---Maddy---
Zone 2 clear!
Clear description:
Your path left invisible rails, your very being irreversibly changed at several steps. Well done! All it took was a ghostly view of the world through another's domain to shift your path. You moved as a mobile mind and built magic into your body and bones.
Your foundation was shattered and forged anew - your very humanity nothing more than chains tying you down. You learned you disliked being tied down while in a dungeon and claimed personal power through the sacrifice of self.
Maybe you've grown enough to stop looking at yourself and look at the world about you?
Clear stats:
Clear time 28 days. 7 hours
Dungeons Cleared: 2
Nests Cleared: 58
Monsters killed: 3290
Deaths: 2.3?
Revivals used: 0
Highest stat, Soul defense
Second highest stat, Mental Power (Wisdom)
Highest stat optimization: 124 'Eyes of M'
Total stats 619
Clear state. Rank 2+
Next Tier: 110 stats to go.
Clear Rewards:
Third affinity gained.
+100 free stat points.
Bonus for self ressurection x2:
55 free stats.
Species changed
33 free stats.
Upper Percentile of monster deaths
+3 free stat points.
Unique titles x8
+80 free stat points.
Maddy found herself standing in darkness for the third time. The ‘clear’ rewards flickered into being and then shifted to the side, revealing a man standing there in the darkness.
She felt strange. Her floaty sence of self was suddenly restricted and pushed into a single point.
She felt a bit like she had reverted to a previous state - her body felt small and limited.
Mentally reaching out she felt her eyes were still there but contained less of her.
I wish I could go through this with my friends. Maddy slapped her face then focused on the man.
Rynold. The teacher she had met back in the last area.
Was he brought here? An important native in the system? Did he ascend from the zone himself? Was he being copied somehow?
“Hello?” Maddy asked staring across at the mentor figure watching as the man seemed to shake himself out of analyzing her.
Her magic teacher began to nod sagely and speak with measured breaths.
“It’s as you suspect. I’m here as a final sort of appearance, here to show off a bit of our comprehensive reward pro –“
The man’s voice shifted from kind mentor figure to sleezy uncle over a single breath.
“Well hello there.” He purred, eyes glazed as he jerked his head to look behind her.
Maddy placed her proverbial finger on the trigger sending her will down to the button for dark destructive death as she assessed the man across from her. Who could this be? How should she treat him?
It’s probably…
Stepping forward R crossed the distance in a single step, pushing Maddy's body to the side in the same motion.
What?
“Hello girls, you’re all…gorgeous. Why don't you play with a few of my fingers?” R spoke arms wide as he addressed Maddy's eyes in the creepiest method possible.
What??
The monster – his back to her – began to melt. An avalanche of small shapes fell from him – his fingers splitting off and turning into little green men as they fell. Dozens upon dozens of little gnomes or goblins or something – each dancing and acting shy or dunk around her eyes.
They were kind of funny – each acting in a silly garden gnome like manner – and Maddy was put completely off guard for the second time in so many seconds.
“What’s happening?” Maddy asked, trying to figure out why the man in charge of everything was here in person. Why he had come to give her a push for magic – she wasn’t that special was she? Theres no way she warranted the personal attention of the person running this place…was there?
R took a moment to conjure a table and two chairs before gesturing and sliding into his side.
He stared at her a flash of embarrassment crossing his face before with an incredibly fake cough R began again pretending nothing had happened.
“We are approaching the final act now. I’ve figured I’d stop by everyone in ‘person’. Small little checkup, product review you could call it. What did you like and dislike from the zones – I’m also here to facilitate the final reward allowed by the structure of this project.” R began.
So…its not just me. He’s…he’s doing this for everyone? That makes me feel better.
“A reward?” Maddy asked prodding him to continue even as she took her spot. The chair was surprisingly comfortable. She should figure out how to make chairs like this…a concept of comfort built into the creation magic? Would any of her concepts work? Did she even need a concept for something as simple as a chair? She should be able to make a really strong shape and increase its reality or something to get a similar effect no?
“A reward and a trial yes. The first a foundation, Cost taken from your past. A gathering of all you've done to give your self a boost in the now.
“The second a growth, cost taken in the present. A trial of trauma to gain power for yourself in the now. Easier to collect a cost from but no less important.
“The final…well there’s a bit of a problem with the final if I’m being honest. A cost taken from the future…it’s a wee bit of a taboo. A slippery slope you can learn of should you ask the right questions.” R grimaced slightly as if mentioning something unpleasant then shook his head. A smile lit up the mans face his face shifting slightly as Maddy watched.
“The reward has had to be altered from its original form. That’s part of why I’m here in person. For perhaps the final time? We shall see.” R spoke as if sharing a joke only he understood.
“As part of your reward for completing the second zone I will answer three questions in Truth. Feel free to spend a moment and collect your thoughts.” R spoke smiling kindly as he gazed upon her.
Okay…okay. Three questions. One of which…one of which he seems to be pushing for me to ask. Do I waste one of three questions to find out why its taboo? Is that a waste? Why would he be pushing me to ask that question in particular?
Maddy spiraled slightly bits of her mind fracturing and coming up with separate questions. Eventually she had a list of ideas somewhat ordered – somewhat dependent upon the answers R gave.
“My first question, what is the system and how was it made?” Maddy asked.
R grinned. His grin spread wider than perhaps natural – and suddenly Maddy felt like she was staring into a Cheshire cats face. It seemed he liked her question.
“What are your second and third questions if I may?” R asked continuing to grin that too wide smile of delight.
Dammit! Can I not ask them one by one? Is asking him that right now going to use up one of my three questions?
“What is true magic…and finally how do you fit into everything and what do you want?” Maddy finished. A flicker passed over R at that last question but he nodded.
…he didn’t seem disappointed she hadn’t asked the question he’d hinted at. Why was that? And good. he seemed to have accepted that last bit as a single question. I’d hate if my wording let him only answer half of it.
“A truth then, one that explains all you wish to know and more~” R suddenly laughed and spun out of his seat. He seemed to drop his entire persona even as he spiraled up and began to skip about their makeshift table.
Moving his hands about like a conductor or drunk as he skipped, R began to weave an illusion into the surroundings. An illusion that felt real…a tiny pinch of ‘reality’ solidifying the scene as it began to play.
Did knowing how he achieved this reduce its impact? If anything it made Maddy appreciate just how much work this man put into this spell. She was watching a master in his craft.
The ‘man’ in his physical form appeared to melt away into the darkness. As he worked his body was hidden by the illusion he was weaving then Maddy found all senses other than the scene begin to dim.
All that was left was an arial view of a forest and R’s voice calmly narrating the scene.
…
“A long time ago in an existence far to the side of yours there was a species…They called themselves chh. For simplicity and the sake of cultural translation I’ll call them the elves. They were one of the only creatures in all of existence born with magic. Magic…or as you will call their power, ‘true magic’.” R began.
Small shapes flitted about the trees below. The ‘camera’ zoomed down and began flipping between different figures, their faces and forms becoming clear.
Elves were ugly…and beautiful in an alien sort of way. They had pointy ears and large brilliant eyes but their skin had the texture of wood and their proportions were all…’off’ in subtle ways.
They looked almost like humanoid stickbugs – way too tall. Way too insectoid. Way too wooden.
There seemed to be two factions staring off at one another in the scene.
With a shout one of the elves pointed and rasped an alien chitter of sound ripping out of their throat. With a dark look she – he?... It. It pulled out a small plant and threw it to the ground.
The opposing group fell to the ground like marionets as the strange little flower was shattered.
Was…was that a spell? It looked strange to Maddy’s sight. Almost like no magic had even happened.
The scene flipped to another group and another. An elven woman stepped out of a cave and slit both her wrists artistically. Her arms drained sap like blood and high above a meteorite began to fall. With a cataclysmic crash the projectile impacted a distant army before its caster dropped dead herself. The last moment from the scene was the casters form withering and shifting in the air. A husk impacting the stone floor with a soft almost imperceptible thud, a rain of dust from the meteorite rushing over them a moment later.
A figure cloaked in darkness moved silently through houses, stabbing children and eating their fingers. This nightmare was then killed by a vengeful group of parents far away and using a strange ritual filled with blood and tears and chittering chants of retribution.
Most scenes were of violence.
The elves Maddy was shown all fought in strange detached ways – most using some sort of magic that seemed utterly different from what she was used to.
They fought each other and then they fought monsters. Maddy couldn’t tell if elves were simply a violent species or if R was only showing her the conflict. Was there any use of magic that didn’t have this much death in it?
…was there much of her own magic that didn’t have a combat function? Why hadn’t she tried making more peaceful spells? Was there something violent inherent in magic? Should she even love magic as much as she did if it was this full of blood?
“This…this is what you referred to as true magic. A derivative of it at least. It’s what created the system, it’s what created your magic…its what created aether and all that you understand as true.” R continued.
What?
Maddy started slightly and began panicking, a strange twisting feeling tightening around her heart. She felt like she was falling – the non existent floor ripped out from underneath her.
Her hold on her body’s stability wavered and she literally fell through the invisible chair and felt her body drop down down down through nothingness.
The illusion followed her – the scene continuing locked to her perspective even as Maddy continued to drop and flail about?
“What…you really think mana is a natural form of magic? Some convenient energy you store and use as needed?” R’s voice was almost mocking for a moment. He stood beside her falling incorporeal body for a moment before pointing down. “You are laying on the ground. I’ll give you a moment and then we can continue my story.”
As soon as R pointed it out Maddy noticed she wasn’t falling. She was laying on the floor of that dark in-between world, flailing about for nothing.
Pressing her fingers on solid ground for a moment Maddy breathed and sat up staring at the illusion surrounding her and sinking into it deeper than before.
R’s voice returned once again. Calm, kind and clear.
“True magic…is simple. No concepts, no affinities, no not even mana. It’s dead simple. Cause unlinked to effect. Cost and result. A weal for a woe. A boon taken for services rendered.”
“A wish. A wish granted by magic for a price.”
A scene once more showed off an elf stabbing themselves in the heart. Moments later a flood rushed through the surroundings. Water roared in Maddy’s ears and she floated upwards to escape the deluge of nature below. The corpse of the elf vanished instantly swept away in the same flood as their presumed enemies.
Maddy found it hard to pay attention to the scene despite her best efforts. She kept glancing about the illusion trying to find the hateful creature narrating the scene.
Her magic…her magic wasn’t real? What did that even mean. Did…did anything even matter? All she had achieved was…fake?
Did her study of concepts and domains…did it all amount to nothing? A nerd learning Klingon and trying to use it in conversation? Was it all useless?
“Magic…true magic always has a cost. All magic in all its forms has a cost and all that truly can be changed is the form of that cost…but these scenes I’m showing? Using an immense cost for a single flashy result? That…that’s an even older use of what you referred to as true magic. So these examples…lets call these old magic and move on to another form of true magic in this cautionary tale soaked by time.” R flickered into view once more. He wasn’t looking at Maddy. He couldn’t see her inner turmoil…no he could see it he just didn’t care. The sadist began moving his arms about as he controlled the illusion twisting the world into a new one.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Soon the scene became real once again. A small elven boy sat in the dark of a dirty wooden shack slowly burning his hand. Wooden flesh charred into charcoal a look of intense concentration painfully drawn out of his alien face. Maddy could smell a smoky scent – like pine burning in a campfire. It hid the horror of burning flesh. That boy…he’s just a tree. Since when did the illusion have scents in it? Maddy found herself drawn in once again, her anxiety quieting as she watched the horror in front of her in detached interest.
“Magic…true magic is not only about a single massive result.” R whispered from behind her shoulder.
Maddy watched as the scene sped by. The boy spent ages burning away his arm and then when nothing more than a charred stump remained, the boy stood and left. A flicker of the scene had the small child walk through what looked like a bandit camp. Fireball after flaming fireball flew from his remaining hand – each a raw primal sort of angry flame. Wood flesh burned and insect like elves screamed and ran about as the child killed and killed and killed.
The scene shifted to the same elf grown up and wearing light armor. He stepped into a cave while holding a flickering ball of fire beside his head. This adult elf looked…less angry then he had as a kid. There was even a man beside him walking with a wooden staff. A friend? A companion?
Maddy flickered her thoughts to her friends. She wanted to be by them. It would make her feel more stable.
“Permanent magic…the idea of a continuous spell. The idea of cost turning into a continuous result. That’s perhaps the holy grail of true magic. A cost that seems too strong for a single spell, suddenly becomes worth it when compared to a lifetime of use. The game then becomes figuring what the largest cost you are willing to pay might be and how you might turn that into its most efficient result.”
The scene shifted a few more times while showing off various ‘costs’ and powers in unrelated elves. Finally the story continued once again.
“A cost has never needed to be so simple as pain.” A wooden woman – tears streaming down her face – dashed a small child to the ground before sprouting wings and floating up into the sky. An elven man stared down at a baby and then melted – his form shrinking down to a bracelet that gave his grandson strength.
“…and many creatures, elves included try to get around pain. These costs…these may seem harsh but they were purer in a way than all that came after.” R continued.
“For the elves naturally sought to cheat their ‘cost’. Power now in exchange for a cost in the future. Permanent power now in exchange for some cost they hoped to escape from. One they would pay when they were older”.
A series of scenes showed elves gaining power seemingly for free then suddenly dying young. Of growing mad the longer they lived – of suddenly losing their strength halfway through their life and then living out decades in painful weakness. Of suddenly transforming into a tree, their spirit locked in silent horror living out centuries unable to do anything but watch as their insides were hollowed out by termites.
“The elves who sought future cost and then died young to unrelated means. The elves who told magic they would pay magic back when they grew older and then went to war and died…they thought they had cheated magic but true magic can’t be cheated that easily.”
The camera zoomed and focused in on a battlefield. Thousands of dead wooden bodies littered the ground. Running about in and amongst the corpses, small creatures appeared as if from nowhere. Small twisted creatures of darkness. Large hulking forms shifted and pulled themselves into view. A few corpses twitched and stood before wandering away.
All of them had red eyes.
“This is…this is what you might call the birth of monsters. The ‘cost’ you could say. A curse created after a payment was defaulted upon. One…unleashed on others. One the original elf avoided.”
More and more monsters appeared, creatures growing stronger as elf after elf attempted to cheat and pass off their ‘cost’ onto others.
“Clever elves learned to curse their bloodline. Their descendants would pay their cost – not them. Oh no, they could be powerful, and their children’s children could have shorter lifespans – living a few decades instead of natural centuries. Children weak to cold or water. Chronic possessions, bad luck. Whatever their ancestors cost took the form of really.”
Scene after scene showed off elves becoming immensely powerful. Tyrants experimented and suppressed masses of elves. Some of those masses grew powerful themselves, their situation pushing them into accepting worse and worse costs – and, on average the world suffered.
Scenes flickered by, the world becoming more and more chaotic as time passed. Near the start of this segment, elven cities were looking almost Victorian or early modern with magical artifacts and infrastructure abound… but soon the world was covered by strongholds – little more than medieval castles. There were scenes of small elves hiding in the dirt and trees while massive monsters hunted them like something out of a prehistoric period.
Finally the scene stopped flickering. It looked down at a small child deep in the woods being taught of the world.
“This world…this world of the elves had been broken by greed. It wasn’t a very good world anymore – not by any measure of the world. Bad things happened to good people for no reason. Generations of elves were forced to deal with their ancestors mistakes and one elven girl witnessed more of it than most.”
The scene began to show this elf grive the loss of her parents. Watch her friend eaten by a massive ooze. Witness minor tragedy after minor tragedy.
“…she decided things needed to change.”
This nameless elf learned of the world and studied magic furiously.
“She learned history and fought monsters – every single time she cast magic; she used a form of the old magic. The one that wasn’t ‘cheating’.”
Her arms and chest were soon covered in countless small scars – her left eye was gone her wooden skin grey and covered in spots.
“This is the creator of the asymmetrical karmic system.” R added confirming Maddy’s suspicion.
The woman continued her life. She continued her search for a solution before finally she put her plan into motion. A massive ritual was conducted, cumulating in the young elf slowly fading into nothing – a triumphant look in her eyes.
Nothing else happened until R began to talk.
“The asymmetric karmic system was an attempt to fix a broken world in a younger universe. An attempt to reverse an age of wrongs.
It was a simple but powerful wish. Anything bad that happens to someone will be paid back. Anything awful, anything uncontrollable, anything you might consider ‘bad karma’…that will give permanent power. In comparison anything good that happens…well the system will turn a blind eye. She didn’t want true karmic balance – she didn’t want to weaken or punish good things… only make up for anything bad that might have happened.” R continued.
“Asymmetric…and thus open to infinite potential growth.” R added his eyes gleaming.
Maddy couldn’t tell R’s thoughts on this story. He didn’t sound happy or sad, she couldn’t tell if he thought this elf was brave or stupid. He simply told the story, narrating like this was nothing more than a documentary – and momentarily looked excited while talking about the result but not invested on a personal level.
“The holy grail of true magic done stronger and more effectively than anything that came before. Permanent boosts to strength and speed and defense. Steady stable growth. Every once in a while, a minor limited and safe magic ‘skill’. The ‘cost’, the very event the system was rewarding. ‘Fairness’. That’s her legacy,” R added.
The world continued to spiral into darkness. Everything was overrun by monsters. Elves fought and hid – their bloodlines were shattered – many still baring the costs of their ancestors but now some of those curses were boons as well. It wasn’t fair for another to gain the power this cost had taken – these cursed creatures should have power as well! It wasn’t fair their world was broken – they deserved stats and skills for their pain.
The system slid into all of them, attempting to right the injustices each elf was paying for their ancestor’s greed…but it was too little too late.
Maddy kept expecting the story to turn around. The system had been made – it would fix everything wouldn’t it?
Soon all Maddy saw was monsters. And then, as if the monsters had only been there to punish the elves…they slowly vanished as well.
The world weakened. The fantastical rainbow storms quieted. The magic…left and with it the monstrous creatures.
Soon the world was almost barren.
Plants steadily regrew and small animals had survived but all signs that this planet had had intelligent life on it was gone.
“…and then I came along! See down there? That’s me!” R laughed suddenly and pointed. The man stood beside Maddy – suddenly visible once again and drawing her out of the story he was showing her. Down below a blurry humanoid shape stepped through the woods appearing like the man beside, her but less put together.
“I figured it was such a waste leaving such an efficient causality miner just sitting there so I…repurposed it. Added it to some other stuff I picked up – juiced the construct up to be more exciting – and began selling its services to the wider existence. This is the point where I’m contractually obligated to inform you aether follows a lot of the damaging parts and costs of true magic you just saw. It’s a part of magic heavily tied into cheating and tossing the cost along to others. Letting aether and those who practice it persist in the reality of the final area will likely let the whole planet be overwhelmed by monsters well past its ability to handle yada yada. And that’s where we come to the final part of this. The final question that’s allowing me to add my opinion to this list.” The R on in the illusion – down on the planet – looked up and began speaking to Maddy.
“What do I want?” he began, breaking the ‘fourth wall’.
“I want you to not try and wipe out your aetheric cousins despite their very real danger to you. I want your world to fill with monsters stronger than any you’ve seen before. If I’m being honest, I want you to fail your final task. Standard settled worlds are just so boring – even if I can come and support them up a rank or two by letting them gamble…Even if I offer a chance to sponsor your own worlds binding some of their growth to your own should they break the same way as you…a gamble against some other world using the ‘other system’ true magic wrought.
“Well, there are limits to that sort of artificial increase as fun as the pyramid scheme is. The unknown of a raw growth is so much more…fun.” R smiled.
Did he really just claim they were here because of some sort of magical pyramid scheme? You weren’t supposed to admit that – who outright admitted they would offer you a chance to be a part of a pyramid scheme without pretending it was something else?
“To be clear, I’m not necessarily rooting for you all to perish or anything. I simply want to see how far you will grow and how high you can reach without jumping off the bandwagon. Isn’t that fun? Best case your world becomes one of the most powerful in the overall existence. Worse case you are overrun and I have a chance of picking up some interesting remains – I doubt something as fun as the system base will appear, but there’s bound to be some fun toys left behind in the ruins.” R finished with a slight grin on his face.
Maddy was suddenly one hundred present sure this was the truth. Everything R had said was true – although he may have omitted information or simplified his descriptions, everything he had given was honest.
The ‘man’ truly wasn’t on ‘their’ side. And yet he wasn’t necessarily actively antagonistic?
It wasn’t quite black and white. He wasn’t a friend but…he wasn’t necessarily an enemy to be fought?
Maddy should probably be working against his wishes by stabilizing their world but…
Something more important had popped up and she still hadn’t resolved her feelings.
“What do you mean by saying mana was created…is it not real? Does magic not matter? Is my power…a lie? Is my new body…fake?” Maddy began. What was the point in learning of concepts and shapes and affinities and whatever else she had pushed for if they were simply made-up rules?
“Your questions are done you know.” R smiled. He looked amused. Sadist. He had done that on purpose. Tossed a fact into his story that made Maddy want more. And now after ripping out her heart he was going to leave.
“As a bit of a freebie. Why ever would the magic you know being a ‘created’ ‘thing’, make it fake? Is a house fake because it’s made of fake wood and processed materials that don’t exist in nature? If an unnatural gun is fake, then are those it kills faking it? Will they jump up after the fact and continue on with their days?” R answered with a question in turn causing Maddy to latch onto the lifeline.
Okay, so her magic was…it still mattered. What she had done had really happened. What she had gained was still there. She hadn’t gone through all of this for nothing.
She had more questions. Tons and Tons more. Could she get him to answer any more in a half answer like that? Pretend she was asking for clarification and trick him into expanding his answers?
“You told me what you want but who actually are you? What are you?”
R suddenly grinned that uncanny grin. His smile looked predatory for a moment as he held it in place.
“Now that…that would have been an interesting question if you had asked it the first time around,” R spoke. His voice suddenly took on a deeper reverberating tone.
Briefly Maddy was dimly aware of…something. For the briefest of flickers the creature in front of her…was almost like an angular fish’s light. There was a barest hint of some vast alien creature in front of her – one hidden in the entire darkness surrounding her like a leviathan. An eldritch horror reaching out a hand – the body of the man in front of her nothing more than a finger puppet it was using hidden beneath the waves.
The feeling faded once again.
“I’ll give you a hint. If you speak my true name…you can ask a boon of me. An alteration to the previous deals we’ve struck or something new. Speak my true name and I’ll break the rules just for you~” R’s voice took on a playful whimsical tone.
“We can even make a contract in vibrations or tree – three guesses and my favor is free, heeheeheehee-“ R was starting to look more and more unstable. He shook and giggled, melting and looking at her with eyes little more than slits. If you fail, why then we’ll see…perhaps then I’ll finally ask a favour from thee, heheheheheheee.” R collapsed at that. He continued to roll about the floor giggling wildly.
A blue box appeared to the side of Maddy’s vision.
Attempt to guess my name.
A guess made is an acceptance of these terms. Upon three guesses you may ask a single rule breaking request free of all external influences. A chance to change the laws of the world before anyone else. A boon that I must honor to the best of my abilities. Failure to guess correctly in three attempts will result in me asking a request of you in turn. Upon completion of the request, the game may continue upon either of our discretion and should either of us survive.
Maddy stared at the box silently watching it fade out of sight without attempting it.
It felt like a trap. It felt overwhelmingly like a trap.
If a single box was made with trap mana and a trap concept and oozed danger everywhere…that might have achieved the same feeling as this box did.
How could she even guess his name? There had to be thousands of potential options.
…what was the cost of owing him a favor?
It did not sound good. This wasn’t a bet between friends, if she lost, she would definitely have regrets.
…No Maddy would ignore this for now. She had something to turn to next. The list of ‘future’ rewards.
Dragging the list over and looking it over in exaggerated concentration Maddy watched R from the darkness surrounding them. The creature watched her busy herself with the list for a moment – looking almost disappointed she hadn’t stepped into the trap – and then slowly walked backwards fading away from sight while remaining right there.
She didn’t feel safe.
…
“So how does this work?” Maddy asked staring at the potential offerings analytically.
“Changes to the laws of a world?” R asked stepping forward in a new business suit the earlier madness forgotten the mentor returned.
“Easy, true magic and more efficiency engineering that you could imagine or appreciate. Any question along those lines will get ‘a wizard did it’ from now on. Rather than trying to figure out the ‘how’ you are better off seeing if anything catches your eye…most worlds suppress mental magic but if you loosen the rules a bit…well mental mana becomes a viable natural affinity and its really quite fun. Telepathy and empathy-based spells are useful both for cooperation and non-lethal attacks… Mind palaces are some of my favorite realms to explore. You will open up the flood gates for mental monsters to start spawning and controlling the type of mental magic that’s possible is hard once you’ve allowed it as a possibility...but with your defense you'll be on the upper end and shouldn't be too affected.
“Most worlds crack down on mental magics as much as they can, repressing anything even close to mind control…but you have some hefty defensive stats in your mind and the skills to take advantage of such a law. Could be fun, could be fun. Keep it in mind as an option.” R nodded and flipped to another world.
Maddy remembered the loss of control she’d felt when being hypnotized. She…kind of understood why societies might push back against mind control being easy or even possible. If that was the strongest a specialized monster could get…well that was fine with her.
"Can we weaken mental magic even further?" Maddy asked. she wasn't pushing for it but the magic felt slimy and a proper world could probably do without it.
R sighed slightly. "You can but weakening it further breaks some essential system functions. It becomes much more annoying if you can't control system interfaces with your mind or learn gifted skills instantly."
...yeah small amounts of mental abilities being allowed seemed fine. It did make maddy wonder if essential system functions included mind controlling natives but...She'd push to leave it as is.
“So, are these other worlds in different dimensions?” Maddy asked staring at the ‘product catalogue’ carefully.
“They could be? They could be not. They could also be incredibly far away in this true dimension…but that’s a good point.” Flipping through snapshots of worlds R showed off a few descriptions and blurry views of stacked planets.
“Listen, other dimensions do not exist in base reality…but they could exist. You’d have to reach rank 4 either with or without my help to achieve a true alternative world but here’s some success stories from previous happy customers.
“With a dimension mana and affinity…or some deeper laws in place the world you create could be a cosmology. A collection of planes – separate slices of existence each as real as the other and stacked overtop of the same place.
“This world has a dimension I’ll call hell from which all monsters are origin. This a dimension named void – created from cracks and in between areas. This cosmology has a plane for each power. A dimension of fire the source of all fire mana and the start from which all fire mages draw. This plane of springtime and this plane of spirits. That reminds me –“
R put away the blue book of worlds and stared at Maddy seriously.
“You've had a taste of resurrection…well, what will happen to souls in your world? One of the biggest options offered is a push to build a after life – this option works well with divinity worlds as the process of capturing souls really needs a single person…fancy yourself a goddess of the afterlife? Your afterlife? All souls to join your realm? There are others with stronger affinity to the job but the only way for such an afterlife to exist is for you to make it…without a truth that accepts souls as real and interactable entities the dead slip away. Maybe you prefer that? A final end – all souls sundered and returned to the nothing they came from? You could also work something out with the hired help who dealt with ressurection in your training period. I'm sure if you give him enough face he'll build and run your afterlife for you its a portion of his hope for this job” R looked at her expectantly.
“So…the truth about dimensions? The truth about gods?” Maddy asked. She didn't know what to consider of the necromancer right now.
“So focused on facts – you really would have found yourself suited to an aether break, wouldn’t you?” R shook his head.
“The ‘Truth’ is what you make of it! If your world has gods – if the strongest amongst you are qualitatively different from the rest. If the ascended people live in a plane of existence higher than mortals. If they never age – if they control the very fabric of space in your little stretch of existence. Then they are gods in Truth. If your world gains folds and spaces separate from each other. If domains create entire realms larger than you think a planet can be sized? Then those dimensions are real! The understanding used to create those dimensions is real as well!
“If you decide to create a dimension of the dead, the rule that all souls who die end up there is the truth. You shouldn’t focus on the nothing or 'unknown' that would happen without such a law – not if you want to achieve anything more than you already have with the path you have started.
“I came to you in my standard check in and offered more than average. I mentored in disguise, but my lessons were true. I spoke about how important the elements of reality’s domain are…how fire magic is stronger than something esoteric that sounds powerful but isn’t rooted in reality.
“That was true at the time. I did not steer you wrong. Unless you actively seek to break your power and collectively suppress the growth you’ve achieved, it will remain truth in the future as well – the only change you need to worry about is if that’s all magic will remain. That truth would turn into a lie should something I consider esoteric be pushed into law in your new world – in perhaps your new dimension should you wish to call your stretch of existence that. There are many ways you can go from here and if you blindly sit on ‘facts’ and only accept what others offer as truth, you’ll never achieve something unique and special on your own.”
R looked to be done with this conversation. He did his best to appear like he didn’t care and yet some part had broken. He seemed exasperated with her – like he had been arguing for days instead of simply responding to a single one of her questions.
Maddy took a deep breath. She…she didn’t know if she needed to breath anymore and yet the act felt calming.
Nodding to the bipolar man with too much power, Maddy collected her dungeon seed and left.
Behind her the figure known as ‘R’ flickered. As the intermediary realm collapsed, his body overlayed with thousands of alternative versions of himself jumping between shells between answers. The puppet was having literally thousands of simultaneous conversations – some pleasant, some full of stubborn mortals who refused to listen. Clear conversations were just so much work sometimes.
Exhausting.
Maybe when he was done with this nonsense he could take a break – a few bodies deserved a date with those cute eyes after all that was a pleasant surprise. If only he could sneak them away from their host for some time. His host was just as bad as her…what a slave driver the pair of them.