Infinite Realm: Monsters & Legends

To Improve

The agreement was made, the oaths given. For most of them at least. Eratemus was here in a vessel, disclosing what his true body and power was hadn’t been necessary. He had simply informed them of all that he could do in his current vessel. The Empire had chosen one person for each of them, one of their so-called Growth Guides. Only that person would be allowed to see the screens of the person they were assigned to, and the oath they gave meant that they would never be able to reveal what they saw.

The oath that Zach had given was the same, it meant that he wouldn’t be able to reveal anything that he was taught, any information that he was given about the way that the Empire raised their people. It was a good deal, an even deal. And that was where Zach saw the problem. It was too even, too good. It meant that they were far more desperate for help than anyone had assumed before. Even with the meeting that they had, the others had still been hesitant to really believe it. It was the oaths that they presented, the way that they agreed to Eratemus only sharing things that his vessel could do, that really convinced them all.

And so, they all made the choice, and agreed.

Zach sat in a small private room, arrays pulsing in the walls, keeping the conversation private.

“Your current Class Evolution is very interesting,” the kreacean, Tiks Orsh, said from across the table from him. He was the Growth Guide assigned to Zach, one who usually served the royal family. “I’ve never seen anything quite like it before. You’ve evolved your Classes in an excellent manner. A bit too spread out, but that is not always a bad thing. It offers choices for a wide array of situations. The fact that you had an Ethereal and Soul oriented Evolution is particularly good. We often guide our Classers to do the same—devote one Class Evolution to a Class that provides protection against Soul damage in some way. Your Stalwart Soul is not the best, but it is good enough.”

Zach didn’t comment, it was obvious that the man was in his own little world. So instead he listened, trying to understand and glean everything that he could from him.

“You built yourself as a mobile warrior, a swordsman with abilities and perks flavored by different Essences… On its own, it is a solid advancement route, but this… Last Sovereign of Terra perk, it is what pushes you above average. That and your last Evolution. I still cannot believe that you are a Ranker of the Seventh Iteration, and to think that there are two of you.” He shook his head. “Still, there is little that I can help you with concerning your Class, we have no guides for future Evolutions of yours, so the only thing that I can offer is advice.”

“Advice will have to be enough then,” Zach told him, hesitating only for a split second.

The man had to have seen something in Zach’s expression, because his mandibles chitterred in what he knew was a chuckle.

“You wonder if we have anything to offer? If we do this simply out of appearances?”

Zach shrugged. “I don’t know you.”

“True,” Tiks nodded. “Understand, all that the Empire has built was on the back of Classes. All of our might, our power, the wonders we have achieved. We know Skills, because they are tied to the drive and necessity. And we had that aplenty as we tried to survive in the hostile world, running and looking for a place to call home. A Skill cannot be taught in the traditional sense, but we can guide. The last focus, we know little about. Cultivation never took off in the Empire, in part because it takes a long time, or the right resources and knowledge, for someone to become strong. We didn’t have the luxury of that when we were on the run. We had to get power quickly and Class allowed us to do that. And later it just became… custom I guess.”

He leaned forward, his beady eyes boring into Zach. “I know about what they teach in the Settled Territories, or at least most of their factions. They don’t know nearly as much as we do, because they hoard their knowledge. A faction would keep their Class a secret, passing it down only to those worthy or their descendants. They would try to improve it, but realistically there is little that they can do when they don’t know much. That distrust is what was slowing their understanding. The Empire never had such an issue, we had to share all that we knew just in order to survive.”

“You think that you know more?” Zach asked.

“We do, without a question,” Tiks answered. “The wonders of our Empire came from our Classes.”

“The things I had seen, were impressive, I will give you that,” Zach said with a smile.

The kreacean chuckled again, then turned thoughtful for a few seconds. “Listen closely,” he started speaking again. “A Class is like a… tree. You start at the base, and then you grow up. Based on what you do, what you achieve and what titles you get that tree branches. You get to pick perks that you have satisfied the requirements for. At the start that isn’t a concern, there are so many basic perks that you will always have requirements for something. As you Evolve that changes, as you probably learned with your Immortal Class. So, as you climb up that three you pick your path, you could stay with the tree you started on, or you could jump to another, because the more requirements you achieved the more your branches spread and touch other trees. Or you create your own branches if you achieve a personal perk. So far, you’ve jumped over a few trees, but I would suggest that you stay on the one you are now. Variety in the early Classes is good, having different tools in ones repertoire is great. But now you need more power, and that comes from direct Evolutions.”

Zach nodded, somewhat relieved that he hadn’t screwed himself completely.

“I know what they believe in the Core, or rather how they view Classes. The way that they Evolve them isn’t exactly wrong, it works and it gives them power. But there are other ways to do it. A Class, like all other focuses, has… what we call mastery edge. It too can manifest a personal Perk, you already have one of those, your Last Sovereign of Terra clearly fits in that category. A personal manifestation of power, a perk that is flavored and titled based on you. We know that such perks don’t exist prior to being acquired, but once someone creates it, they became available to others. Usually such perks appear after the Immortal Evolution, primarily because that is when a Classer gets the time to understand their own Class and power, to grow. There is a misconception in the Core, or at least that is what our spies had gathered, that a Class only becomes a personal embodiment only with the last tier.”

He paused for a moment, tilting his head. “What do you know about the peak of Class?” Tiks asked.

Zach tilted his head. “Nothing.”

“Well,” Tiks started, his hands moving animatedly in front of him. “Once you reach the end of a Class you will be able to create an Oath.”

“An oath? You mean like a contract with the Framework?” Zach asked.

“Exactly like that,” Tiks said. “Only it is not with the Framework, it is an Oath with yourself and your power. It will allow you to put in conditions to your power, taking something away in return for more power, or something else. It has no limits, but your own imagination and how far you are willing to go. I have seen Oath’s that lower ones stats to barely those of a child in certain situations and make them a hundred times more powerful in others. It is all about being creative, and willing to make sacrifices.”

Zach blinked. He hadn’t known about oaths. That was going to be something interesting to plan out, and he had the time.

He inclined his head. “Thank you for telling me,” Zach said.

“Ha,” the kreacean chuckled. “You think that is all. Boy, I was instructed to make you better than you are now. To make sure that you can survive and help my people. I won’t fail in that duty. I cannot help with your Class, if it was something else… We would’ve been able to get you the requirements needed and Evolve you at least a few more tiers. Still, there is more that can be done.”

“Oh?” Zach asked, only somewhat surprised.

“Oh yes,” Tiks said. “Your Cultivation makes things difficult, it is fine for what it is, it has some benefit but it would be much better if we could remove it… sadly such things are rare even for situations like these. I doubt that we could get a hold of one, still I will put in the requests—you never know.”

Zach nodded, he knew how difficult it was to obtain such things. The one he had obtained from Gemheart had cost a lot, though he had called in a great debt for it.

“So, we will focus on other things,” Tiks said then put his hand over the table and started pulling out vials and bottles from his storage. “Your hand-sword is unlike anything that I have ever seen, and I will respect your wish to keep the way you obtained it a secret. Regardless, we can work on getting you another weapon that will suit you, armor of course, other items. But for now we can go with this.”

He gestured at the potions he had pulled out, there had to be at least thirty of them. Zach reached out and picked one up.

Grand Elixir of Might

Drinking the contents will grant +60 to base strength permanently. (The elixir loses effectiveness based on how many of the same type of elixir were consumed previously.)

Zach’s eyes widened at what he read. He glanced at the rest were something similar… then this was a true treasure, and it was all for him.

“We will start with these,” Tiks said. “Stats alone don’t win battles, well, in most cases, but they help.”

“Thank you,” Zach inclined his head.

“This is just a start!” Tiks added. “We might not be able to help your Class, but there are you Skills to consider.”

Zach looked at the kreacean, hesitating. Then he glanced down and saw the potions on the table, the wealth that they had just thrown at him. “I… there is something that I had been attempting to do with my Skills, I don’t know if you are familiar with the… technique.”

Tiks tilted his head, and Zach told him.

“Ah… yes… we are familiar with those type of Skills,” he looked pensive for a moment, then pulled out another elixir. He rolled it over his fingers and then extended it to Zach. “I have an idea about improving some of your skills, but if you want to do that… Well, perhaps we can do it both your way and mine.”

Zach frowned and took the vial from his hand.

Elixir of Halting Madness

Drinking the contents will grant the user immunity to Focus Madness for a period of three years. (The elixir will only be effective once.)

“It is only a stopgap,” Tiks said as Zach kept his eyes on the text in front of him. “It can only be used once, but it will allow us to improve your Skills a bit more. As long as you think that you will be able to advance your Class in a timely fashion. It is a bit of a short timetable, five years for the seventh tier of power in Class… but you are a Ranker, and your growth so far is impressive.”

Zach wondered what it was that they had in mind.

“Okay,” Zach said. “Yes, I can do that.”

There was no doubt in his mind. Five years, if he pushed himself, it was possible.

“Good,” Tiks said. “Drink these, then I shall escort you to a training room where one of our Skill Masters will wait for you.”

Zach didn’t have to be asked twice, he reached out and started drinking.

He walked next to Naha as they were led through an underground corridor. Both his and her Growth Guides were there. It seemed like they would be training together, since both of them will be focusing on Skills, and because they wanted for Zach and Naha to get better at using their True Link perks.

“They want to help me Evolve my Class,” Naha whispered to him as they walked.

Class wasn’t her main focus, so that had been on a back burner for them. They focused on her Skills.

“Any idea what kind?” Zach asked. Her next Class Evolution was the Immortal one, he wondered how it would impact her Skill immortality, if it even would.

“Not quite a direct Evolution, something called the Omnishifter,” Naha answered.

Zach didn’t have enough info to comment, and there wasn’t any more time as they reached their destination. A door filled the end of the corridor and the two guides stood at its sides.

“Your instructor is waiting for you inside,” Tiks said, his eyes focused at Zach.

Something in his expression alerted him to… a sensation. Something that he hadn’t really felt before. He frowned and walked up to the door. He tried to figure out what was wrong, when he realized that the sensation came from his arm. He raised his right hand, the Shade Reaver, up and placed it on the door. Immediately he felt the familiar sensation more strongly.

“Time?” He frowned.

“I was wondering if you could sense it. That arm is truly incredible. I hope that once you see that we only wish to help you, you share the means of obtaining it,” Tiks said.

Zach met his eyes. “Trust me, you don’t want to know what it took.”

Tiks tilted his head, but decided to drop the topic. He cleared his throat. “Time, our greatest Array Makers and Timesmiths came up with this. It is a chamber in which time flows differently, for every month out here, three pass inside.”

Zach narrowed his eyes at the door. “How?”

“Well, the details are beyond even me. As I understand it, they cut a piece of the Ethereal Realm out of it and bound it here.”

Zach was impressed, he hadn’t thought that something like this was possible.

“Everyone from your group, well, most everyone, will go inside one of these,” Tiks said. “Training for as long as possible, unless we need to push the mission up. Two of you will be spending the next two months, six in there, training on your own powers and improving. By then we hope to have chosen our own team members. Then we will have all of the mission team train together.”

That was smart, it seemed like they would have more time than they thought. The Empire kept surprising him.

“How long ago did you invent these things?” Zach asked.

“A hundred years ago,” Tisk said. “They are only a few of them. Creating them costs… a lot.”

Zach pulled his hand back, he glanced at Naha and then turned to face the kreacean. “We’re ready.”