I doubt the Diagram has, well, pretty much any intersection at all with actual science, so I see no reason to believe scientists should provide a significant boost to our research, especially when they won't be able to do any tests (they won't be able to cast things). Especially when Elysium, a society full of Twice-Greats with some inhabitants who had Diagram-boosting Daos, wouldn't have contributed much, at least.
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Even Further Beyond [Complete]
- Thread starter Rihaku
- Start date
- Original
RedV
Refuelling
- Location
- Right here
He wants to actually unlock Diagram for Earth people for mass upliftment, like a positive version of Enoch without the Attacks.
It might be possible if the cosmological constants Diagram relies on like Fate and Essence exist on Earth.
Don't want to, but possible.
It might be possible if the cosmological constants Diagram relies on like Fate and Essence exist on Earth.
Don't want to, but possible.
Did we ever get confirmation they wouldn't have helped much, or why? That update's arguments are a haze to me.
Perhaps reading over and collating all of these arguments has something to do with it. We have been getting rather intense as of late.
At this rate, the Audience should get a BP for indulging its Heroic Passion (Caprice). We can finally get Beyond Obtusity!
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Shard
One and Many
- Location
- Malaysia
Brh, ask Rihaku for a retroactive double fanwork BP bonus.
I just want to copy one of Terrascape's choice that we abandon Imperia and escape to outside world.
@Rihaku give us (2)(exp) on that choice and also said that they will handle it with reasonable professional.
I assume form the spy choice that give 3 tier of magic with knowledge leak form Terrascape.
But the most valuable for me is that absorbtion ritual that give us exp after we kill an enemy.
Imagine Nameless can flash buy combat skill form enemy in Imeprial center.
But normal earth with scientist can work on diagram too ,Tyranshal and us need 6 weeks to do Edpiration,We need isekai hero notebook to gain All Path.
I want to grab group of scientist to more insight of diagram.
"This time is not the first that humanity is understimate"
I want to show the Fate that Dr.Apocalypse is in all of us all along.
It's pretty thematic for me that Nameless can win not because of individual strength but strength of humanity collective knowledge.
So, to be clear, you propose jumping to the Terrascape version of reality? I expect we would get promptly murdered by Enoch, he doesn't seem like the kind of person to oblige random people appearing in the middle of his experiment. On the other hand, the Ordinals would be nice to learn (though I'm pretty sure Absorption only works on other Ordinal practicioners), because there is a lot of potential utility in there, and it might actually auto-scale.
Additionally, though, I don't know why you think normal scientists can work on the Diagram. Except for us, remember, Banlixnaire says it takes most people "Decades to research a single Diagram" while we "can intuit them in months". Scientists would be even worse off, because they don't have any of the first principles we inherited from the liches. Extirpation started from a base, was worked on by us, a heaven-sent genius, and Tyranshal, a many-millenia-old lich literally known as the Great Sage, and it still took six weeks. Scientists won't be anywhere near that anytime soon, probably not within the five years we have to care about.
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At our power level ,We can already punch everyone in Terrascape to death.
I agree with you about talent of scientist thought,they are scrub without boost by celestial orb but I still think they have some insight to give us.
Also we can establish diagram school per our mentor's wish either we live or die in this contest.
Maybe someone among scientist and bored nerd have Seram' s level of potential.
Shard
One and Many
- Location
- Malaysia
Maybe True Potentiation would have provided artificial BP boosts or something.
e: True Extirpation.. might it work on the Heroine? Properly?
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True Open the Way "rends open a gate to any spatial coordinate within the material or celestial realms, or to another realm of which he is well-informed," so while the idea of a Rihaku omniverse crossover event sends my hype thrusters into overdrive, I'm not sure how viable this is. We could return to Nameless' iteration of Earth, but as the Veil of Maya's blurb makes clear, he has no intention of ever going back. The benefits would be somewhere between lackluster and nonexistent.
Breaching the Gardens and initiating into Ordinalism might be possible with a Cerebration, but we've been told it's bad with hypotheticals. Perhaps the Truespell version would do better? Two Truespells is a significant investment with uncertain returns, given the immediate relevance of Might/Quickening/Palimpsest and the bread and butter benefits of Amplification, but if it worked... Man, we have so many incentives to get True Incarnation at this point it isn't even funny. If we'd just taken the Bonus, we could have our cake and eat it too right now.
Breaching the Gardens and initiating into Ordinalism might be possible with a Cerebration, but we've been told it's bad with hypotheticals. Perhaps the Truespell version would do better? Two Truespells is a significant investment with uncertain returns, given the immediate relevance of Might/Quickening/Palimpsest and the bread and butter benefits of Amplification, but if it worked... Man, we have so many incentives to get True Incarnation at this point it isn't even funny. If we'd just taken the Bonus, we could have our cake and eat it too right now.
It's a Blood sign, which I assume deals in life force. True spelling a Blood diagram would then give it a Bestial Force analogue - affecting the Soul in addition to the flesh.
So... True Potentiation lets us imitate Limit Break, maybe?
Not sure of this. We can likely murder almost all of them (some of the higher level graduates had things like transfinite numbers of replacement magical body parts, which might be an issue for us), but Enoch (the teacher) has likely mastered at least Ordinalism, and masters of the Ordinals aren't likely to be a trivial fight.
Anyway, I was just doing way too much analysis to edit it into my prior post, so let's put it here instead. Have some examination of past magic systems!
Ordinalism seems like a way to access utility we don't want to spend Diagram slots on. It's probably not worth using for combat, because we're just better at combat than it will be, at least until we hit 11 (W), because War says it stacks with everything, so it seems like it would go positive when combined with Cultivation rather than being irrelevant without way too much investment which would be better spent on utility. Terrascape and Conjure seem like they would simulate Vault, for examples of utility.
More detailed list of Ordinals, which we know (to high probability) we can use because it can "be taught to most any sentient mind": (note that this isn't very good, just a bit of searching on the thread, it may be that there's a better list out there somewhere)
1 - Seeker, Shield --- my analysis: they're an Ordinal basic attack and defense. (As with all Ordinals, you can have one or the other, or in the future you can instead level up a prior Ordinal in a scaling manner, scaling relatively quickly but probably not quickly enough to keep up with Cultivating even if we were completely mono-focused. See here for details.) They're probably not going to help much without expending far too much effort to keep them scaling with Cultivation, so we would probably take Shield and ignore it because it isn't likely to matter to us much.
2 - Conjure (store and retrieve from objects), Construct (generate objects of magical force) --- my analysis: Constructed items are probably likely to break at any relevant levels of force exerted by trans-Titanic Cultivators, so we would probably want Conjure just to use as a pseudo-Vault and maybe a place to store Grands if that turned out to work.
3 - Elements (resist, create, shape one of Fire, Earth, Air, Water, Wood, Metal, Gamma Radiation), Examine (remote sensing and deep analysis) --- my analysis: Elements does some construction, but it's mostly seemingly attack-focused, so we wouldn't be too interested (though I will admit it has some uses). Go for the information, because information is useful even if it's not leveled to keep pace with you.
4 - Dominion (broad-spectrum mental attack, may be invested into objects and locations), Dispel (neutralizes most forms of active magic, Vitalism heavily resistant) --- my analysis: Dispel seems rather redundant with Unravel, so Dominion if we actually want one. Of course, Dominion is a bit redundant with Crown of Sorrows and probably bounces right off Ego Barrier, so maybe we would just invest this one in Examine or Conjure or something, maybe even Shield if it turned out to have any pseudo-relevant scaling.
5 - Augury (semi-reliable limited precognition focusing on the self, good danger sense), Accelerate (temporal acceleration, very demanding) --- my analysis: Accelerate should be assumed not to stack with Quickening, and danger senses/semi-precog can actually help at any level, so definitely Augury.
6 - Lance (extremely powerful shield-breaking offense, persistent linear attack, precision cutter), Legion (inhabit multiple magically and mentally weaker bodies) --- my analysis: Lance might be hitting a high enough tier that it actually matters, but an amplified version of it surprises people when it cut Yellowstone to stop it from being blown up, so I doubt it. Legion offers the potential to vastly accelerate training speed, so we'd probably want that.
7 - 1st Attainment available - Terrascape, Teleport --- my analysis: Attainments seem to be significant and qualitative boosts to an Ordinal (I think?), which might well be relatively useless given how weak the prior Ordinals are but hey, maybe a Legion Attainment would provide a relevant speed multiplier. The actual abilities are less interesting: Teleport is unlikely to be much better than the True Open the Way we would need to start learning these, so solidly Terrascape. Unfortunately, Terrascape seems to be something like Vault but harder to improve (because you need to invest Ordinals in it), but I guess it's always possible it would turn out useful. Alternatively, if the Attainment was relevant we could always toss this at Legion to boost it by an Ordinal tier and 10% power, and hope that actually helped.
After this, we hit "high Ordinalism", and we begin to lose specifics but we got a lot of detail because it was a separate update. Spoilering things because otherwise this post will get way too long. Here's what we know:
My analysis: Overwhelm is going to be completely irrelevant in fights, because anything which was slow for Ordinal-users (who don't even all have Accelerate) is going to be effectively motionless for Cultivator-speed characters. (Battles can end in seconds, so they could end before a blast landed.) However, it does allow for potential reality warping with enough skill, which might be worth it. I doubt we would want to invest the time, though. Conversely, Oathsworn is kind of weak early on as well (you need high skill to surpass peak human? What is this foolishness?), so unless we wanted to spend time and future Ordinals on it we might well be served best by discarding this Ordinal to power up a previous one.
My analysis: Nightmare says nothing about auto-scaling, so even if we assume an Ordinal of a given tier is equal to the equivalent Cultivation stage (and Ordinals double in price with each, they don't sextuple, so that's likely an overestimate) it's still only Stage 9 and we'll be waaaay past that by the time we got the 9th Ordinal. So ignore it. Nexus, conversely, has approximately zero details about it, but what little I could find seems to imply that Rites are effectively ways to trade things off about your character --- Humaniform, the only one I could find details about, is "a common procedure that grants Vitalists the power to revert to their original human body in exchange for about a 15% permanent reduction in their total power and progression", so I assume they in general give bonuses (maybe only utility?) in exchange for permanent prices (maybe only raw power?). Anyway, that could be useful. Or we could just dump the Ordinal into a past one again, but that's kind of boring, and more utility is always better.
My analysis: I don't think tying ourselves to the Perishing Blade would be the best of plans, especially if it would be about a Stage 12 weapon (giving it a couple of extra stages for the drawback), but people might want to anyway. Vindicate, however, is an actually interesting esoteric conceptual effect I don't thing we could (easily, at least) get out of the Diagram, so that may well be a place to look. (Also, following in Imperia's tracks is clearly a good idea, what are you talking about.) Of course, like everything it wants more power, but raw Ordinal power may well be yet another thing which scales with Cultivation like Diagram fortitude did, in which case we could brute-force our way to doing quite a few things, because the ability to unmake reality is definitely one with relevant applications last time I checked.
(Note: It was the Nettlespine. Specifically, the Nettlespine was what Imperia got when she used this Ordinal.)
...Unfortunately I don't have any idea what Ordinals past that do, but it looks like they might actually start to become relevant at that point. Conversely, we would also be hitting the point where they're really hard to train. So Ordinalism seems like it would be relatively difficult to train to the point of being worthwhile, though maybe it would turn out worth it.
The other magic system we could reasonably get access to is that from the Unnamed Quest. Well, alright, most of those are probably irrelevant, they only go so high and they seem to be pretty fixed. (Maybe the Aegis and such are relevant, bit I don't think we got descriptions for them and they seem to roughly be impossible for anyone in that world anyway, so I feel safe discarding them unless Nameless manages to become an actually full omnidiciplinary genius, rather than just Thrice-Great, with Orbs.) So really, the one I want to focus on is Chrysopoeia (link is to description), which has these as its benchmarks. (Given that rank 25 is literally called Nameless, I may be a little biased in this direction for our character, who conveniently goes by the name of Nameless --- how shocking! --- and has a lot of the characteristics of that Chrysopoeia tier already via post-Titanic might.) So, well for one thing it's literally called "great cultivation", so there may be preexisting connections we could gain insight from. Even without that, though, the firs question is how the two would combine --- would they multiply? (I doubt it, Chrysopoeia and Cultivation both ignore the prior state of your body, but maybe!) Add? (This would be a bit odd, but a cheap way to get a few effective Stages would always be nice.) Overlap? (This is the least fortunate outcome, where you only get the stronger of the benefits from each.)
In all honesty, I have no real way to contribute there. However, there are two things worth noting. First, Chrysopoeia was described as "the shadow the [Ordinal] Spiral cast", so it seems likely it would be available to anyone who can access the Ordinals, and thus to us. Second, it gives massive mental speed and clarity bonuses --- at Nameless tier (which is the top tier, so this is a bit unfair, but its physical feats are below "punch out superclusters" and we're literally playing nameless, so I think using it as a comparison is excusable), we would have a factor of 20 mental speedup passively, going up to absurd values (*8000 is mentioned as actually feasible for arch-slayers) when we try. That's the kind of thing which would be a massive buff to at least our research speed, especially given the clarity boosts, and maybe also Cultivation depending on how those interacted. (I'm assuming physical bonuses are obsoleted by post-Titanic Cultivation, because it solidly surpasses even the Nameless-stage benchmarks.) Also, the discipline could help if we still have Passions issues.
Of course, we would need a way to actually attain that level of Chrysopoeia, but between being orders of magnitude faster than everyone else in the world (via Cultivation, and hopefully absorbing by that point) and having at least some ability to usefully scry (at the very least Cerebration, and I wouldn't be surprised if we had more by then), we should be able to find ALL the Azoth and kill/eat the Monsters guarding it, hopefully kicking ourselves up to absurd heights. Of course, if we can use Orbs to make us Omni-Great, we could probably surpass Control (who I'm assuming is roughly of Zang Kong-ish competence) within a few years, which would also put us hitting Nameless.
Anyway, those are the only two systems I think are relevant off the top of my head, and that's all the analysis of them I'm willing to do. (I'm assuming we won't be able to access Praxis, because the Accursed has final say there and I doubt we can get it off him.) Other systems risk being confined to only one universe, as well, because I only know those as systems which should be usable by anyone (sentient) anywhere. Usually I would say I'm happy to include feedback, but having just spent most of two hours typing up a ~2200-word post (plus about a thousand words of quote, because why not), I really don't think I am right now, especially when I should be asleep. Good night, and I hope someone got something out of this (rather excessive) analysis. (And all this for magic systems we can only access with True Open the Way, which we don't even plan to get. Remind me, why did I think this was a good idea again? Oh right, because I did a few searches and just kept looking. Bah.)
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- Location
- Australia
Luckily in the direction that makes the readers even happierSo... Off by 8 hours or so?
Of course, now I am going to be hitting f5 for the next hour every thirty seconds
Shard
One and Many
- Location
- Malaysia
Perhaps 'Within 12 hours or so' would have been more apropos.So... Off by 8 hours or so?
The Grapes of Bath
Rihaku
The Internet
The Grapes of Bath
Amouthanos had delivered on his promise; since the elder elf Thriesiel's sacrifice and Nameless' subsequent absorption of her Magnum Opus, his power had expanded by ludicrous degrees. Had his bodily control and precision not grown with his strength, the slightest exertion of his finger would literally rend this world asunder. Trans-Titanic power was a goal often dreamt-of, rarely realized, but its implications were, as his Extrusion had noted, a tad stultifying.
Perhaps Zang Kong was greater still, but Nameless' current power was more than sufficient to repel the combined non-Kong forces of the known world - with trivial ease, in fact. For understandable reasons, this led to a species of bone-deep complacency that no intellectual knowledge of the Heroine's imminency could reverse. He was simply far too powerful to be much threatened by her, even though he knew the Fates had more tricks yet to play, and Zang Kong's next awakening was two full years past even that. Having sprinted so ferociously these past few years, Nameless felt it unlikely that he would be unable to match the Elder Beast of Reason in time. He'd slaved over the Truth, gambled ferociously with All Paths, and the risks he'd taken had paid off. Was it not correct to enjoy the fruits of one's labor, at least for a time?
And yet there was a part of him that was deeply unsatisfied with this Cultivation equivalent of giving up at the finish line. He'd sought Immortal Awakening, the Daoless Path that had briefly been glimpsed during his time in the Unshattered Glade. There were glories beyond even this his present strength, and to fail in seizing them seemed an abject abandonment of this life's entire trajectory.
For that reason he now sat, Extrusion-Scepter in hand, in a meditative glade off the coast of the Isle of the Elves. Turmoil swept the Empire; Vane and Ming in a futile trade war, the Center stained with the bloodshed of feuding sects; Yong clinging tenaciously to territory before the onslaught of the Overgrowth Beasts. But Yong Shen had not seen fit to move, and Nameless knew better than to doubt his grandfather's wisdom. If the Unbroken World would not lift a finger to erase the monstrosities hurtling over the Eastern border, then Nameless would not recklessly intervene. He ensured that no such perturbations spilled over to Elvish territories and was otherwise content to wait for Yong Shen to act.
"Found you, darling!" Aurelia's head popped out from behind a tree. A picnic basket was held in the crook of her delicate arm, cloth spilling languidly from its lid.
"A picnic?" he scoffed. "How inconvenient. The clean-up is rarely worth the novelty, assuming the wind doesn't blow our food away."
His - wife, and it was still startling to think of anyone as such - gently set the basket down to her side and snuggled up to Nameless, nuzzling against the crook of his neck. The scent of her hair was intoxicating and extremely distracting.
Aurelia tenderly laced the fingers of her left hand with those of his right, and looked up at him with eyes full of love. "Don't worry, darling. This food is all for me."
She took out a half-sandwich and daintily bit into it, smiling beneficently.
"I see," Nameless said. "How considerate of you, to walk all this way so that you could partake of your repast in front of me."
"Sometimes I surprise myself," Aurelia boasted airily. "Am I, perhaps, an intuitive genius?"
"I can't tell," Nameless shook his head sadly. "The blinding glare of my own brilliance makes it difficult to discern between specks, even those that are slightly brighter."
"That's so sad," She said, voice heartbroken. "Would you like a sandwich instead?"
"Yes." He kissed her, causing the elf to blush profusely before they broke apart.
"You're horrible," she protested, neck and cheeks flushed. While he could barely hold his own in verbal sparring, she was weak to physical affection. "T-to steal the kiss of an innocent young maiden!"
"You're right," He said, pointing to his mouth. "Here, steal one back."
Aurelia crammed the sandwich into his mouth. It was a superior meal, exceptional in every way.
After the picnic was finished, Aurelia climbed into his lap while he stroked her hair. It felt perilously odd and yet somewhat instinctual, to share so intimate an arrangement with anyone. Having sealed their feelings by mutual Oath, there was a part of his psyche that unclenched in the presence of his wife, a part that had stayed vigilant even when dealing with his beloved father, mother, teacher, or lieutenants.
Though he'd had close friends and mentors, Nameless had for the most part kept his own counsel, both on Earth and after his reincarnation as a scion of Yong. To be known was to be made predictable, and to be predicted was possibly the highest form of vulnerability. Perhaps that was why he and the Extrusion were so frequently opposed?
"Worried about your mean lich friend?" She kissed him on the cheek. "Don't worry, your beautiful wife is here to distract you!"
"Can I dream of a day when my beautiful wife will employ her beautiful wiles on my behalf? Perhaps against that very mean lich itself?"
"Do you desire to be changed so badly?" She blinked inquisitively, eyes soft.
"To be changed is different from changing one's self, is that what you're saying?" He asked.
"Even if it's your own will, if it wasn't possible of your own volition, will you have cause to doubt it later?"
"At this point I'm nearly past caring," Nameless admitted. "I just want it to get its comeuppance. Even if that means self-reform."
"Do you need its power to win?"
He shrugged. "Probably not. It would be incredibly helpful, but I do have other avenues to develop the abilities I need."
"Then, is it worth changing yourself for eternity to get power you don't even need?" Aurelia wriggled distractingly.
"You're right," He sighed. "And if that were the only reason, this would be nothing more than an unproductive vendetta. However, I have been meaning to cut down on the hedonism. If I work for two years and win, I can probably slack off for thousands more afterwards. If it's to the point where my Extrusion can't even see that, then my proclivities have gone too far."
"But I like your proclivities," Aurelia pouted.
"Me too," Nameless commiserated. "Let's talk about something else, then. How about your plans to secure and/or foist off the position of High Queen. Have you decided which path to take?"
"Well," She mused prettily, "I am an intuitive genius, so naturally I would be the best fit for the position."
"Humble too."
"Thank you," She said gracefully. "But, our powers combined would forge an unbreakable tyranny, and the distractions of state would interfere with our domestic bliss!"
"Hmph," he snorted coldly. "Well-put. Is this the fabled 'wisdom of the Elders?'"
"You! I'll have you know I'm only twenty-nine years and six hundred ninety-seven months young!"
"I see. How many cats do you own?"
She adopted a frighteningly accurate impression of Xiaoling. "Does Suizhen count?"
"Uuf. That was too meta even for me."
"Oh my! Don't worry darling, I'll make it up to you. Would you like dinner? A bath? Or perhaps... me?"
"Now that you mention it, a bath does sound nice..."
---
Nameless vigorously scrubbed his back with a brush while taking in the waterlogged lich before him.
"These were the favorite rags," the Extrusion grumbled. "And now they're soaked. You'll pay for this, mark my words."
Nameless blinked. "Worry not, friend, I'll have them dried out for you. After these refreshing ablutions, it's right back to work practicing Necromancy for me! There will be plenty of time for your accoutrements to be laundered and pampered in this pristine Western sun!"
"Is that why you finally let me out? To gloat?"
"Of course not! I simply missed your company, friend! And what finer company than one's self, even a mirror darkly. Why, I've been so diligently working on the fantastically interesting art of Necromancy that there's simply been no chance to summon you at all. And that won't do, you deserve the opportunity to wander this earth as more than a scepter. There is such beauty here, so much to explore! Fates to cast down, Liches to revive!"
"You think to bait me with what I might miss? A path of mutual destruction." It scoffed.
"Friend, given my sordid past, I understand completely your innate wariness. But allow me to assure you that I am being completely genuine! My scamming days are behind me - for it's just like you said, what use has an emperor to scheme against a peasant? I desire nothing but good for you, for you are part of me! You should be free to explore this wonderful, magical realm for all the hours I'm not practicing with the Scepter."
"You've made your point... Alright, 90% of my asking price. You're getting one day in ten of work for free. We both know how much that's worth. Stop wasting your time trying to master the Scepter. Titans take millennia to acclimate to their powers."
"Ah, you truly are a source of endless wisdom. For did you not say: it is only when the scam has passed that you realize you've been scammed? Well, I am here to tell you that the scam has passed! You are really, truly free to work as little or as much as you like in the time that you have. And what currency could possibly be more precious than time? Why, I'll even provide you with a spell of temporal quickening for a very reasonable fee. Just between us, since we're friends."
Nameless smiled beseechingly, holding out his hand in a gesture of goodwill.
"This isn't fair! You have endless time to prepare while I'm stuck as a weapon."
"You know what they say. Speak softly and carry a big Scepter!" The weapon returned to hand as Nameless toweled off to get dressed.
He would let the lich stew for a day or two while he continued practicing Necromancy on his own. It really was quite interesting with the intellectual joy of discovery compounded by the Veil of Maya. After all, the Necromancer, the Extrusion, was merely what it was good at. The Veil, the Emanation, was its fundamental and unchanging nature.
---
Through diligent, spite-fueled practice with Necromancy, Nameless has developed a sincere interest in the art, which combined with his semi-sadistic scheme may result in substantial productivity from the lich. However, there is still much to do this timeskip. Nameless can motivate himself to do two of the following:
[ ] Essence Diagram Research - Time to remove Tyranshal's Extirpation (after carefully archiving its formulae) and develop a Grand Diagram of Essence that's actually useful against either Zang Kong or the Heroine!
[ ] Pursuit of the Truth (with Suizhen) - Suizhen has further developed her eyes to help Nameless discover the other Truth Diagrams. Has a fairly good chance of resulting in successful acquisition of True Incarnation or Azure Flare.
[ ] Extra Diligent - Work exceptionally hard to master Necromancy, causing the lich to work somewhat harder as well. Results unpredictable but potentially massive.
[ ] Strategic Complexion (with Xiaoling, Yong Shen) - The Empire seems to be experiencing a bout of instability. Yong Shen hasn't acted, but why? Perhaps it would be wise to pay grandpa a visit; and, if necessary, forcibly smooth out the ripples that have disturbed the previously tranquil pond of the Labyrinth.
[ ] I'll Face Myself (with Aurelia) - It is touching that Aurelia does not wish to unduly influence Nameless with her supernaturally persuasive presence, but this is simply a case of "the mind is willing but the spirit is weak." Request Aurelia go all-out (within the bounds of her ethics) to convince Nameless not to be Spoiled anymore. High chance of removing Spoiled, which may alter your Emanation and will seriously change the Extrusion's personality. But as she herself asked, is it worth removing a defining feature of oneself for mere power? When you've come this far, isn't this precisely the type of choice that power should liberate you to discard?
Choose your non-Vault Truespells:
[ ] Open the Way - In the event that the Overgrowth is as large as Zang Kong could make it, this will be very helpful for the Overgrowth Beast Cultivation Extraction plan. Also provides a means to bypass the Heroine's plot armor (by directly killing the Fates once you have surpassed Zang Kong in power), and a means to neutralize Zang Kong's spatial Extrusion effects.
[ ] Amplification - Unsure as to exact effect, but it's likely it raises Cultivation speed in a way that stacks with Form of the Elder Beast. If not, it will be some effect related to 'improving one's Cultivation base,' such as the power to supercharge previous Stages.
[ ] Prodigious Might - Heavy esoteric offense and defense.
[ ] Palimpsest - Form of the Elder Beast [1 Beyond Point] - Almost certain to provide a greater Cultivation multiplier than the non-Truespelled Elder Beast Form.
[ ] Palimpsest - Form of Balance [1 Beyond Point] - These forms are different enough that I'm comfortable splitting the Palimpsest vote. Truespelling this isn't likely to improve Cultivation speed much over the baseline spell, but the magnitude of the bonus to bodily actions could rise significantly.
Amouthanos had delivered on his promise; since the elder elf Thriesiel's sacrifice and Nameless' subsequent absorption of her Magnum Opus, his power had expanded by ludicrous degrees. Had his bodily control and precision not grown with his strength, the slightest exertion of his finger would literally rend this world asunder. Trans-Titanic power was a goal often dreamt-of, rarely realized, but its implications were, as his Extrusion had noted, a tad stultifying.
Perhaps Zang Kong was greater still, but Nameless' current power was more than sufficient to repel the combined non-Kong forces of the known world - with trivial ease, in fact. For understandable reasons, this led to a species of bone-deep complacency that no intellectual knowledge of the Heroine's imminency could reverse. He was simply far too powerful to be much threatened by her, even though he knew the Fates had more tricks yet to play, and Zang Kong's next awakening was two full years past even that. Having sprinted so ferociously these past few years, Nameless felt it unlikely that he would be unable to match the Elder Beast of Reason in time. He'd slaved over the Truth, gambled ferociously with All Paths, and the risks he'd taken had paid off. Was it not correct to enjoy the fruits of one's labor, at least for a time?
And yet there was a part of him that was deeply unsatisfied with this Cultivation equivalent of giving up at the finish line. He'd sought Immortal Awakening, the Daoless Path that had briefly been glimpsed during his time in the Unshattered Glade. There were glories beyond even this his present strength, and to fail in seizing them seemed an abject abandonment of this life's entire trajectory.
For that reason he now sat, Extrusion-Scepter in hand, in a meditative glade off the coast of the Isle of the Elves. Turmoil swept the Empire; Vane and Ming in a futile trade war, the Center stained with the bloodshed of feuding sects; Yong clinging tenaciously to territory before the onslaught of the Overgrowth Beasts. But Yong Shen had not seen fit to move, and Nameless knew better than to doubt his grandfather's wisdom. If the Unbroken World would not lift a finger to erase the monstrosities hurtling over the Eastern border, then Nameless would not recklessly intervene. He ensured that no such perturbations spilled over to Elvish territories and was otherwise content to wait for Yong Shen to act.
"Found you, darling!" Aurelia's head popped out from behind a tree. A picnic basket was held in the crook of her delicate arm, cloth spilling languidly from its lid.
"A picnic?" he scoffed. "How inconvenient. The clean-up is rarely worth the novelty, assuming the wind doesn't blow our food away."
His - wife, and it was still startling to think of anyone as such - gently set the basket down to her side and snuggled up to Nameless, nuzzling against the crook of his neck. The scent of her hair was intoxicating and extremely distracting.
Aurelia tenderly laced the fingers of her left hand with those of his right, and looked up at him with eyes full of love. "Don't worry, darling. This food is all for me."
She took out a half-sandwich and daintily bit into it, smiling beneficently.
"I see," Nameless said. "How considerate of you, to walk all this way so that you could partake of your repast in front of me."
"Sometimes I surprise myself," Aurelia boasted airily. "Am I, perhaps, an intuitive genius?"
"I can't tell," Nameless shook his head sadly. "The blinding glare of my own brilliance makes it difficult to discern between specks, even those that are slightly brighter."
"That's so sad," She said, voice heartbroken. "Would you like a sandwich instead?"
"Yes." He kissed her, causing the elf to blush profusely before they broke apart.
"You're horrible," she protested, neck and cheeks flushed. While he could barely hold his own in verbal sparring, she was weak to physical affection. "T-to steal the kiss of an innocent young maiden!"
"You're right," He said, pointing to his mouth. "Here, steal one back."
Aurelia crammed the sandwich into his mouth. It was a superior meal, exceptional in every way.
After the picnic was finished, Aurelia climbed into his lap while he stroked her hair. It felt perilously odd and yet somewhat instinctual, to share so intimate an arrangement with anyone. Having sealed their feelings by mutual Oath, there was a part of his psyche that unclenched in the presence of his wife, a part that had stayed vigilant even when dealing with his beloved father, mother, teacher, or lieutenants.
Though he'd had close friends and mentors, Nameless had for the most part kept his own counsel, both on Earth and after his reincarnation as a scion of Yong. To be known was to be made predictable, and to be predicted was possibly the highest form of vulnerability. Perhaps that was why he and the Extrusion were so frequently opposed?
"Worried about your mean lich friend?" She kissed him on the cheek. "Don't worry, your beautiful wife is here to distract you!"
"Can I dream of a day when my beautiful wife will employ her beautiful wiles on my behalf? Perhaps against that very mean lich itself?"
"Do you desire to be changed so badly?" She blinked inquisitively, eyes soft.
"To be changed is different from changing one's self, is that what you're saying?" He asked.
"Even if it's your own will, if it wasn't possible of your own volition, will you have cause to doubt it later?"
"At this point I'm nearly past caring," Nameless admitted. "I just want it to get its comeuppance. Even if that means self-reform."
"Do you need its power to win?"
He shrugged. "Probably not. It would be incredibly helpful, but I do have other avenues to develop the abilities I need."
"Then, is it worth changing yourself for eternity to get power you don't even need?" Aurelia wriggled distractingly.
"You're right," He sighed. "And if that were the only reason, this would be nothing more than an unproductive vendetta. However, I have been meaning to cut down on the hedonism. If I work for two years and win, I can probably slack off for thousands more afterwards. If it's to the point where my Extrusion can't even see that, then my proclivities have gone too far."
"But I like your proclivities," Aurelia pouted.
"Me too," Nameless commiserated. "Let's talk about something else, then. How about your plans to secure and/or foist off the position of High Queen. Have you decided which path to take?"
"Well," She mused prettily, "I am an intuitive genius, so naturally I would be the best fit for the position."
"Humble too."
"Thank you," She said gracefully. "But, our powers combined would forge an unbreakable tyranny, and the distractions of state would interfere with our domestic bliss!"
"Hmph," he snorted coldly. "Well-put. Is this the fabled 'wisdom of the Elders?'"
"You! I'll have you know I'm only twenty-nine years and six hundred ninety-seven months young!"
"I see. How many cats do you own?"
She adopted a frighteningly accurate impression of Xiaoling. "Does Suizhen count?"
"Uuf. That was too meta even for me."
"Oh my! Don't worry darling, I'll make it up to you. Would you like dinner? A bath? Or perhaps... me?"
"Now that you mention it, a bath does sound nice..."
---
Nameless vigorously scrubbed his back with a brush while taking in the waterlogged lich before him.
"These were the favorite rags," the Extrusion grumbled. "And now they're soaked. You'll pay for this, mark my words."
Nameless blinked. "Worry not, friend, I'll have them dried out for you. After these refreshing ablutions, it's right back to work practicing Necromancy for me! There will be plenty of time for your accoutrements to be laundered and pampered in this pristine Western sun!"
"Is that why you finally let me out? To gloat?"
"Of course not! I simply missed your company, friend! And what finer company than one's self, even a mirror darkly. Why, I've been so diligently working on the fantastically interesting art of Necromancy that there's simply been no chance to summon you at all. And that won't do, you deserve the opportunity to wander this earth as more than a scepter. There is such beauty here, so much to explore! Fates to cast down, Liches to revive!"
"You think to bait me with what I might miss? A path of mutual destruction." It scoffed.
"Friend, given my sordid past, I understand completely your innate wariness. But allow me to assure you that I am being completely genuine! My scamming days are behind me - for it's just like you said, what use has an emperor to scheme against a peasant? I desire nothing but good for you, for you are part of me! You should be free to explore this wonderful, magical realm for all the hours I'm not practicing with the Scepter."
"You've made your point... Alright, 90% of my asking price. You're getting one day in ten of work for free. We both know how much that's worth. Stop wasting your time trying to master the Scepter. Titans take millennia to acclimate to their powers."
"Ah, you truly are a source of endless wisdom. For did you not say: it is only when the scam has passed that you realize you've been scammed? Well, I am here to tell you that the scam has passed! You are really, truly free to work as little or as much as you like in the time that you have. And what currency could possibly be more precious than time? Why, I'll even provide you with a spell of temporal quickening for a very reasonable fee. Just between us, since we're friends."
Nameless smiled beseechingly, holding out his hand in a gesture of goodwill.
"This isn't fair! You have endless time to prepare while I'm stuck as a weapon."
"You know what they say. Speak softly and carry a big Scepter!" The weapon returned to hand as Nameless toweled off to get dressed.
He would let the lich stew for a day or two while he continued practicing Necromancy on his own. It really was quite interesting with the intellectual joy of discovery compounded by the Veil of Maya. After all, the Necromancer, the Extrusion, was merely what it was good at. The Veil, the Emanation, was its fundamental and unchanging nature.
---
Through diligent, spite-fueled practice with Necromancy, Nameless has developed a sincere interest in the art, which combined with his semi-sadistic scheme may result in substantial productivity from the lich. However, there is still much to do this timeskip. Nameless can motivate himself to do two of the following:
[ ] Essence Diagram Research - Time to remove Tyranshal's Extirpation (after carefully archiving its formulae) and develop a Grand Diagram of Essence that's actually useful against either Zang Kong or the Heroine!
[ ] Pursuit of the Truth (with Suizhen) - Suizhen has further developed her eyes to help Nameless discover the other Truth Diagrams. Has a fairly good chance of resulting in successful acquisition of True Incarnation or Azure Flare.
[ ] Extra Diligent - Work exceptionally hard to master Necromancy, causing the lich to work somewhat harder as well. Results unpredictable but potentially massive.
[ ] Strategic Complexion (with Xiaoling, Yong Shen) - The Empire seems to be experiencing a bout of instability. Yong Shen hasn't acted, but why? Perhaps it would be wise to pay grandpa a visit; and, if necessary, forcibly smooth out the ripples that have disturbed the previously tranquil pond of the Labyrinth.
[ ] I'll Face Myself (with Aurelia) - It is touching that Aurelia does not wish to unduly influence Nameless with her supernaturally persuasive presence, but this is simply a case of "the mind is willing but the spirit is weak." Request Aurelia go all-out (within the bounds of her ethics) to convince Nameless not to be Spoiled anymore. High chance of removing Spoiled, which may alter your Emanation and will seriously change the Extrusion's personality. But as she herself asked, is it worth removing a defining feature of oneself for mere power? When you've come this far, isn't this precisely the type of choice that power should liberate you to discard?
Choose your non-Vault Truespells:
[ ] Open the Way - In the event that the Overgrowth is as large as Zang Kong could make it, this will be very helpful for the Overgrowth Beast Cultivation Extraction plan. Also provides a means to bypass the Heroine's plot armor (by directly killing the Fates once you have surpassed Zang Kong in power), and a means to neutralize Zang Kong's spatial Extrusion effects.
[ ] Amplification - Unsure as to exact effect, but it's likely it raises Cultivation speed in a way that stacks with Form of the Elder Beast. If not, it will be some effect related to 'improving one's Cultivation base,' such as the power to supercharge previous Stages.
[ ] Prodigious Might - Heavy esoteric offense and defense.
[ ] Palimpsest - Form of the Elder Beast [1 Beyond Point] - Almost certain to provide a greater Cultivation multiplier than the non-Truespelled Elder Beast Form.
[ ] Palimpsest - Form of Balance [1 Beyond Point] - These forms are different enough that I'm comfortable splitting the Palimpsest vote. Truespelling this isn't likely to improve Cultivation speed much over the baseline spell, but the magnitude of the bonus to bodily actions could rise significantly.
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Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
Hmm, why's Form of the Elder Beast getting a fancy color, but Form of Balance is normal?
Anyway, regardless of what we pick, Strategic Complexion should probably be a lock. I don't like the idea of the Empire killing itself before we're ready to move, and I very much would want to know why Grandpa Yong is apparently going against his old oath--if the Overgrowth is expanding into Yong Territory beyond the ability of the Yong to repulse, then it's starting to become "Hey, you're surrendering te..."
Oh.
That cheeky fuck.
Is he trying to take the Empire hostage to force us into taking up the chains of the Crown?
Anyway, regardless of what we pick, Strategic Complexion should probably be a lock. I don't like the idea of the Empire killing itself before we're ready to move, and I very much would want to know why Grandpa Yong is apparently going against his old oath--if the Overgrowth is expanding into Yong Territory beyond the ability of the Yong to repulse, then it's starting to become "Hey, you're surrendering te..."
Oh.
That cheeky fuck.
Is he trying to take the Empire hostage to force us into taking up the chains of the Crown?
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I haven't actually thought about the vote yet, though Try to Change seems to have worked out well! Yay!
Anyway, a relatively consistent typo:
Anyway, a relatively consistent typo:
In all of these places (and I may have missed some), you're capitalizing the word after the quote mark. I'm pretty sure you aren't supposed to do that. (If you are, you should be doing it in the places where you aren't, but I think that should be lowercase.)
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