I came to where I had cast the Dream, still standing by the podium.
I struggled to remain calm, because two truths had hit me at once. Either one in isolation was upsetting, but the intersection was worse.
My world was going to die, and there was nothing I could do about that. I knew what would happen, because It lined up with “No Savior Needed” completely. I’d already been making decisions like it was a good predictor, but now I was almost certain that the game I’d spent almost a decade playing was a simulation of this exact calamity.
Kay was the “Mirror Princess” that made such a huge difference in my runs. Legionnaire was an exact copy of the thing that had just tried to kill me, even down to the behavioral patterns. Did that mean that No Savior Needed was a simulation of the apocalypse that had just begun?
I was distracted from a breakdown on the implications of this by a series of text boxes popping up in my field of vision.
[Class Skill Unlocked: Stage of the Dreamer
Stage of the Dreamer: At will, while within any realm that is not a "Dream realm" or an "Underworld", you may invoke a "Dream" upon reality, dragging all hostile entities and all allies within its borders into the "Dream". Some entities may be able to escape this Dream. Once the "Dream" is cast, only special abilities will allow entry to the Dream. This skill cannot cross "Thresholds". The area this Dream can cover will scale with Dream Borders, and control over the shape of this Dream will scale with Dream Manipulation. This ability will activate automatically if you are significantly harmed in an area where the skill does not apply.]
[Class Skill Unlocked: Canvas of the Soul
Canvas of the Soul: Your social bonds with others broaden your worldview, and the change in perspective empowers your Dreams. When you reach a certain level of requited importance to another person, a new skill will be acquired. The nature of this ability will reflect both the other party, and the nature of the bond. All skills acquired this way will only apply within Dreams. Skills acquired this way cannot regress or degrade.]
[Class Skill Unlocked: Chains of Ink
Chains of Ink: Contracts and obligations entered with third parties, if they have sufficient significance, will alter your significance in the world. When you form personally significant magical pacts, new skills will be acquired. These skills will scale with the power of the other party, the weight of the pact, and any bonds formed with them. These skills may change with the other party, and may be lost if the pact is broken.]
[ New Functionality! You have unlocked the Menu!]
By the time I was done reading all the popups, I had managed to set aside my existential crisis, and scratch together a short-term plan.
First, I needed to talk to Kay. She was going to end up in charge soon. I needed to introduce myself before then.
I walked over to her. Outside of combat, her clothing had stopped shining in light. She glared at me as I approached.
“Thanks for the rescue.” I said.
“What the hell were you doing?” Kay demanded, “You nearly got yourself killed!”
“I made a mistake.” I half-lied, “I’m new to having powers.”
“You’re lucky I managed to save you.” Kay said, “Be more careful, no one might be able to next time.”
“It’s a crisis. I can't play it safe.” I said, “We’re going to need everyone.”
“Corpses can’t save anyone.” Kay said, “What do you want?”
“I had a glimpse of the future.” I said, “More monsters are going to fall from the sky soon. I know can get a power that can keep the campus safe. Use it.”
Kay sighed, “I hate visions. Fine, I get it. Don’t get yourself killed.”
She ran out of the room, splitting in two as she did. I assumed she was trying to either rescue people, assess the situation, or both.
That could certainly have gone worse. I hadn’t made an enemy for life.
I opened the system shop in the menu, ignored the blinking icon on the mailbox, and searched: [Abyssal Invocation Token]
As I expected, it was in stock, but it would cost 999 Quanta. I winced, and bought it. It was massively overpriced at this point, but it was the only way to get my Dreamer abilities to actually be useful.
That was a lie, technically. it wasn’t actually the only option on the table. I knew enough about the rules the first issues would work by that I would have better odds than anyone else of making it through today. Given time, I could make friends, and eventually I’d have the skills to be adequate.
But if I wanted to make a difference quickly, I’d need a better skill than I could get by tossing together a friendship in two hours.(1) I would need a pact. Unfortunately, every pact that qualified would cost both parties something substantial. I had no credentials or power to my name, and that dramatically reduced my options. The best option left would be a Pact of Patronage, even though that would cost the other party a piece of their soul.
I could probably make a deal with a Paradise, but none of them were desperate enough to make an affordable bargain. Prophets and paladins only rarely got the option to say no to their gods. I needed someone who was more desperate than that. I needed to be able to walk up to them with nothing but promises, and still come away with a piece of their soul.
Only an “Dark” Deity would be desperately ruthless enough to do that. Whichever I chose, they would have to not have a better option, and that constrained my options further. Even so, several did exist. However, I only knew one that would do it for promises I could actually follow through on, and so that was the one I would go to.
The infernal invocation token was a tiny square of paper. A circumscribed heptagon was etched into it. I could summon myself into a meeting with any Abyssal, Infernal, or Stygian deity, if I used one of these. Of course, I'd also need to know their title, and to know which one I was trying to reach. I closed my eyes, focused, and chanted, “Eris of The Abyss of Corrupted Cruelty” inside my head. It activated on the fifth chant. I felt the summoning drag me down into the edges of her Abyss.
It felt like falling in a dream. No wind or air, just motion, falling to an unseen and terrible end. I almost expected to hit the ground with a splash, but that wasn't how the token would work. When I finished falling, I abruptly felt like I'd jolted awake. I was still standing like I had when I'd first used the token, but I wasn't in my classroom anymore.
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The air reeked of smoke and blood. When I opened my eyes, I was up to my knees in black fluid. More was slowly raining from the sky, and I couldn’t see the edges of the puddle of oil. There was nothing else, except for a desk directly across from me. It was covered in paperwork, and I noticed that the oil veered around it like it wasn’t there.
A middle-aged woman with gray hair and wrinkles was seated behind it. She was preoccupied with paperwork, so I took the time to watch a little more. She looked like an elderly secretary, and the only thing that marked her as different was the patchwork of faint scars that covered her body.
This was Eris, Steward of the Abyss of Corrupted Cruelty.
Once she finished the form, Eris noticed me, and frowned slightly.
“Well.” She said, “This is new. Who are you, girl, and why are you here?”
“Ashlyn Thresher.” I answered, “I seek a boon from you.”
“What do you want?” Eris asked.
“A Pact of Patronage.” I said.
She paused, and grabbed a notebook, “That is no small favor. What could you offer in return that might possibly be worth that?”
“I’ll find a solution to the inescapable calamities that plague your domain.” I offered, “I know a method, but you’ll need me to implement it. Even if I told you it, you couldn’t do it.”
She leaned forwards, staring into my eyes, “Huh. You truly believe that. I’m tempted, but - I won’t give anything for empty words alone. It’s an appealing offer, but I want collateral. Do you have anything that is adequate?”
“Do you know about the recent changes to the world?” I asked.
“Of course.” Eris said, “Are you proposing a share of your Quanta income? It's not like there's anything else you have to offer.”
“Fifty percent?” I offered.
“Inadequate for a soul, and insufficient as collateral.” Eris said, “All of it.”
“I need to be able to buy stuff, barter is too messy.” I said, “Seventy-five percent.”
“Ninety-five percent, and I’ll give you a potion that can cure any injury.”(2) She countered.
“Compassion’s Lifeblood, right?” I said, “That’s tempting, but no. Eighty percent, and ten thousand doses of Compassion’s Lifeblood on fulfillment of the promise.”
“200 doses a day from fulfillment to the day the Nexus collapses, and ninety-five percent of your Quanta until then.”(3)
“Make that ninety, and you’ve got a deal.” I said.
Eris grinned, “Add in a clause that if you don’t average a thousand quanta per day, the excess will be taken from you, and you’ve got a deal.”
“Deal.” I agreed.
She ripped out a page from her notebook, “Read it carefully, I put in a few of my standard clauses. Are you still willing to sign?”
I read it carefully. Each of the additional clauses made sense. One said that I couldn’t deliberately identify Eris as the owner of my contract. Another set terms on both the use of my soul, and the use of the shard of her soul I would be acquiring. I wasn’t allowed to sell my soul, or hers. I wasn’t allowed to share either, and I wasn’t allowed to willfully destroy either. The contract could be voided at any time by mutual agreement between both parties, and either party could voluntarily choose to waive any right or privilege granted by the contract.
Those were the additions to what we had discussed verbally. All of these terms were reasonable. Given that she hadn’t given me patronage as an endorsement, I wasn’t hurt that she wanted to keep my sponsor secret. The others were mostly precautions to ensure I couldn’t betray her by reselling her soul to a third party.
Even the actual terms we had agreed upon weren’t unreasonable. If I lived up to my promises, I had a temporary penalty, and then much more generous rewards when I finished the job. If I didn’t, I would be completely and utterly wrecked in the penalty clauses, but Eris would still be out her soul shard. Either the deal would be win-win, or it would be lose-lose.
I signed.
The dream slowly faded away, and I woke in the safe zone as the notifications began to pop up.
[You have formed a Pact with Eris, Corrupted Steward of Cruelty]
[New skill acquired! “Blood of the Sacrificed”]
[Blood of the Sacrificed: You can fill an area equivalent to your Dream Radius with Eris’ symbolic blood as a two-inch layer on the ground and mist flying through the air. Exposure will inflict damage, boosted by the entity’s power, and scaling weakly with your Dream Potency, and Dream Manipulation stats. This ability has no cooldown, and can remain active indefinitely. This ability will only work in Dreams and Dream-adjacent realms.]
[New skill acquired! “Beast in the Blood”]
[Beast in the Blood: Something lurks in the depths of [Blood of the Sacrificed]. While that skill is active, it can be invoked against your enemies at any location where the Blood is in evidence. When invoked it will attempt to drag them under, leaping outside the blood if necessary. While not otherwise occupied, the cooldown between invocations is based on your Dream Manipulation. If the Beast is destroyed, the cooldown will be extended. The durability of the Beast scales with your Dream Borders stat. The effectiveness of the Beast is based on your Dream Potency stat.]
When I woke up, there were still at least eight minutes left in the safe zone. It had taken longer than I expected, but that still left time to spend my excess Potential and Quanta to boost my stats. Quanta was a tradeable currency, but it could also be used as a substitute for Potential at a 1:1 exchange rate. I looked up my current stats.
{Base Stats
Physique - Your Strength and Durability as a human: 10
Dream Potency - Boosts raw power of Dreamer Abilities : 10
Dream Manipulation - Reduces cooldowns and increases effects of Dreamer Abilities. Also improves control over all Dreamer Abilities: 10
Dream Borders - Expands your ability to sense Dreams, and the Area of Dreams you build. Also improves range of some Dreamer Abilities: 10
Dream Durability - Improves defense and resilience within a Dream: 10}
I poured potential into my stats. I started by raising each stat by 10.
{You have spent 145 Potential to boost Dream Potency from 10 to 20. You have 1155 Potential remaining.}(4)
{You have spent 145 Potential to boost Physique from 10 to 20. You have 1010 Potential remaining.}
{You have spent 145 Potential to boost Dream Manipulationfrom 10 to 20. You have 865 Potential remaining.}
{You have spent 145 Potential to boost Dream Resilience from 10 to 20. You have 720 Potential remaining.}
{You have spent 145 Potential to boost Dream Borders from 10 to 20. You have 575 Potential remaining.}
Then, I raised Dream Borders to 30, because reach would be the most important thing for what I would do next.
{You have spent 490 Potential to boost Dream Borders from 20 to 30. You have 85 Potential remaining.}
I dumped the last of my potential and Quanta alike into boosting Dream Potency, because more power would be nice, and because diminishing returns meant investing into Dream Borders would’ve only been enough to push to 34.
{You have spent 85 Potential and 301 Quanta to boost Dream Potency from 20 to 29. You have 0 Potential and 0 Quanta remaining.}
That done, I quickly entered my settings. I set “Summary mode” to on, turning off per-monster breakdowns of rewards, and “Hold notifications while occupied”, meaning I wouldn’t see the popups until I was taking a break or otherwise on pause. I didn’t want notifications happening in the middle of a fight, and I knew that would happen, otherwise.
I rushed out the door. There would already be monsters on campus, and I wanted to deal with as many as I could before they could kill anyone.
---
(1) I mean, if you were lucky you could throw it together much faster. I didn't actually have confidence I could even manage it that quickly.
(2) Her advertisement was true, but she spoke like it would be an instant process. In practice, it would take twenty-four hours for a single dose to cure the injury - while taking more would accelerate the process, it would still take six hours at the fastest. Of course, for most things you needed a miracle cure, that kind of time wasn't a big deal.
(3) My Earth wasn't the only plane that had named their own world "Earth", but the other planes might survive. As the "Nexus", it was at the center of the current planar structure and the only one that was doomed. As such, Extraplanar entities tended to use "The Nexus" as slang for 'earth'.
(4) The formula for +1 stat, at the current pricing, was [Current Base Stat Level] * [First Digit of Current Base Stat Level]. Of course, that still meant +10 base stat level wasn't 10 times that, but something messy that felt unpredictable, even if it was simple to calculate with a spreadsheet. The formula got more complex once your base stats got past 100, and prices spiked drastically on top of that.