She experienced first-hand the kind of power a god had. It was overwhelming, especially when she considered how easily it had stopped her. For as much as her friends had joked about her relative invincibility, she was unable to do anything against that thing. Even with her teleports and foresight, she had little opportunity to make use of it. Ultimately, she decided against the class. One reason stood out more than the others. She fundamentally didn’t want to become a being like that.
Personal preference sounded like a bad reason to refuse a class, but it was enough for her. She moved away from the class; the pull it had feeling weaker now that she rejected it. She looked over the other pillars carefully, still a little uncertain about the choices. Breathing deeply, she made her decision and reached toward the white pillar. It pulsed gold moments before her hand touched it.
Jill’s eyes snapped open, and she winced as she realized that her left eye was still missing. She shut it again, lamenting that she didn’t have a more perfect solution. Hopefully, Luke was done with his trial or soon to finish. She could purchase an eyepatch but didn’t fancy the idea of using one. For a second it sounded like someone was laughing at her or was it trying to encourage her somehow. It almost felt like she heard something speaking as if it was trying to say to cheer up.
Jill flinched hearing the sounds. It reminded her of her mother’s voice but strangely even more condescending. That was a real accomplishment. The panic started soon after that thought. Her eye darted around searching for the source of the sound. After not finding anything in her vicinity she decided to try a different approach.
“Who are you?”
If she could hear it, then the same was probably true the other way around. There was a long pause that made her doubt whether she had been hearing things or not. She was saved from her perceived insanity when she felt another emotional prod. It was definitely a mocking tone this time. It felt like she was being made fun of somehow. It was strange and she still didn’t know where it was coming from. Thinking that it had to do with her class, she checked her status.
Name: Jill Class: God-Killer Unbeliever
Level: 100
Health: 1750 / 1750
Stamina: 2080 / 2080
Mana: 3200 / 3200
Fortitude: 175
Endurance: 208
Strength: 175
Agility: 265
Intelligence: 320
Wisdom: 175
Charisma: 145
Free Stats: 0
Skills: Eyes of a God, Spatial Manipulation, True Teleport, Threads of Time, Localized Time, Chosen by the Universe, Fey Empathy, Unnatural Charm, Combat Foresight, Temporal Reaction
Eyes of a God → Eyes of a God-Killer (Active): You can use your mana to enhance your senses. Your manipulation of space and connection to the Gods let you see beyond the physical body. As a user of time and space, you can see beyond your realm and time. Identify a god with a mere glance.
Spatial Manipulation (Active): Manipulate reality itself, bend and contort it to your will. Space is the truest form of power, and you can alter it to your will.
True Teleport (Active): Any distance is merely an instant away. Move between the fabric of space. Mana cost varies on distance. Any teleport within your vision has no mana cost.
Threads of Time (Active): When looking at something, you can see that which it intersects within the shared connections of fate. See and understand the relationships that others would miss.
Localized Time (Active): Alter the time of your body, both able to speed it up and slow it down.
True Bond of the God-Killer Needle (Active) (Unique) (Legendary): A legendary weapon, it has developed a semblance of sentience. The legendary needle was said to have been used to fight against the gods themselves. Threading the weaves of fate, it pierces through an opening within a God’s future. Bend even the proclaimed immortality of gods.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Teleportation Marks: Mark those you damage to know their location regardless of the boundaries of space. Similarly, mark allies to teleport to them. Removes the additional cost of teleporting marked allies regardless of distance. Reduces the cost of teleports when teleporting to a mark.
Marks: 1/10
1: Mash
Chosen by the Universe (Passive): Reality itself is enamored by you. Time and space bend themselves to be more beneficial to you. Your magics come more naturally to you.
Fey Empathy → Unbeliever’s Understanding (Passive): Gain an understanding of the emotions of those around you. As an Unbeliever, you relish in the strong emotions of others bolstering their individuality and strengthening their minds.
Unnatural Charm (Passive): With a fairy’s constitution, you gain beauty that humans could never compare with. An appearance that can truly never be disturbed.
Combat Foresight (Passive): Glimpse a moment ahead of your enemy. Learning of their next moves before they do them.
Temporal Reaction (Passive): Time slows for any attack that would otherwise hit you. Step into the realm of gods and react before they understand what has happened, and escape almost every attack.
Unbeliever’s Resistance (Passive): A god is a personification of its belief. You refuse to conform to those beliefs and resist the powers of such beings. Lesser beings fail to comprehend your strengths let alone your weaknesses. Resist those who you can understand. Block up to 20% of an enemy’s abilities.
Bond of The True God of the Fey → Twisted Brand of The God-Killer (Passive) (Unique): You have warped the bond given to you and stolen some of the God’s power. Having learned the skill from a god, you can use it to siphon a portion of a god’s attributes, gaining 1% of the God’s highest attribute.
Jill almost fell out of the tree when she learned of the stat change alone. How many had she gained? The amount seemed ridiculous. She was overwhelmed just thinking about how much her stats had improved, but the skills were even more daunting. Two unique skills, and one that was legendary as well. What did that even mean? A legendary weapon, how did she wind up with that? Did that make her a hero? After panicking a little at seeing that, she realized what she had been hearing earlier.
Her mind drifted to her other unique skill. That probably had been what improved one of her stats, though she had no idea about which one. The fact that it was just a single percent showed just how powerful a god was. For her, the stat gain had been enormous regardless of which one was affected. The god probably wouldn’t even notice an increase like that.
After checking out her unique skills she turned to the others. There were two new normal skills. The first of which was by far the more interesting one. The other was just a general defensive skill, but the teleportation marks sounded extremely useful. She froze upon seeing that Mash was marked for some reason. Did it automatically mark her friends? Then what about the others, did that mean that they were dead? She was worried for them. Without a second thought, she attempted to teleport to Mash.
It drained a large chunk of her mana, and she had a feeling that she wouldn’t be able to manage it without her new mana reservoirs. In an instant she was looking at the night sky, then she was somewhere else entirely. Mash sat on the ground before him, and she noticed an enormous tree jutting from the ground in the distance. A grassy plain separated him from the large tree. Jill couldn’t help but stare at the tree for a moment. It was the biggest thing she had ever seen even when she compared it to the God she had met.
“Jill? How did you even-”
Jill’s mind raced through man things as she heard Mash. Her first thought was worry that she ruined his trial. Then everything that had held her together just kind of broke. It’s like seeing one of her friends had broken the thin threads she had been using to keep herself sane. Then she noticed Red standing not too far from Mash. He rose to his feet as he spoke. It was more of a jump as he was surprised by her sudden arrival. Jill felt tears appearing in her eyes, and she didn’t stop them as she jumped at Mash pulling him into a hug. He couldn’t even finish what he was trying to say.
Red took a step closer, and Jill grabbed her too. She pulled both of them into a tight hug and cried her eyes out. Strangely, it was Mash who returned the hug, she felt his hand land on her back. Red just went stiff, her body almost shaking. She was obviously not used to doing something like this. Jill was fairly surprised to see that Mash was able to hug her back. She would have expected him to do something awkward or stiffen up like Red. Despite crying herself, she was surprised when she noticed that Red was too. Her shaking had been from her sobs, not her discomfort. Her tears were red like blood.
After crying for a little bit, they separated. Mash awkwardly sat down his back landing against a nearby tree. Red similarly sat down, though she sat in a much more proper manner, with her legs tucked beneath her. Jill just plopped on the ground, her legs crossing on another. The others' expressions were mixed, and she knew that she would need to explain a lot.
“I think we have a lot to talk about.”
She started her explanation, telling them everything. She didn’t want to hide the events, and it felt like she needed to share. Her experiences poured out of her starting with her time spent in the forest to how she broke the world. The way she met with the god, and the torture. It was a struggle to explain that, but she felt better afterward. Her friends shared her anger, and that was a scary expression on both their faces.
Red’s skin was strangely grey, and there was a new mark beneath her right eye. It was like a streak of red blood that matched her earlier tears. Her blood-red eyes were more sunken now, and her expression looked fiercer for it. On the other hand, Mash’s face changed very little, but his eyes were filled with rage. She could understand what he was feeling. Unbeliever’s Understanding was probably letting her notice the signs. He was furious and she felt like he would attack the god right now if given the opportunity.
Red took a little while to catch her breath, she had cried just as much as Jill had. After Jill finished her retelling, Red started with her own story. It surprised Jill to hear what had happened, but now she understood why she thought that Red looked conflicted prior to another dungeon. However, Jill was sure how to feel about the situation. It was complicated. Red had made a decision and one that had led her to a path of death. Jill was fine with that, as she knew that Red was regretting it. The problem is what happened after that as a result.
Mash had misunderstood the situation and in saving her had killed innocent people. Even if the soldiers weren’t completely innocent, they didn’t deserve to die so quickly. When Red mentioned it, Jill noticed the change in Mash’s emotions. Red’s own mood had dropped too. She felt guilty, and Mash just felt disgusted. She could tell that their emotions were directed at themselves too. Jill didn’t know what to say, and she wasn’t ready to try and help others yet, her own thoughts were a bit too dark for that. Instead, she tried to change the subject. A little uncertain about her choice of words, she tried to summon her weapon for the first time.
“Summon God-Killer Needle!”