Chapter 35: A Foray Into The Forbidden_A Lich's Guide to Dungeon Mastery

Kelemnion was, as always, full of information. Useful, sometimes, and confusing in others. I felt certain that just learning about at least one of the numerous energy types would have driven someone without my Firewall insane.

I managed to get my hands on some catalogs, though most seemed to be rather limited in scope, simply covering energy types linked to a specific pairing of elements. Some of the most interesting ones that I’d found covered the elements that I could’ve had if I’d just swapped out one of my affinities for another.

The Space and Arcana elements all seemed to lead to different sections of the Greater Aethenium, so those were all relatively similar to what I could currently do, but swapping out my Space element led to some interesting results. By mixing Earth, Death, and Arcane, I could have created Archaix, an element that seemed like an archeologist’s wet dream. It could help a person find things that were long-forgotten by the living, and even resurrect fossils. Jurassic Park, anyone?

The Key was an element that seemed reminiscent of Eldritch, but replaced the latter’s Space with Arcane. Instead of representing abominable creatures that existed outside the scale of life and death, it was focused on pure knowledge, as was the case with many other elements with Arcane aspects. The difference between the elements of the Aethenium and The Key, also known as Ysothis, was that each element of the Aethenium focused on a specific kind of knowledge and presented it in a controlled way. Even my own Forbodum, which was known and feared for driving its users mad, merely gave you the option of delving into its Forbidden Knowledge.

The Key was different. As Space wasn’t involved in its formation, the wielders of The Key weren’t expected to enter its dimension, but The Key specifically interacted with The Gate, its linked dimension. The book that covered this specific element explained that time was a bit of a suggestion in certain planes, including both the Far Realm and The Gate.

In the Far Realm, time seemed to flow nonlinearly, speeding up and slowing down at random intervals, and even moving backwards. Creatures with powerful magic seemed to become increasingly immune to this effect, but because of the way that time worked, it was completely variable when a creature would become strong enough for this to occur. For example, the weakest beings in the Far Realm would be completely unaware of the time warping, but as their Eldritch affinity increased, their minds would become inured to the effect, allowing them to think at natural speeds when small adjustments to the speed of time occurred. Eventually, the creatures would be able to retain flashes of memory when time reversed, and even be able to watch as time shifted backwards.

The most powerful creatures in the Far Realm, the Servitors, could even bolster their physical bodies with their Eldritch powers to allow them to become entirely impervious to the detrimental effects of the chronal distortions, granting them immeasurable power within the realm. After all, in a world where time itself moved unpredictably, these creatures would be able to stand outside of the changes. If they were ever attacked, they would simply be able to walk away, and it would be as though they were never there.

The Gate, too, had an odd flow of time, but instead of simply flowing in a way disconnected from the rest of the multiverse, it was instead ahead. The Gate somehow existed in a time after the end of all things– a time when all possible knowledge had already been accrued. It acted as a library for all of that knowledge, except instead of cataloging it like other realms of knowledge, it stored that knowledge in every atom of the plane. Interacting with one of these endless packets of information would impart a single thought or concept upon an individual.

I had to look for a pair of books about biology and physics to do some quick math, but came to the conclusion that the average surface area of the human body in atoms was approximately one… followed by 18 zeros.

Thinking back to my background with tech, and a random tangent one of my teachers had gone on about how good of a computer the human brain was, I knew that the brain was thought to be able to process at about an exaFLOP per second, which was a billion-billion calculations– another 18 zeros. It could also store about 2.5 petabytes of data. Most computers tried to aim for 1 byte per flop. The human brain was probably better than that, but I didn’t know the exact numbers, so I just used that for the basic multiplication to show that a single second in The Gate would probably overload someone’s brain with an undecillion bytes of data, which was more than the mere 2.5 quadrillion the brain could handle by a factor of 400 quintillion.

Suffice it to say, The Gate drove people mad. As an extension of that, The Key’s primary purpose was to melt brains with information overload. Its victims often were rendered outright braindead.

Luckily for me, most users of The Key died pretty quickly, as touching their own magic without protections in place could outright kill them.

Eventually, I turned my attention away from the study of other advanced elements. While they were interesting and the knowledge would likely prove useful to me soon, that knowledge wasn’t the focus of my current venture into Kelemnion.

As soon as I turned my focus back to the odd crystal I’d found, the halls of Kelemnion seemed to darken a bit, and a rumble echoed out. Without even taking a step forwards, the library surrounding me shifted, bringing the relevant to the forefront.

A dark mist surrounded me, and maddened mutterings battered against my Firewall– this was the most Forbidden energy I’d ever seen in one place before.

Slowly, I allowed some of the knowledge enter my mind, and felt a spark of energy in the air.

An energy that wasn’t Forbodum.

Sparks of pure white electricity formed in the air around me, and a notification forced itself into my vision.

You have incurred the wrath of the Heavens. Tribulation incoming.

That was all I saw before my vision was engulfed in white.

----------------------------------------

For the first time ever, I had “died” to something other than my own experiments. It could be argued that I’d technically died to an outside attack when I’d been temporarily pushed back into my Repository by information overload the first time I’d entered Kelemnion, but that thought didn’t really cross my mind as my physical form melted and popped back into existence over and over again.

I was really starting to regret linking my spare bodies together with dimensional seams.

Eventually, the last of my clones had been reduced to a puddle on the floor, and I thought for a moment that the danger had passed.

Then there was a rumble of thunder around my Repository, and the lightning resumed.

The attack was all-encompassing and generalized, and while that meant that my mind, soul, and gem each experienced the fury of a thousand suns all at once, it also meant that my defenses overlapped. With the combined force of my mental shielding, Firewall, and the general sturdiness of my Repository, I weathered the storm of power that bore down upon me.

As my Mentum reserves fell, my power generation picked up to sustain them. Even so, I could feel my strength slowly draining. My Firewall was weakening, my Repository was quivering from the force it was subjected to, and even with my accelerated regeneration, I was running out of Mentum.

Facing the first real threat to my unlife since I’d met Azrael, I was panicked, but even so I pulled together every last dreg of my willpower, doing my utmost to keep myself together.

Eventually, after what felt like years of torment, the storm passed.

All at once, my defenses dropped. My Firewall had taken all it could, my Mentum reserves were dry, and my Repository was damaged, but I was alive.

Seif Ambrose

Ancient Seeker 5

Repository 3

* Infomorph 3

* Loci Server 3

* Firewall 5

* Available Boon (Multithreading, Functional Thoughts)

Forbodum Manipulation 3

* Esoteric Sight 4

* Conceptual Control 4

* Energetic Intent 5

* Available Boon (Concept Mimicry, Intentional Magic)

Occult Sovereignty 3

* Encompassing Knowledge 4

* Abstractive Influence 5

* Physical Influence 3

* Available Boon (Forceful Influence, Intelligent Influence)

Kelemnion’s Gate 2

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

* Library Pass 4

* Librarian’s Favor 3

* Available Boon (Omnipotent Reader, Omniscient Reader)

Dark Whispers 2

* Ancient Mutterings 3

* Inspiration 3

* Tutoring 0

Enhancements: Willpower x6, Reinforcement x1, Purity x1

Named Belongings: Antigo, Arachnomicon, Drachma’Uban, Fenrir, Caerbalope, Carnic

I stared at the long-forgotten list in confusion.

First off, what was Purity? And how had I gained an extra Enhancement across the board?

Possibly even more importantly, how the heck had I forgotten about my status? I was practically living in a video game world– any nerd’s dream, and I’d just been forgetting about the main way in which I was meant to be getting more powerful! My other projects were fun, sure, but this was just too far.

Before I unpacked anything, though, I knew that I had to go over the information that I’d gained during my last minutes in Kelemnion.

With the hope that it had been worth getting smote, I delved into my memories.

The first thing of note that I found was the nature of the gem. It was known as a Fragment of Divinity, and used a pure form of energy called “Mana.”

I found it odd how that translated into English, though. Every other form of magic thus far had merely been a brand of “energy,” but no matter how I tried to consider it or what words I attempted to compare it with, the word Mana just kept popping back into my head.

Anyways, the feeling I got from the books was weirdly scathing, like the authors had just hated it for some odd reason, but I supposed that lined up with the Whispers wanting me to destroy the thing.

The books had also covered a number of questions, some of which I hadn’t even had when I’d set off to Kelemnion.

The Purity entry in my Enhancements, for example, was a rather well-documented phenomena. It seemed to be caused by intense Mana exposure, like Tribulations. It cleaned out any energy that might be stored within you as a byproduct of leveling or other external sources, then replaced it with pure Mana, which was. For example, someone who got hit by a fireball might have a miniscule amount of the residual intent from that attack stored within their soul, or even some of the Pyrix if the attack was strong enough.

In my case, I was constantly surrounded by the energy of the Dead Belt. For an undead like me, that wasn’t really a huge problem, but the energy and intent from the area was slowly being stored within my spirit, as though I were constantly within the bounds of an AoE spell.

This would create a small amount of resistance to spiritual change, such as what happened when I accepted a new Boon or Enhancement. It would also create small inconsistencies in my intent, meaning just about every part of me would become more potent as a result of obtaining this Purity Enhancement.

That wasn’t what caused the Willpower and Reinforcement Enhancements, though. Those were also byproducts of the Tribulation. Mana was a pure energy, and in the face of that, no impurity could survive for long. My soul was cleansed, yes, but so were my Repository’s physical and mental components.

All those impurities would be replaced by trace amounts of Mana, which would slowly be integrated into every part of you and claimed, acting as a small but noticeable force multiplier. Fighters would find themselves more resistant to outside changes, and their bodies would react more to the spells they cast. Mages would find their energies reacting more fluidly to their intent. In every case, Mana hugely extended one’s natural lifespan.

The Tribulation sucked, yes, but overall? It was a pretty worthwhile endeavor. 10/10, would do again. Though, they would apparently get worse and worse every time, as the Mana would burn away deeper and deeper impurities, ones that were progressively more intrinsic to you, so… maybe I wouldn’t just yet.

I had more things to review, and then I would probably go mess with that Fragment of Divinity. Apparently, it was something like an energy crystal, but for Mana. Perhaps I could use it to power something, or give myself endless Enhancements?

Looking over my Skills was the next thing on the chopping block. I decided to go over my options from top to bottom, then make my decisions at the end.

My Repository could gain either Multithreading or Functional Thoughts. The former would allow me to perform an activity, then shift gears and think of something else without losing focus on the former activity. It sounded pretty simple, and at first I almost dismissed it as something I could replicate with Wisps, but there was actually a pretty strong synergy with it and a few of my other abilities. For example, I would be able to hold up a mental shield around my Repository, consciously manipulate my Mentum pool to increase my regeneration, and focus on other projects all at once.

Functional Thoughts was pretty similar, but instead of allowing me to set up repetitive or otherwise consistent thought processes, I would instead be capable of creating sequences of thought that could be carried out with a simple trigger.

One example would be the formation of runes. Currently, the fastest I could create a rune was with my domain abilities. If I’d carved a rune before, I could just copy it over, so long as I paid attention to all of the molecular coding that was normally handled by the intent of the carver. Still, it took some time and focus.

With Functional Thoughts, I could program a script that could run in the background and do all of that independently from me. I could snap a finger and have a rune write itself in front of me.

While Functional Thoughts was certainly useful, my current favorite was Multithreading. Still, I didn’t lock in my pick quite yet.

Concept Mimicry was a Boon that would teach me how to perfectly copy a foreign intent, so long as I could find trace amounts of it.

Pretty much, if I were able to come into contact with a rune or spell, I would be able to reproduce it and learn how it worked. Pretty fun.

Intentional Magic would give me more control over my own spells. I wasn’t exactly sure how that one worked, but it was based on Energetic Intent.

I didn’t really feel like I needed it, honestly. With my Occult Sovereignty, I was technically always in contact with my magic, which meant that I could manipulate it perfectly. Normal mages who cast a fireball wouldn’t be able to do much to it after it left their hands, but I would still have perfect control over it.

Speaking of Occult Sovereignty, I was starting to see something of a trend in the names of my Boons.

Forceful Influence would give my Physical Influence a bit more power, whereas Intelligent Influence would allow it to work more, well, intelligently.

The former would be pretty good in many situations. For example, if I decided to fill an area with Conceptium that focused on slowing things down, my Physical Influence would make people move a bit slower, attack a bit slower, and so on. Forceful Influence would increase the potency of that effect by up to double what it normally might be.

Intelligent Influence, on the other hand, would use devious means to achieve similar results. In the same situation, people might find themselves tripping, or dirt beneath their feet might turn to mud.

The former was always good, but the latter had the chance to be amazing. If I made adventurers cross a rickety bridge and filled the area with the idea of people falling to their deaths, Forceful Influence would just make people fall harder, whereas Intelligent Influence might push the bridge to break down in certain critical locations, increasing the likelihood of them dying.

Work harder, or work smarter?

Now for Omnipotent vs. Omniscient. The former was directly linked to Librarian’s Favor, and would actually give me domain-like effects while within Kelemnion. I’d be able to control the ground, books, and even bookshelves in the same way that I could with anything that my Occult Sovereignty had seeped into.

Omniscient Reader would let me create a catalog of books that I could reference at any time, and would let me tell with a glance how relevant a book’s information was to my situation.

Both options felt awesome, but simultaneously lackluster. My memory was perfect, and even if my ability to delve into it wasn’t, I could just replicate what I’d done with Fenrir and create an instant expert on whatever subject I needed help in.

At the same time, it wasn’t like I was getting into any fights in Kelemnion, so the former option was also sorta unneeded, so really it was just about which option felt more cool.

I picked up all my favorite options and reviewed my legend once more.