Infinitium

You have chosen Ascend.

Checking Prerequisites, One of the following must be True.

Tier I Rare Class at Level 100

Tier II Master Class at Level 100,

Both Conditions met.

Required Secondary Prerequisites:

All adjusted attributes over 1,000. Only Base attributes modified by Efficiency count toward this requirement, items do not count toward this requirement.

Requirement Met.

10 Skills at Master Rank or higher

Requirement Met

All Prerequisites for Ascension have been met.

The notifications paused as the room around Adam shifted and he was left floating in a void of white. Sense Chaos reached out and immediately identified that he was alone as far as his senses could reach. Unfortunately, there were no reference points so he couldn’t say exactly how large the area was. The area he rested in was larger than Earth but smaller than the size of the Milky Way galaxy. Adam also noted that there was a boundary to this spherical dimension.

A moment later new notifications began scrolling down his vision.

Congratulations! You have reached the Paragon of Mortal Existence!

You have chosen to elevate from your mortal existence, To help you with this transition information about the ascension transformation process will be provided to you now.

First, You will be truly Immortal. Your physical form will be altered to consist of mostly Divine and Spiritual energy. You will still have a physical form which will be based on your mortal form.

Second, You will retain all abilities, titles, and perks of your mortal form…

Once Adam read that line, he closed the notifications and activated Shape Reality. If the SYSTEM had expanded into the Spiritual and Divine realms and he had a Skill that allowed him to tweak the rules, why wouldn’t he use it to speed this process up and maybe tweak the changes in his favor?

Adam smiled as he activated Technomancer and established a connection to the SYSTEM. The first thing he did was review all the changes that were about to take place. It looked like his abilities, attributes, skills, titles, perks, and spells were to remain the same and that a new attribute, Divine Energy, or DE, was to act as Experience Points for a new Divine Class while Karmic Luck was going to be used to level his ascendant form. He had to first achieve level 100 as an ascendant before he could assume a divine role.

Adam did a quick search to figure out what happened to any XP he had above and beyond that which was required for him to reach level Tier 5 Level 100 and noticed that the SYSTEM had not created a situation where XP would need to be converted after the ascension process was chosen. When Individuals reached Tier V, Level 100, XP was discarded and actions generated Karmic Luck or DE. Adam looked over this new process and immediately thought that It sucked. Why the actions taken as a mortal would be discarded… Adam just shook his head and decided to fix this problem.

Adam activated his Creator Skill Establish Reality and linked to the Forge of Creation, which forced a node to appear before him in this Ascension Domain, what he’d decided to call this dimension. Adam linked the SYSTEM to the beta test Universe with Racoon City in it and established a connection with his ascension process for himself to that beta test.

Instead of creating whole new divine classes, he modified the system to allow DE to be gained and either spent on Divine Skills or converted to XP at a 1 DE for 100 XP ratio. The Class system he’d created was much simpler than what the SYSTEM had been using and his changes to Ascension would expound on that simplicity. Instead of a five Tier SYSTEM that separated the rarity of classes among the Tiers: Tier 1 (Common, Scarce, Rare), Tier 2 (Advanced, Master), Tier 3 (Epic), Tier 4 (Mythical), Tier 5 (Legendary). Adam changed it so that each Class could be any of the rarities and that an individual could then be multiclass to another class which could also be at any of the listed rarities.

Leveling each class became progressively harder based on the rarity, but Adam kept it simple and increased the multiplier. For instance, to achieve level 1 in a common class would require 1,000 XP. To achieve level 1 in a Legendary class would require 8,000 XP. Then once a second, third, fourth, or fifth class was added all XP awards would be divided evenly among every class the individual had. This would give those individuals who decided to stick to one class a definite advantage because they would be able to level the single class much faster.

He also made sure to remove the level 100 cap for each Tier. It was an elegant change to the Class SYSTEM. Each class could now have a rarity which would increase the benefits the class gave. Prerequisites were required of course but now there could be Common, Scarce, Rare, and even Legendary Fighters, Wizards, or any other class that existed.

As for Ascension, there was no reason to limit those that would be gods so he removed the Karmic Luck limit and allowed classes to continue leveling after Ascension. As he was looking through the SYSTEM at how Karmic Luck or DE was earned he couldn’t believe how complicated it was. A good ascendant could perform evil acts, or vice versa, and then convert that negative karma to good karma at a 2-for-1 ratio. This was overcomplicated. At the time of ascension, all actions from that point forward would receive positive DE that would help them level and earn Ascendent level skills. This would also allow for Ascendent who wished to remain neutral for the most part, which didn’t seem to be a choice the SYSTEM allowed. Well, at least a choice the SYSTEM made very hard to progress along.

Adam looked over the changes he wished to implement and then accepted the changes. Immediately notifications filled his vision.

SYSTEM Update Noted.

SYSTEM Beta modification Implemented.

Classes Updated, Levels adjusted.

Attributes Adjusted

Skill Points Adjusted.

Spell Points Adjusted

Psychic Skill Points Adjusted.

Skill Levels Standardized to Numerical Values.

1,735,448,753,897,750,000 XP divided between the following Classes.

First Class: Rare / Mentalist / Level 15,211,612

Second Class: Master / Agent of Chaos / Level: 11,782,864

Third Class: Epic / Polymath / Level: 10,756,234

Fourth Class: Mythic / Reality Editor / Level: 9,958,338

Fifth Class: Legendary / Creator / Level 9,315,173

Remaining XP 0

Karmic Luck: 810,000,000 Noted

Ascension Path’s available: Good or Neutral

Adam was chaotic by nature and chose the Neutral path. He didn’t want to be beholden to any ideology based on good or evil.

810,000,000 Karmic Luck harnessed during Ascension.

Ascendant Level 1,272

All Base Attributes increased by 10,600.

Hit Points, Stamina, Mana, and Psychic Energy increased by 63,600.

Spell and Psionic Slots increased by 19,080.

Skill Slots Increased by 11,448

Ascendent Skills, Spells, and Psychic Skills are now available.

SYSTEM NOTE Beta Test Protocol Active

By accepting Beta Change Protocols you have automatically been assigned to Universe Beta Test 001A. While you may visit other Universe and Dimensions you will be restricted to your Mortal Avatar when doing so and may only interact with other Ascendent beings on Physical Planes of Existence.

Number of Ascendent beings in Universe 001a, including you: 1

Number of Divine Beings assigned to Universe 001a, including you: 0

Adam paused the notifications and dug into the last two entries. It seemed that a request for volunteers to participate in the Beta Test had gone out but no one wished to participate because of the limited number of dimensions and resources available to them. Resources? What kind of resources did Ascendent and Divine beings need? Adam went back to reviewing the notifications.

Ascendant beings may interact with mortals and even take significant action if necessary. This directly impacts their generation of DE and Karmic Luck. Divine Energy is accrued and will fuel a being's path to true divinity. Karmic Luck is accrued through actions related that directly benefit the Universe or sentient mortals of a Universe, dimension, or plane.

Karmic Luck is used to measure an Ascendant’s level progression. As Ascendant levels increase new Ascendant Abilities, Skills, and Spells become available.

Karmic Luck can be converted into DE at a ratio of 100 Karmic Luck for 1 DE

XP can be converted into DE at a ratio of 10,000 XP for 1 DE

XP cannot be concerted to Karmic Luck

Ascendant Level 1 Skills unlocked

Adam scrolled through the list of new skills he’d unlocked. The Karmic Luck he’d acquired had automatically increased his level to 1,272. There were a lot of skill notifications. At 1st level alone he received a notification that his body was to be upgraded with a skill called Ascendant Form. That notification was promptly negated by SYSTEM Message

SYSTEM Message – as Chaos Incarnate your form may not be downgraded to one of pure spirit. Or more appropriately, your form theoretically already is spirit. As such the skill Ascendant Form will allow you to take on that form if you desire but it is not required.

The next couple of notifications dealt with his ability to interact with the mortal realm which involved assuming the form of an Avatar which could be destroyed and would leave him back in his Ascendent form. Again, he received a SYSTEM Message which contradicted the skill.

SYSTEM Message - as Chaos Incarnate you are linked to Chaos throughout the SYSTEM and truly immortal. If your material form is destroyed your soul will be pulled into chaos where a new body will be formed. So long as there is chaos within The SYSTEM, you cannot be permanently destroyed.

The next few messages dealt with perks that he already had as an Adamantium Dragon and Creature of Chaos, which didn’t seem to have been modified. He could Adapt to any environment, and create items that looked to be made with divine magic which he was given access to. Making items with Divine Energy used that Divine Energy up, which he didn’t have…or did he?

Now that you are Ascendent You may earn Divine Energy. Previous Actions are not rewarded, though actions that have created ongoing effects are. As such the creation of a Universe for the Primus Race to exist and thrive within will generate 1 DE per hour. This award is not given for the creation of Universes, Dimensions, or Physical Planes. This specific award is granted for Founding the 1st and Lost Race: Primus in a new Universe.

Title Gained: Founder of the Lost

Award: So long as the Primus continues to exist you generate 1 DE per hour

That wasn’t a huge windfall of DE but he’d take it. That meant he could use DE if he had to. He’d just have to review what DE could be spent on.

Additional skills that unlocked included a translation skill, which wasn’t necessary because of his Polymath Class. There were also Divine Magical Attacks and Defenses which he could deploy if needed.

Adam laughed when he finally reached the first warning.

WARNING! Unless Time is your primary sphere of influence, Temporal Manipulation is forbidden within The SYSTEM and will be met with severe penalties, up to and including removal from Ascendant Status.

Adam laughed, he couldn’t help himself. This was a standardized warning that all individuals that ascended received, he checked. Adrian Xeli was an idiot. If Adam hadn’t handled that situation, the SYSTEM would have.

All and all, Adam went through the Ascendant process, picked up a bunch of skills and spells he would probably never use, and realized that the things he’d already accomplished put him so far above normal ascendent people…wait. Yep, there it was. Ascendents had been limited to level 100 as well. The changes he’d incorporated would unlock leveling for any ascendants that came into Universe 001a and accepted the changes.

Adam checked his Karmic Luck, which sat at “0” now that the attribute had been used to increase his Ascendant Level. XP was also at zero, though his levels, Wow! All of his levels had gone off the chart. Also, the lowest amount of XP he needed to get a new level was 9.427 billion XP for his Polymath Class. Every other class was at least 11 billion XP.

He'd once made a joke to one of his friends who had made a thousandth-level fighter for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. He’d asked, “What Prime Material Plane did you destroy.” It looked like Karma did indeed have a sense of humor and understood Irony.

The white universe around Adam faded away and he found himself floating above Earth, the Earth that he now thought of as his. General Duvall sat in his office in Racoon City while, Now, Major Clarkson and Captain Baker sat across from him. Adam listened in with Sense Chaos.

“Have either of you finished reading all the changes the SYSTEM has notified us about?” General Duvall asked.

Major Clarkson spoke up, “No, Sir. There were so many. However, I did notice that this Universe is now a beta test for those changes and that we have been cut off from the rest of the SYSTEM until those changes are rescinded or begin being implemented in other SYSTEM Dimensions or Universes, whatever that means.

“What I take from that is that the Xeli Corporation Adam went to talk to will no longer be able to send their people here. As evidence, our satellite defense SYSTEM has not detected any new ships since the change happened,” General Duvall said.

“A lot of people have informed me that there have been significant changes to the way their ‘Character Sheet’ or Status Screen is working. It seemed that bonuses and penalties were based around the number 10 as the zero point for those bonuses or penalties. Let’s look at the attribute Strength as an example. Every two points someone put into an attribute above 10 would increase their damage with a melee weapon by 1 point. Now every point in Strength above 10 increases damage by 1 point. Also, it seems that every point of Constitution above 10 now adds a hit point which makes it harder for people to die. All in all, it looks like the SYSTEM made the allocation of Attributes more dynamic,” Captain Baker said.

“And the Class System?” General Duvall asked.

“As far as my staff and I can determine, it has been streamlined. Your first class can remain your only class and all earned XP will help you progress along that Class. As soon as you qualify for a second class, which seems to happen easily enough you can choose to pick up that second class. Your XP is split evenly between both classes but both classes continue to progress. Some of our younger residents refer to this as multi-classing,” Major Clarkson explained.

Have any of our personnel taken advantage of this change?” General Duvall asked.

General Duvall was interrupted as Ray, the artificial intelligence he left in control of the systems around Earth interrupted, “General Duvall, a humanoid has appeared in low orbit around Earth. It is highly probable that it is Adam.”

Is he in a ship?” Lieutenant Baker asked.

General Duvall pulled up an image and put it up on the monitor on the office wall. The image zoomed in on Adam’s back as he floated there.

Adam turned toward the camera, winked, and then activated Chaos Step to reappear in General Duvall’s office, “General, Major, Captain,” Adam said as he addressed the three in turn.

“You were just in space, without a space suit,” Captain Baker said, as she adjusted her uniform. Adam also detected that her pulse had increased and her face had flushed slightly.

“I was, Space doesn’t really bother me anymore. But enough about me, I was listening in on your conversation..."

"From space?" Major Clarkson asked.

“Yes, from space” Adam answered in a tone which made it clear that he thought that was a silly question. “Moving on, What do you all think of the changes I’ve instituted in this Beta Test?”

“You instituted?” General Duvall asked thoughtfully. “To answer your question, we are doing quite well. Ray has kept the Xeli ships that try to fly in at bay. He has also been able to detect any that suddenly appear on the planet. Our response teams were able to handle anything and if we couldn’t Ray vaporized them from orbit.

“So, your teams have been able to level going after the monster spawns?” Adam asked.

“And Dungeons,” Major Clarkson added.

“Have any of you tried your luck at the dungeons yet?” Adam asked.

“Once or twice,” Captain Baker said.

“Once,” Major Clarkson offered.

“My class is primarily Administrative,” General Duvall said.

Adam looked over the three with an analyzing gaze. What’s the worst that could happen? Adam activated Shape Reality pulled up the interface and opened all three of their SYSTEM Screens. Instead of giving each of them XP or increasing their levels, because Tier 5 level 100 wasn’t the maximum anymore, Adam simply added 1,000 points to each of their eleven base attributes. The cost was 22,000 Chaos per person for 66,000 total. Once the changes were made, he accepted the changes. He wasn’t expecting the next Notification that populated his view.

You have chosen to alter three mortals with the Skill “Shape Reality.” Altering mortals after accepting ascension, while not forbidden does carry a cost.

Karmic Luck reduced by 33,000

Current Karmic Luck -33,000.

Adam sighed. He looked through his interface and noted that he could sacrifice XP to increase his Karmic Luck at a ratio of 100-to-1. This contradicted what he’d read earlier until he saw the note.

XP can only be spent to increase Negative Karmic Luck to Zero.

It would be costly but he’d be able to earn it back. Of course, because of his Reality Editor Class, he could utilize Shape Reality to spend some of his Chaos to replace the Karmic Luck at a 2-to-1 ratio. Which meant that he could utilize Shape Reality to level his Ascendant class. That was interesting.

Adam spent 66,000 Chaos to bring his Karmic Luck back to zero. There was no need to test whether having negative Karma influenced events around him. Adam was pulled from his thoughts as questions exploded from the three officers.

“What did you do?” The General asked as Captain Baker said with a hint of wonder in her voice, “Wow, what did you do?”

Major Clarkson on the other hand just shouted out, “Holy Shit!”

“So, no more excuses. The three of you have done a great job holding things together but now it’s time for you to grow stronger. As for what I did, I gave each of you an extremely unfair advantage against anyone else from this planet. The increased attributes should also open up other classes for you to take, maybe even some Epic, Mythical, or Legendary classes,” Adam said.

“Thank you,” General Duvall said, “What are you going to do now?”

“Well, it looks like I can’t just go around helping people with my class anymore, not directly anyway, so I’ll…” Adam said when Sense Chaos detected something that caused him to pause.

SYSTEM Alert! Adamantadine You will report to for review and disciplinary action!

You will be moved in 10 seconds.

“It looks like I have to cut this short. It seems I’ve made someone angry. The three of you now have a severe advantage, use it to grow stronger and take care of as many as you can, I’ll be back as soon as I’m…”

Adam’s words were cut off as the SYSTEM moved him from the General's Office to the center of an Colosseum. Sense Chaos detected thousands upon thousands of beings spread out throughout the stand, all looking down on him as he stood on a pedestal in the center of the stage.

“Adamantadine! You have been called before this Tribunal of the Gods to receive our judgment. Do you have anything to say before our judgment is passed?”

Adam was all for skipping the boring bits in a conversation or plot but this was ridiculous. These gods were going to try to judge him. They were going to pass a sentence on him and not even tell him what he was accused of specifically? Maybe he was overestimating himself, but he didn’t think so.

In answer to the speaker's question, Adam released his full Aura as he allowed the chaos within his body to remold him into a giant that looked down into the stands the “gods” sat in. A few had been smart enough to disappear as his aura sprang free. The rest? Some had disintegrated, while others were struggling to hold themselves together. Even the old man who had addressed him from the highest seat in the Colosseum was struggling to hold things together.

Adam withdrew his aura and directed his voice toward the man in the highest seat, “What was that? I couldn’t hear you.”

“You have doomed yourself and all those you love this day!” The old man wheezed.

“Wow, people saying exactly the wrong thing seems to becoming a thing these days,” Adam commented as his form shrunk to normal size and he was next to the old man in a moment. Adam reached out with his right hand and crushed the old man's skull like it was tissue paper. Adam watched as the form disintegrated and began to reform instantly. In that moment he was struck by various spells, weapons, and even a few fists from some guards that had rushed forward from behind the old man to protect him. Adam bitch-slapped each guard out of existence as he activated Shape Reality and froze time at his location. Adam pulled up and sorted information on every being present, specifically their attributes and resistances.

Someone had tried to resist his inquiry but he’d plowed right through the false firewall like it wasn’t there. It only took a moment to find the information and sort it. It was interesting, even the old man, whose skull he’d just crushed couldn’t stand toe to toe with him. This whole trial had been a farce. Adam knew there were other beings more powerful than him. These were the ascendants who would be Gods. They were pathetic. It was time for a true demonstration of power.

Adam created 100,000 copies of himself with Mold Chaos and split his mind among every Avatar he created. Each Avatar moved next to every single wannabe god present. Once in place each clone conjured an Adamantium longsword and held it pointed at them.

Adam spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, “With Sense Chaos, I can sense even the barest hint of magical variance. If I so must as detect a spell being cast, I will strike you down and you can spend the energy and DE to reform your Avatar. If you truly offend me, I will see if one of my other skills can remove your Ascendancy, which I think is possible., let's see shall we?” Adam said as he activated Shape Reality and paid the cost in Chaos to remove one of the Speaker’s levels as he tried to reform. “Nooo!” echoed out of thin air as the old man's form started to reform faster. It also tried to move away from Adam but he locked down Space and Time within 10 feet of him which locked the disembodied spirit to that location while it reformed.

Adam paid the coast in chaos and returned the level to the old man. The goal was to make a point, not to make a permanent enemy after all. Adam watched the rest of the gods that remained and those that resolidified after his aura had struck them down. None tried to flee as they all waited for the old man to reform.

The old man returned to himself looked around and then looked over his body. It only took a moment for him to realize that Adam had everyone in the Colosseum at his mercy.

“So, you used the SYSTEM to pull me to this farce of a trial, why?” Adam asked.

The old man paused as he tried to collect his thoughts.

“I can tell that the lot of you are young gods, I know this because none of you have the power to stand against me. If you don’t answer my question, I’ll take my chances with pissing off the SYSTEM and the old gods and just wipe all of you from existence. Now talk!”

“You can’t kill gods permanently!” the Speaker said indignantly.

Adam smiled and conjured a small clipboard with a piece of paper on it which listed the step-by-step process by which he would destroy them.

Take God to be Destroyed to Entropy

Take God into the Forge of Creation

Take God into the Center of the Singularity of Entropy at the center of the Forge.

Recover Animae

Scrub Animae of any memories, karmic links, or residual energy that might be used to recall it to a specific soul.

Release Animae into the ether and let it look for a new host to support.

The old man looked at the clipboard board, and sighed as he asked, “You attained the class of Creator, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” Adam answered truthfully.

“Very well, You were to be punished for altering the normal course of events for multiple timelines. Something that I’m sure you are aware is frowned upon.”

“See, there you have a problem; however, you received that information, I have not intentionally messed with any timelines. If anything, I’m trying to maintain them. That’s neither here nor there. As a Creator, I am looking for a solution that will help everyone. Interruptions like this waste my time and will not be tolerated. We’re done here,” Adam said as the 100,000 copies of himself recombined and eventually merged with him.

“Before I leave, might I suggest you look into whoever asked you to take this course of action? The only reason I did not already do what is on the list I showed you is that I’d lose access to the Forge for a bit. So, leave me alone, and I’ll leave you alone. I hope I’ve made myself abundantly clear. In case I haven’t made myself clear, inspect this,” Adam said as he pulled out his Chaos Blade. “I don’t know what this will do to a God but I’m sure it won’t be good.”

Adam waited while the old man looked over the sword. When he saw a look of recognition and fear enter his gaze. “Next time you want to talk, send a message,” Adam said as he activated Chaos Step and reappeared in the General’s office.

“What happened?” General Duvall asked.

“Some gods wanted to judge me; they were judged. How are you all doing?”