Kal fell through the tear in reality and immediately felt his skin burn and horrible wrenching pain tore at his chest. He was barely coherent when the creature that dragged him here came into view. In his stupor, he tried to Identify it but all he felt was a searing pain dance across his brain. The creature was smaller in stature than the creatures outside but its limbs were even more grossly out of proportion with its torso. A ghastly face full of discolored fangs greeted Kal as he felt blood pouring from his eyes.
“Oooooh, a late burster,” the creature said, its voice an ear-piercing hiss.
More blood poured from Kal’s eyes and mouth but he struggled to remain conscious, he glanced around the space trying to find anything that could help him escape. All he could see was shifting shades of black and gray, everything but the creature holding him by the ankle was insubstantial but at the same time hostile. Every moment he stayed he could feel the space around him tearing at his body and soul space. A few moments passed while Kal simply hung there limply, his body once again shutting down from the intensity of the pain. He knew he was screaming as he could feel his throat tearing apart like the rest but the pain was nothing compared to what he felt in his core space.
The creature grunted, shaking Kal around for a moment, “Still haven’t burst, very interesting but I doubt your pathetic core will survive what comes next,” the creature simply let go of Kal’s ankle and let him fall through the mind-bending space.
Kal barely registered that he was falling as the pain intensified, but as he fell the shades of black and gray slowly changed. Soon he was falling through a fiery red sky, instead of clouds giant infernos moved through the sky, raining fire across a scorched landscape. The whole area burned with not just flame but with mana, Kal could feel it trying to burrow into him. Kal knew he was going to die, but his Birthright was not convinced. His heart began to pound in that familiar rhythm, every beat almost dragging Kal’s mind within himself. Kal didn’t resist, with every step inward his perception of pain dulled slightly and he could feel his mind growing clearer. The first step was into his body, he could see the red light of his Vital Energy trying to combat the external mana seeping into him while also doing what it could to keep him alive. His stamina was faltering after his burst of strength earlier it seemed to have significantly weakened. The second step was deeper than he expected but he found himself with his core space but far away from his Birthright or soul. All around he could see a dark energy slowly burning its way deeper into his core space, but it seemed unguided, its potency unused. Kal moved through his core space to his Birthright, Kal knew it was probably his soul but it seemed to have its own agenda but right now Kal suspected it was to keep him alive and he was fine with that. The hostile energy was slowly blazing its way toward his Birthright, and at this rate, Kal suspected it would kill him before it even got close as his body quickly deteriorated. He didn’t look at his health, he knew it was low and he didn't need the reminder. His mind finally mostly cleared, and Kal steered his mind to find a solution for this energy. Why had all the other people who fell in the tear exploded? Did that creature kill them? Kal doubted it, it had ample opportunity to do so to him if it wanted to. It had to be his core or Birthright keeping him alive, and judging by what he saw his Birthright hadn’t got involved yet so was it that he was missing a core? Yes! That had to be it. The energy had no target, so it was simply infusing his body dealing damage to it like it would anything in its environment. But how did that help him? It was going to kill him if he did nothing. Then an idea flashed into his mind. It was mana! He couldn’t use his own mana to form a core since he didn’t have any. But what about this mana? Fuck it! He didn’t have time to think about it as his body fell likely to his death, and if it worked at least he could have achieved something with his life. With the strange progression of time here Kal began weaving the threads required for his core. He started with what he knew, speedily weaving together his attribute stands into a fine thread, and then he moved on to his Vitality and Physical Energies, the latter forming faster than Kal would have expected. Finally, it was time for Mystical Energy, steadying himself for what was next Kal reached for the hostile energy slowly consuming him. It came like a flood, the dark fire rushed towards his outstretched hand and slammed into him. He almost screamed as the pain outside manifested itself within his core space, but forced himself to try and steer the energy back out into a strand of power. It refused, Kal’s mind was about to break, the pain weakening his concentration.
*Thud**Thud*
*Thud**Thud*
Warning! Mana pathways critically damaged.
*Thud**Thud*
Warning! Mana pathways critically damaged.
Kal screamed as his core space shuddered, he forced himself to ignore the pain as he continued to try to force the power to form anything. His Birthright grew with his desperation and frustration.
“I won’t let this shit Kill!, Me!” he roared and his Birthright responded. The fire of his soul expanded and rushed towards him just like the hostile energy. It poured into him and took hold of the foreign power, the struggle almost made Kal blackout but just as he was about to fall another notification forcefully appeared in front of him.
Warning! Mana pathway destruction imminent.
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Skill detected: Soul Forge
Resource manipulation detected.
Risk of death: High.
Do you wish to proceed? Yes/No
Kal almost laughed when the prompt appeared. He selected the only real choice and immediately regretted it as he felt something break within him and suddenly it was like his veins just caught fire. It was excruciating but the pain was quickly forgotten when he felt what he had just done. All around his core space the once black void glowed with trillions of crimson lightning bolts that seemed to form amongst the swirling flood of hostile energy and at the same time he could feel it running through his body almost like his Physical Energy but the sensation was something else. It was wild, uncontained. Ignoring the pain, Kal knew his next step. The vision of his shattered core still fresh in his mind he began the final weaving. The final thread of his painstaking work was not the complex masterpiece of his original core threads but it held an altogether different level of potency perhaps it was the energy that he had stolen to do it or the very fact that he created it himself, but either way the core thread slowly grew from his cloud-like form and began to bend itself into a circle almost like it wanted to form. The more Kal weaved the harder it got. His mental energy was waning fast but he knew he couldn’t stop, he had no idea what stopping early would do but it wouldn’t be good. As he neared completion, the ring almost fully formed suddenly the foreign energy drastically increased in intensity and speed, pouring into his core space. Kal began to panic thinking it would destroy his work but then he saw what was truly happening. His unfinished core was desperately absorbing huge quantities of the foreign energy, so much so that it was forcefully pulling it from the outside environment. The thread Kal had been hastily weaving started being yanked from him, he didn’t even need to weave it himself now as the unfinished core took over. That didn’t mean Kal was resting, far from it. While the core pulled power through Kal, he could feel his body trembling as it was torn apart by the new and foreign power. The void froze, and the power swirling around his manifestation slowed to a crawl as a final notification appeared.
Soul Core completed!
Title acquired: Core Smith [Epic]
Title acquired: Ascendant [Mythic]
Title acquired: Planeswalker [Rare]
Kal grinned through the pain as he read one last notification.
Class awakened.
“Yes!” He had truly done it. He had ascended. He hurriedly looked over to see what class he got but then he was surprised by another notification.
Please select your base class:
Warrior, Binder, Slayer
Despite his aching mind, Kal’s metaphysical jaw dropped. He wasn’t supposed to be able to choose a class. Did he care? Fuck no. He concentrated on each class reading their descriptions.
Warrior [Uncommon]
You are a born fighter and along with your allies charge towards your enemies without fear. A Warrior uses their potent weapon skills and their resolve you will be a force to be reckoned with on any battlefield. Level benefits: +3 Strength, Endurance, +4 Free points.
His smile widened when he read the class's rarity, he would have been happy with a Common class but an Uncommon one was amazing, and it was a combat class which was even better. He moved on to the next class and his jaw dropped even further.
Binder [Rare]
The Binder has proven themselves capable with the base threads of the Astral Weave. They seek to understand the construction of the universe and all that binds the souls of the mortal races to existence. A class focusing on beneficial support spells and curses. A Binder uses their knowledge to manipulate the threads of their enemies, weakening them so that the Binder’s allies may finish them or they strengthen the bonds between themselves and the Astral Weave granting themselves much greater potency.
Level benefits: +4 Intellect, Perception, +2 Will, +2 Free points.
“Rare?!” It was insane to think he could unlock a Rare class after all the effort it took to even ascend. It seemed to be a kind of mage class, it appealed to him since he really enjoyed his meditation training and working with the threads but he wasn’t really a fan of it being a support class. He enjoyed the fighting too much to give it up for help with his thread weaving so he moved on.
Slayer [Epic]
Something deep within you cries out for blood but through force of will you remain in control. You are a Slayer, not a monster, though your power may stem from darker sources you do not lust for the kill but see it as a necessity despite your inner ferocity. Wade through your enemies as a bulwark of death, your will unyielding, your might indomitable. A class focusing on melee combat with whatever weapons are on hand and self-empowering abilities to strengthen your body. This class focuses on physical attributes. The path of the Slayer is one filled with blood and death but while there are enemies to slay, growth is inevitable. Level benefits: +5 Strength, Endurance, +2 Vitality, Will, +6 Free points.
Kal selected Slayer without a second thought. He read it and despite it sounding kind of ominous at the start, the class was an epic rarity for Dhoenir’s sake. Everything about the class called to him it was almost like it was made for him. The moment he chose, he saw his core finish its construction. The ring pulsed with crimson energy now slightly darkened with black power as it converted the hostile power outside. His Birthright had merged with the new core and he could see that the flames of his Birthright seemed to permeate through the ring making it appear to be on fire. The ring pulsed again but this time a torrent of power exploded out of it and slammed into his cloud-form, he expected to hurt after what he had been through but this power held no hostility for him. His heart sped up as he felt himself suddenly empowered but his core for the first time and he felt himself be thrown from his core space as the sensations of his body grew too much for his concentration. He opened his eyes to see a barren wasteland rushing up to meet him. “Oh shi-!”