[Since the Fall: 7/17/809 - 8:56:18]
[Skill Leveled Up: Meditation (15) -> (16)]
He gained multiple tools to work with yesterday, and had fun using them during his training. His evolution of [Growing Pains] reminded him of his fight with the Storm Lorpee though (with how he earned it during the fight), and he remembered something- when he blasted it with [Identify], there was a massive ripple in its soul. While he hadn’t tried to, he could have pulled information from such a massive crack in the defenses of the soul rather easily. Now that the fight was over though, and the Lorpee was long dead, the chance had passed.
Or had it?
His new ability to split his mind with [High Mind] made him think of another aspect of the Skill: Eidetic memory, or the ability to perfectly recall events for a short period after the fact. While normally this only applied to sight and sound, he had more senses than that in this world. His well-developed soul sight for one, and to a lesser degree his magic sense. Could it be possible to perfectly relive the memory and scan the Lorpee after the fact?
While he could easily relive memories by watching them through his Soul, doing such was a very disconnected way to do so. When he looked at his soul, it was as though he were watching a movie. He couldn’t interact with anything, and there were many senses that didn’t follow through the memories. When he was a kid in his previous life, he didn’t pay attention to background noise, so it wasn’t part of his memory in his soul.
Would it be different if he used [High Mind] though? It would be through a different gateway, with different sets of issues and benefits. He decided that, at the very least, it was worth a try.
After tending to his garden and having a light breakfast (literally), he decided to merge the two halves of his mind back together. He wanted to have all the processing power he could before trying to use a new ability.
After several painful minutes of slowly remerging the two minds, taking breaks frequently to let his soul rest, he began his usage of a new aspect of [High Mind], and activated the Skill while trying to perfectly put himself back within the moment his [Identify] hit the Lorpee.
He felt something activate in his mind, and imagined some sort of humming as images flashed across his eyes and sounds played around him, scenes from the last three days played in small flashes before they jumped further back in time.
When Iora went through his soul, she played all of it in reverse and watched every single moment. [High Mind] was doing something less intensive, jumping back by an hour and playing the memory forward for a few moments to get its bearings, then jumping backwards by another hour and repeating the process. Each jump placed a bit of pressure on his soul, but it was manageable.
It skipped his times asleep, even when one of his minds were awake, to save time. When he felt it overshoot the memory of the lorpee, he felt it jump forward by thirty minutes, then backwards by fifteen, and forward by seven and a half, repeating the process of rebounding in the short time frame repeatedly until it successfully locked on to the right moment: the very instant where the defenses of the Storm Lorpee had been shattered, and it's souls most vulnerable moment.
[Skill Leveled Up: High Mind (41) -> (42)]
The process had taken around five minutes, and his soul's presence was only halfway through how much pressure it could take before it needed to dump the effort on the main portion of his soul. While maintaining the image he was currently caught in, the pressure slowly built on him, telling him his time in this memory was limited. On top of that, he was completely unaware of the condition his body was in, as all of his senses had been drawn backwards into the memory with him. He wasn’t sure if danger would shake him from the memory, but he hoped it would. He felt secure in the position his body was in right now though, so he continued with his plan.
Looking towards the Lorpee, he tried casting [Identify] and felt like grinning when it worked. The informational screen for the Lorpee appeared before him.
[Beebaden the Whirlwind - Alpha Storm Lorpee Screamer - Level 213
Lorpee’s are a small, highly populous species of rodent in the world. They are notoriously adaptive to any situation they find themselves in, have a high rate of affinity mutation, and reproduce faster than they can be killed. The average Lorpee is born, lives, and dies from old age at one year old. Alphas, on the other hand, are functionally immortal.
At level one hundred, Lorpee’s attune themselves to their main natural affinity. If a Lorpee reaches level two hundred, they oftentimes evolve into an alpha, and set off in a breakaway group of Lorpee’s to found a new nest.
Beebaden is a unique Lorpee in multiple ways. The Storm affinity he was born with provided a much more versatile skill set than the Wind affinity of his brothers and sisters. The Water affinity within the Storm affinity provided a much needed balance in power compared to the already existing Wind affinities of the Lorpee’s. While it was not as focused, he was much more capable of taking on large groups of enemies, as well as creating defenses around himself. He used his unique Skills to take on larger swarms of insects than his siblings, quickly rising in level where they stagnated. Once he surpassed level two hundred, he challenged the alpha of his nest for leadership, as was tradition, and lost terribly. Nonetheless, the leader recognized his prowess, and granted him permission to start a new home somewhere else.
Beebaden guided his people from the treetops they were born in, out of the forest and far away from it. He came upon an area in the land filled with crags and rocks, many sapient creatures fighting. The air was charged with mana, yet he did not stop. Only halfway through the battle did he realize his followers were flagging, the charged mana damaging them.
It was too late to exit the battlegrounds, so Beebaden guided them down into a hole in the earth he’d seen. The charge of mana in the air abated, so he guided them further and further down, into the safety of the dark caves. His people did not need light, sensing their way through the air flows of the mysterious caves they’d found themselves in, and he continued downward as the mana levels increased, beckoning him further.
Eventually, he reached a deep enough level that the mana matched the strength of the forests of his homeland, and he set about finding a new home for them. In his searches, he found a cave rich in soil and slightly heightened concentrations of mana, the walls lined with fine bits of mana stones. He decided that his people would make a nest here, and his followers did not question him.
His former alpha told stories of the trees and plants of their homeland following them wherever they went, and he saw it now. He sensed seeds flaking off of his followers fur and growing from their droppings, quickly expanding to fill the cave with greenery. He carefully tended to them, using his Storm affinity to grind away at certain key points in the walls where he sensed the flow of water. Gently, so as not to flood the cavern, he shaped the waterflow to provide for his people.
With water, the plants flourished. With plants, various cave bugs came to live in his haven, and his people multiplied endlessly, as was the Lorpee way.
The population reached an equilibrium, and generations came and went. He’d fostered two separate Alphas in the time he’d governed, and each time he defeated them in single combat and sent them on their way with a breakaway of Lorpee’s. He hoped for their success, but knew death would be possible.
For twenty years, he guarded his people, until finally he was challenged by an outsider to his territory.
Physical - 10
Mental - 42
Spiritual - 57
Magical - 166]
He was fascinated with the story, and felt regretful knowing that he was the one to end it. He released his hold on the memory, allowing his senses to come back into awareness around his body.
Guilt welled up in him, knowing that the few Lorpee’s that had survived were now without a protector. While it was true that another alpha might arise to take the position, he didn’t know how likely or how quickly that would happen.
He walked to the exit of the Garden again and peeked out, checking on the Lorpee cavern. Luckily, they seemed to be in good health. There wasn’t any fighting going on in the forested area below, and now he felt horrible for how quiet it was.
It was made worse from the fact that he could sense his [Call for Help] Skill notifying him of the despair they felt for the situation they were in. He resolved to keep an eye on them frequently, and defend them if they ever got into trouble before another alpha could be born.
Moving back onto the grassy area and sitting down, he tried to think about what to do next. He’d earned a level in [High Mind] when he used the Skill for eidetic memory, did he get more experience for trying out new things with his Skills? The [High Mind] Skill was easily taking the most training to level up, despite it being his most used Skill, should he try pushing the boundaries more to earn a few easy levels?
He looked at the description, saying he could simulate a fake world using the Skill, and hesitated. While it was true he could do that, it seemed like it would be a very intensive use of the Skill. He didn’t fear that for eidetic memory, as it just improved something already innate to him: memory. The “simulated world” aspect though? That would push hard, and potentially hurt him.
He was curious though, how strong did he need his Presence to be to run an entire world off of it? If he went by his experience with splitting his mind into pieces, he didn’t have to do it all at once. If the simulation was too much for him to handle, he could easily stop the experiment.
‘Ah screw it, where’s the harm in trying?’ He felt like an idiot for thinking that, as it would almost certainly go wrong now, but oh well.
Waiting for his soul to rejuvenate from the pressure of his last use, he tried picturing what he wanted. If his Skill could simulate worlds, how would he go about doing so? First, he would need an area to work with. What should the simulated area look like?
A gray box with nondescript walls would work, so he started with that.
He felt the [High Mind] Skill kick into overdrive for all of two seconds, where he immediately stopped it. The pressure hadn’t reached his main soul yet, but it was quickly tearing through all the Presence he had.
[Skill Leveled Up: High Mind (42) -> (43)]
While his soul rested a bit, he checked on what High Mind had actually done. He found a space in his mind that was always “on his mind,” where he knew the condition of it, even when he wasn’t actively thinking about it. All his mind had “rendered” though was a flat floor, like a baseplate to work with.
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Did he want to continue with the experiment? It would take a while longer, but if he worked with it like splitting his mind, he would slowly generate a room to work with.
Against his better judgment, he decided to continue on. He could come up with excuses, such as “working with all the details” when it came to his Skills and the off chance that more easy levels would come, but honestly he was just curious, and there was no point in lying to himself.
[Profession Leveled Up: Pondering Sage (Level 4) -> (Level 5)]
[+5 Spiritual]
He smiled and shook his head at the notification. The levels were so slow coming from his Profession, but the absurdly high Spiritual stats that came with each level helped keep his build balanced. Most creatures in the wild had a single very high stat, but he thought that was a mistake. His old [Meditation] showed how it left vulnerabilities in the soul to have one stat too topheavy. To back this up, the most threatening creatures and plants he’d met were the ones that had more balanced builds, such as the Alpha Lorpee and the Flesh Trap. to further that point, the Flesh Trap was vulnerable specifically because of the singular imbalance in its build, same as the Alpha Lorpee who died when its magic failed to protect it, and its Physical stat was too low.
He attempted to render the room in his head again for another two seconds, getting a wall down, and checked his Interface while he rested his soul.
[Name: Dei Grrata
Race: Human (Gem Dweller Variant)
Class: Prodigal Detector (Level 68)
Profession: Pondering Sage (Level 5)
Achievements: Void Walker, Soulspeak, Beyond Understanding, No Rulers Above All, Bearing the Burden, Slayer of Mountains, Cruelty of the Slaughter (II)
Contracts: Soul of the (IIIIIIII)
HP: 86/86
MP: 86/86
SP: 86/86
Stats:
Physical: 43
Mental: 44
Spiritual: 39
Magical: 45
Affinities:
Kindness: Mid-Rare, 58%
Wrath: Mid-Uncommon: 38%
Soul: Low-Uncommon: 58%
Inner Skills:
Kindness: Pandora’s Box (Contained) (50) (348/2000), Call for Help (9), Good Samaritan (1)
Wrath: Pandora’s Box (Unleashed) (2), Growing Pains (100)
Soul: Astral Projection (4), Connection (1)
Mana: Meditation (15)
Confluence: Identify of the Stout Protector (50)
Outer Skills:
How About a Demonstration?, Fine-Tooth Comb (46), Vigilance (53), In Tune (1), Commune with the Universe (2), High Mind (43)]
[Pandora’s Box:
182/2000 Wrath
31/2000 Kindness
135/2000 Soul]
His Soul mana continued to climb from his constant passive meditation, and his Wrath mana built as well with the simmering anger at having to run from the frog. He’d come a very long way since he started out in this world, but he had so much further to go.
He rendered another wall in the room, then sat back and started relaxing. The grass was soft, a natural bed for him to use. He always tried focusing on all the luck he’d had in the world. To be saved by the System and given access to his previous lifes Skills, to be born to parents that loved him, and given the chance to live despite so many trying to kill him. He was lucky to be alive, a series of chances culminating in where he was right now.
The luck was limited, though. He was trapped, alone, thousands of miles under the earth, surrounded by monsters and scraping together as much power as he could to grant himself a semblance of safety.
He felt naked, and not just from his soon-to-be lack of clothing. When was the last time he actually felt secure? It was the day mom left, before she had to leave him behind. Rendering a third wall of the simulated room, his vision was drawn again towards the pink glow emanating from his soul sight.
It had always been a visual effect, changing nothing, but even the placebo helped keep him sane. It reminded him of where he’d come from, and where he needed to get back to. He remembered the way his moms mana flowed into his souls, like kissing a scrape to make it feel better. Except she actually did make him feel better.
He stared at the glow for a time before rendering the fourth wall, only the ceiling was left to render.
Could he use the glow to heal his soul more? He didn’t really want to. He was managing already, he instead wanted to make it stronger.
He wasn’t really doing anything with his Kindness mana either… should he try to give it to this glow?
In order to pull the Kindness mana from his [Pandora’s Box], he needed to either open it to release all the mana, or have a Skill extract it from the Box.
He felt melancholic when he realized it just wasn’t to be, as he didn’t have a way to pull the mana out without using it, and he couldn’t justify wasting his Wrath and Soul mana.
‘I’ll make it up to you, mom, one day.’
At the thought, he received another notification.
[Skill Gained: Meaningful]
[Meaningful - Level 1 - Kindness affinity
The most profoundly important of gestures needn’t be complex. They need only have meaning.
Coalesces mana into gestures, conveying a chosen meaning.
Costs 1 minimum mana per use]
His eyebrows raised at the new notification. The creation of Skills were in response to his emotional state at the time, which meant he was lonely enough to make a new Skill in response. He didn’t exactly agree with that, but it was concerning that it had advanced this far.
Would this Skill help alleviate that?
He tried using it, and felt a singular point of mana be drawn from his [Pandora’s Box] successfully. The small pink ball came into focus, and called out for meaning. What did he want the gesture to be? What did he want to convey?
He wanted to talk to his mom, even if he knew it was impossible. Instead, he would talk to the feeling she left behind. He would talk to what she’d left him to remember her by.
‘I miss you, mom.’ He imbued it with the thought, then sent the little gesture into the darker pink glow.
He saw the glow gently take it in its arms, pulling it further into his soul. He might’ve been imagining things, but it seemed to shine a bit brighter afterwards. He felt better after doing so, and finally rendered the ceiling to the gray room he’d made.
‘Time to get back to work, I suppose.’
* * *
Fou Grrata
After Fou prevented Oura from finding Dei, an order for a manhunt went out to all surrounding villages. Dei was ranked as a tier seventy threat, society ending. Any higher than that, and the [Gem Dweller] society would be required to bring power in from the surface world, as it would enter apocalyptic threat levels.
Multiple mind readers were brought in, attempting to piece together Dei’s location, but nothing was left of it in Fou’s mind. Oura was outraged, telling her how stupid she was, and that she was protecting a mockery.
Fou knew it was more complicated than that though. While Oura insisted Dei wasn’t her child, he refused to say what he actually was, and became uncomfortable when she asked when he was replaced.
The Shamans were known to be protectors of all [Gem Dwellers]. The more Fou found out about the hunt for her son, the more assured she became that he was genuinely her son, but he was a real threat.
The kill order listed a Gem Dweller human with one Amethyst eye and one Ruby. It insisted that the mockery would take the shape of a child who would slowly grow in age, depending on how long it took to find him.
It stated that the creature would grow in strength as time went on, and that the earlier it was found, the weaker it would be. The best estimates for when it reached max strength listed it at five years from the issuing of the order, where outside help would be requested if their society had still yet to find it by that point.
Fou knew Oura was lying to her, as the mockery would supposedly stay as her son for the rest of its life, a contradiction for mockeries, and it would build in physical strength enough to become a beast of the highest order.
Mockeries were never strong physically. They lost all direct fights, that's why they were mockeries, they were tricksters.
Oura had slipped up when saying Dei himself would kill everyone. There would be no swarm of mockeries, slowly replacing all civilians, it would be one massive enemy to unite against.
Everything Fou found out about Dei’s supposed monstrousness reeked of the Shaman “doing-it-for-your-own-good” mindset. Her personal theory was that Dei legitimately was a human and her son, but was born with some sort of condition that would take his reasoning from him in exchange for giving him strength. She remembered reading some Godly blessings that did such a thing, to a limited degree.
If Fou was correct, Dei might still be saveable. Even if the Shamans considered it “too unlikely to risk,” they were not perfect. Fou would bide her time, hoping that Dei would survive long enough for her to reach him, and show the world that he could be reasoned with.
She shared her theories with Gor, and he agreed with her. While they could do nothing right now, they would seize the chances they were given.
When Gor found that his son might become a natural berserker, he felt both proud and ashamed. Proud of Dei, but Gor was ashamed that he might be responsible for such a condition. Gor always thought his tendency to lose himself in battle was his personality, but now they knew it might be something dormant in him causing it, that was passed down to Dei.
Fou insisted it wasn’t his fault, and that he couldn’t have controlled the way he was born, but she could tell he still felt guilty at the trouble he must have caused both her and Dei.
Currently, Fou was playing games with Gor and the kids, but not a moment went by where she didn’t think of Dei and pray to all the Gods above that he was healthy. She did not let her fear paralyze her though. While she hoped he was fine, she had two other children she could help, right in front of her. When she was in front of them she would be strong, only collapsing in private where Gor could comfort her. Dei’s birthday was two days ago though, and she couldn’t find it in her to get out of bed. She tried being here for Rena and Ben today, to show them she was okay now, but the despair still ate at the edges of her mind.
Something began nagging at her though, a feeling stemming from her affinities. While she wasn’t able to see her soul, she could still feel it when one of them activated, and she now felt how Love pulsed a single time, spitting out a point of mana.
Her family stopped the game, noticing the confused look on her face, and waited for her to tell them what she’d seen.
Fou couldn’t imagine why Love would bring such attention towards one point of mana, so she tried checking if any passive Skills were telling her something, or if there was a use for the mana. Nothing jumped out to her though, so she tried moving the point of Love mana into her mana storage, choosing to study it later.
She refocused on her family for a moment, then felt how the mana ignored her, and sharply brought her attention back to it. The only way it would ignore her, is if the mana was not hers. This was foreign mana, claimed by another.
She began studying it, and found it was not love mana, but a shade lighter. This was Kindness mana, and it was imbued with a message.
Deciphering it took no effort at all, the mana guiding her on how to read it, and she understood what it wanted to say.
‘I miss you, mom.”
Shock overcame her as she understood what this meant, and quickly motioned for Gor to follow her away from the kids.
She turned away and calmly walked further into their house, refusing to let Rena and Ben see the tears welling in her eyes. She would tell Gor, then they would never speak of it again, for fear of discovery. She tried sending a message back, but didn’t even know where to start. She couldn’t fathom how it was possible in the first place, as it had been sent through the Conceptual Plane itself, an utterly untraceable and supposedly impossible form of communication. She desperately wanted to speak to her son, to tell him that she loved him, but could find no way to do so.
This was a gift from Dei, telling her that he was alive. The small comforting glow might have been the most valuable thing she’d ever received, and her mana cradled it in her body, holding it stable to not let it dissipate.
‘I love you, baby.’ She thought to the world, hoping that he might find some way to hear her.