Kaida Stormweaver watched as the flow of ambient mana around the mountaintop was suddenly diverted, straight into the center of the Guardian’s nest. The constant presence of the Guardian’s barrier had disappeared immediately before, drawing her view to the summit. The presence that had suffused the valley grew stronger with every moment, the warm glow becoming a heavy presence of a ruler. It had been a soft shield before where it was now the domain of a king. It lay heavy for a moment before being retracted to the mountaintop, removing the shield that had helped guard the valley. Kaida realized that it was a skill that whatever the Guardian protected had lain out to also protect itself. The removal only meant one thing, that it no longer needed the shield. That was a terrifying thought.
One of her disciples came to her in a panic, the obvious ambassador of the group of young ones that were gathered a few hundred feet away.
“Lady Stormweaver, we felt a surge of mana and the feeling of the valley dissipated. What does it mean?” Kaida breathed deep, her gaze still locked onto the summit of the mountain.
“It could mean several things. A strong ally, a terrible foe, or maybe nothing at all. No matter what, we will be prepared.” She turned to look at the young mage, and lighting flashed in her eyes.
“Goddamn these are good.” Leto said, spraying fruit juices as he spoke. “I love the apocalypse. It is doing wonderful things for the produce market.”
Aurora snorted in his mind, and shook some of the sprayed fruit off of their feathers. ‘Yes, we could become prominent fruit merchants. Glory onto the fruit sellers.’ Leto laughed and swallowed, adding the core of his fruit to a slowly growing pile. The fruits themselves were very similar to large apples, but their skin was blue and the flesh was a deep purple. The two of them had woken with hunger pangs and began to devour the bounty the local tribe had left for them, or more specifically for Aurora, this last week. They were almost overripe, but still delicious.
“I could really use a steak or something. Something meaty, protein heavy. I feel like I was wasting away in that meditation.”
‘You would have been fine.’ Aurora was beak deep in another fruit. ‘Your body doesn't work like it used to. If you are in meditation, you won’t need any sustenance beyond mana.’ Leto stopped mid bite as they said that, considering before crunching through the fruit.
“That seems really useful actually. I could go into meditation for years if I need to.”
‘There are limits doofus. You are not nearly at the level of being in meditative stasis for that long. The only reason you lasted this long was because of our connection. I was basically an umbilical cord keeping your body alive.’
“That is a disturbing image. Let’s work on your metaphors in the future.” their head left the fruit they were eating and raised a brow at him.
‘I am older than any living being on the planet. Yes, I don’t have all my memories, but I have centuries of metaphors rattling around up here.’
“And yet you basically called me a fetus.” Leto stuck a tongue out at them. Aurora chirped out loud, their physical laugh.
‘You are a fetus Leto. You are basically a super toddler. Your foundations are crazy strong, but you have only a few basic skills and are only at the first real level of advancement.’
Leto puffed out his chest and placed his fists on his hips. “Super Toddler at your service! I crawl faster than a speeding bullet!” He waddled around the cave for a few moments, the two of them breaking into laughter. He sat down, appreciating the feeling of freedom in his body. Before his channels, the pressure had been insane. It was like he was a bug being held down by a giant finger. Now, his body was lighter than it had ever been. He had yet to test any of his physical limits, but he could tell that the difference would be drastic.
‘Leto.’ Aurora’s voice in his head was serious, drawing him out of his thoughts. They were staring past him at the cave entrance. ‘The neighbors have come to visit.’ Leto activated Twilight Sight, and watched as several shapes were moving up the cliff’s edge.
“Well, why don’t we greet them.”
Kaida held a basket in her hands of the local fruits and a beautiful stone one of the calves had found in the river nearby. The presence of the Guardians and their ward was heavy on the mountain, but suffused into the air. Kaida could tell the moment they had been detected, the very air around them seemed to sharpen. She stopped a tremble that had started in her legs, determined to parley with whatever lived here. The walk was long, and the last few hundred feet seemed to take hours, the pressure they felt skewing their perception of reality. They stopped at the edge of the rock that blocked the cave entrance from view, knowing that any of the tribe that had stepped beyond this point had come back with life threatening burns. Just one more step…that she could not take. Ashamed, she sighed and began to set her basket down when a voice echoed from the cave.
“Well come in why don’t you, we could use a resupply.”
Those words were layered with mana and power, but the danger in the air evaporated, all killing intent gone from the vicinity. The presence was still there, but it no longer felt inherently dangerous. Kaida stepped around the stone, and into the cave. It took her eyes a moment to adjust, but a beam of sunlight at the back of the cave helped. Before her eyes could adjust properly, the voice came again, this time not spelled with mana.
“Holy shit y’all are minotaurs!”
Aurora whacked his head with a wing, the comment he had been unable to suppress still echoing in the space around them. A few dozen feet away stood a small contingent of minotaurs, cow/bull people. On average they were well over six feet tall, and several had wicked looking metal horns. He could see fear in their eyes as they approached, but began to take in the beauty of his little cave. Aurora had done a really amazing job planting and decorating with what they had been bringing them the last few months.
Kaida was not sure what to make of the Ruler of the Mountain. Slouched against the small pond in the back of the cave, a pile of fruit cores next to him, he was small, about average for the humans she had in her distant memory. His skin was dark, and his black hair was unkempt. His clothes were dirty and tattered, long cuts showing his skin in several places. He smiled at them, but his eyes, a deep emerald green, held a well of power she had not seen before. The Guardian stood at his shoulder, a bird with a long neck and beautiful plumage, but it was only about a meter tall. Mana rippled menacingly in the feathers, and they were obviously not to be trifled with. The first warrior however, had described a monster of immense size.
“I am Kaida Stormweaver, Elder of the Stormwalkers. This one is pleased to greet the Ruler of the Mountain and the fierce Guardian.” Her voice was formal and stinted, still dealing with the surprising truth of those who lived at the top of the cave. She had imagined a pair of terrifying monsters, and while she was still worried about their power, she was less afraid that they wouldn’t parley with her.
Leto snorted in their connection ‘Fierce Guardian huh? How many of them did you roast, Ror?’ A self satisfied response came back ‘Enough apparently.’ The two of them chuckled silently. Leto sat upright and crossed his legs and gestured to the stone floor.
“Sit Kaida Stormweaver, sit Stormwalkers. I have heard that several of your warriors have suffered at the flames of my dear companion.”
She sat at his insistence, and awkwardly bowed after sitting.
“It was all the clan Sir Ruler, we trespassed where we should not have. It was in the Early Days and we were not quite who we are now, and incensed with the power of the Thunderblooms in the valley.”
“I can understand that. On other occasions, we may have been more welcoming to your tribe, but I was in a complicated stage of my…convalescence. Any interruption would have been devastating to my process. But, you have paid for your intrusion several times over with beautiful gifts and supplies, and you are forgiven your attempted intrusion.”
Relief flooded Kaida’s body, this human was obviously far more kind than her race’s memories would have led her to believe. This may be better than she could have ever imagined.
“The Stormwalker Clan has settled in your valley sir Ruler, and we apologize for that intrusion as well. The Early Days were violent and this place was a haven among chaos.” Leto waved a hand at this, dismissive of the place she was going.
“Who am I to keep you from the safety of the valley? You are a young people, and you have your own…calves?... to think of. The bottom of the valley is yours, I gladly give it.” Leto was on the verge of laughter. He was imitating young masters in light novels he had read, and only Aurora’s insistence on keeping up some form of noble appearance kept his laughter in. He could see the relief settle over the delegation. He was a pretender to the power they thought he had. ‘Your attacks must have really scared them for them to be this worried about us.’ He heard Aurora’s snort in reply, and was about to ask what it was about when she just said ‘Later. Finish this first.’
Freely given! Kaida could not be more overjoyed with this outcome. She had come ready to pledge the Clan to this being’s service. But his casual power and presence told her what she needed to know. They posed no threat to him or his, and they were welcome to play in his backyard. They were children. With every breath he took, the Mountain Lord moved the mana flows. She could not imagine how developed he was to be able to do such a thing.
“We will not keep you any longer, Mountain Lord. Please accept these fruits as a gift, to try and repay the great gift you have given us.” She and the other Stormwalkers stood and bowed as one. He dismissed their bow with a wave again.
“Oh please, no need for such pretentious titles. Call me Leto. I look forward to interacting with your people in the future.” He picked a fruit from the basket and casually crunched into it. Kaida shivered for a moment before bowing again.
“Ah of course Lord Leto, I bid you farewell.”
The group of minotaurs basically ran from the cave, their life threatening mission coming to an end. Leto followed to the cave mouth and waved as they descended the mountain. They never looked back the whole way they ran.
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“Dude, what was their deal? I know you’re a scary little bird, but that was wild. Treating me like some sort of king.” He crunched into the fruit again, shaking his head at the situation.
‘Leto, you have to understand. What you did with your channels is so far beyond what most people are capable of. You are actively changing the mana flows around you just by existing. You are a force of nature Leto. Each of your channels projects a small bit of your power, and you rebuilt your whole brain in your channels. It’s ridiculous and impossible and you have an equally ridiculous presence. You aren’t super powerful by any ridiculous margin, but just by existing you seem stronger than the norm.
His head spun a little, surprised at the weight of that. Leto activated his Twilight Sight and watched the mana flow around him. Just moving his arm shifted the way the mana in the air settled, and his every breath did the same.
“Can I hide this?” he asked, and Aurora hesitated a moment before responding.
‘Technically yes, but not for a while. The next stage of your improvement is pretty far away and will naturally let you control your mana flow.’
Leto thought for a moment, and activated Ruler’s Will. It settled around him like a mantle as he willed the mana to still around him. Aurora watched as he stilled the flows around him and made him seem like a normal person with average channels. The presence of his skill was slightly intimidating, but he no longer shifted the fabric of mana around him.
‘That…is an impressive skill. There is no way it should work that well, but we can use that to hide if we need to. Honestly, your presence might scare away some of the monsters that would try and fight us.’
“Well I could always use some practice with my-” Leto realized something and began to search every inch of the cave. “Aurora, where is my club?”
A small sigh echoed in their bond and she led him to a little cubby in the cave where his shield and club lay, both shattered in several pieces. Tears began to work their way to his eyes, and he knelt in front of them.
‘I’m sorry Leto.’ Leto wiped at the tears and barked a sad laugh. “It's stupid. It’s just a club. Just a weapon I took from the enemy that killed a friend of mine. My only real attachment to the world before now.” Aurora settled on his shoulders and wrapped their wings around his head. Leto cried for a while, letting himself feel…whatever emotions were wracking him. After a while, he wiped his eyes. “I guess I really have to accept whatever the hell this weird world is now. But I am going to keep to my goal. It was his last request after all.”
‘What is that Leto?’
“Get stronger, and live.” Every one of his newly carved and settled channels shook as the mana around him thrummed, his very intention changing the world.
↞↠
Elijah shook off the last of his meditation. He had taken the longest out of the entirety of his little hunting party for the System to carve out his channels. They were carved along his bones, hundreds of channels. Most of the people got very simple patterns or just an outline of their body. His long meditation was the sign that he had a powerful build. It had taken two days to make, the second closest was six hours. Breathing a little easier, he rose straight to his feet from his cross-legged position without using his hands. His body responded immediately and extremely well to his prompting.
“Finally awake Bjorn?” A voice asked from the front of his tent. Elijah sighed and stepped from the leather flaps.
“Magnus, I told you I hate that name.”
“But you are The Bear! It’s all love baby.” Magnus grinned and gestured to the wild array of scars on Elijah’s arm. Magnus stood maybe 6’7”, with two large axes he wielded like handaxes. If anyone was The Bear, it was this tree of a man. He had brilliant blue eyes that became violent orbs of blue lightning when he activated his skills. He called himself ‘Thor’s Fist’ and no one argued with the title. The only hunter in their pod he respected was Elijah, who had managed to kill a direbear on his own, a feat that took Magnus several months to copy. A few months into the Tutorial, they had found several other Safe Points and banded together. Magnus came from the second pod, most of whom were a group of tourists who had been in an airport together.
“So Boss, when do we leave?” Magnus asked. Before Elijah’s meditation, they had been headed to a location a few hundred miles from his starting Safe Point. A week ago, the head Hunters and the leaders of the Safe Zone all received a quest from the System. He pulled the notification up for the millionth time.
Quest Assigned! Leaders of the Pack
The people of Earth have begun to adapt to the conditions of the Tutorial Space extremely well. But dangers lurk around every corner. Journey to the Senate Hall at these coordinates……
Establish yourself with the other leaders in the various human communities in the Tutorial. Band together or fall apart, a new challenge looms over the horizon either way. Good Luck!
Elijah sighed, tired of the shenanigans of the system. Every time that their community felt a little solid, it would throw something new at them. This new challenge terrified him though. He knew there are very few monsters scarier than other humans. He pulled up his Status Sheet to assure himself of his growth once again.
Status// Elijah Callahan//Level 35
Designation: Pioneer
Strength: 14-30
Dexterity: 12-27
Constitution: 9-19
Intelligence: 8-16
Wisdom: 9-20
Charisma: 5-30
Skills:
Aegisurge: Allow the user to reinforce their body, reducing damage and raising strength! The skill will grow more powerful with higher Strength and Constitution, as well as constant use.
First Step: When you want to go further than one step will take you, take a First Step. Allows the user to move through space to a spot within line of sight. This skill will grow more powerful with use.
Current limit: 15 Meters
Upgradeable.
Spearcall: Summon a golden spear to your hand. A weapon at your beck and call. The longer that the user goes between summons, the easier it will be to summon.
Upgradeable
Spear Mastery Intermediate: Allows the use higher attunement with the Spear weapon and increases their knowledge of the weapon and its use
Upgradeable
Affinities:
* Might(...)
* Space(...)
* Time(...)
He was no longer the scared teenager he had been six months ago. Even though stat gain seemed to slow for everyone after level 10, he had managed a pretty impressive spread. He had four solid skills, which was pretty average for hunters. Everyone had their First Threshold skill obviously, but after that someone was very lucky to gain more than one or two more. There were several of his hunting party that had over five skills, but they were generally less useful and more specific than skills like Elijah’s. His four allowed him pretty great control over his body and were flexible for whatever combat situation he was in. A calm assurance washed over him, and he nodded to Magnus.
“Get ready to move everyone out. We leave within the hour.”
“Yes Bjorn!” Magnus shouted with a grin and moved off to gather the troops.
Though Elijah was weary of whatever this Senate Hall held, he had some hope that Leto and his dad would be there. Though with every safe zone they connected with, he lost a little of the hope that had pushed him to this point.
↞↠
The feeling of his body spread among billions of grains of sand was frighteningly calming for Ben. The mana storm had crushed him to the desert ground and he had only managed to survive the first week by breaking down his physical body into just another part of the desert. In that moment, he gained several new skills to keep his sanity. His consciousness splintered and began a sort of hive mind, individual minds worked in tandem to move a greater whole. But each mind was him, every few square feet just another part of him. He could imagine that his friend Andrew would have panicked, his inherent anxiety exponentially growing and tearing himself apart. But Ben was always someone who took his own council and took comfort in his own thoughts. Adding several versions of those thoughts just brought him a strange peace.
He knew this method was unsustainable, especially if he ever wanted to return to a single body. Hive Ben had been pondering for a while before adopting a mental image that seemed accurate. The magic in the air had become much too dense, and there were paths for it to easily enter his body. The image started as a funnel, an idea to open a hole in his soul to funnel magic in without harming himself. That image turned slowly into one of an hourglass, the world was the top section and was packed to the brim of sand. He was the bottom part and needed to allow sand (the sand part of the metaphor resonated with him) to enter his soul. Ben activated his new skill and formed a body out of sand, but not all of it. One of his minds inhabited the body and began to carve a massive mana channel into his core. It took nearly a day, and when it was finished, the body was powerful. It moved faster, hit harder, and was bursting at the seams with magic. Which it did, burst at the seams. Hive Ben winced in unison as the body exploded into sand, flowing back into the greater whole.
The idea was right, the execution was very wrong. Four Bens formed and worked on a few different forms of the hourglass image. Three worked a little longer before collapsing, the fourth however was unable to finish. When it exploded, all the entirety of Hive Ben felt a sharp pain in their soul. Learning of the potential backlash, all attempts moving forward were done on one body with the support of the Hive. Slowly, the image evolved and he arrived at an ant hive (still full of sand). But the ants did not have one tunnel into and out of the queen’s den. But many spiraling and intersecting tunnels to allow for work flow and to prevent some flooding. Ben knew this one was correct, and formed one last body from all the sand. For the first time, all of Ben was back into one body and it was a little distracting at first. Ben Prime still existed, but as the days grew, each Ben had formed their own, slightly different, personality. They sent each to work on individual parts of his body. With the focus of many minds he had channels that were near as dense as Leto’s, at least in the body. When he was finished, he found his connection to the sand around him had grown substantially. He could even feel new Bens forming at the corner of his mind as his skill grew. A deep breath left him as his eyes opened, the sand rippling out in a circle. His irises were the colors of clay and sand, cracks separating the browns and red from the yellows and tans.
“I feel like such a main character right now.”
↞↠
“Mana channel implementation has a reported success rate of 99.999%.”
The casualties are not from our end.
“Yes, the outliers are those who accepted the meditation in unsafe spaces and were attacked by the native population or other participants. We have about twenty thousand reports of violence while undergoing the treatment. The other sixty or so thousand are beasts.
Acceptable. Reassign four hundred C-series homunculus to watch the Senate Hall event.
“We only have two hundred available C-series. What assignment should I pull from?”
Pull forty from Hunter Development, ten from A-series monitoring and the rest from Political Regulation.
“Yes Lord Spirit.”
The white room grew dim as the giant projection of the Ark Spirit disappeared from the Control Room. Light chatter broke out amongst the assembled homunculus’ that were working. Pulling any homunculus from Political Regulation was a major upset, and showed just how little every other endeavor of the Ark System mattered to Lord Spirit. Political Regulation ran every Embassy and all the established planets that the Ark System had acquired.
“Quiet.” said the lead Controller and the room immediately fell silent. “Rerun predictive outcomes for Senate population. Also run a simulation for Earth anomaly channel development. Hunter Development needs those figures.”
A small voice spoke up from one corner of the room “I thought non sentient developed nearly identical channels.”
The lead Controller made direct eye contact with the one homunculus who commented. “That is correct.”
“If the anomalies are non-sentient, why do we need a simulation?”
“Don’t argue with me, S367. Lord Spirit has classified them as non-sentients. Run the damn simulation before you get you or I…reassigned.” That shut the commenter up and the Control Resumed operating as maximum efficiency.