Dhinir, Uton, Canmis, and Earae all sat around the table as well and they all discussed their recent paths and discoveries. Their time together had lessened over the past years since they were all forced to travel further abroad to achieve their goals. Fyborh battled every possible monster he could find and occasionally assisted Dhinir in his near-constant war waging. While Dhoerin concentrated on his alchemy in various cities and sometimes often found himself in other worlds searching for rare ingredients or recipes left behind by the higher tiers.
Canmis spent most of her time at sea where possible. Earae ran with the beasts and the herbalists and Uton spent nearly all of his time experimenting with gates and his space mana weavings.
Uton already knew what she had to discuss and she was probably even more excited than her about its utility.
Fyborh was the one that reigned in the banter and storytelling, “Alright everyone, we’ve had our catchup, and as usual we have spoken over Quotz. How about we give her a chance to tell us what she is obviously so excited about.”
Quotz almost blushed but from experience and sheer force of will she held it at bay, ” Oh…It's nothing as impressive as the stories you have all told.”
Uton choked on his wine,”What! No, she’s just being humble. Just tell them already!”
The room fell silent and they all watched her.
Quotz smiled shyly, ”I have almost finished my first skill.”
Everyone immediately broke into a cheer and she couldn’t help the blush that came to her then.
Fyborh pat her on the back, ”Definitely humble. Astral Falls Quotz you should have started with that.”
“Indeed. Congratulations Quotz. What does it do?” Dhinir said smiling.
“When completed it will allow me to understand all forms of communication between all living things and possibly non-living things as well,” Quotz said.
Uton laughed,” It doesn’t sound special when she says it but it may be the most powerful skill I have seen. It’ll end wars, open dialogue with countless monsters in our own world, and drastically speed up almost all path progression. Did you get it graded yet?”
“I haven’t added the linking component yet but with the quality and density of those currently in place Archivist Dendar said it should be at least epic,” Quotz said.
Dhoerin dropped his food onto his plate, “At least? Isn’t it normally more precise than that?”
“That sounds awfully low for such a revolutionary skill,” Fyborh agreed.
Quotz smiled,” That is why I wanted to speak with you all. I have been given a system quest and I need your opinions on the matter.”
Quest: New Horizons
Your ingenuity and desire to learn have led you into the creation of a skill that could change the state of your world if you so desire.
Choose one:
Grant Knowledge: Grant this skill to all compatible shells in your universe. This will allow the sharing of knowledge between universes and planes of existence. Rewards: Divine Title
Sequester Knowledge: Sequester the skill and you alone will be able to communicate with the alien shells of other planes of existence. Rewards: Divine Title
Uton practically leaped out of his chair, ”What?! You didn’t tell me about this!”
Quotz laughed,” I didn’t need to speak with you to know your answer, Uton. This is something I wanted to discuss with everyone. You are the people I trust and even though we aren't among the elite yet I would rather speak with you about it than any of the sector’s current leadership.”
“I don’t see why you are even thinking about this…” Uton muttered.
“No. I understand her misgivings and you would as well Uton if you spent less time among your summons,” Dhinir said evenly,” Granting such a skill to people may do more harm than good.”
Fyborh nodded, “Agreed. But as with everything else the system has a hand in, this quest has a purpose.”
Earae smiled, “It would be so fun to speak with the animals of the world. Just think of how much could be learned.”
The others were evenly split, Dhoerin didn’t much care either way and Canmis wanted to learn from the elementals. Quotz struggled internally as they all discussed the repercussions. Her friends were good like that. Their varied viewpoints always helped free her of her own biases. But this time something nagged at her. Her skill was going to change things for her regardless of her choice. The question was whether she would retain her friendships after that choice.
If she kept the skill for herself it would take her away from them even more than she already had been. She didn’t think they would disagree with her decision in either case, even Uton and his need for ways to communicate with the strange entities he summoned would not sulk for long.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Fyborh chuckled as he turned away from the squabbling group, who were currently discussing the likelihood of them being able to talk with microbes, “This lot won’t be much help. But if you want the short of it, the choice is yours Quotz. Don’t let us hold you back.”
Quotz’s smile faded as Fyborh read her mind. He did that sometimes. Fyborh was always more aware of the people around him than he liked to let on.
Fyborh put a hand on her shoulder and Quotz made her choice.
The almost finished skill within her core flared with the gold-silver light of the system and she wove the last few complicated threads to form the linking component.
New Horizons [Completed]
Title Acquired: Knowledge Bringer [Divine]
Kal’s mind whirled as he left the vision and struggled to regain his balance. His mind raced with what he had just seen. All of the gods were in the same room but all at tier two. How long ago was that?-
The thought vanished as he finally managed to comprehend his surroundings again but his eyes widened when he realized he wasn’t sitting at the edge of the cave. Instead, he was standing on a balcony of white stone with silver filigree in the light of the midday sun of home.
He knew immediately that it wasn’t real but for just a moment he took in the feeling of sun and the smell of the fresh spring air. But in the end, the rage of his soul tainted the feeling and after a few seconds, he turned away from the balcony to face the person he could feel standing behind him.
The first thing that caught Kal’s eye was the woman’s stark white hair, it looked distinctly unnatural especially when compared with the beautiful face and similarly white eyes it framed. Her appearance reminded him of Melisia but all around sharper. Kal had never seen a full-blooded elf before but he figured that was what he was looking at.
[??????|???????|Deity]
A single notification bombarded him as he looked down at the surprisingly short god.
Warning: You are in the presence of a tier 5 entity. Shell death is likely.
Warning: You are in the presence of a tier 5 entity. Shell death is likely.
Warning: You are in the presence of a tier 5 entity. Shell death is likely.
Warning: You are in the presence of a tier 5 entity. Shell death is likely.
Warning: You are in the presence of a tier 5 en-
Warning: You -
…
..
.
“Quotz…” Kal said. He felt like he should have been afraid but his soul raged at its confinement, burning away the emotion and instead leaving him with only anger. Anger that he had felt ever since the day the gods had attempted to smite him.
Quotz nodded, “Kalum Lesta,” Her pale face left nothing for Kal to read, ”You have received system guidance. You have grown strong indeed to have forced a link of this nature.”
Apparently, she had either experienced something like this before, or the system notified her of what was happening. Either way, Kal didn’t like it.
Something in his face must have given him away because Quotz spoke again without waiting for a reply, “I understand your wariness. In your position, I would be feeling the same emotions.”
“Listen, lady. I’m not interested in speaking to you or any of the fucking gods who decided smiting me was a good idea,” Kal growled. His true anger mixed with the wrath of his soul and his voice sounded strange as he spoke.
The memory of that day still burned bright in mind but above it all was power he sensed brewing in the sky above the war camp. Six gods had tried to kill him that day, and only a twisting of fate had saved him.
Quotz’s expression didn’t change at all, ”As I said. I understand your position. However, understand that I do not seek harm to befall you or your family Kalum Lesta. I do only what I must to make amends.”
Kal glared at the god, “Bullshit…” He didn’t buy it for a second. He had felt her presence in the sky, it was unmistakable.
“What fuck are you talking about?! You tried to kill me! After I had taken my first step into recovery after whatever Dhinir did to me!”
Quotz nodded, ”It would appear so-”
A sudden pulling sensation made Kal stagger backward as he felt the system starting to drag at him.
Quotz’s neutral expression became the slightest frown, ”Your time here is already over. I wish we had more time to speak but know this Kalum Lesta. I do not seek for harm to befall you or your family. Melisia Tanaruhn, Leo Brightwing, and Dalen Kreet are close to ensuring your return. But most of all, your family is in danger. Dhinir moves against you-”
Then the world around him warped once more and Kal found himself once again sitting in the cave on a fallen world.
Kal’s soul still flared up and his heart pounded in his chest but for now, he had to ignore it all and concentrate on his soul forging. Luckily, despite the strange experience he had after the guidance vision, his level of understanding hadn’t diminished and he immediately fell into a rhythm.
The required threads practically sprung into existence at will as he needed them. Complicated channels of intellect, perception, and wisdom laced will surged from his core into his eyes, ears, and brain. Smaller threads of intellect and wisdom broke away from the main channel to work their way through his brain which if it were at any other time Kal would have avoided but with the system guidance inspiring him it only felt natural.
Perception woven with wisdom, branched away through his eyes and ears in specific areas that Kal didn’t really understand the significance of but each thread gave him the sense that they were filtered recorders of some kind.
This skill was different from most of his other skills in that nearly all of the processing constructs or what Quotz had called them “components” were in place throughout his body and only connected to his core via the channel of normal attribute threads. There was likely a reason he wasn't aware of but it definitely wasn’t due to simplicity.
After the branches of intellect, perception, and wisdom were in place he moved on to forge one of the most complicated series of constructs he had ever forged. Intellect was spun into dozens of complicated guide constructs. At the same time, a combination of wisdom and perception wove between them to form filtered gates akin to his switch construct but completely automated.
As Kal neared the completion of the guides he felt the inspiration beginning to wane. He began to sweat as he pushed himself to work faster and faster, skipping channels that he felt he could accomplish on his own. However, eventually, the guidance wore off as Kal was finishing the last of the guide constructs.
He muddled through to finish it off as best he could but his understanding had left him. Unsure if he had succeeded Kal opened the notification he had just received.