Chapter 258 - Changed Reality

Nate brought up the first notification for his new Skills.

Skill Synergy discovered between your Permanent Alterations (Epic) Skill, Spacetime Manipulation (Epic Skill), Conceptual Automated Existence (Divine) Skill and Artistic Creation (Legendary) Skill. Combine these Skills to gain Art Imitates Life (Divine) Skill.
Proceed?

Art Imitates Life (Divine)
The pinnacle of art is to represent an idea with such clarity that your audience cannot help but see pieces of truth within it. With this Skill, the user may force Reality to change, imitating their artwork. Your canvas is now Reality itself. Make your art manifest. This Skill provides a bonus to Creativity equal to Skill Level plus ten. The area that can be covered by a manifestation is equal to ten plus Creativity divided by one hundred with the result representing cubed metres effected. All Concepts manifested in this method are empowered by thirty percent of Intellect and last for twenty percent of Creativity in seconds. Concepts manifested will gain resistance to deaspecting equal to Skill Level divided by two as a percentage. Be aware that the Concepts used by others or natural laws will resist your efforts.
Divine Bonus I: Multiply the Power of the Concepts by 3. Cost: 1 Divine Energy. Duration: 30 seconds.
Divine Bonus 1: Multiply Duration of the Manifestation by 5. Cost 1 Divine Energy. Duration: N/A.

Nate's smile could have lit up the entire throne room and he realised after a moment that he was for the second time in as many minutes resonating with the Concept of Joy. This Skill was the culmination of so much time, planning, and effort. When he had first chosen to move towards the Life-Mage style Classes for his Tertiary Class evolution, this was the idea that had driven that decision. The potential for making art that could influence Reality by interpreting Life to mean existence. 

However, when he had those first ideas, made his first plans, he’d not known how deep or how wide Reality truly was. He’d known nothing of Divine Energy. Now, instead of a Skill that could influence Reality he had a Skill that could supplant it. True Reality Manipulation through art. If he could paint it, he could force it to become true. And the further he spread his net of understanding, the more he understood about the Concepts that made up Reality and the tapestry that bound them together, the more he could change to suit his needs. Or better, to reveal the Truths of Reality. He was an artist after all, and he wanted others to see the truth he revealed.

His eyes drifted to the next notification curiously. He had only expected a single Skill Synergy notification, but there was a second.

Skill Synergy discovered between your Life Manipulation (Mythic) Skill, Improved Alterations (Rare) Skill, Breath of Life (Epic) Skill, Conceptual Spatial Manipulation (Divine) Skill. Combine these Skills to gain Life Imitates Art (Divine) Skill.
Proceed?

Life Imitates Art (Divine)
As the artist can change Reality to mimic their art, so can they change their art to mimic Reality. This Skill lets the user rewrite Reality, by exchanging the truth of a painting with the truth of Reality. Reality and the Space within it is what the artist makes it, or in this case, what you paint it. Cost of exchange varies based on Concepts and Energies involved. This Skill provides a bonus to Creativity and Magic Control equal to Skill Level plus ten. Power of Skill is increased when used with Concept of Creation equal to thirty percent of Creativity as a percentage. Teleportation range is equal to Skill Level multiplied by twenty metres. Control of Space is improved by Skill Level as a percentage.
Divine Bonus I: Multiply Spatial Control by 5. Cost: 1 Divine Energy. Duration: 30 seconds.

His eyebrows went up slightly at the Skill’s description. Reading between the lines, and using his own sense of the Skill itself, he could tell what it did. When he’d made his plans for his Art Imitates Life Skill he had been focused on the idea of changing Reality to reflect his art. It was Reality that changed in that equation. The artwork might be consumed, he wasn’t sure yet to be honest, but the artwork remained static. This Skill went the other direction. Changes in Reality could be transferred to his artwork in an equal exchange. 

His mind quickly considered the possibilities. The teleportation capability was interesting as it sounded like he could move himself in space by changing a painting of the area. Normally that might mean he would need to know the area he was in beforehand, but given his Regalia he could literally create one on the fly. The more important factor was the possibility of transferring wounds he received to a painting. Had he just gained his own version of Kiri’s immortality? He’d need to spend some time testing it.

With a thought he accepted both Skill Synergies and glanced at the new levels. The last dregs of his Divine Energy drained away and he suspected The System was using them to prevent the Skills from going below level forty-one.

Art Imitates Life 41 > 41
Life Imitates Art 41 > 41

There was one more change on his Status. In his Status Effects section a new entry had replaced his Augmented Skeleton. 

Divine Vessel (+20% All Stats) (Permanent, Divine) (Progress: 0.1%) (Form: Creation/Space/Destruction)

A glance above at his Divine Energy showed the new entry and his eyes widened.

Class Core Divine Energy - 0/160 | Divine Vessel Divine Energy - 0/50

He had an entirely new pool to draw on for his Divine Energy. More importantly, even at only a tenth of a percent progress it already possessed a third of his Class Core’s capability to store Divine Energy.

His eyes flicked to Ankh’Aris who was resting on his haunches watching the pair.

“Was this the goal?” he asked.

“Starting you both on your Paths to True Ascendancy? I thought that was what you wanted.”

“Was nearly killing us necessary?” demanded Kiri, spinning around to join the conversation.

“No. Not if you had a year to spare and were willing to stay here with me and work until you could brush against the smallest of Truths, then spending another decade slowly collecting those Truths and writing them onto your bodies and souls until finally you achieved what you have.”

Nate snorted.

Kiri and Ankh’Aris glanced at him curiously, though Ankh’Aris’s gaze was tinged with annoyance.

“Sorry, it just reminded me of a saying on the planet I come from. Fast, cheap, good. Pick two. Though in this case you could substitute cheap for ‘safe’. Just thought it was funny.”

Ankh’Aris cocked his head to the side, “Hmm, there is a Truth in there. I like it. Yes, you are right. There were other ways to train you. To teach you what you needed to know. To carve those lessons and your Truths into your bodies and souls. We could do it fast and safe, but we would’ve almost certainly failed. We could have done it safely and achieved a good result, but we would’ve needed a decade. I chose to do it quickly with the highest chance of success. That meant safety, your safety, was not a consideration. It also wasn’t cheap.”

Ankh’Aris pinned them with his gaze for a moment, “Thankfully for you, Kali’Terra will pay that debt.”

“How much did it cost?” Nate asked curiously.

“My Cultivation Realm is likely going to be useless to me for a few years, thanks to your efforts Nate. You drank in enough of the Truths that whatever remains in there will do nothing for me till the artifacts have had time to regenerate their lost meaning. As for Kiri, she ate my Seed of Entropy. That is gone and will need replacing. Kali’Terra will do so, but I suspect it will take time to find a replacement that meets my criteria. My own progress will stall for a time. An acceptable price for two Disciples worthy of the title.”

Nate tried not to preen at the praise, but he definitely felt a little pride stir in his chest at the acknowledgement of the Ancient Dragon. The talk of debts however made his mind drift back to his own. The debt owed to him, and the debt he owed.

“We have about two months left before we need to return to Galle? Can we remove our Class Cores before then?”

The sense within his chest told him the answer before anyone else could and his shoulders slumped slightly.

“Not yet,” agreed Ankh’Aris. “I have started you on that Path, but you have a ways to go yet. Not easily does Kali’Terra release those bound by its trinkets. You should understand why.”

“Reciprocity,” answered Kiri. “It must really want to keep us under its thumb. Means we need a pretty big debt owed to us by it. Right?”

Ankh’Aris nodded, “But, you already have some debt owed to you. I guarantee you can earn more from it. Kali’Terra has no shortage of a need for tools that can act in its place. It is the same thing all those under it do. Use those in the lower stratas to accomplish things so that they don’t directly violate Reciprocity. I am confident you’ll eventually manage to escape its grasp.”

“What about our Skills? And Stats?” Kiri asked. “If we manage to get rid of the Class Core will they just…go?”

“Obviously,” snorted the dragon. “Do you think I use such crutches to accomplish my own Spells and Abilities? That being said, there are many ways to achieve the same things. Your enhanced Stats come from processed mana, which is just a blend of Divine Energy and Mana. You are now Divine Vessels. You can do that yourself, if you can figure out the trick. Skills? They are just Spells, Abilities, Techniques…the name doesn’t matter. Just blends of energy, shaped to purpose, and imbued with Truths. Right now Kali’Terra provides the Truths you do not understand, then uses a crafted tool to shape them to the desired purpose by reading your soul energy. Does that not sound like something you could accomplish on your own? Everything the Class Core provides, you could achieve on your own, given time and practise.”

“Or I could just make us our own Class Cores,” mused Nate.

“That is an option. And it has been done before. Binding with Divine Treasures. Creating Divine Artifacts. Bonding with Divine Spirits. The Paths to Ascendancy are myriad. You’ll figure it out. What will you do with the time you have left in my Realm?”

Nate glanced at the door, “I need to prepare a portal back to Galle for us. And…I need to paint.”

He paused and glanced at Kiri, “Also, start making my sister some new clothes.”

Kiri grinned at him before glancing at Ankh’Aris, “Can we spar some more?”

“Now is as good a time as any.”

Nate fled the throne room as the two battle maniacs started fighting again, his Regalia once more held in his hand as he headed outside of the throne room, towards the mountain’s peak.

*************

Nate stood upon the upper slope of the gigantic mountain. The ground beneath him was flattened and smoothed with a rune bound into the stone to shield them from the wind. Them, because he wasn’t alone.

Nearby, Kiri lay on a wooden lounger, sunbathing. Frick was next to her, once more pretending to be her butler as he proffered a glass of bubbly wine and a tray of fruits. The fruits had been an offering from the Calikex. The wine was from Kiri’s own stores. Nate had no idea where the little goblin had gotten the glass from though.

While the pair relaxed and played, Nate painted. It had been six weeks since they had passed the trials set for them by Ankh’Aris. Nate had spent that time alternating between painting and trying to replenish his Divine Energy stores. The latter because he intended to create a Regalia for Kiri before they left and the former because that was who he was.

“So, tell me true, you didn’t sleep with the Elder?” Kiri asked, shading her eyes to pin him with her stare, searching for the slightest hint of deceit.

“For the fifth time, no, I did not sleep with Elder Jin’Kahn. Why do you keep asking?”

“Because you’re cougar bait. She wanted what you had pretty badly. She’d hardly be the first to throw herself into your bed,” taunted Kiri, using the English word mixed with Etruan.

“I should never have taught you that term,” Nate replied with a sigh.

His paintbrush moved casually as he painted Ankh’Aris’s cultivation realm. Desolate, barren and beautiful, in tones of grey and black with hints of red.

“I’m so glad you did though! Besides, if you didn’t, Frick would’ve. Okay, so you didn’t sleep with the Elder. That means it’s been a while for both of us. You going to play it fast and loose when we get back to Galle?”

“Who says we’re even going to have time for romantic pursuits when we get back?” argued Nate as he continued to create his latest artwork. “We’ve still got those two Lesser Divines to deal with. We need to see what the Head of the Adventurer’s Guild wants to do. Arikanvil may not let us stay and immediately send us off to The Heartlands. Plus, there is whatever Kali’Terra has planned. And that’s just the actual dangerous stuff! I want to catch up with your parents and our friends. See how Aisling is doing as Guildmaster, make sure Luc hasn’t sold the Artist’s Emporium to Morgane for the price of some extra time in Hildi’s bed. Maybe… maybe… after all that, I might consider spending some time on romantic pursuits.”

“Pfft,” snorted Kiri. “You never spend time on romance. Romance instead tends to find you, corner you, and convince you to paint it. You’re not the pursuer, you are the pursued. Let's be honest. Another cougar is going to find you before long.”

Nate just grumbled in response before glancing at Frick, “You’re going to let her do me like this you little traitor?”

“Boss, I am on the Path now! I gotta follow the Truth. And the Truth is, you’re cougar-bait. Her Ladyship, the Almighty and Enduring, the Eternal Soul, Kiri the Great, First of her Name, is spot on. You’re gonna get hunted down by some thirsty older woman.”

Nate sighed, recognising both the losing battle and that Frick was stealing words from his brain again. 

“We’ll see,” he muttered, planning to avoid all such women for the foreseeable future just to prove the pair wrong.

“Portal’s ready then?” Kiri asked.

“It is. What gave it away?”

“You seem tense. I figured you’re not looking forward to going back. As dangerous as this place has been, it was kind of nice not to be caught up in other people's problems more than usual for a change. Instead it was just our own problems we were figuring out. It was nice. But the moment we go back, we’re back in the tangle of their lives. Like you said. I’m a little apprehensive myself. Especially about Arikanvil. Like, am I a good enough actor to hide our plans from him?”

“We will be,” Nate stated confidently. He wasn’t so sure, but if he could convince Kiri, then he could convince himself. Besides, it was good practice.