Ch 4 - Divinoscore Part 2
Dood’s focus shifted back to the introductory room, gazing at nothing in particular in mid air. “How long was I gone?” He asked aloud.
“Your eyes have been closed for about ten seconds. Time is strange in a divinoscore.” Mr Beech patted his shoulder in congratulations. “What did you find inside?”
“I met my wolf and …” Dood looked to his hands, “insight into my divinoscore.”
Mr. Beech nodded and gestured for Dood to sit back down, “Thank you for the demonstration. What is your name, young human?”
Dood sat, “My name is Dood Ferguson, sir.”
Mr. Beech smiled and addressed the rest of the class, “Typically, delving into a divinoscore for the first time can be difficult. Dood here is rather gifted. You all might take a bit longer to uncover your own secrets. I’ll have you try in a moment, but first I’ll clarify something.” He took out a remote device and clicked a button.
The stale light screen behind him glowed and a presentation slide appeared with two columns. One with the words Beast Bonder above, and the other with the word Elementalist above. Mr. Beech placed his hands behind his back and lifted his chin as he continued the lecture, “You might have heard me mention Beast Bonder when Dood here mentioned that he saw a wolf beast in his divinoscore. When all of your divinoscores formed upon transit through the teleportation portal, it formed either - with a divinos beast inside of it or with an ability unique to you called a divinos trait. Those with beasts in their cores are called Beast Bonders, and those with divinos traits are called Elementalists.” He clicked buttons as he spoke and details filled the columns.
“I myself am a Beast Bonder.” Mr. Beech flared his right hand palm facing down. Without spectacle, like it had been there all along, a horse sized elk appeared beneath his outstretched hand. It was a marvelous creature with sapphire fur and crystal spear-tipped antlers that crackled with silver lightning. “This is my divinos beast, Elveerin. Through my bond with her, I have affinity with lightningforce and gain some of her skills with it. As we’ve ascended in stages of power her physique has greatly strengthened mine.” He gazed at the stalwart elk like a friend he was most proud of.
He turned to face the auditorium. “For all of us, a divinoscore is the conduit of our power and a source of great mysteries. The main function of a core is to process photonforce, and as your core processes more photonforce - the more powerful you will become. The secondary function is to assimilate something known as skill shards from the forcecores of primal beasts.” He clicked his remote and the screen changed, displaying various images of himself.
In one image he held a spear formed from lightning, and the next a shield appeared in the air to block a projectile from reaching him. “Think of skill shards as a blueprint or template for using photonforce in a specific way that we can integrate without thought.” He paused to let the information settle, then clicked the remote again. Images of fierce beasts - monsters practically - appeared on the screens, garnering gasps from across the room. “We acquire skill shards from the forcecores of primal beasts such as these.” He gestured to the screen. “Think of their forcecore like our divinoscore. Similar in its basic function, but more simple in its capabilities. Forcecores are formed from skill shards which determine a primal beast’s abilities.”
Mr. Beech clicked the remote and information appeared on the screens once again. “If you are a Beast Bonder, like I, you will receive a skill from your beast at each stage of power, on top of that, we can assimilate two other skills into our divinoscores. That means, in all, beast bonders will assimilate three skills to use into their divinoscores at each stage." He pet the sapphire fur of Elveerin. "Our beasts fight alongside us and can be summoned to and from our divinoscores at will. Elementalists, on the other hand," He tumbled his hand through the air with dramatic flair, "can directly assimilate four skills. Elementalists do not have a divinos beast, but they are blessed with a unique ability known as a divinos trait. This trait can be anything and is unique to each elementalist divinoscore.”
“Before we move onto other topics, I’m going to ask you all to replicate what our friend, Dood, has done. Look into yourself, find your divinoscore, and enter it. We’ll move on once everyone has explored their cores.”
Dood continued staring at the screen above, he hardly blinked the entire presentation. His mind replayed the images of the primal beasts, ‘Looks like this isn’t some sort of paradise.’ He thought.
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His eyes finally managed to drift away from the screen above and floated to the various faces around the room. Males and females of various ages, had their eyes tightly shut. The primas were the most interesting to Dood. Dwarves, elves, and even mermaids and mermen were in his imagination, but he didn’t even have a paradigm to fit the primas. Men and women with an array of animalistic features were gathered in the room. ‘This is way outside the pages of my bible, but if they’re here I guess that means they love God.’
He scratched his chin. ‘They’re here and I’m here… That’s all I need to know.’ Dood settled in his heart. No need to overcomplicate life’s questions. ‘God is good, so trust Him.’ He reminded himself.
After 15 seconds Kaizer’s eyes opened with an excited smile pasted on his face. Dood turned to him, “You’re pretty fast.”
Kaizer looked at him like a boy on christmas morning, “How long has it been?”
Dood said, “About 15 seconds. Everyone else is still focusing. What’s your core type?”
Somehow Kaizer’s smile became even wider, “Beast Bonder like you. My beast is the same one from the card, just younger looking.”
Dood smiled, “Congrats Kaizer! What kind of beast? I’m sure you heard that mine is a wolf. He is called a cosmicanine.”
Kaizer nodded, “He’s called a leodragon. I don’t know much yet, but he’s the size of a young lion with the scales and horns of a dragon.”
Dood and Kaizer chatted as the rest of the class exited their divinoscores one-by-one. The last person, an elven woman, opened her eyes after two minutes.
Mr. Beech spoke up, “Alright, that’s everyone. Let’s get you formed into two groups. Those of you that are beast bonders please move to the right side of the room, and those that are elementalists please move to the left side of the room. Sit in the front row please.” He waited a moment for everyone to settle into new seats. Five people including Dood and Kaizer settled on the Beast Bonders side and the nine others sat on the elementalist side.
Dood and Kaizer sat together again, and Mr. Beech continued, “The stronghold dictates that you report your information into a database to keep track of the available combat power in the stronghold. In the event of an emergency all stronghold residents will be called upon to help defend or support the stronghold.” He reached under the podium and took out a bowl of white glass rings. “These are your stronghold issued holo-rings. With them you can access the Laguun Network as well as communicate with others over vast distances.” He passed them to each person.
Dood took his and examined it, ‘so it’s a device that connects to some sort of internet.’
Mr Beech continued, “Please put them on your index finger, they’ll adjust themselves to fit you. Swipe your thumb across it and fill out the registration form you see. The level of detail that you provide is up to your discretion, however, I remind you that this stronghold is managed by the Ionic Way - not us. You all are officially considered Divinos Novices as of this moment. It is the first of five stages of power - Novice, Warrior, Saint, King, and Paragon.” Mr. Beech waited for everyone to access their holo-rings. One by one, light screens were projected from their rings and they began filling out their forms. Mr. Beech continued, “Once you’re done filling in the information you’d like to share, we will move to the training fields so that you can test your new abilities under professional supervision.”
Light screens quickly appeared from the rings of everyone in the room. Dood brought to mind the knowledge he gained from his divinoscore as his own lightscreen appeared when he swiped his holo-ring with his thumb.
Name - Dood Ferguson
Faction - Beast Bonder
Photonforce Aspect - Cosmicforce
Divinos Beast Card - Cosmicanine (Bloodline - Restricted Epic)
Inherited Skills - Cosmic Steps | Restricted | Restricted | Restricted
Passive Skill - Boost to Cosmicforce skills / Slight boost to Lightforce and Spaceforce Skills
Skills :
Novice : *None*
Dood entered his name, The Divinos Way, and left the skills field blank. He only entered “wolf beast” epic rank as his bonded beast to keep some anonymity.
Everyone finished the form quickly and Mr. Beech spoke, “Your powers and abilities will be put to good use in The Divinos Realm, for the dangers and enemies here far outclass the realms you’ve come from. Our main threats are the beings of The Deminos Way, The Nyke Conglomerate faction of the Ionic Way, and the primal beasts of the world.”
His lecturing voice shifted as he paused and seemed to look back in time at his own life. His voice grew tense and succinct, like a captain addressing soldiers. “The Divinos Realm is a place of danger and potential. In the near-term you will only face primal beasts at your level, so keep fear out of your heart. Through training and support, when the time comes, you will all be able to contribute to the resistance against the darkness that assails us.”
He looked deeply at each of their faces. “We are here to shine God’s light in the realm. It is through faith in Him, that we have these powers. And it is in His name - we fight.”
A heavy stillness fell on the hearts of the newcomers. Dood’s knuckles cracked as his fists clenched. A gentle voice called out in his spirit, the most intimate voice in his life, God’s Spirit. The gentle voice said, “I am with you. Take hold of my power. Make friends, crush my enemies, and Dood… have fun.” A smile of joy spread on Dood’s face and he thought of his favorite verse, ‘The joy of the Lord is my strength.’
He turned to Kaizer whose excited eyes mirrored Dood’s. Their voices stirred the stillness in the room simultaneously, “This is going to be fun.”
Mr. Beech looked at the two and smiled. “That’s the spirit.”