Chapter 71: No Favors with Friends
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-You have used [Awakening Stone of Creation].
-You have awakened Dimension Essence Ability, [Echo of Creation]. You have awakened 5 of 5 Dimension Essence Abilities.
-All abilities in the Dimension Essence have been awakened. The Dimension Essence is bound to the [Speed] attribute. The [Speed] attribute will advance with the lowest ranked essence ability.
Ability: [Echo of Creation]
Familiar (ritual, summon)
Cost: Extreme mana
Cooldown: None
Effect (Iron): Summons an [Echo of Creation], to serve as a familiar.
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“What did you awaken?”
“Another familiar ability,” said Nara, “Echo of Creation. Sounds interesting.”
Upon hearing that, Specter was contemplative, but she offered no information, keeping her thoughts to herself.
“You’re up to three familiars then.”
“What is the maximum on that, anyway? I heard at least one was common?”
“Up for four familiars, one per essence.”
“Huh, wonder why that is.”
“There are theories—” Aliyah began, but stopped when she realized where they were and what they were in the middle of doing, “—but I will save it for later.”
“Onto the next stone then. Avatar.”
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-You have used [Awakening Stone of The Avatar].
-You have awakened Balance Essence Ability, [Avatar of the Boundary]. You have awakened 5 of 5 Balance Essence Abilities.
-All abilities in the Balance Essence have been awakened. The Balance Essence is bound to the [Recovery] attribute. The [Recovery] attribute will advance with the lowest ranked essence ability.
Ability: [Avatar of the Boundary]
Special Ability (boon, affliction, holy, unholy)
Cost: none
Cooldown: none
Effect (Iron): When inflicting damage on an enemy with a normal or special attack or active damaging ability, gain an instance of [Boundary’s Grace]. Upon reducing, avoiding, or negating damage with your abilities, the attacker will be afflicted with an instance of [Boundary’s Scorn]. [Boundary’s Scorn] inflicted in this way cannot be resisted. Instance limit of [Boundary’s Grace] is determined by the [Spirit] attribute.
* [Boundary’s Grace] (boon, holy, stacking): Increases rending and transcendent damage dealt. Additional instances have a cumulative effect.
* [Boundary’s Scorn] (affliction, unholy, stacking): Reduces resistance to afflictions dealt by anyone with the [Boundary’s Grace] boon. Cleansing abilities have reduced effect when cleansing afflictions inflicted by anyone with the [Boundary’s Grace] boon. Additional instances have a cumulative effect.
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“Oh, that’s a nice get!” Nara said excitedly, “I’ve been waiting for an offensive boon. I’ve got all these recovery boons stacking, which is great and all, but it doesn’t translate to direct power, unless I sack them to Boon Conversion.”
Now Nara scaled with both boons and afflictions. Someone would have to shut down both to completely stop her.
“Last stone then,” Nara said, holding up the final Awakening Stone of Judgement up to the atrium light.
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-You have used [Awakening Stone of Judgement].
-You have awakened Mystic Essence Ability, [Astral Judgement]. You have awakened 5 of 5 Mystic Essence Abilities.
-All abilities in the Mystic Essence have been awakened. The Mystic Essence is bound to the [Spirit] attribute. The [Spirit] attribute will advance with the lowest ranked essence ability.
-All essence abilities have been awakened. Progress all abilities to Bronze 0 to rank up to Bronze rank.
Ability: [Astral Judgement]
Spell
Incantation: “Judgement of the astral.”
Cost: Moderate mana
Cooldown: 30 seconds
Effect (Iron): Inflict rending damage for each curse, holy, unholy, or magic affliction the target is suffering from.
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“It’s a pretty simple ability but I was lacking a ranged option. That’s it then, the full 20 abilities I’ll have for the rest of my life. It’s a bit of a bittersweet feeling,” Nara distantly mused. There was a finality to it, the end of one part of her journey. “Too late for any regrets.”
“Do you have regrets over the abilities you have awakened?”
“Don’t think I can have regrets with magic powers, Sen, when the alternative is having none.”
“You may be surprised,” Aliyah said, “There are horror stories passed around the Magic Society.”
“Horror stories?”
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“The Flesh and Blood Essences are powerful and practical essences,” Aliyah began, her pleasant expression adopting the countenance of a storyteller, “The Flesh Essence is used in many defensive and unique power sets, while the Blood Essence is useful for attackers, healers, and affliction specialists. However, there are cautioned tales of combining the two…”
“…What happens when you combine them?” Nara asked, matching Aliyah’s tone of horror.
“Normally, nothing. You have ordinary powers just like anyone else. Enhanced strength, toughness, and healing. You can awaken a potent suite of enhancement powers. However… if you are not careful with your stones, you make awaken as…something else.”
“Something else?” Nara said, gulping with nervousness, although she was just playing along. The bright sunlight and clean white aesthetic prevented the atmosphere necessary for a proper horror story. She’d have to set up one sometime, in Encio’s suite. There must be mad horror stories in a world of magic.
“There’s the possibility of transforming into a mass of blood and flesh, losing your human shape to become a sphere of meat.”
“Yo, what?”
“Make no mistake, Nara,” Aliyah said, “Your essence abilities will not awaken an ability that makes you weaker. That form is the escalation of the outworlder form—no organs, no vulnerabilities. Not even eyes or a mouth—a perfect impenetrable fortress of flesh.”
You may not like it, but that is what peak performance looks like.
“This is a true story?”
“It is,” Aliyah confirmed grimly.
“What happened to that poor bastard?”
“Sometimes the Adventure Society will put them out of their misery. While it may be an objectively superior form… no one wants to live like that. Other times, if the essence user is so inclined, they continue as is, in hopes that one day they regain their form.”
“Can they?”
“They would have to reach diamond rank,” Aliyah said, “Maybe gold rank.”
“If your not sure, they haven’t succeeded.”
“Yes,” Aliyah confirmed grimly, with haunting implications of unintentional friendly fire. “None have succeeded.”
*****
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- [Eufemia Teresina] has entered contact range.
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Nara bolted straight up from her rest. The three were sleeping on conjured beds within one of the rest areas of the library atrium.
“Guys,” Nara said, shaking the two awake, “Eufemia made it through.”
“Go,” Sen said, “You are the fastest.”
Nara chain node jumped back to the entrance portal where a ragged Eufemia was taking stock.
“Eufemia!”
“Nara?”
Nara quickly judged the Eufemia’s state. She looked exhausted, with reddened eyes, and eye bags, losing much of her usual pomp. Her hair was frayed and wild as if she had just starred for two weeks in Naked and Afraid. Her armor broken and bloodied; she hadn’t bothered to reconjure it yet.
Nara was relieved to see she had no serious injured. Likely, Eufemia noticed the same enhanced healing effect of the trial room and rested there first to recover yourself.
“You sure took your time,” Nara said, “But you made it through.”
“What about the others?” Eufemia asked, “How’s John?”
“John’s not here,” Nara said, shaking her head, “neither is Encio. The rest are here. Let me guide you there?”
Nara gently grabbed Eufemia’s hand, who still seemed to be in a daze, and led her through the bookshelves to where Sen and Aliyah were.
Sen offered some crystal wash to Eufemia, and she cleaned herself off and sat down, releasing a deep breath along with all of her tension.
“So, what have I missed?” She said, her eyes regaining their original flaming energy, “I won’t tolerate being the only one left out.”
*****
Three days passed, but neither Encio nor John showed up. Nara didn’t expect Encio to succeed in the final trial—he had already trained for many years, and his technique was highly developed. Pushing it further required dedicated practice, not spur of the moment insight. Encio also had already awakened all of his abilities, so he couldn’t use the method Sen and Aliyah used to win. It was an odd final trial that countered expertise.
Eufemia won in a similar way to Nara, suffering acceptable damage while dedicating most of her mental capacity to identifying her own areas of weakness. Her technique was even rawer than Nara, but her mimic lacked niceties Nara had.
Eufemia mimic fought no holds barred: lying, feigning weakness, threatening, throwing insults, digging at mental scars. Moreover, Eufemia’s new ability to copy any weapon, including physical weapons, backfired. The power of Solar Judgement was an instantaneous and deadly to an iron ranker. However, its range was lower than a real shotgun.
“I never want to fight myself again. Even more so—I never want to fight John’s weapon again.”
“You’re more afraid of John’s weapon than John himself.”
“I would never be afraid of John—he barely has it in him to connect a proper punch in sparring practice. But I fear for whoever tries to hurt his children, his wife, or anybody he finds precious, and ends up on the other side of that bloody weapon,” she said, having adopted a bit of John’s British slang after their year of partnership.
“Pretty sure John would get upset for any random child,” Nara said.
“Doesn’t have to be a child, he’d get upset for anyone innocent,” said Eufemia in plain agreement.
When the time had come for Sen and Aliyah to leave, a portal opened up before them, and all books became incorporeal to their touch. They could stay, but there was no more meaning.
“We’ll head out of the portal first. We may find Encio and John waiting for us on the other side,” Sen said.
“We still need to figure out how to ascend back up the mountain shaft,” said Aliyah, “The two of us will work on the solution together. It has been awhile since our last project, hasn’t it, Sen.”
Sen’s eyes were a little shifty, but he maintained a straight face.
“Sen?”
Nara arrived half a day after Sen and Aliyah, so a portal appeared before her as well. She had made a few rounds around the library, just in case to make sure she had not missed any books.
She was now something of a living, breathing, information repository. Actually, not breathing, but that was beside the point. She still had to read it all, but she wouldn’t run out of reading material for the next few centuries, if she could bare to read only dry academic books for all those years.
There were a few surprising sections in the library, such as culinary magic and entertainment magic. Other sections included wide scale illusion arrays, agricultural magic, weather manipulation magic, construction magic, Magitech, and the all-important astral and dimension magic.
There were books on science as well. Physics, chemistry, mechanical engineering, astrophysics, aerospace, and fields that Nara had ever heard of. Since examinants were limited to three days, most sought information in fields they already understood. Pursuing science in that time was too tall a task, when their entire lives they had been thinking magically.
She turned to the floating grey robe.
“Specter, it’s been a pleasure. You’ve taught us a lot about the dangers awaiting this world. I’m sure Sen, Aliyah, and the rest living here are appreciative. Even if no one else knows, we will know.”
The astral being shook her hooded head, and Nara sensed what she thought was a smile, although the being had no face.
“You asked the right question, benefactor, Then…” She performed a deep bow, “Until we meet again. May the weave of the cosmos flow in your favor.”
“Go out and enjoy yourself, Specter. It’s been thousands of years. Enjoy your freedom. Maybe do a girls night out, or whatever astral beings do to pass the time.”
“What astral beings do to pass the time? Aptly stated, miss Nara. I plan to do exactly that.”
*****
Nara stepped out of the white portal, arriving back in he circular plaza where Nara first entered the trial.
She followed the icons on her map to find Sen, Aliyah, John, and Encio.
Encio greeted her with a smile, “Well done. That last trial was difficult.”
“I’m glad to see the both of you are fine,” Nara said.
“You too. That last trial was brutal.”
“Eufemia mentioned your weapon was more of a drawback than a benefit.”
John chuckled, “I completely agree. Can’t say I like staring down the barrel of a shotgun. After my first close shave, I gave it up.”
“Your mimic must have been pretty nice though,” Nara mused.
“Oh yeah, pleasant bloke. We had a nice chat for a bit, then he fired a warning shot, and let me walk away.”
“He even fired a warning shot?” Encio said, “You realize that means he was one shot down? You held the advantage. If you continued the fight there, you had the best chance to win.”
“Now that would be disingenuous, wouldn’t it?”
The mimic did whatever it took to win. Which meant, John’s mimic thought talking down from fighting and even losing its advantage was the best path to victory, and it was proven right. Like Nara’s mimic, John didn’t want to kill John. The genuine care his mimic held for John convinced John more than anything else.
“I’m sorry Nara,” John said, realization dawning on him. “Once I walked out, I realized I made an absolute mess of it. Once of us needed to make it on through, and I gave up that easily.”
“It’s not a problem John.” She extended a fist bump, “We’re teammates, remember? I’m sure in the future It’ll be my turn to disappoint, and one of you will pick up the slack.”
Sen nodded, “We cover each other’s backs.”
“I owe you one then.”
“No favors, just friends,” Nara said, “I’ve got memory for shit. I’m going to lose count anyway.”
“If we counted, we’d know who had the largest debt,” Encio said, “I wonder who it would be?”