Robert’s decision to sacrifice himself might make him look like a dumb righteous idiot, but he didn’t have any solution for his constantly worsening state. Infected ambient mana was destroying his body and soul, leaving no way out, except a single road into a cold grave. Therefore, as a last resort, he attempted to try a crazy idea, which could potentially save him from inevitable death. If he failed, it would still help his friend, giving him a feeling that his life wasn’t a futile struggle for survival from his childhood until now. No, it could have an importance, alas not for him.
The moment the ritual had started, Robert felt enormous pain. Even having experienced being burned to death, impaled by stone spike, beaten into meat paste by bear’s paws, or poisoned many times, it was much worse. He felt hundreds of ephemeral chains with hooks pierce his soul and start to pull, simultaneously trying to tear apart his inner beings and take it for themselves to absorb him completely until nothing was left; as he was bare naked under an insane hurricane, which was devouring his flesh piece by piece. The force was so strong that even the thought of resistance sounded ridiculous. However, if he couldn’t fight it directly, he could hide from it.
Focusing his mind on the single link from where all the energy was coming, he tried to push his soul there. Using hundreds of imaginary hands, when each of them was holding one small part of his inner being, Robert attempted to save at least something. It was hard as he was almost swimming against the water flow of the fastest river he ever heard of. For long, it seemed he was just prolonging his torture, not getting any positive results.
An insidious thought of giving up entered his mind and Robert had to use all his willpower not to fall for it, continuing his own version of Sisyphus's labor. The constant, never-ending effort, looked completely useless in the end. Still, the understanding that pain only confirmed his ongoing existence and gave him the energy to try to do more. To be better. To win over this faceless power. As if adapting, his mind started to increase its push and that finally gave so much desirable result. One piece turned into a few, only strengthening his resolve.
Robert didn’t know how long it took him and how much of him was torn apart, but at some point, he found himself in familiar nothingness, from where he was taken by God only to be sent to another world. Despite happening what seemed ages ago, everything breathed with familiarity. This feeling brought peace to his mind, and to his inner self, allowing him to bask in calm and motionless darkness. However, it didn’t last long as something huge appeared near him. He couldn’t see or understand it, but it felt like a huge existence, easily comparable with Wepwakor in terms of effect from just sheer presence. That unknown entity embraced him, and Robert immediately got a feeling about being pumped up with strange matter, patching the gaps in his tattered soul. After it was done, everything went black before the flat stony plateau came into sight. The very same floating plateau with hundreds of different stars above, which was the very same starting point of his unpleasant adventure after the death during the alien’s assault on his bunker.
Am I alive? But how? I guess I don’t need to complain, but it would be nice to know. And that unknown helper… Well, let’s check the status screen to see if I can get any answers.
Initializing recalibration of status screen…
The soul is separated from the body…
The body is completely destroyed…
Gaokeren intervention linked the soul to the avatar’s type body…
The entity is now a unique species…
The change in abilities and traits is noticed… Recalibrating…
Core and Vitality stats are gone… Mana regeneration is replaced… Adjusting other changes…
Starting with default settings…
Envoy of Wepwakor – Tier 1
Strength 19 Agility 13 Endurance 23 Toughness 11
Perception 10 Mind 45 Mana flow 37
Abilities: Restoration
Traits: God’s Envoy, Interdimensional Entity, Avatar’s Body (Modified Brain)
Interdimensional Entity – after losing the physical body, what is left of the entity is only a pure immortal soul. Placed in space between dimensions, it can last for eternity just from the ambient energy, but it doesn’t have the power of God to live there. Only to exist endlessly, deprived of the ability to impact surroundings in this everlasting prison. Constantly absorbing ambient mana to grow in the hope of becoming something bigger, it can only make useless accumulation without a way to utilize it, except through a permanent soul link.
This single way of connection to the outer world was granted by Gaokeren in gratitude for making his Champion stronger during the war for the Crown with the help of Anchor’s remnants. Through it, the entity can send the energy or control other living beings in an attempt to return to its previous state of existence. However, after the connection is set, the flow of energy is constant and can’t be changed in any way by will. Moreover, as the entity will grow, so will the flow of mana. Losing the connection point can lead to breaking the link forever without the possibility of restoring it in the future.
Avatar’s Body – the physical body of the entity is a mere vessel for its connected mind, recreated with the help of Gaokeren in gratitude for making his Champion stronger during the war for the Crown. The vessel or the body is made from remnants of the envoy’s body with addition from unknown living beings and under the curse of another God, which in turn leaves an owner with a mixture of abilities. The patching-up of missing parts from the original body and its links to the original soul had a huge impact on it.
The inability to use itself as mana storage in any way, a huge limitation on the level of passive dispersion of mana’s excess, and the need for permanent connection to an energy source to sustain its life – all these make it a difficult task to balance the energy issues of the body. With the increase in a physique, the need for mana will only grow further, while not changing anything else. The overflow of energy with no way out will have a damaging effect on the body up to the possibility of death if no measures are taken.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
On the other hand, such constant energy feeding is influencing basic necessities like the need for nutrients, water, oxygen, sleep, and others, decreasing them by a noticeable degree; and significantly increasing passive regeneration, while simultaneously expanding its ability to restore any injury or missing limb with active effort. The speed of regeneration can be boosted by spending additional mana. Moreover, the drastic change in the constitution grants the owner unlimited potential for growth, which still must be embodied naturally, and non-exitance of any crucial points like the heart as it is the vessel, where every part is equal. However, even the toughest vessel can’t sustain the loss of a bigger part of its body or non-stoppable cycles of repairing and damaging.
Additionally, the body has the modification of Brain by using the part of Hive-mind gives a similar ability of multitasking from this creature that rules its colony and soldiers with direct simultaneous control.
Well, that’s a lot of info…
His loss of abilities and two stats with the replacement of another one wasn’t as bad as the new realm of his being. Basically, Robert now was just a soul with only a link to the real world. Moreover, careful reread showed him a huge danger that again appeared over his head.
This crap again... It has different reasoning and conditions, but from an overall view – it is fucking the same shit!
The similarity between his previous state and current could be the result of the influence of the former on the latter. However, understanding of such a fact didn’t make his life any easier, not it didn’t change anything – Rob had to spend mana constantly to lessen the strain on his body for the sake of saving his unreplaceable connection from his own soul. It was the same permanent flow of mana without any active ability to use it. No possibility of manual usage to help in critical situations, except healing. The latter was also under big question in terms of efficiency. Destruction of his Core with damage of the soul might be the source of it. At least, this mana wasn’t poisoned. On the other hand – failure this time meant not turning into an aggressive maniac, but eternal prison in darkness as he was sure there would be no God this time to help him with the creation of another link. Rob wasn’t even sure if it was a better option – slowly going insane in a nothingness against mindless fury.
Robert already felt an odd sensation inside him in the form of a stretched string, on which someone tried to put additional weights while pulling it on opposite sides simultaneously. It wasn’t painful, more like uncomfortable. Disturbing. However, he was sure it would be only a matter of time before this feeling would change to unbearable. He needed the solution, and he got one, when familiar horrible pressure from the look of his God fell onto him, dropping him on the stony surface in a mixture of fear and displeasure. The latter came from his own weakness. Rob wasn’t arrogant enough to confront God or even think about being with him on equal terms, but at least he could resist being humiliated. And he tried and tried to stand up, but the pressure was only becoming heavier. Then everything disappeared.
“Commendable attitude, my envoy,” an enormous pitch-black smoky figure with a huge maw that could consume everything was already towering above him.
“However, the way you returned wasn’t the one I wished. Moreover, you got the help from another God. His opponent attempted to minimize his influence to limit other’s side abilities by just choosing a single Champion. However, your doings tipped the scales in their confrontation greatly. I indeed don’t mind taking sides during the battles for the Crown, but I must remind you that I am Wepwakor, God of Everlasting Wanderings, Devourer of Souls, and Venturous Hunter. Therefore, I need strong souls, hunted by my envoys. Your contribution this time wasn’t enough, alas slightly, while you are here and in need of another help just to live longer to return the investment in you. I will grant your special challenge to slay a great beast and even help with your small problem by using a suitable soul that fits your own perfectly and is on the same level of power. This task will not be easy, but at least it is most straightforward in comparison to ordinary conditions. So, brace yourself, my envoy, and show me that you deserve your role. Or die trying!”
The blessing was chosen for you… Calculating change… Merging souls…
Steelthruster – this magic hedgehog has to survive in an extremely dangerous environment, filled with predators, thus making him create its own instrument of defense. Using airbags of concentrated mana in surroundings, it can store it for further conjuring steel protection directly from its body in a time of need and continue to produce it while it has energy to spare. Such affinity grants this creature increased overall toughness in exchange for flexibility, but it is easy to trade for the ability to summon sharp spikes at any moment. Has lactose intolerance.
Ability: Conjure steel
Traits: Steel skin
The wave of another pain made Robert curse loudly while training to keep himself conscious. The familiar feel of burning alive changed into being frozen to death and then altered into being pressured into a pulp. One after another, new torturous feelings were embracing him in their painful hugs, but all previous unfortunate experiences helped to endure it. He knew it would soon end. It wasn’t his first time. Yes, of course, Rob barely held his scream, but despite that, he even managed to check his status screen, feeling it was his last opportunity.
Envoy of Wepwakor – Tier 1
Strength 19 Agility 10 Endurance 23 Toughness 18
Perception 10 Mind 45 Mana flow 37
Abilities: Restoration, Conjure Steel
Traits: God’s Envoy, Interdimensional Entity, Avatar’s Body (Modified Brain, Steel Skin)
New ability: 1) Conjure steel – the ability to summon any shape of steel from any part of own body. The volume and weight are limited to half of the size and weight of the summoner’s body. The properties of steel are set and can’t be changed by adding more mana. Constantly consumes mana to sustain the conjuration. The steel can’t be separated from the body because it will cut the energy link, thus dispersing it immediately.
New trait: 1) Steel skin – low-level reinforcement of the whole body with metal particles with a focus on skin, which increases Toughness, but decreases the overall flexibility. Increases affinity to metal. Increases the body weight. Readjusting the change to Avatar’s Body trait.
It appeared to be the correct decision as the vortex took him the moment the merging with the new soul had ended. Black whirlwind covered the surroundings in a constant rotating movement, finally bringing only the feeling of being transported, but nothing uncomfortable. This idle time gave Robert time to recover his mental state and to prepare for the incoming. He was sure it would be damn hard to kill the beast. Maybe impossible. However, Rob had to do it if he wanted to live. At least now he could be always armed.
I hope it is not… Oh, crap!
His thought was interrupted when his body was spilled out of the vortex right in the air just to be dropped directly into the water a few moments later. Increased weight almost immediately tried to pull him down into the deep, but active movements helped him to stabilize his body on the surface. Salty liquid had already entered his mouth, greatly worsening his mood in the process. Calming down to stop the spreading panic, Robert tried to look around only to confirm his awful premonition. He was indeed in the middle of the ocean and there was no visible land from his point of view. The waves didn’t help either, constantly obstructing his sight. Moreover, the strain on his soul link started to be noticeable, while his active ability, which had to lessen the pressure, was literally the best way to cosplay the victim of cement shoes from the mafia’s times.
Well, I am royally fucked!
The end of Part 1