《Karmic System》 Prologue Click ¡°Next!¡± The wall shut off in front of us again. Not a door. An entire wall. The floor shudders and hums to life, bringing us closer to the wall. In front of me spans lines of humanoid figures. The absurdity of it all has made it clear to me, as to what has happened. I''ve died, and this is what happens after death. You get sent to this place; your identity wiped, you''re a clean slate. I have no features, nothing. No face, no mouth, no hair, not a single source of individuality. The only thing left for me to cling to is my memories. My greatness. Sad I''d say After everything I''ve been through the years I''ve lived. I need to recall who I am, what I am, what I did. Click ¡°Next!¡± The only thing that gives me reprieve is the comical scene whenever the wall reopens. Its a giant koala in a stereotypical court getup, gavel and all. I try to recall who I am, and as I lose my self in the sense of clarity, it became entirely clear. ~ The sun in our solar system was reaching the end of its lifetime. We had a few hundred meager years to reach beyond our solar system, and begin colonization. Every practical researcher, scientist, and civilian pitched in their tents and ideas, working on deep space travel. However, I and a few others sprinkled here and there, decided to push to develop something better, something faster. Every model the ''practicals'' pitched would take millenniums to reach their destination, the sheer amount of time allowed for errors, and time to ravage the craft. Too many things to count for. But for the ''practicals'' it was the only way, they didn''t have any idea of speeding up travel, so they sought to increase survivability by increasing the size of the shuttles, and the methods of preserving life. In turn, we sought to break the preconceived laws of the universe, going faster than light, making wormholes. With the governments pushing to fund anything, we had plenty to work with. I in my laboratory had my own views; others pushed for spiritual ways, or plain brute force with energy. I sought justification. With the theorization of Tachyons, but no known way to prove their existence, let alone harness their power. I needed something, anything to grasp at. In my sheer brilliance, and maybe, just quite a bit of luck. I found what I was looking for, or rather a particle. It denied everything we thought about matter, atoms, gluons. It reshuffled and expelled the preconceived notions of the building blocks of our reality. The sheer amount of energy this particle gave off, the density of it, everything about it. Made zero sense, so I devoted years of research into it, how to harness it, how to mold it, and how to shape it. Materials, or anything dense in the Unobtanium particle, began to break any known models of the universe, they became compact enough to block anything from penetrating it, down to the smallest scale. It was just what I needed to capture tachyons, and so I did. Countless years later into my, and my newfound colleague''s study we had what we needed and a few decades later, we did it. We had machines straight out of sci-fi fantasy, Wormhole generators, FTL drives, mass-energy weapons. Anything that was once known to be impossible or the domain of the mad became a reality. And so we reached out into the stars, and took our place upon the throne as a race of gods, conquering ouruniverse with it. All this came to be, from just an inkling feeling that what I seek lies in the basis. And so in old age with only a few years left to live, how funny I found it, that with the advent of intergalactic travel medicine was so unadvanced. Our Terran race, in all of its winged glory, was still only just bioengineered, we hadn''t reigned in anything significant to prolong lifespan, the average being a little over 300 years. ~ And so, that brings me back I guess it''s my turn now isn''t it? I must''ve been sidetracked reminiscing of the past. Let''s see what this koala has in store for me now shall I? Click ¡°Next!¡± Clack The shutter slammed behind me, jarring me slightly. The room I saw was empty, sides from the koala and I. Suddenly with a flick of his wrist, the Koala sprang a tablet into being. Numbers began counting up rapidly the numbers reaching into the millions just as quickly as the counting began. ¡°This my lad, is your karmic scale, depending on how your numbers line up you''ll be given points to spend for your next turn on life in the multiverse.¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. The numbers continued to count up, time seemed to blur, on and on the numbers continued to grow. Red and blue lined the set; they must mean something I mused. Luckily perhaps the red had halted at just a measly thousand, while the blue was rapidly surpassing countable figures. The koala in all his furry glory was visibly disturbed by the sheer amount of points I seem to have garnered. I felt an odd sense of pride from his distress if I could''ve laughed or even moved I would have been laughing on the floor by now. Finally, after what felt like an eternity the numbers abruptly stopped. The koala rose from his seat, mutterings of "impossible","This has never happened before, and "What even are you" grazed my ears. He looked at me almost reproachful visibly fearful of me. "Aye lad, I''m sure you don''t understand what these numbers mean, hell, even I don''t. All I know is that this has unmistakably surpassed all known records. The highest since the system purge only amounted to millions, not even just slightly close to bridging the gap to the billions. I''m not even sure what is past the billion mark. Which mind you even before the purge and the war, has only been bought a total of 10 times." A sharp intake, and a few exaggerated body movements later he began again. ¡°That number may sound large but coupled with the infinite number of multiverses, higher and lower planes, and the sheer amount of time, the fact that you made it this far is astounding setting the highest record in all of existence and non-existence.¡± A round of silence and my inability to move or talk, he finally realized that I couldn''t¡­ Move or talk... Raising his hand ¡°Oh, yes¡­ I forgot that you are still bound. Pardon me child¡± a wave of, something¡­ rattled through me freeing me from my incorporeal bindings. I look at myself, my identity and shape coming back, I have skin, a mouth, wings, everything that made me who I was, except for the old age. My name especially, Cardis, CardisGalilei. "Well that was interesting, so you said something about ''points.'' If you could show me how to use them that would be, fantastic." I gestured to the board "If you would be so kind as to show me, that is" The koala with the wave of his hand brought another board into existence. Tepidly he handed the board to me ¡°Ah yes, of course, pardon me, it''s not every day you get to see someone as absurd as yourself.¡± Surveying the board, I saw my points, the merely ludicrous amount of points.The options and tabs showed what could be bought, and surprisingly what has already been obtained. Deciding to see what I already had I tabbed over to the acquired section. [Superableness, A propensity to envision. Cost: null] Seeing this left me somewhat empty. ¡°So ¡®Superableness¡¯ Huh, that means everything I did, everything I worked for, was given to me.¡± ¡°No, of course not child. Everything you can buy there except for a few, are made by you for you. From your work over the course of your existence. That gift is from your previous life''s work, don''t act like it''s not yours.¡± The koala''s words seemed to have worked; it brought back my sense of peace I''ve managed to keep since I got here. I guess that fact that I died shook me up a bit. Bringing myself back to the tab labeled [Gifts], the sheer amount of [Gifts] was more than a little jarring, more so was the fact that purchasing them all wouldn''t put much of a dent into my point count. A little while after getting tap-happy, and buying out the entire store, another option popped up. [Open the path to Godhood: Cost: Null] Another gift without a cost, similar to my [Superableness] Naturally at this point, I did what any sane person in my position would do. I purchased it. Suddenly a new tab on the board sprung out, confetti rained down from the roof, and the koala clapped. "Welcome to the brother, as per the system doctrine, you''ll be reincarnated into a higher plane, one with more energies and powers than your lower plane from before. Fret not, as part of being a god; you''ll retain all the memories you''ve made. However, you''ll have to build up your soul to accompany your new powers. As per the doctrine, you''ll be placed in a realm that contains mana, due to the similarity to the powers of the gods, understanding it will help you understand yourself." He went to push a button that had appeared during his announcement. However, after pushing said button, nothing happened. "Ah, but first you''ll have to use the rest of your points." Looking back to the now board within my hands, I glanced at the gifts that have propagatedits confines. Scrolling through I do some basic mathematics, adding up the numbers and comparing them to my still ever-absurd amount of points. I see that once again, clearing out this tab will not affect my point count. If my point count were an ocean, then the number of points used in clearing out the [Godhood] tab would be equivalent to a drop of rain. After finishing the [Godhood] Tab another jarring of the board, and a new tab popped out, to the lack of any confetti, or reaction from the koala. [True Godhood] As it was labeled,the borders surrounding the countless options, and gifts, were archaic looking, they appeared crumbled and decrepit. The gifts now listed as powers, cost significantly more than those before, making an actual visible difference on his point count. I appeared to lose myself in a daze, once again repeating actions like those prior, the tapping spree renewed, and my monstrously large point pool remained absurd as ever. After once again finishing off the tab, another one popped into existence; this would get old at this point, luckily this one was different it seemed. The new tab had no visible name, tabbing into it showed borders that looked far worse than the tab prior. Cracks lined the graphic, it had four barely legible gifts listed,[Legacy], [Administrator], [Library], and [Assistant]. This time, however, there was no cost listed, not even null. He tapped them, and they appeared as purchased just like those before. After purchasing everything once again, instead of opening a new tab like I was used to at this point, nothing of that sort happened. Instead, my still uncountable amount of points began to rapidly drain, reaching the millions vale quicker than anything I''ve ever seen. As quickly as my points drained, the board started to fade out of existence, and so did my vision. The only thing left on my mind at this point was the massive throbbing sensation all over my body. I looked over to the koala, his hand on the button he waved me away. ¡°Farewell, and may luck shine upon you in your next life.¡± Chapter 1 Darkness, the omnipresent void. Nothing could be seen, no discernable form norartefactmade itself apparent. Just the overbearing lack of existence. I am the sole-being drifting for an eternity it was draining. Slowly, numerous flickers of existence made themselves apparent. They began as lights, slowly streaming from,somewhere. Flickers like fireflies, they began to take shape, and hold formtheirbeing. Another set of screens, similar to those prior, boards, gifts,power. The information they presented, races, worlds, planes. Anywhere, anywhen, anywho, anyway, I wanted to be. More panels, options, and choices of creation made themselves present. Panels continued flashing into existence, more and more overwhelming. I could say it washeadacheinducing, but I had no head. I was something, immaterial. But it was still pain, unbearable pain. More panels, red this time, speaking of errors, warnings. Something''s gone wrong, but I suppose it''s unsurprising, everything I took, why would I think I could just get away with all of it? Gradually, in this eternity of pain and suffering, voices began to appear. They sang a sweet song, a soothing melody. They whispered in my ears of great fortune and power. A voice, joined by many. The shouting began, one to start, then they all joined. A cacophony of madness drilled my ears. They demanded a chosen. They demanded to be chosen. What began as a pleasant melody soon deteriorated into a mania discordant. I hear a voice, more distinct than the rest.Itoverpowersthe others, and it calls me. Pleasant and soothing like before, pleasurable even.Itcallsto me, begs me tocomefind it in a language I don''t understand.Itismy guide, soileave my shell, to chase far and wide in the sea of screens.Itcallsme, and so I go. To leave on a journey into the vastly occupied void. Still more options present themselves, yetitstands above the rest, a shimmer of gold, runes and a language whose complexity I can''t understand flow from within. I am guided by the voice,Itistelling me to choose. So I do¡­ A flash! A blinding brilliance! It dies down, and a vortex is seen.Itis taking, everything. The panels once overwhelming and ever-present in the void, are no more.Itspoke thanking me,Ithadvisibly swollen in size, now taking up most of theonce thought to be, endless space. The sheer radiance ofItwas overwhelming now,It¡¯s [You, young one! You will call me Ark. Your, [Assistant], and guide to the omniverse. Now prepare yourself, for there is much to be done.] Chanting began, this time louder than all voices before. It wasn''t painful this time, however. Ark assures me and warns me to brace myself. The space around us was rippling, floods of light flashed before my eyes. Ruins appeared, then disappeared, cities took their place, then villages, then nothing... [Brace yourself young one! This is the final destination!] And so I do. I brace with everything I have. The rippling is larger this time, the void is shaking. Crumbling even.It hurts, it hurts on an unimaginable level. It doesn''t stop this time, it feels like I''m being pulled apart, and put back together, over, and, over again. Then darkness.
I take a deep breath the newfound feeling of air stings my insides. I attempt to open my eyes, resistance is found, no matter the force put into opening them I couldn''t seem to get it to budge. I struggled to move my arms, a sense of heaviness overwhelmed them, I struggled to guide them to my face and to clear away whatever had been preventing me from opening my eyes. A success! a layer of debris had shifted around me, a breathtaking sight it was to finally see. Light gleamed down from a tunnel above. Darkness surrounded me. A closer look denoted trees shifting in the tunnel above. Roots cascading down into the cave I found myself in. I looked around moving my line of sight lower, an abhorrent sight filled my view. Bodies littered the ground around me. Not fresh, not by a long shot. Skeletons they were ancient looking things, some surprisingly preserved corpses tossed about. Moving my vision to myself I found my arms were shriveled, and my entire body appeared to be gray and dried. Leathery skin surrounded me, I checked myself thoroughly I had wings once again, albeit bony. The brilliance of my white wings in contrast with my shriveled and decrepit frame was mesmerizing, in a morbid fashion to say the least. Pushing myself up was another challenge altogether. My malnourished body protested to move, how I was still alive was a complete mystery. Why I was here in this form was another. I fumbled on my grip overestimating my strength, a tumble followed propelling me to the ground. a resoundingsnapwas heard rumbling throughout the tunnel, thussignallingthe breakage of a bone. The lack of pain was surprising, in comparison to my arm that hung limply, noticeably twisted in a hideous fashion. [Patience boy, take your time or you risk damaging yourself. Take calm and gather your strength, I''ll heal you while we talk. For now, ask what questions you want.] sarcasm in my voice "Yeah you think now is the time for questions?" No shit I needed answers. This explosion of overall insanity was starting to grate on my nerves. The pain and suffering I experienced prior was just the tip of the iceberg at this point. It is time for answers, and so help me, I''m going to get them. "Ok how about where are we. What happened? Where was I before this, that limbo, what was that? Why am I here, I thought I was getting reincarnated? And what happened to these people?" Just to start off this shit show anyway. [To answer your first question, I don''t know the exact location, A mid-high level plane for sure I can taste the pungent mana.] [Your second question, you were in your soul space, the options presented to you where your gifts being assimilated into your being. As to what happened... Well to make the most sense for now; you had too much in your soul. The points left over were to refine and strengthen your soul. However... You simply had too much, I had to take on most of the gifts and refine them into myself which took time, lots of time. Your soul was damaged severely and I had to shield your ego, which I why is called you to me.] He took a grave tone [That shuddering of your soul you saw was time passing before your eyes, locations moving, and your soul being torn apart and put back together. I''m sure it was agonizing, however, I had to limit the space of your soul, and restrain your power. I''m sure you don''t understand, you might resent me for the torture, it''s quite possible you don''t even remember what happened. But it was all necessary, it was all to protect your ego, your personality. If I didn''t we would have both died, then and there.] His tone turned dry carrying aguilty undertone [ To answer your third and fourth question, You were going to be reincarnated. Focusing on were, as in the past. Unfortunately, due to our circumstances, I couldn''t risk you undergoing reincarnation. Doing so presented the possibility of your soul just collapsing during transplantation. So instead I forcefully removed your soul during the process. Don''t ask how, I''m more powerful than you think, after all, you inheritedmylegacy. ] The guilt in his tone was overwhelming at this point [ These people came to investigate the phenomenon of you being forced into the world. You see that hole in the roof? ] My head moved in sync with his words. [ That is the result of me creating a beam of pure divine light. That was once the center of a town... Of course, seeing such an event, everyone rushed to the center thinking a legendary treasure had been born, a child of legend perhaps, or the coming of a god. Surrounding cities, kingdoms rushed here, anyone who heard of this event, or saw what was here, rushed to this very spot. I had a bubble of divine protection around you, try as they might, they couldn''t see you, or what was left of you that is; let alone touch or harm you... ] He paused and silence overtook the area. I let everything he said sink in for a moment. The fact that I had died once, and then almost died again had been numbingtosay the least. I didn''t fear deathtobegin with, I was the tool of my own destruction prior. My memories are still hazy and I can''t seem to recall many details, I know what I did, I know my name to be Cardis. However, I had no recollection of or names of other people. I know that I once had children, but I don''t know their names, how many, or even what they looked like. My gaze wandered to my surroundings, first the light beaming from the tunnel above, then to the corpses and skeletons around me. Then I noticed the ruble and the now apparent anguish and suffering that the corpses had on their faces. Things clicked in my mind at that moment, and I began connecting the dots present before me. "Ark? What happened to these people! What did you do!?" The guilty tone came back somber this time [ I did what had to be done... Your soul was shattered, so I needed to fill in what was lost... ] A pause from Ark, more silence... "Listen, Ark, as much as I don''t like what you may have done, the fact that I''m still here is enough to me. If you did what I think you did, then that''s fine, they still technically live on, right?" Another pause... [ Yes, yes they do... They live on inside you, inside us. As much as I hate to say it, they are part of a greater picture now. They may lack egos but... They are stillalive.] This has been undeniably draining. I wake up after being in a catatonic state for who knows how long. Then I get bombarded with new sights, and the moral dilemma that, what appears to be a few thousand people have died and have been stuffed into my soul... Just to keep me alive. "I''m going to sleep again, Ark. Wake me up when I''m healed, if you can that is." I just can''t process any of it, nothing. I accepted that it happened, and quickly shoved it down deep down inside with the rest of my feelings and emotions. It would take time to process, and doing this now isa,lot, to take. I could cry now but I don''t know when I''d stop. And not knowing something, like where I am, what the hell mana is, and the fact that I am probably some type of god now. Again, I just can''t even begin. I choose sleep I''m done. I need rest. REST
I was transitioning into slumber, yet, Ark thought it would be a brilliant idea to have me view his, our, my, [Library]. I just wanted sleep, to rest my mind after everything and maybe come to terms with it. But no this asshole of a person, thing, wanted me to read up on mana. Because heimaginedit would help me deal with my issues. The Library was in my soul space, inside of Ark for some damned reason. A lot of stuff was inside Ark actually. A whole civilization is what it looked like. All in a tint of gold, even the sky wasn''t spared from the gaudy coloring scheme. The Library itself was massive, taking up most of the space. It looked ancient, pillars of some type of marble caressed the outside of it. everything was still tintedgoldI swear I''m never going to be able to look at gold it without some form of disgust. The inside of the Library was equally gargantuan, it looked bigger on the inside than out. The horrendously unending line ofbookshelves,and books for that matter was unnerving and unnatural. Then it happened. The horns of the apocalypse sounded and spurred the bookshelves into motion. Books flew through the air, and bookshelves teleported out of the way. A smaller bookshelf appeared in front of me, and a hoard of books accompanied it. They all flew at me, scaring the shit out of me. The bookes dodged and weaved around me in an intricate set of moves that could put any ace-pilot to shame. The hoard assembled and shot into the bookshelf filling it to the brim withbookygoodness. Happily, Ark vociferated [ Here are all the books on mana, and magic that will be useful to you for now. Read to your heart''s content, while I work on your incomplete body. Hopefully, it won''t take anothereon. If you need anything just yell for me! ] his voice oddly booming and jumping in the library. And so I read, and read the books, my understanding grew, and grew about the mystery called mana. I learned about the most important parts it seemed. I, however, did not find anything on what mana exactly was on this shelf. I learned of the metaphysical organs and the methods to stimulate them, as well as grow them. There are four main organs that are consistent in most life forms. They are the bean(filter), reserve(storage),nexus(control), and branches(movement/usage). There are more mutated organs, and types that can appear, however, they are incredibly rare and often enough have no effect on mana, rather they have an effect on the body. These organs except for two special noteworthy ones can be trained and tempered just like your muscles. By repeated use, and strain. The bean(Filter) is incredibly important, it determines how far you can go on your path in consideration to your use of mana. Especially if you intend to use mana for spells, or as a sorcerer. However, as a warrior, quality and purity of mana aren''t necessary, so warriorsare typically prevalent. Anyways, The bean is important as a filter, it purifies and compresses mana; quality changes through one''s life and is dependent on location and age, as well as means of training. The bean is the hardest magic organ to train, as such, it is a common misconception that it is impossible to train and you are stuck with your mana purity for life. Training of the bean involves cultivation in a sense, active meditation and circling routes of mana to improve and refine the bean, thus, in turn, improves the beans in most ways. However, as much of a marvel as it is, with it being an often unknown method of training, it is common in most planes and worlds for mana training methods to be uncirculated and restricted to clans, and guilds. Thenexusis also important, more so for those that walk to path of a spellcaster, or sorcerer. The nexus determines your affinities and degree of control over mana. The general consensus among the books is that the nexus assigns mana to your being and body which then puts it under your control. This prevents someone from hijacking your mana and using it against you to a certain degree. High-level sorcerers can turn your mana against you if they have enough control or a mutated nexus. Training the nexus involves a regular exercise of control and refinement. My interest grew in mana, and so did my time spent. The most saddening information I found was in a piece talking about mana, and briefly walked around exactly what mana was, yet they didn''t go into detail. I saw a depiction of mana a lone strand of mana, inside it were particles. However, the particles resembled something I found in my past life. Unobtanium... It was quite a bit jarring to find out that mana was a particle, albeit infinitesimally small. Smaller than any quark, or lepton. Multiply the size of a quark by about a negative-googolplex and you should get around the size of it. I still to this day have not an inkling of a clue as to how I found it. I found it beyond interesting how different classes worked in general. So interested in how they used mana, and what mana could do. Another saddening prospect was how little I used mana in my previous life, and how we didn''tattempt to use it for more broad tasks. I found myself undecided on which path to take, there were many different paths to take, the most common in order being Warrior, spellcaster, and sorcerer. I yelled for Ark "Ark! How should I use mana? Should I be a spellcaster, sorcerer, or warrior?" [I''ve taken the liberty of setting your body up to be a Magus. Sorcerer is similar but by far different, Sorcery is a perversion of being a wizard it is honestly useless, they use raw mana and skin-deep understanding of how the fundamentals of the world work. Taking for granted chemical reactions. They throw around fire and lightning, when they could be summoning magic, and throwing pure plasma at their enemies.] A pause for a briefmoment,and Ark returns in a commanding tone [ I expect you to at least follow the path of a magus, otherwise I''d be sorely disappointed in you. ] " I haven''t seen any information on what a Magus is. Is it the same as a mage? " He scoffs [No a Magus is Magus, there is no other term. It is a rare specialty most similar to what you were in your past life. A magus is someone who uses research andunderstanding,and turns it into a terrible weapon or a beneficial gift to those around him. Unfortunately, it is a commonly overlooked path, yet most paths use their knowledge in their own fields. Especially spellcasters, those dreaded bastards don''t use anything of their own, pilfering a magus''s hard-earned earned work and knowledge, and perverting it.] his utter contempt for spellcasters was made apparent. Returning to his normal monotone sage mode [ Listen youngling, you will walk the path of a god, and use divinity. However, your soul is not strong enough yet to shoulder my legacy. Like those corpses from before, to expand your soul, you have a few choices. You can either steal pieces from souls who''ve passed in close proximity, either by you slaying them, or just death near you. Or you can bide your time and wait for your soul to expand by itself. The last option is to learn a lot, knowledge is power, after all, an increase in the size of your ego(personality/memories) will cause your soul to grow and shield it. ] "Why don''t you use your divinity to make my soul larger?" I asked in a quizzical tone [ I can if you steal someone else''s. Unfortunately, it is the systems domain when it comes to souls, they are incredibly complex and often times fleeting. If I force it to expand, I run the risk of breaking your soul... I myself can''t create a soul, only by rocking the walls lightly can I make it expand slightly. Any more and the wall will shatter. The only reason I can even touch your soul lightly isbecause ofthe reinforcement of it by the system. Luckily you won''t have to worry about anyone shattering your soul unless they are as strong as me, which mind you, is incredibly unlikely. ] I swear I could see his shit eating grin from here. "So divinity" I paused "What is it and how does it work I heard it is similar to mana..". [No] earning me another scoff [ Learning too much about it now will hamper your future, but it is nowhere close to mana, divinity is a supreme force. Whatever you want it to be is what it shall be. You can create, you can destroy, and you can change. Understanding and knowledge of all will help with your powers. But most of all is time]. A ripple of the space around me and a pulling sensation takes over. [It is time to wake up youngling, but before I send you along. Take a look at this it should clear up some more questions and probably create more...]
Gifts:
[Library] [?????A???????s????????s???????i????????s?????t???????a?????n????????t??????]?????
[Legacy] [Administrator]
[Superableness] [??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Comprehension]
Magus Knowledge:Stolen story; please report. Particle physics[Incomplete], Nuclear physics[Incomplete], Quantum Mechanics[Incomplete], Space Physics[Incomplete] Astronomy[Incomplete] [Corrupted] Name:Cardis Galilei
Soul Width: 100(Mortal) Upgrades( [Transcendent(+1%): 200], [Lesser God(+9%): 500], [God(+30%): 1350], [True God(+20%): 3000], [Arch God(+40%): ???], [Administrator(???): ???], [By???s] Race:Hybrid(Ancient High-Elf/Archon)
(Primordial)Arch-Divinity: 0.1% Multiplier: 1x, Minor-Creation(Restricted: 99.9%), Minor-Destruction(Restricted: 99.9%), Minor-Manipulation(Restricted: 98%) Administrator(Restricted)
Chapter 2
Gifts:
[Library] [?????A???????s????????s???????i????????s?????t???????a?????n????????t??????]?????
[Legacy] [Administrator]
[Superableness] [??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Comprehension]
Magus Knowledge: Particle physics[Incomplete], Nuclear physics[Incomplete], Quantum Mechanics[Incomplete], Space Physics[Incomplete] Astronomy[Incomplete] [Corrupted] Name: Cardis Galilei
Soul Width: 100(Mortal) Upgrades( [Transcendent(+1%): 200], [Lesser God(+9%): 500], [God(+30%): 1350], [True God(+20%): 3000], [Arch God(+40%): ???], [Administrator(???): ???], [By???s] Race:Hybrid(Ancient High-Elf/Archon)
(Primordial)Arch-Divinity: 0.1% Multiplier: 1x, Minor-Creation(Restricted: 99.9%), Minor-Destruction(Restricted: 99.9%), Minor-Manipulation(Restricted: 98%) Administrator(Restricted)
My head lulled and my senses returned. The first thingI noticed after reopening my eyes, was the light shining in from the top of the cavern. The apparent meadows all the more clear above. Swiveling in most directions I took in the dastardly and abhorrent scene of the dead. I should feel more about what happened to them, but a nagging sense sings of ''us or them'' in the back of my head. Obviously, I''d choose to live over those I don''t know, I didn''t have a choice to begin with, so why do I continue to beat myself over something else''s actions? My morals scream of an inhumane action, yet, am I still constrained to the mundane morals of before? I still know not of this world or what lays before me. The mystery of mana has shrouded and delayed most of my time here. I haven''t yet moved from my spot in what has been superimposed as an eon. Thinking of the time, could it have been an eon. What is time to me now? Comparing the scene of carnage given form, from before my ''healing'' and after, I take note of glaring differences. The lack of quite a few corpses and skeletons, and further degradation of the few buildings left. I decided to ask a question of my everpresent partner. "How much time has passed... Ark?" [Hmm...] [Quite a bit I''d say. I had to rebuild your body from the ground up, that coupled with improving your mana system, and the lack of power I can use, on top of keeping your soul tied...] [I''d say a millennia give or take a few.] He says things so casually, yet it seems he fails to see how utterly mind-boggling what he speaks of is... "How can these corpses and structures last this long?" [Mana, magic. Maybe, miasma or other mystic energies. Be thankful that their souls had been absorbed, else they return as undead.] Ignoring the possibility of shambling corpses and the prospect of undeath. I ask my final two questions that have been bugging me. "Time, how does time pass in the soul? Also is there any way out that you can see, I think the only way out is through the top of this cavern..." [Normally it doesn''t, reality doesn''t exist in your soul, so neither does time unless you want it to. To shorten this conversation, it is subjective on your will...] [Yes it seems the only way out would be through the mouth of this pit. Luckily I had that pyre otherwise we''d''ve been trapped in here.] "Yes, now how do you expect me to get out of here. That''s impossibly tall you know!" [I don''t know, use magic. That''s why I had you read those books...] Seriously does he just expect me to use magic right after reading about it... Half the information has settled and yet here I am, stuck in an impossibly steep pit cave with no way out but up. I make my way around the cave searching for anything useful. Everything that looks and slightly usable is heavily corroded, however near some of the corpses are glowing stones that seem to pulse and undulate in rhythmic patterns. A dawning realization hits me! I have wings! I crouch down to the ground to get my bearings, I extend my wings to their full length and being to attempt to fly with everything I have. I make it a few meters off the ground and then immediately begin to plummet. Bang! In all my commotion and hurry to escape the cavern, I''d forgotten that whilst my body was ''healed'' i was still incredibly malnourished. My body was still plagued by malaise, still, skeletally thin like those around me, and still oh so incredibly weak. Though my skin was no longer old and worn, now replaced with a healthy-ish pale white. "Magic it is then..." I sit down in a basic position, legs crossed, arms joined together in and hands placed on my head on either side of my temples. I begin balanced breathing techniques from the books, in an attempt to spur my senses to feel mana. Hours pass and the light above begins to fade into a pinkish glow. "1,2,3.. Breathe, 1,4,5... Out,"Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Measured and balanced in its own way. I begin to sense the undulations around like those on the stones prior. I attempt to pull it towards me, and the undulations turn into currents that are rapidly drawn to me at the center. I rapidly lose control of myself, and my body with a mind of its own begins to greedily devour the mana around me. In real time I watch the leftover remains disintegrate and turn to dust, the stones and vestiges around follow suit. The once vibrantly lustrous rocks began to dim at a rapid pace crumbling like those before it. The vortex of swirling mana ends as soon as it had begone. A newfound strength overflows from my vessel, I feel like a god. [Don''t get too far ahead of yourself, you already are a god... Although nice pace, it only took you five minutes to deplete the surrounding area of its ambient mana! Congrats you''ve created a mana dead-zone!] Yes, he is right, the sense of power is just a high from my newfound strength. Pointed the feeling is, I still am unsure of what to do with the coursing heat flowing through me. Prickling sensations of Paresthesia surround me in my entirety. The veritable options presented to me in the forms of the arcane mysticisms that make up mana. I could build a ladder of rock, I could fly again, I could fold space and teleport under my own power. So many options that I am aware of now. The power to do anything is stifling with indecision. To make a choice could condemn the path of my future. Perhaps it is best to stick with what I know, rather than attempting something I''ve never done before. Too much could go wrong with teleportation, especially with not knowing what is present above. All I see are trees, a thick blanket of foliage that blocks my vision from reaching further. Magically assisted flight in such a constrained space could only go wrong, a swift acceleration into a wall and the least I''d end up with is a broken bone, worse being evisceration. The rock ladder could just collapse under its own weight, I''m no engineer but I know thatstone is heavy. Hmm, I could reinforce myself... Yes, I''ll go with that. Worst case scenario I blow up. However, Ark is here to guide me, so I would doubt he''d allow that to happen. ''Right??''
I take a form best suited for reinforcement. Standing upright, I begin switching through various forms, to mimic the waves mana creates. Swift and fast, agile and fluid, I continue through the motions, finding the all too familiar tingling of mana in my body. I begin to feel myreservoir and attempt flex it, putting to much strength into due to the unexpected ease, a veritable torrent of mana coalesces into branches flowing throughout my body. I move onto the next step into refining and reinforcing my body. I''ve found intent, desire, and imagination are all too important when it comes tomagic.I drive my mana with the intent to refine and reinforce my body, I desire for All-encompassingstrength and defense, I imagine the strongest and sturdiest structure I know a diamond cubic crystal structure. Something in the process responds to my desire "And so it shall be" is heard echoing throughout the cavern. An agony worse than any I''ve experienced before wracks my body, once again all I know is pain. my desire, intent, and imagination warps my body to their whims. I don''t pass out this time, I endure guiding the process in its finality. My body is clay waiting to be molded to my will. A feeling of touch is transmitted throughout my body, like someone caressing and pulling my flesh, It feels like a scab begging to be scratched, what was once mine felt foreign. I could feel my insides warping and changing, becoming something else, it came with all the pain one would expect with such a feeling. Coinciding with the everpresent pain, is a sense of immeasurable strength, an addicting high that seems to come with the use of mana. The worst of it was my eyes, I could feel my eyes hardening, they had felt off sinceI had awoken, yet now I had an urge to gouge them out, this feeling of rage driven by a power high almost brought me to do so, however sense prevailed, and the torment ended. panting from the madness that had transpired I found myself exasperated by the events, this was not normal by any means, I think Ark might have taken a few to many liberties with my body, first the ease of mana collection, and now the instantaneous reforging of my body. The few tidbits of knowledge, I''d processed on mana, not magic, had coined these as gradual processes that can take many lifetimes to even come close to what I''ve accomplished in under an hour. "Ark, what the actual fuck was that!" [Hmm? What was what?] "The ease of any of this was beyond normal! What have you done to me, to my body!?" [Oh... That, well...] "..." [I might have experimented a bit... However! It was all in the pursuit of making you a body, a befitting of a god!] "Yeah just ''a bit'' is it?!? Do you have any idea what I have gone through with you, and I''ve only with you for what? Maybe an hour or two at most, and I''ve already experienced some of the worst traumas in my life, my entire existence... At least have some sense to warn me that I might die, or feel like I''m dying, before sticking me in this situation." [How was I supposed to know that was going to happen! I just wanted to make this life easier on you! You literally have everything you could ever want, and you still can find a reason to complain! I can agreethat what you went through just now was terrible, yet I can feel the strength you have, and you haven''t even used any of it yet. You can admit that you came out better for it, and your power allowed you to make the world will submit to your bidding, I mean it''s obvious it young, but it didn''t even put up a fight!] "What the hell is a world will? Was it that thing that talked, I thought that was you fucking around with me! Can you at least explain some of the shit you say, rather than laying it on so thick?!" [Err... In my blind anger, I guess I let that slip didn''t I...] "Yes, you did. Now explain." I rebuke [Oh how the mighty have fallen] he laments, [It''s the will of mana, and the world. That''s the best explanation I should, and will give you.] He said, a forbidding tone prevalent in his speech. "So its sentient, why would it obey me then? I can''t be that powerful, I mean look at me, I''m emaciated for goodness sake, and if its sentient then why does it work for others, why can they use magic like they can? It makes no sense, what does it have to gain?" [...] No answer, not that I expected any from him, to begin with, what I got was enough. I''m powerful because he fucked up my body, with his experiments... "I guess that''s all I am to you then, just an experiment aren''t I. I''m just a game, entertainment to watch since you''re so powerful. I''m right aren''t I?" [No... You, we have to survive. If you die now at this stage, we both die. I''m sorry for what I did, and that you think that way. But, you need this power to survive, this world and those that lay ahead of you are vicious and unforgiving. I did what I had to do, and you can resent me for the pain I have and will bring you, but soon you will realize what I did. You will forgive me at that time, but know this... I don''t have long, I have used up a lot of energy to keep us alive, this may be the last time I talk to you for some time, I will allow you access to the library, and controls over search and time dilation, but for now you are on your own.] "Just like that, you leave me, alone here to fend for myself? How do I even get to the library then? I mean come on give me a bone anything!" [In your sleep, or when you desire knowledge, that''s all there is to it. I left the soul collection and expansion to run automatically just to be sure. But for now I need to recuperate my energy, this will take time. How long, I''m unsure of, but hopefully not too long. Get stronger Cardis, for both of us...] A pause then, just silence. It didn''t really hit me yet, but I knew I was alone, on a foreign planet, plane whatever. My only source of companionship and perhaps my only pillar of support was gone... Chapter 3 Pov: Alec(Adventurer Group) The wind whipped at a group of 4 silhouettes, the torrent of such a perverted maelstrom was unmatched this side of the valley. Thomas was seen chucking rocks into a bottomless pit cave; the resounding echoes had been sent to the surface creating an all too familiarClacksound. Unfortunately, it appeared that our little hunting party was going nowhere anytime soon. I the chief Pathfinder of the party was in tatters, and our Archer Blake was in shock. What we¡¯d seen out there was anything but ordinary. ¡°Usually, a few of demon beasts could be hunted here, but this¡­ This, this was madness.¡± Said Lilith, the berserker of our group, pacing around the camp kicking any loose stones. ¡°I can understand now, why this areas entry was restricted to Golds and above. Not only were their demon beasts in droves, but there where fucking Undead as well. All those idiots like us, those driven by greed would end up contributing to that hoard of fucking monstrosities. ¡° Blight was active in this area, the mana which generally was a tool for life was calling for death, the amount of death that must have occurred in this forest was innumerable. Bang! A loud explosion was heard whistling out of the cave, Thomas was thrown off his feet and hurled a few meters off the ground, landing back on his ass. Missed by a hair from what appeared have been a stone. The carnage seen in the wake of the rock was incredible, a clear path through the woods, and trees knocked down in its wake. ¡°What the fuck Thomas! Are you trying to get us killed?¡± shouted Lilith, our Berserker. ¡°What the fuck was that? Somethings down there I swear it wasn¡¯t me, what the actual fuck!¡± The previously melancholic group suddenly sprang into action, grabbing our weapons and anything that might be of use, some grabbed scrolls while I grabbed my staff. I began reciting a lumination spell to light the previously pitch-black cave. What we find down there is a man or woman, I''m unsure, silver hair, and golden irises glaring at us. ¡°Is that an elf? How¡¯d he even make it down there, shouldn¡¯t he have died from the fall?¡± questioned Lilith ¡°I have no idea. He looks more like a seraphim to me.¡± I said making clear my take of the matter, bearing my chest ready to shout ¡°Hello down there! You gave us quite a fright, do you mind telling us how you got down there?¡±. It¡¯s a shame I¡¯m the party leader; else I wouldn¡¯t be stuck talking to it, poor guy looks emaciated. ¡°I fell in, what the fuck does it look like to you jackass!¡± he shouted, his eyes staring beaming into us; he was apparently pissed. ¡°Feisty idn¡¯t¡¯he, looks like you hit him with one of your rocks Thomas, luckily it seems like it didn¡¯t hit him too hard¡­¡± mumbled Lilith a grin plastered to her face. I looked over to Blake to see if that¡¯d woken him from his daze. Unfortunately, he was still in a catatonic state, seeing someone torn limb from limb and eaten, tends to do that to a person. ¡°I¡¯ll throw you down a rope to get out!¡± I shouted down to the figure trapped in the cave. Lilith went ahead to scurry to her pack, grabbing the spare rope that we¡¯d kept in case of an emergency. ¡°Here Alec, ill tie it off¡± she said while wrapping it around a convenient stone formation. Pov: Cardis "Finally," I thought "I''m getting out of this damn cave." Although rather or not I wanted to get out right now was questionable, I needed new experiences and use of my divinity and magic, than what I¡¯d been doing here before. It¡¯s been around a week since Ark left me, and the walls are starting to get to me. I''ve been afraid to leave here, the world outside is frightful, you know? I guess eating isn''t a requirement now, or I can go longer without food or water. But I haven''t felt the need for it? I spent this week, at least I think it was a week, experimenting with my powers. Good news is, I activated my comprehension gift. Ark had left a tablet that connected to the system, which system that was, I had no idea. All I had to do was choose a database for thecomprehensiongift; I picked the only database selectable, which funnily enough was the Library; there were a few others that I could select, however, they were either grayed out or restricted. The only thing left after that, was to enable it with the flip of a switch. So, a flick of the switch later and it was activated, the effect, however... Was a little interesting. For example, before when I looked at these stones, what I thought was "These are stones", however now when I look at the rocks, I cansee them, what they are made from; their components, and what would happen if I combined them with something and so on... It was overwhelming, to say the least, naturally of course, it isn''t always on. Its only on when I want it to be on, it can be controlled. The bad news, however, is that I have made entirely no progress with mana and magic, of course, that was because I focused on my new powers, my divinity.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. A weeks practice with my divinity, plus my comprehension led to some exciting revelations. For example, the percentage that I have unlocked of my divinity is damn powerful. Creation manifests as a domain, although my domain doesn''t reach that far, it reaches about as far as I can stretch my arms, which I good enough considering its not even at a percent of its potential. The speed of production of an item is dependent on the complexity. For example, I can create a stone roughly the size of my fist about as fast as I can take a breath, however, to create something like a mana stone or a plasmatic disassembler... Well, the former would take roughly 4 breaths to an hour dependent on the size and density, while the latter would take about a day probably or more, and that is not taking into consideration the time it would take to fill in the gaps of knowledge using comprehension. The entirety of the production process would require constant focus, which I can''t devote to one item over such a period of time. Creation extends to something that does not exist naturally as well, for example, I can create a new force completely different than anything I know of, and I could in theory apply it to virtually anything, including myself, what that force could do is... Well it could do anything I can imagine... However the time it would take to do something even remotely close to that would be excessive. Destruction is a little underwhelming when compared to creation, however, I feel there is more than what meets the eye when it comes to this power. It has a domain that can cover roughly one hand and can be placed anywhere within arm¡¯s reach. It''s field when set center to a target spans roughly about a hands length in every direction. When used anything excluding me, is destroyed, deleted, or ceases to exist, as long as I will it. For example, I can destroy everything present in a stone except the silicon, or metals present as long as I want it to do so. Manipulation is the strongest out of all three trees of divinity. As its name suggests it manipulates, everything... I can produce a sword out of trace elements present in the air, and stone particulate suspended in the air. It''s less intuitive than the other powers and more abstract. For example, I can manipulate something as obtuse as time, and gravity. The range of manipulation is farther than both creation and destruction, due to the percentage I had access to. However... I''m unsure of how far I can use manipulation since it appears to require line of sight to use. The only downside is that it needs something to be present to manipulate, but I¡¯m not exactly limited in materials here. Naturally I can¡¯t make an object dense without there being something to add into it to make it dense. To sum it up, I''m rather powerful... My reinforcement is equally as broken, and unfortunately, once Ark had left me, I ended up punching the wall once... The result almost triggered a collapse. The almost comical level of strength was finicky to control, however with practice it was managed rather quickly. Bringing myself out of my head and obligatory info dump of reminiscing. I quickly took the rope uponthosepeople¡¯s bequest. Pulling myself up by doing a standard rope climb, feet and legs to push myself up, and hands to keep me anchored. my progress was inhumanly quick. Then again, while I could have just flown out of the cave myself earlier, I was honestly hesitant to leave. Luckily that stone knocked some sense into me. Pulling myself up onto the ledge I quickly recover standing to my full height. "Aren''t you a little too tall?" asked the short female, her race unknown. "I suppose", I said, then again, I''m still unsure of what I look like in comparison to the indigenous life present on this ''plane''. "Not much of a talker are you?." Said an orange haired old man, his gaze moving to a catatonic-looking kid with black hair, his dead eyes appeared to be looking through me. "What¡¯s wrong with him, is he ok?" I asked faking some modicum of concern, "No, he''s just seen some shit, you know how The brutality of the forest can do that to people. Haven''t you seen it, what it does to people?". "I can''t say I have? If it¡¯s so bad shouldn''t we move?¡±, ¡°I mean",cough,"Thanks for saving me". "Yeah don''t sweat it, kid... Anyways, yeah, we do need to get back to town, I hope you know how to swing a sword, otherwise, we might not make it." he said trying to hand me some sort of short-blade. I give him the biggest shit-eating grin I''ve ever had the pleasure of giving someone, "I don''t need a sword, didn''t you see me throw that rock?". "Uh, yeah pardon me, but Uhm do you need some clothes...?" said the purple haired shorty from earlier, a blush slowly creeping along her face. I look down forgetting that I didn''t have clothes,''Way to make first impression, smooth...''I sigh "Yeah, if you have any spares I''d be grateful, I seemed to have forgotten I didn''t have any clothes". ¡®I really should have made some clothes for myself¡¯ I thought. The old man shot me a queer look, before shaking his head and rifling through his bag, proceeding to produce a set of rags, and a set of what appeared to be chainmail. I take the offered possessions and make my way towards a nearby bush to change into my new outfit, quickly returning to a packed camp, and a canteen full of drink presented to me. Taking a swig, the familiar bite of alcohol stung my throat, I winced, "Sorry, it''s all we have left, I''ll buy you a proper drink if we make it back". I offered my thanks for all he''s done and situate myself in the middle of the group. I look ahead to the rising sun against a backdrop of tall trees, I took a deep breath of air to fill my lungs with the great smell of a mornings dew. I felt sad knowing that this is what I missed while secluding myself in the cave. I missed this beauty that can only be found in nature. The sight of the sun clears my depression and brings with it a warmth that only the sun can give. Not even my power of creation could replicate it yet; there just isn''t any replacement for that feeling. "Everything¡¯s packed, it¡¯s time to go" bellowed the old man named Alec, hoisting the still catatonic boy on his shoulder. "Let''s go to town" I reaffirmed, my voice glowing with happiness. Chapter 4 Marching along the trail, most of my time was spent conversing with the group. Information has, and always will be king, no matter the location. What you don¡¯t know will hurt you, anything that can go wrong will go wrong, that sort of scenario. Then again, it''s within our condition to pay more attention to the bad rather than the good. The primary priority on my journey was to familiarize myself with the surroundings and the local culture. As journeyed as I¡¯d like to consider myself, immersing yourself in a new culture will always lead to some discontent between yourself and the locals. I¡¯ve learned that its best to familiarize yourself with a smaller group before stumbling into larger settings. Taking avid note of my inner monologue, I began making small talk with the short, purpled hair girl, Lilith as I have grown to know her. Gazing into her deep silver irises, ¡°We¡¯ve been walking for a while now haven¡¯t we? What¡¯s with the lack of noise?¡±. ¡°It¡¯s a sinister land, that drives most away, especially animals. If you hear anything, that¡¯s when you know somethings wrong. Either the undead on your back or¡­¡± Cut off by the cracking of branches behind us; we quickly swivel our heads around, I immediately put shame into the saying ¡®Keep your head on a swivel,¡¯ turning a full 180 degrees in under a few milliseconds¡­ Not long after, the rhythmic sound of feet and steel clattering; overtake the once silent forest. The bushes rustle from behind us, unveiling hundreds of undead marching in droves. A few walking corpses spot us within the vegetation, five in total break from the group gaining on us in a matter of moments. Lilith quickly unsheathes her blade, and I make a quick dash forwards, winding back my arm I form the best fist I can manage, the shock of the uncanny situation taking its toll on my once recovering psyche. Two of the five cadavers quickly close ground, their rotting flesh sagging and dripping in visceral fluid turned black from time spent stagnant. Time slowed down, and my thoughts sped at a rate that belayed the lack of distance in comparison to the quickly gaining threat; thoughts of my imminent death overtook my mind, ¡®Am I going to die here?¡¯, ¡®Why now?¡¯, ¡®Why didn¡¯t I take that damn sword.¡¯ Time dilation, what I never expected to experience in reality, had taken over my cognition. Time slowed to a standstill, at least mine had. I glance over to Lilith; she displayed nimble footwork making quick work of the three rotting corpses, her swift blade severed the limbs of the putrid carcasses, leaving them immobile then efficiently taking their heads effectively killing them for their second time. Looking at Lilith in compassion to my inability, I shudder. My arrogance in my newfound abilities had given me some form of muddleheadedness, the equivalent of me having my head too far up my ass to see the blunders I¡¯ve made. Lilith looks back to me in anticipation after dispatching the few undead near her, ¡°Snap out of it, its just their aura!¡± I take hold of the little courage I have left in this situation quickly regaining a smidgen of my previous arrogance; the undead are now upon me. I ready my posture into a standard military form taught to those who served in the Terran Empire. With my form ready, I aim for the thought center, the head of all places. The lack of any type of defense on top of severe decay has lessened the structural stability of the humanoid corpse in front of me. The corpses arms are in motion striking towards me. I take the initiative and dash forward weaving out of the undead¡¯s half-hazard attacks, my preparations for a strike pay off. A loud wet squelch resounds from my fists hitting the undead¡¯s head, makes me shudder. Being so close, I can now smell how badly decayed this corpse truly is, the stench unaided by the bloody mist its head has been reduced to. The all too familiar sound of a dead body dropping to ground sounds across the now apparent battlefield. Perhaps shocked by my powerful strike. The undead hoard appears hesitant to make their way forward and engage in battle, fearful of me, or something else. A fist fight is something I''m quite familiar with. However I wouldn¡¯t say that I''ve killed anyone with my fists, we used weapons for that. Energy and kinetic weapons were commonplace. Why beat someone senseless with your fists when you can vaporize them? ¡®Vaporize them?¡¯ Resounds in my head, the equivalent of a facepalm resounds throughout my soul space. An answer to this disastrous situation made itself known, Magic. However, another problem presented itself, how? I had minor practice with magic, its complexity was not something that could be overcome in a day, even with the plethora of knowledge I had at hand. Even if I¡¯d taken a week, it wasn¡¯t to practice solely magic. I mostly practiced my God-given powers, but I can¡¯t exactly expose myself like that, now can I?The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. I look back to the group in this moment deliberation, Alec, and Thomas along with the comatose boy had disappeared somewhere, potentially abandoning us. Lilith had been making herself over to me after dispatching her adversaries. ¡°Where are the others at!¡± I shouted at the distantly approaching female. However, I didn¡¯t receive a verbal response, only her pointing upwards into the trees. Turning my head towards the canopy, I spot the rest of the group perched above in the trees. In the time I spent gawking at their ingenuity, Lilith had covered the full distance. ¡°Say¡­ You¡¯re pretty strong to be able to take their head clean off with only your fists without magic or weapons.¡± She said unphased by our circumstances. I absorb some of her apathetic attitude and muster a response, ¡°You must be pretty strong to swing a sword with that speed, without magic.¡± At least I assume she didn¡¯t use magic. ¡°Touch¨¦,¡±, She said with a grin and a light chuckle. ¡°So how are we making it out of this one?¡± ¡°Like this,¡± She said, ¡°Alec do it now while they are grouped!¡± Before she had even finished her shout, Alec had twirled his staff with mirth. A massive ray of blinding light exploded from it, an odd sense of veneration grasped ahold. Where once a small army of undead stood, was now an albeit large patch of smoldering rubble. I wet my lips in the grand display of magical might, ¡°A small army destroyed with one spell¡±, I muttered, apparently inaudible to the group. Imagine the power of the Empire if all our soldiers could do that¡­ Thomas and Alec quickly jumped down from their perch. Thomas had a grin on his face that spoke of ill intent. However, I made my way towards Alec ignoring Thomas, ¡°I know we just met, however, would it be too much to ask to have you teach me magic, at least to give me some pointers?¡±. Alec in response to my sudden rapture gave me a bemused expression, ¡°I don¡¯t mind, however, whether or not you can apply any of it depends on your talent.¡± He said giving his best shrug and grandfatherly smile. Our brief conversation was interrupted by Lilith shouting ¡°What are you doing!?¡± I quizzically turned my head¡­ Only to see Thomas with his cock out, urinating on one of the undead who appeared to have fallen off the side of the trail. ¡°What the fuck are you doing.¡± I scream-whisper at the fool, ¡°He looked thirsty?¡± Thomas replied, pissing into the undead¡¯s open mouth, a mischievous smirk plastered on his face. However, his smirk quickly turned into that, of, a look of fear, as the once thought to be corpse leapt up with a flinch, Thomas cock in hand promptly stumbled back. This opening gives Lilith enough time to unsheathe her sword, and dash in to save him. All this while I¡¯m sitting there trying not to laugh my ass off, at his misfortune. Lilith quickly dispatches the shambling corpse; turning to Thomas, ¡°Idiot, you¡¯re lucky it was only one.¡± She mumbles. ¡°Serves you right, that¡¯s what you get for desecrating the dead,¡± I toss in to add insult, to injury. With these events, a clear picture of the group has been painted. ¡®Thomas is the clown or an idiot ¡®probably both,¡¯ Lilith is a bit of a jokester herself¡­ But she¡¯s got a good head on her shoulders, while Alec is a kindly grandfather figure¡¯ I turn to Alec, no to the boy on his shoulders, ¡®He is¡­¡¯ ¡°Disabled,¡± I let slip. Lilith takes notice of my words and gaze, eliciting a small sigh matched with a slight frown. ¡°He wasn¡¯t always like that,¡± she said pointing to the boy, ¡°His sister cared for him for most of his life, she urged him to come out with us, it was his first adventure and her last. He watched his sister, his last family member torn limb from limb, and eaten.¡± She finished with ¡°If that happened to you, wouldn¡¯t you shut down as well?¡±. Jostling my hair, ¡°No, I would die trying to save her.¡± I replied matching her frown. ¡°How¡¯d it get that bad anyways, what happened to get to that position in the first place.¡± She lets out another sigh from my question only giving a short response ¡°We ran into a hoard of beasts, and they chased us, so we ran, Jacklyn tripped¡­¡± unfortunately that was all I could pry from her, she caressed her forehead pinched the bridge of her nose and went silent. The rest of the trip to town was in bleak silence, nothing but the pitter patter of footsteps on the soil. ¡°Huh, that¡¯s interesting,¡± I said looking at the sign on the trail, and the final traces of forested land now opening into a vast plain. [Town of Eirendel, Population:7,569] ¡®Not bad for primitives I suppose.¡¯ The walled town made itself known in contrast to the farmland surrounding it. Vast fields of golden grains and varied crops decorated the large plains area. A single smooth stone roadway cut through the expanse of harvest. We quickly made our way to the gates of the walled town. Massive hulking masses of flesh and armor made an appearance, bustling muscles detailed through their sparse clothes. ¡°I look like a wimp compared to them, huh¡± I voice out loud. However, my inner monologue goes something along the lines of ¡®Hmm, I wonder who''s stronger,¡±. Thomas smelt blood in the water, and quickly wisecracked ¡°Yeah, you look like a fairy when compared to those monstrosities. Especially with that frail frame, and pointy ears, bet you¡¯d sell well on the market.¡± He finishes letting out an audible chuckle. I gave him a creeped out look, in retrospect to his inappropriately shitty joke. Lilith chimed in with a smile, ¡°Yeah, you look like a walking twig.¡± she says earning a self-deprecating chuckle from myself. ¡°How many are in your group,¡± Asked the monstrosity of a guard. ¡°Five now,¡± Alec said, surveying the group a deep frown on his face. ¡°The tolls three silver, you can pay now, or you can leave¡± with a sigh Alec took out a bag, quickly producing the currency to pay the man. ¡°I¡¯ll meet you guys back at the Tavern; I have something to take care of,¡± Alec said after making our way through the gate. ¡°I¡¯ll show Alec around, for now, we¡¯ll meet you at that Tavern.¡± Lilith supplied Alec. ¡°Where¡¯s Thomas,¡± I asked, ¡°He, ran off somewhere like usual, probably up to no good. Now come on, I have to get you registered at the guild¡± she said.