CHAPTER 153: Affinity

“What will happen today is not the first, nor the last, point in your journey. It’s simply one more step. Making it this far is an accomplishment yet there is no guarantee that you will reach the heights of your potential. Diligence and dedication will serve you better as you strive for your path than anything else,” said instructor Tithixal’gx’Guntraz.

He spoke the words with the ease of experience, having given this lecture to thousands prior to Adam, and most likely thousands more in the years to come. Adam looked down at the machine in front of him. Or maybe it wasn’t a machine. Adam still wasn’t sure how to reconcile the differences in this society from his own.

One thing surprised Adam while he had read the texts provided to him about the research done over the centuries. There was no concept of physics or natural sciences. The magics that they had researched or created compensated for some of what they lacked through developing physical technology, but it didn’t truly build on their knowledge.

They had learned how to do things but not why they worked.

Unlike on Earth, where humans tried to find out how the universe worked around them, the Red Clan was satisfied with getting a repeatable conclusion. As far as Adam had read and heard, other races were the same. Even more shocking was that if it wasn’t something controllable within the [System], then it was ignored completely. Spells, rituals, medicine, alchemy, crafting, and all other things that should be researched were left completely to those who had skills…shortcuts to accomplish without knowing beyond, “my skill did it.”

The cities were built on [System] authorized controls similar to the Rift Menus from the dimensional convergence rifts used to invade worlds. Natural forces such as gravity, entropy, and magnetism were offset by magic.

They were like children hitting keys on a piano, knowing what sound it would make without understanding the strings, hammers, and key interactions. There was also no drive, or even a question whether they should look into it.

And forget about researching the [System] itself. No one wanted to question how it worked or whether they could do more with it. Just knowing it was there to use was enough. If, for some reason, it up and left one day, entire worlds would be lost as a result of this willful ignorance.

Plus there was an unspoken fear of not wanting to offend such a colossal force, uncertain what would offend it and what the consequences would be. The fear tied the races to it just as strongly as the allure of power. No one wanted to chance losing their place.

Occasionally Adam wondered if maybe his soul corruption was a blessing. It kept him separate and less dependent on the [System], but he couldn’t deny that he needed the power of the [System] to combat others who used it. He needed its strength to protect the Earth. That was why he was here.

Unfortunately, the lack of knowledge the races had in what the [System] was and how it worked made him remember the story about Faust that he had avoided reading in school. Were they selling their souls to the devil? Maybe he should actually take the time to read it when he returned to Earth.

Adam would be the first to acknowledge that he wasn’t a scholar or innovator. He doubted he would even be smart enough to delve into these mysteries. Yet the necessity of learning more about his own soul and how it had been affected had driven him to explore and experiment with it. Unlike how these races who grew up in the [System] thought, Adam recognized a need to understand things on a deeper level.

That led to him diligently listening to every lecture and committing to memory every text he read. He was by no means perfect on the tests they had taken, but for once his focus kept him on task enough for him to do well enough.

Today he was having his soul affinity tested. As the instructor said, this was the next step. The device in front of him, whether magic or machine, would search his soul, flooding it with different forms of magic and somehow interpreting the strength of the interaction.

Did he understand how it worked? Not a chance. Did they understand how it worked? He doubted it. For them, it was enough that it did work.

On the table in front of him was a large disc. Symbols were etched throughout it. On opposing sides were hand sized domes, with bracelets like cuffs where his arms would go through.

Instructor Tithixal continued his lecture.

“Every aware life form has desires. You might have a picture of what type of class you want and the path you think would be best. Yet, you must set aside that way of thinking. For the benefit of yourself and the Red Clan, the path you will be guided on will be the optimal one. The one that you can reach the greatest strength on.

“That does not mean you won’t have a chance at individual skills you would like to learn. Many skills overlap between different evolutions in separate paths. It just means that the basis of your build with focus on the strongest affinity you have. Evolving in this way will allow you the greatest personal strength while also providing the greatest benefit to our race and the tower.”

Adam felt himself nod in understanding. It was only natural that the races needed the strongest people to be able to keep up with their contemporaries.

He had learned that the pseudo-skills he had unlocked on the status sheet for older Adam were part of a very rare class evolution. Only one Elder ever had gotten that class at Tier 5, as far as he had been able to find. Memory manipulation was such a strong skill and the elder hadn’t known what had triggered his ability to gain it, so there was no guidance down that path.

Adam wondered if having that status in his soul would lead his affinity to that path. Or was that status separate from who he actually was, since it came from a different version of himself? But if an older Adam had been able to achieve it then wasn’t he still the same person, just younger? Wouldn’t he have the same affinities?

On the other hand, it might be better to go down a different path. That might increase the skill variations he could use since he would continue to have the older Adam’s pseudo-skills while learning direct skills from a separate class line.

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He had been fortunate that all the learning he had done was already strengthening him. As he learned more about possible skills they might gain, he found that the older Adam's status sheet unlocked more pseudo-skills for him. He had learned skills with the names [Soul Shatter], [Soul Combine], [Mental Fortitude], and [Mental Wave].

Surprisingly, he had learned a few more skills with his berserker class as well, since their studies had included classes that they might encounter in the wider universe. Know your enemies as well as your allies. The learning had unlocked the skills [Arc Shockwave], [Behemoth Presence], and [Explosive Strike] on the older Gregor's status sheet.

“It is time. Place your arms through the cuffs and palms on the orbs,” said the instructor, pointing to the device. It was lit up with wispy yellow energy moving through all the engravings.

A soft vibration came from it, both gently attractive to him and discordantly repulsive. He wanted to hum to match its pitch while also covering his ears and yelling to drown out the vibrations. All of this on a soul level, far from the physical world.

Regardless of how it made him feel, Adam obeyed. He slid his hands through the bracelets and rested his hands on the protruding domes. As soon as his hands were placed, the bracelets clamped down on his wrists, locking them firmly in place. Then a jolt of energy entered his hands.

Adam felt two different sensations. The first was soothing as the energy was fed into his hands, reaching the cuffs, then somehow leaving his physical body and entering his soul. It filled him with life, with strength…potential that could be realized. The future was contained in that energy, making him regret never having felt it before.

At the same time a sickness filled him. It was like trying to mix oil and water and then setting it on fire. Heat and pain burned his soul, making him want to scream even as his body sat passively, waiting for the test to finish. The pain from this wrongness made him wish he could separate from his soul, rip it off and start anew. Who he was, what he was, tried to scour him cleanly as the sickness rushed through him.

He felt his head turn to the instructor, looking at him in askance. The pain and grossness he felt inside was not expressed anywhere in his behavior or expression. Instead, he waited while the pain and soothing clashed inside of him.

The three minutes that he sat there unmoving, waiting for it to finish, left his essence rubbed raw. An ethereal steel wool brush rubbed throughout his soul skin. When the cuffs released and the yellow energy faded, Adam was left feeling inexplicably ground down, as if his soul had been brutalized. Yet, he simply sat and waited, with no motion that wasn’t deliberate.

“Ah, interesting,” said the instructor, looking at a window. “Your affinity is indeed high on this one path. It is a common path, but you seem to rate more strongly than most others do. It will be up to you to realize this potential, but there will be many who can advise you on it. Your affinity is ‘Charm’.”

Adam pondered that. It was not at all what he expected.

Sure, he had the pseudo-skill for [Charm], and he theorized that people followed him so readily in part because it had a passive effect, but a whole class build around it…how much would that really empower him to save the Earth? It seemed more like what the mind witch who had tormented him had used.

“I can see you doubt the usefulness of this affinity,” said Tithixal. “Worry not, for though it is a common one, it is still extremely useful and powerful. Imagine being able to walk onto an enemy base without anyone questioning you. Or receiving plenty of compensation during an easy negotiation. Possibly even enthralling large groups to take on your tasks or to fight on your behalf. No, do not look down on this affinity, for perceived friends can always do more damage than known enemies.”

***

The Outrider, Jamari Gillum, rushed along the wall, obscured by the shadow of it and his skill [See Nothing]. He had watched, hopefully unobserved by the Sentinels, as they fought the lizard men. There seemed to be something personal between the two sides. Even if the other humans were backed by an alien race, the conflict with those reptiles had seemed genuine.

It was obvious that another battle would happen soon. It was also obvious that the leaders of the Sentinel Army wouldn’t back down from it.

They had shown confidence as they fought, and Jamari hadn’t really seen anything impressive as the smaller lizard army seemed manageable thanks to the overwhelming number of humans. At least until that giant armored tank had stomped forward. That invader had even made Jamari sweat from a distance.

As he watched the armored monster take no damage from the thousands of spells and arrows sent against him, Jamari hadn’t been sure which side he was rooting for. If that beast had broken through the walls, then this base would no longer be available for General Carmichael’s forces to claim.

However, if the Sentinels had managed to take that tank down then Jamari would begin to believe that they really were the stronger group and that his own didn’t have a chance against them.

All that was moot, due to how the battle had ended.

The sound that preceded the lizard man dying had rattled Jamari to the core. Just thinking about it caused a shiver to go down his spine as he raced towards his own people. The power of that weapon was terrifying. It was like a rocket launcher condensed into a single bullet. It had been enough to drop a creature he had no confidence of defeating.

Yet that begged several questions. When did they develop it? HOW had they developed one that powerful? How mobile was the weapon?

This base and its people kept surprising him. It was almost enough for him to wonder if what they were doing was for the best. Only almost, though. This operation needed to be in the hands of those that were the most capable, not some lucky kids who had gotten a head start, alien backed or not.

Before reaching the path to his own forces, Jamari activated the skill [Ascension]. Then he ran upwards, along the surface of the wall. Once at the top he leapt over the edge and raced through the former city of Jackson. He didn’t stop until he was miles outside of the boundary that he hoped represented the end of the base territory, where the buildings had been disintegrated in an equidistant circle around the walls.

Rexus had set up a hidden bunker so that they could talk without being observed. Only the strongest among them could get to this place and he wasn’t sure how the rest of the group got out without being observed by the Sentinels’ lookouts.

“What did you see?” Rexus asked as Jamari entered, knowing the scout was there without even undoing his stealth skill.

Jamari excitedly told them all about the battle. Rexus listened respectfully but didn’t seem all that interested in the details until he heard about the weapon. Then Rexus’s eyes lit up and he smiled.

“This base just got a lot more valuable,” Rexus said. Then he clapped Jamari on the shoulder and smiled at the rest of their unit. “Let’s go tell the general. There’s more planning to do.”

***

Sgolkr stalked into the room. Steam rose from his scales as he walked, hunched forward even more than usual. The air around him contained the fury of a bomb, ready to explode outwards at any moment.

Cruxannith glanced up from the display she was using and smiled at him endearingly, as if he were an old friend coming over for tea.

“Gross! Quit using that skill. None are as naturally beautiful as the Scyrric!” he snapped, his hostility targeting her even while his voice trembled a bit from her abilities.

“Didn’t go well?” she asked nonchalantly, ignoring the hostility and maintaining her smile.

“That’s not your concern,” he snarled while grinding his teeth. “When will the little giants be ready?”

She laughed lightly, her voice causing him to wince from its appeal. “Two more days. Don’t feel shame for using their help. Those natives have exceeded all those from past world claiming.”

His lips curled angrily at his insinuations. “Fine. Two days. I will be gathering our full forces this time. The little giants will be responsible for the wall.”

“The wall should pose no problem for them. Will 14 be enough?”

This time Sgolkr’s lips curled into a smile. “14 will be plenty.”