Stars Asunder

by Tao Wong

  When we’re done, I can’t help but sigh. “Any luck on finding my attackers?”

  “Nothing. And I don’t think we will. Even if there are more attacks, they know what they’re doing,” Harry says. We’re obviously talking of the major players, the ones who have placed, and keep increasing, the price on my head. “These other incidents, they might offer more information, if you’re willing to look into them.”

  I shake my head. Even if I could step in and investigate the other assassinations, put a stop to some of these trade—and shooting—wars, it’d only slow down the incidents. It wouldn’t solve the underlying problem. Worst, there’s a danger of overreach, of overplaying my hand. My job isn’t just saving the empire from itself; it’s choosing an Empress Apparent who can fix the increasingly volatile cracks.

  Stopping the attacks, stopping the individual players from going too far might be the worst choice I could make. Knowing where each person—Brerdain, Julierudi, Spuryan, or one of the other half dozen contenders—will draw their line in their quest for power is important. Necessary information.

  Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’m just naïve, thinking there should be limits. Maybe I’m too human, too basic. After all, I’m just an ex-programmer.

  “Keep tracking. Let me know what you find. On all our candidates,” I say to Harry.

  “For how long?” Harry asks, fixing my gaze with his own.

  I know what he’s asking. The longer we delay, the longer we take, the more deaths there will be. But I don’t dare be wrong either.

  “Until I’m sure.”

  ***

  Ayuri finds me in the middle of a dungeon. We’re on a different planet, one I can’t even remember the name of. I’ve spent weeks bouncing around, clearing dungeons, monster swarms, and threats. All in the race to increase my Levels. It’s only the Champion, who can cover the cost and the jumps, who can find me out here. Well, her and a few of the more insane assassins.

  We fight together, in silence, for a time. You’d think it’d be a disaster. After all, two Master classes, neither of which have really fought together much, unleashing Skills that tear apart the tiny swarm creatures and dark shadow monsters that prey upon us. It should have been a disaster, by any rational viewpoint. Except both of us are trained combatants, used to fighting with others. And even if I’m not a real Erethran Paladin, many of my tactics, my skills came about from watching and learning from them. So we fit together easier than I would have expected.

  It helps that we’re both specced to a higher level of Intelligence. That System addition allows us to anticipate, understand, and grasp the motions of our counterpart. It’s not really futuretelling, just anticipation. Very, very good anticipation.

  We tear apart the swarm, the tiny biting insects, each of them barely Level ten. But when they’re the size of your hand and there are literally millions of them, flying in swarms and carnivorous, it can be a problem. The shadow monsters are nearly as bad a problem, since they hide within the shadows of the swarm, attacking when our backs are turned. Thankfully, the System generally designates swarms as a single mass creature and so provide experience for the designated threat Level of the swarm, not individual amounts. Or else this entire dungeon would be a waste of time.

  Of course, you also then have to destroy the entire swarm to get the experience. But that’s what area control and area effect spells, along with chained attacks, are useful for. We lob all of those around, everything from gravity mines, which hold and crush monsters to one another, to chain lightning that jumps from monster to monster for miles. And of course, I’ve got the Beacon of the Angels and Ayuri has Ire of the Champion.

  When we’re done and the drones are released to chew up the last of the stragglers, Ayuri speaks. “The Queen is getting impatient.”

  “I’m trying to gain Levels here. I would think that you’d understand how long that takes.”

  “Isn’t raising your Level at an outstanding rate part of your package?” Ayuri says.

  I find myself grinning, because she’s right. I do need significantly lower amounts of experience than most Master Classes. Skipping the entire Basic Class gives me that benefit.

  “It’s not just about the Levels,” I admit eventually. I look around, reaching out with my senses, checking.

  Ayuri senses my caution and raises an eyebrow. “Do you want to talk? In private?”

  “Ah, Champion, you’re cute, but I’m seeing someone…”

  “Not that, you idiot.”

  “Well, if you insist…” I waggle my eyebrows at the Champion.

  She snorts and gestures, triggering her Skill and enveloping us.

  When we pop out, minutes later, she’s glowering at me.

  “Look, it’s a thing. Performance issues. But don’t worry, I don’t hold it against you,” I say blithely.

  She unleashes a punch, energy wrapped in compressed air.

  I skip aside with ease. “Sorry.”

  Ayuri turns her head from side to side as if she’s looking for the unseen watchers, even though we both know that if people are watching, we’d never spot them. Not if they were really serious. Buying direct from the System is nothing we can block.

  “Will you do it?” I’ve already asked and confirmed once. While we were within the cannibal sphere. There are a lot of things I asked, least among them being information and control over the numerous security feeds to the throne room. But it’s a lot to ask of the Champion.

  “I will. But…” Ayuri falls silent, realizing no more can be said. Not out here. “You better be certain.”

  “One hundred and ten percent,” I reassure her.

  Ayuri nods. A second later, Mayaya has a Portal open, which Ayuri walks toward. I’m assuming they’re using a party chat system similar to ours. Just more advanced.

  Before she leaves, she turns back and asks, “You think I’m cute?”

  Chapter 25

  “Thirty-four.”

  “Thirty-eight.”

  “Thirty-four. Intercepted attacks don’t count,” Bolo says.

  “Ninety-seven,” Harry insists. “They do count, but we’re also including the ones intercepted by regular security personnel.”

  “Doesn’t count. It never reached John.” Mikito crosses arms, shaking her head. “Only those attacks that are a serious threat, and that reached the internal security perimeter, should count.”

  “Thirty-four. Only the ones he thwarted himself count,” Bolo snaps. “That’s what we said.”

  “No, we didn’t,” Harry and Mikito chorus together.

  “John!” Harry and Mikito call, at the same time as Bolo says, “Redeemer!”

  I groan, glaring at the team. As I turn, I note the pale gray walls, the floating vid projections of past, glorious battles that display on each wall, just below the hanging banners and crests of defeated armies and kingdoms. The waiting room has a few chairs, though most just pop into existence when needed. They’re not the most comfortable of chairs though, since those same projectors are used as secondary shield defenses.

  “I’m not getting involved,” I state. “Also, betting on how many times someone was going to try to kill me was in rather bad taste.”

  “Bah!” Bolo says. “If we bet that you’d die, that would be bad taste. This, this was just a way to pass the time.”

  “The constant attacks weren’t enough for you? Especially that Master Class team?” I find myself rubbing my hip gingerly. Master Class worms are just unfair. It was like Frank Herbert had grabbed his idea of giant worms from the Mana-diffused air of pre-System Earth. Except he missed the fact that they had Classes and Levels. And had a tendency to take on unwinnable bounties. That’s just wrong.

  “That was amusing. It was a good team,” Bolo says musingly. “If you hadn’t climbed down your attacker’s stomach, we probably wouldn’t have gotten to you in time.”

  I can’t help but shudder, remembering. The pulsing flesh, the slosh of acid that ate at my shields. The remains of its pr
evious meals and the hard rock. Nightmare inducing.

  Ali looks interested, mostly because he was banished at the onset of the attack. Leaving me to deal with three Master Classes. Not a fun place to be, not at all.

  “We still haven’t found them?” I say to Harry.

  We managed to kill the worm. Seems like having me inside, blocking any teleportation, had seriously messed with its Statsis Block Penetration Skills. The three worms hadn’t even realized it was a problem till Bolo, Mikito, and Ayuri made it to me and the battle started to turn.

  Unfortunately, the other two worms escaped. And considering I only got a portion of the worm’s experience, and from what we’ve learned of his Class and race, his “death” was somewhat truncated. It hurt my head—literally—to think about it.

  “No. Ayuri assures me they’re out of the Empire though,” Harry says. “I verified they turned in the bounty as a failure, so I’d agree with her assessment. They’ve even got a counter bounty placed on them by the Empire. Though… it’s not a lot.”

  I shake my head again, deciding not to touch that last comment with a ten-foot pole. More politics. We’ve been stuck in the waiting room for the last hour, waiting for the Queen to find time to see us. You’d think, after nearly four months of grinding, attacks, and repeated questioning, she’d be excited to see me. Especially since I finally reported I was ready.

  John Lee, Monster’s Bane, Redeemer of the Dead, Duelist, Explorer, Apprentice Questor, Galactic Silver Bounty Hunter,… (Paladin of Erethra level 41)

  HP: 4870/4870

  MP: 4380/4380

  Of course, that’s a lie. My actual Level at this time is 45, but they don’t need to know that. And altering that single line in my Status via the ring is easier and safer than playing with everything else. I wanted to gain more Levels, but time and tide waits for no Paladin.

  Still, the new Levels are great. It made surviving those attacks a lot easier. But, just as much, I’m kind of proud of my new Skills. I spent nearly everything I had, since I now publicly have access to the final tier of the Paladin Skill tree.

  Figuring out what I wanted to add was interesting. On the last tier, I’d had four options. Judgment of All, Immovable Object/Unstoppable Force, Shackles of Eternity, and Domain. I couldn’t get Domain without purchasing Shackles, but since I had to get Shackles for the Erethrans, it’d been a possible option to focus upon.

  Truth be told, I would never have picked up the Shackles of Eternity if I wasn’t forced to. Just by its name, I didn’t really like it. Then again, I’ve never been into the entire slave thing. Kill someone when you need to. But leaving them enslaved? It’s… wrong.

  Shackles of Eternity (Level 1)

  A Paladin’s job is not just to see, but it is to judge and enforce the judgment. The Shackles of Eternity provide a Paladin another method of enforcing his judgments. Once used, the Shackles bind an individual, forcing them to abide by the Paladin’s decree. Activation of the Shackles will leave a brand, a visible Mark, and will deal punishment immediately and on an ongoing basis when the decree is violated. All law enforcement personnel, of whatever Class or society, will be able to see broken Shackles on an individual.

  Effect: Shackles of Eternity are gaeas that an individual must follow. The restriction will warn an individual when they’re close to breaching, and upon breach, will layer a number of effects upon them.

  Effect 1: A permanent, and highly visible, nark will appear to all law enforcement individuals, whether by Title, Class, or System designation. They will be able to access data at no cost on the broken Shackles, including breakage reason and the original Shackles’ use. This can lead to a loss of Reputation and other effects.

  Effect 2: Shackle breakers will receive a (Skill level multiplied by half Mana costs) amount of damage upon breach of decree. This is Mana damage and may only be mitigated by Mana resistance.

  Effect 3: Broken Shackles deal ongoing (Skill level multiplied by 1/10th Mana cost) damage per minute to the Shackle breaker. This damage is Mana damage and may only be mitigated by Mana resistance.

  Cost: Variable depending on Shackle requirements (channeled)

  The Shackles of Eternity is a very strange skill. I wish I could’ve played with it more, but other than using it on a few semi-sapient monsters, I’ve left the testing alone. For one thing, there’s no way to dismiss a Shackle. Using it on an intelligent creature for that reason is a no-go. Not without a very, very good reason.

  In addition, unlike most Skills, this one requires a significant amount of startup time. Depending on what I’m trying to do, I have to hit a certain minimum threshold of channeled Mana before the Skill will trigger. Only after I add that minimum amount can I release the Skill. Before that, it locks me in place, leaving me intensely vulnerable. Furthermore, even the lowest level use of the Shackles requires a thousand points of Mana. Higher, more elaborate conditions, require even more.

  All that means that it isn’t the kind of Skill you use in battle. Digging into the Paladins’ archives made me realize it isn’t even a Skill that was taken by most Paladins. Especially in the later periods, when dealing with the enemies in the more immediate, violent manner was favored. When required, they’d just dragged people before a Paladin that had specced the Skill and left them to it.

  I do understand why the Queen wants me to have it though. Or, more correctly, I have a pretty damn good idea. Especially after reading their histories.

  All that said, it’d left me with three other Skills to choose from. Judgment of All was the simplest. Like Army of One, it was a pure combat Skill. It was, in a way, similar to the Champion’s skill, using the combined strength of many to power the attack. It could be extremely strong but had one major weakness. It required you to be part of a strong, unified community.

  The reliance on that Skill was also part of the downfall of the Paladins in the last fight. After all, they lost the faith of many, so the Skill they’d come to rely upon had decreased in effectiveness. Even so, a single planet’s worth of trust can be quite damaging. As my mentor had showcased.

  On the other hand, Immovable Object/Unstoppable Force was a weird dual-use Skill. Upon activation, the Paladin had to select between the two. The choice would provide a boost to himself and to anyone within his aura range.

  Immovable Object increased Constitution, health, and passive damage resistance by a significant number. It also negated all knockback effects on the Paladin. Basically, it made him the ultimate tank. Unstoppable Force, on the other hand, increased movement speed, Agility, calculated momentum, and damage done by the same percentage. Unfortunately, it had a major negative in that the moment the Paladin stopped moving, the Unstoppable Force buff would automatically turn off. On the other hand, it also gave a smaller buff to everyone within aura range.

  As for Domain? That one was kind of messy. Domain allowed the Paladin to alter reality within the range of his aura. Enemies entering his Domain would receive a debuff to all attribute and Mana cost and a damage-over-time effect. Allies received a heal-over-time effect and a buff to all attributes and Mana cost. At the same time, the Paladin received a minor boost to health, Mana regeneration, resistances, and speed, while reducing damage done to them that passed through the domain. It was an all-encompassing Skill, but each of its individual effects were lower than any of the individual Skills it drew upon.

  For that reason, and others, I’d had the hardest time allocating my remaining Skill points. It wasn’t as if I could get another evolved Skill, so for my choice, I had to decide which of the three would suit my fighting style best.

  My musings over whether I’d chosen right was interrupted by the entrance of the major domo. He looked at my group with a sneer before he waved us in. I idly considered using Shackles on him to stop him from sneering ever again, then kicked myself.

  Really. Ultimate power can so easily make one evil…

  ***

  The throne room is similar to before, but this time around, it’s fille
d with courtiers. One group is streaming out, their leaders having a hangdog expression. But the subtle smirk on another’s face, as he trudges beside and behind the group, indicates not all of them are as unhappy as you’d think. There’s probably something in all that byplay, considering the entire group is supposed to be together. I can see how having a Paladin with Society’s Web stationed here could pick up a number of interesting missions.

  For that matter, I wonder what kind of Skills the Queen has, her and her personnel. Society’s Web might be somewhat different in how it displays information, but it isn’t a unique Skill at its base. I vaguely recall that Catrin has a Skill that allows her to process social information in an entirely different manner. Not as useful for meeting random strangers, but more robust and detailed in the information provided in a known social setting.

  My team troops in, taking our place in front of the Queen as she finishes speaking with one of her retinue. Subtle cues send out various courtiers and others stream in, joining the group behind me. The man the Queen is talking to steps back, offering her a nod, and I’m only slightly surprised to see that it’s Saimon. He is, after all, the Exchequer of her Purse. Or something like that.

  More surprisingly, what I don’t see is the Champion or any of her team. There are, of course, a few Honor Guards around, standing at the sides of the throne room and keeping watch. Even more are hovering midair, near the walls. Today, the room itself is muted, the moving images and projected banners reduced so that everything, all our attention, is focused on the woman seated on her throne. And even without the help of her Aura, she definitely has everyone’s attention.

  “Tell me, Paladin, how are my initiates?” the Queen asks once we are done with the formal greetings.

  I idly watch as Harry scurries to the side, moving to join the group of reporters near the base of her throne. He’s gotten special permission—after some insistence on my end—to record what’s happening today.