Book 5 - Chapter 40

Brin had taken wounds of flesh many times and thought he understood what pain was. Nothing he’d ever felt could prepare him for what it meant to split his mind into forty. But with the pain came power.

“You might be right,” said [Archmage] Brin. With his mind so severely limited, this mind was beginning to forget he wasn’t actually an [Archmage]. That was fine. “You may be totally correct. Very well, Zaff the Wight, you’ve earned this honor: I will unlock my full power.”

Ten more obelisks rose. Each had a glowing golden shield that blinked on and off on a five-second timer. Jagged lightning blasted between them on an even beat; Zaff would need to time it right if he wanted to pass through them. Everything sort of had a beat now, a musicality. The clicking of glass against glass, the thrumming of the massive constructs floating through the air, and the hoarse shouting of Brin’s own voice as the Mouth Manager switched between dozens of requests.

“Is that…? Is that a song? You’re giving yourself away again, [Illusionist]!” Zaff called, but Brin could feel the hesitation in the Wyrd now. He was beginning to doubt.

How to respond, though? His ability to come up with snappy comebacks was depleted. No, short and sweet. That was the ticket. He said one word with as much manly confidence as he could muster. “Perish.”

The whole world was made of glass, and all of it turned on Zaff. Brin could barely do more than follow his instincts. He shadowed Zaff, using his glass to keep the game going, lashing out with his spear when one of his minds told him to.

Knives fell like rain. Giant gears and wheels turned in the air. Glass birds and beasts harassed the Wight. Lasers tore his flesh, missiles blasted him to pieces, axes the size of carriages cut him in half. Now, when Zaff ran on a platform, the whole surface would turn to spikes that stabbed his feet, slowing him down. When he touched the ground, spikes would erupt from there as well–there was nowhere he could turn.

Through it all, Zaff the Wight was in ecstasy. What started as a mocking laugh turned to cheers of delight and then moans of pleasure as he fought through an endless barrage of glass and fire.

When a Mirror Man with a great two-handed sword completely outmatched him blow for blow, forcing him to use the trick with his hand again to escape, Zaff reformed and Brin saw an honest tear fall from the Wight’s eye. Instead of sorrow, it was a tear of joy, as if Zaff could only feel grateful for such an outstanding fight.

Wait. That wasn’t a Mirror Man. All he was doing there was putting an illusion on top of a real guy to make him look like he was made of glass.

Main: What’s Hedrek doing here??

Brin 22: Focus on you.

Brin 23: Yeah, focus on yourself for once. Sancta Solia, Main.

Mark: Hey, I figured out that bug where the scimitars keep propagating. Try it again?

Brintasaurus Rex: It’s working great now, thanks!

Mark: Alright, who’s next?

Brintacular: Me! I’ve got an issue with the electricity beams.

Brin 36: Main, I’ve been talking to Cowl. He figured out something for the Heat Vision, but he can only do one Lance member at a time. Now get back in there!

There was a mind that actually thought he was Mark. Someone was going around using [Mirrored Duplicity] on threads to make them more fit for their specific purpose. That was smart. Mark was a better programmer than Brin.

Brin did what the minds had suggested and focused back on himself. Even that brief distraction had proved costly and Zaff charged through a bunch of defenses that had suddenly grown weaker to eliminate another obelisk.

He was still losing! What was it going to take to win this thing? Hadn’t he already given enough? He grit his teeth and went back to war, but soon there was another distraction. A Mirror Man, a real one, carrying one of Zaff’s blacksteel swords chopped straight into Zaff’s back, the edge of the blade trailing a faint white energy. That looked like Jake.

Main: Jake 18 is back?

Brin 23: WHAT IN THE NAME OF NEDRAMUS’ MUSTY BEARD WILL IT TAKE FOR YOU TO FOCUS ON YOURSELF?

Jake 18: It’s all fine. All normal. We’ve reached the end of time. My belly is full of fingernails.

Brintacular: Now the lightning is backing up whenever an arrow goes through it. Can you–

Mark: On it.

Aberthol: Oh no. Oh gods, no. Why am I here? They said I wouldn’t have to come back here.

Brin 33: I summoned you. You will lend us your knowledge of undead and the Wyrd.

Aberthol: No, no, no. It hurts. It wasn’t supposed to hurt any more.

Brin 33: You will obey.

His chat was starting to get a bit weird. Brin turned his attention back to the fight. Zaff had conquered three more obelisks, but he still had ten or eleven to go. It would be fine.

No, it’s not fine! This was bad. There were too many minds, too much going on, and he was starting to disassociate. He could hardly tell which of his minds was controlling his body. Who was screaming with his voice? Which of those Mirror Images were him, and which were his Lance, heroically joining the fight even knowing that a single scratch would give them away and ruin the whole thing?

Even numb, his consciousness fading, he pushed harder. Mana drained. Mana filled again. His last potion. He stabbed, lunged and slashed. He was a multitude of minds, controlling hundreds of independent floating weapons, making sure every shard of glass was accounted for, tracking every speck of dust. The chat had lost its mind.

Aberthol: I will destroy you. I will kill you all.

Brin 33: Get revenge on Arcaena first.

Brin 80: Knife, I. Knife guy. I knife, guys.

Brin 4: Oh, Solia help us. Why is that guy 80? We were supposed to stop with 40. Who’s still splitting?

Brin 86: What… is… what…?

Brin 4: We’re dead. We’re so dead.

Brin fought. His attention slipped further and further. The war was a blur of activity, but then suddenly, everything sharpened into focus.

Zaff stood over the remains of the last obelisk. The golden shield went down.

“One more time, just like before. I can take it,” said Rhun.

No. Brin wasn’t going to lose them. He wasn’t going to lose a single one. Whatever it took, he’d do it.

Main: One last push. This is the big one.

“It seems that even at my full power, it wasn’t enough,” said Brin.

“Seems that way,” Zaff said easily, flipping his sword casually as he approached.

Brin stopped his glass spells, looking at the shattered landscape in despair. Was this really it? Had he really arrived at the end so soon? He’d hoped he’d have a little more time as a human. A little more time before he ascended into something greater.

He let the magics that held him in the air recede and began to let himself float back down to earth, gently.

“Very well, Zaff. You are stronger than I expected, I’ll give you that. But there’s one last thing you haven’t seen. In truth, I hoped it wouldn’t come to this. I hoped I wouldn’t have to take this step. It’s time for me to go beyond, to advance beyond the understanding of [Witch] or [Mage] alike. To advance into something more than human. Be honored, mortals. You will be first to bear witness to my true form.”

Zaff stopped, waiting to see Brin’s next move, and Brin let his spells subside for the moment as well.

Mark: Not ready. Buy us as much time as you can.

Brin 12: Thank Solia that Zaff isn’t the type to skip a cutscene.

Brin 2: We’re losing minds. We’re losing illusions, too. The gears just disappeared. If he looks up it’s all over.

Brin didn’t understand these messages. He didn’t know who they were. He was Brin the [Archmage of Glass] and soon, so much more.

He reached up to grab his skin behind the ear. Skin, so worthless and frail. So mortal. He was made of something better. He tore away the mask of flesh, and revealed only glass in all its purity below.

He tore more off, his entire face. He tore the armor and clothing off with the skin until no unnecessary things covered him. Flesh gone, only the pure transparency of his perfect form remained. The System would acknowledge this soon, so he changed his status in preparation.

Name: Brin the Mistaken

Race: The Glass Avatar

Still slowly descending, a single toe touched the ground. That brief contact infected the world with his perfection. First, a loud, pure note of music rang out, as if the entire Earth was a bell and had finally found the striker that could activate it. The world changed, starting where his foot touched, like a ripple in a pond, transforming into glass. Every speck of dirt and every blade of grass now perfected and pure. It spread out far and fast, and Zaff leapt into the air to avoid it.

Brin 33: I’ve lost contact with Aberthol

Brin 12: Everyone from 14 to 27 is missing. Guys? Where are you?

Brin 2: Don’t look now but Jake is going rogue.

Brin 3: I can’t seem to dismiss his thread.

Mark: It’s fine. I’ve cut off his access to our magic and removed his chat privileges. Focus! Do we have enough Mana for another laser?

Brin 12: We don’t even have enough to keep the illusions going.

Mark: Let them go, then. We’ll put a dome around Zaff and paint the world on its walls.

Brin 12: Will that work?

Mark: It’ll have to!

He didn’t let himself be distracted by the voices. He summoned one of his favorite spells. Laser Drone. Only this time, it was appropriately scaled to his new level of power. A drone the size of a castle, yes that should create a suitable laser.

The power of the spell warped reality around them, bending the world around it with the weight of its presence, as if everything outside of him and his target were now viewed through a fish-eye lens.

Mark: Whoa, ok, this is it then. Someone get Marksi! He should be good for one more beam. And what about us? Can we make any kind of laser?

Brin 12: We’ll use everything we have left. Who do we have for Wyrd?

Aberthol: I… will fight.

The Avatar of Glass raised one perfectly transparent hand. The drone rose into the air, gathering power. He should call it something appropriate.

Ascended Construct of the Apocalypse

“Activate,” the Avatar said simply.

First came the tracking beam. Larger by far than the lasers the smaller drones made, but only a little speck of the construction’s true power to use for aiming.

“<Fire>,” said the Avatar.

Zaff disappeared in a flash of flapping wings, then faded away.

The laser didn’t fire. Why didn’t it fire? After everything he had sacrificed, everything he had become, he’d failed? He’d still let the monster get away? Well, no matter. He would get to that in time. Now, he was ready to pursue his true purpose, to transform this ugly world into something perfect. Perhaps it was better that the monster escaped, he could act as the herald for the coming age of glass. Soon all would be still and silent beneath the stars. Starting with those mortals behind him…

Brin collapsed, and darkness took him. He could not see. He could not think. Brin? Why was he thinking about himself as Brin again? He didn’t know where he was, but it cold and he was afraid. He hadn’t felt like this since the time Aberfa had taken him to the forest for the first time, when he was six.

He heard voices, but they made no sense.

“Aren’t his illusions gone? How is there still so much glass everywhere?”

“Govannon, you’re over there? Then who’s been fighting beside me? Oh gods, this was a MIrror Man the whole time!”

“Cowl? Or Anwir, come look at Aeron. He’s hurt. And someone help Rhun. Brin, where’s the real Brin?”

He didn’t understand it. It hurt, and even surrounded by the others, he was alone. But even there in the darkness, the System had a message.

You have defeated: Zaff the Wight

Experience reduced for forcing a retreat. Experience split between party members, based on contribution.

Level up! 44 -> 46

+10 Strength +2 Dexterity, +4 Vitality, +4 Magic, +6 Mental Control, +2 Will, +4 free attributes.

Your Achievement has advanced.

Disciplined IV -> Disciplined V

+40% -> +50% spell power. +40% -> +50% skill power. +40% -> +50% Will attribute growth.

Wyrdic Hide Status 30 -> 34

Through meritorious deeds, you have earned an advancement in the Cult of Tenerer. Seek counsel from a Master in the Cult for the appropriate rituals and ceremonies.

You have earned a new Skill! Skill selection locked due to unstable mental state.

You have earned an Achievement! Achievement locked due to unstable mental state.

Hidden Mission Complete!

You have saved the life of your half-brother, Gerin.

You receive the strength of Will to match your dedication to purpose.

+100% Will attribute growth

Filial Piety (Epic) -> Filial Piety (Legendary)

Filial Piety: Final Mission unlocked.

Finish the work of your parents, whether Aberfa and Cadwy or Lumina and Hogg. Defeat Arcaena.

Eventually, someone came to him and pressed water through his lips. He couldn’t move, but the water brought blessed relief. Blessed and cursed, because the relief to his thirst only called attention to the pain still in his head. He’d long since lost the ability to make out the words the others were saying. Some time later, strong hands lifted him up onto a horse and held him in place. They were moving.

Brin did not sleep. He did not wake. He waited, alone in the darkness, with all the others. It still hurt, what he’d done to his mind, but even so, he was glad. Victory.