I focused on my iHUD, and quickly came to the flashing symbol. As it opened, several pop-ups filled my vision. The first few looked to be some general notifications.
Welcome to the Infinite Framework!
You have come into contact with one of the endless myriad of races that call the Infinite Framework home. The violence you have engaged in against the dark elves is but the first taste of carnage that looms ahead if you are to survive the coming integration. You now know some of the future of your race and planet while luckily still having some time to prepare for it. Important decisions must be made if you are to properly ready yourself, but what the right choices may be, you have no way of knowing. Good luck!
Class Bestowed!
Due your recent actions and the Infinite Framework’s assessment of your characteristics, you have gained the Warlock (Blood) class! Congratulations, this is an Epic class variant!
Warlock: A class in which an individual spotaneously develops a capacity for magic. More limited in the depth of their abilities compared to similar classes, this is made up for in adaptability. The Warlock base class possesses capacity for dark magic that can be both offensive and defensive in nature, as well as summoning magic for potent allies from beyond Earth. As a Warlock of the Blood specialization, you have gained access to learning blood magic at the cost of summoning magic becoming more difficult to grasp. Most of those who become Warlocks are independent and driven by nature, and you are no exception. Gain additional levels to learn more about your class and its abilities.
New Ability Gained: Blood Bond!
New Ability Gained: Bloodburst!
Congratulations you have completed the Quest: An Agreement With Natasha Moonblight!
You have given your binding word that you will protect Natasha.
You have gained assistance getting a cure for the poison afflicting your friends.
You have gained a Blood Bond with Natasha.
The first notification clearly confirmed what Natasha had been telling me about how Earth would soon be integrated into the Infinite Framework. Whatever that was. The notification had mentioned it in passing, but had not really gone into any real detail. Not that it mattered really. Everything was going to be changing soon, and the fact that I knew this change was coming while I could still prepare for it was huge.
The second notification was more interesting, given that it dealt with the class I had been assigned. While everything was still new to me, I could already guess that being assigned a class by the Infinite Framework would have an important influence on what my future would look like. According to the informational tidbit about the Warlock class, I would be able to magical abilities that would allow me to both protect myself and defeat any attackers. For now, I set aside the descriptions of the new abilities I had, thought they were interesting. I did the same with the connotations of ‘dark magic’ and ‘blood magic’. I’d deal with them once I became more comfortable with what was going on. Still, I’ll admit the Warlock class was pretty cool sounding so far.
The last notification was even more straightforward. It simply told me that I had fulfilled the criteria for the quest, and that in doing so, I gained the rewards that Natasha had offered me. Still, it was nice to see it confirmed. With how chaotic my life would likely become in the process of Earth being integrated into the Infinite Framework, I could appreciate the confirmation.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
I closed the notifications, which caused the last to open in front of me. Apparently I also had a new quest.
Quest: Preparing for the End of the Beginning
The entire existence of life on Earth as a whole has been shaped in gradual preparation for what comes next. Humanity has long reigned unchallenged on your homeworld, but the dangers that loom ahead in the Infinite Framework threaten the continued existence of your race. Will you prepare for the coming crucible in secret as the majority of those thousands of your race who know have chosen to do? Will you risk notifying the world that others might prepare as well? Will you sit back and do nothing, waiting for the coming apocalypse? You must choose.
Conditions for Success:
Prepare by yourself or with a limited group.
Prepare alongside the world.
Do not prepare.
Rewards:
Unknown (Dependent on actions leading up to Earth integration into Infinite Framework)
Accept/Accept Quest?
Since I had no choice, I accepted the quest. That pretty much confirmed what Natasha had told me, and worse, that there were indeed a whole bunch of people that already had access to the iHUD that had done nothing to alert the rest of the world as to what was coming. Actually, wait, that might not be the case. Its possible some people had tried to get a general warning out, but ended up having their efforts decried as the actions of a crazy person. Or maybe the government was keeping a tight lid on the information. Regardless, thousands knew what was going on and I was now one of them. I told myself I’d think over my options later, but if I could be honest with myself I don’t think I had it in me to be to one to expose what was coming to the rest of the world.
With all the pending notifications in my iHUD taken care of, I turned back to Natasha. In the time I had been reading over the popups, she had pulled out one of her knives and was idly cleaning her nails. She paid little attention to the sharp blade in her hands, her eyes locked on my face, waiting me to be done.
“Alright, I am done.”
“Did the notifications clear up some of your questions?” Natasha asked, flicking her blade clean before moving on to the next nail.
“Somewhat,” I said with a sigh, “but I have more questions as a result.”
“Well we could sit here all day, you barraging me with questions while I clean my nails,” she said with a look on her face that said she was not a fan of that idea. “Or, we can actually do something in regards to finding a way to help your servants.”
This time I didn’t even bother to correct Natasha. Clearly she had it in her mind how I stood in relation to the brothers within the Night Wolves. Until the brothers were awake, there was no point fighting with her about it now. Better to ask the one question that remained in my mind, since it had an important bearing on my survival in the coming days.
“I did have one last question for you, if you don’t mind?”
Natasha did not respond except to pause in cleaning the last nail on her hand, arching a delicate eyebrow as she did so. “Yes?”
“If you came from a world in which you had already been exposed to the mechanics of this framework, why weren’t you and the other dark elves strong enough to kill us all last night?”
“That is a tricky question.” She resumed working with her blade. “I don’t know all of it, but basically coming through to a new world where the Infinite Framework hasn’t fully been implemented reduces our abilities and stats to a significant degree until the integration occurs. No one really knows why this happens, but the general consensus is that the Infinite Framework does this to give challenge to invaders like myself and my kin, while also allowing a chance of survival for any natives.”
I thought on her response. Honestly it was a bit relieving that the other dark elves of her clan were limited so much by the Infinite Framework when they arrived on Earth…from wherever they came from. Had they come through fully empowered, my chances to attain the cure for the poison afflicting my friends would be slim to none at best. I really had lucked out with taking Natasha with us last night, and that she had been so amenable to working with me. Her knowledge might be the difference between my success and death.
“I think that you have enough information for the moment,” she said, cutting off any possibility of more questions. “I’d tell you more about where you could find more of my kin, but honestly I don’t know. We operate in independent small groups mostly, so one group being eliminated won’t have much of an impact on the others. My best advice is to get in contact with anyone else that is a part of your gang. Chances are at least one other group of my kin has you on their list of targets to deal with before the integration occurs. More importantly, we are on a very limited timeframe to get a cure for the poison afflicting your subordinates.”