When they finally entered the door on the next day's dawn, the head that guarded the entrance earlier remained silent.
Goron led the group, his steps into the tower feeling as if someone was tearing at his souls.
He felt how he lost everything. As his memories remained complete for the first time and the senses his class and his existence as a mage allowed him to watch himself with much more care than he normally would, he noticed what had changed.
"What the hell is this? It's taking away any system access I have... no... this place literallypurified my mana..."
He complained. Realising that his life would now mostly rely on his body enhancements. He concentrated on the sixth sense his class gave him, and to his surprise, it worked almost perfectly. He felt the two of them as foreign objects, while most of the tower structures were native to this reality, the feeling even purer than those he got from the outside worlds air.
As he pondered that, he noticed a small creature stumble towards them.
It looked like a wolf, just much larger and eyes filled with hatred.
He immediately went into a fighting stance, the Wolf feeling as if it was made entirely from a foreign realms influence. The sulfuric smell that accompanied the pitch black creature assured Goron of his assumptions.
"A damned Hell hound? We are done for, unless you got some way to fight a creature this twisted..."
He asked Norman, who had remained mostly silent as the three of them started to circle the creature, a gesture the beast reciprocated.
"No plan... how about we hit it till it dies? That worked so far..."
Goron agreed, a smile spreading as he kicked the creature.
"I hate this. It's absolutely disgusting. But at least it remains a challenge."
He told the others as the demon jumped back, easily dodging the kick.
Next, the beast jumped at Goron, its hard claws barely scratching his body as his thick skin and blubber remained a decend defence. Its attack still did a lot of damage, the fad around the wound beginning to leak out like puss, and a bit of blood accompanied the goo like substance.
Almost as if on reflex, he grabbed the creatures throat and held it in place just bejond its maws reach as Normans spear and Frostbites fangs delved into it.
From there, the success would be dependent on Gorons ability to hold the creatures head.
And despite many moments where he almost lost the thrashing creature, he still managed to hold it long enough for his friends to kill it.
Only once it died did something kick in he didn't expect.
Like the strings holding his souls together, another set of strings extended to catch the soul he just freed.
To his friends, it seemed like he was still shocked over his wound, but he felt instincts much deeper than his own drag the soul into its folds, overwhelming it with an energy he first assumed to be mana as if to digest it, and as it went to work, he realized that he needed a new word for this.
It was then that he quickly did his best to let go, for the creature did not hold a soul, but a twisted construct of infernal essence shaped like one, something that Goron learned as his very existence was scorched by the Demonic construct.
"Mana is elemental, probably foreign or something... this stuff brims with my emotions, a lot harder to control, and capable of other things... I will call it ether, but at least it feels pure and isn't blocked by the tower..."
He grinned, his mind immediately going to the practical application of this, and thus he concentrated.
"Safety, love, protection... safety, love, protection."
With his mutterings, his friends just waited for him to finish, joking about his actions but watching him with interest.
That interest quickly turned to surprise as a second skin began to cover Goron, a transparent film spreading from his nose over the entire body, and brimming with his every step. When he opened his eyes again, Norman sighed and Frostbite began to bark. For as the bol tried to lick Goron to make sure he was safe, something that felt like a tiny spark of electricity ran through her, making her wince and take a step back.
"This is absolutely weird, any of you two that know what's happening right now?"
He asked, his friends just going next to him.
"I took whatever it was that fills this tower instead of Mana, and just imprinted it with my emotions. It's extremely easy once you get the hang of it, really."
Goron promised as Norman did his best not to shout in exasperation.
Thus, the ascended the tower once again, while Goron called upon his skills, but once the part came where they wouldn't work because of a lack of mana he filled them with ether, something that was much easier to grasp and control once he got the hang of it.
The skill Grounding was reactivated, but instead of earth mana, he imbued it with the exasperation and dissapointment he felt as the original skill failed.
The biggest difference was the immediate effect. His spells now weighted on the souls more than the bodies, and as two small creatures, barely the size of his fist stood at the end of the room, he immediately noticed its effect.
Instead of the scream he came to expect, they sighed. Their fireballs where fueled by ether aswell, and as the infernal projectile scorched his body, Goron was overcome by wrath.
Not simple anger, he dashed forward in speeds accelerated as his emotions ran through his body, and his hands grabbed the two to immediately crush them.
Once again, they went to the next room, and the pain they felt was immeasurable as Gorons hands grew blistered.
Despite his thick skin, heat was the biggest enemy of those living in the cold, for he was not prepared.
In the next room, they where met with a challenge they were not prepared for, the enemy advancing towards them where two hellhounds.
"Really? Whoever got them here could have been a little bit more creative..."
Goron complained, this time waiting for the creature to jump at him before he kicked it, the other demon heading towards Norman, who was already expecting his foe with his outstretched spear.
The fight was a savage one, Goron punching and kicking, while the hellhound snapped and scratched at wvery opening it could see.
They seemed feral, and the increasing pain for both sides made them fight more and more ferocious.
While Normans battle was one of opportunities and graceful attacks, the ball of fur, fad and claws that was the Astralists fight occasionally interrupted the fight between the Ranger and his prey.
But while their fight took much longer than the previous one, the hellhounds eventually succumbed to their opponents.
Norman's advantage in reach allowed him to inflict minor wounds without any big repercussions, while Goron left the fight feeling exhilerated.
The bigger of the two was caked in blood, but as he dove into the demon, he only cared for the savagery that was innate to any attempt at eating something freshly killed.
Only once the rage like state subsided did Goron begin to comprehend what just happened, but even then, the feeling of a full belly made him happy enough to not care.
He felt the sensation as if a skill had entered his mind, but different to it, the new feeling was more as if someone took his skill and purified it, washing out all the evil, and storing it in a deeper deposit to use later.
Warning: Corruption levels risen to 2% please seek cleansing immediately.
Unlocked Skills
Spoiler
Respawn (Skill) (Unique): When you die, your soul is pulled back to the character creation screen with half your levels. Once here, you can build a new character and try again.
Once you press the create button on the character creator, you will be spawned at a place appropriate for your character.
Grounding (skill)(ground): While cast, this skill infuses the targets body with geound mana and forces it to remain on a surface below it.
Dash (skill)(air): Your movement speed increases by (move*skill level).
Tag stomp (skill)(Gravity): Target a creature and accelerate towards it at (lvl) times your normal speed. Cannot be used for the amount of time needed to accelerate before impact.
Restfull petrification. (ground): Your body is petrified for the duration you sleep. While you are petrified in this way, you are considered hidden.
You will restore (lvl) times the energy you would by sleeping the same amount of time.
Jet legs [1] (air) (skill): Air mana will concentrate in your entire body and focus on your legs. Once you activate this skill, you can gather ambient air mana for up to (lvl) seconds and release it at a later time explosively. One second worth of air mana can move you (lvl) meters in any direction and push everything else away.
Groundbound [1] (Dissapoinment) (spell): an area of (lvl) meters around you is flooded by negative ether, making everything within heavier and harming the moral of everyone inside.
Blizzard aura (ice) (skill): Raise your surrounding ice and turn it into a shield of projectiles. Born from memories of a fallen goblin, this skill has been optimized to spare the user any colloteral.
Ether skin (Anxiety) (Spell): Coats the user in a secondary skin, minimizing the damage received and discourages other creatures attempts at physical contact.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Unlocked perks
Spoiler
Fairy wings (Perk) Reduces weight by 1 kg and gives the user a magical flying speed of 10km/h.
-10 token
Magical body (perk): Your body is held together by magic. Your body cannot be dispersed by non magical means, and everything you do counts as magical. Dispersing magic will deactivate this perk for the duration. Your natural lifespan will now be extended by 10% for every point you have in Willpower.
-5 token
Magus ¤ : This Perk allows a person to directly interact with mana
Thick bones (Perk): Your bones are two times denser than is normal for your race, making it harder for your body to be moved in any direction.
-5 Token
Thick skin (perk): Your skin is thicker than that of most members of your species.
-5 Token
Blubber (Perk): You hold a layer of fad under your skin. Increases your weight by 5kg for every meter of height you have, but allows you to thrive in much colder climates.
-5
Muscles of steel (Perk): Your muscles are naturally harder and more effective at movement. Your muscles are much more resilient than they would normally be.
-10
Unlocked Handycaps
Spoiler
Slim: reduce the amount a creature weights by 5% per level of this handycap chosen, can be stacked up to three times.
+1 Token
Small: Reduces the height of a creatur by 20%.
+5 Token
Heavenbound (handycap): should you ever disconnect from the ground, gravitation will reverse for you. Any kinetic force excerted on you will be 100% more effective at moving you.
+8 Token
One armed (handycap): You only have one useable arm.
+30 Token
Bulky tendencies (Handycap): Your weight cannot be reduced by more than 10%, increases to your weight that hold for more than a day are permanent.
+15 Token.
Large (Handycap): Increases the height of a creatur by 20%.
+5 Token
Overweight (handycap): you weight 10% more than your race normally does. (Can be equipped up to three times)
+5 Token