This was the day. After weeks of trial and error, Jonathan was finally feeling confident in his success. And not a moment too late. Over the past several days, the master had increased production of ritual gems and inscribed artifacts. The captive artisans had been almost worked to death to fill the new quotas, and only yesterday, it all had come to a stop.
From what Jonathan had gathered, the majority of the cult was mobilized, leaving only a token force to defend the hideout. One could only imagine what was happening outside the tunnels, but whatever it was, it was bound to be something terrible.
As midnight struck, Jonathan focused his mind on the thin membrane between this world and its mana reserves. He could feel the ley-lines converging around him, creating a wellspring of power that fueled the surrounding lands with mana.
Most wizards across the planescape could only ever sense the ley-lines. A few, maybe one in ten thousand could gain some benefits from being near one. But only those with an awakened primordial core could interact with them directly.
Jonathan pushed his will deeper through the barrier, feeling the chaotic energy rampaging on the other side. With a great effort, he pulled on the wellspring, coaxing it closer to the barrier. The work was slow and mentally taxing, but a little by little, he made progress. It was an incredibly delicate task, and one very few ever attempted. If Jonathan lost his concentration while his mind was connected to the aether, he could sever the link between his body and mind permanently, effectively killing Jonathan where he sat.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity of strain, Jonathan felt the barrier giving in. The membrane stretched thinner as a section of the ley-line pushed against it. With one last mental heave, he managed to manifest the line into this side of reality. Jonathan withdrew his mind back to his body and opened his eye to see an azure crack in space.
The sight brought back unpleasant memories of his last encounter with Vilian, and a pang of guilt crossed him for breaking the Planar council’s law. Tampering with the energy flows of the worlds was strictly prohibited, but the situation being what it was, Jonathan didn’t have many other options. Besides, he wasn’t going to abuse this power. It was only a means to escape. When the area was secured, he could seal the tear as if nothing happened.
With a satisfied sigh, Jonathan stood up and placed his hand on the glowing stream. The membrane was soft and malleable, and the moment the tips of his fingers touched it, a rush of energy coursed through his body. The sensation was unlike anything he had felt before. Instead of harming him, the aether invigorated his body, filling it to the brim with power. Jonathan’s mana channels worked overdrive, directing the flow through his natural paths around his body, through his planar core that converted the unaligned energy into wind mana, before pushing it back to his body again.
The amount of mana he drew in was much higher than Jonathan had anticipated, to the point that his body couldn’t contain it all by itself. After circulating through his core, the overflow was forced out of him as violent gusts of wind, which buffeted the small room with incredible force. The storm Jonathan was creating kept growing in ferocity as more mana was channeled in and out of him.
Smiling with grim delight, Jonathan placed his other hand on the ley-line, doubling his intake. The room was now howling with wind, and the heavy iron door sealing him in was shaking dangerously. Small stones and loose debris spinning in the wind were grinding the walls, chipping more and more of the stone away. The air pressure of the cell kept increasing to dangerous levels, before finally the door was torn off its hinges and sent flying to the opposite wall.
A loud BANG echoed in the tunnels, carried deeper with the wind as the storm escaped his room.
“I need more.” Jonathan pushed harder against the membrane, drawing ever more increasing amounts of mana into himself.
“More!” The membrane thinned further as Jonathan kept pushing, his mind clouded by the intoxicating feeling of power.
“MORE!” As Jonathan pushed his arms elbow-deep into the ley-line, the membrane finally gave in. His hands tore through and sank into the liquid.
Pure aether was now flowing into him, unfiltered and uncontrolled. The sensation of power began to slowly turn into pain as the amount of power he drew in every second was much higher than what his body could release. The pain brought Jonathan back to his senses, and the realization of what he had done sank in. Before any permanent injury could be done to his body, Jonathan withdrew his arms and watched in horror as Aether flew into the room from the holes he had created. The liquid mana was picked up by the winds as they converted the unaligned energy into more wind.
“This complicates things a bit.” Jonathan said to himself as he watched the process. Pushing an intact ley-line back was one thing, but repairing a tear was something he had only theoretical knowledge about. Without the ability to planeswalk, he couldn’t even travel to Nexus to seek help from the dedicated taskforce. Unless another walker traveled to ringworld and reported back the tear, Jonathan was on his own. A worry for later. For now, his focus needed to be on escaping the cult.
As Jonathan walked out of his cell, he redirected the buffeting winds to go around him, giving Jonathan a calm pocket of air to walk inside the storm. The tunnels around him were dark and empty, the glowstones that usually lit up the corridors having already been blown off. It didn’t matter to Jonathan as he simply infused his eye with mana. The magic sight allowed him to see mana, and the storm that was being generated in the room behind him was packed full of it.
He started walking in the tunnels with a few short term objectives in mind. First, find and free Suma. Second, kill any cultist along the way. Third, kill the master. Fourth, seal the tear. Fifth… Jonathan didn’t know what the fifth objective was, but the sixth one was to profit.
When he came to the end of the corridor, Jonathan noticed a slightly darker patch in the mana infused wind. Upon further examination, the patch turned out to be a cultist. From the looks of it, the man seemed to be held against the wall by the winds that continued left and right from him deeper in the tunnels.
After extending his calm airspace to include the man, the cultist collapsed on the ground, panting heavily. In all honesty, Jonathan was slightly impressed that he was still conscious after being pinned to the wall by air currents moving fast enough that one would have difficulty breathing.
Before the man could collect himself, Jonathan knelt down in front of the man, grabbed him by his hair and lifted his face to meet him.
“Where is Suma being held?” Jonathan asked, trying his best to keep his voice calm.
“W-who?” The cultist asked, coughing slightly.
“The necromancer.”
The cultist hesitated, so Jonathan made a small cut right under his eye with a wind blade. “Answer me. Where is she being held?”
“Ouch! Okay okay! Just left from here, tunnel D! Please don’t hu-”
A wind blade cut the man’s throat before he could finish the sentence. Jonathan stood up and walked left, leaving the cultist’s body laying on the floor, where it was soon picked up by the storm and carried deeper to the opposite side.
Level up!
Level up!
Jonathan opened his progression sheet to place the free points into intelligence, but his eye widened in shock when he saw his sheet.
Mana: 61,945/640
Mana: 61,940/640
Mana: 61,935/640
From what he knew, going above your own maximum mana was simply impossible. Even the highest grade pills and injections could only bring you up to your limit, with the excess leaving your body. Was the change caused by the Aether? Jonathan cast his mind back to the feeling of his body being filled with energy. It made some kind of sense that the energy of the cosmos didn’t play by conventional rules. No one had ever survived from touching Aether. Not enough to tell the tale at least.
With a slight grin, Jonathan inwardly thanked his unique trait that allowed him to gain this experience. If he ever retired, he would spend time doing research on the topic.
Jonathan came to a halt as soon as the thought came to his mind.
“To research Aether…” He muttered. Wasn’t that exactly what Vilian was doing? Secluded in this very same world, experimenting with the energy? If she felt safe enough to have large quantities of it stored in her study room…
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“Vilian has the trait too.” Jonathan whispered. He didn’t have any concrete evidence to support his theory, but if it was true, that pretty much confirmed that she had survived the aftermath. Quickly, he opened the trait again to hopefully gain confirmation on his theory. This time however, the text was different, one of the effects having finally revealed itself.
Aethermerged
Your body merged with the surrounding aether. You no longer suffer adverse effects from touching Aether. Your body has greater capability of channeling energy.
Effect Undiscovered
Effect - Overcharge: Temporarily hold up to 100x your maximum mana. Extra mana is lost over time. (5/sec)
Effect Undiscovered
Effect Undiscovered
“Overcharge…”
Jonathan stared at his progression sheet, deep in thought. The Overcharge was an incredibly useful ability, but if the only way to benefit from it was to rip open a ley-line, Jonathan doubted he would gain much use out of it. Besides, he didn’t know if holding too much excess mana would be harmful to him in the long run. The fact that the overflow was lost over time also meant he had only a limited time to benefit from it. At the current rate, he would be back to normal levels in a bit over three hours, faster if he was forced to cast spells. That meant he couldn’t afford to waste any more time. Picking up speed again, Jonathan closed the status window and delved deeper into the tunnels.
The storm winds around him were growing in strength, to the point Jonathan had to put some actual effort into guiding the airflow around him. The entire underground complex was starting to shake from the intensity of the storm he had created. Dust and debris were raining down from the ceiling and walls, and the sound of crumbling stone echoed throughout the caves.
At a fork in the tunnel, Jonathan noticed a crumbling sign carved on the stone. It was barely legible, but still depicted a deteriorating D on the wall. Jonathan took the turn, and saw another dark patch in the ambient magic. This patch was shaped differently enough that Jonathan knew instantly what it was. Another mage with air affinity was doing the same thing that he was, guiding the winds around them.
Walking closer, Jonathan merged his safe space with theirs. Three cultists were huddled together, one of whom was standing with their arms raised, keeping the storm at bay. With a slice of his hand, Jonathan relieved the other wind mage from his worldly burdens, as an empowered wind blade sliced them in half.
Level up!
The two remaining cultists let out shouts of alarm. Jonathan heard metal scraping against leather when a sword was drawn, and the next moment the section of the cave was illuminated as the other cultist conjured a ball of fire in their hand.
“Kill me, and the both of you will be torn to shreds by the winds.” Jonathan spoke calmly, while solidifying a layer of mana around his body.
The two cultists seemed hesitant to attack, so Jonathan continued. “Which one of these cells is Suma’s?”
“S-suma’s?” The one holding a fireball asked, her voice trembling in fright.
“The necromancer’s!”
“The one at the very back-” The sword wielding cultist replied. He didn’t get to finish his sentence as Jonathan launched an air cannon at him, pushing him past his barrier.
Level up!
The notification that came confirmed his death.
As Jonathan raised his hand to dispatch the remaining cultist, she dropped down on her knees, shouting:
“She’s not there! Our Master took her to the ritual room earlier this night!”
Jonathan held his spell ready.
“Where?”
“If I tell you, you’ll just kill me!”
“Correct.”
“I won’t tell you!”
“Then what use do I have for you?”
Jonathan’s hand moved down a notch, when the cultist shouted again.
“I WILL SHOW YOU!”
The cultist scrambled back to her feet, her face filled with desperation. The sight sickened Jonathan. To imagine that someone who had no trouble torturing civilians now stood in front of him, begging for her own survival while selling out her people. The urge to push her in the storm was almost too great.
After a tense moment of staring, where Jonathan’s single green eye peered into the cultist’s pair of brown ones, he relented and lowered his arm.
“You’ll wish I killed you here and now the moment you choose to betray me.” Jonathan warned her. “You walk in front. Straight to the ritual room.”
To her credit, the cultist did as she promised, leading Jonathan through the tunnel labyrinth. The journey took almost twenty minutes, by the end of which they came to a stop in front of a heavy stone door. Runes inscribed in the granite glowed bright to Jonathan’s eye, their meaning unknown.
“That’s it! That’s where he took her!” The cultist pointed at the door. “Please, just let me go!”
Jonathan smiled at her and gestured towards the tunnel behind them.
“Feel free to leave.”
Even this far away from the origin, the winds flew at dangerous speeds. The cultist hesitated, clearly not having thought things through. Jonathan took a step closer.
“What’s the matter? Do you not want to go?”
During their walk, Jonathan had plenty of time to examine her aura. She was a few levels higher than him, but that wasn’t what held his interest. The feel of her energy was wrong. Most people on traditional paths, such as Trials, Champion or Conquest, often had a certain sharpness to their aura. One that was honed in combat and grew stronger as they increased in power.
Her aura had a similar sharpness, but where Jonathan’s energy was like a sleek, freshly sharpened dagger, hers was a rusty and bloody cleaver. The path of Misery required one to torment the weak and take pleasure in it. As fearful as she was now, her only concern was her own well being. Looking in her eyes, Jonathan didn’t see remorse or guilt, but only desperate desire for survival.
“It’s okay,” Jonathan said and placed his hand on the cultist’s shoulder. For a split second her eyes widened in gratitude, only to be replaced with fury as he continued. “I’ll help you.”
With a push, the woman stumbled out of the barrier and was pushed against the door. She tried to reach towards Jonathan, the tips of her fingers flickering with fire. The small bursts of light briefly lit up the tunnel, before the winds blew them out.
If it wasn’t for the fact that Jonathan needed to get through the door, he would’ve probably left her there, immobilized and barely able to breathe. Instead, a wind blade ended her suffering before her remains were swept away by another air current.
Level up!
Jonathan dumped his points on intelligence, glancing at his mana levels at the same time.
Mana: 54,396/740
“Decreasing rapidly… Now let’s see what we can do for the door…” He muttered, and started examining the writing.
“Key, passing, solid, reverse.” Jonathan said to himself after a few minutes of deciphering the inscriptions. “That section seems to be a bunch of qualifiers for the key, with link, mana and proximity. Next to that are the failsafes. Tampering, flooding, reserves… Quite innovative.”
Even though he was on the clock, Jonathan couldn’t help but appreciate the level of sophistication with the inscriptions. There was no way that the Master or any of his minions had come up with the script, as it was far older than the man. More likely, he had stumbled into the cave, found the matching key and built his cult around the discovery.
If he understood the runes correctly, when the lock detected the right kind of mana signature, the stone door would turn permeable, allowing anyone to walk through. The problem was, that without the key that held the mana signature, it would be almost impossible to force one’s way in. Even if Jonathan had a rune pen, attempting to alter the inscription would almost certainly fail, due to the sheer amount of mana required by the process.
However, there was one possibility Jonathan could think of, that held a decent chance of success. He placed his palm against the key-rune and started channeling his mana out of his hand.
Mana: 53,226/740
Mana: 52,221/740
Mana: 51,216/740
No matter how powerful or complex the inscription was, there was a limit on how much energy they could handle. Go beyond their limits, and one of two things would happen. Either the inscription broke, disabling the runes permanently, or, and this was the option Jonathan was rooting for, an inbuilt failsafe would kick in.
Mana: 49,206/740
After spending five thousand points, Jonathan noticed a rune of release lighting up. He placed his spare hand on the symbol, reabsorbing the mana back to his body. His plan was working. Now that the flooding failsafe was active, the next step should be…
Jonathan doubled his efforts pouring energy into the key, and after a few tense seconds, his arms fell through the door, soon followed by the rest of his body.
“Phewh.” Jonathan sighed in relief after making his way to the other side. Now that the energy flow was cut off, the door solidified back into stone behind him. “That could’ve been dangerous.”
Looking around the space he had entered, Jonathan realized that “ritual room” was an inadequate description. The round chamber was almost enormous in size, standing fifteen meters tall and over a hundred across. At the center, stood a round, raised platform, on top of which a half a dozen cultists had gathered around an altar.
The congregation was humming in strange melodies, their hands raised towards the ceiling, where a red, scaly egg was floating in the air, surrounded by a spiral of golden energy. Whenever the humming came to a crescendo, a stream of gold broke free from the controlled spiral and shot inside the egg, making it grow in size.
“What the-” Jonathan didn’t know what he was looking at. He shook his head to break out from the stupor and quickly scanned the room. To his right, someone was lying on the ground, half leaning against the wall. Even from a distance, Jonathan recognized Suma’s dark hair, and he quickly rushed towards her.
“Suma! Are you okay?” He whispered, kneeling down next to the woman. She was conscious and breathing, but as the seconds ticked on without a response, Jonathan grew more worried.
Taking a closer look at her, Jonathan’s attention was drawn to her eyes. They were glazed, looking into the distance without really seeing anything. Jonathan grit his teeth as he recognized the look. The Master had managed to break through Suma’s mental defenses, and had left her mind scattered after having a field day rampaging in her mind.
There was nothing Jonathan could do for her current condition, so he lowered Suma to rest on the ground before standing up and turning to face the cult. His plan had been to kill them from the start, but now, it was personal.