The list of usable cores was long, although most of what the group had was slanted over to the lesser cores, intended for powering up devices and other uses. Starting from the Champion tier cores and upward, they had one hundred eighty-three cores available. Understandably, the three Terrans were interested in the higher Tier cores.
Osar, in his role as build adviser and resident System expert, stepped in.
“The thing all of you should be concentrating on right now as you make your choices, is synergy.” He pulled up the listing of one of the highest Tier cores, found the fancily-decorated spatial chest where it and most of the higher value Beast cores were stored, opened the case, found the core he was looking for, and tossed it underhand towards Eric.
Eric caught the surprisingly heavy core and cradled it with both hands.
You have obtained a Ballolith Leviathan Core (Mythic Beast Core).
Aspects: Growth, Life, and Water
Do you wish to make this your Gate Core? Yes/No
The core was lopsidedly round but very smooth, with blue-toned striations running prettily all over its surface. Eric’s improved Dragon Sight could now easily make out the tightly packed aether flows of the stone’s aspects: medium gray for growth, dark green for Life, and bluish-black for Water.
Eric carefully selected No, before looking back at Osar, waiting for the man to make his point.
“For you Jad-Os, and probably everyone else, that core would seem to be a very bad fit,” Osar said, pointing at the core in Eric’s hands. “Despite its mythic tier grade, its aspects, as well as the characteristics of the creature it came from, don’t seem to be synergistically appropriate for anyone of you.”
Everyone nodded as Eric handed the core over to the Urgan, who hefted it one-handed for a moment before placing it down on the table. Osar had lifted himself enough so that he was resting one broad thigh on the tabletop, looking comfortable as he tapped the top of the core.
“But… is it really?”
The Urgan pointed at Cid, his nostrils widening as the scientist looked up and smiled uncertainly.
“Friend Cid, your aspects are Aether, Magic, and Water, right?” At the man’s nod, Osar continued. “That’s one reciprocal aspect at least, yes, but consider also that your Type is Support, which gains access to all aspect ability Trees granted by all cores, unlike that of all the other Types, which are linked only to the Prime Core.”
Eric ground his teeth in irritation on hearing that, seeing how such a boon could allow better tailoring of abilities. Why, oh why hadn’t that detail been explicitly stated in the System’s descriptions of the different Types? Osar noticed Eric’s chagrin and grinned sympathetically, but continued on with his lecture.
“In that light, having a broader spread of aspects would be beneficial, giving you more options to tailor your build. But the Ballolith Leviathan is also known for its incredible powers of regeneration as well as robust constitution, so there is a possibility that this will have effects that nudge your Type choices toward several beneficial areas, not to mention the wide array of profession choices it could open up.”
“Wait,” Eric butted in. “What are profession choices?”
“Ah yes,” Osar answered, tapping his forehead, having forgotten once again that his companions had zero knowledge of the System besides that which he had already told them. “Profession choices are just as they are labeled as; essentially a System-assisted knowledge dump related to a profession; like blacksmith, alchemist, healer, etcetera… Getting a Gate Core gives everyone the chance to choose one profession from a general list, while the cores you have give extra options from more specialized lists. Support types, because of their nature, get to choose two of these professions.”
“Hellfire!” Cid’s wide grin accompanied by Serra’s delighted laughter increased Eric’s irritation, but he tried to swallow it all down, getting a bit of understanding of why Osar had declared them all cheaters earlier: It was just so unfair!
“It is just general knowledge, Jad-Os,” Osar said placatingly. “The professions are useless if not practiced consistently. They merely provide a baseline to help young people to advance skills within a chosen field, but all other profession gains must accrue in the normal manner; by hard work and dedication.”
“Basic professions?” Serra asked. “Like if I chose to be a healer, I would gain the knowledge to do surgery and similar shit?”
“No,” Osar replied. “The profession gives you base knowledge, meaning choosing a healer profession would allow you to roughly judge the severity of an injury, how to do a field bandage… truly basic stuff.”
“So, they aren’t much use?” Cid asked, disappointment making him beetle his brows.
“They are a foundation for further knowledge and expertise friend Cid,” Osar said, spreading his arms to emphasize his point. “As such your profession choice may also impact the final Archetype you get for advancing your Stage.”
“Will we know what Archetype will be given by each core?”
“Not per se, no…” Osar was clearly struggling with the barrage of questions. “This Ifni-forsaken region does not have active Nexus towers, but back in the Empire people who were nearing their third slot would look up known core combinations in the Registry of Types. After centuries of using the System the Registry has become a good source of information regarding what core combinations to get in order to manifest one’s desired Archetype.”
“And you have to choose the right professions to get a single Archetype?” Cid pressed.
“It’s a combination of factors that the System takes into account, many of which are still hotly debated by adepts throughout the Empire, but yes professions are generally agreed to be a part of the calculation, although you begin with basics and work from there.”
“So, if I took the farmer profession, it wouldn’t be much use if I didn’t know like weather patterns and local climate, and other things like that?”
“You would eventually… but it would take time as you familiarize yourself with the area.”
“It’s like earning an undergraduate degree then?”
“I do not even know what that is friend Cid.” Osar said in a despairing tone.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“Wait, so you’re telling me that the System doesn’t allow us to gain blacksmith levels and become a better blacksmith by just doing one task over and over?” Serra asked, interrupting the flow of the discussion between Osar and Cid. The Urgan just stared at her, while Eric stifled a laugh.
Catching Cid’s questioning look in her direction, Serra shrugged. “When Rome and I were playing, many of the VRMMO’s we liked had that sort of leveling system, where grinding out a hundred horseshoes could make you a master blacksmith in a few hours.”
“Was that Darkland Lords Online?” Cid asked, face brightening.
“Yeah! How’d you know?”
As the two Terrans began discussing their gaming past, Osar looked confusedly in Eric’s direction, his lecture now totally derailed.
“We had vast games that people played across planetary systems, encompassing entire worlds, many of which had features for character advancement similar to those of the System,” Eric said, trying to explain the gaming culture that most children in the Union grew up in. “It’s one of the most popular forms of entertainment across Union space.”
“And people played these games?”
“Constantly, some even made gaming their entire profession.”
Osar glumly turned to Serra and Cid who were still animatedly comparing notes and experiences. With a sigh, the big man returned the Leviathan core to the spatial chest and motioned to Eric to come closer.
“If you will, Jad-Os,” The Urgan said softly as he scrolled through the listed cores, determined to at least get one of his companions sorted out. “Let’s at least get you a core that you can work with. Didn’t you say you were a Striker?”
[Commander, may I have a word?]
Luna’s hardlight body appeared beside Eric without warning, startling him from his examination of his status screen in preparation for placing his Gate core. It was already well into the evening, and all of the Terrans had eventually selected a suitable second core. Osar, Serra, and Cid were currently near the equipment tables, arguing about what pieces of gear to claim in order to complement their improved builds.
All three of them had agreed to wait until the next morning to place their Gate cores, allowing themselves a whole night to think about their choices and make sure they were fine with the decision. Serra had actually wanted to place her core immediately, but the rest of the group had persuaded her to at least sleep on the matter.
Acknowledging Luna’s request, Eric turned from his status screen and took some time to examine the Vessel Interface’s projection. Because of his new Dragon Sight, Eric could now see that Luna wasn’t really projecting pixels of light the way she would have had to do had they been back in Union space: Taking advantage of the saturation of ambient aether within the shields of the Fortress Belzond, some unknown spell array was actually just infusing a portion of the air with aspected light aether, causing the image of Luna to form.
“How may I help you, Luna?” Eric asked politely.
[After you gained control of the Fortress Belzond I sent out drones to scout out the entire Stage as well as trying to find a way down into the lower levels of the Obsidian Moon.] Eric nodded, remembering the short conversation he had had with Luna soon after they destroyed the shardling. The VI claimed that there were several more levels beneath the Command Level that Eric and company had been teleported into, and that it was important for them all to be able to access those levels. Unfortunately, Luna’s diagnostic probes had discovered that the teleport circles leading to the lower levels remained inactive despite the increase in the Moon’s operating power. Luna had then told Eric of her intentions of finding an alternative way down.
[My last scout drone has just returned.]
“Have you found some way to get down to the next level?”
[Yes, Commander.] The light aether sculpting of Luna’s chosen visage was flawless, down to the shine on all four of her eyes, giving the projection the ability to simulate expressions. Right now, it was showing hesitation. Eric sighed softly, his experience immediately recognizing someone who was bracing themselves to send him and his team into extreme danger.
[The Military Lift Facility, which leads into the Military, or Red Level of the Obsidian Moon is still active.]
“But…?”
[But the key to access the main control room and activate the lift is missing.]
“Can’t we use the Commander’s key?”
[No Commander, unfortunately for security reasons the Lift Facility had a different and entirely separate authorization structure from that of the Obsidian Moon: Only the Seneschal and the Champion had copies of the required key.]
“But didn’t everyone flee the Obsidian Moon when the mutiny happened?”
Luna had told them all bits and pieces of what had happened immediately before she had been ordered to enter conditional hibernation. Most of the details were still locked within those mem-modules she had no access to at the moment, but the Vessel Interface was fairly certain that a good majority of the Moon’s population had left after a mutiny instigated and led by a majority of the senior leadership after the original Commander had vanished. The newly-raised Commander, a Viraad, which was a xenoform species with a snake-like lower body and a four-armed humanoid torso, fled when the mutineers won, accompanied by most of the military who had supported him. When they left, they took all of the void-capable vessels they could capture and tried to destroy the rest. As a result, several thousand sapients of various species had been left stranded, both on the Stage and the interior of the Obsidian Moon itself.
By all the evidence Luna and her drones had gathered, the next few days and weeks had not been pleasant for those that had been left behind.
After several thousand years, many generations of void-resistant Beasts and several roving xenoform bands had come and gone, sometimes staying and sometimes just passing through. Several warlords and renegade leaders had taken control over the entire Stage at one time or another, but by the time that the Plunderer and her crew had arrived the Stage had not been under a single organized band for more than a hundred years.
“Do you have any information on where this key might be then?”
[My drones found the desiccated remains of the body of the Seneschal in one of the control rooms of the Military Lift facility. His body had been stripped of all its belongings.]
“How do we know it wasn’t taken by the people who fled or by one of the hundreds of invaders who had visited the Stage since the mutiny?”
[Because a facility monitor recorded the Seneschal being killed after the last rebel ship had flown away, before he was dragged away from the monitor’s view.] Luna paused, for a moment, as if unsure how to answer the other part of Eric’s question. [I can… feel the key Commander, and it is somewhere on the Stage.]
Eric looked long and hard at the two sets of Luna’s eyes, going through his options. “Okay, I can accept that you can feel the key… But didn’t you say the Stage was a seven-kilometer square: Is there any way we can narrow its location down?”
[There is a not-insignificant chance that the key is somewhere in the hoard of one of the Powers of the Stage.]
“One of the Powers… You can’t mean…”
[Yes, Commander.] Luna finished with a chill on her last words. [Unfortunately, you will have to scour the entire Stage.] Eric felt a sick feeling in his stomach as Luna spoke the last few words, and his vision blurred for a moment. Then there was a loud chime and a notification window appeared, big and golden, and totally unignorable.
Accepted Hidden Quest Modified (AuthOrEd#46136): Revive the Obsidian Moon
Step 2 Objective: Clear the Stage and Claim Authority over the Level
Sub-Objective 1: Restore the Stage’s Atmospheric Envelope 0/1
Sub-Objective 2: Control Stage Districts 0/5
Sub-Objective 3: Clear Beast Lairs/Nests 0/8
Sub-Objective 4: Eliminate Stage Bosses 0/9
Sub-Objective 5: Recover the Red Level Access Key 0/1
Time Limit (Modified): Three Imperial Months
Step 2 Reward (Modified): Access to the Red Level, Access to the next Quest Level, Type-Relevant Expert Memory Stone x1, Transcendent Ability Ticket x1, Gold Item Tickets x5
You have already accepted this active Quest.
Eric blinked in surprise and shock, reading the notification quickly, which raised scarier implications. A quest he had already accepted had been modified! With improved rewards apparently, yet presented to him without an option to refuse and in as intrusive and obnoxious a way as possible.
“The sound and the window are also new developments, sir.” Pig’s voice was shaky, and Eric couldn’t blame his AI for being rattled, because he was too. “It seems the System, or whoever is giving out these quests, truly does not want you to miss any of these quests again!”
[Is there anything wrong, Commander?]
Eric swallowed around a lump on his throat before tearing his attention away from the glaringly large window. He shook his head and gave a few token gestures to reassure the concerned-looking Vessel Interface, though he was so disconcerted that he knew he had failed on that front.
“Apparently, no one else but you can see and here these quest notifications, sir.”
Hellfire!