Heaven picked up the crystal projector and created seven lights in the air. “So, let’s talk magic.”
She arranged the lights much the same way Ma’Z had seen in his Fiziska Gate. Four lights arranged in a square, with one in the middle and then one on either side. Ma’Z quickly surmised the center light was another god stat, but he didn’t know what to think of the two lying to either side.
“Now, magic is broken up into seven elements,” she began. “Unlike on Earth where in the fantasy novels we always broke up the elements as earth, fire, wind, and water. The Tears, however, used a different system. You see, when they manifest magic, they tend to manifest in pairs. So, the four basics were renamed to Flare, for fire and earth. Steel for earth and water. Torrent for water and air. And Stratos for air and fire.
“And so it was that each race had an affinity towards a given element, and with that affinity came a secondary affinity. Like a woman’s boobs, even though they come in pairs, they’re rarely equal. So a flare binder – they call them binders, by the way – a flare binder would be either fire or earth dominant. Still with me?”
“Makes sense. Kind of like being ambidextrous, but still having a dominant hand,” Ma’Z said.
“That… actually makes more sense than boobs.”
“It’s ok, honey. You’re doing great.”
Heaven groaned.
“Anyway, so you have your element and your dominant. For us, that basically means faster growth. In my case, as a Steel binder, I have earth and water, but I’m water dominant. And having said all of that, you’re not bound to your element. You can bind others. You get a mechanical benefit for using it, obviously, evidenced by my having an S rank affinity. But you’ll also notice I have an A rank affinity in Luminescence.”
“Meaning you went out of your way to train it up.”
“Precisely.”
“And I’m guessing you had a reason?”
“Don’t I always?”
“No.”
“Shut up.”
“Also no.”
Heaven let out a defeated whimper.
“Fiiine. So, I trained up my luminescence affinity. See where it is on the display?”
“Yeah, it’s off to the side of Flare and Stratos.”
“Exactly. It’s the opposite of Steel and Torrent, where Nocturn sits. Now, check this insanity.”
Ma’Z’s watched as she colored each of the elements, red, green, blue, and yellow for the core elements. White and black for the light and the dark, and clear for what he now understood to be Void.
His eyes lit up as the core elements began to rotate around the central element. But what really got him interested was when the Luminescence and Nocturn elements began to rotate around all of them. They rotated in a perfect circle, always staying equidistant from each other, but as they passed near each core element, they either lit up or grew dimmer accordingly.
“I have an idea, but I’m not exactly rocking the terminology here. Is it a resonance reaction?”
“It’s exactly that,” Heaven delighted.
“You’re not going to tell me it has to do with the time of day now, are you?”
“No. But also yes.”
“Oh boy, here we go.”
“No, it’s not here we go, but I’m not giving you the whole magic omnibus either. Look, you’re basically right. You already know about the elemental interactions, fire opposes water, earth withstands air, but air feeds fire, yada yada. Well light and dark are strongest during their respective times of the day when they’re in obvious abundance. And you’ve probably guessed by now that Void is at the center of it all. Void is gravity.”
“Yeah, I think I kind of knew that already.”
“You did? Oh. Well, then you’ll understand that it works exactly like Durability. The stronger your affinity with it, the stronger the other elements become as a result. You’ll be able to affect them in some really interesting ways.”
“Well, I guess since I’m supposed to be a void lord, I’ll find out just what that means soon enough, huh?”
“I still can’t believe that’s even a thing.”
“Your fiancé is going to be a terror on the streets,” Ma’Z cackled.
Heaven snorted, “Yeah, like I didn’t already see that coming.” She handed him the crystal back and said, “Well let’s finish the lesson, shall we.”
Ma’Z nodded pulling up his own ætheric gate.
“Now magic for us is not the same as magic for the Tears. Part of the condition of being designer babies, for lack of a better term, is that we essentially have spell slots. Each tier we gain more slots, and with each tier that translates to stronger spells.
“We have a personal æther reserve, which is somewhat governed by our Intellect, but it’s really just a matter of how many nanites we have on hand. We can take supplements to keep ourselves topped up, but you will eventually bottom out. Either way, they’ll eventually replenish themselves over time.
“The spells themselves are created on a point buy system, and the interface is blessedly pretty intuitive. Just think of what you want to make, and the system will try to bring it as close to concept as possible, then you can tweak it from there. Playing to type is a good way to maximize profits too. Higher affinity, higher spell effect.”
“Are there actual void specific spells?”
“Yeah, but I hear they’re really expensive. Like they’re not really useful at the lower tiers. Can’t say I’ve ever seen a low-level void spell.”
“Can I replace old spells later?”
“What? Vaut soh, I almost forgot.” Heaven said, smacking forehead. “But yeah, of course you can. Here. You’re going to need these.”
Ma’Z reached out and took the small rods from Heaven and asked, “And these are?”
“Data chips. Think of them like flash drives. When you create a spell, you inscribe them into the DC and then insert them here.”
Heaven lifted her hair and pointed at a series of insets at the base of her skull. Ma’Z felt along the back of his neck, marveling at the small indentation and said, “What? I just stick these in?”
“Afraid so. If it makes you feel any better, you won’t even feel anything. You’ll get a prompt in your Vision asking if you want to accept them, but that’s about it.”
“Ah, so the Matrix is wireless here.”
“Always at the edge of your Vision,” she winked.
Ma’Z continued rubbing at the base of his skull, both marveling and feeling somewhat creeped out about shoving little rods into his head.
Finally he said, “Alright. Guess it’s time to take a crack at this and see what I can come up with.”
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“Have fun, sweety.”
Ma’Z looked over his sheet again, noting the S ranked affinity in Void and A rank in Stratos. He recalled Heaven’s saying she was water dominant, but he had no such distinction. Did that mean he was equally adept at both?
“Only one way to find out,” he said to himself, “but let’s see how all of this is broken down, first.”
A moment later he got his answer.
1
2
3
4
5
Distance
5 Meters
10 Meters
25 Meters
50 Meters
100 Meters
Effect
Line
Cone
Area
Element
Light
Minor
Intermediate
Strong
Potent
Buff/Debuff
Light
Minor
Intermediate
Strong
Potent
Cast Time
2.5 secs
2 second
1.5 seconds
1 second
Instant
Duration
10 Secs
30 Seconds
1 Minute
5 Minutes
10 Minutes
“Hmm, so I determine type, distance, strength, function, duration, and casting speed. And considering the obscene number of interactions I can think of off this alone, it’s really sky’s the limit. Ok, then how about this?”
Distance: Self (0 points)
Effect: Area (5 points)
Element: Stratos - intermediate (3 points)
Buff: n/a (0 points)
Cast Time: Instant (5 points)
Duration: 37.5 seconds (2 points)
Ion Trails. Duration: 37.5 seconds. Range: self.
For the duration of Ion Trails, all attacks leave a trail of positively charged air (highlighted in blue within your Vision). Interaction with a negative charge will instantly ignite the air along the path of the attack. Each ion trail lasts for 37.5 seconds before dissipating.
Ma’Z grinned as he created its counterpart.
Distance: 75 meters (4 points)
Effect: n/a (0 points)
Element: Stratos – Potent (5 points)
Debuff: strong (4 points)
Cast Time: 11.25 seconds (3 points)
Duration: 6.25 minutes (4 points)
Violent Discharge. Duration: 6.25 minutes. Range: 50 meters.
For the duration of Violent Discharge, you can create a spark of negatively charged ions in an area within 75 meters of you. Any negatively charged ions in the area immediately ignite into a cascade of lightning. Anything caught along the path is electrocuted, with a 60% chance to be paralyzed.
“Bet that won’t feel good,” Ma’Z beamed. He turned to Heaven who was busying away at her desk and asked, “Hey, babe, how do I tell how much æther I actually have, anyway?”
Heaven stopped moving for a second, before she turned to Ma’Z and said, “How much æther? Oh, for a Rounder, just take the number of points available to you and multiply it by your Intellect score. You can usually feel when you’re about to bottom out by how much your head starts to hurt. But you can configure your sheet to give you a quick reference if you want.”
“It’s not the same for everyone?”
“Yes, and no? In general, yes. Everyone calculates their totals the same. But when you’re in your Erzalis, however, that’s when the differences kick in.”
“Big, medium, large, and by contrast, low magic, magic, and high magic?”
“Exactly that. Titans are geared towards heavy arms and siege weaponry. So, they’re cores put more energy into physical power over magical power. Rounders are exactly what they say on the tin, all-around jack-of-all-trades with slight variations towards physicality, magic, and defense. And Scouts trade power for magical might. Their cores specifically amplify magic and eschew bulky armor to put that energy towards ætheric collection instead of reinforcing their armor. Of course, they’re crazy fast with all the shed weight.”
“Oof, ok noted. Thanks babe.”
Heaven smiled warmly then returned back to her work.
“Ok, now that I know all of that, what would Everett do?”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Distance: 100 meters (4 points)
Effect: Line (1 point)
Element: Void – Intermediate (5 points)
Buff: n/a (0 points)
Cast Time: Instant (5 points)
Duration: 20 seconds to 20 minutes (1 – 5 points)
Void Grips. Duration: Variable, Conc. Range: 50 meters.
When activated, you force yourself to stick to the surface, no matter the terrain. While you maintain this effect, you can extend it to any ally within 50 meters of you.
“And now for the companion…”
Distance: 50 meters (3 points)
Effect: Cone (3 points)
Element: Void – Potent (5 points)
Buff: n/a (0 points)
Cast Time: 5 seconds (3 points)
Duration: 20 seconds (1 point)
Footloose. Duration: 10 seconds. Range: 50 meters.
For 20 seconds, you radiate a 50-meter cone of 0 friction. Anything that moves within the area, instantly loses contact with the surface until either time expires or until they move out of the affected area.
Ma’Z looked over his current spell selection, watching as each spell etched itself into the little data chips Heaven had given him. It was interesting to see the process. Having one spell left from each tier, he pondered what would be most beneficial to himself.
No. That wasn’t right. What he wanted was something that was beneficial to Heaven. Heaven had gone off script and chose an element she wasn’t initially proficient with. With that thought in mind, he decided he would be the yin to her yang. Besides, shadows and voids sounded thematic as hell.
Distance: 100 meters (5 points)
Effect: n/a (0 points)
Element: Nocturn – Potent (5 points)
Buff: n/a (0 point)
Cast Time: 2.5 seconds (1 point)
Duration: 5 minutes (4 points)
Dark Servant. Duration: 5 minutes. Range: 100 meters.
You create a replicant of yourself, made from pure shadow. The replicant moves and acts according to your will out to a range of 100 meters. Strong sources of light heavily affect its tangibility, which can render it inert until it either moves to a source of shadow, or the light source is rendered harmless. The Dark Servant serves as a second pair of eyes and can be used as an anchor point for any Nocturn related abilities at your disposal.
Distance: 50 meters (4 points)
Effect: n/a (0 points)
Element: Nocturn* – Potent (5 points)
Buff: strong (4 points)
Cast Time: 1.5 seconds (3 points)
Duration: 5 minutes (4 points)
Shadow Step. Duration: 5 minutes. Range: 50 meters.
You can move freely between shadows. So long as you and your target destination are near an area of shadow, you can move fully, or partially through as if stepping through a doorway. While this ability is active, you can extend this function to any ally within 50 meters of you who is also touching a shadow that you can see.
*This spell is Void touched, bypassing certain range restrictions of space.
When Ma’Z finished reading the description, his squinted his eyes, unsure if he read it correctly. “That’s uh… That was unexpected,” he said.
“Hmm?” Heaven asked.
“Oh, you know. Spell creation and all. That was a really uh, enlightening experience,” he covered as he watched the last inscription go onto his data chip. He quickly snatched them up and started inserting them into each inset. His eyes widened as he felt the knowledge from each spell burn itself into his mind.
For what seemed like an eternity, the sudden deluge twisted his face into a silent rictus before subsiding just as violently as it began. He felt his body heat rapidly rise as sweat began to cover his body, leaving him breathless and gasping for air.
“Holy shit, Heaven, is it always like that?”
“No!” Heaven said horrified. “I’ve never seen that happen before. It usually feels a bit euphoric, to be honest. By the Goddess, what was that? And what happened to your tattoos?”
He looked down at his arms as a current of æther coursed through his arms. The lightning pattern had become noticeably brighter but outlined in what he could only assume was pure shadow. Was it because he added Nocturn to his affinities?
“I have a guess, but that’s not really something I want to dwell on right now. I feel like my body is on fire. You think we can go get some fresh air?”
“I-. Uh, yeah, that’s -. Yeah, we can do that. Are you feeling anything else other than being hot?”
“No. I mean sweaty, I guess, but that should pass soon enough. I just want to go stretch my legs, you know? Maybe grab a real bite to eat later and get used to all of… this,” he said gesturing at his body.
“Yeah, that’s fair. Ok. Let me put away my things and we’ll get going, ok?”
“You got any more of that jerky?”
“You can’t be serious. Are you trying to ruin your appetite before we make it outside the doors?”
“I’m a growing boy. I need my calories!”
“Of course you do, babe. Of course you do.”