DAYS LEFT BEFORE RARE CLASS CUTOFF DATE: (4/15)
Like he were setting a match to a fuse, Richard injected a full five points of his mana reserves into the line of powdered mana crystals.
And, like he’d set a match to a fuse, the fuse in question immediately sparked to life. Shining bright blue radiance racing along the meandering path. To where the line of dull blue powder he’d set led. Speeding around fallen logs, over earthen mounds, and across flattened, fully cleared terrain. Looking a little too much like a line of blazing gunpowder just before the deafening explosion.
Richard held his breath. His attention captured more by his young pupil than the experiment currently in progress. Penelope, for her part, focused intently on the massive tree stump in the distance. And, more importantly, on the ambient mana swirling just above.
Eventually, the glowing blue trail reached its intended destination—climbing the gnarled roots of the sorry stump to light up the massive Lesser Scorch rune that’d been engraved upon its surface. There came a great big whoomph, as flames leapt high into the sky—engulfing the poor stump in jumping, crackling flame. The roar of the fire so intense, that one would’ve been forgiven in not noticing how, the second the mana entered those carved, powder stuffed channels, the stump was split straight down the middle.
CRACK!
Completely ignoring the collateral damage caused by their little experiment, Richard turned to the tiny empress, feeling both anxious and anticipatory in equal measure. The young girl for her part, had still yet to relax the pensive frown on her face. Staring off into the distance, clearly seeing things he had no comprehension of. Richard wanted to allow her time to sort through everything, but he was beginning to get nervous. And when he got nervous, he got chatty.
“Well?! Spit it out already! Did it work?! No, what am I talking about, of course it worked! What was that saying again? Seventy seventh times the charm, or somewhere there abouts? You can’t tell me it wasn’t a roaring success. Heh. Get it? Because the- you know what? Never mind. It worked right? Of course it did… right? R-right…?”
Richard watched as Penelope’s expression grew more despondent the longer he spoke. And in turn, so too did his grand plans for an unstoppable mana slinging juggernaut die in its bare infancy.
My goddess! And it was so young…! In Opon’s name, it will be missed, though never forgotten.
Then the cheeky little brat smirked, raised her palm, and, in the next moment, scorching gray fire blossomed just above her hand. The tongue of flame dancing merrily, as if it too took great merriment in his plight.
“Oh, you-! You-!” now the pensive expression was revealed for what it’d really been all along—a little girls desperate attempts to hold back uncontrollable laughter. “You nearly gave me a heart attack you cheeky little mongrel!”
Of course, his faux-anger only made the giggle fest last even longer. Quite a bit longer than was strictly necessary. He let her have her fun. After all, it was he who’d have the last laugh after all of this was over. Why? Because they’d done it! That was why! What only the greatest of the six imperials had ever been reported to be capable of. To wield, not only mana in its purest form, but to freely control aspected mana as well!
Truly the unrivaled genius of his pupil could not be underestimated. Especially when you took into account that the most powerful of humanities Imperials to ever live—well, until the soul scourge robbed him of his place and title that was—possessed a number of key advantages which made him uniquely suited to dominate all forms of mana. Penelope, on the other hand, was doing the same on pure talent alone, if on a far smaller scale.
Not that it diminished the accomplishment any. Even this small step was monumental in the grand scheme of things. And all it had taken was a few failed tries to pinpoint the particular shade of mana that represented “scorch.” To hear her tell it, mana sight wasn’t exactly the golden finger he’d always believed it to be. As it turned out, its usefulness was as variable as mana itself.
An unending ocean of tiny moving particles. Each shifting organically from one color into the next as they interacted with one another. As their muddled aspects collided and further intermingled. Take the clearing they were in, for instance. Air, dust, pollen, light, and even space. Each possessed an aspect of sorts, and each was currently present in one form or another. A fact which was likewise reflected in the ambient mana.
A swirling cocktail of myriad aspects all playing off one another. Constantly bouncing and rebounding, so that the entire thing resembled a rainbow kaleidoscope of rippling, unidentifiable colors.
And while he’d been assured that there were areas in which narrow spectrums of color congregated. The area around a campfire, for instance, fluctuating between yellows, oranges, grays, blacks, and reds. To distinguish just one shade among trillions, then pluck it out of that confused mess without the others tripping over themselves to join—let alone gather up enough of that distinct color to condense an untainted aspect—that was apparently where the tricky part came in.
Enter runic talismans. The medium with the strictest interpretation of aspects that he was currently aware of. It’d taken a bit of trial and error for her to finally catch the brief instance, in which the aspects of the surrounding ambient mana were overwhelmed by the aspect of scorch, but they’d gotten there eventually.
And now…?
“Alright! Now that you’ve got the hang of it, what say you? Shall we go again? Maybe even a couple more times, if you’re feeling up to it! Then, when you’ve gathered as much scorch aspected mana as you think you can handle, I want you to bundle it all up into a ball about yay big,” he spread his hands until the space he indicated was the size of a basketball.
“From here on out, that’s what you’ll use in place of mana bubbles for our training bouts. I don’t want to see a lick of un-aspected mana coming from you, young lady. Understood? Fantastic! Now, wait right here while I see if I can’t wrangle us up another stump for research purposes.”
And so saying, without ever giving her a chance to get a word in edgewise, Richard marched off in the direction of the tree line. A tuneless whistle on his lips, and some greatly warranted pep in his step. Taking a sneaky glance back, he was gratified to see that the cheeky brat didn’t look nearly so pleased as she had been only moments before.
+++
DAYS LEFT BEFORE RARE CLASS CUTOFF DATE: (3/15)
Behind a copse of deciduous trees, beyond the lazy bend of a burbling stream, behind a sea of wild flowerbeds sprouting from the nutrient rich earth—honey bees, a droning assembly, alighting on daisies and tulips with ease—there came the terrible sounds of a modern world war battlefield, already in full swing. A sappers invariably volatile wonderland, in all its bombastic glory.
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BOOM!
An explosion rocked the distant tree line.
Well, explosion, seismic impact. Tomato, tomato. Really, at this distance, who was to say? And, anyway, it really made no difference either way. The detonation set the emerald canopy to trembling, blasted a wall of dirt high up into the sky, and sent a ripple through the earth at their feet. The miniature quake making each of them stumble and nearly fall. It was then that a newfound addition made itself known.
A pillar of roaring gray fire blasted high over their heads. Dwarfing the crowns of the bedraggled birches and oaks and charring them with its scorching heat.
At the sight of this powerful spectacle, Chance gulped. Alice sighed. Skye grinned. Sanya scoffed. Jimmy hummed. Meanwhile Donald Donaldson looked on with a mixture of awe and adoration. Suddenly, that letter O he’d been making flattened into a hard line—a look of determination overtaking his features. The fact that a couple of kids were able to do that kinda stuff after only a few days of trying didn’t make Donald jealous. It left him inspired.
“We need to get stronger!” he pronounced with childlike resolution in his tone.
“But why?” asked Alice, clearly having had this argument before.
“Because it’s freakin awesome, that’s why! You can see, can’t you?!” Donald replied. Alice merely let out another tired sigh.
“Now, are you with me or not!?’
He stuck his hand out, palm down, then looked at the others in turn. Slowly, almost hesitantly, the others placed their hand in, until it was one big pile. Alice the last one to join in, though join in she still did, even if she grumbled the entire time.
“Booyah!” Donald cried. “Now, on the count of three, let’s go kick some freaking monster butt!”
On the count of three, they all raised their hands in unison, Donald letting out an ululating cheer. And then, once they were done, that’s exactly what they did. Exiting the safety of the cleared monster den, in search of one of their very own to conquer.
+++
DAYS LEFT BEFORE RARE CLASS CUTOFF DATE: (3/15)
As Richard sat in the scorched remains of the once densely wooded area, he didn’t notice how uncomfortably warm it had become. He didn’t notice the smells of woodsmoke and charcoal in the air, nor the way the occasional waft of smoke would make his eyes red and water. No, he didn’t notice any of these things, because he was simply far too happy to bother.
Had been ever since he’d woken up that morning.
-|—Status—|-
Name: Richard Penn
Level: 15 [Locked]
Age: 1 month old
Class: None [Pending]
Body Grade: G [Pending] [2 Star Prestige]
Soul Grade: G
Core Grade: Blank (1st Level Purity)
Master Formation: G
Peerage: Lowly Serf
Noble Regalia: None
Strength: 90 (MAX)
Endurance: 90 (MAX)
Resilience: 90 (MAX)
Regeneration: 90 (MAX)
Control: 90 (MAX)
Mana Capacity: 26 (of Unknown)
Free Points: 0
Abilities: (0/2)
Class Skills: (0/3)
Equipment: (0/7)
Title: |Liora’s Embrace| [Legendary]
Heh- Nyehe…! NYEHEHEHEEEH!
Maxed out ninety’s…? In all his stats…? Was he crying? Opon blessed, he was crying wasn’t he…? Wait-! No, that was just the smoke. He cringed, waving away the billowing black cloud that’d enveloped him. Gack! Yep. Definitely the smoke. Still, even if it weren’t for all the noxious fumes, he was pretty sure he’d have teared up regardless.
I mean, c’mon! Would you just look at all those nines and zeros? I mean, I’m practically rolling in it! Fanny packs and flip phones here I come! The 90’s are making a come back baby!
Now, there was only one last thing he wanted to accomplish before he’d feel comfortable evolving to F Grade.
Once that’s done, and I have some proper mana channels, completing my soul seal should be a piece of cake.
- SOUL SEAL – PERCENTAGE OF COMPLETION: (50%)
And after that…?
Unbidden, his eyes drifted towards the shiny black sphere he’d held off from investigating for far too long.
?—|-Shaper’s Legacy-|—?
?[Unique]?
Well, let’s just take it one step at a time. No need to get ahead of ourselves here.
First things first, he’d see if he couldn’t eke out another cheeky level of body prestige while it was still this stupidly easy. Not something he would’ve considered possible under normal circumstances. But then these circumstances weren’t exactly what he’d call normal, now were they?
?—|-Flesh Manipulation-|—?
?[Epic]?
Lvl 100 (MAX)
Richard fought to keep the evil grin off his face, he really did, but there were just some things that were inevitable in this world.
NYEHE-! Actually hold on, wait a moment. This- this is going to hurt isn’t it? Like, a lot?
Worse than he remembered? Most likely. Worst than the last time? Most definitely.
Richard groaned, picked up the cube, and brought it to his chest. One last fleeting thought entering his mind, before oblivion descended upon his dwindling consciousness.
I sure hope my brain breaks the same way it did last time. Otherwise, I might be in a bit of trouble.
His mind was engulfed by madness. The world went dark.
+++
“What did I say about giving a bit of warning the next time you decide to embark on another of your risky escapades? I did say something to that effect, did I not? I could’ve sworn we ended things on something to that effect.”
Richard opened his eyes and rose to a sitting position, squinting at the light streaming in from high above.
“Hmm… do you ever wonder where the light is coming from?” Richard’s superego pondered aloud. “I mean, that roiling black mist wall should be blocking any sunlight from reaching us, and yet it’s no darker than if it weren’t even there at all.”
“Soul logic. Does it matter? Look, we don’t have much time, can you help me or not?”
His superego pouted.
“I would rather you stopped placing us in such precarious positions to begin with.”
“Is that a no?”
The personification of his subconscious scoffed.
“No, of course it isn’t you insolent- ugh!” he huffed. “Oh! Lie down already! We’re running out of time.”
Richard quickly did as instructed, only now realizing that his superego had changed.
Not in some, psychoanalytical way, no, he’d literally changed. As opposed to the tweed suit he remembered, the “man” now wore an elegant, emerald green three piece suit with golden embroidery ennobling the vest. He sported equally shiny golden wrist cuffs, and there was a golden emblem emblazoned on his breast pocket—resting just above his heart. On it was depicted two intertwining snakes wrapping around a winged staff—the caduceus, a widely recognized symbol for medicine.
Richard huffed.
“Well, I must have given you some warning for you to have had time to get an entire outfit prepared.”
“Just because I’m conscientious doesn’t make you considerate, now stop squirming and close your mouth. I need to concentrate.”
Richard’s expression soured, but, nevertheless, he obeyed. It didn’t do to insult the guy about to perform untested experiments on your body after all. His body double placed a white-gloved hand on his bare chest—when had that happened?—whereupon the muscle there began to bubble and churn. Shift. Warp. Writhe and wiggle. Straining against the tight restraints that bound him—now when had that happened?!—as the muscle tissue was reworked from the ground up.
Reimagined. Optimized. Torn up on the molecular level and rearranged to best suit future growth. And, despite his resiliency being the max possible value it could be for his grade and prestige, the pain was simply too much.
Richard screamed.