Excerpt from the second draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
Common Utility Path Abilities
There are many different abilities that are available from different Paths; one thing to remember is that many Paths overlap. This is especially true for what are called ‘utility’ abilities; these are abilities that the Voice seems to want to give to almost everyone. Many of them are available in different versions; I’ll list the generic version below and try to give a few examples.
This is a somewhat arbitrary list; there are a number of common abilities (such as danger sense) that I’m not listing because I’m considering them to be something other than ‘utility’.
Loot
Probably the most common utility, Loot allows its user to turn a monster (or sometimes a beast) into something else. It is almost always found as a more specific form; for example, a hunter might get Loot Meat (which would turn a body into pre-sectioned meat without having to prepare it, though it would be less meat than doing it the normal way), while a dedicated delver might have Loot Item (which generally works only in dungeons and only on a subset of monsters); Loot Material abilities are generally considered the most valuable Loot abilities, but this depends heavily on where they are used and on exactly which Loot Material ability it is. Loot Item is the most generic and most random, as it can result in anything.
…
[Phase 4 Combat complete. Results:
Corn Maze: Avatar: Destroyed
Serenity: Avatar: Healthy]
[Surrender rejected]
[Phase 5 initiated: Round Four]
Serenity’s vision zoomed back out to the black emptiness where he floated, watching the green dungeon core. The field between the two of them vanished as Serenity watched, and there was nothing else to watch other than the words the Voice presented.
[Select your mode for the Round Four: Dungeon Manifestation, Avatar, or Core (Unavailable - protected by Avatar)]
There was still only one real choice.
Avatar
[Phase 5 Combat: Corn Maze Core vs Avatar (Serenity)]
[Begin]
Unlike the previous rounds, there was no field to fight on, simply the two of them floating in the darkness. Serenity reached out to the Voice.
What is all of this about? It’s been fun, but it doesn’t seem very productive.
There was no reply.
Serenity couldn’t let the lack of information stop him. He knew that he was his own avatar, and he was supposed to be fighting the core. Was it really as simple as destroying a dungeon core normally was? Not that that was easy, but he was Tier Two; he could probably do it by hand. Even if he couldn’t, his axe could.
Serenity directed himself towards the green crystal. After a moment, the dungeon core shrouded itself in something that looked like green lightning. Serenity paused outside the area while he looked at it.
It was mana, but what sort of mana? Serenity didn’t immediately recognize it.
It was green, but there were many different Affinities that were green. One of the reasons he’d worked so hard once upon a time to at least initiate all of the “standard” affinities was that knowing which Affinity something was could tell you a lot about what it could do, but Serenity didn’t feel a particular resonance with any of his Affinities.
A clear shade of leaf-green usually meant Life or one of its relatives, but he didn’t feel Life from it. It took Serenity a moment to remember that his Life Affinity had been purged. He’d have to use his knowledge instead of his Affinity.
Serenity pushed out several wisps of mana, as if he were going to build a complex spellform, tinged them with his different Affinities, then swirled them around the green lightning beyond its reach. The lightning reacted at least a little to all of them; most Affinities had some relationship, after all. Watching the reactions could tell him a lot.
The mana in the lightning behaved strangely. It shivered and seemed to try to separate. Serenity stared intently, trying to understand what he was seeing.
Green and green, but two different shades. One with a hint of translucence that flashes red; the other an iridescent sheen. The iridescent one almost acts like Life mana, but it has a far stronger elemental reaction than I’d expect of pure Life mana, while the translucent one with hints of red reacts strongly to Mind mana. So something physical and something mental. Physical and near to Life; that’s probably Nature mana. It probably explains the form of lightning it’s taking.
Green and mental with flashes of red, though, that’s unusual. Could it really be Jealousy mana? Emotional mana is rare, but it might explain some things. If this core has Jealousy as one of its innate characteristics, I never had a chance to talk it into working with Gaia. It’d become jealous of something about Her and start fighting Her for control at best; at worst, it’d start trying to attack other dungeon cores for taking her attention away from it. Or something I can’t even think of.
That doesn’t explain why it was so hostile to begin with. Not that jealousy really needs an explanation.
I can’t do anything about it. I simply need to accept that this dungeon was unsalvageable and break the core.
There were several ways to deal with the angry lightning dancing around the core. Serenity decided he’d try the simplest first. He drew his ax again and set it against the edge of the lightning.
The green-tinged mana sparked as it hit the axeblade and sunk into the weapon, dissipating harmlessly. Serenity smiled as he watched how slow the dungeon was to realize what was happening; the radius covered by the lightning had shrunk by nearly a foot before it acted, pulling the magic back towards itself.
Serenity followed and the core proved that it could be at least somewhat sneaky as a single green lightning strike arced out of the core, cleanly avoided the ax, and hit Serenity square on the chest.
There was a mild momentary pressure on his body as the Nature mana attempted to damage him and a similar pressure on his mind, but with his resistances it was barely even noticeable. Serenity shook his head and floated closer to the core; after feeling how weak its attack was, he was much less worried about the core’s defenses.
With the knowledge that he wasn’t in any danger, Serenity knew there was no need to rush. Serenity paused when he reached arm’s length away from the core. It slammed bolt after bolt of green lightning at him; he cut most of them with his ax, damaging the spell’s structure and making the bolt fizzle. The ones he didn’t catch impacted on his armor with the same lack of result as the first strike.
Serenity simply stood there and waited. The core would eventually realize it wasn’t working, wouldn’t it?
Eventually, the barrage stopped. Serenity watched the core to see what it was going to try next; there were a lot of interesting things that could be done with Nature mana. While he didn’t have much experience with Jealousy mana, he’d seen Rage mana used for some amazing effects and he hoped to discover exactly what the core did with its Jealousy mana.
It took almost a minute to realize that there simply wasn’t anything else coming at him. Serenity was disappointed in the core and even more disappointed that he wasn’t going to be able to learn something new about magic. Lightning was a straightforward Nature attack, but not a creative or particularly powerful one. Having it carry a mental component was strange but not particularly useful; Serenity knew several ways to achieve a similar result and they were all quite inefficient.
Breaking a dungeon core at the same Tier wasn’t easy; they were solid crystal. Certain Paths made it easier, while others could simply take control of the core. Serenity had never had any of either type of Path; his Path through dungeons was killing the monsters and collecting materials, not dealing with the core.
This one needed to die, and Serenity doubted it would be the last one he would kill in his new life if he kept his promise to Gaia. Serenity hoped more of them would be like Aki than like the Corn Maze, but this was only the sixth dungeon he’d seen on Earth and half of those were either his or Aki’s; so far, a third of the feral dungeons were dangerous. That seemed too high, but it almost certainly meant there would be more.
Serenity needed to find out what he had to do to break a dungeon core in this space. He was fairly confident the ax would work, but he didn’t want to restrict himself to it. It was powerful, but he didn’t want it to be the crutch he used for all of his solutions.
The best option would be if he - at Tier Two - was strong enough to simply break a Tier One core. It was possible; all Serenity knew was that you needed either the right Path or a Tier advantage. He was confident there were spells that would work as well, but he didn’t want to take the time to craft one immediately; creating a new spell wasn’t fast.
Serenity grasped the drained core between his hands and tightened his claws on the crystal. They sank in as though the crystal was barely there, even though he could clearly feel it with his hands.
Serenity felt a sudden shock similar to the lightning attacks from the core as its mana attempted to push into his body. It was an attack that immediately made Serenity’s mind return to the first time he consciously encountered a necromancer after becoming a draugr; the necromancer attempted to take control of the “spell” animating Vengeance by flooding the draugr’s body with his own mana.
The necromancer’s attack didn’t work because Vengeance was intelligent and powerful enough to defend himself, but the memory triggered an immediate reaction from Serenity. He pushed his own mana out, defending himself against the far weaker assault. His mana flooded into the green crystal and he knew that it was his now.
Serenity stood stock still as he brought himself back to the present. His claws were sunk deep into the crystal core of a dungeon; colors swirled in the crystal. Somehow, he knew that the deep bluish purple was his own mana displacing the green of the core; it was the color of his scales and his hair.
It was very different from the black he’d always seen his mana as when he was the Final Reaper. It struck him as strange that he hadn’t realized his mana had changed so much until that moment and he watched, mesmerized. It was still dark, but it no longer spoke solely of death and loss.
Somewhere he felt a choice. It wasn’t in words, at first. As he watched, it seemed to become clearer and clearer until it might as well have been words.
[Capture]
[Destroy]
It was a choice. What was he going to do with the core?
Serenity had already made that choice. He tightened his hands around the core and twisted.
He’d expected the core to twist and shatter, but instead of that, his claws slid through the crystal as though it were Jello. As he tightened his grip, the crystal simply disintegrated leaving a mass of his mana floating in front of him.
He pulled the mana back into himself; it felt like a cool spring breeze.
The dark space around him disappeared and Serenity found himself kneeling in front of an empty pedestal in a corn maze.
[XP Awarded: 50]
[Dungeon collapsing: 00:05:00.00]
Serenity pulled up his Status and checked. His Path level hadn’t moved since that morning other than a tiny amount of experience, but his Core Progression had jumped tremendously.
He didn’t have time to think about what that meant.
General
Spoiler| Name: Serenity | ||
| Species: Chimera Subspecies: Void Sovereign (Kernel), Essence Dragon (Hatchling) | ||
| Core: Unique | Progression: 93% Tier: 2 | Features: 5/11 True Crystal Link Death Void |
| Path: Void Dhampir of Essence and Mana | Level: 32 (490/660) | Tier: 2, 0/32 Spent |
| Path History: 1: Unbound, Steadfast, Evoker 0: Death-Eater, Battle Adept | ||
| Condition: Healthy Healing Available: Full | Mana: 5000/5000 Essence: 5000/5000 | Stamina: 2600/2600 |
| Might: 250 | Agility: 250 | Phys: 250 |
| Understanding: 250 | Will: 250 | Mind: 250 |
| Perception: 250 | Ambit: 250 | |
| Essence | Pure (Innate) | Ev: 446,651 (Purified) |
| Titles | Previous Supreme Existence | First of A Kind |
| Named | Ghost in the System | |
| Aspect Pathfinder | Incarnate | |
| Lord | DeathLord | |
| Tyche’s Curse | Worlds’ Friend | |
| Coin |
Magic
Spoiler| Essence Techniques | Chimeric Alteration | Claim Mana |
| Devour Mana | Essence Drawing | |
| Purify | ||
| Affinities | Energy: 40% | Liquid: 6% |
| Mind: 32% | Plasma: 42% | |
| Solid: 17% | SpaceTime: 71% | |
| Magitech: 37% | Vapor: 14% | |
| Liminal: 90% | Nihility: 50% | |
| Concepts | Arcane: 80% | Energy: 52% |
| Essence: 25% | Life: 20% | |
| Mind: 15% | Plasma: 26% | |
| SpaceTime: 42% | Liminal: 37% | |
| Nihility: 35% | Magitech: 51% | |
| Topology: 5% | ||
| Aspects | Arcane (Mana): Initiated (Vital) | Essence: Growth (Vital) |
| SpaceTime: Nascent | ||
| Incarnate | Death |
Physical
Spoiler| Resistances | Chemical: 137+10 | Cold: 303+10 |
| Curse: 265 | Darkness: 177+10 | |
| Death: Immune | Heat: 532+10 | |
| Life: 417+10 | Light: 298+10 | |
| Mind: 278 | Pain: 641 | |
| Pleasure: 32 | Shock: 334+10 | |
| Sleep: 53 | Space: 250 | |
| Time: 1000 | Unknown | |
| Chimeric Heritage | Pure (Innate) | Essence Dragon (Primary) |
| Asura | Child of Time, Unbound | |
| Dhampir, Essence/Mana | Draugr, Sage | |
| Elemental, Essence | Elemental, Mana | |
| Godling | Human, Earth | |
| Lich, Paramount (Primary) | Vampire, Daywalker | |
| Void, Sovereign (Subrace) | Wraith, Nightmare | |
| Known Heritages | Azata, Lightning | Curse Witch |
| Healing Light | Hexen | |
| Heavens’ Fire | Jiang-Shi | |
| Knight of Blood | Malevolent Spark | |
| Mote of Decay | Mote of Stasis | |
| Mummy | Remnant Wisp of Life | |
| Revenant, Star | Sea Lion, Earth |
Abilities
Spoiler| Monster Biology | ||
| Eyeless Sight | Colorless vision that does not require light; no visual effect | Inherited from Final Reaper |
| Vital Sight (previously called Life-Sight) | Shows the primary animating Affinity, usually Life, for creatures. Makes the eyes glow with blue-white fire | Inherited from Final Reaper |
| Blossoms’ Sleep | Can induce sleep on self with a defined wakeup time | Dream Blossom Dust |
| Runic Shielding Tattoos | Resists one attack of any sort. Does not require preactivation if the attack will kill or disable. Fully drains current MP to establish, drains SP to maintain, ends when hit. MP drained determines strength of blow that can be resisted, will fail if strength is exceeded but may reduce the power of the attack even if it fails. Effect is better with automatic activation | Self-created ability (Not actually tattoos, his skin/scales grows “naturally” in the correct pattern and color to create the effect) |
| Claws | Hands and feet have claws (all forms) | Essence Dragon |
| Wings | Six-limbed creature; all forms have wings. The wings are strong enough to be noticeable and might assist in gliding, but are not large enough to support actual flight. | Essence Dragon |
| Scaled Hide | Thickened, resistant outer skin layer, covered in most places with scutes | Essence Dragon |
| Filter | Details unknown; so far, Serenity has determined that it will output Essence when fed mana, but it does not seem to have a use at this time. | Linked Crystal Seed (True Core) |
| Amplify Aura | Details unknown; has a Power Reserve that appears to be required to allow it to function, but the method to fill the Power Reserve is unknown. | Linked Crystal Seed (True Core) |
| Increase Link Distance | Details unknown; has a Power Reserve that appears to be required to allow it to function, but the method to fill the Power Reserve is unknown. | Linked Crystal Seed (True Core) |
| Change Stone Type | Details unknown | Linked Crystal Seed (True Core) |
| Raw Mana Control (Horns) | When in a ley line or other high concentration of raw mana, choose where it flows in the body. | Self-created ability |
| Dhampir’s Default | When a Dhampir is casually examined, he or she appears to be a normal member of the living population. | Dhampir |
| Amorphous Restoration | Why should a cut matter when a body has no fixed form? Turns energy into whatever the body needs, wherever it needs it. Can convert physical mass to energy; increased purity or organization or interest improves the conversion. | Voidling (Curiosity) |
| Path Abilities | ||
| Loot Core | Teleports a monster core from touched monster body to the user. Usable on any dead monster with a core. Costs mana | Death-Eater |
| Resilience of the Dead | Slightly increased resistance to certain status alterations | Death-Eater |
| Eat Death | Absorb Death energy found within the Death Eater’s aura. Absorption based on Affinity. Intensity of absorption can be varied but the ability cannot be completely disabled. Absorbed Death energy may be used as if it were Death mana. Dissipates with time. Ability damaged | Death-Eater |
| Basic Analyze | Analyze a being for basic information. The being may be animal, Pathed, or monster. Other beings may be analyzed if they have any appropriate features. Items may not be analyzed | Battle Adept |
| Intermediate Unarmed Combat (Claw Variant) | Losing your weapons is not a disaster when you have weapons attached to your hands. Your expertise with claws is nearly nonexistent, but your general training with unarmed combat is transferable | Battle Adept |
| Infused strike | Infuse your body or weapons with energy to deal additional damage. Replaces Deathstrike. May use any Affinity held. Power of infusion scales with Affinity used. Costs Stamina | Battle Adept |
| Far Strike | Discharge the magic infused in your weapon to strike a single opponent at a distance. Stamina cost increases with distance | Battle Adept |
| Adept Aspect Form | Instead of infusing an Affinity into your weapon, infuse your Aspect into yourself. Limited time, consumes both stamina and mana, induces unconsciousness when the Form lapses | Battle Adept |
| Basic Sense Raw Magic | Detect background, non-attuned energy. This sense is always active | Child of Time |
| Linked Sight | You may share your vision and vision-based abilities with your Seer or anyone whom you share a similar Link with. They may also share their vision and vision-based abilities with you. Consumes Stamina per vision or vision-based ability shared in either direction. Vision ability costs are paid by the user instead of the originator of the ability, if applicable | Child of Time |
| Moment of Prescience | Know a moment ahead of time when something will kill or disable you or someone you wish to protect. Activation is automatic. Cannot be activated more than once a minute. Consumes stamina in inverse proportion to the threat | Child of Time |
| Time’s Eye | Your eyes see the motions of Time as it stretches and changes. The hidden is easier to see and the false easier to see through. Consumes Stamina (Note: the Stamina cost is low enough that it can be maintained for hours at a time, though that will significantly reduce Serenity’s available Stamina for other uses) | Child of Time |
| Unbound | Time does not quite have the same hold on you as it does on others, and Fate does not rule you. You can slip between the lines of the future and past or even blur them if you have the desire and the strength. That which will be has no power over you, and you can break the strands of Destiny for others if you dare. This ability is always active and has always applied to you | Child of Time |
| Basic Identify | Identify an object to gain basic information on it, such as its name, basic properties, materials, and/or minor enchantments | Steadfast |
| Scale Hardening | Use Essence or Mana to reinforce your scales, making them harder to damage and more protective. Costs Stamina to maintain | Steadfast |
| Wait for an Opening | Study an opponent’s actions in combat to gain an intuitive understanding of the right time to strike | Steadfast |
| Second Wind | Convert some of a more filled resource pool (Mana, Stamina, or Essence) into an empty one. Consumes some of the converted resource | Steadfast |
| Stand Tall | Whether you are the last wall between your loved ones and your enemies or you simply love to fight, your ability to take a beating is exceptional. Blood loss, bruises, injuries, and even broken bones will not stop you. You can fight at the full effectiveness your body is capable of despite your injuries | Steadfast |
| Essence Sight | You can already sense Essence with your Aura. Sight adds precision and distance to your detection capability. This may be enabled or disabled at will. A visual effect may be present | Evoker |
| Physical Storage | You can store spells inside your own body to be evoked later. Stored spells may be evoked only by you and may be triggered at any time. All variable effects must be determined prior to casting. Stored spells will degrade with time and use of mana or essence in the area the spell is stored. | Evoker |
| Spell Conversion | You can convert the power of any spell you can Evoke into a ranged mana or essence strike. The power of the strike depends on the stored spell power. | Evoker |
| Store Spell | You may temporarily store spells in items to be evoked later. The item must be strong enough to hold the spell, and synergy with the spell will slow spell degradation. Stored spells will degrade with time and nearby mana or essence use. Storage of spells can damage items used. | Evoker |
| Designate Evocation Conditions | You may designate conditions on when a stored spell can be evoked. You can bypass any conditions you set, but you cannot bypass conditions set by other Evokers. This allows you to set conditions that will allow non-Evokers to Evoke stored spells, but spells Evoked by the untrained will be significantly degraded during the evocation. | Evoker |
| Take Shape | Take Shape - You may assume the shape of any Form you know. Your personality and goals remain those of the Void Sovereign. Number of forms that can be known is affected by Ambit. Accuracy of learned forms will decrease with time; rate depends on Ambit. Current known forms: Chimera, Hatchling Essence Dragon, Void Sovereign (Kernel), Human(?), Crystal Hilt | Void Dhampir of Essence and Mana |
| Merge | You may merge with another being. The merge may be contested. Success rate in a contested merge is affected by Ambit. Requires Void Sovereign form. | Void Dhampir of Essence and Mana |
| Entwined Magic | You can mix Mana and Essence magic freely, to achieve effects not possible with Mana or Essence alone. Passive. | Void Dhampir of Essence and Mana |
| Gaze of the Void | When you choose, you can infuse your gaze with the power of your connection to the Void. Effects vary. Power depends on Ambit. | Void Dhampir of Essence and Mana |
Void Dhampir of Essence and Mana Locked Abilities:
Level 50 - Aura of Magic - When you choose, you can reveal your Mana and Essence pools with your aura. Passively increases the maximum size and regeneration of your Mana and Essence. Increases the regeneration of others’ mana and essence at a slight cost to your regeneration rate. Easily sensed. Power depends on size and regeneration rate of mana and essence pools.
Level 75 - Void Protector - From your Void Sovereign form, you may envelop someone or something. Instead of choosing to Merge with them, you may choose to Protect them, giving them a layer of armor formed from your physical self. This may also leave a permanent Mark (consent required).
Level 100 - Mold Magic - You can alter magic that has been given a steady form. Passive.
[collapse]
Open Quests:
SpoilerTutorial Instruction
Restore the Lost
Path Quest Stage 3
Global Quest: Invaders
[Tutorial Instruction]
[Serenity must participate as an instructor in Phase One (training phase) of a tutorial at least once per Real-Time Day on average. Student participation is permitted when it does not conflict with instruction]
[Student participation into later portions of each tutorial attended as an instructor is permitted]
[Serenity may participate in additional tutorials as an instructor]
[Tutorials Completed as Instructor: 51/180]
[Mentor Quest: Restore the Lost]
[Goal: Find out a way for dragons to have lower-Tier eggs and hatchlings to allow their minds and bodies to grow together and prevent them from becoming Lost]
[Optional Goal: Find a way to restore those who have been Lost from their spirit form, physical form, or both]
[Optional Goal: Learn about other species with this issue. Generalize the solution]
[Reward: Unknown]
[Failure Consequences: None]
[Message begins: I don’t really expect you to be able to do anything about the Lost any time soon, but you have the best chance I’ve seen in millenia. If you can’t, maybe a descendant of yours will be able to. Message ends.]
[Path Quest Stage 3]
[Goal: Repel the invasions threatening your friends and family. Aid from others is permitted]
[Reward: Varies depending on number of invasions expelled and contribution]
[Optional Goal: Repel all invasions threatening Earth. Aid from others is permitted]
[Optional Reward: Choose the location for Earth’s World Core Interface Crystal]
[Penalty for Failure: None]
[Penalty for Abandoning Quest: Discontinuation of Path Quest, Change in Path]
[Global Quest: Permanently deal with all Invasion Portals and remove the threat of the invaders]
[Quest Status: 22/512]
Affected Locations Known to Serenity:
London (Active, Humans)
NYC (Resolved, Hegemon Worms)
Washington, DC (Active, Sterath)
Arlington, Texas (portal is in Dallas/Ft Worth area, bats notable) (Traa)
Tianjin, China (Resolved)
Serenity Settlement (Under Investigation, Rockfin)
[collapse]Lillene
It's been a while since I put a Status up. Not much has changed, so it hasn't seemed worth it. It's definitely time.
Serenity has deliberately not been pushing his Core progression; he's already suffering for being higher-Tier than Earth really supports.
Excerpt from the second draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
Common Utility Path Abilities
There are many different abilities that are available from different Paths; one thing to remember is that many Paths overlap. This is especially true for what are called ‘utility’ abilities; these are abilities that the Voice seems to want to give to almost everyone. Many of them are available in different versions; I’ll list the generic version below and try to give a few examples.
This is a somewhat arbitrary list; there are a number of common abilities (such as danger sense) that I’m not listing because I’m considering them to be something other than ‘utility’.
Loot
Probably the most common utility, Loot allows its user to turn a monster (or sometimes a beast) into something else. It is almost always found as a more specific form; for example, a hunter might get Loot Meat (which would turn a body into pre-sectioned meat without having to prepare it, though it would be less meat than doing it the normal way), while a dedicated delver might have Loot Item (which generally works only in dungeons and only on a subset of monsters); Loot Material abilities are generally considered the most valuable Loot abilities, but this depends heavily on where they are used and on exactly which Loot Material ability it is. Loot Item is the most generic and most random, as it can result in anything.
…
[Phase 4 Combat complete. Results:
Corn Maze: Avatar: Destroyed
Serenity: Avatar: Healthy]
[Surrender rejected]
[Phase 5 initiated: Round Four]
Serenity’s vision zoomed back out to the black emptiness where he floated, watching the green dungeon core. The field between the two of them vanished as Serenity watched, and there was nothing else to watch other than the words the Voice presented.
[Select your mode for the Round Four: Dungeon Manifestation, Avatar, or Core (Unavailable - protected by Avatar)]
There was still only one real choice.
Avatar
[Phase 5 Combat: Corn Maze Core vs Avatar (Serenity)]
[Begin]
Unlike the previous rounds, there was no field to fight on, simply the two of them floating in the darkness. Serenity reached out to the Voice.
What is all of this about? It’s been fun, but it doesn’t seem very productive.
There was no reply.
Serenity couldn’t let the lack of information stop him. He knew that he was his own avatar, and he was supposed to be fighting the core. Was it really as simple as destroying a dungeon core normally was? Not that that was easy, but he was Tier Two; he could probably do it by hand. Even if he couldn’t, his axe could.
Serenity directed himself towards the green crystal. After a moment, the dungeon core shrouded itself in something that looked like green lightning. Serenity paused outside the area while he looked at it.
It was mana, but what sort of mana? Serenity didn’t immediately recognize it.
It was green, but there were many different Affinities that were green. One of the reasons he’d worked so hard once upon a time to at least initiate all of the “standard” affinities was that knowing which Affinity something was could tell you a lot about what it could do, but Serenity didn’t feel a particular resonance with any of his Affinities.
A clear shade of leaf-green usually meant Life or one of its relatives, but he didn’t feel Life from it. It took Serenity a moment to remember that his Life Affinity had been purged. He’d have to use his knowledge instead of his Affinity.
Serenity pushed out several wisps of mana, as if he were going to build a complex spellform, tinged them with his different Affinities, then swirled them around the green lightning beyond its reach. The lightning reacted at least a little to all of them; most Affinities had some relationship, after all. Watching the reactions could tell him a lot.
The mana in the lightning behaved strangely. It shivered and seemed to try to separate. Serenity stared intently, trying to understand what he was seeing.
Green and green, but two different shades. One with a hint of translucence that flashes red; the other an iridescent sheen. The iridescent one almost acts like Life mana, but it has a far stronger elemental reaction than I’d expect of pure Life mana, while the translucent one with hints of red reacts strongly to Mind mana. So something physical and something mental. Physical and near to Life; that’s probably Nature mana. It probably explains the form of lightning it’s taking.
Green and mental with flashes of red, though, that’s unusual. Could it really be Jealousy mana? Emotional mana is rare, but it might explain some things. If this core has Jealousy as one of its innate characteristics, I never had a chance to talk it into working with Gaia. It’d become jealous of something about Her and start fighting Her for control at best; at worst, it’d start trying to attack other dungeon cores for taking her attention away from it. Or something I can’t even think of.
That doesn’t explain why it was so hostile to begin with. Not that jealousy really needs an explanation.
I can’t do anything about it. I simply need to accept that this dungeon was unsalvageable and break the core.
There were several ways to deal with the angry lightning dancing around the core. Serenity decided he’d try the simplest first. He drew his ax again and set it against the edge of the lightning.
The green-tinged mana sparked as it hit the axeblade and sunk into the weapon, dissipating harmlessly. Serenity smiled as he watched how slow the dungeon was to realize what was happening; the radius covered by the lightning had shrunk by nearly a foot before it acted, pulling the magic back towards itself.
Serenity followed and the core proved that it could be at least somewhat sneaky as a single green lightning strike arced out of the core, cleanly avoided the ax, and hit Serenity square on the chest.
There was a mild momentary pressure on his body as the Nature mana attempted to damage him and a similar pressure on his mind, but with his resistances it was barely even noticeable. Serenity shook his head and floated closer to the core; after feeling how weak its attack was, he was much less worried about the core’s defenses.
With the knowledge that he wasn’t in any danger, Serenity knew there was no need to rush. Serenity paused when he reached arm’s length away from the core. It slammed bolt after bolt of green lightning at him; he cut most of them with his ax, damaging the spell’s structure and making the bolt fizzle. The ones he didn’t catch impacted on his armor with the same lack of result as the first strike.
Serenity simply stood there and waited. The core would eventually realize it wasn’t working, wouldn’t it?
Eventually, the barrage stopped. Serenity watched the core to see what it was going to try next; there were a lot of interesting things that could be done with Nature mana. While he didn’t have much experience with Jealousy mana, he’d seen Rage mana used for some amazing effects and he hoped to discover exactly what the core did with its Jealousy mana.
It took almost a minute to realize that there simply wasn’t anything else coming at him. Serenity was disappointed in the core and even more disappointed that he wasn’t going to be able to learn something new about magic. Lightning was a straightforward Nature attack, but not a creative or particularly powerful one. Having it carry a mental component was strange but not particularly useful; Serenity knew several ways to achieve a similar result and they were all quite inefficient.
Breaking a dungeon core at the same Tier wasn’t easy; they were solid crystal. Certain Paths made it easier, while others could simply take control of the core. Serenity had never had any of either type of Path; his Path through dungeons was killing the monsters and collecting materials, not dealing with the core.
This one needed to die, and Serenity doubted it would be the last one he would kill in his new life if he kept his promise to Gaia. Serenity hoped more of them would be like Aki than like the Corn Maze, but this was only the sixth dungeon he’d seen on Earth and half of those were either his or Aki’s; so far, a third of the feral dungeons were dangerous. That seemed too high, but it almost certainly meant there would be more.
Serenity needed to find out what he had to do to break a dungeon core in this space. He was fairly confident the ax would work, but he didn’t want to restrict himself to it. It was powerful, but he didn’t want it to be the crutch he used for all of his solutions.
The best option would be if he - at Tier Two - was strong enough to simply break a Tier One core. It was possible; all Serenity knew was that you needed either the right Path or a Tier advantage. He was confident there were spells that would work as well, but he didn’t want to take the time to craft one immediately; creating a new spell wasn’t fast.
Serenity grasped the drained core between his hands and tightened his claws on the crystal. They sank in as though the crystal was barely there, even though he could clearly feel it with his hands.
Serenity felt a sudden shock similar to the lightning attacks from the core as its mana attempted to push into his body. It was an attack that immediately made Serenity’s mind return to the first time he consciously encountered a necromancer after becoming a draugr; the necromancer attempted to take control of the “spell” animating Vengeance by flooding the draugr’s body with his own mana.
The necromancer’s attack didn’t work because Vengeance was intelligent and powerful enough to defend himself, but the memory triggered an immediate reaction from Serenity. He pushed his own mana out, defending himself against the far weaker assault. His mana flooded into the green crystal and he knew that it was his now.
Serenity stood stock still as he brought himself back to the present. His claws were sunk deep into the crystal core of a dungeon; colors swirled in the crystal. Somehow, he knew that the deep bluish purple was his own mana displacing the green of the core; it was the color of his scales and his hair.
It was very different from the black he’d always seen his mana as when he was the Final Reaper. It struck him as strange that he hadn’t realized his mana had changed so much until that moment and he watched, mesmerized. It was still dark, but it no longer spoke solely of death and loss.
Somewhere he felt a choice. It wasn’t in words, at first. As he watched, it seemed to become clearer and clearer until it might as well have been words.
[Capture]
[Destroy]
It was a choice. What was he going to do with the core?
Serenity had already made that choice. He tightened his hands around the core and twisted.
He’d expected the core to twist and shatter, but instead of that, his claws slid through the crystal as though it were Jello. As he tightened his grip, the crystal simply disintegrated leaving a mass of his mana floating in front of him.
He pulled the mana back into himself; it felt like a cool spring breeze.
The dark space around him disappeared and Serenity found himself kneeling in front of an empty pedestal in a corn maze.
[XP Awarded: 50]
[Dungeon collapsing: 00:05:00.00]
Serenity pulled up his Status and checked. His Path level hadn’t moved since that morning other than a tiny amount of experience, but his Core Progression had jumped tremendously.
He didn’t have time to think about what that meant.
General
Spoiler| Name: Serenity | ||
| Species: Chimera Subspecies: Void Sovereign (Kernel), Essence Dragon (Hatchling) | ||
| Core: Unique | Progression: 93% Tier: 2 | Features: 5/11 True Crystal Link Death Void |
| Path: Void Dhampir of Essence and Mana | Level: 32 (490/660) | Tier: 2, 0/32 Spent |
| Path History: 1: Unbound, Steadfast, Evoker 0: Death-Eater, Battle Adept | ||
| Condition: Healthy Healing Available: Full | Mana: 5000/5000 Essence: 5000/5000 | Stamina: 2600/2600 |
| Might: 250 | Agility: 250 | Phys: 250 |
| Understanding: 250 | Will: 250 | Mind: 250 |
| Perception: 250 | Ambit: 250 | |
| Essence | Pure (Innate) | Ev: 446,651 (Purified) |
| Titles | Previous Supreme Existence | First of A Kind |
| Named | Ghost in the System | |
| Aspect Pathfinder | Incarnate | |
| Lord | DeathLord | |
| Tyche’s Curse | Worlds’ Friend | |
| Coin |
Magic
Spoiler| Essence Techniques | Chimeric Alteration | Claim Mana |
| Devour Mana | Essence Drawing | |
| Purify | ||
| Affinities | Energy: 40% | Liquid: 6% |
| Mind: 32% | Plasma: 42% | |
| Solid: 17% | SpaceTime: 71% | |
| Magitech: 37% | Vapor: 14% | |
| Liminal: 90% | Nihility: 50% | |
| Concepts | Arcane: 80% | Energy: 52% |
| Essence: 25% | Life: 20% | |
| Mind: 15% | Plasma: 26% | |
| SpaceTime: 42% | Liminal: 37% | |
| Nihility: 35% | Magitech: 51% | |
| Topology: 5% | ||
| Aspects | Arcane (Mana): Initiated (Vital) | Essence: Growth (Vital) |
| SpaceTime: Nascent | ||
| Incarnate | Death |
Physical
Spoiler| Resistances | Chemical: 137+10 | Cold: 303+10 |
| Curse: 265 | Darkness: 177+10 | |
| Death: Immune | Heat: 532+10 | |
| Life: 417+10 | Light: 298+10 | |
| Mind: 278 | Pain: 641 | |
| Pleasure: 32 | Shock: 334+10 | |
| Sleep: 53 | Space: 250 | |
| Time: 1000 | Unknown | |
| Chimeric Heritage | Pure (Innate) | Essence Dragon (Primary) |
| Asura | Child of Time, Unbound | |
| Dhampir, Essence/Mana | Draugr, Sage | |
| Elemental, Essence | Elemental, Mana | |
| Godling | Human, Earth | |
| Lich, Paramount (Primary) | Vampire, Daywalker | |
| Void, Sovereign (Subrace) | Wraith, Nightmare | |
| Known Heritages | Azata, Lightning | Curse Witch |
| Healing Light | Hexen | |
| Heavens’ Fire | Jiang-Shi | |
| Knight of Blood | Malevolent Spark | |
| Mote of Decay | Mote of Stasis | |
| Mummy | Remnant Wisp of Life | |
| Revenant, Star | Sea Lion, Earth |
Abilities
Spoiler| Monster Biology | ||
| Eyeless Sight | Colorless vision that does not require light; no visual effect | Inherited from Final Reaper |
| Vital Sight (previously called Life-Sight) | Shows the primary animating Affinity, usually Life, for creatures. Makes the eyes glow with blue-white fire | Inherited from Final Reaper |
| Blossoms’ Sleep | Can induce sleep on self with a defined wakeup time | Dream Blossom Dust |
| Runic Shielding Tattoos | Resists one attack of any sort. Does not require preactivation if the attack will kill or disable. Fully drains current MP to establish, drains SP to maintain, ends when hit. MP drained determines strength of blow that can be resisted, will fail if strength is exceeded but may reduce the power of the attack even if it fails. Effect is better with automatic activation | Self-created ability (Not actually tattoos, his skin/scales grows “naturally” in the correct pattern and color to create the effect) |
| Claws | Hands and feet have claws (all forms) | Essence Dragon |
| Wings | Six-limbed creature; all forms have wings. The wings are strong enough to be noticeable and might assist in gliding, but are not large enough to support actual flight. | Essence Dragon |
| Scaled Hide | Thickened, resistant outer skin layer, covered in most places with scutes | Essence Dragon |
| Filter | Details unknown; so far, Serenity has determined that it will output Essence when fed mana, but it does not seem to have a use at this time. | Linked Crystal Seed (True Core) |
| Amplify Aura | Details unknown; has a Power Reserve that appears to be required to allow it to function, but the method to fill the Power Reserve is unknown. | Linked Crystal Seed (True Core) |
| Increase Link Distance | Details unknown; has a Power Reserve that appears to be required to allow it to function, but the method to fill the Power Reserve is unknown. | Linked Crystal Seed (True Core) |
| Change Stone Type | Details unknown | Linked Crystal Seed (True Core) |
| Raw Mana Control (Horns) | When in a ley line or other high concentration of raw mana, choose where it flows in the body. | Self-created ability |
| Dhampir’s Default | When a Dhampir is casually examined, he or she appears to be a normal member of the living population. | Dhampir |
| Amorphous Restoration | Why should a cut matter when a body has no fixed form? Turns energy into whatever the body needs, wherever it needs it. Can convert physical mass to energy; increased purity or organization or interest improves the conversion. | Voidling (Curiosity) |
| Path Abilities | ||
| Loot Core | Teleports a monster core from touched monster body to the user. Usable on any dead monster with a core. Costs mana | Death-Eater |
| Resilience of the Dead | Slightly increased resistance to certain status alterations | Death-Eater |
| Eat Death | Absorb Death energy found within the Death Eater’s aura. Absorption based on Affinity. Intensity of absorption can be varied but the ability cannot be completely disabled. Absorbed Death energy may be used as if it were Death mana. Dissipates with time. Ability damaged | Death-Eater |
| Basic Analyze | Analyze a being for basic information. The being may be animal, Pathed, or monster. Other beings may be analyzed if they have any appropriate features. Items may not be analyzed | Battle Adept |
| Intermediate Unarmed Combat (Claw Variant) | Losing your weapons is not a disaster when you have weapons attached to your hands. Your expertise with claws is nearly nonexistent, but your general training with unarmed combat is transferable | Battle Adept |
| Infused strike | Infuse your body or weapons with energy to deal additional damage. Replaces Deathstrike. May use any Affinity held. Power of infusion scales with Affinity used. Costs Stamina | Battle Adept |
| Far Strike | Discharge the magic infused in your weapon to strike a single opponent at a distance. Stamina cost increases with distance | Battle Adept |
| Adept Aspect Form | Instead of infusing an Affinity into your weapon, infuse your Aspect into yourself. Limited time, consumes both stamina and mana, induces unconsciousness when the Form lapses | Battle Adept |
| Basic Sense Raw Magic | Detect background, non-attuned energy. This sense is always active | Child of Time |
| Linked Sight | You may share your vision and vision-based abilities with your Seer or anyone whom you share a similar Link with. They may also share their vision and vision-based abilities with you. Consumes Stamina per vision or vision-based ability shared in either direction. Vision ability costs are paid by the user instead of the originator of the ability, if applicable | Child of Time |
| Moment of Prescience | Know a moment ahead of time when something will kill or disable you or someone you wish to protect. Activation is automatic. Cannot be activated more than once a minute. Consumes stamina in inverse proportion to the threat | Child of Time |
| Time’s Eye | Your eyes see the motions of Time as it stretches and changes. The hidden is easier to see and the false easier to see through. Consumes Stamina (Note: the Stamina cost is low enough that it can be maintained for hours at a time, though that will significantly reduce Serenity’s available Stamina for other uses) | Child of Time |
| Unbound | Time does not quite have the same hold on you as it does on others, and Fate does not rule you. You can slip between the lines of the future and past or even blur them if you have the desire and the strength. That which will be has no power over you, and you can break the strands of Destiny for others if you dare. This ability is always active and has always applied to you | Child of Time |
| Basic Identify | Identify an object to gain basic information on it, such as its name, basic properties, materials, and/or minor enchantments | Steadfast |
| Scale Hardening | Use Essence or Mana to reinforce your scales, making them harder to damage and more protective. Costs Stamina to maintain | Steadfast |
| Wait for an Opening | Study an opponent’s actions in combat to gain an intuitive understanding of the right time to strike | Steadfast |
| Second Wind | Convert some of a more filled resource pool (Mana, Stamina, or Essence) into an empty one. Consumes some of the converted resource | Steadfast |
| Stand Tall | Whether you are the last wall between your loved ones and your enemies or you simply love to fight, your ability to take a beating is exceptional. Blood loss, bruises, injuries, and even broken bones will not stop you. You can fight at the full effectiveness your body is capable of despite your injuries | Steadfast |
| Essence Sight | You can already sense Essence with your Aura. Sight adds precision and distance to your detection capability. This may be enabled or disabled at will. A visual effect may be present | Evoker |
| Physical Storage | You can store spells inside your own body to be evoked later. Stored spells may be evoked only by you and may be triggered at any time. All variable effects must be determined prior to casting. Stored spells will degrade with time and use of mana or essence in the area the spell is stored. | Evoker |
| Spell Conversion | You can convert the power of any spell you can Evoke into a ranged mana or essence strike. The power of the strike depends on the stored spell power. | Evoker |
| Store Spell | You may temporarily store spells in items to be evoked later. The item must be strong enough to hold the spell, and synergy with the spell will slow spell degradation. Stored spells will degrade with time and nearby mana or essence use. Storage of spells can damage items used. | Evoker |
| Designate Evocation Conditions | You may designate conditions on when a stored spell can be evoked. You can bypass any conditions you set, but you cannot bypass conditions set by other Evokers. This allows you to set conditions that will allow non-Evokers to Evoke stored spells, but spells Evoked by the untrained will be significantly degraded during the evocation. | Evoker |
| Take Shape | Take Shape - You may assume the shape of any Form you know. Your personality and goals remain those of the Void Sovereign. Number of forms that can be known is affected by Ambit. Accuracy of learned forms will decrease with time; rate depends on Ambit. Current known forms: Chimera, Hatchling Essence Dragon, Void Sovereign (Kernel), Human(?), Crystal Hilt | Void Dhampir of Essence and Mana |
| Merge | You may merge with another being. The merge may be contested. Success rate in a contested merge is affected by Ambit. Requires Void Sovereign form. | Void Dhampir of Essence and Mana |
| Entwined Magic | You can mix Mana and Essence magic freely, to achieve effects not possible with Mana or Essence alone. Passive. | Void Dhampir of Essence and Mana |
| Gaze of the Void | When you choose, you can infuse your gaze with the power of your connection to the Void. Effects vary. Power depends on Ambit. | Void Dhampir of Essence and Mana |
Void Dhampir of Essence and Mana Locked Abilities:
Level 50 - Aura of Magic - When you choose, you can reveal your Mana and Essence pools with your aura. Passively increases the maximum size and regeneration of your Mana and Essence. Increases the regeneration of others’ mana and essence at a slight cost to your regeneration rate. Easily sensed. Power depends on size and regeneration rate of mana and essence pools.
Level 75 - Void Protector - From your Void Sovereign form, you may envelop someone or something. Instead of choosing to Merge with them, you may choose to Protect them, giving them a layer of armor formed from your physical self. This may also leave a permanent Mark (consent required).
Level 100 - Mold Magic - You can alter magic that has been given a steady form. Passive.
[collapse]
Open Quests:
SpoilerTutorial Instruction
Restore the Lost
Path Quest Stage 3
Global Quest: Invaders
[Tutorial Instruction]
[Serenity must participate as an instructor in Phase One (training phase) of a tutorial at least once per Real-Time Day on average. Student participation is permitted when it does not conflict with instruction]
[Student participation into later portions of each tutorial attended as an instructor is permitted]
[Serenity may participate in additional tutorials as an instructor]
[Tutorials Completed as Instructor: 51/180]
[Mentor Quest: Restore the Lost]
[Goal: Find out a way for dragons to have lower-Tier eggs and hatchlings to allow their minds and bodies to grow together and prevent them from becoming Lost]
[Optional Goal: Find a way to restore those who have been Lost from their spirit form, physical form, or both]
[Optional Goal: Learn about other species with this issue. Generalize the solution]
[Reward: Unknown]
[Failure Consequences: None]
[Message begins: I don’t really expect you to be able to do anything about the Lost any time soon, but you have the best chance I’ve seen in millenia. If you can’t, maybe a descendant of yours will be able to. Message ends.]
[Path Quest Stage 3]
[Goal: Repel the invasions threatening your friends and family. Aid from others is permitted]
[Reward: Varies depending on number of invasions expelled and contribution]
[Optional Goal: Repel all invasions threatening Earth. Aid from others is permitted]
[Optional Reward: Choose the location for Earth’s World Core Interface Crystal]
[Penalty for Failure: None]
[Penalty for Abandoning Quest: Discontinuation of Path Quest, Change in Path]
[Global Quest: Permanently deal with all Invasion Portals and remove the threat of the invaders]
[Quest Status: 22/512]
Affected Locations Known to Serenity:
London (Active, Humans)
NYC (Resolved, Hegemon Worms)
Washington, DC (Active, Sterath)
Arlington, Texas (portal is in Dallas/Ft Worth area, bats notable) (Traa)
Tianjin, China (Resolved)
Serenity Settlement (Under Investigation, Rockfin)
[collapse]Lillene
It's been a while since I put a Status up. Not much has changed, so it hasn't seemed worth it. It's definitely time.
Serenity has deliberately not been pushing his Core progression; he's already suffering for being higher-Tier than Earth really supports.
