Acrion- Cascade

by Scott Seier

  The priest went limp. This was the first sign that the chancellor wasn't going to like what was about to come out of his mouth. "The Great Seal. Chancellor, the Seal is down." The priests body hit the floor before he was done with the sentence. The words still coming out even though he was already dead.

  The chancellor was moving now. Faster than he had seen fit to do so since climbing to his current position in the empire. He blurred down the halls, killing any unlucky Arachkidar in his way. He had to move fast. If that bitch was set free, then...A massive crack deafened any lesser creature that was currently in the underground complex. The chancellors ears popped. then again. And again.

  He raised his hand to the side of his head and it came away covered in black blood. He looked around. He had made it to the entrance of the Great Seal in less than a minute after learning of its failure. He watched as the blockade of guards that covered the tunnel entrance began to sag, and then collapse. Some of the weaker priests were crying out in pain and convulsing. The chancellor watched in horror as the guards began to die, one after the other. They died, then withered to dust in a matter of seconds. The priests were brought to their knees after the last guards died. They were more powerful, but not completely immune to the ravages of time. Not yet. Each one aged before the chancellor's eyes and passed into the abyss after only a few minutes. Only two priests and the chancellor himself were left standing when another deafening crack signaled the end to the Heralds revenge.

  The Chancellor fell to his knees. He could feel it. The entire hive had been exterminated. All of the lower level Arachkidar had been killed in less than three minutes.

  The Leader was there suddenly. His massive form appearing silently, but exuding such power that it made it impossible for him to go unnoticed. "You have made the wrong decisions...You will be punished." The Leader's words were absolute. There was no order, or sentencing. He was speaking truth.

  "Do not fret. I am merciful. A blood debt will be called forth in your name." A ray of hope budded in the chancellor's heart. "There will be one year to repay the blood debt in full. Otherwise you will move into the Dark." The Leader turned, accidentally killing one of the surviving priests. "Your punishment, regretfully, is now though. As to give you ample time later to reconcile your failures."

  The Leader snapped his massive fingers together and suddenly the chancellor felt nothing. He watched as his body hit the floor. He was watching from higher up than he normally stood. He wriggled around only to find that he had no body. He turned back to the scene of his limp body. The Leader's hand coming into view and snapping once more. The chancellors body was dissolved before his eyes and inhaled by the Leader. It was only then that the chancellor knew where he was.

  He was within the soul gem that the Leader kept within the crown that adorned his brow. The chancellor screamed in fear, but no sound escaped. Instead, as he struggled to free himself, tiny tingles began to spread over his non-body. He ineffectively yelled, screamed, called out for mercy, but nothing changed his situation. The tingles began to grow into pin-pricks. By the time that each pin-prick evolved into a knife, and then a red-hot poker, the chancellor had given up any resistance. He was nothing against the Leader's power.

  He was nothing now. But one day, he would be free. That prisoner. That demon. The seal breaker. The whelp would die, but not only die. The chancellor would take an accurate accounting of every moment of torture that he was and would continue to endure. Each moment would be dolled out to the nothing that had ruined his life. The Demon of the Seal would suffer.

  Alert!

  New Title Bestowed!

  The Demon of the Seal

  Alert!

  New Mark Acquired!

  Blood Debt Mark

  Arachkidar Empire

  1000 gold Debt

  I scratched my forearm absentmindedly as the mark appeared out of the blue. It looks like you made more enemies than I anticipated. Vigil said, commenting on new title and mark that had hit me back to back. I was making my way down the escape tunnel Saoirse had opened up for me and was honestly more focused on what was ahead of me than behind. Vigil chuckled. It Is more like a valuation on the perceived crime. It is true that in the past people have been able to avoid death by compensating a debt mark sufficiently, but in this case I believe that tactic would be ineffective. I nodded. A thousand gold...that was the equivalent of one hundred thousand real life dollars. I had no idea who I had rubbed the wrong way, but seeing as they captured me in the first place it felt pretty unfair to be slapped with such a mark. I shook it off and checked on my new title instead.

  Lyst

  The Demon of the Seal

  Herald

  Level 17

  Summoner (Veil)

  Health: 20/20

  Mana: 10/10

  Blood Debt Mark

  Stamina regeneration -50%

  Fatigued

  The Demon of the seal...kinda dramatic, and too many 'the's, but I"ll take it. The fatigue was just part of not resting for so many consecutive hours, and the stam debuff was from trying to abuse my poor spirit. Glancing at my wrist I was reminded that the jailer's soul focus was useless at this point. It made me nervous to have it attached to me seeing as it was hovering in the single digits of stability. Which brought me back to looking at the small circle that housed Vigil. He was right, An imp didn't suit him anymore, but I didn't want him to become a soul focus either. The Jailer had been a desperation move. The commanding of an unseen force to protect and destroy was cool and all, but I didn't feel like it was worth devoting Vigil entirely too.

  Even when the seal was fully powered, strikes from stronger Arachkidar cut right through the defensive force like it was made of jello. It wasn't something I could really rely on. If only I could learn a new summon. One that could grow in strength with me and not be limited by its own nature. I would be able to use Vigil as it's mind and he would likely be happier for it.

  I was shaken out of my thoughts when the barren tunnel that I'd been walking down suddenly produced a door. The passage kept on going, slanting downward at a slight angle, but on the right hand side stood the heavy looking stone door. Normally I would advice not wasting your time, but there seems to be no pursuit and it isn't like your group is waiting around for you nearby.

  Vigil's words cut deeper than I anticipated. It was weird. I'd only known those guys for a day, but I missed how confident I had felt as one of them. It was true that my growth had been stunted due to their insane power and I had made more progress in a few hours on my own than a day with them, but I still wouldn't mind grouping up.

  Staring at the door I took the time to pay attention to every detail that I could manage. I didn't want to set off a trap of some kind when I had escaped death so many times today already and there was a chance I could escape without dying. Seeing nothing obvious and after getting Vigil's confirmation that he too noticed nothing, I presses my hands against it's cool surface and heaved. The door slid instead of swinging. It moved straight back, receding into the stone wall, and then once it passed a certain point, slid to the side like a barn door. I was surprised that the room was lit by the same crystals that had illuminated the chamber Saoirse was in.

  Walking in I was instantly excited. This was a supply room! There were stacks and stacks of wooden crates, each labeled with various names of preserved foods and basic armor. On the walls hung shelves that were home to hundreds of ceramic pots that had pictures on them to denoted their contents. The room was huge, and clearly unused. Even in the game world there were signs that no one had been in here for a good long while. Spiders, the mundane kind, were hanging in the corners, level 5 due to no one bothering them for so long. I even saw a few shadows speed away from my presence. Vigil guessed they may have been lesser wraiths. All of the mobs in here were low level and posed no threat to me at this point, but I still kept
an eye out for anything...bigger.

  I spent twenty minutes going through crates and pots. I found a set of very cool looking cloth armor that didn't have any real stat increases on them, but still offered a change of pace from my drab starting character clothing. Swapping out the gear, I was suddenly encased in a cloak, colored in dark grays along with a shirt and pants that were very similar to the Arachkidar's priests clothing. The cloak had a large hood attached, that I immediately threw over my head. I laughed to myself. I was unaware that you had any political affiliations. I also found a pot that had a dark purple picture of an amulet on it. If I'd learned anything during my time in Acrion, it was that purple was good. I picked up the pot, and after trying to find a seal to break or lid to open, gave up and dropped it to the floor, shattering it. Sitting in the ceramic shards was a bright silver locket on a similarly colored chain. Picking it up I inspected it.

  Locket of Desire

  Neck

  Epic

  Uses 4/5

  The locket will summon the astral form of the one you desire above all others in this world

  The duration of the connection is five minutes - 5.00 min

  Well that could be useful. The locket had no stats on it so I tossed it in my bags and kept on with my rampant looting.

  All in all I found food that would never spoil, Wine that when consumed would increase my intellect for a short while, a pouch full of poison vials that looked similar to the Arachkidar venom vials that I had been collecting, and an entire golds worth of silver and copper. I also found a jar full of a strange black powder that had no description when I inspected it, I shrugged and stashed it. I was happy that when you reached one hundred silver the system immediately condensed it into gold. The rest of the stuff in here was just more armor and clothing, and with my minimal strength I couldn't put any of it to use or carry it all to make a profit. I stuck to the small stuff.

  Taking out the locket, after determining that nothing else of extreme interest was going to make itself known, I wondered who it would summon to me if I activated it. "The one I desire above all others..." I muttered out loud. I asked Vigil. The only response I got was a string of non-committal mumblings. He had been spending some of my mana on modifying his own rudimentary seal while I had been prancing around stealing stuff from the spider people. Shrugging, I activated the item.

  "Lyst?" Well this is awkward... Vigil muttered.

  "Kara?"

  You should avoid romantic connections with instructors. It will complicate the relationship and potentially disrupt the learning process. "What is this place?" Kara's astral body spinning on the spot to take in the odd room. She looked like a ghost, partially translucent. "Lyst... I was in the middle of an experiment, why..?" she asked carefully. The longer I stayed silent the sharper her gaze became. "Ignoring the 'why'. I would actually like to know the 'how'. I never taught you astral summoning." She folded her arms "You haven't been around Four Flags for a couple of days. You went and found a different trainer didn't you?" This is becoming a waste of time. I suggest retreating from this altercation. that is a possibility I suppose. Assuming that you do not have any latent intentions that you are uncomfortable sharing with me.

  "No, I didn't find a new trainer. I was captured actually, by the Arachkidar. I was hoping that you could help me escape? Would you be able to train me through an astral projection?" I was desperately hoping that the NPC would just take the request for training as a trigger and override her abnormally realistic personality programming. Jealousy didn't suit her anyway. Kara's eyes unfocused slightly and then she nodded. "Of course. Distance is not a barrier to training as long as the trainer can interact with you." The response seemed oddly robotic and I sensed a very faint touch something...else in her words.

  Kara rummaged in her bags and pulled out several books. "You have progressed beyond what I was expecting from you so soon, but these spells should be a boon to any adventurer in your situation." Something about Kara's words caused me to pause before reaching out and inspecting the astral spell books. The look in her eye was almost...pleading? Like she was trying to tell me something but wasn't allowed to say the words. I was frozen, hand half extended towards the shiny new spells, but something inside me was telling me to go a different route. Did I really need one of these new spells? Or did I need something else? It was almost like Kara was trying to tell me that I'd... asked the wrong question?

  I wracked my brain for the answer that I was looking for. I was currently extremely limited with my spells. The dots and debuffs were great, but without the soul focus I had no way to deal real damage. But in that same vein, if I got a big nuke spell then I would be limited by my low intelligence stat. So I didn't need a big spell I needed something else...

  "Kara?" I asked hesitantly. "Are there any new summons that you could teach me? Something more substantial than an imp?" The glint in her eye brightened a tick, but her voice remained mostly level. Tiny hints of excitement seeping through. "I'm not so sure Lyst. Summoning stronger entities means that you would need to wrestle their wills into submission to utilize them. It takes a good amount of spell power and effort to do such a thing." Undeterred by her rejection I pressed on, I knew what was going on now. Something was definitely up. "A strong entity may be too much for me at my current level, you're probably right about that, but what about something without a will? A shell that I don't need to waste effort on trying to control?" Kara openly smiled at this. Then it was gone. Her usual expressions and behaviors shining through more than they had a second earlier. The change was subtle, but if someone knew what to look for, it was significant enough. What sent a chill down my spine was that whatever had just been chatting through Kara hadn't been the controlling AI like with Saoirse. It didn't have his speech patterns and righteous tones, or the ability to completely take over Kara like the controlling AI would have undoubtedly done. This had been something else. Regardless, the results were in my favor once again. Kara put her books away and began digging through her bags again.

  Summoning: Construct

  Cost: Variable - Seal / Variable - Summon

  Allows the creation of a powerful seal, used to bind an object to the caster

  Once the seal is in place the object will become a construct and the caster will have command over some of it's characteristics

  This includes the summoning of the Construct to the caster

  "This is the only thing that I can think of that meets your criteria." Kara, now without external influence, looked like she thought I was crazy . "A construct doesn't have a will, and so you would not need a high intelligence score to control it..." I read the description several times as a tiny spark of an idea began folding itself into a plan that was springing into being in the back of my mind. I simply nodded and reached out to the astral book. The second I touched it I was hit with a new notification.

  Spell Alert!

  New Spell Learned

  Summoning: Construct

  Very satisfied and with my head buzzing with new plans I was surprised to see that Kara hadn't faded away the minute I'd learned my new spell. She noticed my questioning look and shrugged. "You've gained enough levels for me to teach you more about the summoning class than just learning a new spell. If you aren't too busy of course..."

  Consulting the clock, the five minute timer on the locket of desire wasn't even half way done yet. "Sure." I said. "Hit me." She didn't waste time. Kara sank into a cross legged sitting position just as if she was still in her little forest grotto. I suppose she was actually still in her grotto seeing as I was just talking to her astral form... "The first tier of a summoner is an easy goal to achie
ve. You simply need to know a single summoning spell and you're already considered a tier 1. There are a ton of ways to move into the second tier of the summoning branch of magic, but one of the simplest ways of doing so is to learn and cast a tier 2 summoning spell." My ears definitely perked up at the sound of that. "So the construct summoning is still a tier 1 spell?" I asked before she could continue. I was about to get another shot at an even stronger spell! "The summoning spell that I just taught you is an uncategorized spell. It is tier-less so to speak, and because of that doesn't count as a tier 2 ascension prerequisite." I accepted her explanation, even more excited to experiment with my new uncategorized spell.

  Kara cleared her throat. "So, a tier 2 spell." She muttered this as she closed her eyes. She extended her left hand forward and, after a small burst of mana, produced three marbles. "Tier 1 spells are easy and can be taught with basic spell books. After that, each caster has their own different ways of storing their known spells." She rolled the marbles in her palm smiling slightly as the light from her astral form made them glint. I noticed that the marbles weren't astral at all. She had summoned them to my actual location.

  "Summoners usually keep our spells far away and housed in different vessels." She gestured at her marbles. "Then if we ever want to teach someone something we know we can always just summon them to us. Wizards have their big books they lug around with them, warlocks have their secret keeper demons that can pass on their knowledge. We have marbles, or other thought constructs." I took a step closer and lowered myself to my knees to get down on her level. The girl liked to sit on the ground more than most, I can tell you that. I took a close look at each marble and inspected the first one.

  Summoning: Healing Crystal

  Cost: 10 mana

  Duration: 24 hours