Remy watched as two of his fellow hunters held the small human female and attached a weight to her ankle. Not large enough to provide a full meal for the giant crabs below but that wouldn’t be a problem today. He looked left and right, Over 1,000 of his fellow Atlantean hunters and warriors were finally purging the human fifth from their empire. He had never understood why Khau’ting had kept them around. Yes, his mother had been a human but she’d died in childbirth, just as 90% of the other worthless human females that birthed his fellow warriors did.
“Why are we doing this anyway?” his fellow hunter Ray asked through the common mindspeak of the Atlanteans. “I thought we were saving them for a big hunt,” he said as he continued to hold the female human slave. A yellow cloud started to leak from her groin
Remy laughed, “Now look what you did, don’t get any in your mouth,” Remy said as he drove his spear through the female’s heart. The other two held her for a moment then released her as they swam up to get away from the yellow cloud that followed her down to the crab farm on the ledge below.
Remy moved upward about 20 feet and looked over the ledge. They watched as she sank to the ledge below where a giant crab cut her in half with one of its claws as others joined in to help eat the bits that sank to the ledge floor. In The Great Ocean, if they’d dropped her with the weight she would have fallen toward the nearest bubble. He’d been alive for only 30 years and he still didn’t understand how things worked in the Great Ocean. Bubbles for instance. Bubbles rose to the surface of the water inside a Bubble. They wanted to reconnect to the air above. In the Great Ocean, they pretty much remained stationary or moved with the current and eventually disappeared. No one he’d talked to could explain it but his master had been sure to bring home the lesson that the bubbles one left behind could be used to track whoever had made them. He’d received a couple of bruises that day as the lesson was beaten into him.
All the slaves had been brought into the water here on the south side of the Khua’ting bubble where a ledge dropped almost 200 feet to a shelf that had been penned in and turned into a giant crab farm. Normally they dropped weighted nets filled with offal to the ledge below. The crabs were kept from coming up to the ledge by a group of trained giant eels that were housed in the rock face. Any giant crab that walked or swam up the wall was fair game to the eels. The giant crabs soon learned to stay away from the underwater wall. Though they did venture close when food was dropped. The eels had been trained to leave the food and the crabs alone during feeding time.
Today was different. Today the Emperor had decreed that the great purge of all humans was to happen. He’d heard rumors that they would soon be going to a world where they could hunt all the humans. They might even be able to pick up breeding stock to create more Atlanteans. He watched as over 1,000 of his fellow warriors and hunters brought a human to the ledge, weighed them down, and dropped them over the ledge to the crabs below. The very young humans that couldn’t breathe underwater yet were carried underwater where they drowned and were thrown into weighted nets with the offal that was supposed to be today’s meal. He wouldn’t want that duty, especially if he had gills
“I swear Ray if that yellow cloud of piss had gotten into my mouth,” Remy said.
“Look around Remy,” the third member of his execution party Manco said. “This whole area is starting to fill with their human stench. We need to get this done quickly, so both of you close your mouths and get back to work. We have a lot more to do before we’re done. We have over 10,000 humans to cull and only about 1,000 of us to do it because the others have gone out go after the human your dad reported in on and hasn’t been heard from since yesterday.”
“I know, I wish I could have gone with them,” Remy said.
“I know you do. Your dad is one of the best Assassin Hunters the Empire has, and Khau’ting willing, you will be someday too. Today we need to get this done. Remember, The crabs eat well today, we will eat well in about a week.”
Remy nodded as Manco and Ray grabbed the next human, attached weights to his legs and Remy stabbed him through the heart. The three of them continued their task for the better part of an hour. The only thing that broke the monotony was when one of the humans didn’t’ die right away. They’d look over the ledge and make bets on how long the human would last. Then Remy started ‘missing’ his killing blows everyone once and a while on purpose as he practiced different maiming strikes. Since he knew exactly what he’d been aiming to do with his strike he had a good idea of how long the human would last. When their line was complete, he’d won 3 small pearls and 1 medium-sized one betting on how long the human would last. It wasn’t his fault Ray and Manco hadn’t figured out he was letting the humans live on purpose to make money off their deaths. Waste not, want not, and all that.
Just then one of the Empire’s transports came speeding up to the cliff and slowed about 100 feet away. Remy saw his father’s commander standing next to a human in a weird piece of black clothing looking out one of the glass windows. The vessel paused and Remy saw a sneer cross his commander’s face as he pointed at the humans being slaughtered and dropped to feed the crabs. The Commander couldn’t see the human’s face because he was off to the human’s side but Remy did. He saw the human’s eyes harden, then watched as his face went passive again as if he didn’t have a care in the world. He’d also felt the tell-tale touch of an aura. Something he’d only ever felt in the presence of the Khau-ting. The level of malevolence and hatred that had barely touched him shook him.
“Remy, you okay?” Ray asked as the ship rose toward the surface and then broke through and flew off in the air toward the Capital.
“Did you see the human?” Remy asked.
“Don’t worry about him. The rest of his short life is about to become incredibly miserable,” Manco said.
Remy nodded thoughtfully then said, “I didn’t see my father.”
“Me either,” Ray said.
Remy satisfied himself with the knowledge that if his father had fallen, the human responsible had been captured and would soon be tortured to death. Maybe he could ask to watch. Better yet, maybe he could help.
***
Adam, looked out the window as the Atlantean beside him went to great pains to explain to him how screwed he was.
“The Emperor has commanded that all the humans in the Khau’ting empire be culled and fed to our giant crabs to fatten them up for the feast in a week,” he said in Latin. Adam had never learned his name because everyone around him had only ever referred to him as “Commander.” After he’d allowed himself to be captured Adam had been strung up with manacles and a suppression collar had been added to his neck. The vehicle they were in was something else. It was almost like an underwater fighter jet, except it was also a transport. The underwater trip by the Vital Flumen had only 3 hours or so in this vehicle. One because his Personal Map showed they were traveling in a straight line back toward the bubble with the Lost Empire and two because the instruments he was reading with Technomancy showed that the vehicle was traveling well over the speed of sound. Most likely three times the speed of sound or better. Yes, he had a suppression collar on which stopped none of his abilities from working. Astral Link was definitely a game-changer of an ability.
Adam’s Technomancy ability couldn’t define what was allowing the vehicle to attain such high speeds underwater because it was some type of water-based magic that seemed to be displacing the water the vehicle traveled through without creating a shockwave. Technomancy reported that the magic was intertwined into the vehicle somehow but couldn’t report on what it was or how it worked, just if it was on or off. Adam truly wished he had an Analyze and Identify ability. Those were two abilities he was going to have to try to get with his remaining Quintessence slots. Something to think about after he was done dealing with the Khau’ting.
As Adam watched the Atlanteans floating near the cliff continue to murder thousands of humans he was reminded of the atrocities committed during World War II. These Khau’ting and the Atlantean hybrids they created were evil, really evil. He also knew that they were not supposed to be in this world. The Commander that was even now trying to taunt him into a reaction was at least a Step-3 creature. Adam had no doubt he could take him but had decided to see how far this played out by remaining passive. Adam saw the net on the cliff filled with children then his eyes met one of the Atlanteans on the ledge near the net. He wrested control over himself and then dropped his focus back into his Mindspace to ignore everything. The Commander would get nothing out of him, yet.
The Commander realized that Adam wasn’t listening anymore and gave the command for the pilot to continue to the Capital, the Emperor wanted to interrogate the human that had killed one of his best Assassin Hunters himself. As Adam watched the vehicle rise to the surface and convert to a flying vehicle he thought back to Tash’Valyar.
Adam had slipped into the Vital Flumen and within seconds had been floating toward the exit from the planetoid into a giant net that was surrounded by 30 Atlanteans. As he slowed just before touching the net he’d been hit by 30 weapons both sonic and light-based. The sonic weapons had done almost nothing because the Vital Flumen’s current negated most of it but Adam recognized that the light weapons weren’t meant to damage him. They were meant to overload his optical nerves and send signals to his brain locking him up. They’d wanted him alive.
Adam went lip and fell into the net which carried an electrical charge which acted like a taser. He stayed limp but locked his muscles until the current was removed. He’d been grabbed collared and taken to the ship where he’d been strung up and left alone for the better part of an hour before the interrogation had started.
The Commander asked him where he was from, who his parents were, and where Lucius was, Adam believed that was the name of the Assassin he’d killed. They’d also repeatedly asked where ‘The Key’ was. Adam had ignored it all. They’d even tried whipping him with a flail only to find that his clothes repaired themselves immediately and any wounds they left were also healed immediately. That they could wound him was Adam’s first hint that these Atlanteans and Khau’ting were more powerful than they should be in this World.
Adam had allowed his nanites to replicate into the ship and analyze everything. The only thing they’d had a problem with was the device in the nose of the ship which made the field that allowed the ship to travel rapidly through the water. Adam had ignored their questions and retreated to his Mindspace. He watched his Personal Map and as they’d passed the bubble with the Lost Empire Ruins in it he’d started paying attention again.
That’s when the Commander had come back to taunt him as they drew up to watch the slaughter of the humans in the Kingdom and the feeding of the crabs. Adam retreated into his Mindspace as the vehicle flew toward the capital and prepared for what was to come next. He had a feeling he was about to meet either the Emperor or someone else equally important.
***
Maezel’dak, the Khau’ting Emperor sat on his land-bound throne. His Empire spanned a thousand miles but his seat of power was in this camouflaged bubble that moved around within his domain. He hated it up here In the tower and much preferred his underwater throne room below the surface of the Lake in the middle of this Island. He was using this throne room so they could talk with the human if needed. Verbal language just didn’t work right underwater.
His advisors had reported that the barrier between Earth and this World was once again nearing each other and he’d moved this bubble as close as he dared to the guide buoys to the area where their portal opened. Only a few remembered the catastrophe that had brought the island through the portal. He had been very young at the time but he knew it had to do with the proximity of the land mass to the portal. His father had warned him, should the portal ever open again, he was not to move any of the bubbles in his kingdom closer than 100 miles to the border of the warning buoys. He’d brought his main bubble close but it rested on the other side of the Lost Empires bubble. They would no doubt know if things were going awry and be able to fly long before his seat of power was affected.
The Emperor reviewed his personal data assistant. He had been contacted by Commander Svenith six hours ago. The human that Lucius had reported seeing had been captured but the Aquatic Elf was nowhere to be seen. They’d captured him on the other side of the giant Coral Reef that the Vital Flumen traveled through. The Commander had been able to get nothing out of the Human, as he’d receded into his mind and ignored all stimulus. The Commander had sent that he believed the human to be at least equal in power to the Advisors, maybe even himself.
The Emperor had brought his best mentalist and himself to the throne room where they waited for the Commander and his prisoner. The Commander had detoured to the culling to try to break the human’s will only to report that no change had been noticed. Maezel’dak was looking forward to breaking the human’s will. It was so seldom he was able to practice in his chosen arena. He didn’t have to wait long.
The multirole vehicle landed on the terrace outside his Throne Room about 200 feet in front of him and outside of the room. Commander Svenith and four armed guards escorted a chained and collared human toward him and stopped when the human was fifty feet in front of him.
One of the guards tried to smack the human’s leg to make him kneel before only to have the spear bounce off as if he’d hit solid rock. Another guard swung his staff as hard as he could at the human’s other leg. A loud “CRACK” was heard as part of the staff flew away, broken off.
All four Guards and the Commander immediately assumed attack positions as the Emperor made a signal and he and six others launched their mental attack. The Emperor found himself entering the human’s mind which seemed to take a lot longer than he’d expected. He knew that the sense of time during these mental contests could be off but he’d felt that both a long time and almost no time had passed.
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As the Emperor finally achieved a foothold in this human’s mind he noted six slumped-over forms lying on the ground before him.
“Welcome to my mind Emperor Maezel’dak,” the human said.
“How do you know my name?” the Emperor asked.
“Short answer, that guy,” the human said pointing to one of the slumped forms, “told me everything about you and this Empire of yours before he expired. Hey, do you like movies, let’s watch a movie,” The human said as a screen popped up with a birds-eye view of the throne room and the five guards that were about to attack the human. 50 feet away he saw his body sitting on the throne.
“I bet you’re wondering how the view can be from above my body. Sure, I could be showing you a fantasy but you need to know a couple of things. First, the view is coming from one of the many helpers I’ve released. As I was walking into the room they spread out and disarmed every soldier in the room with ranged weapons. The other twenty soldiers left in the transport, some had departed to take part in the slaughter of the humans, in the ship are about to have a very bad day, but that’s true for everyone here so let’s not digress.
“How,” The Emperor started to say.
“Hold on, I’m getting to that. Now the image you’re looking at on the screen beside us is the throne room now, though you and I are currently sped up a bit, it’s all relative. I’m sure that whoever trained you in mental attacks warned you of the dangers of entering someone’s mind didn’t they?
“Yes, of course, they did”
“Well, you entered my mind, of your own free will, so here we are. Your six friends here decided to try to attack, though admittedly I only let one get to me at a time, so handling them was pretty easy. In this place, I am God after all.”
“Your mentality can not stand the power of a “Khau’ting Mental Master,” he said as he launched his attack.
The human yawned. Cocked his head then said, “As I was saying, in here I am God. It looks like you are a Step-4 Cultivator and you look to be about equal to me in almost every other stat except one, no spoilers! Anyway, your friends, subordinates, subjects, whatever all tried the same thing with pretty much the same result then I showed them who I am. They did not survive the experience.”
“If that is so, why don’t you do the same to me?
“Oh, I would never dream of doing that to you. No, for you, I want you to see exactly what your order to cull every human in this bubble has wrought, but first the Movie,” the human said.
As the Emperor watched the screen in front of him time started to move and before the other five had even reacted, the Emperor watched as the human moved in slow motion between each of the warriors. None of the warriors moved as the human moved from one to the next as he tapped each warrior on the top of their head with his right hand. When he was done, the human returned back to his starting point and the image seemed to freeze again.
“I’ll bet you’re wondering what just happened?” the human said then continued. “In the world, I’m from, severe blows to the head can cause significant damage to the brain in that head. I’ve slowed down the time in here again so I can explain in detail what I think is going to happen. In terms, you’ll understand. I struck each of them on the top of their head with my full strength, I was trying to make sure that I struck just hard enough to crush each skull down by 1 inch. If my calculations are correct I should have cracked their skulls, without flattening their heads. That blow should create a pressure wave inside the skull cavity that is going to be quite devastating, let’s watch!” the human said excitedly as something appeared in his hands that he started to munch on, “This is popcorn, want some?”
The Emperor looked at the human as if he was insane, or maybe he was. The human was projecting a fantasy, he had to be. His attention was drawn back to the screen as he watched a ripple start from the top of each of the warrior’s heads and slowly make its way down to their eyes, which exploded out of their heads in slow motion. This was followed by their liquified brains exiting from the emptied eye sockets, ears, noses, and mouths as the bodies started to drop to the ground.
“Move me out of the middle of that mess, I don’t need to be covered in gross brain slime,” The Emperor heard the human say to someone he couldn’t see.
The screen sped up again as the human jumped into the air and landed 10 feet closer to the throne which should have activated some of the automated defenses in the Throne Room. None of them activated. Then he watched as the human started to slowly walk toward the throne.
“I’ll bet you’re wondering why the automated defenses didn’t activate. Yeah, I know you are. I shut them down. Not to worry I’m going to speed this up a little bit, places to go, things to do and all that,” The human said.
The Emperor watched as the human took a step and a Khau’ting appeared beside him and attacked. The Emperor couldn’t even tell what the human had done but the Khau’ting Warrior had died with a crushed throat. Four more teleported in. He watched as the human would take a step and more and more of his elite guard would die. Each was at the same power level as himself. They were all two power levels above the natives of this world. This human seemed to be higher than they were.
Feeling fear for the first time the Emperor said, “We can come to some accommodation…”
The screen froze as the human turned back to him, “Your race looks something like a cross between a fishhead monster and one of my favorite characters in the Star Wars franchise. You will not be allowed to exist in a universe where your kind has besmirched the Great Admiral Ackbar. Forgoing that fictional afront, you subjugated and decimated the people of Atlantis and turned them into the evil perversions that they’ve become. Accommodations? I will show you accommodations and something you’ve never seen before. In fact, it’s something that I’ve never seen before either, but first, let’s finish this movie.” The human said.
They both turned to the screen and watched as time sped back up to normal. The human continued to walk toward the throne. When the human stopped he was directly in front of the Throne, one step away from the Emperor. The other twenty Atlanteans were rushing in from the terrace when a shimmer appeared around the human and many white bolts leaped from him to completely decimate the entire Atlantean hunting party. They didn’t just die, they fell to pieces. The Throne room was empty on the screen except for the human and him.
“I’m sure more guards are coming up the tower even as I’m talking to you now. First though, get out of my mind,” The human said as he flicked his hand as if the Emperor were some minor annoyance to him. He soon found himself back in his body staring up at the human that was towering over him.
“I have to admit, those elites of yours, Step-4, just a little weaker than myself, impressive and you had 100 of them, wow. The rest were a full rank below but still too powerful for this world. No wonder the Sea Elves have had such a hard time with you.”
“What do you want?” The Emperor said as he tried to stand, only for the human to put a hand on his shoulder and easily restrain him.
“What I want is irrelevant. What I need to do here is another thing altogether. Your fellow mentalists said this Bubble is about 75 miles in diameter, that sound about right?”
“Yes, give or take a few feet, Why?” The Emperor asked.
“Just wanted to know. Last question, Are their other Khau’ting outside of your Empire?” the human asked.
“Of course there are. My Empire spans a 1,000-mile radius. If something happens to me, I will be avenged!” he declared.
“Not what I meant, but thank you for the information. No, I was referring to where you are from. I’m sure you didn’t originate here. There are more of your kind elsewhere, yes?”
“I do not know, our ancestors came through a portal, just as the humans did with Atlantis,” he started to say.
“Nevermind that, I told you I was going to show you something that neither you nor I have ever seen before, but first you need a little context,” The human said. “On my planet, the humans there learned to create some truly devastating weapons. Not as devastating as the Pelza Empire, but they’re just a bunch of assholes anyway. So Anyway, humans created this device that made a really big explosion. The explosion pretty much decimated an entire city. I’m pretty sure with your mix of magic and technology you’ve never had a chance to test higher physics but let’s just say that there is a substance where 1 gram of the substance can create the same explosion. Now as you know there are 453.592 grams in a pound and there are 2,000 pounds in a short ton.”
The Emperor was starting to get bored, “And what does this have to do with what is going on here?” he asked. If this human was going to kill him why didn’t he just do so?
“I’m getting to that. Now our scientists have done the math based on observation and they can estimate that 10.25 pounds of the material I mentioned would create a 100,000-kiloton exposition. Roughly 4,600 times stronger than a bomb that could destroy a city. Our modeling shows that out to 4.92 miles will become part of the fireball and out to 6.2 miles a pressure wave slightly less than the pressure of the Great Ocean outside your bubble will push outward. Now I bet you’re wondering how I could carry around such an item or substance without destroying myself and the answer is I can’t. I mean I could if this suppression collar wasn’t preventing me from...” he said as he trailed off and the suppression collar turned to dust.
“What, how? Wait you were using your full strength while the collar was on?” The Emperor said.
“Oops, Now you know one of my secrets. Yeah, they don’t work on me. Wouldn’t matter how powerful it was, they do not work. Don’t worry about that. Let’s get back to your physics lesson. There is a particle of energy so anathema to normal matter that it if it touches other matter they annihilate each other. Storing or carrying this particle would be impossible and I’m sure most conjuring or creation magic would not allow the caster to create it, as they first wound need to understand subatomic particle physics and second be able to hold in their mind the image of what they wanted to create. Luckily today you have such an individual standing before you.
“You are Insane,” The Emperor said.
“Insane? No, I’m not insane. I’m giving you the ‘context’ to understand what is going to happen when I create 1,000 pounds of antiprotons in this room. Not just you and I will be destroyed. Unfortunately, I’m not exactly sure how big the explosion will be because I’m not sure how the explosion is going t act when it reaches the limits of the bubble. The constant pressure of the oceans should contain the explosion somewhat after the energy reaches an equilibrium. I’m estimating that the amount I’m going to create is going to destroy a 500 miles radius around this bubble. It will immediately be turned to plasma which the Great Ocean should contain and hammer down on. I wouldn’t want to hurt anything else.”
“Killing an entire empire because they…”
“Do you know how stupid you just started to sound,” the human said cutting him off,” The evil Emperor is going to plead to my merciful side? Yeah, not happening. One, the portal to Earth is probably opening soon, you assholes do not get to subjugate them again. Two, any mercy I may have had died when your commander gleefully described how each human was being put to death and fed to the crabs which would be turned into a feast for yourselves,” He said pausing for a moment before he asked, “Any questions?
“Is there nothing I can do to stop you?” The Emperor asked.
“Not a valid question, try one more time?”
“Very well, if you can do what you say, what is your name, I would know the killer of my people?”
“You are the killer of your people!” Adam said decisively. “You may call me Karma, for that, is who has come knocking at your door today. Now, how about those Anti-Protons?”
***
Adam dropped his focus to his Mindspace as his body raised his hand. He slowed time down and had his Shadow Vault pull in his dive suit just before he used Mold Chaos to summon 1,000 pounds of anti-protons. He saw a blackness drop around them which held for a moment before he found himself pulled into the Astral Plane near the fissure that sealed immediately. Well, that was completely lame, antiprotons were black and he didn’t get to see the explosion. Yeah, completely lame.
He was informed that he was receiving a lot of combat messages and notifications before he felt a pull from five different directions. This was the first time his Dual State ability had come into play after all. One pulled back toward the fissure which probably led to the world or universe he’d just left. The other four went off in other directions. He tried to examine them but he either didn’t have the skill or ability to recognize what they pulled him toward. One had to be Earth but the other two he was unsure of.
He was sure Tash’Valyar would be able to get the world ready for the portal opening into Earth. Now he needed to try to get back. He looked at his other three choices and picked the 2nd. He felt himself get pulled toward it and lost consciousness.
***
It had been five days since her home had been shaken by the explosion and the light had flooded the region. The Vital Flumen had been unanchored on the side that once housed the Khau’ting Empire, which no longer existed. The Empire along with all the warning buoys had been destroyed in the explosion. She had been part of a group that had been sent to investigate only to find a bubble of rolling flame and energy that was gradually getting smaller. More disturbing was the radiation it was emitting. There was a ball of energy that resembled what her history described as a Star roughly 700 miles in diameter. The entire Khau’ting Empire was somewhere inside that Sun.
It radiated heat but the Sun had been shrinking rapidly. It was already only 200 miles across and it had been only five days. The water around the mass of heat and light was extremely hot. None dared to venture closer than 100 miles unless they were in a vehicle.
During the last four days, the Atlanteans and the Khau’ting that had survived the disaster were systematically hunted down and killed by every other race that hated them. Some human slaves that had been in bubbles outside of the 500-mile radius survived and were added to her people. It would be months if not a year before the region stabilized. She’d have to watch for that portal to open to Earth and be sure to make sure her people didn’t go through. Her people were already making the buoys to replace the danger buoys. The entire region had shifted so no one was sure where the portal would open.
One thing was for sure. Her people would be warned not to offend any humans if they traveled to Earth. If Adam could destroy an Empire and he was one of those humans she wanted to make sure her people didn’t offend any of them.
***
Adam opened his eyes and had himself clothed before he looked around. He was in a tomb of some kind, of that he was sure. He activated True Sight, Aura Sight, Obscure, and Flight as he lifted himself into the air above the ground he’d just appeared on. No nanites were present so this was not Earth. He seemed to be in a room with a single table in it. He’d appeared on the ground before it. Adam heard footsteps and a door opened admitting two women. He immediately recognized the women as members of the Pelza Empire except they weren’t They had lines of white that ran down from their eyes over their cheeks and their Aura didn’t seem tainted with the green he’d come to associate with evil. A light above him turned on and he realized the room had fluorescent lights. Adam turned on Technomancy and sent out his senses.
“I swear I felt the energy coming from this room not two minutes ago, that’s why I rushed to get you.”
“Be calm Sarah, if energy flowed into the room perhaps it was used elsewhere. You know this is a life node,” The second woman said.
“I do know that, I was just worried that they had found us, you know they’ve been getting closer”
“Those witches couldn’t find us if I held their hand and guided them here. We are not in their Universe.“
“Let’s return to the lab. We can check our equipment to see if there was a surge in the room. If there was, it was no doubt because someone used an ability that required life energy.”
“As you say, Tanya,” Sarah said resignedly
They both turned and left, closing the door behind them. Adam took in the layout of the building around him and realized he was in a multilevel structure two floors underground. The wiring showed a lot of rooms within range. A message popped into his vision
You have killed over 25,343 Atlanteans and 35,679 Khau’ting and a variety of sea creatures and fish. Also, your looting ability collected treasure. In addition to the 53,413 small pearls, 21,737 medium pearls, and 4,676 large pearls you gathered you have also received Step-1 and Step-2 Quintessence for Air, Water, Fire, Earth, Light Dark, Life, Death, Strength, Agility, Endurance, Perception, Wisdom, Willpower, Luck, Space, Time, Gravity, Mental and Anti. Step-3 quintessence was automatically converted to Step-2. In total, you now have 2,500 Step-1 Quintessence and 8,869 Step-2 Quintessence.
All frivolous items that were looted have been scanned by the nanites and either converted or left awaiting further instructions.
Wow, That Interface update message had said that kills would automatically be looted, Adam just hadn’t expected that. 8,869 Step-2 Quintessence. Looked like he would get to see what all of his abilities could do once they were leveled, and soon. Introductions to whoever was in this base could wait until he’d improved his abilities.