Icarus Awakens

Lograve could not fully comprehend what had happened. Telepathy, by its nature, required the ability to sense minds. If acquired early enough, it could only be used to sense if a thinking creature was nearby. Later on, he could use it to learn what they were thinking, but not now, and though he was close, at level four he could only bridge together Telepathic Links to form a Telepathic Network.

Even if he had the benefits of level nine Telepathy, he couldn't explain what Daniel had done. Why had the Artificer come here? Lograve had seen him loping down to the bottom of the world, too paralyzed to do anything but scream into Daniel’s mind to run. He hadn't listened. Daniel was slumped to the ground, worse than dead, and the dragon was now the farthest worry from his mind.

The old scripts came readily to him, the lore of the Origin Beasts. All was speculation, old knowledge, and conjecture viewed as heresy by the churches. Like neglected armor it had rusted and been poorly patched for so long none could tell what its original form had been, but the shaky consensus believed them to be the gods of the monsters that had come with the Crest to try and take this world from the Octyrrum.

The stories were true. Terribly true. Something strong enough to steal souls was a power beyond levels. It was waking now. Hatching. Lograve had feared that was happening earlier when nebulous clouds of light had issued forth from a crack in the giant shell while the earth rocked violently.

Only monsters had come of that and not even strong ones, all things considered. They’d ignored Lograve thanks to Invisibility, the power he was pouring all of his mana into to remain hidden. It normally cost too much to use for this long, but if he stayed perfectly still, as he had, he could sustain it for over a day.

Daniel was dead, unmade, and the small crack in the magical shell was widening. Slowly enough that he didn’t believe it at first until the crack had branched. Lograve took what felt like the first breath in a day and realized something. If it didn’t matter, if it was already waking up, why was he hiding? This thing hadn’t taken him and it had had many hours to do so. Was he to just wait here to witness the monster fully wake? It would be a dubious distinguishment, second to fall to an Origin Beast. Second in the line of all mortal kind.

No. No, only he would know what this was. The things he’d read couldn’t be found in his library, or any other library that operated legitimately. Others would merely mistake this as a level nine monster and react inappropriately to its true nature. He needed to warn his friend. He needed to warn the world! Lograve took a step forward. Subtle noise stopped him in his tracks. It was coming from the body in front of him. The moving body. Daniel? He projected his mind despite himself and the fear of what would respond.

Ugh, headache, came the groaning reply. Mental responses could carry more subtleties than voice, going further than just tone and inflection. With acquired instinct, Daniel pulled out the strange Focus he carried and started reading from it. The language it projected was beyond this world and Lograve’s understanding. If there was time, that was something the Arcanist wanted to change. Somehow that was still an option.

…

Daniel’s head hurt. He got like this sometimes after taking a short nap in the middle of the day. You’d think more sleep would be a good thing, but the dream had been intense, to the point that he’d woken drenched in sweat. What had happened? Did I hear Lograve? Daniel was starting to remember what had happened before the dream. I should read my phone first before thinking about that. The notifications didn’t last and there were a lot of angry ones.

Alert: Attempted Unidentification targeting you has failed due to Fundamental Law: Immutable Soul.

-

Alert: Unidentification affecting various Concepts related to you has been removed due to the destruction of its source. You still possess unidentified knowledge requiring Level: 10 power or higher to identify.

-

Alert: One of your Souls has been removed by hostile Effect: Communion. You still possess one soul.

-

Alert: You have lost Bond: Dual Soul. The following benefits are lost:

- Soul: Rorshawd Alimar

- Synchronous Advancement of Strength and Intelligence

- Synchronous Advancement of Endurance and Wisdom

- Acquisition of Powers from Class: Totem Warrior

-

Alert: You have lost Class: Totem Warrior. You will no longer gain Powers from this class, and your total level has been reduced to the sum of all levels from other classes you possess. Powers already derived from the lost class remain available to you. You can no longer bind a Focus to your lost class.

-

Alert: With the loss of a Class, you now possess Attributes corresponding to a higher lever than your total class level. Additional levels in another class may be gained until this disparity is resolved, so long as you possess an appropriately advanced Core Attribute.

What the fuck? Daniel looked up, scrambled backward, and yelped as he put pressure on his left ankle. In front of him was what could only be described as an egg, towering though it was. Exactly one hundred meters tall according to Quick Mind, and surrounded by a dark red aura. Lines of indescribable color traced over the outside of the egg in patterns he couldn’t comprehend, intricate enough over the large surface that he could barely make out the lines. It was a very shaky suspicion, but something told Daniel he wasn’t seeing anything real in those lines, but physically manifested mana. The one blemish in the shell was a crack halfway up, slowly widening.

Origin Beast - (???)

Hands were on him. By reflex, Daniel summoned his talons to break free but stopped when the voice entered his head again. Quiet! Be quiet!

Daniel couldn’t see what was touching him. More likely than not it was Lograve, the voice in his head sounded like him. Could he be sure? Who guards your library?

I do! There was a pause, then the slightest hint of mirth. Gadriel’s brother. That exchange convinced both of who the other was. How are you still alive?

The phone was tilted back to where Lograve should be before Daniel remembered he couldn’t read the language. Where to even begin? I could just read off the notifications and see if Lograve understands anything.

As it turned out, the Arcanist knew even less than he did. Not about Rorshawd, the name Daniel faintly remembered from the fading dream, or the Dual Soul bond. Only the terror in Lograve’s mind carried through the mental link. The conclusion was that they needed to get out of here. Now. I can do it carefully, Lograve thought. All you’ll have to do is not freeze to death or wake… that. Ice began spreading out from under Lograve to coat the ground. The magic did nothing for the cold that chilled wherever it touched, which did help Daniel's sprained ankle.

Does that feature give you ice immunity? Daniel asked.

Lograve shook his head as he slowly stretched out his hands. The motion mimicked the spreading of the ice, hands turned down. Hardly. Some of us are just used to the cold. The hands turned up, and the platform he’d made began to rise. The others, did they survive?

The ice was numbing Daniel’s feet as he sorted the past week in his head again. Tak and Sigron are hurt bad. Khare too, but it looks like they can grow back. Everyone else is fine.

Was it the summoned monsters?

No. Daniel sighed and told Lograve everything. They had time, the ice disk’s movement was slow and uneven. Most of the bumps in the ride came when topics like the dragon, the level five monster hunt, and Sigron’s arm came up. Can that be healed? Daniel already had an answer for that but hoped Lograve knew better.

Most likely, no. That kind of healing is as rare as an honestly humble Hero. It’s not consistently found before level six, at least the kind that affects other people. Now, there are potions or similar consumables that can bridge the gap, but good luck finding any here. Part of the disk skated against the wall and Lograve adjusted its course. The rock was difficult to see in the dim light. Daniel had long ago learned that the auras from his identification ability didn’t cast any actual light and true night had finally set in. Lograve nodded, remembering something, and explained further. I suppose you haven’t had the chance to read about this, fighting monsters four levels above you as you were. All most healing does is repair damage. Crippling or disfiguration is a different matter. Lograve unabashedly gestured to his face with that. Regeneration stands out as an exception, although its rate of healing is slower compared to other powers and limited to one person. Fire weakens it, and necrotism can snuff it out entirely.

So Tak should be fine?

Eventually. Just like how Khare only needs to sit in a sunned pot to recover. Sigron, however. Lograve grimaced. Nothing can be done here, at least.

The ice circle ran up against something again, tipping slightly. That was odd since Lograve had just adjusted its course. The walls of the chasm surrounding the Origin Beast were smooth, they didn’t have protrusions that could catch the disk. Not everywhere, at least. Rock with faint orange coloration jutted out from the wall. Whatever it was wasn’t living, Identify Creature did nothing to it. What is that?

Just a pile of lapis we’re casually bumping into. I can’t believe it! Lograve brought the disk back down to level it and nodded his head towards the lump. See if you can pull that out, but carefully. If you slip or wake it, we won’t be in for a good time. No matter how surprised finding this strange rock made Lograve, the beast below cast an unbreakably grim fog over the Arcanist’s mind.

Daniel put a foot on the wall, feeling that his ankle was already better. The 'slow healing' of Regeneration was relative to the fact that Thomas could have instantly cured him, in every other way it was marvelous. Kob's vines rooted as he settled in. They’d lasted for an hour or so now and it wasn’t clear how long they’d stay on him. If he wanted to they could probably be pulled off, so he didn’t worry about it. I wouldn’t mind this at all if it didn’t feel like I was covered in snakes, Daniel thought to himself as he grasped the rock, only for the vines to spread out around his hands.

Just like climbing trees, pulling rocks out of walls was an activity Daniel performed far more easily with his powers and level. Not that the chunk of orange material came free instantly, that took a few yanks. When it came loose Daniel almost dropped it, and himself, over the edge only to be saved by the leg he had pinned to the wall.

With it in his hands, Daniel tried to inspect it closer. There wasn’t much to see, rock had crusted over the majority of the surface. Touching one of the few exposed surfaces revealed something else. Magic? Khare’s knife, well, his now, had a slight tingle indicating the power in it. It wasn't a physical vibration but something triggering a sense Daniel didn’t have before coming to this world. This stone didn’t tingle, it was closer to how the sun felt on the skin through a magnifying glass. The tip of his finger wasn’t burned, though he’d pulled it away as soon as he’d touched it.

Ah, Lograve’s thoughts reached out to him as he brought the disk upwards again. I hadn’t thought about that, sorry. That material is above your level. Mine too. Don’t take it as rejection, it’s just not that into you.

What? Is this alive?

No, it, mmm. The Arcanist probably would have scratched his head if his arms weren’t busy. Let me back up. This is about the special materials required for Artificers to enchant. It’s a hard restriction for your class, though Arcanists and a few other classes can ignore it in some circumstances. Craftsmen, Clerics of Star, etc. Artificers are still the best at enchanting, I have to admit, though numerically most enchanters are specialized Arcanists or Clerics.

Daniel looked at the ore resting on the ice and wondered why it mattered. Him tripping Lograve into teaching mode seemed to be calming both of them down, so he continued asking questions. Arcanists can make things from nothing?

Arcanists can make fire rain from the sky. Lograve glanced at his ice disk. Well, some can. Arcanists still require material for powers that allow creation of permanent items instead of temporary ones, but enchanting through Artificer powers always requires receptive materials. On the other hand, not all Arcanists gain a power that enables item creation. Those who do learn what they can make and how to make it instantly, but they can never learn other formulae. Star Clerics are in a similar boat power-wise. Even the followers of the god of enchantment can’t beat Artificers at their own game, and that rock is one of the reasons why.

Is it andorite? One of the miners had mentioned that before and Daniel had intuited how valuable the chunk of material in his hands was from how Lograve kept staring at the visible orange surface.

Better. Andorite is appropriate for the creation of level two items. Usually for metallic weapons or armor, although there are ways Artificers can interchange material requirements during the creation process. I digress, and my knowledge of that is second hand from someone who really doesn’t like talking about his own craft. Suffice it to say heliorite, that material, is meant for level five enchanting. I'd hoped we'd find something here that would allow you to start putting out more than exploding sticks, but I'd never imagined something like this.

How am I supposed to use it? The idea of enchanting was pushing back the creeping dread from soul consumption, monsters bigger than Kob, and still being underground. At least Daniel could see the sky.

I'm not sure, if I'm honest. There isn't as much information out there on rare classes for reasons you can imagine. Artificers have several ways to gain formulae through either observation of existing magical items, experimentation, or other more esoteric methods. You seem to have a weaker version of that second method already, though I don’t think that will work here. You haven’t stumbled on anything close to the first, have you?

Daniel thought about the spark torch that had been with him this entire hunt. Despite the odd feeling that he should have some kind of power to gain ‘real’ formulae, nothing he had sounded like it would work that way. No. I guess I'll have to keep advancing and try and gain whatever power that is.

Well, no pressure but you are our best bet. We don't have the infrastructure to allow Smiths to use this material, or the Smiths themselves. You, however, could if you knew a proper formulae. It's a concept known as material requirement interchange, as I mentioned before. In theory, you could use far less level five material to create a level two item over how much you’d need for the same level five item, perhaps even imparting special qualities. Handling it during the enchanting process might be tricky, but once the item is completed it would be appropriate for you to use. Even if you don't have a direct use for it now, keep it. We might as well have, no. Lograve didn’t smile but it was clear he wanted to. We actually did trip over it. While running away from the end of the world no less. Just don’t let anyone you don’t trust know you have it. If you do figure out a way to use it, wait until you discuss with me so I can make an assessment. I have a feeling we’ll need every gram of that material and it’d be a shame if you wasted it making Hunter a collar.

End of the world? Daniel couldn’t tell if that was Lograve’s normal glibness or not but the repeated doomsaying struck him. He pondered that for a while until he felt Lograve’s scrutinizing gaze. What?

You just had a soul ripped out of you and it wasn’t even yours! I was paralyzed with fear by that thing for the better part of a day, and you don’t seem bothered.

Oh, I am. Daniel would have laughed if either were using their voice. It’s just, it answers a lot of questions. Why I have a second class and all that. Not the actual how of how it happened, but it seems like the kind of thing that happens here. After being dragged out of my world and given a talking cat I just started accepting that weird things like this happen. Am I creeped out that there was another soul in me? Yeah. But it’s gone now so that’s a relief. Even if I lost a class.

Things like this don’t just happen here! I don’t know how many times I have to say, er, think this to you, but you are an odd man Daniel. The defeated exasperation was clear in the Arcanist’s thoughts. Well, I don’t know everything, like I said. Most of what I know is based on knowledge from this Realm. It could be that this ‘Dual Soul’ bond nonsense happens regularly elsewhere. I wouldn’t put it past the Seventh Realm to be recklessly pushing the boundaries of reality. In any case, Lograve followed up, overriding Daniel’s prompted question, You have fought a level five, nearly lost your companion, and have now encountered the strongest threat known to mortal kind. Has your answer changed?

My answer?

Why you fight. Why you continue on this path. It is important to understand where your motivation comes from. I find myself questioning that now. Daniel had to think, privately, about that for a moment.

It’s basically the same. Help my friends and get stronger. The dragon complicates things and I have no idea what the thing down there means, but it feels possible. I feel like I can live here instead of just survive. If I had to boil it down? It’s like I have something to live for.

I’m sure a young Arcanist has a hand in that, Lograve thought with a smile. Enjoy the time you have. You’ll never know what the future holds. On that note, I worry about what has happened to the others in our absence.

Daniel looked around for a moment. They’re fine. Most of them are back in Roost’s Peak and it looks like Kob’s actually near the top of this shaft. We can check with them once we get there.

Lograve blinked slowly. Well, I just remembered why I missed having you on the training team. While I think that power isn’t solely restricted to Artificers, it seems more potent than the records of Identify Creature I’ve read would indicate. Are you sure there’s nothing from Totem Warrior interacting to complement that feature?

Besides Hunter, I don’t think- oh. Oh god damn it, I should have- Lograve looked briefly alarmed as Daniel retrieved his phone, rapidly tapping on the screen, then curious as the Artificer started reading. Daniel didn’t notice, he was too happy.

The hidden tab on his Settings app was revealed now. It was a list icon, like the one that held his Artificer class details but red instead of blue. Also, as an aside, he had earned two advancement potential during the hell that had been this mine. That was a lesser concern as Daniel could now see the powers Totem Warrior was giving him. They were all there with full detail and not even a hint of unidentification.

Totem Warrior – Level Two

You are a totem warrior, a Class that embodies the Ideals of natural strength and affinity. Your Core Attributes are Strength and Wisdom. After taking this class, your strength will increase twice for every committed Advancement Potential, and you will require two advancement potentials to increase your Intelligence by one. Your Focus will take the form of an icon of nature. Your choice of focus may influence certain Powers you receive. Should you bind a different focus, powers already acquired will not be changed.

Legacy Totem Warrior Features:

- Balance (Feature, Dexterity, Domain: Universal, Level: 1): You possess the Power to improve coordination and movement reliant on preciseness and surety of footing.

- Graceful Fall (Feature, Dexterity, Domain: Restoration, Level: 1): You possess the Power to control descent through the air and reduce damage taken from falling.

- Natural Affinity (Feature, Wisdom, Domain: Illusion, Level: 1): You possess the Power to passively calm or Charm Creatures: Beast within a short range. Unless threatened, beasts of a Level equal to or lower than this feature will not be hostile towards you. Beasts of a level lower than this feature will be Charmed. This feature does not function while you are in the presence of sentient creatures who do not also possess this feature, although creatures charmed by you will remain charmed. You may have a number of creatures up to your Level charmed by this power at a time.

- Regeneration (Feature, Endurance, Domain: Restoration, Level: 1): You possess the Power of a natural Healing factor, improving your natural healing rate and expanding what you can recover from. This effect scales with your endurance. Type: Necrotic damage, and Type: Fire damage to a lesser degree, can weaken or inhibit this feature.

- Regeneration: Mana Burn: Healing rate is increased during rest, scaling with the amount of consumed Mana required to fully restore you.

Legacy Totem Warrior Abilities:

- Attune to Nature (Ability, Wisdom, Spell, Domain: Knowledge, Level: 1): You possess the Power to gain information on surrounding terrain and Creatures in undeveloped areas around you through expenditure of a moderate amount of Mana and one hour of concentration. The range of this ability scales with your wisdom and is dramatically decreased if used on settled areas. Creatures above your Level ignore this ability. This is a Magical Ability that does not function in an area of Magical Suppression.

- Claw Strike (Ability, Strength, Attack: Natural Melee Weapon, Domain: Transmutation, Level: 1): You possess the Power to take on a Martial Aspect of a bird of prey. Through expenditure of a minor amount of Mana, you may transform one or both of your hands into a form that enhances strength, defense, and striking power for a short time. Continuing to Channel this ability prolongs the effect for a low mana per second cost. This is a Magical Ability that does not function in an area of Magical Suppression.

- Cleave (Ability, Strength, Attack: Melee Weapon, Level: 2): You possess the Power to make a sweeping attack that damages enemies in a wide arc in front of you. This ability requires a moderate amount of Mana and a melee weapon you can use alone. This is a Magical Ability that does not function in an area of Magical Suppression.

- Grow Feathers (Ability, Dexterity, Spell: Natural Ranged Weapon, Domain: Transmutation, Level: 1): You possess the Power to take on a Martial Aspect of a bird of prey. Through expenditure of a minor amount of Mana, you may grow sharp feathers on your arms to use as short range projectiles. Additional mana can be Channeled to increase the amount of feathers available for use. This is a Magical Ability that does not function in an area of Magical Suppression.

- Jump (Ability, Strength, Utility, Domain: Universal, Level: 1): You possess the Power to improve the distance and height of a jump. Up to a moderate amount of Mana can be expended this way, with the effect scaling with mana expended and your strength. This is a Magical Ability that does not function in an area of Magical Suppression.

Well? Lograve asked while Daniel was rereading the list.

I didn’t even know I had some of these. Having them in front of his eyes was a sudden revelation. He was now fully aware of how to use them, feeling Cleave and Grow Feathers at the ready just like Snap Shot or Scatter Shot. Did he just need to read them on his phone, or had that soul blocked him from understanding? It didn’t matter. Daniel knew he didn’t even have to think to bring forth the talons in his hands, though he opted for something else for his first test.

Lograve raised an eyebrow as feathers sprouted from the side of Daniel’s arms. Only ten, giving an unflatteringly balding appearance to the skin. The color was different from before, golden with streaks of blue and white. It was oddly similar to Hunter’s fur. Daniel flung his arms out, one at a time, while shifting the heliorite between arms. Each feather struck within half a meter of the others on the far wall of the shaft.

I can use Snap Shot with this! Daniel was beaming, thoughts of what lay below temporarily forgotten. The mana cost of the feathers wasn’t much individually. The ability read like a shotgun blast, with high damage and accuracy fall off. However, Snap Shot applied its bonus to all the feathers thrown at once. The synergy might be as powerful as Hunter’s augmentation of Identify Creature. It was just a shame he wouldn’t get any more Totem Warrior powers. That was a cost Daniel was willing to pay if it meant no more hitchhiking souls.

Impressive, Lograve thought honestly. Especially considering you realized the combination almost instantly. That ingenuity, if nothing else, is like a power unto itself. Daniel nodded graciously with the comment, trying not to smile. The end of the world may be right below him, but his friend was closer. They were almost to the top of this shaft, even. The question of how they’d get down the cliff surrounding Roost’s Peak was valid, but worst case Lograve could levitate them again. Daniel then thought of Claire, waiting for him there, and stopped hiding his smile.

…

The thing at the bottom of the world was not truly awake. It was awakening, a slow process for one such as itself due to the magnitude of its being. True return to this world was a complex process involving several metaphysical tasks that only remotely correlated with the mortal equivalent of rising in the morning. Still, the way had been opened, setting into motion a return with all the inevitability of a landslide that began with a single dislodged pebble.

And yet, through the open sliver of the thing’s metaphorical eyes, it saw much. It knew much of the world from its followers, from all of mortal kind within its reach. There were many truths they did not understand until it was far too late, which it was now. A tendril of the entity’s mind called out to the world, only finding what it expected. None of its kin were active, none across the breadth of this Realm.

It was the first, then. The spark to burn all that this world was, to make the cinders from which a new system would be forged. A demonstration. That was what the so-called Origin Beast decided to make its first conscious act. The horde it had spawned earlier was a mere reflex to the presence of unfriendly creatures. It hadn’t feared for itself but hungered for the deaths of the mortals. To think, its minions’ failure had brought it salvation.

A demonstration. There were… 107 mortals in the adjacent area. Over ten times that many in the artificially sectioned off zone it occupied, all clustered together, as mortals do. Ready for slaughter. But how to bring about their end?

At present, the Origin Beast could bring forth a creature of power equivalent to one at the high end of level five. It understood perfectly the differences in energy state between levels and between creatures in each level. Mortals had such a simple grasp of their exponential nature, and they were the only things that thought of the world that way. The entity could strip away that falsehood in its thinking superimposed by the work of its enemy, but the apex of mortal kind had assured its creations still had to abide by those rules.

That said, one creature of that strength could easily kill everything nearby with the advantages it would have, even considering the aberrant monsters that time had let slip from the dominion of the entity. One monster. One monster would be summoned to deny them any hope. A swarm would take losses. A pack of elite creatures could still lose one before completing the eradication. The god would not give them that satisfaction.

Such an occasion deserved something special. The first ensouled monster since… No. The god registered surprise as something in the surroundings stung its thoughts in defiance. With the mortals, there was already one monster that had almost completed the repair of its spirit. Already, it had regained true sapience. The entity paused to consider this development, taking time to extend its senses. No, there were no other monsters of this ringcat’s like anywhere in the region, or the Realm, or anywhere in the world. How could this have been done while the Octyrrum was cut off from the Astral?

No matter. First or second, its champion would scour the mortals from the world. Perhaps it should delay until it had gathered more power, until it could spawn a higher leveled creature? No. The god had waited long enough. It was time for Communion’s secondary purpose.

The crack in its shell, now twice as large, began to dispense that which the Origin Beasts once used to weave all monsters into being. The ways it could influence the world were limited in scope, though it was a flaw the apex mortals shared. The general shape took as the entity spared a moment’s thought towards the nature of this beast. Fire, it decided instantly. This region did not support the element as well as lightning, but the mortals’ strongest warrior was weakest to it. Fire to burn, fire to cleanse. Fire to wreak upon the world the fury of the once defeated, once dreaming.

The process of the champion’s creation became self-sustaining and the shard of the entity’s active awareness faded as it reconstructed the soul it had captured within the forming monster. The god had enough for one more monster of just below that quality, but no more souls to spend. All that was left was the small passive accrual and the slow waking process. There would be no more champions until more aspirants found their way here. It decided to save the energy it had left, just in case an opportunity arose or another intervention was needed. For now, the smallest fragments of itself would watch and enjoy the carnage.

Rorshawd, reborn and resplendent, looked at the world with different eyes and saw only what needed to be killed. Spreading his wings, the dragon took flight.