There are few thrills in life greater than taking something that belongs to another.

-Wei An Wei, The Realmbreaker

65

Form of the Harvester (IV)

"Argate, Stalag, Dothi! You lads alright?" Roggi was an explosion of movement, rushing over to check on the other fallen Oathbearers. Regarding them with his omniscience, Wei saw that they were slowly getting back up, though they still seemed substantially disoriented. Groans sounded from within their helmets, and nearby, the song of the Trine began once more. They weren't in critical condition, but the young master had spent enough time in the claimed hells to know nothing was as it seemed.

"Rafael," Wei said, "do you have a working that you can use to examine them? The False Hydra infested their beings and minds for quite some time, it seemed. I wonder."

"Yes," Rafael said without hesitation. The lich's hands turned into a blur of movements as he carved new symbols into the air. "I do not think any residual psionic sickness remains, but I agree. Better safe than dead."

Wei liked it when everyone was on the same page. As Roggi continued to assist his cohort in their recovery, Wei turned his attention inward and focused on the remains of the False Hydra squirming within his Concept Core of Harvest. The beast, once a gargantuan monstrosity, was little more than shrub by this point. Its many heads writhed and wailed, desperately screaming at the indignity of its coming doom.

What's more, however, were the memories spilling over from it into Wei. His Concept Core of Harvest, seemed focused on taking things from another. This included memories, specifically the memories the False Hydra stole from the Oathbearers and the Faebloods. These memories briefly passed over into Wei as a faint haze of recollections assembled in the back of his mind.

Experiences Instilled!

He remembered being nothing, nothing more than a seed cast through the air. The winds were the first thing he knew. And then a sudden impact resounded through his being and awoke his consciousness. Light spilled into his eyes, and his other senses began to activate as well. But uncannily, Wei knew this was not the False Hydra's mind, but rather the perspective of one of the Faebloods.

Slowly, the False Hydra began to grow through the Faeblood, spreading through its consciousness and connecting to the others in the group as they desperately fled across a devastated Moongrave. Only fragments and flashes entered his memories by this point, but he saw the faint form of an enshadowed Knight of Hell chasing them. Spears of burning incandescence smashed into the earth, detonating with incredible blasts. The False Hydra knew that to be its master, the person who seeded them into the Faeblood. It was by sheer fortune alone they survived, escaping through a portal—though they knew nothing of the creature they had been seeded with.

From there, the False Hydra slowly grew. Even as the Oathbearers and Faebloods made their escape, it spread between them, jumping as if a psionic contagion burrowing across minds through every instance of physical contact. Soon, each head of the Hydra expanded like a parasite, routing through each of its victims. It took little time at all for the Hydra to extend its tendrils through the entire group, and slowly, it began to develop hallucinations as they continued through the Moongraves, a byproduct of being host to a False Hydra.

As Wei imbibed these memories, his concept core thrummed with satisfaction. As the False Hydra had taken from the Faebloods and the Oathbearers, so too did he take from the False Hydra, and what's more, what he took was far more substantial. At once, the experience required for his newest skill was filled in a drastic instance. Wei regarded the fruits of his newest labor.

Wei owed much of his survival today to his System, but more specifically to his Form of the Manticore. Without his Velocity Charges and his ascended Aspects, his foes would have seen him broken and butchered with ease. Compounding effects upon his aspects granted him more options than any other in his party. And so, he decided to christen it as his first true skill.

The young master wasn't sure what was about to happen, but instinct told him he was on the right path. The Trespasser's Compendium lacked any detail about Masteries. It seemed that was specific to his Keter System, but he would need to see how it was going to evolve. And so, with a final strain of effort, his concept core of the Harvest flared with shadow and light as the squirming False Hydra disintegrated and a shard of essence crystallized in its place.

Concept Core: Harvest (Minor)

>Invest Masteries – Form of the Manticore

>Invest Experience — 100%

>Infuse Aspect — Source Eruption

>>Form of the Harvester: Your being is akin to a scythe, and this world is little more than crops to your harvest. Swing your blade, reap your aspects, claim your power, and sate yourself on a bounty like no other.

As his system notification flayed across his vision, his concept core also began to change. No longer was it a pinprick of light surrounded by a swirling mass of darkness. Rather, there was a shape in the middle. The light took the form of a scythe.

Slowly it revolved, carving at the world around it. The feeling was curious, to say the least, and as Wei reviewed his system information again, he was surprised to find that his Form of the Manticore was no longer present among his masteries, though his Source Harvest still remained.

Still, the young master wasn't disquieted. He didn't feel any different or diminished, and it wouldn't make sense for his system to take away more than it gave. But compared to all the text describing the capability of his masteries and the general detail of his sorcery, his Form of the Harvester proved incredibly vague.

"They're clean," Rafael said, briefly pulling Wei out of his stupor. The young master looked at the lich and saw their ciphers slowly dissolving into motes of light."Shame you broke the False Hydra," Rafael said, shaking his head. "It would have been useful for me to delve into its consciousness."

"I already have," Wei replied. "I think it was a Skill, or some kind of item, used by a Knight of Hell. They cast it into one of the Faebloods, and slowly it spread between the group before it grew to its current size. It festered within them without their knowledge. Not even the faintest suspicion. An insidious item, if I do proclaim."

The lich actually shuddered. "Ick. False Hydras."

"I agree," Wei said, frowning slightly. He remembered the False Hydra's Objects Impermanence Skill. That was not something he enjoyed facing. And with how his Enlightenment was currently lagging behind all his other Aspects, he needed to find a way to shore up his defenses some more. If he didn't have his Form of the Resonant, that fight could have gone very, very poorly for them indeed.

Wei's disquiet only grew as he considered what might happen if a Knight of Hell actually inflicted him with the seed of the False Hydra. Would he be able to stop its growth? Could his intent deliver a blow so surgical that he could sever a parasite nesting within his mind? The young master made a note to review False Hydras and his Trespasser's Compendium. That, and countless other demons as well.

The Claimed Hells place held far too many ugly surprises. And all it took was one threat beyond your reckoning to see you undone.

"Roggi," one of the Oathbearers groaned. Their armor screamed as they shifted, the plates dented and rusted at several points. They resembled someone who'd crawled out of a scrap heap more than a towering warrior clad in well-crafted alloys. What's more, faint coppery tendrils extended from their back. Wei studied the Oathbearer for a second before their class and level revealed themselves.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Agave, Rusted Conduit: Lv. 8

Wei wondered if that was the Oathbearer’s Class Specialization. He wasn't sure what such a thing entailed, but the way his copper wire seemed to whisk and undulate through the air made the young master just a bit wary. He felt static leaping along the thin whiskers.

The other two remaining Oathbearers had also undergone subtle changes. However, their armor now shared a similar look. The plates were no longer decorated with intricate runes and flat alloy, but rather slabs and ridges of obsidian, leaking droplets of magma.

Stalag, Obsidian Vanguard: Lv. 7

Dothi, Obsidian Vanguard: Lv. 7

The Trine, meanwhile, looked as they always did. A faint light emanated from them as they came back together, huddling and shivering, but otherwise, all right. They regarded Wei this time, and one of them even offered him a smile. The young master gave the Faebloods a casual nod and wondered what made them so different from the other so-called elves he'd recently encountered.

The song within them was growing louder as they came into proximity with each other. And through his Omniscience, the young master sensed an incomparable purity in their essence, its nature something he couldn't comprehend... yet. Walking over to regard the group, Wei placed his fist and palm together in a salute, honoring their continued survival. Though their level advancements were lacking, they proved their worth by surviving thus far. These would be more valuable inner court disciples for the Drowned Skies Sect. What's more, they still had their hammer.

"Roggi," the young master gestured, looking the other Oathbearers up and down with a smirk. “Look what they still have?”

"Ah, you little shit," Roggi replied, rumbling slightly under his breath. His bulbous body waddled, more filth dripping out of his wings. One of the other Oathbearers, Agave, looked down and frowned at the mess of fungal tissue splattered against his boot. "Don’t stab a man in his arse.”

"Why, it seems you will be able to indulge in the vice of alcohol yet.” Wei snorted. He looked over the others again and let out a satisfied sigh. No one dead. Good. Very good. "Disciples," Way began, taking in the others present. "It pleases me that you are all in one piece. Relatively."

"Relatively," Agave replied. "Mostly thanks to you, anyway." Oathbearer shook his head and let out a weary sigh. "I don't even remember what happened last. It was just like the world went dark. And all of a sudden... all of a sudden, I was—it was like I was trapped in a deep dream. Like I was still in my body, but left in the dark."

"Not an uncommon side effect of suffering a false hydra infestation, I'm afraid," Rafael quipped. "Do not worry, though. I, Rafael, liberator of peoples and checker of minds, have made sure that you are clean."

"And what about the parasite?" the Trine said, all three speaking as one. Each of them took a different pitch of voice, and their words lighted upon Wei’s consciousness like velvet sheets.

"It is dead," Wei said, "subsumed for my uses. All that it has taken from you, I have taken from it."

The Trine looked to each other and flinched. “Beware. Beware. You sup power from poison. Far stronger will you grow, but the pain will be ever-there, for might mends no wounds.”

Wei went still. He regarded the Trine with his Omniscience. Twin urges battled within him. The first was to confront the trine, or even to strike them down. Their words offended him. The second was a fascination. Their insight was impeccable, and their nature was inscrutable. The oath-bearers were transporting them through the Claimed Hells for a reason, and Wei would find out what soon.

“We hear your heart scream—”

“You mishear,” Wei said. “And we will speak no more of this now.”

What use were his memories? What use was recalling what he lost? His moment of weakness. Sentimental fools.

His mind turned to something more useful/ An intractable urge to demonstrate his newfound capabilities came over WEi. And with a flourish, he decided that he wanted to find out just what this Form of the Harvester could do.

As he triggered his skill, nothing seemed different at first. Strangely, it felt like a part of him was expanding. Furthermore, an oscillation of shadow and light rose from his body in tendrils, as if faint steam. As they wafted free from him, contours of a scythe formed, and Way felt the essence around him grow more tangible, as if they were fabric for him to cut—or more like crops for him to reap.

No Velocity Charges appeared in the corner of his vision this time, which further made Wei wonder about how his mastery had transformed. The first shadows of doubt emerged within him as he hoped he hadn't traded a useful mastery for a weaker skill.

"Nice glow," Stalag said in a tone as he looked Wei up and down. "What's this supposed to do?"

"I am…" Wei began, "Not quite sure yet. Give me a second."

Searching the sphere of his Omniscience, Wei cursed internally as he battled through the sheer amount of detail he had to shift through. But it took him little time to discover what he sought. There, hidden in the tall strands of golden wheat, a half dozen Demons of Lust frolicked and… did other things. Their open debauchery and wanton lecherousness offended the young master, and he condemned them for it.

A surge of wind rippled out from his Broken Crescent, and he cast a cut across the length of 200 meters.

At once, blade of wind swept through the golden fields. The demons didn’t even see their deaths arrive. As they were bifurcated, however, Source-made scythes manifested over them, and hewed clean through their spirits as well. Wei felt himself slash through flesh, matter, and spirit in a single instant, and his Skill bit deep into all that the demons were.

In that moment, the great scythe materialized over Wei, grew ever brighter. Its haft the thing of impenetrable shadow, its blade an arc of gleaming light. Within it circulated aspect Charges and concentrations of essence.

A burgeoning excitement flared within Wei, and, using his Omniscience, he tracked down even more foes to slay. He cut, he carved, he slaughtered, and he harvested. With each descending strike, he became more than what he was. It flamed demons' corresponding Aspects into becoming that of his own. But rather than adding to him directly, they sat within the scythe, as if charges to be expended, just like the Velocity Charges from his Form of the Manticore.

Authority Charges [x12]

Relativity Charges [x17]

Omniscience Charges [x11]

Enlightenment Charges [x10]

Fortification Charges [x11]

It was then that Wei fully conceptualized what a Skill was and why it took the shape of a crystal; for it was the crystallization of a system, the alignment of one's mastery, experience, and sorceries into an expression of mystical utility.

However, Wei also noticed a precipitous drop in his Aspect of Intent. Such was the only aspect he hadn't gained from the demons. He wasn't sure if it was because of his own anomalous intent, or if all concept-related skills required a devotion of one's willpower. The same thing had happened when he invested his experiences into the concept core of destruction.

Whatever the case, the longer he held his harvested charges, and the more charges he held, the faster his intent dropped. Existential emptiness began to spread through the young master, and it was like a chasm opening within his spirit, leaving him lesser than he had ever been before. Consuming one of the charges, he felt his mind explode. Details grew ever sharper around him, as his memories grew clearer, his thoughts more fluid, and his focus sharper.

But it didn't last. Just like a consumed Velocity Charge, it vanished quickly thereafter, and soon Wei plummeted back to his baseline Aspect value. This also slowed his expended intent.

So the young master understood just what this skill cost him. "Form of the Harvester indeed," Way said under his breath. This was a skill that was meant to take from his enemies. No longer did he need to infuse his intent into a foe. Now he could carve from them directly. Such a thing came at a price. Did his will fall low enough? He just might become susceptible to the influence of a higher will.

"I take it you have created a new Skill?" Rafael said, forcing jubilance into his tone. "I suppose congratulations are in order. Congratulations."

"Yes," Wei said, still slightly distracted. Way re-centered himself, looked over the group. The Oathbearers and the Trine were saved, but they were still weak, and they needed to pass through the Hearted Realm soon. Moreover, the longer the young master thought, the more he realized that his ascent through the Moongraves was proving to be a gradual blessing. There were countless other sinners here, many among them capable, all of them desperate.

As he had saved the oath bearers and the Trine, what's to say he couldn't curry favors from others? And what's to say he couldn't recruit a critical mass of disciples to push through the hearted realms of his own accord? As his power grew, so did his ambitions. With each passing moment, Wei's path grew clearer and clearer.

"Come then," he said. "Let us return to our sanctuary. There are problems we must resolve and more forces we must recruit.”

"Problems," Agragt said.

"Forces," Roggi echoed.

“Yes. All of your are below Class Tier Ascension, and a sect with fewer than 100 disciples is no sect at all. Thankfully, our efforts will see this all resolved.”

“Yeah,” Dothi cheered without any joy. Leaning over, he asked Roggi. “Hey, Rog. Is it just me or is the boy getting a bit more…”

Roggi snorted. “Give him a break. He’s only gone a slight bit power-mad. Could be worse.”