Jax rubbed his forehead, frustrated. Nikki was quivering too, also frustrated. “So the System is directly interfering with some topics?”
Nikki grunted, “I can’t really tell you specifics about anything in the multiverse. I can give you vague information, as well as stuff that has no impact on your personal advancement, but telling you anything about what you should do is forbidden. The message the System gave me says it's to protect the purity of your records, which makes sense…”
Jax nodded, though he wasn’t too displeased. The skull-bound had explained many things until he got to topics the System forbade. For example, Jax knew about gods now. Yes, little g. They were essentially people so powerful they transcended mortality, making themselves unable to succumb to old age. Jax had also learned that as one grew in grade, so too did their lifespan increase. Exponentially so.
Jax had trouble wrapping his mind around the fact that some people out there would live for thousands of years, maybe millions if strong enough. Also, there were apparently eight gods to look out for specifically. One of the names was familiar already: the Undead Father. He made the entire undead caste, from zombies to skeletons to liches, he had made them all. When Jax questioned Nikki on how a zombie could be sapient, like he had observed all undead so far to be, when he learned that the System really didn’t like how many rules the undead skirted. So, it also made them unable to reproduce conventionally and made it so that raising another undead, which entailed taking a body and either producing an entirely new soul, which was the undead form of “making a child,” or you could bind the soul to the body it possessed in life. Pretty simple in concept, mind-bogglingly complex in practice.
Jax also learned of the others, but he didn’t know anything so far about them aside from the basic rundown Nikki gave. When Nikki got to magic, things really slowed down. That’s when they learned about the System restricting knowledge.
“So, can you still teach me some magic?” Jax asked, fearing the answer would be no.
“I think I can, but only what you ask to learn about. Not to mention that I’m not a mage, so I can only teach you enough to get started.” Nikki said, and Jax nodded, as that was all he could ask for. Nikki cleared his throat for some reason, “Alright, enough about the restricted knowledge. Dwelling on it won’t make the System change its mind. The bare minimum to magic is manipulating your own mana. And simplifying even further, mana is a resource every single being in existence has had at some point. Some choose to cast it away, some transform it, but there is no exception. This is for one reason: the soul both makes and is made of mana.”
Jax furrowed his brow, “Then what made souls or mana to begin with?”
Nikki just shook his… head? Body? Anyways, he shook his head, “That’s pre-integration logic to ask that question. There is one answer to stuff like that: the System. And, I know what you’re about to ask. Fate made the System, and we don’t know what made Fate, or if it simply existed since before time.”
“Fate? I don’t think I’ve heard of it since coming here, and if its over the System, I would think it would have been mentioned by now.” Jax said.
Nikki chuckled, “No, it probably hasn’t. Or if it has been, people have simply overlooked it. The reason I’m teaching you is because you are touched by Fate.”
Jax looked confusedly at Nikki, “What does that mean?”
“Can’t tell you, on System’s orders. Anyways, we’ve been derailed; we were talking about magic.” Nikki said dismissively.
Jax made a note of whatever being touched by Fate meant. He would ask later. “I need to manipulate mana, you said.”
Nikki nodded, “You’re most of the way there already, really. Use your mana sense and look inside yourself. Your mana should be without an aspect or affinity, which looks pale blue.”
Jax looked down at his belly, and didn’t really see much inside himself. Some, but it was all tinted different colors, more than he could count. He looked back at Nikki, “I don’t see anything, and it's all different colors.”
Nikki, who looked to have been holding it back, began to laugh again. “No, Jax. When I say look inside yourself, I mean move your perception within. All you see looking at your body is the elements comprising it, which is a lot.”
Jax ignored the laughing that continued after the instruction, closing his eyes this time and trying to feel something. He imagined it would be somewhere around his belly, so he focused there. Surprisingly, though, he first felt something from his head. Jax chased the feeling, trying to do as Nikki said. He felt some strange type of instinct, like what he got when he used his sword and shield. Skill assistance, maybe? Jax thought, but abandoned it when he felt the feeling slip.
He kept focusing, then found it. A spark. Jax “approached” it, the spark growing into a strangely hypnotic fire that seemed to be in slow-motion. It was pale blue, and it seemed untouched. Jax reached for it, and it responded by extending to him halfway, wrapping around his hand, then coiling up his arm. Jax smiled and laughed, surprised at how effortless it was. Kind of like using a limb he hadn’t known he had.
Outside the bubble Jax was in, Nikki stared with wide eyes at the man in front of him. Jax was alight with mana, which was not normal. Well, it was, but only in higher grades under specific circumstances. “How the hell is he not dying?...” Nikki muttered, seeing an impossible level of backlash from directly drawing on the soul’s Mana Furnace: none. This was typically only done when a higher-grade being was fighting a losing battle, and the being in question was willing to either sacrifice his life or future to gain enormous power in exchange. It was so powerful, in fact, that drawing on it would instantly incinerate anyone below D-grade. The boost was still there, but it was so short-lived that it didn’t really matter.
Jax was drawing on it, completely unharmed. Nikki looked closer, then found a maybe-explanation. Jax was interacting with it without drawing on it. Nikki was still confused at how that was possible, as that would still kill most, but the benefits were innumerable. Being able to directly interact with your source of mana was a boon few mortals could achieve.
…
The Undead Father stood with seven others, smiling surprisedly as he looked at a cluster of sixty screens. He was looking at one specific one, though. One he had been looking at for a good while the last few days. Jax.
“New Links always birth some crazy new talents.” a regular-looking dog said. The Father looked at him strangely, not expecting him to speak up first.
An old man snorted, “Don’t count on them living. That level of talent is good and all, but talents die early, especially during integration. They all either get overconfident and die in a foolish endeavor, or they’re killed by their fellow people for being too much better than them.”
The Father laughed, his ignited, skeletal body’s flames flickering bright then dark with each laugh. “Indeed. But what happens if they accomplish the foolish endeavor and defend against the jealous peers?”
A cube spoke, “They shake the multiverse.” The Undead Father nodded and turned back to his favorite show of this era, who was currently looking himself up and down while interacting with his Mana Furnace. It was unheard of, to be frank, but every integration would bring things like this to life. Impossibilities were limited and possibilities were endless in the beginnings of new eras, after all.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
He didn’t know how to feel about Jax as a faction leader, seeing as Jax had rejected his gift, and seemed to be cross with the notion of becoming undead. But, personally, the Father liked him the most. He wasn’t arrogant, bloodthirsty, cowardly, or suited to this life from training before integration. Jax was simply falling into a roll Fate had set for him, and he was doing it with nearly no interference from the esoteric being that was Fate.
So far, the only nudge Fate had given was the Changeling it had spawned with him.
…
Jax was reveling in the feeling of the mana. He opened his eyes and saw the mana covering his arms completely, making his arms look like they were covered in blue fire. Jax looked at Nikki, who was still, “Is this good? I really like this feeling; it's like reuniting with an old limb.”
Nikki struggled to respond, most of what he wanted to say being blocked by the System. Finally, he settled on just ignoring it. He would just teach Jax as best he could. “You are… surprisingly adept… Anyways, pure mana is all well and good, but you should eventually settle on between two and six affinities. Fewer would be restricting yourself too much and more than six would be spreading yourself too thin. Deepening your understanding and bond with an affinity takes time and effort. For now, though, you should be fine with pure mana.”
Jax was still smiling, partially distracted by the still-dancing flames covering his arms. “How do I use it offensively? Or defensively? Or in any way other than to look cool like this?”
Nikki hesitated, “Well, to start, you need to summon mana the… normal way. Actually, I’ll be blunt: I have no idea how the fuck you are doing what you’re doing right now. I can’t say more, but it's out of my depth.”
Jax faltered, the flames mimicking him. “What do you mean?”
“When I say the normal way, I mean the only way. Or, what I thought was the only way. What you’re doing is more like a technique. To put it in terms you can understand, it's like seeing someone who didn’t know how to walk a few seconds ago begin to breakdance.”
Jax raised a brow, “How do you know what breakdancing is? That seems distinctly modern, and everything so far about the System seems kind of iron-age-y.”
Nikki shook his head, “Focus. I can only really help you when you get on my wavelength, aka normal. You need to find the mana within you, not the– just look elsewhere. You looked too deep.”
Jax turned his eyes inward again. Kind of like with flaws in artwork, Jax couldn’t un-see the mana-flame. But, he did as instructed, trying to broaden his view, moving “away” from the flame, so to speak. After a few minutes, he noticed the “air” inside him was filled with pale-blue mist. He tried the same thing he had with the flame, and it worked, though without as much liveliness.
Opening his eyes, Jax held out his hand and willed a small orb to appear. Strings began to come out from all over his hand, coming up an inch then beginning to spin, the threads all spinning faster and faster, becoming a ball of pale-blue mana with white bits coursing through as well.
“Good. You need to get rid of the air-affinity though. You captured it when you spun the mana. An effective method, but one that leads to more potential contamination.” Nikki said, eyeing the ball.
Jax, reluctantly, squeezed the ball mentally, and white mist puffed out of it, making it a pale-blue marble. Jax admired it, poking it with his other hand. It felt like an aerogel.
Nikki nodded, “Now, all you need to do is add intent. This shouldn’t be hard for you, seeing how naturally suited to magic you seem to be, even while being an elf.”
Jax tilted his head, “What do you mean by intent? I mean, wouldn’t it be too easy to do magic if all you had to do was summon mana and will it to do what you want?”
“If only it were that easy. Just try it, and you’ll see what I mean.” Nikki said, and Jax detected a bit of smugness in there. He nodded, thinking maybe it was harder to infuse intent than he thought.
Jax stood up and opened the door to the hall, taking aim at a pile of treasure on the floor. He moved the ball to float over his shoulder, making it spin vertically, stretching it to look more and more like a spear or arrow. He wanted it to pierce the center of the pile then explode with purely concussive force. The pale blue bolt over his shoulder began to wobble, and Jax directed more mental effort to contain it. It slowly settled down.
Jax made sure his thoughts were right, the bolt was stabilized, then willed the whole thing to explode off. The bolt took off with a ripple in the air, wind scattering. It pierced the pile, stopped for a moment, then exploded, sending gold and gems flying like shrapnel. Jax had aimed far enough away that it didn’t hit them, but hid behind the door frame, just in case he was wrong. He wasn’t.
Jax turned to Nikki, “That wasn’t that hard.” Nikki was beside him in the doorframe, staring.
“I don’t think I can teach you anything else…” The skull-bound muttered. Jax raised an eyebrow.
“How is that hard for anybody, though? It acts like an arm or leg, doing exactly what I want.” He asked Nikki.
“Well, mana is resistant to changes in intent, making it more difficult. It is strange that you can do it so easily. Typically only more mana-centric races can claim to have that kind of ease in manipulating it.” Nikki said.
“Aren’t elves supposed to be good at magic?” Jax asked.
“Yes, but that isn’t the same as manipulating the intent of mana, just its purpose. It is more just a bodily proclivity for it, if that makes sense. Mana-centric beings are more made of mana, so manipulating it is just as you described: like moving an arm or a leg.” Jax decided to just roll with it. He was good with mana, which was enough for him.
“Well, moving on, I’m sure you can teach me more, right? I mean, all you’ve taught me is to manipulate mana.” Jax said, hoping to at least learn some helpful spells.
Nikki shook his head, “Nope. You can do some pretty basic spells, like basic barrier or offense spells, with pure mana, but you won’t be able to do advanced magic with pure mana. Well, maybe, but not as far as I know. If you want to shoot fireballs or lightning bolts, you’ll need to attune to the respective elements.”
Jax nodded, “Then how do I attune to an element?”
“Either take a skill, which is a lot easier and more thorough, or take a treasure of an element you want to attune to and take it into your soul, manually putting it into your Mana Furnace.” Nikki said.
Jax tilted his head, “What’s a Mana Furnace?”
Nikki paused, “Sorry, can’t say. For some reason…”
Jax sat on the floor, sighing. “So this is it, huh? Say, what’s the deal with you anyways? Are you also part of the integration event or something?”
Nikki chuckled, “No. Dungeons are strange like this. I’m Nikki the Graverobber, but if you leave this dungeon and meet me, I’ll have no clue who you are. I’m an echo. I am exactly as I was when my original self dropped me off here, not advancing with him. To me, its only been a few days since I was left here.”
“That’s dark. So what happens when I leave?” Jax asked, unsettled by both answers he could come up with. If Nikki just ceased to exist, that was horrible, but so was just being left here for the rest of its lifespan.
“I’ll cease to exist. Don’t worry, though. Echoes like me are nearly real in every department except for fear of death. People’s reason for living is to accomplish as much as they can, and echo’s reason for living is to accomplish whatever they were meant to by the original. It sounds bad, but it really isn’t, from my point of view.” Nikki explained, though it didn’t make Jax feel much better.
“Well… I guess I had better leave. Though, I might be back later. The King said that if I evolve to E-grade, I should come back to fight them all again, this time without System limiters on their prowess.” Jax said.
Nikki bobbed up and down, “Then I’ll see you again.”
Jax frowned, “I thought you ceased to exist when I left?”
Nikki laughed, “You really are a newbie! I do, but if you come back, so do I. How does it work, you ask? The System really is just that powerful.”
Jax scratched the back of his head and stood up, “Ok then, Nikki. I’m off. None of the stuff in the hall is better than what I have now, so I’m just going to go back into the Battleground to look for more people. Hopefully I find them… Anyways, I’ll see you later.”
Nikki nodded, “See ya.”
Jax put a hand on the door he had entered through, and a prompt popped up.
Leave the dungeon [Crypt of Conitidus]? YES/NO
Jax just nodded, and appeared back in the cold, windy environs of the Battleground. Jax shivered, wrapping his cloak a little tighter around himself. Overall, he had probably spent a day in there. He hadn’t gained any levels, but Jax didn’t mind it. He felt like he had grown far more powerful in the short amount of time he spent in the dungeon than his entire time in the integration event so far.