[Skill: Mark Of The Void. Has reacted to progenitor presence.]
[ Skill: magically inept. Has prevented debuff. Worship]
[Skill: magically inept. Has prevented debuff. Enthralled]
[Skill: Mark Of The Void. Has had its restrictions lifted. Restrictions will remain lifted until the progenitor has left your presence.]
[Aura: Mana stabilization has been activated.]
[Mana stabilization: previous authorized users have been added to the party tab.]
[Mana stabilization: Authorized user. Sophia Hunts is to far to be placed into a party]
[Mana stabilization: Authorized user. Liliandra of the Xulun mountains is to far to be placed into a party]
[Mana stabilization: Authorized user. Dougelee Voulderparts is to far to be placed into a party.]
I woke up on a cold and wet floor and my vision was flooded with new notifications.
“What happened?” I asked myself. The last thing I remembered was the four of us finally heading down the stairs after a few days of team training and a day of rest. Douge, Sophia and, I had all finally managed to work cohesively together, not stepping on each other's toes and even being able to predict what the other would need or want. I slowly dismissed each notification as I read them taking in their information.
“ What the fuck? Worship, Enthralled, Progenitor? “ I was confused to say the least. What kind of debuff would worship had been and who's Progenitor? I felt like calling out for Douge, Sophia, and Liliandra was the right thing to do. Is what I should do but if they weren't close enough to be in a party there was no point
“ I should find them.It's what a normal person would do at this moment.” I said aloud slowly getting up and taking in my surroundings. I was in an old, crumbling cathedral like the ones on t.v. It was a massive open space pillars of what appeared to be black marble with chains of purple gold pulsing up. The pillars supported nothing as the entirety of the roof was gone revealing not open air but a black void with purple swirling lights. Towards the back along the black flagstone was rows and rows of pews all facing a single solitary podium with a dark figure wrapped in a cloak of darkness standing behind it his hands steepled atop the podium. The figure was watching me. I moved left, its head moved right to follow. I moved right and it's head followed me again. I didn't sense any hostility from it but it felt dangerous. For now I ignored it. Walking around the cathedral. I walked up to a large stained glass window that arched at the top. The glass depicted a horrific scene. One man stood atop a mountain of corpses, purple blood flowing down like rivers down broken arms and decapitated heads. He held a long sword in his right hand while his other hand was clenched tightly around a pendant. His right arm and hand were clearly prosthetic. I tried to get a closer look at the pendant but the image blurred. Clear chains of purple wrapped around the man's waist as if to pull him down. a pistol was holstered to his hip.
“ So you like my art young one?” A voice spoke from the back near the podium. I didn't turn towards it or respond so the voice kept talking.
“ That image is a depiction of me when I was younger fighting my way through an army of demons to fight the Demon Lord Edric.” The voice paused as if waiting for my response but I did not speak.
“ Do you not wish to speak child?” I could hear the rustling of cloth as presumably the cloaked man was walking up.
“ That is fine I will talk enough for the both of us. If you look at the next pane you will see my fight against Edric three generals. Taldric his spy master, Beldon his enforcer, and lastly Lily his mage, lover, and mother of his child. I defeated each and every one absorbing their essence. Back then the marks were hereditary. Did you know that?” He didn't stop for me to answer “ no I'm sure you didn't. Each mark is needed to seal away the demon lord and his generals so without the marks anyone who would try to defeat the demons would simply die of exhaustion as the demon would resurrect and keep fighting but you see I was born with all four some thing the gods never thought would happen.” I walked over to the next window. It had that same man standing tall over three human shaped beasts on the left was a fox faced man with twin falchion his body was a typical human and only had that elongated fox face to show he was a demon. In the center was a large man with dark skin. He was welding a large war axe. His hands were near paws that wrapped around the haft of the axe. And the last one was a beautiful and fair skinned woman. She held a long metal staff and she had leathery wings made of bone growing from her back. They were folded neatly against her skin.
“ This depicts them as having beast like forms but that is far from the truth..they where once human like you and they retained there human image”
“ You said,” I said, speaking for the first time.” That you defeated Edric but Edric is still the demon lord if you defeated him he shouldn't exist."
“ There's a simple answer to that child.” The man said
“ I just took his name as was my right.” I slowly placed my hand on Malice. It was in the back of my head the whole time but now I knew. My Mark Of The Void is his Mark he is the progenitor. The dark God Edric. I turned to look at him, the darkness flowing off his skin creating a cloak to shroud his body. He must have released the magic holding the Vail up around his face. The darkness slowly dripped away like water. He was a handsome man. Conventionally attractive for sure. Chiseled chin, sharp cheeks, smoldering eyes. His hair was a golden blond not too dissimilar to Sophia. His face was cracking leaving deep cuts of purple…something pulsing just below the surface.
“Well come my son.” Edric said with a smile that one that did not reach his eyes and one that I could easily tell it was filled with venom. He held his arms out to embrace me. I stepped backwards.
“ What happened to the others?” I asked my hand still on Malice.
“ I ....took them. They are unharmed for the moment.” Edric said
“I'm going to need them back.”
“ You need them back, yes. But do you want them back or do you feel like it's what someone in your position would do and say." He said. I..that was how I felt but that didn't matter? Right? I wanted to agree with him but. What if he has the other three hidden and they hear what I say. What then?
“ I’m sure a god as powerful as you already knows the answer.” I could feel his power pushing against me like a steady constant wave crashing into me. It felt strange but I couldn't place it. I could use my aura again to press back against him. So I did. That strange feeling what was? The realization hit me.
“ This isn't actually you is it? This is a vessel.That's why its strength felt so strange.” That strange feeling wasn't from his god-like powers, it came from my own perception. I had assumed he would hold god-like strength so when I felt a city rank power level coming from him it confused me. The god chuckled, his expression unchanging.
“ You were quick to notice I am impressed, I must say. Yes this is a vessel. It regrettably is not strong. A limitation of this tear in space.”
“ Explain?” I said. If he's only City rank I can overclock and fight him. But. Fuck. Despite his statement that the vessel was strong, the mana it pushed out constantly, pulsing it like a raging ocean against my weak and dwindling shores. I could feel it pressing against my very soul was unreal.
“ I needed to use this…what do you call it now?” I felt a presence force itself against my mind so I pushed back groaning from the strain.
[ Stat: intelligence is too low. Mental defense will be over powered in five…four.]
The notification was counting down the god was attacking my mind for what a single word? My head was throbbing in pain as I tried to push back the gods' attack.
“ Rift!” I shouted, feeling the attack end just as fast as it started. I was left panting. I set a knee to the floor for balance as my head spun.
“ Ah yes a rift. I would simply call it an astral dungeon but to each their own I suppose.” I gasped for air as he spoke. I knew I should feel fearful but all I could feel was anger.
“ I use the Rifts energy as it forms to create this vessel. It regrettably takes a lot of power and shortens the rifts depth. The end result is usually a vessel with an above average power level for the rift. Now come child I have a gift to bestow upon you one that will fix Lumia’s interference.” The god walked back to the podium I knew I should follow but something compelled me and before I knew it I was standing in front of him , the podium was the only thing between us.
“ The sun is setting my child and the age of dusk will soon be upon us. There will be those who seek out the new day and those that seek the eternal night.” His voice grew louder echoing across the black marble. His words came out in common but his voice had the gravely undertone of the command words. “You are my chosen champion and as such I grant you a boon but first. Travel this floor and find your friends. For now a small parting gift.” The god clapped his hands and waves of purple mana shot out sparking like lightning against the surroundings. Each bolt of mana ricocheted around in an unpredictable pattern before coming together and piercing my hand. I screamed out in pain. My hand now on fire with purple flames.
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“ Once you complete this trial you will be born anew!” The god yelled with laughter before disappearing in a puff of smoke. This pain was worse than anything I had felt so far like thousands of needles stabbing into me all at once. After what felt like hours the fire started to die out and in its place it left a mark.
The image on my hand looked like a well crafted living ink tattoo. Five snake heads all coiled around themselves each and everyone had their mouths open ready to strike. The snake bodies were braided together eventually turning into a solid mass forming the creature's torso. Four leg lizard-like legs wrapped themselves around a cliff. The Mark pulsed with energy purple light bleeding through the hydras scales. A new wave of notifications filled my vision.
[Skill: Interface has reacted to skill Mark Of The Void.]
[New skill obtained: Loot.]
[Skill:Loot. Your skill Mark Of The Void has reacted with the skill interface to create the skill loot. Loot will harvest resources from mana infused beings. This will result in the harvest body to rapidly decompose. Skill loot can only be used in deceased beings.]
[Skill: Aura is now permanent.]
[Skill: Mark Of The Void 2 /10 requirements. Requirements have been bypassed and full access to skill Mark Of The Void has been granted.]
[Skill: Physical Evaluation has reacted with skill Mark Of The Void.]
[New skill obtained: Focused Training.]
[ Skill: Focused Training. Allows for one physical stat to be set as a focus point. That stat will gain 1 stat point for every level. Stats will be given retroactively when first selected. Focused stat can not be changed.]
[ Skill:Mental Evaluation has reacted with skill Mark Of The Void.]
[New skill obtained: Mapping]
[Skill: Mapping. Creates a map of current location. Only visited parts can be seen.]
By the time the pain had passed I was curled into a ball on the floor, my sweat creating a pool underneath me.
“ Fuck.”I said panting. “Edric? The god of darkness.” I rolled into my back and lifted my hand to the sky palm up so I could look at the mark. “ This answers a few questions at least.” I need to get up and start looking for the others. The god was right. I didn't really care that they got taken but. I knew they would need my help and that was enough for me. I think.
I took the next hour to readjust. I sat on one of the pews scrolling through my interface face rereading all the notifications I had gotten. I decided to set strength as my focused stat and immediately felt a change as my muscles grew more defined filling out my clothes a little more. My leather cuirass was starting to feel a little tight but not so much that it bothered me. My strength was now at Thirty four so I guess it didn't count as my first level. I had also gained a level and put all four of my new stat points into wisdom bringing it up to eighteen.
[Level 15]
[ Stats: Strength 34, Constitution 13, Dexterity 10, Intelligences 20, Wisdom 18, Spirit 20]
Another notification appeared the moment I increased my strength stat.
[ Strength is now above 25 please choose stat specialization.]
I wouldn't say I was surprised about this one but it was nice to know once a stat hit twenty five it got a specialization.
[Option 1: Bruiser.]
[Bruiser: Once obtained this option will turn into a skill. The bruiser skill: gives plus 5% damage to all attacks.]
[Option 2: unstoppable force.]
[Unstoppable Force: Once obtained this option will turn into a skill. The unstoppable force level 1 skill: Once every 24 hours you may activate this skill to unleash an unstoppable attack. This attack will deal 2 times the damage after buffs]
These two specializations seem equally good. Five percent in all attacks was amazing and after a few attacks the damage will be the same as unstoppable force but that seemed risky. Why risk hitting multiple attacks when I could simply hit once and kill them. The question really seemed to be do I want sustainable damage or burst damage. With overclock burst might be better but. No fuck it. I picked option two
[New skill obtained: Unstoppable Force.]
This new map feature was nice. When I opened my map I would get my current area right now I only had this cathedral. There was only one exit and that was the front door. If I drilled more into the menus I could pull up maps of every where I had been including the last two floors of this rift. The skill labeled them as temporary astral dungeon floor seven and temporary astral dungeon floor eight. This floor was simply labeled as. The End. I even had a map of Xulun city but it had so many sub menus and floor maps that I closed out the window.
“ Douge! Liliandra! Sophia! If you can hear me, I'm coming!” I shouted walking through the front door of the cathedral and into a large open space. So far in this rift? Dungeon? Whatever it is, each floor had a theme and some unique rules and I could already tell this floor was no different. Despite being in a large open area, I could easily tell that I was still being restricted. It was a perfect square but the walls of the cathedral extended out ten feet on either side connecting directly to thick tree trunks. The trees created a barrier forming a square room about twenty feet by thirty ft. On the opposite and end was a single opening that had a weird purple mist about it.
“Miasma.” I muttered the word appearing on my lips. In the center of the room there was a large sack hanging from semi nothing. It looked fibrous like a spider's web. I took a couple of steps closer to the sack undulating. Whatever was inside was fighting to come out. I drew malice in Sophia's or I guess my sword out during the days of training I had taken to having both on my hip wielding malice in my right hand and the long sword in my left. The disembodied voice of the god of darkness spoke out.
“Good luck my champion.”
The sack exploded punctuating his statement. A large Eight-Legged spider drop down it's long arachnid legs were made of ivory white bone. The spiders cephalothorax and opisthosoma where made of the same ivory bones. Upon a closer inspection, the spider appeared to he completely constructed of human bones, it's eyes were human skulls with fleshy eyes rapidly moving around, scanning and assessing the area. The monster spotted me and let out a high pitch screech and charged. Fangs popped out of large rib cages dripping with a purple liquid.
The monsters first attack came fast a slash it's front two legs. I quickly stepped back dodging the attack, breathing, malice and firing. Bullets of obsidian shattered ineffectively against the monsters boney body. Another attack This time a bite. The monster's fangs extending out like snakes on fleshy tendrils. Using the blade in my left hand I deflected the attack quickly forming a blade made of sharp obsidian and slashing at The fleshy tendril cutting it in half the fang dropped to the floor as purple liquid poured from the tendril the drip sizzled the earth creating a shallow hole. I continued on my offensive striking out at one of the skulls in its eye sockets My blade penetrating The skull right in its forehead. The monster screeched in pain fleeing in its head backwards pulling me with it. I quickly dismissed the Mana forming my blade and landed on the monster back.
“ Let's try this new skill.” I said to the monsters “ You should be happy. I'm using it on you. A twenty-four-hour cool down means the skill is not to be used frivolously.”
I'm mentally commanded malice to change barrels to a flameshell. A much better name than what I was calling it. Thank you Douge. With my higher wisdom stat. I could feel my control over the Mana fire didn't feel so unwieldy anymore. I formed the mana into a single edge blade that curved to the tip, concentrating and condensing the Mana in the front to make it as sharp as possible. The spine of the blade matched the top of malice's barrel. I activated overclock on malice alone and then activated unstoppable Force bringing my blade down like a guillotine severing the spider's head from its body.
I touched the now dead spider with the intention to loot and a new notification appeared.
[Would you like to loot bone spider abomination.]
[Yes] [No]
I mentally clicked yes in the entire creature dissolved leaving a black icor on the ground.
[10 earth crystal obtained]
[10 water crystal obtained]
[Venom gland obtained]
[2 bone spider abomination fangs obtained]
[ Bone spider abomination silk obtained 10 pounds]
[Bone spider abomination trophy obtained]
A trophy? I opened up my inventory screen and saw all my new items sitting there in a neat line. I took the Mana crystals and placed them inside the bag with the rest to save on inventory space, the venom gland only took up one square so that was good. The two fangs took up two squares but stacked on top of each other I decided to put both the gland and the fangs inside the same bag I put my crystals in. Strangely, The Bone spider silk took up nine squares. The image icon in my inventory looked like a large ball of yarn. I moved it to the bottom right. And lastly the Bone spider abomination trophy Sixteen spaces massive I put that down next to the silk. It created an odd spacing, leaving three extra squares to the left for the silk.
“ If this is the kind of loot I get for my ability, I'm going to be strapped inventory space real fast.”
I continued on exploring the floor, it didn't take long for me to realize that this floor was a series of connected rooms with a monster in each one. Each monster was some sort of skeleton. The bone spider abomination I encountered in the first room was the largest and strongest monster I had encountered so far. Occasionally I came across snaked like skeleton monsters called bone snake abominations when looted they would drop similar loot to the Bone spider abomination save for the silk. Some of the rooms I came across would have multiple paths I could choose from as a rule of thumb. I started picking the right path first each and every time. My new map ability came increasingly handy as I slowly made my way through the rooms. Occasionally the rooms would come to a dead end and I would have to turn back. Thankfully none of the rooms I'd cleared before were repopulated. Each new room came with a new danger. I was becoming exhausted. Each new fight left me with a new wound as I slowly slowed down my reaction speeds not being able to keep up with the monsters themselves anymore.
“ Another dead end.” I said out loud as I entered the twentieth room. This room was surrounded by thick trees the same as all the rest. A large borough peeked out of a far corner. The borough was something new that I had yet to see so far. I changed ammunition to a water shell and pulled down the trigger letting the mana blanket the room. Despite finally having an aura ability I was unable to project it more than five feet from my body; however, in a previous room I witnessed a skeleton bat pour mana out in all directions and used it like some form of echolocation. After watching this monster easily locate me, despite it obviously being blind, I decided to try it myself and had found that the technique was possible but it required a lot of mana and I would need to expend an entire shell for the mana density to be thick enough for me to push my aura through it.
I could feel the monster inside the borough it was. Curling around itself? Thousands of small movements pushing its massive body. There was another presence as well. This one was not exactly human. But It was familiar. The same sense of call brushed against me as if she was responding to my touch.
“ Found you.” I smiled pleased with myself.
