The General hadn’t teleported them directly into the fight. She had deposited them near the commander who was leading the battle here. The commander had been more than happy to receive a group like theirs and had assigned them to tasks. Mash had used his levels to push himself into a position he felt suited him more. Not to mention a job that should let him showcase his abilities and test his new aspects.
This he had been given a map with a few locations and armies highlighted. Those which contained a large number of slaves. Irkish and the commander both seemed to believe that his aspects would do something to the slaves. He had to agree and was more than a little eager to test it. He didn’t leave immediately and watched his friends with his domain for a second. He had just reunited with them and was now alone again. They were heading to a different battlefield, one without any obvious slavers. In reality, the real reason they were going in opposite directions was Jill. Next to people like Mash, people that had teleport abilities were the next best thing. Thus, it was somewhat of a waste to send Mash and Jill to the same location. They would essentially be a standby force to respond to any emergencies.
His destination was different, and it was time to go. Mash had been sitting on the roof of the fort that they had been teleported to. The entire fort had been made with magic and was actually an enormous metal rectangle. The surface was black and smooth, and the snow crashing around it didn’t stick to the surface. Now, it was time to leave.
He stood as wings sprouted from his back. Two sets like before. They were not made of magic but had grown from his body. They were made of flesh and muscle. Real limbs with all of their power. Black scales that were dark as night coated them. It was strange but the scales seemed to shimmer with rainbow light as they moved in the sunlight. This time he made them larger than before. They grew and grew until he was dwarfed by their size. Shadows cascaded down the side of the tower. When he took off the wall of air that had restrained him before shattered as he used magic to cut through the wind. The snow passed like white streaks as he flew into the north.
Giant battles took place beneath him, but he ignored them. These weren’t the battles for him, though several people had noticed him. A few even managed to throw attacks his way, not they had the chance to actually hit him. They were simply too slow to hit him. Mash’s mere presence disturbed some of the battlefields. He might have made his wings a little too big. The wiser members of the armies knew better than to act. At their level, he was more or less a natural disaster. There was only so much they could do if he chose to fight them. He wasn’t going to active battlefields though. His destination was behind them. The armies and cities were filled with slaves. He was meant to cause chaos by freeing the people. A job he was more than happy to accept.
Mash knew his destination before he arrived. His domain let him examine the armies thoroughly. Even without it, his powers let him feel the slave collars. It was like a scent that he had picked up on. It burned his nostrils as if it were something hideous. He stopped just above the army, his very presence a challenge to the entire north. When he stopped the air around him cracked as if he had struck it. He looked down upon the army that had barely noticed his arrival. That changed in almost an instant as his domain crashed over them like a storm. Separate from the snow that was already falling on them. He dropped out of the sky and fell toward the army.
He halted when he noticed some of their own flew out to meet him. They were shouting something, but he ignored it. He was close enough now. His own voice wasn’t diminished by the snow as it was transmitted into the minds of everyone within his domain.
“You are free!”
Mash said the words with complete confidence. The knowledge of his aspect and what it would do when he used it appeared in his mind. It was almost as if the aspect wanted to free them, and it was telling him how. He looked over the army and the many faces who were turning towards him with fear and disbelief. Slaves and soldiers alike couldn’t process his words, but they felt them. They felt the power and intention behind them. The very world seemed to feel it, as he tugged on the aspect.
The aspect wasn’t a physical thing. It was some grand power that existed beyond his world, beyond any world. And Mash didn’t hold the whole thing. It was too big and shared among too many. For him, there was a more direct connection to the aspect, and he knew that it was his aspect. He knew what it was and how to use it. His magic was like a rope that tied him to the aspect, and he pulled on that connection. The energy drained from him rapidly. It was more than anything he had tried before. Then the aspect could be felt by more than just him.
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The whole world seemed to react. The space around him seemed to change slightly. The snow moved more swiftly, and the voices of the soldiers carried despite the storm. Then it went a step further, and the air seemed to tremble. It wasn’t just the air. The ground shook for a moment, and some people stumbled as if the world had turned on its side. The people who had flown out to meet him froze and fell from the sky, screaming in pain. Mash could see them. Blood was running from their eyes like tears, and one of them was clutching at their chest desperately. He didn’t know what that was, but he couldn’t stop now. The aspect was making its presence known, and everyone could feel it.
He was not left alone either. Perhaps it even affected him most strongly. He felt the powers rip into him. It tried to forcibly rip him apart. Remove Priscilla from him even if it killed her. He could hear her wails of agony as the power tore her body to apart. Priscilla was fundamentally a part of his soul now, and power was trying to tear their souls apart to free her. Mash focused on the power and on Priscilla. He was the Chimera of the End, and he would stop it. His own domain seemed to narrow and constrict. Tighten around the touch of the aspect, and he tried to bring an end to it. He managed to stop it and sent a message to Priscilla immediately.
[Are you okay?]
It took a few long seconds before she replied.
[Yes, the damage was not permanent. We will need to be more careful with this aspect. Although it seems you can block it to some extent.]
Mash nodded and continued to focus on blocking the aspect from reaching her. It was hard. It felt like a mountain was trying to sit on him, and he nearly fell from the sky from the pressure. He couldn’t stop the skill either. He had pulled on the aspect and there was no stopping its arrival. Then the drain on his energy stopped, and he heard the world snap. It was a singular sound that resonated across the sky like the roar of thunder. His domain let him see what had made the sound. The gems, collars, chains, and whatever else was used to bind the slaves broke. They snapped and shattered, falling from the soldiers in an instant. The slavers were all on the ground. Some were gasping in pain, while others just lay there unmoving. Mash didn’t focus on them and spoke again.
“You are free! Live the way you want!”
His eyes roamed over the army. Faces turned to him. Others held the shattered remains of their collars as if they were precious jewels. Some even looked at him with hostility. A few turned and attacked the slavers who were still able to move. He ignored the priests and priestesses that had collapsed to their knees. Their hands pressed together as they prayed to a connection he knew had been severed. It was likely only temporary as they could meet with their gods and reestablish it, but he knew that fact would be known soon.
The freedom he granted didn’t discriminate. Whether it was a slaver or a god, his power would cut those powers. Nobody was truly free, but his abilities granted that for a moment to everyone. Even he had felt the effects of the aspect. It had tried to rip Priscilla from his soul. He managed to block it, but he knew it had done more damage to her than him. It would’ve killed her. The thought frightened him a little. He would need to test the power more. His domain let him block it, but it wasn’t easy. Summoning the aspect had done something to the world too, and he didn’t have enough knowledge. Despite all that he didn’t shy away from the power.
There was a connection between him and the aspect. As much as the power was devastating to some, he could see the good it had done. Many of the freed slaves were celebrating. Hugging and searching for their friends. Others had left already. He couldn’t be sure where they were headed, but he imagined the family that they would be able to meet again. He was tempted to follow some of the groups and summon the aspects in those cities. He would do it but not yet. Either way, this was the power he wanted. He would use it. There were more armies to break.
[I believe your connection with the others had been broken too. Jill will not be able to teleport to you.]
Mash nodded but wasn’t all that concerned. His eyes drifted over the battlefield. The high-leveled slavers were dead. The generals were unconscious or clutching at wounds that he couldn’t see. Some of those people were over level 100. He looked at them and felt the fear of nearly everyone. Even those who were celebrating their newfound freedom were hesitant. They traded glances among themselves, some even got to their knees in supplication. When they did that, he felt his stomach churn. Bile scratched at his throat, and he shivered. He was tempted to yell at them but decided to just leave. His words would not ease their fears. He turned toward the next army. The aspect let him feel it, let him know where the slaves were.
Name: The Chimera of the End and the Beginning
Stage: Hatchling
Level: 150 → 1
Health: 10010 / 10010
Energy: 8290 / 8290
Fortitude: 501 → 1001
Endurance: 329 → 529
Strength: 393 → 693
Agility: 429 → 729
Intelligence: 250 → 300
Wisdom: 150 → 200
Charisma: 150 → 200
Free Stats: 0
Skills: Hunger, Magic Layering, Begin Anew, Chimera, Magical Beginning, Chimeric Reconstruction, Path of Change, Domain of the End, Reconstructed Adaptable Monster Core, Body of the Beginning, Chimera’s Constitution, Mimic’s Avarice, Harbinger of Nothing, Devoured Soul Body, Mark of the End, Mark of the Beginning, The Aspect of Change, The Aspect of Freedom, Brand of Change and Freedom
Hunger (Passive): You have gone beyond your limits when fighting enemies and devouring their power. Your limits know no bounds. Gain stats continuously when hunting. Rate increases with hunger. Stats decrease rapidly when out of combat.
Current Rate: + 1-100 all attributes per minute
Magical Layered Wood → Magic Layering: You started with sticks and grew them into something that could not exist naturally. But what does the Chimera of Ends and Beginnings care for the natural order. All magic you steal can be combined to create impossible and unnatural magics. The more magics you use at once, the more energy you consume.
Inhuman Hibernation → Begin Anew: You have stolen the techniques of mages and monks to form an artificial technique. You molded those techniques into your unnatural existence. Recover from nearly any wound. As a fundamental aspect your life is tied to it. The greater your end the longer you need to begin.
Chimeric Transformation → Chimera: A Chimera in truth you change your body changes through your species. Transform your body taking on aspects of those which you have consumed. Control which aspects to take and combine them to create the perfect form.
Wooden Birth → Magical Beginning: Form imitations of creatures you have consumed, imitating life through your magic. Impart your own life into the creatures to grant them true vestiges of life. As the Chimera of the Beginning, you can create true life.
You cannot gain experience through killing the life you create. A portion of what monsters earn gain will be returned to you.
Chimeric Reconstruction: Consume what you kill for more than just stats. Steal their flesh to repair your own. Their blood becomes yours. Your enemies are nothing more than your medicine.
Vagabond’s Path → Path of Change (unique): Having chosen the path of the Change, you have freed yourself from your own world. An ender of era’s, your journey is one filled with hope and devastation. Open portals to worlds you have already been. Once per year, travel to a world in need of change. Your world is one of endless change, of boundless freedom.
Chimeric Domain → Domain of the End (Passive): Your eyes just weren’t enough. Sense the changes in the reality around you. Connect to the mana and life in your space and inherently understand the nature of the mana and life. Your presence suffuses the space, bringing and end of the the magic and strength of enemies beneath you. The end touches all.
Current Range: 75 → 18300 feet
Reconstructed Adaptable Monster Core (Passive): An unnatural mana core has fundamentally altered your body, fusion with a monster has given you access to its potential. Stamina and Mana combine to become energy. Your monstrous body is better able to handle the changes to your core. You have progressed your core further, by forcing it to adapt. Now, you may only further your core by repeating the process.
Current Bonus: 100% efficiency
Wooden Body → Body of the Beginning (Passive): You can connect with the world around you. By expending your energy, you bring your magic to life as another one of your limbs. All of your magic within your domain is bound to your will.
Chimera’s Constitution (Passive): Giving up your humanity has improved your body, improving your physical control, natural defenses, animalistic intuition, and mana control. No longer a human in any sense, you are no longer bound by that which limits them. You have created your own race, improving your rate of growth.
Mimic’s Avarice (Passive): Devour your enemy in battle to temporarily raise your stats. The fresher the victim the stronger the bonus. Gain full benefits even when consuming through your magic. Absorbs some properties of those you devour alive. Removes the negative effects of things you consume.
Harbinger of Nothing (Passive): Belonging to no race or group, you have embraced the nothingness that is a part of everything. You are free and deny others' attempts to bind you. Constantly emit the aura of nothingness within your domain. Your allies will gain some of the freedom you possess. You are a bringer of nothingness. Your power causes all that would oppose it to fray and slip.
Devoured Soul Body (Passive, Unique): You have devoured your own soul, uniting it to your body through the primal action. Your body and soul are one, changes to one are reflected in the other. Changes you make in your body are now permanent.
Mark of the Devourer → Mark of the End: Having devoured the marks of greater beings, you have stolen the keys to their power. Mark those who would become the best of meals. The mark will bring you to them when their power becomes significant. Bring about their End.
Mark of the Beginning: The Chimera of Beginnings can grant a boon to those that desire change. Grant them the power to grow. Break all the bonds that would restrict them. Greatly improve their growth at the cost of their species. You grant them a new beginning.
The Aspect of Change: Having manifested an aspect, your existence embodies that aspect. The appearance of a new aspect can be felt across reality. As an aspect of the fundamental, even your power is but a tiny piece of what it embodies. The aspect grants you limited use of its power. Forcibly change something. Energy costs are proportional to the rigidity of that which you strive to change.
The Aspect of Freedom: Your refusal to be bound by any bonds or limits has let you claim the Aspect of Freedom. Manifest the aspect to free yourself or others from restrictions or corruption.
Brand of Change and Freedom: Possessing two aspects marks you as an enemy of those who would resist them. All those who wish to remain unchanged will become your enemies. All those who wish to bind others will become your enemies. Your marks do not allow you any influence over the marked. When you create life, you have no dominion over them. You can never gain or uses skills or items that would be used to bind or restrain others. You can only grant people their end or a new beginning free of any limitations.
