Chapter 030 (Proofread)
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“ “ for speech.
* * for actions.
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Asunder Online (and all its chapters) by fidelc123 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Full Thanks to Mecani and CanadianBacon for proofreading
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After Jack and his follower reached the hill with the friendly kobolds, he had to search for a few hours before he found a guide. His companion was surprised when Jack gestured him to crawl into the underbrush after the kobold. After a few minutes of travelling through underground passages, they were in the room of the Kobold Chief with the huge magical bonfire.
Kobold Chief: “Greetingss Human Jack, how can I help you? I ssee you have brought a guesst.”
Jack: “Oh hi there Chief! I just brought him along to meet Irfit.”
Kobold Chief: “Be careful. It is unwisse to take those who are unworthy.”
Jack: “Not a problem, Chief. I already discussed it with Irfit. So can I use your fire?”
Kobold Chief: “Of coursse human Jack. Do you need our shamanss to prepare?”
Jack: “That won’t be necessary Chief. I can manage.
Jack: *addresses his companion* “Well Bob, let us go meet Irfit now shall we?”
Bob: “What exactly am I supposed to do? I don’t want to be burnt to death.”
Jack: “Well just hold my hand, and I will do the rest.”
Jack and Bob grasp each other’s hand. Both of them look uncomfortable at the act, but proceed nevertheless. Jack concentrates and channels soulfire mana. He imagines a layer of it coating him and his companion, with their grasped hands as the intermediary. After a few seconds they are both covered in a thin flickering layer of translucent orange flames.
The heat from the magical bonfire felt like a warm breeze to them. Hand in hand, like a couple, they approached the huge magical bonfire. He warned his companion not to let go of his hand unless he wanted to be burnt to a crisp, and proceeded to step into the planar fire portal.
After experiencing a few seconds of gut-wrenching feeling, they arrived in what looked like a throne room made of flames. There was an eerie humanoid figure at the end. It was made completely of flames. It was fluid and formless, with its borders shimmering and flowing.
As they approached it, the figure seemed to stabilize and a mouth formed on its formless face. On his side, there was what looked like a lizard of flames. He assumed that it was Charlie. However, as he approached it, the fire lizard retreated and hid behind Irfit’s throne. Irfit’s expression creeped out Jack, but he greeted Irfit nevertheless.
Jack: “Greetings Irfit.”
Irfit: “Welcome to my domain Spirit Eater. I see that you brought a guest. A candidate for a pact I presume?”
Jack: “Yes. Can I stop channeling soulfire over both of us? It takes quite a bit of focus to do so.”
Irfit: “Of course. In my domain, if I wanted to burn you your flimsy mana construct wouldn’t help at all.”
Jack: *lets go of his companion’s hand and relaxes visibly* “That fire spirit hiding behind your throne, is that Charlie?”
Irfit: “Yes.”
Jack: “Then why is it scared of me? It seems to like me a lot when I summon it.”
Irfit: “It senses the ravenous abomination in you, Spirit Eater. In human terms, Charlie is still a child and follows its instincts.”
Jack: “I see. I had a battle with a seed of the blight though. I am glad I had a spirit pact with you, else I wouldn’t have been sure of the outcome.”
Irfit: “You tread a fine line Spirit Eater. You could have fought against the blight completely.”
Jack: “I did fight against it. The seed is destroyed, isn’t it?”
Irfit: “Yet you willingly allowed its shadow to defile your body. With my aid, even if your will failed, you would have been a conduit for my power against the Blight.”
Jack: “I know. But the cost for it wouldn’t have been to my liking. Clearly my decision is acceptable to you; otherwise we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
Irfit: “Enough. So who is the guest here today?”
Jack: “Bob here was a Guardian of Gaia fighting the seed with his soul. I encountered him while destroying the seed of the blight with my abomination and your aid. After that, he seemed to be distressed at the change of Gaia’s connection. So I just enlightened him to his new power of Hate.”
Irfit: *laughs* “Interesting. It has been quite a while before an Afflicted has visited me. An Afflicted Warrior is not suited for a pact with me Spirit Eater. However, it has been centuries till I met one so I will be generous this time.”
Irfit: *addresses Bob* “So Afflicted. Are you ready for my gift?”
Bob: “What must I do, Irfit?”
Irfit: “I will need permission to read your thoughts, Afflicted. After attuning to your being, I will grant you a portion of my power, tailored to you.”
Bob: “And the price of this gift, Irfit? Spirits seldom bestow gifts without cost.”
Irfit: “You are a warrior of Gaia, Afflicted. All I require from you is to fight the blight, which you will even if I don’t ask you so.”
Bob: “Then why the gift?”
Irfit: “Your awakening foreshadows a calamity by the blight, Afflicted. A bit of my power will aid you to combat it.”
Bob: “I agree to it then, Irfit.”
Jack: ‘what an asshole. He bargained so much from me… but is giving Bob his power almost for free.’
Irfit: “Come here then, Afflicted. Let go of your hate, as much as you can, and allow me to read your memories.”
Bob then approached Irfit’s throne and kneeled before him. He closed his eyes and focused inwards. Jack noticed that the purple black layer of energy coating him almost disappeared. His companion then opened his eyes and addressed Irfit.
Bob: “I am ready Irfit.”
Irfit then places a hand on his head. For an instant, the skin on his head turned translucent orange and the bones underneath were visible. Irfit then places one of his flaming fingers over his companion’s heart. What looked like a fine thread of soulfire penetrated Bob’s body.
Irfit: “It is done, Afflicted. Use my gifts well.”
Jack: “That was quick. It took a lot longer while you did that for me. Also don’t I get a bonus for bringing an interesting companion?”
Irfit: “Perception of time is not absolute, Spirit Eater. Hmm, I suppose you do deserve a gift for actions in your first encounter with the blight and aiding his awakening. What kind of spell would you like?”
Jack: “A short range teleport would be nice.”
Irfit pondered for a bit and then flicked his hands, and an item flickered into existence. It looked like a small barn lantern (hurricane lamp), completely made out of translucent orange flames. He handed the lamp to Jack. He held the lantern and gazed at Irfit with a questioning gaze.
Jack: “And what is this supposed to be exactly?”
Irfit: “That Spirit Eater, is something which I had crafted a long while ago. I call it the Planar Pharos. And now, you face a choice.”
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Jack: “Thanks for the Planar Pharos. What is it supposed to be exactly, and what is the choice I face?”
Irfit: “The Planar Pharos, is something I have long outgrown. However, in Terra it will be quite a valuable artifact. If you exit my domain with it, you will have a powerful artifact. By channeling mana to it, it will allow you to teleport a short range, every once in a while.”
Irfit: *pauses* “There is an alternative. You can attempt to devour its spirit in my domain. Doing that, will help you obtain the ability of the artifact.”
Jack: ‘Hmm so I either get a very valuable item, or a spell. Either way, it adds a mobility skill to my arsenal.’
Jack: “What would be the relative advantages and disadvantages of acquiring the spell, as opposed to keeping the artifact?”
Irfit: “Difficult to predict exactly. Keeping the artifact will allow you to use a reasonably strong ability from the get go. However, you will be able to use the ability stored in the Planar Pharos a lot less frequently than that of a spell. Also if you lose the artifact, you lose the ability. You could also intentionally trade the artifact for something of potentially greater value to you.”
Irfit: “Devouring it here on the other hand will grant you a spell, which you can always keep. Initially, it will be weaker than the artifact’s ability. However with time and mastery, the spell obtained has potential to be greater than the artifact! Also, innately knowing the spell will allow you to use it more frequently. So, make your choice Spirit Eater.”
Jack: *thoughtfully looks at the soulfire lantern* ‘A tradeoff eh. The artifact looks appealing, with a stronger ability initially and no need to grind. But it has higher cool downs, and can possibly be lost. Also I don’t want to wave it around in battles and attract undue attention from other players.’
Jack: ‘Whereas, eating this lamp will give a spell. It will be weaker initially, but I can grind it up to be more powerful than the artifact! Also this will allow me to use my mobility spell more frequently and I don’t have to wave around an artifact in battle!’
Having pondered the merits and demerits of both approaches, Jack had decided to devour the Planar Pharos and get his spell. He then focused on the soulfire lantern in his hand, willing the abomination in him to devour it.
In a couple of seconds, cylindrical monochromatic grey tendrils emerged from his hand. They were as thick as two of his fingers, and they ended in mouths with sharp teeth. The tendrils wrapped around the Planar Pharos and a gaping maw appeared on his palm. Despite his surprise at the partial manifestation, Jack retained his focus and continued devouring it.
The maw in his palm was wide open and the tendrils slowly forced the soulfire beacon into the maw. In a few seconds, the Planar Pharos was devoured and he felt the characteristic rush associated with spirit eating, although at a miniature scale.
Jack: “Looks like I made my decision.”
Irfit: “Indeed. It is time for you and your Afflicted to leave, Spirit Eater.”
Irfit gestured and a portal appeared nearby. Jack and his follower stepped through the portal, and they appeared outside the kobold hill! This surprised Jack, as he had expected to materialize near the huge magical bonfire near the Kobold Chief.
Jack: ‘So teleporting large distances IS possible theoretically. Looks like something to do with abusing the transit between planes. Why did Irfit show this to me, instead of just teleporting me near the bonfire? Oh well, need to check my new spell!’
He then browsed his notifications. As expected, he hadn’t leveled up or gained any stats, but had learned a single new spell Soulfire Shift. He summoned the system information on Soulfire Shift.
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Soulfire ShiftBeginner100.00%Subskill of Spirit Pact: Irfit (Unique)
You channel soulfire, teleporting a short distance instantly, with Irfit's aid. This shift through fire planes causes you to release a burst of soulfire at your initial location and destination, damaging all hostiles in a small radius.
Current level effects:
Teleport for a maximum range of 9 meters.
Damage all hostiles in a 3m radius near your initial location and destination for 105% Magic Attack as soulfire damage.
Costs 250 PP
Has a cooldown of 34.5 seconds
Jack: *grinning* ‘Nice spell! And it will only get stronger. It does have a significant cooldown and decent PP costs, so I can’t spam it, but a small ally friendly AoE damage is a nice bonus.’
Bob: “You seem happy with your spell.”
Jack: “Yeah, it’s a cool teleport. So what did you get?”
Bob: *smirking* “I got two abilities. One is a self-healing ability, and the other is a passive damage booster.”
Jack: “What? He can give healing spells too? How exactly does it work?”
Bob: “I can only use it once every hour, and it is difficult to explain. The exact ‘healing’ depends on the amount of foes burning around me. So if more foes are burning, the better is the effect.”
Jack: ‘So he gets something synergizing with his berserker style huh? Nice!’
Jack: “OK, let us proceed to the next ‘prison’. I will just try my new spell once first.”
Jack then channeled soulfire in his feet and attempted to teleport a short distance away in sight. His initial attempts were unsuccessful. Frustrated, he bought up the spell description and reread it a few times looking for a hint. He focused on part of the description which mentioned shifting through fire planes.
Jack: ‘I don’t think the description is just fluff. The spell works by shifting through fire planes. So I have to attempt to use it in a similar fashion.’
Thinking along these lines, he recalled whenever he changed planes to meet with Irfit. On every occasion, there would be a fiery portal of some sort aiding his transfer. Also, to meet Irfit the second time, he had to go through the kobold’s bonfire while coated with soulfire.
Feeling inspired, he coated his full body with soulfire. He then imagined two flaming portals opening simultaneously; one where he was and the other at his destination. Almost immediately, there was a small tug behind his navel.
There was a flash of translucent orange flames around him, and he found himself at his destination with a mild feeling of being disoriented. Unable to restrain himself, he gave out an enthusiastic laugh. His multiple attempts at teleport took a few minutes, but successfully executing the spell had almost instantly transported him!
Bob: “It took you almost five minutes to teleport such a short distance. You could have run a lot farther away in that time…”
Jack: “Those were unsuccessful attempts. It took barely 2 seconds to execute once I figured the spell out. The actual teleport was instantaneous. With more practice, I estimate a teleport to occur in half a second. There is still some way to go to reach the location of the prison. We will need to pass near Rotang City on the way. Let’s go.”
With a jump in his step, he travelled towards Rotang City with the final destination being the Spider Boss Cave. Whenever his cool-down allowed, he would execute Soulfire Shift, with the focus being to reduce the execution time of his new teleport spell.
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A/N: So, first chapter of the month! A short one, I know…but next segment is a battle scene and it would have been way too long to include it in this chapter. Also I have some real life stuff to deal with, including a couple of medical issues. Nothing serious, but need some bedrest. So I might skip a chapter next week. I will try to post one, but no promises.
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