The morning I woke up after the invasion, my body ached like I had a bad sunburn all over my insides. This was the first time I could remember that I had woken up with any lasting injuries, other than when I woke up literally nailed to a chair, and the one time I broke most of my bones.
Groaning, I tried to sit up but a sensation like thousands of tiny needles pricking through my body, and into my nerves quickly changed my mind about that course of action. I tried to push energy into a storage ring to pull out a healing pill, but the effort felt like trying to push Reff’s lava through my channels. I flexed my artificial hand, hoping it would be immune to whatever was wrong with me, but I was soon dissuaded of that idea; whatever trick of magic made it feel and act like my hand was also not going to let me cheat my way out of the situation.
Abandoning my attempts, I lay staring up at the ceiling, wondering what had happened to me. I recalled a burning sensation in my channels, but since there had been no immediate pain, I had assumed the damage to be minor, especially with me having taken a healing pill right after.
Apparently, I had been wrong. Really, painfully wrong. I did not recall a great deal about the process of burning my channels, but I did not think it had been quite that painful, at least. Still, I did not have the benefit of a weird immortality serum to keep me alive if something went wrong, so I hoped the pain was the result of my healing, and not something going catastrophically wrong with my body.
“Um, Dee Yu Kay Three? Can you hear me? I mean, I guess I’m inside you, but I don’t know if the walls work like ears or... man this is creepy. You’re Apex level, so you can probably at least sense me. I hope? I don’t suppose you know what’s wrong with me?”
“Greetings. I gather from your words that you are experiencing a malady of some description, Hunter?”
I nearly jumped as DUK3 spoke, their voice coming from a part of the room that had no door. I just barely prevented myself, but even the slight tensing of my muscles hurt like hell.
“Ow. Yes. Everything hurts, like I burned my insides... Dee Yu Kay Three.”
I watched as the now powder-blue Construct walked into view, their burning yellow eyes as unblinking as ever. As the Construct reached out to lay one hand against my chest, I expected pain, but thankfully none came. A long moment passed before, without another word, the room shifted and rippled to become one of the labs I was so familiar with, a mechanical spider of metal and crystal hanging above me in less than a second.
“You can just put these anywhere? Why did I have to keep coming to you?”
“Dee Yu Kay Three. It has been my experience that those utilising other systems are more comfortable when my body is treated more like a mundane building, Hunter. Please hold still, I am going to run some scans of your energy circulation system.”
The same crystal, or at least one that looked a lot like it, started to pulse, like when I had been scanned in preparation for my new arm. The process took only a few minutes and I watched – slightly creeped out again – as all the equipment folded back into the walls.
“You appear to have ruptured your energy channels; the damage is extensive, and seems to have been exacerbated by the pressure of the Experience on this world. It does however appear to healing, which is most odd. It does not seem to be an effect generated by your energy system. Is this similar to the way in which you resisted She Who Devours, Fifth of that Name’s energy absorption capabilities, Hunter?”
It was good to know that I was healing, at least, even if the process was slow. It was not great news that I was going to have to spill the beans about some of my additional abilities; I had told both DUK3 and Lucas about Xiournal, but had not gone into detail about the specifics of my compensation. I thought about simply refusing to explain, but given the inquisitive nature of the Construct – and the fact I was currently trapped somewhat alone on a dead world, inside their body – I did not think it was something they were likely to simply let go.
“I have a couple of abilities that aren’t part of cultivating. You might say they’re payment rendered. I heal faster than most, and my energy cannot be drained. That last one was for a specific purpose, the whole, ‘immune to cold’ thing is a fringe benefit. An awesome fringe benefit, especially since I’m not, you know, dead, but still. fringe... Dee Yu Kay Thee.”
“Interesting. I can sense no trace of such abilities within my Domain, and neither are they detected by my equipment. Are you certain these are abilities supplied by an Ascended? Theoretically, an Ascended should not be able to continue to affect anything beyond their own Domain. Perhaps they are a manifestation of your own very limited Authority, Hunter?”
“I doubt it. I mean, I don’t think so? I can upgrade them when I finish tasks for her. I definitely didn’t have them before... Dee Yu Kay Three.”
“Intriguing. I will endeavour to produce an experiment that may provide more information. Ah, it seems that Lucas has returned. This is good. The gate between this world and the other is likely to remain open for at least a month, and while I have significant doubt that a further incursion will be enacted, the presence of another Construct level individual will likely result in a more... final deterrent. If you will excuse me, I will inform Lucas of what has transpired, Hunter.”
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“Uh, sure. Say, ‘hi’ for me. Dee Yu Kay Three.”
With an exaggerated nod, DUK3 dissolved into the air, vanishing without either noise or trace.
“Definitely creepy.”
*
***
*
It took an astonishing three days for me to heal, meaning it was by far the most extreme injury I had suffered since my arrival – perhaps excluding my arm. From what DUK3 had said, it seemed that the constant, light drain of Praxis as it empowered my body and the high-pressure energy of world around me replenishing it, had worked together to continually strain my damaged channels, meaning the healing had slowed significantly, compared to ‘normal’. Even with the consumption of a healing pill after the first day, I was still unable to move around much for most of that time.
Still, I was finally walking around again, and since Lucas was back, that meant one thing – more tests. That day, the Construct and Paragon were trying to see if they could shut down my abilities. I was not entirely onboard with the idea, since I still felt some minor strain in my channels and while the burning pain had mostly ceased, it was still there and I was worried that without the constant stream of healing to counter the pressure, I would backslide. I, of course, had no interest in that sort of thing.
Thankfully, DUK3 had assured me that the ruptures had closed and the healing was past the point of furthering the damage, provided I did not try to actively use my Focus or Exemplar.
And that is how I found myself sat in a comfortable chair, in the middle of a smaller hall with the two other confirmed residents of the planet to either side of me, as they gazed fixedly at me while a mechanical arm periodically sprayed me with mist. The mist was mostly pleasantly warm, though the pair did occasionally succeed in making me feel the cold, though rarely for any length of time, and it did appear to take the both of them.
The whole experience had me on edge, with only the fact that it did take two to do it. The first time I felt the cold, I broke out in an ironic cold sweat, recalling the dramatically pointed hand of GNO5, and the metal disintegrating around me in the cold. I thought about what might have happened if she had been able to counter my ability, even for a moment. I had been so confident that my immunity to being drained had been unassailable, and the proof otherwise was a shock.
Thinking back on my actions, they had been pretty rash. Perhaps I was growing too confident in my abilities? Perhaps I needed to remember that there were still beings out there that could turn me to mush with little effort... But at the same time, I did not want to throw away my successes. I had some pretty good reasons to be confident against most opponents. I had discussed the Fullmetal Asshole with DUK3 the day before, and it seemed he had been the equivalent of a Foundation stage, which meant I had definitely punched above my weight class, even with the discrepancy in raw power.
It was a tough balance to strike, it seemed, between confidence and over-confidence. I had never had much of either in my first life, so it was yet another novel experience, and one I was having to grapple with in real-time.
“Cold.”
The water misted against my face, icy – not just cold - for the first time. It did not last long – none of the brief bouts of cold had – but it was enough to send a shiver through me.
“Amazing. It would appear that we are able to influence your, ‘extra’ abilities, but only temporarily, and never the same way twice, Hunter.”
“We are not so much countering, as demanding the opposite. This feels more like your own strange trace of Authority than an external force.”
Lucas – who was normally fairly short – always seemed to speak more when actively engaged in testing, but this was the first time he had spoken during that particular round of testing.
“I’m pretty sure it’s nothing I’m doing. And like I’ve said before, it’s not something I could do befo-”
I was interrupted by spray of water to the face and I rolled my eyes before wiping my face dry.
“Before. It’s not something I could do before.”
“It is possible you are simply unable to make use of your own innate abilities, and you are activating them subconsciously? Is it possible this, ‘Xiournal’ is a delusion, Hunter?”
“Yeah, no. Definitely not a delusion, Dee Yu Kay Three.”
“Maybe your patron linked these effects to your existing Authority?”
“I’m pretty sure I didn’t have any magic powers before she picked me up. Nobody else did.”
“You would not be aware of it, if you could not use it, would you?”
“... I guess not. But how would I end up with it? You guys said you got yours from not Ascending, or whatever. I think I’d remember a tribulation, the one I saw was pretty spectacular.”
A few minutes passed in silence, save for the hiss of spraying water, though thankfully there were no more cold snaps. I was starting to grow irritated with the regular drenching, but as I tensed in anticipation of the next, it did not come. Instead, Lucas spoke up again, leading with the mother of all non-sequiturs.
“I wonder if an Ascended can die.”
“Uh, maybe calm down there, Lucas. I’m pretty sure Xiournal could take you in a fight.”
“I do not mean at my hands, fool. I wonder if an Ascended can kill another, and if so, what happens to them? The River of Souls flows in all directions, but we always assumed a person is reborn on the Plane they inhabit, if not the same world. What if that is not the case?”
“An intriguing idea. I do not believe it to be verifiable, short of asking an Ascended, however. Despite the inherently interesting nature of the question, I am uncertain of the reason for the inquiry at this time, Lucas?”
“We know Authority is tied to the soul, not to the body. We’ve always assumed that if a Paragon dies, their Authority is washed away by the River of Souls, along with everything else. If it was carried over, we should have come across somebody with it by now, across all the many worlds. But we have only touched the edges of it; what about an Ascended, who’s power is theoretically derived wholly from it?”
“Dee Yu Kay Three. This seems like a baseless line of questioning. None of these things are verifiable, it is pure speculation. It would also necessitate a dead Ascended to descend multiple planes, when all evidence points to this not being a part of the normal flow of things. Souls flow out from the Origin, not in, Lucas.”
I thought back to my first meeting with Xiournal – she said that if I had been left to my own devices, I would have fallen down a Plane, but once on the Aspirant plane, I would remain there. So, I knew that it was possible to change planes after death, but I had no idea of the rules, save that whatever caused it was something I had. Or did.
“I think it’s possible to drop down a plane after death, but I don’t think it’s normal. I have no idea what might cause it though.”
I did not use DUK3’s name this time, as I was not really speaking to him, but rather directing it at both of them.
“Is this simply speculation, or have you spoken on this topic with your patron, Hunter?”
“It... sort of came up. Not, you know, much. But it was mentioned. Dee Yu Kay Three.”