Path of Ascension
- Thread starter Leon12431
- Start date
- Original
- Location
- USA
I will do that in the coming update
Techniques and their typing
- Location
- USA
With the reading of the Tome I can reveal more information at large. This time about the nature of Techniques and the basics of them. As you learn more this will expand.
Attack Techniques come in two groups. Ranged and Melee in terms of mechanics they are simple and provide a flat bonus to attack rolls
Defense Techniques are what they sound like, they provide a bonus to the counter roll.
Summoning Techniques provide an ally that usually divides their bonus across two or more other forms of bonus. This will usually be Defense/Attack
Chaotic Techniques are random in type until they are used. They roll a 1d4 at the beginning of combat to designate their type for that fight
Prediction Techniques: grant Power/10 extra dice and makes your combat best of that number, grants Power/5 dice to non combat actions
From Death's Deal you gain the following understanding
Soul Bound Techniques are part of your very soul and can never be forgotten or replaced.
God Techniques are able to be used at full power in the First Layer in other words they are exempt from Reality's oppression
God Techniques reflect the power of the user, at a vastly increased point, Power rank scales in time
Attack Techniques come in two groups. Ranged and Melee in terms of mechanics they are simple and provide a flat bonus to attack rolls
Defense Techniques are what they sound like, they provide a bonus to the counter roll.
Summoning Techniques provide an ally that usually divides their bonus across two or more other forms of bonus. This will usually be Defense/Attack
Chaotic Techniques are random in type until they are used. They roll a 1d4 at the beginning of combat to designate their type for that fight
Prediction Techniques: grant Power/10 extra dice and makes your combat best of that number, grants Power/5 dice to non combat actions
From Death's Deal you gain the following understanding
Soul Bound Techniques are part of your very soul and can never be forgotten or replaced.
God Techniques are able to be used at full power in the First Layer in other words they are exempt from Reality's oppression
God Techniques reflect the power of the user, at a vastly increased point, Power rank scales in time
Last edited:
- Location
- USA
Plan Balanced wins the vote. I will start writing either tonight or tomorrow. I hope to have the update done by the end of Sunday at the latest
Preform Ascension (253/300)
4/50 Stages
+4 to body/energy (base)
+80 durability, +40 Body and Speed
92, 90, 84, 84, 77, 50, 40, 40, 24, 22, 20, 16, 84, 83, 72, 18
spend time relaxing (lower stress and improve mental state)
Better mental state, relaxation complete
92, 63, 37, 23
Go to school for your classes (4 actions)
First class, Lilian simply didn't pay attention
Second class the man with the minor bloodline sat near her and started up a conversation
Third class discovered the Teacher was native to the Second Layer (female)
Fourth class again a fail due to distractions
Friday
First class fail
Second class another conversation with the man
Third class minor meeting with the teacher
Fourth class found a Slip Point
14 96 100 30 (Wednesday)
13 96 50 96 (friday)
Study the Language of the tome (2574/5000)
Final total 2574
95, 95, 78, 78, 68, 65, 62, 52, 42, 42, 18, 14, 87, 53, 40, 15
meet up with the running club (1 hour)
Won all races all four days
Go to work (income of $12 dollars per hour spent)
All four days passed, income: $ 192
16 85 25 63, 95, 95, 78, 78, 68, 65, 62, 52, 42, 42, 18, 14
4/50 Stages
+4 to body/energy (base)
+80 durability, +40 Body and Speed
92, 90, 84, 84, 77, 50, 40, 40, 24, 22, 20, 16, 84, 83, 72, 18
spend time relaxing (lower stress and improve mental state)
Better mental state, relaxation complete
92, 63, 37, 23
Go to school for your classes (4 actions)
First class, Lilian simply didn't pay attention
Second class the man with the minor bloodline sat near her and started up a conversation
Third class discovered the Teacher was native to the Second Layer (female)
Fourth class again a fail due to distractions
Friday
First class fail
Second class another conversation with the man
Third class minor meeting with the teacher
Fourth class found a Slip Point
14 96 100 30 (Wednesday)
13 96 50 96 (friday)
Study the Language of the tome (2574/5000)
Final total 2574
95, 95, 78, 78, 68, 65, 62, 52, 42, 42, 18, 14, 87, 53, 40, 15
meet up with the running club (1 hour)
Won all races all four days
Go to work (income of $12 dollars per hour spent)
All four days passed, income: $ 192
16 85 25 63, 95, 95, 78, 78, 68, 65, 62, 52, 42, 42, 18, 14
The first week
- Location
- USA
Tuesday
With a groan Lilian pulled herself out of her bed as her alarm screeched at exactly 5:30 in the morning. "Ugh, where did I put my planner?" She muttered as she fumbled around in the darkness of her unlit room. Soon enough her hand danced over the source of the ear screeching racket that was her alarm and the planner underneath its bulk.
With a relieved sigh in the following quietness as the alarm fell silent at the top of a button, Lilian slowly extracted herself from the comforting warmth of her bed. Reaching behind her body to find and pull the pull cord as she did so a dim gentle orange light filled the room.
Under its soft radiance, Lilian thumbed through the planner and snorted in disbelief at the idea of skipping school that had been mentioned in the margins, "I must really have been shaken to even consider skipping school. And work?" She muttered as she found the references to the latter on the bottoms of the pages. Yet, beyond those two oddities, the plan for the rest of the week was simplistically incarnate.
In the morning she would spend three hours from six to nine doing the Ascension exercises that the tome had revealed, trying to push through the barriers in front of her so that she might have power when the threat came for her. Then would be a solid hour of just reading normal books, a bit of running and general relaxation. Which in turn would be followed today and Thursday with more Ascension work and learning the language of the tome some more. On the other days she would go to class and do her best to remain human. Each day would end with her job and a running meet.
Dressed in comfortable loose cloths, she found her way to the middle of the carpet to begin the exercises. "I hope that this work pays off." She muttered aa she drew upon the strange ephemeral energy within the back of her mind. With a gasp as her lungs spasmed as the vibrant energy raced through her form with almost joyous glee, Lilian could feel her body change and improve.
Where in the last her base body became more, now it truly shined through. She could feel her cells dividing and changing as energy sparked over them, energy pulsed through her form in tune with her heartbeat. Raging torrents of energy seared through nerves and tissues alike, leaving in their path a trail of tightness and freedom. As time became meaningless all she knew and could feel was the light of her soul cascading through her mortal flesh.
Yet, as with all things, it ended with the pricing screech of the alarm. "I wonder if the sensation of Ascension, might be additive. It seems possible, hmm as long as I don't find myself seeking any excuse to do more its probably fine." Lilian muttered as she stood up from her resting position and found that once more she had grown, as her shirt and pants although baggy were no longer covering her body fully. "This is going to play hell on my budget if I have to buy new clothes every day. I might need to look for a better job which won't be fun in this sleepy town." Muttered Lilian as she investigated just how much she had grown.
'Read or run or something else? We do have that small cemetery, it might be a relaxing place to visit.' Mused Lilian as she began to get dressed for venturing outdoors and to the small tidy cemetery that the college town had. As she reached the iron fencing around the cemetery a short while later, it was indeed calming. A sense of death surrounded the place, that called to her and welcomed her into its domain.
Smiling Lilian opened the gate and stepped into the domain of the cemetery. Relishing in the sensation of being around and in the presence of death, for it had always been a comforting feeling. Walking through the graves she let the energies embrace her and relaxed into the soothing embrace, Yet, such peace could not last for all too soon it was time to return home to prepare for some more of the Ascension mediations. 'It will be here tomorrow and every day, I can just return.' Comforting thoughts swirled in her mind as she began to meander her way back to her home. Content in the knowledge that even if it she had grown she was still who she was.
Relaxing from the surging power that always came from Ascension, Lilian pulled forward the tome, and her note books to begin to learn the language. As complex and mystical as it was there were logical rules that it followed, rules that could be found if one persisted enough and Lilian was not one to give up on a project
Wednesday
As she stood in front of the door for her second class of the day, the man with the strange sensation of death hovering around, approached. "Excuse me, are you by any chance Lilian Stones?" Blinking in surprise for it was rare that anyone actually talked with her and she didn't go out of her way to speak with anyone else, "I am Lilian Stones." Was all she could think to say before the man continued speaking, "Professor Aeter asked me to ask you to meet him in his office after world history.
Seemingly highly uncomfortable and confused, the man simply drifted away after delivering the message, as the door opened and the first class of the day started. Professor Stone at the front of the classroom, holding thick packets of paper. 'Of course he would assign a project' Lilian grumbled as she took a packet and went to sit down at her usual spot.
"Halt. This project is to be done in groups of two, which I have already made. When I call your names you will take a free table with your partner." He grounded out in a voice that seemed as if his throat was filled with gravel. Pulling out a sheet of paper, he began to call out names and the new groups soon began to take tables. "Lilian Stones and David Anders" was the last group he called out and with a sinking feeling Lilian noticed that only the man that had brought her the message was left.
Looking extremely uncomfortable David nodded towards her and began to walk towards the only table still open far in the back of the room. "Did you set this up?" Hissed Lilian as they took their seats. "No." Mumbled Anders as he picked at a piece of gum on the underside of the table. Huffing Lilian began looking through the project and quickly became infuriated at the sheer amount of work to be done in only three classes.
This was extreme even for Professor Stone, widely considered to be the harshest teacher in the entire college. "This project it seems designed to winnow out the undedicated." Muttered David as he read through his packet , highlighting lines where things just didn't add up for him. "It is written in a convoluted manner, its inherently subjective, its grading rules seem poorly designed. I think this is his infamous Trap project." He continued to speak in a muttered undertone as more and more of the project ended up highlighted.
"Trap project?" Lilian muttered under her breath as she read through the project, doing her best to pick out, "Rumors have it that every class, gets at least one project that is designed to make the entire class fail and force them to drop the course to ruin their future chances in life. No one knows why he gets away with it, but rumor has it that Professor Aeter has something to do with it." David responded with enthusiasm to her question, eager to reveal his knowledge of the local rumors.
"Whatever, I think I have managed to decode what is needed" Lilian spoke as she shook her head to clear the thoughts that the mention of Professor Aeter sparked. Soon they were quietly working on the decoded project and sure enough no other group seemed to have broken through the obfuscation, yet to Lilian it was nothing compared to the language of the tome. Only one other group seemed to have made any progress before the class ended, but Lilian didn't care for she and David were far ahead of the curve and the project would be done quite easily.
Her third class went completely normal, Professor Aeter gave no sign of having asked her to meet after class, yet something about him seemed off to her this day. A haze of sorts seemed to surround his form, but Lilian could not tell what it was. It didn't call to her like death did these days but instead seemed to just be. Yet, no one else seemed to notice anything off and he was his normal sage self, with his trademark expression of bemusement solidly on his face and his piercing amber eyes focused on the classroom trouble makers.
"I was planning on assigning a minor project this week, however due to the fact that I know several of you are in Professor Stone's courses, I have decided to assign it next time we meet.
However, I do expect you to do the homework I have posted to the classroom website before our next class. If you need help just email me and I will give pointers where possible." Professor Aeter spoke in a quiet yet profound voice as the end of class neared to much relief among the students as many were struggling to understand Professor Stone's assignment.
"Mr. Anders, I must request you remain behind for a few minutes. I have already contacted your next class teacher and explained that you will either be missing or late to class. I did the same for you Ms. Stones." He spoke in a voice alive with more energy than he had ever seemed to have before, sighing both David and Lilian took seats in front of Aeter's desk and waited for him to speak.
"How much do you know, Ms. Stones?" He whispered in a language that was both wrong and right twisting and changing in the ear. David jerked backwards from the unnatural sounds being spoken from a human. "I….little." was all that Lilian could respond as she could barely read the language, but she knew a few words.
"Now, Mr. Anders, you are wondering what is going on as any sane person would. However, we don't have time for safety, so I am going to force open a Slip Point." Professor Aeter commanded staring at David with an unusual interest and focus, turning towards Lilian. He spoke once more in a much more respectful tone, "Lady Dullahan, I apologize for any insult I may have given you, but I felt it necessary to meet with you and provide any aid I could muster. I know little of what is going on in the realms below, yet, even I have heard the rumors of a group attempting to purge all Death aligned. I will accept any projects of mine up to the end of the school year and allow you free access to my personal Library." As he finished speaking he rested his forearms on the desk and just waited for a response.
To everyone's surprise it came not from Lilian but David, "What the hell is going on? Why am I here?" Instead of answering, Professor Aeter, stood up and with a single hand picked up his desk. "This desk is solid black ironwood, that I had custom made several centuries ago, and it weighs around three hundred pounds. As you can see I am currently disregarding the laws of physics in being able to hold this weight above my head without effort. The reason I am telling you this David, is that although you don't know it, you are part of my family." Here Aeter seemed to take a few minutes to think, "I guess at this point everyone is part of my family, but you are a direct descent which in my book counts far more."
'That makes even less fucking sense, Professor. I know my family and you are definitely not part of it." David exploded as he glared at the professor still holding his desk above his head, "I am your ancestor, of course you wouldn't know as I was born around the year 140,000 BC, as best as I can tell. The reason I am explaining this to you is that around ten thousand years ago your ancestor at the time had a child with a possessed woman. Which makes you tangentially connected to the concept of Death via blood. Its far too old and weak to matter for power, but Lilian can support me in that its still detectable."
As Aeter set the desk back onto the ground, both David and he looked over towards Lilian, who only nodded to their unspoken question. "Why are you offering such freedom, Professor Aeter? Also, why did you refer to me as Lady Dullahan?" Lilian spoke in a whispering voice that unbeknownst to her echoed with the call of the grave.
"I might have not stepped fort upon the lower realms for eons, but everyone above Awakening, can feel when a God dies or Ascends. I felt the death cry of the Dullahan and your awakening scream. By all measures, you are the Dullahan. Even now I can feel death itself coiled within your soul. As for the freedoms I offer, simple, you need time to grow in strength and I can give you time if you are not pressured in my class. As for my library I might not have a Grimoire, but I do have a few books on the other realm and the paths of Ascension.
I do have an ulterior motive in you helping David to grow via Ascension. You have access to what I offer regardless, but he is tied to Death and is by extension part of your domain." Aeter spoke in a rush as he stared at Lilian hoping to convince her to help his descendant, even if it might harm herself.
"It will be up to David to chose. I will not force him" Lilian spoke in the same whispering voice, "However, I do not trust you and if you go against me, no one will find your body." As she spoke her threat, darkness solidified as from the shadows came conceptual Death: the ultimate end, the inescapable finality, the end of eternity, the one creation that could truly end any and all beings within reality. Shuddering as power beyond power filled the room such that even David could feel its weight, "Yes, of course. I have no problem with you Lady Dullahan. I would never dream of trying to control or kill you." Professor Aeter franticly spoke as he saw the creeping liquid coming closer to his body.
Blinking, Lilian squeaked as she saw the liquid death, quickly vanishing it, "Sorry, tends to manifest randomly. Trying to get better at control. Can we go to our next class professor?" Waving a hand in an understanding gesture, "I know how it is. I have met plenty of Soul Bounded individuals in my life and they always had trouble with their techniques not activating randomly. Also, call me Robert, I feel that being a Professor is soon going to end. A pity really, I enjoy teaching history even if most of it is wrong. You are dismissed, hurry on over to your next classes. David please do not hide away from the truth, I know how terrifying it can be, but you don't have the luxury of hiding any more." Robert said as both Lilian and David began to leave the room.
As the door slid shut behind her, Lilian heard a whisper from within the room, "I truly hope that I can just remain a simple teacher." Before the sounds of shuffling feet as Professor Aeter began to move around.
Friday
As Lilian woke up on the last day of the week, she lay in bed for a moment as she reflected on the work of the past days. During the morning she had made great strides in Ascension and using the time on Thursday and Tuesday for studying the language of the tome and Ascension respectively had payed off with great gains. Leaving her more than ready to start today and the weekend
As the flowing energy of her soul faded away, Lilian was left fuming for she could feel that she was right on the cusp of a major breakthrough, a wall riddled with cracks had manifested in her mind. Beyond which she knew rested another aspect of her bloodline gifts. Yet, she couldn't complain for she now stood at a regal seventy eight inches tall and had a body that she found frankly impossible, lithe yet still unnaturally attractive.
Robert had been more than willing to explain more of what Ascension provided. In his own words it made that which was, more and gave that which was not existence. "I guess the fact that none of my clothes fit me anymore proves him correct." Lilian mused to herself as she got ready for class after her now standard walk through the cemetery.
As the day progressed it seem little different from the other days of the week, yet there was a new excitement for the weekend for it would be a period of mostly free time, to work and study the tome.
Walking towards the classroom of Professor Stone, out of the corner of her eye, Lilian noticed David motioning her over. "Hello, David. What do you want?" Lilian asked in a voice that only days ago would have been tinged with an undercurrent of the grave, but now even the hallway grew colder and sounds echoed unnaturally. "That, I would like your help this weekend. Both for the project and the side project."
"You are more than welcome to join me. I will let you know what time that we can meet up." After that brief exchange both of them turned their focus to school and the trap project that their professor had assigned. "This is very easy once you see past all the obfuscation that he put into the thing." Muttered David as they worked only receiving a nod from Lilian as she self consciously tried to hide as other people in the room were staring at her, but even with the distraction she was more than able to help and together they had completed almost two thirds of the work before the end of class.
On the way home, a tingle of energy reached Lilian as she walked. With nothing better to do, she stepped off of the trail and began to follow the energy, leaves crunching underfoot Before long, although unbeknownst to her, she had covered well over fifty miles in a bit under ten minutes, Lilian found a scroll on the ground written in the twisting language of the tome and its contents.
Picking it up, Lilian returned to walking home wondering what the weekend would bring.
Plan creation for the Weakened. Start 6am to 10pm per day for a total of 32 hours per weekend.
Required Actions
[X] Train David (every two actions acts as one Ascension action)
-[] time
-[] action amount (must be greater than 0)
[X] Finish Stone's project
-[] time
-[X] actions (must be taken at least once) (208/300)
[X] Clothes Shopping
-[] time
-[X] actions (at least one, more actions better chance of finding special stuff)
[X] Ascension
[] time
-[] actions (at least one)
Free actions
[] Study the Language of the tome (2574/5000)
-[] time
-[] actions
[] learn a Technique
-[] time
-[] actions
-[] Technique
-[] Paradoxical Finality (27/2000)
[] Socialize with random people (might find possible allies, reduce stress)
-[] time
-[] actions
[] spend time relaxing (lower stress and improve mental state)
-[] time
-[] actions
[] research what the hell is going on
-[] time
-[] actions
-[] topic
[] explore the town
-[] time
-[] actions
[] explore the surrounding forests
-[] time
-[] actions
[] attempt to meet up with Robert Aeter (low DC)
-[] time
-[] actions
AN: only going to write the narratively important events to save myself pain and to prevent this from becoming a slog
With a groan Lilian pulled herself out of her bed as her alarm screeched at exactly 5:30 in the morning. "Ugh, where did I put my planner?" She muttered as she fumbled around in the darkness of her unlit room. Soon enough her hand danced over the source of the ear screeching racket that was her alarm and the planner underneath its bulk.
With a relieved sigh in the following quietness as the alarm fell silent at the top of a button, Lilian slowly extracted herself from the comforting warmth of her bed. Reaching behind her body to find and pull the pull cord as she did so a dim gentle orange light filled the room.
Under its soft radiance, Lilian thumbed through the planner and snorted in disbelief at the idea of skipping school that had been mentioned in the margins, "I must really have been shaken to even consider skipping school. And work?" She muttered as she found the references to the latter on the bottoms of the pages. Yet, beyond those two oddities, the plan for the rest of the week was simplistically incarnate.
In the morning she would spend three hours from six to nine doing the Ascension exercises that the tome had revealed, trying to push through the barriers in front of her so that she might have power when the threat came for her. Then would be a solid hour of just reading normal books, a bit of running and general relaxation. Which in turn would be followed today and Thursday with more Ascension work and learning the language of the tome some more. On the other days she would go to class and do her best to remain human. Each day would end with her job and a running meet.
Dressed in comfortable loose cloths, she found her way to the middle of the carpet to begin the exercises. "I hope that this work pays off." She muttered aa she drew upon the strange ephemeral energy within the back of her mind. With a gasp as her lungs spasmed as the vibrant energy raced through her form with almost joyous glee, Lilian could feel her body change and improve.
Where in the last her base body became more, now it truly shined through. She could feel her cells dividing and changing as energy sparked over them, energy pulsed through her form in tune with her heartbeat. Raging torrents of energy seared through nerves and tissues alike, leaving in their path a trail of tightness and freedom. As time became meaningless all she knew and could feel was the light of her soul cascading through her mortal flesh.
Yet, as with all things, it ended with the pricing screech of the alarm. "I wonder if the sensation of Ascension, might be additive. It seems possible, hmm as long as I don't find myself seeking any excuse to do more its probably fine." Lilian muttered as she stood up from her resting position and found that once more she had grown, as her shirt and pants although baggy were no longer covering her body fully. "This is going to play hell on my budget if I have to buy new clothes every day. I might need to look for a better job which won't be fun in this sleepy town." Muttered Lilian as she investigated just how much she had grown.
'Read or run or something else? We do have that small cemetery, it might be a relaxing place to visit.' Mused Lilian as she began to get dressed for venturing outdoors and to the small tidy cemetery that the college town had. As she reached the iron fencing around the cemetery a short while later, it was indeed calming. A sense of death surrounded the place, that called to her and welcomed her into its domain.
Smiling Lilian opened the gate and stepped into the domain of the cemetery. Relishing in the sensation of being around and in the presence of death, for it had always been a comforting feeling. Walking through the graves she let the energies embrace her and relaxed into the soothing embrace, Yet, such peace could not last for all too soon it was time to return home to prepare for some more of the Ascension mediations. 'It will be here tomorrow and every day, I can just return.' Comforting thoughts swirled in her mind as she began to meander her way back to her home. Content in the knowledge that even if it she had grown she was still who she was.
Relaxing from the surging power that always came from Ascension, Lilian pulled forward the tome, and her note books to begin to learn the language. As complex and mystical as it was there were logical rules that it followed, rules that could be found if one persisted enough and Lilian was not one to give up on a project
Wednesday
As she stood in front of the door for her second class of the day, the man with the strange sensation of death hovering around, approached. "Excuse me, are you by any chance Lilian Stones?" Blinking in surprise for it was rare that anyone actually talked with her and she didn't go out of her way to speak with anyone else, "I am Lilian Stones." Was all she could think to say before the man continued speaking, "Professor Aeter asked me to ask you to meet him in his office after world history.
Seemingly highly uncomfortable and confused, the man simply drifted away after delivering the message, as the door opened and the first class of the day started. Professor Stone at the front of the classroom, holding thick packets of paper. 'Of course he would assign a project' Lilian grumbled as she took a packet and went to sit down at her usual spot.
"Halt. This project is to be done in groups of two, which I have already made. When I call your names you will take a free table with your partner." He grounded out in a voice that seemed as if his throat was filled with gravel. Pulling out a sheet of paper, he began to call out names and the new groups soon began to take tables. "Lilian Stones and David Anders" was the last group he called out and with a sinking feeling Lilian noticed that only the man that had brought her the message was left.
Looking extremely uncomfortable David nodded towards her and began to walk towards the only table still open far in the back of the room. "Did you set this up?" Hissed Lilian as they took their seats. "No." Mumbled Anders as he picked at a piece of gum on the underside of the table. Huffing Lilian began looking through the project and quickly became infuriated at the sheer amount of work to be done in only three classes.
This was extreme even for Professor Stone, widely considered to be the harshest teacher in the entire college. "This project it seems designed to winnow out the undedicated." Muttered David as he read through his packet , highlighting lines where things just didn't add up for him. "It is written in a convoluted manner, its inherently subjective, its grading rules seem poorly designed. I think this is his infamous Trap project." He continued to speak in a muttered undertone as more and more of the project ended up highlighted.
"Trap project?" Lilian muttered under her breath as she read through the project, doing her best to pick out, "Rumors have it that every class, gets at least one project that is designed to make the entire class fail and force them to drop the course to ruin their future chances in life. No one knows why he gets away with it, but rumor has it that Professor Aeter has something to do with it." David responded with enthusiasm to her question, eager to reveal his knowledge of the local rumors.
"Whatever, I think I have managed to decode what is needed" Lilian spoke as she shook her head to clear the thoughts that the mention of Professor Aeter sparked. Soon they were quietly working on the decoded project and sure enough no other group seemed to have broken through the obfuscation, yet to Lilian it was nothing compared to the language of the tome. Only one other group seemed to have made any progress before the class ended, but Lilian didn't care for she and David were far ahead of the curve and the project would be done quite easily.
Her third class went completely normal, Professor Aeter gave no sign of having asked her to meet after class, yet something about him seemed off to her this day. A haze of sorts seemed to surround his form, but Lilian could not tell what it was. It didn't call to her like death did these days but instead seemed to just be. Yet, no one else seemed to notice anything off and he was his normal sage self, with his trademark expression of bemusement solidly on his face and his piercing amber eyes focused on the classroom trouble makers.
"I was planning on assigning a minor project this week, however due to the fact that I know several of you are in Professor Stone's courses, I have decided to assign it next time we meet.
However, I do expect you to do the homework I have posted to the classroom website before our next class. If you need help just email me and I will give pointers where possible." Professor Aeter spoke in a quiet yet profound voice as the end of class neared to much relief among the students as many were struggling to understand Professor Stone's assignment.
"Mr. Anders, I must request you remain behind for a few minutes. I have already contacted your next class teacher and explained that you will either be missing or late to class. I did the same for you Ms. Stones." He spoke in a voice alive with more energy than he had ever seemed to have before, sighing both David and Lilian took seats in front of Aeter's desk and waited for him to speak.
"How much do you know, Ms. Stones?" He whispered in a language that was both wrong and right twisting and changing in the ear. David jerked backwards from the unnatural sounds being spoken from a human. "I….little." was all that Lilian could respond as she could barely read the language, but she knew a few words.
"Now, Mr. Anders, you are wondering what is going on as any sane person would. However, we don't have time for safety, so I am going to force open a Slip Point." Professor Aeter commanded staring at David with an unusual interest and focus, turning towards Lilian. He spoke once more in a much more respectful tone, "Lady Dullahan, I apologize for any insult I may have given you, but I felt it necessary to meet with you and provide any aid I could muster. I know little of what is going on in the realms below, yet, even I have heard the rumors of a group attempting to purge all Death aligned. I will accept any projects of mine up to the end of the school year and allow you free access to my personal Library." As he finished speaking he rested his forearms on the desk and just waited for a response.
To everyone's surprise it came not from Lilian but David, "What the hell is going on? Why am I here?" Instead of answering, Professor Aeter, stood up and with a single hand picked up his desk. "This desk is solid black ironwood, that I had custom made several centuries ago, and it weighs around three hundred pounds. As you can see I am currently disregarding the laws of physics in being able to hold this weight above my head without effort. The reason I am telling you this David, is that although you don't know it, you are part of my family." Here Aeter seemed to take a few minutes to think, "I guess at this point everyone is part of my family, but you are a direct descent which in my book counts far more."
'That makes even less fucking sense, Professor. I know my family and you are definitely not part of it." David exploded as he glared at the professor still holding his desk above his head, "I am your ancestor, of course you wouldn't know as I was born around the year 140,000 BC, as best as I can tell. The reason I am explaining this to you is that around ten thousand years ago your ancestor at the time had a child with a possessed woman. Which makes you tangentially connected to the concept of Death via blood. Its far too old and weak to matter for power, but Lilian can support me in that its still detectable."
As Aeter set the desk back onto the ground, both David and he looked over towards Lilian, who only nodded to their unspoken question. "Why are you offering such freedom, Professor Aeter? Also, why did you refer to me as Lady Dullahan?" Lilian spoke in a whispering voice that unbeknownst to her echoed with the call of the grave.
"I might have not stepped fort upon the lower realms for eons, but everyone above Awakening, can feel when a God dies or Ascends. I felt the death cry of the Dullahan and your awakening scream. By all measures, you are the Dullahan. Even now I can feel death itself coiled within your soul. As for the freedoms I offer, simple, you need time to grow in strength and I can give you time if you are not pressured in my class. As for my library I might not have a Grimoire, but I do have a few books on the other realm and the paths of Ascension.
I do have an ulterior motive in you helping David to grow via Ascension. You have access to what I offer regardless, but he is tied to Death and is by extension part of your domain." Aeter spoke in a rush as he stared at Lilian hoping to convince her to help his descendant, even if it might harm herself.
"It will be up to David to chose. I will not force him" Lilian spoke in the same whispering voice, "However, I do not trust you and if you go against me, no one will find your body." As she spoke her threat, darkness solidified as from the shadows came conceptual Death: the ultimate end, the inescapable finality, the end of eternity, the one creation that could truly end any and all beings within reality. Shuddering as power beyond power filled the room such that even David could feel its weight, "Yes, of course. I have no problem with you Lady Dullahan. I would never dream of trying to control or kill you." Professor Aeter franticly spoke as he saw the creeping liquid coming closer to his body.
Blinking, Lilian squeaked as she saw the liquid death, quickly vanishing it, "Sorry, tends to manifest randomly. Trying to get better at control. Can we go to our next class professor?" Waving a hand in an understanding gesture, "I know how it is. I have met plenty of Soul Bounded individuals in my life and they always had trouble with their techniques not activating randomly. Also, call me Robert, I feel that being a Professor is soon going to end. A pity really, I enjoy teaching history even if most of it is wrong. You are dismissed, hurry on over to your next classes. David please do not hide away from the truth, I know how terrifying it can be, but you don't have the luxury of hiding any more." Robert said as both Lilian and David began to leave the room.
As the door slid shut behind her, Lilian heard a whisper from within the room, "I truly hope that I can just remain a simple teacher." Before the sounds of shuffling feet as Professor Aeter began to move around.
Friday
As Lilian woke up on the last day of the week, she lay in bed for a moment as she reflected on the work of the past days. During the morning she had made great strides in Ascension and using the time on Thursday and Tuesday for studying the language of the tome and Ascension respectively had payed off with great gains. Leaving her more than ready to start today and the weekend
As the flowing energy of her soul faded away, Lilian was left fuming for she could feel that she was right on the cusp of a major breakthrough, a wall riddled with cracks had manifested in her mind. Beyond which she knew rested another aspect of her bloodline gifts. Yet, she couldn't complain for she now stood at a regal seventy eight inches tall and had a body that she found frankly impossible, lithe yet still unnaturally attractive.
Robert had been more than willing to explain more of what Ascension provided. In his own words it made that which was, more and gave that which was not existence. "I guess the fact that none of my clothes fit me anymore proves him correct." Lilian mused to herself as she got ready for class after her now standard walk through the cemetery.
As the day progressed it seem little different from the other days of the week, yet there was a new excitement for the weekend for it would be a period of mostly free time, to work and study the tome.
Walking towards the classroom of Professor Stone, out of the corner of her eye, Lilian noticed David motioning her over. "Hello, David. What do you want?" Lilian asked in a voice that only days ago would have been tinged with an undercurrent of the grave, but now even the hallway grew colder and sounds echoed unnaturally. "That, I would like your help this weekend. Both for the project and the side project."
"You are more than welcome to join me. I will let you know what time that we can meet up." After that brief exchange both of them turned their focus to school and the trap project that their professor had assigned. "This is very easy once you see past all the obfuscation that he put into the thing." Muttered David as they worked only receiving a nod from Lilian as she self consciously tried to hide as other people in the room were staring at her, but even with the distraction she was more than able to help and together they had completed almost two thirds of the work before the end of class.
On the way home, a tingle of energy reached Lilian as she walked. With nothing better to do, she stepped off of the trail and began to follow the energy, leaves crunching underfoot Before long, although unbeknownst to her, she had covered well over fifty miles in a bit under ten minutes, Lilian found a scroll on the ground written in the twisting language of the tome and its contents.
Picking it up, Lilian returned to walking home wondering what the weekend would bring.
Plan creation for the Weakened. Start 6am to 10pm per day for a total of 32 hours per weekend.
Required Actions
[X] Train David (every two actions acts as one Ascension action)
-[] time
-[] action amount (must be greater than 0)
[X] Finish Stone's project
-[] time
-[X] actions (must be taken at least once) (208/300)
[X] Clothes Shopping
-[] time
-[X] actions (at least one, more actions better chance of finding special stuff)
[X] Ascension
[] time
-[] actions (at least one)
Free actions
[] Study the Language of the tome (2574/5000)
-[] time
-[] actions
[] learn a Technique
-[] time
-[] actions
-[] Technique
-[] Paradoxical Finality (27/2000)
[] Socialize with random people (might find possible allies, reduce stress)
-[] time
-[] actions
[] spend time relaxing (lower stress and improve mental state)
-[] time
-[] actions
[] research what the hell is going on
-[] time
-[] actions
-[] topic
[] explore the town
-[] time
-[] actions
[] explore the surrounding forests
-[] time
-[] actions
[] attempt to meet up with Robert Aeter (low DC)
-[] time
-[] actions
AN: only going to write the narratively important events to save myself pain and to prevent this from becoming a slog
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Yzarc
The Spark of Madness
[X] Plan Weekend
-[X] Study the Language of the tome (2574/5000)
--[X] 6 Am
--[X] 2 actions
-[X] Train David (every two actions acts as one Ascension action)
--[X] 8 am
--[X] 6 Actions
-[X] Finish Stone's project
--[X] 2 pm
--[X] 1 actions (208/300)
-[X] Clothes Shopping
--[X] 3 pm
--[X] 1 actions
-[X] attempt to meet up with Robert Aeter (low DC)
--[X] 4 pm
--[X] 1 actions
-[X] Study the Language of the tome (2574/5000)
--[X] 5 pm
--[X] 4 actions
-[X] spend time relaxing (lower stress and improve mental state)
--[X] 9 pm
--[X] 1 actions
Alright, given that the GM warned/Hinted that 5 Ascension is going to unlock something AND that Ascending too fast will screw up our mindset, it is best to get to 5 and see what has happened.
Training David is a weekend thing as we focus on him on weekends and on ourselves during week days. Finishing the project means we are free later on and we just need a couple of turns for it.
An hour of clothing shopping and 4 hours of unlocking the language as that is important.
We can start on the Death/Entrophy technique next week once we finish the week ends.
-[X] Study the Language of the tome (2574/5000)
--[X] 6 Am
--[X] 2 actions
-[X] Train David (every two actions acts as one Ascension action)
--[X] 8 am
--[X] 6 Actions
-[X] Finish Stone's project
--[X] 2 pm
--[X] 1 actions (208/300)
-[X] Clothes Shopping
--[X] 3 pm
--[X] 1 actions
-[X] attempt to meet up with Robert Aeter (low DC)
--[X] 4 pm
--[X] 1 actions
-[X] Study the Language of the tome (2574/5000)
--[X] 5 pm
--[X] 4 actions
-[X] spend time relaxing (lower stress and improve mental state)
--[X] 9 pm
--[X] 1 actions
Alright, given that the GM warned/Hinted that 5 Ascension is going to unlock something AND that Ascending too fast will screw up our mindset, it is best to get to 5 and see what has happened.
Training David is a weekend thing as we focus on him on weekends and on ourselves during week days. Finishing the project means we are free later on and we just need a couple of turns for it.
An hour of clothing shopping and 4 hours of unlocking the language as that is important.
We can start on the Death/Entrophy technique next week once we finish the week ends.
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- Location
- USA
this is now a valid plan
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Nicholas Brooks
Redeemer and Destroyer
- Location
- United States
[X] Plan Weekend
[X] Plan Weekend
Yzarc
The Spark of Madness
Say a couple of things.
I see in the Char sheet that soul is unlocked. Will you be updating the mechanics to show what that stat does?
Also how do stat gain work? I mean do we default get 1 stat per level excluding other bonuses? Because if so we are missing the +1 Body we get from Massive and one energy since we are lvl 5.
I see in the Char sheet that soul is unlocked. Will you be updating the mechanics to show what that stat does?
Also how do stat gain work? I mean do we default get 1 stat per level excluding other bonuses? Because if so we are missing the +1 Body we get from Massive and one energy since we are lvl 5.
- Location
- USA
Thanks for pointing that out. I apologize for forgetting the Massive trait. And I will be updating the mechanics right now, thanks for reminding me. I was cleaning up some of my spreadsheets.
updated
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Yzarc
The Spark of Madness
Thanks. So how did the rolls go?
- Location
- USA
Saturday Rolls
2d100 for Language study (2574/5000):
(48, 34): 82
6d100 for teaching David. DC of 50
68 79 22 52 42 14: 3 Ascension rolls for David (important)
(38, 1, 60) 99/100
3d100 for Ascension rolls for yourself
34, 62, 69: 165
stage 5 reached
(158/300) for stage six
1d100+60 for Stone's project:
79+60 = 139 (complete)
1d100 for shopping DC 95 to matter (88)
1d100 for meeting with Aeter with DC of 40
39, bare fail
5d100 for studying the language
13, 98, 3, 86, 89: 289 (full bonus 420)
Saturday total: 791 (important)
1d100 for relaxing DC 95 to matter (6)
Sunday rolls
2d100 for Language study (3365/5000)
4, 63: 67+120: 187
6d100 for teaching David. DC of 50
71 4 18 51 51 97 (4 rolls)
206
Stage 1 complete, stage 2 complete
55/200
5d100 for Ascension rolls for yourself
158/300
57 18 38 30 30: 173+158
stage 5 complete
31/350 to stage six
1d100 for meeting with Aeter with DC of 40
roll 73
impact: 33
5d100 for studying the language
46 38 50 31 51: 216 + 300: 516
total Sunday: 187+516: 703
(4068/500)
1d100 for relaxing DC 95 to matter (92)
2d100 for Language study (2574/5000):
(48, 34): 82
6d100 for teaching David. DC of 50
68 79 22 52 42 14: 3 Ascension rolls for David (important)
(38, 1, 60) 99/100
3d100 for Ascension rolls for yourself
34, 62, 69: 165
stage 5 reached
(158/300) for stage six
1d100+60 for Stone's project:
79+60 = 139 (complete)
1d100 for shopping DC 95 to matter (88)
1d100 for meeting with Aeter with DC of 40
39, bare fail
5d100 for studying the language
13, 98, 3, 86, 89: 289 (full bonus 420)
Saturday total: 791 (important)
1d100 for relaxing DC 95 to matter (6)
Sunday rolls
2d100 for Language study (3365/5000)
4, 63: 67+120: 187
6d100 for teaching David. DC of 50
71 4 18 51 51 97 (4 rolls)
206
Stage 1 complete, stage 2 complete
55/200
5d100 for Ascension rolls for yourself
158/300
57 18 38 30 30: 173+158
stage 5 complete
31/350 to stage six
1d100 for meeting with Aeter with DC of 40
roll 73
impact: 33
5d100 for studying the language
46 38 50 31 51: 216 + 300: 516
total Sunday: 187+516: 703
(4068/500)
1d100 for relaxing DC 95 to matter (92)
Yzarc
The Spark of Madness
That's nice to hear. No worries, we will wait till it comes.
First weekend
- Location
- USA
Saturday
Lilian stared at David in sheer incomprehension, at the absolute nonsense that he had just said. As she began to message her forehead in a vain effort to reduce the throbbing headache that had just sparked into existence, she glared at him with all the fury she could muster. Knowing full well that tendrils of Death were creeping forth into reality,
"You are an absolute fool. I am doing this as a favor for Professor Aeter, and yet we all know that if I refused he would do nothing to intercede on your behalf. Remember that the next time you try to insult my intelligence with poorly written gibberish. The workings of Ascension has no relation to such crud, to Ascend is to enforce the weight of your Soul upon reality.
It is categorically not based in refining the body in any shape of form. Also, I know you are intelligent, so pray tell, just what made you think for a moment that the internet was a good source of mystical information? Especially, when you have a person that is quite literally older than the current map of the world, more than willing to teach you anything you want to know.
Actually, don't answer that for nothing you could say would make this any less stupid. I will break this down into simple concepts for you, since you apparently can't be trusted to not fill your head with poorly written power fantasies.
There is no tie into the elements, there is no such thing as life energy, there is definitely nothing you could find in any-" Lilian paused as she gagged before snarling out the final part of the sentence, "cultivation stories, that would mesh with reality. When you are ready to take things seriously, let me know and I might lend you some assistance." Lilian snarled as she stalked away and threw herself into the most comfortable of her chairs glaring at the stupid stupid stupid man.
As she glared at David, for daring to waste her time, she turned back to the small amount of progress she had managed to make on decoding the language that the grimoire was written in. The language was strange as it seemed to hold a sort of energy within the very symbols that were used as its letters. Pulling out her notebook, Lilian began to doodle notes on what this could mean for the language as a whole.
For a while all that could heard was the faint scratch of the pen on paper as Lilian reorganized her notes once more, yet even as she worked she took time to glare at David for good measure, Finally after several hours of David sulking in his chair staring at his feet, "Can we please start? I apologize for the unintentional insult." He muttered as he glared at his feet, in abject humiliation.
The snap of paper closing reverberated around the room as the notebook in Lilian's hand slammed shut, "Yes, I was only waiting for you to finally speak up. However, do take this lesson to heart, the internet is the last place you should look for information on this topic." As she spoke the room, darkened and lightened as death itself coalesced and dispersed as Lilian tried to make David understand the truth of the matter.
"To my knowledge, Ascension is the fusing of two disparate realms of existence. The Soul and Body, by drawing upon the Soul's energy through the medium of the Body. At least that's what I understand of the process. Beyond the simple fact that it involves the drawing of Soul energy through the body, I am in the dark.
However, I have come to a few conclusions based on the information I do have. Namely that the end point of Ascension would be the creation of a form that is both Soul and Body and neither at the same time.
Due to this rather obvious fact, several more logical conclusions can be drawn, that the Body reflects the Soul, as shown in my physical changes. I was five foot ten before I began Ascension, now I am almost six foot two, at stage four. This to me indicates that the Body is what is being changed the most by the process of Ascension. I find it reasonable to assume that after a certain point my body will match the image of my Soul at which point I will simply become more as I go further along the path." Lilian lectured as she walked around the room.
"I don't know how to really help you with Ascension. I was given an advantage in the Grimoire showing me my Soul via the binding it did, then with everything I have learned of my family it seems likely that I have had a massive advantage in the process of Ascension." Lilian confessed as she came to a stop staring down at David.
"I would like any help. Hell, I went on the internet for help. Yes, yes I know just how stupid that sounds, but I figured that if I dug deep enough I would find something useful. Although, now that I think of it I wonder if the recent surge of light novels with the cultivation power system might be tied in some way to a person that found some record of Ascension." David said highly embarrassed by his foolish Internet search, slowly turning towards curiosity as he considered the implications of someone possibly knowing of a true method of gaining power and posting it to the internet.
"Regardless, I need to find my Soul and then pull energy through my body to begin the process? Any tips on how to find my Soul?" David asked as he looked up from the ground and leaving his pondering for another time. As he looked upon Lilian the only thing he could think was just how different she was in appearance from only a few days ago. For contrary to the appearance of lackadaisical nature, he was always careful to notice everyone in all of his classes. Now, as he looked upon Lilian from a close distance without being otherwise distracted it was obvious that she wasn't human anymore.
Her eyes all but glowed a blood red, set into a face that was too perfect to be purely human. Her face held all the best parts of beauty, crowed by shining silver hair cascading down her back. Yet, where he expected to find discomfort from the uncanny valley there was none for she was too perfect to be so imperfect that would trigger the effect. Suddenly, he remembered just how close he was to her unnatural beauty and stumbled backwards, breaking the spell that had so easily entrapped his mind.
"Is something wrong?" David shuddered as his mind couldn't help but listen for the undertones of her voice, hearing the call of the endless sleep. Under the words she had spoken, a soft whisper carried words of different meaning to his ear, ghosting over his mind with promises for eternal rest and peace if only he let go of himself to its seductive promises.
"Nothing, beyond me realizing just how different you are in appearance from only a few days ago. Your body is frankly, inhumanly beautiful and your face is as well. I nearly got trapped just by watching you move, granted I was within a yard of you, but even from here I can still feel the attraction of your body calling to me. Your voice has at least two layers too it now, one echoing with the lure of endless sleep and the other making promises of eternal bliss if I just let go of myself." David stammered out as he tore his eyes from Lilian's form and stared pointedly at a spot on the wall furthest from her.
Lilian frowned at his words, before darting into her room to examine herself in the mirror. As she stood in front of the mirror, her mind simply halted for a moment as it tried to reconcile what she was seeing with what she knew she looked like. She looked like an idealized version of herself, every single aspect improved beyond human limits. She had read countless times in fantasy books of impossibly beautiful beings, that were never truly described and now she understood why. For looking at her reflection it would be impossible to truly describe her any more, select features could be identified, but the whole the aggregate of her appearance belied description.
Walking out of the room trying desperately to unify the reality of now with the past of only a few days ago. Lilian turned all of her focus towards the task at hand namely how to teach a person that couldn't feel their Soul how to do so.
"I think the best chance for you to find your Soul is for me to draw upon mine and try to resonate with yours. I can feel a small connection between us, which might allow you to feel your Soul reacting to mine." Lilian spoke carefully, as she took a seat upon the ground looking up at David.
As she spoke she began to draw upon the energy of her Soul, letting the energy course through her flesh. Yet, unlike before where it was simply dedicated to furthering the infusion of power within her form, this time a large portion of the energy was expelled into the air. Bolts of crackling silver and blood red energy lashed forth from Lilian's form as the aura of her Soul became manifest upon the plane of reality for a time.
Even as the bolts of pure energy lashed outward they bent to her will and twisted around each other cascading into braided spirals of power that faded away into sparks and then into nothingness as the force of reality pushed back against the act. For David, it was the first time he had seen true proof of what the professor had spoken of and what Lilian had told him, even as he wanted to believe it was hard to accept that everything he knew was wrong on such a fundamental level, but now as bolts of pure energy flashed through the air he could truly believe in Ascension.
If professor Aeter had been thin the room, he would have felt the tremendous amount of power that Lilian was realizing into the air, as the very air of the room began to warp and twist under the aura of a new born Goddess. Yet, unlike a true born God, Lilian was still human at heart and thus constrained to the mortal realm as reality enforced its rules against her might.
In the end, reality's efforts were futile for Lilian's actions had born fruit as David could feel something deep inside of his mind responding to the energy flooding the room. With unsteady thoughts and will, he reached across a border of unknown dimensions and unrealized existence to grasp something that was both perfect and wrong for he had felt his Soul and he knew in that moment that humans were never meant to Ascend.
As he began to pull upon his now revealed and touched Soul, energy of crackling energy tore through his body in a torrent of agony that surpassed every single injury he had ever felt. Bones shattered, muscles tore, tendons disintegrated, all under the fury of his Soul's energy as it raced to build his body anew. From the shattered parts of his form, matter was created and shaped by the raging energy, building his body again stronger than ever before. Yet, just before the moment of true Ascension, the energy halted in its work for he lost control for a mere instant and that was all that was needed for Reality to deny his path forward for now.
Groaning in lingering pain, David could feel his body as if it was a thousand miles away as the nerves tried in vain to reconnect with his mind from the ravages that his Soul had inflicted. "You did better than my first time." Lilian's voice cut through the cloud of total exhaustion and pain that gripped his mind as she yanked him to his feet.
Stumbling to a chair as she released his hand, David could only put his head in his hands to wait for the room to stop spinning chaotically around him. "If I had known it would hurt this fucking much, I would have refused to do this at all." David gasped out in between involuntary gasping breaths as his lungs tried desperately to bring in enough oxygen. "I didn't know it would hurt that much. I did hurt some, but …." Lilian spoke before trailing off as she tried to figure out just why David had suffered much more than she had in the early stages of the process.
"Are you okay, or do you need something?" Lilian asked as she checked over David trying to see if anything had gone truly wrong. With a shudder, he simply shook his head, "Beyond time, I don't think anything will help. My head is killing me" he moaned as he put his head in his hands once more, squeezing his eyes shut. Lilian just stood their awkwardly as she tried to think of something to say, but in the end decided that it was better to leave him be for now.
Leaving the room quietly, she turned off the lights, hoping that it would share some symptoms with migraines. Reaching her desk, she pulled out the packet with Stone's project in it and her and David's work so far done on it. Letting herself sink into the overly comfortable chair that she had at her desk she began to work on the project.
Although it was meant to be difficult and time consuming with the notes that David had made and the sheer amount of progress that she herself had made, it was more than quickly bashed into completion. Her part fully completed and David's awaiting his touch to reformat her work into his own work, although with a smug smile she considered the amount of work that David would have to do to finish his part to be less than an hour of work.
Stepping aside from the now finished project, Lilian slipped back into the darkened room to see David still cradling his head in his hands, in obvious pain. Deciding that he would be fine for a while, Lilian left with silent steps. Deciding that now was the best time to go and buy new clothes for herself and for the coming weeks.
An hour later, she returned to her home, finding David asleep in the chair that she had left him in. A frown twisted her face as she looked at him, for this far beyond what she had suffered in the beginning. Sure it had hurt and caused massive amounts of pain but it wasn't debilitating as it seemed to be for David. Ghosting into her room, to put away the new cloths and retrieve her phone it was only a matter of a few minutes to call Professor Aeter and set up a meeting tomorrow in his office at the college.
Time ticked on by as Lilian continued her study of the language of the grimoire. Checking in on David every hour to ensure that his condition hadn't changed. Finding that his body had been changing over the course of hours, muscles growing, bones shifting and more, every aspect of his body had changed massively in only a few hours of life. As she noticed this it was no wonder that he was in such unimaginable pain as his very body ripped itself apart to rebuild according to a new design.
Yet, still the stillness that was broken only by flesh shifting was disturbing on a fundamental level. For there was nothing that could explain the flesh shifting as it did on his form, writhing like snakes beneath the skin as muscles reconnected in new shapes and forms. As the Soul forced its way into reality, rejecting the limitations of normal existence.
Finally, after several hours of watching David, he finally relaxed yet still did not awaken. As the clock showed that it was ten in the night, Lilian decided that it was time to call the day over. Extracting from her closest, blankets and pillows she carefully set up a bed from the items on the floor of the living room which David was then lowered into. "I hope you are better tomorrow." Lilian whispered as she entered her bed room to sleep until the morning.
Sunday
Lilian stretched as she stood up from reading the grimoire once more. As the time had come to see about waking up David and hoping that the pain had reduced itself to more manageable levels. Slipping into the room in which she had set up the impromptu bed for him after the disastrous Ascension attempted yesterday finding to her relief him sitting up looking at his hands.
"You seriously didn't consider giving me any warning about just how much that would hurt? It is strange. I can recall the pain perfectly yet, I have not been driven insane by the sheer amount of pain. I can only assume that it is the Soul protecting my mind, from the damage it caused.
Which is perfectly clear in just how calm I am right now. I should be lashing out in a berserk rage, completely lost to flight of fight response or catatonic from the pain that I suffered from, but if anything I am calmer than normal." David spoke in a voice devoid of emotion as he looked up as Lilian entered the room. As he spoke, his eyes began to come alive once more as emotions creeped back into his words towards the end of his speech.
Pushing himself off the floor, sending the blankets and pillows flying away, straightening out his rumpled cloths as he stood up. "So, time to continue the adventures of how to get a person to torture themselves, I take it?" David jovially spoke as he came to stand before Lilian, keeping his eyes from staying still to avoid being drawn into the trap that was her beauty.
"If you are willing to do so, then yes." Lilian warily said as she took a small step away from the potentially unstable person. David simply settled down as he noticed her reaction, pouting a bit as he became more serious and took a seat on the ground.
Taking his action as being willing to continue, Lilian slowly took a seat on the floor and opened the door to her Soul. Once more the red and silver bolts of energy raced forth into the room as Lilian's Soul was unleashed. Only this time something was different, as Lilian sank into the depths of the trance in which she drew upon her Soul, another force awakened.
Within her heart, shards of energy born of an existence forged long ago in the heart of the creation of all, began to stir. Blood long ago touched by one beyond the limits of reality, began to awaken to its true nature as the energy of the mystical raced through it bringing to life the past. Past and present merged and separated, under the strain of what was and what is. Bolts of Death joined the dance of energy as the process continued unabated.
Minute shards of her Soul were forged in this moment, as the heritage that was hers to command became awakened. Reality screamed in rage born of being denied, its rightful dominion over one born of it lost as they cast aside its limits for the power of another realm. Across the universe the scream took effect for balance of sorts must be maintained, stars died and collapsed, black holes; remnants of long dead stars and being of far greater power shattered apart as the singularities at their core were sundered. Matter and energy raced across the universe at speeds beyond that of light as the laws of reality were challenged and for a mere instant broken and tossed aside.
Then the world shook, as all of reality reasserted itself. The laws of reality so recently sundered were forced back into alignment and from this harsh reconciliation of natures come another response from within the universe. Stars and planets alike shuddered, upon the surface of Earth earthquakes shook the world as cities collapsed and volcanoes erupted even as the oceans formed waves of immense height. All from the simple event of one, whose family was long since touched by a greater power, awakening to their heritage.
Yet, Lilian didn't yet know of the damage she had inadvertently caused the world and the universe at large, all she knew was that a new sense of Power had blazed into life in her heart. Yet, then came a burst of power from David as he shattered the barriers in his way, becoming more than before, pain racked his body yet far less than before for the first stage was the worst of them all. Yet, even past the first, pain was still the companion of all those that walked this path.
Deciding that it would be unlikely for him to be able to function for a time to come, Lilian turned away from expressing power into the air. The bowls of energy faded away as the energy of her Soul was called forth as before. Energy coursed within her body as time became unknowable for everything was the sense of power and tension for the new font of Power grew in time with each pulse of the surging energy and her heart.
The shards growing relentlessly, forcing the dominance of reality ever further afield, for her Soul was now manifest upon the material realm. Shards of its power undiluted by the borders or order and chaos, unbound by the barriers that reality has enforced upon all born of its existence. For now the shards were minute and weak, yet as they drunk freely from the raging torrent of energy racing through her form, it was clear that soon they would become greater than before.
In the end the alarm rang, breaking Lilian free of her concentration upon drawing the power of her Soul free. As she stretched and relaxed her tense muscles, she spied the clock on the wall and realized that it was time to meet Professor Aeter for the conversation that she had set up with him yesterday.
The aged door slid open as Lilian entered into the anachronistic office, seeing professor Aeter sitting behind his desk grading a shelf of papers. On the wall behind him, hung in a place of significance was what could only be a simple hand crafted stone hand tool. Built in the model of the very first tools that were ever used by humans. Next to it were other more refined and specialized tools that were hung in sets of matching items.
Yet, the tools weren't the only part of the office that seemed out of place, everything was fashioned from wood with no sign of cutting and fitting. "I see you have noticed my tools." Aeter some with a faint smile as he looked up from the grading of the papers.
Turning to face the case with all of the stone tools held within, his eyes seemed to mist over for a few minutes. "I have lived for over one hundred and forty thousand years, yet in all that time I have never forgotten my past. I can still remember the day when my father taught me how to fashion my first tool, and when my mother was killed by a wild animal. I have kept these mementoes of my history to both remind me of my past and to understand just how far we have come." He whispered as he looked at the tools, yet Lilian could hear his words and could feel the emotion present within them.
"The perspective that age grants is one that is simply impossible for a human to understand. I have seen the highest highs and the lowest lows across history. I watched as we exited Africa and left on a great migration, I was there when the Neanderthals were driven into starvation. I have seen thousands upon thousands of generations die in all possible manners.
Do you understand why I stopped Ascending?" His voice echoed unnaturally as he asked the question. Even as emotions were infused into his tone as he spoke of what it meant to live as long as he had.
"No, I don't know why you stopped walking the path." Lilian answered with confusion present in her voice.
"You would not. Your Soul and Body resonate with the process, it is in your heritage and nature to Ascend. For you to not would be akin to a normal human finishing the path. Possible but oh so unlikely.
I stopped Ascending for what point was there? My lifespan is beast measured in millions of years, I will exist to see the Sun die in all likelihood. I will see the end of humanity in some form or another. What would the point be to Ascend further than where I am?
That is the revelation that almost all mortal practitioners discover. At a certain point we all realize that we will outlive everything, and yet we are merely on the first stage of the full path. What would the point be to complete the stages? What would we gain?
Power? Bah, even at the fifty second stage, I have enough power to conquer Earth as it stands today. No weapon ever created by human hands in this layer could bruise my skin, my fists hold more power than the largest nuke ever fashioned. It would as simple as punching the air with all of my strength to trigger a fusion event, strong enough to wipe clean a an appreciable fraction of the Earth.
For this layer of reality, I am already a God. What would I even do with more power? I have no more need for power, it is that simple.
I and more than ninety nine percent of all walkers of the path come to this conclusion and we simply stop Ascending at one point or another. Remaining on this layer full time and simply remaining in the shadows of life.
There are thousands of people like me scattered across the world. Yet, we seek no control over the world and its people. For the simple reason that we have seen how it goes. In the early days of history, Ascendants ruled over villages and took children to push along the path. Unfortunately, none of us understood just how that would cascade over the years. Culminating in a caste system of might makes right, when we saw the results of our actions it was the needed wake up call." Aeter looked down at his hands as his voice becomes ever more somber.
"I..I was forced to tear bodily apart some of those I considered my own children, when I found them torturing others I had deemed unable to walk the path. Now, eons later I understand where we went wrong, but the pain of that betray of our teaching and reasons aches in every single one of our hearts.
The Soul is fused to the Body and the Body to the Soul. The Soul enforces its design upon the Body to prepare for the merging. What we didn't, couldn't know was that the Soul was shaped by the mind. When we took children younger than six as our students we had made a grievous mistake. We had thought that the younger they were the easier they would bounce back from the torment of Ascending.
We were wrong, their Souls were unable to shield their minds and children are the worst bullies. Looking back it was only a matter of time before they became what they did, but we thought we were doing what was needed. Instead, all we created were beings of childish cruelty and bereft of logic born of age.
Ever since that event, we that call ourselves the Ancients, have sworn to never again meddle in the affairs of the mortal humans. We watch from the side, ensuring that Earth remains safe from any that might seek to return us to those early days of horror." Aeter collapsed onto his chair with tears streaming down his face which seemed to have aged centuries as he brought memories of a long since past time to the fore.
Pulling himself back together, Aeter wiped away the tears with a tissue as he began to speak once more in a tone wracked with pain, "I lied, on Friday. I didn't come here for David, I came because of the Grimoire that manifested in this location. David, is simply a pawn to move as much as I hate it.
I wanted him trained in order to help hide your existence. If you die then the Dullahan's mantle will fall into the cycle of Incarnation. Which could spell the end of all things, I can feel that you have only access to a small fraction of the mantle's full power, and yet it is enough to wipe away most of the galaxy with a thought it is it not.
If it requires one of my descendants to die in order to persevere your life, it would be a good trade. David was to be a fully mundane existence, he would never achieve anything of note on the grand scale, nor would any of his descendants out to the twentieth generation achieve anything either. In the end, the calculation was clear. Sacrifice him for you, a meaningless life vs the life of an Incarnated God.
This is what I most truly loathe about my age, I can feel, oh can I feel just how much I hate this. Even though he is my descendant of over a thousand generations removed, I still feel a form of familial care for his life, yet at the same time my duty as an Ancient requires me to act in the best interest of all of reality, with no pardon given to any desire for selfishness.
I know all the arguments, I know all their counters. If I was younger I might be able to delude myself about the need of his Sacrifice, but I can't. I know what must be done and it will be done. That is the true curse of being an Ascendant, we remain human in emotion yet we lose the delusions that allow humans to act in accordance with selfishness." Professor Aeter wound down as his voice that had started off choked with emotion, began to slowly die into a harsh monotone that seemed almost robotic in nature.
Taking a seat in front of his desk, Lilian wondered what she could say, or if she could say anything to make him feel better, for it was fairly clear that time hadn't been kind to Professor Aeter. Deciding that it would be best to leave the now weeping man alone for time time being Lilian silently left the room, making sure to close the door such that non one would see him crying.
The rest of the day was a repeat of Saturday in that she simply made sure that David was healing well, although the knowledge that he was a sacrificial pawn left a sour taste in her mouth, but in the end it had been his own choice to continue the path. The only other event of note was the fact that she finally managed to crack the general rules of the language, and was now at the point of only needing to figure out how to actually write the sigils but the grammar had been completed.
Full week turn. Total action count 6am to 10pm 80 actions in total, 16 per day. Can make day scale plans by labeling them with days
Example:
[] Monday
-[] ————-ect
[] Tuesday
-[] ----------
[] Go running (might find stuff)
-[] time
-[] actions
[] research what the hell is going on
-[] time
-[] actions
-[] topic
[] Preform Ascension (31/350) (Stage 6)
-[] time
-[] actions
[] Study the Language of the tome (4068/5000)
-[] time
-[] actions
[] Go to work (income of $12 dollars per hour spent) (6pm to 10pm)
-[] 4 actions
[] learn a Technique
-[] time
-[] actions
-[] Technique
-[] Paradoxical Finality (27/2000)
[] Socialize with random people (might find possible allies, reduce stress)
-[] time
-[] actions
[] spend time relaxing (lower stress and improve mental state)
-[] time
-[] actions
[] meet up with the running club (1 hour)
-[] time
-[] actions
[] Assist in rebuilding (this is an interlude of sorts, restricted action options, allows world travel)
-[] time
-[] actions (Minimum of 48 actions in a row)
[] Help David Ascend
-[] time
-[] actions
[] look for a better job
-[] time
-[] actions
[] meet with Professor Aeter
-[] time
-[] actions
[] Browse Professor Aeter's Library
-[] time
-[] actions
Day Specific Actions
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
[] Skip Class (gain 4 actions per time taken)
[] Go to Class (10am to 2pm, 4 actions)
AN: this took forever to write, as it just didn't want to work
Lilian stared at David in sheer incomprehension, at the absolute nonsense that he had just said. As she began to message her forehead in a vain effort to reduce the throbbing headache that had just sparked into existence, she glared at him with all the fury she could muster. Knowing full well that tendrils of Death were creeping forth into reality,
"You are an absolute fool. I am doing this as a favor for Professor Aeter, and yet we all know that if I refused he would do nothing to intercede on your behalf. Remember that the next time you try to insult my intelligence with poorly written gibberish. The workings of Ascension has no relation to such crud, to Ascend is to enforce the weight of your Soul upon reality.
It is categorically not based in refining the body in any shape of form. Also, I know you are intelligent, so pray tell, just what made you think for a moment that the internet was a good source of mystical information? Especially, when you have a person that is quite literally older than the current map of the world, more than willing to teach you anything you want to know.
Actually, don't answer that for nothing you could say would make this any less stupid. I will break this down into simple concepts for you, since you apparently can't be trusted to not fill your head with poorly written power fantasies.
There is no tie into the elements, there is no such thing as life energy, there is definitely nothing you could find in any-" Lilian paused as she gagged before snarling out the final part of the sentence, "cultivation stories, that would mesh with reality. When you are ready to take things seriously, let me know and I might lend you some assistance." Lilian snarled as she stalked away and threw herself into the most comfortable of her chairs glaring at the stupid stupid stupid man.
As she glared at David, for daring to waste her time, she turned back to the small amount of progress she had managed to make on decoding the language that the grimoire was written in. The language was strange as it seemed to hold a sort of energy within the very symbols that were used as its letters. Pulling out her notebook, Lilian began to doodle notes on what this could mean for the language as a whole.
For a while all that could heard was the faint scratch of the pen on paper as Lilian reorganized her notes once more, yet even as she worked she took time to glare at David for good measure, Finally after several hours of David sulking in his chair staring at his feet, "Can we please start? I apologize for the unintentional insult." He muttered as he glared at his feet, in abject humiliation.
The snap of paper closing reverberated around the room as the notebook in Lilian's hand slammed shut, "Yes, I was only waiting for you to finally speak up. However, do take this lesson to heart, the internet is the last place you should look for information on this topic." As she spoke the room, darkened and lightened as death itself coalesced and dispersed as Lilian tried to make David understand the truth of the matter.
"To my knowledge, Ascension is the fusing of two disparate realms of existence. The Soul and Body, by drawing upon the Soul's energy through the medium of the Body. At least that's what I understand of the process. Beyond the simple fact that it involves the drawing of Soul energy through the body, I am in the dark.
However, I have come to a few conclusions based on the information I do have. Namely that the end point of Ascension would be the creation of a form that is both Soul and Body and neither at the same time.
Due to this rather obvious fact, several more logical conclusions can be drawn, that the Body reflects the Soul, as shown in my physical changes. I was five foot ten before I began Ascension, now I am almost six foot two, at stage four. This to me indicates that the Body is what is being changed the most by the process of Ascension. I find it reasonable to assume that after a certain point my body will match the image of my Soul at which point I will simply become more as I go further along the path." Lilian lectured as she walked around the room.
"I don't know how to really help you with Ascension. I was given an advantage in the Grimoire showing me my Soul via the binding it did, then with everything I have learned of my family it seems likely that I have had a massive advantage in the process of Ascension." Lilian confessed as she came to a stop staring down at David.
"I would like any help. Hell, I went on the internet for help. Yes, yes I know just how stupid that sounds, but I figured that if I dug deep enough I would find something useful. Although, now that I think of it I wonder if the recent surge of light novels with the cultivation power system might be tied in some way to a person that found some record of Ascension." David said highly embarrassed by his foolish Internet search, slowly turning towards curiosity as he considered the implications of someone possibly knowing of a true method of gaining power and posting it to the internet.
"Regardless, I need to find my Soul and then pull energy through my body to begin the process? Any tips on how to find my Soul?" David asked as he looked up from the ground and leaving his pondering for another time. As he looked upon Lilian the only thing he could think was just how different she was in appearance from only a few days ago. For contrary to the appearance of lackadaisical nature, he was always careful to notice everyone in all of his classes. Now, as he looked upon Lilian from a close distance without being otherwise distracted it was obvious that she wasn't human anymore.
Her eyes all but glowed a blood red, set into a face that was too perfect to be purely human. Her face held all the best parts of beauty, crowed by shining silver hair cascading down her back. Yet, where he expected to find discomfort from the uncanny valley there was none for she was too perfect to be so imperfect that would trigger the effect. Suddenly, he remembered just how close he was to her unnatural beauty and stumbled backwards, breaking the spell that had so easily entrapped his mind.
"Is something wrong?" David shuddered as his mind couldn't help but listen for the undertones of her voice, hearing the call of the endless sleep. Under the words she had spoken, a soft whisper carried words of different meaning to his ear, ghosting over his mind with promises for eternal rest and peace if only he let go of himself to its seductive promises.
"Nothing, beyond me realizing just how different you are in appearance from only a few days ago. Your body is frankly, inhumanly beautiful and your face is as well. I nearly got trapped just by watching you move, granted I was within a yard of you, but even from here I can still feel the attraction of your body calling to me. Your voice has at least two layers too it now, one echoing with the lure of endless sleep and the other making promises of eternal bliss if I just let go of myself." David stammered out as he tore his eyes from Lilian's form and stared pointedly at a spot on the wall furthest from her.
Lilian frowned at his words, before darting into her room to examine herself in the mirror. As she stood in front of the mirror, her mind simply halted for a moment as it tried to reconcile what she was seeing with what she knew she looked like. She looked like an idealized version of herself, every single aspect improved beyond human limits. She had read countless times in fantasy books of impossibly beautiful beings, that were never truly described and now she understood why. For looking at her reflection it would be impossible to truly describe her any more, select features could be identified, but the whole the aggregate of her appearance belied description.
Walking out of the room trying desperately to unify the reality of now with the past of only a few days ago. Lilian turned all of her focus towards the task at hand namely how to teach a person that couldn't feel their Soul how to do so.
"I think the best chance for you to find your Soul is for me to draw upon mine and try to resonate with yours. I can feel a small connection between us, which might allow you to feel your Soul reacting to mine." Lilian spoke carefully, as she took a seat upon the ground looking up at David.
As she spoke she began to draw upon the energy of her Soul, letting the energy course through her flesh. Yet, unlike before where it was simply dedicated to furthering the infusion of power within her form, this time a large portion of the energy was expelled into the air. Bolts of crackling silver and blood red energy lashed forth from Lilian's form as the aura of her Soul became manifest upon the plane of reality for a time.
Even as the bolts of pure energy lashed outward they bent to her will and twisted around each other cascading into braided spirals of power that faded away into sparks and then into nothingness as the force of reality pushed back against the act. For David, it was the first time he had seen true proof of what the professor had spoken of and what Lilian had told him, even as he wanted to believe it was hard to accept that everything he knew was wrong on such a fundamental level, but now as bolts of pure energy flashed through the air he could truly believe in Ascension.
If professor Aeter had been thin the room, he would have felt the tremendous amount of power that Lilian was realizing into the air, as the very air of the room began to warp and twist under the aura of a new born Goddess. Yet, unlike a true born God, Lilian was still human at heart and thus constrained to the mortal realm as reality enforced its rules against her might.
In the end, reality's efforts were futile for Lilian's actions had born fruit as David could feel something deep inside of his mind responding to the energy flooding the room. With unsteady thoughts and will, he reached across a border of unknown dimensions and unrealized existence to grasp something that was both perfect and wrong for he had felt his Soul and he knew in that moment that humans were never meant to Ascend.
As he began to pull upon his now revealed and touched Soul, energy of crackling energy tore through his body in a torrent of agony that surpassed every single injury he had ever felt. Bones shattered, muscles tore, tendons disintegrated, all under the fury of his Soul's energy as it raced to build his body anew. From the shattered parts of his form, matter was created and shaped by the raging energy, building his body again stronger than ever before. Yet, just before the moment of true Ascension, the energy halted in its work for he lost control for a mere instant and that was all that was needed for Reality to deny his path forward for now.
Groaning in lingering pain, David could feel his body as if it was a thousand miles away as the nerves tried in vain to reconnect with his mind from the ravages that his Soul had inflicted. "You did better than my first time." Lilian's voice cut through the cloud of total exhaustion and pain that gripped his mind as she yanked him to his feet.
Stumbling to a chair as she released his hand, David could only put his head in his hands to wait for the room to stop spinning chaotically around him. "If I had known it would hurt this fucking much, I would have refused to do this at all." David gasped out in between involuntary gasping breaths as his lungs tried desperately to bring in enough oxygen. "I didn't know it would hurt that much. I did hurt some, but …." Lilian spoke before trailing off as she tried to figure out just why David had suffered much more than she had in the early stages of the process.
"Are you okay, or do you need something?" Lilian asked as she checked over David trying to see if anything had gone truly wrong. With a shudder, he simply shook his head, "Beyond time, I don't think anything will help. My head is killing me" he moaned as he put his head in his hands once more, squeezing his eyes shut. Lilian just stood their awkwardly as she tried to think of something to say, but in the end decided that it was better to leave him be for now.
Leaving the room quietly, she turned off the lights, hoping that it would share some symptoms with migraines. Reaching her desk, she pulled out the packet with Stone's project in it and her and David's work so far done on it. Letting herself sink into the overly comfortable chair that she had at her desk she began to work on the project.
Although it was meant to be difficult and time consuming with the notes that David had made and the sheer amount of progress that she herself had made, it was more than quickly bashed into completion. Her part fully completed and David's awaiting his touch to reformat her work into his own work, although with a smug smile she considered the amount of work that David would have to do to finish his part to be less than an hour of work.
Stepping aside from the now finished project, Lilian slipped back into the darkened room to see David still cradling his head in his hands, in obvious pain. Deciding that he would be fine for a while, Lilian left with silent steps. Deciding that now was the best time to go and buy new clothes for herself and for the coming weeks.
An hour later, she returned to her home, finding David asleep in the chair that she had left him in. A frown twisted her face as she looked at him, for this far beyond what she had suffered in the beginning. Sure it had hurt and caused massive amounts of pain but it wasn't debilitating as it seemed to be for David. Ghosting into her room, to put away the new cloths and retrieve her phone it was only a matter of a few minutes to call Professor Aeter and set up a meeting tomorrow in his office at the college.
Time ticked on by as Lilian continued her study of the language of the grimoire. Checking in on David every hour to ensure that his condition hadn't changed. Finding that his body had been changing over the course of hours, muscles growing, bones shifting and more, every aspect of his body had changed massively in only a few hours of life. As she noticed this it was no wonder that he was in such unimaginable pain as his very body ripped itself apart to rebuild according to a new design.
Yet, still the stillness that was broken only by flesh shifting was disturbing on a fundamental level. For there was nothing that could explain the flesh shifting as it did on his form, writhing like snakes beneath the skin as muscles reconnected in new shapes and forms. As the Soul forced its way into reality, rejecting the limitations of normal existence.
Finally, after several hours of watching David, he finally relaxed yet still did not awaken. As the clock showed that it was ten in the night, Lilian decided that it was time to call the day over. Extracting from her closest, blankets and pillows she carefully set up a bed from the items on the floor of the living room which David was then lowered into. "I hope you are better tomorrow." Lilian whispered as she entered her bed room to sleep until the morning.
Sunday
Lilian stretched as she stood up from reading the grimoire once more. As the time had come to see about waking up David and hoping that the pain had reduced itself to more manageable levels. Slipping into the room in which she had set up the impromptu bed for him after the disastrous Ascension attempted yesterday finding to her relief him sitting up looking at his hands.
"You seriously didn't consider giving me any warning about just how much that would hurt? It is strange. I can recall the pain perfectly yet, I have not been driven insane by the sheer amount of pain. I can only assume that it is the Soul protecting my mind, from the damage it caused.
Which is perfectly clear in just how calm I am right now. I should be lashing out in a berserk rage, completely lost to flight of fight response or catatonic from the pain that I suffered from, but if anything I am calmer than normal." David spoke in a voice devoid of emotion as he looked up as Lilian entered the room. As he spoke, his eyes began to come alive once more as emotions creeped back into his words towards the end of his speech.
Pushing himself off the floor, sending the blankets and pillows flying away, straightening out his rumpled cloths as he stood up. "So, time to continue the adventures of how to get a person to torture themselves, I take it?" David jovially spoke as he came to stand before Lilian, keeping his eyes from staying still to avoid being drawn into the trap that was her beauty.
"If you are willing to do so, then yes." Lilian warily said as she took a small step away from the potentially unstable person. David simply settled down as he noticed her reaction, pouting a bit as he became more serious and took a seat on the ground.
Taking his action as being willing to continue, Lilian slowly took a seat on the floor and opened the door to her Soul. Once more the red and silver bolts of energy raced forth into the room as Lilian's Soul was unleashed. Only this time something was different, as Lilian sank into the depths of the trance in which she drew upon her Soul, another force awakened.
Within her heart, shards of energy born of an existence forged long ago in the heart of the creation of all, began to stir. Blood long ago touched by one beyond the limits of reality, began to awaken to its true nature as the energy of the mystical raced through it bringing to life the past. Past and present merged and separated, under the strain of what was and what is. Bolts of Death joined the dance of energy as the process continued unabated.
Minute shards of her Soul were forged in this moment, as the heritage that was hers to command became awakened. Reality screamed in rage born of being denied, its rightful dominion over one born of it lost as they cast aside its limits for the power of another realm. Across the universe the scream took effect for balance of sorts must be maintained, stars died and collapsed, black holes; remnants of long dead stars and being of far greater power shattered apart as the singularities at their core were sundered. Matter and energy raced across the universe at speeds beyond that of light as the laws of reality were challenged and for a mere instant broken and tossed aside.
Then the world shook, as all of reality reasserted itself. The laws of reality so recently sundered were forced back into alignment and from this harsh reconciliation of natures come another response from within the universe. Stars and planets alike shuddered, upon the surface of Earth earthquakes shook the world as cities collapsed and volcanoes erupted even as the oceans formed waves of immense height. All from the simple event of one, whose family was long since touched by a greater power, awakening to their heritage.
Yet, Lilian didn't yet know of the damage she had inadvertently caused the world and the universe at large, all she knew was that a new sense of Power had blazed into life in her heart. Yet, then came a burst of power from David as he shattered the barriers in his way, becoming more than before, pain racked his body yet far less than before for the first stage was the worst of them all. Yet, even past the first, pain was still the companion of all those that walked this path.
Deciding that it would be unlikely for him to be able to function for a time to come, Lilian turned away from expressing power into the air. The bowls of energy faded away as the energy of her Soul was called forth as before. Energy coursed within her body as time became unknowable for everything was the sense of power and tension for the new font of Power grew in time with each pulse of the surging energy and her heart.
The shards growing relentlessly, forcing the dominance of reality ever further afield, for her Soul was now manifest upon the material realm. Shards of its power undiluted by the borders or order and chaos, unbound by the barriers that reality has enforced upon all born of its existence. For now the shards were minute and weak, yet as they drunk freely from the raging torrent of energy racing through her form, it was clear that soon they would become greater than before.
In the end the alarm rang, breaking Lilian free of her concentration upon drawing the power of her Soul free. As she stretched and relaxed her tense muscles, she spied the clock on the wall and realized that it was time to meet Professor Aeter for the conversation that she had set up with him yesterday.
The aged door slid open as Lilian entered into the anachronistic office, seeing professor Aeter sitting behind his desk grading a shelf of papers. On the wall behind him, hung in a place of significance was what could only be a simple hand crafted stone hand tool. Built in the model of the very first tools that were ever used by humans. Next to it were other more refined and specialized tools that were hung in sets of matching items.
Yet, the tools weren't the only part of the office that seemed out of place, everything was fashioned from wood with no sign of cutting and fitting. "I see you have noticed my tools." Aeter some with a faint smile as he looked up from the grading of the papers.
Turning to face the case with all of the stone tools held within, his eyes seemed to mist over for a few minutes. "I have lived for over one hundred and forty thousand years, yet in all that time I have never forgotten my past. I can still remember the day when my father taught me how to fashion my first tool, and when my mother was killed by a wild animal. I have kept these mementoes of my history to both remind me of my past and to understand just how far we have come." He whispered as he looked at the tools, yet Lilian could hear his words and could feel the emotion present within them.
"The perspective that age grants is one that is simply impossible for a human to understand. I have seen the highest highs and the lowest lows across history. I watched as we exited Africa and left on a great migration, I was there when the Neanderthals were driven into starvation. I have seen thousands upon thousands of generations die in all possible manners.
Do you understand why I stopped Ascending?" His voice echoed unnaturally as he asked the question. Even as emotions were infused into his tone as he spoke of what it meant to live as long as he had.
"No, I don't know why you stopped walking the path." Lilian answered with confusion present in her voice.
"You would not. Your Soul and Body resonate with the process, it is in your heritage and nature to Ascend. For you to not would be akin to a normal human finishing the path. Possible but oh so unlikely.
I stopped Ascending for what point was there? My lifespan is beast measured in millions of years, I will exist to see the Sun die in all likelihood. I will see the end of humanity in some form or another. What would the point be to Ascend further than where I am?
That is the revelation that almost all mortal practitioners discover. At a certain point we all realize that we will outlive everything, and yet we are merely on the first stage of the full path. What would the point be to complete the stages? What would we gain?
Power? Bah, even at the fifty second stage, I have enough power to conquer Earth as it stands today. No weapon ever created by human hands in this layer could bruise my skin, my fists hold more power than the largest nuke ever fashioned. It would as simple as punching the air with all of my strength to trigger a fusion event, strong enough to wipe clean a an appreciable fraction of the Earth.
For this layer of reality, I am already a God. What would I even do with more power? I have no more need for power, it is that simple.
I and more than ninety nine percent of all walkers of the path come to this conclusion and we simply stop Ascending at one point or another. Remaining on this layer full time and simply remaining in the shadows of life.
There are thousands of people like me scattered across the world. Yet, we seek no control over the world and its people. For the simple reason that we have seen how it goes. In the early days of history, Ascendants ruled over villages and took children to push along the path. Unfortunately, none of us understood just how that would cascade over the years. Culminating in a caste system of might makes right, when we saw the results of our actions it was the needed wake up call." Aeter looked down at his hands as his voice becomes ever more somber.
"I..I was forced to tear bodily apart some of those I considered my own children, when I found them torturing others I had deemed unable to walk the path. Now, eons later I understand where we went wrong, but the pain of that betray of our teaching and reasons aches in every single one of our hearts.
The Soul is fused to the Body and the Body to the Soul. The Soul enforces its design upon the Body to prepare for the merging. What we didn't, couldn't know was that the Soul was shaped by the mind. When we took children younger than six as our students we had made a grievous mistake. We had thought that the younger they were the easier they would bounce back from the torment of Ascending.
We were wrong, their Souls were unable to shield their minds and children are the worst bullies. Looking back it was only a matter of time before they became what they did, but we thought we were doing what was needed. Instead, all we created were beings of childish cruelty and bereft of logic born of age.
Ever since that event, we that call ourselves the Ancients, have sworn to never again meddle in the affairs of the mortal humans. We watch from the side, ensuring that Earth remains safe from any that might seek to return us to those early days of horror." Aeter collapsed onto his chair with tears streaming down his face which seemed to have aged centuries as he brought memories of a long since past time to the fore.
Pulling himself back together, Aeter wiped away the tears with a tissue as he began to speak once more in a tone wracked with pain, "I lied, on Friday. I didn't come here for David, I came because of the Grimoire that manifested in this location. David, is simply a pawn to move as much as I hate it.
I wanted him trained in order to help hide your existence. If you die then the Dullahan's mantle will fall into the cycle of Incarnation. Which could spell the end of all things, I can feel that you have only access to a small fraction of the mantle's full power, and yet it is enough to wipe away most of the galaxy with a thought it is it not.
If it requires one of my descendants to die in order to persevere your life, it would be a good trade. David was to be a fully mundane existence, he would never achieve anything of note on the grand scale, nor would any of his descendants out to the twentieth generation achieve anything either. In the end, the calculation was clear. Sacrifice him for you, a meaningless life vs the life of an Incarnated God.
This is what I most truly loathe about my age, I can feel, oh can I feel just how much I hate this. Even though he is my descendant of over a thousand generations removed, I still feel a form of familial care for his life, yet at the same time my duty as an Ancient requires me to act in the best interest of all of reality, with no pardon given to any desire for selfishness.
I know all the arguments, I know all their counters. If I was younger I might be able to delude myself about the need of his Sacrifice, but I can't. I know what must be done and it will be done. That is the true curse of being an Ascendant, we remain human in emotion yet we lose the delusions that allow humans to act in accordance with selfishness." Professor Aeter wound down as his voice that had started off choked with emotion, began to slowly die into a harsh monotone that seemed almost robotic in nature.
Taking a seat in front of his desk, Lilian wondered what she could say, or if she could say anything to make him feel better, for it was fairly clear that time hadn't been kind to Professor Aeter. Deciding that it would be best to leave the now weeping man alone for time time being Lilian silently left the room, making sure to close the door such that non one would see him crying.
The rest of the day was a repeat of Saturday in that she simply made sure that David was healing well, although the knowledge that he was a sacrificial pawn left a sour taste in her mouth, but in the end it had been his own choice to continue the path. The only other event of note was the fact that she finally managed to crack the general rules of the language, and was now at the point of only needing to figure out how to actually write the sigils but the grammar had been completed.
Full week turn. Total action count 6am to 10pm 80 actions in total, 16 per day. Can make day scale plans by labeling them with days
Example:
[] Monday
-[] ————-ect
[] Tuesday
-[] ----------
[] Go running (might find stuff)
-[] time
-[] actions
[] research what the hell is going on
-[] time
-[] actions
-[] topic
[] Preform Ascension (31/350) (Stage 6)
-[] time
-[] actions
[] Study the Language of the tome (4068/5000)
-[] time
-[] actions
[] Go to work (income of $12 dollars per hour spent) (6pm to 10pm)
-[] 4 actions
[] learn a Technique
-[] time
-[] actions
-[] Technique
-[] Paradoxical Finality (27/2000)
[] Socialize with random people (might find possible allies, reduce stress)
-[] time
-[] actions
[] spend time relaxing (lower stress and improve mental state)
-[] time
-[] actions
[] meet up with the running club (1 hour)
-[] time
-[] actions
[] Assist in rebuilding (this is an interlude of sorts, restricted action options, allows world travel)
-[] time
-[] actions (Minimum of 48 actions in a row)
[] Help David Ascend
-[] time
-[] actions
[] look for a better job
-[] time
-[] actions
[] meet with Professor Aeter
-[] time
-[] actions
[] Browse Professor Aeter's Library
-[] time
-[] actions
Day Specific Actions
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
[] Skip Class (gain 4 actions per time taken)
[] Go to Class (10am to 2pm, 4 actions)
AN: this took forever to write, as it just didn't want to work
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- Location
- USA
Vote Clarification
The action option Assist in Rebuilding is a world spanning option that requires a minimum of 3 days per general location. You can assign any number of actions to it as the world is currently in a crisis event from the massive damage that has been caused by the earthquakes and volcanoes and tsunamis.
Every 3 days assigned will see you be sent to some city that is mostly destroyed somewhere in the world that has requested help. Those three days will have 2 turns with a small amount of general actions to be taken. The key thing thought is that the general DC for finding Mystical Items is highly reduced in these areas and the odds of encountering other Ascendants is also much higher.
However, the cost is that if you do find said Ascendants and other items the likelihood of your name becoming well known in other layers increases. Also, you will be expected to make up missed work when you return to the college.
The action option Assist in Rebuilding is a world spanning option that requires a minimum of 3 days per general location. You can assign any number of actions to it as the world is currently in a crisis event from the massive damage that has been caused by the earthquakes and volcanoes and tsunamis.
Every 3 days assigned will see you be sent to some city that is mostly destroyed somewhere in the world that has requested help. Those three days will have 2 turns with a small amount of general actions to be taken. The key thing thought is that the general DC for finding Mystical Items is highly reduced in these areas and the odds of encountering other Ascendants is also much higher.
However, the cost is that if you do find said Ascendants and other items the likelihood of your name becoming well known in other layers increases. Also, you will be expected to make up missed work when you return to the college.
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Yzarc
The Spark of Madness
[X] Plan Preparation
-[X] GENERAL PLAN
-[X] research what the hell is going on
--[X] 6 AM
--[X] 1 actions
--[X] Mythology beings that existed and may end up encountering
-[X] Study the Language of the tome (4068/5000)
-[X] 7 am
-[X] 3 actions
--[X] ONCE LANGUAGE IS LEARNED SUBSTITUTE ABOVE WITH LEARNING TECHNIQUE
-[X] learn a Technique
--[X] 7 am
--[X] 3 actions
---[X] The Reaper's Scythe
-[X] Socialize with random people (might find possible allies, reduce stress)
--[X] 2 pm
--[X] 1 action
-[X] spend time relaxing (lower stress and improve mental state)
--[X] 3 pm
--[X] 1 actions
-[X] Help David Ascend
--[X] 4 pm
--[X] 1 actions
-[X] Browse Professor Aeter's Library
--[X] 5 pm
--[X] 1 actions
-[X] Go to work (income of $12 dollars per hour spent) (6pm to 10pm)
--[X] 4 actions
Day Specific Actions
-[X] Monday, Wednesday, Friday
--[X] Go to Class (10am to 2pm, 4 actions)
-[X] Tuesday, Thursday
-[X] learn a Technique (ASSUMING THERE IS NO CLASSES)
--[X] 10 am
--[X] 4 actions
---[X] The Reaper's Scythe
Hope the plan is alright. I am assuming there is no classes on tuesdays and thursdays.
-[X] GENERAL PLAN
-[X] research what the hell is going on
--[X] 6 AM
--[X] 1 actions
--[X] Mythology beings that existed and may end up encountering
-[X] Study the Language of the tome (4068/5000)
-[X] 7 am
-[X] 3 actions
--[X] ONCE LANGUAGE IS LEARNED SUBSTITUTE ABOVE WITH LEARNING TECHNIQUE
-[X] learn a Technique
--[X] 7 am
--[X] 3 actions
---[X] The Reaper's Scythe
-[X] Socialize with random people (might find possible allies, reduce stress)
--[X] 2 pm
--[X] 1 action
-[X] spend time relaxing (lower stress and improve mental state)
--[X] 3 pm
--[X] 1 actions
-[X] Help David Ascend
--[X] 4 pm
--[X] 1 actions
-[X] Browse Professor Aeter's Library
--[X] 5 pm
--[X] 1 actions
-[X] Go to work (income of $12 dollars per hour spent) (6pm to 10pm)
--[X] 4 actions
Day Specific Actions
-[X] Monday, Wednesday, Friday
--[X] Go to Class (10am to 2pm, 4 actions)
-[X] Tuesday, Thursday
-[X] learn a Technique (ASSUMING THERE IS NO CLASSES)
--[X] 10 am
--[X] 4 actions
---[X] The Reaper's Scythe
Hope the plan is alright. I am assuming there is no classes on tuesdays and thursdays.
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- Location
- USA
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- Location
- Elsewhere
[X] Plan Preparation
Nicholas Brooks
Redeemer and Destroyer
- Location
- United States
[X] Plan Preparation
Yzarc
The Spark of Madness
I did not want to push Ascention too far given we just hit lvl 5. The MC's mind is pretty alien and I want to center her by doing normal things before continuing.
I mean you did hint pretty heavily that Ascending too fast would turn even a saint into a monster.
