Infinite Realm: Monsters & Legends

Past and Troubles

“Ah,” Harkon paused as he considered Zach’s question. The three of them, Harkon, Zach, and Naha, were in the training chamber, sitting in the corner where all of their supplies were. Training was going well, and both of them were getting better, stronger.

“A tier nine skill is hard to obtain, for several reasons,” Harkon started answering his question. “First and without any compromise, it requires an event or an action, something that marked—or scarred—you deeply. Something that left an imprint on your soul and mind. Attaining a tier nine skill means shaping a skill that you possess around that mark. It… warps the result, makes it into something that is not easily controlled. Every tier nine skill holds incredible power, but it also holds a downside. A price for using it. How big of a price it is, depends on what the mark that shaped the skill is.”

Zach wondered what qualified for such a mark, or how his tier 8 skill would look if it was evolved to that level.

Harkon interrupted his thoughts. “You shouldn’t think about that. There is a reason why few have them. For the first nine tiers, one can compensate with the power of pure will, which you have. But a tier nine… it takes a long time, centuries for a mark such as that to form,” he glanced at Naha then. “You… perhaps you could get it.”

Zach didn’t doubt that Naha could, but he also felt like Harkon’s assumptions and beliefs were… they were the result of a thousand years of training of learning. Yes, he did not doubt that Harkon and the Empire knew a lot, that what he had said was right. But he also knew that the Framework was… more than what they thought. They all looked at it and saw a set of rules that were immutable, but Zach had been born in a world without it. He had seen change, and he had experience in pushing the Framework. It wasn’t here to restrict them, it was… a tool to allow them to climb.

Perhaps Zach wouldn’t be able to achieve a tier nine skill anytime soon, but that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t try. He glanced at his screens, looking at his tier 8 skill. It was powerful, a three step technique, a set of moves. It had… developed or perhaps the better word for it was solidified itself, into a powerful attack move. It was an attack that he had developed with two weapons, one in each hand, but skills were… they weren’t, or at least his, wasn’t that restrictive. He had been able to use it with a single weapon as well. His will was what gave it power, what made it work in the way that he wanted it to. He wondered what it could evolve into, what could he tie into it and how it would affect it. He didn’t quite understand how that worked.

“Harkon,” Zach said, interrupting the man’s rest. He glanced in Zach’s direction expectantly. “What, or rather how, does this mark impact a skill? Do you have any examples for me?”

The man narrowed his eyes, and for a moment Zach wondered if perhaps he would refuse to answer, but then he spoke. “Revealing that would be… the same as if I was giving away someone’s weakness. But, luckily for you there are a few people whose skills and downsides are known. I can give you an example. Junr Elo the Captain of the Emperor’s Guard has a defensive skill, nicknamed the Shield of the Empire, though it’s name is |I Stand And Hold|. The event that marked him is easy enough to tell based on what the skill does. Centuries ago, he was part of a battle that decided the winner of the War of the Three Houses. He and his forces were found surrounded and outnumbered. Yet, somehow, they held their positions for three days, long enough for reinforcements to arrive. They say that he spent all three days on his feet, standing, never losing any ground. When activated, his skill gives him incredible defense, but it makes him unable to move, while it is active and for a while after.”

Zach could see how that could be a downside. “And what about passive skills?”

“The same thing, only the downsides are active all the time.”

Zach blinked, wondering if it would be possible to get a skill that made you stand still at all times. But he was a planner, and for now he just needed to figure out what he wanted his skill to be.

The Empire’s capital was beautiful, at least on the surface. Zach saw tall buildings, made with obvious care and craft lining the cobbled stone streets. Everything was clean and taken care of. One was hard pressed to imagine that they were even at war, that just a few leagues away at their walls an enemy force was laying siege. Though, there were signs, if one took the time to look deeper.

There were people on the streets, but their steps were hurried, their eyes looking straight. There was a purpose to their walking, everyone seemed to have a place to be, no one was just walking for the sake of it. And then there were the shops. Most were empty, only a few entertained customers and from what Zach had been able to see the exchanges were quick and to the point. It was… as if people were only out to complete tasks, which was what he suspected. From the outside, it might’ve looked like the city was not at siege, but now Zach could see that everyone in it was working to help the siege somehow. At least out in the city proper.

The few people that he had seen in the citadel had been a bit more relaxed, though it was also obvious that they were of a different social status. From what he overheard they were the members of the great houses, what amounted to the nobility of the Empire.

Still, he did enjoy walking down the streets of the city. After months of training, one day dedicated to just relaxing was what they needed. Naha was looking around, her eyes taking everything in. It surprised him, she had been alive for a long time, but the Empire’s city still managed to surprise her. The architecture was grandiose, everything built tall, it reminded him of the big cities on Earth, only larger, as if everything was made for giants. Naha was obviously enjoying the sights.

Her eyes were wide as she looked at everything around them. He couldn’t help but smile at seeing her like that. They didn’t have many opportunities to just relax. Though, they did have an escort of one. A single guard from the citadel followed them behind, although, Zach was sure that he was there as a guide. It wasn’t like they had anywhere to escape to, or even desired to. And the people around them didn’t even know who they were.

“Oh,” Naha tugged on his hand. “Look at that.”

Zach turned his head and looked in the direction that she was pointing. It was a small bookshop. She led him inside, her eyes taking in the books on the shelves around them. It was… strange to see books in this world, they were rare, or at least they were in this format. It was clear to him that the books on the shelves were fiction titles. As the two of them walked in, the short man sitting behind a counter looked up, his eyes widening at the sight. Zach was wearing his new armor, without the helmet, trying to get accustomed to it. Naha wore her set as well, which… left little to the imagination, especially in her base form which was an amalgamation of several different races.

“Uh…” the drake’s mouth hung open, looking at the two of them and then glancing at the guard behind them. His expression changed when he saw that the guard wore the colors of the citadel’s guard, but he was still obviously taken aback by Zach and Naha. It was probably not every day that people dressed in full armor entered his bookshop.

“Good day,” Zach said. “We were just wondering if we could browse, for a bit.”

The drake blinked and then quickly nodded his head. “Ah, of course, of course.”

He hurried around the counter and smiled at them. “I am Librarian Derill, the owner of this fine store. What can I help you with? Are you looking for something specific?”

The way that he said librarian made Zach think that he was telling them his Class. Zach had noticed a few others doing the same here in the Empire.

Naha was the one that answered him. “These are all fiction?”

Zach saw the look in her eyes and was reminded of the time when he fell in love with her, with Quell. She had always appreciated books, though they were rare in the core. The stories that they had on their own worlds were lost, everything in this world was a recreation. A few people had abilities and perks that allowed them to recreate works of art perfectly, but even less used them for such a purpose. Written word… it did not hold the same value here in this world.

“Not all. I have some historical books over here,” he pointed to a different shelf. “Though, how true they are is up to debate. Most are filled with the religious texts and stories of what the people believed before the Framework. A really fascinating topic, if one is interested in such things.”

Naha walked over, looking over the book titles, then she paused and reached out with her clawed fingers to gently pull a book from a shelf.

“Oh, that one is quite interesting to read, their beliefs were really unique among the races,” Derill said.

Zach walked over as Naha opened the book slowly, and read what was written inside. The book was wrapped in animal skin, and the paper was rough. It was obvious that it was made a long time ago, by someone just learning what they were doing. The pages were tied with what Zach was pretty sure were tendons.

“These are all from the Third Iteration?” Zach asked.

The drake frowned, as if that was a stupid question. “Of course.”

And Zach did realize that for him it probably was a stupid question. He looked back at Naha, seeing her reading the book.

“What is it?” Zach asked after seeing the look on her face. He wasn’t sure if she was sad or happy, but he could almost see tears, threatening to spill out.

“It is the same,” she whispered to him and he looked at the text. It was a poem, or something like it at least.

“The ravzor prayer to their Goddess of the Hunt,” Derill added. “The ravzor were really interesting as a people, nomadic, living in tribes and very in touch with nature and the cycle of life, as they called it. It is unfortunate that nothing like that can exist in a world like ours.”

Zach understood what Naha meant. Each Iteration of the same race was slightly different. They broad strokes were the same, but the details were not. The big three types also had bigger differences, physical which made their histories different as well. It was the same for Human Iterations; the orc type of humans evolved in lush forests, their skin tones were the result of their need to stay unnoticed as they hunted. Brown and green tones blended in a lot more than anything else, and their on average greater strength—at least pre-Framework—came from the need to stay up in the trees for longer. The elf types evolved with the need to stay alert, on the look out for a predator that didn’t exist on the other Iterations, their larger ears were the result, giving them the ability to hear better. His Earth was the same, they had evolved as endurance hunters, much more so than the other Iterations, and so they had on average greater stamina, could keep going for longer. The Framework had made all those differences immaterial, but there were reasons for them.

But, overall, there similarities in their histories, in their mythologies. They saw the same sky, and wondered about the same things.

What Naha meant was that what she read, the prayer, was the same as the one on her world, on her Iteration. He was happy for her, that she could see something that could let her remember the past and the time when she was someone else. Her madness was… under control, most of the time, almost all the time now. But it was still there, he could see her fighting it.

“How much is it?” Zach asked the man.

Derill immediately got a glint in his eyes and they started haggling. In the end, Zach paid more than he had expected in Essence, but it was worth it. They browsed a few more books, but didn’t get anything else. Zach tried to keep the past where it belonged as much as possible, and there wasn’t anything really interesting from the human Iterations for him.

They walked out of the bookstore with Naha having a big grin on her face, her book safely stored in her storage space. With the sun slowly turning into the moon, they headed back to the citadel. Their one day of rest nearing an end, there was a lot more time for them to use in the training chamber.

Zach dodged left, as the wind announced the arrival of an attack from above. The spears meant to impale them shattered on the ground, ice flying everywhere. Their guard wasn’t fast enough, one spear pierced his torso, and another his head. The man’s own shadow rose, capturing and pulling him in, leaving no trace of the body. Zach hoped that those attacks weren’t Ethereal or Soul based, the guard had immortality, based on what kind, he could still survive. Both Naha and Zach activated their True Link perks, and suddenly he could feel her. More attacks came, and Zach changed his arm into his Wind Blade, then used Wind Master to move the ice spears and himself out of the way as he dodged, Naha evaded on her own, on the other side of the street. Her awakened weapon shifting into claws around her hand as she pulled out her new dagger in the other.

Zach did the same and pulled out his Wicked Rapier of Conquering, then looked up at one of the lower rooftops. Two people jumped down to the street from above, and Zach felt the wind shift behind them. He glanced back and saw one person step out of the shadows. They were strong, he could tell. The wind sent him whispers of silence around them. The area they were in was somehow cut off from everything else, even though they were still in the same street. He hadn’t even noticed, but now… the sky seemed like it was too still.

One of those in front of them, a wingless-karura, carried a long staff with a blue gem on top, the other a drake, carried a shield and a sword. The attacker behind them was a human, and had two daggers.

“I am sure that you have the wrong people,” Zach said slowly.

“No, we do not,” the man with the staff said. “You are here to do bidding for the false Emperor, his vision cannot come to pass.”

Zach blinked, not quite understanding what these people wanted or who they even were. “We are only visitors here, we do no one’s bidding. We don’t need to do this.”

“If we believed that you would simply leave this place and his plans if asked, perhaps. But you will not, you are the same. This is for the True Way, and the glory of the Dealmaker.”

Before Zach could even try to figure out what that meant, they moved, and he moved too. Naha jumped back, heading for the human while he headed for the two in front. He burned through his perks, activating them. There was no use in holding back, they were strong and he didn’t know what was happening around him, how they had trapped them. There was no holding back, not when there were so many unknowns, when their lives were at stake.

For a moment, Zach stood still, activating his Temporal Fighting.

Phantom Avatar activated, boosting his stats, then Ancient Heritage.

He blinked across the distance, leaving the blink to the side of the swordsman, keeping him in between the staff user and himself. He triggered Lord of Grace and Woe, changed to his Time Blade mid swing and attacked. He swung his blade from above, the enemy raised his shield and Zach’s sword passed through it with no effect. He could tell that the man was confused, he retreated, lowering his shield as he jumped back. Zach’s blade came a split second later, he gouged through the man’s armor, opening him up from the shoulder to upper chest before he raised his shield and stopped Zach’s blade. A wave of force exploded out of the shield, sending Zach flying backward through the air. The man yelled and a blast of force followed behind the first. Zach blinked through the attack, getting back close to the man.

The Last Sovereign of Terra activated, and he pulled from it even as he attacked with his rapier. He stabbed and the man raised his shield to block, but no attack came. Again he tried to move back, but Zach’s attack hit his shield when he was mid step, pushing him back and making him stumble to the ground.

Spears of ice flew over the falling warrior, heading for Zach’s head. Three spirits came out of him, coalescing out of gray mist. Their swords blurred, cracking the spears and sending ice all over the ground. One of the spirits was holding a rapier, another a katana, and the last a sword made out of bronze.

Without needing to be told, Musashi, Yiuha, and Salvator charged the ice wielder and Zach jumped for the man rolling to his feet. He cut through the man’s head, but by now he realized that something was wrong. He placed his shield a moment after the attack came, but then there was no attack to follow. Zach saw the man’s eyes widen, and he knew what he was seeing. Zach’s real movements came a moment after his image, but that meant that the image followed what he was about to do. In the moment when he changed his intention, his body blurred, his image splitting into several different possibilities, until it finally settled on one.

Zach yelled, releasing Rift Shout. The man staggered back, and Zach followed after him, disabling his Temporal Fighting. He bent his knees, and got low, pushed his willpower and then he moved.

|Technique Set: Temporal Tempest, Three Fold Strikes|

He dashed forward, and his opponent reacted to what he saw. He expected Zach’s real attack to come a moment late—it didn’t. Two attacks coming at the same time hit him from both left and right. His rapier cut into the man’s right hip and his blade cut just beneath the man’s left shoulder, cutting his shield arm clean off. All of his buffs, his new armor set, his weapons, it all added up along with his skill. There wasn’t anything that the man could do to stop his attacks. He took the second step and the man’s entire body light up, his sword blocking one of the attacks. It wasn’t enough, the second hit him on the other side at the same moment, opening up his stomach. Zach jumped, twisting in the air and cutting down. He split the man’s head in two, from top to chin, with his rapier, his blade followed, splitting his torso and groin. Two parts of his body split and fell to the side.

Zach raised his eyes and saw a boulder made out of ice smash into Musashi, pulverizing him and sending gray mist flowing back into Zach. Salvato got impaled by ice smashing through the street, dissolving as well. Yiuha roared a battle cry and jumped at the karura, but then all the ice on the ground sped towards her, reshaping into icicles that dissolved her as well.

Zach looked at the man as he turned his attention to Zach, seeing his dead comrade. He snapped his beak and raised his staff. A boulder made out of ice manifested and flew toward Zach, he blinked to the side, only for ice to rise out of the ground and freeze his legs. The boulder twisted in the air, heading for him again. Zach bent down and struck at the ice with his blades even as he activated [Aspect Wings] on his back. Two wings beat down, and he jumped, breaking the last of the ice and getting in the air as the boulder flew by. It cracked, and shards flew toward him. A pillar of ice appeared above him, then shattered into spears. Attacked from both sides, at the same time, he didn’t have a choice but to blink away again, now near his opponent. He triggered his [Aspect True Sight] to better see the attacks, and then used [Aspect Whirling Wings]. The ice mage raised a wall of ice and Zach smashed through it. The enemy wasn’t where he used to be, and Zach triggered Slow Time and jumped on instinct to the side. Ice spikes rose from the ground slowly, and he saw the mage a short distance away, standing near a small weak point in space.

He reached for the plane of the wind and used Greater Rift Tear. A blast of wind exploded out of it and hit the mage, sending him flying across the street and into the wall on the other side. Zach followed, his wings beating and pushing him forward, riding the wind that filled the street now. The ice mage rose and pointed his hand at Zach. Faster than Zach thought possible ice formed in front of him and then shaped into a golem.

Before it could even swing Zach stabbed forward with his Time Blade releasing his Unleash Arsenal. Nothing visible happened, but the golem melted, the ice turned to water and water evaporated, leaving a dumbfounded mage standing behind it. The karura’s eyes widened, he pulled his hand back and his entire body shattered into ice. Zach landed and turned around and saw pieces of ice smash together and the karura reform on the other side of the street.

He looked down at his hand, at the black feathers turning white at the talons growing and cracking, at the skin withering. He gestured with his other hand and an ice sword cut his hand off at the elbow, ice covering the wound quickly after. He looked at the hand on the floor as it decayed and turned to just bone and then dust in a span of seconds. Time was the most devastating aspect in Zach’s arsenal, and few things could stand against it.

Karura glared at Zach, and then a person stepped out of the shadow behind the mage. Karura glanced back, saw his human ally and turned back to watch Zach.

“The other one?” karura asked.

“Dead,” the human said.

If only the mage had taken more than a glance. If only he had seen that the human’s clothes were filled with holes, bloody, and that there were no wounds to be seen behind those tears.

The karura hefted his staff, and spoke. “Be careful, he is very dangerous, has some—”

Naha’s dagger stabbed him through the back of the head, and her other hand caught his throat, the claws of her awakened weapon digging deep, spilling blood. With a twist, she tore the karura’s head off and threw it on the ground.

Zach sighed, letting his perks go. His stamina had held better than he had expected, but he still needed to work more on his management of it.

Naha walked over, tearing the stolen clothes off her body and putting on her new set from her storage as she shifted to her base form while walking.

“They are immortal,” she told him. Zach hadn’t been able to tell, aside from knowing that they were strong. What kind of immortalities they had would dictate if they would live or die.

A sound that resembled glass cracking filled the street and Zach looked up. He saw the sky break and the real sky replaced it, slightly dimmer for the time that had passed. People rushed into the street, Harkon with people wearing the Citadel Guard armor following close behind.

They looked at the two of them, the destroyed street and the two dead bodies.

Harkon cursed. “Fuck,” he turned to look at one of the guards. “They were supposed to be unable to enter the city.”

The guard grimaced, but didn’t answer.

Zach walked over. “You know who they are, I presume.”

Hakron’s expression hardened, and he nodded. “Yes, but we can talk later. We need to get you back to the Citadel, this wasn’t the only attack.”

Zach and Naha exchanged looks, and then allowed the people to escort them back. Both very interested to hear what they had to say.