Benjamin – Citadel #1 ‘Keep Out’
It was the day after my irrevocably conflicted meeting with Gérard and the barb tongued vixen, who shall remain nameless.
Many doubts had been voiced by me’s in the following hours, about how things could or should have been, however the need for revengening and taking the fight to the monsters home turf, superseded things like free will, decorum and even reasonable discourse.
So waiting in front of the central column I collectively only felt a small tinge of guilt, when the furtive and frightened figure of my newest employee, scurried up to meet me.
Looking round like he was in the middle of his first illicit drug deal, Gérard refused to meet my gaze as he stammered.
“E-ere az requested s-sir Benjamin…”
One of me was going to correct him about the use of the title but another me piped up that it was growing on him and I just nodded and walked toward the blank wall that had a slight curvature, which iris’ed open to reveal the interior of the lift. Turning to find Gérard still vibrating slightly in place, I beckoned him in and he practically jumped to obey.
Filling the awkward silence after the door had returned to being a featureless wall a me supplies.
“So, when you are required to activate the console at the requested time, which today will be one hour after my departure, just come to that specific spot and think of summoning the lift. I’ve given you permanent access to this and a level just above to have as your home or offices should you choose it…I upgraded it with some basic creature comforts, but again I’ve given you access so you can modify it however you so see fit.”
Giving him a side eye to make sure he was following, a me found he was looking at me incredulously, with his jaw working to presumably begin shaping his mouth to make words, but none the less failing.
One of me groaned internally that we had already broken him not five minutes into his first day on the job, whilst another me asked the floundering Frenchman, somewhat impatiently.
“Crickey mate, out with it?”
Gulping Gérard moistened his lips whilst starting to sweat again, after a few seconds more of awkward silence he replied while proceeding to make a study the wall to his fore.
“S-sorry sir Benjamin, b-but I did not sink zat you t-trusted me enough with anything ozer z-zen ze contracted tazk?”
Chuckling a me rejoins.
“Oh, of course I don’t…But that doesn’t mean I don’t treat my employees well! Plus, you can’t do much more damage then throw a rager and trash the place, which I’m pretty sure would get you teleported out before you even managed to throw the first chair anyway...”
Nodding sullenly at the wall he seemed to have designated as his visual safe space, a me added as it put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
“Cheer up mate! Today's the first day of the rest of your best life!”
He practically jumped out of his skin when my hand made contact and I collectively winced, before furthering.
“Just think, you no longer have to buy and sell anything with crabby customers all day to survive! Now all that’s required is just a couple of button presses and you and your daughter can spend the rest of your time lounging in luxurious safety!”
A weak wheezing thing escaped his lips, which all of me wishfully took to interpreting as a chuckle, and figured that it was likely the best I was going get out of the guy for now. Shrugging it off as interpersonal relations had never really been my strong suit, a me willed the elevator to take us to the teleportation room.
Mere moments passed as my [Gravidic Sense] confirmed that we were indeed descending, before the door whisked open to reveal the large white chamber, with the lone console next to the depression in the middle.
Exiting the lift I found that my unwilling French ally was in need of nonverbal encouragement and bade him to follow, with a rudimentary hand motion.
Hesitantly Gérard stepped from the white levitating ovoid we had used to get here and looked around wide eyed, in his inspection the room. Allowing him a few moments to acclimate to the new space, a me walked, slowly, over to the console so as not to startle the jumpy fellow and waited patiently.
Anticipation getting the better of all of me, one prompts.
“The console you have to activate is just here mate.”
Startling the poor guy out of his investigations, he nearly trips over himself as he hastily crosses the short distance. Once he was sweatily inspecting the console a me continues.
“Just select ‘Recall specific Elevant’ – which will be yours truly – ‘via Retrieval Bracelet’ at the appropriate time and we’re go-“
Sputtering for a moment, he hisses.
“B-but zat iz two undred and fifty souzand! How am I sup-“
Chuckling at his out outage, a puts another hand on his flinching shoulder and wills the transfer of the required Manamote amount to the rapidly wilting Frenchman.
Trying to create a more collegiate atmosphere in my workplace, a me attempts to allay his fears of bankruptcy as it offers.
“Relax mate…I’m not planning on robbing you. Besides, after an unexpected windfall yesterday, that’s chump change!”
Looking at me like he thought I might still be indeed trying to rob him blind, he mumbled.
“S-so…zat iz it zen?”
Nodding, a me confirms.
“See, simple as!”
Ignoring the awkward silence as he resumed looking at everywhere but me, one of me points out that it was go time and the others concurred and touched the console, selecting ‘Generate Retrieval Bracelet’ and looked on in glee as a flash of white on my wrist coalesced into a monochrome silver band. Ignoring the startled yelp of my newest employee, a me selects ‘Establish Siphon Insertion to random Phase 1 World’ and a bone deep hum fills the chamber, whilst Gérard back peddles toward the wall.
Trying to reassure the flighty fellow about the tear in reality that’s opened in middle of the room a me offers.
“Don’t look so scared mate! You’re the one who’s got it easy here…I mean I’m the one who’s got to do the whole ‘going boldly where no man has gone before’ thing, you just have to stand there and look pretty for an hour...”
Chuckling as he seemed to regain enough of himself to glare at me, a me adds.
“That’s the spirit! Now wish me luck!”
His scowl morphed into wide eyed shock as I walked into the depression in the room’s center and straight into the undulating thing that was hopefully not a one way ticket.
Reality bends and warps as I collectively fell the space around me shift and oscillate, trying to conform me’s to its whim for time intangible. Then I was submerged in some kind of green liquid, itching on my skin as it pressed on me from all sides.
There was however some sense of normalcy as my feet were on some form of surface and I was greeted by a comforting blue screen:
You have entered Dimensional Siphon #902,152
To collapse the Dimensional Siphon and gain access to the adjacent Phase 1 World Aico’Ter, you must survive 30 days.
Quest: Perseverance
Description: Survive 30 days within Dimensional Siphon #902,152
Rewards: Manamotes (quantities will vary based on your party’s size).
Universally unsure what to do with the information, a me wills the screen away to begin to assess my situation.
It was an odd sensation, being near completely submerged in liquid and knowing that I didn’t need to breathe. Some primal part of me was being acknowledged by a me, that it wanted to gasp for air and make for the surface, but apart from the leftover evolutionary necessity for air…I was completely fine…if a little itchy…
Looking about me I could make out white rock beneath my feet and was mildly alarmed to note my clothes seemed to be dissolving. Cursing another loss of a perfectly fine robe and subsequent undergarments, all of me held off on pulling out their like again from Mr Pocket, lest they suffer the same disintigrative fate.
Turing one of my focuses farther afield, I found that the white rock hemmed me and this liquid in, in what appeared to be some sort of under (probably not water) giant cave.
At the caves ceiling appeared to be some sort of bioluminescent algae, emitting a low persistent blue glow as it sedately oversaw the white cave and its acidic contents, below it. One of me wondered if I even needed any form of light to see now, whilst the other me’s got down to more pressing matters.
Probing with first my [Gravidic Sense] and then my [Dimensional Sense], I was able to tell that the gravity was nearly double that of earth standard and that the Siphon was identical in its artificial nature to those that I had encountered on earth. Like before, one of me tried to activate my [Lesser Dimensional Portal] and felt that same impenetrable resistance leading it to scowl at nothing in particular, then I slapped my forehead.
I’m certain that I’ve enunciated this fact before.
But I would collectively like to take this opportunity to do so once again.
I.
Am.
Stupid.
I thought I had been quite clever in my little plan to test this whole inter-dimensional invasion thing, by having a lackey ready to just summon me back.
But in my multiplicative eagerness to investigate and potentially invade the invaders, I had forgotten about the skill lock that had always been imposed on me.
The triumvirate subsequently went into triplicate ego damage control.
‘The Retrieval Bracelet is still attached to your wrist’
‘It’s a system generated item so the system will let it will work.’
‘It even has Retrieval in its name!’
‘You are too fucking interstellar right now to be wrong!’
Sufficiently buoyed by my own opinions, one of me nakedly contemplated what kind of kind of green tinged liquid would be acidic enough to dissolve near full durability level ninety nine armor in mere moments. Hardly being present enough in science to make an uneducated guess I busied my selves with testing my range of movement in the new environment instead.
Not even picking up on any kind of resistance to walking or general appendage movement, I collectively undertook a series of small bounds in hopes of discovering more.
There was an odd feeling of a strong wind, pushing back my now shoulder length hair as I passed through the liquid in a low arc to land with a muffled thud on the rock floor, which let out a series of running cracks from my point of impact in not so silent protest.
Whacking things up a notch, two of me tried what on dry land would have been a supersonic short sprint. But where I noticed only slight resistance from my bound, now felt like I was a bullet trying to get through ballistics jell.
Universally annoyed by only getting about what felt like half the speed I usually would, one of me applied a bit more oomph in terms of muscle power to the next attempt.
Unlike my last try, the second time produced a shockwave of force that I saw visibly ripple outward from my passage and rebound off the cave walls. Feeling the multitudes of seismic ripples impact me when I stopped to observe my handiwork, although a little disorientating at first, I realized with some relief that they had yet to actually move me.
Looking down on the white stone floor I had used to push against however, I noted I had left human toe scores and floating rocky fragments as a result.
Still trying to get used to the oddities of moving in what I was beginning to refer to as ‘The Acid Cave’, all of me passed what was left of the hour testing what exertions would now be required of my body to pull off some of my basic super human maneuvers, I had become so accustomed too.
When the guestimated time came and went, my child like glee at getting to experience such a weird and interesting experience on what was effectively another planet (spaghetti knows where in the universe) evaporated as quickly as my magical clothing had.
Having nothing to look at but green tinged liquid haze and white stone cavern walls, I began to enter a depressive spiral for the first time in years.
Feeling trapped and helpless, a me was taken back to the first of my many hospitalizations after the Bruce’s death.
I just had another of my many patented lapses in judgment and broken my solemn vow to Bruce after having tried to hang myself in his old place.
Despite what you would expect, the lapse in judgment had not been the attempt on my own life or the fact that I hadn’t anticipated his estranged sister would stop by to inspect her winnings from contesting its bequeath-ment to me.
No.
The lapse in judgment had been that after I had been taken away by the paramedics and shoved in the psych ward on 48hr hold.
It was when I had first been fed anti-psychotics on top of my usual diet of mood stabilizers, carbonated beverages, caffeine, cigarettes and microwave dinners.
Despite my previous flatout refusal to take the mind control drugs I had been effectively hoodwinked by the fervent belief of waspishly attractive female doctor on call that they would ‘help me’.
In spite of barely being able to regularly remember to clean the drool from my chin, I felt the pain of Bruce’s final days like I was still at his bedside.
Counter to what the doctor insisted would be the therapeutic case, the voices persisted in their effort to break and grind me into less than the shell of a human I had become.
It was like watching the world pass by in slow motion and still able to experience it, yet unable to react in time to what had been.
When I did finally understand about a quarter of what the previous day had contained, the next day had begun and the new dose administered.
When the young doctor did her rounds and asked how I was feeling, I could barely slur out that the meds ‘weren’t fucking working’ with all the anger my chemically induced lethargy could convey.
Her sing song reply was that the medication would require an adjustment period, which was completely normal. Furthermore, that I would have to be held for another week for observation, to make sure they got the dosage right.
So like all my life before that point, I adapted by trying to not be the square peg in the round hole and slurred and blurred through the days until I was to be released.
After the third day cognition had improved and with it came the festering backlog of the past days ethereal goading taunts and demands, my mind had unerringly saved for my leisurely review.
To compound my earlier error, I let the malignant anger at my self made circumstance and lack of inhibitions get the better of me when the time came for the next doctor on shift whose turn it was to assess my situation.
He was a redheaded freckly sort. Fresh out of med school and full of theory, guidelines and optimism, yet only slightly more green and optimistic than my previous jailer.
He’d run through the standard questions one asks of a recently suicidal patient and I all too readily rejoined with vitriol and threats whilst testing the limits of my recently renewed chemical restraints.
It didn’t help my case I had nowhere to be released to, but at the time all I had was pain and rage to share, so what did it matter what some silver spooned know it all pipsqueak thought of me?
Errors on errors compounded, my dosage was upped, my stay extended and I became attuned to life in the state made prison with nothing but far too bright lights, my foes real and imagined, white walls, disinfectant and no fucking cigarettes. Yet funnily enough the worst indignity of all turned out to be the cardboard that was supposed to be food.
Unsurprisingly, just like back then, stuck in this alien acid cave, I did not wish to continue to exist this way.
Like a duck on a plane, my proverbial wings were superfluous to requirements, and short of ending my existence with [Lesser Dimensional Absence] or attempting to destroy the siphon with me in it, I could collectively do little else but morosely wait.
Not wanting to repeat such destructive spirals of my past, a me activated my latte and top bun and took the lotus position, to look within for a potential answer.
One of me turned to the fond memories of the few years of freeform monster pummeling I’d had and began to make a list of greatest hits. Whilst following up with the best tactics, maneuvers and skills that could be employed in the future to further Max’s revengening.
One of me directed my frustration and rage at my own stupidity and the circumstance into which I’ve been thrown, toward my internal excrement disposal unit, hoping that letting it go would ease my inner turmoil long enough to be able to avenge my only true friend.
One of me began a review of the interactions I’d had with people since this all began, finding it a hodgepodge of misunderstanding and stubbornness for all parties involved. Odly not troubled by the murders I had committed I picked apart my reasoning behind the sentiment and found it to be values and situational based and left it at that.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Instead the mind was more drawn to the feeling there was something not quite right about the consistent opposition I had faced to even my most basic attempts at coexistence, thus the urge to fixate on it intensified.
Reflexively rejecting the cyclical nature of that train of thought out of long habitual need to continue to maintain cohesively progressive thought, I put aside why I loathed my fellow man’s choices so. Thus as an alternative, the mind turns its thoughts to my recently employed personnel, and my lack luster relationship with them all.
The niggling sensation that all of me were still missing something vital arose again accompanied by renewed frustration that if only I didn’t have the persistent [Abyss Scarred] debuff and my charisma and luck could be overpowered too. One of me was inevitably then drawn to the conclusion that this would have resulted in me being able to be his flying and sauced holiness’ pirate kang, and maybe, just maybe, I might have truly been accepted for once by anyone amongst the living, in my misbegotten existence.
As one of my attentions recoiled from the burgeoning maw of loneliness it picked up movement near one of the cavern walls, at what had to be about a kilometer away. Grinning at finally having some stimuli that wasn’t self-generated a me snapped to a crouching position, ignoring the ripples of force released to focus intently on what appeared to be six something’s, slowly advancing as one toward me.
The things in question, looked like someone had started making a human then decided to throw bits of seaweed on top. When that someone had got to the legs they simply thought that bipedal legs where too mainstream, and said. ‘Your know what? Fuck it! I’m gonna tack on some octopus tentacles instead!’
With pulses of their octo-legs, they bob forward rhythmically, and I would have been collectively inclined to think they were just some sort of purple, red and white spotted fish, were it not for the silvery eyes that protruded from beneath the kelp and the coral looking two pronged spears they each held in their four digit ended, seaweed encumbered arms.
Unsure how to play it, and having never met these particular aliens before I gave them the benefit of the doubt and went for the peaceful traveler approach as a me raised a hand to wave it in greeting whilst yelling in a bid to be heard through all the acid.
“GREETINGS OCTO-SEAWEED DUDES! MY NAME IS BENJAMIN AND I COME IN PEACE!”
Their reaction was instant.
Where I was expecting some uncertainty or some attempt at engagement, what I got was a mouth that opened lengthways, that sported sharp hooked teeth and looked uncannily like a human female’s reproductive apparatus opening directly between their unflinching silver eyes as they released some kind of sonic screech.
While annoying, I suffered little more than a wince from their opening gambit before they flung their calcified pointy things in unison, with yours truly as their destination.
Universally unfazed by the slow moving sharp things coming my way I decided to test the limits of the force I could unleash while standing still.
Bracing my feet and cocking my legs in a half crouch, a me gave their approaching weapons a single clap. Well when I say clap its more like my hands were two blurs of force combining and sending their individual kinetic energy away from each other because they thought it was better to share with friends.
So when the spears were a couple of meters away from me and the wave of force I unleashed threatened to push even me back owing to its sheer power. The things got pulverized like toothpicks in a blender while also being sent back to their labia lipped senders, along with the barely quelled wave of force as a thank you present.
The aggressive Octo-peeps didn’t even have a chance to react properly, let alone get away as they were met with the rush of their splintered white weapons and indomitable wave of crushing force:
You have slain Initiate Ac’ladian Vanguard level 99, unable to gain further experience due to Phase 1 level limitation.
You have slain Initiate Ac’ladian Vanguard level 99, unable to gain further experience due to Phase 1 level limitation.
You have slain Initiate Ac’ladian Vanguard level 99, unable to gain further experience due to Phase 1 level limitation.
You have slain Initiate Ac’ladian Vanguard level 99, unable to gain further experience due to Phase 1 level limitation.
You have slain Initiate Ac’ladian Vanguard level 99, unable to gain further experience due to Phase 1 level limitation.
You have slain Initiate Ac’ladian Vanguard level 99, unable to gain further experience due to Phase 1 level limitation.
You have successfully survived an attempted cleansing by a system initiated party, you have been rewarded 10000 Manamotes.
Smiling at the hazard pay the system threw my way, a me willed away the messages informing me of my penchant for efficient overwhelming force.
Studying to see what could be salvaged from my attackers remains, I was universally intrigued to find that little of them was actually left, save for a voluminous yellow tinged cloud that was filled with white bits of debris that resembled bits of wheat chaff from a header at harvest time.
Getting back into my multiplicative introspection, the triumvirate decided that if I continued to get a steady stream of tentacle’d based stimuli, maybe 30 days in here would not be so bad after all.
In fact it might just be the people devoid solitude I so craved.
Time continued to pass in my caustically aquatic environment though to say that I knew exactly how long in traditional earth measurements it had been would be a lie.
Instead it became a thing that was counted by how many Party’s of Ac’ladian’s I had tenderized. The upside of which being that despite my lack of chronological reference points, their frequency seemed to be increasing.
Don’t get me wrong, I still tried to make conversation before eradicating their suckered limbs from existence. It was just that no matter how varied my approach, it always ended up with their disconcerting mouth’s screeching before making to hurl their javelins made of coral stuff.
Another sore point was that the trait they possessed was called [Alkaline Blooded], and as stupid as I may be, I have no desire to give up a beneficial trait for something I will hopefully never lose again.
And so it was that I had just appeared next to another grouping of six, disarmed one of them and used the long pointy thing to skewer their unimaginative battle formation from the side through its proverbial and literal head.
After having successfully made a six Ac’ladian octopi skewer, I got a familiar string of unchallenging and at the same time weirdly comforting notifications:
You have slain Initiate Ac’ladian Vanguard level 99, unable to gain further experience due to Phase 1 level limitation.
You have slain Initiate Ac’ladian Vanguard level 99, unable to gain further experience due to Phase 1 level limitation.
You have slain Initiate Ac’ladian Vanguard level 99, unable to gain further experience due to Phase 1 level limitation.
You have slain Initiate Ac’ladian Vanguard level 99, unable to gain further experience due to Phase 1 level limitation.
You have slain Initiate Ac’ladian Vanguard level 99, unable to gain further experience due to Phase 1 level limitation.
You have slain Initiate Ac’ladian Vanguard level 99, unable to gain further experience due to Phase 1 level limitation.
You have successfully survived an attempted cleansing by a system initiated party, you have been rewarded 10000 Manamotes.
Work done for a little while, one of me began to count seconds, in an effort to gauge if there was a further increase in their attempts to subdue me.
Thus far it had gotten to 600 seconds for what seemed like several days, but again, we aren't exactly certain of that.
When my counting had reached 42 seconds I received several new notifications that we were at the same time collectively pleased, and also a little unhappy about:
Dimensional Siphon stability limit reached, you will be deposited onto the adjacent Phase 1 World Aico’Ter in 4 minutes 59 seconds.
Congratulations on completing the quest ‘Perseverance’, you have been awarded 300,000 Manamotes for successful completion.
You have acquired the title of Dimensional Assailant I (Uncommon) for surviving in a Dimensional Siphon for the duration of its existence.
You have acquired the title of Dimensional Insurgent I (Rare) for surviving in a Dimensional Siphon for the duration of its existence whilst being the alone.
Feeling a familiar warmth spread through me, on the one hand I was glad to have some gains in addition to the regular manamote donation the Ac’ladians were so generous to provide. On the other, I was about to lose the repetitive activity which had brought so much solace to my gnawing existential dread over the last month.
While one of me remained vigilant for more octopi and the other me ameliorated my sense of loss with singing baby shark, another me pulled up my ‘status’ to find what exactly my new titles did:
STATUS
Name: Benjamin
Age: 32
Titles: Forerunner IX, Forerunner IX, Dimensional Assailant I, Dimensional Forerunner, Dimensional Insurgent I, Lone Adventurer, Racial Pinnacle I, Survivor I, One Elevant Army I, Founder, Exemplar, Phasic Bastion I, Manamote Magnate II
Class 1: Initiate Gravity Mage Level: 99 +1 Intelligence per level +1 Wisdom per level
Class 2: Initiate Dimensional Mage Level: 99 +1 Intelligence per level +1 Wisdom per level
Profession: Basic Gathering
HP:3417/3255 + 162 (3417) MP:4932/3331 + 1601 (4932)
Status Effects: Abyss Scarred (All non-core attribute effects negated)
Vitality: 1103 + 25 x 1.20 (1354)
Strength: 951 x 1.15 (1094) Dexterity: 948 x 1.15 (1090)
Intelligence: 1096 + 93 x 1.15 (1367) Wisdom: 1012 + 26 x 1.15 (1194)
Charisma: 315 x 1.20 (378) Luck: 313 x 1.20 (376)
Undistributed Attribute points: 0
Passives –
Human: + 5 attribute points per level
Lingua System: Able to communicate verbally with any system integrated entity and be understood
Parasitic Mutator: Ability to absorb a prevalent trait of a recently killed entity by the host. Must be within 1 meter of target, maximum 3 traits at any one time. Current traits.
1) Lesser Primordial Blood: Increase all core attributes by 15%
2) Heart of a Lesser Dragon: 250% increase in health and mana regeneration rate.
3) Lesser Insectile Musculature: Your muscles have increased strength of 150% at the cost of increased metabolic energy.
Loner: +15% all damage dealt when fighting alone, -10% all damage taken when fighting alone, -10% all damage dealt when fighting beside others, +15% all damage taken when fighting in a group.
Forerunner IX: + 9 to all core attributes per level
Dimensional Forerunner: +1 to non-core attributes per level
Dimensional Assailant I: +5 to Luck
Dimensional Insurgent I: + 5 to non-core attributes
Lone Adventurer: Non-core attributes increased by 20%
Racial Pinnacle I: +1 to non-core attributes per level
One Elevant Army I: +5 to all core attributes
Founder: +5 Charisma
Exemplar: +1 to non-core attributes per level
Phasic Bastion I: + 5 to non-core attributes
Manamote Magnate II: +15% increase in manamotes received from system quests
Survivor I: Vitality increased by 5%
Improved Instant Renewal: Regenerate 25% of maximum life when below 5% of life once every twelve hours.
Perpetual Regeneration: Regenerate 1% of maximum life per second on top of existing life regeneration rate.
Improved Metabolic Overdrive: Double all physical damage and physical size for 1 minute after which you will suffer a 25% strength penalty for 5 minutes, useable once every twelve hours.
Solid Foundation: Physical resistance and bone density are directly increased by the strength attribute.
Improved Quick As A Flash: Move at double your maximum speed for 1 minute after which you will suffer 25% dexterity penalty for 5 minutes, usable once every twelve hours.
Off The Clock: Dodge a lethal attack if the attacker has less than 750 Dexterity, passively available once per day.
Thrice Minded: You possess three independent cognitive centers.
Predictive Pondering: Able to predict what an opponent within 20 Meters will do for 5 seconds, if the opponent has less than 750 Intelligence. Useable once per day.
Mind Vault: Once a memory has entered your mind, it may only leave it should you allow it to do so
Mana Fount: Increases your own mana regeneration by 75% and those within 20 meters of you by 25%
Speak For All: Convince anyone within 10 meters of you of a single idea for 5 minutes, once every twenty four hours.
Golden Gift: Transfer your Luck attribute to an ally for 1 minute, however upon activating the skill you will have your Luck attribute reduced by 50% for 5 minutes, only useable once per day
Gravidic Sense: Sense gravity around you within a 20 meter radius
Dimensional Sense: Sense the dimensional fabric around you within a 20 meter radius
Skills – Initiate Gravity Mage
1) Decrease Gravity (LvL 10): Decrease a single targets gravity by up to 1000% for a duration of 100 seconds. Target must be within 25 meters for the skill to take effect (Range, duration and gravity multiplier scales with skill level). Cost: Variable, Cast time: 1 second, Cooldown: 45 seconds
2) Increase Gravity (LvL 10): Increase a single targets gravity by up to 1000% for a duration of 100 seconds. Target must be within 25 meters for the skill to take effect (Range, duration and gravity multiplier scales with skill level). Cost: Variable, Cast time: 1 second, Cooldown: 45 seconds
3) Lesser Repulse (LvL 10): With you as a fixed center of gravity, repulse a single target with a force of 1500% of your current mass weighted against 75% of the targets current mass. Target must be within 40 meters for the skill to take effect (Range, mass multiplier and cooldown scales with skill level). Cost: 40 Mana, Cast time: 1 second, Cooldown: 1 seconds
4) Lesser Attract (LvL 10): With you as a fixed center of gravity, attract a single target with a force of 1500% of your current mass weighted against 75% of the targets current mass. Target must be within 40 meters for the skill to take effect (Range, mass multiplier and cooldown scales with skill level). Cost: 40 Mana, Cast time: 1 second, Cooldown: 1 seconds
5) Lesser Field of Gravity Manipulation (LvL 10): Manipulate gravity within a radius of 20 meters around you with an increase or decrease of up to 1250%, for a duration of 1 minute. You being the locus of the field are excluded from its effects (Range, gravity multiplier and mana cost scales with skill level). Cost: 100 Mana, Cast time: 1 second, Cooldown: 2 minutes
6) Lesser Gravidic Focal Point (LvL 10): Create a lesser gravidic focal point within 50 meters of yourself for a duration of 1 minute with an alterable gravidic value increase or decrease of 1000% and a radius of effect of 20 meters. Given that you are the point’s creator you will be immune to its effects (Range, gravity multiplier and mana cost scales with skill level). Cost: 100 Mana , Cast time: 1 second, Cooldown: 10 minutes
Skills – Initiate Dimensional Mage
1) Lesser Dimensional Pocket (LvL 10): You have the ability to create and maintain a minor dimensional pocket adjacent to your current dimension, the proportions of which are linked to your wisdom attribute’s total value. The aperture radius to the pocket is 10 meters and you may only access this pocket 2 times in a 30 minute period for a duration of 2 minutes (Aperture radius, frequency of access and mana cost scale with skill level).Cost: 2 Mana per second, Cast time: 1 second, Cooldown: 30 minutes
2) Lesser Dimensional Instability (LvL 1): Create a minor dimensional instability within 15 meters of you that has a radius of 1.5 meter, the targeted area experiences the very fabric of your dimension shift in unpredictable ways for 15 seconds (Range, radius and duration scale with skill level). Cost: 20 Mana per second, Cast time: Channeled, Cooldown: 5 minutes
3) Lesser Dimensional Size Increase (Lvl 10): Increase the total size of an inanimate object that is within 100 meters of you by up to 250% for a duration of 2 minutes (Range, percentage increase and cooldown scale with skill level). Cost: 50 Mana, Cast time: 1 second, Cooldown: 30 seconds
4) Lesser Dimensional Size Decrease (Lvl 10): Decrease the total size of an inanimate object that is within 100 meters of you by up to 250% for a duration of 2 minutes (Range, percentage Decrease and cooldown scale with skill level). Cost: 50 Mana, Cast time: 1 second, Cooldown: 30 seconds
5) Lesser Dimensional Portal (LvL 10): Create a lesser dimensional tunnel which origin is within 2 meters of you, that connects with two known points. The tunnel bypasses physical space and has a 5 meter radius for its termini for a duration of up to 5 minutes. The distance between to termini is dictated by your Wisdom attribute 1186 AU’s (Termini radius, duration and cooldown scale with skill level). Cost: 300 Mana, Cast time: 5 seconds, Cooldown: 30 seconds
6) Lesser Dimensional Absence (LvL 10): Create a lesser dimensional absence within 50 meters of you that has a radius of 50 centimeters, which nullifies all matter within the target location for a duration 50 seconds (Range, radius and duration scale with skill level). Cost: 250 Mana, Cast time: 1 second, Cooldown: 1 minute
My eyes narrow and my fists clench as I read the new titles ineffectual effects. If there was ever any doubt, this new development is all the proof I need.
There is a system overseer.
And it most definitely is out to fuck with me.
Tallying this latest insult to the already egregiously long list, I channel this new anger toward the excrement disposal unit within me that has seen far too much use of late and try to think of better things like will the world I’m about to enter have acid bacon.
Stuck for another 4 minutes and 23 seconds I while away the time preparing my selves the best I can for the hopefully not alkaline unknown.
Time continues to tick down on the timer box and I finish some largely superfluous stretches, by way of having nothing better to do to ease the anxiousness of the wait.
The familiar flash of bluish white light engulfs me before leaving me with yet another informative notification.