One With The Abyss

Rose woke up in her bedroom, it was much larger than the one she lived in back on Earth and despite the mediaeval time period this world was currently in, the bed was much more comfortable.

Compared to the rest of her class, Rose's family was much poorer; where each of her 'peers' were the modern equivalent of aristocrats, she was a simple commoner who had gained a scholarship into their school.

And right now, as a hero, she got to enjoy a lifestyle she had not really expected to have.

Like many of the other girls she was shocked when she arrived here, but had acclimated better than most due to her enjoyment of fiction. Though this did lean more into science fiction, she still found herself more accepting of the new life set before her. Not that she wasn't daunted about fighting in a war and having to kill some powerful dark lord.

She was one of 2 girls who had not awakened a talent that was not highly suited to use in combat, like Ainsley who had awakened [Alchemical Scholar] Rose had found herself with the talent [Mechanist]; the worst part was that most of the otherworlders did not seem to understand what the talent did, and since it only had a level 6 potential they did not seem to care much for figuring it out. 

On the other hand Rose was ecstatic. This skill was everything she had ever wanted.

Her father, David Flynn, was a rather popular mechanic in their town and so Rose had always been interested in machines. It was this initial love of machinery that had pushed her into her love of Sci-Fi, her dream was always to be the one to take the leap from reality to fiction. Create that light-sword; that teleporter; that spaceship; that time-machine that were all over the movies she watched.

And now she was in a world of magic with a mystical knowledge of machines, surely she could achieve what it was she wanted. And perhaps that knowledge would stick with her when they returned to Earth.

So, despite being alone in her excitement, Rose was ready to help where she could. At the very least she was not at the bottom of the totem pole...

I suppose my fate could have been worse, even if I am the only one who appreciates my abilities. Rose thought, she had never personally taken part in the bullying against her classmate, but deep down she was glad it was happening.

If not for Portia acting as a buffer, she would likely have been everyone's target; so while she did not want the girl to be bullied, deep down she was glad she was.

Tia had been banished around 2 weeks ago, now coming up on 3, and Rose and the rest of the heroes had been making excellent progress; Rose in particular had shown great strives in her progress.

It was her desire to turn fiction into reality that had done it.

She was the first person to evolve her talent and push its potential even higher than it already was and create an entirely new talent; something that only came to light as a possibility after she had done so.

Malleca - the great archmage - decided not to mention talent evolution as it rarely ever happened, though she did explain under what circumstances such changes 'usually' occur. 'Usually' since they seemed not to entirely know:

"Yes, the potentials of some talents have the capability of increasing as do the creation of new talents from lesser ones. From what we have observed over hundreds of years, it occurs when the limits of the talent are pushed beyond what they can usually accomplish, though it is often unclear what those limits are." Malleca had said in a lesson following Rose's improvement, "All I can really tell you is to try and push your talent beyond what you think you know about it."

That was all the girls were told about the matter but it was enough to understand what they should be aiming for.

Rose's talent had gone from:

[Mechanist (2/6)]

[Grants incredible knowledge of and inspiration in blueprints, technology and machines. Increases comprehension abilities for any mechanism]

To become:

[Magitech Lord (0/8)]

[Grants incredible knowledge of and inspiration in blueprints, technology, machines, magitech and inscriptions. Increases comprehension abilities for any mechanism. Grants ability to manipulate properties of materials used in magitech]

Where before Rose's talent had only helped improve how to create machines, her new talent allowed for a more fluid process.

While she had gained an increased amount of knowledge in new types of process the extra section of her talent had helped her in so many more ways than that new knowledge. The 'ability to manipulate properties of materials used in magitech' was unbelievably useful for her; with it she could freely manipulate the metal and other items needed for her creations.

Did Rose need a screw in a very specific shape that the world of Effigia could never hope to produce? Easy, just change the shape of the metal.

Was an item much too heavy for Rose to use in any way? No sweat, just alter the weight of the item and use it as normal.

Was the item's energy source much too large for the item to be feasibly used? Child's Play, just decrease the size and fit hundreds of the same power source in the item.

Did the palace not have the necessary equipment to produce the design Rose had come up with? Elementary, just forgo using tools and apply the design directly to the materials.

Not only was she much faster in her creation now, but she could do things with her tech that would never have been possible before. Something like a planet destroying space lazer would not be completely out of her reach under the right circumstances.

It had become a seriously formidable talent that would allow her to face off against many powerful foes, should she focus on manufacturing weaponry.

Of course it had its less than ideal qualities. Mainly that it only worked for her, she could not pass on the lessened weight to anyone else and they would feel the full weight of the item, she had killed one of the palace slaves because of this. Other than that, the talent could not produce any of the materials she needed - they would have to be gathered as normal, though they were usually abundant.

(A/N: It's kind of like a [Metal Manipulation] talent, but also focusing on magitech)

Unlike the talent [Mechanist], which the otherworlders had not really understood, [Magitech Lord] was one they took great interest in. Supposedly, magitech was something that one of the demon races were exceptional in and had been a great danger in the great war so many years ago.

As such the king decided to reward Rose for 'evolving her talent' though Rose had the suspicion that she was actually being rewarded for 'finally getting a decent talent and no longer being a useless sack of shit'; but that may have just been her overactive imagination.

The reward was something Rose had not initially been... Okay, with. The king had granted Rose her own personal slave: Bastet.

She was one of the demonfolk they had captured; specifically she was a Cat-demon. 

She had long and fluffy, black, feline ears growing from the top of her head and no ears on the side; from just above her butt a long, black tail extended and could move as she willed it to. Despite being a slave Bastet had incredibly soft and silky hair that shone under the moonlight.

Her eyes were distinctly like a cat's as well with a striking yellow colour. Rose was told that Bastet had a talent that was not about enhancing her strength, something rare among the demon beast faction; though the 'Collar of Servitude' she wore prevented her from utilising the talent at all, a safety precaution. Other than that she was wearing a very clean and unconventional maid outfit.

It seemed much too skimpy for Bastet to do proper maid work in, causing Rose to wonder if she was 'just a maid' as Malleca had said when asked.

Initially Rose was apprehensive about accepting a slave, her Earth values feeling that slavery was wrong; but she soon learned the truth about the matter, the history of the world she and her class now lived in.

Before the great war, Effigia was under the rule of the savage demons. In this period an individual's personal qualities did not matter and instead 'might made right', meaning the strongest were in charge and everyone else had to shut up and deal with it.

People would kill, steal from and rape others as they pleased, it was truly a barbaric time. As a result the human race suffered more than any other; the humans were great in many fields, more so than any other race, but in no area did they excel. On the other hand, every other race had something that they were exceptional at, so even with their position as a 'jack-of-all-trades' the humans were considered the weakest race, being killed and traded as mere live-stock.

Eventually, the Gods saw this injustice, realising that the humans were more than just 'jack-of-all-trades' but were a force of order, they gave one a blessing. The first hero.

The Gods divined onto him the secrets of a powerful device that would allow them to equal the playing field: The Holy Light. And with it the humans took control of the continent.

With the hero, they engaged in a war where they banished all the demons to the dark continent Gehenna; it was a difficult task, but the humans were chosen by God and would not lose.

Most of the demons were banished but some were allowed to stay and some ran away to hide.

Now, in the modern day, the humans teach the demon-tribes how to be civilised. Without human's to rule them, the demons would revert back to their wayward ways, bringing about their own destruction.

It was the human's mercy that the demons were permitted to serve, even if such mercy had to be forced upon them.

Once Rose understood the truth about the demons, she came to accept her role as Bastet's owner.

(A/N: This is how the human faction teaches their people about the period of the great war. Make of the history and Rose's - as well as the other girls' - acceptance of the story as you will)

It was Bastet who had awakened Rose this morning.

"Good morning master, I hope you have slept well." Bastet said, walking over the paper-covered floor, "I have prepared breakfast and will see to it that these papers are cleaned from the floor."

Rose did not answer her and simply sat up to eat from the tray placed before her. She had learned it was not 'proper' to reply with gratitude when a slave did a task for them, so she no longer did so.

Unlike most others she did not eat in the dining hall with the rest of her classmates, simply because her 'schedule' was much different than theirs. In simple terms Rose did not wish to interact with them when unnecessary, fearing she would be bullied now that her 'buffer' was gone.

Rose ate the food that was as delicious as always but noticed something she did not want occurring.

"Wait! Put them all on the table. They have numbers so sort them by their numbers!" Rose called out as she saw Bastet about to put the papers in the trash.

Bastet flinched in pain as point spikes grew from the 'Collar of Servitude' and dug painfully into her neck and quickly adjusted her actions to meet her master's desires.

This was the purpose of the device around her neck, when she did something against her master's wishes, the collar would grow spikes that would cut into Bastet's neck. Should she fail to correct herself the spikes would continually grow and eventually kill her; should she earnestly try to remove the collar and escape the device would completely sever her head from her body.

The worst of it was that the spikes it created were coated in a powerful pain inducing toxin, such that 'disobedience' causes incredible suffering and even when Bastet 'corrects' herself she can still feel pain for a minute or 2 after.

Rose smiled happily as she saw her blueprints being properly organised as she wished they would and soon she finished the luxury meal she had been dining on.

"Once I am dressed, we will take those to my lab." Rose spoke, putting her utensils down on the tray to allow Bastet to take it all away.

"I'm afraid that Lady Malleca has requested all heroes to meet today for an important announcement." Bastet said, taking the tray from Rose and preparing to dress her, "It is a mandatory summons master. You are to meet her in the training field in... Three hours."

Rose let out an agitated sigh as this is what she was hoping to avoid, Bastet winced in pain.

"I apologise for upsetting you master, but it is out of my control." Bastet said through the pain.

"It's fine. It's not like it's your fault." Rose waved her off and prepared for Bastet to dress her - something that had taken a while to get used to, "Still bring the blueprints though, Malleca may want to see them."

"Understood." Bastet bowed, before beginning to dress her master. She was glad that Rose had 'forgiven' her as her collar was extremely sensitive.

Since what Bastet had said upset her, the collar punished her, though not as bad as earlier, and she would only be saved when she fixed her master's mood. Thankfully, she had not had to suffer the same mild pain for an entire day, as she had 3 days ago.

Rose had asked Bastet about something she didn't understand; but since Bastet had given an unsatisfactory answer, Rose was somewhat upset. This caused the collar to punish Bastet, even after her master had found the answer she wanted Bastet was not freed from the pain as she was not the one who had provided that answer. She was only relieved when Rose complimented Bastet's choice of food for breakfast, one she served after a sleepless night.

Rose was soon dressed and sat at her table as her slave served her tea. She had no time to begin producing one of her designs, but she could surely refine some of them before the meeting began. Bastet sat at the side, waiting to be called upon, or see something that needed urgent attention.

The time of the meeting arrived quickly and Rose, with Bastet carrying a folder full of blueprints, went to join up with the others.

When she arrived she saw that most of the class had arrived, sitting on a set of large steps that oversaw a stage, upon which Malleca stood. Malleca nodded towards her and directed her to take a seat. She sat in the middle, Bastet stood to the side.

On the way Rose saw that Ainsley was glaring at her as usual. Ever since she had evolved her talent, Ainsley's importance as the 'most important' manufacturer and gone to Rose.

There were only a few people missing and they soon arrived. Weirdly it was the 4 highest achievers, those who had been gifted slaves, who arrived last. 

After Rose came Olivia and her slave Val, a yellow Fox demon beast. Olivia had made quick progress in her foresight ability, allowing for her to use it well in combat, becoming almost untouchable. She even claimed she was coming close to some kind of breakthrough in regards to what she could see with her ability.

Following her was Ursina and her rather unfortunate slave: Leila.

It seemed that after Portia had been banished Ursina found a hole in her heart, one that missed having someone whose life she could constantly make worse; Leila now took up that role. Although she had not seen anything directly, Rose knew how unfortunate Leila's life was.

Leila was a dark elf type demon; one shunned from even other elf demon tribes and now she suffers under Ursina.

Unlike Ursina who had become an imposingly large woman with bulging muscles and a healthy glow, Leila was covered in bruises and cuts, her eyes completely dead. Ursina often did cruel things to Portia and Rose could only assume that Leila had now taken her place. At the very least she knew Ursina would regularly beat Leila, though she surely actively humiliated her too; as was occurring now.

Leila limped along as fast as she could, her collar attached to a leash that Ursina regularly tugged violently. From the momentary fear that shone in Leila's dead eyes when this happened, Rose assumed that if she fell Ursina would harshly punish the dark elf. 

Ursina quickly made her way to her seat, that seat being Leila herself. Rose could only pity that Leila did not have a benevolent master like she was to Bastet.

The last to appear was the one who had made the most progress of any of the class and her appearance was met by a smile and greeting from Malleca:

"Ah, Lady Marigold. I am glad you could make it." She said warmly, Ursina clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"It is only natural Malleca, you asked me to appear and I am sure this is important." She said, with her harmonious voice.

How are 2 such different people related? This was the thought in literally every hero's mind as she came into view.

Marigold had quickly learned to use her ability and now seemed to passively glow like an angel. She did not even have to walk any longer.

For some reason, her talent allowed her the ability to fly with a drastically reduced mana cost. Most of the time she would just hover gently above the ground, this had a negligible mana cost, but she could just as easily fly up to the clouds.

[Child of Radiance] granted her devastating power and control over the light element, and her unparalleled mind allowed for this power to be properly utilised by Marigold.

Marigold entered with her slave, Lilna. 

Truthfully, no one had expected Lilna to become Marigold's slave. Marigold had asked to see what slaves were available after being offered one and the king happily obliged, why bother upsetting his greatest hero over something so trivial.

Marigold saw dozens of slaves until Lilna was dragged out struggling all the way; either unaffected or unbothered by the 'Collar of Servitude's' punishment. Marigold had asked about her and was told.

Lilna was a dragonewt, and a golden one at that. An extremely rare subspecies of an already rare race. Lilna was considered 'top-quality cattle' according to the king this seemed to seal the deal for Marigold.

She was the best; so she must have the best and Lilna was the best.

The king advised against it due to their inability to 'tame' Lilna. Marigold persisted and to everyone's surprise Lilna came back a day later, acting incredibly subservient to and fearful of Marigold. When asked what she had done, Marigold simply said I only showed her the truth. And refused to elaborate further.

Soon everyone was seated on the stairs where Malleca wanted them. Though Ursina sat on top of Leila and Marigold hovered slightly above the step in a sitting position.

The meeting finally began, and Malleca's first line sent shock through the entire class:

"Welcome and thank you for gathering." Malleca said, "Today we will talk about the true reason we have summoned you heroes, and the awakening of your second talents!"