Death: Genesis

Zeke stumbled through the gate, and after a brief moment of nothingness, appeared next to the green pillar of light that dominated the Cradle of Life. He took a deep breath, drinking in the vitality as he continued to use [Touch of Divinity]. It wasn’t that much more effective outside the dungeon than within, but it was still enough of a difference that Zeke couldn’t ignore it.

Casting his mind into his spatial storage, he saw the Seed of Life and Death next to the other treasures he’d gathered. They were quarantined in a section of the storage area well away from anything else and separated by thick walls decorated with various runes. He hadn’t consciously built the chamber; instead, it seemed to have reacted to his subconscious desires. It was a good thing it had, because if any of his people came into contact with those treasures, they would surely perish.

To confirm that he’d satisfied the requirements of his quest, he pulled up the notification:

Quest: Multiple Attunements

Objective: Gather natural treasures representing the nine major classifications of mana.

Progress:

Fire 0/1

Ice: 1/1

Water: 0/1

Earth: 1/1

Wind: 0/1

Nature: 1/1

Arcane: 0/1

Poison: 1/1

Disease: 0/1

Life: 1/1

Death: 1/1

Zeke found his progress a little disappointing, but he was surprised to find that the Seed of Life and Death didn’t satisfy the requirements that had originally been listed on the quest’s objective. Instead, two new categories – life and death – had been added. At his current pace, it would be decades before he completed the quest, especially if he kept adding different requirements rather than satisfying the ones that already existed.

“The others will be much easier,” Eveline said, having recovered enough to offer her insight into the situation. Her voice was still weak, but she was better off than at any other time she’d experienced the effects of [Wrath of Annihilation]. Perhaps she was growing stronger. More likely, she’d developed an ability to shield herself from the devastating skill.

“I hope so.”

“Remember that the more different types of mana you gather, the more effective the reward will be,” she pointed out. “This is a good thing. Life and death are not usually represented in this sort of thing, much like faith and corruption. That you’ve managed to gather a treasure for both is something of a miracle.”

Zeke hoped that was the case, but at the moment, he was far too exhausted – both mentally and physically – to deal with hypotheticals. He wanted to complete his quest, but most of his actions had been driven by other goals. So, he intended to keep going as he was, and only when he got a little closer to completion would he actively seek out situations where he could obtain the right treasures. In the meantime, though, Zeke meant to get a little rest before addressing the issue of his skills.

So, he and Talia set off through the ruins of the Cradle of Life, finding it mostly deserted. Every now and again, they saw mutated animals or powerful abominations, but they never passed close enough to cause any issues. And eventually, they reached their destination after passing through the abandoned sewer system and arriving at the large chamber where Zeke had left his gate active.

Talia went off to help her friend, while Zeke headed into the tower where he quickly met with Kianma and Silik, who told him how things had gone in his absence. Outside of a few skirmishes on the edge of the Cradle of Life, the expansionist faction of El’kireth had remained mostly quiet. In addition, his people had made great progress in rebuilding the infrastructure of Adontis, which they’d used to help the formerly enslaved beastkin get back on their feet. A few of the braver ones had enlisted in Zeke’s army and moved into the tower.

Training had continued as the kobolds made use of the arena dungeon, and their levels had skyrocketed. Still, there were quite a lot of kobolds – not to mention the beastkin and the centaurs – so it wasn’t quite as large of an increase as Zeke might have expected. Still, it was good progress.

“The assassins are the standouts, though,” Kianma stated, referring to the ten kobold rangers Zeke had imbued with some of his power. He’d done so via [Benevolence], and it had apparently given them abilities associated with his path. They were now quite deadly, even beyond their levels, and Silik had more than a few ideas about how to utilize them in battle.

Eventually, Zeke heard all there was to hear, so he retreated to his manor and settled in for some well-earned rest. After eating and taking a shower, he went to bed, and after spending weeks awake, he finally surrendered to sleep. He was unconscious in seconds.

When he awoke, he didn’t remember any dreams, but he felt more energetic than ever before. So, it was with a clear mind that he finally looked at his status:

Name

Ezekiel Blackwood

Class

Arcane Colossus

Level

89

Race

Cambion (E)

Attunement

Earth (E), Demon (D)

Alignment

Unchosen

Titles

n/a

Path

Arcane Destruction (C)

Strength (S+)

161

Agility (C)

40

Dexterity (B)

40

Endurance (S+)

140

Vitality (C)

40

Intelligence (A)

70

Wisdom (S)

72

Resistances

Fire

Ice

Water

Earth

Wind

Nature

Arcane

Poison

Disease

S+

D

E

S+

E

D

A

C

D

In addition to the automatic allocation pattern of his class, Zeke had spent his two free points per level to even out his agility, dexterity, and vitality, while putting the remaining points into strength. His reasoning was that it remained his most important stat, and it gave him the most return for each point invested. It only made sense to keep his points there now that he’d managed to get his other attributes to an acceptable level.

But even more exciting than his stat gains was the fact that he had suddenly gained the opportunity to choose another skill. At level eighty, he’d gotten a slot he intended to fill by creating another skill, but he wasn’t quite ready for that. In addition, he was still working on an upgrade for [Bulwark of the Triumvirate]. So, he was looking forward to having a little time to himself so he could work on those projects. First, though, he needed to choose from the skills offered by the Framework.

The first option was:

[Prosperity] (B) – You are a magnanimous leader. Channel your divinity into others, increasing leveling speed and path comprehension among your dedicated followers. Upgradeable.

“Uh…is that as good as it seems?” Zeke asked aloud.

“It is,” was Eveline’s answer. “But that’s not how this is supposed to work. They are there to funnel power to you, not the other way around.”

They’d had that discussion before, but Zeke didn’t agree with her. He had no intention of leeching off of his followers. Instead, he wanted to positively influence his people, raising them to new levels. And given the nature of the first offered skill, that was precisely what it would give him the chance to do.

Still, he moved on to the next:

[Atlas Hammer] (B) – To a hammer, everything is a nail. By sacrificing a powerful weapon, empower the skill to summon a mighty hammer infused with the power of a titanic god. Upgradeable.

“Pass,” Zeke muttered.

“Wait – don’t dismiss it,” Eveline said hastily. “Think about this for a moment. It’s similar to your quest for the Hall of Affinity. The stronger the base component, the more powerful the result. In this case, it would be a weapon infused with your divinity, the might of your hammer, and the power of a B-Grade skill. It would make for an unreal combination.”

That made some sense, but Zeke wasn’t so sure about sacrificing the weapon that had been with him almost since the very beginning of his journey through the Mortal Realm. He’d gotten it as a reward from his first quest, and even then, it had been an extremely powerful weapon. Since that time, it had slowly evolved into a devastating part of his toolkit.

But had it reached its peak?

Maybe it had. He’d only managed to add one ability over the years, and even that wasn’t terribly useful. Sure, it gave him a little reach, but that usually didn’t matter that much. Rare was the time when he couldn’t simply yank an enemy to him via [Center of Gravity] or just leap at them from afar.

So, maybe Eveline was right. Perhaps he should consider [Atlas Hammer] as a viable option. The only question was whether or not it would retain the weight-shifting feature of his current weapon. If so, then he would be free to take it. However, that ability to adjust its weight based on his strength was the key to harnessing his immense might. The fact that the description didn’t specify that it would retain that ability gave him pause.

He moved on to the next available skill:

[Hammerfall] (B) – Destruction and hammers – your forte. Summon a series of hammers that revolve around your person. They will automatically attack anyone you deem an enemy, but you can release them all at once in a devastating attack. Upgradeable.

“Oooh…”

“Please don’t pick that one,” Eveline groaned.

“What? Why? It looks perfect!” Zeke argued. Indeed, hammers and destruction definitely described his journey since being reborn.

“Do you want the logical answer? Or would you prefer the truth?”

“Both?”

“The logical answer is that you already have two large-scale attacks,” she said. “In addition, you normally have no issues dealing with smaller-scale threats. If it’s powerful enough to hurt you, then it’s probably too powerful for the first part of that skill to affect. Even at B-Grade.”

“Oh. And the real reason?”

“It makes you seem like a lunk.”

“I am, though? You say it all the time.”

“Teasing. Nothing more. You’re smarter than this, Ezekiel. Both [Atlas Hammer] and [Prosperity] are better. That is fact,” she said. “And as much as I hate to admit it, the first is probably the right choice.”

“That wasn’t what you said a moment ago.”

“Because I’m tired of you empowering others!” she hissed. “But think about your own life. How often has your path made the difference between life and death for you?”

“More than I can count.”

“Do you know how difficult it is to improve the comprehension of a path? It is the work of a lifetime,” she said.

“It hasn’t seemed that difficult for me,” Zeke said. Indeed, he’d had an instinctual grasp of his path since the very beginning.

“That’s because you are a humanoid monster,” she said with a slight chuckle. “That [Prosperity] skill has limitless potential, especially when you take into account how hard the kobolds work. With that, they will be an army like no other. In time, you could conquer the world.”

There was certainly a temptation to pick something else just to be a contrarian. He hated when Eveline dictated his actions. But he couldn’t argue with her logic. He’d already been leaning toward [Prosperity], and even though [Hammerfall] sounded pretty fun, its scope was not on the same level as something that could aid his entire force. The same was true of [Atlas Hammer].

Personal power was great. In fact, it was the foundation upon which his army had been built. But he already had plenty of destructive power at his disposal, and he would get more with every level, not to mention that he could always build a skill to shore up his weaknesses.

So, as much as he wanted to take the other skills, he chose [Prosperity].

The moment he confirmed the choice, the tower began to tremble. Then, it shook as if under the influence of a massive earthquake. Mana surged to an incredibly high level before, suddenly, everything settled back down.

“What the hell was that?” he breathed.

“I believe that was everyone in the tower making a connection to their paths,” Eveline said. “This…this is going to change things. Mark my words, this might have been the most important choice you’ve ever made.”