What Was Once a Known Path: Chapter 30
What Was Once a Known Path: Chapter 30
I feel my system respond to that message.
Realm Accrued Points Dissolved for Jump. Realm Cleared-Options: Leave Realm Unlocked for visitation, and set up base zone or gain 0 points.
I blink at the message and realize that between never dealing with Stepmann, powering my Moon with Mengsk, and Amon stealing the Overmind's points, I wasn't actually getting anything here.
That's both unfortunate and rather annoying.
I decide to set up visitation, given the total lack of points gained otherwise, I turn up, "Bye Kerrigan."
Realm unlocked for free visitation. Return to {Starcraft}_{Normal} at any time through a system request. Realm Selected. Jumper's knowledge of the realm is below the threshold for restriction.
I load my companions into my Warehouse and feel myself sucked into the void. It's smoother compared to the last time, and then something went wrong. I felt something hook into me and I fell sideways into some new place. It tried to latch into my mind, my soul, and it failed completely.
I felt it drag me bodily somewhere new, and I asked the system for information.
Error.
I blink. Great. Very informational.
As I materialize somewhere new, I hear mad cackling. I turn and see a massive humanoid. Grey skin, long horns, and a messy black cloak covered in several layers of skull ropes. I don't think I can like anyone with clothes covered in human bones.
"My new servant is powerful. I can feel it from here! His power will rend the puny elves into paste."
Wait. Do I recognize this opening? I… it has been years… but I think I know this scene.
"Tichondrius will reward me immensely for the slaughter of those long ears. Now, servant, the Burning Legion demands your cooperation."
I frown, I'm… I'm in Warcraft? Was it a proximity thing from one Blizzard game to another? Or was it something else entirely?
Could I even test that or…
"Slave! How are you ignoring me!"
I turn back to him, and death chains wrap him up, pinning him to the ground, and I cast a silencing ward on the room… or I tried. I winced as my ward shattered even as I cast it.
I contact Wiz, "What do you do when a spell fails before you even finish casting it?"
I get a set of confused looks, and Wiz answers slowly. "If someone tried to cast something with a low enough proficiency rating, it has a high chance of failing… but I don't know what you tried to cast."
"A simple silencing ward."
She frowns, "I… you've been using those since early into our time together. I don't know how you could have failed with such a simple spell."
I frown and turn to the horned man spewing curses at me. "What did you do to me? Why can't I cast my silencing ward any longer?"
He frowns, "Wards are far more advanced than any individual demon can cast, traitor. How don't you know that?"
I frown, "You think I'm a demon?"
"Look at yourself! You are obviously a demon! I would assume some kind of doom wraith, perhaps some half abomination with a dryad."
*Starro-tech Notes (Young Justice) (600) Not Bought Remaining: 400 points.*
"Regardless, what did you do to me?"
He laughs, "I summoned the most dangerous threat to the Burning Legion and bound them to my will, you might be able to ignore my commands, but you may not harm me."
I frown, "Um… you can't feel that your binding failed? Really?"
He stares at me, incredulous, "My hooks are… that's impossible!"
He begins shouting aimlessly and I decide to just kill him now. A spear of death lodges itself into his chest, and he screams. My chains hold his soul still, and it fights me at every turn until it was consumed by my chains. I… it's not supposed to be able to eat souls. What?
That's… "Wiz! My death chains just ate something's soul! What does that mean?"
She blinks again, "That's… that spell shouldn't even hold a soul! How could it consume his soul?"
"I don't know. It held his soul, and then ate it! Do… do you think that Limits did something?"
She frowns, "That's quite possible. Honestly, I don't know. Limits is powerful, but it should have shown something before right now, given this large jump in ability."
I frown and reach for my magical ID from so long ago. Scrolling through it, it's… different than I remember. Spell names I learned, description of spells I do recognize. And my class.
Arch-Necromancer.
I was an Artificer, but then again, I didn't use this much beyond my initial communications with the Guild, and I did… well the absolutely massive army of undead that I used to train the Adventurers willing to learn under me was… well it was a massive, self-reinforcing army of flash cloned corpses animated in fiat merged bundles numbering in the dozens. They were evolving past any summoned undead that Wiz's world had ever seen, and I wasn't pushing my Arcana too hard, nor did I have my current understanding of magic, nor my current powers to enhance everything.
I was curious about what I could do now, especially with my magic-oriented like it currently is. I turned to the desouled demon thing that was laying on the floor and was about to cast something, to see what I could do now when the doors burst open, and a few… what looks like goblins and a few orcs storm in and I kill them too. Checking my card; Death Lances for everyone.
As I look around and back at my card, I frown. I knew enough of the early game mechanics to remember that Necromancy was a terrible magical field if you intended to respect the lore, given that I think it was exclusively Fel magic and nobody likes that corruptive stuff. But honestly, it was the class I preferred in general, so let's see what I can do with it.
Efficiency, I'm going to need you to shut up for a while, I have an army to Raise.
Why is the titular spell only called Raise anyway? My chains were apparently called Soul Death Bindings but actual necromancy is just 'Raise'? Lame.
*Carpenter Ant (SimAnt) (600) Not Bought Remaining: 500 points.*
I cast it and am thoroughly surprised. More magic than I've ever used to raise a corpse flows out, as the skin on all 6 of the bodies just fades away and I'm left with skeletons and a Lich. Green glowing energy suspending them together looks ominous, and then it starts fading too; wood growing out of them, binding them in place in nearly grotesque takes on my Zerg, or even myself, a total lack of the clean lines and smooth features that I've become accustomed to with my summons.
They look almost like a really angry psionic tree decided to stand up actually. There is regret in my decisions. This isn't at all what I was hoping for and I banish them into my spawning pools, hoping that I haven't stripped them completely of genetic material.
I smile as a mixture of strange woods floods my system. Magical conductors, magical insulators, regenerating wood, it's all quite interesting.
It also lets me tweak a few things about my Zerg. They are still an extension of myself that I can cast through, and with my mana pool being stupidly large given that my card reads 'Error', it wouldn't be a drain on my resources.
So I redesigned my first Queens. Their previous Hydralisk-style ranged abilities are… fine, and the wood they are made of is… acceptable, but magic and my guns are the real stars of the show here. I don't have visible guns, I don't want to be too far out of the ordinary here, but I will have them installed if only because I am well aware of what not having my best gear usable rapidly can do to my ability to defend or push outward. Then I refocus on the wooden changes, torso, and legs out of the insulator that simulated the best additional resistances in the case of magic that I haven't encountered yet, and arms made of the enhancement wood, none of my Zerg will need traditional staffs. The Queens will keep the healing abilities and Creep dispensers as well, even if the Tumors themselves are far more hidden than traditional.
I'll set up the whole set of structures somewhere, but my Creep teleportation skills will stay. Despite the fact that my Starcraft war doctrine of 'consuming the planet and everything on it' would be beneficial to me currently; DNA from every creature around, see if magical talent is genetic and therefore something I can force etcetera... I don't exactly want to eat the planet. That would be a bad impression on any local gods.
And if I remember correctly, some of the locals are… not quite Aqua-tier petty, but protective to a fault. And I do not want to make any more divine tier enemies. They are simultaneously outside my league without a local weakness, and they aren't worth points.
I bring up several Queens, my Zerglings would be funny to cast through, but the lack of local processing power in their brains means that it would be slower, and less potent than the amount of myself technically in each Queen.
*The Next Step (DOOM 3) (400) Bought. Overflow. Titanic Mind, Tiny Body (The Circumstances Leading to Waltraute's Marriage) (600) Not Bought Remaining: 200 points.*
The Next Step (DOOM 3): The UAC is pushing the boundaries of known science, and it's no wonder that a lot of the Mars facilities are dedicated to cutting-edge and somewhat poorly tested technologies. After all, testing how exactly things work is one of the reasons we do science! That said, there's no reason not to push for the best possible results right from the start, and you embody this ideal and then some. You have become highly adept at developing prototype systems incorporating new fields of science, to the point your initial designs are usually as good as (if not better) than those others might come up with after two or three rounds of testing, debugging and fine-tuning. Likewise, you can glean far greater insights from any such development cycles you implement, meaning that this 'head start' is only going to get bigger the more time you put into your R&D.
I flinched as I felt my new perk slam into my process, and I backpedaled, something was going to fail in my Queens, and I looked back at the design. I noticed it quite quickly, my Queens were technically independently sentient, meaning that my magic had a bottleneck, their capacity for magic, which would only be trained at just above the basic level. I also didn't add a personality, meaning they were less capable than Zerglings and were simultaneously more dangerous, given that they could be brainwashed, and my senses through them deceived.
Expanding clones into each of them mentally, I felt my core body shift ever so slightly, as I learned both the Creep Tumor and the healing spell myself. I watched them appear on my card and smiled at that. Useful.
Looking around the actual room I'd been summoned into, I saw the paperwork, lots of it. I grabbed the lot and scanned it into memory. I… well. That's a new language, and… lots of them actually. Many languages with… do they share characters, or are reports going from one language to another mid-sentence? Proper nouns maybe? Regardless, I threw several mental clones at that and would see what I could get from it.
Leaving the room, there was a lot of… well given Burning Legion… Fel creatures? Let's just go with that. Many different types, I enjoyed that there are wooden things here that look like me, but red, that won't be a point against me…
I could go full slime, but that probably wouldn't help, and being human is kinda boring, even if I had all the same powers. I shrug, and let Efficiency morph me into… elf? I'm a 2 meter Aeldari, with all the glowing aspects, the ears, but not the height? And I'm paler than I think I've ever been before. This… Why Efficiency, why?
I shrug it off. I'll find out I assume, and keep going. Orcs, dryads, demons, all kinds of things die to my hive-minded firing squad of death magics. Eventually, I found an imprisoned elf. Unlike the elves that I'm familiar with, she's very corrupted. Glowing red eyes and evil tattoos corrupted.
Can I even fix this?
She is growling at me from her chains and I frown. I let my psionics out, and look into her mind, unpleasant magics batter my shields, but… they are a corruptive essence, my powers ignore them outright, and I look for a source. Seeing a red glowing orb spewing angry black mist, I assume.
Approaching the orb, I feel it 'turn' and a beam of red scorches across my shields, but again, my mental shields aren't exactly on its level, and I bring out my analysis abilities. Magical only this time, I doubt the MRI works here.
Thankfully, the red orb seems to be a Fel magic corrupting the larger mind, not an already corrupted essence or something, and I contain the orb. The mist fills my orb, and it begins to shake but isn't actually doing any damage, and I feel her mind reemerge from the surroundings once covered in the black fog.
*They're Gonna Have To Invent A New Type of Nobel Prize to Give Us. (Portal) (800) Not Bought Remaining: 300 points.*
As it does, I look for a language center and find it quite quickly. Very, very carefully taking a copy of the languages she knows, I learn about half of the languages on the papers I have. And by half, I mean another magical Common tongue. The Burning Legion has…
Wait. No, they don't, this isn't another language, they coded this. I shrug, and apply those tricks, decoding the rest, and blinking. Right, I… I know this already. Tichondrius is working under the Forsaken's noses to bring them back under Arthis's control, among other messy plans within plans.
I… that sounds like Politics. I'm really not up for that right now, I want an easy direction to move in, and Icecrown sounds perfect.
Leaving her mind, she's not glowing anymore, which is good, but she's out cold. I stick her with a healing potion and try to force a small monitoring ward into existence. Nothing. You'd think enough magic could handle it but apparently not. I left a Queen guarding her and expanded my search. To one side of the formerly chained elf was a very dead human, and to the other was another elf shooting at me.
As the third arrow bounced off my wooden 'armor', I asked, "So… are you going to stop soon, or is this just how you say hello?"
She frowns, "What are you, creature?"
My Queen isn't the most attractive creature, but I'm still quite offended. I smile, "That's a long story." Before I have it walk away and approach in my elven form. "Now, is this better?"
"Shapeshifter!" She hisses as she fires again, and again.
I sigh, "Can you stop? That's not going to work, and at some point, I'm going to assume hostilities are intended."
She scowls, and fires one more arrow, bouncing off my face, and I smile as she slowly lowers the bow, "Good, now, who are you? Why are you here?"
"Jessir Moonbow, searching for Arko'narin and Trey Lightforge. Who are you, and why are you here?"
"Damion Peramos, and because someone botched a summoning ritual."
She frowns, "And that other form?"
I sigh, and the Queen walks back into the room, "This 'form'?" I ask pedantically.
She blinks, "What is that creature?"
Given the time I have to explain, "One of my summons."
She frowns, "Ok. Did… did you find any survivors?"
"Assuming that you mean the other elf, yes. She's alive, but she's been better."
Jessir runs past me, and a Queen shows her to her friend.
She kneels at her side, asking the Queen, "What has been done for her so far?"
"Corruption purging and a healing potion."
Jessir demands, "What?"
"Fel corruption purging, and a healing potion." I say again, slightly more explanatory.
"That's not possible. Fel corruption isn't something you remove."
"Miss Moonbow, I can assure you all day, but you can wait for Arko'narin to awaken and ask her then."
She blinks, "Fine." And sits at the formally corrupted woman's side until she gasps awake.
*Ancient But High Tech (Cities of the World) (600) Not Bought Remaining: 400 points.*
As she does, she looks around, almost crying, "I… what? I… how did you do that?"
I blink, "Me?"
"Yes! You… I… the Dreadlord! We need to leave!"
Jessir looks at me, "You didn't mention a Dreadlord!"
I blink, "Um… I can't say I know what that is. I'm not from around here." Isn't that what the poser in the basement called me?
"A Dreadlord is one of the most powerful members of the Burning Legion! They are nearly impossible to kill, and you didn't even notice one was here?"
I frown, "Listen. Everything else in these caverns is dead. There are the two of you, and a tiger. I think I would have noticed a greater demon walking around." I did cover every floor but this one in Creep to ensure that I got everything.
Jessir turns back, "He left, it's ok Arko." Comforting her sobbing.
"He was… he was going to summon High Priestess Whisperwind! He must have succeeded!"
I blink, "Wait. Is a Dreadlord, like… a smidge taller than me? Grey skin, large horns? Creepy skull emblazoned robes?" I pause, and each time Arko nods into Jessir's shoulder. "Well, then he's dead. All good."
They both turn to look at me. "What?"
"I… well I didn't notice him being any different, but he's quite dead."
"We need to go, he might have had intelligence on the Burning Legion's…" Jessir stops as I hold out a bundle of papers to her.
"Handled."
"Then we must make haste, he will tell the other members of the Shadow Council…"
"He's dead."
"He's a Fel Demon, his soul will return…"
"Miss Moonbow, let me be clear, he's dead. Like never to return, soul removed from this and every other plane."
She looks at me, "First you claim to cure corruption…"
Arko interrupts, "He… how did you do that?"
Jessir looks at her, "What?"
"The Dreadlord, he cast something on me with the death of Troy… I… I was lost to it, I attacked everything, and I could barely think, but I remember it all clearly. This person saved me."
Jessir looks at me, "What are you?"
I smile, "An out-of-context solution." At some point, I'm going to shorten that. Wanderer? No.
Jessir looks at me, "Regardless, we need to go to Teldrassil and tell Lady Whisperwind of what happened here."
I nod, "Sure."
When we leave, I almost purify the tiger, because it was corrupted with the same spell that got Arko, but both elves demand that I wait until we arrive at Teldrassil because it's apparently a massive thing. I shrug and have several Queens carry it with us. Arriving in the Emerald Sanctuary, a small fort nearby, we give several people strokes with the magically contained corrupted Saber Cat.
I ask around before we leave that town if someone can take a message to the Undercity. I'm directed to a small cow person, a Tauren? She seems confused, "You want what?"
"I want you to take this creature…" I lay my hand on one of my Queen's shoulders, "And these papers…" I hand her a stack of papers with a seal of great importance from the local general, "to the Undercity."
*Technician (Alpha Centauri) (400) Bought. Overflow. Formations and Forging (World of Cultivation) (200) Not Bought Remaining: 100 points.*
She blinks, "Ok. What is this creature?"
"My summon. It will allow me to communicate with the people that message is intended for."
She looks less confused, "Why does it look like that?"
I bluff, "You think I chose how my summon looks?" Yes, it still looks female. Protoss torso fused to an extra large drone body, but still female in… stance? I don't actually know. I spent a long time trying to adjust just the appearance, but everything I slap Protoss DNA onto looks female coming out of my Larva. Everything. Even the straight Protoss Warriors appear female which blows my mind given that I only have 2 male samples of Protoss DNA, but I digress.
She blinks, "Ok."
I nod slightly at that being enough, "You are welcome to ride them if it will accelerate your journey."
She blinks, "That's… quite generous."
And with that strange conversation out of the way, we head out for Teldrassil. It's not far from here on the world map, but it will be a while. We walk, and apparently Death Magic isn't ok.
"You can't just cast that!" Jessir demands.
I frown, "Why not? It's just combat magic."
"It's Death Magic! It corrupts the soul!"
I blink, "It does?"
"How don't you know that!"
I pause, "Give me a moment, I don't know enough about the deeper aspects of magic to debate you on this." And Wiz appears on the road with us.
She looks at Jessir, "Death magic is an aspect of the living magics, it is not inherently evil."
"Death magic is a Fel-derived magic, and is antithetical to goodness, casting it will warp your soul!"
"Prove it!" Wiz demands.
Jessir looks conflicted, and sighs, taking us on a detour. We arrive at a glowing spring. "This is a moon pool, it will feel incredibly uncomfortable for anyone with a corrupted soul, and will feel monstrously more so if you corrupt your soul in its presence."
I shrug and step into the pool, and turn, "Do I need to go deeper to feel anything or…"
Jessir blinks, "That… the clearing should be uncomfortable given your mastery. Cast… something?"
I cast one of my lances into the sky, and feel nothing change. I do feel kinda sleepy, but that was since I entered the pool.
Wiz enters the clearing and doesn't feel anything, but then she casts. Her magic gathers, and she falls to her knees. Screaming. I turn to help her when a ripple of light in the pool drags me under.
I'm in a very… cosmic-looking space, with a very bright light, with the outline of a woman in the center before me.
"Traveler. I welcome you."
I'm on guard, remembering that this is also a goddess, "Hello."
"Be not afraid. I have no cause to bring you strife."
I frown, "Respectfully…"
"Your past experiences have hardened your heart. You are vengeful, but not twisted by evil. You need not worry, my light is safe for you."
*Black Boxing (Warhammer 40k - Squats) (200) Bought Remaining: 0 points.*
My frown deepens, "Please stop being cryptic. What do you want?"
There is a pause, "This world teeters on the brink of destruction. My followers, their allies, and their lesser enemies are blind to the true threats in this world, and you have the capability to prevent tragedies of untold description. You are already moving to stop several smaller tragedies and could save many. I simply ask that you show some understanding to those misled by the darkness. Lift those tainted from suffering in the way only you can on this plane."
I frown, "Explain."
"The Forsaken, those cursed with undeath. They are suffering in their present state, and the magical gifts bestowed through my champions cannot save them. You need not my powers to save them."
I chuckle, "You did see what my necromancy skills do here right?"
"Do not Raise them, young traveler, Restore them. I can only ask this of you, I cannot turn to another, nor can I force your hand."
I blink, "I accept. It was on my list anyway."
There is a glow from behind her that borders on blinding, "I thank you, traveler."
And I step out of the Moonwell and cast a healing spell on Wiz. She groans and stands, "What… happened?"
I frown, "I'm immune to soul-corruptive effects, but you aren't. That's my best guess given that I have all those protections, and you are only covered by some of them."
She nods, "I'll… I normally stick to ice magic anyway, I just… against foes that are immune to ice…"
I smile, "I can deal with them for us, or maybe we can find you a teacher in something else."
She nods, "Yes. That. I'm… going to go back to the warehouse."
I send her back and turn to Jessir, "Let's get going. I have another thing on my agenda."
She blinks, "Did… did you commune with the Goddess?"
I smile, "I did. She seems nice, if vague."
She looks shocked, "You… spoke with her?"
I nod, "Like I said, another thing on my agenda."
We head out, and I do try casting things that aren't Death, but I have one spell that isn't Death. Restore is the biggest mana hog I've ever seen, and very much not a combat spell.
I pull out my very old Archangel's Smite rings and shoot things that annoy us all the way to a massive tree.
After having been studying the Saber Cat for a while, I have a… sense of Fel energy. I don't like the aura coming off this tree. Not at all.
We are swiftly taken to the Temple, where the High Priestess Whisperwind is. The guards disapprove of the Cat, and its corruption, but Jessir and Arko have a stamp from the camp commander at the Emerald Sanctuary for a demonstration.
Strangely, my Queens don't get a lot of attention comparatively, and I approve. Arriving in Whisperwind's war room, she looks quite upset at the Saber Cat's condition and steps forward, "Explain."
Jessir begins, "This man can purify…"
*A Monument to Time Itself (Warhammer Fantasy - Tomb Kings) (400) Not Bought Remaining: 100 points.*
"Nothing can…" Whisperwind begins, magic fading into view slightly, and I lay a hand on the Cat, and I do the same thing I did to Arko, and the glow fades from its eyes.
I step forward, "I believe that this conversation should be slightly more civil Lady Whisperwind." She looks at me, shock engraved on her face, and as she's about to speak, I continue, "If this conversation goes well, we can talk about your tree."
She freezes. So do several others in the room, and Whisperwind has a very quiet, "How?"
"I've been traveling with the corrupted Saber Cat laying atop my summon for nearly a week. Did you think I wouldn't learn to sense the presence of corruption?"
She flinches, "I… what did you come to speak about?"
I hand her a set of documents, the same that are heading to the Undercity, "These were discovered in the laboratory of a Dreadlord near the Emerald Sanctuary."
She blinks, "We can have a troop of Sentinels dispatched immediately."
I frown, "Why?"
"To kill the Dreadlord!" One of the other elves shouts.
I smile, "Don't bother. He's quite dead."
Another elf says, "Then we will need to act on this quickly before he informs…"
"I said he's dead." I interrupt, "I killed him. I don't use that term lightly, or uninformed of a Dreadlord's 'regeneration'."
There is silence in the chamber. "You can kill a Dreadlord. Permanently?"
I smile, "Indeed. Now, I will be staying for… about 6 more days. Then I will be taking my leave."
There is muttering, "Why?"
"I visited a Moonpool on my way here and had an interesting conversation. I've been requested to go to the Undercity personally."
There is a long moment of silence, "You… spoke to Elune?"
I nod, "I did. She taught me a spell, and asked for a favor."
There is muttering, "I demand proof!" One of the elves said smugly, "You are…"
I turn to him, ready to prove my spell quite definitely, when a voice not belonging to Whisperwind speaks, "I have requested his assistance. Do not interfere with my given quest."
I turn back and see her eyes glowing white, for just a moment, before she falls into her chair, and looks at me cautiously. "We will house you here, and… I will formally request that you look at our… issue."
I smile, "Sure. I have a few days here after all."
Walking away from that meeting, and the core of the tree's magic, the already faint feeling of corruption fades again. I wonder if she, and the counsel, understand that they are sitting at the most corrupted point on the tree.
Focusing more on my copies in Warehouse, I ask my companions, "So… does anyone want out? I'm going to mostly be doing the busy work of purifying stuff and traveling from place to place, but…"
Wiz responds first, "I'm… good. The magic out there is… hard to use, and slower than I'd like to respond."
"They wouldn't take well to a robot dragon." Tiamat says, "But if you need help, I'll be ready."
"The same difficulty applies to me." Ankh says stoically.
Violette asks bluntly, "The magical enchantments, especially the Fey ones, are disquieting here. It reminds me of the Chaos Psykers chanting. I will come to assist in their cleansing, but I would prefer to remain here if that is acceptable?"
*Artisan of the Supreme Holy Heavens (Against the Gods!) (300) Not Bought Remaining: 200 points.*
I nod, "Violette, that's fine. I can understand that hesitation. As for everyone else, I will call if I need anything, until then… don't blow anything up I wouldn't."
Wiz chuckles, "Try not to get eaten by a dragon."
Turning back, I look at the 2 elves walking with me. "So… I was wondering if you knew anyone willing to teach me a different type of magic?"
They both turn, "Huh?"
"Well… my normal offensive magic is out. So I was hoping that you might know someone willing to teach me a more general magical style. Something lighter?"
They both nod and lead me over to a large cathedral-looking structure. It has most of the same artistry as the Moonpool before, but… larger. I would describe it as more focused even. Entering, we get some looks, and they lead me over to a woman in red. She is sitting at a writing desk, deaf to the world until Jessir lightly taps her shoulder.
She stands quickly, and asks, "What can I do for you?"
"This man here would like an introductory lesson in magic."
She frowns, "I don't give out my training to anyone you understand. Elune's light is not something to be trifled with by the weak-willed."
"High Priestess Whisperwind spoke in Elune's voice to approve of him." Arko said firmly, "I believe this is something he should be able to do."
The woman looks shocked, and turns to me, "Are you learning, or re-learning to cast?"
"From the local magics, learning outright."
She frowns, "All magic from…"
"Planes traveler." I interrupt, and her eyes widen.
"The Fey magics are different to ours. Ok."
She grabs a tome, thick with enchantments, and hands it to me, I begin scanning it magically, and pages flip through as I save the magical skills I can feel being shaped by the descriptions imprint themselves on me, through my Class Card. "The priest class has 3 major subclasses, for specialized roles. Most select only one due to the effort and training required to…"
I interrupt her, " Do you have a general understanding of healing Void magic?" I feel the spells out, beginning the casting process for several of them, the mana usage is quite potent in the beginning, but as I read into the various stabilized portions, experimenting with the interplay, my smile widens as they stabilize into the spell matrices of this world, and change elements. Add elements. It's amazing to behold the variety I can accomplish with their framework.
She blinks at the multi-elemental light show before her and frowns. "Did… did you just master the entire book?"
I turn, "I… kinda. Yes. Do you have a more advanced tome?"
She blinks, and the two elves with me gape, "I… that tome is for all priest spells. All of the ones known to the Night Elves, and our allies."
I frown. Oh. That's… wow. I pause to consider and realize that I do have 4 powers in the upper one percent genius. And 2 massively powerful reverse-engineering perks. Hive Processing is exponential and there were almost a thousand of me working on this. And I know I felt Efficiency guiding my focus.
Do you think they'll let me learn other classes too?
*Tinkerer (RWBY) (300) Bought Remaining: 0 points.*
AN: Hi, it has been a really long time. Sorry, this story kinda fell by the wayside for a while, and then I wanted to get more of it done before I came back.
I feel my system respond to that message.
Realm Accrued Points Dissolved for Jump. Realm Cleared-Options: Leave Realm Unlocked for visitation, and set up base zone or gain 0 points.
I blink at the message and realize that between never dealing with Stepmann, powering my Moon with Mengsk, and Amon stealing the Overmind's points, I wasn't actually getting anything here.
That's both unfortunate and rather annoying.
I decide to set up visitation, given the total lack of points gained otherwise, I turn up, "Bye Kerrigan."
Realm unlocked for free visitation. Return to {Starcraft}_{Normal} at any time through a system request. Realm Selected. Jumper's knowledge of the realm is below the threshold for restriction.
I load my companions into my Warehouse and feel myself sucked into the void. It's smoother compared to the last time, and then something went wrong. I felt something hook into me and I fell sideways into some new place. It tried to latch into my mind, my soul, and it failed completely.
I felt it drag me bodily somewhere new, and I asked the system for information.
Error.
I blink. Great. Very informational.
As I materialize somewhere new, I hear mad cackling. I turn and see a massive humanoid. Grey skin, long horns, and a messy black cloak covered in several layers of skull ropes. I don't think I can like anyone with clothes covered in human bones.
"My new servant is powerful. I can feel it from here! His power will rend the puny elves into paste."
Wait. Do I recognize this opening? I… it has been years… but I think I know this scene.
"Tichondrius will reward me immensely for the slaughter of those long ears. Now, servant, the Burning Legion demands your cooperation."
I frown, I'm… I'm in Warcraft? Was it a proximity thing from one Blizzard game to another? Or was it something else entirely?
Could I even test that or…
"Slave! How are you ignoring me!"
I turn back to him, and death chains wrap him up, pinning him to the ground, and I cast a silencing ward on the room… or I tried. I winced as my ward shattered even as I cast it.
I contact Wiz, "What do you do when a spell fails before you even finish casting it?"
I get a set of confused looks, and Wiz answers slowly. "If someone tried to cast something with a low enough proficiency rating, it has a high chance of failing… but I don't know what you tried to cast."
"A simple silencing ward."
She frowns, "I… you've been using those since early into our time together. I don't know how you could have failed with such a simple spell."
I frown and turn to the horned man spewing curses at me. "What did you do to me? Why can't I cast my silencing ward any longer?"
He frowns, "Wards are far more advanced than any individual demon can cast, traitor. How don't you know that?"
I frown, "You think I'm a demon?"
"Look at yourself! You are obviously a demon! I would assume some kind of doom wraith, perhaps some half abomination with a dryad."
*Starro-tech Notes (Young Justice) (600) Not Bought Remaining: 400 points.*
"Regardless, what did you do to me?"
He laughs, "I summoned the most dangerous threat to the Burning Legion and bound them to my will, you might be able to ignore my commands, but you may not harm me."
I frown, "Um… you can't feel that your binding failed? Really?"
He stares at me, incredulous, "My hooks are… that's impossible!"
He begins shouting aimlessly and I decide to just kill him now. A spear of death lodges itself into his chest, and he screams. My chains hold his soul still, and it fights me at every turn until it was consumed by my chains. I… it's not supposed to be able to eat souls. What?
That's… "Wiz! My death chains just ate something's soul! What does that mean?"
She blinks again, "That's… that spell shouldn't even hold a soul! How could it consume his soul?"
"I don't know. It held his soul, and then ate it! Do… do you think that Limits did something?"
She frowns, "That's quite possible. Honestly, I don't know. Limits is powerful, but it should have shown something before right now, given this large jump in ability."
I frown and reach for my magical ID from so long ago. Scrolling through it, it's… different than I remember. Spell names I learned, description of spells I do recognize. And my class.
Arch-Necromancer.
I was an Artificer, but then again, I didn't use this much beyond my initial communications with the Guild, and I did… well the absolutely massive army of undead that I used to train the Adventurers willing to learn under me was… well it was a massive, self-reinforcing army of flash cloned corpses animated in fiat merged bundles numbering in the dozens. They were evolving past any summoned undead that Wiz's world had ever seen, and I wasn't pushing my Arcana too hard, nor did I have my current understanding of magic, nor my current powers to enhance everything.
I was curious about what I could do now, especially with my magic-oriented like it currently is. I turned to the desouled demon thing that was laying on the floor and was about to cast something, to see what I could do now when the doors burst open, and a few… what looks like goblins and a few orcs storm in and I kill them too. Checking my card; Death Lances for everyone.
As I look around and back at my card, I frown. I knew enough of the early game mechanics to remember that Necromancy was a terrible magical field if you intended to respect the lore, given that I think it was exclusively Fel magic and nobody likes that corruptive stuff. But honestly, it was the class I preferred in general, so let's see what I can do with it.
Efficiency, I'm going to need you to shut up for a while, I have an army to Raise.
Why is the titular spell only called Raise anyway? My chains were apparently called Soul Death Bindings but actual necromancy is just 'Raise'? Lame.
*Carpenter Ant (SimAnt) (600) Not Bought Remaining: 500 points.*
I cast it and am thoroughly surprised. More magic than I've ever used to raise a corpse flows out, as the skin on all 6 of the bodies just fades away and I'm left with skeletons and a Lich. Green glowing energy suspending them together looks ominous, and then it starts fading too; wood growing out of them, binding them in place in nearly grotesque takes on my Zerg, or even myself, a total lack of the clean lines and smooth features that I've become accustomed to with my summons.
They look almost like a really angry psionic tree decided to stand up actually. There is regret in my decisions. This isn't at all what I was hoping for and I banish them into my spawning pools, hoping that I haven't stripped them completely of genetic material.
I smile as a mixture of strange woods floods my system. Magical conductors, magical insulators, regenerating wood, it's all quite interesting.
It also lets me tweak a few things about my Zerg. They are still an extension of myself that I can cast through, and with my mana pool being stupidly large given that my card reads 'Error', it wouldn't be a drain on my resources.
So I redesigned my first Queens. Their previous Hydralisk-style ranged abilities are… fine, and the wood they are made of is… acceptable, but magic and my guns are the real stars of the show here. I don't have visible guns, I don't want to be too far out of the ordinary here, but I will have them installed if only because I am well aware of what not having my best gear usable rapidly can do to my ability to defend or push outward. Then I refocus on the wooden changes, torso, and legs out of the insulator that simulated the best additional resistances in the case of magic that I haven't encountered yet, and arms made of the enhancement wood, none of my Zerg will need traditional staffs. The Queens will keep the healing abilities and Creep dispensers as well, even if the Tumors themselves are far more hidden than traditional.
I'll set up the whole set of structures somewhere, but my Creep teleportation skills will stay. Despite the fact that my Starcraft war doctrine of 'consuming the planet and everything on it' would be beneficial to me currently; DNA from every creature around, see if magical talent is genetic and therefore something I can force etcetera... I don't exactly want to eat the planet. That would be a bad impression on any local gods.
And if I remember correctly, some of the locals are… not quite Aqua-tier petty, but protective to a fault. And I do not want to make any more divine tier enemies. They are simultaneously outside my league without a local weakness, and they aren't worth points.
I bring up several Queens, my Zerglings would be funny to cast through, but the lack of local processing power in their brains means that it would be slower, and less potent than the amount of myself technically in each Queen.
*The Next Step (DOOM 3) (400) Bought. Overflow. Titanic Mind, Tiny Body (The Circumstances Leading to Waltraute's Marriage) (600) Not Bought Remaining: 200 points.*
The Next Step (DOOM 3): The UAC is pushing the boundaries of known science, and it's no wonder that a lot of the Mars facilities are dedicated to cutting-edge and somewhat poorly tested technologies. After all, testing how exactly things work is one of the reasons we do science! That said, there's no reason not to push for the best possible results right from the start, and you embody this ideal and then some. You have become highly adept at developing prototype systems incorporating new fields of science, to the point your initial designs are usually as good as (if not better) than those others might come up with after two or three rounds of testing, debugging and fine-tuning. Likewise, you can glean far greater insights from any such development cycles you implement, meaning that this 'head start' is only going to get bigger the more time you put into your R&D.
I flinched as I felt my new perk slam into my process, and I backpedaled, something was going to fail in my Queens, and I looked back at the design. I noticed it quite quickly, my Queens were technically independently sentient, meaning that my magic had a bottleneck, their capacity for magic, which would only be trained at just above the basic level. I also didn't add a personality, meaning they were less capable than Zerglings and were simultaneously more dangerous, given that they could be brainwashed, and my senses through them deceived.
Expanding clones into each of them mentally, I felt my core body shift ever so slightly, as I learned both the Creep Tumor and the healing spell myself. I watched them appear on my card and smiled at that. Useful.
Looking around the actual room I'd been summoned into, I saw the paperwork, lots of it. I grabbed the lot and scanned it into memory. I… well. That's a new language, and… lots of them actually. Many languages with… do they share characters, or are reports going from one language to another mid-sentence? Proper nouns maybe? Regardless, I threw several mental clones at that and would see what I could get from it.
Leaving the room, there was a lot of… well given Burning Legion… Fel creatures? Let's just go with that. Many different types, I enjoyed that there are wooden things here that look like me, but red, that won't be a point against me…
I could go full slime, but that probably wouldn't help, and being human is kinda boring, even if I had all the same powers. I shrug, and let Efficiency morph me into… elf? I'm a 2 meter Aeldari, with all the glowing aspects, the ears, but not the height? And I'm paler than I think I've ever been before. This… Why Efficiency, why?
I shrug it off. I'll find out I assume, and keep going. Orcs, dryads, demons, all kinds of things die to my hive-minded firing squad of death magics. Eventually, I found an imprisoned elf. Unlike the elves that I'm familiar with, she's very corrupted. Glowing red eyes and evil tattoos corrupted.
Can I even fix this?
She is growling at me from her chains and I frown. I let my psionics out, and look into her mind, unpleasant magics batter my shields, but… they are a corruptive essence, my powers ignore them outright, and I look for a source. Seeing a red glowing orb spewing angry black mist, I assume.
Approaching the orb, I feel it 'turn' and a beam of red scorches across my shields, but again, my mental shields aren't exactly on its level, and I bring out my analysis abilities. Magical only this time, I doubt the MRI works here.
Thankfully, the red orb seems to be a Fel magic corrupting the larger mind, not an already corrupted essence or something, and I contain the orb. The mist fills my orb, and it begins to shake but isn't actually doing any damage, and I feel her mind reemerge from the surroundings once covered in the black fog.
*They're Gonna Have To Invent A New Type of Nobel Prize to Give Us. (Portal) (800) Not Bought Remaining: 300 points.*
As it does, I look for a language center and find it quite quickly. Very, very carefully taking a copy of the languages she knows, I learn about half of the languages on the papers I have. And by half, I mean another magical Common tongue. The Burning Legion has…
Wait. No, they don't, this isn't another language, they coded this. I shrug, and apply those tricks, decoding the rest, and blinking. Right, I… I know this already. Tichondrius is working under the Forsaken's noses to bring them back under Arthis's control, among other messy plans within plans.
I… that sounds like Politics. I'm really not up for that right now, I want an easy direction to move in, and Icecrown sounds perfect.
Leaving her mind, she's not glowing anymore, which is good, but she's out cold. I stick her with a healing potion and try to force a small monitoring ward into existence. Nothing. You'd think enough magic could handle it but apparently not. I left a Queen guarding her and expanded my search. To one side of the formerly chained elf was a very dead human, and to the other was another elf shooting at me.
As the third arrow bounced off my wooden 'armor', I asked, "So… are you going to stop soon, or is this just how you say hello?"
She frowns, "What are you, creature?"
My Queen isn't the most attractive creature, but I'm still quite offended. I smile, "That's a long story." Before I have it walk away and approach in my elven form. "Now, is this better?"
"Shapeshifter!" She hisses as she fires again, and again.
I sigh, "Can you stop? That's not going to work, and at some point, I'm going to assume hostilities are intended."
She scowls, and fires one more arrow, bouncing off my face, and I smile as she slowly lowers the bow, "Good, now, who are you? Why are you here?"
"Jessir Moonbow, searching for Arko'narin and Trey Lightforge. Who are you, and why are you here?"
"Damion Peramos, and because someone botched a summoning ritual."
She frowns, "And that other form?"
I sigh, and the Queen walks back into the room, "This 'form'?" I ask pedantically.
She blinks, "What is that creature?"
Given the time I have to explain, "One of my summons."
She frowns, "Ok. Did… did you find any survivors?"
"Assuming that you mean the other elf, yes. She's alive, but she's been better."
Jessir runs past me, and a Queen shows her to her friend.
She kneels at her side, asking the Queen, "What has been done for her so far?"
"Corruption purging and a healing potion."
Jessir demands, "What?"
"Fel corruption purging, and a healing potion." I say again, slightly more explanatory.
"That's not possible. Fel corruption isn't something you remove."
"Miss Moonbow, I can assure you all day, but you can wait for Arko'narin to awaken and ask her then."
She blinks, "Fine." And sits at the formally corrupted woman's side until she gasps awake.
*Ancient But High Tech (Cities of the World) (600) Not Bought Remaining: 400 points.*
As she does, she looks around, almost crying, "I… what? I… how did you do that?"
I blink, "Me?"
"Yes! You… I… the Dreadlord! We need to leave!"
Jessir looks at me, "You didn't mention a Dreadlord!"
I blink, "Um… I can't say I know what that is. I'm not from around here." Isn't that what the poser in the basement called me?
"A Dreadlord is one of the most powerful members of the Burning Legion! They are nearly impossible to kill, and you didn't even notice one was here?"
I frown, "Listen. Everything else in these caverns is dead. There are the two of you, and a tiger. I think I would have noticed a greater demon walking around." I did cover every floor but this one in Creep to ensure that I got everything.
Jessir turns back, "He left, it's ok Arko." Comforting her sobbing.
"He was… he was going to summon High Priestess Whisperwind! He must have succeeded!"
I blink, "Wait. Is a Dreadlord, like… a smidge taller than me? Grey skin, large horns? Creepy skull emblazoned robes?" I pause, and each time Arko nods into Jessir's shoulder. "Well, then he's dead. All good."
They both turn to look at me. "What?"
"I… well I didn't notice him being any different, but he's quite dead."
"We need to go, he might have had intelligence on the Burning Legion's…" Jessir stops as I hold out a bundle of papers to her.
"Handled."
"Then we must make haste, he will tell the other members of the Shadow Council…"
"He's dead."
"He's a Fel Demon, his soul will return…"
"Miss Moonbow, let me be clear, he's dead. Like never to return, soul removed from this and every other plane."
She looks at me, "First you claim to cure corruption…"
Arko interrupts, "He… how did you do that?"
Jessir looks at her, "What?"
"The Dreadlord, he cast something on me with the death of Troy… I… I was lost to it, I attacked everything, and I could barely think, but I remember it all clearly. This person saved me."
Jessir looks at me, "What are you?"
I smile, "An out-of-context solution." At some point, I'm going to shorten that. Wanderer? No.
Jessir looks at me, "Regardless, we need to go to Teldrassil and tell Lady Whisperwind of what happened here."
I nod, "Sure."
When we leave, I almost purify the tiger, because it was corrupted with the same spell that got Arko, but both elves demand that I wait until we arrive at Teldrassil because it's apparently a massive thing. I shrug and have several Queens carry it with us. Arriving in the Emerald Sanctuary, a small fort nearby, we give several people strokes with the magically contained corrupted Saber Cat.
I ask around before we leave that town if someone can take a message to the Undercity. I'm directed to a small cow person, a Tauren? She seems confused, "You want what?"
"I want you to take this creature…" I lay my hand on one of my Queen's shoulders, "And these papers…" I hand her a stack of papers with a seal of great importance from the local general, "to the Undercity."
*Technician (Alpha Centauri) (400) Bought. Overflow. Formations and Forging (World of Cultivation) (200) Not Bought Remaining: 100 points.*
She blinks, "Ok. What is this creature?"
"My summon. It will allow me to communicate with the people that message is intended for."
She looks less confused, "Why does it look like that?"
I bluff, "You think I chose how my summon looks?" Yes, it still looks female. Protoss torso fused to an extra large drone body, but still female in… stance? I don't actually know. I spent a long time trying to adjust just the appearance, but everything I slap Protoss DNA onto looks female coming out of my Larva. Everything. Even the straight Protoss Warriors appear female which blows my mind given that I only have 2 male samples of Protoss DNA, but I digress.
She blinks, "Ok."
I nod slightly at that being enough, "You are welcome to ride them if it will accelerate your journey."
She blinks, "That's… quite generous."
And with that strange conversation out of the way, we head out for Teldrassil. It's not far from here on the world map, but it will be a while. We walk, and apparently Death Magic isn't ok.
"You can't just cast that!" Jessir demands.
I frown, "Why not? It's just combat magic."
"It's Death Magic! It corrupts the soul!"
I blink, "It does?"
"How don't you know that!"
I pause, "Give me a moment, I don't know enough about the deeper aspects of magic to debate you on this." And Wiz appears on the road with us.
She looks at Jessir, "Death magic is an aspect of the living magics, it is not inherently evil."
"Death magic is a Fel-derived magic, and is antithetical to goodness, casting it will warp your soul!"
"Prove it!" Wiz demands.
Jessir looks conflicted, and sighs, taking us on a detour. We arrive at a glowing spring. "This is a moon pool, it will feel incredibly uncomfortable for anyone with a corrupted soul, and will feel monstrously more so if you corrupt your soul in its presence."
I shrug and step into the pool, and turn, "Do I need to go deeper to feel anything or…"
Jessir blinks, "That… the clearing should be uncomfortable given your mastery. Cast… something?"
I cast one of my lances into the sky, and feel nothing change. I do feel kinda sleepy, but that was since I entered the pool.
Wiz enters the clearing and doesn't feel anything, but then she casts. Her magic gathers, and she falls to her knees. Screaming. I turn to help her when a ripple of light in the pool drags me under.
I'm in a very… cosmic-looking space, with a very bright light, with the outline of a woman in the center before me.
"Traveler. I welcome you."
I'm on guard, remembering that this is also a goddess, "Hello."
"Be not afraid. I have no cause to bring you strife."
I frown, "Respectfully…"
"Your past experiences have hardened your heart. You are vengeful, but not twisted by evil. You need not worry, my light is safe for you."
*Black Boxing (Warhammer 40k - Squats) (200) Bought Remaining: 0 points.*
My frown deepens, "Please stop being cryptic. What do you want?"
There is a pause, "This world teeters on the brink of destruction. My followers, their allies, and their lesser enemies are blind to the true threats in this world, and you have the capability to prevent tragedies of untold description. You are already moving to stop several smaller tragedies and could save many. I simply ask that you show some understanding to those misled by the darkness. Lift those tainted from suffering in the way only you can on this plane."
I frown, "Explain."
"The Forsaken, those cursed with undeath. They are suffering in their present state, and the magical gifts bestowed through my champions cannot save them. You need not my powers to save them."
I chuckle, "You did see what my necromancy skills do here right?"
"Do not Raise them, young traveler, Restore them. I can only ask this of you, I cannot turn to another, nor can I force your hand."
I blink, "I accept. It was on my list anyway."
There is a glow from behind her that borders on blinding, "I thank you, traveler."
And I step out of the Moonwell and cast a healing spell on Wiz. She groans and stands, "What… happened?"
I frown, "I'm immune to soul-corruptive effects, but you aren't. That's my best guess given that I have all those protections, and you are only covered by some of them."
She nods, "I'll… I normally stick to ice magic anyway, I just… against foes that are immune to ice…"
I smile, "I can deal with them for us, or maybe we can find you a teacher in something else."
She nods, "Yes. That. I'm… going to go back to the warehouse."
I send her back and turn to Jessir, "Let's get going. I have another thing on my agenda."
She blinks, "Did… did you commune with the Goddess?"
I smile, "I did. She seems nice, if vague."
She looks shocked, "You… spoke with her?"
I nod, "Like I said, another thing on my agenda."
We head out, and I do try casting things that aren't Death, but I have one spell that isn't Death. Restore is the biggest mana hog I've ever seen, and very much not a combat spell.
I pull out my very old Archangel's Smite rings and shoot things that annoy us all the way to a massive tree.
After having been studying the Saber Cat for a while, I have a… sense of Fel energy. I don't like the aura coming off this tree. Not at all.
We are swiftly taken to the Temple, where the High Priestess Whisperwind is. The guards disapprove of the Cat, and its corruption, but Jessir and Arko have a stamp from the camp commander at the Emerald Sanctuary for a demonstration.
Strangely, my Queens don't get a lot of attention comparatively, and I approve. Arriving in Whisperwind's war room, she looks quite upset at the Saber Cat's condition and steps forward, "Explain."
Jessir begins, "This man can purify…"
*A Monument to Time Itself (Warhammer Fantasy - Tomb Kings) (400) Not Bought Remaining: 100 points.*
"Nothing can…" Whisperwind begins, magic fading into view slightly, and I lay a hand on the Cat, and I do the same thing I did to Arko, and the glow fades from its eyes.
I step forward, "I believe that this conversation should be slightly more civil Lady Whisperwind." She looks at me, shock engraved on her face, and as she's about to speak, I continue, "If this conversation goes well, we can talk about your tree."
She freezes. So do several others in the room, and Whisperwind has a very quiet, "How?"
"I've been traveling with the corrupted Saber Cat laying atop my summon for nearly a week. Did you think I wouldn't learn to sense the presence of corruption?"
She flinches, "I… what did you come to speak about?"
I hand her a set of documents, the same that are heading to the Undercity, "These were discovered in the laboratory of a Dreadlord near the Emerald Sanctuary."
She blinks, "We can have a troop of Sentinels dispatched immediately."
I frown, "Why?"
"To kill the Dreadlord!" One of the other elves shouts.
I smile, "Don't bother. He's quite dead."
Another elf says, "Then we will need to act on this quickly before he informs…"
"I said he's dead." I interrupt, "I killed him. I don't use that term lightly, or uninformed of a Dreadlord's 'regeneration'."
There is silence in the chamber. "You can kill a Dreadlord. Permanently?"
I smile, "Indeed. Now, I will be staying for… about 6 more days. Then I will be taking my leave."
There is muttering, "Why?"
"I visited a Moonpool on my way here and had an interesting conversation. I've been requested to go to the Undercity personally."
There is a long moment of silence, "You… spoke to Elune?"
I nod, "I did. She taught me a spell, and asked for a favor."
There is muttering, "I demand proof!" One of the elves said smugly, "You are…"
I turn to him, ready to prove my spell quite definitely, when a voice not belonging to Whisperwind speaks, "I have requested his assistance. Do not interfere with my given quest."
I turn back and see her eyes glowing white, for just a moment, before she falls into her chair, and looks at me cautiously. "We will house you here, and… I will formally request that you look at our… issue."
I smile, "Sure. I have a few days here after all."
Walking away from that meeting, and the core of the tree's magic, the already faint feeling of corruption fades again. I wonder if she, and the counsel, understand that they are sitting at the most corrupted point on the tree.
Focusing more on my copies in Warehouse, I ask my companions, "So… does anyone want out? I'm going to mostly be doing the busy work of purifying stuff and traveling from place to place, but…"
Wiz responds first, "I'm… good. The magic out there is… hard to use, and slower than I'd like to respond."
"They wouldn't take well to a robot dragon." Tiamat says, "But if you need help, I'll be ready."
"The same difficulty applies to me." Ankh says stoically.
Violette asks bluntly, "The magical enchantments, especially the Fey ones, are disquieting here. It reminds me of the Chaos Psykers chanting. I will come to assist in their cleansing, but I would prefer to remain here if that is acceptable?"
*Artisan of the Supreme Holy Heavens (Against the Gods!) (300) Not Bought Remaining: 200 points.*
I nod, "Violette, that's fine. I can understand that hesitation. As for everyone else, I will call if I need anything, until then… don't blow anything up I wouldn't."
Wiz chuckles, "Try not to get eaten by a dragon."
Turning back, I look at the 2 elves walking with me. "So… I was wondering if you knew anyone willing to teach me a different type of magic?"
They both turn, "Huh?"
"Well… my normal offensive magic is out. So I was hoping that you might know someone willing to teach me a more general magical style. Something lighter?"
They both nod and lead me over to a large cathedral-looking structure. It has most of the same artistry as the Moonpool before, but… larger. I would describe it as more focused even. Entering, we get some looks, and they lead me over to a woman in red. She is sitting at a writing desk, deaf to the world until Jessir lightly taps her shoulder.
She stands quickly, and asks, "What can I do for you?"
"This man here would like an introductory lesson in magic."
She frowns, "I don't give out my training to anyone you understand. Elune's light is not something to be trifled with by the weak-willed."
"High Priestess Whisperwind spoke in Elune's voice to approve of him." Arko said firmly, "I believe this is something he should be able to do."
The woman looks shocked, and turns to me, "Are you learning, or re-learning to cast?"
"From the local magics, learning outright."
She frowns, "All magic from…"
"Planes traveler." I interrupt, and her eyes widen.
"The Fey magics are different to ours. Ok."
She grabs a tome, thick with enchantments, and hands it to me, I begin scanning it magically, and pages flip through as I save the magical skills I can feel being shaped by the descriptions imprint themselves on me, through my Class Card. "The priest class has 3 major subclasses, for specialized roles. Most select only one due to the effort and training required to…"
I interrupt her, " Do you have a general understanding of healing Void magic?" I feel the spells out, beginning the casting process for several of them, the mana usage is quite potent in the beginning, but as I read into the various stabilized portions, experimenting with the interplay, my smile widens as they stabilize into the spell matrices of this world, and change elements. Add elements. It's amazing to behold the variety I can accomplish with their framework.
She blinks at the multi-elemental light show before her and frowns. "Did… did you just master the entire book?"
I turn, "I… kinda. Yes. Do you have a more advanced tome?"
She blinks, and the two elves with me gape, "I… that tome is for all priest spells. All of the ones known to the Night Elves, and our allies."
I frown. Oh. That's… wow. I pause to consider and realize that I do have 4 powers in the upper one percent genius. And 2 massively powerful reverse-engineering perks. Hive Processing is exponential and there were almost a thousand of me working on this. And I know I felt Efficiency guiding my focus.
Do you think they'll let me learn other classes too?
*Tinkerer (RWBY) (300) Bought Remaining: 0 points.*
AN: Hi, it has been a really long time. Sorry, this story kinda fell by the wayside for a while, and then I wanted to get more of it done before I came back.