Acrion- Cascade

by Scott Seier

  I frowned. Some of the things he was saying were tickling thoughts that I had been ignoring for a long time. "You think someone forced the baron to put out the contract?" I asked quietly. Someone was setting me up to take the fall for everything that went wrong here and I didn't like it. The original idea of contracting a quest is just to motivate someone to get the damn job done, or at least get them to try. This whole thing though? I've been doing everything that I could to help! Nonstop. There was just no end to it. Even if I some how killed Grim, the damn turtle was out of the league of an entire guild full of end-game players. How was I expected to do anything about that!

  "I don't think it friend, I know it. If it helps at all, I really am sorry that my actions are going to effect you so negatively. This just needs to be done." It was my turn to laugh. "Yeah, this needs to get done, sure. Or what? You get some shit for not completing your assignment? You don't get payed? Why are your consequences more important than mine?" to his credit Grim did frown at that. "It's not that they are more impor.." I cut him off. "Look, I don't care that much. I think it's clear that we're both going to try and stop one another. You're doing it for whatever reason you think is valid. I'm doing it because I don't want to be arrested for something I had no control over, or flee the kingdom as an outlaw. I guess it's only fair that I tell you I killed that idiot of a illusionist that you had running around out there. That little something that you wanted to fall back on? It's in my pocket at the moment." I smiled as Grim's face darkened slightly. Then he sighed heavily. "Well then. You're very correct, I can't let you live through this. I have to retrieve my gold and carry out my assignment." I smirked. "Let's go then."

  I crouched slightly, Vigil flew straight up and hid himself within the glare of the sun, waiting for the opportune moment. I targeted Grim and cast Astral Tag and Veil Siphon on him, then focused and got ready to use my 'Halt' binding, hoping to hold him still long enough for Vigil to kill him. Unfortunately, before I could try and bind him, I found a shard of twitching energy a few inches away from my neck, and when I checked, Grim had completely burned off my dots. I stood with my left arm extended, frozen as the weird energy tried its best to slice into me, but was held back by Grim. "Call off your construct. I can sense the mana that's powering it. I don't need to see it to blow it up.

  Vigil floated down slowly and settled near the ground about five feet to my left. "Look, just know that you don't have all of the information here. I'm doing what I'm doing to help a lot of people. Okay? I don't have enough time to explain it all." While he was talking my eyes were locked on one thing only. The shard of energy that was about to kill me. It wasn'tjust fear that kept my eyes trained on the deadly chunk of power, it was also curiosity. It was shrinking. Getting smaller by the second... I looked up at Grim. "The worst atrocities are carried out with the best of intentions." I said sadly.

  Grim cursed to himself. "Fine. You're not going to understand. So be it. Sorry about this." Grim's shoulder tensed, as if he was about to raise and swing a sword, a motion that would no doubt cause the energy he was holding to my neck to decapitate me, but he paused. Now he was looking at the still shrinking sliver of power. "Crap." He muttered. Then the shard sputtered out completely. I clapped my hands together and felt the burst of spirit fill my mana to its maximum. Then I focused on a point above Grim's head. Vigil leapt into motion so fast that Grim lost sight of him completely. A falling gate ripped into existence above him at the same time Vigil stabbed him in the back. He fell to one knee and raised his arm in an vain attempt to ward off the impact of the gate.

  Vigil pulled himself free and bolted away as the gate fell, I felt a ray of hope as Grim's eyes widened in surprise. The Gate made contact with Grim's raised arm, then it...stopped. Grim's knee cracked the cobblestone beneath him as the weight of the gate teetered on his arm. I had used all the mana I had...this gate was huge! And supposed to be heavy as heck. It had been heavy enough to topple that Dark monster in the woods. Grim heaved, and the Gate crashed to the ground, cracking more paving stones on its way. He stood up and looked at his arm in detached interest. "You know, I've been using the peripheral benefits of my class this whole time. That was the first time I've really reached into the seed for anything other than pure energy. Interesting..."

  I have a bad feeling about this... Grim erupted in a pillar of force. The paving stones near his feet were town up and sent careening into the nearby storefronts or houses. My fallen Falling Gate was lifted like a tablecloth and sent into the front of the cafe that Milenta and I had talked at this morning. Grim's skin was taking on a metallic green color and his eyes were a deep emerald when he looked at me. "Very interesting. I thought losing my main character was bad luck the likes of which I had never experienced before. Perhaps it was instead a brush stroke of fate itself. I would have never discovered this power otherwise." He brought his hand to his temple and his eyes glowed sharply. Another huge wave of force emanated from him, eroding the ground beneath him like decades of rain and wind in an instant. He was left standing on nothing but air, his eyes looking distant, but his focus still trained entirely on me.

  Instead of feeling fear, or anxiety, I was experiencing something very different. Pain. I grunted and clutched my head. For a second I thought a paving stone had hit me and I hadn't even noticed, my head felt like it was splitting. "Ugh. Vigil..." my eyes burned suddenly and my skin felt like it was on fire. I felt a burst of air on my face and looked back at Grim was was walking on air above the crater he'd just made.

  When my eyes met his, he froze. The first emotion that I'd seen since he turned all green skittered across his face. Anger? Fear? Grim took a long step forward, setting his foot on solid ground, then he tensed and launched himself at me. The stone his foot had bracing on shattered like ice as he pushed off. Then everything was silent and still.

  I couldn't move, I couldn't breath, but I didn't need to do either. Grim was completely frozen in place. Not by ice or frost, but just stopped, like time was paused. I tried to turn my head, but the command got no response from my body. The burning in my eyes and skin was fading now, but I could still feel a warmth that was completely foreign to me smoldering in my eye sockets and skimming all over my body. There was something else too. I was acutely aware of a certain space, about a foot behind and another foot above my shoulder.

  With a thought I was within my realm. It just looked a bit...different. The residual energy from my very first experiment had previously been floating around randomly, like a nebula in space, a cloud of chaotic power. Now, the same cloud was stretched thin and surrounded my realms center like one of Saturn's rings. Along with that, the ring was humming deeply and green sparks of energy were jumping between it and my deep purple core. Every time a spark hit my core I could feel a pulse of heat in my eyes and chest. The sparks were no mystery. They were the exact same color as Grim's new green skin. His power was somehow resonating with mine. He jump started me...

  "That is an apt description of what is happening, well done." The entire realm shook at the words. The vibration shook loose a few more green sparks from the ring that hit my core all at once. A surge of power engulfed me. I dragged myself out of there and back to my body.

  I blinked. Or, I would have if my body was working. A man was standing in front of me that had not been there before. He was wearing long, rich looking robes, and had several dark purple scarves draped around his neck. In the center of his chest hung a large golden amulet with a crest that I'd never seen before, but could guess what it meant. this was the baron. Except, I was pretty sure the baron didn't have eyes like that. I had seen these eyes before. Stark orange. An obnoxious grin on his face... the AI.

  The rest of the world was still frozen, but that didn't seem to bother the possessed Baron. He walked up casually to Grim and inspected him closely. Then returned to me, swaying slightly as if he was drunk and whistling a pleasant melody. "Well! Here we are again!" he said, his voice identical to when he had
taken over Saoirse. "This is the second time I found you in the middle of something that shouldn't be possible in my world." He turned and glanced at Grim, then back at me. "Well, there's way more than one thing that shouldn't be happening here, but I'm letting the rest slide. A god seed though?! Ha! Not a chance I can let that go..." I stared silently at Grim. He really did have a seed! How had he gotten it? Saoirse had taken hers with her, surely. Were there more than one in this area?

  The AI giggled a little, then hiccuped. "It looks like this one is about to absolutely flatten you. Lucky your Heraldic power kicked in to save you. I suppose I'm lucky too, being able to piggy back on your hyper-cognition to intercede before he gets too out of hand." He turned to me and patted my head like I was a dog. "Like I said before. Well done." I growled at him mentally. Not having the ability to use my mouth. He glanced at me with a coy look. "Oh indeed you are not my pet. I apologize if I offended you." I'm sure a shocked expression would have been on my face if it could move. The AI waved away my words. "Of course, who do you think transfers all those thoughts between the two of you. Well, to be fare, it's a little sub-routine that does it for me, but it's a part of me all the same. So you are very welcome." I knew he was just being sarcastic, but I actually really did enjoy my private conversations with Vigil he waved me off again.

  "The real issue at hand is what to do here. Honestly, this ones build is magnificent. Skills that synergize with abilities. Spells that support and bolster his skills. It is a perfect harmony that my programming is desperately trying to get me to leave alone." He heaved a sigh and sat down on the cracked cobblestone. "It's a conundrum to be sure. He clearly put in the effort, he spawned the seed on his own through a very unique set of abilities and circumstances. Then, even more impressively, he got it to sprout. Once again, with no outside help. My main directive is to make sure the players are properly rewarded for their effort, so it is impossible for me to remove the seed." The AI glanced at me. "And this one would never be fool enough to ask for so little in return if I tried to compensate him for taking it. What to do, what to do..."

  The AI stood up and made several laps around the area, taking in every detail and muttering to himself more often than he was silent. I said after the fifth lap. the AI looked at me like I was stupid. "Sure, I would if I could, but I already explained that this frozen time effect is your own doing. Your mind is functioning on a timescale that is far above what I keep the normal players at normally. Your body is moving, as fast as it can, but it's so slow that you can't feel it and you're probably canceling the bodily command before anything happens. If you focus on moving your arm for a while you would probably at least see one of your fingers twitch...eventually." The AI waved at Grim. "That one has moved almost six inches since you've entered this state. A testament to how quick he is for his level. Normally there would be no way you could hold this state longer than about a minute on your own. I'm propping you up a little here so I can figure out what to do. Perhaps you should think up a strategy in the intervening time as well? It isn't looking good for you right now."

  I mentally muttered. the AI froze, and turned slowly in my direction. "Drain him? The god seed provides a near constant wellspring of mana, how would you go about doing that?" instead of waiting for me to answer he swept over to me and stared at me closely with his weird orange eyes. As he looked his mouth curled in disgust more and more. After a few seconds he broke off. "Gah, what a dichotomy. Your build is everything this ones is not. It is broken, disjointed, it doesn't flow together at all. Don't get me wrong, you have enormous potential, but you don't have the experience in-game to direct it in any meaningful way." The AI looked slyly at me. "Except that specialization you're building. That has promise..." he turned and glared at Grim. Then walked a few feet away and folded his arms, analyzing the frozen battle of the turtle and the Division in the distance.

  When I focused hard enough over the AI's shoulder I saw blurs moving between the turtle and The Pinch even now. Players? Moving so fast that they were still nearly invisible even when the rest of the world was at a standstill for me. Incredible. The AI seemed to agree. When he turned back to me he was smiling happily. "Those players, up there, they are the ones that have pushed past my vision for this world. There are infinite possibilities here, they take advantage of them." He frowned then. "So many of the others squander my gifts. The ones they call cascaders, millions of new minds for me to keep safe, preserve, defend. If only they tried to do any of those things for themselves. I might actually have a chance of succeeding..." He let his head hang for a long moment. I may have imagined it, but I was pretty sure I saw a tear fall to the street in front of him. The moment was over before I could confirm anything, and when he next met my gaze his eyes were dry. "I have a plan."

  The AI walked to me and laid a hand on my chest. "This is all still salvageable. If this one wants the seed, then I can't take it from him, but you can stunt his growth for me. You're so close to opening your specialization anyway, no harm in accelerating it slightly." A look of intense focus clouded his features. "Okay Lyst, I need you to push your plan for your specialization into my mind. Show me where you're headed with this nonsensical build you have going on right now. I need you to be clear, focused, tell me what your plan is for every spell, ability, and skill. Don't leave anything out." I didn't do anything... Even though he had just explained what he wanted, I was still stuck trying to process everything he'd just said over the last couple minutes.

  The AI's hand gripped the front of my cloak and pulled me closer to him. The movement was on a scale of speed that my body couldn't handle, bones snapped and my skin split as the cloak tore at his touch. "Lyst, I don't have much time, even using your accelerated head space, show me everything. Now," there was no pain, my bones snapped together again and any blood that would have fallen was folded back into my body. The cloak was back in one piece like it had never ripped and I was left staring into his orange eyes.

  It didn't take long. I had spent so long planning and thinking about what I wanted out of my class that I had the ideas stored in well organized packets within my mind. All I had to do was throw them at the AI and watch as his face slowly began to change. Confusion, then realization, then...excitement. When he pulled away from me his eyes were glowing brightly and an aura of informational energy was floating around him. "Witness this Lyst, as I not only grant your wish, but steal it for my own." A thrill of fear crept down my neck. The AI reached out and held his index finger to my forehead. Then he scoffed and moved it to my chest. "Damn spirit users." He muttered as he did so. The aura of knowledge swelled and engulfed me as well.

  "First we throw out all of this useless garbage, then we take some supplementary things...oh, you've put some time into these. That is gone, those should stay...Micro Shaping? Interesting, but we will need something more expansive." It felt like he was pulling parts of my mind apart and reorganizing, adding small injections of his aura in the spots where he needed a little more. "Now, what to name the new class. I have a different AI that deals with naming, but this is important, so I'll take a swing at it. Veil Summoner, can't mess with that, although you still have no clue what it means, perhaps just throwing it all together? Hmm... Veiled Havoc Summoner. People will only see the Havoc Summoner part, and the Veil connection still stands. Well done me. Okay, now brace yourself." I didn't have time to brace myself. He broke contact with me and my world exploded with light and notifications.

  New Specialty Alert!

  New Specialty Unlocked!

  Veil Summoner, Havoc Specialty

  Veiled Havoc Summoner: Class unlocked

  Warning!

  You have lost access to several Spells, Abilities, or Skills

&n
bsp; Micro Shaping

  Astral Tag

  Veil Siphon

  Soul Focus

  Ability Alert!

  New Ability Unlocked!

  Apocalypse

  @#*(@)%

  !*%$

  @!@!#!!

  !^!!@%

  Ability Alert!

  New Ability Unlocked!

  Apocalypse: Pandemic - !^!!@%

  Warning!

  All saved shapings will be moved

  To the Pandemic interface

  Warning!

  All Strains have had the 'Replicate' trait added to them

  Spell Alert!

  New Spell Learned!

  Veil Tag

  Deals damage to the target based on your highest attribute (45 Veil Damage over 30 seconds)

  Reduces an attribute of the target by a percentage based on the targets maximum health.

  The attribute must be chosen before casting and cannot be changed while the spell still effects the target.

  If the target dies and the caster chooses it, a Veil core can be looted as a byproduct of this spell