Infinite Realm: Monsters & Legends

Troubled Waters

Ryun leaned over the railing on top of the center part of the ship. The Kraken Slayer, was… a very unique ship, at least from what Ryun had seen. It was made out of metal, in many ways it resembled a modern ship, or perhaps things that Ryun had seen in movies back on Earth. A super advanced warship that looked intimidating and powerful. It was massive, with a large crew, enough so that Ryun’s sense could barely count them all.

Its appearance didn’t surprise him that much. He had been expecting something like this for a while. The Infinite Realm was far less… primitive than it appeared on the first glance. Formations, arrays, powers that could shape stone and wood were common. Every commodity that Earth used to have, could be found in the Infinite Realm. It was in many ways more modern than Earth ever was. And it was still developing, the core philosophies of this world were far different than Earth. Everything was about taking and controlling territories. It was why people-built fortresses, why cities had walls. The only way to really take land was to gain control of the Interface.

He had seen a lot of modern looking things, though that word didn’t really appeal to Ryun. Everything in Infinite Realm built on what the nine races had done in the past. They just used new tools and played in a world with different rules. They had to rediscover the rules, to build things from different building blocks.

The ship itself looked menacing, the turrets or rather what appeared to be turrets, were on both sides of the ship. Three at the front, and three at the back. Ryun didn’t know what they did, but to his eyes every part of this ship seemed to be made out of the same type of Essence. It was… strange. There were traces of other kinds of Essence, but… He had some suspicions about what the vessel could be.

They were surging across the waves, faster than he expected. Almost four dozen ships were sailing all around them. None of them were as large as the Kraken Slayer, and he had seen many different types. A few looked like old Roman ships, with some modifications if he wasn’t mistaken. He didn’t know anything really about sailing and boats other than what he had learned through the media, and those memories were… old. But there were also some unique looking ships. It was… inconvenient in the sense that he couldn’t go to up to the Void Plane and cycle. Which was… annoying. He did have a bit of Void Essence in crystals, but he preferred to use Essence from the plane itself. He had done his Evolved Inspiration, and had cycled a bit, not enough if he was being honest. Especially with the way that his core now worked. He could overdraw and increase the amount that his core could hold.

Though, he had already increased his Qi capacity by a large margin. He would need to get into a really prolonged encounter in order for him to drain all of his Qi. In the end, there was no need for that just yet. And he did want to get as much as he could from each stage.

He turned his eyes to the night sky. There was no crest around the moon, as no one ruled this territory. But he did know that it was a territory, every part of the Infinite Realm was. He was curious as to how someone would own and get something out of a territory that was only water though. Still, it was a passing curiosity. The ships around them were all running dark, there was no light on them at all. Apparently, there were some monsters that were drawn to it. They had been on the water for a bit over a day already and had been attacked by some strange flying monsters a few hours before night turn. Apparently, there was an island nearby the place where they passed that they nested on. They hadn’t really been an issue, a few of the ships on their outer formation had dealt with them easily enough.

With his senses, he could tell that most of the crew was resting or in some cases sleeping. The ship did something to muddle his senses, but it didn’t stop them completely. Erdania and Selia were in their quarters, talking softly, they had an item or something that completely shut his sense out so he couldn’t tell what they were talking about. Him overhearing what they were talking about during their trip had to be the reason for their precaution. Or perhaps it wasn’t targeted at him at all, but at the other crew members. Zach and his partner were on the other side of the ship from Ryun, as far away as they could get. They hadn’t even exchanged any words. Ryun understood and respected that. Despite the fact that their last encounter went… well, how it went, that was a far different situation. Perhaps after a few days they might exchange more than a look, and if not, Ryun would respect that.

From among the other members of their team he hadn’t spoken with anyone either. From his senses and context, he knew that Selia and Erdania were familiar with two of them, and that the third was somehow in a coffin. But those things didn’t interest Ryun that much. What was intriguing to him, was one of the three team members, Vryull Klaar. The man was a cthul and wore an all-black robe that covered most of his body. Ryun had sensed something strange about him when he first met him. Now, he was certain that the man’s body was somehow connected to the Void Essence. It was a strange sensation, unlike anything that he had felt before. He didn’t spend a lot of time near Classers, as this man obviously was. He could feel no Qi from him, instead it was… something similar to the Void Plane. He had been near other Classers, but he had never felt something like that from them. Perhaps it was his familiarity with the Void that made that possible, he didn’t know.

He wanted to broach it with the man, but he was unsure how to even begin that conversation. Fortunately, it seemed like he wouldn’t even need to. The man was heading his way.

Ryun remained in place and waited, as the man walked out on the deck and headed in his direction. The cthul came to a stop next to him and looked out in silence.

Ryun stood patiently, intending not to be the one to speak first.

“We were not properly introduced,” the man said. “I am Vryull Klaar.”

Ryun glanced in his direction. “Ryun Nacht.”

The cthul looked at him for a long moment, and then spoke again. “You are a Void Cultivator.”

“I am,” Ryun said.

“And yet you are not a crafter,” the man said. “Most Void users are.”

Ryun tilted his head, then shrugged. “Never tried my hand at that, and I am the only Void Cultivator that I know. I have no reference for what others use it for.”

The man’s eyes narrowed at Ryun.

“Combat Void users are rare, both Classers and Cultivators.”

“Really? Why?” Ryun asked.

“It is… difficult to master that power effectively. It is one of the most purely destructive powers in the world. Most that try to go down that path end up doing more damage than they intended, or they end up killing themselves.”

Ryun could see that. Void was highly destructive, he had found things that were resistant to its effects, but nothing was ever fully immune. Though he didn’t quite understand how the Class powers even worked. “You are a Void user too,” Ryun commented.

The man nodded. “It is rare for me to meet another who utilizes Void in the same manner as I. If I am not mistaken, you are a Seventh Iteration Ranker, you wouldn’t have known about the aspects prior to arriving here. How did you decide to use it, how did you even find it? If you don’t mind me asking, of course.”

Ryun thought about whether he wanted to respond or not for a few seconds. Ultimately, he didn’t see any harm in it, and perhaps the man would reciprocate.

“The Path that I follow is called the Path of the Final End. I felt that the Void was appropriate. How I found it… Well, each Ranker brings with themselves a one-use aspect, or several of them rather. I combined what I was given.”

“Really? I never knew that,” the cthul said. “I guess that would be something that Rankers wouldn’t want to be widely known. Still, Cultivating Void must be difficult, yes?”

“It is more challenging than difficult, for me at least.”

“I’ve always been amazed at what Cultivators have to do in order to increase their power,” Vryull said. “It is admirable.”

“How does one do it for a Class then?” Ryun asked.

Vryull looked away, his eyes landing on the ships illuminated by the moonlight. “It is difficult to obtain a Void related Class, and most of them are… useless for combat. More geared toward utilizing the Void to cut off pieces of space, or purging certain elements, which lends itself well to crafting certain types of items like spatial storages. I would prefer not to reveal anything about my particular Class, you understand, but suffice to say my people know the requirements for the more combat related Class. Though, I am the first of my people that has taken it this high.”

Ryun couldn’t really tell the man’s level, not without using his ring, but he didn’t want to invade his teammates privacy any more than he already was. His sense allowed him to unwillingly spy on everyone, and only a few bothered with some prevention measures like what Selia and Erdania used. But he was certain that the man was high level, he could feel the Essence of the Void, or perhaps the better term was an echo of it.

“I understand,” Ryun said. “I always wondered how it was for Classers, in terms of where their power comes from. A Cultivator creates techniques through his Qi and conduits, for Classers it seems like it just happens.”

He had always wondered how the Class abilities and perks worked.

“It does,” Vryull told him. “Well, not really. Where a Cultivator takes Essence and converts it to Qi, a Classer converts his own resources into Essence. The higher level the Classer, the higher tiered the Essence that gets created.”

Ryun nodded as that made sense. Qi was Essence that was under the complete dominion of the Cultivator. Cultivation perks were in most cases improvements on the body. While Class had much more variety. They could have effects that had far more unique effects.

“So, what does a Void related combat Class look like?” Ryun asked, not really expecting an answer.

Vryull surprised him with an answer. “We are going to be working together, I know that Eratemus planned for us training together and familiarizing with each other’s powers. So, I guess that there is no harm in telling you ahead of time,” he paused for a moment and closed his eyes. “A Void Class is about denial of every other power, about the obliteration of everything in its way. It is nothingness, an oblivion.”

Ryun concurred with his description. Void was all those things, at least what his own understanding of it was. He felt like Cultivating Void was different though. He took that Essence inside of his core, he felt it, he experienced it destroying his body from the outside in, and from the inside out. It made him understand it better. In his mind, the Void in the Infinite Realm was a physical Essence manifestation of the concept of oblivion. It had tangible presence, it was… there.

“Yes,” Ryun said. “It is all that.”

“I always wondered, what a Cultivator would think about it. To me, Void always felt like a force of nature. Something that almost had a will of its own. Something that didn’t care about anything or anyone else. As if it was above everything.”

Ryun tilted his head, trying to wrap his mind around that. In a way he could see it. Void was… untouched by everything else, or rather it didn’t concede to influence of anything else. In a way, it was like him, so perhaps it was just his own experiences and ideas that influenced that belief. He wasn’t quite sure, but he did know that different people could look at the same thing and see completely different things.

That was true for everything in life. Experiences, memories, events, and sources of power.

“For me, Void is a…” Ryun paused as he gave it some more thought. His Ideal felt close to the answer, but it was more geared toward the end of his path. The thing that he wished eventually to become, to see the end of all things. It fit, because Void was what in his mind would remain until the end, and perhaps beyond. “Void is the power to end all that are in your way.”

“Hm,” Vryull said. “Yes, it is that.”

Ryun felt… strange discussing this. He had never had anyone who he could talk about his power in that way. But now… the conversation felt like it had reached its natural conclusion, and he didn’t quite know what to say next. After a few seconds, he opened his mouth and spoke.

“Why are you on this mission?” Ryun asked.

Vryull glanced at him before answering. “Why indeed. Because I understand that this threat needs to be dealt with. Because there is an opportunity here for great rewards, and at the very least increase in power. Killing a Dome Leader will be an achievement worthy of a grand tier 9 Class.”

That Ryun understood perfectly. Gaining power was always a goal. It was what living in the Infinite Realm was all about, at least in Ryun’s opinion. Power did not always need to be destructive. Crafting, information, and many other different things were power too. People just needed to find a way to leverage the power that they had in order to gain more of it.

Ryun relied on his strength, on his capability for Cultivation. It was what he knew to do, and he did it well. And yes, his main reason for coming on this trip was in order to find Nayra, but he also came because he sought power. Fighting monsters from the dome would grant him that. It would push him to greater heights. He had taken the last three years slow, improving himself as much as he could. Devising ways to utilize his power that he hadn’t thought about before. He was satisfied with what he had accomplished. He had learned a lot about himself. For one, he would never be a great martial artist, he was decent, but he relied on his overwhelming stats more often than not. And he wasn’t conflicted about that, it was an advantage that he had, it would be foolish of him not to use it.

He hadn’t been able to change his |Sword Art|, but he hoped that combat might change that. He had always been able to grow more while in direct conflict. When he was fighting for his life, when he was killing.

“What about you?” Vryull asked. “Why are you here?”

“You know Selia and Erdania?” Ryun asked in turn.

“We are… allies in a way. We’ve worked together before, yes.”

“I am here because of them…” Ryun paused. He didn’t wish to reveal anything about their perk, though many that had seen what they had done had probably inferred something about it, but there was no need in explicitly revealing everything. “They asked, and we’ve already fought the monsters from the Dome before. But I also have my own business in the Empire, which made coming an easy decision.”

Vryull raised his brow. “How could you have gotten involved with the Third Iteration? Most people don’t even know of their existence, and you are from the Seventh Iteration.”

“They’ve… taken something from me,” Ryun said. “I intend on retrieving it.”

The cthul seemed like he was about to ask something, but then changed his mind.

“Well, I hope that you succeed,” Vryull said.

“As do I,” Ryun said.

“Thank you for this conversation, it is rare for me to be able to speak with people who use Void as the main component of their build,” Vryull told him.

“Of course,” Ryun added. “When you are free again, I would love it if we could speak more on the topic. I am… attempting to get a better grasp on what Void is.”

The man inclined his head and turned to leave.

The ship suddenly lurched, and light pierced the night as the ship’s turrets opened fire. At the corner of his sense, Ryun detected a fast-moving shape heading straight for the formation of ships.

Ryun turned his eyes in that direction, but he could see nothing through the haze that so much fire power from the ships created. His sense, however, told him that a massive shape was heading toward them, larger even than the Kraken Slayer.

“A sea monster,” Vryull said. “Looks like a Serpent of the Depths.”

“Should we help?” Ryun asked.

Vryull shook his head. “One alone is not a threat to the fleet; we should let them handle it.”

Then, suddenly he felt several things happen at once.

Battle Roar—Ryun felt his stats increase.

And then he detected a dozen more serpents heading in their direction.

“Now,” Vryull said. “We should get ready to help.”