Liandra had sated her curiosity. The anomaly she’d detected was a once mortal with the extremely rare “Immortal” ability. That ability hadn’t been seen in a time measured in iterations by those that cared about time as a measurement. If Anton didn’t go mad during this next part or get absorbed or mutated by chaos, he might be a worthy addition to the hordes' leadership.
She laughed out loud as she appeared in the mobile command creature that looked like a cross between something from the Cthulhu mythos of Anton’s home world and a giant Godzilla, except on a galactic scale. It had produced a cavity where others of her kind could meet and discuss from the front lines as it were.
Erg, in his much reduced semi-humanoid form, noticed her and asked, “Did you learn anything interesting?”
“As I thought, it was once mortal with the ability ‘Immortal.’”
“Truly? That ability hasn’t resurfaced in a very long Time. But, that is a distraction, what about the Forge of Creation?
“It is gone”
“Truly?”
“Yes.”
“Well then, it looks like the Multiverse and its endless cycle of expansion and contraction through its various Iterations is about to come to an end…finally,” Erg said as a pulse expanded out into the Primordial Realm of Chaos and the order to attack was given.”
***
The Goddess Keres watched as Anton flew south over the planet that contained Haven. She saw him pause near a thermally heated lake, and then the image flickered as some form of interference kept her from viewing the man she had marked. As she was about to shift her perception entirely into the second Universe, he returned to her perception. He was flying north up the other side of the planet away from the mostly frozen continent.
Something had been on the continent that she couldn’t detect, sparking a memory of something she’d seen after accepting her role as a Goddess. This was immediately followed by shock as her primary avatar, along with every other God and Goddess of the 19th Universe, felt their Universe and its attached dimension implode.
Between moments, the Universe that had once been Anton’s home and now held his family ceased to exist. The only reason Keres, as she was known now, was able to perceive the obliteration of the Universe and all adjacent dimensions was because part of her consciousness was sitting in the 1,109th Universe.
Luckily for those within the Fort back on Earth, which consisted of Caitlyn and Anton’s family and everyone they’d gathered, Keres had a moment to react and did so. It also helped that the violent death of every single creature in her Universe, including a portion of herself, fueled her desire. With the Divine Points generated from the violent deaths and the Conviction recently provided by Anton as well as all of the people killing those assassins in her name, she was able to pause time just long enough to create a shell around the small city which had been named “The Fort” that held a majority of her followers and transfer them to her realm, which was outside the area of effect of whatever was attacking Universe 19. Her senses, already split between two universes, noticed that this attack was not just limited to the 19th Universe.
Those Gods that had personal domains might also survive the catastrophe, but many of them entered the cycle of reincarnation. She still didn’t get that part. She was part of that cycle, and souls served her, but there was another cycle after that cycle, which was the final cycle of reincarnation or something like that. It was what happened when souls gave up or gods were killed? It was some death after death thing, which didn’t make sense, but hey, The SYSTEM let her know when she became a goddess that she could die, and that if she did, that’s what seemed to be happening on a massive scale. The sales pitch she’d received had stated that if she served in her role well, there would be rewards during the next cycle of reincarnation. She was all about receiving personal rewards. Of course, if the Universes were destroyed, would there be an after?
Even while those thoughts ran through her mind, Keres pulled “The Fort” to safety as she wondered what could wipe out a Universe? She didn’t even have the power to do that yet, nor did she know of any god or goddess who could. The SYSTEM might be able to, since it seemed to regulate everything and there were various other SYSTEMS that she knew about…Could there be a war going on between SYSTEMs?
Regardless, the bubble she’d created to save the people in “The Fort” could not exist as physical matter within her Divine realm. That was one of the SYSTEM rules that could not be violated. But there were always loopholes. Before it could be converted, Keres placed the bubble in stasis. Everyone within was now locked down in the moment just before she’d moved them. They would not transform into their spirit or soul form, nor would they deteriorate at least until she figured out what was going on.
As she considered what to do next, a voice rang out across the Multiverse.
“NO!”
Suddenly, something that should not have been possible happened. Keres felt the flicker as she was skipped through time. She’d been frozen. She was a God, what could possibly freeze….
Keres' mind cleared and her perception allowed her to see and feel how the edges of the realm she’d been standing in had been eroded into almost nothing by the surrounding astral plane. Her Divine Realm was a fraction of the size it had once been. The bubble of stasis she’d created remained, but everything else that had been in her realm. The souls that had served her as well as the angels and demons that had been her servants were gone or had been claimed by the Astral Plane. They weren’t elsewhere, she would know that. No, they were gone. How long had she been frozen?
As she allowed her senses to reach out, she saw the remnants of scars on the dimensional membranes spread through this corner of the Astral where it had touched other Universes and Dimensions. There were rips in the fundamental underpinnings of reality that had healed and scarred over. Additionally, the SYSTEM that she knew was gone. She could feel that there was a SYSTEM in place and that it was re-establishing its connection to her and through her the bubble of stasis that it hadn’t noticed before, but things were different as the Notifications she received attested to.
As for the other divine beings that had been around, they were gone. She could detect their wishes of welcome, though she recognized none of the well-wishers. Also, they seemed different somehow. There was a quality to them that none of the divines she had known displayed. They appeared more powerful somehow. As she continued to read through the Notifications, she began to understand why. The changes to the SYSTEM fundamentally changed the requirements and benefits given to those who were considered Divine. Why had she been spared if all the other gods in her pantheon hadn’t, then she felt it. Her link to Anton was still active and he was, where the hell was he?
***
Anton had been coming flying north over the opposite side of the planet when the world, universe, and dimensions around him popped. That was the easiest way to describe it. One moment he’d been flying in his Spectral form. The world had vanished underneath him as he heard.
“No!”
Just before he was disincorporated. Unlike before, when his awareness faded and his surroundings faded, his senses expanded and he still had access to his Notifications.
You have been disincorporated.
You have Reformed.
SYSTEM in Flux, Temporal Hold enacted, Please wait!
Fortunately for Anton, temporal shenanigans only worked on him partially. In this case, being immune to 80% of the effect allowed Anton to witness what happened at almost a normal speed because it happened so quickly. That meant that Anton had a front-row seat to something that no one, save those involved, should have been able to witness.
Anton’s point of view, still much more significant than usual, shifted until he could see the multiverse represented as a giant sphere with countless bubbles floating around inside of it. There was even an error which pointed to his location with a “You are here” tool tip hovering nearby. He could even see the shockwave within the darkness or fluid that the bubble that was his universe had been floating in, which appeared as a spherical eddies racing away from where other bubbles, universes, had been. Anton intuitively knew that it wasn’t fluid and that he was witnessing the destruction and deaths of so many mortal and divine beings that counting them would be pointless. As the eddies collided and rebounded, tears in the underpinnings of the Multiverse appeared, and the pearlescent whiteness of chaos began flooding in through the cracks.
Then Liandra and so many creatures that he could not quantify a number rushed through one of the. She looked around and started to grow within the area of the Multiverse she’d appeared in as the sphere Anton’s point of view could perceive shrank. It was counterintuitive. As the eddies expanded and collided and spread out, the edge of the Multiverse that he could perceive shrank, and the sphere grew smaller. His point of view kept track of Liandra as she grew larger and more prominent with the shrinking space and the body that she’d displayed to him on the frozen continent bulged, morphed, and became an amorphous multicolored blob with no discernable face or eyes.
Anton couldn’t see what produced the words he heard, but Liandra’s voice rang out none the less, “No? Who are you to tell me no?”
A moment later, specs from the center of each spherical eddy rushed toward the only remaining bubble at the center of the darkness as the sphere shrank, which he’d missed. There was one Universe which hadn’t been destroyed yet. Another speck emerged from the last Universe, which a tool tip informed him was the first Universe. Every one of the specs merged, much as Liandra had morphed but retained the image of a middle-aged man as the man grew until he was the same size as Liandra. He looked around and sighed as he returned his attention to Liandra, “I am Adamantadine. There I was minding my own business and you had to come along and destroy not one Universe, but every Universe that was not part of my SYSTEM? By the looks of it, you have the entirety of Chaos with you. What are you trying to do, reabsorb the Multiverse?”
“You know nothing worm,” Liandra burbled and hissed as she shot forward and enveloped Adamantadine. From where he sat floating, Anton watched as Adamantadine smiled, at least he thought that he was smiling. Through the translucent fluid of Liandra’s body, he couldn’t be sure. Then the blob that was Liandra ceased to be and became, is that the correct description, became part of Adamantadine’s body, which rippled, shifted, and returned to the way it had looked before.
“Liandra!” a voice called out from one of the rips as a claw at least 10 times as big as Adamantadine ripped into the Multiverse.
“Okay then, looks like I have some cleaning to do,” Adamantadine said to no one in particular. Then his attention focused on the claw as he directed his voice toward the rip that it had made, “First, No more of that bullshit,” Adamantadine said as he waved his hand and the claw was severed as the rip it extended through sealed.
“AAAWWWEEE! YOU CAN’T DO THAT. You cannot STOP CHAOS!” The voice called out as creatures of chaos began flooding into the Multiverse through the rips in the fabric of the Multiverse.
“Let’s agree to disagree on that point,” Adamantadine stated flatly before the walls of reality broke around the sphere of the multiverse, and countless forms of flesh and energy of all sizes flooded into the area the sphere had once occupied. Ironically, Anton noted that the first Universe remained and that none of the creatures of Chaos could touch or affect it.
The mob of chaotic creatures passed around and through Anton faster than he could follow. He also felt something shift within himself, but at the moment, it seemed that the system couldn’t react to those changes.
Then something amazing happened, Adamantadine split into two, then four, then eight, then sixteen, and so on. As he split, each copy of Adamantadine summoned a pearlescent sword that seemed to be made of Chaos and each dived into the mob of chaotic creatures. As each sword cleaved a chaotic creature, the creatures were drawn into that replicant of Adamantadine, absorbed, and another duplicate emerged. In the space of seconds, there were 1,024 copies of Adamantadine moving faster than Anton could follow. They flashed throughout the mobs of creatures. Ten seconds after that there were 1,048,576. Ten seconds after that, 1,073,741,824. Anton watched as this pattern continued as the copies of Adamantadine worked together to destroy the hordes of creatures pouring in from the Realm of Chaos.
“WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS, YOU ARE A CREATURE OF CHAOS. YOU SHOULD BE EMBRACING THE RETURN TO THE WAY THINGS WERE?”
“There you are!” Adamantadine declared as every copy of himself merged and formed the most prominent Adamantium Dragon Anton had ever seen. Considering it was the only Adamantium Dragon he’d ever seen, he honestly didn’t have anything to compare it to.
Anton watched as one of the Dragons' front claws reached through the horde until it closed around and grabbed a single chaotic creature and held it. Adamantadine drew something that resembled an eel, worm, and viper that continued to squirm and try to get away from him. The dragon brought it level with it’s eyes and a mental voice shook everything within Anton’s area of perception.
“The purpose of chaos is NOT to eradicate all life in the Multiverse, that is your goal Erg. Yes, I know who you are now that I hold you. Perhaps in your next incarnation you will consider that before you try to wipe out all living things.”
Before Erg could utter a sound, Anton watched as chaos ripped Erg apart. He knew instinctively that the only portion of Erg to survive whatever Adamantadine had done was that portion of his soul that didn’t require memory because even his memories had been ripped away and absorbed by Adamantadine.
Anton wondered what would happen next when his perception shifted back to his own body. He realized that Chaos now surrounded him with nothing close by. A moment later, Adamantadine, in his human form, appeared directly in front of Anton. He looked at Anton for a moment and smiled.
“Hello…” Anton started to say.
Adamantadine smiled as he interrupted him, “Interesting, you saw all of that. Well, I’m sure you don’t want to sit around for this next little bit, it’s going to take a while for me to fix the Multiverse and prepare it to house the only remaining Universe and then it’ll take even longer…You know what, you don’t need to know that. So, I hope you enjoyed the show,” Adamantadine said with a smile as he muttered to himself, “Now, I’m going to adjust his temporal resistance to 0% until this stasis field is released…”
Anton heard no more as everything around him faded away.
***
Anton woke to find himself lying on a grass field. The Sun was up, and he could hear birds chirping in the distance. He immediately noticed that he had a ton of notifications, but the first thing he did was check on his link to the Goddess Keres. Once he found it, he reached out.
“Anton? Is that you? It has been so long.”
“How long exactly?” Anton asked.
“Honestly, I don’t know, but the Multiverse has entered the 10th Iteration,” Keres declared.
“Tenth Iteration…”
Anton quickly searched his archived notifications. He remembered reading something about iterations during the limited SYSTEM reset. Yep, here it was.
Limited Iteration Reset
An Iteration is the cyclical point of reference, defined as the point at which all energy and matter within the Multiverse and all adjacent dimensions have reached a point of Entropy.
After an indeterminable time, the Multiverse is reborn. That point of rebirth is the beginning of the next Iteration.
The current Iteration is the 9th Iteration to have occurred.
A Limited Iteration Reset will repair all damaged Prime Realms and incorporate changes to SYSTEM functionality.
“Are you saying the Multiverse Reset? Then again that makes sense.”
What makes sense?” The Goddess asked.
“I saw someone, I can’t seem to remember his name, take on the hordes of Chaos right there at the end, led by someone named…You know I can’t remember.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Keres sent, “I think I know who you saw. He prefers to keep to himself. The smart gods that have resurfaced tend to leave him alone.”
Anton took the hint and changed the subject. “So, this is the 10th iteration?” Anton’s throat caught, but he pushed through and asked, “And my family?”
“Ironically, I have some good and bad news,” Keres said.
“What do you mean by good and bad news?” Anton asked
“I was able to place ‘The Fort’ and everyone in it in a stasis bubble. They’ve been in that bubble this whole time; that’s the good news.”
“And the bad news?””
“The bad news is that I cannot release them into my divine realm, else they’ll physically die. Also, there have been complications and I do not have the support network or power to release them on the Prime Material Plane yet. A significant portion of my Divine Power was spent maintaining that Stasis Bubble and the small Divine Realm that I still have.”
“That sounds bad,” Anton offered
“Bad?” Keres laughed through the link, “Why don’t you go through all of your notifications? While you do, think about the fact that the changes will also apply to Caitlyn and your family when I release them from Stasis.
“But…”
A hint of frustration entered their mental conversation as Keres sighed, “I can keep them as they are until we find a solution that works. They will definitely benefit, some more than others, but understand that the Forge SYSTEM, as it’s called, does not allow for much variation from its chosen path of implementation. Read your notifications, and we can talk after.”
Anton sighed and broke the connection. The first thing he did was look around and ensure that he was in a relatively safe area. He was lying in a forested glade under a cloudy sky. He definitely felt like he was outside on a planet, but that was all he could determine. There were no creatures within at least 1,000 feet of him, save some small birds and bugs. Anton opened his Notifications
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Temporal Stasis has reached 100%
Temporal Stasis has ended.
ERROR Clock Settings are Out of Limits.
Clock reset
9th Iteration has ended due to catastrophic event.
The 10th iteration has commenced.
Welcome to the Forge SYSTEM
This Forge SYSTEM will act as the template and starting point for this Iteration. While the Multiverse is infinite. Not all locations within the Multiverse will begin with the Forge SYSTEM. Some areas will not have a SYSTEM governing them while others may have SYSTEMS that spontaneously pop into existence.
Creature and Monster Designations:
Entities with the Forge SYSTEM come in two types: Basic and Enhanced.
Basic Entities do not contain cores, nor will they contain anything but Common Races or Classes.
Basic Entities are limited to Levels zero through one hundred.
Enhanced Entities start with a basic Core.
Cores regulate the amount of magic and energy that entities within the Forge SYSTEM may safely utilize. Cores may be upgraded and will provide the following benefits as they are:
Common: +10 to all attributes
Uncommon: +100 to all attributes
Rare: +1,000 to all attributes
Each rank after increases by a factor of ten.
Racial Evolutions follow a similar bonus progression. Note that racial evolutions cannot be higher than the creature's Core rank.
Class Rank follows the same pattern, though classes also have a Level rated from zero through one hundred for each rank. Each Rank must reach level 100 before the next Class Rank can be chosen and leveled.
Common Class Levels required 1,000 XP per new level.
Uncommon Class Levels require 2,000 XP per new level.
Rare Class Levels require 3,000 XP per new level.
Each Rank above Rare increases the cost by 1,000 per level.
Core Progression, Racial Evolution and Class Choice will be determined after SYSTEM adjustment.
9th Iteration SYSTEM Format detected.
Conversion to 10th Iteration Format Started
All Titles, Perks, Skills and Spells not of ascendant or divine rank have been archived.
Individual is Reset to Adult Human Male.
One Tenth of all Previous Basic Attributes is awarded with the Title “Really Freaking Old.”
Strength +4,424, Agility +4,425, Dexterity +4,391, Endurance +4,423, Constitution +5,769, Perception +4,425, Intelligence +4,422, Wisdom +4,390, Willpower +5,581, Charisma +4,422, Luck +19,643
The Ability “Anti-Mage” is a Fundamental Ability and Remains as is.
The Ability “Immortal” is a Fundamental Ability and reverts to its Fundamental configuration.
Immortal
Healing Rate Is Increased to 10 plus 10 times Core Rank.
Current Healing Rate 10
You cannot be killed. If you are reduced to zero hit points, your body will repair itself at your current healing rate. Once you have at least one hit point, you will wake up.
Due to the Ability Anti-Mage, this ability is fueled by available psychic or physical energy, not Mana. This ability will work in Mana-deprived regions.
The body will regenerate from the smallest piece of Anton available when and where hit points are reduced to zero. No, Anton will not die and then spontaneously regenerate where a piece of his hair fell out days, weeks, or years ago.
If your body is disintegrated, the soul will reform the body where it was disintegrated at full health a number of turns after your Hit Points divided by your healing Rate. If that is not possible, you will appear in the corresponding location within the Astral Plane.
Current Respawn time: 3.5 Hours
The ability “Vampiric Pseudo-Specter” has been removed. If you desire to require a similar power during this the 10th Iteration, seek out a Racial Evolution to regain the benefits of this ability as a Racial Evolution.
Title “I Ain’t Worried” Archived.
Title “I can Take it” Archived.
Title “Goblin Slayer 1 through 8” Archived.
Title “Trifecta” Archived
Title "Human Slayer 1 through 3” Archived.
Title "Beetle Slayer 1 and 2” Archived.
Title “Zombie Slayer 1 through 10” Archived.
Title “Skeleton Slayer 1 through 10” Archived.
Title “There can Be Only One” Archived.
Title “ Backstabbing a Backstabber” Archived.
Perk “Specter” has been removed but may be regained through Racial Evolution.
Perk “Basic Map” duplicates an available Skill. Skill Added at Rank Zero.
Perk “Personal Storage” duplicates an available Skill. Skill Added at Rank Zero.
Perk “Pseudo-Undead” Removed. May be regained through Racial Evolution.
Perk “Cold Immunity” Removed. May be regained through Racial Evolution.
Perk “Annihilate Life” Removed.
Perk “Mark of Keres” No change
Perk “Spell Absorption” is changed as follows.
Spell Absorption
Activation Cost: One Action
You may choose to absorb any spell cast at you and store it.
You may only hold a maximum of ten spells at once.
Spells absorbed may be recast.
Spells that are absorbed are cast as if cast from the original caster. Once cast, the slot may be utilized to absorb another spell.
Note: You must be aware of the spell to absorb it. Spells that strike without warning may NOT be absorbed.
Note: Yes, Spell Absorption may be utilized to absorb Magical Barriers.
Item: Braces of Telekinesis, No Change
Item: Bracelet of Protection, No Change.
Portable Exchange, No Change (Note: No Registered Merchant Connected. Storage Function is available at this time.)
All copper, silver, gold, and platinum in your personal storage has been converted into system credits.
Current Credits available. 1,000,386,805,426
Skills and Spells:
The way skills and spells are learned and what their levels represent has changed. As such, your Skills and Spells have been modified.
All previously known Languages are kept at no Skill Point Cost. Current Languages: English, Common, High Elvish, Gnomish, Lizardman (Tear’nar), Goblin, Orc, and Gnoll.
The Skill “Basic Map” has been learned and will scale automatically with your Core Rank at no cost.
Basic Map (Rank: Basic)
Users may pull up a simplified terrain map that will display everything that they have noticed within 1 foot. What is displayed is determined by the SYSTEM user's perception. Skills and Class Abilities can modify and improve this Skill.
The Skill “Personal Storage” has been learned and will scale automatically with your Core Rank at no cost.
Personal Storage (Rank: Basic)
Personal Storage is an extra-dimensional storage area. The weight that can be held and the area available for storage increase with each skill rank.
Current Area: 1 foot Cube
WARNING
Master Ranked Spells have been added to your personal Grimoire.
Note: Utilizing spells above the Rank of your Core will harm and/or kill you.
The following Spells have been added to your Grimoire and may be used as needed.
Fireball
Fireball (Master) - This spell creates a small ball of fire which can be fired out to a range of 100,000 feet. Upon impact, it will make a 100-foot diameter fireball that will envelop everything within it. Any item or creature that takes twice their hit points or durability is instantly vaporized.
PE Cost: 100 / Range: 100,000 Feet (18.9 miles) / Adjustable Damage, Maximum 100,000 Damage.
Teleport Other
Teleport Other (Master) - This spell allows you to target another individual and teleport them anywhere within range if they fail their magic resistance check. While Psychic Energy fuels this spell, the target resists against Magic as Normal.
PE Cost: 100 / Range: 100,000 Feet (18.9 miles)
Force Construct
Force Construct (Master) - This spell allows you to create a force construct within a 46.4 cube centered on yourself. The constructs may take any shape, form and thickness you desire and may be clear or opaque.
The Initial Psychic Energy Cost is 100 and requires 1 PE per turn to maintain. All Force Structures share an HP pool of 100,000 Hit Points. As damage is absorbed, the whole structure is depleted. It will not fail until all 100,000 hit points are depleted.
There are other Mythical Versions of this Skill that can create much more durable force constructs. That strength was sacrificed to reduce the initial cast and upkeep cost.
Flight
Flight (Master) - This spell allows the caster to fly up to 6,818 miles per hour at a cost of 100 mana per turn. It should be noted that this spell does nothing to protect the caster from the damage associated with traveling through an atmosphere at such a high speed. This Spell requires the user to have a Core at Master Rank without risking harm to caster.
Teleport
Teleport (Master) - This spell allows you to teleport to any place you can see within 10,000 Feet for 1 PE.
Other Mythical Versions of this Spell will allow you to teleport much further and even across dimensional boundaries. That functionality was sacrificed to reduce the cost of casting.
Adaption
Adaption (Master) - The Mythical version of this spell allows the caster to adapt to any Environment. From the bottom of an Ocean to the void of space. From a vat of Acid to a pool of liquid magma. Theoretically, the caster could survive at the center of a sun or even a Black Hole, though that claim has not been tested.
Initial Cost: 100 PE
Upkeep: 100 PE per turn. This spell requires the user to have a Core at Master Rank without risking harm to caster.
Current Resource Pools and Regeneration Rates.
Hit Points: 12,842 / PDR: 128 / Armor: 0
-Health Regeneration: 10
Stamina: 11,850
-Stamina Regeneration: 5,339
Psychic Energy Reservoir: 128,414
-Mana Regeneration: 0
Psychic Energy: 13,012
-Psychic Regeneration: 1,301
What the hell just happened? He wasn’t able to utilize Specter anymore? And the Spells? He had the spells, but if he used them, it would probably kill him. In the case of Fireball, that would be okay, but if he did that, he had no doubt that taking 100,000 points of damage would leave nothing left of him, which meant it would be at least 3.5 hours before he respawned. The SYSTEM called it Respawning, how MMOG of it.
Anton looked over the other changes. A one-foot radius map was worthless, but he guessed that most people wouldn’t even have the skill, and his class stated that it could change that. This brought up the question of how he got a class, created a core, or evolved his race.
Sure, the SYSTEM had given him one tenth of his attributes…wait. He found the link to Keres and reached out.
“That didn’t take long. I take it you have questions?”
“I do,” Anton answered truthfully.
“There are rules, 1,000 Conviction per question. Long answers might up the cost. The SYSTEM is the final arbiter on all fees.
“Why did the SYSTEM take away my race?”
“Simple answer, because it wanted to. The longer answer is because your race fits into a race evolution category that you haven’t earned yet. Since the 10th Iteration, the SYSTEM is trying to keep everyone on a level playing field, at least to start with. That means everyone starts with the same basic settings. No Core, No Racial Evolution and No Class.”
“But it was okay to give me a title that gave me attributes?”
“Anton, you are immortal, of course you’re going to get special treatment. But, to ease your mind. Anyone who has made it this far gets to keep their abilities unless those abilities fall into a new category like Racial Evolution. Titles and Perks are a bit different. Only Ascendant and Divine Ranked Titles and Perks weren’t touched, but they could have been slightly modified. Titles granted by the SYSTEM do not fall into that category….
Anton felt Keres laugh through their mental connection, “What?”
“Really Freaking Old,” That’s actually quite funny and still broken. You realize that most common classes at the most are going to add 10 points to each attribute, which includes Hit Points, Stamina, Mana and Psychic Energy by the time they reach level 100 and get ready to upgrade their Core to Common Rank and take on a new class or improve the one they already have. At the Uncommon Rank, the class will increase their attributes by about 100 points over 100 levels and 1,000 points at Rare. That puts the attributes you currently have, except for luck, firmly in the Rare to Advanced Rank range, and you don’t even have a Common Core yet.”
“Okay, so how do I increase my core rank or find an Evolutionary Evolution?”
“Core and Racial Crystals are given as rewards for monster kills or SYSTEM quests. Ten basic core crystals will create one common core crystal. All you need to do is infuse ten common crystals, and your core will upgrade from Basic to Common. This pattern repeats through the ranks for both your Core and your Racial Evolution.
“How about Classes?”
“Classes are a bit different. To begin with, you can accept any class at Common Rank even with a Basic Core. However, in order to upgrade your class to uncommon rank, or choose a new class at uncommon rank, your core must be that new rank,” The Goddess said.
“That seems pretty straightforward. I take it that if I were to kill an uncommon creature and get a crystal from it, I could use that crystal to upgrade my core to common immediately?” Anton asked.
“Yes, but only for your Common rank. Once your Racial Evolution, Core, and Class all achieve Common rank, you cannot increase your Racial Evolution or Class to Uncommon until your Core is Uncommon ranked. It’s very easy to start, even to get that initial attribute bonus of +10, but after that you need to make sure you stay balanced as you progress.
“What about my skills and spells. Did I suddenly forget everything I learned before?”
“No, the SYSTEM decided to stop tracking skills as they were, and instead, skills represent specialized powers that you have access to. Additionally, you cannot utilize a skill or spell above your Core’s rank without serious side effects. I see that the SYSTEM allowed you to keep the spells you learned from the Tome but kept them at Master rank, it also made you use Spell Points for that…Yeah that’s fair because those spells are incredibly powerful. Also, your attributes let you start with 538 Spell Points and those six Spells. Let's use Fireball as an example. Your Core is like a fuse. It allows you to conduct energy through you, which is utilized for your skills and spells. Each rank is logarithmically higher than the previous rank. Because of your high starting attributes, you could probably utilize up to Rare level skills or powers without much worry. Go above that, however, and the energy will burn you out from the inside. If you cast any of those spells, it will most likely vaporize you. Note that this is probably also true for your ability to absorb spells. Yes, that was granted by an artifact, but the spells you absorb are using you as the structure to hold them, and they are much more powerful. You should be okay with rare rank spells, but above that, I would allow you anti-mage ability to ignore those spells.
“So that’s going to work as advertised?”
“I read the same notifications you did. The SYSTEM didn’t change anything so it should work normally.
“Okay, so how long before you can release the rest of your followers?
“First, I need a domain at least equal in size to what I placed in stasis. Then I need one million Conviction per person…
“How many people were in The Fort when you saved it?” Anton asked.
“13,724…”
“You need over 13.7 billion Conviction?”
“And an area to place the city in, as well as a Divine Domain dedicated to me in that area. There will also be a cost to the SYSTEM in credits that the SYSTEM will charge, probably near, if not a little bit more than the conviction cost,” Keres offered.
“Shit!” Anton said both out loud and in his mind to Keres. Anton brought himself back under control, “Why haven’t you done this already?”
“I’ve only been unfrozen myself for about 100 years. As yet, I haven’t produced any followers in this Iteration. Which, I should point out, is better than any of the other Gods from the 9th Iteration, as I haven’t been able to find any of them. I believe they’re all gone. The few divine presences I’ve been able to detect seem to keep to themselves.
“So what you’re saying is that this is a reset for everyone. If it’s a reset, that begs the question, where am I?”
“Honestly, I have no Idea. I suggest you get to exploring,” Keres offered with a hint of mirth present through their connection.
“I guess so,” Anton said as he closed the link and received a new Notification.
15,000 Convictions has been deducted from your total for asking and receiving answers to 15 questions from the Goddess Keres.
Total Conviction: 25,869,500
Unspent Conviction: 10,852,438
Temporary Conviction: 15,017,062
Temporary Conviction Return Rate: 1 per day. (Normal Recovery Rate of 1,000 (Conviction Level x10) per day reduced due to Goddess' lack of Conviction which is heavily influenced by the number of followers and temples the Goddess has available.)
Anton considered what he read and realized one thing. The Conviction he currently had was a finite source that he shouldn’t squander. He would need to work to increase Keres’s followers and influence if he wanted to see his family again, which he had to admit was something he hadn’t really counted on. The goddess had done him a solid favor by saving them and it looked like she’d lost a lot in the process. It now looked like it was time for him to return the favor.
The Herald of the Apocalypse starts after this point. How far after will become apparent as the story progresses, but it is quite a bit, at least from Connors' perspective.
Additionally, the SYSTEM that Anton is in, is the Same SYSTEM that Adam created. Adam should not be making another appearance, at least for a while, I mean he just took on Primordial Chaos, so yeah, NAP time. ;)
As for the other characters from Infinitium or Pandora, you may see them again because everyone in that Universe survived :).
As for the rules of the SYSTEM....Connor is dealing with a different SYSTEM that mimics the Forge SYSTEM so there will be differences, but not so much that it's hard to follow between the two stories.
Also, during Infinitium I said it in the past and I still stand by it. I hate when characters have things taken away from them, but it was necessary to bring Anton to a place where he could be adjusted to the new logarithmic Skill and Spell System that I introduced in Herald. I like it a lot more and it's a lot easier to understand. The Core, Racial Evolution, and Class thing might be confusing, but you'll see, it's a lot easier to understand how individuals will progress and get more powerful. And while Anton is not as broken as Adam, he will rise in those ranks pretty quickly, especially with his luck.
Anyway, I didn't want to drop a bomb that is this chapter without letting everyone know this is something I've been considering for about a month now.
I hope you all enjoyed
Adamantinus
a.k.a. Harold Brooks
P.S. You should all know by now, when I add a pretty character, male or female, to my stories; "It's probably a trap" ;)
