Oblivion's Peril

by M. H. Johnson

  Grew and grew until he could feel the vibrations skittering through him, smashing against him, making it impossible to think, to act, no matter how stubbornly he fought against it, knowing that somehow this was vital.

  Somehow, this was the key.

  Then he blinked, realizing he was being an idiot.

  Remembering what it had been like, the first time he had taken a surfboard with his cousins and dared the sea, feeling cocky and bold until he was promptly flipped off the board, cousins laughing at him, content to watch him stubbornly struggle time and time again until he finally relented and asked for their help.

  And with twinkling eyes and wide smiles, riding their boards so effortlessly, they told him. Don't fight the water, just ride the wave. Don't try to master it. Feel what it wants to do, where it wants to go. Then, when you’re ready, you can direct your path. But only after you've accepted that you’re just a cork bobbing on top of it. It's in control. Not you.

  Val glared at the massive generator, then smiled. Surrendering control was one of the things he hated to do more than anything else. So it took long moments before he could finally let go.

  Angelica and Lucius gazed at Val's still form for long moments, brows furrowing with increasing worry before Val snapped his eyes open once more.

  Hesitating no longer, he approached the central control panel, the administrator watching over the shield controls like a hawk immediately paling and retreating as the commanders of the city entered the tiny control room.

  “First I need a link. Then it's time to embrace the madness.” Val gazed at Angelica and Lucius for long moments before uncorking one of his Cure-all Potions and pouring it right onto the central console.

  "What the hell are you doing?"

  Val ignored the surprised gazes and curses as he placed his hand on the crackling mess.

  EM Mastery skill check: success! You have taken no damage from your incredibly foolish maneuver!

  An endless pause as Val felt himself scream and stretch, feeling his entire psyche somehow pull and twist as he tried to grab hold of the entire force field, to become one with the force field, with the structure entire, the city entire.

  But before he could do what needed doing, he needed more power.

  Tier 2 gate constructed for 2 territory points. 12 points remain. You now have a direct link to Highblood Manor that only you can use. Better safe than sorry, right Val? Entire territory point pool is now available to you!

  You have cast Greater Dominion Catalyzation. You have Embraced Halcyon Restoration! You have enacted Phoebe's lesser blessing: Avert Disaster as you attempt to manipulate the electromana field itself to convey your enchantment. Congratulations! Modified blessing is now in effect. All protective spells and effects will now either enjoy critical success or critical failure until disaster is averted.

  Insight gained! What is a potion save an arcane coding? A spell codified in liquid form, needing only power to catalyze all its potential!

  And Val could sense it, then. The very magics that had been used to save so many at the Highblood Manor somehow resonating through the ether at that very moment, through the entire city. A massive spell Val was barely holding onto even as he felt his very life force trickling away.

  His heart began to pound, blood trickling from his nose, his mind screaming under the strain of the magics he was striving desperately to control.

  Val gazed down at his hand. Recalling the fleeting sense he had back at Greengrove garden that he could have permanently boosted the size and vitality of the magical garden there, had he invested his blood into the ritual. His very life force enriching the power and potency of his domain.

  The Blackenthorp electromana generators have been successfully manipulated to cast Cure-all upon the city entire! - Sacrifice - There is a price to be paid for impressing your will upon the chords of fate. Life for life, blood for blood. This act of sorcery will cost you 3 Vitality points. Proceed Y/N?

  He understood then why he was hesitating, hardly able to conceive of how grave the sacrifice would be as he rolled the dice, embracing the madness fully, feeling a portion of his life force carried away by that terrible flow of potency and power ripping free of him as he visualized making that life-saving brew just as he had back at his alchemy lab, endless hours spent in a desperate struggle against death itself. Only this time it was his blood that was being used as the catalyst, and the electromana generators powering the entire city that fueled the spell.

  The high-pitched hum had become a roar, thundering through him, the pounding surf of an impossibly vast and mighty ocean carrying him away as it washed through the city entire. And then it was as if Val was the city. Every shining tower of chrome and steel, every panicked guard outside the palace, every family he sensed hidden away in their homes, sobbing and afraid as their children sickened before their eyes, wanting only to save their loved ones from the plague that was killing them.

  So many stories, so many tragedies. So much despair radiating through the city that it was all Val could do not to be consumed by their pain. His will, his fierce resolve to save these people became a living echo of the spell even now resonating through the city, bringing hope and desperately needed healing to thousands of wide-eyed victims gazing with wonder as weakness slowly passed, horrific pustules seemed to heal of their own accord, and children gasping for air suddenly breathed easy, awful blisters healing before awe-struck parent’s eyes.

  And the sine-wave that was Val wept in a shower of electromana currents, more than willing to pay the terrible price he had for the solace of half a million souls rescued from the horrors of that devastating plague.

  You have successfully created Greater Ritual - Cure-all with a citywide radius. (Electromana field dependent. life force dependent.) Cure-all cast at extreme magnitude. Critical Success! Your Greater Ritual resonates with healing magics beyond mere polymer strand rupturing, healing victims even as it cures them. Life force cost – major.

  Congratulations! You have achieved Rank 3 in Corpus Magics!

  Congratulations! You have achieved Rank 4 in Creo Magics!

  Charisma has increased by 2. You have changed the fate of an entire city! Blazing with the gratitude and potential of so many rescued souls, others can’t help but find themselves fascinated by you. Good thing you have Shadowmind!

  Congratulations! You have successfully completed the mandatory quest: Red Death I, choosing to rescue your people from extermination, no matter the personal cost. 3 vitality lost. Experience earned! Congratulations. You have leveled up!

  Val shook as he crashed back into his corporeal form, spasms overwhelming his physical body, now struggling to free his hand from the still crackling power board, screaming as a sudden, inconceivable rush of power roared through him, his soul resonating with the endless potential of all the lives whose courses had been altered thanks to his actions.

  He briefly caught Lucius and Angelica’s awe-filled gazes as he finally managed to wrench his hand free of the terminal before stumbling to the ground, struck by a wave of exhaustion so potent he couldn’t move a single limb, eyes closing of their own accord.

  “Valor!”

  26

  “Please, help us. Our children are dying!”

  Val opened his eyes to gaze upon a desolate plain, leaden light trickling free of brooding dark clouds upon a sea of pox-ridden souls, all gazing at him with desperate eyes. Gazing upon the fruit he held in the palm of his hands, born of desperate inspiration and blood.

  Val, knelt down, peering into the haunted eyes of a shivering child, covered in sores. His smile was gentle. “Do you promise to be a good girl?”

  The girl solemnly nodded even as her faceless mother sobbed in the gloom. “I swear to serve loyally and faithfully. I will never betray your clan, I will never betray my home.”

  Val solemnly put the apple in the trembling girl’s hands, suppressing a wince as he plucked it free of his own flesh, a spark of his own life force infusing the apple with ho
pe’s blessing. “Then be well, daughter of Jordia. May your life be filled with health and joy.”

  The little girl’s beaming gaze was filled with hope and love. She took a single bite before dashing away with peals of laughter, healthy and whole once more.

  And when the child’s desperate parents knelt before Val with their pleading eyes he blessed them with the same boon in return for the same oath of fealty, every apple containing a tiny drop of himself. The price he paid to bring salvation to every man, woman, and child who called this province home. And even as he felt his vitality wither like a lush vine under winter’s caress, he now blazed as well with the power and potency of the million souls he had saved from Oblivion’s caress, their fates irrevocably influenced by the desperate gamble he had taken, their endless potential now forever tied to his own.

  But even so, for all that, he still feared the terrible specter of the Red Death. The horrid price all of Jordia would pay, should even one infected soul have fled Blackenthorp lands before he could save them.

  Val fixed his gaze upon Phoebe’s brilliant countenance shining so brightly in the now cloudless sky, somehow certain that even in this dream of growth, advancement, and deeper truths, oaths whispered here were every bit as real as those made in the brightness of day. He knew his sacrifice, his act, had seared most of the taint of Red Death free of Jordia’s lands. Like a raging forest fire squelched to mere embers. Yet he had no greater fear than that those embers might somehow blaze to life once more.

  Val gazed at the living moon illuminating his dream so brilliantly and pled for a single boon, having the oddest sense that the goddess above approved.

  Val blinked. The sea of a million desperate faces was gone. Only a single cloaked figure remained, her smiling face and beautiful golden eyes illuminated by Jordia’s twin above. She solemnly bowed her head, handing Val a golden apple of her own.

  She smiled before Val’s questioning gaze. “You now walk the Mystic’s Path, yet you have no guide. Few would dare combine the powers of Shadow and Magic the way you have. And all for the sake of a people not your own. A million souls at your mercy. Souls you chose to save, at great cost to yourself. They walk your path now, their fates inextricably tied to your own. How will you bind their fates to you?”

  Val frowned thoughtfully. “I would choose the lightest of bindings. That they never betray me or cause deliberate harm to me or my allies, and if they find spies or know of anyone intending harm, that they report it. That’s it. Save for keeping me and mine safe, I’d want them to think, dream, and live as they always have. A million souls… I’d be a monster if I were to try to chain their fates any tighter than that.”

  The girl dipped her head. “And what price should be paid by those unwilling to be so bound?”

  Val was pinned by her piercing gaze. “No horrific death, that’s for sure. Just that they leave my lands and never trouble me again. That is all.”

  She flashed a beatific grin. “Truly, you would be a king worthy of Jordia, should you survive the Rite of Ascension.”

  Val smiled, looking up at the heavens. “I am no saint. I butchered 6,000 for the sake of the girl I love. Nevertheless, I’m glad I could rescue those families. The price was a bitter one, but it’s one I accept. Their lives are real, for all that half the Terrans embracing Jordia still see all of this as a game.”

  The beautiful woman nodded. “You blossomed twice over with the potency now racing through you. What color shall those blooms take?”

  Val blinked, gazing down at his chest, seeing 18 roses upon his chest. 16 were crimson, 2 bone white. He smiled. “That’s easy. These first two petals of the seventeenth rose will restore vitality that I lost. The third and fourth represents my improved mastery of Psiblade and Shadowmind. The fifth and sixth petals taste of magic and psionic potential forever blossoming.”

  She nodded. “And the seventh?”

  Val grinned. “Improved EM Mastery. Great for deflecting spells and blasters both, and maybe one day using to boost my friends’ magics in turn.”

  Each pale petal that he touched turned crimson with his life force, a new facet of his soul.

  “How about your final rose?”

  Val furrowed his brow. “Near the same. One petal for vitality, and I’m as strong as I was before my sacrifice. Two more for Psiblade and Shadowmind, and two more for magic and psionic potential that continues to grow. And dangerous as these games have become, I’d be a fool not to invest yet another point in EM Mastery.”

  The girl smiled. “Practical choices, all of them, even as you put aside dreams of becoming a mighty wizard, casting Titan’s Blast by your lover’s side, allowing them to wilt away under necessity’s light.”

  Val shrugged. “Once, I wanted nothing more than to be the mightiest wizard I could become, and revel in the power and glory that path would bring. But having skirted death by the thinnest of margins in my last two duels against would-be Overlords, there is no greater gift I can give myself than continued mastery and understanding of my chosen weapon, and ever improving my ability to cloak myself from attacks that could kill me in a heartbeat.”

  A solemn nod. “Well said, Valor Hunter. And what of the final petal upon your last rose?”

  Val frowned, looking closely at it, gazing down at an abdomen now free of any scar. He closed his eyes, wondering just how far his PRM talents could blossom, amazed by what he saw.

  “I’m going to invest this last point… in doubling my regeneration.”

  Her eyes widened at this.

  “Assuming that’s allowed. I feel like it is. Right now, I can heal one-thousandth of my mana pool per second, about half a point. If I invest my potential just in increased rejuvenation… I think I can get it to grow exponentially."

  The young sage before him flashed a brilliant grin. “Well done, Valor Hunter. But a Psiblade through your skull will still strike you instantly dead.”

  Val nodded. “But any lesser wound...”

  “Like the disembowelment that would have killed you, save for a former enemy’s mercy? A girl who would give much to be worthy in your eyes.”

  Val winced, humbled by just how vulnerable he had been. “Yes. Exactly. I was in too much agony to cast a healing spell. Even one hit point a second is still modest, considering the damage I’ve been taking, but if I can put a skill point into this every level...”

  “You will soon become a foe to be feared. Not that you aren’t already.”

  Val shrugged. “That’s my hope. I’m walking a dangerous path, after all.”

  The girl dipped her head. “You are indeed.” Her golden eyes flashed. “You now walk my path, Valor Hunter. Come. While you are still graced by lucid dream. Walk by memory’s side. I have lessons to teach you, lessons you must learn.”

  Val nodded and strode by her side, her melodic words washing over him as flashes of insight and memory a thousand years old bombarded his mind.

  Congratulations! You have learned a new Overlord Ritual – Greater Salvation! Whenever you purchase or claim a new territory, you can invest territory points to bend the fate-lines of all those who swear themselves to you! Deliver your people from hardship and woe. 1 point will rescue up to ten people from fate's most dire promises! Certain death from the most hideous of ailments can be deflected, should fortune and genetics be on your people's side. All those who receive this blessing shall enjoy days miraculously free of illness or mishap for the natural length of their lives, for so long as they are loyal to you and live upon your lands. (Or until they make use of a rejuvenation vat.) Every additional point will increase the number of loyal citizens you can save tenfold!

  Congratulations! You have learned a New Overlord Ritual – Sacred Oath! For a single territory point, you can bind an entire territory’s worth of citizens to a Greater Oath you broadcast to your citizens. Morale (and production) can be adversely affected by unreasonable oaths. Those unwilling to swear to abide by said oath will find themselves growing increasingly uncomfortable within
your domain, compelled to leave before the next full moon. Of course, if the oath you demand your citizens take is considered absurd or unfair, you will rapidly find your territory free of productive citizens!

  Character Advancement - Improved mastery of internalized display! Now you can choose to see only the skills and spells you have improved since your last level-up!

  _________________________________________

  Valor Hunter: Level 18 Dauda Assassin / Level 4 Overlord (Mystic)

  Primary Attributes

  Strength 18 *

  Vitality 23 *

  Finesse 15 *

  Quickness 21 *

  Perception 22 *

  Scholarship 16 *

  Willpower 19 *

  Charisma 15

  Luck ?? +4

  Secondary Attributes

  Health 10xVit+Str+IC= 253 *

  Survival (Health+(10xLevel)+Luck) = 433+?*

  Stamina 10xVit+Str+IC= 258 *

  Mana 502 (486 Accessible: 251 kg Elementium Stored)

  Psion 502 (500 Accessible: 200.9 L Silbion Stored)

  Insight 17

  Base Appearance 10. +2 (15 charisma) +1(athletic) = +3 (+6 when you let your potency show.)

  Dark Points 3 (+3 to reaction rolls and influence when you let your intensity shine. -1 if you try to hide the darkness in your soul. +30% potency increase when you embrace your wrath!)

  * Rank 10 PRM & Jordia's fields. (+5 Strength / +10 Vitality / +2 Quickness / +2 Finesse) Regenerates 5.02 Mana & Stamina per second & 1.04 Health (Survival) per second. (Works extremely well when combined with Season's Mending!)

  * Tier 4 Overlord (+2 Quickness / + 4 Perception / +2 Willpower / +2 Scholarship / +2 Luck)

  Reputation

  Champion of the Dwarves: +6 reaction from all surviving dwarves in the northern hemisphere.

  Hero of the Skogur Tribe: +6 reaction from all Skogur dwarves.