Chris frowned as he considered the problem of his subordinates. It was reaching the point where he had enough experience gathered between them all to facilitate major mutations, but he didn't have enough ability energy for them all, so he was having trouble figuring out who to mutate first. He supposed he could just go in order, mutating them in the order he connected them to his world, but… Well, he had no problem doing that for Dyrdek and the others, but there were a bunch of random kobolds in front of Ka'lypso and leaving her unmutated for that long felt wrong. His next thought was doing squad leaders first, and so on, but that would leave squads at different levels of power until almost everyone had mutated, which would hinder their progress through the Maze. That led him to the idea of mutating them in squads, but he still didn't know how to determine which squads would go first.
Obviously the most effective squads should go first, but how did he determine that? How much of the Maze they'd explored? How many creatures they'd captured or killed? How well they did in spars? Some combination of it all? And then what about the ones who didn't participate in any of that, like T'ka? He didn't think it would be fair to leave her out simply because she dedicated herself to a more administrative role. Particularly not since she handled all the things he didn't want to do. That service should be rewarded.
Ultimately though, he had to prioritize the intake of ability energy. The more ability energy he brought in, the more he could mutate. But he couldn't determine things just by ability energy… What if sixty percent of any ability energy gathered went to the squad that gathered it, then twenty to the squad that scouted it, ten percent to be split between the auxiliary personnel, and the final ten would go to him to do with as he pleased. That'd also work for any human that joined the Eternal Tribe and began working in the Maze… better than him trying to figure out who to mutate when. Have people earn their own damn ability energy.
Chris nodded as he solidified his plans. He briefly reviewed his memories, dividing his current ability energy based on each squad's contribution, before stuffing it into blocks of world material with the name of the squad and the amount of ability energy in points labeled on them. He then called all his subordinates together. “Alright guys, as you may have noticed, we're getting to the point where it's time to mutate yet again.” Chris announced. “However, I don't have enough ability energy to support that mutation, so-” He waved his hand and a wall appeared with all the blocks arranged on it. “-each squad will now be in charge of gathering its own ability energy. If you kill a creature, your squad will get sixty percent of the ability energy. If you scout out a creature pack or tribe, your squad will get twenty percent of the ability energy. Ten percent of every kill will be shared among all the support personnel based on the quality and quantity of their work, determined by me, while the last ten percent will be for me to allocate as I see fit. Each squad is free to split the ability energy they earn between themselves as they see fit. I've already separated our current supply of ability energy according to the metric, feel free to see how much you have, and when you're ready to mutate, just call me. Any questions?”
“Can we trade ability energy?” Firbolt asked.
Chris blinked. “If you like… I'm not sure why you'd want to though.”
“For goods and services!” Firbolt grinned. “If I make a good trap that another squad uses to gather a bunch of ability energy, I want to be compensated!”
“I would pay not to deal with any of your damn traps.” Dyrdek grumbled.
“That works too.” Fribolt snickered.
Chris shrugged. “If you can convince people to give you their ability energy, that's between you and them. Do with that what you will. Anything else?”
“How much ability energy do we need before we can mutate?” Dyrdek asked.
Chris cocked his head. “Not sure… based on the progression so far, you'll need more than a hundred thousand points worth, maybe up to a million. I'll know more once Ver'varia finishes mutating. Probably. Of course, that's only if you want to take your ability straight to the peak. Otherwise, mid-tier starts at a hundred points, high-tier at a thousand, superior at ten thousand, and omega-tier supposedly starts at a hundred thousand. Be warned, if you hit the physical peak before your ability does, you'll be locked out of being a cultivator. Well, through mutation at least. You can still use the system to increase your ability energy.”
“Isn't it better to use the system to improve our skills?” Dyrdek frowned.
“At the moment, yes, because mutation is a better way to increase your ability energy, but if you lock yourself out of that by mutating prematurely, then the system becomes your only option.” Chris explained. “Any more questions?” He asked again, looking around. “Alright, then get back to it. The faster you grow, the faster we can conquer the Maze.”
*
Ver'varia shuddered as the cocoon dissolved around her, gasping for air. “That- was the single most disturbing thing I've ever experienced!”
“Really?” Chris cocked his head. “I find mutation rather relaxing.”
“You find it relaxing to feel your body dissolve around you?!?” Ver'varia asked incredulously.
Chris paused. “Yes?”
Ver'varia glared at him. “There is something wrong with you.”
Chris nodded. “Most likely. What's your point?”
Ver'varia shook her head, going to run her fingers through her hair in frustration, before freezing, eyes widening as she stared at the clawed monstrosities that had replaced her long, delicate fingers. “What-” She glanced down at the rest of her body and let out a shriek as she took in the leathery hide that had replaced her skin, covered in bony protrusions forming rigid plates and spikes.
“Calm down and focus on turning back to normal.” Chris rolled his eyes. Ver'varia glanced at him hesitantly before taking a deep breath and doing as he said. She took another look at herself and let out a sigh of relief as she found herself back in her old body. “See? You're fine. Do you want clothes now?”
Ver'varia froze before nodding stiffly. “Yes, I would like clothes.”
“There.” Chris waved, and a set of clothes appeared on her. “Now for the real question. Do you think you're a cultivator?”
Ver'varia blinked. “I- I'll need to try cultivating.” She closed her eyes.
“Wait.” Chris held up a hand, opening a portal to Victoria. “Could you give her the system? See how much ability energy she has?”
“Sure.” Victoria nodded, walking over and placing a hand on Ver'varia's shoulder, sending her the system. “Huh… She has three hundred and thirty-three thousand, three hundred and thirty-three points. That seems… significant.”
Chris cocked his head. “Huh… Well, mid-tier starts at three times your physical power, high-tier at nine, superior at twenty-seven, and omega at eighty-one… maybe this World just really likes the number three?”
Ver'varia frowned at them. “Do I want to know why you people keep referring to ‘this’ world?”
“Probably not.” Chris shrugged. “Come on, let's see if you can cultivate.” He waved, opening a portal to the Maze.
“Why can't I just cultivate here?” Ver'varia asked hesitantly.
“Because then you'd be taking my energy.” Chris replied as if it was obvious. “Though technically your energy is my energy, but still, I'd rather you take it from the environment than from me.”
Ver'varia shook her head. “Whatever.” She stepped into the Maze and found a relatively flat surface to sit on, before closing her eyes and turning her focus inward. She went over the exercises her father had made her practice since she was just a little girl. With his position and her physique and ability, it was almost guaranteed she'd become a cultivator one day, and he'd wanted her to be prepared. A part of her ached at the thought of what Jer'tunal had taken from them, before she locked it away and focused on the exercises.
The first and most difficult step was to become aware of all the energy in your body. Once you had an awareness of it, you could slowly start to influence it, gathering it all towards your ability core. Then you had to condense it all down as far as it would go into a tight little ball until… Ver'varia froze as her body pulsed and she let out a small gasp. A bubble of energy bloomed from within her core, spreading through her body until it settled just past the surface of her skin, coating her completely. Ver'varia yelped as she slowly began to float up from the ground, then again as gravity reasserted itself, before frowning as she realized she'd barely felt anything.
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“That was interesting.” Chris muttered, having watched the process by extending his world around her. The ability energy had reached a sort of critical mass and begun producing this field that covered Ver'varia completely. “But I don't see you bringing in any ability energy.”
“Give me a minute!” Ver'varia hissed. The following steps had mostly been theoretical for her, since she couldn't actually do it without being a real cultivator. She closed her eyes, bringing her attention back to her ability core, focusing on the speck that her ability energy had become. She pulled at the speck with all her will, barely even budging it, but as the speck even slightly expanded, ability energy began to flow towards her, getting drawn down into her core and condensed, slowly growing it, until her head began to ache and she had to stop. She grimaced as she opened her eyes again. “I need a better cultivation method.”
“What did you do?” Chris asked, frowning slightly.
“I just pulled at my ability core.” Ver'varia explained. “In order to draw in ability energy, you need your ability core to develop, and the easiest way to do that is to expand it in some way. Unfortunately, it's also the most taxing method, so it's difficult to keep up for longer than a few moments, but I don't know any better methods.” She sighed. “Cultivators don't exactly share their methods with the general public.”
“Is there a sect you could join or something?” Victoria asked curiously.
Ver'varia frowned. “What's a sect?”
Victoria clicked her tongue. “I guess not then. Do you all just have to figure things out for yourselves?”
Ver'varia gave her a weird look. “You- might be able to learn something from a friend, or some sort of master/apprentice arrangement. Otherwise yes, you just have to figure things out on your own.”
Victoria frowned. “That seems… inefficient. Wouldn't everyone grow faster if people shared what they knew?”
“Possibly, but the more you share, the higher the chance your enemies will learn your methods as well.” Ver'varia replied. “Most people would rather cripple themselves than lend a hand to their enemy.”
“That's a depressing view of hu- er… sapient nature?” Victoria cocked her head as she fumbled for a different term to describe how people worked other than human nature. “Anyway, I would hope that people would be better than that. I mean, I understand not wanting your enemies to benefit from your actions, but to take it to the point of crippling yourself just to keep them from even maybe benefiting… that just seems excessive.”
Ver'varia shrugged helplessly. “I don't know what to tell you. All I know is cultivators don't want their methods spreading outside the kingdom.”
Victoria grimaced, shaking her head. “Ridiculous.”
“It wouldn't matter anyway.” Chris shrugged. “It isn't like we can just walk up and ask a cultivator for their methods even if they were sharing them. Not if every cultivator would be required to take an oa-” Chris froze. “Hey, Ver'varia? How do they track new cultivators down to make them take an oath?”
Ver'varia frowned. “They- don't need to? You're either born a cultivator, or you become one after being granted an enhancement potion. Either way, someone is there to observe and report your status.”
Chris paused. “Right… I was worried the Elves might be able to sense that someone just became a cultivator, which would be bad for us. You did sort of pulse there. I could see someone noticing something like that.”
Ver'varia hesitated. “I- can't say it's impossible for someone to notice… I'm not exactly an expert in matters of cultivation. My father made sure I knew the basics, and that was already a lot for a mortal, something he only accomplished due to his relationship with a few cultivators he crafted weapons for.”
Chris shrugged. “Fair. Either way, it's already done. We'll just have to deal with it. Now, what's up with this energy field?”
Ver'varia blinked. “It's- uh, it's the physical manifestation of your ability energy. At least, that's what my father was told. Basically it makes you sturdier and lets you fly.”
Chris raised an eyebrow. “That's it?”
“Well, it's formed from your ability energy, so it can have additional traits based on what your ability is, but I've heard those are minor until your cultivation grows.” Ver'varia replied.
“Interesting.” Chris muttered. “Well, I guess that's all I have. You want to stick around and hunt for some ability cores? You'll need those for your cultivation, right?”
Ver'varia nodded. “Yes. The higher the energy density in the area, the more efficient your cultivation.”
“That seems pretty obvious.” Victoria rolled her eyes.
Ver'varia sighed. “Let's just go. I want to see what it's like having power for once.”
*
“Hahahaha! Die you little fucks, die!” Ver'varia cackled, claws ripping out throats and spikes driving into skulls as she danced through a horde of goblinoids.
“She seems to be enjoying herself.” Chris commented, sitting on a nearby ledge, sipping on a ‘thai tea’ he'd picked up from a little Vietnamese restaurant he'd visited while placing beacons on Earth. “This is delicious, by the way. Want to try it?”
“I can't support your insistence on ordering literally every item on the menu every time we visit a restaurant.” Victoria rolled her eyes. “The fact you're making Christine pay for it just makes it worse.”
“We're literally doing their job for them.” Chris retorted. “The least they can do is buy us food.”
“A meal, sure, not the entire damn menu!” Victoria countered.
“Agree to disagree.” Chris waved dismissively, before taking another sip. “Seriously, this is really good.”
Victoria let out a defeated sigh. “Fine, give me a glass.” Chris smirked slightly as he handed it over, Victoria shooting him a glare as she took it. She froze as she took a sip. “Damn it… that is good.”
Ver'varia stumbled over, panting slightly with a satisfied smile, before pausing as she saw the two of them just sitting there with their drinks. “Are- are you two having a picnic?!? While I was massacring an entire freaking tribe!?!”
Chris paused. “You looked like you were having fun? Did you enjoy your new battle form?”
Ver'varia flushed slightly. “It- was more comfortable than I thought it would be… like it was made for combat!”
“That's probably because it was.” Chris shrugged. “Mutations tend to follow people's desires unless otherwise directed. You've always wanted to be able to fight, so you got a form designed for fighting.”
Ver'varia let out a satisfied sigh. “It just felt so liberating! I didn't need to worry about perfection, I just had to kill! To rip and tear to my heart's content, instead of huddling in fear, afraid a stray blast might end my life!”
Chris chuckled. “I'm glad you're happy.” He opened a portal. “Just remember that feeling while you're scooping your mess into my world. Unless you don't want all that ability energy?”
Ver'varia froze, glancing back at the pile of bodies she'd left. “You- you aren't going to help?”
“I give you immortality, make you a cultivator, and now you want me to clean up your mess for you?” Chris raised an eyebrow. “Do you want me to wipe your ass as well?”
Ver'varia coughed. “No, I'll- I'll be fine…” She glanced around, before letting out a sigh and moving to the pile, picking up the first body and dragging it to the portal.
“I will give you a wheelbarrow.” Chris chuckled, popping a wheelbarrow into existence for her.
“Couldn't you just call your subordinates over to help?” Victoria asked under her breath as Ver'varia continued to move bodies.
“I could but what has she done to deserve such help?” Chris replied, raising an eyebrow. “She went wild and tore through an entire tribe. Why should my other subordinates have to suffer for it? Besides, they have their own ability energy to collect. I can't constantly call them to help Ver'varia just because she makes a bigger mess.”
“You call them to help you when you make a huge mess.” Victoria pointed out.
“And I made them immortal and gave them power.” Chris grinned. “Of course they should do things for me.”
Victoria paused. “Well, I can't exactly argue with that… I guess I'm just used to giving the system out for free.”
Chris cocked his head. “You do, huh? You should totally take ten percent of every point people earn. Or even one. But I'd go for ten. Maybe twenty… no ten. Ten is good.”
Victoria's expression twisted. “I guess… it just feels so unearned. I'd be getting a massive amount of points for doing essentially nothing.”
“No, you'd be getting a massive amount of points for providing people the tools necessary to improve themselves on a fundamental level.” Chris retorted. “Sure, it's easy for you, but it doesn't make it any less valuable.”
Victoria sighed. “I guess you have a point. I just don't like being handed things, and that's what it feels like. I want to earn my power, you know?”
Chris frowned. “Not really, no. Power is a means to an end. The more power I have, the more ends I can accomplish. How I get that power doesn't really matter to me.”
Victoria considered that for a moment, before shaking her head. “Agree to disagree.”