Earth. June. 2022. CE.
Even after almost two decades, humanity had barely scratched the surface of what mana and, by extension, magic was capable of. Their slow progress was not entirely their fault, as a certain Eldritch God had done much to both help and hinder humanity's advancement. Even then, Earth had made decent efforts into the world of magic—specifically, magitech, which combines mana, magic, and technology.
Though minute, this progress in magitech was commendable as magitech was an uncommon prospect in the rest of the universe, mainly due to the inhabitants of a planet often discovering mana early on. The discovery of mana would then lead to the discovery of magic, which would be quickly spread across their world. As such, most planets used simple technology and advanced it to incredible extremes by applying mana and magic. Then, the things that couldn’t be done with simple technology were often wholly replaced by other magical means.
So, the decision not to share knowledge was where Earth had taken a different path than the rest of the universe.
Earth and, by extension, humanity's magic users had willingly held back their magical knowledge. As such, Earth had first gone down a much more technological line of evolution. This line was not necessarily bad. In fact, some of the most prosperous planets in the universe that held whole Astral Empires could do so because of magitech.
Due to Earth’s low ambient mana, the usual use of magitech was extended even further as Earth sought to use the mana more efficiently.
These new gadgets were then easily manufactured and spread across the planet, leading to great strides in various fields such as power creation, water treatment, and even transportation.
However, out of all the industries, the two largest ones affected by magitech were those dealing with military and household machinery.
The housing industry was affected in a very simple and straightforward manner. All across the globe, housing units gained improved living conditions and reduced prices due to basic needs being met with the very air-filled mana they breathed.
Like the housing industry, the military benefitted even more from these quality-of-life-improving gadgets. In fact, the improvements brought by these new magical gadgets were so incredible that from the early 2000s, when mana was discovered, to midway through the war, the armies of Earth were the first to receive any new gadgets brought by magitech developments.
Mana was an excellent replacement for solar, wind, and oil power. Not only was it limitless, but it also posed no threat to the environment.
Now, of course, magitech and some of its flaws did eventually come to light. However, these flaws were mainly concerning military offensive measures. Since, as helpful as most magitech gadgets were, they simply lacked the power to hurt the invading force that were the aberrations.
Humanity had found out in 2012 while still in the early skirmishes against the aliens was that none of their bullets had harmed the aberrations to any significant degree. The aberrations had been found dead, sure, but they all had surface wounds from gunfire, and after further investigation, humanity, or at least those in charge, had been able to learn that no vital areas were damaged. It had been as if the creatures were puppets, and their strings had been cut.
Of course, this information never made it to the public, not only due to the Eldritch God's influence but also because humanity needed to believe that they could fight back.
It was also around this time that research and development began for genuine magical weapons. So far, humans had been able to infuse their ammunition with mana to some success.
However, thanks to the Eldritch God and old magic users, humanity eventually discovered that not all mana was created equal.
Not only on Earth but also in the rest of the universe, mana could be compressed and refined to higher levels of purity and power. This purity level also played a large part in how mana interacted with reality.
Though other factors could play a part in a magical battle, more often than not, the purity of a creature's mana decided the winner.
So even though humanity's weapons could inflict some damage against magical defenses through sheer raw power, the damage inflicted using these mundane weapons could be made ineffective enough magical power. This meant that humanity’s mana-infused ammunition could only truly hurt the weakest of the aberration, and as such, new creations were needed.
The best of the new creations was one called The Shifter Tiger - Four Two Zero.
The new magical firearm would work similarly to how souls functioned. They would pull mana from their surroundings, compress and refine it, and then eject it. Unlike souls, however, the firearms could pull, refine, and release mana without worrying about hurting a creature's body by channeling purer mana than the body could handle.
The Shifter Tiger was an incredibly advanced firearm capable of changing into multiple forms, allowing for ease of use in several combat styles. The firearm consisted of a small dark steel blue cube that could be transformed into four states, with some states having slight variations.
The first form held the most firepower as it could shift into a sizeable grenade-like object. The grenade would then absorb and refine mana for 12 hours. After refinement, the mana within could erupt outward in a massive blast of force capable of leveling an entire block. The only downside being that after detonation, the device could not be used again for 24 hours.
The second form was the most versatile and was most used in close combat. In this form, the cube split in two. One-half would always transform into a pistol capable of shooting weak mana bullets. The other half would transform into a combat knife, which could absorb mana to then release a sharp mana blade capable of doubling its length.
In its third form, the cube could transform into various assault rifles best used in mid-range fighting. Though the shape of the rifle could vary, the shape-changing function mainly provided familiar weapon shapes to soldiers who were more experienced in using obsolete gunpowder-based firearms. What made the assault rifle unique was its two modes of fire. The first mode was automatic. In this form, the rifle could unleash a constant barrage of weak bullets great for giving cover fire.
The second mode refined mana while the first was active. Once refinement was complete, a soldier could then switch the rifle to burst mode. This mode would then be able to unleash the refined mana in a barrage of stronger bullets.
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Finally, the Shifter Tiger’s fourth form was also its second strongest and took the shape of a long-barreled sniper rifle. The structure itself did not grant the gun any advantages and was once more only there to provide a sense of similarity for the wielder.
What made the fourth form so powerful were the runes which came assimilated with it. This form was all about range and piercing power. In fact, this fourth form was only seen very late in the war and right before the downfall of the large industrial empire created to fuel humanity's war effort. As such, the sniper rifle form was rare and came with a newly discovered aspect of mana.
Humanity had learned that with specific runes, mana could be given a concept or intent that would massively increase the power of magical effects that were also similar to this concept. As such, imbuing magical projectiles with the concept of piercing and stability, even to a minuscule degree, could bring a projectile's power to new heights.
For example, the concept of stability granted magical projectiles much more solidity, allowing them to travel greater distances without slowly fading into the ambient mana. Meanwhile, piercing allowed projectiles to penetrate through magical shields more easily and without diluting themselves before striking their intended target.
These small breakthroughs for humanity were only small examples of what mana could accomplish and were only the surface of what the rest of the universe had long gained access to. So, it goes without saying that concepts and intent could have taken humanity's weaponry to untold heights of power.
Sadly for humanity, they were not in control of their own fate, and the Eldritch God had promptly shut down the entire operation. The god did not want humanity to get to a point where they could actually pose a threat.
However, it was already too late; the damage had already been done, and thanks to the god's hubris, the sniper rifle form had been used to eliminate countless aberrations across Earth.
Even now, in the last days of humanity, aberrations, much like the one currently in the crosshairs of Tesilim’s scope, were being eliminated by the Shifter Tiger - Four Two Zero.
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After spending the night in the abandoned house, Tesilim had set off into the world. He had spent around two days leisurely enjoying life, hoping the Earth would finally be destroyed.
Unluckily, it wasn’t, and he had once again begun running short on supplies.
Then, after coming across a few empty houses, he got desperate and searched for any physical maps in the last place he looted.
Luckily, the place had once belonged to some older folks who had left behind an Atlas from before the war. Using the Atlas, Tesilim had quickly made his way to a small nearby town in the hopes of resupplying.
However, after making it to the outer edge of the town, Tesilim had heard the low buzz of magical bullets being discharged. He had known it was dangerous to enter the town, but curiosity had gotten the best of him, and if it had been humans under attack, he couldn’t just abandon them. At the very least, Tesilim had decided to scout the area and figure out what was happening.
Fast forward 30 minutes later, and Tesilim found himself on the roof of a two-story building with his Shifter Tiger set to sniper form.
It turned out humans had indeed been under attack, and a full brawl had broken out at the center of town.
From what Tesilim gathered from his long-range scouting, the humans were a mix of armed civilians and a couple of Warlock soldiers, if their uniform were to be believed. The humans were under attack by what had to be a whole aberration hunting party.
Much like other hunting parties Tesilim had seen, this one was led by a humanoid aberration that was apparently called an Octopien. These aberrations had a head that highly resembled an octopus without eyes and contained tentacles where a human's chin area would be. Their head then connected to a humanoid torso, which led to two arms that, much like their head, contained a multitude of tentacles that replaced their hands. Their legs also split into three larger tentacles where the knees would typically be for humans. The body was also smooth and did not have any of the body parts or features humans had. Tesilim noted that this particular octopien had dark purple and pinkish skin, which was a new color combination as far as the aberrations he had seen went.
Also, like other hunting parties, this one consisted of three different types of aberrations. The first were the shifter drones that were used for scouting purposes. It was actually Tesilim’s first time properly seeing and identifying these shifter drones. Still, from the knowledge he and the rest of humanity had gained from the Realms, it was hard to believe that floating squirrels and hamsters were anything but these shifter drone creatures.
The second creature found in hunting parties were the Shifter Hounds, which also held the Physical Shifting ability of their smaller cousins, the shifter drones. However, shifter hounds were a direct upgrade as they were the size of a Great Dane. This, of course, allowed them to transform into much more prominent and deadlier creatures.
More often than not, shifter hounds preferred maintaining long fur, large fanged mouths, and as many clawed appendages as they could manage. For the most part, this meant around six or eight per hound. One thing Tesilim learned from a soldier's personal experience was that shifter hounds usually followed shifter drones, and on present-day Earth, if you saw shifter drones, then the hounds weren’t that far behind.
The third and final aberration found in a hunting party were the Moapiens. These creatures were, to human sensibilities, the oddest of the bunch. Moapiens were mounds of fluctuating flesh with no actual shape that acted more like malleable jello. They could mimic certain physical parts but only one part at a time. This meant they could manifest a multitude of arms emanating from their bodies or transform the entire thing into a giant arm. They, however, could not manifest both arms and legs.
Even though their abilities seemed limited, their shape-shifting was done swiftly and gave them unique abilities depending on the body part they became.
For example, while a moapien was an undulating pile of flesh, they could consume flesh to heal themselves or give flesh to other creatures to increase regeneration. Meanwhile, if they became an eyeball, the moapiens gained greater perception and could use magical beam attacks.
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What Tesilim didn’t know was that moapiens could transform into a large brain. This transformation gave them access to their most potent abilities, at least when compared to all their other forms. While transformed into a brain, these creatures possessed great telekinetic and telepathic powers that could rival an octopiens. As a matter of fact, if it weren’t for the many downsides each form also had, the moapiens would definitely be the ones leading the hunting parties.
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As far as Tesilim could tell, the battle was going poorly for the humans as the octopien freely floated above the battlefield, easily giving commands to those on the ground. Luckily, the thing was distracted and had yet to detect Tesilim.
The issue, however, was that Tesilim's sniper rifle was not enough to break through the octopien's shield. As such, Tesilim hoped that the Warlocks had yet to unleash their full powers, which would undoubtedly cause the octopien some strain and allow Tesilim to take it out of the playing field.
Just as he finished the thought, Tesilim was delighted to be surprised by a pulse of deep crimson energy erupting from the town center.
The crimson pulse was then followed by two other pulses, one light blue and the other bright pink.
Then, as Tesilim watched, a figure with black spectral horns and deep crimson wings shot upwards, slamming into the octopien. The two figures were then engulfed in crimson energy.
Following the crimson blast, Tesilim’s attention shifted back down towards the town center. There, he could see the remnants of pink and blue energy blasts as they dispersed above the buildings. Then, only a few seconds later, he felt the faint sensations of heat and coldness that were carried outward in a wave of sparkling dust.