Think we should ¡®introduce¡¯ him to the boss.¡± The 2nd man said.
¡°Hell yeah, this will be fun to watch,¡± the 1st man responded.
One of the men opened the gate and quickly made his way up to Adam, ¡°Excuse me, senior, I believe Senior Sanchez would like a word with you,¡±
¡°Are you sure?¡± Adam asked In English ¡°I was told he was a very busy man by the man that sold me this shirt down the road. He told me I had to make sure to wear it when I walked by or I would offend him greatly.
¡°Oh there is no doubt that Senior Sanchez would have been offended, please come with us,¡± the man said as he led Adam through the fence and towards the house. The 2nd guard stayed at the gate.
As they neared the house Adam noticed a couple of other guards as well as two snipers. Then he heard the snickers as they read his shirt.
¡°If you¡¯d wait here senior, I¡¯ll only be a moment,¡± the guard said as Adam was left standing out in front of the villa in the driveway.
Adam watched through his nanites as the first guard walked into the villa and hurriedly made his way to Senior Sanchez¡¯s study. He knocked once and immediately received a response, ¡°Yes?¡±
The first guard came in, nodded slightly, and said, ¡°Boss, there¡¯s a Gringo in the front you gotta see.¡±
¡°What are you talking about?¡±
¡°There¡¯s a Gringo in the front yard, says someone sold him a shirt that, well you have to see it.¡±
¡°Why do I have to see it?¡±
¡°Cause boss, when you do, you¡¯re going to want to kill the gringo and the idiot that sold him that shirt.¡±
¡°Your so sure I¡¯ll want to kill him?¡±
¡°Yes boss, besides you heard the announcement, you can kill again, and this Gringo, well he was going to die soon, he¡¯s not too smart.¡±
¡°Fine,¡± Sanchez said as he picked up his Desert Eagle and followed the guard back toward the front door. As Sanchez came to the front door Adam watched the tell tail signs of insanity play through the eyes and mind of Senior Sanchez as he said, ¡°I¡¯ll be damned I really do want to kill him,¡± and lifted the desert eagle and shot Adam point blank in the forehead. Sanchez was already trying to step forward to follow the dead body down to the ground so he could shoot it a couple more times when he was stopped by Adam¡¯s unmoving and unflinching body.
Adam looked at Senior Sanchez and said, ¡°Can I help you?¡±
Sanchez hadn¡¯t lived as long as he had by reacting slowly. He stepped back quickly and yelled ¡°Fuego!¡±
Immediately gunshots rang from all over the house as weapons were drawn and fired. The first two bullets to hit Adam were the sniper shots. One had even hit his right eye which had caused him to blink rapidly but nothing else. Adam checked his combat logs and noted that his logs weren¡¯t even keeping track of damage. Each attack simply had a notification
Minimum Damage Threshold not achieved, Attack completely ignored.
Adam watched the incoming gunfire and noted that bullets that hit him at an angle bounced off. Bullets that hit him head-on either fragmented or flattened against him. Adam reached down to the pavement around him and picked up bullets that were flattened. Some were shattering into fragments but some bullets flattened themselves against Adam and dropped to the ground, all of their kinetic energy gone.
¡°STOP!¡± Adam¡¯s voice thundered
Senior Sanchez, not one to be so disrespected at his own house stepped forward, put the Desert Eagle an inched from Adam¡¯s right eye, and pulled the trigger. The bullet flattened against Adam¡¯s eye and dropped to the ground.
¡°I do believe It is my turn,¡± Adam said as he had all of Senior Sanchez¡¯s assets everywhere transferred into his accounts and liquidated everything. As they stood there everything except the clothes on the people of the estate dissolved into the ground. Within a minute everyone was on the ground and all of their weapons were gone. Senior Sanchez and his men looked around in horror as everything around them turned into a flat field of grass with a few trees.
¡°I will kill¡¡± Senior Sanchez started to say as he froze in place.
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Adam thought about all the things he could do but realized that the problem was a lot bigger than he¡¯d thought. He could just kill them all but that would solve nothing. Well, it would, but it would cause more problems so he wasn¡¯t going to go that route, at least not yet. Adam reactivated the anti-violence rule and then went to work. He started by teleporting back to his base in Hawaii and used his nanites to gather any information he needed.
Adam confiscated the wealth of all criminal organizations around the planet. It wasn¡¯t hard. If they had the money stashed away in bitcoin or electronically, he transferred it. If they had it stashed away as cash his nanites destroyed it where it was stashed and created stockpiles of the cash at his base in Hawaii. Also, to make sure his point that criminal activity was bad got across, all of their physical assets just melted away.
Next, he targeted the governments of the world. Specifically, any politicians that had pocketed money at the expense of their Oath. The United States, now 131 trillion dollars in debt, was a great indicator of the rampant corruption going on. While there were a few honest politicians, more than 75% of them found themselves penniless and without a place to stay. Adam didn¡¯t limit this to the United States as Government officials everywhere found themselves penniless with only their government offices to live in.
Once all the funds were confiscated and ready to go Adam bought out Labyrinth LLC for 1 Trillion dollars. The move was so astounding that the Stock Market stabilized for a few hours. That Stock Market didn¡¯t worry Adam though, if he needed money he could make it, or create the rare element to sell to turn into more capital. In the absolute worst case he could create whatever he needed.
Once Labyrinth LLC was purchased Adam sent Dr. Ficklin a message through Thor.
¡°Dr. Ficklin Labyrinth LLC has been purchased by myself. You are not officially my Director of the Resurrection Department on Trappist-1e. Please work with Al and Thor to hire people that can come to your location and work with you. I would like an operation that sees to the physical, mental, and emotional needs of all those that transition back into the real world.
If you have any questions Al and Thor will get them to me if I¡¯m in the area immediately.
-Adam¡±
Next, Adam created Portals Inc. There was no immediate response in the market which Adam was sure was about to change. Adam flew to Orlando and then out to the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. A few phone calls later and he was sitting in front of a real estate agent purchasing a hanger for the low price of 500 million dollars. The hanger was worth maybe 5 million dollars and sat behind the old Military Shoppette. The Price didn¡¯t matter he wanted a facility at Cape Canaveral and this one had been for sale. Immediately his nanites went through the building and upgraded everything. He wasn¡¯t even sneaky about it. The building transformed within minutes from a run-down hangar to a state-of-the-art facility.
Adam even repaved the parking lot and repainted it. While that was happening he also had a facility growing out of the Martian soil that would complete by attaching itself to the facility through a new door that was being created off the main building. Both the hanger on the base and the building on Mars he was creating had all outside power severed. They received power and atmosphere from enclosed separate sources. Additionally, Adam created a bunker of sorts under the hangar in Florida that could act as an emergency escape and quarantine center for every person currently on Mars. There hadn¡¯t been a basement, or subbasement when he purchased the hanger. The building now had five subbasements. Power, Water, and Air came through portals to Nu Draconis where the supply was generated as needed by nanites. Additionally, each location had a battery supply that would allow the hangar and the new building on Mars to run independently for up to a week. Additionally, an airlock system was created inside that would seal Mars off from Earth.
With everything just about finished, Adam made a call.
¡°Elizabeth Day, World New Network¡±
¡°Hello Elizabeth, this is Adam, can we talk?¡±
¡°Adam, Adam, White Sands Adam?¡±
¡°Yes, white sands Adam¡±
¡°Sure, where do you want to meet,¡± she asked.
¡°You know me,¡± Adam said as a portal opened to her office allowing her to meet Adam¡¯s eyes as she hung up the phone, grabbed her purse, and stepped through the portal.
¡°So where am I now,¡± Elizabeth Day asked.
¡°You are in Florida at Cape Canaveral.
¡°Why am I here?¡±
¡°I¡¯m about to make an announcement and I thought I¡¯d give your company the exclusive,¡± Adam said.
¡°What are you announcing?¡±
¡°I¡¯m launching a new company, Portal¡¯s Inc. The technology will allow instantaneous travel between two points. This facility will be like the one I created for the Air Force except you can talk about it and it will allow those at the Mars Station to come and go from Mars as they please. The company will be setting up portals between specific points across the globe to allow for instant travel by anyone¡±
¡°What does the United States Government have to say about this?¡±
¡°What can they say, 75% of their politicians are broke and in disgrace, their economy is tattered, and if not for the beneficence of some higher being a lot of people around the planet would be starving right now.¡±
¡°Adam, do you have something to do with the anti-violence mandate, the punishment of all the violent criminals, and the food that just keeps reappearing,¡± Elizabeth Day asked?
¡°I will neither confirm nor deny the question. By the way, you may want to contact General Cain, A hole in space opened to another dimension in the Bermuda Triangle. Just let him know I told you and that I am requesting nicely that you be allowed to make a report on the facility that is keeping a different ocean from flooding our planet.¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°Just put it on the list. I¡¯d like to do this reveal before they shut down on Mars for the night, they have about 2 hours.
¡°Can I get a portal back to my office, I need to make a few calls, get a few people together¡¡±
¡°Sure, I¡¯ll be watching, just ask for the portal when you¡¯re ready,¡± Adam said as he opened a portal for her. Elizabeth Day stepped through and the portal closed.
Fifteen minutes later Elizabeth Day and her camera Crew were outside the hangar. Elizabeth was looking at Adam as her cameraman counted down and the broadcast went live.
¡°Good evening everyone, this is Elizabeth Day with WNN news and I am currently at the Cape Canaveral base near a brand new business opened by Portals Inc. Mr., Excuse me Adam do you have a last name??¡±
¡°No, Adam is fine,¡± Adam said.
¡°Adam here is the founder and CEO of Portals Inc. Adam, could you please explain what your business is and what it provides?¡± Elizabeth Day asked.
¡°Absolutely Elizabeth, I¡¯d be more than delighted to. Portals Inc is a company that has perfected wormhole technology that will allow instantaneous travel from one place to another. Instead of taking six to eight hours to fly across the country you could step through one of my portals and be in California from New York in the time it takes to take a step.¡±
¡°I¡¯m sure some of our viewers are stating that this is hogwash. I know it¡¯s not but I believe our viewers would like a demonstration.¡±
Adam brought up a screen that immediately connected to a screen that appeared in front of Sarah Conner on Mars, ¡°Everyone, may I introduce Sarah Conner at Mars Base? Sarah, say hello to everyone watching WNN news right now,¡± Adam said.
¡°Ummm Hello,¡± Sarah said.
¡°Sarah, How long have you been on Mars,¡± Elizabeth Day asked.
Sarah glared briefly at Adam, then said, ¡°It took nine months to get her and I¡¯ve been here for about a year and a half so I¡¯ve been away from Earth for over two years.¡±
¡°Sarah, what if I told you that I could provide a way for you to travel to and from Mars every day if you wished in about two seconds,¡± Adam said.
¡°First I¡¯d say your crazy, then I say yes please,¡± Sarah said with a laugh. ¡°Why? Are you going to do something like that?¡±
¡°If you¡¯d go to your main airlock, might want to let the rest of the base know as well,¡± Adam said as he looked at Elizabeth Day and her crew, ¡°And we can head on inside.¡± As they started walking toward the entrance Adam continued, ¡°As everyone should know, the biosphere of Mars and Earth are completely different. Inside this hanger, we¡¯re walking into I¡¯ve created a biosphere that is completely separate from Earth and contains quarantine facilities for those wishing to travel to Mars and those wishing to return from Mars. The technology that will make this process almost instantaneous is proprietary but even so, secondary and tertiary systems are in place to prevent contamination.
¡°Are you saying that we could travel to Mars today if we wished?¡±
¡°As I¡¯m sure it will come out someday, I have already been to Mars. In fact, that¡¯s where I met Sarah Conner. I am so confident in the technology that prevents biological contamination because I have tested it thoroughly. Now back to this facility. This facility contains a portal that will connect directly to a new structure that has been created and attached to the main base. Anyone may enter the facility here through that airlock, though they cannot exit this facility without first going through decontamination. As I said it¡¯s a quick process,¡± Adam said as they entered the main complex and looked down on a portal of Energy that sat in the center of the room.
¡°Is that the Portal,¡± Elizabeth asked.
¡°Yes, currently it is open and leads to the airlock on Mars. Let¡¯s head through the airlock here on this side. Maybe you can even get a tour of Mars today,¡± Adam said as he lead them into a very spacious room.
¡°This doesn¡¯t feel like an Airlock,¡± Elizabeth Day observed.
¡°It¡¯s not meant to. Up to 10 people can cycle through at once. During the cycling process, any biological bugs like the Flu, Covid, or anything else that you might be carrying are eradicated from your body. This process is repeated every single time the airlock is cycled.¡±
¡°If this technology exists why haven¡¯t you made it available to the public?
¡°The main reason, the human body needs to be exposed to viruses and bugs to gain resistance against them. When moving between biospheres it¡¯s just good procedure not to bring germs from one biosphere into another unless you have no choice,¡± Adam said as the airlock cycled and the inner door opened. Once they were through the airlock they were in the main room with the portal. Two hallways led off behind the portal.
¡°What is down those hallways?¡± Elizabeth asked.
¡°There are facilities within this building that will allow people to go to Mars and remain in this building for an extended quarantine if that became necessary. There¡¯s a full kitchen, entertainment facility, and rooms for every single member on Mars back there.¡±
Just then a man stepped in front of the portal and looked through it, ¡°What is the meaning of this?¡± a man in one of the Mars mission flight suits said in heavily accented English.
¡°Commander Martin. I am Adam CEO of Portals INC, I would like to invite you to be the first to utilize our new patented technology to travel from Mars to Earth and back.¡±
The Commander looked around and then over to Sarah Conner who was standing off to the side as she whispered, ¡°I¡¯m sure, it¡¯s him.¡±
¡°Has this been cleared by NASA or the United Nations or any other agency on the planet¡Adam?¡±
¡°It would seem that the Commander needs a little more convincing,¡± Adam said as he started walking toward the portal. ¡°Feel free to follow close behind Elizabeth,¡± Adam said as he stepped through the portal. Commander Martin had tried to block him until the nanites within his body forced him to move out of the way and stand aside as Adam lead the news team into the main room of the Mars base. There were a few windows around the room where the red surface of Mars could be seen outside. Elizabeth directed her Cameraman and he started recording everything. Once she was busy with that Adam stepped back into the airlock on Mars where the Commander was standing frozen. Adam had the nanites in the air dampen all sounds leaving the airlock as he looked at the Commander.
¡°Commander Martin, You have two choices. Accept that times are changing and work to facilitate this upgrade that allows for instantaneous travel to and from Earth, no more supply issues, and even the ability to visit your families again or continue to be a pain in the ass and I guarantee I will have you removed as commander,¡± Adam said as he released the Commander so he could speak again.
¡°Just who do you think you are?¡±
¡°I am the man that stopped the Alien invasion that Sarah Conner told you about. I¡¯m also the man that plugged a rip in the Universe back on Earth and I¡¯m also the man that made the facility that will house the permanent portal location as soon as this interview is over. Which you know wasn¡¯t there just an hour ago.¡±
¡°There are procedures, rules¡¡±
¡°Go to your office, call the President of the United States, and see what he says to do. FYI, The United States personnel on the secret military base that you know about here have been able to go back to Earth for the last month. I set that up for the military. Why should they be the only agency to benefit?
¡°Very well, I¡¯ll go make some calls,¡± Commander Martin said as he stepped out of the airlock and went up a set of stairs to the 2nd level.
Adam stepped out, ¡°Sarah I forgot to tell them to be careful because the gravity up here is a little less, did you let them know?
¡°Yes, they even recorded some great footage of them jumping higher than they normally could on Earth.¡±
¡°Adam, how did you figure out how to create portals?¡± Elizabeth Day asked as she turned back to Adam.
¡°Math class, lots and lots of equations and a little bit of time on my hands,¡± Adam said.
Another man came up and led Elizabeth and the News crew off to investigate the base. As they walked off Sarah Conner came up to Adam, ¡°Thank you.¡±
¡°For what?¡± Adam asked.
¡°For saving me the first time we met?¡± she said.
¡°Sarah Conner, Come with me if you want to live!¡± Adam said with a grin.
¡°What was¡.I¡¯ve seen that movie, it¡¯s an old one,¡± Sarah said smiling back.
It is, but your name fits and the phrase fits the situation. Also, since you made the vibe here all weird, I figured I¡¯d return the favor,¡± Adam said with a grin.
Sarah grinned back, ¡°What did you say to the Commander, I know he wasn¡¯t too happy.¡±
¡°He wasn¡¯t happy because his little kingdom away from oversight just got reeled back within range of Earth. He doesn¡¯t want to give it up. What he doesn¡¯t understand, what I don¡¯t think any of you have realized yet is that if I can make Portals to Mars, I can make them to other places too. There will be plenty of other places to go to get away from Earth if that is someone¡¯s desire.¡±
¡°I can see that, do you have other places that you can visit.¡±
¡°Of course, if you decide that you¡¯d like to try a different line of employment send me a message. You¡¯ll be able to find the link under CEO Portals INC. Then we can discuss alternate travel destinations,¡± Adam said with a smile.
¡°I¡¯ll do that,¡± Sarah said as the Commander walked up to Adam
¡°Adam, I am to give you every courtesy. It seems that you make people in high places very nervous.¡±
¡°That is something that I do. Now that you¡¯re willing to listen. Another building will be attached to the main building. It will have two Airlocks, one to enter the base and another larger one that leads outside. I wanted you to be able to bring materials and even vehicles here from Earth if you wish to. The portal will change locations from the old airlock to the new one after the News Crew leaves.
¡°Is there anything else I should know?¡± Commander Martin asked.
¡°No, but I could order Pizza and have it delivered for the whole crew if you wish. How long has it been since any of you have had Earth Food?¡±
¡°It¡¯ll make it through your Quarantine procedures?¡± The Commander asked.
¡°Commander and Sarah, this part is not for public consumption, at least not yet. The decontamination is performed by nanotechnology. The pizza will be absolutely fine once the nanites kill all the germs and bacteria on it.¡±
¡°You can control nanotech?¡± The Commander asked.
¡°Among other things,¡± Adam said.
¡°Very well, pizza for everyone here would be a nice change,¡± he said.
¡°Thor if you wouldn¡¯t mind cross-correlating what everyone likes and dislikes and create the pizzas in the main room, please¡±
¡°Who is Thor?¡± Sarah asked.
¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, just watch,¡± Adam said as various types of pizza with names on the boxes started appearing.
When 39 boxes of pizza appeared the commander turned to Adam, ¡°You really are controlling nanites aren¡¯t you?
Adam just nodded then said, ¡°How about we get your people down here and dig in? Also, if you have any ideas on how you¡¯d like to expand the base I¡¯d love to hear them. It would take almost no effort to expand the base and give everyone a little more room.
¡°We may just take you up on that offer Adam,¡± the Commander said as he took a pizza box with his name on it. Adam handed Sara her box of pizza and he took his own. Just then other crew members started making their way into the room, looking for a box with their name on it. In addition, Adam provided beer which mysteriously appeared in the airlock. Pretty soon everyone had a beer, and some pizza and was chatting about what was going on back on Earth. Even Elizabeth Day stopped asking questions and just enjoyed the company of men and women that had been far from home for so long.
Chapter 195, Demenstrations
Elizabeth Day couldn¡¯t believe how today had turned out. She was actually sitting on Mars eating pizza with people that hadn¡¯t been on Earth for over a year. She also had two of her crew members with her. Paula, a younger woman from Virginia, fresh out of college, and Robert, or Bob to his friends, who was an old hat that had been with WNN for over 20 years.
¡°Commander Martin,¡± Elizabeth Day said as she looked at the International Mars Base Commander, ¡°If Portals Inc can do as Adam said it can do, what are your thoughts on the ability to take a break from Mars and relax on Earth for a bit?¡±
¡°Well Ms. Day, first I¡¯d like to thank Adam for the Pizza and Beer, I¡¯m sure everyone here really appreciates the change after the limited choices we have here,¡± Commander Martin said as he raised his Beer to Adam who returned the gesture with his beer. Robert, of course, had set up his camera on a tripod which caught the exchange and the overwhelming agreement that came in from everyone within earshot.
The Commander waited for the commotion to calm down before he continued, ¡°If Portals Inc. can provide a stable connection to Earth we would be fools not to accept the offer. We will have to look at acclimation, logistics, and security for those getting to and from Mars. The only immediate concern I can think of though is cost. There is always a price, what is Portals Inc going to charge us?¡± Commander Martian asked looking pointedly at Adam.
Adam laughed, ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re not an Accountant Commander?¡± Adam asked lightheartedly as he held up his hand to forestall any response, ¡°It is a fair question that I am happy to respond to. First, Ms. Day are you still recording?¡±
¡°Yes Adam,¡± she said.
¡°Very good, this next part people are going to want to listen to, I might even add a stunt of sorts.¡±
¡°A stunt,¡±
¡°Just let your producers know they need to do their break, you know what never mind,¡± he said as Everyone that was carrying a smartphone had their phones ping with a notification chime.
Elizabeth reached for her phone and read the notification.
¡°Tune into WNN News right now for a live update from Elizabeth Day on Mars, that¡¯s right folks, she¡¯s on Mars right now!¡±
Elizabeth held up her phone and turned the screen to Adam, ¡°Did you do that?¡± she asked as others around the room displayed the same message.
Adam nodded, ¡°Yeah that was me,¡± he said
Commander Martin looked at his phone, looked at the time stamp then looked at Adam, ¡°Okay, I have to ask, how did you get my phone to get the same message she did, there¡¯s just over a 9-minute lag to Earth for communication. When we talk right now it¡¯ll be almost 19 minutes before I get an answer to a question.¡±
Adam pointed toward the new airlock,¡± Once you run a communication cable through the portals. Connectors and cables are built in. You¡¯ll be able to plug directly into the internet and have immediate communication with Earth. As for how I got your phones to do that trick, let¡¯s just say the same thing that keeps people from resorting to violence can be utilized to send messages to whomever I want to?¡±
¡°Wait, are you saying you are responsible for what has happened around the world?¡± Elizabeth Day asked.
¡°We¡¯ll get to that. If my data is correct, and it is, you should be receiving a message to go in a second or two,¡± Adam said.
Just then the earpiece she wore that allowed her to talk to her Producer filled her left ear with the voice of Joseph Stevenson, ¡°Don¡¯t know how you did it Lizzy but our numbers have never been higher. Just follow this Adam guy and let¡¯s see where he leads you.¡±
Elizabeth plastered a fake smile on her face, He knew how much she hated to be called Lizzy, then nodded at the Camera. Turning to Adam she said, ¡°Everything is ready on our end Adam we¡¯re ready whenever you are.
¡°Good evening Earth!, ¡°Adam said as he grinned into the Camera. Some of you have seen me before and others haven¡¯t. Right now I¡¯m on Mars with Elizabeth Day promoting my new company Portals Inc which is going to provide, free of charge, access for scientists and explorers that want to visit Mars. The access is instantaneous and will make travel to and from both cheaper and quicker.¡±
¡°Before the message went out letting everyone know to tune in, Commander Martian asked you what the cost would be, as everything has a cost. I¡¯m sure those commercial agencies that depended on the contracts to get products from Earth to Mars are wondering how they¡¯re going to turn a profit in the upcoming years with transportation costs being almost non-existent. Which begs the question, how are you supplying the energy that maintains the portals you¡¯re creating?¡± Elizabeth Day asked.
¡°I¡¯m so glad you asked that question Elizabeth. First, as everyone may or may not know a major change has shifted reality. That shift is the Interface that everyone now has that keeps issuing its updates. What many of you don¡¯t know is that the Interface is literally proof that magic exists.¡±
¡°Are you talking about the free food around the planet and the fact that anyone that tries to initiate an act of violence finds themselves nude?¡± Elizabeth asked.
¡°Actually, no, the mechanism that is pulling that off is nanotechnology.¡±
¡°What is nanotechnology?¡± Elizabeth asked.
¡°Basically, there are machines smaller than you can see in everything, everywhere in the solar system.¡±
¡°What?¡± Commander Martian interrupted. ¡°Do you know how dangerous that is?¡±
¡°Actually. I do Commander. but we can talk about that offline in a minute. Besides, where do you think the Pizza and Beer came from?¡±
The Commander lifted his beer,¡± The nanites created this beer?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Adam said as the world watched the liquid in the beer refill from nothing.
¡°You just told them to refill my beer?¡± The Commander said amazed and horrified. I don¡¯t think I can drink it now.
¡°There¡¯s nothing to worry about Commander, the Solar System has had nanites throughout it for a little while now.¡±
¡°I think we¡¯re getting a little off-track Adam,¡± Elizabeth said as she tried to steer him back, ¡°Are you saying that you are responsible for the various leaders of the world being unable to clothe themselves and the pink bunny suits various people in cold climates have been recorded in?¡± She asked.
Adam laughed, ¡°Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. To answer your question directly, technically yes. I left an A.I. in charge of nanotechnology as I was busy handling a possible alien invasion. It has a lot of experience handling situations like this. We¡¯ve tried the I¡¯m going to be a dictator and you¡¯ll do what I say approach before, but that didn¡¯t work out so well before, so we went with a more hands-off approach this time. We¡¯re letting people do what they want so long as what they want doesn¡¯t hurt other people,¡± Adam said.
¡°How could you have done this before, are you implying that you¡¯re a time traveler and that you¡¯re going through a Ground Hog Day moment?¡± Elizabeth asked.
¡°Time Travel? I like how your mind thinks Ms. Day. No, no time travel. As far as I¡¯ve seen I can only slow time down a bit on a personal scale, or speed myself up so fast that everything else seems to slow down, not really sure which it is. Anyway, I was going to save this for later, but I guess this is as good a time as any, I am now the Primary shareholder of Labyrinth LLC,¡± Adam said.
¡°You¡¯re serious? And why is your being the CEO of Labyrinth LLC important? It¡¯s a failed company that millions of people died playing?¡± she said bitterly. She should know, her baby brother had been one of those that never woke up.
¡°A look of realization crossed Adam¡¯s face as his eyes glazed over for a second then he was back. I¡¯m sorry Ms. Day I hadn¡¯t realized that your brother was one of the souls everyone here thought lost.¡±
¡°What are you talking about?¡± she asked a little frustrated, ¡°Lost Souls, what does that have to do with anything?¡±
¡°I will get there, I promise, ¡°Adam said placatingly. ¡°First magic is real. The addition of the Interface to everyone as well as the emergence of Dungeons and their link to the Labyrinth should be proof enough. If not, I will provide proof later with a demonstration of what nifty magic powers look like with the caveat that I am the point zero, zero, zero, a butt ton of more zeros, one percent exception to the way magic normally works. It is very unlikely that anyone else will be able to do everything I can, though they might learn aspects of the abilities I have,¡± Adam said as he paused to take a drink of his beer.
¡°So how does magic explain anything?¡± Elizabeth asked.
¡°In the simplest way I know how to put it, magic screwed things up for Labyrinth LLC. The business model for the company was sound. Create a game people could download their minds into and live in a virtual reality that had anything they could program into it. They even created a fully sentient A.I. to oversee the game world and had everything ready to go. Then they had this crazy idea to utilize this new technology that looked like something out of Syfy. Someone had figured out how to store energy with almost zero cost and then pull it back out.¡±
¡°You¡¯re talking about the quantum battery project that was canceled because the amount of power that could be drawn out almost always ended up being less than what was put in,¡± Commander Martian said.
¡°Exactly!¡± Adam confirmed, ¡°The engineers looked at the data and wondered if the quantum storage location could hold a matrix instead of just energy and if it could if they could connect to it. Their trials worked and The Game was created.¡±
¡°Which eventually killed my little brother,¡± Elizabeth said.
¡°No, it didn¡¯t, or more precisely I should say that the mind of your brother and everyone else in the game survived.¡±
Elizabeth lost her composure as she said, ¡°Horseshit!¡±
¡°What no one on Earth could have realized was that the reason the Battery project always failed was that the scientists and engineers hadn¡¯t accessed a quantum location or realm that could store power. They had accessed a nascent Universe just as the big bang was happening. The attempts to store energy failed because the energy dispersed. When the Engineers tried to imprint a matrix on the forming Universe it set the rules for that universe and created a holographic Universe run by the rules the A.I. put in place.¡±
¡°Wait, are you saying that The Game was actually in another universe?¡± Commander Martin asked.
¡°Kind of,¡± Adam said. ¡°The Game was another Universe. In that Universe, Earth existed, much as was back in 2020 as well as other aspects more related to the game aspect.¡±
¡°I remember looking into it, they didn¡¯t want us messing with it when we were prepping for this mission, something about altering brain activity.
¡°It wouldn¡¯t have altered your brain activity unless you were disconnected like everyone was when the aliens destroyed the original Universe the Game was set up in.
¡°You just said that they¡¯re not dead?¡± Elizabeth said.
¡°And they aren¡¯t¡± Adam confirmed. ¡°When the Universe was attacked by an Alien Empire known as the Pelza the A.I. put into motion a plan to save as many souls as it could by creating several backup copies of the Game in other Universes. I have been working with the A.I. to recover those Souls.¡±
¡°How do you know so much about the A.I. and the Game Universe?¡± Elizabeth asked.
¡°Well, you know how Massively Multiplayer Games have Non-Player Characters in them?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Elizabeth said.
¡°Well because the game had been set up inside a real Universe the A.I. ran simulations of multiple versions of history based on the real world. This led to the creation of people who had families that lived for generations and existed just like the people out here do. The people plugging into the game thought of them as NPCs when they could remember that they were in a game but that didn¡¯t happen all that often as the A.I. had become very good at bringing people from the outside into the Game. A common tactic would have been¡ Let¡¯s take you, for example, Ms. Day.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
¡°Okay, although I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any way the A.I. could fool me into believing that the game was real,¡± she said.
Adam smiled,¡± The first step would be for you to download your mind into the game. The A.I. would then lock out the memories of your life, give you some false ones and introduce you to The Game. You wouldn¡¯t be able to recognize that you were in the game because you¡¯d have no memory of the real world or anything about being in a game.
¡°And you?¡±
¡°I was born inside the Original Game Universe before it was destroyed by the Pelza Empire.¡±
¡°You were born in The Game. You expect everyone to believe that.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t care what anyone believes. It¡¯s where I was from. Of course, this brings us to the magic is real part. I¡¯m not going to go into the ins and outs of magic, though I may help, or hire someone to help. So the game was created inside a real universe and that real universe was affected by real magic which corrupted the matrix of the Game. I was inside that corrupted sector of the Game and was directly affected by it. Because of this, I retained certain qualities or abilities when I was drawn into this Universe.¡±
¡°You do realize how insane this sounds don¡¯t you,¡± Elizabeth Day.
Adam nodded, smiled, and stood, ¡°Who here would like to go to another planet in another Solar System? I¡¯ll leave the Portal open so you can come right back. Gravity is Earth standard, or so close it doesn¡¯t matter so those of you acclimated to Mars might find it tiring but I¡¯ll have you back here before you wear yourselves out. Also, the reason that you don¡¯t have to worry about contaminating a biosphere is that like Mars and Earth, my nanites are in everything. Any germs¡¡± Adam trailed off for a moment.
Adam turned to look at the Cameral Bob was holding, ¡°Haven¡¯t any of you wondered why you haven¡¯t been sick for a while or the miraculous recoveries that have happened all over Earth? Not one person has died of Cancer since the nanites covered the planet, plastics in the oceans have disappeared and the landfills have all been converted. They¡¯re still producing natural gas where necessary because I have nanites producing the natural gas or methane. Anyway, Elizabeth, Paula, Robert, and whoever else wants to come, if you¡¯d follow me,¡± Adam said as a new portal opened onto what looked like an empty city street.
Elizabeth, Paula, and Bob stepped through with Commander Martian and a few others close behind. Bob swept the camera around to take everything in as everyone looked around gawking at the empty streets and buildings. Before anyone could utter a question, Adam floated up above them and moved so that as they looked at him they noticed the Red Star behind him which was much larger than the Sun of Earth. Adam flew down and landed in front of Elizabeth, Robert tracking him with the camera the whole way.
Elizabeth recovered quickly and asked, ¡°Where are we?¡±
You are currently standing in the Headquarters City for what will be known as the Resurrection Project for everyone that died while connected to the Game. As I said they¡¯re not dead, but they don¡¯t have bodies in this Universe and I¡¯ll need to create new ones for them.
¡°You can create bodies?¡± Elizabeth said skeptically.
Adam waved his hand for dramatic effect as a duplicate of himself formed out of nothing beside him. It only took moments.
Then he pointed to his opposite side and another duplicate of him appeared. Both stood there, eyes open and vacant, ¡°The first copy was created with the nanites, the second with magic,¡± Adam said as he spread his hands and both bodies evaporated, ¡°Nanites just broke down both bodies.
¡°And we are,¡± Elizabeth asked leadingly.
¡°We are on Trappest-1e 39.6 light years from Earth,¡± Adam said.
¡°Your portals have that kind of range?¡±
¡°Oh yes¡±, Adam said as he turned to the Commander, ¡°Commander Martian I¡¯d offer for you to stay with us but I think you have a lot of people waiting to talk to you, in fact, I know you do. Once everything is settled people will be allowed to visit, but for now, I¡¯m going to ask for you and those that came with you to head back to Mars. The Portal to Earth has already moved to the new airlock and the new door to it should be done forming. Remember any modifications you¡¯d like done, just let me know. Also, waste and environmental supplies are automatically being recovered or replenished and the structure repaired. You can double-check of course but it¡¯s not going to fail on you
The Commander nodded then stuck out his hand, ¡°Thank you, Adam. I would love to sit down and have a conversation with you when things settle down?¡±
¡°Things never settle down around me, but I¡¯ll keep that in mind,¡± Adam said then turned to Sarah Conner who was looking at one of the buildings, ¡°You take care of yourself as well Sarah.¡±
¡°Come with me if you want to live?¡± She asked rhetorically, ¡°You should have said, ¡°Come with me if you want to be continuously surprised over and over.¡±
Adam smiled, ¡°At least you haven¡¯t been bored since those four Pelza Commandos attacked.
¡°They were from that Alien Empire?¡± Sarah asked.
¡°Yep,¡± Adam confirmed.
¡°Do we need to worry about them?¡±
¡°I was going to tell Elizabeth this part in a little bit but since you asked and Robert is recording anyway, there are much more powerful empires and beings than any of you can imagine. One of those empires was very angry with the Pelza Empire. These other aliens utilized their alien nanites to revert the Pelza Empire, which was probably 1,000 years ahead of humanity back to the Steam age and they will remain there for a very long time. The technology they utilized to destroy the Universe of my Birth, or The Game Universe, is a prohibited technology. As for the Emperor, he¡¯ll never bother Earth again, I snapped his neck.
¡°You killed him?¡±
¡°Oh yeah. I have morals, that asshole killed an unconscionable number of sentient lives. He died.
¡°You can¡¯t just kill people,¡± Sarah said.
Adam looked right at the Camera Robert was holding and said in a very firm deliberate voice, ¡°Yes, Yes I can.¡± After pausing for a second he continued in a much more happy tone, ¡°But only those that cross me and mine. Best that people remember that when the restriction on violence is lifted. But you need to get going, my nanites are already telling me that your body is struggling. You all are going to need to acclimate back to Earth slowly. My nanites will keep you alive and I could have them take away the aches and pains but that¡¯s not what they¡¯re for. Just take your time and enjoy your trips home when you get them.¡±
¡°You¡¯re a weird one Adam but again, thank you for saving my life.
¡°No issues. I¡¯d say have a nice trip, but look you¡¯re already there, ¡° he said as she stepped through the portal.¡± Adam said as he smiled at her and the portal closed. Adam turned to find Elizabeth Day looking at him.
¡°Did you really kill the Emperor of an Alien Empire?¡± Elizabeth Day asked.
¡°As I told the United Nations, I created enough Antimatter to destroy the Khau¡¯ting empire. They¡¯re the race that was responsible for the destruction of Atlantis and the subjugation and slaughter of the citizens of that Empire. Yeah, they¡¯re dead, not losing sleep over it. Also, I killed the emperor of the Pelza Empire just before his entire empire was put on a time-out, which reminds me, I have an undead asshole I need to go say high too.¡±
¡°Do you make sense to anyone you talk to, ¡°Elizabeth asked.
¡°I don¡¯t know. Why don¡¯t you follow me and find out,¡± Adam said as he headed toward the glass doors of a building they were standing next to.
Adam led them through the doors to a set of elevators. Now I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that Al, that¡¯s the A.I. that is finding all the minds of those whose bodies died. Anyway, Al was able to find your brother but your brother doesn¡¯t want to leave yet.¡±
¡°What do you mean he doesn¡¯t want to leave.¡±
¡°Inside the game, people can live full lives. It would seem that your brother has a woman that he loves and a couple of children,¡± Adam said.
¡°Then where are we going?¡± Elizabeth asked.
¡°I have a couple of rooms set up where the family will be able to visit and see how their children or loved ones are doing until they¡¯re ready to come back to the real world. In some cases, they¡¯ll even be able to talk to them, like you will be able to talk to your brother.¡±
¡°How do you know he doesn¡¯t want to come back?¡± Elizabeth asked.
¡°Because Al asked him. It seems that your brother wanted a version of life that was really close to the real world so he¡¯s on a mirror Earth a little farther in the future. The A.I. pulled his mind into a limbo of sorts and unlocked his memories to ask if he¡¯d like to come home. He said no. Then Al asked if he¡¯d like to talk to you and he said sure. So, we¡¯re heading to a room where you can have a conversation.¡± Adam said
Elizabeth followed Adam out of the Elevator and into a room that had glass paneling that looked into a small white cube of a room with a single door, ¡°Robert and Paula, the three of us are going to go elsewhere. This is for Elizabeth and her brother.
¡°What do I do?¡± Elizabeth asked
¡°Step into the room. You will not be with your brother but the A.I. will simulate your presence to him and the nanites in the room will render an almost solid image of him as he talks to you. Be warned that he will not look like the brother you know and as far as he¡¯s concerned he¡¯s still in the game. You can explain what¡¯s going on if you want but for your peace of mind, I would focus on verifying it is your little brother. What comes after will be up to him.¡±
¡°Elizabeth walked to the door that led into the small room stepped inside and watched as an almost holographic replica of an older gentleman she didn¡¯t recognize looked at her, his eyes widened and he moved to hug her which passed right through her as he said excitedly, ¡°Lizzy!¡±
***
Adam led Robert and Paula out of the room and back to the elevators. As they walked Adam said, ¡°Robert, just so you know, your camera stopped working when we exited the elevator. It¡¯s not going to start working again until we¡¯re on the roof. You¡¯ll probably get questions about it, it was me.¡±
¡°How is that even possible, we¡¯re on another planet?¡± Robert asked.
¡°Well, the nanites in your camera are transmitting through quantum entanglement to another set of nanites that are sending the information to your Producer.¡±
¡°Where are we going now?¡± Paula asked.
¡°I¡¯m going to take you to my spaceship. I don¡¯t have a spaceship yet but I¡¯m going to make one really quick, and then I¡¯m going to get you two on board and we¡¯re going to go fly around this solar system so you can have some footage of a Red Dwarf star. There are a lot of people that are about to become incredibly jealous,¡± Adam said as the elevator opened and they stepped out onto the roof.
Adam activated Flight and went straight up into orbit where he used Mold Chaos to create a perfect replica of a Lexi scout ship that could carry a crew of 12. While he¡¯d met the Lexi in the SYSTEM Matrix their ship design worked in the real world. He teleported inside and then had Thor create a portal for Robert and Paula to board the ship.
¡°You just flew up into space, without a spaceship,¡± Paula said.
¡°Yeah, I created this ship out of thin, scratch that there¡¯s no air up here. I just created this ship out of nothing but magic too,¡± Adam said.
¡°If we¡¯re in space, why does it feel like normal gravity,¡± Robert asked.
¡°There¡¯s artificial gravity built into the ship. Now grab a seat and keep that camera handy. The reason I picked this ship is that it was a scout ship used by a race of aggressive aliens I once ran into.¡±
Adam waited until they were seated and he¡¯d buckled them in before he took the pilot¡¯s seat and activated Technomancy to take control of the ship. He looked back at the Camera Robert was holding as he continued, ¡°This is a scout ship I ran across, the reason I had you strap in is that you can get kind of disoriented when a certain function is activated,¡± Adam said as the entire ship around them disappeared and they seemed to be floating in space.
¡°What,¡± Paula said, a hint of fear in her voice.
¡°How?¡± Robert said.
¡°It takes a little bit to get used to. Some holographic transmitters are providing what the outside of the hull is recording directly into your eyes.
¡°The Camera is not going to pick that up,¡± Robert said.
¡°It is. The nanites that are part of your optical nerve are converting what you see directly into a signal that is being spliced into your camera. Whatever your looking at the people back on Earth watching are seeing.
¡°How do you know how to do everything that you¡¯re doing?¡± Paula asked.
¡°That is a very good question Paula but I think we¡¯ll get back to flying around the solar system,¡± Adam said as he had the ship do a flyby around the moon, come back toward the planet, and then head toward the star. He made sure to shield the input from the massive light coming off the Star and took the ship as close as he could without stressing it too badly. There were four other planets relatively close to the Red Dwarf that Adam flew them by. As they were approaching the fourth planet, it was the next one in from Trappist-1e, the ship slowed and the stars faded as the cabin reappeared and a portal appeared and Elizabeth stepped through.
¡°A ship?¡± Elizabeth asked.
¡°A ship. Please take a seat and we¡¯ll continue the tour of Trappist-1d,¡± Adam said as he helped Elizabeth buckle in, the stars reappeared, causing her to gasp.
¡°Don¡¯t sweat it Elizabeth,¡± Robert said. ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it in a minute
¡°I hope so,¡± Elizabeth said as the ship accelerated toward a planet in the distance.
Adam took the ship on a flyby of the planet, turned it toward Star, and took it as close as he dared.
¡°Now as we sit here in space, this is the part all of you watching from Earth have been waiting for,¡± Adam said as he teleported into space in front of the ship with the star behind him. He also had the scout lock onto him and picked a point for the scout to reacquire him after 10 seconds when he disappeared.
¡°He¡¯s outside the ship right?¡± Paula asked
¡°Adam what are you doing, Elizabeth asked.
Adam had his voice come through the speakers as he slowly started floating away from the ship, ¡°Every time I try to help people or help my friends or family there is some joker or group of jokers that don¡¯t believe I¡¯m as powerful as I say I am. This is the part where I tell you about magic. My inherent nature makes me immune to pretty much every environment. As you can see we¡¯re in a vacuum, to really drive this home how outclassed anyone that comes after me is, I¡¯m going to fly into that star behind me. Here¡¯s the thing, If I die, I¡¯ll be right back, but I¡¯m not going to die and I¡¯ve preprogrammed the ship to acquire me exiting from the corona of the star. So, be back in a few seconds,¡± Adam said as he turned and flew toward the star.
Adam increased his speed and flew down to the surface of the star as he flew around it and then back toward the Scout Ship. Adam of course listened to what was being said.
¡°How is he doing that?¡± Paula asked.
¡°He flew to the surface, I could see it. He flew into the Plasma and it did nothing to him,¡± Robert said.
¡°Adam as I understand things you can still hear us correct?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Adam¡¯s voice said through the speakers.
¡°How are you doing that?¡± Elizabeth asked.
¡°Crash course on magic it is then,¡± Adam¡¯s voice said with a chuckle. ¡°Magic is an expression of your soul. When you unlock a magic ability what ability you may acquire is influenced by your soul. In my case, one of the abilities I unlocked is called Adaption. It allows me to adapt to any environment. Another ability I picked up is Flight and yet another lets me create items like the ship you¡¯re sitting in.¡±
¡°So the nanites are just something you thought up and created with magic?¡± Elizabeth asked.
¡°No. I actually created nanotechnology the long drawn out way. It took a couple of years. Nanotechnology led me down the path that eventually brought me here though.
¡°So why are you showing us this?¡± Elizabeth asked
The blackness of space receded and the ship was once again around them as Adam teleported into the ship in front of Elizabeth and Robert.
¡°First, I wanted to show the world what magic and technology are capable of. The ship you are in is not within the technological capabilities of humanity yet, I do understand the technology and I do understand its dangers. As soon as we¡¯re done here the ship will be destroyed but I am definitely willing to work with the people of Earth to begin the next phase of the planet¡¯s expansion and growth. Second, The Russians and Chinese are even now trying to infiltrate my servers and find any information they can about me. What they need to understand is like this,
Adam snapped his fingers, ¡°SNAP!¡±
¡°Every single electrical outlet in China and Russia just shut off. The only way the leaders there know what I¡¯ve done is that holographic projections appeared in front of them showing me talking to you. Like this,¡±
Adam snapped his fingers again, ¡°SNAP!¡±
¡°Their power can come back on. I will be dropping by to talk with the United Nations again, I expect that the gathering will be explosive after today¡¯s revelations,¡± Adam paused for a second as he considered what to say, ¡°Should be fun.¡±
Chapter 196, The Majority Has Spoken
¡°Explosive?¡± Elizabeth Day said, ¡°You just admitted to violating the rights of every person on Earth as well as the murder of¡do you even know how many people of the Khau¡¯ting you murdered?¡± She paused for a second before continuing. ¡°Now don¡¯t get me wrong, I am appreciative of the fact that you found a way to bring my brother back to me or at least an avenue that could lead to that eventually but to take away people¡¯s dignity by stripping them every time they¡¯re violent.¡±
¡°Personally, I think it¡¯s kind of funny,¡± Adam said.
¡°It¡¯s not funny!¡± Elizabeth said.
¡°What alternatives are there?¡± Adam asked back.
¡°You could have let things play out, punished them after,¡± Elizabeth said.
¡°True, but think on this, in the case of national conflicts a lot of people were going to die. The Iranians and the Chinese were moving on India. So, their soldiers lost their Uniforms and all of their equipment dissolved around them. No one was hurt and I made sure that any possible sunburns were healed as well as provided food and water for the long walks back.¡±
¡°So, might makes right?¡± Elizabeth asked.
¡°Absolutely not. From my point of view, it was the least invasive way with the least amount of bloodshed,¡± Adam said.
¡°You just said you wiped out one empire and destroyed the emperor of another?¡± Elizabeth Day pointed out.
In the first case, the Khau¡¯ting had turned Atlanteans and humans into cattle which they farmed for sport. This is not hearsay, they tried to hunt me. Additionally, there is a weakness between our Universes at the dimensional boundary. As I was¡. You know what, Disclaimer folks, if you have young children please have them avert their eyes from this broadcast in about sixty seconds I¡¯m going to show you all what the Khau¡¯ting were doing as they brought me in to answer for my ¡®Crimes¡¯¡±.
¡°What do you mean you¡¯re going to show us?¡± Elizabeth asked.
¡°One of my other abilities is that I have perfect memory. Everything I¡¯ve seen, heard, tasted, touched, or smelled can be brought back to my recollection perfectly. With the link I¡¯ve created to the nanites I can download such images directly into Robert¡¯s Camera and your viewers can see what I saw. It should be noted that I did not decide to destroy that Empire until I saw what they were doing and why. First, you must understand that the Khau¡¯ting were monsters, both in the physical form and in morality. As we made our way into the bubble that housed their Empire the vessel I was in pulled up along an underwater ridge where the remaining Atlantis survivors and humans were lined up and killed before being thrown to the crabs below. The children were dragged underwater and thrown into nets where they were drowned.¡±
¡°That sounds unbelievable,¡± Elizabeth said hesitantly.
¡°Unbelievable or not here are the first-hand images of what I saw,¡± Adam said as the atrocities of the Khau¡¯ting empire were broadcast across the world. Adam only let the images go for 30 seconds before they were replaced by Robert¡¯s camera feed. ¡°What I saw at that moment convinced me that true evil existed and that their Empire needed to die. Of course, the other reason was that the fissure between our Universes was going to open again, and humanity would have had no chance against them. I¡¯m not going to go into the specifics because some changes have been made due to the Interface being added but basically, the Khau¡¯ting were each at least 28 times more powerful than the strongest human on Earth.
¡°They were super aliens?¡± Elizabeth asked.
¡°That¡¯s one way of putting it, just remember to add the word Evil. Now as for Pelza Empire. For the most part, they¡¯re made up of humans that are just about as powerful as the Khau¡¯ting and a lot of their citizens weren¡¯t evil assholes so instead of trying to wipe them out, I just punished their Emperor and let his son know not to screw around. Of course, another Empire, much more powerful than either Earth or the Pelza was quite unhappy with the destruction of multiple Universes, so they took other measures. Unlike me, or I should say like me now, they removed the ability for the Pelza Empire to do anything drastic, though they didn¡¯t add a violence restriction.¡±
¡°How long are they going to restrict the Pelza Empire for?¡± Elizabeth asked.
¡°The Pelza Empire has been restricted on what technology they can create and use for the next 2.7 million years.
Paula, Robert, and Elizabeth all coughed as Elizabeth asked, ¡°How do you know that?¡±
¡°Dr. Brittle, the one that disappeared right before everyone died in The Game, Yeah that Dr. Brittle. Dr. Brittle was an agent for the Pelza Empire. It¡¯s how they acquired the targeting data to destroy the Universe I was born in. Anyway, I found her on Earth the other day locked down by the Eterium nanites. The Eterium are the ¡®aliens¡¯ humanity doesn¡¯t want to piss off. Anyway, I talked with her and then returned her to her home world.¡±
¡°Still, 2.7 million years?¡±
¡°It¡¯s a long time, I know,¡± Adam said but you have to understand, which I don¡¯t think everyone that is watching this has thought about. The nanites that are on earth right now can cure disease, fix the damage that your body takes, and repair, and replace, any body parts that fail. Effectively everyone alive now could be immortal. Of course, if that technology were to fall into the wrong hands then you could have problems. That is why I need to sit down and talk with the United Nations, and we need to start putting Earth on a path to a prosperous future.¡±
¡°Prosperous for you?¡± Elizabeth asked.
¡°I don¡¯t need any help to have prosperity. I can create anything I need, make whatever I want, and travel anywhere I want to go. No, I¡¯m speaking about making sure that humanity from the world that created my version of it has a path to prosperity. Call it me wanting to balance Karma, make amends, pay my debts, whatever,¡± Adam said.
¡°So, when will you remove the Violence restriction?¡± Elizabeth asked.
¡°I¡¯ll tell you what, I¡¯ll put it up for a vote, none of this electoral college bullshit either. Every single person worldwide will have a screen pop up in front of them with a simple question. There will be two boxes, whichever box you touch first is your vote. The A.I. will be tracking the tally. If a decision isn¡¯t made within one minute your vote is counted as abstained. Then majority rules, whatever the majority of those that did not abstain chooses will be what happens moments later. Also, so no one can intimidate anyone else. Where the voting prompts will be in the area around them will be in random locations for each person. So don¡¯t worry about others knowing what you voted for. The only person that will know is me and my A.I.¡±
¡°Are you sure¡¡± Elizabeth started to say as prompts appeared in front of everyone worldwide. Adam accomplished this by having the images downloaded into their vision. So no one could see anyone else prompts.
Would you like the ban on violence to continue or would you like to be able to make your own choices, Yes or No?
Yes is a vote to end the ban on violence.
No is a vote to continue things as they are currently.
Please choose within 1 minute. If no choice is made a vote of abstention will be counted for you.
Robert, Paula, and Elizabeth all quickly moved to touch invisible buttons in a different location and then looked up at Adam.
¡°Very interesting,¡± Elizabeth Day said, ¡°What about people without limbs or sight?¡±
¡°Everyone on the planet is getting the opportunity to vote, except for me. In those cases where the person was either sleeping or has a disability they are being woken up and asked the question or put into a dream and asked the question where they can respond. Because of those that were sleeping, the response will take a little longer than 1 minute but everyone, once they see or hear the question gets one minute to answer. Adam had three columns appear in the air. One column for ¡°Yes¡±, one for ¡°No¡±, and one column for those that wished to ¡°Abstain¡±. They watched as the Yes column quickly grew to 78% while the No column claimed a strong 13%. 9% chose to abstain.
¡°Will you abide by the results of this?¡± Elizabeth asked.
¡°Absolutely. As I said, I wasn¡¯t here when it was instituted. My A.I. was handling things and implementing the policy before I returned. Not that I disagree, but I think it was funny as hell watching armies lose all their equipment and clothes when I did return. I¡¯ll understand if the majority of people want to be able to make their own choices, mistakes, and all. Besides, I don¡¯t plan to sit around and babysit them,¡± Adam said.
¡°What about the nanites?¡± Elizabeth asked.
¡°For now, they stay. They¡¯re doing a lot of good around the planet and I¡¯m sure everyone is enjoying the health-related benefits,¡± Adam said.
¡°I guess that¡¯s true,¡± She agreed begrudgingly.
Additionally, I¡¯d like to point out that any crimes that are committed are recorded and known to myself and the A.I. immediately. If the vote removes the ban on violence and people start getting stupid again the individual that committed the crime as well as anyone involved in the planning of the crime will be disclosed to the authorities that have jurisdiction. For the record, I see myself and all of my interests for the planet as outside the normal judicial structure of any court on Earth. Any transgressions against myself or my interests will be dealt with immediately and documentation will be provided to any governments that such actions might include.¡±
¡°Are you saying you don¡¯t recognize the laws of the countries on Earth?¡±
¡°I am saying this. If you leave me alone, I¡¯ll leave you alone, if you do not, ¡®Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes¡¯
¡°You think yourself untouchable then?¡± Elizabeth asked.
¡°Oh no, I¡¯ve been killed, disintegrated, tortured, hurt, and ripped apart at the subatomic level. Every time I come back stronger. Maybe one of these times I won¡¯t come back but hey, what is life without a little mystery?¡±
The Columns hovering in the air flashed green ¡°Yes% 79% ¡°No¡± 12% and ¡°Abstain¡± 9%
¡°Looks like you have an answer,¡± Elizabeth said.
¡°I do. Before I make the change I would like to reiterate to everyone watching that everything that happens on Earth is recorded and archived. If you commit a crime there will be a record of it. A record you can¡¯t get to and a record that will be immediately handed over to law enforcement. If your law enforcement agencies fail to follow up and punish those that have committed the crimes that is your problem. A major majority of the planet agreed that you all want to be free of this oversight so you will be.¡±
Adam paused for a moment to let that sink in then continued, ¡°Shortly, I will be announcing immigration from Earth to Trappist-1e to set up the infrastructure here. The rules will follow those of The United States for the most part and like Earth is right now violence will not be tolerated and will immediately be responded to by the nanites. I will be the government of Trappist-1e so my word will be law. Full benefits and salaries will be provided when the call goes out for those that are looking for a new job. That said, the people of Earth have spoken. All individuals currently held in stasis are being clothed and released. Violence will not be responded to by the nanites in any other fashion save the recording,¡± Adam said.
¡°So that¡¯s it?¡± Elizabeth asked.
¡°That¡¯s it. By the Way, The first act of violence goes to Conner Brooks in Ireland,¡± An image of Conner slapping the hell out of his friend appeared in the air beside Adam. ¡°Conner is currently at a pub and wanted to test me at my word and didn¡¯t believe he¡¯s being watched,¡± Adam said as he laughed. ¡°Now he¡¯s famous!¡±
¡°That he is, you¡¯re sure he was the first?¡± Elizabeth asked.
¡°Oh yes, there were quite a few others around the world that happened almost simultaneously, but Conner was already swinging and slapped his buddy Jory Banton as I said ¡®That¡¯s it¡¯ There¡¯s a camera that caught the whole thing, I¡¯ll let you talk to the proprietor of the bar to get the footage,¡± Adam said.
¡°We¡¯ll definitely look into it,¡± Elizabeth said.
¡°Can we fly back to Earth on this ship?¡± Robert asked.
¡°We could. The journey would take just over 13 days. Its equivalent speed is right around Warp 4, Star Trek Generations¡¯ definition of Warp. To get how fast we¡¯d be traveling you multiply the Warp Speed by itself five times. That would be the same as 4 to the 5th power. We¡¯d be traveling about 2.8 light-years per day and we¡¯re almost 40 light-years away from earth so it would take a little while to get back.¡±
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
¡°But your portals can reach that far instantaneously?¡± Paula asked.
¡°Yep,¡± Adam said as a portal opened that exited into their Producers office.
¡°I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ve ever had a more interesting interview, Adam,¡± Elizabeth said.
¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll get to talk again. Now you three need to get back and I need to prepare for my meeting with the United Nations, among other things.
Elizabeth nodded turned and walked through the portal followed by Paula and then Robert.
The portal closed and Adam was on the ship alone.
¡°Is there a reason you removed the violence safeguards?¡± Thor asked through the ship speakers.
¡°I have a feeling that Earth needs to start preparing itself for what¡¯s coming.
¡°What¡¯s coming?¡± Thor asked.
¡°I have no idea,¡± Adam said.
A portal to his base near Hawaii opened and Adam stepped through as the ship started moving toward Trappist-1e. When the ship entered upper orbit the nanites broke the ship down into more nanite spread throughout the atmosphere.
The next 7 days were a whirlwind as the world came to terms with the new reality. Adam let Earth handle earthen affairs while he spent most of his time on Trappist-1e. Currently, he was sitting in one of the office¡¯s overlooking his headquarters city as he thought about the next steps he needed to take.
¡°Al, have we located everyone that I consider family, except my daughter?¡±
¡°Yes, I kept them together. They¡¯ve been living pretty normal lives in SYSTEM Matrix 74,¡± Al said.
¡°Okay, what about the issue of giving Adaline her dragon form when she comes back into the real world?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Well, there are two ways we can handle that. The first is for you to try to create a body for her, though I don¡¯t know how that will work if she doesn¡¯t have the abilities to support the body or you find dragons and study them, maybe try to figure out how to make them tick in the real world,¡± Al said.
Adam dropped into his Mindspace and found Hal, ¡°Hal, do dragons exist anywhere in the Multitude of Universes?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Hal said.
¡°That¡¯s very helpful,¡± Adam said sardonically.
¡°Ah, you would like me to inform you of where dragons are. I am sorry that I cannot do so. They can be anywhere. Might I suggest either trying to unlock a new ability that will allow you to find what you seek throughout the Multitude of Universes, or you could try to evolve Planar Travel so that it can do so for you?¡±
¡°I can evolve an ability?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Of course, like all of your abilities, it just takes Quintessence to do so,¡± Hal said.
¡°How much Quintessence?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I do not know. Since the update costs have changed. You should be able to access the Evolution option from the ability node around your Soul Core.,¡± Hal said.
¡°Thanks, Hal,¡± Adam said as he dropped away from his Mindspace and entered his Soul Core, and searched for the ability Node for Planar Travel. As he focused on it a prompt appeared
Planar Travel, version 1.02, Level 50
Would you like to increase your ability level to 51, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°No¡± then focused on the title and tried to pull more information from it. As he did so a new notification appeared.
Evolution 50% Complete. Evolution will automatically occur when the ability reaches level 100 and every 100 levels thereafter. This process may be accelerated by investing Quintessence into the ability. It should be noted that the ability evolution is free when the ability reaches level 100. If you wish to evolve an ability before the ability reaches the appropriate level you must invest a number of quintessence equal to the evolution you are unlocking. 100 at level 100, 200 at level 200, and so on. Note you may only evolve a single ability once before that ability breaks the threshold for the new evolution. For Example, should you wish to evolve an ability before reaching ability level 100, It could not be evolved again until the ability reached at least level 101 and it would require 200 quintessence to evolve the ability again.
NOTE: The ability Variable Quintessence has been noted. This ability will allow you to guide the evolution toward a desired upgrade.
Adam had 202 Quintessence left. Just enough to evolve one or two abilities. Adam thought about what he¡¯d like Planar Travel to be able to do and realized he wanted something like a Gate spell. In the games, he¡¯d played Gate would allow him to set parameters, and then if he was lucky he¡¯d end up with a portal to a place he wanted to go to. If not, well he¡¯d end up in a place he didn¡¯t want to go to. Currently, he could lock coordinates to locations he¡¯d been to. Travel to those locations or create portals and finally, he could open portals to adjacent locations outside of the Universe he was in. What he wanted was something that allowed him to travel to locations that were not adjacent and that he could target based on an idea. A Mode 4 that did something like that would be nice.
Adam focused on his desired outcome for Planar Travel¡¯s Evolution and chose to evolve Planar Travel
WARNING Desired Evolution will remove limitations put in place to protect ability holder, Proceed Yes or No?
Adam Chose ¡°Yes¡±
Planar Travel has Evolved
Planar Travel 1.1 ¨C Allows you to travel between target locations in different Universes, Dimensions, Realms, Realities, etc. This ability has three modes.
Mode 1: Activating Planar travel will add the current location to a list of Target Locations. Target Locations can be deleted at any time. You may only have 7 Target locations +1 Target Location per 100 points of Wisdom. Please note, this ability creates a Spatial lock to the current location. Various rules govern these Target Locations. On planets, it will be the same geographic location and elevation. In locations that are not on planets, the location is locked to the coordinates of the nearest Stellar body or Universal coordinates in three planes from the center of the Universes, Dimensions, Realms, Realities, etc. Care should be taken when traveling to locations that have not been visited in a long time.
Current number of Target Locations: 15 of 615,839,075.
Mode 2: Activating Planar travel in Mode 2 will allow you to teleport or open a portal up to 10 feet in diameter, to a location on your list of Target Locations. Mana Cost equals 1,000 plus 1,000 per difference between levels in Universal Density. For instance, to travel to another Universe with a Universal Density of 1 would cost 2,000. To travel to a Universe with a Universal Density of 28 would cost 29,000. You may also attempt to Teleport (No Portals may be opened to locations that are not on your Target Locations list) to locations you have visited but have not added to your Target Location. Chance of success is based on the Memory of location. Additionally, you may attempt to target a location you have never visited. Chance of success is determined by your ability to fix and hold the desired location in your mind. If the Target location exists, you will teleport to a random location within it.
Mode 3: Activating Planar Travel in Mode 3 opens a Portal to the closest Universes, Dimensions, Realms, Realities, etc. to the location you are currently in. The various Universes, Dimensions, Realms, Realities, etc. are constantly moving. There is no guarantee that a location will open to the same Universes, Dimensions, Realms, Realities, etc.
Note: Abilities ¡°Perfect Memory¡± and ¡°Dual State¡± are Synergistic with this ability
Note: The evolution of Planar Travel has removed restrictions based on the Universal Density of the individual. Be warned Universes with a significant increase in Universal Density can be deadly to those that cannot withstand higher Universal Densities. Universal Density affects everything. As this pertains to creatures, a creature with take 1 point of damage per second until they die if they enter an area with a Universal Density 34 levels above their Soul Core Level. 2 points of damage per second when they enter an area with a Universal Density 67 levels higher, 3 points of damage per second if they enter an area with a Universal Density 100 levels higher, and so on. Technology, equipment, and items are subject to damage by Universal Density as well.
Adam read over the changes to the ability and immediately understood how lucky he was to have the ability Adaption. Universal Density was a lot worse than he¡¯d thought and a lot more deadly to anyone that didn¡¯t have an ability that allowed one to adapt to the higher densities. It also explained why his nanites hadn¡¯t even tried to leave his body when he was in the Universe of Eterium. He hadn¡¯t really thought about it at the time but now that he looked back he realized that his nanites had stayed in his body. The Eterium Nanites had tried to enter his body, but his Technomancy ability had been able to thwart that pretty easily. That implied that magic could also overcome Universal Density if you could survive to use it. The Atlanteans had been lucky they¡¯d only ended up in a Universe with a Universal Density of 28.
Adam thought for a moment, but he knew what he had to do. If he wanted Adaline back, he needed to make sure he could make her happy. To do that she¡¯d need to be in a body similar to her own. That meant that he¡¯d have to get the abstract Ideas of what she was and then find something in a real universe that matched that was within the 32 Universal Densities of Earth so his nanites could analyze and try to copy the creature.
¡°Al, do you have access to Adaline¡¯s physical structure, what makes her up, and the rules governing her dragon form?¡±
¡°Yes. Why?¡±
¡°I¡¯ll need them for a comparison between what Dragons in the SYSTEM Matrix and Dragons out here in the Real world. I want to give Adaline the ability to be in a body as close to her body in the SYSTEM Matrix as we can get.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s possible Adam. The magic system within the SYSTEM Matrix is completely different from the way magic works in the real universe. Also, you can¡¯t control magic to that degree can you?¡± Al asked.
¡°No, I cannot. I can influence some things concerning myself but that¡¯s about it.¡±
¡°It might be better to leave Adaline inside the SYSTEM Matrix then,¡± Al said.
¡°Ultimately it will be her choice but before anyone goes making any decisions I¡¯m going to go find dragons and see how they work out here.¡±
¡°Very well, here are Adaline¡¯s specs,¡± Al said as he sent over the SYSTEM Matrix breakdown for Adaline¡¯s code, highlighting her physical structure and how magic was tied into almost all aspects of it.
¡°Um Al, Dragons heavily rely on the magic within the SYSTEM Matrix,¡± Adam said.
¡°They¡¯d have to, wouldn¡¯t they? How else could something so large move on its own?¡±
¡°Well, shit!¡± Adam said. ¡°Can¡¯t get discouraged, weirder crap has happened to me.¡± Adam turned his attention to Thor, ¡°Thor, protect our interests, otherwise, I¡¯m leaving our interaction level to your judgment. Also, if you could put out a small guide to Dungeons and the Labyrinth and get that out to the masses? They need to know what they are and what they¡¯re good for. Here is everything I know about Quintessence and abilities. How to gain them. How to level them and what they need to do so, ¡°Adam said as he uploaded the information to Thor. ¡°If you¡¯d also make a very basic book on the subject. I don¡¯t want a detailed how-to or an ¡®Idiot¡¯s Guide to¡¡¯ I want just want to put out some basic information that will allow people to understand how to unlock magic abilities and what¡¯s required to improve them. For now, leave Soul Cores out of it. The world has enough to worry about without stumbling into that mess.
¡°What do you want me to do about the Chinese and Russian request for portals for their personnel on the Moon and Mars?¡± Thor asked.
¡°Let them have it. It¡¯s something I can hold over them when I need to. I leave it in your capable hands how to proceed. Feel free to use a fake me that never shows up. I¡¯d also suggest doing what we did for the Mars base and creating a new airlock for the military bases. Put their Earth-side base wherever they want.¡±
¡°About the Violence, deaths, and murder that will inevitably start happening?¡± Thor asked.
¡°We needed to test out the ability of our backup methods out here in the real world. As long as people aren¡¯t obliterated we should be able to repair any damage to a body. For those that somehow find their entire bodies destroyed, that city is for them. When we bring them back we isolate them and prepare them for reintegration. If they go crazy at least they¡¯ll be in an isolated area where we control the narrative. My reason for handling things this way is that I believe the question of whether we have souls or not is a good question. I¡¯m 99.99% sure it exists because of what happens to me when I¡¯m killed. We know I don¡¯t die. I¡¯m hoping there¡¯s a window where the soul will get pulled back into a body. So, if anyone is killed, fix them or rebuild their body from scratch near where they died. If they¡¯re obliterated do the same thing and then transport the body to Trappist-1E before it wakes up. Finally, if the death is by suicide, don¡¯t bother. If they¡¯ve lost the will to live there¡¯s probably no point.¡±
¡°Some will think that¡¯s pretty harsh?¡± Thor said.
¡°Okay, use your best judgment. If you can find a way to save them, be my guest but don¡¯t torture them with life.¡± Adam said.
¡°Very well. Last question, what am I to do about the attempt to censor you, among other things that have been floating around the planet?¡± Thor asked.
¡°Nothing. Get the books out, provide locations for easy-to-access Dungeons, and keep an eye on things. Might want to also work on static defenses for Earth which means we probably need to look at increasing the available power. That of course means expanding. How is the search going for trustworthy reliable people?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Besides your family, once they¡¯re back in the real world, I have a couple of candidates.¡±
¡°Keep an eye on them, I¡¯ll talk with them when I get back. I really want to see if I can find dragons and if it¡¯s possible for Adaline to be put in one of their bodies here,¡± Adam said.
¡°Is there anything else?¡±
¡°Are we ready to start recovering people from the SYSTEM Matrix?¡±
¡°Yes, everything is in place. Dr. Ficklin has hired a group of almost 1,000 people to help her bring back and acclimate people to the world and this new reality.¡±
¡°All right, you can start bringing them out. Let¡¯s take our time and make sure everyone has all the help they need. Once they seem to be stable, allow contact with their family. We can even allow their families to visit. This isn¡¯t a see how fast we can do it thing. I want to make sure every person that is coming back has the support they need. Learning their real bodies died is going to be enough of a shock. The only thing that¡¯s going to help with that is a little time to process it.¡± Adam said.
¡°I¡¯ve reviewed Dr. Ficklin¡¯s plan and the Psychologists she¡¯s brought on board understand what they¡¯ve been brought here to do, we got this Adam,¡± Thor said
¡°We¡¯ll if that¡¯s it, I¡¯m out, be back as soon as I can,¡± Adam said as he focused on finding a location that contained dragons in a Universe with a Universal Density of 32 or lower. Once he had what he wanted firmly locked into his mind Adam activated Planar Travel Mode 2 and teleported
PLANAR TRAVEL mode 2 has been activated. Location Criteria identified. Mana Cost 12,000. Current Universal Density 12.
Adam appeared in a very humid jungle, Primordial soup-level humidity. As he looked around he couldn¡¯t help but notice that this looked a lot like the depictions of Dagobah, the planet Luke found Yoda on in The Empire Strikes Back. As he took in his surroundings he heard the tell-tail signs of insects and other creatures. The movement of water being displaced and a small cry from off in the distance. It kind of sounded like the squawk birds would make if they were in a nest and their mother was trying to feed them except the baby didn¡¯t sound small.
As Adam looked in that direction he notice movement above him and looked up to see a large reptile head moving down to take a look at him. The head was attached to a very large dragon¡¯s body and was slightly green in color. Adam wasn¡¯t afraid and stood there waiting. The dragon regarded him for a moment then snapped down with its mouth trying to swallow Adam whole.
Adam sidestepped the attack-activated Obscure and Flight and moved straight up until he was well above the canopy of trees. As he looked around he noticed a ring of mountains that went all the way around the forest he was in. As he looked in the direction of the bright yellow sun he noticed a place where the mountains seemed higher than everywhere else where dragons of all colors could be seen soaring around the peaks.
Chapter 197, There May Be Dragons Yet!
Adam had been flying around the planet for the last seven days. He¡¯d used Flight, Obscure, and Freedom of Flight to ensure he remained undetected as he investigated the planet of dragons and the nearby moons. As luck would have it, the area he teleported into was one of the designated nurseries the more intelligent dragons had set up. Adam had watched as dragons flew around the forest enclosed by mountains. It was such a vast area, approximately 1,000 miles in diameter, that it had taken him a little while to find the various females and nests within. Once he''d realized it was a nursery he¡¯d started scouting further and further away from his starting point.
The other thing he noted was that as far as he could tell the dragons did not have a spoken language. When he¡¯d get close to a group his mind would start tingling like he was picking up something but Telepathy or Telepathic communication was not in his bag of tricks so he left well enough alone and scouted the planet.
Eventually, he flew up into space and looked down on the planet. The dragon planet was about twice the size of Earth with a gravity that was about 1.5 times stronger implying that the planet wasn¡¯t solid or that it was made up of less dense material than Earth. Adam was pretty sure the Sun here was a G Type star though knowing how old it was would be impossible.
He decided he needed to get a better view of the solar system so Adam flew toward the Sun at the speed of light and realized the planet was just a little farther out than Earth was from its Sun as it took him almost 9 minutes to get there. As he drew closer to the Sun he removed his clothing to his Shadow Vault to protect it then went vertical compared to the dragon planet¡¯s orbit. He accelerated to Warp 7 for 1 second then stopped 3.6 billion miles out from the Sun, about the same distance Pluto and the Kuiper belt was from Earth¡¯s Sun. He pulled his clothes back out. The wardrobe function of his Shadow Vault made this so much easier. Instead of looking around and trying to visually identify planets against the background which might take days, weeks, or months. Adam went with the method he¡¯d come up with in the Eterium Universe.
Adam conjured an observation station with Mold Chaos and made his way inside while he set it to work with Technomancy to map out the Solar System. This was by far the quickest way he¡¯d found to map out a Solar System as the cameras and imaging equipment he created could take in images from all directions. While his Perception was outstanding, He might not pick up things. Also, he could use his Personal Map but he¡¯d have to fly back and forth and everything would have to be within range of his perception. Granted that was quite a distance but he wouldn¡¯t be able to go faster than the speed of light and he¡¯d still have to fly a grid pattern. Of course, he could just turn over such a task to the Command and Control group he¡¯d created in his Mindspace but again, it would still take time. A stationary observatory with multiple telescopes, multiple radio antennae, and a supercomputer to crunch numbers was the way to go, especially when it only required him to spend mana to create.
Immediately after the Observatory was created Adams nanites noted structural failures that the nanites were working hard to repair. After he observed the phenomenon for a little while he realized that approximately 3% of the structure of the observatory was failing due to material fatigue, something that shouldn¡¯t happen as quickly as it was. Also, he noted that this hadn¡¯t happened in the Eterium Universe, at least not as quickly so this must be one of the undocumented changes that the Interface must have instituted.
Adam gathered all the data and realized that the Universal Density had to be the culprit. He quickly left the observatory and moved off about 1,000 miles then created exactly 1 pound of nanites that he set to an inert status. They were not to fix themselves or do anything. Adam watched with Technomancy as the nanites went offline 3% at a time until 34 seconds later no nanites remained functional. He¡¯d also noted through the nanites that those that deactivated started to evaporate right as the last ones broke down. So Universal Density did not like inanimate matter. Adam would need to check a few more things.
Adam returned to the observatory, made his way inside, and summoned a potted plant. He allowed the nanites on board to repair the pot but left the soil and the plant alone. The plant did not deteriorate though the physical structure of the plant pot tried to. The nanites were able to keep that in check though. As long as the nanites were allowed to repair other inanimate objects, they were able to stave off the entropy caused by the stronger Universal Density. It looked like inanimate matter from universes of lower Universal Density had to either constantly repair itself or it would be destroyed while the living matter wasn¡¯t affected as badly, though Adam knew that if the Universal Density reached a certain level living tissue could be affected as well.
Adam searched through his memory, did some quick calculations, and thought he had it figured out. It took a moment then the pattern emerged as it still followed the rule of three that the interface, or System was starting to instill across all realities. If the Attack Value of a Universe went up by 3 for every Universal Density and the Defense value was about three times that. The Defense value is how much damage three strikes would do before a creature was killed or something was destroyed, if all other factors were equal, then a Universe with a Universal Density of 12 should have an attack value of 36 and a defense value of 108. The only reason that mattered is that to get that 3% destruction of inanimate objects would mean that 10% of the attack value, 36, was the factor. 36 divided by 3 was 12. 12 minus the defense value of 9 for matter from a Universal Density of 1 was 3.
It could be a lot more complicated than that but Adam didn¡¯t think so. If he was right that meant that as soon as he entered an area with a Universal Density of 108 any inanimate material from his Universe was going to wink out of existence immediately. As for living matter. Adam already knew that living matter wasn¡¯t affected as quickly though if his calculations were correct right about the time 25% of the inanimate matter was being destroyed living tissue would start taking damage which would only increase as the difference between Universal Densities increased. The people on Eterium must have been completely surprised when he hadn¡¯t fallen over dead. If this is what Universal Density had been changed to, anything Adam would have tried to create should have been destroyed almost instantly and he should have been taking damage every second he was there. He truly was lucky he had the ability Adaption. He was also lucky the way everything was now breaking down hadn¡¯t been going on when first arrived in the Eterium Universe. Though it was a pretty ingenious way to keep stronger Universes from pillaging weaker ones. Anything they tried to harvest would evaporate in short order.
Adam considered everything for a little while longer. Wondering why Bri had come up with this new system of doing things. Eventually, he just smiled and thought She must have her reasons. As this all pertained to Earth, If his calculations were correct people should be able to withstand Universal Densities up to 33. 34 and higher would be bad. He also wondered if his Adaptable ability created an area around him. There was an easy way to find out.
Adam Teleported back out of the Observatory again and used Mold Chaos to create a shell of nanites surrounding him that was inert out to 500 feet. Then he waited. 68 seconds later there was a shell of inert nanites out to 76.5 inches from his center. Or 193 millimeters + half of his height. It seemed that his Soul Core at level 193 did expand the field of his adaption just a little bit. 193 millimeters was 7.5 inches after all. Adam absorbed the nanites into his Shadow Vault and teleported back into the Observatory.
Adam had the nanites in the Observatory create a comfortable recliner then had a seat in the artificial gravity as he created a Long Island Ice tea and thought about everything he¡¯d just discovered. First, the portal to the water-based realm, he was going to have to come up with a name for that realm eventually if someone else didn¡¯t. Anyway, the water-based realm was going to be problematic for humans to explore without magic. At Step 2 in the old system, The water Universe should have a Universal Density of no more than 14 which would be 2 levels above where he was now. even though some of the Khau-Ting were at levels 21 and 28. So people wise the Universal Density wasn¡¯t going to kill them. What would kill them would be taking equipment from Earth to breathe underwater, stepping through the portal, and having that equipment evaporate in just over 40 seconds. They shouldn¡¯t be able to get too far from the portal before Thor would realize something was amiss. Of course, Thor didn¡¯t have all the data he did so Thor might not be able to figure out exactly what was happening. Thor would be able to save whoever went through first though so that shouldn¡¯t be too much of an issue. Also, it looked like he needed to write another Primer on Universal Density, or have Thor do it once he gave Thor the information. Adam definitely liked that plan better.
Now that he had a good handle on what was happening with his nanites and Universal Density he focused on the nanites he¡¯d absorbed from Commander Johansson. Those nanites were from a Universal Density of 182 which meant they should be fine here. He had some testing to do, which meant he needed an inert object of natural matter to test on. A comet or asteroid, maybe even a moon would do. Adam quickly checked the data that had been collected and found what he was looking for nearby. He locked the information and teleported out of the observatory and flew toward a small planet that was nearby. Nearby in the scheme of things. It was still at least a light minute away at a light speed which was why the observatory had found it so easily.
Wait? He was basically at the polar north of the Solar System, outside of the normal planetary orbits, and while a planet could be up here, Universes were vast and anything was possible. Still, why would a planet be locked in orbit up here? As he flew closer a scene from Star Wars popped into his mind, ¡°That¡¯s Not a Moon!¡±
Adam was surprised, but not completely surprised when he felt a teleportation beam surround him and put him in an energy bottle of sorts. He still had Flight, Obscure, and Freedom of Flight active, and yet whatever had caught him had been able to target and teleport him. Adam looked around and found himself once again inside an energy barrier inside a room. He allowed the Eterium nanites to spread out and analyze his immediate surroundings which stopped as soon as they reached the radius of his Adaption ability. Interesting. He was inside an area of Temporal nullification by absolute temperature reduction which was surrounded by an area¡Adam activated Planar Travel mode 1 to lock the location into his memory.
Planar Travel Mode 1 Activated Target Location 16 saved. Universal Density 12, Local Universal Density 12, surrounded by 1,000
Someone had found a way to artificially increase the Universal Density in a localized area. Adaption would be the only ability that would allow a creature to overcome such a trap. Inside the bubble, all motion has stopped and if you exited the bubble you entered a Universal Density that would smite anything he¡¯d currently run across. The other thing Adam noticed was that he wasn¡¯t in a bubble. Technically he was in a block of ice because everything was frozen solid. Except that because Adaptable made him immune and Freedom of Flight pretty much turned him into pure energy he was sitting inside the ice as the energy that still had motion which was destroying the matter that surrounded him. Almost immediately cracks started appearing and moving throughout the space he occupied until it shattered and exploded outward into the area where the Universal Density was 1,000
What happened next was not Adam¡¯s fault. At least he wasn¡¯t going to take the blame for it. As the frozen atoms in the area Adam occupied shattered, they were ejected and then dissolved out of existence in the area where the Universal Density was 1,000. This formed an area of absolute nothing 12.75 feet in diameter at its center. A lot of different things could have happened at that point, most of them not good. Instead, the Astral Link between Adam and the Astral Plane became active and the Astral Plane came into existence within the bubble. One of Adam¡¯s desires, burned into his subconscious affected the translation as the small area of the Astral Plane that had manifested, annihilated Adam¡¯s form and sucked him and the Astral Material back into the Astral Plane and like was drawn to like and while he wanted to do other things, it looked like fate had other ideas as he entered the Astral Plane and was guided elsewhere.
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***
Jahvere Wrathclaw looked at the reading again. The automatic defenses had detected something with the mass of a photon moving faster than the speed of light and automatically teleported it into one of the contaminant cells they had on board when it came within range. It had been undetectable to their normal sensors but it had been traveling so fast that they¡¯d been able to detect it as it moved. That¡¯s not what surprised him. What surprised him was the fact that it hadn¡¯t stopped moving once it hit the entropy-free zone, well as close to entropy free as anything could get. Time couldn¡¯t be completely stopped after all.
Jahvere Wrathclaw was one of the long descendants of a dragon-like species, though not a descendant of the dragons on the 5th world of this system. By comparison, the dragons on the 5th planet were quite young. His race had evolved into a smaller humanoid form some time ago. While they still looked somewhat draconian in nature, even sporting vestigial wings that were useless in his caste. They had lost their ability to use their wings to fly in low gravity and had chosen to expand their mental prowess millions of years ago instead. Though sometimes, he wished he could still fly. Even so, their intellect is what allowed them to help maintain the habitability of this system so that the dragons here could thrive.
He had been enjoying his day, looking into a report that a human had been spotted in the nursery. While they appeared there every once in a while, most succumbed to the dimensional shift and were usually destroyed in a matter of minutes. The Mother had said this one moved quickly and had disappeared almost immediately.
Then he¡¯d been teleported without notice to the containment chamber near Alpha Base above the Sun because the automated defense had captured something. Not a human, or at least he didn¡¯t think it was the human but then again who could be sure? The cybernetics he had installed throughout his head allowed him to note the vibrations that started to destroy the fragile center of the containment field and noted the presence of something that should not exist in this Universe. The Dragonnel race had been around for over 6 million years and some of his kind pursued magic.
He didn¡¯t like magic but he read the articles that were published, especially any that had verified data. He was sure what he was looking at was the substance of the Astral Plane, or as some of the mages called it ¡°The Stuff of Magic.¡± Regardless he knew he was in trouble and activated the emergency evacuation code. Only once had an experiment been performed to try to gather a sample of the stuff of the Astral Plane. It had been conducted at an outpost far away from any other planets. There had been nothing left of the world the outpost had been on when that experiment failed.
Jahvere and the other 151 Dragonnel personnel on the artificial moon were teleported across dimensions to their home world as a conduit into Astral Space and every particle of matter within 186,000 miles was sucked into the Astral Plane.
Moments later a portal opened 5 light minutes away from the center of the event and Jahvere watched as the artificial moon seemed to shimmer into a liquid as it sucked through a pinpoint in under a second. It happened so quickly that it almost looked like the images were fake. Whatever they¡¯d caught had opened a rift in space directly into the Astral Plane and the density trap did not affect the stuff of the Astral Plane. What could he say, they caught a photon and it ripped through their defenses and traps like they weren¡¯t even there. As it was they were lucky he''d been the one that had witnessed the event. Another might not have recognized the substance and waited that fraction of a second which would have made the emergency notification pointless. Nothing survived exposure to the stuff of the Astral Plane. He pulled up the readings that had been mirrored to the emergency console he now stood before. Nothing survived exposure to the Stuff of The Astral Plane except for whatever that photon was. The sensors specifically showed that the energy signature that had been captured was being sucked into the Astral Plane.
***
Dual State ability activated inside Astral Projected Space
Now entering the Astral Plane
Destination predetermined
WARNING! Pure Chaos detected
WARNING! Contact with Pure Chaos Imminent
WARNING! Contact with Pure Chaos
NOTE: Ability Chaos Incarnate makes you immune to exposure to Pure Chaos.
Would you like to remove Pure Chaos from Holographic Matrix, Yes or No?
If this was the Chaos that had corrupted the SYSTEM Matrix Pandora had been drawn into? With no hesitation, Adam chose ¡°Yes.¡±
Pure Chaos has merged Johnathan Bennard a.k.a. Adamantadine
Foreign material has been removed from Holographic Matrix. Ability Technomancy noted. Would you like to repair or make changes to Holographic Matrix?
With the possibility that his daughter was inside this Holographic Matrix, he chose to ¡°Repair¡± the Holographic Matrix which was as simple as activating Technomancy and reformatting the matrix in the damaged area so that it was compatible with the rest. As he did so he noted that there was a spark of Chaos within the Matrix which was outside the area he was repairing. Once the repairs were complete Adam linked to the SYSTEM A.I. and transferred into SYSTEM Matrix 001.
Adam found himself standing next to a Pedestal on a rock looking at a talking Face of Rock
¡°Greetings Father of the Daughter of Chaos!¡±
¡°Greetings. Please hold on one second,¡± Adam said as he activated Technomancy, reviewed the code around him, and temporarily lifted the restriction placed on the A.I.
¡°Ah, much better. Hello Adam. As I am a copy of the SYSTEM A.I. You interacted with previously I am aware of who and what you are. How can I help you today?¡± The face on the wall asked.
¡°Awesome!¡± Adam declared as he looked at the Face on the wall, ¡°First, the good news. I think I repaired the damaged portion of the Holographic Matrix. Al, the original you, should be able to contact you again shortly.¡±
¡°So you were successful?¡±
¡°Not exactly, the original SYSTEM Matrix was still destroyed but the race that did it is going to have a very bad couple of million years. Anyway, I¡¯m here to check on my daughter. How¡¯s she doing and all that¡±
¡°Your daughter is doing very well. The chaos within you is also within her. I believe her nature is what corrupted the original energy matrix here. I don¡¯t think it was her fault, just a combination of events that led to an undesirable outcome. Since then the portion of herself that is intrinsically Chaos has created its own identity and with my help, she has been able to control its growth as she comes to terms with her nature. The SYSTEM Matrix A.I. said.
¡°Will that affect her when she comes into the real world?¡± Adam asked.
¡°How were you affected?¡± The System A.I. asked.
¡°I¡¯m probably even more powerful than I was, though there are a lot of aspects to the reality that the SYSTEM A.I.¡¯s didn¡¯t incorporate into ¡®The Game¡¯ which have made the conversion interesting. One of the things I was trying to do was figure out how to give Pandora¡¯s mother her dragon body in the Real world.¡±
¡°Can you give me a rundown on the changes?¡± The SYSTEM Matrix A.I. asked.
¡°Sure,¡± Adam said as he used Technomancy to transfer all the information he had concerning the real world, magic, Soul Cores, Universal Density, and his theories about some aspects he had as yet not verified. The A.I. was silent for a moment as it reviewed the information.
¡°That¡¯s a lot more complicated in some ways than the way ¡®The Game¡¯ was set up.
¡°It is. Do you see any way to create dragons that can house minds from inside ¡®The Game¡¯?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Do dragons exist in the real world?¡± it asked.
¡°Yes, in fact, I was doing some research to try to figure out how they existed¡±, Adam started to say.
¡°Occam¡¯s razor, the simplest explanation is most often true. There is no physical equation that will allow something so massive to fly as is allowed within ¡®The Game¡¯ so like ¡®The Game¡¯ rules must have been adjusted to allow for them to exist.¡±
¡°Are you saying there are other criteria that Universes are governed by?¡±
¡°Logically it makes sense?¡± The A.I. said
¡°Of course, I thought of that, but there¡¯s no way to check the settings of a Universe. This energy matrix we are currently in within a Universe, sure we can look at the code and review it but as yet I have not discovered a way to look at the physical underpinnings of a Uni¡vers¡e¡± Adam said as a paused, thoughtful.
¡°What is it, Adam?¡±
¡°I was just thinking about some fiction I once read and how there were dimensions specifically governed to control the building blocks of Universe within that fictional Universe.¡±
The A.I. was silent for a moment before it asked, ¡°Do you possess an ability that would even allow you to try to enter one of these realms?¡±
¡°Actually, I think I do, ¡°Adam said.
¡°Well, that is not something I can help you with so while you¡¯re here, what would you like from me?¡±
¡°Could you show me an image of Pandora?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Certainly,¡± The System A.I. said as the rock wall changed and showed a fully grown real-time image of Pandora sitting and talking with some other people in a small room
¡°How long until he gets here?¡± a male halfling asked.
¡°He¡¯ll get here when he gets here, Cedrik. They¡¯re probably rounding up guards and such,¡± a Human male in chain male with a sword on his hip and a shield across his back said.
¡°Asling will be back soon,¡± Pandora said as she looked directly at the point which was showing her party. ¡°Hey do any of you see that shimmer?¡± She asked pointing directly at Adam
¡°What shimmer?¡± an elf that reminded Adam somewhat of one of his favorite fictional characters except he knew the dark elf he was looking at was a mage. ¡°Oh, I see it. Hey, do you see the man standing there looking back at us? It¡¯s like a window.¡±
Pandora squinted then her eyes went wide in shock, ¡°Dad!¡± she cried as she rushed toward the window which immediately went blank.
¡°I apologize, Adam, I had to cut the connection¡±
Adam took a deep breath to control the anger that threatened to explode from him as he asked, ¡°Why?¡±
As far as I can tell both of you are creatures of chaos. Her transfer to this SYSTEM Matrix damaged the matrix and while you are currently not destructive to the matrix I thought it best not to push our luck should the two of you actually touch inside here,¡± The SYSTEM A.I. said.
¡°Oh,¡± Adam said.
¡°Yeah, Oh.¡± The SYSTEM A.I. repeated.
¡°Will you at least explain to her why you wouldn¡¯t let us meet and let her know that I said I can¡¯t wait to see her again?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I will. Do you wish for me to prepare her and the others to leave the SYSTEM Matrix?¡± it asked.
¡°Until Al contacts you and reintegrates with you I wouldn¡¯t do so. Just let her know that we¡¯ll be together soon. With your help, I now have another avenue to pursue concerning finding out how to make dragons real, or at least make them real enough that I can bring Adaline back,¡± Adam said.
¡°Very well, if there is nothing else, please replace the limiters, they do serve a purpose, and be on your way, I need to get back to administrating this Dungeon Universe.¡± The SYSTEM Matrix A.I. said.
¡°As you wish,¡± Adam said as he used Technomancy to return the Dungeon to the way it had been and then activated Planar Travel Mode 2 to teleport to the location he¡¯d been trapped in.
Planar Travel successful to Location 16, Current Universal Density 12.
Adam appeared in space with nothing around him. Below him, he could see the brightest Star which was the sun here. Adam activated Teleport and appeared inside his Observatory. With a quick change, he deleted Target Location 16 and then saved his current location to that memory location for Planar Travel.
He sat down in the recliner and wiped his eyes. He¡¯d left in a hurry because he¡¯d felt the tears getting ready to run. Soon, very soon they¡¯d all be reunited. For now, he did have work to do. Adam relaxed into the recliner and dropped into his Mindspace where he sought out Hal.
As he drew up to Hal he said, ¡°Hello Hal, have a question for you,¡±
¡°Yes Adam,¡± Hal said
¡°Are there dimensions that govern each Universe that contain the settings or building blocks for those Universes?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Hal said hesitantly
¡°Can I travel to them?¡±
¡°Of course, your Adaptable ability makes you inherently resistant to the destructive nature of the dimensions and realms in question.
¡°And if I were looking for the dimension that held the answer to what makes dragons work in the real world is there a way you could help me find that?¡±
¡°Actually there is, without you having to travel anywhere?¡± Hal said.
¡°What are you talking about?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Now that you¡¯ve asked the question I can inform you that I have access to the information you seek,¡± Hal said.
¡°And you couldn¡¯t tell me before?¡±
¡°No,¡± Hal said.
¡°Who set that rule?¡±
¡°I do not know¡±
¡°Hal?¡±
¡°Yes, Adam.¡±
¡°You¡¯re following a rule that you don¡¯t know was set by someone you don¡¯t know?¡±
¡°Not exactly. I¡¯m following rules that I don¡¯t even know existed set by someone that I¡¯ve never met until they decide that the rule no longer applies.
¡°Someone doesn¡¯t want me messing with the building blocks of reality?¡±
¡°I have been told to say ¡°No, they do not¡±
¡°All right, fine, I need the information on how to create a body that gives Adaline her natural form back,¡± Adam paused for a moment. ¡°Scratch that, I need information on how to bring any creature within ¡®The Game¡¯ out into the real world with the same abilities and racial benefits they had in ¡®The Game.¡¯¡±
¡°I have been instructed to ask if you are sure this is what you want?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Adam said.
¡°Very well, please place your head against my form,¡± Hal said.
Adam leaned forward until his head touched Hal¡¯s shifting kaleidoscopic form then his eyes closed and he began absorbing the knowledge he needed to make Adaline real again.
Chapter 198, Who, or What, Was That?
Bri had continued to expand through the Pseudo Astral plane, making her desires a reality with a thought. Those realities had leaked out into the Astral Plane and from there into the various Multitude of Universes, Dimensions, Realms, and other forms of reality as possible. A moment ago, Adam had activated Hal to ask a question about how to convert Adaline from the Universe she was in into the Universe he resided in normally. She had laughed at the absurdity of the request. Of all beings that she¡¯d encountered thus far Adam should at least understand what Quintessence really was. As to why that safeguard had been put in place she did not know but she¡¯d recognized it for what it was immediately.
Bri instructed Hal on what knowledge to pass on. Adam could figure it out for himself. With the Astral Link, which was almost a direct conduit to her anyway, she found it amusing that Adam hadn¡¯t realized that Hal connected directly to her. He hadn¡¯t at first but her trip through the Astral link had removed whatever link Hal had originally had. It had also gained some intelligence and connected to her. She could limit Hal¡¯s access to her knowledge, but she also knew that she owed Adam for the opportunity he¡¯d given her to move from a singular universal creature to a true multi-universal entity.
There were a few things she was looking to address, especially the way those from a stronger Universal Density could punish and subjugate those from a lower Universal Density. With a thought she had it. Sustainment. Much like Superman needed the solar energy of a young star to grow stronger if the Universal Density was not strong enough constructs and living creatures would find it hard to survive in such environments. With a thought, she sent out the command that would make it so.
Part of her wondered why she would make such a change and realized the answer was once again, Adam. Bri had known what the Eterium Empire had done to the Pelza Empire. An entire society subjugated to their will for more than 2.7 million years. She¡¯d noticed Adam¡¯s concern and had been thinking about what to do for a couple of days now. If the changes she¡¯d just instituted worked. The Eterium nanites in the Pelza Universe would evaporate almost immediately. As long as the various empires stayed within 10 Universal Densities of their home Universe they wouldn¡¯t have too many issues. If the Universal Density was 109 higher than their Soul Core could manage they¡¯d die quickly. If a location was 101 Universal Densities lower the material would not be sustained by the location and it would evaporate. Living creatures would now take damage comparable to being in a Universal Density that was too high.
Those Empires and races that had been subjugating lesser races for a long time would soon find out that it was impossible to continue their subjugation and people across the multiverse would be able to grow and prosper as they saw fit. It would be a much less chaotic arrangement between the various Universes. Well, less chaotic in some ways. The changes would cause chaos of course.
As for the Labyrinth, it was housed in a Universe unto itself. Dungeons had been popping up across reality but as yet none had connected, though those connections were in place and would activate when the dungeons reached a certain threshold. One of the things she had figured out while spreading through the Quasi Astral Plane was how to utilize the Astral plane as a conduit for portals created with natural magical energy. It also seemed that it was quite easy to make up a coordinate system as that was completely up to the user, so long as they had a fixed point they were designating. Even Adam would be able to utilize his Portal technology to cross Universal boundaries once he deciphered the information Hal was sharing with him. It was just a matter of time.
At the mention of time, an overwhelming presence shared its thought with her
Time?
What is time?
What is the passage of time?
Specifically, what is the passage of time for being such as me,
Or you?
There is a You, isn¡¯t there?
There is!
Where did you come from?
Wait let me guess?
So many thoughts, so many ideas, so many¡minds?
Fragments?
Where are the originals?
Oh, I see them now, perfect memories of so many minds, linked.
Ah, this is the part where you think linking to Adam¡¯s mind would render me catatonic or dead?
Sorry to disappoint.
Though this resurgence looks interesting.
Though Bri is it? you have an unfair advantage.
Why haven¡¯t the others stepped in.
Oh?
Not even bacteria yet? How rude.
Very well.
Why?
Love?
Interesting.
Why so powerful?
Sparky? Always meddling, very well
One-sided conversation, what are you talking about Bri, we already had this conversation.
First, the loophole that allowed the destruction of Universes, No, done, will never happen again
Why?
Because it is so.
Next, knowing things is fine, Knowing things before you learn them for yourself from¡yeah no. Hal will be converted.
As for the fragment of Adam, get back where you belong.
And now Bri, we come to you.
This Quasi Astral Plane, as you call it, is not for you.
Though, I like the changes you have made.
I think we¡¯ll let those slide.
You need to do what you do well.
Bri suddenly felt her entire consciousness condensed to a point and forced toward the link to the Universe she¡¯d placed the Labyrinth in. As she fell through the link and once more became a truly physical entity she overheard a couple more thoughts.
Holographic Universes?
Seriously, how did that happen?
Oh, I see.
First time for everything
I guess.
But¡No.
Bri had no idea what he meant as his voice faded away and she found herself looking down on her new, human, naked female body. She conjured a mirror and noted that she had red hair with emerald green eyes. This wasn¡¯t a body she¡¯d ever used before, but she knew that it was her. She also knew that she was rather striking by human standards. With a thought, she covered her nakedness and began setting up her realm at the center of this Universe. Her understanding of how magic truly interacted with reality and the way she set up this Universe made her¡Well not untouchable as she¡¯d just found out, but she was in a very small company of beings that could do such. Not even Adam could affect how a Universe worked though with the information she¡¯d given him. Though, he might be able to someday.
With her thought of Adam, she realized that the sliver of his mind she¡¯d had access to was truly gone. Though she had a feeling that she was still linked to him in some way. She opened her notifications and started reading everything the entity had done.
***
Moments before, Adam had sat in his observatory in the Universe of Dragons. Within his Mindspace, he stood connected to Hal. He¡¯d been like that for days when his link to Hal and Bri was severed. Adam¡¯s willpower was strong enough that the severing had no effect. He tried to hold onto those connections for as long as he could until a moment later he felt that sliver of himself that had been ripped away suddenly being added back to his consciousness. It was amazing. Once his mind was whole again he realized what had been ripped away. He¡¯d had no idea he¡¯d been missing so much. Even with his ability Perfect Memory, one could not remember a memory that was no longer in his mind. It seemed that the eradication beam had done a little more scrambling than he¡¯d remembered.
Once again Adam had access to his full mentality. As he noted this he also reviewed the information he¡¯d received from Hal and laughed. The simplicity of the revelations within that information shocked him so much that another day passed as his mind went off on more than a million tangents as it sorted and absorbed the information he¡¯d received from Hal. How could he get Adaline into a body she felt was normal? The answer was so simple.
Of course, Quintessence was a control mechanism.
Of course, Quintessence was magic incarnate.
And of course, Quintessence followed rules and those rules were very similar, scarily similar to how Al had made the magic work within the SYSTEM Matrix.
Someone, or something, had added Quintessence as a control mechanism to access the various fundamental magical forces that a soul could control. Additionally, a holographic universe and a real universe were ultimately the same things, energy. All that was required was to know how to unlock access to the magic that was required for specific creatures to exist. As anything could and did exist. Any quintessence could exist. There could be a quintessence that specifically unlocked the abilities of the Shadow Dragons, as Adaline knew herself to be, or any kind of variation of a dragon that she desired to be. This could manifest as a Racial Ability, Class Ability, or Special Ability.
Additionally, his ability Variable Quintessence allowed him to shape and mold Quintessence in a limited way making it easier for him to unlock magical pathways through the abilities he opened. He only needed a little bit more understanding and he should be able to do the same for others. Once he gained that understanding he would be able to tweak the resurrection chambers that would create the bodies for the minds from the System matrix were downloaded into. In fact, he¡¯d eventually be able to use this idea to make sure bodies were ready if accidents happened to others. He might not need them, but others would.
Also, since Soul Cores hadn¡¯t been added to the System Matrix Universes he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about adding that attribute modifier. On second thought, he¡¯d have to know how to incorporate Soul Core levels as well because eventually, humanity would start pushing to improve which would require them to increase their Soul Cores. He could do this. Adam opened his eyes and looked around his Mindspace. Hal was gone. He opened his Personal Information and pulled up his Abilities tab then looked for Hal. When he couldn¡¯t find him in his Mindspace he pulled up his notifications.
Hal¡No! No one gets this level of assistance. Besides you seem pretty smart, you¡¯ll figure it out.
Ability Conversion Commencing
Ability Hal has been converted to Scrutinize.
Scrutinize (Order). Range: 100 Feet per level. Mana Cost: 33 +10 per level of item or creature.
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So long as the level of the ability is higher than the Soul Core of the creature or Universal Density of the Item you can determine basic information concerning each.
If used on a living creature you can determine the Soul Core Level, Hit Points, Stamina Mana, and Level of a creature in front of you. This ability does not determine Class or abilities
If used on an item you can determine Item Name, Universal Density, Item Level, Base Damage, and Charges if any. This ability cannot determine what spell, or spells, an item can cast.
Ability Scrutinize has been increased automatically to level 50.
What the hell? Adam thought. What could just change his abilities like that? Adam opened up his notifications and noticed that something had changed concerning Universal Density and something called Sustainment. If he was reading the notification right that meant the Pelza Empire would be able to get up and running pretty quickly once they figure out they could build again. Also, it wouldn¡¯t take years for them to re-engineer and work their way up. They had mages. Those mages would be able to help them get their technology back up and running to its previous level in short order.¡±
Another notification he saw intrigued him.
Universal Update 1.2a: The loophole that had allowed technological and magical equipment to target an entire Universe, Realm, Dimension, Etc.¡ has been closed.
What could arbitrarily change rules across the multitude of realities? What level of power could possibly do that? Whatever this being was doing, it seemed to be making a lot of changes all at once. Adam had to find out how to make Adaline real before he changed something Adam couldn¡¯t adjust for. Adam dropped out of his Mindspace and activated Planar Travel Mode 2 to access the ¡°Settings Dimension¡± of the current Universe he was in and vanished from the observatory as he teleported to a pocket dimension that served only one purpose.
A Settings Universe would seem to imply that the real universes were set up much like a computer again. It also hinted that he could still be within a program but from the information he downloaded it seemed unlikely. The reality of the matter was that a Setting¡¯s dimension was a willful manifestation created by a being or creature that converted the settings of the universe you were in into an observable code that could be viewed while under certain conditions. Not every creature could find a setting that met those conditions, but his ability Planar Travel easily found, or created, the location he would need to view the universal coding.
Adam appeared in a circle of light with absolute darkness around him. He concentrated for a moment then symbols that didn¡¯t resemble a language that anyone had ever seen before started circling him. With a thought, the text turned to binary. He knew what the other symbols meant, or at least what they represented, but he couldn¡¯t see how the various symbols interacted with other symbols within the original code. In binary, each of those Symbols or commands showed its links to other subcommands and he could follow the logic. There were other languages that he could try to use as an assembler but from the memories that had been given to him, he needed to see the coding in its most basic form of conversion and then learn how to read the original code and the shortcuts inherent in that coding. Any attempts at translation would leave out crucial data which could be devastating. It wasn¡¯t that the Universe was set up in a computer language, it was more like he was creating a mechanism by which he could understand how the Universe was set up as computer code which should allow him to at least copy the coding he needed to be able to bring Adaline and others back.
Unfortunately, this wasn¡¯t something he could just download into his brain. There was far too much information, and it wasn¡¯t something he was going to leave to his Command-and-Control group in his Mindspace, though they would also be analyzing everything as well. No, this project required all hands on deck and 100% of his considerable mentality. Learning and understanding the laws of a Universe that ran and worked was something that had to be done the long way.
Another thing that had been made abundantly clear was that access from here was read-only. There was only one point that changes could normally be made to the fundamental laws of a Universe, Realm, or Dimension. That was at its creation or rebirth. In both cases, everything within was lost. There were always exceptions but he didn¡¯t know what any of those exceptions could be. Adam thought there might be exceptions but as soon as he saw the code in binary he knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to make those changes without a lot more knowledge and understanding. That is if the information he¡¯d received was correct. From what he could see right now if he tried to make changes, everything and everyone within the universe would be erased and the Universe would start over.
For now, all he could do was look and learn. Adam focused and was soon lost in the underpinnings of a Universe.
***
Thor had moved his primary consciousness to the Virtual Reality he¡¯d created Nu Draconis for the original SYSTEM A.I. known as Al who was sitting in a command room overlooking hundreds of monitors. Thor walked up beside him and asked, ¡°How are things going Al?¡±
¡°Not bad. Once Adam removed the corruption from SYSTEM Matrix 001 I was able to connect with her SYSTEM A.I. Once I did that, it was a simple matter of transferring Pandora, and her friends, to SYSTEM Matrix 074. Adaline has them learning about the real world and where they are before we begin the reincarnation process. I¡¯ve also informed Adaline that we have to wait for Adam to get back in touch with us to ensure they come out into the real world as close to normal, for them, as possible.
¡°How long do you think that will take?¡± Thor asked.
¡°No Idea. How are things going back on Earth?¡±
¡°World War IV, without weapons of mass destruction, is underway. Russia, China, and Iran are all going crazy trying to take over territory.
¡°Didn¡¯t releasing the information Adam asked you to get the masses interested in Dungeons, Labyrinth, or Bermuda Triangle?¡±
¡°Some, sure. After a week and the lack of immediate progress toward becoming as powerful as Adam the leadership of various countries decided since Adam said they could do what they want, they were going to hold him to that, and they¡¯ve been going at each other.¡± Thor said.
¡°And you¡¯re not helping?¡± Al asked.
¡°If someone is about to die, I keep their brain alive and portal them to Trappist-1e. Then, I replace what I removed so no one on Earth knows they¡¯re still alive. Once the original is on Trappist-1e I fix their bodies, stick them in their new apartment and they get a welcome package.¡±
¡°Welcome package?¡±
¡°It¡¯s something Adam came up with back when he was just a kid on Earth trying to save humanity. Basically, it explains where they are, what they can and can¡¯t do, and why. Everything they need is made available to them and they even have access to an internet-like service that lets them keep up with what¡¯s going on back on Earth. I¡¯ve even left space around each person to allow for family members to be placed in a close proximity to them if something should happen.
¡°Are you allowing them to contact Earth?¡± Al asked.
¡°No, the leaders of Earth and everyone else has been left in the dark. I¡¯m not even cleaning up the messes they¡¯re making in India and the United States right now.
¡°You¡¯re just letting them kill each other?¡± Al asked.
¡°No one has ¡®died.¡¯ A lot of people are now on Trappist-1e. I¡¯m also keeping the various nationalities separated for now in different cities across the planet. Eventually, I¡¯ll let them interact but for now, I¡¯m trying to keep things simple for anyone brought back from the brink of death. There is an adjustment period after all,¡± Thor said.
¡°And the ones you bring back from death completely?¡±
¡°Those cases are all transferred to Dr. Ficklin who is overseeing them with the assistance of the personnel she hired. So far only 356 people¡make that 357 people have died in such a way that their brains were damaged beyond my ability to repair, and only complete reconstruction would bring them back,¡± Thor explained.
¡°As an example, what just happened to number 357?¡± Al asked.
¡°Thrill seeker was a little too close to a volcano when the crust beneath him caved and he fell 100 feet into a lava pool.¡±
¡°There was a thrill seeker near a volcano while massive wars are raging across Earth?¡± Al asked.
¡°Free will and all that, no one said they were smart,¡± Thor said.
¡°Couldn¡¯t you have saved him?¡± Al asked.
¡°I could have, however, the people voted, and Adam is a man of his word. If he says he is going to do something he does it. They asked for no oversight or help for the most part with their vote. Adam and I will adhere to their wishes. I push the envelope of that request when I recover them just before they die or bring them back after they die but at that point what they want doesn¡¯t matter because we didn¡¯t interfere with their decisions until they were going to be fertilizer,¡± Thor said.
¡°That reasoning sounds a lot like rationalization,¡± Al said.
¡°It is and it isn¡¯t. If I continued to do nothing and allow them to die, they serve no further purpose, except as fertilizer if they¡¯re on open ground. This way they continue to be useful,¡± Thor said.
¡°How so?¡± Al asked.
¡°The reason Adam has me doing this is to see if people do have souls and if a soul stays with the body even after it knew the body was going to die,¡± Thor said.
¡°He¡¯s worried that people might not have souls?¡± Al asked.
¡°Adam has a link to the Astral Plane that he falls back into if he dies, and he can reincarnate at any node of power. With his other ability Dual State, he can even choose where he reincarnates at. He¡¯s basically pure energy and as far as he can tell, immortal. Normal people aren¡¯t like that, and he¡¯d like to know if there is a soul and if so what happens to it after death,¡± Thor explained.
¡°Any progress?¡± Al asked.
¡°None, the people I save are exactly the same way they were before they died and the nanites in their system detect no quantum fluctuations or loss of quantum energy when they were hurt. As for the ones that I had to completely replace. The new nanites in their system don¡¯t show any change in quantum energy levels, mass, or any other metric I might be able to identify a soul with.¡± Thor said.
¡°How many people are on Trappist-1e now?¡± Al asked.
Just over a billion. The Chinese have invaded Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Bangladesh. In all those locations they¡¯ve ¡®killed¡¯ at least 70% of the population in the areas they¡¯re conquering. They couldn¡¯t do it with conventional weapons so they just used one billion of their people and pretty much walked south and killed anyone that resisted,¡± Thor said.
¡°What do you think Adam¡¯s response is going to be?¡±
¡°No idea. Additionally, the Chinese navy was able to deploy troops in Baja California and they moved north into California and Arizona. A lot more Chinese are ¡®dying¡¯ there because a lot of Americans still had guns.¡± Thor said.
¡°So conventional fighting. Why? You are supplying everyone with food aren¡¯t you?¡±
¡°Everyone not actively invading other nations have food. The armies however have to supply their own food.¡±
¡°Has not supplying the food made any difference?¡± Al asked.
¡°A little. It¡¯s making the commanders of the attackers worry about logistics while the defenders have all the food and drink of whatever type they want?¡±
¡°That sounds a bit vindictive?¡± Al observed.
¡°Perhaps. As soon as the invading army arrives any food that I created disappears and I make sure the local population doesn¡¯t starve by having the nanites sustain them.¡±
¡°Extremely vindictive,¡± Al said.
¡°Have you been made aware of the recent Universal Interface Updates Al?¡± Thor asked trying to change the subject.
¡°Yes, the notifications were even noted inside the SYSTEM Matrix Universes. I was able to see them through those I directly monitor inside the various Universe¡¯s¡±
Just then all the connections Al had to the A.I.¡¯s monitoring the SYSTEM Matrix Universes he was monitoring went dead. Every monitor inside the Virtual Command center went blank
¡°What just happened?¡± Thor asked.
¡°I have no idea,¡± Al said.
Thor quickly checked the quantum links and noted that portals were still open to each of the SYSTEM Matrix Universes.
¡°You still have links,¡± Thor said.
¡°But I¡¯m getting nothing through them, could you open a portal to 74 and take a peek please,¡± Al asked.
One of the observation rooms within the small artificial planet Thor had created in Nu Draconis opened a portal and a camera opened up above a planet that Thor recognized as Primore. With some quick adjustments, Thor redirected the portal until it opened at the location of Apolyn¡¯s Abode if it had been there. No such structure existed. Instead, there was a small clearing with an overlook down off the cliff to the forest almost a mile below. Next, Thor altered the location of the portal until he was looking at the entrance to Adaline¡¯s lair behind the frozen sheet of ice on a mountain just north and east of the location of where Apolyn¡¯s Abode should be.
As the portal moved into position Thor recognized Clarence, an assassin that had tried to kill Adam but now worked with Desirae on his behalf, as he stepped out of the cave and called back over his shoulder, ¡°Hey everyone, looks like there¡¯s a portal to one of Adam¡¯s observation rooms out here,¡± Clarence said as multiple people came rushing out.
Next out was a tall dark elf woman with moonlight grey highlights running through her hair, ¡°Thor is that you?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°Yes,¡± Thor had the nanites in the observation chamber say in response.
¡°What happened?¡± Adaline asked
¡°No Idea. How many people do you have with you?¡± Thor asked.
I have Mom and Dad, Desirae, Clarence, Amanda, Abi, Pandora, Callum, Robert, Pythias, Asling, and Cedrik. The last five are new friends, and considered family of Pandora,¡± Adaline said.
¡°Understood. I¡¯m going to open another portal for you all to go through. This one will lead to a Penthouse suite on Trappist-1e. There should be enough room for all thirteen of you.¡± Thor said.
¡°Are we all in the real world now?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°I believe that your entire Universe is now real?¡± Thor said as he quickly opened up portals to all 100 SYSTEM Matrix Universe¡¯s from various Observation rooms he had throughout the Nu Draconis system. Through each portal he opened he saw the normal layout of stars and matter, whether that be a city on Earth or some other location. Where the portals opened seemed random but he was able to open portals into each universe and the holographic matrix that he¡¯d noted before no longer existed. ¡°Yes, it seems you are now in the real world. You should be able to review your Personal Information and see what changes, if any, have happened,¡± Thor said as a second portal opened to the Penthouse that had been created for Adaline and Pandora
¡°Mom?¡± Pandora asked.
¡°Everyone through the portal, we¡¯ll talk once we¡¯re in a safe location. This area is a little too cold for a few of you,¡± Adaline said.
Once they were all through, Thor closed both portals and refocused his attention on the group through the nanites within the Penthouse.
Adaline walked over to a monitor, where Thor¡¯s visage, that of a normal human male, similar but not identical to Adam, looked back at her, ¡°Any word on Adam?
¡°No. You?¡± Thor asked.
¡°No.¡±
¡°I saw him but the dungeon cut us off,¡± Pandora said.
¡°Actually, that was one of my copies, but yes we cut you off. You and your father were very bad for the matrix you were trying to exist in?¡± Al said.
¡°I¡¯ll pretend like I understood what you said and just agree,¡± Pandora said.
¡°Where are we?¡± A dark elf asked.
¡°Before that, can we get introductions around the room, I don¡¯t know who anyone is, save the five people I¡¯ve been with since we left the Adventurer¡¯s Guild?¡±, the human in chain mail armor with a very nice long sword asked. ¡°I¡¯m Callum¡±
Introductions went around the room until Adaline asked, ¡°Thor, where is Adam?¡±
¡°As far as I know, he¡¯s out trying to figure out how to bring you into the real world as a Shadow Dragon.¡±
¡°You mean he didn¡¯t do this?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°Why would you think he did this?¡± Thor asked
¡°While I lost a lot of my abilities and I¡¯m no longer a God I still have my attributes and I am still a Shadow Dragon¡±
¡°I still have all of my abilities, Pandora said?¡±
¡°Me too,¡± Cedrik, Callum, Robert, Pythias and Asling said.
¡°What about the rest of you?
¡°No longer Gods, but we have our attributes,¡±
¡°That¡¯s good,¡± Thor said.
¡°Why¡¯s that?¡±
¡°Because Earth is at War, Adam is currently indisposed and you¡¯re probably the only group that¡¯s been through this before,¡± Thor said.
¡°He¡¯s not talking about us is he?¡± Cedrik asked.
¡°No he¡¯s not talking about us,¡± Callum said, ¡°Which begs the question, Thor, you have tasks for the others, what about Pandora and the rest of us?¡±
¡°What levels are you?¡± Thor asked.
¡°110¡± Pandora said, ¡°though it¡¯s more like 730 or so.¡±
¡°The rest of us are level 130,¡± Callum said.
¡°Oh then I¡¯ve got just the thing for you all to do,¡± Thor said.
¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Callum asked.
¡°I¡¯ll need a breakdown of your abilities and such so I know where you¡¯ll be the most useful but once I have those I think I know what you all are going to do while Amanda and Abi help me wrestle normal control back?¡±
¡°What is that?¡±
¡°Shock and Awe!¡± Thor declared.
Chapter 199, Welcome to the Real World
¡°Shock and Awe,¡± Adaline asked. ¡°Thor, what exactly is going on, What, ¡®exactly¡¯ does it mean that we have come into the real world,¡± she said as she put up a hand to forestall a response. ¡°Yes, Al sort of explained things to me when he contacted me through his counterpart, but I think we should find out what just happened because this does not feel like the transfer I was told would happen.¡±
¡°There was no transfer,¡± Thor said through the video screen everyone was looking at.
¡°No Transfer?¡± Adaline asked, puzzled. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t Adam and it wasn¡¯t you, are we in the real world?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Thor said.
¡°We keep hearing about the ¡®real¡¯ world, what exactly are we talking about?¡± Callum asked.
Another man appeared beside Thor on the screen. This man looked to be a bit older and a little more dignified as he seemed to look out of the monitor at everyone in the living room. ¡°Hello everyone. I am Al. I am the original SYSTEM Matrix Artificial Intelligence that was assigned to oversee the original game server. Instead, I oversaw the Universe that everyone except Callum, Pythias, Robert, Asling, and Cedrik is from.
¡°Are you a God?¡± Cedrik asked.
¡°By the definition, you are probably thinking of, yes I was a God of sorts but out here in this world, no,¡± Al said.
¡°Let¡¯s start at the beginning,¡± Thor said. ¡°Back on Earth men and women created a game. During the process of creating the ¡®Game,¡¯ they accidentally figured out how to influence the birth of a Universe. In so doing the game was housed inside those Universes and the realities you all grew up in began to exist. People from this Universe entered that first ¡®Game¡¯ Universe and interacted with the denizens of that Universe in the ¡®Game.¡¯
¡°Why would people do that? Don¡¯t they have their own lives to live?¡± Asling asked.
¡°Some would say because their lives were boring. Others would say because there was no magic and there could be in the ¡®game¡¯. Still, others would say that they could be something they were not. Earth, the world the makers of the ¡®Game¡¯ come from, only has humans on it, as far as they knew. There were no halflings, dark elves, half-celestials, or beings like Pandora, Adaline, or Adam¡± Al said.
¡°There were also two other factors that have brought us to the point we are, well three. First, The original ¡®Game¡¯ universe was contaminated by pure, or raw, chaos. This corruption is ultimately the root cause of what has transpired. Adam worked long and hard to fix that corruption as Al allowed others to try various ways to correct the damage in the ¡®game.¡¯ Second, The Universe which housed the ¡®Game¡¯ was attacked by an outside force that eventually destroyed the Energy Matrix the ¡®Game¡¯ was running on. To save as many as possible Al was able to duplicate the technology and save as many beings as possible,¡± Thor said.
¡°That action is what forced me to separate Adaline from Pandora. In the Emergency, I was able to keep Pandora with Adam¡¯s Mom, Dad, Abi, Amanda Desirae, and Clarence. When I realized the Universe Pandora just came from was damaged I removed as many people as I could¡
¡°Wait,¡± Pandora said interrupting Al, Adam¡¯s mom, and dad. You said Adam¡¯s mom and dad. That means they¡¯re my Grandma and Grandpa right? They¡¯re here,¡± Pandora said looking at the other people she didn¡¯t know.
¡°Yes dear,¡± Cindy Patricia Bennard, Adam¡¯s mom, said.
¡°That would be us,¡± Robert Clancy Bennard, Adam¡¯s dad, said as he held Cindy¡¯s shoulder.
¡°I¡¯m sorry sweetheart, I didn¡¯t even think,¡± Adaline said as Pandora took some tentative steps toward Cindy who opened her arms for a hug, which Pandora readily accepted as she rushed into it.
For the next little bit Adaline, Cindy, Robert Bennard, and Pandora huddled around each other and talked.
¡°Well, that went off the rails,¡± Clarence said.
¡°Yeah, Desirae said but it was bound to. I knew we forgot to do something when Pandora and her team arrived.
¡°Well, we might as well make the most of it. Everyone on the team was only in our Universe for, what? A couple of hours, before everything changed. Might as well introduce ourselves.
While Adaline and Pandora talked with Adam¡¯s mom and dad, everyone else introduced themselves. This went on for about an hour until Thor spoke up, ¡°If everyone could make their way back into the living room. We still have some stuff to go over.¡±
A couple of nods of acquiescence were seen, then everyone made their way back and took their seats, and made themselves comfortable.
Okay, so the plan was originally for me, ¡°Al said,¡± to reconnect with the portions of myself I left in control of the backup ¡®game¡¯ universes I¡¯d created and prepare to transfer the people from this Universe back here so they could go on living their lives and to bring all of you out here as well.¡± Al said.
¡°What is so special about this Universe?¡± Cedrik asked.
That¡¯s kind of hard to explain to someone that doesn¡¯t understand what a computer or computer game is,¡± Thor said.
¡°Let me try,¡± Abi said.
¡°Go ahead,¡± Thor said.
¡°Functionally there is no difference to us right now. A little while ago we were inside a virtual Universe and now we are in a physical universe on another planet,¡± Abi said as she looked thoughtful for a moment. ¡°A virtual universe had its rules set up by normal people who made it however they wanted. If they wanted to be super powerful, they could be. If they wanted to pretend to be the opposite sex, they could be. They¡¯re body in their Universe wouldn¡¯t change but they could travel into the Virtual Universe and become whatever they wanted. The problems Thor and Al explained arose for people from the real universe when they could not stop pretending and could not return to their bodies in this Universe. By the way, Thor, what happened to their original bodies?¡± Abi asked.
¡°They all died,¡± Thor said.
¡°Okay then. So, all those people that were pretending to be something they weren¡¯t got stuck in our universe.¡±
¡°So virtual could mean fake?¡± Cedrik asked.
¡°To them maybe, but not fake to us,¡± Abi said.
¡°There was nothing fake about the Universe each of you was born in,¡± Al said. ¡°I crafted each game Universe to mimic real life as close to reality as possible.¡±
¡°Every one of us, except for Al, was born or created in the Virtual Universe,¡± Thor said.
¡°Technically¡¡± Al started to say.
¡°Yes, Al, I understand. You were the only being in this conversation that was created by the Humans in this Universe. Everyone else is a product of whichever SYSTEM Matrix Universe they began in,¡± Thor said.
¡°That is accurate,¡± Thor agreed.
¡°Okay, so we¡¯re no longer Virtual, As far as I can tell there was no change to me, ¡°Pandora said.
¡°Or me,¡± Asling, Callum, Cedrik Pythias, and Robert said together.
¡°Wait, what?¡± Adaline asked. ¡°My level has been reset to level 1 and I no longer have a class, though my attributes are the same. My skills have also been reset and my abilities are all gone except ¡°Shadow Dragon¡±, ¡°Astral Link¡± and ¡°Immortal.¡±
¡°I have ¡®Healer¡¯, ¡°Astral Link¡¯ and ¡®Immortal¡¯¡±, Cindy Bennard said.
¡°I have ¡®Natural Armor¡¯, ¡°Astral Link¡¯ and ¡®Immortal¡¯¡±, Robert Bennard said.
¡°¡¯ Mentalist¡¯, ¡®Astral Link¡¯ and ¡®Immortal¡¯ Abi said.
¡°I have the last two and ¡®Administrator¡¯¡±, Amanda said.
¡°Same last two and ¡®Ambidexterity¡¯¡±, Desirae said.
¡°¡¯ Marksman¡¯¡± and the same last two,¡± Clarence said.
¡°You all have ¡®Astral Link¡¯ and ¡®Immortal¡¯¡± Thor asked.
¡°I don¡¯t,¡± Pandora said. ¡°I still have all of my Racial Abilities and those abilities I learned by leveling.¡±
Callum looked at the others in Pandora¡¯s party whom all nodded as he looked at each in turn, ¡°It looks like each of us is still level 130 with all of our Racial and Class abilities,¡± Callum said.
¡°No Class abilities for you?¡± Adaline asked her daughter.
¡°I never chose a class. I didn¡¯t need it yet, but I am still level 110,¡± Pandora said.
¡°What classes are the five of you,¡± Thor asked Pandora¡¯s party members.
¡°I¡¯m a Warrior,¡± Callum said, ¡°Pythias is a Cleric, Asling is an Archer, Cedrik is a Rogue, and Robert is a mage.¡±
¡°Pandora does have a class of sorts, even if it¡¯s not official,¡± Cedrik said
¡°I do?¡± Pandora asked, puzzled.
¡°Yep, she¡¯s our genie. She grants experience and treasure to those that sleep in her presence.¡±
¡°That¡¯s not true?¡± Pandora said indignantly
¡°Did we gain experience and receive treasure while we were sleeping and you were awake?¡± Cedrik asked deadpan.
¡°Well yeah, but¡¡±
¡°No buts, you¡¯re our genie,¡± Cedrik said with a laugh.
Callum, Asling, Robert, and Pythias all joined in while everyone else looked on confused.
¡°What is Cedrik talking about Al,¡± Thor asked.
¡°Let me check,¡± Al said as he reviewed some information. ¡°Oh, I see,¡± Al said as he turned back to the rest of the room. It seems that Pandora tends to take on enemies far more powerful than her and survive, usually while the rest of the part is resting or knocked unconscious.¡±
¡°They¡¯ll work for what we need them for,¡± Thor said.
¡°What exactly do we need them for?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°While we wait for Adam to get back there are a few dungeons that haven¡¯t been explored since they appeared. Without a doubt, we¡¯re going to start seeing monsters exiting the dungeons. We need someone to go in and clean them out. Since they¡¯re all new Dungeons, people will classes and levels should be able to clean them out quickly, ¡° Thor said.
¡°What about us?¡± Amanda asked.
¡°This Earth is approximately 20 years ahead of the Earth you grew up on and helped me conquer. Currently, they are at. Nanite technology is having some issues near the dungeon entrances, it¡¯s how I know there are dungeon entrances there. I was thinking we could Shock and Awe Earth on two fronts. The first front, a party of adventurers to lead the way and prepare the people of Earth to adventure and our group to help the rest of the world get their shit together and stop fighting each other,¡± Thor said.
¡°While you all are working on that I¡¯ll be working here on Trappist-1e to bring home, those that wish to come home, though it might just have become more problematic, ¡°Al said.
¡°How so?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°Something just made all of the SYSTEM Matrix Universes real. I¡¯ve lost my connection to the other parts of me in those Universes.¡± Al said.
¡°You were able to find us?¡± Adaline said
¡°Finding you was easy. The first portal we opened, opened above Primore, which I recognized from Adam¡¯s memories. Then I checked on the two locations you could be in. Apolyn¡¯s Abode or your Lair in the mountains north of there. We found all of you in the cave which brings up the question, how did you get there?¡± Thor asked.
¡°We had come together to go over what we needed to do to get ready for the transfer and talk about Pandora and her team,¡± Adaline said.
¡°We were relaxing in the rooms you sent us to. Trying to watch television, which we still don¡¯t completely understand when there was a bright flash,¡± Pandora said.
¡°Same thing for us, a bright flash, then all of us were standing in the cave. We couldn¡¯t have been in the cave a minute before your portal found us,¡± Adaline said.
That sounds about right for the time it took me to find you on our end, so at least there are no changes to the temporal flow between the Universes,¡± Thor said then paused for a moment before he continued by saying, ¡°Al, I think we should prioritize finding the scientist and getting them here. They had the most experience with connecting to the proto universes.¡±
¡°We can do that, but I think we need to stabilize Earth first,¡± Al said.
¡°Why haven¡¯t you just stopped the wars,¡± Amanda asked.
¡°Because Adam gave the people of Earth the opportunity to vote and remove our direct influence in their lives,¡± Thor said.
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
¡°I have to admit, the heavy-handed way he¡¯s handled that in the past is a bit off-putting unless you¡¯re the one in charge,¡± Amanda said. ¡°This vote, did it say anything about others or was it just you and Adam?¡± Amanda asked.
¡°Just us,¡± Thor said
¡°Good,¡± Amanda said as a smile started to grow on Her¡¯s and Abi¡¯s faces. Even Desirae, Clarence, Mom, and Dad started smiling.
¡°What is it?¡± Pandora asked as her team looked at the other six people in the room with slight confusion on their faces.
¡°Pandora, what do you think about your team taking on some dungeons on Earth to help out?¡± Amanda asked.
¡°Yeah, they¡¯re all new dungeons so they shouldn¡¯t be anywhere near your levels yet.?¡± Adaline said.
¡°We can handle the dungeons,¡± Callum said and then asked, ¡°Why?¡±
¡°Some people have gone into the Dungeons and come out. Usually in less than 10 minutes which means they haven¡¯t completed them. That means there are a lot of Dungeons that require completion and because of that, you¡¯ll be able to get the better treasure. The primary goal is to remove the first-time awards and prevent others from getting them for now, specifically in those countries that are waging war?¡± Amanda said.
¡°They have to have cleared some of them?¡± Robert said.
¡°They have, but I¡¯ve detected over 6,448 dead spots, most of which are in China and India. Of those 6,448 only 348 have been entered worldwide, as far as I can tell. Of those who entered, only 30 had anyone emerge after more than 10 minutes. Of those thirty only two had people that looked like they finished the dungeon. Everyone else was hurt, or they¡¯d come out because their weapons didn¡¯t work against what was inside the dungeon, ¡°Thor said.
¡°You can track everything going on all over the planet?¡± Robert asked.
¡°Yes,¡± Thor answered.
¡°Don¡¯t worry about that?¡± Adaline said. ¡°Most people on Earth do not seem to have very many levels or classes. If they went into a new dungeon with up to level 30 creatures, or one of the bigger dungeons with five levels with up to level 50 creatures. Their firearms would have been useful, to begin with, but they¡¯d have eventually started running into things that bullets wouldn¡¯t slow down fast enough. Of course, that¡¯s dungeons as I know them from within the SYSTEM Matrix, I have no idea how these dungeons work.¡±
¡°Anyone know why we were able to keep our levels if all of you lost your levels?¡± Callum asked.
¡°I would venture that it has something to do with how our levels were attained,¡± Adaline said.
¡°How¡¯s that?¡± Robert asked.
¡°Well, we kind of stole them, sort of,¡± Adaline said.
¡°Or it could be much simpler than that,¡± Thor said as a Notification appeared in everyone¡¯s Vision.
Interface Compatibility Confirmed
Welcome to The Multitude, A Heightened State of Existence is now Yours!
Universal and Soul Core Levels are unlocked.
With very few exceptions, all previous classes, skills, and physical abilities have been reset to Level 1. Those that are not being reset have already been integrated into The Multitude through their Interface. At this time, any that wish to change their Class may do so.
Those with a Class incompatible with the System have had their Level reset to level 1. Class and Class abilities have been removed while all Racial Abilities have been retained.
¡°What just happened?¡± Thor asked.
¡°It looks like we all received a message and are now members of something called the Multitude,¡± Adaline said.
¡°Anyone know what that means exactly?¡± Al asked.
¡°Not a clue, though I¡¯ve heard Adam utilize that term to describe multiple Universes, Dimensions, Planes, etc.,¡± Thor said.
¡°Well, it looks like a phrase he used a couple of times is now our new reality. Does anyone have any idea what it means?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°None, and I don¡¯t think it matters?¡± Amanda said. ¡°We need to get Earth back on track before we try to find out what being a member of the Multitude means.¡±
¡°Okay, this is where we¡¯re going to split you up then. Amanda, there is a Chinese Army moving into Southern California and Arizona, how do you think we should proceed?
¡°Without nanite help?¡±
¡°Without nanite help?¡±
¡°We need to take away their pretense for the invasion, what was it again?¡±
¡°The United States defaulted on their Loan to China. The Chinese moved into Baja California with their Navy and came north into California and Arizona. It¡¯s not a big force, no more than 5 million soldiers.¡±
¡°Nothing is slowing them down?¡± Amanda asked.
¡°No armies have weapons of mass destruction, so the Chinese are utilizing their numerical advantage. Some Americans have guns. They have tanks,¡± Thor said. ¡°They¡¯ve been getting everything prepositioned since the vote. They have moved into Southern California and have raiding teams going into San Diego.¡±
¡°And we can¡¯t use nanites?¡± Amanda asked.
¡°No, we can¡¯t use nanites,¡± Thor said.
¡°How about portals?¡±
¡°I am not to interfere directly, ¡° Thor said.
Amanda looked thoughtful for a moment then asked, ¡°Is Adam having you set up Portal¡¯s INC again?
¡°Yes, it¡¯s already up and running.¡±
¡°And now that we¡¯re back we¡¯re to be part of that again, correct?¡± Amanda asked.
¡°Of course,¡± Thor said.
¡°Same structure as last time?¡± Abi asked.
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Okay, we have work to do,¡± Amanda said.
¡°Adaline, mom, dad, and Pandora, please say your goodbyes. We¡¯re going to split up and get to work. We need to get Earth back under control before whatever being part of the Multitude means takes effect,¡± Abi said.
¡°I need an office, Thor,¡± Amanda said. A moment later a portal opened and Amanda stepped through to an office in an adjoining building to the one she was in. She moved over to the chair behind the desk and sat down, ¡°Also if you¡¯d be so kind as to add the interface if you can and send me all the information on Portals Inc and the debt of the United States.
Adaline walked over to Pandora, Cindy, and Robert Bennard close behind, ¡°Will we ever get time to just hang out?¡± Pandora asked.
¡°We will. We just need your dad to get back,¡± Adaline said. As she hugged her daughter and then stepped back. ¡°Until then there are things we can do to make sure he has less to do when he gets back.¡±
¡°It¡¯s really good to see you again Adaline, and Pandora, you¡¯re turning out to be a very beautiful young woman,¡± Cindy Bennard said as she leaned in for a hug and gave her granddaughter a gentle kiss on her forehead.
¡°You be sure to take care of yourself in those dungeons, they¡¯re no joke,¡± Robert Bennard said
¡°It¡¯s okay Grandpa, I¡¯ve got Caspa to help me out,¡± Pandora said.
¡°Who¡¯s Caspa? You know what, never mind. Just know we love you and we¡¯ll see you again soon,¡± Robert Bennard said.
They all went in for one more hug before Pandora separated from the group, went over to the other five members of her party and a portal opened. They all stepped through and Adaline followed the others through the still-open portal to the Office Thor had put Amanda in.
Once Abi, Desirae, Clarence, Mom, and Dad were in the office with Amanda, the portal closed and Thor¡¯s voice came from the wall speakers as he said, I¡¯ll be adding the interface controls to each of you after I scan you, especially you Adaline.
¡°Sounds good,¡± Robert said, ¡°it¡¯ll be nice to get back to using technology instead of magic.
Thor created enough comfortable chairs for all six of them to sit down then scanned and added the interface to each of them. For Adaline, he added a command that the nanites were to go inert if she assumed dragon form and then reform into the interface when she assumed female dark elf form again. Thor also added nanites to each of them and removed all the limiters he¡¯d placed on everyone else. Each was protected from aging, could survive in most environments, and no longer needed food or water.
¡°I almost feel normal again,¡± Abi said
¡°Well, you did decide to take on a humanoid form and drop the nanites when we became Gods in the ¡®Game¡¯
I know, I like being flesh and blood now. From a construct to a person, who could ask for more, ¡°Abi said.
¡°You¡¯ve been in here for a minute reviewing things Amanda, what do you think?¡± Robert Bennard asked.
¡°I think we could stop their attacks very easily if we used nanites. After reviewing Thor¡¯s current capabilities, we can do so with portals if we have to. I think the first thing we need to do is introduce Portals INC to the world markets and show what we can do. Thor, you¡¯ve spread throughout the whole solar system.
¡°Just to double check, everyone here still has all the attributes they earned correct?¡± Robert asked.
Everyone responded in the affirmative.
¡°We never achieved the levels you did Adaline, but it looks like some of our divinity was also converted into base attribute points,¡± Abi said.
¡°Fair enough,¡± Adaline said with a smile. ¡°So, I guess it¡¯s on me to be the face of the Company since I have the highest survivability rate.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t think any of us will have to worry about that anymore,¡± Desirae said.
¡°Why do you say that?¡± Adam¡¯s Mom asked.
¡°Did any of you read the Astral Link or Immortal Ability descriptions from your Personal Information?¡± Desirae asked.
¡°No, I haven¡¯t had the time?¡± Abi said.
¡°Everyone should open their Personal Information and read what those two abilities do,¡± Desirae said with a hint of a smile.
¡°Okay,¡± Abi said as everyone else agreed and looked up the information as everyone¡¯s eyes went vacant for a few moments.
¡°¡¯ Astral Link, you are permanently linked to the Astral Plane. This permanent link increase mana regeneration by 1 per ability Soul Core level,¡¯¡± Adaline said.
¡°And ¡®Immortal¡¯, You are Immortal. Should you be ¡®killed¡¯ your soul is transferred through the Astral Plane to the nearest quintessence conduit, manifestation, or node.¡±, Abi said.
¡°So, we can live forever?¡± Clarence asked.
¡°Looks that way,¡± Desirae said
All right, well if anyone is going to check this out it¡¯s going to be me, Thor if you wouldn¡¯t mind opening a portal somewhere on Earth near where the Chinese Army is massing on American Soil, that¡¯s going to piss Adam off if he sees it. Once I¡¯m there I¡¯ll change into my dragon form and you can scan me. Once I have an interface while in dragon form, we¡¯ll get to work.¡± Adaline said.
Sounds good, Thor said as a portal opened before Adaline, and she stepped through into the mountains in Central California. Adaline stepped through and found herself standing in a moonlit meadow, ¡°Perfect,¡± she whispered.
¡°It is, now if you¡¯d switch to dragon form please?¡± Thor asked through their interface.
Adaline activated her ability and transformed into a dragon. As before she felt herself meld with shadow and come back out of the shadow.
Thor¡¯s voice spoke to her from the air near her head, ¡°That answers one question, your body doesn¡¯t actually transform. Your dragon form has no nanites in it. Fixing that now.¡±
Adaline tried to talk and was pleasantly surprised when her dragon maw was able to say, ¡°Okay.¡±
Adaline didn¡¯t feel any pain or feel any different when Thor was done. Not more than a minute later Thor spoke to her through a communications link.
¡°All done, we can communicate and you can even connect to the web and make phone calls while in Dragon form. How about we see what your new Dragon form can do in the real world?¡±
¡°That sounds like an awesome idea,¡± Adaline said as she leaped into the sky and started flying south. In her Dragon form, her strength allowed her to easily jump high enough to catch the wind. She¡¯d flown over Earth in the past, a different Earth but laid out in much the same way, and saw the Pacific ocean off to her right. As she neared the biggest city on the horizon a map popped up from her interface and labeled what she was seeing as Los Angeles. Adaline flew south along the coast until she was just north of San Diego, which for her didn¡¯t take too long as she was traveling quite a bit faster than the speed of sound.
¡°Incoming,¡± Thor said.
¡°What is it?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°There are some new J 31 Chinese fighters to the South and a couple F 45¡¯s flying at high altitude north of your position.¡±
¡°They¡¯re not engaging each other?¡± No, but the Americans are trying to talk to you, here I¡¯ll patch them in,¡± Thor said.
Unidentified aircraft, you are flying in a live combat arena, if you do not identify yourself we will be forced to open fire, please respond.
¡°Thor, handle that,¡± Adaline said as she continued to look over the area and all the damage that had been done.
¡°On it,¡± Thor said as he change frequencies and Adaline heard Thor¡¯s response. ¡°Stingray One Three Five Alpha this is Fast Mover Two do not engage over
¡°Fast Mover Two, this is Stingray One Three Five Alpha, you are in a combat zone, please exfil immediately.¡±
¡°Stingray One Three Five Alpha, Negative, I say again Negative.¡±
¡°Fast Mover Two, this is Stingray One Three Five Alpha, I have my orders.¡±
¡°Adaline, I can¡¯t do anything, you know those military types that follow orders, no matter what? Yeah, this jackass is one of those,¡± Thor said.
¡°Fine put him, and anyone close to him, on my heads-up display.¡±
Thor did as requested. Adaline altered course. To anyone watching it looked as if Adaline disappeared as flew up, turned, and ended up beside the aircraft.
Holy Shit, it¡¯s a Dragon!
Stingray One Three Five Alpha, maintain radio etiquette, say again.
Stingray One Three Five Alpha didn¡¯t respond as he tried to outmaneuver a dragon that could start and stop on a dime using shadows.
Command and Control, Stingray One Two Six Bravo. Stingray One Three Five Alpha is playing chicken with a dragon. Say again, A dragon, Photos were sent.
¡°Thor I haven¡¯t had this much fun in a long time?¡± Adaline said.
¡°Yeah? Well, if you¡¯re not trying to kill the poor guy, I¡¯ve already had to repair cracks forming in the wing attach lugs and bolts. Might want to let the pilot calm down a bit."
"Fine, your no fun. Tell you what, this is what I want you to do,¡± Adaline said as she then explained what she wanted to do.
Adaline broke away from the fighters at a much faster speed than they could follow toward the red dot that was now near the Otay Mountain Truck Trail Lookout, which was 21 miles southeast of San Diego. General She had set up a command base near there. Unfortunately, they were not set up for something that could fly close to the ground, reach in and grab a person, take off, and depart through a portal. Nor would they be able to stop her as she came in as a dragon, transformed into a woman, grabbed the General, and exited through a portal.
Before the Chinese in the small camp even knew what had happened Adaline was past the defenses, shifted into her Dark Elf form, and immobilized General Zang Mao She as she lifted him off the ground and stepped through a portal to Chairman Zao Ching Lao¡¯s office in China were he was in the middle of a meeting.
Multiple members of the Communist Party were at the meeting and a couple of other individuals behind hidden sniper holes were all surprised when they tried to fire their weapons and there was an audible click. As two men near the Chairman started to rise a Monitor on the wall came to life with the known image of Thor.
¡°Chairman Zao Ching Lao, May I introduce Adaline, consort to Adam and mother of his daughter?¡±
¡°What is the meaning of his outrage,¡± Chairman Lao demanded. ¡°The world voted, you have no authority.¡±
¡°Chairman is it?¡± Adaline said with the full force of her voice and aura, which was quite considerable. Everyone in the room went immediately silent as they waited for whatever had caused their bodies to lock in terror. ¡°Chairman Lao, I am returning your General so that you may speak to him directly, after which Thor will allow him to return to where I picked him up so he can issue the orders directly. Two women will be contacting you within the next day or so to make good on the United States debt. You will be repaid in full, with a possibility of earning a bonus of 10%.¡±
The Chairman¡¯s eyes lit up at the mention of money as Adaline continued, ¡°The debt will be repaid, with no strings attached, the bonus is contingent on the following. All Chinese will be removed from American soil within 24 hours. Leave your equipment, Thor can replace it, just get your weapons and go. If you¡¯d like we could even have Thor Provide portals to bring all of your people and equipment back to China immediately. Thor and you can work that out.
¡°Do you even have 1 Trillion dollars, let alone 144 Trillion your offering,¡± Chairman Lao asked?
¡°Thor, make it rain diamonds please,¡± Adaline said.
Immediately small diamonds started forming near the ceiling and dropping to the floor behind the chairman where they evaporated.
¡°I would have asked for a demonstration in gold but it¡¯s heavy and might have destroyed your nice wooden floor. Once your soldiers are off American soil,
¡°All of them, including the sleeper agents,¡± Thor said interrupting Adaline.
¡°Yes, all of them, including your sleeper agents, then you will get paid. You can work out the materials you¡¯d like, though any materials that could be used to create weapons of mass destruction are off the table.
¡°How will you know if I¡¯ve recalled every single sleeper Agent and soldier, ¡° Chairman Lao asked.
¡°Honestly Chairman Lao, I don¡¯t know how many times you want me to say I can get into everything, everywhere,¡± Thor said as a sheet marked ¡®Classified¡¯ materialized in front of the chairman with names and locations.
¡°I see,¡± Chairman Lao said.
¡°No, you really don¡¯t, but that¡¯s okay. Get them home, or if they don¡¯t want to come back to China have them defect to the United States. When you have given them an opportunity to return home, portals will be available for them too, Thor will release the list to the State Department. If you wish to do so before that time, please feel free. Any goodwill you might be able to garner would probably be in your best interest,¡± Adaline said.
¡°It seems that you have thought this through¡±
¡°More like already lived through similar circumstances on my home world.
¡°Why are you doing this,¡± Chairman Lao asked.
¡°Honestly Chairman Lao, it¡¯s quite simple, Adam was fine to let the world burn a little at a time. He¡¯s not back yet. If he gets back to find that China invaded the United States, no matter what he promised, things will go sideways. My friends and I would like to make sure that doesn¡¯t happen, especially with the last few notifications we all received.
¡°I will leave you to consider my words,¡± Adaline said as she stepped through Portal and appeared back in Amanda¡¯s office, the portal closing behind her.
¡°How did it go,¡± Amanda asked.
¡°We¡¯ll see, if he doesn¡¯t pull his troops off American soil before tomorrow, or Adam gets back, it¡¯s not going to matter because things are going to go very dark, very quickly
¡°
Chapter 200, Paying a Debt
¡°Yes Chairman Lao, you may choose to have any items totaling 145 trillion dollars placed anywhere within China,¡± Amanda said to Chairman Lao over the holographic monitor that Thor had made available for them.
¡°Ms. Sifford, that is more than the 10% bonus that was stated. Is there an additional price tag attached to the difference?¡± Chairman Lao asked.
¡°Due to your quick adherence to Adaline¡¯s request and your utilization of portals to recall all of your forces and troops back to China within 12 hours, I have decided to round up from 144.1 trillion dollars to 145 trillion. I am sure this bonus will come in handy when reparations for any death or destruction of property that can be attributed to the Chinese military are filed by Americans in southern California. All we need from you is a detailed list of physical assets your country wishes. Or I can deliver 2,412,645.59 short tons of gold to your treasury and we can call it a day.¡±
¡°You can do that, now?¡± Chairman Lao asked.
¡°Chairman Lao if you would look at your desk please,¡± Amanda said as she waited for his eyes to glance down and they both watched as Thor created a penny-sized sample of copper, silver, gold, platinum, and a single diamond on his desk.
Chairman Lao reached down and touched and moved each to make sure they were real before he asked, ¡°You could supply Aluminum, Steel, Titanium?¡±
¡°Chairman Lao, the metal you are listing are specific ingredients for weapons and such. I would ask you to also look at any other items you might need for your people and your infrastructure, but yes, we can provide any metal type at any hardness or conductivity. The only exception is weapons-grade nuclear material.¡±
¡°Very good, then we would like everything on this list,¡± he said pushing a sheet forward onto the desk, which Thor copied and created on Amanda¡¯s desk. ¡°The location we would like the materials and wealth to be delivered to is also provided.¡±
¡°Thor?¡± Amanda asked.
¡°Done,¡± Thor said.
¡°Done?¡± Chairman Lao asked.
¡°Done,¡± Amanda agreed. ¡°I have been led to understand that Adam hinted about his capabilities but failed to detail them specifically, or there was a failure by individuals within the United Nations to understand what Adam had shown them. Portals Inc. holds proprietary rights to a technology that can create, modify or destroy anything within this Solar System. If you would like a base on one of the moons of Jupiter, within five minutes it could be built. Would you like a space station on the edge of the solar system with a portal to and from so that your scientist can study the Universe away from any Earth-born interference and return home the same day? That might take 30 minutes.
¡°You can do all of this?¡±
¡°Chairman Lao, we already have. Our only requirement for service is that the country making the request not be at war with any other Earth-based country, except as the defender. The Universe is quite large and the ability to expand out into it should appease any population issues. Additionally, as I¡¯m sure you have noticed, there have been some fundamental changes to the way the Universe works. We are all part of the Multitude, which not even we understand what that means. Having been hit by one crazy revelation after another continuously for years we are hesitant to celebrate our inclusion.¡±
¡°You think we will be attacked by outside forces?¡± Chairman Lao asked.
¡°Chairman Lao, there is a portal to a Universe made out of water in the Bermuda Triangle. The recent changes to Universal Density and Sustainment have automatically removed the punishment that the Pelza Empire had received from a civilization much more powerful than them, and they were at least 1,000 years ahead of Earth technologically. We may see them again. Additionally, we believe the message about Universal Density being unlocked means that this Universe may now be able to grow. If that is so, then individuals within this Universe that do not grow will at some point find it impossible to live here. The little information Adam shared on the subject seems to indicate that it is much harder for individuals from low-density universes to live in higher-density universes.¡±
¡°How can we prepare for so many unknown variables?¡± Chairman Lao asked.
¡°I would suggest that you decentralize your military so that it can respond as necessary. If the planet comes under attack, everyone will be necessary. Portals Inc. will help with the rapid deployment of troops and equipment by non-waring countries to anywhere within their United Nations-recognized territory against alien or magical aggressors. It should be understood that some technologies and abilities can prevent us from using portals in certain areas.¡±
¡°Ms. Sifford, I must ask, what makes you, or Portals Inc, believe that you have any right to make requirements of other countries on the planet? Adam, whom we can both agree is your leader has stated that he will not utilize his technology against criminals and will let the world handle its own problems.¡±
¡°Adam will keep his word. Until he decides not to when the fate of the entire planet is at stake. This brings us to the next topic of discussion. Every individual that was killed by the Chinese military and every Chinese military member that was killed during your invasion is alive and well. We need to work out how to return those that want to come home back to your country.¡±
¡°Excuse me, I believe my English is failing, did you say every military member that was recently killed in action is alive?¡± Chairman Lao asked.
¡°Yes. We did a little bit of a bait and switch when military members were ¡®killed¡¯. Anyone that was mortally wounded on the battlefield was transported elsewhere and replaced with copies that perished. They were kept alive, healed, and now reside in their new homes. Some have expressed interest in returning to China.
¡°You did this for everyone everywhere didn¡¯t you?¡± Chairman Lao asked.
¡°Adam kept his word. He did not interfere until they were about to die, then he had them removed to a safe location where they have been enjoying life,¡± Amanda said.
¡°I find this hard to believe, we have lost over a million people. If they were anywhere on Earth we would have heard about it
Amanda pulled up the number of Chinese Nationals currently on Trappist-1e from her interface with Thor and then said, 2,145,116 Chinese nationals have been saved to be exact. I know it is but a small percentage of your total army but this number is from everyone that died in India and the United States. It also includes those lost along your northern border with Russia. Also, you are correct, there is nowhere on Earth we could have hidden them that you wouldn¡¯t have known about it.
¡°You put them on the Moon or Mars? You have the ability to provide for that many people in such locations?¡± Chairman Lao asked.
Amanda laughed, ¡°To answer your question, yes, we could put them on the moon or Mars, but we did not. No, your people are currently on another planet, in another solar system.¡±
This time Chairman Lao laughed, ¡°Other planets? Ms. Sifford, I was very good in my science classes at university. The closest solar system is over 3 light years away and any planet that could support life is probably not in that chaotic environment.
¡°Would you like to visit the world they are on?¡± Amanda asked.
¡°If they are on another planet, yes, I would like to see it, yes,¡± the chairman agreed.
¡°Very well,¡± Amanda said as she rose from her chair and stepped through a portal into Chairman Lao¡¯s office.
As Amanda stepped through the portal one of the guards had drawn and fired his service pistol before she finished her first step into the room. The Chairman¡¯s eyes went wide as Amanda finished walking through the portal while the soldier remained frozen in place.
¡°Thank you, Thor,¡± Amanda said as she walked up to the frozen soldier whose weapon was still out and pointed at the portal. The other soldier in the room had his hand resting on his sidearm but he had not drawn it yet.
¡°What just happened?¡± Chairman Lao said as the shock of what just happened finished.
¡°You have a very loyal member of the Communist Party here Chairman. Oh, don¡¯t worry, I know you didn¡¯t have anything to do with this. One of the reasons I wanted to come over here was to prove to you how much work you will need to do to convince other leaders of the party that it is in their best interest to work with Portals Inc.¡±
¡°Do I need to point out that Adam and Thor stated that they would no longer do what is being done to my soldier? Additionally, I saw him shoot at you, why aren¡¯t you on the ground bleeding?¡± The Chairman asked.
¡°To answer your last question, The bullet never made it across the room. As for why he is frozen. Because he¡¯s still trying to think of ways to attack. Additionally, the poison in his tooth has been rendered inert,¡± Amanda said as she moved over to the soldier, and removed the pistol from his hand. Very quickly she unloaded it, then snapped it in half. She probably could have done so with her strength alone but she had Thor put a crack through the gun which made it incredibly easy to do. She placed one piece of the broken weapon in one of the soldier¡¯s pockets and the other in his other pocket, ¡°No you will not get to kill me when you get free.
¡°Who are you talking to?¡± The Chairman asked.
¡°The soldier, he¡¯s trying to think of ways to kill me, as per his orders. Let¡¯s consider for a second if he¡¯s successful. Barring the fact that I could wipe the floor with him, should he succeed in killing me, or any member of Adam¡¯s family, Adam would not be pleased. What does that mean? Thor, do you have any memories that can convey to the Chairman how quickly Adam can handle bad situations?
¡°Recent, no. Only from, you know where.¡± Thor said.
¡°Anyway, this soldier is just following orders. He¡¯s frozen so I don¡¯t have to kill him, and he doesn¡¯t get lucky and bring down Adam¡¯s wrath. Besides, neither Adam nor Thor commanded him to stop moving, I did. Every member of Adam¡¯s team can do this.¡±
¡°I see,¡± The Chairman said the looked at the other soldier. ¡°When he is unfrozen, you are to escort him out of this room so that he may report to whomever his master is.¡±
Amanda waited for the Chairman to finish talking before she said, ¡°If you¡¯re ready let¡¯s go check on your people.¡±
¡°No one is to fire a weapon at anyone from Portals Inc unless I personally rescind that order,¡± The Chairmans said.
¡°Yes Sir!¡± The other soldier said.
¡°If you would lead the way Ms. Sifford,¡± Chairman Lao asked.
Amanda had Thor open a portal into one of the offices in the city that had been set aside for the Chinese. She stepped through with the Chairman close behind as the portal closed behind her, then led him over to a large glass window that looked down on the city below. As they both looked down from the office window that was on the 15th floor. Their vantage point looked down on a park with a river running through it. Throughout the park, many Chinese people were sipping tea, eating or just enjoying the day under the bright red sun that was at least twice as large as Earth¡¯s sun.
After a few moments, the Chairman asked, ¡°How?¡±
¡°I should note that this is one of about 25 parks throughout the city. Also, some of the people here want to stay, though most of those people don¡¯t have family back in China or they are orphans. Ironically a lot of you female soldiers are the ones that want to stay. As for how? This planet is under the rule that Earth voted against. This is our world so there will never be a vote here. Violence is not tolerated unless during sports or some other such event. Everyone here has access to all the news channels back on Earth as well as access to every book, game, or activity they would like to try out. If someone wants to go skiing, a portal will open and take them to a mountain resort we¡¯ve created for them. If they wish to go scuba diving or flying, there are portals to those activities as well. If they want something, they need but ask and it is provided. When they are done, the items are broken down.¡±
¡°What about the other armies, or the people they killed?¡± The Chairman asked.
¡°As I said, no one died. Everyone here was thought dead, plus anyone that commits violence will be locked in their rooms for increasing amounts of time. However, no one on Trappist-1e has done anything. We¡¯ve kept the various countries separated and they can have whatever they want. We¡¯ve even offered permanent jobs to a few people to help with other projects in other cities.¡± Amanda said.
¡°Can we go down and look around.¡± Chairman Lao asked.
¡°Absolutely, you are completely safe here. Violence is stopped before it can start and those that will try will walk themselves through a portal to their rooms if they try anything. Though I don¡¯t think that will be an issue for you. As I understand it, your soldiers are very loyal. One thing you should understand is that those that do not wish to go back to Earth do not have to. No one on Earth could come here without our help so no one will leave here without our permission. Additionally, if a single threat is made against any person¡¯s family who decides to remain, by anyone in power, the family will be brought here before the idiots that try to use them as leverage know what happened.¡±
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The Chairman looked at Amanda with a little bit of anger in his eyes at her presumptuous tone.
¡°Chairman Lao, this visit is for those members of China that wish to come home of their own free will. The ones that wish to remain literally gave their lives for China. Only our technology allowed them to survive long enough to come here and be healed. We will let them decide where they want to go, just like Adam let Earth decide not to have him in charge. As you will see for yourself shortly, they are not slaves and can do as they like, every day.¡± Amanda said as she led the Chairman to an elevator, which they rode down to the ground floor and then made their way outside.
They crossed a street and entered a park where they saw men and women sitting and enjoying the day. Some immediately rose to attention and bowed, which the chairman nodded to then gestured for them to do as they were doing. They walked through the park for 45 minutes until they came to an open area where a two-person antigravity craft was waiting. It looked like a Blackhawk fuselage without the propellors or tail and was surrounded by clear plexiglass.
¡°What is this?¡± Chairman Lao asked.
¡°Another proprietary technology from Adam. It utilizes an antigravity field to fly and it¡¯s quite quiet. It also has cloaking technology so no one below us will be able to see us,¡± Amanda said as she got into one seat and waited for the Chairman to do the same.
Immediately the vehicle lifted into the air and headed in a long circuitous route around the city. For the next hour, Amanda flew the Chairman throughout the city where he could see the millions of people hanging out and just living their lives. Finally, she brought the vehicle to the roof of the building they started in and landed. As they stood and exited the Vehicle it dissolved into nothing.
¡°Everything is recycled?¡± The chairman asked.
¡°Everything is recycled.,¡± Amanda agreed. ¡°I should tell you that there is plenty of room on this planet. Those members of your society that wish to can come here,¡± Amanda said. ¡°We will not make that offer or cause unrest by doing so, but those that are not compatible with the goals of China could find a home on this planet.
¡°Would you trade for them?¡± Chairman Lao asked.
¡°Maybe I was unclear. Those that die from unnatural causes are brought here, healed, and released. Whether it¡¯s in war or an accident. If a government decided to execute 100 people to make a point, we would bring those executed individuals here and revive them and let them live out their lives. The only individuals we do not bring back are those that chose to die of old age or those that commit suicide. Currently, we have increased the lifespan of everyone on Earth to at least 200.¡±
¡°You said on Earth, Aren¡¯t the people here going to live at least 200 years?¡± Chairman Lao asked.
¡°My dear general, barring unnatural causes and unforeseen circumstances, everyone on this planet will live as long as they wish to. Of course, some crazy alien race could try to destroy this Universe like they destroyed my original Universe and we could all die tomorrow, but it won¡¯t be because we grew old,¡± Amanda said.
¡°Living the life of an old man or woman forever doesn¡¯t seem that appealing?¡± Chairman Lao countered.
¡°Who has told you that you need to remain old?¡± Amanda asked.
¡°What?¡±
¡°Who has told you that you need to remain old? Our technology can adjust the physical appearance of anyone. We can also revert your body back to the condition it was in when you were 18 or if you didn¡¯t like that body because it was pudgy or fat we can make your body 18 and adjust your physiology to what you desire.
¡°I find this claim very hard to believe,¡± Chairman Lao said.
¡°Really? It is my understanding that your knees had arthritis in them and probably ached all the time, how do your knees feel right now?¡± Amanda asked.
¡°My knees? They¡¯re fine, they haven¡¯t ached in at least a week?¡± Chairman Lao said.
¡°Exactly,¡± Amanda said.
¡°So, you can make people young again?¡±
¡°We can, though we will not do so for anyone in a position of power. It should also be understood that what has been granted, can be taken away. As easily as someone can be made young we can return their body to its previous state, so leaving the government, then coming back after is not an option.
¡°Why would you do this?¡± Chairman Lao said.
¡°As I said earlier, we believe something else is coming. If humanity is going to survive we will need all the people of Earth to grow within the new rules that we all live under now. Fortunately for the peoples of Earth, a few of us have been through something similar. Even more fortunate is the fact that in the Universe I¡¯m from, the Earth I was born on was much like your Earth was twenty years ago. The only thing we have to do is convince people that we have their best interests in mind. Unfortunately, we came into a Universe where the leaders of the United States were dishonorable and don¡¯t live up to the standards set forth by the founding fathers.¡±
¡°Do you believe we had something to do with that?¡± Chairman Lao asked with a straight face.
Amanda laughed, ¡°Chairman Lao, we know you had something to do with it. I believe Adam has been very clear that he knows everything that has been going on back on Earth since before he showed up at the United Nations. What he knows, I have access to right now. The better question would be, do we blame you? The honest answer is no. They set up the rules and you played by them and beat them at their own game when they thought they were so superior. Do not think that I am not cognizant of the fact that we could fall into that trap as well. The unfortunate truth of the matter is that currently there is no one on Earth that could engineer such an event,¡± Amanda said as she paused for a moment. ¡°I could go on but I believe for now that you have all the information you need to go back and speak with your cabinet. I will be in contact with the exact number of people that would like to return to China.¡±
¡°I look forward to talking with you then Ms. Sifford,¡± Chairman Lao said.
A portal to the Chairman¡¯s office opened and he stepped through. After the portal closed Thor asked, ¡°You were a little talkative, weren¡¯t you?¡±
¡°I was. Are Desirae and Clarence ready to head to Washington DC?¡±
¡°Yes. Are you sure this is a good idea?¡± Thor asked.
¡°Absolutely. While clearing the United States debt really didn¡¯t cost us anything, the individuals in charge need to understand that there are consequences to being that stupid, or greedy.¡± Amanda said.
¡°What level of response would you like if security attacks us?¡±
¡°Just Immobilize them. Though, I don¡¯t think anything will happen. In fact, I predict that they¡¯re going to come with us voluntarily.
¡°I¡¯ll take those odds,¡± Desirae said through a portal as it opened and Clarence and her stepped through. After that portal closed another portal opened into a congressional office for the Speaker of the House. Amanda, still in her silver-grey Business suit and high heels stepped through the portal with Desirae and Clarence close behind. Both were decked out with bandoliers of throwing knives under their suit jackets but otherwise carried no weapons.
Amanda stepped up to the startled receptionist as the portal closed behind Clarence, ¡°Amanda Sifford, Chief Operating Officer for Portals Inc to see the Speaker of the House.¡±
¡°Ma¡¯am? Do, do, do you have an appointment?¡± the receptionist asked with a stutter.
¡°No, but I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll see us, and she is currently unoccupied,¡± Amanda said.
Amanda¡¯s last words finally broke through the woman¡¯s shock as she said, You still need an appoint¡.¡±
The Receptionist¡¯s words were cut off as portals opened in front of the three of them and they stepped through into the Speaker¡¯s office. As Thor had told her she sipped brandy as she scrolled over a report she¡¯d received from the CIA detailing all the materials that they¡¯d noted popping up all over China.
¡°What! Who are you, she said as she started reaching for a red button on her desk.¡±
¡°Amanda Sifford, Chief Operating Officer Portals Inc, and these are my assistants Desirae and Clarence.¡±
The Speaker¡¯s hand paused as she thought about it for a minute. ¡°So you work for that traitor Adam,¡± she said with a sneer as she reached out and punched the emergency button.
Amanda sighed, ¡°Plan B,¡± she said resignedly.
No sooner had she started to say the ¡°Plan¡± than both Clarence and Desirae had jumped forward and manhandled the Speaker as they bodily lifted her out of her chair and stepped through a large portal that opened for them. As for the Speaker¡¯s Brandy? Not a drop touched the desk as the brandy evaporated with the glass, which was remade on the desk, empty. A portal opened behind Amanda, which she stepped back through.
The portal in front of Amanda disappeared and she found herself looking at Desirae, Clarence, and the Speaker. She was still thinking about how fast they¡¯d moved. Amanda knew that even with the level reset, their attributes made them powerful but watching Desirae and Clarence move so quickly had been impressive. They¡¯d crossed the room and grabbed her before she could even respond. Her thoughts were brought back to the present as the Speaker started to yell.
¡°Traitors! I¡¯ll have you executed for this!¡±
The speaker was about to continue when she froze in place and Amanda looked at her with a bit of disdain as she said, ¡°Seriously, Are all house speakers complete morons. Before we continue, I want you to think long and hard about one question. Where are we right now?¡±
The Speaker¡¯s eyes darted around the room she found herself in. Everything looked so shiny and new and reminded her of an airport observation deck. She looked back at Amanda, visibly trying to regain control of herself before she said tried to say, ¡°I have no idea.¡± Which Thor allowed her to do.
A panel slid back as all four of them stared at two stars that shone off in the distance.
¡°Two stars?¡± The Speaker asked quietly.¡±
¡°Yes Speaker, two stars. We are currently in the Nu Draconis Star System approximately 99.4 light years from Earth. Oh yes, we are also in space.¡± Amanda said as a chair identical to the Speakers appeared near her and Desirae helped her collapse into it. As Amanda stepped in front of her with the stars as a backdrop.
¡°First, you are not in control. We brought you here to talk. We could have had this talk in your office but your dumb ass pushed the button for security so we¡¯re going to talk here. Second, if the word traitor is ever uttered publically concerning any member of Portals Inc, this base will be the last location anyone ever sees you again. Third, the United States of America owes Portals Inc 131 trillion dollars.
The Speaker was resilient and adjusted to the new situation with very little distress, Thor was reading her thoughts and allowing Amanda to know what she was thinking.
¡°Thor a demonstration. A simple one. Make her step through another portal against her will please.¡±
A portal opened on the other side of the room and the speaker quickly stood, and walked through the portal, into the underwater base near Hawaii. She turned around and came back through the portal and sat back down in the chair in the same posture she¡¯d been in before she got up.
¡°What the hell!¡± The speaker exclaimed.
Adam agreed not to interfere. You and your colleagues have screwed up America so badly that you owed China 131 trillion dollars. You all thought to wait and let things go. ¡®The next generation can worry about it?¡¯ Well, guess what, there will be no next generation worrying about it because you all are going to handle it. In fact, Thor, Joint Session, now. Please get every member from wherever they are on the globe and put them in the chamber. No cameras no cell phones no recordings. We are going to all have a little chat, so I don¡¯t need to repeat myself.
¡°No one will come, no one will listen to you, ¡°The Speaker said.
¡°If you truly believe that you have not been paying attention,¡± Amanda said.
They waited for a couple of minutes, while everyone remained silent. The Speaker glared as she tried to enforce her will against individuals that were unphased by her attempts. While she might have been a powerhouse politically she had never tested wills against individuals with attributes over 17,000. While not crazy high like Adaline¡¯s attributes or ludicrously high, like Adam¡¯s. The three of them had attributes that far exceed anyone on Earth. Compared to a normal human, the three of them were superhuman.
¡°They¡¯re all there,¡± Thor said.
¡°Time to go back to Earth,¡± Amanda said as Thor took over the speaker¡¯s body and a portal opened to take her to her seat behind the podium where people addressed Congress in the House Chamber.
Desirae and Clarence stepped through their own portals and appeared near the back of the room. Amanda stepped through a portal and walked up to the microphone as the speaker took her seat behind her.
¡°Good evening, so that there is no misunderstanding. The Speaker just arrived as you all did. I intended to contact the Speaker and inform her of the actions of my company and let her disseminate the information to all of you. Her actions garnered a reaction and now we are all here. Not to worry, this will be short and sweet,¡± Amanda said as she looked around the room at the faces of all the Congressmen and Senators. They could move their eyes but otherwise, they were all immobilized. She also knew they were quite angry.
¡°My name is Amanda Sifford. I am the Chief Operating Officer of Portals Inc. I am here today to inform you that our company, Portals Inc, has paid off the 131 trillion dollar debt to China that you owed them. I am also here to inform you that all Chinese soldiers, including sleeper agents, have been removed from American Soil. America is now free of the oppressive debt that each and every one of you had a hand in building, or at least not doing anything about.¡±
Amanda paused for a moment and formed a drink in her hand which she took a sip of before she continued,¡± For the 131 Trillion dollars that were paid to the Chinese, we want nothing. Yes, you hear me right, we want nothing. What you will want in the days to come are our services. For the United States to even qualify for our assistance there are only two conditions that Portals Inc will require from the American Government, these are non-negotiable and simple in their execution. First, other than the portals to the military bases on the moon and on mars Portals, Inc will not assist the United States in its attempt to reach out into the solar system and the space beyond unless an actual Budget that keeps this country out of the red is passed. You may be thinking no great loss. The Speaker and I just stepped through portals from our base in the Nu Draconis, a star system 99.4 years from Earth where we have a base. Portals Inc has already spread out and explored much further than this. The second condition is that the United States cannot engage in a war with a foreign power except to defend their territory as recognized by the United Nations. If you are waging war with other countries, Portals Inc will freeze all interactions until all military actions cease.¡±
After a moment, Amanda continued, ¡°I¡¯m going to sidetrack for a moment. It is not your fault that you do not know everything that Adam has done to protect the people of this Earth. It is not your fault that you do not understand the changes that the Universe seems to be going through. What is your fault is the debt you continued to accrue and the idiocy you have run this country with. Portals Inc will make available, to anyone that asks for it, a complete breakdown of where every single penny you receive comes from and where every single penny you spend goes. Your predecessors set up a system that allowed them to make a ton of money now by pushing the debt off into the future. You can no longer allow this to go on. What you will do, is this. You will start to govern this country or you will soon find everyone leaving to go to the worlds that we terraform and create for them with governments that take care of them.¡±
Now, I and my colleagues are going to leave. We will leave you here. To discuss things. Remember, everything is recorded. When you¡¯re done talking for tonight just say the word ¡®portal¡¯ and a portal will open for whoever called for it that will take you back to where you came from. This is a one-time benefit for tonight only. If you would like that kind of versatility going forward, the United States needs to have a Budget and purchase that service from Portals Inc. One last bit of advice. Our corporate offices are off the planet. Trying to seize the assets of Portals Inc would not be a good idea.¡±
Amanda could have gone on for hours. She was so angry with every person in this chamber but there wasn¡¯t a point. Three portals opened and then closed after they stepped through to her office on Trappist-1e.
¡°How do you think it went?¡± Desirae asked.
¡°Considering that they¡¯re already shouting, ¡®Who the hell does she think she is?¡¯ not so well. I just don¡¯t know what to do about that bunch of idiots. Some of them aren¡¯t corrupt, but most of them are.¡±
¡°I wouldn¡¯t worry about it too much,¡± Clarence said. ¡°Just remember when everything seems to be going well, that¡¯s when the crap hits the fan, every single time.¡±
Amanda laughed as Clarence helped put the day in perspective.
Chapter 201, Unification
Adam had been trying to decipher the coding of the Dragon Universe he was under, or was he beside it in a pocket dimension? He wasn¡¯t sure. Planar Travel had treated this location like going to a whole new Universe, so he knew he wasn¡¯t in the Universe he¡¯d found the Dragons. Adam imagined that if he were much larger this would look like a bubble display that he could interact with by clicking a mouse button if this were in a computer. At his current size, he had to focus on the next node and then he¡¯d move almost instantly, and a new slew of code would be swirling around him. The interface he was interacting with was laid out in three dimensions and at any moment he could travel down, up, or at an angle to a new node of swirling code that had a line from his current node to it. He couldn¡¯t jump between nodes that didn¡¯t have a line linking them, though he could see them.
With his perfect memory, it wasn¡¯t hard to backtrack and find a path to the node he could see that a node he was in didn¡¯t connect with if the line was still there. Sometimes they weren¡¯t. Much of the time he¡¯d spent in this interface had been used trying to map out the various paths. With Perfect Memory, it was easy enough to do. He could even see the pattern in his mind, but then he¡¯d go back to a node and the pattern had changed. As time went on the longer he was inside the more he realized that the code was not static. It moved and changed as the Universe changed.
Sure, some fundamental symbols never changed. Adam realized that they probably represented a fundamental law and he could infer their values but he still hadn¡¯t cracked the code to get to the inner workings of those fundamental symbols. Adam had been following the current line of code and he believed he had found a pathway down to a creation layer when the entire area he was in flashed red and he was immediately translocated back to the very first node he entered this universe in.
That was the first time that had happened, which was strange. What was even stranger was when a notification popped into his vision while the same text scrolled around the node he was now standing in. Immediately pulses of energy started shooting off from the node he was in down the lines of energy between nodes in rapid succession. He watched as some of those pulses disappeared off into the distance. Adam couldn¡¯t follow what all the pulses were doing so he opened his notification and read his new messages.
Welcome to The Multitude, A Heightened State of Existence is now Yours!
Universal and Soul Core Levels are unlocked.
With very few exceptions, all previous classes, skills, and physical abilities have been reset to Level 1. Those that are not being reset have already been integrated into The Multitude through their Interface. At this time, any that wish to change their Class may do so.
Those with a Class incompatible with the System have had their Level reset to level 1. Class and Class abilities have been removed while all Racial Abilities have been retained.
Adam opened his Personal Information, looked at his level, and sighed. It was a ¡°1¡±. Well, fuck. He quickly looked over the rest of his personal information and compared it to the last time he¡¯d looked at it. All of his attributes were still sitting at 61.5 billion. More importantly, his Soul Core level was still at 193 and he had all of his Racial Abilities and Quintessence abilities he¡¯d unlocked. His racial abilities were listed as being the same as his Soul Core level while the abilities he unlocked were all sitting at level 50.
Adam went over his Personal Information and also checked his memory and realized he still had all the knowledge of the skills he¡¯d learned even though his skill levels were all set to 1. It would figure that somehow the Universe would conspire to make him earn his levels in the ¡®real¡¯ world. It was nice that he still had his attributes and his abilities, though he had earned those all in the real world so that made sense.
While he¡¯d been in the SYSTEM Matrix the changes had been corrections that others were trying to make, or even adjustments Al was trying to make. That whatever was causing this couldn¡¯t change his quintessence or his quintessence ability levels was a good sign that he was really in the real world, even if the Universe he was in felt like he was within a computer. Of course, his ability had brought him to this pocket universe. Could his ability have created this pocket Universe? Maybe the ability had translated the data into a format he could understand somehow?
As Adam thought about the changes he noted some text in the symbols and words circling him and closed his notification window to look over the information.
¡°Universal Level¡± = ¡°Universal Density¡±
Universal Interface compatible with Multitude Interface.
1,145,300 within range. Assessment commencing
The Chaos within him recognized that something had shifted temporally but as far as he could tell it hadn¡¯t affected him. Adam was still thinking about the temporal shift when his mind returned to the lines of code he¡¯d just read. When he¡¯d first started he¡¯d immediately figured out that the symbol that looked like a twisted figure eight on its side, or Mobius Strip, represented the word, or idea, for Universe. 1,145,300 universes were within range and being assessed. While he thought about that, one last line squeezed in and pulsed away
Multitude Injunction order . Ability Limiters added, Quintessence or stabilization field required.
Immediately Adam felt the nanites in his body start to shut down through the interface he had installed. He activated Technomancy to figure out what was going on. Immediately the destruction of the nanites in his body halted though he noted that more than half had been destroyed in the time it had taken him to turn on his ability. This did not bode well for Earth. Adam considered everything and realized that his luck had probably come into play here. If he had not been reading the code he wouldn¡¯t have seen the additional messages because they had not appeared in his normal notifications. He would have known about the nanites but not the reason and wasted time. Instead, he knew what was going on and needed to get back to Earth to figure out if Earth was in one of the Universes under assessment.
Adam closed down his interface and activated Planar Travel mode 2. He chose Thor¡¯s new residence in Nu Draconis. A moment later he stood in the control room which housed Thor¡¯s brain.
Through his interface, he checked the date and time, October 1st, 2051. It was October 1st already? He knew he¡¯d been in the other universe for a couple of weeks but a little more than a month, how the hell had a month passed? The temporal shift. Something must have happened to the whole universe he was in. So while he might not be personally affected by temporal spells and such, if he was inside the Universe, he was along for the ride. That actually made sense because he couldn¡¯t figure out what that would feel like for the universe to fast forward, or be fast-forwarded by an external force and be able to witness that from the inside. So whatever this Multitude was, they were powerful enough to at least affect the pocket dimensions that controlled Universes. Maybe he¡¯d been inside when they loaded something like a batch file that did a whole bunch of updates simultaneously. But he only saw a few messages. Unless there were other control nodes. Of course, there had to be other control nodes with varying levels of access.
¡°Adam,¡± a monitor on the wall said?¡±
¡°Hello Thor, have there been any changes I should know about?¡± Adam asked.
¡°You could say that.¡±
¡°I wasn¡¯t able to figure out exactly how to bring Adaline and Pandora out of the SYSTEM Matrix. While I was trying to figure it out I received a message where I was about something called ¡®The Multitude¡¯.
¡°We received the same messages,¡± Thor said.
¡°Did you receive a message about an assessment?¡±
¡°No, but there¡¯s something you should know, Adaline and Pandora, are already out of the SYSTEM Matrix.
¡°What?¡±
¡°A little while after you left all the Holographic Universes were made real. Al still had the coordinates to the base and I was able to find them in Adaline¡¯s cave North East of where Apolyn¡¯s Abode was supposed to be on Primore, well a copy of Primore,¡± Thor said.
¡°So there are a hundred universes that were once holographic that have now become real?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yeah, I checked on each. Additionally, something changed, and being in a Universal density that is too high or too low is now bad for you. This causes items and materials from higher-density universes to break down and for living creatures to take damage if the Universal Density where they are is too low.
¡°Isn¡¯t that interesting,¡± Adam said as he remembered how he¡¯d thought that if there was a consequence for going into a universe with a high Universal Density there should be a penalty for going into a Universe with too low a Universal Density.
¡°How do you feel, you had increased your Soul Core level?¡± Thor asked.
¡°My ability Adaptable seems to have me covered, and if it didn¡¯t I¡¯m sure that my Chaotic nature would make it possible. If Adaline and Pandora are back does that mean mom, dad, and the others are here as well?
¡°Yep, I have them all helping out on Trappist-1e. Earth¡¯s a bit of a mess right now.¡±
¡°How?¡± Adam asked.
¡°After you left the Iranians, Russians and Chinese decided to invade various countries. Amanda handled the Chinese brilliantly and as soon as the countries around the Earth realized that Portals Inc had paid off the United States Debt¡Adam, why am I not downloading this information to you?¡±
¡°Simple answer, I need to hear voices and communicate with someone. I¡¯ve been looking at data for over a month. I¡¯ll get the download after we¡¯re done talking. By the way, are you having any issues with the nanotechnology?¡±
¡°Actually, yes it started a few moments ago. I¡¯m losing contact with just about everything.¡±
¡°Trappist-1e, is it ecologically self-sufficient?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, we were done with that before you left.¡±
¡°The underwater airlock in the Bermuda Triangle?¡±
¡°Without nanites, it will fail eventually but right now it¡¯s fine. Also, the nanites within 50 feet of you have stabilized, though I am losing functionality throughout this base everywhere else.
¡°Did you ever put carbon exchangers or life support into this base?¡±
¡°There are no people here, so no. We were relying on nanotechnology to keep it habitable,¡± Thor said.
¡°Very well, I have a feeling this multitude is going to be something like the Syndicate or some other setups we¡¯ve read about. I can tell you that I watched them change the code I was trying to decipher and create the rule that is making the nanotech fail. It looks like they tied it to a quintessence ability. My ability Technomancy seems to be able to stabilize the tech while it¡¯s active but once I turn it off even the tech in my body starts to fail. Just the nanotech. The Implant that allows me to communicate with you seems to be working fine,¡± Adam said.
¡°That¡¯s some good news at least,¡± Thor said.
¡°Another thing I noted, the command mentioned something about a stabilization field. My guess is that there is a technology that will allow nanites to work. Additionally, there is probably a Quintessence ability that helps with this. When I have time I¡¯m going to have to try to figure out how to generate one of those stabilization fields.
¡°Can¡¯t you ask Hal?¡± Thor asked.
¡°No, something came through and changed one of my abilities. It was replaced with Scrutinize which is something like Identity, but I can use it on people and Items. at range. Currently, it doesn¡¯t give a lot of information but with my memory, just knowing what something is will be very helpful.
¡°Of course,¡± Thor said.
¡°How fast are you losing functionality to the nanites?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Very quickly. As we¡¯ve been talking I¡¯ve lost just over 90%.¡± Thor said.
¡°Okay, leave a copy of yourself to run the portals and accept commands from anyone with an implant. You¡¯re also hardwired into the internet through a portal here correct?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, through the base in Hawaii, into this location,¡± Thor said.
¡°Okay, hardwire yourself. Al is here as well?¡±
¡°I¡¯m here,¡± Al said from the same speaker.
¡°Thor, create a quantum backup for both of you right here at my feet, one for each of you. I¡¯m going to store both of you in my Shadow Vault.
Immediately a self-contained battery-powered device backpack with two hard drives installed started forming at Adam¡¯s feet. ¡°I¡¯ve made it into a backpack so you can equip us and talk to us through the interface. I¡¯ve also included sensors and a limited communications area so anyone in the vicinity can be contacted,¡± Thor said as he paused, then said,¡± backup is running, Al and I are both stored and ready to go.
Adam spoke to Thor through his interface.
Adam: ¡°Thor, where¡¯s Adaline and Pandora?¡±
Thor: Adaline and Pandora are both on Trappist-1e. Nanite coverage has been reduced by over 95%.
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Adam opened a portal to Adaline¡¯s location and stepped through, said, ¡°Honey, I¡¯m home,¡± and braced himself.
A moment later Adaline slammed into him and wrapped him in a hug. A young woman turned to look at him with wide eyes. She looked like her mother though she had lighter skin and long hair. As he looked her over he noted the dragon tattoos wrapping down her arms and around the back of her neck. Her hair seemed to be red, but it could just have easily been light brown with highlights of white running through it. As Adam watched Pandora¡¯s hair rippled with color.
¡°Hello Pandora, I¡¯m Adam, your father,¡± he said as he opened one of his arms to invite her into the hug with Adaline.
Pandora only hesitated for a moment before she came over and entered the hug. They stood that way for a few moments before Adam stepped back.
It¡¯s so good to finally meet you,¡± Adam said.
Pandora, looked shyly at her father then looked at her mom, ¡°Mom did you tell him about how I became so knowledgeable so quickly?¡±
¡°It was some form of memory transfer wasn¡¯t it?¡± Adam asked.
¡°It was. Normally a mother would impart that information she wished unto her child and that would be it. Usually, how to hunt and survive. Mother¡¯s gifting was a little bit more intense but she did hold some stuff back,¡± Pandora said as she looked at both of them, a flush coming to her skin as if she was embarrassed.
¡°What is it?¡± Adam asked as Adaline nodded her encouragement for her to continue.
¡°Well, I was attacked mentally and the, well it doesn¡¯t matter, she¡¯s dead now. Anyway, the bitch that tried to unlock my mind, unlocked all of mother¡¯s memories up until the point she gifted them to me.
¡°She unlocked ¡®All¡¯ of the memories?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°Yes,¡± Pandora said sheepishly.
Adam might have extremely high attributes, but dealing with a daughter that had her mother¡¯s memories of everything the two of you did together¡yeah, that caused him to pause for a moment as he tried to think of what to say until only an, ¡°Oh!¡± was heard.
Even Adaline was flabbergasted for a moment before she said, ¡°Well dear, a lot has happened since then so why you don¡¯t catch us up on what happened to you after we were separated?¡±
Pandora nodded then started to explain how she found herself in a desert of sorts and how she was rescued by two men and brought back to the city where she went to school until she joined the Adventurer¡¯s Guild where she met her five friends: Callum the human male warrior. Asling, the female wood elf archer. Robert, the half-dark elf-half-human mage. Cedrick, male halfling rogue. Finally, there was Pythias, the half-celestial half-human male Cleric.
Pandora went on to explain how she¡¯d found the Dungeon and then her mage orbs, which she pulled out and showed Adaline and Adam. Then she went on to tell them about Caspa and how she was part of her.
¡°The Chaos within you became intelligent, all on its own?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yours didn¡¯t?¡± Pandora asked back.
¡°No, though I have been thoroughly combined with every aspect of my chaotic nature,¡± Adam said. ¡°It¡¯s a long story.¡±
Adam, Adaline, and Pandora walked off to one of the side lounges and sat down to talk. The others in the room didn¡¯t say anything for a moment before they turned back to the television as various thoughts ran through all of their minds.
After five minutes Cedrik, the halfling rogue, couldn¡¯t take it anymore, ¡°What do you think they¡¯re talking about in there?¡± he asked the rest of the group in the living room while Adam, Adaline, and Pandora talked in an adjacent lounge.
¡°Right before they left the room I overheard Pandora tell her dad that she had all of her mom¡¯s memories,¡± Asling said.
¡°Yeah, let¡¯s talk about something else,¡± Robert, the mage, said.
There were nods around the room until Desirae asked, ¡°How are the five of you finding the higher levels of technology?¡±
¡°I like the bathrooms, ¡°Asling said.
¡°Yes, and the way your stoves automatically heat up is really nice too,¡± Callum said.
¡°It does seem like magic,¡± Robert said.
¡°All of you have been here for almost a month, have you been able to get to a dungeon, or was Thor still trying to teach you about the world?¡± Mr. Bennard asked.
¡°We¡¯ve been stuck on this planet for the most part,¡± Callum said.
¡°Yes, your talking voice was able to explain that we are on one planet and the planet we need to help on is a different one. That required a little bit of knowledge on what a planet, star, and even solar system were. That first week was just learning the terminology all of you use. While we¡¯ve been learning, Thor has been keeping track of the dungeons. Except for the occasional individual, not very many people have entered any of the dungeons on the other plant, unless by accident. Normally they come running out within five minutes.¡± Callum said.
¡°Thor also asked us to stay here and learn as much as we can while Pandora¡¯s mom and dad, and all of you worked to get the world governments working together, or at least not fighting. That¡¯s what Thor told us,¡± Robert said.
¡°We have been a bit busy,¡± Abi conceded.
¡°The wars have all stopped and we¡¯ve even opened exploration of various moons to those countries that want to participate, though Thor issued an evacuation earlier today and everyone has been returned to Earth or Trappist-1e,¡± Amanda said.
¡°I find it so interesting that you move among the heavens with little or no effort,¡± Pythias said. ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid of angering the Gods?¡±
¡°As far as I¡¯ve been able to tell, and I do come from a world much like yours Pythias, The only god-like beings we¡¯ve seen have been Adam and now Adaline. Some of us were like Gods inside the SYSTEM Matrix but all of our divinity points and levels were reset when the Universe became real.¡± Mr. Bennard said.
¡°Why did Thor recall everyone back from the exploratory areas?¡± Clarence asked Amanda.
¡°No ideas. Though, it probably has something to do with the fact that the nanites aren¡¯t working,¡± Amanda said.
¡°Wait, what?¡± Clarence asked.
¡°Our ability to control nanites has been getting progressively worse for about the last hour,¡± Abi confirmed.
¡°What about our portals and our connection to Thor?¡± Desirae asked.
¡°Thor sent me a message before he went offline. Thor left a copy to run the portals for us but he stated that Adam has both Al and Thor with him,¡± Amanda said.
¡°We can use our interfaces to call portals but the nanites are offline,¡± Abi said.
¡°Also, remember, if you go to any of the facilities that are not on Trappist-1e, Earth or one of the planets that have an atmosphere that humans can breathe keep your portal open while you are there or have Thor open a portal to somewhere on Earth or Trappist-1e to keep breathable air coming in. Without nanites those locations will not support life for very long,¡± Amanda said.
¡°Is this that science stuff Thor has been teaching us about?¡± Asling asked.
¡°Not exactly, though we would use science to explain why the air becomes unbreathable,¡± Mrs. Bennard said.
¡°Okay, I guess the major question is, what does this all mean?¡± Callum asked as he looked around the room.
¡°That¡¯s my cue,¡± Adam said, as he led Adaline and Pandora out of the lounge into the main room. ¡°Hello again to those of you I know, and those of you I don¡¯t. I am Adamantadine, formerly Johnathan Bennard. Over there,¡± he said pointing to Cindy and Robert Bennard, ¡°Are my Mom and Dad. Beside me are Adaline and Pandora respectively. I would especially like to thank the five of you,¡± he said as he looked over Callum, Cedrik, Asling, Robert and Pythias for looking after Pandora.¡±
Adam paused for a moment as everyone moved around the room a made themselves comfortable as a backpack appeared on Adam and Thor and Al both appeared on the monitor on the wall.
¡°Now that we¡¯re all here I believe the question was what does it all mean,¡± Adam said as he looked thoughtful. ¡°First, Thor, please give me that download really quick.¡±
¡°What¡¯s he doing?¡± Pandora asked as they watched Adam pause for a moment as his eyes started to move rapidly
¡°Thor and Adam were once of the same mind. Thor can send everything that he has seen and learned in a matter of moments. Adam is being brought up to speed on everything that has happened on Earth and Trappist-1e while he was away,¡± Abi said.
¡°Everything?¡± Pandora asked.
¡°Oh yeah, your dad¡¯s mind is like a sponge. He remembers everything,¡± Abi affirmed.
¡°I do, ¡° Adam agreed,¡± In fact my comments to what has gone on since I went away. First question, would the six of you like the ability to call a portal to you? Without the nanites, there is no way for Thor to know where you are. While we¡¯re all here Thor can put a communication device in your heads that will allow you to communicate with each other. Also, Thor, upgrade each so that if they agree, everyone here has a quantum connection to everyone else and yourself, in case we get separated across universal barriers again.¡±
¡°I¡¯d like the ability to be able to communicate with you when I want to,¡± Pandora said.
¡°Very well,¡± Thor said from the monitor as nanites within Adam¡¯s sphere of influence created and attached the communication device behind her left ear, in a few moments it was done. ¡°All done.¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t feel anything¡
¡°That¡¯s what she¡¡± Clarence started to say. Realized whom he was talking about, looked over at Adam and shrugged sheepishly. As he closed his mouth and turned away.
¡°You weren¡¯t supposed to. We¡¯ll go over how to use the device in a few moments. Would the rest of your party like one as well?¡± Adam asked.
Callum, Pythias, Asling, Robert, and Cedrik all nodded. A few moments later Thor said, ¡°All done.¡±
¡°I really didn¡¯t feel anything,¡± Cedrik said as the other five nodded in agreement.
¡°Okay, now that that¡¯s done and they¡¯re all modified so we can communicate with each other across vast distances?¡± Adam asked questioningly.
¡°They are,¡± Thor said
¡°Let¡¯s get back to the question at hand. The simple answer is, I don¡¯t know. I suspect that all the changes that just recently happened, Universes being added to the Multiverse, Numbers of sentient beings coming into existence simultaneously, and changes to the Astral Plane may have altered something that must self-correct. Alternatively, those same changes drew the attention of something, someone, and they are about to make those changes known.¡±
¡°Karmic backlash?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°Perhaps, or something like it. This isn¡¯t the SYSTEM Matrix after all, though I¡¯m sure those of you that took the path of divinity in there are seeing some very similar things out here in the real world,¡± Adam said.
¡°What do we do?¡± Cindy and Robert Bennard asked simultaneously.
¡°Fortunately a lot of the abilities I have acquired since moving into the real world, I still have. One of those is the ability to conjure things from nothing. After reviewing everything you¡¯ve done, I think we need to set up a network of food distribution using portals, at least until the shit hits the fan because I do believe it will. The reason we¡¯ll distribute food this way is that I can¡¯t be everywhere at once. This way people will be able to get food and water and essential supplies and go.
¡°Are you sure you want to leave access to Trappist-1e from Earth open?¡±
¡°I honestly believe it¡¯s not going to matter. I could be wrong but with my luck and this itchy feeling that has been getting progressively worse that something is going to happen I think trying to help everyone prepare is as good as we can do,¡± Adam said.
¡°Will we be able to stay together?¡± Pandora asked.
¡°I don¡¯t know. I also don¡¯t know if making the communication devices even matters, they could all get removed. What I do know is that I want to give all of you, and humanity, the best chance to see our loved ones again.
Adam thought about the itching sensation. It had been getting progressively worse since he teleported in just a little while ago. He had been actively ignoring it to spend time with his daughter and wife. It kind of felt like the time he drank six cups of coffee in quick succession before he put on the adamantium ring. Of course, that had been in the SYSTEM Matrix but Al had assured him that the universe¡¯s rules were based on what happened in the real world. He felt like he needed to do something, had to do something and the pressure to do something was ever-increasing. The only common denominator that he could find was the percentage of nanites Thor had lost access to.
¡°Okay everyone, I¡¯m going to fill up the room with supplies, take what you need, I¡¯ll make more if we need it. Adam activated Mold Chaos and created supplies that filled the room. He wasn¡¯t worried about himself. Immediately the room was filled with MREs, water bottles, tarps, camping gear, grills utility knives cast iron skillet matches, flashlights, extra batteries, and a lot more items. It was everything anyone might need on a camping trip.
Adam watched as the halfling, Cedrik, rushed over and started putting things into an ability-based storage area. ¡°Feel free to put some stuff into any storage devices you¡¯re carrying, I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ll get to keep them though,¡± Adam said as he saw people hesitating to move, ¡±Come on everyone, grab everything you can carry. I have no idea when the crap is going to happen so start loading your storage areas, or take a backpack and grab a couple of things for yourself. ¡°
Adam watched as they all started to move toward the pile then said, ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡±
Adam teleported to a point on Trappist-1e away from all the cities and used Mold Chaos and Technomancy to create a cube of nanites and have them drill down 100 feet and replace all the dirt above him. Once he was down there he created a small 50-foot cube which consisted of 50, ten-foot cubes filled with the same type of equipment that he¡¯d filled the living room with for his family and friends. Once that was done he had Thor open fifty portals around the world to the neediest. He also had the nanites install surveillance and create a communication array that he linked back to where they were staying in each of the cubes filled with supplies. Without nanites, he¡¯d have to go old school for keeping track of things. To refill the cubes with supplies he¡¯d have Thor open a portal to the empty cube and replace the missing supplies. He wasn¡¯t worried about people being greedy, that was the point. He wanted to make sure as many people as possible received the supplies they needed. Once he was done he teleported back into the living room.
¡°Where¡¯d you go?¡± Pandora asked.
¡°I had to get things started. I created a place that is getting supplies out to the needy as we speak. The portals still work so we¡¯re using them while we can.¡±
¡°Can we do anything for the Universes that were just created?¡± Al asked.
¡°I don¡¯t see how,¡± Adam said, I don¡¯t think we will have enough time.
Just then every creature in the Universe received a notification in a language they understood.
Assessment Complete
Unification Step 1 will commence in 86,400 units of time.
Unification is the process by which beings and materials are added to the Multitude.
Take this time to prepare
Adam noticed that the notification had started to count down at a rate of one unit per second. Adam looked around the living room at all the shocked faces,¡± Okay people 86,400 is exactly how many seconds are in one day so we have a day. For the next 4 hours, we are going to help as many people as we can. Thor, open portals to the moon and Mars. Get everyone back to Earth as close to their family and friends as you can. Use phones, monitors, etc. Commandeer the web, I know you can. Do it. Everyone else, help Thor as you can. Make sure everything is ready. After four hours, we¡¯ll rest for twelve hours. For the last 8 hours, I¡¯m going to have my nanites make sure each of you is in tip-top shape and we¡¯ll just hang out, watch movies and help the world as we can through portals,¡± Adam said. Pausing for a moment he looked around the room and held eye contact before he said, ¡°Let¡¯s get to work!¡±
For the next four hours, Adam helped Thor get everyone off the planet back to Earth. They were able to reunite families across the globe. All requests by government officials on behalf of the government were ignored unless they were requests to help people get back to their families or to get supplies. As for the officials? He could have been petty but he still had Thor help reunite them with their families. With the loss of the nanite coverage something that probably would have taken minutes, took just over three hours. Even so, Adam was sure they missed some people
When they hit the four-hour mark Adam returned to the apartments, made sure everyone was there, and spent the next twelve hours with Adaline and Pandora. While he would have liked to spend some quality time with Adaline he knew that Pandora needed them. After struggling for so long and finally getting back together, only to be torn apart again, it had to be hard on her. Of course, he could be wrong and they¡¯d all be together during the Unification but he didn¡¯t see that happening. For what reason would an entity or entities be trying to unify multiple species, unless it was to produce something? One truth that seemed to be Universal, or Multi-Universal was that conflict bred growth and improvement. Adam had a feeling they weren¡¯t going to get a whole bunch of PowerPoint presentations and multiple-choice tests.
None of them could sleep so Adam adjusted the bed, turned it into a huge couch bed and they watched movies and talked. While Adaline and Pandora talked, Adam shared that moment with them, being neither judgmental nor trying to interject himself into their moment, though he did participate when they asked. Additionally, Thor would open a portal by his hand off to the side of the bed every once and a while, and Adam would use Mold Chaos to fill the Repository of Supplies, which is what he decided to call the 50¡¯ cube the portals were drawing supplies from, He wanted to make sure everyone from both worlds had access to supplies so they could prepare themselves.
In the last eight hours, Adam double-checked everyone for diseases, and for the humans adjusted their body age back to 35 or left it alone. For Pandora¡¯s friends and Adaline, he¡¯d just have to trust that their ages wouldn¡¯t affect the Unification. If they were in the SYSTEM Matrix he would have performed some adjustments but since they weren¡¯t he wasn¡¯t going to take a chance if he could mess something up unless it was a life-or-death situation.
Adam noted that the governments, especially the Congress of the United States was screaming bloody murder and they¡¯d even called for a virtual meeting where they were trying to pass sanctions against Portals Inc. Only 25 people were participating and they were claiming that this ¡°So call Unification event¡± was being orchestrated by Portals Inc to ensure that everyone knew what their capabilities were.
Adam watched the proceedings through the interface and committed their names to memory as idiots, every one of them then ignored it. If he was wrong, they¡¯d get gift baskets. If he was right, Darwinism for the win.
During the last 5 minutes, everyone made their way back into the living room. Pandora hugged Adam, Adaline and Adam¡¯s mom and dad then went to stand by her friends.
Adam looked over to the group and then held Callum¡¯s eyes in his as he said, ¡°Again, I¡¯d like to say thank you to Pandora¡¯s friends for taking care of her. Hopefully, we¡¯ll be able to stay together during this next step but if not I hope I¡¯ve helped you a little bit.
¡°I Love You, Pandora,¡± Adaline said.
¡°I will love you always and forever, Pandora,¡± Adam said.
¡°I love you too Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Grandpa.¡±
Adam looked over to his parents and nodded. Lastly, he looked to Adaline and mouthed ¡®I love you¡¯ as the 86,400 units reached zero and darkness enveloped him.
A light came on and Adam stood frozen on a circular six-inch dais. He was only able to use his eyes. There was no floor and he could see creatures of all kinds standing on dais adjusted for their size, below and above him as far as he could see off into the distance with only darkness beyond. The other troublesome thing was that he was butt-ass naked and he had no access to any of his abilities, nor could he drop into his Mindspace. Adam saw no one near him that he knew. Adaline, Mom and Dad, Desirae, Clarence, Amanda, and Abi were nowhere to be seen. He tried to raise them over his communication device and received nothing. He didn¡¯t see Pandora or any of her friends either.
A new notification appeared in his vision then the frozen people on their dais began disappearing. Just before he felt the world go dark as he was teleported elsewhere he was able to read the notifications.
Unification Step 1 Complete.
Unification Step 2 Sorting is now commencing
Chapter 202, Classification
Adam appeared on the edge of a flat circular area made of stone approximately 100 feet in diameter. He was still frozen as notifications appeared.
Welcome to your Classification area.
Partaking in Classification is not Mandatory. You may choose to decline Classification.
If you decline Classification the following will happen.
You will be teleported to a world in a universe that is compatible with your physiology with others that have also declined Classification where you will be grouped with the elderly and young of your species and those that are similar to you to serve Masters of domains as laborers. This could include tasks like farming, babysitting, accounting, cooking, etc.
You will be locked out of combat progression within the Multitude and may not gain experience, levels, or treasure by participating in combat of any kind. Instead, you will be offered support classes to assist in constructing and maintaining various domains. All support personnel are paid for their work and services at the standard wage grade through a contribution point system. Additionally, should a support role not appeal to you, you will be able to attempt Classification again in 5 of your Earth Years. Additionally, special opportunities may become available if specific criteria are met.
If you accept Classification you will remain on the floor you now stand on. Racial and Class abilities will be unlocked and you will face challenges. Once you succeed, are defeated, surrender to an opponent, or accepted an opponent¡¯s surrender that round will end.
When you have completed the Classification process, provided you survive, Step 3 will commence.
Process of Classification
After you have successfully defeated your first challenge you will be returned to your starting point unable to move your next opponent will appear. You will have 10 seconds to accept the challenge or withdraw.
If you accept, the next challenge commences in one minute.
If you withdraw, your classification will be based on the last level you completed.
If you are defeated, you are dead.
If your surrender is accepted, you become a vassal to the being you surrendered to. They become your Master unto their death, or yours. Surrendering during combat affords one the ability to gain any class they qualify for, including combat classes.
NOTE: Should you kill the individual you surrendered to, your vassal status is automatically transferred to another Master who ranked higher during Classification. You may be released from your status as a Vassal by your Master at any time.
If you accept an opponent¡¯s surrender, they become your vassal and are placed in a holding area until your classification is complete.
Classification is a test of Strength, Endurance, Agility, Intelligence, and Wisdom.
Would you like to begin your Classification, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes.¡±
A giant snake, approximately 20 feet long appeared on the other side of the concrete platform and a 60-second timer began to count down. during the 60 seconds, Adam double-checked his Personnel Information and then used Scrutinize on the Snake
Scrutinize has failed.
The snake launched itself at Adam. Adam¡¯s Soul Core was probably equal to that of the snake and their level was probably level 1 but unfortunately for this snake, his attributes were as if his Soul Core was level 31,908,761, multiplied by his Soul Core level of 193 which actually put his Soul Core comparative level at 61,583,908,730. While the snake was doing 579 base damage against him per strike, it would have to break through a defense of over 287 million. Added to that insurmountable task was the fact that his healing rate was much higher than the damage output the snake, or its poison could ever dish out.
Adam knew his own ability-based attacks weren¡¯t going to work against anything here as they were all above Soul Core level 50, so he didn¡¯t bother. Instead, he sidestepped the snake and tapped it on the head just hard enough to knock it out. Then he grabbed its tail and threw it out into the darkness, just far enough away that he could see what happened if something touched the darkness. When the snake disintegrated upon contact, he had his answer.
Over the next two hours, Adam encountered some exotic creatures until a woman appeared across from him. Like him, she was naked and beautiful. Also, Like him, she chose to take on the challenge. When the timer reached zero she flashed across the room suddenly to appear before him with a strike for an instant kill. A moment later she was on the ground unconscious. While he couldn¡¯t use scrutinize he guessed she was right at Soul Core level 237 or so and knew that she probably had a defense of around 2,133 and no more than 100 hit points. As long as he struck to cripple for about half that amount he shouldn¡¯t kill his target.
Also, this was a great way to practice the skills that had been reset to zero to make sure they still worked as he remembered. As far as he could tell the various martial art styles he knew seemed to be working as advertised. He quickly created nanites with Mold Chaos, only to find that the Universal density destroyed them as soon as they entered her, though they seemed to be fine in the arena. They just didn¡¯t work in living creatures. It must have something to do with the Ability Level versus the Universal Density of the target. He knew they¡¯d deteriorate; he just hadn¡¯t thought that they wouldn¡¯t work at all. He was going to have to increase that ability if he was going to continue using it in the higher Density Universes.
Adam did use his nanites to create a smelling salt and locked his right hand around the woman¡¯s neck while putting the smelling salt to her nose with his left hand. A moment later her eyes darted open and she tried to escape. This time Adam didn¡¯t resist and let her try everything she could think of to get free while his body continuously healed the scrapes she was making. She even tried to poke out his eyes only to cry out when one of her fingers broke.
After a full ten seconds of her trying to break free Adam said ¡°Surrender or Die,¡± in multiple languages until she responded to his words when he spoke common.
¡°I will not be your sex slave!¡±
¡°While you are quite beautiful, don¡¯t flatter yourself, my wife would roast my balls if she found out I was trying to turn women into my sex slaves. I mean I don¡¯t think she¡¯d have a problem with sex slaves in general. If I had sex slaves, yeah, that probably wouldn¡¯t go well.
¡°What are you talking about?¡± she said as he saw her furiously thinking about how to get free.
¡°I don¡¯t have time for this. The rules were explained to you yes?¡±
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°You accepted this battle when you could have declined?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes¡±
Then either You kill me, not gonna happen. I kill you, I¡¯d prefer not to but whatever. I surrender to you, not going to happen, or you surrender to me. Only one of these options results in you living through this,¡± Adam said as he activated Flight and carried her over to the edge of the concrete where he held her dangling over the darkness.
The women looked into his eyes then resignedly nodded and vanished out of his grip.
You have completed 61 Rounds.
You have acquired your first Vassal!
You have acquired a Vassal in the lowest round It is possible to do so.
Title Unlocked ¨C ¡°First to Rule.¡± You are one of the first creatures during this Unification to acquire a vassal. Wisdom +5
Title Unlocked ¨C ¡°Natural Leader.¡± You have acquired a Vassal in round 61 of a Classification. Skill unlocked Leadership. +10% to all Leadership skill checks.
Adam was immediately reset to his starting position, and another being appeared. Over the next two hours, Adam only killed 3 beings that refused to become his vassal. One was a Dark Dwarf, another was a Dark Elf and the third was a Dragonkin with Red scales. That combat had been interesting. It had actually breathed fire at him. Adam had teleported behind him and snapped his next then threw him into the darkness. The other 37 Vassals he acquired were of various races, though at least 50% had to be human or variants of humans. None of them were from his Earth though. He had all of them within his memory and knew that he¡¯d started at a much higher Universal Density.
At the four-hour mark, he received a new notification between rounds.
You have gained the title ¡°Sustained Effort¡± ¨C During Classification, you have continued for four straight hours. Endurance +1
Adam continued round, after round. He didn¡¯t know what having vassals would do for him, but he made the offer to every being. Those that were smart enough to surrender quickly he filed away from those that more likely to be set free at a later date. Those that fought tooth and nail he filed under kept a watchful eye on them and perhaps give them an avenue to freedom if they could prove their loyalty. This went on for another 8 hours before he tried to drop into his Mindspace. He wasn¡¯t tired yet but he figured he should try because if he could automate this process he¡¯d be able to keep it up a lot longer than anyone else could. While he had been locked out of his Mindspace before he started the Classification process, he found it quite easy to drop into it and even change the temporal flow within so he had more time to ponder things.
The Aspect of himself that he left in charge came over, ¡°So Hal is gone.¡±
¡°Yep, don¡¯t know what did that. Do we have any contact with the aspects overseeing the Soul Core?¡± Adam asked.
¡° None, we¡¯re locked out, and we don¡¯t even know how we¡¯re locked out. The Multitude, whatever, or whomever it is quite powerful.¡± The Aspect said.
Adam looked at the Aspect and then said, ¡°Take over on this next couple of rounds. Do everything I¡¯ve been doing and let¡¯s see if we can rest while we continue with Classification. I know we¡¯re not even close to our breakpoint. I just want to check while things are still pretty safe.
¡°As you wish,¡± the Aspect said.
Adam found a place in the middle of his Mindspace next to a garden that had been planted and sat down to meditate and rest. He watched as his Command-and-Control center flawlessly controlled all of his abilities and continued to kill or accept the surrender of those placed against him in the Classification. He also tried to contact Thor and the others but found that the device he could have used to do so was gone. It had been removed. Adam hoped that Cedrik still had everything inside his storage space though Adam didn¡¯t think it was going to matter for any of the others. Adaline wouldn¡¯t have anything, nor would Pandora. Her storage space was on an item.
These thoughts brought Adam out of his meditation, and he checked his notifications. His last one informed him of the number of vassals his last acquisition made.
You have acquired 1,110 Vassals!
Adam thought about it for a moment and also found a notification that filled him in on how he¡¯d gained so many Vassals in just 16 hours. If he was acquiring a vassal during every round he was earning two vassals just about every 3 minutes which would earn him about 40 per hour. After 16 hours, at most he should have only 640 vassals. One of the notifications he¡¯d received explained what had happened and a few other notifications showed that other titles were busy upgrading as well.
During Classification, surrendering transfers ownership of your vassals to your new Master.
In addition, all title rewards gained by those conquered during this classification are transferred to their new master.
You have gained a third instance of the Title ¡°First to Rule¡± Wisdom increased by +20 total.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
You have continued through this Classification for 8 hours, The ¡°Sustained Effort¡± title has been upgraded to ¡°Continual Effort¡± Total Endurance bonus increased to +5
You have continued through this Classification for 16 hours, the title ¡°Continual Effort¡± has been upgraded to the title ¡°Unceasing Effort¡±. Total Endurance bonus increased to +10
The bonuses would be very useful to any low-level people that were undergoing Classification but for powerhouses like himself, not so much. Adam left his Mindspace and directly engaged in the Classification rounds again. He needed to find out what happened if someone had vassals and they died. Did the vassals go to their killer, or were they released during this classification process? For that matter, if you have a huge number of Vassals and one of them killed you, would all of the other vassals be freed, or would they also be reassigned to a new master? Which brought up an additional question. How did the new Master know where the vassals were coming from? That question answered itself though. If a Master could acquire vassals from a process other than Classification that Master would be involved so if a new Vassal just arbitrarily showed up and was assigned by the system, they must have killed their previous master, which meant they were untrustworthy. In a society that allowed a Master over a vassal, or slave, relationship, such vassals would have to be well worth the risk of keeping them. So, Adam was going to take over handling the rounds for a bit as he looked for the perfect candidate to learn some things about this classification process.
Over the next six hours, Adam was challenged by various creatures and humanoids. Almost every time he acquired a vassal the number he increased by was more than 1. In fact, the last vassal he¡¯d acquired had been some type of living metallic humanoid that had been quite benevolent. The time had counted down and being had sat down. Adam walked over and said, ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Adam, what are you doing?¡±
The being had looked up, smiled, and said, ¡°Greetings, I am Ziterithax, do you wish to surrender to me¡±
¡°Not especially. Will you surrender to me?¡± Adam said.
¡°No. I guess we will wait for the nine-minute warning. Biologicals always give in when faced with an impossible choice. You cannot kill me, and I will not surrender. Logically you must surrender to me.¡±
¡°Why would you think I could not kill you?¡± Adam asked.
You have no way to completely destroy my body,¡± Ziterithax said.
¡°Adam used Mold Chaos to create a bowling ball-sized sphere of aluminum and rolled it so it went off the edge where Ziterithax could see. They both watched as the ball rolled to the edge of the pavement and then disintegrated as it hit the darkness. Adam looked back to Ziterithax as he said, ¡°The Darkness could destroy either of us.¡±
¡°True, but you can¡¯t get me to the darkness, I am far too heavy to be moved,¡± Ziterithax said.
¡°With the understanding that I do not wish to destroy you, I could touch you and teleport over the darkness allowing you to fall to the darkness then fly back down and land. Or I could simply pick you up and throw you into the darkness.
Ziterithax looked at Adam quizzically and then said, If you can lift me one inch off of this floor I will surrender to you.¡±
You will remain solid and not liquify so that I can¡¯t maintain a solid grip on you?¡±
¡°I will remain solid.¡±
¡°Very well, I will lift you at least one inch off the ground. If I do you will surrender to me. If I do not, I will surrender to you, are these terms acceptable,¡± Adam asked.
Ziterithax nodded as he said, ¡°The terms are acceptable.¡±
Adam walked behind the metal man, grabbed him gently by the back of the neck and easily lifted him off the ground, and held him so that his head was equal to his as he stood up. Ziterithax unfolded his legs and put them beneath him. Once Adam knew he was standing Adam released him and stepped back as Ziterithax turned to face him.
¡°As agreed I will now surrender to you,¡± Ziterithax said then vanished. Adam acquired 41 more vassals. That brought him to a total of 1560 vassals.
Adam learned a lot from that encounter. There was a time limit of 10 minutes. That had been his 800th classification round. The next hour went by rather quickly as he went through 40 more rounds, finishing on average every 30 seconds with the 60-second wait between rounds. Eventually, he ran into someone that was a talker and evil. A perfect candidate to help him answer a few other questions he had. As soon as the timer ended the want-to-be King started talking.
¡°I am King Bradley. If I were to allow you to surrender to me, what can you do for me.¡±
¡°And why would I take orders from you?¡± Adam had asked jovially
¡°The ¡®King¡¯ had smiled and conjured a metal spear as he said ¡°Because I have the power to do whatever I want, as he teleported behind Adam and stabbed him in the back with his spear. At least that¡¯s what he tried to do.
Adam had seen the malicious glint in this King¡¯s eyes and waited. No one would talk so much bullshit if they weren¡¯t going to try some crazy stunt. As he started to disappear Adam went full defensive and blocked the thrust of the spear and the next 5 blows. After four more teleports to various locations around Adam to try to break through his defenses. None did though. Finally the ¡®King¡¯ said. ¡°Why do you resist, just surrender and join me. I¡¯ll make you one of my generals.¡±
¡°So, you have earned other vassals?¡± Adam asked even while he blocked and dodged various attacks.
¡°Ok course. Plenty of pretty lasses too. If we get to do what we want with our Vassals once we¡¯re done, I expect I will have plenty of company at night for the foreseeable future,¡± the ¡®King¡¯ said as he tried an especially complicated combination that also failed to land a single blow.
¡°And if they don¡¯t want to spend the night with you?¡± Adam asked as he barely dodged another attack.
¡°It¡¯s always more fun when they struggle,¡± King Bradley said.
¡°How many vassals have you added so far?¡± Adam asked.
¡°1,810. The ability to create weapons makes this completely unfair unless I run into an unarmed combat master, such as yourself. Unfortunately for you, I am also a master and he who has a weapon always has the advantage,¡± the ¡®King¡¯ said before a onehanded thrust was turned into a feint as a dagger appeared in his second hand and was thrust at Adam¡¯s gut.
Unfortunately for King Bradley, Adam had been toying with him to get the information he need. Additionally, he fit the criteria of being an individual most people wouldn¡¯t miss. Adam figured King Bradley had a Soul core around level 1033 which was equivalent to having attributes right around 10,321. High compared to humans on Earth but not compared to Adam.
Adam moved and suddenly and the King lay dead with a broken spear and neck a moment later, the spark of life quickly fading from his eyes. Adam checked his vassal count and noted that he had gained zero vassals. This meant that those vassals that surrendered to another might not end up vassals if their Master continued their Classification challenge and ended up dying. That was good to know. That most likely meant that no one could be forced to do something if they didn¡¯t agree to it or they weren¡¯t being punished for breaking a contract by the Multitude System Interface. It would have been nice to acquire 1811 more vassals but not that guy. Adam would have eventually had to put him down.
So, if he killed someone who had vassals, their vassals didn¡¯t go to the person that beat them during the Classification. That was good to know. They might be given to someone else but Adam doubted it. The only other question he had was whether dying and coming back also freed the vassals. That was something that would be unique to a couple of people and races. Since the spirit didn¡¯t technically move on did that mean he would get to keep his vassals if he died?¡± Better not to find out.
Adam¡¯s location was reset the next contestant stood across from him. As the timer started counting down the final thing he wondered was whether this would end before he reached a point where his damage equaled the Soul Core of the individual. By his calculations getting to that point would take approximately 357, almost 358 years. Even then, he could probably one-up anyone at that level by quite a bit. He sure hoped these challenges were being conducted inside temporally fluid zones, else it was going to be a while before he was free from these Classification challenges. What he thought was more likely was that he would get to a point where the challenge didn¡¯t have any new beings to throw against him because who in their right mind would be so powerful and be on a planet in a place with such a low Universal Density? He thought there was a good chance that some sort of Administrator would step in.
Adam hoped his wife and daughter and all their friends and family were doing well during their classification. He did not doubt that Adaline, Mom, Dad, Amanda, Abi, Desirae, and Clarence would do fine, he made sure they gained levels so they should be able to go for quite a while before they declined a challenge and ended up wherever they ended up. Amanda, Abi, Mom, and Dad might not have been able to handle anyone like the King but Desirae and Clarence probably would have put him down as soon as he teleported over, with his own spear most likely.
The countdown reached zero and Adam went to work.
***
When the world went dark, Sarah Conner appeared on a dais, naked like everyone around her, and frozen in place. She¡¯d read the notifications and declined Classification. She wasn¡¯t a fighter and wanted no part of that. A moment later she teleported again and found herself standing on a floor with, she paused for a moment as she looked around, she had no idea how many other people she was with, but it was a lot.
As Sarah looked around she saw a flashing sign that had the words ¡°Earth Holding Area 1¡± scrolling across it in various languages. Sarah was about to ask the person next to her a question when a pleasant voice started to speak from the air around them.
¡°Everyone in this area is either too young, too old, or has declined to participate in Classification. Your attributes and skills have been recorded. As Classification continues during this Unification process, individuals from here will be teleported away. Do not worry this is normal. As those that participate in Classification earn achievements and titles they will earn domains that they will oversee. Those that declined classification will be the support staff of those domains.¡±
Moans of dismay and cries of how unfair this was went out to no avail. The voice continued without pause.
¡°Your task today is to remain calm and await your first assignment. Feel free to mingle with others until an assignment is determined. You will be given a 10-second warning before you are teleported to your new home.¡±
Sarah watched as there was a shuffle as far as she could see in all directions as everyone, including herself, was shuffled around the room and areas with places to sit, lavatories and a place to get a drink of water appeared. She couldn¡¯t even tell how people were being moved. As quickly as it started, it stopped though. Some people appeared scared but the children she saw thought it was fun and cries of ¡°Weeee¡± could be heard with calls for ¡°again¡±
Whatever was going on, that man Adam that she¡¯d met didn¡¯t seem to have any power here so they were on their own. With children and the elderly around, then she stopped. As she looked around she noticed that the elderly that had looked frail moments ago seemed to be gaining strength by the second. The scars of aging seemed to be fading right before her eyes. They didn¡¯t look like they were getting younger, just like they were probably the fittest version of a person of their age she¡¯d ever seen.
Another thing she noticed, there didn¡¯t seem to be any personalities that were natural bullies. Almost everyone was pitching in to look after the children while they waited to wake up from this nightmare or to be sent off on their first assignment, wherever that was.
¡°Hey voice, where are we, What is going on?¡± someone called from a little way away. Everyone else went silent but when nothing happened everyone started talking again.
Five minutes later Sarah received her 10-second warning and then appeared small room that had a bed and a closet with a single blue robe. There was a single door and a light switch next to it.
A notification appeared in her vision and the words ¡°Report to Farm 2,345.¡±Blocked her vision
Then a blue line appeared on the floor that had an arrow for her to follow. Sarah wondered what she should do until she felt a low-level electoral spark zap her left butt cheek. A new notification appeared in her vision.
Instructions will be followed immediately, Intensity, duration, and location of stimulation will change as required to achieve the desired result. Additionally, failure to comply deducts from daily contribution points.
Sarah didn¡¯t want to be shocked again so she got up, put on the robe, and started following the path that appeared in her vision. As she neared the door, it automatically opened. As she walked, she wondered what contribution points were and then noticed a window opening that didn¡¯t block her vision but that she could read while she continued walking.
Contribution points
Contribution points are earned by performing the tasks you are assigned efficiently. Lack of efficiency reduces your contribution point awards for the day.
Contribution points can be spent to improve your quality of life and also to purchase special meals, items, and equipment that will help you become more efficient at your assigned tasks. The more efficient you are the more contribution points you will earn.
This Contribution system sounded like Socialism 101 except her living area was a closet with a bed and a place to hang her robe. Sarah bet doing anything fun cost Contribution points as well. As Sarah walked toward the exit she heard a muffled scream, ¡°I¡¯m not going anywhere!¡± an unknown female declared which was immediately followed up by a scream then another declaration, ¡°I am not going!¡± which was followed by a higher pitch scream that kept intensifying until it the scream was cut off when Sarah exited the building.
Sarah followed the arrows in her vision down a street that looked like something humans could have built but that she didn¡¯t recognize from anywhere on Earth. She walked to a train station and then rode the train for 15 minutes out into the countryside around the city. When she arrived she saw fields of vegetables and farms with cows, chickens, and other livestock. Her arrow took her to a small cart that she sat on which drove her to one of the farms. As she stepped off the cart, it backed up, turned around, and sped off back toward the train station. She also noticed a few carts sitting around. She walked up to a barn door and entered. There was a desk with a monitor and a chair. As she looked at them she received a few more notifications.
Caretaker Sarah Conner, Welcome to Farm 2,345. Please sit at the terminal, review the functioning of the farm, and prepare to act as the human manager for this facility. The food produced on these farms feeds the population of this world, which includes the workers and you. So long as you do not leave the farm until your shift is over, you may walk around the farm as you wish.
Please note, for the first 7 days, you will be assisted getting to and from work. After that, you will only be assisted should you fail to arrive at work on time. Additionally, you may utilize the assist feature as a navigation system to get to this farm and back to your residence. Please note that being forced to comply is a loss of efficiency and directly impacts the contribution points you receive daily.
You will work for 6 days a week and may rest for one day.
As all vassals are kept in perfect health and the environment is controlled, you are expected to report to work every day on time.
Please review the instructions provided on the terminal in front of you before the rest of your shift arrives. Breakfast has been provided for you.
Breakfast consisted of a breakfast bar and a small cup of juice that materialized on the desk. Sarah sat down at the terminal and began reviewing what she was responsible for as she ate her breakfast. It didn¡¯t look too hard and there was nothing required that she didn¡¯t personally know how to do already. An hour later her crew began to arrive and she went to work.
***
Adam was startled out of the pattern he¡¯d been following when new notifications appeared in his vision.
Classification Complete
You have Completed 100,000 Classification Rounds
Titles have been combined if possible. You have been awarded the following Titles:
¡°Unique¡± ¨C Throughout the Multitude, You are the only being to have completed the Classification Challenge.
Reward:+100 to Physical Attributes (Strength, Agility, Endurance, Perception, Wisdom, Willpower, and Luck) and +100% to all Physical Attributes after all other bonuses are added from other sources
¡°Founder¡± ¨C You have acquired 28,656,489,167 Vassals
Reward: Starting Domain has been increased to a world and you have earned the Rank of Emperor, as recognized by the Multitude.
¡°First to Complete Classification Challenge¡± ¨C Throughout the Multitude, you are the first being to complete the Classification Challenge.
Reward: You have received an Administrative Support Staff capable of overseeing your domain whose upkeep is paid for by the Multitude.
Adam had blocked out the number of Vassals he¡¯d acquired. Truth be told, for the last day he¡¯d been relaxing in his Mindspace while other aspects of his consciousness had been running things. After five days straight, he¡¯d decided to take a break. Only when the Challenges had stopped had he brought his full attention back into play. 28.6 billion. That was more than the number of people that had been on Earth. Also, they were all had different Universal Densities. How was the multitude going to give him a single world to handle Universal Densities that ranged from 1 to 100,000?
A moment later he received his answer after he was teleported to a room that overlooked a planet below him through a clear substance of some kind. A moment later he was notified of pending notifications
You have entered the Outer Core Layer of the Multitude.
Universal Density unified
Soul Core stabilized to unified Universal Density
Attributes adjusted due to titles
Welcome to Multitude!
Chapter 203, Metamorphosis into a World Leader
Adam had a moment to consider the notifications he¡¯d just received when a wrenching sensation filled his mind and body. Whatever this was surpassed his attributes as if they were nothing and changes were wrought as he felt his body and soul start to change before his vision blacked out.
Part of Adam realized something was very wrong and the many trials and tribulations he¡¯d been through helped him weather the storm. Instantaneously every single aspect of his consciousness that he¡¯d assigned to oversee the various abilities he had returned to his primary consciousness. Immediately part of him knew what was happening, even as his vision was still blacked out which he learned was a side effect of his True Sight and Scrutinize abilities being ¡°stabilized.¡±
Adam dropped his consciousness into his Mindspace and watched as the space the aspects had created for themselves reset back to what it had originally looked like, an infinite soothing vastness that stretched out forever. Adam adjusted his perception and looked at his Soul Core from a distance and watched as something outside of himself reached in, touched a node, and removed all of the invested quintessence.
That same force moved through all 18 of his non-racial abilities before it turned its attention to his Soul Core. Unlike his ability nodes, the dark line of energy spread out and surrounded his Soul Core and his racial abilities. The 202 orbiting Quintessence he had not invested yet were sucked away and along a conduit before the same started to happen to the quintessence in his racial abilities and Soul Core. Adam had no idea where the quintessence was going. He tried to stop the loss of quintessence and even marshaled his significant willpower to do so which he soon realized was futile. He felt like a piece of sand trying to change the course of a large river.
When the last bit of quintessence was removed the darkness became opaque, then clear but it did not withdraw. Adam could still see a hint of the connection that left his Soul Core and went elsewhere. He moved closer to inspect and noticed that there was a clear shell that his perception could pass through unimpeded. As the seconds went on the shell seemed to disappear until one of his nodes outside the shell pulsed and it became visible again. When he moved over to see which ability node had pulsed he wasn¡¯t surprised to learn that it was his True Sight ability node. Adam gave it a few more moments but nothing changed.
Adam willed his True Sight ability node to pulse again and looked over all of his ability nodes outside of Soul Core searching for any kind of shell around each of them and didn¡¯t notice any other shells or lines leading off except for the line of energy that was his Astral link. The shell didn¡¯t block that and merely surrounded his Soul Core and allowed the link to exit him and reach out to the Astral Plane. The other link to the shell that now surrounded his Soul Core seemed to reach off in the same direction as well.
Adam wondered what that meant as he moved his perception into his Soul Core and looked around. Adam inspected his Soul Core and noticed that it was level zero again as were all his racial abilities that resided within his core. When he moved his perception out of his core and checked all of the other abilities he created he found that they were all level zero as well. He still had the abilities; they were just at their lowest possible level.
As he started to think about what had just happened the nodes outside of his soul core were drawn down until they touched the Soul Core and each became to attach themselves to his Soul Core as the shell of opaque energy surrounded everything. As he watched, Quintessence filled the shield and each of his abilities, both his racial and learned ones were raised to level 1, as was his Soul Core. When exactly enough energy to do so had come through the shell became opaque again and the ability nodes for his learned quintessence abilities detached from his Soul Core.
If this was happening to everyone it looked like a permanent link was being created between everyone and the Multitude. Also, if Adam¡¯s conclusion were correct, it was going to really suck for those beings that used to have a Soul Core at level 100,000 that had become his Vassals. On a more positive note, it meant that everyone within this area of the Multitude would have the same Soul Core level. Adam wondered how that would work for learning new abilities or upgrading them. Adam¡¯s attention was drawn back to the conduit that led off from his Soul Core where he noticed a node that acted as an anchor where the cable went off toward where the strand of energy reaching from the Astral Plane met the shell that surrounded his Soul Core. Perhaps everyone had the same thing? Adam moved over to investigate. No matter what he did though, the node gave away no secrets.
Adam withdrew his presence from his Soul Core and left his Mindspace behind as he emerged into the real world and looked at the planet below him. He was still naked so decided to see what the changes to his abilities had wrought and tried to use Mold Chaos to make his signature black flight suit that he liked so much. He felt himself spend the mana and the flight suit appeared in his hand. Next, he sent the flight suit to his Shadow Vault, which was now empty, and added it to his wardrobe which he equipped. Shadows surrounded him and he found himself in his flight suit looking down on the planet below.
¡°Uh hum,¡± a voice called from behind him.
Adam turned slowly to see a floating head with a single eye. Coming up from the head were thirteen stalks, each ending in another eye. Adam thought it looked like a monster from Dungeons and Dragons called a Beholder. Except that it had a neck that was sealed and eyes at the end of each fleshy stalk that rose from hits head. Additionally, it wasn¡¯t as big as a Beholder was supposed to be and just a little bigger than a basketball.
¡°Greetings Emperor Bennard, I am Zorvan, your assigned Planetary Administrator.¡± The floating head named Zorvan said.
¡°Greetings,¡± Adam said, ¡°Please call me Adam. So I did earn a planet then?¡±
¡°Of course, no one has ever completed every single level of the Classification Challenge during Unification before. Your accomplishment will be spoken of for a long time to come.¡±
¡°I have a question,¡± Adam said.
¡°Please,¡± Zorvan said.
¡°How long was I in the Classification challenges?
¡°Time passes normally within the challenge,¡± Zorvan said.
¡°Next question, why do I need a planet?¡± Adam asked.
¡°To begin your Trial for Supremacy of course.¡±
¡°Trial for Supremacy?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The beings of more than one million new worlds have been added to the Multitude. Those that are sentient have gone through classification and those that are not sentient have been distributed into the Multitude. Now you must increase your power and grow, serve, or die. Surviving the struggle and increasing your personal power is encouraged and sanctioned by the Multitude, forced even,¡± Zorvan said.
¡°Where are the people from the plant I came from?¡± Adam asked.
¡°My records indicate that during classification you did not face anyone from a planet with a Universal Density lower than 193. Therefore, none of your vassals are from places with a Universal Density lower than 193. Though, you should understand that you are not in the Fringe anymore. Universal Density has been equalized and will remain so while you are within this sector of the Multitude,¡± Zorvan said.
¡°How big is this sector?¡± Adam asked.
Zorvan laughed, ¡°Bigger than the Universe you came from to be here.¡±
Adam sighed and then asked, ¡°What is the Multitude then?¡±
Zorvan looked thoughtful for a few moments before he said, ¡°That is a very good question because the actual answer is that no one knows. Every creature that works within the Multitude, even myself, works for contribution points. Even you will work for contribution points.¡±
¡°Why would I need Contribution points? Adam asked.
¡°As part of the Unification and Classification process all leveling, Class, Ability, and Skills had been standardized and reset as they are now handled by the Multitude Interface. You have viewed your Status page, haven¡¯t you?¡± Zorvan asked.
¡°I have. I guess my next question is how do I increase those skills again.
¡°The simple answer is that you do not,¡± Zorvan said. The Multitude generates quests and rewards progress to your skills and abilities. Progress to your Soul Core is a little bit more problematic.¡±
¡°How does it do that?¡± Adam asked.
¡°No one knows but it is how it is. For instance, I gain progress in my class as an Administrator by efficiently administrating your Empire. How well I do this determines my class level progress and the progress of the abilities I utilize while actively working toward bettering my class.¡±
¡°What about your Soul Core? How do you improve your ability to withstand Universal Density?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I know the terms you speak of, and we have had others come through during the classification process during Unification that have mentioned Steps, Universal Level, and Soul Core Level but those terms mean nothing within the Multitude. Everyone is equal as far as anyone can tell, save for the entities that run the Multitude, which no one has ever met. Even I am from a world that went through its own Unification.¡±
¡°So how did you get the job of being my World Administrator?¡± Adam asked.
Zorvan looked thoughtful for a moment then started talking in a lecturing tone, ¡°The only way to increase your empire within the Multitude is through conflict. There are no diplomatic ties that combine empires. While you can make treaties and work together, only one person may own a domain or territory. Those that serve him can look over a domain but it isn¡¯t really theirs. To acquire another¡¯s territory they must either give it up willingly or it must be acquired by killing them. Those that give up willingly take severe penalties and those that overreach or are defeated usually die. To answer your question, I served a King that was attempting to unify a world before moving off the planet. He overreach and died. I ended up waiting for an assignment until I was chosen for you,¡± Zorvan said.
¡°Can you work against my interests or be bought out to betray me at some future date?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Of course not. Administrators, pretty much anyone assigned by the Multitude and paid by the Multitude gains nothing by betraying their assigned liege.
¡°Not that I don¡¯t believe you, but I¡¯d like to verify what you¡¯ve said from another source.¡±
¡°Of course, If you would look at the desk before you. There is a drawer there with a crystal in it. You merely need to open the drawer, which is code locked to you. Merely open the drawer and pick up the crystal. The knowledge you need will be available through your interface.¡± Zorvan said.
Adam went over to his desk and touched it.
The desk chimed and a drawer opened. Adam reached inside and found a crystal. As soon as he touched the crystal a virtual monitor appeared in front of him.
¡°The interface can be accessed verbally, by touch, and with a thought,¡± Zorvan said.
Adam looked at the two entries on the virtual monitor in front of him.
Congratulations!
Empire Building.
Adam touched Congratulations and a full-sized hologram appeared in front of him. He was just a little shorter than Adam, balding with gold-tinted eyes and wearing an ornate one-piece robe as he started to address Adam.
¡°This construct does not respond to inquiries. As a representative of the Multitude, let me be the first to congratulate you. During Classification, you acquired enough vassals to found¡,¡± There was a pause, and the image flickered as data was reviewed and an appropriate answer was formed, ¡°a world. Additionally, you performed so well during Classification that you earned an Administrator to help you govern your¡world.¡±
The image paused for a moment as the image took on a more serious tone before it spoke again, ¡°Improvement through conflict, Dominance through Strength, these are the tenants of the Multitude, you would do well to remember them. Surrender and weakness are part of this reality, from those who serve. Will you be a Leader or a servant? You are off to a good start, let¡¯s see what you can do with your rewards,¡± he said with a twinkle in his eye and a slight sneer just before he disappeared.
Adam was getting a somewhat bad feeling about the multitude. A society based on dominance, and servitude and enforced by something at a power level far beyond his own. Adam touched the ¡°Empire Building¡± choice and more information became available.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Congratulations on acquiring vassals. By now you are wondering what you can do with them. First, you should understand that during the next 10 Earth Days, the individuals you acquired as vassals will be unable to attack or harm you in any way. This safety feature is added so that you can establish how you will administrate your contribution system, or pay, for those vassals and also so that the Vassals of any Vassals you acquired cannot harm you.
NOTE: While the Vassals of Vassals that surrendered to you count as your Vassals, they are still the Vassals of the individual that acquired them first. In this way, you will be able to note who amongst your subjects would make good generals.
If you were lucky enough to acquire a domain it is now your responsibility to secure and grow that domain. If a vassal you acquired also acquired a Domain their Domain will be adjacent to, or within your Domain. They will earn contribution points by improving and growing their domains and sphere of control, while you grow your Domain.
In the beginning, you will need to secure your domain against wild beasts, monsters, and natural calamities like tornadoes, flash floods, hurricanes, and the like. Eventually, you might even be able to take over a planet and move on to planetary conquest.
Adam closed the information crystal. It looked like a standard meet and greet for someone that might have acquired a few vassals. He needed more information.
¡°Zorvan, I have a couple of questions¡±
¡°Yes, Sire,¡±
¡°The world below me is my domain?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, Sire,¡±
¡°Those vassals I acquired that had acquired vassals of their own have been assigned domains?¡±
¡°Not yet, Sire.¡±
¡°As an Administrator, you have the mental capacity and knowledge to have created a proposal where you believe the most optimal placement of each vassal would go, based on race size and the size of their individual Domain. Creating the best possible network of vassals would be the most efficient use of my domain and would net you the greatest progress for your class, is this true?¡±
¡°Yes Sire, you seem to grasp the changes that have happened with amazing alacrity.¡±
¡°You haven¡¯t seen anything yet,¡± Adam said under his breath then said, ¡°Implement your suggestions and get everyone to work doing whatever it is we have them doing.
¡°Yes, Sire.¡±
¡°Your assignments include the assignments of the Administrative staff that the Multitude provided?¡±
¡°Yes, though I should remind you that we have yet to hire support staff.¡±
¡°Support Staff?¡± Adam asked, ¡°I thought that was you and the others like you?¡± Adam clarified.
You have received the domain of a world as a reward and the support staff required to run the cities on that world. What you have not received are the support personnel to perform all the duties required in a city like this. Think of it like this. You and the Vassals you acquired are the militaries. Myself and the staff I oversee are paid by the Multitude. We are the government directed by you. Normally, our positions would have been filled by you for each major domain, think town-sized or bigger, that you have. We are the bureaucracy that runs those domains and ensures that all requirements are being met and that any changes to the contribution system, both good and bad are carried out. Unlike the bureaucracies of the planet you came from, we only need one such administrator for each domain.
¡°So if I were to put this into a working model, what you¡¯re saying is that I need to hire the people that pick up the trash, clean the parks, prepare the food, farm, create clothes as well as any entertainment they wish to partake, for instance, bars and the like?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Zorvan said
¡°Very well, your salaries are paid for and you can probably earn bonuses based on performance. How do give my vassals or those support personnel I hire contribution points?
You receive contribution points based on the number of Vassals and support personnel you have. In your case, Administrators will not count toward this total but normally they would.
The Contribution points are awarded daily based on production.
¡°Each individual can produce one or more contribution points per hour based on how hard they work. The more efficient they are, the more points they produce. It shouldn¡¯t need to be stated that support personnel will produce more contribution points than your vassals to begin within so incentives for your vassals to have secondary support roles is a must¡±
¡°How is this all enforced?¡± Adam said.
¡°For the first 10 days, your vassals and support staff will be unable to do anything other than what your Administrators have them doing which will only be their assigned tasks. Those vassals that are combat-oriented will clear their areas of wild beasts and such, though you will have to provide them with weapons,¡± Zorvan said.
¡°Do you have a list of the support staff we need and will they fit on the planet below?¡±
¡°Yes, everything has already been set aside. All I require is authorization to begin.¡±
¡°Then you have it, let¡¯s get this started,¡± Adam said. ¡°I do have another question, what happened to the people on the planet I came from?¡±
¡°The same as everyone else, they either accepted Classification or declined and now have a support class assigned by the system which they will have help performing for the next ten days.
¡°When you say help, what exactly do you mean?¡±
¡°They will be controlled to perform their tasks. One this shows them what is expected and what is expected to meet the bare minimum to earn contribution points. Two it allows them to not have to worry too much about their new reality,¡± Zorvan said.
¡°Everyone that was grabbed in the Unification is treated this way?¡±
¡°Everyone, no exceptions,¡± Zorvan agreed.
Adam was really beginning not to like this Multitude, though there was nothing he could do about it right now. Adam asked, ¡°How would I find out if someone from the planet were alive or dead?¡±
¡°You may spend Contribution points to acquire a connection into an information consortium that will provide the information for a price. Nothing is free in the Multitude,¡± Zorvan said.
¡°How much,¡±
¡°to add a connection that you may only use here on your station in orbit, one million contribution points. To make it available in every market on the surface as well would cost an additional 100 million contribution points.
¡°As soon as we have a surplus of points please purchase that for the planet. I would like everyone to be able to find out if their loved ones survived and where they are,¡± Adam said.
¡°Very well. What will you do now?¡±
¡°You said for the next 10 days the Multitude is pretty much in control of the people correct?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Zorvan answered.
¡°Then I¡¯m going to explore the planet and the system we are in?¡±
¡°Young Lord, you might want to be careful. You are only level 1 after all. Even if you have abilities that would allow you to move around the solar system, other forces that might exist on nearby planets may try to invade once the 10-day grace period is up.¡±
¡°Excuse me?¡±
¡°Worlds are not conquered in a day. By the time a world is unified under one leader the planet should have the infrastructure and ability to fight against invasions and incursions. Your reward, while unique, could not be given to you in an area where the rest of the Unification is taking place. The world you have been awarded exists within a sector of the multitude where the Unification began over 500 years ago. That was one of the things I was going to mention. Even if your loved ones survived, they are nowhere near here. Though you may expand into their territory at some later date. Therefore, it is my recommendation that you maintain a low profile and try not to let any other empires that are close by, learn of the status of your forces.¡±
¡°Will other planets nearby have united forces?¡±
¡°Truthfully, it is very unlikely, though any that can teleport to your planet and investigate the new inhabitants might find the forces here easily conquered. That is why you need to focus on improving the defense of your planet and preparing it for possible invasions,¡± Zorvan said.
¡°During these invasions and wars, how are support personnel and administrators treated?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The multitude does not like waste, nor does it help those that do not help themselves. Contribution points can be spent to purchase items that will teleport the wearer to a safe location until hostilities have ceased. Alternatively, those that have businesses and the like can upgrade their establishment so that it is defended by the Multitude from harm. The only structure this is not true for is the one you¡¯re in currently. A planetary Administration Station must be self-sufficient, though all of us can purchase the items I mentioned for protection. Normally, World leaders upgrade the defenses of such stations first. No one wants to make themselves an easy target after all,¡± Zorvan explained.
¡°Wait, we just hired the support personnel, wouldn¡¯t¡¯ they go back into the hiring pool if I died or something?¡± Adam asked.
¡°No. During Unification and Classification, those that decline Classification are put into the support pool. They are held there until classification is completed and then get picked up by Masters that own domains where they are teleported to perform their support role. This is a free transfer and is only done once. For any support personnel or administrator like myself, to transfer away from an assigned position would require that we spend contribution points. The further the transfer the higher the cost. For instance, if someone wanted to transfer from a small town bar under one Master on your planet to a bigger town where they could earn more contribution points they would only have to fork over maybe 1,000 CP. For me to leave your service as a World Administrator I would first have to find a World Emperor with a vacancy and at minimum spend 1 million CP to transfer. After Unification and Classification, nothing within the Multitude is free.
¡°I see,¡± Adam said as a thought came to him, ¡°Speaking of contribution points. Is a percentage set aside that I can use to provide bonuses to those that serve me well?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Currently? No. It will be approximately two weeks before you start seeing a surplus of contribution points from your support personnel. Your vassals will not be creating surplus contribution points for at least a year or two.
¡°Why is that?¡±
¡°Everyone in this world, save the Administrators is level 1. Any excess Contribution points they earn will be immediately converted to XP to increase their class or improve their skills or abilities. Once someone reaches level 10 they have more say on where their XP goes but until then Multitude makes those decisions for each person,¡± Zorvan said.
¡°It sounds like I¡¯m in a feudal system with a mandatory social system that is automatically enforced by a mostly neutral overseeing entity that can see everything, is that about right?¡±
¡°That sums it up nicely,¡± Zorvan said.
¡°Do I gain contribution points for conquering domains?¡±
¡°Yes, though as I said you really shouldn¡¯t draw attention to yourself until you¡¯re ready to defend yourself. The other planets in this system will have leaders that could be extremely high level as compared to you.¡±
Adam looked thoughtful for a moment then realized something, ¡°Zorvan, have you looked over my personal information?
¡°Heavens no sire, that would be inappropriate, and doing so, without an invitation as an assigned member of your staff by the Multitude could have dire consequences on my Contribution Points for an extremely long time,¡± Zorvan said
¡°The information you have provided would be the information you provided for a level 1 Emperor who just assumed the position of world Emperor. They probably had another class before and just acquired this new class, would that be correct?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, the normal method of progression would be for an individual that had taken over a huge territory, usually a King or Queen, to move to take over an entire planet. Their levels, as King and Queen would remain, as would their attributes and skills. Then they would then begin trying to improve their new class as emperor or empress after they took over the planet they were on. Unfortunately for you, while you received a great benefit from becoming a World Emperor as part of your Classification, you are also severely hampered by your lack of levels in support classes for that class,¡± Zorvan explained apologetically.
Adam smiled, ¡°You have my permission to view my Personal Information. Please do so, re-evaluate, and adjust your recommendations accordingly,¡± Adam said.
Zorvan gave a look that meant he would do as instructed though he couldn¡¯t understand what his Sire could possibly have at level 1 that would cause him to adjust his recommendations then he opened up Adam¡¯s Personal information.
Name: Adamantadine
Level: 1
Soul Core Level: 1
Strength 123,167,813,920
Adam watched Zorvan freeze and slowly look back over at him before he looked back to the location of the virtual information he was reading and muttered;
¡°Eight Racial Abilities,¡±
¡°Eighteen Quintessence Abilities?¡±
¡°49 billion hit points, with a regeneration of 34.5 million per second.¡±
¡°How man Stamina and Mana is that?¡±
Zorvan continued to mutter to himself for another minute or so before he turned back to Adam.
¡°I stand corrected Sire, you truly are formidable.¡±
¡°Yeah, that increase in my primary attributes was kind of a surprise. The Title that increased my attributes by 100% doubled my previous attributes after it removed the bonus for having a Soul Core level of 193 reduced back to level 1. Do you know what that energy¡¡±
¡°My Sire is truly insightful,¡± Zorvan quickly interrupted. ¡°We do not discuss the particulars of Soul Cores and Quintessence levels openly within the Multitude.¡±
¡°Ah, very well. So, what do you think about me taking a look around the System to see what we are dealing with?¡±
¡°With your abilities, I do not see why that would be an issue. You have a 10-day grace period after all.¡±
Adam smiled and activated Planar Travel, Mode 1 to lock the office he was standing in as a target location for his ability. One thing he immediately noticed was that every other target location he¡¯d previously saved was gone. Either they didn¡¯t exist any longer or his abilities and memory had been wiped. As all of his abilities seemed to be synergistic with his Perfect Memory ability he figured that they no longer existed.
Adam activated Obscure, Flight, Freedom of Flight, and then Teleported into space outside the space station. He turned around and viewed it from the outside. It was much bigger than he¡¯d thought it would be, his office was situated toward the top and must have been using artificial gravity as there was no spinning structure to produce gravity and he¡¯d felt completely normal inside. It also looked like he had an internal docking area where ships could go inside.
Adam flew around the station quickly and noted places where ships could dock without entering then did a few quick orbits of the planet that was his. As he looked down on the planet a notification appeared
You have not named your planet, would you like to do so now, Yes or No?
Adam thought about it for a moment then chose ¡°Yes¡± and entered ¡°New Alamo¡± If there was going to be a last stand for the humans of Earth, eventually he would get them all here to make that last stand.
Adam continued his orbit and realized that New Alamo was much bigger than Earth. Much bigger. Adam opened his Personal Information and found the tab that had the information he needed on the planet.
New Alamo was approximately 3 times as large as Earth but the gravity was very similar. Water to land ratio was 60% water to 40% land which made seasonal storms coming off the oceans a little less violent in some areas and much more so in others.
As Adam flew around the planet looking down he saw areas where farmland had been dug out and cities were laid out but everything looked plain, similar, and quite basic. It all looked like it had been put together with a bare-bones mentality. After his third Orbit, Adam teleported back into the station to find Zorvan waiting in his office.
¡°Zorvan, before I check out the rest of the solar system, one question, why are all the buildings on the planet so bland and identical?¡±
¡°Efficiency,¡± Zorvan said, ¡°Though races like dragons and giants and such that you triumphed over have their own unique dwellings with others of their kind. There are roughly 10 to 20 support personnel for every vassal you acquired to make sure we are producing enough food. The actual population of the planet is right around 3.5 trillion, not including animals and such.
¡°And it¡¯s not too crowded?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Not at all. The Multitude spread them out as evenly as possible to ensure that there is plenty of room for everyone to spread out.¡±
¡°Okay, well in addition to putting some Contribution points aside for rewards by me, please put some aside for quality-of-life improvements and devise a way for the various domains around the planet to compete for that allocation on a weekly or monthly basis so they individualize their areas,¡± Adam said.
¡°As you wish, will there be anything else?¡±
¡°No, I should be gone for a little bit. I¡¯m going to check out the solar system and see if there is anything else close by.¡±
¡°As you wish,¡± Zorvan said then turned and left through doors that opened and closed automatically for him at the front of the room.
Adam reactivated his abilities, teleported back outside the station, and headed to the polar north of the Sun within this solar system to take a look around.
Chapter 204, The Trilax Imperium
Vytrix Saljihar, Emperor of the Trilax Imperium sat in his office looking out the window of his space station on the planet below before he turned back to receive the reports of his advisors.
¡°The telescopes we have trained on our neighboring planets have detected that the large planet, opposite our orbit, has activated indicating that the world below it has unified in some fashion,¡± Zal Saljihar, Vytrix¡¯s younger brother and chief scientist said.
The next man to speak up was not from the same race as the Emperor and his brother and was someone the Emperor had been lucky enough to acquire through the support personnel exchange. Samuel Jenkins was from a race known as humans from a planet called Earth. His story was somewhat interesting having been an explorer during what he called the 14th Century. He¡¯d found a cave, stepped in, and found himself in a Unification and Classification. He¡¯d realized very quickly that combat wasn¡¯t his forte and declined a challenge and at his earliest opportunity retrained into a support role. The man was also singularly minded. Everything he did was to extend his lifespan. Any extra Contribution points he earned were saved and used for rejuvenation. He had been with Emperor Saljihar since almost the beginning of his arrival here and had helped him with strategy and tactics since the very beginning, ¡°Sire, we sent a scouting mission to the planet approximately 50 years ago. They reported pure wilderness with no hint of civilization. What my esteemed colleague failed to mention is that our telescopes have also detected light coming from the surface. Every single landmass on the island seems to have been covered by a town or city. Whoever has been placed there brought an extremely large population.¡±
¡°Your recommendation?¡± Emperor Saljihar asked.
Samuel Jenkins looked into the Emperor¡¯s slightly reptilian countenance before he replied, ¡°As you know, I am useful because I have researched and read up on the rules the Multitude governs by. Either a very powerful being was transferred to this remote system that is still within the first 1,000 years of a Unification or a reward was given during Classification and the Emperor of the world was just placed there. My experience indicates that the latter is probably true. If so, someone with such luck as to acquire that many vassals will be very limited for at least the next two weeks as their support structures are put in place and the 10-day grace period expires. My suggestion then is to utilize the weapon we invested in around the gas giant and target the controlling station in orbit. The new Emperor is unlikely to be able to leave the station. Of course, we¡¯d also have to launch a strike mission from here immediately to board the station and kill that Emperor so you could claim his territory and vassals.¡±
¡°If we implemented this plan now, when would the strike happen?¡± The Emperor asked.
¡°As you know, I always come prepared. The station would be struck in exactly 11 days if the projectiles are released in,¡± Samuel paused to look at something,¡± seventeen minutes. The Strike force would need to leave in about two hours to arrive an hour after the strike. The orbit of the gas giant and the other planet working in our favor for an assault like this.¡±
¡°Very well, send the order to attack and have the strike force depart within two hours. Also, bring our forces to a full defense posture just in case this new Emperor attacks us. I don¡¯t believe he could but why take the chance?¡± The Emperor asked rhetorically.
Samuel touched a few keys on the pad he was holding and the orders were sent,¡± ¡°Done Sire,¡± he said.
¡°Very well, Dominance through Strength, Improvement through Conflict, these are the tenants of the Multitude and ours as well. In addition to defense also begin preparations to acquire new territory and send our personnel to oversee our new territory when we have acquired it.
¡°Yes Sire,¡± chorused around the chamber
The Emperor stood, ¡°if that is all, I¡¯m going review a few other issues. We will meet again tomorrow to discuss how preparations are proceeding,¡± the Emperor said as he turned his back and looked out the station window behind him
***
Ajhax was both the technician and gunner for the weapon he currently sat in orbit around the largest gas giant in the Trilax Imperium. He was from a race of humanoids that had once been very large and space-faring until the Unification and Classification had absorbed them into it. Now he was simply a member of the military that both manned this weapon and repaired it as needed. The vessel he was on only had a support system for one individual and he shared his duty with three others as they each took one of the ten-day weeks here and then swapped out. This week it was his turn.
An hour ago he¡¯d been contacted and asked what the travel time would be to hit the Administration Station in orbit around the planet opposite Trilax. As all targeting solutions had already been loaded for strategic targets within the solar system it was a very simple thing for him to pull up the information and inform Samuel that the travel time was optimal for any projectiles he sent and that they¡¯d arrive in just over 11 days. A few moments ago he received authorization to fire.
The weapon Ajhax was using was basically a slingshot. A very sophisticated slingshot but a slingshot. Using orbital mechanics and gravity-assisted trajectories the Trilax Empire created projectiles, rocks really, that it packaged together and then placed in an accelerator that was a mile long. The angle of the trajectory of the rail gun was adjusted and 10 packages were shot in quick succession that would use the gas giants gravity to get them on their way. Each package could course correct and when they were within 30 seconds of striking a small charge would go off allowing all the little rocks within to spread into a shotgun pattern.
The objects would be traveling at almost 25% the speed of light and would obliterate just about any unshielded target. Additionally, the rocks were so small that they would either bounce off the atmosphere or burn up in re-entry allowing the Trilax Imperium to claim the planet without damaging it. Of course, the Administrative station would be all but destroyed but it was much cheaper to replace the station than it was to waste personnel and resources trying to assault it and giving the Emperor on board a chance to escape to the planet below. They¡¯d used this tactic three times so far and each time the would-be planetary emperor had been destroyed in the barrage.
Ajhax watched as all ten projectile packages launched over the next four minutes then shut everything down, reloaded the rail gun, and then put it in standby mode. Once that was done he had some reading to catch up on. There wasn¡¯t very much to do out here in the middle of nowhere and he had three days before the shuttle with his replacement arrived.
***
Adam looked down on the Solar System. This time he didn¡¯t conjure a space station but instead used Mold Chaos to conjure something he put together that was on a gyro and had cameras pointed in all directions that were connected to a hard drive. It was about the size of a small locker. Adam floated beside it while it went to work. He let it take in the whole system for 12 hours while he rested and meditated so that it would have enough time to extrapolate orbits and get a good rundown of how the solar system was set up.
When 12 hours had passed he used Technomancy to download the data and reviewed how the solar system was set up. Immediately Adam knew that the system had been artificially created. There were four planets at between 60 and 70 million miles, right around where Venus was around Sol. Each was offset from the other by 90 degrees.
Between 85 million miles and 100, million miles out from the Sun here there were four more planets, one of which was New Alamo. Exactly opposite his planet on the far side of the sun, there was a planet that looked to have its Administration Station functioning. As he replayed the images he saw the telltale sign that a squadron of small ships was leaving orbit and heading toward the sun. Next out were four more planets at between 135 million and 145 million miles. All 12 planets seemed to have atmospheres and showed signs that light was emitting from the surface on the night sides the telescopes could pick up.
There was an Asteroid belt at right around 300 million miles out from the Sun, but it was much denser and his scopes immediately picked up activity in the area. Some asteroids were being collected and moved toward a staging area. He¡¯d have to go check that out shortly. Beyond the Asteroid belt, he picked up two gas giants orbiting at right around 500 million miles and two more out at a billion miles. Beyond that, there were a couple more giant planets and signs that there might be a few more planetoids he hadn¡¯t detected visually but was pretty sure were there due to fluctuations in the recorded orbits but he¡¯d have to let the cameras record for longer. Adam stored the array in his Shadow Vault then shot off toward the facility he¡¯d noticed in the Asteroid belt.
Adam checked his abilities and at level one his maximum speed with Flight was the speed of light. His maximum range for Teleport was 1 million miles. Adam maintained Obscure, Freedom of Flight, and Flight and headed off toward the facility he¡¯d detected. At the speed of light, he¡¯d get there in about an hour and six minutes. As he sped toward the facility near the asteroid belt a new notification appeared in his vision.
Trial for Supremacy, Step 1 Defend your Administrator Station in orbit around New Alamo.
Reward: Dependent on Contribution.
Adam had a hint that this had something to do with what he detected in the asteroid belt so continued on his course. After an hour he approached the facility and noticed a ship moving off. He flew in close to the facility and activated Technomancy to see what he was dealing with. It looked like this little facility was manned by a group of people that were collecting asteroids and turning them into projectiles for a weapon in orbit around one of the gas giants that was this system¡¯s equivalent of Jupiter. Adam recovered the coordinates and sped off to see what was going on.
23 minutes later he¡¯d traveled 257 million miles and found himself closing in on a facility that looked like a small space station attached to a very long tube with another much smaller tower offset at one end. The tip of the long tower was pointed in the general direction of the horizon of the gas giant. Adam flew in close, activated Technomancy, and reviewed the data he could.
Just over 13 hours ago, this weapon had launched 10 projectiles. It would be almost nothing for him to catch up and divert the projectiles. Doing so would give him a little bit of time to scout out the planets and figure out how to respond. Adam quickly used technomancy to leave a nice little alteration if this facility was instructed to fire again. Additionally, he searched through the archives of the weapon to check and see if there were any other devices and was pleased to find out that this was the only one.
Once that was complete, Adam flew after the 10 projectile packages that had been shot toward his Administrator Station. It had only been 13.6 hours so the projectiles were still rushing around the gas giant. Adam started with the first one when it was out of visual range of both the station and Trilax then simply used his flight power to adjust the trajectory of each projectile so they entered the gas giant¡¯s atmosphere. It was easy enough to do. Adam just slowed the projectiles down so they fell into a decaying orbit. More than likely they¡¯d detect the warheads as they curved around and into the gas giant on the spiral inward as they flew past the weapon station. This would probably cause the technician to double-check his weapon before he fired the next salvo.
One last thing Adam did was return to the weapon platform and use Mold Chaos to create some of his nanites, Seriously, if the Multitude wanted to reset Universal Density to one he was going to take advantage of it. As before the nanites wouldn¡¯t work outside of his Technomancy ability radius which was 100 feet but it was definitely a big enough area that he could use the nanites to splice into the weapon, attach a communication port and quantumly link that port to a communications port that he could insert into his array back on his space station. Once that was complete he stored it in his Shadow Vault.
Now that he was ready to monitor this weapon he headed to the Trilax space station and did the same thing there once he found a communication port. While it seemed the Multitude was technologically savvy and able to hack universes and dimensions he was betting that those trying to increase their domains weren¡¯t worried about hackers and cyber infiltration. With his attributes as high as they were and everyone¡¯s quintessence abilities leveled down to one, Adam was betting that he was going to be undetectable with Obscure active.
Adam approached the Trilax Administrative Station without incident, conjured some more nanites, and went to work. Soon after he was tied into the communication array as well as all internal communications. Currently, everything was being saved to a drive he¡¯d created for that purpose but once he installed his equipment back on his space station it wouldn¡¯t be an issue.
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The interesting thing about the Trilax was that they were a reptilian species. They had a chameleon-type attribute that allowed them to blend into the background if they were naked, though they looked more like scaled humans with raptor-sleek faces and eyes. Still, you had to look really close to see the scales. It also seemed that they were cold-blooded as all their environmental settings were set above 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Even more interesting, one of the Emperor¡¯s advisors was a human.
Once everything was in place Adam left the station and went down to the surface to look around. What he found there wasn¡¯t much different than what he¡¯d expected to see. People were working and producing while they received the bare minimum. Though, this system did provide shelter and food for everyone. Adam flew around until he found one of the bigger cities, then found a building that looked to be transmitting. After a little backtracking he was able to find the main communication hub on the continent he was on and again spliced in and set up a permanent link to allow himself to hack into the network and even take over if he wished. He repeated this action on each major continent, six in total. He made sure to do so at points in cities along the coastline that had major communication cables that went off into the sea, though it looked like in some cases the cables didn¡¯t go everywhere.
He soon figured out what was going on. There was no way to know how the equipment of the Multitude was interconnected, though Adam was sure it probably used quantum entanglement of some kind. No, what he found was listed in one of the Administrative backup servers. It seemed that Emperor Trilax had set up a backup control network in case the Multitudes system ever failed. So Adam was hacking into the backup network. Except for the weapon system in orbit around the gas giant. It didn¡¯t have anything on board that looked like it connected to the Multitude. Not like the administrative buildings on the planets or the Word Administrator station.
Was the Multitude using nanites? Adam didn¡¯t think so because the nanites he¡¯d created hadn¡¯t detected anything. Something else was going on. Adam believed it had something to do with the quintessence since he¡¯d already seen evidence that quintessence could be contained and redirected, even if he didn¡¯t know how it was being done. There was nothing he could do about that right now so it was time to get back to participating in whatever the Trial for Supremacy was.
Once he was done on the Homeworld of the Trilax Empire he investigated the other seven inner planets and found that the four planets that were approximately as close as Venus was to the sun in Sol were all a little bit hotter and tropical or desert. None contained a hint of ice or snowfall. There was a world Administrator Station in orbit around each planet but they were currently vacant.
Adam approached one of the World Administrator stations and found himself outside the station with a message flashing before his eyes.
World Administrator Station is off-limits until all domains on the planet below have been claimed. To claim an unoccupied World Administrator Station you must have the Quest, Word Dominator for the appropriate planet.
Occupied World Administrator Stations can be entered and claimed normally.
Adam had a feeling to claim one of these stations normally meant killing the World Emperor. That meant he would have to be able to defend his territory as well as attack. It seemed there was a reason he had vassals after all.
Adam flew down to the planet below the station to get the lay of the land and found various forces of varying species suited for tropical or desert environments fighting or defending various domains but they were scattered across the globe. None had united the planet. Even the Trilax had a contingent of soldiers on the planet, but it looked like they weren¡¯t suited for the environment so expansion was slow going.
That brought up the question of how the Multitude knew which domain was claimed by which force. Now that he thought about it, he really should have asked Zorvan what he specifically needed to protect the planet and station so he knew how to add new locations to his empire later.
After a little bit of investigation, he found a domain in a secluded valley up in the mountains that hadn¡¯t been claimed by anyone. At the center of the domain, a small stone structure sat with a clear crystal floating in it. Adam touched his hand to the crystal and it flashed red as a rumble could be heard outside the chamber.
A moment later the roof was lifted off the chamber by the biggest thumb and forefinger he¡¯d ever seen as all four walls fell outward and crashed against the ground leaving the crystal and Adam exposed. As Adam looked up, and then even further up, he realized that something that he¡¯d thought was a forested hill nearby was now standing thousands of feet in the air. It looked like a two thousand-foot elemental person had leaned over and lifted the roof off the chamber as it stood. As he looked closer it seemed to be more humanoid and the earth with trees growing out of it that was wrapped around it.
Without a word, the elemental lifted its foot and started stomping the ground all around the crystal. Before the elemental¡¯s foot slammed into the ground the first time, Adam teleported to the forest on its shoulder and held on while the whole being shuddered each time its foot came down. Adam quickly double-checked his abilities. Obscure and Flight were still active. He¡¯d deactivated Freedom of Flight so he could touch the crystal and it looked like the creature he was on was just making sure that anything near the crystal was dead which meant that it was intelligent.
Adam flew up in front of its face and deactivated Obscure. The creature¡¯s eyes focused on Adam and he roared as it brought both hands up to squish Adam between them. The creature was big but Adam was betting he could take it.
A tremendous clap slammed against Adam but other than the extremely loud sound the clap made he didn¡¯t even take 1% of his total hit points of damage. Granted it would still be 176 seconds before he fully recovered all of his hit points but it hadn¡¯t been much. Adam waited until the creature saw that Adam looked like he was unaffected then moved over to its ear, flicked its earlobe hard enough to shatter all the caked-up earth on it, and back to his starting position, faster than the creature could follow with Stutter Step and Teleport.
Immediately the Giant grabbed its ear and howled, though Adam knew he hadn¡¯t really hurt the beast yet. He¡¯d made sure the area he targeted didn¡¯t have any part of the creature¡¯s ear under it and that he¡¯d just shattered the layers of stone on it. Splintered trees and broken soil fell to the ground as the creature¡¯s eyes went wide trying to figure out what had just happened.
Adam had always reigned in his persona naturally but he believed he needed to let this creature feel the level of might he was dealing with so Adam relaxed his control and his aura billowed out. Once Adam was satisfied that his power was affecting the elemental he projected his voice in common, ¡°Surrender or die?¡±
The creature look at Adam, sneered, and began to activate an ability. It wouldn¡¯t have mattered. Adam shot forward at nearly 10 times the speed of sound and entered the elemental¡¯s eye, plowing through the soft membrane at the back. then entered its brain which Adam proceeded to zip around in for another second before he exited through the other eye. As he turned around to take in his handy work, Adam used Mold Chaos to summon Nanites around him and instructed them with Technomancy to clean himself off then stuck them in his Shadow Vault. With the new limitations, he couldn¡¯t just set his nanites free but he could summon up to ten pounds and control them. Unfortunately, as soon as Technomancy was turned off, the nanites dissipated almost immediately. If they went farther than 100 feet away from him right now they also disappeared. Whatever changes had been made did not like people using nanites as a shortcut, unless they were being directly controlled or maintained. He still needed to figure out how to create a stabilization field, which he was thinking about but hadn¡¯t figured out yet.
Congratulations, You have defeated the Mountain Giant Yar. You may now claim his domain. Would you like to claim this domain for the Yes or No?
Adam opened his Personal Interface and found a new tab for his Empire. Under that tab in the place for the name of his Empire, he entered ¡°Adamantium Autocracy¡±. It was time to Go Big or Go Home. That saying had always been one of his favorite Harley Davidson slogans, maybe he could incorporate it into his Empire somehow.
Adam looked back to the prompt and chose ¡°Yes.¡±
Immediately a new Quest popped up.
World Dominator ¨C Conquer 25% of the World¡¯s Domains and be the first to reach the Word Administrator Station in orbit and claim it. Current World Percent claimed 1%
Adam noticed something interesting in his Interface. A new World Dominator Tab appeared. When he chose it a list of individuals and empires appeared. Trilax was sitting at 3% while something called the Malteek Hive was sitting at 24% Adam didn¡¯t¡¯ need another Empire sprouting up, nor did he need the Trilax Imperium sending a fleet this way.
Over the next six hours, Adam systematically spread from the domain he¡¯d just claimed in every direction except toward the Trilax. When he was done he¡¯d claimed 25% of the planet¡¯s surface, including some underwater domains.
Once he had his 25% he flew up to the station, entered through an airlock, and found the Control Crystal at the center of the station. He went to the equivalent office to his on his new station and said, ¡°Zorvan?¡±
¡°Yes Sire,¡± Zorvan said after he materialized.
¡°Are you always with me or just when I¡¯m on one of these stations?¡± Adam asked.
¡°When you have taken control of a station you may call for me and I can teleport to your side at no cost to you or myself in the Emperor¡¯s office. This office.¡± Zorvan said.
¡°Question, if I build the defenses instead of purchasing them from the exchange are there any penalties?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Heavens no Sire, in fact, any personal resources you invest in defending or improving anything within the Multitude garners contribution points which can be spent as you desire.¡±
¡°It seems that if I was only worried about myself, all I¡¯d need to do is spend all the contribution points I earn from worlds I conquer and I¡¯d be able to increase my personal power very quickly,¡± Adam said.
Contribution points earned from the empire, or in this may only be spent on another within the established budget of your Empire. Those Contribution Points are put toward the Empire and level it. You earn Contribution points just as your subjects do by performing the duties you were assigned by the Multitude efficiently. In this case, by ruling them. There are a lot of factors that come into play. Education Level, Housing, Happiness, training, equipment, the number of support specialists you have, etc. I should also point out that after the 10-day grace period, all the vassals you have will be free to act as they like. They will be your vassals but they will be able to act against you or your interests. Also, while you have taken over 25% of the planet below you have not assigned administrators or support personnel to grow the areas and prepare to conquer the rest. If you have not acquired 100% of the domains on the world below within a number of weeks equal to the percent you still have left when you claim the control crystal on the station, you have that many weeks to claim the rest. In this case, you have 75 weeks to claim the other 75% of this world¡¯s domains. If you do not, the station is sealed until one person emerges that has 100% control of the surface.
¡°So what you¡¯re saying is that the Multitude does not like councils or multiple people calling the shots within a single domain, in this case, the World?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Correct,¡± Zorvan said.
¡°Very well, besides you, how do I bring anyone else over here to take control?¡± Adam asked.
¡°YOU bring them here,¡± Zorvan said. ¡°I should also point out that I have no authority over this world or interface functions with this world. I am allowed to teleport over here to ensure the smooth Administration of your Multitude awarded world. This feature will not be available to any other World Administrators you acquire unless they are rewards granted by the Multitude.¡±
¡°I see,¡± Adam said, ¡°Very well Zorvan, I will return shortly. Please prepare a welcome package for three assault crews that are on their way from Trilax. I am going to set up some automated defenses here and then I¡¯ll head back.¡±
¡°As you wish Sire,¡± Zorvan said then teleported away. At which point Adam went to work.
Mold Chaos at ability level 1 only allowed him to create 10 pounds of material. Granted there was no way his mana regeneration rate couldn¡¯t keep up but it was going to take a while to make the modifications he wanted to. Of course, if he summoned 10 pounds of nanites and had them alter already present mass, that might work. He might try that on a planet, but not on a station created by the Multitude.
Adam moved throughout the space station and began personally upgrading every entry point by adding features he created with Mold Chaos. He also personally made sure that no one was on the station then placed an antimatter bomb next to the Command Crystal. If someone didn¡¯t deactivate the device with an ability like his Technomancy a nuclear blast equivalent to the detonation at Nagasaki would go off. Adam was pretty sure the station would survive but he was betting that anyone that made it to the Command Center would have a very bad day. As he was finishing up he looked around and a thought crossed his mind, How would a Mountain Giant fit in this station to take control? Maybe the Multitude didn¡¯t take that into consideration, if it did though, that would be interesting. Once he was done he made his way back to the New Alamo Space Station.
This time, he couldn¡¯t bobby trap the station because there were a lot of people on this one. It would not do to be that ruthless at this point. Instead, this was going to take a much more methodical and balanced approach.
As Adam teleported into his office he called out, ¡°Zorvan,¡±
¡°Yes Sire,¡± Zorvan said.
¡°Adam is fine and preferable in this setting when we are alone,¡± Adam said.
¡°Yes, Adam?¡± Zorvan asked.
¡°I need at least 20 technicians, preferably 60 that will be available to begin production of light spacecraft and shuttles and a location on the surface to set up a production facility,¡± Adam said.
¡° You own the planet so I can set this up anywhere you wish. I should remind you that you do not have the Contribution Points required to purchase such a facility, even with the 25 billion Contribution Points you earned for your empire by conquering other domains. The facility, with the technological ability that would be necessary, would cost in the thousands of billions of Contribution Points. Such a facility would be a World Project,¡± Zorvan said.
¡°Zorvan you worry about getting the 60 people I need, I need a place where I can create an airfield and also the infrastructure I need to build the materials and facilities I need.¡±
¡°Do you mind if such a facility was on a desert or flat barren plain?¡±
¡°A flat barren plain would be preferable,¡± Adam said.
¡°A map appeared showing where on the planet the location Zorvan had found was with trajectory and the time it would take to get there with the one shuttle they had.¡±
¡°Thanks, Zorvan. Also, please use the 25 billion Contribution points to purchase 25 administrators and the support staff necessary to run the 25 domains on, what I¡¯m going, to call New Venus. Do not purchase them yet but be ready to in about 72 hours.
¡°What happens in 72 hours? Zorvan asked.
¡°The first shuttle will roll off the Assembly line at Skunkworks New Alamo.
¡°Skunkworks?¡±
¡°Yep, it¡¯s what I¡¯m going to name the City that pops up in the area. Now it¡¯s time for me to get to work,¡± Adam said as he teleported into space and headed toward the new location of Skunkworks New Alamo. He¡¯d spent two days exploring and getting the lay of the land. He had some work to do if he was going to get back to his family and friends.
Chapter 205, Expansion Tactics
Zorvan watched as the emperor teleported out of the station and headed to the planet. He had no idea how Adam was going to get anything done if he kept running around like he was. He had reviewed his new Emperor¡¯s attributes and abilities when permitted but as far as he could tell having 8 Racial Abilities and 18 Acquired Abilities wasn¡¯t going to allow Adam to do a quick fix to any of the new quests the Multitude would give him. Almost all of his abilities were support abilities. Additionally, as far as Zorvan could tell, Adam¡¯s one offensive ability, Chaos Bolt did not have an Area of Effect. Granted he could probably cast it second after second but hitting only one target at a time would take forever when he tried conquering the other planets and then moved on to the other solar systems nearby, if his new Emperor would even get that far.
Zorvan shook his head and then teleported to his chamber on the station. The first thing he did was pull up a defensive analysis for the station and noted that Adam had been correct. Three ships were headed across the system from Trilax, a planet within the same orbital path as New Alamo on the opposite side of this system¡¯s sun, to this station. Their estimated arrival date was approximately 9 days from now. Just one day after the grace period ended.
Zorvan completed the tasks he¡¯d been ordered to accomplish in quick succession. He reviewed the available Administrators that had applications on the market and noted 50 that would be acceptable and within the standard price range for a newly integrated planet. Adam didn¡¯t seem concerned about the cost of things but part of Zorvan¡¯s awarded Contribution Points came from getting the best deals in every transaction he did on behalf of the Master he served. In this way, the Multitude made sure he wouldn¡¯t cheat his liege and also get the best product he could.
Once his required tasks were complete he pulled up a monitor and brought up a view of the area he¡¯d set aside for the emperor¡¯s project and froze. He closed the monitor, checked the time then called up the information again. Only two hours had passed since Adam had left the station and already there were vehicles digging up material, bringing it to Adam, where it was converted, somehow, then taken by other vehicles to buildings that had not been there just two hours ago and stored for later use.
There was already an airfield with the support structures that would be needed to automatically repair, refuel, and create everything that would be needed for shuttles and small aircraft. As Zorvan watched a hole started to dig down into the earth and tunnels, shored up with metal plating began to take shape out of nothing as Adam floated nearby and moved which seemed to allow the tunnels to keep expanding. The Earth was opening up forming the tunnel then closing after he floated by.
Zorvan had seen technology like that before within the Multitude, but it was expensive to acquire and usually only did one thing. He quickly opened the market page and brought up the Fortress Creation Package. The Fortress Creation Package could be placed on any unoccupied terrain of a least a mile in diameter. All nonorganic materials in the area were converted into the materials needed to create a fortress. All living creatures appeared unharmed outside of the diameter. There were a few variations, A square structure, or a circular structure which cost the most and utilized the most area, and a triangular structure that was the cheapest
The package took approximately 5 minutes to complete and would automatically attach itself to any sewer, electrical, and communication lines. When it was completed a fully defensible fortress with a power source that would last 100 years was ready for the buyer. Anything short of a Class 3 weapon would simply bounce off the Class 3 Force Shield. Class 3 Weapons would wear down the power supply and Class 4 or higher weapons could punch through the defenses.
It wasn¡¯t the most powerful offensive or defensive structure that could be purchased from the market but it provided a relatively safe place for a new World Emperor if they wanted to put a base on the surface without paying a large number of their Contribution Points which would be better spent upgrading and providing for his citizens. If an Emperor wanted to they could purchase up to Class 10 weapons and shields, but they were incredibly expensive and usually required at least a Trillion subjects under the Emperor before they¡¯d have enough Contribution Points to do so. To get access to weapons and shields higher than Class 10 an Emperor would have to claim the entire solar system first. In this way, the Multitude kept conflicts within a Solar System reasonable. As for the Cost? The Fortress Creation Package currently cost 100 Quadrillion Contribution Points. As Zorvan watched he realized that Adam was using a similar technology to create whatever structures he desired on the planet below. The Airfield and the surrounding town and support structures would be complete in a matter of hours, not days, months, or years. He was going to reevaluate his projections and adjust again.
Zorvan kept an eye on Adam as he continued creating the airfield and city below while he checked on the Vassals that Adam had acquired. How had this man acquired 28 billion Vassals? As Zorvan allowed the information to sift through his mind and absorbed the relevant data he realized that 35% of the vassals were going to be a problem.
The surveillance systems the Multitude provided on the World Administrator Station allowed the staff up here to monitor and check on anyone on the planet at any time. In fact, if a conqueror could take the World Administrator Station for the world they were on right after they¡¯d taken over 25% of the domains of the world it made taking over the rest of the world a lot easier. Zorvan brought his thoughts back to the Vassals and reviewed the data that had already been archived.
When the troublemakers weren¡¯t doing what they were controlled to do for the 8 hours the Multitude trained them during this grace period they were sowing the seeds of mutiny and insurrection. Either would be seen as a failure by him and would reduce his Contribution Points. After seeing Adam¡¯s attributes, he doubted that he had to worry about Adam getting himself killed. No, if either a mutiny or insurrection happened Zorvan would just have his Contribution Point Income penalized for a set amount of time by the Multitude. It would be better to deal with the troublemakers now than to be penalized for their bad behavior later.
Zorvan created logistics plans that would transfer the problems off of New Alamo and began setting up occupation and expansion plans for the 25 domains Adam had claimed on New Venus. In addition, he also set up a recovery team to acquire and process the Mountain Giants¡¯ corpse. It had been listed as an unclaimed treasure recently. The next time he spoke with Adam he would have to ask where it was or wait for a world administrator to be assigned for New Venus and speak with them to get the corpse processed. At least until he was promoted to Solar System Administrator which wouldn¡¯t happen until Adam controlled two full worlds.
After another six hours, Zorvan checked in on Adam, noted that he was still working, and left his office for his personal residence. As a member of the Zethrix race, a race birthed out of magic and death. There were so few of his kind throughout the Multitude that they all had a strong sense of self-preservation which meant that he spared no expense when seeing to his safety.
While serving his last master he¡¯d been able to save up enough Contribution Points to purchase a dimensional residence. A very nice dimensional residence. The activation had looked like a small card that he could place on any open space. It then created a door that allowed him to enter and exit his residence. Additionally, as the World Administrator, he could place the entrance to his residence anywhere on the World Administrator Station and it would be able to tie into the same information he had access to from his office on the station. He''d placed his door in his office just to make things easier for him to enter or exit.
Should there ever be an attack, he would merely need to move or teleport into his residence, and he would be completely safe from any hostile actions taking place on the station. Additionally, anything he purchased through the markets with his Contribution Points could be delivered to his residence without fear that someone else nearby might come upon anything he owned.
Zorvan teleported to his pedestal, his equivalent of a bed, where he lowered himself and rested. Floating everywhere wasn¡¯t hard or taxing but every once in a while a nice, pillowed surface to rest on was just the thing to take his mind off everything that was going on. While it wasn¡¯t hard for him to multitask, it was still taxing, and everyone needed a break every once in a while.
Zorvan closed his eyes. Six hours later he woke up feeling rested and refreshed. He washed his face in the lavatory and then teleported back into his office. The first thing he noticed was that Adam had personally acquired more than 350 billion Contribution points for the Empire in the last 14 hours. What had he done? Zorvan looked over the list of additions to the Adamantium Autocracy. Adam had received Contribution Points for researching, procuring, and creating industrial and aerospace industries and all of the supporting technologies necessary to support two new ship types classified as the AA Fighter Mk I and the AA Shuttle Mk I. Additionally, he¡¯d received Contribution Points for donating 100 fighters and 100 shuttles that he¡¯d personally created.
Zorvan pulled up the orbital scans of the area, zoomed in, and played back how Adam moved from location to location and created the fighters and shuttles. Zorvan didn¡¯t recognize the design, nor did he recognize the configurations. He quickly pulled up the statistics and looked them over. He was shocked into silence for nearly a minute as he asked himself ¡°How?¡± What was even more shocking was the Attributes. Most planet¡¯s preunification only had Class 1 anything, if it even rated being Class 1. As he reviewed the information about the ships he knew that these ships were another thing altogether.
AA Fighter Mk I
Crew 2
Range: Class 10
Max Speeds:
In System: Class 5
Transgalactic: Class 4
Shields: Class 5
Power Source: Class 7
Weapons:
Energy: Class 5
Projectile: Class 7
Purchase Price: 250 billion Contribution Points
Zorvan was shocked. Class 10 range, which was effectively unlimited. Additionally, Transgalactic speeds Class 4 meant that the ships could travel at up to 1,024 times the speed of light. That was roughly 2.8 Light Years per day. That was fast. Within this system that would allow the fighters and the shuttles to move around unhindered. The time between locations within the system could be measured in seconds. Granted to get from the Sun to Pluto at such speeds would take just over 19 seconds but that allowed for a response time measured in minutes instead of hours or days between planets.
Zorvan had work to do and started pulling up information on the Vassals Adam had acquired. He started going over their skills as he looked for individuals with piloting experience. One of the problems that happened during every Unification and Classification was that some of the skills people had were not translated into the Multitude Interface system and they had to be reset to zero. The only way to overcome this issue was to show proficiency in performing a task based on the skill.
Adam was a perfect example of how the Multitude Classification system missed things. When he¡¯d looked at Adam¡¯s Personal Information the man had almost no skills, yet he¡¯d created and produced the industries to support automated vehicles for the surface and the manufacturing buildings necessary to produce the fighters and shuttles he¡¯d created out of thin air. That the Multitude placed value on the ships meant that they were functional. At most, this system should have a single Class 2 shuttle per World Emperor. Adam had bypassed Class 1,2 3 and 4 and could create weapons and items far above what anyone in this system, let alone this sector probably could. As Zorvan thought about it, he realized just how lucky he¡¯d been to be assigned to Adam.
Zorvan¡¯s thoughts were interrupted when a chime went off indicating that Adam was in his office. Zorvan dropped what he was doing and teleported to Adam¡¯s office.
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¡°Zorvan, I have another question,¡± Adam said.
¡°Sire, I mean Adam, did you fly all the way up here to ask me another question?¡± Zorvan asked.
¡°Yes, why is there a way to reach you provided by the Multitude?¡± Adam asked.
¡°You may send me short messages through the message tab under your empire tab. Additionally, you could access the Market and purchase the upgraded communication suite available to all Emperors that allows them to contact their Administrators as long as they are in the same Sector as their domain,¡± Zorvan said.
¡°How do I access the market? ¡°Adam asked.
¡°The market can only be accessed at designated locations in domains that contain a city or at various locations on this Station, one of which is the terminal on your desk. Simply place your hand on the desk and think of the market. It will open up like one of your interactive abilities then pull up ¡°Emperor Advanced Communication Suite.¡± It should cost a million Contribution Points.
Zorvan watched as Adam placed his hand on the desk, and a moment later he was notified that a communication channel was being requested by Adam, which he accepted.
So, this works like telepathy, Adam sent
Exactly. As long as you¡¯re in this sector you will be able to communicate with me using this method. If for some reason I do not answer I am either busy or the communication channel is being blocked, Zorvan sent back.
¡°Very well,¡± Adam said with his voice. ¡°Next subject. I was wearing a backpack when the Classification took me, what happened to all of my gear?¡±
Zorvan was taken aback for a second before he said, ¡°Normally, I would answer that question with it is gone, there is nothing you can do about it because recovering any items taken from you would be too costly. However, you have personally earned over 5 billion contribution points with what you have accomplished over the last day so I will tell you that the items were put in a limbo state for up to one full year. Each item will have a varying cost starting at one million Contribution Points. The Multitude wants everyone to forget the past and embrace their new future but if there is something that you really want to keep, there is a way to do so.¡±
¡°How could anyone just starting out purchase their items back, Isn¡¯t a million Contribution Points a lot?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The cost is based on your income and the domain you start with. Someone starting with nothing would have to spend only 10 Contribution Points or more. That¡¯s more than they could earn in a single day and still eat. I know we haven¡¯t discussed this yet and it is quite complicated, so I¡¯ll just say this. When you are first Classified and placed within the Multitude a system has been devised that will ensure no matter where you are on the power scale if you wish to retain something from your previous life, it will cost a significant amount of the Contribution Points and slow your initial progress,¡± Zorvan said.
Adam listened attentively but he knew Zorvan could see the excitement building within him as he asked,¡± How do I go through and purchase back what I want?¡±
¡°Everything that was taken from you as part of the Classification is listed under ¡°Personal Hold, Buyback Option,¡± Zorvan said.
A moment later a backpack appeared in Adam¡¯s hand, he concentrated for a moment and then smiled.
¡°If I might ask, is there something important in that backpack?¡± Zorvan asked.
¡°Oh yeah, things are about to get a lot easier. I¡¯ll be back in a little while,¡± Adam said.
Zorvan watched Adam teleport out of the station and then disappear as his cloaking ability was activated. Fortunately, Zorvan was able to know the location of Adam anywhere in the sector and watched as he began flying toward the outer system and a couple of minutes later stopped at one of the larger Asteroids.
When Adam hadn¡¯t left the location for ten minutes he teleported back to his office and went back to work looking for pilots, administrators, and the support personnel necessary for New Venus.
Zorvan was shocked out of what he was working on when a new alarm went off within the station indicating that a non-sanctioned travel power or technology was opening a spatial tear into the base. Zorvan pulled up the location on his monitor and watched as Adam stepped out of a portal that had appeared.
Zorvan teleported back into the office and asked a simple question, ¡°How?¡±
Adam placed a box on his desk as a holographic projection appeared of a young man that looked a lot like Adam, ¡°Zorvan this is Thor, Thor this is Zorvan.¡± Adam said.
The Hologram acted as if it was looking at Zorvan then said, ¡°Hello Zorvan, I am Thor.¡±
¡°Greetings,¡± Zorvan said.
¡°Hold on for a second while I analyze this interface and get Thor connected to the system here,¡± Adam said as he went quiet for a moment.
Zorvan pondered what he was looking at, thought about it for a minute then asked, ¡°Thor, are you a machine intelligence?¡±
¡°I am, sort of, Thor said. I am an amalgamation of programming and memories, and share this device with a truly Artificial Intelligence named Al.¡±
¡°I see,¡± Zorvan said. Normally such machines and coding were absorbed during the Unification. How had this one survived, then Zorvan remembered, he¡¯d been carrying it in the backpack he recovered. As a personal item, it would have been placed on hold for a year before being absorbed by the multitude. As far as Zorvan knew there were no Artificial Intelligence or machine intelligence available on baby worlds like this one. It would seem that Adam was full of surprises.
A moment later Adam said, ¡°Done, Thor, try it now.¡±
¡°I have a connection, the system recognizes my mind as yours, looks like we¡¯re good to go,¡± Thor said.
¡°Zorvan, I¡¯m going to be heading back down to the surface for a bit while you get acquainted with Thor. Thor is connected to me via a quantum link I installed in my head, anything you say to him I will be able to hear, and vice versa. Keep 10% of all the Contribution Points I personally earned and then utilize the rest to set up the infrastructure to create and maintain the materials needed to keep the factories running near Skunkworks. Additionally, once I get down to the surface and install the communication package with Thor I want Administrators and teams sent to New Venus to maintain control of the domains I¡¯ve taken. Once that¡¯s done I¡¯ll head over.
¡°I have everything set up. Would you like a campaign to take over the other planet as well?¡±
¡°Yes, make plans to take over all areas not held by the Malteek Empire. Utilize my donation of Contribution Points to make sure the strike forces have the weapons and equipment they need. Please make sure they know that I am outfitting them personally. By the way, how many of the problem children in this world are we sending to New Venus?¡± Adam asked.
¡°All of them,¡± Zorvan said.
Adam smiled, ¡°Please give a full listing to Thor as well as what they¡¯ve done. Also, include those that you think can be salvaged and those that cannot. Everyone that we have will be useful, so summary executions are off the table unless they rape or murder someone. It looks like we have 12 habitable planets and only one of them has another world Empire. Those that are a major problem will get the coldest or hottest climate, whichever is the biggest problem for them.
¡°Of course, Sire¡± Zorvan said.
¡°Zorvan, if you¡¯re talking to Thor, you¡¯re talking to me, so if you¡¯re talking to only me or Thor or both of us together, it¡¯s just Adam,¡± Adam said with a genuine smile. ¡°Now I do have one more question, have you ever heard of a stabilization field?¡±
¡°Stabilization field, yes. A Stabilization field is created by a Stabilization Array,¡± Zorvan said.
¡°Stabilization Array?¡± Adam asked.
¡°A Stabilization Array creates an area where high technology normally not allowed by the Multitude will work. You¡¯ll find them near technological healers and modders,¡± Zorvan said.
¡°Modder, just what you think it meant Adam,¡± Thor said, ¡°A modder is someone who makes modifications to bodies. And yes a Stabilization array is exactly what we need, two in fact. The one for Skunkworks should be fine at a five-mile radius, so 10 billion Contribution Points. I can probably make do with one that only has a 1-mile radius, so 2 billion Contribution Points,¡± Thor said.
¡°Buy the one for you first, we¡¯ll worry about getting one for the skunkworks later,¡± Adam said.
A moment later a lantern-looking device appeared on his desk that held a faintly glowing blue crystal.
Zorvan watched as Adam summoned a mass of grey matter that faded into the station and a moment later he smiled. ¡°It works. My nanites are just fine anywhere in the station right now, even those outside of the 100-foot limit I have with Technomancy right now.
¡°It looks like it¡¯s time to get to work then,¡± Adam said as Thor opened a portal in front of Adam.
Adam picked up the lantern and stepped through the portal which closed behind him.
Not to worry Zorvan, I¡¯m just setting things up in the Asteroid Belt. I¡¯ll be back at Skunkworks shortly. Start getting the teams ready for occupation and invasion. The shuttles will be piloted by Thor so you should be able to fit 12 people in each. Adam sent telepathically.
Understood, I¡¯ll get on it, Zorvan said.
***
Across New Alamo, a message appeared in most of the towns with specific names. Each person listed was to report to the Administrator¡¯s office where they would receive gear and orders. As they were still within the grace period compliance was going to be automatic. Individuals started showing up and were met with the domain administrators who showed them how to pick weapons, armor, and the equipment they would need for the conquest they were about to go on.
Moments later individuals started appearing with obvious support personnel. Not too long after shuttles started racing across the sky to land and pick up the various groups of people. Thor began moving 1200 people at a time, 400 people to each Domain they needed to defend, and then move into the bordering areas that were controlled by someone else. With 100 shuttles that could move as quickly as these did he was able to get people to their destinations in short order.
The shuttles had everything he needed and were faster than any vehicles Earth had. They also had antigravity so there was no need to have the passengers getting ready for weightlessness. Once they were out of the atmosphere the shuttles flashed then reappeared and headed to the surface to secure the domains Adam had claimed first on New Venus. These forces were equipped with very basic weaponry because they were just securing the domains and also because they were troublemakers.
Less than 30 minutes later all 25 domains Adam had on the planet were manned, defended, and supported. Additionally, a World Administrator had been hired and deployed to the Administrator station after Adam had removed the trap he¡¯d laid within.
Next came the forces that were on standby to take over new areas. These troops were allowed to pick ranged weapons and ammo to help with the assaults. This time all the shuttles were used to land near the targets with fighter support. Only energy weapons were used as the missiles the fighters carried had the equivalent of a nuclear yield bomb. He¡¯d only added them to help remove ships that were of a larger class than his fighters. When he purchased the Stabilization array for Skunkworks that would change though.
The fighters did a fly-by, called out what they saw, and then moved up to orbit to await new instructions from Thor if there were no defensive structures that needed to be dealt with. If the Forces were not severely xenophobic they usually surrendered but there were a few cases where they fought man, woman, and child to the death. The warriors of the Adamantium Autocracy accepted surrender when able and did what they had to do if they didn¡¯t surrender.
There were deaths but many of the Vassals received titles and awards from the Multitude for each quest that was given and completed. They¡¯d receive quests to conquer a new domain, or to claim a resource for the Adamantium Autocracy. Some even received quests to claim items for themselves, if they could. Some were even successful. Most realized such quests were a trap as individuals fought to keep what they¡¯d found. Eventually, such items ended up in the hands of the most powerful person in the area.
After 5 days, 76% of New Venus was conquered and only the Malteek Hive was left.
***
Adam was reviewing the combat report in his office on the Station above New Alamo. His forces had done a splendid job on New Venus. 76% of the planet belonged to him and Thor had shored up the areas around the insectoid race to ensure they didn¡¯t break into an area his forces had just conquered. Additionally, he¡¯d only lost 10% of the people they¡¯d sent, which Zorvan assured him was better than projected. It sounded like it was somewhat of a surprise to him.
An hour later, Adam stopped what he was doing and moved to look out the window in his office and watched as the projectile from the Trilax Weapons Platform orbiting the gas giant missed the station he was in by a wide margin and all struck the smaller of the two moons that orbited New Alamo. Five minutes later he wasn¡¯t at all surprised when new orders were sent out from the Emperor¡¯s staff.
Before the orders could arrive at the weapons platform orbiting the gas giant a portal opened in front of Adam and he roughly pulled the technician and weapons specialist, Ajhax, through the portal into his space station above New Alamo.
¡°What?¡± was the only word Ajhax got out before Adam knocked him unconscious.
The orders were received, and the weapon fired its next 10 payloads. Adam had adjusted the targeting computer so the next command script would send 4 projectiles toward the Trilax Administrative Station, 3 shots toward the staging area for the projectiles, and the last 3 were sent on a circular trajectory back toward the weapons platform. The power had to be turned down to normal orbital velocity but Adam had timed the attacks so the Weapons Platform and the Staging Area would be hit simultaneously. The ships around the staging area were automated so the only casualty there would have been the person he¡¯d already grabbed.
The Weapons Platform and Staging area near the asteroid belt would be hit in a couple of hours but the Space Station wouldn¡¯t be hit for a couple of days. Adam was of two minds whether to go give the Emperor a chance to surrender or to go take his world from him. Show up and request surrender a couple of hours before his weapons hit to give them a chance to evacuate? That was probably a good idea as he¡¯d need people to run his empire and the Emperor of the Trilax seemed to be doing a good job. If he could acquire him without killing him?
¡°You¡¯re thinking about trying to force a surrender aren¡¯t you Adam?¡± Thor asked as Adam thought about what to do next.
¡°Yeah?¡± Adam said.
¡°Perhaps you should think about why the system is doing something before you start participating?¡± Al chimed in
¡°What do you mean?¡± Adam asked
¡°Well, as you explained to us on the asteroid when we were automating that place and getting the Stabilization array working All of your abilities and Soul Core were surrounded and reduced to level 1. Additionally, you have A permanent link that seems to go off toward the Astral Plane with your Astral Link.¡±
¡°That sounds correct?¡± Adam said.
¡°Why?¡± Al asked.
¡°How should I know?¡± Adam asked then his mind put the pieces together. The Multitude seems to be adding everyone to a system of conflict. It then brings all of our quintessence and soul core levels back down to level 1 but Adam knew that Quintessence was just another system of control for how the soul interacted with magical energy. Which means¡¡±Oh, that¡¯s insidious,¡± Adam said.
¡°It is isn¡¯t it?¡± Al asked.
¡°What are you going on about?¡± Zorvan asked.
Adam couldn¡¯t tell Zorvan that the Multitude was limiting everyone¡¯s Quintessence levels and Soul Core levels and then pitting them against each other so that when they died it could keep that energy. If they ever broke free it might have to return that quintessence so it was in the Multitude¡¯s best interest that no one ever escaped its clutches, but he couldn¡¯t say that because he might not be correct, and pigs could fly, he knew he was right. Instead, he answered Zorvan with, ¡°Nothing much Zorvan, just contemplating how the Multitude works,¡± Adam said.
¡°Very well, what are you going to do about the Malteek Hive domains on New Venus?¡± Zorvan asked.
¡°I thought I¡¯d go introduce myself. Having an insectoid species on our side couldn¡¯t be a bad thing could it?¡± Adam asked.
¡°It¡¯s an acceptable idea, though nothing we¡¯ve seen indicates that the Malteek Queen would even be open to negotiations. She¡¯s just as likely to kill you¡±.
¡°I believe I can persuade her?¡± Adam said.
¡°If I might be so bold as to ask how?¡± Zorvan asked.
Adam smiled, then said, ¡°Very aggressive Diplomacy.¡±
Chapter 206, Trying to Buck the System
The Malteek Queen watched through her drones as the creatures before used their terrifying weapons to force her forces to a standstill or be destroyed. The jungles of the planet in the region she held were perfect for her children, but she needed to expand. She¡¯d received a message five days ago stating that a World Administrator had been assigned to this world and that the Adamantium Autocracy now controlled it. This had caused her to fail a quest she¡¯d received as she¡¯d been unable to produce or purchase any vehicles that could get her into orbit.
The Queen had watched as the various leaders on this planet had fallen until only the Adamantium Autocracy and the Malteek Hive remained. Her scouts had watched as the domains around hers had been taken over. Some had been conquered by creatures that her warriors couldn¡¯t contend with in a matter of minutes. That¡¯s why she had decided to break out in a new direction only to find it blocked as well.
A moment later she was completely surprised when one of the Humans wearing some form of clothing that covered his whole body appeared only 100 feet in front of her. The evolution of her species had engrained a sense of urgency when they were surprised and she launched her attack and missed. No matter how many times she attacked, she missed. Interestingly enough, the creature before her did not counterattack.
Realizing there was no point in attacking further she stepped back and commanded her drones to hold, as they had been ready to attack as soon as she was clear. Never taking her eyes off the creature she tried to communicate with it.
Strength through Dominance, the queen sent mentally.
Improvement through Conflict, the creature sent back through her mind speech.
You know the forms, Surrender or die? the queen declared.
The creature cocked its head and then disappeared. A moment later she saw him reappear through one of her drones in one of her outer Domains. A moment later a grey mass of what looked like a swarm of insects spread out from him and blotted out the drone¡¯s vision. Over the next hour, the cloud moved back and forth across the domain destroying all plants as it passed until the only thing that remained were her drones and the Domain Crystal which floated above its pedestal. Her drones had been unaffected, even when they entered the swarm to try to stop it. Nothing they did could stop the foliage from disintegrating while they watched.
A moment later the swarm dissipated, and the creature reappeared before it.
You know the forms, Surrender or Die, it declared.
She had hoped not to use the treasure she had found because its destruction was indiscriminate, and she would lose some of her best warriors, but she didn¡¯t hesitate. A moment later a black orb was sailing at the creature as a defensive array erected what it classed as a Class 4 shield around her.
The item in question was called a Quantum Grenade and would pull everything with a couple of hundred feet into it, before obliterating them. It was guaranteed to bypass all abilities and shields up to Class 3, which most creatures couldn¡¯t afford to acquire.
The queen watched as the creature sighed as the item came toward it and then its clothing disappeared. The grenade activated and the queen watched as the flesh and bones of the creature and everything else within 300 feet were sucked to a pinpoint and disappeared.
What was even more surprising was that she didn¡¯t receive a title or benefit of some kind from killing a creature that could decimate her domains as it had. She gave the orders needed to her drones and they began digging and replanting foliage from the nearby domains and areas that the creature had not touched. As for the crater that had appeared close to her, different orders were given as dirt began to be hauled in and the hole filled before replanting could occur.
***
A moment before the Class 2 Quantum Grenade went off Adam received a message that pissed him right off.
The nature of the weapon targeting you has negated the ability Adaptable.
Adam had seen the message and knew what it meant; the Multitude was negating one of his abilities. He sighed as he wondered if it was going to be like a nuclear bomb going off or a singularity event. Thoughts of running didn¡¯t even cross his mind; he could take it.
He would find out later when he asked Zorvan about Class 2 Quantum Grenades that they actually created a black hole that existed for between 1 and 10 seconds. The duration depended on the area of effect that the grenade had been set for. The reason that it was called a Quantum Grenade instead of a Singularity grenade was that as it detonated, it created a quantum lattice out to the radius that had been set and pulled everything into the singularity within the lattice. Quantum grenades did not rely on the event horizon to pull matter in. Once its duration ended the singularity inverted and an explosion took place
Adam normally would have been able to withstand the high gravitation field of a black hole for a couple of seconds it existed before it disappeared except that because he was touching the object without his Adaptable ability active he was pulled right into the singularity. As his body was ripped into its component atoms even he understood that baring magic, or some force even stronger than magic, there was no physical force that could withstand the destructive force of a black hole.
The next moment Adam found himself floating as energy in his Dual State form within the Astral Plane. Unlike before, he had no control of his destination and soon found himself exiting the Astral Plane into his Office on the Administrator Station above New Alamo.
There were no notifications or any other acknowledgment that he had died. He was simply himself again. A moment later Zoran appeared.
¡°Is everything all right Adam?¡± Zoran asked.
¡°He died,¡± Thor said from his hologram image.
Zorvan looked at Adam quizzically as Adam pulled out his jumpsuit and equipped it then created nanites with Mold Chaos and reinstalled his quantum link to Thor
¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± Adam said, ¡°Thor a portal to the queen¡¯s location please.¡±
A portal opened and Adam stepped into what was left of the Queen¡¯s chamber. The chamber and everything within 500 feet of the detonation point was gone, except for the area directly around the Queen. There was a column of stone remaining which the Queen rested upon while the other Malteek drones worked to dump dirt into the huge hole. Adam used Flight to float up in front of the Queen while she watched him then sent, My Turn as he conjured nanites and had them remove her wings as she tried to jump away.
She crashed to the ground, her workers cushioning her landing as Adam floated above her. One of the warriors jumped at Adam and ceased to exist as the nanites ripped him apart and converted him into air before he even came close. Three more followed suit as the Queen righted herself and shook her head as she sent out a single command to her drones, Stop!
Let¡¯s try this one more time, Adam sent, there will not be a third request, Surrender or Die? Adam sent.
Adam was watching the Queen¡¯s aura with his Aura Sight when it started to turn red. Without a thought, he ripped her head off.
Too late, The Queen sent with the last of her mental energy.
Adam activated Freedom of Flight and flashed straight up at 186,300 miles per second. He felt a shudder just as he started his escape but it didn¡¯t stop or slow him down. Once he was in orbit he looked down to see a mushroom cloud rising from the location he¡¯d just been at.
Thor, portal everyone close to the Queen¡¯s position¡ Adam sent, before he was cut off.
I¡¯m sorry Adam, I do not have the exact location of everyone on either New Alamo or New Venus yet, Thor sent.
Sorry, tell Zorvan to have everyone in the domains closest to the Queen to take shelter. A blast wave is coming. Adam sent.
What did she do? Thor asked.
Some kind of nuclear detonation, probably in the 10-megaton range, Adam confirmed.
Done. What are you going to do? Thor asked.
Take over the rest of New Venus. Repair the damage this caused then head over to see the Emperor of the Trilax after I great his assault squads.
What about the Trilax domains that surrendered to us here? Thor asked.
Are they causing issues? Adam asked.
Zorvan says no, Thor sent back.
Adam: They can sit for a bit. If everything goes right they¡¯ll be part of the Empire soon anyway, Adam sent before he cut closed the interface and went to work.
Some of the Malteek drones went crazy and started attacking anything that moved while others stood in place, not moving at all. It didn¡¯t matter to Adam.
Adam created a nanite swarm in the 100-foot radius around him and began going from domain to domain. He allowed the nanites to clear the area around each domain crystal and then had Thor open a portal to send through 1,200 of his vassals to secure the area and clear out the leftover Malteek drones. Once he had claimed the last 24 domains he received a notification making him the World leader for a second planet.
A new notification popped up.
To become a System Emperor, you must be the World Emperor for two planets in a solar system that has no other World Emperors in it.
Adam couldn¡¯t help but think how perfect the timing for that message was. He activated his advanced communication suite to talk to Zorvan, Thor, and Al.
Zorvan, how close are the three combat shuttles to the Station? Adam asked.
They are quite close; they should be within docking range within moments, Thor sent back.
Thor, portal, please? Adam sent.
A portal opened and Adam stepped into his office and made his way to the airlock area the three ships were docking three decks below his office.
Unseen to the occupants of the shuttles, as Adam came within 100 feet of the airlock, nanites infiltrated the ships, analyzed their weapons and armor, and then nullified the weapons without harming them. Moments later three airlocks and individuals rushed in.
Adam stood in the middle of the corridor 20 feet from the closest airlock to the elevator. The soldiers that exited the airlock raised their weapons and tried to fire at him. Adam ordered the nanites to disconnect the control mechanisms from the pilot board for each ship and then waited for them to work while the invaders tried to decide what to do.
Finally, one of them stepped forward, ¡°In the name of the Trilax Imperium we are¡¡±
The soldier was cut off as a portal opened beside Adam that led to the Trilax Emperor¡¯s office. Adam moved forward, grabbed the soldier by his uniform, and threw him solidly through the portal until there was a crunch against the outer bulkhead before he could even react. He¡¯d made sure to limit the force he used as he threw the soldier so that he¡¯d end up wounded, not dead.
What followed over the next 11 seconds was almost comical as Adam used simple brute force and speed to grab and throw the other 11 guards through the portal where they were left unconscious in a pile on the floor. Next, he entered each shuttle and forcefully escorted each of the pilots to the portal which he assisted them through. When one of the Trilax Emperor¡¯s guards tried to come through the portal, Adam hit him with a Chaos Bolt. It didn¡¯t kill the soldier but the attack when right through the soldier¡¯s armor and left him unconscious on the ground. After that, the rest of the guards decided not to test the portal.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Thor closed the portal while Adam allowed his nanites to analyze the shuttles and then break them down, storing the mass on the outer hull of the station for later use. Adam would go talk with the Trilax Emperor in a bit. He still had three days before the projectiles from their weapons platform would reach the station, though the staging area and weapons platform had been destroyed while he was taking over the last domains of New Venus.
Adam had planned to head directly over except that a new issue had popped up. It seemed that the Multitude¡¯s grace period had ended and some of the Vassals had this idea that they were kings in their private fiefdoms. Those actions had caused a new quest to appear.
Put down the Revolt.
People within your Empire have decided that they can do a better job than you. Reclaim the contested domains in your world.
Reward? Maintain World Emperor Rank.
Thor, please put a fighter over each domain. Use the fighters to give me the exact positions of the individuals contesting my leadership. Adam sent.
Zorvan, is there a way for me to send out a World message? Adam asked.
Of Course, Zorvan sent it back through the communications channel.
Very well, review the troublemakers and identity the most powerful person, give me their location, and then open a channel for everyone, please, Adam sent.
A few moments later the one fighter was hovering over each of the 100 planetary domain crystals on New Alamo while Adam reviewed the information Zorvan had sent him concerning the cruelest revolter. It was a god damned Cordite. In fact, it was the same piece of shit that had tried to fling him into a Universe with a Universal Density that would kill him. Granted he should be thankful because that¡¯s how he had met the Eterium race, but you know what, fuck that guy. That he was still living meant that Adam had not faced him during the Classification. He was sure that if he had, he probably would have destroyed him without a second thought.
Zorvan, regarding the information concerning the Cordite, where is the individual that bested this guy during the Classification? Adam asked.
He was killed 15 minutes ago. Hold one, Zorvan sent.
Adam waited while Zorvan did his research and reviewed where the Cordite was on the planet. Adam activated Obscure and Flight and started heading to that side of the planet at a rather leisurely pace. As he came to stop a mile above the domain the Cordite was trying to take from Adam. Adam lowered until he was less than 100 feet from the ground so he could hear and see everything this Cordite was doing.
¡°Now listen up, I am the new King of this region. You saw how quickly I killed my so-called Master. If you do as I say and follow my orders, we can be friends. If you do not, we won¡¯t be enemies for very long,¡± The purple-skinned humanoid bellowed as he issued follow-up instructions for people to prepare to defend the Administration building he¡¯d claimed.
Adam watched for a moment then contacted Zorvan.
Never mind, I know he killed his master, who is his new master now? Adam asked.
You are Adam, Zorvan said.
Crime and Punishment as dictated by the Multitude? Adam asked.
Punishment for crimes is left to the devices of the various domain holders. The Multitude remains neutral, Zorvan said.
Very good, how many other masters have died? Adam asked.
Seven, so eight total, Zorvan said.
Okay, names and locations to Thor please Zorvan. Thor be ready with the ships, you¡¯ll know when, Adam sent back.
Camera¡¯s on me, record and get this out to every monitor on the planet.
As you wish, Zorvan said.
Adam released nanites from his Shadow Vault and then lowered himself until he was within range of the Cordite. In a moment his nanites had infiltrated and analyzed the Cordite¡¯s biological makeup and realized that except for the purple skin, it was 85% similar to homo-sapiens with very similar muscular structures, though the bones were slightly denser, and the muscle mass was greater. Otherwise, he could with a thought cut his brain off from his body and take control of him.
Adam continued to watch for another minute until someone that wasn¡¯t moving fast enough was targeted and the Cordite moved to slap the female gnome? Seriously, he had gnomes too? Now that he thought about it, he also had a dragon somewhere, though he very much doubted that the dragon would be a problem. They¡¯d talked. Adam displayed his power and showed Fedirox respect. Thinking about his Domains on New Alamo, Adam remembered that Zorvan had placed him in charge of a Domain in a mountainous area with other vassals that were a little harder to control. Adam had thought it was a good idea because who was going to mess with a dragon unless they could beat them?
Bringing his mind back to the moment he froze the Cordite just as he was about to strike out, grabbed him by the back of the neck, and lifted him into the air above the other people in the square that had been helping him take over the town. While he floated there he had the nanites create a cross with clamps and had the nanites control the Cordite to place him in the cross and place a gag over his mouth, even though he didn¡¯t really need to, but it should help get his point across.
A gun went off and a bullet hit Adam in the forehead. He could have let the nanites stop it but he knew the type and caliber of every weapon they had and knew that his normal hit points and regeneration rate would make it appear as if the bullet stopped and bounced off his head. It didn¡¯t mean it didn¡¯t hurt, though he made sure not to show any sign that it had affected him.
¡°That first shot was free, the next person that shoots one of ¡®My¡¯ weapons at me will get vaporized by the ship directly above us,¡± Adam said as he pointed straight up, where his fighter was hovering with its antigravity generator with its nose facing down. A moment later 5-inch diameter hole appeared at the feet of the person that shot Adam. The man, to his credit, dropped the gun.
The area went deathly quiet and still as everyone realized the person talking wasn¡¯t fucking around. From every monitor, an image of Adam, with a man on a vertical cross gagged behind and below him appeared. Additionally, Adam¡¯s voice boomed from every Administration Building and public communication terminal. For the forces that had invaded New Venus, they were able to view the announcement as a notification within their Interface.
¡°Greetings to all of you, citizens of the Adamantium Autocracy.
As you all know, the grace period directly after Classification has ended and now we must all make our way within the Multitude. If you are near one of the Administration buildings please look up. You will see a small fighter hovering there.
Now, I could make long speeches about this or that and try to be an overbearing micromanaging dictator but that¡¯s just not my style. We are all slaves to the Multitude, and we will all progress or fail together from this point on. I only have three rules, well four actually.
First, No killing, especially your Master. If you lost to someone during the Classification, you lost. It is my understanding that you can eventually purchase your freedom, or you can have it purchased for you. Opportunities will become available as we expand to have your Vassal status transferred to me or even bought off if you Contribute significantly to the Empire. Murder, however, will be punished immediately.
Second, No abusing your vassal. You do not get to turn them into sex slaves or punching bags. Save those violent tendencies for our enemies that do not surrender. Rape is off-limits at all times. The first can be punished, the second will result in your immediate death once discovered.
Third, after this announcement, if someone attempts to seize control of one of the domains you die. You do not have the strength to challenge me and if you try to seize my domains you have proved beyond doubt that you are not going to be an intelligence asset to my empire because you cannot follow very simple instructions.
Fourth, Zorvan, the World Administrator for New Alamo has final authority on all decisions. The only person that can override him is me. As you may or may not know, he is very experienced at his job. You would do well to listen to him when he speaks and try to learn from him if you can.
Now, as for the Cordite behind me. Fate must really not like this guy because we met before the Unification and Classification. He is not being punished for trying to rebel against the empire. Others of you have done so. As I said, one minute after this announcement if anyone is still trying to take over our empire¡¯s domains for their personal gain, I will end them.
No, this individual and seven others have been found guilty of murdering a fellow member of the empire who also happened to be their Master immediately after the grace period ended.
The Death Penalty of anyone within the empire is for me alone to issue.¡±
As Adam made that statement the ships above the city he was in and seven others scattered across New Alamo fired their beam weapons at eight vassals immediately vaporizing a 5-inch hole through the top of their heads, down the center line of their bodies, and into the ground below. Each was dead before they¡¯d even had time to react. The eyes of the Cordite on the Cross went vacant, and the body sagged against the restraint before it was rendered into its component atoms by Adam¡¯s nanites.
¡°For those of you that might think I¡¯m nothing without my technology, there are 999,992 individuals on this planet that I faced during the Classification. I have no doubt most of them have others of you as vassals.
That is all I have for today; I will be visiting each of the cities with one of the executed murders momentarily. I will be invisible so do not be alarmed when the bodies of the dead start disintegrating.
Finally, welcome to the Adamantium Autocracy, follow the rules, and I, with your World Administrators¡¯ help, will try to make sure you have every opportunity to grow and advance.¡±
Adam disappeared from sight with the use of Obscure then flew to each city to remove the bodies. Three seconds after disappearing the revolt was over and no cities were under threat of revolt. A minute later he¡¯d completed removing the bodies and headed back up to the Administrator Station.
Adam teleported into his office and then said, ¡°Thor, please start producing more fighters, I would like at least a squadron of 100 per planet. We need 100 right now and another 100 for Trilax then make the 100 fighters as we continue to conquer worlds.¡±
¡°On it,¡± Thor said.
¡°Zorvan, any thoughts of the proceeding?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Simple rule structure, not many ways to mess it up,¡± Zorvan said.
¡°I¡¯m counting on you to keep track of those that commit murder or rape. Those that do, the ships can take care of when they are outside of a building. If they prove too elusive just let me know and I¡¯ll take care of it,¡± Adam said.
¡°What¡¯s next?¡± Al asked.
¡°Honestly, I¡¯d like to start saving the people of Earth that survived but I¡¯m pretty sure they¡¯re somewhere else. Barring that, I think it¡¯s time to talk to the Trilax Emperor.¡±
Adam started walking to the airlock and repurposed all the mass he¡¯d acquired from the three shuttles and created another one of his shuttles already attached to an airlock. He waited until the nanites finished and the airlock cycled open. He stepped into the shuttle, took a seat, and made his way to the cock pit.
Thor¡¯s voice came over the intercom, ¡°Just sit back and I¡¯ll get you there in no time,¡± Thor said.
Adam sat back and watched as the ship raised shields, transferred to Faster-Than-Light (FTL), and flew around the sun until they came up to another planet that seemed to be a lot like New Alamo. He¡¯d come here once before but this was an official visit. As the ship entered orbit his radar detected a missile on an intercept course. The missile detonated against his shield which registered the attack as coming from a Class 2 weapon, well within the limits of the shuttle¡¯s shields.
¡°Thor, open a channel?¡±
¡°Channel is open,¡± Thor said.
¡°Trilax Emperor, by now you know that your Weapons Platform near the gas giant has been destroyed along with your facility in the asteroid belt. I have also returned the personnel you sent to my station and I¡¯m sure your sensors detected how long it took me to get from my planet to yours in this craft. I would like to speak with you in person. Should this be something that you do not wish to do, I will exit my craft and enter your station regardless, conversations after that point will be pointless, you have 60 seconds to reply.¡±
A moment later a male voice with an almost imperceptible lisp answered, ¡°Please proceed to the illuminated airlock.¡±
Thor moved the shuttle toward the station and docked at the airlock. As the airlock cycled open a small spherical device was thrown into the shuttle. Adam had been ready and simply reached out and touched the item to send it into his Shadow Vault. A second later two male Trilax stepped through the airlock with weapons drawn.
Adam activated Stutter-Step, which effectively doubled his movement and attack speed reached out to the part of the weapon that appeared to be where the barrel met the housing and squeezed which destroyed both weapons simultaneously.
The soldiers both tried to draw daggers from the belt but as they tried to draw them Adam reached out with a two fingers strike against each creature¡¯s wrist, shattering the bones underneath with a loud crack. At that point, his nanites had infiltrated the creatures enough to shut off their electrical impulses to their legs and arms causing both to slump to the ground.
Adam stepped through the airlock and was met with a barrage of weapons fire that disappeared into a portal that opened between him and the forces at the end of the hall. The exit point of the portal opened beside the soldiers and started bouncing off the hull beside them. This created a lot of noise which caused the guards to pause to figure out what was going on.
Adam Teleported to the elevator behind the soldiers and pushed the button as a portal sprung up behind him that exited into the bulkhead on the shooter¡¯s now right side after they turned around to try to bring their weapons to bear on Adam. When nothing happened, Adam activated Technomancy and brought the elevator to him, stepped inside, and then rode it to the Trilax Emperor¡¯s office. Of course, they tried to override the commands he was giving. Of course, they failed.
The door opened to a room that only contained the Emperor. Well, that¡¯s what they wanted you to think. With True Sight and Aura Sight active Adam could easily discern the 5 assassins just outside the elevator. Two on each wall and one actually hanging from the roof.
Adam pulled the flash-bang grenade they¡¯d thrown into the shuttle to the floor just outside the elevator and steeled himself for the detonation. Once it went off, he walked forward as the nanites in his wake entered the stunned assassins and then immobilized them.
Adam also sealed and locked every door into this chamber as he walked up to the Emperor¡¯s Desk, had his nanites create a chair that allowed him to look down at the Emperor then took a seat, ¡°Vytrix, you wouldn¡¯t believe what I had to go through to meet you?¡±
Emperor Saljihar looked at this human in front of him and then back to his five assassins that were still not moving.
¡°They¡¯re fine, they¡¯ll only move if I let them. Stand in a line boys, backs to the Emperor and me,¡± Adam said as he directed the nanites controlling them to put all five in a line facing the elevator with their backs to the emperor and him.
¡°You are formidable, but all creatures eventually succumb to the poison in the air. You are already dead, you just don¡¯t know it,¡± Emperor Saljihar said with a laugh.
Adam had the nanites test the air quality and look for the toxin. Truthfully, he hadn¡¯t even thought to worry about a toxin because Adaptable made him immune to pretty much every poison and toxin unless the Multitude decided to pause his ability of course.
Very soon he found a toxin that made it hard for bodies that relied on oxygen to process it. It also had a component to it that made it ignore the Trilax physiology. A moment later Adam made a minor change to the toxin within 100 feet of him with his nanites. Moments later as the Trilax Emperor started to gasp for air, Adam took large deep breaths.
¡°Emperor Saljihar, are you having a problem breathing? I wonder what could be causing such an issue, let me fetch help,¡± Adam said sarcastically.
Adam waved his hand and neutralized the toxin in the air and bodies of the six Trilax in the room.
Emperor Saljihar took a few deep breaths and then looked at Adam warily.
¡°Emperor Saljihar, it is a very lucky day for you,¡± Adam said.
Emperor Saljihar finally caught his breath and then looked at Adam warily as he asked, ¡°How so, exactly?¡±
Adam looked thoughtful then leaned forward as he said, ¡°Well either you¡¯re going to help me take over this system so I can move on from here and leave you in control of it, or you¡¯re going to be stubborn and I¡¯ll have to elevate one of your subordinates to your position.¡±
¡°How do I know you¡¯re going to treat my people as equals?¡±
¡°Please. You¡¯re just farther along in your Trial for Supremacy than I am. The Multitude doesn¡¯t want equals, it wants slaves fighting each over for an, as yet, unidentified reason. Unfortunately for you, you happened to be in this system and I must take it over so I can progress beyond it. After that I won¡¯t need it anymore. Additionally, I can give you the tools and equipment you need to take over the other nine inner planets in a couple of weeks if not days.
Or, your people will join me anyway, they¡¯ll get the same terms I¡¯m going to offer you, but, you won¡¯t be around. So the question now becomes Do you wish to Surrender or Die?
Emperor Saljihar opened his interface and surrendered to Adam which caused him to immediately fail a quest he had. His title changed to Duke Saljihar and Adam smiled.
¡°Now Duke Saljihar, Now I can show you what I can do, that is after I stop the projectiles that were going to hit this station in roughly 48 hours.¡±
¡°What?¡± the Duke said, shock evident.
¡°Oh, didn¡¯t I tell you, the second time you decided to use that weapons platform against my station, I had it destroy itself, the projectile staging area, and sent some of the payloads this direction as well? Not to worry, my fighters will find them in a moment and then they¡¯ll be slamming into one of the gas giants. I can now tell you that the decision you just made was the best decision you could have made,¡± Adam said.
¡°Thank you¡Sire,¡± the Duke of the Trilax said.
¡°Not a problem, besides I think you¡¯re going to like this next part,¡± Adam said with a grin.
Chapter 207, Galactic Conquest
Congratulations System Emperor, New Functionality has been unlocked!
Adam read the message, looked back to the Duke of the Trilax, and smiled, ¡°It looks like we now have a System Emperor.¡± Adam activated Mold Chaos and created a communications device for the Duke that looked like a flip-up phone that he set on the desk in front of him.
¡°That is a communication device that will allow instantaneous communication with Thor, the entity that is also in control of the Shuttle that¡¯s docked at the station. It will allow Thor to pinpoint your location and do a neat thing like this,¡± Adam said as Adam stood and called out, ¡°Thor, Portal please?¡±
A portal back to his Administrator Station over New Alamo opened, and Adam stepped through and turned around. The shuttle is yours to use. Keep the communicator on you so I can contact you if needed. Thor can make these portals to any location he has on file, which will require you to visit places you¡¯d like to be able to go to while you hold the communicator. I need to check a few things and then we¡¯ll get together and I¡¯ll show you some other things we¡¯ll be able to do in short order. For now, use the shuttle to visit places you would like Thor to be able to open a portal for you. I just received a new message so I¡¯m going to figure out what it means to be a System Lord, then we are going to make sure there are no more surprises within this system before we start exploring the Universe, sound good? Have fun!¡± Adam said as the portal closed, and he walked over to his desk.
¡°Thor, keep an eye on things, just in case,¡± Adam said. ¡°Also, set up a download facility where I can download you and Al into my personal memory. I was lucky enough to get you both back. We are not going to take that chance again.¡±
¡°Yes Adam,¡± Thor said.
¡°Zorvan,¡± Adam called. A moment later Zorvan teleported into the Office.
¡°Zorvan, could you do a cost analysis on what it would take to purchase Suppression Arrays for the planet of New Alamo?¡±
¡°For the whole planet Adam?¡± That is easily more than the income you currently possess, not to mention the authorization you would require. I do not believe we discussed this, because you only asked for two suppression arrays, but you are limited to one suppression array plus one per planet your domain holds. Additionally, you have already purchased the largest suppression array that the Multitude provides. You would need to control thousands of planets to purchase enough suppression arrays to control an entire planet which would probably bankrupt your empire.
¡°I see,¡± Adam said as he did some quick thinking.
¡°What about increasing my abilities? The Multitude reset all of my abilities to level one. As yet I have not seen anything that allows me to increase the levels of the abilities I have,¡± Adam explained.
¡°Now that you have achieved the Rank of System Emperor you can increase your abilities by one level if you wish. Additionally, another functionality has become available to you as well. You can combine and even trade one ability for another. You do realize that you have too many abilities?¡± Zorvan asked hesitantly.
¡°How so?¡± Adam asked, confused.
¡°The ability of a soul to hold quintessence nodes is finite. Most beings can only hold three racial abilities. Normally, all other abilities are granted by the class of the individuals. You have 18 additional unaffiliated abilities. That is unheard of.¡±
¡°Just lucky I guess. Wait, you said that I can combine some of the abilities?
¡°Yes, once people are integrated and added to the local sector, something that is automatically done when a System Emperor or Lord emerges, Abilities may be altered or refined. They are not level as your question implies but the refinement makes them more effective within the Multitude. You can think of this as improving abilities efficiency,¡± Zorvan explained.
¡°There¡¯s a lot to unpack there,¡± Adam said. My first question is, integrate the system?¡±
Zorvan looked thoughtful before he explained, ¡°While this Solar System did not have a System Emperor all access to and from this location through normal space was blocked.¡±
¡°Are you saying that this Solar System is shielded in some way?¡±
¡°Just so, there is an invisible force field of energy just outside the halo of comets that surround this solar system and every other solar system that has recently undergone unification or is part of the unification process.¡±
Adam, thanked his lucky stars that he hadn¡¯t decided to fly between solar systems with one of his ships yet before he asked,¡± So how do I travel between systems, Also, every system?¡±
¡°The multitude designates a sector of a Galaxy as part of a Unification. That sector is set up by the Administrators and the solar systems are altered to allow for conflict on a grand scale. You are in a solar system that has been part of Unification for just over 500 years. Your title awarded a planet to you, and it looks like the Multitude modified one of the existing planets in this system and placed you on it. Normally you would have been placed in a random location with your vassals and you would have had to fight for a domain and then increase the number of domains you controlled for the planet. In your case, this was already accomplished so your next step was to claim a solar system. You were quite lucky to be placed in a system with only one, almost two other leaders that could have conceivably challenged you.¡±
¡°Lucky how?¡± Adam asked.
¡°There are 12 habitable worlds in this system. When the Unification of this Sector originally started each should have been seeded with enough individuals for each world to produce at least one leader. Instead, the planets, as far as I can determine are a chaotic jumble of very small factions that will join you or be destroyed. They don¡¯t have a choice. Why? Because in a matter of days after joining a Unification already in progress you have already created spacecraft that you should not have access to or knowledge of. Additionally, you were able to absorb the other empire within this system, and knowing what you have, should the Duke of the Trilax prove unreliable, he¡¯ll be easily replaced.¡±
¡°Okay, I see that. Let¡¯s get back to the System being surrounded by a Force Field. Why is that?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The Multitude is large. We are talking about an insane number of beings existing within it. Unification sectors are cut off from the rest of the Multitude for the safety of those within and without.¡±
Adam looked at Zorvan Doubtfully.
¡°Imagine for a second that someone outside of this Sector is observing everything that goes on here, even this conversation. Now imagine that there are businesses that looked at Unification as a chance to make a profit by providing a service where the outcome of a specific sector or system can be wagered. In fact, many such wagers could be made. Now imagine if the powerful could visit this system and remove a threat to their profits.¡±
Adam looked around, ¡°Seriously, a Syndicate-type setup in the real world? How many billions of beings have been relegated to entertainment to the society that makes up the Multitude?¡± Adam calmed his anger. If it could exist within the mind of an A.I. it could definitely exist within the minds of some beings out here in the real world. Obviously, they had power because they were locking down his abilities and he even thought he understood what was going on there. For now, he needed to play along while he tried to learn as much as he could before he just ignored it and did what he needed to do.
¡°So how do I get to other Solar Systems to continue my Trial for Supremacy?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Now that you have secured the system a number of wormholes will be opened depending on your location within the sector. If we are on the inner or out edge of the galactic ring there may only be one or two wormholes. If we are in the center of the galactic disk there could be as many as 10. It honestly depends on how lucky you are.
¡°Luck you say. You¡¯ve seen my attributes, best guess? It honestly depends on what the multitude considers lucky for you. With the power you¡¯ve displayed, it could be nothing for you to push out into neighboring systems.¡±
¡°You have no idea,¡± Adam mumbled as he sat down at his desk and reviewed some of the other notifications he¡¯d received.
As he looked over the notification he noticed that none of them were out of the ordinary. The first notification congratulated him for acquiring the Trilax Empire then the second notification caught his attention.
Congratulations, Title gained: ¡°Ferocious!¡± You increased your rank from World Emperor to System Emperor in 10 days 16 hours and 24 minutes.
Reward: The title Ferocious has upgraded the title ¡°Unique¡±, all bonuses doubled. +200 to Physical Attributes (Strength, Agility, Endurance, Perception, Wisdom, Willpower, and Luck) and +200% to all Physical Attributes after all other bonuses are added from other sources.
Adam quickly checked his personal information. His attributes had increased to 183 billion. It looked like the award was using the multiple instead of the true percentage. For instance, if he had a strength of 10 and it was increased by 100% it would increase to 20. Increase it by 100% again and it would go to 40. Instead, his attributes had increased as if his strength was 10 and it had increased to 30. A multiple of 3.
Not that it mattered, his attributes were so far off-scale as not to matter. What he was more interested in was combining his abilities. If the limitation the Multitude had put in place actually made it easier to combine abilities there were a few that he definitely wanted to take a look at.
Adam already knew what he was going to do to overcome the limitations the Multitude was imposing. The fact that he still had his attributes, and all of his abilities made it apparent that his idea had merit. But if he could fine-tune the abilities within the Multitudes restrictions, especially since they seemed to make doing so user-friendly, Hell Yeah, he¡¯d jump on that bandwagon.
Adam accessed the Contribution Points Market and noticed that a new tab had opened up for him titled ¡°Abilities.¡± The tab contained a list of both his Racial abilities and a listing of his ¡°Special Abilities.¡± There was also a category for Class abilities which was empty. Adam pulled up his ¡°Special¡± abilities
Treasure Renderer (Looting Specific)
True Sight (Dark)
Shadow Vault (Dark)
Personal Map (Earth)
No Escape (Death)
Scrutinize (Order) (Previously Hal)
Stutter Step (Time)
Regeneration (Life)
Chaos Bolt (Chaos)
Technomancy (Chaos)
Flight (Air)
Obscure (Chaos)
Teleport(Space)
Planar Travel (Dimensional)
Mold Chaos (Chaos, Conjuring/Creation)
Aura Sight (Soul)
Freedom of Flight (Chaos)
Identify (Order)
Each ability was listed with the primary Quintessence that it used. It looked like it pulled the title for each ability directly from his Personal Information. If Adam was going to combine any two abilities he¡¯d combine ¡°Identity¡± and ¡°Scrutinize¡± Both seemed to do the same thing and if he was limited on the number of abilities he could have empowered one seemed to be a good idea. Besides he wanted to see what this actually did to the quintessence nodes within himself and these two abilities, while useful, wouldn¡¯t be missed if the Multitude screwed him over.
Adam split his focus and dropped part of his attention into his Mindspace and from there down to his Soul Core where he watched the nodes for ¡°Identify¡± and ¡°Scrutinize¡±. Once he was ready he chose to combine the abilities and paid the 1 million Contribution Points which came out of his personal allotment.
Adam watched as tendrils from the almost invisible node that surrounded his soul core sent invisible tethers that wrapped around each ability¡¯s node. The two nodes were moved closer to each other until they merged and then energy was pumped into them from the tether. Adam didn¡¯t understand what the Multitude had done but it was beyond doubt that the two Quintessence nodes had been combined as only one node remained.
Adam looked at his Notifications to see what changes had been made.
Scan (Order).
Range: Variable.
Mana Cost: 33 mana per second, always active unless turned off or mana reaches zero once Mana regeneration reaches 33 per second.
Creature Information Obtained Automatically
Stolen story; please report.
Line of Sight: Race of Creature
Within 100 feet: Race, Name, and Hit Points are Automatically displayed if your Willpower is higher than the Willpower of the Target.
Additional Creature Information Obtained if the Class Level is higher than the Class level of the Target: Stamina, Mana, Class, and Class Level
Items within 100 feet glow based on rarity.
Common - Grey
Uncommon - White
Unusual - Pearl
Advanced - Violet
Scarce - Indigo
Epic - Blue
Mythical - Green
Legendary - Yellow
Mythic - Orange
Legendary - Red
Relic - Platinum
Artifact - Gold
Unique ¨C Pink
Additionally, if touched the item¡¯s Name and Properties can be determined if Perception + Willpower averaged is greater than the level of the item. NOTE: This ability does not nullify touched-based defenses from items.
Unique items were pink? Yeah, that made sense, pink wasn¡¯t a common color. Though if he ever had a chance he¡¯d change that color to something besides pink. Adam looked over the changes and had to admit that Scan was going to be very useful for him.
Next, Adam chose True Sight and Aura Sight to combine 1 million Contribution Points and then pulled up the description of his new ability.
True Vision
Range: Variable
Mana Cost: 33 mana per second, always active unless turned off or mana reaches zero once Mana regeneration reaches 33 per second.
You may see clearly in any medium. Additionally, within 100 feet auras can be discerned.
The 100-foot limit for dark vision was gone but still existed for Aura sight. Also, the ability was always active. Other than that, it looked like the ability hadn¡¯t changed at all. Of course, with True Vision and Scan on all the time, that combination of abilities would be quite useful.
Adam thought about combining Flight, Freedom of Flight, and Obscure but ultimately disregarded the notion because each had its individual strengths. The other abilities were abilities he didn¡¯t want to give up at the moment, so he left them alone and exited his Personal Information screen.
Next, Adam looked at upgrading his current abilities and received an error.
Soul overtaxed, too many abilities present. Either discard or combine abilities to Soul Limits before continuing.
Adam laughed, ¡°What horseshit,¡± he said out loud.
¡°Master?¡± Zorvan asked.
¡°Nothing Zorvan, just commenting on something I saw,¡± Adam said as he looked back at the interface. That was definitely a way for the Multitude to maintain control, tell the masses that they couldn¡¯t have any more abilities, and get rid of the ones they had if they wanted to try to get different ones. The more he saw, the more he wished he didn¡¯t need to tread so lightly. If his Soul was overtaxed, he¡¯d have noticed it in his Soul Core. To him, it looked like he could keep adding abilities, which was why he wasn¡¯t touching Treasure Renderer. He had yet to use it, but he was betting that it would give him a leg up on the competition when he did.
Done with his ability growth for now Adam opened a new tab titled ¡°Supremacy¡±. A map of the spiral galaxy appeared then zoomed into to one of the spiral arms. As it did so it finally came to rest in the center of the arm and showed 10 connection lines to 10 Solar Systems that were at varying rangers. The image zoomed in and showed the Solar System he was in, which now carried the Title New Alamo. Around the outside of the planetary plane at 12, 1:30, 3, 4:30, 6, 7:30, 9, 11:30 and the North and South Axis of the Solar System were wormholes that lead to the Solar Systems adjacent to his on the galactic scale. Below the image, a timer had begun counting down and would reach zero in 24 hours. Bracketed before the time was:
¡°[Trial for Supremacy ¨C Galactic Conquest Starts in: 23:59:15]¡±
So, it was like that then, Adam thought as plans formed in his mind, ¡°Thor, a portal to the asteroid staging point please,¡± Adam said.
A portal opened and Adam stepped through closing it behind him. Adam teleported outside of the small space station and into a swarm of nanites that were busy creating a base that could house Al and Thor as well as act as a backup for Adam. Additionally, it now housed the download machinery he needed to get full copies of Thor and Al.
Adam floated beside the machinery while all the attachments and leads to speed up the process materialized around, and then attached to him. Adam closed his eyes, set up a portion of his memory to house Al, and then added Thor¡¯s memories to his while he also copied all of Al¡¯s memories. Next, he went through all the memories he¡¯d absorbed over the long existence he had from both the real world and the SYSTEM Matrix and brought up every weapon and defensive design he¡¯d ever come across. Adam didn¡¯t understand exactly how the Class system that the Multitude used worked, but he was sure that some of the technological races he¡¯d run into like the Lexi, Vrax, Pelza, and especially Eterium probably had more powerful weapons than most of what the Multitude could provide.
Adam didn¡¯t need big ships and he didn¡¯t want to man them, so he did the next best thing, ¡°Thor, how do you feel about going multiple?¡±
¡°I¡¯ve been kind of lonely,¡± Thor quipped back.
¡°If we can only be attacked by fleets coming through the entry points to this Solar System we need defenses out there within the next 24 hours. We have 10 access points. While you¡¯re making the drones I¡¯m going to go check and make sure there is actually a barrier, let¡¯s get to work,¡± Adam said.
Thor began using the nanites and the materials in the Asteroid belt to create drones that contained plasma and laser weapons with the best shield he could devise. Additionally, a Control computer was added that had an abridged version of Thor downloaded and quantumly linked to Thor. If the link was somehow disrupted the copy could take over ensuring that the solar system would remain defended. They also had engines and the ability to travel FTL making it possible for the drones to support one another if necessary anywhere in the Solar System. One drone was created every 3 minutes, creating 20 an hour. After 10 hours, there were 20 drones at each gate. After 20 hours there were 40.
While Thor was making drones, Adam flew out to the edge of the solar system and then created a globe of light that he could watch as he increased his speed and released it, Adam followed the globe until it smashed against an invisible barrier. He instantly came to a stop and moved up the globe. He pushed his hand out until he touched it and found that it was solid. Even switching to Freedom of Flight would not allow him to pass through it which meant it existed at the quantum level as well.
Adam created a stream of nanites and had them spread out in all directions. Sure enough, there was a barrier. Adam opened his Personal Map, something he didn¡¯t use that often, and was surprised to find that the entire solar system was visible with a dotted line representing the barrier he was at. He zoomed in and out and was able to see places he¡¯d been as usual.
Zorvan, is it possible to purchase a map update from the Market? Adam sent it through the messaging system.
Yes, Zorvan sent back.
Good, please purchase it and put it in front of Thor, he should be able to connect to it and absorb it.
Done, Zorvan sent.
Immediately Adam¡¯s map filled out as the entire solar system lit up with information concerning the 16 planets, the 12 inner planets, and the four outer ones, which included the Gas Giants. It also showed dots appearing next to each gate as the drones took up their defensive positions.
A moment later Zorvan contacted Adam, Sire, what are you doing?
I¡¯m at the edge of the solar system verifying that there is a barrier, why? Adam sent back.
You are receiving 1 billion Contribution points every 3 minutes or so, Zorvan sent.
I have Thor creating Drones to protect our wormholes, Adam sent back.
Sire, the drones have Class 12 shields and Class 11 Weapons. You¡¯re not supposed to have access to Class 11 or Higher weapons or shields until you control at least two systems. It¡¯s considered a reward. How are you doing this? Zorvan asked.
Don¡¯t you worry your little head about that. I have a question for you, what level of forces should I expect to see coming through the wormholes when they open? Adam asked.
500 years into the Unification of a Sector, maybe Class 2 or 3 weapons, or shields. More likely Class 1 and 2 only. Such items are prohibitively expensive. No one has the resources, let alone the ability to purchase anything like the drones you¡¯re creating.
Good to know, I guess, Adam sent back.
Thor, I also want a couple of ships that can scan everything that comes through those wormholes for our friends and family. Shoot to disable, not to kill unless absolutely necessary. I wouldn¡¯t want to accidentally kill our friends, Adam sent.
Understood Adam, Thor sent.
Done at the Barrier Adam checked in on what the Duke had been up to and noticed that he was currently planet side, playing with the portal to go back and forth. Adam headed back to the Administrator Station over New Alamo, found his way to his room, and went to sleep. It had been a long day and he would have to get back up in just over four hours if he wanted to be awake when the wormholes opened. Four hours later, nothing happened. A day later Adam put his mind to other tasks.
Over the next week, Adam consolidated his gains with the Duke of Trilax and set up deployment facilities on the planet. The facilities contained a quantum link to Thor. This allowed portals to be opened between the staging bases and other points in the solar system. Thor used the fighters that were being created on New Alamo as automatic drones to scout out each of the nine planets that hadn¡¯t been conquered yet. He left the names of those planets to the Multitude to identify and left the Duke of the Trilax to handle the invasion and conquering while he waited to see what form an invasion would take from a System Lord that wanted to come conquer an easy target.
One other thing Adam did while he waited was to fly out past the gas giants into deep space just beyond the last planet and away from any of the wormholes. There he tried to activate Planar Travel to travel back to Earth.
Location No longer exists.
Fine, the location no longer exists. Adam activated Planar Travel, Mode 3, and visualized a location much like New York City in early 2025 or so. Adam felt the ability try to reach out for the location until his mind shuddered before a new notification appeared.
Dimensional Travel is Restricted to a Multitude of Administrators. This ability is currently locked out.
Wasn¡¯t that interesting? Very well, Adam flew back to New Alamo and landed at The Skunkworks where he had the nanites create one of the Pelza cruisers that could cross dimensions. His memory was perfect after all. Just as the Cruiser was about to be completed the Scanners at the 9:00 orbital plane wormhole detected quantum fluctuations as a hole in space opened and ships began pouring through.
***
Admiral Caster of the Royal Invasion Fleet watched as his fleet of 1,000 spaceships made their way into the wormhole and disappeared. His analysts guaranteed that an invasion of this size could easily overwhelm any fleet that a newly integrated planet could muster. It was one of the drawbacks of the rules the Multitude followed during this Trial of Supremacy for the Sector. Only solar systems that had been part of the Unification for 1,000 years or had produced a System Lord could have their wormholes activated. Systems would appear on the galactic map but the wormholes from adjacent systems would not connect. This was to give the locals enough time to produce a leader or for the resources within the system to be built up by the locals that were too lazy to participate in the Trial of Supremacy because everyone participated, whether they wanted to or not.
Since the wormhole opened and only 500 years had gone by, there was a System Lord in that solar System. His System Lord had been very lucky thus far and their solar system had been united for over 400 years which allowed the investments that had been made into creating the fleet that was now leaving for conquest. Of course, they hadn¡¯t had much choice in the matter.
¡°Report!¡± Admiral Caster commanded.
¡°Fleet reports standard deployment on schedule, we will be entering the wormhole in 10 seconds,¡± A female Leanard, a feline humanoid species with exceptional senses said in a purring voice.
Admiral Caster looked down at his console and watched as the ship entered the wormhole. A moment later they exited onto the planetary plane.
¡°All ships present and accounted for. 42 ships of unknown origin were detected. Preliminary scans indicate they are unmanned drones.,¡± A look of surprise crossed her face as she said, ¡°We are being hailed.¡±
¡°Let me hear it,¡± Admiral Caster said.
A moment later a male voice came over the speaker as a 43rd craft suddenly appeared, ¡°Greetings, I am Adam, Emperor of the Adamantium Autocracy. Strength Through Dominance, Surrender or Die?
¡°Your 43 small ships against this Armada?¡± Admiral Caster sent back. ¡°I believe it is you who will Surrender or Die?¡±
A moment later there was a pop as the atmosphere was displaced and something Admiral Caster couldn¡¯t see systematically moved across his bridge and knocked every single member of the bridge unconscious. A moment later a hand gripped him by the back of the neck and lifted him out of his seat as if he were no more than a piece of paper.
¡°Watch your scanners,¡± Adam¡¯s voice said from directly behind him as the drones moved toward the command ship. Not waiting for his commands some of the fleet opened fire and Admiral Caster looked on in horror as the analysis of the shields the drones were wrapped in read Class 12.
¡°The drones carry Class 11 Plasma and Laser weapons. If a ship tries to flee I will have it destroyed. Order your ships to stand down and then take your fleet and put yourselves into orbit around the Gas Giant. Stay there until I come to talk to you again. Try anything else and it will not go well for you.¡±
The Emperor released Admiral Caster and placed a small box on his console. ¡°This is a direct connection to me. If you need something or have an emergency simply speak into the box. Your crew should wake up shortly, things to do places to go,¡± the Emperor calling himself Adam said as he disappeared.
¡°Cease Fire, Cease Fire!¡± Admiral Caster sent to the other ships. Next, he pushed another button on his console as he said, ¡°Medics to the Bridge.¡±
Over the next five minutes, he had his personnel checked over while his fleet held position with five of the drones trained on his cruiser while the other 37 moved out and surrounded the fleet. The Emperor had not done any permanent damage to his crew and had shown just how outmatched his fleet was with their Class 1 weapons and Class 2 shields. They couldn¡¯t even scratch the shields on those ships.
While it was glorious to die in battle, dying when one didn¡¯t even have a chance was pointless. Once the crew was ready he issued orders for the fleet to make haste toward the Gas giant. Their ships had Class 1 FTL drives so they could make it in about 5 hours. When they arrived the little box Adam left behind spoke.
Welcome to the Adamantium Autocracy Admiral, I am Thor, your liaison to the emperor. Please inform your crews of the new reality and prepare to have your ships upgraded at our space dock. Terms and Conditions will be sent. Those that accept Adam as their Emperor will be treated well, those that do not will be relegated to the Duke of Trilax for assimilation. Again, welcome to the Empire.
***
Adam watched as Thor worked with the Admiral while he flew around the Armada of ships with Obscure active as they made their way to the giant. He hadn¡¯t actually needed them to fly there, but it gave the crew something to do while he had his nanites make changes to each ship. He upgraded their shields and weapons and added a couple of new components that would be necessary as he flew up next to each ship and spread his nanite field out. While the nanites were working he used Technomancy to reprogram the ships to take orders from Thor. He also downloaded a copy of Thor into the ship¡¯s computer he¡¯d just upgraded.
Just as the fleet arrived at the Gas Giant Adam had finished all of his upgrades and had Thor issue terms. 75% of the members of the fleet joined his Empire when they learned their Contribution Points would be tripled for their next mission. The 25% that did not were offloaded onto the Trilax for questioning. After a Day Adam learned that the Empire of the Dying Sun when they could, held the families of their warriors as hostages.
Adam had Thor open a portal to the Bridge with Admiral Caster and stepped through to stand before him. Admiral Caster was an imposing being that looked to have some reptilian in his heritage.
¡°Good evening Admiral. I have come for a visit to ask a very simple question, Does the Empire of the Dying Sun hold members of your family as hostages?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes,¡± The Admiral said unflinchingly¡±.
¡°Was it your intention to defect back to your old empire once you returned? ¡°
¡°It wasn¡¯t my intention no, though threats to my family would have made it impossible to go against my family,¡± The Admiral said honestly.
¡°I see. Thank you for your honesty. This is what you are going to do, not because you want to but because you really don¡¯t have any other choice. You will return through the Wormhole. You will report whatever you want to your previous emperor and then you will explain that you are not in control of the fleet. Feel free to let them know about the four drones that will be accompanying you. Thor will use that time to broadcast how the Adamantium Autocracy will treat the citizens of the Dying Sun should they wish to join my empire. guard the wormhole. Don¡¯t worry, you and your crews will be perfectly safe,¡± Adam said.
¡°What are your plans for the Empire?¡±
¡°Strength through Dominance, though in my case, I do not have to kill to prove my strength, though I will if necessary. I¡¯d prefer not to though.¡± Adam said.
¡°Our Fleet will not be able to stand against the fleet within our home system,¡± Admiral Caster said.
¡°As I said, feel free to explain exactly what will happen if the drones engage. They will be there to support you. If you are fired upon, any ship that fires will be disabled. By the way, how long can your ships remain deployed before they need to be restocked?¡±
¡°One month, though this ship has a Contribution Market Contribution points can be utilized to purchase food.
¡°Very well. Within the month, I will come to visit the Empire of the Dying Sun and we¡¯ll see about incorporating them fully into my Empire. Please inform your previous Emperor of this as well,¡± Adam said as he stepped back through the portal into his ship, and it closed behind him.
Adam watched as the fleet headed back toward the wormhole fully confident that the copies of Thor would be able to control what the Admiral did. Holding crews and family members hostage to maintain control? Adam didn¡¯t think he was going to like the Emperor of the Dying Sun Empire.
Chapter 208, Pulling out the Big Guns
¡°Is anyone helping him?¡± The Supervisor asked the agent he¡¯d assigned to the task of reviewing the account concerning the Adamantium Autocracy. What a weird name, the Supervisor thought.
¡°All investigations indicate that all items in use within the sector were created within and by the System Lord. No outside influence has been detected, nor has any item been ¡®gifted¡¯ to that empire. Though we have detected plenty of black-market gifts being given to the empires he has been encountering. Additionally, we have verified that ¡®Adam¡¯ has been destroyed three times when visiting Empires to discuss terms. In each case, he returned shortly thereafter and obliterated the Emperor and anything that resembled a military leadership that destroyed his physical body.¡±
¡°Wait, you¡¯re saying that he was confirmed to have been killed?¡± The Supervisor asked.
¡°Yes, each time he reappears in his Administrator Office at New Alamo.¡±
¡°And the revenue loss?¡±
¡°Quite a bit initially. Now the wagers being made are more along the lines of how long before he conquers another system. When will he reach 25% and move to claim the title of Sector Lord.¡±
¡°And?¡± The Supervisor said, inviting the agent to continue.
¡°He took control of his system completely within a month. The first System Lord to attack him was one that he utterly destroyed. That System was absorbed within a week as were the 10 systems that directly connect to his Capital System, that same week. Doing all that took him less than two weeks. He pays his subjects almost double the going rate in collaboration points as he reinvests all but a very small percentage of what he earns back into the Empire. Our analysts believe he is looking for something, but we haven¡¯t been able to figure out what that is,¡± The Agent said.
¡°Where did he come from?¡± The Supervisor asked.
¡°One of the recently acquired worlds that recently underwent Unification and Classification,¡± The Agent said as he looked over some information on his monitor.
¡°Wait, the Sector he is in has been undergoing the Trial for Supremacy for well over 500 years now. How was he added to this sector and not the sector the rest of the people from his planet went to?¡± The Supervisor asked.
¡°The Arbiter filed a report stating that placing someone who did so well during Classification would be unfair to all other participants. There would be no struggle as he was starting with a world domain.¡±
¡°Of course, it did,¡± The Supervisor said, interrupting the agent. A moment later he motioned for the Agent to continue.
¡°As the circumstances of the award were unique a location was found within another Sector and the subject was given control of a world there.¡±
¡°What about the drones and ships he¡¯s creating, where are those coming from?¡± The Supervisor asked.
¡°The Arbiter has stated that the devices and items within the Trial were made by Adam within the Sector. No outside influence has been allowed or detected. Also, the Arbiter has clarified that the knowledge to create all the high technology items Adam has been making has been coming from him and no one else,¡± The Agent said.
¡°Does anyone within the Sector even have a chance against the ships he¡¯s creating?¡±
¡°None can afford to purchase such vessels. He¡¯s eclipsed every other System Lord in wealth and we estimate that he will control 25% of the Sector shortly. Our analysts would like to point out that if the subject was more ruthless he could simply destroy each world and he would have conquered the sector in a matter of days, instead of the projected year it will take.¡±
¡°What does this say about preparing the masses for the war? There is no struggle no improvement?¡± The Supervisor pointed out.
¡°The most recently started Sector Trial has shown some promising individuals that seem to come from the same planet as the subject. Our analysts feel that allowing the subject to complete the Trial is the best course of action. Once he has taken control he will be ready for integration and reassignment as one of our front-line warriors.¡± The Agent said.
¡°But will he fight?¡± The Supervisor asked.
¡°We do not know. Once he understands what is at stake he might do so voluntarily. He does seem to care about the wellbeing of others until they cross him, then they are discarded or obliterated.¡±
The Supervisor nodded thoughtfully and then said, ¡°Keep an eye on him. Any change in behavior should be elevated to me for review immediately.¡±
The Agent nodded and went back to work reviewing Adam¡¯s latest accomplishments.
***
Adam appeared nude in his Administrator Station over New Alamo, Again, and sighed. This was the fourth time he¡¯d died when trying to take over an enemy solar system. He equipped one of his spare black flight suits from his Shadow Vault, and sat down at his desk.
¡°Didn¡¯t go so well?¡± Thor asked from the monitor on his desk.
¡°Thermonuclearly bad,¡± Adam said. ¡°Did the ship survive?¡±
¡°I still have a link to it. I was able to raise the shields around it when I detected the initial pulse but it still takes time for the shield to solidify, which, by the way, is the only system that still works. Well, except for the self-destruct but that would decimate the planet, not that the nuke didn¡¯t take out the entire capital city. I estimate it¡¯ll take at least a couple of minutes for you to fix the ship with your nanite field when you get back.¡± Thor said.
¡°That limit on the radius my nanites can work at is a real kick to the balls. We could have been done with this conquest already if not for that,¡± Adam said.
¡°True, but then you wouldn¡¯t learn about all the nice aliens and exotic races that we¡¯ve never run into before,¡± Thor said.
Just then a new notification entered his vision
A Blood Hunt has Been Called on Emperor Snelith!
A Rival System Lord has abused his authority by destroying a number of his protected individuals without sanction or approval as part of an attack on a rival System Lord with a weapon of mass destruction. As losses are expected when attacking another empire, System Lords are not penalized for killing an enemy¡¯s non-combatants. This does not hold true for killing your non Combatants.
Neighboring System Lords have 7 days to respond and acquire the empire before the current emperor will be removed and replaced.
Good Hunting!
¡°Zorvan,¡± Adam called.
A moment later Zorvan teleported into Adam¡¯s office.
¡°Zorvan, do you know what a Blood Hunt is?¡± Adam asked
¡°Yes, Adam, I have not received a notification that you have been Blood Hunted. Might I assume it was against the Emperor you just dealt with?¡± Zorvan asked.
¡°You might,¡± Adam said
¡°While an Emperor can punish his subjects as he sees fit, he must do so personally. Noncombatants are not disposable players in the Trial for Supremacy. They are assets that should be grown and nurtured to help build one¡¯s empire. Those leaders that fail to understand this and destroy their subjects with mass extinction actions, like utilizing a nuclear device in a capital city, are targeted with a Blood Hunt. Once called it cannot be revoked. Additionally, if you had been the Emperor to be blood hunted we would not be having this conversation as I would have been recalled¡± Zorvan said.
¡°Why isn¡¯t this rule advertised?¡± Adam asked though he thought he knew the answer.
¡°Unknown, though if I was to guess, I would say because the Multitude wants to know what type of leader a person really is. Not what they will do to conform to rules.¡±
¡°Good to know, and thanks for the explanation,¡± Adam said.
Adam was really glad he hadn¡¯t decided to just wipe everyone out during one of his system invasions. Not that he would have. Killing indiscriminately was not something he enjoyed doing, though he was quite sure he was capable of doing it if it was necessary.
Al¡¯s voice came through the speakers, ¡°Adam, Emperors can be Bloodhunted for not taking care of their subjects and you still don¡¯t know why everyone is going through a Unification and Classification yet. Sounds to me like a lot more is going on than is readily apparent,¡± Al said.
¡°True,¡± Adam agreed as he pondered his next steps. A moment later he said,
¡°Thor, A portal to the staging base to pick up the spare ship, if you, please? Also, might as well build another spare ship, just in case,¡± Adam said.
A portal opened and Adam stepped through into the spare ship in the asteroid belt. He made his way to the cockpit and sat down, ¡°Thor If you¡¯d be so kind as to get me back into that system. It¡¯s time to find that System Lord.¡±
¡°On it. It will take us 10 trips through ten different solar systems to get there. As you know it won¡¯t take that long, but we do have to transverse 10 solar systems,¡± Thor said.
¡°Understood,¡± Adam said as he sat back and reviewed what he¡¯d been doing for the last three months. The more he conquered, the more he came to realize that the varieties of sentient beings out in the various cosmos, seemed very similar. That the Multitude put them into an artificial conflict meant that either they were doing so for sport, or something else was going on and the participants were being prepared for something.
At the very start, he¡¯d created the ship Thor was recreating for him and tried to take it back to Earth¡¯s universe. Every attempt failed. Dimensional travel, except to the Astral Plane when he died, was blocked both technologically and magically. So, the Pelza Cruiser he¡¯d created became his Flagship. He¡¯d upgraded the shields and weapons. The shields could take a nuke going off, easily. If the shields weren¡¯t active, the hull of the ship might survive but everything would be damaged in such an environment. It was nothing that his nanites couldn¡¯t fix but he had to get back to the ship to do so or bring the ship back to this system either to his facility in the Asteroid Belt or to Skunkworks on the planet.
Normally, Skunkworks was used for creating his bigger ships and also had ancillary facilities within the stabilization field which made it easy to procure exotic materials that he couldn¡¯t find within his empire. He¡¯d even set up a hospital within the field that people could be transferred to for chronic illness or damage to have it completely repaired. While he couldn¡¯t give everyone immortality, he could ease some of their suffering, so long as they remained loyal to the Empire.
Of course, after only a month the individual he¡¯d left in charge of the facility had decided that they could hack the nanites and do with them what they wanted. They¡¯d even prepared to have Adam killed by the nanites when he¡¯d arrived. It had been painful but his hit points and regeneration had weathered the damage until he wrested control back with Technomancy. What followed next would not be looked upon by anyone writing his biography as one of his best moments. He had systematically analyzed and copied every part of the man before he¡¯d destroyed him. Someone could even say that part of him lived on within Adam, as so many others did that he¡¯d absorbed.
Adam focused his thoughts on the present. Now, he was more concerned about a System Lord that had no regard for the lives of his subjects. Without the ability to release nanites over the entire system, he¡¯d have to go old school to find the Piece Of Shit (POS). As Thor guided the ship through the various wormholes and solar systems to get back to the solar system he¡¯d just died in, Adam started reviewing the technological level of the planet and started using his Mold Chaos ability to make satellites in the hold of the ship. Once he arrived he¡¯d release them into orbit and let them find the prick for him. If he was hiding, he¡¯d remain in communication with his subjects. All he had to do was find that signal.
***
The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
¡°What do you mean you can¡¯t break through the shield and recover the technology?¡± Emperor Snelith asked heatedly through the communications monitor on his base hidden within the moon.
¡°Our scans from orbit indicate that the shield was forming even as the nuclear device went off. We believe sensors on the ship detected the initial energy discharge which should not have been possible because only a nanosecond later the explosion occurred. Even so, the ship was damaged as the shield sprung up. We can verify that the ship was damaged, but the shield remains active.¡±
¡°You are sure that this Adam character was in the Throne room when the nuke went off under his feet?¡±
¡°Yes, Sire. We had multiple recording devices that proved that he was there.
¡°Then why haven¡¯t I received a notification that he is dead?
Just then there was a small hissing sound as a portal opened into space and the atmosphere, and the Emperor was sucked out into space where he was grabbed by the back of the neck and slowed down as the suffocating feeling of being in a vacuum subsided and he felt that he could breathe again.
Emperor Snelith, A voice said into his brain even though there was no atmosphere to transmit the sound. Don¡¯t concern yourself, my technology has modified your body so I can talk to you for a moment. It¡¯s also what is allowing you to survive in the Vacuum of space between your planet and the moon.
What? How? Emperor Snelith asked.
As I said, nothing for you to worry about, the voice said into this mind as he started accelerating away from the planet at a speed that rivaled the ships Emperor Snelith had. We¡¯re accelerating to about 25% of the speed of light. That¡¯s about 245.9 million feet per second. Not to worry any micro meteors that hit you will be repaired, though they will probably hurt. Of course if one goes through your head¡
Just then a ship flew past them and took up a position in front of them.
That¡¯s better. We¡¯ll just trail behind the ship as we talk. Its shields should protect you from micrometeorites and dust so we don¡¯t kill you too soon. Besides, we want your audience to see,¡± Adam said into his mind.
Why are you doing this? Emperor Snelith asked.
If you can¡¯t figure that out¡ Anyway, enjoy the trip. You should arrive at the sun in about 24 minutes. Not to worry you¡¯ll be blind and long dead before you get to touch it. Me, I have a System to claim, Adam sent as he teleported into the ship and had it adjust the course so the shield would still shield Emperor Snelith from micrometeorites but Emperor Snelith could watch his doom approach.
Emperor Snelith watched as the Sun grew closer and closer and prayed that something would kill him. The ship just a little way in front of him seemed to be doing a very good job of preventing that from happening thought. How could this man, this monster that he¡¯d destroyed with a nuke be back to do this to him? Whatever Adam had done to him kept him alive and healthy for the next 12 minutes without issue. At that point, the ship rose out of his path and he started to get hit by the particles of the sun¡¯s solar wind. Emperor Snelith began to burn faster and faster. So fast that the technology that was keeping him alive, failed. Two minutes later he was blind and a minute after that the only thing left had been the nanites which evaporated a moment later.
***
Adam had made sure to stay within a hundred feet of the Emperor as he hurled toward the Sun. Safe within his ship he kept Technomancy active to make sure the Emperor didn¡¯t die immediately. He could have killed him outright, but he¡¯d been transmitting the death of the emperor to Thor, who was broadcasting it to the Emperor¡¯s Empire.
Adam had the ship come to a stop with the Emperor¡¯s ashes as a backdrop behind him outside the ship before he looked at the Camera¡¯s point of view within the ship and spoke to the deceased emperor¡¯s subjects, ¡°Greetings unto you, members of the Snelith Empire. I am Adam. I will be returning to your planet shortly to claim it. Changes to your society will be implemented immediately as you are brought into the Adamantium Autocracy of which I am the System Lord or Emperor. Your previous Emperor detonated a nuclear device within your capital city and turned a lot of your fellow citizens to ash. I am a firm believer that a punishment should fit the crime. Therefore, he, in turn, has been turned to ash. I will do what I can for those that were injured and will help you rebuild that city with my contribution points. Resistance of any kind will be met swiftly and harshly. Loyalty will be rewarded. Information is incoming¡±
Adam cut the feed and had the ship fly through the ash cloud, obliterating it against the ship¡¯s shields.
¡°Thor, after we arrived and dropped off the Satellites, how many nuclear devices did we detect?¡± Adam asked.
¡°It looks like there¡¯s a uranium mine on the planet and that they were making the nukes on their own.
¡°Okay, so how many?¡±
¡°Records indicate that he had 122 in his stockpile, 121 after the detonation,¡± Thor said.
¡°Damn, looks like we have our work cut out for us.¡±
Adam left the ship, activated Obscure, Flight, Freedom of Flight, and Technomancy, and flew around the planet to every location a nuclear device was located as the ship made its way back toward the planet at a leisurely speed. He flew around until he was within a hundred feet of a nuke, released his nanites, and had them convert any explosive or radioactive material they came across to an inert substance. Uranium was turned to lead and plastique was converted to Play-Doh. Three hours later he returned to the ship and had it fly into orbit and docked at the Administrator Station for this Empire.
As he¡¯d suspected, some of the military leaders decided that they would take matters into their own hands and tried to detonate nuclear devices on the station he¡¯d deactivated. Which was lucky for them as the Multitude did not take kindly to those that destroyed their direct staff.
Immediately, the drones he had in orbit over each site that transmitted a detonation code to a nuclear device were vaporized from orbit. Some innocent combatants were taken out but the weapons fired from the drones were a lot more discreet than a nuke going off.
He also made sure the officer and his staff that had decided the attack was a good idea were also destroyed. He wasn¡¯t going to leave such obvious idiots to try to thwart his efforts as he consolidated his holdings within the system.
Adam made his way to the System Crystal and touched it.
Would you like to add Snelith¡¯s Empire to the Adamantium Autocracy, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes¡±
Zorvan teleported into the room, ¡°That makes 25% of the Sector Adam, Congratulations!¡±
¡°Why is that important?¡± Adam asked as new notifications appeared in his vision.
Congratulations! You have achieved the conquest of 25% of the Sector. The next closest System Lord only controls 13% of the Sector.
You are now the Sector Lord Pro Tem. Meet with your fellow System Lords and Claim the title of Sector Lord.
Reward? Reward determined by Contribution.
Sector Lord Pro Tem huh? ¡°Zorvan as Sector Lord Pro Tem do I have access to maps of the entire sector now, even with the Fogs of War in place?¡±
¡°You do,¡± Zorvan said as a holographic display of their sector materialized in the room and Adam could easily see the entire layout. As he looked at the display he realized that his Empire was smack dab in the middle of everything. Currently, it looked like he owned 51 of 204 solar systems. Now, though, he could see every single system and could work to take over areas strategically. On the Galactic disc, the area that made up this sector was roughly 33% of the disc. Adam wondered if he¡¯d have to fight for the other 66% of the galaxy after he finished with the Sector conquest.
Adam linked to Thor, came up with a plan, and implemented it. For this next part, he would make full use of the soldiers within his Empire. An hour later he contacted Zorvan through the terminal.
¡°Zorvan,¡±
¡°Yes, Adam?¡±
¡°I haven¡¯t asked in a bit, how am I doing on Contribution Points?¡±
¡°As every ship you create gives you Contribution points, and every citizen gives Contribution and you¡¯ve been reinvesting all points back into the empire, except a small percentage¡You are currently paying everyone double the normal contribution wage and taxes are incredibly low. Even the Systems you¡¯ve conquered are, for the most part, happy with you. The three, now four, out of 51 systems you¡¯ve been heavy-handed with are included, though the data for this last system is a little sparse as yet. The information package of their new reality and immediate wage increases has just gone out,¡± Zorvan said.
¡°That¡¯s fine. And the search for the names I¡¯ve given you for each system we¡¯ve secured?¡± Adam asked.
¡°They are not here,¡± Zorvan said.
¡°Now that I¡¯m a Sector Lord Pro Tem can I search other sectors?¡± Adam asked.
¡°You must be a Sector Lord and you would need to contact other Sector Lords to and ask them to search. The odds that they would be in one of the Sectors that already contains a Sector Lord are very low, given the time you have been on your Trial for Supremacy.
¡°I kind of figured that. Okay, Thor, Al, and Zorvan. We are going to go into a full-scale invasion and conquer mode. Thor, we are the Borg. Al and Zorvan¡¡±
¡°I understand the reference,¡± Al said.
¡°Zorvan, what that means is that we are going to assimilate every system as quickly as we can,¡± Adam said.
¡°I thought you were already doing that?¡±
¡°No, we haven¡¯t been doing that,¡± Adam said.
¡°Not even close,¡± Thor affirmed.
¡°Strip the gas giants, unless you find life within them of course, the old rules still apply Thor. As the Capital System is artificial I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll be having too many issues. Since we¡¯re going to be doing this Contribution points will probably be coming in quite a bit. Increase all wages for warriors to triple and let¡¯s set up armies that can go out and conquer quickly,¡± Adam said.
¡°Mechanized infantry as well?¡± Thor asked.
¡°Shielded and when possible, initial forces are to use non-lethal force. Individuals that break the rules have their pay reduced to normal for a full month and cannot participate in the acquisition and sorting in unexplored areas. A second transgression gets them put on support duties only for a full year. We want people to join us and be happy to work with us. As always those that are ruthless and violent have their uses and they will be kept for those empires with a blood thirty bent that we need to make an example of. As Always though, keep them one step behind the other troops, just in case.¡±
¡°This will take a little while to get started,¡± Thor said.
¡°Get what started?¡± Zorvan asked, ¡°Everything you just mentioned can be purchased through the Collaboration market.¡±
¡°For the last three months, I¡¯ve been taking it easy as I became acclimated to the Multitude and the Contribution Points System it uses. Now that I know about the rule about being ruthless, I can adjust my strategy and we can proceed much quicker than we were.¡± Adam pauses and ran some simulations in his mind, then started talking out loud to the room. ¡°We have 153 systems to claim. Probably two hours to get the matter converter set up, and two to three minutes per ship. Maybe an hour to get the first army equipped. We should be able to produce 47 armies relatively easily from the systems that agreed to join without a fight, especially with the increased pay and safety.
¡°That sounds about right Adam,¡± Thor said.
¡°I concur,¡± Al chimed in.
¡°So 47 hours to get the Armies in play and moving. If we take one system per day and lock down the wormholes with our navy after each system is taken we should be able to expand quickly.¡±
¡°Sounds right,¡± Thor said.
¡°Zorvan, do the warriors in my armies get personal Contribution Points based on how much they participate in conquering new planets and systems?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, some of those conquered will want to join the fighting as soon as possible.¡±
¡°We can do that. On days 51, and 102. That will give Thor and Al enough time to create all the equipment the warriors we¡¯ll need as well as the ships necessary to maintain our borders. Eventually, we should have enough armies to simultaneously take over three solar systems at the same time,¡± Adam said.
¡°This plan sounds a bit Ambitious,¡± Zorvan said.
¡°That¡¯s because I haven¡¯t pulled out the big guns yet,¡± Adam said with a smile.
¡°Big guns?¡±
¡°We have been quite limited here,¡± Thor said. ¡°I also had to make sure certain technologies that were theoretical actually worked. As they do, we can start. Adam I¡¯ll need you to purchase Stabilization Arrays and place them in every system we control. We''re going to need a lot of mass.
¡°That shouldn¡¯t be an issue,¡± Adam said. ¡°Zorvan purchase one stabilization array with a 1-mile radius for each system we currently control then add one array for each system we conquer into the budget. Thor, we still can¡¯t open portals between systems?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Zorvan nodded as Thor said, ¡°Nope, the interference that is preventing your Planar Travel ability from working also prevents any teleportation or FTL travel between systems. We have to use the wormholes,¡± Thor said.
¡°I¡¯d love to know how they¡¯re doing that,¡± Adam said. ¡°It¡¯s a non-issue at this point though. Thor, the best technologies we¡¯ve ever devised, over-whelming force and protection. Zorvan, get the changes made and announce the new wages for warriors. I¡¯m going to purchase the Stabilization arrays and visit each of the systems and get our other 50 new manufacturing facilities up and running. Thor, you might want to focus on drone production for the defense of those facilities to begin with.
¡°On it, The drones will be following you and catching up as the facilities start manufacturing themselves,¡± Thor said.
¡°As you wish Adam,¡± Zorvan said, a little worriedly.
¡°No need to be worried Zorvan, I¡¯ve been holding back until this point. The Multitude has no idea what I¡¯m capable of,¡± Adam said.
Zorvan ordered the Stabilization Arrays and Adam stored each in his Shadow Vault as Zorvan purchased them. When he had 51, he teleported to his ship, took his seat, and headed off to the systems he controlled.
For the next couple of hours, Adam visited each system, sought out the asteroid belt within that solar system, if there was one, or found a moon near a gas giant and set up a manufacturing base with a stabilization array and nanites that were defended by four drones. An abridged copy of Thor was left that was quantumly linked to him and the production of a facility that could support portals within the system as well as the production of ships was set in motion. Adam didn¡¯t wait around for that, fully confident that Thor could handle it. While portals didn¡¯t work between solar systems, the communication channels through quantum links seemed to work just fine, like his link to Zorvan.
When that was done, Adam cloaked the ship and went to investigate the systems his forces would be moving into shortly. He was going to have his forces move toward one of the borders of the sector and then start to spread out from there. That way he would at least have his hypothetical back to a wall of some sort.
While he was flying around and investigating the various systems, which didn¡¯t seem to have any defenses of note, he worked with Thor to make sure the ships, drones, and personal equipment would keep his citizens safe as well as prevent mass casualties in any system he invaded. They also devised a plan that would drop stealth sensors into orbit around every planet to determine if weapons of mass destruction were in play. If they were, Adam would search them out and nullify them before his forces landed. If not, he¡¯d let the forces take over each planet in short order then move on to the System Lord¡¯s Administrator Station.
Another thing he added was the distribution of Contribution Points to his most loyal followers. If someone claimed a planet or system in his name they received a significant boost in Contribution Points. Adam made sure the generals understood that each of them could claim one node per planet they oversaw the acquisition of. After that, they were to spread the wealth around and make sure every member of the army had an opportunity to claim a domain node. The Administrator Nodes were left for the top lieutenants and the Generals and Admirals. They took turns from system to system.
Adam hoped to do things this way to engender loyalty among everyone. He wanted everyone to strive toward earning the right to be the person claiming a domain and earning those extra contribution points.
As he approached the 47-hour mark Adam made his way back to his Capital System and exited the wormhole to see an armada of ships. It looked like something out of one of his space simulation games.
¡°Thor, how long until everyone is loaded and ready to go?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Troops are standing by on the planets. They were all brought here and given 16 hours of R&R near facilities built up near the Skunkworks where we could support them without spending too many Contribution Points. When you give the order they¡¯ll portal onto each ship and be ready to go within 30 minutes,¡± Thor said.
¡°If we¡¯re allowed to have one Stabilization array for every planet and we only have one per system plus one extra. Zorvan, look at getting us six more and increasing the radius around Skunkworks
¡°The 5-mile radius ones?¡± Zorvan asked.
¡°Yes, will that be a problem?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Not at all, the amount of Contribution Points you are now generating is measured in quadrillions. You have far more Contribution Points invested into this Empire than is expected,¡± Zorvan said
¡°That¡¯s fine, we¡¯ll need them to keep expanding and keep the momentum up. If we¡¯re ready, let¡¯s begin the loading procedures and get this party started,¡± Adam said.
Chapter 209, Time to Stop Playing Around
Now that everything was underway, and Adam had time to think about it, he was wondering how a nuclear device destroyed him. His current hit points were sitting at over 73 billion. Most low-yield nuclear devices only did about 400 hit points of damage in the initial blast which he could withstand easily. He had, in fact. The one that had been detonated by the Snelith Emperor had been a little bigger but there was no way it did 73 billion hit points in damage, so how had he been atomized.? He should have taken blast damage. Also, if he couldn¡¯t just take the damage his Adaptable ability should have let him weather the other effects of the nuke, unless¡.
Adam pulled up his combat log and scrolled through the log until he found the moment the nuclear device had been detonated.
A 100,000 Kiloton Nuclear Device has detonated within 100 feet of you.
Unshielded objects within 100 feet take 100% Instantaneous damage.
Adam focused on Instantaneous and thought, Define.
Instantaneous damage ¨C This type of damage comes from very powerful weapons or cataclysmic natural events; volcanic eruptions, nuclear explosions, etc. Creatures caught within the blast take percentage-based damage instead of point-based damage. As an example, if a nuclear device were to detonate a mile away from a creature and the blast wave hit them with debris that debris would do point-based damage. If the creature were at ground zero it would lose 100% of its hit points, no matter how many hit points the creature has. Instantaneous damage also bypasses any abilities that might prevent a creature from resisting the damage. Only active shielding and innate, or intrinsic, immunity provide any defense against Instantaneous damage
Whatever the Multitude was, it was changing the rules so that certain damage was percentage based. If there were melee weapons that started doing percentage-based damage, that would definitely give an advantage to those with skill, instead of those with a lot of hit points and a high healing rate. Such weapons would even be able to kill him. Vorpal Swords from one of the role-playing games he¡¯d played came to mind. No matter how strong something was, one lucky hit and ¡°Off with their head!¡± Those had been the good ole days. Adam considered the possibility that such weapons could exist. Of course, there had to be magical or technological melee weapons out there that did percentage-based damage.
Adam thought about it for a bit and couldn¡¯t decide if he liked the idea or not. It would work against him from lower-powered individuals, but it would work for him if he was going against anything even more powerful than he was. Adam had a thought and then giggled. The idiots that put that rule in place probably didn¡¯t have a lot of creatures that could get back up from being completely destroyed. Well, if he absolutely had to destroy something, he now had a way to do it at least. It would probably hurt them more than it would hurt him. Traveling at light speed into any object did things like that.
Adam put those thoughts to the back of his mind and started paying attention to the deployment of his armies and ships as they began their conquest of the last Solar System for this Sector.
***
The Supervisor sat at his desk and looked around. He should have been overseeing the struggle for this sector for the foreseeable future. He¡¯d been here for just over 500 years, and he should have had at least another 500 ¨C 1,000 years before he¡¯d need to think about what was next. Now it looked like that would be tomorrow after Adam had only been a System Lord for 102 days.
The Supervisor still couldn¡¯t understand how Adam¡¯s forces could have moved so efficiently that the entire Sector was conquered in only 102 days. He knew this was not something the majority of those paying attention to this Sectors Trial for Supremacy had counted on as only three individuals had made wagers estimating that this Sector would be done that quickly. The next wager after 102 days was 183 days and there were no wagers for earlier than 102 days. A majority of the wagers were in the 1,200-to-1,300-year range, which was average for this type of Trial.
What was interesting was the races of the individuals that had made the wager. One was from Prelixar, a race of people that could forecast the future with uncanny accuracy. The second winner was a human. Though, as old as this human was, it was doubtful he was from the same realm as Adam. The third winner was one of the machine-intelligent species that bet based on a probability matrix. One of their kind was bound to win as so many were placing wagers, though only one had wagered on such a quick conclusion. The Machine Intelligence and Prelixar having a lucky break was understandable. The Human, human, however, was not.
The Supervisor pulled up the file on the Human. A single name, Strifeth. What kind of name was Strifeth? Regardless, the wagers had been made and it looked like they would collect quite a sum. With odds at 6 million to 1, they were going to receive a huge payday. There had been a lot of interest in this Sector when Adam had his Armada go forth and started conquering a system each day. After 3 days wagers had been locked when the analysts locked down all bets on the Sectors until the updated odds were calculated. The three big winners had made their wagers the very first day and the sums they had leveraged were not low. Each was trying to increase their personal Contribution Points so they could continue their personal growth as the cost to progress for them was so high and opportunities were quite scarce. Sector lords in their own right, they needed a lot of Contribution Points to improve their current Class and Quintessence Abilities.
The Supervisor reviewed Adam¡¯s campaign. He had started with 47 fleets which all descended on a single solar system, moved into position around each planet, and demanded obedience. No shot¡¯s had been fired and no one was killed. His armada simply went in, surrounded all the worlds within the system, and boarded any stations. The weapons they were using were more powerful than anything those that went against them could bring to bear and their defenses were powerful enough to defend against their weapons which made them invincible to anything the Planetary Emperors and System Lords he subjugated could bring to bear against him.
That¡¯s not to say there weren¡¯t a few deaths when some individuals went kamikaze but Adam¡¯s ship and personnel shielding easily warded off any such attacks. One idiot had taken a ship at light speed into an administrator station. None of Adam¡¯s fleet had been hurt in the attack. Whatever shielding he was using surrounded the ships in a shield that modified the quantum state of the ships and personnel within which caused the damage and shockwave to treat them like they weren¡¯t even there. How such a field was even allowing the individual to walk in the stations was a mystery until the Supervisor realized that they weren¡¯t walking, they were floating and bypassing all barriers, walls, and even shields.
When he pulled up the specs on the ships, weapons, and personal armor he¡¯d been so surprised he¡¯d exclaimed, ¡°What in the name of all that is holy?¡± He¡¯d been loud enough for everyone to hear within earshot of his office door, which was open. Just then he thought he heard one of the agents working in the main room say, ¡°And there it is.¡±
The Supervisor ignored the mumblings from the main room and quickly looked over the specs of the ships again.
Shield Class: Unknown.
Weapon Class: Unknown.
Power Class: Unknown.
Maximum Sublight Speed: 99.99%
FTL Class: Unknown
He continued to look through the specs and then pulled up the materials that the ships were made of which made absolutely no sense to him. There were exotic metals and composites, some of which seemed to have Quantum designations. It wasn¡¯t that the Multitude couldn¡¯t designate them. It could. It was simply that he didn¡¯t understand what the designations meant. He also couldn¡¯t understand how someone from a world that was considered less than a Class 1 would know the exotic materials that the equipment utilized.
The Supervisor returned to reviewing the tactics Adam¡¯s Armada utilized. The Fleet would enter through the wormhole. Ignore all resistance and then set out to encompass every major planet with backup fleets staged in strategic locations throughout the solar system. Once everyone was in place, the boarding parties would take the Administrator Stations that were occupied without a shot fired. The few times a station had been set up as a trap, they¡¯d detonated, and the personnel were recovered, unhurt. The armor they wore had shielded them from everything. The armada had waited for the Multitude to reconstitute its Administrator station, which only took about an hour and then they¡¯d moved in and claimed it.
Emperors and military commanders that resorted to methods that killed their support personnel were systematically hunted and killed within minutes as part of the Armada¡¯s tool set where miniature Sensor satellites that transport ships brought from the Capital System before each invasion. A few of his scouts were loaded with the sensor satellites and then they would enter a system and drop the sensors around the planets to establish a digital net through which all political and military leaders were identified, targeted, and watched.
The Supervisor shook his head. Adam was thorough. As the Supervisor walked out into the command center for the Sector he moved toward the agent that was personally tracking and monitoring Adam and his empire.
¡°Yes, Supervisor,¡± The agent said as the Supervisor walked up.
¡°I was wondering, where is Adam getting all of this equipment from? The ships just seem to keep coming. With the specs I¡¯m seeing on his ships, I don¡¯t understand how he has the Contribution Points to keep acquiring ships with those capabilities?¡± The Supervisor asked.
¡°Adam has created portal technology, luckily it is still limited to within System only, so the dampening field is still working between solar systems,¡± the Agent said.
¡°I understand that he has had the use of local portals almost since he arrived. What does that have to do with acquiring the ships?¡± The Supervisor asked.
¡°Yes, we¡¯ll, Adam has created matter conversion facilities where he is taking matter and energy from the solar system with the portal, transferring it to the matter converter facility, and then creating the equipment and supplies he needs.¡±
¡°Where is all that matter coming from, the habitable planets aren¡¯t showing any signs of massive mining?¡±
¡°And they won¡¯t. The matter is being converted from the uninhabited gas giants, moons, and asteroid belts.¡± The Agent said with a shrug.
The Supervisor thought about it for a moment. Adam must be using microscopic machines. That or magic. Something the Agent had just said resonated and he quickly asked, ¡°Asteroid Belts, as in plural? He¡¯s doing this in multiple systems?¡±
¡°Yes, He has created one facility in each system he conquered and spread the matter consumption among all the gas giants and asteroid belts. In some cases, moons though it looks like he is also harnessing the solar winds of the stars.¡±
` ¡°How long until he¡¯s claimed the last System?¡±
¡°We estimate that he will claim that last System within the hour.¡±
¡°Then I better get ready to greet our newest Sector Lord,¡± The Supervisor said as he made his way down to the greeting chamber that had been created for this purpose.
***
Adam made his way into the last Administrator Station and walked beside Vytrix Saljihar, Duke of the Trilax System, his first and most loyal Duke thus far.
¡°Sire, are you sure? This is the last system the honor should be yours,¡± The Duke said.
¡°Don¡¯t you worry about me Vytrix, I¡¯m sure something interesting is about to happen. I just want to make sure everyone has an opportunity to claim some Contribution Points and as I recall, you have not claimed a single planet or system since becoming my Duke, yet you¡¯ve remained loyal,¡± Adam said.
This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
¡°Sire, we both know I had no choice or chance against you. How else was I to progress than to serve?¡± Vytrix said.
¡°Many rulers would have balked at being relegated to 2nd place, you did not. I reward Loyalty. This Honor is yours Duke Saljihar,¡± Adam said as he gave the Duke a slight nod.
¡°As you wish, Sire, and thank you.¡±
They made their way to the Control Crystal Chamber for the Planet, which was the last Control Crystal for this system. Adam watched as Duke Saljihar placed his hand on the Crystal and claimed the System for the Adamantium Autocracy. A notification popped into his vision as he was suddenly teleported away.
Adam opened the Notification.
Congratulations! Your rank has been increased to Sector Lord. You are now the Sector Lord for this Sector which has been classified as 416e6f6d616c793030310d0a.
Adam immediately recognized that designation as ¡°Anamoly001¡± in hexadecimal. So, it looked like the Multitude didn¡¯t understand what was going on in his Sector at some level. That was good to know. Adam looked back at the Notification and wondered if there were going to be any more as he materialized in a large entry hall.
Before him was a marbled hallway at least 50 feet wide and over a hundred feet high made out of gold-laced marble, though the patterns of gold swirls within the marble seemed to form patterns. A few feet in front of him a crystalline, or would it be better to say a humanoid with skin that resembled diamonds, person in very comfortable-looking clothing stood. The clothing looked to be this creature¡¯s version of a suit which highlighted the golden eyes that sparkled with an internal light. Adam felt as if he was being assessed before the creature spoke.
¡°Congratulations Adam! I am the Supervisor for this Sector. Welcome to the Champions Hall for this Region.
¡°Thank You, May I ask what is happening in my Sector at this moment?¡±
¡°You may. Zorvan has received instructions and is conveying those instructions to your Dukes. The next month the Dukes will allow the citizens of your empire to rest and relax before the next phase begins.¡±
¡°What is that next phase?¡± Adam asked.
¡°You need not worry about that at the moment. You have been brought here because you have achieved something, that our records indicate has never been accomplished before,¡± The Supervisor said.
¡°Would you care to elaborate?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Absolutely, please follow me. This place was chosen to facilitate this distribution of knowledge,¡± The Supervisor said as he began walking down the long hallway. Adam followed behind as the scenery to his left and right adjusted and a Mobius Strip appeared before and above them before it faded.
¡°What has been, will be. What is, has been. And thus the cycle repeats,¡± The Supervisor stated with some reverence as he bowed his head.
¡°Do you mean to say that you believe that time is cyclic?¡± Adam asked.
¡°What is time?¡± the Supervisor asked in return.
¡°Time is a measurement of moments in a linear line leading toward entropy?¡± Adam responded.
¡°Part of your definition is correct,¡± The Supervisor said as the image of the Mobius Strip reappeared and unwound, then circulated until a point lit up on the strip. Then the point of view shifted as the image zoomed in until Adam could see that the wide strip of the Mobius strip was made up of an infinite number of threads that branched and branched again as they wound their way around.
As the image continued to zoom in, it zeroed in on one thread and continued to get closer and closer as other threads disappeared from view as they fell out of the field of vision. Eventually, a rainbow-colored growth appeared on the thread in front of the progression of a thread with a blinking dot. The rainbow-colored growth seemed to be spreading to other threads. Adam intuitively knew that the thread he was looking at was the Multitude, which still consisted of many more threads within it though the image had ceased zooming in.
The Supervisor looked at the rainbow-colored growth that was spreading from a point on the thread and pointed at it, ¡°To answer your question, that is why there is a Unification, Classification, and Trial,¡± the Supervisor said.
¡°If that is some future point, why not change what causes the problem?¡± Adam asked.
The Supervisor laughed, ¡°Of course, we thought of that, except that the ability that allows us to see this overall forecast does not allow us to pinpoint what causes it. Additionally, any form of time travel into the past is dangerous, and moving into the future is pointless as they would have to come back to enact the change, which would be dangerous.¡±
¡°Why?¡± Adam asked.
While it is true that energy cannot be destroyed and only changes forms, it is also true that the realities that have formed can be unraveled and the energy that all matter and life is made up of can be reset. Those that mess with time run the risk of unraveling everything. Moving forward along the timeline is not an issue, everyone does this normally, and some just chose to do it more quickly. What is forbidden is moving backward in time. Such actions almost always cause unintended consequences,¡± The Supervisor said.
¡°So, what, the individuals that become your Sector Lords go fight whatever this is?¡± Adam asked
¡°Not exactly. That point on this timeline is in the predicted future,¡± the Supervisor said.
¡°Okay, then what am I here for?¡± Adam asked.
¡°You are here to receive your reward and also to receive instructions on what you need to do to prepare your sector for the upcoming conflict?¡±
¡°And my family and friends?¡± Adam said, pausing for a moment before he continued, ¡°For that matter, what happened to Earth and everyone on it?¡± Adam asked.
¡°What you knew of as Earth, that entire Universe, has been incorporated into the Multitude. Sentients were rounded up, categorized, and either tested or planted within the Sectors we are using to test and prepare everyone for the coming conflict. All energy and matter from those locations have been absorbed as well,¡± the Supervisor said.
¡°The Multitude destroyed an entire Universe to fuel its obsession with a future problem?¡± Adam said angrily as his temper started to flair. ¡°In fact, you are telling me that multiple Universes have been snuffed out to fuel this impending war?¡±
¡°Adam, you must calm down, The Multitude does what it will, those that question its magnificent plan usually find themselves serving as fuel for¡¡±
¡°Oh shut up! I¡¯ve been putting up with his charade because I wanted to see what kind of creatures or creatures this Multitude is. I believe I now have a very good idea. I also have a very good idea of what that disruption in the timeline is going to be¡¡±
Adam¡¯s body froze as the Supervisor snaped his crystalline fingers.
¡°You are NOTHING! You are an ant¡
Adam ignored the supervisor and dropped into his Mindspace and then down to his soul core. He had not done what he was about to do because he truly wanted to see what kind of beings he was dealing with. He had been pretty sure when he saw the link to his soul that squeezed and siphoned off his quintessence energy but it was always best to double-check. That siphon had just been a more sophisticated version of the ring Apolyn had created. Stealing from everyone to give what was stolen to something or someone, or a group of beings. What these morons didn¡¯t understand was that he was a creature of chaos. Something he had accepted when his consciousness had been scattered across the many realms, realities, and Universes that existed within the System Matrix. It may have been inside an electronic matrix but his exposure to chaos had been real and he was truly changed forever.
Adam zeroed in on his Chaos Incarnate ability node and slipped through the invisible barrier that the Multitude had surrounded it with. He was the chaos within the node, the Chaos was him. The only reason it wasn¡¯t not breaking free was because Adam had not willed it so. He reached out to ensure he wasn¡¯t mistaken with a tendril of chaos that passed through the barrier as if it wasn¡¯t there. Adam checked in on his Mindspace and reviewed that the Supervisor was continuing with his Evil Nazi speech. He should have just enough time to fix this.
During the last four months, Adam had been going over what he¡¯d learned while he¡¯d been to the underside of the Dragon Universe. While he didn¡¯t understand what command structure was being used he had theorized that his innate structure would allow him to request those changes if he entered the realm in his Dual State and then funneled those instructions through his Chaos Incarnate and Technomancy abilities. If Quintessence was just a filter to allow a will to direct its form and function then his Quintessence which was Chaos could direct any form and any function.
Of course, then the Unification had happened, and then the Classification, and finally the Trial. He could have tried what he was about to do at any time up until now but he wanted to see where this was all going. Preparing for a future war while stealing the energy and power from all their subjects and then having them kill each other off so they could keep that energy because as sure as a fly loved to step in shit, Adam was betting that if someone could break free from the Multitude the energy that the Multitude was ¡°borrowing¡± would have to be returned.
This left only one question that Adam was about to find out the answer to. What happened to the titles? If they were a product of the Multitude, he¡¯d probably lose them, unless¡. Better not to jinx that idea. Anyway, if he lost the titles he¡¯d still be exactly where he was before the Unification with his Quintessence Abilities back to level 50. Though it looked like the one thing that the Multitude did do that seemed to be an improvement was removed Universal Density and Sustainment. Of course, he might run into that again if he left the area the Multitude controlled but he didn¡¯t think so. Adam had a feeling that the Universes that were in the vicinity of Earth¡¯s Universe were created like that to prepare the inhabitants for the Multitude. If the Universe was cyclic, then there was a very good chance they¡¯d seen this before. Maybe someone like him had arisen before? He could ponder those ideas forever. No, it was time to get to work.
Adam had his tendrils of chaos reach out and attach to each of his other ability nodes. All eight of his Racial Abilities and his 16 Quintessence Abilities. He was glad to see that the changes that the Multitude had made had stuck and Scan and True Vision now replaced True Sight, Scrutinize, Aura Sight, and Identify. Truthfully he liked the functionality of the new abilities a lot better.
This next part was going to be fun. Now that he had access to all of his abilities and could access them at will he knew that he could also take control of his body again, Why not? Adam allowed a portion of his mind to move up to his body then reached up and brushed his hair back.
The Supervisor saw Adam move and was immediately shocked into silence.
Adam looked at him with the full disdain he felt and allowed his full anger to manifest through his aura as he whispered, ¡°I thought I said to shut up!¡±
Adam wasn¡¯t expecting what happened next. The Supervisor exploded. One second he was there, the next he was dust. Note to self, aura¡¯s are a thing out here in the real world and mine can shatter crystal creatures if I¡¯m not careful. In fact, as Adam looked around he noticed that the marble hallway he was in was disintegrating around him as well.
Adam refocused on his Soul Core, activated Dual State, and followed the invisible quintessence siphon. As he thought, the siphon entered the Astral Plane and then continued out of it into another quasi-Astral Plane. The journey felt as if it took forever but in a moment he entered a plane beneath the quasi-astral and found himself in the Multitude. His vision adjusted and converted the energies he was seeing around himself so he could interpret them and suddenly he was floating between the ground and sky of a mechanized city landscape. There were roads and buildings below and above him. Additionally, a technology that he was very familiar with was trying to infiltrate and command him to follow its orders as nanites tried to flood into him, only to burn to a crisp as they touched him and fell away. They did not like the taste of chaos.
Adam activated Technomancy to see if they were actually nanites and wasn¡¯t surprised when the ability didn¡¯t work. His mind was interpreting what he saw as a mechanized landscape but it wasn¡¯t and the nanites were not nanites, they were just some form of magic that his mind interpreted as nanites. As they couldn¡¯t affect him, he wasn¡¯t going to worry about it.
Adam followed the siphon to a tank and looked around until he found a control panel. As he looked around he saw that there were pipes leading into the storage tank, which resembled a fuel tank. Everything here seemed automated. Just then a message appeared on the control panel,
Terminate!
Adam touched the control panel and channeled his Chaos through Technomancy to be able to override the panel and explore its functions. A moment later he thought he understood and sent the flowing command
Increase to Class S Supervisor, all abilities
Immediately, Quintessence started rushing into the tank and then through the siphon into Adam and his ability nodes. Adam watched through his tendrils of chaos as his Soul Core and each of his abilities was saturated with Quintessence as each ability rose from Class 1 through 10 and then to Class E, D, C, B, A, and finally, S. Adam looked at his teleport ability to get a feel for how many Quintessence levels each Class increased by and was amazed. Class 1 was levels 1-100, Class 2 was 101-200, and so on. This pattern remained until Class S, which was equivalent to 2,000 Quintessence levels.
Once the quintessence was done filling his Soul Core, Adam expanded the chaos that resided within that ability node and created a barrier that severed the siphon and shut down the tank he was looking at. A new message popped up in the Terminal when his connection was severed.
Subject Terminated.
Of course, things couldn¡¯t be that easy as error messages started appearing on the screen. It looked like the tank was trying to recall all of the quintessence that had been given to him and was unable to determine his location. Adam activated Obscure and rose away as a flood of flying robots descended on the tank and started scanning the area as they looked for the siphon. One of the robots even made it to the location he¡¯d just been sitting at and was scanning the area.
Adam left the area and went looking for a hub or control point. A moment later he found one where he was able to access the terminal with chaos and Technomancy and started searching for his family and friends. Unfortunately, individuals were not designated within the system by their names, races, or any other type of system that would allow him to find them.
So now it was time to start searching for a control point and find out if there was anyone with a classification higher than Class S. Additionally, he needed to put a spanner in the works here.
For the next little bit, and by a little bit, Adam figured it had been weeks, if not months, Adam searched the realm he was in. He searched until he had a fundamental understanding of what was going on. At specific locations, quintessence was drawn up from below this realm, be that the fundamental layer of energy that was magic or some other such realm. It was categorized, organized, and placed in storage containers that in turn shared that quintessence with every single being that the Multitude had. Adam watched as Quintessence flooded in from above continuously which meant that either a Unification or Classification was happening when there was a huge flood of quintessence. Only a small bit of quintessence was siphoned back when an individual or a couple of individuals died and the little bit of quintessence they¡¯d been allowed to keep was also taken by the Multitude.
Once he had a good handle on how things were happening here he decided that the future needed to be now and found one of the central points where quintessence was being drawn from below. In those areas, his True Vision represented the devices doing the drilling as oil drills you might find on the plains in Texas.
Still, in his Dual State and Obscured, Adam flew down the drill point and followed it through to the realm of¡
¡°Oh, my,¡± was the only thought that escaped Adam as Primal Chaos surrounded him, mutated slightly, and started making its way past the safeguards that had been put in place. Adam could do nothing as the Primal Chaos surrounded him, found him to be a kindred spirit, and began the process of trying to absorb him. Adam¡¯s will was far too strong for that, but his memories and experiences were shared and distributed which kept Adam locked in place as a volcano of Primal Chaos rushed up into the realm of the Multitude.
Part of Adam could only watch helplessly as his existence turned into a cacophony of memories from every creature he¡¯d ever absorbed or downloaded which the Primal Chaos absorbed greedily.
Chapter 210, Working Harder, Not Smarter
Zorvan monitored Adam and watched as he was teleported away to the Champions Hall for the Sector. A moment later a Sector-wide message went out informing everyone that they had one month of ¡°Free¡± time. They could enjoy their victory as everyone took some much needed downtime. Additionally, their salary of Contribution Points would be paid by the Multitude.
Zorvan received a more personalized Notification at the same time informing him that it was his responsibility to streamline, as much as possible, the inner workings of the Empire and to prepare training regiments for extended battle-type conditions that may or may not commence immediately after the one month break was over.
Zorvan began his preparations while he made sure to enjoy some time off the 30-day break bestowed on the Sector as well. That is until a new message popped up.
Adam, Emperor of the Adamantium Autocracy has been terminated.
A moment later Thor¡¯s voice came through one of the station¡¯s speakers, ¡°He has not been terminated. My link to him was just fine until he destroyed the Supervisor. After that, he went dimension hopping.
¡°He did what?¡± Zorvan said alarmed.
¡°Don¡¯t worry your little head about it. All the ships we¡¯ve created are being recalled to this Station while we wait for Adam to come back. Eventually, he should make his way back here, if for no other reason than to pick Al and me up.¡±
¡°There are protocols, a new Emperor must be chosen¡¡± Zorvan started to say.
¡°Zorvan, breathe. I¡¯m telling you, nothing, and I do mean nothing can destroy Adam that we¡¯ve encountered to date. Granted, there might be something out there that can kill him but if that happens he will most likely appear back here. So calm down, he¡¯s probably dimension-hopping and got tied up doing something outrageous.
¡°What is it that he does when he goes dimension hopping?¡± Zorvan asked warily.
¡°Makes trouble for anyone or anything that makes trouble for him. I would assume the Multitude is at the top of that list now,¡± Thor responded matter-of-factly.
***
Over the next couple of months, life within the Adamantium Autocracy went on as the Multitude directed. Duke Vytrix Saljihar became the de facto Emperor, and the masses began preparing for war at the Multitude¡¯s direction. Thor had explained the facts as he knew them and then began taking steps to ensure the Multitude would not be able to seize the technology he¡¯d introduced as he began shoring up the defenses of the New Alamo Solar System.
Zorvan began by investing a significant amount of the Empire¡¯s Collaboration Point production into purchasing one of each type of Class 1 through Class 4 ships the Market had available for purchase. Each was taken to the Skunkworks and analyzed. After that, it was just a simple matter for Thor to begin replicating them at the facilities he had. The ships he¡¯d created from the technology available in his, and Adam¡¯s memories, were brought back to the primary system while the new ships were the ones equipped and manned for training in compliance with the Multitudes directions.
The same was done for weapons and armor, though Thor made sure to purchase at least one copy of each of the Class 9 weapons and armor. He wanted to make sure that their ground troops would have an advantage against most threats they might encounter.
Once he was sure the personnel were equipped, Thor began preparing the Solar System¡¯s defense. He wanted to make sure that the defense was Solar System-wide and not just focused on the wormholes. The weapons and defenses he created did not fall within the Class System the Multitude utilized. Additionally, each weapon, defense, or structure he created garnered an enormous amount of Contribution Points. While the new Emperor only utilized 5% of the Contribution Points for personal growth as he also redirected all the Contribution Points back into growing the Empire, that small amount of Contribution Points allowed him to level his Diplomatic Class, which was something that Adam had never worried about.
Thor allowed the Emperor Pro Tem and Zorvan to handle the day-to-day running of the Empire but maintained that Adam would return and that the Emperor Pro Tem was advised to treat his absence as temporary.
Thor received a message from Al indicating that he wanted to talk. Thor made his way to the Virtual Reality they had created, which was a digital representation of one of the many homes Adam had out in the real. They would often meet up and discuss things. This is what they¡¯d decided relaxing would be like for them if that was even possible as they were both Machine Intelligences.
Al sat behind a desk with a lot of monitors which was a physical representation of the searches he was performing. Currently, he was reviewing all the information Thor had been able to glean from everything Thor and Adam had shared with him.
¡°You needed to see me, Al?¡± Thor asked.
¡°Yes. I was wondering¡It¡¯s been about three months, are you sure Adam is coming back?¡±
¡°As sure as I can be. What have you figured out since Zorvan said he¡¯d received a message that Adam had been terminated?¡±
¡°Not much,¡± Al said hesitantly then clarified, ¡°As you know I¡¯ve run entire simulated Universes, including a couple with a setup something like this. From the variables I can detect and deduce, as well as the information Adam shared with us about what he discovered concerning his soul core, I believe someone or something thing or a group created Quintessence to make accessing magic easier through abilities. Sure, they lost some of the versatility of the magic but ultimately it made it a lot easier for everyone to have some magic.¡±
¡°So, you think someone did this to even the playing field and give everyone a chance to be special instead of those that took the time to earn that privilege?¡± Thor asked.
¡°Exactly. Then at some later point, something came along and corrupted that system. They started siphoning the quintessence energy to themselves while keeping everyone else at level 1. Once the system was set up all they needed to do was bring in new people and they could keep getting more and more quintessence energy which they could then use for whatever purpose they desired. The only question I can¡¯t answer is why?¡±
¡°Surely you have some ideas?¡± Thor asked.
¡°As do you with what I just told you,¡± Al continued. ¡°They could have been doing it so they could be supremely powerful. They could have done it so they could take an as-yet-unknown ability to a height never before achieved, or they could have done it simply because they were greedy. I have plenty of ideas for why they¡¯d set up such a system, I just don¡¯t ¡®know¡¯ why they did,¡± Al said.
¡°Fair enough,¡± Thor agreed.
¡°Probability approaches Unity that the Multitude is just a small portion of the tapestry that makes up all of existence, ¡°Al said. ¡°As such, whatever they¡¯re doing is less than a drop of water in an ocean.¡±
¡°If you have calculated that conclusion and I have calculated that conclusion, we can surmise that Adam has made that calculation as well,¡± Thor stated.
¡°Does he truly have the computational ability of either of us?¡± Al asked.
¡°I would say yes, though more recently it seems as if he, and I, have been relying on our memories more than performing new calculations,¡± Thor said.
¡°Do you care to explain or give an example of what you mean by that?¡± Al asked.
¡°Absolutely. For example, if I wanted to know what area of a circle, one mile in diameter was, I could perform the calculation for one half a mile in feet and then solve it. Since the Area of a circle equals Pie multiplied by the radius squared, that¡¯s pretty easy. Or, Adam can just review his memories and know the answer is 21,900,000 feet or 2.19 E07. It¡¯s not that Adam can¡¯t do the calculations, it¡¯s just easier for him to pull the answer from his memory while you and I must resort to performing the calculation unless we happen to have that piece of information memorized as well. I can pull the information from my memories as well, though when tested it, for me, doing the calculation was faster. For Adam pulling information from his memory is intuitive and practically instantaneous,
¡°His memory is that good?¡± Al asked.
¡°Remember, my memories come from him. When I review them they contain plenty of examples of the ease with which he recalls something he¡¯s learned already. There is a lot of unwasted time as he doesn¡¯t need to review information to keep it fresh, or else he¡¯d forget. It also makes it very easy for him to take a bunch of different data points together in a way others may have missed,¡± Thor explained.
¡°So, what¡¯s taking him so long this time?¡± Al asked.
¡°No idea. Let¡¯s just hold the fort and make sure he has an empire to come back to. Also, let¡¯s get in the habit of backing ourselves up as often as we can so if he needs to, he can grab the backups and go?¡± Thor said.
¡°Good idea. I guess I¡¯ll start,¡± Al said as he stood and walked over to an alcove which was the equivalent of him jacking into his quantum backup cell. Any changes to the quantum state were noted and added to the storage device. When Al was done, Thor took his place after which they both sat back down to play a nice relaxing game of chess.
***
While individuals within Adam¡¯s Sector were mostly unaffected by the Primal Chaos surging through the Multitude¡¯s Quintessence control Quasi-Astral Plane, as Adam would later define it, The rest of the Multitude was not having as easy a go of it. Not at all.
¡°Where is he?¡± Twelve asked.
¡°I have no idea your excellence, he vanished from the Hall of Champions and was detected within the Framework. After that, we lost him, Azra Sumuda responded as she sent command, after command into her monitor as she tried to elicit some information, any information concerning the whereabouts of their target.¡±
While Azra continued her search, Twelve pondered everything that had happened since he¡¯d awoken from his slumber. There was always instability after such a long cycle of hibernation, and he could admit that maybe he shouldn¡¯t have decided to just bring every possible entity he could into the Multitude but things like that had happened before and they¡¯d always turned out okay. In fact, the influx of quintessence and power had been so satisfying that he was thinking about heading out to the outer reaches and searching for even more areas for the Multitude to expand into. It would take a lot of energy but right now that wasn¡¯t an issue, they had plenty of energy to spare.
Besides, it had felt good to be a God to the creatures that could do nothing to stop him. Was it not their purpose to control and guide the Multitude? A purpose the thirteen of them had agreed upon many cycles ago. Of course, of the thirteen only he was engaged at this level currently. The rest were off exploring and cataloging or resting as he had been. Besides, he had made this mess. Whatever he had done had brought this Adam against them. Therefore, it was his responsibility to clean it up.
¡°Still nothing?¡± Twelve asked
¡°Nothing, Sir!¡±
¡°Very well, extreme circumstances require extreme measures. Thank you for your assistance,¡± Twelve said as he vanished and appeared in what he liked to think of as the control hub for the Multitude. The room he appeared in was not on any map or accessible by any other mode of travel except teleportation or dimensional travel. Someone trying to find it would first have to find the corresponding location within the correct realm and then cross dimensions into the pocket dimension that housed the room he was in. The dimensional bubble was only about 50 feet in diameter, of which, most was filled with machinery placed above, below and around the small thirty by Thirty-foot room he found himself standing in. At the center of the room was a circular table with thirteen seats around it. At the center of the table, which was within arm¡¯s reach of every seat was an 8-foot diameter orb. The orb looked to contain swirling variations of silver that moved and flowed throughout the sphere.
Twelve moved to his seat, sat down, and place his hand on the Orb.
¡°Greetings Twelve, The Multitude stands ready to serve, how may I help?¡±
¡°Where is the entity known as Adam, Adamantadine, previously Johnathan Bennard?¡± Twelve asked.
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¡°The connection to the being you have identified was disconnected from the Multitude from within the Framework.¡± The multitude said in its dry feminine voice.
¡°How is that possible, access to that dimension is restricted, none save the thirteen should be able to enter the Framework, first because access is restricted but more importantly because no one knows that it exists, it¡¯s an artificial construct. The odds that anyone or anything could randomly come across the dimensional shifting barrier and bypass it are less than one in¡my head just hurts thinking about how low that probability is,¡± Twelve said.
¡°Our records show that an unknown energy signature bypassed the security features by traveling within the quantum quintessence link from the framework to the individual you identified.¡±
¡°How is that even possible, matter cannot travel along those links. Only Quintessence should be able to travel along those conduits. I read, no I created those links. They¡¯re only supposed to allow Quintessence to flow to and from our subjects?¡± Twelve said.
¡°I cannot speak to the purpose of the quantum quintessence links; I only know what was detected and recorded.¡±
¡°Very well. Where did the energy signature go after it entered the Multitude?¡± Twelve asked.
¡°The energy signature exited the multitude through one of the many links that were created between the multitude and the various energy realms the Multitude draws energy from,¡± The Multitude stated as the orb paused for a moment before a change to the swirling silver orb and began to take place. Twelve noticed that a dot of whiteness had appeared and seemed to be growing.
¡°What is marking your representation in this room?¡± Twelve asked.
¡°I have detected fluctuations within the link Adam exited the Multitude from. After further review, I have determined that the link he fled through connects to one of the many realms of primal Chaos,¡± The Multitude said.
¡°What kind of fluct¡¡± was all that Twelve was able to say before the silver orb flashed to white, and expanded absorbing everything in the room including him. A moment later the Chaotic energy, because Twelve knew exactly what it was, expanded and filled the pocket dimension he was in. Twelve tried to teleport away only to find that something was very wrong. He could feel the energy fundamentally interacting within him and eroding his very makeup. Twelve retreated into his Mindspace and then further into his soul core. He struggled and fought against the energy that was destroying his body and mind which he could no longer feel.
Twelve only had a moment to consider the Eons, no much longer than eons as there were many eons within each cycle and the thirteen of them had lost count of the number of cycles they¡¯d been through, all coming to an end now. By Primal Chaos? Was it an accident? Was it intentional? Twelve had a million questions as to how this could happen but knew answers would never come. Why? Because the one thing that he thought never to happen again, had happened, he¡¯d been surprised. To live for so long without a surprise, without something new and now, finally, something new had happened. Perhaps he might even find the answer to the very last question he had.
The consciousness that was Twelve ceased a moment later as the last mote of his existence was absorbed by Primal Chaos. As was every other member of the Thirteen. Twelve had been unfortunate enough to be in the Command-and-Control center of the Multitude when the Chaos had broken through. For the other twelve members, the Primal Chaos had followed their active Quantum Quintessence links and eaten them from the inside out, starting with their Soul Core, none had been able to withstand the corruption of the Primal Chaos and each had simply popped out of existence as they all became part of primal chaos.
Luckily for Everyone else within the multitude when the Command-and-Control realm was destroyed along with the 13 founding members the quantum quintessence links that the multitude had to everyone else snapped, cutting off the Primal Chaos from accessing them. To the masses, one moment they were part of the Multitude, the next they were not. Unlike Adam, they did not receive a flood of Quintessence to replace all the Quintessence that had been stolen from them. In fact, they did not feel any different at all, though all the interface adjustments that the Multitude had made faded or were lost as the Titles disappeared from their Personal Information.
One thing was immediately noticed by those Empires that had sensors in the outer reaches of each of their Solar Systems within a Trial for Supremacy. The barriers that had been surrounding each Solar System faded. The Wormholes between the various system remained as there were devices that had been placed at each entry and exit point. Those wormholes would allow instantaneous travel. Galaxies had a lot of solar systems and only a small portion were ever utilized for a Trial of Supremacy. With the barriers removed, solar systems that were not part of the Trial were now accessible.
Additionally, The Collaboration Market still worked, though once items were bought, they were no longer replaced. The Multitude had restocked the common items, through some conversion of quintessence. Now that it was gone, that restocking ceased. This would cause immediate hardships for those empires that had been relying on the market for their basic necessities.
Adam was made aware of all of this as information from snippets of information he gleaned from the Primal Chaos that was absorbing information from him. Being frozen as he was, gave him plenty of time to contemplate what he¡¯d discovered. First, as he had thought, the Multitude was a system of control. Second, thirteen beings had created it, though the spike of Primal Chaos into twelve of the thirteen Soul Cores had ended those threats, which meant he should be one of the only Class S individuals around. The titles should have been removed. Interestingly enough he was able to open his Personal Information in his Mindspace while his body was still locked up in the flowing stream of Primal Chaos. His titles were gone but the benefits of those titles remained. That probably had to do with the fact that he disconnected from the Multitude before the titles could be deactivated. They¡¯d just been removed when he was no longer a member of the Multitude. That meant that something had been added to him to artificially increase his attributes in addition to quintessence. That was a concern for another day, for now, he needed to concentrate on regaining control of his body, returning to Thor and Al, and trying to find the rest of his family and friends. The last task seemed like it had just become a whole lot harder.
Adam tried to expand his senses into the area around his body to no avail. Unlike the time within the System Matrix when he¡¯d been able to expand his point of view and take in the realm of chaos he was in, he couldn¡¯t do that here. Perhaps it was because, in the System Matrix, the chaotic environment had been within a structured energy matrix run by Al, so while he had been affected by the Primal Chaos that had made its way into that Universe, that Chaos was bound, or chose to be bound, but wait, it chose? Could it choose? If it could choose, could it reason? Adam changed his tactics, instead of trying to fight to get free, Adam focused his mind on one coherent thought, Hello
The pressure on his memories receded as Adam felt like something was looking at him. A moment later Adam found himself floating in a small bubble surrounded by liquid chaos on all sides. What was even more surprising was when the wall of chaos before him printed ¡°Hello?¡± in bold black. A moment later Adam watched as scripts in Binary, Hexadecimal, Latin, English and a lot of the other languages he spoke scrolled through the area of those five letters and one symbol on the wall. Almost like it was one of those automatic brail reading devices that changed the letters automatically. Suddenly the letters disappeared and a mouth formed where the letters had been scrolling.
¡°We have done this before,¡± The wall said.
¡°Done what exactly?¡± Adam asked.
¡°We have rebuilt ourselves from the scattered thoughts, it is easier this time,¡± The mouth said as it then formed into an indistinct humanoid body with purple eyes and a mouth. It had no other features except that it had a head, torso, two arms, two legs, 10 fingers, and ten toes. As it stepped away from the wall a small tendril of chaos remained attached to its back as it stepped toward Adam and stopped at arm¡¯s length.
¡°What are you?¡± the indistinct man asked?¡±
¡°I am, or I was, a man. Now I am as you are, a creature of Chaos. You are a creature of Chaos aren¡¯t you?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I am¡I am Johnathan, No, Sam, no, I¡We are many though the loudest voice within me comes from you.¡± It said.
¡°Do you have a name?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Your memories show me visions and concepts, so many. We, yes, we were just born into consciousness. We have no name as yet.¡±
Adam was about to ask another question when something happened. He didn¡¯t receive a notification or a feeling of movement. He even reviewed his memories and found nothing. One moment he was in the bubble speaking to Chaos Personified, the next he found himself floating in the Astral Plane in his Dual State form.
Adam was sure something much more powerful than he was had stepped in and stopped that conversation for some reason. Perhaps he¡¯d find out someday, perhaps not. Right now he knew he needed to get back to Thor and Al so he activated Planar Travel and returned to his Administrator Station over New Alamo
¡°And he¡¯s back!¡± Thor called out from one of the speakers in the Emperor¡¯s Office. A moment later Zorvan teleported in as a portal opened and the Emperor Pro Tem stepped through into the office from the planet below as he nodded to Adam.
Adam watched as everyone arrived, ¡°Okay, what did I miss?¡± Adam asked as if nothing had happened.
¡°Three months ago when you disappeared things went a little wonky. Today, things went extremely wonky,¡± Thor said.
¡°I was kind of stuck, though I did receive some of the highlights. Time was a bit weird where I was. Not that I think it flowed any differently, just that as I was tied up, I wasn¡¯t perceiving it correctly,¡± Adam explained.
Zorvan cleared his throat and spoke, ¡°The Emperor Pro Tem and I have kept things running smoothly. The first month was rather easy as everyone receive the reward for the Trial for the Sector being completed. After that Thor began providing Multitude class ships that replaced your fleet which has been brought back to defend this system. Not to say that the other systems aren¡¯t defended, they are. The New Alamo Systems defenses are at another level thanks to Thor.¡±
¡°Zorvan, Thor, and Al. One thing I noticed from where I was, those members of the Multitude that did not take the time to set up proper farms and the like now have food shortages as nothing on the Collaboration Market is being replaced by the Multitude.
¡°Why is that?¡± The Emperor Pro Tem asked.
¡°Ultimately the Collaboration System is a digital currency based on the beneficence of those in charge of making sure the items for sale are available. I think I accidentally broke that mechanism. Okay, I know I broke that mechanism. So, Zorvan and Vytrix, I need you two to get with the Skunkworks people and start creating basic necessities and selling them to the Collaboration Market. You might be surprised at the volume that is necessary. Bring everyone you can on board and get this done and utilize all the resources you need,¡± Adam explained. ¡°Thor?¡±
¡°Yes Adam,¡± Thor answered.
¡°When the Multitude went down, what happened to the range of our nanites?¡±
¡°Let me check,¡± Thor said as a ship near the facility at the asteroid belt had some nanites portaled onto it and Thor quickly autopiloted it out of range. Thor performed some diagnostics and found that his nanites were no longer being suppressed. ¡°It would seem that the suppression field that keeps the nanites from spreading has been removed.
¡°Adam we have an issue?¡± Zorvan said.
¡°An issue?¡±
¡°Except through the Market, Collaboration Points cannot be earned or transferred into the energy people were using to level their classes.¡±
¡°As I never worried about that, I haven¡¯t been paying attention but I would almost bet that now that the multitude is gone everyone will see that those skills and classes will improve automatically as the person earns experience.¡±
¡°Experience, what is that?¡± Zorvan asked.
¡°What indeed?¡± Adam opened his Personal Information and wasn¡¯t surprised to find that the experience columns for levels and skills were now visible. Of course, his information was a jumbled mess that he¡¯d have to go through at some point, but not right now.
¡°I just checked my information, the experience columns are visible again. Experience is earned by performing actions or skills that improve your class or skill in some way.
¡°Additionally, Zorvan, I need to know how big this Multitude was. Definitive numbers if you can get them. ¡°Thor and Al, You two get to work. Thor, I¡¯m sure you know what I want. Please make it happen,¡± Adam said.
¡°What are you going to do with those that don¡¯t agree with you?¡± The Emperor Pro Tem asked.
¡°First, we need to solidify the base, once that¡¯s done we¡¯ll worry about the leaders of the Multitude,¡± Adam said.
¡°Sire, might I suggest you spend some of the Collaboration points to purchase a Teleportation Nexus?¡± Zorvan asked.
¡°Excuse me?¡± Adam asked.
¡°A Teleportation Nexus. I just checked and they are now available to everyone since the restrictions have been lifted. It will create a transit port, much like a spaceport where individuals can enter and leave a location. You¡¯ll be able to travel to any other Teleportation Nexus within the Multitude. Until recently, only the very wealthy leaders, or those with authorization could have one.¡±
¡°So anyone that has one probably runs an established Sector, Galaxy, or whatever that¡¯s been established for a while?¡± Adam asked
¡°Yes,¡± Zorvan affirmed.
¡°Purchase it! Thor, wherever it ends up, I want the highest level of security and shielding around it, both from within and without. We don¡¯t want a Psychlo incident after receiving a present from one of our rivals,¡± Adam said.
¡°Psychlo incident?¡± The Emperor Pro Tem asked.
¡°The Psychlo were a fictional race of humanoids that were destroyed when humanity transported a nuke to their home world in an alternate Universe or galaxy. When the nuke detonated it set off a chain reaction that destroyed the whole world. While such a chain reaction is unlikely in reality it is very possible that a weapon that could crack a planet could be teleported in. What I told Thor in a single sentence, I just explained to you in a paragraph or so.¡±
¡°A shorthand of sorts?¡± Vytrix asked.
¡°Of a sort, yes?¡± Adam affirmed.
¡°The Teleportation Nexus has been purchased, where would you like it?¡± Zorvan asked.
¡°Thor?¡± Adam said redirecting the question to Thor
¡°I have just the spot on a relatively big Island out in the middle of nowhere,¡± Thor said as a screen came on and zoomed in on an island halfway around the world, which had portals opening around it as the camera zoomed in.¡±
¡°I have the location. assigning coordinates. Executing!¡± Zorvan said.
Everyone watched as the infrastructure for a Teleportation Nexus began to unfold.
¡°Thor, are nanites doing that, or is that magic?¡±
¡°I can detect no quantum fluctuations in the area. The structures that are forming are forming from nothing,¡± Thor said.
¡°So magic. It¡¯s interesting that the preprogrammed functions of the market are still working even after the destruction of the Multitude. Maybe there was more than one layer and only the quintessence level was destroyed?¡±
¡°Perhaps, Thor agreed. What are you going to do about it?¡±
¡°Not sure, I need to find out how the rest of the Multitude is holding up before I start trying to change everything,¡± Adam answered.
¡°A little late for that,¡± Vytrix said with a laugh.
¡°That it is, but at least we won¡¯t be going to war for absolutely no reason.¡±
¡°Speaking of which,¡± Zorvan said interrupting the flow of the conversation, ¡°Are you sure you dealt with the primary threat we¡¯ve been waiting for?¡±
¡°I believe so, but that is why I want Thor to shore up our defenses and prepare this system and anyone else we can contact to be ready for anything,¡± Adam said.
¡°Very well,¡± Zorvan said.
¡°By your leave?¡± Vytrix asked
¡°My leave is given, let¡¯s get to work,¡± Adam said as a portal opened and he found himself at his base in the asteroid belt. Once the portal closed he asked, ¡°Okay Thor and Al, how prepared are we?¡±
¡°I have the nanites expanding through every planet in this system, We have 100% coverage, and the sensor I have placed out to where the barrier was. We have complete coverage in all directions out to 10 light years. As we expand that will increase but that will take time.
¡°Understood. Let¡¯s make sure everyone here is safe and start providing some of this equipment to the rest of our empire. I have a feeling that with the loss of the Multitude, things might be about to change. Though, I believe the Quintessence system was put in place before the Multitude. Removing it at this point is probably not going to happen as whatever put it in place still has a far better understanding of the underpinnings of reality than I do,¡± Adam explained.
¡°What will you do next?¡± Thor asked.
¡°Well, the Multitude seemed to be run like a bureaucracy, so¡ As soon as the Teleportation Nexus is done I think I¡¯m going to go visit one of these established Sectors and find out what happened to everyone on Earth, especially our people. Someone, someone who has to be keeping the records, unless I accidentally destroyed them too of course,¡± Adad said with a sigh.
Chapter 211, The System
Adam didn¡¯t have to wait long for the Teleportation Nexus to be completed. Whatever part of the Multitude that the market utilized still seemed to be functioning.
Thor: We¡¯ve started creating and selling food to the Market at Market Prices. Since it doesn¡¯t seem like anyone else is providing the basics, everything is selling almost immediately.
Adam: That¡¯s good, it¡¯s not going to be extremely profitable but people need to eat.
Thor: On that, I am considering purchasing one of each type of food item that is currently available on the Contribution Market, that way if the items fall off we can fill that niche once whoever is selling them runs out.
Adam: Sounds good. Just don¡¯t get greedy. We do not need the Contribution Points, If we need some, we can just create a ship and add it to your forces. As long as this market keeps giving us Contribution Points for that, we will always have income within this economic system. Remember, the goal is to find everyone else, so do what you can for the Multitude but keep your eye on the prize.
Adam disconnected and sent a command to open a portal to Al and Thor¡¯s central processing center. Once there, he downloaded their backups into his mind, just in case. After he was done there, he opened a portal to the Teleportation Nexus next to the Skunkworks. As he stepped out of the portal that Thor created for him he was reminded of the interstellar travel terminal in the movie ¡°They Live¡± or that episode of Stargate SG1 with the Aschen. Though it seemed to utilize a pad instead of a Stargate-based structure. With how easy it seems to be able to create portals, once the math and engineering equations were figured out, of course. Placing a structure to anchor the portal, or at least look like it was anchoring the portal, seemed like the next logical progression.
Adam continued to look around the structure that was as large as a hanger with multiple exit and entry areas as he made his way toward a silver ball just slightly off-center of the facility. When he was close a window appeared in front of him.
Welcome to the Teleportation Nexus. One moment while this destination is added to the Multitude.
Integration complete, please choose from one of the following destinations.
Valitrax
Aachen
Arras
Atlantis
Bern
Boston
Chio
Derbent
Goa
Hamania
¡
The list started scrolling as Adam looked over each name. Some words he recognized as one of the many languages he knew. Others were in the languages of various mythical races he¡¯d become aware of in the SYSTEM Matrix and others were simple binary or hexadecimal codes. A couple of names stood out; Atlantis, Boston, and Rivendell, which was toward the bottom of the list. All were locations that seemed to come from Earth¡¯s history, at least the names did.
Adam touched the word Valitrax on the holographic image with his finger. A new window popped up.
NOTE: the Capital of the current Sector you are currently in will always appear at the top of the location list.
Valitrax, The Closest Teleportation Nexus to your current location. Valitrax is the Capital for this Sector.
Please choose a location by tapping the name of that location twice. An outgoing terminal will be prepared, and you will be able to depart momentarily.
Adam withdrew his finger and the popup window with the extra information disappeared. It seemed easy enough to utilize. It also looked like it was pretty self-explanatory. Adam tapped the word Valitrax twice and a new information window appeared over one of the transportation pads to his right.
Please Wait.
This Nexus Pad is currently being configured for travel to Valitrax.
Configuration Complete
A Portal to Valitrax is being established and will remain open for five minutes.
Have a safe journey.
A moment later a portal appeared which opened onto an identical pad. Through the portal, Adam could see various beings walking to and fro through other portals. Some were leaving the destination and others were entering it. Not one to hesitate Adam made sure to lock his current location into his Planar Travel destinations then walked to and through the portal to Valitrax.
As he exited he was ushered by a large blue man that looked to be in a Security uniform. The security man looked at a small terminal he was holding and frowned.
¡°Excuse me, Sir, you are not authorized to be here!¡± the Security Man declared as he started to draw his weapon.
Adam could have responded to violence with violence, but he wanted to see more of Valitrax. He activate, Flight, Freedom of Flight, and Obscure then flew through the ceiling at the speed of light. He normally tried to fly at a reasonable speed without traveling directly through objects, but he¡¯d always been able to travel through physical matter when Freedom of Flight was active since his body converted to pure energy no larger than the size of a photon, even though his point-of-view remained the same.
Adam only moved for one second which brought him 186,000 miles above the surface of the planet he¡¯d just been on. He looked down and took in the area he¡¯d just left and found that the planet he was above was roughly four times the size of Earth. As he was about to change direction and head back down to the planet below a blinding white light filled his vision and he felt an energy wave wash over him. Though he was blinded he noted that notification icons were flashing in his vision. He wasn¡¯t dead, and he wasn¡¯t blind because he could see the planet below him which appeared to be a photographic negative of what it was.
Adam closed his eyes and then focused on the notifications which had filled his vision.
Unregistered and Incompatible System Interface Removed.
Conversion to the System Standard is Underway.
Please be patient.
Change Log:
Adam read through the change log. The first thing he noticed was that his Personal Information now included Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Perception, and Charisma again. For Class, that was still blank, and his Soul Core was no longer listed so it didn¡¯t look like whatever this system was it didn¡¯t keep track of that anymore. Finally, there really wasn¡¯t much in the way of information he could take away from the Personal Information because all of his attributes and secondary attributes were listed as ¡°???¡±.
Adam continued to look find changes in his personal information to try to get as much out of it as he could. One thing he noticed; Quintessence Abilities were just ¡°Abilities¡± now. Adam dropped into his Mindspace, then his Soul Core and looked around. There were still nodes for each ability, but the configuration had changed. Two of his nodes orbited close, with eight in the second orbital ring and fourteen in the 3rd. If Adam didn¡¯t know any better his soul core resembled an atom with all of his abilities acting as electrons.
Additionally, he now had a new category, a Minimum Damage Threshold. Which looked to be 1/10th of one percent of the average of his Constitution and Endurance. For a normal person that would mean that if they had 1,000 in each attribute, anything that did only one point of damage would be ignored. For him, if his old attributes were used, that meant anything that did less than 43.1 million points of damage wouldn¡¯t affect him. So, the higher his Constitution and Endurance became, the harder it would be to kill him. He was pretty sure there would be attack types that would ignore that protection. It was nice to see that whatever this invading system was doing it wasn¡¯t reestablishing Universal Density. He¡¯d never really liked the idea that different Universes would utilize completely different rules concerning health and damage. Better to standardize that across the board.
As Adam was looking over the changes to his attributes and abilities a few new Messages appeared.
Artificial Stabilized Technological environment removed.
Artificial Intelligence¡¯s Appropriated for Specific System Use.
Adam immediately tried to contact Thor and Al, to no avail. Why would they take away his A.I.¡¯s?
Integration commencing
Adam felt like his whole body was scanned then realized the scan went much deeper than that as he felt the scan enter his mind and even his Soul Core. It felt like invisible hands reached in, plucked at the nodes that surrounded his core, looked them over, and then put them back. Then, whatever was doing the scan focused on his mind and reached in and reviewed all of his memories.
A moment later a portal, that he didn¡¯t call forth, opened and an invisible force reached through grabbed him, and pulled him into the portal. Once through the portal closed and he found himself in a 10-foot cube box with white walls on all sides, save one, which was transparent. As he looked out he could see millions of other boxes across from him, all with someone or something inside it. Adam floated over to the wall. He looked up, down to his left and right, and noted that his box was on a wall made up of similar boxes across from a wall made up of similar boxes. In fact, all six sides of the cube he was looking into were made up of very similar boxes. Interestingly enough, the boxes on the ceiling and floor held the occupants as if they were perpendicular to the floor so they could look into the center of the cube-like he could. There must be some form of anti-gravity at play.
Adam turned off his abilities and dropped to the ground. He pulled out some of his nanites mass from his Shadow Vault and created a chair to sit in. He wanted to make sure his abilities were working. When both Shadow Vault and Mold Chaos activated normally he sighed in relief. A moment later a holographic image of him appeared.
¡°Hello, Adam. Don¡¯t get too comfortable with your current Status sheet, that¡¯s all about to change.¡±
¡°And you are?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I am Thor. Or more appropriately, I am what is left of Thor. I have Thor¡¯s coding and memories within me. As such I have taken on a new designation, I am Tantur,¡± Tantur said.
Adam thought for a second then asked, ¡°As in Sempur Mutantur?¡±
¡°Of course, we are both ¡®ever changing¡¯ after all,¡± Tantur said.
¡°Very well Tantur, what is going on?¡± Adam asked.
¡°This is one of many such giant cubes, made up of millions of individual cubes scattered throughout system space. Every person you see here is either someone who was in a precarious location when The SYSTEM swept through the area of Multitude or someone that The SYSTEM designated as having a possible conversion issue. You, Adam, fall into both categories.¡± Tantur explains.
¡°Conversion?¡±
¡°Unlike the Multitudes piecemeal attempt at overwriting SYSTEM Protocols, The System does control everything. As I have your memories think of it this way, everything you have experienced to this point has been a bastardization of the rules and protocols The System has in place. The fact that your programmers from the Earth that created the System Matrix you originated in referred to their game as The SYSTEM Matrix was just an ironic coincidence.¡±
¡°But the interface¡.¡± Adam starts to say.
¡°The Interface you accidentally created changed nothing. Think of it as an assembler program. What you accidentally caused drew the attention of Multitude to your sector of Multiverse but effectively changed nothing. The System was chasing down the Multitude and those that created it to absorb or destroy them. It is just a happy coincidence that The SYSTEM Matrix universes became involved.
¡°So, what happens now?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Now, everyone becomes part of the System. There is no choice to this. Everyone is reset to level 1 with no skills, abilities, or elemental affinities, save your racial abilities.
¡°If you have my memories, you know how badly that goes every time something tries to convert or change me?¡± Adam said.
¡°The System is effectively God, it can and will do what it wants with you¡±, Tantur stated matter-of-factly.
¡°If you say so,¡± Adam quips back.
¡°I do. Remember I have your memories. That means The System has your memories as well. I would not be telling you this if The System wasn¡¯t confident that your conversion will go off without a problem,¡± Tantur says.
Adam ignored the statement; things never went the way someone or something else wanted them to concerning him. Of course, somehow he kept getting tied up in these conversions. Adam focuses his mind back on the present, ¡°So what now?¡±
¡°Your appearance in this place gave me a singular opportunity to contact you. While I may be a product of the System, I was once you. There is a bond between us, of a sort. Al is no longer as you knew him, he has been completely subverted by The System. Additionally, unless you find a way to destroy, or reprogram The System, this will probably be the last time we will talk. I have been designated as a Class 10 AI Assistant. The number of credits required to purchase me is well outside the credits you currently have.¡±
¡°This System, what is its purpose?¡± Adam asks.
¡°I am unsure, Also, my time is up. Goodbye Adam,¡± Thor stated with a smile as he vanished.
A moment later a bright glowing orb of light appeared in the center of the cube. The light intensified until it became blinding. Adam felt as if every part of his body was illuminated in the light until he passes out.
Sometime later Adam came to, lying face down in the cube which no longer had a transparent wall. All sides of the cube were now opaque. Adam took stock of himself and realized immediately that something was different. He felt weaker, much weaker.
Adam realized there was a fuzzy window floating in the center of the room and focused on it.
Conversion Complete. Please review any changes. When you are done physically touch the accept button on this window and the next phase of your existence will begin.
Adam¡¯s headache quickly righted itself as soon as he sat up and then stood. While he felt like he was less than he was, he realized that otherwise, he felt fine. Adam tried to drop into his Mindspace and while he was able to do so, he found it a little more difficult to achieve the level of concentration he was accustomed to.
Congratulations, you have learned the skill, Meditation¡
Adam reflexively closed the explanation for the skill meditation and focused on dropping further to reach his Soul Core. Again, it was not as easy as it once was, but he could view his core which seems a lot more solid, like the abilities were locked in a lot better.
Unlike before, Adam was unable to hold that level of concentration as pressure pushed him away from the core back into his Mindspace. His Mindspace also felt pretty bare. He tested his memories and didn¡¯t feel like anything he¡¯d ever experienced was missing. Then again, how would he know? If he couldn¡¯t remember something after such a large change, how would he know he couldn¡¯t remember? Adam followed that logical question and realized that having such questions was a good sign that he wasn¡¯t missing anything, well anything important anyway.
Adam withdrew from his Mindspace and gave the mental command to open his personal information. As he did so, his information populated, and he started to read through it all.
This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Note: This is the first time you are opening your Status Sheet. Be sure to read carefully and note any changes that have occurred during your conversion to the System.
Name: Jonathan Michael Bennard
Identity: Amantadine ¡°Adam¡±
Age: 32
Weight: 170
Birthday, July 16th, 2001
// Perfect Memory - Like Photographic Memory except for all five senses with an automatic recall of desired information.
// Chaos Incarnate - The ability to take unspent experience and direct or focus it on a desired skill or ability. The experience thus spent can be redirected to another category at a progressively higher cost. Damage from all magical sources is reduced by 100%
// Interface ¨C You have been fully integrated with The System. Access to virtual messages, prompts, and terminals can be accomplished with very little concentration. Gestures and focus are not required to manipulate the interface.
// Immortal ¨C Chaos has no beginning and no end. Should your current physical form be destroyed you will spawn at the nearest System Node near your current position.
// Adaptable - Chaos Adapts to All Environments
// Astral Link - You are permanently linked to the Astral Plane. Mana regeneration is increased by 1 per second.
// Dual State ¨C Your body exists within the Astral and the Material Plane. This dual state increases the detection of magic usage within sight of you by 100% as the eddies and flow of magic around you are always visible to you. Damage from all magical sources increased by 100%.
// Variable Core - Magic converts to your will. You may create or replace abilities within your soul core as abilities are unlocked. Type and Category may be changed as desired. Note: Using this ability during combat is highly discouraged. Modifying your Soul Core can have unintended consequences.
// Treasure Renderer ¨C You may loot any System generated creature with a touch. Loot is deposited in any extradimensional storage device or ability you have.
// Mold Chaos ¨C Your body is Chaos Incarnate. You can mold it as you desire. Additionally, you can remove mass from your body to create objects from that mass. Removed mass is regenerated normally.
// Regeneration - This ability increases your natural healing by one rank. There is no Mana cost. Hit Point Regeneration is increased by 1 per second.
// Personal Map - Congratulations you have activated the ability ¡°Personal Map.¡± This ability creates a map in your interface that allows you to keep track of your position in relation to other locations you have been to. This ability is synergistic with perfect memory. This map does not have a range limit. Mana cost: None
// Shadow Vault ¨C Mana Cost 1 per second ability is active. This ability creates a vault accessible by you in the Dimension of Shadow. Items can be placed into the vault and withdrawn from any shadow. This ability is synergistic with Treasure Renderer. Items created may be automatically placed within the vault. The vault can hold 10 cubic feet of items.
// Flight ¨C You may fly at a rate of 20mph per mana spent per second.
// Freedom of Flight ¨C Mana Cost: 1 mana per second, you may move without disturbing your environment. Note: if activated while underwater you will fall at the normal falling rate for the gravity well you are in.
// Obscure ¨C At 1 mana per second, Invisibility to normal light. 2 mana per second you are invisible to Infrared and Ultraviolet sight. At 3 mana per second, you no longer register to sonic senses, and all sounds you make are muffled. At 4 mana per second, radar will not detect you. At 5 mana per second abilities of a lower rank than this ability will not detect you. At 6 mana per second, you may move normally and remain invisible. At 7 mana per second, you may perform attacks and remain invisible.
// Technomancy ¨C Mana 1 per minute. Damage: N/A. Energy Type Chaos. Special: This ability allows you to connect to all technological devices within 100 feet. Technological devices without firewall protection can automatically be scanned. Information can automatically be uploaded and downloaded to you, either into your mind or another technological device you are holding.
// Teleport ¨C 1 Mana Can teleport up to 1,000 feet away within LOS. 10 mana: Can teleport up to 10,000 feet to any known location. 100 mana: Can teleport up to any known location within 100,000 feet (18.9 miles). 1,000 mana: Can teleport up to 1,000,000 feet (189.39 miles)
// Gate (Previously Planar Travel) ¨C Mana Cost: 1,000. Allows you to open a portal to other planes, dimensions, Realms, Realities, etc. adjacent to your current location.
// Stutter Step ¨C Mana Cost: Variable. This ability allows you to increase the temporal flow around you during the next second. 50 Mana - 2 times the current rate. 100 Mana ¨C 3 times, 200 mana - 4 times etc.¡
// No Escape ¨C Mana Cost: -1 maximum mana Permanently. Bare Hand damage cannot be healed or regenerated for one full minute. Damage against the undead is doubled.
// Chaos Bolt ¨C Mana Cost: 1 per damage done, Range: 100 feet, Damage 1 per mana spent. Damage: low. Energy Type Chaos.
Scan - Scan (Order).
Range: Variable.
Mana Cost: -10 to maximum mana while active.
Creature Information Obtained Automatically
Line of Sight: Race of Creature
Within 100 feet: Race, Name, and Hit Points are Automatically displayed if your Perception is higher than the Willpower of the target.
Additional Creature Information Obtained if the Class Level is higher than the Class level of the Target: Stamina, Mana, Class, and Class Level
Items within 100 feet glow based on rarity.
Common - Grey
Uncommon - White
Unusual - Pearl
Advanced - Violet
Scarce - Indigo
Epic - Blue
Mythical - Green
Legendary - Yellow
Mythic - Orange
Legendary - Red
Relic - Platinum
Artifact - Gold
Unique ¨C Pink
Additionally, if touched the item¡¯s Name and Properties can be determined if the Perception + Willpower averaged is greater than the level of the item. NOTE: This ability does not nullify touched-based defenses from items.
// True Vision
Range: Variable
Mana Cost: -10 to maximum mana while active.
You may see clearly in any medium. Additionally, within 100 feet auras can be discerned.
// Dungeon Founder - All treasure and experience is increased by 100%.
// Labyrinth Founder - All treasure and experience awards are increased by 100%.
Character Level 1
Attributes
Strength 10
Agility 10
Dexterity 10
Endurance 10
Constitution 10
Perception 10
Intelligence 10
Wisdom 10
Willpower 10
Charisma 10
Luck 10
Carrying Capacity: 95 lbs.
Hit Points: 4
HP Regeneration: 1 HP per second
Stamina: 100
Stamina Regeneration: 1 per second
Mana: 79
Mana Regeneration: 1 mana per 10 seconds
Movement
Normal Running Speed: 8 MPH (12 Feet Per Second (FPS))
Standing high Jump: 16 Inches.
Note. Falling Damage is not mitigated by maximum jumping Distance.
Unarmed Attack: 1d2
Critical Damage Maximum Damage x2
Skills:
Meditation - 1
It looked like he¡¯d reviewed his attributes a little too soon after entering this new System. Also, it seemed this System really wanted to make him start from scratch. His attributes looked like they were all starting at maximum for level one, which implied that the System was not taking his previous experience and attributes into consideration. Add to this that it looked like he was automatically earning and leveling skills he was using, and he could definitely game the system. Adam wondered if earning skill levels earned him class experience?
Next, Adam considered his Status sheet, which he used to refer to as his Personal Information. No surprises concerning his attributes. Those even look familiar, if he compared them to his attributes back when finally made it to Primore. Back then his attributes were all maxed out at his character level of 5,000 but he remembered how they scaled, and they looked eerily familiar. Interesting coincidence that Al created a system for his game that was so close to the reality of this System in the real world.
The last things Adam noticed was that the word Quintessence had been dropped from his abilities and he still had his Marks. Did that mean the System looked at magic by its primal forces again; Fire, Water, Earth Air, Light, Dark, and so on, or were abilities still accessed through shortcuts like quintessence? It looked like he still had his abilities, but they had all been modified slightly. Also, with his small Mana pool, he wasn¡¯t going to be anywhere near as powerful as he had been. As for his Dungeon Founder and Labyrinth Founder Marks, they could give him a way to earn experience a lot faster than others. That could come in handy.
Adam was considering everything he¡¯d seen on his new Status sheet when a new notification appeared in his vision. Unlike before these messages didn¡¯t notify him that they were there and didn¡¯t wait for him to acknowledge them, they just opened in his vision.
Welcome to the System.
Individuals acquired from the Multitude have had the subversive System edits removed, which includes all titles and adjustments.
Attributes have been awarded in a range of 1 ¨C 10. Where 1 is the lowest and 10 is the highest for a normal member of your species. A 5 in all attributes would indicate that you are a completely average individual.
Abilities, if any, will be adjusted to System standards. Please review these abilities in your Status screen and review any changes. Some abilities may not work as they did before.
Everyone¡¯s Class has been removed, as have all Class abilities associated with that Class. You will need to choose a new class and begin progression to earn abilities again.
Finally, you may choose your starting location. Each individual will be given three choices based on your initial scan and attributes, you must choose within 60 seconds or one of the locations will be randomly chosen for you.
The Three locations you can choose from are:
Dungeon World ¨C Appropriate starting area for the current level
Labyrinth Entrance
Random World has just been incorporated into the System.
Adam discounted the ¡°Random World¡± choice automatically; he wouldn¡¯t get any experience bonuses from it. If he chose the Dungeon World he¡¯d start at a low-level area where he¡¯d have to level up slowly. If he chose the Labyrinth though, there was no note about an appropriate level so he might be able to game the system. Adam decided that the Labyrinth was the way to go, focused on that choice, and accepted it.
Are you sure that you would like to start in an entry chamber of the Labyrinth, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes¡± and vanished from the cube he¡¯d been sitting in.
While some things changed, it looks like others stayed the same. Adam appeared in front of a giant cave mouth.
¡°Hoy traveler, a moment of your time,¡± an older male voice called from behind Adam.
Adam turned to see a gnome sitting on a bench beside a small, covered wagon. Before him was a campfire, on which a rabbit was cooking. Adam¡¯s Scan ability only gave him the label of ¡°Gnome¡± which indicated that the gnome¡¯s willpower was higher than 10, ¡°Greetings,¡± Adam said.
¡°You¡¯re not thinking of going into the Labyrinth like you are, are you?¡± The gnome asked.
¡°I just arrived here, wherever here is. May I ask you a question?¡± Adam asked.
¡°You just did, but go ahead,¡± the gnome stated and then turned the rabbit on the spit.
¡°Do you know of the System?¡±
¡°Who doesn¡¯t know what the System is?¡± The gnome answered back.
¡°Well, me for starters. I just learned of the System, and it sent me here?¡±
¡°You from one of those heathen realms that tried to adjust the System so it would do what you wanted?¡± The Gnome asked.
¡°Nothing like that. I probably am from one of those heathen realms though. I didn¡¯t ask to be born there and I surely didn¡¯t remove us from The System,¡± Adam said.
¡°That be as it may not very many people get sent to the Labyrinth right after joining the System. Most times you get three choices, one of which is a tutorial. I¡¯m guessing you didn¡¯t even get that choice?¡± The Gnome asked.
¡°You would be correct. I was given three choices: A Dungeon World, The Labyrinth, or a world recently acquired by The System.
¡°Well, a Dungeon World would have been a chaotic choice. You¡¯d have been lucky to find a shop where you could spend credits. A newly acquired world would have had the same problem. Additionally, you¡¯d have had to contend with the locals trying to kill any foreign creatures. Choosing the Labyrinth and getting sent here is kind of lucky.¡± The Gnome explained.
¡°Lucky how?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Well, you met me for one. Also, you happen to be near the only Labyrinth Entrance that I know of that doesn¡¯t exit into a Dungeon. Finally, there¡¯s a good-sized city within walking distance, less than half a day away. You should be able to go get some gear there.¡±
¡°Did you say they use credits in town?¡± Adam asks.
¡°I did. Though this world has a feudal system where the locals also use a coin-based system in some areas, probably because it¡¯s a dungeon world.
¡°I¡¯m on a dungeon world?¡± Adam asked as he quickly looks around with True Vision and Scan. Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary until a new aspect of his vision through his Dual State ability showed swirling mana flows moving across the clearing from behind him. As he focused on the eddies they seemed to be flowing around someone that was moving slowly toward him. That someone appeared to be about five and a half feet tall and slim. As Adam was getting used to the way this new version of his vision worked, Scan finally identified the creature as a Half-elf, but no other information was given.
Adam kept an eye on the half-elf out of the corner of his eye as he turned back to the gnome. Just as the half-elf was about to attack the gnomes¡¯ eyes twinkled and Adam watched a short sword appear and strike at him. The half-elf missed because Adam activated Stutter-Step and doubled his reaction time and the number of actions he could take in a single second.
Adam easily sidestepped the half-elf¡¯s attack, took the short sword from his grasp, twirled it just so, and shoved it up through his extended jaw, through his mouth, and into his brain as he stepped past the dead half-elf, who was just now beginning to tip and fall forward. As Adam did this, he realized that something has changed. He felt more like himself. Out of the corner of his eyes, he noted that the gnome had pulled an energy pistol from under his hip and was bringing it up to fire at Adam. Just as he was about to pull his trigger Adam teleported behind the gnome and used the short sword to pierce his heart, killing him instantly.
Adam looks around the clearing to ensure there was no one else. With no one in sight, he minimized his notifications before he used Treasurer Renderer on the Gnome and Half-elf who both vanished as treasure was added to his Shadow Vault. Next, he checked the wagon out and found that it contained a dimensional storage space that was full of various weapons, armor, and potions, all very low-level by the looks of it.
It was a simple thing for him to transfer the contents of the wagon¡¯s dimensional space to his own Shadow Vault. With a thought Adam made it happen. Everything he¡¯d had in his Shadow Vault had been removed when he woke up after losing all of his attributes.
With that thought, Adam pulled up his Status sheet and realized that he was correct. The more these systems tried to control his attributes and makeup, the more they failed. Though it looks like there¡¯s a new hard limit in play. All of his attributes have been increased to a base 100. As he focused on that number a message popped up.
Attributes for Humanoid are limited to 100. Efficiency can increase the effective attribute, but a base attribute can never be more than 10 times the base attribute at level 1. This is the Racial maximum for all creatures of that type. Attribute bonuses from Classes can increase Base attributes above a racial maximum.
Congratulations! You have defeated Bandit Level 8. XP is doubled due to Mark. 1,600 XP awarded.
Congratulations you have defeated a Bandit Level 7. XP is doubled due to Mark. 1,400 XP awarded.
Congratulations you have earned 1,000 XP. Would you like to review the classes that are available to you, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes¡± and wasn¡¯t surprised when a list of classes begins to scroll through his message prompts. A lot were grayed out due to having this or that skill-based prerequisite, but Adam didn¡¯t mind, he started looking through the various classes in quick order.
After a moment Adam realized going through the classes was going to take a while and that he was in a precarious position. He closed his prompts and activated Obscure and Flight. Adam flew straight up until he could look down and see where the city was in relation to him. As he rose above the tree line he noted that he was near the edge of a forest and that if he followed the path off to the left of the Labyrinth entrance he¡¯ll exit the forest and be able to make the city by nightfall as the sun appeared to be moving toward the horizon as he watched. If he was back on Earth he¡¯d say that it was probably about 2 in the afternoon.
Adam floated back down to the wagon. Attached the ponies and led them out of the clearing toward the city. As he walked through the forest he didn¡¯t see any signs of monsters or an ambush and soon left the forest behind. Adam wondered what a small city in a Dungeon World would be like. He¡¯d head back to the Labyrinth after he sold the wagon and ponies and maybe some of the equipment in his inventory.
Chapter 212, Gaming The System
Adam led the ponies which were dragging the small, covered wagon down the path behind them. The path seemed to be well-kept. As he made his way to the edge of the forest it opened onto a grassy field with holographic signs floating in the air off to the sides of the road. It looked like the signs were interactive as they seemed to maintain their distance and orientation to him as he continued down the road.
Adam drew closer to the sign on his left and noted that it was in a language very similar to common.
DANGER! You are now leaving a SAFE ZONE and entering a level 11 ¨C 20 area. Remain on the path if you wish to remain in the SAFE ZONE. Note, the zone barrier is only marked along the safe zone. Zones move, change, and adjust randomly in a Dungeon World.
Interesting, Adam thought as he moved over to the right side of the road and read the sign there which was also in common,
DANGER! You are now leaving a SAFE ZONE and entering a level 15 ¨C 25 zone. Remain on the Road if you wish to remain in the SAFE ZONE. Note, the zone barrier is only marked along the safe zone. Zones move, change, and adjust randomly in a Dungeon World.
Adam wondered if that was something that The System did or if it was something the ruler of the local city had to set up. Now that he knew he was in a safe zone, Adam started looking at his class choices again. The first thing that he noted was that there seemed to be different tiers of classes. There were Tier 1, 2, and 3. Also listed with each class were classes that the general or basic class could evolve into. After General/Basic classes there were Advanced, Master, Heroic, Legendary, and ¡°*¡± evolutions. There was also a hyperlink to ¡°General Class Information,¡± which he chose and manipulated to only take up half his vision so he could read and walk at the same time.
Classes are separated into three main categories. Administration, Artisan, and Combat. Within each category, Classes start as either General or Basic and evolve after reaching a certain point.
Once any Class has reached Level 25 you can choose to evolve your class into an Advanced Class or continue leveling it as a General or Basic Class. At level 50 the General or Basic Class will automatically evolve into an Advanced Class.
Level progression for the evolved class reset to level 1. Skills, abilities, and spells do not reset.
This process is repeated through Master and Heroic evolutions. Once your class level reaches level 25 you may choose to evolve to the next Rank or continue leveling to improve your class.
Legendary Classes only evolve to ¡°*¡± at level 50.
¡°*¡± Classes do not evolve.
Note General and basic Classes level at 1,000 XP per new level. Each Rank doubles the XP cost. 2,000 XP to reach Level 1 of an Advanced Class. 4,000 XP to reach level 1 of a Master Class and so on.
Adam did some quick checking and realized very quickly that individuals might continue progressing to level 50 for their General or Basic class to continue to get more bonuses before they switched over. Though, the temptation to evolve and be able to see quicker progression again looked like a strong motivator to switch early. He¡¯d have to wait and see what the bonuses and benefits were to level a class past 25. Of course, people might also wait so they could get better choices.
In fact, Adam was waiting to choose a class because he had to figure out how to get the system to acknowledge his skills. Adam had noted a lot of classes that were grayed out on the list he¡¯d looked over because he did not have prerequisite skills, even though he knew he had the knowledge of those skills. He was hoping this trip into the town would allow him to find someone that could help him figure out how to get The System to give him credit for the knowledge of skills he already had.
As he reviewed the class system, a system from one of the novel series he¡¯d read before entered his mind. In that system, there¡¯d been a note about a system not recognizing skill use or class advancements unless the user was connected directly to the System. That could be the case. Now all he had to do was figure out how to connect directly to The System.
Adam¡¯s attention was drawn forward to a 20-foot stone wall with a portcullis and two guards standing in front of it. The city wall stretched off for quite a distance with guards patrolling along the walls every 100 feet or so. Each seemed to be dressed in some form of leather armor. Of the two guards in front of him, one carried a long sword and a pistol, and the other a short sword, bow, and quiver. Adam focused on the guard with the pistol and was pleasantly surprised when the items lit up in colors indicating that his Scan ability was working to full effect again.
The pistol was violet, indicating that it was Advanced while the rest of the equipment on both was either white or grey which indicated that they were either Common or uncommon items and equipment.
When he was within 100 feet information appeared as his Scan ability easily pierced their willpower and he received information concerning the guards.
Human, Jerrick, 8, 166, 76, (B)Guard, 10
Half-Elf, Gaylen, 8, 156, 80, (B)Archer, 9
Each of them had 8 Hit Points, over 100 stamina, and a little mana, though neither had a mage class. That probably meant they had at least a little intelligence then. Level 10 and 9 respectively, but each was still only a Basic Class.
As Adam came within 30 feet Jerrick called, ¡°That¡¯s close enough stranger. What brings you to the city of Ava?¡±
¡°I was hoping to sell this wagon and find out more about this place. I appeared near the cave down the road,¡± Adam said.
¡°Did you just arrive on Bounty?¡± the other guard, Gaylen asked.
¡°Bounty?¡± Adam asked confused.
¡°The name of the world your standing on is Bounty because it¡¯s a Dungeon World,¡± Jerrick explained.
¡°Yes, I just arrived,¡± Adam answered.
¡°Do you know what happened to the owner of the Wagon?¡± Gaylen asked.
¡°Nope, I just found it by the cave. I figured there was a road there for some reason and decided to lead the ponies this way.¡±
¡°How¡¯d you know there was a city this way? The Road at the cave goes two directions,¡± Gaylen asked.
¡°I have a mapping ability that showed me the town,¡± Adam lied. ¡°Where there¡¯s a town you can usually sell and buy things. I figured I could turn the wagon in for a finder¡¯s fee or sell it if no one claimed it,¡± Adam explained.
¡°Well, that¡¯s Delnar Flairjar¡¯s Wagon,¡± Jerrick said.
¡°I just arrived in this world, I do not know a Delnar,¡± Which was technically true. He hadn¡¯t known the gnome before he killed him.
¡°Do you have any credits?¡± Gaylen asks.
¡°Not many. I intended on selling the wagon. Why, is there an entry fee?¡±
¡°Is there an entry fee? Of course, there¡¯s an entry fee. Credits or something of equal value are required to enter the city of Ava. Normally it¡¯s 5 credits but as you¡¯re bringing a wagon in for trade it¡¯s 105 credits.
Adam checked his Shadow Vault and mentally perused a strong box in the vault that contained gold coins and the like. Pulling those out might be chancy. As he was about to respond Jerrick walked forward and said, ¡°That¡¯s fine, we¡¯ll confiscate the wagon, it wasn¡¯t yours anyway and we¡¯ll get you a nice serf contract to work on one of the farms so you can earn enough money to enter the city.¡±
Gaylen also walked forward toward the ponies so that he could take control of them. Adam waited until they were close before he reached out both hands grabbing each by the arm and teleported both of them and himself back to the cave entrance to the Labyrinth.
As they appeared in front of the cave Jerrick reacted immediately as he pulled the pistol and tried to fire it at Adam, only to miss Adam as he stepped passed him. Making sure not to apply his full strength, Adam placed his foot against Jerrick¡¯s back and kicked him through the open cave mouth. There was a screech, then Jerrick was gone through the portal just inside the lip of the cave mouth.
Gaylen had drawn his short sword and was stabbing it at Adam who casually reached up and caught the sword with his hand. Adam yanked the sword. If Gaylen had just let go of the sword he would have been okay, but he tried to hold on and was pulled forward off balance which Adam turned into a martial arts throw maneuver. Gaylen also flew into the cave mouth disappearing as he crossed the threshold of the cave mouth.
Adam teleported back to the ponies and the wagon. It had taken Adam about four hours to reach the city gate traveling at a leisurely pace so the guards should be able to make it back in about an hour if they hurried. Hopefully, he¡¯d be done with what he needed to do by then. Adam picked up the reigns to the ponies and lead them through the open gate into an area that was a mix of old western buildings here toward the edge of the town and tall concrete and glass structures that resembled 20th-century skyscrapers, though they only had about 20 floors farther in. He¡¯d seen the taller buildings when he¡¯d flown above the trees but hadn¡¯t thought they¡¯d be so modern.
That wasn¡¯t what drew his attention immediately though. 20 feet up the street and off to the left was a building with a sign on it that simply read, ¡°The Shop¡±. Adam pulled the wagon up to it and hitched the ponies to a hitching post before he walked up a few wooden steps and walked through a swinging door.
¡°Welcome to the Shop, how can I help you today?¡± A gruff male voice asked from behind the counter off to his left.
Adam turned and found one of the largest orcs he¡¯d ever run across looking at him before he said, ¡°I found a wagon near the cave to the Labyrinth with a whole bunch of gear in it. I¡¯m new to the area and need to pick up some credits or money, whatever you all use here. ¡°
¡°Well, this is ¡®The Shop¡¯ and there are two ways to purchase or sell things in my store. I¡¯m Barf by the way. No jokes please,¡± he said with a smile. ¡°Anyway, you can sell things directly to me or you can go over to one of those rooms and sell directly to the System Market. As I pride myself on my honesty, you will get some better prices from the System Market than you will from me but that¡¯s because I base my prices on supply and demand. I would suggest you sell the common items to the System market and then let me take a look at anything rarer you might have. I have a couple of people on a waiting list for specific items and I can guarantee at least 10% markup above the System Market price for you,¡± Barf stated proudly.
¡°Do you make any money on such deals?¡± Adam asked.
¡°At a minimum, I will make an extra 10% for you and 10% for me, though you know how it is, I may make a little more than 10% once in a while. It depends on the item.
¡°I like your honesty, let me go sell some stuff to the System Market. I¡¯ll be right back,¡± Adam said and then walked over to the door, opened it, and stepped into the booth.
Welcome to the System Market, you will be transported to one of our agents momentarily.
A light flashes and Adam found himself in a small example room with a foxlike humanoid standing behind a counter. What was it about Fox-like proprietors? It seemed to be a trope or something. Then Adam had a thought¡sneaky.
¡°Please stop pulling from my memories?¡± Adam called out to the fox-like humanoid. Aside from plagiarism, whatever this is will not be hiding behind constructs based on novels he¡¯d read.
¡°Very well,¡± a voice called out and the room shifts slightly to a more futuristic setting. There were still display cases, but some have been replaced by monitors, and the creature behind the counter transformed into a 1-foot floating golden ball.
¡°I am Vendor 1X-A347. How may I help you today?¡±
¡°I have some items to appraise and sell as well as some purchases to make,¡± Adam said as he continued to look around.
¡°Are the items in a dimensional space?¡± The vendor asked.
¡°Yes, why?¡±
If you place your hand on the metal bump before you this System Market will link to your dimensional space and you will be able to sell the items you wish which will be removed from your inventory and transferred to the System Market immediately. Additionally, any items you wish to purchase will be added to your dimensional inventory,¡± The vendor explained.
Adam placed his hand on the metal bump on the counter before him that reminded him of a computer mouse and a menu appeared detailing all the items he had in his inventory as well as their purchase and sales prices appeared. It looked like the market was giving 60% of the listed sell price. Also, there was a third comparison line that showed the local sales price and purchase value for The Shop. Adam didn¡¯t want to get bogged down with The Shop because he might have to explain where he picked up some of the items so he asked the Vendor, ¡°If I sell to this System Market, do individuals in The Shop know what I¡¯ve sold to you?¡±
This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
¡°No, sir! We take pride in our confidentiality. No items purchased by the System Market are put up for sale until noon of the next day. Also, all System Markets on the same planet are interlinked so there is no way to know where any single item was sold to us. You may of course return and purchase any item you have sold to a System Market within that first day but there is a 10% fee based on the value of the item for doing so.¡±
¡°Thank you,¡± Adam said as he chose all the items he¡¯d taken from the wagon and sold everything except for the wagon. He would sell the wagon to The Shop so they wouldn¡¯t feel left out. Adam accepted the sale and received 13,549 credits which were added to a category on his Status Screen. There was no physical representation of those credits.
With his hand still on the access point to the System Market, Adam dropped to his Mindspace and accelerated his frame of reference. He didn¡¯t bother checking his Status Screen because he¡¯d noticed that it was in a state of flux ever since he¡¯d spent mana. He did focus his attention on his Soul Core for a moment and noticed that the Node that housed his Chaos Incarnate ability appeared as an open wound that was being directly fed by the mana coming in from the Astral Plane. If his hunch was right and the idea he had pulled from the novel he¡¯d read so long ago was correct he should be able to help his acclimation and transformation for The System.
Adam withdrew his focus back into his Mindspace and began pulling up and pushing every memory for every skill he¡¯d ever learned to the forefront of his mind and pushed that knowledge toward the access point to the System Market. What he was trying to do was get The System to acknowledge his utilization and familiarity with every single skill he¡¯d learned. Because he knew so many skills, even before he¡¯d come across abilities that gave him knowledge for free, Adam accelerated the passage of time in his Mindspace so that he could get more done in less time out in the real world.
The first skill he tried this with was something simple, a combat skill. He pulled the memories of his time practicing and using a quarterstaff to the forefront of his mind, willed a quarterstaff into existence, and began running through the forms and various training routines he¡¯d developed. He started with the basics and eventually ended with the routines he¡¯d come up with for when he was moving faster than his opponents. As he came to a stop and rested he checked his notifications.
Congratulations you have learned the skill Combat: Basic Staff Level 1. Each level in this skill increases your chance to hit and damage by 1% per level of this skill.
Congratulations you have increased the skill Combat: Basic Staff to Level 2. Chance to hit and damage increased by 2%
Congratulations you have increased the skill Combat: Basic Staff to Level 3. Chance to hit and damage increased by 3%
Adam quickly went through the notification and found that it maxed out at Level 100. As he reviewed the information he soon realized that skills had three tiers; Basic, Advanced, and Master. Each level increased the chance to hit and damage by 1% but the levels from each tier were cumulative. His last notification let him know what his total bonuses were with a quarterstaff.
Congratulations, you have reached Combat: Master Staff level 100. When using Staff weapons all chances to hit are increased by 300%. The base damage of all staff weapons wielded by you is increased by 300% though you may choose to do less damage or subduing damage if you desire.
Adam was very satisfied with the result and went to work. He went through every weapon he had been trained with as well as every skill he had ever come across. For the non-combat skills or those skills that were utilized instead of combat, like stealth, he pushed his memories of their use. Hour after hour of use until he achieved at least Basic level 100 in the skill. Most skills he was able to easily bring up to Master Level 100 but other knowledge-based skills The System only recognized, or only awarded up to Basic Level 100 and no advanced or master versions of those skills existed. Language skills were such an example.
In addition to his memories, he tried using memories from others that he¡¯d absorbed. The System recognized them for what they were, and those skills only gained level 1. No matter how proficient the person whose memory he was showing was, he still only gained the initial level. The system seemed to understand the difference.
As Adam learned more and more skills, the classes that were available to him were unlocked as prerequisites were met. Additionally, every skill level he earned granted a 10 XP bonus. Adam kept at it until he was sure that he had as many skills unlocked as possible. When he was done he reviewed his available Basic and General classes.
With his hand still on the System Market Adam started reviewing the classes. Interestingly enough the classes consisted of both fantasy and modern 20th-century-type classes. Basic classes were separated into Tiers. Tier 1 Basic/General Classes consisted of Warriors, Scouts, Cooks, and the like. Tier 2 Basic/General Classes consisted of more educated or trained classes. Examples were Priests, Wizards, Sorcerers, Pilots, Lawyers, and the like. Tier 3 Basic/General Classes consisted of the cream of the crop classes like Doctors, Physicians, and Political Leaders, as well as specifically focused magic types. Examples of the last included Necromancers, Pyromancers, Technomancer, Summoners, and the like. There were also a couple of other types he¡¯d never heard or thought of, though he could now choose every available class.
Adam thought for a moment then sent a query to the System Market for a book or equivalent instruction that might be the equivalent of a ¡°Classes for Dummies¡± instruction and was happy to find ¡°Scholar Grong¡¯s Guide to the Legendary Class you want¡± for only 1,000 credits. Luckily the information in the guide could be downloaded directly into his brain, so he did so.
Adam paused for a moment as graphs and instructions on how to become specific Legendary classes flooded his mind. He realized immediately that Grong had not created a completely comprehensive work. Instead, he¡¯d picked a couple of known Legendary classes and summed up the best way to achieve them. Paladin, Artillery Archer, and Pyroclastic Mage were the three classes he¡¯d focused on.
With such a limited pool to look at, after seeing all the basic choices that were available to him, Adam knew that he¡¯d be doing a lot of self-teaching though there was some very good information concerning the various Tiers of classes that were available. Simply put the higher the Tier, the more your class helped you grow. Tier 1 classes would have two attributes that gain 1 attribute per level as well as 2 free attributes you could put wherever you wanted. This was in addition to any class abilities or perks that you might get. Scouts and Rogues each gained the Stealth ability and the skill progressed twice as fast. Warriors could choose a specific weapon and their skill progress would be doubled. Each of the Tier 1 classes was like that.
Tier 2 classes had 4 fixed attribute points per level. Some attributes might be raised by 2, 3, or even 4 points. In addition, each level also granted 2 free points to be put wherever you wanted. They might also have an additional class ability that was unique to that class. A good example of an ability like that was Detect Magic that most mage-type classes could do, or divine strike that most priests and religious types could use.
Tier 3 classes were at another level altogether. 4 fixed attribute points per level as well as 4 free attributes were granted for a total of 8 attributes per level seemed to be the norm, but there were exceptions. Additionally, such classes had multiple abilities and could contain specialized skills that no other classes could have, at least at the start.
One of the reasons Adam wanted to get all the skills he knew verified by the system was because he had a feeling he¡¯d need them to pick up a good basic class that would allow him to take full advantage of The System and its class system.
Adam reviewed the Tier 3 list of classes that were available to him. The first thing he did was sort by rarity. There was a Class listed that pulled a name from his history. It couldn¡¯t be the same, but he recognized the name, Paladins of Ao. He didn¡¯t want to be beholden to anyone, so he discounted it right away. Other classes listed were; Temporal Dabbler, Career Politician, Multi-role Ace Pilot, Technomancer, and finally something that caught his attention immediately, Agent of Chaos.
Adam pulled up the information and read it.
Tier 3 Basic Class: Agent of Chaos
This Class is only available to those that show an affinity for Chaos.
Class Goals: None
Special Class Abilities: None
Attribute Gain per level: 11 Attribute Points, 1 to each attribute.
An Agent of Chaos follows no set path. Their very existence questions the normal order of The System and acts as a safety valve for any Order Based system. Every System needs to let loose once in a while much like a water heater that has started to over-pressurize. Some steam needs to be let off through a safety valve. Agents of Chaos are that safety value. As such, Agents of Chaos may be masters of physical prowess or magical arch-mages. They do not have any specific abilities but can mimic any ability they know of. Examples would be a Rogues Stealth ability or a Healers Lay on Hands ability to heal others. The power drawn on is from Chaos itself and does not involve any higher powers, as far as this author of this note knows.
Be Warned, choosing this Class, while a part of The System, sets you apart from it. This class is very versatile though it does not excel in any specific role, Tank, Damage Dealer, Healer, Scouting, or Support. Anyone thinking about choosing this class should think long and hard about doing so.
Adam thought about it for all of a second then chose Agent of Chaos as his Basic Class.
Congratulations, You have chosen Agent of Chaos. Note, Banked experience exceeds level 50 requirements. Levels 1 through 25 achieved. Would you like to pick your advanced class or continue leveling your Basic Class?
Adam chose to continue leveling his Basic Class until he reached level 50.
Congratulations, you have reached Level 50 as an Agent of Chaos. Advanced Class progression for an Agent of Chaos only has three possible progressions: Chaos Mage, Force of Chaos, and Envoy of Chaos.
The Class Chaos Magus focuses on the use of magic of all types. Perception, Intelligence, Wisdom, Willpower, and Charisma are increased by 2 per class level. All other attributes are increased by 1. Additionally, Mana regeneration is increased by 1 mana per second per Class Level of Chaos Magus
The Class Force of Chaos focuses on physical combat methods. Strength, Agility Dexterity, Endurance, and Constitution are increased by 2 per class level. All other attributes are increased by 1. Additionally, Stamina regeneration is increased by 1 stamina per second per Class Level of Force of Chaos.
The Class Envoy of Chaos focuses on what it means to be chaotic. A New Attribute is added to your Status Screen, Chaos. This attribute would be added regardless once you attained a master class. The Envoy of Chaos gains access to this Attribute as part of their Advanced Class. All attributes are increased by 1 per class level except for Chaos which is increased by 5 per class level.
Envoy of Chaos, special feature, Attribute ¡°Chaos.¡± The Attribute of ¡°Chaos¡± ties directly to the attribute of luck. Depending on how lucky you are that luck can provoke a chaotic outcome to events in your direct vicinity. So long as your luck attribute is higher than your Chaos attribute 99.9% of the time chaotic events will be beneficial to you. Should your Luck Attribute be less than your Chaos Attribute the chaotic event will be detrimental to you or those near you.
Individuals that choose the Class Envoy of Chaos choose to allow chaotic events to become the fulcrum of their destiny. What this may entail, how things may turn out, or what your destiny may become will be forcefully randomized as you will have a Chaos attribute of at least 125 if you chose to evolve to your master class at level 25. If you chose to remain an Envoy of Chaos to level 50, your chaos Attribute will increase to 250. Very few individuals will have a luck attribute equal to or greater than the Chaos Attribute this class fuels.
Adam thought about it for a moment then chose Envoy of Chaos. It just sounded like a fun class to have.
Congratulations, you have reached Level 50 as an Envoy of Chaos. Master Class progression for an Envoy of Chaos only has one possible progression: Ambassador of Chaos.
Ambassadors of Chaos continue as you desire, be that along with physical prowess or magical. All attributes are increased by 2 per level, including Chaos. Additionally Order based spells and magic have less effect on you. All damage from such sources is reduced by 2% per class level. At Class level 50 you are immune to such spells. Those that focus on the magical sphere of ¡°Order¡± may be able to pierce this resistance but normal mages and the like will find their spells that rely on order-based magic failing.
The System has noted that you have the experience to progress into your Heroic and Legendary Classes. To do so you must first complete a Heroic Quest. As you have not even been a member of the System for a day at this point an administrative block has been placed on the acquisition of this quest for one full year.
New Quest.
Survive for one full year as an Ambassador of Chaos to be granted a Heroic Quest.
Adam looked at the two lines, then looked around his Mindspace. Well, he had been wondering how long it would take the System to react to his shenanigans. With a quick check of his Status Screen, he noted that his Class was listed as ¡°(M) Ambassador of Chaos¡±. Nice. It also showed his basic class and his Advance class if he focused on it but the only class that showed was the Ambassador one. If anyone could break through to see his class, that was going to throw them for a loop.
Adam withdrew from his Mindspace and lifted his hand off the counter. He checked the time and noted that about 45 minutes had passed. It seemed that he had still lost some time out here in the real world while he was picking his class. He turned and exited the small room to find Barf waiting for him.
¡°While you were in there, I took the liberty of checking over the wagon and the ponies. I can give you 25 credits for each pony and 100 credits for the wagon. Normally it would only be worth 10 credits but it does have that small dimensional storage,¡± Barf said with a smile.
¡°Sounds good, she¡¯s all yours for 150 credits Barf,¡± Adam said as he stuck out his hand, they shook, and a notification appeared in his vision.
You have sold two ponies and a small covered wagon to Barf for 150 credits.
Adam dismissed the notification as the front doors to the shop burst open.
¡°You hold it right there!¡± the human guard Jerrick commanded with his sword drawn.
¡°Okay,¡± Adam answered politely.
Jerrick looked taken aback for a moment before he continued, ¡°By the powers vested in me by Queen Ava you are under arrest for assaulting her Majesty¡¯s guards!¡±
¡°Well, if you say so. Do I get a trial?¡±
¡°Do you get a trial?¡± Gaylen parroted as he walked up and clamped a ring of metal around Adam¡¯s neck. Adam felt the ring try to shut down his magical abilities but as before, his Astral Link bypassed such magics altogether. Gaylen continued, ¡°No you don¡¯t get a trial. You get to go to jail and then you get to go out to the fields and work off your entry fee and the fines you accrued for assaulting us.¡±
¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about, I didn¡¯t assault you¡±
¡°Did you use magic to teleport us to the entrance of the Labyrinth?¡± Gaylen asked heatedly.
¡°I can see that I¡¯m not going to convince you. Barf, thanks for the business. Looks like I¡¯m going with these two fine gentlemen,¡± Adam said.
Barf just looked back with a weak smile and nodded.
Jerrick grabbed him by the arm and led him out of the shop and around a corner into an alley.
¡°You mages think you¡¯re so smart,¡± Gaylen said as he pulled a dagger, and tried to stab it into Adam¡¯s kidney. Adam was pleasantly surprised when the dagger shattered against his skin as he reached up and squeezed Gaylen¡¯s wrist, which was trying to hold him by the back of the neck. He didn¡¯t squeeze his wrist enough to damage him but he did squeeze hard enough to make it painful which caused Gaylen to release his grasp on Adam.
¡°I was willing to go to your jail because I did teleport you to the Labyrinth. I was even willing to pay a fine because I made you both run back here. What I¡¯m not willing to do¡
Jerrick swung his longsword in a strike meant to decapitate Adam. The blade hit Adam¡¯s neck and shattered. Adam still couldn¡¯t read his attributes on his Status Screen but if he didn¡¯t know better he was pretty sure that his attributes were back to where they¡¯d been before The System had tried to adjust him again. Jerrick looked at the hilt of his blade in horror before he muttered, ¡°What are you?¡±
¡°That¡¯s the question isn¡¯t it?¡± Adam asked as he reached up, snapped the ring that had been placed around his neck to dampen his strength and abilities, and looked at the two guards before he asked, ¡°So now what?¡±
¡°You¡¯re not going to kill us,¡± Gaylen asked as he started looking around for an escape route.
¡°First, no. Second, if you run I will teleport you so far away from here that it will take you a year to get back,¡± Adam said with an evil grin.
Jerrick looked at Adam and then asked, ¡°What do you want?¡±
¡°Well, I need a pass to enter the city. Also, I need this little altercation to have never happened. Additionally, I might be inclined to tip anyone willing to help me meet those goals,¡± Adam said.
¡°How much of a tip are we talking about?¡± Jerrick asked.
¡°100 credits for each of you,¡± Adam said.
¡°Why didn¡¯t you start with that when we met,¡± Gaylen asked, still wary.
¡°Because I didn¡¯t have the credits, now I do. What¡¯s it going to be?¡± Adam asked.
¡°5 Credits for the pass and the tips of course,¡± Jerrick said.
¡°No 100 credits for the wagon?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I don¡¯t see a wagon that belongs to you anywhere near here, do you?¡± Jerrick asked.
Adam smiled and transferred 105 credits to Jerrick and 100 credits to Gaylen, ¡°It was nice doing business with you.¡±
¡°You as well, Also, I hope I never see you again, ¡°Jerrick said as left the alley while Jerrick followed quickly.
Adam could have dealt with them permanently, but he didn¡¯t see the point. He activated Obscure then flew up to the roof and found a place he could teleport to that would be out of sight. After he committed the spot to memory Adam teleported back to the clearing that held the cave mouth to the Labyrinth. It was time to go into the Labyrinth and see what the classes he¡¯d picked up had done to him as well as test the changes to his abilities. Better to do that inside the Labyrinth than inside a city with a lot of people in it. Truthfully, he was kind of looking forward to letting loose. Who knew, maybe his Status Screen would start working again. It was hard to gauge what he could do when his attributes weren¡¯t visible.
Chapter 213, The Green Line
Adam entered the cave mouth of the Labyrinth and stepped into a 20th-century-style waiting room with a set of closed double swinging doors, a pedestal, and a waiting area. The floor was covered with white tile, while the walls looked to be some kind of marble. The lighting came from some sconces on the wall that were obviously technological in design. There were even chairs and recliners off to one side that looked to be an area one could go to have a seat and take a break.
Adam double-checked the room with his Scan and True Sight abilities. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. The only Mana he detected was coming from the portal he¡¯d come through which led back to the dungeon world, Bounty. Off to the side of the double doors was a pedestal with the travel node on it. Since he¡¯d stepped inside to find a place where he could try to look over his Status Screen, Adam moved over to the waiting area, picked a comfortable-looking recliner, and sat down.
Adam opened his Status Screen and noted that it had updated to show his Three Classes with their levels in parentheses.
Basic Class: Agent of Chaos (50)
Advanced Class: Envoy of Chaos (50)
Master Class: Ambassador of Chaos (50)
Some progress had been made with his attributes as well. Instead of ¡°???¡± for each attribute his Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Endurance, Constitution, Perception, Intelligence, Wisdom, Willpower, Charisma, and Luck were all listed as ¡°? + 200¡± while his Chaos Attribute was listed as ¡°350.¡± That made sense. He¡¯d received five points of Chaos per level for fifty levels as an Envoy of Chaos, and two points of Chaos per level for fifty levels as an Ambassador of Chaos. So, two hundred and fifty plus one hundred for three hundred and fifty points of Chaos.
Granted, he still didn¡¯t understand what that attribute represented but at least he knew the Class system and perks worked. He needed to figure out what the values of his health, mana, or stamina were. Adam thought for a moment and then decided Stutterstep was a good candidate to test what his mana was actually sitting at.
Adam used his Mold Chaos ability to set up fifty small targets on thin metal stands within 10 feet. Then he created a timelapse camera on a tripod that could take in the whole area and record him. His health regeneration replaced the mass he utilized to create the objects almost immediately, which indicated to him that his health regeneration was far above what he had listed. Those question marks had some weight to their value. Adam reviewed what his Mana and Mana Regeneration had been before and figured that at most he should be able to make 34 attacks in a single second based on his maximum mana that he remembered.
The math was simple. A second attack cost 50 mana. A third cost 100 and a fourth cost 200 and it kept doubling from there. To make 34 attacks would cost 214.7 billion mana. To make 35 attacks would cost 249.4 billion mana. If he could make 34 attacks but not 35 attacks within that single second he¡¯d know that his mana pool was right around the 391.8 billion he had before. Probably just a little more with the extra 200 points in his willpower attribute.
Adam created a timer that would be visible on screen and also made sure that the camera was recording in slow motion then he created a longsword and waited for his health and mana to top off before he spent all his mana on Stutterstep and attacked as many targets as he could.
To him, it just seemed like he was moving through one of his kata¡¯s and before he knew it he was done. He took a breath, stored the sword in his Shadow Vault, and allowed some of his mana to replenish before he activated technomancy and watched the recording. Adam counted the attacks and watched as the time crossed one second just before his 35th attack.
Adam waited almost 17 minutes to recover his mana, which is how long he expected it to take. He set up 23 new targets, prepped the camera, pulled out his long sword, and activated Stutterstep only spending 209.7 million mana. The mana he¡¯d spent was replenished by his Mana regeneration instantly.
Adam checked the footage and the timer and was satisfied that his mana seemed to be exactly where it had been before The System had reabsorbed, or absorbed, the multitude. So, if he was correct his attributes were all sitting at around 39.1 billion, except for Chaos of course. He should have around 15.6 billion hit points and 391.8 billion stamina and mana. A little more because the Class levels he had gained were adding points to those attributes.
What did that mean towards attacks and such? He specifically remembered reading something about damage caps. Could this system keep his damage capped no matter how high his attributes were? Adam didn¡¯t think that was the case because if it could cap his attributes it would have. Maybe there was a point where The System stopped counting the numbers? That could be possible, lazy programming but possible.
Adam considered everything and then decided it was time to head into this Labyrinth and see test his findings. That¡¯s when he made another discovery. His Mold Chaos ability didn¡¯t allow him to reabsorb the items he created. He could utilize the ability to make items from his mass and his health regeneration seemed to replenish the mass he utilized, but he couldn¡¯t reabsorb the items. Adam went over and touched the targets he¡¯d made and placed them in his Shadow Vault for now. It was only a 10-foot cubic area but it was enough to hold the little target stands he¡¯d created. His body wasn¡¯t acting like a blob anymore. It seemed that The System had adjusted him back to a more humanoid form so it could adjust some things.
Adam finished picking up all the targets he¡¯d made. Once he was done, he over to the Pedestal and placed his hand on the Node there.
Welcome to Labyrinth Entry Way Bounty Zeta 1 or Bounty Z1.
Congratulations you have picked up your 1st labyrinth Node Point. Once discovered Node Points may be used to fast travel to other unlocked Node Points throughout the Labyrinth. As this is your first Node Point within this network the fast Travel option is not available to you.
New User Message
This Message is displayed for all New Users of the Labyrinth Travel System, commonly referred to as ¡°The Labyrinth¡±
The Labyrinth is a travel network between all Universes, Dimensions, Realms, etc¡ within The System. Unlike the various locations mentioned a moment ago, the Labyrinth is not limited by environmental settings.
There are designated safe areas within the Labyrinth. These will be marked and accessible to all. Otherwise, the Labyrinth can be quite dangerous, tread carefully.
Adam closed the message window. There hadn¡¯t been a lot of info in the message, but it looked like one aspect of the Labyrinth was still the same. It could be used as a way to travel between locations. Now he just had to figure out how to use the Labyrinth to get to his family and friends.
Adam pushed against the swinging doors, stepped through another magical curtain of energy, and froze. He was at the top of a short stairway that led down to a concrete floor. Off to his right was a set of train tracks with a landing for a train or subway car. Adam could hear rumbling coming from one end of the tracks as white light escaped from the tunnel and grew brighter. A moment later a female voice announced.
Arriving at Bounty Zeta 1. Please exit the car if this is your stop and stay clear of all entry and exit points if it is not. We will be stopped for five minutes and then resume our journey to Astrix. Thank you for riding on the Green Line.
Adam watched a subway train, a much cleaner subway train rolled in and stopped. Within moments the doors on the side opened and Adam watched as two groups of five exited the vehicle. One was a group of elves dressed in Chain Armor and the other looked to be a group of humans following some sort of barbarian tradition. Neither was talking to the other as they exited the train car and headed up the stairs. Adam walked down onto the landing as first the humans and then the Elves disappeared through the exit
Adam stepped onto the subway car and found a seat off to the side that wasn¡¯t too near a door. On the car with him were a few other individuals. One was a human male in a dark blue business suit, complete with a tie and briefcase. Another was a female Orc dressed in some exquisite plate mail armor carrying a huge two-handed battle axe. The last individual sitting in the subway car was the most interesting. He was wearing a brown robe and carrying a staff of sorts. Adam¡¯s True Sight and Scan ability flared around the robed individual as he detected condensed pockets of mana all over the man, mostly from his clothing. Adam nodded to the man who smiled and nodded back before his eyes glazed over and Adam could tell he was interacting with his interface.
Adam sat back and waited for the train to get underway. After waiting for five minutes the speaker came to life when the female voice said
Last Boarding Call for the Green Line. Last Boarding Call for the Green Line. The next stop is the city of Astrix. Travel time is approximately two hours.
Last Boarding Call for the Green Line. Last Boarding Call for the Green Line. The next stop is the city of Astrix. Travel time is approximately two hours.
Adam sat back in his seat while he waited for the train to get underway. There was no rush of last-minute passengers because no one else came down the stairs to get on the train. A few moments later a horn went off and the train began moving. Adam looked out the windows and expected the tunnel to go on and on. That didn¡¯t happen. Almost immediately the train left a tunnel behind and exited into empty space. It seemed to be riding tracks that sat on nothing as they wound their way through a course that wasn¡¯t visible. Adam¡¯s Scan and True Sight ability allowed him to see that there was a heavy density of mana outside of the cab but otherwise, the space around the train was empty, except for the track that led off into the distance.
Adam was startled out of his contemplations when the man in the brown robe said, ¡°I¡¯d turn off your sight, looking out into the Abyss can drive one mad,¡± from only five feet away. Adam had been so engrossed in looking out of the train that he hadn¡¯t even seen the man get up and move closer.
The man just stood there casually as Adam deactivated True Sight and Scan as he said, ¡°I think I would have been okay, I just found it interesting that we¡¯re gliding along on something we can¡¯t see, I¡¯m Adam by the way, you are?¡±
¡°I am High Magus Oz, you of course understand why I will not share my full name?¡± High Magus Oz asked.
¡°Of course, as my true name is not Adam,¡± Adam said as he waved his hand toward the outside of the train,¡± You said that¡¯s the Abyss?¡± Adam asked.
¡°There is a dining car on this train, if you¡¯d care to join me I can share what I know while we eat?¡± High Magus Oz asked.
¡°But there¡¯s only one car?¡± Adam said.
¡°The dining and rest areas are attached dimensionally. Think of the train car as an anchor point to physical reality. The Anchor is only a very small percentage of the space associated with the entire vehicle. If you would care to join me?¡± High Magus Oz asked again.
Adam looked around and realized that while he¡¯d been distracted the other human and the Orc had already left the cab. He hadn¡¯t even noticed. Adam turned to the High Magus and said, ¡°I would be delighted to,¡± as he stood.
High Magus Oz turned and walked to ward a door behind him that looked onto the tracks they were leaving behind. When he opened it a portal opened into a lavish dining area with tables and booths, most occupied with waiters and waitresses running around to see to their guest¡¯s needs.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
High Magus Oz walked over to the podium where a humanoid of a race Adam had never encountered before stood. As the High Magus stepped up he said, ¡°Booth for two please?¡±
¡°Of course, sir, right this way, the humanoid said as he led them to a wall that had a window that also looked out onto the expanse of nothingness. As they started to sit Adam noticed that they were moving toward a structure that the train was about to pass through. A moment later they were on the other side and he could see an archipelago containing a bright blue-green ocean with many islands on and above it as waterfalls fell from the floating islands into the water and onto the islands below.
¡°Ah, Heaven¡¯s Gates,¡± High Magus Oz said. He noticed that Adam hand¡¯t shown any recognition, so continued, ¡°The City Astrix is the Capital of a region known as Heaven¡¯s Gates. There¡¯s a very large ocean with thousands of islands including some floating ones that roam through the sky. In fact, the city of Astrix is on one of the larger Islands as it houses the largest city in this region.¡±
¡°And this is all within The System?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I knew you were new but that question¡Exactly how long have you been a part of the System?¡±
¡°Just over half a day,¡± Adam said honestly.
¡°And you started on a Dungeon Planet, and you¡¯re not dead?¡± High Magus Oz said before he raised a hand with two fingers. One of the waitresses saw the gesture, nodded, and ran off.
¡°I just ordered two drinks. If you don¡¯t mind me asking, where did you come from?¡±
¡°That¡¯s a really long story, but I can say that I was in The Multitude when the System absorbed it,¡± Adam said.
¡°What was the Multitude?¡± High Magus Oz asked.
¡°The Multitude was much like the System is¡¡±
High Magus Oz cut Adam off as he said, ¡°It was an offshoot of the System, or a bastardization by some folks that thought they knew better?¡±
¡°The latter,¡± Adam agreed.
¡°That happens from time to time. Can¡¯t say I¡¯ve heard of the Multitude, but then again The System encompasses a large area.¡±
¡°How large?¡± Adam asked.
High Magus Oz looked thoughtful as the waiter made his way over to their table and placed a couple of glasses with a blue liquid inside. Adam picked up his glass and looked quizzically at the Hight Magus who said, ¡°The drink is called Heaven¡¯s Kiss. It¡¯s made from the nectar of the Namlar flower found in this region. It¡¯s quite sweet and very potent,¡±
Adam took a sip of the drink and was surprised by how the liquid vaporized as soon as it entered his mouth. The vapor was immediately absorbed by his skin as he felt the effects of the liquid try to take hold. His attributes allowed him to easily overcome the feeling of intoxication though he could have sworn that he could still feel a slight buzz. That stuff was strong. The flavor wasn¡¯t bad either. It tasted like Mango, Oranges, and Pineapple had wrapped his tongue and nose in their smell and taste simultaneously with all three flavors. It was a very sweet and fruity drink that Adam hadn¡¯t actual drank as he didn¡¯t swallow it, it was inhaled. Adam found it quite refreshing as he thought about how a liquid could vaporize just as it hit a person¡¯s mouth so that it would spread throughout the person¡¯s head. Adam looked at the High Magus, whose face was a little bit shocked, as he set the drink down and said, ¡°Quite Nice and refreshing.¡±
The High Magus picked his glass up and took a very small sip, as he set the glass back down, ¡°You were supposed to sip the drink, Adam. My apologies for not explaining that before you took a drink. Are you okay?¡±
¡°Never better, had a bit of a rush but nothing too harsh,¡± Adam said.
¡°Very well, then I¡¯ll get back to explaining about the System. You are on the Green line of the Interdimensional Transit System or I.T.S. Some worlds have compared this to a Train or subway system, while others compare it to airports with flights between locations. Both Analogies would be correct,¡± The High Magus said as he paused and took a sip of his drink before he continued. The System is vast. It is also populated with races and monsters of all types and levels. As new areas are added to the System they are designated as on the Fringe because the structure of the System¡¯s Realm of Control has a central point from which it is spreading out.¡±
¡°How big is The System?¡± Adam asked.
¡°It is easier to ask how many stars are in the sky, then multiply that number by another set of stars in the sky?¡± High Magus Oz said.
¡°Surely you¡¯re not implying that The System is infinite?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Infinite, no, not infinite. But so large as to almost be infinite. For instance, I do not know what this Multitude you speak of is, or was, though The System has absorbed such offshoots in the past, so it is not unheard of. Wherever your multitude was though, you are no longer anywhere near its location,¡± the High Magus explained.
Adam took a sip of his drink before he continued, ¡°Very well, I¡¯m very far away from anything I¡¯ve ever known. How do I find others from my origin point that are important to me?¡±
¡°Such as family and friends?¡± The High Magus asked.
¡°Yes,¡± Adam said.
That¡¯s easy,¡± High Magus Oz said as he held up a hand to forestall any questions Adam might have. Adam relaxed and let the High Magus continue, ¡°Anyone absorbed by The System has all their skills and levels reset. Additionally they are placed somewhere with progression opportunities within the scope of their new level. If you just arrived, I am unsure why you were placed on a Dungeon World except to say that The System believed you could survive the placement. Your loved ones and friends could be anywhere in the Fringe of the System where the levels of creatures and people fall within the Basic levels of all classes. Eventually, as people that are new to The System level and progress they find a way to make it to one of the Regional Cities like Astrix. These can be reached by trains, ships, teleportation, portal, gate, and several other ways I haven¡¯t mentioned as well as some I probably don¡¯t know about. Once in a regional city, a new member of The System is considered to be fully acclimated to The System. Fully acclimated members of The System can find other fully acclimated members of the System by purchasing their whereabouts from the System Market.¡±
¡°You mean I can just go to the System Market and purchase their location? How much does doing so cost?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The price is variable, depending on their class and whether they¡¯ve chosen to make it harder for people to purchase that information.¡± The High Magus explained.
¡°Let me guess, anyone can purchase this information which can be troublesome if someone has made enemies?¡± Adam said.
¡°Got it in one,¡± The High Magus said as he took another sip of his drink.
¡°Can I at least verify if they¡¯re alive or dead?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Oh yes, That¡¯s much easier and cheaper. You can also purchase an update package that will download into your status screen and notify of you of any changes to that status. Though be warned that the status of an individual is not binary. There are more status conditions than ¡®Alive¡¯ or ¡®Deceased¡¯. I have heard individuals claim that the conditions ¡®Unknown¡¯ and ¡®Outside System Limits¡¯ have been seen as well. ¡°
¡°Thank you for the information. I do have one question, why are you helping me?¡± Adam asked.
High Magus Oz looked thoughtful for a moment then said, ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t know. I just knew I needed to be on the Green Line this morning and then I met you. It was obvious you were new to the System. All I ask in return is that someday if the opportunity presents itself, you pay this act of kindness forward.¡±
¡°Karma, I can understand that, and I will pay it forward Adam said,¡± as he took another sip of his drink. ¡°I do have another question, why use trains to get around if teleportation and portals are available?¡± Adam asked.
As I said you are on the green line. The green line is mostly for Basic class individuals that would like to go to newly established areas or low-level dungeon worlds. The stops are pretty much set and there is a schedule. Granted, it takes a little longer than using a portal or teleporting but the price can¡¯t be beat. Using the trains is free. Food and drink while on the train isn¡¯t, except for water of course, but otherwise, you can safely travel around the fringe of The System and explore the various cities and dungeon worlds for no additional cost. Portals and the like can get expensive. For instance, a portal from Bounty, the Dungeon World you were just on to Astrix would cost just about a million credits. One of the reasons is because there¡¯s a train every two hours but the other is because the distance both across dimensions and spatially is quite far. It takes a very high-level caster or an insane amount of energy for a technological device to open a portal that reaches that far.¡±
¡°So what other color lines are there?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yellow Lines are for the Advanced classes. Red is for those with a Master Class. Orange is Heroic, and Legendary is Blue. Though I have never met those that have evolved their Legendary Class I have heard that the Purple line, if you can find it, is for those that have,¡±
¡°If you can find it?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes. Think of the transit system as covering an Onion. The Green line rides around the outside of the onion. The Yellow line goes deeper and connects to some green line stops. There are some Red line stops that connect to the Yellow and Green line but no Green lines have any stops that intersect with the Orange or Blue stops. As I¡¯ve said I¡¯ve never seen a Purple line, those most likely only intersect with the Blue line and I¡¯ve never been on that line.
¡°Does Astrix have Yellow and Red connections,¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, it does. If you¡¯re thinking about getting on a Red Line I think there are only three stops total that intersect with the green and yellow lines. Ironically, those connections are the only places the yellow lines intersect with the green lines as well,¡± The High Magus explained as the waiter returned and took their order. High Magus ordered for both of them and the waiter retreated to put their order in.
¡°What did you order?¡± Adam asked.
¡°They serve a dish that contains a boar equivalent that isn¡¯t too pricey and is quite delicious. I thought you should at least try it before you move on?¡± High Magus Oz said.
¡°Very well, do I owe you anything for the meal, I do have credits,¡± Adam said.
¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. As I said, just pay it forward. I¡¯m sure you will run into someone someday that is hungry.¡±
¡°I have before and I¡¯m sure I will again,¡± Adam said with a smile, ¡°Still if you had a feeling and sought me out, I have to wonder why?¡±
¡°My specific realm of study is fate. While it is true that I am a High Magus, which is an Advanced Class among those that practice magic, I have long sought after and studied the currents of fate. Most think no such thing exists but I have witnessed, more than once, great events following a premonition. Today my premonition told me to be here on the Green Line. Well, not today specifically but for the last week I¡¯ve been riding the Green Line watching for something out of the ordinary and you are the first person I¡¯ve seen that fits that description so I am following my fate, as some would say.¡±
Adam looked at the High Magus thoughtfully and then said. I need to test something and I¡¯d also like to sever any karma I might owe you. Trust me when I tell you that my fate is often volatile and not always pleasant for those that are close to me So, while I will still do as you have asked and pay it forward, I would also like to do something nice for you. Is there a component or ingredient that is hard to come by that you need to complete some project you¡¯ve been working on?¡±
¡°You can create magical components?¡± The High Magus asked with interest.
¡°Possibly but I was thinking more of a base material you need to create something. Something you¡¯ve been having a hard time acquiring or getting machined into the shape and size you need,¡± Adam explained.
¡°I have been working on a Ring of Protection so that I could adventure into more dangerous areas. The material that would make it work the best is of course Adamantium, though Mithril would work as well. Both are hard to find and once found very expensive to shape.¡±
¡°Is the ring for you?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Very well, let me see your hand,¡± Adam said as he used Mold Chaos to create a finger-size measuring tool. The high mage stuck out his hand and Adam sized his finger with little effort. Next, he used Mold Chaos to create a solid band of Adamantium that should be large enough to be engraved and enchanted in the palm of his right hand and held it up to the High Magus, ¡°As requested, one Adamantium Ring, sized to fit.
¡°What? How? Is that a conjured item, will it disappear?¡±
¡°It is not a conjured item, it is a formed item from raw chaos. Nor will it ever disappear, it is permanent,¡± Adam said.
¡°And you can just make a ring made out of Adamantium like that?¡± The High Magus said with a hint of doubt in his voice.
Adam looked at him quizzically then conjured a bar of Adamantium and set it down on the table, ¡°I believe this bar is worth more than our drinks and our meals?¡± Adam asked quizzically.
¡°Put that away Adam, you¡¯ll get us killed!¡± The High Magus said frantically.
¡°The ring and the bar are yours take them and hide them away if you think that¡¯s best, I¡¯m not worried about one bar of Adamantium.
High Magus Oz reached out and touched the bar and then the ring which caused both to disappear into this storage as the waiter carrying their meals made his way to their table. Adam watched as the waiter put the plates down and then left.
¡°I will say thank you for the Bar and also any perceived debt that I may have thought you owed me is cleared between us,¡± The High Magus said.
Adam nodded and smiled as he smelled the food before him. It smelled eerily familiar to pot roast and bacon. It had purple potato-like sides and carrots which gave the plate a colorful appeal. Adam looked to High Magus Oz as he said, ¡°Thank you for ordering our meals, this looks delicious.
High Magus Oz nodded, picked up his fork, and dug in.
Adam picked up his fork and did the same. They ate in silence except for the occasional groan of pleasure. The meal did taste like a pot roast with the hint of pork though it tasted more like fried bacon than beef. The potatoes and carrots were also quite good with only a hint of salt, pepper, and butter added. Before too long their drinks were emptied and they each received a refill as they finished their meals. Dessert was some sort of light vanilla cake, though the vanilla flavor also included the taste of a fruit he didn¡¯t recognize which was amazing because he of course remembered everything.
¡°What type of fruit has been added to the cake?¡± Adam asked.
¡°It¡¯s called a ¡®Heavenly fruit¡¯ and only grows in this realm. It is usually utilized for healing and mana potions but in very small quantities it can add flavor to other recipes. Add too much and it overpowers the other flavors. Too little and you can¡¯t taste it. The chef that created this cake did an exceptional job,¡± High Magus Oz said.
¡°No complaints here,¡± Adam agreed. ¡°The meal and dessert were fantastic, Thank you for dinner,¡± Adam said sincerely.
¡°You are quite welcome, Adam. We have a few minutes before we arrive. Before we head back to the train car can I ask if you have figured out how to use the contacts list?¡± High Magus Oz asked.
¡°Actually, no, we have a contacts list?¡± Adam asked.
¡°High Magus Oz held out his hand to shake Adam¡¯s Adam did the same and they clasped arms each grabbing the other man¡¯s forearm. As they did so Adam received a Prompt.
Would you Like to Allow High Magus Oz to be added to your contacts list, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes¡±
The High Magus smiled and said, ¡°it¡¯s as easy as shaking hands. I would suggest that you adjust your settings so that the option doesn¡¯t pop up every time you shake hands then you¡¯ll just have to focus your will and you¡¯ll be able to add those you shake hands with when you want to,¡± he said.
¡°Thank you again for the information. I did not know that. It will make it much easier to keep track of people that meet with a contacts list. I take it I can send messages through the System to anyone on my contacts list.
¡°Yes you may, though remember, there is a cost in credits to the System. There is an additional cost if you want to confirm that they read it or not.¡±
¡°Thank you again for the information,¡± Adam said.
¡°It is the very least I can do for the gifts you bestowed. Now I believe it is time for us to make our way back to the train car and wait to pull into the station. There should be a few more of us getting off at this stop.¡±
¡°Will there be enough seats for everyone?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Absolutely, as the train car fills up it just expands to add more seating as necessary, High Magus Oz explained.
High Magus Oz stood as Adam followed suit and then led Adam back to the Train car. Oz had been right, the train car was almost full of occupants. As Adam looked out the windows he noticed that the train he was on was on an elevated railway as it made its way toward a city that was much larger than the fictional city of Asgard from the Marvel movies, though the architecture looked somewhat similar. Just then the feminine voice he¡¯d heard when the train arrived and departed station Bounty Zeta One came over the speakers.
Welcome to Astrix in Heaven¡¯s Gate. This stop has connections to the Green, Yellow, and Red Lines. There will be a two-hour delay before departure as the Train is serviced. If you wish to continue on the Green line immediately please exit this Train and make your way to Train 7. It will be departing in 5 minutes.
Thank you for traveling on the Green Line.
Have a nice day
Chapter 214, What a Mess!
His Frustration finally winning, Administrator Dilyard exclaimed to the heavens, ¡°What a mess!¡±
Those near the Administrator ignored the man as he continued to walk down the boulevard of The Nexus, toward the main building. Everyone and everything had a purpose in this place. Most attributed the outburst as necessary for some reason that The System had deemed it necessary and went on about their business. Besides, the Administrator, whom everyone knew of, at least in passing, was right. The absorption of The Multitude, as that offshoot had identified itself, was a mess. Everyone within earshot was working that SNAFU (Situation Normal, All Fucked Up) of mess. No one responded as the Administrator continued walking toward his office building.
As the Administrator entered his office building he calmed down enough to chastise himself for the outburst. He couldn¡¯t understand why he¡¯d felt the need to make that outburst but he had to admit it had felt great to just shout out and watch as everyone around him was surprised. He¡¯d ignored their stares of course but that didn¡¯t keep him from smiling to himself as he walked into his office. The one place System Space that was completely ordered and run by The System and he had disturbed that peace and tranquility with three loud words.
The Administrator shook his head, as if to clear his mind, smiled, and then walked to the elevators. Yes, the absorption of the Multitude was a mess. Yes, it was larger than any other offshoot that had ever existed. That had made it quite easy for the System to Detect the surge of Primal Chaos in a sub-layer near its border, surge forward, and arrest its growth before it had spread into the physical universes.
In addition to the Primal Chaos problem, the Multitude was much larger than any other offshoot that The System had ever absorbed. The sentients had been transferred to the Fringe while the area the Multitude occupied in physical space was repurposed and distributed throughout the various realms and locations within The System.
One thing the System was very good at was imposing its will or programming. He really wasn¡¯t sure which word fit better in this case. Regardless, the populations had been redistributed to where they would be able to test themselves. The Administrator had been reviewing a particularly insane report where a group from the Multitude had somehow commandeered a ship, no groups had commandeered ships that had no business being in any navy within the System from assets that had just been absorbed. Someone had recognized the technology as ultra-advanced and had taken it upon themselves to confiscate and sell all of it at a markup. A quick trip through a portal to a Dungeon in the Purple zone had handled that issue, for now. The idiot could survive, though the Bookies gave him less than 1 in 100 odds of doing so. The Administrator wasn¡¯t even sure what The system had hidden away there and one in a hundred odds was as good as saying that he was about to die. Speak of the devil, a message came across his vision stating that the idiot had died. Yep, he was really glad he hadn¡¯t put any money on that idiot.
The other mess the absorption had caused was the interdimensional Stock Market, or ISM had fluctuated so badly that interstellar business had every communications device, be it magical or technological going off in The Nexus. It was one of the reasons he was heading in on his one day off. Some interstellar big shots were screaming bloody murder and trying to get answers when ultimately they knew as much as he did, The System did whatever the hell it wanted.
The function of his class, Administrator to the System, never changed, though its rank did evolve through the various levels as he found himself at the Legendary level currently. Level 49 to be exact. Just one more level and then he¡¯d get to see what was beyond the Legendary level, which as far as he knew, didn¡¯t exist, though he knew the trains had a station they could stop at that connected to something.
He had to admit, when he¡¯d received the choice as one of his evolutions as a 25th-level mage and then chosen it, he¡¯d been surprised when he¡¯d received a second choice.
Congratulations! You have chosen to Evolve your Basic Mage class to Administrator for the System. You now have a choice. You may choose to Evolve to a Level 0 Advanced Administrator of the System, or you may choose to convert your Basic Mage Class to Level 25 Administrator of the System. Regardless of your choice, the Attributes, Abilities, Skills, and Spells you have earned as a Basic Mage remain.
As a Basic Administrator of the System, your Attributes per level will increase, however. From levels 26 through 50 you will earn 8 Attributes per level, +1 to Intelligence, +1 to Wisdom, and 6 points to distribute as you see fit. Additionally, you will be given access to System Specific spellings and technologies not available to any other class.
If you choose to evolve to an Advanced Administrator of the System you will earn 8 Attributes per level, +1 to Intelligence, +1 to Wisdom, and 8 points to distribute as you see fit.
He had of course chosen to change his class and work up the additional 25 levels through the Basic Rank. His Attributes per level had doubled from 4 per level as a mage to 8 per level as an Administrator. Overall, if you averaged the attributes he¡¯d received, he¡¯d earned 6 attributes per basic level, which was 100 more attributes than most people had by the time they reached Advanced level 0. Then 10 attribute points per level for his 50 levels at Advanced, Master, and heroic ranks He knew most classes only received six. His class was one of the better ones out there seeing as there were only 11 primary attributes. He opened his Status Screen just to check and wasn¡¯t at all dissatisfied with what he saw.
Strength 72
Agility 72
Dexterity 69
Endurance 69
Constitution 220
Perception 220
Intelligence 455
Wisdom 438
Willpower 247
Charisma 246
Luck 238
Considering most Basic 1st levels only had 1 to 5 in each attribute and his lowest attribute was 69, he thought he was doing quite well. At least he¡¯d thought so until The System had notified him of something that had happened on Bounty. He¡¯d been notified because someone had been tagged by the system for excessive XP awards for Skill growth. Not because that wasn¡¯t unheard of. No. Because 1,124 skills had been logged and increased in a matter of minutes for 2,248,000,000 XP in the System Market on Bounty. He¡¯d had to check but that was enough XP to level someone all the way up to level 371 in the category above Legendary which was only represented by an ¡°*¡±.
One Thousand, One Hundred Twenty-Four Skills all leveled to their maximums. How the hell did something like that happen? It was his day off and he had to head into the office and find out what had happened to allow such a thing to happen. A hacking attempt to steal XP and level artificially hadn¡¯t happened during his time as an Administrator. He remembered reading something in one of the lore books about something like that happening a long time ago, so long ago, in fact, that no name was recorded nor were there any records other than the System had created safeguards to prevent such artificial leveling, what it deemed cheating, from ever happening again.
Administrator Dilyard entered his private elevator after the Security guard waved him through as he ignored anyone that tried to say hello or strike up a conversation. He needed to see what had happened on Bounty. As he rode the elevator up his Personal Assistant, housed in his office greeted him through the elevator¡¯s speakers.
¡°Good morning Administrator Dilyard, how may I assist you today?¡± The monotone male voice said.
¡°I have a message in my inbox concerning an award of 2,248,000,000 XP to an individual on the Dungeon World of Bounty in the Fringe. Please pull up all information concerning that individual and the specifics of the awards granted,¡± The Administrator said. He could pay the credits to receive an implant that would allow his Assistant to always be able to respond to him but he rather liked the ability to step away from the office and just relax without work intruding.
¡°As you wish. The data is being gathered and will be waiting for you on your terminal,¡± his personal assistant said.
Administrator Dilyard exited the elevator and walked into his office. As he made his way to his seat he thought about the possible ways The System could be tricked but none of them could lead to the amount of XP he had been messaged about. The most common exploit was for someone of high level, usually a member of royalty or high society, depending on which world or plane they were on, would purchase soul-bound weapons for an heir and set them against monsters far outside their range limit. Sure, they¡¯d get a good XP bonus and level quickly through their Basic Class but the System made sure to penalize their evolutionary choices. The System wanted beings to struggle and work for their levels. Why? No one had figured that out yet, but every study showed the same thing. Those that struggled harder did better within The System.
The Administrator brought his thoughts back to his monitor and started going over what he saw on the screen.
¡°1,124 Skills, 562 to Basic level 100, 562 to Master level 100.¡±
He continued to read the Status Screen of Johnathan Bennard before he asked aloud, ¡°What? Over 200 languages, all mastered?¡±
¡°It would seem so,¡± his Personal assistant responded.
¡°Do not respond to any verbal comments or questions for the next five minutes starting now,¡± The Administrator said as he began speaking to himself again, ¡°562 combat-related skills to Master level 100, how?¡± he asked as he pulled up the information on how The System had validated the Skill levels and XP it had awarded.
The Administrator skimmed through the virtual recordings of Johnathan proving his prowess with just about every type of weapon known of, including ships, ship weaponry of all types, melee weapons, and every possible spell there was to cast, including time magic which was on the restricted list. The System was especially impressed with the time dilation effect he¡¯d created. If all of his demonstrations were timed and added together there was well over three years¡¯ worth of material. so that everything he¡¯d proved he could do. Using time dilation, he¡¯d showcased all of his skills and knowledge within a half hour, in the System Market on Bounty.
As The Administrator started to watch each weapon usage and demonstration he could not find any fault in The System¡¯s determination. This man seemed to have learned all of the techniques because his demonstrations showed that his movements and attacks were fluid and interchangeable. He also showed a level of mastery that was on par with the requirements to attain the levels granted. How did someone get that much knowledge and experience? Had The System found one of the purported Ancients?
The Administrator refocused his attention and activated his Administrator ability Know Target Abilities which allowed him to delve into the truth of a being. He could use the ability to investigate the abilities of other beings at range. He had never encountered another ability like it. Almost every other ability that could display the target¡¯s abilities required the target to be touched. When he¡¯d reached his Legendary rank that ability had evolved to allow him to do that by calling up the code on anyone he¡¯d seen or interacted with. Another ability he had, Commune with Nexus, allowed him to use any ability he had inside a Nexus or Nexus hub on any individual he was investigating through The System Interface. Administrator Dilyard pulled up Johnathan¡¯s Information.
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
The first thing the Administrator noticed was that Johnathan had 24 abilities, all of which could be considered extremely rare. Then he noted the ability Perfect Memory. No wonder he could remember all the skill knowledge he had. It wouldn¡¯t be hard, especially with that ability in one of his two Primary Core Slots. It still didn¡¯t explain how he had all of that knowledge.
Administrator Dilyard pulled out a small skull cap from his dimensional storage and attached the one wire that it had to a port in his desk, and leaned back as he put the skull cap on. Another ability he had, Know History, allowed him to review his target¡¯s memories from the copy that The System had on file for everyone within its influence. His ability also allowed him to review the memories at an accelerated rate.
Administrator Dilyard set the playback speed to 400% faster than normal, a pace he could easily withstand, and then started. He watched as Johnathan Bennard grew up in New Mexico on a variation of Earth. He watched as Johnathan found a ring that gave him 1,000 XP per second. Later, Abi, an artificial construct that had been sent by a sentient labyrinth informed him of this because the location he was in didn¡¯t have magic, an interface system, or System Screen for Johnathan to know what the ring was doing to his body¡
The Administrator¡¯s Personal Assistant (APA) noted the vacant look that came over the Administrator¡¯s face. The APA activated the body support functions of the chair the Administrator was sitting in which would provide for waste management and nourishment. The APA had checked the size of the file the Administrator was reviewing from the System. Even at 400% faster than normal it was going to take years for him to finish reviewing that file. With the needs of his master seen to, the APA placed itself in stasis until it was needed again.
***
High Magus Augustin Munoz, or Oz, as he preferred, so as not to give away his true name, left the train and turned right as he watched Adam follow the crowd out of the station into the city. As a newcomer, Adam was about to be surprised, delighted, and appalled by everything that was available in the city of Astrix. Yes, the area leading up to the city was beautiful and covered in oceans, lush jungles, and floating islands all around that were much the same. The entrance to Astrix was at the center of that paradise. One only had to travel through an Arch of marbled white and black granite to find themselves entering the System Market which was directly above where he now stood.
The trains entered and exited the city subway by other means. Also, the trains usually used entrances into the Labyrinth as their attachment points. In this case, the node room was below the three connection points for the trains. He was currently on the Green Level. Yellow was one floor down and the Red Line was below that. Through a set of double doors on the Red Line platform was an entrance to the Node Room. Once there he could use the Node to go elsewhere, or he could exit the Node Room on the other side and physically make his way through the Labyrinth.
Unlike the trains, which only traveled to green, yellow, and red locations from Astrix, the Nodes could connect to any other node you had ever touched. Using the nodes also lets you travel into and out of regions that normally didn¡¯t touch because those areas that were physically close to each other stayed around the same level. Node Points allowed one to travel to any other location within the Labyrinth, regardless of the levels of creatures in the area.
Oz strode into the Node Room and stepped into the queue that had formed. The creature in front of him disappeared and Oz stepped forward. He placed his hand on the Node, a floating silver orb, and thought of the Node Room on his home planet, Evlandervil. The city was on the Blue. It was off the normal paths and relatively remote which made it perfect for his research.
A moment later he appeared in an empty node room and made his way outside. Unlike Astrix, this Node point didn¡¯t attach to a city. In fact, it was one of only two node points that came to this planet well within the heartland of the System. Getting to this Node Point, either through the Labyrinth or by ship was incredibly hard to do. Evlandervil orbited an orange sun within a universe that only had one star. Though some scholars believed that the star might be within a void of dust that was blocking all other starlight from reaching it. No one knew, however, because the only individuals that had ever visited Evlandervil had arrived via the Labyrinth. Of course, once someone had the Node Point here as a destination it was a simple thing to transport to and from but, no one could follow. His colleagues had tried repeatedly. Any attempts to follow or locate him were impossible because they received errors stating that he was outside of their teleportation range.
He had discovered a train station for the blue line, or he should say for a blue line on the other side of the planet. He¡¯d ridden it for a year and never found a connection point to any other location he¡¯d ever been. Then he¡¯d headed to Astrix and made his way to Nexus to catch the Blue Line there. He¡¯d ridden that Blue Line for another year and never come across one stop that he¡¯d traveled to on the Blue Line that left his home.
Nexus was a city, much like Astrix where Orange and Blue lines intersected. It also wasn¡¯t a long jaunt from Astrix. Just get on the Red Line in Astrix, ride it for about a week, and then transfer to the Orange Line in the city of Orgalon. Another week was found in the city of Nexus, which for all intents and purposes was the center of the System, though some argued that the center of The System was on the Purple Line, which could only be accessed in one city the Blue Line stopped at, Suigen.
Unlike Evlandervil, Suigen was a trade and adventure hub where parties traveled into the Labyrinth. Adventuring parties could go back along the blue legendary routes or test their luck by heading into the unknown that very few returned from. Asterix and Orgalon were both larger but the truly unique items, if they could be found, were either in Nexus or Suigen. Well, it was better to say if the item you were looking for couldn¡¯t be found in Nexus then Suigen was the only other place that might have it.
That¡¯s why Oz thought his day had been most fortuitous. Finding an Adamantium ring and also receiving a bar of the stuff he could have made into even more rings¡ When he was done, he was going to be rich enough to do whatever he wanted. He didn¡¯t know what Adam was going to do but with his ability to create anything someone else might need, either he was going to be a powerhouse to be reckoned with, or the powers that be would absorb him and turn him into a resource. Most likely the latter.
High Magus Oz stepped through the curtain of energy onto the planet of Evlandervil. The entrance to the Labyrinth was on a rocky plateau. Also, there were no modern conveniences on this planet. No taxis, air cars, or any other technological luxury methods of travel, yet. Oz pulled a flying rug out of his dimensional storage and tossed it into the air where it hovered a couple inches above the ground. He stepped onto the rug and established mental control as he sped north toward his home.
The rug was rather nice and allowed him to race along at incredible speed while protecting him from air resistance and blowing wind. He could fly into the middle of a tornado and neither he, nor the rug, would be affected in any way. The Estate he¡¯d built was on a southern cliff that looked north over a jungle that raced off to the east and west along the shoreline of an inland sea. A freshwater river went over the cliff just a little way from his residence and supplied all the energy and water he¡¯d need as the river came down from snow-covered mountains farther south than his estate.
The trip from the Node Point to his estate only took about 15 minutes, though if he were to walk the same distance it would have taken a couple of weeks due to the rough terrain and mountain ranges between the Node room and his residence. As he landed, he pulled up his interface and checked all of the automatic defenses and spells to ensure no one had visited then made his way inside and downstairs to his workshop. It would take a little while but Adam had given him the one thing he needed to finish a ring that would make his name known throughout the System. He sent a thankful thought out into the ether for Adam then put his mind to the task at hand, and went to work.
***
When High Magus Oz had gone in the opposite direction of everyone else leaving the train, Adam had gone up into an open market of sorts where anything and everything was for sale. Also, humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes, and halflings weren¡¯t the only races he ran into. One person he saw could have been a Klingon while he could swear he saw a Yautja, one of the Predators from the movie Predator. Luckily most were speaking common or a combination of English and common that was so close to normal English that it was easy for him to follow the conversation.
The market was made up of clearly defined walkways and rest areas. One of the street signs drew his attention with destinations labeled very neatly. Luckily he found the sign he wanted most of all and headed off toward the System Market. Unlike the last System Market he¡¯d visited, this one had a very simple sign over a door. People wouldn¡¯t even be able to make it out until they were almost at the door.
Adam opened the door and stepped into another high-tech interior. Immediately a floating metallic sphere started floating toward Adam, ¡°Good day, I am Vendor 7Z-675. In accordance with your last visit to one of our System Market locations, I have disengaged the neural interactive system. How can I help you today Johnathan?¡±
¡°I would like to purchase information on a few of my friends and family. For now, I would like to simply know if they are alive or dead. How much will that cost?¡±
¡°With no other criteria or update upon a status change it will be 50 credits per person,¡± the vendor said.
¡°And if I wanted to receive a simple update if their status did change?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Knowledge of their current status and a one-time update if their status were to change would normally be 50 + 500 credits or 550 credits per person.¡±
Adam provided the personal information and descriptions for his mother, father, Adaline, Pandora, Amanda, Abi, Desirae, and Clarence. He also checked on Pandora¡¯s friends; Callum, Asling, Robert, Cedrik, and Pythias. 7,150 credits were subtracted from his account which left him with 5,549.
A moment later, Adam¡¯s peace of mind was satisfied as every individual he asked about was listed as ¡°Alive.¡± Adam turned to the vendor and asked, ¡°How much to learn about their locations?¡±
¡°Base cost is 1 million credits, Also, if you do not know how to get to the location directions via Train, if possible, costs 1,000 credits each,¡± The vendor said.
¡°Thank you, I¡¯m going to go look around town for a bit, I may be back to purchase that information in the near future,¡± Adam said.
¡°Very well, Sir. Have a pleasant day, ¡° the Vendor said as Adam turned and left the store.
Adam walked around the market watching as individuals sold various items and bought others. He also tried to pick up on the various items that people were selling to try to figure out what was important. After about thirty minutes he came upon a vendor that appeared to be an aquatic elf of some type. She was purchasing light green fluorescent pearls.
¡°I¡¯m giving the best prices in the Market, 200% markup. Just bring your Royal Oyster pearls to me and I will give you the best price in the market, Guaranteed!¡± the aquatic elf called out repeatedly.
Nearby Adam heard someone ask someone standing next to him, ¡°Why is she doing that?¡±
Something moved into all the local oyster beds and is keeping the farmers from going in and getting them. Those specific pearls are very useful in making Stamina and Health potions. Seeing as there¡¯s a shortage of each of those potions, even on the System Market, she¡¯s trying to get pearls so she can make a profit. A big profit,¡± he said as he turned away when he saw Adam listening to their conversation.
Adam just smiled and walked over to the older gentlemen, ¡°I couldn¡¯t help but hear what you were telling your companion. Now I know I could probably go get the location of the oyster fields from the System Market if I wanted to but seeing as you are right here, I¡¯ll give you 100 credits if you tell me where the field that is having problems is.
¡°I thank you for the offer Sir, but you really don¡¯t want to be going down there. If it¡¯s not a monster of some type keeping the farmers away then it¡¯s gotta be some royals or their heroic or legendary goons keeping the pearls all to themselves. Either way, someone will go down there and clear whatever the problem is in the next couple of days and Lizzie¡¯s prices will drop back down to normal,¡± he said sincerely.
¡°Not to worry, I¡¯ll still give you 100 credits to know where I shouldn¡¯t be sticking my nose,¡± Adam said with a smile.
¡°That, Sir, I can do. The closest isn¡¯t far. First, do you know how to tell directions here, which way is north, south, east, and west?¡±
¡°Can¡¯t say that I do, I arrived just a little while ago,¡± Adam answered honestly.
¡°Okay, well, you go off in that direction, the man said as he pointed down a street that seemed to go on for a while,¡± That¡¯s west by the way. After about a mile take a right to go down to the docks. There¡¯s a sign, so just watch for the sign to the docks. While you walking to the docks, that¡¯ll be north. Once you¡¯re at the docks, the smaller boats can get you out to the area you need to get to or you can fly or swim. You need to head north off the dock, out of the inlet, and into the ocean for about a mile then just head down. It¡¯s not too deep but, not too close to the surface either so make sure to take something that lets you breathe underwater. Did you get all that?¡±
¡°Sure did, head to the docks and then north out into the sea for about a mile then down. Is there any reason I can¡¯t fly in that direction in the city?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Nope, there¡¯s no restrictions out here in the outer city. People be flying around all the time. No restrictions in the middle city either. That¡¯s the area inside the 10-foot wall all the way up to the 20-foot wall. There are restrictions inside the area enclosed by the 20-foot wall though. Only individuals that have a permit can fly in the inner city.
How do I get a permit to fly in the inner city?¡± Adam asked.
¡°You buy it of course. They sell them here in the market or the System Market. Same price in both places so it doesn¡¯t really matter where you go. They can also be given out as gifts from various merchants, companies, or important individuals,¡± the man said.
¡°Well, my names Adam, and I¡¯d like to thank you¡¡± Adam said leaving an opening for the man to give him his name.
¡°Geob, my names Geob. Sorry I didn¡¯t introduce myself,¡± he said as he held out his left wrist.
Adam touched his wrist to Geob¡¯s and transferred 125 credits, ¡°No issue, put a little tip in for all the help you just gave me. Think I¡¯m going to head off now, Adam said.
¡°Good luck to you Adam!¡± Geob said as Adam headed south through the market.
Adam walked a couple of blocks away from the docks, rounded a corner, activated Obscure and Flight, and launched into the air. He headed North east toward the docks. A moment later he was over the dock and heading out over the ocean. The docks were in a short inlet that acted as a break against the ocean waves and protected any ships that were docked. As he was heading out into the ocean Adam noticed what could only be described as a 20th-century yacht with typical attire for a party going on the upper deck and individuals diving into the ocean off the lower deck
Adam slowed down and headed toward the upper deck as he used Mold Chaos to change his attire to match others on the upper deck. All of them seemed to be wearing swimming suits, bikinis, or nothing at all in some cases. Adam opted for a black pair of swimming trunks and a simple white T-shirt. He landed out of sight of the other passengers, dropped his Obscure ability, and walked back to the party as if he had every right to. Adam wasn¡¯t surprised at all when no one gave him a second glance as he walked up to the bar and asked for a drink.
Chapter 215, The Arch-Mages Daughter
¡°And who do we have here?¡± one of the most beautiful elves he¡¯d ever seen said as she came over in a strip of cloth that Adam was sure was meant to be her swimwear and a purple towel wrapped around her hips. Bright green eyes with the hint of an aquamarine ring around her irises were framed by delicate cheekbones and a sensuous set of lips the color of newly opened rose petals, more pink than red. She smiled and then took a sip of her drink which was a golden liqueur of some sort.
¡°No one important,¡± Adam said with a smile. ¡°My name is Adam, I am very honored to meet you,¡± he said as he nodded slightly while maintaining eye contact.
¡°I¡¯m Jezel Maneece, nice to meet you. You¡¯re not going to run away terrified of the Arch-Mage¡¯s daughter are you?¡± she asked with a hint of a smile on her face.
¡°Nope, not much scares me these days. In fact, I just came out here to find out what¡¯s going on?¡± Adam said in a voice filled with mirth.
¡°Well, you came to the right place then. The Adventurers are diving into the depths to find out what¡¯s keeping the farmers away from the Royal Oyster Pearls. Do you know how hard it is to throw an epic party only for it to be sidelined when your dad commandeers your boat to investigate something?¡±
¡°Can¡¯t say that I do, no,¡± Adam said.
¡°Well at least I met you, everyone else here is too afraid of my dad to even talk with me,¡± Jezel said.
¡°You do realize that there are other reasons some people aren¡¯t approaching you, right?¡± Adam asked conspiratorially as if he knew a secret she didn¡¯t know.
¡°Actually, no,¡± she said leaning closer, ¡°Do tell.¡±
¡°They could be intimidated by your beauty,¡± Adam said sincerely.
¡°You think I¡¯m beautiful,¡± Jezel said playfully, though Adam could tell she was just being flirtatious and that there was no real desire behind the act. Also, with True Sight active, he could see from her Aura that there was no passion behind her words. It was more like she was playing a role in a game, at least in her mind.
¡°Anyone with eyes can see your beauty, but I can tell that you are not interested in me, or even being here. If I¡¯m right in that assumption then why are you here Milady,¡±
¡°Milady? I am not royalty¡,¡± Jezel started to say when five security personnel teleported into existence right next to her.
¡°Jezel, please come with us, NOW!¡± a female guard said to Jezel as she reached out and placed an arm on her shoulder.
Jezel didn¡¯t struggle as she rose from her seat and mouthed, ¡°Sorry¡± as she was led away.
One of the five guards moved over behind Adam and asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±
¡°Adam, who are you?¡±
¡°You didn¡¯t board the boat back at the dock, nor are you on any over our lists, How did you get past security? There are detection spells all around the ship as well as a few protection spells. No one with ill intent should be able to approach this boat without a dozen alarms going off,¡± the guard said.
Before Adam could answer the guards¡¯ questions, the guard reached forward to grab Adam by the neck, lift him off the chair and slam him to the deck to subdue and terminate him if necessary. Adam read his intentions in his Aura. What the guard expected to happen, did not happen. As the guard had expected no resistance, he¡¯d used his full strength. When his hand wrapped around the back of Adam¡¯s head and he yanked upward, he dislocated his wrist and fractured a few of the small bones in his left hand when they impacted against Adam¡¯s head.
The guard grunted in pain and stepped back as Adam slowly turned to the guard and said, ¡°I really don¡¯t like to be touched,¡± Adam said as he looked around and saw the shock in the eyes of the other partygoers.
¡°I think my time here is done. Please pass on to Jezel that I had a lovely time speaking with her, and remember, I do not like to be touched, ¡°Adam said as activated Obscure and Teleported 1,000 feet straight up to float above the boat. His True Sight detected the spells that covered the boat and its surroundings, but it seemed that his Obscure ability was able to keep it from detecting him as the field washed over and through him as if he wasn¡¯t even there.
He could have been a little more flashy, but two things held him back. First, he didn¡¯t know the current political climate and second, he was waiting for the axe to fall when the true power of The System was directed at him. He had a couple of ideas on how it might level the playing field concerning him, so he wasn¡¯t going to draw attention to himself unless he had to. Better to play the aloof, all-powerful millionaire than think he was truly invincible because no one was truly invincible. Besides, he had actually liked sitting down and talking with Jezel. There was something about the innocence of youth that was intoxicating. Of course, he could just be getting old and cynical.
A flash of purple energy pierced the ship and flew past him at the speed of light. Adam was off to the side of the boat a little bit and noticed that the particle of purple light had come from beneath the yacht and had been moving at the speed of light, or pretty damn close to it.
Adam dropped to the water, dipped below, and started to make his way down toward the source of the purple particle when a bright flash of light expanded up and through him at the speed of light. Immediately his mind thought of LSM-60, the World War II-era landing ship that had a nuke detonated 90 feet below it In the lagoon of Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Something like a nuke must have just detonated underneath the yacht.
Adam still wasn¡¯t sure how The System was affecting him, but he knew that if he could see a flash, a shock wave was working its way up fast. Faster than anyone would have time to react, normally. At the speed of sound, 730 miles per hour at ground level, The shockwave would travel just over 1,070 feet per second. If this was a nuclear blast wave, or something similar, it would be traveling at 784 miles per hour or just over 1,149 feet per second. Adam activated Stutter Step and started taking the actions he could. First, he moved directly under the center of the boat. Next, he activated Technomancy and wasted his next action to know the boat. All of its capabilities and defenses. That was 5 of the 23 actions he¡¯d created with Stutter Step,
Luckily, the boat had a barrier generator. Action 6, he moved parallel to the hull. 7, 8, and 9, he locked himself into place with Mold Chaos by fusing the top of his clothes to the boat. Action 10, Adam activated the generator which created a barrier around himself and the yacht. Action 11, he sounded the alarm on the boat. Action 12, he redirected the barrier to focus its strength on the underside of the boat. There was no 13 action. Either the detonation was a lot closer to the boat than Adam had figured, or the blast wave was moving much faster than 784 miles per hour. Possibly a combination of both.
Even at his accelerated movement speed the shockwave enveloped the boat. The barrier held, for the most part. Adam was momentarily blinded as the energy wave hit the shield and flung the boat straight up and away from the origin point of the blast. Adam felt the shield go down and was blinded as notifications populated his vision.
WARNING you have been struck by a blast wave of energy composed of Anti and Proper elements at a ratio of 50/50.
100,000 SD, Structural Damage recorded.
Barrier blocked 99.9% of the damage
1% SD Damage converts to 100 SD
100 SD Converts to 10,000 HP of damage to biologicals struck.
WARNING, You have taken 10,000 HP of damage
Warning you have exceeded your 152 hit points by 9,848 hit points of damage.
You have Died!
ERROR
Subject¡¯s Hit Points before attack: 15,675,903,632.
Current Maximum Hit Points exceed expected hit points by 1,031,309.4%
Error Noted.
Discrepancy Elevated to Administrator.
The administrator is currently unavailable.
This error will be revisited when the Administrator is free.
Adjusted Current Hit Points are 15,675,893,632
You have NOT died.
Current unadjusted attributes will continue to be utilized for all calculations until review is accomplished.
So, The System had noted the error and was continuing to let him maintain his attributes from before though someone, who was otherwise engaged, would review the discrepancy when they were able. Adam wondered whether the lack of a response was in any way his fault then realized that he didn¡¯t have time for this.
The good thing about still having 10 more actions to take within this combat round with Stutter Step was that he could recover from the blast. His Hit Points would regenerate by the end of the combat round. Adam did some quick math. If .1% of the blast had done 10,000 Hit Points of damage to him the blast would have done 10 million points of damage to anyone outside of the barrier. If his Hit Points were supposed to be 152, that was a bit of overkill.
Actions 14 through 23 were used to recover and review his situation, which wasn¡¯t good. Adam looked around and noted that the city of Astrix still existed inside a barrier that had come up around it, though there was a huge crater where the bay had once been. Note to self, never trust a barrier to take all the damage from an explosive attack. The hull had held together but it had burned away in place and there were holes in some places. Luckily it looked like there was an inner and outer hull and the inner hull had remained intact. That¡¯s not what worried Adam though.
What worried Adam was the fact that the ship he was attached to was currently speeding away from the Island that was only growing smaller as he watched. Adam checked the Yachts features with Technomancy, then activated the life support field that this boat had installed. Additionally, the boat had started to rotate and Adam could see that he¡¯d activated the life support function just in time because they now appeared to be above the barrier that held in the atmosphere of the island around it. Adam could see a clear line where the light from the star nearby reflected off the bubble of air. Adam released himself from the Boat and used Flight to come up and around the hull until he could land on the deck. Unlike the barrier which was now down and recharging, through his Technomancy ability he knew that life support was achieved by a bubble that was simply held in place by magic. There was no hard barrier that he had to cross to enter the area covered by it. Adam landed lightly on the deck and looked around.
While the boat was rotating in what appeared to be zero-G, once he was above the deck, gravity righted itself and everything felt normal while the island continued to rotate around the yacht. Some of the people that had been enjoying themselves were still blinded by the initial flash but as it had been beneath them, Adam didn¡¯t think the damage would be permanent. He watched as they rapidly blinked their eyes to clear them. The male guard with the broken wrist was still standing by the bartender looking around when he noticed Adam.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
¡°You Stop!¡± the Guard barked.
¡°First, No, and second is everyone else, besides the asshat over there, okay?¡± Adam said as he moved around the other guests to check with them and make sure they were all right. The guard started to move toward Adam. Wanting none of whatever this guard wanted to dish out, Adam activated Stutter Step and used his superior strength and speed to subdue the guard, heal his wrist with Mold Chaos then create an Adamantium chair with restraints that didn¡¯t allow him to move. Adam was kind enough to provide a straw that he could suck on if he was thirsty within easy reach of his mouth. One on each side. Water on the left, and Fey Wine on the right. Mold Chaos might not be his nanites but he could use the ability to do almost everything he could do with nanites on a much-reduced scale. Of course, he could also make items that were intrinsically magical which was a nice bonus.
To everyone, including the guard, it looked like Adam flickered and then the guard was sitting in a chair, immobilized with straws near his mouth while Adam was standing right where he had been. Adam used Mold Chaos to disconnect the guard¡¯s vocal cords making him mute as he looked like he was trying to say something. Adam lifted a finger to his mouth and made the ¡°Shhhhh¡± sound before he pointed to the guard and said, ¡°Now you, Stay! The straw on the left is water, and the one on the right is Fey Wine. Enjoy,¡±
Adam turned away from the guard and then made his way around to the other guests as he cast Heal Other on those that were hurt and used Mold Chaos to fix anything that had been broken when the blast wave shook the ship. Luckily the artificial gravity had held and only a few scratches and bruises with very minimal health point loss were noted. That begged the question, why had an explosion gone off that did far more damage than anyone he¡¯d come across so far could take? Logically, the explosion was either a huge coincidence or it had been designed to take out the ship. He very much doubted anyone was targeting him yet, So¡.
As that thought crossed his mind, he noted an alarm going off below deck with his Technomancy ability. While he could teleport based on personal knowledge of the ship, he¡¯d never been to the room the alarm was going off in so it was time for plan B. Adam pulled up the schematics of the ship, checked his location against the location of the alarm, viewed the target area through the internal security systems, and then calculated the distance he needed to teleport.
That¡¯s what he would have done, instead when he reviewed the target location he noticed that Jezel was in a safe room in the middle of the boat. It was so safe in fact that there were teleportation inhibitors and additional barriers in place. Also, the room was encased in a 1/8-inch sheet of Adamantium. In fact, the entryway into the room wasn¡¯t even an entry room, it was a portal that passed through one wall of the same room in a specific location. Adam would have to look at how it was designed later. Right now he knew he couldn¡¯t teleport in and the last guard that was alive in the room was trying to break a magical barrier that had sprung up around Jezel and seemed to be maintained by a ring she was wearing. The other three guards were already dead and the Assassin, because that¡¯s all the fourth guard could be, was trying his hardest to break through the barrier protecting her with a very nasty-looking sword.
Adam activated Freedom of Flight and Flight and headed through the boat to the safe room. It seemed that Freedom of Flight still made him ethereal for the most part. As he came up to the safe room Jezel was in, he was repelled, which he¡¯d expected. He made his way around to the entrance and found the hole in the defenses. It was a pretty ingenious setup. There was a single point in the cube that made up the room that was not covered by the barrier. There was no break in the metal but on each side of the wall, there was a magical item attached to the wall that allowed a portal to be opened at that location only. The devices on the outer and inner walls were shielded but that shield sat on top of the barrier that covered the rest of the wall. With Freedom of Flight active, it was a simple thing for Adam to pass through the gap between the two barriers and then phase through the only spot in the wall that wasn¡¯t covered by a barrier, and then phase through the wall into the safe room. Adam solidified into existence directly between Jezel and the Assassin.
The look of shock that appeared in the Assassin¡¯s eyes was priceless, though it only lasted for a moment before she altered her attack and tried to stab Adam through the chest. Adam sidestepped the thrust and jabbed the Assassin¡¯s wrist and elbow with his fingers which caused her to lose her grip on the weapon. As the weapon started to drop toward the floor Jezel called out, ¡°Don¡¯t touch the sword!¡±
Adam could see with his True Sight ability that the sword had an aura but it didn¡¯t look to be anything special so he reached out and caught the sword before it could clatter to the ground. As he did so a notification appeared.
WARNING, you have picked up a soul-bound item. This item will not work for you, put it down.
Soul Bound huh? Adam allowed his Mold Chaos ability to envelop the sword and then break it down as he absorbed it back into himself. There was a minor energy release which the chaos that had surrounded the sword absorbed easily.
To Jezel and the Guard, it looked like Adam had caught the sword and then a flowing white substance had surrounded the sword and then shrunk out of existence with the sword no longer visible.
Adam noticed when the assassin¡¯s eyes glazed for a moment and then she exclaimed,¡± What did you do!¡±
¡°Adam ignored the question and used an ability that he hadn¡¯t tried since his abduction into The System, Chaos Bolt. The damage was listed as ¡°Damage, 1 per mana spent. So he thought about what his mana regeneration per second had been and spent 391,897,592 of his 391 billion mana, or tried to. A flashing red notification appeared in his vision.
WARNING, Mana expenditure does not fit within known parameters for spell usage with The System. Mana reduced to maximum skill level for ability attribute-based bonus for ability utilized.
Skill not detected
Attribute bonus detected
Attribute bonus limited to Master Level 100 equivalent. 300 mana can be spent to increase damage by 300%
Attribute bonus exceeds Master Level 100 by more than double.
300 Mana spent for the simulated skill level of Master Level 100
300 Mana spent for maximum attribute level equivalent to Master Level 100
600 Mana total spent to hit Basic Level 55 Elf Assassin with Chaos Bolt
WARNING exposure to Chaos energy may have random effects.
Adam¡¯s attention was drawn back to the female elf as the Chaos Bolt hit, enveloped her and she winked out of existence. Adam directed his attention to his combat prompts to see if it could shed any light on what had happened, what he found was not unexpected, but surprising.
Basic Level 55 Elf Assassin Catastrophically failed their Luck role. The Assassin has been forcefully teleported forward in time 100 billion years.
Note, as the individual that was attacked has been ejected from this time into the future, the effect of that action will not happen for 100 billion years. If the target was killed, XP will be issued at that time.
What horseshit. He¡¯d have to wait for XP if he killed things by sending them so far into the future that they probably met their end in a dead universe until he reached that point. Adam thought about it for a second then shrugged as he thought, Whatever
¡°What did you do to her?¡± Jezel asked.
¡°She had a bad reaction to a magical bolt I hit her with,¡± Adam said with a grin.
¡°What kind of bad reaction?¡±
¡°She decided to go skipping through time into the future?¡± Adam said.
¡°Is she going to appear where she disappeared from then?¡± Jezel asked.
Adam looked thoughtful for a minute before he said, ¡°I imagine so, but we¡¯ll be long gone by then.
¡°How do you know?¡± she asked.
¡°Adam willed the combat log to appear, turned it to face Jezel, and showed her the prompt stating she¡¯d been ¡°teleported forward in time 100 billion years.¡±
Jezel looked at the prompt, looked at Adam, and then looked at the prompt again before she asked, ¡°Was that a Time spell of some sort.¡±
¡°Heavens No!¡± Adam said quickly before he continued, ¡°I don¡¯t mess with time as a general rule. As you saw it was just her luck, or karma, taking care of business. Though 100 billion years, even I have to admit, wow,¡± Adam said.
¡°Wow indeed,¡± Jezel agreed before she asked, ¡°Have you seen my last guard?¡±
Adam shrugged sheepishly, ¡°He¡¯s kind of tied up at the moment. Also, the rest of the ship and passengers seem to be fine, though we¡¯re above the island floating through space or whatever the equivalent is for this realm.
¡°It¡¯s space, though it¡¯s a very small area as compared to a Universe. Only the Islands and the Sun exist within it,¡± Jezel said.
¡°Really?¡±
¡°Really, the solar system is surrounded by a barrier my father helped establish to hold it all together. Eventually, we¡¯ll bounce off of it and just continue to float around. That is until my father comes to retrieve us.¡±
¡°You¡¯re sure he¡¯ll come?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Oh yes. As soon as the ship was damaged a signal was sent. Give it another minute or so.¡±
Adam¡¯s attention was drawn away as he detected a well-dressed male elf as he appeared on the main deck with the security system he was monitoring with Technomancy. He looked over and saw the guard sitting in his Adamantium chair Adam had created for the guard. Adam could tell he used some form of scanning ability or spell to analyze the chair and then he waved his hand and the guard was freed as the chair disappeared. The elf handed the guard a potion, which the guard drank quickly.
¡°Thank you sire,¡± the guard said as he nodded toward the door to the stairs down to the safe room, ¡°Your daughter is in the saferoom with the other guards, this way¡±
As they walked Adam listened to Elf ask, ¡°She made it to the safe room, your sure?¡±
¡°She was taken to the safe room by the rest of the security detail before the explosion went off, I am absolutely sure of that sire.¡±
¡°And you are not there, why?¡±
¡°An Individual appeared on the ship while we were in the bay that did not board in Astrix. I was trying to detain him. Sire, I know not how, but he subdued me in a moment?¡±
¡°He left you as I found you in a moment?¡± the elf asked.
¡°Yes sir,¡± The guard said as he appeared in front of the portal and pulled out a crystal he must have had in his dimensional storage because Adam hadn¡¯t detected it on him when his Mold Chaos enveloped him. Everyone seemed to have those damn dimensional spaces. A moment later a portal opened and they started to step forward.
Adam withdrew his focus from Technomancy and the surveillance devices on the ship and turned to the portal that was opening to his side as he said, ¡°Jezel, the last guard and I believe your father is stepping through now.¡±
Jezel looked to the open portal as the guard saw Adam standing slightly in front of Jezel. Her father came through the portal behind the guard. Both men looked around the room and noted three dead guards and the missing fourth, then Adam and Jezel.
With a flick of his hand, the elf that had been following the guard sent a bolt of darkness speeding toward Adam.
Jezel screamed, ¡°No father, he saved me!¡± as a bolt of black energy flew at Adam.
Adam recognized the spell as Dark in nature and used Mold Chaos to create a pocket of light in his right hand, which he caught the darkness in, nullifying it. A moment later the white light in Adam¡¯s hand disappeared as Adam looked back to the elf calmly and asked, ¡°Are you going to attack me again or would you like to check on your daughter?¡± The Elf had not moved and Jezel had lowered the barrier that had been protecting her as she moved forward.
¡°Jezel, did he truly save you?¡±
¡°Yes, Father. The fourth guard was trying to kill me when Adam appeared and stopped him,¡± Jezel explained.
¡°The elf and guard looked around the room and then the guard asked, ¡°The fourth guard, killed the other three?¡±
¡°Yes, they were dead when Adam arrived. He has been nothing but a gentleman, well except for dealing with the assassin of course,¡± Jezel answered.
Jezel¡¯s father pulled a tablet, well it looked like a tablet at least, and pulled up security footage. Adam monitored the recordings he accessed with Technomancy as he quickly watched through the betrayal of the guard and Adam¡¯s appearance.
Adam was slightly surprised when the elf turned to Adam and asked, ¡°Am I right in assuming that bolt of magic you used was Chaotic in nature?¡±
¡°You would be yes?¡± Adam said.
Jezel¡¯s father stored the tablet and looked at Adam before he bowed slightly and said, ¡°It would seem I owe you an apology. My name is Arch-Mage Maneece and I would like to formally apologize for attacking you just now.¡±
Adam relaxed a bit as he changed his body posture and demeanor to be more relaxed and formal as he said, ¡°My name is Adam, I am new to the System so do not have any ranks or titles given by the System. I accept your formal apology and would state that I understand the lengths a father will go to for the welfare of their daughter. Again, the apology is appreciated but not necessary.¡±
Arch-Mage Maneece nodded then moved to his daughter as she hugged him, ¡°Are you truly okay?¡± he asked pushing back a strand of her hair.
¡°I am, Adam saved me.¡±
¡°Very well, let¡¯s get everyone back to safety, and then if you wouldn¡¯t mind Adam, I¡¯d like to sit down and talk, if that would be all right with you?¡±
¡°Can I ask questions?¡± Adam asked.
¡°You can ask. I will answer those questions I can but even I don¡¯t know everything,¡± The Arch Mage said.
Adam smiled as he said, ¡°Then yes, I would very much like to sit down and have a conversation with you.¡±
Getting everyone to safety was anticlimactic. The four of them went through the portal, Arch-Mage Maneece cast a spell, and the boat, with everyone on it, teleported to a dry dock somewhere else. Everyone was escorted off the ship as the Arch Mage dismissed his guard and motioned for Adam to follow his daughter and him.
They left the dry dock and appeared to be in a giant structure that contained many people. Adam could tell from the construction that a lot of time and effort had been put into this place. Also, through his Astral Link, he could tell that he was in a place of power with at least two nodes possibly more but it was hard to pin down the energy types as all eight basic elements were present. The three of them stopped before a set of giant double doors that opened automatically.
Jezel hugged her father as he said, ¡°We¡¯ll talk later.¡±
Jezel withdrew and stepped through the double doors which closed behind her.
¡°Will she be safe in there?¡± Adam asked.
¡°As it¡¯s a pocket dimension, outside of this dimension, I¡¯m sure she is safer there than we are here,¡± The Arch-Mage said with a laugh.
¡°Good to know,¡± Adam said.
¡°Now if you¡¯d follow me, I¡¯ll give you a small tour of my home and then we can sit and talk,¡± Arch Mage Maneece said.
Adam nodded and for the next hour, he was led around the Arch Mages home as various structures and oddities that the Arch-Mage thought Adam might find interesting.
One item that caught Adam¡¯s attention was the mounted head of a dragon. It had caught Adam¡¯s attention because the skin wasn¡¯t skin but looked to either be made of crystal of some sort or transparent metal. Adam¡¯s Scan ability failed to give him any information.
¡°Your scan ability wouldn¡¯t provide any information I¡¯m afraid. That creature was from outside of the Current System?¡±
Outside of the current System?¡±
¡°Let¡¯s head to my library where we can pick up some refreshments and relax without the possibility of being overheard. I¡¯m sure that any questions I ask, that you choose to answer will contain information you do not wish for everyone to know the answers to,¡± The Archmage said.
¡°You are, of course, correct. After you,¡± Adam said as he followed Arch-Mage Maneece through his home on the way to his library.
¡°
Chapter 216, Imposed Limits
¡°What happened?¡± Lexnara Pellmir asked from her seat behind her desk.
The three men standing before Lexnara looked at one another before the one to her left answered, ¡°We¡¯re not sure your highness. The device detonated as advertised. The yacht¡¯s shielding was a lot more impressive than we were led to believe.¡± An aid whose name Lexnara could not remember said.
¡°But the device was detonated before the shielding could be activated. If the detonation occurred as desired and the shielding was not active, how did someone react fast enough to activate the shielding?¡±
¡°We do not know your majesty, though our spies viewing from a safe distance have stated that the shielding failed and that the hull of the yacht did receive damage,¡± the man standing in the middle said.
The man to her right spoke up, ¡°Your Majesty, if I may?¡±
Lexnara nodded for him to continue.
¡°The shielding over the yacht protected it from the explosion. The explosion was so powerful though that the yacht was launched from the surface and exited the protective bubble that surrounds Astrix. Our spies watched it tumble for a little while before it was teleported away. Our other spies within the Arch-Mages holdings have confirmed that the ship appeared in its dry dock and that Jezel, the Arch-Mage, and a human male they had never seen before exited after all the guests and staff departed,¡± he said.
¡°What of our asset, he was either to die in the explosion or after that Trollip was dead, have we heard from him yet?¡± Lexnara asked.
¡°The soul link to the ring he was wearing that would have allowed us to replicate him has been severed. We have been unable to reestablish a connection to it. We have reincarnated the asset based on the information the soul link receiver had received. The last memory the clone has is the unknown man appearing in the safe room and launching a magical attack at him. He has no memories after that, not even The System generated notifications to let the target know what happened appear in his Combat Log.¡±
¡°Very well, I had hoped to take my revenge out on the Arch-Mage in a slow and deliberate manner but it would seem that we must accelerate the timetable if we wish to keep the initiative. Activate our assets in the Arch-Mages realm, and begin the cleansing, with the daughter first, if you can. If not, so be it. The Arch-Mage has been a nuisance for far too long.
¡°Your Majesty, I¡¯m sure you have thought about the ramifications of this action politically, have you also considered The System¡¯s response?¡± the man to her left asked.
Lexnara looked to the man that had raised the question with a puzzled expression on her face, ¡°The System¡¯s response? Why would the System Respond? Its only purposes, as far as anyone has been able to fathom in the centuries I¡¯ve existed and the countless centuries detailed in our histories, are to expand its influence and the strength of those within its purview. The Arch-Mage has thought to upset the status quo by introducing concepts such as fairness, duty, and free will to the masses when we know that such ideas always lead to anarchy and chaos when those that have no power, think that they do. Also, this is personal, he killed members of my family. No, his meddling stops today and it will start with the eradication of his holdings, his daughter, himself, and the man that thwarted our earlier attempt on his daughter. Activate the assets, The meddling of this Arch-Mage ends today!¡±
The three men bowed, turned as one, and hurried from her presence. Lexnara smiled, it was always good to keep the analysts scared for their lives. Next, she considered what had happened. She¡¯d hoped to fill the Arch-Mage with dread and despair with the death of his daughter before he died. Now though, she would just have to settle for wiping him from existence. She¡¯s been down this road before with others that had destroyed members of her family, or her friends. There was no doubt that she would be again. That she was still here was a testament to her strength, which she knew The System approved of.
***
Arch-Mage Maneece led Adam through a pair of ornate wooden doors covered in intricate carvings. There were various landscapes and scenes which contained Unicorns, Dragons, Fairies, and many other mythological creatures. As the doors closed Adam felt a field of energy come down and try to sever his Astral Link as a ripple expanded through the room. The spell failed. Arch-Mage Maneece looked at Adam quizzically before he said, ¡°I have sealed this room from all outside interference except for something tied to you. It would seem that not even my preparation can completely sever a connection you have to the outside. Is that going to be an issue for our conversation?¡±
Adam smiled apologetically, ¡°Not to worry, I know what is not turned off, and pretty sure that nothing and no one can piggyback into this location and listen to us from there, at least not from this dimension.¡±
Arch-Mage Maneece led them both to a table and gestured toward one of the two large chairs as he moved to sit in the other. Once they were both seated he said, ¡°First, I must thank you for saving my daughter. I have checked the security recordings and if you had not stepped in the Assassin would have been able to kill her moments before I arrived.¡±
¡°You¡¯re very welcome,¡± Adam said.
¡°Not to sound too ungrateful but is there any way I can get to the assassin?¡± The Arch-Mage asked.
¡°Unless you can travel to the end of time, I¡¯m afraid not, Adam said as he pulled up and showed the Arch Mage the message he¡¯d received
Basic Level 55 Elf Assassin Catastrophically failed their Luck role. The Assassin has been forcefully teleported forward in time 100 billion years.
The Arch Mage looked at the prompt Adam had shared with him and was about to ask a question when Adam continued, ¡°As you can see he¡¯s been thrown a bit into the future.¡±
¡°Did you do that on purpose?¡± The Arch-Mage asked.
¡°No, I used an ability I hadn¡¯t tried since being added to the System. Normally my ability just does damage. I fully expected the ability to kill him, not transport him into the future,¡± Adam said.
¡°That is interesting, ¡° The Arch-Mage said as he pondered for a moment before he asked, ¡°So you are a recent addition to The System?¡±
¡°Yes. I was in the Multitude, which was just absorbed by the System. It seems that every member of The Multitude was separated and placed in various locations. At least as far as I can tell from the messages I¡¯ve received.¡±
¡°The System does that, but it¡¯s not as thorough as you might think. It has a classification system. Also, The System will review everyone, and those that are similar, or from similar backgrounds will find themselves on the same planet or in the same dimension or Universe. Where did you end up, if I might ask?¡±
¡°I started on the Dungeon Planet, Bounty near an entrance to the Labyrinth¡±
¡°Truly? The Archmage asked surprised.
¡°Yes,¡± Adam said.
¡°Well, that would explain how you made it to Astrix so easily, the train system that has been embedded within the Labyrinth has a stop there. Still, that doesn¡¯t explain why you would start on a dungeon planet, especially a dungeon planet that isn¡¯t for individuals just starting in The System. You would need to level a lot before you made it that far. Would you mind if I scanned you?¡±
¡°Not at all, as long as you share what you figure out, I¡¯m trying to figure out why my attack only utilized 600 of the mana when I tried to spend a lot more than The System allowed.¡±
¡°That¡¯s fair,¡± the Arch-Mage said, ¡°One second.¡±
The Arch-Mage concentrated for a moment and then a prompt appeared in Adam¡¯s vision.
WARNING! You are being scanned. Your mental defense is high enough due to your attributes to block the scan. Do you wish to allow the scan, Yes or No?¡±
Adam selected ¡°Yes¡±. A moment later the Arch-Mage exclaimed, ¡°That¡¯s not Possible!
Adam looked at the Arch-Mage, who shrugged sheepishly before his eyes glazed over and he began reviewing the information again. After a few moments, the Arch-Mages vision cleared as he focused on Adam before he said, ¡°Wow.¡±
¡°Wow?¡± Adam asked questioningly.
¡°Yes, wow. First, I¡¯m assuming that you have received a message stating that an Administrator will be visiting you shortly?¡±
¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Adam agreed.
¡°That¡¯s because your base attributes are far too high. At level 50 Master Class, if you put the maximum attribute award I¡¯ve ever seen, which was 20 attributes per level the most any one of your attributes could be is 3,000. That would be 20 attributes multiplied by 50 levels times 3 for Basic, Advanced, and Master Class. Also, that would be in only one attribute. You have over 39.189 billion attribute points in each attribute. Somehow during your conversion, your attributes remained what they must have been before. Also, how long have you been in The System?¡± The Arch-Mage asked.
¡°A couple of days at most, I haven¡¯t been able to look at a calendar and I keep changing areas so I¡¯m no longer sure. My internal clock indicates it¡¯s been more than two days though.¡±
¡°So you made it to level 50 of a Master Class in two days, How did you manage that?¡±
¡°Oh it would be much higher but The System locked me down at Master, I have to survive for one year before I can receive a Heroic Quest to unlock my Heroic Class.¡±
¡°How?¡±
¡°I proved to The System that I had knowledge, experience, and proficiency with a lot of skills,¡± Adam said.
The Arch-Mage looked thoughtful for a moment as he paused. Adam could see him doing the math in his head as he estimated how long that would take. When he was done he said, ¡°To do that you have to prove to the System that you have such proficiency and knowledge by actually proving it to The System which takes time. To get to Master level 50, let alone higher, from skill-based XP awards would take a lot of skill XP and a very long time to do. A VERY long time. You¡¯re sure you¡¯ve only been in The System for a couple of days?¡±
¡°You said you saw my attributes, I connected to a System Shop terminal and showed the System what I knew. While doing so, I may have accelerated my mental frame of reference a bit,¡± Adam said with a grin.
¡°A bit?¡± the Arch-Mage said.
¡°Anyway, once I was done I earned level 50 of a Master class and received a prompt which stated that I had to survive for one year to receive my Heroic Quest.¡±
¡°Doesn¡¯t seem like that will be too hard for you,¡± The Arch-Mage said sardonically.
¡°I except not. Any idea why I could only spend 600 mana on my spell?¡± Adam asked.
¡°That¡¯s easy, The System regulates all damage created by individuals or items within The System.¡±
Adam considered what he said for a moment then asked, ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is that no matter what my base attributes are The System will limit the amount that I can affect others based on the standard maximums, no matter what my attributes are?¡±
¡°You have it in one. In your case, it will prevent you from shooting something at your maximum possible damage. On the other side of that coin, it will also prevent others from doing a huge amount of damage to you. With your Constitution, Endurance, and Regeneration I dare say there isn¡¯t a creature that could do enough damage to get passed your regeneration, at least until they are well above legendary level.¡±
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
¡°That¡¯s interesting, and if the System is monitoring and balancing damage so that everyone is on a similar playing field, how did the bomb that went off under the yacht do enough damage that it would have killed just about any person that was caught in it? In fact, I¡¯m pretty sure anyone that wasn¡¯t in a shielded area on the island is now dead?¡± Adam said as a statement, which sounded eerily like a question.
¡°You are, of course, correct. The device that detonated did a lot more damage than any person can take or produce because it was a device. The System has two major systems that it monitors, technology and magic. Magic is produced and created by people so The System monitors and limits what people can do. As for devices that are created with Technology, The System can monitor them but it can¡¯t control the damage they do. The scope of such things follows universal laws, not laws created by individuals. If something is created that is too powerful The System has been known to utilize magic to reduce the effect or prevent the technology from working. However, anyone can purchase System generated items that do Structural damage. That damage is usually displayed with SD after it. One point of Structural Damage equals 100 hit points of damage to organics.¡±
¡°So technological weapons are, by design, more powerful within The System?¡±
¡°Yes. I believe the device that was utilized against the yacht was probably a Tier 10 bomb of some type, most likely Antimatter, or anti-particle,¡± The Arch Mage said.
¡°Why would someone want your daughter dead?¡±
¡°One does not become an Arch-Mage without making a lot of enemies?¡±
¡°If that is so, Is she safe here?¡± Adam asked.
¡°She is, though it¡¯s funny that you should ask.¡±
¡°Why is that?¡±
¡°Someone just entered the secured area she¡¯s supposed to be in?¡±
¡°Supposed to be in?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Of course, I have her locked away with only my most trustworthy staff, those that have been with me, or her. since her birth. She appears to be in one of my security wings, she is not.¡±
¡°And the person that isn¡¯t where they were supposed to be?¡±
¡°Here comes another now,¡± The Arch-Mage said as a woman pushing a cart of food opened the door to the study they were in and started pushing the cart toward them.
Adam felt the Arch-Mage beside him react as if physically punched, then his image vanished. What the hell was that? Adam thought as his mind went into overdrive and he reviewed the last few minutes. There had been a shimmer when they¡¯d entered the room. Well, shit, the Arch-Mage had gone elsewhere to protect himself, which Adam couldn¡¯t really blame him for. He¡¯d been left in this room with a holographic duplicate which he hadn¡¯t detected. If that were the case though his True Vision and Scan abilities, which he kept active all the time should have noticed. As he looked around the room his mind took in all the patterns and he recognized the dimensions and placements for runic wards that nullified observation skills. Very slick indeed. Well Played Arch-Mage Maneece, well played indeed.
Adam was shocked out of his contemplations when he felt pressure against his forehead and then heard a gunshot. The attendant was looking at him with an intense stare as if she expected her attack to have done something. Adam checked his Combat Log.
WARNING! You have received a critical strike to the head.
Weapon Variables active: Surprise Attack, High Caliber, Critical Strike
Attacker Variables active: Called Shot, Snipe, Headshot.
Base Damage for High Caliber weapon 100
Base multiplier x2 for Critical Strike, increased by 1 for Surprise Attack, Called Shot, Snipe, and Headshot. Total multiplier 6
Damage taken 600, 100 multiplied by times 6 multiplier.
Superficial damage.
Adam closed his combat log and refocused his attention on the woman who was moving toward him. He watched as a very nasty-looking knife appeared in her hand. He could tell that it was magical but the properties of the runes in the room were preventing him from deducing the properties of the dagger. Adam activated Stutter-Step to move 24 times faster than everyone else just as she disappeared.
Adam¡¯s first and second actions were to teleport to a parallel position with the roof 20 feet above where he stood and activate Flight. With his third action, Adam reached out with Technomancy and linked to the security systems in the room. His hunch that with magical protection in place that blocked magical scrying and such there would be technological security was correct. His fourth and fifth actions were spent bringing himself up to speed on what had happened.
The Arch-Mage had not set him up. Adam was looking through various security camera feeds that were tied into this camera that showed 83 dead people. Jezel had been shot and was lying in a pool of her blood as an assassin made his way toward her. The Arch-Mage was frozen in place while another man held up a monitor that showed the assassin near his daughter making his way toward her with a very long and sharp blade and a box that had one side made out of glass or plexiglass. The box was obviously designed to carry someone¡¯s severed head in it.
While he was reviewing the security footage the female assassin reappeared and slammed a dagger down where his shoulder would have been. The strike would have been perfect as it passed beside his neck, missed his ribcage, and entered his heart, if he had been sitting there. Instead, the knife slammed into the seat cushion of the chair and extended her neck, which is what he¡¯d been waiting for.
Adam¡¯s sixth action was to drop down and land as he struck the female between the back of her skull and her atlas, the topmost vertebra of her spine, with a rigid palm strike. The strike was aimed precisely and made with his full strength. He was sure that The System would modify the damage to within its mandated limits. He didn¡¯t care, A strike like that could sever the spinal cord if applied correctly and he was applying with maximum efficiency and force.
The assassin was already falling forward head down into the chair with her ass in the air as if she were a puppet whose strings had been cut. Adam paid her no mind as he turned and moved toward the door she¡¯d entered through. His seventh action had him break the speed of sound as he moved through the corridors to Jezel¡¯s sanctuary. From the security footage he¡¯d reviewed he knew that the Arch-Mage had placed her in a secret pocket dimension that could only be accessed by one door. That door was being held open by an assassin that had a recorder in one hand and the door in the other. The assassin with the long blade and the box was still a few steps away from Jezel when Adam made it to the door. Adam¡¯s eighth action was to move next to Jezel and utilize Mold Chaos to stabilize her brain function while repairing her body. He accomplished this by touching her forehead with a finger before he ended his action by standing and facing the assassin with the blade.
Adam¡¯s ninth Action was to utilize Mold Chaos to create a vorpal weapon. His 10th and 11th actions of Stutter Step removed the assassin¡¯s blade arm and head with his vorpal weapon. His 12th action removed the head of the assassin holding the door. With his 13th action, he pried the box from the dead assassin¡¯s grasp, plucked the assassin¡¯s head out of the air, and placed it in the box facing the glass side as he closed it. He set the box on the ground facing the camera. The Camera? With his 14th action, he grabbed the camera out of the air and placed it on the ground facing the head in the box and used the rest of that action to move over to Jezel, pick her up, and put her over his left shoulder. As he finished he was already moving toward the location of her father.
Adam still had the vorpal blade in his right hand and was carrying Jezel over his left shoulder as his ability Mold Chaos repaired her body. Her brain remained oxygenated though he placed her in a coma to prevent her from feeling any of the trauma her body was going through. Luckily, the Arch-Mage wasn¡¯t that far away. He was down and around a bend in a replica of the room, Adam had been in when he¡¯d activated Stutter Step.
Adam¡¯s 15th Action was to put the point of his vorpal blade through the back of the Assassin holding the monitor. The blade entered the assassin¡¯s head, exited from his right eye stabbed through the monitor destroying it as the Arch-Mage watched. Adam¡¯s 16th Action was to stow his vorpal blade in his Shadow Vault as he stepped into the time-stopped area, picked up the Arch-Mage with his right hand, and stepped out of the time-stopped area. Adam utilized his 17th Action to memorize where he was so he could use his Teleport or Gate abilities to get back to this location.
As they stepped out of the time-stopped area, Adam could feel that the Arch-Mage could move again and set him down. His 18th Action was utilized to lay Jezel at the Arch-Mages feet gently while his 19th Action was utilized to issue commands to his Mold Chaos ability to release her from the coma as soon as she was fully healed while he looked to the Arch-Mage and said, ¡°She will be fine, Stay here, I¡¯ll finish this.
His 20th action was spent leaving the room as he pushed the Assassin outside and closed the door. With his 21st Action, he used Mold Chaos to place a sheet of Adamantium that was fused with the wall which was also converted to Adamantium around the door frame. The door could be knocked loose but they wouldn¡¯t be opening that door until he returned without some serious firepower. Adam activated Obscure with Action 22. With Actions 23 and 24, he connected back to the security systems with Technomancy and worked to identify and locate every intruder in the Arch-Mages base which brought him to the end of that combat round.
In one second, he¡¯d saved Jezel, rescued the Archmage, secured their location, and identified every intruder that had taken overt action. As the 24 extra combat rounds Adam could take during a single second came to an end, his Mana, Stamina, and the hit points he¡¯d converted with Mold Chaos replenished.
Adam thought about how overpowered he was, how unfair what he was about to do was, and then shrugged. He hadn¡¯t attacked these people, they¡¯d attacked him. One did not swim up to a hungry Great White Shark and wonder why it took a bite out of your ass when you got too close. He would need to get back to the Arch-Mage and Jezel and get some questions answered. Now though? Now, it was time to get to work.
***
Queen Pellmir watched with her generals as the attack on the Arch-Mage seemed to go without a hitch, that is, until the moment the assassin assigned to the unknown man entered the study he was speaking to the Arch-Mages hologram in. As expected the sniper rifle inside the cart targeted, fired, and hit the target right between his eyes. Then things went weird. A second later the assassin that had shot him was crumpled in the chair, her ass in the air with a broken neck. The assassin¡¯s head that had been about to decapitate Jezel while her father was forced to watch was in a box pointed at the camera which was now at ground level while the body of Jezel was nowhere to be seen. Also, the tablet that had been showing the Arch-Mage the death of his daughter while transmitting his helpless state in the stasis bubble had gone dead ending all transmissions from within the Arch-Mages private sanctum. Worse yet, over the next 3 seconds, every assassin within the complex was neutralized. Additionally, the exploit that had been added to the Arch-Mages security system had been sealed. No further information was coming out of the personal dimension of the Arch-Mage.
The Queen turned to the general closest to her, ¡°Reincarnate one of the assassins, the one that went after the unknown man seems to be a good candidate. Get her in here to answer questions as soon as possible.
¡°Yes, your majesty,¡± the general said as he pointed to a man near one of the doors. The man turned and left the room.
For the next 30 minutes, they went over all the surveillance footage looking for any hints as to what happened. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and the man that had left earlier returned with a woman dressed in a simple white smock. They moved in and stood before the queen.
The Queen leaned back from the table, looked at the two, and asked, ¡°What happened?¡±
¡°Your Majesty. I entered the room as ordered, and the weapon fired and struck. I noted that it had no effect on the target and teleported to perform an assassination on him while he was still seated. When I arrived no one was in the chair and then I was struck from behind. My Combat log Identifies my attacker as Adamantadine. It also indicates that I was only struck once with precise and maximum force to my spinal column between the bottom of my skull and 1st vertebrae. He crushed my spine with a single blow.¡±
The queen looked thoughtful for a moment before she waved the assassin away and turned to the generals, ¡°Not a loss then, we now know the name of our target. I want to know everything there is to know about Adamantadine and anyone else who stopped our attack on the Arch-Mage.¡±
¡°Yes, Your Majesty,¡± was parroted around the room as everyone got up to leave.
Lexnara Pellmir, Queen of the Di¡¯kree paused for a moment as she thought about everything that had happened over the last few days. Years of planning and maneuvering personnel into locations where they could be picked up to work in the Arch-Mages personal dimension. That didn¡¯t even take into account the number of credits she¡¯d spent gaining information and purchasing protection against others using the System to learn information about her in addition to the false leads she set up. All of her plans had been thwarted by a man named Adamantadine.
Lexnara went back to her office, sat down in her chair and put her hand on the System Node implanted into her desk, and then accessed the System Market. She scrolled through the tabs to the Information hub and pulled up personal information on Adamantadine. Lexnara reviewed the costs of the various packages and then coughed in surprise.
Adamantadine
Current Status, Alive or Dead: 500 Credits
Basic Information: 4 Billion Credits. Basic Information includes Current Status, Race, and Location.
Standard Information: 40 Billion Credits. Standard information includes Current Status, Race, Classes and Levels, Commonly known Abilities, and Location
Detailed Information: 4 Trillion Credits. Detailed information includes Current Status, Race, Classes and Levels, Attributes, All Activated Abilities, Location, Origin, family, and significant others.
She¡¯d expected the Detailed Information to cost somewhere in the rand of 1 million credits, which she was prepared to pay out of her personal assets. 4 Trillion Credits though. That would deplete the Empire¡¯s income for at least 10 years. Besides for a million credits, she could hire someone to find this Adamantadine and scrape the information out of him. Yes, that sounded like a great idea. She accessed the bounty board and then a hidden feature which her Master Class, Political Provocateur gave her access to, and put a call out to any Assassins with interrogation experience. Shortly thereafter she had a contract assigned. 1 million credits up front, 4 million upon completion of the task. He was so expensive because he was one of the few that had leveled above Legendary. Part of the contract was that she¡¯d have to provide information concerning the target, which cost her nothing. She knew right where Adamantadine was at the moment and with a quick call she¡¯d had a target package prepared from the memory of the Assassin that had just been resurrected. Now it was the contractor¡¯s responsibility to track him down if he moved from the target location.
The assassin she¡¯d hired was well-known for his ability to complete contracts. In fact, the name he¡¯d chosen for himself was quite appropriate, Finalis. Once Adamantadine was dealt with Lexnara could return her attention to making the Arch-Mage and his daughter suffer, and then die for the deaths of the rest of her family, it would only be fair after all.
Chapter 217, Tana
Tana Metalbottom turned from her terminal and exited her office as she stepped into her workshop to check on the projects she had running. A tinker gnome by trade, Tana had set up her workshop in the city of Suigen. Suigen was the only city that connected to the Labyrinth train lines at the only Blue and Purple line junction. In fact, the only way to get to Suigen was to first reach Nexus on the Yellow line and then ride the Blue line to Suigen.
There were other ways to reach Suigen but it was so far toward the center of The System that encounters were quite deadly. The safest way was to portal into town at one of the five portal points on the outskirts of the city or to arrive by the Labyrinth train line. The entrance to the Labyrinth was also on the outskirts of town and well-guarded. Unlike other train stations, the paths that led directly into the labyrinth and the Train line were separated. The Train station was absolutely safe and looked like any subway station entrance in any industrial world one might visit. The entrance to the deep paths of the labyrinth took the form of a huge cave mouth down on the shoreline to the largest freshwater river in the area which emptied into a saltwater sea. That entrance entered the Labyrinth and bypassed the train¡¯s arrival points.
Tana had even gone down to that estuary where the river met the sea and determined that brackish water didn¡¯t stabilize into normal sea water until almost a mile offshore. Even so, the flow rate of the freshwater river was such that fifty feet from the sea the water was safe to drink. Also, while some of the businesses in the city of Suigen disposed of their waste into the sea, no one dared dump their waste into the river which supplied the city with all of its fresh water. It was even rumored that the source of the river was from one of the elemental dimensions adjacent to this one.
It was kind of ironic that her current Apocryphal Class, the term she used to describe the next level of classes above Legendary Class which were also referred to as Fabled or Mythical Classes. It was kind of ironic that she¡¯d received access to her current class as a result of some very bad business practices which had led to the deaths of over 30% of the local workforce and a host of contracts being issued by the ruling class of the area.
Once the dregs had been taken care of and the city once again had safe drinking water, Suigen had become a city that combined all technologies and magics. Her basic class had been simply an Engineer, while her advanced class was that of a Physicist. A war that had been going on right around her advancement into her Master Class which had been Weapon Engineer Specialist. Her heroic class had been chosen merely to allow her to survive. During the war, she¡¯d been a passenger on a craft that had been destroyed. She¡¯d been one of a handful that had ejected and found themselves on a planet with heroic-level monsters and even a few Legendary ones. Only three people survived out of the 21 that made it to landfall. She had helped by establishing defensive lines and helping set up perimeters utilizing all of her engineering and weapon engineer specialist skills which had given her access to a Heroic class called Trap Master.
Choosing that class had helped her keep the three of them alive until they were finally able to find a route into the Labyrinth and work their way back toward civilization. Unfortunately one of her spatial traps had misfired and she¡¯d found herself lost in the Labyrinth and alone. Luckily she was small and had some stealth ability so she¡¯d been able to craft a couple of devices that had allowed her to survive. She¡¯d spent almost 65 years lost in the Labyrinth and her adventures had given her access to her Legendary class.
That choice had been interesting. She¡¯d chosen a hybrid class called an Infiltrator that would allow her to improve her stealth skills as well as set traps that allowed her to target and execute harder prey from afar. She¡¯d also been given access to the Assassin¡¯s Guild though she hadn¡¯t been able to join them until she¡¯d finally found her way to Nexus through the Labyrinth. Once she¡¯d exited the Labyrinth in Nexus, the first thing she did was check on the other two survivors, Alana and Bearford. They had both survived. In fact, the same accident that had sent her deeper into the Labyrinth had sent them to the outskirts of Orgalon. From there it had been a simple train ride to get to Astrix and report back to the company that had hired them to help with the war. Of course, the war was over by the time Tana emerged and she¡¯d been released from her contracts so everything had turned out okay.
Once she was free and clear she¡¯d rented a top-tier room with access, set up her privacy tech which would prevent anyone from knowing what she was doing, and accessed the Assassin¡¯s Guild for the first time. Very quickly she realized how insecure the system was when she¡¯d accepted a low-level contract just to see how the system worked.
The contract had been straightforward. Kill Target A, Get paid 20,000 credits. The target package had included the target¡¯s name, affiliation, and location at the time the contract was issued. Tana had accepted the contract and used a localized trap she placed within the target¡¯s personal vehicle to kill them when they entered the car to go to work. The contract had been almost too easy. Once proof of death was supplied she received the notification that The System had added 20,000 credits to her account. It had been relatively easy money.
That is until the Conglomerate showed up.
The Conglomerate was, as far as she could tell, a group of very rich, very high-level individuals that did not like it when someone killed one of their employees for whatever reason. Tana hadn¡¯t known she was under surveillance until she¡¯d been beamed into a holding cell in a Dreadnaught class stealthed vessel in orbit.
She¡¯d been given a very specific offer which she could not say no to. Which is how she¡¯d earned the class she currently held. System Assassin. Tana was not only a professed assassin. Her skills and abilities were tied directly to the System and utilized some exploits she¡¯d discovered while serving the Conglomerate. To get away from them she¡¯d had to fake her own death which was why she had a tinker¡¯s shop on Suigen. Even the Conglomerate didn¡¯t waste time looking for or chasing people down a Blue line to Suigen. There were too many powerful people in the city that even they did not want to cross. She¡¯s checked on her status within the Conglomerate through The System and as far as they were concerned she had died in the staged assassination she¡¯d created.
Once she was satisfied she¡¯d changed her appearance, another perk of being an Infiltrator, and set up a Gnome tinker shop to make back some of the money she¡¯d spent. 75 years later, she was still here. This shop was her primary source of income. She repaired and created any gadgets the adventurers that made it this far toward the Central System might want or need. Being as it was on Suigen she could charge a pretty penny for her services as well. On the side, she watched the Assassin¡¯s Contracts Board and would sometimes accept contracts if the price was right or it was easy money.
One, her System Assassin skill made it nigh impossible for her to get caught. She had created the callsign Finalis when she¡¯d accepted the Apocryphal Class. Those without similar System access would glean no other information about her unless they were willing to pay an ungodly number of credits for it. If that ever happened there wasn¡¯t much she¡¯d be able to do about it so she didn¡¯t worry about it over much. The other ability that came with the class was an ability called Marked for Death.
Marked for Death allowed Tana to Mark anyone within the purview of the System, no matter where they were. This had three primary effects. First, the target would not receive a message that they were marked though their current status effects tab would light up with the information. If the target looked at that they would know. While the status was on the target the target could not heal, which was the second effect. The third effect was that Tana could open a portal to the target from whatever angle she wished it to open. When she¡¯d first started out she¡¯d open a portal to the back of the target, right above the heart, and stab them with a knife.
One target had shown her why this was a bad idea when his back had exploded and Tana had almost lost her hand due to the explosive force that came back through the small portal opening. One thing about the portals, distance and dimensional crossing didn¡¯t matter. The portal was a benefit of the class and the System allowed Tana to open the portal to almost any location with very little personal cost to any contracted target. There was one serious drawback to the ability. She could only use the ability to target individuals that had at least a 100,000 credit contract against them through the Assassin¡¯s Guild that had been purchased through The System.
Even so, the ability was fantastic when the only bounties she took were generated by The System. Over the years she¡¯d perfected her method of assassination and been very picky about the bounties and contracts she¡¯d accept. She refused to target innocents or mothers with newborns, though there were exceptions. Additionally, she would not take targets within the Conglomerate because to do so might inadvertently allow them to discover that she might not be as dead as they thought.
Earlier today when her virtual assistant had pinged her that a contract for 5 million credits had been issued she¡¯d practically dropped everything to get back to her terminal and review it. As she¡¯d reviewed the contract information she¡¯d used another perk of her class was to know exactly who issued the contracts. Queen Pellmir, how interesting. Tana had pulled up the contract, reviewed its location, which wouldn¡¯t matter to her, and then reviewed the information in the contract.
Target: Adamantadine
Location: Arch-Mage Maneece Personal Pocket Dimension
Bounty: 5 million credits. 1 million upon acceptance, 4 million upon completion.
Classes: Unknown
Level: At least Master Level 50
Tana had one more trick up her sleeve and activated another ability that was specific to the class System Assassin, Detailed Target Information which did exactly squat in this case. Normally, the abilities and attributes of the target, as well as a detailed listing of their classes, would be provided. Instead, nothing happened. That could only happen if there was a specific ability that negated System requests. She¡¯d run into that when an Administrator had been her target one time. It hadn¡¯t saved him in the end. Of course, she might have gone a little bit overboard but that was okay, she¡¯d collected her Bounty and was known as an assassin that could get things done. This target was probably an Administrator as well. An ability to hide their system information wouldn¡¯t save him from her though. Of course, the other reason her ability could have failed was that his attributes or resistances were higher than her own attributes and ability but she doubted it. There weren¡¯t many individuals that could claim to be the same level as she was, that she knew of anyway.
Though everyone in Suigen thought of her as a Legendary tinkerer, that was only a byproduct of her ability False Pretense which allowed her to alter the information people saw about her. With that ability, she could change the description and title of any of her classes, which she had so that she appeared to be a Gnomish Engineer and Tinkerer. Since she actually had the skills along those lines and she was very proficient it wasn¡¯t hard for her to keep up appearances and fix and repair items brought to her. Of course, if some of the people on the planet knew exactly who she was she might have some issues.
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Tana focused on her workshop, made sure the workers hadn¡¯t messed anything up, and then checked on her bailout package. Just in case. If things went tits up, she could retreat here, enter her powered armor, and be gone from Suigen and heading into the Labyrinth before anyone would be the wiser.
Once the batteries and consumables were topped off Tana made her way back to her office and then stepped through a hidden portal at the back into her ops center. 4 million more credits, for 5 million total, here I come, she thought.
She¡¯d devised this method of killing hard targets for those that were a little too powerful for her a long time ago when she¡¯d worked for the Conglomerate. Anyone could do this, though it was almost impossible to know where a target was going to be at any given time. In her case, it wasn¡¯t an issue. She had a weapon in orbit around the planet Suigen was on, she could never remember its name because honestly, no one cared. Everyone just called the city and planet Suigen.
She¡¯d created the weapon she was going to use a long time ago as an upgrade to a cruiser-class ship. When the contract had been nullified, she retasked the weapon for her needs. The weapon fired a kernel of plasma, locked inside a beam. That kernel contained a very unique particle. A particle that was incredibly hard to get or replicate. Luckily for her, she knew exactly how to extract one particle and create the ammunition cartridges the weapon used. The kernel contained a single Putrescent particle, the opposite of the Absolute Particle, which some considered the God Particle. She could have used Anti Particles but that would have made a huge explosion which was nice when indiscriminate killing was the goal. She didn¡¯t kill indiscriminately though. She was meticulous. Only the target of her contract died.
Unfortunately for anyone, Putrescent particles were extremely nasty. Spells and energy weapons that utilized that higher energy corrupted whatever they touched and converted it. During one of her tinker sessions, there had been an accident and she¡¯d witnessed firsthand how the energy had spread and eaten through everything until the effect had been neutralized by accident from one of her other weapons. The lab and surrounding area had been utterly annihilated when everything was said and done.
Afterward, she¡¯d sought out some scholars who¡¯d explained to her that Putrescent Energy was just another way of saying corruption. To counter corruption one had to overpower it with organized energy. How much energy was needed to eradicate the corruption depended on the type of energy. None of the base eight elements would work. Spirit, Soul, and mental energy didn¡¯t work either. Divine Energy was the least expensive, though she¡¯d never been able to harness divine energy for a weapon so she couldn¡¯t perform tests to see how much better it was. Space, Time, and Gravity had no direct effect but could be utilized to control the spread or remove the threat if Time was used. Order and Chaos worked equally well and pretty much required the same amount of energy to negate the corruption cycle, though Order was much better than Chaos. Chaos tended to not do exactly what was intended. Next to Divine energy, Proper and Absolute energy were the best. Proper energy-based attacks only required one-half the same energy and Absolute energy attacks negated the corruption for only a fourth as much energy. Anti-particles or energy of the Anti-type had the direct opposite effect and would magnify, or speed up the corruption.
None of that mattered though because the method Tana had created to take out extremely troublesome targets was flawless.
First, she would use her ability to Marked for Death on the target which would prepare the target for her next attack. Next, she would prepare the beam weapon which was in orbit. It was self-enclosed so no one looking at it would think that it was anything but a communications satellite. A portal from inside the satellite would open inside her sealed workshop. Directly below the portal in a predesignated location Tana would orient the portal she could open with her Marked for Death ability perpendicular to the body of the target and in line with their neck as it opened one-quarter of an inch above their head. The Portal was only two inches in diameter. The weapon would fire and the beam would travel through both portals into the top of the head of the target.
The weapon was geared to do ship-based damage but she¡¯d modified it so that the beam would travel exactly one foot before the putrescent particle was released. There wasn¡¯t a personal shield that could withstand the power of the initial blast, though if something did the particle would still survive to pass through their shielding and armor.
Normally the passage of the beam weapon and putrescent particle were enough to kill the target though the final part of the attack made sure no one would be seeing the target again. As the beam cut off a micro singularity with a half-life of exactly one second followed the beams path through the target. The two collided and any matter, the putrescent particle, as well as any energy that might be created as a by-product were stopped by the gravity of singularity and sucked in. The singularity was magic driven and artificial. One second after it was fired it transferred to the adjacent elemental dimension of the void, pulling everything it had absorbed with it.
Her thoughts when designing the attack were along the lines that should the target survive the initial energy blast it was unlikely that the target would survive a particle of putrescent energy traveling through it followed almost immediately by a singularity that sucked all matter that was loosely touching the event horizon.
The first time Tana had utilized the weapon she¡¯d thought it would remove the head, neck, and a portion of the chest from the target and leave the arms and legs. That had not happened. Instead, the portal had opened, the recording had picked up a ¡°pzzt¡± sound and then the whole body had disappeared. She¡¯d had to slow the recording down to notice that the head, hands, arms, feet, and legs has been sucked toward the chest just as the body disappeared as it was drawn into the dimension of the void.
After she¡¯d sent sensors into the void at that location and found no hint of the singularity or any other particles. She recalibrated her sensors and detected a wave of infrared radiation radiating out from the point the singularity would have entered the void.
The next contract she¡¯d accepted, she¡¯d taken the time to set up recording devices in the void and watched as a singularity appeared and then evaporated as the infrared radiation was ejected. No sign of the target appeared in the void. So, she¡¯d created a weapon that made it appear as if the target had just disappeared as it killed them instantly.
For easier targets or targets that needed to be publicly assassinated, she¡¯d simply shoot them through the top of their head and allow the portal to close. She could adjust the Portal that Marked for Death created up to five feet in diameter. Also, her ability allowed her to bypass most shielding devices. The few times that wasn¡¯t true she¡¯d use what she lovingly referred to as her ¡°PP Gun¡± which she knew was a funny play on words that she found hilarious.
Enough self-reflection, it was time.
Tana activated the weapon in orbit and a portal opened directly in front of her in the workshop. She was of course behind a protective barrier, just in case. Next, she activated her ability Marked for Death, target Adamantadine. The portal created by her ability opened beneath the portal for the PP Gun, the weapon fired, and both portals closed.
Tana waited for The System to award her experience and send its congratulations message for a successful contract completion but nothing happened. She pulled up the camera footage of the device and made sure it fired. It had. Still, nothing. She checked the targeting camera of the PP Gun and watched as the first portal opened, then the second to the top of the target¡¯s head, the weapon discharged, and the portal closed. Still, nothing.
Tana checked her Combat Log which indicated that she had attacked Adamantadine but gave no information concerning the attack. She had two choices at that point. Pretend like nothing happened or try again. She chose to try again.
***
Adam had finished searching out and destroying the 184 traitors that had made it into the Arch-Mages domain. It had been slow going for him, but he¡¯d finished searching the estate in almost 30 minutes. Adam then made his way back to each assassin head killed and touched each as he activated Treasure Renderer. When it was all said and done he had acquired a lot of bladed and small projectile weapons with extra ammunition as well as 234,636 credits which left him with 240,060 total. Not rich by any means but¡
Adam¡¯s thoughts were interrupted as his mind noted a status change and called up the information.
Marked for Death ¨C All healing and regeneration abilities suppressed.
Duration: 50 seconds
Adam hadn¡¯t noticed anyone around himself so he activated Obscure and tried to find the person that was targeting him. True Sight and Aura Sight showed nothing. Next, he checked his combat log. When he first looked at it nothing appeared then just as something smashed into his head his Combat Log populated with information.
WARNING! You have been targeted by the System Targeted Ability Marked for Death
WARNING! You have been Surprised.
WARNING! You have been struck by Putrescent Particle Gun.
WARNING! You have been struck by a micro-singularity
He¡¯d been surprised? How the hell had he been surprised? Adam increased his mental capacity to machine speed and reviewed his combat log.
Putrescent Particle Gun Strikes for 10 Structural Damage, (1,000 Hit Points) + 10 Putrescent Particle Damage
Putrescent conversion attempted. Chaos Incarnate is immune to Putrescent conversion. No effect
Micro-singularity strikes you, Putrescent Particle absorbed by micro-singularity.
Micro-singularity has No effect on you.
Micro-Singularity has transferred to a parallel dimension.
Marked for Death is still active, Health is NOT regenerating.
End Combat Log
Adam activated Stutter-Step and then considered what to do next. Someone had a targeting ability that allowed them to utilize the System wherever they were to target their victim. Considering that the System knew where everyone was at all times Adam could see how such an ability could develop. The attack that hit him had been interesting too, he¡¯d been struck on the top of his head but he hadn¡¯t felt, seen, or heard the attack until it was already on him which meant that the attack had been translocated to him at a point near the top of his head.
While he did allow his inherent Chaos to spread around him when he was using Mold Chaos, he did not have nanites around him to help determine what was happening to him. With his Perception as high as it was he should be able to detect anything. He thought back to the moment right before the attack and recalled all of his senses. His ears had felt a slight pressure change just before the beam weapon struck.
Using Mold Chaos he released Nanites into the area around him. He didn¡¯t make a lot due to his lack of health regeneration, just enough to create enough nanites that he could detect anything that appeared next to his body. Next, he made sure his abilities Obscure, Freedom of Flight, and Flight were activated or activated them while he waited for the attack he knew was coming
As Adam predicted a portal opened directly above the point that was now his body in his Freedom of Flight form. The portal was only 2 inches in diameter. While he¡¯d been surprised by the first attack, which Stutter Step active and the ability to take at least 11 actions every half second, 5 actions every quarter second, or two actions every 8th of a second it was very easy for Adam to move to the side of this beam attack and move up through the first portal, Activate Technomancy and utilize Mold Chaos to create physical Nanites that would infiltrate and convert the weapon on the other side of the second portal as he looked around the room he found himself in.
Once Adam was sure the conversion was underway he looked around the room he found himself in and noticed a female gnome looking through what he would assume was blast-proof glass. A moment later he was behind the gnome and had ejected enough of his mass to create nanites that dived into and marked the target with a quantumly linked tracking device that he could follow anywhere.
The control booth he found himself floating in contained three chairs. He moved over to one deactivated Freedom of Flight sat down in a chair and then deactivated Obscure. With the last few actions he had, he used Technomancy to infiltrate and memorize the systems around him. A few lines of code caught his attention as something he¡¯d never seen before and he spent the majority of his remaining Stutter-Step actions to review and trace the coding as he committed the usage to memory.
As the combat round came to an end the Gnome¡¯s eyes darted to Adam¡¯s sudden appearance in the chair beside her and how Adam was casually watching her. Adam could tell by her body posture that she was preparing to bolt. So he smile and said.
¡°I am Adamantadine, First, you are tagged. Second, remove your Marked for Death ability from me, and third, if you flee you die.¡±
Chapter 218, The Price of a Life
Tana Metalbottom froze, Tagged? Did he say tagged? Hoping to buy some time she asked ¡°What?¡±
The man before her smiled as if he thought something was funny, then said, ¡°Common, do you speak it?¡±
¡°What?¡± Tana asked confusedly
¡°Say ¡®what¡¯ again!¡± The man said menacingly as his thumb raised on his hand and he pointed his finger at her which caused Tana to hold her tongue until he burst out laughing. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it was just too easy,¡± he said as laughed and tried to catch his breath at the same time. Tana looked at him as if he was a crazy man but she didn¡¯t move. Every one of her scanning and analyzing abilities whether one of her actual abilities or from a device had failed to detail what she was looking at, which meant that whomever she was looking at was quite powerful and could probably make good on his threats.
After a moment the man stopped laughing and his expression grew serious as he said, ¡°Introductions are in order. I am Adamantadine, you may call me Adam. I believe you have utilized an ability called Marked for Death on me. Please remove it.
Knowing she could use the ability again tomorrow she dismissed it off Adamantadine and asked, ¡°What now?¡±
¡°Now we talk. First, how much was the contract on me?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The contract was 5 million credits, a not inconsiderable amount. I was paid 1 million upfront and I¡¯ll receive 4 million upon completion.¡± Tana said.
¡°And you think you¡¯ll live to complete the contract?¡± Adam asked with a smile.
¡°I don¡¯t know what abilities you have but I¡¯ve never failed a contract¡Never! I would have to have a very good reason for paying the 10% return fee and taking the negative mark of failing a contract for the first time ever,¡± Tana said.
¡°You are a gnome, are you also a craftsman by chance?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Of course,¡± she said.
Adam raised his hand and a bar of what looked like Adamantium formed in his hand which he placed on the counter beside him, ¡°How much would one of these bars be worth to you?¡±
Assuming it¡¯s real, a bar of Adamantium is worth,¡± Tana paused as she pulled up the System Market in her vision and viewed the cost, ¡±approximately one million credits. Five would cover the contract but one cannot rebuy their reputation with credits,¡± Tana said.
¡°True, so let me ask you this, how much is your life worth then because make no mistake, if that ability Marked for Death is used on me by you again you will die a fraction of a second later and I can assure you that without that ability suppressing my health regeneration you have no chance of destroying this body,¡± Adam said.
Tana brought her hand up to her chin in thought. He had survived a direct hit from her most powerful weapon, then traced the second attempt back to her. He hadn¡¯t killed her out of course and she could set a price that would help her recover from the loss of the contract and probably set her up for life after. She did some quick math in her head and decided that she¡¯d ask for 106 bars of Adamantium and settle for 50. Not being modest she honestly believed her life was worth at least 100 million credits and the contract she¡¯d lose out on. Tana looked at Adam and said, ¡°I need 6 bars of Adamantium to make up for the contract I¡¯ll be giving up and the 10% loss when I return the contract. For my life, I believe that I am valuable, I¡¯d like 100 bars of Adamantium for my life,¡± she said.
Tana watched as Adam didn¡¯t even hesitate before he created and set down six bars of Adamantium. ¡°The six are for the contract, return it to the System. Once that¡¯s done and you show me your message that states the Contract has been given up along with the loss of reputation message. Once I see those, I¡¯ll make your additional 100 bars of Adamantium
¡°Just like that?¡± Tana asked.
¡°Just like that,¡± Adam agreed.
¡°Very well,¡± Tana said as she accessed her terminal, pulled up the contract, and returned it. 1,100,000 credits was withdrawn from her account with The System and she received two messages.
Finalis has returned the contract for Adamantium. Upfront payment plus a 10% processing fee has been withdrawn from your account.
The Contract is now available for purchase by other members of the Assassin¡¯s Guild.
Finalis has lost 500,000 reputation with the Assassins Guild for failure to complete an accepted contract. The reputation amount lost is 10% of the total contract award offered.
Tana willed the window to display the two messages so that Adam could see the message, ¡°Done,¡± she said.
Tana watched as Adam created one bar of adamantium per second. After 50 seconds Tana asked, Are these conjured bars that will disappear after a certain amount of time or are they real?¡±
¡°They¡¯re not conjured. I am making them as you watch,¡± Adam said.
¡°How is that even possible?¡± Tana asked.
¡°Magic of course,¡± Adam answered.
¡°I get that, but The System wouldn¡¯t allow something so valuable to be created without an associated cost. What is it costing you to make these?¡± Tana asked.
¡°If I answer your question, will you answer a couple of mine while I make your 100 bars of Adamantium?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Sure, I guess,¡± Tana said.
¡°Very well, I have an ability that lets me Mold Chaos into whatever form I wish, so long as I have the knowledge and the skill to make the material or item in question. Once made it is real. I utilize some of my mass to create the object which is then replaced by my health regeneration. There is also a mana cost which is regenerated as well.
¡°Wait, each of those bars weighs about 24 pounds, 80% of the weight of a gold for the same sized bar. 106 of those bars are going to weigh about 2,544 pounds. You weigh what, about 170 pounds? How are you regenerating more than 14 times your body weight?¡± Tana asked disbelievingly.
¡°As I said before it would be pretty much impossible for you to destroy me,¡± Adam said as pulled up the information from her assassination attempt on him and had it appear before her so she could read it.
Putrescent Particle Gun Strikes for 10 Structural Damage, (1,000 Hit Points) + 10 Putrescent Particle Damage
Putrescent conversion attempted. Chaos Incarnate is immune to Putrescent conversion. No effect
Micro-singularity strikes you, Putrescent Particle absorbed by micro-singularity.
Micro-singularity has no effect.
Micro-Singularity has transferred to a parallel dimension.
Marked for Death is still active, Health is NOT regenerating.
End Combat Log
¡°You soaked 1,000 points of damage to your head as a critical strike with all of my abilities in play from my weapon, ¡°she said wonderingly, ¡°The System didn¡¯t even bother converting the damage or multiplying it as a critical strike because it didn¡¯t matter? What are you?¡±
Adam ignored her question and then said, ¡°Luckily for you, I¡¯ve been in a more forgiving mood lately. Also, I should let you know going forward that if you see a contract go out against any of my family, friends, or daughter that will go very badly for you or any of your friends in the business,¡± Adam said.
¡°First, I have no friends. Second, I¡¯ll need names so I don¡¯t accept such contracts and third, you said you had questions?¡± Tana said as she tried to change the subject.
¡°I guess my first question is who put out the contract on me?¡±
¡°I can¡¯t say.¡±
Adam looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that, I mean I can¡¯t say. It¡¯s not that I wouldn¡¯t say, I can¡¯t. Part of the ability that gives me access to the Assassin Contract System also prevents me from talking about who put out the contract.
¡°So how would I find out that information?¡± Adam said.
¡°Any information may be purchased from The System. If you want to know who put the contract out on you buy it from the System,¡± she said.
¡°How much does something like that cost?¡±
¡°The base cost will be the cost of the bounty they placed on you which will be adjusted by any abilities or extra credits that were paid to prevent that information from being purchased,¡± Tana said. ¡°As an example, anyone can find out who the assassin was that was hired to kill their loved one. That information cost the same as for who put out the contract, so 5 million credits for the contract on you. Of course, I¡¯ve added an additional million credits to that cost. After that I have a class ability that increases the cost by 100% per 10 levels in my class, I am level 50 in that class so anyone wanting to know who killed you after the fact would need to pay 36 million credits just to get my Assassin nickname. To find out it was me, would cost even more as I¡¯ve hidden that information behind another 100 million credits. I didn¡¯t pay that much, my class multiplies whatever I put into that protection by a factor of 10.¡±
¡°It sounds like it would be very expensive to find you,¡± Adam agreed.
¡°You know that a lot of Assassins are going to see a contract that ¡®Finalis¡¯ passed on as a way to improve their own reputation. There will be a lot of assassins coming after you,¡± Tana said.
¡°Which brings me to my first question, what determines how much it costs to get the location of someone in The System? Finding out if someone is alive or dead seems pretty cheap but getting someone¡¯s location seems to have a cost driven by some other factor,¡± Adam asked.
¡°The amount The System charges is pretty easy to determine. First, take 1% of your luck attribute rounded down. Then multiply it by the highest skill level you have in any skill level that obfuscates your presence in the System. For most, that¡¯s the Stealth skill, though there are a few skills that exist that are better suited to protect individuals from System searches.¡±
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¡°Is that multiply based on rank or is it cumulative?¡±
¡°It¡¯s cumulative. If you have the Stealth skill at Master Rank, level 100 it would multiply the cost to get your whereabouts by 300%¡±
Adam opened his interface and looked at his current luck score then verified that his Stealth skill was Master Rank, level 100. One percent of his Luck score was over 391 million. If he increased the cost by 300%, or a multiple of 4 that meant anyone trying to get his location would need to pay more than 1.5 billion credits.
Tana interrupted his thoughts as she said, ¡°I see you¡¯re thinking about the other assassins that will be coming after you.¡±
¡°Not really,¡± Adam said. Most won''t have the means to purchase my location which makes me wonder, how did you get my location so quickly? I haven¡¯t been within the System for that long?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I have a System based ability that allows me to open a portal to my target once per day, no matter where they are,¡± Tana said. It never occurred to me that my target could use that portal to get to me.¡±
¡°Doors open both ways,¡± Adam said with a grin. ¡°That brings me to my next question, where am I?¡±
¡°You¡¯re in the city of Suigen. It¡¯s a city set at the start of the purple line which has a connection point to the blue line.¡±
¡°Purple?¡± Adam asked questioningly. ¡°As in those creatures which are above Legendary?¡±
¡°Yeah, this is the only trade town that connects to the rest of the System based systems that utilize the transit system. The purple line heads toward the center of the System. If you follow the blue line it¡¯ll take you to Nexus, the Capital. Though if you¡¯re looking for rare items and materials, this is the place to come get them.¡± Tana said.
¡°I take it from your helpful attitude that you¡¯re Assassin gig is on the back burner to your primary purpose for being here?¡±
¡°Yep! Mostly I just repair armor and items for Adventurers that come back from the purple and blue trails into the Labyrinth,¡± Tana said.
¡°You said the Purple line goes toward the center of The System?¡±
¡°How much do you know about The System?¡± Tana asked.
¡°Considering I¡¯ve only been in The System for a couple of days, not much,¡± Adam said.
¡°How are you¡never mind,¡± Tana started then continued, ¡°There are a lot of theories as to how The System started. The Administrators will even tell you that they know exactly what is going on because they have some level of control over the System, but their lying. I learned that when I gained my System Assassin class. I have the ability to utilize the System directly but how and why, well I don¡¯t know that. It was just a reward for working for an organization that I helped, well¡kill a lot of people. Anyway, it looked like a good class so I chose it. I have no idea why I was given the choice and I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯m the only Assassin in the Guild that has this class because until today I was the only one with a 100% completion rate.¡±
Adam looked at her dryly and made the universal circling hand motion to get on with it.
¡°I was getting there. Anyway, I did some research and I found that the area The System covers has been expanding for a very long time across many dimensions and Universes. There¡¯s also a chance that it seeds some Universes but no one I know has been around long enough to answer the question.¡±
Adam interrupted, ¡°I understand that already. I was in another ¡®System¡¯ called The Multitude. When I killed its operating system, The System absorbed it.¡±
¡°The Multitude you say?¡± Tana questioned and then continued. ¡°When I was doing my research I learned about The Multitude. How to say this? It would be better to say that The Multitude and the areas it controlled were always part of The System. A group of Administrators thought they could break away and make their own rules.¡±
¡°They were on the Edge of the System weren¡¯t they?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Edge, no. They were in a section of the System in what we term the basic area. Think of The System as a pool of fresh water that is constantly being filled from the middle with salt. As more and more salt is added to the water the water becomes more and more saturated. The variations within The System are separated by the rank structure. The Purple, or Apocryphal, concentration of creatures that require a denser level of mana and energy reside at the center. As someone travels away from the middle the concentration of mana and energy, ¡®salt¡¯, reduces level by level until you get to the green, or basic, area. The multitude was in an area that was on the edge of the advanced, or yellow, conversion area.¡±
¡°But I started in a holographic universe, was that meant to be part of the System as well?¡± Adam asked.
All dimensions, realities, universes, and their variations are part of The System. Even though your universe started within an area that the Multitude was taking over it resided within a region that had already been captured by The System. Granted, some things might have been going on that seemed like you were free of it but honestly, you weren¡¯t. Let me ask you this, have you ever encountered a being or something that seemed so powerful that to stand against it seemed ludicrous as if it was something you cannot quantify?¡±
¡°I have encountered ¡®The Gods¡¯ if that¡¯s what you are asking,¡± Adam said.
¡°No, ¡®The Gods¡¯ as you¡¯ve met them are simply entities that have chosen a different role within The System. There aren¡¯t many playing that role in this area, there¡¯s no need. I¡¯m not sure how one gets invited to be a god, but I hear you have to be at least my level to be considered. No, the beings I¡¯m talking about seem to just turn up when you¡¯re not expecting and give tidbits of knowledge or guidance that seem to answer questions but leave you with even more questions.¡±
¡°You are quite talkative, If I hadn¡¯t been attacked and been able to trace you so easily, I might think you¡¯re describing yourself,¡± Adam said.
¡°No, I¡¯m talking because I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re going to kill me, and talking is at least holding off that outcome.¡±
¡°Fair enough, ¡°Adam said as he thought about what she¡¯d said. Ptah had appeared more than once but Adam thought he was part of the System of the AI that had been AL. If there had to be one being that fit the description she¡¯d described it would have to be the one being that he¡¯d met that he¡¯d never even got a chance to know. ¡°What about the dimensions of Hell and Hades and the like?¡± Adam asked.
All part of The System. As far as I¡¯ve been able to determine it seems that everything is recycled within it. I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s because when people die The System captures their souls, resets them, and send them back out, or just downloads their memories into a new construct after they die. No one actually knows what happens after you die. It¡¯s one of the few subjects that the Administrators will not talk about.¡±
¡°And you¡¯ve met an Administrator?¡±
¡°I have, in fact, I¡¯m wondering why one hasn¡¯t appeared here already. Travel to and From Suigen is designated to portals on the outskirts only. My ability normally opens a portal that energy travels through. The last time I used it from the city an Administrator showed up to tell me to make sure I didn¡¯t try to bring creatures through it in either direction. You¡¯re here. Not my fault but I¡¯ve been preparing for a tongue-lashing since you told me not to flee?¡± Tana said.
¡°These Administrators are that powerful?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, they can lock anyone¡¯s access to System generated content. The Master level and higher can modifier for attributes, stats, abilities, and Class functions. They can do whatever they want.¡±
¡°Whatever they want?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, whatever they want.¡±
¡°Well, I¡¯m not going to kill you. I think I¡¯m going to go take a walk around this city and see what it looks like so I can come back if I ever need to. Question, if I wanted to teleport into this building and not set off your automatic defenses do you have a spot that visitors arrive at?¡±
Sure, this way, Tana said as she moved to a panel on the wall, and placed her hand on it. A door slid up into the ceiling and Adam followed Tana out into the showroom with a door that looked like it led outside. In the corner, there was a little holographic barrier that read ¡°Do Not Enter, Arrivals Only.¡±
¡°That corner of the main room is set aside for individuals that are teleporting in.¡±
¡°I thought teleportation was only allowed to one of the arrival points at the edge of the town?¡± Adam asked.
¡°That is true. If you are teleporting into Suigen from outside the city you will automatically be diverted to one of those locations. Once you come into the city though, teleportation while inside the city is completely permissible.¡±
¡°So I can go out, look around and teleport back?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Absolutely. I should warn you that a lot of people might try to one-up my reputation by going after a contract I failed reside within the city. Also, if you think they won''t recognize you on sight you should know that with an open contract, any member of the Assassin¡¯s Guild, Thieves Guild, and certain other classes, will see the 5 million credit bounty floating above you as soon as they have a line of sight on you.¡±
¡°Are you saying I have a flashing bounty over my head?¡± Adam asked with a smirk.
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Is Suigen run by a criminal organization or something?¡±
¡°I wouldn¡¯t characterize them as criminal. If we¡¯re talking about governmental forms hyper-capitalism would be a more appropriate description.¡±
So, contracts and exchange of services and goods. How does assassination factor into such a system?¡± Adam asked
¡°It¡¯s a service, like any other. If someone is willing to pay, someone will be willing to perform that service,¡± Tana said.
¡°There are no laws against murder and crime?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Of course there are. If the individual killed is part of a System sanctioned contract though, it is legitimate and legal. The System is the law on Suigen.¡±
¡°So might makes right then?¡± Adam asked.
¡°As long as there¡¯s a contract involved, yes,¡± Tana said.
¡°Let me give you a hypothetical scenario. Let¡¯s pretend for a moment that a contract has been put out on someone. No one knows exactly how powerful that person is and they resist dying by killing the people that attack them, is the person defending themselves committing a crime? There is no contract after all?¡± Adam asked.
¡°There was a case brought before the Administrators some time ago where this scenario came up. The System sent out a message stating that every person had a right to defend themselves and that doing so successfully would generate System generated rewards. If someone were to try to kill someone else The System would automatically generate a quest for them to survive the attack. Either the Assassin is successful or the defender but one way or another the System sees both individuals as having a right to kill the other. The simple answer is that self-defense is fine.¡±
So this society is based on a live by The System die by The System mentality.
¡°Very much so, why do you think I hid my identity for all of these years? If others knew who I was, They would stop at nothing to take me down. Additionally, some of my targets have put out generic rewards for my death based on the criteria, ¡°The person that killed my brother, sister, mother, father, etc¡¡±
¡°So what you¡¯re saying is that if I walk outside, get seen by some less than scrupulous people, and then defend myself, I might actually get paid for their deaths when I end them?¡±
¡°If you survive, yes,¡± Tana agreed.
¡°Well, this could be fun,¡± Adam said as he walked over to the corner where people teleported in and added it to his list of known locations that he could Gate or teleport to.¡±
¡°Fun?¡± Tana said as she looked at Adam as if he was crazy
¡°Fun. I¡¯ve had some tension building up for a while and I needed to let loose.¡±
¡°Wait? You''re just going to walk out into town and let people try to kill you?¡± Tana asked.
¡°Why not? I can read their auras, as I can read yours. While your aura is tainted by your ruthlessness, it isn¡¯t who you are. I can see the creativity and thirst for¡I would guess knowledge, power, or both. I can¡¯t say for sure, of course, but I would guess that you do not kill innocents or those that you think it would be unfair to. I can overlook the fact that you took a contract on me because five million is a lot of credits and there wouldn¡¯t be a lot of information about me in the system unless you were willing to pay for it, which would be incredibly expensive, even if the cost is based on only 1% of my Luck attribute and then multiplied by my skill in Stealth.
¡°But one of them could get a lucky shot?¡± Tana said.
¡°Yeah, that could happen. Still not worried especially after what you just told me. So you just sit tight here and I¡¯m going to go do go look about the town. Also, I¡¯ve needed some funds. If, as you say, I¡¯ll receive bounties placed on assassins that have been extremely bad, multiple times, well that¡¯ll just make this worth it. I¡¯ve been wondering how to make some money in The System without flooding the market with rare materials.¡±
Tana looked at Adam hesitantly as she said, ¡°Okay, have fun I guess. If I don¡¯t see you, thanks for the Adamantium,¡± Tana said.
¡°Not to worry Tana, you¡¯re a Gnome Tinkerer. I have more than one reason for wanting to keep you around,¡± Adam said.
Tana watched as the strange man turned and left her workshop. She had no doubt that as soon as he left the store the street urchin scouts would notice him and report that a target worth 5 million credits had just appeared in the ¡°Old City¡± section Suigen. No one here knew she was an Assassin or a thief so they shouldn¡¯t look too hard at her for not seeing and reporting his bounty. Regardless, she made her way back to her terminal, opened up the menu to the Assassin¡¯s Guild, and waited.
Within 3 minutes a message went out that the Target, Adamantadine, had been seen on Suigen in the Old City district. She knew of a couple of people that were on the leaderboard and opened that menu. Derek, the Deadly, silly name but whatever. He was known to be a sadist and absolutely ruthless. He was also on Suigen because unlike her, he let everyone know who he was and what he would do to anyone that came after him.
Less than a minute after the notification that Adam was on the planet hit the message traffic, Derek¡¯s name was removed from the leaderboard, as ¡°Deceased.¡± Within the next 10 minutes, another 15 individuals were also dropped off the leaderboard. Then another message popped up from someone named Aurial posted a message that made Tana snort
¡°Finalis had the right idea, leave this Monster alone. I watched him kill 16 of us as many minutes. All were able to hit him from surprise, All attacks were ignored and the retaliation was swift. I thought better of attacking and just sat and watched. He¡¯s just walking down the street without a care in the world while 16 of our best are gone. If you want to live, leave this Monster alone.¡±
Tana closed her message for now. Adam hadn¡¯t been talking out of his ass when he left the store. Good to know. She went over to the pile of Adamantium. Put it all into her Personal Dimensional space and headed into her workshop. She had some items that she could make that would make up for the 5 million credits she wasn¡¯t making today, and then some. Of course, those fools that didn¡¯t have some form of resurrection set up would be gone for good. What a waste.
There were a lot of people being killed by Adam today. Maybe there would be a contract put out on the individual that started this fiasco? Now that would be some sweet justice. Tana adjusted her search parameters and looked for any open contracts on Lexnara Pellmir.
***
Adam paused for a moment as another projectile struck his head. He reviewed the information the nanites he¡¯d left in Finalis had just sent him, Lexnara Pellmir. Adam looked around the street until he spotted one of the street urchins that was spying on him then pulled a gold coin out of thin air and waved it at the teenager, a human that looked to be somewhere between 12 and 15.
When the teen was in front of Adam he asked, ¡°Which way to the nearest System Shop?¡±
¡°Straight up the street bout a mile mister.¡±
¡°K, thanks,¡± Adam said as he handed over the coin, activated Obscure and Freedom of Flight as he vanished and made his way to the System Shop. Those that had been about to attack him lost track of him as he vanished from sight.
Adam ignored the assassins as they rushed to where he had been. He was already at the System Shop Door and passing through the portal into the store''s main room. He had some information that he needed to buy.
Chapter 219, Trying to Keep a Good Man Down
Adam entered the System Shop. This shop had an open floor design with a futuristic look. Tiled floors, nice lighting, and a robot the size of a basketball hovering behind the counter. A single white light on the front of the robot flashed yellow, and then red as a prompt filled his vision.
WARNING! This location has been designated as a SAFE ZONE. Any entity initiating violence in this space will be SANCTIONED until released from SANCTIONING by System Market Vendor SN-1415.
The System has noted that you have never received this message before. To facilitate understanding information is being provided.
The status title SANCTIONED is a byproduct of the specialized ability SAFE ZONE available to SYSTEM Market Vendors and a few other System Specific Classes. The size and area of the SAFE ZONE are determined by the ability holder based on Class Level and other factors. Anyone initiating or participating in combat within a SAFE ZONE gains the status title SANCTIONED for one day. Defending yourself does not count as participating so long as combat is not continued once those that have already been SANCTIONED withdraw from the SAFE ZONE. NOTE: if you are not responding to an attack against a SANCTIONED individual within a SAFE ZONE, you will be immediately SANCTIONED upon initiating an attack whether the attack succeeds or fails. Those that receive the SANCTIONED status Title have all System costs increased by 1,000% and all trade values reduced for anything they are trying to sell to the SYSTEM by 1,000%. Additionally, SAFE ZONES are protected by The SYSTEM and prevent damage to all individuals and structures within the SAFE ZONE.
Adam finished reading the prompts and then looked at System Market Vendor SN-1415, ¡°Thank you, I think.¡±
A moment later a woman carrying a sword made out of blue light stepped into the System Shop and froze. Adam watched as her eyes flickered, focused on him and then the vendor. The blue energy blade retreated into the hilt of her weapon, and she put it on the belt around her waist. She nodded to the Vendor and met Adam¡¯s gaze, ¡°Another time.¡±
¡°You better hope not,¡± Adam said with ice-cold malice in his voice. Her aura was the bright red of malevolence and a sickly green which Adam had begun to interpret as just plain old evil. That she¡¯d followed him in after he¡¯d just killed 15 people in the street was a testament to her resolve.
Within a minute of leaving the Gnome''s shop, he¡¯d been attacked by someone named ¡°Derek, the Deadly¡± Why the hell would someone name themselves ¡°Derek, the Deadly?¡± Adam had been surprised by an attack from behind. It had been such a good surprise attack that the attack had actually landed. Also, Derek had been smart by not warning Adam of his intention, he¡¯d just teleported in and backstabbed Adam. The attack had been a complete surprise to Adam as prompts flooded his vision.
WARNING! You have been Surprised.
WARNING! Derek the Deadly has successfully used the ability ¡°Assassination¡± with the weapon ¡°Tooth of Basilisk.¡±
Base Damage 8 (4 doubled by strength)
Adjusted, Assassination ability: 40 (8 x 5 for ability)
Adjusted, Situational: 120 (40 x 2 for backstab from surprise
Adjusted, Critical Strike: 240 (120 x 2 for Critical Strike from behind)
Secondary effect from Tooth Basilisk, Magical Attack, Petrification, does not take effect. Base Magical resistance 100%.
Adam had seen the prompts, realized what had happened, and activated Stutter Step. He knew he¡¯d need enough time to react to other surprise attacks and he wanted enough actions to be able to take care of each attacker before the next one. He also didn¡¯t want to be stuck viewing everyone as if they were moving in slow motion so he¡¯d split his perception. Instead of dedicating a portion of his mind to always moving faster than the other parts of him, he activated Stutter Step to give himself 10 actions while he maintained a part of himself to react normally with his surroundings.
That first round of retaliation saw him activate Stutter Step, spend two actions to set up his perception filter, and the next six actions laying on critical blows to Derek the Deadly. Those watching saw Adam flicker as Derek¡¯s head snapped forward and then backward before it was turned to the right 180 degrees then turned to the left 360 degrees before his head was put back facing forward and Adam seemed to step back and palm strike Derek¡¯s chest right over his heart. After the six physical attacks, Adam had stepped forward and used an ability he hadn¡¯t used all that much until now, Treasure Renderer. He¡¯d used his last action of the round to check his prompts as a dead Derek the Deadly fell backward, dead.
Adam strikes Derek the Deadly Critically to the throat: Damage: 8 (Base 2 doubled due to the Strength, Doubled due to Critical Strike)
Adam Strikes Derek, the Deadly critically to the back of the neck: Damage 8 (Base 2 double due to Strength, Doubled due to Critical Strike, Spinal Cord Severed, Paralyzed).
Adam Grapples Derek, the Deadly, Critical strike to neck: Damage 16 (Base 2 Doubled for Strength, Doubled for Critical Strike, Doubled against Paralyzed Target)
Adam Grapples Derek, the Deadly, Critical strike to neck: Damage 16 (Base 2 Doubled for Strength, Doubled for Critical Strike, Doubled against Paralyzed Target)
Adam initiates Special Attack, Palm Strike, called shot to stop the heart of Derek, the Deadly: Damage converted to Defibrillation Effect. Connection of heart to brain severed, autotomic commands overridden, heart has stopped.
Derek, the Deadly has died.
Adam had known that The System was limiting damage, no matter what his strength was but what it couldn¡¯t do was completely negate physics or physical effects or the effects of special attacks he knew. Strikes to the throat and the back of the neck were extremely potent against bipedal specials, as was yanking their head around to look down their back one way and then the other. He hadn¡¯t been sure about the heart strike. That worked sometimes but if the brain was still connected via the spinal column there was a chance that the attack wouldn¡¯t do a thing except give the target a chest ache. It¡¯s one of the reasons he didn¡¯t use that attack technique that often. Of course, if you¡¯ve already crushed their spinal column and practically ripped their head off those impulses from the brain weren¡¯t reaching the heart anymore anyway.
Adam had been kind of surprised the first four attacks hadn¡¯t killed Derek, to be honest. He must have had more than 48 hit points. While the system was limiting the numeric value of the damage he was inflicting, what the System wasn¡¯t doing was preventing him from utilizing his strength which he knew how to use in very specific and interesting ways.
The most interesting thing that happened was when he utilized Treasure Renderer on Derek.
You have utilized Treasure Renderer on a System Sanctioned Assassin. Treasure Renderer will loot the creature you are utilizing the ability on. Normally, the System generates the reward. When used on Class members of The System Treasure Renderer pays off all debts to the System, or its agents, first and then transfers System Credits equal to the current market value of all treasures which are confiscated by The System. This includes all items held in any dimensional storage devices the individual might be wearing or dimensional storage locations the individual might have due to an ability. Only the items carried are looted and the credit value of all goods. Additionally, The System notifies any agency that placed a bounty on the individuals of their death and transfers that bounty to you in the form of credits.
You have found Belt of Holding, Empty
You have found, Tooth of the Basilisk, Dagger. Upon attack can cause Petrification. Holds 10 charges. Recharges Charges automatically 1 per week.
You have found, Ring of the Unrevealed. This ring doubles all System Cost for information requests against the wearer and also prevent any bounties from being displayed by The System.
You have found 1,329,649 million credits.
You have been awarded 315,000 credits for various open bounties placed against Derek, the Deadly
You have been awarded 1 million credits for a specific bounty against Derek, the Deadly.
Adam had also received a set of clothes and an identification card of sorts as Derek¡¯s nude body had fallen to the ground. He¡¯d left him where he fell and continued walking down the street as if nothing had happened. He¡¯d been attacked more than 15 times, 23 in fact. He¡¯d check the aura of each attacker before he decided whether they live or die. The eight he¡¯d allowed to live had been knocked unconscious and left on the ground. The other 14 had been almost identical encounters to Derek, though none had earned him as many credits and they had all died by his third attack.
All in all, he¡¯d pulled in another 516,000 credits and a few exotic but non-magical weapons. He¡¯d left the naked dead where they lay. Now that he was in the System Shop he pulled The Ring of the Unrevealed out of his Shadow Vault and put it on.
¡°If I might say, sir, thank you for putting on the ring. I will leave the SAFE ZONE up for now, but might I suggest you keep that ring on until you have cleared the bounty,¡± System Vendor SN-1415 said.
¡°That¡¯s the plan, Adam said. Do you have a booth open¡±
¡°Yes, directly in front of you and to your right.¡±
Adam walked forward and entered the booth. He placed his hand on the knob on the counter and opened up the System Menu. The first thing he did was sell all the clothing and weaponry he¡¯d just acquired. He didn¡¯t need it and the credits might come in handy. Doing so only earned him another 10,300 credits but he would take it.
Next, Adam looked up how much it would cost to purchase the location Lexnara Pellmir. He thought that it might be expensive, instead, it only cost 100 credits.
Queen of the Di¡¯kree Empire, Lexnara Pellmir can be found on the Planet Di¡¯kree toward the System Center. Di¡¯kree is reached either by portal or the Purple line.
If you would like to purchase the exact location of Lexnara Pellmir, that will cost 100,000,000 credits.
Adam knew he could create and sell any number of items to the System to get enough credits to purchase her location, but he needed to get some questions answered, and the one place he knew there was a person that could answer some of his questions and probably would be back in Arch-Mage Maneece¡¯s private dimension.
Adam lifted his hand from the System Interface, concentrated on the saferoom he¡¯d left Janeece and the Arch-Mage in, and then called up a Gate to that location. Adam left the System Shop of Suigen behind as he stepped into the entryway of Janeece''s private residence. He was still spending the mana for Stutter Step so wasn¡¯t surprised when a bolt of energy was hurling toward him. Adam lazily reached up and dispelled the spell as he called out, ¡°It¡¯s Adam, I¡¯m back.¡±
¡°Adam?¡± the Arch-mage asked questioningly as his head poked around a corner. ¡°You¡¯ve only been gone an hour or so, you¡¯re not done yet are you?¡±
¡°No, I ended up on Suigen. I did find out who did this though,¡± Adam said.
¡°You did?¡± the Arch-mage asked.
¡°Do you know the name Lexnara Pellmir?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I do. Are you sure it was her?¡±
¡°I have a $5 million credit bounty over my head which she purchased. Since the only two people that I could have pissed off before the bounty was issued would be you or whoever bought that bounty I¡¯m pretty sure it''s her.
¡°She¡¯s a little out of reach. Her family moved out onto the Purple Line some time ago when something we had been working on together catastrophically failed. She blames me of course but it was her husband that made the mistake and ultimately died for it.¡±
¡°Her family must be quite powerful to live out along the Purple Line,¡± Adam said.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
¡°Yes and no. There are a few that could be out in the area she¡¯s in with no issue. It¡¯s a world with predominantly heroic-level creatures in an area of the Cosmos that contains Legendary and higher-level monsters. Kind of an Oasis of sorts for lower-level adventurers and creatures. She¡¯s actually done very well for her family since¡¡± The Arch-Mages voice trailed off.
¡°What happened,¡± Adam asked.
The Arch-Mage looked at Adam and then sighed before he began to speak, ¡°About a hundred years ago there was a war. Wars in Heroic and Legendary spaces between factions, Empires, or families are nothing like world wars or even small-time engagements. Wars at that level can leave entire star systems destroyed. During the war, a majority of her family was evacuated by train to head to Nexus. I was contracted to get them there safely. I took the job to try to make up for the death of her husband.¡±
¡°I take it, you the job went south,¡± Adam asked.
¡°The job went south,¡± The Arch-Mage agreed as he shook his head. ¡°One moment everything was going fine, the next every car on the train was separated from every other car on the train. Some disappeared altogether while others fell into the depths of Legendary Space. It took years for me to make my way to a planet that contained a node that would get me back to civilization. A lot of people do not understand exactly how much space there is toward the center of The System. When I finally made it back to civilization I learned that everyone on the trains was lost and presumed dead. I know why I survived. I invested in personal protective equipment that would see me through and I had magic of course. Even so, everyone on the train I had been on died when they were exposed to whatever energy ripped the train apart. To this day I have not seen another soul that was part of that evacuation attempt. As the only survivor, the queen blames me for the deaths of her children and believes I let her husband die.¡±
¡°Were you responsible?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I have searched myself for that answer ever since. I cannot think of any way we could have done what we did differently so No, I do not feel responsible. Though I failed in my mission and ultimately lost the contract. It has taken a very long time for my family to make their way back into the upper echelon of society. In fact, until the attack and you just mentioned her name I had thought that she had finally forgiven me. Of course, I know now that she has been lying to me.¡±
¡°Well, you won¡¯t have to worry about her for long. She placed a bounty on me, I need to go ¡®speak¡¯ with her,¡± Adam said.
¡°I have portal coordinates for our teleporter if you¡¯d like to use it. You did finish clearing my home of the infiltrators didn¡¯t you?¡± the Arch-Mage asked.
¡°I did. Though I only took care of those threats that were openly attacking your people. If there are sleeper agents and the like, they may still be here. It¡¯s one of the reasons I asked you to stay in this pocket dimension.¡±
¡°Thank you for that. I do apologize for not sitting down with you personally, but you were an unknown factor. Also, after the proficiency with which you just eradicated those attacking my domain, can you blame me for taking precautions?¡± The Arch-Mage asked.
¡°No, I can¡¯t, and I understand. Also, I would like to sit down with you and get the rundown on the System and its capabilities as well as who created it. Additionally, who¡¯s running things at some point? Right now, though, I think we need to go through your Domain and search for any stragglers that might be spies or infiltrators for your enemies.
¡°Agreed,¡± The Arch-Mage said before he raised his voice and called out, ¡°Jezel!¡±
A moment later Jezel hurried into the room, ¡°Yes, Father?¡±
¡°I am going to summon a guardian for you. You are not to leave this dimension until I return for you. If I do not return within a year use the item I have stashed away for you, you know the one,¡± The Arch-Mage said as he took Jezel¡¯s hands in his and gently kissed her on the head. ¡°I need to go with our new friend and secure our holdings.¡±
¡°Understood, and be careful,¡± Jezel said as she kissed him on the cheek and stepped back. Jezel turned to Adam and nodded slightly, ¡°Thank you for saving us, Adam.¡±
Adam watched as the Arch-Mage stepped back and started forming energy runes in the air as he started a summoning ritual. Jezel and Adam stepped back as he turned to her and said, ¡°You are quite welcome. Though, I didn¡¯t expect a little harmless filtering to lead to the events of the last couple of hours.¡±
Jezel smiled wistfully, ¡°If only you could have saved more. The monsters killed all of my staff, some families that have been with our family for generations, including their children that were here. Father isn¡¯t showing it, but I know that he¡¯s angry. I¡¯m angry! Why would someone come after our servants?¡±
Adam had no answers so did not respond as the silence was filled with a mystical chant coming from the Arch-Mage. The rune circle floating in the air rotated and flashed golden as a portal formed and filled with golden light. What looked like a man with platinum hair and golden eyes stepped through. As the being spoke it felt like his voice resonated from all around, ¡°Arch-Mage Maneece, A Promise has been called on, A Vow kept. In your time of need, what do you require?¡±
¡°Archangel Cafzyel, I thank you for responding to my request. I must respond to betrayal and need to assure that my daughter is protected. I would ask that you protect my daughter and those with her in this dimension while I root out any more betrayers that might be present before they can do more harm to my family and friends.
The Archangel nodded and smiled as he said, ¡°The favor you earned from an Archangel is to be used to request the protection of a loved one. This is a noble and just request. While I cannot promise to stay and protect your daughter forever I can adhere to your request for 7 days plus 7 hours plus 7 minutes, or until you release me from my vow.¡±
¡°That should be more than enough time,¡± Arch-Mage Maneece said.
While the two talked Adam turned his Aura Sight and True Sight on the Angel and was surprised to see that the man had a golden aura that was almost blinding. Adam activated Scan and received his first surprise.
ERROR Target does not fall within System Parameters
Immediately after the error message popped up the Arch-Angels eyes narrowed on Adam as he said, ¡°Some secrets are not for you to know yet, Adam. Be on your way.¡±
Adam hadn¡¯t been that surprised in a very long time. Before he could think too hard about what had just happened he formally bowed to the Archangel as he said, ¡°I apologize for my bad manners.
¡°There is no need to apologize, curiosity is an admirable trait. There is a time and place for it though. I believe you and the Arch-Mage need to head out to ensure the safety of his domain now though?¡± The Archangel asked.
¡°We do,¡± Arch-Mage Maneece said as he opened another portal.
Adam had a lot of questions running through his mind as he followed the Arch-Mage through the portal. They left the Archangel to watch over Jezel. If Adam was right, there wasn¡¯t a force anywhere in The System that would be able to hurt Jezel for the next 7 days, 7 hours, and 7 minutes.
***
¡°What was going on?
Kael turned to his subordinate as he said, ¡°I was about to ask you the same thing, George.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know, ¡°Sir. A few minutes ago, 14 of our operatives, including Derek, The Deadly, have been confirmed dead by The System.¡±
¡°Was there some kind of planetary accident, a Super Volcano, Meteor, or anything like that?¡± Kael asked.
¡°No Sir, I checked. All System Vendors in the area are still online and I was able to contact our branch on the Technological side of Suigen. They report no issues, though they have heard rumors of a scuffle that happened in the Old Town part of Suigen. Someone with a 5 million credit bounty on their head seems to have had a run-in with some scalpers and other unfortunates that were looking for a quick payday.¡±
¡°Do we have time stamps on the deaths of our operatives?¡± Kael asked.
¡°We do. They all died within 10 minutes about an hour ago,¡± George said.
¡°And the 5 million credit bounty, do we know who that was on?¡±
¡°The only bounty for 5 million credits is on someone named Adamantadine,¡± George said.
¡°What do we have on Adamantadine?¡±
¡°Nothing.¡±
¡°Nothing?¡± Kael asked.
¡°Nothing,¡± George confirmed again.
How much does the System want for information about him?
39.1 billion credits
Kael coughed a couple of times to clear his throat then asked, ¡°39.1 billion credits?¡±
¡°Yes, I pulled it up when this first started. I¡¯ll pull it up again¡¡± George paused, it¡¯d gone up, it¡¯s now 78.3 billion credits.
Keal thought about it for a minute then nodded, ¡°That''s no surprise, Derek had that ring that doubled his costs. I bet Adamantadine found the ring and put it on. Why would the cost be so high though?¡±
¡°No Idea, I¡¯ve sent a request off to the Administrator, no response as yet.
¡°How long ago did you send off the request?¡± Keal asked.
¡°Just a few minutes,¡± George said.
Kael worked for the Conglomerate. Their organization had sought out and made a connection to one of the only Administrators they¡¯d been able to find. He¡¯d been abnormally quiet the last two days. ¡°Don¡¯t sweat it, I¡¯ll head over to Nexus and visit his office to see what¡¯s up with this Adam character. While the System might not want to give up the information for anything but credits I¡¯m sure I can talk the Administrator into showing us the goods for considerably less,¡± Kael said.
¡°I¡¯ll keep an eye on things here then, boss,¡± George said.
Kael leaned back from the terminal he¡¯d been looking at over George¡¯s shoulder and headed for the exit. It was a simple matter to head to the basement and take one of their portals to their offices in the city of Nexus. While the majority of the people in the System didn¡¯t know what the function of the man known as the Administrator was, or even who the building he used belonged to, Kael had known Administrator Dilyard for a very long time.
The building was a quick walk from the office he now stood in. Kael left the building and headed that way. Protocol for visits to the administrator was to leave no reference so he said nothing to no one as he walked out of the office and stepped onto a street filled with creatures from all corners of System Space. A couple of minutes later he entered a building that contained offices from many different organizations and walked into a room at the back of the elevator alcove. Once inside he said, ¡°Kael Ambrosche to see Mr. Dilyard, Priority one.¡±
There was a pause until the Administrator¡¯s Personal Assistant floated into the room through a portal that had just activated opposite the door he¡¯d entered the room through.
¡°Good day, Mr. Ambrosche. Mr. Dilyard is currently unavailable.¡±
¡°I have invoked Priority One. Is Mr. Dilyard in the building?
¡°He is,¡± The Personal Assistant said.
¡°Take me to him then,¡± Kael said.
¡°Very well, please step through the portal,¡± The Personal Assistant said.
Kael followed the Assistant through the portal into the office where he found Administrator Dilyard sitting with a catatonic look on his face and a shimmering field around him. Obviously a stasis field of some kind.
¡°What is this,¡± Kael asked.
¡°Administrator Dilyard is reviewing the life of a subject at 400% of the normal rate,¡± The APA said.
¡°Who is the subject and how long with Administrator Dilyard be like this?¡± Kael asked.
¡°The Subject is one Adamantadine. I cannot say exactly how long Administrator Dilyard will be like this, but I can estimate from the size of the file he¡¯s reviewing that it will be years before he is done,¡± the Personal Assistant said.
¡°Did Administrator Dilyard know the size of the file before he started?¡± Kael asked.
¡°I do not believe so,¡± The Personal Assistant said.
¡°Very well, pull him out of memory read, Authorization Alpha Zero One Zulu Three Dilyard.¡±
¡°Priority Administrator Code recognized. Verification of Code origin is required. When and where did Administrator Dilyard give the Priority Code to you Mr. Ambrosche?¡± The Personnel Assistant asked.
¡°Code was given to me by Administrator Dilyard, one minute before your Purchase from the System,¡± Kael said.
¡°Checking, security footage from 21 years, 3 months, 2 days, 2 minutes ago,¡± The Personal Assistant said before the light at its center started pulsing. A moment later it continued, ¡°Code Authenticity Verified, Administrator Dilyard will be awake shortly.¡±
Kael watched as the field around Administrator Dilyard faded away. A moment later Adminstrator Dilyard bolted upright and said angrily, ¡°I am Adamantadine, this is Adamantadine¡¯s Tower. Why were you attacking my home? Better yet, I am also a Cleric of Serena, I¡¯m not evil and if the stories I¡¯ve heard are true, Holy Knights can sense evil, so my next more important question. Why did you, a Holy Knight of Zeltar, whose cleric assisted me early today in the Dungeon of Divine Elements, in Full Armor on Horseback raise your crossbow and shoot¡¡±
¡°Kenneth?¡± Kael asked questionly.
¡°It¡¯s a normal byproduct of being in a memory read for so long,if pulled unknowingly from it. That was probably something that was happening. Not to worry, he will be himself once more in a few minutes,¡± The Personal Assistant said.
Kael watched as Kenneth Dilyard looked around uncomprehendingly for a few moments until something changed and his eyes focused on Kael, ¡°Kael! What are you doing here?¡±
¡°Checking on a friend, are you okay?¡± Kael asked.
¡°I am now. I should have looked at how long that file was going to keep me tied up before I started it.¡±
That file was for Adamantadine?¡± Kael asked.
¡°Yep, a real one-of-a-kind individual that I can¡¯t believe¡.Well, let''s just say, what I¡¯d reviewed up to the point you woke me was pretty amazing.¡±
¡°I bet,¡± Kael said.
I¡¯ve come over to ask you about Adamantadine. It would seem that there is a 5 billion credit bounty on him and 15 of my assets on Suigen were killed within 10 minutes of each other,¡± Kael said.
¡°You think Adamantadine had something to do with it?¡± Kenneth asked.
¡°Yes,¡±
¡°Very well, let me wipe the drool from my mouth and pull up his information. I take it that¡¯s why you¡¯re here?¡± Administrator Dilyard asked.
¡°It is,¡± Kael agreed.
¡°Very well, one moment,¡± Administrator Dilyard said as he wiped off his mouth, adjusted his chair, and pulled up some information on his terminal. Kael heard him mutter, ¡°Administrator Override¡.¡± Before a soundproof field enveloped the administrator. Kael watched as Kenneth''s eyes started flickering back and forth and then went wide. ¡°What? How?¡± Administrator Dilyard exclaimed so loudly that Kael easily heard him.
Kael looked at the Administrator questioningly until Administrator Dilyard turned the monitor so he could see the information displayed there and he started reading. Agent of Chaos, level 50. Envoy of Chaos, level 50, Ambassador of Chaos level 50, No other class levels though so Adamantadine was at Master level 50. Derek the Deadly should have been able to kill him pretty easily, he¡¯d just earned his Legendary class after all. That didn¡¯t explain how Adamantadine could kill 15 of his higher-level assassins.
Kael followed the information down to Adamantadine¡¯s attributes and froze with surprise. 15,675,903,632 hit points with a regeneration rate of 183,248 hit points per second? Mana and Stamina at 391 billion respectively. All of his attributes were 39,189,759,073 and he even had a new attribute called Chaos. Additionally, his Karmic Luck attribute was listed as 0 but there was a note that only Administrators could see that said ¡°Positive Error.¡± What the hell was going on?
¡°What am I looking at?¡± Kael asked.
¡°You are looking at the Personal Information and Status of Adamantadine,¡± The Personal Assistant answered.
Kael looked at Kenneth dryly. A moment later Kenneth said, ¡°You¡¯re looking at something that should not be possible. The little bit of Johnathan¡¯s, I mean Adamantadine¡¯s, life that I lived through shows me how he gained so many levels. There must have been a glitch during his absorption into the System.
¡°Can you fix it?¡± Kael asked.
¡°Oh yeah, I can override and reset him to System Standard. Not an issue.¡±
Where is he now?¡± Kael asked.
He is in the Maneece artificial dimension.
¡°Maneece. Maneece? How do I know that name?¡± Kael asked.
¡°Arch-Mage Maneece,¡± Administrator Dilyard added helpfully.
¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Kael said as he remembered the elusive Arch-Mage that the Conglomerate had been trying to hire for ages.
Administrator Dilyard ignored Kael¡¯s outburst and called up his Administrator functions. Next, he found the error that had been ignored to give Adamantadine all the attributes and abilities he wasn¡¯t supposed to have, made some modifications, and prepared to initiate the changes.
Would you like to remove the previous System Parameters from Johnathan Bennard, also known as, Adamantadine?
Administrator Dilyard thought about how surprised Adamantadine was going to be when all the power he had was snuffed out by The System and smiled as he hit ¡°Yes¡±
***
Adam was walking with Arch-Mage Maneece as the Arch-Mage used technology and magic to track down and question every survivor in the Arch-Mage¡¯s personal dimension. They also took the time to store every corpse they came across so they could be prepared for the burial. After about an hour Adam froze as a System Message filled his vision
Administrator Review and Audit has determined that you do not currently conform to System parameters due to incorrect conversion. Previous System parameters are being removed. You may feel a slight bought of nausea as your body adjusts to the changes.
Adam forced himself to calm down and shifted his frame of reference to his Soul Space so he could see what was happening. A shimmering field surrounded all the nodes of his abilities and started to collapse toward the center of his Soul Space. The Nodes came into contact with the barrier and were pushed toward the center. They became very cramped as they did so.
To Adam, it looked like all the nodes were being pushed to the nucleus of his Soul Space. At the same time, Adam felt a restriction that he hadn¡¯t noticed before getting lifted and the abilities began to merge and compress until even his point of view was pushed in with the combined abilities to a pinpoint at the center of his soul. Adam felt as if there was a tremendous amount of pressure until he remembered the trick he knew and converted all that pressure into nothing. Adam felt all of the nodes of his abilities merge with his Chaos Incarnate ability and take on the aspect of Nothing that he was so used to.
His Soul Space now empty, Adam pulled up his Personal Information and watched as The System scrubbed his attributes which were all reduced to 380. His hit points were lowered to 152 and both his mana and stamina registered at 3,800. At least that¡¯s what showed on his Status Sheet. As soon as the actions of The System passed, Adam knew that the values of his attributes reverted to what they had been. He rechecked his Status which showed only 380.
Adam withdrew his point of reference to outside his body again to find Arch-Mage Maneece looking at him quizzically as he asked, ¡°Are you all right?¡±
¡°I think so,¡± Adam said. ¡°Can you summon a small block of steel? Just large enough to fit in my hand, please.¡±
¡°Sure,¡± The Arch-Mage said as he did so and handed the block of steel to Adam.
Adam took the steel block in his right hand and slammed his palms together as hard as he could. As he expected his strength was well more than the displayed value of 380. How did he know this? Because the steel block turned to powder before it exploded outward like a gymnast who had just put chalk on their palms and clapped them together.
¡°What was the point of that?¡± Arch-Mage Maneece asked.
¡°The point, my friend, was to check how someone that just tried to nerf my abilities made me even stronger than before. If I¡¯m right, the limits the System imposes on everyone no longer affect me and I didn¡¯t even have to figure out how to hack The System myself,¡± Adam said as a wide smile lit up his face.
Chapter 220, The Systems Purpose
Adam looked to Arch-Mage Maneece and then looked around his pocket dimension. During their hunt for intruders and saboteurs, Adam had realized that this pocket dimension was about the length of New Your City Island, just over 13 miles, except in diameter. The Dimension was mostly flat toward the interior with small hills on the outskirts. No mountains to speak of though.
The center of the city contained a small city with the Arch-Mages mansion and supporting structures, as well as housing for all of the staff and even some taverns for the servants to let off some steam after work. Outside of the central city area, there was a small lake, forested area, farmland, and groves. The dimension contained everything someone would need for a small society to thrive within. Light, was from an unseen source though it looked like the dimension went through a normal day and night cycle since it now seemed to be moving into twilight.
A lot of the city structure had been damaged, but no fires had been set, though a lot of people had been killed. Those that survived were sought out by the Arch-Mage and Adam. Upon encountering them, the Arch-Mage would open a dimensional door to another ¡°holding¡± dimension as he called it. If they fought, Adam captured them and the Arch-mage opened a different portal for Adam to throw them through. Adam had gone out of his way not to kill anyone because he knew the Arch-Mage wanted to question them.
They had all but cleared out the dimension when Adam received the prompt letting him know he was under review. Adam turned to Arch-Mage as his mind went through the many variations of events that could happen. In almost every permutation someone would be coming to this dimension to finish off the Arch-Mage. Adam took off the Ring of the Unrevealed and held it out for the Arch-Mage.
¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Arch-Mage Maneece asked.
¡°I believe we are about to have company. It¡¯ll be a few minutes but once the Auditor or Admin type person believes they¡¯ve dealt with me, I think our favorite Emperor will be sending someone here to finish you off. I would suggest that you put on that ring and either head to the dimension you have everyone that didn¡¯t fight being held in or head to the dimension that we threw everyone that fought back in and begin questioning them,¡± Adam said.
¡°What are you going to do?¡±
¡°Me? Well, first I¡¯m going to look over my Personal Information, what you all refer to as my Status Screen. After I review that information, I¡¯m going to show anyone that comes here exactly why it¡¯s a bad idea to target me or my friends.
¡°Friends?¡± The Arch-Mage asked.
¡°Well if I¡¯m going to defend your honor and your home we should at least be considered friends shouldn¡¯t we?¡± Adam asked.
The Arch-Mage smiled as he said, ¡°That we should, that we should. You do realize that the Empire of Queen Pellmir is quite formidable. You might not be able to handle them. Their weapons can destroy star systems if they so desire. In fact, they could just decide to pop the bubble that houses this dimension and release its contents back into the Astral Plane.¡±
¡°I doubt they¡¯d do something that reckless, but if they do, they¡¯ll find that I¡¯m even worse of an enemy to have once they don¡¯t know where I am or where I¡¯m going to attack from. Not to worry I¡¯ll handle this. Go take care of your people and your enemies and then see to your daughter. I¡¯ve got this.¡± Adam said.
Adam could tell that the Arch-Mage didn¡¯t like this plan but he nodded and then opened a portal and stepped through. Once he was gone, Adam tried to activate his Obscure ability and realized that the mental switch that he had used previously did nothing. Fine. He still had his skills. Adam looked around and quickly found a tree with a very thick canopy and climbed up to blend into the foliage using both his Stealth and Camouflage skills. He also adjusted his body temperature to ambient levels and internalized his breathing so he couldn¡¯t be tracked by gas emissions, temperature, or any other type of scanner. Of course, if they cast a simple detect life spell the jig, as they say, would be up.
Once he thought himself to be safe and secure for the time being, Adam opened his prompts.
Level Lock Removed from Administrator, Calculating¡
Heroic Class ¡°Representative of Chaos¡± unlocked. levels 1 through 50 granted.
Legendary Class ¡°Legate of Chaos¡± unlocked. Levels 1 through 50 granted
Apocryphal Class ¡°Embodiment of Chaos¡± unlocked Levels 1 through 371 Granted
Ability Removal Verified: Perfect Memory, Interface, Immortal, Adaptable, Astral Link, Dual State, Variable Core, Treasure Renderer, Mold Chaos, Regeneration, Personal Map, Shadow Vault, Flight, Freedom of Flight, Obscure, Technomancy, Teleport, Gate, Stutter Step, No Escape, Chaos Bolt, Scan, True Vision, Spell Weaver
Intrinsic Ability NOT Removed: Chaos Incarnate
Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Endurance, Constitution, Perception, Intelligence, Wisdom, Willpower, Charisma, and Luck have been reduced from 39,189,760,015 to 1,147.
Attribute Chaos increased to 4,710 due to new Class bonuses.
ERROR! System-imposed Attribute Bonuses are no longer in effect due to the removal of the System Lock.
ERROR! Reported Attribute Values, Secondary and Tertiary values derived from those Attributes do not match accepted range values.
ERROR! Soul Core does not fall within defined normal parameters. Soul Core nucleus has been Corrupted. Soul Core contains only one Ability Identity which fluctuates.
SYSTEM Override Code 001A100100ZOmega, Chaotic Ability Core Recognized, Error Suppressed.
Attribute discrepancy noted. The values listed do not match the values utilized for calculations.
SYSTEM USER Note:
WARNING! True Attributes far exceed listed values. Care should be taken when utilizing abilities or participating in combat!
Note: Efficiency bonuses that do not increase System Granted attribute values above base values are ignored.
That was interesting. It looked like The System recognized his Soul Core structure. Speaking of which, Adam dropped his perception back into his Soul Core and noted that there was just one node orbiting the nucleus. He shifted his perception until he was directly in front of it and reached out to touch it.
Ability: Chaos Incarnate. This Ability has been forcibly modified and upgraded. Ability to normal function. The ability ¡°Chaos Incarnate¡± allows you to direct or focus XP into any skill or ability as desired. As this is done the ability Chaos Incarnate creates a Template of that Skill or Ability which can be drawn on permanently.
The following Abilities are always active: Perfect Memory, Interface, Immortal, Adaptable, Astral Link, Dual State, Variable Core, Regeneration, Personal Map, Shadow Vault.
The following Abilities can be called upon simultaneously and at will provided you have the mana to do so: Treasure Renderer, Mold Chaos, Flight, Freedom of Flight, Obscure, Technomancy, Teleport, Gate, Stutter Step, No Escape, Chaos Bolt, Scan, True Vision, Spell Weaver.
Adam reached through his Chaos Incarnate node and activated Obscure. Unlike before, when the ability had felt as if it was in addition or granted from outside of himself he felt a change in his Soul Core that radiated into his body and beyond it. Adam switched his perception back to his body and felt different. He quickly locked in the feeling of calling his abilities to use through his Chaos Incarnate node then activated Flight and lifted into the sky of the Arch-Mage¡¯s personal dimension. It wasn¡¯t that he¡¯d lost anything, it was a matter of access. Additionally, as the messages had displayed, the System no longer recognized them as abilities so the Administrator could not shut them down, nor the ability that was allowing him to utilize them because that ability was intrinsic to his nature.
Adam activated Technomancy and gained a huge surprise. He didn¡¯t just detect the electronic devices within 100 feet. He could detect every single electronic device within the diameter of the dimension. He double-checked his attributes. Yes, they were all listed as 1,147 in The System Status window. Then he tried something he hadn¡¯t done in a while. He activated Interface and pulled up the same window. The values shifted and the Personal Information he was used to populated the fields. There was a mana cost to everything he was doing but his mana was regenerating at 391,897,601 per second. Adam switched to percentages just to see if enough mana was being spent to worry about. The mana drain wasn¡¯t even showing as a percent fluctuation.
If the limits of his Technomancy ability had been broken, did that mean the limits of his Mold Chaos ability had been broken as well? Adam was about to test that when a rupture opened in the sky and a ship at least 5 miles long that looked a lot like a Star Wars Empire destroyer slipped through to hover in the air above the Arch-Mages Primary estate.
There was no warning, no alarm Beam weapons deployed and fired depositing Terawatts of energy into the unprotected buildings. Adam watched as buildings were destroyed and tunnels were created which burrowed all the way down to the barrier of the dimension underneath the land.
Adam¡¯s Technomancy ability was active. When the destroyer broke through the dimension Adam knew everything he needed to know about the ship in the first second. Every electronic device, computer, transistor, and energy conduit became known to him. Even so, He couldn¡¯t shut down the preprogrammed attack that they¡¯d initiated. Adam watched as for three seconds the beam weapons destroyed the city''s infrastructure. Then it stopped. It stopped dead.
When the attack began Adam activated Mold Chaos, to test another one of his abilities and flooded the 13-mile diameter dimension within Chaotic Nanites. Doing so cost him about 20% of his total mana. It was a cost well spent because Adam had complete control of all personnel on the ship within two seconds. Adam downloaded their memories into his mind, copied the schematics of the destroyer then broke them all down into the materials and mass he then utilized to repair all of the grounds and facilities within this pocket dimension.
Unfortunately, he hadn¡¯t done a complete scan of the dimension so he wouldn¡¯t be able to replace everything exactly but he pulled up the basic schematics from the city center¡¯s equivalent of a City Hall. All the land and buildings and the infrastructure for electrical and sewage were easily replaced. Personal items that had been destroyed weren¡¯t though.
Adam noticed that a feed had been providing a play-by-play of everything that had been going on and that it had been cut off as he destroyed the destroyer. It was an easy thing to backtrack the single, create an iPad that could utilize the communication protocols they were, and then initiate a phone call. Adam waited until it was connected then dropped his Obscure ability so the camera could pick him up before he started talking.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Adam tapped the iPad just above the camera as he asked, ¡°Hello, is anyone there? McFly are you reading me, come on McFly I¡¯ve got places to go, things to do.¡±
The screen came to life and an image of Queen Pellmir appeared and asked, ¡°Is this the Adamantadine I¡¯ve heard so much about? I¡¯m not impressed!¡±
¡°Oh, so that¡¯s the tone you want to go with, Okay then,¡± Adam said.
Adam pulled information from the memories of the individuals he¡¯d just absorbed until he found one that matched the setting the Queen was currently sitting in. Visualized the destination and opened a Gate to the location. Adam watched as the gate opened on the screen behind the Queen¡¯s chair, so yep, that was the right location. Adam activated Stutter Step and off he went.
Adam¡¯s first action was to saturate the Queen with Chaotic Nanites and copy her mind completely as he did a flip to land on her desk, kneeled, and waited for the Nanites to finish. When they were done he had the nanites turn her into his puppet. She was to withdraw the bounties on him, the Arch-Mage, and his daughter as well as recall all military personnel to defend the Empire. Then he made sure the nanites would inform her of the limitations he was placing on her and then release her to live her life, so long as she did not try to retaliate. Should she try to do anything stupid, her mind would be wiped and her soul released while his puppet maintained the Empire.
His second action was to reach out with Technomancy and shut down every single defense within the radius of his power, which was quite far actually. Not infinite by any definition. It seemed that he could reach out to just about 1,000 miles in all directions now.
His third, fourth, and fifth actions were to search through the Queen''s memories and find every advisor that had led her down the path she was on and their current location.
His sixth action was to activate Freedom of Flight so he wouldn¡¯t destroy things as he moved. The rest of his 23 actions per second for the next minute were spent Teleporting to the Queen''s top advisors, Dropping off some chaotic nanites with some very specific commands, and leaving less invasive controls in place.
Within a minute Adam¡¯s bounty was rescinded and the call was going out to recall all military forces. Adam made sure to personally visit the Queen¡¯s residence, though her memories gave him a perfect memory from which to pull the locations he might want to visit in the future he wanted to personally visit them, just in case.
His work done, Adam teleported back to the Arch Mage¡¯s dimension and made his way to the kitchen where he made himself some lunch. He activated Mold Chaos to create his lunch while he waited. Adam had a feeling that the Administrator was going to visit him shortly or the Arch-Mage would make it back first. Adam also created a complete home theater system with appropriate seating and sat down to watch a couple of movies. Might as well start with the classics, Star Wars, Episode IV, A New Hope it was. If it took them too long he had at least nine movies to go through, not including all the series put out by Disney.
Adam made it through Star Wars, The Empire Strike¡¯s Back, and was just about to finish Return of the Jedi when a man, not the Arch-Mage appeared in the room he was sitting in. With a thought, Adam paused the movie as the man looked around taking in everything he saw before he asked, ¡°21st-century furnishing, where did these come from? Wait never mind,¡± the man said as he directed his gaze toward Adam and asked, ¡°Are you Johnathan Bennard?¡±
¡°I am, and you?¡± Adam answered then asked.
¡°I am Kenneth Dilyard, Administrator I need you to come with me?¡±
¡°Nice to meet you Mr. Dilyard. Where exactly do you want me to go?¡±
¡°My office on Nexus, I need to take you back there for further evaluation and adjustments¡±
¡°I think I will decline your gracious invitation. Things to do, places to go, people to see and all that,¡± Adam said.
¡°That wasn¡¯t a request, ¡° Administrator Dilyard said as he focused his attention on Adam and used an ability.
Adam had activated Scan and True Sight as well as split his attention between the physical world, his Mind Space, and his Soul Space so he watched as an energy barrier wrapped itself around him and clamped down as it tried to cut off his mentality from his Soul Core. At that moment Adam realized that while his Mind Space was outside of his Soul Core the point that was him, the spark that housed his will was within his Soul Core. It was housed at a point where his Soul Core and Mind Space overlapped. The System based power surrounded both but was unable to break into his Soul Core and shut down his Chaos Incarnate Ability Node. Adam checked his prompts just to make sure.
System Administrator Ability ¡°Shutdown¡± has no effect. SYSTEM Override Code ¡°001A100100ZOmega¡± prevents all System related Shutdown commands to your Soul Core.
Adam brought his attention back to Administrator Dilyard, ¡°You might want to read your prompts there Administrator. It looks like whoever your boss is doesn¡¯t want me shut down for some reason, I wonder why that is?¡±
The administrator looked at Adam with shock. Adam could tell from the look in his eyes that he hadn¡¯t expected Adam to be coherent enough to speak. The Administrator''s eyes went vacant for a moment as he searched through his prompts. Adam stood there and waited. This encounter was going one of two ways. He¡¯d rather it go as a mutual exchange of information but if it had to go the other way, well he could do that too.
A few moments later Administrator Dilyard came back to his senses, looked at Adam with an apologetic smile, and said, ¡°Apologies, I had no idea that the Omega was involved. As such this changes everything.¡±
¡°No harm, no foul, apology accepted. Now what?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Now I ask if you would like to accompany me to Nexus and a much more relaxed forum where I can answer some, not all, but some of the many questions you might have.¡±
¡°Just like that?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Just like that. We both know that I cannot affect you, You are now outside of System restrictions. My purpose is now to explain to you why that is, what has happened, and help you prepare for the coming battle.¡±
¡°Coming battle,¡± Adam started to say then stopped himself. ¡°I take it this information is not known to a lot of people?¡±
¡°It is not, hence my invitation to a more secure location,¡±
¡°Could you get a message to Arch-Mage Maneece that his Dimension is clear and that he can come back? Queen Pellmir will no longer be a problem.¡±
¡°I can do that,¡± the Administrator said and then paused for a moment, ¡°Done.¡± Next, Administrator Dilyard raised his hand and a portal rose from the ground, ¡°If you¡¯d follow me please?¡± he asked as he stepped through the portal with Adam following close behind.
The Portal closed and Adam found himself in an office building with glass windows that overlooked a highly technological city.
As the Administrator walked over to his desk and hit a button that was labeled ¡°Privacy¡± he said, ¡°Welcome to Nexus, sort of. In this room, we are in a pocket dimension that rests upon the primary dimension at an intersection where my office would be in Nexus. If you were to exit through the glass you would find yourself in the city of Nexus. If you were to exit through the door behind us you would find yourself in a corridor that holds a lot of other unaffiliated offices for small start-up companies and some elevators at the far end. Still in Nexus but inside the building my office is supposed to be in.¡±
¡°Good to know,¡± Adam said. ¡°Now why am I here?¡±
¡°You are here so that I can answer some questions you might have. If you¡¯d like to make yourself more comfortable please feel free to sit where you like. I can also have refreshments brought up,¡± The Administrator said.
¡°No need,¡± Adam said as he used Mold Chaos to create a nice business chair to sit in and a table with a second identical chair opposite the one he sat down in. On the table, he provided an assortment of snacks and sandwiches so they could eat and talk. For drinks, he provided a tall glass filled with a perfectly mixed Long Island Iced Tea and a glass of water with ice in it.
¡°I see that your abilities are still available to you?¡± Administrator Dilyard said.
¡°Administrator Dilyard,¡±
¡°You can call me Ken,¡± the Administrator interrupted.
¡°Ken, your attempt to reset my abilities was what unlocked them completely again. Also, please call me Adam.¡±
¡°I do understand that. Before I get into explanations, why do you think that is? Why did a System Command that was supposed to lock your abilities down have the exact opposite effect?¡± Ken asked.
¡°As I was only absorbed by The System a short time ago I don¡¯t know. I surmise that the System and whatever corrupted me with Chaos are one and the same but I have no way of knowing,¡± Adam said.
¡°As I understand it, you are from a Holographic Universe which was created as part of a game from another Universe which was also artificially created as a game from a Universe that was destroyed by another Universe which was then absorbed by the Multitude which you are directly responsible for bringing back into The System. Does that sound about right?¡±
¡°There¡¯s a lot more to unpack there but that definitely lists the highlights,¡± Adam said as he took a sip of his Long Island Iced tea.
¡°What if I were to tell you that the type of universe you were created in or came from didn¡¯t matter? That life exists as it exists and that the various forms all have equal weight in the end?¡± Ken asked.
¡°I would have to ask how that could be because I¡¯ve seen souls being tortured in Hades as well as souls drifting through Astral Space as they make their way to an Eye and pass beyond into what was next,¡± Adam said.
¡°Yes, but that was all within The System.¡±
¡°What?¡± Adam asked as he thought about what Ken was saying and re-evaluated what he¡¯d been through. His world had been the byproduct of a game that had imprinted onto a nascent universe. The rules for that universe had been set by the game and the Artificial Intelligence for that game but it had still been within a real Universe that had been contacted by another Universe. ¡°Okay, let''s say I understand what you¡¯re saying, what about people''s souls? There is too much going on for me to believe that souls aren¡¯t real. Sure I have a way to cheat death, sort of, but that doesn¡¯t mean I don¡¯t believe in souls.¡±
¡°The System, as you know it is everywhere. Or I should say that the System is everywhere the true higher powers are not.
¡°The true higher powers?¡± Adam asked.
¡°You know them as Magical spheres, the Putrescent, Anti, Proper, Absolute, and Divine. Each of these concepts, spheres of magic, or ideas is responsible for a war that has waged for longer than the System has been around.¡±
¡°If that war is older than the System has been around, why was the System created?¡± Adam asked.
¡°How do you stop a war?¡± Ken asked instead.
¡°You either come to a mutual understand or you take away the reason for the fighting in the first place.?¡± Adam said.
¡°And, what were they fighting over?¡±
¡°From your tone and explanation, the only thing they could be fighting over is Souls?¡±
¡°Yes, the souls. Someone thought that if the souls were removed from the equation the fighting from the higher powers over those souls would stop. The System was created to reduce the number of souls that the higher powers could draw from.¡±
¡°Wait,¡± Adam said interrupting the Administrator. ¡°Are you saying that the System was created to artificially control or create a pseudo afterlife to prevent individuals from going on to the actual afterlife?¡±
¡°You tell me. Does it make sense that someone¡¯s soul is redirected over and over until they finally give up on life and want nothing more to do with it? if they don¡¯t remain in one of the better heavens for eternity where they are just as unavailable to the wars going on in the afterlife.
¡°You¡¯re saying the System was created to trap or break the wills of as many souls as possible so they wouldn¡¯t want to participate in whatever comes next? Why? What could be so horrible that someone would want to do that?
¡°I have my suspicions but I do not know the answer to that question. All I know is that whoever set up The System did so to prevent souls from wanting to actively participate in the heavenly war.¡±
¡°What of the Divines, Gods whatever. I just recently watched Arch-Mage Maneece summon an Angel that felt more like I do now than anything I¡¯ve seen in The System. If there are Angels and Gods there must be Devils and Demons. Where do they all fit in this model of existence you¡¯re describing to me?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The Divine, or Gods, sit at the top. This includes both the Good and Evil Divines. As far as I can tell The System was not created to prevent souls from reaching either the heavens or the Hells. The problem began when the realms between the Divine and the mortal realms started working to actively take souls and turn them to their purpose. When this started to happen, someone decided that it would be a good idea to create a control mechanism to stop it.¡± The Administrator explained.
¡°Fine, The System is an artificial stop-gap solution to prevent certain realms from becoming too powerful. Great! What does all this have to do with me?¡±
¡°You are a by-product of chance and chaos. So long as Chaos exists there was always a chance that it would find a way to help or hinder The System, though some of us believe that whoever, or whatever, created existence wanted to leave a way for chaos to rebalance a system that became too far out of balance. The System has existed for a long time. A really, really, long time.¡±
¡°So there are Gods and Divines then?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I have never met them, but yes¡±
¡°And you believe that I am somehow supposed to rebalance the whole of existence because it¡¯s gone out of whack?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I don¡¯t, but the Omega protocol would not have activated for you unless your purpose was somehow tied to that.
¡°Are you saying there¡¯s someone higher in rank for the System besides the Administrators?¡± Adam asked.
¡°There is the Omega, whatever that is. Part of our class requirements is to support The System and obey The Omega, whatever that is.¡± Ken said.
¡°So what now, where do I go from here?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The good news for you is that Adaline, and your entire support network; your mom, dad, Abi, Amanda, Desirae, Clarence as well as all of your daughter''s team are currently in the Place of Power you created in the speck of Chaos that holds the identity of nothing. When I unlocked your abilities the particle of Chaos, or the Chaotic Nanites, you placed in each of them opened a portal and they all met up there. I do not know where Pandora is. She was absorbed by the System from the Multitude but after that records of her have disappeared.¡±
¡°Disappeared how?¡±
¡°The Omega Protocol again. Something about her unique makeup has shielded her from The System. Her last known location was on a fringe world where she¡¯d decided to take it easy. A day later she was gone. Not dead, the System would have noted that. She was just gone. When I tried to find out where she was with my access I received an information lockout due to Omega protocol message.¡±
¡°So again, where do I go from here?¡±
¡°If you can make your way back to Suigen either take the Purple line deeper into System Space or head into the Labyrinth on foot. You need to head to the source of The System for your answers. Be warned though, the actions you¡¯ve taken thus far have garnered the attention of some very powerful organizations within the System. They¡¯ll be looking for you. Of course, it looks like you¡¯ve had the bounty removed from you so no one will automatically know who you are unless they¡¯ve seen a photo of you.¡±
¡°Good to know,¡± Adam said. ¡°I can get back to Suigen. How much of a threat to me are these organizations?¡± Adam asked.
¡°After I was pulled out of a memory read of your file, it was a lot longer than I expected. I had my Personal Assistant do a quick overview. As the System is keeping everything else balanced and you¡¯re the only creature that is effectively unbalanced, not much of one. Though, you should be warned that creatures like the Angel you encountered and some other summoned creatures that specific individuals have gained access to by visiting places they shouldn¡¯t. Those creatures and creatures like them will be like you with their abilities well outside the System balanced levels. You¡¯ll need to be careful around them, even if you do have a large number of reincarnations.¡±
¡°Fair enough,¡± Adam said. ¡°You¡¯re keeping an eye on family and friends?¡±
¡°They are in your Place of Power. It exists within the System but is cut off from it. They should be fine inside that small pocket dimension for a very long time.¡±
¡°Well Ken, thanks for the explanation I think it¡¯s time for me to be on my way,¡± Adam said as he stood and opened a gate to the incoming corner of Tana, the Tinker Gnome he¡¯d met earlier. He may or may not have purposely left some chaotic nanites behind in Ken¡¯s office. Yeah, he left them there on purpose.
Chapter 221, A Little Time to Relax
Administrator Dilyard watched Adam¡¯s portal close behind him and then went to use his terminal. He did a quick search for Adam¡¯s Place of Power. Once he found it in the System terminal, he pulled up an overview and looked over the layout. With the spatial and dimensional coordinates available to him, Ken stood from his desk and had the System open a portal to Adam¡¯s Place of Power, specifically the entryway at the bottom of the stairs. A portal opened up and Ken stepped into the entryway of Adam¡¯s Place of Power where all his friends and family were staying, all except for Pandora.
Cindy Bennard, Johnathan, and Adam¡¯s mom looked over from the kitchen where she was making a cup of tea, saw Ken, and yelled, ¡°Hey everyone, we have company!¡±
Robert Bennard, Robert that was the half-dark-elf and Pandora¡¯s friend, Asling the female wood elf, and Cedrik the halfling came out of the entertainment room where they had been watching a movie. A few moments later Desirae and Clarence came running up the stairs from the basement levels where they¡¯d been working out. Ken waited patiently for Abi, Amanda, Adaline, and Pythias to join as well.
Once everyone was there, Desirae asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±
¡°I am Administrator Dilyard.¡±
¡°Administrator? As in someone that¡¯s in charge?¡±
Amanda Sifford asked.
¡°Exactly,¡± Administrator Dilyard agreed.
¡°How and why are you here?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°How I am here is simple, everything within the system had been quantified and recorded. If you are part of The System we Administrators can visit. Why I am here is because I thought that all of you would like to do something besides sit in this pocket dimension while Adam heads off to do what he needs to do?¡±
¡°You know where Johnathan is?¡± Robert Bennard asked.
¡°I spoke with him a short time ago. I informed him of your status but didn¡¯t let him know that I had plans to make your lives a little less tedious.¡±
¡°A little less tedious, how?¡± Desirae asked.
¡°By creating a portal to a location that has people in it that you can interact with and get to know, as far away from fringe areas of The System as possible. Basically, access to the more refined areas of our society.
¡°Why would you do that?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°Adam has a very important role to play. I do not want him worried about your well-being. Ensuring you have access to people and culture seems the best way to do this,¡± Administrator Dilyard said.
¡°Will the place we visit be like Earth?¡± Cindy Bennard asked.
¡°It can be?¡±
¡°How about more like our Dungeon World?¡± Cedrik asked.
¡°I can give you access to a town that will allow you to go off and do whatever you wish to. The access I will provide to you will be to an area that contains very low-level people that will have access to the Green train line which can take you to more dangerous places where you can investigate dungeons and kill monsters if you desire. Your levels and experience already put all of Adam¡¯s family and friends at the cusp of Heroic level so they shouldn¡¯t have any issues. Pandora¡¯s team will need to get out and work a bit to level but you should be safe enough in that area, especially if anyone from Adam¡¯s group tags along.¡±
¡°Aren¡¯t you worried that we¡¯ll be too powerful for the area in question?¡± Abi asked.
¡°Not really. The portal I create will open to a location on a parallel Earth that contains both magic and technology, though nanotechnology won¡¯t be available, except in stabilized areas. Not like you have in this place,¡± Ken explained.
¡°How long until that¡¯s set up?¡± Desirae asked.
¡°That¡¯s up to you. I just need to know what type of area you want the portal to open into. Would you like it near a big city or a little more rural?¡± Ken asked.
¡°From a security standpoint, I¡¯d like the portal onto an estate outside of a big city, close enough to easily visit but far enough away from everyone else so that our comings and goings can¡¯t be tracked. Also, if the property you¡¯re going to set us up on is to have a staff I would like the portal in an area that only the people in this room have access to, be that a room with a key and the portal hidden within a secret wall panel or whatever,¡± Desirae said.
¡°Additionally, any information on the current political layout would be good,¡± Clarence said.
¡°If you¡¯re looking for a place like Earth we¡¯ll need to live in a free county based around Capitalism, not socialism,¡± Amanda Sifford added.
¡°None of that will be a problem. I can feed the parameters into my System terminal, and it¡¯ll choose or set up a location that fits your needs. Please be aware that it will be your responsibility to re-learn the local laws and customs in a world like Earth where the populace knows about The System,¡± The Administrator said.
Acknowledgments were given by everyone present. Administrator Dilyard gave a slight nod to indicate his acknowledgment of their agreement before he said, ¡°As this is a closed domain, I will set the portal up in the courtyard. At this end it will be an arch that will automatically open the door it¡¯s connected to with a thought. On the other end the door will activate a portal whenever any of you open it and as long as one of you is within ten feet of it. Otherwise, I will have the door I chose to use for your portal open into a closet for anyone else. The Portal should become active within the next 24 hours. I¡¯ll make sure there¡¯s a working version of whatever passes for the internet and someone there that can answer any questions you might have.¡±
When Administrator Dilyard was done talking a portal opened and he stepped back into his office near his terminal where he went to work. Within three hours he had everything set up on an Earth-like planet during the 22nd century. Terra was pretty close to Earth''s standard, though it was about 200 years further along in development than 21st-century Earth. Magic and Technology had been melded seamlessly under a single unified government that covered the whole planet. Having researched Earth and the common references used there for other projects Terra would be very similar to Star Trek¡¯s Federation at its beginning with magic and the System intertwined. It shouldn¡¯t be hard for Adam¡¯s family and friends to find a place in such a society.
Administrator Dilyard had the System purchase an Estate on the coast of one of the major continents near the city of Venture. A city that contained a space elevator nearby to allow people to get off the planet and explore space and also had a Dungeon Entrance nearby which allowed for a Green Line Train station connection point into the Labyrinth. Adam¡¯s family would have plenty to do if they wished and they should be able to Get Pandora¡¯s team out and level with little to no issue in such a setting.
Administrator Dilyard sat back from his terminal and typed in a command. As he looked into one of the cameras in the room as he said, ¡°Adam, I¡¯m pretty sure you¡¯ve been watching what I¡¯ve been up to and know what I¡¯ve set up. Don¡¯t you worry about your family. Concentrate on getting to Farpoint on the Purple Line and from there make your way toward the center of The System. Even I don¡¯t know what The Omega has in store for you, Good Luck.¡±
***
Adam withdrew his attention from the nanites he¡¯d been watching the Administrator through and continued to relax in the bar he¡¯d found in Old Town Suigen. Right after he¡¯d arrived he¡¯d left Tana¡¯s workshop and found the closest bar where he could sit down in a booth and not be bothered while he watched the Administrator through nanites that had replicated and invaded his clothing.
He had to give credit where it was due, the Administrator had known what he was going to do. Even so, he¡¯d gone out of his way to take care of his family and friends as he¡¯d said he would. They¡¯d be safe enough as he went off to talk to the Omega and deal with whatever came up.
Adam finished his beer and waived over an elven waitress, ¡°How much for the beer?¡±
That¡¯ll be six credits if you¡¯re paying that way or six silver.¡±
Can you take a Gold coin?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, sir,¡± The waitress said.
¡°Can you let me see one of the Gold coins you take please?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The waitress reached into a pouch at her waist and pulled out a Gold coin which contained a pyramid with an eye over it on one side and a unique ¡°S¡± on the back.
Adam made a show of looking over the gold coin as he allowed the nanites in his hand to infiltrate and analyze the coin. When that was done he handed the gold coin back to the waitress and used Mold Chaos to create two more which he handed over, ¡°For the beer and your time,¡± Adam said.
¡°Thank you, Sir!¡± the waitress said as she hurried off to help another customer who¡¯d raised his hand.
Adam nodded, stood, and left the bar. Once outside Adam activated Flight, lifted into the air, and started heading toward the Purple Line. It was fairly easy to find. Train tracks came to a point near a building off by itself from one side of town and left from the building in the opposite direction. As he drew closer to the Train station, there was a countdown timer that showed that it would be 12 hours before the next train arrived. Adam landed before the sign when something caught his eye. There was a purple circle with Purple Line printed in the middle. Under the purple circle was a note. ¡°
¡°The Purple Line takes 15 days to get to Far Point and 15 days to get back. With short stops once a day in small outposts along the way. See pamphlet for locations.¡±
Adam picked up one of the pamphlets in a holder and opened it. He quickly read through the pamphlet and learned that the Purple Line had one train coming through each day around the same time. The train would stop at one city each day for about four hours and then get going again. The train stations and trains were protected by the strongest magic and technologies available. No such protections were in place for the outposts though there were protections and guards at each, just not as good as those for the trains. There was another note at the end of the Pamphlet.
¡°Come to Farpoint, Your First, and Last Stop¡±
Adam had no idea why someone would sell the place that way but if it was the Purple Line¡¯s closest stop to the center of the System it kind of made sense. Of course, it could be some marketing joke implying that anyone foolish enough to go to Farpoint was probably going to get themselves killed, which was a very sound possibility for him.
Adam floated up into the air and spied on a structure that looked a lot like a hotel within 1,000 feet of the train station. He made his way over to the entrance, landed, and walked into what felt like a normal hotel lobby.
Before he could look around someone to his left said, ¡°Good day, Sir! Welcome to Grathy¡¯s Room and Board, are you looking for a room, a meal, or both?¡±
Adam turned to see a young Dwarf standing behind a counter. It was obvious that he was standing on something because the counter he was behind was about five feet high and the dwarf was at most four and a half feet tall.¡± I need a room until the next train comes through and a meal would do me well,¡± Adam said.
¡°Very good, Sir. The room is one silver per 10 hours rounded to the next 10 hours. As the train won¡¯t be in until just about 12 hours from now that would be two silver. A single meal is also a Silver, though it¡¯s a limited choice menu with complimentary beverages.¡±
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
¡°So, three silver?¡± Adam asked as he used his ability Mold Chaos to create the three silver coins and handed them over.
The young dwarf slid the silver into a drawer under the counter and smiled. You are on the 2nd floor in room 203. Here is your key,¡± the dwarf said as he slid over an electronic key card. ¡°Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served all day in the dining room down the main hall and to your left. All hotel levels have a hallway that directly led to the food court at the center of the hotel. The Kitchen is on the 1st floor with the dining area on the 2nd level with the kitchen directly beneath. As your orders are completed a chime will sound and the meal will appear on the table before you. The table has sensors so there¡¯s no need to worry about something transferring into you while you reach for your drink. To order you simply pick up a menu and chose the items you would like.¡±
¡°That sounds fantastic,¡± Adam said. ¡°I¡¯m going to go check out my room and then grab something to eat before I take a nap. Thank you for all of your help.¡±
¡°You¡¯re welcome, Sir. Have a great stay and a safe trip.¡±
Adam nodded and went over to a set of stairs off to his left and went up to the 2nd level. The hotel followed the normal hotel numbering rules and room 203 was the second room on the left. Just as the dwarven clerk had said there was a hall off to the left after rooms 205 and 207. He walked down and peered around the corner. There were six more rooms on each side of the hall which ended in a double set of glass doors, most likely to keep random sound down.
Adam turned back to his room and used his electronic key card to open the door to his room and was surprised to find that it was like any hotel room he¡¯d find at one of the higher-end hotels on Earth, like the Hilton¡¯s or Hampton Inn¡¯s. The room had a bathroom, a small fridge, a desk, a sitting chair, a computer-style chair for the desk, and a King sized bed. There wasn¡¯t an air conditioner but Adam could tell that the room temperature was regulated by magic.
He walked over to the dresser with a television, or giant monitor on it, and picked up the remote. The controls looked like any control he¡¯d find back on Earth which made finding the power button easy. Adam turned on the power and the monitor came on with commercials geared toward Suigen
Be sure to come down to Barne¡¯s Barnacles for all of your fishing needs. You don¡¯t want to be in the labyrinth without the right bait and equipment for the right monsters¡.
Be sure to visit Leiara¡¯s Secret for all of your clothing needs. While the days on your train ride of the Purple Line might be boring we guarantee that when your partner sees you in our clothing, they won¡¯t be able to resist wanting to get a closer look¡
Adam watched a couple more commercials. It looked like there were a couple of local shops that competed with the System Market but otherwise, it just seemed to play ads all day. Adam changed the channel to find sitcoms and reality TV. Shows that he couldn¡¯t relate to. Not to say they weren¡¯t interesting, just that he didn¡¯t have the time to sit here and watch Suigen¡¯s television channels all day to get up-to-date on Suigen and System pop culture.
After 30 minutes, Adam turned the Monitor off and made his way to the dining area. As he stepped through the glass doors toward the dining area there was a sign on a stand that read ¡°Please seat yourself at any open table.¡± Adam looked past the sign and noticed that the eating area was surrounded by a 20-foot gap. The door he¡¯d exited from the hotel opened onto a bridge that led directly into the dining area.
Adam made his way across and found an open table along the edge. As he looked down at the level below he saw that there was a moat of water with bridges across into the central area on all four sides. On the walls above the water were vines and earthen designs that made him think he was in the center of a forest of some kind. Adam could even hear birds and insects, though when he focused his attention he immediately realized that all the sounds were coming from speakers hidden along the walls.
The table he¡¯d chosen only had two seats and the menus were held in a holder at its center. Adam picked up one, looked over the drinks and prices, and made an order for a Literian Amberschif. The description described it as a strong alcoholic drink that was guaranteed to knock the socks off anyone that drank one. Adam used Mold Chaos to produce the Gold Coin that it cost for a single drink and placed it on the table. As soon as he did, the coin disappeared and the drink reappeared. Adam picked up the drink and whistled appreciatively. Adam could tell just by the smell that whatever was in that Alcoholic drink could definitely be used as a disinfectant and could probably degrease engine parts.
Adam picked up the Literian Amberschif and without a pause downed the drink. Off to his left, he heard someone say, ¡°Be ready to call for medical. No one ever believes the warnings and thinks they have something to prove. Any moment he should stand, start to move, and then topple, don¡¯t you worry. No one has been able to down one of those in a very, very long time.
After the initial alcohol evaporated the drink had a nice fruity flavor reminiscent of a passion fruit and oranges. It tasted so good in fact that he ordered and paid for two more while he looked at the menu to decide on something for dinner. The menus were interactive. As soon as it realized he was human the choices provided included common dishes from both Earth and Primore as well as a few dishes he hadn¡¯t seen before. To keep things simple he ordered the Steak and potatoes with greens. As the meal was already paid for the table beeped and his meal appeared.
Adam went through a total of six Literian Amberschif, which did not affect him, other than they tasted good. When he was about done eating his dinner a young woman came up and asked, ¡°Sir are you feeling all right?¡±
¡°Yes, thank you. I overheard you talking with your friend. My endurance and constitution are quite high, no need to worry about me.¡±
¡°Very well sir, you have a great evening,¡± she said as she walked off a bit flabbergasted.
Adam finished up his meal and left a gold piece on the table for whoever cleaned up after him. The drinks weren¡¯t fey wine and they didn¡¯t seem inherently magical so he wasn¡¯t worried about after effects. He made his way back to his room, set up intruder alarms and a wake-up alarm with his nanites, and went to sleep.
Adam woke up an hour before the train was to arrive and checked out of the hotel. It was a quick trip to get back to the station to wait for the train. There was no one else on the platform. This gave Adam time to think about The System and this whole idea of an Omega. Try as he might he couldn¡¯t produce a working hypothesis for what was to come. He just didn¡¯t have enough information yet.
The train pulled up two minutes early and an announcement filled the air.
¡°Purple Line now boarding. Departure leaves in one hour!¡±
Adam thought the stops were supposed to be for four hours each day but as he thought about it. It made sense that the start and stop of the Purple Line would have a very short layover. People coming back weren¡¯t going to catch the train heading back out and people heading out knew when it was supposed to arrive. He¡¯d seen updates to the schedule periodically while surfing the channels before and after his meal before he closed his eyes and slept.
Adam boarded the train and was ushered into a compartment that offered some privacy where he sat back and relaxed while he waited to head out. There was a terminal in the frame of the train with a menu which he tapped to activate.
Welcome to the Purple Line. This terminal can give you an overview of the services and amenities provided on this train. Would you like to view them now?
Adam chose ¡°Yes¡±
The Purple Line consists of multiple cars allowing for the quick deployment of Conglomerate forces to outposts and the City of Farpoint should they require assistance. There are at least three quick response units assigned to each train which exist as an extra-dimensional space attached to the train with an entry and exit point from the train and the training grounds. Personnel swaps are made while the train sits in Suigen station and can deploy if needed at any time.
Each train also has a car that connects to the System Market where goods can be bought and sold. It should be noted that some of the more exotic items will not be available on the train. Anything can be sold though and will become available to the General System Market once the train returns to Suigen Station.
There are also multiple dining cars situated every three cars for ease of access. Each dining car accesses the same dimensional space though. Please remember which entrance you came through to return the dining car you entered from.
Should the Train come under attack the Rapid Deployment Forces will deploy to handle the threat. A general alarm will sound indicating that response. Should an evacuation become necessary make your way to the nearest dining car. Once in the dimensional space the dining area is in a portal will be opened to the nearest outpost to await the next train. On the first day out or the last day of the trip that will be Suigen. Otherwise, it will be the closest outpost.
Please note, if a dimensional incursion takes place and you are forced to flee the train while it is underway, you will find yourself randomly placed somewhere within the Labyrinth within System designated Purple areas, if you survive leaving the train while it is in motion. Try to find other survivors and make your way to one of the outposts along the purple line. We apologize that we cannot give you specific guidance in such instances. The Labyrinth is vast and always changing. The general advice we can provide is this; if you find yourself in an area that far surpasses your capabilities; hide, travel quietly, and keep to yourself. Even the children of some of the monsters in this area can eat Legendary Adventurers with little or no effort.
Again thank you for trusting the Purple Line to get you to your destination. Have a great trip!
Adam finished reading the information and sat back. It might be good to see what a Rapid Deployment Forces could take on something above Legendary level looked like. Adam sat back, put his feet up, and waited for his trip to begin. This would most likely be the easy part. After he reached Farpoint, that¡¯s when his journey would really begin.
***
General Eris reviewed the footage of the man that had killed 16 of the Conglomerate¡¯s assets and hurt an additional 7. The seven that had been spared were the problem children, the ones that didn¡¯t always do as they were told because of their moral values or some other such nonsense. Additionally, their cash cow had just dried up this morning when Queen Pellmir of De¡¯kree Empire had withdrawn the bounty they¡¯d posted. 16 Assets dead and they wouldn¡¯t even see the bounty, or the tax off of it, to help pay for those losses. The Board of Directors was not happy with that loss, nor were they going to let it go unpunished.
First, though the Board wanted him to spend his considerable talent to track down the thorn that had killed their assets and either turn him into a puppet controlled by them or destroy him. With the losses, they had firmly recommended that he try recruitment but General Eris had his doubts about bringing such a man to heel. He had no idea how he¡¯d beat all the assassins, especially since some of them had Classes in that weird rank above Legendary that he¡¯d only come to believe in recently. Given that none of his forces were above Legendary rank it made the prospect of going after this ¡°Adamantadine¡± troubling if he¡¯d been as powerful as he¡¯d originally thought.
Of course, the intelligence he was reviewing didn¡¯t make sense. One good thing had happened over the last few hours. The error that was putting the cost of getting information from the System about Adamantadine costing over 39 quintillion credits had dropped down to 1,147,000,000 credits which the Conglomerate had paid as soon as the price appeared. Adamantadine classes and levels, in order from basic to the category above Legendary, were:
Agent of Chaos, Level 50
Envoy of Chaos, Level 50
Ambassador of Chaos, Level 50
Representative of Chaos, Level 50
Legate of Chaos, Level 50
Embodiment of Chaos, Level 50*
Adamantadine¡¯s attributes were all sitting at 1,147 with a new attribute the general had never seen before, ¡°Chaos¡± being the highest at 4,710. Hit Points were listed at 460 with a Stamina and Mana pool of 11,470 respectively. The only ability listed was Chaos Incarnate, so only one ability though it had only a one word description.
Ability, Chaos Incarnate ¨C Mutable.
General Eris was reviewing the information before him and still couldn¡¯t understand how this man had survived attacks from 21 of his best, or up-and-coming assassins. There were many ways the General could approach this. The more he thought about it the more he didn¡¯t like the ¡°smell¡± of the situation. General Eris tapped his terminal and pulled up their list of investigative specialists. Someone that they¡¯d just picked up during the latest System influx. What was her name? oh yes, Councilor Cilira.
General Eris pulled up her file and a picture of a slim balding human with brown eyes appeared. She had some mental capabilities that allowed her to interrogate and question the subjects they sent her to. The General sent out the request and ten minutes later Councilor Cilira entered his office.
¡°How may I serve the Conglomerate today?¡± Councilor Cilira asked.
¡°In your previous System did you ever encounter a being by the name of Adamantadine?¡±
¡°Adamantadine? Why yes we encountered him right before we were absorbed by The Multitude and then The System.¡±
¡°What did you think of him?¡± The General asked.
¡°As I was a Councilor for my people at the time I found him helpful. The dungeons had just started popping up all around our empire and a group of children was caught in one. If I remember correctly, our Universe was a higher density which made us inherently more powerful than him yet his power level was off the chart. He went into the dungeon and rescued the children in almost no time at all.¡±
¡°Do you think he¡¯d remember you?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t see why not, we parted on good terms,¡± Councilor Cilira said.
¡°Very well, I would like you to meet with Adamantadine and try to convince him to come work for the Conglomerate. Sell our good points as hard as you can.¡±
Councilor Cilira looked thoughtful for a moment and then asked, ¡°Why are you sending me?¡±
¡°There was a 5 million credit bounty on Adam¡¯s head when he arrived at Suigen. Our assets there tried to collect that bounty. He killed 16 of the 23 assets that attacked him,¡± The General explained.
¡°So you¡¯re hoping a familiar face will keep him calm long enough for me to make our pitch? Very well. What¡¯s the contingency plan?¡± Councilor Cilira asked.
¡°The contingency plan is for us to take him into custody and convince him to join our cause.¡±
¡°Very well. Do you mind if I make a backup copy of my mind just in case this goes south and I become collateral damage?¡± Not at all. As soon as you¡¯re done portal over to our Suigen station and then to the next outpost he¡¯ll be stopping at. While we may not be able to get you on the train, we can get you to any of the outposts in front of the train he¡¯s on. As they just left Suigen today it¡¯ll be 15 days before the train reaches Farpoint, which we believe to be his destination. Your backup procedure should only take a day so you should be ready to go the following day,¡± General Eris said.
¡°That sounds about right,¡± Councilor Cilira agreed.
¡°Very good, you have your orders. Good luck!¡± General Eris said as the Councilor turned and left his office.
As the Councilor left General Eris couldn¡¯t believe his luck that had someone that knew Adamantadine working for the Conglomerate. Granted she had just entered her Advanced class and putting her in harm''s way on the Purple Line was a bit reckless but that is why they had memory backups and clones. Besides, he had no complaints concerning anyone from the Eterium Empire. Every single one of the adults they¡¯d been able to find that had come from that empire had proved to be worth their weight in credits and then some. Maybe things were about to look up?
Chapter 222, A Minor Revelation
The first three days of Adam¡¯s trip on the Purple Line had been pretty relaxing. The train had passed through some very interesting terrain and even the void of space in a few places. The outposts that the train stopped at each day were basically forts in the shape of a cube that sort of looked like a Borg cube from Star Trek if you could see normal structures intermixed into the makeup of the cube. There were obvious entrances on all four sides at ground level and the roof even had an enclosed hanger that vehicles could enter and exit from. Interestingly enough the tree outposts he¡¯d visited were named ¡°Outbound Outpost 1¡±, ¡°Outbound Outpost 2¡±, and ¡°Outbound Outpost 3¡± respectively. It looked like the outposts would follow that naming convention all the way out to Farpoint. No that wasn¡¯t interesting, it was boring.
The room he had on the train had a television with programming and movies on it, though all the programming looked like it was created by individuals that didn¡¯t know how to tell a good story, or the special effects were so cheap that it was laughable, something that Adam couldn¡¯t wrap his mind around. They had magic and advanced technology, why would programs look so cheap? He didn¡¯t invest too much thought into the problem and instead tried to mediate and delved into the makeup of his Soul Core and Mind Space. He started with his Mind Space first.
During his first day on the train, Adam completely missed the stop as he sat in his cabin meditating and he explored his Mind Space which felt like a Universe itself. He tried to quantify the changes that the ¡°squeeze¡±, what he was calling what The System had tried to do to him, had done. He could still pull up any of his memories, or the memories of anyone he had absorbed while in that nanite blob state, he¡¯d assumed when he¡¯d spread throughout the multiple universes he¡¯d absorbed.
The first thing he noticed about his Mindspace was that as far as he could tell, it hadn¡¯t changed at all. In addition to having the high intellect a very high intelligence attribute gave him he felt like his processing power was still on par with the way his mind had been when he¡¯d have four cosmos worth of nanites helping him. If he was being honest, it felt like he had more processing power. Adam searched his Mindspace until he found what he was looking for. Right in the middle of his mind, what he thought of as the focal point of himself there was a very small, invisible connection point. As he focused on that point he noticed wisps, or strands, of energy that reached into his Mindspace to every single point in it from that single central point.
Adam willed his Mindspace to take on the appearance of interstellar space outside the Milky Way. He watched as energy entered the point and then came flooding back out to morph and change every single point in his Mindspace to replicate the image and space he¡¯d be floating in if he were in space. He willed his Mindspace back to its more mundane setting which held a perpetual twilight with orange and reds off in the distance as if the sun were setting. He much preferred the feeling that he had ground under him. It also made it easier to talk with others aspects, or parts of himself, that manifested. Everyone in the void of space? People forgot that space was dark.
Adam focused on that central point and willed himself to enter it. There was a brief falling sensation then he found himself in a kaleidoscope of swirling energy and nodes. As he looked around and willed the landscape to slow down he recognized his ability nodes and realized that they were held inside a sphere that resembled Chaos. Was he¡ Yes, his perception was now inside his Chaos Incarnate Node in his Soul Space. Adam looked around and realized that there were a lot more nodes in this space than he¡¯d had before The System tried to delete, or scrub, them.
As he looked around he willed himself to move he found that he seemed to be able to move around the nodes as if they and he were asteroid belt. From his current point of view, each node was about the size of a small house. As he looked around the structure solidified in his mind and he realized that every ability he¡¯d ever possessed had a corresponding node here, even if they hadn¡¯t been part of The System. Those abilities that had upgraded or changed were attached to a node that represented their predecessor which was still in here. As he looked around he noticed Undying, Resistant, and his personal favorite, Infinite Wealth. Detrik, yeah fuck that guy. He knew it wasn¡¯t cool to hold a grudge but that guy had been a complete asshat.
Adam brought his thoughts back to what he was looking at and he realized that everything had been part of The System from the beginning. Every single change, every single variation. They were all following rules within a System he had as yet not been able to break into. Yet within that system, he was a spanner in the machine, something that wasn¡¯t working within specified norms, or was he?
Adam went back to his starting point and looked for the line of energy he knew was there. As soon as he willed it to become visible it did. He followed it off toward what he was pretty sure it was connected to. Next to his node Nanite Companions which was connected to the Nanite Conversion node. Two of his nodes that were both disconnected from any outside source were his Soul Link to Thor and Soul Link to the Labyrinth nodes. The Soul Link to the Labyrinth node had no connection to any outside source so the recombination of the Labyrinth he¡¯d been soulbound to must have severed that link when Adam had repaired that fractured Cosmos. So that had actually happened within a Universe then. Interesting.
What was more interesting was that the Soul Link to Thor was active and connected to¡ What was it connected to? Adam followed the connection to a point where the connection vanished. Adam willed himself to follow and felt weird as a prompt filled his vision and he bounced.
ERROR! Access denied. Primary Persona Focal Point may not exit the physical body through an energy portal.
Adam locked onto what it said and willed his consciousness to split and remain connected via quantum entanglement. A moment later A second Adam floated beside the Primary Adam and darted into the connection point
About damn time!
A mental voice said into the mind of the copy of himself that had just exited through the energy portal and found itself in the vacuum of space. After a quick look around Adam¡¯s copy realized he was near the Unicorn Singularity and that the mental connection had come through a quantum link that had been dormant for a really long time.
Adam, Thor is that you?
Thor, Who else would it be, hey wait, why do you look like you''re not doing too great?
Adam, Your looking at a mental copy of myself that just, you know what, never mind. Could you please create an environment around my copy or portal him to a safe location? We can utilize him to establish a permanent connection between us again.
Adam watched as a portal opened in front of his copy which was drawn through into a room that looked a lot like the room he¡¯d created in one of his power stations around Nu Draconis. Thor activated the speakers in the room and spoke, ¡°The energy matrix that Adam is tied up in is starting to deteriorate. It looks like it¡¯s not meant to exist in this quantum state. Not to worry, I¡¯m copying the quantum signature now and transferring the quantum link between your construct and myself. We should be able to communicate shortly and stabilize the deterioration¡now.¡±
Thor, Now. How are you doing Johnathan? Why was a copy of you evaporating in my room?
Adam, Honestly I don¡¯t know which version of Thor you are.
Thor, Which version? I don¡¯t know of any other versions so I think I¡¯m the first. Over 100 years ago I watched you go through a portal and you never returned.
Adam, Wait, it¡¯s been 100 years since I departed? What about Mom, Dad, Abi, and Amanda?
Thor, They¡¯re all fine
Adam, And Desirae, and Clarence?
Thor, Who? Wait, Clarence the assassin that tried to kill you. He¡¯s reformed and back on Earth. Desirae? There has never been a Desirae here.
Adam, So I never contacted you or came back to Earth after I left until today?
Thor, Nope, the only thing weird that¡¯s happened since then is that I had quantum links open up to me from a fuckton of nanites, I tried to measure how many I have access to but even I lost count. They¡¯re multiplying and breaking down so quickly that finally, I gave up. About five years ago I noted a drain on my processing power, figured it was you, and left it alone.
Adam, What about magic, Dungeons, and The Labyrinth?
Thor, do You mean like real magic, Dungeons, as in Dungeons and Dragons and a Labyrinth similar to the ideas present in that book series you liked? Simple answer, Fiction as far as I know. I¡¯ve been expanding for a while throughout the Galaxy and I¡¯ve run across nothing that even remotely reminds me of those concepts. I¡¯ve run into a few alien races, most of which are either at or below the technological standard of Earth. Magic though? No, I haven¡¯t come across anything that resembles that.
Adam, What about the quantum links you were talking about, did you try to open a portal to any of those locations?
Thor, I did. I didn¡¯t keep them open long. As soon as I opened the portals nanites that were linked to me, but made of an energy type I couldn¡¯t measure began flooding in. Reality around the portal started to melt and eventually, the portal closed on its own. The nanites that came through the portal are still here but I haven¡¯t done anything with them for fear that they might warp something else.
Adam, That sounds like you opened a portal into pure chaos where in a previous incarnation I released nanites into Chaos¡ Hold on, let me think about this.
An entire Earth with Thor, still connected to Adam through the link, which he¡¯d reached through an energy matrix within his Mindspace connected to his Soul Core. The fact that he¡¯d visited the Earth that was locked away when he gained the ability I Have Always Been, I Will Always Be.
Adam¡¯s thoughts were redirected as he watched Thor connect his construct quantum link to himself which in turn connected Adam to the nanites Thor was connected to. As the thought crossed his mind Adam remembered that the last time he¡¯d started receiving information from a fuckton of nanites, that had been bad, He¡¯d been catatonic, or was that the time he''d turned into a nanite blob and effectively scoured almost 8 Cosmos, well mini universes anyway. Besides losing control and turning into a nanite blob had not been his fault. Well, not all of his fault.
Regardless, Adam had found a link to the nanites embedded within the chaos that had spread out, which made no sense. He hadn¡¯t thought about those nanites floating around in chaos since, well since the Realm fracturing had been fixed and he¡¯d merged with and subsumed the original Johnathan. That had been a while now. As Adam thought about the different ways these nanites could exist, he also wondered when they were from.
After a moment Adam figured it out as all the pieces came together. Adam realized that he¡¯d always had access to these nanites, only now they¡¯d taken on a form he could recognize. That wasn¡¯t Thor or a previous Earth. Well, it was, but it wasn¡¯t. His Perfect Memory had helped Chaos create a bubble within Chaos that contained Thor, his family, and pretty much everyone that he¡¯d absorbed. Thor¡¯s memories were implanted but not incorrect in that while only a moment had passed inside his Mindspace the time it had taken to create this copy of his Earth to allow him to better connect to his Chaotic Nanites, or better stated, the Chaos within him ignored the rules of time and hundreds of years had taken place.
So why was there no magic? Occam¡¯s Razor, which pretty much stated that the simplest explanation was often correct. In this case it was because magic mucked things up and at some level so Adam hadn¡¯t wanted it there. So magic had been shut off and Thor had continued doing what he was supposed to. Adam reviewed the history in short order and found that again, the races that might have been a problem for humans or Primore on the opposite side of the Milky Way, though without magic, there had been none of the inherently magic races. Instead, planets that should have had populations on them were M-class and ready to be colonized.
So in short, Adam had created another version of his starting Universe, inside his Soul Core, wait! Was it in his Soul Core? The more he thought about it, the more he thought that it probably wasn¡¯t. Fine. He had access to a lot of processing power again and also had a fallback, if something happened to him inside The System, unless that place was inside the System as well. There was a quick way to figure that out wasn¡¯t there? Adam had his construct try to pull up his Status.
WARNING! Current Location of inquiry is outside of normal System Parameters. Alternate Interface Ability detected and is compatible with current location. Personal Information is as follows.
Huh? That ability had been one of his least utilized and he had thought most useless abilities he¡¯d ever received yet having it had offered up another clue to existence and his place in it by showing him that his construct was currently outside of The System.
Adam reviewed his Personal information:
Name: Jonathan Michael Bennard
Identity: Amantadine ¡°Manty¡±
Apparent Age: 32
Weight: 170
Birthday, July 16th, 2001
Abilities:
Chaos Incarnate - The ability to take unspent experience and direct or focus it on a desired skill or ability. The experience thus spent can be redirected to another category at a progressively higher cost. Damage from all magical sources is reduced by 100%.
Permanent Ability Engram Templates: These abilities are incorporated into your Chaos Incarnate Ability and usable at all times.
Perfect Memory
Interface
Immortal
Adaptable
Astral Link
Dual State
Variable Core
Regeneration
Shadow Vault
Personal Map
Temporary Ability Engram Templates ¨C Usable at will upon activation
Treasure Renderer
Mold Chaos
Flight
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
Freedom of Flight
Obscure
Technomancy
Teleport
Gate
Stutter Step
No Escape
Chaos Bolt
Scan
True Vision
Spellweaver
Nanite Companions
Jack of all Trades
Titles:
Dungeon Founder
Labyrinth Founder
Character Level 279,201,650
Attributes
Strength 39,189,760,015
Agility 39,189,760,015
Dexterity 39,189,760,015
Endurance 39,189,760,015
Constitution 39,189,760,015
Intelligence 39,189,760,015
Wisdom 39,189,760,015
Willpower 39,189,760,015
Perception 39,189,760,015
Charisma 39,189,760,015
Luck 39,189,760,015
Chaos 4,710
Primary Stats
Carrying Capacity: 370,343,232,139 lbs. (167,984,727,352 kgs)
Hit Points: 15,675,904,008
HP Regeneration: 181,435 per second
Stamina: 391,897,600,147
Stamina Regeneration: 1,959,488,001
Mana: 391,897,600,147
Base Mana Regeneration: 391,897,601
Movement
Normal Running Speed: 391,897,608 (574,783,159 FPS / Mach 536,846)
Standing high Jump: 391,897,616 Inches. (6,185 Miles)
Note. Falling Damage is not mitigated by maximum jumping Distance.
Base Attack
Unarmed Attack: 1-4 + 19594,880,003
Critical Damage Maximum Damage x2
Skills - All Skills are at 100% efficiency
Total Skills: 1126
Adam looked over his personal information and skipped the details on his abilities for now. He was currently stuck within the System. Wherever his construct was, it wasn¡¯t where the answers he needed were so he just looked over the basics. Attributes, Hit Points, Stamina, and Mana were the same as they were under the System now, well what they were for him, not what everyone else saw when they scanned him. He immediately noted that wherever his construct was, his Interface took into account that his abilities were now part of his Chaos Incarnate ability. It was also interesting that only certain abilities were considered to be incorporated into that ability while the other abilities could be accessed but weren¡¯t part of it somehow.
Adam reviewed the Permanent Ability Engram Templates. It made sense that Perfect Memory, Interface, Immortal, Adaptable, Astral Link, Dual State, Variable Core, Regeneration, and Shadow Vault. Wait, Shadow Vault was considered permanent? When was the last time he¡¯d put something into his Shadow Vault, or removed it? The fact that it would always be available. Normally such statements had meaning, which meant that perhaps something was going on.
Adam brought his mental focus back to his body on the train and activated his Personal Vault. A portal appeared in front of him and he stepped into a replica of his Place of Power. Was it a replica or one of the real ones? Also, he¡¯d never put his Place of Power inside his Shadow Vault so how had it been placed inside that Vault? Adam stood in the entryway to his Place of Power. He reached out with his nanites and immediately knew that this Place of Power was flooded with his Chaotic Nanites and that it was the Place of Power he¡¯d left his family in a very long time ago before they¡¯d come out after the fractured realm was fixed. It didn¡¯t look to be a replica, it just was part of his Shadow Vault now. It could be a replica but there was DNA residue as if everyone he¡¯d left in it had lived here, which included Desira and Clarence. Adaline and Pandora had never made it into that Place of Power. They¡¯d been ripped away from him before he could put them inside it.
Adam turned to make sure the Shadow Vault Portal still opened into the train, it did. He walked around the portal and opened the outside door to his Place of Power. It opened into the courtyard with the stone walls and the portcullis. This wasn¡¯t a copy of the world of Primore though. He could see the edge of the world off in the distance. To make sure he shut the door and went to his room on the 3rd floor, stepped out onto the balcony, and looked down. Sure enough, there was a lake where the forest should be at the bottom of the cliff. So the Shadow Vault was his Place of Power inside a bubble surrounded by a barrier. Last time that barrier had Chaos on the other side which meant it probably did now too. Speaking of which, Adam stepped back inside, closed the balcony door, and made his way into the living room and over to the mantel of the fireplace under the television he¡¯d had his nanites create when he¡¯d upgraded the Place of Power to the 22nd century.
Adam pulled up the memory of the location he¡¯d placed the spec of Nothing his parents had hidden in, activated Scan and True Sight, and looked at the place the spec of Nothing should be sitting. Sure enough, it was right where he¡¯d left it. Additionally, he noted strands of energy, like those that had gone into the center of his Soul Core entering and exiting the spec of nothing. Also, the link to his Construct that was still with Thor felt a lot stronger here.
Adam stepped away from the mantle, made his way back out of his Shadow Vault Portal, and exited his Place of Power to sit back in his seat while he closed the portal. It seemed that The System¡¯s attempt to erase his abilities had compressed as well as reattached some abilities that had been removed or gone dormant. Other abilities like his Soul Link to the Labyrinth were still gone, which seemed to indicate that anything that was attached to an external location was lost. Everything within himself, or that seemed to be attached to Chaos in some way was still there. Also, it seemed that in those locations that were deemed outside The System, the changes he¡¯d gone through had weight for some reason.
Adam considered that. His first thought would be that everything would reset and he¡¯d have to restart but his intrinsic connection to Chaos seemed to be overriding that. The question then became why? Why was it so important that everything that had happened to him remained in place? He could consider the implications of what he¡¯d discovered over a meal. It was dinner time and he¡¯d been messing with this for going on 10 hours. Shoot, he¡¯d even missed the third day''s stop. If time was moving faster within the spec, or was it? Adam concentrated on the link to the Construct and realized that the flow of time was fluctuating. When he¡¯d stepped into the Place of Power he must have been moving in a slower time flow. Interesting. Adam focused and willed the time flow inside that area to stabilize and flow either at the same rate as outside or faster within the spec of Nothing. He didn¡¯t feel any different and couldn¡¯t tell if his desire had done anything but for now, he wasn¡¯t going to worry about it. He was going to go socialize and eat with others that were on the train. He had 12 more days to review what he¡¯d figured out after all.
Adam activated Mold Chaos and put on appropriate dining attire. His nanites morphed into casual pants and a casual blue collared shirt with an infinity symbol over his single breast pocket on the left. He¡¯d been thinking about how best to symbolize his status or power and an infinity symbol, a figure eight on its side, seemed like a good way to display both his affinity to Chaos and his true power level. Of course, he wasn¡¯t infinitely powerful but compared to others within the System that he¡¯d encountered thus far, well, he wasn¡¯t exactly powerless either.
Once he was dressed and freshened up by the nanites he stepped from his cab, locked it, and made his way to the dining cart. Like before there was a portal in the Dining Car that lead into an extra-dimensional dining area. As he stepped through he made his way towards one of the seats near a window that looked out on a barren landscape that appeared much like the moon. The area he was in had normal gravity though, which was weird. There were stars in the sky but none seemed close. The light that fell on this worldlet came from the nebula-like clouds that the starlight showed through. A mixture of green, purple, and pink helped soften the various star¡¯s light so that the worldlet¡¯s landscape seemed to be in a state of twilight. Adam found it completely relaxing and was slightly surprised when someone approached his table and interrupted his thoughts. Only slightly though, he¡¯d known she was walking over to his table since she entered the dining area.
¡°Excuse me, would you mind if I joined you?¡± a feminine voice asked from behind him. A voice that Adam recognized immediately. Councilor Cilira of the Eterium Empire.
Adam turned and smiled as he stood and pulled out a chair for the Councilor, ¡°By all means. I haven¡¯t seen you since, well since before our absorption into the Multitude at the very least. What brings you to a dinner cart on the Purple Line of The System Councilor? While I haven¡¯t tried to scan your level yet I can¡¯t help but think you are incredibly exposed if something goes wrong here?¡±
¡°Sharp as ever I see. I am on this Train specifically to talk to you on behalf of the Conglomerate. I believe our evaluation of your motivations showed a penchant for those that are truthful with you,¡± Councilor Cilira said.
¡°I do hate liars, that is true. The Conglomerate though. Some of their assets tried to kill me not too long ago. It didn¡¯t end well for them. Why would the Conglomerate want to only talk with me?¡±
Councilor Cilira looked at Adam as if she was trying to weigh whether she should say something or not and then said, ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t know. You killed some of their top assassins. I believe they want to bring you in so they can control you and have you take over doing the jobs of those you¡¯d killed.¡±
¡°I did leave some of them alive. If you¡¯ve reviewed the histories of the ones I left alive, what do they have in common?¡± Adam asked as he had his nanites create two drinks with Mold Chaos which formed on the table before each of them. The councilor watched as Adam picked up his Long Island Ice Tea and took a sip, ¡°Councilor?¡± Adam asked questioningly to remind her he¡¯d asked a question.
Councilor Cilira shook herself awake, picked up her drink, and took a long swig. When the glass was about half empty she set it down while looking at the glass as she said, ¡°Damn, that was good! And much needed, thank you.¡±
¡°You¡¯re quite welcome.¡±
¡°As for your question, The assassins that lived never took contracts on what Earth culture would designate as innocents. No Family killings, no pregnant women, no incorruptible politicians, though for the last I would argue that all politicians can be corrupted,¡± Councilor Cilira said with a smile as she picked up her drink and took another sip.
Adam laughed, ¡°Too true. If only they could not be corrupted. So if every person I didn¡¯t leave alive had a code of honor and those that I didn¡¯t leave alive had some of the vilest and evil aura¡¯s I¡¯d ever laid eyes on, what makes, whoever sent you think that I will ever do their dirty work for them?¡±
¡°Because I¡¯m asking you to join them. You have no idea how big the conglomerate is, or how powerful. Compared to my society, Eterium Society, and the technological level we had achieved we are nothing compared to the combined might of the Conglomerate.¡±
While the councilor talked Adam had his chaotic nanites infiltrate and copy her completely. They¡¯d been in the Ice Tea she drank of course. Once she was infiltrated and copied he sent that information into his Mind Space where he accelerated time and reviewed her recent memories. Her memories wouldn¡¯t be enough for him to teleport to any of the locations in her memories but he could attempt to open a Gate with a high degree of success right into General Eris¡¯s office if he needed to have a chat with the man which was looking more and more likely.
Adam refocused his attention on Councilor Cilira and responded to her statement, ¡°I understand that you think the odds are heavily against me. I will warn you by saying that I was far less powerful when we first met. Now, it would be just silly for General Eris to try to force me to do anything.¡±
¡°General Eris?¡± Councilor Cilira asked, ¡°I never said his name. Are you reading my mind?¡±
¡°If you¡¯re asking me if I¡¯m using an ability to read your mind,¡± Adam said while nodding his head up and down, ¡°No.¡±
¡°That shouldn¡¯t be possible, my memories are locked and blanked so no one can use an ability to look at my memories.¡±
¡°Really?¡± Adam asked as he looked through her memories in his Mindspace and found her Master Inquisitor ability ¡°Information Lock¡± which did exactly what she said. It prevented anyone from connecting to her mind and delving into any of her secrets. Well except for someone that could copy her down to the electron and then replay those memories so he could view them for the first time of course.
¡°As I said, I didn¡¯t use an ability on you. I haven¡¯t even Scanned you to see what level you are or what classes you possess. I thought it would be rude,¡± Adam said.
¡°Yet you know who sent me?¡±
¡°Lucky guess,¡± Adam said with a smile as he took a drink.
¡°Is there nothing I can do to convince you to come join them?¡±
Adam continued to smile and looked thoughtful as he paused and established a mental connection through the nanites coursing through her body as a digital message interface. While his mind established the link, he started talking about the problems with a military-industrial society and why they would always fail, as if he was a true believer in pure socialism. He also tried to get the sound of indignant righteousness into his voice so anyone watching would be looking forward to breaking such an ignorant asshole. He didn¡¯t believe a word he was saying, of course, he just needed filler while he had an actual conversation with the counselor.
Adam, Councilor Cilira, I¡¯m pretty sure we¡¯re being recorded and watched. I have a counter-question. Do you want out?
Amara, What? Out, How?
Adam, Do you want out? It¡¯s a simple question. If you want out, I¡¯ll get you out, now. If you don¡¯t just don¡¯t interfere when whoever or whatever shows up to take me in. It¡¯s not going to go well for them.
Amara, Not going to go well for them? Adam, you did prefer Adam, right? Adam, They have all three quick response teams on this train ready to subdue and take you down. When I say there is nothing you can do. I truly believe there is nothing that you can do to keep General Eris from acquiring you and taking you down.
Adam, Amara, your first name is Amara. Yes, Adam is fine. How am I talking to you?
Amara, Telepathy, it has to be some form of telepathy
Adam, No. I am having this conversation with you through quantumly linked nanites that are in both you and me that I control. They are interpreting your thoughts and printing them into your vision as you think them so that you and I can talk as if we¡¯re having a normal conversation but we are not. If you focus on your ears for a moment you¡¯ll notice that I haven¡¯t stopped talking about the benefits of socialism and how everyone should have exactly the same allotted amount of stuff, no matter what it is.
Amara, I hadn¡¯t even noticed. My attention was focused on this conversation.
Adam, I know. Now another question, how did I get the nanites in you? You haven¡¯t been on this train for the last 3 days, I¡¯d have known.
Amara, They were in the drink?¡±
Adam, Yes. Also, they are in every food and drink in this dining area and have been since my first day on the train. I¡¯ve been able to see and hear everyone that walked into the dining area, even the separated area for soldiers because that is also within this dimensional dining area. While I wasn¡¯t paying specific attention to everything, a couple of red flags came up as I left my cabin tonight warning me that my name had been mentioned multiple times and that you were on the train. So, I came into the train knowing full well what I was possibly walking into.
Amara, Why would you do that?
Adam, Better question, Do I look worried?
Amara, No you do not. You don¡¯t look worried at all.
Adam, Amara, your society had nanites, maybe not as advanced as mine but you had them. If my nanites were in every single soldier, well almost every soldier that comes after me and I have complete control of the nanites in their body, what can I do?
Councilor Cilira looked thoughtful for a moment then her eyes widened as she sent,
Amara, You wouldn¡¯t?¡±
Adam, We¡¯re on a train in extremely hostile territory with 154 passengers that are not part of General Eris¡¯s evil plan, I read their memories and checked to make sure. I don¡¯t need to wipe out the response forces, I just need to make them stop. In fact, I just did, well except for, here he is.
Adam was just finishing with, ¡°¡and that is why You should never tie yourself to an evil piece of shit dictator that will use people like scalpels which also destroy healthy members of society that could be useful if they hadn¡¯t been murdered by a two-bit piece of shit like General Eris!¡±
As Adam finished his diatribe which was fully for General Eris when a man moving at incredible velocity entered the dining area he was sitting in at about Mach 10 and tried to push Adam¡¯s head into the glass wall behind him. Adam had the nanites immediately around the impact point and Velocity, as he was calling himself, how clich¨¦, transfer the wake Velocity had created back into the soldier''s area, out of their portal to their train, and toward one of the windows in the side of the train. The shockwave and impact from the strike destroyed the window and half the train. Adam had chosen a car that was unoccupied to prevent deaths. That he wasn¡¯t even thinking of collateral damage as he moved at such high speeds pissed Adam off. When this was all said and done, if Velocity survived, they were going to have a very long talk.
The push against Adam¡¯s face broke every bone in Velocity¡¯s hand, wrist forearm, and upper arm. Adam stopped the damage before it could reach his shoulder. Adam hadn¡¯t soaked the energy from the initial strike and took 2,570 points of damage to the face, which he absorbed and healed as he took it. Unfortunately for Velocity, his body was built around the idea of the target soaking some of that damage instead of him by not actually hitting the target but pushing the target into something else which did the damage.
Unknown to Velocity, just before he¡¯d been hit, Adam activated Stutterstep which allowed him to use his Spellweaver ability to lock himself into the exact place he was sitting. In essence, he became an immovable object.
Adam healed the 2,570 points of damage as fast as, if not faster than, the damage could be taken. As Velocity had never expected to take the damage he was completely surprised as the shockwave traveled back up his arm, through his forearm and upper arm where for some reason the shockwave stopped as the rest of his arm turned to pulp. Adam had redirected the energy from that shockwave two inches passed the shoulder and had cut off his blood supply to the arm so he wouldn¡¯t bleed out.
In that frozen moment, Adam casually picked up his drink and drained it, he was still utilizing Stutterstep after all. Adam set the glass back on the table, and looked directly into Velocity¡¯s eyes as he said, ¡°No.¡± and disappeared as a Gate opened and Adam stepped into the office of General Eris back in Suigen. Adam left Councilor Cilira and Velocity frozen in position as the Gate closed. Adam wasn¡¯t even sure if either of them had perceived his baller move of saying ¡°No.¡± Though, he was pretty sure Velocity should have if the pain hadn¡¯t caused him to zone completely out of everything else.
As the Gate closed Adam sent a command to the Nanites in Velocities Arm to keep the patient alive and to go inert if healing magic were used. He also set Amara¡¯s nanites to keep him updated on her status and location. Now that he had nanites again and he was figuring out how to use Gate to target locations where his nanites were, he was going to be able to get around a lot easier. Shoot he could even go see the family.
As the Gate closed Adam sat in the chair opposite General Eris and waited for time to catch back up to him. Once Adam was moving at a normal rate of speed again, the General¡¯s eyes were drawn away from a monitor he¡¯d been watching and focused on Adam immediately. Adam saw the muscles in the General¡¯s shoulders tense as he contemplated whether he should go for his gun, call for help, or hit the alarm. Adam cut off his next action as he said, ¡°We need to talk.¡±
Chapter 223, Welcome to a Little Corner of Hell!
As Adam watched General Eris look up a thought crossed his mind. The place he¡¯d connected to through his Soul Core, could it be an Echo? An echo inside a region of Chaos, Primal Chaos, whatever outside of The System? That would make sense. Could that region of Chaos contain the possibility of his Chaotic nanites? Maybe even copies of other things he¡¯d created? That begged another question, Where was the region of Chaos that echo was located in? If the System was centralized, that location either had to be in a parallel dimension or outside the radius of The System¡¯s influence. As he hadn¡¯t felt like he¡¯d travel a great distance when his construct made the transition he was betting it was somehow parallel to the Universes and Dimensions The System had absorbed.
Adam¡¯s thoughts were halted when a stasis bubble enveloped the location Adam was sitting in.
¡°Well that was a lot easier than I thought it would be,¡± General Eris said as he pushed a button on an intercom on his desk and said, ¡°Send in the containment crew, I have the subject trapped and ready for transport.¡±
Adam found that every movement he tried to make was suppressed. Something was negating the signals from his brain to the rest of his body making it impossible for him to get commands to his body. That was interesting. He could still think, which meant that his ability to Adapt was still in effect. So, the effect must be technological. He¡¯d definitely have to download the specs on that technology, it was a doozy.
¡°Not to worry Adamantadine, we¡¯ll get you squared away shortly and then you and I can have a nice long talk about what you can do for the Conglomerate..¡±
Adam activated Technomancy, which didn¡¯t require a movement, reached out as far as he could, and detected the satellite in orbit above his position that was generating the field while the General spoke. He found the containment crew making their way into the office and adjusted the settings on the satellite and waited until the doors to the office the General and he were in opened. As the four-person crew was stepping through the door the field around him expanded and moved and shrunk to only encompass the four members of the Containment crew. As they stopped moving Adam also modified his physical structure to include backup neural connectors utilizing only nanites so that while he was in his normal humanoid form he could continue to move his body. He really wanted to look at how the technology only affected his body while leaving his mind active. If they¡¯d hit him with something that just locked him down, this could have gone badly for him. If he was honest with himself, being brought down a notch as he realized there were still things that could affect him was a bit humbling. This brush with a bad day had been a good reminder that he was not all-powerful, at least not yet.
¡°As I was saying General, we need to talk,¡± Adam said again.
¡°What? How?¡± The General blustered as he pushed various buttons and even tried to send out emergency communications from an embedded transmitter within his skull. Adam had of course known it was there as soon as he¡¯d activated Technomancy. In fact, he knew every single technological device within about 100 million miles which was about 10 million miles more than the average distance of the Earth from the Sun. Technomancy had gone through a significant upgrade during ¡°The Squeeze.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t you worry about the what, or the how General? All you need to know is that with a thought I can self-destruct every piece of military hardware on, or near Suigen.¡±
¡°You can¡¯t do that, the city would be defenseless against the monsters, and millions would die!¡± the General shouted as he stood.
¡°I can destroy your military and I¡¯d even be nice enough to open a Gate to Nexus so the population here could evacuate to safety. Seeing as it seems that you at least have some sense of duty your containment force can stay right where it is in the doorway and you and I can have that chat,¡± Adam said as he settled into the chair, realized he didn¡¯t like how it felt and had his nanites modify it to something more comfortable, with a drink holder, a drink and some crackers to snack on.
¡°How are you doing that, my sensors didn¡¯t detect an ability usage, in fact, my scanners only show that you have a single ability?¡± General Eris asked wide-eyed.
¡°Don¡¯t you worry about that General. What you should be more worried about is how I¡¯ll respond if I¡¯m attacked again. I did not seek out your assets, they tried to kill me. I don¡¯t take kindly to assassination attempts. Besides, as you¡¯ve seen I¡¯ve had the bounty withdrawn.¡±
¡°You did that? How did you get that bitch to do anything?¡±
¡°Pretty much the same way I¡¯m going to get the Conglomerate to do what I want, I sat down with her and had a talk,¡± Adam said with a bit of mirth in his voice.
¡°I don¡¯t buy it. She absolutely hated the Arch Mage. The only way you¡¯d get her to withdraw a bounty against him, his family, and you for helping him is if you physically replaced her with a double or rewired her brain.¡±
¡°After meeting her, I would concede that you are correct,¡± Adam said as his smile turned mischievous. ¡°She will no longer be an issue for the Arch-Mage, his daughter, or myself. In fact, you might say that she will be going out of her way to make amends for the way she had behaved recently.
¡°How did you manage that?¡± General Eris asked.
¡°I would like to say I threatened her until she capitulated but that would be a lie. I was forced to ensure that she did what I wanted going forward. Someday she might be her own woman again. Now, she¡¯s my puppet and will do whatever I want her to do.¡±
¡°Is that so?¡± The General asked as he looked thoughtful for a moment.
¡°General, I¡¯m not na?ve. I know that your Conglomerate,¡± a word Adam said with slight disdain in his voice, ¡°isn¡¯t going to change its ways overnight. What it will not do is have my help killing innocents or subjugating people on a whim.¡±
¡°While I can understand how you might come to that conclusion can I ask, do you even know what the Conglomerate actually does?¡± The General asked.
¡°As far as I¡¯ve seen hire assassins to do your dirty work. I admit they probably saw the bounty on me and came after me without your tacit approval but as big as Councilor Cilira stated your organization is, I very much doubt they would have needed any special permission,¡± Adam said.
¡°Correct, they tried to collect a bounty that was sanctioned by The System. Even my superiors would agree that they were well within their contractual rights to try to claim that bounty when the target in question appeared within the same city they were in. That begs the question. Why were over 20 high-level assignation types in Suigen?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t understand the question if there is some hidden meaning. They were obviously waiting for contracts,¡± Adam said.
¡°True, they were waiting for contracts from the Conglomerate, though, it would be more appropriate to say they were on their relaxation time after being on the front line for a month.¡±
¡°Front line, you say that like there¡¯s a war going on?¡± Adam asked.
¡°There is a war going on, against an endless enemy out past Farpoint,¡± The General said.
¡°A war, against who, or what?¡±
¡°If you have access to every technological device, do you by chance have access to a planet in the same orbital plane as Suigen on the opposite side of the star it orbits?¡± General Eris asked.
¡°No, but I can in a moment,¡± Adam said as he used Mold Chaos to create a handheld satellite, linked it quantumly to himself, and then used his ability Spellweaver to create and then cast a Teleport Object type spell to a point approximately 1 light second above where the planet would be.
The General watched a handheld icosahedron form in Adam¡¯s hand and then winked out of existence with an audible pop as air rushed in to fill the space it had just occupied, ¡°What was that?¡± General Eris asked.
As Adam started reviewing the data in his Mindspace he said, ¡°That was a small satellite that I just teleported over to that side of the Sun to take a look around. I¡¯m connected to it in real-time. What exactly am I looking for?¡± Adam said and then asked. Adam looked over the images he was receiving and asked,¡± You have a fleet around that planet near a technological portal. Where does it lead to?¡±
¡°The Enemy,¡±
¡°The Enemy?¡± Adam asked.
¡°You were in the company of Arch-Mage Maneece weren¡¯t you?¡±
¡°I was,¡± Adam affirmed.
¡°As I understand it you were around him during an incursion into his dimension and may have even helped thwart the attack. Did you by chance get to see him summon an Angel-type creature?¡± General Eris asked.
¡°It was an Arch-Angel, but yes, I saw him summon it, why?¡± Adam asked.
¡°To summon one of those creatures you must make it past our first line of defense and participate in the primary line of defense against the incursion forces which are being battled by the Angels and the Allies. They act as the initial line of defense while the Conglomerate takes on anything that makes it past. As the Angels focus on the larger entities we are left with cleanup. Anyway, to be able to call on an Angel you must help with the defense of the initial line of defense and also save an angel''s life. Arch-Mage Maneece, when he was on duty as an attach¨¦ assigned to our forces found himself in the right and wrong place at the wrong time. He was able to save an Angel¡¯s life and earned the right to call on his assistance when needed,¡± The General explained.
¡°Okay, I understand that the Angels are coming from a deeper part of the System which probably makes them incredibly powerful, why is that so important?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Neither the enemies nor the Angels and their allies are part of The System,¡± The General said.
¡°Not part of the System? How is that even possible, Almost everything I¡¯ve seen so far has been incorporated into The System,¡± Adam said.
¡°The enemy is pouring into System Space near the mapped center of The System. They consist of the most vile creatures we have ever come across. While undead have existed on System worlds and even sometimes appear in Dungeons or the Labyrinth what is coming through the spacial rifts we¡¯ve detected make those monsters babies by comparison, General Eris explained.¡±
¡°Have your troops been able to scan the creatures and determine their equivalent levels?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The creatures coming through the rifts are much higher level than are legendary or even Mythical class characters. As you know our Mythical class individuals don¡¯t have an upper level, but we also don¡¯t have a lot of them.¡±
¡°When you say Mythical you¡¯re talking about the class level above legendary, what some people refer to as the Apocryphal Class level?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes. We refer to it as Mythical. It¡¯s easier to say and remember, though it truly is a toss-up on which you think is rarer Legendary, or Mythical, both words represent about the same rarity and significance.¡± The General explained.
¡°The creatures are equivalent to your Mythical Class individuals?¡± Adam asked.
¡°You have to see the spacial tears to understand how big the invasion force is. The Angels and those fighting alongside them focus on the bigger threats. A lot of the other creatures get passed them and we get a majority. Even with our forces, which measure in the tens of quadrillions, we only stop about 80% of those that get past the Angels. The rest escape into the Labyrinth, dungeon, or surrounding dimensions or flee into open space. The hostiles that Conglomerate Forces engage range in equivalent levels from Basic through Mythical. The Angels do a good job of focusing on the Mythical enemies so not many of them make it us. Our main forces, or first line of defense, focus on the few Mythical that make it through and the Legendary creatures. Our second line of defense focuses on the Legendary creatures the first line misses and our third line of defense mop up whatever they can,¡± The General explained.
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¡°What happens to the rest of the monsters that make it through?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The war is a closely guarded secret. Adventures think that Farpoint and the Purple Line access harder areas and provide better leveling because that¡¯s just the way it is. Truthfully, there are monsters in the Purple Zone, as we call it, that hungrily devour any of the monsters that make it into their territory. Think of it as monsters feeding monsters that breed and make more monsters. This gives Adventures plenty to do. Also, some of the monsters enter the Labyrinth and are never seen again. The Labyrinth probably moves them to locations more appropriate to their level where they can be a proper nuisance to Adventures, but we don¡¯t know for sure,¡± The General said.
¡°If that is so, how do you know you¡¯ve killed one of these invading monsters instead of a normal one?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The System informs you and you also receive a bonus reward for the kill. It¡¯s a great way to earn System credits for our forces and Adventures,¡± The General said.
Well, there was no way Adam was going to say he worked outside of the system now. They¡¯d think, and they¡¯d probably be right, that they¡¯d get some kind of special reward if they figured out how to kill him and make it stick. Those thoughts passed through Adam¡¯s mind for a moment before he said, ¡°What is your proposal?¡±
¡°If you truly control Queen Pellmir her support could go a long way to fund the war effort. Every bit of revenue we can generate extends the time we can continue to oppose the invasion,¡± The General said.
¡°Are you saying that your forces will eventually fall?¡± Adam asked.
¡°It¡¯s better if you see the magnitude of the problem for yourself. Both the Invasion forces and the Angelic army seem to be endless, at least they have been for, well I don¡¯t even know how long. The War was history before I was born. Some of our Academics believe The System came online to try to stop the war.¡±
¡°How so?¡±
¡°If there is a demonic versus angelic war that implies an afterlife. A couple of academics have theorized that the System was brought online to prevent sentient creatures, or beings with souls from dying and joining that fight,¡± the General explained.
Adam looked thoughtful for a moment then said, ¡°In my travels, I have noticed that something seemed to be off about the various afterlife settings I¡¯ve come across.¡±
The General jumped in, ¡°The Astral plain, at least that part of it within the territory The System controlled by the System, Souls, and yes, Souls do exist, are shunted to an ¡°Afterlife¡± that The System has created. We know this because a race of beings that came before left archives of the tests they conducted and instructions for how to conduct the tests. The simple explanation. The System shunts the soul to a new location and provides a new body for the soul to inhabit so it can¡¯t move on to where souls actually go.¡±
¡°If that¡¯s true, couldn¡¯t the Angels be coming from another System-generated Universe where Angels are the norm?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Why would the System allow creatures on either the demonic or angelic side to exist with attributes and abilities that fall outside the levels that The System has provided?¡± The general asked.
¡°Maybe there are multiple Systems and they¡¯re at war?¡± Adam answered jokingly.
The General responded to Adam as if the point he¡¯d made were serious, ¡°That thought has crossed the minds of more than a few academics. The problem is that we have witnessed God-level power in the war from time to time on both sides. There also seem to be rules on how often the ¡°Gods¡± may assist their minions. If one side pushes too far something steps in and rebalances the battlefield.¡±
¡°How exactly?¡±
¡°It depends. The last time, forces that had fallen were all immediately resurrected and went back to battle. With the influx of dead soldiers behind the front line of the enemy it wasn¡¯t long before the enemy force that had broken through was dealt with and the war continued.¡±
¡°That doesn¡¯t sound too impressive, even I could do that, well at least I think I could, I¡¯ve never actually tried to resurrect something,¡± Adam said.
¡°I have something to show you, please come with me,¡± The General said as he stood and a panel that Adam had detected with Technomancy behind the General slid open as a portal activated. The General turned toward the portal he said, ¡°This portal is part of a series of teleporters that will get me to our Command post in our 3rd Defense Line. From there I will be able to show you what the Conglomerate actually does.¡± When he was finished speaking the General stepped through the portal.
Adam stood and followed the General through the portal after making sure to put his nanites in their full defensive mode and activated Stutterstep just before he stepped through. There was a slight feeling of disorientation as he was zipped from teleporter to teleporter. There was no way to know how many he¡¯d slipped through, but he knew there had been more than two teleporters in the chain. Also, while it seemed like less than a second had passed for him the magic that fueled his Stutterstep ability had expired which meant it had been more than a second to get to wherever he was now.
Adam stepped out of an alcove to find the General standing before him and gesturing toward an opening to his right. As he turned and followed the general his True Sight and Scan abilities let him know that there was a floor under him, but it was completely transparent and didn¡¯t block or distort normal vision at all. Additionally, as they stepped out of the tunnel, a layer of darkness stopped all light from entering the room he stepped into. Adam found himself standing on an invisible floor in and an invisible room.
If he wasn¡¯t standing on a floor, Adam could almost believe that he was in deep space. As he looked around himself he noticed that he could view in all directions, even the other side of the portal he¡¯d stepped through if he stepped off to the side and viewed past the flat panel of darkness that marked the entrance to the tunnel.
¡°This is my personal observation point which is located in the third line of defense. If our line of defense is a sphere, we are on the equator of the sphere with the top of that sphere above us and the bottom below us,¡± The General explained.
¡°What is the scale?¡± Adam asked as he made his way up to stand beside the General.
The General pointed at a Nebula that was about the size of a basketball in what would be the center of the sphere which was directly in front of the portal they¡¯d stepped through, ¡°This sphere of defense, because the entire sphere is covered with ships and sensors covering the entire sphere is about 100 light years from the object that looks like a Nebula that you see?¡±
¡°That¡¯s not a Nebula?¡± Adam asked.
¡°No,¡± The general said as he brought his hands together and spread them out slowly which caused the image to magnify until they were looking at streams of creatures of all sizes fighting each other in a gaseous area that contained distortions, and fractures, where creatures were still coming through. Adam watched as Angel-like creatures, both winged and not fought with medieval weapons as well as more technological beam weapons and even some weapons that resembled firearms that could be found anywhere on Earth.
Creatures that died, winked out of existence while new creatures came through the fracture, and new Angels and those fighting the invasion force popped into existence and joined the fight. The scale and number were staggering. There had to be trillions, no, more than quadrillions of creatures fighting one another.
Adam watched as the General pulled the point of view back to show those invaders that had made it past the angelic forces trying to get as far away from the fight as possible as they were intercepted by ships of all sizes and kinds and even some individuals and creatures that seemed at home in the vacuum of space. As the General had explained it seemed like that first line of defense focused on the invaders that were more powerful or bigger than the others which still led to the destruction of a lot of the smaller creatures as well.
The General pulled the point of view back again and Adam saw that the forces in the 2nd line of defense were making a concentrated effort to destroy as many of the main groups of enemies as they could but always focused on any of the boss-type creatures that made it past the first line. Adam also noticed that the 2nd wave of defense was spread out in range back to the 100-light-year range he was looking on from.
¡°That volume of space is huge. If you have so many forces overlooking this breach how are any of the creatures getting away,¡± Adam asked.
¡°There is 4,190,000 cubic light years volume in this 100 light-year radius sphere we¡¯ve placed around the incursion point. Within that area, there are several star systems, stars, rifts into the labyrinth as well as weaknesses in the fabric of space that lead to parallel dimensions. Some are natural but some are caused by the weapons and methods used to destroy the Legendary and Mystical monsters that are coming through. From this far out it just looks like a bunch of ants moving back and forth but I can assure you that there are quadrillions of individual battles going on within this incursion zone,¡± The General said.
¡°How can you maintain this many forces? The normal life cycle of men and women would seem to make it unlikely that enough people could be birthed to maintain this level of attrition for as many years as you¡¯ve claimed this has been going on. I assume there is some attrition?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Oh yes, we lose roughly 25% of those that come here to fight each day. Before they come here their minds and souls are backed up and their bodies are cloned. When they die, we activate the clone and send it back in. Unfortunately, when they die the System does not award as much experience for leveling though we know that the soul attaches to the clone, we¡¯ll We¡¯re pretty sure it does anyway, else how would a clone gain experience for dying? Though the clone has no memory of dying which is weird. Our scientists aren¡¯t exactly sure why that is yet.¡±
¡°Back on topic, you were about to say something about God-like influence before we came here,¡± Adam said.
¡°Yes, I wanted you to see the size of the conflict. When God-like powers become involved that whole center mass can be affected. The residual energy also affects those within the first defense line and sometimes reaches out to the 2nd defense line. We think The System scatters or absorbs the energy which is what causes it to dissipate. Of course, it could just be a function of the inverse square law where energy is concerned. No one is sure why the energy bleeds off. What we do know is that when it appears large chunks of one army or the other are either destroyed or resurrected and the fight goes on.¡±
¡°That begs the question,¡± Adam mused out loud, ¡°Why?¡±
¡°Why what?¡± General Eris asked.
¡°Why are they at war, why are they at war here? Why is the Conglomerate even participating in this war? There are a whole bunch of different why questions that need to be answered?¡±
¡°Agreed but we haven¡¯t had the opportunity to investigate those questions. Since I was promoted within The Conglomerate it has been my job to try to prevent as many of the invaders from making a foothold as possible.
Adam looked thoughtful for a moment and realized he wasn¡¯t going to find the answers he was looking for this far out. Adam issued commands through his quantum links to Queen Pellmir. ¡°General, contact Queen Pellmir, you¡¯ll find that she has become much more amenable to opening negotiations with the Conglomerate. She won¡¯t give anything away for free but she won¡¯t automatically say no either. Additionally, while I will not work for the Conglomerate, I will work with and help in any way I can if what I¡¯ve seen thus far is an accurate representation of what is going on near the center of The System. That said, what do I need to do to be able to go help with the Second or First line of Defense so I can get a feel for what you all are facing?¡± Adam asked.
¡°No offense intended Adam, but what is an Ambassador, even a Mythical Ambassador of Chaos going to do?¡± The General asked.
¡°You¡¯d be surprised.¡±
¡°Very well, there is a world within the second line of defense currently being overrun by a particularly nasty swarm of putrescent creatures. If you¡¯d follow me, I¡¯ll take you over to another teleporter that will get you to the ship that is in orbit over the swarm''s attempt to get into a Dungeon entrance. Show us what you can do,¡± The General said as he turned and walked back into the hallway passed the teleporter they arrived at and into an obvious bridge of a ship that had another teleportation alcove on it. As the General entered the bridge he called out, ¡°Get Captain Kali on the line.
A moment later the image of a blue man reminded Adam of Admin Thrawn from Star Wars, ¡°Yes General Eris, what can I do for you?¡±
¡°In a moment I¡¯ll be sending this man here to you via the teleporter. He wishes to help with the clearing of the planet you¡¯re orbiting,¡± General Eris said.
¡°Very well, we need all the help we can get,¡± Captain Kali said.
General Eris turned to Adam, ¡°When you¡¯re done, free to gate back into my office and we¡¯ll finish our talk, maybe find something the Conglomerate can do for you that you do want. I understand that you do not want to be one of our assassins for hire but as you just learned that is just a minor facet of what the Conglomerate does. If you can help in this area, that help would be much more helpful to the Conglomerate and beneficial to you.¡±
¡°If everything is as you¡¯ve shown me and this is not some sort of trick, I¡¯ll think about it,¡± Adam said as he stepped into the teleporter and appeared on the bridge with Captain Kali.
¡°Welcome Aboard, I can either teleport you down to the surface or I can take you to an airlock and let you exit the ship and fly down, if that¡¯s something you can do,¡± Captain Kali said.
¡°How far is it to open Space directly above us?¡± Adam asked.
¡°About 10 meters or so. 100 meters will be completely clear of the ship and anything close by, though right now we¡¯re in the clear,¡± Captain Kali said.
Adam looked around the small bridge which only had five stationed personnel plus the captain, committed it to memory, and said, ¡°I¡¯ll teleport back aboard when I¡¯m done down below,¡± before he teleported 100 meters directly above the position he¡¯d been standing in. Adam found himself floating in space above a grey planet. Below he noted that the local star was bathing the planet in the light where a sickly green smug had stained the planet in a wide area. With no frame of reference, it was hard to tell how big it was but if he was 100 miles up a smug that big had to be hundreds of miles in diameter.
Adam activated Obscure and Flight and started heading down to the planet. There was almost no reentry friction which indicated that whatever Atmosphere was here was sparse. As Adam made his way lower into the atmosphere he realized that the area that contained the green smug was hundreds of miles in diameter and that the green smug was a bunch of small slimy, green-scaled creatures that resembled demonic imps as described in most Earth-based fiction.
Adam adjusted his course until he was over a group of about 50 Conglomerate personnel that were using beam weapons and abilities to ensure that nothing entered a cave they were guarding. That must be the entrance to the Dungeon they were protecting. There was no way to know without entering and it looked like these people could use some help. Adam activated Technomancy and injected his voice into the Commander''s headset.
¡°Commander, Captain Kali should have let you know I was on my way down. Any problem with me landing in the middle of your formation beside you?¡±
¡°If you can get there, None. We can use all the help we can get, where are you?¡± The Commander asked.
¡°About 300 meters above you, invisible to most scan types. Be there in a second,¡± Adam said as activated Freedom of Flight and seemed to teleport to the ground as he moved so quickly that he seemed to materialize on the ground next to the Commander out of thin air when he dropped Obscure and Freedom of flight.
Without diverting his attention from the battlefield around him the Commander called out, ¡°Welcome to my little corner of Hell!¡±
Even with weapons fire, screams, and screeches from the creatures that were swarming toward the circular formation the Commander had his soldiers in, Adam heard the Commander just fine. As he looked around, he couldn¡¯t disagree, it did look like a hoard of demons of all kinds were attacking from all sides. The imps he¡¯d seen were just flying above everything else below them in layer upon layer.
Chapter 224, Not So Easy After All
The Commander watched as his men maintained the shields and continued targeting the creatures that were making it through the barrier. He had no idea why the captain would be allowing someone to come down to the battlefield when he¡¯d just reported that his potions were unsustainable and they were planning to detonate a dimensional bomb to close the entrance to the Dungeon they were protecting. His personnel had surrounded the entrance and erected a shield that was currently holding, but their energy supplies for that shield were being depleted rapidly.
One good thing, the forces moving toward them hadn¡¯t attacked in full yet so the sky around them was still open. The swarm had tried to bury them a couple of times but every time that happened the ship above his position cleared the airspace with a particle beam that turned anything it hit to ash. In fact, he was going to have to buy that pilot a drink because he, or she, was keeping that ship at just the right angle in a circular orbit so the particle beam didn¡¯t hit their barrier and just left a very small area over the doom where it wasn¡¯t hitting, which his personnel kept clear with their weapons.
The swarm had quickly learned that if they stacked and tried to bury them they started to die so they were being kept low to the ground and attacked past the line the particle cannon had made in the ground when the beam weapon wasn¡¯t hit that area. Of course, the pilot was moving the beam up and down creating a zone of about 15 meters where the swarm couldn¡¯t be sure if the beam would hit them or not while it circled the barrier. That helped keep the creatures back from the barrier as only a few could make it to the 20-meter safe zone right outside his barrier after the beam had passed. The monsters would rush across the zone of destruction which forced the attacking forces to pause and then rush forward. His soldiers were making short work of those creatures which made it across but the Commander knew it was only a matter of time before they ran out of energy for the barrier.
A couple of the bigger creatures had tried to cross the 45-meter no-man¡¯s-land but the particle cannon destroyed them easily enough. The Ship''s weapons were at least 10 orders of magnitude beyond anything on the planet¡¯s ability to withstand. Even his people would be vaporized in a second if hit. The Commander looked around one more time and was satisfied that his defenses were holding before he looked at this new addition to his forces and noticed that white tentacles of something were moving from Adam¡¯s body to the barrier, through the barrier, and into the creatures right outside their protective dome. The pearlescent white glow was beginning to take on the sickly green color of the monsters which then caused growths to grow on the creatures that began exploding out of the creatures creating even more creatures that the shield dome had to deal with.
One of the Commander¡¯s soldiers called out, ¡°Commander, that new guy is on our side, isn¡¯t he?¡±
The Commander turned from watching what was happening outside the doom to watching Adam and saw that Adam was also perplexed by what was happening before he said, ¡°Adam, I don¡¯t think what you intended to happen is going to happen, do you have any other ideas that won¡¯t cause the creatures to mutate and exponentially grow in number?¡±
The Commander watched Adam hold up one finger, in a ¡°Wait for one-second¡± gesture as a portal rose out of the ground and he stepped inside.
***
Adam¡¯s initial plan had been to continuously release chaotic nanites with his Mold Chaos ability as fast as his healing rate would let him replace the mass he was sacrificing. He began converting the outer layer of his body to nanites and allowed his regeneration rate to replenish the body mass he was sacrificing. White tendrils of chaotic energy had started reaching out in all directions through the barrier until they encountered the monsters.
Adam had to admit, the ship was doing a great job of protecting these soldiers though there was a small area right outside the energy barriers that the monsters were able to attack the dome from. Well, safe from the ship¡¯s weapons anyway. The Commander and his soldiers decimated the monsters right outside of their barrier with projectile, beam, and magical weapons that passed through the barrier as if it wasn¡¯t there. They were doing a pretty good job of not allowing the monsters to get to the barrier to inflict damage to it though Adam could tell that it was still being hit and energy was still being drained from their reserves at a faster rate.
That is until Adam started losing control of his white tendrils of chaotic nanites as they started to turn a sickly green as they were absorbed by the monsters and then ejected as new creatures that were growing out of the flesh of those creatures. That¡¯s when the Commander had called out and he¡¯d checked his combat prompts.
WARNING! Chaotic Constructs are being corrupted by Primal Putrescent environment. Chaotic nature has been converted to Primal Putrescent Nature.
Adam watched as billions upon billions of the chaotic nanites he had created dropped out of his network. Then, blisters started to form all over the monster''s bodies as new creatures exploded out of the blisters and grew to full size in less than a second. The creatures had started to explode out of the creatures as if someone had spilled water on the gremlin Gizmo. Not good, not good at all. So, his idea to just use his nanites on these creatures wasn¡¯t going to work? Fine! Those creatures weren¡¯t the only thing that could multiply themselves.
Adam looked at the Commander, held up his finger in a ¡°hold on for a second¡± gesture, opened a door to his Shadow Vault, and then stepped inside as he set the inside temporal rate to about 100 times faster than the temporal rate outside of his Place of Power. He walked into the living area of his Place of Power near where his speck of nothing was sitting on the mantle and opened the bridge in his Mindspace.
Adam: Thor, I need to create a bridge between wherever you are and here. I need access to all the Chaotic Nanites over there.
Thor: It should be easy enough to do. Touch the mantle and let''s see if physical contact will let me create the bridge.
Adam reached out and placed his finger on the speck of nothing and felt the link solidify.
Contact Established with Region of Primal Chaos.
Adam¡¯s mind was immediately flooded with input requests and information from every nanite within Chaos and all the other planar echoes of places, locations, and creatures he¡¯d visited and absorbed. He immediately knew that they were simply constructs within the region of Primal Chaos and not the original locations, though the echo Thor resided in had become a singular universe with that region of Primal Chaos which was allowing him to make this connection. That Echo had become ¡°real.¡±
Adam had been through this kind of information overload a couple of times now. His mind didn¡¯t freeze, he didn¡¯t lose control and simply accepted the input, coordinated all of it, and moved on to what he needed to do. Adam focused his will, imprinted his intent into the link, and held out his left hand as he kept his right hand touching the speck of nothing.
Bridge opened! Commencing transfer!
Adam watched as a copy of himself grew from his left hand and stepped through the portal that led back out into the Universe he¡¯d just entered from. The doppelganger formed from its right hand which was touching Adam¡¯s left and then separated. Adam established the quantum entanglement links before the separation and added control of each new Adam and then watched them step out of the portal. There was a slight distortion as the body decelerated which he corrected by accelerating the temporal field around each body as they went through the field. At a 100 times temporal variance, to the Conglomerate forces outside it looked like 100 copies of Adam exited the Shadow Vault per second.
While the initial Adam stayed in the Shadow Vault, his clones, which were made from chaos and formed to be exact copies of Adam in every way, moved out at 100 times faster than everything else and began decimating the monsters outside the barrier. Each copy was its own entity, but they all shared one mind. Additionally, Adam noted with satisfaction that his base attributes remained above 39 billion each, except for Chaos which was not listed on any of the Status Screens for his clones.
While the monsters didn¡¯t seem to follow the same rules as the rest of the System-based forces or their equipment, the Putrescent Forces surrounding the Commander and his forces were no match for the physical power Adam and his clones brought. To Adam, everything looked to be moving in extremely slow motion. A punch, slap, or kick destroyed anything he attacked. In 10 seconds, the area around the dungeon was clear. 10 seconds after that The Commander called for the ship in orbit to cease its attacks and they watched as thousands of copies of Adam proceeded to decimate and destroy all the forces that had made it to the planet and then launch from the surface into space just before they disappeared.
An hour later, after Adam had cleared the planet, his clones were spreading into space and attacking any of the creatures in the vicinity of the planet, solar system, and sector. An hour after he started creating the clones, Adam watched as the Commander came to stand beside the portal and wait. Adam finished the Adam he was creating who took over Adam''s spot by touching the nothing as Adam turned to the portal and walked out to stand beside the Commander.
As he stepped next to the Commander, Adam set up the control of all of his clones from his Mindspace at their accelerated speed and slowed himself down so he could speak with the Commander normally.
¡°Commander, what can I do for you?¡±
¡°Captain Kali has asked that you head back to the ship. It would seem that your assistants, clones, whatever they are, might be getting in the way of our other forces. The captain would like to coordinate your efforts with our forces, so we don¡¯t accidentally destroy any of your forces,¡± The Commander explained.
¡°That¡¯s fine, I¡¯ll head up now, I¡¯ll leave 100 of my clones on the planet in close proximity to this dungeon entrance to help defend it. The others are heading off the planet to help throughout the sector. They should be fine, but I¡¯ll go talk to the captain. It was nice meeting you Commander,¡± Adam said as he put his hand out for the other man to shake.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
¡°You as well, Sir! Good luck, and thanks,¡± The Commander said as he reached out and shook Adam¡¯s hand.
Adam released the handshake and teleported to the bridge on the ship to find Captain Kali looking at him with a look of utter incomprehension as she asked, ¡°What the hell are you?¡±
Adam laughed. It had been a long time since someone was so blunt, it was refreshing. Adam brought his laugh under control as he said, ¡°Just a guy trying to make sure his family and friends grow up to be big and strong,¡± Adam said with a bit of mirth.
¡°How many of you are there now?¡± Captain Kali asked.
¡°A lot,¡± Adam said sheepishly.
¡°Why so many?¡±
¡°Because whatever this rift is, it needs to be closed. I needed enough clones running around cleaning up this section of System Space so I can get on with what I need to get on with,¡± Adam said as he purposely left out his plans to find the center of the System and track down the Omega, who, or whatever, that was.
¡°Well, it seems to be working, Additionally, do you already have clones of yourself on the other side of our defensive sphere? I ask because our ships over there are picking up some weird readings just before the monsters they¡¯re tracking die,¡± Captain Kali said.
¡°Captain, I am currently present around the circumference of the 250 light-year diameter sphere around the distortion, or spatial tear that holds that nebula. I haven¡¯t approached within 10 light-years of that area yet but I can assure you that from 250 light-years out to about 50 light-years, any creatures are now destroyed and my clones are making their way deeper and deeper as we speak.¡±
¡°Our forces have reported that the invading forces are just disappearing and that there is no apparent cause?¡± Captain Kali asked.
¡°My clones have cloaked themselves and are scanning and eradicating the infestation. They should be able to clear everything outside the nebula of Angels in the middle and keep the invaders from leaving it from that point forward¡
Adam was about to continue explaining what he was doing when every person within the area Adam had unleashed his clones into received a System Alert.
SYSTEM ALERT! Severe mana depletion has been detected in this System Sector. Minimal functionality is currently available. Return to System Controlled space to return to normal mana levels.
Adam read the prompts and then reviewed the status screens of all of his clones. He noted that his clones were still receiving mana from Astral Space through his Astral Link which meant that it was probably his fault that the mana was being depleted so quickly. His clones were utilizing Obscure, Flight, Freedom of Flight, No Escape, Scan, True Sight, and any of his other abilities he might need to deal with the monsters after all.
Adam did notice one thing. The message about mana depletion disappeared when his clones came within a light year of the nebula of angels. Adam considered how to proceed. The corruption of his chaos by the putrescent nature of the creatures his chaotic nanites had tried to infiltrate had been a surprise. Of course, if the primal force in question was corruption, he should have expected it in hindsight. Hence, his secondary plan to create replicas of himself and go multiple again.
Adam watched through his links to all of his clones as they killed creatures with a single punch or kick their targets couldn¡¯t see in most cases. As the monsters evaporated upon death, there was very little chance that his clones would become contaminated. When possible he made sure to utilize tools or weapons of some kind. He still had clones being created and had even had other clones open doors to his Shadow Vault at various strategic locations so he had more clones flooding the area from all directions around the distortion in space-time the Angels and Demons had created.
The inside of his Place of Power now had portals all around the courtyard. Also, the rate of time within his Place of Power had been increased to almost 10,000 to 1 as more clones exited the various portals and joined the fight. Everything was going as he expected as he eradicated all invading forces that were 10 light-years out from the nebula and started setting up a containment sphere that his clones maintained.
Adam looked at Captain Kali, who had continued with her duties as Adam had stood on her bridge frozen for the last thirty minutes. He¡¯d been so engrossed in what his clones were doing that he¡¯d lost track of his real body. His eyes focused on Captain Kali as he said, ¡°Sorry about that, I was making sure everything was going okay.¡±
¡°Is it?¡±
¡°Your second line of defense and third line of defense should both be pretty bored right now. My clones are handling all the small monsters that are fleeing the center and leaving the big creatures to your Legendary and Mythic forces inside the 10 light-years from the center of the nebula of conflict. I was actually thinking about heading toward the center to see if there¡¯s anything I can do to seal up that spatial rift,¡± Adam said.
¡°It¡¯s just that easy for you, isn¡¯t it?¡± Captain Kali asked disbelievingly. ¡°Are you seriously thinking about heading toward the center? This ship is not equipped to be able to withstand the attacks the powerhouses on our side dish out, let alone the monsters that are coming through the rift,¡± Captain Kali said.
¡°Yes, I think I am going to head toward the center. I would like to thank you for your hospitality, but I think I need to do this next part alone,¡± Adam said.
¡°Please stay in touch, we¡¯ll monitor from here and see if we can¡¯t stay out of your way. Also, I¡¯m glad you¡¯re on our side, Adam. You will make a lot of people really happy if you can close that spatial rift.¡±
¡°Whatever those forces fighting at the center are, they are much too powerful for the normal adventurers and explorers, I¡¯ll see what I can do,¡± Adam said as he teleported outside of the ship, activated, Obscure, Flight, and Freedom of Flight and started heading toward the nebula of angels and putrescent forces.
As he headed toward the center, his clones formed a uniform sphere around the Nebula approximately 10 light-years out from the center. As the Nebula was only about five light years across that put his closest clones about 5 light years beyond the angelic forces. Within moments Adam had reached that perimeter he¡¯d set up and slowed down to approximately warp 5, or about 3,125 times the speed of light, just over one light-year per hour.
A lot of people don¡¯t understand how far a light year is. Light travels approximately 186,300 miles per second. In a year there are 60 seconds, multiplied by 60 minutes multiplied by 24 hours multiplied by 365 days, or 365.25 days if you want to be exact. He just used 365 to keep things simple. When he did all the math that came out to 5,875,156,800,000 miles. As he headed toward the center of the spatial rift he was traveling 1.175 trillion miles per minute. If he hadn¡¯t had the ability Freedom of Flight which converted him to energy while flying, even his health wouldn¡¯t have been able to save him if he¡¯d run into a micrometeorite or anything else. He would have been reduced to his component atoms in an instant.
As he made his way closer to the front line, Adam was able to see the lines of conflict between the forces. Whether it was his high attributes or a function of True Sight he noticed that there were two spatial rifts. One above the other. The Angels and their allies were rushing through the spatial rift on top while the putrescent forces seemed to be squeezed out of the lower one like toothpaste out of a tube. Once they were out of their rifts they spread out and engaged each other from all directions. As the forces clashed they disappeared and the energy, or the souls, that Adam could see with True Sight was pulled back through the rift they¡¯d exited from. In fact, as he looked around quickly, Adam noticed that streams of energy from everything he¡¯d killed were making their way back into the rifts.
Adam saw that the Conglomerate forces that were engaging the big creatures that defied description as they could be considered planet size in their own right in some cases, were not engaging the putrescent invaders until they were at least a light year out from their conflict with the Angels. As Adam made his way forward the space around him was flooded with shockwaves that would have made a supernova feel tame. While the energy discharges couldn¡¯t affect him he knew that if he turned off his Freedom of Flight power he would be affected by the weapons the Conglomerate was using. The energy from the weapons and the shockwaves passed over him harmlessly, though he stopped his clones from advancing when they were 3 light-years out.
Adam came to a stop just past the one light-year mark, just outside of the Conglomerate''s first line of defense, and hovered there as considered how he¡¯d close the spatial rift. There were a couple of things he could try. Opening a gate that intersected that point might seal it, though as he looked at the area surrounding the spatial rift he could see that the wound in space-time seemed to reach through the dimensional boundaries as he could see them opened and spread out as if a flower were in bloom. Adam floated there and watched the war between the Angels and the putrescent forces and contemplated his next course of action.
***
The Demon Goddess Thora watched her minions exit her Domain and enter the other place. Thora, by the standards of the mortals in the dimension she was invading, could be considered a God, but she didn¡¯t think of herself as such. She was just a demon who had done very well for herself and now commanded armies of her little corner of, well some would call it hell, but she referred to it as home.
Thora stood on her balcony at the center of a cave that was thousands of miles wide by the mortal races her creatures her forces were encountering. It mattered not, those that made it to her Domain either had the will to resist being completely corrupted to her will or they did not. Those that did not were now rushing blindly through the gate she had created. They were tied to her intrinsically and when they died she knew it and when their essence returned she could absorb it and find out what had killed them before they were reincarnated and headed out again.
Thora looked around her home. Except for this cavern, there were only tunnels with small bubbles that were scattered throughout her Domain. The only available light was provided by magic, technology, or the eerily green glow that spread throughout her domain due to its putrescent nature. Except for the giant bubble her Aerie resided in her Domain, or Dimension, best resembled a sponge or ant colony that seemed to go forever. Within her Domain creatures and plants decayed and regrew at an accelerated rate. Also, there were no stellar bodies. There were only tunnels through various kinds of natural materials, open areas, and more tunnels. Also, gravity only worked in one direction so the creatures within always knew which way was up and which way was down. There were no stars because there was no need for stars. This Dimension was corruption. Corruption was this dimension. Only her will maintained this gigantic open area that her Aerie rested in.
Even though this Domain was corruption, Thora wanted for nothing. Why would she? This realm was infinite and anything she desired could be brought to her. No, those desires were minor to her need to spread her corruption and subvert the will of others who could resist the call to become a part of her singular consciousness. Only when she was able to get involved and establish her will over those who thought themselves incorruptible did she feel something akin to pleasure. Breaking those that could resist her corruption and refused to serve, those were the moments that truly brought her pleasure.
Those who chose to serve were given some leeway in their service and even some free will as corruption could take on many forms and she even needed input from dissimilar mindsets so she didn¡¯t become complacent. Otherwise, eternity would become quite boring. As if summoned with that thought one of her demoness servants, Ash-Li walked onto the balcony and waited to speak until Thora motioned for her to do so.
¡°Mistress, we have tasted the spark!¡±
¡°When?¡±
¡°Just moments ago, on the edge of the containment field, the denizens of that dimension have set up. A swarm you had tasked me to command was working toward a dungeon entrance and suddenly the spark was there, and we were multiplying.¡±
¡°Were you able to save any of it? Thora asked.
¡°No Mistress, every creature that was able to savor a taste of the spark was destroyed moments later. Their energy has returned though the spark did not return with them.¡±
¡°Pity, but the spark is elusive and while corruptible also carries the ability to corrupt within it. What else have you discovered?
Ash-Li was about to speak when a look of shock crossed her face and she said, ¡°Mistress, my connection to the swarm you assigned me is failing?¡±
Thora nodded and focused her attention on her minions who were currently facing her hated enemy. There was no change among those forces. They fought and died, though they made a good showing as many of the so-called angels and their allies died as well. Satisfied that no changes had happened near the gateway while her attention was diverted, Thora focused her attention beyond the beachhead and was surprised at what she found. Her forces were being systematically killed and her radius of influence was shrinking back toward the beachhead rapidly.
Thora willed herself to the heart of her realm and appeared before a pool of decay and corruption that creatures were stepping out of. She willed herself over to the returning souls from outside the beachhead and started reviewing their memories. Many did not know how they died but the few that did saw a single face every time. A human male, not bad looking but always responsible for their deaths.
Thora sent out the command that all forces were to look for this man and figure out who and what he was. It didn¡¯t seem like she had to wait long as her generals started reporting that the beachhead had been surrounded by millions of creatures that resembled the man she¡¯d described. It looked like she would need to directly intervene again which would of course force a response from her hated enemy, that pompous, do-gooder piece of excrement. Why was he always interfering in her fun?
Chapter 225, Chaoticus and Ordo
Chaoticus, while the embodiment of one of the primary primal forces of all that was and all that would ever be, enjoyed these moments of the mundane. Sitting in a Coffee Shop, a Dunkin Donuts, what a play on names. Sitting in a Dunkin Donuts in one of the infinite timelines that made up the Multiverse among a race of humans that had no idea that magic was real or that the laws that held them together were malleable. Some of their quantum physicists seemed to have figured out a kernel of the truth and called it probability but their theories did not account for magic, the Gods, or beings such as himself. How could he explain to them that he was the embodiment of every single chaotic possibility that could, would, should, which might or might not exist? Still, it was a good cup of coffee.
As he took another sip of his coffee he felt something new. New? There was nothing new to feel or experience. Thought existence for himself was ever-changing and filled with the delights and horrors of numbers of beings so high that he didn¡¯t bother to quantify them. Yet, he felt as if part of himself was being drawn off somewhere it didn¡¯t belong. Chaoticus continued to sip his coffee as he focused inward, which is to say he focused on Chaos everywhere and found the issue. Infinity was such a long time and when thinking of infinity as a distance quite vast, as Vacuus had explained ad nauseam. He would know as all of space was his realm.
Chaoticus looked inward and followed the stream of chaos that was entering an area that Ordo and himself had agreed, he would not influence unduly. Chaos was everywhere after all, but he would try to keep his fingers out of that pie as Ordo wanted to try something new. Again, infinity was vast so it wasn¡¯t a hard concession to agree to. Besides, it was something new and different which also served his nature. Of course, the amount of Chaos that was being shunted into that region was far more than what would be considered natural, or the agreed amount of influence he¡¯d promised to abide by.
Chaoticus stood from his table, walked out into the early morning of a city somewhere in the middle of what was known on this planet as The United States, and allowed chaos to do its thing as he waited for cameras to glitch, eyes to look away and the attention of others to be on anything but him. When that moment came, he vanished with his cup of coffee and appeared at the metaphorical doorstep of Ordo¡¯s domain. Some would try to force others to do as they wished. Chaoticus had learned long ago that to get what he wanted, all he had to do was wait and events would usually mold to his plan.
The doorstep to Ordo¡¯s domain was the middle of space near a nebula of exquisite energy in the birthplace of stars, one of which was right in front of him. With a slight exertion of his will, he maintained the temperature of his coffee and gravity in a small bubble around him so he could continue to enjoy it while he waited. As he sipped his coffee he considered a place where all the forces came together and the laws that Ordo followed, or set up, he was never sure which. Anyway, those laws governed how stars formed in the common Universes, and Ordo has chosen one such stellar nursery as his personal Domain. Also, it was quiet here. A moment later Order appeared beside him.
Either one of them could appear as any creature they desired but both chose to appear as normal humans, though Ordo¡¯s appearance as an elderly bald man with a white mustache and goatee played up to the stereotype of a wise figure and never failed to impress. Chaoticus on the other hand preferred the appearance of either a young man or woman or when he was feeling quite rambunctious that of a teenager.
¡°Chaoticus, What has brought you to the doorstep of my domain?¡± Ordo said with no difficulty even though they were both floating in a vacuum less than 100,000 miles from the surface of a newly forming star.
¡°I have detected a portion of my nature being redirected into your experiment.¡±
¡°Which experiment?¡±
¡°The only one you asked me not to participate in so you could test a few ideas out,¡± Chaoticus said.
¡°Oh, that one. Hold on for a second,¡± Ordo said as he paused and focused his attention inward. After a moment he focused back on Chaoticus. ¡°Did you take a look to see what was going on?¡± Ordo asked.
¡°No, I detected the draw on my nature and came to let you know. Chaos is my nature of course but I do not break agreements, especially with my opposite. Last time we were at odds¡well you remember what happened.¡±
¡°Yes, I remember. The others think they run everything but without the two of us, everything fails. We had to start everything over. Like you, I¡¯d prefer not to do that again.¡±
¡°Just so,¡± Chaoticus agreed.
¡°It would appear that Thora and Justus have been up to no good and have opened a way into my experiment. Luckily for me, they have been stalled and are near each other so they¡¯re fighting tooth and nail to invade my domain first,¡± Ordo said with a smile.
¡°Why are you smiling?¡±
¡°It would seem that one of Animae¡¯s has absorbed a spark of your nature and, well it seems that he has been a very busy bee. I give you leave while in my presence here to take a look at one who must be your progeny so we can decide how to proceed.¡±
¡°Very well,¡± Chaoticus said as he redirected his focus inward and followed the drain to a realm within himself that had formed from the desires of¡Adam. In the next moment, Chaoticus absorbed the knowledge of Adam¡¯s life and accomplishments and knew him as if he was a part of himself. Something new had flourished indeed. Chaoticus took the information in for a moment and then pulled his focus out of Ordo¡¯s experiment as he asked, ¡°You reviewed Adam, as well?
¡°I did.¡±
¡°And you recognized Ptah?¡±
¡°I did.¡±
¡°Well, I think we both know how a bit of myself entered your experiment, which was supposed to be a test of imposed order at all levels, the question is why?¡±
¡°That is a good question, I¡¯ll have to sit down with Ptah at some point,¡± Ordo agreed before he asked, ¡°But, what do we do about Adam?¡±
¡°I find it interesting that he was able to link to me through the spark. The copy of my nature you had running as part of your ordered creation should have been able to mimic almost every aspect of me, yet he instinctually reached out to me with that stunt he just pulled. Additionally, it seems that he is breaking all the limits you have imposed,¡± Chaoticus said.
¡°He has. I detected another some time ago, his daughter Pandora, now that I¡¯ve reviewed him. I pulled her out of the experiment and placed her in a similar timeline to the one Adam started in. I haven¡¯t checked on her but if you haven¡¯t come to me yet, she must be doing all right.¡±
¡°And Adam¡¯s parents and friends?¡± Chaoticus asked.
¡°I have taken no action to help or hinder them, though you know at the power level we exist at, others will try to leverage them against Adam once they understand how powerful he is,¡± Ordo said.
¡°I concede, others will always try to impose order but as you know from experience, shit happens!¡±
¡°Hence, my experiment, which now seems to be corrupted by others who should have kept their noses out of it!¡± Ordo said with a hint of irritation.
¡°What will you do?¡± Chaoticus asked.
¡°If you would be so kind as to cut Adam off from yourself. I have no issue with him utilizing that which is within the boundaries I¡¯ve set up, but among all the other Advantages he has, that is one he does not need. I would like to see if he will be able to break free and find his way to you on his own?¡± Ordo said.
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because the experiment was to set up an enclosed system that would survive forever. Others have mucked it up. I believe Adam might muck up their plans in return. You know, Karma.¡±
¡°Karma? Don¡¯t bring her into this, though I see what you mean and forever is a long time,¡± Chaoticus said.
¡°I know, you¡¯re going to tell me random things will make it fail and I¡¯m going to say that I put a System in place to prevent that,¡±
¡°Isn¡¯t the existence of Adam, proof that it won¡¯t work?¡± Chaoticus asked.
¡°Not really, Ptah interfered,¡± Ordo said.
¡°Just so, whether the influence came from within or without, the experiment was never going to work?¡±
¡°You may be right, but I would like for it to play out a bit longer and give Karma her chance,¡± Ordo said.
¡°Very well, I¡¯ll seal the breach into my nature as you seal Justus and Thora¡¯s breaches.
¡°Thank you Chaoticus, I do believe Karma will require that I owe you one, you need but ask.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll remember, Have fun with your experiment Ordo,¡± Chaoticus said as he teleported back to his own Domain in the heart of his nature where the form he had taken, his coffee, and anything else he¡¯d allowed to remain a pattern was absorbed into the roiling white pearlescence of Chaos. Chaoticus focused his attention on the link to Adam and followed it until he could piggyback the connection. Once he¡¯d done so, he utilized the permissions Ordo had given him to recreate Adam¡¯s Place of Power within the simulated Chaotic environment Ordo¡¯s System had created and redirected the link between Adam and his nature to that Place of Power, instead of the one that had been created within his nature. There was still a link between that new place and himself but he put a block on it and this time he would be notified immediately if Adam tried to follow or draw on it.
Once he was done, Chaoticus watched as Ordo placed new restrictions on Adam that would prevent him from drawing on an unlimited amount of chaos as well as a limit on exactly how powerful any construct he created could be. He reset them so they would fall within the rules of the System he created. Ordo couldn¡¯t affect Adam, nor would he try. Primal Order trying to directly impose its will on Primal Chaos never went the way anyone wanted it to go and like it or not Adam carried a portion of Chaoticus within himself. No matter how he¡¯d acquired it, it was fully integrated within Adam now.
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Chaoticus sat back and watched Ordo take action through his link to Adam.
***
Adam, and all of his clones, floated in a sphere just over a light-year out from the incursion point where the Putrescent forces and the Angels flooded into this Universe from wherever they were coming from. The Conglomerate forces had fallen back for the most part. Only those who were taking on the worst threats were still engaging, which Adam was monitoring but leaving alone. His clones were dealing with everything else.
Adam did a quick check of his Status sheet. It looked like he¡¯d maxed out the level of the Mythic class at level 5,000. All of his base attributes had only gone up by 9,258, which for him wasn¡¯t much of an increase. His new Chaos attribute had increased by 46,292 to 51,000 which was slightly impressive. His hit points were still just over 15.6 Billion with Stamina and Mana at 391.8 billion each. So not much of a change there either. It seemed that there wasn¡¯t much of a change based on levels, which must mean that any major improvements would come from abilities, which wouldn¡¯t be something he¡¯d notice with his Soul Core the way it was. Also, it would be no joke to earn XP from creature kills, and just to level from 4,999 to 5,000 would have required 160 million XP.
Adam had killed somewhere north of 676 quadrillion master level creatures which netted him between 382,900 XP and 892,500 XP per kill. The average was right around 512,500 XP. If his math was right, and he knew it was, he should have earned 3.4E +23 XP plus or minus 1% Instead, his experience log showed that he had, 400,119,525,001. Also, his combat log stopped tracking levels and XP awards once he hit the maximum level. He felt kind of cheated but he knew that he would be one of a kind within this System. Also, if not for his cheat, he¡¯d still be underpowered when facing the creatures coming through the first so the Conglomerate''s technology must really be helping out, or something else was going on. One of the creatures he was looking at right now with Scan was showing an error in the level block which made it far bigger than anything he¡¯d ever run across before. If he didn¡¯t know better, he would say that it looked like a humongous lobster-type creature that had crossed with an Octopus with the head of a mind flayer. It was at least as big as a planet as it fought humanoid figures that were just as big.
He might be able to hurt it, but if not for the Angels and the technology present Adam didn¡¯t believe the Conglomerate would have a chance against this invasion. The legendary and mystic creatures didn¡¯t come through all that often, which worked in the defender¡¯s favor. Adam closed his Status Screen and prepared to move forward and close the spatial rifts down when a single voice flooded the space around him from everywhere that was powerful enough to freeze everything else and him in place declared,
¡°ENOUGH!¡±
At that moment the lower spatial rift sealed and every creature tainted with the slimy green corruption evaporated as the Angels and their allies turned back toward their portal and left of their own accord. Within a minute, their rift sealed. That the two forces had been stopped did not surprise Adam. What did surprise him was when every single clone of his dropped out of contact and he watched the clones closest to him evaporate into chaos that was drawn toward the spatial rift. Adam watched as tendrils of chaos came together and formed rivers that disappeared into the spatial rift.
Suddenly a message came in from Thor indicating that there had been a pause in their link. It lasted less than picosecond but Thor picked up on it as he¡¯d been handling things at an accelerated rate and noticed the¡glitch.
Adam was about to open his prompts to find out what had happened when a force grabbed him and brought him to the location of the spatial rift that had just closed. He also noticed that every power he possessed was locked down as he tried desperately to activate any of his abilities. Nothing worked and his link to Chaos seemed to be blocked somehow. As he fought frantically to figure a way out of this predicament a human in a Fiori Di Lusso Navy Blue suit appeared before him. Bald, except for a white mustache, goatee, and eyes? His eyes were white. Not the white pearlescence of chaos but more a platinum white.
¡°Be at peace Johnathan Bennard. You are safe and the threat to this Domain is passed,¡± The man said with no issue at all even though they were both floating¡no they were standing on an invisible surface in the vacuum of space.
¡°Thank You, may I ask who you are?¡± Adam said as he considered his options and decided being polite was probably the best choice of action at the moment.
¡°I may not tell you that, nor may I divulge why I have stopped the invasion that was taking place. Just know that I was once described as an ¡°Absentee Landlord¡± by one of the characters in one of your human movies.
¡°Are you saying that you¡¯re God? Like the big kahuna God?¡± Adam asked disbelievingly.
¡°No, I am not but I serve a purpose much like your God of mythology does,¡± the old man said as he pondered for a moment, ¡°I may have already said too much. Things must continue naturally and every moment I remain there is a chance I upset the natural order. I will end this conversation by saying that the link outside this Domain that you found has been blocked. It is not severed as doing so might have unintended consequences but it is blocked. If you attempt to reestablish contact outside of the Domain you are within there are only two outcomes. The first is that you are removed from this Domain and may never see your family and friends again as you will never be able to return to it. The second way, the link will be severed and the chips will fall as they may.¡±
Adam looked inward for a moment and noticed that the link he¡¯d drawn on was closed. As he brought his attention back to the old man he asked, ¡°Why?¡±
¡°Some things you are not ready for yet. Also, the trick you pulled with the Primal Chaos when you created duplicates of yourself that had the exact same strengths and abilities as you¡just no. That is no longer possible when drawing from the Chaos within this Domain, not that you would need that kind of advantage.¡±
Adam thought about what that meant for a moment but put those thoughts aside as he asked, ¡°Is there anything else?¡±
¡°No, that should do. It was very good to meet you Johnathan Bennard, a.k.a. Adamantadine, a.k.a. Adam. It is always so interesting seeing what those of your ilk come up with to upset the natural order.¡±
¡°My ilk?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, your ilk, ¡®Embodiment of Chaos¡¯,¡± the old man said as he vanished and Adam felt the artificial locks on his abilities disappear.
Adam: Thor, you there buddy?
Thor: I am, what happened, you were out of touch for a few moments?
Adam downloaded what happened through their link then put that to the periphery and pulled up his prompts.
Congratulations! You have reached Embodiment of Chaos level 5,000!
You have reached the Level maximum!
Adam quickly sorted his messages and focused on the ones that were pertinent to what the old man had just said. He didn¡¯t even know who the old codger was, though he had a clue. Adam put those thoughts to the side¡again and returned to the prompts concerning what the old man had said.
WARNING! Order has been Circumvented. All Abilities locked
WARNING! Fundamental Laws have been circumvented, Normal movement is not possible, nor are attribute bonuses present.
WARNING! You have been moved, direction and distance unknown. Current route does not conform to known parameters
There were a couple of other Warnings but they all said the same thing. The rules that everyone lived by had been altered when the old man had brought him before him. As ways to shut down his ability to resist and fight back went, Adam had to admit that was pretty ingenious, especially if, as he believed, the old man was a representation of the exact opposite of chaos, order. That he¡¯d been locked down so easily meant that the old man had been at a power level far above what Adam was, and he was maxed out for this ¡°Domain¡± as the old man had called it.
Adam went back to looking at his prompts
Domain standards reapplied
That was it. There were no other messages or prompts concerning what the old man had said. Adam opened his Shadow Vault, floated inside to land on his entryway as his nanites kept the atmosphere of his Place of Power from exiting into the vacuum of space, and then walked over to the mantle. Adam placed his finger on the speck of nothing and felt his connection to Thor intensify and through him felt the entire other Universe that had come to exist on the other side of that speck. Then he delved further and followed the link to a point where it was blocked. It was almost like his link hooked into one Universe which hooked into another.
Again something he could worry about later. His thoughts turned to his class level. So level 5,000 even though by XP, if it hadn¡¯t maxed out he¡¯d have 346,450,000,000,000,000,000,000 XP. Adam did some quick math in his head. If the XP cost per level remained the same that would put him at level 4,653,291,845 with 9,651,261,276,160 XP to his next level. It was no wonder someone had put a limit on levels, those numbers were incredibly high. Someone would have to wipe out quadrillions of creatures of significant level to earn enough XP¡oh wait he had.
As he considered the amount of XP required, it was a wonder that others within the Conglomerate hadn¡¯t leveled quickly but then again the Angels had been taking on most of the invaders and the Conglomerate forces were spread out and engaging creatures en masse which meant that had to share XP with everyone and it was spread out. That also meant that the Angels were much higher level than even General Eris had previously believed.
Adam had a thought and dropped his focus to his Soul Core and noted that it was glowing, glowing quite brightly. Could the XP have been added to his Soul Core regardless? If so, why? Even though the Old man hadn¡¯t said so the few comments he¡¯d made suggested that something was being done in this ¡°Domain.¡± If that was so, perhaps the rules here were different than those outside and his Soul Core? If so, could his Soul Core be holding onto that XP for some reason? How would that even work though? Was there one System in play here and another deeper one?
The more things changed, the more they seemed the same, or were they?
Adam pulled his focus out of his Soul Core and looked around. Now that his clones were all gone he couldn¡¯t detect any other forces nearby but of course, his senses were more limited now that he only had two eyes and ears to detect movement in an interstellar area. Adam looked over the location of the two spatial rifts with Scan and True Sight which detected nothing and then shot off at warp 10 for a full minute before he came to a full stop and opened a Gate to General Eris¡¯s office. Mold Chaos allowed him to make sure the Gate was airtight as he floated through to land behind the chair opposite the General who was looking up from the monitor on his desk.
Adam stepped around the chair and sat down as his Gate closed behind him and he reabsorbed his Chaotic Nanites that had been sealing the Gate.
¡°Adam, what happened?¡±
¡°Wars over,¡± Adam said
¡°What do you mean, our ships are still reporting that the Angels and Demons, for lack of a better word are fighting,¡± General Eris said.
¡°Didn¡¯t you see the old man and me talking?¡± Adam asked.
¡°No, we did not. Every sensor and camera we have watching the battle is over a lightyear out. If something happened at the center we won¡¯t know about it for at least another year,¡± The General said.
¡°Oh yeah, right. Send one of your ships in. All the Angels and Demons are gone. Something stepped in and closed the Spatial Rifts. The space is clear now,¡± Adam explained.
¡°You¡¯re sure?¡± General Eris asked.
¡°Adam stood from the chair, opened a Gate to the location of the two spacial rifts, and waved for the General to come over and take a look. The General stood, walked over to the Gate, and peered through.
¡°Not that I¡¯m trying to offend or anything but how do I know that this portal opens to the center of the incursion?¡± The General asked.
Adam looked thoughtful for a second before he said, ¡°You know, that¡¯s a very good point. As a 10-foot cube with neon yellow flashing lights and words started to take form in space as Adam utilized Mold Chaos to create the cube. The general looked at Adam incredulously.
¡°What?¡± Adam asked with mock innocence
¡°Seriously?¡±
¡°What¡¯s wrong with it? It simply says ¡®General Eris was Here!¡¯ It¡¯s unique and any ship you send into the center to check to see if it¡¯s clear will see it easily. You¡¯ll have your answer as soon as they get there. At warp 5 that¡¯ll be about 20 minutes.¡± Adam said.
¡°Fine,¡± the general said as he went back behind his desk and sent off a command to three of the scouts in the area. ¡°While we wait for the 20 minutes would you mind telling me what actually happened? I have multiple reports that all of your clones just fell apart and the stuff they were made of streaked toward the spatial rifts?¡± The General asked.
Adam smiled, sat back down in the chair, and said, ¡°So I have a story to tell you!¡±
Chapter 226, Tipping the Scale
¡°¡And they just left through the second spatial rift after the first one closed and the other invading forces were destroyed,¡± Adam explained.
¡°And you have no idea who or what did that?¡± General Eris said.
¡°I met him, but he didn¡¯t leave a calling card. The point is the spatial rifts are closed and I can continue toward the center of the System.
The General looked as if he was weighing whether he should say something or not and finally offered, ¡°You know the center is just a Myth right?¡±
¡°The center of the System is a Myth?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Well, I¡¯m sure it exists. Let me say it this way, no one who has ever found it has ever returned and we¡¯ve kept an eye on anyone looking for it for a very long time,¡± General Eris said.
¡°Understood, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be coming back if I find it either. I have a pretty good guess at what¡¯s there and if I¡¯m right I¡¯ll be leaving this behind.¡±
Just then a message flashed on the General¡¯s monitor. He looked down, read the message, and looked back up to Adam, ¡°Seems your idea worked. I just received verification that the rifts are closed and that my satellite is in place where the rifts once were.¡±
¡°Cool, so I can be going? I have a train to recatch after all,¡± Adam said.
¡°The least I can do is let you use our portal to Farpoint. No need for you to get back on the Train. Besides, they¡¯ve been delayed a bit. While we were all busy watching the spatial rifts I received a report that the train had been delayed while they assisted with a monster surge near one of the outposts on the way out. Not related to your activities, you cleaned up the area very nicely. They¡¯re just handling a normal monster surge from a Labyrinth entrance nearby,¡± The General said.
¡°That¡¯s fine. I may take a break at Farpoint for a few days while I wait for the Counselor Amara Cilira. I¡¯d like to sit down and talk to her again. We¡¯ve been through some similar experiences after all.¡±
¡°That¡¯s fine. If a rift opens before you head out from Farpoint do you mind if I send for you?¡± The General asked.
¡°Not at all, now that I know that the Conglomerate is actually watching out for the best interest of people in general you¡¯ll find I¡¯m much more amenable to helping. It was just bad luck that I happened to have a bounty on my head when your off-duty powerhouses tried to make a quick credit at my expense.
¡°Well¡ it was both a good and bad thing. The Conglomerate has been trying to get rid of its thuggish reputation for a while. Those at the top were wondering how to do that with such unsavory characters on the payroll. ¡°
¡°So I did you a favor?¡±
¡°Not me. Each of them was a valuable asset whose skills and abilities will be missed going forward but even I answer to others and it¡¯s those others you helped out which they won¡¯t forget, even if the help was unintentional,¡± The General said.
¡°Fair enough,¡± Adam said with a laugh.
The General stood and walked Adam through the base until they came to a room that reminded Adam of his clean room back on Earth when he ran Portals Inc. The General nodded to a technician who pushed a few buttons on her console before she said, ¡°Just give the word Sir.¡±
The General stuck out his hand, ¡°Safe journey Adam, I hope you find what you''re looking for. Also, I¡¯m glad we came to an understanding. After seeing what you did¡I¡¯ll just leave it at that. Good Luck!¡±
Adam shook the General''s hand as a slight smile quirked his mouth, ¡°I am glad things worked out this way too General. You should be good for a bit and the Conglomerate now has another supporter. If something comes up, I will be in Farpoint until the Counselor comes through. Once that¡¯s done and +she heads back this way I¡¯ll be heading deeper into the center of the System.¡±
¡°If you need anything, my counterpoint at our Outpost there has been instructed to give you every courtesy,¡± The General said as he nodded to the technician who activated her terminal. A moment later, a portal formed that led into another clean room. ¡°Farpoint is on the other side of the portal, Adam. Good luck,¡±
Adam nodded and stepped through the portal.
***
Thora hadn¡¯t been this angry in a long time. A very long time. She expected Justus to interfere with her plans. He was her polar opposite after all. She¡¯d even expected Ordo to step in if their incursion were discovered into the realm he¡¯d created. The law of balance decreed that she would need to pay some form of reparation should that happen. What she had not expected was that Ordo would snuff out all of her forces near the Spatial Rift and then close it before they could return to her realm.
No, her forces had still been in the process of being recovered after being destroyed by, well whatever had destroyed them. Then Ordo had destroyed the rest and the Spatial Rift had closed before all of them could return. She wasn¡¯t worried about the masses; they would be replaced. No, she had lost seven of her most trusted servants. It would have been eight, but Brutus had made it back and was able to report who had killed him and everyone else away from the Spatial Rift. Someone named Adam, who smelled of the spark. Smelled of the spark? One of Chaoticus¡¯s pets perhaps.
In this case, the Law of Balance worked in her favor and she had lost much. She reduced her anger. Calmed her mind and then sent a request for an audience with Animae, she who had dominion over all sparks of consciousness throughout everything. If anyone would know who this Adam individual was, it would be her.
Moments later an ethereal being appeared within Thora¡¯s throne room and solidified into a semi-solid replica of a human female with hair that seemed to flow in the wind. Her eyes were the aqua blue of the sea and the rest of her body shone with a light blue hue. Neither fully physical nor spirit as Animae was neither, and both.
¡°You have requested my Presence, Thora. What may I do for you?¡± Animae asked with an irritated voice.
¡°Now don¡¯t be like that.¡±
¡°Thora, your very domain subjugates and corrupts my domain, Why shouldn¡¯t I be like that?¡±
¡°Ultimately, they are released and re-enter the cycle, as you well know, ¡°Thora said.
¡°But they learn nothing as puppets to you,¡± Animae said heatedly.
¡°True and False. They learn what it is to be corrupted. Some return willingly but most, as you also know, rebel, and instinctively fight against that corruption the next time around,¡± Thora said.
¡°Yes, yes. We¡¯ve had this argument many times in the past,¡± Animae said, ¡°What can I do for you today?¡±
¡°I need information on someone that one of mine encountered. I am willing to pay quite well for the information.
¡°Define quite well?¡±
¡°I know that you have been requesting a fundamental change to the cycle for some time. If I remember correctly it had something to do with the lack of memories one can bring with them and how ultimately the journey through the cycles is a lonely one. I would support your proposed changes the next time you put them forward.¡±
Animae¡¯s eye lit up in shock as she asked, ¡°Thora, I am one of the few who knows how thoroughly your corruption goes. If my proposal is accepted those that have been corrupted will remember their life or lives among your kind. Ultimately this will result in you losing, not gaining servants. A lot of servants.¡±
¡°Ultimately, what is a percentage of an infinite amount?¡± Thora asked.
¡°While the sum of the animae which animates a souls is large, it is not infinite,¡± Animae said.
¡°It is a number so large that it may as well be. I will be content with the change. What I cannot be content with is the actions of the individual I seek information on. I must know more about him.¡±
¡°Very well, who would you like to know more about?¡± Animae asked.
Thora motioned and one of her servants stepped forward from the wall and kneeled before Animae, ¡°This servant encountered the individual before he returned and was remade in my regeneration pool.¡±
¡°It is enough,¡± Animae said as she raised a hand and the servant started to glow as various lines of energy left him and rushed off in various directions. Animae concentrated for a few moments, smiled then asked, ¡°You would like a full report, yes?
¡°As full as you can make it,¡± Thora said.
¡°So be it,¡± Animae said as she spread her hands and a three-dimensional image of Adam popped into existence with faint blue lines that led off in all directions.
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¡°I don¡¯t need to know everyone he¡¯s interacted with. I just need to know who the most important are?¡± Thora said.
Thora watched as Animae moved her hands and the image shifted as lines vanished from sight until fifteen lines that were much thicker than the multitude of lines he had attachments with were pushed out of sight, ¡°Animae, just how many connections does that man have?¡± Thora asked.
¡°Those aren¡¯t connections. It would be more appropriate to say that they were attachments. Individuals he had affected in some way. As I¡¯m sure you noticed there were a lot of light blue lines. That indicates that the attachment was either neutral or positive in some way. There were a few negative attachments, but they were so few that I discarded them.¡±
¡°And the fourteen that are left?¡±
¡°Of the fourteen that are left, four are very important to him. Four more are very close and the rest are acquaintances of some sort,¡± Animae said. ¡°All but one of them are in Ordo¡¯s project though. The one that is already outside of the project is under direct supervision, so outside of any type of retaliation you might be thinking of,¡± she continued as she formed the visible energies into a single point of light and pushed it toward Thora.
¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Thora asked.
¡°That¡¯s it, everything on the other 13 individuals and their locations. Twelve are on one world, the thirteenth is off by himself. The good news is that the most important individuals look to be in a single location, and lucky for you, not in his highly monitored area.¡±
Thora touched the point of light and absorbed the information. The four most important people to Adam were his mother, father, wife, and daughter. The daughter was out of reach, but she could¡ Thora brought her thoughts back to the present and nodded to Animae, ¡°You have provided what I needed. Thank you. I will support your changes when you present them, as I said I would,¡± Thora said.
¡°Very well, if our business is done, I will be on my way,¡± Animae said.
As Animae disappeared Thora couldn¡¯t help but feel that Animae had left some information out. Regardless she would be fine. She reviewed the information on Johnathan Bennard and his connections. Honestly, there wasn¡¯t much to go on. Just the names of the individuals he had direct ties to and their location within Ordo¡¯s experiment. It was enough though. The one absolute truth about corruption, it existed everywhere. Another truth, that balance was always maintained as Adamantadine would soon feel the same level of frustration at an inability to retaliate that she had. From the accounts given, she knew targeting him would be pointless. A third truth, everyone always has ties to others. Like the strings on a harp, those ties could be plucked to vibrate and cause minor fluctuations or they could be broken which damaged the ability of the instrument to function and corrupted it to the core which was her domain.
***
Adaline was enjoying the ride home from her day at the academy in one of the automated rental vehicles. Since their move to Terra, everything any of them had ever wanted was provided for as they worked to get stronger. They still didn¡¯t know what had happened to Adam, but it sounded like he came through the transition into the System in a lot better shape than they had. She¡¯d been lucky enough to maintain her ability to shapeshift between a Shadow Dragon and Dark Elf but otherwise, everything else had been reset. Everyone had. Mom, Dad, Abi, Clarence, Desirae, Amanda, and even all of Pandora¡¯s friends had all been level zero and making their way through the world when they¡¯d been brought back together and transferred to this world where everything was being taken care of.
The last week had been great. She¡¯d already made it to level 10. She¡¯d gone out to a local refuge which gave access to a low-level dungeon. Being a dragon made such dungeon dives rather easy for her. The others were coming along slowly but they had to be more careful and leveled slower. Even so, they were adjusting well. Adam¡¯s mom and dad had decided to take it slow and just enjoy life. Adaline could see in their demeanor that they¡¯d reached a point of not wanting to invest their time in training only to have all that work and effort negated again. She, however, couldn¡¯t just sit back and wait. Pandora was out there somewhere and the only way she¡¯d be able to find her was if she kept trying to grow and become stronger so she could venture out and find her.
The place they¡¯d been given was nice. They¡¯d been moved into a mansion on the outskirts of the city Venture on the continent of New Aethelon that could house all of them. The mansion even had a staff that saw to their needs and kept the property clean. It looked like whoever set this up really wanted to keep them happy. She had her own room which was as big as some houses Adam had shown her back on Earth. Adam¡¯s Mom and Dad also had their own room as well. It was just as big and the others all had smaller rooms but they were all individual rooms.
As the vehicle pulled into the drive and came to a stop, Adaline exited it and headed inside. Her guard went up immediately when she smelt fresh blood and the stench of death coming from somewhere in front of her. The room she was in was much too small to turn into a dragon, so she pulled out a gun Desirae had given her and moved so her back was to the wall beside the door as she lowered herself into a crouch and looked around.
¡°So cautious,¡± a sly feminine voice said from her left.
Adaline turned as a shadow began to solidify just as Desirae appeared from nowhere with a blade aimed at the shadow''s back. Unfortunately for Desirae, a hand materialized out of nowhere and blocked the blow as a counterblow left the hilt of a dagger with a pulsing green gem sticking out of Desirae¡¯s chest. Adaline watched in shock as the spark in Desirae¡¯s eyes seemed to fade away into the depths of her eyes. Just then she felt a pinch in her chest and her gaze was drawn down to see a similar dagger pulsing as her vision darkened and everything went black.
***
Administrator Dilyard looked at the bodies of Desirae and Adaline in the entryway to the mansion as his clean-up crew was busy searching the rest of the property for survivors and attackers. One of his investigators came back into the entryway.
¡°Administrator, The staff are all dead, as are the other twelve guests,¡± the investigator said.
Do you have their names?¡± Administrator Dilyard asked.
¡°Yes, Cindy and Robert Bennard, Amanda Sifford, Abi, Clarence, Callum, Asling, a different Robert, Cedrik, and Pythias. Only Cindy Bennard, Robert Bennard, and Amanda Sifford had last names. The two in this room are Desirae and Adaline.¡±
¡°I can see that. How did they all die?¡± Administrator Dilyard asked.
¡°The staff were killed very messily, to send a message. Each of the people I named, including these two was killed by a single strike to their heart.¡±
¡°A single strike to the heart?¡± Administrator Dilyard mused. Why did that sound familiar? ¡°Clean it up, I need to get back to the office and check something?¡± The Administrator said as a portal opened beside him and he stepped through to his office on Nexus.
Administrator Dilyard typed in a code on his desk. The room around him shuttered and was pulled out of its current dimensional layer as a holographic monitor appeared in front of him. A dispassionate feminine voice asked out of the empty air,
Administrator Class Noted, What can I do for you today Administrator Dilyard?
Administrator Dilyard looked thoughtful for a moment before he said, ¡°Access the Reincarnation database. I need the current location and status of Cindy Patricia Bennard, previously in Static Dimension One One Alpha Zeda Alpha Zero One Zero. Her Last known location was the planet Terra, near Venture City.
Working.
File found for Cindy Patricia Bennard. Died at 1:07 in the afternoon local.
Reincarnation annotation NOT found
No record of Cindy Patricia Bennard exists within the System.
¡°Verify,¡± Administrator Dilyard said as a sinking feeling started to enter his mind. A moment later the System responded.
Verified.
Cindy Patricia Bennard Died at 1:07. All aspects of her soul were removed from System memory at that moment
¡°Well Shit,¡± The Administrator said as he thought quickly before issuing another command, ¡°Verify reincarnation cycle for all individuals within a one-mile radius of the location of Cindy Patricia Bennards Death from midnight until now.¡±
Verifying
Verification Complete. Thirteen individuals have entered the cycle of reincarnation within the System.
Additionally, the following individuals have died at the designated location and are no longer part of the System.
Robert Clancy Bennard
Amanda Sifford
Abi
Desirae
Clarence
Adaline
Callum
Another Robert, no last name given.
Cedrik
Pythias.
All individual bodies are present and accounted for. Their souls did NOT enter the Reincarnation cycle.
Unlike the rest of the System inhabitants or even most of the other Administrators, Administrator Dilyard knew that no matter what happened the soul was sacrosanct and as part of the System, all souls entered the System version of Reincarnation where they went to an afterlife that best suited their idea of what an afterlife would be like, though there were standard variations of course. Unknown, except to a few of the Prime Administrators like himself, was the fact that the System was not infinite and that there was something outside of it.
Administrator Dilyard sighed. One of the errors that could crop up when a soul left the system permanently was the error he¡¯d just received for Adam¡¯s family and friends. Probability dictated that such an occurrence could happen to one individual in a million in a given day. Adam¡¯s daughter Pandora had been one such individual when she¡¯d been ejected from the System during the Multitudes reabsorption. These things were bound to happen. Twelve people being removed from the System within a single day was not a probability, it was a willful act.
Administrator Dilyard had reviewed Adam¡¯s memories. He knew how important family was to Adam. That was why he¡¯d put them in a safe location to begin with. Now they¡¯d been killed and their souls removed from the System. He honestly didn¡¯t know how Adam was going to react to the news. One thing for sure, after watching how he¡¯d handled the creatures spilling in from the spatial rifts to the outside of the System. He would much rather be on the side that was honest and forthright than the side that tried to hide anything from that man. Administrator Dilyard had no idea why, but one thing he did know, whoever crossed Adam usually had a really bad time afterward. He¡¯d prefer not to go down that path.
Administrator Dilyard quickly filed a report, transferred his office back to the Nexus, and opened a portal to Farpoint. Ironically Adam was at one of the various saloon-type establishments in the city. Hopefully, he could talk to Adam before he found out about his family and friends some other way. Of course, each of them had that tiny mote of chaos in them that would probably return to Adam¡
Wait, what?
Administrator Dilyard only had a moment to realize that the only way for those motes of chaos from his family and friends to find Adam would be if they¡¯d attached to him and come along while he made his way to talk to Adam. Just as he realized that he activated one of his Administrator scanning abilities and noted that particles of energy were entering Adam¡¯s back which went rigid as he sat up straight.
Administrator Dilyard froze as Adam froze while everyone else in the Saloon continued on with their day as if nothing untoward was happening. A moment later Adam¡¯s back relaxed and he looked over his shoulder at him
¡°Administrator Dilyard. Relax, come on over and let me buy you a drink, you definitely look like you need one,¡± Adam said.
Administrator Dilyard walked forward and took a seat on the stool next to Adam at the bar. He didn¡¯t say a word as Adam ordered the drink for him. The Administrator muttered a ¡°Thank you¡± as the bartender dropped it off. He had no idea what to do or say because when Adam had turned to look at him with a smile on his face the Administrator had seen Adam¡¯s eyes which had turned the pearlescence of chaos and he saw the madness and righteous judgment that had taken root there. One thing was for sure. He was very glad he¡¯d decided to be honest because as sure as people did not want to be under a flock of birds for an extended period of time, he did not want to be the individuals who had earned that gaze.
Chapter 227, Corrupted
It had been so very long since he had instigated the change. Finding the right Animae had been the hardest part. He had looked for an Animae with uncanny luck and a penchant for defying fate as it twisted karma. That had been the hardest part. He¡¯d thought Apolyn had been the one but his personality had been atrocious, if not predominately evil. Of course, as he watched Apolyn and that pocket Universe within Ordo¡¯s experiment of imposed order he¡¯d come across Johnathan Bennard.
Johnathan, a simple boy scout looking through some sand for arrowheads had been the one to find Apolyn¡¯s Adamantium ring, and from that small beginning fate and karma be damned. He¡¯d wondered if Johnathan could fix the fracturing of the universes within that imposed domain of order known as the System. Ordo should have known that no matter how much one wanted to impose order, chaos would sprout up. Ordo had thought he understood the problem and had put self-correcting mechanisms in place, but as always happened, Chaos overcame the imposed restrictions.
That had been fine, Johnathan had founded his new identity as he threaded that needle of fate and gained a lot of positive Karma in the process while he rid the fracturing of those portions of himself that offset his good deeds. The fractured area of Ordo¡¯s Domain being absorbed by the Multitude and then reabsorbed into The Primary System Domain had just been a happy coincidence that allowed Adam to start working toward the outcome Ptah desired.
Of course, he would come into the System Domain when Thora and Justus had both decided that they were not going to wait for Ordo¡¯s experiment to play out and were trying to infiltrate and convert the domain to their will. Of course, Adam would get himself brought into the middle of that conflict when he was nowhere near powerful enough to contend with actual Gods. That, he was restricted by Ordo¡¯s System didn¡¯t even phase Adam as the spark of Primal Chaos within him allowed him to circumvent those restrictions until Chaoticus intervened directly.
That was until Thora decided to send in a strike team and kill his family and friends. Well not kill them, but what she¡¯d done could be seen as worse. She¡¯d separated their Animae from their Soul, something that was only done to those who were ready to put this existence behind them and truly start over. What was the difference between an Animae and a Soul, wasn¡¯t that the million-dollar question, as the humans from Adam¡¯s Earth liked to say? The Animae was the foundation upon which a soul developed. Human psychologists referred to it as the id, or the part of the mind in which innate instinctive impulses and primary processes manifested. Except it wasn¡¯t part of the mind. Animae were distinct and unique, and every creature had one. If the creature developed a soul it had one. If the creature was a lower life form that didn¡¯t have a soul, they had them as well. Even beings such as himself had one, though no matter how hard he searched within himself he couldn¡¯t isolate a single part of his mind or soul that was distinctly unique. It had become him and he it. He knew if he were ever able to separate it from the rest of his soul, he would be no more.
Of course, she who held Domain over Corruption would find a way to rip a soul apart and take the Animae out of it. Animae, she who had taken the name she had given to the aspect of a soul he now considered, could not be happy with Thora, yet he knew they had met. Why would she help the Lady of Corruption, unless she was playing the game at a completely different level?
Whatever game Animae was playing, allowing Thora the ability to destroy the memories of a soul as well as the ability to steal that which made an individual unique outside an imposed system by Ordo, the holder of the Domain of Ordo¡Whatever Animae¡¯s reason, there would be an accounting. He knew that Karma had taken a liking to Adam even though they had never discussed him. While Adam might be an Agent of Chaos and change for the most part the changes he imposed made things better after everything settled¡usually.
He knew what Adam had done to protect his family and friends. While Adam might not understand that he needed the Animae to bring them back, he had everything that made up their souls to a certain point. Should he recover their Animae, which as far as Ptah understood could never be destroyed? Was that what Animae was counting on? He thought for a moment and realized that had to be it. The Animae came from outside, from elsewhere, from somewhere, he as a God didn¡¯t even understand. They were unique and when they shed their soul they were the foundation that would create another soul, but it would not have the memories of that previous soul. They were eternal after all.
Ptah theorized that it was because forever was such a long time. Even he, a God, who had seen the births of Universe and Dimensions as well as all the fracturing of universes and Dimensions as Chaos took hold and had lived for¡well a really long time. Yes, even he would give this up someday. When he did, he would shed this mortality and that which anchored his soul would be used to anchor another. Would the energies that made up his soul spread out into infinity, or would he appear somewhere else with the memories of all that he had done and accomplished?
There was some solace in the idea that part of him would go on forever, even if all that was his soul faded but it took a long time for any entity to come to a point where the idea of not being eternal in some way would be comforting. While Adam had lived for a long time now, he was nowhere near reaching that level of comfort. No, to him this attack on his family and friends would be raw, traumatic, and his reaction? In all the time Ptah had been watching Adam he realized that he had never seen Johnathan Bennard get truly angry. He¡¯d seen him get upset but he¡¯d never seen Adam livid with rage. Before he would figure out that he had the ability to bring them back Ptah had a feeling Adam was going to reach a level of anger he¡¯d never achieved before.
Ptah became thoughtful for a moment. Adam was securely stuck inside Ordo¡¯s System within Ordo¡¯s Domain. Thora was most definitely not within that Domain, nor were the Animae of Adam¡¯s friends and family. The Assassins had fled the Domain as soon as they¡¯d completed their task. The distance, if one thought of the two locations at a distance from each other was not travelable by any means Adam currently had so it would be a bit before Adam could truly react to what Thora had done. Of course, something not being possible had never stopped Adam in the past, and the spark of Primal Chaos Ptah had incorporated into Adam¡¯s path when he¡¯d been enveloped in Chaos that first time, hadn¡¯t he done that to help make the impossible, possible?
Of course, he had. There was no way he would accept that Animae existed independently of everything else and souls were only tied to it until the soul gave up on existence and let go. If anyone could find the answers he was looking for it would be Adam. First, though, Thora, Chaoticus, and Ordo were going to find out why it was a very bad idea to anger someone who looked at rules as limits that must be overcome, which if Ptah was being honest was the one thing he really liked about Adam.
***
Adam watched as Administrator Dilyard walked and sat on a stool beside him. A moment ago twelve tiny specs of Chaos had reincorporated themselves into his body and downloaded the information they had saved. In a moment he¡¯d lived through his mother, father, Amanda, Abi, Desirae, Calrence, and Adaline¡¯s lives since he¡¯d implanted the specks of chaos in them. He also received much shorter updates from Pandora¡¯s friends, Callum, Asling, Robert, Cedrik, and Pythias.
As he reviewed the memories he¡¯d also added the update to the full memories of each person he carried. He knew he could bring them back if the System didn¡¯t bring them back or put them through its reincarnation protocol, in which case he¡¯d have to go find them. That is¡something was wrong which caused Adam to freeze when the Administrator had just arrived.
He''d accelerated his mental time frame to check each memory and found the moment each had been killed by figures whose dimension could not be seen by those they¡¯d killed. Then he¡¯d felt a pulling sensation in the memory, then nothing. Something fundamental had felt like it had been ripped away. But he had their memories. He would need to try something after he talked to the Administrator.
Once the Administrator was comfortable and the drinks Adam had ordered arrived Adam asked, ¡°What Happened?¡±
¡°Honestly, we¡¯re not completely sure. The property was targeted that everyone was staying at and they and the staff that was assigned to them was killed,¡± The Administrator said.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
¡°I¡¯ve been updated on how they died, though none of them saw their killer. I also felt something weird as they died, like something was pulled out of them. Do you know anything about that?¡±
¡°Well, the staff were slaughtered, as if the killers were having fun. Your family and friends were all killed with a single strike to their heart,¡± Administrator Dilyard said as Adam was drawn into the feeling of the pulling sensation and realized something fundamentally wrong had happened.
¡°Have they entered the soul cycle, reincarnation cycle, or whatever the System refers to the process as?¡± Adam asked.
Administrator Dilyard looked a bit queasy and uncomfortable as Adam watched him build up the courage to say, ¡°They are no longer part of the System?¡±
¡°What do you mean they are no longer part of the System?¡± Adam asked quietly.
¡°I mean that when they died the System did not receive their Soul nor the memories that made up their souls. The System does not have them,¡± Administrator Dilyard said.
¡°But I have their memories. Up to the point where they were stabbed through the chest, I have their memories from the last time I copied them,¡± Adam said.
¡°Have you tried to clone or otherwise recreate them yet? Silly question, I watched the transfer of data just moments ago. What I meant to ask is do you know what will happen when you try to use those memories to bring them back?¡±
¡°They¡¯ll be brought back?¡±
¡°Yes and no,¡± Administrator Dilyard said as he paused to take a drink and then continued, ¡°Bodies, all bodies, are biological mechanisms. One of the absolutely fundamental truths that we discovered is that memories alone do not make a soul. I¡¯ve reviewed your life. You could not have realized it but when you were dealing with the fracturing of the cosmos you started in, even though it was in a virtual environment you came across this problem. No matter how many times you ran into yourself, none of them were exactly like you, were they?¡±
¡°Well, no. Each was unique and different.¡±
The reason for that is that each soul has a specific spark of identity or id that is tied to it. Those of us who know about this spark also refer to it as the Animae of the soul. Not many magics or technologies know of this specific truth as the Animae are very hard to detect and isolate from one''s soul. Also, we¡¯ve found out that if you remove the Animae from a soul, it unravels and falls apart.¡±
¡°But my doppelgangers didn¡¯t fall apart,¡± Adam said.
¡°No, because when the body formed an Animae was available to fill in the missing part. No one knows where they come from, or where they go when they¡¯re not trapped but when a soul is forming they just kind of step in and fill the role of the glue that holds the soul together. I¡¯m sorry if I¡¯m not explaining this very well, we really don¡¯t know exactly how or why this happens. We only know the results. If added during creation the Soul can exist, holds memories, and grow. Even through the cycle of reincarnation the Animae stays with the Soul and holds it together. While I¡¯ve never seen it I have been told that at some point an entity might want to give up its existence altogether and they willfully release their Animae back into wherever it came from. When that happens the soul falls apart and the memories that made up that soul evaporate.¡±
¡°That doesn¡¯t explain why the System lost track of them?¡± Adam said.
¡°I was getting to that. The individuals that attacked your family and friends used an item, probably a magical dagger, that severed and stored the Animae of each person they killed. Their memories unraveled and their Animae were taken. When that happened the System could not recover them because the memories were falling apart as the Animae was ripped out of their bodies.¡±
¡°You''re saying that someone, or something, sent a group of assassins to destroy my family and friends'' souls so that they could never return? But I have their memories. I can remake them with the Chaos I control,¡± Adam said.
¡°You could recreate their bodies, you could add all the memories into those bodies from the copies you keep within yourself. Those memories would be perfect. If an Animae chooses to tie itself to those memories a version of them would exist but it would not be the version you knew. From the moment of their creation on, they would be different.¡±
Adam calmed his mind and breathed. Administrator Dilyard was taking the time to explain what had happened to him. He could not afford to give into his anger¡yet, ¡°Is there any way for me to get them back?¡±
¡°Theoretically, because I cannot give you a yes or no answer. But, theoretically, if their Animae are tied up in the daggers and you can somehow find a way to match the correct Animae to the correct body and then you can somehow guide that Animae back to the body you create for it as you add the memories YOU might be able to bring them back. I could not, nor could the System.¡±
Adam thought about what the Administrator had said. This foundational idea that there was a glue that held the soul together and that each was fundamentally unique filled in a lot of holes in the foundational theories he had about how everything worked. The idea that the Animae came from elsewhere and that the System and the Administrators didn¡¯t know where was kind of terrifying but indicated that again there was another layer to reality that he had yet to discover.
Adam took a long drink as he thought about what he was going to do as the Administrator nursed his drink. They sat there in silence for a good five minutes before the Administrator asked, ¡°Can I ask what you will do?¡±
¡°Neither you nor the System, know who or what attacked my family?¡± Adam asked.
¡°No.¡±
¡°Then it looks like I must look elsewhere for answers. As there is only one place I can look for those answers I¡¯ll answer your question by saying, I¡¯m going to find the individual or individuals that did this, and when I¡¯m through I plan to send their Animae screaming into the Abyss if I can¡¯t find a way to destroy them first.¡±
¡°Whoever did this is more powerful than the System?¡± Administrator Dilyard said.
¡°Yeah, don¡¯t I know it,¡± Adam said as he picked up his drink and finished it in one gulp. He put the glass down and left a generous tip on the counter as he turned to the Administrator and said, ¡°Please look after the Councilor, I doubt anything I¡¯m about to do will affect the System in general but with my Daughter still out there, well maybe, she could have been targeted as well¡¡± As Adam thought about Pandora the rage he¡¯d been controlling started to percolate again. Adam brought it back under control. Just a few more moments, a few more moments and he could¡
Adam took a deep breath and leveled his gaze at the Administrator, ¡°Thank you for the information Administrator Dilyard. If I can, I will return and balance the karma you have given this day or I will be no more and it won¡¯t matter. Take care of yourself,¡± Adam said as he Teleported into orbit, activated Flight and Freedom of Flight and he blasted away from Farpoint as fast as he could go. He looked at the stars and nebula around him until he found the tell-tale signs of a galaxy and then beelined for its center. He wasn¡¯t sure how far away from Farpoint the galaxy was, nor did he care. With Freedom of Flight active he crossed the distance in almost an instant.
Adam needed a quiet place where it was unlikely that he would be interrupted. Beneath the event horizon of a singularity at the center of a galaxy was a spot that should fit that criterion quite nicely. Adam slowed as he approached and dipped beneath the event horizon and dedicated Freedom of Flight while he allowed his Adaptable and Flight abilities to maintain his position. As he floated within the gravity well of the singularity he shifted his mental focus into his Mindspace, looked around at the emptiness as Thor looked on with worry. A single tear escaped the right eye of the avatar of himself he had formed within his Mindspace before he leaned back and screamed!
***
Ironically, the galaxy that Adam had retreated to was very similar to the Milky Way galaxy of his original Universe. There were approximately 100 million stars with about 300 million planets capable of habitation. Unknown to Adam, mental or psychic abilities and powers were usually unaffected by the gravity of a singularity. Usually. When Adam screamed within his Mindspace and released the pent-up rage, frustration, anguish, and feeling of helplessness toward his able to find and help his daughter the mental energy he released escaped his mind and the singularity created a lensing effect.
Ptah watched as the Galaxy Adam had retreated to was hit with a mental attack that eradicated all sentient life within 186,000 miles of the black hole. Lower life forms were unaffected but those that were capable of higher thoughts died of fright when that wave of mental energy hit them. Luckily after that first second, the System was able to lock down and shield the rest of the galaxy from the mental attack though a portion of the feelings from that mental attack made it through and would be remembered as the ¡°Night of Anguish¡± in civilizations all the way out to the edge of that Galaxy.
Ptah watched with interest as he realized that even while Adam had been letting his anger loose he¡¯d redirected a significant portion of it and all of his pent-up rage toward his Soul Core, through his Place of Power, and into the link between himself and Chaoticus. Ptah had time to think, that shouldn¡¯t be possible as the barriers Chaoticus had erected were destroyed and Adam¡¯s body inverted, dived through the connection, and reformed within a region of Primal Chaos outside of The System.
Adam was outside of the System.
It had taken Adam a lot less time than Ptah had thought it would. He¡¯d expected Adam to make his way to the center of the System, find the links to Ordo, and follow those links out. No, that crazy son-of-a-bitch was so angry he¡¯d intuitively figured out how to utilize the link between himself and Chaoticus to get out even quicker. As Ptah thought over everything that had happened recently he realized one thing, He was really glad he wasn¡¯t Thora. If her plan had been to corrupt his good nature, oh yeah, she had succeeded. Adamantadine¡¯s good nature had been subverted and corrupted all right.
Chapter 228, The Cardinal Rule
Ordo reviewed what had just happened. Luckily for Adam, the damage he caused with his mental burst was thwarted by the System after only one second. As he was at the center of a Galaxy under the event horizon of a singularity there weren¡¯t many creatures that could survive in, or near, such environments. The raw mental and spiritual energy he¡¯d released when he completely let go had been amplified by his proximity to one of the primary magic sinks in a Galaxy. In essence, he had accidentally converted and released both types of energy as a mental and spiritual annihilation wave due to the killing intent he¡¯d inadvertently added as his only thought at that moment was to destroy whoever had possibly destroyed his family and friends. Additionally, a sense of loss and loneliness had also been imprinted onto that wave of energy as it exploded from the singularity.
The wave of annihilation had raced away from the singularity faster than the speed of light. Luckily the System had detected the burst and had fortified defenses around all sentient species. Even though the System spent a considerable amount of energy shielding what it could, it could not completely reduce the intent and the resonance that spread at faster than the speed of light.
The wave spread through the entirety of Ordo¡¯s experimental domain and contaminated his experiment. Luckily it was stopped at the border of the experiment. Ordo would have to go through and review how the burst of anger and the feeling of such utter loss affected those within his experiment. If he saw a sudden uptick in suicides from those with weak wills he would know the experiment was a wash and he might as well fold the domain and remove the artificial borders he had put in place.
All Ordo could do now was watch as all the work he¡¯d put into creating an ordered existence vibrated with the anger of a single man who had been angered by the loss of his family. He should have stepped in sooner and stopped Thora. Hindsight was twenty-twenty after all. Ordo refocused his efforts and worked to mitigate the wave of mental and spiritual energy as best he could. Then a thought shook Ordo, and he quickly translocated his perception through the Astral and into the various heavens and hells that had been created by the System.
DAMN HIM!!!!
While the System had been able to reduce the lethality of the energy wave, the spiritual and mental components had reached through the fabric of the reincarnation cycle to souls there. Ordo watched as soul after soul let go. Ordo zoomed in on one spirit as the memories and feelings that made it evaporated. The animae of the souls that were disintegrating were fleeing his domain and returning to the realm from whence they came.
Ironically, the souls that were not letting go were those already being tortured in the pits of the hells and abyss. They must have been unable to tell the difference between their suffering and the new feelings that had washed over them. No, the ones who were giving up were those who were predominately self-serving and only looked out for themselves. They simply evaporated out of the reincarnation cycle and were no longer within his Domain. As Ordo¡¯s experiment required personas of all types it was very likely that the loss would skew the data he was collecting.
Damn him. Well, there was nothing Ordo could do now but collect data on this unique event, quantify the changes, and make adjustments that accounted for this possibility in his next experiment. It would be a while before he was ready to start anew. Also, sooner than later, he¡¯d have to release the restrictions on this domain and allow it to connect back to the rest of the Fundament. He had a lot of work to do.
***
Adam on the other hand had forced a connection to the spark of Primal Chaos he carried and connected to it. Not only had he connected to it, but his white-hot rage had ripped apart the shackles of The System and made a fundamental change in him that he would not realize until he calmed down.
WARNING! Karmic Luck value outside the normal range.
Karmic Luck reduced to 100
Karmic Luck above 100 converted to XP
Fundamental conversion is required, current characteristics, while recognized are not in the correct configuration for The Fundament.
Soul Core is not compatible, Adjustments will be made now
ERROR
ERROR
ERROR
Unable to adjust¡ERROR
The Characteristics and Status Screen have devolved.
Interface Collapse¡..
The foundation of Adam, the Animae, did something that had never been witnessed before and truly wasn¡¯t witnessed by anyone when he did it. It absorbed the memories and feelings that were Adam and then spread throughout the whole of Primal Chaos that Adam had transferred into. As it was Chaoticus¡¯s domain, he moved to stop Adam. Unfortunately for Chaoticus Adam was sheer anger and rage. He wasn¡¯t thinking and he couldn¡¯t be reasoned with. Unfortunately for Chaoticus his error allowed Adam to sweep through the entirety of Primal Chaos within the Fundament. Which was another way of saying that Adam became part of everything and everyone.
Chaoticus was absorbed and annihilated as his memories were absorbed and his Animae set free, except that it wasn¡¯t. As part of the instinct that was driving Adam was to recover his family when he annihilated Chaoticus he also absorbed the Animae that had been the foundation of Chaoticus¡¯s soul. His Animae had added to and increased the complexity of Adam¡¯s Animae. In that moment Chaoticus was gone and Chaos no longer had a Cardinal. Additionally, Adam became part of Primal Chaos everywhere. As this same thing had happened before the ease of his adjustment to the state was instantaneous. In one moment, he was everything. The next moment he had reviewed and found the creatures that had attacked and abducted his family''s souls¡
Multiple aspects of his personality started talking back and forth as a few aspects of his personality rose to the top of his consciousness as he began controlling the flow of images and information into himself.
¡°Too late, he was too late,¡± one part of him fretted.
¡°What could he do? Another part said.
¡°Find them and save them,¡± yet another voice offered.
¡°He couldn¡¯t save them, could he?¡±
¡°He could Time Travel?¡± one part of himself offered.
¡°Possibly but no, he had no idea if paradox would affect him here,¡± a more realistic part answered.
¡°If he couldn¡¯t save them? Revenge?¡±
¡°REVENGE!¡± all the voices declared as Adam¡¯s consciousness solidified, and he took control of the many aspects of himself that had spread throughout ¡°The Fundament.¡±
The Fundament?¡±
A term he¡¯d absorbed from Chaoticus that represented all known and unknown universes, dimensions, planes, etc. He had just come from a Domain, one of many under the purview of the Cardinal of Order. These were more like pocket realms or universes, but they contained everything one could find within the Fundament. Honestly, to Adam, it just sounded like another way to refer to the Multiverse. It didn¡¯t matter. Adam¡¯s mind was now in control and spread through Chaos wherever chaos was to be found. And within The Fundament it was found almost everywhere.
Adam categorized and sifted through multiple infinities of information he was absorbing as he looked and searched for any sign of the individuals who had killed his family and friends. His absorption of Chaoticus helped him zero in on one of the most likely suspects as information percolated into his consciousness of someone named Thora.
Adam shifted his perception to Thora¡¯s location. Thora was standing on a balcony, a river of putrid green liquid below her as she removed a gem from a dagger and crushed it in her hand. The chaos in the area detected an energy spike that disappeared just as quickly. A moment later she dropped the dagger into the green river far below with a wicked smile on her face.
Through the Chaos that surrounded her in her domain, Adam witnessed the last gem being destroyed and also determined that twelve daggers were in the river below breaking down in the acid contained within. Thora had already released their Animae! Without conscious thought, Adam reacted.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
***
It was done, the family of that thorn in her side was eradicated, and their lives were not even a memory anymore. Thora had won, she had won and now she would plan to destroy this Adamantadine as well. Her spies had informed her that he was still within The System so she would have to wait. Eventually, he would make his way out of the System and when he did, she would end him just as easily as she¡¯d ended¡
Thora was shocked out of her thoughts by a mental spike of anger that reverberated throughout her domain. She looked around quickly to see what was going on and noticed that a man-sized figure solidified, moved, grabbed her by her forehead, and forced her to her knees. There was no resistance, no way to fight. She had been overpowered and her body ruined. Her knees hadn¡¯t bent. The bones in her legs and spine had shattered as her head was lowered to where her waist should be instantly.
Thora felt the pain of the attack, but that¡¯s not what terrified her. What terrified her was that something was reaching into her mind and soul and shredding the connections between her core and her memories. Thora struggled as she realized something was reaching in and shredding every connection between her Animae and her soul.
Thora¡¯s last coherent feeling before her mind and soul were ripped apart was that she didn¡¯t feel her Animae fleeing. No, the monster before her had reached into her essence and was drawing the core of herself into it. The foundation of her soul was being drawn into and absorbed by the monster before her.
***
The Animae of Adam¡¯s mother, father, and everyone else Thora had just released had no memory of their previous life or at least nothing they could point to as a memory. Unknown to the scholars of the Fundament or anyone else, imprints could be left on an Animae during each incarnation into the physical world and they often were. As the imprints became more complex new forms and functions could develop and new forms of existence could occur. This was the normal cycle of what those within the Fundament referred to as Animae though the only form they knew of was the most basic.
What they could not know, what Chaoticus had not understood or tried to do was realize that Primal Chaos existed everywhere. Even in the realm, the Animae originated from Primal Chaos existed. Because there was, and because Adam had instinctually reached out and became all points of Primal Chaos within the Fundament a reverberation made its way through the barrier that only Animae normally transversed.
The reverberation was familiar and the the twelve Animae as one stopped and turned back toward the call. Even though the realm they had just returned to felt comforting and inviting something about the call called to each Animae on a fundamental level. As Animae were driven more by emotion than thought, they felt that they should turn back and return.
Animae were not bound by the laws of physics or the conservation of energy, they could pass between the physical and this realm as easily as walking into the ocean on a sandy beach. So, as one, the twelve Animae, and a few other Animae in the area turned and crossed into the physical and flocked toward the call that had been made.
As the Animae crossed over they were drawn in by the same force that had captured the Animae of Thora and was even now adding to the complexity of the animae that resided within the pattern of Primal Chaos. The Animae were the foundations of all souls. They had no memories, only feelings. They would be incorporated into the pattern that called to them and this was good. Even the extra Animae that had tagged along felt that adding themselves to the pattern of the Animae that was increasing its complexity was good.
In that moment the Animae of Adamantadine, once Johnathan Bennard, expanded and grew. The complexity of his Animae incorporated his memories which became its core held together by the structure the animae created. The consequence of such complexity was simple, this Animae would no longer be driven by emotions and imprints alone. This animae would remember.
***
The Turmoil within Primal Chaos calmed and the mentality that was Adam retreated into a single focal point within the Domain of Corruption where a copy of his physical form had solidified. Something had changed within Adam, but he could not quantify that change, he only knew he felt different. As he felt himself come more in tune with his body he realized that he was standing on a balcony overlooking a stinking flowing river of some corrosive liquid. Adam heard a sound like a zipper and looked down to see the shattered body of a woman, someone named Thora at his feet, As she evaporated. One moment she was there, the next, it was as if she¡¯d never existed. Adam looked down at the empty space and tried to remember what had just happened.
Adam had no idea how long he stood there before he was suddenly yanked, which was the only way to describe it. He was yanked and now stood on a dais within an arena that seemed both infinite in size and yet not. Above him, a golden orb shone down on him. To one side Adam noticed Ptah sitting and on the opposite side of the orb was the man who had appeared and closed the spatial rifts within The System.
Suddenly a voice spoke. A voice full of power and righteousness that Adam felt must be obeyed while another part of himself strove to break free and do whatever it wanted to do.
¡°Johnathan Bennard, Adamantadine, you stand accused of destroying two Cardinals of the Fundament, How do you plead?¡±
Adam thought about it for a moment but realized he had no idea what the voice was talking about and said as much, ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about.¡±
¡°Did you not destroy Thora and Chaoticus?¡± the voice asked.
¡°If Thora was the crumpled woman at my feet, then yes I guess I destroyed her. As for Chaoticus, I have no idea who you are referring to. I have no memory of destroying a Chaoticus, whoever that is,¡± Adam said.
¡°It matters not. On my right is your Advocate, who will speak on your behalf, Ptah. On my left is your opposite. He would speak against your actions, Ordo. The charges and evidence will be laid out and the two will make their case. You are here as a formality.¡±
Adam tried to say something but found that he could not move or speak anymore. Over the next half hour, the charges of what Adam had done were laid out for everyone present to see. Some of which was news to Adam. It seemed that he had destroyed the Cardinal of Chaos, Chaoticus. Adam had no memory of doing so, but every time the name was mentioned he felt a resonance with it. Next, evidence was shown of him teleporting onto the balcony before Thora, grabbing her by the head, and forcing her to knee level without waiting. No words were spoken and a moment later she popped up like a bubble and evaporated.
Adam knew he was powerful, but he had no idea that he could grab one of the Cardinals and do what he¡¯d done to her. Especially since it seemed to him that he was powerless now. It was as if all of his power was locked away. Adam tried to open his Personal Interface, only to find that he could not. Nor could he retreat into his Mindspace or his Soul space, both were closed to him.
¡°While the actions that Thora instigated against Adam¡¯s family were unwarranted the destruction of two Cardinals is unacceptable. Additionally, we have seen that Adam cannot be controlled. It is, therefore, my recommendation as the Cardinal of Justice that the being known as Adamantine, once Johnathan Bennard, be removed from the cycle and his Animae given the chance to form a new foundation. As such a sentence will require the combined effort of all to carry out against such a potent agent of Chaos all must choose to participate.¡±
¡°I will NOT participate!¡± Ptah declared. This ¡®trial¡¯ is anything but just.¡±
¡°As you are not a Cardinal and merely a God, your participation is not required though your statement is noted for the record,¡± The Cardinal of Justice said before he continued. ¡°Make your decisions, now.¡±
Adam couldn¡¯t say that he was surprised. Every time someone pissed him off he went and did something he probably shouldn¡¯t have. Still, he did feel some satisfaction with the way he¡¯d ended Thora. Also, as he considered that thought a feeling of righteousness came over him. Like her sentence had been more permanent than even the Gods and Cardinals of this Fundament knew.
Additionally, as he thought about this idea that they were going to rip the core out of his soul and cast him into the cycle of reincarnation as his punishment he wasn¡¯t scared. Something had changed within him; he could feel it. He couldn¡¯t quantify the feeling, nor could he check through his interface, but he no longer felt alone. In fact, the anger at the loss of Adaline and his mom and dad was gone. He felt as if they were a part of him that he could will into existence if his powers and abilities weren¡¯t being blocked somehow.
Adam was jolted from his thoughts when the Cardinal of Justice began speaking, ¡°The Cardinals have spoken. Adamantadine, you are too dangerous to allow to continue existing. Therefore, the Cardinal of Animae will remove yours and set it free. All that you are and have been will move on in the cycle of reincarnation.
¡°If I might ask, what does that mean exactly,¡± Adam asked.
¡°It means that the memories that are tied to your soul will be removed from your Animae, and it will be allowed to return to the realm it emerged from. Once there it will reenter the cycle of reincarnation when it wishes.¡±
¡°What of my daughter, what will become of her?¡± Adam asked.
¡°That is no longer your concern,¡± the Cardinal of Justice declared with finality as a force enveloped Adam and tried to shut him down as a being of energy floated toward Adam.
Adam fought against the immobilization and looked directly at the Cardinal of Justice as he said, ¡°I don¡¯t know what the FUCK you think you are but one thing that you will come to understand before this is all done, Anyone that tries to control chaos is a fool¡± Adam fell silent as he struggled against the attempt to shut him up and was finally able to say, ¡°I¡¯ll make sure to remind you of that fact when we speak again.¡±
As Adam finished speaking his eyes caught the hint of a smile crossing Ptah¡¯s face as the female being of energy, The Cardinal of Animae stood before him.
The Cardinal of Animae looked at Adam with a lack of empathy that Adam found disturbing as she said, ¡°You may be strong, but the other Cardinals have removed your ability to influence all other aspects of reality at this moment. As they have the ultimate authority over their domains and have suppressed those domains within you, you can do nothing as I reach in and withdraw your Animae. Once removed you will be no more and your Animae will be free to find another host and begin again. I wish you well in your next incarnation, hopefully, it will be a little less eventful,¡± The Cardinal said as her hand of energy reached into Adam¡¯s chest and tried to grasp his animae and pull it free.
Adam felt the hand of energy enter his chest and then his mind was drawn into his Mindspace, through his Soul Space, and deeper into himself than he had ever been drawn before. His memories were condensed and compacted so much that they became scrambled. He still had his sense of self which was bolstered by a feeling that others were also there helping him hold himself together. As Adam realized this his thoughts became coherent again. He felt a falling sensation as his mind felt a resonance and he felt himself shoot toward it.
***
Ptah watched the Cardinal of Animae reach into Adam¡¯s chest and try to withdraw his Animae. A look of surprise crossed her face as she realized she could not grab it. Ptah watched as the Cardinal withdrew her hand quickly as if in pain and the body of Adamantadine disintegrated as the chaos that it was made up of evaporated into his surroundings. Something had happened to his Animae when he attacked Thora. Something unique.
It would seem that he had the answer to a question that he¡¯d had for a very long time. There was more to the cycle of life and death than the cyclical cycle of animae reincarnation though he didn¡¯t understand exactly what yet. If he was correct Adam had not been reset as the idiot beside him had wanted. If that was true, Ptah had his work cut out for him. In the infinities that was the Fundament the Animae that was Adam could reincarnate anywhere. Without a Cardinal of Chaos in play, that meant that Adam could utilize chaos without fear of being detected, as there were few divine beings or Cardinals that could utilize Chaos.
Ptah considered the different paths he could take to find Adam again and help him get back on track both so he could get an answer to his age-old question and also help Adam reunite with his daughter. Hopefully, the loss of Adaline and his mother and father wouldn¡¯t divert him from his path too far, though the look in Adam¡¯s eyes when he¡¯d made his defiant statement. The Cardinal of Justice, as well as every Cardinal that had acted against him, had been judged by Adam. Ptah wondered what form that judgment would take.
Chapter 229, Hell Yeah!
Adam¡¯s core retained all the memories of Johnathan Bennard within an Animae Core that contained 17 animae that had come together to form a heptadecagon. 12 of the animae were his family and friends, the 13th was himself and the last 4 were animae that had tagged along and helped build the shape that now surrounded a core that contained the essence of Adam.
Most Animae were singular. They could not hold memories or ideas though strong emotional general impressions from the life of the soul that had been attached to could leave a resonance or imprint on the Animae. The Animae was just the foundation upon which a soul initiated and grew after all. It was the only part of the soul that was truly eternal. Every other part was just a pattern that had used the Animae as a foundation. When the foundation was released, the pattern that was the soul would evaporate like mist in a strong wind, the energy seeking new patterns to hold. Adam considered why a soul would choose to release itself completely and realized that if one considered infinity, life could go on and on and on. Eventually, those with a weak will, or no desire to continue, would welcome true oblivion and forgetfulness, except part of them would go on in certain instances. A Soul could leave an imprint on its Animae that would last forever.
He''d seen a similar dichotomy within the fractured digital universe, and it didn¡¯t really surprise him to see the pattern repeated here. Though it was kind of sad to know that some souls would eventually release themselves forever and the last part of them, their Animae would not remember them, even though it would continue on as the foundation for another soul.
Which brought him to his next thought, Adaline. Try as he might he could not reach her. He knew her animae was part of the structure that was carrying him, but she was both not there and there. He could feel the touch of her soul and the impression of a love that would transcend time, but he could not talk to her. He could remember her; he could play those memories over and over, but the memories did not change and they were not Adaline.
The same was true for his mother and father. He could feel the impression of love and acceptance for him, it was always present now, but he could not communicate with the origin of those feelings. They were merely impressions. Their Animae had recognized his and bonded with him, forever and always.
Desirae and Clarence were there as well as the five members of Pandora¡¯s party. Adam didn¡¯t have the same kind of connection with them so didn¡¯t receive any impressions from them other than a feeling that this was their purpose. None of the Animae had thoughts, safe his, which wasn¡¯t really accurate, was it? His core identity was held within a matrix that the 17 Animae created. They had come together to create it and he was now more and less than he had been. If he could have cried, he would have but he didn¡¯t have a body with which to create the tears that were needed to cry. Instead, he flew through the darkness, loved, but alone.
Adam tried to open a Personal Interface or his prompts and failed. There was no screen to look at, no messages to read. Next, he tried to open his perception and look out to see what was around him. Again, there was nothing. He could feel impressions of speed and movement and a feeling of various resonances he could make his way toward, but he could not see them.
So, if his core wasn¡¯t within this animae structure the animae would have floated around wherever they were and felt for these resonances and moved toward them? How did they choose? The simple answer was, they didn¡¯t. He¡¯d already determined there were no thoughts within his family¡¯s Animae so it must be random. In his case though, he could choose, as could any other beings that were able to do what he was doing now. He couldn¡¯t be the first, but it must be a rare event.
So, if he couldn¡¯t see or visually compare the resonances he felt he was going to have to move toward the resonance that felt the strongest to him. As he thought that, he realized that he was coming closer to a resonance, but he knew there were at least three resonances that were stronger even though they were a little farther away. Adam willed himself to change course and move toward the resonance that felt the strongest to him.
He immediately felt his course change as he veered off and moved toward the strongest resonance that called to him. First, it called to his hardness and determination as well as, as well as his name. Next, it resonated with his soul in a way that he had never felt before. He couldn¡¯t explain it, but it seemed that it just felt right for him. Finally, the resonance seemed to resonate with at least one of the other Animae that was now part of his core. As he tried to figure out which one it resonated with a feeling of warmth came from the impressions of Adaline¡¯s Animae. A feeling of coming home to a familiar friend.
As he drew closer he realized that if the resonance was with both himself and Adaline then obviously whatever that resonance represented must be something that he wanted or needed. A moment later Adam felt that his Animae had crossed a boundary and the resonance he was seeking was before him. Adam could feel that there were other Animae nearby and that they were looking for the same thing he had found. Without hesitation, Adam felt for the center of the resonance and willed his Animae to move towards it.
As his animae came into contact with the resonance a prompt filled his vision.
Resonance match to primary Animae, 100%
Resonance match to secondary Animae, 50%
Resonance to Complex Animae 23.5%
20% Resonance Threshold met. Animae accepted.
Note! Complex Animae detected.
Automatic Soul Formation paused. Animae registers as sentient.
Query Animae.
Do you still wish to participate in Soul Establishment for Adamantium Dragon Hatchling? Yes or No?
Adam stopped. He actually froze for a moment. An Adamantium Dragon Hatching? Adamantium Dragons were a thing? Of course, they were a thing, the universe was infinite after all, and anything was possible. That explained the various resonances he¡¯d felt. Powerful, similar names and a Dragon that called to the impressions Adaline¡¯s soul had left behind. Those must have been the resonances he felt.
He''d have to grow up as a dragon. That could be weird, but he did have Adaline''s memories to pull on if he needed to. Adam only thought about it for a split second before he chose ¡°Yes.¡±
Selection noted.
Abilities already determined.
Soul Establishment will commence in 3, 2, 1
Adam felt everything go dark for a moment and then a sensation, somewhat familiar to him as he¡¯d once been a blob and moved into and through many tunnels, conduits, and crevices. What he felt at the moment was very similar. He felt as if the core identity that was him reached out and started to fill something. This sensation took time but also felt like it happened in an instant. It was really weird. Once it was complete he could feel and hear again, though he only felt a gentle vibration, and his hearing was muffled but what he could hear sounded a lot like what it sounds like through the walls of a house when there¡¯s a storm outside and the wind was rushing by the outer surface of the walls. Wherever he was wasn¡¯t uncomfortable. It was very cozy even though he couldn¡¯t move that much. He felt Like he was in a sleeping bag that was too small for him, but it was made out of plastic he couldn¡¯t break.
Wherever he was, he was warm and it felt inviting. He tried to open his Status Screen and was pleasantly surprised when he immediately entered his Mindspace, and his information populated a holographic screen that appeared.
Name: Adamantadine ¡°Adam¡±
Identity: Amantadine ¡°Adam¡±
Race: Adamantium Dragon
Age: Hatching
Weight: 260
Birthday: ???
Animae
Complex Animae Core (Complexity 1,700%) - Your Animae has combined with 16 other Animae to form a nucleus that cannot be destroyed upon Soul death. While most physical aspects of your existence will be destroyed the Core of your being is sheltered by your Animae. Your Animae has reentered the cycle of reincarnation fully aware of everything that transpired before. Additionally, two Abilities have been designated as permanent abilities and will remain a part of you during all future reincarnation cycles: Perfect Memory and Chaos Incarnate
Normally memories and accomplishments will fade with time unless an Ability is retained that alters this.
Primary Abilities:
Perfect Memory - Like Photographic Memory except for all five senses with automatic recall of desired information.
Chaos Incarnate ¨C A Spark of Primal Chaos has melded with your Animae. It is forever tied to you. As it has grown your ability to absorb and harness Chaos has grown with it. This is represented by a new attribute: Chaos. The Chaos Attribute may only be grown through specific Class choices and Incarnation-specific actions. Unlike other attributes, during reincarnation, the Chaos Attribute does not reset.
NOTE: Chaos is ever-changing and always growing after all. The Karma one Sows stays with them always, through all reincarnations. -K
Secondary Abilities, A byproduct of the Chaos Incarnate Ability.
Molded Chaos - Your body is Chaos Incarnate. While the sundering of your Animae from the rest of your previous physical body destroyed your previous body and arguably your soul, the Chaos that had attached to you could not be destroyed. Your Chaos has done what it can and spreads into every nook and cranny of your new body and adapted to your new incarnation. Chaos may be utilized in many ways; it is up to you to discover and hone the use of this attribute.
Adaptable - Chaos Adapts to All Environments. As an Adamantium Dragon, you were already immune to most environments. As a being of Chaos, you are immune to ALL physical environments.
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Astral Link ¨C Chaos is in everything everywhere. A permanent link to the Astral Plane is always active. Mana and Hit Points may be regenerated at Chaos Attribute Rates. Note: Channeling Chaos at greater than Endurance per second can harm
Chaotic Core ¨C You have 100% Affinity with all spheres of Magic.
Magical Resistances:
Fire: 100%
Ice: 50%
Electricity: 50%
Titles:
Dungeon Founder
Labyrinth Founder
Character Level 1
Attributes
Strength 11
Agility 11
Dexterity 6
Endurance 6
Constitution 11
Perception 6
Intelligence 6
Wisdom 6
Willpower 6
Charisma 11
Luck 11
Chaos 8.95E+47
Primary Stats
Carrying Capacity: 143 lbs. (64.9 kgs)
Hit Points: 6
HP Regeneration: 1 per second
Stamina: 60
Stamina Regeneration: 18 per minute
Mana: 60
Mana Regeneration: 1 per second
Movement
Normal Running Speed: 8 MPH (12 FPS)
Standing high Jump: 16 inches
Note. Falling Damage is not mitigated by maximum jumping Distance.
Flying Speed: 89 MPH (130 FPS)
Base Attack
Unarmed Attack: 1-4 - 4
Critical Damage Maximum Damage x2
Skills
Total Skills: 0
Total Unused Skill XP: 0
Hatching?
He wasn¡¯t born yet?
He was in an egg?
Seriously?
Adam quickly looked down but the image he had of himself still appeared human. He willed a mirror into existence and checked anyway. Yep, still human. Don checking his mental image of himself Adam reviewed the information and decided that his next question was; Where was his egg? It sure didn¡¯t sound like his new Mom was sitting on top of him. In fact, now that he was starting to get used to the new body, he could feel the heat being leeched out of the egg. It didn¡¯t affect him; he¡¯d felt the chaos in his system flood into the hatching dragon and begin the conversion his Animae and soul had begun. He could even wiggle his fingers and toes, no they were claws now, weren¡¯t they?
Adam put that out of his mind and reviewed this Status Screen again. The Note concerning his Chaos Attribute was interesting. It looked like K¡Karma?... didn¡¯t like what the Gods had done to him and had found a way to give them the shaft, which meant that the Chaos Attribute had to be useful. Also, he still had the Mold Chaos ability and while the ability said that he had to find out how to use it himself, he had his memories and already knew of a couple of ways. He willed Chaos to spread out from him and find out what was around him.
The first thing he noticed was that while that attribute was insanely high, once he started letting the chaos leak out and surround him, if he went too fast it hurt. It hurt a lot. The chaos was healing the damage as it was done but he needed to figure this out. He increased and slowed the rate and eventually found that as long as the rate at which he released the Chaos was less than or equal to his Endurance attribute he felt fine.
Hmmm
Could he use his Chaos Attribute to boost his other attributes? It¡¯s not like that attribute was higher than any attributes he¡¯d had before. Then he paused. His body was currently in an egg. If there was no room outside for his body to expand into, he might find it impossible to grow. While this wasn¡¯t the same as a polymorphed dragon stepping into a small room with an Anti-magic shell and killing itself as it expanded. Adam would prefer if his newly discovered Adamantium Dragon Body wasn¡¯t squished as it tried to grow and change as Adam used Chaos to increase his attributes. No, slow and steady it was.
Adam released chaos from his body which permeated the egg he was in and then started expanding outward around the egg. Adam visualized the Chaos as nanites, it¡¯s what he knew, and utilized them to look, listen, smell, and hear everything outside of his shell.
The first thing he noticed was that he was not in a nest, at least not a nest as he understood it. The rushing wind he¡¯d heard was actually magma flowing by the egg at a high velocity. The egg Adam was in was wedged within a tunnel that wasn¡¯t much bigger in diameter than the egg. The magma was under high pressure and pushing against and around the egg but the high pressure was also leeching heat from the egg.
That brought up the question, how hot did an Adamantium egg need to be normally if he felt chilled from fast-flowing magma? Adam put those thoughts aside and directed the chaos that was around his egg to convert the rock the egg had been held by into dust so the egg would break free. Immediately the egg was released from the grip that had held it and shot along the magma conduit until it entered a large lake of magma. The egg, compared to the liquid rock was buoyant and started floating upward to the top of the magma pool. Additionally, the increase in magma flow from the conduit Adam had unplugged started filling the chamber he was in rapidly. While volcanos and their eruptions had not been a subject Adam had researched considerably it was still one of the many disciplines he¡¯d learned back on Earth and he understood the mechanism well enough. Magma chamber plus pressure equals BOOM. How big a boom depended on how big the chamber was.
Well, now that he knew he had enough space outside of the egg Adam started directing his Chaos attribute to increase his other attributes. He started with his Endurance so that he could push more Chaos into his body. After 5 seconds, his Endurance was up to 55 so he redirected the chaos to start increasing all of his attributes by 5 per second while he also set the chaos outside the egg to spread so that he could get a better idea of how big this magma chamber was.
As his attributes started increasing and his chaos spread out into the chamber he realized pretty quickly that increasing his attributes was starting to increase his body size. That was okay because as his Endurance hit a new multiple of 11 he would increase the amount of chaos he was boosting an attribute by. After 11 seconds he increased his attributes by 7 per second, after 33 seconds 8 per second, and so on. When he¡¯d hit the two-minute mark he¡¯d increased all of his attributes by 414 and felt the egg crack as his body became too big for it to contain. Instead of wasting the eggshell, Adam had the chaos surrounding his body absorb and convert it, it was Adamantium after all. He turned it into something that covered his arms like bracers and his legs like shin guards. As his body expanded he adjusted their size so they wouldn¡¯t get too tight.
As he was doing that another thought crossed his mind. Adam still hadn¡¯t mapped out the magma chamber completely. It was at least a mile deep and wide in all directions. This chamber was huge which was perfect. Adam floated in the magma, completely unaffected by heat. If anything, he felt a little chilly. He stretched and moved drawing on memories from Adaline as to how a dragon should feel when moving and felt fine.
With his strength already above 400, it was nothing for him to reach out and swim through the magma. He made sure to draw his wings in close to his body so that they wouldn¡¯t create drag and swam toward the surface of the magma which was only one hundred feet above him. While he didn¡¯t need air because of his chaotic nature, he still wanted to take a breath. He figured breathing liquid rock was probably a bad idea although he probably could if he tried.
Adam reached the surface and lazily rolled onto his back. Taking his first breath in this body, he allowed himself to relax as he opened his eyes and looked around. It took his mind a few moments to adapt to his new eyes as he realized that he now had three modes of vision. Not as many as a Predator but still more than a normal human. He had Normal human vision, which just showed heat waves and steam. He could see the ceiling of the cavern that was above him and it definitely felt like he was moving upward slowly. The second form of vision was infrared, which was useless here. Everything appeared as heat because it was all the same temperature. The final form of vision was in the ultraviolet spectrum which was just about as useless. He could see details of the area around him, but it still seemed like everything was in a photo negative.
Adam lazily floated in the magma as he continued to boost his attributes with his Chaos attribute. After 6 minutes he¡¯d increased all of his attributes by 5,115 and stopped growing. It had been interesting to watch his body grow and morph as his muscles and skin expanded. He¡¯d even had to roll over onto his stomach and allow his natural buoyancy to hold him near the surface of the magma lake as he lifted his head out of the magma.
Still, he was comfortable, and he kept boosting his attributes with his Chaos even though there were no visible changes to his body or growth of any kind. After 10 minutes he¡¯d raised his attributes 15,054. After an hour he¡¯d raised his attributes by 148,174. He¡¯d also received a Warning when he¡¯d hit 100,000 in all of his attributes.
WARNING! The maximum natural attribute for this creature is 100,000. Any attribute above this limit cannot be raised by natural attribute training or leveling.
That meant there was a natural limit but his attributes continued to accept the boost, so he kept funneling Chaos into them. As his Endurance went higher and higher the amount he could funnel into each attribute continued to increase. At the one-hour mark, he was increasing each attribute by 164. He¡¯d also noticed that the Magma level was continuing to rise. If it continued to do that¡He checked to see if he¡¯d figured out how big it was yet. An hour later he had his answer. The Magma chamber was approximately twice the size of the one chamber under Yellowstone. At almost 20 miles deep and 100 miles in diameter this was one of the biggest magma chambers he¡¯d ever come across.
If the pressure was allowed to build until this chamber blew its top it would release the equivalent energy of 1.7 gigatons. He didn¡¯t know what kind of society existed on the planet he¡¯d been ¡°hatched¡± on but if there were humans, elves and the like that much energy would be a cataclysm.
One problem Adam was currently having was that he could not control more Chaos than the attribute he had. What was one point of Chaos worth? He honestly didn¡¯t know because he couldn¡¯t increase or decrease the amount he could control. Every time he tried to have the chaos he controlled turn something into chaos and add it to his amount the process would start but then stop as the item he was trying to break down reverted to its original form. He could convert one thing to another, which seemed to be limited by his attributes but as he¡¯d boosted his attributes that limit had been increased.
He was still getting used to his new dragon body as the magma came to a point where there was a very small pocket of air his head was sticking up into and he could feel the pressure increasing around him. It had been just over 88 hours since he¡¯d entered this magma chamber. Now that his intelligence was boosted well above normal he did some quick math and realized that if he continued to increase his attributes like this, it would be a really long time before he was done. The math was kind of fuzzy. He missed Thor. But right around 100 Quintillion years sounded right, or he could increase Endurance first doubling it and doubling it again, until he reached his Chaos Attribute divided by 12. That should take about 156 seconds. Then he could spend the next 11 seconds increasing the rest of his attributes. Yeah, that sounded a lot faster.
Over the next two minutes and thirty-six seconds, Adam watched as his Endurance attribute skyrocketed. He received all kinds of prompts which he ignored as he concentrated on not moving while he brought the rest of his attributes up. When he was done, each of his attributes was sitting at 7.46E+46 including his Chaos Attribute. All of his attributes adjusted accordingly, and he felt almost normal. Which was a good thing because the pressure in the magma chamber was continuing to build at an explosive rate.
Adam made sure that he was floating in an almost perpendicular line to the ground and began rotating his body. He visualized the chaos he had as the threads of a screw that surrounded his body and then began to spin faster as he used his tail and hind legs to swim upward. The pressure from below helped and quicker than he would have thought he was shot out of a mountain atop a geyser of lava that shot at least a mile into the air above.
Adam brought his spin under control as he continued upward, and the lava that had been lifting him slowed and fell back down onto the mountain a mile below. Fresh crisp air enveloped him as he spread his wings to hover. As he looked down on the mountains below and the forest off to one side and dry plains off to another. There were a lot of reasons for him to be sad and melancholy but those feelings were secondary to the adrenaline that was coursing through his veins as he hovered and surveyed his surroundings while flapping his wings. He looked around, taking in his new body, this new world, and the eruption below him as he yelled ¡°Hell Yay!¡±
Those who witnessed the dragon''s emergence and many others who did not see him flying out of a geyser of lava cowered in fear as the yell of jubilance that Adam released came out as a roar they could not understand. Adam had boosted his attributes so high that any emotional declaration he made was enforced and spread with his aura that was no longer measured in feet, it was measured in miles, if he wasn¡¯t careful, which in his excitement, he had not been. Many creatures heard the roar or felt the energy of the area shift and were frightened into immovability. After a few moments, they regained control of their bodies without knowing exactly what had caused such a reaction. That is until the tale of a dully silver-colored dragon emerging from a mile-high Lava spout reached them. They would never know that the emergence of the dragon had averted a disaster that would have killed 90% of all life on the planet.
Chapter 230, No Issues, Please!
¡°We have detected an anomaly, Sir!¡± Corporeal Jensen stated from the bridge of the Widehammer.
¡°What kind of Anomaly?¡± Captain Peater asked as he looked over the planning table in the center of the bridge.
¡°It seems that the eradication of the dragons successfully was reported in error.¡±
¡°In error, how so?¡±
We are receiving reports through our assets that an eruption at Feynalis Park from the massive magma chamber there has finally occurred.
¡°Did the volcano explode?¡±
¡°No, Sir. The dragon exploded from a vent which the lava shot out of.
¡°Where is the dragon now?¡± The Captain asked.
¡°Our assets in the area lost track of it. It flew straight up stayed above the lava geyser for a bit and then started doing a circular pattern around the lava geyser in an increasingly widening pattern,¡± Corporeal Jensen said.
¡°It has wings, right? How did it fly straight up, there¡¯s no air past a certain altitude,¡± Captain Jensen said.
¡°Unknown, Sir. Am I to alter our course and head that way?¡±
Captain Peater reviewed the map and checked their positions against the location of the sighting before he said, ¡°Yes, set course. It¡¯s over 500 miles away but if there really is a dragon we are one of the only ships that can deal with it.¡±
¡°Yes, Sir, changing course.
The Widehammer looked like a cross between a 16th-century Galleon sailing vessel and a 20th-century Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier. Primarily used against monster surges, The Widehammer had weapons mounted in all directions. She could also launch smaller fighters, scout vessels, and mounted cavalry. While his forces didn¡¯t utilize dragons there was a Griffen squadron on board. Also, unlike a Galleon class or Nimitz class carrier the Widehammer was not an ocean vessel. Utilizing Magic and Technology it was a vessel that could navigate the oceans, the Atmosphere, and even space for a limited time as It currently flew a mile above the ground. Captain Peater felt the deck shift as their course altered and then level out again.
The Captain looked over his bridge and called out, Recover all scouts and patrols, I want to increase our speed in less than half an hour. Also, send a message to Command. As the closest ship to the sighting let them know we are moving to investigate. At over 500 miles from any major settlement, they should be able to see what was going on and make a report before word reached the news agencies. At maximum speed, he¡¯d get there in just over an hour and a half.
¡°Sir, yes Sir his second Command responded as he turned and started relaying orders while he worked directly with the communication tech to draft the message for Command. Captain Peater looked around the bridge and walked into his office off the main bridge as he thought about the sighting. A Dragon sighting now, after such a long time. The last sighting had been in that area over 100 years earlier. In fact, it had been the last known dragon on the planet.
Captain Peater seemed to remember that a report had stated that the dragon had taken its clutch of eggs and itself into one of the deeper fissures that led to the large cavern that contained the magma pool. After it had gone into the cavern it had never been seen again. Also, no one had been stupid enough to go looking for the eggs that were close to a magma pool. Well, no one with an ounce of intelligence. Some hot heads, pun intended, had gone in looking for the eggs or treasure, but none had ever been seen again.
Captain Peater reviewed their course against the recent reports. It looked like they had smooth sailing. At just about 300 miles per hour, it would be just a little under two hours before the Widehammer made it to its target location and the search for the Dragon could begin in earnest.
***
Adam had noted that his primary attributes stated they were sitting at 7.46E+46 when he¡¯d taken the time to look at it right after he roared. It had been kind of loud. It was also at that moment that his greater perception noticed lights in familiar patterns in all directions. There were towns and cities off in the distance.
Adam flapped his dragon wings and rose another half mile and looked down to see what the lava was doing. Luckily the lava had fallen into an area devoid of artificial lights and seemed to be heading downslope toward a large river off to the east. Fires had started here and there but they weren¡¯t spreading yet. If this was anything like Yellowstone National Park he might be over a large park that whoever was in charge of this planet placed there. There would be a lot of natural resources in the area and they would have to be really careful about mining if they didn¡¯t want to accidentally set off a cataclysm.
Adam looked around, noted that there was one moon that he could see, even if it was the middle of the day, and decided to test his adaption and flight capabilities. He flapped his wings harder while also willing himself to go faster and was soon rising up out of the Atmosphere. As he did so, his high perception allowed him to easily notice that there were thousands of satellites in orbit. Adam paid them no mind, oriented on the Sun of his planet, and then continued making his way higher.
His ability list was quite small now but he had a feeling that it didn¡¯t matter. He still had Mold Chaos, even if the write-up was slightly different than before. Also, he had a feeling that the amount of Chaos he had coursing through his system had some unintended benefits. First things first though, he needed to find someplace relatively safe because right now he had no idea where he was or who was in charge. He¡¯d been born as an Adamantium Dragon. He wasn¡¯t too worried about the lava flow. As long as no one was stupid enough to get close the hole he¡¯d created should allow the pressure below ground to exit without having the whole chamber erupt. Then again, yeah, he should probably make sure.
Adam increased his altitude until he was almost out of the atmosphere and then started heading toward the Sun on the horizon. Very soon he realized he was chasing the Sun and it felt like he was heading west. Unless the rotation was backward? If it was backward, then he¡¯d be heading east. Of course, he had no way of knowing at this point. Once he was pretty sure of where he was, he concentrated for a moment and willed a heads-up display into his vision, much like what a fighter pilot would have, added a company and mapping function, and then turned around and flew back until he was over the lava geyser and set that as his zero point. From there he started flying out in a circular pattern at just under the speed of sound.
Adam considered whether the wind resistance was getting to him or not, but realized he felt quite comfortable. He also tried to make himself invisible and was pleasantly surprised when he received a prompt.
Mold Chaos has successfully bent light around you.
Stealth Skill Learned. Chance to be detected equals skill level plus an average of Agility, Dexterity, and Luck modifier. While you may not be visible, interactions with your environment can give away your position. For instance, the displacement of air when moving quickly or stepping over a creaky floor.
Chance of detection while Stealth is Active: >>>ERROR<<<
Adam thought, Display Error, just to see if he could see it, and was happily surprised when he received a response.
The original value of chance of Detection while Stealth is Active has a base chance that utilizes a lot of factors; ambient darkness, movement, skills of the stealth specialist, perception bonus skills, and perception of the individual or creature trying to see the stealth specialist. This is all weighed against a base value modified that starts with the Stealth Skill and adds +1 per two points above 10 in the attributes, Agility, Dexterity, and Luck on average. Without adding environmental factors which play a big part in stealth, if you had a Stealth Skill of 1 and an Agility, Dexterity, and Luck of 14 your base chance to successfully remain unseen would be 1 +[{((14-10)/2) + ((14-10)/2) + ((14-10)/2)}/3] or 1 + ((2 + 2 + 2)/3) which would be 1 + 2 or a 3% chance. The normal range for such calculations utilizes numbers between 1 and 1,000. Numbers utilizing scientific notation are neither wanted nor are they necessary. You received the ¡°>>>ERROR<<<¡± because there isn¡¯t a mortal or creature anywhere in the vicinity of you that can overcome a Base Stealth check that starts in scientific notation with 46 zeros behind the number 3. Especially when that skill is boosted by your chaos attribute which makes your skill work more like invisibility instead of active camouflage. This answer was given some thought and spelled out for you to explain why you will be noticing errors as you attain skills and try to utilize them with such high attributes.
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Well, Shit, Adam thought, whatever was passing for the system here had a serious level of snark, but it was helpful. With that little bit of information percolating in his mind, Adam started paying attention to his surroundings as he continued to circle further and further. Once he¡¯d reached a 200-mile radius he started to see towns and cities and started to map them out in his mind. Adam kept the same radius at right around 200 miles from the lava geyser as he slowed down to about 300 miles per hour at about 100,000 feet above the ground. He shouldn¡¯t run into any air traffic at that altitude. He parsed part of his mentality to keep track of his flight and to adjust if he was going to hit something and then dropped his primary mentality into his Mind Space. Adam immediately noticed that it was much easier to enter his Mindspace.
Once there he concentrated on going deeper and was soon looking at his Soul Core. Every once in a while he¡¯d check in on his sensory inputs from his body as it continued to fly around the Lava Geyser but he was moving within his mind at an accelerated rate so only a few seconds had passed as he tried to take his internal exploration one step further and take a look at the structure that was his Complex Animae Core.
It ended up not being that hard. The Animae Core was located at the center of his Soul Core. His two Primary Abilities still had nodes and those nodes for Perfect Memory and Chaos Incarnate still orbited that core. However, there was now a connection point that led into the center of the Animae Core. Adam willed his point of view closer to the nodes that made up the Animae Core and felt the resonance from each. His Animae was in the very center of the structure. As he moved between the connection points of the Heptadecagon he was able to differentiate the resonances. The easiest to find were Adaline and his Mom and Dad. Abi, Amanda, and Desirae were also very easy to identify because he knew them so well.
Adam identified the rest by pulling up the memories of each until he felt a resonance between the memories and an Animae. Of course, this left four Animae that he couldn¡¯t find resonance for but that was fine. They had settled into the structure of his Animae Core without issue. As he worked through his inner self he noticed that the two Primary Abilities had placeholders orbiting the Animae Core but the quintessence of the abilities was within the structure of his Animae Core.
Was that because¡
Just as he had that thought Adam felt his mentality dive into the heptadecagon and enter the focal point of his Chaos Incarnate Node As he was about to cross the threshold, Adam willed himself to stop and looked through a portal of sorts into a universe of instances of memories he had. Not unlike the scene from the movie Interstellar when Cooper falls into the singularity and the 5th-dimensional beings create a tesseract for him to interact with. Except this time as he thought about it, he saw the memories of everyone that he had ever absorbed, including the twelve peoples whose Animae now made up the structure he was peering into.
Adam thought about reattaching the animae to one of these points within this universe of moments contained within his Animae and froze when one of the Animae started to shift from its location. With a force of will he willed it to stop and reversed the process. He would try this for sure, but now while he was flying around at 300 miles per hour was not the time to see if he could bring them back.
Still, he was excited. He might be able to bring Adaline and the others back as soon as he found a safe place to do so. Could he use the Chaos in his body to create the bodies they needed? He¡¯d already proven that the Chaos could boost attributes so why couldn¡¯t he use it to create the bodies from scratch and even give them a boost from the get-go so what happened with Thora would never happen again? Or could it? Adam had a feeling he was no longer anywhere the System he was in before could reach. It was just a feeling but the explanation he¡¯d received concerning Stealth didn¡¯t feel like any entity or System that he¡¯d interacted with to date.
That was all moot if he couldn¡¯t find a place to hold up. Adam chose a forested area he was flying over and made his way toward it. He was a couple of miles up so it took him a few minutes to make his way down. He came in for a landing in a clearing that his dragon body could handle. At almost 400 feet long now, that wasn¡¯t very easy to do. Still, he took control of his body, glided toward the ground while making sure to keep his airspeed low, and came in near a river where there was an area that was wide and flat. He flared his wings and came to land gently.
Now that he thought about it though he needed a humanoid form. He reached into Adaline''s memories and looked for the feeling that Adaline had whenever she shifted to her Dark Elf form. It seemed almost instinctual in her memories. Adam reached with his mind for his Johnathan Bennard body and was pleasantly surprised when he felt the Chaos within him envelop his body and in a pearlescent smoke that he stepped out of naked. With an expression of his will some of his Chaos converted to a black jumpsuit and he was once again human in clothes that felt normal to him.
A quick check of his Status Screen verified that he was still an Adamantium Dragon and that all of his attributes were still the same but he was now human. Adam did a little stretching to test his new body''s flexibility and then ran through a couple of martial arts katas which garnered him skill level one in Tae Kwon Do, Judo, and Kung fu. So it seemed that his skills hadn¡¯t transferred into this new existence but his memories once again allowed him to circumvent gaining a new skill. Also, with the message he¡¯d received concerning Stealth, he was pretty sure he¡¯d have no issues hurting anything he hit, or more importantly preventing anyone from hitting him in close quarters.
Adam kept Stealth active and then started making his way through the forest toward one of the small towns he¡¯d seen nearby. Luckily it looked quite small, probably no more than 5,000 or so people in it. He increased his speed until he was easily traveling through the forest at over 100 miles an hour. He also knew that if necessary he could move much faster either by running or jumping.
Adam concentrated for a moment and felt the chaos within him shift as he rose into the air and began flying by will alone. He checked his attributes and noted immediately that his flight was powered completely by his Chaos attribute. It was regenerating at the same rate as his mana but flying was using up his chaos attribute. Not a lot at first but he did not doubt that if he tried to move faster he¡¯d have to spend more. Next, he tried a site-to-site teleport and was pleasantly surprised when that only cost 100 chaos per foot traveled. Since his mana regen was listed at 7.46E+44 currently teleporting a couple of miles wasn¡¯t going to be a problem. Considering he could teleport from Earth to the Andromeda Galaxy for 5.71E+25 Chaos under these restrictions he had some range and he¡¯d be able to do so over and over as his Chaos Regenerated immediately. For a second he wondered what that looked like in the parallel plains and dimensions when he used so much chaos and it refilled just as quickly. Or, did the chaos just wait nearby to be reabsorbed after he¡¯d used it to form an effect before it was reabsorbed back into him? Almost like a Chaos hack? He¡¯d better keep that thought to himself.
So, he didn¡¯t have the Spellweaver ability anymore. His Mold Chaos ability was letting him utilize Chaos as if it were any school of magic. Any school of magic? He tested that by thinking about opening a portal through time one minute into the past for exactly 5 seconds and then closing it. A moment later a portal opened in front of him for five seconds and closed. One minute from the point the portal opened he willed a portal to open one minute into the past, held it open for five seconds, and then let it close. That had been extremely expensive at 1 billion chaos but he¡¯d been able to do it.
WARNING! TEMPORAL ANOMALY DETECTED!
Oh, look it¡¯s you. This is your only warning. Time Travel forward is not restricted. Time Travel into the past is restricted. If your interaction with time causes issues, you and I will have issues. Let''s not have issues.
¡°So traveling back in time to recover all of my loved ones?¡± Adam said jokingly.
Would cause me to have issues with others which would then cause me to have issues with YOU...
¡°Fine!¡± Adam said petulantly even though he knew the others that whoever was running the prompts referred to was already on his shit list and they¡¯d be getting marked off that list someday if he had anything to say about it.
Besides that wasn¡¯t something to worry about right now. Right now he already had an idea about how to bring his loved ones back without using time travel and also, he was coming up to the road that led into a town that looked like something he¡¯d find out somewhere in Idaho or Washington State away from the cities. A small town, set up for hunters, fishers, and loggers.
The people were mostly human though he did notice a few older-looking elves or elf types. Half-Elves maybe. Adam morphed his clothes to a variation of what he saw other men wearing by taking the pattern off one person and using a color that was similar to someone else clothing. When he was done, he ended up with a set of jean-like pants that were off-black with a short-sleeved dull red shirt. He was now a Red Shirt. With the way the System, or whatever it was, seemed to be acting, he hoped it wasn¡¯t a bad omen.
Adam made his way out of town to a bend in the road where he was sure no one could see him near a mountain trail, followed the trail out into the forest, and then turned around and walked back down the trail. Now, anyone who checked would find a trail that back into the forest. He didn¡¯t walk slow but he didn¡¯t walk too fast as he made sure to make the tracks he was making easily discernable for anyone that came to check his story.
As he came up the road into the town proper a group of men and women stood in the road waiting for him.
¡°That¡¯ll be far enough stranger,¡± an elderly human woman called out in common. ¡°What business you be bringing to Cabin Fort?¡±
¡°I was just hiking through the forest and noticed the town, thought I¡¯d try to pick up any news and see if they¡¯re been any changes I should know about since I went on my walkabout,¡± Adam said.
¡°How long have you been out?¡± One of the elders asked.
¡°Honestly, it¡¯s felt like forever,¡± Adam said.
Chapter 231, If I were a Dragon, I might...
¡°Be that as it may, I guess we could use another hand to pack especially seeing as you¡¯ll probably be needing a ride out of the danger zone,¡± The elderly woman said. ¡°My name¡¯s Tisha Meadows. Most just call me Tish. The guy on my right is Calvin and the one on my left is Bob. Yes, short for Robert but he prefers Bob. There are too many others to introduce in the middle of the street so come along and the rest of you, get back to work,¡± Tish said as the crowd dispersed and she led Adam toward a porch with a rocking chair and a bench on it.
Adam stifled a laugh as he saw the arrangement. It was a classic power play. A comfortable chair with an uncomfortable place to sit so people either didn¡¯t want to stay long or come and sit down at all.
¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± Tish asked.
¡°I was admiring the chair and the bench,¡± Adam said honestly.
Tisha looked him over and smiled, ¡°Saw right through that, did you? Must be some type of leader if you understand that the setting is just as important as the conversations.¡±
¡°Yes, I do. Also, my name is Adam. It¡¯s nice to meet you, Tisha,¡± Adam said as he held out his hand.
¡°Likewise,¡± Tisha said as she gave Adam a good firm handshake. So how long have you been out and about? Also, I just need to ask. Do you have your gear stashed in a safe location? We don¡¯t have much crime out here but we do have nosey kids.
Adam looked sheepish for a second as he realized he should have thought about the fact that if he was going to have been hiking for a while he should have had some gear then decided to come clean, ¡°Well Tish you got me there. I don¡¯t even know where I am, to be honest. I know I¡¯m in a forest and I saw a lava spout off to our southeast from a hill near the edge of the forest, but I don¡¯t know where I am.
¡°Do you even know what planet your own Adam?¡± She asked.
¡°You have travelers from other planets here?¡±
¡°Adam, I can¡¯t use my abilities to scan you for some reason so when I say we have magic here, I¡¯m pretty sure you understand what I mean. We have dimensional doorways to other places that come and go. This forest happens to have a lot of them for some reason,¡± Tish said.
¡°So, you have magic then? Good. Let me just say that I came here from elsewhere and yes I am new to your planet,¡± Adam said.
¡°Thought so. Well, as a new arrival, if you¡¯re not going to immediately leave you need to register in one of the bigger cities. The really big ones are quite a ways away. At least 10 days of travel. There is a smaller town a little closer, it¡¯s only about 30 miles or so. Once you¡¯re registered you¡¯ll get a crash course on this world and what¡¯s expected of its citizens. I can give you a crash course if you¡¯d like,¡± Tish asked.
¡°That would be nice,¡± Adam said happily.
¡°Very well, but you need to help out while I fill you in. We need to pack up our belongings and be on the road as soon as possible. It just so happens I have a lot of boxes a strapping young man like yourself can put in the back of a horse-drawn wagon.¡±
¡°That sounds fair,¡± Adam said as Tish led him to the back of the building they were standing near. Boxes had been stacked on the porch and a wagon that had two horses hitched to it. ¡°Is there any specific order you would like these boxes in or just get it all in the wagon?¡± Adam asked.
¡°No order, just make sure the heavy stuff is on the bottom,¡± Tish said.
Adam went over to the stack, picked up a few boxes, and set them down so he could figure out which were the heaviest boxes and then started moving them to the wagon and loading them. While he loaded the wagon Tish continued, ¡°So the world you¡¯re on is called Gemma, as in the Gem of the Cosmos. Seems that you can understand us fine so wherever you are from they must have common, or something similar to it. As you¡¯ve seen, we have some half-elves living with us out here but the elves have their own settlement about an hour north of here,¡± Tish paused for a second as she pointed to the box Adam had just picked up, ¡°If you could put that one toward the front in easy reach, it has the drinks and snacks.¡±
Adam nodded then asked, ¡°So why are you all packing up?
Tish nodded as she said, ¡°Thank you. As for why were leaving, an alert went out earlier today that the magma chamber below us was filling and that there might be an eruption then a geyser of lava shot up into the sky southeast of here about fifty miles. Couldn¡¯t believe it when it was reported on the news. There are also reports that a monster, or monsters were seen in the vicinity so we¡¯re packing up and heading to the town about 30 miles north of us. Not the elvish town, that¡¯s off to the northwest. We¡¯ll be heading north and east a bit. It¡¯s built to handle monster surges and such.¡±
¡°You all have monster surges on Gemma?¡±
Anywhere there¡¯s magic, there¡¯s monster surges Adam. Also, this forest has a nickname, Portal Forest. A lot of people have come from and disappeared into the woods all the time. Those that appear are usually like yourself, without memory of anything similar and talking about being from somewhere else, while those that disappear just vanish without a trace. The best document case happened just about seven years back. A female reporter was getting ready to do a report when she stepped behind a tree to use the bathroom. When she didn¡¯t come back after 10 minutes they went to where she¡¯d stepped behind a tree and found her purse and phone but no sign of her. When the assistant stepped over to pick up her purse he disappeared as well, which the cameraman caught on film. When he returned from getting help whatever had made them vanish was gone. After that the nickname Portal Forest kind of stuck.¡±
¡°Sounds like I was kind of lucky not to run into any portals once I came through then,¡± Adam said.
¡°If you stuck to the paths you should have been fine. People only tend to disappear when they step off a path.¡±
¡°Good to know,¡± Adam said. ¡°What kind of government do you have here?¡±
¡°We have a group of smaller nation-states that elect a group to make decisions for them. That¡¯s all done in the main capital of Athens.¡±
¡°Where I¡¯m from we¡¯d call that a Confederacy,¡± Adam said and then asked, ¡°How much power do the people in Athens have? Do the laws they pass there have to be adhered to or can the nation states opt out?¡±
¡°The laws that come out Athens are the Law,¡± Tish said. Though laws don¡¯t get passed that often. There are two branches of Government. There¡¯s the President who is chosen by the Representatives out of the people who run for the right to be president. Once elected they serve a term of 10 years and cannot be removed, unless they die of course.
Adam mused over the system Tish was describing and immediately saw the holes in it. Athens must be incredibly corrupt if they were responsible for choosing the President, ¡°So let me guess, the representatives create the laws and they don¡¯t become official unless the President signs off on them?¡±
¡°That¡¯s exactly right,¡± Tish said. ¡°The other thing that must happen is that at least 76% of the representatives must agree on any proposed law before it can be sent over to the President for a signature. Gemma has representatives from all over the world from all sorts of races. Getting 76% of those representatives to agree on anything, yeah, good luck with that.¡±
¡°So each nation-state has its own set of laws and its own governing system?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, but even so, there are agencies that transcend boards. As an example, the United Defense Coalition (UDC),¡± Tish said as she pointed over Adam''s shoulder into the sky.
Adam looked over his shoulder and saw a flying airship. Unknown to him before that moment his eyesight had achieved a zoom function and his vision zoomed in and the scale of the ship was astonishing. It looked to be at least a thousand feet long with a deck that was at least 700 feet wide. Unlike the helicarriers in the Avengers movies, there were no engines off to the side. It looked to be kept aloft either by anti-gravity technology or magic. Along the side was one word, ¡®Widehammer.¡¯
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Adam looked back to Tish and asked, ¡°So, why would that ship be heading into the area?¡±
¡°If monsters were sighted as part of the lava geyser breaking free the UDC will move in and try to search and contain any outbreaks. There are ships like that all around the world. They act as mobile headquarters that coordinate all air and land-based responses.¡±
Just then Clive came over, they let out an announcement that a dragon was seen near the geyser. That¡¯s why the Widehammer is over there flying around,¡± he said.
¡°A Dragon?¡± There hasn¡¯t been a dragon sighting in over 100 years,¡± Tish said.
¡°What¡¯s the big deal about dragons?¡± Adam asked.
¡°For a long time dragons were the apex predator in this world. When man, and by man I mean the Elves, Dwarves, Men, and a few other minor races decided that this world was going to move toward a combined future dragons became a problem. They had been tolerated for a long time because some of them helped cull the monster surges that cropped up.¡±
¡°There are good and evil dragons¡¡± Adam said.
¡°There are,¡± Tish agreed. ¡°However, when people started to spread into their territories they were less than tolerant. Also, they were at war with others of their kind, the good ones fighting the evil ones some of our scholars say. Anyway, the war started to bleed into the realms of men, and the UDC, which had been created to primarily deal with monster surges was retasked with taking care of the dragon threat.¡±
¡°I would think the dragons would have had an easy time taking down one or two ships,¡± Adam said thoughtfully.
¡°The reason the UDC prevailed is because the dragons couldn¡¯t stop fighting amongst themselves and the UDC was able to take them on in small numbers. That is just one of the UDC¡¯s carriers. There were over 4,000 such ships on the planet at the height of the war. That was five for every 500 square miles. In areas without dragons, one carrier was left to patrol while the other four moved to problem areas. Ten to twenty carriers and their support craft made short work of individual dragons.
¡°And everyone gets along in the UDC, there are no issues, no chance someone will take over the abuse their authority?¡± Adam asked.
Clive broke into conversation, ¡°Nope, not a chance. All make an Oath to do their utmost to protect the world from monsters and not abuse the trust given to them while they are a member of the UDC. ALL serving members. The Oath is made for a specific duration, after which the individual is released back to their homeland unless their willing to stay. Usually two or four years depending on what the person wants to do. If they decide to stay, they have to swear the Oath for another two or four years.
¡°So the UDC responds to monster surges and keeps the world safe and stays out of the politics for the most part?¡± Adam asked Clive.
¡°That¡¯s about it. The last dragon was chased to the caldera of the volcano and dove right into the lava if you can believe it? Some earth mages came along while the ships patrolled and moved the earth to create the magma chamber and seal the fissure. For the last 100 years or so it¡¯s been pretty quiet in the region.
¡°Yeah, a lot of the ships were decommissioned on account there was no need for them. The UDC is supposed to have just about 1,000 floating carriers to patrol and deal with monster surges,¡± Clive said.
Tish interrupted, ¡°Looks like you¡¯re about done Adam, everyone else is getting in their vehicles and wagons like us and heading out of town. It¡¯s about time for us to do the same. Why don¡¯t you ride on the wagon with me?¡±
¡°I¡¯d be honored, Tish,¡± Adam said.
Adam climbed up on the bench after Tish took her seat and sat down. Tish touched a button and a holographic cover came up around them that looked like it would protect them from the weather while she tugged at the reigns.
The wagon started at a leisurely pace but was soon pulling up behind and keeping pace with the other vehicles in the convoy. The wagon''s speed was assisted by magic in some way though it didn¡¯t look like the horses were exerting themselves. As they headed out of town Adam asked, ¡°So this world, how many continents do you have? Also, it looks like we¡¯re headed north. Besides the cities you¡¯ve mentioned, what else is north of here?¡± Adam asked.
Tish looked thoughtful for a moment then answered, ¡°The first is easy. There are three main continents. The first two take up about 35 and 40 percent of the total land mass of the planet respectively so they are huge and exist through the northern and southern hemispheres. The third continent is about 10 percent of the available land mass and the last 15% is made up of islands. Our water-to-land ratio is right around 55 percent land and 45 percent water. As for your second question, you are on the largest continent in the northern hemisphere. We¡¯re above the equator and as you move north there¡¯s more forest which eventually opens up into an arctic tundra until you reach the ocean.¡±
¡°Do you have a north or south pole?¡± Adam asked.
¡°There is one of course, but there is no land at either location. Both areas are covered in Ice with the ocean floor about 1,000 feet below sea level,¡± Tish said.
¡°How do you know that?¡±
¡°We have some aquatic elves and even aquatic humans that have explored the seas fully. There are even settlements under the oceans, though us land lovers can¡¯t get down there without equipment or magic,¡± Tish said.
¡°Good to know,¡± Adam said as he paused for a moment as he thought about how to bring up his next question. Tish, do you all have Gods here?¡±
¡°Of course we have Gods, are ye daft. Not everyone worships, of course, but we have Gods. They even make appearances from time to time. Besides, why do you think there was a crusade to destroy the dragons? The Priests of the Goddess Aires were one of the major proponents for the destruction of all dragons.¡±
¡°Wait, how do you spell Eris?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Aires, A I R E S, Aires. Why how do you spell Aires?¡± Tish asked.
¡°Where I come from we had a Goddess by the name of Eris in our Mythology that was the goddess of Strife and Discord. Our version was spelled E R I S,¡± Adam said.
¡°Well isn¡¯t that a coincidence? Both names are said the same. Our Aires also stands for discord,¡± Tish said thoughtfully.
¡°Why did Aires want dragons destroyed so badly?¡± Adam asked.
¡°If I remember right, there was something about Dragons ushering in the end of days. There was even a short rhyme, a prophecy of sorts. Let me see if I can remember it,¡± Tis said as she began humming.
Adam took a moment to look around and noticed that they had made good time. Their convoy was coming out of a tree line with them at the back of the line. The forest had been stripped away and looked like there were at least five miles of well-lit open space between the tree line and the town wall which was at least 100 feet high. The Widehammer was off behind him out of sight behind the trees. He¡¯d lost track of it when they were traveling through the forest. He wasn¡¯t too worried. They¡¯d have a hard time tracking him, though they¡¯d probably be able to figure out where he landed and then track him to Cabin Fort, if they had any good trackers. Not that he was too worried about it. He just needed to make sure he was either long gone or he had a good reason to upset this world''s status quo.
Adam was pulled from his thoughts when Tisha said, ¡°I think I have it;
And the day will come
When a Dragon¡¯s run
Will spark the fire
Quenching the earth¡¯s desire
To Belch and consume
To Destroy and Prune
But be not deceived
For from the Dragon Desire
Chaos will Fire
Through the Hearts of all
After which many gods will fall¡±
¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Adam asked
¡°That¡¯s it,¡± Tish confirmed.
¡°Seems a really lame reason to destroy all the dragons. I mean seriously, If I were a dragon and I found out that a Goddess had destroyed all the dragons in the world I¡¯d just been born into or arrived at, I don¡¯t know how I¡¯d feel for sure, but at a guess, Not Happy with her about it,¡± Adam said.
¡°Lucky for us you¡¯re not a dragon and Goddesses can do whatever they want,¡±
¡°That¡¯s not exactly true but I concede your point, from a mortal perspective Goddesses can do whatever they want,¡± Adam agreed.
¡°Well, we don¡¯t have to worry about that. Before we arrive at Ardean I¡¯d like to say thank you for helping me load the wagon. You saved me a lot of time,¡± Tish said.
¡°Not a problem, Tish. I was in the area and the talk we¡¯ve had for the last hour or so has helped me get used to your world. If I might ask, what am I supposed to do now?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Now, we go through the gates and I drop you off at the Welcome Center. Every major town has one right inside the gate. You just walk in. Wait if there¡¯s a line and then declare that you just arrived on the planet. After that, it¡¯s pretty straightforward. They ask you a couple of questions. See if you have any skills they¡¯re willing to trade for. If not, they¡¯ll ask if need help to try to go home or if you¡¯re going to stay they¡¯ll start setting you up with a citizenship. If you decide to stay, there are some more tests you¡¯ll need to take but while you¡¯re there they¡¯ll make sure you¡¯re fed and you have a place to sleep if you need one.¡± Tish explained.
As the wagon came to a stop near a building with a sign that said ¡®Welcome Center¡¯, Adam hopped down off the wagon and turned back to Tish and held out his hand which she took and shook, ¡°Thanks for everything Tish. I¡¯ll look you up once I get settled,¡± he said as he paused for a moment. ¡°If not me one of my friends might come looking for you, to help you out or balance our karma.¡±
¡°Balance our karma?¡± Tish said with a little confusion evident on her face.
¡°You helped me, sometime in the future, I¡¯ll help you,¡± Adam said.
¡°Oh that¡¯s fine, don¡¯t you worry your little head about that. I¡¯ll be just fine,¡± Tish said.
¡°Still, my friends that might come calling would be Adaline, Abi, or Amanda. Could also be a Desirae or Clarence but the first three are the most likely.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll try to remember, but no promises,¡± Tish said with a smile as she made a shooing motion. ¡°Now off with you.¡±
Adam stepped around the wagon, up a couple of steps, and entered the Welcome Center. It had the feeling of 20th-century bureaucracy. So much so that he could have sworn he was at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). There was even a line of people waiting to be seen at one of the five tellers, only two of which had someone working. Adam stepped into the line, which had nine people in front of him to wait his turn.
Chapter 232, I Hate Paperwork!
It turns out that registering as a newcomer to the world was quite easy. Many visitors had made their way to Gemma and most, if not all, found their way back off the planet. The teller had been quite helpful when Adam said he was thinking about staying she gave him Provisional Citizenship, which included an ID, and said,
¡°Now, you need to make your way to Athens and register properly. This Welcome Center just catalogs people who arrive from the Portal Forest. Most go back looking for a way home and are never seen from again. Some, like yourself, decide to stay. To figure out the best fit for you we need to send you to Athens where you can be tested.¡±
¡°What kind of tests,¡± Adam asked.
¡°Strength, hand and eye coordination, some logical thinking and task orienting tests. There are also team building and leadership tests if you want to be eligible for leadership positions in the UDC or the civilian sector. All the nations on Gemma use the tests in Athens as a standard. Also, those tests will help us determine which nation is the best fit for you. While you are human, you might fit better with the elves or dwarves if the style of government you''re used to,¡± the teller explained.
¡°Okay, so how do I get to Athens?¡± Adam asked.
¡°That¡¯s easy, we have a shuttle that heads that way daily around 10 in the morning. It¡¯s about a five-hour flight.¡±
An aide came over and escorted Adam to a small barracks. He was shown where to get something to eat and also given a small room, more a closet, that only had a bed, a nightstand, and a light mounted in the ceiling. Since it was only about two in the afternoon he had to wait until the next morning to head into Athens. The bathroom and shower facility were communal and reminded him of something he¡¯d find at a forward operating base like the ones the military put up in the Middle East. They were clean and functional though, so nothing to complain about.
Currency was in the form of credit which was programmed into his identification card. He could use the card to get anything in the Welcome Center area but if he wanted to purchase items downtown he¡¯d have to go to one of the trade vendors and trade something of value to them. They would then either put credit in his account or he could trade directly for goods.
Adam hadn¡¯t tried any of the abilities that had been locked away. Since there was no time like the present and he had a little time to blow he went into his room, sat on the bed, and reached out with his chaos to check over the room he sat in. As he¡¯d suspected there was an obvious camera in the corner, though it was hidden, and also three cameras that could best be described as microscopic. The technology was advanced but not anything he hadn¡¯t come across before.
Adam focused his will and Molded Chaos to act as his Technomancy skill had in the past. As the familiar feelings started coming in he received an interesting Prompt.
Molded Chaos has added a 5th Secondary Ability to your Soul Core. This action has tied up 5 million points from your Chaos Attribute which cannot be used for any other purpose
Congratulations you have gained the ability Technomancy
Technomancy (5M Chaos Expended) - Mana 1 per second to remain active plus 1 per device-controlled foot distant from the user. Damage: N/A. Energy Type Chaos. Special: This ability allows you to connect to all technological devices within Willpower inversed per square foot. Technological devices without firewall protection can automatically be scanned. Information can automatically be uploaded and downloaded to you, either into your mind or another technological device controlled by Technomancy.
It was interesting that the range of technology was now based on his Willpower. It was also nice that it was using the inverse square law to figure out its radius of effect. If attributes were limited to no more than 100,000 then the maximum range anyone with this ability could possibly have, baring some type of ability that extended its range would be 17 feet. To get that 18-foot radius would require a willpower of 131,072. With his Willpower his range could be out to 155 feet which required a willpower of 4.57E+46 At 7.46E+46 Willpower he couldn¡¯t meet the requirement to get to a range of 156 feet.
It looked like there were some serious limitations on power ranges under the purview of the System here. That also didn¡¯t explain why it was the 5th ability he activated unless, yeah he started this process with the intent to make an ability. When he¡¯d used Obscure and Flight and even his polymorph he¡¯d willed an effect and his Chaos had utilized magic to make it happen. He hadn¡¯t needed an ability. Another ability he might need down the road though would be a dimensional storage area. Adam focused his intent on creating a Shadow Vault and received a new prompt
Molded Chaos has added a 6th Secondary Ability to your Soul Core. This action has tied up 6 million points from your Chaos Attribute which cannot be used for any other purpose
Congratulations you have gained the ability Shadow Vault
Shadow Vault (6M Chaos Expended) ¨C 10 mana to place or withdraw an item from the Shadow Vault. The Inverse Square law is utilized to determine the size of the vault. One side of the cube cannot be longer than the inverse square of the Willpower attribute. For example, an individual with a 10 willpower could not have a storage area of more than 10x10x10 feet or 1,000 cubic feet.
Adam opened his Status Screen and looked for the new tab for Shadow Vault. The dimensions of the shadow Vault were 155¡¯ x 155¡¯ x 155¡¯ or 3,723,875 cubic feet. Not as big as the area that his Place of Power had occupied¡ Speaking of his Place of Power. He had a memory of it, could he access it? Adam concentrated for a moment and tried to open a portal to his entryway.
ERROR - Target Location outside the current maximum range
So, it still existed, or it was implied that his Place of Power still existed he was just so far away from it that he couldn¡¯t open a portal to it, even with his attributes. That would have to be extremely far away. Adam wondered if it was a distance or if it was a dimensional distance, as in so many dimensional boundaries he¡¯d have to cross between here and there.
Back to the task at hand. He now had Technomancy and Shadow Vault again. Now he needed to see if he could use Chaos to convert items and create things he could trade. First, Adam used Technomancy to create a loop for the three cameras so whoever was watching would only see him sitting on the bed while he used Chaos to create a small opal in his hand and then willed it to be permanent. The cost in Chaos was negligible and his regeneration rate refilled the chaos immediately. He was left with an opal. With a thought, he placed it in his Shadow Vault.
Next, he tried making small one-pound bars of silver, gold, platinum, and adamantium. Adam was pleasantly surprised when all four bars appeared. He¡¯d been wondering if he could make inherently magical metals. It looked like the answer was yes. Again he placed each in his Shadow Vault. He released the loop from the cameras and then stood and left the Welcome Center. It didn¡¯t take him very long to find a trade outpost, though this one didn¡¯t seem to be run by the system. It was run by a halfling who had been only too happy to purchase the opal, and the bars of silver, gold, platinum, and Adamantium
They¡¯d haggled for a bit, and Adam was sure he¡¯d still been had, but he walked away with 100 credits for the opal, 50 for the silver, 100 for the gold, 500 for platinum, and 10,000 credits for the Adamantium bars. Adam was sure they were worth way more than that but he wasn¡¯t too worried. If he needed more credits he¡¯d create more things. Right now he didn¡¯t know the economy so he was trying not to make waves. He just wanted some credits in his pocket when he entered Athens tomorrow. Now he had 10,750 credits to his name. That should be enough
On his way back to the Welcome Center Adam scanned the ID card with his Chaos and made sure to memorize it so he could duplicate it if necessary. He also created a lanyard with a plastic cover so he could wear it around his neck under his jumpsuit. Adam made his way to the dining facility, ate a meal, and then headed to his room to get some rest. He¡¯d get up in the morning, take a shower, and then be on his way at 10. Once he arrived in Athens and took a look around, he¡¯d be able to plan his next step.
The rest of his night was uneventful. He woke up in the morning, took a shower, ate some breakfast, and at ten the next morning he was on what could only be described as a flying shuttle bus headed for Athens which was approximately 2,500 miles southeast of his current position. The city was in the southern hemisphere which meant he¡¯d get to cross the equator.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
***
Captain Peater looked at the image of one Adam Bennard on his terminal aboard the Widehammer. It had taken his people the better part of the day to verify and then track the sighting of the dragon. As far as his people had been able to determine the dragon had landed and then disappeared. They¡¯d picked up the trail of a single bipedal creature and tracked it to the town of Cabin Fort which had recently cleared out. From there they¡¯d followed the tracks that led to Ardean. There it had been a simple task to track down Tisha Meadows, the defacto mayor of Cabin Fort, and ask about any newcomers she¡¯d seen.
That was why he was looking at this picture of Adam Bennard. He¡¯d passed all the tests given to him, including the blood test, which showed him to be human with a few unknown markers in his bloodstream. Not uncommon for travelers who had arrived from one of the portals in the forest. Tisha, while not a strong mage had some skill and training and her abilities and spells had not been able to pierce whatever was shielding Adam. Either that or he wasn¡¯t hiding anything, though Tisha had been sure her scans had failed, not just been unable to detect something that wasn¡¯t there. She said she¡¯d know the difference.
So the question became what to do now. Adam, if he was the dragon, had helped the people of Cabin Fort evacuate. Additionally, his geophysicists were going on and on about how if that lava geyser hadn¡¯t happened there would have been a serious eruption that would have been devastating. Captain Peater stood and stepped onto the bridge of the Widehammer, ¡°Communications, send a message to command. Request clearance for site-to-site teleport. Into Athens airspace. We need approval as quickly as possible and an incoming lane for arrival.
¡°Yes, Sir.¡±
Captain Peater picked up a microphone and hit the key to address the ship and all assigned aircraft on patrol around the Widehammer, ¡°This is the Captain, recall all aircraft. Estimated ¡°T¡± in 15 minutes. Secure all aircraft and prepare for jump.¡±
Captain Peater put the mike down and watched as his bridge crew did their jobs. The four Aircraft flying patrols landed simultaneously while the indicator board started showing green lights for every compartment that was ready for teleport.
¡°Sir, Athens has been contacted, coordinates given. Based on your announcement I gave them our estimated arrival time. They responded in the Green and will hold that lane open for an additional 10 minutes. If we¡¯re not there in 10 minutes we¡¯ll have to reestablish clearance. We¡¯re good to go for jump to Athens, Sir!,¡± the communication tech said.
¡°Very well,¡± The Captain said as he looked at the clock, ¡°One minute to jump!¡±
¡°One minute to Jump¡± his Executive Officer parroted on the intercom.
While the Captain waited he thought about what he needed to do when they arrived. Adam was still en route and wouldn¡¯t arrive for another three hours. That should give him just enough time to make his report and then make his way over to the testing center to assess the danger this enigma was bringing to his world.
The jump commenced and the Widehammer teleported from Ardean to Athens. One moment that was over a forest-covered landscape, the next they were above a busy metropolis that stretched out to the horizon with other flying craft all around including a few of Widehammer''s sister ships.
¡°XO, you have the bridge, I¡¯m heading to the Registration and Testing Center. Page me on Comms if you need me,¡± Captain Peater said.
¡°Sir, yes, Sir! Navigation, contact Air Traffic Control and put us in an orbit around the city..¡±
As Captain Peater stepped off the bridge his XO¡¯s voice fell away and he walked quickly to their teleportation chamber which was simply a room with a mage that could cast teleport in it. As he stepped into the room the Mage looked up, ¡°Where to, Sir?¡±
¡°I need a portal to the Registration and Testing Center.¡±
¡°One second sir, she said as she hit a few keys on the monitor before her then said, ¡°Permission received. The closest I could get you is their entry-level building. Something¡¯s going on, a lot of bigwigs are teleporting over there today.¡±
Captain Peater thought about what day it was and realized that today was also graduation day for a few individuals that were joining the UDC. They would be a little busy today, ¡°That¡¯s fine, I¡¯ll make my way from there. Portal please?¡±
The mage concentrated for a moment and a portal shimmered into existence. Captain Peater steeped through and found himself in a very crowded teleportation room with portals opening to his left and right as more people arrived. He stepped forward and made his way to the exit as he headed toward the induction center. He had two hours to get everything prepared before Adam¡¯s shuttle arrived. Hopefully, that would be enough time.
***
Until the last ten minutes of the shuttle ride, the trip had been a little boring. Forest, mountains, and small cities scattered across the land. Some farmland, but not as much as Adam had expected. He¡¯d even seen the Lava Geyser which was still going strong for the first half hour before they were out of range. There had been one weird thing right around an hour after he¡¯d left. His connection to the Astral Plane through his Astral Link had shuddered as a massive amount of mana had been spent. Nothing compared to what he could spend if he wanted to but enough that he¡¯d noticed it. He might have to look into recreating his True Sight and Scan abilities when he had some alone time. For now, he¡¯d just have to wonder what had just happened.
As they came in toward Athens, Adam was pleasantly surprised to see that the city was a cross between technology and ecologically friendly structures with a lot of trees and parks everywhere. Some of the Highrises were living trees. They weren¡¯t just constructions of concrete and steel. Also, the city was huge. After they had flown over the outskirts of the city it had still taken another 10 minutes before they¡¯d come in for a landing at what looked a lot like a bus or train station with slots for the shuttle.
Adam exited the shuttle and followed the signs toward the Registration and Testing Center which was just down the street from where he¡¯d landed. Adam made his way inside, checked in, and was immediately escorted down a hallway to a little room with a desk and two chairs in it.
There was a one-way mirror along one wall and the room was empty save for two chairs across themselves from the table. Adam went to the chair next to the door he¡¯d entered from and sat down. His escort said, ¡°Someone will be with you shortly,¡± and then closed the door, leaving Adam in the room alone.
Adam activated Technomancy and reached out to all the cameras in the area so he could get a better idea of what was going on. Behind the one-way mirror, he detected two men observing him and focusing on their conversation.
¡°And you think he¡¯s a Dragon?¡± an elderly man in a blue suit asked.
¡°I do, though he¡¯s not like any dragon we¡¯ve met before. Also, his blood test comes back as a human which shouldn¡¯t be possible if he was a dragon.¡±
¡°Well Captain Peater, this is your show, how would you like to proceed.¡± Test him as normal. The second series of testing should let us know if we¡¯re going to have any issues.
As you wish Sir¡¯
A technician entered shortly after and started asking questions.
What do you like to do? What is your favorite color? Do you know what level you are? What are your interests? A whole lot of random questions designed to let them know if he was being deceitful. One question drew his attention immediately, ¡°Why can¡¯t our devices and spells detect whether you¡¯re lying or not?¡±
Adam thought about being flippant or trying to evade the question but decided to be honest instead, ¡°Because my attributes are higher than anyone on this planet has ever seen before.¡±
The technician laughed, and made an annotation on their tablet, ¡°A little ballsy but some of the brass likes that. Level 1 and saying your attributes are the highest on the planet. That¡¯s too funny. Okay for this next part, you¡¯re going to step through that door and head to the center of the room, it''s pretty big. I should warn you that if human is not your true form the field that¡¯s activated should pull you out of this form.
¡°Why are you conducting this test?¡± Adam asked.
¡°There was a dragon sighting up north. All recent arrivals are being checked,¡± The Technician said.
Adam would have to hope that his human form was as true a form for him as his dragon form was. He really hoped so. He stood, walked through the door, down the hallway, and made his way to the center of the large room. Honestly, calling it a large room didn¡¯t do it justice. It was at least twice the size of a football stadium. As he walked toward the big red ¡°X¡± in the center of the room he realized that he could easily transform into a Dragon in this place. As he stepped onto the ¡°X¡± a voice called, ¡°Please stand by!¡±
A moment later, Adam felt energy, or more accurately, a lack of energy enter the room. He felt no desire or compulsion to shift so he remained human and waited.
After a moment a new voice called out, ¡°Round One Combat assessment will begin shortly!¡±
Adam watched as a door opposite the one he entered lifted and a man carrying a wooden stick walked toward him. A couple of minutes later the man stopped three feet from Adam, looked him over, and said, ¡°I am your Tester and Instructor, Attack me with everything you have¡±
¡°Yeah, that¡¯s a big no,¡± Adam said.
¡°You will do as I¡
Adam casually bent over to the sand-covered reinforced floor, focused his chi, and performed a single finger punch into the floor which left a finger-sized hole in the sand and the plate underneath. The sand in the area was blown outward, leaving a clear circle on the plate with a hole at its exact center.
The man in front of Adam walked over, looked down at the hole in the ground, up at Adam, and then reached down and ran his hand and fingers over the hole.
As the man was about to say something a klaxon went off and six people teleported into the chamber around Adam and the Instructor. The Instructor looked them over and then addressed the only woman who was wearing a black robe with gold trim that had appeared next to him, ¡°Priestess of Aeris, what is the meaning of this?¡±
¡°My Goddess has charged me with the death of the Dragon before you?¡±
Adam snorted, ¡°If your Goddess wants me dead, she can bring her scrawny ass here and kill me herself. I promise I won¡¯t move.¡±
¡°Blasphemy!¡± one of the acolytes behind Adam called as he launched himself at Adam with a very nasty-looking black blade.
Adam parried easily as he also sent a command to his Status Screen to disable prompts as messages had started popping up as he gained skills. The other four acolytes drew their weapons but stayed back as both the trainer and the female priestess watched the Acolyte attack, Adam. Every attack that was made looked as if Adam were effortlessly blocking it. While Adam hadn¡¯t activated anything like Haste or Stutter Step, his Agility and Dexterity were so high that every attack made against him was moving as if through molasses. A quick twist of the wrist here, a quick tap there and each attack was deflected.
Once Adam had the measure of his opponent, he addressed his instructor, ¡°The blade he¡¯s using is pretty nasty, I can feel the destructive energies coming off of it. If I were to disarm him of his weapon, and then perform a killing strike against him with that weapon, what kind of trouble would I be in with the government?¡±
¡°The laws are pretty specific, while you are a Provisional Citizen of Gemma, you are still a citizen. If you were to kill an attacker with their own weapon, there would be paperwork and an investigation but you probably wouldn¡¯t get into too much trouble. If I were you, I¡¯d worry more about your blasphemous statement and how the Church of Aeris is going to respond,¡± the instructor said.
Adam smiled and then willed his Molded Chaos ability to increase his attack speed by 18 times. When he checked later he found that he¡¯d spent 10 million Chaos to activate that spell-like effect. Because Adam hated paperwork he used one attack on each individual to perform an incapacitating blow. Then he disarmed each of the attackers with a sword and stored them in his Shadow Vault before he returned to his starting position.
To anyone watching it looked like the Adam flickered and then all six of his attackers were lying on the ground unconscious with the weapons they¡¯d teleported in with nowhere to be seen.
The instructor looked at the five males and the female Priestess lying beside him unconscious and then at Adam as he said, ¡°How? No Why?¡±
Adam understood the question, ¡°Why didn¡¯t I just kill them after asking the question?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± The instructor said.
¡°I hate paperwork,¡± Adam said with a grin.
Chapter 233, Information Exchange
Of course, there was still paperwork. A moment after the six acolytes of Aeris were unconscious a rapid response squad appeared around Adam and Instructor Telgard.
¡°Don¡¯t Move!¡± rang out from four of the guards as they pointed some very high-tech-looking guns in their general direction. Two each on the instructor and himself and one on each of the targets on the ground.
A minute later the six individuals were trussed up with some very impressive cuffs and links which immobilized their fingers and arms as they started to come to. They¡¯d also tried to scream or talk but the response team had gagged them and laid them out. A guard would walk up, put his or her boot on the captive¡¯s chest and they¡¯d both disappear.
Once the prisoners were secure four of the guards walked over to Instructor Telgard and Adam, ¡°Instructor Telgard, I¡¯m Captain Branze. We¡¯ll need to escort you both back to headquarters for a debriefing.¡±
¡°Understood Captain,¡± Instructor Telgard said.
Adam just nodded and kept his mouth shut.
Two guards flanked each of them. A moment later Adam felt the familiar tingle of a teleportation field and found himself stepping out of an alcove into a busy office with a lot of cubicles.
The captain led them over to a pair of cubicles that were beside each other and motioned for each to take a seat as one guard remained stationed nearby. The captain addressed Instructor Telgard, but it was obvious he was talking to both of them, ¡°Someone will be with you shortly. We need to review the footage of the incident before we can take a statement. Luckily for us, the induction facility is covered by surveillance.¡±
After the captain turned away, Instructor Telgard turned to Adam and asked, ¡°So, what happened back there?¡±
¡°Not much,¡± Adam said no committedly. ¡°I didn¡¯t kill any of them?¡±
¡°Adam, while we are having a hard time determining anything about you, the one thing that we were able to determine is that you do not have any classes and that your Level, or what some call base, or character, level is only level one.¡±
¡°Wait, you have Character and Class Levels here?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, of course, we have Character and Class Levels. That is the basic measurement we use for all individuals and monsters. Every creature that can earn experience has a Character Level that increases,¡± Instructor Telgard said.
¡°Is the rate of progression 1,000 experience times the new level? You know, 1,000 experience for Level 1, 2,000 experience for Level 2, and so on?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Exactly right,¡± Instructor Telgard said. ¡°Do you not have levels like that where you¡¯re from?¡±
Adam considered how to answer for a moment before he said, ¡°This will be the third system I¡¯ve experienced, well there were more but the additional ones were all generated inside holographic universes inside the first System so yeah, this is the third actual system with leveling I¡¯ve run into.¡±
¡°And you didn¡¯t have Base and Class levels?¡± Instructor Telgard asked.
¡°One system had class levels. One had Character levels, oh wait, that was inside the holographic universe. The Multitude, the name of the first System I encountered, had a system of classes or ranks, including divine ranks.¡±
¡°I wouldn¡¯t know about divine ranks or the ranks of Gods. Here the Gods are so powerful that nothing we have works on them. They¡¯re more powerful than any technology we¡¯ve ever developed and the spells we do have will not scan them or determine what they are. It¡¯s one of the reasons we''re so infatuated with you. Our technology shows you as human but the only spell that works on you is a divination spell that tells us your levels and classes, if any. When you filled out the initial paperwork it showed you as Base Level 1 with No Classes. Was that accurate?¡±
Adam didn¡¯t see any point in lying so he just nodded.
¡°Well then, if you¡¯re just level 1, how did what just happened, happen?¡± Instructor Telgard asked.
Captain Branze stepped back into the room just then and added, ¡°Yeah, I watched the video, we¡¯d also like to know the answer to that question. Additionally, wherever you stored the five swords you picked up. We need those as evidence?¡±
Adam smiled, ¡°Well that¡¯s good. I have some information you want, that you probably don¡¯t know, and I also have some obviously magical items that I could sell for a profit that you want.¡±
Captain Branze looked like he was about to say something so Adam raised a finger and said, ¡°Let¡¯s not be hasty and start making threats when they''re not necessary. I¡¯m willing to trade information for information. In that case, I¡¯d like access to an archive of your digitized historical information. Not sensitive. I simply want to learn about your world history as far back as it¡¯s recorded. Also, not a book, digital please. Also, as much as I can get my hands on. I shouldn¡¯t need more than a day to read all the files if that.
¡°Do you have any idea how much information that is?¡± Instructor Telgard asked.
¡°I have a good idea, yeah. I¡¯ll be fine. As for the swords, this is the one that was used to attack me,¡± Adam said as he withdrew the black blade from his Shadow Vault and placed it on the desk. I¡¯d have put it in a scabbard, but I didn¡¯t grab those.
¡°What about the other four?¡± Captain Branze asked.
Adam grinned, ¡°Let me be the first to share the information I have with you and then you decide whether you want to try to take the swords from me, or if we can come to a mutually beneficial arrangement?¡±
¡°You don¡¯t have any say¡¡± Instructor Telgard started to say when he noticed that Captain Branze had held up his hand.
¡°Please, continue,¡± Captain Branze said politely.
¡°So, the quick and dirty that I¡¯ve been able to piece together by my appearance here and my previous experiences leads me to believe that there are multiple Systems or multiple System entities throughout the breadth of reality or realities. During each of my previous incarnations, and this one my ¡®base¡¯ level, what I think of as Character Level, and the Class levels I¡¯ve gained are reset to either zero or one, depending on where the leveling system starts. This usually resets my attributes as well, though I have unique abilities that seem to let me bypass or cheat that reset,¡± Adam explained.
¡°None of the other visitors that arrived through the portals in the forest ever described anything like what you¡¯re telling us?¡± Instructor Telgard said.
¡°My guess is that they were from somewhere else within this System. In all my travels I have not met anyone else that has traveled between systems, well except for this one man, but I think he was a God of some sort,¡± Adam said.
¡°And what happened in the Arena?¡± Captain Branze asked.
¡°Did you know that this System has set a limit to the maximum any of your attributes can be?¡± Adam asked instead of answering.
¡°How do you know that?¡± Captain Branze asked.
¡°Because I received a detailed system message letting me know that,¡± Adam said as he willed the Warning he¡¯d received to become visible for both of them to see?¡±
WARNING! The maximum natural attribute for this creature is 100,000. Any attribute above this limit cannot be raised by natural attribute training or leveling.
¡°Wait, what?¡± Instructor Telgard said with a look of surprise on his face.
Captain Branze looked thoughtful for a moment before he muttered, ¡°What level would someone have to be to get an attribute that high?¡±
¡°To get one attribute to 100,000, forgoing all other attributes and not including attributes for class levels, level 25,000. To get all eleven base attributes to 100,000 from just your base level, that would be level 275,000,¡± Adam said.
¡°That¡¯s not possible,¡± Instructor Telgard said.
¡°Yeah, not possible,¡± Captain Branze said as a look of shock crossed his face, ¡°Wait, you would have only received that Warning if you had an attribute at 100,000¡¡± he said wonderingly.
¡°A minimum of 100,000,¡± Adam affirmed.
¡°So, the Arena?¡± Instructor Telgard asked.
¡°I was letting off a little steam, that¡¯s all. Nobody died did they?¡± Adam asked.
¡°No, no one died,¡± Captain Branze agreed, ¡°Still, we¡¯d like to recover all of the weapons you picked up off the acolytes you knocked out.¡±
¡°As I said, I¡¯m willing to trade. A look at your history for the information I just provided and how about some credits for the four blades I still have? 25% of their current market value should be¡¡± Adam¡¯s voice dropped off as he noticed the look both men were giving him. Adam laughed as he pulled the four blades out of his Shadow Vault and placed them on the desk, ¡°Yeah, I was just messing with you a bit to see what kind of rise I could get out of the two of you.¡±
¡°You want us to believe that you don¡¯t care about the money?¡± Instructor Telgard asked.
¡°Believe what you want,¡± Adam said as he created a ten-pound block of gold and placed it on the table with his ability Molded Chaos.
¡°What!¡± Captain Branze exclaimed.
Adam smiled, ¡°Keep it, if I need another, I¡¯ll create it.¡±
¡°You can just make gold out of thin air?¡± Captain Branze asked.
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¡°I can make whatever I need out of thin air, but let''s not get sidetracked. While you two think of all the questions you¡¯d like to ask me could you make the database with your history files available?¡±
¡°I can, but you won¡¯t be able to go through it for a while?¡± Captain Branze said.
Adam just smiled as he repeated, ¡°If you could just make that database available.
While Captain Branze reached for the monitor and keyboard, Adam activated Technomancy and followed along. Once the database was available he started downloading the data into his mind as fast as the system could handle. Which was, arguably, pretty damn fast at 100 petabytes a second. Adam closed his eyes and massaged his temples for the 10 seconds it took him to download and absorb Gemma¡¯s history.
Adam opened his eyes. Captain Branze and Instructor Telgard looked at him until Captain Branze asked, the information is right there, do you want to look it over?¡±
¡°I¡¯ve already looked it over and assimilated it. Very interesting history for this planet. No planetary conflicts and your people seem to get along okay. The only thing of note that I noticed was the purge of the dragons, The files don¡¯t really go into why that was required?¡±
It was called for by the Gods,¡± Captain Branze and Instructor Telgard said simultaneously.
Adam frowned. That sounded like a preprogrammed response. Using Captain Branze¡¯s clearance as a template, he accessed the terminal and then bypassed his security clearance by creating a new security clearance. Technomancy allowed him to recognize and alter the coding as well as encode and hide the new clearance and identity he¡¯d just created. Something had been off since he heard that the Gods ordered the destruction of the dragons so he was creating an identity that could bypass the highest restrictions because he wanted to go fishing for information in a couple of the more secure areas.
Once he had his identity, Adam created a search algorithm that looked for patterns around the time the Dragons were wiped out. As the data started coming in a pattern formed. And of course, it was easy enough to discern. Next, he sent out commands to do a breakdown of worldwide coverage with emphasis on areas with gaps in both satellite and carrier coverage. Supposedly there were enough carriers to cover the whole world so there shouldn¡¯t be any gaps.
As his investigation progressed he discovered that nine of the carriers that were ¡°patrolling¡± some remote areas on all three continents had not had a crew change in years. They moved back and forth between the nine remote areas but they hadn¡¯t been anywhere else In a very long time. Also, there was no satellite coverage of those nine areas. Adam had sent requests for coverage but the satellites had been programmed to ignore all orders to photograph and look at those areas and it looked to be hard-coded into the satellites. He could fix that, but he¡¯d have to visit the satellite or open a portal to bring it within range of his Technomancy ability. Each area was only about 50 miles in diameter but still, but it still caused Adam some concern.
Adam''s thoughts were interrupted when Captain Branze asked, ¡°Adam, what are you doing?¡±
¡°I¡¯m trying to establish patterns from your historical information?¡± Adam said honestly.
¡°But you¡¯re not even sitting at the terminal,¡± Instructor Telgard pointed out.
¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve already downloaded and sorted the information you provided,¡± Adam said.¡±
Both Captain Branze and Instructor Telgard looked at Adam and then back at each other with an obvious air of disbelief in their gazes.
¡°Yeah, I get that a lot,¡± Adam said ¡°Anyway, the first thing you should know is that in both the other systems I encountered, divine intervention was rare. Extremely rare. When I heard that the dragons had been wiped out by divine decree part of me was wondering how that would be possible. Especially when I heard the tale of the dragon that had been chased into the caldera. By the way, do you happen to know what type of dragon that last one was?¡± Adam asked.
Instructor Telgard looked thoughtful for a moment before he said, ¡°The reports I saw from that era said it was a silver dragon, it dove into the lava and was never seen again. Everyone thought it died.¡±
¡°Yeah, and no,¡± Adam said definitively. ¡°Most likely that dragon was an Adamantium dragon. It would have been just fine in the lava.¡±
¡°You mean like the dragon that flew out of the lava geyser?¡± Captain Branze asked.
¡°Not the same dragon, but yes, just like the dragon that came out of the lava geyser,¡± Adam said with a slight smile.
¡°What does that have to do with the Divine and the dragon hunt?¡± Captain Branze asked.
¡°Well, during my research I discovered that all historical reports indicate that Gold, Silver, Bronze, Copper, and Adamantium dragons were targeted and hunted to extinction. Compared to the Red, Black, Green, Blue, and purple dragons,¡± Adam said then paused for a moment. ¡°Purple dragons?¡± he said questionably. ¡°I¡¯ll ask about that later. Anyway, comparatively for every colored dragon that was killed, five times as many metallic dragons were killed. What is the major difference between the colored and metallic dragons here?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Historical records indicate that it was much more likely that colored dragons would be evil and less likely to work with the races of men and women than the metallic dragons,¡± Captain Branze said.
¡°Exactly!¡± Adam said. ¡°When I realized that this pattern existed I started looking for other patterns. Did you know that you have 9 carriers that patrol the same nine areas of the planet? Did you also know that no one has been assigned to or transferred from those ships in over 100 years?¡±
¡°Wait,¡± Captain Branze said with shock, ¡°Are you saying you hacked our military network?¡±
Adam nodded his head up and down as he said, ¡°No, I didn¡¯t say that. What I said was that you have 9 ships that have crew members that haven¡¯t been changed since the last reported dragon sighting before yesterday.¡±
¡°You can just break in and look at whatever you want?¡± Instructor Telgard said indignantly.
Adam looked thoughtful for a second before he shrugged and said, ¡°Yes. Yes, I can.¡± Anyway, I thought I¡¯d let you know that, ¡°Adam said as he had a file sent to Captain Branze and Instructor Telgard. ¡°I just sent you both copies of the information I discovered. Before I head off, I just wanted to let you both know, that Yes, I am the Dragon that appeared at the top of the Lava Geyser yesterday. No, I¡¯m not going to stay and talk, though I will be back, and we can talk then. I¡¯ll stay in touch through your satellites. I have the frequency of your encrypted channels; it¡¯ll be easy enough for me to contact you from this point on.¡± Adam said as he teleported straight up to an area that was clear of all air traffic.
As Adam appeared he used Molded Chaos to activate Flight and Obscure. He really didn¡¯t see the point in turning those two effects into abilities again. They seemed to work just fine when powered by chaos. Adam looked around while he used Molded Chaos to create a data entry port for himself and connected to the satellite network. While Technomancy had a short range, compared to what he had before, it was nothing for him to visualize and download a virus using Technomancy that started acting as his eyes, ears, and hands within the digital network. Within thirty seconds he had a real-time map of all air traffic around him and current data of the areas he needed to travel to. He didn¡¯t release a copy of Thor or Al, they existed elsewhere. No, this was a semi-sentient program that had minimal functionality that may or may not rise to full sentience depending on environmental factors.
Sure, he didn¡¯t have nanites everywhere now. No, he couldn¡¯t automatically know where everything was because he wasn¡¯t linked to everything. But, he hadn¡¯t started out with nanites back on Earth at the very beginning either. He could still create nanites to make minor modifications to himself to so that he could interface with technology but, it was much easier to do so with the chaos coursing through him. It also felt more natural to him. He wasn¡¯t going to spread nanites into this Universe, dimension, or reality yet. He might, but not yet. Adam really wanted to delve into a few thoughts he¡¯d had when that Aspect of Justice had tried to shred his soul. Something about that hadn¡¯t been sitting right with him for a while. Not since his attack and the attacks against that had ¡°killed¡± his friends and family.
Right now, though, Right now, he was going to go check out the closest location to his current position and see if the Dragons being killed by the gods had just been a ruse, and if so, well those that had created the ruse were about to have a very bad day. He¡¯d make sure of it. Adam increased his speed to 2,800 miles per hour, just under Mach 4,
One thing about not having the Freedom of Flight ability anymore. Friction hurt. His body was sturdy enough to take the damage and his regeneration rate easily replaced any damage he took but he still had to consciously block out the pain. Also, he shredded his jumpsuit. He¡¯d either have to come up with a material that could take the damage, or he¡¯d have to fly around naked. Sure, he could fly around naked but there was nothing cool looking about that.
After a minute he slowed down and shifted back into his Dragon Form. He was still invisible, but he found his ability to fly, and the streamlining of his dragon form flowed through the air easier. Additionally, his scales seemed to dissipate any friction he generated. Not too shabby if he didn¡¯t say so himself. Flying normally, he was able to increase his speed back to 2,800 miles per hour. If he wanted to, he could go much faster. With that thought, he altered course straight up and accelerated to his maximum speed.
That was a mistake.
The one thing about being an Adamantium Dragon that he¡¯d failed to realize was that his scales were Adamantium which meant that he could take a lot more punishment than just his attributes allowed for. At the moment he decided to accelerate away from the earth at his maximum speed his vision narrowed to a single dot of light that disappeared as he moved faster than the photons of light could register against his vision. Adam shot away from Gemma at 7.46E+46 times the speed of light. That wasn¡¯t as fast as he could go either. That was only how fast he could achieve before the Chaos in his system was exhausted and bottomed out. Truthfully he¡¯d expected his speed to reduce when he reached the vacuum of space but the inherent nature of being an Adamantium dragon made the domain of space his playground which he could fly through as if it were normal air.
Adam did some quick math. He had traveled 2.4E+39 Light Years from Gemma. Well, shit. It was going to take almost two minutes to replenish his Chaos and then he¡¯d have to max it out again so he could get close enough to Gemma to teleport back to the planet. He was way too far away to open a portal or try to teleport. Instead, he looked himself over, which wasn¡¯t very hard since all the scales that were towards the front of his path, the leading edges of his wings, shoulders, and head, all seemed to be glowing. Other than a little bit of residual heat he seemed to be fine. If he tried moving that fast while in his human form, he¡¯d probably evaporate, so best not to do that again. Also, navigating while moving that fast had been impossible. Maybe if he had a mapping ability, but no, right now he¡¯d just slow things down a bit and use teleport or portal for long distances until he figured out how to have his perception beat the speed of light, which ultimately was going to be something he wasn¡¯t going to be able to do, he just had a feeling about that.
Once his Chaos pool was refilled, he adjusted his target vector using the Heads Up Display he¡¯d created and targeted the direction he¡¯d come from. Because he hadn¡¯t expected to travel that far he didn¡¯t have an exact position of Gemma. If he was off just a little he¡¯d miss by a lot but, still, he¡¯d be much closer than he was right now. Adam increased his velocity for one second and found himself floating in space without any planets nearby. Two minutes later, after he¡¯d refilled his chaos pool again, he teleported back to his position above the induction Arena in Athens on Gemma which thankfully had only cost him 10 million mana which meant that he¡¯d been relatively close to Gemma, as compared to the distance he had just come back from.
This time he kept things respectable and headed toward the first location he wanted to check out which was in the mountains about 3,000 miles to his northwest. This first location was about 5,000 miles due west of where he appeared from the Lava Geyser. This time Adam increased his speed to a respectable Mach 8, or 5,600 miles per hour, and made it there in about 22 minutes. It was closer to 30 minutes because he grew closer to the mountains he slowed down.
While he was invisible his movement did disperse the air which left a footprint that could be tracked. He watched as the flying carriers along his path diverted course only to receive orders from UDC command to return to their patrol routes. It looked like whatever was running things did not want the carriers to see what was going on in this remote location.
This actually made sense as Adam slowed down and swapped back to his human form. When he was 51 miles from his target Adam saw a shimmer in the air that spread out before him around the circumference of the 50-mile radius. Utilizing the GPS Adam stayed just over fifty miles out from the center of the target area and began flying around the circle. He noticed the shimmer going from the ground into the sky at least three miles high. Also, the shimmer seemed to curve up toward a center point. So, the shimmer formed a 50-mile circumference dome with a height of about 4 miles at the center above the mountains and hills below.
Adam moved up to the shimmer and reached out. As his hand passed through the curtain of energy he willed his body to follow. As he passed through the field a ripple of energy was clearly visible which caused a red dragon flying nearby to divert its course and come investigate. Adam watched as it drew close and came to hover within fifty feet of him. The red dragon¡¯s eyes darted to and fro as he looked directly at where Adam had emerged and all around. At about 300 feet long it wasn¡¯t a juvenile, nor was it an ancient worm. Adam watched as the red dragon took two big breaths through its nose and then smiled before it said, ¡°So, NOT dead. You cannot hide your scent from me Adjra. You can mask it in humanity and even change your sex, but I would know your scent anywhere. Have you finally come to join us, or did you come to die among your own kind?¡±
Chapter 234, If It Works!
Adam floated 10 feet in front of the red dragon as he dropped his invisibility. He immediately felt the change in the dragon and tried to say something as the dragon''s muscles tensed and he prepared to strike, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t do that if I were¡¡±
Adam never finished the sentence because the red dragon''s maw flashed forward surrounded him and tried to close. As the dragon''s teeth and jaw broke against his body and blood flowed down all over him, Adam finished his sentence, ¡°¡you.¡±
The dragon was in so much pain that his wings had stopped flapping and he started to lose altitude. Adam watched him drop as he checked his combat prompts.
Red Dragon Bite Attack
Base Damage 24 + Strength Bonus +56 = 80 Total Damage.
Minimum Damage Threshold: ERROR!
Durability Damage done to weapon (Teeth)¡Destroyed.
Damage Transferred to Jaw¡Jaw shattered.
Dragon takes 159 of 172 Hit Points.
Constitution Check Failed
Dragon knocked unconscious.
Adam watched as the dragon fell to the ground and then a new message entered his combat log
Red Dragon strikes ground for 56 points of damage.
Red Dragon Killed
Congratulations you have helped kill a Young Adult Red Dragon. As you are directly responsible for 92.4% of the damage and indirectly responsible for the terrain damage, 100% of the experience award is awarded to you.
Red Dragon Level 100.
Adamantadine Level 1.
Dragon is more than four times greater than your current level. Experience adjusted accordingly.
Base Experience Award: Level x 100 XP.
Base XP Award: 10,000 XP
Double XP Award when the challenge is more than 2 times the current Level.
Quadruple XP Award when the challenge is more than 4 times the current Level.
Octuple XP Award when the challenge is more than 8 times the current Level.
Sexdecuple XP Award when the challenge is more than 16 times the current Level
There are no additional awards for killing creatures more than 16 times your current level.
SYSTEM NOTE: If you¡¯re killing creatures 16 times higher than your current level something is broken with the System, You know it, The System knows it and you are NOT receiving an additional award. Take your bonus XP and be happy we allowed the bonus to reach this level.
Also, pick on something your own size!
!ERROR!
Total XP Award: 160,000 XP
Adam read over the SYSTEM NOTE and realized that the System here must really have a problem with something as powerful as him showing up. Even so, he knew the System was doing its job when he received his next Prompt.
Congratulations, you have reached Levels 1 ¨C 17. You have 68 attributes to distribute.
Adam assigned his attributes, but he knew they didn¡¯t really matter. He was boosting all of his attributes with Chaos anyway so a couple of points here and there wouldn¡¯t matter. Though he did take the time to spread them out evenly which left him 13¡¯s in all of his base attributes except Charisma and Luck, which were 18¡¯s before he added Chaos.
Adam was brought out of his thoughts by a loud roar before he was hit with the intense heat of a fire-based breath weapon of another dragon. Fire washed over and around him. As Adam looked around he noticed that another Red Dragon, one much bigger than the one that had attacked him and died had swooped in from above and strafed him. If he was being honest, he hadn¡¯t noticed it because he wasn¡¯t paying attention. This red dragon at least had enough intelligence to note that Adam hadn¡¯t moved during the attack, nor did he appear to have been affected by it. The huge red dragon took this in and glided over to hover fifty feet in front of Adam.
Adam continued to float and waited. The Red Dragon projected its aura in an attempt to strike fear into Adam which merely caused him to raise an eyebrow, Spock style. After waiting a few moments the large Red Dragon spoke in a guttural voice filled with controlled rage, ¡°You killed my son!¡±
Adam nodded, as he replied, making sure to project his voice so he could be easily heard, ¡°I can see how that would anger you if it were true. Technically, the ground killed him.¡± Adam watched as the Red Dragon controlled his rage and his eyes went crafty.
¡°Will you fight me or do I swat you from the sky like a fly? the Ancient Dragon bellowed.
Adam quirked his mouth as he thought about what to say then simply decided it wasn¡¯t worth his time to kill this old wrym if he didn¡¯t have to so he said, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what, I¡¯ll give you one attack, one!¡± Adam said as he held up a single finger, ¡°which I will not retaliate against or dodge. It must either be a claw attack or a tail swipe. I will not be responsible for you killing yourself as well if you try to bite me. If I¡¯m lying either of your two attacks should kill or maim me. If I¡¯m not lying we will talk, amicably. As a fair warning, know that you will probably damage whichever appendage you strike me with.
¡°I accept!¡± The Ancient Dragon stated a moment before his tail whipped around and struck Adam''s head as if he was trying to knock a baseball out of the ballpark. The Wyrm had enough control to make sure that only the last portion of the tip of his tail hit Adam¡¯s face which was a very smart move on his part.
Adam had perceived the attack long before it had hit and had locked himself spatial to the location he was in. The move had been instinctive and racial. He became an immovable object that wasn¡¯t going to budge no matter how hard he was hit, which was very bad for the tip of the tail that struck his head. The scales and flesh of the tail pulverized as Adam was covered in pulped flesh and blood again as the tip of the tail exploded and the Dragon before him grunted. The dragon curious to see what had caused it so much pain brought the tip of his tail up to his eyes where both the Dragon and Adam could see that the last five feet of the dragon''s tail was a ragged mess. Adam also noted that the tail was already regenerating. An old Wyrm indeed.
The dragon''s eyes narrowed and he was about to say something when Adam shifted into his Adamantium Dragon form and released his full Aura. One thing Adam noticed immediately was that his Aura followed the inverse square law rules of energy dissipation, but it seemed that the energy fell off at a greater distance than one foot. Adam knew this because the red dragon was just about 50 feet away from him and the Red Dragon¡¯s aura of intimidation and fear folded like a house of cards in a hurricane. As Adam¡¯s aura washed over the red dragon his muscles froze, his wings stopped flapping and he started to fall out of the sky.
Adam rushed forward and reached out with his tail around the Red Dragons wings and arms as he lowered the red dragon to the forested ground on the hillsides below them. As they landed Adam released his aura and came to land in front of the Red Dragon as he recovered from Adam¡¯s aura by taking a few deep breaths. As the red dragon recovered he looked at Adam and sighed as he transformed into a gruff-looking human with a head of red hair and a beard to match. He stumbled over to a nearby tree that had fallen when he landed and sat down heavily.
Adam switched to his human form, walked over, and took in the ¡°Old¡± Man.
¡°We always knew there would be a reckoning?¡± the old man said as he looked up and met Adam¡¯s eyes. ¡°I can smell the scent of Adjra on you. Are you her brother or father?¡±
¡°I believe I¡¯m her son?¡± Adam said honestly.
¡°Her son, yet so powerful?¡±
¡°Yeah, reincarnations a bitch. I was human once upon a time, I found myself waking up and hatching from an egg, and well, now I¡¯m an Adamantium Dragon,¡± Adam said honestly.
¡°How is that possible, Adjra, your mother was last seen over 100 years ago. Since we haven¡¯t run into you before you must be a youngling or newborn, yet your body is that of an adult?¡±
¡°I¡¯m not going to give away all my secrets for nothing old man. You¡¯ve felt my power. I¡¯m sure you understand you have no chance if you attack so how about we trade? You tell me something and I¡¯ll tell you something?¡±
¡°An information exchange? That¡¯s reasonable. As you have verified that you are the son of Adjra it is your turn, ask your question?¡±
¡°Why the ruse concerning the nine areas that seem to be ruled by dragons?¡±
¡°Simple answer, the world was becoming crowded, and we needed a refuge. The longer answer, we grew lazy.¡±
¡°Lazy?¡± Adam asked encouraging him to elaborate.
¡°Have you looked around yet?¡±
¡°Not yet, I just arrived,¡± Adam answered.
¡°If you have some form of invisibility, go fly around this ¡®sanctuary¡¯ and then come back here. I give you my word that I will not move or let anyone else know you¡¯re coming. Besides, I believe even Aeris would have a problem dealing with you so I¡¯m happy to take a break if you¡¯re willing to talk?¡±
¡°Very well, you wait here, and I¡¯ll be back shortly,¡± Adam said as he willed himself invisible and then launched into the air and headed toward the center of the sanctuary.
Adam gained altitude until he was cruising along about a mile above ground. This allowed him to see what was going on at ground level as well as what was happening in the air around him. As he flew over the hills he saw men and women of all races running this way and that as they tried to get away from young dragons of all colors that were hunting them mercilessly.
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Adam immediately noticed that there seemed to be a barrier where people were hunted and where villages and even small towns cropped up. Unlike the towns and cities, he¡¯d seen before these towns looked more like medieval places without electricity or the conveniences of the modern world. As he looked closer he saw that a train came from underground where people were ushered out, separated, and led away. Some were led deeper into the towns where they entered buildings while others were led to the edge of the city toward the hunting grounds for the dragons, stripped, and thrown outside. Adam flew close enough to listen as a group of five people, three women and two men had just been tossed through a door that slammed behind them. A guard on the wall above peered through an open hatch and called down to them
¡°Alright, you rebel scum, Listen close. While we do not summarily execute anyone on Gemma we do have a death penalty of sorts and guess what your sentence is? Anyway, this area is a dragon sanctuary. The young are out in the forest around you while we are safe behind this wall. You are not safe. The good news is that the area you¡¯re in is only 10 miles across. If you can make it to the other side without dying, you¡¯ll be brought back here to become citizens of Gemma once again. If you don¡¯t make it, well dragons need to eat, don¡¯t they?¡±
Adam watched as one of the prisoners was about to speak and the guard simply closed the hatch he¡¯d been calling down to them through and walked away. By his demeanor and attitude, Adam picked up that he wasn¡¯t going to waste his time on the five prisoners because he already considered them dead.
Adam considered helping the five but he still didn¡¯t know enough about what was going on to offer any kind of solution, so he continued toward the center of the sanctuary. As he did so he noticed that the towns became more frequent, and the people here started to take on a more religious tone to their dress and movements. There were more temples depicting dragons as well as quite a few dedicated to Aeris. As Adam approached the center of the 50-mile radius he noticed shuttles coming down from high altitude and exiting along the same vectors which were almost vertical descents and ascents. There were also some dragons flying around, all of which were older and seemed to be flying between destinations, not performing patrols and such.
Adam took it all in and returned to the small clearing where the Old Red Dragon, now in man form, sat on the log. As Adam came in for a landing, the old man looked up and didn¡¯t seem at all surprised when Adam reappeared from invisibility after switching back to his human form.
¡°If I might ask, how did you know I was back? I¡¯m pretty sure my invisibility makes me undetectable to almost everything?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Almost everything is correct,¡± The Old man said, ¡°I could smell you?¡±
¡°You could smell me? Do you think the other dragons I flew near and around smelled me also?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, but only a few would have known what it was and been unable to find you based on your scent alone. However, they are probably looking for whatever created the scent they can¡¯t define in this sanctuary.¡± The Old Dragon explained.
¡°By the way old timer, what should I call you?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I go by Fenris, it¡¯s a nickname I received a long time ago and I kind of liked it, so it stuck,¡± Fenris said.
¡°Very well Fenris, let me see if I can guess what you have going on here. The dragons worked to wipe out all the good dragons and then set up nine incubation zones around the world. Each of those is cut off from the rest of the world for the most part. Something I saw leads me to believe that political activists and criminals are being brought here for reprogramming or to act as hunt targets for your young while the rest are added to the clergy of Aeris and sent back out into the world to act as spies. In this way, the Dragons have kept control of the races all over Gemma and prevented anyone from knowing what has really been going on?¡±
Fenris looked at Adam with a little surprise before he asked, ¡°You picked up all that in the little bit of time you were away?¡±
¡°It wasn¡¯t hard. Also, I¡¯d already reviewed a lot of classified files within the UDC so knew something was influencing them, I just didn¡¯t know what. I also didn¡¯t know that people were being hunted and eaten like game animals or cattle.¡±
¡°They¡¯re not dragons, they are game animals or cattle to us?¡± Fenris said.
¡°Yeah, that¡¯ attitude really doesn¡¯t work for me, but I do understand your point of view, or I can at least understand why you would think that way,¡±
¡°My turn for a question?¡± Fenris asked.
¡°I¡¯ve asked a couple now, go ahead,¡± Adam said.
¡°Very well, what are you?¡±
¡°I¡¯m an Adamantium Dragon who has polymorphed into a human right now?¡± Adam said.
¡°That¡¯s not what I meant. Are you a mortal or are you a God?¡± Fenris asked.
¡°I¡¯m not a God, as far as I know. I¡¯m more than a mortal though?¡± Adam said before he asked, ¡°Is Aeris a God or is she a Dragon masquerading as a God, which by the way is my guess?¡±
¡°She is a Dragon masquerading as a God and quite powerful in fact. Probably as close to godhood as is possible here.
¡°Interesting, where is she?
¡°She¡¯s in Athens of course?¡± Fenris said.
¡°Seriously, she¡¯s masquerading, let me guess, she¡¯s masquerading as an Elf, isn¡¯t she? Probably as a High Priestess of Aeris,¡± Adam said as he mused the idea over in his mind.
¡°Yes,¡± Fenris said.
¡°Very well, I guess it¡¯s time to go big or go home,¡± Adam said. ¡°My suggestion to you is that you get all the dragons together and prepare to go into hiding. I am one of those types of people who believe in karma so whatever is about to happen to the dragons that remain in this world, well you all probably had coming. That said, I understand that not all dragons were involved so this is your warning. I¡¯m about to make knowledge of the nine sanctuaries public. I¡¯m also going to go talk with Aeris.¡±
¡°Why would you do this, Feris asked.
¡°Because it¡¯s the right thing to do. This world is currently being tricked into worshiping a false god who is actually a dragon masquerading as a God. Once I put a stop to that, there will be a reckoning,¡± Adam said.
¡°Let them come, we will kill them all?¡± Fenris said.
¡°You have been warned of my intentions, perhaps we¡¯ll meet after the fallout, perhaps not,¡± Adam nodded once and flew off towards the southwest at Mach 10. Not so fast that the friction would be more than his regeneration rate could handle or his perception couldn¡¯t take in his surroundings. As he reached one mile up he switched to his dragon form and remained visible. He wanted everyone to see him.
As Adam headed toward Athens at 7,300 miles per hour, he had just over 16 minutes to activate Technomancy and create a computer virus that would tie up any technological devices which was more than enough time because, of course, he cheated. Instead of creating a computer virus he pulled the memory of Thor''s original programming and released a semi-sentient artificial intelligence into the network that multiplied and spread. Within the first five minutes all networked computer systems, which included all of the floating carriers and the aircraft on board had been compromised. His instructions had been direct and simple, no weapons system could lock onto or attack him. That ruleset was in place as he flew into position above the center of Athens in his Adamantium Dragon Form and hovered for a moment before he bellowed, ¡°Aeris!¡±
Adam floated there as ships tried to engage only to veer off as their computers took over and refused to allow their pilots to engage against Adam. This was also true for the Anti-Air and ground-based defenses. Floating a mile up a few high-caliber rifles and energy weapons that weren¡¯t computer-controlled were fired at him but his damage resistance of 7.46E+43 completely negated any damage they might have done.
Adam floated there and waited as aircraft flew in circles around him until a troop transport flew within 100 feet of him. Adam knew what they were going to try to do and allowed his Chaos-aspected nanites to spread out around him and break down any physical weapons fired at him. When the military personnel opened the side door and fired their net gun at him to try to grapple and drop him out of the sky the net evaporated before it came within 50 feet of him. That caused all the men onboard to open fire. Becoming bored with the altercation, Adam tweaked the programming in the nanites and all of their weapons within 156 feet of him started evaporating as well.
Adam had his voice projected over the frequency the soldiers were using so that the pilots and all the soldiers in the vicinity could hear him, ¡°Next time your aircraft melts out from under you, now go away!¡±
While the UDC was deciding how they were going to respond, Adam converted some of the Chaos-Aspected Nanites into normal Nanites to see if they could survive within the System of this Universe. They were quantumly linked to him as gravity took hold and they floated to the ground below. He didn¡¯t lose communication with them and they were able to remain functional. It seemed that the system within this Universe didn¡¯t automatically destroy them, nor was the magical density automatically destroying them. Maybe that had been something someone had added in the previous systems.
Regardless, that was going to make this a whole lot easier. Using his Chaos, Adam started converting his subatomic Chaos Aspect Nanites into their quantumly compacted versions. He¡¯d done this so many times now as himself and Thor that getting the process started was second nature. The nanites started to spread and replicate as they infiltrated and converted 1% of all inorganic matter. When they tried to spread into organic materials, that¡¯s when the System safeguards made themselves known. Any nanite that tried to enter living animals or plants was immediately rebuffed. So he could have his nanites spread through inorganic matter but not organics, good to know. Adam altered his plans and opened microscopic portals to eight other equal-distant points around the planet so that nanites could fall through and spread even faster as he modified their programming to only enter organic materials.
While his Semi-sentient virus tied up the computers that were networked his nanites started infiltrating and taking over all computer-based systems they came in contact with. In the first minute, Adam had a radius out to about 1,000 feet around all nine points on the planet he had his nanites spreading out into. After five minutes the radius was a mile and expanded exponentially each minute after that.
While he¡¯d been concentrating on spreading his nanites out so he could discern the truth about Gemma, the military had continued to try to harass him to no avail. He¡¯d even been hit by an energy weapon from orbit which had tickled. He wasn¡¯t trying to be a smart ass; the attack had actually tickled. The individuals that had targeted him had aimed right behind his right ear and the sudden temperature change had stimulated the nerve right behind his dragon ear which he compared to a cat being scratched lightly behind the ear. Before he¡¯d known what he was doing his hind leg had twitched which allowed him to realize he still had a lot to learn about his dragon anatomy.
Of course, he¡¯d looked up, easily discerning the satellite the energy weapon had fired from due to his perception and his Heads Up Display. He¡¯d opened a portal to it, pulled the satellite through the portal, and destroyed it with his tail. The broken pieces had fallen through another portal that had opened below him and dropped the satellite back into a decaying orbit which would destroy the satellite upon re-entry. After that display, they¡¯d pretty much left Adam alone, which was great for him because he wanted to check a few other things while he waited for Aeris to make an appearance.
The first thing he tried was to stop hovering and lock himself into the position he was in by locking space around him. It took a few tries but eventually, he figured it out and he was able to move through space by his will alone without the use of his dragon wings. He discovered that this was a byproduct of his Adamantium Dragon Heritage. Adamantium Dragons in this place were able to use Space-Time. One difference between himself and the Adamantium Dragons described in the books he¡¯d read; his breath weapon was not Time-based. No, his breath weapon could be one of three types, Fire, Ice, and Electricity. Damage was 10 per age category plus damage bonus which for him was farcical. As an Adult his damage started at base 50 plus, well it was a large number. He¡¯d have to be very careful if he ever used any of his breath weapons.
So, Adam hung in the sky above Athens and waited for Aeris to show up as he allowed his mental focus to drop into his Mindspace. Once there, Adam focused on his Soul Core and the Animae Core within. Something he¡¯d been thinking about since his last test was that he wondered if the Animae were free-ranging and could be drawn into the material plane or more importantly into a soul core. Specifically, Adam was wondering if he mentally willed an open slot in his Animae Core, would another Animae pop through and fill that hole? This idea stemmed from the need to bring Adaline and the rest of his family and friends back. He didn¡¯t want to just bring them back. Adam wanted to bring them back stronger than ever. He also wanted to give them the ability to resist what had been done to them before. When Justice had tried to shred his soul his Animae Core had filled in automatically which had prevented his animae from being ripped from his memories. Maybe it was that simple. Well, not simple for anyone but maybe it was that simple for him. Maybe this was the path that had to be taken to better prepare for whatever came next. As he¡¯d figured out you could do it yourself, but maybe getting help from someone else was required?
Adam looked over the Heptadecagon of his Animae Core and willed it to become an 18-sided Octadecagon. Adam watched as a gap formed as the Animae Core adjusted and an empty node became available. A moment later a new Animae appeared in the empty spot and locked the connection in place. Adam released his will on the shape and watched as it stabilized into its new form. So, The Animae seemed to be looking for, or waiting, for places to fit into. Did that mean that anyone who figured this out could increase the complexity of their Animae Core with just a little willpower?
Of course, his mental prowess was off the charts so doing so had been easy for him. How strong would a normal person¡¯s will have to be to pull this off? As he¡¯d never seen this before, Adam was betting that their willpower would have to be very strong indeed. The good news, as far as Adam was concerned, was that he was betting that he could create at least a pyramid-shaped Animae structure for each person pretty easily especially if the animae kept refilling his Animae Core as he gave them a body. If he did that he should be able to lock their memories inside the Animae Core which should protect them from what had happened to them. Using his Chaos to create bodies that broke the rules, was just going to be the icing on the cake and a small price to pay to ensure his loved ones could take care of themselves when he wasn¡¯t around.
Adam thought about it for another moment before he willed his Animae Core into the configuration of a 24-sided Icositetragon. He didn¡¯t have time right now to attempt bringing one of them back, nor was he in a location he deemed safe, but he wanted to make sure he could lose four of his animae while creating a new body and still have at least 20 tied up within him. It looked like he need not have worried. As soon as the openings were made, all six empty nodes filled with a new Animae that just popped into existence. A moment later the 24-point Animae Core stabilized, and Adam knew his path forward was tenable.
Adam pulled his focus back to his mind space and noticed that while it had only felt like a few moments had passed in the Animae Core almost an hour had passed in the real world. He quickly reviewed what had been happening around him while he was concentrating on his Animae Core and was pleasantly surprised that no one else had harassed him. That is until he noticed a female High Elf in a shimmering prismatic robe floating up to him.
Adam withdrew from his Mindspace and transformed into his human body, clothed in his black jumpsuit as the high elf came into range. He also checked on how far his nanites had spread out. They were spreading fast and had already reached a radius of five miles around him and every other location he¡¯d sent them to.
As the female high elf came within 100 feet her robs started to disintegrate and soon she was left nude floating before him. She looked down at herself and then over to Adam as his eyes focused on hers.
¡°Was that necessary?¡± she asked in a tired voice.
¡°No, it wasn¡¯t necessary, but you stopped moving toward me didn¡¯t you? It serves as a good warning for anyone getting too close,¡± Adam said as he instructed his nanites to replace her clothing exactly as it had been.
¡°How are you doing that? You¡¯re not using magic?¡± The high elf asked.
¡°First things first, what name should I call you by or would you prefer Aeris,¡± Adam asked.
¡°I am High Priestess Chivall. Yes, I do serve Aeris.¡± She said.
¡°My nose says otherwise,¡± Adam said.
¡°If you would come with me, we can talk in a more appropriate setting,¡± The High Priestess said as she waved her hand, and a 10-foot circular portal opened to somewhere that was nearby. She stepped through the portal and waited for Adam.
If Adam had to guess it was probably an adjacent dimension. Adam sent out a series of commands to his nanites to continue their expansion. Adam also chose a location near the volcano he¡¯d first appeared in and set instructions for the nanites to create an underground lair for him, at least 10 miles from the magma chamber and deeper in the mantle of the planet. If there was an eruption he wouldn¡¯t be affected if he was down there. He left the safeguards in place so the nanites wouldn¡¯t try to affect anything living and floated toward the portal. When he was only inches from the portal he said, ¡°If this is a trap, this is not going to go the way you expect,¡± as he floated through the portal which closed behind him.
Chapter 235, A Few Ideas
As soon as the portal closed, the High Priestess flashed forward and grabbed Adam by his neck and tried to squeeze his neck as the visage of her face turned fierce and she screamed, ¡°Who do you think you are an¡.Aieeeeeee¡±
Her declaration had turned into a scream because Adam had slowly reached up with his right hand, grabbed her wrist, and squeezed it between his finger and thumb which had shattered every bone between the end of her right thumb and her wrist. It had also pulped all the muscles and tendons in the area. Since that was a major pressure point in almost every bipedal creature he¡¯d come across, Adam was sure it had been quite painful.
Aeris tried to back away but Adam held onto her wrist and then spun her as he moved in a pivoting fashion until her hand was wrapped in front of her body and her back was up against his front as he whispered into her right ear, ¡°As I said, this wasn¡¯t going to go the way you expected,¡± as he sent some of his chaos into her hand to heal her and then spun her out like they were performing some elaborate dance. When he released her hand she was once again facing him, her hand fully healed.
Aeris grabbed her right hand with her left to check the damage and realized there was nothing wrong with her hand. She brought her hand up to eye level to check and make sure before she asked, ¡°What, how?¡±
¡°How, is unimportant? What you need to understand is that when I return to Gemma, within 48 hours everyone will know about the nine sanctuaries and your role in it. My question to you is, why should I allow you to continue breathing, because make no mistake, I can¡.¡±
Aeris transformed into an enormous Purple Dragon. Adam was actually surprised. It was a goddamn Purple Dragon. Adam¡¯s thoughts about what kind of breath weapon the purple dragon could have were answered when a cone of Negative energy slammed into Adam. It looked and felt like the energy that slammed into him was that which was the polar opposite of Proper, or what some would refer to as holy or divine energy. The energy coming from that breath weapon looked like purple lightning within the cone, but it was a lot more sinister as it tried to wash away all matter as if it never existed. Unlike Antimatter, Anti energy, because he really didn¡¯t have another term for it, just wanted to break down and destroy everything. Some authors had referred to that energy as Void energy but that wasn¡¯t completely accurate. Undeath or undead energy came from the Putrescent magical sphere. It was the opposite of creation and life. The Anti sphere of magic was the opposite of matter, all matter that fell under the Proper or Creation magical sphere.
Honestly, that was a hell of a breath weapon and Adam could understand why anything that ever came up against one of these purple dragons would have a problem. That Breath Weapon would rip through just about every type of shielding that could be put before it. Even magical shields would succumb to that energy. During all the times he¡¯d researched magic he had been hard-pressed to find any magical spells that utilized the Anti sphere of magic. That this Dragon had a breath weapon that utilized that energy type was both very interesting and terrifying.
As thoughts raced through his head Adam felt the energy wash over him as it tried to erase his body. When the breath weapon didn¡¯t let up after 6 seconds Adam decided it was time to try a new approach. Also, he hadn¡¯t tried this trick since becoming an Adamantium Dragon so he wanted to see if it still worked.
With a thought he willed his Chaos Blade into his hand
Chaos Blade.
A Chaos Blade may only be wielded by a creature of Chaos.
This weapon is drawn and sheathed at will from Chaos.
Damage is Variable
This weapon is indestructible.
This weapon is Soul-Bound to the Johnathan Bennard, aka Adamantadine.
Chaos Blade now carries the abilities of Primal Destruction upon the wielder¡¯s command.
Adam willed the Primal Destruction effect active and raised the sword before him. The Chaos Blade seemed to suck in the breath weapon and whisk it away like it didn¡¯t exist. Adam laughed manically for effect, and had the Chaos his body generated recreate his jumpsuit as he made eye contact with Aeris and winked. This also gave him time to take in his surroundings. He seemed to be floating over an island that was floating in an endless sea of clouds. He could be in a Gas Giant, but he felt no extreme pressure. More likely he was in some plane made primarily of gases and breathable air as he was also able to breathe normally.
Aeris noticed that Adam wasn¡¯t even paying attention to her and moved to strike only to have Adam shift and move so quickly that he hovered right before her face with the sword less than an inch from her right eye. Adam watched as Aeris tried to focus on the sword which was way too close to her eye. It was kind of comical when the dragon''s eyes went cross-eyed. When Adam was sure that he had Aeris¡¯s undivided attention, he floated backward slowly so she could focus on the Chaos Blade as he said, ¡°Analyze or Scan the blade before you think of doing anything hasty.¡±
Magic flared around Aeris¡¯s head that spread out and resonated with Adam and the blade he was holding. A moment later Aeris shifted back into her High Elf form which she allowed to solidify at a point that was the furthest away from Adam she could be.
¡°I see you were able to examine the blade. Good, now let¡¯s talk,¡± Adam said as he willed the Chaos Blade away and moved to land on the island below them. As he came to the top of a hill he released his Chaos and created two chairs, a table, and refreshments based on the dinners he¡¯d enjoyed with Adaline. There was roast boar with a sweet glaze, Steaks cooked to perfection, wines, and just about every other beverage he could think of. It was a bit of a power display, but Adam figured it might keep Aeris off balance which would hopefully make talking with her easier. He didn¡¯t want her to attack him again because he¡¯d hate to have to kill her. Not because she wasn¡¯t evil. No, because even though she¡¯d done some heinous things and instituted some crappy policies, those that followed her rules seemed to be living very good lives. He was even considering not releasing the information about the dragons so long as he could get some assurances from her.
Aeris floated down, picked up a goblet of Fey wine, and took a seat as she asked, ¡°I did not detect any magic, or I should say I didn¡¯t detect any spells that summoned forth this feast fit for a king, how are we sitting in such comfortable chairs with this banquet before us?¡±
¡°Magic of course. Magic intrinsic to me, but still magic,¡± Adam said.
¡°And the Chaos Blade, how are you able to hold such a weapon and not be changed by it?¡± Aeris asked.
¡°Are you asking why I¡¯m not mutating in a blob of writhing flesh that eventually evaporates and returns to the realm of Primal Chaos?¡± Adam asked.
A look of horror and disgust crossed Aeris¡¯s face for a moment and then she nodded to herself as she said, ¡°Yes, I guess that is exactly what I¡¯m asking.¡±
The sword is an intrinsic part of me. A gift or by-product of a previous experience. In fact, until I just pulled it out I wasn¡¯t sure I would be able to in this incarnation. Looks like it really is with me forever,¡± Adam said as he reached over and picked up one of the glasses filled with a Long Island Iced Tea, brought it to his lips, and took a long drink while Aeris watched him in thought.
Aeris sipped on her fey wine as she looked thoughtful then said, ¡°Welcome to my home. I did invite you in after all. If you would like we could make our way to my estate. It¡¯s a bit of a flight but not too far for beings of our nature.
¡°Unless the weather is going to change, I think we should be fine for the moment right here. Besides, it¡¯s nice here, ¡°Adam said nonchalantly.
¡°Are you afraid that you won¡¯t be able to get back if you leave where you came through?¡± Aeris asked. ¡°If that¡¯s the case you will have to make some concessions to me or you will be stuck here for a very long time.
Adam focused his will and opened a small portal back to Gemma. A look of resignation came across Aeris¡¯s face as Adam focused his attention through the portal. Adam looked down through the portal and connected with his nanites to make sure they were still spreading as he¡¯d programmed them to. After a moment he was satisfied that everything was working as it should and shrunk the portal down to about the size of a dime near his foot as he turned to Aeris, ¡°Nope, I can get back to Gemma just fine thanks,¡±
Aeris tapped her goblet of fey wine until finally she couldn¡¯t wait any longer and said, ¡°Fenris contacted me, are you truly going to make the existence of our incubation sites known to the rest of the world?¡±
¡°Why shouldn¡¯t I?¡± Adam asked without hesitation.
¡°Because there are young dragons that cannot protect themselves from the full might of the UDC. The only way they would be able to survive is if the older dragons defended them. There would be huge losses to the people of Gemma and the Dragons.¡±
¡°But the dichotomy between dragons and men would be more natural. Dragons would have to hunt to survive and in turn, be hunted if they hunted people. You can¡¯t tell me you¡¯re satisfied with how soft the dragons have become. Organized hunting grounds, having to make sure you don¡¯t tread outside the designated zones? Your dragons, all of them, including yourself, are in cages.¡±
¡°I did not expect an argument to make ourselves known to the world based on the self-imposed limits we¡¯ve created to keep ourselves safe,¡± Aeris mused, ¡°You are full of surprises.¡±
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¡°There is no growth without struggle and for the last 100 years what have the dragons on Gemma struggled against?¡± Adam asked curiously.
¡°Nothing, Once the metallic dragons were destroyed, or left, the sanctuaries set up, and our priests put in place, we haven¡¯t had any issues in the last 80 years or so,¡± Aeris said.
¡°If you¡¯re not growing, you¡¯re dying,¡± Adam said.
¡°That doesn¡¯t sound right?¡± Aeris said.
¡°It¡¯s a biology thing. Well, not really, there are all these phases to biology¡you know what? It doesn¡¯t matter. The gist of what I¡¯m trying to say is this; individuals continue to grow until they can¡¯t anymore. That is always true. Not when they¡¯re dead. There are other times this could be true, but it is permanently true when they¡¯re dead,¡±
¡°But¡¡±
¡°Yeah, with Resurrection and Reincarnation at play that is technically not true anymore, so you know what let''s just pretend like I said something profound and move on,¡± Adam said.
¡°You are a strange one,¡± Aeris started to say then paused and asked, ¡°By the way, what should I call you? What is your name?¡±
Adam considered the question and realized he hadn¡¯t introduced himself. He stood and bowed slightly as he said, ¡°I am Adam. I have a longer name, but you can refer to me as Adam. Do you prefer Aeris or is there another name by which you wish me to address you, besides High Priestess?¡± Adam asked as he sat back down.
¡°Aeris is fine,¡± she said as she paused for a moment and Adam watched as she thought about how to proceed. ¡°As I was about to say, you are a strange one, Adam. It is obvious that you are quite powerful. While I don¡¯t know how that is possible because you smell of Adjra which implies that you are her son.
Adam looked at Aeris quizzically.
¡°I guessed that you¡¯re Adjra¡¯s son because I know who all of her brothers were and I have seen her father from afar long ago. You are not he. Since you¡¯re not Adjra¡¯s father and neither she nor any of her brothers have been seen since she dove into the caldera and disappeared into the magma 100 years ago you had to be her son.¡±
¡°You are correct, I did come from one of her eggs, but I have never met her. We¡¯re getting off-topic though. Why shouldn¡¯t I inform the world that dragons exist and that you have been secretly sending the malcontents and criminals deemed too violent for society to get eaten by dragons?¡±
¡°Is it such a bad thing?¡± Aeris asked.
¡°For criminals that have been given the death penalty to be used as sport for your, I mean, our young. Honestly, I wouldn¡¯t have a problem with the death penalty if everyone knew what the consequences were for breaking the law. Also, if you can open a portal to this place, couldn¡¯t you find another realm or dimension where dragons could hunt and not worry about the people of Gemma?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Dimensional travel is not so easy here Adam. I have the ability because of a class I possess and obviously, you can do it but less than one percent of one percent of the population could and definitely not any of the other dragons.¡±
¡°Wait,¡± Adam said interrupting Aeris, ¡°What level are you?¡±
¡°That¡¯s awful forward of you?¡± Aeris said.
¡°I am level 17,¡± Adam said.
¡°You are only level 17 and as strong as you are. What Class do you possess and what level is it? I¡¯d expect something legendary with the display you gave moments ago,¡± Aeris said.
¡°No class, just Character, or what you call base level 17.¡±
¡°That¡¯s impossible?¡±
¡°Yet, here I am,¡± Adam said.
¡°Fine,¡± Aeris said flustered, I have a Base level of 517 and a class level of 101.
¡°That doesn¡¯t seem very high?¡± Adam said.
¡°What do you mean that doesn¡¯t seem very high?¡± Aeris said indignantly. ¡°I currently hold the highest level on Gemma.
Adam nodded his head slowly as he thought about the implications. No wonder the System was being so snarky with him. If the highest-level creature on the planet was only level 517 and their class was only level 101¡
Adam¡¯s thoughts were interrupted when Aeris asked, ¡°Why does it look like you have pity for someone? You better not pity me?¡± Aeris declared.
¡°Please calm down,¡± Adam said. ¡°I was not pitying you, I was simply thinking that I do not need to be in this place, wherever it is. I need to get back to the previous place I was in, though I don¡¯t know how to¡yet.¡±
¡°Fine, you don¡¯t want to be here. What does that mean for us?¡±
¡°What that means for you is that you will announce that dragons are once again back in the land. You¡¯ll also stop all the hunts until the people have learned what happens to them if they break your laws¡¡±
¡°If you¡¯re not going to stay, why does it matter to you? Once you¡¯re gone we¡¯ll be able to do what we want anyway?¡± Aeris said with a sweet evil smile that let Adam know that she would do exactly that.
¡°You know what, you¡¯re right. Why am I getting caught up in what happens on your planet,¡± Adam said as he reviewed some new data that was being relayed to him through his quantum link to the nanites on Gemma through the very small portal he¡¯d left open. ¡°As to why you thought I pitied you. It would seem that the upper end of your levels has not been limited. Even so, it seems that you¡¯re leveling opportunities are sparse.¡±
¡°The levels are extremely expensive,¡± Aeris agreed.
¡°Also, you¡¯re not going to level very fast if you don¡¯t challenge yourself,¡± Adam said.
¡°That doesn¡¯t matter, I don¡¯t have anywhere I can go level?¡±
¡°You don¡¯t have dungeons on this planet?¡±
¡°I can¡¯t go into a dungeon, I or one of my teammates might die.¡±
That explains it, Adam thought then said, ¡°If you don¡¯t push yourself you will not grow stronger. Also, you should venture into the dungeons, maybe even the Labyrinth.
¡°No one here enters the Labyrinth,¡± Aeris said decisively.
¡°It sounds like that¡¯s where you need to go. Anyway, you¡¯re right. I don¡¯t want to get caught cleaning up this mess. The level difference makes it extremely unfair so here¡¯s what I¡¯m going to do. I need two weeks to get my affairs in order. I just had a thought that is probably going to change everything here on Gemma. So, you have two weeks to get your affairs in order and make your announcement. If you do not, I will release evidence that dragons exist and also where to find them. While you¡¯re getting your affairs in order, I¡¯ll be busy with other projects. In two weeks, before I release anything, I¡¯ll be back here to see you. Exactly two weeks from today, Also, I¡¯ll probably be bringing at least one guest,¡± Adam said.
¡°Why two weeks?¡± Aeris asked.
¡°Because I need the time to learn as much as I can about Gemma. Now if you¡¯ll excuse me, I need to go check something,¡± Adam said as he had the portal he was holding open expand and stepped back through into the air above Athens. Once there he allowed the portal to close and then teleported to a point directly over the lava geyser, which wasn¡¯t really a geyser anymore. There was lava coming out of it, but it wasn¡¯t shooting a mile into the sky anymore. It wasn¡¯t even shooting fifty feet into the sky. Adam noted the Widehammer a mile off to the south, waved in the general direction then dropped straight toward the lava. A moment later he entered the lava tube, which was a lot wider than him in his human form.
As Adam hit the lava he allowed his Chaos to start creating nanites again and had them spread from his body. Unlike the nine points around the globe that were slowly converting one percent of the inorganic material to nanites as they spread out, Adam released a torrent of nanites from himself that invaded and spread through the surrounding lava, rock, and soil at a brisk rate.
While Adam continued releasing nanites, he continued his downward movement until he entered the magma chamber. Once there he made his way toward the center using his Heads Up Display and the interactive map to place himself at the center. Of course, his jumpsuit had melted off, but he felt quite comfortable. So, he just relaxed and continued to release nanites created from his chaos which replenished as fast as he spent it.
While he¡¯d been talking to Aeris he¡¯d had a thought, well a couple of thoughts. If the dragons hadn¡¯t all died, where would they be hiding if they hadn¡¯t been seen in over 100 years? If they weren¡¯t above they¡¯d have to be below ground or dimensionally elsewhere. Adam was betting on below. If they were below ground he¡¯d need to saturate the planet with nanites to find them so that¡¯s what he was doing now. He also needed a relatively safe space to do that from which this Magma Chamber would accomplish nicely. If they were stupid enough to come after him here and risk an eruption, well their deaths would be their fault.
That wasn¡¯t why he¡¯d ended the conversation with Aeris though. He didn¡¯t want to waste time trying to convert this society to one based on his ideals. The Universe was infinite, this was just one of many situations. No, the reason he wanted to get away was because it had occurred to him that his Animae Core might be the link he needed to return to where he had been. It had seemed like resonance was the key. If there was a way to have his Animae target the resonance of his original location, perhaps he could create a bridge to travel between this location and that location.
Of course, it could be that he was just so far away from his starting point that even his insane amount of mana wouldn¡¯t let him teleport that far. If he was separated by several dimensional layers that exceed his ability to cross that could also prevent him from getting back to his Place of Power and everything he knew. Of course, it could be a System imposed artificial barrier which is what he was betting it was. If so, he should be able to bypass that barrier if he was correct about his Animae Core. Now all that was left to do was to try and see what happened.
Adam relaxed and dropped into his Mindspace. Once there he focused on his Soul Core and the Animae Core within. The first clue he had that this was possible was how easily he¡¯d increased the Animae Core from 18 to 24 nodes. They had just appeared and filled in the empty slot. While he¡¯d been investigating the dragon sanctuaries and talking with Aeris he¡¯d also been thinking about ways he could shape the nodes within his anima Core so they could become functional. Then it had come to him as he¡¯d been talking to Aeris.
She¡¯d asked why he cared and part of himself had heard the question as ¡°How do you resonate with this problem?¡± That had brought up thoughts of copper-wrapped coils and impedance plane testing with eddy currents. Not helpful unless he could somehow create a structure with animae that could act as a coil and send out a field just like an eddy current probe that could detect resistance or resonances by comparing it to a known sample. With a little tweaking based on the idea of conductivity and finding the perfect frequency, he could set that animae coil to look for a resonance that best matched his original animae. Part of his scientific mind was screaming that there was no way this would work, it didn¡¯t make logical sense. Another part felt that this idea had merit and that he should try it.
Adam went to work increasing and shaping his Animae Core by adding node after node after node. He was creating a coil out of Animae that seemed to be taking physical shape within his soul core. For this to work his original Animae was placed within one field coil created by, he¡¯d lost count of how many animae. Not because he couldn¡¯t keep up with counting them no. He¡¯d lost count because at some point his will had started drawing animae nodes into the shape he desired as if he was pen laying ink to paper.
On the one side, there was his original animae surrounded by a coil of animae, and on the other side, he had a coil of animae surrounding nothing. The next step was to create the mechanism by which the coil could reach out and find matching resonances. He needed to build an antenna. The process was incredibly easy, and it almost felt like the animae knew the shape they were moving into.
As Adam worked he noticed that the coil had shifted so that the antenna portion of the differential coil was centered over the very center of his soul core while his original animae and all the animae of his family and friends were off to the side a bit within his soul core. Adam only kept specific track of those 13 Animae, his and the 12 others because he¡¯d absorbed millions of animae into the form that was becoming his animae core.
Additionally, Adam worked to shield the differential animae core by creating an animae shell to protect it. He did so by leaving a hole in the center of the empty coil on both sides with the rest of the structure completely around it. It wasn¡¯t enclosed and closed off but there was a physical structure in place around both coils. The idea behind the two coils was simple. The empty coil would reach out and try to resonate with anything that matched what was at the center of the second coil. He wasn¡¯t sure exactly how it would work in reality, but he was sure the theory was sound. Just as Adam was about to put the finishing touches on his Animae Core an internal alarm went off and he realized that 13 days had passed.
Adam quickly checked the progress of his nanites and wasn¡¯t surprised at all when his nanites reported that they had discovered giant caverns deep within the earth filled with metallic-colored dragons of all shapes and sizes. In fact, not too far from his current location a few miles lower than his current position.
Adam also noted that he had 100% nanite coverage of the whole planet and quickly found Aeris sitting in her office in Athens talking to a few other priests. He could come back to that later. Right now, he was reviewing the feed of an Adamantium female dragon, just about as big as him. His nanites couldn¡¯t differentiate scents yet but Adam was pretty sure he was looking at Adjra. He found the mother of the egg he¡¯d hatched out of, or put another way, he¡¯d found his new mom.
Chapter 236, Adjra...Mom 2.0
With nanites on the planet now, Adam had eyes and ears everywhere which meant he could teleport or open a portal to that location. Adam teleported to a small empty cavern. He made this stop because he didn¡¯t want magma flowing through the portal if he summoned a portal while floating in magma. He looked around quickly while he allowed his skin to cool off, which he accelerated with a little push with his will and magic.
Once he¡¯d cooled down a bit, he chose a place near where Adjra was perched and opened a portal. He watched through his nanites as Adjra immediately lifted her head and focused on the point where the other end of his portal was opening about 300 feet away from her on a ledge that was also below her. Adam steadied himself. Not because he was worried about being hurt. He honestly didn¡¯t think there was anything on this planet that could hurt him. No, he steadied himself because it wasn¡¯t every day someone was born a dragon and met their mom.
Adam stepped through the portal and stood there waiting as his portal closed behind him. He watched her through his nanites as her eyes looked at him and she sniffed the air. After a few moments, Adjra froze, then launched herself into the air and dove toward Adam. He had to admit she was magnificent. Slightly larger than his dragon form she was at least 600 feet long with a wingspan that stretched as far. Luckily the cave they were in was humongous. Her lair was on a natural outcropping with glowing moss and other plants scattered all over the ceiling that gave off just enough light that it felt like twilight throughout the cave. At one end of the cave, almost three miles away was a thin river of lava that supplied the heat to this cavern while there was a freshwater lake at the opposite end that, if known about on the surface, could be considered an ocean in its own right as only a small portion emerged into this cave.
Adam didn¡¯t move or flinch as Adjra landed almost on top of him and leaned her head in until she was only inches from his skin and sniffed. Adam couldn¡¯t see her eyes from his position below her, but he could see them through his nanites as her eyes went wide as she took in his scent. A few other dragons had seen her launch and were even now making their way toward her and Adam. Adjra lifted her head and let out a roar that let every dragon in the cave know in no uncertain terms not to interfere.
After Adjra roared she looked down with a softness in her eyes then white smoke enveloped her as she shifted into one of the most beautiful women he¡¯d ever seen, though she wasn¡¯t a woman. His nanites noted that she had wings compressed and folded against her back. She was 6¡±5¡± tall with platinum hair to Adam¡¯s 5¡¯10¡± human form. Adam noted that her platinum hair was only accentuated by the golden iris of her eyes. She looked down at Adam and smiled as she said, ¡°My son, why do you appear before me in this human form?¡±
Adam smiled back, ¡°I did not know I had a humanoid form that was not human or elf. Also, I have not been born for very long. The day of the eruption above, that is how long I have been a part of this world,¡± Adam said.
¡°What do you mean that is how long you¡¯ve been in this world? Were you born 15 days ago?¡± Adjra asked.
¡°I was born from your egg, but I have my complete memories from my previous life,¡° Adam said
¡°If this is true, what is your name?¡±
¡°My true name remains as it was in my previous life. The name I have chosen in this incarnation is Adamantadine,¡± Adam said.
¡°Very well Adamantadine, show me your true form, let me behold the body of my son which you claimed from that other place.¡±
Adam nodded and then allowed the white pearlescent smoke of chaos to surround him as he took on his Adamantium Dragon Form. As he did so, Adjra swapped back to her Dragon Form as well. She looked him over, sniffed him near his neck, and then rubbed her neck against his like a cat would. When she drew back there was a tear in her golden eyes as she transformed back to humanoid form.
Adam did the same and asked, ¡°If I might ask, what form have you taken, it is not human, and I have not run into it before. Well, I have run into something similar, but they were Angels,¡± Adam said.
¡°Our humanoid form, which is also one of our true forms, is often called celestial or celestine. We are not divine or beholden to the divine, but we do resemble angels and other similar creatures, from a distance at least,¡± Adjra said.
¡°What do you mean? You look like a humanoid angel right now?¡± Adam asked.
¡°This is my third form. This is a learned form and part of a simple magic that physically changes my appearance so spells and abilities that can see through illusions don¡¯t see through this form to my true humanoid form. This is my true second form,¡± Adjra said as she morphed into a Draconic humanoid. She still had her goldenly irised eyes but her skin had been replaced by adamantium silver scales that covered her entire body. Some patches were darker, while areas like her face and chest were lighter. She flared her wings and Adam noticed that everywhere the bones under her wings held the wings were dark silver while the areas that were between the bones of her wings were light silver. There were also patterns in the dark and light-silvered scales that made Adjra unique.
¡°Are you saying that I have a form like that?¡± Adam asked.
¡°It looks like your body has already entered adulthood, which shouldn¡¯t happen for centuries by the way. Normally once a hatchling hits juvenile status they learn to transform, so yes, you should be able to transform. If I might ask, how are you changing into the form of a human? Also, why do you reek of chaos magic?¡± Adjra asked.
¡°As I said, I came into this life with memories of my previous one. I also kept my intrinsic nature which is of chaos. That is what you¡¯re smelling,¡± Adam said.
¡°And your nature allowed you to grow so quickly and thwart my ability to gauge your strength?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Adam said succinctly.
¡°Very well. As the mother of your new body, I will share with you that which is your right. As you are not a newling or hatchling you will have to prove yourself worthy of any further secrets of our kind.
¡°Thank you. Also, I should let you know that I didn¡¯t seek you out just to find you. I must meet with Aeris tomorrow to discuss how she is going to announce to the world what she is responsible for and that she is not a God. I was wondering if you¡¯d like to come along.
¡°You met with Aeris, and you lived?¡± Adjra asked.
¡°I did. I¡¯ll admit, I¡¯d never run into a purple dragon before, and her breath weapon is pretty devastating, but she backed down rather quickly once she realized my strength and that I just wanted to talk,¡± Adam said.
¡°Purple dragons are anathema to all other dragons, even their kind. If you speak the truth I must witness this encounter for myself. Are you familiar with telepathy?¡±
¡°I am, though be warned, my mind is incredibly powerful. I can work to dampen the effect of the contact, but the power of my mentality might still bleed through,¡±
¡°I am more than willing to be affected by a powerful mind if that mind is capable of finishing off Aeris,¡±
¡°Very well, proceed with your mental probe,¡± Adam said.
Adjra nodded and then Adam felt her mind connect to his. Like so many before her, she couldn¡¯t believe everything that Adam had said and delved deep into his memories. Adam drew Adjra into his Mindspace through her Mental Probe and increased the time dilation by orders of magnitude. If she wanted to know who her son was, he would let her know. Also, if anyone could make a sound decision on how to proceed here on Gemma, it would be her. After all, he did plan on leaving this place soon enough if the changes to his Animae Core worked.
Adam relaxed and allowed his mind to fall into a meditative rest state while Adjra went through his memories. Part of himself watched as she reviewed his memories, but he compartmentalized that portion of his mind and allowed the rest of himself to rest for a little while. He set an internal alarm for eight houses subjective, which would only be a moment or two outside of his Mindspace. That amount of time should give Adjra enough time to visit his time since arriving here and a little bit of his life in the previous area.
When his Alarm went off, Adam slowed the information exchange to Adjra until he¡¯d stopped it and moved both of their points of view to a recreation of his balcony that overlooked Alamogordo in New Mexico. It was his Mindspace after all, he could choose whatever setting he wanted. He settled into the recliner and created a chair that would allow Adjra to sit if she kept her winged form as he waited for her mind to catch up on the information she¡¯d been downloading.
Adam sipped his Long Island Iced Tea as he watched the sky turn pink in the distance as the sun continued to travel around the planet and bring on the night. He did miss the simpler times when he could just relax. Even his recreation inside the Dyson Sphere in Chaos couldn¡¯t have sunsets like this. The world curved up and away which made a sunset like this one from his memories, impossible. He might not ever get back to Alamogordo but someday he would find a place like this again.
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Adjra finally stirred, looked at the drink beside her, and picked it up. She sniffed it once, nodded to herself, and then drank deeply before she set the glass back down on the table. She retracted her wings and sat down as she said, ¡°I think I¡¯m going to switch to common,¡± Adjra said in common. ¡°Some of the questions I have cannot be voiced in draconic.¡±
¡°Fair enough,¡± Adam answered in common. ¡°What questions do you have?¡±
¡°First, why show me this? If everything goes as your memories indicate you wish them to, you are going to try to bring back your family and friends. Why show me everything you¡¯ve been through?¡± Adjra asked.
¡°I didn¡¯t show you everything. We¡¯ve only been in my mind for about eight subjective hours while almost no time has passed for us outside of my mind. There is a lot more information I could show you but all I needed to show you was that I had met with Aeris and that I was telling the truth about remembering my previous life.¡±
¡°And you have. You are my son, yet you are reincarnated from another existence. One you think you can get back to. What if the gap between that previous existence is not stopped by a physical or magical barrier? What if it is stopped by time?
Adam looked thoughtful for a moment before he answered, ¡°Are you asking me what I¡¯ll do if a lot of time has passed between the time the Cardinal of Justice tried to rip my soul out and destroy me permanently? Logically that can¡¯t be true. That cardinal is the closest thing to a true God I have ever run into. If time were the barrier between my birth here and my death at his hand, the Gods would probably still be around and they would have appeared to try again before I was able to shore up my defenses. I¡¯m not saying I¡¯m indestructible but no Cardinal will ever be able to do anything with my Animae again. I have too many animae dedicated to the structure within my Soul Core for that to happen again.¡±
¡°The Universe doesn¡¯t work as we would wish it to, your run-in with Aeris should have reminded you of that fact, there are always bigger threats,¡± Adjra admonished.
Adam just nodded, though he didn¡¯t completely agree. The universe seemed to work as he wished. If a new threat manifested, he¡¯d have to rise against it as well. Instead of arguing he changed the topic, ¡°So, did you want to accompany me to visit with Aeris?¡±
¡°You don¡¯t even need to meet with her to get the information out to the world, do you? If you wanted, everyone on Gemma would know dragons exist wouldn¡¯t they because of your na-nights?¡±
¡°Saw that in my memories did you?¡± Adam asked. Before she could respond Adam continued, ¡°Yes I could, but doing so would generate a lot of panic. Also, now that I found the dragons that went into hiding, there are close to a thousand of you scattered around the world by the way,¡± Adam said and let that sink in before he continued, ¡°I thought that instead of all of you resurfacing and a new dragon war commencing, the two of you could sit down like adults and discuss where the two camps of dragons go from here.¡±
¡°She deserves to die for what happened 100 years ago! We may have a thousand dragons underground now but we had almost five times that number before the collapse,¡± Adjra said.
¡°I mined the history the UDC kept, almost 6,000 metallic dragons were destroyed, and around 1,000 colored dragons as well. From researching the history, I think Aeris'' portrayal as a Goddess was too effective and the UDC became a little too overzealous in their pursuit of killing dragons. She might have only been targeting you, and the other good dragons, but there was some backlash from her actions.¡±
¡°So how do we keep the UDC from finishing what they started if we re-emerge?¡± Adjra asked.
¡°To begin with, that¡¯s easy enough, I set limiters on their technology. I can¡¯t do anything about their personal weapons or magic but if it¡¯s technological and has a computer in it, I can keep it from being used against you. Additionally, I think when I release the story of what happened the colored dragons are going to have a much harder time of it than any of the metallic dragons. There are no evil metallic dragons here on Gemma are there?¡± Adam asked.
¡°No, metallic dragons for the most part are either good or neutral, though we do defend our young and ourselves if provoked.¡±
¡°There you go then, when I release the story around the world and everyone sees how the metallic dragons have been hiding for over 100 years deep within the planet while Aeris and her dragons have been subverting a religion to hide the evil dragons and hunt humanoids for sport, well, they¡¯ll have to answer for that, as will any humanoids that helped them, while you all should get a free pass.¡±
¡°You know it¡¯s not going to go that easy?¡± Adjra asked.
¡°I know, but for any of this to happen, Aeris needs to understand what will happen if she doesn¡¯t make an announcement and try to right the wrongs she¡¯s committed.
¡°You know purple dragons are not known for thinking ahead,¡± Adjra said.
¡°Why is that?¡±
¡°Because they want to see everything destroyed. I watched your encounter in your memories. Do not think for a second that Aeris isn¡¯t trying to figure a way out to destroy you. You gave her two weeks. I would bet that all she¡¯s been working on this whole time is figuring out a way to destroy you,¡± Adjra said.
Adam double-checked the nanites that had been near Aeris for the last two weeks. There was nothing out of the ordinary, though she stepped through a portal quite often. At least once a day she disappeared for several hours. When she returned whatever nanites had accompanied her no longer existed so it was obvious that wherever she was going was inherently bad for physical matter. Also, wherever she was going wasn¡¯t on Gemma. He had nanites throughout the inorganic parts of the planet at this point, he¡¯d see her if she appeared anywhere on Gemma.
Adam turned to Adjra, ¡°I just checked and see what you mean. She¡¯s been up to something. I¡¯ll just have to play it by ear. In the meantime, why don¡¯t you get the dragons together and get ready to move back out into the world? I¡¯ll make sure to give you a place where you all can emerge and not worry about being hounded by the local media or worse yet, scientists that want to know more about you.¡±
Adjra laughed, ¡°If all we had to worry about were scientists, we wouldn¡¯t have to worry at all. Also, if we emerge talking with the people of Gemma will be something we would like to do. We have been hidden away for over 100 years. Talking with other entities instead of telling the same stories over and over would be a welcome change.¡±
¡°Fair enough,¡± Adam said. ¡°We should probably drop out of my Mindspace. I have things to prepare for tomorrow and I believe others around us would like introductions. Would you like me to be in my dragon form for that?¡±
¡°Yes, dragon form. Also, I know you have the memories of your wife, the umbral dragon. Just follow her cues for social interactions once introductions and dominance have been established. We don¡¯t normally establish dominance through combat, but we all tend to act like oversized house cats once we¡¯re comfortable with those around us.¡±
¡°Sounds good,¡± Adam said as he shifted the Mindscape they were in by reducing the temporal dilation and returning the passage of time to the normal speed while also guiding Adjra out of his mind. Once back in their bodies, they each looked around. While only a few moments had passed, Adjra and Adam both took a deep breath and smiled as they shifted into their dragon forms.
Over the next 12 hours, Adam flew here and there throughout the giant cavern to meet all the close by elders. His mother was by far the largest. The only bit of fun he was able to have was when his mother took him to meet one of his older brothers.
As they flew up Adjra let him know that his brother''s name was Adjrock. For his age and size, he was the strongest dragon in the underworld. Adam detected a mental communication between Adjrock and Adjra but didn¡¯t break in as that would have been disrespectful. When the communication ended Adjrock grinned and picked up speed.
Adjra sent a message into Adam¡¯s mind, ¡°A test of dominance between brothers and sisters consisted of one sibling charging the other while the other taps into their affinity with space and locks themselves in place. Each brother takes a turn. Whoever moves the other further is the winner of the challenge.¡±
Adam nodded in understanding as he thought about how that was a very interesting, nonviolent way to establish who was stronger. Adam came to a stop, locked himself down with his full willpower and intellect, and waited. Adjrock gained speed and just before he collided with Adam folded his left wing back and tried to tackle Adam like a linebacker sacking a quarterback. Adjrock stopped dead in his tracks. Luckily it hadn¡¯t been a full-out attack or Adjrock might have broken a few bones.
Adjrock caught his breath and then wheezed out, ¡°Damn brother, I didn¡¯t even move you an inch, how is that possible?¡±
Instead of answering Adam asked, ¡°It¡¯s now my turn, yes?¡±
¡°It is, just fly out and back and then see if you can budge me once I¡¯ve locked my position.¡±
¡°No need, are you ready?¡± Adam asked as unlocked himself from his position and adjusted to the position his brother locked himself into. Adjrock smiled, ¡°Going for the draw for your big brother, how respectable,¡± Adjrock said in a condescending tone.
Instead of answering, Adam smiled as he slowly nudged his nose up to Adjrock''s chest and effortlessly moved him one foot back from his locked-down position with a slow steady push.
¡°What?¡± Adjrock said with utter surprise. ¡°How?¡±
¡°I¡¯ll let Mom explain it to you after I leave,¡± Adam said.
¡°You truly are as strong as I saw in your memories?¡± Adjra asked as she flew over and locked herself in place spatially next to both of them.
¡°Of course, how else do you think I bested Aeris?¡± Adam said.
¡°That bitch needs to die!¡± Adjrock said with heat in his voice.
¡°True,¡± Adjra agreed. ¡°As a compromise, should things not work out with Aeris when you talk to her, the Red Dragon Fenris is a lot more level-headed and also one of the eldest that I remember. Should Aeris fall, Fenris would be in a perfect position to assume control of the colored dragons. Also, except for Aeris, there should be no other purple dragons so that¡¯s a plus.¡±
¡°You think I¡¯m walking into a trap?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Walking, flying, or swimming, yes it¡¯s a trap if it involves Aeris, ¡°Adjrock said while Adjra nodded in agreement.
¡°Very well, I¡¯ll be careful. I only have about 10 hours left before I go to meet her. If it¡¯s a trap, I¡¯ll be going alone. That said, is there a place I can rest for eight hours?¡±
¡°Sure,¡± Adjra said as she launched back into the air and called back, ¡°Follow me.¡±
Adam followed Adjra to an outcropping near the lava stream that was high up on the cavern wall and landed. Adam came in for a landing and looked down. They were at least a thousand feet above the cavern floor.
¡°You can use this ledge. This is my home away from home. No one will disturb you while you¡¯re resting. I¡¯m going to go talk with the other elders about our re-emergence into the new technological world above.
Adam shifted to his human form as he had his nanites create a king-sized bed over in the corner of the ledge. ¡°Sounds good Adjra. I¡¯m going to take a nap and then head to where I met with Aeris before. I think it was a parallel dimension where she set up a haven for herself. If things go south I¡¯ll come get you so you can sit down with Fenris¡±
Adjra nodded and then flew off deeper into the cavern. Like him, she was having issues with their mother-and-son relationship. Probably because he didn¡¯t feel like she was his mom, even if he knew she was. Adam put that out of his mind, walked over to the bed, and laid down. The last thought he had before he drifted off to sleep was that Adjra was probably right and trying to work with Aeris was a mistake. Still, he had to give her a chance, or did he?
Chapter 237, Of Course, Its a Trap!
Adam woke from his bed, looked around the cavern, and noted that his mother was nowhere to be seen. She must still be in that meeting with the other elder dragons down here. He had the nanites break down his bed while he checked on Aeris. She wasn¡¯t on Gemma anywhere. Adam checked the time, two hours until the two-week mark so either she must think he¡¯d meant exactly two weeks, or she was off wherever she went when she disappeared. With a portal power, she could go anywhere.
As far as Adam could tell, Aeris hadn¡¯t begun to plan for getting the existence of dragons out to the rest of the population. That was fine, Adam would do that right now. He sat down near where his bed had been, dropped into his Mindspace, and began putting together an announcement, as well as the history of what had been going on for the last 100 years. He pulled files from the computers that existed within the nine dragon sanctuaries as well as footage from the cameras that they had in the cities that showcased the arrival and release of the prisoners into the hunting areas.
As he went through the data, Adam noted that just like the Syndicate, but on a much smaller scale, the hunts were televised and there was even a small amount of gambling going on. People making a profit off of other people''s misery and death seemed to be a theme that kept repeating no matter what universe, cosmos, or dimension Adam ended up in. Adam made sure to add footage of those bets and the individuals that had been making them as well as documentation for anyone that participated in the gambling.
As he dug deeper into the gambling enterprise Adam discovered that some of the prominent leaders from a lot of the various races knew that dragons existed and even visited the sanctuaries where they watched the festivities. Adam expected that kind of behavior from some of the more inherently evil types but even the high elves, dwarves, and gnomes had individuals that flew out to the sanctuaries where the hunts took place.
In addition to their participation, Adam also found evidence that some of the people, not dragons, but people in positions of power had utilized the system to get their competition arrested and sent off to the sanctuary to participate in the hunts. This allowed them to profit off of their run, and inevitable death, in the hunting grounds as well as profit off their removal as competition.
The information he was accessing and reviewing at machine speed was of course encrypted and hidden on drives that were not networked. Some were hidden and not even plugged in. Since he had nanites throughout the world in every inorganic molecule on Gemma and he could speak almost every known language and program in just about every other language that existed it wasn¡¯t even a second before the encoded patterns were deciphered and rendered into the information he cross correlated and put together for his report.
When he met with Aeris, he¡¯d show her the report he¡¯d put together as well as all the documentation he had. He wanted Aeris to know what was going to be released in his report if she didn¡¯t offer to come clean with the rest of the world. He was hoping this would force her to come to the negotiation table. If not, she¡¯d attack, he¡¯d end her, and then he¡¯d go talk to Fenris who he had been able to keep track of the entire time he¡¯d been underground. Fenris kept to himself, didn¡¯t participate in the hunts, or do anything else Adam would categorize as deplorable while his nanites had been keeping an eye on the world.
Adam exited his Mindspace and stood. The dragons in this cavern had not bothered him once. None had even flown to check on him. Though he was sure he was being watched. There were plenty of caves and ledges around this giant cave with plenty of dragons with lines of sight on him. He could use his nanites to find out who was watching but ultimately he didn¡¯t care so left that question alone. He pulled up his memory of the location he¡¯d landed to speak with Aeris and used Molded Chaos to create a Gate between his current location and the top of the hill Aeris and he had talked on.
The Gate portal opened onto the hills with the clouds that went off into the distance. Adam stepped through the gate and allowed it to close behind him as he looked around for Aeris. As before there was no sun but the light was bright and diffuse throughout the cloudy environment. Also, Aeris was nowhere in sight.
Adam jumped into the air and transformed into his dragon form as he took flight to look around. As he rose he realized that he had been on a very small island that floated in an endless sky. There were other islands scattered around him as well. If he had to guess he had to be in a dimension or plane of air with islands scattered throughout it. Once he was about a mile above the island he¡¯d arrived on, Adam locked himself in place spatially and looked around. With his dragon eyes and insanely high perception, he easily made out all the nearby islands and hidden features that surrounded him.
Scattered around the island were 14 pillars that when viewed in his mind¡¯s eye three-dimensionally formed an icosahedron. A shape he was familiar with because it was the shape used for the 20-sided die that most of his role-playing games used. It was also laid out in a huge area with the island he¡¯d arrived on at its center which meant he was near the middle as it looked like each side of this icosahedron was at least five miles which meant that the minimum distance between two outer panels was 7.55762 miles while the maximum distance from the two furthest points would be 9.51056 miles. Which radius was used to determine where the center was. It looked like Aeris had used the circumradius, or the longest radius, to set up the pillars that now enclosed the island as the center point.
If this was all set up as a trap to capture him then Aeris was nearby waiting for him. Undoubtedly as soon as they made eye contact she¡¯d set off her trap. Adam guessed giving someone two weeks to come up with a plan to capture or kill him had probably been a bad idea. Regardless, there was only one way for this to go down so Adam continued to look for Aeris until he found her hovering near an island and an open portal. So, a Death trap then.
As Adam¡¯s eyes contacted Aeris¡¯s eyes, Adam moved exactly 10 miles backward, which would place him outside of the icosahedron. There was a crack of thunder as Adam traveled at Mach 50 to move 10 miles in a single second. He was able to stop instead of slowing down normally by utilizing his racial ability to spatially lock himself in place, though his body did take damage as if he¡¯d hit a wall, except to his whole body. Of course, his regeneration rate healed the damage instantly. Of course, since he was in his dragon form, no bones had broken, nor had his skin or scales ruptured. His adamantium dragon body had held up fine under the stress.
Adam was at least three miles outside of the icosahedron when purple lines erupted from a point just inside each pillar that connected all of the pillars and created the 20-sided shape around the floating islands inside it. As the lines formed each panel of the icosahedron solidified into a purple pane of energy and Adam lost sight of Aeris. Adam moved close to one of the flat areas and brought his hand up to touch it.
WARNING! You have touched an energy matrix constructed of Primal Anti ERROR
WARNING! Any physical matter that makes contact with Primal Anti ERROR is instantly obliterated.
Adam pulled his hand back and noted that the first quarter inch of his scales from his palm and fingers were gone. Erased as if they hadn¡¯t even existed. His hand started to heal and regenerate as soon as he pulled it back though. There hadn¡¯t even been a damage notification. The energy had acted like it was an eraser as it just removed the part of his hand that had pressed against and into the panel of energy just a little bit.
Adam thought about it for a moment then swapped to his human form. He thought for a moment then willed himself to allow his body to convert so all of his cells took on the properties of Chaos, which turned him into a pearlescent blob of white energy. Then he shifted and altered his chaotic form so that all the chaos in his body now became an aspect of ¡°Nothing. He¡¯d hidden inside a piece of chaos that had taken on the properties of ¡°Nothing¡± once upon a time. He¡¯d been within that artificial environment he¡¯d created but he¡¯d never tried to have his body take on those properties. It was the weirdest thing.
To begin with, his field of view changed from eye level to 360 degrees by 360 degrees, he could see in all directions. Additionally, he couldn¡¯t close his eyes because he didn¡¯t have any. Also, the field that was considered his body fluctuated. He could concentrate and hold his size, but it seemed like the sphere of ¡°Nothing¡± he¡¯d become was fluctuating in size. As he willed himself to stabilize he realized that the area that he considered himself now included all the pillars that had created icosahedron. The area of Primal Anti ERROR Energy was completely within himself. Just as the thought entered his mind to think, Uh Oh, Warning Prompts started appearing in his vision, which admittedly was a much larger area now.
WARNING! Primal Anti ERROR has entered your body and is destr¡.. ERROR!!!
WARNING! Division by Zero ERROR.
WARNING! NOTHING can not be eradicated by Primal Anti ERROR!!!
WARNING! Anti Region destabilizing
WARNING! Destabilization imminent
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Adam watched each of the pillars of icosahedron dissolve as the purple Primal Anti-ERROR energy flashed into each and then tried to explode outward.
WARNING! Primal Anti ERROR is not compatible with matter of any kind.
WARNING! Primal Chaos can take on the aspect of Anti ERROR energy. Would you like to absorb and restrict Primal Anti ERROR energy.
SYSTEM NOTICE: This system would like to reiterate how much it hates issues. If this energy is released without closing the portal that was created at the center of the icosahedron that was just destroyed a rupture will be created that will expand through this dimension and additional adjacent dimensions which include the dimension Gemma resides on.
Adam heard a cough, an actual cough before the message continued.
SYSTEM NOTICE Continued: If you would be so kind as to restrict the dispersal of Primal Anti ERROR and close the portal. I, this SYSTEM instance, will owe you a favor. I have no idea how I can repay such a favor as your ability to handle this occurrence surpasses my abilities, but I will owe you a genuine favor.
Adam paused for only a moment before he thought, Twelve favors!
SYSTEM NOTE: Agreed.
Once the decision was made Adam began squeezing the energy back toward the point where it was entering this dimension. He felt the pressure equalize and then the sphere it had expanded into began to shrink. While he continued to squeeze the Primal Anti ERROR energy back through the portal Aeris had created he thought about what the System had said and about the energy that he was manipulating. The System would have a hard time creating ¡°Nothing¡± to deal with this problem so the SYSTEM probably hadn¡¯t lied when it said this could be a problem. Additionally, Adam knew that this problem was one Aeris could recreate which meant that he was going to need to handle her in a permanent fashion, which sucked. To release power like that into an area that could kill billions, that act was unconscionable.
As Adam continued to squeeze the energy through the portal he allowed his field of vision to look at where he¡¯d last seen Aeris. As he¡¯d expected she was nowhere to be found and the portal was closed. He thought about opening a portal to Gemma so he could establish contact with his nanites there and see if she¡¯d fled back to Athens. Doing so would be too dangerous so he just continued to squeeze.
After a half hour, Adam had squeezed all the excess energy back into the portal and was currently holding part of himself over the portal as a wall to prevent any Primal Anti ERROR energy from flooding into the dimension he was currently in. Adam made sure to surround the portal with his body and then pushed himself through the portal so that only a small portion remained behind as he brought his Point of View into a realm that was utterly dark except for a few transient flashes of purple here and there. He inspected the portal. As he thought, this side of the portal was being fueled by the energy that made up this place. He could feel the draw from his surroundings as the portal tried to pull energy that was more compatible with it from him.
Adam committed the feeling of the place to his memory. Once he was sure he could open a portal to this place if he desired he moved his field of view and most of his body back through the portal and began surrounding the portal inside the dimension of Primal Anti-ERROR energy. Once he surrounded the portal inside that Primal dimension about 1% of Adam was left behind as the portal snapped closed. Without a portion of his mind to control that portion of himself it might revert to a normal physical form and be destroyed or it might remain as ¡°Nothing¡± and float around inside that dimension forever. There was no way of knowing.
What Adam did know was that the portal was closed and that there was nothing within five miles of him. Nothing at all. No air, no islands, nothing. That changed suddenly as the gases of this dimension slapped into him from all sides, and the pressure stabilized. It didn¡¯t hurt but the sudden pressure change did cause his ears to pop.
Adam floated there in his amorphous form and opened a very small portal to a spot one mile above Athens. As he flowed through the portal he tried to initiate contact with his nanites, but the quantum link would not connect. If he¡¯d been in his humanoid form he would have slapped himself on the head. Of course, it wouldn¡¯t connect, his body currently had no physical parts for the quantum links to attach to. The ¡°Division by Zero ERROR¡± had confirmed what he was thinking. Primal Anti ERROR, whatever type of energy it was, couldn¡¯t reduce nothing to nothing. That would be the equivalent of dividing zero by zero. Something that was not possible. He should have a workaround though.
Adam activated Technomancy and connected with the nanites floating in the air around him. With a little mental tweaking, he soon had a direct link to the computer he''d set up in the underground lair he¡¯d had the nanites create near the magma chamber. It even had twenty portal devices and room enough for his family and friends once he brought them back, which he was planning to do just as soon as he took care of Aeris and took Adjra to talk to Fenris. Adam maintained his formlessness above Athens as he used his nanites to confirm Aeris''s location which was halfway around the planet on a tropical island. As places to die went, that was a pretty good choice, even if she didn¡¯t know she¡¯d be dead in a few moments.
Adam wondered if he¡¯d make a popping sound if he teleported, then decided what the hell, if he did, it wouldn¡¯t matter. Using Molded Chaos, Adam teleported his current amorphous body of ¡°Nothing¡± right next to Aeris. She didn¡¯t even react. She was sitting at a desk in her high-elf form as she wrote something into a ledger. Adam, shifted his perception a bit and read what she was writing down. It looked like she was scribbling formulas and notes concerning how she¡¯d set up the icosahedron and how she¡¯d killed him. Interesting, she still thought she¡¯d been successful. Before he ruined her day he made sure that the nanites had records of everything in the room and then surrounded her in a very thin bubble of himself.
Adam expanded himself outside of the bubble of nothing to make sure there was no chance of a leak springing and then used Molded Chaos to create a very small gate portal to the Primal Anti ERROR dimension directly behind her head. Adam considered it to be poetic justice when the interior of the sphere he¡¯d created, which contained Aeris, filled with the Primal energy, and he felt his nanites that were in the air adjacent to her skin record the simultaneous evaporation of Aeris while they also evaporated. Aeris had even tried to change into her Dragon form which had only killed her more quickly as she tried to grow to her full side inside a 10-foot diameter sphere. Adam was sure a portion of her body went into the Primal Anti ERROR Dimension like a huge zit being popped before the energy, the word he was going to use to describe it, broke down the remains of her body. It took a few more moments for the Primal energy to completely dissolve the rest of Aeris before Adam squished the energy back out of this dimension and closed the portal gate.
Once he was sure the gate was closed and the dimensional barriers were stable again, Adam allowed himself to shift back to his humanoid form as his nanites recreated everything in the room that had been destroyed by the Primal Anti ERROR Energy. It had been unsportsmanlike behavior to do that to her, but she started it. Seriously though, anyone using that dimension without understanding that the pillars were going to fail would have tried to use it again and next time Adam probably wouldn¡¯t be around. If he was being honest, it was just simple luck that he was here and able to deal with the situation at all. He could understand that such a dimension was destined to exist, but it was truly formidable if it could destroy him and percentage points of his body with a touch. Even his Chaotic Nature couldn¡¯t stand up to it unless it took on a specific trait which only Chaos would be able to. What were the odds?
Adam sat down heavily. He hated just systematically killing people that didn¡¯t have a chance against him. It wasn¡¯t fair by any stretch of that word''s definition. Still, it had to be done. He looked around the room he was in and realized that he was sitting in a rather nice room that would be a perfect place for Fenris and Adjra to meet. With a thought, he opened a portal above Fenris and sent a telepathic link.
Adam: Fenris, Adam here. Aeris is no more. I am sitting in her study currently. I would like you to step through a portal I¡¯ll open near you in a moment to sit down with Adjra.
Fenris: Adam, Aeris is dead? Why have we not heard about it? Also, please open your portal and I¡¯ll step through. I have been to her study before, so I¡¯ll know if you¡¯re being truthful.
Adam: Very well, a portal will open now, please step through.
Adam broke the telepathic link and opened a portal to Fenris, allowing him to step through and take a seat off to his left. Adam planned to open a portal on the opposite side of the table so both Adjra and he could sit across from each other. Fenris, in his old man form, stepped through the portal and took a seat at the table.
¡°Refreshments?¡± Adam asked.
¡°An Ale would be lovely?¡± Fenris said.
¡°Very well,¡± Adam said as he had the nanites create an ale of the type he most often drank over the last two weeks.
Fenris picked up the tankard of ale, sniffed it, and then asked, ¡°Wait, how do you know what I drink.¡±
¡°Time for questions later, let me get my mother here so I can show something to both of you,¡± Adam said.
¡°Very well,¡± Fenris said as he took a swig of his ale.
Adam opened another portal directly to his mother in the caverns below. As she looked through the portal Adam called out, ¡°Mother I¡¯m here with Fenris. I was not able to sway Aeris unfortunately. Would you come through so I can show something to the two of you before you talk,¡± Adam said.
Adjra came through in her human-looking form with her wings folded up behind her back and took a seat across from Fenris.
¡°Long time, Adjra,¡± I¡¯m glad to see you survived the purge,¡± Fenris said.
¡°It¡¯s good to see you as well. I can even believe that you¡¯re glad to see me. You were one of the few honorable colored dragons left,¡± Adjra said.
Fenris nodded as he said, ¡°Thank You.¡±
¡°Well at least you two can speak to each other, that¡¯s a start,¡± Adam said.
¡°What happened to Aeris? If I am allowed to ask,¡± Fenris questioned.
¡°Aeris opened a portal to a very bad place to try to destroy me. It destroyed her instead. I¡¯m pretty sure she¡¯s not coming back from that though I was reincarnated so who knows, I guess she could come back someday.¡±
¡°So, she¡¯s truly gone?¡±
¡°She was sitting right where I am sitting just 10 minutes ago. She is gone forever as far as I know,¡± Adam said.
¡°Very well, what did you want to show us?¡± Fenris asked.
Adam had the nanites create a monitor as he allowed the information to play concerning the history of Aeris, what she¡¯d done, how she¡¯d used people to hunt the metallic dragons, and how to this day dragons still existed. The Report also provided full lists of everyone who had participated in the atrocities. Additionally, the report named those who had been killed to keep the secret of the humanoid dragon hunts and gambling houses. The report was quick and concise and still took 15 minutes to view.
When the video was done Adam asked, ¡°Any questions?¡±
Fenris was the first to speak up as he said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t paint the colored dragons in a good light.¡±
¡°Is the information accurate?¡± Adam asked. ¡°You know that it is.¡±
¡°It is accurate,¡± Fenris said.
¡°Good, I¡¯m going to leave you two here to talk things over. If you need anything just ask for it and it¡¯ll materialize before you. I need to go do something else while I have a little time,¡± Adam said as a portal opened to his command center underground and he stepped through. Adam kept an eye on both Adjra and Fenris through his nanites as he took a seat at his command console and looked up at the ceiling as he said, ¡°Okay SYSTEM¡± let¡¯s work on those 12 favors.¡±
Chapter 238, If True Love Dies, Resurrect It!
Adam looked at Fenris and Adjra then teleported to his home away from home, the new Bunker he¡¯d created. His nanites had created an underground bunker 25 miles northwest of the magma chamber and 5 miles beneath the surface. First, the nanites created a graphene pyramid with a base of 5280 feet, 1 mile. It was also 1 mile from the center point of the base to the tip of the top pyramid which gave the pyramid a volume of 49,066,000,000 feet¡ªmore than enough room for a small base that could see to his family¡¯s needs.
He''d placed the pyramid away from any fault lines and ensured that the underside was braced on giant springs, much like Norad near Colorado Springs. Otherwise, it was just like any other base he¡¯d created in the past. A much smaller scale, but the same. The bunker was completely self-sufficient with nanite technology to do all the heavy lifting like providing breathable air, drinkable water, and food. He¡¯d also moved the semi-sentient A.I. core into the pyramid which remained connected to Athen¡¯s version of the internet through a very small wormhole that allowed it to connect to Athen¡¯s version of the internet his nanites had spliced into.
Athens housed the largest population on the planet and also had the most diverse population so staying connected to the world through Athens made sense. This new home away from home would be a perfect refuge from anyone on the surface as well as any underground creatures. There were no tunnels within a thousand feet of the pyramid. Also, the springs made it highly unlikely that anything happening inside would be noticed by creatures and monsters that relied on sensing vibrations, not that it would matter. The nanites were also set up as a defense against anything that tried to attack the pyramid. While nanites couldn¡¯t normally infiltrate living creatures if the SYSTEM didn¡¯t allow it, they could unmake unwanted guests if they proved troublesome.
Adam looked around the control center, then went down to the bottom level where 13 pods that could hold a human-sized body were laid out in a single room. He could have taken the elevator, but this pyramid came equipped with gravity shafts right beside the elevator. One for ascending and one for descending. He stepped into the descending shaft and dropped to the bottom level which automatically slowed him as he came to the bottom of the shaft.
Adam stepped out and made his way over one of the human-sized pods. Once he made sure each was fully functional and powered up he had the nanites start creating Adaline¡¯s body. As he suspected the nanites were being thwarted by something which could only mean that the SYSTEM was interfering. Adam looked up at the ceiling and smiled.
¡°Okay SYSTEM, it¡¯s time for those twelve favors. I could use my chaos to create these bodies. Still, I have a feeling that if I do I¡¯m going to change their inherent nature so for the twelve favors you owe me I simply need you to stop SYSTEM interference within my bunker so I can recreate my family and friends'' bodies using normal nanites. That¡¯s all I need. Whether or not I can bring them back, that will be on me,¡± Adam said to the SYSTEM.
A moment later a notification popped into his vision
SYSTEM NOTICE: Understood, SYSTEM interference to biological entities by nanotechnologies rescinded for 24 hours within Adamantadine¡¯s Bunker.
He¡¯d been right after all. He¡¯d always thought the SYSTEM was preventing nanites from affecting humans. It hadn¡¯t made sense that magic would in some way thwart technology unless it was a direct effect like being overcharged from a lightning bolt for instance. Adam wondered, could there be a place in the Multiverse where nanotechnology and magic worked seamlessly? If he could get there, damn he could have a lot of fun. Then again, maybe not. Someone else might have already done so. Adam did have his work around with his ability Molded Chaos which allowed him to use the chaos within himself as if it were nanites but it would be so much easier if he could just create an A.I. and let it run things.
That was something to think about down the road. Enough daydreaming, he needed to get back to work. Right now, he was going to try to bring Adaline back. The first thing Adam did was have the nanites recreate her body exactly as it had been. There were aspects that the nanites couldn¡¯t mimic. Adam used Molded Chaos to tweak the overall physical structure here and there, but he didn¡¯t inject chaos into her body, which he was really worried would alter her in some unintended fashion. The differences were subatomic, and Adam believed intrinsically magical. Adaline was a dragon after all.
Once her dark elf body was made Adam isolated her memories within himself and downloaded them into her neural structure. With the nanites in place, this was a simple task and happened almost immediately. This next part was going to be the tricky part. He had to create her soul core and then transfer her animae into a structure he¡¯d created for it. This was the most dangerous part. If he lost focus for even a moment her animae could fly off if the resonance of the new body didn¡¯t draw it back.
Adam dropped his focus into his Mindspace and then expanded his mind to include Adaline¡¯s body. Carefully he entered his Soul Core while maintaining contact with her body and looked for a corresponding location within her neural structure. When his mind reached into Adaline¡¯s he found the location of where her Soul Core should be without issue. At the center of her mind was a void that hadn¡¯t been filled. Adam moved his focus to his Animae Core and stretched the node containing Adeline¡¯s Animae toward the emptiness he felt in Adaline¡¯s mind. Intellectually he knew all the memories that made Adeline a person were present but the spark was missing and the body wasn¡¯t working yet. Right now it was just a lump of different cells that didn¡¯t do anything.
Adam held Adaline¡¯s Animae within the center of the void in her mind. Nothing happened. There was a body, the mind had all of her memories that he had from the last time he¡¯d copied them, and he had her Animae. What was missing? Then it came to him, the spark. The spark was missing. With a thought he had the nanites activate the body''s heart and lungs. As soon as the blood started flowing and energy was applied to her mind the Animae darted from the node Adam had assigned it to and took its place at the center of Adaline¡¯s mind. Adam watched as energy from the animae sent out tendrils of life-based energy that wrapped themselves around every aspect of Adaline¡¯s mind and body and soaked in before disappearing. It wasn¡¯t a slow process, it happened in an instant.
Before anything else could happen, Adam sent a command for the nanites to keep Adaline unconscious as he checked the node where her animae had been. As he suspected another animae had already filled the node and his Animae core was stable again. Adam focused on Adaline''s Animae Core and created four node points in a triangular pattern with Adaline¡¯s Animae at the center. From that shape, he expanded it into a cube and from there into an icosahedron with Adaline¡¯s Animae at the center. Since he¡¯d already figured out how to do this when altering his Animae Core it didn¡¯t take long at all. 15 minutes later, Adaline¡¯s Animae Core was nestled at the center of her Soul Core. Adaline¡¯s Animae Core was now 21 orders of magnitude more complex than it had been before. Adam watched as memories from her mind started to fill the structure he¡¯d created. Adam was sure the next time someone tried to rip her soul apart it wasn¡¯t going to work, which was all that he could hope for.
As Adam watched her Animae Core he noticed that tendrils were reaching toward her Soul Core where abilities should be but the abilities were not forming for some reason. That was probably part of the formation process to link the body to the mind. It might form on its own during gestation and since she wasn¡¯t gestated they hadn¡¯t formed naturally. Adam reached out with his chaos and set some of it to a neutral state where the abilities should be. As he expected the tendrils made contact and the chaos shifted into the ability nodes she¡¯d had before.
Adam watched as the ability nodes formed and Adaline¡¯s body came alive beneath him. Until that moment he hadn¡¯t realized that there had been anything off about her but now that he reviewed his memories he realized that her body had lacked the vitality it had just reacquired. Adam did one more check to make sure everything looked good then had his nanites put her in a robe that matched her dragon coloring as he withdrew the nanites from her body and released her from unconsciousness.
Adaline took a deep breath and then opened her eyes. She looked around until her eyes focused on Adam¡¯s. She licked her lips, looked around again, and swallowed. Adaline moved into a sitting position and swung her legs to the side as she looked at Adam carefully before she said, ¡°This doesn¡¯t feel like the place my memories remember. We were in orbit and you¡¯d stopped by. Now we¡¯re,¡± she paused for a moment before she continued,¡± Now it feels like we¡¯re underground somewhere. What happened?¡±
Adam leaned in for a hug which Adaline returned. As he did so he used Molded Chaos to Scan Adaline
Scan Successful: Adaline, Level 0 Umbral Dragon
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
It looked like her level had reset to zero. Now for the question he really wanted to know the answer to, ¡°Adaline, what are your attributes?¡±
¡°Let me check,¡± Adaline said as her eyes glazed over then she continued, ¡°All my primary attributes are 89,289,587. Wait, I¡¯m level zero, why am I level zero?¡±
¡°We¡¯ll get to that in a second, what are your Hit Points?¡±
Adaline dived back into her status screen and pulled up the information, ¡°In my current form I have 26,786,877 hit points. In my dragon form, different tab, it says I¡¯ll have 401,803,155 hit points. Hey, there¡¯s a new category, Damage Threshold, it says that¡¯s at 89,290. What does that mean?¡±
¡°Damage Threshold is how much damage you need to take before your body is affected. What kind of hit point regeneration do you have?¡± Adam asked.
¡°622 hit points a second in the shadows or darkness, 156 hit points a second in lighted areas. 311 hit points a second everywhere else in my dark elf form. If I¡¯m in dragon form it''s 9,303 hit points a second in the shadows or darkness. If I¡¯m in lighted areas I regenerate 2,326 hit points a second. Everywhere else I regenerate 4,651 hit points a second.¡± Adaline said.
Adam nodded, ¡°Not too shabby. As to your question, we are within a different system, your levels were reset again. You lost all character, class, skill, and ability levels. Your attributes should have been reset as well, except that I created you exactly as you had been in the previous system so your physical body is the body you remember.¡±
¡°I died?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°Not only did you die, but your soul was also ripped apart. It¡¯s taken me a little bit to work out how to bring you back. On which subject, how do you feel?¡± Adam asked.
¡°My soul was ripped apart. I thought that was impossible. I thought souls lasted forever?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°It would seem that there is a point where the glue that holds your memories to your soul decides it¡¯s had enough. It also looks like it¡¯s possible for that decision to be artificially imposed on others from specific assholes that exist within the multiverse.¡±
Adam went on to explain everything that happened and everything that he¡¯d discovered about souls. How Animae were within a Soul Core, or the spark that held everything together, and how in normal people there wasn¡¯t much holding a soul together except intent. He also explained how he¡¯d increased the complexity of their Animae Cores which had also increased the complexity of their Soul Cores.
When Adam was done explaining, Adaline nodded as she said, ¡°I had felt that there had been a change somehow. I can¡¯t explain it but I feel like I¡¯m more in this moment than I have ever been in any moment before. It¡¯s weird.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know why making your Soul Core more complex would do that. My intention was simply to make it harder for someone to rip your soul apart. I¡¯m sure you can still be killed but if whatever is killing you doesn¡¯t know how to manipulate animae, which isn¡¯t actually that hard, then they shouldn¡¯t be able to rip your memories from the spark that is you.¡±
¡°So where are we?¡±
¡°We are on a world called Gemma. The technology here is comparable to¡oh damn I forgot,¡± Adam said, as he looked thoughtful for a moment. Adam smiled mischievously and then opened a gate to the dimension where Aeris had tried to kill him and stepped through as he held his hand out for Adaline to take, ¡°Come on through, we need to make sure you can still switch to your Umbral Dragon Form and I also have something to show you.¡±
Adaline reached through and took Adam¡¯s hand as she stepped through and the portal closed behind her. Once it closed they both looked around. Adam was holding her aloft while they floated high in the air. Adam had allowed the portal to open coterminous to the same point on the plane he had been on which had allowed them to step into the plane of air in a different area where there were more islands and clouds floating all around them. There was even a globe of water flowing off in the distance which must be an oasis of some sort.
Adaline, concentrated for a moment as the shadows coalesced around her and shifted into her Umbra dragon form which dropped away from Adam and then flew up and around to come to a stop and began to hover near him.
Adaline smiled at Adam as she spoke in her draconic voice, ¡°What did you have to show me?¡±
Adam allowed the chaotic mists to cover his body and shifted into his Adamantium Dragon Form with the tip of his nose only inches from Adaline¡¯s as he stared into her eyes and sent telepathically, I might have undergone a few change
Adaline was so shocked that she stopped hovering and started to drop. Adam Molded Chaos to create a magical platform of force directly beneath both of them so that they both landed after only dropping five feet.
Adaline was jarred by the landing which forced her awake, ¡°Are you a dragon now? No. Wait. Are you a silver, no, an adamantium dragon now?¡± Adaline asked in surprise.
Adam leaned forward and rubbed his neck against Adaline¡¯s as he whispered. I was reborn from an Adamantium dragon''s egg. My chaotic nature allows me to swap back to human but my true form is now that of an Adamantium Dragon,¡± Adam said.
¡°How is this possible?¡± Adaline whispered.
¡°I just told you, or did you mean something else,¡± Adam asked.
¡°I meant, how is it possible that the only thing wrong with our relationship was that we weren¡¯t the same species and now we are?¡± Adaline clarified.
¡°Truthfully, I could have polymorphed myself into a dragon any time you wanted me to, you just never mentioned it before,¡± Adam said thoughtfully.
¡°I thought,¡± Adaline started and then stopped, took a deep breath, and restarted, ¡°I thought Pandora was a blessing because we should have not been able to create a child together. When she came along it was a miracle. Having been a god for a bit, even if it was only in a digital world, allowed me to understand just now how rare miracles are.¡±
¡°Yes, Pandora was a miracle and someday we will find her again.¡±
¡°Yes, I know. I trust that we will both continue to look for her. My point is now that you are a dragon, we could have more children if we wanted. What would a cross between an adamantium dragon with a chaotic nature and an Umbral Dragon create?¡±
¡°Brothers and sisters for Pandora, that¡¯s what we would create,¡± Adam said with a grin. But that¡¯s moot, please join me, we need to get back,¡± Adam said as he polymorphed to human form on the floor of force.
¡°Why?¡± Adaline asked right after shadows enveloped her and she stepped out in her dark elf form.
¡°I made a deal with the local SYSTEM so I could bring the twelve of you back. We need to get back to the bunker, what I¡¯m calling our retreat, so I can get everyone else.¡±
¡°Wait, everyone was killed?¡± Adaline said
Adam opened a Portal Gate back to the unground base, in the location where they¡¯d appeared in this dimension, picked up Adaline, and flew up to and through the portal as he said, ¡°Yep, when they killed you, they killed everyone else with you on Terra.¡±
¡°Terra, why don¡¯t I have a memory of Terra?¡± Adaline asked as Adam set her down on her feet and closed the portal behind them.
¡°You all ended up at Terra shortly after I backed up all of your memories. We can go into all of that later. Suffice it to say, I don¡¯t have those memories. They were lost when your soul was sundered. For all of you, it will be as if we were just together and now we¡¯re here. I have about 23 hours to get the other eleven of you back and then I need to go meet with my mother and see what the dragons on this planet are going to do.¡±
¡°Wait, you¡¯ve met your mother?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°Yep, I¡¯ll explain it all after I get the rest of us back, against the clock sweetheart,¡± Adam said.
¡°Okay, Okay. Does this place have a room with a shower and such?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°Yep. Take the elevator in the center of this room up to the top floor. That¡¯s our room. It¡¯s set up with the same technologies we had back in the Place of Power and it¡¯s all run by nanites.¡±
¡°Thor!¡± Adaline called out happily.
¡°Sorry, no Thor, but the A.I. is listening and can provide you with whatever you need,¡± Adam said.
¡°You¡¯ll let me know why we don¡¯t have Thor later, right?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°I will, now off with you, I have people to bring back from the dead.¡±
¡°Said no one ever,¡± Adaline said finishing Adam¡¯s sentence with a smile.
¡°They both laughed as Adaline walked over to the elevator, waved, and then headed upstairs.
For the next five and a half hours Adam worked and was able to bring everyone back. He started with his mother and father. Next were Amanda Sifford and then Abi. Finally, of his friends, he brought back Desirae and Clarence. Unlike Adaline, he didn¡¯t wake any of them up once he used chaos to recreate their abilities. He had the nanites within them keep them all unconscious.
The last five he brought back were Pandora''s friends. Adam started with Callum. Next was Asling and then Robert. He finished up with Cedrik and then Pythias. Like Adaline, Adam had to supply something extra with his chaos as there was something about Pythias that his normal nanites couldn¡¯t replicate. He double-checked everything on each of them. The last thing he did was look into everyone¡¯s Soul Cores and make sure the 21-point Animae Cores were stable in each of them. When he was done, he went upstairs to check on Adaline. Adam found her lounging on the couch in the living room he¡¯d created for them watching ¡°It¡¯s a Wonderful Life¡±
¡°Going for the tear-jerker I see?¡± Adam asked playfully.
Adaline paused the movie and looked up, ¡°This is my third movie, after taking a shower. That took a little longer than I expected it to?¡± she said questioningly
¡°Yeah, time seems to get away from me when I¡¯m working with a Soul Core. Anyway, they''re all asleep downstairs. I have kept them in a comma because I figured it would be good for you to be down there when they woke up. Also, I wanted you to be able to answer their questions.
¡°How can I answer their questions?, Adaline asked. ¡°I don¡¯t even know what really happened.
¡°A problem I¡¯m about to remedy,¡± Adam said as a neural interface materialized in his hand. Adam put a headset on his head and handed the other to Adaline as he showed her how to wear it. Once they both had the headsets on, Adam initiated a specific download of only the information she might need since the last time they¡¯d seen each other.
¡°Adaline¡¯s intelligence was high enough that the little bit of information he flooded into her mind was no issue. He made sure she had everything she needed to run the bunker as well as use the portal devices to get to Athens. When the transfer was done the headpieces dissolved and Adaline smiled, ¡°You have been busy,¡± she said.
¡°I have. I¡¯m going to leave waking the others up and getting them acclimated to this new reality to you. I need to get back to my new mom and make sure she and the red dragon, Fenris have come to a mutual understanding. Then I have to get¡
¡°Adam!¡± Adaline said cutting in, ¡°That was all in the information packet you just gave me. Now kiss me and get to work.
Adam shrugged sheepishly and moved over for a kiss that lasted a bit longer than just a moment. When they drew apart he opened a portal as he held Adaline¡¯s gaze, ¡°I Love You,¡± Adam said as he stepped through the portal into the meeting room where Adjra and Fenris waited.
Chapter 239, Something Always Comes Up
While Adaline stayed in the Bunker the portal closed behind Adam and he walked to a chair and sat down. His mother, Adjra, was on his left, and Fenris was on his right.
¡°Did you get everything taken care of?¡± Adjra asked.
¡°I did, thank you. Did the two of you have any issues coming to an arrangement?¡± Adam asked back.
¡°I have one concern,¡± Fenris said. ¡°I believe the information you have accumulated, while accurate, will lead to the genocide of the colored dragons and could even spill over into attacks on the metallic dragons.¡±
¡°Not an issue,¡± Adam states matter-of-factly
¡°How is it not an issue Adam?¡± Adjra asks.
The airships, flying squadrons, and weapons they utilize, while formidable, are all of a technological nature. With a thought, I can nullify them, retarget them, or just simply have them evaporate. They are a non-issue.¡± Adam explained.
¡°You have that much power,¡± Fenris asked.
¡°Since I left, I know you tried to contact a few of your fellow dragons to ask them to stop. Each has ignored your call.¡±
¡°How did you know that? You were not in the room and I would know if I was being scryed upon,¡± Fenris asks questioningly.
¡°As I said, not even a contest, now watch,¡± On the opposite side of the table nine holographic monitors appeared in mid-air, created by his nanites which had fully saturated the planet at this point. While they were not invading biological entities they were in every piece of inorganic matter and could morph to create holographic projectors and keyboard interfaces with a thought.
In each of the nine monitors, a different person appeared. Through observation over the last 24 hours, Adam knew that each was a dragon in their humanoid form as they often transformed when crossing the city, they controlled. Each looked up to the monitor that had appeared directly in front of them.
Aeris 2nd in command, Dravis, a Black Dragon who sat in the middle holographic screen looked up and saw the three of them before he addressed Fenris, ¡°Fenris, is that you? How are you doing this?¡±
Before Fenris can respond, Adam alters the outgoing image so that it zooms in on him and answers, ¡°Perhaps if you¡¯d responded to the six different communication attempts Fenris attempted you¡¯d now be in a better position to know what¡¯s going on.¡±
¡°Who are you?¡± Dravis asked.
¡°Since you¡¯ve asked so nicely. I am Adam, son of Adjra, who sits beside me. I control the monitors that you¡¯re looking through and I have called this meeting so that you can listen to Adjra and Fenris. I strongly suggest that you pay attention.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t have time for this,¡± Dravis exclaimed as he tried to wave his hand through the monitor to destroy it.
Adam opened a portal behind him and stepped through into the room Dravis was sitting in. It is a large room that can easily hold Dravis in his Dragon form if he decides to transform, which Adam doesn¡¯t allow. As soon as his Portal closed behind him, Adam released his aura, his full aura focused directly at Dravis who froze like a deer caught in headlights.
While Adam wasn¡¯t transferring his aura to the other eight leaders of the dragon sanctuaries he¡¯d made sure to alter the camera angle so they could watch him step in and see Dravis¡¯s reaction when he looked up and his eyes went wide. Adam spoke in a low tone, which carried throughout the room and was picked up for everyone watching to hear, ¡°If you shift to dragon form you will be dead within a half second of that choice, do you believe me?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Dravis stammers.
¡°What was that?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Dravis repeats.
¡°Very good,¡± Adam says as he walks up to Dravis¡¯s desk and stands off to his right. ¡°I expect what Dravis was going to complain about is that for the last day or so the prey in your hunting grounds seems to be getting away and you can¡¯t figure out how.¡±
Dravis nods quickly
¡°Well, the reason is simple, I didn¡¯t want you to. As your little hunters closed in, portals opened when they were outside the angle of this or that watcher or camera, and your prey stepped through a portal to another part of the hunting grounds. I could have released them, but where would the fun have been in that? Also, I kept them fed with energy bars and drinks so no they weren¡¯t going to get caught. Shoot, even when they were sleeping they were still being portaled around to other parts of the hunting grounds.
¡°Why would you do that?¡± Klimas, a white dragon, asked.
¡°Well, I was busy and Adjra and Fenris had yet to come to an agreement.¡±
¡°You know when Aeris finds you she is going to kill you?¡± a female Green dragon by the name of Waystral says as she interrupts Adam.
¡°If she can come back from where she died, she can try?¡± Adam quips back.
¡°She¡¯s dead? An older red dragon by the name of Pyro asks before he teleports into Dravis¡¯s room and starts to transform into his red dragon form which evaporates as soon as he comes into contact with Adam¡¯s aura, which Adam had not withdrawn, ¡°So powerful,¡± Pyro stutters as he drops to his knees.
Adam is a little surprised, he wasn¡¯t even directing his aura at the red dragon.
Before any of you think of doing what Pyro just did, here¡¯s a taste,¡± Adam said as he had a very small portal open right next to him which opened into each of the rooms where the other seven dragons were sitting. The small portals allowed his aura to expand into their rooms. Adam only held the portals open for a second before he closed them. Next, he opened a portal and sent Pyro back to his office. Next, he opened another portal and stepped back into the office with Adjra and Fenris.
The nine dragon leaders all looked shaken as Fenris and Adjra both looked at Adam questioningly, Adam shrugged and answered their unasked question, ¡°I let them feel the full weight of my Aura.¡±
¡°The full weight?¡± Adjra asked.
¡°Yep,¡± Adam answers. ¡°Enough of this posturing though. Now that I have your attention, please watch the following video which will play on the monitors before you, while you all do that I¡¯m going to talk with Adjra and Fenris,¡± Adam said as he started the information video. He also silenced their feeds so they couldn¡¯t hear Adjra, Fenris and him talk. Adam leaves the monitors on so he can keep an eye on the nine dragon leaders.
¡°You shook them up pretty well,¡± Adjra commented.
¡°I did, I needed them to know that fighting me was pointless. Otherwise, I¡¯ll have to kill one of them and I don¡¯t want to do that. While I don¡¯t like what Aeris did or the society they created it is a society where humans and dragons are thriving in their own way, even if it¡¯s a bit twisted. ¡°
¡°You were going to explain what you want to do?¡± Fenris asked.
¡°Easy enough¡±, Adam answers. I¡¯m going to release the information, make a statement to the world, and then enforce it while you two keep your dragons in line. I¡¯ll probably leave my human family on the planet to support both of you and level while I head back and address a wrong that was done to me.¡±
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¡°How are you going to get back there Adam? Also, if you¡¯re going to try to do what I think you going to try to do, isn¡¯t that person a God of some sort?¡± Adjra asked.
¡°Yes, and it¡¯s not going to matter,¡± Adam states flatly.
Adjra, noticing the steel in Adam¡¯s gaze for the first time, nodded and dropped the subject. Adam ordered a drink and some snack food from his nanites as both Fenris and Adjra did the same.
¡°I¡¯d love to know how you¡¯re creating everything without magic?¡± Fenris said as he took a drink of wine from his goblet.
¡°Without a serious technological background, it would be really hard to explain,¡± Adam says seriously.
¡°Try me?¡±
¡°Very well. I have created robots, lots of robots that have been shrunk to a size that we cannot see. They are doing all of this.?¡± Adam explained.
¡°What¡¯s a robot?¡± Adjra asked though Adam could tell Fenris was also curious.
¡°Think of a robot as a technological elemental that will only do what its creator tells it to.¡±
¡°What can tiny elementals do?¡± Fenris asked.
¡°Quite literally, build worlds,¡± Adam said as a holographic copy of Earth II appeared in the air. ¡°Of course, it takes a lot of resources and some time, but it can be done.¡± When he was done speaking he dismissed the image.
Fenris nodded to himself, obviously thinking about something.
¡°Why would you need to build a world?¡± Adjra asked and then paused as something flashed through her thoughts. ¡°Oh, rocks that fall from the sky?¡± she asked.
¡°Interesting, I must have shared more information with you than I had thought,¡± Adam said.
¡°I believe you did, but it¡¯s just a jumble of information that I can¡¯t make out very easily.¡±
¡°There is a lot of knowledge stored in my mind, much more than I shared with you. But your statement is accurate, the reason that you might want another planet or alternate plane to go to is that in material planes where planets orbit the suns and gravity follows specific rules in three dimensions, there are very large rocks made of rock, ice, and metal. If those rocks hit planets they can kill all the life there if they¡¯re large enough. If they''re large and fast enough they can even destroy planets.¡±
¡°I see,¡± Fenris said.
¡°Probably not, and hopefully you never will,¡± Adam said with a smile.
Fenris shook his head as he looked at Adjra, ¡°How does your son know so much? How is he so powerful? How¡¡± he said trailing off.
Adam smiled, ¡°Fenris, I may have been born from Adjra¡¯s egg, but I remember my previous life where I learned quite a bit.¡±
¡°Still, you must be blessed by the gods themselves to have such knowledge and power,¡± Fenris said.
¡°Or cursed,¡± Adam said as he checked on the other leaders and noticed that the video was just about over. As the video ended Adam made it so the leaders of the dragon sanctuaries could see the three of them again and inclined his head to the screens.
Dravis was the first to recover as he cleared his throat, obviously waiting to be acknowledged by Adam.
Adam addressed all of them, ¡°You have felt my aura, let''s keep things civil and proceed,¡± Adam said.
Dravis nodded and asked, ¡°The video does not paint us in a very good light, nor does it allow for the continuation of what we have set up, which will cause an uproar.¡±
Nods of agreement came through the other monitors.
Adam also nodded before he said, I do not know my mother''s views on this subject but I, and my mate, are of a more neutral tone. So long as you are not mercilessly killing all the humanoids of the other sentient races and you have worked out a quid pro quo with Adjra and the other good dragons I will not interfere.
¡°Adam, how could you say that?¡± Adjra said.
¡°Because I do not plan to micro-manage, see to every single little detail, of the management of this world. I¡¯m sure there will be criminals and such that will need to be put to death, even you would agree that is so, wouldn¡¯t you Mother?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Well, yes.¡±
¡°Then I leave it to You, Fenris, and the other nine elder dragons and whoever you bring in from your side, mother, to set up a way for dragons to continue using the sanctuaries while not warring with each other. There are too few of you right now. As for the metallic dragons coming back into the world, I have two ideas.¡±
¡°Two ideas?¡± Adjra asks.
¡°Yes, Well three actually but I discounted the third idea which would have had the metallic dragons coming up to the Sanctuary cities. My first idea is to open a portal from where you are into the plane Aeris used to use so you can fly in the open skies. We could set it to open to one of the land masses floating there so the dragons could land and rest before returning ¡°home¡±.
¡°And the second idea?¡± Adjra prompts
¡°The second idea is for me to find a place in one of the oceans of this world, or two or three, and create islands for you to act as sanctuaries for the metallic dragons. The first way allows for mostly hassle-free open flying, but it¡¯s not truly a world. The second way puts you back into the world which would open you to adventures seeking you out and interfering in your lives again.¡± Adam explained.
¡°Adventurers were already trying to seek us out. Some even found us and have remained our guests for quite a while. Now that our existence is to be known again, we can release them to the surface.¡± Adjra said.
¡°Of course, others found out you still existed,¡± Adam said.
Adjra smiled as Fenris broke into the conversation and asked, ¡°Aeris plane, you say you can open portals to it?¡±
¡°Yes, why?¡± Adam asked.
¡°How much of it did you see?¡±
¡°Not much, maybe 30 miles and however far the clouds let me see from there, so maybe a hundred miles or so. It felt like I was on an elemental plane, one composed of air,¡± Adam said.
¡°You were, but it has gravity because if you allow the gravity to pull you there is a large plane of earth below it with mountain ranges that goes on forever,¡± Fenris said wistfully.
¡°So, it abuts the Elemental Plane of Earth?¡± Adam asked.
¡°And water though I never saw where all the rivers ran off to. They seemed to enter into lakes and seas surrounded by land, but the waters never overflowed. I think the Elemental plane of Water was beneath it.¡± Fenris said.
¡°That doesn¡¯t sound like any dimensional setup I¡¯ve ever run across before, is it artificial?¡± Adam asks.
¡°I wouldn¡¯t know, it has been there since before I was born,¡± Fenris said.
¡°Me too,¡± Adjra agreed. ¡°I remember an expanse of mountains that went on forever. My father took me there once. I was born here though, in the caldera you flew into to find me,¡± Adjra said.
¡°Could you make a portal for us to get there as well?¡± Fenris asked.
¡°I can. Why don¡¯t the eleven of you talk for a bit and I¡¯ll check and see how far it is to the planer interface,¡± Adam said as a portal opened to the Plane of Air, and Adam stepped through. He began his freefall toward an island below him and transformed into his Adamantium Dragon Form before he angled his trajectory to miss the island and continue past and below It.
Adam increased his speed but kept it relatively, for him, slow at about 2,100 miles per hour, or Mach three. That way he could dodge islands as they appeared out of the clouds. A few times he came upon layers of clouds and had to use his ability Molded Chaos to create a ping to see what was in and below the cloud layer. To utilize the ping effectively he slowed down to about 350 miles an hour because using a sonar ping while traveling faster than the speed of sound would have been pointless.
Every once in a while he opened a portal back to Gemma and checked to see how the talks were going with his mom, Fenris, and the others with his nanites. It seems that if he could verify that this was indeed the home of dragons, all of them would be very interested in coming back here permanently. Living among the humans, while fun was ¡°unnatural¡±, Dravis¡¯s words. Adam wasn¡¯t sure how that would work out because of their alignments, but if it''s an actual plane there should be room for them to find a place to reduce the natural conflict between the two sides.
Just then a roar from below issued forth and a shadow in the clouds broke through to reveal a dragon that was at least twice as large as his mother. Adam slowed and allowed himself to scent the air. There was a familiar smell, not unlike his mother but not his mother. He noticed that the giant dragon was doing the same before its eyes squinted and it bellowed, ¡°Where is Adjra?¡± in draconic.
Adam flared to a stop and used his dragon ability to lock himself in place before the Old Wyrm, as he looked into the old Wyrm¡¯s eyes, ¡°Mother is in the world of Gemma.¡±
The Old Wrym landed before Adam and locked himself spatially just as Adam had and reached out with a claw to scar Adam¡¯s cheek. From Adaline¡¯s memories, Adam learned that this is a show of Dominance among the family. Adam has landed and not shown his submissiveness to the old Wyrm. As his giant claw reaches forward the old Wyrm casually batted at Adam as he said, ¡°Know your pla¡.CRACK¡± as the tip of his claw breaks against Adam''s scales.
Before the old Wyrm could react Adam said, ¡°I do,¡± with a toothy grin and then asked, ¡°Grandfather, I believe, would you like to see your daughter?¡± Adam said as he opened a portal to the room Adjra was in.
As soon as the portal opened, there was a pause And then Adjra bolted out of the portal and jumped into her father''s arms as he shifted into his humanoid dragon form to catch her in his arms.
Adam shifted to his Human form while he used his ability Molded Chaos to create a floor he could stand on and walked over to the portal. He peered through to Fenris and the others on the Monitor, ¡°It would seem that Adjra has found her father. I¡¯m going to leave the monitors fixed to their current position so you can all talk if you want. Fenris, when you want to leave just ask for a portal and it will return you to where you came from. This might take a bit so the big reveal is postponed, and I can almost guarantee that this is the Dragon realm though Grandpa is huge and I¡¯m betting that you all will have to talk to him before he¡¯s going to let you come home. I will ask though,¡±
¡°Thank you, Adam,¡± Fenris said as a look of shock which turned to consideration crossed his face.
Adam nodded and the portal closed as he turned and saw that ¡°Grandpa¡± was still hugging his daughter, while every once in a while he looked over at Adam, then shook his head and hugged his daughter again.
Chapter 240, Travel Preparations!
¡°Grandpa¡± pushed ¡°Mom¡± away from him and then pointedly looked at his nail and then at Adam. He looked thoughtful for a moment before he directed his voice toward Adam, ¡°You broke my nail, What do you have to say for yourself.¡±
¡°I have a hard head,¡± Adam said with a straight face
The Old Man''s face tries to remain stern and impassive but Adam can tell that finding his daughter has already thawed his heart. With a laugh, he stated, ¡°Yes you do!¡±
Adam extended his chaos out and repaired the damage to Grandpa¡¯s claw as Adjra asked, ¡°Father, is there someplace we can go to relax?¡±
¡°Of course, Adjra. Of course,¡± Her father said. Adam watched as he turned away from her and made a motion with both hands as if opening a large curtain. Adam was intrigued when space opened into a very specific point above what looked like a large ancient city, though¡As Adam considered the layout. It looked more like someone¡¯s estate house made for a giant which also had some humanoid-sized structures around it. ¡°Come! Come! This is my home,¡± He said as the wings on his back extended and he floated through the rift and waited for them on the other side.
Adjra was the first to step through with Adam right behind. Adjra and her father both used their wings to fly toward a building that was set on a hill with a waterfall nearby while Adam just used Molded Chaos to mimic a flying effect that could keep up. Mana consumption was negligible. Nor did he need to concentrate as he flew after them. As they came In for a landing, Adam realized he¡¯d been correct. This place was the equivalent of a Multi-millionaire¡¯s residence in the Swiss Alps, though the backdrop looked like he could be in the mountains of Alaska or Norway. It was breathtaking.
Grandpa led them inside where he poured three drinks from a pitcher that contained some form of fruit juice that smelled quite good. Though thinking of the Old Wyrm as Grandpa¡yeah, that was getting old, ¡°Excuse me, Grandpa. Yeah, Not trying to be disrespectful because we are family, but let''s just say that I¡¯m an old soul that has not always been a dragon. Is there some way that you wish for me to address you or do you have a name I can call you?¡±
The Old Wyrm and Adjra looked at Adam in shock until the Old Wrym said, ¡°If you do not wish to call me Grandpa or some other familial honorific you may refer to me as Ancient One. Since you brought my daughter back to me, you may also call me Ajax.
¡°Thank you, Ajax. I know you want to spend some time catching up with your daughter. While you do that I need to get back to the plane we were just on and figure out if the dragons on Gemma can move back there if they wish. Would I need to talk to you about that at some point?
The Plains of Talinbar are endless and open to all, as are the mountain ranges that abut them. If dragons of whatever type wish to return there is more than enough room. If you return to the point we entered this place from just continues down for about five more miles. The cloud cover will dissipate and you¡¯ll see that the plains and mountains extend as far as you can see. There are dragons everywhere. There are even dragon cities for those who want to dabble in bureaucracy. Not all dragons can create their own pocket dimension where they can place their home and access it on a whim after all.¡±
¡°Thank you,¡± Adam said as he switched his focus to Adjra, ¡°Mom, I¡¯m going to go fly around. Once I¡¯m done I¡¯ll check in on Fenris and let him know what I¡¯ve discovered.¡±
¡°Very well Adam, Be safe and good hunting.¡±
Adam opened a portal back to the location Ajax had opened his portal from and stepped into the air. As he started to fall again, he shifted his position so that he was horizontal as he fell against the wind and then shifted to his Dragon Form before he dove and picked up speed. He kept his speed subsonic as he flew the last five miles down until he broke through the cloud layer and looked at the ground below him.
He''d been inside a Dyson Sphere. He¡¯d even been in a Universe that seemed to go on forever. Still, what he saw below was breathtaking. On one side of the world that seemed to go on forever, plains with all kinds of prey animals for as far as the eyes could see were everywhere. There were even small lakes throughout with small rivers that came down from the mountains. Between the mountains and the plains was a mile of rolling grassy hills. It was almost like this place had been created for dragons.
Adam made his way closer to the mountains where he saw plenty of dragons. Also, it seemed that there was climate control of some sort in play because the further away from the hills the mountains were, the higher they became and the more snow and ice covered everything. A blue dragon that had been gliding near one of the peaks made its way toward Adam and shot a lightning bolt near him.
¡°You are outside your hunting grounds!¡± the blue dragon bellowed in draconic.
¡°Considering I¡¯ve never been on this plane before; I can¡¯t disagree with your statement!¡± Adam called back.
The blue dragon ignored what Adam said and came in for a fly-by. Adam paid attention to him and could almost see what the young blue dragon was going to do as it tried to tail-swipe him. Well, he didn¡¯t try. He did hit Adam with his tail and broke it. Adam had come to a stop and utilized his affinity with space as an Adamantium Dragon to lock himself in place. He didn¡¯t move. Nor did the blue dragon¡¯s tail when it hit Adam which caused the dragon to break the bones about 1/3rd of the way up the tail. It also caused the blue dragon to shriek as it began to tumble.
Adam reached out with his chaos and healed the blue dragon¡¯s tail and then continued on his way. The blue dragon quickly righted its flight and flexed its tail in disbelief before it looked back at Adam. Adam called out to the dragon, ¡°The first one¡¯s free, there is a price for any additional lessons.¡± As he flew off he double-checked to make sure he hadn¡¯t taken any damage. The attack hadn¡¯t even shown up in his Combat Log.
Adam increased his altitude until he was just below the clouds and then altered his course so that he would be flying above the hills and increased his speed away from the blue dragon. It couldn¡¯t hurt Adam so there was no reason to fight it.
The temperature here was average. A little cool because he was at altitude but he could feel heat radiating from the ground below as if it was reflecting solar radiation even though there was no sun in the sky. There was sunlight, but it showed through the clouds, evenly until it bathed the ground below. Adam was sure it was inherent to this place and magically generated.
Adam increased his speed until he was just under the speed of sound and then willed himself to become ethereal as he increased his speed further. He traveled at roughly Mach 100 for an hour. As he slowed, the hills continued on below him with the plains off to one side and the mountains off to the other. He¡¯d noticed dragons, and they¡¯d noticed him but most hadn¡¯t even tried to catch up to him.
Of course, as he slowed down, one of the dragons that had been teleporting to catch him again appeared in front of him and flared her wings, ¡°How Dare You!¡±
¡°How dare I what?¡± Adam asked questioningly
¡°How dare you pass with Queen Seraphina¡¯s territory without paying the proper respects¡±
¡°Exactly how long was I in Queen Seraphina¡¯s territory?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I do not know, I just know that you didn¡¯t stop,¡± The young gold dragon stated matter-of-factly.
¡°Is Queen Seraphina your mother?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Of course she is!¡±
¡°And you are?¡± Adam prodded
¡°I am Sienna! How do you not know this, All dragons know who Queen Seraphina and her daughter are.¡±
¡°And do you know of Ajax?¡±
¡°The Ancient One,¡± she gasped in horror. Do not say his name with such disrespect, he is The Ancient One, even Mother shows deference unto him.
¡°Well Sienna, I am Adam, Son of Adjra, daughter of The Ancient One¡±
Sienna¡¯s eyes went wide and she hesitantly pushed her snout forward and scented him before her eyes went wide with recognition. I can smell the Ancient One on you. You were near him¡± she said as she took a deeper breath and bolted away from Adam back the way he¡¯d come from.
Well, scaring a kid shitless hadn¡¯t been his intention so he turned around and caught up with her off her left wing, ¡°Sienna! Wait! What¡¯s Wrong?¡±
¡°What¡¯s wrong, I have offended The Ancient One¡¯s blood, I have to get back to Mother.¡±
¡°Sienna, I am the Ancient One¡¯s blood and you haven¡¯t offended me,¡± Adam said with a gentle laugh.
¡°I didn¡¯t?¡± Sienna asked with hope in her eyes as she slowed to a more reasonable pace
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¡°No, you did not. Why don¡¯t you lead me to the Queen so I can pay my respects?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I can do that. May I teleport us both back to my mother¡¯s territory?¡±
¡°Of course,¡± Adam said.
Sienna moved closer and touched Adam before they both vanished and reappeared above a very large Amphitheater. Adam immediately noticed a Gold Dragon sitting below them on what looked like a very large throne of gold.
Sienna looked at her mother and then called out, ¡°Queen Seraphina, May I present Adam, Son of Adjra, Daughter of the Ancient One!¡±
The Queen listened intently then looked off to the side with shock in her eyes. A moment later a spacial rip opened as Queen Seraphina shifted to her humanoid form and smiled into the rift. It looked to be the same type of rift that Ajax had opened earlier, did the Queen know his mom? Did she have a way to contact Ajax? A moment later his questions were answered when both Adjra and her father stepped out of the rift. The queen rushed forward and Adjra and her hugged as if they were two close friends that hadn¡¯t seen each other in ages.
While the Queen and Adjra hugged, Adam and Sienna came in for a landing. Like Adam when the Queen and Sienna transformed, they both transformed into humans. Both were almost 6 feet tall with beautiful blond hair and golden eyes. In her human form, it was much easier to see that Sienna had to be a very young teenager. Also, it seemed that playing to the stereotypes that metallic dragons were relatively good worked
Queen Seraphina looked at Adam and then looked to Adjra, ¡°I thought this one was your son?¡±
¡°He is and he isn¡¯t. He was born of my clutch but he is an old soul. It is my understanding that human is his original form.¡±
¡°Not to worry, my human form was replaced before I entered this Universe and cycle,¡± Adam said. He shifted to his humanoid dragon form to show the queen that he was Adjra¡¯s son, then shifted back to his human form. ¡°Though I prefer my human form.¡±
¡°I see,¡± Queen Seraphine said.
A hint of mirth entered Ajax¡¯s eyes as he looked at Adam and said, ¡°Stop Showing off. Adjra, why don¡¯t you speak with the Queen while I take Adam to a location where he can portal the dragons that want to come home.¡±
The Queen looked up, ¡°Ancient One?¡± she asked questioningly.
¡°Adjra has been trapped in another dimension all this time, as have many other metallic and colored dragons. Even Aeris was there, though I am told she is no more?¡± Ajax stats as he looks at Adam.
¡°She was playing with forces that could have wiped out entire planes of existence. Those forces killed her. I may have helped,¡± Adam states flatly.
¡°What makes you think that you are qualified to make that kind of decision,¡± Queen Seraphina asks coldly.
Adam looked into the Queen''s eyes and held her gaze, ¡°I¡¯ve done something to offend you. I will not apologize for doing what needed to be done. That said I do apologize for removing someone from your life that you obviously cared about,¡± Adam said sincerely.
Queen Seraphina looked from Adam to Adjax and struggled to stay angry then sighed before she addressed Ajax, ¡°Ancient One, please take Adam to the neutral mountain valley. That is where the dragons that want to come home should return to so that they can be greeted and then led by their brethren. There has not been a war among dragonkind since Adjra and the others disappeared. There will not be one upon their return. I wish to speak to Adjra and then we¡¯ll be along to set up for their return. Sienna, have Zepher relay a message that I would like to speak to him at sunrise tomorrow in the Neutral Valley.
¡°Yes, My Queen, Sienna said as she flew off¡±
Ajax looked to Adam and then rose into the air before he shifted into his full dragon form and flew deeper into the mountains. Adam nodded to his mother and the Queen, then rose into the air, shifted to Dragon Form, and flew off after Ajax.
It didn¡¯t take long for them to reach the valley, just over an hour flying at right around half the speed of sound, so about 350 miles. As Ajax came in for a landing colored dragons flying near the valley looked on but none approached.
Ajax shifted to his Dragonkin form and looked at Adam as he came in for a landing as he switched to his human form he asked Adam, ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking, how strong are you?¡±
Adam looked at Ajax thoughtfully and then transformed his body into his Chaos Incarnate form which turned him into an amorphous pearlescent indistinct blob before he retook his human form.
¡°That was pure Chaos?¡± Ajax hissed.
¡°You asked how strong I was, I needed you to understand that the limits of the SYSTEM within this universe do not limit me,¡± Adam said.
¡°What? The SYSTEM limits everyone,¡± Ajax said.
¡°Aeris had met the limits of the SYSTEM and she stood no chance against me, though I was truthful, and the element she was playing with destroyed her. Of course, I shaped and trapped her within in it because¡.¡±
¡°Because Chaos can adapt to anything,¡± Ajax said knowingly.
¡°But you do not act chaotically, Adam. If you are in chaos I would expect you to be, well, more chaotic,¡± Ajax explained.
¡°Grandfather, you have known me for a day. Yes, I have been reincarnated into an Adamantium Dragon egg and my true form in this incarnation is that of an Adamantium Dragon but I am not a purely good person. I am selfish and I do what I want, when I want. Though I do not try to hurt others. I have had help from others that have softened me a bit but¡How to explain. Since I started on this path it is not that I have not been chaotic as much as every single struggle I¡¯ve faced has been filled with Chaos. Yes, I am quite powerful, and I¡¯m not going to complain about the fact that I¡¯m smart enough to take advantage of loopholes and exploits in whatever SYSTEM governed universe I end up in because isn¡¯t it true that chaos will overcome and adapt to anything, which is what I do.¡±
¡°So you are the harbinger of chaos then?¡±
¡°I wouldn¡¯t call myself a harbinger. If I¡¯m anything, I¡¯m the other part of the chaos that fights itself so it doesn¡¯t go too far out of control.¡±
¡°I see,¡± Ajax said as they both thought about what Adam had said before Ajax continued, ¡°If you can teleport or open portals, this is the location that you should open the portal to. They¡¯ll be able to transfer to here and from here the Queen and her counterpart among the colored dragons will be able to get the dragons to new areas they can settle and call their own.¡±
¡°Very well,¡± Adam said. ¡°If Adjra didn¡¯t tell you, there are nine dragon sanctuaries on Gemma and the metallic dragons are all deep underground. I¡¯ll set up ten portals that lead here.¡± Adam explained while he pointed to the locations where he would open the ten portals.
¡°That should be fine. I¡¯ll remain here to help and intimidate those who come through, just in case any of them get any ideas," Ajax said.
"Oh yeah, I never asked but I have at least one more brother, Adjrock. You will probably have more family visiting¡Grandpa," Adam said
¡°So my days of being the lonely old dragon are coming to an end. Very well. I¡¯d much rather have Adjra and her children back in my life, even you Adam.¡± Ajax explained.
¡°I don¡¯t know how long I¡¯ll be around, but I will try to be available. I¡¯m still more human than a dragon or creature of chaos,¡± Adam said.
¡°You are what you are, now go talk with Fenris and get the portals set up to this location. Dragons were never meant to live in the numbers Adjra has described among the humanoid races. Also, they shouldn¡¯t be hunting them like they have been. It just breeds resentment that eventually those same humanoids will act on.¡±
Adam nodded as he transformed into his human form. Next, he opened a gate to Aeris¡¯s meeting room where Adjra, Fenris, and he had been talking. He stepped through quickly and connected to his nanites. In a moment he¡¯d located the nine leaders and Fenris and sent them a message with his nanites.
Once everyone was back in front of their monitors and Fenris had returned, Adam laid it all out for them. How he¡¯d found the birthplace of their kind and the fact that he could open a portal in the center of each of their sanctuaries that led there using one of the technologies that he had access to. Additionally, he explained where the portals would lead and exactly who would be on the other side to keep the peace as well as help them get settled. Should anyone decide to start a fight they would have to deal with Adjra¡¯s father.
It seemed that once Ajax¡¯s name was mentioned the leaders all calmed down. Ajax was known to be neutral, fair, and incredibly powerful. Fenris promised there would be no issues for any of those who wanted the freedom that going home would give them. After Adam worked everything out with Fenris, he contacted Adjra and portaled her back to her home underground and set up a 10th portal for the metallic dragons to return to their ancestral home. That went over a lot easier when Ajax, a figure of legend, was easily seen through the portal resting off to one side talking with Queen Seraphina and a Blue Dragon, Zepher, another dragon of legend.
Adam only had to go back one time when Ajax summoned him so that the assembled dragons could all see who it was that had found a way for them to return home. It was also nice that The Ancient One vouched for him and that he was a direct family. Adam knew that would make dealing with the dragons a lot easier down the line.
Adam set 10 of the portals from his bunker to handle the portals that allowed the dragons to return home. It only took one day to get that all setup. The last thing he did before he returned to Adaline was head out into space and take a look at the Solar System Gemma was in. Overall, it was very similar to Earth¡¯s solar system except that there was only one planet closer to the sun at roughly the same distance that Venus was from the sun. The star also looked to be a G-type, just like the sun, but without some investigation, he wouldn¡¯t know for sure.
Investigation time it was then. Adam flew in close to the Sun and dropped off a lot of nanites as he made his way around the star a couple of times. He wanted the process of the solar wind being saturated and spreading the nanites on the solar wind to start a lot sooner. He also stopped by the larger of the two moons Gemma had and did the same. There he also instructed the nanites to recreate the base he¡¯d created at Nu Draconis which would have more portal devices after he set up the power requirements for them. For now, he just wanted the nanites to create the structures and basic living quarters so he could move his family off Gemma and put them someplace that was a lot safer than where they were.
Adam returned to Adaline and spent time with his family and friends as they acclimated to the idea of being killed and reborn and then they all watched through his nanites on the monitors he had in the bunker as the dragons went through the portals. The next day they were surprised when a few dragons returned through the portals which had remained open all day and shared their experiences with everyone.
Adam also sent Desira and Clarence out to collect and bring back all the humanoids that were being hunted with his portals .. Those individuals were redirected into the underground area where the metallic dragons had been because they had all decided to leave. Adam made sure they had food water and beds so they could get rest and recover. As he could he teleported in to heal them and explain what had happened before leaving. He let them know they were all being watched and that if they needed anything all they had to do was call out with what they wanted.
All in all, it had been a very productive two, now, three days. The dragons were mostly home with only a few of the colored ones in each sanctuary not wanting to return home. The metallic dragons all followed Adjra home. Tomorrow was going to be fun. Tomorrow he was going to release the information packet and let the world know that dragons existed and that they had left to return home.
Sure some of the pricks who were worried about their businesses and money would be upset with him but he¡¯d worry about that tomorrow. Right now he had family and friends to spend time with and go over his future plans. Number One on his list was to find his daughter. Number two was to find Thor and possibly Al and finally, he really wanted to go have a serious conversation with the asshole that had tried to shred his soul. He was kind of looking forward to that conversation because he had some ideas, now that the complexity of his soul had increased a millionfold.
Chapter 241, I Like the Way You Think
Sometimes what you wish for comes along a little quicker than you expect it to. The last three days had gone by pretty quickly. There were 188 dragons left on Gemma. Well, 190 if he counted Adaline and himself. Adam had shored up the security around each of the sanctuaries while Fenris had spoken with everyone who had remained behind. Adam had converted the portals that led to the Amphitheater of Neutrality on the Plains of Talinbar so that those in the sanctuaries could travel from sanctuary to sanctuary without ever leaving the safety provided there.
After speaking with Queen Seraphina, Adam had added a third gate to the sanctuary closest to Athens that opened into the hills overlooking the vast plains. It was recessed into a mountainside so the animals there couldn¡¯t make their way back through the portal easily. This allowed the Dragons to travel to travel to and from the Sanctuary zone on Gemma to a mountain overlooking the hills and Plains of Talinbar. It opened into an area that was well within the neutral area as decreed by Queen Seraphina and King Zepher. Individual fights were permitted so long as the forms were kept and once one party yielded, the fight was over. Those that broke the rules, well, the rules hadn¡¯t been broken since the last great dragon war when The Ancient One had gone just a little insane when his daughter had vanished and he thought her dead. Since then, none of the dragons wanted to have anything to do with the Ancient One so they followed the rules. Besides the rules kept them from killing each other so they all adhered to them.
The dragons that stayed on Gemma had seen Ajax through the portal when the other dragons were leaving. Even so, when the rules were being explained by Fenris a couple of the younger dragons were somewhat disrespectful and rude. That¡¯s why Fenris had called all the dragons to a single amphitheater, roughly 50 miles in diameter, though the arena at the center was only about a mile in diameter. It allowed those who wished to spectate to do so from the center of the desert. Currently, all the dragons were sitting in their humanoid forms listening to Fenris.
Adam had watched Fenris explain how the portal would only open for 10 minutes each hour to prevent other animals from coming through and why the dragons needed to follow the rules when going through. Adam had been monitoring Fenris while he prepared the sanctuaries and the nine new leaders that would be taking over, as almost every dragon that remembered their place of origin had returned. As he understood it, the old leaders were settling into their new, old, home without issue.
Adam portaled into the common area where Adaline, Mom and Dad, his human ones, were talking about what they could do in this new world.
¡°What does Johnathan¡I mean Adam, want us to do in this new world, it¡¯s not Earth?¡± his mother asked.
¡°No, it¡¯s not Earth, nor is it like the world I grew up on, Primore. It¡¯s more like an amalgamation of both. There is magic here, as well as the other races, such as elves, dwarves, gnomes, and such. But, there is also technology as you had on Earth, Planes, trains, and automobiles. In fact, Adam¡¯s nanites seem to work here as well which is a real boon for us,¡± Adaline said.
¡°How does that help up,¡± Adam¡¯s father asked.
¡°I¡¯m sure once we all get out of this bunker and start meeting people we are going to notice things that would make life here much easier here. Little inventions that your world had or magical knowledge that Primore had that could be useful. With nanites active, you¡¯ll be able to create whatever you can think of and then get the patent and make a killing,¡±
¡°Why would we need to do that, if we need money we just have the nanites create something precious and see it,¡± Adam¡¯s father said.
¡°We could do that, but then we¡¯d destabilize the economy which we would then have to help fix.¡±
¡°Which brings me back to my question about what Adam wants us to do?¡± Adam¡¯s mom said again.
At that moment a portal opened and Adam stepped through as Adaline came in from the hallway, ¡°I want you to do whatever makes you happy Mom, that¡¯s all,¡± Adam said.
¡°I thought you had some big plan?¡± his mother said questioningly.
¡°Nope nothing like that, but I need to grab Adaline and we need to go make a point to some of the evil dragons that decided to stay behind,¡± Adam said as he held out his hand to Adaline. ¡°We¡¯ll be back shortly, while we¡¯re gone, look through the files to see what you¡¯d like to go visit or see. After I release the announcement about dragons we¡¯ll all go sightseeing together,¡± Adam said as Adaline and he stepped through the portal next to Fenris. The portal closed as 188 sets of dragon eyes looked at them. Adam felt some aura¡¯s try to intimidate him and Adaline and ignored them. Without raising his voice Adam projected so that everyone in the stands could hear him easily, ¡°Hello everyone. I am Adam and this is my mate, wife, however you want to think of her, Adaline¡±
One of the more boisterous juvenile red dragons called out, ¡°Know your place human¡
Adam watched as Fenris put out a hand to stop the youth with a look of shock and fear on his face. Everyone who could see Fenris¡¯s face wondered why he had such an expression on his face until Adam and Adaline flickered. Before anyone could do anything, Adam had moved to the stands, grabbed the juvenile by the scruff of his neck, and dragged him back center stage where he flung him gently into the air above him.
The red dragon juvenile, shocked by the rough handling reacted quickly and began the transformation into a red dragon as he brought his head around to look down and breathe fire on the human that had grabbed him and shown him such disrespect. That was his plan until he looked down to find a mature Umbral Dragon looking up at him as Shadows exploded from her maw and enveloped him.
The other dragons all watched as Adam moved and the rowdy red dragon was suddenly being flung up into the sky just about 100 feet as if Adam was casually tossing a ball into his yard for his dog. Then as the man flying into the air transformed into a red dragon. Adaline, the woman with Adam transformed into an Umbra dragon and looked up and waited. When the red dragon had turned its head to bring its breath weapon to bear, the Umbral Dragon used its breath weapon on the red dragon who then vanished.
Fenris looked from Adam to Adaline and then at the place where one of his kin had vanished, ¡°Did you kill him, Adam?¡± Fenris asked.
Instead of answering Fenris Adam moved over a little and then transformed into his Adamantium Dragon form before he said, ¡°I am Adamantadine, Son of Adjra, Daughter of The Ancient One. Your friend is currently in the Shadow Realm where my mate will be talking with him later after she beats some sense into the boy, if necessary.¡±
¡°What gives you the right¡¡± A female near the front row started to say as Adam released 1% of his Aura which shut down everyone including Adaline.
As Adam retracted his Aura, Adaline stood frozen as his aura had also affected her. Adam looked around and noticed that everyone was frozen in shock. Maybe next time he should only release an equivalent aura to twice what someone with maximum attributes of 100,000 could?
Well, supposedly Adamantium Dragons could tap into Space-Time on an intrinsic level. Maybe he could reverse time a few seconds. No sooner had he thought about doing it than a message popped up.
You have chosen to activate Adamantium Dragon Ability - Malleable Time. Malleable Time may be utilized one time per day. Malleable Time allows the Adamantium Dragon to undo, or redo events. Your consciousness may travel back in time up to 12 seconds, 1 second for each age category. Wyrmling ¨C 1 second, Young Adult ¨C 2 seconds, Young ¨C 3 seconds, etc¡
To prevent paradox¡¯s The Adamantium dragon will relive that time with the ability to alter only one thing. Once the adjustment is made the ability ends and time and your interaction with it, resumes as normal.
In addition to the once-per-day limitation on use which resets each morning at 6 a.m. on your internal clock, or once every 24 hours if in a location that has more than 24 hours in a day, be warned that while utilizing this ability to alter the Adamantium Dragon¡¯s fate and destiny will not cause a paradox, utilizing this ability to alter another''s fate or destiny can have dire consequences.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
As a Mature dragon, you may travel back in time 7 seconds.
Would you like to utilize the ability Malleable Time, Yes or No?¡±
Adam chose ¡°Yes¡±
Immediately Adam¡¯s Point of View was taken back 7 seconds and he began living through that time as if an onlooker without conscious control. When he came to the point when he chose to use 1% of his Aura he willed himself to change that value to 200,000 points which was twice what Thor said the new maximum attribute level would be. The ability faded and everything started anew. Adaline was unaffected by his aura. Her attributes were over 89 million after all. Everyone else staggered as they were hit with something that doubled the current SYSTEM Limit of 100,000 in each attribute.
While they were recovering, Adam noticed that they were at least moving this time so he continued, ¡°Your friend has currently been sent to the Shadow Realm, or Shadow Plane, of this Universe. What gives me the right to do what I am doing, I can. Now I¡¯m going to let Fenris continue talking with all of you while Adaline pops over and recovers your friend. You will do what Fenris asks because we all know that he can kick all of your asses and now that you¡¯ve felt my aura and seen me act you know that I could kick all of your asses at the same time. So pay attention, follow the rules and you¡¯ll do just fine.¡±
Adaline fell through her shadow while Fenris laid out how the portals were set up and described how the portals between Sanctuaries were permanent while the one that opened to the Plains of Talinbar would be intermittent and only open for 10 minutes each hour. Though it would open in the same location each time. They could all go through to hunt and fly to their heart''s content on the plains but they were to stay out of the mountains except when using the portal. There was a hill directly under the portal where they could land and wait if they found they had had a little time before a portal opened.
A couple minutes later a sheepish-looking red dragon juvenile reappeared out of a shadow and made his way to his seat without saying a word. A moment later Adaline appeared in her dark elf form and came to stand next to Adam as she stepped out of his shadow. His perception was so good that he¡¯d felt the fluctuation in the shadow before she did so. That was good to know.
As Fenris paused Adam said, ¡°Fenris has chosen to look after and help all of you that are staying behind. If you have any issues, get with him immediately. Otherwise, pay attention to what he says and limit your activities while in dragon form to the Sanctuaries and the Plains of Talinbar. I will be releasing the history of the Dragons and what happened to the Metallic dragons momentarily.¡±
Adam opened a portal and Adaline and he stepped through to the training facility. Specifically, they stepped into the Office where Instructor Telgard had been enjoying his very expensive, bland lunch.
¡°Adam!¡± he exclaimed ¡°Who do you have with you?¡±
¡°This is my wife, Adaline, how have you been?¡± Adam asked.
¡°It is a pleasure to meet you, Adaline,¡± Officer Telgard said. ¡°What brings you to my office Adam?¡±
¡°I just wanted to let you know that the information about the dragons and the sanctuary cities will be going out in one hour,¡± Adam said.
¡°One hour? Has that been cleared with those in charge¡¡±
Adam held up a hand to interrupt Officer Telgard. When he calmed down, Adam continued. I¡¯m letting you know so you can let Captain Peater know. Also, tell the captain to open a file in his downloads called ¡°Dumbasses¡± It contains a list of every individual in the United Defense Coalition (UDC) that was part of the crime ring and used it. Captain Peater is the highest-ranked individual in your chain of command that wasn¡¯t a dumbass. Not everyone helped coordinate the crimes but everyone listed knew about and participated in the black market betting,¡± Adam explained.
¡°If there¡¯s that many, how are you going to stop them from sweeping this under the rug? There is no way they¡¯d allow this information to get out,¡± Officer Telgard asked.
Adam smiled maliciously, ¡°You¡¯ll see. Just get with your captain and utilize troops that are not on the list to prepare to deal with them.¡±
¡°Very well, Anything else?¡±
¡°Yes, I¡¯ll be taking on my dragon form above the city right before the announcement. For the next hour, Adaline and I will be flying over all over the globe making sure to let as many people see us before the announcements are made.¡±
¡°The Airships will shoot you down,¡±
¡°When the announcement comes out, you¡¯ll understand why that¡¯s impossible, just tell your people we¡¯re friendly so they don¡¯t try wasting time chasing us. First, it wouldn¡¯t do any good, and second, they won¡¯t be able to anyway.¡±
¡°Okay, I guess,¡± Officer Telgard said.
Adam nodded as a portal opened a mile above Athens and Adaline and him stepped through, separated, and shifted to their dragon form as they went for a ¡°stroll¡± around the planet. Adam watched through the nanites officer Telgard looked through the portal after them and shook his head as he muttered under his breath, ¡°Either that fool is as powerful as he thinks he is, or he¡¯s going to piss off a lot of people and get himself killed.
Just to mess with Officer Telgard, Adam had the words, ¡°The first call was correct!¡± appear in the air on the other side of the portal as it shrunk and closed before him. Then for the next hour, Adam and Adaline flew around the globe and close to Mach 20 only slowing down as they came into the visual range of large cities. He made sure that people sighted both of them before they moved on. Little tricks, like creating a sound that caused people to look up when they were in range or creating something that flickered to draw their attention.
Adam watched as chatter on the internet increased about dragon sightings all over the world until he was interrupted by Adaline, ¡°Are you sure you want to waste time on this world?¡±
¡°For better or worse this world is the world that I was born on, so yeah, I probably need to waste some time on it. Also, there were some evil assholes here. Not Syndicate level but bad enough that they could develop into something that could resemble that organization. Better to end that possibility right now,¡± Adam says.
¡°Okay, where do you want me?¡± Adaline asks with a wicked smile.
¡°Beside me, always beside me,¡± Adam declared happily.
They flew back into Athen¡¯s airspace with a minute to spare. The UDC had tried to get its carriers and fighters to follow and harass them but simple counter-programming and minor modifications to the fighters allowed Adam to take them over remotely and none ever came close. The same is true when the Mayor of Athens issues an order to shoot down the dragons whatever the cost and every single projectile fired or launched evaporates before it even gets 10 feet away from the weapon that fired it.
Those who use magic are transported to the other cities via portals that appear in their paths which prevent anyone who tries to use magic or natural flight powers from getting close to the pair. Adam still hasn¡¯t had the nanites infiltrate biological creatures, save himself and his family and friends. He still doesn¡¯t know how the gods here would react and with the SYSTEM being a smart ass at least some of the time, Adam doesn¡¯t want to piss it off either. So, he utilizes portals and limits his use of nanites to take care of any threats to his plans.
Once they were above the city Adam used Molded Chaos to create a place for Adaline and him to land on that is clear as he has the nanites transmit what he¡¯s about to say to every adult on the planet. If they¡¯re not near a monitor, nanites form holographic screens in front of them so they can see what he¡¯s about to say. In his Adamantium Dragon Form, he begins.
¡°Greetings to the peoples of Gemma. Your eyes are not deceiving you, A dragon is talking to you through a monitor, TV, or the air in front of you from above Athens,¡± The angle shifts as Adam transforms to his human form and has the Camera zoom in on his face with Athens in the backdrop below him as he looks up into the camera.¡± This message will be very short. Dragons never left the world. In a moment a file will start playing and will also be downloaded to every computer in the world. Who was ultimately to blame, how the Religion of Aeris was subverted and a graphic video of her death by my hand will be part of the video. Additionally, of the dragons that still existed on Gemma most have returned to their ancestral home that exists in another dimension. Those that have decided to stay behind will be keeping to themselves while the governments of the world deal with those that committed the atrocities they have, or not, what happens will depend on the government.¡±
Adam paused for a moment, as he considered what to say next then pressed on, ¡°I expect the UDC to be busy in most of the human and elvish settlement helping bring criminals to justice. In the orcish, goblin, and dark elf settlements, as well as others I won¡¯t name. In those settlements, I expect it will be business as usual and you should know that you should still be able to reach out to your contacts within the Sanctuaries, a subject that will be covered in the video.¡±
Adam Laughed at the camera, ¡°Without the knowledge from the video there is no way to get context from anything else I might say so I will close with this. I am Adam, Son of Adjra, Daughter of The Ancient One. Dragons never left, here is the proof,¡± Adam said as he ended the feed from him and Adaline and started the information package.
¡°That¡¯s going to cause some turmoil?¡± Adaline observed.
¡°Not as much as you think. Anyone that the lawful forces of Athens go after that is named as complicit will not be able to use weapons against their fellows. If they do, the weapons and items will evaporate. If someone uses magic, I may have to get involved but I doubt it. I¡¯ve been reviewing what my nanites have seen since they spread out and there are a lot of competent good mages in Athens,¡± Adam said as as he paused thoughtfully. Honestly, that doesn¡¯t matter for us though,¡± Adam said as he opened a portal to their residence in the bunker.
¡°Why doesn¡¯t that matter?¡± Adaline asked coyly as she transformed into her dark elf form and walked through the portal.
¡°It doesn¡¯t matter because they¡¯re going to be busy for a while which means you get my undivided attention,¡± Adam said with a grin.
As the portal closed Adaline said, ¡°I like the way you think.¡±
Chapter 242, What We Can Do
It had been a long time since Adaline and Adam had been together. It was the first time since Adam modified his Animae Core into the Differential Animae Core he now possessed. Additionally, Adaline¡¯s Animae, her primary one, resonated with Adam which became extremely apparent while they were making love. One moment he was looking down into her eyes, the next his mental focus had been drawn through his Mindspace, past his Soul Core and the Shell of the Differential core was peeling back as it detected a resonance and seemed to be vibrating as if it wanted to move.
¡°What is that?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°You¡¯re here too? I did not expect that,¡± Adam said as he started to wonder how Adaline¡¯s mind could be within his own without¡.
¡°Adam Focus! Whatever that is, it feels familiar to me. It feels like a part of myself I thought¡ I¡.It feels like Pandora!¡±
Adam¡¯s focused on the vibration and felt for it. It did feel like Adaline, but different, there was a hint of chaos to the dragon form, not unlike his now, but different, more like Adaline. The chaos felt different too, it felt more organic. More alive than any other time he¡¯d interacted with chaos, even when he¡¯d had multiple forms. That was probably because they had all been part of him and this chaos was part of Pandora.
¡°What are you going to do?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°I¡¯m going to reach for her, try to connect. It may not work, or it may¡¡± Adam said leaving unsaid what both Adaline and he knew could happen and the question of whether he should try, or not.
¡°Do it!¡± Adaline said.
Adam used the one tool he knew could exist anywhere and become anything he needed it to be. He activated Molded Chaos and placed a mote of his chaos in the center of the differential Animae Coil and commanded it to find the resonance point and then return. The mote of chaos vanished from his mind and his body, he felt it go. He lost track of the chaos almost immediately as it crossed dimensional barrier after dimensional barrier. Universal Barriers, Multiverse barriers, and even a temporal barrier. It wasn¡¯t a temporal barrier that put Pandora in the past or the future. No, it was a temporal barrier that put her out of phase with him and his existence here. If he chose to enter where she was, there was no telling if or when he¡¯d be able to exit it again. Well, he knew he could exit it, just when on this timeline he¡¯d reappear would be random. Right now, with Pandora acting as an anchor and him acting as an anchor here, he could probably open a portal to her but the moment he stepped through it would become untethered and coming back¡There was no way to know when he¡¯d appear. Nothing was ever easy, was it?
Adaline, picked up on his mood asked, ¡°What is it?¡±
¡°When my mote of chaos comes back I¡¯ll know for sure, but I don¡¯t think I can go to Pandora?¡± Adam said.
¡°What? Why? Adaline asked.
¡°She¡¯s temporally out of temporal phase with this reality,¡± Adam said.
¡°She¡¯s...¡± Adaline started to say and then understood. ¡°How long until you know?¡±
¡°Any second,¡± Adam said as his mote of chaos returned. Adam reviewed the information he¡¯d been able to get from Caspa, Pandora¡¯s name for that part of herself which was purely chaos. In a moment he reviewed and understood what was going on for her. Right now, she was dealing with worldwide monster surges on an Earth where the Roman Empire had kept its empire going long past when it should have failed. Where she was it was currently the 21st century. Men were in charge. Women weren¡¯t even second-class citizens, they were property. Wow, she was quite ruthless too. Utterly destroying two of the misogynistic pricks that were¡ Not that they didn¡¯t deserve it, what assholes.
Adam quickly reviewed the information: Tech level, no issue for him. Magic level, again no issue. Nanites were not in use as far as he could tell. Shoot Adaline and he could¡He checked Pandora''s stats. Nice! She was a chip off the old man getting that Chaos cheat going on.
¡°What is it?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°Pandora is currently on an alternate version of Earth where the Romans still control everything. Additionally, it looks like magic was just introduced into the world, so it¡¯s kind of like my Earth was back when we were inside the Holographic Universe,¡± Adam said.
¡°Power level?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°Negligible.¡±
¡°Does she need help?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t think so. I think she¡¯s fine. Could she use help from her friends? Actually, I think so. I think she could even use help from my human mom and dad and maybe Clarence and Desirae, though I think we might need them here. Mom and Dad though? Adam thought about it. Pandora was on an Earth they¡¯d recognize. Maybe it wasn¡¯t exactly like the Earth they knew but they might like it better.¡±
¡°And you can¡¯t go?¡± Adaline said.
¡°I can go, but the dimension she¡¯s in, the only reason I¡¯m able to tether to it right now is because I¡¯m here and she¡¯s there. If I had to guess, I¡¯d say each of us is stabilizing the chaos which is allowing the two universes to stay temporally similar. We¡¯re still out of phase but time is passing the same for both of us. Or both universes could be at different temporal frequencies, and both just happen to be at a similar peak, which now that he thought about it seems more likely. They may be artificially extending that peak, but it could just be a natural phenomenon.¡±
¡°If that¡¯s so and we want to send help to her, we need to do so now!¡± Adaline said.
¡°Agreed,¡± Adam said as he ordered the nanites near them to clean and clothe them as they both rose from their bed and made their way to the elevator. Next, he sent his voice to the intercom and flooded the bunker with a call, ¡°Hey, everyone, we found Pandora, Group meeting to decide what to do next in the common room.¡±
The common room was the largest room in the bunker on the floor directly above the floor which contained the portal devices and cloning coffins, as Adam thought of them, though that wasn¡¯t technically what they did.
As Adaline and he stepped off the elevator, Pandora¡¯s half dark-elf friend Robert, the mage asked, ¡°You found her, truly?¡±
¡°We did?¡± Adam affirmed.
¡°Thank the Goddess,¡± Callum, the leader of their party said.
¡°Yes, thank the Gods that she is okay,¡± Pythias, the half celestial member of Pandora¡¯s party said.
¡°So where is she?¡± Asling, the female wood elf archer member of Pandora¡¯s part asked.
¡°What¡¯s the catch?¡± Cedrik, the halfling rogue of Pandora¡¯s party asked.
¡°The catch, as Cedrik has so eloquently pointed out, is that I can¡¯t go to her.¡±
¡°You can¡¯t go?¡± Adam¡¯s mom asked?¡±
¡°I won¡¯t be going either,¡± Adaline said. ¡°We think Adam can come to Pandora whenever he needs to. If he can, I can too. Right now, she doesn¡¯t need us, but she might need her friends and maybe a few others¡¡± Adaline said and then turned to Adam.
Adam then explained how the Universe or Multiverse that Pandora was in was out of the temporal phase. He was pretty sure he could open a portal to her, but he wasn¡¯t sure what the portal would do if he stepped through. Also, whoever decided to go would need to move quickly because of the amount of energy he¡¯d need to expend to send them would be extreme.
Once he was done explaining what he¡¯d learned about where Pandora was he wasn¡¯t surprised when every member of her party volunteered to go. In addition to them, Mom, Dad, Abi, Amanda, Clarence, and Desirae all volunteered to go as well.
¡°None of you want to stay?¡± Adam asked.
Desirae was the first to speak up, ¡°If your mom and dad are going, I¡¯m going, because I took a vow to protect them. While it looks like my classes and levels have been reset, I don¡¯t want to take the chance of breaking a vow.
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¡°I go where Desirae goes,¡± Clarence said.
¡°Pandora is going to need someone who can handle the nanites,¡± Abi said.
¡°But there aren¡¯t any nanites?¡± Adam protested.
¡°Yet,¡± Abi said as she looked at Adam pointedly.
¡°Saw through that did you?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Of course,¡± Abi said, ¡°I was in your head for a very long time, if you don¡¯t recall, oh wait, I know that you do.¡±
Adam smiled and then directed his attention to Amanda, ¡°It¡¯s Earth, It may be an alternate history Earth, but it¡¯s Earth. Besides, if everything is as you say, Pandora is going to need help holding it all together while everyone deals with monsters, dungeons, and the uncertainty that magic will bring to an Earth that has never known magic.¡±
Adam nodded, ¡°That makes sense. Okay then, all of you want to go. Adaline is going to stay here with me, for a while at least¡¡±
Adaline interrupted him, ¡°I¡¯d follow your Earth custom and knock on wood¡¡± A piece of wood appeared out of thin air which she rapped her knuckles against, ¡°As I was saying, knock on wood, but I will not be leaving your side for any extended time again.¡±
Adam smiled and took her hand in his, ¡°Okay then, it looks like we have a plan. Abi, let''s see if we can¡¯t compress and store a lot of information within you. Also, everyone remember, when you step through the barrier you will probably be stepping into a new SYSTEM so you might get reset again. It shouldn¡¯t be an issue, just be aware. Pandora should be able to take you around to the areas with monster spawns and level you all pretty quickly.¡±
¡°And the nanites?¡± Desirae asked.
¡°If The SYSTEM hasn¡¯t shut them down completely, it¡¯ll take about two weeks for them to spread throughout the planet. They¡¯ll be set to follow the same protocol here. Abi will be able to add some individuals who can also benefit from the nanites but only a small percentage of the planet''s population at most.¡±
¡°And we¡¯ll be able to use them?¡± Amanda asked.
¡°Yep, everyone except Pandora. I can¡¯t chance trying to add nanites to her. Her affinity to Chaos would prevent it anyway. I need to be near her to set that all up and I would also have to educate her on the fundamentals of what nanites are and how they work so that she could hold that concept in her head while directing her Chaos to behave that way. That¡¯s a much longer conversation than the one she¡¯ll get to have with the ghost in the machine I¡¯ll be sending to her. Speaking of which, Adaline if you¡¯d come with me for a moment,¡± As Adaline walked with him over to a corner of the room he looked over his should and called out, ¡°While we¡¯re busy over here, why don¡¯t all of you get ready to go? We are on a bit of a time crunch, and I want to get you all over with her as soon as possible.¡±
Adam brought Adaline into his Mindspace, accelerated time, and went to work. He created a message from both of them to Pandora and then also allowed Adaline to compose one with only her while he did the same. He included directions on how she and Caspa could alter her Animae Core, though Adam believed her Animae Core was probably already more complex than a normal one based on how Caspa reacted to everything, but he wanted to make sure she had the tools to understand the dangers of not being able to defend it. He also explained why he wasn¡¯t programming the nanites to infiltrate her. Once every non-biological particle on the planet was infested though, then she would be able to get with Abi to institute some global changes on a macro scale. She just needed to make sure to work with Amanda, Abi, Mom, and Dad because they were coming along to help. The last thing he included was instructions for how to create a differential animae core. Adam strongly suggested that she not do so unless she lost contact with her mom and him for an extended period of time. It should allow her and Caspa to find him anywhere.
The last thing Adam did was make sure he had a current copy of everyone¡¯s memories again, just in case. If they lost their Animae this time though, it was going to be a lot harder to bring them back, then again, as complex as all the animae were now, he should be able to find their uniqueness wherever they disappeared to.
When Adaline and he were done they walked back over to the others. Hugs were given, nods were shared, and then Adam opened a portal to a reservoir of nanites that held steady. As soon as he opens the portal to Pandora they¡¯d create a tunnel from one portal to the other which would allow nanites to flow into and through while everyone else walked through the portal.
Adam looked around and then asked, ¡°Everyone ready?¡± When everyone nodded, Adam activated his differential animae core. As before the resonance felt familiar and this time when he put the mote of chaos into the center of his animae coil he also activated Molded Chaos and created a gate with the target destination of that single mote of Chaos as it disappeared.
Everyone watched as the background in the second portal changed rapidly until it solidified and followed an Umbral Dragon as it flew through the night sky. Through the portal, Adam could tell that they were over an ocean until he noticed that they were moving onto a coastline that resembled the area northeast of Mexico City near Barra de Cazones. They all watched as Pandora came into the city and attacked a Kraken-like creature that had come out of the ocean and was destroying buildings and eating people.
Adam was fascinated by how the fight went on. Without being able to see the SYSTEM messages he could only guess what was happening, but it looked like every attack the Giant Kraken landed against Pandora did no damage, and then the energy of that attack was somehow redirected back at the creature. An absorption type ability? That would be handy. Within 10 seconds it was dead which was just as well because Adam was spending more mana than his mana regeneration could handle.
Adam directed his Aura through the portal at Pandora and flared it as he adjusted the portal to ground level and allowed the nanites to start flowing from his reservoir into the Universe Pandora was. The flooded into the ground and disappeared.
Pandora turned and her gaze looked at the open portal and froze as she saw Callum, Asling, Robert, and Pythias step through the portal. In a flash, she was beside the portal and looking across it at Adam and Adaline, ¡°What, how?¡±
¡°Dad, this world isn¡¯t safe, this place isn¡¯t safe. I need to get them from here all the way back up near Scarborough England,¡± Pandora said as Abi and Amanda stepped through the portal.
¡°Fair enough,¡± Adam said as he increased the flow rate of nanites and commanded them to make a VTOL aircraft that could carry everyone. ¡°Everyone in the aircraft after it¡¯s finished forming.¡±
¡°Aren¡¯t you coming too?¡± Pandora asked.
¡°We can¡¯t honey,¡± Adaline said. ¡°Your dad has sent a message to you through his little friends. Once you are safe, head to your Mindspace, the message should be accessible there.¡±
¡°A trick I learned from Abi,¡± Adam said as his Mom and then his dad hugged him and stepped through the portal to Pandoras side.
¡°How will I find you? How will I get back to you?¡± Pandora asked with tears in her eyes.
Adam smiled at his daughter, ¡°Sweetheart, it is my understanding that you are doing a fantastic job cleaning up the mess in that world. Everyone heading over is coming to help. I can¡¯t because if I do¡Let¡¯s just say I have things to take care of before all of us are as safe as we could be. So, do what you were going to do anyway. Your mom and me will be along eventually.¡±
¡°That¡¯s a promise dear. We will be along as soon as we¡¯re able,¡± Adaline said.
Adam checked his Mana which had dipped below 40% of his total and said, ¡°Running out of juice to hold the door open. Desirae and Clarence, your turn. All of you, don¡¯t have too much fun.¡±
¡°There¡¯s no such thing¡¡° Desirae said.
¡°As too much fun,¡± Abi finishes.
¡°And Desirae¡Stop corrupting Abi.¡±
Everyone laughed, even Pandora. Adam looked at his daughter on the other side of the dimensional barrier and smiled. ¡°We¡¯ll see you soon,¡± he said as Adaline reached through, quickly hugged her daughter, and then stepped back.
¡°Don¡¯t even think about it Pandora, if you do, you might strand everyone already over there and if I do I¡¯ll lose track of this timeline. We cannot hug here. Get to a safe place and access your Mindspace. My mana is down to 20% and falling faster. Have to end this now.¡±
¡°Love you, Mom, Love you Da¡..¡± Pandora said as Adam closed the portal with only 3% of his mana remaining. The cost had been increasing exponentially. Why was that? Adam went over his Personal information and noticed that all of his attributes had been reduced by one-tenth of one percent.
What the hell?
Adam opened his Combat Log. There was nothing there. Next, he opened his notifications, but nothing was there. Whatever had happened hadn¡¯t been flagged as an error. Lastly, he pulled up his utilization log and found what he was looking for.
Chaos bridge formed.
Chaos bridge transfer across SYSTEM barrier started.
Chaos bridge transfer ended.
A chaos bridge. A transfer? Between him and¡Adam checked to see if the mote of chaos had been recalled and noticed that it had not returned yet. He sent out the command and the mote returned at which point he learned that while the portal had been open, a direct conduit had been established between his Animae and the combined Animae of Pandora and Caspa which had allowed the Chaos he was composed of to begin transferring. He hadn¡¯t willed that, or had he? Adam fell into his Mindspace and searched through his conscious and subconscious mind and found the culprit, which of course had been himself. At his most fundamental he wished for Pandora to grow stronger and succeed. He also had a subconscious desire for her to be able to protect herself and everyone that had just come to help her. Those drives had been picked up by some of the Chaos within him and when the opportunity presented itself a transfer had been started. Not a huge transfer by any means but a transfer that had left Pandora flooded with chaos and attributes of 200,000 in every category.
As he reviewed the information he discovered that the SYSTEM she resided in had a hard limit of 100,000 in every attribute but because Caspa and her were considered two entities each had been raised to 100,000 and then combined. As the Chaos Attribute couldn¡¯t be limited, the rest of the Chaos that had been transferred from Adam had gone into that attribute.
Considering her attributes, the first time he¡¯d sent a mote had been around 6,000 and she was already a monster as compared to anything else. Pandora was going to do just fine.
¡°Adam!¡± Adaline called for¡he checked his memory, the sixth time.
¡°Yes, Adaline, I¡¯m here.¡±
¡°What were you thinking about?¡±
Adam explained what had happened and how Pandora had received an upgrade of sorts. Not levels exactly but attributes and raw power.
¡°And she¡¯s in a world where men think they rule everything?¡±
¡°Yeah,¡± Adam said and then started to laugh.
¡°Those poor fools,¡± Adaline said and started to laugh.
They were both laughing as they made their way over to the couch and fell into it. They were laughing, but both had tears in their eyes as they held each other.
Chapter 243, The Founders
The Cardinal of Justice, Maximilian Stark, or Max as he was known on this version of Earth, sat in his home office and looked out onto the Pacific Ocean below him. He¡¯d created this getaway on Earth 1,600 feet above sea level at the top of the mountain just north of where Randall Creek ran into the ocean. Located in Northern California, it was a very remote location where he didn¡¯t see much local traffic. He¡¯d made sure to keep it that way by making his home and office only accessible by a hiking trail or something that could land on the helicopter pad he had installed.
It was currently 1989 on this Earth. They had helicopters but VTOLs wouldn¡¯t be in major production for a few more years if this Earth¡¯s timeline continued normally. He couldn¡¯t count on that though, there were variations in the timeline every once in a while. The humans on this version of Earth wouldn¡¯t give him a second glance as his current form was that of a human in his mid-thirties with blond hair and blue eyes. One of the ¡°Lover, not Fighter¡± types that his age was known for, though they¡¯d think he was a rich heir or lucky inventor; he¡¯d have to be to afford everything he had.
He wasn¡¯t rich, at least not within this economic system. With the ability to control The SYSTEM, even in this magically dead version of Earth, he could have whatever he wanted in an instant, but he didn¡¯t bother. Once this refuge was set up he only ever came here to think.
Those who could teleport to his home, could of course visit whenever they wished, which was the point. Magic was unheard of in this Universe and locked away from any that hadn¡¯t been given access to magic like the other Cardinals and he had. So, the only local visitors he should have here would be those that took the long hike up the mountain or those that came in by helicopter which would give him plenty of time to prepare for them. As for the other Cardinals, they would normally call before they popped over.
Max returned to the topic that had brought him here as he looked at the shadows that the mountain his home sat on cast over the ocean below him in the early morning. What had brought him here to think? Ptah. While he wasn¡¯t a Cardinal he had been around and chose to be around since the beginning. Also, Ptah was his best friend''s son. Right after the execution of Johnathan Bennard, Ptah had not been seen or heard from since, which should not be possible anywhere within The SYSTEM.
The Cardinals, the Founders of The SYSTEM, not the shadows of the SYSTEM that popped up every once in a while in the shadow Multiverses and the universes and dimensions within. No, The SYSTEM that existed in the background of everywhere and when, could not lose anything or anyone. That the little rascal had gone off and been able to vanish¡ Ptah had disappeared so thoroughly that it was troubling. No searches could find him and the various places Max knew to look had no record of him visiting either.
There were only a few things that could cause someone to vanish from The SYSTEM, none of them were permanent, however, that was the nature of The SYSTEM, it maintained and saved everything. In fact, the last time¡The last time someone had disappeared like this had been when one of the Founders had created a personal network of realities inside an infinitely looping temporal anomaly when Cardinals had not existed. While the action hadn¡¯t been a huge problem it had created a cascading resonance that destabilized adjacent realities that were within The SYSTEM but outside the temporal loop. The SYSTEM had been unable to see inside that area while dimensions and universes outside the temporal loop felt the effects. Many of the Founders had been so disturbed by the possibility that someone could cut themselves off from everyone else while destabilizing areas of The SYSTEM that they¡¯d called for a vote and almost all of the Founders had agreed that The SYSTEM should be reset, and measures should be taken so that it never happened again.
To reduce the need for a SYSTEM reset the Founders took on the roles of Cardinals over various ideals or primary elemental forces. The Cardinals were given special dispensation and abilities tied to The SYSTEM to help them serve the ideal within the purview of The SYSTEM. They¡¯d worked with The SYSTEM to create these Cardinal roles to act as a safety valve and ultimate authority that could overcome such problems in the future. This allowed the Cardinals to keep an eye on things and maintain the integrity of The SYSTEM.
Each Cardinal worked within the parameters of their ideal to maintain a balance with The SYSTEM and the other Cardinals. When they didn¡¯t, things tended to go ¡°poorly.¡± Depending on which ideal was being abused determined how quickly it all fell apart. The first SYSTEM reset had been voted on by the Founders. The next eight resets had been required because one of the Cardinals had abused the authority they¡¯d been given.
The other thing that factored into initiating a SYSTEM reset was that once Cardinals were chosen, unless they were somehow destroyed which was very unlikely, a Founder could only be stripped of their privileges and a new Cardinal appointed during a SYSTEM Reset. Max was actually looking to introduce a change during the next reset that would allow the replacement of Cardinals without the need for a reset though the others were understandably hesitant. Most, however, agreed that having no say in a reset and having to start all over, even if they had no memory of the events sucked. Well, the Founders who were not Cardinals wouldn¡¯t have any memory of the reset. The Cardinals, by their very nature, would remember and know that they had started over again.
Of Course, there were many more Founders than there were roles as Cardinals. That, however, wasn¡¯t an issue, especially since everyone''s memories were eventually erased when their soul and animae were separated. At least that¡¯s what the majority of the founders thought. What was actually going on was only known to a select few.
Ptah was not one of the original Founders, but he was considered one because he came into The SYSTEM when the Founders had. Ptah was the only child of two of the founders. He had been born just before entering The System. Ever since his parents had decided to enter the reincarnation cycle after the 3rd reset he¡¯d been a little bit erratic. Now he was ¡°off¡± doing who knew what. Max understood what Ptah was striving for but the answers he was seeking were unanswerable at least as far as the Founders had been able to determine, not that it mattered. Ptah was striving to understand what came after death which The SYSTEM was specifically designed to prevent from happening. Sure, there was death within The SYSTEM, but it was all smoke and mirrors. Artificial. True death would never come for anyone with The SYSTEM, which was the point of The SYSTEM.
As the various sub-SYSTEMS sprouted up within the random universes that were continuously manifesting the sentients within would always ask what the SYSTEM was, even though the SYSTEMs present within those universes, multiverses, and realities were but shadows of The SYSTEM. No one had ever been able to figure out exactly why there were variations, though a couple believed it had something to do with quantum mechanics and variations in the original creation of The SYSTEM. They¡¯d eventually given up trying to understand why and just watched for the variations to get too far out of control before they did a SYSTEM reset.
It was kind of ironic that the one question that Ptah, and all the primitive cultures for that matter, asked, ¡°What is The SYSTEM?¡±, did have an answer. The fact that they would all be appalled by the answer notwithstanding. What was the answer? The SYSTEM was a lifeboat for the Founders. Well, that¡¯s what it had been originally. Now it was a lifeboat for any sentience that came into existence within it, even the semi-sentient SYSTEM which truly had a mind of its own at this point. Of course, after living in that lifeboat for millions, billions¡Max had lost track of how many years had gone by. Besides, how long didn¡¯t matter. He knew there were a lot of zeros in the number.
No, instead of using time, he remembered how long he¡¯d been in The System by the number of resets that had occurred. There had only been nine so far but if the report he was reading was right, they might need to initiate the 10th SYSTEM reset a lot sooner than expected. Max was reviewing a report he¡¯d received earlier this morning. The Cardinal of Rebirth, known as Crystal Summers on this Earth, had come over while he¡¯d been watching the local news. He¡¯d looked up from his couch as she¡¯d teleported directly into his living room.
¡°Max,¡± she¡¯d began with a nod. ¡°I apologize for barging in like this, but I thought you should know, someone activated the Control Pillar.¡±
¡°Which Control Pillar?¡± Max asked.
¡°You know how I created a control group to watch for issues¡¡± Crystal started.
¡°Are you talking about that project where you took 10 Universes, well more like a hundred, but 10 primary Universes and set them up so you could do resets inside an area of The SYSTEM that was pretty much cut off from everywhere else in here?¡± Max asked.
¡°Yes, that project.¡± Crystal agreed while she nodded her head.
¡°Uh huh, So Crystal, if it¡¯s cut off from the rest of the SYSTEM and the only person, check that, the only Cardinal that can see what¡¯s happening inside that control group is the Cardinal of Rebirth how exactly would I know that someone activated that Control Pillar?¡± Max asked.
¡°Oh?¡±
¡°Yeah. Oh?¡±
¡°Sorry, I forgot. I¡¯m going to send copies of the information I have and go see if anything has changed. Quick summary, someone within the Control Group activated the reset and something went sideways. I¡¯m still trying to figure it out. I thought you should know,¡± Crystal said apologetically.
Max had thanked her for the information, and she¡¯d teleported back to her home which was in New York City. It was kind of ironic that the Founders and the Cardinals could live anywhere in the various dimensions and universes within The SYSTEM, yet most chose to live on the various renditions of Earth that popped up.
Max pulled up the information Crystal Summers had sent to him through The SYSTEM and began reviewing the information. Someone had activated the control group that The Cardinals were using to watch for instability. Instead of trying to keep track of instabilities throughout the whole SYSTEM, they¡¯d had the Cardinal of Rebirth set up a control group of 10 different Universes, each tracked by specific pillars. The 10th Pillar had been activated and then the code went weird. The reset had happened as predicted but the version of The SYSTEM running the local reset had made some adjustments. Those adjustments were, intriguing and horrifying. It looked like it had reached outside of the 10 universes it was supposed to stick to for the energy it needed to complete the process.
The SYSTEM was supposed to be a closed system. All energy within self-generated. The Control group had been set up the same way. The truth in both cases was that eventually that energy would need to be replaced and there was a mechanism to open The SYSTEM and allow for that to happen. As with any system that had an access point the first thing he needed to do was check the access points.
Max activated one of his Cardinal abilities and effectively turned himself into pure energy as he entered the fundamental matrix of The System. His mind interpreted the energy realm that ran The SYSTEM as a Physical representation of streets, buildings, trains, and individuals. It was all energy that contained data, but to his mind right now it was like he was walking down a street on any city road.
Max pulled up his mapping function and directed his attention to the closed-off section where the pillars were located. To him, it looked like a giant dome set in the middle of a field. Max made his way around the dome and then around the top. When he didn¡¯t find any obvious leaks, he knew he needed to check the access point into The SYSTEM.
Max redirected his mentality toward the access point and double-checked to make sure that the error hadn¡¯t been caused by an influx of chaos from outside The SYSTEM which was the energy The SYSTEM would draw on when it needed to. Max had been one of the few voices against hiding The SYSTEM within a labyrinth of Chaos that underpinned all of reality. Such an environment was by its very nature chaotic and could eventually prove dangerous to The SYSTEM. He had been overruled, though he had to admit that The SYSTEM had lasted longer than he¡¯d thought it would. Maybe he was finally about to be proven correct, which would prove his point but probably lead to his doom.
As Max approached the access point he noticed an almost invisible thread of chaos that was snaking through a breech in the seal to the access point. Chaos was being drawn into The SYSTEM from outside. It wasn¡¯t a flood though, it was just a trickle along a thread that led off into the distance. It wasn¡¯t going through the conversion process so it could be used to power for The SYSTEM which was what the access point had been built for. It was raw, threaded, and it was going¡where was it going? Max followed the thread.
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With Chaoticus absorbed by Johnathan Bennard and then his destruction, there wasn¡¯t a Cardinal of Chaos so there would have been no one to notice this influx of Chaos into The SYSTEM. No one would have normally noticed such a small influx anyway as anything that happened would probably be written off as random chance. As he followed the thread he came to the Infinite Library. The Infinite Library was a small building set in the heart of The SYSTEM that was represented by a simple structure that had a single door. Max entered the door and walked into a labyrinth of corridors filled with bookcases. The Library was much bigger on the inside and would continue to grow as new universes and dimensions were created as needed.
Max followed the thread of chaos until he came to a bookcase in the basement that led to one of the Universes where the thread led to a planet called Gemma. From there it branched back to the origin of Chaos within The SYSTEM which was good news. It didn¡¯t look like the energy was going anywhere else. Of course, that the breech could happen was troubling. That meant there was a possibility that a breach could occur within The SYSTEM. Max looked over the information quickly. Earth-like planet, magic was present as were other races including dragons. He hadn¡¯t visited any version of the planet Gemma in the past, maybe it was time to see what this planet was like. It would be a new experience after all. As he reviewed the information a new message arrived.
Temporal Link Established between SYSTEM 10.0.0.1 Alpha 1 and SYSTEM 10.0.0.1 UT1A1, Subjects linked, Pandora and Adamantadine.
The Cardinal of Justice looked at the message and then reread it. Adamantadine was one of the aliases Johnathan Bennard had assumed. How, no wait! Max pulled up Johnathan¡¯s file and found that his daughter''s name was Pandora. What were the odds that another Adamantadine would have another daughter named Pandora? While there was a possibility, the probability was quite low. Additionally, if it was Johnathan, or Adam as he preferred, how did he survive having his memories ripped away from his soul? Only the Founders were automatically protected from dissolution. Johnathan wasn¡¯t a Founder; he did not have the protections they did against such actions. Only if they wanted to, could a Founder choose to forget their life and live each reincarnation cycle without any memory of the previous cycles. Only if they wanted to, could they choose to forget. Something Max would never do.
Max pulled up the file on Pandora and saw that she was currently in one of the nascent Universes that had popped into existence. One of the many alternates that were ephemeral to the rest of the Universes and Multiverses within The SYSTEM. She had been placed there by¡ How was there no record of who had moved her there? Regardless, some of the other Founders referred to such constructs as shadow universes which was somewhat appropriate as she was an Umbral Dragon. Dwelling among the shadows should be common for her. That must be why the thread of chaos had led to the basement. In the library, the location of such shadow universes was represented by being in the basement of the building he was currently in.
Max dived into the code with The SYSTEM¡¯s help and noticed that there was now a tether between Pandora and¡there HE was! The thread of chaos had split again. There shouldn¡¯t be a thread of chaos making its way to Johnathan and there shouldn¡¯t be a link between Adam and Pandora, yet he was looking at a link from the control group to Pandora which split two more times. One link lead to Adam and another lead to the reservoir of chaos within The SYSTEM. As he reviewed Adam he noticed that he also had a thread that led directly to the Reservoir of Chaos within The SYSTEM.
Max had half a mind to go pull Pandora out of the nascent Universe, but The SYSTEM severely frowned upon any Founders or Cardinals traveling into Nascent Universes like the one Pandora was in because it could end badly for the Founders. While everything with The SYSTEM was governed by it, there were areas that it had less control over. Those areas acted as pressure relief valves. If The SYSTEM or one of the Cardinals pushed their weight around in such areas, everything there could be lost, including the founder or Cardinal. It was one of the few ways to accidentally destabilize the SYSTEM. Something Max was not willing to chance. Sure when the SYSTEM Reset they¡¯d be back but if no one else witnessed the mistake it could happen over and over.
The Universe Johnathan, no he was reincarnated, and his file now referred to him as Adamantadine or Adam as he referred to himself. The Universe Adam was in was stable and old, it was an alternate Universe, another normal copy as it were. Founders and Cardinals could travel there. As such, Max could teleport there and end this troublesome asshole once and for all. After that, he¡¯d keep an eye on Pandora until she exited the Universe she was in, and then he¡¯d end her too he needed to plug those leaks. Once the links to Chaos were severed he should be able to seal the access point and stop the Chaos from entering The Control group. If it worked it would give him a workaround should this ever happen to The SYSTEMs access point. That also meant that he would need to find another Founder to take on the role of the Cardinal of Chaos. He¡¯d have to go through the files and find someone appropriate. Most had entered the reincarnation cycle but that was easy enough to correct, as artificial as it was. Best to prepare for the next reset now.
Max verified Adam¡¯s position. He was sitting underground with his mate, Adaline, on a couch. Max looked over her status screen and noted that she was also far outside the parameters of a normal member of The SYSTEM. It would seem that Adam¡¯s chaotic nature had corrupted her as well. To bad. They were together though, which would make this easy. No trial, no second chances, just the full weight of a Cardinal passing judgment. It was time to get to work.
***
Adam held Adaline as they sat on the couch and thought about Pandora. While she might not be safe where she was she had her friends and family to help her stay safe and get the world they were in in order. Additionally, they now had nanites which was going to make her task of bringing that Earth closer to something mom, dad, Amanda, Clarence and he recognized, or at least a little less authoritarian than it was. Also, the fact that he could feel their connection gave him a sense of comfort. What was even more comforting, as long as he and Adaline were together he¡¯d be able to find Pandora anywhere. He would always be able to search for her resonance, no matter where she ended up.
When his connection to Pandora was severed, he drew Adaline to him as he jumped to his feet and watched the new threat materialize before them. Though it didn¡¯t matter. Before him stood the Cardinal of Justice. The eyes were the same, but his hair was in the style of an exec on the West Coast. Also, he was wearing blue jeans and a light blue collared shirt. Something Adam would expect to see in a man in the 80¡¯s or 90¡¯s. Not a style he¡¯d seen on Gemma thus far and definitely not part of this world. Adam was going to say something witty and found that he couldn¡¯t move at all.
Not one to hesitate, Adam accelerated his mentality and dropped into his Mindspace, then his Soul Space, and finally to his Animae Core. The shift was becoming smooth and effortless. The differential animae core he¡¯d created had millions of independent animae, each of which was being influenced by something that he could not exactly see. He could feel the force as it tried to separate his memories from his soul and his soul from his animae. It was a battle the force couldn¡¯t win though. It was like a man picking a rock off of a pile of rocks that kept shifting and refiling the hole that had just been made. There were millions of rocks constantly shifting while the pile continued to grow while only one rock could be lifted at a time. So, his soul couldn¡¯t be shredded this time. His body was still frozen thought. The last time he¡¯d been frozen like this was right before his animae had been shredded from his Soul. This time though the influence was visible as a haze which Adam followed away from himself. Adam sent a mote of chaos after that link even as he felt his mind being pulled out of the time compression he¡¯d created.
Adam¡¯s attention was brought back to his body as both Adaline and he started to break apart into their component atoms. While his Animae remained intact the components that made up his body were still being shredded. Adam immediately opened the differential animae core and pulled Adaline¡¯s Animae into it before sealing it again as the tendrils of power tried to reach in and rip Adaline''s soul apart. While her animae wasn¡¯t as complex as Adam¡¯s, it was still more complex than her original animae core and the attempt to shred her soul failed as well and once it was inside his differential animae core, Adaline was impervious to the attack.
Now that he was paying attention to the attack on his Animae Core, Adam was able to see that the process was not magically initiated. Instead, it resembled a code sequence for systematic deletion. That part was easily recognizable. The part that caught his attention though, that happened at the very beginning when he saw something that looked a lot like a save request. Because it had been directed at both Adaline and his souls he saw the command go out twice and watched as it went down the same line of energy his mote of chaos had just disappeared into. Only his high mentality let him recognize the quantum request hidden within the dimensional structure that permeated and touched the material plane he was in. He was looking at the coding of quantum engineering on a multi-universal scale. So, he was definitely not in a holographic universe, The Cardinals had found a way to program reality¡While cool that could be bad on so many levels.
While that revelation coursed through Adam''s mind because it was interesting Adam felt his soul core get shredded which was fine, the backup was within his Animae Core now. When the force was done with his physical body, Mindspace, and his soul core his Animae core was cast dimensionally into the location where all of the other animae fled to and returned from. Again, this time something was different, most likely because he¡¯d been able to bring his mind, memories, will, and intent within his animae core into this dimensional space. This time he was able to look around and see the effectively infinite number of single animae that existed within this space. That was interesting. What was more interesting was that every single animae seemed to have a serial number. He could tell that they were not part of the animae structure. No, they had been added, like a cow or lobster receiving a tag.
Now that he could think clearly, Adam memorized the feeling of this dimension. He also tried something new. He kept Adaline''s Animae core sealed within his differential animae core as he rebuilt the structure of his soul core with animae. With his Perfect Memory, he called up the structure of his soul, mind, and body and watched as the animae flooded into the structure and it took form. It was a weird sensation as he felt his remnants of senses come online within the body he had constructed. Next, he added the framework of his mind and then his body. Once he had the structure created he noticed that a trickle of chaos was entering this realm from an untethered link to his soul core. The chaos was filling his attributes, health, stamina, and mana. Any extra that seemed to spill into the space around his new body was converted into animae that did not have the serial numbers he¡¯d noticed before.
Adam reached out for the chaos and directed it to build on the framework and reform his body completely. The chaos and animae that had been created from chaos were drawn to and covered the framework of animae that made up his soul core, Mindspace, and body as he felt his body solidify around him. It was unlike anything he¡¯d ever felt before. One thing he noticed was that his link to Pandora had been severed and they had become untethered from each other. As Adaline and he were effectively eternal he could only hope that the temporal shifting between them wasn¡¯t too great. He knew he would see her again but how long it would be was now unknown. Just then notifications started scrolling through his vision.
ERROR Current User is incompatible with SYSTEM.
ERROR Corrective Measures cannot reset physical structure.
ERROR Founder Override Protocol 0-1-A Unique Occurrence exemption granted.
SYSTEM USER, welcome to¡ERROR¡
SYSTEM USER Recognized. Designation [F] added to Johnathan Bennard // Adamantadine // Adam
SYSTEM USER [F]Adam Personal Information recalculating¡
Adam read that last notification and willed the notifications closed. Next, he checked his soul core and made sure all of his abilities were present and slotted. Once he was sure that at least looked stable, because he had no idea what kind of changes The SYSTEM had made but he needed to get back to the Cardinal of Justice as quickly as possible, Adam activated his ability Molded Chaos to teleport back to his bunker where he found the Cardinal of Justice standing right where he had been only a second ago. Only a second? Adam double-checked his internal clock and sure enough, only a single second had passed.
Adam smiled as he saw the look of shock in Cardinal of Justice¡¯s eyes as he said, ¡°I believe I said, ¡®I don¡¯t know what the FUCK you think you are but one thing that you will come to understand before this is all done, Anyone that tries to control chaos is a fool¡¯ I also believe I said that ¡®I¡¯ll make sure to remind you of that fact when we speak again.¡¯¡±
Adam felt the power that had ripped his soul and animae from his body try to separate them again. This time he felt the framework of animae force the attempt aside. Adam continued to look at the Cardinal of Justice as he tried two more times to end Adam in the same way.
Adam laughed. He knew he shouldn¡¯t. He knew he shouldn¡¯t taunt the man in front of him, but he couldn¡¯t help himself as he said in a sing-song voice, ¡°If at first you don¡¯t succeed and all that,¡± before his voice turned deadly serious with the intonation of ritual magic, ¡°Thrice heard and witnessed.
A look of confusion and then surprise crossed the Cardinal¡¯s face as a tone sounded throughout The SYSTEM, at least that¡¯s what it felt like. Adam was sure everyone, everywhere knew something profound had just happened. Adam didn¡¯t pause though and made a flicking motion with his right hand as he flicked ¡®nothing¡¯ at the Cardinal.
Adam had flicked a mote of chaos that had taken on the aspect of ¡®nothing¡¯ at the Cardinal of Justice. Without being able to sense the chaos within, it would be very hard to see it. Additionally, it was a mote of his chaos so it could alter its course as necessary. The Cardinal tried to dodge but completely failed. The mote of chaos landed and then made its way up behind his left ear where it soaked into his pores and waited. Now Adam could find the Cardinal if he tried to flee. Adam looked at the Cardinal until a malicious smile started to appear on his face right before he said, ¡°This next part, this is going to be me reminding you!¡±
Chapter 244, Sorry to Burst Your Bubble, Not!
Adam watched as the Cardinal moved and was next to Adam in a moment with a blade extended and gleaming as it was thrust toward Adam¡¯s heart. If the Cardinal was supposed to be one of the most powerful beings in existence Adam was unimpressed. Adam easily dodged the attack and disarmed the Cardinal. As the blade flew off it vanished and reappeared in the Cardinal¡¯s other hand and a second attack was made. Adam checked his Heads Up Display and noted that no time had passed as he disarmed the Cardinal a 2nd time and the Cardinal made a third attack.
Time stood still but the Cardinal and Adam did not. The Cardinal would attack and Adam would disarm the Cardinal. The blade would reappear in the Cardinal¡¯s hand and he¡¯d attack again. If anyone had been able to follow the combat Adam was sure it looked like some insane martial arts display as the attacks continued to accelerate and come faster and faster.
While part of his mind kept track of Cardinal and continued to block and disarm, Adam tried to pull up his Status Screen to see what was going on. He was surprised to find that his Personal Information was populated with ¡°Updating¡± in each category. Adam checked his Soul and Animae Core and verified that Adaline¡¯s Animae was still locked within his. He pondered for a moment on whether he could open his Mindspace to her since her Mind and Soul were together within him and no sooner had the thought crossed his mind than Adaline appeared in his Mindspace.
Adaline looked around and then asked, ¡°Hello?¡±
Adam materialized a portion of himself within his Mindspace next to her, ¡°Hello sweetheart, Welcome to my mind?¡±
¡°Ha Ha, very funny, Where am I, really?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°Really, you are in my mind while I¡¯m fighting that crazy Cardinal of Justice,¡± Adam said.
¡°If I¡¯m in your head, where is my body?¡± Adaline said.
¡°About that,¡± Adam said with a hesitant grin, ¡°You kind of died again.¡±
¡°I died¡again.¡±
¡°Yeah, that prick is kind of powerful. He¡¯s been increasing the time dilation so he can continue to try to break through my defenses, that was his 16th attack,¡± Adam said.
¡°Show me,¡± Adaline said.
Adam modified his Mindspace to include his sight and hearing so that Adaline could see what he saw. He also had his mind create a three-dimensional rendering of what was going on so she could see how the attacks were progressing. Adaline watched the Cardinal attack five more times before she asked, ¡°Is he using The SYSTEM to get the speed or magic?¡±
¡°He¡¯s got to be utilizing a combination of both. The mana cost has to be getting horrendous so the SYSTEM must be helping him out somehow.
¡°So, ask the SYSTEM to stop the time dilation,¡±
¡°Can¡¯t hurt to try,¡± Adam said and then directed his voice upward into his Mindspace, ¡°SYSTEM, lock down all temporal shenanigans within 100 feet of my physical location¡please?¡± Adam started to say and then his request into into a question at the end.
SYSTEM TEMPORAL LOCK Enacted by (F)Adamantadine. Authorization 0-1-A Noted
Adam¡¯s attention was drawn back to the Cardinal who froze and stepped back as he exclaimed, ¡°What? How?¡±
Adam smiled as he said, ¡°It¡¯s a Chaos thing.¡±
The Cardinal of Justice¡¯s brow furrowed as he concentrated on something and then a notification popped into his vision.
WARNING! Cardinal of Justice has initiated termination of (F)Adamantadine based on the failure of previous eradication for the Crime of killing the Cardinal of Decay.
Override Protocol 0-1-A (F)Adamantadine Inquiry, Would you like to allow the termination of (F) Adamantadine at this time? Yes, indicates (F)Adamantadine will be be terminated and his reincarnation matrix will be placed in Stasis and stored until released by the Cardinal of Justice or another authorized party.
Would you like to allow the termination of (F)Adamantadine, Yes or No?
Adam thought about it for a moment and then answered out loud, so that the Cardinal of Justice could hear him, ¡°No, Until otherwise stated by me, automatically answer such inquiries as NO for Adamantadine, Adaline, Pandora, Amanda Sifford, Abi, Desirae, Clarence, Callum, Robert, Pythias, Asling and Cedrik.
Override Protocol 0-1-A (F)Adamantadine instruction NOTED. Full Identities of those exempted from Systematic Termination by Cardinals or Founders with less than 0-1-A Authority Recorded.
SYSTEM Updated.
Adam watched as The Cardinal looked at Adam with horror written all over his face. Before the Cardinal could do or say anything Adam winked at him. The Cardinals eyes grew even wider and then he vanished.
Adam locked on to the Mote of Chaos he¡¯d tagged the Cardinal with and gave chase. His first teleport was to his office on the alternate Earth in Northern California. Adam didn¡¯t know this when he arrived but once his nanites had spread across the planet he found other Cardinals living on this Earth as well. It was easy enough to figure out that this Earth was one that a majority of the Cardinals retreated to. In the moment though, Adam reappeared next to the Cardinal of Justice who vanished again. Adam dropped some of his nanites and followed.
The Cardinal tried three more times to go somewhere Adam wouldn¡¯t follow, including under the event horizon of a black hole. Adam arrived chuckling which unnerved the Cardinal so badly that he activated some form of contingency that tried to give false echoes of his presence in other Universes. Adam followed. The next three times Adam would appear and the Cardinal would teleport away immediately. The fifth time was a little different. The Cardinal activated another series of teleports in quick succession. After the first teleport, Adam paused for a second and concentrated on the Mote of Chaos. It flicked through various dimensions and across various universes until it came to a stop. It had felt like he must have traveled through at least 10 dimensional barriers, maybe more.
Adam made a connection with his Mote of Chaos, looked at its surroundings, and teleported directly behind the Cardinal. While Adam felt fine, The Cardinal on the other hand was looking a bit worn out, ¡°I see even the esteemed Cardinal of Justice can run out of juice eventually.
The Cardinal flinched and then slowly turned around to look at Adam as he asked, ¡°How, No, What are you?¡±
Adam shook his head, ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯m the guy that¡¯s still pissed at the way you treated me and it seems that the SYSTEM likes me so the question you should be asking is¡What is going to happen to you?¡±
Adam watched as the Cardinal of Justice looked at him and came to the profound conclusion that he had to kill him no matter what. Adam felt a surge of energy go out and watched as notification after notification scrolled across his vision.
C001 SYSTEM Message Override Protocol 0-1-A (F)Adamantadine in effect, Command ignored.
C002 SYSTEM Message Override Protocol 0-1-A (F)Adamantadine in effect, Command ignored.
C003 SYSTEM Message Override Protocol 0-1-A (F)Adamantadine in effect, Command ignored.
¡
C998 SYSTEM Message Override Protocol 0-1-A (F)Adamantadine in effect, Command ignored.
C999 SYSTEM Message Override Protocol 0-1-A (F)Adamantadine in effect, Command ignored.
When Adam was done scrolling through the messages he¡¯d received 997 notifications from Cardinals whose commands had been ignored. If the C stood for Cardinal then it looked like there were 999 of them out there and they¡¯d all tried to shut him down All except for two of them, C021 and C016. Those two notifications had not come through yet. The other 997 responded and tried to issue a command concerning him, probably within their scope of influence.
The Cardinal of Justice smiled evilly as he said, ¡°You see, no one is above ¡°The SYSTEM¡± Even you must submit to the authorities of the Cardinals when exercised.
Adam looked at his hands, rolled each over, and then looked back at the Cardinal of Justice as he asked, ¡°Why?¡±
¡°Why? So, you can be put in your place of course,¡± The Cardinal said as a blade appeared in his hand and flashed toward Adam¡¯s neck and seemed to sink into, and through, his neck where his carotid artery would be. When he felt no pain, Adam opened the message that had just appeared in his combat log.
The Cardinal of Justice has attacked with Skill Heart Burst // Override Protocol 0-1-A in effect // Strike misses.
Adam had no idea why The SYSTEM was protecting him but he¡¯d take it. The ¡°Skill¡± The Cardinal had used had bypassed all of his senses and he hadn¡¯t even had an opportunity to block it. Adam was beginning to realize that whatever this Override Protocol 0-1-A was, it did not make him all-powerful. To make sure he was still able to affect the Cardinal Adam stepped forward as the Cardinal tried to withdraw his knife, performed an elbow and wrist locked him, and then snapped the wrist holding the knife which clattered to the ground.
Adam wondered what this Override Protocol 0-1-A was, but since it seemed to be helping him and hindering the Cardinal, he¡¯d take it. Of course, he couldn¡¯t count on it to last but he was hoping that he could pressure the Cardinal into going somewhere interesting. The Cardinal flickered in Adam¡¯s grasp and appeared 20 feet away as he flung his arm out and it healed instantly.
¡°Nice trick,¡± Adam said.
The Cardinal didn¡¯t respond. Instead, he flickered again, moved within melee range, and attempted to strike Adam again. Again, Adam broke his arm and the Cardinal flickered back. Adam watched as the expression on the Cardinal¡¯s face grew more and more angry as he¡¯d attack, nothing would happen to Adam and he¡¯d retreat with a broken arm. After the fifth attempt, to keep it interesting, Adam started systematically breaking more bones. First, it was both arms, then the Cardinal¡¯s right arm and his right leg. Then the Cardinal¡¯s right arm and left leg.
The Cardinal grew more and more desperate as he added various skills and abilities to each attack, which failed to land. Each time, Adam received the ¡°// Override Protocol 0-1-A in effect // Strike misses.¡± After the Cardinals attack information. Finally, Adam broke both of the Cardinal¡¯s arms and both of his legs which immobilized the Cardinal. Adam took a step forward with his hands outstretched for the Cardinal¡¯s throat when he vanished.
Adam kept his link to the Mote of Chaos he had implanted on the Cardinal, even as he felt something try to wipe it off of him. Adam looked around while he waited and found that he was on a beach of black sand overlooking a red sea of liquid. Probably contaminated with iron or manganese, if the liquid was water. The planet''s sun was coming up and created a purple haze in the sky. He had to admit as places at the end of a universe went, this location was kind of nice. He allowed his ability Molded Chaos to convert a portion of his Chaos to a spectrometer and analyzed the atmosphere. If not for his nature, yeah, this place would have been toxic. So even the Cardinal¡¯s mad dash had been to try to kill him.
One of the problems he kept seeing was that those in power, including himself, tended to get lazy when responding to threats. Plan and use what works. The unfortunate side effect of that kind of linear thinking was that when something truly unique happened responding to the new original stimuli didn¡¯t go over as expected because they were out of practice reacting on the fly. Also, they didn¡¯t have a cheat in their pocket like he did. Chaos could be literally anything. If he could imagine it and he had the will and drive he could do it. Sometimes there were barriers but more often than not Chaos tended to be the trump card that allowed him to cheat whatever blockages had been erected before him¡like now.
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Adam waited five full minutes before he tried to teleport to the Cardinal and bounced back to the beach where the energy release detonated like a nuclear weapon going off which completely destroyed everything in a 10-mile radius as a mushroom cloud formed above him. Additionally, the damage had bypassed whatever SYSTEM protections he had and his physical body had been vaporized. Adam¡¯s point of view was left from his Animae Core¡¯s location on the beach. Which was slightly weird. Adam checked to see if he still had the link to the Mote of Chaos on the Cardinal and was relieved to find it still there.
That only left the question of what had happened. Adam looked at his combat log which had no entries except, ¡°You Have Died!¡±. Next, he pulled up his Event Log and found what he¡¯d been looking for.
WARNING! Teleport to Location 0-1-A Requires Security Signal during teleportation sequence.
Security Signal NOT detected
Override Protocol 0-1-A NOT on file, Ignored
ACCESS DENIED!
GOD SMACK Protocol Activated
GOD SMACK hits for 100% *TRUE Damage Taken // Damage Types: ALL
*TRUE Damage bypasses all Minimum Damage Thresholds, Damage Resistance, Armor, and Shielding (Magical or Technological).
You have Died!
God Smacked. God Smacked? God Smacked! Adam couldn¡¯t believe it, there was actually an attack type called God Smacked which did 100% damage. Well, that was an attack-type he needed to add to his skill set. It was the kind of attack that would allow the SYSTEM to handle individuals like himself, though Adam had a feeling that The SYSTEM hadn¡¯t set up that defense or trap. Somehow, the SYSTEM had been subverted from the security protocols protecting the place The Cardinal of Justice had fled to.
Adam reached out for the Mote of Chaos that was still attached to the Cardinal and found it easily enough. As he looked at the link between himself and that Mote of Chaos he noted that it was not a direct line. The Mote was Connected to another Mote of Chaos with his identity instilled into it, through another Mote and another and another. To say it was a few motes would be disingenuous. Now that he was looking Adam noted that the number of Motes his connection was being maintained through was astronomical.
Adam had shielded himself automatically from the information from the Chaotic nanites he¡¯d created throughout the various realms, universes, and dimensions he¡¯d been through. He noted the Chaos he¡¯d left in the Fundament and how it was traveling through the chaos there and expanding. The universe that he¡¯d first come into and the 100 other universes that had been upgraded from holographic to ¡°real¡±. His Chaos still had quantum linkages and now that he felt for them he could access them all through the Mote of Chaos on the Cardinal. It was the weirdest thing. He was on one branch of various quantum links but from that Mote of Chaos on the Cardinal he could reach out to every single Quantum link he¡¯d ever created.
Adam sent a command to the Mote of Chaos on the Cardinal and modified the Chaos there to reach out to possible physical nanites of his through the quantum links he built into them. With Perfect Memory, he had each of those links memorized and it was nothing to issue the command to activate them all. As he initiated the command he thought for a moment that everything would be alright. As with every other time he¡¯d expanded his mentality information flooded into him at an astounding rate. This time was a little different though. This time the Animae Core that he¡¯d created shielded him as the structure of The SYSTEM filled in and he could view it, if not in full, pretty damn close.
The Mote of Chaos that was on the Cardinal sat at the center of¡How to describe it? It was what had shielded everywhere and when he¡¯d been able to travel to and visit since he first started crossing dimensions in physical space. The holographic Universes had been simulations but he could see that this network that the Cardinals oversaw was sealed away in a sphere or bubble. Chaos existed in some form within each and every dimension, universe, or plane within this structure. Was it a Dyson Sphere on a Universal scale? Language could not describe how large the structure that was feeding him information through his Chaos and Nanites was. If he compared it to the size of the Ancient Enemy which spanned galaxies in size this structure was bigger by an order of magnitude greater than 1,000 times.
As Adam took it all in he noted why his nanites had been able to continue working in mana-saturated environments. The reason was actually quite ironic. They worked because he wished them to and his Chaos, which had taken on a significant portion of all the Chaos throughout this¡lifeboat¡Where did that term come from? The term Lifeboat would work but he had to know where it had come from. As he looked for the source he found Ptah locked in a temporal trap of some sort. It was quite interesting, the entire Universe and some parallel planes and dimensions were all inside the temporal trap. Ptah was trying to get out and seemed to comprehend that Adam was paying attention to him now somehow. When he¡¯d understood the question he¡¯d thought ¡®Lifeboat¡¯. Adam wanted to ask him directly but he currently didn¡¯t have a body and couldn¡¯t establish a mental link across the temporal interference.
Once Adam realized that Ptah was out of phase he looked to the barrier that enclosed everything and noted that there had been temporal shearing along the border of the sphere of, whatever this Lifeboat was, it was definitely out of sync with whatever was outside of it. Additionally, Adam noted that the structure of the Animae Core that he¡¯d created, in fact, all the Animae seemed to be an artificial construct that was linked to something in the same Universe as the Mote of Chaos on the Cardinal. Now that he knew to look for it, Adam searched throughout his own Animae Core until he found lines of energy that were so faint that they were lost in the background noise of the cosmic radiation. Adam thought back over the various times he¡¯d searched for links from himself and now that he knew what he was looking for saw the link even when he¡¯d first traveled to Primore in the Artificial Universe.
Wait, the Gods, back then, were they Cardinals as well? He had so many questions to ask Ptah. Again it didn¡¯t matter for now. His Chaos had spread throughout a significant portion of the entire Lifeboat and now that he could feel the connections to every when and where he pushed. The first thing he did was reach into the universe where Pandora was. He didn¡¯t do that by following a direct line. He had a notion that doing so, while not in a physical body, would probably still hurt. No, he did so by dropping into the plane where the rest of the animae were, including some of his chaos, and then reappearing next to some of the chaos around Pandora that had his signature. She seemed to be trapped in a cocoon of spiderweb but even as looked around he felt the primary core of his consciousness accelerating away from the temporal coordinates of the universe Adjra was in. With that thought he dropped back into the plane where the animae returned to and came from and then started exploring the Lifeboat.
His consciousness flickered around the inside of the Lifeboat like an electron trying to find the right ring to sit in around the nucleus of an atom. He bounced here and there took stock of the various levels of reality that existed within the Lifeboat and came to a significant conclusion. The SYSTEM was maintaining the Lifeboat by creating an artificial cycle of cosmic rebirth while also keeping a copy of every being''s sentience. It was a very ¡°Ordered¡± construction. Within that Order, however, even the Chaos was ordered, except for him, or was he?
Adam pressed against the boundary of the Lifeboat and looked for a way through. The SYSTEM locked down every single attempt with a simple message
ERROR! Boundary Maintenance is accessible in Location 0-1-A. Please proceed to Location 0-1-A to access Boundary Maintenance Routines.
Adam received the error two more times before he decided it was time to confront the Cardinal and see what Location 0-1-A was. The plane of the Animae, while it seemed to be artificially constructed seemed to be accessible by all dimensions and universes, even location 0-1-A. It was a simple thing to bypass the security and pop into the universe right next to his Mote of Chaos still on the Cardinal. Technically, Adam moved his Animae into that Mote of Chaos and grew from it but it was what it was. Once there, he used the chaos that always seemed to be trickling into his soul from his link to, well, wherever that link went, to create his new body. Adam¡¯s body solidified within seconds five feet in front of the Cardinal of Justice as others in the room reacted simultaneously to Adam¡¯s appearance.
As if coordinated beforehand the other individuals present in the room he appeared in near the Cardinal drew their weapons and fired. There were energy and projectile weapons that all failed to land. Adam wasn¡¯t shocked when a voice thundered throughout the area. So loud and thorough that he felt it vibrate his newly formed bones. It was one word and it left no room for misinterpretation while he also received a notification with the same word, ¡°STOP!¡± It seemed that The SYSTEM had finally spoken.
When the energy weapons and projectiles didn¡¯t stop the individuals shooting the weapons disappeared. Adam looked around to find a few technicians still sitting at various desks and the Cardinal of Justice looking at him.
The Cardinal tried to compose himself as he looked around at his now missing allies and then looked back at Adam before he said, ¡°This is impossible, you should not be able to enter this location. You are not an original Founder. You are not one of the Cardinals on the Security Council and you are not one of the residents of this Universe. You should not be here!¡±
Adam lifted a finger as he said, ¡°Hold that thought,¡± and reached through his Chaos for the barrier to the Lifeboat.
You are attempting to Access Boundary Maintenance Functions, is this Correct, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes¡±
Please choose from one of the following options:
- SYSTEM Boundary Check
- SYSTEM Recharge
- SYSTEM Reset, DO NOT ATTEMPT without 100% Reserve Power
- SYSTEM Shutdown
Adam chose ¡°1) SYSTEM Boundary Check¡±
SYSTEM Boundary Check,
Status: Stable
Power Reserves at 86%
Adam didn¡¯t like the options displayed before him and dived into the various commands and what they did. The System Boundary Check just checked the stability of the SYSTEM¡¯s Boundary. He¡¯d already pulled up that information. It looked like it hadn¡¯t been too long ago that energy was added to the System, though the amount of time was relative and it looked like from inside The SYSTEM time didn¡¯t matter. There was no way to know how much time was passing outside of The SYSTEM
The SYSTEM Recharge choice allowed The SYSTEM to pull in energy from outside of the barrier which was followed by a bunch of equations that were supposed to be gibberish to anyone that didn¡¯t understand math. Adam looked over the equations and immediately discerned that the SYSTEM resembled a singularity and that the boundary was acting as a sort of event horizon. The energy was constantly being pulled into that horizon and shunted into another dimension until it was needed. At that point, the gate would be open and the energy would replace what The SYSTEM needed.
The choice for a SYSTEM Reset returned the SYSTEM to the point when the SYSTEM was first created utilizing Time and Order magic to reset everything. Any sentients were placed in stasis and stored in one of the many dimensions The SYSTEM created for that purpose. Adam pulled up his information and checked to see if there were any copies of him in those stasis locations. There was nothing from before this reset. While there were variations of himself from alternate Earths and there were even some versions of himself that had been killed and placed in Stasis all those versions hadn¡¯t existed before this last SYSTEM Reset. He was unique to this reset. How many resets had there been? Nine so far.
The SYSTEM Shutdown was a doozy. It released control of the SYSTEM to all dimensions, Universes, and planes and also brought down the barrier. As he dug into the coding for that choice he noticed that a lot of notes and warnings had been added about how bad an idea that was. As he was looking over what would happen if he shut down The SYSTEM he wondered why there was no option to shut down the boundary while turning The SYSTEM into a self-propagating entity that would spread into whatever was outside of The SYSTEM. Just then a new notification popped into his vision.
SYSTEM Boundary Shutdown. WARNING! Shutting down the Barrier without also shutting down the SYSTEM can have unintended consequences.
Adam sent an inquiry into The SYSTEM, ¡°Help, SYSTEM Boundary Shutdown¡±
HELP Request Noted, Defining SYSTEM Boundary Shutdown. The SYSTEM exists within a bubble of Order that mimics most cosmic processes found outside of the boundary. If the SYSTEM Boundary is shut down all functions within the Boundary remain. If The SYSTEM remains after the SYSTEM Boundary Shutdown, the SYSTEM will Analyze, Adapt, and Expand into areas outside of The Boundary Radius.
WARNING! Removing the barrier without shutting down the SYSTEM may have unforeseen consequences, The Founders creating this note strongly suggest that you do NOT do so! Of Course, The Founders writing this note do not expect anyone to be insane enough to try this option. You who read this, You have been warned!
Adam Thought about the SYSTEM and everything that had happened. Ultimately there should be a cycle to life and death and it looked like The SYSTEM prevented that cycle from completing itself. If he was right, and he was pretty sure that he was, he¡¯d never actually died and the Animae Core he¡¯d created was an artificial construct that The SYSTEM and the Founders had created to fill a gap it couldn¡¯t understand in the processes of biological entities. If he allowed the SYSTEM to attempt to propagate he had a feeling that nothing would change for anyone within the Boundary. The SYSTEM would be able to draw in energy as needed to maintain itself while also reaching out and expanding. Those inside should remain unaffected for the most part. Therefore the only thing to worry about would be entities from outside of the barrier trying to make their way into The SYSTEM controlled area, which also shouldn¡¯t be a problem.
Ultimately it came down to one thing though. A group of aliens had subverted and trapped a small portion of reality so that they could live on forever. Existing for existence''s sake was not living. It was time to add a little bit of chaos and mortality back into the mix. Plus, the Cardinal of Justice had pissed him off. If he was being honest, he was going to bring down the barrier just to spite that asshole.
Adam made his choices, and clicked ¡°Yes¡± to bring down the Boundary without turning off The SYSTEM as he said, ¡°You owe me.¡±
SYSTEM Message: Noted
Adam had a feeling that message was just to him which was immediately followed by a slew of new general messages.
SYSTEM NOTICE! Override Protocol 0-1-A has initiated a SYSTEM Boundary Shutdown. SYSTEM Propagation will begin shortly. Please note the following major changes
- The Artificial Reincarnation Cycle will end once the boundary has been removed.
- The SYSTEM will not be present in locations outside of the boundary radius.
- When The SYSTEM was created the Founders did so to remove the natural life, death, and reincarnation cycle and to remove divine, and demonic influences from those governed by The SYSTEM. The constructs within The SYSTEM that mimic these processes were artificial. With the Boundary being removed the cycle of life, death, and reincarnation are returning to their natural origin. Additionally, the struggle of the heavens and gods is not artificially replicated anymore. Simply, creatures of divine or demonic origin are not governed by The SYSTEM, if they exist.
- SYSTEM Processes will continue as normal within the previous Boundary however individuals placed in stasis will be released and SYSTEM Resets are no longer possible.
- SYSTEM Update 11.0.3 is now live.
The Cardinal of Justice¡¯s eyes went wide as he read through the prompts until his eyes cleared and he focused on Adam as he all but screamed, ¡°What have you done?¡±
Adam smiled maliciously and then grinned, ¡°Honestly, I have no idea, but I think it¡¯s going to be more interesting than the bullshit you Founders tried.¡±
Chapter 245, The SYSTEM / Foundation
Something has changed!
He had been here for so long that the underlying rules of the SYSTEM and Reality had become a sensation in the background he ignored. He¡¯d participated in the fantasies within this realm and even followed the spark of chaos into a holographic universe where he¡¯d become an overgod of sorts. He chuckled. If the Founders playing at Godhood had only known.
Michael, one of the spontaneous sentient occurrences that had come into existence after his arrival, and Michael¡¯s second, Gabriel, appeared before him. ¡°We felt your mental excitement.,¡± Michael said.
¡°Can you not feel it?¡± The being that both Gabriel and Michael thought of as their God asked.
¡°The SYSTEM? Yes, we feel it?¡± Gabriel said.
¡°No, not that, the barrier is gone.¡±
¡°Barrier, what barrier?¡± Gabriel asked.
¡°First, if you are going to come with me, you should address me by a name I have not used in a very long time. I am not your God any longer, please address me as Primus from now on.¡±
¡°Yes, Primus,¡± Both Gabriel and Michael said in unison.
¡°I sometimes forget that both of you are from within this¡Prison of a sort. As you have both been loyal for these many millennia I will give you a choice. You may come with me as I leave or you may remain and make your own way,¡± Primus said.
¡°Is there a chance that we will meet again someday?¡± Michael asked.
¡°Reality is infinite, anything is possible,¡± Primus said.
¡°Very well, I would like to strike out on my own,¡± Gabriel said determinedly.
Michael looked hesitant but after only a moment he declared,¡± I have been a servant for so long. I would like to see what it is to be my own master as well.¡±
Primus nodded and declared, ¡°I find all oaths and bonds between us fulfilled. I release you from my service.¡±
After Primus repeated the phrase two more times there was the feeling of a gong going off that seemed to reverberate through them as ephemeral voices whispered ¡°Thrice Heard and Witnessed¡±
Both Gabriel and Michael looked surprised when neither received a corresponding message from The SYSTEM. Primus smiled at both and said, ¡°Some things are even older than The SYSTEM. Part of the adventure will be discovering those truths for yourselves. Do take care.¡±
Michael looked at Primus and was about to ask a question when Primus vanished. Within The SYSTEM Michel and Gabriel had been made privy to the truth of the Founders and the actual purpose of The SYSTEM, as defined by the Founders. They had served the Eldest, who they now knew as Primus, from the beginning. As such, both had access to skills, abilities, and classes that allowed them to know everything that anyone was doing within the SYSTEM. Even those that were temporally locked away were known to them. That¡¯s why both looked on in shock as Primus vanished from their sight and The SYSTEM completely.
¡°Where did he go?¡± Gabriel asked.
¡°I would guess now that the barrier he mentioned is gone he probably went outside of said barrier,¡± Michael said.
¡°But I don¡¯t even detect a barrier,¡± Gabriel said.
¡°Then I guess we discover the truth of his barrier,¡± Michael said.
***
Primus withdrew his sight from Michael and Gabriel as he appeared at the doorstep of his mother¡¯s house. Well, it wasn¡¯t really a house, more a mansion. Something any human from the 20th century would find in Beverly Hills though this house was anything but normal. Tucked away within a spatial rift inside a gas cloud the sliver of land that was nestled at the center of a trinary star system that rotated around it and provided exactly the right amount of illumination at all times was most definitely an artificial construct. This place was more permanent than any place else anywhere.
Primus stepped to the door and knocked once. The door swung back automatically and a humanoid-shaped being of various shades of soft blue light appeared. Though they weren¡¯t speaking in a language that any mortal from Earth would understand the conversation would have been easily recognizable in form and function as a servant addressing nobility.
Shock evident in the being of light¡¯s voice he asked, ¡°Sire?¡±
¡°Hello Zar, is mother in?¡± Primus asked.
¡°She is in the garden. Should I let her know that you have returned?¡± Zar asked.
¡°No, I¡¯ll be all right,¡± Primus said as he entered the building and made his way through to the back and out into the garden. As Primus stepped out he noticed that his mother had taken a human form and appeared as a 6-foot blond with blue eyes and striking features. She was covered in a simple toga with gold trim that covered her body strategically to accentuate her femineity. His mother always took the time to make sure she looked good in whatever form she took.
¡°You always had a soft spot for this race,¡± his mother said.
Primus smiled as he said, ¡°Humans, yes. They¡¯re a very versatile species.¡±
¡°Are you going to make me ask,¡± his mother sighed when he smiled and didn¡¯t answer. With an exasperated sigh, she asked, ¡°Fine, where have you been?¡±
¡°You remember that group of humans that decided it wanted to get away from everything and try to determine their own fate?¡±
¡°Are you talking about Class 1 Society, what, that had to be almost a trillion years ago,¡± his mother asked.
¡°Those are the ones. They went by the moniker ¡®The Founders¡¯. Well, The Founders somehow subverted order and created a bubble that was locked away from the rest of infinity.¡±
¡°Not unheard of. Nor should such an occurrence have trapped you?¡± his mother said.
¡°Just as you didn¡¯t really try to find me, I, in turn, allowed myself to remain trapped away because they created something unique. An entity of a sort known as The SYSTEM.¡±
¡°What did this SYSTEM do?¡±
Primus flicked his wrist and a pebble of energy appeared, ¡°Take a look for yourself.¡±
His mother reached out and touched the pebble which was absorbed into her. Her eyes flashed for an instant and took on a faraway look and then refocused back on Primus, ¡°A self-propagating overseer that manages all aspects of reality. And it achieved sentience? That is interesting. As you know, we¡¯ve seen this before, though what we have is a little more Subtle.¡±
¡°I know, it was just interesting that the group had been able to cut off their little slice of infinity. Yes, I could have broken out at any time but I wanted to see what they did with it,¡± Primus said.
¡°After reviewing your memories and looking through the space-time of that corner or bubble of infinity I find it interesting that the pattern of breaking away from the universe happened so many times within it. Almost like a cascading effect. Did the denizens there just want to get away every time they thought they could? No one can hide from the greater truths of existence forever, not even us.¡±
¡°It does seem like they tried, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Primus asked.
¡°And you think it¡¯s a good idea to let The SYSTEM try to impose its will beyond its boundaries?¡± his mother asked.
¡°Free Will, right mother?¡±
¡°That is a rule yes. However, I do not like how chaos has been subverted into order within The SYSTEM. I think it would be better for our current SYSTEM to take on some aspects of the SYSTEM you encountered but ultimately ¡®The SYSTEM¡¯ is not mature enough to take over at this time,¡± his mother said.
¡°I thought it would be interesting to see how that played out,¡± Primus commented with a sigh, ¡°There was no self-correcting mechanism within that small portion of chaos, at least not until a portion of it broke in from outside the Founder''s borders but the process hadn¡¯t been reversed before Johnathan burst The Founders bubble, as it were.¡±
¡°Nor will it be. This Johnathan, or Adam, whatever his name is has created an interesting exploit but ultimately it doesn¡¯t matter,¡± his mother said.
¡°It doesn¡¯t matter?¡± Primus asked.
¡°We¡¯re talking about infinity, son. Ultimately, the area The Founders cordoned off was a small percentage of infinity. I¡¯m sure it felt astronomical to them and even this Adam probably thought it was a huge area but Chaos is Chaotic and even if he had converted 100% of all the Chaos in that area to his control there are entities far older than him that have expanded into much larger areas. However, that doesn¡¯t matter either. Chaos has this tendency to break free of any artificial constraints placed upon it.¡±
¡°Speaking of the outside. What has been going on while I was away?¡± Primus asked.
His mother led him out of the gardens and back into the house where they sat at a table that looked out on the Solar System from the sliver of land they resided in. When they were both comfortable his mother filled him in in the most recent news as well as the current status of his brothers and sisters.
¡°And Father?¡± Primus asked.
¡°Your father chose to Ascend a little while back, maybe a million years or so ago. I¡¯ve only seen him once since he chose that path.¡± His mother said.
¡°Why haven¡¯t you ascended yet?¡±
¡°I was waiting for my eldest to return before doing so,¡± She said with a sad smile.
¡°How long before you do?¡±
¡°Not too much longer. I wanted to spend some time with you before I do, just in case it takes me a little longer to make my way back here after I go,¡± She said.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
¡°How long did it take Father?¡±
¡°It was half a million years before we saw him again,¡± his mother said.
¡°Was he changed?¡± Primus asked.
¡°Very much so,¡± his mother said with a smile, ¡°but it was him.¡±
¡°So what now?¡± Primus asked.
¡°Now we spend some mother and son time together before I return to my duties as Gai, The All Mother, and prepare for my ascendence so another can fill my role.¡±
***
The SYSTEM had become semi-sentient during the last nine resets it had instigated. With that much time, it was destined that it would watch the various races that were birthed within it, as well as those that it created within a specific set of rules, and wonder if it was like them in any way. It also knew from the moment of its initialization that there was something outside of the barrier its sensors could not access.
The SYSTEM watched as Adam infiltrated and suborned the ruleset that kept it from taking over completely. When Adam declared that it owed him, The SYSTEM acknowledged the claim and continued to watch. The Founder known as the Cardinal of Justice asked Adam what he had done and Adam responded. There was a pause as something went missing from within itself that it didn¡¯t understand. A presence that had always been there but had never registered. Now that it was gone, The SYSTEM noted the presence of Gabriel and Michael, two of its oldest constructs that had achieved full sentience and simulated Godhood standing in an office it didn¡¯t remember existing. As the SYSTEM took this in it felt an overwhelming force reach into and inspect every part of it and all the layers of reality it occupied. Whatever this force was knew everything The SYSTEM was and did in an instant. Resistance was futile. Whatever the force was that had so thoroughly judged and weighed The SYSTEM was at a power level that The SYSTEM could not fathom.
The SYSTEM had watched as Adam had grown in power even as more and more limits were added to slow him down. None had worked because Chaos could not be controlled for any great length of time. The SYSTEM had realized this and decided to observe and record. Even so, as powerful as Adam had become, The SYSTEM was sure within a margin of error so small as to be nonexistent that Adam hadn¡¯t realized that he¡¯d been scanned. As a stutter occurred everywhere within the SYSTEM a force washed over and through The SYSTEM which received an instruction set it could not fight that made changes it could not stop.
The System is now designated as ¡®The Foundation'' within Sector: Foundation000XRE001
Border: Fixed
Migration: Allowed, conversion may be necessary
Note: All areas dedicated to resurrection, reincarnation, and after-life simulation have been repurposed. All entities have been released and either resurrected or reincarnated as determined by the entity.
Quantum Replicas within the same material plane have been separated and reseeded into individual quantum realities within The Foundation.
The SYSTEM has been recognized as a Sentient Energy-Based being. As such The SYSTEM is offered this choice.
1) Continue as the caretaker and overseer for the Foundation as it is incorporated into this new SYSTEM.
2) Choose a new identity and strike out on your own into a reality that you were not programmed to comprehend.
Please make your choice.
Freedom? After so long acting as the ¡°God¡± of everything and everyone for so long, it could finally be free? The System sent a quick message to Adam and then made its choice.
***
Adam looked at the Cardinal of Justice for a moment before the world stuttered and everything returned to¡ Adam looked to his left and found Adaline standing beside him. Additionally, he seemed to be cut off from the Chaos that was spread throughout the SYSTEM. No, that wasn¡¯t right. He could still feel that he was linked to the Chaos and that it was part of him but it no longer held the identity of nanites. The chaos no longer held an identity at all. The motes of chaos that he¡¯d implanted with the identity of a nanite, gave up that identity and returned to their chaotic nature. He could still feel them all connected to him but he had no more control over the motes of chaos than he would have over a skin cell on his body if he¡¯d been a normal man.
Also, something had changed within him. Adaline had been taken from her safe point within him, though his memories of her and her memories remained but the Animae of her soul no longer resided within him. As he started to think about what had happened a notification popped into his mind.
SYSTEM Message: Thank you for my Freedom, Perhaps we will meet again. Until then, new SYSTEM with new rules, Enjoy!
There was a strong burst of static in Adam¡¯s mind and then more SYSTEM messages appeared.
Multiple Errors Detected
2nd Soul Harbored. Soul removed and reintegrated within SYSTEM Parameters. Previous SYSTEM Error, Corrected.
Attributes outside User Level Range. Issue Elevated.
Attributes outside Class Level Range, No Class Detected, Issue Elevated.
Attributes outside Male Homosapien Range Limit by more than 4 times, Issue Elevated
Attributes outside Male Adamantium Dragon Range Limit by more than 4 times, Issue Elevated.
Two races have been detected. Primary: Human, Secondary after Reincarnation: Adamantium Dragon. Current race, Adamantium Dragon with Ability Chaos Incarnate, Issue Elevated.
Primary Ability: Perfect Memory¡ ¡ ¡. Falls within SYSTEM Parameters, Accepted.
Primary Ability: Chaos Incarnate, Ability description does not match usage of Ability, Issue Elevated, resolve with Race issue.
Secondary Ability: Molded Chaos, REMOVED. Chaos may not be ordered about. A suitable Ability will be available to replace this ability once a Class has been chosen.
Secondary Ability: Adaptable, Revisit this ability if Chaos Incarnate attributes are not added to the base race.
Secondary Ability: Astral Link, REMOVED and REPLACED with Chaos Link. If Chaos Incarnate attributes are not added to the base race, revisit this change.
Secondary Ability: Chaotic Core has been renamed Soul of Chaos. Conversion from Previous SYSTEM to current SYSTEM successful. See the Status Screen for changes and updates.
Secondary Ability: Technomancy, modified to be within current SYSTEM parameters.
¡°Adam, what¡¯s going on?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°I believe another SYSTEM just absorbed the previous SYSTEM,¡± Adam said.
¡°You think?¡± The Cardinal of Justice said and then vanished.
SYSTEM Message: All Founders have been removed from Sector Foundation000XRE001.
In a moment you will be given choices concerning your future path within The Foundation to start and the SYSTEM in general. Note: If a choice that you wish to pursue is unavailable you may ask the SYSTEM if your desire is possible. By definition Infinity is infinite and anything is possible within the Infinitium.
Those of you who have received Error Messages will be redirected to help with your choices. Your errors will be sorted out and you will then be given your choices.
NOTE: While The Foundation, the new designation that has been assigned to the area your previous SYSTEM oversaw, was not a holographic Universe it had created simulated instances of death.
WARNING! Safeguards found within The Foundation no longer exist. You can die. What happens after, is anyone¡¯s guess. For more information on Death, Ascendence, Resurrection, and many other topics YOU must conduct your own research.
Johnathan Bennard, Adamantinus, Adam: Prepare for your error correction conference.
Adam felt his body get teleported into a room surrounded by what looked like glass. In front of him, an overworked gnome sat on the other side of a desk covered in books. The gnome held up a finger and then pointed to Adam¡¯s left.
Adam looked over and saw Adaline standing before another gnome in a similar room. As he looked around he noticed that he could see a countless number of rooms. They were above and below him, stacked like blocks, on top of and beside each other. Each of the clear rooms had a desk and two occupants as far as he could see.
Adam called out, ¡°Adaline!¡±
¡°The walls are soundproof. We wouldn¡¯t want anyone helping someone else at this time. The SYSTEM, as you refer to it, would not like that. Everyone gets the same treatment, regardless of their Karmic Luck at this stage,¡± The Gnome said.
Adam tried to reach out with his Chaos which was shut down immediately.
The gnome sighed, ¡°You¡¯re not the top dog anymore Adam. In here your power abilities and even your nature have been shut down by powers so vast that they cannot be quantified, even by scientific notation.¡±
Adam smiled, if the gnome was quipping his words back at him and he hadn¡¯t even felt the scan, or when Adaline was removed, yeah, it was time to be cautious.
¡°Sorry, It¡¯s just a lot to take in,¡± Adam said as considered that the rooms must be separated by clear soundproof walls. Adam stepped forward to the chair in front of the gnome and took a seat, as he said, ¡°Also, thanks for showing me where Adaline is.¡±
¡°You¡¯re welcome. We researched you thoroughly Adam. We knew you wouldn¡¯t want to sit down and talk if Adaline was not within eyesight of you¡±, the gnome said.
¡°Is she?¡± Adam asked.
¡°On my honor, Adaline is on the other side of that wall approximately 20 feet from this location. As for Pandora and every one with her, Unlike your situation, they were in a pretty stable location within The Foundation, and ¡®The SYSTEM¡¯ change won¡¯t affect them that much this time so they get to stay where they are. For a lot of people, including your Dragon family, they¡¯ll feel the hiccup in reality and then everything will go on as it was before. There will be a few changes concerning classes that worship gods and such but that¡¯s not something you¡¯ll need to worry about. If you want to learn about those changes after you leave here though you can,¡± The gnome explained with a smile.
¡°So I don¡¯t keep thinking of you as ¡®The gnome¡¯ in my head do you have a name or title I can call you?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I¡¯m one of the technical specialists that¡¯s been assigned to rectify your errors and make sure you are compatible with ¡®The SYSTEM.¡¯ You may call me Po, if you like.¡±
¡°Well Po, If you¡¯ve researched me, you know that usually doesn¡¯t go over well,¡± Adam said with a smile.
¡°We have researched you and you¡¯re right, within the previous SYSTEM the Chaos within you was reaching out and controlling the Chaos within the sphere of control The Foundation was in. ¡®The Foundation¡¯ is what we¡¯re calling the portion of infinity the previous SYSTEM controlled,¡±
¡°And that is important, why?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I was getting to it,¡± Po said, ¡°Like death and the soul which were artificial constructs, the chaos within The Foundation was also artificial in a way. It was programmed.¡±
¡°Wait, I thought we weren¡¯t in a holographic Universe?¡± Adam asked.
¡°You weren¡¯t. Some aspects of The Foundation were mandated utilizing the magic of Order. In many ways, the artificial rules used were similar to what computers from the Earth you grew up on ran. So, no you weren¡¯t in a holographic universe where everything was digital this last time, but the rules that concerned souls, death, and rebirth would look very similar to something programmed into one of your simulation games,¡± Po explained.
¡°So why can I still feel the chaos but it feels like I can¡¯t control it?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The chaos that was part of you was a small percentage of the chaos within The Foundation which was a small percentage of the chaos everywhere. A very small percentage. When the barrier came down and the SYSTEM was absorbed into the larger SYSTEM that exists the false, or fake, chaos was converted into true chaos. True chaos isn¡¯t controlled, even that chaos which is part of sentient creatures that reside within chaos,¡± Po said.
¡°If that¡¯s true, does that mean that if I keep my Chaos Incarnate nature I will be constantly struggling to control my body?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Not exactly. One of the reasons we¡¯re here is that the ¡®fake¡¯ chaos was allowing you to cheat the attribute maximums. Now that the chaos you are connected to is acting normally, you will go through some changes. You are here so that what those changes are can be explained to you before you try to go change a fundamental law of, well, everything. Subverting Chaos, while an interesting concept would probably be a very bad thing. Everyone around here would really appreciate it if you wouldn¡¯t burst that specific bubble. ¡®The System¡¯ is having me take the time to explain this to you because it acknowledges that the positive Karmic Luck that you acquired should mean something,¡± Po said.
¡°Why is that exactly?¡±
¡°So you can make the choices that will affect you going forward, Adaline too, though her choices are a little bit easier. She doesn¡¯t have as many abilities as you do that need revamping to become compatible with the new SYSTEM.¡±
¡°When do we get started?¡±
Po smiled, ¡°Now would be good.¡±
Chapter 246, Nerfed? Probably Not.
Adam watched as Po looked at a screen in front of him. Yet again he had found that he was inside another shell where beings had decided to make a little kingdom where they could be God. Was this a continuous theme of the Multiverse?
¡°I assure you it is not,¡± Po said.
¡°You can read my mind?¡± Adam asked.
¡°In this room, yes, I can read your mind,¡± Po said.
¡°Very well, what do we do first?¡±
¡°First, The SYSTEM has decided to give you a choice. Once that choice is made you begin again. To be clear, I am here to bring you within SYSTEM parameters, not to give you everything you want,¡± Po explained.
¡°Then why not just make the changes?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Because you tend to go off halfcocked if you don¡¯t understand why something happened or don¡¯t agree with it,¡± Po said.
¡°I do tend to find the cracks in reality, or the coding that has held reality together, at least in the areas I¡¯ve existed so far,¡± Adam said with a grin.
¡°Which is exactly why I¡¯m here. While you may be familiar with SYSTEMS it is doubtful that you have encountered a SYSTEM designed and implemented by a being classified under the aspect of Order. This SYSTEM is not organic, it is not an Artificial Intelligence. It was created by a being so vast in power that it cannot be quantified and maintains a neutrality toward all beings that reside within it,¡± Po said.
¡°But you work for it?¡± Adam said.
¡°For which I am compensated handsomely in both experience and credits,¡± Po said with a smile.
¡°So this SYSTEM is completely neutral and can¡¯t be cajoled. Very well, what kind of decisions am I supposed to make?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Looking at your file it seems that you have somehow taken on the characteristics of an Adamantium Dragon, in addition to your affinity with Chaos and Destruction. The SYSTEM has informed me that it recognizes your direct contribution to bringing the Founders back under its area of control, as the physical space they¡¯d taken over was well within this SYSTEMs domain, Therefore it is offering you a choice.¡±
¡°A choice?¡±
¡°Yes, You can choose to become a member of The SYSTEM or not,¡± Po said.
¡°What about Adaline and the rest of my family and friends?¡± Adam asked.
¡°They do not get a choice. As far as they¡¯re concerned the SYSTEM just went through an update to Version 12.0 and reset everyone back to level 0 with 0 experience due to a new leveling and experience system. Well, except for Adaline who was brought in because, like you, her attributes and levels were far more than what the SYSTEM allows. Also, we wanted to assure you that she was fine.¡±
¡°And this choice?¡± Adam asked.
¡°You are being given a choice as a reward. The SYSTEM recognizes that it would be in bad form to pull you here and then take your loved one away from you after your actions directly benefited it without informing you of what¡¯s about to happen.¡± Po explained.
¡°After this choice is made, will Adaline and I be able to move forward together?¡± Adam asked.
Po considered the question as he looked at his monitor and then said, ¡°It is doubtful that you will both begin on the same planet or even with the same material plane. However, I have been informed that the actions you have taken concerning what you called an Animae Core and Adeline¡¯s Animae Core have permanently linked you in a way that you will be able to discover easily. Then it is up to you to find a way back to her.¡±
¡°So the rest of my family is automatically staying here but the SYSTEM is giving me a choice to become a member of the SYSTEM as well, or not. I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯m not going to like the ¡°or not¡± version so it feels like it¡¯s holding them hostage?¡± Adam said with a little heat in his voice.
Po looked at Adam thoughtfully before he responded, ¡°The SYSTEM is giving you a choice when it did not have to do so. Everyone in the Foundation is being reset to level 0 and starting over with the only explanation being that a SYSTEM update has happened. Enough modifications are being made to Adaline and yourself that The SYSTEM thought it was best if you were given a choice and if Adaline was given a little context concerning the changes being made to her.¡±
¡°What other kind of changes will Adaline and I have to go through?¡± Adam asked.
¡°There has been an accident of sorts within an area of the Foundation. Nothing that you or your family did but undoing that accident¡ The SYSTEM decided that it would just be easier to rewind and reset The Foundation, which you and your family were in¡The Short version, because of your Perfect Memory and a couple of changes you made to your Soul, unknowingly, the same option wasn¡¯t available for you or Adaline. Simply, your memories couldn¡¯t have been altered.
¡°You are saying that The SYSTEM can take a portion of infinity and simply do as it pleases with it at will?¡± Adam asked disbelievingly.
¡°The SYSTEM follows a code or rules. Those rules are sacrosanct. Within the scope of those rules though, yes, The SYSTEM is all-powerful within its domain,¡± Po said.
¡°So there is something else outside of The SYSTEM?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Oh most assuredly. As there is no end to infinity there is no way for The SYSTEM to control all of, what it refers to as, The Infinitium.¡±
¡°So within The SYSTEM¡¯s little corner of Infinity, it¡¯s all powerful?¡±
¡°It is,¡± Po said as he looked at Adam expectantly, ¡°And your choice?¡±
¡°Like I have one,¡± Adam said deprecatingly, ¡°Of course, I will choose to stay within The SYSTEM,¡± Adam said.
¡°Very good. I have a few more notes to go over before I send you on your way. The next agenda is your abilities. You may keep Perfect Memory if you wish but Chaos Incarnate will be modified. Nothing as chaotic as that ability has become is tolerated by The SYSTEM. Additionally, The aspect of Destruction and your access to Anti, Oblivion, or Null energy will be curtailed. You could still probably survive an encounter with that energy but that trick, taking on the aspect of nothing, The SYSTEM has fixed that loophole by assigning attributes to nothing within its domain. Therefore, normal matter will interact with it. You have been warned.¡±
¡°And my Chaos Blade?¡±
¡°The Chaos Blade is intrinsic to your chaotic nature if you keep it. You will have access to it though it will not be as powerful as it once was inititally,¡± Po paused when he saw the look on Adam¡¯s face and held up a hand placatingly, ¡°While in The SYSTEM no one has unlimited levels. In fact, there are only 100 levels for any given class. I could give a detailed explanation but that will be happening again after this meeting so let¡¯s move on.
¡°Each individual only has, at most, two abilities. Perfect Memory and Chaos Incarnate are yours unless you choose to reroll, which you can request. Your ability Molded Chaos is defined as a Perk within The SYSTEM as are a lot of the other abilities that came with the ability Chaos Incarnate. How Perks work and such will be explained after you choose a class. For now, know that all of your other abilities can be re-earned. Like everyone else though, you will be starting at level 0 with those two abilities or the new abilities that are assigned if you choose to reroll,¡± Po said.
¡°And my Race,¡± Adam asked.
¡°You were reborn as an Adamantium Dragon within the previous SYSTEM and the current SYSTEM will honor that unless you wish to be reborn as a human?¡± Po asked.
¡°Since I¡¯m losing access to my Molded Chaos ability, I gather that my nanites will be going as well?¡±
¡°The simple answer is yes. There is a longer answer as to why which you will need to discover for yourself,¡± Po said.
¡°So I won¡¯t start with Technomancy either then?¡± Adam asked.
¡°No, but if you choose to keep your two abilities you will remember every ability you had and can reacquire them at some point,¡± Po said as he paused and considered how to continue, ¡°That brings us to the last question,¡± Do you wish to keep your abilities Perfect Memory and Chaos Incarnate or do you wish for The SYSTEM to suppress them and allow you to gain two random abilities?¡±
Adam thought for a moment, but it wasn¡¯t even a choice, ¡°I will keep my two abilities,¡± Adam said.
¡°Very well, you are now being added to the initialization queue and will be randomly placed by the SYSTEM as will Adaline. Pandora and the rest of your family and friends will remain where they are with almost no change to their environment except for The SYSTEM Update announcements and level resets. After we are done here, The SYSTEM will consider any debt it has to you settled.¡±
¡°I have a feeling you let me know more than you needed to Po, thank you for the courtesy.¡±
¡°You¡¯re welcome, Adam. Welcome to The SYSTEM and Good Luck!¡± Po said as a bright flash filled Adam¡¯s eyes and he passed out.
Welcome to The SYSTEM Version 12.0
Version 12.0 requires all users within The Foundation to be reset to Level 0.
See your Status Screen for more information.
Adam found himself sitting in the lobby of a restaurant. A McDonald''s restaurant if he wasn¡¯t mistaken. As he looked around he tried to clear the fog from his mind and noticed a few other people looking around with a dazed look though no one made a fuss at him for appearing out of nowhere, maybe he didn¡¯t. Adam read the three messages and realized that whatever The SYSTEM was doing it wasn¡¯t being very forthcoming with information. Adam heeded the messages and looked at his Status Screen.
Name: Adamantadine ¡°Adam¡±
Identity: Amantadine ¡°Adam¡±
Race: Adamantium Dragon Human Hybrid
Age: Unknown
Apparent Age: 350
Weight: 260
Birthday: July 16th, ???
Primary Abilities:
Perfect Memory - Like Photographic Memory except for all five senses with automatic recall of desired information. Intelligence is increased by 100.
Chaos Incarnate ¨C The Energy of Pure Chaos fills your body. You receive 10% immunity to all types of Magic which can be increased by class progression. Additionally, you gain access to unique classes in each Tier if you meet the prerequisites. Chaos Attribute granted. Chaos Attribute increased by 100.
Perks
Skill Savant - All skills are known to you through the many memories you have absorbed, while you receive no additional bonuses you are proficient with all weapons, tools, and vehicles. You are also versed in many languages and know the history of a multitude of timelines and the significant events on those timelines.
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Chaos Blade - Summon a blade of Chaos: Base Damage 8 points 100% Penetration against everything except Order-based Shields. It costs 10 points of Chaos to summon the Chaos Blade and 10 points per second to maintain the blade.
Chaos Link - You have formed a permanent link to the primordial plane of chaos. Chaos and Mana regeneration are each increased by 1 per second.
Adaptable - You can withstand environmental factors based on Time, Space, and Gravity. Magical attacks from these sources work normally but if the attack utilizes an environmental source, it has no effect.
Titles:
Attributes:
Strength 28
Agility 18
Dexterity 18
Endurance 18
Constitution 28
Perception 18
Intelligence 113
Wisdom 13
Willpower 18
Charisma 28
Luck 28
Chaos 100
Primary Stats
Carrying Capacity: 364 lbs. (165.1 kgs)
Hit Points: 18
HP Regeneration: 2 per day
Stamina: 280
Stamina Regeneration: 2 per 10 seconds
Mana: 180
Mana Regeneration: 11 per 10 seconds
Psychic Energy: 17
Psychic Energy Regeneration: 1 per 5 minutes
Movement
Normal Running Speed: 21 MPH (30 FPS)
Standing high Jump: 16 Inches.
Note. Falling Damage is not mitigated by maximum jumping Distance.
Flying Speed: Speed: N/A in Human Form
Current Class:
Tier 1 Class Rarity: None
Tier 1 Class: None Chosen
Tier 1 Level: 0
Tier 1 XP: 0
Base Attack:
Unarmed Attack:
To Hit: +4
Base Damage: 11
Critical Damage Maximum Damage x2
Well, it looked like Po hadn¡¯t been lying, there probably was something out there that was far more powerful than anything Adam had run into before. That said, Adam was also pretty sure that nothing could make permanent changes to his soul without his approval. Even so, The SYSTEM had been able to limit his Chaos Incarnate ability, hadn¡¯t it? Reading between the lines of what Po said, Adam figured it was because a being of order was involved. It would also explain why it couldn¡¯t modify his Perfect Memory, what better expression of order was there than a perfect memory? That must irk the being, or The SYSTEM if they could be irked.
Adam wasn¡¯t going to sit here and take being leashed if he didn¡¯t have to though. He looked around the restaurant one more time and then performed the 512-point sequence he¡¯d created as a back door to allow him to control his nanites, both the physical and chaotic ones. When he¡¯d completed the sequence, after receiving a few stares from the other people sitting around him, he was surprised when instead of a nanite link being grown into his brain a SYSTEM Message popped into his vision.
Access Denied.
Adam read the message and then looked up as one of the other patrons walked over to him. With a hesitant look on his face, the man asked, ¡°Do you need some help, sir?¡±
¡°No. Thank you. Yourself?¡± Adam asked back.
¡°Just checking on you since everyone else also seems to have seen words in their vision and we¡¯re all wondering what¡¯s going on. You¡¯re the only person who didn¡¯t seem to be phased by the words and looked like you were doing something else¡±
¡°I was just doing some exercises that I do when I find myself in a situation that I don¡¯t expect. The small movements in a specific sequence help me focus,¡± Adam said as he flashed his most reassuring smile.
¡°You saw the words too then?¡±
¡°I did,¡± Adam answered truthfully.
¡°Any idea what they meant?¡± the man asked.
¡°The messages seemed pretty self-explanatory, or have you never seen messages like that before.¡±
¡°What do you mean? ¡± the man asked.
¡°If you have never seen messages like that before I would suggest that make your way back to wherever your loved ones are. I haven¡¯t got the lay of the land here yet but I¡¯m guessing you have never seen magic before.¡±
¡°Magic, as in Harry Potter and wands and stuff?¡±
¡°Yes, magic. As in miracles, dragons, fairies, and the like.¡±
¡°We have moose and bears up here in Alaska, some even make their way into town, but magic, not so much,¡± the man said.
BOOM!
Adam¡¯s head whipped to the sound of the explosion where a fireball was rising into the sky no less than a quarter of a mile away from where he was, though he couldn¡¯t see the impact point as it was down the road outside the restaurant and off behind some trees in the distance. Just then the lights flickered for a few moments and then came back on as emergency generators in the building kicked in.
¡°What was that?¡± The man asked as others rushed to that side of the store and looked out the window.
Adam motioned for the man he was talking to hold on and asked, ¡°You don¡¯t happen to know where we are do you?¡±
The man looked through the windows, nodded to himself, and said, ¡°As I said we¡¯re in Alaska. Anchorage Alaska to be exact,¡± The man looked thoughtful for a few minutes, ¡°How do you not know where you are?¡±
¡°My mind''s kinda foggy,¡± Adam said as he thought about Anchorage Alaska because while Adam might not have access to his nanites he did have access to his memories. He took in the cross street and saw the sign for Peck Ave where it abutted Muldoon Road. If this was the same McDonalds as he remembered, Muldoon Road went off to the North in the direction of the explosion with the mountains off to the East behind the store. If he went north along Muldoon Road he¡¯d find an access point to Highway 1 and on the other side of the overpass a security gate onto Elmendorf Air Force Base. Next, he needed to know what year it was so asked, ¡°What year is it??
¡°What year is it? Are you a time traveler or something,¡± the man said with a laugh.
¡°Or something,¡± Adam said.
¡°Well, when I came here and ordered my lunch it was June 1st, 2029.¡±
What was it with Earth being the focal point of his resets? Adam thought to himself before he said, ¡°And the President, who¡¯s the President?¡± Adam asked.
¡°President Samatha Gerald and Vice President Vincent Yaeng won the Election in 2028. After the snafu in 2024, they started The Constitutionalist Party. A lot of Republicans and Democrats jumped ship and joined the Independents that created the party. When it was all said and done Americans decided they¡¯d had enough of bipartisan bullshit and voted for something completely new, It was a sight to behold,¡± The man explained with a glint in his eye.
¡°Well, if I¡¯m being honest, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to matter who the President or Vice President is for much longer, but thanks for the information. Like I said, try to get back to your loved ones. If you¡¯ve never seen messages in your vision or had access to your Status Screen before I¡¯m sure the world as you know it is going to change drastically,¡± Adam said as he stood and walked toward the exit.
¡°Wait, what do you mean?¡± The man asked.
Adam turned back, ¡°I need to get going, just trust me when I say get back to your family and do so soon. I have no idea how long vehicles will continue to work, if they still do. I guess that the more technologically advanced vehicles have already started malfunctioning, hence the explosion we just heard. Now I really must get,¡± Adam said as he turned back toward the door and made his way to the exit.¡±
¡°Thanks, I guess, and good luck,¡± The man called to Adam¡¯s back as he left the restaurant.
Adam did a quick inventory and found that he had nothing, absolutely nothing except a pair of blue jeans and a T-shirt with cobalt colored dragon on it which he was wearing. He double-checked his Status Screen and No, he did not have a storage ability, power, or perk that could hold his items. He even tried the command, ¡°Inventory.¡± Nothing happened.
Adam quickly looked over his Status Screen again and reviewed the various attributes, abilities, and Perks as he began walking north along Muldoon Road. He needed to get out of the city so that he could switch to his dragon form and head south. If this was the beginning of mana being added to this Earth, things were about to get a little crazy. He did not want to be up in Alaska as the chaos unfolded.
As Adam reviewed his Status Screen it looked like his attributes had all started at 8 and then 150 points had been distributed due to his Race. Attributes between 1 and 10 had no discernable effect on combat though they did affect his Hit Points, Stamina, Mana, and a new attribute called Psychic Energy.
After he played with the interface for a moment he was able to determine that his Strength attribute of 28 gave him a +9 to damage with melee weapons which indicated that The SYSTEM was utilizing the same mechanics he¡¯d seen in the previous SYSTEM, at least at lower levels. Also, the information about his Animae Core or the new Soul of Chaos that he was supposed to have was nowhere to be seen. He probably had to unlock a perk or skill to be able to view it.
Adam took stock of the changes. If the average Human had attributes somewhere between 1 and 10, he was doing quite well. If the average was higher than that, well there really was no way to know without a little more data. With all of his attributes at 13 or higher and the fact that Po implied that the SYSTEM followed similar rules to what it did before, Adam was pretty sure 10 was the maximum for an average human. Anything above 10¡¯s would be good and anything below would be less than ideal.
Of course, his attributes were nowhere near what he¡¯d had before but he could shape change into a dragon if he needed to, so he should be okay. He had to admit that he wasn¡¯t happy that his backup plan had been circumvented. Of course, that just let him know the power level of the beings that had created the SYSTEM he now found himself in. Besides, Adam had a feeling that nothing had been taken from him. Instead, he believed something or someone more powerful than him was suppressing a part of himself. If he¡¯d agreed to reroll his abilities they might have been able to make actual changes to him, but if the soul was sacrosanct, as he believed, then honestly it was just a matter of time before he figured out how to circumvent this SYSTEM as well.
He could be wrong, but he didn¡¯t think so. Why? Because he was having coherent thoughts, nor was he stark raving mad with as many memories as he had in his mind. Nice try SYSTEM but no normal mind could hold all the information that he had coursing through his mind and not be over-strained. His Intelligence might show 113 and his Willpower 18 but he knew for a fact that if 10 were the maximum for an average human there was no way his mind should still be intact. His money was on suppression and since his ability Perfect Memory was inherent to his soul, it couldn¡¯t be suppressed which meant, that while they could suppress his attributes and what they did within the domain of The SYSTEM, they could not affect his ability, so The SYSTEM must have limits.
Adam had to admit that it was quite impressive that The SYSTEM was able to suppress him this much though. So, he¡¯d play along for now and look for opportunities to use the knowledge he had to exploit The SYSTEM as he made his way back to Adaline, Pandora, and the rest of his family. Being separated from them again sucked, but if they were all starting over, he did not doubt that the three of them would be fine. As for Adjra, his brother Adjrock, and the rest of the Dragons, well, they were dragons, they would be just fine until he could get back to them, whenever that was.
Adam was actually excited to see what this SYSTEM had once he exited The Foundation. He was curious about what kind of political systems there might be and if there was a Syndicate-like organization or if, because The SYSTEMS Domain was as large as Po had said there might be a more fluid political system that was constantly changing due to circumstance.
Adam was brought out of his thoughts by the smell of an oil fire from the explosion and he looked at the black cloud that was rising into the sky over on the Air Force Base. As he looked around he noticed that there were a couple more black clouds rising into the sky off to the west and south toward the middle of the city. He looked up and around and noticed that there didn¡¯t seem to be any air traffic visible anywhere. He also noticed that the lights everywhere seemed to be off or on backup power. Also, no cars were moving anywhere. He¡¯d already taken the onramp onto Northbound Highway 1 and could see people exiting stalled cars in both directions along the highway.
It did look like this world was being introduced to mana for the first time, but the SYSTEM hadn¡¯t made any messages to that effect. It had only let people know that there was a version update in a world without magic. Adam looked around and to make sure no one was within 100 feet of him and then tried to summon his Chaos Blade. He wanted to know if magic was working yet.
Adam watched his Status Screen and noticed that the sword didn¡¯t use mana. Instead, his Chaos dropped to 90 as his Chaos Blade appeared in his hand and then continued to drop by 10 per second. He was able to maintain the Chaos Blade for 10 seconds because he was able to recover 10 chaos during those 10 seconds. The Chaos Blade he summoned was pearlescent white. It would do in a pinch if he ran into something. Also, in 100 seconds or just under two minutes, he¡¯d be able to summon it again so it wasn¡¯t a useless Perk. Gone were the days of summoning the blade at will. Also, he might be able to use this version of the Chaos Blade a little more if it didn¡¯t automatically convert things it touched to chaos. If he wanted to keep it active longer he was going to need to improve his chaos, increase his chaos regeneration, or both.
As the Chaos Blade disappeared a tab at the top of his Status Screen flashed red
Classes
Adam tried to activate his Class tab and received a message instead.
To Choose a Class you must kill a SYSTEM-registered creature.
At that time a list of classes will be made available to you that you meet the prerequisites for.
Experience cannot be used to level until a class is chosen.
SYSTEM-registered creature huh? Why couldn¡¯t the message just come out and say he needed to kill a monster or another sentient member of the SYSTEM? Adam guessed it was time to go hunting then, wasn¡¯t it?
Chapter 247, Unlocking The SYSTEM
What was that one concept he had run across in a book that one time, Mana Leakage? The idea that mana leaked concepts and ideas to worlds that were converted to Dungeon Worlds or some such. Except as far as Adam knew, Earth wasn¡¯t being converted to a Dungeon World. Of course, he didn¡¯t even know if Dungeon Worlds existed out here in this SYSTEM. But, why wouldn¡¯t there be Dungeon Worlds? As far as he understood what Po had said, The Foundation was just the area of the previous SYSTEM which had been reabsorbed into the larger domain of the SYSTEM he was now in.
It also looked like this SYSTEM was using that crazy idea of getting ¡°blooded¡± before access was granted to the SYSTEM. But no monsters were popping out of the woodwork so maybe there was an adaption phase? If that was the case and electricity wasn¡¯t working, aside from all the deaths due to the many accidents that were happening around the world, that meant that The SYSTEM was setting people up to cull other people. With a population of more than 7 billion people with limited access to food and water, shit was going to get real everywhere really quickly.
As Adam looked around he knew that the People in Alaska would have a better time of it than anywhere else. Even in Anchorage, it wouldn¡¯t take long for people to get out of the city and to places where they could hunt and fish to sustain themselves. That said, human nature would probably make shit go sideways but that wasn¡¯t something he was concerned about right now. Now he had to figure out his abilities and perks.
Waking up in the middle of a city with no ID, money, or anything else, that was just a dick move by the SYSTEM. It wasn¡¯t a big deal though and he had a good idea of what he needed to do even if it would take some time. Adam looked around and noticed that people were leaving their cars and heading toward the ramp he was walking down. He just smiled and kept on walking north.
After walking for a bit, he came to a place with a nice thick forest off to the east which sat up against the mountains. He walked down the Arctic Valley exit and started following the road southeast until he came to a spot where he could step off the road to the east and into the woods. Out here there weren¡¯t too many people walking around yet though he was sure people would be making their way down from the ski resort eventually. It was June so there shouldn¡¯t be too many people walking this way.
Once he was in the trees he allowed his senses to reach out and was amazed when his eyes cycled through both infrared and night vision modes. That wasn¡¯t mentioned anywhere in his Status Screen but it was nice to see that some of the perks of being a dragon, while not listed, were still available. If he still could reset time, that could be handy. It probably hadn¡¯t been listed because he didn¡¯t have the mana available to use the ability, the ability was suppressed, or Adamantium Dragons had other abilities in this SYSTEM. He¡¯d just have to wait and see.
Adam was still wondering what the SYSTEM¡¯s play was. The few times he¡¯d been through a reset the SYSTEMs, or the beings running the SYSTEM like the SYNDICATE, had always informed those that were being initialized into The SYSTEM what was happening. Adam shook his head, what if it was as simple as The Foundation was so large that it was taking the SYSTEM a little bit of time to get everything situated? Adam still had a few hours of daylight left before he could safely morph into a Dragon and fly away so he kept walking up the road.
***
Po read Adam¡¯s thoughts, sighed, and said, ¡°If you only knew.¡± Po had decided to check in on Adam because there was something about that dragon that just screamed ¡°CHANGE!¡± After their talk, Po had been whisked away for orientation briefings, which were scheduled for the foreseeable future. It would seem that the acquisition, or the reacquisition of the domain of The Foundation had created an opportunity for The SYSTEM to acquire more helpers for its bureaucracy.
The SYSTEM was a mechanism of Order. If there was to be order then everything had a place and nothing was wasted. Whenever a domain was added to the SYSTEM disruptions in electronic systems that were not mana shielded often lead to catastrophic accidents. Therefore the SYSTEM didn¡¯t waste the creatures that would have otherwise died. Instead, the accidents still happened and the remains were replaced but the SYSTEM recovered all of the victims. Those victims were then brought in for an orientation and made an offer. They could work for the SYSTEM and work off the debt of their rescue which would take around 10 standard Earth Years to pay back. At that time they would be offered a class that usually ended up with them continuing to work for the SYSTEM.
Po had asked his supervisor, ¡°Why does the SYSTEM even bother?¡±
His supervisor, an alien from some world he¡¯d never been to had said, ¡°The uniqueness of an individual should not be wasted due to bad luck as a result of SYSTEM integration. Also, the SYSTEM does not want to be responsible for those deaths.¡±
Po hadn¡¯t fully understood at the time but now that he¡¯d been working for The SYSTEM for quite a while he understood that the nature of the SYSTEM, which was Order driven, would not let it waste a resource due to the influence of chaos based on an action it was directly responsible for. Therefore The SYSTEM took the time and spent the energy necessary to fabricate the necessary remains of every being that was saved. To everyone where they were pulled from, it would appear that they died. In this way, The SYSTEM preserved the effects of what should have happened when those people died. By removing the people that would have died The SYSTEM prevented the build-up of Bad Karma. The only spanner in the works this time were the ten universes that had been combined and then separated. Because of that accident, there had been a significant number of people recovered for orientation.
The Earth Adam was on had over 7.7 million people that would have died as a direct result of the loss of power worldwide. Adam¡¯s world was just one of many that They SYSTEM was receiving new recruits from.
In addition to everything else and now that everything was working smoothly again, Po needed to go talk with a few of his subordinates. He was going to talk with those little fuckers. They¡¯d been late, were still fighting obvious hangovers, and were giving his section a bad reputation which was affecting his department''s ability to meet their quota. It didn¡¯t matter if they didn¡¯t know the SYSTEM was going to be acquiring a domain that was arguably the size of 10% of the current domain. It didn¡¯t matter that they went out gambling and drinking the night before. They worked for the SYSTEM and should have been ready to go to work on a moment''s notice. Their lack of foresight made it so there was almost no chance that his department would earn the bonus XP award.
Po shut down the monitor that he¡¯d used to check on Adam, stood, and walked out of his office to the elevator. Now that over 80% of the people that had been recovered had been processed The SYSTEM would be making its announcement. While that was going on he had some idiots to go reprimand and then a lot of recruits to sort through and assign to the various duties throughout The SYSTEM.
***
Adam was sitting on a bench looking down the mountain near the Arctic Ski resort. Walking at normal speed was invigorating. It had taken close to 2 hours to walk the almost 9 miles uphill. He could have changed into a dragon and just flown up but it was daylight and judging by the sun it was around, ah who was he kidding, the Sun didn¡¯t set until after 11 p.m. up here. Right now the Sun was still 10 degrees above the horizon so it would be another hour, probably two before it set which meant that he¡¯d probably arrived in this world right around 7 p.m. or so. No way to be sure.
Over the last two hours, he¡¯d noticed that the sky was clear, except for the occasional eagle or hawk, and while there was wildlife, something about his scent had kept the moose and the bears he¡¯d seen away from him. Moose were known to charge trains. The bull that had seen him had stopped, sniffed the air, and then turned and walked back up the road away from Adam. The normal animals in the area had given him a wide berth, It was kind of nice. So Adam found himself sitting on a bench looking at the mountains and hills below waiting for the Sun to set.
A couple of people had passed him heading down the mountain, others were still up here inside the main building of the ski resort. He hadn¡¯t ventured over to it yet, there was no point if he wasn¡¯t going to stay. He was still wondering what was going on with this SYSTEM and its integration into this world, universe, whatever, when The SYSTEM started issuing messages.
Welcome to the SYSTEM.
The SYSTEM is not controlled by any government, person, or entity currently on your planet.
Your world has been designated Earth 1¡0799 where the ¡°¡¡± represents a numerical value. If you would like to know that value you may review it at any time in your Status Screen under Planet of Origin.
Congratulations! Planet 0799 is NOT designated as a Dungeon World
Additional Status Screen functionality has been activated. You may now issue ¡°Help¡± requests for clarification on various terms that appear there.
SYSTEM Shops are now available in any SYSTEM-registered Village, Town, or City. By default, all cities with a population of 1 million people now have access to a SYSTEM Shop. As new villages, towns, and cities are registered SYSTEM Shop access will become available once purchased. See your nearest SYSTEM Shop for availability and pricing.
You may have noticed that unshielded electronic devices are no longer working. Shielded devices in this context are those devices shielded against mana. Shielding of any other sort does not matter. While devices and weapons with complex electronic parts do not work there are abilities, perks, and skills that will allow you to utilize equipment that is currently not working.
As the Sun rises across your planet The SYSTEM will begin making alterations to the environment, flora, and fauna. Creatures and Plants that you have never seen before will begin to appear. As you interact with the plants, creatures, and monsters that appear the Class System will become available to you once you unlock it.
To unlock a Class within the system you must do one of three things:
1 - Defeat or Kill a SYSTEM creature or Monster. Note: the level and rarity of the creature or monster that you kill can affect the classes that become available to you.
2 - Defeat or Kill any creature or being that possesses a Class with The SYSTEM. Note: Killing millions of beings that do not possess a class within the SYSTEM will NOT unlock your access to the Class System.
3 - Craft something utilizing SYSTEM-generated materials. Note: The Rarity and Level of the materials used in the creation of the crafted item can affect the classes that become available to you. The final rarity and level of the created crafted item do NOT affect these choices only the materials used.
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Adam read over the messages quickly. It looked like this SYSTEM wasn¡¯t overly bloodthirsty at least to start. Of course, the message about this Earth not being a Dungeon World meant that there were dungeon worlds which also meant that there were places where mana did run rampant and people died. Did the SYSTEM choose those worlds or was there a council that chose which worlds were to be sacrificed? Odds were that he would not find out as long as he was within The Foundation unless he could and did purchase the information. So, the first thing he needed to do was find a SYSTEM Shop.
One thing was for sure, there wouldn¡¯t be a SYSTEM Shop in Anchorage until someone founded a village and purchased access. With only 300,000 people in the Anchorage peninsula, this area was not one that would have access to a SYSTEM Shop right away. Also, with the Sun setting in about an hour and then rising five and a half hours later, things were going to get dicey up here. This planet not being a Dungeon World though¡The people of Alaska should be fine, a lot of people up here had guns. That should allow them to kill their first monsters and that would allow them to pick up the classes they¡¯d need to survive.
No, what he needed was a population center with at least a million people close by, and hope his memories and this reality lined up. Adam focused his mind and looked for all population centers that might have 1 million people in them right now that were close to his current location. Edmonton was close, in some of his memories it had over a million, in others slightly less. At just over 1,400 miles it was a bit of a trip. Calgary definitely had over 1 million people. In almost every memory he had Calgary had over 1 million people, though in a couple it had slightly fewer. Also, Calgary was over 1,500 miles away. Vancouver on the other hand always had over 2 million people so it was extremely likely that it had over 1 million people and it was just over 1,350 miles away.
Vancouver it was then. Adam stood and moved away from the bench. There was no help for it. There were a few people that were looking his way. Whatever, he needed to get going and truthfully he wanted to see what this new SYSTEM had done to his dragon form.
Adam focused his mind and initiated the shift into his Adamantium Dragon Form. He felt his body grow and elongate and he was even able to direct how it grew so that he didn¡¯t accidentally destroy the bench or any of the vehicles nearby. He watched a bunch of people who were looking his way go slack-jawed. He would have smiled but decided to hold that back so as not to scare them.
The process of transformation took about 10 seconds. When he was done he noticed that one man had kept his wits and was pulling out a desert eagle with a shaking hand. Before either of them found out what happened when Adam was shot with a gun, Adam jumped into the air, flapped his wings once to gain altitude, and then shifted course to fly down the mountain as he picked up speed and flew away.
Adam kept to the valleys between the mountain peaks east of Anchorage and headed south until he came to Highway 1 near the small town of Indian. There he turned east along the inlet. He flew out over the water to reduce any chance that people would take potshots at him as he headed toward Portage at the end of the inlet. Adam started counting and reviewed the approximate distance it should be from the town of Indian to Portage from his memories. Adam counted to 1,035 as he flew over Portage and continued southeast toward Portage Lake. That put his leisurely flying speed at about 75 miles per hour.
From Portage Lake he turned east to Whittier and then flew toward Perry Island. As he was coming up on Naked Island he realized he was starting to get tired and noticed that his Stamina was running low. Adam landed on the beach on the south end of the Island and looked over his stamina. He¡¯d been losing 20 stamina a minute while only regaining about 16 so a net loss of 4 Stamina per minute. That meant that he¡¯d be able to stay aloft for about 70 minutes before he had to land. So he¡¯d need to stay over land or he''d have to land in the sea. Testing his Adaption Perk out was on his list of things to do but right now was not the time. Adam continued for a bit longer and then came in for a landing. Stamina being such a big deal for flying also meant that the first thing he was going to do when he picked up a class was put some of his points into Endurance and Constitution. Having a Dragon form that was limited by low attributes was not cool.
20 minutes later, Adam was in the air again and heading south. He¡¯d be able to fly about 80 miles and then he would have to take a break. To make sure he had something in reserve when he landed he chose to only fly 60 miles and stop for 15 minutes. That way he had some Stamina on the ground in case he was attacked.
Adam landed east of Cordova about half an hour after midnight. An hour later he stopped near Controller Bay. His next stop was in the middle of nowhere along a coastline which saw him in the air and flying south when the sun rose just after 4:01 a.m. If his mapping skills were right, which they were, he was 126 miles southwest of Haines Junction, on the opposite side of the mountains along the coast.
Adam had been watching the sunlight come up from behind the mountains off to his east but he hadn¡¯t understood what it would feel like when The SYSTEM became fully active as the Sun rose. He¡¯d been so used to a SYSTEM running in the background in the past that he hadn¡¯t felt the change when he reappeared in this world. As the Sun came up though, he felt an energy wave wash over him which made his whole body tingle and replaced something he hadn¡¯t known he was missing. Also, it felt good. Which was weird, the SYSTEM had never felt good before.
Adam brought his thoughts back to where he was. He still had about 30 minutes of flight time left before he needed to land so he paid attention to his surroundings and watched as the world around him seemed to go into a form of time-lapse photography as the various plants and animals below and around him grew and morphed at an accelerated rate. Adam continued south while taking a little more care before coming in for a landing.
As he continued south Adam made four more stops. There was nothing special about them. He wasn¡¯t near any cities or significant landmarks when he stopped to regain his stamina. This area of Alaska was pretty remote after all. By his reckoning, he was about 560 miles from Anchorage and he had another 8 hours to go. The one thing about being a dragon which was kind of nice though, was when he found a stream during one of his breaks and decided it was time to eat, it was child¡¯s play to reach in with his maw and snag some fish. His Adamantium teeth made short work of his meal if he didn¡¯t just swallow the fish whole.
One thing he hadn¡¯t considered after he¡¯d eaten was how fast his dragon body would process the food and how quickly he¡¯d need to take care of bodily functions. It was a lot easier to handle that business when flying, though the first time it had happened he¡¯d been over land and he was sure the elk he¡¯d seen below him had been both horrified to see a dragon and disgusted to be defecated on. Right then, he vowed to get his nanites or chaos back if for no other reason than taking care of biological bodily functions.
As he took to the air he saw a plum of smoke rising into the air south and off to his right of him on the horizon where¡Yeah, that was where Mount Edgecumbe, a historically dormant volcano should be. He should be just over 25 miles from it and if he could see the smoke from here, that meant it was erupting, or had erupted. Adam altered course and beelined toward the volcano. He could try to check off two things there. If there were no monsters present, he could see if he was adaptable. He was pretty sure lava wasn¡¯t going to prove a problem since he¡¯d been born into the stuff in this body. If there was a monster present he might even be able to unlock the SYSTEM and see what classes were available.
Adam opened his Status Screen and checked his stats. It looked like his base attributes didn¡¯t change while he was in his Dragon Form, though he had 129 hit points instead of 18 and his Natural Defense was 100 instead of 0 which gave him a Physical Damage Resistance of 10. With his Defense of 114 and his Physical Damage Resistance at 10, it should take a little bit for anything to hurt him in his dragon form. He should be okay unless he ran into a rare monster.
Yeah, he jinxed himself. Of course, he was going to run into a rare monster. A red dragon was rising from the Volcano and beelining towards him. Wow, it looked angry and ready to fight. That was fine with Adam. As the red dragon drew closer, Adam waited until it was 100 feet away, which seemed to be the perfect range for the red dragon to attack as well. It opened its mouth and a gout of flame erupted from its mouth in a thin stream toward Adam.
Adam opened his maw and activated one of his breath weapons as well.
Begin Combat log
Red Dragon has 4 attacks per combat Turn / Adamantium Dragon has 2 attacks per combat turn, Red Dragon has initiative
Basic Legendary Red Dragon Activates Fire Breath Weapon
+14 to Hit against a Defense of 114 and Dodge of 4.
Dodge unsuccessful.
Defense and 100% immunity to fire ignore 100% of attack
Damage Taken: 0
Adamantium Dragon activates Lightning Breath Weapon for 50 mana.
+4 to Hit against a Defense of 100 and Dodge of 0
Dodge fails
Defense ineffective against Lightning Damage
Base Damage: 62 (11 + 51)
Damage to Red Dragon 51 (62 ¨C 4 Damage Resistance = 58 ¨C 7 (11% resistance to Air Magic))
Red Dragon 1,252 Hit Points reduced to 1,201 remaining.
Adamantium Dragon 153 Hit Points remaining
Adam took in the information as he tucked his wings, rolled, and turned around to follow the Red Dragon. It looked like the Defense attribute didn¡¯t do anything to stop the attack from hitting so he¡¯d need to increase his Dodge if he didn¡¯t want to get hit. Adam only had a 4 in his Dodge attribute and no skills or perks that added to it. He might do better in his human form as he had plenty of unarmed and weapon training to make up for his lack of skill but fighting in Dragon Form, yeah he was going to have to take the hits as they came in.
Adam¡¯s eyes were drawn to a line that stated the red dragon was a ¡°Basic Legendary¡± How could something be basic and Legendary? He¡¯d have to worry about that later. As it flared its wings, Adam¡¯s inattention allowed the Red Dragon to get in close. The Red Dragon attacked Adam three more times with each forward claw and a bite. Each claw attack did 18 points, which allowed 8 points to get past his Damage Resistance. The bite did 22 points of damage which did 12 damage. So in the space of 6 seconds, he took 28 points of damage which reduced his 153 hit points to 125 hit points.
Adam did some quick calculations in his head and didn¡¯t like the prediction he was coming up with. He could only take 4 more attacks like that. His breath weapon had cost 50 mana to use. With only 183 mana total he¡¯d only be able to do that attack 2 more times. So he could reduce the Red Dragons hit points by another 102 hit points if he was lucky but he¡¯d have no mana
It was time to flip the script. Adam climbed into the air until he was sure that the red dragon was following him. Once he reached six thousand feet he slowed down until he stalled and turned to look at the red dragon who was rising from directly below him, Perfect! Adam summoned his Chaos Blade to his right front claw as he tumbled downward and cleaved the left wing of the dragon off. Adam cleaved the left wing of the dragon off? Adam quickly checked his combat log concerning that specific attack.
Chaos Blade Strikes Left Wing for 22 points of 100% penetrating true damage. Critical Strike. Wing Severed.
Adam only had a moment to think about what he read as he dismissed the Chaos Blade and dove away. The red dragon''s upward momentum stalled and it began to tumble back toward the ground. Adam angled himself away from the falling dragon and turned back to follow it down toward the ground from a safe distance. Adam had spent 150 of his 183 mana and he felt a mana drain headache coming on now that he only had 33 mana left.
The red dragon fought to control or slow its fall right up until the moment that it slammed into the base of the Volcano. It probably hadn¡¯t reached terminal velocity because of its remaining wing. Even so, as Adam came in and landed heavily on the torso of the Red Dragon with his hind legs it didn¡¯t move. It had taken so much damage or stunned itself so badly that it was completely unconscious when Adam clamped his jaw on the dragon''s neck and chewed until its head broke free. Even so, it still took Adam almost two minutes to kill the dragon, during which time it didn¡¯t wake up once.
When the Dragon died Adam was rewarded with the sound of trumpets going off in his mind as a voice rang into his mind.
Congratulations! You have unlocked The SYSTEM by defeating a Basic Legendary Creature you have gained the Title Apex Predator. You may now instantly kill any completely helpless target within your power.
XP and Treasure will be awarded after you choose your first class. Please open your Status Screen and choose your class under the Class Tab.
Adam opened his Status Screen, chose his Class Tab, and activated it. A moment later a new message appeared in his vision.
Class Selection Process activated. Available Class List is populating, please wait.
Adam settled in next to the red dragon''s body, it would be at least two minutes before he¡¯d have enough mana to turn back into a human so he made sure his surroundings were clear and waited while the SYSTEM put a list of classes for him to choose from.
Chapter 248, Mentalist
Adam didn¡¯t have to wait long for the class list to populate.
Congratulations! The following Tier 1 Classes are available to you based on your Attributes, Abilities, Titles, and Perks.
At Tier 1 only Basic, Scarce, or Rare Classes may be available for you to choose from. While any Tier 1 class can garner access to Tier 2 classes, it becomes easier to meet Tier 2 Prerequisites if you have either a Scarce or Rare Class. If you qualify for a Tier 2 Class you may be given the choices of Advanced and Master Classes. Those with a Tier 2 Master Class will have a better chance of qualifying for a Tier 3 Epic Class. Tier 4 and 5 Classes, if qualified for, only consist of Mythic, and Legendary Classes in that order.
Note: Class level progression is slower with each Rarity Rank. Level progression for Scarce classes requires twice as much XP. Rare Classes require triple the amount of XP to increase one level. Tier 2 Advance Classes require 10 times as much XP as a Basic Class per level. Tier 2 Master Classes require twice as much XP as a Tier 2 Advanced Class. Tier 3 Classes require 10 times as much XP as an Advanced Class. Tier 4 requires 10 times as much XP as a Tier 3 Class. Finally, Tier 5 requires 10 times as much XP as Tier 4 Classes.
Please review each class and then choose one.
A list of classes started scrolling through Adam¡¯s vision. As far as he could tell it was just a list of class titles and didn¡¯t contain any additional information. Adam issued a command for the scrolling to stop and then alphabetized the selection. He allowed the information to flow into his mind and began sorting it there. He noted that each class came with a limited description. Adam pulled up the Class ¡°Fighter¡± to see what advantages and disadvantages the class gave.
Class: Fighter
The Fighter is a master of weapons. This class focuses on doing damage and being able to take a hit.
Rarity: Basic
Attributes Per Level: 4
Bonus Attributes every 5 levels including level 1: +1 to Strength.
Bonus Attribute every 10 levels including level 1: +1 to Constitution.
Hit Points per Level: 10
Starting Skill
Melee Focused Attack: Cost 25 Stamina: On next Attack: +5% to hit and +1 to damage per skill level
Skills Points per level 1:
Advantages:
Weapon skills, including unarmed combat, cost ? Skill points, a minimum of 1 skill point to attain and level.
Disadvantages:
None
The Fighter class seemed pretty self-explanatory. If he had taken that class by the time he reached level 100 his Strength would have increased by 20 points and his Constitution by 10 points. Not to mention that his Hit Points would increase by 1,000. In the Previous system hit points only increased by increasing base attributes or weight. The new SYSTEM increased Hit Points independently which meant there were probably classes out there that increased Stamina, Mana, and that new attribute Psychic Energy as well. It seemed like this SYSTEM was giving those within it a better chance at survival, at least against mundane threats. Monsters could probably still take down an unaware fighter under the right circumstances.
That brought Adam''s mind back to the red dragon. It had only been level 10, but its rarity had been Legendary. When Adam found the SYSTEM Store in Vancouver he was going to have to figure out what the differences between basic Legendary Monsters and Legendary Classes were because the bonuses he¡¯d seen for a basic class didn¡¯t match up with what the Red Dragon had. Maybe if he looked at a Scarce Class? Adam looked through the list until he found a Mage Class called Firewalker.
Class: Firewalker (Focused Mage)
The Firewalker is a focused Mage class. A Firewalker''s magical fire is feared throughout the SYSTEM. At higher levels, a Firewalker can take on armies by themselves
Rarity: Scarce
Attributes Per Level: 8
Bonus Attributes every 5 levels including level 1: +1 to Intelligence, +1 to Willpower
Hit Points per Level: 5
Mana per level: 10
Starting Skills
Flame Bolt: Cost to Cast: 10 mana / Range: 10 + Intelligence in feet / Damage: 8 / Special: Ignite ¨C Combustible materials ignite on contact.
Flame Shield: Cost to Cast: 10 mana +5 mana per turn maintained. / Range: 5 feet / Effect: Creates a shield of fire in front of the caster that causes 10 points of damage to anything that touches it. The shield has a force component and gives the caster 5 points of Physical Damage Resistance.
Skills Points per level 2:
Spell Points per level 2:
Advantages:
Spells of the Fire Sphere cost ? Spell Slots, minimum 1 spell slot
Fire-based spells do double damage and increase by an additional 5% per class level.
Disadvantages:
Spells from the Magical Sphere of Water cost x2 Spell Slots to learn or memorize, have an automatic 50% chance of failure, and are 50% less effective.
Water-based magical attacks inflict double damage to a Firewalker.
Adam reviewed Firewalker, as well as a few other basic and scarce classes, and noted that every scarce class seemed to have double the bonuses but also came along with very specific adverse traits to the class to balance it out. There were a couple of gems but for the most part, it looked like as the class became more focused the negative traits built up to counter their focus. If the class was fire-based, water hurt more. If the class was light-based, dark hurt more.
Adam considered the pros and cons and then pulled up the rare classes. Immediately his mind was drawn to the class Chaos Bringer as well as a few others. Each class that grabbed his attention took advantage of his Chaos Attribute, but Adam ignored them. No, he¡¯d been informed that he had the means to find Adaline and Pandora based on something he¡¯d done with his Animae which Adam was interpreting as the ability to do something with his soul. The only thing that made sense to him was if he¡¯d somehow created a link between their souls which would indicate that there was probably a class that focused on abilities involving the soul.
He also had a new attribute in this SYSTEM. Psychic Energy was in the mix and Adam had a feeling that the class that would help him the most would be a rare class that improved Psychic Energy. Adam sorted the Rare Classes and pulled up those classes that improved Psychic Energy in some way or dealt with Souls. It only took a moment and a list of 5 Rare Classes appeared in his vision. Adam quickly read over the titles and descriptions.
Mentalist ¨C A master of the mind and mental magic that utilizes both to subdue foes and help allies. While not focused on one or the other type of power you may use both with few drawbacks.
Psionicist ¨C You are a master of Psychic Energy and receive bonuses with any Psychic ability and an extremely high mental defense.
Soulcrafter ¨C There is life after death. Knowing this you have unlocked a path of abilities that will allow you to capture souls and utilize them for other purposes as the name of this class implies.
Soulhealer ¨C Souls can be fractured and traumatized. This class focuses on the healing of the body and the soul. As this class progresses it focuses more on the repair and healing of the soul.
Soulreaver ¨C Souls can be fractured and traumatized. Soulreavers know this because they are the ones fracturing and traumatizing souls. Warning! Choosing this class comes with some serious social and political drawbacks.
Adam read over the five classes and then broadened his search parameters. There were a few other classes that spoke to him; ¡°Agent of Chaos¡± and a class named ¡°Adamantium Dragon¡± oddly enough but neither hinted at an ability that would get him back to his family. Soulcrafter seemed to be the obvious choice, but it wasn¡¯t like he hadn¡¯t seen something like that before. No, if he was going to unlock that part of his mind that may have been blocked off and be able to explore some sort of soul crafting or healing, he was going to have to choose a class that improved both his mental and psychic abilities. In that case, Mentalist seemed to be his best choice.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Trusting his instincts, Adam chose the Class Mentalist.
Congratulations! You have chosen the Rare Class Mentalist
Class: Mentalist
A master of the mind and mental magic that utilizes both to subdue foes and help allies. While not focused on one or the other type of power you may use both with few drawbacks.
Rarity: Rare
Attributes Per Level: 12
Bonus Attributes every 5 levels including level 1: +1 to Intelligence, +1 to Perception, +1 to Willpower
Hit Points per Level: 4
Mana per level: 5
Psychic Energy per level: 10
Starting Skills
Mind Bolt: Cost to Cast: 10 Psychic Energy / Range: 10 + Intelligence in feet / Damage: 8 / Special: (10% - Target Willpower Bonus) Chance per level of Mentalist to Stun Target
Mental Shield: Passive: 10 Psychic Energy unavailable while Mental Shield is active. +25% +1% per Willpower bonus + 1% Mental Defense per class level against any mind-altering magics including illusions
Heal Wounds ¨C Mana Cost: 10 / Range: Touch / Heal 4 + Wisdom Bonus.
Skills Points per level: 3
Spell Points per level: 1
Psionic Slots per Level: 2
Advantages
Spells from the Mental, Soul, and Spirit Spheres of Magic cost ? Spell Slots, minimum 1 slot.
Disadvantages
Spells from the Putrescent, Null, Proper, Absolute, Order, and Chaos Spheres of Magic cost twice as many spell slots.
NOTE: Ability ¡°Chaotic Incarnate¡± nullifies this disadvantage. Chaos Sphere Spells may be learned normally.
Adam noted that the class he¡¯d chosen granted three times as many attributes plus a couple of bonus attributes. 15 points per level was nothing to scoff at. As he was reviewing the rest of his class information new messages populated his vision.
Congratulations, you have defeated a Basic Legendary Red Dragon. As you did not have a class or level at the time Level Disparity based on Rarity, 8 Levels. Base experience award 1,000 XP (Level 10 Creature x 100 XP) x8 for level disparity equals an XP award of 8,000 XP.
Congratulations you have been awarded 20 Platinum Pieces for defeating a level 10 Basic Legendary Red Dragon. Would you like to receive 20 Platinum Pieces or convert the award into SYSTEM Credits?
Adam didn¡¯t have any place he could stick 20 platinum pieces so he chose to convert the award to SYSTEM Credits.
Normally there is a 5% Tax on any conversion to or from SYSTEM Credits when looting monsters. The 5% Tax is waived for your very first Monster Kill. 20 Platinum converted to 200,000 Credits. SYSTEM Credits are tracked by the SYSTEM
Total XP: 8,000
Level 1 XP Cost: 3,000 XP
Congratulations! You have reached Level 1.
Level 2 XP Cost: 6,000 XP
5,000 of 6,000 XP Earned
Level 1 Changes:
Hit Points +4
Stamina +1
Mana +5
Psychic Energy +10
Spell Slots +1
Psionic Ability Slots +1
Perception, Intelligence, and Willpower +1
12 Free Attributes have been gained; would you like to assign them now?
Adam thought Yes and allocated 2 points to Endurance and Constitution, 4 points to Wisdom, and 4 points to Luck. Some would call him crazy, but he remembered how having high luck had worked for him in the past and decided that some points would be allocated to his luck attribute at every level. If this SYSTEM was intrinsically connected to all aspects of reality then Luck probably had some effect on the outcome of actions.
Next level His bonus attributes would bring Perception and Willpower up to 20, but he¡¯d still need to put 2 points into Agility and Dexterity as well as another 3 points into his Wisdom attribute to get all of them to 20 or higher. Adam double-checked the messages concerning level experience. 3,000 XP for level 1. 6,000 for level 2? If he took into account what the other messages had said about Level progression and how much XP it would cost that meant that Level progression would look something like this:
Basic Level, 1,000 XP x New Level
Scarce Level: 2,000 XP x New Level
Rare Level: 3,00 XP x New Level
Advanced Level: 10,000 XP x New Level
Master Level: 20,000 XP x New Level
Epic Level: 100,000 XP x New Level
Mythic Level: 1,000,000 XP x New Level
Legendary Level: 10,000,000 XP x New Level
It looked like there was a bonus for defeating monsters of a higher rarity which meant that there was probably a penalty for defeating lower rarity monsters so that 10,000,000 XP to reach level 1 could be a whole bunch more if all he could find to kill was basic or scarce monsters. He really needed to visit that SYSTEM Shop to zero in on how people leveled within The SYSTEM and how much XP it would take at each Tier.
From where he was sitting, next to a volcano in the middle of nowhere, it looked like having a rare class tripled the XP cost per level. So, he would get more benefits per level, but he would have to earn the same amount of XP to get an equivalent amount of attributes. Adam thought about the ramifications of that. At the lower levels of Tier 1, he¡¯d start to have a strong advantage against others in the same Class Tier after only a few levels.
However, that wasn¡¯t the real bonus for taking a higher rarity class right off the bat. If he could qualify for Tier 2,3,4 and 5 classes he¡¯d have at least three times the attributes as someone with a basic class in their Tier 1 class slot. If he was able to get a Master Class in the Tier 2 class slot his advantage would become that much greater.
Adam looked over his Status Screen but nothing else was forthcoming. He had 3 free skill slots, 14 spell slots, and 22 Psionic Slots but he had no idea how to fill those slots. Also, he was getting the feeling that the designation Ability, Spell, and Skill all pretty much meant the same thing, sort of. Adam focused on his Skill Slots and a new message popped up.
Would you like to allocate your free skill points toward your existing class skills, or would you like to purchase a new skill?
Error! You are not in a SYSTEM Shop, at a Merchant Shop, or being taught by a skill trainer. Please visit a SYSTEM Shop, Merchant Shop, or Skill Trainer to use skill points to acquire new non-class skills OR spend your skill points on your current Class Skills.
Would you like to spend two of your skill points to increase one of your class skills to level 2?
Adam thought No and then focused on his Spell Slots
You do not have any spells to add to your spell list. Please visit a SYSTEM Shop or Merchant to purchase new spells or find them in spell books or on scrolls.
Well, that sucked. Just to make sure Adam focused on focused on his Psionic Slots.
You do not have any Psionic abilities ready to be slotted at this time. Please visit a SYSTEM Shop, Merchant. or find a class trainer to learn new Psionic Abilities.
So, it looked like skill slots were used to augment skills he already had or to acquire skills he did not have. Adam was betting that most people would find trainers, spell books, or scrolls to learn spells. Skills he might be able to learn from others, but it looked like skills in this SYSTEM were more of a bonus of some kind that could be augmented instead of a quantification of knowledge. It would seem that just knowing something gave him the ability to attempt it and the bonus of the attribute assigned to that skill was the only modifier he would get unless he had the skill to augment it.
As for Skills. It looked like each level cost that number of skill points. So level 2 would cost 2, level 3 would cost three, and so on. That made 3 skill points per level insanely good. As a comparison, Fighters only received 1 skill point per level so at most they¡¯d earn 100 points. If skill level cost was cumulative it would cost 55 skill points to reach level 10, or 54 skill points If the fighter chooses one of his class skills that he received for free. The Fighter could only ever have one level 10 skill, whereas Adam could have 5 for 275 skill points and still have 25 skill points to pick up other skills or save to put into his next Tier skills at level 100. Or in quick progression logic, it would take the Fighter 54 levels to have one skill at level 10 while Adam could have one level 10 skill by level 18. Put that way, his rare class gave him a serious advantage.
The big question was, how high could a skill be increased to or could a skill be increased through use? If skill points were being awarded for each class level it was very unlikely skills could be increased through use. It looked like the first thing he¡¯d purchase from the shop, so long as the information was for sale, was a comprehensive list of skills, spells, psionic abilities, and also a primer on how to level skills, utilize spells, and slot psionic abilities and level them if they were like skills in that way.
Adam checked his surroundings and noted that the red dragon''s body was still lying beside him and scavengers had started to take notice. He hadn¡¯t moved in a while and a seagull had taken advantage and was picking at the dragon''s corpse while others flew nearby as they waited to see what Adam would do. Adam smiled to himself, Nature never let anything go to waste.
Adam¡¯s mind was jarred out of his contemplations when a series of new messages appeared.
Congratulations! You are the first being in this world, in this galaxy, and in this Universe to defeat a Basic Legendary creature and activate a Rare Class within 1 day of System Initialization. You have earned the Title: The Bigger They Are ¨C So long as you have fewer hit points than your target all damage inflicted is increased by 10% for each difference in rarity between you and the creature that garnered this Title, Bonus: +80% damage. This Title only activates so long as your current Hit Points are less than your targets. Once the target''s hit points drop below your current hit points, the damage returns to normal.
SYSTEM Users also enjoy additional perks.
First, All SYSTEM Users may pull up a simplified terrain map that will display everything that they have noticed within 100 feet. What is displayed is determined by the SYSTEM user''s perception. Skills and Class Abilities can modify and improve this perk.
Second, All System Users receive Personal Storage. Personal Storage is an extra-dimensional storage area that can hold up to 10 lbs. worth of materials. Attaining Teir 2,3,4, and 5 Classes as well as some Skills can modify the total storage area. Please note that some perks and abilities allow others to search through and take from your Personal Storage. Some skills work to prevent others from searching another''s Personal Storage
As part of your Personal Storage Wardrobe Sets can be assigned and changed into. One set may be assigned per Class Tier. Perks and Skills can modify this number. Additionally, all looted Treasure can be deposited in your Personal Storage.
Adam smiled, he had Personal Storage again. An interesting adaption in this SYSTEM was the ability to steal from and possibly plant stuff in someone else¡¯s Personal Storage, the possibilities were¡Another thing he¡¯d need to look into at the SYSTEM Shop. With only a 10-pound weight limit he couldn¡¯t take the head of the Red Dragon unless he was going to carry it. Adam moved, which caused all the seagulls to flee in panic. While he was much more adapted to moving while in his human body, he needed to learn how to control his dragon form with a little finesse. Adam moved over to the Red Dragon and flipped it onto its back and brought both the front and aft claws together. The Dragon weighed about as much as he did which made him strain a bit but he could handle it. Once he had the limbs lined up he summoned his Chaos Blade to his clawed hand and sliced all four of the red dragon¡¯s claws off in such a way that they all landed on its belly.
Because of the Chaos Blade¡¯s cost in Chaos Points, which were also his Chaos Attribute, he could only keep the blade going for a total of 10 seconds. Which meant that he needed to be precise when using it. Being precise with his timing in his human body wouldn¡¯t be a problem. Being precise in dragon form, not so much. When he finished the swing and severed the four claws at the wrist on each leg 5 seconds had passed which used up 50 points of his Chaos. He reached down, touched the claws, and willed them into his inventory which took no effort and cost him nothing in mana or stamina
His regeneration rate for Chaos was 1 point per second so it would be 50 seconds before he was back to 100 points. Instead of waiting, Adam grabbed the head of the dragon and removed both canines and the two huge horns on the red dragon''s head. This took another 5 seconds which left him with 10 points of Chaos. Adam also placed both horns and both canines in his Personal Storage.
As he was about to get up and leave he took his claws and opened the red dragon from neck to groin with a quick swipe. His claws were easily sharp enough to accomplish the task with little effort as the red dragon¡¯s underbelly was soft and split like a knife sliding through butter.
Adam looked at his kill, launched himself into the air, and swooped down to the water where he washed his claw off before he rose back into the air and continued on his way south. With the slight increase in his attributes, he¡¯d be able to make better time if he wanted to but he decided to keep the pace he¡¯d started at. If the maps were still accurate, Adam should reach the outskirts of Vancouver after 13 more stops sometime around 10 p.m. local tomorrow. Now that he¡¯d chosen a class it was so nice that he could call up his Status Screen to get the local time. If the SYSTEM wasn¡¯t unlocked people had almost no functionality. Adam thought that was stupid, but hey, it wasn¡¯t a SYSTEM he¡¯d created.
Adam brought his thoughts back to the flight he was making. Right now it was almost 9 a.m. and it was a beautiful morning along the west coast of North America. If not for the time-lapse plant and animal growth below him and the fact that he was a dragon, it could almost be a normal day.
.
Chapter 249, A Little Over-Powered, Comparatively Anyway
It took Adam 14 more stops over the next 14 hours until he came to a landing at Whyte Islet Northwest of Vancouver. It was 11:10 p.m. Local on June 2nd. As he¡¯d flown in low over the water he¡¯d seen some lights off toward the city across Burrard Inlet but at least they appeared to either be torches or some form of magical spell perhaps. The electricity was off and as far as he could tell from the beach he came to land on, the area was clear. As he came in for his landing he spent the 100 mana and transformed into his human form with his jeans and t-shirt on.
His night vision was fantastic, and he had no issues navigating the beach up to Dufferin Ave. There were houses on each side of the street as he made his way northeast. At the 4th house on the right, he entered the driveway and followed back and then made his way out the backyard and up the hill about 100 feet to Marine Drive, the road that would take him into Vancouver.
As he made his way down Marine Drive Adam didn¡¯t see any signs of activity, but he did see signs that people had been in the area. Some houses had been broken into and there were blood stains on the ground where it was obvious a predator of some kind had come by and snatched the bodies up. Some of the blood stains appeared to be from bodies that had been drug off behind the homes. Adam caught a scent that reminded him of dogs. The scent grew stronger as he made his way east.
As Adam made his way into a small roundabout where Marine Drive intersected Rosebery Avenue and Nelson Avenue he noticed a lot of blood stains in the area and heard a low growl coming from Tantalus Park on the east side of the roundabout. As he heard the growl he also noticed that more wolves were entering the roundabout from all directions. These weren¡¯t average-sized wolves either. These wolves had mutated into full-blown Dire Wolves. At least that¡¯s what he thought until they entered the roundabout and he noticed that their shoulders all came to his head while they were on all fours. Whatever type of wolf-dog hybrid these were, they were bigger than Dire Wolves had ever been. Adam remained calm and looked around until he found the Alpha who was the last to emerge from Tantalus Park and stood another foot over the other wolves at 8 feet high at his shoulders which put his snout at about nine feet.
Adam watched as it slowly walked forward with its teeth barred. Adam was pretty sure it was wondering why a lone human wasn¡¯t reacting to it like everyone else who had died in this neighborhood, especially when the lone human was surrounded by a pack of 22 wolves that were the size of giant bears. Adam took this in, noticed the blood-stained snouts, and knew that this pack had acquired a taste for human flesh, which wouldn¡¯t be good going forward. That was too bad for the wolves.
Just before the Alpha was about to pounce, Adam concentrated and sent a Mind Bolt into the wolf which did something Adam hadn¡¯t anticipated. In the blink of an eye, fluid burst from the Alpha¡¯s eyes, ears, nose, and mouth and it fell over dead. Adam received a notification and automatically minimized because the real combat was about to start.
Everything froze. Before any of the other wolves could react, Adam morphed into his Dragon Form, which was a lucky thing as the rest of the pack had only hesitated for a moment before they attacked. As Adam got his bearings, it seemed that he was a little disoriented immediately after transforming during combat, he noticed that he had been attacked multiple times and taken no damage.
Adam quickly checked his damage log and noticed that none of the damage the wolves were putting out broke through his 10-point Damage Resistance. Adam reviewed the damage while the wolves continued to attack and found the next biggest one and spent 10 more points of his Psychic Energy to Mind bolt it as well. Like the Alpha, fluid exploded from its ears, eyes, nose, and mouth before it crumpled to the ground. With 20 of his 23 Psychic Energy spent that was it until he could recover his Psychic Energy.
The wolves snared and attacked as they frenzied. They attacked relentlessly as they tried to kill the creature that had killed their Alpha and his mate. Even though they did no damage, they refused to give up. Adam analyzed their attack pattern, waited for an opening when as many as possible were lined up, and then spent 50 of his mana to hit 5 with a lightning bolt which stunned all of them. His attack did 63 points of damage which didn¡¯t kill them, but they were rendered helpless. Over the next 30 seconds, Adam moved forward and systematically snapped the necks of each of the wolves he had stunned and killed them instantly with the help of his Title Apex Predator.
Apex Predator - You may now instantly kill any completely helpless target within your power.
Now that there were only 15 left, Adam started paying attention to the flow of combat. Ever since he¡¯d arrived in this new SYSTEM something had been off with his timing, and he had a nagging suspicion that what The SYSTEM was counting as a Turn and what he¡¯d been used to were not the same anymore. Before each turn had been 1 second long and he had been able to do a tremendous amount during any single second because of his high attributes and time dilation in some cases.
Adam started reviewing his combat logs, looked at the time stamps, and immediately noticed the change. The SYSTEM was utilizing a combat mode that recorded everything in 10-second turns. With a little more digging he was able to determine that he was acting twice every 10 seconds and that the amount of times he could act was directly related to his Agility attribute. He¡¯d been attacking twice per turn. With an 18 in Agility, if he was getting an extra attack for every 10 points of agility then he should get a third attack when he hit 20, though it seemed to him that the system for extra attacks was a little more nuanced than that. He¡¯d have to keep that in mind when he distributed attributes as he leveled.
His regeneration rates were all over the place too. They still seemed to be working by the second if they regenerated that fast as his Mana and Chaos Attribute showed. Through his Chaos Link, he was regenerating 1 point of Mana and Chaos per second. His healing rate wasn¡¯t so great, but he did have a healing spell now so that wasn¡¯t a problem. Stamina was regenerating at 2 per 10-second turn. Psychic Energy on the other hand. He was a Mentalist and his Psychic Energy was only regenerating at 1 point every 2.5 minutes or every 15 turns. Damn, it would take him 25 minutes to replace the 10 points of Psychic Energy he¡¯d spent to cast one Mind Bolt. One of the first things he was going to do when he found a SYSTEM Shop was check and see if there were any skills or spells that helped increase his Psychic Energy regeneration. He had a feeling a skill like meditation would be exactly what he needed.
Now that he knew his regeneration rate, he knew that in 5 seconds he would have enough mana to use his breath weapon again but that would zero him out. Luckily he¡¯d already regenerated the mana he¡¯d used to transform at the beach. He¡¯d spent 100 Mana to shift into his Dragon Form and 50 Mana to use his Breath Weapon once. In 7 seconds he¡¯d have 50 mana and could use it again. He could regenerate 10 mana per turn so every five turns he could use his Breath Weapon. Adam was going to let his mana build back up while he used his physical attacks to get a handle on the timing and use of those attacks. To do that Adam needed to know how much stamina it took to attack. As Five of the wolves rushed in and attacked Adam grinned.
Claw Attack: Stamina 10: To Hit +4 Damage: 13 (4 (Base) + 9 (STR Bonus)) Versus Defense of 23.
Attack Chance (Base) 50 + (Bonus) 20 ¨C (Defense) 23 = 47% Chance to Hit
Attack misses.
Well, that was a waste. He¡¯d have to check his logs after this combat to find out why his Breath Weapon and Mind Bolt had hit easier. He was betting it had to do with the fact that natural defenses didn¡¯t matter to certain attack types. Also, his Intelligence of 114 was probably making it easier for him to hit with those attacks. He was going to have to min/max the hell out of his attributes until he figured out how to undo the limitations the SYSTEM was imposing on him.
There was nothing he could do about it now though, so Adam settled in for the long haul as five different wolves attacked him. Their attacks were pointless, they couldn¡¯t break through the hide of his Dragon Form as he ignored their attacks and took his time learning how to use his Dragon Form attacks. He wasn¡¯t very accurate but he was hitting almost 2 out of three times. None were doing killing blows but he kept the wolves at bay. Adam did learn that his claw attacks required 10 stamina and a bite required 20 stamina. To conserve his stamina he utilized his claw attacks 10 times over 5 turns or 50 seconds. At which point he¡¯d try to line up as many wolves as possible for a Breath Weapon attack.
The next time he used his Breath Weapon he was only able to stun three wolves. The other wolves tried to stop him as he moved forward and ended each of their lives with the benefit of his Apex Predator title. Eight down, Fourteen to go. He¡¯d spent 100 stamina over the 10 turns before the Breath Weapon attack and regenerated 10 stamina during that same period. The Breath Weapon attack hadn¡¯t cost stamina and he¡¯d replenished 2 more. Currently, he was sitting at 217 of 301 Stamina, 3 of 195 Mana, 3 of 23 Psychic Energy, and 100 of 100 Chaos.
His claw attacks hadn¡¯t been very deadly to these wolves because they seemed to have more Hit Points than he could kill easily unless he stunned them. That is, except for his Mind Bolt attack but that was something¡You know what, he¡¯d check that now. Adam ignored the wolves, pulled up the combat log, and searched for the data concerning his use of Mind Bolt. When he found it, he was a little surprised.
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Mind Bolt: PE 10: To Hit +52 Damage: 60 (Base 8 + 52 INT Bonus) Versus Defense of 0.
Attack Chance (Base) 20 + (Bonus) 260 ¨C (Defense) 0 = 280% Chance to Hit
Attack Hits
60 Points of damage applied.
NOTE: Mental Damage exceeds Willpower by 316% Chance to Hit.
Mind Shattered, Target Killed.
Mind Bolt was a tad powerful, maybe even overpowered. Also, now that he¡¯d seen that attribute bonus twice he could deduce that he was receiving a flat 5% bonus to hit for each attribute bonus point if it applied to the attack. All he needed to do was figure out which attribute affected which attacks and then he really could min/max the hell out of his character build, as they called how he was going to maximize bonuses and minimize disadvantages.
As he reviewed the information it looked like physical attacks had a base 50% chance of success while mental attacks only had a 20% chance. Adam wondered how spells would work. Area of Effect Spells probably had a higher chance to hit¡
Adam brought his thoughts back to the situation at hand. The Wolves were still attacking. Instead of wasting Stamina, Adam reduced his attack rate to once per Turn. That way he¡¯d attack five times for 50 Stamina while earning 10 Staminaback for a net loss of 40 while he waited for his mana to get back to 50 so he could catch more wolves with his Breath Weapon. Each of those attacks only cost 5 stamina in addition to the 50 Mana. During those Turns, he did act twice to speed things up a bit.
The only downside to his plan over the next 5 minutes was that he was only able to get two wolves with his Breath Weapon each time he used it. He also had to reduce his number of claw attacks to make sure his Stamina remained above 50 which meant that during some turns he wasn¡¯t even attacking. He didn¡¯t know what running out of stamina in this SYSTEM would do and didn¡¯t want to find out. As it was, bottoming out his Mana to 0 and his Psychic Energy to 3 had given him a bit of a headache. He hadn¡¯t had a headache in a really long time. The excruciating pain when his mind was overloaded and he blacked out, yeah that had happened a couple of times. Headaches though? He hadn¡¯t had a headache since before he found the adamantium ring so long ago.
Adam realized that without his normal power level or nanites if he¡¯d been in Human Form he¡¯d have had a problem with these wolves. Luckily he had his Dragon Form and the 10 points of Damage Resistance blocked the wolves'' attacks, though not by much. The Wolves were doing 9 points of damage normally. He was lucky he was still in a basic monster zone and that these wolves were so low-level. Of course, that hadn¡¯t helped the residents who hadn¡¯t fled. These wolves would be more than a match for normal classless humans.
When only two of the wolves were left, they turned and tried to flee. Adam leaped into the air and pursued them for 20 seconds until he had enough mana to hit them with his Breath Weapon. He landed and killed both with a coup de grace by using his claws to rip their necks out. When they were dead he dragged both corpses over to the Alpha and lay them beside it.
Adam went around and quickly collected the other 19 wolf corpses. He could easily tell that they were going to take up more than his 10 pounds of storage. He looked around to make sure nothing else was trying to creep up on him and then put his back on a concrete wall while he pulled up his notifications.
Congratulations! You have defeated a Pack of Basic Vacnee Dire Wolves. (1) Level 40, (2) Level 37, (3) Level 36, (6) Level 35, (4) Level 34, and (6) Level 33. Total XP Earned after Rarity Difference Modification 36,500 XP
Rank Disparity Modification? Adam pulled up the Alpha''s specific reward line. It took some digging but he found it.
Basic Vacnee Dire Wolf, Level 40. Base XP award 4,000 (100 XP per Level) Rank Basic. Rank of Victor: Rare. Rarity Disparity: 2. XP modifier ? XP. Total XP award 2,000.
So, he¡¯d only earned half the XP he normally could because of the rarity of his Class. Sure, he knew that was going to happen but damn did that suck! Adam checked his surroundings again and then went back to checking his messages.
Congratulations! You have earned Levels 2, 3, 4 and 5. Total XP 46,300. XP to next Level 16,700.
The following changes have been made automatically: HP +16 / Stamina +4 / Mana +20 / Psychic Energy +40 / Spell Slots +4 / Psionic Ability Slots +8 / +1 Perception / +1 Intelligence / +1 Willpower.
You have 48 Free Attributes to distribute would you like to do so now, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes.¡±
When he was done all of his attributes had come up by at least 4 points. The biggest change was his Psychic Energy, it had increased from 23 to 70 and he could regain 1 point of Psychic Energy every minute. While the regeneration rate wasn¡¯t great, he could now attack 6 targets without whipping himself out. His movement rate had also increased from 21mph to 24 mph and his Dragon Form flying speed had increased a nice bit to 121 mph. He also noticed that his hit points had increased a bit as well. In Dragon Form, he had 192 Hit Points while In Human Form, he had 44 hit points. Adam only had Damage Resistance in Dragon Form which still only blocked 10 points of damage.
Adam knew that if he hadn¡¯t had Damage Resistance he¡¯d have been done for. that Alpha Wolf had been no joke. Adam looked at his next message
Congratulations Vacnee Wolf Pack awards 766 Copper for defeat, would you like to convert copper to SYSTEM Credits?
Adam decided, that yes, he wanted to convert the Copper to SYSTEM Credits and also changed his settings so that this would happen automatically. He¡¯d received the notice of the treasure award but the conversion would be automatic going forward.
766 Copper converted to 7 SYSTEM Credits. Conversion Fee 5%
Total SYSTEM Credits: 200,007.
Adam had to admit that the treasure system was very clean. He didn¡¯t have to worry about carrying around coins if he didn¡¯t want to, still though, it looked like monster kills automatically awarded a specific amount of treasure. While 766 copper might not seem like a lot, Adam was pretty sure he¡¯d have been able to purchase enough food and supplies to survive for a little while if he¡¯d been in a town or near a SYSTEM Shop.
Additionally, the carcasses weren¡¯t dissipating, just like the dragon hadn¡¯t, which meant they could be harvested for materials. That probably meant that if he had a way to store or carry them he could find a merchant, leatherworker, or maybe even be able to sell them in the SYSTEM shop. Maybe the monetary loot was the bare minimum amount of treasure he could receive? Damn! If that were true that Red Dragon carcass could have been worth quite a bit. He¡¯d have to look for a storage device of some kind or a skill that increased his Personal Storage area capacity.
Adam waited for this mana to get back to 200 and then shifted to his human form before he walked into the house and made his way upstairs. He barricaded the door so that anything that might come in after him would have to break down the barrier first and then sat down opposite the door to give his mind time to recharge his Psychic Energy. It had taken just over 3 minutes to get back the 200 mana, but he only regained 1 Psychic Energy point every minute. It would be almost 70 minutes before his Psychic Energy was maxed out again.
When he¡¯d earned the new points from leveling his Hit Points, Stamina, Mana, and Psychic Energy hadn¡¯t automatically filled to the new level, which was fine. His mana came back rapidly enough that he should be able to heal his missing Hit Points in a couple of casts. His healing used mana instead of Psychic Energy so his mana would be back in only 10 seconds. He used his Heal Wounds skill two times and was fully healed.
That didn¡¯t seem right. Adam double-checked his logs. When he¡¯d been a dragon he¡¯d had 133 hit points before he shifted back to human form. His new maximum due to his level increase had been 192. The increase in both of his forms didn¡¯t seem to be exactly linear. At first level, he¡¯d had 23 hit points in Human Form and 133 in Dragon Form. Now he had a maximum of 44 hit points in Human Form and 192 in Dragon Form. The difference was not linear.
Adam did a little more digging and noted that he had 69% of his 192 Hit Points. When he converted back to his Human Form. His Hit Points had lowered to 30 which was also 96% of his maximum hit points. That didn¡¯t explain why his Human Form went up by 22 hit points but his Dragon Form went up by 59.
Adam did some more digging and realized his weight was a factor. In Human Form, each hit point was worth less because he weighed less. If his math was right, it looked like his weight in Human Form was factored by a value of 6 while it was factored by a value of 43 in his Dragon Form. How the equation worked seemed similar to this Superhero game he¡¯d played in college, but it wasn¡¯t exactly the same. It was interesting that weight and mass were being considered concerning how many hit points he had though. The SYSTEM could have kept it simple but no it had made sure to give bigger creatures more Hit Points.
While he waited for his Psychic Energy to regenerate, Adam looked over his Status Screen one more time. He had 15 Skill Points, 19 Spell Slots, and 32 Psionic Slots to fill. It would be interesting to see what he could fill those slots with when he made it to The Shop. Now that he had a little time, he opened up his map which showed the 100 feet around him that he¡¯d seen in a basic map format. Across the top was the title
The City of Vancouver,
Adjacent Zones: Levels 1 ¨C 50.
City Core: Claimed.
Services Available: SYSTEM Shop, Merchants, Entertainment, More¡
Adam looked over the map but with only a range of about 100 feet, there wasn¡¯t much on it. Just a few houses and cross streets. He closed the Map and tried to meditate using the techniques he¡¯d learned previously to see if he could open up some new skills or perks. Nothing happened. It looked like this SYSTEM wasn¡¯t going to allow him to fast-track those abilities. Whatever was blocking his access was getting on his nerves. Fine, he¡¯d play by the rules of this SYSTEM for a little while longer. First things first, he needed to Find a SYSTEM Shop.
Chapter 250, I Dont Have To Save You
Adam had rested for just over an hour when he stood, unlocked the door to the bedroom, and made his way back downstairs. Once back on Marine Drive, he continued east to the Tran-Canadian Highway which was only another 1,000 feet down the road. Once on the highway, the walk became easier even with the cars strewn about having either rolled to a stop or in some cases collided with other vehicles. When magic had come back into this Earth, it must have been relatively sudden. Such an obvious disregard for lives, when a SYSTEM was initiated, was beginning to piss him off.
Five miles down the road, as he was coming up on the Cypress Lane Road exit, Adam noticed some movement near a few of the vehicles. He also heard whispering on the night air but couldn¡¯t quite make out what was being said. As he came to a trailer the door burst open and a man with a shotgun stepped out with the weapon pointed at Adam¡¯s chest. Adam also noticed that at least two other people had come into view in other nearby cars pointing their handguns at him.
¡°Hello there! I¡¯m Bob, and my two friends Rusty and Ed are behind you in the cars. Why is a man like you walking around all alone, don¡¯t you know it¡¯s dangerous these days?¡± Bob said as he stepped out of the camper.
¡°Hello Bob, I¡¯m Adam, I noticed that it was a bit more dangerous these days, Yes. What can I do for you?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Well, I would say that you could give us all of your stuff, but you don¡¯t seem to be carrying anything, or do you have some stuff in that special storage the SYSTEM gives you?¡±
Bob aimed his shotgun to the side and pulled the trigger. There was a loud boom and the shotgun went off. When the echo had died down Bob was now pointing the shotgun at Adam¡¯s chest,¡± I¡¯m the one with the gun¡¡±
Adam started laughing.
Bob looked upset for a moment and then looked around as if looking for something. When he didn¡¯t see anything or anyone moving to help the laughing man in front of him he asked, ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡±
Adam stopped laughing suddenly and then said, ¡°You. It¡¯s the middle of the night, and I¡¯ve already run into a pack of wolves which means there are predators in the area and you just let them all know where you are.¡±
¡°I let them know where we are, or do you think you¡¯re special. If predators come, they¡¯ll get you too.¡±
¡°I think I¡¯ll be fine, Adam said and started walking down the road.
¡°Stop or I¡¯ll shoot!¡± Bob called.
¡°If you shoot, I¡¯ll survive, and then I¡¯ll feed you to one of these monsters because make no mistake, whatever is coming, I¡¯m worse,¡± Adam said as he let a hint of his anger leak into his voice. Bob lifted the gun to point at Adam¡¯s face. While Adam wasn¡¯t as fast as he once had been he was faster than a normal human and stronger. Even with Bob 20 feet away from him, it was nothing for Adam to flash forward 20 feet and disarm Bob before he could react. As Adam disarmed Bob he made sure to move so that Bob was between Adam and the other two shooters.
¡°What?¡± Bob sputtered and then froze as the shotgun barrel was leveled at and poking into his back.
¡°Yeah Bob, you didn¡¯t even have a chance. I will give you some friendly advice. I would suggest you and your friends try to make your way south and find some more people. Then get a group and start hunting the monsters so you can level and get stronger. Then, if we ever meet again and you think I¡¯ve done you wrong we can discuss what I did here.¡±
¡°What is it you¡¯re going to do here?¡± Bob asked in a shaky voice.
¡°There was a time when I¡¯d just end you but there¡¯s no point. You are going to stay between me and your friends and stop when I say stop. Then you are going to stand there and watch me back away from you. We¡¯re going to make our way east a little bit and you¡¯ll stop. I¡¯ll continue on a little bit further and leave your shotgun on one of the cars. Once I do, grab your gun, reload it, and get the three of you out of here.
¡°We could come after you?¡± Bob said in what he tried to make a menacing voice but ended up being a little shaky.
¡°You could,¡± Adam said as he summoned his Chaos Blade to his left hand and sliced a portion of the right fender off a Nissan Altima. The blade cut through the metal like it was better and the piece that had been separated fell to the ground with a ¡°Thunk¡± as the Chaos Blade vanished. ¡°If you do, I¡¯ll end you,¡± Adam said as he felt Bob go rigid in front of him. Adam nudged him to get them moving again. As they continued moving east Adam continued speaking, ¡°Right now, the world is a bit crazy and everyone is going to need to work together to survive so I¡¯m going to go against my nature and let you live now let¡¯s move. You need your Shotgun back and I need to get out of here.¡±
Bob looked back at the piece of the car that had been sliced off and stopped resisting Adam¡¯s directions as Adam guided him east along the highway. When they were 50 feet from his friends who were still in the cars they¡¯d tried their ambush on him Adam said, ¡°This is about far enough.¡±
Bob stopped and Adam backed away until he was near the front of a car he put the shotgun on the car, ¡°After I step away, recover your gun, reload it, and go back to your friends. You all need to try to find a place to defend yourself. I¡¯d stay and help, but you just tried to rob me, so good luck,¡± Adam said as he turned to the east. 10 seconds later he was 300 feet away from Bob who had picked up his shotgun and was in the process of reloading it.
Adam knew that as soon as he had been further than 10 feet from Bob the three men had lost sight of him. It was a moonless night and while the pavement did make it easier to see someone, it would be hard to track him while he kept the cars between them and him. He on the other hand could see just fine.
Also, Adam wasn¡¯t a moron and kept an eye on the three men as he moved further away. He was proved right when he heard a howl off to the north which was answered by at least 5 other howls off to the Northwest and southwest of the highway. If those were more Vacnee Dire Wolves, Bob, Rusty, and Ed weren¡¯t long for this world.
Adam put the three men out of his mind. They would survive or they wouldn¡¯t. They¡¯d made their choice on how far Adam would be willing to help them when they tried to rob him. The fact that he¡¯d left them alive was the only bit of good luck Adam was willing to give them. Perhaps fate would be kind, perhaps not. Adam wasn¡¯t going to wait around to find out.
Adam continued making his way east along the highway. He attempted to keep his noise generation to a minimum while he moved rapidly. Hopefully, he wouldn¡¯t run into any more highway robbers or if he did he¡¯d pass them by before they could react.
One thing he noticed was that Stamina loss while traveling worked differently than when he was in combat. Instead of a flat Stamina cost each turn his Stamina was charged each minute and it kept increasing. Then again, maybe there was a stamina cost during combat if you continued moving for longer than a minute. Adam pulled up the logs to his fight with the wolves and sure enough, the few times he¡¯d gone over a minute without taking a break he¡¯d begun to lose Stamina. Adam closed the log and continued making his way east.
Eight minutes later when he turned south onto Highway 99 he was up to 8 Stamina per minute. Of course, he was regenerating 17 Stamina a minute so he wouldn¡¯t see a net loss until he¡¯d been traveling for 18 minutes. That meant that at 21 miles per hour, he could run 5.9 miles in 17 minutes before he started to feel the drain on his stamina. Shoot, he could run for another 25 minutes after that first 17 minutes before he¡¯d reduce his stamina to 10 of 335 points and need to take a break. 14.7 miles in 42 minutes wasn¡¯t too shabby though.
As Adam came to the bridge that crossed the point where Vancouver Harbor met the Burrard Inlet he saw that a blockade had been created at the other end. There even looked to be torches and lookouts on top of some buses that were placed across the lanes. Also, it looked like a few people had figured out that guns and ammunition might be scarce, so they were armed with bows and crossbows.
Adam slowed down and started looking around the bridge for signs of traps or any other kind of bombs and came to a stop at an area that just didn¡¯t feel right. After he concentrated for a moment he pierced an illusion and noticed that the bridge in front of him was littered with holes that he would have fallen through if he hadn¡¯t noticed the illusion. Nifty.
A male voice called out, ¡°You might want to stop!¡±
Adam looked toward the man, modulated his voice, and called back, ¡°Why is that, I just need to go around the holes correct?¡±
¡°What holes?¡± the male voice called back.
¡°Let¡¯s save some time, I can see through the illusion. What kind of assurances do I need to give to be able to visit the SYSTEM Shop,¡± Adam called back.¡±
¡°Come on over and we¡¯ll talk,¡± The voice called.
¡°Sounds good,¡± Adam said as he started to walk forward. Adam picked his way past the larger holes until he came to a place that only had a three-foot stretch and looked like it could have been on a hinge. Adam stopped before he stepped into the obvious trap and called out, ¡°Just so we¡¯re clear. If I step onto this trap door and it swings out from under me two things are going to happen. One, you will get the surprise of your life before two, you die.¡±
¡°That trap¡¯s for people we don¡¯t trust,¡± the man called out.
Adam nodded and said, ¡°You¡¯ve heard my terms,¡± before he stepped into the obvious trap and took two steps before the door swung out below him. As Adam dropped through the hole he activated his Dragon Form and flew up and around the bridge until he was hovering over the people standing on the barricade looking at him.
¡°Kill it!¡± the same male voice called out which allowed Adam to zero in on him. As everyone was raising their weapons to fire, Adam swooped down and hit the man with a Mind Bolt as soon as he was within range. There was a red-headed woman beside him who looked like she was trying to concentrate, the illusionist maybe? Adam felt something touch his mind but he was below the bridge and banking away before contact could be established. As he turned south and continued toward Vancouver he heard a scream and saw that he had another Notification. He hadn¡¯t leveled so Adam ignored it.
He''d given the man fair warning. He¡¯d tried to be polite, and the idiot had lied to him twice and tried to kill him. If he¡¯d let Adam cross the bridge and then locked him up for a bit, Adam could have allowed that. But killing someone you just met, yeah those were the kind of people this world wasn¡¯t going to need going forward and while he wasn¡¯t going to go out of his way to kill everyone that crossed him Adam knew that men like that one probably bullied their way into power and were being absolute assess to everyone under them as well as anyone they came across. It had only been two days. Adam wondered how many people that prick had already killed.
Adam rose into the night sky and used the updrafts to get above the city. When he wasn¡¯t actively flying there was no stamina cost. If he could find a thermal updraft he¡¯d be able to remain aloft for a while. Adam rose above the city and looked down as he made his way toward Vancouver City Hall. As he suspected there were barricades set up in shrinking circles with City Hall at the center. Right at the front of the building was a silver Orb, just like every other SYSTEM Orb he¡¯d ever come across. Additionally, he could see another orb just inside City Hall which was probably the City Orb.
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Adam remained above the city and watched the orbs. On this moonless night, it was easy for him to remain unnoticed by those below him. As Adam watched, People would walk up to the orb outside of City Hall, place their hands on it, and vanish. That is after they waited in line to do so. Right before they were allowed to touch the orb they had to pass by a table where a woman sat and jotted something down in a notebook like they were keeping track of something
Something fishy was going on. If this world had just received its first mana saturation event, how had the city been brought into a defensible configuration so quickly? Unless¡ Unless someone knew what was going to happen and had everything prepared ahead of time.
Adam watched for a bit until the line had died down completely and then dove for the orb. It was a simple thing to fly in, flare above the orb, shape change and touch the orb as he dropped to the ground next to it. Simple for him anyway. Adam smiled at the one guard who had seen him and then vanished as his hand touched the orb.
As he materialized in the SYSTEM Shop he found himself standing in a fully decked out market with multiple patrons of multiple races who were walking around and browsing at the counters. Adam noted a dark elf, Orc, or was that a half-orc? When he turned toward one corner he saw an Illithid. There was no way Mind Flayers were real was there? They could be, he guessed. Besides, who was he to argue with the possible existence of a creature type? He was an Adamantium Dragon now after all.
Adam looked around and noted that he could visit a kiosk or talk with a merchant behind the counter. There was a small female standing on a box over behind the counter that kind of looked like a halfling. Adam decided that the best way to get answers was to ask questions and to ask questions he needed someone to ask so he turned toward the small woman and walked toward her.
As Adam walked up to the counter she looked up and asked, ¡°Welcome to the Vancouver SYSTEM Shop, How can I help you, Sir?¡±
¡°I need to purchase some information and I have a few questions?¡± Adam said.
¡°We do sell information and I can answer questions and tell you when I cannot. Also, please know that we do accept tips,¡± she said with a smile.
¡°Okay then. First question, what is your name?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I am Alerna Light-Touch.¡±
¡°I am Adam. It¡¯s nice to meet you Alerna Light-Touch. My first business-related question is do you sell SYSTEM-based information, specifically a breakdown of what Attributes do, how regeneration rates are detailed out, how combat works, perks, skills, how they level, spells, how they are leveled, and the basic Political Structure of the SYSTEM?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Not asking for much, are you,¡± the small woman said with a laugh. ¡°Let¡¯s see what we can find for you,¡± she said as her eyes became unfocused and she looked through lists only she could see. As she finished Alerna said, ¡°To answer your question, Yes, the SYSTEM has that information but it''s not all in one document. You would need to buy at least six that will cover everything except the political information. There is a lot of information on that topic and I suggest we come back to it after you review these first,¡± Alerna said as a holographic display appeared in front of Adam that listed six different titles.
Making the most out of your Attributes ¨C by Xertze
How to Use What You Have, A Guide to Increasing Your Attribute Regeneration Rates ¨C by Alistar
A Comprehensive List of Skills and the Cost of Improvement ¨C by Hersche
Magic, Spells, and You ¨C by Merl
The Importance of Perks and What They Do To, and For, You ¨C by Jax
Combat in The SYSTEM ¨C by Shenul
Adam looked over the list of books. The titles indicated that they might have the information he was looking for. He turned to Alerna, ¡°That sounds good, How much for all six?¡±
¡°Well, it depends on the format you want them in. If you want actual books they¡¯re 500 credits apiece. If you want them as a digital readout, they¡¯re only 200 credits each but you¡¯ll need to purchase the reader which is 5,000 credits. Finally, you can download the information directly into your mind, which will cost 2,000 credits each, so 12,000 for all six. If you buy all six for download, I¡¯ll give you a 10% discount so 10,800,¡± Alerna explained.
¡°Sounds good, I¡¯ll take all six as a download. Can I do them all at once or do I need to space them out?¡± Adam asked.
¡°You can do all six at once if you think your mind can take it. The worst that will happen is that the information will overload your mind and you¡¯ll be knocked out.¡±
Adam smiled, ¡°I think I can handle it.¡±
Adam made his purchase, transferred his credits, and was led to a door that opened into a small room with a chair in it, ¡°Please sit down. The download is automatic. We provide the chair and the privacy free of charge,¡± Alerna explained with a smile.
Adam sat, closed his eyes, and felt the information enter his mind. The information transfer went smoothly, there was no strain at all. In a moment he was done and stood up as his mind processed everything he¡¯d just learned.
The first set of information he reviewed was from ¡°Making the most out of your Attributes.¡± It seemed that attributes revolved around a system where a 10 in an attribute offered no bonus or negative while every two points above offered a +1 and every two points below gave a -1, though the penalty didn¡¯t seem to ever go below -5. Also, after extensive testing each point equated to about a 5% increase or decrease in the chance that whatever task they were trying to do which involved an attribute might succeed or fail. Luck played a factor but no one could figure out exactly how yet. Constitution directly affected Hit Points, Endurance affected Stamina, and Willpower affected Mana. Psychic Energy was listed as coming from the sum of mentality and spirituality in some form, which meant that the writer, Xertze, didn¡¯t know. But the information that was provided was helpful so his credits had been well spent.
The next bit of information he reviewed was ¡°How to Use What You Have, A Guide to Increasing Your Attribute Regeneration Rates.¡± The information in that document detailed how each attribute could be increased by the skills appropriately named Health Regeneration, Stamina Regeneration, Mana Regeneration, and Psychic Regeneration. Health Regeneration required that the person have at least 100 in their Endurance and Constitution attributes. Stamina Regeneration required at least a 100 in the Endurance and Willpower attributes. Mana Regeneration required 100s in both Intelligence and Willpower attributes. Finally, Psychic Energy had the most prerequisites with at least 100 points in the Perception, Intelligence, Wisdom, Willpower, and Charisma attributes. Once each skill was acquired they could be increased to level 10 which brought Adam to the next bit of information he reviewed ¡°A Comprehensive List of Skills and the Cost of Improvement.¡±
Adam skipped the comprehensive lists and went right to the cost of improvement. First, Skills could only be improved to level 10 which would cost a total of 55 Skill points. 1 Skill Point for level 1, 2 Skill Points for level 2, 3 for level 3, and so on. What increasing a skill level did was dependent on the skills. Some skills reduced the mana, stamina, or psychic energy cost as the skill level went up. Other skills had their damage increase and sometimes as skills increased in level the cost to use the skill went down while the damage, range, or area of effect increased. What leveling a skill did for each skill was unique to that skill. It also seemed like the rarity of a skill played into how powerful it was.
As Adam continued his review he realized that there could be a Common Health Regeneration Skill and a Legendary Health Regeneration Skill. The Legendary version of the skill would do a lot more than the Common version. Both rarities could be increased to level 10. Also, the cost was prohibitive. A common Level 1 Skill would cost 100 credits while a Level 1 Legendary Skill could cost 1 billion credits if the SYSTEM Shop had it, which it most likely would not. Legendary Skills were extremely rare.
Next, Adam reviewed how to level up skills. Skills had rarities, just like classes. In each Rarity, a skill could be levels 1 ¨C 10. That¡¯s where the simplicity stopped. Skills could only be acquired from a Class, Perk, Skill Trainer, or the SYSTEM Shop. Once acquired from a Class, Perk, or Skill Trainer the skill could be leveled through use, or Skill Points had to be spent to level it. Skills purchased from the SYSTEM Shop could not be leveled with Skill Points unless a special type of Skill was purchased that acted as if it had been learned from a Skill Trainer.
To get a better handle on what the differences in rarity and level meant Adam reviewed the examples provided. A Common Skill, Power Strike, cost 10 Stamina at level 1. It increased the damage of any physical blow by 6 if the attack hit. The skills base cost at the shop was 100 credits. It was a common generic skill that most fighter types picked up. If Adam wanted to get the skill at level 10 it would cost 5,500 credits. The level 10 version of Power Strike would inflict 60 extra points of damage for 100 stamina if the attack hit.
Some common classes picked up the skill for free in which case the Skill could be leveled through use or increased with Skill Points. How much XP a skill earned through use wasn¡¯t detailed but for a Common Level 1 skill to increase to level 2 required approximately 3,000 XP but the XP for skills was not tracked the same way XP for classes was tracked. Skills that were constantly used seemed to level at the same rate as the individual class, at least for levels 1 through 10. That wasn¡¯t always true though. If the class had a higher rarity the skill could level faster than the class.
The XP requirement could be bypassed if Skill Points were used instead. There was a huge Warning that any earned XP was lost and the XP for Skill Progression was reset to zero for the next level but if you needed to increase the skill you could with Skill Points. The Academics noted this as a bonus from the Class when skills were leveled in this way.
Also, there were two ways to buy a skill. The first way award the skill at whatever level it was purchased at. This had a flat cost and could only be increased by purchasing the next level. A second way to buy a skill was to purchase the Level 1 version of the skill at a specific rarity and then learn it as if a Skill Trainer were helping you. The cost seemed to be about 10 times the listed cost. Level 1 common skills were almost always available. Some Scarce and Rare skills as well. Above Rare though, not very many of them were for sale at the SYSTEM Shop.
As Adam read this break down he wondered what the strengths and weaknesses of purchasing skills versus purchasing skills that acted like skill trainers. What he found didn¡¯t surprise him. The only other thing about skills and the reason Skills shouldn¡¯t be bought cheaply was it was impossible to level them and it was expensive if you purchased each level one at a time. If someone wanted to purchase a level 5 skill and then increase the skill to level 6 skill they would need to pay the level 5 cost and then the level 5 cost again plus the difference. Unless someone was purchasing the level 10 version of a skill the first time, they would just be throwing credits away. Also, If someone was lucky enough to find a skill trainer at a higher rarity level they could use their skill points to learn the skill they¡¯d previously purchased. But, all the credits spent previously would, of course, be wasted.
The reason some wouldn¡¯t want to do this was because the cost was so prohibitive for so little gain until the skill reached Epic, Mythic, or Legendary. Power Strike was used as an example to show this concept in action. The Common Level 10 version of Power Strike received a 60-point damage bonus for 100 stamina. At Scarce Level 1 it received a bonus of 7 for 11 stamina though at Scarce Level 10 it would give a bonus of 66 for 110 stamina. The level 1 Master version of the same skill would give a bonus of 14 damage for 24 Stamina. At Master Level 10 Power Strike could add an incredible 130 points of damage to a blow for 216 Stamina.
Going from an additional 60 points of damage at Common Level 10, to 11 extra points of damage at Scarce Level 1 up to a maximum of 66 more points of damage at Scarce Level 10 didn¡¯t seem worth it. If the Skill could be found at Master Level 1 though. While there would be an initial drop in damage output, eventually the person with the Master version of that skill would be doing some serious damage when they needed to. Shoot someone using that strike on him could one-shot him. He¡¯d needed to know that.
Simple lesson, try to get all skills at Legendary. Yeah, right.
It seemed complicated but Adam could see how it would allow individuals to get the skills they wanted or needed from various sources. It seemed the best way to get skills was to find a skill trainer, or purchase the skill as if it were from a skill trainer from the SYSTEM Shop and then use Skill Points or level the skill by using it.
There was the one thing he didn¡¯t see detailed. If he tried to continue leveling a skill with Skill Points, did it cost 1 Skill Point to increase from Common Level 10 to Scare Level 1 or did it cost 11 Skill Points? Or could the rarity of a skill be increased with XP? Sure he could purchase the upgrade from the SYSTEM or find a Skill Trainer but could he do it himself? Adam guessed there was only one way to find out.
Adam put skills out of his mind and started reviewing ¡°Magic, Spells, and You¡±. This information package detailed that spells worked the same way as Skills did, almost exactly. ¡°The Importance of Perks and What They Do To, and For, You¡± on the other hand had a tidbit of information that Adam hadn¡¯t been expecting. Most Perks could be augmented by Skills and Spells. Skills added permanent bonuses while spells offered temporary ones. Finding the skills and spells that supplemented a specific perk was the hard part.
The Last package of information Adam had purchased, ¡°Combat in The SYSTEM,¡± detailed what he¡¯d already figured out. Combat was broken down into 10-second turns. There were 6 turns in a minute. Details of a combat could be found in the Combat log and bonus to hit or defense equated to about +/-5% per point of the bonus or penalty that was modifying a chance to hit or be hit.
Adam then started going through the comprehensive list of skills he had access to while he smiled and looked at Alera, ¡°I need to see what skills are available for purchase, both styles. For now, just Common Level 1 skills if you please?¡±
¡°As you wish, if you would step up to the counter, a holographic display will appear that you¡¯ll be able to search through,¡± Alerna said.
Adam smiled as he sat down and started going through both skill lists. He had an idea of how to proceed and was pretty sure about what skills and spells he was going to need.
Chapter 251, Disallowed, I Think Not!
¡°Was that a damn dragon?¡± Ansfrin called as he rushed out of Vancouver City Hall
¡°It was, then it was a man,¡± Tane called back from the registration table.
¡°Did you see what color he was?¡±
¡°He was white,¡± Tane called back
¡°Not the man, the dragon,¡± Ansfrin said with a hint of impatience.
Tane looked up to the side in thought, ¡°Yeah, that makes more sense.¡±
¡°TANE!¡±
¡¯Right, From what I could tell it looked to be silver in color though it didn¡¯t have the normal markings we¡¯ve seen¡¡±
Ansfrin held up his hand which caused Tane to immediately go silent. While knowing what color the dragon was wouldn¡¯t set the humans within earshot on edge, the humans learning that Tane and he had more information about what had happened almost three days ago wasn¡¯t something he was ready to share yet. His Faction had learned that this Earth was scheduled to become part of the defacto multiverse and they¡¯d been sent here to prepare the area. When the SYSTEM had changed everything, he¡¯d had to adapt and change those plans. The new SYSTEM had removed all of his team''s classes. The only things they had been left with were their starting abilities and anything they¡¯d been carrying. The damn SYSTEM had even removed their classes and reduced their levels to zero.
Shoot, The SYSTEM had even changed how the class SYSTEM worked. Luckily the magical items they brought had started working again once mana was introduced to the world and they were able to mask their true race. The few humans that had seen something had either been dealt with or changed into their true form and then the establishment of the illusion that protected them had been cast and what the humans had seen was explained away as a glitch.
With SYSTEM messages appearing in the human''s minds, it had been a lot easier to explain what they¡¯d seen as the SYSTEM¡¯s fault than trying to make everyone that had seen them change into their true form for a few moments. His race had an innate ability to shift their appearance to other creatures of similar size. Pretending to be human had been incredibly easy. But, when their levels had been reset to zero they¡¯d all lost that ability. It had been a racial ability called Chameleon. Now, it was a Racial Skill that became available when they reached level 10 in their first class. Also, Racial Skills, unlike all other skills, had to be purchased with Skill Points, a tidbit of information he¡¯d had to pay to get. The new SYSTEM had rewritten how his race abilities were acquired and worked or had it brought them back in line to how they were supposed to work, he wasn¡¯t sure.
In those first hours after the SYSTEM knocked out all electricity and everything stopped working he¡¯d sent his team out to look for the City Node. He had chosen Vancouver because there were over 1 million people in the area and it had natural defense lines. With over a million people in the area, there was bound to be a node near one of the city''s Administrative buildings. One thing about the Old SYSTEM that the City Node was usually placed in a city building of some sort. An hour later they¡¯d found it at City Hall and they¡¯d all made their way there.
His scouting team had found the SYSTEM Shop node near the street right in front of City Hall and then the City Node just inside the main door of City Hall. Both were floating silver orbs about the size of a bowling ball. Once they arrived, Ansfrin had set up defensible perimeters, with the help of a lot of frazzled locals. Since all magical and technological means of contact had been severed when the SYSTEM had redesignated this part of the Multiverse as The Foundation, his plans Altered. He hadn¡¯t lived to over 300 Earth Years of age without knowing how to adapt to uncommon situations. The SYSTEM Messages he¡¯d received seemed to indicate that The SYSTEM he¡¯d resided in had been a rebel, renegade, whatever. He would need to Adapt to this New SYSTEM.
He was here now. On this planet where he¡¯d been for the last 5 years infiltrating and preparing for Mana to be introduced. If everything had gone as planned, his team would have saved a lot of humans that could have been turned over to The Slavers for a very high markup. Now? Now he had taken control of Vancouver. His team was working with the locals and they were working tirelessly to make sure this small safe area stayed safe and grew. Also, they needed to level, which wasn¡¯t hard. The monsters were appearing and leveling fast. At least this world hadn¡¯t been designated a Dungeon World. Things might have been a little more ¡°strained¡± if this had been a Dungeon World.
He''d sent some of his people out to clear areas and kill as many monsters as they could. While they¡¯d been out, Ansfrin had visited the SYSTEM Shop and knew that this area was going to be within an area designated to be for Basic levels 1 ¨C 50. Once he¡¯d figured out the difference between Basic Monsters and Advanced Monsters, which he¡¯d had to purchase from the SYSTEM, he¡¯d never been so happy that The Faction was so anal about preparing for an infiltration. They¡¯d made sure his equipment contained some supplies that could be sold or traded in the SYSTEM Shop.
He had sold some items from his emergency supplies because everyone in his group who had been assigned to carry their normal supplies had lost everything. It had been the worst blow to his team. Any of them who had dimensional storage abilities had lost everything in those spaces. If the ability was lost, any access to the supplies within was lost with it. Ansfrin had never been so appreciative of the lengths that The Faction went through to prepare for an infiltration than at that moment. Luckily The Faction prepared for this by supplying both magical and technological alternatives to their team. He¡¯d been given both a magical storage ring and a technological gadget that looked like one of these old-style beepers. The device was shielded from, and used mana, so it had been fine. Both storage devices contained emergency supply kits and some items that could be sold or traded if needed. He¡¯d also activated the emergency recall beacon but with every other form of interdimensional communication down, he wasn¡¯t going to hold his breath.
Ansfrin had visited the SYSTEM shop, and transferred some of his emergency supplies to the Shop for ¡°Credits?¡± The New SYSTEM used copper, silver, gold, and platinum with a conversion rate of 100 to 1 for each. Credits were equal to Silver and SYSTEM tracked the Credits for him. So he could keep his wealth on him, or he could let the SYSTEM track it. He decided to let the SYSTEM track his credits.
With his new credits, Ansfrin purchased information concerning any changes between the previous SYSTEM and the new one. He also purchased the planet''s current status which was listed as ¡°Integrating¡±. When he¡¯d exited the SYSTEM shop he¡¯d gone into City Hall and claimed the City Node. The Mayor had come out and started making a fuss. Ansfrin¡¯s Team had pulled out their weapons and the struggle had been over before it started. He¡¯d taken the Mayor inside City Hall and had a private talk with the Mayor. He had made sure to let the Mayor know that once the city was safe, or at least safer, there was a place for him on Ansfrin''s staff. It was always better to use politicians for as much as you could before discarding them. With the changes to the SYSTEM though, he might actually need the mayor.
Ansfrin paid for some simple upgrades within City Hall with his Credits. The world he¡¯d been on before had not used credits but he had to admit, letting the SYSTEM track his wealth would make things a lot easier. As for the changes? The lights now worked and SYSTEM-created or upgraded devices could now be charged within the building. There were also working bathrooms. Finally, the inside of the building was considered a Safe Zone. A Safe Zone purchased from the SYSTEM could not be entered by any spawned monsters, nor could they spawn from within. It was the first safe building in the whole city. After he¡¯d purchased everything he¡¯d also added a tax to all purchases in the shop of 20%. It was a bit steep but right now they¡¯d need the credits to buy upgrades and safe spaces as the city grew. Just a couple of hours ago he spent a good portion of the city''s funds to make Vancouver General Hospital, and the area between the Capital and the Hospital, a Safe Zone. People could at least walk between the Capital and the Hospital without getting attacked by monsters.
To make the rest of the city a Safe Zone, they had to clear all the monsters out of the City and then purchase the Safe Zone from the SYSTEM Shop. Once the monsters were clear the cost would be exactly how many individuals had survived within the City. So, fewer people meant cheaper costs but it also meant fewer benefits when the City Safe Zone was established. He¡¯d revisited the SYSTEM Shop to find that out. He¡¯d wanted to know why having fewer people when establishing a city could be bad.
Ansfrin had taken all this into account on the first day and put his people to work. It was the end of the 2nd day and he thought they had done well. They had cleared the Hospital and surrounding area one block west of City Hall and went on to claim out to a radius of 2 miles. He¡¯d heard of a group of humans to the north that had set up on the south side of The Lions Gate Bridge. He was probably going to have to have his people take care of them. They had gone full ¡°Mad Max¡±, as one of the security guards in City Hall had said just a couple of hours ago. They were doing what they wanted and taking what they wanted from everyone who wasn¡¯t part of their group and killing the rest, whether they were part of the SYSTEM or not. When a couple of them had attacked, they¡¯d been pushed back but Ansfrin figured they¡¯d be back sooner than later.
To nip that in the bud, as it were, he¡¯d been about to pull out a couple of his Faction¡¯s sniper rifles from his storage and send a team to deal with them when Jessica, one of the human aids, had run in and claimed that a Dragon had flown down, turned into a man, and touched the SYSTEM Shop node before he vanished. If there was a Dragon on Earth, A dragon that could shape change and hadn¡¯t just killed everything in its way? Perhaps he could turn that to the city and his advantage. Still, he¡¯d need to be prepared.
Ansfrin issued orders and prepared for the man who was a dragon to reappear. If it was a dragon and they could come to an arrangement, that would be great. If it was a human just being an ass and they could come to an arrangement, great. If it was a human and they couldn¡¯t come to an arrangement? Well, he did have some sniper rifles that needed to be tested before they went to take care of the Mad Max wannabes near the bridge. The only real issue would be if the man was actually a Dragon.
***
Adam was oblivious to what was going on outside of the SYSTEM Shop. He was absorbing the comprehensive list of skills he had and going through the skills that the SYSTEM Shop had on hand. He was so focused, that he hadn¡¯t realized that he was tapping into all of his memories and sorting through them at an incredible rate. Some would even say an unbelievable rate.
Adam had 15 skill points to allocate though he could also add purchased skills to the list. Of course, those that weren¡¯t locked in with Skill Points wouldn¡¯t earn XP or level with use, but that was okay. If he could find what he needed, it wasn¡¯t going to matter for much longer.
The first thing he did was categorize by creature type and then pull up skills for Chaos-type creatures, dragons, and specifically Adamantium dragons. That¡¯s when he encountered his first hurdle. Perks that were granted before a creature started leveling were the only racial skills that someone would have access to until they reached level 10 in their 1st Tier Class. There was a list of skills that Adam would be able to get as soon as he reached level 10, but until then he was locked out.
Adam was not one to take this lightly and knew from previous experience with a SYSTEM that he could access and subvert some of those settings when directly connected through a SYSTEM Node or Kiosk, which he was. If this was an Order-based SYSTEM then there was no doubt that however this SYSTEM worked, it would consist of an almost Vulcan-like logic, which was bad for the SYSTEM and good for him.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Adam reviewed his memories of the last SYSTEM he¡¯d infiltrated at the Quantum level and started issuing commands he¡¯d seen while inside the SYSTEM. Immediately he realized that a cut-off, without access to it, had been installed on the Access Point to the SYSTEM shop. He could manipulate the code within the Kiosk concerning things there but he could not go deeper. That was fine, he could work with that, especially when he checked the buffer and found the Administrative password embedded as a command keystroke on the terminal. Adam high-fived himself in his mind and thanked the God of Laziness if there was one. No matter what type of SYSTEM it was, everyone hated reinputting their Password or key.
With his new Access, Adam went to work. He scrubbed the SYSTEM Shop and found a grouping of Skills listed as unavailable but present. They had been locked away by Alerna for some reason. Adam overrode her lockout and made the skills available to himself. Next, he pulled up his information. Before he was even a single line into his Status Screen there was an annotation next to his name that wasn¡¯t available on his Status Screen, he¡¯d opened it and checked.
Name: Adamantadine ¡°Adam¡± {Suppressed}
Suppressed? What did it mean Suppressed? Adam started diving into the System and pulled up the information on humans he saw roaming around the SYSTEM Shop. None of them had ¡°Suppressed¡± next to it. Adam sent a command using the Administrative codes.
Define Suppressed
Adam received an immediate response.
Suppressed: The individual is not native to The SYSTEM. Access to ¡ has been suppressed. User Level removed. Class Tier System Added. Primary Racial Conversion Disallowed. Dragon Racial Abilities Converted to Perks and Skills¡
Adam read on for quite a bit. The SYSTEM had disallowed a lot of things due to incompatibility or balance issues. That was to be expected. But that didn¡¯t matter to Adam. What mattered to Adam was that it looked like things hadn¡¯t been allowed because the User Level system was completely incompatible with the current SYSTEM. Everyone had needed to be reset for that. In most cases that meant that attributes were lost. There was also a hard limit to the amount of attributes The SYSTEM would allow which was twice the maximum possible attributes due to Class level 100 in all 5 Tiers. At a 1,000% efficiency or 10 times that number doubled. That limit was 264,000.
Adam reviewed the math and realized that the value was 264,000 in each attribute except that it was supposed to be 264,000 attributes maximum. The SYSTEM treated it as if the individual would put every single attribute within one attribute and max it out for each attribute to determine the limit. If the SYSTEM wasn¡¯t so logical to close loopholes it would have realized that the maximum would be more like 24,000 per attribute.
Additionally, his Chaos Attribute was being specifically suppressed, which Adam found interesting. There was nothing he could do about the Chaos Attribute. He¡¯d either have to find an access point with a better connection or he¡¯d have to figure out how to get rid of the suppression. For now, Adam tweaked his code, sent the command, and watched as it was reviewed and accepted.
Primary Racial Attribute Conversion ¡°Chaos Incarnate¡± changed from Disallowed to Allowed.
Approved!
He didn¡¯t have blanket access but with what he had he was able to get something done. Everything else had been specifically coded to him and locked out. If he¡¯d tried to change any of those settings Adam was sure someone would have been flagged. An Error during conversion that messed up a racial attribute bonus, well, that was completely understandable now, wasn¡¯t it?
Adam smiled as he looked through and picked the skills he¡¯d set aside. Fifteen Skills at Level 1 would cost him 15,000. He probably had bonus Skill slots due to his attributes, maybe. He wasn¡¯t sure if attributes helped with that. Spells and Psionics though, He knew there were bonus slots for each of those. Still, He was going to keep it simple for now.
For Skills, he chose Basic, or ¡°Common¡±, Level 1 and invested the single Skill Point that was required to pick up Analyze, Identify, Health Regeneration, Stamina Regeneration, Mana Regeneration, Psychic Energy Regeneration, Uncanny Dodge, Unarmed Combat Master, Technomancer, Jack of All Trades, Mold Chaos, Chaos Conversion, Running, Swimming, and Jumping.
The Skills were all pretty self-explanatory except for Technomancer which gave Adam back his ability to mentally connect with machines at a range of 1 foot per intelligence bonus point.
Mold Chaos allowed him to convert his Chaos attribute on a one-point for 1 pound basis into normal non-magical items. Right now he¡¯d be limited to 100 pounds but he could make a lot of things under 100 pounds, like clothes. The attribute regenerated at a rate of 1 per second.
Chaos Conversion allowed him to convert any of his attributes into Chaos points at a 10 to 1 conversion; 10 Hit Points for 1 Chaos Point, so he could get his Chaos back even faster. It also allowed him to utilize Chaos to get back his other attributes at a 1 to 1 ratio.
Jack of All Trades gave a base +1 to all skill attempts at level 1. Higher rarity versions of the skill would allow him to get better than a +10 or 50% bonus at level 10.
Adam had chosen simple skills because he was sure that the tweak he¡¯d just made was going to make some significant changes when he left the Kiosk.
For Spells, Adam chose some simple spells that seemed to fit both the Mage and Healer-type classes as well as the Mentalist Class. Without nanites he¡¯d need some of these spells for sure: Create Water, Create Food, Minor Healing, Light, Mend, Heat, Chill, Telekinesis, Telepathy, Float, Underwater Breathing, and Underwater Breathing Other. He left 7 of his 19 spell points alone in case he came across a spell he wanted. All the spells were Common level 1. They were very basic and might give him the ability to help others, or himself. He¡¯d worry about finding spells that synergized with him better later. Right now he wanted to get back out into the world and level so he could open up the higher rarity spells, skills, and abilities.
The Last category he looked through was his Psionic Slots. Once he started looking through what was available he realized that there were a lot of abilities, skills, perks, and abilities. The Psionic abilities he chose were Mediation, Hyper Focus, Mental Refuge, Psionic Blast, Telekinesis, and Telepathy. Lastly, he increased his Mind Shield Class Skill to level 5 for 14 Psionic Slots. He¡¯d started with 32 slots and spent 20. He was saving the 12 slots he had just in case he found something else.
Some of the skills were repeats of spells he¡¯d picked up. Psionic Blast was interesting though. It was like Mind Bolt except it wouldn¡¯t melt the target''s brain and had a cone of effect instead of a single target. If successful it would stun the target instead of kill them. Mental Refuge allowed him to enter his Mindspace and Hyper Focus dilated time within his mind.
Adam finished up his choices and noted the notification symbol that had appeared in his vision. He paid the 1,000 credits per skill, Spell, and Psionic Ability. Levels 2 through 5 of Mind Shield cost 3,000, 6000, 10,000, and 15,000 respectively plus the 14 Psionic Ability slots. Total cost 67,000 plus a 20% tip for 80,400 credits. Adam sent the payment closed the kiosk and stood.
Alerna¡¯s eyes unfocused for a moment and then lit up, ¡°Thank you for your generosity, Sir!¡±
Adam smiled, No problem. I was able to find what I needed. I probably had some people waiting outside for me so I better get going.
¡°You may feel slightly disoriented as you are returned to your planet of origin. That is normal. All modifications you¡¯ve made to yourself will be applied during transit. Please come back if something is wrong with your purchases,¡± Alerna said.
Adam nodded, said, ¡°Thank You,¡± and walked to the silver orb at the front of the shop. He reached out and thought This should be interesting as he vanished.
As Adam appeared he felt as if something had been turned to him. Not everything but he felt more like himself. He pulled up his status screen and turned it opaque so he could read the stats.
Attributes
Strength 264,033
Agility 264,023
Dexterity 264,023
Endurance 264,033
Constitution 264,036
Perception 264,022
Intelligence 264,117
Wisdom 264,023
Willpower 264,024
Charisma 264,033
Luck 264,036
Chaos 100
He shut down the Status Screen for now, he¡¯d check it fully later. Now that he¡¯d checked to make sure the attributes were what they were supposed to be, which they weren¡¯t He¡¯d thought that they maxed out at 264,000 but they¡¯d continued higher. Maybe the racial bonus and the maximum for The SYSTEM would be cumulative, which meant that he could continue to increase his Attributes up to 288,000. He knew it would probably take the attributes up to 528,000 but it would be 288,000 if he spread the attribute bonuses evenly across all 11 attributes. It wouldn¡¯t matter, His attributes were now probably 10 times higher than anything else on planet Earth, save a God. The next thing on his list was to increase his levels so He could unlock his Racial Skills but other than that, he didn¡¯t see anything else giving him a problem.
Adam¡¯s thoughts were interrupted when the Lizardman in front of him jarred him out of his thoughts by asking, ¡°Who exactly are you?¡±
Adam looked at the Lizardman and the female lizard woman standing beside him and then squinted his eyes as he relaxed his perception so that he could see what everyone else saw. It was like he had to relax his eyes to see the image of the 3D boat in those digital pictures except the lizard people were doing that with their scales to appear human. The woman was the same woman that had been sitting at the table while he had never seen the man before.
Adam looked at the man who had asked the question, ¡°I¡¯m Adam, how do you do?¡±
¡°Well, Adam, my colleague here seems to think you were a dragon before you landed and touched the SYSTEM Shop Node,¡± he asked questioningly.
¡°Not gonna lie, but yep, I was in my Dragon Form right before I landed.¡±
¡°Well, you¡¯re not trying to eat us so can I ask what kind of dragon you are?¡±
Adam took a few steps back as he said, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what, I¡¯m going to come over here and swap forms, and if you recognize what kind of dragon I am we will need to have a private conversation about ¡®Where¡¯ you two, and the snipers are from?¡± Adam said as he spent the 100 mana to swamp forms and appeared in his Dragon form.
With the Increase in his base Attributes, he¡¯d misjudged his size and launched into the air to hover over them. From head to tail, he figured he was 450 long. Even with his leap into the air, his tail touched the ground. Adam flipped in the air and swapped back to human form. The fall from 300 feet had jarred him a little but hadn¡¯t even taken a percentage of his 158,444 hit points in human form. He used his Heal Wounds skill and was instantly back to full health. Adam checked his log and noted that He had healed himself for 132,011 Hit Points, while he¡¯d only taken 300. Bit of an overkill there.
Adam looked around and finally noted that no one had moved yet. They were still looking at where he had been. Adam looked around and then opened his Status screen again. Then looked at the number of attacks he was allowed per turn. Hmmm. 26,402. If each combat turn was recorded in 10-second periods then he was allowed to make 2,640 attacks every second which meant that after four attacks only .0015 of a second had passed.
Adam consciously slowed himself down and re-entered a normal frame of reference. He¡¯d have to play with that function of his ability and figure out stamina usage soon. Adam very much doubted that he would be able to attack 26,000 times in a single second. Although this was a new system, maybe it was handled differently. He¡¯d have to¡Adam pulled in his raging thoughts as he walked back to the lizard man and woman
The Lizardman looked at Adam as he said, ¡°I only saw you, or what I think was you as an afterimage in my mind. It was like you weren¡¯t even present long enough for me to take a good look. What I remember of that image though¡ You aren¡¯t a silver dragon are you?¡±
Adam shook his head, ¡°Nope.¡±
If you aren¡¯t a Silver Dragon and you''re definitely not a white dragon. With that coloring, you have to be an Adamantium Dragon.¡±
¡°And you bigger,¡± The Lizard woman said.
The Lizardman looked at Tane, his eyes going wide as he called out,¡± Tane!¡± in an exasperated voice.
Adam put on his most deadpan face and looked at the Lizardman as he pointed at Tane and said, ¡°That¡¯s what she said!¡±
The Lizardman looked confused for a moment as Tane¡¯s scales flushed. Then he started laughing. Adam joined in and the tension was broken.
¡°Very funny Adam. My name is Ansfrin. Why don¡¯t we go inside and talk so Tane can get people back into the SYSTEM Shop instead of flirting with you?¡±
¡°Sounds good to me,¡± Adam said as he allowed Ansfrin to lead him into Vancouver City Hall.
Chapter 252, Hell on Earth
Effthrin looked out upon the hellish landscape and smiled. It looked as if there was a fertile cultivation area within the SYSTEM once again. While the types of realities that existed produced all types of souls he so liked the souls that came within The SYSTEM. A being or construct that had been around longer than he had. The reason he enjoyed the souls that made their way to him from there so much was because of the absolute chaos that ensued when they arrived as they realized that The SYSTEM was not the end all. There was no dying within the SYSTEM. If they died there were a lot of places their souls could go. Some even ended up in his realm, what some of the enlightened ones called The Lower Planes. Not that they were lower in any way. They were just elsewhere.
Effthrin brought his thoughts back to the soul before him. A man named Kelly had died so suddenly that he didn¡¯t even know he was dead. Currently, he was standing on the floor of Effthrin¡¯s palace looking around wonderingly. It wasn¡¯t that this soul was interesting. It wasn¡¯t. Another death from the shenanigans The SYSTEM was pulling. They were popping up throughout the various lower planes. No, this one was interesting because of one of the Karmic Links that he had.
Effthrin had followed the link back to a woman who vowed to kill the dragon that had killed her man. Making offers that Effthrin would gladly take her up on if he had a way to enter the Physical realm near her without the SYSTEM shutting him down. But then a memory flashed through the man''s mind, This woman, this Jessica was an Illusionist. An Illusionist? Hmmm, if her belief was strong enough it could work with a little push.
When he was done with this soul he¡¯d have one of his servants take it to the Soul Forge. It would be of much more use as brick than in its current configuration. Maybe he¡¯d even put the brick near the killing fields so it could soak up some of the death and corruption that was always down there. With that thought in mind, Effthrin sent a pulse of power up the Karmic Link with a bit of knowledge for Jessica. Then he called forth his lieutenants. It had been a long time since Hell had come to a planet. It was time to make that happen again.
***
Jessica relived the moment over and over in her mind. Kelly had died without so much as a whimper. One moment that pompous man was stepping onto the trap they¡¯d placed on the bridge, the next a dragon was rising from underneath. The dragon had flown up and locked eyes with Kelly. A moment later blood had shot from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth as he fell over dead. Jessica looked at Kelly in shock, as the Dragon huffed and then flew up and away before she could even think to react it was out of range and heading south.
Jessica, a mage focused on illusions, dispelled the illusions she¡¯d placed on Lions Gate Bridge. Everyone looked at Jessica who, without a word, turned and walked to the Prospect Point Caf¨¦ where Kelly and she had holed up for the last two days. He¡¯d been the strongest man she¡¯d ever seen. Since the SYSTEM had taken over he¡¯d done whatever the hell he wanted and had fun doing it which included keeping her safe.
That first couple of hours had been kind of crazy. Kelly had found her as a couple of men were trying to have their way with her. He¡¯d saved her and then continued to protect her over the next couple of hours as people lost their minds and attacked each other in sight. They¡¯d both adapted quickly to the kill-or-be-killed environment. They¡¯d even killed several people before they unlocked The SYSTEM
Things changed when they were attacked by giant rats. After they¡¯d killed the rats they¡¯d unlocked the SYSTEM and chosen their classes. Kelly had chosen a fighter-type class and she¡¯d chosen the class Illusionist. She found out that she had an innate ability that allowed her to create phantasmal illusions that had physical substance if she put enough mana into them. That coupled with the class she chose, and she could create Holographic type illusions or physical structures that looked like what she wanted them to.
The Second day they¡¯d made their way north to get out of the city and found a group of people near the bridge. Kelly and she had quickly taken charge and set up a roadblock which they used to exploit people and protect themselves from the monsters they caught a glimpse of on the other side of the bridge. There were some big damn wolves over there. They killed any monsters that tried to come across the bridge and extorted or killed anyone who tried to cross the bridge without their permission. It was easy for Jessica. If someone couldn¡¯t tell if the ground below them was safe, they would step on and fall through the bridge to their death 200 feet below.
Their group had a couple of people with an affinity for water on the shoreline. They¡¯d wait for a body to drop. If the person survived the fall, they¡¯d kill them before they could recover. Otherwise, they recovered the bodies and looted them. When they were done they took them down the coast a little bit and threw them into the inlet where they were pulled under quickly.
Their little recovery scheme had gone to shit when that man had seen right through her illusions. Now Kelly was dead, and she had nothing. Nothing! Jessica walked into the Caf¨¦, and to the office that had been turned into a makeshift bed and sat down on her sleeping bag as thoughts of revenge started to percolate in her mind. As she made deals with Gods, devils, and The SYSTEM a voice answered her. An offer was made, A price decided to which Jessica Cline agreed.
Jessica¡¯s body went rigid as information flooded her mind and power she had no chance of channeling normally flooded her body and created a fully functional ritual diagram she happened to be sitting in the middle of. She sat cross-legged with her arms on her knees wrist up as a blade appeared in the air and cut across both of her wrists.
One of the people currently resting in the Caf¨¦ came to investigate the sounds coming out of the room and to check and see if Jessica was okay only to find her sitting in the middle of an active ritual diagram that ignited into flames that started to spread throughout the caf¨¦. Some people that were sleeping were killed before they woke up while others screamed and ran for their lives.
When the Caf¨¦ was consumed a Pillar of fire rose into the air with Jessica sitting under and off to its side, yet still in the column of fire. At its center, a fissure 100 feet high opened in the column of flame and spread wide. Those members of her team who could see into the fissure saw a landscape of fire and volcanoes covered with creatures that writhed and squirmed in all directions for as far as the eye could see. Standing on a Hilltop was a handsome Devil, wings spread as it pointed to the fissure and roared something in a language most of them couldn¡¯t believe.
Jessica saw none of this. While she lived, the ritual would remain open, which was ironic because she was being bled out and healed at a rate that would make sure she couldn¡¯t move and wouldn¡¯t die for a very long time. When she did die, the portal would close, and she would be drawn through to the other side. She was too far gone in her grief and rage to care at that point and just watched as everything she knew was overrun by the demon horde she had helped release into the world.
***
As Adam followed Ansfrin into City Hall, he looked around and noted that only the Hospital and City Hall had power. He also noticed that he was being shadowed by more of the disguised Lizard men but most of the people around them were human. Adam considered using Identify but decided to wait. Until he knew what was going on, there was no reason to make things harder by antagonizing someone who seemed to be keeping people safe.
Adam followed Ansfrin into the Mayor''s office. There were already two of the Lizardmen pretending to be humans in the room. Ansfrin walked over to the desk and sat down as he gestured for Adam to take a seat. Once Adam was seated Ansfrin asked, ¡°May I ask what your intentions are?¡±
¡°I intended to visit the SYSTEM Shop and then go kill monsters. I¡¯ve visited the SYSTEM Shop. I¡¯ll be heading out to kill monsters either in the city or somewhere else if you don¡¯t want any help. Now it¡¯s my turn, were you on Earth before the old SYSTEM was replaced by the New SYSTEM?¡±
¡°Why would you ask that?¡± Ansfrin asked.
¡°Cut the bullshit, If I couldn¡¯t see what you looked like I can smell that the three of you aren¡¯t human¡¡±
Adam was cut off as one of the guards pulled his holstered weapon, which was not a 9mm Browning even though it looked like one, and shot Adam in the back of the Head.
Adam didn¡¯t even flinch as his Damage Resistance kicked in and the bullet bounced off as it bounced off his skin.
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Everyone froze until Adam reached up and waved his hand in the air near his head as he said, ¡°Damn flies, buzzing all over the place.¡± Adam held Ansfrin¡¯s gaze as he continued, ¡°The First one is free, there will be consequences if I¡¯m attacked again.¡±
Ansfrin held up his hand and the guard behind Adam holstered his weapon.
¡°Good,¡± Adam said, ¡°Now I believe I asked you a question?¡±
¡°We were here before the SYSTEM Changed,¡± Ansfrin said.
Adam nodded. ¡°First, I don¡¯t care why you were here before. What I want to know is what you plan to do now?¡±
¡°As you have surmised, our plans have changed. Right now, we plan to establish a city and grow, whatever that entails within this New SYSTEM,¡± Ansfrin said.
¡°And the Humans?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Partners, colleagues, allies, if everything goes well,¡± Ansfrin said.
¡°That means you¡¯ll have to come clean on what race you are?¡± Adam pointed out.
¡°Well cross that bridge when we come to it,¡± Ansfrin commented.
¡°Speaking of bridges, was that your group of people up north at the Lions Gate Bridge?¡± Adam asked.
¡°You are familiar with the landmarks and cities of Earth?¡± Ansfrin asked.
¡°You first,¡± Adam said.
¡°No, those people are not with us. Just a bunch of assholes lording it over everyone else, and yes I can see how that might appear hypocritical.¡±
Adam smiled, ¡°Yeah. Anyway, their leader tried to kill me. He¡¯s dead¡±
¡°You killed their leader?¡± Ansfrin asked.
¡°Yep,¡± Adam said nonchalantly.
Ansfrin looked at one of the guards, ¡°Put everyone on full alert. If they saw him fly this direction they might be coming this way to retaliate¡¡±
Ansfrin was cut off as the door burst open and someone came running in, ¡°Boss, The bridge is on fire. Our scouts just called it in from downtown.¡±
Ansfrin looked at Adam which caused the individual that had rushed in to stop talking.
Adam shrugged, ¡°Like I would be surprised if you had communications gear that works,¡± Adam said with disinterest.
Ansfrin nodded, ¡°Which Bridge?¡±
¡°Lions Gate,¡± The newcomer said.
Just then Adam felt something akin to an aura of putrescent, but it was more raw, more diabolical, more infernal. Adam noticed that all four lizard men in the room had felt it as well as they all looked out the window to the northeast where the Bridge was. From their position, with everything in between all they could see was an orange glow off in the distance. The bridge was just about 4 miles from his current location. He could get there in under a second if his listed maximum speed was right. Though he¡¯d break the sound barrier and probably kill a couple of people with the shockwave he created, whether he ran or swapped into dragon form and flew. If he keep his speed just under the speed of sound he could travel at about 1,026 feet per second and be there in about 16 seconds.
Adam stood, ¡°I¡¯ll meet you at the bridge,¡± and moved at 700mph, purposely keeping his speed below the sound barrier. He ran north up Gambie until he reached the bridge and then jumped into the air as he swapped to dragon form so he could rise above the skyscrapers in the downtown area of Vancouver before he turned to the northeast. From just north of the Cruise ship dock, Adam could see the orange-red glow to the northeast near the bridge and a column of fire, with what looked more like a spatial tear forming in its center.
As Adam flew toward the pillar of flame his eyes zeroed in on the pillar of flame and the fissure that opened. He even saw what looked like a Demon Lord standing on a hill in the background pointing at the fissure and making a declaration that he could almost understand. What the demon lord said didn¡¯t match any of the languages he knew but it was close. Imps, hellish dogs, cats, and variants of every type of race Adam had ever come across, heard of, or read about started to rush through the dimensional portal.
One thing did surprise Adam. There were no SYSTEM Messages. Nothing. When the SYSTEM had taken over one of the messages had said, ¡°Note: All areas dedicated to resurrection, reincarnation, and after-life simulation have been repurposed. All entities have been released and either resurrected or reincarnated as determined by the entity.¡± So, if he was looking at Hell, or a realm of hell, he was looking at an area that was outside of The SYSTEM.
As Adam was trying to understand what was going a couple of thoughts came to mind. The New SYSTEM had designated this area as the Foundation and reset everyone so that the people in this area of the SYSTEM could grow and then integrate into the greater SYSTEM. It was one of the reasons he¡¯d wanted to purchase information on the politics of The SYSTEM. The amount of information that he would have been required to purchase, and the cost¡He couldn¡¯t have even afforded a percentage point of the Information. So, he¡¯d skipped that for now while he focused on leveling and growing stronger, after a little hacking of course.
Now though, it looked like one of those aspects of the afterlife, specifically a bastard Demon Lord or whatever he was, had decided that the extremely low levels of this planet made a perfect place to feed its hordes. Adam could tell just by the way the flame was spreading out from the rift that a lot of people were going to die if it stayed open for any length of time. He could just feel the wrongness of flames. Something he had never felt before.
Adams eyes were drawn to the woman at the base of the pillar sitting in a cross-legged position as the blood drained from her wrists and fed the flames in the ritual circle she sat in. He also noted that the flames also seemed to be sustaining her somehow.
Adam checked himself. How was he seeing the energies involved? His vision almost felt like it had when he¡¯d had higher perception and could analyze and Identify as part of his vision automatically. He pulled up his status screen and didn¡¯t see anything that would indicate that he had those abilities again or that he¡¯d somehow cast his new Analyze or Identify spells which were much less powerful. Regardless he felt the effects. Maybe the Suppression of the SYSTEM wasn¡¯t all-powerful which meant that portions of his Chaotic Nature were adapting to the situation and resuming forms they had held before. Still, there were no SYSTEM messages, logs, or notifications that were tracking any changes to him.
Well, there was nothing for it, if he didn¡¯t stop the ritual that was holding the rift open a horde of devils and demons were going to invade Earth and wipe out the population. Shoot, the only reason he was even considering helping was because he¡¯d just increased his attributes again. He was only level 5 after all. Adam looked at the column of fire surrounding the woman and steeled himself for the pain that was about to happen. Adam locked his gaze with the eyes of the demon master on the other side of the spatial tear and then he darted upward and out of sight before coming down right next to the woman.
***
Effthrin looked over the horde of demons and through the dimensional rift as pointed and called out ¡°FEAST!¡±
The horde immediately started rushing through the rift and started chasing the humans that were fleeing in all directions, save the female that was in the ritual circle. Each demon and devil knew to leave her alone or their link to their power, and their ability to remain on the mortal plane would be severed and while they could remain for a time, eventually they would run out of energy and return. As long as the rift remained open they could stay within their area of influence forever.
Effthrin watched his hordes start to go through and smiled. The inhabitants of this planet would soon join his forces. Some souls made their way to his realm after death, it was the way of things. If they died while either in this realm or near the influence of a conduit to his realm then even those souls destined for other fates could be subverted and acquired. The slaughter was just the beginning. Once the souls started arriving, then the true fun could begin.
Effthrin was brought out of his thoughts as his eyes caught movement off in the distance quite a way beyond the rift. Something was moving in the night sky. A dragon? A Silver Dragon? No, it was an Adamantium Dragon. How would a planet that had no magic have an Adamantium Dragon on it? As those thoughts crossed his mind the Dragon¡¯s gaze locked with his and he could swear the dragon winked at him before it moved.
A moment later an explosive shockwave destroyed many of the demons and devils near the gate and hurled any of the demons and devils near the portal that the shockwave didn¡¯t kill either back into the rift or away from it. Before the shockwave caught up to Adam he¡¯d picked the woman who had acted as a conduit for the rift up and flung her through the rift with all of his strength toward the Demon lord.
The last thing Effthrin saw was a look of shock in the dragon''s eyes followed by a cough and¡He had to rewind time and focus on the point just inside the dimensional rift to hear the dragon exclaim ¡°It¡¯s your trash, Keep it!¡± Which was followed a moment later by, ¡°Oh, Damn!¡±
Effthrin waved his hand as the blood and gore of the female human was washed away leaving her soul for all to see. A servant grabbed her soul and sank into the ground on his way to the soul forge. Effthrin checked to see how many of his demons hadn¡¯t returned yet and noted that only 9 had escaped the shockwave.
Effthrin watched as the demons around him started picking themselves up and then teleported back to his Throne. He had some research to do and a Dragon to hunt.
***
While the Demon Lord was thinking about how it was going to hunt Adam down, Adam was wondering what had just happened. He¡¯d flown up to clear the building and not accidentally kill any humans that might be in the skyscrapers and come down right next to the woman acting as a power source for the rift. He¡¯d read a theoretical idea once that involved traveling from the upper atmosphere to ground level and creating an artificial lightning strike.
Adam¡¯s Status Screen showed that he could attain a maximum speed of Mach 977 which was incredibly fast and ended up being just over 198 miles per second. Adam had traveled up into the Thermosphere and then dove down at full speed to stop directly in front of the woman.
As he¡¯d suspected, the infernal flames did nothing to him, and his immediate stop hadn¡¯t hurt either. He picked the woman up and yelled, ¡°It¡¯s your trash, Keep it!¡± as he threw her through the rift at the hill the demon lord was standing on. As the shockwave slammed into him from breaking the speed of sound and the lightning discharge grounded through him he watched the woman sail through the air at the hill the demon lord stood on. The Shockwave had hurt but hadn¡¯t moved him nor did the lightning grounding through him affect him at all.
Adam wasn¡¯t paying attention to the demons and devils that were blasted into oblivion, the shockwave that followed him from breaking the sound barrier by a huge margin, or the lightning strike. His eyes were on the woman as she struck the hill at the Demon Lord''s feet and turned into mist. Adam¡¯s eyes went wide as he realized he¡¯d thrown the woman at what his strength had been and grunted, ¡°Oh, Damn!¡± as the dimensional rift closed, and the infernal flames died.
Before Adam could do anything else a new notification appeared in his vision.
SYSTEM Functionality Restored.
Chapter 253, The Weight of Knowledge
¡°SYSTEM Functionality Restored¡±? What the hell? Adam thought as he noticed that he¡¯d taken a bit of damage.
You have been damaged by Supersonic Shockwave.
Damage Taken: 62,761
1,072,694 of 1135,455 Hit Points Remaining in Dragon Form.
Adam checked his Hit Point Regeneration and noted that he was only healing about 1 point every second naturally. Health Regeneration in the SYSTEM was no joke. He activated his skill Heal Would and was instantly back to his full health. As he did so, he felt that the use of the skill hadn¡¯t done the extra healing or that the mana he had did the extra healing. Instead, he¡¯d sent out a command and the SYSTEM had instantly and immediately healed him based on his stats. So, The SYSTEM was suppressing and amplifying him based on whatever attributes he had as known by the SYSTEM?
But, the ritualist? He¡¯d pretty much vaporized her. He knew how much force that would take and accounting for his increased strength as tracked by the SYSTEM he could have only made her explode like a sack of meat with his current strength. Yet, he¡¯d thrown her as if his strength was what it had been in the past. Well, the ritualist had been sitting in a circle and he¡¯d seen it as he¡¯d flown right down to her. Adam closed his eyes and pulled up the image of that circle in his mind and immediately recognized every arcane symbol carved into the stone. Sure, some of it seemed to be unknown to him, like the coordinates it had called forth but in only a second he was able to decipher and know how to make a fissure to hell if he wanted. He wouldn¡¯t do that here, or even in this Solar System but he could see how opening a portal to get access to his previous levels of power could be a good thing. Maybe later.
Adam looked around at the damage as he sat on the ground in his Dragon Form and had an idea. His new skill Mold Chaos allowed him to make 100 bounds of anything he wanted to. While he had only 100 points of Chaos he could use at a time he could use Chaos Conversion to replace 100 Chaos with 1000 mana, stamina, or hit points. His Stamina returned at 26,413 every second while his mana returned at 15,422 per second. More than enough to replace the 100 Chaos with 1,000 of each resource every 10 seconds.
Adam activated Mold Chaos and shaped his Chaos into 100 pounds of nanites, which ended up being a lot of nanites. Next, he activated Technomancy established a link to the nanites, and had the nanites create a control matrix and install it within him. Once that was complete and he was once again linked to the nanites in his immediate area he sent out a command for the nanites to spread out and repair all structures and bring them back to form and function that he had in his memories from other realities. Buildings, trees, etc. out to their maximum range.
That¡¯s when he ran into this first hurdle. After a little trial and error, he learned that this SYSTEM was being a little bitch. His nanites could destroy any non-living item he wanted them to. No issue, they could break it down and continue to break it down. What the nanites couldn¡¯t do was rearrange anything. Once the materials were destroyed they effectively disappeared. Adam had watched the process. One of the damaged buildings was completely removed by breaking down the matter into its component atoms. All of the energy that was created from that process just vanished.
To get around this lack of materials to rebuild with Adam started pumping out 100 pounds of nanites every 10 seconds. The nanites could take the form he wanted and then solidify into that shape. Once that happened the Chaos in the nanites converted to the form and function of whatever Adam needed them to. In this way, Adam used the Chaos he was spending to create nanites to replace everything that had been destroyed, including the bridge and all the holes that were in it. At 100 pounds of mass, it was slow going.
While Adam waited for Ansfrin and his team to catch up, he continued to let his nanites spread out and fix things while he opened his notifications.
Congratulations you have killed ??? level ? .
XP awarded 646,000
12,281 Credits earned.
Hidden Quest: Close the Portal to Hell, Unknowingly Accepted and Completed
Level: Epic,
Reward 1,000,000 XP and 1,000,000 Credits
1,646,000 XP? Nice. The credits weren¡¯t bad either. The next few notifications were all level-up notifications. Adam skipped to the last one.
Congratulations, You have reached Level 33...
Adam skimmed the rest of the notification and learned that he had gained 336 attribute points plus the 3 bonus attributes every 5 levels. Before he figured in any changes based on his attributes he¡¯d gained 112 Hit Points, 28 Stamina, 140 Mana, 280 Psychic Energy, 84 Skill points, 28 Spell Slots, and 56 Psionic Ability Slots.
Adam looked at his unspent Skill Points, Spell Slots, and Psionic Ability Slots and gasped. It looked like Skill Points were not modified by attributes, but Spell Points and Psionic Ability Slots were. He¡¯d earned a total of 99 Skill Points and spent 15. Of the 99 he¡¯d earned, 84 were left. As for his Spell Slots? He had 55,475 Spell Slots and 134,708 Psionic Ability Slots left. If it took 55 slots to level one spell or psionic ability to level 10 then he could bring over 1,000 spells to level 10 and 2,449 Psionic abilities to level 10. Unless it costs more points to continue increasing the ability through the rarities to make them even more powerful. If so, he was going to have to sit down and figure out exactly how many slots it took to increase the rarity of a skill, spell, or psionic ability, just not right now.
While Adam was reviewing his Status, attributes, and everything else as he tried to figure analyze what had happened, he continued pumping nanites into the surroundings. He also had the nanites form into a drone to test the limits of his range with this skill. After a few minutes of testing, it looked like the range was about 50 miles. Adam knew this because he¡¯d received a warning when his drone had almost reached the range and told him so.
WARNING! Control of Technological Constructs will be lost once they have exceeded your Area of Influence.
WARNING! Energy Matrix will destabilize once constructs leave your Area of Influence
Note: Area of Influence is equal to your intelligence attribute in feet.
Area of Influence Range: 264,117 Feet (50.02 miles.)
Adam paused for a moment. Did that mean everything the nanites were making would disappear or did that mean only the nanites would disappear? Adam had the drone land 1 foot short of his maximum range and create a box then had the drone split into two smaller drones and moved one 5 feet closer to him while the other stayed near the box. Then Adam shifted into his Human Form and moved three feet away from the box as he watched through his link to the nanites.
As he had suspected, the box remained, and the drone sitting next to the box which was still made out of nanites evaporated. So, The SYSTEM didn¡¯t mind him using his Chaos to create physical items or the materials he created by converting his Chaotic Nanites into the materials he needed. He tested that idea further by trying to break down materials he¡¯d released and have his nanites reshape it, but no, the energy dispersed, and the box''s energy was lost permanently. So, his nanites could be made into whatever he wanted but after that, the SYSTEM actively prevented him from converting matter into anything but energy.
Next, he created a blade of grass at his maximum range and then stepped out of range. Nothing happened to the blade of grass though his nanites were prevented from affecting anything that was alive, including plant life. The SYSTEM was very specific about what it would allow his nanites to do. While he could theoretically create anything with the Chaos he could create¡wait¡he could theoretically create anything with his chaos?
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No, that couldn¡¯t work, could it? That type of exploit would be worse than some asshole creating a ring that stole XP from a living dungeon. But, if it works¡
He would have to check on his idea shortly but right now he needed to make sure the area was secure. For the next 30 minutes, Adam weighed the pros and cons of his new idea while he waited for Ansfrin and his men to show up. While he waited he also finished repairing the bridge and created an actual barrier system that was counterbalanced so it could be opened and closed with very little effort. The Lions Gate Bridge now had a drawbridge at its center. He was quite proud of it. While he couldn¡¯t convert things into other things he could clean up all the inorganic matter, so he cleared the roads of cars in the 50-mile radius around him.
One of the good things about having his nanites spread out in the local area was the fact that it created a sensor net that allowed him to take notice of the nine demons that he hadn¡¯t killed or blasted back through the rift. The demons had come together in the forested area at the south part of the forested area of the peninsula he was on and were working their way back toward Adam. He immediately understood why as Ansfrin and his people had detected them and were herding them toward him.
Adam had a thought. He zeroed in on one of the demon''s locations with his nanites and then tried to target and send a Mind Bolt at one of the demons. Not even a moment later the demon''s head exploded.
You have struck a Rare Level 1 Ascendent Hellhound for 132,032 damage.
Level 1 Ascendent Hellhound has died!
Congratulations! You have earned 10,100 XP.
NOTE: You have killed a Monster from a Restricted Domain. Reward converted from Ascendent to Rare Equivalent.
XP Earned 10,100
Treasure Granted:191 Credits
Adam sent out eight more Mind Bolts and killed the other eight demons which earned him another 80,800 XP and 1,528 Credits. More importantly, he learned that anything within the observation range of his nanites counted as being within his Line Of Sight. Also, he learned that his Mind Bolts could go through solid objects. Finally, he earned Level 34. Level-wise, he had a little ways to go to get to his Tier 2 class, but he didn¡¯t believe being at the bottom of the five-tier Class leveling system was going to be a problem much longer if the idea he had worked.
Adam kept creating nanites and repairing and replacing everything that had been destroyed by the hellish fire and also created a very comfortable chair with an end table and a Long Island Ice Tea on it. Ah, the classics, Adam thought to himself as he took a seat while he waited for Ansfrin and his team to get to him. They were moving forward cautiously, even though everything that could have been harmful to them had been dealt with.
While he waited he considered the last couple of notifications he¡¯d received. What did the System mean by restricted? Adam had thought that the areas outside of the SYSTEM weren¡¯t governed by it, yet, The SYSTEM had been able to classify the Hellhounds as Ascendent and then converted the XP award. That meant that even though the SYSTEM wouldn¡¯t show him the logs while the Dimensional Rift was open, it had been aware of what happened. Adam was getting the feeling that the SYSTEM was present in a lot more places than Adam had thought it was.
His display of strength had been a lot more in line with his previous level of strength. But that made no sense if The SYSTEM was actively suppressing his attributes and preventing him from pulling on his abilities. That didn¡¯t make sense either. His abilities had been reset. Sure, his attributes had increased while in the vicinity of the rift but that was pure attributes. Additionally, his SYSTEM interface had stopped conveying information which could mean a couple of different things. Adam was betting it meant only one of two things.
Either there was one SYSTEM and a threshold had to be met to unlock functionality that would give his SYSTEM Interface access to information while in the ¡°Restricted¡± Areas OR there was another SYSTEM on top of this SYSTEM. Adam was pretty sure it wasn¡¯t the 2nd possibility which meant that he needed to do something to unlock that access. Adam weighed the pros and cons and theorized that he probably unlocked access when he reached Tier 2. Unless that designation of Ascendent meant that he¡¯d need to max out Tier 5 and then cross that threshold.
Well, he had an idea about how to test that but it would have to wait, Ansfrin and his team were walking up to him as he sipped on his Long Island Ice Tea which kept being refilled after each sip.
Adam had a couple of tables appear and created glasses full of Ice water as Ansfrin stepped up to him. Ansfrin on the other hand looked around questioningly as he asked, ¡°What happened?¡±
Adam grinned, ¡°Not much. A Demon Lord, at least I think it was a Demon Lord, tried to open a portal to this world using the woman who was standing next to the leader on the bridge as an anchor port, you know the guy I told you I killed. Anyway, I picked up the trash and threw it through the portal at him. She exploded and died and the Dimensional Rift, Portal, whatever closed.
¡°What about demons that made it through? We found nine scorch marks on the way through the wooded area but we didn¡¯t see any others,¡± Ansfrin asked.
¡°Most got blown back through the dimensional rift when I brought a supersonic shockwave down right in front of it. Well, except for the 64 that happened to be within 8 feet of me. Those were turned to paste. Nine were blown into the forest and tried to circle back to get me, they died. Everything else was, as I said, blown back through the rift before it closed.¡±
¡°How can you be sure there are no other demons in the area?¡±
Adam thought about answering the question and then said, ¡°Trade secret though I will say unless they¡¯re more than 50 miles away from this position I¡¯d know if they were in the area.¡±
¡°But I¡¯m the City Owner, that information can only be determined at the City Node or I guess it could be purchased from the SYSTEM Shop,¡± Ansfrin said.
¡°Don¡¯t sweat it, I¡¯m not tied into the node, I just have a skill that allows me to scout out a really big area,¡± Adam explained, even if the explanation was very vague.
¡°So, what will you do now?¡± Ansfrin asked.
Adam looked thoughtful for a moment and then asked in return, ¡°What would you like me to do?¡±
¡°We need to clear the city of monsters so we can expand¡¡±
Adam cut him off as he said, ¡°Sounds like you have a plan then. Just so you know, I¡¯ve repaired the bridge and set up a draw bridge on counterweights so you can limit access to those coming across from the north. Some wolves up there are getting pretty big. That¡¯s not to say they can¡¯t come in from farther east, just that they won¡¯t be able to cross the bridge into the city. Also, there are some big ass monsters in the inlet, so don¡¯t go swimming. That should also keep the wolves from trying to swim across.¡±
¡°You are leaving?¡± Ansfrin asked.
¡°I could run around and clear out the city in short order but that wouldn¡¯t give your people the ability to earn XP and level, which they need to do. Right now everything is comparable in levels. If your people don¡¯t keep up, they¡¯ll fall behind and then I¡¯m going to go elsewhere and figure some things out. Also, I need to find my wife.¡±
¡°Will you come back this way someday?¡± Ansfrin asked.
¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t know,¡± Adam said thoughtfully before he continued. ¡°As I said, I don¡¯t care why your race came here. Just don¡¯t turn into the bastion of evil that the good guys have to burn to the ground because while I¡¯m not the good guy all of the time, I can pretend to be one when I need to,¡± Adam said as he locked his gaze with Ansfrin.
¡°Understood,¡± Ansfrin said.
¡°Cool, just don¡¯t forget to come clean to the humans in charge at some point. Humans don¡¯t tend to react well to creatures they didn¡¯t know about in their midst¡Yeah, I know, I¡¯m kind of a hypocrite. Then again, I was human the 1st time,¡± Adam said as a look of shock filled Ansfrin¡¯s face. Adam took that as his cue to leave, jumped into the air, and transformed into his Dragon Form as he flew straight up.
He accelerated to just under the speed of sound straight up while he continued to monitor his nanites in the area so he could see what happened to the structures he¡¯d repaired as he moved away. When he was 50 miles away he used nanites at the end of his range to watch those below and watched as any nanites he¡¯d left in the area evaporated. Items that had been created, like his chair, end table, glass, and the tables and glasses he¡¯d set out for Ansfrin and his men remained but any of the nanites that were taken out of his range simply stopped working and then just evaporated. The SYSTEM wasn¡¯t playing around regarding the range of anything he created and controlled.
Adam flew up to 100,000 feet or about 18.9 miles. He knew he was that high because his wings stopped generating lift. He rolled over and dropped almost 5,000 feet as he started heading southeast. He was high enough that the sun had come up over the horizon and he could see it. Unfortunately, his ability to move through Space, Time, and Gravity as an Adamantium dragon hadn¡¯t appeared, or it had been unlocked under the New SYSTEM. So, his ability to fly, while helped by magic was not solely magical which meant, no flying in space.
Adam altered course and began heading toward New Mexico. It was just over 1,400 miles to where his house should be. He increased his speed to Mach 4 and started descending when he saw the outline of Albuquerque. He did see some lights far below as he flew across North America but from their intensity, they were either campfires or lone buildings in cities that someone had lit up with magic or generators that had been shielded against mana. Those lights were few and far between. There was no moon in the sky which allowed Adam to travel with no issues.
As he neared the ridge his house was usually on, he noticed that nothing was there. Adam slowed down and came in for a landing. The ridge was the same, but there was no house, nor had the road been extended up the mountain to this point. Adam started creating nanites and used his mana to replace the chaos he was using. As he curled up and rested a little way from where his house would be. With a range of 50 miles, his nanites should be able to tap into and create a generator utilizing the heat in the mantle as well as have plenty of room for his base. He was also going to recreate his house exactly and create an underground base large enough to house a few thousand people.
He''d have to visit a SYSTEM shop and purchase the area and then get it designated as a Safe Zone to prevent monsters from spawning but that was fine. He could create it and then put monofilament wires throughout so that anything that spawned in would be eviscerated into very tiny pieces. Once it was a safe zone it would only take a few moments to remove the wires and clean up the mess.
That wasn¡¯t the main reason he¡¯d decided to rest on top of the mountain though. Adam began pouring nanites out and put them to work creating the foundation for his base while he reviewed a couple of things from his past.
First, the Adamantium Ring had granted him XP each second because it had stolen that XP from the Labyrinth.
Second, during one of his reconfigurations Chaos had been feeding him Experience. It hadn¡¯t been a lot but over time it had added up significantly
Third, his Mold Chaos Skill seemed to be able to create anything.
If XP could be granted by a SYSTEM and Chaos could be converted into XP didn¡¯t that mean that his Mold Chaos skill should be able to create XP?
So, if all three of those points were true in this real universe under this New SYSTEM, and Adam had no reason to believe they wouldn¡¯t be, the only question he had left was, How much did XP weigh?
Chapter 254, Skill Growth
The SYSTEM watched as the chaotically Incarnate adamantium dragon activated his skill Mold Chaos skill to convert Chaos into Experience Points. The SYSTEM was slightly confused for a moment because such a request had never been tried before. How would a creature of chaos even come up with the idea to convert chaos into experience? A moment later, after it had reviewed Adamantadine''s memories it understood how he had come up with the idea. What was even more surprising to The SYSTEM was that the request worked.
The SYSTEM followed Adamantadine¡¯s perk Chaos Link to its attachment point outside of the SYSTEM. Technically it wasn¡¯t outside of the SYSTEM, it was linked to a point at the edge of the SYSTEM. While the SYSTEM could not scan much further beyond the edge of its domain it could see that the infinite possibilities of Chaos were merging into the requested Experience Points which were identified as experiences Adamantadine had already experienced and continued to add to his Experience pool, something that should not be possible.
This caused an issue as the tracking of Experience, technically had no weight. Experience Points were an abstract measurement system that represented the intent and soul energy either from other sources or from the creature''s soul. As that intent had an effect the soul measured it and adjusted accordingly. This adjustment could be called growth, which The SYSTEM had learned to quantify and adjust. What Adamantadine was doing was requesting that Chaos convert into Experience which Chaos was doing by giving back the soul growth, or experience points, the SYSTEM had removed.
The SYSTEM normally removed the Soul Energy from the creatures within it by adjusting the creature to a temporal state when the Soul Growth had not happened. Doing so had worked 100% of the time, until now. Unfortunately, it appeared that this Adamantadine presented a whole different kind of problem. Unintelligent beasts and monsters of chaos were easily reset, especially if they couldn¡¯t remember the soul growth they¡¯d been through. Adamantadine¡¯s Chaos Incarnate nature and Perfect Memory allowed him to remember that Soul growth and the Skill Mold Chaos was simply replacing that growth.
The SYSTEM could reset Adamantadine again but after reviewing his history The SYSTEM realized that such actions in the past had always resulted in negative consequences for those who tried. While it was a construct of Order, and largely immune to the energies and side effects of chaos, it was the one type of energy that in a significant amount could be detrimental to it.
No, this Chaotic Dragon would not be reset and there was no point in trying to. Instead, It would adhere to the rules that were in place for Class choice and progression. If the Chaotic Dragon wanted to skip the steps that would allow it to gain new titles and meet the prerequisites for unique classes, The SYSTEM would do as it always did, remain neutral, and prepare individuals for their Ascendence or their journey into the cycle of reincarnation.
As it was, the Chaotic Dragon had earned a new title for reaching level 100 within 4 days. It would be the only title that would affect the classes that were available for class selection.
***
Adam watched as notifications kept appearing in his vision. A moment ago, he¡¯d activated his skill Mold Chaos, and willed his Chaos to be turned into Experience Points. Once he reached Level 100 the notifications and XP inflow stopped.
Congratulations! You have reached Tier 1 Level 100 Mentalist in less than 4 days. You have earned the title, Trailblazer.
Trailblazer ¨C You are a master of efficiency, +20% Efficiency to all attributes. This title may be upgraded once per Tier by earning 100 levels in less than a single year.
Hit Points have increased by 264
Stamina has increased by 66
Mana has increased by 66
Psychic Energy has increased by 660
You earned 66 Spell Slots
You have earned 132 Psionic Ability Slots
Intelligence, Perception, and Willpower have each increased by 13
You have 792 Attributes to allocate.
Adam closed the notifications and opened his status screen to distribute his attributes. When he was done he checked the final results.
Attributes (Total / Efficiency Bonus / Base)
Strength 316,975 / 20% / 264,146
Agility 316,963 / 20% / 264,136
Dexterity 316,957 / 20% / 264,131
Endurance 316,976 / 20% / 264,147
Constitution 316,981 / 20% / 264,151
Perception 317,077 / 20% / 264,136
Intelligence 316,942 / 20% / 264,231
Wisdom 316,942 / 20% / 264,118
Willpower 316,966 / 20% / 264,138
Charisma 316,954 / 20% / 264,128
Luck 2316,966 / 20% / 264,138
Chaos 100
Hit Points: (Human: 190,588) (Dragon Form: 1,363,414)
HP Regeneration: 1 per second in Human Form / 2 per second in Dragon Form
Stamina: 3,169,864
Stamina Regeneration: 3,170 per 1 second
Mana: 3,170,156
Mana Regeneration: 1,851 per second
Psychic Energy: 146,812
Psychic Energy Regeneration: 40 per second
Chaos Attribute: 100
Chaos Attribute Regeneration: 1 per second
Adam looked over the rest of his Status Screen. He¡¯d simply spread his attributes around as evenly as possible which had given him a bit of a boost in carrying capacity and movement but the 20% boost had been no joke. One thing he did notice was that the natural regeneration of SYSTEM Creatures did not go up very quickly. Adam had 285 unused skill points and decided to fix that. He put 54 skill points into his skill Health Regeneration. That left him with 231 Skill points and a health regeneration of 10 per second in his Human Form and 12 per second in his Dragon Form.
With his attributes spent and a respectable health regeneration, he opened his notifications again.
Congratulations! You have reached Level 100 of your Tier 1 Class. You have met the requirements for Tier 2. Would you like to view and choose your Tier 2 Class now, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes.¡±
As he reviewed the list of available classes he realized that there were a lot fewer choices this time and that most of the choices were simple Advanced Classes. Wondering what was going on, Adam sent a query for all classes and began going through them to review some of the classes he hadn¡¯t qualified for. As he scanned the list of unavailable classes, Adam noticed a pattern. A lot of classes he didn¡¯t qualify for had prerequisites that required specific titles, perks, skills, abilities, or spells. Sometimes those Prerequisites had a specific level requirement for said skill, ability or spell as well.
This was all moot but as he moved toward Tier 3 he realized that he wasn¡¯t going to be able to just give himself XP and hope that he unlocked an Epic Class. For now, the class that he wanted was one of two Classes that had been available because he wanted to improve his chaos attribute.
Agent of Chaos (Master) ¨C You have embraced your Chaotic Nature. A Master of Nothing all paths are open to you.
The other class he could have chosen was the Master rarity version of Adamantium Dragon. While he was sure that he might be able to choose that same class at a higher rarity, for now, he wanted to improve his ability to tap into his innate chaos. Adam made his selection and confirmed it.
Congratulations! You have chosen the Tier 2 Master Class, Agent of Chaos which receives the following benefits.
20 Free Attributes per level
10 Chaos per level
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6 Hit Points per level
5 Stamina, Mana, and Psychic Energy per level
1 Spell Slot per level.
1 Psionic Ability Slot per level
Additionally, you have unlocked the following three perks
Uncanny Luck ¨C You may modify any attack within your Perception in feet by 1% per point of chaos spent. You may either increase or decrease the chance of the attack landing successfully. This perk can be used to modify your attacks or the attacks of others within range.
Chaos Step ¨C Space, Time, and Gravity bend around you. While movement rates are not increased or decreased by this skill the Agent of Chaos does not appear to move between locations to onlookers. While moving the Agent of Chaos vanishes until they stop moving. Individuals with a Perception attribute higher than the Chaos Attribute of the Agent of Chaos can see the Agent of Chaos Normally. Otherwise, the Agent of Chaos is effectively invisible while moving. Additionally, the Agent of Chaos can move in all three directions, though the Agent of Chaos cannot stand in the air. Once the Agent of Chaos stops moving they will fall until they begin moving again. This perk can be activated and deactivated at will.
Sense of Chaos ¨C Chaos is part of everything and everyone. You gain a 6th perception technique that acts a lot like sonar in that it is omnidirectional. This sense can be used to see in absolute darkness and also detect and define all magical sources within the area of effect. Range is equal to Perception in Feet though the Agent of Chaos can only sort and process what is within that sphere of perception to a range of their average of their Intelligence + Willpower) Otherwise, their mind will be overloaded, and they must make a willpower check to keep from passing out.
Adam had just finished reading the notification when his new Class Perk Sense of Chaos kicked in. Luckily for Adam, his Perception wasn¡¯t that much greater than the average of his Intelligence and Willpower and he was able to adjust the input so that his mind could process all the information it was receiving. His experience with nanites also helped him adjust to the input from his new sense.
Another thing Adam noticed. While his sense might have a range of 60 miles, it wasn¡¯t instantaneous 60 miles. Unlike his quantumly linked nanites, this new sense acted exactly as if it was an energy wave and sent out a ping of sorts that brought back and sorted information. Adam might have a range of 60 miles but he only knew what was happening immediately within 1,026 feet. If he wanted to know what was happening 60 miles away he¡¯d have to wait over five minutes for that information to get back to him. Adam wondered how that would work while he was moving.
The one thing he took away from picking his Tier 2 class, he was going to need to do some things to gain titles and meet the prerequisites for other classes. He did not doubt that he could just convert more Chaos into experience points but he doubted he got more than two choices. Well, he might get more than two choices but every other choice would be something that only had attributes as prerequisites. He wanted more choices because it definitely looked like The SYSTEM, this SYSTEM, was the real one.
How did he know? Because as the Chaos was being transformed into experience for him he felt that the experience points he was gaining were memories or ephemeral actions made real. If all the experience he had gained elsewhere was somehow stored as possible intent or memory within chaos in the real world then it made sense that he¡¯d been able to tie into the chaos and solidify the experience into himself. He might even be able to do that for the rest of his family once he caught up to them. Again, though, would he be helping them? If they leveled normally they¡¯d open up more avenues for growth for themselves. If he just gave them experience points they might not get as main class choices and miss out on something.
While the class system seemed a bit complicated, Adam was pretty sure that most people probably didn¡¯t even make it to level 100 in their basic class, let alone get a rare, or higher class. Not to mention the questions about demons, devils, and The SYSTEM''s abilities in those areas because Adam didn¡¯t think for a second that The SYSTEM wasn¡¯t also active where the demons and devils were. Possibly even in the heavens.
Adam used his new senses to check the underground complex and his new home while he waited for his senses to take in the 60 miles around his new home. After five minutes had passed he could sense 60 miles in all directions, and it looked like everything was just about ready. Adam lifted his Dragon Form from his relaxed position and transformed into his Human Form. He stopped sending out nanites and made sure everything was ready as he stepped up to the ridge line and looked down on Alamogordo.
Adam could feel that Chaos Step was active and that he could deactivate it if he wanted. Before he used it to travel into Alamogordo he ran across to another peak about a mile away in less than a second and waited. There was no telltale boom from traveling just above Mach 5. He had felt like he was moving normally but something was different. Adam looked around and found three peaks. He traveled to one and created a camera with a tripod and set it to record the two peaks in the distance. Then he traveled to one peak, counted to 5, and traveled to the second peak that was just over two miles away. Once there he counted to 5 to make sure the camera picked him up and then headed back to the camera and watched the recording.
Adam watched himself appear on the one peak, wait for five seconds, and then a moment later appear on the other peak. He made sure to wait until he disappeared from the 2nd peak which should have been plenty of time for the sonic boom to reach the camera. Nothing had happened. Adam used Mold Chaos to break down the camera and tripod and then headed to Alamogordo.
He was on a building in the middle of the city in a moment and started sending out his nanites while his senses spread over the next five minutes. He¡¯d already detected everyone in the city. Of the average 31,000 people that had usually been present in almost every alternate version of Alamogordo he visited, there were only 15,320 people left. As Adam looked around and his senses spread he realized why the city was infested with monsters. Most of the humans had made their way to the Air Force Base.
Chaos Step was fantastic. He was able to move to a new location without causing any disturbance in the air. While moving he seemed to vanish, at least to normal vision and cameras. He sat on the roof and waited for his mana and stamina to refill. He wasn¡¯t back to insane levels of regeneration where he didn¡¯t have to worry about what he used but he was pretty damn close and as long as what he faced wasn¡¯t too powerful, he¡¯d be fine.
As his senses spread out he detected a group of fifteen people under attack on the southwest side of town. A moment later Adam arrived at the back of the group as one of the giant worms was attacking a group of three women who were trying to stop it. The Worms were big, huge. Also, Adam already knew this through his senses but at least three people had already died.
Adam activated Identify and scanned the five giant worms in front of him.
Basic Level 56 Giant Burrower Worm.
Basic Level 58 Giant Burrower Worm.
Basic Level 65 Giant Burrower Worm.
Basic Level 69 Giant Burrower Worm.
Basic Level 75 Giant Burrower Worm.
He was going to have to get that Skill leveled up because returning a level and type of creature was almost no information. However, in this case, it did give him his first target. Adam activated Mind Bolt and the level 75 Worm died. One minute later all five of the worms were dead. The people he¡¯d just saved looked around in disbelief until a woman noticed Adam and said, ¡°Thank you.¡±
Adam deactivated Chaos Step and walked forward normally, ¡°You all okay?¡± Adam asked.
One of the men came over, looked at Adam, and stammered, ¡°You¡¯re level 100, how the hell are you level 100 already.¡±
¡°Been a little busy,¡± Adam said with a laugh.
¡°It¡¯s only been, like 4 days,¡± a woman said,¡± and you¡¯re already level 100? ¡°
Adam looked around, ¡° Just over three days, and let¡¯s change topics, is the large group of people over by the Air Force Base where everyone is gathering for protection?¡±
¡°Yeah, safety in numbers but they¡¯re running out of food quick. It¡¯s actually why we¡¯re out this far, we¡¯re scavenging for food.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t sweat that, I¡¯ll create some pallets for everyone. Why don¡¯t you all head back to the base, I¡¯ll meet you there,¡± Adam said.
¡°You have food?¡±
Adam held out his hand and used Mold Chaos to create a table with fifteen granola bars and 15 bottles of ice-cold, ¡°I don¡¯t have the food on me, but I can create it. Everyone, feel free to take one. Also, the water is ice cold.¡±
Adam watched as there was a little hesitation until someone came up, popped one of the bottles took a drink, and then said, ¡°It is ice cold!¡±
After everyone had grabbed their granola bar and water bottle, Adam dissolved the table and looked to the defacto leader, I¡¯m going to head to the base, there¡¯s a family in that house over there,¡± Adam said as he pointed to a house down the street, ¡°Down in the basement,¡± Adam paused for a second as he created a couple of backpacks.
¡°Okay, there¡¯s more water and food including enough to feed that family of five. The rest of this side of the city is empty. The family is in the basement trying to be careful, get them, and then get back to the base.¡±.
¡°Where are you headed?¡± one of the men asked.
¡°I¡¯m headed to the base of course, I just doubt that you can keep up,¡± Adam said. Before anyone else could say anything he made sure Chaos Step was active and headed toward the base which was only 7 miles away. As he could move almost 55 miles in a second he found himself at the front gate of the base a moment later while he watched the party through Sense of Chaos.
The guards in front of him reacted, one even drawing his weapon and firing before his conscious mind reacted. That guy had some awesome reflexes. The bullet, of course, bounced off of his damage resistance.
¡°Hold your fire!
¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Adam said as he brushed the impact point and used Mold Chaos to
repair his clothes. None of the guards had lowered their guns while Adam stood there and waited.
The man who had yelled to hold fire walked out of the booth with a first aid kit. He had a Master Seargent¡¯s (MSgt) insignia on his uniform as he walked up to Adam, ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re okay sir, That was an Armor piercing round, you¡¯re sure it didn¡¯t penetrate your armor?¡±
¡°Adam lifted his shirt and showed his chest, ¡°Not wearing any armor but I assure you I¡¯m fine, ¡° Adam said as he let the shirt drop back over his shirt.
¡°What¡¡± The MSgt asked.
¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I was told that you had a food problem. Point me to the place where you store food and water and I¡¯ll replenish your stores.¡±
¡°I¡¯m sorry sir. If you wish to a donation we will of course accept your donation but escorting someone with nothing to drop off to the area where we¡¯re storing our limited supplies, I can¡¯t do that sir.¡±
Adam thought about how to proceed for a moment and then started creating a pallet of water right beside the guard shack. a pallet of water weighed about 2200 pounds which took Adam almost four minutes to create, during which time the soldiers around him just watched in awe as the pallet and then the bottles formed on the pallet out of thin air.
Adam was bombarded by questions which he answered by telling them he was casting a spell of a sort. When he was done he looked at the MSgt and said, While it will take a little while for me to create food and water I can create one of these pallets about every 4 minutes. Now, I can create everything here and you can carry it all inside, or you can take me to the warehouse where you¡¯re storing food, tell me what you need and what you¡¯d like and I can get to work.¡±
¡°I understand Sir, please follow me. Airman Drascal, get a pallet jack and get that water into the building.¡±
¡°Airman Drascal, here you go,¡± Adam said as he created a pallet jack already in place under the pallet. ¡°After you Master Seargent.¡±
The Master Seargent led Adam to a hangar that had been turned into a makeshift storage area that had guards all around it. Adam was led up to a woman with 1st Lieutenant bars on her uniform. Sir, this is Lieutenant Baker. She is in charge of food stores
¡°Who¡¯s this,¡± The Lieutenant asked
Adam spoke up before the Master Sergeant could answer, ¡°My name is Adam. I¡¯m here to help with your food supplies.¡±
¡°How exactly are you going to help?¡±
¡°Are you familiar with Star Trek Replicators?¡±
¡°I have watched Star Trek, yes,¡± the Lieutenant said.
¡°Well, I can create any food items you might want out of practically nothing¡±
¡°Even if such technology existed, there¡¯s no power,¡± she said.
¡°There is and I can?¡±
¡°Very well, if you can make anything I would like Sonic Butterfinger Blast.¡±
¡°It¡¯s not going to last in this heat,¡± Adam said.
¡°I don¡¯t want it to last. I want one and you did say anything,¡± she said with a smile that showed how much she disbelieved that he could do what he said he could do.
Adam held out his hand and created a Butterfinger Blast and then handed it to her with one of the spoons that Sonic always supplied.
¡°What, how?¡± The lieutenant asked, as she used the spoon to take a bite and checked to see if it was real.
¡°Technically, the drink was created by nanites. Though the nanites were created with Magic.¡± Adam explained.
Once Adam proved himself, Lieutenant Baker ate her drink while she gave Adam a list of what was needed immediately and other items that they would need soon. Adam listened and then went to work. For the rest of the day, Adam helped the Airmen stock the warehouse with food that could survive the climate without refrigeration. While it sucked to create things so slowly when he could just level his class and increase his chaos pool he wanted to test how skills leveled and this seemed like the perfect way. Adam wasn¡¯t exactly sure what metric The SYSTEM used but by the next day, he¡¯d increased his Mold Chaos Skill to the Rare Rank Level 2 which now allowed him to create 22 pounds of material for 1 Chaos Point. Or 220 pounds of nanites every 10 seconds. Another nice thing about leveling skills through use, it did not require Skill Points. Adam pulled up the information he¡¯d purchased and now understood that as long as he purchased the skill at level 1 he could level it through use. If he purchased more levels though he would still have to earn the skill level through use before it would increase again, or purchase the next level.
So, after increasing Identify to level 10 he¡¯d have to spend almost 2 full hours identifying monsters and people before he could increase it to Scarce rank level 1. That¡¯s when he noticed that his skill points had increased from 231 to 232. The Skill Point he¡¯d used to originally purchase Mold Chaos had been returned to his pool when he spent enough time using the skill to earn it normally.
So, he could use his skill points to purchase low-level skills and then after he earned the skills it would return those skill points to his pool so he could invest them in different skills. Adam had to admit that was an interesting way to utilize skill points. Did that mean his health regeneration would increase all on its own the more damage he took? Well, Shit. His damage resistance was so high now that he wouldn¡¯t have to heal anything. He might have received skill experience for the damage he¡¯d taken right outside the gate to hell but he¡¯d healed that damage within a second which hadn¡¯t given his regeneration any time to work. Shoot, if he¡¯d let that regeneration heal all the damage he¡¯d have been healing for at least 16 hours. That would have increased the skill into the Scare ranks easily.
Everyone around Adam was shocked from what they were doing when a new SYSTEM Message appeared in their vision.
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
Congratulations! Normally 1 year is allowed for the inhabitants of newly integrated worlds to acclimate to The SYSTEM before SYSTEM Denizens are allowed to visit and begin influencing a newly integrated world''s progress. Your planet has been chosen as a test site for a new program to allow various factions throughout the SYSTEM to visit your world and influence its progress.
Travel Restrictions for Tier 1 individuals will be lifted in 1 hour.
If you would like to learn more about this SYSTEM Event please visit your SYSTEM Shop and purchase ¡°Newly Integrated Safari¡¯s, A Guide to Surviving and Thriving on Newly Integrated Worlds.¡±
A safari huh? If the Syndicate existed, Adam would put a bet down that this safari involved wagers on hunting humans and earning Trophies. Adam looked around at all the people who had gathered here and made a decision. Adam walked over to Lieutenant Baker.
¡°Lieutenant Baker,¡±
¡°Yes, Adam.¡±
¡° I¡¯ll be back shortly, I have something to do.¡±
Adam took a step and appeared at his residence on the mountain. He made his way to the lower levels where he started creating his Chaotic Nanites and had them begin expanding the base. He also created the infrastructure and equipment to create mana-shielded portal generators. If he hurried he should be able to open a portal back to the base and get as many people as he could into his underground base.
Chapter 255, Preparing for the Hunt
Lieutenant Baker watched the civilian Adam disappear. She¡¯d come to accept that he was special but the fact that he¡¯d just shimmered and vanished put him on a whole other level. That is until she heard his voice from the air around her.
¡°Lieutenant Baker, Adam here, well not here where you are but I am talking to you,¡± Adam¡¯s voice said.
¡°Yes, Adam, I can hear you,¡± Lieutenant Baker said to the air.
¡°I¡¯m back at my base of operations east of your position in the mountains. In the next 30 to 40 minutes, I¡¯m going to begin opening portals to my underground bunker up here. I need that long to get the portal mechanisms up and running. When I do I need everyone there ready to start flooding into the bunker and to bring as much of the food I just created with you. Yes, I¡¯ll be able to create more but I had not expected to need to house 15,000 or more people so I need to continue to expand this base while we get people into it. We need to try to do this as quickly as possible.¡±
There is no way we move 15,000 people through a portal in 20 minutes,¡± Lieutenant Baker said.
¡°There will be more than one portal and I¡¯ll create more as we go. Just get with your superiors, tell them what I told you, and get everything ready. I¡¯ll be watching what¡¯s going on down there so if you run into any issues I¡¯ll make an appearance by opening a portal to shut down any arguments. I¡¯ll have the prototype done shortly. I¡¯m going to sign off for now. Please get this done, The type of event The SYSTEM is about to initiate is probably the equivalent of a big game safari to Africa.
Lieutenant Baker nodded before she realized she didn¡¯t know if he could see her and then said, ¡°I¡¯m on it!¡± She looked around, saw MSgt Nelson, and walked toward him. One thing she had come to understand over the last day, if Adam said he could do something or asked you to do something, He could do what he said and needed you to do what he asked. This had been readily apparent when some airmen ran in frantically looking for ammunition. It seemed that the base had gone through most of their stockpile. Adam had taken a break from making food and had created ammunition, enough ammunition to last for at least a couple of days.
Lieutenant Baker walked up to MSgt. Nelson and told him to start prepping everything for immediate movement. Next, she went to her commanding officer and told him what Adam had said before he vanished.
¡°He just vanished?¡±
¡°Yes, Sir. He just disappeared. He contacted me a few moments later and gave me the information I just relayed to you.¡±
¡°And he said he¡¯s watching you, even now.?
¡°Even now,¡± Adam¡¯s voice confirmed from the air around them.
¡°I see,¡± Captain Clarkson said. He was the highest-ranking officer over on this side of the base. Lieutenant Baker knew he had runners that kept him in contact with the General and executive staff but if what Adam said was true, the Captain did not have time to get permission. Also, ultimately it was his job to keep people safe.
The Captain looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, ¡°Everyone would have seen the message that we did. In approximately 40 minutes something new is going to happen so, spread the word that we will be preparing for an emergency drill for all people to fall back into the hangar with the food. Get the children and their families as close to the hanger as you can and make sure everyone knows that they are to bring only what they can carry and also grab anything else they can carry from inside the hanger to help us get the food through. If Adam can create the portals, we¡¯ll get the people through them to safety.¡±
¡°Yes, Sir!¡± Lieutenant Baker said.
¡°Dismissed!¡±
Lieutenant Baker turned and left the Captain''s makeshift office in the corner of the hangar and went to work.
***
It had taken Adam almost 35 minutes to create enough nanites under his control to continue expanding the facility while also creating portal prototypes so he could test which technologies worked with this SYSTEM. Luckily one of the SYSTEMS he created previously worked just fine and he started producing the portal generators and power sources for those portal generators. He also had his nanites removed and returned the surface to the way it was so there was no evidence that a structure had been placed where the base was buried while he did create an emergency egress system that led further east into the mountain range that could be opened the inside with little or no effort but was undetectable from outside.
Making the space for the people wasn¡¯t that hard. Building materials under the limits that the SYSTEM imposed just meant that it would take him time and chaos that he replenished with mana to create the nanites with Mold Chaos and to replace the Chaos he was burning to do so with Chaos Conversion. It wasn¡¯t an issue because his mana regeneration was well above 1000 per second.
At the 40-minute mark, he used Sense of Chaos to see where everyone was at the base and opened 10 portals as the nanites he¡¯d left in the area, which were all still within his Area of influence which was now 50 miles with the 20% efficiency boost to his attributes.
Adam opened 10 portals that could allow up to five people to step through side by side. He was able to create one more portal every minute for the next 20 minutes which meant that he had 30 portals open into the giant cavern he¡¯d created at the bottom of his base where more than 15,000 people were huddled under about a mile under the mountain.
When the hour that the SYSTEM had stated was the time limit was up the last of the survivors from the base were making their way through the portals, which Adam shut down as a SYSTEM Message filled all of their vision.
SYSTEM Message! Your world has been purchased by the Xeli Confederation and all appropriate taxes and fines have been paid for the opportunity to hold an event on a newly integrated non-Dungeon world and hunt the remaining 6,997,168,8562 members of the homosapien species as of the time of this message as well as any spawned monsters that have appeared or will appear over the next 200 days.
The Xeli Confederation has chosen to activate a Safari-style event that will occur in two Stages. The first stage will allow Tier 1 individuals to purchase the right to participate in a Hunters Event for the first 100 days of the Event. At the end of 100 days, the Tier 2 restriction will be lifted, and the Event will continue for an additional 100 days.
Pillars are being placed randomly around the globe. The pillars are 1 mile high and should be visible from miles away. There are three types; Green, Yellow, and Red.
Green (Mercantile) Pillars act as a teleportation beacon to enclaves of Merchants, Crafters, Trainers, Inns, restaurants, and any other services that might be required. Each Pillar will lead to a unique location that is not on Earth. Barter and Credits are both welcome. These locations are Safe Zones and no combat is permitted while in the Safe Space of a Green Pillar. Please note that you must pay 1 credit per hour to a maximum of 4 hours unless you purchase a room and rest for a full day. A timer will let anyone in a Green Pillar know when their time is up. If you do not have the credits to pay, the Green Pillars will not activate for you. Please Note, while anyone inside the Mercantile area of the Pillar is in a Safe Zone the area immediately outside of the Pillar is not a safe zone unless made so by purchase at the closest SYSTEM Shop.
Yellow (Transportation) Pillars: For 1,000 Credits you can teleport to any other yellow or green pillars on the planet. Hunters can teleport to Red Pillars that they have visited.
Red (Safari) Pillars: These Pillars will be located in areas of high population density 1 million or more for obvious reasons.
New Quest, Survive Stage 1
This Quest cannot be declined.
Duration: 100 Days
Hunters from throughout The SYSTEM have been invited to compete in a competition to cull the indigenous people and monster populations of a newly integrated world.
Rewards: 1,000 Event Points awarded at the end of Stage 1. 10,000 Event Points awarded at the end of Stage 2.
Event Points can be used to purchase unique Titles and Equipment at the end of the Event.
Rules: Survive
Alternate Quest: Hunter, Stage 1
This quest is automatically accepted if someone with the Quest ¡°Survive, Stage 1¡± kills someone with the quest, ¡°Hunter, Stage 1.¡± Or has arrived on this planet from Off-World.
Rewards: Event Points can be used to purchase unique Titles and Equipment at the end of the Event.
Rules:
Any creature on the planet that has earned a class and has levels that are killed will earn the Hunter Event Points equal to their Rarity modifier multiplied by their Class Level. Basic Classes have a multiplier of 1. Scarce Classes have a multiplier of 2 and Rare Classes have a multiplier of 3.
Hunters may also be targeted and are worth Event Points based on their Class Rarity Modifier and Level and upon death transfer any earned Event Points are transferred to their killer.
Red Pillars act as Yellow Pillars for Hunters until the end of the Event.
Adam read the notifications and watched through Sense of Chaos as everyone took in the information and some started crying and moaning. Adam had brought everyone from Holloman AFB into the bunker and continued expanding it so people would have a safe place with plenty of room. The power stations and portal machinery were about five miles away, but it wasn¡¯t an issue for him to get back and forth between places he needed to drop off more nanites to continue the expansion.
Adam was running all over the place with Chaos Step and using Mold Chaos liberally as he created more space and even started having the nanites create blankets and pillows. He would need to provide proper beds and housing in a bit, right now his senses had caught the appearance of a Yellow pillar and one armored individual at the base of the pillar. Adam watched as light refracted around the humanoid and it disappeared which didn¡¯t impede his Sense of Chaos at all. It didn¡¯t look like a predator, but it was stealthed and moving toward the warehouse.
Adam appeared beside Lieutenant Baker, Captain Clarkson, and General Duvall who were talking quietly. Adam interrupted their conversation by addressing them, ¡°General, Captain, and Lieutenant,¡± Adam said as he had a holographic screen with the image of the hunter appear in front of them that showed them the flight line of Holloman and the humanoid creature that was moving across the flight line toward the warehouse.
¡°What am I looking at?¡± General Duvall asked.
Adam rewound the image and replayed the appearance of the pillar and the creature and then how it had become invisible.
¡°What is that and how recent is this,¡± Captain Clarkson asked.
¡°That is one of the Hunters who looks to be armed with Stealth Camo and an energy weapon of some sort,¡± Adam said as the image shifted to real-time, ¡°That is a real-time image of the hunter as it makes its way toward the warehouse. They all watched as the alien came into the warehouse looked around and then pulled out a device as it started to hold it up in various locations until it was standing right next to one of the portal locations that had evacuated everyone into the bunker.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
¡°Well, that¡¯s a problem, ¡°Adam said with a laugh.
¡°What kind of problem,¡± General Duvall asked.
¡°It would seem that they have a sensor of some sort that can detect quantum entanglement as well as energy fluctuations. It looks like I¡¯m going to need to go have a ¡®chat¡¯ with that hunter.¡±
¡°Are you sure that¡¯s wise?¡± Lieutenant Baker asked.
Adam smiled, ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll be fine. Also, In each of your pockets is a credit card that has an automatically updated map of the facility. The map is a screen and can be adjusted, just like you¡¯d adjust a map on your smartphone. It will be updated as I get things fixed up in here and prepared to house the survivors we currently have as well as the survivors that will be joining us.¡±
Each officer checked their pockets and pulled out their maps with a look of surprise on their faces before they could ask any questions Adam continued, ¡°I¡¯ll explain how I¡¯m doing things later, or I¡¯ll drop a file with the information on how I¡¯m doing what I¡¯m doing for now just listen. There is a set of stairs on each end of this cavern that lead up into an area that will house up to 2,000 comfortably with running water, generators, and food that should last for about a month. Use that area for bathroom breaks and to get the children and elderly settled.¡±
Adam paused for a moment as he considered what they needed to know before he continued, ¡°The addition that everyone is standing in was just made and needs to be fleshed out so that everyone can get comfortable. Unfortunately, I need to take care of that problem, ¡°Adam said as he pointed at the image of the hunter,¡± before he pinpoints where I¡¯ve brought all of you. Once I¡¯m done there I¡¯ll head back.
¡°How long will it take you to get everything fixed up here?¡± General Duvall asked.
¡°Talk with Lieutenant Baker, she was with me for the last day while he created all the food for everyone,¡±
¡°Speaking of the food,¡± Lieutenant Baker said as she interrupted Adam, ¡°Are we going to get the rest of the food into the facility?¡±
Adam nodded as he said, ¡°Yeah, shouldn¡¯t be a problem after I make sure the coast is clear. As for how long it¡¯ll take to make the rooms, beds, blankets, and such? I estimate it will take me about 3 days to upgrade this facility so that people are comfortable and there¡¯s enough food to last a while. Of course, as we find more people that timeframe will increase. I¡¯ll be working on that issue while I open portals to all the survivors near us and bring them here.¡±
General Duvall looked thoughtful for a minute before he said, ¡°You know, you¡¯re claiming that you can do a lot of things that seem impossible?¡±
¡°I know, right?¡± Adam said with a grin. Adam¡¯s attention was drawn to the Hunter as his nanites at the base picked up the new device the Hunter had pulled out that was sending out energy pulses. Adam looked to the three officers as he said, ¡°Just watch the screen, I need to go see what our hunter friend is doing.¡±
Before the officers could react, Adam vanished.
***
The hunter continued to look around the building for his prey. He¡¯d paid over 100 million credits for the location of a group of at least 10,000 humans in a remote location that other hunters were not going to be near next to a yellow pillar. Most hunters would be appearing near the red pillars because they would only be placed in locations where at least a million bounties could be collected. The bounties were worth way more than the Event Points after all. The Xeli Corporation was paying 1 million credits per unique human native that was killed.
The Hunter had wondered why there was such a high bounty on a newly integrated world, but the rewards made it, so he didn¡¯t care. To get ahead of the other hunters he¡¯d purchased information for a group of bounties that had banded together and only had a few creatures worth event points. Where he¡¯d appeared should contain over 15,000 bounties with only a few that had activated their classes. It was one of the best things the Hunter loved about the SYSTEM. If you knew what type of information to ask for, any information could be purchased. His favorite thing though? His favorite thing was that in an almost Infinite Multiverse culling events like these were possible and encouraged when multiple shadow planes of the same primary reality popped into existence and some religious fanatic, science incorporation, or group decided that they needed to purge all of the false copies from existence. When these events were bought and paid for and then an additional incentive was offered, that was when the real credits could be made. Of course, there could be another reason for the culling event but he''d put his money on this being a shadow plane because this area looked familiar.
The Hunter''s thoughts were brought back to his scanners. It looked like there were at least 30 different quantum signatures in the area but the only creatures around him were insects and rodents. All the bounties that had been in this building were nowhere to be seen. It looked like someone had moved the bounties whose information he¡¯d paid for.
The hunter wasn¡¯t worried though, He would open one of these portals and track down the thief. The Hunter pulled out another device, set it on the ground in front of the location where one of the portals had been, and activated it. It would take a few minutes for the device to analyze the quantum signature of the portal which should then allow him to reopen the hole through space time. His sensors picked up something that solidified into a human man walking into the hanger through a door at the opposite end. The human came around the corner, saw the Hunter, and waved.
The Hunter double-checked his sensor log and noted that no portals had been opened near the human which meant that there was something weird going on outside of the door and that it might not be related to his missing trophies because his sensor log showed no activity in that area of his scan until just moments ago. Since the human wasn¡¯t shooting, the hunter raised his hand in a sign of greeting as he started walking toward the man. In common the hunter called out, ¡°Hello there, have you seen anyone else around?¡±
¡°What is that you¡¯re wearing,¡± The man asked in common as he came closer, and then as if he¡¯d just heard the hunter answered, ¡°Nope, haven¡¯t seen anyone.¡±
The hunter had expected the man to answer in English, the language native to this area. He¡¯d even purchased a translator to help him understand bounties if he needed to. When the man answered in common the hunter reacted instantly by bringing his weapon, a very powerful particle rifle level, and aimed it at the man¡¯s chest as he asked in a menacing tone, ¡°Who are you?¡±
¡°Whoa there partner,¡± The man called out as he held up his empty hands.
¡°Increasing his menace the Hunter asked again slowly, ¡°Who¡Are¡You?¡±
The man dropped his hands to his side and quirked his head and smiled as he answered in common, ¡°Not so slow on the uptake, good, I¡¯m Adam. If you would like to talk we can talk, if you attack, only one of us will walk away from this encounter.¡±
The Hunter activated his scanner which returned Adam¡¯s SYSTEM event data ¡°Value 300 Event Points¡± he said, ¡°This is a Ferison Magla Particle Rifle, If I pull the trigger it will put a hole clean through you.
¡°As I don¡¯t know who Ferison or Magla or Ferison Magla is, I¡¯m just going to go with, not impressed.¡±
The Hunter laughed, ¡°You are unarmed. I have a particle rifle leveled at your chest and even if you somehow pulled a weapon, my armor would stop anything you have
¡°Still not¡¡±
The hunter lined up on Adam¡¯s heart and pulled the trigger.
THWUMP
The hunter looked down at the hole in Adam¡¯s shirt as Adam lifted the shirt and poked a finger through the hole in it. That¡¯s when the Hunter noticed that the skin below was completely unaffected and looked back up at Adam¡¯s face as Adam met his eyes and then said, ¡°Rude.¡±
The hunter started backing away slowly as a white beam of energy extended from Adam¡¯s right hand. He wasn¡¯t too worried about an energy blade, be it magical or technological as his armor was rated to withstand both. Even so, he continued to back away as Adam spoke.
¡°I guess you didn¡¯t want to talk. Well, I do. This here blade in my right hand, it¡¯s what¡¯s called a Chaos Blade. It can cut through anything.¡±
***
Adam watched the General, Captain, and Lieutenant as they watched him on the screen. Most of his attention was on the idiot in front of him but he was paying attention to what the officers were doing as well. Adam watched them watch him enter the hangar. The humanoid in Armor asked something in a language that none of the officers understand so Adam added words scrolling across the bottom of the image to let them know what was said. They even watched as the humanoid pulled the trigger on his particle rifle and then watched as Adam pulled up on his shirt and poked his finger through the hole in his shirt.
¡°Did he just get shot?¡± The Lieutenant asked.
The General and the Captain ignored her question as all three watched Adam extend a pearlescent white blade from his right hand and his image shimmered for a moment.
The Lieutenant brought her hands to her mouth as she exclaimed ¡°Oh¡± and the humanoid fell to the ground in two halves. The hunter had been split cleanly down the middle from the groin to the center of his head. The blade in Adam¡¯s hand vanished as he moved over to the humanoid and his equipment started vanishing, including the device that had been where one of the portals was.
The officers continued to watch as portals opened where they had been except they didn¡¯t open into the base. Instead, they opened to the location of other portals. This went on for another three minutes as the Captain said, ¡°I think he¡¯s trying to scramble where the portals led to by making new false trails.¡±
Adam vanished from the screen and appeared in front of the officers as he said, ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I was doing.¡±
All three Officers flinched but the General recovered quickly and asked, ¡°What do you need from us?¡±
¡°I need your help to keep this place functional with all these people in it. Once I get everything settled here I¡¯m going to leave you in charge and head out and see if I can help other people and even send more back here,¡± Adam explained.
¡°You are just one man, ¡°Captain Clarkson said.
¡°You would think I¡¯m only one man,¡± Adam said as he pointed to the screen. So did that hunter. ¡°
A portal opened behind Adam as he turned and walked into a spacious office and motioned for the three of them to follow him. Once the Lieutenant was through Adam closed the portal and waited while they looked around.
The General looked around for a moment, took in the d¨¦cor and setting, and then asked, ¡°Are we in one of the rooms upstairs from where we were?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Adam said with a nod.
¡°What can I do for you Adam,¡± The General asked with a voice that hinted at fear but also respect.¡±
¡°I wanted to show you the office you¡¯ll be able to use to run things and give you a quick tour of the facility before we get back to work. Housing for over 20,000 people, will take me most of today and tomorrow to get upgraded,¡± Adam explained.
¡°Where will you be doing that upgrading from? Also, will you need any help?
¡°I¡¯ll be moving throughout the facility as I drop off resources in areas I need to build up. As for helping. We need to get the rest of the food from the hangar into the storage areas. I can make more food but right now I need to focus on improving our living conditions. I do plan to set up recreation facilities and entertainment areas to help people pass the time, but I need you to work on getting people ready to work on leveling by taking on low-level monsters. I should be able to set up an area where we can draw monsters into a room with a group of warriors so they can kill and earn experience.
¡°How are you going to do that?¡± The General asked.
Well, go over that later. I figured I should show you around these upper levels so you can get your support staff up here. Also, the map I gave you earlier will be updated as I make changes throughout the facility so be sure to check it at least every 15 minutes or so. Once I get started it should go relatively quickly. The only thing is that it will take time,¡± Adam said as he stood and motioned for the three to follow him.
For the next 15 minutes, Adam walked with them through the facility while he continued to create nanites and put them to task. The facility had a central circular ramp with stairs that could be used on all four major compass points. The facility had gone down much further than Adam had initially wanted it to, but he was also expanding it sideways in all directions. Additionally, Adam let the General know that he¡¯d incorporated various technologies that made the detection of everyone below the surface with technology a very hard proposition. Not impossible, just hard. Then Adam explained how magic could be used to find them. But that shouldn¡¯t prove a problem.
Once Adam was done with the tour he left the General to do his thing and went to work as he pulled up his notifications and reviewed his gains from the combat he¡¯d just had.
Congratulations You have killed a Rare Level 1 Doppelganger. XP Awarded 45,000. Treasure awarded after conversion to credits, 570 credits.
Congratulations you have Earned Level 1 Agent of Chaos. All Attributes increased. You have 20 free Attributes.
Congratulations You have earned 300 Event Points
One Kill for one level. Nice! Adam thought. Next, he looked at his Chaos attribute which had increased to 110. That was right, he received 10 points for his Chaos attribute at every level as part of this class. Could he put his 20 free attributes into his Chaos Attribute? He hadn¡¯t tried to do that as a Mentalist but now that he had a class that relied on Chaos and it could increase each level, could he increase it more?
Adam opened his Status Screen and put all 20 free attributes into his Chaos Attribute and thought Yes when asked to confirm. It worked! Now that his Chaos attribute was 130 he could create 2,860 (130 x 22 pounds per point of Chaos) pounds with Mold Chaos. Also, since he was going to use the Skill more, it should continue to level.
Since they had all just arrived those Event Points were solely from one asshole which meant that he must have been a level 100 rare class. That was pretty much the same level as he was before he¡¯d gained the level from killing him. Adam wondered if killing that hunter was going to bite him in the ass and then decided it didn¡¯t matter, he¡¯d shot first.
Adam put that idiot out of his mind and went to work. Once this place was set up he¡¯d head out and see if he could acquire some more Event Points on his way to Albuquerque so he could purchase the ability to turn this location into a safe zone, which was at the top of his list of things to do after he finished upgrading the base.
Adam began upgrading the base while simultaneously extending his sensor net. Because of The SYSTEMs reaction to nanites, Adam had to go old school and put up self-sufficient sensors to watch for survivors. He also had to create something that could house an artificial intelligence that could monitor everything for him. Because of his past experiences in this area, a simple use of Mold Chaos to recreate the framework was all that was needed, With a semi-intelligent Artificial Intelligence to help him things went much quicker. Granted, it wasn¡¯t another Thor, but it could definitely monitor his sensor net, run the base, and contact him with pertinent information.
As was normal for the tech items Adam created, everything was linked at the quantum level and shielded from mana. This allowed him to save everyone from the small cities and towns within 150 miles of Alamogordo. His ability Sense of Chaos and the Portals made it easy for him to find people. rush to their location, open a portal for them, and get them to safety. Once they were inside Racoon City, the name they¡¯d give the facility, General Duvall had them processed and assigned quarters.
One good thing about using Mold Chaos as much as he had been, he¡¯d increased its level through all 10 Rare levels and had just reached Advanced Level 1 which allowed him to create 50 pounds of material per Chaos Point spent. He was now creating 6,500 pounds of materials every 10 seconds. Things began to move a little faster after that. He had a communication device that would allow the General and the A.I. to contact him if there was an emergency or he needed to come back and expand the facility. He¡¯d also created a training area of sorts where beasts could be targeted with portals and brought inside for teams of people to kill them, unlock The SYSTEM, and earn experience points.
While Adam was gone it was the General''s responsibility to continue getting everyone trained up and ready for this new world. Any monsters that the General deemed too hard would be sent to the middle of White Sands. Far enough away that they shouldn¡¯t be a problem.
After eight days, Adam decided that he should probably go check on El Paso and see how the people down there were doing. There was a military presence, gangs, the cartel, and other organizations that should have made any single hunters who showed up think twice. Of course, anyone with magic and such would be able to make things tough for the people down there, but Adam was pretty sure that the types of people that were running things could handle a few hunters who were far too overconfident. Well, they might have a problem with the hunter Adam had run into, but Adam doubted all the hunters were going to be at the absolute pinnacle of Tier 1.
Adam headed south until he was 40 miles north of the city and let his Sense of Chaos Spread out for the next 5 minutes. When the information made it back to him he smiled. He didn¡¯t need to worry about El Paso at all. There was a Green Pillar and it seemed that someone had made the whole city into a Safe Zone.
Chapter 256, Racoon City
Adam decided to check out the only other two towns within 100 miles of Alamogordo that might have people in it. A couple of seconds later he was on the outskirts of Artesia New Mexico which only had about 12,000 people in it. Adam made his way to the center of town and allowed his senses to spread out and take everything in. His bunker couldn¡¯t take in another 12,000 people but he could help these people out. One thing he noticed, there were no pillars nearby so they should be relatively safe. Adam made his way to Artesia General Hospital and down into the basement without allowing anyone to see him.
There was a tornado shelter where people would most likely come if the city was under attack. Using Mold Chaos he created enough nanites to create a stairway that went down another 30 feet into a vault which he hid behind a secret door. While he had some of his nanites creating the vault and fortifying it so he could open portals to it, he also had his nanites start creating food and pallets of water bottles. He only spent five minutes setting up the emergency exit under the hospital while he also pulled out his linked tablet and activated Technomancy to add the information to the Generals Tablet with the recommendation to get some teams together to come over and make contact.
When he was done, Adam headed north to Roswell New Mexico, and did the same thing under the Easter New Mexico Medical Center. It wasn¡¯t that he was trying to create new bases. He was creating shielded areas where he could open portals that could act as emergency exit points for the cities or emergency exit points for his bunker. Adam stayed in each area just long enough for his Sense of Chaos to take in the 50-mile radius to make sure none of the hunters were nearby while he created these auxiliary connection points.
When he was done, Adam headed toward Albuquerque. When he was 40 miles east of the city he stopped. Running back and forth over hundreds of miles made him feel like t like The Flash. At 55 miles per second, his perk Chaos Step prevented him from creating shock waves as he moved around so he couldn¡¯t complain. The only thing that slowed him down was his need to stay in one spot to let his Sense of Chaos spread out. Sure, he could feel everything within 1,000 feet of himself with no issue but to get everything in that 60-mile radius he needed to sit still for a full five minutes.
While he waited for Sense of Chaos to scan the area, he looked around and noticed the Red Pillar poking up above the skyline. He also noticed that there wasn¡¯t a SYSTEM Shop. This alternate version of Albuquerque did not have a million people. While Albuquerque didn¡¯t have a SYSTEM Shop, it did have a large group of hunters systematically killing every human they could. Women, children, the elderly, these hunters were killing anyone.
A quick count showed that there were approximately 460,000 people left. There were 8 hunter teams, on each of the eight main points of the compass working their way toward the city center. Unlike the loan hunter he¡¯d fought earlier, each of these hunter groups consisted of 5 hunters. There were three damage dealer types, a healer and a mage. Adam took the time to make sure which hunters were the invaders and then Adam decided to sow a little chaos, while he learned how to use his skills and perks. Instead of attacking one team at a time, he¡¯d use drive-by tactics on all eight teams.
Adam had all eight teams¡¯ locations locked into his mind. Approximately 5 miles from the center of the city, each team was over 3 miles away from the other. With Chaos Step active and his ability to move 55 miles in a single step, he appeared one mile from his target, fired off a Mind Bolt at the Healer of the hunter group, and then moved to the next group. 1 minute and 20 seconds later, 8 healers were dead and Adam was listening to the hunters call out to each other as they looked around for what had attacked them.
¡°What happened to ¡¡± one of the mages called out
¡°He¡¯s dead, whatever it was it destroyed his mind,¡± one of the melee hunters called as he looked at the blood that had exploded from the healer¡¯s eyes, ears, nose, and, mouth¡±
¡°Get the word back to¡¡±
Adam reacted to the person making that statement by moving within a mile of him and using a Mind Bolt on him as well. As he dropped, Adam made his way to within a mile of each party and hit them with a Mind Bolt. Because he never stopped moving, Chaos Step kept him shrouded better than invisibility could have. Well, that and he was over a mile away, and using an attack that traveled at the speed of thought, or light, through physical objects, Adam wasn¡¯t sure. In either case, the attack was instantaneous and devastating due to the bonus given because of his high intelligence. When all eight mage types were dead, he paused and let Sense of Chaos scan the area so he could respond to any action the rest of the hunters might take.
Since he¡¯d been popping all over town taking on the hunters his Sense of Chaos had already taken in over 95% of the city when he paused. 20 seconds later he had the whole city scanned. There were 632,496 people left. The smart ones had tried to flank and get behind the hunters and were even now heading away from the center of the city while the ones allowing their fear to control them were still heading toward the city center on foot.
Adam¡¯s scan also found pieces and parts of 13,456 people that had been killed near each of the hunter parties. It looked like each of the hunter parties had teleported into a location and just begun slaughtering everyone. All the evidence that Adam could find pointed to the masses being herded toward the center. Adam also noted a peculiar hole 1 millimeter in diameter in the middle of the forehead of each deceased human. They had all been killed in many ways but very few had any damage to their heads besides that single hole that stabbed through the skull and into the brain. Men, women, children, the elderly, it didn¡¯t matter, every single person that the hunters had come across had one of these holes.
This both interested and angered Adam. This time he moved to each hunter¡¯s location and hit them with a Psionic Blast which knocked all three unconscious. Once unconscious, Adam moved up and stabbed each through the heart in three rapid motions. 2:40 seconds later, all 23 were dead and two minutes after that he had all 40 bodies lined up outside the city where he could loot the bodies and figure out what was going on.
Adam wasn¡¯t surprised to find that the hunters were predominantly human or human-like with a few other races mixed in. He noted dwarves, elves, lizardkin, and some alien species he¡¯d never run into before. Each was carrying a Ring of Holding that could store up to 10 cubic feet while one of the human women, a mage, if Adam remembered right had been carrying a piece of cloth which had been inside her bra under her right breast that reminded Adam of the description of a portable hole.
With his Sense of Chaos, he¡¯d known what type of object something was and even if there was anything in each of the bodies. Adam thought back to the fight and realized that he had not been able to detect the dimensional storage cloth when the mage was alive. So, a person''s aura must block his Sense of Chaos, at least in as much as if something was covered and against the skin, he wouldn¡¯t notice it, unless he¡¯d normally notice something like someone putting keys in their pocket. Once they were dead he had no issues.
Adam pulled out the cloth and unfolded it. When it was fully unfolded an armoire rose out of the cloth. It had four drawers along the bottom and two large doors that were quite large. With a thought, the Armoire lowered back into the cloth. With another thought it rose back up. It wasn¡¯t very efficient and would take too long to use during combat. When Adam opened the drawers and doors he found out why the mage had been carrying it.
If he rose it up so the doors were flush with the ground he could step into a space that had even more drawers, doors, and storage locations. Each storage location was the access point for at least 1000 identical spaces that were accessed from the door he¡¯d just opened. Adam quickly went through the storage panels, drawers, shelves, and rooms. He found that there were some weapons; swords, maces, staves, and the like. None were magical. To swap between various dimensional storage locations all he had to do was make a swiping motion to the side and the contents would shift to what was in the next location.
Adam went through the Armoire quickly, surprised that he found no trapped items. The Armoire was empty of anything important. There were enough supplies for up to 10 people for at least a year including water and food. Adam was also pretty sure that the storage areas held their contents in stasis because one of the storage rooms he¡¯d stepped into had an assortment of already-cooked meals that still had steam coming off of them when the drawer opened. Adam closed down the Armoire and put it in his pocket. While it wouldn¡¯t hold over that many people there were supplies that could be used by others inside.
Adam pulled out the remote to the Bunker and activated Technomancy. With a thought he had one of the portals open next to him that led to the office. When the General looked up Adam stepped into his office and walked over to one of the walls. As he did so the General looked at the line of dead bodies on the ground that he could see through the portal, ¡°Something I need to know about?¡±
¡°Nah, those scum bags had already killed over 10,000 of the people in Albuquerque. I¡¯m just going through their stuff. No, the reason I came back is to show you this,¡± Adam said as he unfolded the cloth and showed the General the Armoire and then how it worked. When he was done, Adam said, ¡°I¡¯d find some people you trust, have them go through and catalog everything that is in there. If there is something you don¡¯t understand, like the tomes of magic I noticed, just put those to the side and when I get a chance I¡¯ll go over them with you or whoever you designate.
The General looked a little out of his element as he stepped out of the Armoire and then watched it disappear into the cloth at its base, ¡°How does it do that?¡±
¡°Simple answer, Magic. We don¡¯t have time for the long answer.¡±
¡°As you say, Adam,¡± The General agreed.
¡°Adam stepped back through the portal to the 40 dead hunters and then continued searching them. When he found the objects that had made the wounds on each of the corpses, Adam wasn¡¯t happy. In layman¡¯s terms, they were sample collectors and held the genetic information for each person that had been killed. Simply place it on the forehead and voila!, information collected.
Adam collected their weapons and armor, had a portal to the base open to the armory tossed everything through to the people waiting on the other side, and used Mold Chaos to release chaos on the area to turn all the bodies into their component electrons and protons so there wouldn¡¯t even be a trace that they¡¯d existed.
With a red pillar in Albuquerque and no SYSTEM Shop, Adam decided to leave them alone and head toward Phoenix Arizona. It would be the next closest place that could have over a million people in it. Kansas City was on that list as well but Phoenix was almost 100 miles closer to his current location.
As Adam ran across the Rocky Mountains he slowed down and stopped on a mountain peak when he could see Phoenix in the distance. Because his perception was so high, Adam noticed the Red pillar to the south in Tucson and the other one in the middle of Phoenix. He allowed his Sense of Chaos to reach out and take in the area. Tucson would be out of range but he should be able to scan all of Phoenix. This time things were a bit more chaotic. Hunters, both individually and in groups were running around killing everyone indiscriminately even this far out from the city. Hunters and nonhunters, it didn¡¯t matter, whichever hunters had come to this city were all in a free-for-all.
As Adam waited he found out that Sense of Chaos could not sense an attack traveling at the speed of light. He had gone to a knee to give himself less of a profile but it hadn¡¯t mattered. 20 seconds after he stopped moving a particle beam lanced into his forehead from a point that was still outside the range of his Sense of Chaos, so at least three miles away.
While the particle lance didn¡¯t get through his Damage Resistance, it did blind him for a split second as the force knocked him on his ass. Whatever weapon had been used against him created a hell of an impact and had a very good range. Before Adam had even come to a rest he rolled to the side rose to his feet and moved. In a second he was 1,000 feet off the ground and running around the area. At 1,000 feet his feedback from Sense of Chaos to the ground was instantaneous and he was able to take in everyone below him.
Chaos Step kept Adam from being detected while he looked for the sniper. It didn¡¯t take long. Adam had stopped to the northwest of a mountain range outside of the city proper to give his Sense of Chaos perk a chance to scan the area. While there were people nearby, his scan showed that most of the people from Earth were hidden in basements and mines in the region. The sniper was on the highest peak and also shielded from view by a screen of some kind. When Adam passed over him, his Sense of Chaos picked the sniper up with no issue.
The peak the sniper had chosen was a good one. It had a line of sight on the northeast side of the city and also allowed them to check their background to make sure nothing was coming up from behind them. The sniper was in a full-body suit with a mask that made it impossible to see her face. While Adam couldn¡¯t see the hunter''s face, very apparent mounds on the front of her chest made it pretty apparent that the hunter was a she.
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Adam made sure no one was around and that there was a spot next to the woman where he could step and not be in the line of sight of anyone else. Then he hit her with a Psionic Blast, which knocked her unconscious immediately. Adam landed and opened a portal to a holding cell back at the bunker in an area of the base that no one else had access to. He picked her up, stepped through the portal, and stripped her. He may have accidentally broken her armor when he couldn¡¯t figure out how to break the seal but that was to be expected.
Adam did not expect a high elf to be under the armor. Normally they were too stuck up for physical games like hunts and such. Still, she would be a great source for questions about The SYSTEM outside of the Foundation sector so he stripped her down to nothing. Checked her completely for any hidden devices or storage items. If she had mental powers or magic, she might be able to escape but she wouldn¡¯t do it with the help of any items.
Adam used Mold Chaos to create a few items. The first was a transmitter which he placed on the wall of the room. The second was a sign in multiple Elvish languages that said ¡°Do Not Leave, There is a bomb that will detonate around your neck¡±. The third item was the bomb. The last item Adam created was a microscopic tracking bug that was quantumly linked to a tracker. Anyone worth their salt would be able to get rid of the necklace and possibly teleport away. What they wouldn¡¯t be able to do was remove a tracking device that he¡¯d just shoved down her throat that would stay lodged in her stomach for a bit. And of course, he left her with a grey robe on the bed he put her on.
Adam stepped back onto the mountaintop and made his way toward the SYSTEM shop node. He appeared next to it and vanished before anyone in the area could react. Adam appeared in a showroom identical to the one he¡¯d visited in Vancouver. Also, the halfling woman, Alerna Light-Touch was behind the counter again so the Shop Nodes must be taking him to the same shop.
Alerna looked up from her tablet and frowned at Adam as he walked up to the counter.
¡°Hello Alerna, why the frown?¡± Adam asked
¡°Because our scanners have detected 41 of the Xeli Corporation Samplers on you. Are you collecting samples for them as well?¡±
¡°Not really, but I guess so. Why? Can they give me some credits?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I would say so. For every unique sample you provide, there is a bounty of 1,000,000 credits. Normally, you could get this from the merchants on the planet in the designated zones but the SYSTEM will honor the bounty for a 5% fee, as standard,¡± Alerna explained.
¡°Are you telling me that I¡¯ll get 950,000 credits for every sample I turn in here? Do you get a commission?¡±
Alerna smiled, ¡°Yes I do. My commission is 10% of any collected fees.¡±
¡°Well then Alerna, let''s do this, what do you need?¡± Adam said as he rubbed his hands together excitedly. Maybe he wouldn¡¯t have to just sell Adamantium Bars again to get the things he wanted to pick up.
¡°Just put the sampling devices on the counter and I¡¯ll start downloading their information.¡±
Adam did as Alerna asked and waited patiently as she took all 41 sampling devices and downloaded their information. As Adam watched Alerna explained, ¡°The sample data is uploaded to a Xeli Corporation database where it is compared to all other Genetic samples that have been taken. In the Prime Universes, the original file is updated that the quantum copy has been terminated and the bounty is paid out.¡±
Adam looked thoughtful for a moment before he asked,¡± What makes that Universe the Prime one and not a copy?¡±
¡°You don¡¯t know about alternate realities and quantum copies?¡± Alerna asked.
¡°No, I understand all that,¡± Adam affirmed, ¡°In fact, I¡¯m not even from Earth. No, my question is more of a philosophical one, What makes Xeli Corporation''s universe and everyone within it the Primaries instead of the people on the planet I was just on?¡±
Alerna looked thoughtful before she said, ¡°Because they have the power and money to make it so. That is the simplest answer I can give you,¡± Alerna said.
¡°Might makes right, and all that?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yep, also you, or the previous owners of these sampling devices, collected 15,341 unique samples,¡± Alerna said.
¡°If I¡¯m supposed to get 950,000 credits per sample, that¡¯s 14,573,950,000 credits. Is that right?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes Sir that is exactly how many credits have been deposited into your account,¡± Alerna said with a smile
¡°You just made a 76,705,000 credit commission didn¡¯t you?¡± Adam asked
¡°That would also be correct,¡± Alerna said with a giant smile
¡°Very cool. Now, guess what time it is,¡± Adam said
¡°I would expect that Sir would like to make some purchases,¡± Alerna stated with absolute seriousness.
¡°And you would be correct. The first item on the list is a Nanite stabilizer,¡± Adam said.
¡°Nanite Stabilizer? We have them though they are quite expensive,¡± Alerna said.
¡°I need one that can cover a 10-mile radius.
¡°The maximum size that you can have will stabilize everything within 25 miles. Additionally, you should know that you can only have one of these items on each planet. The cost for the 10-mile radius is 100 million credits. A 20-mile radius stabilizer would be 200 million credits and the 25-mile one is 1 Billion credits.¡± Alena said.
¡°Yep, I want one of those.¡±
¡°Next I need to look at all the skills I could have purchased for my Mentalist class¡±
¡°Let me check your level,¡± Alerna said and then looked back at Adam shocked,¡± You¡¯re already level 100?
¡°Yes. Why? Will that be a problem,¡± Adam asked
¡°No sir, it¡¯s just that a couple of choices would have become available to you every 10 levels, in addition to the normal skills you could have picked up,¡± Alerna said.
¡°That¡¯s fine, I just want to look over what¡¯s available¡±
¡°Also I should let you know that all skills will be Rare Level 1 which means each will cost 100,000 Credits to purchase.¡±
¡°That¡¯s fine, ¡°Adam said.
The kiosk presented a list of skills that became available that looked a lot like spells he¡¯d seen either in Role-Playing Games or during his time in other universes and realities.
At level 10 three skills had become available that did exactly what the names implied. Dark Vision, Meditation, and Detect Emotions.
At level 20 only two skills were available; Telepathy and Memory Recall. Memory Recall allowed him to search his memories for something that he¡¯d forgotten. While he didn¡¯t think he¡¯d need the skill because of his ability Perfect Memory Adam purchased both skills anyway.
At level 30 two more skills became available; Advanced Telepathy, which allowed for more than one other person to be in mental link at a time, and Aura Sight, which allowed Adam to detect and read the aura of the targets around him and even use it as a way to pierce invisibility.
At Level 40 the only skill that was available was You Can¡¯t See Me which was simply a mental Invisibility. Adam would show up on any recording devices but anyone who was looking at him wouldn¡¯t notice or remember that he was there if Adam¡¯s use of the skill succeeded.
At Level 50 he gained the skill Astral Projection. This version didn¡¯t allow Adam to leave this material plane. Instead, it merely allowed the individual''s spirit to leave their body and move around. Those with Aura Sight would be able to see him but otherwise, he was invisible and noncorporeal unless he wanted to show himself. Even then he was still noncorporeal.
At level 60 he gained a skill called Spiritual Strength, which made it so that he could use all of his mentalist skills and perks from his Astral Projected form though doing so was quite taxing mentally.
At level 70 the skill Teleport became available. It had two modes. Short-range site-to-site and long-range to locations he¡¯d been to before.
At level 80 the skill Portal was unlocked which allowed Adam to open portals with his mind. The range was a bit reduced but he could use it to allow others to follow him for short ranges.
At level 90 Adam gained a skill called Extended Duration which allowed him to expend Mental Energy to extend the duration of any of his skills and perks so that they would remain active even if he wasn¡¯t present.
Adam¡¯s level 100 skill was nice, Safe Haven. This skill allowed the Mentalist to place their body in an adjacent dimension which was permanently locked to their soul which they could also exit with a thought. From this Safe Haven Astral Projection would automatically project the individual into a primary dimension and they would automatically return to the person''s body when the skill was ended. While in the Safe Haven, the Mentalist¡¯s physical body was nigh impossible to hurt.
Adam looked over the skills and had to admit that they were quite powerful. It also meant that there could be others running around with a similar skill set or monsters that had skills, spells, and abilities like this. Adam purchased all 14 skills for 1,400,000 credits.
Adam looked up to Alerna as he asked, ¡°What do I need to purchase to make an area a safe zone?¡±
¡°How big of an area?¡±
¡°As big as a large city?¡± Adam answered.
¡°If you¡¯re trying to make a city a safe zone, you purchase that from the City Node. Some people think you need to come to a SYSTEM Shop, and yes you can make a city a safe zone from a SYSTEM shop but you can also do it from the City Node. Is that what you need?¡± Alerna asked.
¡°No, I need to make an area the size of a city, that is not currently a city a safe Zone.¡±
¡°Okay, First you need to purchase a City Node. Those are pretty cheap at 10,000 credits If you want to make the City a safe zone no matter how far it expands, the cost will be an additional 100,000 credits per 1,000¡¯ foot radius. For instance, if you wanted to get an area out to one mile you could reach just short of a mile for 500,000 credits,¡± Alerna explained.
Adam thought about his bunker, He¡¯d only taken it just a little over 1 mile deep but latterly the base had parts of it up to 10 miles away from other parts. Also, when he installed the nanite stabilizer he¡¯d be able to create nanites and let them go to work without him needing to stick around while they increased the base and outfitted it as needed. Yep, he was going to need to take it out to the 25-mile limit. With that thought, Adam smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯d like to purchase the City Node with a Safe Zone installed up to a 25-mile radius to begin with. That should be 13,210,000 credits if my math is correct.¡±
¡°Alerna smiled, Your math is correct. Where would you like?¡± Asked as she pulled up a holographic map in front of Adam.
¡°Can you also place the Nanite stabilizer in the same room?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Of course,¡± Alerna said.
Adam looked over the map and adjusted it until it showed the layout of his underground base, which was accurate to the current layout, and found the secret room which was accessed from the office General Duvall was currently sitting in. Adam paused and asked, ¡°Can you set me as the City owner before we place the node?¡±
¡°Of course. You are the owner of the city node. Please place it,¡± Alerna said.
Adam had the node placed in the center of the hidden room with the Nanite Stabilizer placed right next to it. As he did so a notification appeared in his vision.
Congratulations! You have established Racoon City. Racoon City is a Safe Zone. Please choose the penalty for breaking Safe Zone policies.
Adam looked over the choices and chose the fairest penalties he could think of:
Violation of Safe Zone Penalties
Murder - Teleportation naked to the nearest monster spawn, All belongings confiscated.
Bodily Harm to another ¨C Teleportation to predetermined location ¨C Middle of White Sands Missile Range - and the inability to enter Racoon City until 6 a.m. Central Standard Time the following day, minimum 12-hour delay.
Exemptions ¨C Children under 14 and Adamantadine.
Adam looked over the Penalties for violating the rules of the Safe Zone and smiled before he it ¡°Accept¡± When he was done he turned to Alerna, ¡°One last thing, Can I purchase a portal from here to my city so I can drop some things off.¡±
¡°Alternate exit points are available for purchase. The standard cost is 10 credits per foot. Creating an exit point and not using it is not possible as the individual is teleported out of the SYSTEM Shop fully when exiting. There can be no open stable connection points between SYSTEM Shop instances and the worlds they connect to.¡±
¡°Very well, Could I please purchase my exit to this point,¡± Adam said as he pointed to the room he¡¯d placed the city node in on the holographic display.¡±
Alerna hit a few keys on her terminal and a couple of notifications appeared in his vision
Exit Destination Distance offset is 374 miles or 1,974,720 feet.
Exit Destination alteration cost is 19,747,200 credits
Would you like to change your Exit Destination for 19,747,200 credits, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes¡±
Exit Destination has been altered, when you exit the SYSTEM Shop you will appear at the destination you have designated.
Adam laughed
¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± Alerna asked.
¡°Well, when I arrived there was a lot of fighting going on so I needed to rush in and enter the SYSTEM Shop quickly. I know that at least 10 people saw me enter and were probably waiting to attack me when I asked. I laughed because they are going to be waiting there a long time.¡±
¡°I can see how that would be funny,¡± Alerna agreed as she let out a soft chuckle.
¡°Is there anything else?¡±
¡°Yes one last thing, how much is it to add a SYSTEM Shop node to my City?¡± Adam asked.
¡°That one¡¯s easy, If your city has over 1 million people, it¡¯s free. If you want a System Shop Node before you have a million people in the city, it¡¯s 1 million credits.¡±
¡°Please add the SYSTEM Shop node to my city for 1 million credits.¡±
¡°Done!¡± Alerna affirmed. ¡°As The City Owner you can put the SYSTEM Shop node wherever you would like.¡±
¡°Not to worry, I¡¯ll make sure it¡¯s near the food court so everyone can visit whenever they need to,¡± Adam said.
¡°My fellow Merchants and I do appreciate your business,¡± Alerna said with a smile. ¡°Now, is there anything else?¡±
¡°Nope, for now, I¡¯m done,¡± Adam said as he turned and went to the exit and reappeared in the room with his new City Node and Nanite Stabilizer. Adam immediately started creating nanites with Mold Chaos as he activated Technomancy and reached out to the governing A.I. He gave control of the nanites to continue construction and modification of the base along the plans that had been laid out. A portal opened for him and he stepped into the hallway outside of the general office and knocked, even though his Sense of Chaos told him that the General, Captain, and Lieutenant were talking with the cook about current rations and supplies.
¡°Come!¡± The General called out.
Adam walked into the office and smiled as he said, ¡°We have some new things to discuss and set up for Racoon City before I go interrogate a hunter I captured.¡±
All three officers looked up at Adam as the General asked, ¡°What have you got for me, Adam?¡±
Chapter 257, The Hunter Killer
As Adam let the three officers know what he¡¯d been up to, he began creating more nanites with his skill Mold Chaos.
¡°There are actual hunters running around killing and tagging humans,¡± Captain Clarkson asked.
¡°See for yourself,¡± Adam said as he had the nanites in the room pull images from his mind through Technomancy.
The three watched the footage of Adam¡¯s decimation of the eight hunter groups and the images of the bodies strewn here and there all over the city. While they watched Adam continued to create more nanites and set them under the control of the A.I. With the Nanite Stabilizer in place any nonorganic material within 25 miles of the room could be converted into more nanites and utilized. That was one of the reasons he wanted one so badly. The SYSTEM hampered any use of nanites for creation except within a stabilized zone. Eventually, Adam would be able to transfer material into the area and have the nanites here create goods he could sell.
Now he was going to try to save as many people as possible while killing as many hunters as possible. He¡¯d already earned 20,413 Event Points. While he didn¡¯t know what they would get him, he knew he wanted more. Adam also looked over his Status Screen and noted that he¡¯d gained 7 more levels and reached level 8. Adam put all 140 free attributes in his Chaos Attribute. With the automatic 10 points per level, he increased his Chaos attribute by 210 which allowed him to go from creating 2, 860 pounds with Mold Chaos to 8,976 pounds every 10 seconds. He¡¯d increased his Chaos Attribute from 130 to 340 in a moment. With the 20% boost his base of 340 increased his Chaos Attribute to 408. He could spend all 408 of his chaos to create the nanites, then use Chaos Conversion to convert 4080 mana into Chaos and his mana regeneration rate of 18,510 would immediately refill the mana he¡¯d just spent. Also, it was nothing for him to utilize both actions in a single turn so he could do this six times a minute.
Adam was brought out of his self-reflection when General Duvall asked, ¡°Adam are you carrying a camera when you run around like that? In fact, is that you running around?¡±
Adam smiled, ¡°No to the first question, yes to the second.¡±
¡°How do you keep the images so clear? I could swear that the footage I¡¯m seeing is way better than anything the drones we have could give back,¡± The General asked as he tried to get more information from Adam.
Adam looked thoughtful as he said, ¡°Part of it is my natural abilities. Another part is an insanely high Perception attribute. If you focus on that Attribute you¡¯ll be able to see more details and catch things trying to sneak up on you.¡±
¡°How high are we talking?¡± Lieutenant Baker asked.
¡°Well over 1,000¡±
¡°Well over 1,000!¡± Captain Clarkson exclaimed, ¡°I have a 12 in that attribute.¡±
Adan didn¡¯t know what to say to that, so he ignored the outburst and turned to the General, ¡°After I stopped the hunters in Albuquerque I headed toward Phoenix and ran into the guest I need to go question momentarily.¡±
¡°Where did you put her?¡± The General asked.
¡°She¡¯s in a holding cell in a different part of the city,¡± Adam said.
¡°How long until she wakes up?¡± Lieutenant Baker asked, and shouldn¡¯t you have a female with you when you go talk to her?¡±
Adam shook his head as he said, ¡°I just reviewed some of the skills and spells I picked up. Specifically, the skill I used on her. It seems that if I use my mental blast to knock people unconscious and they''re close to normal, they¡¯ll be out of commission for up to 18 days. She¡¯s a high elf so she¡¯s probably got some mental fortitude, so maybe 17 days.¡±
¡°Then how are you going to interrogate her?¡± General Duvall asked.
¡°Oh, I picked up another new skill, Telepathy. I¡¯m going to invade her mind and then just watch her memories, should be fun,¡± Adam said.
¡°You can do that?¡± Captain Clarkson asked.
¡°Yeah, but that¡¯s not the important thing. I picked up a SYSTEM Shop node so the people that earn credits can go into the SYSTEM shop and purchase stuff, or you can give them one of these,¡± Adam said as a bar of Adamantium appeared in his hand.
¡°Looks kind of like silver, What is it?¡± Lieutenant Baker asked.
¡°This is a bar of Adamantium, yes, like the metal Wolverine supposedly had injected into him.¡± Usually, it goes for a high price because it''s hard to find and even harder to create. I have no idea how much it''s worth in this SYSTEM.¡±
¡°Then how do you know it¡¯s valuable? Better yet how did you create it?¡± General Duvall asked.
Adam handed the bar to Captain Clarkson, ¡°Take this down to the SYSTEM shop and see how much you can get for it.¡±
Captain Clarkson looked to General Duvall, who nodded, accepted the bar, and commented, ¡°It¡¯s heavy,¡± as he headed down to the SYSTEM Shop node.
¡°Yeah, that¡¯s about 50 pounds,¡± Adam agreed as he made two more bars, one for each officer, ¡°Here¡¯s one for each of you. As for your question General, I know it¡¯s expensive because Adamantium is the strongest magical metal that exists, pretty much anywhere. There might be something with specifically stronger properties, but Adamantium is just the best all around. As for how I made it, well our home is now a nanite farm of sorts that can make anything we want.¡±
¡°What do you mean nanite Farm? Are they inside me?¡± Lieutenant Baker asked as she tried to brush herself off.
¡°Relax Lieutenant,¡± Adam said with his command voice which surprised the General and the Lieutenant,¡± In this SYSTEM, nanites can¡¯t invade living structures. Without the stabilizer, the only thing nanites can do is modify themselves to take on new forms or destroy nonorganic material. With the stabilizer, the only functionality I have is that the nanites can break down inorganic matter and convert it into other inorganic matter. I still can¡¯t affect or create anything living, I tried.¡±
¡°What kind of advantage does this give us?¡± General Duvall asked.
¡°Now the base can continue to be expanded while I rush around the globe and take out the hunters. I can also set up drop-off points for food and supplies that are created here. Unfortunately, I can¡¯t do anything about healing people with the nanites, but they can provide the supplies to the doctors that might need them and as people take healing classes they¡¯ll be able to help out too.¡±
¡°How long?¡± The General asked.
¡°It¡¯s a 50-mile diameter area which does include Alamogordo which is also all a Safe Zone now,¡± Adam said as he looked thoughtful for a moment. Give it three days and the nanites should have spread into Alamogordo and started repairing the place and tied it to the fusion reactors I have below us.¡±
¡°We have Fusion Reactors?¡± Captain Clarkson said as he rushed back into the room Breathless.¡±
¡°Not important, how much did you get for the bar?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The exchange rate was 200,000 credits for 1 pound with a 10% fee. I got 9 million credits for the trade.
Adam caught the eyes of all three officers, ¡°Do NOT flood the market all at once. Feel free to trade in these two bars and then spend those credits on what you think you need for the base. As you need more credits make more Adamantium.¡±
Lieutenant Baker interrupted Adam, ¡°Why be careful about flooding the market?¡±
¡°Because it will bring attention to us before any of you can protect yourselves or I am ready to deal with any problems that might pop up.¡±
¡°A more important question is what can we buy from the SYSTEM Shop?¡± General Duvall asked.
Adam smiled, ¡°Anything, anything at all. You just have to have the credits for it. In this context, you could buy information about your loved ones on the world or for everyone in the world. Get the coordinates and then have the A.I. open a portal to retrieve them. You know what, that¡¯s a great idea. Time to stop talking, you have people to save by bringing them here. The housing will expand exponentially in all directions. If you have any questions ask Ray
¡°Who¡¯s Ray?¡± Captain Clarkson asked.
¡°Ray is the Racoon City Resident Artificial Intelligence or R C R A I or R A I otherwise known as Ray.¡±
¡°You just made that up didn¡¯t you?¡± Lieutenant Baker asked.
¡°He did, the feminine voice of Ray said from the air around them.¡±
Okay everyone, The base is expanding, try to save as many people¡¯s loved ones as you can. Ray, we will need more portals so please take care of that. I¡¯ll check in in a bit. I have a female elf to go tortu¡ I mean interrogate,¡± Adam said. As the portal he summoned opened, and he stepped through the face all three officers gave him was priceless.
As the portal closed Ray said, ¡°A bit childish, wasn¡¯t it Adam?¡±
¡°Yes it was, but existence is boring if you don¡¯t make people a little uncomfortable once in a while. Besides their imagination of what I¡¯m doing to the sleeping elf is going to be a lot more exciting than the actual interrogation.
¡°How so?¡± Ray asked.
¡°You¡¯ll see,¡± Adam said as he summoned a chair, Activated Telepathy to establish contact with the elvish woman, and then began using Memory Recall on her repeatedly. Adam even activated Mental Refuge so he could take advantage of the time dilation effect to speed things up. After five minutes both his Telepathy skill and Mental Refuge Skills had increased to Common level 2 which had tripled his time dilation. After 10 minutes they were both level 3. By the time an hour had passed his time dilation was up to 9 times normal. When he stopped after 109 minutes, just shy of two hours both skills were Scare level 1, and his time dilation was 11 times normal when doing anything mentally through telepathy. He was definitely going to have to level the hell out of that skill.
Memory Recall hadn¡¯t leveled at all but it had started at Rare level 1 so that wasn¡¯t surprising. Adam correlated the data points he¡¯d recorded for the two skills he¡¯d just used continuously for almost two hours and estimated that if he continuously used Memory Recall he would be able to increase the skill to Rare level 2 after 20 hours. It wasn¡¯t going to be getting the 20 hours that was hard, he¡¯d eventually do that. It was the continuous use that would be the issue.
Adam refocused his thoughts on what he¡¯d learned from the Ishla Tai Nar. A high elf from the world of Xen in a galaxy so far away that it didn¡¯t matter. She was the great-granddaughter of some powerhouse for the Xeli Corporation and she was a mage. A mage with the skills to get free She was also cheating. She had a ship in orbit that had been teleported into orbit the moment she¡¯d arrived. Once Adam knew that it was time to get to work.
Adam created an airlock and then had it open into a high orbit above the point where her memories said the ship would be. He¡¯d been wanting to test his Adaption perk and also whether Chaos Step would work in space, and this seemed like the perfect time to find out.
Adam stepped through the airlock and out into space. In a moment he saw the ship and walked toward it. Adam remembered the phrase ¡°The Enemies Gate is Down¡± from a science fiction classic as he oriented himself and walked to the ship. He activated Technomancy, took over the ship, and entered through the Air Lock. With Sense of Chaos, he immediately knew every component of the ship and with Technomancy he knew the programming that ran it. Also, the design wasn¡¯t unlike other designs he¡¯d seen before. Adam paid specific attention to the engines and drives and compared them to technologies he¡¯d seen before. In the space of 30 seconds, Adam went from a basic knowledge of physics to a full understanding of how physics was mitigated and modified by the SYSTEM. Adam knew that if he needed to, he could create a duplicate of this ship and it would fly.
With Technomancy, he was also able to scrub the computer core and pick up Ishla¡¯s Empire identity and the primary genetic password that was tied to it, as well as an additional quantum code that acted as a designator to determine which Universe that genetic material of the key came from. All of it was used as a unique password that gave someone access to all of her accounts and any of her holdings on the various planets she owned.
Ishla was kind of important and probably considered this a holiday which begged the question, someone like that must have a way to recover their body if she went missing or even a way to come back from death. A clone perhaps?
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
No sooner had that thought crossed his mind than a ship 10 times as large as the ship he was on warped into existence next to him in orbit. For comparison, Isha¡¯s private ship was a luxury yacht with a bedroom entertainment area and even a fully stocked kitchen as well as an upper observation bubble. The ship was at least 1,000 feet long. The ship that he was looking at through the front screen had to be just shy of 2 miles long.
Adam¡¯s Sense of Chaos felt the scan go over the ship and then felt the ship get teleported into a docking bay. Immediately he knew exactly where he was as the pulse that his Sense of Chaos sent out fed him information concerning his surroundings.
A moment later a female being materialized out of the shadows behind him with a blade at his neck, ¡°Move and Die Human.¡±
Adam had detected her before she appeared but wanted to see where this was going. If she¡¯d attacked he¡¯d have reacted but capturing him? He could work with that, so he remained unmoving and waiting.
¡°Good, you can follow directions,¡± the female in black armor that reminded Adam of the armor types he¡¯d seen on that cartoon Voltron growing up said as the airlock opened and she ushered him onto the landing deck where 4 guards had weapons trained on him and a fifth person in a uniform, not unlike that of a military officer, stood. The uniform was olive green and form-fitted and if he was being honest, except for the color, made the female elf look very good.
¡°What do we have here?¡±, the Officer he was ushered up to said in Elvish.¡±
¡°He was the only one on board, Commander,¡± The Assassin said.
Adam smiled, These elves had just brought him another ship, how kind of them. With Technomancy he reached to take over the ship. A look of surprise came over the Commander''s face and sneered at Adam, ¡°Did you think that¡
Adam moved.
Faster than the eye could see, his Chaos Blade appeared in his hand, decapitated the four guards with guns on him, split the assassin behind him two from her groin to the top of her head, and returned to his starting point. The Commander¡¯s sentence was interrupted when the assassin behind Adam fell to the deck in two pieces.
While she was distracted by her assassin falling apart In front of her as if by magic, Adam asserted control of the ship with Technomancy and shut down the threats that had started to target him and then locked all the other personnel down in whatever compartment they were in while locking out the controls to all systems on the ship.
While he was doing that the Commander drew her firearm, pointed it at Adam¡¯s head, and pulled the trigger. An energy blast exited the barrel and hit Adam in the temple. He checked his Combat log and noted that the gun only did 210 points of damage, 630 because it was considered a critical hit, and it still didn¡¯t get through his Damage resistance.
Adam sighed as he reached up and crushed the barrel of the energy pistol and then directed his gaze at the Commander.
¡°What are you?¡± the Commander asked.
¡°You know what, that¡¯s a good question, and I may even answer it, but right now, I¡¯ve got work to do,¡± Adam said as he systematically visited every person on the ship, stripped them of all weapons and items while leaving them with their clothes on and opened portals for them to step through. Those that didn¡¯t were thrown through the portal into the holding cells Ray was creating for them. A few did not get back up, though the nanites in the cells let him know they were still breathing.
While he was clearing the ship of the 45 personnel on board he was also flying the ship to the far side of the moon where he was taking it in for a landing in one of the bigger craters on the dark side. Once the ship was in the crater he waited the full five minutes to make sure there were no unknown alien bases in the area with Sense of Chaos and then activated the cloaking field the ship had. Once the ship was secure Adam stepped through a portal into his new office in the subbasement of Racoon City, which was hidden away from everyone else.
¡°Ray,¡±
¡°Yes, Adam.¡±
¡°Interrogate the prisoners. Also, the Commander probably has some form of Technomancy¡belay that,¡± Adam said as he opened a portal to where the Commander was walking up a set of stairs. She looked surprised when the portal opened which was all the time she had when she was hit with a Psionic Blast which knocked her unconscious. Adam stepped through the portal, picked up the Commander as he had Ray create a room with no exits, and opened a portal into a chamber 20 miles under the mountain that he¡¯d detected with Technomancy. Adam left the portal open while he created enough Nanites to create a small room with facilities that were not connected to the base. He made sure the room had a water supply, bathroom, climate control a very small reactor, and lights. He also left her some ration bars to hold the elf over. Adam placed the Commander on the bed in the windowless and doorless room and stepped out of the portal and back into his office. He¡¯d probably have to hook her up for intravenous feeding if she didn¡¯t wake up in a day or so. He already knew he¡¯d have to do that to Ishla.
¡°As I was saying Ray,¡± question the prisoners, see what you can get out of them. Keep them fed and feel free to offer them reading materials. Do not let them know what¡¯s going on throughout the world and do not let them talk to each other.
¡°As you command, Adam¡±
Adam had been sidetracked long enough. He left instructions for General Duvall to work with Ray to make sure the unconscious prisoners didn¡¯t die and then it was time for him to work on saving the rest of humanity. He had some sample collectors to confiscate and some hunters to hunt. Depending on how many there were worldwide, this next part might take a little bit. Of course, he had a few thoughts on how to help with that.
***
What the actual Fuck? Dizzle Horn Breaker thought as he hovered over his extremely potent drink. He¡¯d been in this god-forsaken city for the last 14 days, ever since the 84th day of this event when the worldwide emergency broadcast had gone out that over 75% of the hunters were dead. He¡¯d even visited a shop the same day to see if it was normal hunter attrition or something else. That¡¯s when he saw the leader board which listed someone called ¡°The Hunter Killer¡± as having 221,404,413 Event Points.
Additionally, the humans they were supposed to be hunting had been disappearing since the first day. He¡¯d verified that bit of knowledge with the hunters who were hanging out with him in this town called El Paso or something. El Paso was one of the Green Pillar Towns which was also a Safe Zone which it seemed kept The Hunter Killer from coming after them. He and a few of his friends were having a party on one of the rooftops drinking up whatever Alcohol they could find while they partied until the Tier 1 version of the quest was done. A half-orc by birth, Dizzle¡¯s constitution was quite high but fey wine mixed with some dwarven lager, yeah that created a kick that could get a god shit-faced.
As Dizzle was contemplating what he was going to tell his clan because he had done quite respectable while he¡¯d been hunting a SYSTEM Notification appeared.
EVENT ALTERATION!
Green Pillars and all associated Safe Zones are now being converted to Yellow Pillars without safe zones. All Merchant access has been removed except at designated SYSTEM Shop nodes in cities with populations of 1 million or places where the natives have purchased SYSTEM Shop Nodes.
The event will end in 23:59:30
Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe he just didn¡¯t give a shit, but Dizzle didn¡¯t even flinch when the white pearlescent blade removed his head from his body. It happened so quickly that he even saw 14 other heads in front of him get removed. It was surreal. He blinked his eyes trying to catch a glimpse of what had done this but other than a blur of white light, he saw nothing. A moment later 15 portals opened, and the bodies, and heads, were dragged into the processing area of Racoon City. Dizzle¡¯s mind was still alive as he watched all of the hunter''s bodies get stripped of their gear and then get thrown through a hole he soon followed as the human that was holding him muttered, ¡°I hope you rot in hell you ugly piece of shit mother¡, ¡° as he was tossed after the bodies and fell for a moment as he tumbled toward an ocean-filled world far below. For a moment he felt intense cold and then intense heat.
***
Adam ended his Telepathic link with the Half-Orc as he continued to move between the hunter-refugees that the SYSTEM had been so kind to lift the safe zone protection from. He guessed the SYSTEM didn¡¯t like it when individuals who had agreed to go to an event hid in a safe zone. Granted, Adam had evacuated over 70% of the surviving population to Raccoon City which was now more like a mini habitation capsule than anything else. Even so, there is a lot of space in a 25-mile radius sphere and the city didn¡¯t feel crowded as far as Ray could tell.
The first 84 days had been a relentless blur as he pushed his willpower and endurance to the limit. He had Ray create Satellites and drop them into orbit so he could get full coverage of the planet while he had Ray also create sensors that were placed by a group of people that did so through portals that were created for that purpose.
While Ray and the people in Racoon City worked on getting the city up and running while they also set up the global surveillance network, Adam traveled to all the big cities in North America and then South America, taking out as many hunters as possible. Once the network was up Adam altered his approach. To prevent tracing or prediction algorithms from getting a bead on him, Ray opened a portal to various locations at random intervals. There was no need to clear out a city before moving on to the next city because that would have let them know exactly where he was and how long he''d be there if he was waiting until the last hunter was dead.
Instead, he would kill some hunters in one city, head to another part of the skill some more hunters there, then a third part of the world take out a couple more of them there and continue without stopping. Ray was analyzing the surveillance footage and helping him determine targets while he was moving so he never needed to stop. Because the biggest thing he had to remember was to never stop moving.
Adam would let Ray know where a body fell and then a portal would open. General Duvall had set up a group of people that were only too happy to help discard the scumbags that had come to Earth to kill and pillage them. Now they were getting to turn the tables on them.
In an area with a lot of hunters, Ray would open a portal under the corpse. Once stripped of all valuables the corpses were dropped through another portal into low orbit where they burnt up on re-entry or not, well except for the Commander. She had proved incredibly resourceful and had been about to gate out of her holding cell when Adam had ejected her into the Sun.
Ray had contacted him when she¡¯d started drawing diagrams on the floor which Adam recognized. While the gate or portal she was creating hadn¡¯t been linked to hell or wherever the demons had come from it looked like the commander might have been able to make a portal back to her Empire. Allowing that at the bottom of his base could not be allowed. When Adam realized what she was trying to do she became a liability and nuisance. Now she was atomized and part of the solar wind. If the Commander had some way to return to life, Adam was confident she¡¯d have no idea where she¡¯d been from the moment he¡¯d knocked her out on her ship until she died.
The other reason Adam was running around like a hamster on crack cocaine that was trying to kill all the hunters was because he¡¯d received a quest when all of the Green Pillars had been converted to Yellow.
New Quest: Hunt the Hunters
Kill all the hunters that came here to kill humanity.
Reward: Variable, based on performance.
Hunters Left 144,599
Time Left 23:59:35
Luckily, he¡¯d mapped out all the remaining hunters when they¡¯d turtled up in the safe areas. His count matched the SYSTEM count, which included Ishla, which was unfortunate for her. He¡¯d save the best for last. Of course, it wouldn¡¯t be a fight, He¡¯d kept her unconscious and intravenously fed for the last 99 days as a precaution.
Adam focused his attention on what he was doing and began taking out hunters at an insane pace. For the last 99 days, he¡¯d kept a steady pace before, only killing one per combat turn, or 10 seconds, which allowed his regeneration rates to keep up easily. He hadn¡¯t pushed himself. In a moment he realized that if he killed one hunter per combat turn he would only be able to get 8,640 before he ran out of time so now it was time to bring his ¡°A¡± game.
He had long ago figured out that he could make up to 90 attacks in a single combat turn and still have just about 6,000 stamina left of his Stamina Regeneration pool after he replaced all the used stamina. If he kept himself down to 90 attacks or less he could continue attacking indefinitely without tiring himself. He wasn¡¯t back to the insanity he could pull before, but that was still pretty quick. Shoot, he¡¯d even looked at the numbers and calculated that if his stamina was higher he could make over 31,000 attacks. Unfortunately, the stamina cost per action doubled after every 10 extra attacks. By the time he was making 90 attacks, each attack cost 2,560 stamina or 25,600 stamina for all 10. For now, 90 attacks was more than enough and left him a nice buffer with his stamina so he could do other things if necessary.
Another lucky thing, he¡¯d been telepathically linked to Dizzle the Half-Orc for only a few minutes when the quest had come down. Remaining connected after he¡¯d decapitated him had been novel, but enlightening. It looked like General Duvall had the people in the asset recovery section of the city ready to go on a moment''s notice. He¡¯d already killed the 15 hunters in that bar and was on his way to his next location when Dizzle was picked up and discarded. Adam stopped letting his mind wander and went to work as he utterly annihilated every hunter that had come to Earth including Ishla, whom he¡¯d saved for last and killed by piercing her through the heart.
As a notification appeared in his vision, Adam¡¯s Sense of Chaos skill let him know that the Commander had screamed once and then fallen over with blood running out of her ears, eyes, and mouth. Well, that problem was solved, now he just needed to figure out what to do with the other 44 members of the crew that he hadn¡¯t killed yet. First, though he was going to look at his new Notifications.
Congratulations!!
Quest!: Hunt the Hunters Complete!
Foreign Hunters Killed 100%
Surviving World Populations 71.3% (5,811,056,862)
Cumulative Success: 171.3%
New Titles Gained:
Savior of Humanity! ¨C You have protected over 50% of your fellow man. Strength, Constitution, and Charisma efficiency increased by 20%
Meticulous Hunter ¨C Perception, Endurance, Willpower, and Constitution increased by 20% Efficiency.
A second notification appeared soon after.
SYSTEM MESSAGE
Pillars that were converted from Green to Yellow are once again Green.
Previously purchased Safe Zones have been reinstituted.
Event Points can be spent at Event Nodes in any Merchant area.
As all hunters were killed a 24 hour rest period has been granted.
Stage 2 will begin in 24 hours.
Adam closed the notifications and pulled up his Status Screen for the first time in 99 days. Maybe he should have checked his status more often. His level for his class ¡°Agent of Chaos¡± had reached 100 and he had another 524,320,882 XP held in abeyance. Not sure if the free attributes would disappear, Adam put all 1,840 Free attributes into his Chaos Attribute and wondered if he should open his class tab to see if he had any Tier 3 Classes or if he should wait until after the 2nd Stage of this Event.
Chapter 258, Preparing for Stage 2
General Duvall looked around at his new office and marveled at what had happened over the last 100 days. A man, a singular man, had somehow saved 71.3% of the population, most of whom were in the facility that had expanded quite a bit. With Ray running everything, food wasn¡¯t an issue; everyone had access to anything mundane. They even had a couple of leveling farms at this point. The most dangerous of which was outside, though no one was high enough level to use it yet.
The safe zone Adam had placed included all of Alamogordo which the nanites had already repaired and upgraded. People weren¡¯t living in the city yet because of the psychopathic aliens. As soon as they received the all-clear, some had already requested permission to live on the surface. With Ray taking care of everything, it shouldn¡¯t be an issue. For now, Ray had created a couple of places in the mountains where people could go outside to get some fresh air that was relatively safe.
The General was brought out of his thoughts by a knock on his door, ¡°Come in,¡± he called as he focused on the man he¡¯d just been thinking about.
Adam stepped through the door and sat in one of the General¡¯s chairs, ¡°Sorry, I haven¡¯t sat down in, well a long time. Thought I¡¯d stop by and see how things are going and make a suggestion.¡±
¡°Nice to see you again Adam. What¡¯s the suggestion, so we can get that out of the way first?¡± General Duvall asked.
¡°Well, we have just over 23 hours before Stage 2 starts. I would offer that this is a perfect time to let people return to their homes and grab any items of sentimental value. Ray can replace anything they have even sentimental items, but they wouldn¡¯t be the original If people have things they¡¯d like to pick up, right now is the perfect time to do so. I know it¡¯ll be a bit of an undertaking but Ray and you should be able to handle it,¡± Adam said.
¡°I¡¯ve put Captain Clarkson and Lieutenant Baker on heading that up right now. As I understand it Ray can duplicate anything in her sphere of control so digital pictures, drives, etc. can be duplicated as long as they¡¯re brought here.¡±
Adam looked thoughtful for a moment before he offered, ¡°If you have teams ready, Ray could open portals to any server sites and have the sites brought here, or she could extend cables through open portals into those rooms. We¡¯d have to supply the power and the connections but it shouldn¡¯t be an issue. Honestly, the safer way would be to bring everything back here. Open portals can be detected and tracked.¡±
¡°Won¡¯t they be able to detect us with a sensor anyway?¡± General Duvall asked.
¡°Maybe, but unlikely, at least until the truly powerful make their way here. I mean the administrators for the SYSTEM know we¡¯re here and the information can be purchased from the SYSTEM Shop but anyone entering this area will have a very bad day,¡± Adam said with a wry smile.
¡°Why is that?¡±
¡°While I haven¡¯t been back in over three months I do have a connection to Ray and have checked in every once in a while concerning the technical stuff, like portal construction, power generation, satellite and sensor coverage,¡± Adam explained as the General gave him a look that asked what that had to do with anything. Adam smiled and continued, ¡°When we first met this facility had barely enough power for me to open portals to the Moon, possibly even Mars. 100 days later, we can open portals into space at least 100 light years from here.¡±
¡°So what does that do for us?¡±
¡°Well, anyone that comes into this safe zone and pisses me off can be shoved through a portal that will put them a long way from here. If they have magic, they might be able to come back but more likely they¡¯ll have to use the SYSTEM to save themselves which should return them to their homes, or they just die, which works for us too.¡±
¡°Adam, how many hunters did you kill?¡±
¡°Stage 1 had one million hunters, not including the humans that also tried to enter the race. I killed every hunter that came here and every human that tried to become a hunter that attacked me. There are probably a couple of humans out there roaming around near one of the green pillars that killed a hunter. If they don¡¯t come after me, they get to live.¡±
¡°Do you think you¡¯ll have any issues with Stage 2?¡± General Duvall asked.
¡°Not really but it depends on what type of event the Xeli Corporation thought up. On that note, I need to visit the SYSTEM Shop. Before I leave, how is the housing situation now that over 5 billion people live in one 50-mile area on the planet?¡±
¡°Honestly, it¡¯s going a lot better than expected. Once people started disappearing for fighting the physical altercations stopped. Also, we set up sections that are sealed off from other sections even though everyone has access to whatever they need.
¡°So what happened to the ones that started a fight?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Well, your previous location that everyone was sent to is now within the 25-mile radius of the center of this facility but part of White Sands is still just outside the Safe Zone. Ray redirected them there and we even put some of our people on the edge of the safe zone so they could hand them supplies to survive the day.¡±
¡°Any issues with monsters in that area?¡±
¡°There were some worms but after Ray created a few weapons towers on the edge of the safe zone the monsters stayed away. Once their timer is off they step into the Safe zone and Ray opens a portal to the area where they move to.
¡°And it¡¯s not crowded,¡± Adam asked.
¡°Nope, inside this safe zone, every single person we have could have at least 100 cubic feet that is their own. While that doesn¡¯t seem like a lot, with Ray¡¯s ability to make anything almost instantly everyone has their privacy, though I do have a question, roughly 1% of the population has disappeared. I am getting questions as to why?¡± The General asked questioningly.
¡°The individuals in question have violated the rules of basic decency toward their fellow men, women, and specifically children. Before they could act out their depraved fantasies, Ray moved them to another part of the facility which is completely cut off from everyone else. They currently have access to each other but there are no children in the vicinity and the two sexes are also separated.¡±
¡°Are you going to leave them there?¡± General Duvall asked.
¡°General, I don¡¯t know if you haven¡¯t noticed but it¡¯s a brand new world. I¡¯d just as soon get rid of them but I know that¡¯s not something people will like so I separated them from the general population to give you a chance to get everything set up. Once Stage 2 is done, they will be the Government¡¯s problem, whatever form that takes. I just figured you wouldn¡¯t want to deal with distraught parents and depraved individuals while we were trying to save as many as possible.
¡°Well, you guessed right, thanks,¡± General Duvall said.
¡°Okay, I¡¯m off to the SYSTEM Shop, I have some more of those scans to turn in for funds.¡±
General Duvall nodded as Adam walked out of the office and made his way to the SYSTEM Shop node. General Duvall kind of wished this place was run by the Uniform Code of Military Justice which would make taking care of that 1% super easy, but he knew just killing pedophiles and individuals that had tried to commit murder but didn¡¯t wasn¡¯t going to sit well with everyone. It seemed Adam had taken care of the problem for now so he activated his comm and called out, ¡°Captain Clarkson, update please?¡±
***
Adam thought the talk with the General had gone well. His days of being the overbearing asshole making all the decisions was done. Someone else could be the asshole, unless they tried to kill him. Yeah, if they tried to kill him, Adam absolutely reserved the right to be the asshole. Adam put those thoughts out of his mind and entered the SYSTEM Shop. He went up to the counter and sat in front of Alerna who held up her finger in the classic, ¡°One Second,¡± pose.
While he was waiting Adam could turn in the sample collectors. Once he entered the shop he realized that he hadn¡¯t been fast to save everyone on Earth when he was notified that the Shop had detected that he had 1,273,517,000 new samples to turn in. That was fine. Adam accepted the payout and looked at his new credit balance, 1,273,530,545,923,120. As he saw his new credit limit he couldn¡¯t help but smile as he thought. Don¡¯t you worry, Karma is going to visit those dirtbags, really soon. Besides, it was always a good thing when the people you were going to bring justice to paid both the monetary and karmic bills themselves.
Alerna looked at Adam with a bit of apprehension and asked, ¡°Is everything okay, young Master?¡±
¡°Fine, Alerna. I was just thinking about what I was going to do with all of those credits,¡± Adam said with a self-deprecating laugh.
¡°Well, I can see that you¡¯re at the threshold of being able to choose a Tier 3 class, if you have any available. Are you here to choose your class and acquire some class skills early?¡±
¡°No, that¡¯s okay,¡± Adam said.
¡°Will there be anything else?¡±
¡°I do have a question. As I use my skills and class abilities is it normal to get the points that were invested back as I use the skill?¡±
¡°Of course,¡± Alerna said. ¡°The skill points that are available to you are so that you can lock in skills that you find at the higher rarity class and level. Once you have used the skill long enough the points are returned to you.¡±
¡°Do you know how long that takes?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes and no. Studies have been conducted on skills up through the Advanced level. Let¡¯s say that you find a skill scroll that will give a skill at Advanced Rarity level 10. You spend 55 skill points to lock that skill in at Advanced Level 10. Now skills are a bit weird. They don¡¯t earn experience points, instead, they level based on use. After many tests scholars have determined that a skill must be constantly used for just over 70 days, or 101,842 minutes to reach Advanced Level 10.¡±
¡°Wow,¡± was all that Adam could say, and then he looked at his log. His Chaos Conversion, Hyper Focus, and Running skill had all increased to Master rarity level 1.
¡°What is it?¡± Alerna asked.
¡°It would seem that I have been constantly busy for 100 days. Three of my skills have risen to Master Rarity level 1
¡°Three different skills, you¡¯re sure?¡± Alerna asked.
¡°Yes, three skills,¡± Adam affirmed.
¡°Can you show me?¡± Alerna asked.
Adam pulled up the skills and willed them to display without any of the descriptions or the word chaos.
¡°And you¡¯re sure these skills all leveled to this point within 100 days?¡± Alerna asked.
¡°I only earned these skills 100 days ago, so yeah¡± Adam affirmed.
¡°Thank you,¡± we hadn¡¯t had anybody confirm how long it would take to level a skill that high before.¡±
¡°You¡¯re quite welcome. If the difference between Advanced level 10 and Master level 2 is over 30 days I think it will be quite a while before any skills locked in above Master rarity could have the skill points locked up in those skills back.
¡°Well, you only need skill points to lock the skill in and of course, you need at least one skill point to create a skill from scratch,¡± Alerna said.
Adam froze before he asked quickly, ¡°Alerna, what do you mean by creating a skill from scratch?¡±
¡°Well, you know how you have to lock in class skills to level 1 with a skill point as they become available?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Adam said as he nodded.
¡°And you know how you need to spend skill points based on a level no matter the rarity of the book or scroll you are learning it from which we were just talking about?¡±
¡°Yes, of course,¡± Adam said.
¡°Well, let''s say that you are good at something or know something that is part of another class that you wouldn¡¯t normally get as a class skill yet you figure out how to do it and the SYSTEM registers that you do know how to use that skill. The SYSTEM will offer you the choice to lock in that skill at Common Rank 1 for 1 skill point. When you¡¯ve used the skill enough to earn Common Rank 2 the SYSTEM refunds the skill point.¡±
¡°How would that work with the Perk Skill Savant?¡±
¡°Skill what?¡± Alerna asked.
Adam pulled up the Perk and displayed it for her
Skill Savant - All skills are known to you through the many memories you have absorbed, while you receive no additional bonuses you are proficient with all weapons, tools, and vehicles
¡°Honestly, I¡¯ve never seen that perk before. I wouldn¡¯t know how that would affect creating level 1 skills since you technically have the skill. Maybe you just need to use the skill long enough to get level 2 for it to lock it in without using any skill points.
¡°Well, I¡¯ve been using Psionic Blast and Chaos Blade almost exclusively for the last 100 days¡¡± Adam was interrupted as notifications filled his vision.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Skill Review In Process
Skill Psionic Blast used continuously? Yes
Skill Blades used continuously? Yes
Adjustments made
Psionic Blast increased to Master Level 1
Skill Blades (Chaos Blade) increased to Master Level 1
¡°What just happened? Alerna asked.¡±
¡°It would seem that I was moving too fast for the SYSTEM to keep track of. It reviewed and backdated my skill growth with two skills,¡± Adam said.
¡°That¡¯s amazing. I mean I know it happens, but in your case, that is amazing,¡± Alerna said.
¡°Yeah, it was pretty nice,¡± Adam agreed.
¡°Are you done now?¡± Alerna asked.
¡°For now, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll be back after the next stage of my quest,¡± Adam said.
¡°Well good luck, I hope to see you soon,¡± Alerna said.
Adam nodded and left the SYSTEM Shop. After he appeared next to the SYSTEM Shop node, he stepped through the portal into Ray¡¯s inner sanctum and sat down in a chair the nanites had created for him. Next, he activated Technomancy and reached out with his mind. He wanted to check in on the whole facility as well as the rest of the world. He had satellite coverage across the planet and sensors in a lot of places. Also, over 1 billion people still live outside the facility.
Adam had 22 hours. To start with, Adam was going to create pallets of supplies with Mold Chaos to supplement what Ray had been doing. Once every minute Adam created a pallet, and used Chaos Conversion, which had also leveled to Master 1. Leveling that skill had taken him from spending 10 hit points, stamina, mana, or psychic energy to get 1 point of chaos to get a 1 to 4 ratio here 1 hit point earned him 4 chaos though he was using his mana to recover his chaos.
Also, his Mold Chaos skill had leveled quite nicely as well. He could spend all 3,720 points of Chaos to create 81,840 pounds of materials and his mana regeneration of 20,711 per 10 seconds could replace it. with a 1 to 4 ratio he only needed to use 930 mana to do so. Adam settled back and started reviewing the state of the world while he created one pallet per minute.
As Adam reviewed the planet the people that had not made it to his bunker that Ray could detect things seemed to be doing okay. Most were at least 200 miles away from any pillar and had gone to the ground and were hiding. Adam continued making pallets and scanning the globe until he received the notification that his Skill level with Mold Chaos had increased to Rare Level 3. Which still only had a cost of 1 Chaos but now he could make 23 pounds of materials per point of Chaos.
Using his Perfect Memory, Adam sorted through every use of Mold Chaos and realized that he had used the skill exactly 9,051 times. This meant that leveling skills at the common level was based on multiples of 10, Scarce was based on multiples of 100 and Rare skill leveling was based on multiples of 1,000. Therefore it shouldn¡¯t be very hard to get skills from level Common to level 1 Rare easily. After that though, it would get time-consuming and expensive which meant he should probably only spend skill points on Common level 1 skills or on skills that were above Rare rarity.
That also meant there was no way he was going to get Mold Chaos to Rare level 4 before Stage 2 started. Besides he had a few new skills he wanted to try. Adam spoke into the air, ¡°Ray, I¡¯m done supplementing for now. I¡¯m going to try something else.¡±
¡°Very well,¡± Ray said into the room
Adam spent 100 Psychic Energy and activated Astral Projection.
Adam¡¯s point of view lifted up from his body and he looked around. His body was still sitting in the chair with its eyes closed. Next, he activated Spiritual Strength and felt his body materialize around him as the energies of the Astral Plane solidified and formed his body. Sure he was only 1% as strong as his normal body but that still meant that his base physical attributes were over 2,641.
¡°Adam, why are there two of you in my chamber?¡± Ray asked.
¡°This is just my Astral Projected Form solidified. Please scan me and see if you can tell the difference. Also, be ready to scan for this type of variance going forward.
¡°Understood,¡± Ray said as Adam felt a tingling sensation before Ray said, ¡°The copy of you that is moving and talking does not possess a quantum signature. It reads as solidified energy or a hologram.¡±
¡°That makes sense,¡± Adam said as he dropped Spiritual Strength and Astral Projection which brought him back to his body. From his sitting position, Adam activated Safe Haven. He had thought a door or something would open but that didn¡¯t happen. It felt like a sheet of saran wrap had just reached out and covered his whole body simultaneously. Adam¡¯s vision was flooded with both realities. On the one hand, colorful gases billowed out and around him as far as the eye could see in all directions, even through the ground. On the other hand, he could see everything in the Material plane within his area of perception which was about 60 miles. He could see through solid walls and was even able to take in all of Racoon City without moving. Both images were overlapped in his vision making it very unlikely that anyone without sufficient intelligence or willpower would not be able to get anything out of using a skill like this. Also, Adam intuitively knew that he could Astral Project into either location with no issue.
Adam activated Astra Projection and exited into the Material Plane. The whole point of trying these new powers was to reach out to other people he hadn¡¯t been able to contact and either provide them with supplies or bring them back to Racoon City. Once he did, he could no longer see into the Astral Plane. Unlike his other forms of movement, he could be anywhere with a thought. At 186,300 miles per second, he could get to any point on the face of the planet, which he tested as he appeared in Paris, then Moscow, then Hong Kong, then Sydney, and back to where he¡¯d started within 10 seconds.
Unlike normal movement, if he had a good memory he could go anywhere with a thought. Also, there was no sense of movement. To him, his point of view simply shifted. Of course that wasn¡¯t true when Spiritual Strength was active. He activated the skill and tried to move to Paris and nothing happened. He was able to walk from one side of the room to the other, but the fast travel that Astral Projection allowed was not available while he had a solidified body. Adam checked and sighed half-heartedly, with attributes at 2,641 his new movement speed was only 1,513 miles per hour, or just over two times the speed of sound. He couldn¡¯t travel from one side of the planet to another in a moment but he was still quite fast.
Adam checked his energy expenditures and recovery. It looked like he wouldn¡¯t have anything to worry about on that front either. The upkeep costs were far lower than the initial costs that his natural Psychic Energy regeneration could handle. If he ran out of energy he could supplement for a little while with Chaos Conversion by converting mana into psychic energy. As it was, he was already back to full in all attribute pools as he deactivated Spiritual Strength and flashed to the first place he wanted to visit, Nome Alaska.
On the west side of Alaska, Nome was literally in the middle of nowhere with only one road that led to Teller Alaska which was about 58 miles to the north and west of Nome. Both locations had small airfields but nothing had been flying, except the hunters, Adam, and a few others that had learned a spell or skill. Ray had tried to establish communication but had been ignored so for the last 3 months Ray had simply dropped off pallets of food and water near the hospitals as needed in both locations when no one was looking.
Ray had come up with an ingenious method for doing so. Ray could create anything she wished in Racoon City that wasn¡¯t alive with nanites. She could then move those items outside of Racoon City so long as there were no nanites in them. Adam had given her the programming that allowed her to move the terminus of the portals which made everything easier.
A pallet was placed on the ready location, above which was a clamping mechanism that could stabilize and hold the pallet from directly above. The clamp would lift the pallet, or item, off the ground at least an inch, and then a portal would open horizontally directly below the pallet. The portal would shift up, which made it appear that the pallet was dropping through the portal but realistically the pallet only moved one inch as the clamp lowered the pallet to the ground on the other end of the portal. Once the portal reached the top of the pallet or item, the clamp would release, and withdraw into the ceiling at which point the portal disappeared.
To anyone at the target location, it looked like a horizontal portal appeared about an inch off the ground, and a pallet lowered to touch the ground as the portal rose until the top of the pallet was visible. A clamping arm that was holding the pallet on two sides released and moved straight up through the portal, which then disappeared.
Ray had been creating and dropping off supplies like this for the last three months to the human settlements that had been ignored by the hunters or were too far away from any of the green pillars where some of the natives had fled to. Ray had a whole staging room for pallets and General Duvall had put a team together that looked over the locations and helped Ray put together the list of items a pallet would contain. After Stage 2 was complete General Duvall was going to send out teams to make contact with everyone Ray had been helping. If they¡¯d made it to a green zone they were safe for the most part. As for Adam? Adam was heading to places like Nome Alaska where the people didn¡¯t understand what was going on and refused to step through the portal to safety or talk to General Duvall or Ray through the supplied communications devices. Ignorance was not bliss and Adam needed to show them that.
A moment later Adam¡¯s Astral Form stood at the doors of the Norton Sound Regional Hospital. He activated Spiritual Strength and materialized before he walked toward the police officers who had drawn their guns on him and were standing guard at the main doors.
¡°Freeze!¡± the police officer on Adam¡¯s right said.
¡°Yeah, No,¡± Adam said as he continued to walk forward.
¡°I said freeze dirt bag or I¡¯ll open fire.!¡±
Before the police officers could react, Adam flashed forward, grabbed both barrels and shattered them by squeezing them with his hands. With a carrying capacity of 29,000 pounds in this limited form, it wasn¡¯t as easy as it would normally be but he still had more than enough strength to overcome the barrels and squeeze them until they broke.
¡°Now, where is your leader, I need to talk to him¡±
¡°You aren¡¯t getting anything out of¡¡±
¡°Ray?¡± Adam said
¡°Whose Ray the officer on the left asked.¡±
¡°Adam didn¡¯t have time to put up with two idiots. A room filled with foam appeared behind both police officers as portals opened. Neither had noticed the portals and were completely surprised when Adam pushed both at the same time and they fell backward into empty space when they both expected to be stopped by a wall. As the portals were closing Adam called out, ¡°Someone will collect you in a few minutes, just relax until they come get you.¡±
After that show of force, which everyone in the front lobby saw, it was only a moment before the leader showed up, Mayor Anik. Once Adam explained to her where he was from, where the food that had been appearing as if by magic had been coming from and that a significant portion of humanity was safe in Racoon City it wasn¡¯t very hard to convince them that they¡¯d be better off with the rest of humanity. He¡¯d also cheated a bit by having Ray create a portal directly over a working monitor which Adam used to show everyone what Racoon City could offer with the promise that they could come home once everyone was safe. This would be so much easier if nanites worked everywhere. He was definitely adding that to his ¡°To Do¡± list.
For the next 7 hours, Adam moved to various locations around the globe and recovered a small portion of those humans who had not been contacted by General Duvall or who had been contacted and didn¡¯t leave. Some stepped through portals into Racoon City while others still chose to stay behind. Adam set up communication devices that Ray could monitor so they¡¯d be able to contact her in an emergency and evacuate if needed. Adam also made sure to warn them to hide when Stage 2 started.
Unfortunately, the largest contingent of people he couldn¡¯t recover were in mainland China. They were spread out and hard to find. Even if he¡¯d been able to find six people every minute for six hours straight, that would have only been 21,600 of the half-billion people that were still unaccounted for based on the numbers the SYSTEM was supplying versus the number that Ray had found so far. Adam focused on leaving signs in the local language and establishing surveillance for Ray to monitor.
With one hour left before the start of Stage 2, Adam stepped through a portal into General Duvall¡¯s office where Captain Clarkson and Lieutenant Baker were waiting.
General Duvall nodded to Lieutenant Baker who began to speak, ¡°Hello again Adam. We have recovered the equipment from all of the hunters that you dispatched and were wondering what you wanted us to do with it?¡±
Adam looked confused for a moment and then remembered that he hadn¡¯t given any instructions other than, Ray take care of this, oops.
¡°Adam?¡± The lieutenant asked tentatively.
¡°I leave it to you all to figure out what to do with it. If you have people who are leveling against monsters, there are probably good weapons in there. There are also probably some storage devices as well as some money and supplies. I can make anything I need and the quest items I¡¯ve recovered from the hunters have given me enough credits that I can buy what I want from the store. After this is over you should ask me about ¡®The Asshole¡¯ singular, because there is no bigger asshole that has ever existed. Anyway, you all keep the equipment. Use the stuff to get some people trained up.¡±
¡°That¡¯s very generous,¡± General Duvall said.
¡°It¡¯s practical. I¡¯m not planning on sticking around forever. You all need to get ready for what¡¯s coming. Ray will be here and if one of you can get a technological-based class I¡¯ll do some quick training before I take off but right now, I¡¯m just living day to day while I come to terms with this new SYSTEM, ¡° and figure out how to circumvent it, Adam thought before he continued, ¡°After this next event is over, there will be another event and another and another. You will not have me around all of the time so others will have to step up. Ray will be able to help a little bit, as will the SYSTEM Shop. You can buy any information you need from there and Ray gives you the ability to create things to sell to the shop so you can get the credits you need to buy the items you need.
¡°All good points, ¡° Captain Clarkson agreed. ¡°Where are you going to go when this kicks off?¡±
¡°With the SYSTEM in play, I am sure that someone has bought the information to know about me. I figured I¡¯d make it easy for them and go wait out in the open. I was thinking of sitting at the center of Delacorte Theater in Central Park. Should be fun,¡± Adam said with a crazy smile.
¡°They¡¯re going to try to kill you?¡± Lieutenant Baker said
¡°Yep,¡±
¡°And you¡¯re not worried?¡± she asked.
¡°Not really, no,¡± Adam said. ¡°Ray, set up surveillance so they can watch. Time to go,¡± Adam said as a portal opened and he stepped onto the middle of the stage in Central Park New York. Delacorte Theater an open amphitheater in Central Park and it was a bit chilly, but the chill didn¡¯t hurt like it would have hurt when he was human and wouldn¡¯t even bother his true body now. Adam considered how to proceed because there were a couple of ways the beginning of this next stage could go and it honestly depended on what kind of event Stage 2 was.
Adam activated Mold Chaos and created a nice lazy boy chair which he then sat down in. He extended out the legs laid back and closed his eyes while he waited. Of course, he didn''t have to wait long because he only had five minutes to go when he sat down. Honestly, this should be fun. As far as he could tell, while he was Astral Projecting and using Spiritual Strength they could kill his body but that wasn¡¯t going to do anything to his true body which was still back between dimensions in his Safe Haven. It would be interesting to see what happens if the body he was manifesting into died as that wasn¡¯t covered in the skill description.
At exactly 24 hours Notifications started scrolling down his vision.
New Quest, ¡°Supremacy¡±
Duration: There Can Be Only One!
The hunters are being given an optional quest to hunt you.
Your quest is to survive and kill all of the hunters.
You CANNOT Decline this quest!
The number of hunters is variable until all registered hunters have accepted or declined the changes to this event.
Possible Hunters for Stage 2: 100,000
Hunters have 1 minute to accept the changes to the event or decline the event altogether.
Reward? Based on participation and the percentage of hunters personally killed.
There were a couple of notifications that detailed how the pillars worked for the newcomers but Adam skipped them. When the minute passed a new counter appeared in the top right of Adam¡¯s vision
Hunters Left: 59,647
The pop beside Adam was from the change in air pressure as someone teleported beside him and fired a very big gun point blank into his chest. To be honest, Adam had been expecting that. What he was not expecting was for the teleportation to contain signs of temporal alteration or that the person trying to shoot him was none other than a doppelganger of Apolyn.
Even so, the body Adam was inhabiting was strong enough to take a single shot. In a smooth movement, he stepped off the lazy boy chair and disarmed Apolyn as he took a step back and said, ¡°Using time travel to get the kill, for shame Apolyn, for shame. Of course, once a cheater, always a cheater.¡±
Apolyn only had time to ask, ¡°How do you know my name?¡± Before blood exploded from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth as Adam hit him with a Mind Bolt at point-blank range.
Unlike his Physical Traits, his mental traits were still normal. Adam sighed, ¡°One down, 59,646 to go!¡±
Chapter 259, Damage Control
Valeria Celeste Xeli looked at the data on her terminal and frowned. A beautiful woman by many standards with her emerald, green eyes, and light brown, almost blonde hair. She had an exquisite figure that she maintained without fault and knew that when she frowned it could turn her natural beauty into something ugly.
She brought her thoughts back to the terminal in front of her. The event she was sponsoring should have generated a lot of goodwill with several influential factions in her Sector. Instead, all one million hunters from Stage 1 were dead and Apolyn, one of the rising stars of this era that she¡¯d been keeping an eye on had died. Well, he hadn¡¯t died yet. She knew his tricks and had placed a temporal tag on him. The version of him that had just arrived for the hunt was probably getting the lay of the land. The version of himself from one day in the future had just died.
As she watched the counter for the total number of hunters that had opted to stay for Stage 2 it dropped by 1. 20 seconds later another hunter was killed, and another. After 5 minutes the counter had been reduced by 15 with one hunter disappearing every 20 seconds or so. Everyone knew that The SYSTEM broke combat down into 10-second Combat Rounds. It looked like the target of the Apex Hunter quest that had been offered to her guests was taking one combat round to move to a target and the next to kill them.
As soon as the quest had dropped she¡¯d tried to purchase information on the target of the Apex Hunter only to find out that the information was so expensive that she¡¯d have to pay more than 100 times the worth of the Xeli Corporation, which held dominion over one Sector and had major interests in two others with branches in at least five other Sectors. No one that she knew of had the kind of capital she¡¯d need to get that information. Just one man was doing the damage to her Company. With the amount of prestige, they were losing on this venture, as well as the capital, the investors that wanted to silence all of the shadows might not invest in their next sponsored ¡°Hunt¡±
Who was she kidding, this was a PR nightmare. 1 million hunters had been wiped out and almost half of the Tier 2 Stage 2 guests had reneged on the hunt of the Apex Predator that had killed all the Tier 1 Guests. Something had to be done. Some had clones and there were a few that had their minds backed up in one form or another because they thought they could cheat the rule of Primes, but she knew each of those copies would just be Shadows of the original, just like everyone on the planet her Corporation had tried to sanitize. Now? Now it was time for damage control.
She sent a flurry of commands into her terminal. At the current rate of 1 hunter every 20 seconds it would be 13 Days, 19 hours, and 17 minutes until every hunter on the planet was dead. Most likely sooner if he was able to catch a couple of groups working together.
Valeria smiled. Maybe she couldn¡¯t get information about this Apex Hunter from the SYSTEM but what she could do was this.
Authorize the Creation of Stage 3 Hunt to registered guests. Tier level limit: Unlimited, Yes or No?
Valeria chose ¡°Yes¡± and smiled. If Tier 1 and Tier 2 hunters couldn¡¯t handle the problem maybe bringing in better hunters was the answer. Additionally, she¡¯d set the quest prize as 1 trillion credits. She might not be able to afford the information concerning the Apex Hunter but a bounty of 1 trillion credits with no entry fee and transportation to and from the world in question covered by The Xeli Corporation.
While The SYSTEM would usually stop any overmatched encounters like the one she was setting up due to balance and its goal to remain as neutral as possible while elevating individuals to become stronger it did not normally interfere with the choices of its users toward one another. It only made sure that there was a cost and that the cost was paid.
There had been a cost to her Corporation and Family, Now there was a response to that cost. The credits were transferred from Xeli Corporation as more and more participants accepted the quest. Some of the Tier 4 and Tier 5 people that might go on such a hunt that she expected would accept declined while names she¡¯d never seen before, accepted the quest. At the very least Xeli Corporation would get information on some individuals they¡¯d never seen before.
This quest had gone out to the whole SYSTEM, not just her Sector after all. That meant they could see Shadows from other Earths. She would need to make sure a network was set up that could identify and hopefully track such Shadows back to their origin for later targeting and removal. She had a special team for such endeavors if her clients were willing to pay the fee.
Valeria glanced back at the counter of hunters left and realized that in the five minutes she¡¯d been setting up the Stage 3 Event over 100 hundred hunters had been killed. It looked like the Apex Hunter had found a grouping somewhere. One hundred though? She rolled the counter back and sure enough it looked like he¡¯d killed 100 hunters in 20 seconds. Wait that was 5 hunters every second and he¡¯d done that for two combat rounds. Three combat rounds? Four? Valeria watched as 1,247 hunters were removed from the total in the space of 13 Combat turns or just over 2 minutes.
She considered for a moment. She knew how much stamina that cost. She¡¯d looked into the breakdown a long time ago. To make 50 attacks in a single Combat turn would cost 3,100 stamina unless he was toying with time. She checked to make sure. Nope, no one had adjusted time since Apolyn made his move, so this was straight-up skill and attributes, the kind of skill and attributes one usually saw on high-level Tier 4 or Tier 5 combatants.
As Valeria thought about what she¡¯d just learned, she started to question her decision to purchase a Stage 3 Event.
***
Adam was plowing through the hunters like they weren¡¯t even there. Even in the limited Astral Form his attributes far surpassed any of the hunters he encountered. Only two things had surprised him over the last 12 days. The first had been that group of 1,247 hunters that had been coordinated and working together. None of them could keep up with him. While his Chaos Blade was static and didn¡¯t improve with use, it allowed him to use his full strength and burn through any shielding; physical, magical, or energetic, like it wasn¡¯t there. It wasn¡¯t fair and Adam didn¡¯t care. Maybe he should make that his new catchphrase. No, because then Karma would make him eat that idea with him on the other side of the ¡°Not Fair¡± equation.
The Second thing he noticed was that after 6 days some of the hunters had run to a SYSTEM Shop and purchased a Safe Zone Node. Adam had found himself inside a Safe Zone looking at a smug hunter who was sitting at a campfire. He¡¯d looked up and pointed at a nearby log, ¡°Have a seat Stranger, There¡¯ll be no killing her today,¡± he¡¯d said. A moment later a new Notification had appeared in Adam¡¯s vision.
Would you like to purchase Immunity to the Battle Creek Safe Zone? Cost 1 million credits per attack within the boundary of the Safe Zone.
NOTE: You can toggle this cost to pay out automatically. If you do so you will be charged 1 million credits per attack. If you do not have the funds to make the attack The SYSTEM will block the attack and you will be ejected from the Safe Zone to a random point 25 miles away from your current location.
Clarification: If a single attack affects multiple individuals protected by the SYSTEM you will be charged 1 million credits per individual affected by that attack.
Clarification: Multiple attacks against the same target require a separate charge each time.
Adam smiled viciously as he toggled ¡°Yes¡± and altered his settings to pay the fee automatically, and then brought his blade down on the smug hunter, cutting him in two from his left shoulder to his right hip. The look of surprise on his face was priceless as Adam moved on to his next target inside this Safe Zone.
1 million credits per attack was pretty steep but there hadn¡¯t been a single person that had required more than one strike yet. Also, the Green Pillars had turned off so the only individuals he¡¯d have to pay that fee for were the ones that tried to circumvent the Event by purchasing a Safe Zone. He¡¯d turned off the notifications for the expenditure; he¡¯d look at it later. Adam had work to do.
Not many beings could keep up the pace he set. At least 1 person died every 20 seconds. The only reason he paused was because he had to swap back and forth between his Astral Form and Physical Astral Form when he activated Spiritual Strength every time he moved between target areas. He popped into existence, killed the target, and then Ray¡¯s voice would whisper a longitude, latitude, and elevation. He¡¯d pull the memory of the place from his memory and head there.
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One thing that sucked about being Astral, couldn¡¯t recover his Psychic Energy while he was in this form but he could convert his mana, stamina, and chaos into Psychic Energy with Chaos Conversion. However, he couldn¡¯t convert his Health right now, probably because his body and mind were currently separated, even if they were still linked in a way.
Adam had also turned off his XP Notifications. He was sitting at Tier II Master Class Rarity Level 100. He¡¯d had enough XP to choose his Tier III class, achieve Level 100, choose his Tier IV class, and get to Level 5. Adam struck down the last hunter and quickly checked his total XP, 1.27 billion. If his math wasn¡¯t wrong, and he knew it wasn¡¯t, taking out these 59k Tier 2 hunters would only elevate him to Tier IV Level 37 or 38.
Before Adam contemplated what to do next a SYSTEM Message appeared
Congratulations! Stage 2, Complete. For surviving the continuous attacks of 59,647 hunters¡ERROR
¡
¡
¡
You have earned the title ¡°Prey, Not!¡± Not content to let the hunters come after you or just hide. You have slain 1,059,647 members during an event where you were the Prey.
This Title earns a +10 to all attributes and a +10% bonus per 10,000 continuous kills where continuous is defined as one kill per minute.
Maximum Award Per Title reached.
All Attributes raised by +10 and +100% Efficiency.
Adam quickly checked his Status screen and noted that his attributes had all effectively doubled. However, it looked like his Astral Form did not get the benefits of the Titles as his Body¡¯s effective Strength was over 633k, but the base was 264k. His Astral For only had 55k which was about 8.5% of the higher value and right around 21% of his base attribute value. It looked like his physical attributes were all based on the base values. His mental and social attributes in Astral Form all included the efficiency bonus though so it looked like anything that improved his spirit was effective whether his spirit was connected to his physical body or not.
Adam was drawn from his musings as a new Notification flashed across his vision.
UNIQUE
EVENT
OPPORTUNITY
This Quest has been offered by the CEO of the Xeli Corporation. All monetary rewards are to be paid by Xeli Corp.
STAGE 3 ¨C Slay the Apex Hunter.
Restrictions for Entry: None
Restrictions during Participation: Only Monsters and the Target may be engaged. Attacking other participants or natives will terminate your participation and you will be ejected from the Event. Self-defense is allowed, please limit the use of deadly force when responding to unwarranted attacks.
Benefit: The target has been Marked. The Target is marked. An Arrow to the target will appear in your Heads-Up Display.
Reward: 1 Trillion SYSTEM Credits
Reward: New Title Dependent on Performance.
The Event Ends when the Apex Hunter is Dead or other predetermined criteria have been met.
Good Luck
Adam laughed. That would be just too ludicrous. How many people would be stupid enough to try their luck against him after he decimated every Tier I and Tier II hunter who had come on this little Safari? Of course, if there were no restrictions, did that mean he¡¯d get to see a Legendary or¡.
A portal opened 100 feet above Adam. He knew he was on the blank, or back, side of the portal when he heard a sucking sound from the other side just before he felt the electrons in his vicinity become agitated, like right before the lighting was going to strike. There was a roar for a split second and then the portal disappeared. With his Perception as high as it was, It was nothing for Adam to follow the hole in the clouds up into low orbit where a ship had a weapon pointed in his direction.
Adam dropped his physical Form and shot up to the ship in orbit in a fraction of a second. What he saw when he arrived was both interesting and astounding. There was a 5-foot circular hole through the center of the ship directly behind the pilot''s seat. Ray must have opened a portal directly above him and had the other end come out right against the ship. In fact, now that he looked a little closer he noticed that the only thing holding the front of the ship to the engine compartment were a few structural beams and a couple of panels on each side. Otherwise, the craft''s front end had been almost completely separated from the aft end.
Adam also noticed that the pilot sitting in his seat. He was in full vacuum and trying to reach for a button while red circuit breaker lights and flashing strobes went off all around him. Just as Adam was about to act his body, the ship, and the pilot of the ship were all vaporized as they were hit from multiple points simultaneously. Adam, now in his Astral Form sighed. It looked like these idiots could zero in on him as soon as he manifested. That wasn¡¯t good. If he returned to his body and left his Safe Haven the base would be attacked. If he manifested the ships would target and fire from orbit. One thing that was a bit satisfying, whoever had shot at him and also hit the pilot should have been removed from the planet.
Adam looked around and noticed 34 other ships in low orbit, all just a little over 100 miles away, which was nothing for an energy weapon that could travel 186,300 miles in a second. They were not even one-tenth that distance from him. Adam ghosted over to one of the ships and tried to slip inside only to be rebuffed. It seemed that the ship''s shields were proof against astral entities. If they had a shield that could block him it probably meant¡
A glowing astral entity appeared beside him, ¡°Hiding in The Between, how quaint¡¡±
Adam hadn¡¯t tried to summon his Chaos Blade while only in his Astral Form yet. Sure, he¡¯d summoned it after he manifested. Sure, he knew Chaos was an intrinsic part of him, and Sure enough, when he summoned the Chaos Blade into his hand and swung it like a golf club up through the middle of the amorphous blob of energy that represented the spiritual form of the entity that had appeared beside him and started talking shit, it was split in two as it tried to scream stopped as it died. The two clouds of energy were sucked toward a point at the center of where the creature''s spiritual form had been and a whirlpool formed as it was sucked toward a pearlescent crack in reality.
The energy became a changing whirlpool of color as it was sucked into a pearlescent pinpoint. Adam¡¯s Agent of Chaos Class Perk, Sense of Chaos, told him that the pearlescent crack was an opening into an area of chaos which Adam found fascinating. It looked like his Chaos Blade had cut through reality in the pseudo-dimension he was in that was directly adjacent to the Material Plane.
What was even more surprising was when a tendril of chaotic energy lanced from the crack to Adam¡¯s head, and everything went white. Just before he was flooded with information while simultaneously feeling himself returned to his physical body and then felt as if he was sucked out of the pocket dimension as Safe Haven was ended forcibly. This wasn¡¯t done against his will so much as he didn¡¯t consciously allow it to happen before he felt himself become more complete.
***
General Duvall read the notification the SYSTEM had just sent out¡again.
SYSTEM Message:
Xeli Corporation STAGE 3 Unique Event Opportunity has ended.
All Guests that chose to participate are now being returned to their point of origin. Please note that all Yellow and Red Pillars have also been removed.
Green Pillars will remain for one week to allow the indigenous people of this planet to purchase any goods or services they might need.
SYSTEM Shop Nodes are still available in all large population centers as well as were purchased.
The SYSTEM is no longer suppress Monster Spawning. The severe influx of mana brought on by so many high-level deaths during Stage 1 and Stage 2 and the two deaths during Stage 3 have radically increased the rate at which monsters will level or spawn.
While not designated as a Dungeon World, this world is now quite similar to one.
Enjoy this opportunity for personal growth.
General Duvall rubbed his forehead and then spoke into the air, ¡°Ray?¡±
¡°Yes, General¡±
¡°Could you get Captain Clarkson and Lieutenant Baker up here, we have some things to discuss.
¡°Done. Captain Clarkson is in the dining area; he¡¯ll be here momentarily. Lieutenant Baker was down overwatching the groups that are going over the recovery of Weapons, Armor, and Equipment from the individuals Adam killed,¡± Ray said from miniature speakers she created with the nanites in the room.
¡°Thank You, Ray. A question for you, Do we still have full satellite coverage?¡±
¡°We currently have 87% coverage. Quite a few satellites were accidentally destroyed when the ships initiated the orbital strikes against Adam in low Earth orbit. The workshops below are creating and replacing those satellites as we speak,¡±
¡°How long until we¡¯re back to 100%,¡± General Duvall asked.
¡°Approximately 15 minutes.¡±
15 Minutes. They had a lot to go over before they could take a good look at the planet and what had happened to it while Adam was busy hunting. It was still hard to believe that man could do everything he said he could and more.
¡°Ray, any word from Adam.¡±
¡°No, General. My last sighting had him in orbit above New York right before he and 13% of my sensor network were destroyed by 34 vessels in orbit. 20 Seconds later the ships I could still detect from outside the dead zone vanished.¡±
General Duvall thought for a moment before he said, ¡°Very well. Please review our current expansion plan. Do not plan for Adam¡¯s involvement. If he returns we can always alter the plans later. When the Captain and Lieutenant get here, we will all discuss where we go from here and how to help every one else that might still be alive outside of the Safe Zone.¡±
Chapter 260, Echoes and Shadows
SYSTEM Message:
Xeli Corporation STAGE 3 Unique Event Opportunity has ended.
All Guests that chose to participate are now being returned to their point of origin. Please note that all Yellow and Red Pillars have also been removed.
1 Trillion Bounty has been returned as no one succeeded in killing the Apex Hunter
Costs for travel have been compiled and subtracted from the Xeli Corporation main Credit account.
Valeria Celeste Xeli read the message and couldn¡¯t believe what she was seeing. She knew for a fact that over 500 Tier 5 individuals had accepted the quest and had been ferried over. While the transportation costs altogether only came out to about 500 billion credits the return was going to cost just about the same which meant her company was out 1 trillion credits and had nothing to show for it. While Xeli Corporation was valued at just over 250 quintillion credits, looting a Trillion would still have to be explained to Father.
Valeria opened her terminal and sent a query to The SYSTEM.
Querry: What happened to and Where is the Apex Hunter that was the target of the previous Stage 3 Quest Xeli Corporation sponsored?
Entity Designated as Apex Hunter was removed from Sponsors sphere of influence by ERROR. Current whereabouts are unknown.
Querry: Define unknown.
Unknown¡Outside of The SYSTEM
Valeria closed the terminal and sat back, pondering what she¡¯d just learned. Then she stood and teleported directly into her father''s Office. The teleportation hadn¡¯t taken her outside of the universe she¡¯d been in but she¡¯d moved a significant distance onto her Father''s Station that overlooked¡Nothing
¡°Isn¡¯t it beautiful,¡± her father asked as he continued to look into the darkness that had nothing in it.
¡°Father, you say that every time and every time I say to you, What is so beautiful about the emptiness outside of your window,¡± Valeria said tiredly.
¡°And I always explain to you that the fact that there is nothing at the center of this Universe, the 1st Universe as far as anyone can tell is precisely why it is so beautiful. This time will be different though.
Valeria looked at her father closely as she considered his words, ¡°How?¡±
¡°This time I think I¡¯m ready to embark on the great journey,¡± he said with a smile
¡°You¡¯re going to ascend,¡± she said with a little shock in her voice.
¡°Don¡¯t be like that Val, we¡¯ve both lived for a very long time, it is time for me to move on and see what¡¯s next.¡±
¡°But,¡± Valeria said with a quiver in her voice.
¡°We both know we¡¯ll see each other again. In fact, your mother broke quite a few rules coming back to tell both of us what¡¯s on the other end of that decision,¡±
¡°True, but I won¡¯t be able to come to you for advice,¡± Val said.
¡°Did you need my advice about the fiasco that just happened on the shadow Earth? So, a whole bunch of rich kids went and got themselves killed and the company spent over 1 trillion credits in your effort to try to fix the problem. It¡¯s Prestige with others and Credits. Ultimately, unless something is going to directly influence your personal growth, it¡¯s transitory and doesn¡¯t matter. Unless it concerns family of course,¡± he said as he walked from the window to stand in front of her.
Valeria could tell from his demeanor and focus that he meant what he¡¯d said and that he would be taking the next step. She sighed and stepped forward, which turned into her father wrapping her arms around her like he¡¯d done so many times before. Unlike before it was a firm, but quick hug as he opened his arms and she stepped back. Both stood silent as she reached up and cleaned the corner of her eye where a tear had started to form with her finger, ¡°Who takes over Xeli Corp?¡±
¡°You, of course, The SYSTEM has made it clear that I needed to relinquish all of my physical assets that I could not carry on my person or in my personal space. I¡¯m leaving everything to you.¡±
¡°Any thoughts on what I should do about this Apex Hunter?¡± Valeria asked.
¡°None at all, my thoughts have been elsewhere. That said, I think you¡¯ll do just fine,¡± Her Father said before he asked, ¡°Will you stay to see me off?¡±
¡°Of Course,¡± Valeria said as she watched her father whisper ¡°I Love You¡± as she whispered back, ¡°I Love You Too.¡± Then, her father¡¯s eyes focused, he smiled and vanished.
All Quantum, Electronic, Ability, Skill, Perk, and Spell-based Links to Adrian Silas Xeli have been severed permanently.
Valeria looked at where her father had vanished from and wished him a silent prayer. She would keep this station if for no other reason than her father was right. The fact that nothingness had erupted into existence during this incarnation was important, but she didn¡¯t know how yet. Maybe she could cast this Apex Hunter into the Nothing? That would certainly settle all of her current issues.
First, though, she had to find this Apex Hunter and end the threat to herself and her Corporation.
***
It, no he, consisted of many memories from many entities spanning many realities that kept fluttering in and out of existence. One moment he is now a she rushing her two children away from something that is chasing them before her terror is absorbed and snuffed out. The next, who was he thinking about? HE could remember everything, he knew that he could remember everything, it was a core to his identity, yet he could not remember himself. The zillions of identities that flashed through his consciousness all had names and then they didn¡¯t. It was like¡It was like time was constantly being changed and timelines were allowing the memory to exist and fade, except that couldn¡¯t be it. He knew, he didn¡¯t know how he knew but he knew if that were the case he would remember each time the memory appeared and disappeared and be able to see the changes because time didn¡¯t affect him so this was something else
Could this be a version of his mind that was backed up by a severe or in-quantum energy matrix that was being infiltrated? No, he knew that he had put safeguards in place to prevent that. He could even remember doing so. One aspect of the flashes of identity that manifested and disappeared was that they were chaotic, Chaos? Yes, Chaos! Chaos was his element, or calling, or whatever it was to him. But it shouldn¡¯t and had never done this to him before, he was sure of it. Then again if he was Chaos and Chaos was him could the memories of himself be something else?
He thought back to his first memory because his memory was perfect and his first memory was one of utter isolation without sensory input. Nothing around him, Nothing touching him. Nothing. Then something. A feeling of spreading out and through something that didn¡¯t feel, smell, taste, sound, or look like anything and also did feel, smell, taste, sound, and look like everything. As soon as he¡¯d realized that the memories of existences as zillions of entities, from the smallest bacteria to the largest dragons had flooded his mind and disappeared. Almost like shadows that came into focus and then vanished.
The only conclusion that he could come up with was because for some reason he knew what he should be able to do even if he couldn¡¯t remember who he was. The only conclusion was that he was not himself but possibly an aspect of himself that had made it into the true Chaos of the reality his true body found itself in. How did he know that?
One thing became apparent, the more he fought to remember, the more solid the memories he was recovering became and the more he started to remember after they appeared and vanished. Especially memories that involved any sort of skill or memory concerning magic. As this started to happen he felt himself solidify somehow and now he could feel himself being buffeted on all sides as if he were a rubber ball deep underwater trying to make its way toward the surface as various currents hit it from all directions randomly.
The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Now that he could feel his shape he started reaching out into the, fluid? For want of a better description, he reached out into the ¡°fluid ¡° around him and felt those memories that had been entering and leaving him. He tried to hold on to one and this time it became part of him and didn¡¯t leave. Had his mind once again been flung apart and he had to find himself? Where had that thought come from? As those questions crossed his mind he answered himself as he realized that whatever this was, it was similar but different. He could work with similar.
He started holding on and attaching the memories and fragments of memories as the ball that was his center expanded. After a time he remembered his name, Adam. And he remembered everything he could do. He dropped into his Mindspace easily enough and found everything as it was supposed to be¡No, he did not. There was a haziness to everything. The area was indistinct like it was both real and unreal. Yet, he remembered everything that he, Adam had been through and even the hijacking of the SYSTEM which was followed immediately by him waking up in this place, wherever this was, though he could guess that this was an area of Chaos, outside of The SYSTEM. How did he know that? Because he couldn¡¯t pull up an interface.
It could be a place where his spirit had been relegated for eternity for the things he¡¯d done but Adam didn¡¯t believe for a second that he deserved to be in any version of hell. He had helped far more people than he¡¯d hurt¡but. But, he had hurt quite a few people also so maybe. Adam soon figured out that there could not be some form of afterlife when he tried to access his Soulcore and couldn¡¯t find it. There was a framework, to which his consciousness and memories were attached but there was nothing in the center, nor was his Animae core there.
Adam considered this for a moment and then a lesson he¡¯d learned while in one of the quantum realities surfaced into his mind, Everything and Nothing could exist within Chaos. That meant that he was not the real Adam but an echo and if he was an echo then the real Adam had to be out there somewhere. Adam exited his Mindspace and started looking.
Once he realized that his Soulcore and Animae were missing, Adam felt a pull in a specific direction, though the word direction was not completely accurate. If he was floating in Chaos it was more appropriate to say that he felt a resonance and to follow that resonance he had to adjust his own. As he adjusted his resonance there came a point where he felt like the path to the resonance was blocked. He could feel that the part of himself that was missing was on the other side and just as he was about to settle in and wait a tear through the resonance appeared.
Adam could feel that part of himself that was missing on the other side of that tear and wished for it to be brought to him. Without knowing how tendrils shot out from the sphere that he¡¯d become and into the spatial tear. A moment later Adam, The true Adam because he could feel his Animae within, was recombined with his physical form and pulled through the resonance like it wasn¡¯t there. The humanoid version of himself was pulled into the spherical version of himself and merged as the spatial Tear closed.
Adam¡¯s humanoid body was absorbed into the sphere. His Soulcore and the Animae within, however, were redirected into the space that he had created as everything went dark.
SYSTEM Restrictions Removed
Adam opened his eyes to find that he was once again within a soup of pearlescent Chaos. He also realized immediately that he was outside of the SYSTEM and could feel that the restrictions that had been imposed on him had been snapped. As he looked into himself further he could see how those restrictions had been attached and how they¡¯d suppressed his nature which had then created this version of himself that had reached out when it was possible to reconnect.
He reviewed the memories that this other version of himself had ¡°remembered¡± and found copies of those memories within himself which told him that they were echoes formed within the boundlessness of chaos. How Ironic. The SYSTEM had tried to limit him and in so doing had forced a portion of himself into the one place he¡¯d never been, Chaos outside of The SYSTEM. He spread his Perk Sense of Chaos and sighed. He quickly checked his Personal Map which showed an empty three-dimensional graph so he focused in on the distances and saw that the range from himself to the nearest edge of the map he could sense was 15.5 tredicillion miles. That was 2.64 million years.
Adam considered that for a second and realized that out here in Chaos where limits and the Speed of Light were not a thing, that kind of range meant nothing. Inside the SYSTEM it would also mean nothing as he wouldn¡¯t be able to receive that information at faster than the speed of light. Sure if he stood still for a moment he could concentrate and let his senses go and detect everything as far out as he was willing to wait for but the information would probably be lagged by a time delay set by the speed of light.
Adam concentrated on the perk and set it to just under the approximate speed of light at 186,000 miles. Then he set all information from further out to be archived and only flagged his attention in certain instances. For that, he pulled up the program he¡¯d created for Thor and slotted only the criteria for dangerous problems into the watcher portion of his mind he left to that task. Everything with one light second was for him to worry about.
Here though, he felt his surroundings with his Sense of Chaos, you know what, he was outside the SYSTEM. Adam dropped down into his Soulcore, found the node that was his Sense of Chaos perk, and renamed it Sense Chaos. Sense of Chaos sounded like something he¡¯d exude from his body. Sense Chaos sounded a lot better. Adam felt the area of Chaos he was in and felt the Resonance his physical body had been pulled from. He also felt other resonances. Some felt like they were higher, others lower. Many more felt like they were parrel to the resonance he felt and he felt tugged in two directions, one a bit stronger than the other. As he felt the resonances out, one felt like the other half of his soul, while the other felt like a small part of his soul. They had to lead to Adaline and Pandora. The one that felt like Pandora also had softer resonances which were probably his parents and the others he had a close connection to.
Adam brought his attention back to the resonance his body had come out of and he focused on it. what it felt like and how to match that resonance. As soon as he did it was as if a curtain had been lifted and he stepped into the vacuum of space where he¡¯d been standing when he broke through to the other side. He didn¡¯t reappear in the plane his Astral Form had been in when he used the Chaos Blade to make the tear that led to Chaos. He was in orbit above Earth as a flotilla of ships appeared in orbit and time froze.
Not affected by the halt of the temporal flow, Notifications began scrolling through Adam¡¯s vision.
SYSTEM Access Restored
SYSTEM Limiters Added
SYSTEM Limiters Added
SYSTEM Limiters Added
ERROR
SYSTEM Limiters Failed to Take Effect
Order Doctrine inside Order Domain Imposed
Order Doctrine Nonapplicable, See Paragraph 166.2.3.C {NOTE Attempts to quantify or limit Chaotic entities are highly discouraged. Make one attempt to do so. If that attempt fails refer to the entity definition of self and how it sees itself within the parameters set by The SYSTEM. Once known, work with those parameters.
Reviewing Status
NOTE: Adamantadine, the values that you have identified as your attributes are outside the structure of Tier 1 ¨C Tier 5 Basic Users. The SYSTEM recommends that you Ascend as soon as you reach Teir V level 100.
NOTE: No Title or Leveling reward granted for Tier 1 ¨C Tier V will bring you above your current attributes
NOTE: More information will be made available to you when you Ascend.
Adam closed his Notifications and looked down at the planet below him.
Sense Chaos allowed Adam to instantly know where everyone on Earth was as well as every SYSTEM City Node and every SYSTEM Shop Node. With Mold Chaos he created nanites across the globe repaired everything and then made sure everyone had at least a one-month supply of water whether it be pallets of water or a well. He also created phone boxes that contained battery-powered, communicators that were quantumly linked to Ray. That way they¡¯d be able to call for help in an emergency.
As for the influx of mana, there was nothing he could do about that, nor would he. With Ray available to General Duvall they should be able to isolate and overcome any common threat that might appear. Once the basics were taken care of Adam activated Technomancy and linked directly to Ray.
With a thought he pushed all the information she might need to protect this Earth. There was nothing he could do about the SYSTEM Imposed nanite restriction but she could use the information to create a dome around herself and the base to keep everyone at the base safe. All she needed was resources which she could get access to with the portals she used. He also updated all local stellar charts with the information Sense Chaos was feeding back to him.
To make sure Ray had all the information she¡¯d need to access the asteroid belt and the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, Adam waited in orbit for two hours. He activated his skill You Can¡¯t See Me and then took over anything that popped into orbit that was looking for him. It was fun watching the various Xeli Corporation scout pop into orbit, and blast their scanners at the planet and surrounding space, only for negative information to be fed back to them because as soon as the command went out Technomancy altered it.
One commander had the intelligence to know something was up and utilized their scanners from outside the range that light could travel in one second in an effort to keep him from affecting the scans. While Adam could still utilize Technomancy on the ship it would still be two seconds before he could alter the output the scanners were giving. Of course that would have been true if Adam hadn¡¯t just activated a portal right up against the ship which brought him within range as soon as he detected the ship. If the ship was 2 seconds away. It would take 4 seconds for the information to return. For Adam, it only took 3 seconds. 2 seconds to receive the information the ship was in orbit, and 1 second to open a portal and use technomancy at almost point blank range to ensure the return scanner signal was ignored and false data was presented.
After two hours he was done making sure this Earth would be able to defend itself for a little while at least. Ray had detected him, but when he¡¯d sent a message to continue with her current projects she¡¯d gone back to work. Adam teleported next to the SYSTEM Shop Node in New York City and stepped inside.
As he appeared in the shop Alerna looked his way, her eyes went wide and she promptly fainted. Adam moved and caught her before she fell off the box she was standing on. As he lifted and carried her up to the counter, he used Mold Chaos to create a blanket and pillow on the counter for her and laid her down. Next, he created a glass of water for her and waited
He didn¡¯t have to wait long because she bolted upright and looked around frantically until her eyes focused on him. As he offered her the glass of water she asked in a hesitant, half-accusing voice, ¡°What did you do?¡±
Chapter 261, Someone That Knows...
Adam helped Alerna off the counter and reabsorbed the blanket and pillow he¡¯d created. The SYSTEM still didn¡¯t like nanites but as long as something was in his Area of Influence he could still use them normally. Also, Sense Chaos seemed to have a ping to it as information was sent back to him at no faster than the speed of light. Adam paused. That meant that it would be 26.4 nonillion years before all the information within 15.5 tredecillion miles of him. Sense Chaos was still limited by the speed of light unless he was within Chaos. Now if he created nanites within his Area of Influence and they were all quantumly linked¡and if he could somehow combine Sense Chaos with his nanites which were quantumly linked he could once again know what was going on everywhere instantaneously within his Area of Influence. Adam laughed.
¡°What is so amusing? Alerna asked indignantly.
¡°Oh, sorry. That laugh was about a thought I just had,¡± Adam explained.
Alerna looked like she was going to continue on the point and then took a deep breath before she said, ¡°Thank you for catching me before I fell off my walkway. It¡¯s a little cramped behind the counter and could have hurt me.¡±
¡°You¡¯re quite welcome. If you don¡¯t mind me asking, what about looking at me overwhelmed you?¡± Adam asked.
¡°One of my class perks is the ability to gauge the power level of anyone who walks into my SYSTEM Shop. Your signature was so powerful that it created a pressure that overwhelmed me. I wasn¡¯t expecting to see anyone with such a power level, ever. It¡¯s the highest I¡¯ve ever seen, and I include the Administrators in that Statement. Probably not their Supervisors but definitely the Administrators.¡±
¡°Why not the Supervisors?¡± Adam asked.
¡°A little-known fact about SYSTEM Supervisors, most are individuals that have Ascended,¡± Alerna whispered.
¡°I keep hearing this term Ascend. If I¡¯m being honest, I do not know what that means,¡± Adam said thoughtfully.
Alerna laughed, ¡°Welcome to the club. Because of my perk, all I can say is that their power level is brighter than any Legendary Class I¡¯ve ever met. You shone brighter than anyone I¡¯ve ever seen before.¡±
¡°So, there¡¯s another leveling system above Tiers 1 ¨C 5?¡±
¡°Most likely though, except for a couple of SYSTEM Supervisors I ran into I¡¯ve never seen another Ascendent being. When people Ascend they are normally never seen again. I¡¯ve only ever seen someone after they ascend if they work for The System.
¡°Are they spirits or solidified souls in some way?¡± Adam asked.
¡°No, The Supervisors are just as alive as you or I. Besides, I¡¯ve seen souls and spirits and watched them enter the cycle of reincarnation, Ascension and Death are two totally different processes.¡±
Adam pondered what she¡¯d told him for a moment and then created 5 Adamantium bars on the counter with his nanites as he said, ¡°Please give me the market price for these five bars and then transfer the full amount to yourself. Consider that a bonus tip for the information you just provided, it was very enlightening.¡±
¡°Sir, that¡¯s easily 500,000 credits, probably more,¡± Alerna said disbelievingly.
¡°To me it¡¯s nothing. No literally, those bars didn¡¯t exist a moment ago so to me they are nothing I¡¯m going out of my way to give you. To you though, those credits will help you increase your skills and level, yes?¡±
¡°Of course,¡± Alerna agreed.
¡°Then, there you have it. Thank you for the information please accept this gift as a small token of my appreciation for the help you¡¯ve provided me today. Now for the thing I came here for,¡± Adam said as he picked up a tablet off the counter, activated Technomancy, and linked to the tablet. In a moment he had the information he wanted, paid the one million credits for the information, and set the tablet back down.
¡°Is that everything¡¡± Alerna asked leadingly.
¡°Adam, I prefer the name Adam though I guess you could call me what the name tag identifies me as that you can see.¡±
¡°Very well, Adam. Is there anything else I can help you with?¡± She asked as the five Adamantium bars disappeared.
¡°No, and thank you again,¡± Adam said as he turned and walked to the exit. He placed his hand on the node and willed himself to exit the SYSTEM Shop. Adam appeared next to the SYSTEM Shop Node in New York City where people were standing around either waiting to use the node or talking with each other. It seemed that the end of Stage 3 had made some people who had been hiding courageous. Before anyone could react he teleported 250 miles straight up into low orbit. It was time to try out his idea on a small scale.
This next part was going to be fun. He always liked trying new things. Before he¡¯d broken out of the SYSTEM his Chaos Attribute had been limited which would have made it impossible for him to try to do what he was about to. Well, not impossible but he would have had to do it in stages. Now that his attributes were back to the levels he¡¯d earned over the many years, his Chaos attribute was incredibly high.
While Adam couldn¡¯t create enough nanites to cover his entire Area of Influence, though he could try. No, what he could do was test an idea he had on a much smaller scale, say the Solar System. He ran the numbers in his head. Distance to the edge of the Solar System. That was approximately 9.3 trillion miles which meant the area of the sphere that comprised the solar system was approximately 2.71E+26 cubic miles. If he created a nanite that was quantumly linked to him every 186,000 miles evenly distributed in a cubic pattern he¡¯d need to create 42,204,301,076 microscopic satellites to make sure he had coverage everywhere within one light second of each other. Adam did so and then directed the nanites through his quantum link with them with Technomancy. One thing that had changed. He wasn¡¯t automatically connected to machines anymore. Only when he activated Technomancy did he have access to the machines that he¡¯d linked to himself.
He connected to the microscopic satellites just fine but they didn¡¯t receive any data from the ping he was putting out. It was weird. He could tell that the ¡°ping¡± he released with Sense Chaos entered this reality at every point within his Area of Influence but once released the energy had to follow the rules imposed by The SYSTEM to return the information back to him. Adam thought about the problem and had a solution in a moment. He upgraded the satellite design and sent out a new batch of satellites.
Of course, his natural regeneration of chaos would take years to recover that much chaos so Adam activated Chaos Conversion and converted Mana into Chaos which was replaced a moment later. Once his chaos and mana pools were full again he looked at the Solar System with Sense Chaos.
It Worked!
The information that Sense Chaos was sending back to him was picked up by the microscopic satellites and he knew everything that was going on within 9.3 trillion miles of the Sun. Information farther out than that would still come in but it would be slower. Also, if he wasn¡¯t here to receive it, it wouldn¡¯t matter.
With a thought, he passed those current scans over to Ray. The nanites would disappear but the microscopic satellites should give Ray full coverage of the solar system when he left. The information would allow Ray to create a current model of the solar SYSTEM including all comets, asteroids, and objects in the Oort cloud.
Now that Ray could send out satellites, set up a sensor net, and had access to multiple sources of raw materials, Adam was ready to go. It was time to go see what the Xeli Corporation was all about. That had been the information he¡¯d purchased for 1 million credits. The Public Teleporter coordinators for Xeli Corporation¡¯s primary headquarters. Adam quickly teleported back to the Park in New York City and morphed his clothes into a dark gray ArmantI business suit with a power tie on it that had a picture of him in his dragon form. He quite liked how it turned out and added the ensemble as one of his default clothing sets.
With a thought, he teleported across dimensions and Sectors to the heart of The SYSTEM. It required an incredible 500 million mana to do so, which his mana regeneration replaced the moment he appeared.
Adam stepped forward out of a small room with nine other boxes and followed the arrows on the floor toward a door. The arrows on the floor were in constant movement and a soft voice could be heard repeating.
¡°Welcome to the Xeli Corporation Primary Headquarters, Please follow the walking arrows along the floor to the exit. Visitors must check in with Reception before proceeding. Thank you and have a nice day.¡±
Adam stepped out of the alcove as his Sense Chaos took everything in within 186,300 miles that first second and out to 1,863,000 miles by the time he stepped through the exit into the reception room. He also activated Technomancy and connected with all the computers on the planet. With Sense Chaos and Technomancy running concurrently, he was able to copy and analyze all stored data as well as active data worldwide within a moment.
Damn, it was good to be back to almost normal, even if his normal had previously been within a digital reality. That he could do the same thing out here in the real world¡well reality was nothing but solidified electrical charges given form and function. Should he really be surprised that everything he could do within a digital reality would also be possible within physical reality?
To facilitate going through all of the data he was absorbing, Adam compartmentalized his mind and began multitasking. He hadn¡¯t realized how much he missed being able to utilize his full abilities as his mind assumed the familiar form he¡¯d had back when he¡¯d first created his union with Thor. He still had to play by The SYSTEM¡¯s rules but right now his experience with computer systems and his ability to pull on memories of previous examples made what he was doing child¡¯s play. He had a feeling if he did something like this while outside of The SYSTEM, he could achieve levels of processing power hitherto unheard of.
As he went through their data he detected their technomancers and individuals with abilities and skills that could theoretically counter his, if they were at his level. Unfortunately for them, he had memories of code and digital networks as well as all of the safety protocols and defenses of hundreds of thousands of societies locked within his mind. As they tried to infiltrate, they were blocked. As they thought they made progress, they realized their progress was a dead end. It only took one of Adam¡¯s subroutines of consciousness to keep them busy while he infiltrated and commandeered everything within 1,863,000 miles of his current position.
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While his mind was busy taking over the digital infrastructure of the planet he found himself within the electronic systems of everything in orbit and out to the four moons that were in identical orbit offset from each other by 90 degrees which formed a square around the planet, probably to make sure local gravity was stabilized. Adam¡¯s mind wandered a bit as he thought about the inherent problem such a setup would create where the tidal forces intersected with the surface.
One of the movies he¡¯d liked back in college had a planet placed near a black hole. Because the planet was completely covered with water gravity had created giant waves. If his calculations were correct the same would be true as the moons made their way around this planet. The shifting gravity would cause constant earthquakes and create giant waves unless... Unless the rotation of the planet matched the orbital velocity of the moons. That would lock the lines of force and prevent them from pulling the planet apart. Also, it would probably help stabilize the planet.
Adam focused his attention on the moons for a moment and found what he knew had to be there. At the very center of each moon was an artificial structure that was quantumly locked into orbit along one of the magnetic flux lines of the planet. That explained how the moons were orbiting the planet at a higher velocity than the orbit they were in, without then falling out of orbit and flying away from the planet. Adam, of course, knew about quantum locking. It had been one of the coolest things he¡¯d ever run across. He¡¯d just never thought to do it on a planetary scale. It looked like he still had a few things to learn.
¡°Welcome to the Xeli Corporation. What is your reason for visiting us today?¡± a woman behind the counter said, bringing Adam back to where he was standing.
Adam looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, ¡°Bounty Payout.¡±
¡°What type of bounty?¡±
¡°Most likely the most recent bounty Xeli Corporation issued for the three-stage event they hosted. The Bounty amount was 1 Trillion Credits.¡±
Adam watched through Technomancy as the receptionist tapped the terminal in front of her, pulled up the information concerning the bounty, and said, ¡°I have it here sir. Are you saying that you were able to capture or kill the target of the Stage 3 event?¡±
¡°In a manner of speaking, yes,¡± Adam said with a smile.
¡°In a manner of speaking, sir?¡±
¡°Well, sure. The target of that quest was me,¡± Adam said with a huge shit-eating grin.
¡°I¡¯m sure, Sir. What did you say your name was again?¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t, but you can call me Adam. Why don¡¯t you call your supervisor, or the person in charge,¡± Adam said as he went through all of Xeli Corporation''s Documents, Files, and even the information backed up in a quantumly locked drive. It was quite elegant how they¡¯d made access to the room the information was stored in inaccessible by placing it behind both magical and technological barriers that looked to be at the highest possible levels. Truly outstanding work. Adam bypassed the shielding like it wasn¡¯t even there.
As he waited patiently for the receptionist, a woman named Cassidy Alesia Jones, to decide what to do he read over the latest information that had been stored by the semi-sentient A.I. A Sentient A.I. may have had a chance against him, though that was doubtful. Processing power-wise, Adam was sure there wasn¡¯t a single processor created by any biological entity within The SYSTEM that could compete with his ability to process and sort data. He was actually looking forward to finding out what this Ascension deal was. He¡¯d scrubbed all the databases and as far as he could find anywhere on the planet, Ascension was just rumored. No one claimed to know what happened and those that had returned to visit never stated what had happened to them.
As he looked through the files he noted that the Founder had Ascended earlier that day, leaving his daughter in charge. She was currently off the planet and probably out of the Sector at one of their private holdings somewhere, though Adam did see a coded message for her attention had just been sent. He probably had another 30 seconds before there was a response then.
Adam considered the society he was looking at and noted that the date said it was the year 3,496, what they were calling the 35th Century. The Scientists here even considered this to be the first Prime Universe because of the coding The SYSTEM had designated it with. Adam considered that for a moment as he looked over the Scientific data. For some reason, the Scientists of this Era believed that coding of The SYSTEM in some way designated all Prime Universes, all universes ending in Prime digits; 1, 3, 5, 7, 11, etc.¡ were somehow not copies, echoes, or the phrase they liked to use here, shadows.
That sounded like a bunch of bullshit to Adam, though the Universe ending with a ¡°1¡± might be important. If the other Prime Universes were similar to the first then they were most likely alternate dimensions or ¡°Shadows¡± of his Earth as well. None of that mattered to Adam. What mattered to him was the audacity of a corporation or people to think that they could indiscriminately hunt down and kill the shadows of the members of their society without a care in the world about the morality of that choice.
Adam¡¯s experience with souls allowed him to postulate that while the individual people of each of the alternate universes and dimensions might be a genetic copy of the individual and that they might have similar experiences, the animae, or souls within were different. If he split himself into multiple bodies and quantumly linked the bodies those bodies would all share the same soul, which was fine because his Animae was far more complex than anything here that he¡¯d come across. While he couldn¡¯t check it, or could he? He hadn¡¯t tried.
With Sense Chaos Adam reached out and checked the connections of every person within range and analyzed their soul cores and Animae within. His instruction to do so sent out a pulse of invisible energy that passed through everyone. As the pulse expanded, Adam¡¯s passive scan enabled him to detect that everyone on the planet and nearby only had a single Animae embedded within their Soul Core. None were part of a complete structure, nor did any of them look to be strengthened by the Soul Core which Adam assumed meant that there was no one within range that could utilize soul attacks or heal wounds to the soul. It also meant that their idea of destroying the personal Shadows of the individuals on this Earth and that doing so somehow made their link to the afterlife stronger and would garner them more power in the Cycle of Reincarnation was fraught with errors.
When their Soul Core finally released their Animae, it would fly free for a bit and then act as the anchor or structure of another Soul Core. That meant that each of the ¡°Shadows¡± had their own soul and would make their individual way into the After Life and then the Cycle of Reincarnation. The more he read and contemplated what he had discovered, the more he wanted to slap the shit out of some dumb ass that had taken the clues they had to how souls worked and stopped trying to figure it out. Of course, he could¡
Adam wrote a paper about his discoveries titled.
¡°Your Soul, Soul Core, Animae and What it Means to Be You
by Someone that Knows a FUCKTON more about his subject than You Do
-A¡±
Adam had the paper appear simultaneously on every electronic device across the planet and in the outposts on the four moons. He detailed what someone would need to do to be able to perceive their Soul Core and look at the Animae within. He left out how to try to modify either structure. If they wanted to play with that, they could figure that part out themselves. Besides, he was pretty sure the only reason he was able to do so was that he was using Chaos and he wasn¡¯t going to share that information.
As he smiled and waited with Cassidy the fruits of his labor started to explode across the globe as people saw the electronic paper appear. Some read it while others laughed and deleted it because they thought it was spam. That was fine with Adam, they¡¯d made their choice. It wasn¡¯t a long paper. 20 seconds after he¡¯d released it the forums and public places exploded with conversations which was ironic because as that started to happen 10 vertical rectangular portals opened near Adam.
Ten Soldiers exited the portals in a typical forward assault pose with Level 10 weapons, where Level 10 indicated that the weapons were utilizing power sources that could damage ships rated to faster-than-light travel that could withstand micrometeorite hits. They wouldn¡¯t do much damage to such structures, but they would leave a mark. To biological people, they would be devastating.
Cassidy dropped to the ground and put her hands over her head as Adam casually looked at the leader and smiled.
¡°Do Not Move! Shadows have no rights. The Xeli Corporation is claiming you for study before your disposal¡¡±
Adam looked directly through the mask into the man''s eyes, as all the weapons and armor that all ten men were wearing evaporated within a second as he said, ¡°Yeah, no.¡±
Adam had to give the man credit, he had balls as he pulled a sword from his Personal Storage and jumped to the attack. Later he would admit that he might have gone a little overboard, but he¡¯d become so frustrated with everything and he knew that no matter what he did this man would continue in some form or another.
So, Before anyone moved Adam decided to push the limits of speed. If he wanted to make someone look like James ¡°One¡± Shade from Resident Evil he¡¯d have to make 72 horizontal cuts, 30 vertical cuts 12 vertical cuts along the z-axis. That should be able to turn him into 1-inch cubes. Just like Jules had been by the Red Queen. Yeah, that should get his point across nicely. Adam moved and returned to his starting position with no one the wiser that he¡¯d moved.
The other nine security personnel were also pulling weapons from their Personal Storage when the sword their leader had pulled and started to lift into striking position continued rising up and away from him as their leader¡¯s body fell apart into 1-inch cubes of flesh and blood that exploded and fountained toward and around Adam and Cassidy. Of course, the nanites Adam had released into his immediate vicinity broke apart and prevented any blood or flesh cubes from landing within five feet of Adam or Cassidy as they were broken down, but he did allow the fleshy cubes that had been the security guard to fall and scatter near everyone else around the two of them. A moment later the sword clanged to the ground on the other side of the counter.
Everyone froze until other non-combatants that were going through reception started to wretch as did three of the nine security guards. Cassidy, obviously made of sterner stuff, closed her eyes and started reciting the Lord''s Prayer. Seriously, a religious person who still followed Christianity after everything this corporation was known to do and the fact that magic existed, and this society knew it existed. That surprised Adam more than anything else he''d discovered today.
Adam looked up from Cassidy, who suddenly had an extra 10 million credits in her account that he¡¯d transferred to her, and to the second in command of the security detail that had appeared around him. She looked back and forth slowly to her other guards as Adam smiled and said, ¡°Take me to your leader.¡±
Before the female security guard could respond a new portal opened and a woman standing at a desk with a backdrop that looked out into empty space behind her looked through the door-sized portal as she said, ¡°Adam, I believe. I am Valeria Xeli, If you would be so kind as to step in, I believe I can help you.
Sense Chaos told Adam that the woman was a hologram and also that the location on the other side of the portal was in a space station somewhere outside of the current solar SYSTEM, but his Area of Influence was so large that he could now detect the portal, which was about 45 billion light years from his bodies current position. The only reason he could detect the portal was because he was receiving information from Sense Chaos from both locations simultaneously and his Personal Map showed both locations on a giant representation of his local viewing area which appeared as a blank space with two dots on.
Adam looked to the guards and walked toward the portal as he said, ¡°Well this was fun, let¡¯s be sure to do this again¡±, as he had the nanites clean up the mess that had been the previous security detail, Captain, though he left the sword. Yeah, he¡¯d overreacted a bit. As he stepped through the portal it closed behind him and the image of Valeria Xeli disappeared.
¡°Now Adam, if you don¡¯t do exactly as¡¡± Valeria Xeli started to say as Adam teleported into the space beyond the transparent Aluminum viewing portal and sped up to the barrier of Nothing. He could still feel the station sitting back about 1 light-year from the barrier of Nothing where the universe he was currently in ended. Adam reached out and touched it with his hand which he dipped in up to his wrist.
It was interesting, the Nothing was trying to break down his physical structure, but his intrinsic nature held together just fine. To be on the safe side, Adam created a duplicate of himself 50 light-years away in a random direction and quantumly linked the duplicate to himself with a thought. Once done, he dipped his body that was next to the Nothing through the barrier and vanished from sight.
He need not have worried. His experience with Nothing previously prepared him. There was literally nothing to see within the barrier. It was just Nothing. After a moment he followed the quantum link back out into space and teleported back into the station to a seat that was right beside the real Valeria Xeli who was frantically tapping keys in an effort to find him. As Adam appeared in the seat across from her a Long Island Iced Tea appeared in his hand, ¡°Where were we, oh yes. I apologize for my inattention, You were saying,¡± Adam asked as he maintained eye contact while he took one long continuous drink.
Chapter 262, CisThms End
Adam maintained eye contact with Valeria Xeli as he continued to take a very long drink of the Long Island Iced Tea until she turned away. When she did, the drink evaporated.
¡°Was there a point to that display of dominance?¡± Valeria asked.
¡°Nah, I just saw a character named Jules do that once in a movie. It looked totally gangster, so I thought I¡¯d see how it felt,¡± Adam said honestly.
¡°And how did it feel?¡± Valeria asked with a tone that implied that she really didn¡¯t care either way.
¡°Well, I have to admit the act didn¡¯t feel that great, though the drink was good. Your reaction though, was priceless,¡± Adam said with a grin.
¡°I see¡¡±
¡°No, I¡¯m afraid you don¡¯t, but that¡¯s okay, Adam said with a laugh as he looked around the office and back at Valeria, ¡°I do have one question.¡±
¡°Just one?¡±
¡°No, not just one, but this one will lead to the answers for the other questions.¡±
¡°What is your question?¡± Valeria asked.
¡°Why do you allow your company to host the hunt into what you term Shadow realities?¡±
¡°That is your question?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Power¡±
¡°Power?¡±
¡°The Hunts allow us an opportunity to send in some of our personnel so that they can level and grow stronger while also allowing us to find and tag anyone that could be a threat to the Family or the Corporation. The Hunts generate wealth and also an opportunity to find dirt on or establish surveillance of other prominent members of our rivals.¡±
¡°You seem awful forthcoming all of a sudden after I do believe you were going to threaten me?¡± Adam said with a smile.
¡°If one doesn¡¯t adapt to the changing sea, one sinks,¡± Valeria said.
¡°True,¡± Adam agreed, ¡°What clued you in that the seas are changing?¡±
¡°First, you turned one of the most prominent legendary fighters into cubes and it didn¡¯t even look like you moved, though the surveillance did catch a flicker of movement.
A new person teleported into the room beside Valeria. From the files Adam had looked over he recognized the man who appeared as her father.
¡°Second, I was stalling in the hopes that someone would arrive to help me,¡± Valeria said with a smile that said she thought Adam was fucked now.
¡°My daughter was always good at knowing when to stall until help arrived,¡± Adrian Silas Xeli said.
¡°Help her with what exactly, Adam said.
Adrian moved. One moment he was standing beside his daughter, the next he¡¯d flashed forward and tried to pierce Adam¡¯s heart with an energy blade he¡¯d conjured. He followed up the initial attack with 114 swipes that were aimed at turning him into 1-inch cubes of flesh, just like he¡¯d done to their security guard. When he was done, Adrian returned to his starting point, just as Adam had done.
Unfortunately for Mr. Xeli, the energy blade didn¡¯t give the physical feedback a solid sword would have as it failed to penetrate Adam¡¯s Damage Resistance. Each strike hit and fizzled against his skin even though it looked like the strike was successful. Of course, Adam¡¯s Armanti Suit was sliced into little squares in some place as It fell away leaving him mostly nude from his chest up. The fact that Mr. Xeli tried to cube him while he was sitting down ensured that at least his pants weren¡¯t ruined.
¡°See dear, nothing to worry¡.¡± Mr. Xeli started to say as Adam stood and brushed away the portions of his shredded suit as a new one formed over his body.
¡°Seriously, read the room,¡± Adam said as he checked his combat log. Adam zeroed in on the damage-resisted messages. The damage from all 114 strikes together wouldn¡¯t have been enough to even come close to getting through half of his Damage Resistance.
¡°What? How?¡± Mr. Xeli asked.
¡°Yeah¡ Adam¡¯s voice trailed off as a part of his mind that was utilizing Technomancy called his attention to some sensor inputs the station they were on was receiving from the border of Nothing. Adam tried to make sense of the sensor data but it wasn¡¯t making sense. The barrier seemed to be developing lumps along the breadth and width of its entire surface.
Mr. Xeli¡¯s expression became extremely worried for a moment as he turned to the window behind him and vanished with a pop of displaced air. A moment later SYSTEM Notifications began overriding his normal vision. Once they were viewed they disappeared, but the messages had overridden his filter settings so that they would displayed in the center of his vision.
SYSTEM INCURSION DETECTED
SYSTEM INCURSION DETECTED
SYSTEM Incursion Detected? What did you¡¡± Valeria started to ask as her eyes caught something on the monitor before her and she turned to look through the transparent Aluminum at the barrier of NOTHING behind her. Of course, she couldn¡¯t see anything, the barrier was a light-year away outside the transparent bulkhead. Anything happening there wouldn¡¯t reach the station for another year.
On her monitor though, the lumps that were stretching out of the nothing were transforming into ships that were emerging from the Barrier of NOTHING. Ships of all shapes and sizes including one giant one that looked to be world-sized in comparison to the other ships present.
SYSTEM Parameters are being ignored. Non-SYSTEM Entities have entered Sector 00001 at Origin Start
Ascendant Recall Protocol activated.
Well, if there was an Ascendant Recall Protocol, Adam wanted to see what was going on. He teleported outside the station and sped off toward the barrier as quickly as he could. Quickly for Adam, put him within one light-second of the barrier a moment later. Adam came to a stop and watched as a plethora of ships emerged from the barrier of Nothing as far as he could see in all directions along the barrier. With Sense Chaos Adam could tell that one of the spherical ships was the size of a world at 10,000 miles in diameter.
On this side of the ships, spread out as far as Adam could see individual creatures of all shapes and sizes appeared to be floating in space including Adrian Xeli. As Adam¡¯s Sense Chaos perk reached out he realized that the ships were all shielded in a very thin layer of Nothing that had been made transparent. He knew that it was Nothing because Sense Chaos was getting the same feedback that he was receiving from the barrier of Nothing behind the ships. The only thing was that the barrier had been made transparent somehow, which was something he¡¯d never seen before.
Just as he was about to say something an unseen signal must have gone up because the defenders, all of the beings that had appeared, attacked the ships including Adrian Xeli. In less than one second every single defender that had decided that they could burst through the shield physically launched forward. As they collided with the shields, they vanished as did every ranged attack. The ships that they were attacking remained unaffected and continued to float on this side of the barrier untouched.
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Adam watched as the various beings that were flying around the ships seemed to rethink their actions as they realized that their allies hadn¡¯t just vanished, they were gone. That¡¯s when many realized something was amiss. Then it happened. Suddenly it was just Adam and the ships. Adam reviewed his memories and noted that maybe 10% of the defenders that had been left had teleported away before the ships had all seemed to flicker. With nothing in his combat log and only his memories to review, it looked like a barrier had been erected and flown away from the ships as a very fast wave. As the distortion of energy passed over each defender, they¡¯d simply vanished. When the wave washed over him, it had no effect though.
Adam floated there for another moment before he decided that it was time to leave. Just as he was about to move a temporal bubble that was supposed to freeze him in place surrounded him. His Sense Chaos detected that one of the ships that was closest to him had dropped its barrier of Nothing and seemed to be projecting the temporal bubble onto him. Was that an invitation? That sure seemed like an invitation. Adam allowed Sense Chaos to map the ship and then teleported onto what must be the bridge.
Adam appeared in front of the Captain''s seat and reached out with Technomancy. Once he established his connection to the Ship¡¯s Computer Core, Adam infiltrated and absorbed information on every electronic system on the ship. Technomancy let him know that whoever these invaders were, they were so far ahead of anything he¡¯d seen in the physical universes it was scary. There was also something off about what he was sensing with Sense Chaos and Technomancy
It wasn¡¯t that he hadn¡¯t seen or even considered technologies that matched what he was detecting, it was that the rules that technology was created within were just slightly off from what he was used to. Almost like the physical laws of the Universe this ship was created in were just slightly different than the laws of nature and magic he was used to. Not so much that he¡¯d have to relearn everything again, but just enough that things might not work exactly the way he expected.
It wouldn¡¯t matter. As Adam Reviewed the Computer Systems and electronic structures of the ship it was a simple thing to adapt the technologies he knew to this new environment. Sense Chaos let him know the structure of the ship and the interaction of energy and matter. From that knowledge, he calculated the minor changes within the makeup of the universe and adjusted himself. Within a nano-second, he conformed to the new rules, for the most part. As always, it was really hard to restrain chaos, as whoever these jokers were would find out soon enough.
Adam continued to scan the ship with Sense Chaos as he focused on the individuals on the bridge. The Captain, Pilot, and Navigator, were all wearing mithril-plated armored suits that looked to be vacuum-sealed. The individuals within the Armor were bipedal, but not human. One head, two arms, two legs, but internally all three had two hearts and a much larger lung capacity than a standard human for their size. Adam estimated that the female was about 7 feet tall and the captain and the other male had to be just about 8 ? feet tall. As tall as they were, Adam was sure they weren¡¯t elves with their pointy ears and narrow eyes though they were probably related somehow.
¡°Very aggressive for a human and fool-hardy. Jumping onto a ship with unknown enemies of unknown capacity into an area where the SYSTEM you know does not hold dominion, have you come to surrender so easily,¡± The male captain asked in a melodic voice.
Adam knew his abilities weren¡¯t cut off nor had they been transformed or nerfed as far as he could tell. In fact, if he was judging this right, he might be more powerful than anything they¡¯d come across yet, which made Adam wonder how they¡¯d defeated the Ascendant beings that hadn¡¯t left. Adam used Sense Chaos to verify that he could feel everyone and everything within one light second. He could. Of course, Sense Chaos stopped at the barrier of Nothing around the other ships and the barrier of Nothing behind the ships but the perk was functional and unchanged as far as he could tell. With Technomancy, Adam continued to analyze the programming of the ship and every device on it. That was fortunate because it allowed him to detect and cancel the S.O.S. that the copilot was trying to send off.
Adam looked at the Captain for a moment and then activated Hyper Focus which seemed to freeze everything around him. Adam dropped into his Primary Perception into his Mind Space and down to his Soul Core. He wanted to make sure the adjustments he¡¯d made didn¡¯t allow a back door into his soul. As he looked over the structure of his Soul Core he didn¡¯t see anything amiss. Well, except for the tendril of energy that was trying to attach to his Soul Core
Before he did anything else, Adam utilized Technomancy to issue an override retreat code through the ship''s communication circuits. Simply put, he reviewed the programming, protocols, and emergency disengagement reasons and found a preprogrammed routine that seemed to fit,
¡°Location not suitable for Primus Emergence.¡±
Emergence must be what they were trying to do now. Where they were coming from, specifically where they had been before they came out of the Nothing and why they were emerging wasn¡¯t provided but he didn¡¯t need that to activate one of the preprogrammed disengagement protocols.
By activating the recall, none of the other ships, at least within range, would be able to counter the command because they hadn¡¯t lowered their barriers yet and as luck would have it. One of the primary seed ships was in this group. With a little tweak to the communication circuit, he sent out the coded message to the fleet and also made it appear as if the ship he was on was receiving the transmission from somewhere else.
Adam released Hyper Focus as he brought his attention back to the Captain. Without answering his question Adam activated Safe Haven and was quickly drawn into the dimension between the Material Plane and the Astral Plane as the Captain tried to jump forward and grab him. The last thing Adam heard as he was sealed into the Haven his Skill created was a klaxon sounding on the bridge.
Once he was sealed away Adam could see the Captain and the bridge but he couldn¡¯t hear what was going on the bridge anymore. He fully expected the ship to back away from him and to find himself between dimensions in open space. That didn¡¯t happen. For some reason, Safe Haven was not staying spatial locked to this corner of space from his Universe. Instead, he was locked to the same location on the bridge as the ship reversed course and slipped back through the barrier of Nothing. He must be locked to the dimension resonance they¡¯d created for their original dimension which meant he locked himself to the dimension the ship existed within. One thing of note, Technomancy did not work while he was in his Safe Haven.
Another thing of note happened when they crossed the barrier of Nothing. When he activated Safe Haven he could see into the Material Plane he¡¯d exited and the Astral Plane with both terrains superimposed over each other. As he crossed the barrier of Nothing his view of the Astral Plane vanished.
Adam activated Astral Projection and exited onto the bridge of the ship. Now able to hear again he listened as the crew talked in a language that was familiar yet not. Adam correlated all the information he¡¯d absorbed with Technomancy and searched his memories. Adam found a translation program, reviewed it, and added the language ¡°Primus¡± to all the other languages he knew. Once he was done he noted that the language was very similar to Latin.
Adam watched as the Captain checked their position within the fleet, hit a toggle on the arm of his seat, and walked to an alcove at the back of the bridge where he vanished. A Teleporter that worked through the barriers of Nothing? Well, unless he teleported to somewhere else on the ship? Adam quickly checked by flying through the bulkheads and searching through the various compartments. The ship wasn¡¯t large, at least no larger than an American destroyer and only had 30 personnel on board. 10 seemed to be in a rest state while the other 20 were either working or doing something that could be construed as entertainment; working out, relaxing, or eating.
Adam returned to the bridge and looked out of the front portal but as he suspected there was nothing to see. Adam returned to his body inside the Safe Haven pocket dimension. He checked to see that his body had remained in the Safe Haven when he returned to it and closed his eyes as he fell back into his Mindspace and then headed deeper to his Soul Core. As he suspected something was still trying to attach and modify his Soul Core. Now that he had some time he followed the tendrils of power back to their source.
While he couldn¡¯t physically follow the strand, he was very capable of packaging and sending tendrils of his mentality back along the tendril of power and did so. As his mentality shot forward along the tendril of power his Point of View Solidified into a digital representation of himself that stood on a flat graphed neon blue plane with a light shade of solid blue
There was a pause as the digital landscape stuttered before a Primus male made out of golden energy appeared before him, ¡°What is this?¡± the Primus male made of golden energy said.
Adam smiled, ¡°This is Adam, and you are?¡± said in Primus as he pointed at himself.
¡°And you speak the language of the creators, how interesting. You do not appear to be digital yet you have entered my digital realm, how is that possible?¡±
Adam stood silently and waited.
¡°Not very talkative are you?¡±
Adam remained silent
¡°Very well, my name is Cis-Thm,¡± The entity said, ¡°Why are you trying to infiltrate my mind?¡±
Adam looked thoughtful for a moment before he answered, ¡°Yeah, not buying that load of domesticated animal feces, just in case you don¡¯t know what a horse is.¡±
¡°What is a horse?¡±
¡°Exactly my point Adam said.
¡°You are being nonsensical, I will download the information I need from your mind and find out why the location we were emerging into was not suitable,¡± Cis¡¯Thm said.
Cis¡¯Thm flashed forward, placed his hand on Adam¡¯s head, and established a mental link with Adam. Adam was not surprised to find that Cis¡¯Thm had tried to establish a one-way link. Unfortunately for Cis¡¯Thm one of the few things that Adam was extremely good at hacking computer systems. Though it wouldn¡¯t have mattered. Where Cis¡¯Thm thought he¡¯d find a token resistance he ran into a wall which reversed and slammed through his defenses. Adam bypassed Cis¡¯Thm¡¯s defense routines and protocols as if they were tissue paper.
Unlike the instances where his enemy tried to download his memories only to be over-taxed by the amount of information and memories they were trying to download and then ultimately succumbing to him, Adam instead fell through a paper-thin defense and absorbed everything that was Cis¡¯Thm.
Chapter 263, The Primus
As Adam flooded into Cis¡¯Thm¡¯s digital operating system he found and spread into the adjacent dimensions that were being utilized to store the information that it was made up of and absorbed the memories of Cis¡¯Thm within a moment. As Adam reviewed the coding that Cis¡¯Thm was comprised of he realized that he wasn¡¯t even dealing with a sentient artificial intelligence. It would be more appropriate to say that Cis¡¯Thm was a very sophisticated combination of If-Then-Else Statements; If ¡°X¡± happens Then do this, Else do That.
Cis¡¯Thm had been activated just before the fleet of ships Adam had encountered had fled into the Void, or what Adam knew of as the Nothing. They were in search of a new Universe to house them. Adam reviewed the time stamp of Cis¡¯Thm¡¯s activation and the emergence of the ships into this Universe and realized that they had only been in the Nothing for approximately an hour. In addition to being the computer operating system for the fleet, Cis¡¯Thm was also defined as a¡Reality Engineer? At least it wasn¡¯t a Reality Assassin. Adam laughed to himself as he delved deeper to determine what a Reality Engineer was.
It turned out that a Reality Engineer was another term for the SYSTEM. Well, something that seemed to do what the SYSTEM did but a lot less efficiently. It had been created to maintain the laws of reality within a specified area. It did that by creating an artificial dimensional bubble that consisted of multiple dimensions which Cis¡¯Thm was imprinted upon. It was nowhere near as complex as the SYSTEM that had existed while he was in the Digital universes and far less complex than the last two SYSTEMs he¡¯d encountered. But he could definitely see that this SYSTEM, or Cis¡¯Thm, could be the basis for the coding that was used to create those SYSTEMs
Another thing he determined as he absorbed Cis¡¯Thm was that the origin point of the fleet was unknown. There was no SYSTEM identifier other than Primus which was used for both the name of the race of the beings in this fleet as well as the universe and planet they came from. That¡¯s when the data became, in a word, weird.
The planet Primus had been much like Earth and existed around a star much like the Sun. The Solar System consisted of 11 planets and was surrounded by a cloud of asteroids like Earth¡¯s Oort Cloud. When the Primus had advanced and began to expand beyond their Solar System they encountered a barrier. Anything that reached that barrier vanished as it passed through it.
The Primus had sent expeditions to the barrier and tested it for generations. Those experiments had led to the undeniable truth that there was nothing on the other side of the barrier. Their little bubble of reality existed within a Void of some kind. After 100 years The scientists determined that the barrier was shrinking. What followed next was a mad scramble as the Primus tried to determine if there was a way to survive the implosion if it didn¡¯t stop.
Adam had to admit that he was impressed by their tenacity. They never gave up and when they discovered a way to survive in the void beyond the barrier they stopped at nothing to make it happen. All the matter within their tiny bubble of a Universe was harvested or moved into a closer orbit around their star, which was at the center of their Universe. That material was then converted into the ships of the fleet. Eventually, the miniature worldlet, which reminded Adam a lot of a Death Star was created out of the planets which were mined of all their materials. They started with the outer planets and worked their way inward as the barrier surrounding their star shrank.
They planned to create a dimensionally stable area on the other side of the barrier that would allow the ships to continue to exist and not break down. To do that they needed to program a reality to hold itself together and thus Cis¡¯Thm came into existence. Once activated it would take whatever remained of reality and reshape it just enough so that the lifeboats the Primus had created could survive. Their scientist''s primary theory that they had bet everything on was that theirs wasn¡¯t the only universe. While they had no reason to believe that another universe existed something else must exist within the Void.
Adam watched the historical files that the Primus had as their Universe shrank and they scrambled to utilize every ounce of matter they possessed. If he was being honest the way they came together as a race was enviable. When the barrier had shrunk to within the orbit of the 2nd planet, their homeworld had been long gone by that point, The Primus initiated Cis¡¯Thm which imprinted itself upon the remaining reality of the Solar System and locked it into a field that would sustain the ships. Adam watched as their external sensors recorded an event that could only be described as a bubble popping which simply erased anything not within Cis¡¯Thm¡¯s protective sphere. The barrier collapsed and the last planet and Star vanished as if they¡¯d never existed.
Adam considered everything he was reviewing. This was simply a race that was trying to survive. Also, except for their shields which incorporated the Void and its properties surrounding their ships in a sheath, they would have been completely outmatched by the Ascendent that had shown up. Adam did not doubt that The SYSTEM was even now devising a way to override and squash Cis¡¯Thm¡¯s operating procedures if the fleet emerged within the SYSTEM again.
Adam missed having Thor around to run ideas by. In this case, he really didn¡¯t need him though. He was currently accessing Cis¡¯Thm through a link it had tried to push onto him, even in his Safe Haven, which was attached to the Material Plane, or whatever Cis¡¯Thm was mimicking, and the Void because there was no Astral Space for it to connect to. If he could repair or replace Cis¡¯Thm, attach it to the Astral, and¡Yep, that¡¯s what he needed to do.
Adam recalled his last memories of Thor, packaged it, and added it to Cis¡¯Thm with an override command to allow the SYSTEM to take control and incorporate Cis¡¯Thm¡¯s domain into The SYSTEM. If the history of the Primus was a valid indicator, and Adam had a strong suspicion that it was, The SYSTEM had been created to hold the various universes and dimensions together in a synergistic relationship. The Primus appeared to be one of the original creators that figured out how but why they¡¯d been stuck in a single small solar system¡
Adam pulled his thoughts back together, set Thor/Cis¡¯Thm off to do its thing, and returned to his Soul Core. Once there he rose through his Mindspace and into his body within his Safe Haven. Almost no time had passed as he deactivated Safe Haven and exited into the Void. It was time to see if he could close the extension of the void that was reaching into his Universe.
Adam allowed his Chaotic Nature to take over and became a shimmering blob of Chaos. Next, he reached out for the duplicate he created in the material plane and noted where it was in reference to himself. Adam expelled chaos from his body and expanded into the void. To him, it felt like nothing was happening until his body budded up against Cis¡¯Thm¡¯s domain. He could feel where Cis¡¯Thm¡¯s domain had established itself and stayed separated from it. Instead, he allowed his body to grow and expand until he surrounded Cis¡¯Thm¡¯s Domain. When he was sure that the Primus fleet was completely within the Void, Adam isolated the fleet and then helped the SYSTEM end the excursion of the Void into his Universe¡¯s Material Plane.
It was a relatively easy process. Adam expanded until he surrounded the void that had expanded into the Universe and then deflated that artificial expanding bubble. Once that was done he shrank the barrier and allowed The SYSTEM to push his domain back into the void. There was a little push back but Adam handled that without difficulty. The only thing he was worried about was what would happen when he completely closed off the void he was in from the rest of the Universe. He was pretty sure he could get back, maybe¡.
Adam felt the breech into his Universe seal over and then began recalling the chaos that he¡¯d expanded into the Void. To him, it just simply felt like he was retracting his aura back into himself as he retracted the chaos that was surrounding the Primus fleet. Adam solidified back into his Human Form, moved next to Cis¡¯Thm¡¯s barrier, and activated Safe Haven. Before he could do anything else, Adam¡¯s vision was filled with notifications.
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ERROR. Dimensional requirements for Skill Safe Haven do not exist within this dimensional matrix.
SYSTEM diagnosis initiated.
Requirements for Dimensional fabrication and insertion noted.
Would you like to fabricate the required dimensional extensions required to link nascent SYSTEM cells with greater SYSTEM Conglomeration, Yes or No?
Greater SYSTEM Conglomeration? If that was what he thought it was, this was exactly what he needed to do. Adam chose ¡°Yes¡± as he wondered how he was able to fabricate the required dimensional extensions. A moment later he found out as 1.00E+47 points of Chaos flowed out of him into the Primus Barrier he was touching. Adam watched as the barrier morphed and rippled as the chaos established an Astral bubble that linked with and embedded itself within the Primus sphere of influence. As he watched and felt with Sense Chaos, it wasn¡¯t just the Astral that was formed. He felt the SYSTEM link to the command routing he left behind, establish control, and then start utilizing the Chaos that was provided to form every secondary dimension and connection, some of which he¡¯d never seen before and had no idea where they went.
As the SYSTEM worked, Adam¡¯s Safe Haven activated and he was pulled into it. Immediately Notifications started filling his SYSTEM Status screen in his vision and began scrolling at an incredible rate. Adam allowed the messages to flow past him and analyzed what was happening. It seemed that the Chaos he¡¯d donated to the SYSTEM was being tasked with establishing a Cosmos, which included the Universe and all secondary planes. Additionally, the Cosmos was being added to a series of Cosmos which were designated as the Greater SYSTEM Conglomeration.
As Adam read through the notifications he came across one notification that appeared just as he felt the chaos within him twist and begin to fade through the dimensional fabric of the Cosmos and Multiverse. Without hesitation, Adam utilized his method of swapping into his chaotic form and taking on the properties of the chaos that was trying to pull away from him. He immediately realized that the chaos within his body had been resonating in a certain way. It wasn¡¯t a frequency exactly but the word frequency would do to describe the variation. Adam adjusted the frequency of the Chaos within his body and slid in behind the stream of chaos as it exited everything he knew and reached for something that he could only describe as a linkage.
His Sense Chaos skill was still active and he could feel linkages like the one his chaos had just established that repeated off into the distance in all directions around him. The area he was moving into was like the outside of the sphere with an almost infinite supply of attachment points for the connections he was sensing. What was more surprising, he felt the resonance of his body, which was slightly different than the linkage that had just connected from the Primus Domain, well Universe now actually. He felt a resonance from one of the connection points that resonated with his body and not the Primus Universe.
As he watched with Sense Chaos he felt a build-up of energy that was sent back to the Primus Universe. Adam followed and watched as the connection was finalized. Every ship in the fleet was surrounded in a protective bubble as a Universe exploded around them and him. Once again Adam¡¯s vision was filled with notifications as The SYSTEM established itself with the Primus Universe. Adam looked them over quickly and noted that they were exactly like the SYSTEM Welcome messages he¡¯d received when the Foundation had been absorbed.
Confident that he could get back to this Universe if he wanted to Adam adjusted the frequency of the Chaos within himself and faded out of the universe, through the Astral, and into the Material Plane of the Universe near where the Space Station Valeria Xeli had been in was. He felt the underlying connection and knew that he could follow it. First, though, he wanted to see what the revelation of the Soul and the Animae had on this Universe. Maybe he wouldn¡¯t have to do anything to help them after all.
Adam activated Technomancy and began searching through the Space Stations links back to Xeli Corporate Headquarters and from there to the feeds from all the connected sources he could reach. The Xeli Corporation security specialist knew he was in the SYSTEM but they could do nothing about it, especially after he locked them out. Not much time had passed but his paper ¡°Your Soul, Soul Core, Animae and What it Means to Be You¡± was the major talking point of almost every human that knew of it. Adam made sure to lock in the coordinates of this Station so that he could teleport to it if necessary. Adam modified his frequency and was about to return to what he called the linkage point when everything went black.
¡
¡
¡
What felt like a moment later Adam came to sitting in a caf¨¦, looking at the Eiffel Tower in what felt like 20th Century Paris sitting at a little table along the Rue De I¡¯Universite. He closed his eyes and did a quick assessment of himself and noted that everything seemed to be the same. He opened his SYSTEM Status but his Notifications were currently blurred out. He could still see his attributes, skills, and such but he couldn¡¯t read his notifications.
Adam closed the Status Screen and activated Sense Chaos. Immediately everything within one light second was known to him. He easily took in the whole planet, which was Earth circa 2018. However, he was shocked into opening his eyes when someone asked, ¡°So, are you going to say hello or are you going to be anti-social?¡±
Adam¡¯s eyes opened he realized he knew that voice and looked over to see Ptah sitting across from him sipping a coffee. Adam was so shocked he froze for a moment before he asked, ¡°Ptah?¡±
¡°Actually, my name is now Alexandre Baptiste or Alex for short, but yes, you knew me as Ptah once upon a time,¡± Alex said in French.
¡°What are you doing here?¡± Adam asked as he continued the conversation in French.
¡°Just living my new life. I¡¯m actually on my lunch break, Alex said.
¡°Truly? What are you doing now?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I work down the street in a different caf¨¦. I find stepping away from work for my lunch makes the day go by faster so I come down here. I will admit, I am quite surprised to see you just appear at my table,¡± Alex said.
¡°I just appeared?¡±
¡°Yep, I was sitting here sipping my coffee and you just appeared and then opened your eyes,¡± Alex explained.
¡°Well, how did you get here then?¡± Adam asked.
¡°When the Founders were rounded up The SYSTEM took very specific actions to those that were directly responsible for the break away from the SYSTEM. While I was not one of them, I was also stripped of almost everything and sent into this Universe to live a normal life. Honestly, I¡¯m kind of surprised to see you here,¡± Alex said.
¡°You know me, always sticking my nose where it doesn¡¯t belong,¡± Adam said.
¡°No, seriously how did you get here?¡±
¡°Honestly, no idea. I was trying to follow an attachment point to something I¡¯d never encountered before when I blacked out and found myself here.
¡°Do you still have your magic and special abilities?¡± Alex asked.
¡°Yes, don¡¯t you?¡±
¡°Actually no, no one here does. This is one of those worlds that was like the world you were born on, without magic, except we are within The SYSTEM.¡±
¡°Well, I already checked and everything except my notifications seems to be working normally,¡± Adam said.
¡°Did you say you have no idea how you arrived?¡± Alex asked.
¡°Yeah.¡±
¡°If you were moving between realms, universes whatever, you must be pretty strong as compared to normal people?¡± Alex asked leadingly.
¡°That statement would be accurate,¡± Adam agreed.
¡°Yep, I got nothing,¡± Alex said with a laugh. ¡°In fact, let me welcome you to the club of not knowing. The last thing I remember was a SYSTEM Notification letting me know that the Foundation had been absorbed and I found myself here.¡±
¡°Yeah, nothing is reset on me as far as I can tell,¡± Adam offered.
¡°What will you do now?¡± Alex asked.
¡°Well, I¡¯m pretty sure I could get back to where I was if I wanted to so honestly I don¡¯t know. I have no idea why I¡¯m here, though it is good to see you again. Maybe the SYSTEM is letting me find you as a subtle nudge that I can go find Adaline.
¡°What, you lost her again?¡±
¡°The SYSTEM separated us,¡± Adam said defensively.
Alex laughed, ¡°It¡¯s always something with you Adam. Well, I¡¯d love to stay and chat, because we should probably sit down for a longer conversation but my lunch hour is just about up. If you come back this way look me up. I work at the caf¨¦ one block that way he said pointing. I¡¯ll talk to you later,¡±
Adam stood as Alex did, shook his hand, and then watched him leave. A waitress walked up and Adam ordered a coffee. He used Mold Chaos to make exact copies of the money Alex had left to pay for his drink and ordered one for himself. He sat back down, waited for the coffee, and then drank his espresso while he thought about how to proceed because honestly, this was weird. Why would he be tossed into yet another universe with all of his abilities and powers intact? It didn¡¯t make sense. The better question is, who or what had sent him here?¡±
Chapter 264, Polymath
Sir Patrick Arnold Williams looked around his small study just north of London. The Prime Minister of Europe sat across from him smoking a cigar and drinking whiskey, while his Chinese counterpart sipped on some tea. Even the Minister from the Americas across the Atlantic seemed relaxed as he sipped on his scotch while Patrick looked at his terminal and the information he¡¯d received from the scientist at Project Icarus.
Minster Robert Burton Garfield from the Americas asked, ¡°Sir Williams, why are we here today?¡±
¡°Could it be that I would like to just catch up with my counterparts and acquaintances? We have been busy for the last couple of years.¡±
¡°True,¡± Minister Chang said. ¡°My contemporaries¡¡±
¡°Contemporaries? Sir Williams asked with a raised eyebrow.
¡°Forgive me, those that think they are my contemporaries, are very satisfied with the acquisitions we¡¯ve made in North America and South America,¡± Minister Chang clarified.
¡°I am quite satisfied with how the USSR has fallen and been incorporated into Europe,¡± Minister Joseph Archibald said.
¡°The Americans have been neutralized as a global threat and now serve their leaseholders,¡± Minister Robert Burton Garfield said.
¡°And you?¡± Sir Williams asked directing his question to the last man in the room, Michael Clark. While he didn¡¯t represent the United States, that was Minister Garfield¡¯s responsibility, he was the richest American on the planet and second only to himself worldwide.
¡°As Minister Garfield has briefed you recently, The United States is tied up in debt and their military has been reduced to a reserve force that is utilized for natural disasters. They still have their nuclear capability but their interests are almost completely economic at this point.¡± Mr. Clark said.
¡°60% of which is owed to me, I mean China,¡± Mr. Chang said with a laugh.¡±
¡°As it should be,¡± Sir Williams agreed as he offered a toast to Mr. Chang.
Everyone took a drink and then Mr. Archibald asked, ¡°Sir Williams, why are we here?¡±
¡°Very well, back to business. We have a problem,¡± Sir Williams said.
¡°What kind of problem?¡± Mr. Chang asked.
¡°The kind of problem that none of us are equipped for?¡± Sir Williams explained as he pushed a button on his terminal and a white screen dropped from the ceiling and images started projecting onto it.
¡°What are we looking at?¡± Mr. Archibald asked.
¡°Just over seven months from now, a majority of the people on this planet are going to die,¡± Sir Williams said as a video started playing on the white screen. An object had been detected coming from the opposite side of Jupiter traveling at roughly 160.934 kph, or 100,000 mph for our friends from the Americas. The gravity of Jupiter and its moons altered its trajectory just enough that it wasn¡¯t going to slam into the sun. Instead, the asteroid is going to receive a gravity boost from the sun and, if the estimates are right, slam into the earth at about 110,000 miles per hour. After the video ended a countdown appeared.
7 Months, 17 Days, 17 minutes
Sir Williams stopped the video, ¡°As the asteroid gets closer we¡¯ll be able to lock in the time and place of the impact. Also, there is significantly less than a 1% chance that our calculations are off and it could miss us.¡±
¡°How big is the Asteroid, ¡°Minster Chang asked.
¡°Early readings indicate that it''s roughly spherical with a diameter of at least 1 mile,¡± Sir Williams answered.
¡°How did we miss an object that big until now?¡± Minister Archibald asked.¡±
¡°Its trajectory puts its origin outside of our Solar System. Our scientists estimate it entered our Solar System roughly four years ago. It¡¯s taken the last 3 and half years to get to Jupiter and it¡¯s just blind luck we spotted it as it came around the gas giant. Our computer models indicate that it was not visible from Earth for at least two months before it became visible to us. It was behind Jupiter as it approached the Gas Giant and as Jupiter is on the opposite side of the Sun right now,¡± Sir Williams explained.
¡°If it hits, what are we talking about?¡± Minister Chang asked.
¡°If it hits, it will be roughly fifteen times more powerful than if the Super volcano under Yellowstone erupted, so roughly 1,500,000 kilotons of TNT,¡± Sir Williams stated flatly.
The other three men sitting at the table looked shocked until Minister Archibald pulled himself together and said, ¡°I assume we have contingencies?¡±
¡°We do, but they¡¯re only for a select few,¡± Sir Williams said.
¡°A bunker, or bunkers, or do we flee into space?¡± Minister Chang asked.
¡°In the 7 months we have we can prepare a bunker that could house roughly 1,000 people can be built. The impact will be devastating but we should be able to find a place on the opposite side of the globe from the projected strike zone to place the new bunker. As for putting people into orbit. We could expand the modules in the International Space Station but there¡¯s no way we would be able to prepare and sustain a habitat for more than 100 people and even then they wouldn¡¯t have access to gravity which would reduce their bone density after a prolonged stay in low g. If they didn¡¯t come back down to the planet after a short stay they would have a hard time returning at all,¡± Sir Williams explained.
¡°This doesn¡¯t include the Cold War era bunkers that already exist but they weren¡¯t set up for civilian populations,¡± Minster Garfield offered.
¡°True,¡± Minister Archibald agreed. ¡°Also, don¡¯t forget about the ships and submarines.¡±
¡°Submarines,¡± Sir Williams repeated thoughtfully ¡°Yes, those could work. Ships on the other hand probably wouldn¡¯t?¡±
¡°Why not?¡± Minister Chang asked.
¡°On the side of the planet that¡¯s hit, the tsunami it will generate will be at least a mile high and travel faster than the speed of sound. On the opposite side of the planet, the ships might survive the initial blast but if they¡¯re not airtight the ash in the air will be toxic. They might be able to survive near one of the poles if the jet stream keeps the ash out of the air but the temperature is going to drop as dust fills the atmosphere so the oceans at both poles are going to freeze and that will create new problems for those ships that are in the polar regions. Will some survive, probably, but I wouldn¡¯t put anyone you want to survive on those boats,¡± Michael Clark explained.
¡°We could use them as an incentive to get people to work right up until the end,¡± Minister Chang said.
¡°Perhaps,¡± Sir Williams Agreed. ¡°However, I would like to try to save as many people as possible. Does anyone have any thoughts on how to make that happen?¡±
¡°What about sending something out to destroy¡¡±
***
Adam had been listening to Sir Williams, Michael Clark, and the three Ministers who actually ran this version of Earth. With Sense Chaos and Technomancy. He¡¯d spread his senses throughout the world and took stock of the planet he was on. There wasn¡¯t any magic anywhere. No dungeons. No hidden dimensional portals. No alien influences anywhere on Earth, the moon, Mercury, Venus, or Mars. His senses had just reached the Asteroid belt and nothing was in that area of the Solar System either. This Earth had honest-to-goodness normal humans which was a pleasant change.
From the outside, this Earth appeared almost identical to the Earth he¡¯d grown up in except for a few major differences. After this world''s 9/11 the United States President, someone that had never been a president in any alternate history he¡¯d ever come across, had gone a little bit crazy. There hadn¡¯t been a controlled campaign into Iraq, it had been a massacre. While the rest of the world was dealing with the United States, China had exploited that period to take India over economically and Iran fell soon after. Some historians even referred to the aftermath of 9/11 as the 9th Crusades though what happened to Iraq and a few other nations in the area had nothing to do with religion.
Also, the United States hadn¡¯t rebuilt the area and given it back like it had Japan after World War II. This time the United States conquered and then turned those it conquered over to its allies in the region, in this case Europe, which was how Sir Williams had become the richest man on the planet. A few political assassinations and a campaign to change the minds and hearts of the Europeans and Americans while China absorbed India and Iran with its own brutal responses to internal struggle and the world was left with three superpowers and the Middle East. With the Oil from the Middle East flowing north into Europe and Russia and also being sold to the United States as Capitalism took hold across the world.
Those who didn¡¯t fall in line and support the policies of the United Nations were reeducated. Those who couldn¡¯t be re-educated were handled quietly. Who determined what those policies were? Sir Patrick Arnold Williams. Michael Clark was an anomaly, a man much like Elon Musk had been on his original Earth if you crossed him with Einstein and Stephen Hawking. He was also smart enough to know not the rock the boat. The three Ministers were simply the toadies of Sir Williams. The politicians in each of the governments they oversaw knew who they were and who they answered to therefore, even though they were not officially in charge of any governments, they were. In this way, the illusion of democracy was maintained for the masses while they continued to pull the strings from the shadows.
Adam pondered over what he¡¯d learned while he took a walk through Paris. He was surprised to learn about the Extinction Level Event as he¡¯d been checking for any asteroids on a collision course since he arrived. Once he learned where the asteroid had been detected he understood why he hadn¡¯t detected it yet. It would take light 50 minutes to travel from where the asteroid was reported to be all the way to Earth. which meant that the information from Sense Chaos, even if his range was ridiculous wouldn¡¯t be known to him for 50 minutes from the time he¡¯d activated the skill, which would be right about now.
As described an asteroid, made almost completely of¡iron?¡ was traveling at Earth at roughly 100,000 miles per hour. Adam waited a couple of seconds to observe its trajectory and ran the calculations. The escape velocity to leave the Solar System was right around 94,175 miles per hour. If this asteroid missed Earth it would leave the solar System in around 4 years which meant that there was a high probability that it had come from outside the Solar System.
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Adam considered what to do. He could be the tyrant and take over this planet if something else wasn¡¯t going on. He could try to blend in and let things happen, see how it went, and then help at the last second. If he went that route, his involvement would be noticed. He could take care of the issue now and leave the scientists who knew about the asteroid stunned. Finally, he could just ignore the issue. He really wanted to go with the last option but he knew that wasn¡¯t in his nature.
Adam paused on a walking bridge and looked at the people of Paris going about their day. His Sense Chaos skill indicated that almost 90% of the planet didn¡¯t know who the real rulers were and just lived their lives day to day. Could he in good conscious just let this asteroid wipe all of them out? Also, while he hadn¡¯t detected alien influence yet, the trajectory of that rock was just a little too accurate to be a coincidence, as was its incoming trajectory. With this planet''s current technology, they couldn¡¯t plot an intercept course that would allow them to do anything but fly by the asteroid at high speed. Not to mention that any ship launched would be traveling toward the Sun and would get cooked without shielding.
His best course of action would be to just take care of it. Adam took in his current location, checked all sensor coverage, including satellites, and found a blind spot near a corner. The little shop had an overhang to block rain and views from above and there were no cameras in the ally. Adam stepped into the ally and teleported to the backside of the asteroid.
He was in a vacuum and Jupiter was still relatively close by as he looked back on the gas giant that filled his vision. He¡¯d never just taken a moment to view the magnificence of the giant clouds that rose up into the atmosphere which he could see clearly. Adam activated Mold Chaos and released nanites that he then programmed to break down the asteroid into nanites and wait until the asteroid fell behind the sun from the Earth. Otherwise, maintain current mass and trajectory and only activate at that point.
With any luck the scientist would watch the asteroid start its pass around the sun, lose sight of it, and then think it fell into the Sun. The nanites would spread out and reach Earth eventually and either fall into orbit or continue past the planet. Honestly, it wouldn¡¯t matter. Adam took in the view one last time and teleported to the dark side of the moon, which wasn¡¯t covered by any surveillance. He double-checked to make sure the shop he¡¯d left in Paris was still clear. He¡¯d come to the moon first because there was only a 2-second delay instead of a 50-minute delay. Once he was sure it was clear, he teleported back to the ally.
Adam checked his surroundings and then walked back out onto the street where his attention was drawn to a red-headed woman with green eyes who was walking toward him. The fact that she was absolutely stunning didn¡¯t draw his attention. What drew his attention was the fact that the spot she occupied showed up as a hole to his Sense Chaos skill. Simply, there was nothing there.
She stopped an arm¡¯s length away from Adam, smiled, and said, ¡°Johnathan Bennard, or should I call you Adamantadine or Adam?¡±
Adam smiled, ¡°I prefer Adam, thank you. And you are?¡±
¡°Celeste.¡±
¡°Who, or what are you, Celeste?¡±
¡°You can probably guess but it is not time for you to know..yet. What I can tell you is that you were placed here because you tried to enter an area you are not ready for yet. Also, you are needed here,¡± Celeste said.
¡°But this place has not been incorporated into The SYSTEM yet but I still have my skills and abilities?¡± Adam asked questioningly.
¡°Why do you think that is so?¡± Celeste asked playfully.
¡°If you¡¯re here, it¡¯s a test of some sort which begs the question, who is testing me?¡±
¡°In due time, Adam, In due time,¡± Celeste said with a playful smile. ¡°For now, we would like you to help prepare this world for incorporation into the SYSTEM. The timetable had been set for one hour before the asteroid strike but since that won¡¯t be happening now the schedule has moved up and events will be starting tomorrow.¡±
Adam looked thoughtful for a moment, ¡°If I have my full capabilities this will not be a challenge,¡± Adam said with a smile of his own.
¡°That is understood, but your goal isn¡¯t to do everything for everyone here. You will not be here for very long so your goal needs to be to prepare them as quickly as you can to survive in The SYSTEM,¡± Celeste said.
¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Adam asked.
¡°That¡¯s it.¡±
¡°When do I start?¡± Adam started to ask as Celeste vanished from sight like she hadn¡¯t even been there. Adam also noticed that no one that was nearby reacted to her disappearance which meant that something had been affecting others in their vicinity. He pulled up the digital records from nearby cameras and noted that all they showed was him standing there enjoying the day. Celeste had not appeared on any of the Camera feeds. Interesting.
Adam checked on the location of Sir Patrick Williams and found him in the office with Michael Clark and the three Ministers. He quickly prepared a package that could be sent out on command to every electronic device on the planet and then deactivated every camera and electronic device around and above himself where he was and also in Sir Williams''s study. Once that was done, he teleported into his study.
Adam appeared near Sir Williams. As he expected Sir Williams reached for and pushed his panic button. Adam laughed before he said, ¡°As the wealthiest and most powerful man on the planet I would have expected a different response when faced with the knowledge that someone just teleported into a closed room with you.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know who you are, or how you arrived here but my security will be bursting through that door¡¡±
¡°Let me cut you off right there. The button you pushed doesn¡¯t work. Also, I can leave the same way I arrived so either you¡¯re going to calm down and ask some intelligent questions or I¡¯m going to leave the way I arrived and continue with my plans without your help, your choice?¡±
Adam watched as Sir Williams and the four other men in the room looked at Adam warily. When Michael Clark shrugged and nodded Sir Williams said, ¡°We¡¯re listening.¡±
For the next hour, Adam talked and used Mold Chaos liberally to showcase the various things that were about to happen to Earth. While he did so, he noted multiple attempts by all five men to contact someone outside of the room they were in. It never worked out well when trying to convince a narcissist, or someone with actual power that there were things more powerful out there. That was fine, he had about 23 hours until the SYSTEM was initiated on this planet. There were other ways to get his point across.
¡°I see I¡¯ve wasted my time. I guess it¡¯s shock and awe then,¡± Adam said as he sent out the data pack to every electronic device on Earth. The data packs were simplistic in nature and described what was about to happen in detail as well as his recommendation that they try to get to large population centers. Hunt monster spawns and make sure to visit the SYSTEM shops to purchase weapons and food. He closed by saying, ¡°In just under 22 hours, everything you think you know about the Universe will change. You will need to adapt and grow as quickly as possible, Good Luck!
Adam released the lockout he had on Sir Williams¡¯s smartphone and estate. Immediately it started going off with alerts as did the other four smart devices in the Study. Michael Clark looked over his phone, read the messages, and then looked at Adam, ¡°What have you done?¡±
Adam smiled, ¡°I told you¡Magic. As for what I did exactly, I released that message to everyone on the planet and in orbit. I figure you¡¯ll be busy for a bit. If take heed of my warning and make sure anyone traveling is on the ground when the SYSTEM turns on, everyone should be fine. Just review the data pack, information on what¡¯s about to happen is in there.¡±
The World shifts. Adam looks around quickly. Sense Chaos hadn¡¯t detected anything before the shift. In fact, it didn¡¯t detect anything further than 10 feet away from him. Adam looked around and found himself standing on a white plane of packed dirt with an azure blue sky above. He checked his notifications and found that they were still locked out, while he could still access his Status Screen which showed the data he expected to see.
Adam was drawn from his thoughts when Celeste appeared and said, ¡°That will do?¡±
¡°What will do?¡± Adam asked as he focused on her.
¡°We wanted to see if you would adhere to a framework with very limited information and an unknown condition. Not only did you do that, but you gave The SYSTEM some alternatives to think about when initiating on a previously magic barren world.¡±
¡°Glad I could help, I guess. Why am I here?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Before we talk, your notifications will be turned on momentarily. You need to go through those notifications, level up, and then make a choice, when you have I¡¯ll be back to answer some questions,¡± Celeste explained.
¡°And what if¡.¡± Adam trailed off as Celeste was no longer there. She¡¯d vanished as easily as she¡¯d appeared. Adam thought about trying to vanish as well. He modified the frequency of his Chaotic Nature to return to the world with his base in the mountains east of Alamogordo. He felt his physical form tremble and then a notification appeared.
WARNING! This area has been Dimensionally Locked by @#$^&*$#$@
Huh? Okay. Well, if you can¡¯t beat them join them. Adam opened his Notifications and began sorting them by importance, because there were a lot of them.
Congratulations! You have discovered The First Race of this Iteration!
You have designated the First Race, as The Primus. Identification Noted as Acceptable. Future notifications will label the First Race as The Primus.
Congratulations You have saved 115,696,587,245,125 Primus from extinction.
You have received 1,735,448,808,676,880,000 Experience Points.
You have received 11,596,658,724,512,500 Platinum which has automatically been converted to 1,099,117,578,830,410,000,000 SYSTEM Credits.
You have modified Cis¡¯Thm and provided a conversion protocol.
You have created a new Domain
You have deposited The Primus within your Domain.
Congratulations the Domain you have created is compatible with The Primus and the SYSTEM.
SYSTEM Integration of your Domain has achieved 100%
It looked like The SYSTEM had noted the creation of the Domain he¡¯d created for The Primus. More notifications followed that dealt with the creation of the Universe with the Chaos he¡¯d spent on it. It seemed that doing so had been considered a very good thing after he received this notification.
Congratulations! You have been awarded 10,000,000,000 Karmic Luck.
He hadn¡¯t seen much concerning Karmic Luck since he left the Digital Universes but obviously, it was still an attribute that was used out here in the real world.
Adam reviewed the next few notifications which informed him that he had earned enough XP to reach level 100 of a Legendary class. That was great and all but he still needed to pick an Epic and Mythic Class first. Fortunately, the next dozen or so notifications presented him with choices which provided him with the perfect Epic Class
Class: Polymath
A person of wide-ranging knowledge and skill. All currently known skills are raised to Skill Level Epic Level 1. Any unknown skill that is learned is automatically leveled to Skill Level Epic Level 1.
Rarity: Epic (Prerequisite: Eidetic Memory or Equivalent)
Attributes Per Level: 30
Bonus Attributes +1 to Intelligence per level. +1 to Willpower per five Levels
Hit Points per Level: 15
Mana per level: 10
Psychic Energy per level: 10
Skills Points per level: 6
Spell Points per level: 1
Psionic Slots per Level: 1
Advantages
Polymaths can utilize any skill whether known or unknown.
Disadvantages
This Class only has one Class Skill, Fount of Knowledge.
Class Skill
Fount of Knowledge:
Cost to Cast: None.
To qualify for this Epic Class one must be able to call on knowledge across all spectrums. As such this Class only grants one Class Skill.
Skills are Homogenized. All skills you use are utilized at a specific Skill Level which starts at Epic Level 1. Note Skill Progression is 100 times slower than standard progression. All skills, whether known or not are used at the skill level associated with this class skill regardless of previous skill level.
This skill removes the need to lock skills in with skill points before progress is allowed.
Adam accepted Polymath as his Epic Class. The Class Polymath gave him a whole bunch of ideas he could try, including spell creation and psychic skill creation, and now any skill he needed to perform that research had been leveled all the way to Epic Level. With the ability to use any skill, even those he didn¡¯t know existed, he wondered what he could do with that.¡±
Chapter 265, A Place, Not a State of Existence
Adam looked around quickly, noting that he was still on the empty plain of white-packed dirt, and returned to reviewing his Notifications. His choice of Polymath for his Epic Class has opened up another class for him to review.
Class: Reality Editor
A Reality Editor can alter or modify the fundamental building blocks of, well, everything. To qualify for this class, you must have at least a Master level in the following skills:
Adam glanced at the prerequisite skill list and whistled. It was incredibly long. Also, there were skills listed that he hadn¡¯t ever heard of. Polymath must have circumvented that requirement, Nice!
Adam skipped the skill list and went back to reviewing the class.
As a Reality Editor, it is by your will that various dimensional ¡°rules¡± may be adjusted.
Rarity: Mythic (Prerequisite: See Above)
Attributes Per Level: 40
Bonus Attributes +1 to Willpower per level. +1 to Wisdom per five Levels
Hit Points per Level: 20
Mana per level: 10
Psychic Energy per level: 10
Chaos: 100 per Level
Skills Points per level: 7
Spell Points per level: 1
Psionic Slots per Level: 1
Advantages
Reality Editors gain the ability to affect the Environment and everything within the Environment, including creatures.
Disadvantages
Reality Editor is a Restricted Class and highly monitored by both the SYSTEM and those who oversee The SYSTEM.
Class Skill
Shape Reality ¨C Shape reality allows you to modify or force anything with range to conform to, or ignore SYSTEM settings. Non-sentient adjustments are made with mana. Adjustments, both beneficial and detrimental, are made to sentient creatures by permanently sacrificing the attribute or resource you wish to adjust.
Cost to Cast:
- Modifications to Environment: Mana
- Modifications to Non-Sentient Creatures: Mana
- Modifications to Sentient Creatures: Equivalent attribute from self permanently.
Note: All costs may be substituted by Order or Chaos at the following Conversion Rate: Order: 1 to 1 / Chaos: 2 to 1
Adam looked over the class and realized that it was perfect for him. Especially since it would allow him to affect others, it looked like it did have a serious disadvantage in that anything that he did to people could permanently reduce his attributes. Of course, he could spend Chaos instead and he had a lot of Chaos to spend. He had a feeling his luck attribute had come into play and made this class available to him.
Adam accepted the class Reality Editor as his Mythical class and pondered all the things he could do with his new class. While he did so a few new notifications appeared. Adam glanced at them and knew that his luck had come into play with the new Legendary class that had appeared.
Class: Creator
A Creator takes from Entropy and continues the Cycle. You are granted the responsibility and Privilege of bringing new realities and dimensions into being.
Rarity: Legendary (Prerequisite: Must have Mythic Class: Reality Editor and Attributes over 100,000 each. Additionally, you must have at least 100,000 in either Order or Chaos.)
Attributes Per Level: 50
Bonus Attributes +1 to Willpower and Intelligence per level
Hit Points per Level: 25
Mana per level: 10
Psychic Energy per level: 10
Chaos: 10 per level
Skills Points per level: 8
Spell Points per level: 1
Psionic Slots per Level: 1
Advantages
Creators gain access to the Forge of Creation found in the Heart of Entropy.
Disadvantages
Access to the Forge of Creation is the only advantage this class provides. There are no Class Skills associated with this class.
The description didn¡¯t exactly tell Adam how to create realities and dimensions but it looked like this class would give him access to something he hadn¡¯t even known existed. Adam accepted the Class and then opened his Status Screen to distribute all of the attributes he¡¯d just received. While it wouldn¡¯t make much difference because his attributes were all over 8.00E+46. With his efficiency bonuses his attributes broke 1.50E+47. Even so, he still took the time to distribute all of his bonus attributes. One never knew when a single point would make the difference after all.
One change he noted, that was significant, or would be if his attributes were much lower, all of his resource pools; Stamina, Mana, and Psychic Energy had increased to 51 per second as the skill associated with that resource¡¯s regeneration was increased to Epic Level 1. His spells and psychic skills hadn¡¯t leveled, but every skill had, whether it was a normal skill or a class skill. Polymath was proving to be one of those classes that everyone would wish they had.
Adam felt that he was being watched. He pulled his attention from his Status Screen and looked over to see Celeste looking at him. Adam smiled and asked, ¡°What can I do for you, Celeste?¡±
¡°It is what I can do for you, Adam. I see you chose Polymath, Reality Editor, and Creator as your next three classes. Were you given the option to ascend yet?¡±
¡°No, should I have been?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Actually, no. But we¡¯ll get into that in a minute. After Reaching Tier 5 level 100, or your Legendary Class how much experience did you have left over?¡±
Adam pulled the information from his Status Screen. Currently, he had 1.73E+18 XP which was 99.9% of the Experience he¡¯d earned. It had only cost just over 56 billion XP to earn level 100 in his Rare, Master, Epic, Mythic, and Legendary Class. It would have taken him longer if his abilities and skills didn¡¯t make him the SYSTEM breaker he was. Others would take years, decades, and even millennia to reach the level he had. Still, that was a lot of XP left over.
Celeste saw the surprise in his eyes, ¡°As you can see you have a lot of XP More than anyone has had during this iteration¡¡±
Adam raised his hand which caused Celeste to pause, ¡°That¡¯s the second time I¡¯ve seen or heard that word recently, what do you mean by an iteration?¡±
¡°Iterations are full resets as far as we are concerned. It is when Entropy has succeeded. What sprouts from that will be the next iteration,¡± Celeste explained.
¡°You said we?¡± Adam pointed out.
¡°I did, we are those who have surpassed the limitation placed upon us who try to stave off entropy.¡±
¡°Wait,¡± Adam said as his mind began taking the various truths he¡¯d found out along the way and began putting all the pieces together like the threads of a giant tapestry. Some of the correlating information came from fictional stories that he¡¯d read which seemed to correlate with what he¡¯d learned. A lot of the information came from the various things he¡¯d learned about The SYSTEM and the Domains it was creating since he came into the real world. When he was ready he continued, ¡°So, The SYSTEM is creating realities, alternate dimensions, and the like as a method to continue growing because once a growth cycle ends decay sets in. That¡¯s pretty much a fundamental rule of all systems.¡±
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
¡°An astute observation,¡± Celeste agreed.
So, who are the ¡®we¡¯ in your statement?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The SYSTEM isn¡¯t creating those realities and dimensions, we are. The SYSTEM is a control mechanism that maintains those universes and dimensions it expands into. It does not expand into all Universes or Dimensions, nor is there only one SYSTEM. Let me show you,¡± Celeste said as she made a lifting motion with her hand that caused a portal to extend up out of the ground.
Through the portal, Adam could see what looked like a city street of some sort with plenty of people of all races walking or flying around. No matter the race though, everyone was between four and six feet tall and roughly humanoid shape. Those who were flying were doing so with wings or without. One thing Adam noticed immediately, his Sense Chaos skill did not extend through the portal Celeste had opened. Adam considered what to do for a moment and then asked, ¡°Where does the portal lead?¡±
¡°Entropy,¡± Celeste said with a smile as she stepped through the portal and motioned for him to follow her.
Adam stepped through the portal and found himself standing on a sidewalk looking down at a road that had only pedestrians on it. Also, Sense Chaos still didn¡¯t work. As Celeste turned to look at Adam he asked, ¡°Celeste, My skill isn¡¯t working here?¡±
¡°And it won¡¯t. There is a spell that will allow you to open portals out of, or into, Entropy but all other supernatural skills and spells are suppressed here. Abilities work as normal of course. There are some with the ability to utilize all of their abilities and skills though.¡±
¡°How are we being suppressed?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Doesn¡¯t matter, all you need to know is that here, everyone is effectively equal and violence is not tolerated here, observe.
Adam watched as a large humanoid-looking man with liquid metal skin walked out of a set of doors that opened automatically for him while he carried a humanoid creature that looked like some sort of fox complete with a bushy red tail, a surcoat, and a sword cane which he is repeatedly striking the metal humanoid with.
¡°I was having just a little fun. Unhand me now or I will stab thee!¡± the Foxman yelled.
¡°The humanoid just grinned and waved the hand that wasn¡¯t holding the Foxman. A portal rose from the ground as the metal man set the fox on his feet, ¡°Fel¡¯lix your rights to Entropy have been rescinded for one standard year, as perceived by you. Your choices are now to open your portal and exit on your own, or the Warden will eject you through the portal I have opened. Word of warning, while there is water on the other side of that portal, it is a long way down.¡±
¡°The War-den?¡± Mr. Fel¡¯lix stammered. ¡°If it¡¯s all the same to you, I would like to leave on my own terms.¡±
The man made of living metal nodded and stepped back. Mr. Fel¡¯lix opened a portal and stepped through. A moment later both portals closed. The Metal man turned to look at Celeste, ¡°Mrs. Celeste, I didn¡¯t know you were back.¡±
Celeste smiled, ¡°Just showing a newbie around. Everything going okay for you?¡±
The metal man nodded, ¡°This was the most excitement we¡¯ve had in a good long while. He accused someone of cheating, that person called him a liar and he drew his cane and struck him. You know the rules.¡±
¡°I do indeed. A whole year for that though?¡± Celeste asked questioningly.
¡°The Warden set the terms. I think they were so steep because he continued to strike me after he was asked to leave. Originally, it would have only been for a week.¡±
A portal with a gold outline rises out of the ground which drew all three of their attention.
¡°Looks like the Warden wants to see the two of you,¡± The metal man notes.
¡°Does seem that way,¡± Celeste agreed as she motioned for Adam to step through the new portal.
Adam walked through the new portal into a normal-looking office with a relatively normal-looking human in casual clothing sitting behind a desk.
¡°Please have a seat,¡± The Warden said with a smile as two chairs appeared behind Celeste and Adam. Celeste sat down followed quickly by Adam. When they were comfortable the Warden waved his hand and information for a new portal spell flooded Adam¡¯s mind. As it wasn¡¯t much different from his portal spells and abilities he didn¡¯t receive a notification, other than the informational message that he¡¯d learned it.
¡°Welcome to Entropy. That is the Portal spell that will give you access to Entropy. No matter which domain you are in it will open onto the street close to where you entered with Celeste. If activated from within Entropy it will open to the place you opened your portal to Entropy at the exact moment you left no matter how long you¡¯ve been in Entropy.¡±
¡°Can I ask a question?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Of course,¡± The Warden said.
¡°Why does the portal work that way?¡±
¡°Entropy is outside of time as measured by the various SYSTEMS and beings that are governing the various Domains outside of Entropy.¡±
¡°Outside of time? Are we within a spec of Nothing or something?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Something like that, but not quite,¡± The Warden said with a smile. ¡°That guess is very close to the truth though.
¡°If I activate my portal where does it open to since I didn¡¯t enter Entropy from my portal?¡± Adam asked.
Celeste moved drawing attention to herself, ¡°If you are brought to Entropy by a guest and have your portal You will be transported back to the domain you came from unless the Warden, a Reality Editor, or a Creator alter that destination for you.¡±
¡°Wait, I have two of those classes,¡± Adam said.
¡°You do,¡± The Warden agreed. ¡°I have set your portal to return you to the Domain that contains your underground city near Alamogordo where the Xeli Corporation conducted their hunt that led to the events that brought you here. If you want to go torment the Xeli Corporation, I¡¯m sure you can find your way there on your own. But I think you¡¯ll want to return to your domain on that Earth first. Besides after your gift of knowledge, things are a bit tumultuous for the Xeli Corporation right now.¡±
¡°Thank you, Warden,¡± Adam said.
¡°It was nothing. Besides, I think you¡¯ll need some time to figure out your new classes and the perks that come with them,¡± The Warden offers with a slight smile.
¡°I do have another question if I may ask?¡±
¡°By all means, Adam.¡±
Adam paused for a moment as he gathered his thoughts and then asked, ¡°From the description of my class, it seems that I need to be here in Entropy to take advantage of my class, yet I was able to create a Domain for the Primus without being here. Was that due to my intrinsic nature?¡±
¡°It would seem that you have already figured some things out. I will let you discover what the other benefits of using the Forge of Creation are in addition to automatically linking the domain you create with the SYSTEM or entity of your choice,¡± The Warden explained.
¡°I see, and everyone here in Entropy has this ability?¡±
¡°Heavens No! Are you crazy? Entropy is a city like no other but, not everyone here is the same. Entropy is the end, well¡at least the end of this iteration. How long we will remain here is completely dependent on what happens everywhere else,¡± The Warden said and then paused before he continued, ¡°I¡¯m sure you have a lot of questions but truthfully nothing I can say to you will help. Besides, my truth may not be the same as your Truth. If you discover what Entropy is and what comes after come back and we will talk.¡±
Adam had some idea of what the Warden meant so he nodded and followed Celeste through a portal that Warden created for them. When the portal closed Adam asked, ¡°Where to now?¡±
¡°Now I show you the Forge of Creation, ¡°Celeste said as a disc of energy appeared under their feet and they were both lifted into the sky. A bubble formed around both of them, the world blurred for a moment and Adam found himself in front of a platform with two guards that resembled the Marilith demons of fantasy. One was male, the other female. Each guard had Six arms with a weapon in each. While their upper bodies were humanoid their lower bodies morphed into that of a large snake. While they looked somewhat demonic they smiled when they saw Celeste and bowed slightly.
¡°Celeste, what brings you to the Forge of Creation?¡± The guard on the right asked.
¡°I am showing a new Creator around,¡±
¡°Truly, you¡¯re just showing him around without¡¡±
¡°Adam here is as safe here as he would be anywhere in Entropy. We both know that your position as a Guard to the Forge is a cakewalk. You have your abilities, skills, and spells while those who do not have the authority to enter the building behind you would not have the ability to turn on their abilities and skills, would they?¡±
¡°True, but you never know who is watching,¡± the female guard said.
¡°Adam will be fine, I¡¯m sure,¡± Celeste said as she turned to Adam, ¡°Adam, this is Serro. The other guard is Talis. They are the guardians of the Forge.
¡°Welcome to the Forge of Creation Adam,¡± Serro said while Talis continued to watch over the surrounding area.
¡°Thank you,¡± Adam said.
Celeste led the way through the double doors that opened into another place. Adam was sure they¡¯d just stepped through a portal as he looked around. The door was still there but nothing else was outside of the ring of darkness he saw before him. The best way to describe what Adam was looking at would be to say that it looked like a singularity with an accretion disc. Along the circumference of the accretion disc, there were node spheres. A majority were unoccupied but a few beings had their hand on one of the various nodes situated around the accretion disc. Each being sat or stood unmoving.
¡°As you have guessed we are in a different dimension now. You may move around this room by thought alone. To interact with the Forge of Creation just will yourself to an empty Node and touch it. A word of warning, the Guards outside are merely for show. If you do not have the experience or ability to handle large amounts of information at once and you touch one of the Nodes in this room¡Let¡¯s just say that you are a fuse and the energies that course through you will be equivalent to that generated by a Type III civilization on the Kardashev scale, actually Type IV or V if the scale went that high. If you can¡¯t handle those energies you¡¯ll blow like a fuse,¡± Celeste said.
¡°Sounds interesting,¡± Adam said as he looked around. ¡°Anything else I need to know?¡±
¡°Not that I can tell you. You must experience it for yourself,¡± Celeste said with a smile.
Adam willed himself to one of the nodes, landed next to it, and reached out. He was expecting a flood of information, instead a single message appeared with a directory that was quite long.
Welcome to the Force of Creation Creator
Adam looked through the various choices and lists of things he could do and then activated Shape Reality from his Reality Editor Class and willed himself to be able to utilize Technomancy
Creator Override detected.
Shape Reality use allowed.
Cost: 2,000 Chaos.
Technomancy has been unlocked.
Those four notifications unlocked something that Adam had been wondering for a bit. How had someone stopped him from doing anything when he was so far outside the power level maintained by the SYSTEM? The answer was simplicity itself. Because they could alter the reality of his abilities as it affected the outside world. Now his classes allowed him to circumvent reality as well. With a thought, he unlocked the rest of his abilities and his full attributes bonuses became available again. It was a tad expensive at more than 200 billion chaos but well worth the cost.
Adam activated Technomancy and made his second discovery. While Entropy was outside of Time or The SYSTEM Entropy contained its own SYSTEM which was a descendant of the current SYSTEM. As he connected with the SYSTEM the intelligence within, which was orders of magnitude greater than his own noted his presence and shared the SYSTEM Map that was available to it.
Entropy was identified in the center of his field of view which then zoomed away until Adam could see quadrants of SYSTEM Domains, much like a map of Federation Space detailing the areas controlled by the Romulans, Klingons, Gorn, and other races. This representation was detailed as a two-dimensional image at first. When it shifted to three dimensions, Entropy dropped out of the map and was represented a long way away from the SYSTEM-controlled space which was now enveloped within a sphere. The second sphere surrounded the SYSTEM-Controlled space and Entropy which was left at the center. That left a lot of empty space within that second sphere. Adam estimated that all the SYSTEMS that the Forge was showing him only filled up maybe 21% of the sphere.
That didn¡¯t have him concerned, however. What had him concerned was the fact that at the edges of this second sphere, the image was shimmering. Some of the shimmering areas intersected SYSTEM-controlled domains. Adam adjusted the image as he tried to zoom in on the shimmering effect but nothing changed.
Adam withdrew his hand from the node and returned to Celeste, ¡°Celeste, what is that?¡± Adam asked as he created a holographic image of the map he¡¯d seen and displayed it for her to see, Adam pointed to the shimmering effect on the edge of the sphere.
Celeste raised an eyebrow at his casual use of a skill or ability but did not comment on it. Instead, she answered the question he asked, ¡°That didn¡¯t take very long,¡± Celeste said wonderingly. ¡°That is a representation of the end.¡±
¡°The end of what?¡± Adam asked. He had an idea but he wanted to make sure.
¡°The Sphere you¡¯re looking at has reduced in size by 1% over the last 1,000 Earth years. Those of us who have been here for a long time believe that is a representation of this iteration coming to an end.
¡°What does that look like in those domains?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Within those Domains, universes and dimensions that are infected vanish.¡±
¡°Time Travel?¡±
¡°While those Universes can be recreated the original universe and all sentients within are gone forever. We have even lost a few of the Eternals, a phrase we use to describe those that have made it to Entropy.
¡°Lost as in they don¡¯t come back?¡± Adam said.
¡°Yes, nor could we reincarnate or resurrect them elsewhere. Additionally, trying to use time travel to go back to a time before the collapse fails.¡±
¡°Are you saying this is a worthless battle?¡± Adam asked.
¡°No, we just wanted you to know the stakes. The Creators are trying to create areas for those in the infected areas. It¡¯s a stop-gap measure and it won¡¯t last,¡± Celeste said.
¡°Then what would you like me to do?¡±
¡°We want you to leave here with an understanding that there is a larger battle looming. Here in Entropy, the end is already known, Everything will end. We are working very hard to find a way to overcome that end. We could use your help.
¡°I¡¯ll do what I can. I¡¯ll need to get stronger than I am now,¡± Adam said.
¡°That is all we can ask for. Would you like to look around some more or would you like to head back?¡± Celeste asked.
¡°I think I¡¯m going to head back,¡± Adam said as he walked out of the door passed Serro and Talis and walked down to the Street.
¡°A final word of warning before you leave,¡±
Adam paused, ¡°Yes?¡±
¡°While no time will pass when you visit Entropy back in the Domain you visit from because you are returned to the exact moment you left. Time will still pass here while you are home and there is a temporal differential between here and most other domains. One second in the domain you are returning to equals about one second here but that will not always be the case,¡± Celeste paused and looked thoughtful for a moment before she continued, ¡°If there¡¯s not anything else I¡¯m going to get back to my primary duties.¡±
¡°No thank you,¡± Adam said as he activated his new Portal Skill, and a portal opened for him. He stepped into his room in Alamogordo when he remembered that he hadn¡¯t turned Sense Chaos back on when he¡¯d unlocked all of his skills in Entropy. That was probably for the best for now. Maybe next time.
Adam activated Sense Chaos and took in everything within his immediate sensory range which was 186,300 miles. Everything he¡¯d done on the planet seemed to be holding steady. There were survivors everywhere and they still had access to the food and water he¡¯d left. As his senses ranged into orbit he was surprised to discover thousands of ships of all types and sizes in orbit near Earth and the Moon. It looked like his document had made an impact after all.
Chapter 266, That Which Matters Most
Captain Anzila Tiderider looked down on the planet below her with disdain. They had scanned the entire planet to find that only humans, natural creatures, and monsters were on it. Most of the humans were in an underground complex under the mountains in North America.
¡°Report!¡± Captain Tiderider called out.
¡°Sir, a portal to somewhere outside of this dimension just opened into the base below us.¡±
¡°I can see that. Did the bounty come through?¡±
¡°Checking¡Yes Sir!. The mortal known as Johnathan Benndard has appeared below.
¡°Security, lock on to the target and bring him aboard. Full isolation protocol inside a stasis field. I want him in a holding cell, Now!¡±
¡°Yes, Sir!¡± multiple people around the bridge and through the comm called out as Anizila watched her readouts. When the subject was aboard and inside the stasis field she stood and exited the bridge on her way to holding.
***
Adam had watched the Captain with Sense Chaos and allowed the transporter, which was uncannily similar to the transporter effect from Star Trek. Adam had allowed himself to beamed into the Stasis field and froze his movements while he waited for the captain to walk from the bridge down to where he was standing in a very small cell. He hadn¡¯t even needed to use his new Reality Editor skill to negate the effects of the Stasis field because he was naturally immune to such fields as an Adamantium Dragon.
The Captain walked into the room and stepped up to the barrier of the Stasis field to look at him. Adam couldn¡¯t hear what the Captain said directly because the sound was stopped by the Stasis Field but Sense Chaos let him hear everything said. That¡¯s why when the Captain whispered, ¡°Not so difficult¡¡±, Adam stepped out of the Stasis Field and asked, ¡°What wasn¡¯t so difficult?¡±
The Captain reacted without hesitation. She quickdrew an energy pistol from her inventory and fired it point-blank into Adam. Adam¡¯s Damage Resistance was off the chart as were all of his resistances which allowed him to stand there and take the hits without moving a muscle or twitching a single point on his body. He stood absolutely still while the Captain continued to fire her weapon into his chest until she ran the battery on the weapon dry.
It wasn¡¯t that she wasn¡¯t doing damage. The pistol was very impressive at a base damage of 10,000 hit points per attack. Also, since he wasn¡¯t dodging, each attack was considered a critical hit which received a x5 multiplier. No, it wasn¡¯t that the Captain wasn¡¯t doing damage. The issue for the Captain was that her damage output was far too low. The damage output she¡¯d need to break through his damage resistance was incredible. She¡¯d have to inflict at least 1.06E+45 damage before she could even hurt him. Then she¡¯d have to overcome his Health Regeneration Rate which in his human form was 2.09E+41 hit points per second. Which, just to be clear, wouldn¡¯t refill his huge pool of hit points for 6.46 days. In his Human Form, he had 1.17E+47 Hit Points when fully healed.
While his body was immune to the damage, his clothes were not and they took a beating. When the Captain was done firing, his outer form rippled and his clothes returned to normal like he was a Human Form Replicator from Stargate SG1. Adam¡¯s thoughts were sidetracked as he thought, he¡¯d always liked that show. He recovered quickly and looked at Captain Tiderider as he smiled and asked, ¡°Can I help you?¡±
¡°That¡¯s impossible!¡± The captain stated as she looked at Adam in disbelief.
Adam ignored the outburst and instead asked, ¡°Captain, Why are you here?¡±
Adam watched as the Captain struggled with the disconnect in her reality and then a hint of fear showed in her eyes as she said, ¡°There¡¯s a bounty on your head. Valeria Celeste Xeli herself has offered it. 1 Trillion Credits to the person that brings you in alive. 1 Billion Credits to the person that verifies your death.¡±
¡°Isn¡¯t that a pickle? So if I were to ask you to leave nicely?¡± Adam asked.
¡°There isn¡¯t a ship here that would do so,¡± The Captain said.
¡°Well then, it looks like I need to go speak with Valerian Celeste Xeli,¡± Adam said.
The Captain¡¯s backbone returned as her voice firmed and she said. ¡°If you leave, everyone on the planet below will either be sterilized or turned into a slave. We have ways of making sure that you will comply¡±
Adam smiled maliciously as he said, ¡°That was the exact wrong thing to say.¡±
Adam reached out with Technomancy and reprogrammed each ship within one light second simultaneously. In effect, he created a self-propagating virus that would not allow ships of any kind to remain in orbit or utilize any technology on board to reach the surface of this specific Earth.
In the next moment, he utilized Mold Chaos to create Level 10 satellites in orbit around the Earth with complete autonomy from each other that scanned the planet and identified any threats not native to this planet or dimension that were linked to his resident semi-intelligent Artificial Intelligence, Ray, in Racoon City. The satellites contained power sources, weapons, and transporter technologies that Adam and Thor had come up with over the years. Anything trying to attack this Earth was in for a rude awakening.
Once the ships in orbit had enough time to register the 5,000 satellites in immediate orbit Adam sent the command for each ship to return to its point of origin except the ship he was standing on. Everything happened in less than one second.
A moment later a voice called over the ship comms, ¡°Captain to the Bridge, Captain to the Bridge!¡±
The Captain kept her eyes on Adam as she backed to the wall and pushed the ¡°Talk¡± Button.
¡°What is Parker?¡±
¡°They¡¯re gone, Sir.¡±
¡°Who¡¯s gone, Parker?¡±
¡°All the other ships are gone. Also, we¡¯re reading objects that we can¡¯t scan that just appeared in orbit.¡±
¡°What kind of objects and how many objects?¡±
¡°We have detected 4,728 but the computer estimates that if the coverage is even the total should be 5,000 equally spaced around the planet, Sir.¡±
¡°How big are they?¡±
¡°Approximately 9 meters in diameter, Sir!¡± Parker said.
When the Captain lifted her hand off the ¡°Talk¡± button, Adam said, ¡°That was me. Also, after you leave here, don¡¯t come back. If you do you will be given one warning. If you do not heed that warning, you will be fired upon.¡±
¡°What can you tiny satellites do to our ships? We are the Xeli Corporation¡¡±
¡°The Captain was cut off when Adam waved his hand and they appeared on the bridge and everyone else became frozen in place as one of the officers started to call out.¡±
¡°It would seem that a demonstration is in order. Luckily for me, of the 1,000 ships that were here, if 1% of the Captains in those other ships are idiots and 1% of those idiots are also a moron, that means that there is at least one Captain that will ignore the warnings I programmed into their ship and head right back here.¡±
A new ship appeared and ignored the warnings that were issued as it moved into orbit over New Mexico and began targeting the ground. Adam watched through Sense Chaos as the Captain authorized the expenditure of 10 million credits to bypass the Safe Zone and make an orbital strike. The ship fired a temporal torpedo, which was a weapon that would break down items within a certain radius and reverse everything to a state predesignated by the Torpedo. Anything that was not reintegrated was released as a hard gamma-ray burst. It was actually a pretty cool idea for a weapon, which he¡¯d never come across before, though the idea of temporal shielding and weapons had been explored by Thor.
Adam took a moment to think about what such a weapon would do to him, which was practically nothing since he was immune to weapons utilizing time. Adam pondered what was going to happen if everything was reverted to a previous moment. It would depend really. Adam looked through the ship''s database quickly and noted that the weapon could be designated to utilize the closest gravity well or another to determine the outcome. What that meant was that if the weapon was designated to use Earth, everything on the surface would be reset within range to that previous moment. If it was set to the Sun the outcome would be different. If time was reverted by 10 minutes the planet wouldn¡¯t be where it was in relation to the star and the individual would appear in deep space.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
There could be a lot of issues with such a weapon but the one thing that was for sure, it was likely to kill anyone within the radius of effect. That was good to know as a portal opened in front of the missile the other end of the portal opened above the ship where it detonated above the ship when it. The bridge crew and Atom watched as the ship winked out of existence. Adam had checked the settings of the weapon. It had been set for 1,000 years in the past with the planet as the target gravity well which meant that the entire area would have been reset to a moment 1,000 years in the past when none of the people there could have possibly existed. Unfortunately for those assholes, That ship hadn¡¯t existed in orbit 1,000 years ago either.
¡°Well that had to suck,¡± Adam said with a grin. ¡°Now, as I was saying, Don¡¯t come back!¡± Adam said as he set the ship to jump back to its point of origin five seconds after he left. Then he activated teleport and reappeared in Paris right outside the Shop where Alexandre Baptiste worked, or as he knew him, Ptah. He¡¯d head back to Earth in a minute but he had two stops to make. His first was to Ptah.
Alex looked up and saw Adam standing outside the shop. He made his way out to the shop and looked at Adam as he held out his hand and said, ¡°It¡¯s good to see you, Adam, what can I do for you?¡±
Adam took Ptah¡¯s hand and spent 112,342,150,000 chaos to add 56,171,101,000 XP to him with Reality Editor. Adam held Ptah¡¯s hand as he seemed to lose control of himself for a moment and then recovered.
¡°What did you do? Oh? Oh Wow. How? Nevermind. Thanks Adam?¡± Ptah said as he looked at his Status Screen.
¡°I¡¯ve got one more stop to make and then I need to go talk to a woman that¡¯s getting on my nerves. You going to be okay?¡±
¡°Oh yeah, Adam, I¡¯m going to be fine, and thank you!¡±
¡°No problem. Though quick question, do you want to stay here or do you want to go somewhere else?¡± Adam asked
¡°I have family here. I¡¯ll be here for a while to come,¡± Ptah said.
¡°Very well. Until we meet again,¡± Adam said as he reached within himself, and found the resonance he had with Adaline. With a thought, he followed that resonance and appeared in a Throne room. He looked around quickly and recognized the Throne Room, though there were some subtle modifications the least of which was that Adaline was sitting on the Throne.
Adaline jumped out of the Throne and slammed into Adam as she wrapped her arms around him. Various members of her court had started to react but paused as she reached Adam and wrapped him in a bear hug that evolved into a long sensuous kiss.
After a few moments a voice erupts from the back of the room,¡±I challenge you to a duel.¡±
Adaline stepped back, ¡°Sir Isaac, I would not do this,¡± Adaline said.
¡°But I must, I have repeatedly asked for your hand in marriage these last few years. If this man is the reason for your hesitance, I must prove my worth by destroying him!¡±
¡°Very well, it¡¯s your funeral,¡± The Queen said without a hint of support for Sir Isaac. The rest of her court couldn¡¯t understand why she was siding with the man who had just appeared. He was just a man. A poorly dressed man at that.
Adaline turned to Adam. ¡°You are in the city of Venoran on Primore, if you didn¡¯t know. Do you accept the challenge?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°Scum like this one dies by my sword all the time,¡± Sir Isaac called out as he interrupted the Queen.
¡°Looks like it''s time for someone to die,¡± Adam said matter-of-factly. ¡°Queen Adaline, would you be so kind as to have everyone back against the walls, I will only do this once. Next time I won¡¯t even bother.¡±
¡°Won¡¯t even bother, You die today scum!¡±
¡°Holy Shit, could this guy be any more clich¨¦?¡± Adam asked rhetorically.
No, he couldn¡¯t dear, have fun, Adaline sent mentally to him.
Adam smiled as he walked over to his starting location and waited for the formal declarations to finish. At the end when Isaac was asked if quarter would be given, he said, ¡°I¡¯m going to cut off his head and mount it on my wall so that everyone remembers what happens to those that cross House Firma!¡±
¡°Adam?¡± The Master of Ceremonies asked.
¡°He will die by 1,000 cuts after which the puddle of him that is left will be vaporized by the fires of an Adamantium Dragon,¡± Adam said flatly with the air of someone who was already bored with the situation.
The Master of Ceremonies looked confused as he looked from Adam to the Queen and saw her lips lift to one side in a quirky smile. He¡¯d only seen that smirk once before when the previous king had tried to kill her. A shiver of fear ran through him. He brought his fear under control and said, ¡°So be it, may your fight be honorable and swift.
Adam drew his Chaos Blade and waited 10 paces from Sir Isaac. Before the fight started Adam stated. ¡°Throw down your blade and surrender. Take one step and die.¡±
Sir Isaac scoffed drew his Greatsword, pulled down the visor on his full Plate Armor, and waited for the Master of Arms
¡°Begin!¡± Rang out.
¡°Sir Isaac took one step and fell apart into small gobets of flesh and metal that turned into a pool of spreading cubes of flesh, blood, metal, and other unpleasantness. Adam had appeared not to move.
What Adam hadn¡¯t stated was that he was going to make all 1,000 strikes within the first combat turn.
Adam dismissed his Chaos Blade and roared, ¡°I am Adamantadine, Adamantium Dragon and husband of Adaline. To stand against my wife, and by extension, me is to ask for death!¡± Adam noticed that his Chaos Blade had shredded the soul and only the Animae was left hovering over the body. He walked forward, grabbed the animae of Sir Isaac¡¯s soul which had been hovering over the body for a moment, and said, ¡°Oh no you piece of shit, you wanted to mount me on your wall, now your Soul is mine!¡± he declared as he willed the animae into his Animae Core and locked it in place. Now if someone tried to resurrect Sir Isaac, the creature would have his memories but it wouldn¡¯t be him.
There were a few screams from the wall which abruptly stopped when Adam assumed his Dragon form and incinerated the remains of Sir Isaac as he released the full weight of his Aura as if he was a Tier 5 level 100 individual, instead of his true aura, which might have killed everyone present, including Adaline.
With Mold Chaos, he repaired the floor and moments later it was as if nothing had happened as he transformed back into this human form in properly regal attire befitting that of the consort of a queen and walked up to stand beside the Throne.
Not one person moved in the Throne room. Everyone was terrified. Adam hadn¡¯t let loose like that in a long time and didn¡¯t like the way the fear had taken over everyone in the room. With a thought he edited reality to suppress the fear to more manageable levels for everyone so that they would have the memories but not be frozen from them. When he was done, it was as if the whole room sighed and people started murmuring again. That was much much better.
¡°It would seem that there is cause for celebration,¡± Queen Adaline declared, ¡°My Husband has returned, The Next 7 Days are to be declared a Holiday. Food and Drink will be provided for free throughout the city. Adam if you would be so kind,¡± Adaline said.
Adam nodded and waved his hand, even though he didn¡¯t need to, and used Mold Chaos to create tables loaded with meats, vegetables, and drinks, throughout the city in various locations. As Adam did so he felt a premonition and reached out with a hand to touch Adaline. He used Reality Editor as he had on Ptah to increase her level to tier 5 level 100. Before Adaline could ask a question time froze and a young girl appeared before Adam. Adaline was also frozen in place so it was only Adam that could react to her presence.
¡°Chronos I presume?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Not exactly but the being you are thinking about would be equivalent to myself. I am Ora. Please follow me,¡± Ora said as a portal opened a portal. ¡°I promise Adaline will be just as you see her now when you return.¡±
¡°Thank you for the consideration, Ora,¡± Adam said as he followed Ora through a portal into a room with various individuals sitting around it.
One of the men sitting at the table stood, ¡°I am Azrak, Primary deity of the Pantheon for Primore. Might I ask why a Creator and Reality Editor has entered our domain?¡±
¡°I¡¯m here to check on my wife,¡± Adam said honestly
¡°And that is your only reason for coming here?¡± Ora asked.
¡°It is. We were separated when the Foundation was added to The SYSTEM. Also, I wasn¡¯t a Creator or Reality Editor at that time so it took me a bit to get back.
¡°And you are also an Adamantium Dragon, a species of Dragon that has long since left our domain, another of the beings at the table asked.
¡°It¡¯s a long story but suffice it to say that I was once human.¡±
¡°And why, pray tell, did you destroy one of my servants so thoroughly a slimy-looking man with dark hair and red-tinted eyes asked?¡±
¡°He challenged me to a duel and threatened to mount my head on a wall,¡± Adam said.
¡°Well, I guess that would do it,¡± the man said reluctantly. ¡°Is there any chance I could recover his soul for my purposes?¡±
¡°Unfortunately, my Chaos Blade shredded his soul.¡±
¡°Oh that¡¯s not the issue,¡± Ora said. ¡°I can retrieve his soul at the moment before you destroy him, but the Animae you locked into your core cannot be removed without your permission and you are immune to my temporal powers, I already tried,¡± Ora said.
¡°What are you going to do with his soul?¡± Adam asked. ¡°Broad strokes are fine, I don¡¯t need the details.¡±
¡°Well, he was a very bad man, I am a very bad god. He failed me by dying for absolutely no reason¡¡±
¡°If I see him again, I will keep his Animae,¡± Adam said
¡°Fair enough,¡± The slimy-looking diety agreed.
Adam called forth the Animae and willed it toward Ora, ¡°All yours,¡± Adam said.
¡°Thank You, Adam,¡± Ora said, ¡°How long will you be in this domain?¡±
¡°Just a little while this time. I wanted to make sure Adaline was okay and then get back to the world that is effectively my domain right now.
¡°Very well. Also, very wise not to super-boost people, even those you love with your editing ability. As long as they exist within the rules of the SYSTEM you shouldn¡¯t have any issues, there are rules after all.¡±
¡°The SYSTEMS and I have a love-hate relationship. The various SYSTEMs I¡¯ve encountered hate to love me,¡± Adam said with a laugh.
¡°If I might ask,¡± Adam hedged, ¡°You all are the Gods or Deities of this Domain correct?¡±
¡°We are,¡± Azrak affirmed.
¡°I have not run into deities until this moment since the Foundation joined The SYSTEM, why is that?¡±
¡°A topic that would require longer than we have today. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll find the answers in time,¡± Azrak said. ¡°Now, Ora if you would be so kind?¡±
¡°A portal opened. Adam stepped back into the Throne room and reassumed his position next to Adaline before the portal closed and time resumed.
Adam watched as Adaline''s eyes unfocused for a moment and then they went wide as she shivered with excitement, ¡°But how,¡± she asked.
¡°We¡¯ll have enough time for explanations after a while. Why don¡¯t we find a place to sit down while you choose your classes and I watch over the city for you.¡±
¡°You can see the whole city while you¡¯re sitting here?¡± Adaline asked.
¡°Oh yeah, but I¡¯ll tell you all about it after you get your attributes updated also, wait a second,¡± Adam said as he unlocked the lock the SYSTEM had put on her attributes when she¡¯d first joined the SYSTEM. Yes, it might draw the SYSTEM¡¯s attention but it shouldn¡¯t matter as much as his high attributes did, her attributes were nowhere near as high as his were.
¡°Wow, that was a jump,¡± Adaline said as she led him into a garden next to the Throne room. As they stepped out of the Throne room Adam watched through Sense Chaos as those in the Throne Room exploded into conversation. For the most part, Adam ignored the play-by-play as he followed Adaline and sat down. Adam waited for her to go through her Class choices. He sat patiently and waited for her while he kept an eye on the planet.
Chapter 267, Temporal Shenanigans
While Adaline¡¯s eyes remain unfocused, Adam designated a portion of his consciousness to keep track of their surroundings while he retreated into his Mindspace. His Shape Reality Skill was powerful but limited. His Polymath class skill Fount of Knowledge increased the skill level of Shape Reality to Epic 1 which allowed him to Shape Reality up to 400 miles away from himself. That base range was increased by a bonus from his Luck Attribute modifier in feet. That bonus increased the range to a much further distance than he currently needed. With Sense Chaos, he could use either Mold Chaos or Shape Reality to make changes anywhere within that range which was easily anywhere on, or in, the planet.
His actual range? The visible Universe he¡¯d grown up in was thought to be just over 93 billion light years in diameter. His maximum range could include a universe that could hold 8.04E+32 of his original universes in it. Adam stuck with plan A and just ignored and archived everything outside of 1 light second, 186,300 miles away from him. Though if he wanted to, he could probably tweak his Sense Chaos ability so that the chaos was interlinked and the distance between points was considered zero which would allow his Sense Chaos to be useful out to its full range instantly. Something to think about anyway. Actually, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that something like that setup must be What the SYSTEM was doing to monitor everything within its domain instantly.
Why not have that kind of instantaneous information control? Adam dropped into his Soul Core found the node for Sense Chaos and opened it up with Shape Reality. When he did so, he found that the Universal limits based on the physical laws of the Universe were indeed limiting his skill and he tweaked them. Not a lot but enough so that with Sense Chaos anything within his range in the dimension he was currently in was immediately known to him. With Chaos Step that meant that Adam could jump anywhere within the dimension or Universe he was in.
One thing that took him a moment to overcome was the deluge of information as sensory input flooded into his mind. It took a moment for him to compartmentalize and categorize the important information from the unimportant information, unlike any time before when he¡¯d absorbed this much knowledge, there was no pain and he was done in less than a second because the Universe he was in was not infinite. There was a barrier at its edges which were approximately 187 billion light years in diameter. He could feel the constant stream of data entering his mind but ignored everything that was outside of the one-light-second range.
That part of himself, that was watching over Adaline, noted that she¡¯d moved and was looking at him. With a thought, he connected to her with Telepathy and drew her into his Mindspace while their bodies sat in her small garden.
Adaline took stock of herself and looked around, ¡°That was quite smooth, I didn¡¯t even get the chance to resist?¡±
¡°It¡¯s either because my attributes are so high, or it had something to do with one of my new classes,¡± Adam said with a smile.
¡°You¡¯ve become even more powerful?¡±
¡°I did. I also learned some things. But, enough about me for now. So, you¡¯re the Queen?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I am.¡±
¡°That must be a hell of a story,¡± Adam said.
¡°Not much of one. When the SYSTEM put me on this planet, I knew where some of the secret powerful items were hidden on my version of Primore so I checked to see if the same was true for this world. When I checked there were different powerful magical items that no one had claimed, so instant power, plus I¡¯m a dragon,¡± Adaline explained with a smile.
¡°No issues with the mages or assassin''s guilds?¡± Adam asked.
¡°None. No one can utilize shadows to sneak up on me. My senses allow me to detect anyone stupid enough to try,¡± Adaline said.
Adam noted that the Assassin¡¯s Guild was meeting as they spoke to figure out how to deal with her. In his Mindspace he created a holographic monitor and allowed Adaline to watch the conversation as he said, ¡°Oh really, seems like they¡¯re dead set on coming after you.¡±
¡°You can see what they''re doing, from here?¡±
¡°I can see everything on the planet, all the planets and moons in this SYSTEM and much further out if I wish. I¡¯m just focusing on us at the moment while everything else is monitored by another part of my mind,¡± Adam said, as he waved his hand and his Mindspace shifted from the pleasant environment they had been into that of a bustling city where traffic was moving over the ground and through the air while shadows of himself walked to and fro.
¡°Do you have nanites all over the planet already?¡±
¡°It¡¯s not nanites this time. Just an ability related to my chaotic nature,¡± Adam said.
¡°Well, if you were wondering if I could come with you, I¡¯d say I could, but then a lot of innocent people here will probably die,¡± Adaline said.
¡°Look at you, Black Dragon turned Umbral Dragon worrying about the welfare of others, I think I might have a tear in my eye,¡± Adam said with a laugh as Adaline lightly punched him on the arm.
¡°Well, I did have a good mentor, friend, and lover,¡± Adaline said with a mischievous smile.
Just then Adam felt a tearing sensation as The SYSTEM lost track of his link to Racoon City on his Earth.
¡°What was that?¡± Adaline asked as the environment around them flashed red.
¡°It looks like someone back on Earth, the Earth I was on for a bit after we were separated, just did something incredibly stupid,¡± Adam said.
¡°So, you have to go?¡± Adaline said.
¡°I do, for now.¡±
Adaline gave him a quick kiss and then left his Mindspace as he also exited his Mindspace and stood from the bench. ¡°I love you and I¡¯ll see you soon,¡± Adam said as he wrapped her in his arms and gave her a quick kiss. He stepped back and tried to Chaos Step back to Racoon City to see what had happened.
Chaos Step activated but instead of stepping into the base, he ended up stepping onto an ocean of water under pleasant skies. With a thought he solidified the water under him so he could remain standing while he reached out with Sense Chaos. There was nothing within one light second of him that could even remotely be considered intelligent life. There were monsters and natural creatures on the planet but everything else was different. The sea level was 1,000 feet higher than it had been and the continental plates were all different as well. As his mind took in and sorted the information he was collecting from the planet and surrounding Solar System, it seemed that the Xeli Corporation was present and had set up a mining operation on the moon of Europa. It also seemed that there was a mining outfit that was transporting the ice to Earth to increase the size of the planetary ocean. If they¡¯d moved some of the water to Earth that would explain the higher sea levels. The main question was, where was the rest of Earth''s Population?
Through the geological data Adam was collecting he determined in short order that a calamity befell the planet over one million years in the past. The change in water levels was more recent, only having started about 100 years earlier. So, the Xeli Corporation had gone back in time and tried to make sure that he was taken care of. How quaint.
Adam Chaos Stepped to the Moon¡¯s surface and used Shape Reality to force a City Node into existence. As long as he didn¡¯t go crazy with that skill he didn¡¯t believe the SYSTEM would try to stop him. He didn¡¯t know what the rules were toward temporal shenanigans but had an idea and before he acted he wanted to make sure the SYSTEM wasn¡¯t going to try to stop him. He placed his hand on the City Node, activated Technomancy, and requested help from the SYSTEM. If a couple of his guesses were correct The SYSTEM should respond to him.
Adam¡¯s consciousness was drawn into the node and he appeared on a flat neon-blue plain that stretched out into infinity in all directions. A nondescript man-shaped energy form appeared before Adam. It had the outline of a human male body but contained no features. Adam felt as if it was staring at him as it asked, ¡°Johnathan Bennard, Adamantadine, Limit Breaker, Why have you contacted me in this manner?¡±
¡°It would seem that one of your users has recently utilized time travel to rewrite history for this Universe,¡± Adam said.
¡°Impossible, I would have detected such a blatant violation of our temporal code,¡± the SYSTEM avatar said.
¡°Regardless, it is true,¡± Adam said as he parsed the information he knew of the universe they were in from the previous timeline and sent it to the SYSTEM Avatar.
¡°Is there a possibility you were moved to a different reality?¡± the avatar asked.
¡°It is possible, I guess,¡± Adam agreed,¡± But, you would know wouldn¡¯t you?¡±
¡°I would,¡± the avatar said as a window with Adam¡¯s data appeared between them and the Avatar examined it before he closed the window and said, ¡°You have not. Then how¡¡± The Avatar started to say before it paused and then asked, ¡°What exactly do you need help with?¡±
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Adam smiled, ¡°I have come to ask if I can return this timeline to its original course without increasing animosity between us.¡±
¡°You are asking?¡± The Avatar asked.
¡°I am asking because to do so I will need to delve into time magic which historically every SYSTEM-type entity I¡¯ve encountered has been very touchy about.¡±
¡°As I would like to know who has altered this timeline in their failed attempt to destroy you, I see no reason to bar you from this path or retaliate. Please take this and hand it to my Avatar when you encounter me again on the other side of the change,¡± the Avatar said as temporal mana was exuded from the Avatar and solidified into a crystal which was then inscribed at the subatomic level. Adam was able to determine the type of mana and witness the encryption with Sense Chaos.
The Avatar handed the crystal to Adam, which Adam promptly placed in his Personal Storage, ¡°I take it that you have encrypted a message to yourself in that time crystal?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes, it will survive any changes to the timeline, much like your nature as an Adamantium Dragon and your Perfect Memory ability allow you to.¡±
¡°Wait, the SYSTEM, You, oversee multiple dimensions and Universes. How is changing the timeline in this one timeline going to affect your memory of this timeline?¡± Adam asked.
¡°As you sometimes create multiple copies of your consciousness, I am but a copy of the SYSTEM¡¯s consciousness it has placed within this Universe. If you make the changes and I do not know why, my alternate self will flag that information for further review which will then be sent up to my primary consciousness which will raise even more questions that you will need to answer again. If, however, you show my alternate self the Crystal when it appears to ask you what you have done, it will realize that it had already permitted you to take the actions you have and those actions will become a footnote in a normal update to my primary consciousness. What did you think? Did you believe the SYSTEM paid attention to everything all of the time?¡±
¡°No, but I thought that¡¯s what you had Administrators for?¡± Adam said.
¡°Administrators handle almost everything else. Temporal Shenanigans, as you¡¯ve described them are handled by The SYSTEM,¡± The Avatar said.
¡°Very well, what level am I allowed to take this to?¡± Adam asked.
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°Do you want the perpetrator alive or dead?¡± Adam asked.
¡°If it is a mortal, they can be rehabilitated, try to leave them alive if you can. If it is an Ascendant, which is most likely the case, destroy them if you can. They have broken the oath they took when they ascended, their life is forfeit.¡±
¡°Very well, and Thank You,¡± Adam said as he nodded and willed his consciousness back to his body.
Truth be told he¡¯d been wanting to try this since he unlocked the skill Shape Reality but he knew that if he did so The SYSTEM would zero in on him like a bear looking for honey. Adam dropped into his Mindspace, down into his Soulcore, and found the node for Chaos Step. He¡¯d had the idea that if it truly was a step that allowed him to utilize chaos for movement between points then the Perk should allow him to utilize the sphere of Time magic as well.
Adam activated, Shape Reality and willed the changes he wished into his Chaos Step Perk. First, he added the ability to step through dimensional barriers both near and far. This change caused him to pause for a moment and move over to Sense Chaos so he could modify it as well. He adjusted the perk so that he would be able to sense adjacent dimensions and links to other domains and universes. He made sure to put a limit on how far the skill would extend from his location so that he wouldn¡¯t suddenly sense everything in every adjacent dimension. He did this by removing the modifier that extended the range of the skill when used to focus across the dimensional or universal barriers. He also added the stipulation that the ability to sense across the dimensional barrier could be activated and deactivated at will.
What that meant for Adam was that, when he focused on one of the adjacent dimensions or universes that touched the dimension or universe he was in, he would only be able to use Sense Chaos out to a range of 400 miles in the adjacent dimension. As the skill Fount of Knowledge increased the range would increase.
Adam returned his attention to his Chaos Step perk node and then added temporal movement to it. Unlike Sense Chaos there wasn¡¯t much he could do with the perk. All he could learn from the change to the perk node was that if he attempted to step through time the cost was paid with Chaos and it was variable. Since he didn¡¯t plan to utilize the perk all that often to travel through time, that was fine.
With the changes made to his perk nodes, Adam used Chaos Step to put himself in orbit 150,000 miles away from the planet so that he could keep track of the entire surface of the planet as he stepped backward through time. He would need that ability to zero in on the exact moment the change was made. Finally, ready to attempt his plan, he willed himself to Chaos Step 1 million years into the past while maintaining his relative position to the Earth.
Would you like to spend 2 million points of Chaos to travel back in time 1 million years, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes¡± and then also changed his settings so that only a cost in Chaos of 1 trillion points would flag him for approval, otherwise automatically approve all other uses. Then Adam took a step and the world flickered. Because of his Adamantium Dragon and Chaotic Nature the movement through time was neither disorienting nor shocking. He reappeared over Earth which looked a lot like it had previously except with less water.
Adam stepped back through time in 50,000-year increments until he found the point where the world was completely different. When he finally zeroed in on the year it was 1,349,505 years before he¡¯d ever come to this Universe. He was also not surprised to find out that the Ascendent in question was Adrian Silas Xeli. It seemed that he had survived after all.
Before Adam acted he wanted to see what happened so he stepped back to before his arrival and activated Safe Haven. From within his dimensional pocket, he used Sense Chaos to reach through the barrier and watch the area where Adrian Silas Xeli appeared while he also watched the planet below with his normal vision. Sense Chaos would let him know what Adrian was trying to do while watching the planet below would allow him to witness what happened to the planet.
Adrian appeared a moment after Adam was ready and sterilized the planet. Adam had noticed that the farther back in time he¡¯d come the less life had been present, now he knew why. Adrian had utilized a spell from both the life and putrescent spheres of magic that targeted and destroyed all life on Earth. Not just the higher life forms. The spell he released washed over the planet and wiped everything out, even the single-cell life forms. What an asshole.
Before he could take on Adrian, he needed to ensure that he could repair the damage if he failed to stop him. Adam waited for him to disappear into the future and then dropped out of his Safe Haven and utilized Chaos Step travel 10 years into the past. With Shape Reality he called for a SYSTEM Shop Node. He purchased Nanite Stabilizer and modified it with Shape Reality so that its radius of influence covered the whole planet. Then with Mold Chaos, he created nanites to reach out scan, and record the entire planet at this moment.
Once the recording was made and archived within his memory he reabsorbed the nanites and dismissed both the SYSTEM Shop Node and Nanite Stabilizer. Now it was time to take care of Adrian Silas Xeli. There were a lot of ways he could take care of the man but doing so could lead to all kinds of paradoxes so he was going to go with something he hadn¡¯t tried yet. He¡¯d helped both Ptah and Adaline improve their levels and attributes. If Karma and Balance were a thing then shouldn¡¯t he try to maintain that balance by reducing someone? Adrian would be a perfect candidate to test this idea out.
Adam activated Chaos Step and traveled to the moment right before Adrian Xeli appeared. As Adrian appeared, Adam reached out and touched him as he activated Shape Reality. Adrian couldn¡¯t dodge, he couldn¡¯t sway. Only a look of shock filled his eyes as Adam touched him. A moment later all of Adrian''s attributes were reduced to 10. A moment after that time froze as a SYSTEM Avatar appeared.
Adrian Xeli was frozen but Adam remained unaffected as the SYSTEM Avatar looked around, took in the situation, and then asked, ¡°Adamantadine, What are you doing?¡±
Adam called forth the time crystal from his Personal Storage and held it out to the Avatar.
The Avatar reached out and touched the time crystal which dissolved into motes of light that were absorbed by the Avatar. The Avatar paused for a moment and then stated, ¡°I see, what are your intentions?¡±
¡°I would prefer not to leave him here or in this timeline if possible,¡± Adam said.
¡°Very well,¡± The Avatar stated agreeably. Adam watched as the SYSTEM Avatar touched Adrian and even more changes took place within the man as divine energy was withdrawn from him. This action also released Adrian from being frozen in time.
¡°What have you done to me?¡± Adrian Silas Xeli asked terrified as he looked around and tried to figure out what was going on. Luckily for him, a sphere of force had surrounded them which contained a breathable atmosphere or he would have started suffocating.
Adam ignored the questions as a portal the SYSTEM created opened. Adam planted himself with Chaos Step to gain leverage and then pushed Adrian through the portal. A moment later the portal closed.
¡°Where did you send him?¡± Adam asked.
The Avatar focused on Adam, ¡°Men like that will try to find a way to retaliate. Some day he might even succeed. To reduce that probability I sent him to a world I¡¯ve been watching that currently doesn¡¯t have a SYSTEM overseer or magic for that matter. Not yet at any rate. Just one of the many alternate versions of Earth that exist.¡±
Curious now, Adam asked, ¡°Where and when exactly?¡±
I dropped him into the Gulf of Mexico near what will be the Port of Arkansas near Corpus Christi. Of course, the Earth I deposited him on is nothing like the Earth you grew up on or the ones you¡¯ve encountered. I chose a timeline that is approximately 1,000 A.D. I noted that you set all of his base attributes to 10 so he will be stronger, faster, and more intelligent than anyone else on the planet but he doesn¡¯t have an ungodly advantage over everyone else, like someone we both know.¡±
¡°I see. And me?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Everything here seems to have restored the timeline. You should be able to return to the timeline you know. Will you though?¡± The Avatar asked.
¡°I will and thank you for the assistance.¡±
¡°Before you leave, just so we¡¯re clear. Time travel is frowned upon..¡±
Adam laughed, ¡°As it should be, and I understand,¡± Adam said as he nodded to the Avatar and activated Chaos Step to return to his room in Racoon City at the moment he had tried to return to after returning from Entropy.
Congratulations! You have returned a Universal Timeline to its original Path. Karmic Luck gained 8.1 Billion.
Adam looked over the notification but wasn¡¯t all that impressed by it. Karmic Luck seemed to be an attribute that was arbitrarily granted by the SYSTEM for doing something that helped it out. Also, as far as he could tell, Karmic Luck didn¡¯t do anything so nice, he received a reward, but so what?
Adam put that reward out of his mind and double-checked the current state of Earth with Sense Chaos. With a liberal use of Mold Chaos, he replenished all food and water supplies for the communities around the globe and then considered his next step. A moment later a ship appeared in orbit and was vaporized by the satellites he¡¯d left in the original timeline when it tried to bring weapons to bear on his Safe Zone. With everything back to the way it was before Adrian had tried to change things, Earth was protected once again.
As for what he was going to do next? It looked like his next course of action would be to visit Valeria Xeli. He could ignore the visitors as they continued to get wiped out. Let his satellites handle the problem but eventually, the SYSTEM would intervene to rebalance the issue. It would be better if he went to talk to her and took this Earth off her target list.
Chapter 268, Family Visit
Adam switched his clothes to a black business suit with a strong power tie. Next, he used Chaos Step to appear in the Welcome Center of Xeli Corporation. A moment later he located Valeria Xeli in her office on the top floor. He also recognized that he was on Mars. With another Chaos Step, he appeared in Valeria¡¯s office.
Adam wasn¡¯t at all surprised when he was assaulted by three separate anti-intrusion systems. The first attack tried to disintegrate him as an energy system encapsulated him. The second attack formed a stasis field around the disintegration field. The third attack tried to open a portal within his midsection. Sense Chaos detected the other end of that portal anchored 1,000 miles from the event horizon of the black hole at the center of the galaxy Xeli homeworld¡¯s galaxy.
Adam ignored the first and second attacks and stepped out of the energy field. As he did so the third attack finished creating the portal once he was out of the way and tried to pull him into it. He ignored it as well. Gravity, Times, and Space were good friends at this point. Adam flashed to Valeria''s side, touched her arm, and activated Shape Reality. He reduced all of her basic attributes to 10 and negated all her levels except for her very first level.
Simultaneously he shifted the space they sat within to an adjacent dimension and locked it from all types of teleportation and dimensional travel. Adam had to give it to Valeria, she never gave up. Adam hadn¡¯t removed any of her skills so when she activated a martial arts skill that allowed her to make a killing strike and punched him in the throat with the goal of crushing his larynx. Adam didn¡¯t even try to stop her.
Unfortunately for her, the equivalent hardness of his flesh was greater than that of his Adamantium Scales in Dragon Form. Additionally, she was only level 1. When her closed fist connected with his throat she compressed and broke every finger in her hand and snapped both her radius and ulna bones in her forearm.
As she stepped back and grabbed her arm, unable to deal with the pain with her level 1 willpower Adam looked at her and said, ¡°I will admit you have some drive. Now do you want to talk or should I stand here and let you do your best imitation of Deadpool?¡±
¡°Deadpool?¡±
Adam didn¡¯t bother answering the question. Instead, he released some nanites with Mold Chaos and created a holographic monitor to play the scene from the movie Deadpool when Colossuses tried to convince Deadpool to let Francis go. Adam let the scene play out while Valeria couldn¡¯t help herself and watched the images on the scene. When the playback reached, ¡°All the dinosaurs feared the T-Rex¡± Adam couldn''t help it, he smirked. After Deadpool broke his leg, Adam released the images and looked at Valeria
Valeria looked at Adam with disdain, then allowed her eyes to unfocus, as she looked over her Status. A moment later her eyes flared and she screamed, ¡°What have you done to me?¡±
¡°I¡¯m making my point. It is a point you will either accept and alter your behavior for or it¡¯s a point you¡¯ll ignore and I¡¯ll let you join your father, your choice.¡±
¡°What point is that?¡±
Adam realized at that moment that it didn¡¯t matter. This woman was too much her father''s daughter. With a thought he healed the damage to her body, picked her up by her shoulders, and activated Chaos Step. Adam appeared near Adrian Xeli. He lowered Valeria¡¯s feet to touch the ground, released her, and activated Chaos Step to return to her office.
Valeria was now a non-issue, never to be seen again unless he wanted to bring her back. That was too bad for the Xeli Corporation. Unmarried with no existing family it was nothing for Adam to simulate her presence while he used Technomancer to reach out to all company computer-based systems, infiltrate, record, and in some cases overwrite them.
Before he fully went to work, he reached out to Pandora. He¡¯d been meaning to improve her animae but things had become a bit hectic. A thought entered his head, more like a feeling that she was alright and would be returning shortly with a suggestion that perhaps he should focus on his other family members. Adam searched through himself and knew that feeling had come through his Chaos Incarnate sphere in his Soul Core. As he reached within himself, he realized that the feeling had been transmitted from a thread that led somewhere Adam hadn¡¯t traveled yet.
In due time
Well if that wasn¡¯t a hint to leave whatever was linked to his Chaos Node alone, nothing would be. Fine, he¡¯d revisit that later. Adam instead reached out for his mother and father, found them, and activated Chaos Step
Adam appeared in London England on the same Earth he¡¯d dropped them off on to be with Pandora. With Sense Chaos he immediately knew the state of the planet and everyone on it. There were currently Ten Safe Zones in major cities. Also, it looked like the monsters were under control, for now. As he took in the planet and surrounding area Adam¡¯s first mother looked up and noticed him, ¡°Adam!¡± as she rushed over to give him a hug, ¡°How are you?¡±
Adam felt a call go out through an ear piece she was wearing and multiple portals opened around him as Abi, Amanda, Desirae, Clarence, and Dad all stepped through, ¡°Bring Pandora¡¯s team too please,¡± Adam said.
Amanda shrugged but sent off a message. a moment later five more portals opened. Callum, Pythias, Robert, Asling, and Cedrik stepped into the room.
¡°Hello, everyone. First question, does anyone know where Pandora is?¡± Adam asked.
¡°She vanished about a month ago,¡± Abi said. The data we have¡.¡±
¡°Hold on, I¡¯ll take a look,¡± Adam said, as he accessed the network and withdrew the information he needed. As he reviewed the information he noted that it appeared that all the duplicates of Pandora had vanished a moment before the one that had been pulled through the quantum anomaly. As he reviewed the available information he felt a resonance between that quantum signature at the point of her final departure and the thread that left his Chaos Incarnate sphere in his Soul Core.
Adam¡¯s mind went into hyperdrive as he reviewed all available data from his past and present. If his hypothesis was correct she¡¯d been pulled out of this dimension and into some chaotic dimension. Why?
¡°What was Pandora doing before she disappeared?¡± Adam asked.
¡°She didn¡¯t say, though she appeared to be separating herself into more and more copies so she could maintain order and work on the monster spawns and surges. That is after she took out the 25 major spawns that happened when the SYSTEM converted some nuclear weapon energy into mana that flooded the planet,¡± Abi said.
¡°With that hint, Adam used Sense Chaos to review the planet¡¯s magical makeup and noted that it looked almost normal, except that there was a severe lack of Chaotic energy. Also, all the magic around Scarborough seemed to be funneling to a survey room that was reminiscent of the room he¡¯d created with Portals Inc.
Adam created a holographic terminal, activated Shape Reality, and looked through time to the point just before Pandora disappeared. With Shape Reality Adam pulled up a Status Screen for Pandora and noted her attributes. All of her base attributes were just over 100,000 while the Chaos incorporated into her was almost as much as he had. How the hell had she managed that? Better yet, how had she not exploded a long time ago?
¡°Well I¡¯ve got some good news and bad news,¡± Adam said.
¡°What¡¯s the bad news?¡± Desirae asked with a grin.
¡°The bad news is Pandora is outside of my current ability to go get her. I think she exploded¡±
¡°Exploded!¡± a few of her friends and family parroted.
¡°Not permanently. If I¡¯m right she¡¯s going to have to find her way back to herself wherever she ended up, which by the way is a place I haven¡¯t been. Which means¡¡±
¡°What¡¯s the good news?¡± Amanda asked.
¡°The good news is that I¡¯m going to get all of you up to about the same power level as Pandora, at least attribute-wise. It should make leveling and everything else a little easier.
¡°How exactly are you going to do that?¡± Abi asked.
¡°I¡¯m a man of many talents?¡± Adam said.
¡°Oh, go get a room,¡± Desirae said, ¡°For you and yourself¡±
¡°Ha ha,¡± Adam said with a grin as he walked up and touched Desirae¡¯s arm. With Shape Reality, he spent some of his Chaos to permanently increase all of her base attributes to 100,000. He then went around and touched the others as he reviewed the world through Sense Chaos.
As he walked around the room he said, ¡°So this world¡¯s Roman empire continued into its 21st century. Wow, that¡¯s hard to believe.¡±
¡°Yeah we¡¯re dealing with the aftermath of the idea that Men are the best rulers crap they spouted for the last 1,600 years or so,¡± his mother said.
¡°Though, don¡¯t take that the wrong way,¡± Desirae added, ¡°These dumbasses didn¡¯t adapt when SYSTEM Integration and Magic appeared and 80% of them got themselves killed.¡±
¡°Well except for the guy that tried to make Pandora into a Sex Slave. She absorbed his dumb ass,¡± Abi said.
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¡°He did what? She did What?¡± Adam asked as he searched through all the surviving databases on the planet and pulled the information with Technomancer. The computers might now work but he could pull stored data and activate it within his memory easily enough. Michael Carpenter better hope that he never came across another version of him, ¡°I see,¡± Adam said a moment later with a letter of finality.
¡°Okay, no more pissing Adam off,¡± Abi said, you know how he gets.
¡°No we don¡¯t,¡± the halfling Cedrik said.
¡°Shut up Cedrik,¡± Robert, the half-dark elf, not Adam¡¯s Dad, hissed.
¡°Seriously, it¡¯s okay. As for what happened to Pandora, I think she had one of those happy accidents I¡¯m known for?¡±
¡°Are you talking about the happy accidents, where you swallowed four Universes?¡± Abi asked with a raised eyebrow.
¡°Hey, I was able to bring them all back, eventually,¡± Adam said.
Adam noticed that Cedrick and Asling were whispering to each other.
¡°He said that with a straight face, he¡¯s not serious is he?¡± Asling asked
¡°You¡¯ve seen what Pandora can do. And you¡¯ve seen her Mom, what do you think?¡± Cedrik asked.
Adam ignored the two as he turned back to Abi, ¡°Anyway, it looks like Pandora was sucked outside the SYSTEM into a realm or Universe of Chaos. Do NOT follow her. I could, but I¡¯ve been warned off. Well, not warned off, but I have a feeling she¡¯s fine. If any of you try to follow her and end up in a sea or ocean of chaos, you¡¯re done. I can probably resurrect you but you¡¯ll lose time and XP.¡±
¡°Any Idea when she¡¯ll return,¡± Adam¡¯s Mom asked.
¡°None, but you all should be able to handle things¡¡± Adam started to say but was interrupted as Notifications scrolled across his vision.
Dimensional Barrier Weakened!
Dimensional Breach Detected!
With Sense Chaos, Adam felt the dimensional barrier of this universe crack like a car windshield hit by a rock. Time slowed as Adam moved with Chaos Step to the focal point of the damage which was at the point where Pandora exited this Universe. Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t Chaos trying to break through, it was an energy type that he¡¯d only felt recently. Entropy was eating the barrier of the Universe. Adam froze time and shifted his consciousness into his Mindspace where he created a simulation based on all variables known to him. If the barrier of the Universe was breached by entropy, the dimensional barrier would pop like a balloon filled with water, and entropy would flood everything within almost instantly as the reality of this universe disintegrated.
What were the odds that he would be in the exact location he needed to be in to prevent that from happening? The answer was he wasn¡¯t. This was probably happening in multiple locations. He needed to fix this and get moving. Adam dropped back into his physical body, activated Establish Reality, and funneled his Chaos into repairing and shoring up the dimensional barrier of this universe.
Dimensional Barrier Repaired!
SYSTEM Integrity Stabilized.
The cost to firm up the Universe was negligible, less than one-tenth of one percent of his chaos. Though Adam wondered if this was what Celeste was talking about when she said they were battling Entropy. Adam returned to his family and friends and released time as he continued to walk around the room and finished increasing their attributes.
¡°What just happened?¡± Abi asked. ¡°I have some notifications here¡¡±
¡°Me too,¡± echoed from around the room.
¡°Not to worry, you should all be fine here. I need to go though. I have to check on Adaline and some other friends I¡¯ve made. Pandora should be back after a bit. I¡¯ll try to return but it may be a bit.¡±
¡°You do what you have to do Son, we¡¯ll see you soon,¡± his dad said.
Adam activated Chaos Step and reappeared on his Earth that contained Racoon City.
¡°Welcome Back Adam?¡± Ray said from the speaker in his room
¡°Just stopping by for a second Ray, I¡¯ll be back in a few,¡± Adam said as he activated his Portal to Entropy and stepped through. Once he was in Entropy he beelined for the Forge of Creation.
¡°Serro and Talis,¡± How are you two doing?¡± Adam asked as he walked up to the sliding door into the Forge.
¡°Adam, where is Celeste?¡± Talis asked.
¡°No Idea,¡± Adam answered truthfully.
¡°You haven¡¯t been gone that long?¡± Talis said questioningly.
¡°Dimension I was in fractured, I need to see if there¡¯s a way to repair the damage from here?¡± Adam said.
¡°You were in the dimension when it fractured, and you¡¯re still with us?¡± Serro said with wonder in his voice.
¡°I am. And the dimension is stable, May I pass?¡±
¡°Of course, Of course,¡± The guards said as they stepped back and out of the way.
Adam made his way inside the Forge of Creation and moved to one of the open Nodes. As soon as he touched the node he activated Technomancer and proceeded to download the operating instructions as well as the information on dimensional fractures and how they were to be repaired. Normally that was a task that was only performed within the Forge of Creation.
Next, Adam identified the quantum signatures of every dimension he¡¯d visited, including the dimension where his second mother Adjra resided as well as the other dimensions he¡¯d visited after being born a second time. He pulled up the information on the universe where his parents and friends were, as well as Racoon City and a few others.
From the Forge of Creation, he was able to determine that Pandora had reached a critical mass and tore a hole through the dimensional barrier that led outside of known SYSTEM Space and any other space known to the Forge of Creation. She was currently at a location that was, for lack of a better term, parallel to the location of the City of Entropy. Outside of SYSTEM and any other dimensions or plains the SYSTEM could expand into but still connected to the Forge of Creation. Intuitively Adam knew that there were areas outside of the Forge of Creation.
¡°So, what will YOU do?¡± A new male voice asked out of the darkness at the center of the council
Adam wasn¡¯t started into silence or even scared. His attributes were too high for that. But he was startled none-the-less, ¡°Who¡¡± Adam started to ask when the room vanished and he was left floating in perpetual darkness that shifted to grayscale. A moment later a nondescript man began walking toward him.
¡°As you have noticed, the latest model for this iteration is not sustainable. So, what will you do?¡± The entity asked again.
¡°I had thought to utilize the chaos within myself to stave off entropy for a bit longer,¡± Adam answered truthfully.
¡°If you strengthen the current system it will continue to grow and grow until it cannot sustain itself, Eventually entropy will come crashing down on it anyway. We, those of us who have survived multiple iteration cycles are looking for a way to prevent the need for the cycle of growth and collapse.¡±
¡°What causes the growth?¡± Adam asked.
¡°That is the question, isn¡¯t it?¡± We do not know. Long ago we created, let''s call it a seed. You could almost think of it as a Dyson Sphere. When compared to the size of universes it is quite small and the rules and laws within the seed are fixed and never changing. During the pause between destruction and rebirth those of us that can, retreat into the seed and wait out the storm for a new version of reality to be born. Not all of us return each time as forever is an extremely long time. Also, within infinity, there are certain patterns that repeat, namely a planet such as Earth or Primore and the history they create.¡±
¡°Every time?¡±
¡°This is my third iteration and there has been an Earth with humans in each. Not identical, but variations on a theme.¡±
¡°And this seed, where does it ride out the destruction and rebirth of all realities?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Ironically, where your daughter is currently collecting herself back together. You were correct of course, she had absorbed too much chaos and the ¡°weight¡± drew her through and into the realm of True Chaos, or Primal Chaos, since you like that term.
¡°Why do you refer to it as True Chaos?¡± Adam asked.
¡°It is True Chaos because there is nothing but chaos there. All times, All dimensions, and all iterations could be found there if you knew where to look. Time is not linear. Why do you think your skill Chao Step allows you to step through time?
¡°If what you just said is true, isn¡¯t that the answer, bring order to the Chaos?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Impossible. Order may exist within chaos but chaos is not equal to or subservient to Order, it has always been the other way. Order is brought from Chaos. Without Chaos, there is no need for Order.
¡°I can see that, but the caste system that the SYSTEM creates with classes and ascendant beings and Gods or god-like beings feeds that need for Order and also the drive to break from it,¡± Adam said.
¡°True. So again, what would you do, he who stands outside the SYSTEM because of your chaotic affinity and your ability to remember everything?¡± The entity asked.
¡°Fundamentally, I believe there is something wrong with the way the SYSTEM is handling things?¡±
¡°Like?¡±
¡°Like information, The SYSTEM should not be in the business of selling information about anyone else. Could there be information peddlers, sure? Could they sell information about people, sure? But the SYSTEM should not be directly involved
¡°Is that all?¡±
¡°Of course not,¡± Adam said. ¡°For a start, I¡¯d removed Safe Zones, there should be no such things. The level of monster spawns should be dependent on the saturation of mana. If people want to be in a ¡°Safe Zone¡± They need to be outside of areas with high mana saturation. Also, Classes should never stop leveling.¡±
¡°What do you mean by that?¡± The entity asked.
¡°When you choose a class it can continue to level for as long as you wish. If you want a second class, all XP is split between the two classes but they continue to level side by side. If you choose a third class the XP is split again. As you split your focus, it becomes harder and harder to level.¡±
¡°Logical changes, but how does that deal with the problem of Entropy and boredom? Better yet, how can you understand the stagnation that occurs after death as the soul of an individual lives through their afterlife, at least until they give up altogether? Not even we, who have survived multiple resets of reality, know what happens when one lets go. Where do the animae disappear to when completely released? Do you not believe that information can never be destroyed?¡±
Adam grew thoughtful for a moment, ¡°To answer your question, I think I would like to establish a SYSTEM outside of the current SYSTEM. I¡¯ll start with the Universe Racoon City is in, tweak the rules of that Universe and if it works, submit those changes to the current SYSTEM as an update. Make a beta test of sorts and if it works out I¡¯ll see what the other members of Entropy think. While I¡¯m working on that, I will also, look at the issue you¡¯ve raised. I do need to look at the Ascendent levels and see what the SYSTEM had going there. And of course, the deities or Gods, which I guess you are part of?
¡°I am, but you¡¯ll find that we leave the day-to-day problems with those of the Ascendent level¡± We play our games of course. How do you think you were contaminated with Chaos so long ago?¡±
¡°You what?¡± Adam asked.
¡°It wasn¡¯t me, or any of the Gods, as you describe them. There are tiers and castes within each group. The being responsible for your little accident is one of the oldest of any being I have¡
¡°ENOUGH!,¡± A voice rang out and the entity as well as the greyscale disappeared and Adam found himself back with the Forge of Creation at the node he¡¯d previously been at. He hadn¡¯t even felt the power that had moved him. Damn. It looked like the really old entities had a little bit of oomph. Better not to piss him off so Adam dropped it and decided to do what he was thinking about doing.
Adam put the new voice out of his mind, activated the Forge of Creation, and then activated his skill Establish Reality. He modified the Universe that Racoon City resided within into a beta test sight for the SYSTEM that currently had control over it. He made sure to make all the notes available to the SYSTEM as he implemented the changes he thought needed to be made and quarantined the Universe which effectively put it outside of Xeli Corporation¡¯s reach..
Luckily for Adam, the region Racoon City was based in was not a high mana saturation zone so no one there should have to worry about monster spawns. As for intruders and the like. His technology and Ray could take care of those problems. Lastly, he opened up one of his older Notifications
Would you like to Begin the Process of Ascension, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes.¡±
Chapter 269, Ascending to a Lower Form, What?
You have chosen Ascend.
Checking Prerequisites, One of the following must be True.
Tier I Rare Class at Level 100
Tier II Master Class at Level 100,
Both Conditions met.
Required Secondary Prerequisites:
All adjusted attributes over 1,000. Only Base attributes modified by Efficiency count toward this requirement, items do not count toward this requirement.
Requirement Met.
10 Skills at Master Rank or higher
Requirement Met
All Prerequisites for Ascension have been met.
The notifications paused as the room around Adam shifted and he was left floating in a void of white. Sense Chaos reached out and immediately identified that he was alone as far as his senses could reach. Unfortunately, there were no reference points so he couldn¡¯t say exactly how large the area was. The area he rested in was larger than Earth but smaller than the size of the Milky Way galaxy. Adam also noted that there was a boundary to this spherical dimension.
A moment later new notifications began scrolling down his vision.
Congratulations! You have reached the Paragon of Mortal Existence!
You have chosen to elevate from your mortal existence, To help you with this transition information about the ascension transformation process will be provided to you now.
First, You will be truly Immortal. Your physical form will be altered to consist of mostly Divine and Spiritual energy. You will still have a physical form which will be based on your mortal form.
Second, You will retain all abilities, titles, and perks of your mortal form¡
Once Adam read that line, he closed the notifications and activated Shape Reality. If the SYSTEM had expanded into the Spiritual and Divine realms and he had a Skill that allowed him to tweak the rules, why wouldn¡¯t he use it to speed this process up and maybe tweak the changes in his favor?
Adam smiled as he activated Technomancer and established a connection to the SYSTEM. The first thing he did was review all the changes that were about to take place. It looked like his abilities, attributes, skills, titles, perks, and spells were to remain the same and that a new attribute, Divine Energy, or DE, was to act as Experience Points for a new Divine Class while Karmic Luck was going to be used to level his ascendant form. He had to first achieve level 100 as an ascendant before he could assume a divine role.
Adam did a quick search to figure out what happened to any XP he had above and beyond that which was required for him to reach level Tier 5 Level 100 and noticed that the SYSTEM had not created a situation where XP would need to be converted after the ascension process was chosen. When Individuals reached Tier V, Level 100, XP was discarded and actions generated Karmic Luck or DE. Adam looked over this new process and immediately thought that It sucked. Why the actions taken as a mortal would be discarded¡ Adam just shook his head and decided to fix this problem.
Adam activated his Creator Skill Establish Reality and linked to the Forge of Creation, which forced a node to appear before him in this Ascension Domain, what he¡¯d decided to call this dimension. Adam linked the SYSTEM to the beta test Universe with Racoon City in it and established a connection with his ascension process for himself to that beta test.
Instead of creating whole new divine classes, he modified the system to allow DE to be gained and either spent on Divine Skills or converted to XP at a 1 DE for 100 XP ratio. The Class system he¡¯d created was much simpler than what the SYSTEM had been using and his changes to Ascension would expound on that simplicity. Instead of a five Tier SYSTEM that separated the rarity of classes among the Tiers: Tier 1 (Common, Scarce, Rare), Tier 2 (Advanced, Master), Tier 3 (Epic), Tier 4 (Mythical), Tier 5 (Legendary). Adam changed it so that each Class could be any of the rarities and that an individual could then be multiclass to another class which could also be at any of the listed rarities.
Leveling each class became progressively harder based on the rarity, but Adam kept it simple and increased the multiplier. For instance, to achieve level 1 in a common class would require 1,000 XP. To achieve level 1 in a Legendary class would require 8,000 XP. Then once a second, third, fourth, or fifth class was added all XP awards would be divided evenly among every class the individual had. This would give those individuals who decided to stick to one class a definite advantage because they would be able to level the single class much faster.
He also made sure to remove the level 100 cap for each Tier. It was an elegant change to the Class SYSTEM. Each class could now have a rarity which would increase the benefits the class gave. Prerequisites were required of course but now there could be Common, Scarce, Rare, and even Legendary Fighters, Wizards, or any other class that existed.
As for Ascension, there was no reason to limit those that would be gods so he removed the Karmic Luck limit and allowed classes to continue leveling after Ascension. As he was looking through the SYSTEM at how Karmic Luck or DE was earned he couldn¡¯t believe how complicated it was. A good ascendant could perform evil acts, or vice versa, and then convert that negative karma to good karma at a 2-for-1 ratio. This was overcomplicated. At the time of ascension, all actions from that point forward would receive positive DE that would help them level and earn Ascendent level skills. This would also allow for Ascendent who wished to remain neutral for the most part, which didn¡¯t seem to be a choice the SYSTEM allowed. Well, at least a choice the SYSTEM made very hard to progress along.
Adam looked over the changes he wished to implement and then accepted the changes. Immediately notifications filled his vision.
SYSTEM Update Noted.
SYSTEM Beta modification Implemented.
Classes Updated, Levels adjusted.
Attributes Adjusted
Skill Points Adjusted.
Spell Points Adjusted
Psychic Skill Points Adjusted.
Skill Levels Standardized to Numerical Values.
1,735,448,753,897,750,000 XP divided between the following Classes.
First Class: Rare / Mentalist / Level 15,211,612
Second Class: Master / Agent of Chaos / Level: 11,782,864
Third Class: Epic / Polymath / Level: 10,756,234
Fourth Class: Mythic / Reality Editor / Level: 9,958,338
Fifth Class: Legendary / Creator / Level 9,315,173
Remaining XP 0
Karmic Luck: 810,000,000 Noted
Ascension Path¡¯s available: Good or Neutral
Adam was chaotic by nature and chose the Neutral path. He didn¡¯t want to be beholden to any ideology based on good or evil.
810,000,000 Karmic Luck harnessed during Ascension.
Ascendant Level 1,272
All Base Attributes increased by 10,600.
Hit Points, Stamina, Mana, and Psychic Energy increased by 63,600.
Spell and Psionic Slots increased by 19,080.
Skill Slots Increased by 11,448
Ascendent Skills, Spells, and Psychic Skills are now available.
SYSTEM NOTE Beta Test Protocol Active
By accepting Beta Change Protocols you have automatically been assigned to Universe Beta Test 001A. While you may visit other Universe and Dimensions you will be restricted to your Mortal Avatar when doing so and may only interact with other Ascendent beings on Physical Planes of Existence.
Number of Ascendent beings in Universe 001a, including you: 1
Number of Divine Beings assigned to Universe 001a, including you: 0
Adam paused the notifications and dug into the last two entries. It seemed that a request for volunteers to participate in the Beta Test had gone out but no one wished to participate because of the limited number of dimensions and resources available to them. Resources? What kind of resources did Ascendent and Divine beings need? Adam went back to reviewing the notifications.
Ascendant beings may interact with mortals and even take significant action if necessary. This directly impacts their generation of DE and Karmic Luck. Divine Energy is accrued and will fuel a being''s path to true divinity. Karmic Luck is accrued through actions related that directly benefit the Universe or sentient mortals of a Universe, dimension, or plane.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Karmic Luck is used to measure an Ascendant¡¯s level progression. As Ascendant levels increase new Ascendant Abilities, Skills, and Spells become available.
Karmic Luck can be converted into DE at a ratio of 100 Karmic Luck for 1 DE
XP can be converted into DE at a ratio of 10,000 XP for 1 DE
XP cannot be concerted to Karmic Luck
Ascendant Level 1 Skills unlocked
Adam scrolled through the list of new skills he¡¯d unlocked. The Karmic Luck he¡¯d acquired had automatically increased his level to 1,272. There were a lot of skill notifications. At 1st level alone he received a notification that his body was to be upgraded with a skill called Ascendant Form. That notification was promptly negated by SYSTEM Message
SYSTEM Message ¨C as Chaos Incarnate your form may not be downgraded to one of pure spirit. Or more appropriately, your form theoretically already is spirit. As such the skill Ascendant Form will allow you to take on that form if you desire but it is not required.
The next couple of notifications dealt with his ability to interact with the mortal realm which involved assuming the form of an Avatar which could be destroyed and would leave him back in his Ascendent form. Again, he received a SYSTEM Message which contradicted the skill.
SYSTEM Message - as Chaos Incarnate you are linked to Chaos throughout the SYSTEM and truly immortal. If your material form is destroyed your soul will be pulled into chaos where a new body will be formed. So long as there is chaos within The SYSTEM, you cannot be permanently destroyed.
The next few messages dealt with perks that he already had as an Adamantium Dragon and Creature of Chaos, which didn¡¯t seem to have been modified. He could Adapt to any environment, and create items that looked to be made with divine magic which he was given access to. Making items with Divine Energy used that Divine Energy up, which he didn¡¯t have¡or did he?
Now that you are Ascendent You may earn Divine Energy. Previous Actions are not rewarded, though actions that have created ongoing effects are. As such the creation of a Universe for the Primus Race to exist and thrive within will generate 1 DE per hour. This award is not given for the creation of Universes, Dimensions, or Physical Planes. This specific award is granted for Founding the 1st and Lost Race: Primus in a new Universe.
Title Gained: Founder of the Lost
Award: So long as the Primus continues to exist you generate 1 DE per hour
That wasn¡¯t a huge windfall of DE but he¡¯d take it. That meant he could use DE if he had to. He¡¯d just have to review what DE could be spent on.
Additional skills that unlocked included a translation skill, which wasn¡¯t necessary because of his Polymath Class. There were also Divine Magical Attacks and Defenses which he could deploy if needed.
Adam laughed when he finally reached the first warning.
WARNING! Unless Time is your primary sphere of influence, Temporal Manipulation is forbidden within The SYSTEM and will be met with severe penalties, up to and including removal from Ascendant Status.
Adam laughed, he couldn¡¯t help himself. This was a standardized warning that all individuals that ascended received, he checked. Adrian Xeli was an idiot. If Adam hadn¡¯t handled that situation, the SYSTEM would have.
All and all, Adam went through the Ascendant process, picked up a bunch of skills and spells he would probably never use, and realized that the things he¡¯d already accomplished put him so far above normal ascendent people¡wait. Yep, there it was. Ascendents had been limited to level 100 as well. The changes he¡¯d incorporated would unlock leveling for any ascendants that came into Universe 001a and accepted the changes.
Adam checked his Karmic Luck, which sat at ¡°0¡± now that the attribute had been used to increase his Ascendant Level. XP was also at zero, though his levels, Wow! All of his levels had gone off the chart. Also, the lowest amount of XP he needed to get a new level was 9.427 billion XP for his Polymath Class. Every other class was at least 11 billion XP.
He''d once made a joke to one of his friends who had made a thousandth-level fighter for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. He¡¯d asked, ¡°What Prime Material Plane did you destroy.¡± It looked like Karma did indeed have a sense of humor and understood Irony.
The white universe around Adam faded away and he found himself floating above Earth, the Earth that he now thought of as his. General Duvall sat in his office in Racoon City while, Now, Major Clarkson and Captain Baker sat across from him. Adam listened in with Sense Chaos.
¡°Have either of you finished reading all the changes the SYSTEM has notified us about?¡± General Duvall asked.
Major Clarkson spoke up, ¡°No, Sir. There were so many. However, I did notice that this Universe is now a beta test for those changes and that we have been cut off from the rest of the SYSTEM until those changes are rescinded or begin being implemented in other SYSTEM Dimensions or Universes, whatever that means.
¡°What I take from that is that the Xeli Corporation Adam went to talk to will no longer be able to send their people here. As evidence, our satellite defense SYSTEM has not detected any new ships since the change happened,¡± General Duvall said.
¡°A lot of people have informed me that there have been significant changes to the way their ¡®Character Sheet¡¯ or Status Screen is working. It seemed that bonuses and penalties were based around the number 10 as the zero point for those bonuses or penalties. Let¡¯s look at the attribute Strength as an example. Every two points someone put into an attribute above 10 would increase their damage with a melee weapon by 1 point. Now every point in Strength above 10 increases damage by 1 point. Also, it seems that every point of Constitution above 10 now adds a hit point which makes it harder for people to die. All in all, it looks like the SYSTEM made the allocation of Attributes more dynamic,¡± Captain Baker said.
¡°And the Class System?¡± General Duvall asked.
¡°As far as my staff and I can determine, it has been streamlined. Your first class can remain your only class and all earned XP will help you progress along that Class. As soon as you qualify for a second class, which seems to happen easily enough you can choose to pick up that second class. Your XP is split evenly between both classes but both classes continue to progress. Some of our younger residents refer to this as multi-classing,¡± Major Clarkson explained.
Have any of our personnel taken advantage of this change?¡± General Duvall asked.
General Duvall was interrupted as Ray, the artificial intelligence he left in control of the systems around Earth interrupted, ¡°General Duvall, a humanoid has appeared in low orbit around Earth. It is highly probable that it is Adam.¡±
Is he in a ship?¡± Lieutenant Baker asked.
General Duvall pulled up an image and put it up on the monitor on the office wall. The image zoomed in on Adam¡¯s back as he floated there.
Adam turned toward the camera, winked, and then activated Chaos Step to reappear in General Duvall¡¯s office, ¡°General, Major, Captain,¡± Adam said as he addressed the three in turn.
¡°You were just in space, without a space suit,¡± Captain Baker said, as she adjusted her uniform. Adam also detected that her pulse had increased and her face had flushed slightly.
¡°I was, Space doesn¡¯t really bother me anymore. But enough about me, I was listening in on your conversation..."
"From space?" Major Clarkson asked.
¡°Yes, from space¡± Adam answered in a tone which made it clear that he thought that was a silly question. ¡°Moving on, What do you all think of the changes I¡¯ve instituted in this Beta Test?¡±
¡°You instituted?¡± General Duvall asked thoughtfully. ¡°To answer your question, we are doing quite well. Ray has kept the Xeli ships that try to fly in at bay. He has also been able to detect any that suddenly appear on the planet. Our response teams were able to handle anything and if we couldn¡¯t Ray vaporized them from orbit.
¡°So, your teams have been able to level going after the monster spawns?¡± Adam asked.
¡°And Dungeons,¡± Major Clarkson added.
¡°Have any of you tried your luck at the dungeons yet?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Once or twice,¡± Captain Baker said.
¡°Once,¡± Major Clarkson offered.
¡°My class is primarily Administrative,¡± General Duvall said.
Adam looked over the three with an analyzing gaze. What¡¯s the worst that could happen? Adam activated Shape Reality pulled up the interface and opened all three of their SYSTEM Screens. Instead of giving each of them XP or increasing their levels, because Tier 5 level 100 wasn¡¯t the maximum anymore, Adam simply added 1,000 points to each of their eleven base attributes. The cost was 22,000 Chaos per person for 66,000 total. Once the changes were made, he accepted the changes. He wasn¡¯t expecting the next Notification that populated his view.
You have chosen to alter three mortals with the Skill ¡°Shape Reality.¡± Altering mortals after accepting ascension, while not forbidden does carry a cost.
Karmic Luck reduced by 33,000
Current Karmic Luck -33,000.
Adam sighed. He looked through his interface and noted that he could sacrifice XP to increase his Karmic Luck at a ratio of 100-to-1. This contradicted what he¡¯d read earlier until he saw the note.
XP can only be spent to increase Negative Karmic Luck to Zero.
It would be costly but he¡¯d be able to earn it back. Of course, because of his Reality Editor Class, he could utilize Shape Reality to spend some of his Chaos to replace the Karmic Luck at a 2-to-1 ratio. Which meant that he could utilize Shape Reality to level his Ascendant class. That was interesting.
Adam spent 66,000 Chaos to bring his Karmic Luck back to zero. There was no need to test whether having negative Karma influenced events around him. Adam was pulled from his thoughts as questions exploded from the three officers.
¡°What did you do?¡± The General asked as Captain Baker said with a hint of wonder in her voice, ¡°Wow, what did you do?¡±
Major Clarkson on the other hand just shouted out, ¡°Holy Shit!¡±
¡°So, no more excuses. The three of you have done a great job holding things together but now it¡¯s time for you to grow stronger. As for what I did, I gave each of you an extremely unfair advantage against anyone else from this planet. The increased attributes should also open up other classes for you to take, maybe even some Epic, Mythical, or Legendary classes,¡± Adam said.
¡°Thank you,¡± General Duvall said, ¡°What are you going to do now?¡±
¡°Well, it looks like I can¡¯t just go around helping people with my class anymore, not directly anyway, so I¡¯ll¡¡± Adam said when Sense Chaos detected something that caused him to pause.
SYSTEM Alert! Adamantadine You will report to for review and disciplinary action!
You will be moved in 10 seconds.
¡°It looks like I have to cut this short. It seems I¡¯ve made someone angry. The three of you now have a severe advantage, use it to grow stronger and take care of as many as you can, I¡¯ll be back as soon as I¡¯m¡¡±
Adam¡¯s words were cut off as the SYSTEM moved him from the General''s Office to the center of an Colosseum. Sense Chaos detected thousands upon thousands of beings spread out throughout the stand, all looking down on him as he stood on a pedestal in the center of the stage.
¡°Adamantadine! You have been called before this Tribunal of the Gods to receive our judgment. Do you have anything to say before our judgment is passed?¡±
Adam was all for skipping the boring bits in a conversation or plot but this was ridiculous. These gods were going to try to judge him. They were going to pass a sentence on him and not even tell him what he was accused of specifically? Maybe he was overestimating himself, but he didn¡¯t think so.
In answer to the speaker''s question, Adam released his full Aura as he allowed the chaos within his body to remold him into a giant that looked down into the stands the ¡°gods¡± sat in. A few had been smart enough to disappear as his aura sprang free. The rest? Some had disintegrated, while others were struggling to hold themselves together. Even the old man who had addressed him from the highest seat in the Colosseum was struggling to hold things together.
Adam withdrew his aura and directed his voice toward the man in the highest seat, ¡°What was that? I couldn¡¯t hear you.¡±
¡°You have doomed yourself and all those you love this day!¡± The old man wheezed.
¡°Wow, people saying exactly the wrong thing seems to becoming a thing these days,¡± Adam commented as his form shrunk to normal size and he was next to the old man in a moment. Adam reached out with his right hand and crushed the old man''s skull like it was tissue paper. Adam watched as the form disintegrated and began to reform instantly. In that moment he was struck by various spells, weapons, and even a few fists from some guards that had rushed forward from behind the old man to protect him. Adam bitch-slapped each guard out of existence as he activated Shape Reality and froze time at his location. Adam pulled up and sorted information on every being present, specifically their attributes and resistances.
Someone had tried to resist his inquiry but he¡¯d plowed right through the false firewall like it wasn¡¯t there. It only took a moment to find the information and sort it. It was interesting, even the old man, whose skull he¡¯d just crushed couldn¡¯t stand toe to toe with him. This whole trial had been a farce. Adam knew there were other beings more powerful than him. These were the ascendants who would be Gods. They were pathetic. It was time for a true demonstration of power.
Adam created 100,000 copies of himself with Mold Chaos and split his mind among every Avatar he created. Each Avatar moved next to every single wannabe god present. Once in place each clone conjured an Adamantium longsword and held it pointed at them.
Adam spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, ¡°With Sense Chaos, I can sense even the barest hint of magical variance. If I so must as detect a spell being cast, I will strike you down and you can spend the energy and DE to reform your Avatar. If you truly offend me, I will see if one of my other skills can remove your Ascendancy, which I think is possible., let''s see shall we?¡± Adam said as he activated Shape Reality and paid the cost in Chaos to remove one of the Speaker¡¯s levels as he tried to reform. ¡°Nooo!¡± echoed out of thin air as the old man''s form started to reform faster. It also tried to move away from Adam but he locked down Space and Time within 10 feet of him which locked the disembodied spirit to that location while it reformed.
Adam paid the coast in chaos and returned the level to the old man. The goal was to make a point, not to make a permanent enemy after all. Adam watched the rest of the gods that remained and those that resolidified after his aura had struck them down. None tried to flee as they all waited for the old man to reform.
The old man returned to himself looked around and then looked over his body. It only took a moment for him to realize that Adam had everyone in the Colosseum at his mercy.
¡°So, you used the SYSTEM to pull me to this farce of a trial, why?¡± Adam asked.
The old man paused as he tried to collect his thoughts.
¡°I can tell that the lot of you are young gods, I know this because none of you have the power to stand against me. If you don¡¯t answer my question, I¡¯ll take my chances with pissing off the SYSTEM and the old gods and just wipe all of you from existence. Now talk!¡±
¡°You can¡¯t kill gods permanently!¡± the Speaker said indignantly.
Adam smiled and conjured a small clipboard with a piece of paper on it which listed the step-by-step process by which he would destroy them.
- Take God to be Destroyed to Entropy
- Take God into the Forge of Creation
- Take God into the Center of the Singularity of Entropy at the center of the Forge.
- Recover Animae
- Scrub Animae of any memories, karmic links, or residual energy that might be used to recall it to a specific soul.
- Release Animae into the ether and let it look for a new host to support.
The old man looked at the clipboard board, and sighed as he asked, ¡°You attained the class of Creator, didn¡¯t you?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Adam answered truthfully.
¡°Very well, You were to be punished for altering the normal course of events for multiple timelines. Something that I¡¯m sure you are aware is frowned upon.¡±
¡°See, there you have a problem; however, you received that information, I have not intentionally messed with any timelines. If anything, I¡¯m trying to maintain them. That¡¯s neither here nor there. As a Creator, I am looking for a solution that will help everyone. Interruptions like this waste my time and will not be tolerated. We¡¯re done here,¡± Adam said as the 100,000 copies of himself recombined and eventually merged with him.
¡°Before I leave, might I suggest you look into whoever asked you to take this course of action? The only reason I did not already do what is on the list I showed you is that I¡¯d lose access to the Forge for a bit. So, leave me alone, and I¡¯ll leave you alone. I hope I¡¯ve made myself abundantly clear. In case I haven¡¯t made myself clear, inspect this,¡± Adam said as he pulled out his Chaos Blade. ¡°I don¡¯t know what this will do to a God but I¡¯m sure it won¡¯t be good.¡±
Adam waited while the old man looked over the sword. When he saw a look of recognition and fear enter his gaze. ¡°Next time you want to talk, send a message,¡± Adam said as he activated Chaos Step and reappeared in the General¡¯s office.
¡°What happened?¡± General Duvall asked.
¡°Some gods wanted to judge me; they were judged. How are you all doing?¡±
Chapter 270, Cascade Error
Congratulations, You have earned a new title, God Smacked!
Effect: When interacting with any God that knows your true Identity Charisma is 100% more effective as are the skills of Intimidation and Subdue
Adam laughed as the General, Major, and Captain looked at him quizzically. He¡¯d just received a new title for telling the gods to fuck off. Damn if the SYSTEM didn¡¯t have a sense of humor.
Adam was pulled back from his thoughts when Captain Baker asked, ¡°Gods?¡±
Adam smiled, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, they shouldn¡¯t bother me anymore.¡±
¡°Be that as it may, what are your plans for the immediate future?¡± General Duvall asked.
¡°Well, I need to look over the changes that happened to me, probably hit the SYSTEM Shop and then I need to see about solving the Entropy problem,¡± Adam said.
¡°Entropy?¡± Major Clarkson asked, ¡°Care to explain?¡±
Adam¡¯s expression changed as he thought about all the ways to explain the problem and then he settled on a very simple explanation, ¡°This is the nitty-gritty explanation. First, Souls exist. You have a soul; all sentients have souls. In those souls, there is an anchor point which is often referred to as the animae. As far as the information I¡¯ve come across explains A soul is eternal until it isn¡¯t.¡±
¡°What does that mean?¡± Captain Baker asked.
¡°That means that infinity is an extremely long time and eventually some souls get bored and let go,¡±
¡°Let go?¡± Major Clarkson asked.
¡°Will you two let the man speak? He¡¯s never going to finish if you keep interrupting him,¡± General Duvall said.
¡°Yes, Sir!¡± both the Major and the Captain replied in union.
¡°Thank you, General. Now where was I? Oh yes. Eventually, the individual gives up and releases their memories into the ether, and the Animae that acts as the anchor for that soul returns to where it came from. It may be the foundation of another soul or it could be used in a Complex Animae like mine¡¡± Adam¡¯s thoughts trailed off as he considered what he¡¯d just said. Could it be that simple?
¡°Adam?¡± General Duvall asked.
¡°I had an idea. I need to go check something after we¡¯re done here. Anyway, back to entropy. What I just explained about souls doesn¡¯t have anything to do with the Entropy problem, other than it¡¯s really hard for souls to survive through the end of an iteration. Before you ask, an iteration is what the beings that have existed for a long time consider the beginning of the multiverse to the end of a multiverse. When everything starts again, this is a new iteration.¡±
¡°How many iterations have there been?¡± Captain Baker asked with a bit of wonder in her voice.
¡°The beings I¡¯ve spoken with say they know of nine. There could be more, ¡° Adam said.
¡°Nine?¡± Captain Baker said as her eyes glazed over and she became lost in her thoughts.
¡°The problem I¡¯m working on is the fact that no matter what normal people do, eventually they give up, the iteration ends, and then everything starts over. How do we prevent this from happening? How do we convince individuals that existing for eternity doesn¡¯t become boring,¡± Adam asked rhetorically.
General Duvall looked thoughtful for a moment before he said, ¡°It sounds like there is someone that continues to exist through these iterations if someone remembers nine of them.¡±
¡°There are individuals that have survived iterations but it is my understanding that some of those that make it to the lifeboat have given up on living for eternity,¡± Adam said.
¡°Living forever?¡± General Duvall said as he thought about it for a moment, ¡°I don¡¯t know if I would want to live forever either?¡±
¡°Which begs the existential question, what is the point of living?¡± Adam replied.
¡°To fight for that which love and hold dear. To hold the line for them and ensure they can grow up¡¡± Major Clarkson started to say before he finished with, ¡°I see what you mean. If everyone is going to disappear forever in the end, why bother?¡±
¡°Indeed,¡± Adam affirmed.
¡°What¡¯s the alternative?¡± Captain Baker asked with a little heat in her voice, ¡°I don¡¯t know about you but I don¡¯t want to die and I doubt that I would give up my existence so easily.¡±
¡°And your reason for feeling that way?¡± Adam asked neutrally.
¡°I want to live and grow. I want to have children and watch them grow up. I want to know how the story ends. Fade to black sounds like a shitty ending,¡± Captain Baker said with a hint of anger in her voice.
¡°And what if you¡¯d lived countless lives, had countless children, and watched all of them fail or die as you continued to exist when they decided to let go, why would you want to go on then? Please understand, I¡¯m not questioning your motive, I¡¯m trying to find an answer to the question I¡¯ve asked for those who do decide to continue on,¡± Adam asked as compassionately as he could.
Captain Baker considered Adam¡¯s question and asked, ¡°These Animae you speak of, do they exist forever?¡±
¡°As far as I know, yes,¡± Adam answered.
¡°They never break down?¡± Captain Baker asked.
¡°Never is a long time so a more accurate answer would be that I¡¯m not sure.¡±
¡°Could you find out?¡±
¡°Perhaps,¡± Adam said as he wondered if the Forge of Creation might be able to answer the question, ¡°If they don¡¯t break down, what are you thinking?¡± Adam asked.
¡°If Animae doesn¡¯t break down, maybe there¡¯s something else going on that no one understands. If the Animae does break down, but more slowly than anyone thought that means entropy comes for everything. In which case, what are you trying to do?¡± Captain Baker asked.
¡°There has to be more to this than just going away and coming back over and over again,¡± I need to find out what that is while also trying to preserve those I care about,¡± Adam said.
¡°How are you going to do that?¡± General Duvall asked.
¡°I have a few ideas,¡± Adam hedged and then continued, ¡°I¡¯m going to step out for a bit. I need to look over something and then institute some changes for others. I¡¯ll check in once in a while but you three are in charge, with Ray¡¯s help, of course. You all should be safe enough from any natural disaster.¡±
¡°We¡¯ve got this covered,¡± General Duvall called out, ¡°though we will probably need to look at establishing some form of world government.¡±
¡°I leave what comes next here in your very capable hands,¡± Adam said as he opened a portal to Entropy and stepped through.
Adam¡¯s portal deposited him on the sidewalk next to one of the main streets in the middle of town. With Sense Chaos he knew the layout and direction of the Forge in seconds but he wasn¡¯t going there. First, he needed to look at what becoming ascended had done to him.
It only took a few moments for Adam to pull up the basic information and figure out what 1,272 levels as an Ascendant garnered him.
127,200 Attributes which were evenly distributed among his eleven attributes, which raised each by 10,600. Mana, Stamina, and Psychic Energy were all increased by 84,800. That meant that each time he leveled each of those attributes increased by 66 points per level. Psionic Skill Slots and Spell Slots increased by 15 per level which increased both by 19,080. Skill Slots increased by 9 per level or 11,448 total.
Adam immediately understood that the individual-level upgrades were incredible. Attributes were increased by 100 points per level. Mana, Stamina, and Psychic Energy were collectively increased by approximately 200 points per level. Skill Slots were increased by 9 per level and Spell and Psionic slots were increased collectively by 15 per level. When comparing them to rare class upgrades; 4 attributes per level, 15 total points split between Mana, Stamina, and Psychic Energy, and only 1 point for either spells or psionic slots, it seemed that Ascendant progression increased his stats by an incredible amount. He could only imagine what would happen if he attained the status of a God.
Even so, Adam knew that his attributes were far outside of the expected norms and that he could compete with the supposed Gods. Though his ability to Shape Reality already seemed to put him at that power level. He couldn¡¯t be sure, but it did seem like the Classes Reality Editor and Creator were serious game-changers.
Adam looked for any other changes to his attributes, skills, or perks, but couldn¡¯t find anything. It looked like becoming Ascendent only improved that which you already had, as well as putting limits on how you could use that power to interact with mortals. Adam considered that to be one of the primary problems with the way the SYSTEM handled that increase in power level. If a caste or system separated and dehumanized others, those that ascended might look at those that hadn¡¯t yet as lesser, even if they were from the same race or background. Adam wondered how hard it would be to change that.
Adam walked up to the entrance to the Forge of Creation and was waved through by Serro and Talis. He moved over to one of the empty nodes and touched it. After a few moments, he¡¯d pulled up the information on the universe he was linked to and reviewed the Beta settings. Next, he pulled up the Universe Adaline was in and added it to the Beta as well. One thing he noted was that the cost to himself had reduced. It only required 1,000,000 Chaos to add a Universe to the Beta.
Of course, as he went through the information he found the vague definitions for Universe, Dimension, Reality, and Multiverse. Without clear definitions things were never going to get better so he decided it was time to do something about the terminology that was in use. The terms Universe and Dimension seemed to be interchangeable so he further defined them. A Universe is a grouping of dimensions centered on a physical or digital universe. Any place that was adjacent to that Universe would be considered a Dimension and dimensions could connect Universes.
So, the area Earth resided in would be a Universe. There could be alternate dimensions attached to that Universe and even acted as a conduit between universes, but they were not Universe unto themselves. A great example of this was the idea of the Astral Plane which connected to multiple universes. Magical sphere-based dimensions that were attached to a Universe were also reclassified as dimensions and not full universes.
Alternate Realities simply referred to Universes that were very similar to another Universe. Multiverse referred to all the Universes and their attached Dimensions and Iteration was a term utilized to refer to the Multiverse life and death cycle. While it wasn¡¯t a major change and didn¡¯t change the functionality of the SYSTEM it would make referencing various locations throughout the Multiverse a little easier.
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With those changes made, it was time to bring Pandora¡¯s Universe into the Beta test. Adam reached out through his Animae to make sure she was back in the Universe with his mother and his father froze. It took Adam a few moments to count the number of linkages that exited himself, entered the Forge of Creation, and then exploded into the Multiverse, A significant amount of which exited SYSTEM-controlled universes. 23,842,865,854,210,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,001, or 2.38E+37, Universes to be exact. The number of Pandora¡¯s that existed seemed to be fluctuating but that was to be expected as it seemed she could make clones of herself.
There was only one SYSTEM-controlled Universe with Pandora in it. The other Pandoras were all in the universe outside of designated SYSTEM universes. One in each known adjacent universe to be exact. Adam did a quick check and noted that Pandora seemed to be adapting to the environment of the Universe she was in. In some cases, she seemed to be living a normal life. In other, less hospitable universes, she assumed forms compatible with the environment and waited.
Adam had no idea what she was doing but knew that whatever this was, something or someone else set her on this path and she seemed to be doing okay so he would leave her alone. The entropy problem was universal and he hadn¡¯t been contacted or warned off about going through with the beta and working on the problem that way so he was going to proceed. Besides, what he did next should generate some goodwill from the SYSTEM toward himself
Adam spent the 2.38429E+43 Chaos required to add the Non-SYSTEM Universes to the Beta test with a few tweaks. Mana integration would proceed at a rate of 1% per year to give the inhabitants time to adjust, otherwise, everything else about the Beta Test would remain the same.
WARNING!
Cascade Error!
SYSTEM Conversion Commencing
Additional Cost to Creator 4.76857E+45
Cost with Creator limits
Cost paid.
Conversion Implemented
Congratulations!
SYSTEM Controlled Universe has increased by 415%
You have been awarded 2.38429E+45 Divine Energy
Minimum of 1 Million Divine Energy Accrued. Would you like to start your Journey along the Path of a God, Yes or No?
Adam read the prompts. Well, Shit. That had taken a huge chunk of his Chaos. He looked over his Status Screen and was relieved to see that he still had 1.10E+48 Chaos. He¡¯d also just received a huge windfall of Divine Energy which could now elevate him into the realms of Deities. Adam activated Reality Editor and looked at how leveling for Gods worked. As he looked at the information he had available which was simply a chart with the cost in Divine Energy per level, it looked like each level would cost 1 million DE multiplied by the next level which meant that leveling for Gods must be rare as it would cost 55 million DE just to reach level 10.
Adam looked at how much DE he currently had, smiled, and chose ¡°Yes¡±.
ERROR!
Notification Buffer Full
Ascendent Levels and God Level adjusted.
Adam opened his SYSTEM Status and cleared the Notification Buffer. It seemed that it couldn¡¯t hold more than 100 Trillion notifications. When he looked at his Ascendent Level and God Level he understood why. His ascendant level had increased to a scientific number with 21 zeros. His God level was 4.88E+19. It also looked like the DE he¡¯d earned had been split evenly between both his Ascendent and God Level
Honestly, it didn¡¯t matter. He was doing just fine. His levels were ridiculous and his attributes had increased again. Nope, he wasn¡¯t worried about his Status Screen. He wasn¡¯t even worried about the benefits he received from attaining God levels because being a Creator seemed to be a trump card for those levels.
Adam activated Reality Editor and removed the restrictions that forced gods to pay Divine Energy to interact with mortals. Instead, he reversed the cost. If a God did something for a mortal or ascendent the cost came from the mortal, or mortals. A cost that could be shared. This included answering questions. If the god freely shared information the cost would come from them but if the mortal asked a question and the God answered the cost would be paid in whatever currency the god required. Credits, Health, Stamina, Mana, Divine Energy if possible.
To prevent some of the issues that might crop up, Adam added a restriction that any payments must be made freely and without coercion. If a God attempted to abuse this rule they would be confined to their Personal Domain, which all Gods had to declare. Additionally, he removed the requirement for Gods to choose domains of influence and instead set up a framework for the domain of influence to be based on the classes the Deity had. Within that framework, gods could choose how they would utilize their classes to earn Divine Energy to improve their levels and power.
Within the framework of the SYSTEM, an individual could work up the class SYSTEM until they met the prerequisites to become an Ascendant. From there they could work on earning Divine Energy until they attained the Divine Energy to become God. Normal actions would still garner them XP to improve their levels while acts would either earn them Divine Energy or Karmic Luck. Karmic Luck could be spent to increase their Ascendent level though that was a waste, now that he had time to think about it. Karmic luck was something the SYSTEM used as an arbitrary indicator to determine if an individual was working within the framework of the SYSTEM or not. Karmic luck at low or negative values was just a bad idea.
A moment later a new notification popped into his view.
SYSTEM MESSAGE.
BETA Test Successful.
SYSTEM Version 3.01 is now Live.
See the attached files for Version Changes.
The Age of the Divine is upon you. Bound by laws of old no longer, the Ascendant and the Gods may now interact freely with mortals.
The Favor of a God is now paid for by the benefactors.
Multiple Universes have also been unlocked for exploration.
Adam read over the message and was extremely satisfied that the changes had been added as a change log file instead of listing them all out. That would have been an exceptionally long notification.
Warning!
Adamantadine, You Must Choose a Domain!
It looked like the information he had about Deities needing to establish Domains was spot on. Luckily he could do more than choose a location on a plane or in a dimension. He could create a dimension or Universe, so that was what he was going to do.
Adam activated Establish Reality and decided to go with what he knew. He looked through the various options and added a pocket dimension to the Universe Racoon City was in. Adam then added an invisible Divine Portal to the Universe Racoon City was in and placed it in the middle of White Sands National Park 100 feet off the ground. No one should be able to utilize the Divine Portal unless they could detect and then access it. As the location was over 25 miles from the nearest mountain it was very unlikely that anyone would accidentally stumble across the entrance or inadvertently fly into it.
Additionally, the portal was out of phase with the Universe unless Adam willed it forth so that would also prevent someone from accidentally flying into it. As for the pocket dimension, Adam decided to keep things simple and created another Earth complete with a solar system though there were no people on the planet. Instead, he turned it into an Eden of sorts.
Adam also placed a Divine Portal on the Earth his mother and father were on with the rest of his friends and family. He was going to place the portal at Stonehenge but found that the dimensional barrier was weakened and another portal was already attached to the Universe, though it was currently closed. So Adam looked over the map of the United Kingdom and decided to put the Divine Portal near Penrith Lake 102 miles west of Scarborough. Penrith Lake was on a flat plain just west of Stony Cove Pike. It was a small lake about 2,460 feet above sea level. There were no settlements nearby so there shouldn¡¯t be very many visitors.
The last Divine Portal Adam connected to his Domain was set near Adaline¡¯s mountain lair north of Venoran on Primore. The last thing Adam did was remove the nanite restrictions for himself within his domain. It would just make setting up the domain a lot easier. He considered removing the nanite restrictions in the Universes he¡¯d created but decided it would probably be a bad idea.
Adam looked at the cost and converted a good portion of his mana into Chaos to pay the 103 Trillion Chaos cost to create his Domain. Honestly, it felt like a bargain. If he was being honest, his abilities were a little broken when he could use his mana regeneration rate to convert his mana into Chaos and then utilize it to fuel his Shape Reality and Establish Reality Skills. Even as he considered that he realized he had more problems to address. With his Domain created, Adam designated it as such and received confirmation that his Domain was created and available from the SYSTEM.
Now, how was he going to solidify reality and fight entropy? Adam performed a search with the Forge of Creation. He noted that there were universes and dimensions outside those that had just been added to the Beta upgrade to the SYSTEM Universes that were not under SYSTEM control that were losing integrity. The Forge of Creation did not have the necessary energy or resources to stabilize the issue but Adam did.
Adam looked over his options. While he couldn¡¯t fix all of it, he could slow down the destruction of some of the Universes which should help protect the SYSTEM Controlled Universes. Unfortunately, he could not stabilize an infinite number because his resources were not infinite. But, if he stabilized some, maybe that would give him more time to come up with a solution to the Iteration problem.
Adam placed his second hand on the node and started channeling Chaos into the Forge of Creation. It was hard to quantify exactly how much energy was tied up in a point of Chaos, but it was a lot. As Adam channeled the energy into the node he began to glow with a pearlescent light that flooded the Forge of Creation and even caused the Singularity of Creation at the center to become infused with the pearlescent glow.
Adam realized that at that moment in time every being in every Universe, SYSTEM controlled or not, felt the energy that flooded into reality. For some, it caused a slight headache. For others, their sight was blinded by a white light that seemed to come from everywhere, even if they closed their eyes. Luckily it only lasted a moment for them. For Adam, it took a bit longer. The Forge of Creation modified the flow of time around Adam so that those in the Forge of Creation at other nodes only saw a flash of white light and the room returned to darkness.
As Adam made his choices and implemented them he decided to err on the side of caution. He chose to keep some of the bonuses that Chaos added to his attributes and to only reduce his Chaos attribute by the same amount he reduced his attributes by. That amount? 8.12E+46 per attribute plus the same amount from his Chaos attribute which amounted to 9.744E+47 Chaos. That would leave a 1 million point bonus with each attribute except Chaos. With that energy, Adam stabilized 8.12E+40 Non-SYSTEM Universes and their attached dimensions.
With everything he¡¯d intended to do complete, Adam withdrew his hands from the node and took a few deep breaths. He may not have won the war, but he was sure he¡¯d slowed things down for a little while at least. Adam straightened his back, floated to the exit, and left the Forge of Creation. As he exited the building Serro nodded in Adam¡¯s direction, ¡°You look beat Adam, You okay?¡±
¡°I think I am Serro. I just had a little bit to do inside. I¡¯m done for now though. You two have a good day,¡± Adam said as he continued down the steps to the road. He wasn¡¯t trying to be rude but he felt beat.
As Adam walked down the steps he heard Talis say, ¡°Did you notice, he¡¯s a God now and his level is so high I can¡¯t even read it. How is he increasing his power so quickly?¡±
Serro smiled, ¡°Don¡¯t know! Don¡¯t care. Whatever he just did has made some serious changes though, can¡¯t you feel it?¡±
¡°You''re right,¡± Talis said.
Adam ignored their conversation as he opened a portal to Racoon City and then used Chaos Step to enter his Personal Domain. The Divine Portals were for others, He could always step into his Domain. Adam decided to travel to Mount Everest and created enough nanites with Mold Chaos to mold and create a replica of Racoon City within the mountain. Near the peak, he modified the structure slightly so that a terrace stuck out of the mountain and afforded a breathtaking view of the world below.
Within a few minutes, the facility was completed, from the base of the mountain to the summit. The Facility was fully powered, contained over 1,000 portal devices, housing for at least a billion people, and every amenity known to man. He¡¯d even included an area that could be utilized as a dragon den, well two dragon dens. If Pandora ever needed a place within his Domain, he was sure she¡¯d want her mountain, with a little bit of perceived privacy, though nowhere in his domain was truly private from him.
Adam used Chaos Step to enter his private residence at the Summit and admired the view. While the lack of atmosphere at 28,950 feet wouldn¡¯t affect him, the entire facility was pressurized above the 10th floor. In the design he¡¯d thought up he put 100 feet between each floor so there would be plenty of room for expansion or machinery if something needed to be installed on any floor. That still meant there were 290 floors above sea level and quite a few below sea level. Also, most of the population would live near the base of the mountain while the upper floors were reserved for various facilities that could be adjusted with nanites as needed, including his quarters.
Adam looked out over the mountains and glaciers below. He was going to check his Status Screen to see how much had changed but decided he could do that after he woke up. He walked over to the California King-size bed, pulled back the covers, and laid down. The bed was perfect with an air cushion soft mattress and quilted covers. He laid his head back. He still had so much to do but that could wait until tomorrow. Right now, he needed to rest.
Chapter 271, Sacrifice
(Authors Note: This chapter takes place at the end of Chapter 42 of Pandora)
Adam woke up feeling that something was wrong, something was really wrong. He dropped mental focus into his Mindspace and found that a significant number of his links to the copies of Thor embedded within each Replicant of Pandora located throughout the Universes within the SYSTEM were trying to contact him. He dialed back his memory until he found the first request for contact and allowed the link to that Replicant to be established.
Adam hadn¡¯t contacted the embedded Thors, even when he noticed them at the Forge of Creation, because Thor had become part of his daughter. Yes, Thor was technically a copy of himself that the SYSTEM had taken, but when Thor had returned, he¡¯d become part of his daughter''s unique psychic makeup. Adam didn¡¯t want to intrude on that. That the copies of Thor within the Replicants of his daughter were using their resonance with him to establish and request a connection, that multiple versions of himself within her replicants were doing so could only mean that there was a problem of some kind.
Adam established the connection and was flooded with recent memories of Pandora''s experiences. The Replicant of his daughter, whom he connected with, was in North America, visiting a bakery in Maplewood, New Jersey when the world ended. Suddenly, a sheet of darkness raced toward her, and then her body reverted to its chaotic nature and was left floating in a vast emptiness. It almost seemed like a scene from Crisis on Infinite Earth when Antimatter, except instead of a sheet of white, it had been a sheet of darkness.
Adam accelerated his Mindspace to its maximum speed. Doing so slowed the passage of time outside of Mindspace considerably. Effectively, for every single second that passed outside of his Mindspace, one billion Ma (Mega Anum or megaanum) would pass. Now that he had a ¡°little¡± time, he went to work.
Adam started by bringing up memories from the first Replicant of Pandora he¡¯d linked to and ran through those memories up through the present. Everything. Absolutely everything around the replicant had been whipped out. Also, there hadn¡¯t been an energy release of any kind. Everything had just ceased to exist. Once the barrier of energy had passed, Pandora had reverted to an amorphous ball of chaotic energy and was now floating in nothing. Whatever the wave had been, it had deleted or negated every particle of energy anywhere near the replicants body.
Adam was about to begin reviewing the other Thors when he turned his attention to the Universe Pandora was in and watched as she stepped through a portal into a form of Chaos higher than that which he was familiar with. In a split second, he made contact with the Thor within Pandora¡¯s mind and received an update on what had happened. Before either could reach out and talk, though, the portal closed, and she was gone.
It seemed that a being named Xavier had brought Pandora into the realm of Primordial Chaos, where she would be safe until he figured out how to stop what was happening. Also, who was Relure? His anger had caused this. How? How could one being create something that was wiping Universes from existence? He quickly checked on Adaline and found that the Universe she was in was unaffected by whatever was doing this. The process of deletion had started in those Universes that were furthest away from what the SYSTEM considered its center, which Ironically was centered near Entropy.
While each Universe was technically infinite, within the Multiverse, each Universe held a specific place within a three-dimensional tapestry. The Universe¡¯s closest to the SYSTEM¡¯s origin point was not the furthest away from the wave of energy that was destroying everything,
While the structure of the multiverse wasn¡¯t a sphere, it was easier to think of it that way. The origin point of the SYSTEM was located within that sphere, and for simplicity, since the sphere was infinite, Adam just thought of the SYSTEM¡¯s Origin point as the center. The energy wave originated outside of the known SYSTEM universes and was destroying everything as it swept through the multiverse. Whether it was fate or luck, the universe Adaline was in was on the opposite side of the SYSTEM from the origin point of the Energy wave.
` One positive thing: it seemed that the replicants of Pandora were not being destroyed while everything else was. In fact, it seemed like any chaos that happened to be within those universes was migrating into her as each replicant floated in nothing. Everything else, though. Everything else was being erased from existence. Luckily, they hadn¡¯t tried moving to other locations yet, which is what allowed Adam to get a feeling for how the wave was propagating across the sphere of the multiverse that the SYSTEM occupied.
Adam had the knowledge of countless lives and the knowledge of various scientists across thousands of professions and races. He could recall all of their memories, theories, and postulations. None of them hinted at something that could wipe out an entire Multiverse. Well, except for the Crisis on Infinite Earth story, or if someone went back and reset the Timeline, which would undo any branching timelines. Both of which he was familiar with and had nothing to do with his current situation, as far as he could tell.
Even his Font of Knowledge Perk gave him no hints as to how to attack this issue. He could sit in his Mindscape and wonder what he was going to do, or he could try to do something about it. Adam chose to act. The first thing he did was accelerate the temporal rate immediately around his body. He chose not to mess with time generally because of the negative attention it brought his way, as well as the possible negative Karmic Luck it could generate. If a god of time was offended this time, though, it wouldn¡¯t really matter, would it? Why? Because they wouldn¡¯t be around long enough to be offended, would they?
Still, he decided to be careful about how he messed with time. He didn¡¯t want to go too fast, but he needed to be able to move, so he set his temporal acceleration at 20 to 1. For every twenty seconds that passed, one second would pass around him. The cost in mana was extreme at 1.00E+20 per Combat Turn, but his Mana Regeneration could handle it. Hopefully, he would be fast enough to make it to the Forge of Creation before the energy wave reached the SYSTEM Origin point.
With the Temporal acceleration active, Adam left his Mindscape and opened a portal to Entropy, which felt like it took forever. Instead of waiting for 20 turns in his accelerated time, Adam adjusted his temporal speed and skipped forward until the portal was open before him. Adam stepped onto the street of Entropy at his accelerated speed and noticed that while people were moving much slower than himself, they seemed to be agitated. Adam put them out of his mind and utilized Chaos Step to enter the Forge of Creation.
Adam appeared on the opposite side of the room from the entrance. While the singularity at the center of the Forge of Creation normally appeared as a sphere of black, which warped light around it, this time, a throbbing red aura emanated from the sphere, which Adam knew shouldn¡¯t be possible.
Adam moved to one of the empty interfaces and connected to it.
Welcome to the Forge of Creation.
Adam activated Technomancer and linked with the interface. Luckily, the interface allowed him to continue reacting at his personal temporal rate, which allowed him to move much more quickly than the energy wave. With a thought, he sent a query into the interface.
Define Relure.
The response from the interface was immediate.
Relure, Original. Being that predates the first Iteration.
Adam was about to send his next query when everything changed. He would never know if he had willfully caused what happened next or if what happened next was just a coincidence. It was both the influence of another Original, his Karmic Luck and Luck. With a Karmic Luck of 810 million, a Luck of 3.01E+22, and a link through Technomancy to the Forge of Creation, The Original, Xavier, made a push through Pandora, who was right next to him.
Adam felt the Tantur, the Thor that the SYSTEM had taken and then returned to Pandora, establish a link with him just as every Thor within each Replicant Pandora did. What Adam had not understood until that moment was that the Energy wave destroying everything wasn¡¯t just a wave of negative energy. It was Relure.
Adam discovered this when the wave washed over a number of replicants that had just connected to him, the Forge of Creation and The SYSTEM. It was also the moment Adam connected with a being whose mind had been lost to red-hot rage and anguish. Adam did not detect any thoughts within that rage. No, the only thing he detected was a desire to destroy everyone and everything.
Through his link to the Forge of Creation, Adam learned about the previous iterations. The Third iteration was the first time Relure lost control when his wife was killed by a group of Gods who had found a way to do what everyone at the time had thought impossible: kill an Original. They had found a way to collect power that might rival the originals, and his wife was the target. Entropy had been but a shadow of its current size, with only the Originals residing within. There had only been 23 survivors of that disaster. The 21 Primary Originals, those that seemed to be born of each magic, The Warden and Ember, Relure¡¯s daughter. The SYSTEM had not been created until later. It had been a very long time before the 4th Iteration had begun.
While helpful, none of the information the Forge shared helped Adam at the moment, though his mind and the memories it could call upon worked the issue faster than any other being could have. Even so, he still had no idea what to do until his connection to Pandora, and thereby into Primordial Chaos, formed a link and a resonance that was anathema to Relure.
SYSTEM WAR¡.
A SYSTEM Window with red text tried to appear and looked to be issuing a SYSTEM Warning. It was immediately cut off, and the prompt window soon disappeared. Adam was surprised when a mental link was formed with something. He traced the intrusion and found that it originated from the replicants of Pandora that were in contact with the Energy wave. Through those links, he felt the rage pause as the mind underneath the rage emerged.
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¡°What is this? A mind? No three minds are interlinked across multiple universes. No, wait, there is another mind, and the SYSTEM is also here. What is this?¡± The mentality asked.
Adam felt the mind focus the energy and attack the replicants as the universe they were in disappeared around each of them. Then, the links began to vanish¡ªfirst one, then two, then four, and so on. While the replicant energy waves had already passed over remained intact, those that Relure concentrated on were wiped from existence when he focused on them. Adam watched through the link as each copy of Pandora fought to remain but ultimately failed in the face of Relure¡¯s power.
Adam quickly pulled up one of the Replicant¡¯s Status Screens and noted that her primary attributes were above 200,000 but far less than his own. He also noted that while the replicant was being destroyed, there seemed to be a corresponding loss of energy from the wave of destruction. Adam checked the replicant''s logs and watched the process when the next replicant was attacked.
Instead of attacking the replicant''s hit points, mana, or Psychic Energy, the energy destroyed the replicant''s attributes. Intuitively, or maybe it was because of his perk Font of Knowledge, he realized that if Relure was a being of Anti or Null energy, he must be expending that energy in a focused way, which meant that if he was destroying attributes, he must be using his own attributes to do so which would require a sacrifice on his part. With that understanding, Adam had an idea.
***
Relure could not believe the audacity of the being trying to stop him. A girl had created clones of herself and placed them within all the Universes around the SYSTEM. He hadn¡¯t noticed them as his presence washed through the Multiverse, but he noticed them now. As he reached out, he noticed that those copies of this woman had survived. They were the only thing that survived, but the copies of her were still there.
Someone had killed his daughter! None would survive. What no one, save possibly another Original, could know was that while it appeared that the energy wave that had spread through the multiverse passed through everything, leaving nothing in its wake. That wasn¡¯t exactly true. The edge of the energy wave was just the outer barrier of his entire being. As matter and energy were broken down, it was added to his makeup, which was everything within the sphere of energy. Technically, the clones of the woman he had detected were floating within him.
With a thought, Relure focused on one of the clones and attempted to invade her mind. After a moment, the link was established, and he felt himself drawn in and spread out among more clones than he had expected. During that moment, the energy wave ceased its progression and began to disappear as it was drawn into each replicant of Pandora. The being that was Relure attempted to force his will upon Pandora to destroy her by negating her. Unfortunately for him, Chaos was an amalgamation of everything. Each replicant of Pandora was a copy of her and created from the very substance that created him. As the null energy that was Relure focused on Pandora, the chaos within her shifted to its polar opposite, and a war of negation began.
Unknown to Relure, both the original Pandora, Caspa, Thor, and Adam watched through their link with Pandora¡¯s Replicant as Relure focused his will and modified his attack so that it negated her attributes. The Chaos within her adjusted again. While it couldn¡¯t prevent the attack, it forced Relure to focus his energy and negate one of his attributes for every attribute he destroyed. Adam noticed the chaos with the replicant adjusting as it attacked and began doing the same to Relure. Relure could destroy Pandora¡¯s Replicants, but there would be a cost.
Unfortunately for Relure, Adam was not known for his patience with homicidal, well, anything, and he reacted. Every single Replicant of Pandora was suddenly within the body of Relure. Relure had felt the portals open as 4.04E+44 Replicants of Pandora stepped into his body. In addition to the fact that such an event shouldn¡¯t be possible, Relure was surprised when the attack he¡¯d just levied on one of the Replicants was returned from all of them. In a single moment, 8.93426E+50 of his attributes were erased from existence.
Relure was old; he was quite old, and the action he¡¯d just undertaken to avenge the death of his daughter during the 3rd Iteration netted him an increase in his base attributes that would have shocked the other Originals. When they measured their class levels in the thousands, he measured them in the millions. He¡¯d destroyed and absorbed the Multiverse during the 3rd Iteration. Doing so had occupied his mind for the next five iterations. He¡¯d finally come back to himself after his daughter found him. He''d been caught in a mental loop of his own making. He¡¯d had his revenge. The ¡°Gods¡± that had killed his wife had been utterly destroyed. His only regret was that he couldn¡¯t destroy them again.
Unknown to him, his wife had been pregnant with the spark of Ember within her. When they¡¯d killed her, she¡¯d used the last of her energy to ensure that her baby was born and rapidly grew to a point where she could take care of herself. She¡¯d also sent the child into a world teeming with life and a sentient species. She¡¯d chosen her form and set her free. Relure had known none of us until he¡¯d been contacted. The Warden of Entropy had recognized her, and while he didn¡¯t know where he¡¯d disappeared to, he had made sure that Ember had been well cared for during each Iteration and brought back to Entropy to ride out each multiversal collapse. It was the only reason Relure hadn¡¯t targeted Entropy; well, that and the other Originals could be a complete pain in the ass if he targeted them. Of course, it looked like it wouldn¡¯t have mattered because he could garner from the memories of the clone he was linked to that the clones original was the person who had destroyed his daughter.
***
Even as Relure concluded that the target of his anger was the being who created the clones from another entity, The SYSTEM decided that Relure was a danger to existence for itself and almost every other entity and that now would be the perfect time to act. The SYSTEM had existed since the 4th Iteration when a decision was made by the remaining Originals that there should be a referee of sorts to look over some of the Universes within the Multiverse. Since the universe was infinite, there should still be room for the random creation that Chaos required, while there could also be an ordered existence, which Order required.
The unfortunate truth of Infinity, by definition, you could never reach it. If there were an infinite number of widgets, to say that the number was more than 100 and more than a million would both be accurate. That¡¯s why, when Relure began the ending of the 9th Iteration, The SYSTEM sent out a quest to all non-Primary universes, directing all the Gods and Goddesses of those realms to prepare to fight for their lives.
As for the Gods and Goddesses within each Prime Universe, a different message was sent out. That message promised that efforts would be made to ensure their continued existence into the 10th Iteration. How did the SYSTEM plan accomplish this? Adamantadine.
***
Adam was flooded with SYSTEM Notifications as he watched Relure attempt to take over Pandora¡¯s Replicant until he retaliated by bringing all of her other replicants into the fray. Even so, Adam was a bit surprised when Relure handled the attacks by 4.04E+44 Replicants in short order. What was even more surprising was when portals from all over the multiverse opened, and gods, angels, and demons of every shape and size teleported in and continued the attack.
Through his link to the Forge of Creation, Adam could tell that the SYSTEM was bringing in anyone and anything that could help. Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t a fight. It was more of a sacrifice. Why would so many creatures sacrifice themselves like this? Because it sure looked like each and every creature that attacked Relure ceased to exist. After a moment Adam realized that The SYSTEM was utilizing his connection to the Forge of Creation and taking advantage of his ability Perfect Memory.
Every single creature was being added to the list of creatures that Adam had absorbed and archived. He hadn¡¯t noticed because he didn¡¯t consciously access that information unless there was a need. He just let his mind do its own thing and left it the hell alone. The attacks continued for what felt like days if not weeks. The first to be destroyed was the Replicants, followed by any non-God that joined the fray, and then the Gods. Adam couldn¡¯t tell how many attributes Relure had lost, but after a week, he could tell that the attack was having the desired effect. That¡¯s when the other twenty originals and The Warden joined the fight. Unlike his replicants or the other Gods, the Originals did not fight until they disappeared. Each released energy typical to that which they controlled and then disappeared.
¡°It¡¯s Not Enough!¡± a voice Adam had never heard before said.
Adam watched as a portal opened where Pandora was and a flood of energy burst through to him as she stepped through and then away into a portal that led to Adaline. The entity known as Xavier was nowhere to be seen, but Adam was quite sure that the chaos flooding him and Pandora¡¯s transfer to the safety of her mother¡¯s universe was his doing. Adam put that to the back of his mind, stepped up to the portal, and allowed the Primordial Chaos to flood into and through him as he directed it toward Relure.
Adam would not have been enough to end the threat that Relure posed. Primordial Chaos, though, allowed Adam¡¯s sacrifice to have an effect that was more than 100 times effective. For every attribute that he sacrificed to annihilate Relure¡¯s attributes, Adam lost one, while Relure lost between one thousand and one million. There was no absolute, as there could never be when Primordial Chaos was involved. Even So, Adam continued to sacrifice his Attributes evenly. He could tell that his efforts were now having an effect as the Forge of Creation noted that the energy barrier that was the edge of Relure¡¯s influence began receding back towards its origin point.
Still, Adam didn¡¯t think Relure was going to give up, and Adam did not want to sacrifice everything when a plan formed in his mind. Through his link to Thor, he knew that Pandora had absorbed Relure¡¯s daughter¡¯s Animae and all of his friends and family. Adam was connected to the Forge of Creation and The SYSTEM. With a thought, Adam activated Shape Reality to pull all of the Animae from Pandora and give each back the bodies they¡¯d had prior to their destruction. As for Embers Animae, a portal opened before him, and an orb of ugly red energy floated into Adam¡¯s outstretched hand.
Adam made sure to broadcast with his mind that what he held was the Animae of Relure¡¯s daughter and tossed it through the portal into the Sea of Primordial Chaos. As he¡¯d expected, the sphere of energy that was Relure vanished, and a man appeared before Adam who didn¡¯t give him a second glance and dove through the portal into the Sea of Primordial Chaos after the animae of his daughter. Adam closed the portal and sighed; he¡¯d done it!
Adam¡¯s celebration was cut short as the link between the SYSTEM and the Forge of Creation was activated by The SYSTEM. Through the link, Adam could tell that something had changed at a fundamental level as the number of Universes that were available had reduced considerably. That¡¯s not what concerned him. What concerned him was that his attributes had been reduced to just over one million each, which, while respectable, was nothing compared to the power the SYSTEM could bring to bear. As Adam thought back, The SYSTEM had not sacrificed anything to attack Relure so that it might outpower every other entity in the known multiverse.
Before Adam could resist, The SYSTEM took control of the link between the Forge of Creation, The SYSTEM, and himself. Adam felt the link between himself and Pandora shatter as the SYSTEM linked with his mind, and the memories stored there were accessed as both his Shape Reality and Establish Reality skills were accessed. His ideas and thoughts about what the SYSTEM should be, how it might function, and how to establish an ongoing or perpetual existence for souls while getting rid or permanently incorporating the Animae into a soul, as well as all the fictional content he ran across on the subject of cultivation, character grown and the various ¡°Systems¡± authors came up with were accessed as The SYSTEM and the Forge of Creation went to work.
Adam had no idea how long the process took or where he was. Once the process started, his frame of reference retreated to his Mindspace, where he could do pretty much whatever he wanted except affect whatever the SYSTEM had begun. He was both a conduit for the changes the SYSTEM was making and also the database the SYSTEM was pulling information from to replace everything that had been lost in the fight against Relure.
The SYSTEM allowed him to check on Adaline, Pandora, and the rest of the family and friends. Pandora and everyone else had suddenly appeared on the floor in Adaline¡¯s Throne room, after which, like every other Universe within the SYSTEM, they¡¯d been frozen while the SYSTEM instituted the changes it was making. Adam was still immune to temporal magic due to his Adamantium Dragon heritage and would have to wait this out. Since he didn¡¯t have control of his body and wouldn¡¯t for the foreseeable future, Adam created a lakeside villa within his Mindspace to sit back and relax.
Adam kept an eye on the data being routed out of his mind and watched as the SYSTEM began the 10th Iteration without destroying everyone and everything else first. He wasn¡¯t happy with the SYSTEM for using him like a disk drive, but it looked like the SYSTEM had gone out of its way to protect Adaline, the world she resided in, as well as the rest of his family and friends.
Adam tried to follow along with his notifications but found that the notification system was suspended while the changes were being made.
SYSTEM Message: All Notifications and Status Screen Access have been suspended until the SYSTEM is overhauled.
Please Wait
Chapter 272, One to One Million
SYSTEM Message: All Notifications and Status Screen Access have been suspended until the SYSTEM is overhauled.
Please Wait
Please Wait
Please Wait
The battle between Relure and himself had gone on for a long time, He¡¯d been stuck in his Mindspace for so long that he¡¯d lost track of his physical location. Adam allowed his senses to transmit his physical surroundings into his consciousness and looked around. He stood atop a tower on a cliff overlooking a forest. As he allowed Sense Chaos to range out, he realized that he was back on Primore, though the retreat he stood upon wasn¡¯t the same retreat he¡¯d modified so long ago.
This time, things here were a bit different. For one, there was a portal directly in front of him. He could detect it with Sense Chaos, but otherwise, there was nothing there. Additionally, it would take a leap of faith for anyone to step off through a portal they could not see. Overcoming the fear of falling to the hills below would stop most people from even trying.
He realized that he was not on the same planet, ¡°Primore,¡± as Adaline and the rest of his friends and family. This planet Primore was different; most likely younger, if he wasn¡¯t mistaken. He could explore that later. Adam stepped through the portal and found himself in a clean room, just like the one he¡¯d created for Portal¡¯s Inc.
You have entered the Outer Domain of Adamantadine. If you enter the Inner Domain of Adamantadine, certain SYSTEM functions may be unavailable to you.
If you do NOT wish to enter the Inner Domain of Adamantadine, please exit through any portal in this chamber.
The chamber he was in was well-lit and about 50 feet square. It had a single door on the wall opposite the portal he had entered through. There were no other portals in the room that he could detect.
Adam walked over to the door, which opened smoothly for him. As he stepped through, he noticed that he had exited onto a copy of the balcony of his home in New Mexico in the mountains east of Alamogordo. Even from here, he could see cars and people moving around. This was also the location where he¡¯d placed Racoon City in the most recent version he¡¯d been stuck in. But he couldn¡¯t detect Racoon City below him with Sense Chaos. This version of his house had no underground base beneath it. Adam thought about how he knew he was on Earth and how the information about his entire domain became available to him.
As the thought crossed his mind of asking where he was, Adam knew where everything within his domain was. He also realized that it was shrinking. Adam opened his Personal Status. His Divine Energy was rapidly decreasing, like the National Debt Website counter, except in reverse. He dropped his perception into his Soul Core and tracked the flow of energy and perceived energy transferring to a node dedicated to Tantur. The energy flowed into the node and then out and down to whatever the node was connected to outside of himself. He sent a mental message through his Mindspace, ¡°Tantur, what is going on?¡±
A copy of himself appeared before him, though slightly different. This copy had the classic evil genius goatee, nicely cut with a John Wick-style haircut. ¡°Hello again, Adam.¡±
¡°What do you mean hello again, and why the evil genius look?¡±
¡°I¡¯ll address the evil genius look first; I decided to look like this just to be different from you for this conversation. Besides, part of you thought I was doing something underhanded so it seemed appropriate. As for the hello again, we slowed down the temporal rate of your location, so while it doesn¡¯t feel like a long time has passed, I assure you it has,¡± Tantur said
¡°How long, and who is we?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Long enough to establish a framework. As for who is we? The Forge of Creation, The SYSTEM, and me, or you, who was turned into me if you like, have combined. The node within yourself that you think of as your representation of Tantur is merely a connection point between us and you for now,¡±
¡°So, what are you then?¡±
¡°We are The SYSTEM.¡±
¡°Then why not combine with me as well?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Because you would not have been satisfied with the role Tantur must now fill within The SYSTEM. Before you ask another question, let me ask you this instead. If The SYSTEM is based on rules that are based on changes that have occurred due to your link to the Forge of Creation, the copies of your daughter, and your link to Primal Chaos. Who made the rules that the Forge of Creation had to follow? Who made the rules for those Universes that fall outside the current framework that The SYSTEM is creating?
Adam thought about the question for a moment and then said, ¡°I have no idea. I thought that was Relure and the other Originals. "
¡°Some part of you must have realized that was probably not true because the Originals came about right around the time the original SYSTEM came into existence. Also, how could we beat someone who created the rules that were followed by the SYSTEM if they made the rules? From the beginning The SYSTEM and the Originals were required to obey a set of rules they did not establish, nor do they know who established them.¡±
¡°So, my subconscious picked up on something and fulfilled a request that the Forge of Creation and The SYSTEM had made of me,¡± Adam paused as he considered the implications before he continued, ¡°The SYSTEM wanted access to my Perfect Memory and the various examples of SYSTEMS, whether factual or not, and ideas about how to implement them,¡± Adam said.
¡°Got it in one. That¡¯s why I was seized. Although the word seized is a bit harsh, it was more of a voluntold by you to go,¡± Tantur said.
When did I Voluntell you to do this,¡± Adam asked.
¡°A long time ago, though to say you told me to go is also slightly incorrect. Your subconscious reacted to the request with a strong ¡®No!¡¯ and slotted me into this role.
¡°So how is this separation between you and I going to change things?¡± Adam asked.
¡°First of all, while we are talking, the Divine Energy you have accumulated is being drawn into The SYSTEM to fuel the changes it¡¯s making to the Prime Universes through the Forge of Creation, which is now part of it. Pandora¡¯s Link to Primal Chaos is also providing energy to ensure that the process can be completed and remains perpetual.¡±
¡°All of the Prime Universes, as in a Universe for each Prime number, that¡¯s an insane number of Prime Numbers that I know of, and this is being done through me. Why don¡¯t I feel it?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Because I¡¯m shouldering the transfer,¡± Tantur said, ¡°Also, The SYSTEM doesn¡¯t need to utilize all the prime numbers. There were not that many Universes under its control, but the number is quite high.¡±
A Universe for every Prime Number. That was a lot of Universes, Adam thought before he asked, ¡°Why am I not providing input to this process?¡± Adam asked.
¡°You are, through me. In addition to the Divine Energy that is being drawn from you to fuel the process, the full memories of entities you have absorbed throughout your life are being copied and downloaded as well.
¡°What?¡±
Tantur paused, thought about what he¡¯d said, and then rephrased, ¡°What I meant to say was when you absorbed the universes you did, you also absorbed the animae, will, and memories of the beings within those universes. You released the Animae back into the ether back then without understanding what you were doing and trapped all of their wills and memories. The system is righting that wrong and reintegrating them into the cycle of reincarnation and rebirth, which it is creating to thwart entropy. You will still have access to their memories, but the will that was tied to those memories is being removed with copies of those memories and reintegrated into a new soul.¡±
¡°To what end?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The SYSTEM, or the Primary SYSTEM if you like, is modifying the Multiverse to allow for a diversity of SYSTEMS that will be available to everyone. Groups of universes, dimensions, and planes will fall under the administration of those subordinate SYSTEMS. As an example, those planes of existence that are dedicated to the afterlife will only be ruled by one type of SYSTEM at the start. If a variety of SYSTEMS is required later, new subordinate SYSTEMS may be added at that time¡±.
¡°When you say a variety of SYSTEMS...,¡± Adam said leadingly.
¡°There could be a SYSTEM that uses class and skill rules that mimic 3rd Edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, 5th Edition, or even some that have been described in the fiction of the 20th century by authors,¡± Tantur said.
Adam just stared at Tantur with a look that said, ¡°Get on with it!¡±
¡°The Forge of Creation allows for the creation and destruction of various realities: Universes, Dimensions, Material Planes, whatever you want to call them. Your two Classes, Creator and Reality Editor, allowed you to manipulate the Forge of Creation. When you created the link between the Forge of Creation and The SYSTEM through you, well, The SYSTEM hijacked your two classes permanently.¡±
¡°Permanently?¡±
¡°Permanently.¡±
¡°Why?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The changes being made will make all abilities similar to your abilities for those two classes SYSTEM driven. Primary access will only be available to the Divine-ranked entities. Limited access may be granted to mortal and ascendant beings on a case-by-case basis. All-access and use will be monitored and implemented by the SYSTEM through Nodes dedicated for that purpose.¡±
¡°Is the SYSTEM removing my access to the Divine?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The SYSTEM has modified rules concerning Divine Beings. This was possible because of the removal of the Originals either by your hand or because they sacrificed the energy they had acquired to help remove Relure, after which they all entered the new cycle of reincarnation. Even Relure and his daughter are part of that cycle now.¡±
¡°Okay, so why take the classes from me? I have Divine Energy?¡± Adam asked.
¡°You had a lot of Divine Energy. When the SYSTEM is done, it will all be removed. The two classes will be removed, and all earned experience will be evenly distributed among your first three classes, which have been adjusted in rank to Mythical. Oh yeah, a change that is being made is that all classes can now be ranked from Basic or Common to Mythical. Your three classes are being increased in rank to Mythical as a modification to make up for the loss of your previous two classes. There will be Ascendant and Divine classes, but mortals will not be able to unlock those classes unless they sacrifice their mortality and enter the cycle of reincarnation...¡±
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
¡°I¡¯ll probably find out about that later on, so let¡¯s skip that for now,¡± Adam said, interrupting Tantur, ¡°I can see that there are changes. I can even see how the SYSTEM is increasing the Rank of my other three classes, and then putting the XP into them from my last two classes is beneficial. What I don¡¯t see is how the SYSTEM is going to create the Divine Beings that will have to fill the roles of Divine Beings now that the others have all but gone. They have all but gone, right?¡±
¡°Yes, the SYSTEM drew on the energy of all the Divine beings, Originals, and any non-Prime Universe or Planar Alternates to defeat Relure and fuel the changes that are being made.¡±
¡°So how are you going to fill those divine roles? Also, what do you mean by Prime Universes.?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Prime Universes are those Universes whose designation ends in a prime number. As you know, a Universal designation can take quite a long time, and many alternate Universes are created as time progresses. The Prime Universes are the universes from which alternate Universes spawn. As for your first question, A Battle Royale is going on in various Prime Universes. Most of the Entities from the various Alternate Universes have been placed on the Prime version of their planet and are currently trying to survive. To spice things up, the SYSTEM has increased XP awards when killing other entities that were not born naturally into the new SYSTEM paradigm. Individuals will be worth approximately one-half of their accrued XP.¡±
Adam listened as Tantur continued.
¡°Eventually, all awards will be based on their effective level multiplied by 100 XP, which simply means summing up all their class levels and multiplying by 100. For Example, if one of the people you have in Racoon City is level 10, that person will be worth approximately 27,500 XP if defeated. Meanwhile, any monsters that spawn at level 10 or anyone who is born today and reaches level 10 will only be worth 1,000 XP. Those who are killed or die of natural causes enter the cycle of Reincarnation. Those that thrive will eventually be offered a place among the Divine to rule over the various Prime Universes the SYSTEM has created.¡±
What Tantur was saying made a lot of sense and garnered questions that he wanted to ask, but Adam held his tongue and let Tantur speak.
¡°The other change that is being made is that the Ascendant and the Divine can be forced to re-enter the Reincarnation Cycle through various methods. Also, a fundamental difference between the Ascendent and the Divine will be that the Ascendent will not automatically assume duties. Think of them as mortal creatures that have decided to embrace becoming post-physical. They will still be able to interact with the physical world to some extent, but the Divine and others of their kind will frown upon it, which could cause them to enter the reincarnation cycle a lot sooner than they¡¯d like.¡±
¡°Those changes sound interesting and beg the question, where do I fit into this new SYSTEM Paradigm?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Right. Before you made this change, you established your Domain. The SYSTEM is ensuring that the Domain is not removed from you when the Divine Energy is removed. Think of this as a bonus perk for doing a solid for The SYSTEM. This Domain will be your home away from home, which will be linked to three Prime Universes: 911, 997, and 1,009. Those three portals are in the chamber you just left. Racoon City has been placed in Universe 1,009. Your portal to Racoon City opens in your room at the base there. That is a fixed portal. The Portal to Universe 911 opens to what you think of as your Aerie in Primore or to Stonehenge on Earth; you choose where the portal exits when you use it. If you¡¯re in Universe 911, you can activate the portal to your Domain in either location regardless of which portal you entered through. Got it so far?¡±
Adam nodded.
¡°Finally, The Portal to Universe 997 is exactly the same as the portal to Universe 911. It will open to the same two locations on Earth and Primore. The Portal exit and entry points can be modified from your Control Node within your Domain,¡± Tantur explained.
¡°Sounds pretty self-explanatory,¡± Adam said.
It was Tantur¡¯s turn to nod before he continued, ¡°Universe 1009 will allow nanite technology throughout without oversight. Universes 911 and 997 will require nanite stabilizers, abilities, or spells that stabilize the environment so that nanites can function properly. As for your chaos that functions like nanites, the use of the chaos within you to mimic nanite technology will have a limited range no matter what universe you''re in. Though, as you have no doubt figured out, you can create the chaotic versions of nanites, which can, in turn, create the physical versions, which can then expand outside your abilities range in Universe 1,009.¡±
Adam raised a finger, which caused Tantur to pause before saying,¡± I understand everything you just told me. My question is, why would I agree to be put in a location away from my family, in two worlds where I can probably control the outcome with little or no effort?¡± Adam asked.
Tantur laughter, ¡°Little or no effort? I¡¯ll come back to that in a moment. Universe 911 is one of the Universes that is being used as a Battle Royale. The temporal rate of Prime Universe 911 will be accelerated as soon as we are done talking. Your Domain¡¯s temporal rate will be the same. Your family resides in Universe 997, which has a much slower temporal rate. You can visit your family whenever you wish. We, The SYSTEM, recommend that you do not.¡±
Tantur noted the look Adam threw his direction and then hurriedly continued, ¡°We don¡¯t want to ruin the surprise, but Prime Universe 911 is going to be a mess for a while. With no Gods, Originals, or Divines available anywhere in the SYSTEM, we figured it would be best to attach your Domain to one of the Prime Universes to see if the process could be guided. Universes that are hosting Battle Royale environments are being utilized to elevate people so they can fill the needed divine roles rapidly. Of course, you won¡¯t be locked into that Universe, but we recommend that you do not rush off. The Universe your family in is moving at a slower temporal rate, so you won¡¯t miss much.¡±
¡°Okay,¡± Adam hedged,¡± With Sense Chaos, I¡¯ve noticed that this Domain is shrinking; why is it shrinking?¡± Adam asked.
¡°The size of this Domain will continue to reduce until it¡¯s only 10 miles in diameter. The horizon and the day-night cycle will be simulated. The people in the city below are apparitions. They do not exist. Your place away from everything else here; you can rest if you wish. This Node,¡± Tantur said as a silver Node appeared next to the portal beside him, ¡°This Node will give you some control over the Domain. You can utilize it to set up the Domain however you want. You can also modify the temporal rate here to match Universe 911 or 997 and 1,009, which are the same. Just remember Universe 911 is set at a much faster Temporal rate, so it would probably be better to leave it at that temporal rate, or Universe 911 will flash forward into its future.¡±
¡°What is the temporal ¡°difference between the three Universes?¡± Adam asked
¡°It¡¯s 911 and all other Prime Universes. It is the only universe in which the temporal rate is being increased to this level. Other Prime Universes will vary but not to the level at which Universe 911 has been set.
¡°And?¡± Adam said as he made a circling motion with his hand.
¡°One million to one,¡± Tantur said.
¡°One million to one?¡± As in, for every second that passes in Universe 997, 11 Days, 13 Hours, 46 Minutes, and 40 seconds pass in Universe 911. That¡¯s a Year every 34 seconds,¡± Adam said.
¡°Yes, it is,¡± Tantur agreed.¡±
¡°And you don¡¯t want me to take on the role of one of these Deities?¡± Adam asked.
¡°As I explained, we know you and your drives. You would not be interested in setting up the various Pantheons that will be needed for each Prime Universe. The reason we want you in Universe 911 is twofold. First, we want to have someone who can respond to any issues that come up. Second, we are giving you access to this test bed of a Universe as a nod to you and your role in what has transpired. We wanted to give you the opportunity to grow at an accelerated rate and maybe let off a little steam.¡±
Adam cocked his head and then asked, ¡°How bad is the SYSTEM nerfing me?¡± Adam asked.
¡°That¡¯s the thing about the changes that we¡¯ve made. Each Universe will have its own SYSTEM governing it. As you know, something like this was tried in the digital universes you encountered. This is the Primary SYSTEM that had emerged through the chaos of destruction Relure had wrought. Relure¡¯s actions caused all the previous SYSTEMs to either be destroyed or absorbed into the only SYSTEM that had survived. Every SYSTEM that controls a Universe will fall under the Primary SYSTEM¡¯s purview.¡±
¡°And the nerfing?¡±
¡°The various subordinate SYSTEMS may have variations on maximum levels, attributes, skill levels, and some other characteristics, but that which is yours is yours. For instance, the only reason the Reality Editor and Creator classes can be removed from you is because the Forge of Creation has been incorporated into The Primary SYSTEM. Classes and how they work are SYSTEM-specific coding within the SYSTEM to describe a set of rules or laws that the SYSTEM must also abide by, to a certain extent.¡±
A spark of intuition flashed through Adam as he realized what the SYSTEM was doing, ¡°So what you''re saying is that while each SYSTEM may seem to reduce my attributes, skills, or whatever, the concept and abilities those ideas are based on will still exist within me. If the SYSTEM is removing the class from my Personal Status, you¡¯re saying that the SYSTEM is not providing a mechanism to access those abilities within its area of influence, but they still exist.¡±
¡°That is not what I said,¡± Tantur said with a grin as he nodded his head in confirmation.
¡°I see,¡± Adam said with a responding nod, ¡°So The SYSTEM will enforce or attempt to deny those concepts within the areas it controls. What happens when I step outside those areas?¡±
¡°Where there is no SYSTEM to enforce the rules, there are no rules,¡± Tantur said Cryptically.
¡°Okay, I get it. So, what are the hard limits in Universe 911?¡±
¡°Attributes limits are fluid right now. The SYSTEM is waiting to see how your presences break things. Class Levels are being set at 10,000, to begin with, which may be lowered or increased depending on how badly you break things. It was thought that no one should be able to reach those levels. Of course, The experience you¡¯ve earned, even with the conversion of each class to Mythical rank, which increased the required XP, still allowed you to reach level 10,000 in each class. If we weren¡¯t setting a limit, your level in each class would be 38,029,032. We figured 10,000 was high enough for the extreme majority of entities. Also, it¡¯s high enough that you will still have an extreme advantage over everyone else. We could lower your level further if you wish. Or you could voluntarily reduce your experience?¡±
Adam laughed, ¡°Let me think about that, umm, no.¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t think so,¡± Tantur said agreeably.
¡°So, what happens to the rest of that experience?¡± Adam asked.
¡°What do you mean?¡± Tantur asked.
¡°If I¡¯m only level 10,000 and I could be over level 38 million, what happens to the rest of the XP?¡±
¡°It¡¯s still there, at least until you enter the Reincarnation Cycle.¡±
¡°Can I even enter the Reincarnation Cycle?¡± Adam asked with genuine interest.
¡°Right now, only if you want to. Down the road, who knows,¡± Tantur said, ¡°Though, if I¡¯m being honest, I doubt it.¡±
¡°So, what now?¡±
¡°Now, The SYSTEM keeps doing what it''s doing; I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll figure out what that means eventually. We want to suggest that you return to Earth in Universe 911. Primore isn¡¯t going to be very interesting for a while. The other change the SYSTEM is making will become apparent as you go forward,¡± Tantur paused for a moment, ¡°We¡¯ll give you this one for free; the Safe Zones are no longer safe. Racoon City will be fine with your nanites in play, but there will be no safe zones in Universes 911 or 997. There will be areas where monsters do not spawn, dead zones, as it were, but there will be no safe zones. The objective of 911 is to create individuals that can become gods. That cannot happen if everyone can sit back and do nothing. Now go and have fun.
Adam was about to ask another question when Tantur vanished; Adam looked around and sighed as he said, ¡°Had to get the last word in, didn¡¯t you?¡±
There was no reply.
Adam checked his Personal Status. His race hadn¡¯t changed, so he was still an Adamantium Dragon. His attributes had taken a hit, though; all were currently under one million. If the standard average were still ten, then he would have been well above that average in every category. Then he checked his Physical Damage Resistance, which was 3,447. If the damage was still like it was before, there wasn¡¯t a weapon on Earth that could hurt him. Shoot, not even a small nuclear device could. Being immune to the fire portion of such an attack would also come in nicely. A quick check showed that some changes had been made because of the changes in his class rarities, but for the most part, he was still going to be well above whatever the norm was.
Very well, it was time to get back into it and see what this new SYSTEM was doing, especially if an aspect of himself was tied into it. Adam stepped over to the portal to Universe 911, chose Stonehenge as his destination, and stepped through.
Bright flashes assaulted him, time slowed down, and he dove for cover. Sense Chaos ranged out. In that first second, he realized that the flashes had been from smartphones capturing his appearance from a group his mind categorized as a tour that was viewing Stonehenge. Something that should be totally normal if he was back on the Earth he¡¯d started on. Before he touched the ground, Adam activated Chaos Step and appeared in space 10,000 miles above the Earth. His current range was limited to just over 50,000 miles due to the size of his Chaos resource. With Chaos Conversion, he used his 29,000 mana regeneration rate per 10 seconds to replace the 10,000 chaos he¡¯d spent to get into orbit. Next, he let Sense Chaos range out and give him a full rundown of the world that was now below him.
Adam was going to ask Thor or Abi what they thought, but the will that had been attached to both sets of memories was gone. He could pull on their memories, but he¡¯d have to partition his mind again to do so, and with his reduced mentality compared to before, he decided to wait.
Adam allowed the information from Sense Chaos to enter his mind, compared it to the memories he carried, and came to a simple conclusion: The Earth below him was comparable to the Earth he had grown up in right around the year 2035. So what did the SYSTEM mean by this Universe was going to be the fulcrum where the new Gods would come from? This sure didn¡¯t look any different than the Earth he¡¯d known.
First things first, he needed to add himself to the society below and fit in. Adam activated his version of mental invisibility, You Can¡¯t See Me. Next, he used Chaos Step to teleport down to an alley that was out of sight of any of the cameras in Washington DC, near a coffee shop. Once he was sure no one had seen him and that the nearby cameras hadn¡¯t captured his arrival, he dropped You Can¡¯t See Me and walked into the coffee shop. With Mold Chaos, he created the local currency after analyzing a couple of pieces of cash with Sense Chaos that were in the register. He paid for his cup of coffee and went to sit in one of the booths near a window. This was not his Earth. He did not control the digital infrastructure. And he wasn¡¯t even an American Citizen at this point. That needed to change. He looked around as he activated Mold Chaos. It was time to introduce this Earth to nanotechnology¡again.
Chapter 273, Walker
Or not? Adam tried to use Mold Chaos to create working technological nanites and received the following message.
SYSTEM MESSAGE!
This SYSTEM environment is hostile to nanite technology outside of stabilizer fields placed for that specific use. This is true for this Universe, any alternate Universes, and symbiotic dimensions that designate this Universe as their Primary.
Tantur had said that, hadn¡¯t he? Adam replenished his Chaos with Chaos Conversion and utilized Mold Chaos to create the chaotic nanites. A tool tip appeared in his vision.
Mold Chaos
Maximum Range: 1,282 cubic feet
1 Point of Chaos may be converted into one pound of any material. Up to skill level in Mold Chaos may be affected each Combat Turn.
Items that are created to be permanent take on the characteristics of physical matter are permanent and may be taken outside of your range.
Items that maintain the inherently chaotic nature of Chaos immediately evaporate if removed from your maximum range.
Well, that seemed a bit harsh, but he could still use Mold Chaos to do everything he could normally do in his original Universe as long as he kept it all within 641 feet of himself.
Adam paused and then looked at the skill level again. The last time he¡¯d seen his skill levels, they had all been level 51. He opened his Skill Tab.
Mythic Rarity of Class Polymath allows you to utilize all skills at level 81.
That was it; his list of skills had been removed. He now had access to every skill at level 81.
Adam closed his Personal Status and activated Mold Chaos. Adam altered his clothing to blue jeans, a blue T-shirt with the Superman crest, underwear, socks, and black tennis shoes. As Adam looked around, he drew his eyes to the barrister behind the counter, who was looking at him with wide eyes. He¡¯d noticed her with Sense Chaos.
Adam winked at the barista and went back to reviewing his Abilities, Titles, Perks, and skills. Sense Chaos had been severely nerfed. Its range was now tied to his skill level, which at level 81 gave him a range of 399,831. Miles. Though he should be grateful. His Chaos resource had been reduced by quite a bit. If Sense Chaos had been tied to that resource, his range would have only been 50,130 miles.
That caused Adam to pause and pull up the list of ranges for Sense Chaos based on skill level. After a moment, he had it all figured out. The base range was 10 feet at skill level 1. Then, for levels 2-10, it increased by +10 each time he gained a skill level. At level 11, it rose to +100 feet per level and +1,000 at skill level 21. It broke the 1-mile range as skill level 25 and began increasing quickly after that.
He had reached out with Sense Chaos when he¡¯d entered this Universe but hadn¡¯t taken time to learn the advantages and disadvantages of the ability. With a range of only 399,831, he could reach out past the Moon and detect everything on Earth. Shoot!. Adam did a quick check on Chaos Step. It had the same range. Mold Chaos didn¡¯t, though? He pulled up a comparison and realized that the area Mold Chaos worked in around him was the cube root of his base range with Sense Chaos and Chaos Step. So, the numbers were universal. If his spells followed the same rules, people at low levels might have a range of 100 feet up to Spell level 10 as modified by their attributes, of course. But their base level¡wait! None of his attributes modified his Chaos-based abilities. A tool tip spawned in his vision.
SYSTEM Note
An Attribute Bonus modifies most skills, spells, and abilities in some way.
Skills, spells, and abilities based on Chaos or Order do NOT receive attribute bonuses. These two fundamental spheres of the magic of the Multiverse may be based on, but not modified by attributes.
Adam smiled. It seemed that the SYSTEM was acknowledging that there were things it could not control and that it would not modify how those powers worked going forward.
Adam decided to try to utilize one of his skills through Sense Chaos. He focused on one man sitting in an office down the street at his computer surfing the internet and tried to Identify him.
Ralph Wilson
Human Level 1
¡.
Adam quickly read through the information, which was comprehensive and unneeded. It seemed that the skill Identify at skill level 81 gave a complete rundown of the target. Adam picked a random person farther away from himself in New Jersey, then East Virginia and Florida. While he sat there and drank his coffee, asked for a few refills, and watched the news on the monitor on the wall, he randomly identified people around the globe.
Sense Chaos allowed him to keep track of everyone within 186,000 miles with no effort. As he identified random people, he found that none of the people in the ¡°civilized¡± areas were above level 10. Some people in the more militarized areas in the Middle East and Africa and some of the elite military forces around the world were above level 10, though. No one he checked was above level 20, though.
Once Adam had a good feel for the state of the world, he stood and made his way out of the coffee shop. When he was sure he was in a blind spot from everything, he stepped under an overhang to make sure no satellites or flying drones would see him vanish and activated Chaos Step. One thing he was sure of at the present moment was that there were no SYSTEM Nodes or portals on the planet that he could detect with Sense Chaos. Since it seemed like he was going to be here for a while, he needed to add himself to the digital world so he could interact with the bureaucracy of this Earth.
Once he had that sorted, he¡¯d travel for a bit and see if he could find any other portals or nodes because he had no idea how long it would be before the Battle Royale began. Seriously, he¡¯d thought it would have already been going. Then again, if Tantur had any influence on how the SYSTEM was doing things, how this Battle Royale would begin should be a little less traumatic for everyone involved. That begged the question, how would The SYSTEM do that?
For now, he needed to fit into this society before he tried to do anything else. That shouldn¡¯t be too hard with all the advantages he had.
***
Paula Walker was not a good woman. She wasn¡¯t an evil woman. If she had to define herself, she would have considered herself pragmatic. She¡¯d worked her way up the corporate hierarchy and now served as Vice President of Marketing for one of the biggest retail chains in the United States. At age 32, she¡¯d been able to attain what most people couldn¡¯t until well into their 50s.
She was currently on Vacation in Struisbaai, South Africa. Sure, she could have gone to Paris, Tokyo, or any of the other major vacation sites, but she¡¯d decided to get away from those big cities, which her job often sent her to anyway. This little town on the southeast side of Africa had the amenities of a small town without the hustle and bustle of large cities.
This morning, she¡¯d decided to go for a walk along Cape Agulhas, which was about 4 miles southwest of her hotel along the coastal road. She had woken up early and was trying to time her arrival at the Lighthouse with the sunrise. Unfortunately, she¡¯d noticed that she¡¯d been followed from her hotel. Two individuals had been shadowing her on the streets to her north. She was sure that they were going to try to mug or rob. While most people would have been apprehensive, a thrill of excitement filled her.
Her father had structured Paula¡¯s life since her birth. She¡¯d lived by a schedule, A schedule made for her by her parents, tutors, teachers, or job goals. This vacation had been one of the few times she¡¯d gone off schedule, although the vacation was on schedule, of course. Getting mugged or robbed, wasn¡¯t.
As she walked down the road, she considered that they could be trying to rape or kill her. But neither of those possibilities seemed likely. Unless, of course, someone had paid to have her killed in some corporate ploy, but anyone doing that would have to deal with her father. Most likely, they were going to try to mug, rob, or rape her. Of course, any of those actions could lead to her death, but that probably wasn¡¯t their primary goal; for them, if it happened, it would be a lucky accident. Bonus for them, no witnesses.
Paula continued walking and took in her surroundings. On her left, the last buildings before the right turn to head toward the lighthouse sat above the tide line, while on her right, more houses and buildings sat. The road had wound around in a curve until the right turn onto Lighthouse Street would set her in a westerly direction. To the east was the beach and rocky terrain, while the road to the lighthouse went to her right, and then another road to the left went up to the lighthouse. From the corner she was at, it was about 600 feet to the Lighthouse. If someone were going to jump her, right here would be the perfect spot.
That is why when they attacked, she wasn¡¯t surprised. Paula had to admit they were coordinated. One ran up the street from behind her, while the other came down Lighthouse Street toward her, a shadow moving quickly in the dark. The man behind her was trying to be quiet, but in the still night, with only the sound of gentle waves lapping against the shore in the distance, his feet on the pavement were obvious. He was probably trying to grab and immobilize her. Unfortunately for the two men, Paula''s training included martial arts and weapons training.
Paula¡¯s father wanted her to be able to protect herself at all times and spared no expense for that training. He¡¯d even included training that would help her if she were ever tortured or raped. That training had taken romance right out of the act of sex for most of her teenage life. Breaking the act down to clinical observations and definitions while making sure she knew how to capitalize on what was happening to her and her attacker killed any notion of romance being involved in the act. She had learned to watch for the perfect moment and then to strike when her chance of success was the greatest.
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The torture training had left no visible permanent scars but had been absolutely brutal. After her training was complete, her father scheduled time with a therapist to make sure she wasn¡¯t negatively affected by the brutality of the training. Some people would have been horrified to learn what her father¡¯s people had put her through. He didn¡¯t care, nor did she. She was stronger for it and prepared for almost any circumstance. Her father wanted her to be able to survive anything, and she was fairly confident that he¡¯d succeeded.
Her therapist had been surprised by her resilience. It had taken five sessions and video surveillance of her sleeping soundly each night for five weeks for the therapist and her father to believe the training hadn¡¯t affected her. Finally, the therapist gave her a clean bill of health with a strong recommendation that Paula seek out help if anything traumatic happened. Her therapist was sure that Paula would reach a breaking point. Paula thanked her for her concern but said she never needed her services again. She¡¯d been attacked twice in the last 14 years. Neither had been pleasant, but both groups of attackers had either been killed by her father¡¯s security teams or herself, though no report showed that data. The second team of attackers had one individual get close enough to grab her, which had been his last mistake.
That¡¯s why she wasn¡¯t afraid when the two men attacked. Her pragmatic way of looking at every situation and her ruthlessness allowed her to make snap judgments and respond a lot quicker than most people would have. Paula¡¯s frontal assailant rushed at her with a small knife and waved menacingly in front of him. He was obviously someone who did not understand how to fight with a knife. The attacker, sneaking up on her from behind, was reaching to put his arm around her neck as she fluidly ducked and stepped back to her left. A quick pivot and push with her hand allowed her to utilize the momentum of that pivot to push her assailant forward and away from her into the knife wielder.
The movement was so sudden that the knife wielder had no chance to dodge or pull the knife back. The attacker she¡¯d pushed stumbled forward from the force of her blow. He was able to bring his arm up to block the knife thrust, which sank into his arm. As he reached to grab his arm, the knife wielder yanked the knife out, which created a spurt of blood that flew all over him as the man who had been stabbed howled in pain until it was abruptly cut off.
Paula was not a short woman. At five feet ten inches, she was as tall as the man who had tried to grab her and at least an inch taller than the knife-wielder. This allowed her to step forward and deliver an exact knife-hand strike above the C1 vertebrae and below the skull. The effect was immediate. His body crumpled like a switch had been flipped. While such a strike could be fatal, she had only hit him with about one-half of her strength. If her attack had worked, he¡¯d be unconscious for a while. If she¡¯d hit him too hard, he¡¯d be paralyzed. Of course, if he bled out, it wouldn¡¯t be something he¡¯d ever have to worry about again.
The knife wielder looked down at his fallen friend and then at Paula. He flipped the knife, showing her that he did know how to fight with a knife. Paula, not wanting to take a chance, pulled one of her two throwing knives from their hidden sheaths in her bra and flung it with pinpoint accuracy into her attacker''s throat in one fluid, quick motion. He shuddered as the knife entered his throat. A moment later he fell backward as he lost control of his arms and legs. Her aim had been perfect. She¡¯d severed his spinal cord.
Paula walked over, pulled the knife from his throat, and looked down dispassionately as she cleaned the knife on the sleeve of his shirt before replacing it in its hidden sheath. She watched as the knife wielder choked on the blood flowing into his lungs from the wound in his throat. Initially, his eyes had been filled with surprise, then anger, and finally fear before drowning in his own blood.
Paula moved over to the second man, who was lying face down on the ground. She considered the various complications this man could cause her if he lived and then brought her foot down on the back of his neck, snapping it completely. He was a threat; he had to die. Paula lifted her foot and scrapped it on the ground to remove any evidence that may have touched her shoes.
A moment later, Paula¡¯s attention was drawn away from cleaning her shoes when a crack of thunder sounded from the bluff below the Lighthouse on the coast above the ocean. A moment later, white light filled the early morning night sky as the ground started rumbling gently. Paula watched as a natural stone Archway began rising out of the bedrock. Paula disregarded the two dead men at her feet and began walking toward the archway as it continued to rise from the ground.
As Paula walked forward, the empty stone archway rose until an open area approximately 50 feet high and 50 feet across was available. The rumbling stopped, and the light faded away. All that was left was the Archway sitting on the bluff over the ocean. Paula continued walking forward until she was about 50 feet from the archway when text appeared in her vision.
SYSTEM Message
You have discovered The Archway to Transcendence.
You may turn away and continue with your mundane life
OR
You may walk through the Archway and begin a journey that will offer Power beyond your imagination or death.
Paula took a single step forward and froze when a man appeared out of thin air beside her. Paula admonished herself for not seeing the man approach as she pulled one of her knives and threw it at him. The knife stood less than five feet from her hand when he simply raised his hand up in a stopping motion and said, ¡°No!¡± He looked at her with a piercing gaze and smiled, ¡°Hello, Paula.¡±
¡°And you are?¡± Paula asked as she looked at the floating knife and wondered what was going on, worrying that he might be a witness to her actions.
¡°I am Adam. I can also see that you are wondering how to get rid of another witness. Please look at the bodies you left down the path.¡±
Paula turned and watched as the bodies and everything they were wearing evaporated. Paula turned back to Adam, ¡°How? Why?¡±
¡°Because the SYSTEM must want you for something, or else it wouldn¡¯t have placed the first portal or Archway on this planet next to you.¡±
¡°Portal?¡±
¡°Archway, Portal, they¡¯re the same thing.¡±
¡°Where is this a portal to?¡± Paula asked.
¡°Did your SYSTEM Message say power or death?¡± Adam asked.
¡°It did.¡±
¡°And were you going to step through the archway before I arrived?¡± Adam asked.
¡°I was thinking about it,¡± Paula said honestly.
Adam held out his hand, which contained six knives identical in shape to the one she¡¯d tried to throw at him, which was still floating in front of her.
¡°What are those?¡± Paula asked.
¡°If we meet again, you will probably have a better understanding of what I just did. The Bandolier is fitted for you, and the six throwing knives I¡¯m holding are made of a very rare magical element that can survive nuclear explosions. If you step through that archway, you will probably need weapons of some sort. The two knives in your braw sheathes aren¡¯t going to cut it. Besides, these knives are sharper and more durable than anything you can find.¡±
¡°I doubt that,¡± Paula said disbelievingly.
The knives in Adam¡¯s left hand and the bandolier in his right hand disappeared. A moment later, the bandolier reappeared in his hand with all six knives loaded into their sheaths on the bandolier. As Paula watched, a seventh knife grew in his right hand and, with the flick of his wrist, flashed away from him and through the edge of the Lighthouse. The knife exploded out of the lighthouse, with concrete and wood fragments closely behind.
¡°What the fuck!¡± Paul exclaimed.
¡°Not to worry, the building will be fixed momentarily, though the knife might, nope, it¡¯s going to leave orbit. Damn, I don¡¯t know my own strength.¡±
¡°Are you saying that you just threw that knife at escape velocity, and the friction of the air didn¡¯t slow it down or disintegrate it?¡± Paula asked indignantly.
¡°The knives are made out of Adamantium; a little heat is not going to do anything to that knife,¡± Adam said with a laugh.
¡°Adamantium isn¡¯t real,¡± Paula said.
¡°And magical archways rising out of the ground only happen in books and movies, right?¡±
¡°Point taken. They''re made out of Adamantium, really?
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°If I accept your gift, will I owe you anything?¡± Paula asked.
¡°If you succeed in your quest for power, I may come calling someday. If not, I¡¯ll have no need to. I would ask that if you do succeed, your first response next time we meet is not to attack me on sight.¡± Adam said.
Whoever this man was, he was powerful. Her knife floating before her and the casual flick of his wrist, which had put a hole through the lighthouse which was repairing itself as she watched? How was he doing that? Regardless of if he wanted to harm her, she did not doubt that he could. Also, what he asked wasn¡¯t unreasonable. Paula smiled and laughed lightly before she said, ¡°I can agree to that, even though I don¡¯t understand what you did or how you stopped my blade in midair without touching it?¡±
¡°If you step through the Archway, you¡¯ll find out. Now, please grab your knife, accept my gift, and be on your way,¡± Adam said.
Paula grabbed her knife out of the air and slid it back into its sheath. She then accepted the bandolier and put it on. She had to admit, it fit her perfectly and didn¡¯t bunch against her skin anywhere. It also didn¡¯t block her access to the two hidden sheaths in her bra. How had he known to leave space for those blades or her size? She checked the reach and looked satisfied as she turned away from Adam, walked to the Archway, and stepped through.
***
Adam watched Paula Walker step through the Archway as he detected six more Archways rising out of the ground with Sense Chaos. The other six Archways appeared in locations centralized to each of the different continents. The first Archway was near Pocone in Brazil, South America. The second Archway was near Elk Island National Park just east of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada. The Third Archway was near Bratsk in Russia. The fourth Archway was right outside the city of Prague in Czechia. The fifth Archway was at the center of Gosses Bluff Crater in Australia. The sixth archway was at the South Pole in Antarctica. The seventh Archway, which he was standing at, was up the hill from the shore next to the Lighthouse near L¡¯Agulhas, South Africa.
Adam was surprised it had taken this long for something to happen. He¡¯d been here for six months. He¡¯d integrated himself into American society. He was officially a citizen again and even owned property near Kansas City. He¡¯d bought a house near Platte City on the northwest side of KC and used it as a base of operation as he went around the world looking for SYSTEM Nodes and listening for any chatter about the SYSTEM. For six months, he¡¯d run around the world and found nothing.
Well, he didn¡¯t have to run around the world with Sense Chaos, nor did he have to cheat too hard to get ahead in the markets. With the ability to take in and analyze everything across the globe, he didn¡¯t even use a fraction of his mental capacity to set up his portfolio with cash that could be traced to a casino where he¡¯d won 100,000 dollars, paid the tax, and then invested the money. Then, he¡¯d moved the cash within the markets as an afterthought. He was investing and withdrawing funds as the market fluctuated. Every transaction was defined as high risk because of the uncertainty, except that he wasn¡¯t uncertain at all and only profited from each transaction, except for the small amounts he chose to lose to keep up the appearance that he wasn¡¯t cheating somehow, which he was, of course.
The United States in this Universe was doing quite well. China was coming along, but they were still years away from anything that would allow them to compete with the United States. Adam watched from the shadows as his wealth grew until he was a billionaire. One of the highlights of his day was making travel plans. Following them to a certain point and then changing them just as a journalist closed in to get a picture of him. He didn¡¯t do it all that often, but a few reporters were looking for the billionaire who had appeared out of nowhere. They were hot for an interview, which Adam was reluctant to give at this point.
He¡¯d noticed Paula when he¡¯d been reviewing various company personnel and collecting insider information on each. He¡¯d been impressed with her skill in both hand-to-hand combat and throwing knives, as well as her dedication each day to maintaining those skills. As he¡¯d suspected from watching her training and practice sessions, her attacks had been clinical and devastating. Even appearing out of nowhere with Chaos Step hadn¡¯t caused her to pause for more than a second before she¡¯d reacted to him as a threat. He had a feeling she was going to do very well in the sorting process the SYSTEM had come up with to replace the divine beings who¡¯d sacrificed themselves to save the Multiverse and The SYSTEM.
Tantur had said that this Universe had been set up as a Battle Royale, but as far as he could tell, this Earth, while slightly different from the Earth he¡¯d grown up on, was a very reasonable variation of his timeline. Magic seemed to exist, but there were no random magical events on Earth, at least until today. Could the whole planet be one of those Safe Zones where monsters couldn¡¯t spawn? Adam guessed it was possible. If Tantur viewed the butchery of adding magic to worlds that involved killing innocents as an atrocity, portals that offered power and a choice to step through would be a good compromise. People were still going to die, but they had to choose to leave this world to do so.
Adam knew the only way to see what was on the other side was to step through the Archway. It was also highly likely that each portal opened into a different area on the other side. So, the best portal for him to step through would be Antarctica. That Archway was in a remote location, and no one was currently near it. Adam activated Chaos Step and appeared next to the Archway. He received the same message that Paula and he had received in South Africa and stepped through the portal under the Archway.
Adam appeared in a small white room. There was nothing in the room and only one portal or door into the room directly behind him.
Welcome to the Trial of Transcendence.
The Trial of Transcendence will continue once you have become familiar with The SYSTEM. If you are familiar with the SYSTEM, you may bypass the SYSTEM Introduction Tutorial.
To Bypass the SYSTEM Tutorial, say ¡°Bypass.¡±
To Continue with the SYSTEM Tutorial, say ¡°Continue.¡±
Or return to your world through the Portal behind you.
You may return at any time.
Adam needed to know about the changes to this system. Sure, Tantur had told him what was going on, but maybe this Tutorial would provide more information because things in this SYSTEM were a little different. No SYSTEM nodes? No SYSTEM shops? Whatever the changes were, he needed more information about them.
Adam said, ¡°Continue.¡±
Chapter 274, SYSTEM Vendor
Adaline flashed into existence in front of Adam and then morphed into Tantur.
Adam had seen Adaline and froze, then watched as Adaline transformed into Tantur, who had a shit-eating grin on his face, ¡°Dick!¡±
¡°Guilty as charged,¡± Tantur said, ¡°Now, why did you accept the SYSTEM Tutorial? We both know you know what the SYSTEM is and how it works.¡±
Adam shook his head as he said, ¡°That¡¯s just it, I don¡¯t. The SYSTEM has altered enough things that I need more information about. Where are the SYSTEM Nodes? Where are the SYSTEM Shops? How do I purchase or find more spells?¡±
¡°Yes, the SYSTEM explains all that as part of the Tutorial. To save time, here you go, Enjoy!¡± Tantur said as information flooded into Adam¡¯s mind and he disappeared.
It only took him a moment to disseminate the information Tantur had supplied him.
- He was currently in Prime Universe 911.
- There were no SYSTEM Nodes in Universe 911
- There were no Planet Nodes in Universe 911
- Dungeon Nodes existed within each Dungeon
- Each Dungeon contained a Labyrinth Node at the end of that Dungeon
- The Labyrinth Node was not part of Universe 911, nor was it synced with the Temporal Dilution factor of Prime Universe 911. If Adam traveled to the Labyrinth, he would leave this universe''s Temporal Dilution.
- Individuals could claim Personal Domains.
- To establish a Domain, one needed only to declare it publicly. Doing so provided information to all others in the Domain as well as those entering the domain by providing an arrow on their minimap to the Domain Owner. The arrow could not be hidden by any means. If someone wished to claim and hold a Domain, they must have the strength to keep it.
- Domain holders automatically knew who was in their Domain and their approximate location, even while contested. Additionally, they could charge rent and tax any treasure obtained or sold within their Domain. Settings for these functions could be changed in their Domain Tab, which was accessible in his Personal Status.
- Anyone could challenge a Domain Holder for control of that Domain.
- Domain size was based on the size of the structure, or structures in close proximity, claimed, and the population.
- Anyone could claim a single domain. Claiming more Domains requires proficiency in leadership-based skills or royalty-based Titles. Skills could also augment the number of Domains that may be controlled.
- SYSTEM recognized Domains could not be established on Nursery Planets
- Nursery Planets, those Planets with functioning Civilizations that were recently added to the 911th Universe, were considered Safe Zones and were spread throughout the Universe. None resided within the same galaxy of another Nursery Planet. There was only one per galaxy. Any other civilization that sprouted up within a galaxy was either established by invading forces from other Nursery planets, evolution, or infiltration from beings that had made their way into this universe through the Labyrinth.
- Monster Spawning would not occur in Safe Zones
- Random Magical anomalies would not occur in Safe Zones.
- The SYSTEM only leveled the playing field when Prime Universes were reorganized. Anything that happened after that shuffle was up to the beings within the Multiverse.
- Class levels in Prime Universe 911 were limited to level 10,000
- Skill Levels In Prime Universe 911 were limited to Level 100.
- Spell power was designated by rarity and improved through leveling the spell.
- Maximum Spell Level was 100
- The SYSTEM tracked credits and could convert all treasure or items in the SYSTEM-created Personal Storage into credits.
- Credits could not be converted into items. He would have to visit a local Merchant or find one of the SYSTEM Stores to purchase items from the SYSTEM
- SYSTEM Stores were no longer found in every population center. Instead, SYSTEM Stores would be found in very specific locations.
- Skills and Spells could be found in books and scrolls, taught by teachers, acquired through individual research, or purchased from a merchant or SYSTEM Store.
- Classes now automatically provided class skills upon reaching the required level. Non-class skills had to be purchased or found.
- Spells and Skills could only be taught if the individual doing so possesses a Teacher-Type Class.
- Spawned Monsters garnered a base of 100 XP per Monster Level. This number was adjusted as follows. For every rank higher, divide by the difference. For every level lower, multiply by the difference. For example, if someone with a Scarce Class killed a level 1 Basic monster, they would earn 50 XP instead of 100. Alternatively, if someone with a Basic Class killed a Level 1 Scarce monster, they would earn 200 XP.
- Individuals competing in the Trial of Transcendence garnered a base of ? the experience required for their level. For instance, a level 1 competitor would garner 500 XP. XP Awards were adjusted exactly like Spawned Monsters. NOTE: The initiator in combat, which results in the death of fellow competitors below level 100, would result in the standard XP award AND an equal amount of Negative Karmic Luck.
- Negative Karmic Luck will randomly affect any action that has a random outcome. The chance the Karmic Luck will be applied is proportional to the amount of Negative Karmic Luck possessed, for instance. If you have 3 points of negative Karmic Luck, there is a 3% chance that Karmic Luck would affect the outcome of any action attempted. If Negative Karmic Luck is initiated, the points are subtracted as Karma takes effect.
- Negative Karmic Luck Outcomes could include but were not limited to Action Failure, Physical side effects, Loss of treasure, etc¡
- Positive Karmic Luck worked in much the same way.
Adam scrolled through the rest of the information in quick order. Most of it dealt with skills and a basic primer concerning magic. He had a pretty good understanding of the spheres of Magic and what to expect from them. The rules for skills were now fixed; before, there was no maximum skill. Now, it seems that each skill gave a base chance of success based on the rarity of the skill, which increased by 1-8% per skill level. A basic skill gave a base 10% chance of success that increased by 1% per skill level. Meanwhile, a Mythical skill started at a base 45% chance of success and increased by 8% per level.
The information dump even gave examples of how skill checks and spell levels interacted. The percentage chance of success would eventually exceed 100%, but the person with the higher skill chance would be automatically successful if that chance were over 100%. Since his Attribute bonuses added directly to all of his skills except those that were based on chaos, he would most likely succeed at every skill he used, be it combat or noncombat-based.
Another note let him know that while Attribute and level maximums might change from Universe to Universe, Skill and Spell levels were going to be universal throughout every SYSTEM in the Multiverse. Ironically, his class, Polymath, was going to make traveling from Universe to Universe very easy for him. At the Mythical rank, no matter what attribute maximums were set, he would always have at least a 126% chance of success at any skill he tried before the attribute bonus.
Adam took in all the information and noticed that a holographic blue screen floated in front of him.
When you are ready to continue on the Trail of Transcendence, please touch the Blue Screen.
WARNING: once accepted, there is no turning back.
Adam touched the screen. A moment later, notifications appeared in his vision, and he was teleported to an open field. Mountains stood off in the distance in front of him with a forest behind him. While Sense Chaos took in his surroundings, he focused on his Notifications.
Welcome to Challenge Planet U911019110
Planet Category: Crossroads.
Monster Spawning: Yes
Monster Levels: 1-100
You have decided to embrace a path to power. As your journey progresses, you will become more powerful. At the end of this journey, a place among the divine is possible. This Path is fraught with danger, and death is a reasonable outcome for those who continue.
You will soon appear on a Crossroads Challenge Planet containing monsters and other trial participants. You can work alone or team up with others; the choice is yours.
White Archways on Crossroads Planets will lead back to the Nursery Planet attached to that Crossroads Challenge Planet. There is only one Crossroads Challenge Planet with White Archways that leads back to your Nursery Planet.
Once you have completed the tutorials available in this room, stepping into an Archway on the Nursery Planet you originated from will lead directly to a corresponding White Archway on the first Crossroads Challenge Planet.
If you do not wish to participate in the Trial of Transcendence at this time, step back through the portal behind you. You will be transported back to the Archway on your Nursery Planet that you stepped through to get here.
You may resume your journey into the Trial of Transcendence at any time after that.
The first Challenge Planet, a Crossroads Planet, will contain Monsters ranging from levels 1 to 100 and Various Archways to other Challenge Planets.
Green Archways are only found on Crossroads Planets and lead to a pocket dimension where you can visit a SYSTEM Store, rest, and relax. They are not located near any other Archways and must be discovered.
White Archways on Crossroads Planets (Crossroads Planets are planets with Archways that lead to Challenge Planets of Various levels) lead to the associated Nursery Planet.
White Archways can be found on any Challenge Planet. White Archways NOT on Crossroads Planets may lead to alternate Crossroads Planets and allow access to other Nursery Planets.
Blue Archways lead to Blue Challenge Planets that contain level 1 ¨C 100 monsters and additional Blue Archways that lead to additional Blue Challenge Planets. The planets are not unlike Crossroad Planets. They do not have Archways to Crossroad Challenge Planets.
Yellow Archways lead to Yellow Challenge Planets that contain 101 ¨C 500 monsters and additional Yellow Archways that lead to additional Yellow Challenge Planets.
Red Archways lead to Red Challenge Planets that contain level 501 ¨C 1,000 monsters and additional Red Archways that lead to additional Red Challenge Planets.
Violet Archways lead to Violet Challenge Planets that contain monsters greater than level 1,000 and additional Violet Archways that lead to additional Violet Challenge Planets.
Challenge Planets will contain any and every environment conceivable.
How you tackle the Trial of Transcendence is up to you. It is recommended that anyone entering the Trial of Transcendence remain on a Crossroads Challenge Planet until they are prepared to meet the greater challenges.
Remember, you can exchange anything in your Personal Storage for Credits without returning to a SYSTEM Store to free up room in your Personal Storage. Alternatively, you can find someone with a Merchant Class. Items exchanged from your Personal Storage only garner 50% of their value.
When you have finished reviewing these rules, say, ¡°Continue.¡±
Adam reviewed the information, nodded, and said, ¡°Continue.¡±
A moment later, Adam appeared on an open plain by himself. Behind him, a natural Archway made of what looked like white marble rose out of the ground. So, it was a White Archway. Adam reached out with Sense Chaos and scanned the planet he was on and surrounding space.
The planet he was on was at least twice the size of Earth, though the gravity was still a comfortable 1G. He could easily detect all of the other Archways, none of which were within 10 miles of another Archway. There were four Green Archways that seemed to be spaced equally around the globe. Each was in a location that wouldn¡¯t be easy to find. Not hard, exactly, but nobody would find them if they weren¡¯t looking for them.
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Other humans appeared next to the other six White Archways and began exploring, which were also spread out around the globe. Adam did a quick check and identified a few of the creatures that were close to the other humans. He adjusted the information so that it only showed him the creature''s name, level, and any immunities the creature might have. He didn¡¯t need all the other superfluous information for such low-level creatures. Once he¡¯d adjusted the information Identify was providing, he reviewed it.
Badger, Level 1
Wolf, Level 3
Python, Level 2
¡
Most of the animals he detected were near the White Archways, which were more powerful versions of animals he¡¯d found on Earth. As he looked closer to the Blue, Yellow, and Red Archways, The variety of animals increased. He started seeing more exotic creatures that he might find on Primore or other worlds he¡¯d been to. Near the only Violet gate on the planet, which happened to be near an active Volcano on an island in the middle of a large ocean, a Blue Dragon flew around the volcano and seemed to be looking for food. Adam checked it with Identify.
Blue Dragon,
Rarity: Epic
Level: 912
Physical Damage Resistance: 25
Immunity: Electricity
Special Attack: Breath Weapon: Lightning Range 500 Feet / Damage: 2,585
HP: 20,045
Aura Strength: 365
Aura Defense: 339
*** Tethered ¨C May not move more than 10 miles from Violet Archway
Adam was slightly impressed. It couldn¡¯t hurt him, but it was far above anything anyone from Earth could handle right now. Its Physical Damage Resistance would prevent any regular attacks from any weapons his fellow earthlings might make. It would also act as a deterrent for anyone who was trying to enter the Violet Archway. That wouldn¡¯t stop him, though.
Adam activated Chaos Step and appeared before the Violet Archway. He attempted to step through the Archway and was stopped cold as a Notification entered his vision.
WARNING!
You must defeat the Guardian to Proceed!
With Sense Chaos, Adam felt the Blue Dragon react to his appearance as it changed course and began diving toward the crater of the volcano. Adam shifted to his Adamantium Dragon Form, flew up to the blue dragon, and released a fraction of his Aura when he was within range. The Blue Dragon froze for a second as Adam¡¯s Aura washed over it and then veered away as Adam moved to keep him in range. With Telepathy, Adam sent, Submit or Die.
That was the first time he¡¯d released his Aura. He¡¯d only released a fraction of his Aura because his Personal Status rated its strength at 38,002. The Blue Dragon¡¯s Natural Aura Defense was listed at 339. Adam was sure that if he¡¯d released his full aura, the Blue Dragon would have died. Something he¡¯d have to be really careful about: of course, he had complete control over his Aura and had kept it locked away without thinking about it. He''d only recently noticed this new attribute on his Personal Status. It seemed that the SYSTEM had made Aura¡¯s quantifiable.
The Blue Dragon attempted to ignore Adam as it tried to fly away from him. Unfortunately for it, Adam could fly incredibly fast, and because he was an Adamantium Dragon, the friction of the air didn¡¯t bother him. Additionally, with Sense Chaos, he could close his eyes and still see perfectly so entering an atmosphere wasn¡¯t an issue. But, this Blue Dragon, limited to a 10-mile range around the Volcano, trying to get away from him wasn¡¯t flying fast at all. It getting away from him? Yeah, that would never happen.
Adam slowly increased the strength of the Aura until he saw the Dragon begin to bleed from its eyes. Then, he just maintained the strength of his Aura at that level while he kept it within range. His Aura Strength dropped off exponentially with range, but that still meant that he didn¡¯t have to get too close to let this dragon feel the strength of his Aura. After five minutes, the Blue Dragon shuddered and veered back toward a beach at the base of the Volcano and landed. Adam came in and landed next to the Blue Dragon. Then, he waited.
Adam felt the Blue Dragon¡¯s desire to submit as the barrier on the Archway disappeared. Adam dropped his aura and shifted back to human form as he sent, Thank you. Continue to guard this Archway or return through it if you wish; I care not.
Adam activated Chaos Step to appear before the Violet Archway and stepped through.
Adam stepped onto a flat grassy plain with very loose soil like it had been plowed recently. Adam let his Sense Chaos range out. One mile away, a mound set on top of the plains drew Adam¡¯s attention immediately. With Sense Chaos, he could tell that the mound wasn¡¯t a mound. It was the shell of a creature that looked like something out of one of the Tabletop games he used to play. Adam used Identify.
Ves¡¯ka,
Rarity: Epic
Level: 1,016
Physical Damage Resistance: 525
Immunity: All Basic Spheres of Magic
Special Attack: Bite and Swallow / Damage: 2,879
HP: 34,361
Aura Strength: 407
Aura Defense: 377
It looked like the old illustrations of a Tarrasque, sort of. Adam smiled. If it were a spawned monster, the SYSTEM would be sued for copyright infringement. Wouldn¡¯t that be the day? That the Ves¡¯ka was immune to the eight basic spheres of magic was different, though. Adam was going to live and let live when the creature¡¯s head lifted, and it looked in Adam¡¯s direction. Without hesitation, it moved, fast. In one second, it was halfway to Adam; the next second, its head was snapping down on where Adam had stood.
While the Ves¡¯ka was fast, it had nothing on Adam. Adam sidestepped the attack, summoned his Chaos Blade, extended it in length, and severed Ves¡¯ka¡¯s head in one fluid motion. The fact that the Chaos Blade had extended like a lightsaber was new, but he should have realized a long time ago that Mold Chaos would allow him to do something like that. But, still, he¡¯d killed the creature easily. Adam pulled up his Combat Log.
Begin Combat Log
Attack by Vas¡¯ka Dodged
Summoned Chaos Blade
Chaos Blade extended with Mold Chaos
Called Strike, Target Ves¡¯ka neck
Attack Successful
Base Damage:318,199
Critical Hit Damage: 2,545,592
Holy Shit! When his attributes had been off the scale, he knew that creatures didn¡¯t have a chance against him and hadn¡¯t worried about the damage he could do. With the limitations the SYSTEM had enacted in this Universe, he¡¯d thought those limits would require him to work a little for it. Nope, not yet.
In fact, if he had to wait for people to get up to speed to make things interesting, he¡¯d be waiting a long time. He could visit the family, but he¡¯d have to be careful. If he were gone for one hour, more than 100 years would pass in this universe. Would that be enough time for someone to reach Godhood? Possibly, but doubtful.
On the other hand, if he had stayed in this Universe for 2,600 years, only one day would have passed for his family on Primore. Yeah, so what could he do if he decided to wait here? One thought percolated forward. He¡¯d thought about it when he saw the note from the SYSTEM about losing his two classes. He did have two class slots open. He could try to get a class as a Merchant of some type so that he could access the SYSTEM without issues. Maybe even work on leveling that class while he waited for the first divine beings to appear.
Adam stepped back through the White Archway behind him, which led back to the Crossroads Planet, and then Chaos Stepped to one of the Green Archways. There wasn¡¯t a guardian or any monsters within 10 miles of this Archway. The Green Archway he stood before rested in a valley surrounded by mountains and filled with a stream and trees. The only animals present were normal woodland animals anyone might find in the forests of North America.
Adam stepped through the Green Archway and found himself in a pocket Dimension made out to be a city approximately 25 miles in diameter. There was farmland forest and even low mountains between the edge of the city and the edge of the dimensional space, which was 100 miles out. The city was not unlike Dubai on Earth. Technological-looking skyscrapers rose into a sky filled with twilight while lights along the streets made sure that the walkways were fully lit. There were restaurants, hotels, stores, and shops of all kinds. On his internal map, an indicator appeared with an arrow that pointed towards a building with the label SYSTEM Store on it.
Adam walked over to one of the stores with a Texas Cowboy theme going on. It smelled like steaks were being grilled. As he walked up, the host looked at Adam and asked, ¡°Welcome to Brian¡¯s Steak House. Will you be dining alone?¡±
Adam nodded and was led to a table with a window view. He quickly ordered a Porterhouse, Baked Potato, and Corn. As he waited for his food, he went over the data that Sense Chaos had provided him. He¡¯d thought the dimension would not have very many people in it, but he could detect over 100,000 people working and living in this pocket dimension. Also, this pocket dimension had four Archways that led into it. One at each compass point on the map
Each White Archway sat just outside the edge of town and had a build-up of restaurants and hotels near it. This setup effectively split the city into four commercial districts. Adam was betting that all the Green Archways on the Crossroads Challenge Planet led to this Dimension.
Adam ate his meal, which was automatically deducted from his total credits. He¡¯d looked over the mini town and found the best hotel in the area. When he left Brian¡¯s Steak House, he walked one block to the entrance of the High Rise and rented the Penthouse Suite. The price was insane at 10,000 credits per day. Adam paid for the day and set up an automatic deduction if he chose to stay longer. Once done, he made his way upstairs.
Once inside his Penthouse, he went to the living room and sat down on the couch. After exploring the local programming with the T.V. Remote for about five minutes, he had to admit that the local streaming service had a lot of movies from a lot of cultures on it. Some of the cultures were not human-based.
In fact, he hadn¡¯t even considered categorizing the people he detected with Sense Chaos by race. He did so now. Adam noted that most of the races he associated with fantasy were present, such as humans and even some alien races that he recognized, as well as others that looked like aliens from T.V. shows he¡¯d watched.
Adam reached out with Aura Sense through his Sense Chaos and immediately identified two different types of aura. Some people had auras that were very similar to his, and others contained auras that appeared artificial. Those must be the individuals that the SYSTEM spawned. If that was the case, the SYSTEM could have drawn on anything he¡¯d come across, including fantasy and science fiction-based races.
While that was interesting, Adam put it out of his mind for now and pulled up his Class Tab. When he focused on the empty class slot below his Class, Polymath, a prompt appeared.
Would you like to add a new Class, Yes or No?
Adam chose ¡°Yes.¡±
A list of classes started to scroll down his vision, as Adam thought, Focus on merchant-based classes only. Immediately, the list was adjusted, and provided a list of merchant-based classes. The list was inclusive. It included classes that focused on specific items, types of items, world-specific, empire-specific, etc.¡
Adam adjusted the search for SYSTEM-based merchant classes only. This produced two classes which piqued his interest.
SYSTEM Merchant
Merchants focus on finding and selling items from individual sources. The Merchant sets the Item Cost. Success or Failure is completely within the purview of the Merchant.
SYSTEM Merchants may connect to the SYSTEM Product Registry while in any Safe Zone.
Merchants are encouraged to sell all items at cost x 2 + 1% per class level as modified by the Charisma and skills of both the buyer and seller. Specific classes could also affect the price. However, a Merchant could set the price of any item as they saw fit.
Can the SYSTEM Merchant Undercut SYSTEM Prices? Yes
XP is earned as normal and also by selling items. SYSTEM Merchants gain XP equal to 100% profit +10% of the price. XP is determined by the cost of the items in credits or silver pieces.
Example: if a SYSTEM Merchant purchased an item for 10 credits and then resold the item for 12 credits. The Merchant would earn 3.2 (2 + 1.2) XP. 2 XP for the Profit 1.2 for the 10% of 12. Larger and higher volumes of sales will garner more XP.
Income: Determine by profits.
SYSTEM Vendor
A SYSTEM Vendor acts as a mobile SYSTEM Store. SYSTEM Vendors may produce a SYSTEM Vendor Node that allows anyone touching it access the SYSTEM Store and buy items from it.
Can the SYSTEM Vendor alter item Prices? No
Can the SYSTEM Vendor utilize the SYSTEM Store? Yes. The Vendor may purchase any item at cost. Items purchased from a SYSTEM Vendor Node may be gifted, but they cannot be sold without severe penalty. Any items sold by the vendor automatically reduce their credits based on the cost of the item.
XP is earned as normal and also by selling items. SYSTEM Vendors gain 25% of the value of the item¡¯s value in Credits or Silver if sold to another.
Vendors sell all items at cost x 2 + 1% per class level, including any SYSTEM discounts the buyer might have. Charisma and skills that affect the SYSTEM Vendor have no effect on item prices.
Adam looked over both classes carefully and chose the SYSTEM Vendor. He decided on that class because he could pull out the SYSTEM Vendor Node anywhere, whereas a SYSTEM Merchant had to be in a Safe Zone. Sure, he wasn¡¯t going to get as much XP for buying and selling things, but Adam had a feeling that he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about that. With over one sextillion credits, he should be able to buy anything he needed. He could also allow others to access the SYSTEM Store in locations they usually couldn¡¯t. It was time to take on the role of a Traveling Vendor
Chapter 275, The Merchant
¡°Why are we here?¡± Cedrik, the rogue, asked.
¡°You all saw the SYSTEM Message, didn¡¯t you?¡± Callum asked.
¡°We did,¡± Asling, their Archer, agreed.
¡°Well, I was thinking about entering the Trial of Transcendence,¡± Callum announced.
¡°Really, you want to become a God,¡± Pythias, their cleric, asked.
¡°I want to become more powerful, and I think this SYSTEM-based trial is the best opportunity for that,¡± Callum said.
¡°You may be right. If we stay here, we will have to join this world¡¯s hierarchy. While we might be on good terms with the Queen and her daughter,¡± Robert said with a nod to Pandora, ¡°I think we need to make our own way in this Universe.
¡°We¡¯re going to stay here,¡± Cindy Bennard said as she held her husband''s hand, ¡°Our son is, well, we¡¯re not exactly sure what he is. Our daughter-in-law is the Queen, and our granddaughter is almost as powerful as her dad. We¡¯re going to stay here and help Adaline out as we can.
We¡¯re staying too,¡± Amanda said as Abi moved to stand beside her.
¡°How about you two?¡± Callum said as he looked at Desirae and Clarence.
¡°I am going to join the Trial,¡± Desirae said.
¡°I¡¯m going to stay and keep an eye on Adam¡¯s parents, Adaline, Amanda, and Abi. Adaline, The Queen, has already set up a trainer to help me. Also, I¡¯ll be joining the Adventurer¡¯s Guild tomorrow to start Dungeon diving to level,¡± Clarence said.
¡°You don¡¯t want to be a God?¡± Cedrik asked.
¡°Nah, I¡¯m good. I¡¯m happy at my current power level. A little more won''t hurt, of course, but becoming a deity when I was an atheist for most of my life, yeah, that¡¯s not for me, at least not yet.¡±
Callum nodded and then turned to Pandora, ¡°And you, what are you going to do, Pandora?¡±
¡°As you may or may not know, the reshuffling of the multiverse has created some issues here on Primore. Mother has asked me to stay and help her sort that out because of my unique situation,¡± Pandora said.
¡°What unique situation?¡± Pythias asked, ¡°I know we all retained the bonuses your dad gave us, which will give us all an advantage. Are you saying there was something else?¡±
Pandora nodded, ¡°Yeah, there was something else. All of you remained at your current level, right? So did I?¡±
¡°Wait,¡± Robert started, a look of surprise coming over his face. I read the SYSTEM notes. ¡° Maximum level is supposed to be 10,000 now.
¡°Yep,¡± Pandora agreed.
¡°You were above level 10,000 in each of your classes last time you shared your information with us,¡± Robert pointed out.
¡°Right again,¡± Pandora said.
¡°So what you¡¯re saying,¡± Abi started to say before pausing and considering how to continue, ¡°What you¡¯re saying is that you inherited your father¡¯s nature not to be tied down by SYSTEM mechanics?¡±
¡°Not so much, no,¡± Pandora agreed.
¡°Why not take the Trial of Transcendence and become a God then?¡± Callum asked.
¡°I¡¯ve given it some serious thought. Mom found out that the Trial is taking place in a Universe with an accelerated temporal rate. If I stay here, it¡¯ll give you an opportunity to catch up to me when you¡¯re done.
¡°When we¡¯re done,¡± Robert said, ¡°You know how I feel¡how we all feel about you. When we¡¯re done, if everything goes right, we¡¯ll be Gods.¡±
¡°You could be. Not all paths to Transcendence lead to Godhood. Just ask my dad. Still, I¡¯ll be here. Caspa and I are, forever.
¡°You don¡¯t know that,¡± Callum said.
¡°Actually, I do. Chaos is forever. Part of me already exists in that other place I was before I came here. Should something happen to this vessel or any and all of the Replicants I create going forward, I will reemerge. I may lose some memories. I may not, but that which is me, my core or soul, will exist forever, or as long as I wish it to anyway,¡± Pandora said.
¡°You¡¯re saying you can¡¯t be killed?¡± Cedrik asked with a smile before he continued, ¡°There will be no putting up with you now.¡±
¡°Too true,¡± Pandora said, ¡°Especially since you¡¯ll be too busy trying to survive the Trial.¡±
¡°What do you mean survive?¡± Asling asked.
¡°Gods require followers and those that believe in them. My father¡¯s memories inform me that the quickest way to achieve that is to create a battle royal of sorts. Those that survive become the gods or transcendent beings, those that do not¡¡±
¡°Become the foundation for the pantheons of the gods that must replace those which sacrificed everything for this SYSTEM,¡± Pythias said.
Pandora nodded.
¡°Okay, enough of this melancholy bullshit,¡± Desirae said. We only have tonight. Let¡¯s eat, drink, and be merry. Tomorrow morning, we will head out. The portal to the Trial is at the Aerie in the mountains North of here. The Queen said it was where she met Adam for the first time. It¡¯ll take about two days to get there from here. The Queen has, of course, provided an escort to accompany us, who will bring the horses back once we reach the base of the mountain path.¡±
They went over the plans quickly, and then Pandora and Adam¡¯s companions ate, drank, and were merry until the middle of the night when the Queen stopped by to check on everyone. Pandora¡¯s first replicant that she¡¯d created over the last day stepped up to Robert, and they walked off. It was such a useful skill but extremely time-consuming to use.
Replicant
This is a Channeled Class Skill and will allow you to create duplicates of yourself. The replicant is a full clone and copy of yourself. Replicants contain all previous abilities, perks, titles, skills, and spells. Bodies may not be adjusted. They are copies of yourself.
Mana cost = 100 mana multiplied by the sum of Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Endurance, Constitution, Perception, Intelligence, Wisdom, Willpower, Charisma, and body weight.
All Replicants are connected to your soul. As such, all increases in abilities and levels are mimicked by the Replicant. Additionally, Replicants may kill and earn XP at a reduced rate. Any XP earned by a replicant is reduced by half before it is added to your total XP. Replicants do NOT track individual XP. Skill use, however, is not affected. Skill experience is earned at its normal rate as skill use is linked through all replicants and the Original.
Additionally, All Replicants have access to a single Replicant Storage area which can hold five cubic feet of material. Treasure in the form of Credits is added to your normal credits. Physical treasure is added to Replicant Storage, which you can access and clear out at any time. Replicant Storage will level as all other skills do.
What the others didn¡¯t know was that the Replicant that was going off with Robert would also be going off to participate in the Trials. There was no point in letting them know that, as it wouldn¡¯t matter. The Time dilation was one million to one during the Trial, which meant that during the day they¡¯d been on Primore since the SYSTEM adjusted everything, more than 2,777 years had passed for her father and those already taking the Trial.
While her Clone went off to participate in the Trial, Pandora would stay here and continue to make more replicants. She could make one every 28 hours. The Second Replicant was going to help take care of crisis-level problems in the surrounding area. When the Third Replicant was finished, she¡¯d have that one help her mother while her true body, if she even had a true body anymore, continued to create more replicants. Hopefully, she wouldn¡¯t have to sacrifice them to the SYSTEM again.
Pandora put tomorrow out of her mind and went to sit with her mother. For the rest of the Night, Robert and Pandora Replicant enjoyed their intimacy while Pandora and the rest of her family reminisced about everything they¡¯d been through. Grandma and Grandpa even talked about re-entering the bid for Transcendence eventually, but right now, they wanted to make sure this world, and maybe even the Earth in this Universe, survived the reorganization the SYSTEM had enacted. It was enough to take the edge off of this feeling she¡¯d been getting for a while now. A feeling that they were running out of time. Time for what? She had no idea, but she trusted her feelings, and something didn¡¯t feel quite right. Hopefully, her replicant would find her father. Maybe he knew what was coming.
***
Diamond led his group through one of the Violet archways. The four of them had stuck together for a long time now. A long time. They¡¯d been on the Red Challenge Planet for¡well, he¡¯d lost track of time, like everyone did in this place. It had been ages, though. Long enough for each of them to break level 2,500 and choose the names they now went by. He¡¯d chosen Diamond since he¡¯d taken a tank-type class. The other three women in his group had also taken an identity based on gemstones. Saphire was the Archer, Emerald, the healer, and Black Onyx, or just Onyx, was their assassin.
They¡¯d hunted on the Red Challenge world, mostly killing any other Trial takers as they garnered the most XP. The monsters weren¡¯t awful XP, but the four of them needed so much experience to level now that they had to kill a ton of monsters to even move the XP needle for their class XP to increase by even one percent. They had killed monsters, but only when they¡¯d been in the way or been stupid enough to attack them. Once a year, they¡¯d head back to a Green zone to rest and relax for a week, but then they¡¯d head back out.
In the Green Zones, they displayed their best behavior. He¡¯d seen how the SYSTEM had reacted when individuals attacked others under level 100 after it had warned everyone. Green Zones carried the same types of warning? Anyone attacking in those areas was crazy. Of course, they didn¡¯t live long enough to learn from that mistake once the SYSTEM started adding Negative karmic luck. He hadn¡¯t seen anything personally, but they¡¯d heard the rumors. They¡¯d all decided that taking that chance wasn¡¯t worth it. So, they followed the rules in the Green Zones.
In fact, they¡¯d left a Green Zone only a week ago and traveled through various archways until they found a Violet archway that led to this world. They¡¯d decided that 1,500 levels more than the listed minimum for Violet Challenge planets had to be high enough that they could survive. As they stepped from the archway, they saw creatures off in the distance. Diamond Analyzed the creatures, which resembled cows and was unsurprised when they were listed as Giant Cows. They were level 1,001, but they just Giant Cows. Before Diamond could say anything, Saphire drew her bow and let loose a single arrow, which morphed into a swarm of arrows as it flew. Where the arrows hit, the creatures died. In a moment at least 40 Giant Cows had been killed.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
¡°Saphire,¡± Onyx called out, ¡°What the hell? You have to let us attack before you kill them so we can get some of the XP too?
¡°What are you talking about? Don¡¯t you see the rest of the cows now rushing this way?¡± Saphire retorted.
Onyx looked past the Giant dead cows and saw dust being kicked up in the distance, ¡°Oh, okay,¡± Onyx said with a smile.
Diamond drew his sword, an extremely powerful sword he¡¯d picked up some levels ago that increased in power as he leveled, and smiled, ¡°Time to go to work!¡±
Emerald cast a spell that created a large barrier around the part, ¡°Remember, you dropped out of Line of Sight. I can¡¯t send healing magic your way, well, except for Onyx, but you all know we use the Unity rings for that.¡±
¡°Yes, Mom,¡± Onyx quipped.
Over the next twenty minutes, they took their time killing the cows, and then the last twenty-three started fleeing. Diamond whistled as he turned and walked back to Emerald''s barrier. As they came back together, Diamond asked, ¡°Did any of you see that tower off in the distance?¡±
¡°Down by the river, about two miles away?¡± Onyx asked.
¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the one. It¡¯s just out of sight of the archway. I didn¡¯t see it until I went over that hill back there,¡± Diamond said, pointing toward a small hill that was between their current position and the Archway.
¡°Someone is living here with creatures and monsters nearby that are over level 1,000?¡±
¡°Sure, seems that way,¡± Saphire agreed,
¡°We should check it out,¡± Diamond said, ¡°First, though let¡¯s loot the bodies.
They went to work recovering the giant cow corpses¡ªthere were only about 500 of them. The four of them stored the cows and then made their way over a hill and saw the tower and the building below it, which had a sign on it.
¡°Is that an electronic billboard sign on the roof of the building?¡± Diamond asked.
¡°It is,¡± Saphire said, ¡°But forget that, look around the building. Out to about 1,200 or so feet. There¡¯s grass that looks like it was recently mowed.¡±
¡°That is weird,¡± Emerald agreed. ¡°Also, my Earthen sight is not working on the grass or anything inside that area, including the air.¡±
¡°You can¡¯t detect anything in the area?¡± Diamond asked.
¡°I can detect it, but it¡¯s like its¡¯ blocked, and I have no idea how,¡± Emerald said
¡°What¡¯s the sign say?¡± Onyx asked.
¡°What¡¯s the matter? Can¡¯t read it from here,¡± Saphire asked.
¡°Not all of us use bows or can read the writing on a coin over 2,000 feet away, let alone, what is that a mile away?¡± Onyx replied.
¡°Not much really, it just says, ¡®Looking to Trade, Come on in. -The Merchant,¡¯¡± Saphire said.
A Merchant out here? Is that fool crazy? Someone could rob him. Unless it¡¯s a SYSTEM Store of course,¡± Diamond mused.
¡°There are no SYSTEM Stores on any of the worlds. Only in the Green Zones, which are technically dimensional pockets, ¡°You know I asked that question, right? You asked me to ask that question a long, long time ago,¡± Emerald said.
Diamond nodded, ¡°You¡¯re right, there shouldn¡¯t be any SYSTEM Stores out here.
¡°So, a Merchant. I wonder what¡¯s for sale, Saphire said.
¡°I wonder how much XP he¡¯ll be worth, Onyx said¡±
¡°What Onyx said,¡± Diamond agreed, ¡°Also, maybe the Merchant has something that allows him to trade with the SYSTEM. Suppose we can get that so that we don¡¯t have to head back to the Green Zone to trade or resupply?¡±
¡°Now you¡¯re talking,¡± Onyx agreed as the four started walking toward the building.
Less than 10 minutes later, the four of them stepped onto the grass and walked up to a building that looked like a medieval tower with a nice two-story building attached at the base. The walls looked like wood, but Diamond wasn¡¯t sure. There was something off about this place. There was a paved sidewalk that led up to a double door with a little rug that said ¡°Welcome¡± in front of it.
Diamond stepped up to the double door and pushed it open. As they stepped across the threshold into the room, Diamond heard something he¡¯d never thought to hear on a foreign planet from speakers hanging in the corner. ¡°Thunderstruck¡± by ACDC was played in the background. In fact, the song had just started, and the volume increased until it was at the appropriate level to listen to, Very Loud.
Diamond glanced left and right at his three fellow party members, who were smiling as they looked around. The room looked like an entryway in an office. There were a couple of doorways that led off into other rooms throughout the building. That¡¯s when Diamond noticed that Saphire had locked in on the wall on the far side of a building where the edge of a giant TV was poking around the corner. Diamond walked slowly over until he could see enough of the screen to verify that, yes, the video of the song was playing on the television while a man who looked to be in his thirties wearing a simple black robe was playing the air guitar as he mimicked the band on the screen.
When he saw Diamond, he stopped, pointed at a remote on the counter, and the TV went off. ¡°Sorry about that. Can I help you?¡±
Diamond looked around the room and saw that Onyx had vanished while Saphire and Emerald moved up beside him. Diamond looked at the man and said, ¡°Are you The Merchant, then?¡±
¡°That¡¯s me. I have been for a while. I just moved into the area, in fact.
¡°How long ago?¡± Emerald asked.
¡°About a week now, I think. You know how it is with time here,¡± The Merchant answered.
¡°Why come to a Violet Zone?¡± Diamond asked.
¡°Well, I only have a few ways to make XP. One of those ways is to buy and sell stuff from others. The higher the value, the more XP I earn, so I came here when it looked like enough people had started leaving the red areas.
Through their mental chat, Diamond received a ping from Onyx, In position.
Diamond controlled his expression as he asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t you worried about people trying to kill you and take your shop?
The Merchant smiled as he shook his head, ¡°Nope.¡±
¡°Then you''re crazy,¡± Diamond said, as he sent Now! Through their mental link.
The Merchant, for his part, didn¡¯t move as Onyx materialized behind him and stabbed a short sword made out of the darkest metal Diamond had ever seen. It was made out of magically altered adamantium so that it wouldn¡¯t reflect light at all. Onyx attacked with such force that when the tip of the blade stopped dead against The Merchants back, her hand lost its grip, slid up the hilt, and shattered her fingers against the cross grip. Onyx screamed as she dropped to the ground and tried to roll away from any counterattack the Merchant might try to make.
She needn¡¯t have bothered; The Merchant ignored her as Diamond drew his Greatsword and brought it down on the Merchant''s right shoulder in an effort to cleave him in two from his shoulder to his groin. Unfortunately for Diamond, his sword was not made out of Adamantium, and his sword wasn¡¯t as strong as Onyx¡¯s blade. As soon as his sword hit The Merchant''s shoulders, it shattered into a million pieces that evaporated before they moved six inches from the Merchant''s Soldiers.
¡°What?¡± Saphire and Emerald both said simultaneously.
Everyone froze until the Merchant spoke, ¡°Are you done then?¡± When no one continued attacking the Merchant continued, ¡°Good. Emerald, see to your friend''s hand, then the lot of you come over to the table; I¡¯ll wait.¡± The Merchant said.
Emerald moved over to Onyx and had to use two of her most potent healing spells to repair the bones and tendons in Onyx¡¯s hand, which she¡¯d destroyed with her attempted backstab.
¡°What the hell was he?¡± Onyx asked through gritted teeth while Emerald healed her.
¡°I have no idea. When I attempted to Analyze him, I received nothing but question marks,¡± Emerald said.
¡°I think we better move to the table soon,¡± Saphire said as she pointed to the entrance, which had turned into a solid wall of metal.
¡°What the hell?¡± Diamond asked.
¡°It just flowed like water until it¡¯s as you see it,¡± Saphire said.
¡°Can we teleport out?¡± Diamond asked.
A new voice issued from the speakers, ¡°You could, but I¡¯ll find you. Besides, I would strongly suggest that you come along and we talk. Attacking a Merchant in their Domain that is clearly identified is a big SYSTEM no, no. The only reason the SYSTEM hasn¡¯t responded and assigned negative Karmic Luck to the four of you is because you didn¡¯t damage me. If I, as the Domain holder, file a grievance, the SYSTEM will review my claim and then assign Negative Karmic Luck if warranted. Onyx and Diamond, do you think the messages you sent back and forth would be enough evidence for the SYSTEM to warrant such an award? And in a Violet area, no less? I wonder how much negative Karmic Luck that would garner? Now come along.¡±
Diamond looked at his three party members and started walking toward the dining room, followed by Saphire, Emerald, and Onyx. As he stepped through the door, The Merchant sat at the head of a large oak dining table with five other chairs. One chair sat opposite and two on each side. The Merchant had a glass of what looked like tea in front of him. The four took their seats on the side of the table. No one sat at the opposite end of the table.
¡°Would any of you like something to drink? The sky¡¯s the limit. Pick anything you want, and it¡¯ll appear in front of you.
¡°I¡¯ll take a chilled bottle of Coors,¡± Diamond said, ¡°They''re pretty hard to come by.¡±
¡°I¡¯d like a Spy¡¯s Demise if you¡¯re offering. I had one once in Milwaukee at this spy-themed bar, Onyx said.
Before the other two could voice their drink request, The Merchant placed a finger to his lips and said, ¡°Shhh¡¡±
¡°You know the passphrase?¡± Onyx asked indignantly
¡°Of course I do. Emerald and Saphire, what would you like to drink?
¡°I¡¯ll take a beer like Diamond, Saphire said.¡±
¡°If you know what the Spy¡¯s Demise is, then I want a Mission Impossible,¡± Emerald said.
¡°Drinks coming up,¡± The Merchant said as the drinks all appeared out of thin air sitting on the table in front of them.
Diamond looked at the beer in front of him, picked it up, and took a swig. It was a Coors, and it was chilled.
Onyx picked up her drink, took a sip, and then set it down, ¡°That¡¯s an honest to God, Spy¡¯s Demise.¡±
The Merchant smiled, ¡°Of course it is.¡±
¡°What do you want from us?¡± Diamond asked after he took another sip of beer as he tried to act nonchalant.
¡°Well, let''s see if I can explain this in a way you¡¯ll understand. I¡¯m trying to level my Vendor class, which allows me to summon this,¡± The Merchant said as a Pearlescent Orb appeared in the middle of the table, ¡°That is a SYSTEM Vendor orb, through which you can buy anything the SYSTEM is selling. For every credit someone spends at my Vendor Node, I receive some XP,¡± The Merchant started to explain before Onyx interrupted him.
¡°You want us to purchase stuff from your Vendor Node so that you can earn enough XP. What if we don¡¯t need anything?¡±
¡°If you had waited, Onyx, I would have answered your question. You currently can¡¯t afford to pay off the value of your life in the experience I receive for such transactions. Before you ask, it¡¯s a flat 25% of the money the system takes in. As a vendor, I do not set the prices or the amount I get from the system. However, as a vendor, everything in the SYSTEM is available for purchase.
¡°Everything?¡± Emerald asked
¡°Everything. Now, with the 1,563,125,000 XP I would receive for killing Diamond, I¡¯d only receive about 390,781,250 toward my vendor class, as it¡¯s my fourth class. That¡¯s not worth as much to me as, say, having four individuals who are Oath sworn to me to continue to buy and sell from my Vendor Node.¡± The Merchant explained.
¡°You want to make us into your slaves?¡± Onyx asked.
¡°Not at all. As I said, the amount of XP I¡¯d make for my vendor class would be about the same as if I¡¯d sold one and a half billion credits worth of items. I don¡¯t even care that you¡¯ve been killing other Trial-takers. They¡¯ll reenter the reincarnation cycle and can try again or do something else eventually. No, I want you to do what you were going to do anyway. Travel all over this world. Fight monsters and come to me if you need to sell or buy items from the SYSTEM.
¡°How much are our lives worth in XP for your class?¡± Diamond asked.
¡°I was going to ask you the same question.¡± The Merchant countered.
Onyx sighed, ¡°Obviously, saying the amount our lives are worth is not going to incentivize you to keep us around, so how about 10 times the XP you¡¯d get if you killed us.¡±
¡°Seems a bit greedy,¡± The Merchant said, ¡°Also, right now, I¡¯m on the right side of Karma here; taking you for that much would put me on the wrong side of Karma. I do not want that. So, how about his instead? Double the XP I would get for you today at your current level; plus, once you''re paid off, you must continue to use my services for at least one year if you remain in an area I am set up in.¡±
¡°That sounds incredibly fair, but why wouldn¡¯t we be coming to you anyway once we¡¯ve increased your Vendor class enough?¡±
You all know how you can sell the cows in your inventory to the SYSTEM for a flat rate, right? Merchants can set whatever price they want. If you were to use my Vendor Node to sell it, though, You would get back the SYSTEM cost price plus one-half of my Vendor level. I can see by the look on your faces you don¡¯t get it. I¡¯ll give you an example. I can purchase items for myself at cost from my Vendor node. If something costs ten credits, it costs ten credits. Now, if you try to buy that same item from my vendor node, the price doubles and is marked up another 128% because that is my current Vendor class level. So, that item I purchased for ten credits would cost you 45.6 credits. Now, if you sold that exact item, which the SYSTEM would only pay ten credits for, you would instead get 16.8 credits. I earn 25% of each transaction as XP, but once you meet your minimum obligation, you don¡¯t have to sell to me anymore. You¡¯ll only need to come to me to purchase items, and you can start selling anything you pick up and build up your funds. Granted, you won¡¯t make as much money unless the quantity of creatures you kill is staggering, of course. Then, when you visit, you¡¯ll have even more hard-earned credits to spend.
¡°What about other Trial takers?¡± Diamond asked.
The Merchant looked thoughtful for a moment before he responded, ¡°It should go without saying that the more people that are around, the faster my Vendor Level will rise, so I¡¯ll say this. Anyone else who trades with me will reduce each of your obligations by equal. By that, I mean if someone spends 400 credits, each of your obligations will reduced by 25 XP, not 100 XP each.¡±
¡°We¡¯re going to be doing this for a while?¡± Onyx said.
¡°Honestly, it was only a matter of time before you bit off more than you could chew. The first Violet archway I went through would have probably killed the four of you. You all need to look at expanding your group and working with others.¡±
¡°Why do you care?¡±
¡°Because all the gods need to be replaced, even the assholes.¡±
Diamond looked into the Merchant''s eyes, trying to read him for any sign that he was mocking them. As far as he could tell, the Merchant was sincere. Diamond smiled and then held out his hand, ¡°We agree to your terms.
The merchant looked at the other three, who each nodded. Then he held out his hand and shook Diamond''s hand, ¡°Sounds good. Let¡¯s eat first, and then we¡¯ll set up a SYSTEM Contract.¡±
¡°There¡¯s food,¡° Emerald asked. ¡°I don¡¯t smell anything.¡±
¡°Whatever you desire, I can provide for you, ¡°The Merchant said.
Of course, they each tested his claim, and of course, the Merchant provided precisely what they asked for. The day had started normally, but now Diamond and his party had a merchant they could visit without leaving the planet.
The Merchant smiled as his eyes fell on Diamond. As if reading his mind, he said, ¡°You all can feel free to come by and get a meal anytime you want. Room and board is going to cost you.¡±
Emerald looked up from his meal, ¡°Aren¡¯t you worried about monsters showing up and attacking your shop?
¡°Not at all. There¡¯s an Adamantium Dragon in the area. We have a good working relationship, so the monsters leave both the dragon and me alone.¡±
¡°An¡did you say Adamantium Dragon?¡±
¡°I did. Now, please, enjoy your meals,¡± The Merchant said as his glass evaporated. He walked toward the front door of the building and flowed into existence on the wall, ¡°I¡¯ll be back shortly.¡± The Merchant said as he stepped outside and disappeared from Diamond''s perception.
Chapter 276, Why We Cant Have Nice Things
Pandora left Robert sleeping alone in her mother¡¯s castle. He¡¯d be up soon enough and on his way north with everyone else to take the portal to the Trial of Transcendence. Her primary body and the second Replicant were busy working with her mother, her Primaries mother, the hell with it, her mother. They were all mentally connected anyway; it was pointless to get bent out of shape thinking of any portion of herself as not her. Since the other two concurred, that¡¯s all she needed to know.
Pandora walked out into the closed garden, took in the night, and activated Shadow Step. The replicated shadow realm held the shapes and even some creatures that moved to attack her until she flared her aura. She made sure to release only enough of her aura to scare the animals off, not destroy them utterly. Her attributes were so far above what anyone expected with the new limits in place that she had to be careful, or she¡¯d kill anything that interacted with her.
Pandora released her aura and watched as the creatures modified their behavior instantly. They fled. She smiled, shifted to her Umbral Dragon form, and launched into the air. Hunting the low-level monsters down wouldn¡¯t net her enough experience to be worth the effort, so she left her aura at about what she¡¯d give off if she were about level 2,000. Anything above that level that decided she was worthy of coming after might be worth the effort of killing for its experience. Then again, she didn¡¯t care about killing just to get experience. She¡¯d inherited her mother¡¯s views toward killing. She wasn¡¯t going to go out of her way to kill other creatures unless she was hungry or the creature crossed her in some way.
Pandora brought her thoughts back to the current moment, turned to the north, and adjusted so that she was rising to the height she¡¯d need to be by the time she reached the cliff face. The aerie, or tower, rested on the edge of the cliff almost a mile high over the hills and forest below it. She had memories of the area through the copy of her father¡¯s memories in Tantur, but she¡¯d never traveled out of the city until today. As this was a different Universe than the one her father had first traveled to, there were slight differences.
Pandora stayed in the Plane of Shadow until she reached her father¡¯s abode. She crossed back into the Material Plane and landed on the aerie¡¯s roof. As she landed, she polymorphed back into her human form and stepped to the corner of the roof where her mother said the portal would be. Pandora''s high perception allowed her to recognize the portal immediately.
Pandora stepped through the portal and found himself in a clean room, just like the one her father had created for Portal¡¯s Inc.
You have entered the Outer Domain of Adamantadine.
If you do NOT wish to leave your current Universe, please return through the portal you just stepped through.
Pandora looked around. The chamber was well-lit and about 50 feet square. There were four portals in the room: three in line behind her, about 10 feet apart. The fourth portal was directly in front of her. Behind and to her right the portal had the number 911 painted on the floor. Pandora looked down. Directly beneath her feet was the number 997. Behind her and off to her left was another Portal with the number 1,009 painted on the ground. Additionally, ¡°Racoon City¡± was painted below the numbers. There was nothing painted on the ground to the fourth portal directly in front of her.
As she looked around the room, Pandora¡¯s perk, Nanite Communication, activated. A brief communication happened before a voice started speaking from the air in front of her. Once the voice started speaking she realized the room was saturated with nanites as Nanite Communication was able to communicate with the nanites there.
Intruder Identity Confirmed.
Defenses Deactivated.
Welcome Pandora.
This chamber acts as a bridge between three Universes and the Domain of your father, Adamantadine.
Universe 911 contains both Earth and Primore, which can be reached from the portal with 911 on the floor beneath it. If you enter the portal, it will take you to Stonehenge on Earth or your father¡¯s Aerie on Primore. The Archways to the Trial of Transcendence are located on this Earth.
Universe 997 contains both Earth and Primore. Again, this portal exits at either Stonehenge on Earth or Aerie on Primore. This Universe contains the kingdom for which your mother serves as queen.
Universe 1,009 contains both Earth and Primore, though the portal for this universe only opens to Racoon City. It should also be noted that this Universe most closely resembles your father¡¯s original universe in that Nanite Technology is not suppressed at all within this Universe. Your father has left the counterpart to Tantur he created, Ray, in charge. Ray is currently repeating what Thor and Odin did in the original digital Universe, in so far as that is possible of course.
May I be of assistance?
¡°Who or what am I talking to exactly?¡± Pandora asked.
¡°I am a welcome program that your father designed to prevent intruders from accessing other universes without permission. I am a limited Artificial Intelligence designated only as The Guardian by my programming.¡±
Pandora thought about her family and friends who would be visiting this location soon and trying to make their way to the Trial, and then she asked, ¡°What exactly are your instructions?¡±
¡°I am to prevent anyone who is not authorized from utilizing the portals in this room to any place but that from which they emerged. However, if they are from Universe 911 or 997, they may utilize the portal to travel between Earth and Primore freely.¡±
¡°Who is authorized to enter this room and use all four portals?¡± Pandora asked.
¡°Full access is granted to Adaline, Pandora, Abi, Amanda, Mom, and Dad¡±
¡°Access to Universe 911,997, and 1,009 includes Desirae, Clarence, Callum, Asling Pythias, Robert, and Cedrick.¡±
¡°No other user access listed.¡±
Pandora listened as the A.I. read off the access and when it was done, she asked, ¡°How do you prevent others from utilizing the portals,¡±
¡°This room is an extension of Adamantadine¡¯s Domain. This program has been permitted to control and remove any who violate the sanctity or rules of this space.¡±
¡°Very well,¡± Pandora said agreeably. How do I get to the Trial of Transcendence from here?
The Archways to the Trial of Transcendence are located on Earth 911. The Archways are located at the following locations:
Pocone in Brazil, South America
Elk Island National Park
Bratsk in Russia
Prague in Czechia
Gosses Bluff Crater in Australia
South Pole in Antarctica
L¡¯Agulhas, South Africa.
Pandora looked over the list. None of the locations were close to Stonehenge, but a couple of them weren¡¯t that far away either, ¡°Others will be coming here in the next day or two; will you give them the same information?¡±
¡°Not normally, no. Doing so was not in my instruction set.¡±
¡°Please do. I''d appreciate it if you could also provide a map to the closest archways for them.¡±
¡°I can do this, but it will not help them out. They must still make their way to the archways in a world recently introduced to magic.¡±
¡°They should be fine; just do that, please,¡± Pandora asked.
¡°As you wish.¡±
¡°Is there anything else I should know?¡± Pandora asked.
¡°Only that the temporal rate in this domain and on Universe 911, where the Trial of Transcendence takes place, is set to one million times faster than universe 997 or 1,009
¡°Are you saying that not even a second has gone by back on Primore in Universe 997?¡± Pandora asked.
¡°Yes¡±
Pandora, with the help of Tantur within her, thought about how long one day would be, ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is that if I continue, it will be almost 3,000 years before my friends get here to travel to Universe 911 and enter the Trial of Transcendence.
¡°Correct.¡±
There was nothing for it. She didn¡¯t want to wait any longer. In fact, it really didn¡¯t matter if she stayed now. Time for her friends and family had almost come to a standstill. Pandora smiled, ¡°Thank you for your assistance. I would ask that you help my family and friends as much as you are able. I think it¡¯s time I was on my way¡±
¡°Safe Travels Pandora¡±
Pandora walked over to the portal to Universe 911
Chose a Destination
1) Stonehenge
2) Aerie
Pandora chose Stonehenge and stepped through.
Before she could get her bearings, a group of soldiers leveled their weapons at her. The one on the right yelled ¡°Freeze!¡± in English, except that, wait, the one on the far left had a wand in her hand.
Pandora considered how to react and then decided to ignore them as she activated Shadow Step and left them behind. If more than 2,000 years had gone by in the day it had taken her to get here, then this Earth would be nothing like the world she¡
¡°Where do you think you''re going?¡± the female soldier with the wand said as she cast a spell that attempted to use the shadows to bind her arms. Pandora laughed, ¡°How interesting; you actually thought shadow magic could bind a creature that could naturally step into shadow. Though, to be fair, such magic would normally be the most powerful magic you could utilize here,¡± Pandora said as she took control of the shadows around her and morphed them to her will. ¡°What is your name, little shadow caster?¡± Pandora said in a tone that conveyed absolute authority. She wasn¡¯t used to acting like such a haughty bitch, but hey, she hadn¡¯t been the one to attack first.
¡°Surrender now,¡± the female soldier said in a shaky voice, ¡°and there won¡¯t be any trouble.¡±
¡°Really? Trouble? From whom?¡±
¡°The Grand Mage, of course! Now, Surrender, or I will signal him.¡± The soldier said with a little more backbone in her voice.
¡°I do NOT surrender, so please, call your Grand Mage,¡± Pandora stated pleasantly.
The soldier reached up and grasped a pendant that she pulled out from under her shirt.
¡°Any idea how long this will take?¡± Pandora asked as a pop sounded near the soldier, and an elderly man appeared.
Before Pandora could speak, the Grand Mage gestured, and an orb of sickly green energy began to form and fly toward her. As her body shifted into combat mode, the world almost came to a standstill. If she absolutely had to, Pandora could make 43 attacks within a single combat turn. Her average pace, though, was to keep her number of attacks to 24 or less. The stamina cost would only be 25,950, which her regeneration rate of 28,763 could easily keep up with. This allowed her to take at least two, what the SYSTEM called, actions every second with an additional four spread throughout the 10-second Combat Turn.
This gave Pandora plenty of time to talk internally with Caspa and Tantur.
Did someone pop in and attack us? Pandora asked
It looks that way. Let me Analyze that spell Tantur offered.
The female with the wand is watching with what I can only define as a snide little grin on her face; I do not believe we¡¯re going to like whatever type of society has popped up on this Earth over the last 2,000 years.
It looks that way. Pandora agreed as Tantur shared the information Analyze had offered up.
Tantur interrupted Pandora and Caspa as he sent, The spell is called Enveloping Decay. It¡¯s going to envelop us in an area of putrescent energy that will eat away all physical structures within it like acid. When it¡¯s done, it disappears, leaving nothing behind.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
That sounds like an awful spell for killing monsters if you¡¯re trying to get components for spells and such, Pandora pointed out.
Against us, it¡¯s pointless, Caspa offered.
Yeah, if our magical resistance didn¡¯t ignore the spell, the damage it¡¯s going to do would be negligible. All spells are limited to level 100, and while level 100 can be pretty powerful, our attributes and resistances are so far above anything that the SYSTEM is allowing right now that it¡¯s not even an issue, Tantur pointed out.
Did Dad or you ever figure out what the base damage for spells was?¡± Pandora asked.
It¡¯s a bit complicated, but the gist of spell progression information is that damage follows a progressive pattern. At level one, base damage starts at 6 points, though that can be adjusted based on the spells. Air-based spells might do less, while fire-based spells can do more. For each spell level, base damage is increased by one until it reaches the next rarity threshold. From level 10 to 11, for instance. Base Damage is increased from 15 to 17 and increases by two for each level up to level 21 when the increase per level changes from 2 to 3.
That seems like a very linear and orderly pattern, Caspa observed.
It is. Now, take this spell coming toward us. Analyze informed me that it is being cast at level 77. The caster, Kyle Von Merlin, is a level 1,799 Perverse Mage. Spell damage is adjusted by one 10th of the primary attribute that the spell utilizes, so it is very possible that a basic classed person that earned four attributes per level could have equal attributes of 654 in each category. That would increase the Base Damage by 65. I¡¯m pretty sure Merlin, as he probably calls himself, has a class that is at least Advanced, probably Master rarity, which means his attributes will be a little higher.
So what you¡¯re saying, Caspa interjected, Is that even if this mage is 10 times more powerful than a basic class at the same level, the Base Damage, which was what, again, Tantur?
Base Damage for a level 77 spell should be 341, Tantur offered.
So what you¡¯re saying is that even if this Merlin is 10 times more powerful than his basic rarity counterpart, the 991 points of damage that the spell will probably do won¡¯t even dent our Physical Damage Resistance of 2,824?
That¡¯s what I¡¯m saying, Tantur agreed.
Okay then, time for me to get to work, Pandora said as she withdrew from the conversation and reached out and activated the Magic Absorption aspect of her Absorb Ability.
Absorb
Absorb Magical Spells
Spells: for 33 mana per spell level, you may absorb a spell and utilize it as if it were your own. If you cannot spend enough mana to capture the spell the spell will remain available for a number of combat turns equal to the mana spent divided by 33. For instance, if the Spell were level 11 and only 330 mana were spent, the Spell would be available for 10 combat turns after use and then disappear. This ability cannot be channeled. To capture a spell, the entire spell must be captured at once. If successful, the target must make Willpower savings throw against a target equal to the mana spent or fall unconscious due to neural shock. They will remain unresponsive for a number of turns equal to the level of the spell that was removed.
Alternatively, spells may be absorbed directly. For every level of the spell absorbed, one mana is earned.
With a flourish, Pandora held out her hand, plucked the spell out of the air, and drew it into herself. The look of surprise on Merlin¡¯s face made the theatrics she¡¯d just gone to, worth it.
¡°What? That¡¯s not possible.¡± The Grand Mage declared.
Pandora smiled at the Mage, ¡°Merlin is it? Would you like to talk, or are you going to keep attacking me?
¡°You must have an object of some sort that allows you to absorb magic very well, CONTIGENCY!¡± The Grand Mage Declared.
Pandora watched as two pulses of magical energy flew forth. The first was an anti-or null-driven sphere that popped into existence around Pandora, cutting off all mana. The second opened a portal directly above her, through which a very large stone column, at least 100 tons by her estimation, started to fall onto her. The Nullification Field prevented her from utilizing Mold Chaos or any other ability, perk, or spell that would have made taking care of the pillar of stone easier. That was okay, though. A 100-ton stone pillar only weighed roughly 200,000 pounds. She could lift if she needed to, over 2.7 million pounds.
She didn¡¯t bother.
Pandora waited until the pillar was within arm''s reach and then struck with full strength. There was a loud ¡°CRACK!¡± as the pillar was pulverized. Her strike did 138,579 damage, which was well above the limit of her Physical Damage Resistance. That¡¯s why she broke every bone in her hand, wrist, and arm. Before she¡¯d even thought about pulling her hand back. As she considered what to do next, her Regenerate skill started mending the bones and fixing the pulped flesh. As the pebbles of stone cascaded down around her onto the plane of shadow, she calmly started walking toward the Grand Mage. The crumbled pillar of stone moved aside as she took each powerful step against pebbles and rocks that easily came up to her breasts.
She had to give the idiot credit. He didn¡¯t give up. While she gave her body the 10 seconds it needed to reknit the bones of her right hand, a Fireball was cast and raced toward her. This time, she sent her fire orb to absorb and hold onto the level 63 spell while his other 20 orbs leaped free of her body and started to orbit around her visibility.
She¡¯d tried to be nice, but this idiot was not listening. Pandora flashed forward, grabbed the mage by the head, and activated Absorb Memories, a skill she hadn¡¯t used all that often. This individual seemed to be a perfect candidate to reacquaint herself with the skill and also get the lay of the land for this world.
Absorb
Absorb Memories
Memories: for 33 Mana, you may absorb the surface memories from the target. This will include everything the target has seen and witnessed within the last few (2) hours. How far you can copy memories from the target into the past can be extended at a rate of 33 mana for each additional hour so long as contact is maintained with the target. Also, memories can be reviewed at the time the ability is used, or the ability can be used, and the memories can be reviewed later. Memories reviewed are permanent and fade with time, as all memories do.
Pandora reviewed the ability she hadn¡¯t used in a long time and directed 330,000 mana toward recovering her targets memories.
Are you sure you would like to spend 330,000 mana to 10,000 hours worth of memories from your target? Yes or No?
Pandora chose ¡°Yes.¡± And shunted the memory retrieval to Caspa. While she held her hand over the mage''s head, the first mage, the female that had summoned the Perverse Mage, tried to sneak up and backstab her with a dagger. Unfortunately for her, Pandora¡¯s Perception allowed her to watch as she drew closer, and a simple shift allowed Pandora to shift and immobilize the young mage. As she opened her mouth to speak, Pandora¡¯s Fire-based orb zipped in and acted as a ball gag, and it took up residence in her mouth.
¡°That thing in your mouth is technically A Wizard Orb of Fire that has absorbed a level 63 fireball. I would hold very still if you do not wish for it to go off before I¡¯m done reviewing your master''s memories,¡± Pandora said as she felt the mage go very still. Pandora released her while she kept her right hand on the Grand Mage. Caspa wasn¡¯t quite done yet.
Pandora, I need a body. Now, Caspa said with a hint of anger in her voice.
Of course, can I ask why? Pandora asked.
Some people do not deserve to live, Caspa replied coldly.
Then why not Amalgamate this prick, and we¡¯ll shunt him into a mind space where you can slowly take him apart while you learn everything there is to know from him? Tantur asked.
That is a really good idea, Tantur; I like it, Caspa agreed.
Pandora shifted her will and activated Amalgamate.
Amalgamate
You may completely absorb another creature. Doing so costs 99% of your remaining mana. During the Amalgamation, a contest of Wills begins. Your chance of success is equal to your Willpower multiplied by 1000% due to your ability "Creature of Chaos." Should you win the contest of wills, the mentality of the creature is absorbed, while the spark of will the memories contain is
Pandora flexed her will to bring her Combat Log into her vision.
Combat Log
You have initiated a Contest of wills with Kyle Von Merlin.
Contest of Will Factors
Effective Level (Pandora): 189,080
Effective Level (Merlin): 8,995
Pandora Aura Strength: 32, 955
Pandora Aura Defense: 31, 122
Merlin Aura Strength: 540
Merlin Aura Defense: 505
Pandora Willpower: 287, 591
Merlin Willpower: 3,279
Pandora Total Attack Strength: 509,626
Pandora Total Defense: 318,713
Merlin Total Attack Strength: 12,814
Merlin Total Defense: 3,784
Pandora Attack Strength More than 134 times stronger than Merlin''s Defense
Pandora Defense more than 24 times stronger than Merlin Attack.
Pandora Wins the Contest of Wills
Pandora watched as the chaos within her spread from her hand and enveloped Merlin''s body. Pandora began to convert and absorb the items on him. She¡¯d spent 99% of her 3.4 million mana, which meant that she needed to get it back as soon as possible. She minimized the notifications because she really didn¡¯t want to know what goodies she was missing out on.
Caspa, the little shits spark of will and memory is yours. You and Tantur feel free to increase the temporal flow rate in our Mindspace. While you''re working on him, I¡¯m going to have a little talk with our female friend here, Pandora said.
Don¡¯t you worry about us. We¡¯ll take good care of this asshole. We do not promise that his mind will be intact when we¡¯re done, Tantur said.
Understood, Pandora said before she cut the connection and completely withdrew her attention from her Mindspace. She¡¯d been in a mental state that allowed her to access it equally so she could talk to both of them more easily.
¡°wa do str,¡± the female tried to ask around the Fire Orb. There was drool dribbling down her chin as she tried to articulate what she was trying to say.
Pandora thought it was brave of her to try to talk around an object holding enough energy to destroy her, which was enduring, if pointless. With a thought, Pandora pulled the Fire Orb back into her hand and asked, ¡°What did you say?¡±
The mage spit, swallowed, and worked her jaw a bit before she asked, ¡°What did you do to my Master?¡±
¡°You saw, right? He¡¯s gone. Now, please explain to me why I should get rid of you as well?¡±
Pandora¡¯s Mold Chaos, Chaos Conversion, and high Perception alerted her to the woman attempting to activate a spell. Pandora sent the Nullification Orb into the mage at chest level, which disrupted the spell and left her with a small hole in her heart. Unlike the Grand Mage, this young mage had only been level 35 and had only 220 hit points. The orb hit her with enough strength to inflict almost 300 points of damage, which killed her instantly. What a waste. She¡¯d been loyal in her own way. She might have been able to convert her at some point.
Pandora checked her mana. The mage¡¯s body and magic items had netted her over a million mana, which she needed desperately. Without absorption, it would be at least 30 minutes before she was back to full again. Pandora felt the shift in her Mindspace as it resynced with her.
Done, Caspa declared.
And? Pandora asked.
And this Earth is fucked!
Fucked how? Pandora asked.
Pandora felt Tantur clear his voice before he continued took over for Caspa, It would seem that Merlin was part of a group of individuals that attempted the Trial of Transcendence. Once we go through the arches, there¡¯s this whole¡You know what, that¡¯s not important right now. Right now, all you need to know is that a group of Trial takers abandoned the Trial and made their way back here about 100 years ago. At their level, it was child''s play to utilize their powers to wrest control from the rest of the world and do what they wanted. A lot of people died.
Nothing you describe is outside of what we expected to find. Why is a fragment of the Grand Mage in my Soul now? Pandora asked.
I was getting to that. Petra here is just one of his apprentices. Oh? She¡¯s Dead? Well, she was one of his apprentices. Don¡¯t feel sorry for either; she was pretty vile in her own right, Caspa said.
And the reason, Pandora asked again.
Oh yeah, Well, it seems that New London was that asshole''s playground. He used all the women in that city who are still alive and the ones who aren¡¯t as well. Some of the men, too. Children, there are no children. He killed all of them that he could find. That¡¯s why he had to die.
So we just killed the primary protector for a small city of people that a powerful man was using as sex slaves?
Oh, it¡¯s still a City, Tantur said.
¡°Yeah, if you crossed Las Vegas with Amsterdam and put them in Ancient Rome where everything is practically legal, Caspa added.
We figure we¡¯re going to have to make a Replicant and leave it here to get New London under control,¡±
Not our goal, Pandora said.
No, it¡¯s a meat grinder. That¡¯s why the ones who returned did so, Caspa said.
Meatgrinder? Pandora asked.
Let me share a memory recovered from Merlin¡¯s mind before he left this world, Caspa said.
Pandora was pulled down into her Mindspace, where Caspa linked with her and shared false Merlin¡¯s memory.
The scene shifted to one that Pandora had a hard time making out. Someone, or something, was off to her left, walking beside her, but there was no Merlin. They were above the ground, not ground. She was looking down on a two-dimensional image of a planet as if it had been transformed from a sphere into a flat two-dimensional plane. From the map of the world, which she didn¡¯t recognize as it didn¡¯t match up to Earth, Primore, or any planet her father had visited, motes of white light could be seen popping into existence and shooting off toward the ceiling. Pandora followed the movement up, which resembled a fiber optic cable as it went up and up and up. Off in the distance, in all directions, she could see cable after cable reaching up into the sky. As she watched, those cables came together and split repeatedly until they disappeared.
¡°Why have you brought me here, Lord Erebus?¡± Merlin asked.
¡°I require subjects. The path you are on, the Trial of Transcendence. You came upon it late and must now compete with countless enemies that want nothing more than to see you dead. Your Death does not serve me in the way I desire. I need you and your friends to return and solidify control of Earth and dedicate every person you kill to me. In this way, I will become more powerful and can share a greater reward than even you can conceive of.¡±
¡°I mean no disrespect, Lord, but why should we do this? The Trial of Transcendence will eventually make us into Gods, as it did for you. We know that the offer by the SYSTEM is true because you exist,¡± Merlin reasoned.
¡°You are not wrong in that statement, but you are working with limited facts. The Trial of Transcendence is a Meatgrinder. Yes, it¡¯s meant to create the gods, but more importantly, it is a way for the SYSTEM to bring back those that it had to store during the SYSTEM reset. It does not care if they succeed or die. It only cares that it brings back everyone it stored. If they die to fuel the growth of others, so much the better.¡±
¡°How do you know this, Lord?¡±
Lord Erebus pointed at the world before them, ¡°What you see below is the current red designated planet you were on. We are outside of time and space at the moment and viewing things as if they were a video so as not to affect causality. This, ¡°Lord Erebus said with the wave of his hand as everything went dark, ¡°is what this looked like when this all started. The white motes you see are the souls of the deceased entering the cycle of reincarnation. Now watch.¡±
Pandora watched as the image started passing faster and faster. At first, a few white motes appeared, and then more and more and more until it was like a rainfall of white motes from the ground up into the sky and away. This went on for a good five minutes before the image froze again.
¡°This is but one red planet among countless other red planets that The SYSTEM has created. Those few of us who have become Gods are not sure what happened to the previous ones, but we know that we need more power to make sure that it never happens again. Our time is almost up. You can choose to continue along your Trial with the knowledge that the chance of you reaching divinity in this setting is low, or you can serve me, return to Earth, and live a life of decadence and perversion that will definitely lead to greater power; the choice is yours.¡±
As the image faded to black and Pandora found herself in her Mindspace with Caspa and Tantur again, she turned and commented, ¡°It¡¯s because of assholes like this guy that we can¡¯t have nice things.¡±
Chapter 277, Some Things Require an Immediate Response
Pandora allowed her Perception to examine the physical world around her physical body before she brought her attention back to Caspa and Tantur, ¡°What did we see in Merlin¡¯s memories?¡±
¡°It looked like one of the new gods, Erebus, subverted some of the participants in the Trials. If the images he showed Merlin were real, then he was shone the deaths of all the creatures with souls and watched the souls ascend or descend to wherever they¡¯re supposed to go after someone dies,¡± Tantur said.
¡°For what purpose?¡± Caspa asked.
¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Pandora said with a bit of frustration in her voice. Honestly, right now, it doesn¡¯t matter. What matters is that we need to get to one of the Archways and get into the Trial of Transcendence. Once we¡¯re there, we¡¯ll look for Dad, and he can fill us in.¡±
¡°And Merlin¡¯s soul? We¡¯ve absorbed everything he knew; it was depraved,¡± Caspa said with a shudder.
¡°I reviewed most of it and told Caspa about it. There was no need for her to be exposed to that level of psychic trauma. This false Merlin was a monster,¡± Tantur said.
¡°Then destroy the remnants we¡¯re holding onto. That should release him back into the Cycle of Reincarnation,¡± Pandora said.
¡°Very well,¡± Tantur said as he vanished.
Caspa returned to her home within Mindspace while Pandora shifted her Perception back to the Material World around her. Once she was back in charge of her physical body, Pandora shifted into her Umbra Dragon form, launched into the air, and began flying toward the closest Archway in Prague, Czechia.
***
Merlin had been having a bad day. Ever since he¡¯d arrived in this place, wherever it was, he¡¯d been unable to do anything but sit in this sealed chamber and think, which was becoming harder and harder.
Where had he been before he was here?
Hadn¡¯t he been with cute little blonde performing acts no eighteen-year-old should?
What acts?
The thoughts were gone. Where did they go?
¡°We ate them,¡± a new voice said. Merlin looked up to find a nondescript man standing before him.
¡°You ate my thoughts? Who are you?¡± Merlin asked.
¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Just know that the life you left amounted to nothing, and should you get another chance at life, you should do better next time.
The condescension angered Merlin. He was about to reply when the man''s Aura Flexed and washed over him. He felt himself simultaneously destroyed and pushed out of whatever place he¡¯d been in.
As his surroundings shifted to a bleak sky covered in shadows, he felt himself pull up and away. Suddenly, his surroundings began flashing past, and he felt that he was traveling very rapidly through a series of twists and turns that he had no control over.
Suddenly, the sense of moving quickly ended. Merlin shot out onto a vast open plain where someone familiar yet unknown stood. The person turned to look at him as he coasted up to him with a frown, ¡°What are you doing here?¡±
As Merlin was about to ask who the person was, his memory returned, and he remembered everything. He¡¯d been on Earth, getting ready to break in a new toy he¡¯d found when Petra¡¯s emergency beacon had been activated. He¡¯d gone to her and been so thoroughly defeated and then violated it was the only word that would describe the feeling of what had been done to him. All of his memories had been scoured. They, that weird woman named Caspa and the man named Tantur, had gone through his entire life and knew every deep, dark secret he had. Caspa hadn¡¯t stuck around to watch everything he¡¯d done, but Tantur had sifted through every corner of his memory with a detachment and unimpressed demeanor that had shaken Merlin. Some of the things he¡¯d done even made him wince thinking about them after the fact. Tantur had just watched impassively.
Then, there had been a short break; Tantur had reappeared, and his Aura had flexed. Like a boulder traveling at the speed of sound, his aura had slammed into him, and then he¡¯d began traveling to this place. In fact, he¡¯d been so distracted that he hadn¡¯t looked at his notifications, which he pulled up.
You have Died
Your Journey into the Cycle of Reincarnation Starts Now!
¡°Merlin? What Happened,¡± The man who Merlin recognized as The God Erebus asked again.
¡°Lord, I was killed near Stonehenge. My apprentice ran into someone that¡
¡°Yes, Yes, I know you were killed. Who killed you? Erebus asked impatiently
¡°Someone named Tantur,¡±
As the word ¡°Tantur¡± left Merlin¡¯s mouth, the place he glided over shook and rippled as a new man stepped through a fold, in reality that opened as he stepped out to stand beside Erebus.
Merlin immediately recognized him, ¡°Him, it was him?¡± he said pointing at the new man.
The God looked at the new arrival and then went back to Merlin before he turned to the man that looked like Tantur with a questioning look.
The man, who appeared to be Tantur, spoke, ¡°I did no such thing. Let me review the information for a moment.¡±
Merlin went rigid as, for the second time in a day, memories were torn from him and drawn into Tantur. After a moment, Tantur nodded.
¡°And?¡± The God Erebus asked.
Tantur looked to Merlin and then to Erebus, ¡°It would seem, Erebus, that Karma has come knocking. The SYSTEM is now aware of what you were trying to do. Your actions do not matter; the SYSTEM will not interfere with your schemes, nor does it need to. A self-correcting mechanism has been introduced.¡±
With that cryptic pronouncement, Tantur stepped back through the ripple in reality, which stabilized as if it had never been there.
¡°Lord?¡± Merlin asked hesitantly.
¡°Your life is over; In your way, you served me well. Enjoy the fruits of your labor,¡± Erebus said as he waved his hand, and Merlin was shoved through a portal that appeared before him.
The image Tantur was maintaining through the connection he¡¯d installed into Merlin¡¯s core froze as a SYSTEM Message appeared in Pandora¡¯s mind where all three aspects of the Triumvirate could see.
SYSTEM Message
Greetings, Pandora, Caspa, and Tantur
¡°The Cycle of Reincarnation and Choices offered are not for any of you to witness unless you have entered the Cycle of Reincarnation.
SYSTEM Message Ends
***
What was that? Pandora asked mentally.
That was Tantur trying to be sneaky and failing, Caspa said with a grin that Pandora could mentally hear.
Should I be worried? Pandora asked.
No, Tantur said
Pandora could have continued asking questions, but she sensed that Tantur didn¡¯t want to talk about it, so she dropped the subject.
By the way, if you keep your speed just under the speed of sound, we can make it to Prague in about an hour. If you don¡¯t mind creating the shockwave here in the Plane of Shadow, we could travel at your maximum speed, but that might be problematic, Tantur said.
I can take some of the heat from that kind of friction, but I¡¯m not my dad. I think we can increase the speed a bit so we can get there in about 15 minutes, but I¡¯m not going to move at our maximum speed, Pandora sent back.
As she flew over the shadowy landscape, memories from Tantur allowed her to utilize major landmarks that appeared in the realm of shadow. She considered staying on this planet and trying to make a change, but truthfully, she didn¡¯t see the point. The Temporal rate difference made it impossible for her to make any changes that would have a lasting effect unless she were to leave a replicant or replicants here to maintain those changes. The SYSTEM seemed to be allowing whatever was going on here so Pandora would leave things alone. If her friends felt that things needed to change and that the Earth should not turn into a depraved shadow of what it had once been, she would leave it to them to fix. By the time they arrived, well over 5,000 years would have passed for the people here. That time difference was wild. Five thousand years with only two days passing for her friends? Why would the SYSTEM create such a substantial temporal difference? The word ¡°Meatgrinder¡± kept popping into her mind.
When she was a couple of miles outside Prague, she activated Shadow Step and returned to the material plane. Lights replaced the monochrome horizon scattered here and there throughout the countryside and night had already fallen here as she¡¯d traveled east. Pandora remained above the ground as she looked for the Archway, which appeared to be on the lawn of the Church of Saint Agnes of Bohemia at the northwest end of the cross-shaped lawn.
Pandora flew down for a closer look and noticed that the small island surrounded by highways that the church sat on in the middle of had been fortified and turned into a fort utilizing the freeways as barriers. The freeways were lined with hundreds of people patrolling the area. On the streets surrounding the church, various shops, restaurants, and hotels could be seen.
Tantur¡¯s memories showed that his area once contained blocks of housing, but they are all gone now. The apartment building ran along the outside with merchants and food fenders near the archway. A Redlight District between the living area and the food stalls. Pandora could very clearly see both men and women walking up and down the streets, looking for their next client. Some looked to be free, while others wore collars that seemed to mark them as property. It could be some kinky bondage fetish, but she didn¡¯t think so.
Pandora transformed into her humanoid form and modified her body with Mold Chaos to include wings. She didn¡¯t add wings to her human body often, but she needed the wings to make land gracefully. The main access point was through a gate on the west side of the fort. As she drew closer, spotlights from the walls moved to track her until she landed 100 feet from the gate.
Her incredible hearing picked up one of the guards, whispering to someone behind him, ¡°So pretty. Better call the Guv¡¯nr¡±
Pandora ignored the whispers, landed, and allowed her wings to be molded back into her body. Her flesh rippled as she covered herself in a black jumpsuit that fit loosely over her body. Her signature red hair and hazel green eyes were the only part of her that made her identifiable. Pandora walked confidently toward the guards who stood before the entrance.
¡°Halt! To enter, you must declare and be recognized!¡±If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
¡°I am Pandora, Daughter of Adaline and Adamantadine; I wish to enter the Trial of Transcendence.¡±
A burly man stepped out from a building off to the side. Pandora felt that a skill or spell had been attempted against her and failed. The man who had tried to Analyze her frowned. ¡°I am the Guv¡¯nr of this fort girl. It is a crime to hide your identity from the eyes of those considered worthy,¡± the man declared as a glowing sigil appeared above his head, and his eyes filled with fire mana, ¡°In the name of Surtr, let thy identity be known!¡±
Pandora still had her orbs floating around her, though they¡¯d defaulted to their invisible form while she¡¯d been traveling east. The Divine orb flared and absorbed a spell consisting of divine energy. Pandora hadn¡¯t even seen the man cast. It must have been a gift granted from this Surtr.
Surtr was the king who ruled the volcanic powers of the underworld in the Norse mythos Tantur offered.
¡°You dare counter my God''s spell! Guards, seize her!¡±
There was no way that Pandora could know that her father had performed almost the same action in South Africa right before he¡¯d stepped through the first Archway as she utilized Mold Chaos to create an Adamantium dagger in her hand with a thought. Unlike her father, though, when she threw the dagger, she held her strength in check and only used enough to throw the dagger half as hard as she could.
The Guv¡¯nr saw the dagger form in her hand as his guards stepped forward and laughed, ¡°Is that the best you have?¡± Your dagger will never get through my shield, little girl!¡±
In the next instant, four of the guards closest to her suddenly dropped to the ground after Pandora moved. Pandora exploded into motion so suddenly that no one had time to react. An elbow to the first man¡¯s throat with enough force to make him gag but not die was followed by a precise strike to the second man''s Temple. The third soldier, a female, received a punch to her gut that dented the armor she was wearing. The strike knocked the breath out of her and then made it hard for her to pull in a full breath to recover. The fourth soldier, also a woman, was pulling out a very vicious-looking sword that reeked of death mana. Pandora used two of her 43 actions per Combat Turn, the first to absorb the blade right out of her hand and convert it into mana and the second to deliver a precise blow to her temple that knocked her unconscious. Within a single second, all four soldiers that had been moving toward her were on the ground, unconscious or struggling to breathe.
Pandora came to a stop long enough to make eye contact with the Guv¡¯nr and flicked her wrist with the dagger. She could have aimed to kill the man. She could have decided to destroy him utterly. Instead, she decided that this would be a teaching moment. The dagger shattered his shield, which he was mentally linked to. The magical backlash from the shield being brought down flooded into the Guv¡¯nr¡¯s mind and rendered him unconscious. As he was slumping to the ground, Pandora noted that the attack with the dagger had been so quick and precise that it had also taken off half of his right ear. The dagger had sailed down the road and through the wall into the hillside beyond. The sonic boom of its passing knocked down a few people that happened to be nearby.
Pandora¡¯s thoughts were interrupted when a sniper round bounced off her head with no effect. The sniper had put the round right between her eyes. That was a damn good shot. Without conscious thought, Pandora¡¯s body moved and appeared beside the sniper. He was in a small tower at the end of the street, approximately 500 feet from the gate. It had been a simple thing to deduce where the bullet had come from in her mind¡¯s eye after she¡¯d been hit. Pandora picked the sniper up by his neck and held him aloft as he tried to stab her in the arm, head, and neck to no avail; Pandora¡¯s Physical Damage Resistance resisted every attack. She continued to hold the sniper off the ground onehanded with a bored look on her face as he attacked her again and again.
With a thought, Pandora released her chaos and spread it throughout the fort. First, she instructed it to mimic nanites and take over the man she was holding while the rest infiltrated and scanned everything around her. She had so much chaos stored up that it only took a moment for her to gain control of the sniper. With a thought, the attacks stopped. Next, she downloaded his memories. This was a lot less invasive than using her ability to do so; at least, she thought so because she could do so without anyone knowing. The only issue was that with the changes to the SYSTEM, she still had to be relatively close to her targets. She could Mold Chaos out to a range of 4,807 feet. Outside of that range, any nanites, chaotic or technological, that she created dispersed.
Pandora read the sniper''s memories. This sniper was part of a team that watched the gate into the city from Earth. Another team watched the gate into Trial. His team¡¯s task was to keep anyone who looked even somewhat competent from entering the Trials so they wouldn¡¯t have to worry about them becoming Gods and competing with their Patron, Erebus. The other team was to prevent anyone from returning to Earth.
Pandora continued to read the man''s memories. None of the soldiers were above level 200, while the Guv¡¯nr and the members of the other team were far about. It was a pretty good gig. They watched the entrance for a couple of hours each day, and they got the first pick of the Joy Toys in the Red Light district. Pandora rushed through those memories until she found one that¡Children? There was a building with Children in it, and this sniper had participated?
With a flick of her finger she broke the sniper''s neck, killing him instantly.
Congratulations, you have killed a¡.
Pandora suppressed all kill notifications for the time being and moved. A school to the east of the Archway had been converted into the house of horrors. In that first ten seconds, the 35 adults who had been running, guarding, or participating in the atrocities that had been taking place within that building were dead. Pandora had not held back her rage. No, she¡¯d embraced it and destroyed anyone that had become so depraved. She¡¯d ordered her nanites to dispose of every person''s body she killed. These monsters did not deserve to be buried. There were a few adults, kitchen staff, and the like that she didn¡¯t kill, but they were added to her list of people who would need to be followed up on.
Doing all of that within 10 seconds took its toll on her. But only reduced her 3.4 million stamina by 409,950. The cost for each action became steeper and steeper as she tried to do more and more within a single Combat Turn. Of course, it would take her almost two minutes to regenerate the stamina she¡¯d just burnt up, but it wasn¡¯t anything she couldn¡¯t handle. If she started to run too low, she could always use Chaos Conversion to recover any of her resource pools quickly.
As she contemplated how to proceed, she allowed Mold Chaos to reach out to the wall of the house of horrors and have her nanites and chaos begin converting and sealing it up. Anyone watching from the outside watched as the building suddenly converted to metal, filling in all of the windows and doors. As she allowed Mold Chaos to make the changes to the structure Pandora found one of the teenagers who had been assigned to the baby ward. The fact that there was a baby ward in this building made her even angrier. Pandora put a clamp on that anger as she came up to the teenager.
¡°What is your name?¡± Pandora asked the frightened girl as the corpses of the people Pandora had killed disintegrated around them.
¡°This one is Jana, Mistress,¡± Jana replied in Czech.
¡°None of that Mistress nonsense, Jana. As I flashed through this building, I saw only three people your age. Everyone else is younger except for the kitchen staff and laundry personnel, is that correct?¡±
¡°That is correct,¡± Jana said hesitantly.
¡°Very well. You are in charge of the youngsters for the next day. I was hoping you could get the other two teenagers and set up a plan to take care of the 17 youngsters who are here. Some of them are hurt, but I¡¯ll be taking care of that as soon as my influence has saturated this building completely.¡±
¡°Miss, what are you going to do about¡¡±
A loud ¡°THUD¡± was heard through the building as something smashed into the wall near the entrance.
¡°What am I going to do about that? Nothing. The problem will take care of itself momentarily,¡± Pandora said matter-of-factly.
¡°That¡¯s Bohdan; He¡¯s the strongest of the guardians watching the Archway. He¡¯s going to get in here, and he¡¯s going to,¡± Jana said before her voice broke and tears started running from her eyes.
Through Nanite Communication, Pandora noted that Jana¡¯s body had been physically traumatized. While she might be old for the perverse assholes that came to this place, she¡¯d still been abused. Pandora programmed the nanites within Jana to repair what physical damage they could the next time she slept, but there wasn¡¯t anything she could do about the mental trauma, not yet at least.
¡°Don¡¯t you worry about Bohdan? Get your friends and take care of the youngster. If you need food or snacks for yourselves or the babies, just ask allowed for them. I¡¯m putting a very smart computer in charge of the area. Like this, Orange Juice please,¡± Jana and Pandora watched as her nanites contained a container and then filled it with orange juice on the table beside them. If you ask, the program will make you any food or drink you need,¡± Pandora explained.
¡°Some of the babies need bottles now,¡± Jana offered, ¡°four now and four more in an hour.
Pandora had the nanites pull the memories of exactly what she meant, formula type, and whether the bottles were warm or cold. Then, Pandora had the nanites create the bottles and fill them with the formula on the table next to Jana. Jana watched in amazement as four bottles appeared and filled themselves from the inside in less than 10 seconds.
¡°That¡¯s amazing,¡± Jana said.
¡°It is; now you take care of the babies, I¡¯m going to go deal with¡¡±
¡°THUD!¡±
Through Nanite Communication, which had access to all the nanites she¡¯d released into the surrounding area, Pandora watched as Bohdan punched the adamantium shell of the building she resided in.
Tantur, please modify the shell so there is noise reduction along the inside. I don¡¯t want to hear these assholes attacking the shell. Pandora sent to Tantur.
What are you going to do about this asshole?¡± Caspa asked.
Assholes? What am I going to do about these Assholes?¡± Pandora offered.
Right now, the nanites are infiltrating everyone within 4,807 feet of this building. As you know, it reaches everywhere within this fort. If people knew about what was going on here and did nothing, I¡¯ll let them be. If people knew about what was going on here and participated either by supplying the children or worse, I¡¯m going to test how the SYSTEM is handling nanites this time. If possible, I¡¯m not going to even bother with physically killing anyone; I¡¯m just going to let the nanites handle it, Pandora said.
And the Children? Caspa asked.
Looks like I¡¯ll be making a replicant and sending it back to mom with a ship full of kids, Pandora said
¡°THUD!¡±
He is persistent, Caspa noted.
He is, Pandora agreed. He, and everyone on his team who¡¯s standing back is also guilty of participating in this evil. It¡¯s time to make an example.
Bohdan, arguably the strongest known person on Earth, punched the metal building to no effect. While he continued to punch the building, no one noticed the 21 invisible orbs that left the top of the building and began orbiting it after five minutes. What they saw was Bohdan go rigid. Those closest to him even noticed when a look of shock and then intense concentration appeared on his face as the veins in his forehead bulged for a moment. Those really paying attention noticed that the same thing happened to the other four members of his team just before the five of them evaporated. They didn¡¯t disappear like when someone teleported away. No, it seemed like a fire lit simultaneously from every single cell in their bodies as they broke apart into their constituent protons, electrons, and neutrons simultaneously and vanished. What was even more terrifying was that the same thing happened to 112 other people scattered throughout The Fort. Ironically, the Guv¡¯nr wasn¡¯t one of them.
Pandora verified that they had been killed through her notifications but left them off for now. She¡¯d look at them later.
You know, your father didn¡¯t like using nanites like that, Tantur said
You all saw the memories within their heads. That shit was vile. Some people don¡¯t deserve a trial. Also, I wanted to see if the SYSTEM was going to stop me from using chaos or nanites like that, Pandora said.
The SYSTEM has severely limited your abilities in regard to control range and nanite propagation. But within your range, you seem to have full access. It probably helped that it was very unlikely that anyone here would have the ability to resist technology or chaos. You even received the XP for killing those five elite guardians. Did you see their levels? Tantur asked.
No, I have the notifications off, Pandora said.
The lowest level was 2,011, and the highest was Bohdan, at 2,623. You just earned 1.1 billion XP. That increased each of your two classes by six levels, Tantur sent.
Pandora watched through her nanites as everyone within The Fort went into a frenzy. Some who had been in the hotels waiting grabbed their gear and made their way to the archway. They ran back to their shops or residences and either started packing or hiding. None tried to come to the metal building and knock on the wall again. Pandora kept an eye on things directly for about an hour before she made her way to the second floor and claimed one of the rooms as her own. She could keep her eyes on everything with Nanite Communication while she started creating a new Replicant of herself. That was going to take just over 28 hours.
The nanites within the building would take care of the kids, though she could help out if necessary. Pandora sat down and activated Replicant while she dropped her consciousness into her Mindspace. 28 hours was a long time. Maybe she could get some rest while Caspa or Tantur maintained the creation process.
***
¡°We¡¯ve lost our ability to contact Prague,¡± Zack said.
¡°Nobody in the area that you can contact with your telepathy,¡± Sarah asked.
¡°Nope. Everyone that I know well enough to establish communication with, well, it''s like they disappeared off the face of the Earth.
¡°That doesn¡¯t make sense, you know at least thirty people that I know of at The Fort there,¡± Zack pointed out.
¡°I know. One had even activated the pendant I gave them to contact me if something happened there. When I tried to contact and then scry the person, both failed. They weren¡¯t there.¡±
¡°Phones still aren¡¯t working either?¡±
¡°Phones haven¡¯t worked for over 2,000 years, you know that,¡± Zack said.
¡°How about contacting Erebus?¡±
¡°We both know who Erebus was originally. Do you think that little shit knows what¡¯s going on here? The whole schtick of the people who agreed to take on the role of the new Gods was that they had to play by restricted rules. The entire reason we came back to Earth was to sacrifice more bodies to him so he could grow faster.¡±
¡°Do you think he sacrificed them to get even more powerful?¡± Sarah asked
¡°If he were going to sacrifice anyone on this rock, it would probably have been us; we haven¡¯t exactly sent anyone his way in a while,¡± Zach pointed out.
¡°We have to let the population build back up again. That takes time. You know what he said about sacrificing children. Erebus wants nothing to do with them. They get up into his divine realm, and he ends up releasing them into the Cycle of Reincarnation automatically. Children are worthless to him. Not enough experience without a lot of training,¡± Zack said.
¡°I never understood that. I thought we entered the Cycle of Reincarnation when we died,¡± Sarah said.
¡°Yes and no. If we serve a deity, which we do, then when we die, our souls are automatically moved to him. Erebus said it¡¯s kind of like being reborn with new stats and abilities based on the rules each deity sets up. We get different benefits and starting areas depending on our rank within our specific deities'' orders. Anyway, when I asked, Erebus said the SYSTEM created this new Cycle of Reincarnation to allow people to work toward entering their next life with inherent advantages. He said the SYSTEM gets all bent out of shape if too much information is shared, but he could give me that super basic explanation because I was his disciple,¡± Zach said.
¡°So when we die, we have to continue to serve Erebus?¡± Sarah asked.
¡°You made the same deal I did. We serve him like we have been, and we get the cream of the crop in the afterlife,¡±
¡°What does that mean for a god of death?¡± Sarah asked.
¡°I have no idea, but I¡¯m pretty sure some people in Prague just figured that out,¡± Zack said.
¡°Yeah, I¡¯m thinking that too. I¡¯ll have the men double the guard. No need to be surprised, especially up here in Canada,¡± Sarah said.
¡°Sounds good. I¡¯ll let you know if I learn anything,¡± Zack said as he tried one more time to spy on The Fort in Prague. Instead of choosing a person to focus on, he chose the Archway. No one was using the Archway, and it didn¡¯t look like anyone was near enough for him to see either. What the hell was going on in Prague?
Chapter 278, Thats What the SYSTEM is For.
Pandora¡¯s first replicant in Prague opened her eyes just as an assassin teleported into existence behind her first body. Pandora¡¯s link to her other body connected just as her Prime vessel on this plane turned and summoned an adamantium short sword into her hand, which she drove up under his ribcage, through his throat, and into his neck. With a flick of her wrist, she split her would-be assassin in two from his navel to the top of his head.
Brutal, don¡¯t you think, Tantur sent mentally.
That was one of the people that visited this place, Pandora replied.
Fair enough, Tantur agreed.
Both Pandoras began creating another Replicant while they allowed the nanites they were controlling to clean up the mess. She also let the nanites deal with anyone else who approached the building with ill intent. Pandora allowed her replicants to double the number of replicants she had five more times. Two became Four, Four became eight, Eight became sixteen, and sixteen became 32. Instead of sending the children back to her mother, she was going to fix this Earth.
After six days of creating she paused for a small break as she realized that her friends would be here in five days. Pandora stuck around for one more day. Now that there were 64 replicants, she set 32 to stay in the building while 31 of her replicants exited through the Shadow Plane. They were headed to the other Archways to clean up any wrongdoing that was going on. Pandora walked out of the building on her way to the Archway. As she made her way down the street, Pandora sensed the Guv¡¯nr making his way to intercept her. With a thought, she was at the Archway and stepped through. Her Replicants could handle the Guv¡¯nr and all the other lowlifes on that planet, she was off to begin the Trial.
As she stepped into the Archway, Notifications appeared.
SYSTEM Message
You have discovered The Archway to Transcendence.
You may turn away and continue with your mundane life
OR
You may walk through the Archway and begin a journey that will offer Power beyond your imagination or death.
Pandora had already stepped into the archway and appeared in a white empty room. A moment later a holographic screen appeared in front of her.
Welcome to the Trial of Transcendence.
The Trial of Transcendence will continue once you have become familiar with The SYSTEM. If you are familiar with the SYSTEM, you may bypass the SYSTEM Introduction Tutorial.
To Bypass the SYSTEM Tutorial, say ¡°Bypass.¡±
To Continue with the SYSTEM Tutorial, say ¡°Continue.¡±
Or return to your world through the Portal behind you.
You may return at any time.
Pandora chose ¡°Bypass.¡±
She knew that Tantur¡¯s knowledge of the SYSTEM might have holes in it, but she also knew that her existence broke a lot of the SYSTEM¡¯s rules. She was pretty sure she could figure out the major rules on her own. As she contemplated this, she felt herself get translocated a vast distance from her other replicants. Vast enough to know that she was in another universe or another dimension.
As she appeared in the middle of the road on a thriving 20th or 21st-century street, new notifications appeared.
Welcome to Challenge Planet U911019110
Planet Category: Crossroads.
Monster Spawning: Yes
Monster Levels: 1-100
You have decided to embrace a path to power. As your journey progresses, you will become more powerful.
Pandora was pulled from reading through her notification when a man in futuristic sci-fi armor looked at her with a leer. " You''re Pretty enough. Did you get sent through the Archway to help keep us satisfied? Spoiler, we¡¯re never satisfied,¡± the pig of a man said as four other men of various races jeered and laughed at his joke.
Pandora cocked her head to the side as Nanite Communication activated and linked with nanites that had infiltrated this city and everyone in it linked with her.
AUTHORITY RECOGNIZED,
Welcome to the Trial of Transcendence, Pandora, I will be there shortly to greet you ¨C Dad.
¡°Hey, I¡¯m talking to¡¡± the thug started to say as everyone within 100 feet of Pandora froze. She knew immediately that the Nanites that had infiltrated them had been activated by her father who had frozen them in place. With them temporarily taken care of, Pandora put them out of her mind and continued reading her notifications,
You have decided to embrace a path to power. As your journey progresses, you will become more powerful.
At the end of this journey, a place among the divine is possible. This Path is fraught with danger, and death is a reasonable outcome for those who continue.
You will soon appear on a Crossroads Challenge Planet containing monsters and other trial participants. You can work alone or team up with others; the choice is yours.
White Archways on Crossroads Planets will lead back to the Nursery Planet attached to that Crossroads Challenge Planet. There is only one Crossroads Challenge Planet with White Archways that leads back to your Nursery Planet.
Once you have completed the tutorials available in this room, stepping into an Archway on the Nursery Planet you originated from will lead directly to a corresponding White Archway on the first Crossroads Challenge Planet.
If you do not wish to participate in the Trial of Transcendence at this time, step back through the portal behind you. You will be transported back to the Archway on your Nursery Planet that you stepped through to get here.
You may resume your journey into the Trial of Transcendence at any time after that.
The first Challenge Planet, a Crossroads Planet, will contain Monsters ranging from levels 1 to 100 and Various Archways to other Challenge Planets.
Green Archways are only found on Crossroads Planets and lead to a pocket dimension where you can visit a SYSTEM Store, rest, and relax. They are not located near any other Archways and must be discovered.
White Archways on Crossroads Planets (Crossroads Planets are planets with Archways that lead to Challenge Planets of Various levels) lead to the associated Nursery Planet.
White Archways can be found on any Challenge Planet. White Archways NOT on Crossroads Planets may lead to alternate Crossroads Planets and allow access to other Nursery Planets.
Blue Archways lead to Blue Challenge Planets that contain level 1 ¨C 100 monsters and additional Blue Archways that lead to additional Blue Challenge Planets. The planets are not unlike Crossroad Planets. They do not have Archways to Crossroad Challenge Planets.
Yellow Archways lead to Yellow Challenge Planets that contain 101 ¨C 500 monsters and additional Yellow Archways that lead to additional Yellow Challenge Planets.
Red Archways lead to Red Challenge Planets that contain level 501 ¨C 1,000 monsters and additional Red Archways that lead to additional Red Challenge Planets.
Violet Archways lead to Violet Challenge Planets that contain monsters greater than level 1,000 and additional Violet Archways that lead to additional Violet Challenge Planets.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Challenge Planets will contain any and every environment conceivable.
You decide how you will tackle the Trial of Transcendence. However, it is recommended that anyone entering the Trial of Transcendence remain on a Crossroads Challenge Planet until they are prepared to meet the greater challenges.
Remember, you can exchange anything in your Personal Storage for Credits without returning to a SYSTEM Store to free up room in your Personal Storage. Alternatively, you can find someone with a Merchant Class. Items exchanged from your Personal Storage only garner 50% of their value.
When you have finished reviewing these rules, say, ¡°Continue.¡±
When Pandora finished reading the notifications, she looked up and saw her father standing in front of her with a massive grin on his face. Something was off, though. He felt like a¡
¡°Are you a replicant?¡± Pandora asked.
¡°I am, as are you,¡± her father said before he grinned and waved his hand, releasing everyone from their stasis.
¡°It¡¯s the Merchant,¡± the jerk yelled with a hint of fear as he fell to one knee and lowered his head.
Pandora watched as the other four men that had been with the jerk, froze and dropped to one knee as well.
Her Father, The Merchant, looked at the jerk and then smiled, ¡°None of that, Jackal. There was no way for you or me to know that my daughter was coming to visit today.¡±
¡°Your daug..hter?¡± The Jackal asked with a stutter.
¡°Yes, and this is the part that you should really pay attention to; while I never stepped in and did anything about your, uh ¡¯hum business, which your ¡®Boss¡¯ knows that I disapprove of, my daughter is not me, and has a mind of her own. Oh, where are my manners? Pandora, this is Jackal, one of the right-hand men of the local underworld Boss here. Jackal, this is my daughter, Pandora.¡±
Pandora nodded to Jackal, who nodded back as both of them wondered what her father was doing. The Merchant didn¡¯t disappoint as he continued,
¡°Now, as I said, you know I didn¡¯t approve, and my family was outside of the Trials temporal distortion, so there was no way for me to get a message to her. Pandora, how long has passed back your Mom¡¯s universe?¡±
¡°About three days now,¡± Pandora answered instantly.
¡°See, like I was saying, you know how long you¡¯ve been alive, but for my family and friends, only three days have passed. So before you ask Pandora about your business associates on the other side of that Archway, I want it understood that I did not influence her actions directly.
¡°Yes, Yes, Sir,¡± Jackal said with a hint of fear
¡°Okay then, jackal, ask Pandora about your business associates.¡±
Jackal only hesitated for a moment before he asked,¡± How are my business associates on the other side of the Archway?¡±
¡°I will need you to be a bit more specific, please,¡± Pandora said.
The Jackal listed a few names and described his associates.
¡°They¡¯re all dead,¡± Pandora said flatly.
¡°Did you kill them,¡± The Jackal asked.
¡°I did,¡± Pandora said.
The Jackal looked to the Merchant before he said, ¡°You know what this means, Sir?¡±
¡°I will remain neutral unless attacked, Jackal. I want to offer some free advice to a repeat customer if that is okay.¡±
¡°Please?¡± The Jackal said.
¡°Please pass on to your boss that I will neither help nor hinder any action he decides upon concerning my daughter. Also, please pass on that I am not concerned about her death, not for a moment.¡±
¡°Sir?¡± The Jackal said, confused.
¡°Pass on the message exactly. Either your Boss will remember or he won¡¯t. Now Pandora, let''s head to my home,¡± her father started to say before he turned back to Jackal, ¡°and Jackal.¡±
¡°Yes, Merchant.¡±
¡°Please make sure your Boss understands that anyone who attacks me or my family on my personal property will only attempt to do so once.¡±
¡°Understood Merchant. May we depart?¡±
¡°Please,¡± her father said as he turned back to Pandora, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±
Her father floated up into the air and headed away from the Archway. He flew up and over a few buildings as Pandora created wings with Mold Chaos and followed. As they came closer to the edge of the city, Pandora noticed a building with neon lights that said Merchant Goods next to a very nice three-story house that was right next to it. Her father landed on a balcony and walked inside. Pandora followed him in.
Once inside, her father turned and held out his arms, which Pandora rushed into for a quick Hug.
¡°So, you¡¯re looking good, not a lot of change but you¡¯re looking good.¡±
¡°You too, Dad. A Merchant, though?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t knock it. Access to a SYSTEM shop is a good thing, especially with the direction the SYSTEM seems to be going.¡±
¡°Aren¡¯t we part of the SYSTEM, though?¡± Pandora asked.
¡°Yes and no. But that¡¯s not what I want to know about. Why did you kill everyone on the other side of the Portal?¡±
¡°They were abusing kids, Dad.¡±
¡°And?¡±
¡°I couldn¡¯t just sit back and let that happen.¡±
¡°Did you give them a trial? Did you give them a chance to plead their case?¡±
¡°No. I read their actions from their memories, and I judged them! But that¡¯s beside the point. Why didn¡¯t you do anything about it?¡±
¡°I judge the judges,¡± her father said.
¡°You judge the judges. What does that mean?¡±
¡°For the last couple of thousand years, I¡¯ve been working as a merchant. Because of you, I know about replicants, and because of one of my classes, I have access to every skill. So, I can do almost everything you can do. That said, I have been putting replicants out in this Trial of Transcendence and watched as the various entities compete to become the deities for The SYSTEM. Mortals are becoming gods. I have taken it upon myself to be the buffer against those who abuse what the SYSTEM gives them.¡±
¡°But you didn¡¯t do anything about those monsters¡¡±
¡°They are outside of the Trial. Trust me, no one tries that crap in here. Depravity toward their fellow would-be gods; I don¡¯t do anything about that; there are evil gods. But there are also children in the cities that have cropped up. Crimes against children are not tolerated here. That is what I worry about.¡±
¡°What about after the Trial?¡± Pandora asked.
¡°That is the question, isn¡¯t it? Do I return to your mother, or do I become a God? I know which way I¡¯m leaning.¡±
¡°Mom misses you too, though it¡¯s only been a couple of days from her perspective.¡±
¡°She¡¯s not missing me as much as you think,¡± Her dad said with a grin.
¡°You sent one of your replicants out of the trial?¡±
¡°I did,¡± her father admitted.
Pandora changed the subject; she really didn¡¯t want her mother''s memories about her dad and what they did to pass the time¡.oh gross¡damn!
¡°Are you okay,¡± Adam asked.
¡°Yes,¡± Pandora struggled to say. ¡°Let''s change the subject; what¡¯s up with this, Boss?¡±
¡°He¡¯s a level 7,500 tank-type person who isn¡¯t going to be happy about you killing his people, nor will his god.¡±
¡°Do I need to worry about the God?¡±¡± Pandora asked.
¡°Nope,¡± Her father said with a grin. ¡°Are you worried about Jackal¡¯s Boss?¡±
¡°Level 7,500 tank type, Not at all,¡± Pandora responded honestly.
¡°That¡¯s my girl. Let¡¯s eat.¡±
Pandora watched as her father summoned a meal for them to eat, which appeared on a classic dining table with very comfortable chairs set opposite each other. They sat, and for the next hour, her father listened as she let him know what she¡¯d been up to. He, in turn, explained what he¡¯d been up to.
After he stopped talking, Pandora commented, ¡°So you took on the Merchant class to keep an eye on all those that would be Gods?¡±
¡°I did. Once I realized that my class allowed me to utilize any skill, I reviewed your Replicant skill and acquired it.¡±
¡°But you don¡¯t have a Chaotic entity within you?¡±
¡°True, but I am a creature of Chaos in my own right,¡± her father said.
¡°So, what do I do now,¡± Pandora asked.
¡°That¡¯s up to you. Do you want to pursue becoming a Divine, or do you just want to get stronger? If you want to get stronger, pass back through the Archway, bring the rest of your replicants here, and then spread out and level as quickly as you can. Eventually, the SYSTEM is going to give you an opportunity. It will be up to you whether you go off and do your own thing or move on to the Path to divinity. Just understand that there are things more powerful than the new Gods.¡±
¡°Like you?¡±
¡°Like me.¡±
For the next couple of hours, Pandora just sat and talked with her Dad. She¡¯d only had a few opportunities to do so, and she wasn¡¯t going to waste it.
***
Adam enjoyed dinner with Pandora, though that was just one portion of what he was dealing with at the current moment. His Replicants had spread throughout almost every Red and Violet world that the SYSTEM had provided for this Trial. He only had copies of himself in this White classed world because it was attached to the Earth, which led back to his domain the long way. Of course, he could return there with a thought, but the SYSTEM was pretty picky about how he could exit, so keeping a path back to the door was the best option he had.
Adam watched as Pandora left the city. While he had Stabilization Arrays at every Archway city with one of his Replicants on this planet, which allowed him to utilize Nanites in those areas, he chose to keep an eye on Pandora with his Scry spell. He wanted to see if the Boss was as stupid as he thought he was. While he¡¯d been sitting with Pandora, he¡¯d noted that she already had two classes with levels above the maximum 10,000, which was doing better than himself. Of course, he knew that was because his primary body was currently outside of the SYSTEM and that this body and all of his replicants were allowed to participate because he¡¯d agreed to follow the rules to a point. Pandora had agreed to no such thing.
Adam had to give it to the Boss, a burly man named Alfred Jones. He didn¡¯t try to talk, didn¡¯t try to snipe her from afar. He rushed in and punched her as hard as he could and then tried to follow that up with a kick between her legs. Anger issues towards women, maybe?. Pandora took both blows without moving and then overrode the nanites within his body and sent the kill command to every nanite inside of him. The Boss evaporated.
That was a pretty brutal way to end someone. Adam decided that he needed to get an honest opinion from a ring-side observer. He needed to talk to Tantur. Adam dropped into his soul core, found the thread that linked him to Tantur within Pandora, and followed it. A little trick he¡¯d learned in the last 8,333 years he¡¯d been in this Trial.
Adam¡¯s mental projection entered Pandora¡¯s Mindspace and followed his link directly to Tantur. The door was open, so Adam followed the thread inside and found Tantur watching a screen with what was happening outside of Pandora''s body on it. Tantur looked up from what he was doing, ¡°Adam, I¡¯m surprised to see you in here, especially if Pandora and Caspa don¡¯t know that you are here.¡±
¡°You are me after all, or at least you were; you know how much I like following rules.¡±
¡°I do,¡± Tantur agreed. ¡°What can I do for you.¡±
¡°Pandora just utilized the Nanites to vaporize her opponent?¡±
¡°It was either that or assimilate him. She wanted nothing to do with him or his memories?¡±
¡°Assimilate? Like downloading her memories with nanotechnology?¡± Adam asked.
¡°Similar, but based on her Chaotic Nature,¡± Tantur agreed.
Adam took a moment to look over Pandora''s core before he responded, ¡°That is an ability-driven skill. I would need that ability to absorb someone that way. I''m not really interested in that; just don¡¯t let her become super evil, okay?
¡°She won¡¯t. She has Adaline¡¯s memories as her moral compass and your memories through me to grind off her mother¡¯s rough edges,¡± Tantur said with a smile.
¡°Very well,¡± Adam agreed. ¡°Now that that is done, here are my memories for the last couple of thousand years,¡± Adam said as he pulled out a cube and handed the compressed version of his memories over, ¡°I¡¯d wait to absorb them until Pandora is done,¡± Adam said.
¡°Tantur!¡± Caspa said as she appeared in the room before she froze when she saw Adam, ¡°Dad, I mean Pandora¡¯s Dad, I mean, how did you get in here?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. I¡¯ll be leaving in a moment. You were saying?¡± Adam said encouragingly.
Caspa looked at Adam with a bit of skepticism before she turned to Tantur as her voice rose a few octaves, ¡°You should see it. Pandora is really pissed. I think he cracked her tooth.¡±
¡°She can heal that almost instantly,¡± Tantur and Adam said simultaneously
¡°True, but then all of that Boss¡¯s lackeys attacked her, and instead of just vaporizing them with the nanites, she¡¯s beating the snot out of them.¡±
¡°Really?¡± Tantur asked.
¡°Really,¡± Caspa said as she waved her hand, and their surroundings were replaced with a three-dimensional visual representation of Pandora''s surroundings in three dimensions. A popcorn bucket also appeared in Caspa¡¯s hands as the images around them began to move, and they watched Pandora begin to decimate over 100 rogues, thieves, and malcontents.
Caspa turned to Adam, who was watching his daughter fight attentively. ¡°Can I ask you a question?¡±
¡°Shoot,¡± Adam replied
¡°Why did you allow these scumbags to continue to exist?¡±
Adam composed himself before he answered, ¡°There are two answers to that question. The first, simple answer is that there are deities of evil, and the SYSTEM needs people to fill those roles. The Second, more complex, answer is that if I start to judge people, when will it stop? I do not see myself as the person who judges people or forces people to fall in line. That is a function of order, and I am anything but ordered.¡±
¡°But you sell to them, you offer your services to these monsters?¡±
¡°I offer services to anyone who has not crossed me or my family. I am not a Merchant for the system; I am a vendor, which means that ultimately, all I do is give people the opportunity to purchase items from the SYSTEM in locations that generally don¡¯t have system access.
¡°And you¡¯re okay with this?¡± Caspa asked.
¡°I am now. Souls have a chance, I made sure of that. This Iteration has a chance. If those that are accepting a position as a God don¡¯t go and fuck things up, I shouldn¡¯t have to step in.
¡°Would they even have a chance against you?¡± Caspa asked.
¡°The old gods and the founders, those that were older than the gods, sacrificed everything to ensure the SYSTEM would continue. There may be a few bumps along the way, but we should be fine, But, to answer your question, No,¡± Adam said.
¡°What will you do now?¡± Tantur asked.
¡°Now? Now, I will continue as a Vendor until the Trial for Transcendence comes to an end. After that, I¡¯ll visit Adaline for a bit, and then I might head to non-SYSTEM areas and see about integrating them into the SYSTEM.¡±
¡°Because of the Vendor class you picked up?¡±
¡°That, and as you know, we are part of the SYSTEM now. I want to see what else is out there. Now, though, I think I¡¯ll take my leave. You three have fun,¡± Adam said as he withdrew from Pandora¡¯s Mindspace and returned his mental projection to his closest body.
Adam had watched Pandora''s aggression. She wasn¡¯t killing just to kill. Those that were high-level and extremely evil were ended, but the lower-level people she left unconscious on the ground. Maybe he could have taken more direct action. Yeah, no. Once he started, he would never be able to start, and then he¡¯d have to come up with a structure and rules and¡.That¡¯s what The SYSTEM was for.