In short, Gabriel becomes a Cursebearer. He's got next to no idea how being a Cursebearer even works, how A Simple Transaction works, or even the details of the universe. Consider the omake below to be a full-on friend insert, him giving real-time reactions and thoughts. Everything was also heavily curated and edited by me, for a more solid tone. Enjoy.
I remember reading this back when you originally posted it. I feel like...maybe there was a birthday party involved, and the inserted character is actually surprisingly young compared to Seram and Hunger? My memory isn't so good since corona started. Seems like time has come even more unattached from the cycles of life that previous kept it grounded.
I've always found the concept of friend inserts interesting, since to some degree it edges the concept of an "insert" around a lot of the things that tend to cause that genre to have problems (author ego, pursuit of fictionalized self-satisfaction, compartmentalizing character from omniscient narrative perspective, etc). And it allows you to have the fun of a crossover
and an insert to some degree, since it allows you to have an insert that genuinely knows nothing interact with the setting, while still having someone knowledgeable handle the setting itself.
In return, it loses the fun of seeing someone try to problem solve using OOC knowledge of the setting, and has the awkwardness of coordination between people as an additional roadblock to fanfiction success, which is not a disadvantage that any story really needs. Solving things like a puzzle, or going at problems reasoning-first, is something I really enjoy reading about, so long as the puzzle is interesting and the viewpoint character is thinking well. So for friend inserts have trouble attracting me, since they're more likely to die and are missing a full third of what draws me to insert fiction in the first place. The other two-thirds being some mix of internet addiction, crippling escapist tendencies, inability to let go of fictional series that I've enjoyed once they're finished, enjoyment of the rare moments of cleverness/good writing, and habit.
A Simple Transaction is an unsurprising setting to insert into, seeing as its practically built for it! Its origins are something like Internet CYOAs -> Jumpchain -> AST, and it itself is inherently the concept of "inserting" jacked up to the extreme. In fact, a big part of the way I structured the CYOA character options came from the realization that the Accursed's nature (the design of the Transaction itself, as inherited from Jumpchain) allows you to keep whatever universe your character is in already! AST inserts are really just inserting the whole universe (or local multiverse) into the Accursed's metaverse. That's some Rihaku-tier biggatons for you.
On that note, I stand by what I've said in the past about the way that the Transaction itself is deceptive to most people, since the scale of time and intensity of Rihaku's quests tends to be pretty divorced from human intuition, and even from the absurd power level jackoff that defines a lot of internet media geek communities. So we'll see how your well your friend handles what would essentially be the most important moments of his entire life, which theoretically now might stretch out into a time abyss so deep that it makes the age of our universe seem infinitesimal, not to mention the normal lifespan of a person!
The opposite of harmony. Purely amateurish noise formatted in a dizzying melody that grated the ears and displeased the heart, despite its joyous and wishful tune. "Happy birthday to you…"
Make it stop, please.
The only thing giving him comfort was his girlfriend, Francesca, smirking mischievously and holding his right hand tightly. She was twenty by now; they had gotten together when he was sixteen and she was eighteen, but since Italy made sense, age of consent was fourteen with a maximum of three years of difference, so age was never a concern.
Ah hah! My memory did not, in fact, fail me.
He felt as if there was nothing that could really stand in the way of their love for each other. Some wizened people liked to claim a relationship that hasn't been tested with hardship will not survive the test of time, but he knew better than that. Francesca and he relied on each other. There was a bond that conjoined them like a ribbon tying them together at the midriff, exclusive to their pair. He couldn't imagine a universe where the girl standing in front of him would betray him, or even willingly hurt him. He didn't want to imagine a universe where he would do so to her, and in fact, he'd probably rather choose far less merciful fates than freedom and happiness if he knew he'd be the cause of her pain.
Oof, foreshadowing. I hope she's not just going to bite it somehow, at least before the Transaction. I know that I put the characters in my CYOA in pretty harsh positions as far as their starting conditions went, probably from the lingering impression of Hunger's Transaction, but Cursebearers certainly don't have to start like that. Just look at Seram! He was cutting up his birthday cake too, all fine and dandy. Though I guess it's about compatibility, since the characters from the CYOA all needed that push to get into the best Cursebearer mindset, whereas Seram was so compatible that all he needed to do to cross that threshold was turn 30 as a virgin! Makes you wonder how high Gabriel's compatibility (or how desperate the situation) has to be to get the offer so early?
Relationship talk like this paragraph tends to wig me out a bit, for personal reasons that I'm not willing to exploit for Arete! But slightly sideways from that response are the practical concerns. I'm trying to remember this Star Wars fanfiction that interprets Jedi ideology to make sense, which I think is Remedial Jedi Theology? It has this whole tract where Obi-Wan talks about the concept of "hooks". That is, attachments that can be used to force a Jedi into a values conflict that will allow people to maneuver them into doing unethical things. Jedi have too much power, and therefore too much responsibility, to allow themselves to be put in such positions, and so they eschew attachments that they cannot simply "let go" of in order to avoid the problem.
This paragraph reads like Gabriel has an enormous "hook" in the form of dearly cherished relationships, which is a dangerous position to be in for someone with the power of a Cursebearer. But then, it's also a good driver of conflict, which you want in a story! Maybe he'll be offered Retinue, if he's a Progression-type? For a normal person, even 25% of the base Cursebearer Progression in
one area for
one year would be a boon so far beyond the value of the sum of their lifetime's possessions that the former utterly dwarfs the latter.
For most people, good relationships would rule out the Geas of Indenture as a option, and I'm guessing that you won't want to deal with constructing another whole world. Wanting good relationships with people actually rules out a lot of Curses, which I suppose makes sense! Relationships are the most essential part of human experience for most people, so they're a great pressure point for Curses to target.
The bemused and definitely unamused Birthday Boy looked around at the hellish choir, which was thankfully nearing the end of the song. It wasn't that the song itself was bad, it's that their singing was abominable, as much as some of them tried. He'd know best, being a music student.
He was an aspiring writer, too, and there was something poetic to it. Their singing was so terrible he could almost say it's what death sounded like, and wasn't that poetic? What is a birthday, if not the day where you celebrate your increasing closeness to death? One year removed, and they accumulated so quickly to nothing at all... Before you know, all there was, was a withered skeleton.
Interesting set of skills! We haven't really seen them brought out into the light with Progression, given Seram and Hunger's proclivities for direct violence. The sense of timing, creativity, and intuitive order that comes from being a capable writer and musician (...or music theorist, I suppose) is likely to be really valuable for any number of disciplines, and stories and songs themselves are so deeply embedded in all human cultures that I would surprised if there wasn't some very fertile ground for Progression to chew on. Even if carrying an instrument around might be a tad difficult. Now I'm excited to see the Remittances that he's offered.
The party locale was owned by his aunt. She'd helped set up the party, alongside his parents. The interior was almost like a tavern, with moody lighting and the candles on the cake being the brightest light source in the room. Red-brick walls, with sturdy oak posts going up to the scaffolding under the ceiling as support. On one of the sides of the room, there was a dark-oak alcohol holder covered in bottles of various hard liquors and expensive wines. They'd be having a taste-test of those, later.
...
"Happy birthday, little flower," she whispered, then leaning in and pressing her lips on him. He reciprocated the kiss, and the room erupted in cheering once more - mostly from the boys, yet with Hope being the loudest of the bunch.
Yeah, more hooks! I wonder if most of these people are relevant, or just set dressing? In the context of the story, obviously. I'm not that much of an ass.
...oh man, this is going to be awful, isn't it?
This birthday had been so good, honestly, but it was time for the wish. He inhaled a lungful of air, closed his eyes in rumination, and began to consider his wish.
It was such a pleasant party, and he wasn't sure if he ever wanted it to change. His life, for better or for worse, had been going straight for a while, as if aiming for a target. After so much time and even - yes, he dared claim this, despite the realization of its arrogance - after so much hardship and suffering, he was content with his life.
I wish for things to stay like this forever.
He blew on the candles, waiting for the applause to start.
"...About that."
If life has taught me anything, it's that you shouldn't ever lose yourself in sincere enjoyment and appreciation for the present, since that's prime time for the Irony Goblins to show up and kick you in the balls. Hard to say that I would feel bad to be offered the Accursed's Transaction. I'm definitely not suited, so it would be rough, but it would definitely explode the whole course of my life. Yay, escapism!
The happiness of realizing that your personal power is about to elevated far beyond what any baseline human possesses would, of course, be tempered by the realization that you live in a reality where people with values that oppose yours can themselves have immense, uncontestable power. It's an even harsher brick wall to hit if you don't actually want any more personal power, and like things how they are.
Behind them, he saw the being. His heart throbbed hard once in a titanic beat, like the flow of blood had been interrupted then released from an apocalyptic clot in his veins. It was like a pulse of darkness went through the world around him, everything dimming, even despite the fact that the illumination of his surroundings was unaffected.
A man with a sword, leaning against one of the counters off to the side. Only one side of him was visible at this angle, a side that was awash in orange light from one of the nearby candles. A red tallow, half-burned.
He appeared to be in a later stage of life, the thirties or forties; dark hair and dark eyes, though his skin was a little tanned. The dark circles of sleep deprivation hung raccoon-like beneath his eyes, which nonetheless stared outward with incontrovertible determination.
Uly looking stylish, as always. I like the juxtaposition here between the Accursed's heart-stopping, world-suppressing presence, and his personal manner of just chilling out on the counter.
"There is a being of eldritch influence, seeking entry into this reality. You are one of the few people in this reality that it has an odd interest in. If you were to leave forever, it's all but completely assured that your friends will survive." The man looked up, briefly tracing his eyes across the contours of Hope's smiling face, before turning back to Gabriel. "Alternatively, you can gain power enough to gamble on saving them from this entity, while staying with them. Either way, if you accept my offer, it's unlikely they will die, but likely that you will suffer in their stead."
Well, that explains the Transaction, as well as the potential opening for Geas of Indenture. A victim of Fate, huh? Wonder how hard a Cursebearer has to scale up to punch an eldritch abomination to death? Hard to say with everything else this uncertain.
Gabriel found within himself a sudden and instinctive grasp of the world.
...
Why such a creature - no, why such an entity - even required the help of a mortal like Gabriel was beyond him. This wasn't a human interacting with an ant, it was a superhuman purposefully dumbing himself down so he can talk to a microscopic speck.
We saw the effects of Brand of the Wretched earlier, and I assume that The Accursed let the Plenary Brand flare a little bit earlier to force Gabriel to calm down, but I guess the connection necessary to wire someone into the Lathe of Heaven requires at least on full-force hit of Plenary to the dome. It's probably better this way, too, since it impresses the seriousness of the Transaction on the person who's about to pick their Remittances. And I guess it also assures them that The Accursed wasn't lying about not being the Devil, which some people may actually care about.
Still a rough way to find out how far down you are on the cosmic pecking order, compared to the previous incontestable knowledge of human superiority that most people take for granted. Being offered Progression is a balm to that wound, though. It's worse for people like Sten and Ber, who for all their eventual cataclysmic might are eternal ants in this grand game of power The Accursed plays with the Cursers.
"We will now finalize the specifics of this transaction. Basic capabilities have already been granted. In addition, I offer all my Cursebearers a boon to improve their chances of survival. Afterwards, you may decide which of my curses to take onto yourself. Choose carefully. There is, after all, danger coming to this world."
They entered a brief discussion, regarding the options that were open to Gabriel. There were many paths, curses abundant, and remittances to follow…
Soon after, the decision was made, the bargain completed.
Ah, no details per the options offered? What even is a Transaction without hypothetical build votes?
(No, I don't have a problem.)
The Apocryphal Curse, the Doom of the Rival, and the Doom of Judgement.
Oh, ouch. Rival and Judgement are not so bad, but Apocryphal is fucking nasty, and Rival synergizes with it to create a pretty bad situation. If I had to take Apocryphal, I'd actually
want to take Geas of Indenture to keep my loved ones from being relevant and therefore subject to its whims. I see the Accursed's argument that Gabriel attracting the thing fucking up his whole reality doesn't mean he has to leave, but then taking Apocryphal and Rival on top of that and still thinking that it's fine to stay? That's some weak Will, man. You gotta pump up those numbers.
He'd been granted the title of Coterial Guardian as a part of the deal. The ability to bring a modicum of his progression to a selection of Adjutors, granting them Coterial Orbs to facilitate growth. Power, ability, skill, and magic - nothing would be beyond them in time, but he was outside of the power's scope at the same time. He could use this in order to protect his friends better, selecting them as the Adjutors and showering them in power they could use to protect themselves, and if so they chose, aid him.
There was a collection of lesser powers, too. The ability to once, upon death, go back in time and relive the failed timeline with new knowledge. A rudimentary and virgin magic system, which combined versatility and immediate power together in favor of conceptual weight and meta-universal complexity. Some other boons, in other areas.
Finally, he'd chosen a set of minor artifacts, which the Accursed informed him would be waiting for him in his room, when he came back, safely stored in the nightstand drawer. There would be no risk of anyone stealing them or noticing them before then.
So what seems like a Regalia-adjacent Primary Remittance, with enhanced Retinue, some New Game Plus, a basic unspecific magic system, and some minor other bits. And some unspecified artifacts. Well, that makes staying not as bad, I suppose, though relying on others for power creates a lot of cracks for Apocryphal to pry into, like some sort of demonic tree slowly cracking its roots through concrete. Plus, this remittance doesn't seem to have the loyalty mechanics of Retinue at all, which makes things even worse. Apocryphal is going to find a way to make his friends kill him for sure, especially given that his attitude towards them would make him choose to take it and die instead of overcome it. Making your power rely on your relationships will just cause The Apocryphal Curse to start Brand of the Fated/Chaste-ing you.
I'm surprised that he didn't take any companions? They're way more valuable than artifacts if you pick them well, so far as Gabriel's paradigm of power-sharing goes.
Before Gabriel could serve up a neat theory about the Accursed's lifespan presumably being equivalent to that of several dozen billion years, the man stood up.
Billions? Not even close, buddy.
The Accursed ducking out of there to avoid an awkward conversation where someone of baseline human intelligence attempts to outthink him regarding his origins.
The tension of a pulled violin string he'd been emitting began to loosen. Time once again started to flow, in slow motion at first, but quickly snapping back to its full normality. By the time of his last step, Gabriel was subjected to a cavalcade of clapping and cheering.
Did, uh. Did they not notice him changing positions instantaneously? Or maybe it was all a mental illusion, I guess.
Next!
I have no link for the first one, though. I have no idea which page it is on. What matters is that I'll cut through, relentlessly, until victory is had.
Pro-tip: the SV search function is actually decent, and lets you search by member, phrase,
and limited location. Finding your original omake didn't take more than 30 seconds!
Gabriel did his best to pretend like nothing was wrong for the remainder of the birthday party.
...
Perhaps it was his own dismal perception of things, but it was hard to keep optimism when you'd been told your universe is besieged by a multiversal monstrosity.
Maybe it's the long-term depressive problems talking, but being in a crowd of partying people while feeling distant and unhappy is sure a mood that I don't like remembering. I'm sure that having felt like that before isn't special to me among SV's, though. Seems like Gabriel might have a little experience with it too.
It was when he arrived home that he allowed himself a breather. Coming into his room, he couldn't help but feel a spark of sudden, gut-dominating irritation that made his knees almost buckle with anger, as he had just found out that this 'simple transaction' was only the beginning of his frustration.
Next to the large bookshelf in Gabriel's room stood - and there was no other way to describe this - a curious skeleton, one hand grasping a soft-cover copy of '1984,' while the other tapped the chin repeatedly, analyzing the book. The skeleton's robes were a pale, almost bleached cyan in most places, with traceries of fine gold string and blue silk.
Oh-! Is it? Could it be?
No, surely not. It said nothing about Gabriel taking any companions!
"Ah! There you are, I've amused myself with the books in your room and house, I hope you don't mind. Human civilization in this ontological verse is so interesting! Especially electoral colleges, how is that supposed to work? Hah, they need to file that under 'ideas that don't work' as opposed to 'societies and civilizations,' that's clearly a poor administrative oversight. But what else can I say, I've always been one to believe in the might of absolute dictatorships and autocracies, that's what my old master used to say. But what am I saying, I forget my manners! Prolessarch! Always a pleasure-"
Oh, it is! It's Prolessarch! God I love diagram liches. They're just so cool! Gabriel's reality just got like five times cooler from this alone.
And also his chances of surviving shot way up, I guess, since Power-sharing Remittance and a basic magic system is a killer combination with Prolessarch in the mix.
Gabriel bound forward at four times his usual reaction times, reaching for the yellow knife that rested upon his desk. He turned around, with the knife held tight and firm in his right hand, and frowned at the skeletal figure. "Who the hell are you?!"
Ah, so we see what I assume is the first of the artifacts that he bought, apparently something optimized for combat? And one of the minor boons he took from the Accursed. Actually, his primary remittance is...not too different from Verdant Decipher Fortress, it seems like, though obviously he has that Retinue-adjacent power as the main source of his power, and a basic magic system instead of a luck effect like Fortune's Smile.
It's weird that Gabriel doesn't know who Prolessarch is, though. Did he not take him as a companion? Getting him as one anyways seems really cheap, especially given how outright good Prolessarch is, especially for this particular situation.
"As for the question of how I'm here, that's actually an amusing story, if you'll deign to hear me out," the Prolessarch said, closing the music theory book with a quiet comment on how much music has developed in the absence of medieval cultural ethics and magical tonality.
...
Gabriel's eyebrows rose at the end of his explanation. He didn't consider the Accursed to be so violent, but nevertheless, it was to be expected of this exceedingly powerful being to be wary of anything even remotely resembling its peers, or unknown forms of danger.
Ah, so it was a freebie? Lame, deeply lame. To warrant The Accursed stepping in like that and provoking the Apocryphal Curse, my guess is that Gabriel was going to get himself offed in short order and utterly waste the Accursed's investment.
Prolessarch's book conduct only increases his coolness in my eyes. Liches are truly rad.
The Isekai split that seems to come up a lot between our universe (which is basically sci-fi, haha) and fantasy universes is that our constant scientific investigation has allowed an unbelievably sharp knowledge of the particulars of the world, which itself is structured to encourage a very functional kind of empiricism that fantasy settings usually lack. Partly this is an effect of the complicated reality/idealized fiction divide. Leaving aside the boring "exploiting physics knowledge with magic to get gud" trope, there's a productive tension between something like TES Dwemer Tonal Architecture and the modern mathematical/physical analysis of sound in music, and I'm glad to see that recognized here in Prolessarch's conduct.
Also, I know it said "spiritual", but the image of The Accursed calmly chokeslamming someone into a wall is really, really funny.
"Anyway, that'd be it for my explanation. I guess I'm stuck here now." The lich's arms flopped to his sides, as he leaped back and made himself comfortable on Gabriel's own bed. Robed bones pressed into the mattress far more lightly than a human body would. The lich turned his skull to address the Cursebearer. He pointed a finger-gun at Gabriel's heart in a manner that the boy subconsciously categorized as an attempt at being a fresh party dude. "Also, that eyeball in the drawer? Very cool."
Prolessarch rapidly ascending the Infinite Radness Husk in my estimation. Also, the second artifact. I'm...not super jazzed about Eye Scream horror, but hopefully we'll get to see what it does in more detail, beyond "Vitalism multiverse stuff"? The knife still hasn't really been explained.
"I won't ask you to hold my hand, because I'm afraid I might shatter your bones," Gabriel said, shaking his head. He walked up to his nightstand and opened it. Inside of it were a golden ring, and a red-crystal orb, roughly the size of an eyeball. As expected.
....
"No, thank you. But you could teach me how to use this… Pentex magic? It was part of the deal," Gabriel said, remembering its addition to his spirit. Even now, he could feel the fringes of its activation: a collective of five empty slots, waiting to be filled.
There's the third, and I assume final, artifact. Ring! Ring! Ring! Prowess is actually really, really valuable as a domain, since it's a effectiveness and Progression multiplier if you're smart about it. And as we all learned from EFB, the only thing better than making yourself more effective at gaining power is giving yourself more time to do so with! As a Progression-type without Slumber or something like Might's Repose and
with The Apocryphal Curse, I would absolutely rush to eliminate or reduce sleep. More time to train.
I wonder what The Ring of Prowess's other domains are. Is it just the one?
Ah, more clarification about the eyeball as well. So it allows one to trade knowledge for knowledge? And Prolessarch figured out some of the native magic system already (which is presumably the stuff that Gabriel got as part of his Remittance)? Wow,he's got to be glad that the Accursed got him Prolessarch, thereby increasing everything he bought by enough value to make up for his bad choices.
"Ah, the knock-off- I mean, hah, the new magic," Prolessarch said, fumbling over his own words for a flash. "Yes, I saw the foundation while I was snooping around the astral layer," Prolessarch said. His head crinkled as it turned. "You know, when that beast threw me in here. It appears to be introducing fresh layers of metaphysical systems on a sub-astral scale into the universe, and I'm not sure if that's safe or stable. We should probably ask it to stop."
Surely he wasn't about to call it a knock-off Diagram? It doesn't seem anywhere near that powerful from the feats in this chapter.
Inserting new metaphysical systems underneath pre-existing structure is kind of like playing Jenga by digging into the ground below the tower and inserting new bricks. Not smart.
...yet another reason why leaving would've been the right choice. I guess Doom of Judgement's "modern moral sensibilities" are relatively lax on the question of whether one has the obligation to act against their own desires in order to spare billions of other people hardship, huh?
"Lovecraft was a racist writer who had no idea who science, geometry or mathematics worked. Don't bother trying to understand his reasoning," Gabriel scoffed, waving Prolessarch off. "He thought non-Euclidean meant that space was being bent."
Prolessarch didn't seem to have an immediate response to that, shrugging and looking up at the ceiling.
This is all true and good discourse, but Gabriel's slamming of Lovecraft misses the mark a bit here, since Prolessarch has no way of knowing who Euclid is! And also, that sort of whammy is most effective on people who are unfamiliar with the particulars of Lovecraft, having heard of him only by association. That group is also shrinking over time, as the understanding of Lovecraft's...particular ideology...has been shared ever-more widely. I guess you have to get in your (totally deserved, fuck Lovecraft) digs while you can!
After a moment of silence, Gabriel reached into his drawer and took out the ring.
...
"Interesting, interesting. I don't have to try to know that I could cast my spells more easily." Prolessarch's voice was a pleasant, charming lilt, easy to listen to. He appeared to be, if not satisfied, then happy with how fascinating the situation was. "It's as if though the scant gaps in my knowledge have been filled out, techniques refined automatically. It doesn't seem to improve mentality, I am quantifiable or qualitatively not any smarter and I can sense that kind of thing, it extrapolates its own knowledge and adds it to the target's own base. Your ring is a useful toy."
God the Ring of Prowess is OP. I think it's potentially worse than most of the other Rings we've seen in The Accursed Metaverse, Truth aside. If it doesn't surpass Aurelia's Ring of Majesty in the short and mid-term, it certainly kicks the shit out of the Crown of Majesty the CYOA offered. Think about it: Prowess is expertise in theoretically any skill, and since it improves performance it's practically a free Arete machine! I don't even want to see what a Ruling Ring of Prowess advancement might look like, jesus. Now I'm wondering if his other bad build choices even matter, since it's going to come down to this Ring, Prolessarch, and Apocryphal as the central players.
It was a magical power that favored versatility and immediate power, over arcane heights and discoveries. It was a selfish system, in that using it in order to change society or civilization in the long-term would be impossible outside of the caster's personal intervention in events.
Good to finally get some Pentexplanation! (This is dedicated to you, Strange9). I really like the mechanics, since they're a good combination of solid limitations, the combinatorial chance factor people tend to like, and wide-open theoretical possibilities. Plus, its universal accessibility via Prolessarch's teachings means that once Gabriel comes clean to the people he trusts (which better be soon, if he knows what's good for him), the faster he can get them enough power to help him not die to the Apocryphal.
There has to be some sort of harsh limit that we aren't aware of yet. I mean, there's the whole "it won't allow you to change society, since spells are necessarily individualistic and can't be industrialized", but that's shortsighted, seeing as you can absolutely revolutionize a bunch of industries without automated magic if spell effects are as reproducible as this chapter makes them seem! No, this magic system is too good for it's price, even if it doesn't have unlimited omni-dimensional reliability. So there has to be some other limit that makes things worse. Can't be limited spell power or casting limitations, since arranging combined synergistic spells with others would jump that hurdle without an issue. I guess we'll see, then.
"Well, I'm not giving you mine, so keep those hands to yourself and cast it on some annoying pest later," the Prolessarch cautioned, before considering. "Well… This is basically it, as far as using the system goes. I'm sure there are ways of refining it - oh, yes, of course there are. There always are, but I don't really care. It's a pretty bad system to begin with, and I won't indulge in it."
"I won't sully my hands with your dirty, dirty commoner's magic! Only the Diagram, that wonderous cascade of ultimate mystery and wonder, is worthy of my bony fingers.
Also, The Praxis is too good to be real. I refuse to believe that
hooligan could devise a system better than my Diagram~."
I should've gone for that, on second thought, but this is fine too.
Yes? Praxis, Prolessarch, The Ring of Prowess, and the special eyeball artifact would be incredible together in a setting with no immediate danger, though Doom of the Rival would make that harder to pull off. Obviously the true chad move here would have been to take Brand of the Wretched and Geas of Indenture instead.
I'm assuming that Gabriel is relying on the "outsource power to those around me" strategy to indirectly mitigate Doom of the Rival, but it doesn't seem like it will work since Gabriel hasn't made an attempt to get his loved ones involved yet. I know it's only been a day, so I would normally give him a break, but he took The Apocryphal Curse! If I took the Apocryphal Curse in the middle of birthday party with my family and friends, I'd say "Fuck it" and tell everyone I was planning to bring in right then and there, shit. I guess he doesn't know how punishing it can be yet.
If he waffles on it too long, The Doom of Judgement is likely to start weighing down on him. It's not ethical to be knowingly suffering from something as volatile and malevolent as the Apocryphal Curse and not give the people who know you a chance to dip out before they get hurt.
"Anything else before I go to the library?" the Prolessarch asked. He began to perform a complicated series of hand movements, muttering quiet incantations.
"Let Prolessarch go on an enthusiastic walk" is yet another thing to put on the list of "Apocryphal-chan's no-nos". I'm not going to be surprised by this backfiring.
Gabriel is going to have a really, really bad time until he understands the full implications of the Apocryphal Curse's capabilities.
Attention, thread! I am about to perform an S-Rank Technique!
There's no need for false modesty at this point, Birdsie. You can just admit that it's EX-rank. It's fine.
The next day, Gabriel woke early in order to prepare himself.
Life would no longer be easy. There was no promise of continued peace that he could rely on, no logic that he could suborn himself to in order to be safe.
There was no government or person in the entire world that could keep him and his loved ones safe, besides himself. As such, he needed to make sacrifices and prepare for the challenges that the Doom of the Rival and the Apocryphal Curse would pose together.
Oh?
UWU, what's this? *Notices your resolve*
But yes, good. Please talk to your goddamn family, girlfriend, and best friend. It feels like it's been thousands (millions?) of words since we've seen them.
He decided to spend the rest of the morning on training. He'd need to focus on survival and finding some way to advance past the depredations of the Apocryphal Curse and do so quickly if he was to have any chance at survival. If he could do that much, then his nature as a Progression-type Cursebearer would do the rest practically on its own.
Unfortunately, it seemed like the Prolessarch was still doing his reading in the library, as the lich didn't show up back home yet. Gabriel's parents hadn't either, for that matter. It was him, the Eye, and the Ring of Prowess melded to his finger.
So, switching between using Prowess to perfect some useful short-term Pentex spells and doing pushups?
Alleviating the need for sleep is a must, and meditation might begin to handle that while being super useful and actually just necessary for Pentex. I would do a loop between meditating and exercising, with the meditation serving as the mandatory rest periods.
Gabriel took in a resolute breath, then sat down on his bed, cross-legged, beginning to meditate like Prolessarch had taught him to do the evening prior.
...
In a single morning of exercise; less than six hours, and using no steroids or enhancements, chemicals, or supernal magic, Gabriel managed to perform enough body-strengthening exercises to compare to sixteen hours of intense, extensive, and tireless training from a professional athlete. And he was barely even trying: he was dipping his toes in the barrel, so to speak, trying to see how it'd be with the Ring's help, and already he'd gained so much with only minimal stamina loss.
Yep, nailed it. The Ring is really pulling out the stops, huh? Actually, that reminds me of that one story with the earrings that give perfect suggestions. You know, the one that tells you what to do next that will make you happiest, and it gradually narrows the immediacy and complexity of the suggested actions down to individual muscular movements, removing your need to think or make decisions at all. Does anybody know the story I'm talking about?
Anyways, it's good that he has to actively engage the Ring to some degree in order for it to activate. I would expect it to handle things beyond exercise, too. Like, thinking about things and making decisions are also active skills that you can be imperfect at, so I wouldn't be surprised if it rapped his knuckles for poorly optimizing training time or making bad decisions about how to break new to his allies, etc. Though I guess having it do that would be pretty annoying to read about, so maybe it's good that things are constrained to avoid that.
Great men had great needs, and great exercise necessitated a lot of calorie intake. When Gabriel thought about that, the Ring on his finger pulsed with agreement. Gabriel walked into the kitchen, put some water into the pot, and started cooking.
This is bullshit. The Ring agrees with him about the necessity of proper calorie intake, but doesn't tell him off from the massively substandard choice of carbonara? Pfft.
Unsurprised that it seems to apply to cooking as well. As always, Gardener's Hallow-esque systems lurk just out of reach.
"Well, I have already looked into the matter. The best deduction I can produce is that the Italian government has already identified a sizable, and quantifiable number of supernatural phenomena over the last couple of months, and have instantiated a task force to deal with it. It'd explain why their vans were unmarked, and why some of them were slitting their wrists and tossing lightning bolts at me." Prolessarch took up a book from the top of his collected stack, gently running a loving, caressing finger over its cover, as he continued, "Useless, against a lich, of course, but it's the volts that matter. Either way, I have managed to elude them for now. Curiously, I have reasons to believe other world governments would have a similar reaction, given no news on anything paranormal anywhere in the world."
>Italy
Well, that explains the Carbonara.
If I were part of a government special forces magical black ops incident squad, I too would throw lightning bolts at a spooky robed skeleton man, no matter how jovially polite he was. Who knows what the wrist-slitting is about, though. Imperfect use of Pentex, or deliberate exploitation of some more appropriately Lovecraftian astral subsystem that allows one to convert blood sacrifice into mystical might?
"Write it? A waste of time, but I suppose it's good for entertainment," Prolessarch shrugged helplessly, turning and clicking his fingers.
Hey now, you don't have to own yourself that hard, buddy. Or, more importantly own
me that hard!
Gabriel snorted, and then closed his eyes. He reflected on the crystalwork bauble embedded into his skull, on its inherent magical properties and its power. He tried to understand it, or better yet, he hoped the Ring or even the Eye itself would feed him a how-to guide.
He asked, and he received, as both artifacts strangely cooperated and provided him with an instinctive user guide. The Eye was a transdimensional channel, connected to a master nexus with overriding administrative rights that could be used to coordinate numerous swarms of Crystal Eyes across the universe.
I assume that this is supposed to read "Crystal Eyes across the multiverse", since the presence of other Crystal Eyes in this universe is a cause for significant alarm, given how useful of an artifact it is and how soon the total accumulated knowledge of modern humanity will no longer be able to be exchanged for practical magical knowledge.
What defines the limit of "one" shared piece of information? If he gives the Eye a lump sum of information in sufficiently contiguously aligned subjects, can he get back one mystical secret of equal total value? That's what I would do if I was aiming for maximal value.
Soon enough, Gabriel possessed in-depth analytical data on two separate magical systems, one of which he could start training immediately, and for the second of which he'd need a source of mystically-relevant water. There was also supplementary knowledge of a bodily self-refinement process that combined meditation, breathing exercises, and physical exercises in order to holistically boost every aspect of each at the same time and deepen the user's spirit to an even higher level.
Wow, that's a lot? What he got seems like it's worth a lot more than what he fed in, seeing as Prolessarch can't possibly have an omnidimensionally, omnimagically reliable understanding of how to manufacture phylacteries. And the technical knowledge to do
one really useful thing in
one system that Gabriel can't even use should probably spit out something similar, right? I mean, I wouldn't complain about the power, since he's going to need it, but shit that's a lot of low hanging fruit. And it didn't even take that long to do! Quick, ask Prolessarch for another secret of equivalent value: you might get another three (!!!) magic systems out of it.
"Have faith, m'boy," the Prolessarch assured him, leaping back and slowing down to a levitating crawl as he neared the bed, gently landing on it with his back. "Now, then. Why don't you start doing squats while I meditate on my Domain of Mentalism to see if we can pop that skull of yours open and I'll read the knowledge you gathered directly and see what can be done with those magics you achieved."
Oh? I suppose Prolessarch isn't actually a Diagram lich in this, then. Huh.
So, which magic system did Gabriel initiate into first?
Idolatry is theoretically super useful for home defense, which Gabriel should care about a lot. But Apocryphal doesn't care and will simply out prepare against him. Surgecraft is too strong in utility effects/direct combat to not immediately take and dump a day of Prowess-boosted Progression grade effort on, at the very least so that Gabriel has some meaningful, consistent supernatural combat capabilities right away.
Idolatry will still be there later for when he needs more varied effects or needs to fortify himself and his loved ones against problems. But he can't do that stuff if he's dead.
