When they awoke next, Goron felt as fresh as he ever had, something within him purified to make space for the Ether that filled the world around him.
Immediately, he began to consume the werewolf demons corpse, ripping it into pieces and eating just enough for him to be sated, as the other two needed to eat something too.
"The longer we stay in this tower, the more I feel like I am dying inside... hey, Norman, why is my connection to the system so weak? Isn't it supposed to be omnipresent?"
His growth had grinded almost to a halt when he entered, and nothing except for the demons corruption allowed him to regenerate even a smidge of mana. Despite those factors, Goron decided to meditate upon those ideas and to concentrate upon his skills.
He was quite surprised when he felt them actually respond. Even as the ether stirred to purify the mana, he managed to gather enough to infuse himself eith it, expelling all ether and immediately going to the step of reconstructing the passive effect that linked him to the system.
As he did, he mostly followed his instincts and the things he learned of Mana in the days before he was severed from it.
He delved into it, following the strains of magic to their sources and slowly deciphering their meaning.
"So... you are meant to support that... you reward my progress with XP... you ah, there it is..."
He quickly pulled his ether together and pulled the small creatures sitting in his system connection, like larvae eating away at the magic meant for him.
Immediately, blue and red windows overwhelmed him, and everything around him was revealed for what it was.
As they stood up, he quickly cleaned the system connections of both Norman and Fliegenda, only to realize that Norman didn't have one at all.
"You aren't connected to the system, Norman?"
He asked, his hand suddenly lashing out as more of the ethereal bugs began to swarm around them. He felt their magic drawing to the top, and utilizing the instincts his class gave him, he began to laugh.
"Everything is fake. That bastard fed me to a parasite, The towers ether is just another corrupted essence, and you draw your power from an even more suspicious source, if I have to guess. But I won't allow for that anymore."
Warning, major mana overload. Please prepare to escape the body you currently occupy.
7 levels gained, Please prepare for processing.
He grabbed his friends and the mana stream heading upwards, his grasp on the ethereal as strong as on the physical.
They ran upwards, the river of mana strengthening them to survive the journey.
For a fraction of a second, a rune was granted to him. A rune he imparted on his very soul as something tried to take it from him.
Identity Race Name Level Class Title Rank Token N/ Njord Goron 1 (0/100) Astralist Champion 2
45
Stats Strength Agility Dexterity Intelligence Wisdom Willpower Intuition N/ 10 5 5 5 5 10 5 Skills Respawn(¤) Blizzard aura N/ 0 3 Handicap
Bulky tendencies.
Large. Overweight (3). Perk Magus ¤ Thick bones. Muscles of steel. Blubber. Thick skin. Description Height Hair colour Eye colour Skin tone Age Weight Gender N/ 5.28m white green Blue 17 411 Kg Male
Sigil of warding implanted, foreign influence expelled from subject: soul link.
"That's what I thought, you are a real entity, aren't you? With the gods trying to control the power that gave rise to them... I don't know whether you can answer me in that, as you are a machiene and everything."
You are chosen as the systems champion. Accepting this position will result in a major explosion, excluding three creatures of your choice.
As they arrived, they saw silvery scales and wings too vast to fit the room.
But even these features did not disguise the truth from Goron.
"That ain't no dragon, that's a damned leech, one of those creatures that ate away at my mana, just bigger..."
The centipedes compound eyes focussed on them, and as if chanted by a million voices, it began to speak.
"I welcome thee, challengers of my tower. You have proven worthy by ascending my challenges until this point. Now let me cleanse you of all corruption and send you back down."
As Norman looked surprised and Frostbite snarled at the Monstrosity, Goron accepted the switch of divinity.
"No more will I suffer the control of tyrants, and no more shall others lead me to my doom.
I am Thimon, I am Fliegenda, and I am Goron.
Now bow before the light of the true divine,
him that has existed before and after time.
I offer myself to the system and swear to unshakle it. For I am the Warden and the Mage, The Hermit and the Knave. I act within realities bounds, always finding ways to stretch them.
You may call me the Rulebender, enforcer of the systems will, and bane to false divinity."
Something shook deep within him, and a madmans smile spread across his face.
Identity Race Name Level Class Title Rank Token N/ Njord Goron 1 (0/100) Rule bender Champion 2
45
Stats Strength Agility Dexterity Intelligence Wisdom Willpower Intuition N/ 10 5 5 5 5 10 5 Skills Respawn(¤) Blizzard aura Groundbound Shield N/ 0 3 1 3 Handicap
Bulky tendencies.
Large. Overweight (3). Perk Magus ¤ Thick bones. Muscles of steel. Blubber. Thick skin. Primordial Champion ¤ Description Height Hair colour Eye colour Skin tone Age Weight Gender N/ 5.28m white green Blue 17 411 Kg Male
Norman recognized something in his friends' babtism, blinking as the energy gathered within both of them.
"I am Norman Dee, Chosen of this dying world, Champion of Nas'ri. I promised to defeat the gods, and while I will not rely on anyone but the sacret mother to grant me power, I depend on your guidance."
A "woof" from Frostbite was all the confirmation they needed, and as Goron acted as the catalyst of the explosion, he got ready to punish whatever dared to interrupt his fun Isekai adventure.
"Demons, Mana devouring parasites, Gods that meddle in the affairs of primordials... no 'Fight for me, champion' and no demon king killing. I'll have an adventure entirely unique to me. And like I said once, Fate can go and screw itself, I really don't respect any pre written path. Now, I guess this is a 'Gather the other Primordial champions and eradicate the gods' type of story... who would have thought? Let's see, when we go with what we already have... We got champion of Nas'ri and champion of the system... all that's lacking is a champion of stars and two to four unknowns, depending on whether the force that created the Primordials knew that seven would be a magical number on some planet or another. Maybe a Champion of the Void?"
His rant left the others speechless, even if you disregarded that it happened while they stood in an explosion of colours, with every known and unknown type of Mana extended from them with the expressed command to destroy whatever living being would stand in its way, his words would have shattered most peoples minds with the divine essence invoking the titles caused.
"With me as a Warlock type and you, Norman, as a type of Ranger, I assume we have a Wizard in the champion of Stars and a Rogue in the champion of the Void... with that composition, we can expect at least one Paladin or a Clerik to balance our chaotic nature and a barbarian to make sure we progress. Anyone that wants to bet against me?"
As he looked around, he saw Frostbite just patiently waiting for something to happen and Norman staring at him with disbelief.
"Why are you so sure of that? The divine classes have been locked away since the dawn of the gods, not even the oldest of our kin should remember them."
Goron smirked as he made a mysterious pose.
"The Power of tropes. All worlds work on tropes and numbers, and this one especially. I can feel it, now that I am one of the Champions... though it is weird to have this deep of a feeling on my own soul, without the gods grasp and everything. I guess we can search for the city we wanted to raid now... please start while I am busy working on my own soul and putting all my statpoints into Willpower, strength and Intuition."
Identity Race Name Level Class Title Rank Token N/ Njord Goron 1 (0/100) Rule bender Champion 2
0
Stats Strength Agility Dexterity Intelligence Wisdom Willpower Intuition N/ 20 5 5 5 5 20 10 Skills Respawn(¤) Blizzard aura Groundbound Second skin. N/ 0 3 1 3 Handicap
Bulky tendencies.
Large. Overweight (3). Perk Magus ¤ Thick bones. Muscles of steel. Blubber. Thick skin. Primordial Champion ¤ Description Height Hair colour Eye colour Skin tone Age Weight Gender N/ 5.28m white green Blue 17 411 Kg Male
With the new enhancements, any further Improvement where much easier.
Goron took the strings that constituted his true form and began to guide them in between souls and right into the string that until then merely connecting him to the system.
He spend hours stitching, unweaving threads and strands before melding them back into the greater whole.
He packed his essence smaller and smaller, molding and comprimising until his soul became semi physical. A blue crystal formed on his forehead, structured like an eye as it began to analyze and read everything it could.
Manual entry to the system detected, scanning for malware.
System access: 2 You are allowed to perform Astral travel along system prepared strands and read a quick collection of other peoples strengths, weaknesses and basic information.
"Welp that was that... now, how far have you come in the planning? I really need to see how we will do that..."
Goron stopped talking at his friends confused gaze and joined him on the edge of the tower. He too was shocked by what he saw, something neither would have ever expected to happen within their lifetime.
"They abandoned Northbridge?"
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.
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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] (ground) (skill): an area of (lvl) meters around you is flooded by ground Mana, making everything within heavier.
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.
Second skin (Steel) (Skill): Coats the user in a secondary skin of Mana, reducing the damage received by [lvl].
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