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Aloft
Chapter 33

Chapter 33

“What?” Alex asked, still looking at his tiny golem defender. He could feel an odd connection between him and the summoned creature, but it was worlds different from the connection he had with his Orbs or V.V.

“I said that thing is gross. It’s like a child tried to build a mudball and failed miserably.” V.V. said as she floated a little further away from Alex and the monstrosity.

“Ha! I haven’t seen you react to something like this before. Its name is Muntan and it’s pretty cute if you ask me.” Alex said and held a handout, palm up, as if asking for the paw of a dog.

V.V. stared at Alex with her expressionless eye but would have vomited if she’d had the capability. There was something wholly mishappen about the creature in her eyes. Alex and the other creatures she’d encountered since coming to this tiny world were oddly shaped of course but so different that it didn’t stir any disgust inside her. This thing was the worst attempt at being round that she’d ever seen. Sure, she knew about golems, automatons, puppets and so on that attempted to mimic her kind but this thing… yuck. Chills ran through the majestic globe that was Vibrant Void, and she turned away from the abomination, knowing immediately who should be the first to charge the Zone’s boss.

Alex ignored V.V.’s reaction in favor of having his new companion do a few simple tricks after realizing it wasn’t anywhere near as sentient as she was. He asked it several questions and it could respond to simple requests but only the most basic ones. ‘Hold your left arm up’ was too complicated a command, as it required the creature to discern its left from right. Telling it to raise the arm that he was pointing at worked fine though. Running through different commands for a while and figuring out what did and didn’t work was fun for Alex but before too long he refocused himself on his other tasks. Looking back to the list of companions, he wasted no more time and summoned Rayzor. It was like a firework had exploded in the tiny room. Directly in front of Alex, a bright light and explosion happened as his ears rang furiously and his vision was obscured in bright streaks.

“Aaaagh!” Alex screamed, clinched his eyes closed and covered his ears while rolling away from the anomaly. He felt the healing of his Orbs and within seconds the ringing in his ears and the light streaks across his eyes faded. Blinking away the remnants of the visual disturbance, he noticed that the room was lit up more than it had been. Ruby and Opal both put off light and Ruby much more so than Opal, but it was similar to a torch at best. The room was now flooded with the brightness of a high-powered lightbulb. Turning back to the center of the room, slowly and with a hand guarding his eyes, Alex could see what had caused the commotion.

Floating in the middle of the room was what looked like a loosely packed ball of electric energy. It stayed still but moved frantically all at the same time. Bolts of hair thin lightning crackled off in random directions constantly but were forced to return once they arced too far out. This new entity, which Alex knew could only be Rayzor, was about the size of a basketball when its energy flared out and as small as a bowling ball when the energy collapsed. There was no obvious core to the being and could be seen cleanly through when the energy moved far enough away from the center. Thicker bolts seemed to materialize from the centermost spot, join the other bolts and unravel slowly into the thinner strands that moved sporadically. It was hard to tell if the tiniest strands dissipated or formed with other bolts over time. While hard to look for very long, Alex again felt that he’d gotten a very impressive companion.

“Uh…” Alex started to say more but he felt the energy focus on him. There were no eyes or any other obvious body parts composing the ball of power, but he knew it was looking at him.

“Err… hello?” Alex said.

ZzzzZzkzkk… came from Rayzor at Alex’s question. It was hard to tell if it was supposed to be words or if the electric being was just making noises.

“V.V… do you…” Alex grasped for his lifeline in hopes that his extremely knowledgeable companion had an answer to his questions, but she cut him off.

“No idea. It could be cursing your ancestors for all I know. That being said, it should be able to respond to basic commands at the very least, like… that thing.” V.V. said and shuddered visibly when she glanced from Rayzor to Muntan.

Snort

Alex couldn’t help the laughter that escaped him at the sight of the usually composed and dependable V.V, being obviously disturbed by his new guardian. “V.V… really, it’s just a little bundle or rocks. No need… to get so bent out of… shape.” Alex said, trying to talk through his laughter.

“Imagine for a moment, another of your kind is tortured and experimented on to the point their bodies warp, stretch and boil into a deformed, shambling monster. Their once smooth skin, uniform limbs and appropriately placed hair patches are all completely distorted and malformed. That’s what I’m looking at when I see that… thing.” V.V. said and Alex was horrified. He looked from V.V. to Muntan and back again.

“Muntan was like you!? I thought he was just born this way… I’m s…” Alex quickly said but again was cut off by V.V.

“What? Of course not. That abomination was probably crafted from some dingy dirt on some backwater planet where eyes haven’t begun to evolve yet, seeing as it’s so grotesque to the visual senses.” V.V. said casually.

“…Why bring up a human being tortured and experimented on then?” Alex said, after a few moments of being baffled and managing to collect his whiplashed emotions. He’d thought that he’d accidentally been making fun of her species being experimented on, which horrified him. Only moments later he found that she’d fabricated the whole thing in an attempt to paint a grotesque picture.

“That’s what I imagine when I see it. I did say to imagine it.” V.V. said, oblivious to the turmoil she’d inflicted on Alex, in just a few words. She was so in tune with him at times to the point of knowing exactly what he wanted or needed before he’d even spoken and then were times like this.

“Right… Well, you made me think some horrific shit happened…” Alex said, hoping V.V. wouldn’t start telling wildly inaccurate stories to make points in the future.

“Apologies. Reflecting on my words, I see that they could have easily been taken to mean something literal.” V.V. said, momentarily looking at Alex and then quickly shifting her attention back to Rayzor.

Alex sat in silence for a few moments, taking in what V.V. had said and not knowing what else he should or even could say that would matter. The misunderstanding was wild but very short-lived, so he tried to shove it to the back of his mind. Rayzor continued to float in the middle of the room, giving off brilliant golden light as it sparked endlessly. Not knowing what to do with his new creature, he decided to leave it right where it was and focus on his final task of the night. Looking over the list of skills, the obvious choice had to be one of the Orb Spells. All three of them were over seventy thousand credits, which luckily still fit within his remaining budget. Shadow, Blazing and Frosted were the available options and since Opal and Ruby had at least a small amount of ice and fire built directly into them, the choice was easy. He selected Shadow Orb and confirmed his purchase. The Spell flowed into his mind in a cool stream of refreshing energy. Not for a moment did he feel any pain and again, he felt that he really needed to figure out why some things made his mind want to melt. As the cool sensation faded, a new panel appeared.

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Shadow Orb (1)

Forms an Orb of Shadow Energy that can be made to launch at a target or remain near the caster for a period of time. Class enhancements are applied.*

Shadow Damage: 100 (125)*

Range: 60ft (75ft)*

Cast Time: 5s (3.75s)*

Duration: 5m (6.25m)*

Cooldown: 15s (11.25s)*

“Class enhancement… Hmm. So, anything that has to do with Orbs will be affected by my Class?” Alex said half to himself and V.V.

“I know of certain Class’s that do affect skills that align with them, but to say that everything will be affected isn’t assured. For the time being we can assume that anything that directly mentions Orbs will be affected though.” V.V. said slowly moving around the room in the opposite direction from where Muntan was slowly waddling.

Alex watched as his incredibly brave and reliable companion slowly fled from the tiny pile of adorable rocks. He smiled to himself as he went over his options and looked at his last two tokens. V.V. recommended that he save the A-Grade for a Governor Companion, and he agreed with her. If he wasn’t looking towards something after this fight, he knew his thoughts would turn to dark places. Saving the token meant that he had something to look forward to and that cemented the idea. The last token to be designated was his X-Grade and although he knew it was going to be used on one of the Evolving Companions, indecision was sneaking back into his brain.

“I’m saving the A-Grade Token for a Governor after we take the Zone and I’m about to summon one of the X-Grade Evolving Companions… thoughts?” Alex asked V.V. yet again.

“I think that is a perfectly fine decision. Using the tokens on spells or abilities at this point isn’t going to help you in the coming fight. There are high grade armors you could look into but anything at X-Grade would require a power source or copious amounts of Mana to operate.” V.V. said, mixing a new concoction while still slowly circling the room as Muntan kept up its endless circular journey.

“…I didn’t even think about power armor or something! They don’t come with a starter power source or something?” Alex said, his choices once again exploding in his mind.

“There are certain types that use ambient Mana to operate but it wouldn’t function well or possibly at all with how low the Mana is here.”

“I thought the Mana was really high here and the whole reason the System gave me Mana Tolerance was so it wouldn’t warp or kill me, right?”

“It is very high for just starting out, but nothing compared to where it will be one day. I’d think the highest areas of Mana won’t be able to sustain an X-Grade ambient Mana armor for at least 10 more years.” V.V. said, swerving the second part of Alex’s question.

“…Ok. So, the rest don’t come with a power source?”

“There is a small possibility that some armor will come with a power source but it’s unlikely. Most things that require power are sold separately from the power source. There are power sources that will last hundreds if not thousands of years, so to gain more Credits sellers separate them.”

“But I’m buying from the System though, why would it separate the power source?”

“The System operates the way the majority operates.”

“Oh… Since the majority of people separate the power source then the System just follows along.”

“Correct.”

“Well, that sucks.”

“Not if you’re selling a power source.”

“Assholes…” Alex mumbled to himself and tried to focus back on X-Grade Companions.

“Is there any way at all for me to know what kind of Evolving Companion I’ll be getting?”

“It will have the ability to Evolve obviously, but it will start out without much ability other than whatever its racial traits are. If you’re lucky it may also have a few useful additions like my Map, Detect and Search skills. Ah, Lifestyle spells are standard for any companion above B-Grade.”

“Are Dazzle and Consume your racial abilities and what do you mean by ‘standard’?”

“They are rare racial abilities, but my kind also have abilities not listed in our Status. The unlisted abilities are closer to what you would consider senses, such as Touch or Smell. The System adds Lifestyle spells and other skills or abilities depending on what you’re purchasing. I’m unsure why certain things are added but I’ve never seen a summoned companion not have Lifestyle spells if they were B-Grade or higher.”

“I guess it’s good to always have that bit of extra utility added to companions. It would be nice to know exactly what and why the System does things in the future… So, is your Telekinesis part of your senses then?”

“Yes. It is a basic ability of my kind and of those like myself. It does not level directly like other abilities and instead is strengthened by my Attributes increasing. As for knowing why the System does certain things, that’s something to worry about far into the future.”

“If I’m ever at a point where my life is boring again, I’ll investigate the System, I guess. As for having Telekinesis built directly into you, that’s pretty wild.”

“Thumbs are impressive as well.”

“Ha! You’re right. Back on the subject of picking my next companion; do you think their names reflect what kind of abilities or beings they are? Muntan sounds like ‘Mountain’ and Rayzor could maybe be loosely linked to ‘Rays of Light’. I thought it was going to look more like a ‘Razorblade’ at first but the thought process still kind of fits.”

“I believe you’re making it fit a bit, but I do see where you’re coming from. I see no issue in summoning something based off analyzing its name. If it fits, good, if not, no harm done other than needing to reevaluate your picking methods.”

“Right, then I’ll look over them one last time and just go with my gut.”

“I look forward to hearing your reasoning.”

Alex pondered over his five choices for his Evolving Companion one last time. He felt that summoning V.V. had actually been easier for some reason. V-N9000 sounded robotic, Liquid V200 felt sports drinkish, Fluff2.0 was marshmellowy, UpgradeV made him think of car oil for some reason and 9M gave the mental image of bullets. He remembered how he chose V.V. because her name didn’t feel as menacing as the other options and that had worked out very well for him. His nemesis, choice paralysis, was starting to rear its evil head again and he had to calm himself down before he started to panic. He breathed deeply, put his head in hands for a few moments and ultimately decided to avoid the responsibility entirely.

“V.V, pick a number between one and five please.”

“Four.” V.V said, not even taking a moment to wonder why he was asking him such an odd question out of nowhere. She was fully content to continue her slow escape from Muntan and testing slight variations in her poisons.

“Fluff it is!” Alex said and immediately purchased Fluff2.0 before he could think about it any longer.

Alex looked around the room for the new companion but didn’t see or hear anything new. He lifted himself up with only slightly sore muscles so he could look under himself but still he found nothing. He sat back down and ran a hand through his hair only to stop halfway through. His hand brushed against something soft, and he grabbed at it. The ball of fur that he pulled away from his head was about the size of a tennis ball in his hand when gripped loosely. Looking at the fur ball, it was checkered with white and black squares no matter which way he turned it. Visually, it was hard to look at for long as it didn’t make sense to his eyes. He could see the fur move as he rolled it from one hand to the next, but the pattern stayed fixed as if it were being projected onto the furry entity. Once he decided that’s what it looked like, it became easier to accept it with his mind and looking directly at it became easier.

“V.V, are you seeing this?” Alex asked, bewildered.

“Intriguing, I wonder why it looks like that. Ask it, maybe it knows.” V.V. said, truly curious for the first time in a while.

“Uh… Fluff2.0? Horrible name…” Alex said, mumbling the last part to himself. As he said the name, two large eyeballs popped open on the fluffy creature. Alex immediately jolted and tossed his new companion into the air.

Aaaaagh! “Shit!” Alex yelled as he reached out to catch the plummeting creature. As he reached for the small critter it whipped out a tendril of its fur and attached itself to the ceiling. Alex’s hand passed just under it as its momentum halted and began to bob up and down slightly, as if hung from a bungy cable. Looking at it now, the pattern continued to remain stationary on its body, even repeating over and over the thin strands that held it to the dome. He sat, watching as his new ally stared directly at him with two almost bulging eyes that looked almost human other than the shining blood red iris’s.

“Well, that’s fucking creepy…” Alex said, and then mentally took back his comment on it being ‘creepy’ and upgraded it to ‘horrifying’ as the furball opened a mouth strait out of hell that was rimmed in razor sharp nightmare fuel teeth.

“Cool.” V.V. said, looking at the new companion. Alex said nothing as his mouth hung loose at both the horror show he was seeing from the fur covered demon and also at V.V. because of her insane comment. His life had been so thoroughly derailed and just when he was starting to think he had a grasp on things, he’d acquired a lamprey eel masquerading as a disheveled tennis ball, fantastic. He only hoped that when he threw the thing at his enemies, they’d have a similar reaction to his own.

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