Chapter 143: Free
Well, we didn’t kill him. Hod did. I looked over at the one and only birdman. With vibrant splashes of yellow gunk over him, he laid on his knees beside Yawm’s corpse. He heaved for breath. I regenerated and walked over towards him. He glanced up at me,
“Hod kill Yawm?”
I grinned, “Yeah, I think so.”
Hod hobbled up to his feet, glancing around at the soldiers. His shade form dissipated,
“Legion slay Yawm? Legion save Earth, home of eltari and human!”
The legion roared in approval, the celebration spreading through the ranks. With absolute delight, the soldiers threw helmets, shouted in joy, and celebrated. We won. We beat the unbeatable. We killed the unkillable.
I grabbed Hod’s wing, pulling it up as I boomed my words,
“We pushed back the tide. We held the line.”
All eyes set on me. I turned around, gesturing around us, “We will honor those that fell in battle against that monster. Grieving can wait, however. Tonight, we celebrate our victory. Long live the Legion!”
The members of my guild banged a fist to their chest in unison. They shouted with discipline,
“Long live the Harbinger!”
I turned up, glancing at Torix. He smiled back and shrugged. He taught them a commemoration. Even if it was unnecessary, it was a nice touch. I put my hand over Hod, cleaning off blood with my armor. The black metal receded, showing Hod good as new.
Hod ran up and hugged me, banging his wing against my back,
“Hod happy that Harbinger back. Hod miss friend.”
I pat his back, “Me too. Me too.”
Hod let go and ran forward. He jumped into the air, flying upwards by flapping his wings. A swarm of eltari went over him. They dashed around in complex shapes, some ritual taking place no doubt. I didn’t know what to think.
Althea and Torix came over towards me. I leaned over Yawm’s body, using my armor to eat his corpse. As I did, my mass increased. Each second I absorbed the latent energy, I gained thousands of pounds. By the time I finished, my feet cracked into the ground yet again. Great.
With Overwhelming presence, I dispersed my weight. Torix landed beside me, a full head and shoulders shorter than me. The crowd of troops raced down the sides of the slope towards me too.
Before they reached us, Torix walked up, his hands clasped behind him. A bright grin ran up and down his thin lips. I put a hand on his shoulder. I raised a fist in front of us both,
“We got em.”
Torix laughed, an almost hysterical tone in his voice. He unclasped his hands, tapping a bony fist against my own,
“That we did.”
The horde of soldiers reached me as Althea ran up. They gave us space as we executed a flawless running hug. I held her up by her waist, spinning her around. She giggled before I leaned her over into a kiss. As I did, the throng of soldiers around us gave out a loud hoopla.
It was awesome, not gonna lie.
Althea blushed like crazy, but an irrepressible smile plastered itself on her face. We unlocked our lips. She grabbed my cheeks, pulling her forehead against mine. We just grinned at each other, at a loss for words. It was finally over.
After that, I stood straight up. I looked around me, everyone reaching just up to my elbows. It gave me a great view of the sheer number of soldiers. All different eldritch stood beside them, some with the summons of Torix. I raised a fist. They built it with me, and we thundered out our victory.
Torix even raised a hand, casting fire magic at the sky. Below the Eltari and above our troops, majestic flames danced in the air for us. The moment took my breath away.
After that, I spoke with the troops on a more personal level. Many mentioned how they always knew we’d get Yawm in the end. Some said how they’re finally away from the devil instructor called Kessiah. Others talked about settling down with a family they made here.
They treated me like a celebrity. If I was to make a comparison, I imagined this is what Alexander the Great felt like when he conquered Persia. After talking for a few more hours though, the situation settled down. Torix handled the Legion’s return to the mountain base.
I stayed behind with Hod and Althea. I walked around with Althea. It turns out that absorbing and looting the corpses of Breakers makes a decent date. Hod and the eltari just flew around above us doing their own thing. The whole while, Althea and I gushed to one another.
“That sounds like literal hell.”
I nodded, “Eh, it could have been a lot worse. Yawm wasn’t…mean or anything like that. He was twisted, yeah, but deep down he wasn’t bad. He was just misguided in my opinion. It’s actually kind of sad we couldn’t save him…”
Althea rolled her eyes, “We’ll agree to disagree there. He made me live in a dungeon with other children I had to watch die.”
I raised my hands, torn between two sides, “That’s the thing. None of those children would have had a childhood. You all were orphans, even you.”
She frowned, “I had parents.”
I raised my hands, “But can you remember them?”
Althea glanced down. She stared at the rubble beneath our pacing feet,
“No, not really. I just thought it was because I couldn’t remember being a kid.”
I nodded, “I’m not saying Yawm was perfect. We had to take him down for sure. I’m just saying he wasn’t pure evil.”
Althea sighed, “I can’t accept that.”
I shrugged, “Eh, I can’t blame you. You saw a different side of Yawm.”
She shook her head, “I never saw him really. I saw what he did to the others. No one ended up the same after leaving to see him. He was always like that. You never got to see him doing the evil thing, but it was obvious what he was doing.”
I frowned, “Yeah, maybe so.”
I bent over, my armor eating the remains of the assassin. Turns out the assassin lady was a remnant named Eleanor Bacht. Beside the corpse was the assassin’s red knife. Althea picked up the blade, inspecting it. I did as well.
Viral Menace(lvl req: 4,000) – This osmium alloy has been transfused with the blood of Living Flesh, many viral versions of eldritch, and enzymes for speeding up the reaction of eldritch. This hardened the blade and give’s the edge a devastating effect. Make sure you don’t cut yourself with its sharp edge, however. The consequences are disastrous.
Bonuses:
+100 Dexterity | +100 Strength | +50 Perception | +50 Intelligence
+20% to poisons | +10% critical damage | +10% handling speed
Critical Multiplier: 3.20*Normal Damage
I looked up at Althea. She twirled the blade on her fingers, locking her eyes with mine,
“Oh yeah. This will do nicely.”
We took two dimensional storage rings from Elenor’s body. After that, we found Brim’s two rings, Korga’s four rings, and Elessah’s five rings. The Breakers were decked out from front to back. We wouldn’t let the loot go to waste.
Once we finished that, we walked back towards the world tree. The whole time, we raved on and on about what we’d been doing. Althea actually gained a legendary skill, and so did Hod. Her’s involved stealth, using blades for crits, and gunnery.
Hod’s legendary skill was his shade form. Teleporting from shadow to shadow, the black flames, and the enhanced strength made up most of the ability. Either way, both of them worked wonders in our fight. That’s for sure.
We reached the world tree after an hours walk. It felt weird just walking somewhere. I was so used to running everywhere that I forgot how pleasant it was to just slow down sometimes.
We soaked in the view and the smell of greenery surrounding the tree. We met Amara sitting in the fetal position. She wafted in a pool of glowing green liquid. Several of the dimensional cipher’s runes changed since I last saw them. She’d been hard at work.
I stepped up to a transparent chunk of bark near Amara. I pressed my hand on it. I couldn’t make it budge. I reared back and hit it. Nothing. Althea walked up, pushing her finger into the bark. Like slicing through butter, she cut the material with a single finger.
I raised an eyebrow at her, “Damn. You’ve been practicing?”
Althea shrugged, “I didn’t know what I could do before.”
She finished the circle. She grabbed the edge of the circular hunk, her arm reforming into a bulging mass,
“Now I do.”
She pulled the plate of bark aside with ease. I walked over, lifting the bark. It had heft, though it wasn’t impossible to move by any means. Althea was stout as hell though like a titan was in her tiny body.
I absorbed the plate of clear bark. From inside the tree, a thick, glowing green jelly globbed out. Althea took a step back,
“And here’s your specialty. Doing gross stuff.”
I gave her a mock glare, and she laughed. I cracked a grin as I leaned into a sprinter’s position,
“Eh, pretty much.”
I shot into the shining slime. It covered me. With gravity magic, I pulled myself along until I reached Amara. I grabbed her, pulling her out. I set Amara down, and Althea put her hands on her hips,
“You didn’t have to go in there. You could have just waved your hands and pulled her out, right?”
I shrugged, turning back to the hole in the tree,
“I’m getting rid of this damn thing.”
I jumped back into the world tree. I extended out my metal skin into the goop, draining its mana. Once more, my weight increased. This time it occurred much slower. After sitting inside the tree for several hours, the entire structure shriveled up.
Once the mana dried up, I opened my eyes and looked around. No more gunk, only dust remained within the trunk. Outside the center, the roots crumbled into rich, dark earth. The construct altered back into what it came from.
A shell of bark encapsulated the branches of it, supporting the dilapidated structure. Before I climbed out, I opened my status. I figured now was a good time. No point in waiting anymore to sink my teeth into my rewards. There were more than a few.
(Quest)A Call To Action – Completed! 100,655,321 Credits awarded!
Obliterator III bonuses rewarded —> Level cap increased by 3,000.
Level Cap: 5,000—>8,000!
Other rewards are as Follows:
Exile terminated! Assist on bounty earned!
Guild tier upgraded to A+!
Unknown status elimination quests unlocked!
Class advancement quests unlocked!
Bounty reduction quests unlocked!
Sentinel rights advancement quests unlocked!
Speak with the nearest sentinel or Overseer for further information.
Good work, Harbinger. You’ve proven yourself.
I raised an eyebrow, closing those messages and opening my status. I’d think about those messages after handling my level-ups. Boy oh boy were there level ups too. I gained 1,877 levels, putting me up to level 5,443. I exceeded my previous level cap in one fell swoop.
Without really thinking about it, I just invested all my points into endurance. The plan worked out so far. Why stop now? Halfway through investing points, a perk screen appeared.
Dignity of a Mind(Willpower of 10,000 or more) – There are forces that can take away your strength, your limbs, even your voice. There are no forces that can take away your spirit. Unlocks the Dignity of a Mind legacy.
I invested into the perk since it only took one point. Once I finished pouring points into endurance, I selected finalize. As I selected yes, I fell onto my knees.
My armor ruptured all along my body, like a snake breaking its scaly skin. I gasped, my hands shaking. The pulse of blood sounded throughout me. With each pulse, I expanded in all aspects.
The grip of my hands turned undeniable. The clarity of my mind turned impeccable. Mana manifested through me, turning into a solid like what Yawm created.
Microscopic crystals of red mana amalgamated through me. They weaved with the arcane bonds in my flesh, forming ropes.
They interconnected with the metallic wires of my armor, weaving together. The fibers reinforced one another, creating new material.
Throughout me, these crystalline formations reinforced my armor. As I gripped my hand, these robust collections of metal and mana clasped. They operated like a muscle. It gave my own strength both form and function.
I was unbreakable. I was untouchable, an invincible force. At least I felt like it. Compared with before, I doubled in strength. As I pulled from my mana generation, it poured out oceans of mana. Three, four, five million a minute, I kept pressing for more mana every second.
As I reached my peak, a maelstrom of energy roared around me. Crimson lightning carved out portions of the world tree. The mana thickened the air, making it unbreathable. It pressed down like an oppressive force. It was like liquid violence, a concentrated cocktail of entropy.
I pulled the mana back in, sending it into the dimensional cipher on my forearms. I twisted my neck, feeling the grace of my motions. Even with so much mass, I handled it with ease. Like a well-oiled machine, I moved without effort. Everything glided together. I was free.
At the bottom of the hollowed out trunk of the world tree, I relished my bonuses. Interrupting my glee, a portal opened beside me. From inside it, the Overseer walked out. I stared at him for a moment. He spoke in a monotone,
“I see you’ve already dealt with the world tree…That is optimal.”
I frowned at him, standing up straight. My eyes met his. I was his height, maybe even taller now. I tapped my teeth together,
“So…what is it?”
The Overseer sighed. He opened his palm towards me,
“I came here to congratulate you for killing Yawm. Schema took a chance with you, and it paid off in spades.”
I raised my eyebrows and crossed my arms, “Yeah, he sure did.”
An awkward silence passed over us before the Overseer looked away,
“I…I also want to apologize for my accusations earlier.” He looked back at me,
“I assumed you fell to Yawm’s words like all the others before you. I was wrong. Schema was right to trust in you. I shouldn’t have exiled you. You destroyed Yawm despite the difficulty I placed you in. For that, you’ve garnered loyalty. Not just from Schema, but from me as well.”
I uncrossed my arms, “Hmmm…Thank you. I can accept that. As for the loyalty bit, did you mean these quests?”
The Overseer nodded, “They allow you to expunge your unknown status, your high bounty, and to gain sentinel rights as agreed.”
I scratched my head, “Are they challenging quests?”
He laughed, his electronic voice echoing through the world tree,
“They mirror the difficulty and risk involved with giving you freedom. Do not forget, you’re obligated by a contract written in the cipher. You are Schema’s enemy, yet he offers you freedom. That is generous, and that is kind. For Schema, especially so.”
I nodded, “I almost forgot about that contract. Is there any way to break it?”
The Overseer shook his head, “If there is, it isn’t known to us.”
“Shit…alright then.” I weighed my hands back and forth, “I guess Schema won’t just let me stroll in to handle a casual bug fix or something?”
The Overseer laid a palm over his face, “Actually, no.”
I snapped my fingers, “Oh really? Damn. Who’d have guessed.” I raised an eyebrow, “For real though, are there any leads for canceling the contract?”
The Overseer shrugged, “Perhaps Etorhma will rewrite it for you. He is no doubt grateful to you for killing Yawm.”
I grimaced, “Yeah, I want to steer clear of the Old Ones. I saw what they did to Yawm.”
“Wise.” The Overseer raised a hand towards me, opening a red screen,
“Now that my personal reasons for visiting are finished let’s proceed with business.”
Several black screens appeared in front of me. Their text was white, like the dark layout option on a website. I peered at them as the Overseer continued,
“These are the quests mentioned earlier. Within them are three separate tasks you may accomplish at your leisure. There are no time restrictions, and you are free to go about as you please.”
The Overseer turned towards his portal, “Along with them is an offer should you complete them all.” Before he stepped through, he stared at me,
“Daniel.”
I looked up from the quests, closing them for now.
“What is it?”
The Overseer opened a dimensional storage portal beside him. He pulled out a vial full of black sludge. He tossed it towards me. I caught it with gravity, having it spin in the air.
“Within the glass is a mountain of eldritch energy. Your armor will no doubt enjoy the feast. That is my thanks for killing Yawm. He was my enemy. The enemy of my enemy is a friend.”
I raised a hand, “I have a question. Why are you an Overseer? What makes you want to be one?”
The Overseer looked off into the distance, “That is a strange question. My race benefits from having an Overseer in their ranks. Schema offers advantages to us for it.”
“Oh…ok, cool.” I gave him a polite nod, “Good luck with…”
I had no idea what Overseers did.
“Uh, things.”
The Overseer laughed, “We Overseer’s handle administrative duties. Diligence is all that is required.”
He stepped through the portal, “Good luck and goodbye, Harbinger.”
He disappeared, leaving nothing behind. I looked at the vial of eldritch mana. It wasn’t smoke anymore. It was like the ichor of some evil god. Well, either that or tar.
Eldritch Concentrate – This vial contains the remnants of eldritch energy. An inordinate amount is stored here from the cleansed worlds of a Fringe Walker.
Cool. It was a vial of eldritch from a fringe walking badass. I wrapped my armor around it. I crushed the jar, spilling out the eldritch energy. An icy sensation raced out from the smashed glass. The cold reached far out, like jumping into an ice bath.
As it faded, I shook my head. I jittered a bit, the vial like a shot of adrenaline. I calmed myself down and opened my status. I looked at my condition. In a nutshell, my condition was pretty damn good.
Level 5,443
Strength – 4,617 | Constitution – 7,845 | Endurance – 34,018
Dexterity – 1,926 | Willpower – 16,976 | Intelligence – 6,315
Charisma – 653 | Luck – 2,130 | Perception – 772
Health: 4.87 Million/4.87 Million | Health Regen: 9.1 Million/min or 151,980/sec
Stamina: 3.01 Million/ 3.01 Million | Stamina Regen: 46,336/sec
Living Dimension: 1.01 Trillion/4.30 Trillion
Mass: 360,805 pounds(169,411 kilos~) | Height: 11’7(3.55 meters)
Damage Res – 98.5% | Dimensional Res – 49.25%
Phys Dam Bonus – 244,513% | Damage Bonus – 40%
Event Horizon – 20,000 + (100% of your total health)/min
My health regen tripled. It was higher than when Amara and the beetles swarmed around me. Much higher. My physical damage, mass, and health over doubled. Even with those boons, the most surprising thing was my progress with my armor.
Even after all the mana left in Yawm plus the vial from the overseer, I still wasn’t even a quarter the way to my evolution. That much mana was unbelievable. I bet there wasn’t even enough eldritch mana on Earth for my armor’s development. It was that insane.
I didn’t need the evolution anytime soon though. My healing was already ridiculous. Whatever else my armor gave me wasn’t really necessary. The bonuses would come eventually.
With that in mind, I reopened the quests the Overseer gave me. I scrutinized them this time instead of giving them a glance.
Planetary Cleanser(Quest | A+ Tier) – There are worlds on the brink. You can save them given your unique abilities.
Create a beachhead on three different fringe worlds. These worlds must be high priority worlds. (Worlds of B tier or higher grade of importance.)
Rewards: Unlocks Fringe Walker class. Territory granted on saved worlds.
This one seemed interesting. From what I researched, Fringe Walkers had enhanced regeneration, great aoe abilities, and were anti-eldritch all around. It made sense that Schema was giving me a way of becoming one. My build was perfect for it.
Ambassador of Earth(Quest | Tier B+) – Earth needs an ambassador. As the highest leveled native species on Earth, this task falls onto your shoulders.
Establish contact with The Empire, the steel legion, and the nearest world within Schema’s system, Gliese 667, known as Giess.
Once contact is established, create favorable or at least neutral alliances with these groups. To accomplish this, it’s recommended that embassies be built on both sides. Trading relations, cultural adjustments, and educational programs may assist with this mission.
Rewards: Elimination of unknown status for you and any participating party members. Guild rights expanded towards factions that are befriended.
Creating a beachhead on an alien world was simple. Fostering good relations with aliens…Well, that was complicated. It sounded fun anyway. Seeing otherworldly capitals and cities would be exhilarating. Who knows, maybe we could even get Torix a girlfriend.
Cutting Open the Belly of the Beast(Quest | Tier B+) – To prove your lawfulness, you must enact the law.
Destroy an unauthorized organization that actively acts against Schema’s tenants. This organization must be tier B or higher. Destroy in this instance means to neutralize the leader and organizational bodies leading the movement or group.
Rewards: Pardoning of all previous offenses against Schema, eliminating your current A- Tier bounty.
Damn. I had an A- tier bounty. To my knowledge, that’s a high as hell bounty. Considering the contract, it wasn’t so bad I suppose. The quest appeared reasonable as well.
I eliminate an A tier bounty for getting rid of a B tier organization. I’d need to get a better idea of the scale of things from Torix first.
The Status of a Sentinel(Quest | Tier A+) – By killing a great evil, you’ve earned the right to ascend. Find the spear and armor of a fallen sentinel and return it to Schema.
Rewards: Status updated from sentient to a sentinel. You obtain the benefits of being a sentinel along with their responsibilities.
Requirements: Finish the questline Ambassador of Earth and accept a Sentinel’s responsibilities.
After reading through all these quests, I needed to research what ‘rights’ a sentinel had The mention of having responsibilities put me off, however. It could involve quite a bit, but I wouldn’t until after unlocking it. Yenno, unless I found a forum or something about it. Considering it was a reward by Schema, there was probably official posts on it.
Once I figured them out, I’d be able to make an informed decision. As I finished reading the last quest, I closed my status. I walked up towards the edge of the world tree. The bark held firm. I lifted my hands, creating a condensed well of gravity above me.
I and a cloud of dust floated up. As I floated up, I skimmed over the quests again. The quest that stuck out was the Ambassador of Earth one. It would unlock the unknown status of everybody, not just me. The other ones helped only me.
Considering I wanted some company on my next quest, it suited my goals. Of course, walking up to another planet with a bounty wasn’t optimal either. Considering we killed Yawm, I doubt they’d attack us as a group. Either way, we might be able to take out two birds with one stone.
My primary focus would be getting back to base for now though. I reached the clear bark of earlier. It remained after the goop inside drained, like a wall of glass.
Looking out of it, I found Amara and Althea where I left them. The hole I made healed even as I drained the tree. That’s why Amara was still able to sleep. The sound of my mana or the overseer would’ve leaked out otherwise, waking her up.
Althea guarded Amara. Althea made the eldritch a bed of broken branches. After that, she cleaned her to some extent. In the present, Althea trained with the Viral Menace. She poured sweat, enjoying the new blade.
I tapped the glass, interrupting her. She brandished the blade at me, narrowing her eyes. As they locked with mine, she smiled. She walked up and cut through the glass with the knife. It sliced in with absolute ease, no effort required whatsoever.
She placed her palm on the glass circle, the panel sticking to her. She tossed it aside, the circular glass whizzing through the air. Seconds later and it splashed in the lake beneath us.
I pulled myself out of the tree, hovering through it. Althea propped out a hip, leaning on one leg,
“Getting fancy now?”
I rolled my eyes, “I’ve gotten a bit better at magic. That’s all.”
As I landed beside her, she looked up at me. I dwarfed her.
“You’re like…a foot taller now. Wow.”
I leaned down while lifting her chin, “Is that a problem?”
She shook her head, “Nope. Not yet.”
She grew bat wings, flapping them. She maintained a few feet up off the ground, matching my eyesight. I grabbed her hip, putting her on my shoulders. I walked over, lifting Amara with a gravity well. I turned up to Althea,
“You ready to get back to base?”
She nodded, “Yes please.”
I smiled wide, “Which way?”
Althea pointed. I gave her a quick salute, “Aye aye. I have two things left to do before we’re off.”
I glanced down. I floated myself up by burning some mana. As I did, I looked behind me. The world tree stood on its last legs. The shell of the bark withstood the wind, but it was like swiss cheese; hole littered it everywhere.
I charged mana into me. After floating away for a reasonable distance, I discharged a massive burst of mana. A wave of gravitational force rippled across the landscape, bending trees with ease. The shell of bark crumbled under the wake of the magic.
This caused a chain reaction, the barren branches of the tree following suit. A wave of dust and ash echoed the collapse. As the plume of brown dust dissipated, the derelict remains of Springfield stood covered in the powder of the world tree. It looked like fresh earth, ready for life to grow out of.
A notification ran into my status. I read it. Keeja died. I bit my lip, a hint of disgust rushing up from my gut. The poor man was at the brink of being consumed by eldritch. For him, living was torment. Dying was mercy, though I didn’t feel good about it.
I sighed, turning towards Ajax. He remained in stasis, his green sphere still stuck inside a skyscraper. I floated towards him and picked him up with another field of gravity.
After that, I looked where Althea pointed. It was finally time to move on from where I was born. An eager, almost childish grin ran up and down my lips. A fire was burning in my chest. I clasped my fists, ready and waiting.
For the first time since Schema took over, I wasn’t just struggling for survival. I could do whatever I wanted. No more big bad looming over my shoulder, threatening my life.
For once, I was the master of my fate and the captain of my soul.
I was free.
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