Lurona city [southern shores of Fuminao Legacy Kingdom], local time [1793.12.32] [1 hour before New Year Celebration period]
“Finished. Can you now explain what did you mean exactly?” Pavail asked, finally shutting the metal panel hidden in the carriage’s wall. She was fiddling with it for the past half an hour as they were riding to the headquarters. “This is the highest level of security available to us,” she declared, sitting at the table next to Irra. They were facing Zeph, looking at him impatiently. He had insisted that they should activate all of their protection measures before he told them what it was all about, to their growing irritation.
Another carriage, full of Kwan’s troops, was trailing right behind them through the snow-covered city. But the three of them were alone in the Ghrughah’s carriage. It was almost midnight, or Corora’s 30th hour of the day, so their pace was fast, as most of the people were either sleeping or finishing their preparations for the new year celebration.
Zeph once again checked his own Spells, and only then he started to speak. In his mind, the secrecy was more important than the danger he happened to detect. “Aisha told me that I managed to form an auguring ability. Not like she told me if it can be tested…”
The girls nodded, expecting something like that from how he acted in the Shrine.
“Something big happened in the east, I think. I wasn’t able to see anything directly, it’s just my conjecture…”
“Well, it’s impossible to interpret happenings that far away without a Soul-related point of reference or an appropriate medium, so nothing strange here,” Irra shrugged.
“And the last time I checked, you didn’t have any training in Soul Arts…” Pavail added, revealing that she or, more probably, Kwan indeed did some background checks on him.
He sighed, ignoring it for now. He even felt grateful for Pavail’s bluntness. “Anyway, what I clearly saw was… Well, it wasn’t THAT clear, but whatever. Aerial beasts, or something like that, will attack from the east in a few hours and spread through the city. All traffic will be paralyzed, that’s why I was in a hurry.” He paused to take a breath and think about how to explain the nightmare better, but Irra spoke before he could continue.
“Wait, what with the city defenses? It’s not that easy to bypass them, even by the air. If you don’t fly near, or through, the second stratum… No, wait. Those weren’t the higher stratum beasts that you saw?” she asked in a slight panic.
“I’m not sure… But the danger I felt in the dream wasn’t coming from directly above, so I don’t think so?” That was enough to make her relax slightly. “As to the city defenses… They would use strange Magicules that will permeate the city when the celebrations start, and somehow interfere with the guards’… senses? Sanity?” He really wasn’t sure how to describe those sensations but Pavail perked up, her eyes widening.
“Uh… can you describe those Magicules somehow? It... It can be really bad…”
Zeph started stroking his beard, going deep in thought. Looking with empty eyes at the floor, he tried to use his Memory to recall the slowly-fading sensations from the dream. Irra and Pavail were waiting for him in silence, seeing as he entered a meditative-like state.
Interpreting the nightmare was more difficult than Zeph expected, though. At some point, he started to communicate with Gru, hoping that the two minds would be able to produce better results. After a minute or two of quiet humming that the two of them made, Zeph nodded slightly to himself.
“Well… From what we can tell… It’s somehow related to life energy, but definitely doesn’t have its properties as a Magicule. It should… resonate easily with brain activity? Or something like that. Also, there is a slight crystal feel to it, too? But very uncertain… All in all, if I had to name it, it would be something like ‘psychoactive reflection and redirection’? No… more like ‘thought molded crystal’?” He more asked than said, looking up at the girls.
But the look on their faces made him pause. Pavail looked scared while Irra was flabbergasted.
“That Magicule group… it’s called Mental Medium,” Pavail explained, her voice trembling a bit. “They are produced during new year rites….”
“It’s impossible!” Irra shouted, standing up. “No brainless, antagonistic animal can stand that kind of environment! It’s one of the basic preca—“
“Not if all of them are Soul-bond to a sapient… or worse, are a hive,” Pavail interjected in a low voice, ending Irra’s tirade. The latter looked like a fish out of the water – her mouth opening and closing repeatedly.
Meanwhile, a cold sweat covered Zeph’s forehead. He, once again, spoke too much. It was evident that he had no idea about the rites or those Magicules. He could only hope that his cover story would stand this trial as well. It wasn’t even the question of if the Fullangrarians should know about those customs, but the problem of accumulation of strange facts would bring his secret down sooner or later. The girls saw his not-so-human body from inside, already knew a little about his upgrades and a whole lot about Gru… He really didn’t want them to start asking uncomfortable questions.
Irra especially… He would say that it was a mistake to allow her into the operation chamber if not for the upgrades he was able to choose because of it. He didn’t really trust her yet, though.
Thankfully, she was too concerned with the coming attack to think straight. “But… but you can’t just use Mental Medium…” she was mumbling to herself, shaking her head wildly and trying to process what she just heard.
On the other hand, Zeph rigorously avoided Pavail’s slightly narrowed eyes.
“But if it’s a horde event, as it seems to be…” she said instead of asking anything, allowing Zeph to breathe out a small sigh of relief. “The Guild should have some information already. And seeing the scale of events…”
Zeph nodded. “I am sure every diviner, augur, or whoever else is in the city, is going to report the same thing to their leader in quick succession. That’s where the second part of the problem comes from. What I saw wasn’t just a beast attack – some factions started fighting each other, targeting the information and resource centers of their rivals and utilizing the ensuing chaos. It further escalated the fighting that was already happening all over the city, as people started to lose the sense of who was an enemy. I don’t have any details, but I am sure something more sinister, or something directly related to our Guild, will come up along all that.”
They sat in silence for a good few minutes. His companions looked like they finally understood the gravity of the situation.
“We are in a perfect position to be spied on, thus my insistence on the precautions. The less our enemies know about our plans, the better. I didn’t even disclose anything truly crucial from the point of view of the Guild. It’s much more important for you two to be able to think on the problem and plan ahead than keep silent until we arrive. In case the Guild isn’t informed yet, we need to act fast. As the Head of our department, I am now issuing you two an initial order to find all possible countermeasures to the attack, beast and human alike. We are now adopting the martial law protocol. Open discussion involving ANY information on the Guild or its members isn’t allowed outside of command centers as of now. Are we clear?” He asked, looking pointedly at Irra.
After making sure there was no opposition or questions, Zeph left them to their own devices and finally opened his notification to read through the changes.
As it turned out, it wasn’t just a simple summary, but a preamble to a true deluge of information. Before starting, he glanced at his Interface. He was slightly surprised that his Class leveled up, but he would know why in a moment. He put the two free points into Flexibility to have the full picture of the changes and started reading.
Life hazard resolved.
[Implants] successfully applied.
[Phleya] received an alternative upgrade.
[Advanced scan] finished successfully.
New information derived from [Advanced scan]! Congratulations! Rewards and re-evaluation of [General Skills] will now commence!
[Shrine Seed] successfully implanted. Please read the [Manual]!
Immediately after he finished reading, the second notification opened up.
[General Skills] latest changes and re-evaluation:
[Tabu] is now [T1] [L100] and [Inactive] as per the [Agreement]. (+48)
[Interface] is now [T1] [L50] and [Inactive] as per the [Agreement]. (+13)
Zeph grimaced seeing the first two entries. As always, the System didn’t provide him a full explanation ahead of time. Probably because he didn’t even ask… But, from what he could understand, it just meant that the System engaged a full-fledged personal monitoring of the state of his Soul and would use half of their nominal capacity to monitor the activities concerning Soul experimentation and manipulation done by him.
Zeph even spent a few minutes reading from the notification to make sure, and he was surprised. The amount of information, and its quality, was much better than ever before. It seemed that his investment started to pay dividends – the reward for the strange communication method he had with Gru wasn’t wasted at all if he was going to receive so much information from the System. It wasn’t even a question if he could read deeper into the text—which he could, to some extent—the System seemed more open with their explanations.
Take, for example, the Tabu Skill – he now had access to all basic functions it was responsible for. Or, at least, the visible ones.
But there were downsides, too. The whole ‘agreement’ they have made was defined here as well. And it looked just like any Earth’s software agreements – an overly complicated text form for easy-to-understand general rules they agreed upon. He would, for sure, read it in detail later, but there was no time for that right now.
At the very least, his Tabu wasn’t going to change Tiers, and the Interface Skill wasn’t going to level up anymore bare special circumstances. This, along with the System setting them in the ‘inactive’ state, should be enough to live with them without further complications… At least until he won’t lose his mind.
I really need to check how the System defines that, Zeph thought with resignation. I should be safe as long as we have a direct communication line… Where are lawyers when you need them the most?! Ah, yes… They are busy earning money…
After settling down his random thoughts, he looked at the further entries in the second notification.
[Ancient Civilizations] [General Skill] is now [T3] [L13]. (+7)
[Ancient Civilizations] [General Skill] updated!
You have earned [Soul fragments]!
You have earned 750 000 [Universal Points]!
[Corora lifeforms] is now [T1] [L23]. (+13)
[Survival] is now [T1] [L96]. (+20)
[Exotic Metallurgy] is now [T1] [L6]. (+4)
[Willforce] is now [T2] [L49]. (+36)
[Resonation Suppression] is now [T2] [ L5]. (+3)
[Will] is now [T2] [ L70]. (+5)
[Mana perception] is now [T2] [ L15]. (+10)
[Life Energy] is now [T1] [L28]. (+8)
Congratulations! New [General Skill] created! [T3] [L13] [Will powered Soul Memory access sharing] was added to your [General Skills]!
[Willpower] [Perk] modified!
[Trait] [Greater Willpower] updated!
[####] [####] upgraded!
You have earned 0 (redacted) [Universal Points]!
New phenomenon registered! [Will cooperation] added to the database!
[Will cooperation] assimilated into [Tier 2] [Will] [General Skill] database.
You have earned [Soul fragments]!
You have earned 500 000 [Universal Points]!
Congratulations! Your [Seeded] [Class] [Force Generalist] leveled up!
Major upgrades:
Force Generalist [+1]
==> Flexibility [+2], Intuition [+2*2], Greater Willpower [+1]
==> Matrix space [+4], Mana capacity [+25], Mana generation [+2]
Looking at the list, he could feel the coming headache.
Maybe I should have gone for the Advanced scan as soon as we hit the city, waste of time be damned! he wondered, looking at the new and shiny 1,25 million UP. He expected something like that to happen, of course, but in one reward, not three. It was the main reason he relinquished the potential points during the negotiations with the System, using them as a bargaining chip to gain their support before the combined treatment took place. At the time, he thought he was smart with his time and resources, but it wasn’t looking like a good idea from his present perspective.
And what’s with those Skills? I can understand why the Survival, Exotic Metallurgy, and Mana perception leveled up. Especially the last one, I now have an implant helping with my internal Mana perception. Heck, even for Ancient Civilizations it isn’t that strange. But what the fuck with the rest?! Is that because of re-evaluation? What was it evaluating even?
It was a mystery. The System didn’t deign to disclose the details this time.
Okay, think… it all has to have to do with the ‘Advanced scan’ or the body upgrades… ‘Corora lifeforms’ has to be connected to the Phleya’s immunological upgrades and the infection. At least, I hope it is. We proved that Phleya can adapt to humans, to Garuan, and fight against local microorganisms… Though, only the last one is a Corora native organism... How that translates to the new knowledge in the Skill, I have no idea… He shook his head, reading the Skills would come later. Willforce increase has to be related to the scan directly…
To confirm, he opened the Diagnostics menu, and sure enough, the answer was there.
[Diagnostics]
Issue:
Source:
Info:
[Error] in <[Soul-bond] [Passive Enhancements] exchange>
Will
[Soul-bonded] creatures share their [Passive Enhancements], influencing both bodies equally. See
Not in your case! The [Will] characterized by the [Will, type: H1] [Soul contamination] automatically blocks that natural phenomenon if both participants of the [Soul-bond] are in its possession! Mixed effects are possible depending on the nature of [Soul-bonded] individuals.
No solution for the issue is readily available. If you wish for the phenomenon to take effect, please create a new [Technique] with your partner!
[Unknown] [Soul memory] sharing method.
Will
Two [Soul-bonded] organisms can access the [Soul memories] of each other if both possess the [Will] characterized by the [Will, type: H1] [Soul contamination]. The [Technique] drains [Will]. Two methods of application were observed:
1)
2)
[Will cooperation] (NEW phenomenon!) is required for both! No risk of [Will clash] observed. [Soul-data corruption] estimated as [Very High] for the first method.
[https://i.imgur.com/wawhh65.jpg]
This time the notification was packed to the brim with information. That’s what I’m talking about! I’ve paid for shit like that! Zeph celebrated in his mind.
After reading the underlying definitions and additional notes, Zeph was able to understand what was wrong with the Bond between him and Gru. Firstly, they were unable to share their senses or Interface like a typically Bonded pair should. And their method of sharing Soul memories and emotions was something different entirely – they should be able to share their senses in real-time, not just vague impressions. As it turned out, those were just the first of the symptoms of a blocked communication channel between their Souls. Normally, Soul-bonded individuals had their PE evenly spread. For example, if Zeph had 7 Power and Gru had 3 Power, they should both have 5 at all times. At least until they learned to manipulate the effect and change the balance. But no, they never experienced something like that.
Not even before Gru stole my Will contamination… Zeph reminisced. That’s strange. Gru was quite far away from sapience back then. Are those the aforementioned ‘mixed effects’? Hmmm… Huh. More importantly, what the hell is this?! he thought disbelievingly. Yes, there is no mistaking it…it’s…
Inside, a note on reproduction mechanisms was included. On the higher strata Soul-bonding with a partner was the only way to keep the sperm cells alive inside a woman’s womb. Such small elements of a body would lose the links to the Soul almost immediately after separating from the, relatively unchanging, main physical structure of a person – to which the Soul was linked the strongest. Thus, the cells would be left to fare for themselves in the toxically high Mana densities of either the environment or the woman’s body. Of course, the problem was more complicated and the effect wasn’t that pronounced on stratum zero, but the next part was what made him pause in fascination.
For a fetus to survive, as it was a living organism independent of the mother’s body, it had to be firstly Soul-linked by the said mother. After the brain of the child started to operate in a capacity sufficient for the formation of Will, a Soul would start forming… or something, the information here wasn’t precise on that part. In any case, when that would happen, the mother would change Soul-link into a full-fledged Soul-bond. The whole process was, obviously, occurring naturally; without a conscious effort even. But that was exactly where the ‘PE sharing’ from Soul-bonding shined the most. The ‘averaged’ values of PE would not only ensure the child’s immunity to Mana densities in the place where the family lived, but it would also strengthen the child enough to survive contact with local wildlife for as long as the Soul-bond stayed active. Even at level 0, on a higher stratum. The idea of superhumanly strong newborns was as bizarre as headache-inducing.
This one description had so many consequences, that Zeph wasn’t even sure where to start. From how close-knitted the families had to be, how much it changed the strength of individuals, to how the society on higher strata had to be organized, and the fact that stratum zero was probably the only place where children could be born outside of Soul-bonded relationships and survive without having a parent. It also answered a few crucial questions about how the Soul strengthened the body. A cut-off limb would keep the strengthening from the PE as long as it was in the Veil of the individual. In any other case, the Will would cause the Soul links connected to the appendage to fold back before they could break apart on their own, alongside the dying cells in the abandoned flesh. Zeph could, theoretically, force his Will to keep the connection for longer, though.
What would happen if a brain was cut in half but both halves were still functional somehow? he mused, looking for extreme cases to test his understanding. If Will would pull in two different directions, doesn’t that mean there is a risk of rupturing one’s Soul? Hmmm… At least it’s clear now that any fluids my body produces aren’t really linked to my Soul – the matter changes too fast and is too unstructured for a link to form. And I don’t have to worry about blood mages, witches, ritualists, or any other mysterious forces using my body parts to harm me from a distance. The cells in my blood will be cut off from my Soul in a matter of seconds rather than minutes. Jesus, that makes all of the hive animals that much more ridiculous… Ehh, and now I want to see an undead…
He stopped stroking his beard and relaxed slightly, leaning back on the seat. Gru, did you know the System probably Soul-linked and Soul-bonded you when you were born? They are your father! he sent, chuckling a little.
??? inapt! Don’t bother, came an overly coherent jab.
Zeph blinked in surprise. Did he just…
A wide grin spread on his face. It seemed their upgrades already started to show results. Zeph didn’t feel any different, excluding that nightmare he had, but he was also absolutely spent right now. He hoped things would change for the better after he recovers.
Okay, back to work! Where were we? he hyped himself, returning to the list of the Skills’ level-ups. Right… So, if we go by the Diagnostics, Willforce influenced both issues, probably. That and the Will cooperation are responsible for the increase in the Will Skill, he concluded. But ‘Life Energy’ and ‘Resonation Suppression’? I can’t see any other reason than a direct re-evaluation of them. But why would they be changed after the scan? Are those two connected to the Soul-bond somehow? The scan was about that mostly…
He decided to leave the topic for now. It was becoming very convoluted very fast, and it wasn’t the end of the notifications he had to check.
[Advanced scan] secondary goals:
<> [External Mana statistics] conditions changed (once again) … Re-evaluation impossible at this time.
<> [Will main statistics] unstable. Re-evaluation impossible at this time.
Useless, he snorted internally. At least the System tried. Let’s see the ‘Upgrade summary’…
He read through the notification quickly, noticing Phleya’s alternative upgrade. It would help Zeph’s body by decreasing the frequency of DNA or RNA mutations, among other things the Phleya itself was capable of. The effect would influence intruding organisms as well.
I can’t complain. It’s quite a good one, overall, he thought, noticing the notes describing Earthlings’ tendency to produce tumors in their bodies. I am actually impressed the System thought of that… Although, the change of plans was kind of sudden. I wonder if they would help me with modifying Phleya if I didn’t resign from those UP during negotiations… The thought made him shiver slightly in fright. The amount of information and the willingness to cooperate that the System showed were definitely beyond their modus operandi. Spending a big chunk of his UP only to be healed… it would put him back so much more.
The rest of the report was as he expected. Just a list of his upgrades, of which all were successfully implemented. Of course, that included the Shrine Seed.
Okay, maybe my choices were quite correct, he reappraised his earlier evaluation. Those new points will be a perfect fallback if something happens. With the Shrine Seed, my chances of surviving similar confrontations are much better. He nodded to himself. He knew that not everything could be done through the Seed, but in case of emergency, he could at least contact the System.
He allowed the last notification to pop up.
[Body]: Mental states don’t reflect on [Will]. Balances mental state between [Body], [Soul], and [Will] influence. Can forcefully and virtually [Redraw] the [Neural connection superstructure] by directly engaging [Will] to [Restore] or [Simulate] previous states of the brain. The process engages [Soul], [Will], and [Willforce] for information purposes. The process engages [Body], [Willforce], and [artificially] the [Will] for energetical purposes.
WARNING! The process isn’t engaging [Soul] and [Will] for energetical purposes! Make sure to eat well and stay sane when using it! Physical and mental health are important, and the process is straining them!
It was just as he expected. Not waiting anymore, he opened his full interface. The changes from the fight were still highlighted, painting his main menu in blue.
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