by John Gold
Twenty seconds later, they’re both dead. I can’t afford to leave them alive, as they have an entire arsenal of deadly spells, and they’re working alongside the victims.
The battle lasts quite a while, though I eventually realize that the victims are behaving something like a colony of ants. I don’t figure out who the queen is until the very end though. They start by trying to kill me with raw power, but that doesn’t work. Burning and drowning don’t work, either. Next comes poison, though nobody can bite me, and I’m not about to drink any of it. With each new attempt, their strength wanes, though not the way I’m expecting.
I destroy bodies, spirits when I can. But the little bastards run off somewhere, and I only find out where when there are just a hundred victims left.
Demispirit, Bartholomew, Level 3775, raid boss
It’s the demispirit of a warrior armed with a sword and a shield. His metal armor buzzes with enchantments, and sparks run up and down his sword. Hm, this is going to be tough. I haven’t spent much time working on my resistance to lightning.
All he attacks me with is lightning. Smart. The point of the battle was to create an opponent with powerful protection and the right kind of damage.
He’s ten times stronger than a usual monster, with about a hundred times as much health. The worst part is that he’s especially agile and partially ignores physical damage. A ball of lightning flies around the island, sending bolts in my direction, and he gobbles down the rest of the victims himself to boost his level by 200.
Spending a whole hour fighting just one enemy is too much. I end up having to pin the demispirit to the ground with continuous dwarf hammers, though his health doesn’t drop even as his armor gradually disintegrates. I assume his armor comes from a single-use amulet that absorbs physical damage.
Four streams of consciousness maintain and replenish my magic shield; the other four send Light Magic flying at the beast. He partially ignores Dark and Mind Magic. Ultimately, I’m able to kill him, my last victim, and get back to the laboratory.
New ability: Chimeric parasite shield
The chimerologist who made this shield gave part of himself, making it completely subject to his will as his own flesh and blood.
Effect: Lets you create a shield made out of a layer of skin. The durability depends on your stamina, and the maximum charge depends on your mana. The shield absorbs physical damage equal to the mana charge you place in it. Your morale attribute governs how fast it can be replenished.
Requirement: Non-level ability
Ability unlocked: Astral bone sword
A chimerologist wanted to create a sword that would be the personification of himself. It is linked to both the soul and the body of its master, being no less than another of his body parts.
Effect: Lets you create spells and imbue your sword with them. The durability of the sword depends on your stamina level, and the maximum charge is equal to your mana. The speed at which you can empower it depends on your morale.
Requirement: Non-level ability
Wait, what? Hey, now! I got my sword back! Oh, where’s the bow and everything else? I’m still missing my potions and my advanced attributes. I broke my back to get all that! Two bone swords, two astral bows…
Finally, I break down and laugh like a crazy person. Femida, seeing me laughing, decides to ask the question.
“What? It didn’t work?”
“No, it’s really good, actually. Look.” The bone blade slides out of my palm sans guard and hilt. “They gave me my sword back, and I was able to make the shield, too. It was a lot harder than last time.”
After mentally activating the shield, a piece of skin pops off of my back. Ow, that hurt! Although, it doesn’t leave a mark. The shield is virgin-pure, with nothing from my tattoos on it. All it does is float next to me and move wherever I want it to. I pour ten million mana into it. With the usual exchange rate, that should be enough to block a a hundred million physical damage. It’s like cheating!
“Fem, would you be so kind as to give my shield everything you’ve got?”
She doesn’t need to be asked twice.
“Dissection!”
Damage received: 2880500 (blocked: 2880500)
Charge: 97119500/100000000
Hm. The panel is a little different, but it makes sense. The shield blocks incoming damage by burning the charge. It doesn’t restore itself, and it actually makes me think of LJ.
Isaac is thrilled; Slender is hanging out somewhere in the vicinity. I’m so tired of him! He has to be reporting back to his master, so I assume the shapeshifter will be showing up again. How do I get rid of him?
While I’m busy with my shield, Femida guards the entrance to the laboratory. We’re both tired, so we decide to rest for twenty-four hours.
The next day, we get to work collecting the sacrifices for Femida’s javelin. It takes us just ten hours to get the five hundred bodies we need. She decided against a chimeric spear, so we don’t need as many.
All she has to do during the ritual is put a piece of blood malachite on the already-drawn seal and break it at the right moment. The energy that’s released is enough to activate the magic sign and jump-start the ritual.
The entire process takes less than a couple of hours. But when Femida comes back from the astral, she looks at me with surprise written all over her face. Her emotions all point at confusion.
“What? That bad?”
“How did you do it? I mean, you have five times more of them! They were 500 levels stronger than me, just constant fighting, critical hits, arrows, spells… Then, the undead came, evil spirits and other things. But what happened with you?”
“Hm. Well, judging by my experience, you were only in the astral for sixteen of their hours. It’s about ten times more than game time. When I made my bone sword, I had to spend almost seventy-five hours in there. And I had to deal with an enemy at the end that I wouldn’t be able to beat even now with everything I have. He moved three times faster than you or me. One attack cut an entire island in half, and I only survived because they kicked me out at the last moment. Making my shield and fighting these undead was nothing.”
Femida says nothing, though her emotions burn with disgust. It’s like she’s screaming at me that I’m a monster.
“Fem, I’m not a monster. I’m a normal person who wants to survive. If you want, you can think of me as a monster, but I’m just a person. And I’m fine taking responsibility for my decisions and actions.”
“How can you be so calm? There were hundreds of them! Thousands! How are you still normal? How did Hell not break you? Why are you still okay, even after your parents were killed? And don’t tell me it’s just better this way. It wasn’t a decision; it was the result of something. You’re abnormally normal! That doesn’t happen!”
“I’m changing, Fem. I’m growing up faster, loving more, caring more. We’ve always made it in a variety of environments. Look carefully at me. See me? Everything I’m wearing, everything in my bag—that’s absolutely everything I own. I don’t even have my own name. Who am I, Fem? Sagie? Anji Ganet? Ribonz Almark? Any beggar on the street is richer than me—he has a name, friends, and a home city, at least. Just compare me to a normal person. I don’t have work, parents, free time, my own room, or time to flirt with girls. I’ve never had a home. All the people I’ve ever cared about are gone. Everything I’ve ever loved, cared about, wanted, everything…it was all taken away. Do you know what it’s like to have your best friend kill you? Fem, look me in the eye. Look very carefully. I…will kill you. I’m going to rip your heart out and burn it! Where are you going? Who said you could leave? I’m going to kill you, kill you, kill you! Okay, now calm down. What are you feeling? Fear? But not rage. My soul and mind have been through the kind of torture you can’t even dream of. But I survived…once…again…ten times… That was how the Sagie you know was born. Fem… I can adapt and survive no matter what you throw at me. War, hunger, death, sacrifices, torture, pain, betrayal�
� I’ll bear up under it all, though I won’t forget a thing. You think I’m normal? I’ve had the same dream for seven months straight. I’ve become what I always despised most. And yes, I’m normal. Because that’s my choice.”
Femida says nothing, and the silence grows awkward. She broke first; I couldn’t help but tell her everything on my mind.
“See you in twenty-four hours. You need to rest.”
***
Figiraldina Elmaro climbed out of her med capsule, though she headed to the table, not the shower. Her wet clothing clung to her, she was shivering, and she felt dark inside. Her mother walked in not five minutes later. One exchange of glances, and her mother got the message.
“That bad? What’s wrong?”
Fiji sighed loudly. Then, she took another two breaths before replying.
“He’s crazy!”
“Too abstract. Who are you and what did you do with my Fiji?”
Her mother buried her fists in her sides teasingly; Fiji smiled.
“He’s insane. Not bad or good, just like a wolf who lives in the city without harming anyone. He could kill me, get rid of me… Really, he could do whatever he wants, and his conscience wouldn’t bother him in the least. I have every right to be proud of how willful and tenacious I am, but he’s light years ahead of me. He’s…he’s… Mom, he isn’t human. People can’t be that…fierce.”
“But they can be like you? You think it’s that simple? Your abilities are always in demand, but you just keep moving forward in a completely different direction. You couldn’t care less about people, about humankind, about technical development in this era. All you want to do is strengthen your abilities and reach your potential. What makes Sagie different from you?”
“His determination. His mentality, his social and cultural norms, his understanding of what it means to be human. He isn’t the boy I met at the trial for the Hunters. What happened to his timidity, his love for people, his understanding of the world?”
“Get some sleep, baby. You need to rest.”
***
While Femida is gone, I think about what it means to be alone. She’ll show me her javelin later. For now, I need to figure out how to get rid of Slender. I’m getting tired of the shapeshifter showing up all the time. What if he finds my parents? Or messes up my trip to the Gray Lands? He always shows up at important moments, and his interference always proves fatal.
I have enough facts to put together an overall idea of who Slender is. He doesn’t like mental damage or the light. At least, he’s okay with the light; he doesn’t like it when there aren’t any shadows for him to hide in. That leaves just one question: how is he able to find me anywhere in the world? He isn’t my pet, and he isn’t in a group with me. A mark on my mental body? That has to be it.
A fine black thread connects me with my body right at my feet. If I weren’t looking for it, I wouldn’t notice it, especially since I can only see it with magic vision.
I’m able to draw new seals in the laboratory and bring over new sacrifices before Fem gets back. This time, I only need fifty of the same kind of victim. The entrances are all blocked, the victims all evenly laid out across the laboratory. Slender is scratching yet another of his tawdy messages on one of the walls.
From the center of the lab, I bend over and activate the seal stretching across the room with a single touch. The area is flooded with light, and Slender scampers around from corner to corner. But there isn’t a shadow or an exit for him to run to. All there is are fifty bodies emitting a bright, all-cleansing glow.
“Well, you little weasel, had enough running? I know you can understand me.”
A second later, and Slender’s face is right up against mine. No eyes, mouth, nose, ears, or hair. Just the ashen skin.
“I’m not afraid of you, so there’s nowhere for you to get your strength from. This room was set up as a laboratory, but you can see that it also works perfectly well as a trap. This seal is used to mark evil spirits you can’t kill or drive out. In your case, it will be a prison you’ll find yourself locked up in for the rest of your days. And there won’t be many of those left.”
The bone knife slides out of my palm. My shield appears from under my shirt. There are two magic barriers as well as four fireflies between him and me.
“I don’t have anything against you, so you can cut the line and head back to your master. Yes, I know about your little black thread. If you don’t get rid of it, I’ll kill you. And hey, let me guess—will it be a permanent death for you?”
Slender is an empath, so he can sense emotions perfectly. But I’m also an empath, and I can feel his fear.
Ten seconds go by. The black thread disappears, and I see more recognition of me as an equal than fear in him. There’s a flash as he disappears through a teleport.
Femida missed him by just an hour. It’s a shame, too, because we could have had a fun going-away party. He always liked carrying her around in his tentacles, and she was always so funny when she shrieked at him. It was in those moments that I could see the girl in her. An unusual sight…
But the javelin is incredible. It’s terrifying, with a fierce appetite and the ability to boost its own weight.
Sinner’s Trident
A terrible ritual perverted the nature of a holy tree, the desire to survive no matter the environment leading to a spear that feeds on the blood of its owner.
Effect: Lets you boost the weight of the trident by endowing it with your health. Each point of health gives it one additional kilogram and ten durability points, and the charge is released when it touches another object.
Requirement: Non-level. All classes.
We figure out why the javelin is called a trident after it’s activated for the first time. The tip splits into four parts, making it look like a four-pronged wooden trident. The reddish shaft sprouts red thorns. It’s the kind of javelin you’d be proud to show off in Hell, where the demons would fall over themselves in envy of the red color, the needle-like thorns, and the fork on the end.
It’s the perfect time and place to figure out what to do with the key to the world of the dead. It’s definitely an item used in the ritual for opening the gate, but I have no idea where to find a description of the seal. Oh, wait—the seal!
I pull out my book on seals for summoning demons and get to work studying the guidelines used to create interworldly portals. Besides summoning demons from the Inferno, there are also descriptions of rituals for summoning them into the body of a victim, not to mention unlocking spatial portals for groups or individual use. You can create stationary portals between worlds and make contact with demons. For example, you can talk with anyone in Hell if you use the right victim in your ritual.
To summon a demon, you need to know their name and their symbol. But I can’t figure anything out there. The stationary portals and portals for large groups are much more interesting, however. Creating one means activating ten small seals and combining them into one large one. An intricate, hierarchical network connects the seals…and there I am, back to the issue of hierarchy. I spend several hours drawing different options on the floor of the lab until Femida cuts in with a comment she has after seeing them.
“Getting into Kabbalah?”
“What do you mean?”
“The ten primary elements: Deity, Light, Dark, Earth, Water, Air, Fire, Life, Mind, Space. Those three arrows you drew have the relationships between them wrong.”
I have to be careful to make sure I don’t scare her off.
“Keep going?”
“Deity created Light and Dark, from which Earth and Water appeared, and then Air and Fire. That gave rise to Life and Mind. They’re all Space elements, and the relationships between them are described in the Sefirot. I mean, all the diagrams are there. It’s called the World Tree.”
Femida is better off not knowing how valuable that information is. The diagram really does express the main principles behind the hierarchy, though it still isn’t complete. It’s missing
the spirit world—the Gray Lands.
“Fem, do you remember if there’s anything in Kabbalah about the spirit world and how it’s connected to the Sefirot?”
“Nope. I mean, there was something about that, but I didn’t read it. There is one more element in the Sefirot, though: Da’at. It’s also called the invisible Sefira, the Keys of Knowledge. It combines Deity, Light, and Dark, the three highest essences. It’s at the base of the Pillar of Life.”
“And what’s the Pillar of Life?”
“Deity, Life, Mind, Space, and the invisible Sefira Da’at.”
“Okay, Femida, name your present, and I’ll give it to you.”
“Screw your presents! The javelin is enough—I don’t want anything else sucking my blood.”
The key, you idiot! We’re holding the key to Da’at, the Gray Lands! It’s a good thing I picked her as a partner. The foundation of everything—Da’at! All magic is built on the ten primary elements, and she just explained the interrelations between them.
For days, I draw a seal describing the picture of magic in the world. The hierarchy of magic elements couldn’t be more obvious. As soon as I figure it out, the connections between the magic elements start to make sense, too. I’m building a completely different, incredibly complex seal that describes the relationships between all the magic primary elements. Also, I have to involve the environment where the seal will be activated, though that doesn’t change the basic gist. Every little magic seal includes five or six levels, requiring an exact description of how they interact with the other elements. Ultimately, I have to draw nine small seals inside three circles responsible for location and environmental conditions. My head is about to explode from all the different powers working together in the right order.
Logout
Once again, Claude makes me swim two kilometers. Then, it’s medicine, a lecture on human physiology, and a very important phrase right at the end.
