Exploration- Chapter 25

3 chapters so far, still at least 1 more today- although, I'm planning on 2 more. If I can't write lots when the wife and youngest are out of town then I don't know when I'll be able to.

I did spoil myself and my son but going to the better gym. Normally we go to one that's 8 minutes away, this one is 30 minutes away. But man it's 5 times the size of the one in our town.

Anyway, more to come.

Chapter 25- PSI?

I don’t know if it was more disorienting to no longer be able to see or hear or how easy it was to shut off those senses. The connection I had with my own body had dramatically shot up when I reached legendary, but I hadn’t noticed it till I was pushed to it. I suppose that made sense, because for so much of life we operate based upon our expectations.

It made me wonder what I would be able to do with Blood is Life given how much I could control my body now. The new ability had been a pillar for my legendary class after I created it with the synergy orb by combining Evolutionary Absorber and Synthesis of the Primordial Hunter amongst other parts of me.

The answer came as quickly as I thought about the ability. It was a passive ability so it worked without me having to activate it. In this case with the loss of hearing and sight, it was already increasing my other senses. Before this, I could sense small vibrations in the air against my skin and detect movement even when I couldn’t see or hear it, but now my body was trying to adapt to enhance that.

True to Samvek’s instructions, I forced it to stop. That was an ability even if it was passive and I should try to avoid using it if I wanted to learn what he was trying to teach me.

That was hardly the only part of me that tried to fill in for the missing senses. Trailblazer’s Mind had always been too potent for me. It was raw primordial power and even now, I knew it was more than I could fully handle, but it didn’t feel quite so overwhelming as when I’d been epic tier. I got the sense that my body and mind were better able to handle the massive amounts of information it could pull in, but that would also be a violation of the instructions so I focused on limiting it as well.

Spirit Sight was a part of my race and thus not inherently an ability although I often enhanced it with Spirit Singing. Still I didn’t try to shut it down. What surprised me though was how quickly my Psi Ability, Precognition flared to life. It did so without any system notification. The system still seemed to have trouble quantifying Psi abilities even if it had added them to my status sheet.

This wasn’t the first time that I’d leaned into precognition. During the battle on Galen, it had played an important role. I couldn’t help but wonder how much easier that battle would have been if I’d realized just what it meant to be legendary. Now, my tactile and olfactory senses combined with Precognition to tell me that the first wave of enemies was almost here.

It was mostly composed of the Bronx type gargoyles which went on four legs and had almost a dog like form. I couldn’t help but think of how Louis Tully would have felt being chased by one of these. There wasn’t time for speculation now though, as I needed to move.  

The moment stretched, thin and taut, as the dungeon breathed in. I could feel Samvek a few steps behind me, solid and unmoving, his presence a fixed point I had to protect at all costs. Without sight or sound, the world became pressure, texture, and intent, every movement announcing itself through subtle shifts in air and stone. My heart hammered, not from fear, but from the sheer effort of trusting senses I’d only recently begun to understand.

The first bronx hit low and fast. I felt it before it arrived, a ripple of inevitability sliding across my awareness, and stepped aside a fraction of a second before claws tore through the space where my legs had been. Wayfinder came around in a tight arc, guided not by vision but by certainty, and bit into stone shoulder with a jarring impact. The gargoyle yelped, a vibration I felt through my boots, and skidded away trailing fractured fragments.

My instinct had been to conjure a force construct first to block it and then to smash it, but I resisted. Instinct was a powerful driving force, but I presumed that Samvek was aiming for me to be in control of that instinct rather than the other way around.

Two more came in from opposite angles, their combined intent pressing down on me like a physical weight. Precognition flared brighter, not as images but as conclusions already reached, and my body obeyed before thought could interfere. I ducked, rolled, and came up inside their charge, blade flashing in brutal, economical strikes. Stone split, joints failed, and one of them collapsed in a heap that twitched once and then went still.

Another leapt high, aiming to crash down on Samvek. The warning hit me like a punch to the gut, sharp and immediate, and I moved without hesitation. I drove forward, shoulder slamming into its flank mid-air, redirecting the mass just enough that it missed him by inches. We hit the ground together, and I finished it with a short thrust that punched through its core, the internal light guttering out as its weight went dead.

Precognition 4 >> 5

The pressure didn’t ease, but I was adapting to it. I found that place of existing where thought and instinct blended like I had on Galen. More were coming, faster this time, and my skin prickled as their combined auras pressed in. I adjusted instinctively, shifting my stance, letting my body find balance without conscious input. Every strike landed where it needed to, every dodge happened just early enough, and I began to realize that I wasn’t reacting anymore. I was arriving at outcomes before the monsters did.

I would have loved to have more Psi abilities. Persuasion wasn’t going to be very useful here, although I remembered that I should likely use it more against the Lawkeepers. That simple thought created a grumbling inside of my brain like my stomach used to get when I was hungry.

A heavy impact glanced off my shoulder, numbing the arm, but I used the momentum to spin and cleave through another Bronx’s neck. Shards sprayed across my face, warm and gritty, and I welcomed the sensation because it meant I was still in control. Somewhere behind me, Samvek hadn’t moved an inch, and that knowledge anchored me more firmly than sight ever could have.

They kept coming and with me keeping Life is Blood inactive, my body wasn’t healing as quickly. It didn’t matter if I could predict where the attacks would be if I couldn’t move quickly enough to respond. Then it happened. Too many attacks were coming. My mind processed the data faster than ever before, but it wasn’t enough. There was no way that I could block all of the blows that were aimed at Samvek and not take a serious wound myself.

If necessity was the mother of invention, then this need was the birthing point for something new inside of me. There was the briefest tearing sensation inside my head. No notification popped up, but somehow, I formed a psionic construct which blocked two of the blows aimed at Samvek and gave me the time I needed to respond to the rest.

There was a sensation of drain deep inside of me. I wasn’t sure how to regenerate Psi, but I was sure that I was spending it faster now with this new ability. I didn’t know what to call it, but I made use of it.

Combining this psionic constructs along with precognition and my physical senses, I was able to tear through the remaining enemies. It might be because the new ability was so similar to my force constructs, but it quickly became second nature and I realized I could use them in the same ways as the other ability. They were more than just shields, but also blades. I felt the versatility for the psionic constructs was even greater than Force Construct Mastery. This was akin to a being a green lantern, and not the shoddy Ryan Reynold’s version.

With that same flexibility, I managed to tear through the rest of the gargoyles and soon was unable to sense any within range. I dropped down cross-legged, sucked in a deep breath and focused my senses outward. I maintained the limits set by Samvek but got the sense that my mind was capable of more. It was going to take experimenting and no new psionic ability popped up, but after ten heartbeats of searching I was comfortable that we were safe for a  while.

I turned my sight and hearing back on and stood up. Samvek was smiling at me. “Well done.”

“Thanks. Harder than I thought at first, and then easier that I would have imagined once I got the hang of it. I even learned a new psi ability, although the system hasn’t named it yet. Actually, let me check my status sheet.”

Sure enough there was nothing there, but I did find something kind of annoying. “Uh nothing, but I’ve gained less than 1% XP toward my next level. That doesn’t right.”

That got a real belly laugh out of Samvek. “Oh, sometimes, you’re good for such a laugh, my friend. Don’t say that around Selena or she’ll mock you relentlessly. We’ve been here less than an hour and you’re complaining because you haven’t gotten much XP. I know you were told that even you should have your growth slow down.”

I shrugged. “I guess seeing is believing, but it still sucks. I’ve got a goddess out to kill me or worse. I need to be much stronger and like immediately. Even if the system protects me from her for a limited time, she’s an architect. I can’t count on that protection holding long.”

“No you can’t, but since when can you count on anyone else to protect you. Maybe when you were a child. I know you too well, even before the system came to your world, you were a protector. You looked after your mother and Cece and that’s a good thing. Ultimately under the Heavens there are three kinds of people although some would say that it’s only two. There are those who need protecting and those who do the protecting. Sadly, the third group is more prevalent than it should be. That’s those who have the power but only utilize it to take from others.

“I’ve sat there listening to enough conversations between my father, Bahran, and others to know that as bad as our system is, there are other systems which promote that predatory stance much more. Still, I’m rambling on. The point is either you protect or you need protection. You are one who will always seek to protect.”

His description of me felt good but before I could say anything another notification popped up.

New Psi Ability has been quantified: Psionic Construct. This ability seems to work in a similar fashion to force constructs, but is powered by psi. Further experimentation is needed for better quantification.

Continue to gather information for the Heavens. Especially learn how Psi is generated. Once you have achieved that you will be rewarded.

Rewards were good, but there was something about that notification which left me uneasy. Jay had stressed that Psi was unique to humanity except where his actions had caused it to spread. He also insisted that it was independent of any system and not like mana which we depended upon under the Heavens. I wasn’t sure if he was completely right because no matter how powerful he was, he was clearly biased. Jay was outside of the system or any system, so the inner workings might be different than he imagined.

I had already come to the conclusion that all energy was the same just in different forms. If dragons could produce mana, then why couldn’t humans produce another type of energy, Psi. At least the system was right about one thing, more experimentation was going to be necessary.

I told Samvek about the new ability I’d gained. It was no listed as being at level 2 on my status sheet and Precognition was listed at level 6.

“Well that’s good enough for now. I chose that one first because it’s the one that I understand the least. Honestly, I only hoped you’d see how far you could push the precognitive effect, I didn’t imagine you’d gain a new ability, but then as Crag likes to say, all the most interesting things happen around Forerunners.”

“One other thing. My reserves of Psi are almost depleted now at least as quantified by the system. Actually, if anything, I think it might be over-estimating how much I have left, because I feel dry inside.” As I spoke, I projected the line from my sheet to him.

Psi Seed: 205/4088

“At least, the total potential increased by about 40%. The how I can control this process is a big question, but I feel fried on this front now, so I think it will have to wait.”

He nodded. “Yeah, we only have a few more hours, so I wanted to test other parts of you. I know you’re hell class makes you uncomfortable, but for the next battle, I want you to use just that class, and of course your physical abilities, but the point is to find out what you can do with that class.”

Hell System Class: Soul Forger-Golem Molder (Legendary equivalent)

Hell System Rank: Duke, vassal of Asmodeus

      Hell-Forged Resilience

Vitae Reservoir: 15,000/15,500

He was right, the very name of the class made me nervous. Forging was a creative process, but using souls or making souls. That just didn’t seem like something that someone as limited as me should be messing around with. I already did it enough with Spirit Singing. But, he was also correct that I couldn’t continue to have these parts of me that I didn’t explore.

“The trick is that I don’t exactly know what the class even does. I’ve managed to use it in limited ways to create squirrel constructs but I’ve barely touched upon what the class can do.”

“And that’s why we’re here to practice. I’ve already used my spatial awareness to determine that you’ve killed all of the monsters on this floor who aren’t in the boss chamber. There’s still one more room with a dozen or so gargoyles in it, one of them much larger than the others.”

“That’s where we’re going?”

          “Eventually, but not right now. Right now, were going to take the time for you to use a portion of your Soul Forger class that you haven’t, at least to my knowledge, touched upon. I recorded the class description when you projected it for me sooner, so let me show you what I’m talking about.”

A moment later he was projecting one of the paragraphs of my class description back to me.

As a Soul Forger, you will be able to shape the souls of allies and foes in ways which will affect them physically and spiritually. You can draw upon their power, but also use it to enhance others. Many of the abilities of a Soul Eater remain present with this class, but only one who shows restraint may become a Soul Forger.

“Um, okay, I admit that the description gets my mind going, but it isn’t exactly something I can use against these gargoyles is it?”

“You aren’t going to use it on them. You’re going to use it on me.”