NOTIFICATION: You have unlocked the ability "Thousand Hands" current mastery 6/1000. The user may deploy multiple ethereal arms through their torso.
The Thousand Hands ability was something he was quite interested in. He was pretty sure mastery level related to how many hands he could summon. In his previous life, he had killed a few people with a similar ability over differences in how each thought humanity should handle the influx of refugees into the dungeon.
If he could level it, this could make him an army of one though he knew it was likely heavily wisdom focused.
A few short slow claps broke him from his thoughts. "Now that was unexpected," said Sadie, her hood down and smiling cheerfully. "You could have just stood up. You’re in the dungeon now physical injuries no matter how severe or old will heal so long as you’re not dead. Now please, sit down. It’s time to start phase one of your orientation."
She was right. He should have known that. Being in the dungeon repairs damage to the body quickly if not engaged in combat. In his other life, that small factor had been a chief cause of his death when he had bled to death at the Altar of the End; the healing of the dungeon stalled due to nearby enemies. Sheepishly he sat down embarrassed.
"Let’s begin, let’s do your interview, and then get you some equipment.” She said.
Chapter 6: Starting Point
* * *
The elf woman known as Sadie broke the silence between them first when she removed the hood that had been hanging from her neck like a scarf. Long platinum white hair revealed itself as it fell forward past her shoulders, no longer tied back behind her head. Without the hood to obscure parts of her face, Seraph was able to take a better measure of her. Her face illuminated in pale light against the backdrop of the endless dark void behind her, accenting her features with a hardness not typical of the elves. A hardness that contradicted the outgoing persona she had exuded before. Seraph noticed a single scar which marred what would otherwise have been a perfect face, contrasting with her high cheekbones and sharp features that suggested she herself had a cruel nature. The scar leaving the permanent appearance of an angry scowl.
Sadie noticed him looking, and her eyes flashed in annoyance, resenting the attention. Her eyes focused on him in hyper vigilance before speaking, “Rest a minute and catch your breath. This won't work if I can’t hear myself think over the sound of you panting like a dog.”
Seraph slumped down into the chair as he tried to mentally will himself to be as small and unnoticeable as he could, while taking advantage of the small comfort of sitting to let his stamina and his pool of mana recover and replenish. “Pathetic,” He thought as he cursed this new body of his and its impulses. He was embarrassed by the assumption of wandering eyes and more embarrassed by the weak performance of his body. His journey had only just started, and yet he was already struggling to meet the expectations he set for himself.
He was utterly exhausted; he had exhausted both his stamina and mana stores to a dangerous degree. For many currently in the dungeon and many who would come later, the exertion may have seemed trivial, but the effort for Seraph had been anything but due to his low base stats. The effort had almost killed him, although the permanent buff of "Mana Body" had certainly been worth it.
What more concerned Seraph was that someone had seen him in his weakness. Should his stamina and mana be exhausted, he would revert to his weakened and crippled state. This was a secret he would kill to keep safe. But for now, Seraph was forced to dismiss the thoughts from his mind, the elf was currently too far beyond him, and hope that she had not realized the implications of what she had seen.
As Seraph waited for his stamina to recover, he took the opportunity to examine and look over his body to see what if any changes had occurred following the +1 Buff to his STR, AGI, and END after developing the body of mana ability. The buff had helped to fill him out a little, but it had not given him any definition in his extremities or any easily observable growth. This was to be another concern he had not previously had. This body was weak, sickly, and feeble. He worried about his ability to survive, much less thrive in the dungeon with this handicap in place. It had just become apparent to Seraph that this a concern needed immediate attention.
Seraph made no assumptions that he would be granted the same buffs he had been given in his first life. He had been extremely lucky in that regard. He had been awarded his legendary class, fully unlocked, within minutes of being placed in the dungeon. The unlocked legendary class had provided him with passive boosts that he was exploited ruthlessly. Those buffs had afforded him the equivalent of a 50-level head-start advantage. Something that amounted to years’ worth of effort. It was a lead he had taken advantage of to ensure that no one could close that gap. It was a promise and a creed he had lived by and would continue to live by. He would do everything he found to widen the gap further, and promise.
As Seraph looked over his emaciated body, he resigned himself to a long grind and difficult progress, he would not be able to boost his power like he had before. The spirit of the dungeon would not allow him to pursue such means of getting strong again, and he had no choice but to grow stronger, he was too weak as he was, and his weakness would kill him eventually if he did not overcome them soon. He would have to find other ways to widen the gap between him and those who will eventually follow him and find other ways to build his power base.
As Seraph reflected back on his decisions since his rebirth, he noted some concerns that he would need to rectify. The elf seated next to him had already pointed out one of his concerns. Her earlier criticism was correct when pointing out that he could have simply stood up and walked, rather than crawling on his belly like a dying animal. He had overlooked and forgotten the healing power of the dungeon, and the implications were not lost on him. This was something he should have known and had forgotten and overlooked.
There was more to this than just casual oversight, this was a mistake, and the Black Seraph didn’t make mistakes. But he realized, this was the issue, he wasn’t the Black Seraph, at least not currently and maybe never again. His current stats were the lowest they had ever been, far lower than when he had first been brought to the dungeon in his first life. He considered his low wisdom and intelligence stats and found them to be the likely explanation for his lack of mental acuity.
Regardless of the reason and the explanation, he had made an error. An error that more than warranted the deserved mocking looks and the harsh tone that Sadie had adopted with him. He promised himself that he would be more careful in the future. That one mistake had nearly cost him his life during a minor challenge. This had become out of necessity a learning experience. He would need to temper his expectations of his own outputs now that he possessed a less than ideal body and an immature brain.
A second problem became clear to him regarding the elf woman Sadie. She had more than willing to kill him just a few minutes before, and while some of that willingness to kill was likely part of her function within this tutorial, there had been something more. Seraph recognized that something beneath the surface simmered, something that triggered a blood lust in her that would only be satisfied when he was dead. A hint of that something in the looks of bitter resentment, thinly disguised anger, and of hate, she directed at him. He would need to find the reason behind her hate. But as he looked for signs of those emotions again hoping to gain insight, they were gone, replaced with the cheery disposition she had held when in processing him into the dungeon.
Sadie interrupted his thoughts with a scathing look of contempt. "Are you so important that you’ve somewhere else that you need to be?” Seraph went to respond but was cut off before he could say anything.
“You would do well to show more gratitude and humility towards my master and his creations.” Said Sadie. “He has shown you a great deal of latitude never before given to others and has been extremely accommodating to your condition and your situation, in spite of some of us having reservations towards your qualifications."
<
br /> Seraph noted the edge to her voice, and the pointed nature of her comments. They appeared to suggest that she knew much more about him then she let on. Just how much Seraph was unsure, but he would take precautions. He would need to assume a measure of distrust with her. These unanswered questions lingering around the elf worried Seraph.
Though this was a civil setting, the dungeon could be full of volatile dangers, the sort of danger that comes from other people’s ambitions, need for vengeance, pettiness, and grand delusions. Seraph doubted the dungeon would try to kill him or ensnare him in some trap given their connection, but Seraph was unsure about the dungeon’s sentiment minions like Sadie, they may obey the will of the dungeon, and be of the dungeon, but they were not the dungeon and still possessed free will. Seraph would never forget that.
As Seraph finished up the last bit of stamina and mana recovery, he remained on guard assuming that at any moment that Sadie could strike out against him. If so, he would be forced into a life or death battle that he was not prepared to win. It reminded him of something he did when vetting new recruits to his old guild Carrion Crow, by making applicants fight to the death and choose from among the survivors those who would ascend into the guild, and then he and his officers would consume those that had not been chosen to join.
Two options were likely Seraph thought. The first option being that this chain of events was set up by the dungeon itself to prepare him to fight the elf as some sort of rite of passage to continue to progress out of the tutorial. The second thought was that he might be forced to fight one of the other early participants. These were the only ways he could think that made sense to foster both early growth and harden the new participants to the harsh realities of the dungeon.
In the other timeline Seraph had his own method of hardening new participants to the dungeon. When time allowed new humans were forced to fight each other in Battle Royale arenas as the other adventurers cheered on for the entertainment. His guild had often forced those humans new to the dungeon to fight to the death, murder the price of acceptance. His guild had recruited heavily from among the survivors of the practice. Primarily it had been his guild under his direction that administered these Free-For-Alls. The practice had heavily boosted the experience and stats of the survivors.
Today’s orientation was nothing like the orientations he had held, and he was unsure if that was better or to the detriment of humanity.
The elf moved to grab a set of Tarot cards set nearby and with a calm look of icy detachment on her face as she began her task. She set the deck of Tarot cards on the table between the two of them face down and motioned for Seraph to pick 10 cards. He complied with the directions and each time he chose a card she would grab it and expertly place it in an arcane pattern.
The entire process went quickly. The elf passing neither word nor glance in his direction.
When all 10 cards had been selected, she weaved a series of hand motions and whispered words of power he could not hear, signs of mana glowing as the magic worked. The cards responded illuminated in blue light with traces of the magic Seraph had previously collected when earning his mana body.
As the cards began to glow, the elf leaned forward in her seat placing both hands over the cards and began to speak softly, her voice aimed at the cards as she began to read the spread.
She pulled the first card. "I ask who this man? The reversed Judgement answers. "This man is a contradiction. He is full of self-loathing and doubt unable due to his own arrogance to understand and be aware of his own failings."
She held the Judgement card for Seraph to see and asked “Tell me human, and be honest for I’ll know if you're lying to me, if the world as you know it was to end today, who would you save?
Seraph didn’t need to stop and consider the question; he had already lived it and responded, “I would save myself.”
Without responding to his answer, she pulled the second card. "I ask for what cause must this man struggle?" The Hanged Man answers. "This man’s destiny is his doom. He will be a martyr. He will be a sacrifice."
She held the Hanged Man card for Seraph to see and asked, “A great army that you have led is laid to waste, for what reason did they fall?”
Seraph thought of the Locum Malificar and though the question was a rhetorical one to get him to reflect on his failings as a leader, he had experience to pull from. “Overconfidence” He answered. “Failure is hard to consider when you’ve gone from victory to victory, sometimes you have to be reminded there is always a bigger fish.”
She nodded seeming to appreciate the answer and pulled the third card. "I ask from where this man comes?" The Tower answers. "This man is a herald; he comes from disaster and calamity on the race of men."
She held the Tower card for him to see and asked, “A rival faction has begun to emerge and gain advantage among your allies, how do you respond?
Seraph considered for a second and deliberated with himself internally before finding his answer. “You get rid of them, all of them, every last conspirator, every last would be enemy, even if it means biding your time until you can be rid of them all out once, just like in the game of Risk if you can’t wipe the board with an attack against rivals, you leave yourself vulnerable to be destroyed by somebody else.”
She frowned but said nothing and pulled the fourth card. "I ask what this man must overcome?" The Four of Cups answers "This man must overcome his apathy, for apathy is death and indifference towards a helping hand will be fatal."
She held the Four of Cups up for him to see and asked, “You look into a mirror, and it reveals your greatest faults, what does it show.”
Seraph thought back on his other life and the decisions he had made “It shows that the helping hand I have offered has been a tyrants grip. I have always tried to bear burden myself, even when those burdens have to be shared by others, but I have not done enough to strengthen those who bear them alongside me.”
“That sounds a bit like regret.” She commented before moving on and pulling the fifth card. "What must this man gain to know victory? “The Knight of Cups answers, "He must gain discernment. Be wary of low hanging fruit, ask of all easy things, what is the cost?"
She held the Knight of Cups for him to see and asked, “A demon you cannot defeat has taken your closest friend, your father, and your lover captive, but you can only save one, who do you save?”
To Seraph this was an important question that he had long ago answered for himself. “Love and passion are fleeting, and friends can drift apart, but the bonds of blood are forever, I’d save my father.”
She pulled the sixth card. "What must this man be warned against?" The five of swords answers. "Be wary, lest victory defeat you. Choose battles carefully or risk losing everything. Be wary of forcing one’s companions to leave you, one’s actions ripple beyond oneself."
She held the Five of Swords before him and asked, “Before you is a great weapon, you may use it freely whenever you wish and no one but you may use it, what do you do with it?”
“Too easy.” Thought Seraph. “I would use this weapon to destroy my enemies, and the threat of its continued use would be a deterrent, allowing me to suppress any dissent against me.”
Sadie closed her eyes slowly then blinked, clear disappointment on her face before continuing. She pulled the seventh card "What effect will others have on this man’s victory." The Queen of Swords answers, "Another will join him of harsh critique and demeanor, to teach and train him but never know him."
She held the Queen of Swords for him to see and asked, “You see two creatures, one of dark and one of light, one of bane and one of holy, from which do you draw guidance.”
Seraph considered the question, he had already been a creature of darkness and doubted he could learn much from another creature of the dark, but of the light there was plenty he knew he was ignorant of. “I would choose the creature of light, this holy being to draw guidance from. I know what I am not, there is no shame in drawing strength towards m
y weaknesses.”
She pulled the eighth card. "What influence does the past have on the future this man struggles towards?" The Ten of Swords answers, "This man has known absolute defeat and tasted unavoidable calamity, his fate cannot be denied."
She held the Ten of Swords in front of him and asked “A man, his wife, and the three children they foster are to be evacuated by life raft during in the aftermath of a storm to be marooned by themselves on a nearby tropical island, however, only three of them may be saved? Whom do you choose to save?”
Without even having to think on the question, Seraph answered. “I choose the strongest among them, those most likely to survive once they reach the island. Without further information on the contrary I’d assume this to be the two adults and the eldest child, better one of the children survive than none.”
Sadie frowned but had no retort to it. She pulled the 9th card. "To whom does this man owe the future?" The Devil answers. "The future is owed to his own appetites, the voice that traps itself in the throat. He pays homage to that which he desires, vengeance and retribution."
She held the Devil card in front of him and asked, “The thing you desire most has been stolen from you, what is this desire?”
Seraph answered calmly, “To power to be free of the whims, desires, and the machinations of others, to be something that cannot be controlled or tamed, simply avoided and tolerated, like a typhoon or winter storm.
She pulled the last card. "What is this man’s victory? “Death answers. "This man will know an end. New life will be given and from the ashes seedlings will spring."
She held up the Death card to him to see and asked, “Someone close to you, a trusted lieutenant has been discovered attempting to betray you at the height of a campaign, a betrayal that would cost you victory, how do you respond?”
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