Shards of Reality (Gamer SI)

No need to burn bridges to get intel right off the bat. You escalate these things slowly to minimize outrage.
Notice that despite her disparaging internal monologue, she is doing no bridge burning. Telling the Wards to engage peacefully is the opposite of bridge burning in fact. She's hoping that in the, in her opinion, likely, chance that Druid is faking it, that they'll slip up eventually and one of the Wards will be there to catch it. Your bias is showing :V

Did she blame all parahumans?
So she's like. Intellectually, she knows that not all of them are to blame, but y'know. And she does have some good points.
 
Notice that despite her disparaging internal monologue, she is doing no bridge burning. Telling the Wards to engage peacefully is the opposite of bridge burning in fact. She's hoping that in the, in her opinion, likely, chance that Druid is faking it, that they'll slip up eventually and one of the Wards will be there to catch it. Your bias is showing :V


So she's like. Intellectually, she knows that not all of them are to blame, but y'know. And she does have some good points.
Ya, Piggot is keeping an iron grip on her biases by approaching them in a reasonable way.
 
Set Up 2.3

Set Up 2.3


Nezumi was at the kitchen island reading the newspaper in her human guise. The ninja rat sipped a cup of coffee, occasionally shaking her head at something she read. The rather lurid headline of "All Out War Started in Downtown" was splashed on the front page. She kept sneaking glances at where her Summoner slept. Explaining this would take some doing. It said something that the debut of a new cape was stuffed at the back of the first section.

"Stupid, stupid pups…" Nezumi sighed.

Alice's breakfast was sitting in the oven on low to keep warm. The rat woman carefully folded the paper and set it down before returning to contemplating last night's debacle.

A yawn and the sound of rustling sheets rather told her the pondering time was over. The quietly cheerful greeting rather helped that prognostic, admittedly. "Mornin', Nezumi."

"Good morning, Summoner," Nezumi's smile was genuine, if a little strained. She glanced back at the newspaper before turning it over to conceal the headline. Perhaps it was wise to let Alice eat breakfast before seeing that.

"So, you gave me the cliffnotes when that explosion went off, and you were still busy by the time I got home." The albino said evenly as she padded over the bloodstain-shaped carpet to get at her breakfast, letting her nose guide her. "What happened in there other than young'uns getting hit by the good idea fairy?"

Nezumi's look of chagrin spoke volumes.

"Right, so some of the pups came up with the brilliant idea to deny assets to the enemy. Instead of running the idea by me first, they took it upon themselves to do just that. The issue is that they made a fuel explosive utilizing what was on hand. Then they set it off in the ammunition stockpile itself. I'm just grateful it was a warehouse and they didn't have innocent neighbors. Wherever the Nazis picked up their ammo from must have been cheap. It cooked off… just as the police pulled up. The police thought they were being shot at and called in the SWAT team. Somehow this turned into a turf war among the skinheads," Nezumi sipped her coffee to stall and gather her thoughts. "...Okay, so I had to go in and make it look like an internal matter. They wanted to raid the Merchants and the ABB, blaming them for their misfortune. Since we aren't trying to set off that tinderbox just yet I needed to get creative. So I framed our Mr. Mueller."

"Hm, chances that they will try to take it out on his territory instead of the man himself?" Alice asked after a moment. What was done was done, she had to focus on the practicalities. "And how spread out and hot are the proverbial fires? I trust you to make the most of the chaos, just want to figure out how I'm rolling with these punches."

"This would be the best time for Druid to start marking territory. The neighborhood isn't Empire 88 yet. That was Mueller's job. You have time because the internal affairs will need to be sorted out first. As for the chaos… it has firmed up your neighbors' resolve to not knuckle under the E88," Nezumi reported.

[New Quest Discovered!]
Territorial Disputes - The E88 has recently fallen on some hard times due to circumstances. This is the time to strike while the iron's hot! You don't need to face them directly. Merely find a way to claim the neighborhood as your turf.
Goal: Establish the neighborhood as your territory within 30 days.
Bonus Goal: Do so with minimum to no bloodshed.
Rewards: 10,000 XP, +5 CP, Random Skill Book, Reputation Gain by 1 step with Public
Bonus Reward: 5,000 XP, + 3 CP, Random Equipment, Reputation Gain + 1 with Public
Failure: 1,000 XP, Reputation Loss by 1 step with Public.
Accept: Y/N
Warning: This WILL lower your Reputation with the E88 by two steps

"Hmm. On one hand, this is a pretty good location. Only thing better for me would be sitting right next to the forest. On the other hand, it would help certain people narrow down my civilian identity." Alice hummed in between bites of her breakfast, which amounted to some waffles, eggs and bacon. "The answer would be to grab enough of the neighborhood that it muddles the waters, although how much I can actually hold… going to need to make more Contracts. I need subordinates I can trust full on, parahumans are too volatile to recruit at this stage. Ants, maybe? An underground fortress and endless passageways for quick deployment, all hidden underneath the sewers. That'd help your clansmen too, if you call any of them."

"Before you go summoning Ants, want me to explain about Hive Summons?" Nezumi asked.

"Go for it, the book I work off of didn't make the distinction." Alice said with a nod as she filled herself a glass with Healing Hesperide juice.

"Okay, so the way a Hive Summon works is that you can contact a Worker or the Queen herself. If you contact a Worker they can do whatever job you ask. Honestly, Worker is somewhat misleading as they aren't a single Summon but a group of industrious Spirits in a trenchcoat basically. They can be contracted for a specific location, but their Queen's orders always come first. Reliable workers, dedicated, but the Queen can break the contract at any time. Queens are royalty and expect to be treated as such. Anytime you hear of great plagues in history it was because someone summoned a Queen. They are very temperamental. The advantage of a Contract is that there is no limit on their subordinates," Nezumi explained.

"Okay, what sort of royal treatment because that could mean anything from us having to grovel and scrape for hours to get so much as a minor favor, or it could just be having enough common sense to never call or treat a Queen as a subordinate." The mage asked with a furrowed brow, for all it didn't stop her from topping her tank. Good food was good food, no sense letting it go cold.

"That's just it. The Queen sets the prices. 'Royal treatment' is whatever they want as a bribe. Personally, I would suggest steering clear of them unless it's absolutely necessary. Ant Queens are very businesslike. No nonsense. Termite Queens are much the same. Though a Termite's woodworking ability is simply sublime. Queen Bees range from delightful scatterbrains like the Bumble Bee to downright sadistic with Killer Bees. Steer clear of Wasps at all costs. Just don't. All of their Queens are Evil with a capital E," Nezumi said with a shudder. Must be real Nanking hours if the gutter runner assassin looked sickened.

"I can work with businesslike, just a matter of what their business is. Also, do I even want to know what Carrion Bee Spirits are like?" Alice hummed, before shaking her head, "Wouldn't the issue be circumvented if I summon a Spirit based on my views rather than the public's? Something like an Ant Queen who's basically Robute Guilliman's long lost sister."

"The Hive would be smaller and less prominent… but that's not an issue for you, is it? Right, you're not looking for instant prestige. It could work. The entity would still be quite proud, but not as restrictive," Nezumi realized.

"I can work with pride, I can't work with arrogance. Should be able to get it going, especially if I center myself on the right mental image." The wonders of having a nuanced view on royals and having a fantastic take of Robust Gorillaman living rent free in her skull right next to the Monster of Victory. Probably only going to use the former, granted, the other would probably destabilize things. "I assume, aside from amazing woodwork, Termites are amazing at working with all sorts of plant magic?"

"Termites are specialists in woodcraft. What they consider amateurish could stand for decades with only minimal upkeep. Other spells they know include ones for shaping roots and arranging stone. Their special 'glue' can bind wood to inorganic materials with ease. Their Queens are more artisanal. Favoring handcrafted works over manufactured. My Clan calls on them for housing and their prices are reasonable," Nezumi added thoughtfully.

"Perfect for our purposes. May be a route to getting myself the base of a foci, too." Alice's smile would've sent a shark running. Now, she would need some plant growth spells for the Termite Spirits to work with, probably use Shackle Seed as a base. First, though, "Can you see about having the underground in the neighborhood scouted? Ideally preparing an area for me to summon "

"The only insect you could summon in the aquifer would be waterbugs… I could find a place for termites. It might take a bit. Anything else you need while I'm out?" The rat asked.

"Hmm. Themis, you said I needed symbols that meant things to me for turning a weapon into a magic foci, right? Does the power scale the more elaborate and expensive I get with that? 'Cause I got an idea." The white-haired woman asked after a moment's thought. Oh boy, did she have an idea.

[What you are making is essentially a fetish. Quality materials are important, but even more important is the value you place upon them. Harry Potter's wand would be considered a high quality foci not because of the Phoenix Feather, but because of the faith he placed in it. Initial power is required yet affection matters more.]

"Alright, let's see here…" Alice muttered as she pulled a paper and a pen from her inventory, chewing on her lip, "Obsidian, gold– wait, no, I have some in the inventory. Still going to need silver, green uranium glass, brass, bismuth, red and black stained glass, fulgurite. That's everything, I think. Don't need a ton of these, each token is going to be pretty small. If you can't find something, I'll just go ID hopping to dig it up."

"You're the boss, Summoner," Nezumi said with a smile as she took the 'shopping list'. She stood up and, after kissing Alice on the cheek, vanished in a puff of smoke.

"God, but I love having competent help." The albino chuckled, shaking her head as she polished off the last of her breakfast. Now, time to get around some of the stuff she had been let hang a bit too much.

First up, sitting her ass down and meditating.



[Meditation + 9]

[For reaching level 10 in Meditation a random Perk is generated]
Focused Mind lvl Max - This allows the user to slip into a state of focus far easier and for longer than most. Choose one Skill and receive a 25% increase to its XP Gain and Effect. Lowers Perception by 90%.

A rude buzzer came from the text box.

[Alice! Wake up! I have been trying to reach you for almost three hours now.]

"Haha, looks like my hyperfocus chased me here." The faux-Russian woman chuckled awkwardly. She'd need to have some minders on hand if she ever used that perk, beyond just Themis. "Put a lock on that Perk if you can, please, I don't want it to activate on accident."

[I turned it into a Perk so that you could engage and disengage it at will. I'm sorry it took me so long to figure out how to do that. Now that I understand how this Perk system works it shouldn't be as difficult in the future.]

"Glad to hear and should be helpful for big boy stuff like making Contracts, if nothing else." Best to use it sparingly, the drawback was really fucking harsh and she'd basically need to have a Termite Spirit gnawing at her leg to snap her out of it, she bet. "Alright, off to the gym now. I'm playing up the armored behemoth angle with Druid so I need to back it up."



See, the funny thing about the System? More pertinently, about stats? They were evenly distributed. Doing curls would still strengthen her legs, doing 10km on the static bike would help her core muscles too, so on and so forth. So while the System didn't do a ton for muscle fatigue outside the sleep bennies?

She could just work on different muscle groups, in sequence, to extend her workout and gains like a motherfucker.

Kinesthetic warmup, then squats and whatever the leg weight machines were called, then kinesthetic cooldown. Water and peanut butter sandwich, take fifteen to recover stamina. Then off to the weight bench for her arms. Then off to make her core scream.

Then she had finally hit the indoors pool to round everything off and help get rid off all the gunk she'd built up. Finally, a tall glass of chocolate milk, because for some arcane reason it increased gains.

[The Way of the Body + 2]

[STR/DEX/CON + 6]

All in all, a wonderfully productive session that had eaten a good eight hours or so from the moment she had set foot in the gym. Hadn't even made people think she was a parahuman, everything was firmly in the bounds of someone fit working hard at getting fitter.

…That didn't mean the regulars didn't have thoughts about it.

There were some people taking discreet glances at her as she worked out. For some it almost seemed to light a fire in them to do better. Others just seemed to be checking her out, which was fair enough. She was a devastatingly attractive woman, after all. Her Charisma just made her more noticeable and inspiring. From the owner's expression, she might be good for business too.

Everyone was happy. Well, except from some jealous girls at the locker room, but whatever. She had more important things to think about. Like finding a good buffet where to go absolutely apeshit to reward herself with. Plus, y'know, people watch some and see if that helped her mental scores some.

But mostly for the food, she wasn't kidding anyone here. She needed her unagi. The question was where to get it without having to reveal she was a parahuman, given how Asian crime was more often than not.



[WIS + 2]
[INT + 1]

[Perception + 4]

Perception found a lovely little hole in the wall restaurant with big portions and smiling faces. They had a buffet, but the small menu and dirt cheap price told her sure as anything: This was going to shoot her socks straight at Ziz's smug face.

Usually a buffet had Americanized Asian cuisine, but this was the real deal. Amazingly enough it was found down an alleyway off of Lord's Market. Alice just followed the modestly dressed folks to their destination. It stayed in business largely by word of mouth. One of those "if you know, you know" kind of places.

The restaurant had two tables, a counter, and a handwritten menu at the back. Alice got there just as they were restocking the buffet. She saw the fresh unagi and just about found religion.

[Luck + 1]

Right then and there, she was just going to try leveling her mental stats by picking out the ingredients and preparation of her food. Fuck people watching, she had better things to do.

"Now, this looks like a nice place," A familiar voice murmured appreciatively. "Tonkotsu Ramen? Could I get a bowl of that please?" Alice's favorite rat made a beeline for the counter. Once the order was placed, she walked over to the mage's table. "Mind if I sit? I've been on my feet all day…"

"Oho, should I sweep you off of them, then?" The Russian woman joked even as she gestured for Nezumi to take a seat.

"You already did that the day we met," Nezumi smirked before sliding into her seat in a single smooth motion. The quiet sigh of relief was completely unfeigned. "I really was on my feet all day. The things you were looking for were easy to find. Just a pain in the tail to bring back to the apartment. I got some of my family to help with the delivery."

"You're the best." Alice said with a broad grin, not hesitating for a moment wrapping an arm around the rat's shoulders and squeezing. She didn't at all miss the dusting of pink on her 'very good friend'.

"Of course I am. I also found a special place for that thing you wanted," Nezumi whispered playfully.

"I don't know what I would do without you." The albino sighed happily. Truly, there was no greater power out there than competent help to delegate to. "How about I make you a novelty knife with those rocks I've been collecting? Slim and sharp, just like you."

"You do know how to sweet talk a girl. I could bind a lovely enchantment to it…" Nezumi smirked. That was when her ramen arrived. The smell hit her nostrils and all thoughts of flirting fled. "Ahhh…pardon me…but this smells fantastic," She smiled at the woman who brought her order.

Then Alice's unagidon arrived right after and there were no more words for all the happy noises didn't stop for a moment.

Name: Alice Belobog
Age: 21
Level: 8
Class: Mage
Specialization: Plant
Subclass: <Locked>

HP: 110/110 [+1 HP per minute]
SP: 220/220 [+5 SP per minute if active, +20 if resting]
MP: 1000/1000 [+5.5 MP per minute]

STR: 20
DEX: 22
CON: 22
INT: 16
WIS: 17
CHA: 50
LCK: 25 (12.5 after World Debuff)

CP: 0

Perks

Medium Mana Capacity lvl Max - Your ability to hold Mana has increased enabling even greater staying power. MP x 2, MP Regen + 4

Focused Mind lvl Max - This allows the user to slip into a state of focus far easier and for longer than most. Choose one Skill and receive a 25% increase to its XP Gain and Effect. Lowers Perception by 90%.

General Skills

Perception lvl 11 - This encompasses more than just sight, hearing, and the like. This is a measure of how well you can grasp the world around you and its varied nuances.
- 10% + 1% per level chance to uncover hidden objects, see through disguises and detect bullshit.

Meditation lvl 10 - The ability to focus oneself and maintain a level head. This skill is an important foundation not just for Mages but for Martial Artists as well. In time it may even be possible to enter a meditative trance while doing other things.
- Passive MP Regen + 1% per level.
- MP Regen + 5% per level while active. (Must Meditate for 1 minute for it to become active)
- Active use gradually removes mental effects at a rate of -10% + 1% per level.
- Chance of taking action or any disturbance breaking the meditative trance 90% - 1% per level.

The Way of the Body [3/10] - This is a training process devised by one of the foremost masters of the body. With this the user can cause the formation of "pink muscle" capable of doing the work of red and white muscle even more efficiently. This serves as a solid foundation for most Martial Arts training. Unlike with normal Skills this is a trainable Perk completed at 10.
- Alters the distribution of XP for the Body Trinity to 80% gain for all.
- Increases Reaction Time by +1% per point of DEX
- Increases Explosive Strength by +1% per point of STR.
- Increases Resilience by +1% per point of CON.

Combat Skills
Blunt Weapon Mastery lvl 1 – A good whack is nature's reset button. This skill covers the various ways you can make upright people lie prone.
- Attack Speed +15% + 5% per level.
- Damage +5% per level.

Bladed Weapon Mastery lvl 1 - This is a general skill for handling sharps without cutting off important bits in the process. Blades can inflict the Bleed and Severed Debuff.
- Attack Speed +15% + 5% per level.
- Damage +5% per level.

Magic Skills

Plant Manipulation lvl 14 – The ability to manipulate plants from the simple flower to the mightiest tree. This is a subset of Life Magic which also covers certain healing spells and physical recovery.
- Spell Costs are reduced by 1% per level (Max -75%)
- Spell Effects are enhanced by 1% per level.
- Spell Range is enhanced by 1% per level.
- Spell Duration is increased by 1% per level.

Summoning lvl 8 - This Skill is based on the research of Guy Dupont and covers the summoning and dismissing of various Spirits. Summons remain until dismissed or killed. A killed Summon merely returns to their natural realm. The more MP is used the more powerful the Spirit that is called.
- MP: 20
- Control: 10% + 5% per level. (This is based on Charisma)
- Dismiss: 25% + 15% per level. (This is based on Charisma)


Healing Hesperide lvl 3 - Conjures healing apples or apple juice, with some input from you.
- Cost: 4 MP
- HP Recovery - Must consume ½ lb or 1 pint for the full benefit.
- PWR: 1 (+0.1 per lvl)
- Amount of Food Created: ½ lb per lvl
- Amount of Drink Created: 1 pint per lvl
- Quality Modifier: +0.5% per level
- Active Time: 1 minute per level. (After this the magic healing is inert)

Husk Bolt lvl 10 - This is a variant on one of the most basic spells in a Mage's arsenal, Mana Bolt. It conjures up a seed husk based on a template and fires it at high speed. Simple and efficient. This variant has the potential to debuff.
- Cost: 1 MP
- Range: 175 ft + 5 ft per level
- PWR: 1 + 0.1 per level = 1.6
- Damage Type: Blunt
- Debuff: Capsaicin - The bullet sprays dust on impact which can get in the eyes and nostrils. Irritation and radius increases by 5% per level. Base Range: ½ ft Causes watery eyes, runny nose, and burning in the mucus membranes.

Shackle Seed lvl 1 - Looks like you sampled some nearby crabgrass. This special seed grows like a weed on steroids to entrap the target. It extends its roots into whatever crevices it can get a grip on. Non-invasive but it will seek to restrain them by as many points as possible. Quickly regenerates from harm until its limited HP runs out.
- MP: 20
- HP: 10 + 5 per level
- Target: Medium and smaller. Upgrades at tenth level.
- PWR: 5 (Upper grip strength)
- Number of Vines: 1 + 1 per 3 lvls.

Hungry Mold lvl 14 - A creepy fungus spell that turns putrefying flesh into a ravenous mold. All putrid flesh is consumed until nothing organic remains. After ten minutes with nothing to consume it dries out and dies.
Effect:
- Infests 1 lb of flesh per level.
- Can be ended prematurely by the caster.
- Cost: 20 MP

Coat of Thorns lvl 2 - This spell is more than just a variant of Mage Armor, but also combines aspects of Flame Shield as well. The caster's garments are altered fundamentally to increase their toughness yet also add a bit extra. Any attackers in melee range trigger an immediate thorny reaction. This can be discharged immediately for an omnidirectional attack by casting the spell again.
- MP: 16
- Type: Defense, Pierce
- PWR (for thorns): 1 + 5% per level. (Stacks with Armor when triggered)
- Armor: 4 + 5% per level
- Duration: 2 minutes per level. Auto-renews unless dismissed.
- Reactive Damage: Equal to the Spell's Total Armor Value

Rumble Vine lvl 5 - You know the spell Plant Growth? Why waste time with that when you could have this? This spell affects an area around the caster that drives the vegetation into frenzy. It uses the surrounding nature to create an ad hoc Summon Circle to briefly call a horde of wild Plant Spirits. Vines rise up out of the ground and thrash anything that looks at the Caster crosseyed.
- MP: 15
- Number of Vines Summoned: 4 + 1 per 3 lvls.
- PWR: 4 per Vine
- Area of Effect: 20ft + 2ft per level.

Slime Suit lvl 3 - This just might be one of the oddest spells ever created in this cluster. The result of combining three very different types of spells has given rise to something new. Your Summoning Skill was needed to bind it all together. A Neutral Spirit has been Summoned into this unique working. Usually Slimes are considered generic, but this one has been infused with a purpose.
- Sustained Cost: 100 MP
- Armor Value: ½ Charisma
- Durability: Twice Charisma
- Heals the Wearer by 20 HP per minute + 2 HP per level
- Reduces Damage by 50% against Blunt, Fire, Acid
- Critical Heal: Sacrifices its Durability when the wearer is at 20% HP.
- Critical Retreat: Puppets the wearer's body to escape if the caster is incapacitated.
- Movement +30% + 5% per level (Negated by Heavy Armor)

Inventory

Money: $7600.21
Smartphone (Great)
Dreams of Green Notebook (Poor)
ID Paperwork (Basic)
Apartment keys (Basic)
Crowbar (Good)
- Durability: 125/125
10 Rolls of Heavy Leather (100 lbs)
20 lbs Steel
1 lb Gold
1 Roll Kevlar
20 Rolls of Cotton (80 lbs)
Fishy Nun Outfit (equipment set, what she started with) (Good)
- Armor 12
- Durability 25/25
- Comfort + 25%
Vogue Frills Outfit (equipment set, the one she just got) (Basic)
- Durability 20/20
- Comfort + 0%
Shotgun (Basic)
- Durability 125/125
Ammo (6 shells)
Clothes
Hero Phone
Hero License
Healer License

Hellish Whistle (Rare) - Forged from the despair of generations of railway workers and those who died building the rails. One toot on this is enough to send those of weaker wills fleeing in terror. When Mana is channeled through it this whistle can petrify a listener with fear.
Inflict: Terror, Petrified with Fear MP 10
Durability 5/5

Costume Gasmask (Basic) - This looks like a proper gasmask but in reality is fake. The lens blurs the edges of the wearer's eyes and general color to aid in concealing their identity. The mask has been enhanced further to conceal the wearer's hair under the habit and change it to something nondescript.
- Durability: 20/20
- Effect: Disguises hair color/hides hair perfectly

Casting Beyond the Veil (Excellent) - This tome was written many years ago by a scholar of otherworldly magic. The scholar, Guy Dupont, wrote this after translating a much older grimoire. Contained within these pages are the fruits of his labor. Teaches Summoning Magic Skill.

A Passion for Burning (Excellent) - This Guy Dupont really gets around, doesn't he? These are his observations on the inner workings of Fire Magic and how it interacts with other elements. Confers several benefits that require research to unlock.

A Flash of Brilliance (Excellent) - These are Guy Dupont's observations on Lightning and its unique place within the Wind Element group. Confers several benefits that require research to unlock.

The Deepest Darkness (Excellent) - Guy Dupont sought to find a connection between Dark and what he called "The Elements of the Earth." Confers several benefits that require research to unlock.

A Ray of Light (Excellent) - This details Guy Dupont's journey to discover a connection between Light and what he called "The Elements of Heaven." Confers several benefits that require research to unlock.

Soul Stone - This possesses a tiny fragment of death magic and acts as the motive force behind undead creatures.
- Minor x 21
- Medium x 3
- Major x 1

Tinkertech Baton - A high-quality self-defense tool advertised as the best on the market. It comes highly recommended by Toybox, but you don't care about all that. This thing is made of space-age materials capable of withstanding tremendous force, heat, cold, acid, and shocks. Your noodly arms will break before this bad boy. Your new toy can be set from 0 (no charge) to 11 (max charge). Max charge comes with backlash so please be responsible. Each charge is a 10% chance to stun or paralyze the target.
- Damage Type: Blunt
- Activated: Blunt/Electric
- Inflict: Stun/Paralyze
- PWR: 4

Shortsword - A basic shortsword. Well forged and simple to use. It was someone's homecraft as evidenced by a lack of discernible style.
Damage: Slash, Pierce
PWR: 6

Legacy of Nature (Excellent) - You hate nature, you are part of nature, nature has always fought and weaponized itself. There is no finest love letter to it than usurping its power. This armor is a declaration of intent to any who witness it: 'Gaia lives, and she hates you more than me.'
- Upgradable: Enchantment Slots 8/8
- Helmet - Allows the wearer to see clearly in natural darkness and extends visual range in power induced shadows. Alters the wearer's voice.
- Armor - Resist Environmental Effects -80%
- Gauntlets - Reduces the change of disarm by 80%.
- Boots - Freedom of Movement through natural terrain. Ignores difficult terrain.
- Durability: 300/300
- Armor Rating: 100
- Special Quality: Material Absorption - Absorbs materials to repair itself. Requires 1 lb of material per 10 points of Durability loss.

Quests

A Child's Dreams of Green - Where did this notebook come from originally? It appears as fantasy but the principles within are solid. Are there other mages out there?
Rewards: 10,000 XP, Potential Mentor, Advanced Plant Spellbook
Failure: 1,000 XP. (Note: The only way to fail this quest is to give up.)

Miss Alice's City - Take a look around the neighborhood and familiarize yourself with your surroundings. Range: 1 square block.
Reward: 500 XP
Bonus: Continue exploring the city 1 square block at a time.
Bonus Reward: 500 XP
Failure: None
Note: Different areas offer special prizes!

Territorial Disputes - The E88 has recently fallen on some hard times due to circumstances. This is the time to strike while the iron's hot! You don't need to face them directly. Merely find a way to claim the neighborhood as your turf.
Goal: Establish the neighborhood as your territory within 30 days.
Bonus Goal: Do so with minimum to no bloodshed.
Rewards: 10,000 XP, +5 CP, Random Skill Book, Reputation Gain by 1 step with Public
Bonus Reward: 5,000 XP, + 3 CP, Random Equipment, Reputation Gain + 1 with Public
Failure: 1,000 XP, Reputation Loss by 1 step with Public.
Warning: This WILL lower your Reputation with the E88 by two steps

Reputation Meters
PRT - Good
ABB - Neutral
E88 - Neutral
Merchants - Neutral
BBPD - Cautiously Optimistic
Public - Neutral

Author's Note: I'm moving to a new format for uploads. Updates will be done once a week on Monday for Shards after this. Updates for A Light into the Future will be on Friday. For my Patrons you can read two whole chapters in advance of Shards of Reality and A Light into the Future. Don't forget to vote on the Monthly Poll! This will continue until I'm in a more stable place economically and in housing. Thank you for all of your support during this troubled time.

Patreon Note: A shoutout to my friends over on Patreon. The Patreon page is now updated to be even friendlier and clearer than before. Please think about helping me as I've still got lots of bills to pay, a cat to take care of, and not enough money for it all.

Fans
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Apple has a 30% upcharge that doesn't go to me. Read the full story here.
 
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First!

TYFTC author!

Will the termites build a castle?
 
Set Up 2.4

Set Up 2.4


A moon carved from obsidian. A sun beaten from gold, twin spears crossed under it. A flaming skull rendered in uranium glass and brass. A silver scythe. A silver sword. Two blades, red and black, made of stained glass. A silver buckler and a blade sculpted with blue flames. A miniature spear made from blue fulgurite. A staff rendered in the colors and fractals of bismuth, the open book under it shaped like a butterfly. An armor-piercing bullet, simple and sharp and silver.

They meant nothing to this world. They meant the world to Alice.

[How is it that you intend to use these materials? Some things my Creators programmed into me, but others they didn't bother. The symbolism here escapes me.]

"Simple, something I can put faith in while knowing with full trust that, if they hear? It will be entirely a good thing." Alice chuckled, shaking her head softly, "If Earth Bet can be more than fiction, so can other worlds."

And that was more than enough to put faith in that pantheon.

[Ah, I see. Also by using this to shape your thoughts, and the magic, it would also echo through the aether. Yes, I can understand that. How do you wish to put them together?]

"Now, that is the part I'm unsure of. This is also going to be a weapon, a quarterstaff of living wood I'm thinking, so I can't just have them hanging from it. Ideally, they should merge seamlessly into it, the whole point of the Abyssal Pantheon is working together." The albino woman sighed, rolling her shoulders, "How to get there beyond throwing mana at it and hoping for the best beats me, though."

[Perhaps you could make a ritual circle and plant the materials in the earth? Use your magic to essentially grow them into a single shape.]

"Right, magic bullshit. Transmuting all of these into living wood isn't out of the question." Alice nodded sharply, tucking everything away in her Inventory. She needed to find an old dry dock, thematics mattered.



The GPS was learning a lot about locating places of mystical importance. Much of the old Boatyard was tainted by feelings of anger, spite, and the leaden chains of helplessness. However, one location stood out. Even without the GPS' help Alice would have sensed it on her own. The once productive shipwright's shop was a mere shadow of its former glory. Except for one stubborn light that refused to go out. A lingering sense of wonder. Of new opportunities yet to be realized and the painful nostalgia of what might have been. The building might be old and moldering, but it somehow retained its dignity. A reflection of Brockton Bay's weary, but never completely defeated, spirit.

Behind the building was an overgrown path leading to the water. The old pier was long since lost to time but the supports still remained. There at the boundary between the earth, sea, and sky was a patch of black earth. Rich and somehow unspoiled.

There was no fancy array or elaborate chant. She wasn't that kind of mage, they weren't that kind of goddesses. There was a moment of hesitation, technically there was one figure she was missing but… she shook her head. The old fart was vehemently opposed to being considered of any importance, much less worshiped.

Besides, calling him Death may get the wrong attention.

There was also the Anathema, but hahahahahahaha. No. Fuck off. Not ticking off THAT pile of fuckable goo. The Arch-Smith was also let be for similar but distinct reasons.

"I do not know for certain if you exist out there. I doubt you can hear this. I know for a fact that even if you can, you have wars to fight." Alice said once the last piece was set down, letting her green mana seep into the soil then funnel into each of the holy symbols. "That's fine. While your blessings would be useful, I am calling you in your capacity as an ideal to strive for, the literal manifestation of humanity's hopes and dreams. I have faith in you, and that is enough."

Despite Alice's belief that no one could hear her, someone clearly listened to her invocation. The air froze in perfect stillness as the sky seemed to turn blood near the sun. A vast array of ships could be seen in the distance as real as Alice herself and as hazy as memory. Clouds of roiling smoke obscured where their keels sliced through the water. The faint smell of cordite, engine oil, and sweat caressed her nostrils. As one the ships fired a volley into the sky in salute. Each deep toned report caused the ground before her to shake. From the black earth a staff slowly emerged. An amalgamation of nature and living steel that spoke of iron hard determination. That this tree, born of this covenant, would not falter.

A shimmering haze swept over the horizon. The ships vanished as if they were little more than a dream.

[For summoning the Spirits of War and Resolve at this place and time you received Luck + 5]

[A Contract has been made!]

[Choose a Boon]
Hull Fragment (Enterprise) - This piece of mystic metal has seen a great many things and still endured. When properly used it confers the blessing "Indomitable."
- Indomitable - Increases the wearer's physical resistance by 50% for every 20% of their HP lost.

Shell Fragment (Samuel B Roberts) - This hunk of mystic metal has slain things mankind could never hope to face. When properly used it confers the blessing "Penetrator."
- Penetrator - This tells the enemy's defenses to fuckin' shove it. Critical hits are always possible, crits always deal some damage.

Propeller Blade (Nevada) - This piece of mystic metal was used to propel mighty ships through troubled waters. When properly used it confers the blessing "Safe Travels."
- Safe Travels - Passively increases the users movement by 200% when escaping enemy territory and Evasion +50% in combat.

[Pact Weapon Received]
Staff of the Abyss (Mythic) lvl 1 - This mystic foci, forged in a place of hope and resolution, has been blessed by Greater Spirits and gifted to their chosen Contractor. This can change forms into any weapon the wielder knows how to use. It also serves as an aid in ritual magic.
- Grants the Metal Manipulation Skill.
- Plant and Metal elements count as each other for all System purposes.
- Increases the PWR of Plant and Metal Spells by half the weapon's PWR.
- Increases the effect of Plant and Metal Spells in proportion with the weapon's PWR.
- Decreases the MP cost of Plant and Metal Spells in proportion with the weapon's PWR.
- Living Weapon - Capable of growing in level with the Contractor. 5% chance to learn a new Spell of the Plant or Metal Types per level.
- PWR: 5 + 0.1 per level

"...Themis?" Alice asked in a very, very small voice.

[Yes, Alice?]

Even the text box seemed shaken by what was just witnessed. She didn't think anyone could blame them, given how religion had found them.

"Did I just become a priestess?" The mage asked with an edge of mania to her words.

[It would appear so…]

The sense of unease from the text box increased.

"...Well! Good thing I was going to summon an industrialist Termite Queen!" Alice said with brittle cheer, choosing Sammy's gift, taking her staff and leaving.

[I think she might be impressed by this…Definitely…]

[Themis has developed <Emotional Awareness>]

[...I need to check the manual again.]



Nezumi finally caught up to her Summoner, looking like a tiny grey rat this go around. Probably to keep a low profile… and also for an excuse to climb up to her shoulder like she'd just done..

<Hey, Summoner. What happened? I felt our connection become more solid, but also your emotions went haywire.> Nezumi reported.

"The Greater Spirits of War and Resolve decided I was Contractor material." The freshly minted priestess said mutely, morbid curiosity pulling up her Summoning Skill.

[Summoning + 12, Cap Reached]

[You need to take the Summoner Subclass to advance further.]

Cool.

<You contracted with Greater Spirits? That's honestly amazing. Your Gamer Power is seriously crazy at times.> Nezumi said bemusedly.

"Themis sure is wishing it wasn't." Alice said with a rueful chuckle and a shake of her head, "Anyways, may as well ride the lightning. Where to, my lovely familiar?"

<I found a perfect spot beneath Captain's Hill. There is a minor convergence of leylines for Earth and Water that hasn't turned to Mud. An actual balance. This place is more spiritually active than I thought. Almost like something was conceptually altered here… is it the weight? Great, I wish I'd paid more attention in magical metaphysics.> Nezumi's little cheeks puffed out in a fit of pique.

"I'd ask what the difference from mundane metaphysics is, but I have a feeling that'd be like asking me about molecular chirality and pentane annealing." The albino chuckled as she scratched behind her familiar's ears before sighing. "Alright, let's get down to business."



The place Nezumi found was at the end of a disused corridor in the sewer. They had to travel quite a distance from the main sewer to end up in this place. Some places were cracked and flaking but the bones of the tunnel were intact. The ninja rat showed her Summoner the place. She cracked some of the concrete on the floor to make a patch for summoning. At Level 20 the Summoning Skill had Alice building and carving the circle like she had spent decades doing it, the Abyssal Staff acting as the perfect tool and etching weight to the whole thing.

What was a Queen? What was a ruler? What made a true hegemon in Alice's mind?

There was not a single shred of hesitation. A golden goddess, resplandent like the sun for all she was undead, reforging a broken humanity. A blue demigod, arming the legions of his children with plan and reason, a hundred million living tools to change the world for the better.

There was no real fanfare, only a buildup of gold light that collapsed inwards into the Termite Queen.

The hivelady looked like a bug girl more than a natural insect. Her face was human in appearance with solid amber eyes and antennae poking out of her shoulder length dark blonde hair. She wasn't much taller than Nezumi, but had a stout frame. The closest comparison was a lady dawi, for all the understated uniform and modest hair did not at all match.

The Queen eyed her body speculatively as if unsure what to make of it. She rolled up her sleeves to expose slender yet well muscled arms, finding the understated cords suitable for her purposes. "I must say it has been some time since anyone summoned me. Hmmm…This isn't one of the usual clusters either. The earth here feels strange. Charged with energy, yes, but lacking natural magic. I can see why you summoned me. This imbalance really needs to be fixed…" She remarked as her attention shifted to her surroundings.

<I couldn't sense that at all.> Nezumi admitted.

"You aren't a Druid or a Shaman among your people. Your purpose is that of a scout and saboteur. There is nothing wrong with following your gifts," The Queen assured her kindly. She turned back to Alice. "Now then, Summoner. I assume you didn't call me here just to show off a dying world."

"I did not." The magician replied evenly, spine ramrod straight and shoulders squared. "I have been tasked with prying territory from the warlords running amok in this city. One can hardly wage war without fortresses, industry and comrades."

She stared at the staff Alice held for a long moment before nodding her head in respect, a wry smile on her face, "How can I say not to that? My work crews are yours until the job is done. You may call me Deemak. Let us walk this path together."

"You may call me Alice. Let's build something great and lasting." The Summoner said, letting the Contract settle over them. It felt like shrugging on a familiar, sturdy coat. "And, of course, remind this world of the wonders of industrial warfare."

"Indeed. I even know just the place to start," Queen Deemak said as her amber eyes glowed with purpose. From the shadows termites the size of German Shepherds skittered out to say hi. She gazed at the staff Alice held once again as her smile widened. "Oh yes. Time to begin the cycle once again."

[Contract Gained: Queen Deemak!]

Name: Alice Belobog
Age: 21
Level: 8
Class: Mage
Specialization: Plant
Subclass: <Locked>

HP: 110/110 [+1 HP per minute]
SP: 220/220 [+5 SP per minute if active, +20 if resting]
MP: 1000/1000 [+5.5 MP per minute]

STR: 20
DEX: 22
CON: 22
INT: 16
WIS: 17
CHA: 50
LCK: 30 (15 after World Debuff)

CP: 0

Perks

Medium Mana Capacity lvl Max - Your ability to hold Mana has increased enabling even greater staying power. MP x 2, MP Regen + 4

Focused Mind lvl Max - This allows the user to slip into a state of focus far easier and for longer than most. Choose one Skill and receive a 25% increase to its XP Gain and Effect. Lowers Perception by 90%.

General Skills

Perception lvl 11 - This encompasses more than just sight, hearing, and the like. This is a measure of how well you can grasp the world around you and its varied nuances.
- 10% + 1% per level chance to uncover hidden objects, see through disguises and detect bullshit.

Meditation lvl 10 - The ability to focus oneself and maintain a level head. This skill is an important foundation not just for Mages but for Martial Artists as well. In time it may even be possible to enter a meditative trance while doing other things.
- Passive MP Regen + 1% per level.
- MP Regen + 5% per level while active. (Must Meditate for 1 minute for it to become active)
- Active use gradually removes mental effects at a rate of -10% + 1% per level.
- Chance of taking action or any disturbance breaking the meditative trance 90% - 1% per level.

The Way of the Body [3/10] - This is a training process devised by one of the foremost masters of the body. With this the user can cause the formation of "pink muscle" capable of doing the work of red and white muscle even more efficiently. This serves as a solid foundation for most Martial Arts training. Unlike with normal Skills this is a trainable Perk completed at 10.
- Alters the distribution of XP for the Body Trinity to 80% gain for all.
- Increases Reaction Time by +1% per point of DEX
- Increases Explosive Strength by +1% per point of STR.
- Increases Resilience by +1% per point of CON.

Combat Skills
Blunt Weapon Mastery lvl 1 – A good whack is nature's reset button. This skill covers the various ways you can make upright people lie prone.
- Attack Speed +15% + 5% per level.
- Damage +5% per level.

Bladed Weapon Mastery lvl 1 - This is a general skill for handling sharps without cutting off important bits in the process. Blades can inflict the Bleed and Severed Debuff.
- Attack Speed +15% + 5% per level.
- Damage +5% per level.

Magic Skills

Plant Manipulation lvl 14 – The ability to manipulate plants from the simple flower to the mightiest tree. This is a subset of Life Magic which also covers certain healing spells and physical recovery.
- Spell Costs are reduced by 1% per level (Max -75%)
- Spell Effects are enhanced by 1% per level.
- Spell Range is enhanced by 1% per level.
- Spell Duration is increased by 1% per level.

Metal Manipulation lvl 1 - The ability to manipulate metal of all types from the lowest bronze and up. This is a subset of Earth Magic which also covers defensive buffs and removes physical statuses.
- Spell Costs are reduced by 1% per level (Max -75%)
- Spell Effects are enhanced by 1% per level.
- Spell Range is enhanced by 1% per level.
- Spell Duration is increased by 1% per level.

Summoning lvl 20 MAX - This Skill is based on the research of Guy Dupont and covers the summoning and dismissing of various Spirits. Summons remain until dismissed or killed. A killed Summon merely returns to their natural realm. The more MP is used the more powerful the Spirit that is called.
- MP: 20
- Control: 10% + 5% per level. (This is based on Charisma)
- Dismiss: 25% + 15% per level. (This is based on Charisma)


Healing Hesperide lvl 3 - Conjures healing apples or apple juice, with some input from you.
- Cost: 4 MP
- HP Recovery - Must consume ½ lb or 1 pint for the full benefit.
- PWR: 1 (+0.1 per lvl)
- Amount of Food Created: ½ lb per lvl
- Amount of Drink Created: 1 pint per lvl
- Quality Modifier: +0.5% per level
- Active Time: 1 minute per level. (After this the magic healing is inert)

Husk Bolt lvl 10 - This is a variant on one of the most basic spells in a Mage's arsenal, Mana Bolt. It conjures up a seed husk based on a template and fires it at high speed. Simple and efficient. This variant has the potential to debuff.
- Cost: 1 MP
- Range: 175 ft + 5 ft per level
- PWR: 1 + 0.1 per level = 1.6
- Damage Type: Blunt
- Debuff: Capsaicin - The bullet sprays dust on impact which can get in the eyes and nostrils. Irritation and radius increases by 5% per level. Base Range: ½ ft Causes watery eyes, runny nose, and burning in the mucus membranes.

Shackle Seed lvl 1 - Looks like you sampled some nearby crabgrass. This special seed grows like a weed on steroids to entrap the target. It extends its roots into whatever crevices it can get a grip on. Non-invasive but it will seek to restrain them by as many points as possible. Quickly regenerates from harm until its limited HP runs out.
- MP: 20
- HP: 10 + 5 per level
- Target: Medium and smaller. Upgrades at tenth level.
- PWR: 5 (Upper grip strength)
- Number of Vines: 1 + 1 per 3 lvls.

Hungry Mold lvl 14 - A creepy fungus spell that turns putrefying flesh into a ravenous mold. All putrid flesh is consumed until nothing organic remains. After ten minutes with nothing to consume it dries out and dies.
Effect:
- Infests 1 lb of flesh per level.
- Can be ended prematurely by the caster.
- Cost: 20 MP

Coat of Thorns lvl 2 - This spell is more than just a variant of Mage Armor, but also combines aspects of Flame Shield as well. The caster's garments are altered fundamentally to increase their toughness yet also add a bit extra. Any attackers in melee range trigger an immediate thorny reaction. This can be discharged immediately for an omnidirectional attack by casting the spell again.
- MP: 16
- Type: Defense, Pierce
- PWR (for thorns): 1 + 5% per level. (Stacks with Armor when triggered)
- Armor: 4 + 5% per level
- Duration: 2 minutes per level. Auto-renews unless dismissed.
- Reactive Damage: Equal to the Spell's Total Armor Value

Rumble Vine lvl 5 - You know the spell Plant Growth? Why waste time with that when you could have this? This spell affects an area around the caster that drives the vegetation into frenzy. It uses the surrounding nature to create an ad hoc Summon Circle to briefly call a horde of wild Plant Spirits. Vines rise up out of the ground and thrash anything that looks at the Caster crosseyed.
- MP: 15
- Number of Vines Summoned: 4 + 1 per 3 lvls.
- PWR: 4 per Vine
- Area of Effect: 20ft + 2ft per level.

Slime Suit lvl 3 - This just might be one of the oddest spells ever created in this cluster. The result of combining three very different types of spells has given rise to something new. Your Summoning Skill was needed to bind it all together. A Neutral Spirit has been Summoned into this unique working. Usually Slimes are considered generic, but this one has been infused with a purpose.
- Sustained Cost: 100 MP
- Armor Value: ½ Charisma
- Durability: Twice Charisma
- Heals the Wearer by 20 HP per minute + 2 HP per level
- Reduces Damage by 50% against Blunt, Fire, Acid
- Critical Heal: Sacrifices its Durability when the wearer is at 20% HP.
- Critical Retreat: Puppets the wearer's body to escape if the caster is incapacitated.
- Movement +30% + 5% per level (Negated by Heavy Armor)

Inventory

Money: $7600.21
Smartphone (Great)
Dreams of Green Notebook (Poor)
ID Paperwork (Basic)
Apartment keys (Basic)
Crowbar (Good)
- Durability: 125/125
10 Rolls of Heavy Leather (100 lbs)
20 lbs Steel
1 lb Gold
1 Roll Kevlar
20 Rolls of Cotton (80 lbs)
Fishy Nun Outfit (equipment set, what she started with) (Good)
- Armor 12
- Durability 25/25
- Comfort + 25%
Vogue Frills Outfit (equipment set, the one she just got) (Basic)
- Durability 20/20
- Comfort + 0%
Shotgun (Basic)
- Durability 125/125
Ammo (6 shells)
Clothes
Hero Phone
Hero License
Healer License

Hellish Whistle (Rare) - Forged from the despair of generations of railway workers and those who died building the rails. One toot on this is enough to send those of weaker wills fleeing in terror. When Mana is channeled through it this whistle can petrify a listener with fear.
Inflict: Terror, Petrified with Fear MP 10
Durability 5/5

Costume Gasmask (Basic) - This looks like a proper gasmask but in reality is fake. The lens blurs the edges of the wearer's eyes and general color to aid in concealing their identity. The mask has been enhanced further to conceal the wearer's hair under the habit and change it to something nondescript.
- Durability: 20/20
- Effect: Disguises hair color/hides hair perfectly

Casting Beyond the Veil (Excellent) - This tome was written many years ago by a scholar of otherworldly magic. The scholar, Guy Dupont, wrote this after translating a much older grimoire. Contained within these pages are the fruits of his labor. Teaches Summoning Magic Skill.

A Passion for Burning (Excellent) - This Guy Dupont really gets around, doesn't he? These are his observations on the inner workings of Fire Magic and how it interacts with other elements. Confers several benefits that require research to unlock.

A Flash of Brilliance (Excellent) - These are Guy Dupont's observations on Lightning and its unique place within the Wind Element group. Confers several benefits that require research to unlock.

The Deepest Darkness (Excellent) - Guy Dupont sought to find a connection between Dark and what he called "The Elements of the Earth." Confers several benefits that require research to unlock.

A Ray of Light (Excellent) - This details Guy Dupont's journey to discover a connection between Light and what he called "The Elements of Heaven." Confers several benefits that require research to unlock.

Soul Stone - This possesses a tiny fragment of death magic and acts as the motive force behind undead creatures.
- Minor x 21
- Medium x 3
- Major x 1

Shell Fragment (Samuel B Roberts) - This hunk of mystic metal has slain things mankind could never hope to face. When properly used it confers the blessing "Penetrator."
- Penetrator - This tells the enemy's defenses to fuckin' shove it. Critical hits are always possible, crits always deal some damage.

Tinkertech Baton - A high-quality self-defense tool advertised as the best on the market. It comes highly recommended by Toybox, but you don't care about all that. This thing is made of space-age materials capable of withstanding tremendous force, heat, cold, acid, and shocks. Your noodly arms will break before this bad boy. Your new toy can be set from 0 (no charge) to 11 (max charge). Max charge comes with backlash so please be responsible. Each charge is a 10% chance to stun or paralyze the target.
- Damage Type: Blunt
- Activated: Blunt/Electric
- Inflict: Stun/Paralyze
- PWR: 4

Shortsword - A basic shortsword. Well forged and simple to use. It was someone's homecraft as evidenced by a lack of discernible style.
Damage: Slash, Pierce
PWR: 6

Legacy of Nature (Excellent) - You hate nature, you are part of nature, nature has always fought and weaponized itself. There is no finest love letter to it than usurping its power. This armor is a declaration of intent to any who witness it: 'Gaia lives, and she hates you more than me.'
- Upgradable: Enchantment Slots 8/8
- Helmet - Allows the wearer to see clearly in natural darkness and extends visual range in power induced shadows. Alters the wearer's voice.
- Armor - Resist Environmental Effects -80%
- Gauntlets - Reduces the change of disarm by 80%.
- Boots - Freedom of Movement through natural terrain. Ignores difficult terrain.
- Durability: 300/300
- Armor Rating: 100
- Special Quality: Material Absorption - Absorbs materials to repair itself. Requires 1 lb of material per 10 points of Durability loss.

Staff of the Abyss (Mythic) lvl 1 - This mystic foci, forged in a place of hope and resolution, has been blessed by Greater Spirits and gifted to their chosen Contractor. This can change forms into any weapon the wielder knows how to use. It also serves as an aid in ritual magic.
- Grants the Metal Manipulation Skill
- Plant and Metal Spells benefit together.
- Increases the PWR of Plant and Metal Spells by half the weapon's PWR.
- Increases the effect of Plant and Metal Spells in proportion with the weapon's PWR.
- Decreases the MP cost of Plant and Metal Spells in proportion with the weapon's PWR.
- Living Weapon - Capable of growing in level with the Contractor. 5% to learn a new Spell of the Plant or Metal Types per level.
- PWR: 5 + 0.1 per level

Quests

A Child's Dreams of Green - Where did this notebook come from originally? It appears as fantasy but the principles within are solid. Are there other mages out there?
Rewards: 10,000 XP, Potential Mentor, Advanced Plant Spellbook
Failure: 1,000 XP. (Note: The only way to fail this quest is to give up.)

Miss Alice's City - Take a look around the neighborhood and familiarize yourself with your surroundings. Range: 1 square block.
Reward: 500 XP
Bonus: Continue exploring the city 1 square block at a time.
Bonus Reward: 500 XP
Failure: None
Note: Different areas offer special prizes!

Territorial Disputes - The E88 has recently fallen on some hard times due to circumstances. This is the time to strike while the iron's hot! You don't need to face them directly. Merely find a way to claim the neighborhood as your turf.
Goal: Establish the neighborhood as your territory within 30 days.
Bonus Goal: Do so with minimum to no bloodshed.
Rewards: 10,000 XP, +5 CP, Random Skill Book, Reputation Gain by 1 step with Public
Bonus Reward: 5,000 XP, + 3 CP, Random Equipment, Reputation Gain + 1 with Public
Failure: 1,000 XP, Reputation Loss by 1 step with Public.
Warning: This WILL lower your Reputation with the E88 by two steps

Reputation Meters
PRT - Good
ABB - Neutral
E88 - Neutral
Merchants - Neutral
BBPD - Cautiously Optimistic
Public - Neutral

AN: Sometimes I roll against Nihilo's Luck stat for fun. I rolled an actual Crit for the Ship Contract. Just wild man…

Author's Note: I'm moving to a new format for uploads. Updates will be done once a week on Monday for Shards after this. Updates for A Light into the Future will be on Friday. For my Patrons you can read two whole chapters in advance of Shards of Reality and A Light into the Future. Don't forget to vote on the Monthly Poll! This will continue until I'm in a more stable place economically and in housing. Thank you for all of your support during this troubled time.

Patreon Note: A shoutout to my friends over on Patreon. The Patreon page is now updated to be even friendlier and clearer than before. Please think about helping me as I've still got lots of bills to pay, a cat to take care of, and not enough money for it all.

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Fanatics
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Special Thanks to Hazardine (asktit0y) for donating so much money to my GoFundMe. You, along with everyone else who has donated, are Fuzzy Wan's heroes.

Apple has a 30% upcharge that doesn't go to me. Read the full story here.
 
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Yaaaaaa that is exactly the Sort of thing that would probably get Someone Shanghaied into being a Priestess of Gods/Goddesses

Anyways I wonder how badly Everyone else is Panicing at whatever fresh hell kind of Nonsense happened this Time

Because Battleship guns sounding like they went off anywhere a City plus the fuckery with the Reddening Sky is going to set off alllllll the Alarms
 
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Lore Explained by Nihilo
From Abyssal Admiral Quest 2, on akun. The author is one of my closest friends.

Or rather, the first segment had the full Abyssal Pantheon invoked sans Weyla, Yuu, Jervis and Abyssmiral/Old Man Death (who for various reasons don't want to be worshipped). The second segment was Yamato and Roboute Guilliman, as Alice's go-to for "what do I think when it comes to worthy rulers."

T3 Yamato Blessings are:
The Purpose of Power: If an ensouled unit under your command has less than 10% of your soul-weight, may count as 10% of your soul-weight and gain appropriate Traits.
Go Through Me First: If a duel is attempted on a subordinate, then you may if they lose, automatically step in and continue the duel while your subordinate retreats.
Dominion Beyond Life: If one of your subordinates dies, then may take 50% of their max HP in damage to restore them to capacity. May choose if this HP is to cores or to the body at-will.
The Undead Queen: If an opponent is regenerating, then reverse the effects of their regeneration, or reduce it by 5% of their max HP, linear. If the opponent regenerates more than 5% of their max HP a duel round, then must take the reduction.
Metal Is Glory Manifest: Begin to emanate an aura of heat and light that incinerates the local area, but with IFF. T2 followers under the command of a T3 running this also emanate a lesser version. Heals nearby allies instead of causing damage.
Heaven Sees Everything: Reroll all strategic maneuvers and take the best. Assuming you have intel on an area, will be able to see attempted feints/maneuvers of your opponent on the same planet. In space, same system, but does not apply to planets. Cannot personally be ambushed.

This should tell you enough of why Yams was mentioned.
 
Set Up 2.5

Set Up 2.5


[Quests Received]
Putting Down Roots - Looks like its time to really work that high Charisma. Get out there and make even more contacts in your local community. This is a two part Quest.
- Part 1: Get 5 Contacts: No Time Limit
- Part 2: Get 5 Contacts to Friendly: No Time Limit
- Bonus Goal: Do it by the time your base is completed.
- Reward 1: 1,000 XP, Random Piece of Gear
- Reward 2: 5,000 XP, Belt of Steadfastness - This dragonhide belt made from a younger Earth Dragon grants the wearer impressive powers of physical resistance. +50% resist to stagger, stun, knockdown. Immune when both feet are on the ground.
- Bonus Reward: 15,000 XP, Mantle of the Leader - This fabulous mantle is capable of changing its appearance to always be fashionable. +50% Charisma for the purposes of inspiring others or exerting the wearer's will over another.
Accept: Y/N

Setting a Strong Foundation - Congratulations on Contracting the Termite Queen Deemak! I am certain she will be a valuable ally in many future endeavors. However, she can be an exceptional friend now. You wanted to build a base well here's where it begins!
- Goal: Build a Base from which to launch your future operations.
- Bonus Goal: Find a way to work your Staff's aesthetic and true meaning into the construction.
- Reward: 5,000 XP, Bronze Skin Skill Book
- Bonus Reward: 15,000 XP, Dungeon Core
Accept: Y/N

Recruitment Drive - What sort of Cape would you be without minions? A very lonely one. This is your chance to recruit some Minions, er, valued allies to your cause!
- Goal: Recruit at least 10 people.
- Reward: 5,000 XP, Leadership Skill Book
- Bonus Goal: Recruit even more! 10 more until you reach a max of 100.
- Bonus Reward: 2,000 XP
- Special 1: Complete Putting Down Roots (Part 1 & 2): 1 Elite Minion, 5,000 XP
- Special 2: Complete Setting a Strong Foundation: 1 Elite Minion, 5,000 XP
- Special 3: Complete Setting a Strong Foundation + Bonus Goal: 2 Elite Minions, 10,000 XP
- Special 4: Complete ALL Goals: 4 Elite Minions, 20,000 XP, Crown of Glory - This exquisitely crafted piece of headgear is capable of becoming whatever headwear the wearer desires. +50% Charisma for inspiring others. Can be called on to cast Command without expending MP.

This was the wall of text Alice was subjected to the moment she checked her phone.

"Heartbreaker can go pound sand, goddamn." The albino muttered, only not reeling on the back of her feet because she was sitting at the kitchen isle slurping coffee.

"What did you find?" Nezumi asked as she poured a cup of coffee. She leaned on her seat across from Alice with a quizzical head tilt.

"Two items that basically double my Charisma when it comes to bossing people around, on top of free casts of what sounds like a hijacking spell." The mage explained, shaking her head softly, "Alright, I'm going to want you to start spreading rumors of Druid offering free food and drink on top of healing stuff like broken legs. I want to have people flocking in to start building up soft power and rep. Beyond that I will just be patrolling around our future territory shutting down problems and helping around."

"There are a few places you could start. The Union St Mission gives the homeless a place to stay. Their numbers are always fluctuating. They offer free healthcare… well… offered free healthcare. The donations are drying up, their doors may close soon," Nezumi sighed.

[Quest Found!]
A Mission of Mercy - The Union St Mission might be forced to close its doors leaving many people on the street. All because some hard hearted people can't open their wallets.
- Goal: Find a way to restore the Mission's funding.
- Reward: 5,000 XP, Ring of Plenty - A silver ring with a golden cornucopia in the center of the band. This ring possesses remarkable power when used for mercy. +20% healing effects, +50% healing effects when used to heal others, doubles the amount of conjured food.

"Alright, that works even better. Looks like I got an immediate heading." Alice said with a sharp nod. First this, then figure out how to make Blood Gardens a thing with her Plant-Metal magic, then get that bonus for Deemak's work.



The Union St Mission was a stately old edifice constructed of rough brick and stone, at one time considered a marvel of architecture. A gold plaque on the solid gray foundation claimed it was built in 1876. There were signs that it weathered battles and neglect, but it remained unbroken. This old soldier stood a silent vigil over the people within its walls. However, it wasn't the gangs or capes that would spell its doom, but neglect.

Older people in tattered clothes clutched their meager belongings out front. Younger people in similarly worn and faded garments watched the traffic go by with disillusioned eyes. It was a terrible thing to see multiple generations joined at the very bottom of society. There were some guys wearing gray and blue chatting up the destitute, but no one was buying what they were selling. They knew better. Another day passed the same as the day before. Except something was different. A figure in massive green armor approached the worn down building. The real scum saw this shining verdant figure and fled.

"And good day to you too, gents." Alice chuckled through her helm, staff clacking pleasingly against the sidewalk as she strolled right up to the building's entrance. Then… she stood at the end of the line like a normal person. Pulled out a book she'd borrowed from the library half an hour ago, after getting a library card as Druid. Started reading Fellowship of the Ring right then and there while she waited.

It was the little things that made it worth getting out of bed every morning.

Someone flipped the script on these folks. No one ever expected a cape to stand in the Mission Line. There was some cautious muttering and whispered discourse of course. Except for an older black gentleman who walked right up to Druid.

"'Scuse me. D'ya need help with somethin'?" He asked directly. Not rude or mean, just cutting straight to the point.

"After a fashion. I heard of this place of healing and I thought to offer my services, now that I am licenced by the Parahuman Response Team." Massive armored shoulders rolled smooth as silk, "However, I am hardly going to cut in line and disrupt the days of others for something that can wait a few minutes."

"You're a healer?" The man asked incredulously. Apparently he hadn't heard it all yet. Other people in line just 'happened' to overhear as the whispering intensified.

"Quite! I also conjure food and drink. It is interlinked, y'see, it will heal for a few minutes after I bring it to being. After that, well, it is still good eating." Alice chuckled good-naturedly, letting her staff clamp to her back as she conjured a Healing Hesperide apple in one hand and pulled out her license card with the other.

The news that Druid was a healing cape spread up the line. Dull eyes used to disappointment, brightened with interest. After a minute, the older gent came to a decision.

"Right. C'mon… you need to talk to Sister Francis," He said before escorting Alice to the door to where a woman stood.

Sister Francis was a heavyset woman with curly dark brown hair under the habit. She had a no-nonsense look to her expression, but there were smile lines around her eyes. This was a formidable woman of God and the people here loved her for it. An eyebrow raised as she took in Druid's appearance. There was some apprehension in her demeanor yet she didn't shy away.

"Welcome to the Union St Mission. My name is Sister Francis," She greeted the newcomer with a smile. Sister Francis turned to Alice's escort and said, "Thank you, Sanford."

"No problem, Sister," He said with a smile, but didn't leave.

"Well met, Sister. I am Druid." The huge pile of metal and slime said with a warm rumble, shaking the nun's hand with deceptive gentleness, "I aim to make this land part of my stomping grounds, which begins with helping its fair peoples."

"And what do we have to do for this help?" Sister Francis asked sardonically.

"Spread the word. I wholly intend to recruit, but when one offers food, drink and healing with no strings attached? Why, I only need to do the rounds once a week, and let them know if they join they can simply request instead of waiting." Alice chuckled, all too happy to tango with someone who knew what was up, "Human nature will do the rest for me. Doubly so when those under me will not be asked to commit any crimes. I do not need them to, not for keeping abreast of all goings on in my lands, not for making my territory prosper, not for stonewalling the feelers of the gangs."

Sister Francis stared at the cape before her in disbelief. The look on Sanford's face was similarly bewildered. A whole conversation was shared between them.

"If anyone wants to accept your help, that is their decision. Thanks for making the offer. As you can see times are tough, but we've endured…" She said with a weary sigh. "I could set you up with a room in the Mission. How long do you plan on being here today?"

"Six hours should do us well." The armored colossus said after a moment's thought. From ten in the morning to four in the afternoon, should be plenty good enough. "Once I have proven I am as good as my word, I will see about restoring the building to its former glory. All payment I request is to answer truthfully when asked who had it done, it will be proof of my claims for potential recruits."

"Okay. I have an idea to get the word out faster…" Sister Francis gestured for Druid to follow her. The change in attitude might have given some people whiplash, but it was understandable. If nothing was done the Mission's doors would close. As it was a homeless shelter on top of everything else that would leave many people on the street.

The suggestion she made amounted to getting a lawyer and making a contract, to protect both ends of the equation if someone raised a stink. Sister Francis sounded like she spoke from experience and Alice happily deferred to her.

After that, the verdant cape was shown to a small office to use as needed, then to the dining area. The volunteers were still working hard to make the noon meal.

"Hello, I am Druid. I believe I can be of assistance." The swarthy knight rumbled quietly as she strolled right in, a swell of green mana covering an empty table in a modest spread of fresh fruit and vegetables. Also mushrooms, shiitake, portobellos and chicken of the woods just to list a few. "Request as you wish, this should tell you enough about what is on offer."

The volunteers looked at one another before turning back to the cape incredulously. This promised to be an interesting venture indeed.

[New Relationship Gained!]
Union St Mission - Friendly

[Quest Progress]
1/5 Contacts



Queen Deemak, long may she reign, stood in the same underground chamber as her summoning. The Termite Spirit was speaking to a group of less human looking termites. Just beyond the chamber was a tunnel leading deeper under Captain's Hill.

"We're making a base for a human not more termites! Guys, we've been over this! Expand the tunnels so that normal humies can walk upright. If you don't get it right this time I'm docking your pay! This is a huge project that can raise our profile! Don't screw this up!" Deemak shook her fist at the workers.

"Y-Yes Queen!" One of them said as they all scurried away to work. Their voices sounded weird, like their mouth parts were humming instead of vocal chords to make the sounds.

"Rocks for brains… at least this cock up didn't put us behind schedule…" She muttered while surveying the initial plans. A change in the air caused her to turn as Alice arrived. "Well if it isn't the Contractor! We've started breaking ground. What was it that you wanted, exactly?"

"An underground fortress from which to stage operations and retreat back to if things get too hot. Full on barracks, armory, war room, production. The whole siege spread." Her Contractor explained with a bob of her head, pulling out a map with some marks already on it. "I will want tunnels covering my future territory, that being between here in Captain Hill to my neighborhood in northern Downtown, cutting across some of the commercial district. Then some spreading in the opposite direction, hard west for an escape route into the forest. Finally, a bunker underneath the street I live in, for if I am attacked while at home or nearby. There will be a matter of housing for those who join my organization and some work on my territory's infrastructure besides, but that will have to wait until I have enough soft power to make the City Hall give me the relevant permissions."

Deemak hastily scribbled out what Alice wanted in a cramped shorthand, "Uh huh…doable, doable…How sturdy do you want it? We could have the whole complex done in a week. It would only stand up to a Brute 5 or a Blaster 6. The longer we take the more sturdy it will be. We could stretch it out a whole month and the bonuses would compound."

Huh, she already knew the threat ratings? Must've sneaked a human-passing minion into a library. Or just asked Nezumi.

"Assuming your workers can keep the construction work unnoticed?" The albino tilted her head quizzically, then smiled at the nod she received, "Take the whole month, then. It'll be a while until our operations ramp up enough for this infrastructure to be outright needed… although do get the escape route done first thing, just in case. I will have advance warning from Nezumi if things turn ugly, best that I be able to leverage it."

"I'll assign some guys to take care of it," The Queen made a note, smiling faintly, "A whole new world to explore. I sense no other Hive Queens in this sphere…Well. There is one but she doesn't have the mystical mandate. I can't quite describe it. She has the Right to Rule but from an alien source…" Deemak trailed off thoughtfully.

"A particularly powerful parahuman. From my limited second hand information, she automatically hijacks any invertebrate within three city blocks of herself, complete control and tapping into their senses." Alice explained with a deep grimace. Skitter being around would complicate things, "We will have to discreetly test if she can sense your workers, too much of a potential liability otherwise."

If push came to shove, they'd have to take the initiative in approaching her. If Taylor was remotely like Wildbow had depicted she was entirely too volatile and stubborn for anything else.

"I can send a few of those just leaving the larval stage. They're not that much bigger than normal termites. I can use their senses to detect if her power could control them. If it can, I just cut the connection entirely, they would be mortal termites after that," The Spirit explained.

That raised all sorts of metaphysical questions she'd love to hear the answers to, but the lady had work to do. Alice would just ask Nezumi later, or see if she couldn't catch Deemak during the Queen's downtime.

"Alright. One last thing, then. I have a bit of magic in the works that may benefit your construction efforts." The mage said, tapping her staff on the bare stone as she focused her mana.

Blood Gardens. A biomechanical ecosystem built for industrial warfare, spawning from its masters and assisting them in all things. From metallic grass that would stiffen into blades and lengthen into tangling barbed wire in the face of invaders to deep roots drinking magma for power and material.

The crux of creating a spell with Themis' help was to have a crystal clear mental image.

There was no doubt, no fear, no failure. There couldn't be, not when she centered herself on the images one of her dearest friends had painted in her mind across millions of words.

[URL='https://forums.spacebattles.com/members/archaingel.296121/' said:
ArchAIngel[/URL]]
The battle was over, and now was the cleanup. Gardens were thicker, now, denser and heavier from the gorey messes. Piles of dead Theians would be hauled over to the trees, and buried to grow into more and more trunks, or processed into vine-woven turrets and manifold bladestorms. Walls broken down were reforged stronger and sintered with the bodies of the dead.

The dead battered at them. Masses of biomass were hurled, and shot down. Burrowers dug down, and hit walls as deep as they were tall, or were lured into underground bunkers and summarily executed. Steel was replacing the black wood, everywhere and in every fashion, metal to be flesh and flesh to be metal. More portals arose, and through them shuffling rivers of iron wardrones were sacrificed to blunt the tide. Steel pushed against maggoty meat, teratoma bulging eyes out to gaze upon the fortresses rising.

Fortifications that were as the Maginot made a hundred times worse, with a century's better technology were burned down and rebuilt in hours, while Titan-guns hammered at the shields of Cerebrates. Blossoms of Skyshatter rounds painted the air a night-black, blowing out the sun over multi-acre salvoes. The very terrain would move around, optimizing firing lines for defenses and to penalize attackers.
[URL='https://forums.spacebattles.com/members/archaingel.296121/' said:
ArchAIngel[/URL]]
The Theian tensed, and leapt over a tree coming down four meters in diameter, grown in minutes to slam into her. Harder followed in the air with her own leap, and ate a lump of metal thrown into her face. A friendly shell slammed into her shields, correcting her course and kept running, while the delay was used by Two to bash through a ream of wardrones that had simply spawned from an underground factory in her path. Scrap flew, metal broke and twisted under open-palmed blows.

The forest began to shiver. To ripple, like water before an earthquake. The bare rock that the Blood-Gardens were growing upon cracked open, rifts forming in the ground. The wind picked up, whipping through the leaves and turning them into flesh-rending razor storms, as before a heat wave or volcanic eruption. Metal started to pour upwards from them, heat pulsing from the murdered earth in molten streams that turned into an interlocking dome.

For a beloved story, Alice's memory would always be a steel trap. For a friend's homage, Alice would never falter. It wouldn't be identical, it couldn't be identical. She was not strong enough, she was not smart enough, she was not daring enough.

But it would be something she could trust and which would save her life and that of so many others. It would hide as simple underground fortifications until the time came to raise a ring of spears to ward off the true monsters.

The Staff of the Abyss began to tremble in Alice's hands as the Spirits of War responded to her desire, a vast amount of mana sweeping through her body like a raging typhoon. Her fondest wish was heard and deemed worthy. The mana flow entered the Staff changing it for but a moment into a Tree. Rippling waves of power flowed through the ground connecting to the land. Images of those who lost their lives due to war, crime, and service filled her mind. What she desired was forged from the willingly given blood and sacrifice of days gone by.

[Luck + 2]

[Territory Achieved!]
Blood-Garden lvl 1 - The culmination of a sincere wish, a dream made real, the Blood Garden shall grow for as long as its roots run deep. Territories passively absorb ambient mana into a MP bank used for various functions.
MP Use: Territory MP is used as fuel for the defenses. Different Tiers require different amounts of MP to replenish.
Assembly Lines: These autonomous assembly systems can be used to mass produce whatever the caster can make. (100 units per hour for small, 50 units per hours for medium, 25 units per hour for large, etc.)
Material Assimilation: The Territory autonomously mines as it spreads deeper and acts to consume and repurpose any scrap it is given. Once its influence spreads to the surface, it will begin taking unattended junk for itself.
- Territory MP: 100/100 (+100 per level) 1% regen every minute.
- Maximum Defense Tier: 1 + 1 every 10 levels
- Stabilize the Earth +50% + 1% per level.
- Enhance Earth/Metal/Plant Magic by 10% + 2% per level.
- Assembly Lines: 3 + 1 per level.
- Material Assimilation: 100 lbs per hour + 100 per level

Territory Defense Tiers
- T1 (Minor): Tunnels, light grasslands of blades, and occasional turrets and light artillery. Min MP: 100
- T2 (Moderate): Thick forests, walls, patrols, moderate artillery, some fortifications. Min MP: 200
- T3 (Major): Rainforest density, fortresses, heavy patrols, massive artillery batteries, heavy fortifications. Min MP 400
- T4 (Extreme): Density of gardens approaches actual walls, terrain is begun to be modified to guide enemies in preferred directions. Min MP 800
- T5 (Ridiculous): You cannot tell where the plant ends and the metal begins. Walls the size of small skyscrapers. Titan-Guns and Teleporters are added onto the defenses. Min MP 1600
- T6 (Insane): The ground is more machine than earth. Defenses are layered like onions, every layer even more painful to fight, and everything in them is made to kill or protect at the same time. Min MP 3200
- T7 (Core Prime): All is machines. Down to bedrock, every inch is a weapon. Every corner is a gun, or a barrel of a gun. Fractal layers keep all manners of exotic tools hidden. Min MP 6400

[Leveling a Territory is accomplished in a different fashion. Levels are earned by bringing people to Exalted Rank with you. Organizations count as each individual person in them. A number of people equal to the Territory's level have to be brought to Exalted for the next level up. If a Defense Tier is breached you can use MP to instantly repair it, otherwise it will take time based on the Tier.]

For such an exalted acquisition the beginning was rather humble. A seed made of metal, ceramic, and organic matter settled on the ground. Deemak stared at it in wonder, scooping up the seed almost lovingly.

"Oh yes…I know just where to plant you… but the seed still needs nutrition. Contractor? I need you to spill your blood upon this seed…" Deemak's tone was oddly formal.

"I suppose I got what I asked for." Alice said with a helpless laugh, the biometal of her staff all too happy to produce a blade for her right hand to squeeze, blood sliding down the edge and into the Queen's cupped hands.

Deemak let the blood pour over the seed before gently lifting it up. The Termite Queen carried the seed deeper into the complex. She said over her shoulder, "I shall place this at the heart of the complex."



N: The source of those excerpts is Abyssal Admiral Quest, on Fiction.live. There's also a WIP mirror in Ao3. Can't recommend it enough, even if the start is a bit rough due to him having been a first time QM at the time. Posted with permission of @ArchAIngel obviously.

Also, Luck triggered once again. Ding rolled and what do you know.

Name: Alice Belobog
Age: 21
Level: 8
Class: Mage
Specialization: Plant
Subclass: <Locked>

HP: 110/110 [+1 HP per minute]
SP: 220/220 [+5 SP per minute if active, +20 if resting]
MP: 1000/1000 [+5.5 MP per minute]

STR: 20
DEX: 22
CON: 22
INT: 16
WIS: 17
CHA: 50
LCK: 32 (16 after World Debuff)

CP: 0

Perks

Medium Mana Capacity lvl Max - Your ability to hold Mana has increased enabling even greater staying power. MP x 2, MP Regen + 4

Focused Mind lvl Max - This allows the user to slip into a state of focus far easier and for longer than most. Choose one Skill and receive a 25% increase to its XP Gain and Effect. Lowers Perception by 90%.

General Skills

Perception lvl 11 - This encompasses more than just sight, hearing, and the like. This is a measure of how well you can grasp the world around you and its varied nuances.
- 10% + 1% per level chance to uncover hidden objects, see through disguises and detect bullshit.

Meditation lvl 10 - The ability to focus oneself and maintain a level head. This skill is an important foundation not just for Mages but for Martial Artists as well. In time it may even be possible to enter a meditative trance while doing other things.
- Passive MP Regen + 1% per level.
- MP Regen + 5% per level while active. (Must Meditate for 1 minute for it to become active)
- Active use gradually removes mental effects at a rate of -10% + 1% per level.
- Chance of taking action or any disturbance breaking the meditative trance 90% - 1% per level.

The Way of the Body [3/10] - This is a training process devised by one of the foremost masters of the body. With this the user can cause the formation of "pink muscle" capable of doing the work of red and white muscle even more efficiently. This serves as a solid foundation for most Martial Arts training. Unlike with normal Skills this is a trainable Perk completed at 10.
- Alters the distribution of XP for the Body Trinity to 80% gain for all.
- Increases Reaction Time by +1% per point of DEX
- Increases Explosive Strength by +1% per point of STR.
- Increases Resilience by +1% per point of CON.

Combat Skills
Blunt Weapon Mastery lvl 1 – A good whack is nature's reset button. This skill covers the various ways you can make upright people lie prone.
- Attack Speed +15% + 5% per level.
- Damage +5% per level.

Bladed Weapon Mastery lvl 1 - This is a general skill for handling sharps without cutting off important bits in the process. Blades can inflict the Bleed and Severed Debuff.
- Attack Speed +15% + 5% per level.
- Damage +5% per level.

Magic Skills

Plant Manipulation lvl 14 – The ability to manipulate plants from the simple flower to the mightiest tree. This is a subset of Life Magic which also covers certain healing spells and physical recovery.
- Spell Costs are reduced by 1% per level (Max -75%)
- Spell Effects are enhanced by 1% per level.
- Spell Range is enhanced by 1% per level.
- Spell Duration is increased by 1% per level.

Metal Manipulation lvl 1 - The ability to manipulate metal of all types from the lowest bronze and up. This is a subset of Earth Magic which also covers defensive buffs and removes physical statuses.
- Spell Costs are reduced by 1% per level (Max -75%)
- Spell Effects are enhanced by 1% per level.
- Spell Range is enhanced by 1% per level.
- Spell Duration is increased by 1% per level.

Summoning lvl 20 MAX - This Skill is based on the research of Guy Dupont and covers the summoning and dismissing of various Spirits. Summons remain until dismissed or killed. A killed Summon merely returns to their natural realm. The more MP is used the more powerful the Spirit that is called.
- MP: 20
- Control: 10% + 5% per level. (This is based on Charisma)
- Dismiss: 25% + 15% per level. (This is based on Charisma)


Healing Hesperide lvl 3 - Conjures healing apples or apple juice, with some input from you.
- Cost: 4 MP
- HP Recovery - Must consume ½ lb or 1 pint for the full benefit.
- PWR: 1 (+0.1 per lvl)
- Amount of Food Created: ½ lb per lvl
- Amount of Drink Created: 1 pint per lvl
- Quality Modifier: +0.5% per level
- Active Time: 1 minute per level. (After this the magic healing is inert)

Husk Bolt lvl 10 - This is a variant on one of the most basic spells in a Mage's arsenal, Mana Bolt. It conjures up a seed husk based on a template and fires it at high speed. Simple and efficient. This variant has the potential to debuff.
- Cost: 1 MP
- Range: 175 ft + 5 ft per level
- PWR: 1 + 0.1 per level = 1.6
- Damage Type: Blunt
- Debuff: Capsaicin - The bullet sprays dust on impact which can get in the eyes and nostrils. Irritation and radius increases by 5% per level. Base Range: ½ ft Causes watery eyes, runny nose, and burning in the mucus membranes.

Shackle Seed lvl 1 - Looks like you sampled some nearby crabgrass. This special seed grows like a weed on steroids to entrap the target. It extends its roots into whatever crevices it can get a grip on. Non-invasive but it will seek to restrain them by as many points as possible. Quickly regenerates from harm until its limited HP runs out.
- MP: 20
- HP: 10 + 5 per level
- Target: Medium and smaller. Upgrades at tenth level.
- PWR: 5 (Upper grip strength)
- Number of Vines: 1 + 1 per 3 lvls.

Hungry Mold lvl 14 - A creepy fungus spell that turns putrefying flesh into a ravenous mold. All putrid flesh is consumed until nothing organic remains. After ten minutes with nothing to consume it dries out and dies.
Effect:
- Infests 1 lb of flesh per level.
- Can be ended prematurely by the caster.
- Cost: 20 MP

Coat of Thorns lvl 2 - This spell is more than just a variant of Mage Armor, but also combines aspects of Flame Shield as well. The caster's garments are altered fundamentally to increase their toughness yet also add a bit extra. Any attackers in melee range trigger an immediate thorny reaction. This can be discharged immediately for an omnidirectional attack by casting the spell again.
- MP: 16
- Type: Defense, Pierce
- PWR (for thorns): 1 + 5% per level. (Stacks with Armor when triggered)
- Armor: 4 + 5% per level
- Duration: 2 minutes per level. Auto-renews unless dismissed.
- Reactive Damage: Equal to the Spell's Total Armor Value

Rumble Vine lvl 5 - You know the spell Plant Growth? Why waste time with that when you could have this? This spell affects an area around the caster that drives the vegetation into frenzy. It uses the surrounding nature to create an ad hoc Summon Circle to briefly call a horde of wild Plant Spirits. Vines rise up out of the ground and thrash anything that looks at the Caster crosseyed.
- MP: 15
- Number of Vines Summoned: 4 + 1 per 3 lvls.
- PWR: 4 per Vine
- Area of Effect: 20ft + 2ft per level.

Slime Suit lvl 3 - This just might be one of the oddest spells ever created in this cluster. The result of combining three very different types of spells has given rise to something new. Your Summoning Skill was needed to bind it all together. A Neutral Spirit has been Summoned into this unique working. Usually Slimes are considered generic, but this one has been infused with a purpose.
- Sustained Cost: 100 MP
- Armor Value: ½ Charisma
- Durability: Twice Charisma
- Heals the Wearer by 20 HP per minute + 2 HP per level
- Reduces Damage by 50% against Blunt, Fire, Acid
- Critical Heal: Sacrifices its Durability when the wearer is at 20% HP.
- Critical Retreat: Puppets the wearer's body to escape if the caster is incapacitated.
- Movement +30% + 5% per level (Negated by Heavy Armor)

Blood-Garden lvl 1 - The culmination of a sincere wish, a dream made real, the Blood Garden shall grow for as long as its roots run deep. Territories passively absorb ambient mana into a MP bank used for various functions.
MP Use: Territory MP is used as fuel for the defenses. Different Tiers require different amounts of MP to replenish.
Assembly Lines: These autonomous assembly systems can be used to mass produce whatever the caster can make. (100 units per hour for small, 50 units per hours for medium, 25 units per hour for large, etc.)
Material Assimilation: The Territory autonomously mines as it spreads deeper and acts to consume and repurpose any scrap it is given. Once its influence spreads to the surface, it will begin taking unattended junk for itself.
- Territory MP: 100/100 (+100 per level) 1% regen every minute.
- Maximum Defense Tier: 1 + 1 every 10 levels
- Stabilize the Earth +50% + 1% per level.
- Enhance Earth/Metal/Plant Magic by 10% + 2% per level.
- Assembly Lines: 3 + 1 per level.
- Material Assimilation: 100 lbs per hour + 100 per level

Territory Defense Tiers
- T1 (Minor): Tunnels, light grasslands of blades, and occasional turrets and light artillery. Min MP: 100
- T2 (Moderate): Thick forests, walls, patrols, moderate artillery, some fortifications. Min MP: 200
- T3 (Major): Rainforest density, fortresses, heavy patrols, massive artillery batteries, heavy fortifications. Min MP 400
- T4 (Extreme): Density of gardens approaches actual walls, terrain is begun to be modified to guide enemies in preferred directions. Min MP 800
- T5 (Ridiculous): You cannot tell where the plant ends and the metal begins. Walls the size of small skyscrapers. Titan-Guns and Teleporters are added onto the defenses. Min MP 1600
- T6 (Insane): The ground is more machine than earth. Defenses are layered like onions, every layer even more painful to fight, and everything in them is made to kill or protect at the same time. Min MP 3200
- T7 (Core Prime): All is machines. Down to bedrock, every inch is a weapon. Every corner is a gun, or a barrel of a gun. Fractal layers keep all manners of exotic tools hidden. Min MP 6400

Inventory

Money: $7600.21
Smartphone (Great)
Dreams of Green Notebook (Poor)
ID Paperwork (Basic)
Apartment keys (Basic)
Crowbar (Good)
- Durability: 125/125
10 Rolls of Heavy Leather (100 lbs)
20 lbs Steel
1 lb Gold
1 Roll Kevlar
20 Rolls of Cotton (80 lbs)
Fishy Nun Outfit (equipment set) (Good)
- Armor 12
- Durability 25/25
- Comfort + 25%
Vogue Frills Outfit (equipment set) (Basic)
- Durability 20/20
- Comfort + 0%
Shotgun (Basic)
- Durability 125/125
Ammo (6 shells)
Clothes
Hero Phone
Hero License
Healer License

Hellish Whistle (Rare) - Forged from the despair of generations of railway workers and those who died building the rails. One toot on this is enough to send those of weaker wills fleeing in terror. When Mana is channeled through it this whistle can petrify a listener with fear.
Inflict: Terror, Petrified with Fear MP 10
Durability 5/5

Costume Gasmask (Basic) - This looks like a proper gasmask but in reality is fake. The lens blurs the edges of the wearer's eyes and general color to aid in concealing their identity. The mask has been enhanced further to conceal the wearer's hair under the habit and change it to something nondescript.
- Durability: 20/20
- Effect: Disguises hair color/hides hair perfectly

Casting Beyond the Veil (Excellent) - This tome was written many years ago by a scholar of otherworldly magic. The scholar, Guy Dupont, wrote this after translating a much older grimoire. Contained within these pages are the fruits of his labor. Teaches Summoning Magic Skill.

A Passion for Burning (Excellent) - This Guy Dupont really gets around, doesn't he? These are his observations on the inner workings of Fire Magic and how it interacts with other elements. Confers several benefits that require research to unlock.

A Flash of Brilliance (Excellent) - These are Guy Dupont's observations on Lightning and its unique place within the Wind Element group. Confers several benefits that require research to unlock.

The Deepest Darkness (Excellent) - Guy Dupont sought to find a connection between Dark and what he called "The Elements of the Earth." Confers several benefits that require research to unlock.

A Ray of Light (Excellent) - This details Guy Dupont's journey to discover a connection between Light and what he called "The Elements of Heaven." Confers several benefits that require research to unlock.

Soul Stone - This possesses a tiny fragment of death magic and acts as the motive force behind undead creatures.
- Minor x 21
- Medium x 3
- Major x 1

Shell Fragment (Samuel B Roberts) - This hunk of mystic metal has slain things mankind could never hope to face. When properly used it confers the blessing "Penetrator."
- Penetrator - This tells the enemy's defenses to fuckin' shove it. Critical hits are always possible, crits always deal some damage.

Tinkertech Baton - A high-quality self-defense tool advertised as the best on the market. It comes highly recommended by Toybox, but you don't care about all that. This thing is made of space-age materials capable of withstanding tremendous force, heat, cold, acid, and shocks. Your noodly arms will break before this bad boy. Your new toy can be set from 0 (no charge) to 11 (max charge). Max charge comes with backlash so please be responsible. Each charge is a 10% chance to stun or paralyze the target.
- Damage Type: Blunt
- Activated: Blunt/Electric
- Inflict: Stun/Paralyze
- PWR: 4

Shortsword - A basic shortsword. Well forged and simple to use. It was someone's homecraft as evidenced by a lack of discernible style.
Damage: Slash, Pierce
PWR: 6

Legacy of Nature (Excellent) - You hate nature, you are part of nature, nature has always fought and weaponized itself. There is no finest love letter to it than usurping its power. This armor is a declaration of intent to any who witness it: 'Gaia lives, and she hates you more than me.'
- Upgradable: Enchantment Slots 8/8
- Helmet - Allows the wearer to see clearly in natural darkness and extends visual range in power induced shadows. Alters the wearer's voice.
- Armor - Resist Environmental Effects -80%
- Gauntlets - Reduces the change of disarm by 80%.
- Boots - Freedom of Movement through natural terrain. Ignores difficult terrain.
- Durability: 300/300
- Armor Rating: 100
- Special Quality: Material Absorption - Absorbs materials to repair itself. Requires 1 lb of material per 10 points of Durability loss.

Staff of the Abyss (Mythic) lvl 1 - This mystic foci, forged in a place of hope and resolution, has been blessed by Greater Spirits and gifted to their chosen Contractor. This can change forms into any weapon the wielder knows how to use. It also serves as an aid in ritual magic.
- Grants the Metal Manipulation Skill
- Plant and Metal Spells benefit together.
- Increases the PWR of Plant and Metal Spells by half the weapon's PWR.
- Increases the effect of Plant and Metal Spells in proportion with the weapon's PWR.
- Decreases the MP cost of Plant and Metal Spells in proportion with the weapon's PWR.
- Living Weapon - Capable of growing in level with the Contractor. 5% to learn a new Spell of the Plant or Metal Types per level.
- PWR: 5 + 0.1 per level

Quests

A Child's Dreams of Green - Where did this notebook come from originally? It appears as fantasy but the principles within are solid. Are there other mages out there?
Rewards: 10,000 XP, Potential Mentor, Advanced Plant Spellbook
Failure: 1,000 XP. (Note: The only way to fail this quest is to give up.)

Miss Alice's City - Take a look around the neighborhood and familiarize yourself with your surroundings. Range: 1 square block.
Reward: 500 XP
Bonus: Continue exploring the city 1 square block at a time.
Bonus Reward: 500 XP
Failure: None
Note: Different areas offer special prizes!

Territorial Disputes - The E88 has recently fallen on some hard times due to circumstances. This is the time to strike while the iron's hot! You don't need to face them directly. Merely find a way to claim the neighborhood as your turf.
Goal: Establish the neighborhood as your territory within 30 days.
Bonus Goal: Do so with minimum to no bloodshed.
Rewards: 10,000 XP, +5 CP, Random Skill Book, Reputation Gain by 1 step with Public
Bonus Reward: 5,000 XP, + 3 CP, Random Equipment, Reputation Gain + 1 with Public
Failure: 1,000 XP, Reputation Loss by 1 step with Public.
Warning: This WILL lower your Reputation with the E88 by two steps

Putting Down Roots - Looks like its time to really work that high Charisma. Get out there and make even more contacts in your local community. This is a two part Quest.
- Part 1: Get 5 Contacts: No Time Limit
- Part 2: Get 5 Contacts to Friendly: No Time Limit
- Bonus Goal: Do it by the time your base is completed.
- Reward 1: 1,000 XP, Random Piece of Gear
- Reward 2: 5,000 XP, Belt of Steadfastness - This dragonhide belt made from a younger Earth Dragon grants the wearer impressive powers of physical resistance. +50% resist to stagger, stun, knockdown. Immune when both feet are on the ground.
- Bonus Reward: 15,000 XP, Mantle of the Leader - This fabulous mantle is capable of changing its appearance to always be fashionable. +50% Charisma for the purposes of inspiring others or exerting the wearer's will over another.
Accept: Y/N

Setting a Strong Foundation - Congratulations on Contracting the Termite Queen Deemak! I am certain she will be a valuable ally in many future endeavors. However, she can be an exceptional friend now. You wanted to build a base well here's where it begins!
- Goal: Build a Base from which to launch your future operations.
- Bonus Goal: Find a way to work your Staff's aesthetic and true meaning into the construction.
- Reward: 5,000 XP, Bronze Skin Skill Book
- Bonus Reward: 15,000 XP, Dungeon Core
Accept: Y/N

Recruitment Drive - What sort of Cape would you be without minions? A very lonely one. This is your chance to recruit some Minions, er, valued allies to your cause!
- Goal: Recruit at least 10 people.
- Reward: 5,000 XP, Leadership Skill Book
- Bonus Goal: Recruit even more! 10 more until you reach a max of 100.
- Bonus Reward: 2,000 XP
- Special 1: Complete Putting Down Roots (Part 1 & 2): 1 Elite Minion, 5,000 XP
- Special 2: Complete Setting a Strong Foundation: 1 Elite Minion, 5,000 XP
- Special 3: Complete Setting a Strong Foundation + Bonus Goal: 2 Elite Minions, 10,000 XP
- Special 4: Complete ALL Goals: 4 Elite Minions, 20,000 XP, Crown of Glory - This exquisitely crafted piece of headgear is capable of becoming whatever headwear the wearer desires. +50% Charisma for inspiring others. Can be called on to cast Command without expending MP.

A Mission of Mercy - The Union St Mission might be forced to close its doors leaving many people on the street. All because some hard hearted people can't open their wallets.
- Goal: Find a way to restore the Mission's funding.
- Reward: 5,000 XP, Ring of Plenty - A silver ring with a golden cornucopia in the center of the band. This ring possesses remarkable power when used for mercy. +20% healing effects, +50% healing effects when used to heal others, doubles the amount of conjured food.


Reputation Meters
PRT - Good
ABB - Neutral
E88 - Neutral
Merchants - Neutral
BBPD - Cautiously Optimistic
Public - Neutral
Union St Mission - Friendly

Author's Note: I'm moving to a new format for uploads. Updates will be done once a week on Monday for Shards after this. Updates for A Light into the Future will be on Friday. For my Patrons you can read two whole chapters in advance of Shards of Reality and A Light into the Future. Don't forget to vote on the Monthly Poll! This will continue until I'm in a more stable place economically and in housing. Thank you for all of your support during this troubled time.

Patreon Note: A shoutout to my friends over on Patreon. The Patreon page is now updated to be even friendlier and clearer than before. Please think about helping me as I've still got lots of bills to pay, a cat to take care of, and not enough money for it all.

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Apple has a 30% upcharge that doesn't go to me. Read the full story here.
 
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Set Up 2.6

Set Up 2.6


Nezumi was truly a wonder, she had found an old station house in Downtown that some smart aleck converted into a coffee house. They didn't need the location for long which was why they were there in the dead of the night, just in and out with a new Contract.

The ninja rat brought along homemade donuts and a thermos of fresh coffee. "You are summoning a police dog, after all," Nezumi said with a smirk as she handed over the unusual ritual implements.

They went on top of a hefty pile of manuals Alice's lovely rat had 'requisitioned' from the PRT and BBPD, together with the Hellish Whistle and a Healing Hesperide apple. The only tricky thing about all of this had been fitting the huge circle of bones in the shop's interior.

"Showtime." The magician said, slamming the butt of her staff on the edge of the circle as she let her mana loose.

The heat in the room swelled to nearly suffocating as a blazing white light erupted from the circle, the ingredients starting to catch fire and turn to ash one by one, the thermos nearly exploding as its top shot for the ceiling on a plume of steam. From within the circle the crackling flames started to swirl together into a humanoid shape, two canine ears popped out from the head as white hair swirled around a feminine body, almost glowing blue eyes blinking open. What looked like police riot gear appeared over her body just before it finished gaining definition, a smirk crossing her face as she beheld Alice and Nezumi. The sudden cessation of heat was more jarring than the sharp rise.


"Now isn't this a fine night for a meeting? Are you the Contractor?" She inquired with a quizzical head tilt, "Foolish question, you're right here so it must be you. The name is Barghest and I have come according to your call." Her tone of voice was cocky and upbeat.

"My name is Alice Belobog." The albino said as she gave her newest friend a firm handshake. She was deft enough at summoning by now to skip a lot of the dross, but the exchange of names was too central to the Contract to omit. "Welcome to the team, let's stomp in some order in this city."

"Just point me at 'em," Barghest smirked as she held up her weapon. It looked like an assault rifle with an underslung shotgun.



It was a quiet night in the city aside from the usual noises, the streets dead as a tomb aside from the odd car. Despite that, Barghest remained on the alert, head on a swivel. She exercised excellent trigger discipline with her rifle pointed towards the ground. The space around her was kept at a comfortable temperature due her aura. Every so often she glanced at her summoner dressed head to toe in foreboding armor.

"Effective," She remarked laconically. The difference between Alice and Druid was like night and day. Alice may be tall but nobody would ever mistake her as anything but a woman. Druid looked like a larger than life man geared for war.

"Quite so, my partner!" The mage chuckled, perfectly jolly and genteel for all there was an undercurrent of sardonic amusement. It was always a kick to trick people like this.

Wherever the conversation would've gone, it ended up in the grave by writ of two men slinking up ahead. They may've been left alone if it wasn't for one clutching a crowbar. In the middle of the night. In Downtown.

There was a pregnant pause as the freshly summoned police dog squinted at them… then one decided to just make with the crime by putting the crowbar to the door of a clothes shop. A beanbag round was slotted into the underbarrel and the barrel was leveled at tweedle dee and tweedle dum, flashlight flicking on.

"Freeze!" She yelled, face pulled into a snarl that showed very much inhuman teeth.

The crooks froze in fear with Mr. Crowbar even dropping his signature tool. His compatriot shakily emptied his pockets of a chain and padlock. Barghest tilted her head and sniffed.

"The pieces. Lose them," She demanded, not looking any friendlier than with her first barked command.

There was another clatter as a snub nosed revolver and a Glock hit the ground. The men quickly held their hands up higher.

"Could you cuff them while I call this in?" Barghest asked Alice without taking her eyes off of the men.

"Of course! I was about to ask in fact." The bulwark of armor replied with an agreeable nod, stomping in close to the pair of crooks. "Good on ye for making this easier on everyone, saves you a trip to the hospital. Your wrists, please."

The wannabe burglars surrendered without a fuss, wanting absolutely none of the violence that Druid's frame and getup alone promised. It was clear this was their first time as neither man's appearance or behavior screamed hardened criminal, just desperation given the threadbare clothes and grime. There was half a thought there of snatching them up for Alice's organization, but that would be difficult to spin as things stood right now.

Best to let them deal with whatever the law had in store with them, they could always come to her open doors on their own terms.

Barghest called the police using the radio she was summoned with, a patrol car sliding into view as promptly as you'd expect from the good part of town. Both officers stepped out of the car warily, which, fair. Alice made her bearing as non-threatening as she could and Barg flicked on the safety on her gun and let it hang from its strap, just like that some of the tension left the eyes of the newcomers as they approached. The younger officer hastened to get the criminals while the older man approached the armored Cape.

"Good evening. Do you mind telling me what happened here?" He asked politely with a notebook in hand.

"Of course, officer." The woman in disguise rumbled agreeably, idly pulling out her license while she delivered a brief and to the point breakdown of the sequence of events.

"Thanks. Most newcomers don't even bother sticking around. I'll need your names for the report," The officer said. Barghest told him her name, hiding a glimmer of amusement in her eyes as the cops (reasonably) took her for another Cape.

The younger officer cleared his throat apologetically, "We're mandated by law to do this. Have you considered joining the Protectorate? We have a pamphlet listing the benefits…"

"Jones. Druid already showed us his license issued by the PRT," The senior officer said sardonically.

"Oh, uh, yes, sir…" Poor Jones looked like he wanted the sidewalk to open up and swallow him.

"It is quite alright, I can't imagine it is easy on one's nerves to confront a pair such as us, and you conducted yourself impeccably beyond that slip up." Alice reassured, a smile in her voice but very pointedly not laughing or patronizing the wet behind the ears officer. Just by the fact the man had the stones to join the force in Brockton fucking Bay he earned her respect.

"Thank you!" Jones perked up at that. The older officer chuckled indulgently.

"Well it was nice meeting you. I'm Officer Murphy. This is our usual patrol route during the evening," Murphy said.

"Have a pleasant night," Barghest said with a smile. The helmet's visor shielding the top portion of her face from view.

[Reputation with the BBPD increased to Good!]

With that the officers rode off into the night leaving Alice and Barghest to plot their next move.

"Where to next, sir?" Barghest asked with a grin.

"Towards Commercial District, we still have quite a bit of ground to cover." The summoner decided after a moment's thought.

Nothing immediately leapt out at them, but the night was still young. There was always someone either doing something stupid or needing to be bailed out. Which was why just half a block down they came across a woman trying to get into a car, all but radiating stress as she kept on yanking at the door handle. Upon closer inspection the woman turned out to be Eliza Moonglow, the lady whose store Betty had dragged Alice to for a new wardrobe.

"Stupid…I'm so stupid…" Eliza sounded more frazzled than lost keys would explain. She kept glancing down at her phone worriedly.

"Ma'am, is something the matter?" The armored hulk asked as softly as the rumble of her helmet would allow.

"Ah! Oh, huh…" Eliza clutched her chest after that outburst. She was trembling like a leaf. "I left my keys in the car. If I had something to fish them out I would…" The woman indicated the window which was open a crack.

"Hmmm…I think I can get the lock…" Barghest said as she walked over to the door. The newest Summon pulled out a short length of paracord and deftly made a small loop. She lowered it in through the crack while hooking the lock on her first try. With a small tug it unlocked.

"Thank you so much… I was on my way to a friend's house. She said some of her ex's friends were outside. The police need proof…" Eliza huffed softly.

Whatever those hangers-on were planning, Alice didn't feel inclined to let them. Mueller had been incriminated, so who knew what sort of harebrained schemes were going through their soft skulls. "Thankfully, parahumans rarely need more than an excuse. If you would have us, of course."

"O-okay…" She still seemed unsure, but her desperation clearly won out. "Uh, how will you fit?" The car was a midsize and Druid clearly wasn't. There was a ponderous hum as a quick use of measuring tape told them that, no, even sans the helmet (and thus the massive horns), the swarthy warrior wasn't going to fit.

"It seems I won't." Alice sighed gutsily, waving at her partner, "Barghest, if you would be as kind?"

"Of course, sir," Barghest replied immediately.

Eliza didn't need to be told twice as she hopped into the driver's seat. Barghest climbed in the passenger side. The car took off down the street at somewhere upwards of the speed limit.

Now then, this was turning out to be a slow night, so why not handle some overdue work?



The mirror world wasn't as quiet as the normal Brockton Bay. Restless spirits roamed the streets wearing Nazi symbols. Their tattered clothes were almost militant and carried battered weapons. However, the most dangerous looking carried old rifles circa WWII. Almost as if the spirits were saying they might be rumbled now, but they wouldn't always remain that way.

Underneath layers of armor, Alice's nostrils flared. A familiar jitter tickled at the inside of her ribs, tugged at her lips until adrenaline had carved a rictus grin into her face. Her staff writhes under her gauntleted fingers, trying to meet her unspoken desire but failing because it will not give her a weapon she does not know how to use.

That's fine, because as spikes and blades and segmentation melted away back into blacksteel, a weapon anyone could use extruded from the shaft. The venerable war hammer, made to crush and pierce. A spike at the top to serve as a spear, a curved talon at the back to punch through the thickest armor, four teeth at the front to focus the force of a simple swing into something devastating.

There was something deeply cathartic, Alice found, in turning the skull of an unthinking monster into so much oozing paste. The fact that she almost immediately got a notification for Blunt Weapon Mastery leveling up only made things better.

Rifle rounds might as well have been raindrops as the zombies tried and failed to penetrate her armor. Her path was soon strewn with bodies and loot, but something was off. For each Nazi zombie felled the remaining ones seemingly grew in strength and ferocity. A red nimbus formed around them with each one cut down.

That was when a ballista bolt made of solid steel screamed out of the darkness. It struck Alice's armor with a sound like a gong. The transferred force was enough to almost throw her to the ground despite the Slime Suit's best efforts. A woman emerged from the darkness wearing steel armor stylized like a Valkyrie.

<Shadow of Iron Rain - Child of Allfather and Sister of Kaiser lvl 23>

More weapons began appearing out of thin air around her. Spinning blades, wicked axes, and polearms all ready for combat. The glowing zombies called out her name worshipfully as their guns were fixed through her power.

"All a parahuman needs is an excuse." Alice hummed under her breath as she felt the slime heal her bruises and the immaterial thorns guarding her bristle. This was something he wouldn't dare use in realspace short of the Slaughterhouse swinging by, but that was what IDs were for, no?

When the Rumble Vines sprouted at the tap of her foci against the ground, they were made of animated steel, their thorns oozing caustic tar. More pressure, more mana, the ground cracking and groaning as tall grass made of undulating barbed wire sprouted. Puffball mushrooms nestled deep in the tangle, dozens of tiny lungs whistling thick smog into the air.

She could feel the Blood Garden's pulse through her soles, digging deeper and deeper into the concrete, sinking its teeth into the pipes and cables running under the earth.

Her enemies, of course, hadn't been idle while that happened.

The revenant pointed imperiously, commanding the zombies to fire. They moved like a well-oiled, if rotten, machine as they obliged. Iron Rain accelerated the bullets with her power causing them to strike like hammers. However, the armor endured the brutal punishment. Scratched and dented, but still more than functional. It was a taunt, Alice hadn't moved an inch, hadn't commanded her Garden to block the barrage for her.

One that worked beautifully as battle axes and spears rained down with enough force to ripple the earth, the smog of the Garden spilling every which way and blocking the view entirely.

Five zombies losing heads and limbs as an axe-headed Rumble Vine swept through them rather told them what had happened under the cover of the choking miasma. The rumble of two machine gun emplacements only reaffirmed it.

"Iron Rain of the self-proclaimed Empire Eighty-Eight!" Rumbled a deep voice from within the beginnings of earthworks, concrete and soil subsumed into biosteel and shifted to better purposes. "Move me."

The undead cape looked poleaxed by this development, before a wicked smile crossed her face, floating higher into the air as rust red flecks swirled around her. Iron Rain clenched her fist, making the dust coalesce into an anvil the size of a small car. With a casual seeming wave the anvil descended towards where Alice's voice had come from like a meteor coming to earth.

Too bad she'd talked through a speaker the Blood Garden had extruded on her command. New metal was eagerly devoured, the ground well beyond its boundaries cracking and crumbling into pure treachery as steel roots broke it up. Barbed grass and smog shrooms were already sprouting from the rubble, forcing the undead hordes to make a choice as the machine guns didn't let up on their scything bursts for a moment.

"You have no Ardennes for this Maginot, little kraut." Alice taunted as a bunker proper began building around her, a bit more mana investiture letting a few more Rumble Vines join the party, slithering like massive worms through the field of death.

Iron Rain continued to rise higher into the air, but her minions were already gone. Swallowed by the Blood Garden to fuel further growth, the industrial hellscape grinding ever forward. The deathless cape looked out over the vastly changed street with something akin to fear. There was something there amidst the vines that loathed her. She lashed out with spears forged from her power but all they did was feed the machine, Rumble Vines beginning to bring down buildings and drag in the rubble into the Garden's hungry maw.

"Contractor…Offer your blood to the vines…" A voice whispered from the staff.

"USS Atlanta." Alice intoned as vines slithered into her armor and into her veins, drinking greedily from her wrists, "Your gunnery is required."

From the depths of the metal jungle the ground rumbled and shook. The buildings nearest the commotion street crack and begin to sink under the renewed ministrations of the gigantic steel vines. What appeared to be strange trees started to emerge, as though a small grove sprouting to its prime in a timelapse. The illusion was shattered as they swiveled, sensors fashioned into leaves and branches humming to life as tree-trunk barrels took aim at the malingering odor given form. Twenty 40 mm Bofors Anti-Aircraft guns rose up beside ten 20 mm Oerlikon guns.

"Oh Hell…" The first words Iron Rain spoke would be her last. Her ferrokinesis allowed her to hover well enough, she could drop and twist and juke with the best of them. She could not, however, fly in truth.

All she amounted to, in the end, was a beautiful fireworks show as curtains of tracers closed in around her desperate swerves and twirls.

"Parahumans like you are monkeys with a stick," Alice snorted derisively as her living fortifications retrieved the corpse and began sorting the food from the loot, "Can't help but bash your power against everything in your way, even if it does nothing but escalate to your loss. Can't stand to retreat and reassess. Just endless, mindless aggression."

This would have never worked against the Shadow of Trainwreck. That monster was a wily bastard and she'd been lucky that it hadn't known her win condition of reaching a wall and tearing away the ID.

[Level Up + 6!]
Plant Manipulation + 5
Metal Manipulation + 9
Hungry Mold + 4
Coat of Thorns + 3
Rumble Vine + 6
Slime Suit + 4
Blunt Weapon Mastery + 10

[Loot Obtained!]
Gray Valkyrie's Plate (Rare) - This armor was formed from the memories of one of the Empire's most notorious capes. Those who remember her fondly would see the wearer as one of their own. Of course those who hated her would gain instant enmity with the wearer on sight.
- Not Upgradable
- Durability: 150/150
- Armor Rating: 50/50
Special Quality: Improves the effectiveness of Metal Manipulation by 100%. Reduces the cost of similar talents by 50%.

[Excellent job! I wish the enemy loot was something you could use, but there is a silver lining. Whenever a powerful spirit is laid to rest, or given an Anti-Aircraft salute, it passively reduces hostility in the surrounding area. In this case, it weakens the Empire's drive to conquer and settles their unsettled morale. It doesn't completely pacify them, nothing could, but every little bit helps.]

"Are they still going to run around like headless chickens, just more trying to scramble to go to ground, or?" Alice asked as she squinted at the loot. Hopefully there would be a way to rip out the metal manip boost and slap it on Druid's armor without the other effects… or she could just chuck it at Nezumi and tell her to have fun playing false flag.

Something to consider later, if the Empire needed a hard nudge to stay unstable and focused inwards. Would take balancing it with some selective dungeon dives to make sure the powder keg didn't blow up,but she could see it working.

[The main effect would be that those who aren't fully sold on the E88's ideals will stop supporting them. Those who are actively benefiting from their association would hesitate. Unfortunately, for the true believers it wouldn't do anything.]

With that cheery thought, Alice got to work on rolling up all the biometal into her inventory to be ground down into steel ingots. Didn't retain any special properties, but it still was a hell of a lot of material.

Cleanup done, because fuck that spilling out if someone messed with the fabric of space in her neighborhood, the Russian woman took her leave… and got greeted with screams of anger and pain.

That was when she saw two figures racing along fire escapes, ledges and even the tops of buildings. The one in the lead was dressed all in black with a motocross helmet and tinted goggles covering the whole of their face, silver duct tape securing something red to their back. Even with her nightvision, it was hard to make out any real details, just from how much they blurred in their scramble. Guy sure knew how to twist and tumble, though, putting the Cirque Du Soleil to shame there.

That one was yelling in pain. The one yelling at them to get back and get some more hurt was unmistakably a girl, by writ of the fetishized kunoichi outfit she was stuffed into. Just this side of a Taimanin, really. Alice was more concerned with the glowing blue blades sprouting from her mechanical gauntlets, somehow she didn't think there was nonlethal capture in the screaming berserker.

"Fucking Brockton Bay."

Name: Alice Belobog
Age: 21
Level: 14
Class: Mage
Specialization: Plant
Subclass: <Locked>

HP: 110/110 [+1 HP per minute]
SP: 220/220 [+5 SP per minute if active, +20 if resting]
MP: 1000/1000 [+5.5 MP per minute]

STR: 20
DEX: 22
CON: 22
INT: 16
WIS: 17
CHA: 50
LCK: 32 (16 after World Debuff)

CP: 30

Perks

Medium Mana Capacity lvl Max - Your ability to hold Mana has increased enabling even greater staying power. MP x 2, MP Regen + 4

Focused Mind lvl Max - This allows the user to slip into a state of focus far easier and for longer than most. Choose one Skill and receive a 25% increase to its XP Gain and Effect. Lowers Perception by 90%.

General Skills

Perception lvl 11 - This encompasses more than just sight, hearing, and the like. This is a measure of how well you can grasp the world around you and its varied nuances.
- 10% + 1% per level chance to uncover hidden objects, see through disguises and detect bullshit.

Meditation lvl 10 - The ability to focus oneself and maintain a level head. This skill is an important foundation not just for Mages but for Martial Artists as well. In time it may even be possible to enter a meditative trance while doing other things.
- Passive MP Regen + 1% per level.
- MP Regen + 5% per level while active. (Must Meditate for 1 minute for it to become active)
- Active use gradually removes mental effects at a rate of -10% + 1% per level.
- Chance of taking action or any disturbance breaking the meditative trance 90% - 1% per level.

The Way of the Body [3/10] - This is a training process devised by one of the foremost masters of the body. With this the user can cause the formation of "pink muscle" capable of doing the work of red and white muscle even more efficiently. This serves as a solid foundation for most Martial Arts training. Unlike with normal Skills this is a trainable Perk completed at 10.
- Alters the distribution of XP for the Body Trinity to 80% gain for all.
- Increases Reaction Time by +1% per point of DEX
- Increases Explosive Strength by +1% per point of STR.
- Increases Resilience by +1% per point of CON.

Combat Skills
Blunt Weapon Mastery lvl 11 – A good whack is nature's reset button. This skill covers the various ways you can make upright people lie prone.
- Attack Speed +15% + 5% per level.
- Damage +5% per level.

Bladed Weapon Mastery lvl 1 - This is a general skill for handling sharps without cutting off important bits in the process. Blades can inflict the Bleed and Severed Debuff.
- Attack Speed +15% + 5% per level.
- Damage +5% per level.

Magic Skills

Plant Manipulation lvl 19 – The ability to manipulate plants from the simple flower to the mightiest tree. This is a subset of Life Magic which also covers certain healing spells and physical recovery.
- Spell Costs are reduced by 1% per level (Max -75%)
- Spell Effects are enhanced by 1% per level.
- Spell Range is enhanced by 1% per level.
- Spell Duration is increased by 1% per level.

Metal Manipulation lvl 10 - The ability to manipulate metal of all types from the lowest bronze and up. This is a subset of Earth Magic which also covers defensive buffs and removes physical statuses.
- Spell Costs are reduced by 1% per level (Max -75%)
- Spell Effects are enhanced by 1% per level.
- Spell Range is enhanced by 1% per level.
- Spell Duration is increased by 1% per level.

Summoning lvl 20 MAX - This Skill is based on the research of Guy Dupont and covers the summoning and dismissing of various Spirits. Summons remain until dismissed or killed. A killed Summon merely returns to their natural realm. The more MP is used the more powerful the Spirit that is called.
- MP: 20
- Control: 10% + 5% per level. (This is based on Charisma)
- Dismiss: 25% + 15% per level. (This is based on Charisma)

Healing Hesperide lvl 3 - Conjures healing apples or apple juice, with some input from you.
- Cost: 4 MP
- HP Recovery - Must consume ½ lb or 1 pint for the full benefit.
- PWR: 1 (+0.1 per lvl)
- Amount of Food Created: ½ lb per lvl
- Amount of Drink Created: 1 pint per lvl
- Quality Modifier: +0.5% per level
- Active Time: 1 minute per level. (After this the magic healing is inert)

Husk Bolt lvl 10 - This is a variant on one of the most basic spells in a Mage's arsenal, Mana Bolt. It conjures up a seed husk based on a template and fires it at high speed. Simple and efficient. This variant has the potential to debuff.
- Cost: 1 MP
- Range: 175 ft + 5 ft per level
- PWR: 1 + 0.1 per level = 1.6
- Damage Type: Blunt
- Debuff: Capsaicin - The bullet sprays dust on impact which can get in the eyes and nostrils. Irritation and radius increases by 5% per level. Base Range: ½ ft Causes watery eyes, runny nose, and burning in the mucus membranes.

Shackle Seed lvl 1 - Looks like you sampled some nearby crabgrass. This special seed grows like a weed on steroids to entrap the target. It extends its roots into whatever crevices it can get a grip on. Non-invasive but it will seek to restrain them by as many points as possible. Quickly regenerates from harm until its limited HP runs out.
- MP: 20
- HP: 10 + 5 per level
- Target: Medium and smaller. Upgrades at tenth level.
- PWR: 5 (Upper grip strength)
- Number of Vines: 1 + 1 per 3 lvls.

Hungry Mold lvl 18 - A creepy fungus spell that turns putrefying flesh into a ravenous mold. All putrid flesh is consumed until nothing organic remains. After ten minutes with nothing to consume it dries out and dies.
Effect:
- Infests 1 lb of flesh per level.
- Can be ended prematurely by the caster.
- Cost: 20 MP

Coat of Thorns lvl 5 - This spell is more than just a variant of Mage Armor, but also combines aspects of Flame Shield as well. The caster's garments are altered fundamentally to increase their toughness yet also add a bit extra. Any attackers in melee range trigger an immediate thorny reaction. This can be discharged immediately for an omnidirectional attack by casting the spell again.
- MP: 16
- Type: Defense, Pierce
- PWR (for thorns): 1 + 5% per level. (Stacks with Armor when triggered)
- Armor: 4 + 5% per level
- Duration: 2 minutes per level. Auto-renews unless dismissed.
- Reactive Damage: Equal to the Spell's Total Armor Value

Rumble Vine lvl 11 - You know the spell Plant Growth? Why waste time with that when you could have this? This spell affects an area around the caster that drives the vegetation into frenzy. It uses the surrounding nature to create an ad hoc Summon Circle to briefly call a horde of wild Plant Spirits. Vines rise up out of the ground and thrash anything that looks at the Caster crosseyed.
- MP: 15
- Number of Vines Summoned: 4 + 1 per 3 lvls.
- PWR: 4 per Vine
- Area of Effect: 20ft + 2ft per level.

Slime Suit lvl 7 - This just might be one of the oddest spells ever created in this cluster. The result of combining three very different types of spells has given rise to something new. Your Summoning Skill was needed to bind it all together. A Neutral Spirit has been Summoned into this unique working. Usually Slimes are considered generic, but this one has been infused with a purpose.
- Sustained Cost: 100 MP
- Armor Value: ½ Charisma
- Durability: Twice Charisma
- Heals the Wearer by 20 HP per minute + 2 HP per level
- Reduces Damage by 50% against Blunt, Fire, Acid
- Critical Heal: Sacrifices its Durability when the wearer is at 20% HP.
- Critical Retreat: Puppets the wearer's body to escape if the caster is incapacitated.
- Movement +30% + 5% per level (Negated by Heavy Armor)

Blood-Garden lvl 1 - The culmination of a sincere wish, a dream made real, the Blood Garden shall grow for as long as its roots run deep. Territories passively absorb ambient mana into a MP bank used for various functions.
MP Use: Territory MP is used as fuel for the defenses. Different Tiers require different amounts of MP to replenish.
Assembly Lines: These autonomous assembly systems can be used to mass produce whatever the caster can make. (100 units per hour for small, 50 units per hours for medium, 25 units per hour for large, etc.)
Material Assimilation: The Territory autonomously mines as it spreads deeper and acts to consume and repurpose any scrap it is given. Once its influence spreads to the surface, it will begin taking unattended junk for itself.
- Territory MP: 100/100 (+100 per level) 1% regen every minute.
- Maximum Defense Tier: 1 + 1 every 10 levels
- Stabilize the Earth +50% + 1% per level.
- Enhance Earth/Metal/Plant Magic by 10% + 2% per level.
- Assembly Lines: 3 + 1 per level.
- Material Assimilation: 100 lbs per hour + 100 per level

Territory Defense Tiers
- T1 (Minor): Tunnels, light grasslands of blades, and occasional turrets and light artillery. Min MP: 100
- T2 (Moderate): Thick forests, walls, patrols, moderate artillery, some fortifications. Min MP: 200
- T3 (Major): Rainforest density, fortresses, heavy patrols, massive artillery batteries, heavy fortifications. Min MP 400
- T4 (Extreme): Density of gardens approaches actual walls, terrain is begun to be modified to guide enemies in preferred directions. Min MP 800
- T5 (Ridiculous): You cannot tell where the plant ends and the metal begins. Walls the size of small skyscrapers. Titan-Guns and Teleporters are added onto the defenses. Min MP 1600
- T6 (Insane): The ground is more machine than earth. Defenses are layered like onions, every layer even more painful to fight, and everything in them is made to kill or protect at the same time. Min MP 3200
- T7 (Core Prime): All is machines. Down to bedrock, every inch is a weapon. Every corner is a gun, or a barrel of a gun. Fractal layers keep all manners of exotic tools hidden. Min MP 6400

Inventory

Money: $7600.21
Smartphone (Great)
Dreams of Green Notebook (Poor)
ID Paperwork (Basic)
Apartment keys (Basic)
Crowbar (Good)
- Durability: 125/125
10 Rolls of Heavy Leather (100 lbs)
20 lbs Steel
1 lb Gold
1 Roll Kevlar
20 Rolls of Cotton (80 lbs)
Fishy Nun Outfit (equipment set, what she started with) (Good)
- Armor 12
- Durability 25/25
- Comfort + 25%
Vogue Frills Outfit (equipment set, the one she just got) (Basic)
- Durability 20/20
- Comfort + 0%
Shotgun (Basic)
- Durability 125/125
Ammo (6 shells)
Clothes
Hero Phone
Hero License
Healer License

Hellish Whistle (Rare) - Forged from the despair of generations of railway workers and those who died building the rails. One toot on this is enough to send those of weaker wills fleeing in terror. When Mana is channeled through it this whistle can petrify a listener with fear.
Inflict: Terror, Petrified with Fear MP 10
Durability 5/5

Costume Gasmask (Basic) - This looks like a proper gasmask but in reality is fake. The lens blurs the edges of the wearer's eyes and general color to aid in concealing their identity. The mask has been enhanced further to conceal the wearer's hair under the habit and change it to something nondescript.
- Durability: 20/20
- Effect: Disguises hair color/hides hair perfectly

Casting Beyond the Veil (Excellent) - This tome was written many years ago by a scholar of otherworldly magic. The scholar, Guy Dupont, wrote this after translating a much older grimoire. Contained within these pages are the fruits of his labor. Teaches Summoning Magic Skill.

A Passion for Burning (Excellent) - This Guy Dupont really gets around, doesn't he? These are his observations on the inner workings of Fire Magic and how it interacts with other elements. Confers several benefits that require research to unlock.

A Flash of Brilliance (Excellent) - These are Guy Dupont's observations on Lightning and its unique place within the Wind Element group. Confers several benefits that require research to unlock.

The Deepest Darkness (Excellent) - Guy Dupont sought to find a connection between Dark and what he called "The Elements of the Earth." Confers several benefits that require research to unlock.

A Ray of Light (Excellent) - This details Guy Dupont's journey to discover a connection between Light and what he called "The Elements of Heaven." Confers several benefits that require research to unlock.

Soul Stone - This possesses a tiny fragment of death magic and acts as the motive force behind undead creatures.
- Minor x 21
- Medium x 3
- Major x 1

Shell Fragment (Samuel B Roberts) - This hunk of mystic metal has slain things mankind could never hope to face. When properly used it confers the blessing "Penetrator."
- Penetrator - This tells the enemy's defenses to fuckin' shove it. Critical hits are always possible, crits always deal some damage.

Tinkertech Baton - A high-quality self-defense tool advertised as the best on the market. It comes highly recommended by Toybox, but you don't care about all that. This thing is made of space-age materials capable of withstanding tremendous force, heat, cold, acid, and shocks. Your noodly arms will break before this bad boy. Your new toy can be set from 0 (no charge) to 11 (max charge). Max charge comes with backlash so please be responsible. Each charge is a 10% chance to stun or paralyze the target.
- Damage Type: Blunt
- Activated: Blunt/Electric
- Inflict: Stun/Paralyze
- PWR: 4

Shortsword - A basic shortsword. Well forged and simple to use. It was someone's homecraft as evidenced by a lack of discernible style.
Damage: Slash, Pierce
PWR: 6

Legacy of Nature (Excellent) - You hate nature, you are part of nature, nature has always fought and weaponized itself. There is no finest love letter to it than usurping its power. This armor is a declaration of intent to any who witness it: 'Gaia lives, and she hates you more than me.'
- Upgradable: Enchantment Slots 8/8
- Helmet - Allows the wearer to see clearly in natural darkness and extends visual range in power induced shadows. Alters the wearer's voice.
- Armor - Resist Environmental Effects -80%
- Gauntlets - Reduces the change of disarm by 80%.
- Boots - Freedom of Movement through natural terrain. Ignores difficult terrain.
- Durability: 276/300
- Armor Rating: 100
- Special Quality: Material Absorption - Absorbs materials to repair itself. Requires 1 lb of material per 10 points of Durability loss.

Staff of the Abyss (Mythic) lvl 1 - This mystic foci, forged in a place of hope and resolution, has been blessed by Greater Spirits and gifted to their chosen Contractor. This can change forms into any weapon the wielder knows how to use. It also serves as an aid in ritual magic.
- Grants the Metal Manipulation Skill
- Plant and Metal Spells benefit together.
- Increases the PWR of Plant and Metal Spells by half the weapon's PWR.
- Increases the effect of Plant and Metal Spells in proportion with the weapon's PWR.
- Decreases the MP cost of Plant and Metal Spells in proportion with the weapon's PWR.
- Living Weapon - Capable of growing in level with the Contractor. 5% to learn a new Spell of the Plant or Metal Types per level.
- PWR: 5 + 0.1 per level

Gray Valkyrie's Plate (Rare) - This armor was formed from the memories of one of the Empire's most notorious capes. Those who remember her fondly would see the wearer as one of their own. Of course those who hated her would gain instant enmity with the wearer on sight.
- Not Upgradable
- Durability: 150/150
- Armor Rating: 50/50
Special Quality: Improves the effectiveness of Metal Manipulation by 100%. Reduces the cost of similar talents by 50%.

Quests

A Child's Dreams of Green - Where did this notebook come from originally? It appears as fantasy but the principles within are solid. Are there other mages out there?
Rewards: 10,000 XP, Potential Mentor, Advanced Plant Spellbook
Failure: 1,000 XP. (Note: The only way to fail this quest is to give up.)

Miss Alice's City - Take a look around the neighborhood and familiarize yourself with your surroundings. Range: 1 square block.
Reward: 500 XP
Bonus: Continue exploring the city 1 square block at a time.
Bonus Reward: 500 XP
Failure: None
Note: Different areas offer special prizes!

Territorial Disputes - The E88 has recently fallen on some hard times due to circumstances. This is the time to strike while the iron's hot! You don't need to face them directly. Merely find a way to claim the neighborhood as your turf.
Goal: Establish the neighborhood as your territory within 30 days.
Bonus Goal: Do so with minimum to no bloodshed.
Rewards: 10,000 XP, +5 CP, Random Skill Book, Reputation Gain by 1 step with Public
Bonus Reward: 5,000 XP, + 3 CP, Random Equipment, Reputation Gain + 1 with Public
Failure: 1,000 XP, Reputation Loss by 1 step with Public.
Warning: This WILL lower your Reputation with the E88 by two steps

Putting Down Roots - Looks like its time to really work that high Charisma. Get out there and make even more contacts in your local community. This is a two part Quest.
- Part 1: Get 5 Contacts: No Time Limit
- Part 2: Get 5 Contacts to Friendly: No Time Limit
- Bonus Goal: Do it by the time your base is completed.
- Reward 1: 1,000 XP, Random Piece of Gear
- Reward 2: 5,000 XP, Belt of Steadfastness - This dragonhide belt made from a younger Earth Dragon grants the wearer impressive powers of physical resistance. +50% resist to stagger, stun, knockdown. Immune when both feet are on the ground.
- Bonus Reward: 15,000 XP, Mantle of the Leader - This fabulous mantle is capable of changing its appearance to always be fashionable. +50% Charisma for the purposes of inspiring others or exerting the wearer's will over another.
Accept: Y/N

Setting a Strong Foundation - Congratulations on Contracting the Termite Queen Deemak! I am certain she will be a valuable ally in many future endeavors. However, she can be an exceptional friend now. You wanted to build a base well here's where it begins!
- Goal: Build a Base from which to launch your future operations.
- Bonus Goal: Find a way to work your Staff's aesthetic and true meaning into the construction.
- Reward: 5,000 XP, Bronze Skin Skill Book
- Bonus Reward: 15,000 XP, Dungeon Core
Accept: Y/N

Recruitment Drive - What sort of Cape would you be without minions? A very lonely one. This is your chance to recruit some Minions, er, valued allies to your cause!
- Goal: Recruit at least 10 people.
- Reward: 5,000 XP, Leadership Skill Book
- Bonus Goal: Recruit even more! 10 more until you reach a max of 100.
- Bonus Reward: 2,000 XP
- Special 1: Complete Putting Down Roots (Part 1 & 2): 1 Elite Minion, 5,000 XP
- Special 2: Complete Setting a Strong Foundation: 1 Elite Minion, 5,000 XP
- Special 3: Complete Setting a Strong Foundation + Bonus Goal: 2 Elite Minions, 10,000 XP
- Special 4: Complete ALL Goals: 4 Elite Minions, 20,000 XP, Crown of Glory - This exquisitely crafted piece of headgear is capable of becoming whatever headwear the wearer desires. +50% Charisma for inspiring others. Can be called on to cast Command without expending MP.

A Mission of Mercy - The Union St Mission might be forced to close its doors leaving many people on the street. All because some hard hearted people can't open their wallets.
- Goal: Find a way to restore the Mission's funding.
- Reward: 5,000 XP, Ring of Plenty - A silver ring with a golden cornucopia in the center of the band. This ring possesses remarkable power when used for mercy. +20% healing effects, +50% healing effects when used to heal others, doubles the amount of conjured food.


Reputation Meters
PRT - Good
ABB - Neutral
E88 - Neutral
Merchants - Neutral
BBPD - Good
Public - Neutral
Union St Mission - Friendly


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Apple has a 30% upcharge that doesn't go to me. Read the full story here.
 
I'm no expert but the male parahuman at the end might be Chariot. But the ninja girl is definitely new.

Alice is definitely hitting above her level. She really lucked into a powerful build.
 
I'm no expert but the male parahuman at the end might be Chariot. But the ninja girl is definitely new.

Alice is definitely hitting above her level. She really lucked into a powerful build.
And most importantly, a dumbass enemy who let her dictate the terms of engagement.

As Alice said, she'd have been fucked if this was Shadow Trainwreck. But Iron Rain just mindlessly flung metal at the growing bunker.
 
I'm no expert but the male parahuman at the end might be Chariot. But the ninja girl is definitely new.

Alice is definitely hitting above her level. She really lucked into a powerful build.

Possibly but could also be some of the implied bevy of unaligned capes that don't really come up because they get murked in short enough time periods or are low key enough to not get remarked upon

Also Druid here is setting herself up build wise as a incredibly Tanky Summoner that pulls Crowd Control and Snowballing immovable object that either gets you through personal attrition with her murked by Minions or whatever finisher she Builds up to

And in Worm speak she's a Bio Tinker Shaker with Urban Jungle themes that can pull naval vessel equipment out if needed and she snowballs hard enough
 
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Possibly but could also be some of the implied bevy of unaligned capes that don't really come up because they get murked in short enough time periods or are low key enough to not get remarked upon
Got it in one.

And in Worm speak she's a Bio Tinker Shaker with Urban Jungle themes that can pull naval vessel equipment out if needed and she snowballs hard enough
As she said. "Move me."
 
Set Up 2.7

Set Up 2.7


The still of the night was shattered as two Capes played a high stakes game of tag, where much like a knife fight the winner would get to bleed out on the ambulance and the loser in some ditch instead. Ms Taimanin Cosplay moved through the air with a lethally efficient grace. Each movement propelled her like a shapely bullet through the air. Not a single movement wasted. By contrast, her quarry was a blur of acrobatic motion. In terms of raw speed he was actually slower than the berserker, but leveraged his momentum better. He might have had an easier time getting away if he wasn't favoring his left side. Every time his contortions put too much strain on the left, his speed slowed fractionally. Except in a race like this those fractions were adding up quickly.

"I'm a hero you damn psychopath!" The man called out. Judging by his tone he was maybe a bit younger with a faint Hispanic accent.

"Ha! In a costume like that!? I never saw you before!" The woman yelled back. She did a strange pirouette in midair causing bright blue crescent waves to arc out from her gauntlets.

"Night Man! I'm Night Man! I've got a PHO and White List and everything!" Night Man shouted as he twisted his body to avoid the flying blades. Except she wasn't actually aiming at him, but at the fire escape before him. He almost recovered, but his injured side caused him to cringe and lose his footing. The Independent Hero hit the ground with a harsh wheeze.

The kunoichi landed without a sound. She snapped her left wrist causing that blade to grow longer. "White List? What the hell are you talking about? I never heard of that before," she said scornfully. "Just another wannabe Villain trying to plead innocent…"

Night Man slowly reached for something in his pocket, but the point was rendered moot. What resembled nothing but knives writ large and thick in glistening black metal swooped in, two revealing eerie blunt teeth that bit down on the red toolbox strapped to his back. Night Man let out a yelp as the head-sized things carried him off. He made it easier by swiftly wrapping his legs around it carefully.

The rest of the squadron of eight, though? They buzzed the crazed girl, continually running for her face only to swerve out of the way of retaliation and direct impact both. It didn't help how they barked and howled at her the whole time.

[The Kunoichi lvl 21 - Skitter's Crazy Stalker]

"No fuckin' way!" The maniac screamed as she tried to swat the buzzing menaces out of the sky. Left with no further recourse, she twirled swiftly causing dozens of energy slashes to sizzle the air in a bladed sphere. Just like that the summons were destroyed.

That was fine, their purpose was to be expendable. Alice didn't know if the Greater Spirit of War had taken a page from how Hive Spirits did it or just liked the idea of something carefully tuned to not have any sort of soul or personhood while still being competent, but damn if she wasn't glad for having the biometal of the Abyss on call.

What mattered was that they had accomplished their mission. Line of sight was broken and the trail had gone cold.

The Kunoichi suddenly turned to look dead on at Alice, who had very pointedly stepped on some stray broken glass as she stepped into the street proper. Ms Taimanin's face was lovely beyond belief, which either meant power airbrushing or a Changer form. The glowing blue eyes certainly added to that theory, especially with how mechanical they looked.

"Another aberration in my story? I don't remember the Empire having anyone like you…" She said almost as if talking to herself. Like she wasn't seeing Druid as a person but as an object. Something to be observed.

"An independent hero, as luck would have it. I could even show you my license. But something tells me you will believe me as much as you did Night Man." Alice's rumble came out dry and wry as she rolled her shoulders. "Now, will you attempt to murder me too, or are you going to retreat in good order?"

For a brief moment the light in her eyes dimmed before spiking back to full strength. Her arm twitched before stopping as she forced on a look of indifference, "I have better things to do than chase down rats. You can keep him. We can catch up later." A burst of blast smoke erupts from her feet cloaking the crazy girl in shadows. When it cleared, there was a fresh new hole on the ground. Looked like she'd jumped into the sewers.

Something to account for, later.

For now, there was a man who had just come near death and a number of statements to give, what with having called both the BBPD and PRT to report the situation as soon as she had gotten through the initial shock.
______________________________________________________________________________

Night Man was still where the rescue plane left him, hiding in a back alley with the mooks keeping an eye out. Trying, and failing, to find a position that didn't aggravate his injury. A muffled sound came from his helmet. It sounded like crying mingled with a guy trying not to lose his mind. Finally, a guttural snarl escaped his helmet full of pain and anger.

"God dammit I hate my supersensitive touch…Fuck!" He growled.

"Hello. I am Druid, independent hero and the Master of those creatures. Just summons, rest assured." Alice said into the alley without entering properly, the two faux-Abyssals chirping out agreements. "My armor is on the intimidating side, so please do not be alarmed."

"Haaa… you saved my life…" His voice sounded labored, "...it's okay. You're friend shaped." Night Man gave a pained chuckle before partially doubling over. The motion clearly didn't agree with him if the long whimper was any indication.

"Glad to be of help. Speaking of." The mage said as she stomped into the alley and over to the wounded man, a bottle of Healing Hesperide juice already on her hand and her healing license on the other, "Drink this. I'm not sure how much it will do for the pain, but at least it should fix the damage itself."

Unsurprisingly, he didn't even glance at the license. The mouthpiece was taken off quickly so that he could slam the drink back. From what little she could see of his face it was ugly, tears and mucus down his chin. Almost immediately his labored breathing became more regular, his faint shudders easing away to nothing. He fiddled with his toolbox backpack and got out a handkerchief to wipe his face, turning his head slightly so that he could discreetly clean up. The inside of his facemask is a fright. He grunted in disgust before tossing it in his gear with the handkerchief. Another handkerchief was used to cover his lower face.

"Damn you should bottle that up and sell it. You'd make a fortune," Night Man said with relief even as he eyed the summons. "No offense but these are the ugliest guardian angels I've ever seen. Then again…I kinda like 'em." He patted one on the snout-thing, eliciting a quiet engine-purr.

"Unfortunately, the healing food and drink I conjure become completely mundane after a short while. Still of use at Union St Mission, though." Alice chuckled, idly conjuring up a pair of chairs from fresh wood and taking a seat. Hers was, of course, just about twice as large and thrice as thick. "As for the little guys, trust me, I'm aware. They have a charm all of their own, but I kept them under wraps until now for a reason."

"Hey I like anyone that saves my life. That crazy chick kept calling me an aberration, I'm not part of the story. Weirdest thing is she kept saying Word of God and Wildbow didn't write this…I know cape psychosis is a thing, but she's loony. If I didn't have my superhuman physical abilities and senses…I wouldn't be here right now," He said quietly as he took his own seat, visibly glad to be away from the cold concrete.

Where there was one, there were more, huh? Hopefully whoever had brought that moron in hadn't had the same idea as Alice's own benefactors.

"Aye, and it sounds like she's marked the both of us for death now. Was about as pleased about me interceding as you'd think." The summoner said as she let the biomechanical abominations fade into fog. "With this in mind, it would be remiss of me not to offer you a place in my team. However, this has been a trying night, so you can consider this a standing offer. I have a teammate on the way if you would like to get to know her, and I rather doubt you'd leak the hideout location of the people who saved your life, so I can also offer some secure housing if there are concerns with that speedster trying to track you down. Otherwise? We just while away time until the boys in blue get here so we may give our statements, and we part ways with each other's contact information."

The way he sucked in a breath spoke volumes. "Shit. What if she did follow me home? Oh man… I-I didn't even notice her until she was about to carve me up. She evaded my senses. I have an incredible sense of hearing, smell, and touch. My costume is thin so that it doesn't drive me crazy. Oh fuck…I wouldn't even notice her until she was on top of me…" Night Man clutched his helmet in panic.

"Whether you remain under my team's roof or in the Rig, rest assured, we are not in the business of allowing good men to die to lunatics." Alice reassured, leveraging the rumble of her helmet for everything it was worth to sound like a safe haven on legs. The clinical part of her brain quietly noted that he would only be of use for humanitarian work and PR for a long time, the young man was shaken to his core. That was fine, especially with what Deemak was whispering through telepathy to her, having run an internet search on Night Man. "If there is anything or anyone that needs to be pulled to safety from your home, I will happily send one of my fellows to see it done, if you value them more than your secret identity."

"God… This is why we left Shady Vale… We didn't have an active PRT. Mom got a job up here at Medhall. Good money, a better home… Now this psychopathic bitch comes along…" Night Man hangs his head dejectedly. "I just want to help people…" He shook his head. "I'm reporting her. I'm putting her name up on PHO. She's too dangerous! Other capes, ones who can't defend themselves, need to be warned about her!"

"A good leveraging of your reputation. If you would like to get started with your phone, bleed out the poison, by all means. The PRT and police should be here soon, they are treading carefully after I reported her vanishing act and how I had arrived to your position, no sense in inviting an ambush should she be lying in wait." The mage felt no particular need to snap him out of it in the forceful way she would someone in outright shock, better to just gently steer him.

"Haaa…Good point. I can do a lot of damage to her with the right words…" His voice took a darker timbre. Night Man clenched his fists as if physically reigning himself in, "...Can't lose control. I'm scared, I'm angry, and that's alright. It's natural…" He whispered soothingly to himself. His head cocked to the side, "...I can hear the police coming. They're about two minutes away."

A motorcycle pulled up first along with the police, carrying one Ms. Militia. She climbed off the bike with her power cycling through weapons, but not pointed at anyone. More of a sign of alertness than hostility. Night Man stood up fluidly and the tightening on the Patriotic Cape's eyes said she noticed the tear in his costume. Alice's own stand was far more ponderous, silently deciding to let the entirely mundane wood she'd conjured remain after a moment's thought. As good a red herring as any.

"I honestly didn't expect to see the two of you together," She started with a friendly tone. Night Man chuckled wryly.

"Druid's a solid man to have around. I wouldn't be here without him," He slapped the armored hulk on the back, but held back. Night Man stared at the spot for several long seconds before glancing at his hand.

"Dohohoho. Solid as old oak." The summoner laughed in good humor with a strongman curl of an arm, before sobering up with a sad little sigh, body language radiating business, "Would you like to begin, or should I?"

Night Man sighed before nodding his head. "Yeah, I'll tell the tale. She called herself the Kunoichi. Definitely not Asian or even partially. From her tone and mannerisms she's a Middle Class Caucasian girl in her teens. Yeah, definitely her teens. Younger than me. She's also really crazy with Main Character Syndrome. Which is dangerous for someone who can sneak up on me…"

"She could get the drop on you?" Miss Militia asked in disbelief, the flare of her eyes more than a bit alarmed. "...Please continue."

"She caught me on the side and started chasing me across the city. If not for Druid I wouldn't be here right now," He finished without even mentioning Druid's summons.

"I had to all but physically interpose myself after pulling him out of the line of fire. She was far less willing to engage a heavier target." Alice chimed, but motioned for him to keep going. This was going to be a long night and only looked to get longer as officers and detectives started crawling from the woodwork.
 
Ahhhhhh yaaaaa that is something to worry about with other insertions

And with another one that implies more will probably show up with different set ups

Although I like how Nightman here would definitely fit in as part of the bevy of semi low level capes that don't really get remarked upon
 
Let's hope chuuni syndrome isn't contagious.
We pray and hope.

And with another one that implies more will probably show up with different set ups
No plans for others, we didn't want to make a mess out of the proverbial soup pot.

Although I like how Nightman here would definitely fit in as part of the bevy of semi low level capes that don't really get remarked upon
His power is enhanced body across the board, including senses. But the Shard was dumb enough to also boost everything about the nervous system, including pain receptors and things like light sensitivity.
 
Let's hope chuuni syndrome isn't contagious.
It quite literally is, it's a memetic hazard that's spread indirectly by converting people into chunni's who then spread or create more degenerate filth which proceeds to create more chuuni's.

We're just lucky the immunity rate is so high all we'd all have degraded to the point where useful dialogue is no longer an option
 
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